After a full night's sleep in a safe environment, Twilight felt better than she had in days. Her problems didn't seem as pressing as she yawned and gave a stretch; she thought she could smell grass pancakes cooking in the tiny kitchen. As soon as she got off Jack's couch, however, she could feel a heavy, dragging tension in all four of her legs. That's what I get for walking through half the city, she thought as she winced and hobbled to a nearby chair.
"Morning, Twilight" Jack mumbled as best he could with a spatula in his mouth. "Want some pancakes?"
"Yes, I'd love some. They smell amazing." Her stomach gave a painful clench and gurgle. "I haven't really eaten since I got evicted from the library I was living in."
"Living in a library? Sounds kinda boring."
"Oh, no! I love books and reading and learning as much as I can about magic."
Jack sighed. "Yeah, I guess I would too, if I were a unicorn."
"I'm sorry, Jack" she said after an uncomfortable pause. "I didn't mean to offend you. I don't think unicorns are any better or worse than any other kind of ponies. Some of my best friends are…were…earth ponies."
"No offense taken. But you won't find many of your kind in this city, I'm afraid. About the only unicorns I know who live here are a few cops and Gwendolyn the Great."
"Gwendolyn the Great?"
"Yeah. She doesn't have much talent other than tricking other ponies into giving her their hard-earned bits." His voice took on some bitterness. "Cheap, flashy whore that she is." He stopped short and blushed deeply before flipping a pancake and pressing it with the spatula with more force than was necessary.
To change the subject, Twilight asked "Why would the police ponies be unicorns if everyone else is an earth pony?"
Jack regained his composure and answered "Well, if a cop or one of the royal guards gets caught up in a scandal, they'll most likely get permanently transferred. And coming here is usually their only option. This place needs all the cops it can get."
It seemed to Twilight that Coltsburg was the place that unicorns were sent to when they had disgraced themselves in the public eye. And now she was one of them. Jack passed her a plate of grass pancakes, and Twilight levitated the syrup towards the table with her horn.
"Thank you so much, Jack."
"Sure, kid. But, if you're going to live in this city with other earth ponies, you might want to…cool it with the magic."
Twilight looked at him quizzically.
"It's just…this is not a happy place to live. Everypony is struggling to get by with what they have, and the biggest thing that ties everypony together is that they don't have magic to use. In fact, most ponies in Coltsburg resent unicorns because they think everything's easy for them. So if they see you using magic, you…won't make a whole lot of friends."
Twilight was shocked; she hadn't thought that she would face scorn just because she was a unicorn.
"But, magic is all I have left of who I was. It's the only tool at my disposal – I'm not strong or fast, I just know how to use magic really well…that sounded arrogant, I'm sorry."
Jack smirked. "I'm sure you're very talented, Twilight, but that's just it. Things have been easy for you all your life; you have something they don't, and they're going to think you're real stuck-up and superior if you go flaunting it." His voice had taken on a hard bitterness again, and Twilight couldn't help feeling it was directed straight at her. She bit her lip and looked down at the grass pancakes that her stomach desperately craved; but she had lost her appetite. When she spoke, her words were filled with hurt pride.
"No, everything hasn't been easy. I've worked hard since I was a filly to get where I am. I've sacrificed so much; I didn't even have friends for most of my life. But it was worth it, because I became the pride of Princess Celestia, her favorite student. Magic is who I am, and if I have to hide that because somepony might be jealous or think I'm conceited, I'll lose the last of myself. I don't care what anypony thinks, because I know I'm smart…and gifted…"
Her voice began to break, and she wished one of her friends was there holding her, more than she had wanted anything in her entire life. She wanted Spike, or Rarity, or Pinkie Pie, or even Jack to tell her everything would be fine, not to worry, she would make it through. She didn't get that, though. What she got was Jack's face only a few inches from hers. He grinned sickeningly, and whispered "But it didn't last, did it, kid?" All the warmth and caring had gone out of his voice, and Twilight thought she heard a sick satisfaction in what he said. "What did you do, Twilight? What could have been so awful that Celestia would banish her favorite student and take away everything she worked for? How did you get to the point where you would crawl and beg and sell yourself on these dirty streets just to have enough to eat? Must feel pretty bad to fall out of grace like that—"
Before he finished his sentence, Twilight fled from the table, knocking over the chair as she went. She ran sobbing to the front door and slammed it shut with her magic. A heavy silence spread through Jack's small apartment; after a few moments, he shook his head, sighed, and placed it in his hooves.
Twilight continued running as fast as she could, away from Jack, away from her past, away from the city of Coltsburg, away from everything that threatened to drown her in despair. She had almost reached the city limits when she felt a horrid twinge in her back right leg. She tried to gasp at the pain, but didn't have enough air left in her lungs. Twilight fell forward and her chest and chin hit the ground. She took a few moments to catch her breath, then tried to lift her head; but she was too dizzy and nauseous from pain. She couldn't move her back legs more than half an inch without a wave of pain hitting her harder than ever; she let her head fall back to the ground, and began to sob openly. She heard hooves walk past her head, but didn't have enough energy to look and see who it was. A voice near her head said "I think the next show's starting now." Another said "Is that mare okay?" Twilight tried to mumble that she needed help, to call a doctor, and then she heard a distantly familiar voice call out.
"Hello and welcome, everypony! I am Gwendolyn the Great, here to perform feats of magic never before seen!"
Twilight managed to lift her head, and she saw a small stage a few feet away. Standing in the center of it was a blue unicorn wearing a tattered purple shawl.
"Trixie."
