Just a short story (5 posts) for a little writing competition in the low self esteem thread. >You had come to see the magic show advertised throughout the town >You had been fascinated with magic since you got here, even simple party tricks would get your attention, and this show looked pretty good >It seemed to be the talk of the town when you asked around, which only boosted your optimism >You didn't ask why it was the talk of the town though >Apparently everypony here had some sort of massive grudge against the showpony >Almost as soon as she had appeared on stage there were deafening 'boo's from the crowd as many of them started pelting her with rotten fruit and vegetables >The only magic trick you saw was the magic shield she cast to protect herself after a tomato hit her square in the face >Behind that shield you saw a cute blue mare dressed in a cape and wizard's cap cowering in fear from the onslaught of groceries, sadness and terror in her eyes >She fled in panic with the ponyville citizens whooping and cheering at their victory >In her rush her hat had fallen off and lay limp on the stage >As the mob began to disperse you climbed up and picked it up >You knew where her trailer was set up in town so you decided to pop by and give it to her >She might even do a couple of magic tricks for you since you paid for a ticket and all >When you got to the cabin you could hear sounds coming from inside >Sounded like sniffling >At least you knew she was home >You knocked on the small wooden door and the sounds stopped >"What? I- The Great and Powerful Trixie does not wish to be disturbed >Huh, she was still keeping up the act after that ordeal "Hey uhh... I got something of yours" >You said fairly lamely >"What is it? Come to gloat and throw more rotten food at Trixie?" "Naw, I got your hat. It fell off when you ran away, figured you might want it back" >There was a rustling from inside the trailer as the door opened a crack >Two violet teary eyes peeked out, looking first at your torso and slowly making their way up to look you in the eyes >As you stared back at her you noticed that her mane and coat were still stained and matted from being pelted >"Thanks" She mumbled as she snatched the hat off you with her magic "You look a bit of a mess, you alright?" >You asked before she could shut the door on you >"NO!" She shouted at you, flinging the hat backwards into the trailer with her magic >"I hate this town and everypony in it! Twilight and her stupid friends have destroyed my entire livelihood and made me the laughing stock of all of Equestria!" >As she yelled she began pacing back and forth inside her caravan, grabbing random items and hurling them around >You took it upon yourself to follow her inside, shutting the door behind you to retain some element of privacy >This was not the sort of magic show you had come for, you thought as you dodged low flying debris >"Ponies only buy my tickets to mock and ridicule me! I get laughed out of town wherever I go" >She seemed to be running out of energy as she flopped down on the bed in defeat >"I'm a useless magician. I'm a fraud and everypony knows it and everypony hates me..." She muttered into the pillow as she started crying softly >She had gone from fiery wrath to sobbing pathetically >You wondered what she could have done to deserve this >You perched on the edge of the bed next to her and started stroking her back as you shushed her "What did you even do for them to treat you like this?... If you don't mind me asking" >She looked up at you as if you were an idiot >All of Equestria knew what she had done apparently >She told you how she had attempted to take over the town with a magic enhancing amulet after she was driven out the first time >"And that was only because 2 stupid colts brought an Ursa Minor to town for me to vanquish" >"And THAT only happened because Twilight's stupid friends started heckling me for no reason at one of my shows!" "Huh, sounds like they're in the wrong more than you are. I wouldn't take Twilight and her friends to be the sort to heckle a pony" >She huffed and started crying more >"Well they did and right in the middle of one of my shows in front of everypony. And what's worse, everything they said about me was true" >She sat up with her eyes screwed shut tight, wailing out her anguish and despair >"I'm a joke to everypony! Nopony wants to see my shows anymore and nopony likes me, I don't even have any friends!" >Whatever she had done to ponyville in the past she didn't deserve this >Lonely, self loathing and ridiculed out of town wherever she went >From the looks of it she was bankrupt too, since people only came o her shows to mock