“So she’s grounded?” Trixie asked Sonata.
Sonata nodded. “Yeah. She’s not working today, so she had to go home. Aunt Velvet is very pissed with her.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. Sunset didn’t seem like she was going back to her old ways,” Trixie commented.
Sonata, however, shook her head; the last thing she wanted was Sunset’s friends not in the know to worry like that. So she had to stick to the lie that had been concocted. “Look, it’s not like that. Sunset just thought she’d head back to the place where she was raised by that criminal that abducted her. The state said they were going to tear it down, since it was an illegal dwelling on state land where there shouldn’t have been a cabin, and Sunset went there to try to get them to stop it. It was, after all, the home she lived in for all of her childhood.”
“Yeah, but a childhood of being raised by the woman that kidnapped her,” Derpy Hooves, who was also there, commented. “Seems pretty freaky to me, but then again, I don’t have the corner on normal childhoods myself.”
“Still, it was her home, Derpy,” Carrot Top, also in attendance, added. “I mean, now, yeah, it’s bittersweet for her, I’m sure, but back then, she was just a kid. She didn’t know any better.”
“I guess I’ll just have to go visit her and make her feel loved like she should be!” Pinkie, who was in earshot, chirped.
“Or traumatize her even more,” added Compass Rose, who was also in the store that day.
“I’m sorry,” Pinkie said sweetly to Rose, “were you commenting on something that wasn’t any of your Goddamn business?”
Rose’s reply was also saccharine in nature. “Only that you’re traumatizing my dearest intended, you psychotic stalking bitch.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet. I’d punch your teeth out, but I’m sure my fist wouldn’t fit. Now maybe if I punched you in the twat, there’d be so much space that I’d get caught up to my elbow.”
Rose smirked. “At least I’m not the one jacking off with a baseball bat because I’m too loose.”
The three girls at the table looked at the two girls not-quite-bickering, then looked at each other.
“And that’s my cue to leave,” Derpy commented. “I need to swing by the computer store anyway and pick up a new SSD. Coming, Carrot?”
“Um, sure,” Carrot said. “Care to join us, Trix?”
“I, uh, need to talk to Soni some more, but believe me I would rather do so,” she said, looking at Pinkie and Rose, who had quieted down and were now merely staring daggers at each other.
“She can have visitors, if that’s what you’re going to ask,” Sonata told her.
“Thanks.” She slapped down a ten for her mocha and raced out the door, following the other two.
Pinkie smiled and looked at Rose and added sweetly, “Great job in scaring off the customers, you cuntmonkey.”
Rose replied in a tone as floral as her name, “Get bent, assrabbit.”
Sonata sighed.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay? How was I supposed to know that—” Juniper Montage spoke, but was cut off by her brother.
Renaissance Canvas just shook his head. “You were downloading from an unknown Bit Torrent location and you’re surprised you caught a virus that completely destroyed your hard drive?”
“Well, yeah! I wanted to see the new season of Orange is the New Black!” she defended. “Deb was telling me that it’s must-see TV!”
“And it didn’t occur to you to just, you know, watch it on Netflix?”
“I, uh, couldn’t remember the account password?” she replied in an apologetic tone.
Renaissance facepalmed and tried not to mutter a few choice words.
“Look, I need my laptop fixed and you’re the only one who can do it, okay? Besides, it’s not like you have a life or anything,” she told him.
“And what’s that supposed to mean, June?”
“Well, you hang out with those losers Tweedledum and Tweedlestupid—”
“First, that’s not their names,” Renaissance said, going to bat for his friends…even if that sort of did fit their personalities, he privately admitted to himself. “And second, you don’t even know them, so why are you calling them that?”
“That’s what everyone else does.”
“Yes, and as I recall, Sunset has told everyone not to do that.”
Juniper just threw her arms up in disgust. “And that’s another thing! You know the Queen of Canterlot High – an actual, honest to God princess! – and you’re not trying to go out with her? Hell, if I were a guy and she noticed me I’d be putting those moves on real quick!”
“Look, she’s going through a lot of things right now, so Snips says, and besides, she’s not really my type.”
