To Lead a Better Life

by Prince Colgate

New Beginnings

Princess Luna sat in her chamber, cold and alone. She had no responsibilities any more aside from raising the moon at night. When it came down to it, all she wanted was a little bit of recognition, and now, she’s even less recognized than before. Invisible, hated, like a slave raising the moon every night because her master’s too lazy to do it herself.

Though Luna realized that the reason Celestia allowed Luna to raise the moon still was so she could feel like she was contributing something to society? Either way, Luna knew all to well how useless she was to everypony.

For Luna, life consisted of routine, and then more routine. She woke up, lived her days in lonesome solitude, then rose the moon at night. Then she lived through the night the same way. Nothing changed. It was the same thing everyday. The same, dull, lifeless routine. It was no better than being on the moon.

One night, Luna finally got tired of the lifelessness. She wrote a letter and laid it gently on her bed. It read:

Dear sister,

I am sorry; I really appreciate you trying to include me in leadership of Equestria. However, I simply do not feel like I belong here any longer. I am leaving to find a place where I will belong. I am truly sorry it’s come to this, but I feel it’s for the best.

Your loving sister,
Princess Luna
P.S. Please don’t try to look for me. I am sure we
will all be much happier this way.

She packed a suitcase with some normal pony clothes, including clothes to cover her wings to prevent ponies from being suspicious of a random Alicorn roaming about. She’d yet to discover a spell that would make her appear to be a normal Unicorn or Pegasus. She’d searched for long hours with no success.

She spread her wings and took flight off of her balcony and into her clear, beautiful night.

She flew over Canterlot. Not to her surprise, everypony was inside sleeping. She looked up and saw the stars and the moon, in all their intricate beauty, and truly wondered why no one else saw what she did in the night sky.

She no longer saw the point of eternal night either. Why force the ponies to be in the dark? They won't enjoy it like she wants them too anyway. At this point, she knew that starting a new life was the absolute best option.

She flew out of Canterlot. Now along with the feeling of being unappreciated, she was feeling lonely as well. Just a lonely Goddess, flying off into the night.

It was less than an hour later that she was flying over Fillydelphia. It seemed similar to Canterlot in so many ways. Everypony was inside, sleeping, rather than enjoying the beautiful night sky.

As Luna continued her flight over Fillydelphia, something unusual caught her eye. A pony! A little, blue unicorn, sitting on a street corner, with nothing but a single saddlebag, crying in the moonlight.

Luna wasn't able to just ignore this. The pony looked as lonely as she was. She felt she had no choice but to at least try to comfort her. She landed in a nearby alley-way, and pulled a purple, star-embroidered shawl out of her suitcase. She threw it over her back to cover her wings, and stepped out into the open.

She quietly stepped over and kneeled down beside the unicorn. The blue unicorn looked up, tears in her eyes. Luna smiled at her. "What do you want?" The unicorn asked.

"You were crying", Luna said in a comforting voice, "You looked lonely."

"I..." The blue pony averted her eyes from Luna's gaze. "I'm the Great and Powerful Trixie! I'm the most magical unicorn in Equestria! Show pony... Extraordinaire!” She paused for a few seconds. “.. Nopony appreciates me! They HATE me! They call me a fraud and chase me out of town!” With that, Trixie began to bawl.

"Oh. That is really unfortunate... If it's any comfort, I understand what it's like to be un-appreciated."

"Really? What do you do?"

Luna looked up at the sky. "That."

Trixie looked up as well, then back to Luna. "Wait a minute... You're..."

"Shh" Luna smiled, holding a hoof to her lips. "I'm hiding."

"What do you mean?" Trixie sniffled.

"Nopony appreciated me back in Canterlot. They didn't let me do anything aside from raising the moon every night. I could have been doing so much more! So I left. Now I'm hiding as a normal unicorn, looking for some place new, and a new life, where I may be more appreciated."

Trixie sniffed the tears out of her eyes and looked up at the sky. "... It's beautiful."

"... Thank you. Miss Great and Powerful Trixie."

Trixie smiled, for the first time all night.

"So where do you sleep?" Luna asked Trixie as they walked down the streets of Fillydelphia together.

