Jan 10th
School had finally started again. With the beginning of a new year comes new challenges to face, and Shuffle, for the first time in an eon, was ready for them. Ever since Trixie's birthday back in December, the two had gotten even closer, pretty much joined at the hip. The two would very rarely be seen without the other. By the time lunch had rolled around, Shuffle and Trixie had entered the Cafeteria, collected some food and met up with their friends.
Each couple discussed what happened through the rest of their vacation, each making comments on the others, or showing off pictures of what happened.
“Trixie usually hates when school restarts, but now that we are in the home stretch of senior year, it should be fun. Hopefully, Pinkie can set up a party for the class.”
“I bet she has one already planned, knowing that girl. Probably has the supplies bought and hidden somewhere in the School,” Lavender replied.
“Hey Shuffle, what is it you wanna do with your life? We all know Trixie’s going into show business, Lavender is already an intern at Mage Meadowbrook’s Scent Emporium, Snips and Snails have plans to start a prank shop, and Zero… actually, does anyone know what Zero wants to do?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“He wants to protect people. Maybe he could be a Policeman?” Shuffle shrugged absentmindedly at his thought.
“But to answer your question Fuchsia, I don't really know. Most of my life I played cards with my dad when I was younger, so maybe that's something I could do. Plus, it could double as teaching magic tricks for aspiring magicians to get a start.”
During their conversation, Zero came by and asked for Shuffle's presence for a few minutes. Shuffle got up and followed Zero away from their friends as he led them to another table.
“I know this is last minute, but I need to introduce you to these guys.”
“Looks like I've beaten you too it then Zero, ‘cuz I've met half of your friends indirectly.”
Zero's face lit up as he dragged Shuffle to the table.
“Good, then this will be easier.”
Zero and Shuffle arrived at the table.
“Hey guys, sorry I'm late, had to get someone.”
Shuffle took notice of who was sitting at the table. Off the top of his head, he already recognized Artemis, Soul, and Clyde. Everyone else was unknown.
“Zero, I already met three of these guys. Is it really necessary?” Shuffle asked as he stood by the table.
“Yes, yes it is. Considering CHS is supposed to be the friendliest school in the state, it would make sense if we all at least knew each other, now come sit down,” Zero patted the seat next to him, ushering the teen to comp-a-squat.
“Now, from left to right; that's Clyde, he's on the basketball team. He can be a bit of a Romeo sometimes, but I think that's from being around Rarity so much.”
Clyde groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“One time. I only did that so I could sweep my Boo off her feet.”
“His Boo?” Shuffle asked.
“That’s what he calls his girlfriend Rarity.”
Shuffle shrugged. “Seems legit, nice to meet you,” Shuffle said holding out his hand. Clyde let out a chuckle as he accepted the handshake.
“Next to him is Rivet, a bit of a goofball but one of the most loyal friends you can have.”
“Hello, nice to meet you,” Rivet waved.
“After him, Is Soul Writer, he's more recent to our little group, but in that time, not only did he gain all of us as friends, he also began dating Sunset Shimmer.”
Zero leaned closer to Shuffle and whispered something in his ear.
“Pro tip; don't insult Star Wars in front of him, unless you wanna binge watch all six movies.”
“Good thing I like the series then, isn't that right, Vod Mando'a?”
The rest of the small group looked in confusion. Soul, on the other hand, replied smoothly.
“Jate, jorcu meh gar notei Ni'd ganar at spilit gar guuror Darth Maul.”
“Oh dear lord, there's two of them!” Rivet said aloud.
The group laughed as Zero moved on.
“That's…” he started to say before Shuffle cut him off.
“Hey Artemis, been a while hasn't it?” Shuffle said.
“Yeah, I've been busy. My sisters and I have been practicing for the musical showcase this year, plus Aria's singing lessons eat up my schedule too.”
“Well if you're ever free, we really need to have that duel I promised you,” Shuffle replied before turning back to Zero.
“I'm sorry, what were you saying Zero?”
“Well, I was gonna introduce you to Artemis, but it seems you know each other already, I guess,” Zero let out a hearty laugh.
“Next is Swift Justice. That one somehow has the special talent of getting himself hurt in the most amazing ways.”
The boy, now named Swift, crossed his arms.
“Come on, it's not that bad,” Fate seemed to conspire against Swift as his seat gave out underneath him. Swift yelped as he landed on his rear end.
As swift got up Shuffle snapped his fingers.
“I knew I recognized you. You're the one that helps Pinkie out with her parties, right?”
“Yup, that's me: Assistant Party Planner,” he said proudly.
