Inner Demons: To Rise Again

by Lenora Goff

Prologue

The beautiful stars stared down on everypony, the moon smiled on the events that had just happened. Everypony was happy, now it was the moment that they had been saved again by their newest citizen. Many of them still remembered how she had saved them from Nightmare Moon, with the help of her six newest friends. There would be plenty of time for more stories about them to be written into the annals of history. Tonight was a night that had started with two colts, not as intelligent as their friends, who had decided that it was time for the entire town to see just how amazing The Great and Powerful Trixie was. It had all been Spike's idea, telling them how they couldn't believe a word she said on the basis of not actually having seen her vanquish an Ursa Major herself. Their mistake had cost them greatly, had almost cost the town greatly. Even their setback wasn't as major as the one that a certain showmare suffered because of that terrible night.

Trixie Lulamoon was going to have a long road ahead of her, she just didn't know it yet.

They don't know what I'm capable of. They will rue the day that they made fools of The Great and Powerful Trixie. I'll come back, I'll show them. There was no time for her to stop galloping, no time for her to possibly even think about slowing down. Trixie didn't want to see the town ever again, didn't want to have to deal with the fact that she had been shown to be a fraud. That Twilight! I despise her with every bone in my body. Her... magic. She couldn't possibly know how hard it is to be a showmare. All she does is do her little magic. Eyes looked up into the sky, a tear streaking down her face. Okay, so maybe she isn't such a weak unicorn. Her spells were more than I could accomplish. This was something that would never be acknowledged to another pony, there was no way that he could ever admit to being anything less than the greatest unicorn that ever lived.

This was just small setback. I will just have to find a new hat, it made the entire display more of a show, and I'll find a new audience. There won't be a single thing that will stop me from being able to show everypony just how amazing I truly am. To her, one failure was just one that, one small failure wouldn't stop her from showing everypony just how amazing she was. Ponyville was just one small town, perhaps not even a town by the standards of population. It had been one of the reasons why she had chosen that location. Trixie knew that small places, such as Ponyville, didn't have a lot of magic. She had even studied enough to know that the town was started by an Earth Pony, which meant that it wasn't anything like Canterlot. There wasn't a single great magical source there, or at least the assumption had been that. When she had gotten there, it had been proven right.

If it had been proven right, why am I the one that's running away.

By now, Ponyville wasn't even visible. Eyes looked back, trying to see if anypony had followed her, and luckily they hadn't. If she had to deal with any of them, especially that unicorn that lavender mare, she would lose her mind. Part of her had almost stayed, trying to see if there was anything left of her beloved wagon. That thing cost me a lot of bits. I don't really know if I can buy another one. Eyes looked back in front of her, she knew that she had to put on a show if she wanted to continue her life. She was, by no means, rich. Saving bits wasn't the thing that she had been taught to do, or more accurately it wasn't the thing that she had taught herself. Trixie exuded a sophisticated life, she had an image to maintain. When ponies came to her shows, they wanted to see a success. No success had a ratty mane, no success looked malnourished, no success was seen eating anything less than the best that life had to offer.

Of course, most successes didn't gallop from town with only a cape to keep them warm.

No! I am a success! There isn't a single pony that has gone through life without any troubles. I had a small one, but Ponyville won't ruin me. I won't let them win, I just won't let them. I will come back, one day, just to rub their noses in how successful I am. They will see me for what I am. I am Trixie Lulamoon, I am the greatest Unicorn that has ever lived! Even the biggest success sometimes got down, even Trixie sometimes needed some kind words. If others weren't going to provide them for her, then she was going to provide them for herself. Nopony else was going to keep her afloat, and nopony else was going to make sure that she had a place to stay. She was a self made mare, she didn't need any of them to keep her life on track. Right now, though, she needed to come up with a way to get some bits together. She needed to eat, she needed a wagon, she needed supplies, and she needed some place to rest. All of that pointed to a show, of course, but the question of the location was there.

Hoofington wasn't far away, that would be the place where she would go.

But first, I think I'll rest my head. There's no reason to go in there at night, nopony will be able to see me. Besides, I have to figure out how it is that I'm going to do the show. I have to come up with something that ponies will enjoy, believe, pay me for. Even a boisterous loudmouth knew that it was better to let the flames died down, when it came to the story of the Ursa Major. She could wait, this next show would be about how she defeated something a little more believable.

About a mile from Hoofington, she laid down on the grass. It wasn't the most comfortable place she had ever slept. There was a breeze that was chilling her, the ground wasn't as comfortable as a bed, and she really liked the quiet that her previous accommodations had afforded her. She even missed the darkness of it, not having to look up at the stars. Everything about it was good to her, the four walls being the protection that she so desired from everything that the world outside could threaten her with. It was almost as if all of her success, the money that she had made throughout the years, was made pointless in a single night. All of her success was in that wagon, or at least her memories of what it had brought her, leaving her with only her thoughts. Her mind didn't dwell on the present, didn't go to the future, but instead moved back to a time when she didn't have the wagon.

There was a time when nights like this were the normal nights.