“Not your type or probably wouldn’t give you the time of day?”
Renaissance closed his eyes and exhaled. “Do you want me to fix your computer or not?”
Juniper realized she was probably pushing her luck. “Look, I just want the best for you, bro, okay? Between the two of us I’ve always been the more social one and you’ve always been the loner. And it bothers me to see you like that.”
“Or maybe it bothers you that it just makes you look bad?” he snarled and walked off.
She tried to reach out to him to apologize, but couldn’t find the words and a few seconds later lost him in the crowd.
Trixie lost both Derpy and Carrot the moment they entered Fry’s. She barely knew the two and to be honest, she was more concerned about getting out of the way of the impending battle between Pinkie and Rose; she felt bad that Sonata was going to be caught in the middle when the two eventually threw down, but that was probably par for the course in being in the extended circle of Sunset Shimmer’s friends, she guessed.
And now, she was here in a cavernous electronics store with no clue as to where either of them had gone. She was out of her element, needless to say and that wasn’t going to help her with her current dilemma. As far as the eye could see there were nothing but computer techs and makers, people who worked with this kind of stuff on a regular basis and not her.
Pausing in front of some weird gadget with wires and…whatever sticking out of it, the teenage magician groaned. Her uncle Presto told her that having a working knowledge of computers and technology helped, especially if she was going to pursue a career in stage magic. Her aunt Starswirl, however, gave her the opposite advice: that reading the crowds and gauging where the suspension of disbelief was counted more. Either way, it put her at a standstill: her uncle was known for some seriously impressive vanishing acts, while her aunt could practically get auditoriums full of people eating out of her hand. Trixie had performed with both as well as her “old school” grandfather, and she wasn’t yet sure the way she wanted to go, except that she didn’t want to go the “dangerous” route that performers like Mindfreak did or focusing more on sex appeal like that tart Abby Cadabra.
Part of her wondered if it would just be easier if she just went into the same business as her father; or worse, her mother. But that way, she knew, wasn’t really where her life was drawing her.
I really need to sit down with Sunny sometime and work on how she learned those bian lian mask tricks; learning that would be amazing for my career!
“Hey, didn’t expect to see you here.” She turned to see that guy she met the other day, looking at the same piece of bric-a-brac she was looking at.
“Yeah, I’m here with friends.” Well, it’s true enough…I think. “What brings you here?”
He sighed. “Fixing my sister’s computer. She apparently thinks downloading viruses is a safer option than using Netflix.” He then went on to explain his sister’s little “accident” with torrenting her favorite show and the resulting mess her computer was.
“Sorry to hear that,” Trixie sympathized. “I really don’t know too much about computers myself; I just usually let my best friend handle that for me. She’s better at it than I am.”
“Yeah, well, unfortunately, I tend to live up to my name. I also have to handle the tech for my mother as well, though she’s nowhere near as bad about it as June is.”
An awkward silence came over the two as they realized they didn’t exactly know what to say. Finally, Renaissance asked, “So, why were you looking at Arduino boards if you’re not familiar with tech?”
Trixie picked up one of the unopened boxes. “Kinda hoping that somehow just holding one of these might let me soak up some of the expertise by osmosis,” she muttered with an awkward smile. She then went into a brief explanation of her own, detailing what her uncle had done and had sent the blueprints her way, but that she couldn’t make heads nor tails of them and she was hoping that she could have used them for her performance at the County Fair this weekend, but that wasn’t going to happen.
In response, Renaissance asked, “Do you mind if I look at it?”
Trixie pulled out her phone, brought up the schematics and said, “Be my guest. Maybe you’ll actually understand some of it.”
The boy spent a few minutes looking over this stuff. “This is some pretty advanced stuff. I mean, yeah, I could probably do it, but I sure couldn’t come up with this. Your uncle’s doing?”
“Sorta. My uncle comes up with the general theory, but when it comes to the technology, that’s his wife taking care of that. Aunt Workbench has been helping my uncle with all of the tech and engineering for some of his greatest stunts. That’s why he’s one of the Great Lulamoons – because he’s able to achieve the impossible!” She sighed. “I just hope that I can do that.”