“And I guess like everyone else here, you’re dating Pinkie, right?” Swift staggered a bit as he sat back down.
“No...” he replied dejectedly.
Shuffle patted the boy's shoulder.
“Don't worry dude, you'll get her.”
Clyde spoke up next.
“Has anyone seen Treble?”
“He said something about a unicorn, rainbows and dancing with or on them, so who knows at this point,” Rivet said.
“Since we are going around the circle with introductions, I'm Shuffle Suite, and it was nice meeting you all, but I'm gonna go back to my group. Y'all enjoy lunch,” Shuffle got up and left the table.
“He seemed nice,” Swift said after a moment of silence.
After school, Shuffle and Trixie piled into Trixie’s car and were heading home, while they passed through town.
“You ready for tonight?” Trixie asked excitedly.
Shuffle had his reservations. Between himself and Trixie dating, and the occasional shows Trixie did, he was always backstage, making sure props were in place, the stage was set up ahead of time, etc., whilst Trixie practiced her routine, usually solo, but sometimes Lavender, Fuchsia, Snips, Snails or even Greg would help out. Tonight would be the first time he would be seen onstage too.
“To tell you the truth Trix, I don’t really know if I'm ready yet.”
“Lemme guess, you’re terrified that you’re going to foul up in front of everyone and become the laughingstock of the school?”
“...How even…”
Trixie chuckled as she pulled into the garage. “Simple, Trixie was the exact same way. The best way to conquer stage fright is to just do it, but Trixie won't force you to do something that doesn't make you feel comfortable. Let Trixie say this: when you do join her onstage, she can promise, when that crowd is cheering for you, it's something exhilarating.”
“I'll take that into consideration for next time, but tonight, you focus on the crowd. I'll keep everything managed in the back.”
Trixie nodded and focused on her routine in her head again.
That night, Trixie, along with Lavender, Fuchsia, Snips, and Snails, were in their costumes ready to perform. Shuffle had set up each of the pops ahead of time whilst the stars were getting ready. He had a clipboard in his arm, running down each prop setup and with meticulous detail.
“Trixie wants to open with ‘Dancing Spider’, so Greg is already perched up on the curtains ready to descend onto Lavender. Your seat will be 15A, dead center, go ahead and get into position and wait for my signal.”
Lavender nodded as she took her to leave to mingle amongst the waiting audience.
“After that, Snips and Snails, you two shall be on the far side, ready to bring Trixie ‘The Mystic Box’. Wheels are greased up just in case something goes wrong. There is also a backup can of WD-40 hidden on the backside of the box for the hinges. Remember to put it on the spot we practiced on so we can get Snails away from the swords.”
The duo nodded as they passed behind the curtain. Shuffle kept moving down the list of tricks.
“Let's see. After that was “Card Shower”. The rigged deck is in Trixie’s cape. Where even is the blasted thing...?” Shuffle quickly scurried around the stage, trying to locate the missing cape.
Meanwhile, Trixie had emerged from behind the trailer wearing a new outfit, compliments of one Rarity Belle. Unlike her normal outfit, consisting of her cloak, hat, and a blue dress that came down to her knees, this was a shorter dress, a gold trim going down the main part of the jacket, the rings of the arms covered in stars, purple stockings, heels that had two blue bows on them, and atop her head was a top hat which had two fluffy feathers adorning the left side.
Shuffle stopped mid-stride as he finally noticed the magician.
“Well then, that's a new…” Trixie giggled as she took the clipboard.
“I've got this, just relax and watch Trixie work,” she said coolly as she gave him a playful hip check.
“Knock ’em dead!” Shuffle said as Trixie took the wireless mic from Shuffle and passed through the curtain.
Shuffle could already hear the cheers from behind the curtain. He stood by, watching from a discrete spot as Trixie got started.
It was a great start; Lavender played her part flawlessly. Greg returned to Trixie's foot before she began to try and “stomp” on him, which lasted for about a minute before the duo started a pseudo dance, where Greg hopped between her legs, following Trixie's motions before she slid the flat of her foot around Greg, allowing him to crawl up her leg before disappearing into the hat. Trixie then tossed up the hat before it disappeared behind the top of the stage. A second passed before her hat seemed to float back to her hand and a round of applause erupted from the audience.
“Thank you, everyone, but Trixie has more planned!” Trixie announced as she moved about the stage to continue her act.
Each trick went off seamlessly, from what Shuffle could hear. “The Mystic Box” got more reactions than normal since Snips was the one that “struggled” to get in. Alongside that, thanks to Snips’ acting, and the bags filled with red paint, lots of people fell for the illusion. The show was wrapping up nicely, so Shuffle started packing down each of the already used props to save time.