"Um... Well, wherever I happen to be when I'm tired usually."

"You don't have a home?"

"No. I had a cart I took with me that worked as a stage too... But I sort of left it in Ponyville when I was... Chased out of town. I went back for it and couldn't find it."

"Well, that's no good. How do you perform now?"

"I usually just do little magic in parks and stuff. It's not nearly as marvelous. All I have left is my hat. I had a cape too, but it was stolen from me in Manehattan... I loved that cape."

Luna turned her head to the blue unicorn, whose head was facing the ground solemnly. "Hm..." Luna magicked her shawl off and placed it on Trixie's back. "It doesn't QUITE match the hat, but it's close."

Trixie stopped walking and looked at the beautiful shawl that was now over her back. "I... It's beautiful. It's perfect!" Luna stopped too and looked back at her. That's when Trixie noticed her exposed wings. "If you're searching for a new life, shouldn't you not have wings? They're sort of a dead giveaway as to who you are."

"That's a really good point, but I just couldn't find a spell to get rid of them."

Trixie smiled. "That's weird. Because I happen to know a spell that's perfect for this. I used it on some pegasi back in Manehattan as a shock-trick. Here, spread your wings."

Luna gave an unsure look, and then spread her wings to full length. Trixie closed her eyes and focused, and a large concentration of magic formed around her horn.

"Eep!" Luna squeaked since the spell stung a little. When she looked back, her wings were completely gone. "Wow! Perfect." She turned back and smiled at Trixie, slightly embarrassed that a unicorn knew a spell an Alicorn didn’t. "You really are the most magical unicorn in Equestria."

Luna used some of the bits she'd packed to pay for a two-bed room at the Phillydelphia Inn for her and Trixie. They were both exhausted, and went to bed immediately. They lay in bed silently for several minutes, before Trixie broke the silence. "Luna, are you asleep yet?"

"No, not yet." Her bed was aligned well with the window, so she had a good view of the night sky from where she was laying.

"You're a Goddess and what not. And I'm the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria. Think about it, together we could be so great!"

"Honestly, no matter how good you are, it's hard to be impressive as a street magician in a society built around magic."

"No! I don't mean performance. We could do so much more. We could rob a bank SO easily. We could bring Phillydelphia to its knees! I think, we could eventually take over all of Equestria!"

"You wouldn’t. Trust me, it’s easy to say things like that... But actually doing them is another story entirely.”

Trixie sighed. "... I... I know... I just... I want ponies to notice me. I want ponies to know the name Trixie!”

“Well, if you keep doing magic shows around Equestria, ponies are bound to remember you someway another.” Luna chuckled. Trixie shared the chuckle.

The next morning, the two went their separate ways. Trixie, who was allowed to keep Luna's shawl, set out for a new city, hopefully one more appreciative of her magnificent showponyship. Luna, on the other hand, caught a train bound for Celestia knows where. Where she was going didn't matter to her. She no longer had wings to worry about, so she could now do whatever she wanted and not be noticed as an alicorn.

The train came to a stop and Luna stepped off, ready for a new life. She set out down the streets of the little town, not knowing entirely where she was. The train conductor had probably announced it, but she wasn't really paying attention. She caught the attention of a yellow Earth Pony stallion.

"Excuse me, this may sound weird but... What town is this?"

"Why, this is Ponyville!" He smiled, though also gave her somewhat of a strange look. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped slightly. She hurried back to the train station. "When's the next train out of here!?" She asked frantically.

"Tomorrow." The attendant answered, stone-faced.

Luna sighed. Of all places, why Ponyville? Ah well, she just had to make the best of it. Maybe nopony would recognize her without her wings?

"Princess Luna?" She turned and saw a familiar, purple unicorn. She sighed, more heavily than the first sigh. Whelp, so much for that idea.

Comments

Damn cliffhangers.
But still I enjoyed the start so far although I think that Trixies proposal to become a pair of criminals was a bit heavy.
Anyway I look forward to the next chapter.

[Gummers]

Loved that, can't wait till the next chapter.

[gapaot]

Good work with Trixie. I like how she's sad but still full of herself. And yeah, it was unfair - she did put a good show.