“Oh, that’s right – I heard you tell Sunset the other day that you’re a performer, right? Something about the County Fair this weekend?”
“Tomorrow, actually,” Trixie told him, “but I’m probably going to have to cancel, because I don’t have an assistant.”
“That’s a shame. I was headed to the fair tomorrow and I figured I could watch you or something.” Which wasn’t entirely the truth, though he didn’t say it. The fact was, both Snips and Snails had invited him so that Snails could watch the girl that he was so hot after.
“Well, believe me, I would love to do it, but unless I get myself an assistant, I’m pretty much going nowhere.”
Fortunately for him at that moment, fate intervened.
“Yeah, sorry to hear that, Deb, but yeah, I totally understand, really,” Juniper said to the person on the other end of the line while she walked to her brother. “Hey, you do what you gotta do, girl. I got your back. Anyway, I’m here with my total nerd of a brother, so I’ll talk to you later, okay? Ciao!” She hung up the phone and huffed. “Fuck.”
Renaissance looked at his sister. “Something wrong, June?”
“Yeah, Deb and I were supposed to go to the fair tomorrow, but she had to bow out – last-minute babysitting or something like that. And since I don’t know if any of our other friends are going, looks like I’m stuck in the nerd palace with you this weekend.” She pouted. “And here I was hoping that something cool was going to go on.”
“Maybe something can,” Renaissance said as an idea suddenly came to him. “Trixie, you said you needed an assistant, right? I present to you my twin sister Juniper Montage, who apparently has nothing going on tomorrow and is practically a stage hog.”
“Hey, what do you mean by that—” Juniper retorted at her brother, until she realized who she was with. “Hey, you’re a friend of Sunset Shimmer’s, right?”
“Uh, yes?” Trixie asked. “Why?”
“She’s totally cool! I mean, Ren met her yesterday and he was all like ‘no big thing’, but seriously, is she as cool a person as everyone says she is? I mean, seriously, I—”
Trixie sighed. “Are you sure it’s a good idea?” she asked Renaissance.
It was then that Juniper realized that the other two weren’t on the same topic as she was. “What’s a good idea?” she asked the pair.
At that point, Trixie explained everything. It didn’t take any particular amount of skill in order to be her assistant, as Trixie herself was doing all the tricks; all it took was a particular sense of showmanship and style in order to distract the audience from a lot of what Trixie was doing. She was good at prestidigitation and many other things, but she admitted that it made things all the better when the audience wasn’t expecting what was coming.
“And you know, I thought since you’re trying to be an actress and all that, that you might be interested, since you’re in the Drama Club,” Renaissance told her.
“And I’m in the Drama Club as well. Granted, I don’t participate much since I have my own thing going on,” Trixie added, “but I do know several members and I do try to help out when the Club puts on a play.” Trixie then thought about it, then decided to go for her coup d’ grace: “And you know, Sunny’s paying for it, as well. I asked her not to, but…hey, she’s got the money, and she is a friend of mine, so I can’t argue much.”
“Wait – Sunny? As in Sunset Shimmer?”
“The one and the same.”
Juniper thought long and hard about it…for all of two seconds. “Sure, I’m in!”
“Well, since we’re running short on time and we need to get you your costume ready, let me go tell my friends that we’re headed over to Rarity’s place so she can make it.” She looked at either of them. “I…uh, don’t suppose either of you drove here? I don’t have a car.”
“No sweat,” Juniper told Trixie. “Fortunately, Ren was cool enough to drive me here.”
“You mean that you were supposed to drive us here and then went all, ‘but I just did my nails! I don’t want to ruin my nails!’” Renaissance drolled in a credible imitation of his sister’s whine. Hearing that, Juniper’s eyes narrowed in irritation, while Trixie giggled.
“Yeah, sounds like something Rares would say. Anyway, let me go find Derpy and Carrot real quick and I’ll meet you two by the front.”
