Star Shine On, Even When No One's Watching
AN: The art of finishing a story in one night. Here it is. LOOK. Okay, this story had a theme song. You can read and listen, but the song will end before you finish the story. Oops. Enjoy! watch?v=CixWc8GpC-4 Copy that on Youtube.
The unicorn stepped into the pub, her pale cornflower blue mane wet with rain and mud. Her tail was stuck to her back legs, dripping water on the already wet and sticky bar floor. No one paid attention to her, because to them, she was just another pony, probably lost, or just looking for a few drinks and a stallion.
She walked up to the bar, and dropped onto an empty bar stool. She laid her head on the cool countertop.
"What can I get you?" asked the bartender, an old rusty red stallion with a dirt-brown mane and tail.
"Your strongest," replied the mare flatly, not taking her face off the table.
The bartender quietly placed a short glass filled with bright amber colored liquid. "Hard day?" he asked.
"Hard life," she said, looking up at the stallion with big dark grayish violet eyes, those eyes…full of suffering and pain and loss and humiliation.
The bartender surreptitiously shook a few grains of salt into the drink, whirling the glass around as to mix the white powder with the liquid.
The unicorn nodded, and used her magic to lift the tumbler to her lips, taking a first tentative sip, before gulping half the drink. The ice cubes rattled as she heavily placed the glass on the table. She sighed deeply, closing her eyes before her head once again found its way to the countertop.
Just then, a coffee brown unicorn stallion with a spiky gelled up blonde mane burst in, lightly soaked with rain. He had a silly smile on his face as his green eyes landed on the mare sitting at the bar. He sauntered over, sitting down next to her, making sure she noticed him.
"Hey," he smiled and winked.
She didn't reply, only glancing up to see the pony that was talking to her.
"How about we go somewhere quiet and I show you what I can do with my horn?" he said suggestively. He used his magic to create a sort of hand, minty green and sparkly, to caress the mare's back. The magic traveled lower until it touched the base of her tail.
"How about I show you what I can do instead?" she snapped, using her magic to make fireworks explode in his face and rockets whizz by his ears, disorienting him.
"Whoa!" he cried, slipping off his stool. He rubbed his lower back, groaning. "Say," his expression lit up as he climbed back on the chair. "That was a pretty impressive trick back there. What's your name, love?"
"Trixie," she mumbled, taking another sip of her drink.
"Trixie," he repeated. "Trixie," he repeated again, this time with more flourish, the 'r' in her name rolling off his tongue. "Cute name. I'm Tips. Sorry for freakin' you out," he apologized, laughing sheepishly. "What are you having? Bartender," he signaled to the waiter. "Another round for this lovely young mare, and a dirty cider for me." He turned back to Trixie. "I like my cider dirty."
"Yes, I can tell," said Trixie in a clipped tone.
"So," Tips began as soon as he got his drink. He lifted it up with his horn and gave it a little swivel. "How do you feel about going into showbiz?"
Trixie stiffened at the word. "No."
"Aw, come on, you'd do great as a special effects manager," he pleaded, making puppy dog eyes. "I've been searching everywhere for one, and you seem absolutely perfect. I can make you famous, babe!"
"I was famous once, I don't need to be famous again," Trixie muttered, glaring at her hooves. The word 'famous' brought on a whole slew on unpleasant memories that were tearing her apart and eating at her insides. She shuddered, remembering the feeling she felt when everypony stared at her with hateful eyes, whispering bad things, mean things, things that slashed at her face and sprinkled salt on her already throbbing bleeding wounds.
"Really?" Tips seemed surprised. "What for?"
"For showing off and lying," Trixie said, her voice becoming higher as she finally broke down into tears.
"Poor babe," Tips cooed. "Why don't you tell your good friend Tips all about your troubles?"
"It all started when I was just a foal…"
"Mommy, mommy, look at me!"
A little filly dressed in a purple cap speckled with blue and yellow stars and a matching cape trotted into the kitchen.
"Mommy, look, look!" she cried excitedly.
