Two weeks.
It's been two weeks since Trixie ran away from Ponyville once again.
Two weeks since Trixie was freed from the corruptive powers of the Alicorn Amulet. All thanks to the purple mare from Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle. When Twilight fooled Trixie into taking the Amulet off, she could no longer hear the whispers from that evil charm. No more was she a slave to the sinister thoughts corrupting her mind. Once Trixie was freed, she was finally able to see the error of her ways. She had single-hoofedly seized control of a rural pony town all in the pursuit of vengeance.
She cast an iron, totalitarian grip over the entire town and struck fear and hatred into the hearts of Ponyville's residents. Looking back on it now, Trixie thought that it wasn't the best idea ever, but at the time, her behavior and personality allowed it. Now that the duel was over, Trixie believed that the best course of action was to get out of Ponyville to avoid any retaliation from its residents but before that, however, Trixie felt like she should make amends with Twilight.
On her way out, Trixie noticed that Twilight was putting on a show for Princess Celestia and her associates from Saddle Arabia. Trixie thought that Twilight's animal show could use a little more...flair. Summoning her showmare magic, Trixie unleashed a volley of fireworks from her horn and exploded them around Twilight's levitating animals. When asked why, Trixie explained it was her way of atoning to Twilight and her friends. In the back of her mind, Trixie was afraid that Twilight would reject her apology and shun her from her life forever.
Despite her concerns, Trixie threw caution to the wind and carried out with her apology. "You can forgive me, can you?" With that, Trixie mustered the best puppy dog eyes and pouty lip that she could to maximize her apology. The wait for Twilight's response felt like an eternity, but after a few seconds, Twilight gladly accepted Trixie's apology. With relief coursing through her veins, Trixie threw a smoke bomb and galloped (and tripped) off into the night.
Since her departure from Ponyville, Trixie decided to take up showmareship once again. The closest city for her to restart her career was Manehatten. It was a fairly large city with lots of residents as well as talented ponies performing a wide range of entertainment there. Also, the city had a few parks that would fit Trixie's love of performing outside. With all the features that city had to offer, Manehatten seemed like the best bet for Trixie. So without a second thought, Trixie set a course for Manehatten.
In as little as a day, Trixie arrived to the bustling city of Manehatten. Trixe was amazed at the sheer size of the bustling city. Everywhere she looked she saw ponies going to work, catching taxi carriages, or simply relaxing and enjoying themselves. As soon as she was done taking in all the sights, Trixie then started to focus on restarting her life and her career. Her first idea was to reserve a spot at one of Manehatten's theaters, but there were two problems with that. First, getting into one of those theaters was extremely difficult. In order to perform in the theater, one would either have to be a part of a production group or know a very good agent who could get them in.
Unfortunately for Trixie, she was strictly a solo act who never relied on an agent to get her work. Whenever she roamed around, she was able to easily find opportunities to perform. The second problem was that the Manehatten theaters only accepted ponies who had the skill to keep the shows fresh and exciting. Since Trixie was a traveling showmare, she only had to stick to one type of show. At every town that she visited, the residents were oblivious to the fact that Trixie could only put on one show. For them, her show was a new and exciting experience. If Trixie did go into the theater, she would probably only last a few days before her act became incredibly monotonous.
It was easy for Trixie to see that the theater was not the place for her. Thinking back to her time on the road Trixie realized that all of her shows were held outdoors. They didn't require much setting up, they allowed for a large group of ponies to see her shows comfortably, and Trixie enjoyed performing outside on a beautiful day. Whenever Trixie weighed her best options for restarting her career, they all pointed back to her performing outside. Without a second thought, Trixie decided to start putting on shows in Manehatten's park.
For the first week, everything was going well for Trixie. At first, Trixie performed free side shows in the park and would have her hat off to the side to allow for donations. When she started off, a few ponies would stop and check out some of Trixie's magic acts, which consisted of basic tricks such as levitation, summoning objects out of nowhere, and card tricks. Knowing to avoid past mistakes, Trixie only focused on the well-being of the audience, and left her pride behind. Since her duel with Twilight, Trixie had become a new mare.
No more did she demand attention from her viewers. No more did she humiliate her hecklers in front of the audience. She started viewing things from the perspectives of other ponies and how she appeared in their eyes. As a result, Trixie started to attract more and more ponies to her outdoor sideshow which, in turn, brought in more donated bits which helped to put her up in a basic motel room until she could afford a place of her own.
