Shuffle’s sleep after his nightmare wasn't as bad as when he first fell asleep. Opting to not get up with his alarm, he just laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling.
“That Snips boy should be here anytime today, so I can't really leave, plus the thought of staying in today sounds absolutely divine after yesterday.” Shuffle said aloud.
After all, the last week of summer should be spent doing what was supposed to be the most intense fun of the summer, and that would entail finding something to do.
Two hours passed as Shuffle just sat there, reading on his phone when his mother knocked on the door.
“Shuffle, I'm heading to the store today, do you want anything?” She asked.
“Just a box of granola bars, please. I’m sorry mom, but I don’t feel like going out today, and thanks by the way.” He replied absent mindlessly, focusing more on his phone. Tesla nodded in understanding and left the room.
Shuffle rolled out of bed and grabbed his PlayStation 4 controller and settled into his swivel chair; if he wasn't going out, he was going to get something done on one of his new favorite games, Monster Hunter World.
Most of the day passed in a haze as Shuffle lost himself to the game; currently, he was finishing off one of the harder hunts on the game, Legaina, with a small squad of NPC’s, when his mother called him on his phone.
“Shuffle, can you come down and help me with the groceries, there's a bunch and I got cold things to put away,” Tesla asked.
“Of course Mom, I'll be right down.” His reply was short as he paused the game and went down the stairs in nothing but his sleep shorts and a torn T-shirt.
The sun’s rays beat down on Shuffle. It was almost a hundred degrees outside, so it was a good idea that he didn't go out walking.
Shuffle and his mother quickly unloaded the car and carried the groceries inside. As they finished up, the two boys from last night were walking in the distance.
“Why did you drag me along today Snail? It's hot as crap and I wanted to stay home…” Snips complained.
“Because you know after this Trixie is going to want us to apologize to her too for losing her fireworks, plus you still don't believe me about the two different eye colored boy so I'm going to prove you wrong about that too.” Snails replied harshly, holding a crisp fifty dollar bill in his hand.
“I hope this will be enough, this is a whole month’s allowance.” Snails thought.
The two boys approached Shuffles’ home. Snails hesitated for a moment, hoping nothing bad would happen; taking a breath he knocked on the door three solid times.
Shuffle’s head swirled at the sound of the knocking. He approached the door, opening it, revealing the two boys from last night.
“I'll be damned. You actually showed up.” Shuffle said to the two boys, a smile tugging at his face.
Snips and Snails stood there terrified as both focused on shuffles’ face, Snail's didn't even hesitate when he pointed out the two different eyes.
Shuffle gave a sigh. “Of course, go right for that. Just give me what you owe and leave.” Shuffle held out his hand which snails quickly dropped the money in his hand, which only a few moments after was met with a resounding SLAM.
Both of the boys stood there, paralyzed for a few minutes until Snails snapped back to his senses and led his friend away. “I told you he had two freaky eyes.” Snails said that a little too loud.
Shuffle could hear the two talking about him. His annoyance was starting to turn into anger, but he took a deep breath. “There is no bad emotion, there is peace…” Shuffle said as he let out the same breath he held. Calming down, Shuffle returned to his mother and helped her put the groceries away.
“Who was at the door Shuffle?” she asked. Shuffle didn't respond immediately.
“It wasn't anyone important,” he said, as the two finish their task. Shuffle retreated back to his room.
Trixie’s Trailer
Trixie was sitting in her Prop Trailer, looking up at her Trick board; with the new final year of high school speedily approaching, she was going to participate in the seniors’ division of the talent show, the last three years were always dominated by Sunset Shimmer. But this time, Sunset was pardoned of her past, and her new best friend Trixie could take center stage and blow everyone out of the water!
Trixie didn't notice she had donned her iconic magicians’ and robe and was mid flourish when there was a knock at the door. Peeking outside and seeing Snips and Snails outside waiting gave her an idea. Grabbing a smoke pellet, she answered the door.
“WELLCOME SNIPS AND SNAILS TO THE GRRRREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE'S’ MYSTICAL MAGICAL EXTRAVAGANZA!” stepping on a button by her foot, fireworks shot into the sky, and a short fanfare played as Trixie stood with her arms out at the side with her cape flowing in the wind.
Usually, Snips and Snails would be in awe of the magician, but today was a special case. Both clapped for Trixie's effort of making a grand entrance, to which she gave a huff in annoyance. “What's wrong you two? You’re usually exuberant when Trixie is doing that.”
