Hope
What do you do when all of your dreams are taken away from you? When everything you ever wanted in life is ignored, ridiculed, and tormented? What makes you go on?
~~~~
The sun was rising over the horizon, basking the trees and fields with its soft morning glow. It was a symbol of rejuvenation, as creatures were gently awoken to the start of a new day. Birds sang their cheery songs, the woodland creatures scampered about playfully, and ponies began to cook their breakfasts.
Everypony, that is, except for one lone mare. She trudged solemnly along an empty dirt road, her once beautiful blue mane and coat now a very ugly tan colour. Her starry hat had long since fallen off and left behind, and the matching cape was ripped and torn. She kept her head downcast, barely watching where she was walking, occasionally leaving behind a wet spot on the trail as a tear would fall from her face.
She had been traveling as such all night long. She had been running, at first, but had to reluctantly slow to barely a walk when she ran out of energy. All too soon, it had seemed to her. All she wanted was to keep running away, away from all the pain that had destroyed her career.
She was used to ponies who didn’t believe her stories. Everywhere she went there plenty of them. She was used to that. This time was different, however. Somepony had actually managed to prove her wrong, and in doing so falsified her career in front an entire town.
So she ran. Ran away and never looked back, trying not to think about it. Inevitably, though, she did. When her thoughts first returned to that dreadful town, she had cried. She tried to keep the tears back, but the more she tried the worse they became. After a while her tear ducts dried up, and only able to produce a few tears at a time.
With a heavy sigh, she turned off the road and slumped down under a tree. She buried her face in her hooves and finally let her agony run its course. Through the shaking and the sobbing, she didn’t notice that she was being watched.
A soft grunt started her and she looked around. Seeing nopony, she lay her head back down only for it to come right back up again as she heard another grunt.
“Up here,” a low voice said. She looked up to see an orange Pegasus stallion sitting in the branches above her head. He had a short orange mane with two stripes of red at the back of his neck, with a swooping bang that edged the right side of his face. His long orange tail twitched as it hung over the branch. What caught her attention, however, was his eyes. They were orange, just the rest of him, but they were soft and seemed to show genuine sincerity as they watched her. “What’s the matter?” he asked.
“It’s none of your concern,” she replied unsteadily, laying her head on her hooves again. She squeaked a set of orange hooves touched down in front of her.
“Maybe not, but I at least want to try to help,” he said, lowering his head to meet her eyes. “What’s your name, at least?”
“How do you not know my name? I am only the single best unicorn in Equestria!” she said loudly and in disbelief. “I am the Great and…” Her voice trailed off. “I am Trixie.” She said quietly after a short pause.
“As in the Great and Powerful Trixie?” the stallion asked. “The mare who can best any pony in any challenge? She who vanquished an Ursa Major with ease and –“ He was cut off by another sob.
“Trixie is none of those things,” she said softly. “Trixie lied and cheated to make a name for herself. And now I have paid for it with humiliation and disgrace.”
“Hey, now. Don’t be like that.” An orange hoof was extended to Trixie. “My name is Sun Dancer. Come on, I want to show you something.”
Trixie stared at Sun Dancer’s hoof for a while before slowly accepting it. He helped her up and started to walk off into the trees, motioning for her to follow. She glanced around nervously before cautiously following him.
After a hundred feet or so, the trees opened up again into a rather large clearing. The green grass was littered with small flowers and bushes, and in the middle sat a small one-story house. The light green paint was peeling and the thatch roof looked like it had seen better days, but it seemed to radiate coziness.
“This is my home,” Sun Dancer said. “It’s small, but it’s alright.” He walked forward and opened the door, holding it open for Trixie.
She walked up to the door slowly, glancing at Sun Dancer before stepping inside. She immediately gasped as her eyes adjusted to the lower light.
Plastered across the walls and covering every inch possible were posters of Trixie’s shows. Every one she had ever hosted in any city, even from her very first days as a showmare.
“What….What is this?” she asked, looking back to Sun Dancer.
He slowly walked around the room, looking at Trixie’s posters as he spoke. “I know you aren’t exactly who you say you are. Everypony knows that. But that’s not the point. So, cheating in your challenges probably wasn’t the best thing you’ve ever thought of. So, you didn’t actually do any of the adventures you boast about. So, what? It’s not about the line between fact and fiction. It’s about how you decide to tell the tale.” Sun Dancer turned to face Trixie again, a broad smile on his face.
“So, you don’t mind that I lied about all of that?” she asked.
“Not one bit,” Sun Dancer replied. “What other ponies think of you is irrelevant. What matters is what you think of yourself. Do you let another pony’s negativity get under your skin? Or do you take it with a grain of salt and try to find something to make it better? For everypony, not just for yourself.”
Trixie looked around the room again, seeing herself on the posters that she once used only as a means to gain popularity. The twitches of a tiny smile touched her lips, and she looked at Sun Dancer again.
“Thank you,” she said. “Trixie thinks she understands.” The sadness in her eyes from earlier disappeared, and was replaced with something brighter as she thought about what she wanted to do with her new show.
~~~~
Hope. That’s what keeps you going. When all else fails, make sure you don’t fail yourself.