//------------------------------// // The Not So Great And Powerful // Story: She Knows How To Treat A Lady // by MysteriousStranger //------------------------------// It was a dark and stormy night in Ponyville. The rain fell in torrents, cascading over the land, but all safety measures had been taken and everypony was inside. All but one pony, who was limping alone in the middle of the storm. The pony wore a lavender cape with stars all over it and a wide-brimmed hat. She could barely see anything more than two meters away due to the storm. “This is outrageous!” The mysterious pony said. “I’m the Great and Powerful Trixie! How could somepony as important as me end up like this?!” Trixie was fighting against the wind with every step she took, but it was too much. She needed shelter, not that she’d ever admit it. She huffed. “Humiliated, again! Trixie can’t believe it… And she can’t believe the reason she’s here, either! This is the town where she was first humiliated! Trixie promised herself not to return, and yet, she's here!” The blue Unicorn sighed and continued limping. One of her legs was bleeding. “Trixie can’t even trust herself…” Suddenly, the wind blew stronger and pushed Trixie backwards. She tried to hold her hat down, but the gust proved to be too powerful for her, taking her hat. The magician pony tried to catch it, but as she stepped forward a wooden plank hit her in the head. She fell over, cursing when she landed face-first into a muddy puddle. She stood up and wiped the muck from her face. “Trixie will get back on her hooves… They’ll see… They will all see!” Her anger evaporated just as quickly as it had come as tears began to run down through her cheeks. “Now, Trixie has lost her favorite hat, she’s dirty, and to top it all off, she’s homeless. This can’t get any worse.” She slowly walked under an awning to protect herself from the fierce rain. She sat there, crying, as she remembered her humiliation. “Fillies and gentlecolts, for my next trick, Trixie will make this wagon full of potatoes disappear before your eyes!” The spectators weren’t amused at all; they were yawning and looking away throughout the entire performance. The blue Unicorn had noticed it and was planning to amaze them with the big finale. “Pay attention and don’t blink, or you may miss it!” Trixie said as she turned from the spectators to the wagon. Closing her eyes, she enveloped the cart in her magic. As she focused, sweat trickled down her forehead. She was about to make the wagon disappear when a spectator shouted: “You suck, stupid!” Trixie lost her concentration and the wagon full of potatoes exploded, causing chunks to rain down on the spectators. Trixie had fallen to the stage’s floor from the blast. As she stood back up, she was met only with boos and jeers from the angry crowd. “Get off the stage!” “What was that?!” “A foal could do better than you!” “It wasn’t my fault, somepony shouted!” But no pony listened. The spectators were still making fun of her, and were starting to throw what was left of the potatoes toward her. Trixie tried to dodge them, but the explosion had injured one of her legs, causing it to bleed. She fell, all of the potato remains pelting her as the crowd laughed mockingly. When the Unicorn felt that she was no longer being attacked, she stood up and glared at the spectators. “Fools! You will regret this!” “Oh no, we are so scared!” One of the ponies sarcastically said before bursting into a laughing fit, the rest of the spectators following him. Trixie turned to the exit of the stage, levitating her hat and coat with her. A single tear ran down her cheek as she limped off the stage, all the laughs stopping abruptly when she closed the door. “Insolents!” Trixie exclaimed, followed by a sob. She looked at one of her posters hanging on the wall and, in her fury, ripped it off. She went to where her wagon was, only to find it completely destroyed by vandals. Trixie couldn’t salvage any of the remains but for one photo which meant everything to her. She swallowed her tears before heading to the exit of the town, ignoring the pain of her injured leg. She didn’t want anypony to see her like this, but there were barely any ponies around anyway. She moved as fast as she could to leave town before any of the spectators could appear. Once out, she sighed and followed the road. The sun was already starting to set. “It’s over… That was the last town. Trixie has nowhere to go and she’s broke… What am I supposed to do now?” She kept walking, the injury bleeding more and more with each step she took. “I don't have any bits for a train ticket and I can’t stay in a hotel…” She stopped dead on her track as a thought came to her mind. “No! Trixie won’t go back to the place where it all started!” She yelled, stopping. ”Too many bad memories there; Trixie refuses to return!” But, then again, the Unicorn remembered that she had nowhere else to go, and didn’t have many bits left. Not to mention that she needed medical attention. She sighed loudly. “Seeing that there is no other option… I'll go back to Ponyville.” She once again started limping down the road. Ponyville wasn’t far, and she was sure she would be there before the sun dipped below the horizon. Trixie shook her head, trying to forget everything. She looked around, searching for something to cover her injury. She found nothing. “Just great… I lost my favorite hat and there’s nothing to wrap around my injury… And I'm still without a place to stay. What else could go wrong?” As she finished saying that, the awning above her ripped and all the water drenched her. Moments later, she sneezed. “What did I do to deserve this? I only wants to make a living… Is that too much to ask for?” Trixie said as she started to cry again. Nopony had ever seen her crying; she always did it when she was alone. She moved out from underneath the ripped off awning and noticed a building nearby. It was decorated in familiar purple designs. “This is the boutique of that Unicorn who believes to be sophisticated… I remember coming here once when the Alicorn Amulet took over me. What was her name again?” Trixie asked to herself before sneezing again. She knocked on the door as loudly as she could, waiting a couple of minutes before knocking again. Finally, after five more minutes, the door opened. A white pony wearing a blue nightgown stood on the other side. At first, she was annoyed at having an unannounced visitor so late, but she got surprised when she saw who it was. “Trixie?” Rarity said in confusion, her expression turning into a serious one and she spoke in an angry tone. “What are you, ruffian, doing here?” Trixie slowly looked up at the fancy Unicorn with a weak look. “Trixie needs help…”