Snails stood there trying to find words about earlier, but Snips wasn't looking at the girl; his face turned to the side, smashed by the forwardness of Trixie. After a few minutes of silence, Trixie started tapping her foot in annoyance. “Trixie has little patience of just standing here. If you have nothing important to say, begone.”
Trixie turned away, but Snails finally spoke. “Wait, Ms. Trixie, we did as you wanted and apologized to the boy we hurt,” he said, clapping his hands together in an open-palmed fashion. Trixie stopped mid-motion, surprised the lanky boy actually spoke back.
“Did you give him the tickets to the show?” Trixie asked cautiously, as Snails stood there and nodded. “Excellent, then both of you can come in and help Trixie with her next show.” The two boys quickly made their way inside.
Shuffle sat back in his chair, after only a few extra moments of putting the money in his small box of emergency cash. As he uncrumpled the bills he noticed another sheet of paper in the middle.
“Two tickets to see the great and powerful Trixie’s “End of Summer” magic show.” He tossed the tickets aside. He might be a nerd, but watching a teen his age act out on stage wasn't something he wanted to waste his time with.
Shuffle returned to his little setup and stayed that way for the rest of the night.
The Next Morning
Shuffle woke up in his chair, his TV long gone dark from the power save mode. “Must’ve fallen asleep.” He muttered, getting up and stretching.
It was about ten in the morning from what his wall clock was going by, so Shuffle ventured down to the kitchen to get breakfast. As he rounded the stairs to head into the kitchen, he could hear a conversation coming from the living room. Shuffle ignored it, thinking it was probably some neighbors coming to greet the pair to the neighborhood; that was until she heard a familiar voice.
“Yes, thank you for your time but Trixie must be off, with her magic show coming up she has plenty to do.”
There was movement from the room as Shuffle passed into the kitchen to follow the pair; at the door, he could see his mother conversing with that girl who had helped him a few days ago.
Tesla shut the door, turning to see Shuffle standing in the breezeway confused. Letting out a chuckle, she approached her son with a sheet of paper in hand.
“I hope you don't plan on staying hidden in your room today, the neighbor's daughter just invited us to her magic show, and I think it would do you some good before summer ends and school begins.”
Shuffle stood there in a daze. If anything, he was genuinely surprised that Trixie girl made sure that not only did those boys give him tickets, but she personally did it herself as well.
“Mom, you know for a fact that stage magic is the most obvious hoax. Why waste the time?”
“Because after school starts, you’re not going to want to do anything on weekends; you seem to forget that I'm your mother and I know you better than you know yourself.”
“You know for a fact I wouldn't have much fun, yet you still want me to go?”
When posed the question Tesla didn't even hesitate, “Yes, because you never know if you might like this.”
Shuffle sighed. “Well… fine. We shall test your theory, and if I don't enjoy myself I get to blame you, deal?” He stuck out his hand and his mother who took it eagerly.
“Deal, it's not ‘till about seven-thirty, so we got time to relax. How about a small movie marathon? I found the ‘Lord Of The Rings’ collection set.” Tesla held up the mint condition box set.
“Touché, so not only did you rope me into a magic show, but you're also holding my favorite movie set hostage?” Tesla nodded.
“Alright, I'll get the popcorn and the drinks while you set it up!” Shuffle said enthusiastically, turning and walking into the kitchen.
Hours Later
Two movies and three bags of popcorn later, Shuffle and Tesla were sitting on the couch, watching the credits of “The Two Towers”.
“Well if we were to start the next movie, we wouldn't be able to make it to the show, so we better get ready,” Tesla said, getting up from the couch and stretching her body; sitting still for almost six hours barring bathroom breaks was not healthy, but it was worth it.
Shuffle got up too, relieving himself of his stiffness. The pair stared at each other, content with the mini-marathon they spent together until they both noticed one thing: there was only one shower in the house. Almost on instinct, both jumped over the couch and raced up the stairs to try and reach the bathroom first. Through sheer luck, Shuffle reached the bathroom first.
Getting in and locking the door, much to Tesla's dismay, he had secured the restroom for himself before their little family outing.
After getting out of the bathroom, Tesla quickly went inside and did her business while Shuffle went to get ready. After an hour, Shuffle and Tesla were ready to leave.