her >Looking at her now, a sobbing mess on the bed, you could only feel sorry for her "I- I like you Trixie. You can call me a friend" >You stuttered somewhat awkwardly "And for the record I was genuinely interested in seeing your show, I didn't know everypony was going there to mock you" >She looked up at you for a second to read your expression, hope and doubt mixed together in her sad eyes >You smiled down at her and ran a hand through her soft silky mane >Then the waterworks turned on in full force >She grasped you in a hug like a vice, stuffing her face into your chest and bawling like a baby >You could feel tears rapidly soaking through your shirt, wetting your bare skin underneath >All you could do was hug her and stroke her mane as you waited for her to calm down >Gradually her crying became sniffling as her breathing became less erratic >"y-you really mean it? You l- like Trixie?" She asked as she finally lifted her head up again and looked at you >Your shirt was soaked in tears and snot, but you decided not to care for the moment "Yeah I do, you seem really interesting with a lot of personality. And something tells me that you'll have a lot of cool stories to tell from travelling Equestria in this thing" >She went in for another hug, this time nuzzling your cheek to avoid the wet mess that was your shirt "Also I think you're cute" >You blurted before you could stop yourself >She released you from her grasp but didn't recoil as you half expected >There was a deep red blush on her face and she looked down at the bed to avoid meeting your gaze >"T-thank you..." "Anon" >"Thank you Anon" She stuttered >"You're the first pon.. er.. person who's genuinely been nice to me in a while, certainly the first I've been able to share my feelings with without judging me" >You had both relaxed a little by now and you lay back on the bed to cuddle each other "Well we should do this more often then, I'd love to hang out with you more" >There was a comfortable silence as you both lay back on the bed relaxing for a while >Eventually you decided to strike up conversation again "So why did those colts want you to vanquish an Ursa Minor?" >"They thought it was an Ursa Major. i bragged that I had done it before and they wanted to see it first hoof" >Well that was one of the most retarded ideas you had ever heard, and you had been hanging round with Twilight and her friends since you got here "And did you vanquish it?" >Trixie smiled sheepishly as she shrunk back a little >"No. I- I never did in the first place. I lied about the whole thing to seem more impressive" >She winced as if she expected you to turn on her, but instead you burst out laughing "Holy Shit! That's a hard predicament to explain your way out of" >She seemed surprised that you hadn't become mad at her for it or blamed it all on her like everypony else did >"Hahaha... yeah" She chuckled nervously "Aww come on Trixie, the amount of wacky shit that goes on in this place people have to see the funny side eventually" >She giggled now, sounding rather more genuine and relaxed >"You really don't think I'm a bad pony for what I've done Anon?" >You laughed a little bit at that "Trixie you're not a bad pony. Maybe you made a couple of pretty dumb decisions in the past but that doesn't make you inherently bad" >She giggled again at the mention of dumb decisions "Where I come from there have been some truly evil people, you wouldn't even believe what humans are capable of doing to each other" >She cocked her brow at you with her best 'try me' expression "We have the power to exterminate all live on the planet several times over if we wanted to" >You said with a deadpan look "That sort of destructive power only comes about through lifetimes of constant warfare" >Her jaw hung open as she attempted to process that >You smiled a little as you watched her trying to understand the concept of mutually assured destruction "So yeah, on the scale of how bad someone can be... I think you're a good pony" >You smiled at her as she returned the expression >"Y' you're too nice to Trixie Anon" She blushed, still not fully accepting the complement "Well hey, someone's gotta be nice to you. And you look like you need it a lot right now" >She looked away and smiled shyly again before you embraced her in another hug >You both stayed like that for a long while, cuddling and chatting about life >The travels and shows that Trixie had experienced >What life was like on Earth >Hours passed, and eventually you both fell asleep huddled up on Trixie's small bed, your arms wrapped around her >For the first time in years, Trixie fell asleep with a smile on her face and a warm happy feeling in her chest.