A Metal World

by ToneCraft

Old Show, New Audience

Trixie realized what was happening. Steven Arcana had left her alone on the stage, with the audience expecting her to do something. "Way to throw a girl under the cart, whoever you are!" She muttered under her breath, before her eyes widened in realization, "Oh, I see. The Great and Powerful Trixie gets to perform again!"

Everyone in the audience could see her excitement as her horn lit up, conjuring her cloak and hat out of nowhere. "Fillies and Gentlecolts, don't get out of your seats yet! You are about to see some REAL magic!"

Even without her usual stage, she could show most of her tricks, though the fireworks were a no-go, as there was nothing around on which to mount them. Even so, her tricks were enough to draw roaring applause from the audience, except for one member. Arcana was sitting near the back, watching Trixie intently. His eyes sent a shiver down her spine every time she looked over at him, throughout her performance. Finally, she was done, and teleported off of the stage just to get out of the illusionist's gaze.

------

Steven stood up as the show ended. What he saw on the stage wasn't sleight of hoof, or any illusion. This pony was actually a spellcaster. His left hand tightened into a fist as he turned to leave without even speaking to any of the other audience members. He stepped around a corner, searching for that unicorn.

He kept going through the area around the park, before finally seeing the unicorn wandering around.

"Impressive show," he started as he approached her, "I almost thought it was actual magic."

"It was," she responded proudly.

"As I thought," Steven said, before grabbing her horn and looking into her eyes. "I don't know how you got here, or what world you came from, but you'd better hightail it back if you value your life," he hissed, trying to hammer in his point as hard as he could.

"Let go of me, you freak!" She shouted, pulling herself away as quickly as she could.

Steven raised his hand for a moment to strike her, before collecting himself and dropping it, "You think I'm a freak, hm? I'm some kind of deviation from normal? Look around you! Humans live all over this world! Ponies as well, even pegasi! But have you seen a single unicorn?"

Trixie thought back, trying to remember a unicorn in the audience, and Steven continued, "Unicorns don't exist in this world. Magic isn't supposed to, either. You being here casting spells is like me breathing in space. The only magic you have is the magic you took with you, but once you're out of that, are you really going to last long?"

"Shut up!" Trixie snapped, "How do you even know this, if it's true that magic isn't used here? Maybe it's just not in practice around here!"

"Believe me, Trick, I wouldn't be telling you this if I wasn't sure about it. You'll end up depleting your entire reserve of magic with another show like that," Steven said, before turning and walking away. If he couldn't convince her to go, he'd let her magic drain itself over time until she realized he was right.

------

Trixie watched the illusionist leave, starting to shake. "I heard all of it," Cog's voice started in her ear, "are you alright, Trixie?"

Trixie forced back a tear, "Y-yeah, I'm alright."

"Another thing I heard was a lot of deafening applause during your impromptu show," Cog mused, "So you're popular with the natives, eh?"

"Yes, I am," Trixie said with a bit of a smile, "Who cares if one psycho thinks I need to leave. He's probably just angry because I'm moving in on his territory."

"Still, I'm going to be keeping an eye on the monitors," Cog told her, "But whether he's right, mistaken, or lying, you should probably watch out for him."

"Trixie agrees," the magician said.

"You're not on stage, Trixie."

Trixie groaned, "Fine."

"How about writing some stuff down about this world?"

---

Trixie's log #1

I've found myself in the employment of the stallion who helped me out, going through a mysterious portal in his house. mansion. On the other side seems to be a world covered in steel. Everything is nearly perfectly polished, and the ponies here are not alone. There's another type of creature. According to one of them, who seems mentally unbalanced, they're called "hyoomins." I'll have to find out the spelling of that later.
Perhaps I should find a library.

Signed
Trixie Lulamoon

------

Steven opened the door to his house. While the outside was still pristine and shined in the light, the inside looked like he kept it clean himself. The iron was in good repair, but had poor appearence, as if it had been kept rust free, but not polished. There was a large computer in the corner, which he approached and flipped the switch to the monitor, "hey, Cold Stone."