“And I swear, if I have to deal with that cuntnugget trying to put the moves on my girlfriend again, I’m going to go Mortal Kombat on her ass!” Pinkie hissed. At the moment she was over Rarity’s place, the fashionista and tailor having offered to fix Pinkie’s cheerleading outfit after she’d torn it during the last football game.
“Pinkie dear,” Rarity said delicately, “far be it from me to correct you, but are you sure that’s what Sunset would want? I mean, I’m quite sure she knows how you feel about her and I don’t think she would be very happy with you to go to blows with Compass Rose. Contrary to your rivalry, she is a friend of Sunset’s.”
“Sure, friend, no problem. She wants more than that? Then I’m going to go seriously ham on her ass.”
“Pinkie, would you listen to yourself? Crudeness is usually Rainbow’s department, not yours.”
Pinkie sighed. “I guess. It’s just that….”
Rarity took her friend’s hands in hers. “I understand, Pinkie, I truly do. But you must woo Sunset in your own way, finding your own path. You are not some knight in shining armor that shields her from every potential threat, especially given that we have faced some truly large threats and it has been her that has protected us. If anything, she needs a significant other that is there to support her, not a thug who would brush away any potential challenge.”
“I guess you’re right. It’s just…I love her, Rares. I want to be there for her in every way I can. Isn’t that what a girlfriend does?”
Rarity smiled. “You’re the one that’s dated before, Pinkie, even if it didn’t turn out that well. Unfortunately, that’s more experience than I have, truth be told – and you know all too well how my last date ended. So in in the end, only you can answer that question.”
“Yeah.” She picked up her cheerleading uniform. “Anyway, thanks for fixing this for me, but I need to get going. We still up for lunch tomorrow at the fair?”
“Well, I believe the price was that I repair your torn skirt, and you were treating me to lunch, correct?”
Pinkie grinned. “You got it! Now, I have just enough time to go visit my babe tonight and see how she’s doing!” With a jaunty wave, Pinkie departed her friend’s place, leaving Rarity to start putting away her sewing gear.
That didn’t last long, however, as her phone rang. Picking it up, she said, “Oh, hello, Trixie, what can I do for you?” Trixie explained for a few minutes and noted that she was on the way over. Hearing that, Rarity sighed; she had hoped to watch her favorite TV series that evening, but apparently, she was going to have to record it instead. “Well, fortunately, I still have all the materials I had from when I made your outfit. So I’ll see you in ten minutes!” She hung up the phone and groaned.
“Something wrong, sis?” Rarity turned to see Sweetie Belle leaning against the door jamb.
“Just…I guess I’ll have to skip out on Grey’s Anatomy tonight. Would you be a dear and tape it for me?”
“Sure, I guess. Going to be busy?”
“Yes, Trixie Lulamoon’s new assistant needs an outfit, so I’ll be busy working on that tonight.”
The younger teen’s eyes brightened. “Want some help with that? I do need to work on my sewing for my—”
“No, that’s quite alright, Sweetie, dear,” Rarity said, recalling the last time she let her sister aid in that endeavor. Replacing everything had cost her a few hundred dollars and had wiped out one of her paychecks from her afterschool job. “Besides, Trixie’s new assistant might, ah, be somewhat skittish about things and having too many people present might bother her.”
“Oh.” Sweetie sounded down at first, but then nodded. “Okay. In that case, I guess I’ll just go watch TV, record your show and call the girls. We were going to take Ribby to the fair tomorrow since it’ll be her first time.”
“Yes, you do that.” As her sister departed, Rarity let out a breath of relief at disaster having been averted.
Going back to setting up her equipment, she mused to herself, And I only have the one sister, while Sunset has essentially five of them – and I can barely keep up with my sole sibling! I’d hate to see what would happen if I had more than one!
“Dude, are you seriously at Trixie’s place?” Snails asked him.
“No, Snails, for the umpteenth time, I’m at Rarity’s place, where I’ve been for the past hour,” Renaissance told his friend. “I just happened to run into her at Fry’s and she talked my sister into being her assistant for tomorrow, and since someone had to drive them here….”
“Hey, let her know that I’m going to be there tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” Renaissance told him. “What time do you and Snips want to meet tomorrow?”
