//------------------------------// // Final Destination // Story: Home // by moviefreak523 //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Final Destination The Great and Powerful Trixie looks saddening outside of the moving train window as snowflakes fall past her through the dark, cold night. With only a few bits and a nice pink and white scarf to call her own, The Great and Powerful Trixie is frustrated, angry, and discouraged at what happened to her in the last six months. This is followed by being scared and numbed at what is going to happen in the next thirty minutes. Ever since that horrific day in Ponyville, The Great and Powerful Trixie's self-esteem and confidence took a nose dive into the ground and beyond. Seeing what that purple unicorn did that she could not do was bad enough. She could have just said that her magic was not as strong given her constant display earlier in the day and maybe able to save some of that reputation that she garner over the last three years. But, when it was revealed that it was an Ursa Minor, not a Major, she could feel her body being push down to the ground by all the Ponyville citizens with their eyes. She wanted to get out of there with as much dignity as she could save. But, it did not take long afterwards for that to escape from her. Before she went to the next town to perform, she practiced long and hard, getting herself warmed-up to wow the audience with the magic of The Great and Powerful Trixie. With her stage carriage and her costume destroyed in Ponyville, it almost felt like she was all the way back to square one. But, she did not let that harm her usual routine. She managed to shoot off her fireworks. She managed to lift up items that are twice as large. She is able to conjure up things out of thin air. All these tricks and more The Great and Powerful Trixie could do. But, when it came to her stories of great triumph and heroism, The Great and Powerful Trixie's tongue could not form the words that she needed. It was as if her tongue refuses to tell another lie. As hard and mightily as she tried, The Great and Powerful Trixie failed to have herself tell the tale of how she saved the village of Hoofington from the Ursa Minor (she figured she could try to be a bit more realistic). Or, the time that she saved Fillydelphia from a dragon. When she could not tell her usual stories, she tried to come up with new ones. She was in the middle of the story of how saved Manehatten from being swallowed up by the sea by a giant squid before abandoning it because of how absurd it was starting to get. After what happened, she needs to be more cautious. So, with her stories on hiatus, her magic tricks are all she could do without falter. With that, The Great and Powerful Trixie set out to reclaim her reputation. After nearly five months, while she never rose as quickly to her previous standing as she had when she first started out, she was able to earn enough bits regularly to have some good food and a place to sleep nearly every day. However, her employer (her audience) does not seem to be willing to raise her paycheck. By that time, her confidence in herself has skyrocketed. So, she decided to give her stories a try, believing that nopony would remember anything that would happen months ago in some place called Ponyville. Not when they have The Great and Powerful Trixie telling the tale. But, that seemed to backfire on her when she was in Manehatten and she gave her name out to the pony audience and they associated it with what happened in Ponyville with the Ursa Minor incident. The Great and Powerful Trixie tries to retort the story, but her tongue holds its ground, refusing her to defend herself. As she watches the ponies push her down to the ground with their eyes, she was force to concede herself by not saying a word. She did not bother looking at the disappearing crowd. That was about three weeks ago, and the weather was getting cold. For the first time since leaving Ponyville, she didn't have a place to sleep or is scarcely eating something. There were days where she did not eat anything from sunrise to sunset. Every three or four days, she was able to work enough money to have a place to sleep. It did not get any better than that. On her last day in Manehatten, she was walking down the docks after a less than stellar show. She was able to get a few bits to add to her slow growing collection in her small purse. She is nowhere close to getting a room to sleep, but she does have plenty for something to eat to give her some strength. She ordered some apple pastries and a nice warm cup of cocoa. She sat on a bench, overlooking the slowly freezing ocean on the side of the dock, savoring her first hot meal in two days. Just last week, she took a chance and purchase a pink and white wool scarf, hoping that it'll keep her warm a bit and make her look a little more presentable. As she finish up her first pastry, she starts to look around herself and found that she is both is and not alone. She sees families walking together, with the sires and mares along with their fillies and colts. She sees couples walking down with their bodies close to each other for warmth. She sees groups of ponies, laughing and talking about anything and everything. Looking at them and comparing herself, she is in such a miserable state. With all of these ponies around her, she feels like she is the only pony in Equestria. And, for the first time, she understands that she, and she alone, contributed it. With that in mind, she begins to wonder if anypony would actually miss The Great and Powerful Trixie if she does something to end all of this pain that she is starting to feel. Then, a thought crossed her mind as looks between the different groups of friends, family, and lovers and seeing how happy they are. She remembers how happy she was when she was a filly herself, being with their family. When was it that she