//------------------------------// // Dreams of Greatness // Story: When Did I Stop Forgiving? // by The Engineer Pony //------------------------------// The cheers of a thousand excited ponies assaulted Trixie’s ears. Hidden behind the stage’s curtain, Trixie could not yet see the multitude of her admirers, but she could imagine. The crowd sounded larger and more frenzied than any she could remember. How fitting, that her biggest crowd would gather to witness the greatest performance in stage history. This night, Trixie would prove once and for all that she was the most spectacular pony to ever live. As the curtain rose, Trixie stepped into the light with a proud strut. Ponies stomped and clapped and hollered at her appearing. Fireworks exploded in the sky above, adding further to the cacophony. Their bright colors threw Trixie into relief as she took a bow. Then she extended a hoof and the assembled masses fell silent. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will now perform a feat never seen before by ponykind!” Trixie exclaimed. The crowd responded with a roar of anticipation. “Trixie would like to welcome her assistant, Starlight Glimmer!” With a twirl of her cape, Trixie turned to greet Starlight as she joined Trixie on the stage. Starlight grinned nervously as she stepped forward. She bowed politely and faced Trixie. Trixie took a step back, putting some distance between herself and Starlight. She gave her assistant a reassuring wink before addressing the crowd once more. “And now, the Great and Powerful Trixie will make this pony disappear!” Trixie reared up in exuberance, her front hooves reaching toward the sky. Then she slammed her hooves down on the stage, lowered her head, and shot a beam of magic at Starlight. In a flash of light, Starlight vanished. The crowd applauded once more. Trixie paused for a moment to savor their adoration before sweeping into a low bow. “Trixie can make anypony disappear!” she cried. “Anypony at all!” Scanning the ponies in front of her, Trixie’s eyes fell on an alicorn in the front row. The alicorn’s crown gleamed brightly in the light of the fireworks. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will make Princess Twilight Sparkle vanish!” Another blast of magic emanated from her horn and engulfed the startled Twilight. A moment later, she was gone. Another cheer rose. “Thank you, thank you!” Trixie said as she searched the crowd once more. “Now, watch as Trixie removes five ponies at once!” She took aim at a collection of ponies cowering off to the side: two earth ponies, two pegasi, and a unicorn. In an instant, Twilight’s friends disappeared. “Nopony can stand before the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie launched a beam into the crowd. “Nopony can match her talent and grandeur!” She unleashed another burst of magic. “Nopony can rival her prowess!” Another flash of power. “Nopony can be her equal!” Flash. “Nopony at all!” Flash. Flash. Flash. Trixie paused to search for more targets. Thousands of ponies had flocked to the park where Trixie had set up her stage; thousands had gathered to witness her greatness. But now Trixie only saw the still visage of an empty field. A gentle breeze swept over the grass and rustled a nearby bush. A lone bird chirped softly from its perch in a tree on the other side of the park. The scene was completely devoid of ponies. The Great and Powerful Trixie just stood there, waiting for applause that could never come. She waited, half expecting another crowd to come and cheer her greatness, and half expecting the silence to linger forever. “Greatness sure is lonely, isn’t it?” came a soft voice behind her. With a startled jump, Trixie turned. Twilight Sparkle walked carefully toward her, a somber look upon her face. She joined Trixie at the front of the stage, gazing out over the featureless meadow in front of them. “Twilight?” Trixie asked in surprise. “Why are you here? Didn’t Trixie already banish you? Or is the wonderful and majestic Princess Twilight too stubborn to know when she isn’t wanted?” Twilight said nothing, and she continued to stare straight ahead. For a moment, though, Trixie thought she saw a tear glisten in Twilight’s eye. Then Trixie noticed something else. Her voice faltered as she addressed Twilight. “Where…what happened to your wings?” Before her stood a unicorn. No gaudy wings sprouted from Twilight’s flank; no crown adorned her crest. In fact, Trixie noticed that Twilight stood at the same height as her, as if she had shrunk slightly from her alicorn form to the size of a typical unicorn. A brief grin lit up Twilight’s face. “This is a dream, Trixie. Princess Luna brought me here to talk to you.” “ A dream?” Trixie smiled smugly. “Well, in that case…” A pair of wings erupted from her back. Twilight faced Trixie. She silently contemplated her companion’s new wings, and then she closed her eyes and sighed. “Trixie.” “Yes, Twilight?” Trixie sneered. Twilight opened her eyes. Her gaze bored into Trixie. “We both know those can’t make you feel better.” “I…Trixie has no idea what you mean!” Trixie snapped. “Trixie, please,” Twilight pleaded. “Starlight told me about your envy. You’re afraid you’ll never be as capable and successful as you seem to think I am.” “She told you about that?” Trixie asked harshly. “She said she would keep it a secret.” “Starlight’s your friend, Trixie.” Twilight kept her voice calm. “She wants to help you.” Twilight glanced over her shoulder and gave a small nod. Trixie turned too, and received her second shock of the night. Starlight Glimmer hesitantly approached the pair, her eyes downcast. Without a word, Starlight took her place next to Trixie, on the side opposite Twilight. Trixie swallowed at the sight of her friend. Suddenly words started pouring out as guilt welled up within her. “I’m sorry, Starlight! I didn’t want to make friends with you just to upstage Twilight, I really didn’t! I can’t tell you how much it meant to me when you came back to help me with the Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive. I don’t know why I let my jealousy of Twilight get in the way of our friendship!” Trixie broke off and waited for a response. Starlight finally looked at Trixie. For a brief second, her expression was cold and hard. But then her countenance softened into a smile. “Nopony’s perfect, Trixie. Maybe you just had trouble believing you were given a second chance. I know I did.” “Did I?” Trixie wondered. “But I thought it was other ponies who didn’t want to give me another chance.” Trixie shot a look at Twilight. She had meant for it to be a suspicious glare, but a slight hesitation betrayed her feelings of shame. “I didn’t fully trust you, and I’m sorry,” Twilight replied meekly. Starlight spoke up. “But her misgivings were well intended. In my case, they only stung because I feared Twilight didn’t care for me. I still felt like I was unworthy of her friendship, and was afraid she only tolerated me so long as I behaved exactly the way she wanted me to. But friendship isn't based on how well you perform.” The phrasing of Starlight’s statement caught Trixie’s attention. “I’m a showmare. Performing is what I do.” “When giving a magic show, that’s a good thing,” Twilight said gently. “But when it comes to making friends, wanting to put on a performance will just get in the way.” A realization struck Trixie. “I thought that if I became great enough and powerful enough, and if I put on a spectacular enough show, ponies would finally realize I was worth something. And…I would finally realize I was worth something.” Trixie lowered her head in shame. The wings upon her back faded to nothingness. A hoof came to rest on each of Trixie’s shoulders. The unicorns on either side drew closer to comfort her. Twilight spoke first. “Fame is not a measure of a pony’s worth, and admiration is no substitute for the love of a friend. When I first came to Ponyville, I learned how much more valuable friendship was than achieving perfection as Celestia’s prized pupil.” Starlight added, “Never forget, we’re your friends, Trixie. Your skill with stage magic is amazing, and we admire your ability. But our friendship runs deeper than that. We care about you, as a pony.” A tear formed in Trixie’s eyes. Before she could wipe it away, several more tears began streaming down her muzzle. Trixie stood there, weeping, not bothering to try to compose herself. The soothing weight of the hooves upon her shoulders told her it was fine to cry. The three friends stood there for the rest of the night. Each one cried, in turn, and each one comforted the others with her presence. Finally, as dawn broke, Luna brought the ponies back to their own slumbers. It was time for them to rest.