“I dunno. I figure Snips’ll just meet me here and we’ll catch the CanterRail out to the fairgrounds. We’ll call you about that tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah, works for me. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah, sure thing. Catch ya on the flip side.” Snails grumbled and fumbled with his phone for a few more seconds while Renaissance heard him do so. Yeah, Snips was right in that Snails was probably a bit in the slow department, but in the week he’d been here, he’d been comfortable enough with the pair that he felt right at home with them. Probably a good thing, too, given their semi-pariah nature, he was starting to be thought of as a sort of “restraint” on them, which he didn’t like. He suspected that Sunset didn’t care for that either, but even with her being the queen bee of the school even she couldn’t control every aspect. Still, they were his buds and if it meant he was going to have to go the extra mile to make sure that Snails ended up with the girl he liked, well, that was just going to have to happen.
So, while his sister and Trixie were downstairs with Rarity working on Juniper’s outfit, that left a very bored Renaissance to sit and pay attention to whatever was on his phone while Rarity’s kid sister watched some God-awful TV show while hammering out constant texts to her friends via her phone. It was more than enough to make him wonder why the hell he was still here, waiting for his sister.
If I’d been smart, I would’ve just said something to Trixie, then had June drop me off at home or something, he thought to himself.
A second later, Rarity came strolling up the stairs. “Oh, Renaissance, dear, would you do me a favor?” she asked the young man.
“Uh, sure,” he said, putting away his phone. “What do you need help with?”
“It is not often that I admit such, but I could use a second pair of eyes in regards to the design of the costumes. Because your sister and Trixie have different tones and hair colorations, I needed to redesign both outfits so that I could find a particularly happy medium with both, as they do have to be a matching pair on-stage.”
Renaissance gave a small smile. “And since I’m an artist you need my opinion?”
Rarity returned his smile. “It is very rare when I come across an individual with particular talents that isn’t already in the design or art clubs at school. While I know you’re a new student, have you considered joining either?”
“I’m not really the joining type,” he had to admit.
“A pity. In any case, if you will be so kind as to follow me downstairs to my workshop, I believe I can show you their outfits.” Nodding, he followed her down the staircase, to where a large furnished basement was, complete with what looked to a connecting room. As they entered that second room, the whole place turned out to be a well-designed atelier for Rarity’s use, with dressmaker’s manniquins, shelving for fabrics and all the stuff that she needed. And towards the back, with the curtains drawn shut, were two changing stalls.
Rarity clapped. “Okay, ladies – showtime!” she called out in an ebullient tone. At that note, the two girls came out of their stalls. Both wore tuxedo shirts with matching bowties that seemed to change color from green to blue to purple when the light hit it just right. Over that they wore matching black tuxedo coats with long tails and piping similar to the ties. The ensemble continued on to short black skirts, topped off with fishnet stockings and pumps of the same color scheme as the bowties.
Renaissance had to admit that Rarity’s work had been professional-caliber. Looking at how the outfits sat on them, it showed both elegance and attractiveness at the same time, showcasing the pair’s curves while not looking blatantly out to do so. Additionally, just from the way she was having the girls turn to and fro, it seemed that she’d thought to also let the outfits move and breathe for functionality’s sake. It actually made Juniper look good, he had to admit.
And then he looked from his sister’s outfit, over to Trixie’s…
…and his jaw decided to take a vacation on the composite floor paneling in Rarity’s studio. If the outfit had made his sister look good, on Trixie, it made her look magnificent. Where the outfit on his sister showcased her looks and yet still looked refined, on Trixie…she appeared…. He couldn’t describe it. It was like she was born to be in it, a second skin that had made her go from merely gorgeous to….
Renaissance suddenly felt the need to sit down in a chair, then crossed his legs. It made it easier to hide things that way.
Unaware of his “condition”, Rarity looked at him. “So, dear, what do you think? Does the color scheme I chose work? We still have time to change things.”
“Well,” Juniper said, crossing her arms, “given that he’s speechless, I think he’s probably still trying to form words or something.”
