//------------------------------// // Side Chapter: Trixie's Back Story - Part 1 // Story: Hand in Hand // by Ponyzilla //------------------------------// Hand in Hand: Training - Part Two QUICK NOTE: Training - Part Two will come after this chapter. Trixie's back story will more than likely be scattered within the story. If I'm ultimately unable to squeeze out more content for Trixie's back story, then I'll change the chapter name and just make this the back story. Enjoy! The moment I made the realization that Twilight Sparkle had ran away, I immediately left and went to go look for her. Being a foal in a mare's body meant she still had the physical capabilities of a mare. In other words, she could've been anywhere. The first place I decided to check was the town hall-- simply because the center of everything seemed like a good place to start. However, there was no sign of Twilight Sparkle. I groaned in frustration, and headed towards my next destination, but before long, I was stopped by an unfamiliar voice. "Trixie?" I turned around, and there stood a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane. Oh, not THIS one... I rolled my eyes as I began to recall the memories of the day when I embarrassed her. "What do you want? Can't you see that The Great and Powerful Trixie, is busy right now?" I replied impatiently. The pegasus raised an eyebrow. "Well, you know, I was gonna ask you why Twilight ran off in the direction of the Everfree Forest, but I guess--" "Wait, WHAT?!" I interrupted her. She let out a loud scoff. "Yeah, she just ran off as fast as she could towards the Everfree while muttering something about... wanting to learn magic," said the rainbow-maned pegasus. She paused for a moment. "But didn't she... y'know, lose her magic...?" She seemed like she was trying to choose her words carefully. I nodded slowly. "Psh, that egghead. I bet she read somewhere in a book that running towards your death was the best way to regain your magic or something. That pony believes everything she reads in books, you know." The pegasus stopped in her tracks, and stared directly at me. I gave her a strange look back. "What?" I asked gruffly. "We gotta go find her! What if she actually did find a book that told her she needed to run deep into the Everfree Forest to get her powers back? What if she dies? What if she falls into a deeper state of depression once she realizes she can't get her powers back?! Gah! We have to go after her, Trixie!" the pegasus panicked. I flashed her an, 'are you serious?', look, but she didn't seem to see it before she dashed off. I suppose I forgot to mention that Twilight has yet to read a book all day... I thought to myself. Oh well, this speeds up the process of finding her, I suppose. Just as I was about to start running head first in the direction of the Everfree Forest, the rainbow-maned pegasus zoomed back, grabbed me, and I soon found that my hooves were no longer touching the ground. "W-what are you doing, you ruffian?!" I shouted angrily at the pony. "Trixie does not remember giving you permission to touch her!" "You're really worrying about THAT at a time like this? You know what, Trixie? You're more self-centered than I thought," she replied angrily. "I don't want to hear that coming from YOU, you so-called 'Best Flyer in Equestria'" I fought back. I wasn't quite sure why I was being so rude. That has never been my intention, but I was unable to control whatever came out of my mouth. "Oh, so you've heard of me? I never knew ponies outside of Ponyville knew about me." the pegasus asked with a different tone in her voice. She seemed... flattered. Good, now I can take advantage of this... "Well, that's no surprise!" I started. I felt my lips curl into a smile, but in a devious way. I looked up and caught a glimpse of the rainbow-maned pony's face. Surprisingly, she was blushing furiously. "It's just that your HUGE ego can be heard from hundreds of miles away!" Instantly, her face dropped and she flinched. She let out a ferocious growl that was enough to frighten me. Uh oh... Did I go too far? I thought to myself. I cringed as I waited for what came next. "... You're lucky that I'm loyal to everypony, or else you would've--" she stopped herself from proceeding. She heaved a sigh, and kept quiet. I did the same. I was never good at expressing my feelings through words... or actions, for that matter. Whenever I wanted to make somepony happy by complimenting them or helping them, I'd always end up making them cry for whatever reason. It seemed that I brought misfortune everywhere I went. Sure enough, I was soon dubbed as, 'The Bad and Misfortunate Trixie', by my fourth grade classmates. Of course, I slowly began getting used to the horrible nickname and it didn't provoke me any more, but it still stung every time it was mentioned. I also began adjusting to the feeling of loneliness... or at least, I tried to. After graduating from high school (and suffering years and years of taunting and teasing), I had enough. I didn't want to be alone any more, or suffer through more days of being called 'misfortunate'. Then, one day, a stallion, about the same age as me, began talking to me, much to my surprise. Nopony had ever started a normal conversation with me for ages. The only ponies who came and talk to me were the ones who were planning to spit vulgar words at my