Once finished with a decent amount, he turned his attention back towards Trixie, who was wrapping up her show. Suddenly, he noticed that he was being pushed on by Snips and Snails towards Trixie, with Snails carrying Greg on his shoulder.
“Guys, what the hell? Stop pushing me! What's going on?”
“Sorry Shuffle, but Trixie wanted her assistant on stage, by any means necessary,” Snails replied before the duo gave a mighty push, making Shuffle stumble from behind the curtain and into the eyes of a few hundred pairs of eyes.
“Ah, so good for you to finally join us. Everyone, as great as Trixie is, none of this show would be possible if it weren't for my number one assistant, Shuffle Suite! Give him a hand, everyone,” Trixie started clapping after she finished speaking.
Almost all of the audience gave Shuffle a standing ovation, some even cheering, even their friends were applauding. To Trixie, this was normal, but to Shuffle, knowing his hard work had such an overwhelming amount of appreciation struck Shuffle harder than even he imagined. It was a weird feeling, for lack of a better term. Shuffle felt… Alive.
Everyone started to quiet down after about a minute.
“Since my assistant is on stage, Trixie will need help with her last trick. Now Shuffle, if you could please take a card from Trixie's hands.”
Shuffle turned to towards Trixie, who had a cheeky smirk on her face.
That sneaky, conniving witch. Shuffle thought as he took a card from the middle of the deck.
“Now what card is it?”
“King of Hearts. Very fitting, since mine’s racing faster than Pinkie Pie on a sugar high,” Shuffle joked, eliciting a laugh from the crowd.
Trixie then took the card back and started shuffling the deck around, truly showing how skilled she was with dexterity. Before tossing up the entire deck, which scattered as each of the cards came back down, Trixie gave Shuffle a quick kiss on the lips before he could react, reaching out to the side and handing a card to Shuffle.
“I do believe you're holding the king again, Correct?”
“Eh-nope. Three of Diamonds,” Shuffle replied coolly.
“What?! Trixie was sure she had the right card!” she quickly snatched it back, looking at the King of Hearts in her hand.
“Gotcha,” Shuffle chuckled before Trixie flicked the card at his face, and another laugh flew from the crowd.
“You guys have been wonderful, thanks for coming to Trixie’s show!” she said, laughing along and taking a bow. Shuffle did as well, and the two went back behind the curtain. Not even two seconds passed before Shuffle pulled Trixie into him and gave her a firm kiss.
The two part a moment later. “I see you enjoyed your time in the spotlight.”
“Yes, but at the same time I hate you for pulling that stunt.”
Trixie shrugged. “Guess I know you better than you know yourself. Now then, Sugarcube Corner isn't closed yet, why don't you go get us some donuts? We'll clean up the rest and then we'll go celebrate.”
Trixie handed Shuffle a twenty.
“Now you’re just bribing me…” Shuffle said as he left out the back of the stage.
The walk to Sugarcube Corner was a slow process. The adrenaline from being on stage had worn off and was replaced with exhaustion that Shuffle didn't know he had. Before he turned the corner in sight of the sweet shop, he was grabbed and pulled into an alleyway with his mouth covered.
Shuffle fought back, trying to break the assailant’s grip, but was hit with something that paralyzed him, as he was pushed down against the wall he was held up by a familiar face.
“Hello, Lariat. Been a while, hasn't it? Still feeling that ball buster Trixie gave-Argh!” Shuffle cried out before finishing his quip, as Lariat gave him a punch in the gut.
“Shut it boy. He's all yours, boss,” Lariat said as he moved off to the side.
“Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Suite,” a second voice said. He noticed that the other person's hand had a slight red glint to it.
“Can't say the same thing for you… Blueblood.”
“Good to know trash can recognize their betters,” Blueblood replied as he lowered his hand, but the glint was still present.
“I'll make this quick and simple so that even an ape can understand. You WILL stay away from Trixella
Lulamoon.”
Shuffle let out a laugh. “Why, so you can try and force her to marry you again? Dude, give it up. She wasn't interested then and I can guarantee that you aren't wanted.”
Blueblood was taken aback by Shuffle’s remark before he chuckled.
“Who said I wanted to marry that whore? She just has a use to us, and we need her in a state of pain, to add an incentive….” Blueblood snapped his fingers, sending an electric shock through Shuffles body. Shuffle fell over from the wall his body, writhing in agony until Blueblood snapped his fingers again.
“I'll be watching you Shuffle. Don't try anything funny, or else things might get worse, especially for your mother and father… Farewell,” Blueblood snapped his fingers once more, leaving Lariat to ensure Shuffle got the message.