“The ticket says it's going to be at the Canterlot Civic Center, good thing it's close or we would be late.”
“Mom, it's only Six-forty, she has time, don't worry about being late.”
Tesla let out a nervous laugh, Shuffle did coolly as well, as the two set off.
The Civic Center was somewhat busy; amazingly enough, there were children everywhere, either playing in the jungle gym area or in the public pool, their parents either playing with them or watching from a distance. The pair had gotten out of the car and walked up to the schedule board, looking to see where this magic show was happening.
After locating the lot, the pair set off to get seats early. It was fast approaching seven when they got to their destination; the room was already decently full of families, while children were bouncing up and down excitedly. Shuffle and Tesla took a few random seats near the front.
There wasn't a long wait until the room's lights began dimming and some techno-esque music began playing. Smoke billowed out from the stage, as the music starts to increase in volume and pacing when very suddenly all lights went out.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS OF ALL AGES, ARE YOU READY TO SEE SOME MAGIC!”
The entire crowd gave out roars of approval and applause when a flash of light happened, and there on the stage stood a lone girl, the exact same girl from earlier, but there was something different about her; she had a look of focus, yet a playful, confident smirk on her face. Instead of her normal ensemble, Trixie was wearing her hat and robe, a tight purple suit along with a purple skirt, and, from where Shuffle was sitting, Black leggings all adorned with stars and moons on them.
“WELCOME ONE AND ALL, TO THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRRRIXIE’S END OF SUMMER MAGIC SHOW!” Trixie's hands threw up a shower of glitter, which had an interesting effect on the stage lights, making a pseudo-rainbow around her body. If anything, Shuffle might not like the concept of the show, but he did admit one thing: it was a good entrance.
“First thing’s first, how about a simple trick, a rabbit from a hat.” Trixie took off her hat and turned it over revealing nothing in her hat, to begin with, then turning her hat over making an elaborate flourish over it, and sure enough, a rabbit appears from the hat. The crowns let's put a cheer as Trixie puts the rabbit down on a pedestal next to her. Shuffle watched the show in absolute silence; yes, it was smoke and mirrors stage magic, but if you were really good at it like Houdini or Jack Pot, you could fool even the sharpest eye. “Let's see where this goes...” he says, silently intrigued by the magician girl.
“Thank you, everybody, but that was just the warm-up, now let's kick it up a notch!” Trixie exclaimed, confetti shooting from the stage. The lights went dark for only a few seconds, but upon them returning, Trixie had a massive cage next to her, holding two boys in tuxedos, the same two boys from earlier, Shuffle noticed.
“Now for my next trick, my handsome assistant's Snips and Snails here have been locked away in the solid steel cage with no way to escape, Trixie will now have the cage covered…” As Trixie finished her sentence two girls came out wearing matching dresses and covered the cage. Trixie then pulled out a wand.
“NOW BOTH OF THESE BOYS SHALL DISAPPEAR!” waving her wand, which gave off a periwinkle glow and with three flashes of light Trixie tears the cloth off the cage revealing both boys were gone!
Trixie turned around and gave a lavish bow as the crowd exploded in cheers and applause. Some even whooped and yelled in amazement. Shuffle clapped as well; it was obvious there was a trap door under the cage, so the two boys got away, but it was still an impressive ruse.
“Next, The Great and Powerful Trixie did have a special act with her faithful companion Komungus, but he seems to have escaped his cage, and is now missing. Not to worry, the show will still go on, but please, if you see a brown legged spider, don’t touch him, he's very violent and very poisonous, but to continue the show I need a special item, and I think I have it in my hat somewhere…” Trixie began to search through her hat, somehow pulling out a small rope of handkerchiefs and a dove. After a few moments, she accidentally dropped her hat, cursing silently. She bent over to retrieve it, when a massive spider jumped out of the hat and onto Trixie’s leg, crawling up it. A few members in the front gasped, and others backed away quickly.
“No one move too quickly, humongous has a tendency to bite if there are too many moving bodies,” she said hesitantly as her hand slowly reached into her pocket.
“If I can just reach his my flute I can-AGH!” Trixie yelped as the spider jumped up at her, but she caught it and tried to throw the spider away, but its web allowed it to recoil back into her hand. She began to whistle, making the spider dance in an almost hypnotic fashion, moving to her hands and lowering itself using a web and just dangling there. Shuffle watched in awe; this was absolutely amazing, this teenage girl somehow figured out how to train a spider that responds to her whistles. After about a minute, Trixie tossed the spider up into the air and caught it with her hand. The spider sat on her hand looking out into the audience as they applause; from what Shuffle could see, the spider was moving its arms as if to simulate bowing. “Amazing.”
