Trixie almost choked when the curtains went up. The whole school was here. A sea of pony faces was looking at her.
“W-welcome ev-everypony, to a show of ill — of grand illusions.”
She tried to smile, and a cough echoed in the room.
“I’m now g-gonna make this cupcake disappear.”
She put her hat on the sweet to hide it to the audience, and lit her horn, trying to remember the complex spell her father had taught her.
Soon enough, she heard a *poof* from within the hat.
“Now, the cupcake is —” she lift the hat, “— still here.”
Instead of disappearing, the cupcake had now two little wings on its side. It took off and landed on her back, purring.
“Tadaa,” she said weakly.
Another cough.
“Now, I’m gonna turn the water in this glass into… wine!”
Once again, Trixie lit her horn and closed her eyes.
Please work, please, please, please.
When she opened them, the glass was gone, but not the water, still levitating in her magic.
In a moment of panic, she lost control of her magic, and threw the water on her face, which brought some laughter in the audience.
“The only thing you’re making disappear is my joy of life,” shouted a voice.
She felt the tears coming. “B-but…”
That was too much. She had worked so hard for her first performance to be perfect, and everything went wrong.
She ran offstage, trying to quiet down her sobs. Once out of sight, she curled in a ball and let her tears fall freely.
Her father came a minute later, and hugged the crying ball that was her daughter.
“Hey sweetie.”
“Dad,” she sobbed, hugging him. “It’s a disaster! I’ll never be able to show my face at school again!”
“It’s okay sweetie.”
“How will I become the best magic performer if I just can’t impress a bunch of foals?”
Her dad took her chin in his hoof and raised her head. “You need to be the best.”
“But I’m not! How could I be? I’ve just performed once, and it was terrible!”
“No, no, you don’t get it. You need to pretend you are the best performer in all of Equestria. Ponies come to see magic shows because they want to believe something greater exists, something magical, something they can’t understand. So pretend you are the best. Pretend, and they’ll believe it. Pretend, and you’ll believe it too.”
“H-how?”
“To begin, you need a title, one that shows how great you are.”
“W-what about the Best Trickster Trixie?”
“Heh, I’ll let you work on that. You don’t need me, It’s your title after all.”