Her mother, a light blue earth pony with a white mane, was sitting in a chair, her head in her hooves. "Trixie, not now, mommy has a head-ache."
"But mommy, look! Just look at me!"
"Trixie, please, mommy needs some quiet time."
"Mommy, where's daddy? Maybe he can watch my trick! Mommy, where's daddy?"
"Daddy's been gone on a long business trip, darling, you know that. Now please, just leave mommy in peace."
"But mommy, it's not fair! All the other foals have their daddies with them, and their mommies watch them. Why can't you just look at me?"
"Trixie!" her mother yelled, whipping around to face the school-age foal. "Go to your room right now!"
Trixie ran to her bedroom, sobbing loudly all the way. She slammed the door with a force that rattled the house, and flung herself to her bed, screaming and crying all the while. She kicked her little legs in the air, thrashing about. Her tear-filled eyes landed on a picture of her and her family, smiling happily at the camera. In a bout of anger, she grabbed the photograph and smashed it on the ground, breaking the glass. She took a few shallow breaths before crawling to the broken shards of glass. She sifted through the debris, cutting herself in the process, and lifted the photo out. She kissed the face of her dad, who looked exactly like her.
"I wish you were here daddy. You were always there for me…you were always proud of me," she whispered, holding the photograph close to her heart. She curled up on the floor, ignoring the pieces of glass that dug inside her, and fell asleep.
"From that day on, I vowed that I would make people look at me, and a few days later, I got my cutie mark…"
"And now, for our final contestant, the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
The audience clapped politely, waiting to see if the little filly on stage really deserved applause.
There was a loud bang, and smoke began to cloud up the stage. There was a bright light, and thousands of stars burst through the cloud, revealing the silhouette of Trixie. She smiled at the audience, her cape floating behind her.
The applause was much louder this time.
"Thank you, thank you all for coming," she said, standing tall and firm. "For my act today, I will be performing a little piece I like to call, "Madness". Please, lean back and enjoy!"
She glanced at the wings, and caught the eye of a yellow colt, which nodded and clicked the 'play' button on a stereo. Soft music began to play, and Trixie closed her eyes as she concentrated on the little light figurines that had been conjured by her magic. They moved with the music, interacting with each other and dancing. The music soon took a detour, and the track turned ominous. This affected the figurines, causing them to react violently to each other. Bright flashes and fireworks shocked and awed the audience, as the figurines finished their final dance. The entire auditorium was lit up, and the smoke turned into flowers, scattering onto the audience.
The applause was much, much bigger.
"And without a doubt, the winner of the Canterlot's Public School Talent Show is… The Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Everypony got on their hooves and clopped madly, cheering and hollering.
"Thank you!" cried Trixie, accepting the trophy. Suddenly, a tingling sensation brought her attention to her flank, where her cutie mark was forming. Everypony gasped, and began to clop ever louder, as Trixie stood there in wonder, all her dreams coming true on one stage.
"So then I thought, why not make it a career? So I did, but it all went wrong just a few hours ago…"
"Uh, I can't, I never have. No one can vanquish an Ursa Major. I just made the whole story up to make me look better."
"Made it up!"
Trixie stared in amazement as the purple unicorn singlehandedly calmed the Ursa Minor down and carried it out of Ponyville.
"Huh. You may have vanquished an Ursa Minor, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
With a loud poof of smoke, the blue unicorn disappeared, running away, as to not let anypony see the shame on her face and the tears in her eyes.
"Am I a bad pony?" whimpered Trixie, snuggling closer to Tips.
"Of course not," soothed Tips, patting her head. They were seated in a booth, with Trixie lying on Tips's shoulder. "You were just lost, and you were just trying to follow your dreams."
"My dreams," mumbled Trixie, her eyelids getting droopier.
"Yes," whispered Tips, his mouth close to her ear. "But I can make all your dreams come true."
"Come true," Trixie began nodding off. The last though that went through her head before she smiled, nodded to Tips, and went to sleep right there was the proud face of her father.
Sequel? Want or do not want?