Trixie's’ show went on for the next hour, around the halfway point there was a small group of teens, a bunch of meatheads by the looks of it, booing the magician. It wasn't loud, but it was still prevalent; Shuffle noticed this as well as Trixie, who turned to the hecklers.
“So, you do not like Trixie’s feats of amazing magic, do you? Well then, Trixie issues a challenge, anything you can do, I can do better” the biggest one got up and took over Trixie's stage.
“Look at this weak girl, thinking she can handle the Mighty Boulder! I challenge you to an arm wrestling contest faker, let's see your Great and Powerful skill beat raw strength” the teen flexed as his friends hollered at him.
Trixie stared at the jock’s confidence. “Very well then, “Mighty Boulder” I accept your challenge” Trixie turned and brought out a table for the two to perform the challenge, both combatants locked arms.
“On the count of three, push as hard as your feeble arm cam” Trixie shot at the jock, both arms tense up as Trixie starts the count…
“One…”
“Two….”
“THREE!!”
In half a second the Boulder was slammed to the ground, as Trixie stood unmoving, a coy smirk on her face.
“Looks like I win.” Trixie gave a bow as the crowd exploded in applause.
Boulder got up from the ground; he wasn't particularly happy by being emasculated in front of his friends and a good few dozen people.
“Hey, Bitch, why did you cheat?” Boulder pointed at the girl, seething in anger. Trixie turned to the jock and calmly replied.
“Trixie didn't have to cheat to beat the likes of you, your strength was your own folly, now get off of my stage. You scare the kids up front.”
Upon Trixie finishing her sentence the jock let out a roar of rage and charged her. Trixie simply sidestepped Boulder, giving a twirl, much to Boulders annoyance and the crowds' amusement. Boulder continued to try and catch Trixie, but she was always barely out of reach.
This went on for about five minutes until Boulder got hold of the magician. “Now what are you going to do, oh Great and Powerful Trixie.” Boulder stood there triumphant, but the show wasn't over yet.
“Simple. You're going to be the last trick of the day! Trixie is going to escape your grip and you're going to be all tied up,” Trixie said cryptically. Boulder made sure he had a good hold with both hands on her shirt, just in case.
“I’d really like to see that.” He retorted. POOF! A puff of white smoke appeared from out of nowhere, only covering the stage, there was silence until a dull THUD was heard. The smoke cleared, revealing Trixie sitting in a chair while Boulder was bound up like a Thanksgiving turkey. “TA DA!” Trixie exclaimed to a stunned audience, then laughter and applause came from the crowd, as Boulder was carried off by the guards that were stationed nearby.
“Thank you all for attending Trixie’s Show! I hope you all have a safe trip home!” Trixie exclaims, throwing down an unknown substance, recreating the same smoke cloud. Upon its dissipation, Trixie was nowhere to be seen. The crowd gave one more applause before everyone started getting up to leave.
“THAT WAS AMAZING!” A child said as Shuffle and his Mother passed by.
“DID YOU SEE HOW SHE HANDLED THAT BULLY?” Another said as they continued the journey to the car.
“Oh my gosh, Trixie was so incredible, I wish I could have actually met her.” A third lamented.
“You didn't hear? Trixie goes to Canterlot High! I bet if we go there we can get autographs!” A fourth said.
Shuffle and Tesla reached the car and got in. “So what did you think of the show, Shuffle?” Tesla asked.
“I'll admit, I was surprised that at the beginning, her tricks were a bit generic, until she got to the dancing spider bit with the flute, I've never seen that; plus how she showed up that boulder guy was pretty impressive...” Shuffle stated; it might have been an act, but it was pretty convincing. He wondered how she pulled off the last two tricks easily. Shuffle was snapped from his thoughts as his mother pulled out of the Canterlot Civic Center.
“That one kid said Trixie was going to Canterlot High, which in two days’ time I shall be attending as well… if anything, I can just ask her…” Shuffle stayed silent as the two went home. Tomorrow was the end of summer, and then School would begin. Hopefully, he wouldn't have another Sunset Shimmer incident like last time.