actually talked to them, her family? She counted up the days, then the weeks, then the months, and, finally, the years and came to the conclusions that it has been three years since The Great and Powerful Trixie ran away from home. Her head drops down in shame at the fact, but she justifies it that they were trying to hold her back from her destiny. They kept telling her that she cannot earn a living as a showmare, that it was difficult and tiring. She keeps telling them that her Cutie Mark appeared when she was showing magic with her gift of storytelling of the old Mare's Tales and Legends of Equestria to a large group of ponies, and that it was her destiny. That was the last night she spent at her house with her family. She snuck out, carrying everything she could carry and she never looked back. Until now. She must admit that she actually hardly thought about the family she left behind. Now, with the shows absent from her, she has more time on her hoofs to think about anything but her destiny. And, with her family returning to their mind in full force, she has to choke back a sob as the nostalgia waves over her body as she remembers how good they have been to her. Her father, her mother, her big brother, who is now married and has a little colt of his own. She looks up from the deck and looks out at the darkening skies as clouds began to move in from the ocean. It looked like snow is coming, and it is not going to be nice to Manehatten. Especially to The Great and Powerful Trixie if she does not find somewhere to shelter from the oncoming storm. While the weather pegasei usually keeps blizzards to a minimum, they would, sometimes, let a weak one go so it can cover the lands in snow in preparedness for winter. She imagines that her hometown would be experiencing the same thing tonight. Speaking of winter, Hearth's Warmth Day is approaching fast. Her head is being flooded with memories of her sitting around the fire as she and her brother listens intently to their father as he tells them the famous story of how Equestria was made, along with stories of their hometown's history while her mother tries desperately to keep her husband from telling the scary ones. Those really were the good old days. She would love to repeat them all over again. If her family is up to it. Her head dropped by that last thought. It has been almost three years and she has never attempted to make contact with them, possibly out of fear that they would try to bring her back home. They may not have tried to look for her themselves, given her frequent movement of all over Equestria. Did they actually forget about her? If they did not, are they angry at her for leaving without their consent? Do they still even love her? The last question sends shivers up her body, cannot even imagined how those loving eyes could look at her with hatred. It seems incomprehensible to her. But, she did run away from them. She could only imagine how much she hurt them. Her poor mother crying her eyes out as if her only filly died while her father tires in vain to comfort her. Her big brother, who the two have been very close all their lives despite the age difference of six years, is depressed by the thought of losing her. How could they forgive her for forcing them into such a situation? Maybe she better not attempt to go back home. But, as if a counterattack, all the memories of her times she spent with them, all the good times, came flooding out all over her mind. The picnics, the parties, them watching all of her performances after she discovers her Cutie Mark in that last summer. They were not shy in showing her how much they are so proud of her. She remembers her brother's wedding day where she acted as the flower girl. It was not long afterwards that her sister-in-law, who is a family friend, gave birth to a beautiful colt, her nephew. He must be five years old right now, and a few hands taller. The image of his sweet, little face made The Great and Powerful Trixie smile for the first time in months. Starlight Carnival is his name. He may not even remember her, which he could not miss her. However, she sure does miss him. All of them. She wants to see them again. With two conflicting emotions and futures, The Great and Powerful Trixie need to make a fateful decision. With a bit of her magic, her little purse opens and a gold bit flies out until it stopped eye-level of the blue unicorn's. She looks at the side where the image of Princess Celestia's profile is stamped, smiling as if she will help The Great and Powerful Trixie make this decision. She turns the bit around and finds the image of the sun that is the exact replicate of the Princess's Cutie Mark. She, then, gives each side their roles. Princess Celestia's head, she will go back home. The Sun Cutie Mark, she'll go somewhere else. She held in her breath and tosses the bit until it could flip over each side as it starts to drop from her magical hold. She hears the bit hit the deck with a clink and she looks down at it. The Sun Cutie Mark is looking back at her. She set out a sigh that she is confused as to whether it should represent disappointment or relief. Either way, it does not matter. Fate as told her that she should go somewhere else. Where, that is hardly important. The only place she knows that she is not going is back home. As she finishes up her last pastry and cocoa, she picks up her gold bit and head for the train station. As she arrives there, she is happy to see that the station is not congested as she feared, as well as having enough money for a ticket to anywhere. Without looking at what lines are open, she decided to let fate decide again on where she should go. After couple of minutes of arguing, the ticket master obliged her strange request and print out the ticket. After she pays for it and walks away, The Great and Powerful Trixie looks at her ticket stub and reads what her next destination is: Home.