His sister’s snarkiness was the perfect balm to get control back of his body. Leaning forward, he said, “Yeah, June, you’re right – I’m trying to find words of how impressive it is that Rarity actually managed to make you look good.”
The other two girls giggled at that, while she glared at her brother. “Jerk,” she said, under her breath.
Trixie, in the meanwhile, turned again. “So how do I look?”
Glad he had himself under control once more, he looked at Trixie and said, “You look great, Trixie. As pretty as a picture, as the saying goes.”
She blushed. “Thanks.” The two looked at one another, but didn’t say anything further, and things got awkward shortly after that.
“Well, I hate to be the one to rush things, Trixie, dear, but if you’re going to work with Juniper, shouldn’t you practice?” Rarity asked.
“She’s got a point,” Juniper stated. “Ren, do you mind driving me home quickly so that I can get an overnight bag? I suspect I’ll be staying over at Trixie’s place tonight.” She turned and looked at the other girl. “Unless you have any other ideas.”
“No, it’s probably easier to do that,” Trixie admitted. “If you can just stand my mother, beloved whackjob that she can be,” the teen sighed.
“Yeah, sure, I can drive you both. That’s my only purpose in life right now it seems,” he mock-groaned and Trixie flashed him a smile.
“Well, I certainly appreciate everything you’re doing, Ren,” she told him. “I’d be lost if it wasn’t for you.”
Rarity nodded. “Well, our dear gentleman should go upstairs and let you two change, while I put away everything.”
As Renaissance went back upstairs, Trixie looked at Rarity. “Rares, thanks again. I really appreciate this.”
“What are friends for, Trixie, dear? Besides, from the discounts from the gemstones and the like that I’ve gotten from your store, it’s only fair.”
“Well, I do appreciate it. Trust me, once I get June squared away on all of this, tomorrow is going to be a day to remember!”
Rarity gave her friend a smile. “Oh, trust me, I’m sure some will remember tonight instead.”
“Huh?”
The fashionista gave a second smile, this one seeming different somehow. “Oh, nothing,” she stated.
Onboard a business jet flying northwesterly through the California skies, a girl was throwing a temper tantrum. This would not be considered abnormal, save for the girl’s age. However, given the fact that this was by no means the first time, the other two passengers on the aircraft were long used to it.
“I hate it I hate it I hate it!” snarled a teenage girl with fair skin, tangerine eyes, and long maroon hair that had bittersweet-red and fawn-brown highlights. At the moment, she wore a fashionable sweater, expensive and strategically-faded jeans and a pricey pair of sneakers. “Why do we have to do this? Can’t we live like normal people?”
Seated across from her, a girl her age with darker skin, citrine eyes and long, wavy silver hair with highlights of magenta and teal, sighed. “Sis, we’re rich – I doubt we can say we’re normal to begin with. And I would argue that growing up in Nashville is no different than where we’re moving.”
The first girl angrily wheeled on the second, jabbing a finger in her direction. “I told you – don’t ever call me that!”
The look on the second girl’s face was one of all-too-familiar hurt and sadness. “Abby, we’re twin sisters—”
“Just because we have the same mother and were born on the same day and share half our genes does not mean we are twins, much less sisters!” Abby’s eyes were full of hate and spite. “I am the great scion of a family that is famous worldwide for being known as ‘The Southern Aristocrats of Magic!’ You are the daughter of some r—”
“Abby Cadabra, that’s enough.” Though the words were not shouted, they were firm and carried authority. A young woman a decade older than both came in. With the same facial features as the younger ones, she had fair skin like the first, but with apple-green eyes and long black hair in a ponytail that had highlights of neon-green and optic yellow. The woman adjusted her glasses to look at Abby with disappointment. “Behave yourself and stop picking on our sister. Aji is not—”
“Whatever,” Abby grunted, looking at the woman. Finally, she softened enough to say, “You know my position on this.”
“And you know what Mom would say. And Dad, for that matter – and I daresay his opinion is the most important one.”
“You win, Poke.” Turning to scowl at the other girl, Abby announced, “If anyone has anything of importance to say to the Amazing and All-Powerful Abby Cadabra, she’ll be on the other side of the plane.” With that, she walked off.