face. The stallion introduced himself as Stardust. He was a white unicorn with sandy and shaggy blonde hair. His cutie mark consisted of a telescope and a star, which implied his special talent was astronomy. He was friendly, courteous, kind and just very... charming. We kept in touch for weeks. Sometime later, he asked to meet up with me at a sandwich shop. That was when he decided to ask me out. Of course, I was taken back by surprise and left in shock. I was confused as to why he didn't hate me like everyone else. Naturally, I questioned him. "W-hu-wha-- why?" I asked intelligently. Stardust cocked his head in confusion, but nevertheless, he still held a bright smile on his face that made me blush. "Why are you so surprised?" he asked innocently. I gaped at him for moment. Was he serious? "Well... Nopony's ever asked me out before, let alone even come up and talk to me! I figured that you'd probably hate me too..." I replied solemnly. I was no longer making eye contact with him. Although the butterflies were always there, they were fluttering more violently in my stomach... but in a good way. He paused for a moment, and I took that as a cue to continue talking. "After all, I am the Bad and Misfortunate Trixie... Weak, awkward, ugly--" Stardust leapt out of his seat and covered my mouth with a hoof. He shook his head as a signal for me to stop talking. "Don't say that," he started. "I personally think you're great. You have a nice smile, you're pretty, and you're not awkward at all." he responded sincerely. Suddenly, he moved his hoof towards mine and held it tightly. He shot me a grin that was enough to make me feel like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. I sighed. To be frank, I didn't know what to say. I shook my head. "I don't know... I-I'm just not sure." "And that's okay!" he exclaimed with a gentle chuckle. "I wasn't expecting you to answer right away anyway. I just... really like you, and I'm willing to wait." I looked up and smiled back at him. My eyes were welling up with... happiness. I could feel it in my heart. I really liked him, but for some reason, I was unable to give him a proper response. Nevertheless, he was kind enough to give me time. I thanked him for the lunch before taking off. After that, I went over to the nearest park and sat down, deep in thought about what had happened. Then, suddenly, a group of mares that I recognized from high school came up to me. There were three of them, to be exact. One was an earth pony with magenta hair, another was a unicorn with red hair and finally, one was a pegasus with light purple hair that almost looked pink. I looked up at them. There was no doubt that they were going to cause me nothing but trouble. "Hey there, Dixie," said the earth pony coolly. She shoved her face in mine in an attempt to irritate and frighten me. It worked. I slid over a bit on the bench, but it was no use. There were three of them, and only one of me. "What's wrong, Mare of Misfortune?" the unicorn snorted. "Got no one to play with?" Her words stung. "... What do you want?" I asked quietly. "What was that? Got something to say?" the pegasus scowled. I shook my head in response. I could feel myself quivering. "Thought so." "Have a loser party here?" "You haven't changed a bit since high school, the Bad and Misfortunate Trixie." "Pah, it's no surprise that nopony loves you!" "Yeah, nopony except me," said a familiar voice. The mares and I whipped our heads up, and sure enough, there stood Stardust. "Oh hey, Stardust!" the earth pony exclaimed flirtatiously as she walked up to him and tried to hug him, but he simply smacked her hoof away, much to our surprise. "Stardust..." I mumbled. He smiled at me and gave me a reassuring look. "Just what were you doing with her?" he demanded for an answer. The three mares looked around sheepishly, frantically searching for appropriate excuses to make themselves look better. "We were just--" "Socializing with her." "Yeah! ... Socializing," muttered the pegasus. Stardust raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Leave Trixie alone!" Stardust shouted angrily. The mares exchanged glances with one another. They must've been thinking that Stardust was crazy for defending me. To be honest, I did too. Nevertheless, the three backed off. As they left, I heard them muttering dirty things about Stardust under their breaths. Why, if I wasn't so paralyzed back then, I would've chased after them... But unfortunately, I wasn't so 'Great and Powerful' then as I am now. It came as a great shock when Stardust blatantly expressed his feelings for me when he interrupted the scene. He said that he loved me. While I didn't believe him, there was something in his eyes that proved to me he wasn't lying. Unfortunately, ever since that happened, I started avoiding him-- just so we wouldn't have to get tangled up into awkward situations-- however, even up to this day, I still regret doing that. Only weeks later, he moved away. He left without so much as a goodbye, but I couldn't blame him. It was I who strictly decided on ignoring him. Days went by, and by then, I had finally realized that... my first love turned out to be a disaster. I shook my head to get myself back into reality. The pegasus pony continued to carry us both through the air, neither of us showing the intention of uttering even a single word to each other.