It hadn't been long after she left Canterlot that this had happened. Trixie was, by no means, wealthy. She didn't have much to her name, but she was going to make sure that she got it all. Her two friends, the ones that she had met before, were likely expecting greatness. Her cutie mark was a wand, she had known that it was a sign. Her legacy would be magic, her talent needed to be shown to the world as a whole. Not only that, but she knew that she was going to be one of the greats. That was why she had taken the money, that was why she had borrowed those books, that was why she was now standing in front of a crowd of expecting ponies. They were all there, waiting for her to do something that was worth the bits that they paid. They were all expecting something from Trixie, yet all she could do was stand there and stare at the crowd that had amassed in front of her.

She was scared.

Everybody was looking at her, everybody was expecting something great. Trixie knew what would happen if something went wrong, she would get things thrown at her. There might be an angry mob that would hurt her, aside from the fact that the things they would throw might hurt. All of those thoughts, those things that she knew would happen, stopped her from saying anything for a while. Another few minutes passed, the crowd started to become restless. There were a few murmurs, a few people who were starting to trot away. This was going to be her failure, her inability to keep a crowd. There was no way that she could do anything in front of these people. They weren't jus silently judging her anymore, some of them were quite vocal about it.

Then came the tomato.

Out of everything that had happened, this was the worst. It was also the thing that threw her out of her fear. There was no way that she was going to allow this to continue. A look of fear turned into a look of anger, and Trixie cleared her voice. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will not allow such disrespect!” Her mind had remembered how much easier it was to talk like this, how much more confidence she got when she started to refer to herself as this. It was how she could remind herself that she was great, she was powerful. She would remind the audience of that as well, though there was another vegetable that was thrown in the air at her. This time, though, she had seen where it had come from. This time, it was caught in mid-air and thrown back at the stallion's face.

The crowd looked at him, and started to laugh.

“Trixie told you that she wouldn't allow such disrespect. How dare you, lowly, ponies disrespect the one that saved the town of Trottingham from certain destruction!” Perhaps it was time to push the theatrics up to eleven, to try to make sure that everypony knew about how great she was. It wasn't true, she hadn't saved a town from anything, but that wasn't the thing that the people here wanted to know. These people wanted to be entertained, and the only thing she could do was make sure that they were sufficiently entertained. If that meant lying, then she would do that. There was also an element of joy that came from it, the art of telling a story that made her seem as though she was the greatest Unicorn that had ever lived. This would just be he starting point.

“That's right, ponies of Hoofington. It was I, Trixie, that stopped the Cerberus from attacking the fair town of Trottingham.” A hush fell over the crowd, and Trixie felt a bit of worry come about her. They would believe her, right? They would believe that she had done something in a far off land, regardless of how pathetic it sounded. There wasn't much that she could do to make the show seem better, aside from a visual spectacle. Her horn lit up, and a cartoonish drawing of the creature appeared. “The people of the town were fearful, there wasn't a thing that could stop it. They knew that, by the end of the day, the Cerberus would be there. It would destroy their fair town, and everypony in it. It was only with the powerful magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie,” her horn lit up again, this time a small image of her showed up as well. This was actually more difficult than she thought it would be. “That the Cerberus was forced to retreat, going back to where it came from!”

She really needed to find an easier way to do this.

Ponies started to murmur amongst themselves, almost as if they were trying to figure out if it made sense. A few of them seemed nervous, as if they were going to merely take cues from the crowd around them to make sure that they didn't seem like foals. Did Trixie stop a Cerberus? Was she lying? There seemed to be a consensus, as the crowd stopped for a moment to look at her. Trixie could feel a lump form in her throat, a part of her knew that they were going to become an angry mob right now. That was the fear that quickly subsided, though, as the crowd started to cheer her name.

They believed her.

That had to be one of the greatest moments that she could think of, her words carrying the weight to where many believed that she had done something so grand. A part of her said that it couldn't be true, that she was simply dreaming. Another part said that they were merely humoring her, making sure that she didn't break down. Those parts were soon being destroyed, however, by the idea that she was somepony to be respected. They were all looking at her, happy about her story. Even if she hadn't done anything of the sort, there had been no rescue by her, this was something that hey enjoyed. Trixie had brought a little more happiness into the lives of ponies, and more importantly was making a name for herself in the meantime. There wasn't a loser here, really.

Trixie was going to, eventually, make sure that she was as great as her show portrayed her.

By the time that she awoke, there was a wide smile on her face. Those had been the fun time, those had been the moments when she had showed them all. It was definitely better than now, where her last stop had been something of a giant mess. The only thing that made her feel better was where she was going. Trixie had been in Hoofington before, she had gotten a good name with the people in the town. There was the fact that she had used their name for her own benefit, but that was hopefully not going to be any trouble. There was no reason why they should really care, or with any luck even know. Most of the time, she chose a place that she knew they wouldn't be able to really get news about. It was the art of the lie, the art of making sure that the people were entertained while she kept making money, the art of the showmare.

Trixie was a master of it, it was her life.

Comments

[Azure Sandora]

Huh... I like it so far. Definitely keep going. I'm curious how you show Trixie's transformation into a somewhat honorable pony.

[Lenora Goff]

1326559

Remember, I'm totally open to any and all criticism.

:D