“The Amazing and All-Powerful Abby Cadabra is on the verge of being the Grounded and In-Trouble Abby Cadabra if she doesn’t knock it off,” the woman called to the petulant girl. She then turned to the remaining one. “Are you okay, Aji?”
She nodded. “I’m fine, Poke. I just wish….”
“No. Stop that – you are our sister. You’re not to blame for how you were born and Dad certainly doesn’t hold it against you. Heck, it was his idea to even give you a name befitting someone in the family, right?”
That didn’t seem to work. “Except that if it wasn’t for me, our parents wouldn’t be divorcing and my twin sister wouldn’t hate me.”
“Abby doesn’t hate you. She’s just…well, you know as well as I do that she’s a drama queen and she’s been going through a lot lately. But look at it this way: this is a chance to start over. After everything that’s been in the news about us back at home, starting over in Canterlot will be a blessing, okay? I mean, Mom’s from the area, and Dad said he always liked coming here.”
“That was before the freak hurricane and the murders that happened over the summer. We may as well be moving to Detroit or Oakland at that rate.”
Sighing, Hocus Pocus knew that her sister was right. This was a mess, to say the least. Their parents’ well-publicized marital issues had become enough of a problem that the local media back in Nashville were gleefully writing about the ‘implosion of America’s Royal Family of Magic’; one writer at the Nashville Scene even said that their squeaky-clean rivals, the Lulamoons, were better seen as ‘America’s Magic Family’, because they didn’t ruin a performance at the Grand Ole Opry by bickering during the act. That little stunt had gotten their family booted from the Opryland Auditorium (an embarrassing gaffe, to be sure) and cost both Abner Cadabra and Crystal Focus a lot of respect as their affairs and worse became public knowledge.
So here they were, flying out to the family’s last remaining gig, a year-long residency at the Grand Ol’ Gala Casino & Resort in Bella Vista, a tony suburb of Canterlot, where the three daughters were going to perform in their parents’ stead while the elder Cadabras worked on yet another attempt to save their marriage. Pocus wondered if the constant teeter-totter that was their union was what actually had saved it from dissolution long ago, but even though she was an adult now, she promised her parents she would look after her kid sisters.
Or, to be technical, her kid sister and her kid half-sister.
One of their mother’s affairs over a decade and a half ago had produced a little magic of its own: part of the reason why the Cadabra family had been in the magic business for so long was because of a family secret – they had a lot of twins in their family, and when her father married their mother, strangely enough, the family “tradition” continued. But it had done so in a strange way: superfecundity. When she’d been younger, Pocus always wondered why their family’s business manager, a man her father had described as “his best friend” and whom she thought of as practically like an uncle, vanished from their lives. Now, she knew why.
To his credit, Abner Cadabra had claimed the girl as his own and had given her the name Ajimaji La-Taraji, the Persian equivalent of her twin sister’s name, Abby Cadabra. And up until their parents’ rude and drunken revelation, Pocus and Abby had never thought of Ajimaji as being anything less than their sister. When Abby had come out as gay two years ago, it had been her younger sister that had been her biggest supporter, and when Ajimaji’s boyfriend had moved away last year, it had been Abby that had been there for her twin sister and best friend.
But now, something had been driven between the two sisters, causing a schism as great as their styles in magic. Abby was always the glamorous showgirl, relying on her looks to distract with her slight of hand and other skills; unfortunately, however, she wasn’t the most personable individual there was, and as much as Pocus loved her kid sister, she knew she was a diva. That contracted with Ajimaji’s particular talents, however; she leaned towards the old comedienne-magician tradition, telling jokes and spinning yarns while entertaining the crowd with her skills. She knew that Abby slightly envied Ajimaji’s particular talents at that and now that their sister’s parentage had come out that envy had morphed into rage.
As the plane headed towards Canterlot, Pocus was glad of at least one thing: from what research she did, she could tell that their hated family rivals, the Lulamoons, didn’t live there; they tended to live down south in Vegas or LA.
And that’s honestly a good thing; the last thing I would need right now is to run into one of them!