For once in her life, Trixie was finally happy. Ponies were starting to respect Trixie for her given talent rather than giving it to her whenever she demanded it. Trixie's shows in the park were popular with ponies of all ages, especially with little colts and fillies. Whenever Trixie was performing, she always heard the excited shrieks of foals begging their parents to go see her show. Things were starting to look up for Trixie, and for once, she believed that her life could get drastically better.
That is, until the nightmares started happening. By her second week in Manehatten, Trixie started to suffer from severe nightmares. At first, they seemed like an isolated incident to Trixie. Everypony had nightmares from time to time, it was a normal, albeit terrifying, part of life. As the week went on, Trixie's nightmares started to become more and more disturbing.
Now, it's time for you to leave Ponyville, FOREVER!
That was supposed to make you writhe in agony.
Anything you can do, I can do better.
I expected better from you, Trixie.
My daughter is a disappointment to me.
I am embarrassed and disgusted to call you my child.
Every night, Trixie would wake up in her motel bed in a cold sweat with her heart beating rapidly. Whenever she woke up from her nightmares, Trixie would break down and start crying while feeling a combination of guilt and sorrow, the former from her past actions in PonyVille, the latter from her personal life. Ever since the nightmares started happening, Trixie's shows started to degrade in quality. Onstage, Trixie always looked like she was tired and distracted. Her normal attendants became less entertained by her acts and would usually walk away without donating any bits. Even the foals who were always excited by her shows were disappointed in Trixie and would always leave with a frown on their face.
Towards the end of the week, Trixie was at wits end. As her nightmares grew worse, her shows became boring and unpleasant, and her mental health was starting to degrade. In her mind, Trixie knew that she could not go on any longer like this, she needed to get help before her nightmares consumed her. But where could she turn? Psychiatrists were too expensive, and they tended to go in depth. Trixie did not feel comfortable sharing certain parts of her past to a complete stranger as well.
Trixie couldn't get help from anypony in Manehatten due to the fact that she had no friends or relatives living in the city. Family members weren't possible since they were in Fillydelphia and Trixie had left there for...personal reasons. Other towns were out of the question as well. During her time on the road, Trixie had humiliated some hecklers in front of her audience and left a bad image with the town populace. Who can I turn to? Trixie thought to herself. Ponies either don't know me well enough or they hate me. I need help but I don't know who I can trust. Wait a minute, this may be a long shot, but what about Twilight Sparkle?! Sure Trixie apologized to her about her past actions, but what if she was still holding a secret grudge?
What if Twilight angrily turned Trixie away and shunned her from Ponyville? How would she get help then? Even though returning to Ponyville once more was a big risk, Trixie decided it was better than dealing with more nightmares. Settling in for the night, Trixie attempted to get a good night's rest for once.
Early in the morning, Trixie put on her iconic hat and cape, checked out of the motel and departed from Manehatten to Ponyville. The previous night had, unfortunately, yielded another nightmare for Trixie. If anything, the past night had only steeled her resolve to seek out Twilight once more. On the walk to Ponyville, Trixie was deeply thinking about herself and her life up to this point.
"How is this my fate? Why must life be so cruel to me? After all the struggles, all the hardships...all the abuse, why is my life still horrible? I've atoned for my past grievances and I left my troubled years behind me. Isn't that enough? Why can't I just be happy?"
Even after asking herself those questions, Trixie couldn't come up with answers to any of them.
After what felt like an eternity, Trixie finally made it to the outskirts of Ponyville. She was exhausted, tired, hungry, thirsty, and her hooves ached from walking all day. It was fairly late at night and Trixie noticed that most of the buildings in PonyVille were dark. At first, Trixie was worried that Twilight had gone to bed already. Trixie did not want to face another round of nightmares, her sanity just couldn't take it. After a fair amount of trotting through the empty streets, Trixie finally found the Golden Oaks Library, the home of Twilight Sparkle. To Trixie's relief, she noticed that there was still some lights on in the library, which meant that someone was still up. In a few seconds, Trixie soon found herself face to face with the door of the library.
After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Trixie raised a hoof and knocked on the door five times. As soon as Trixie put her hoof back down to the ground, she could hear the sound of the door opening. In an instant, Trixie was bathed in the warm light of the library and was graced by the presence of a confused looking Twilight. "Trixie?" asked Twilight, "What are you doing back in Ponyville?" Slowly glancing up, Trixie stared into Twilight's rich violet eyes with the most solemn expression on her face, she simply asked, "Can I come in, please?"