"Up next," Vice Principal Luna sighed, "is Trixie Lulamoon with another magic show." Trixie cleared her throat offstage. "I mean, with another great and powerful magic show!"
Trixie took the stage, dressed in her signature star-studded magician's coat with golden epaulets and feathered top hat, either ignoring or unaware of the lack of enthusiasm in her fellow students' applause. "Thank you, thank you. It is my pleasure to bring to you today, "Trixie's Fantabulous Illusionary Phenomenon!" There were a few claps, and someone coughed. "It's a working title," she explained sheepishly.
She signaled to turn the lights off and performed her show as she had rehearsed many times. First, heavy fog rolled in, covering the stage and spilling out onto the gymnasium floor. Then, Micro Chips started playing her original music as laser lights slowly rose toward the ceiling before dancing along with the music.
She began her set with standard stage illusions. She produced a large white silken scarf from her pocket, waved it around a bit to add a little flair, and then began stuffing the white silk into the fist of her left hand. Then, she tugged on the other end, turning the white silk into a red one as it went through her hand! She then pulled on the white corner, pulling all the red color from the scarf back into her palm. She repeated this a few times until she couldn't pull out the red scarf, so she switched the scarf to her right hand. She stuffed the whole scarf in her fist and pulled out a rose! Trixie tossed the rose into the audience.
For her next trick, she spun around in a puff of smoke, and when the smoke cleared, there was a small table beside her. On top of the table sat a box, and next to the box sat a silver ball. She picked up the ball and held it out for all to see, even tossing it between her hands to let everyone know that gravity was still working. Then she said a few magic words and wiggled her fingers, and the silver ball began to rise! It rose off the table, floating between both of her hands. She manipulated its mass up, down, from side to side, and around her head. She floated the ball back down to the table, claiming its gravity has been reset! To prove this, she picked up the silver ball and tossed it again before placing the silver ball in the box.
She turned the box and let everyone know it was just a normal box. Well, mostly. She returned it to face forward again, and dropped the front panel, revealing the silver ball inside. Then, after closing the panel again, she spun the box, saying the same magic words. She stopped the box, and when she opened the panel, the silver ball had disappeared! And in its place, a white dove. She picked up the dove, pet it, and released it toward the audience, but the dove turned into bubbles that drifted through the air.
"Thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed as she took her bows. On each side of the stage, small fireworks shot off and exploded under the vaulted ceilings of the gymnasium.
She had been pleasantly surprised that Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had allowed her to shoot off fireworks in the gym for her portion of the talent show.
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The next day she sat alone at lunch again. It was fine. After almost three years of getting to know everyone at Canterlot High, she knew most people have their cliques; Flash Sentry and his band, Watermelody and the other drama students, Curly Winds high-fiving Wiz Kid as he walks toward the other athletes past the techie table.
Micro Chips kept looking toward Trixie. "Do you think she even realizes?" he asked. The last time Trixie put on a magic show, he'd confided in his friends and made them promise not to say anything.
"Who knows?" asked Wiz Kid. "Maybe she's doing it on purpose?" He took another bite from his apple.
Scribble Dee shook her head. "Her magic shows are terrible, but she's so confident in her abilities, I'm almost convinced she has some form of psychosis."
"Whatever it is, the repeated exposure has affected her social skills," Bright Idea observed. "It makes sense, considering most people aren't fond of people who are boastful and quixotic."
Micro Chips stood up. "I'm going to go talk to her."
Velvet Sky stopped him. "Careful what you say to her, Micro Chips. And how you say it. Don't dismiss what she says; let her know you understand what she's going through."
Micro Chips nodded and continued toward Trixie. He reached the table and sat down across from her. "Hi, Trixie," he said, pulling out a CD, and extending his arm to return it. "Here's the music you gave me for last night's show."
"Thanks," Trixie took the CD and put it in her backpack, not expecting the conversation to continue further.
"So," he began. "How do you think it went?"
"Trixie's Fantabulous Illusionary Phenomenon? Well, it was obviously spectacular, with the fog and the light show," she beamed. Micro Chips didn't respond. He just sat there, looking concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Trixie, I-" he stammered. The words jumbled in his brain. "There's been something I've been meaning to tell you about your performances," he finally admitted. "So I videotaped last night's show."
"What do you mean?"
"Meet me in the A/V room after school today, and I'll show you." He stood up and walked back to the other techies, leaving Trixie in a bewildered state. He returned to his table and sat down. He reassured Velvet Sky and told her what he had just told Trixie.
"Maybe I should join you two after school," she suggested. Micro Chips thought that was a good idea and agreed.
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The final bell rang, and the students of Canterlot High rushed out of their classrooms to their lockers, and from their lockers to their homes. All except for Trixie. As soon as she had gotten everything she needed from her locker, she walked the empty halls to the A/V room while wondering, what had Micro Chips meant? Was there something wrong with her shows? Did she not practice enough?
She arrived at the A/V room. The door was cracked open, and a splash of sunlight spilled onto the floor. She closed her eyes and exhaled as she opened the door and walked inside.
"Hey, Trixie," said a brown-haired girl standing next to Micro Chips, who sat in front of a computer.
Micro Chips turned around. "This is Velvet Sky. She's offered to join us for support." Trixie waved at her. A few moments of awkward silence later, he broke the silence and continued. "Well, let's get straight to it, shall we?" he turned back to the computer where he had synced up the video to the start of Trixie's act. Trixie watched quietly, expecting to see exactly what she had seen during the performance.
The Trixie on the computer screen began waving around a white scarf and stuffed it into her fist. Then she tugged on a red piece of the scarf that was visibly sticking out of her hand. She the trick a few times before miming that she couldn't and switched the scarf to her other hand. She pushed the entire scarf into her fist and pulled out the rose out from her sleeve. Trixie tossed the rose and it landed on the front of the stage.
Next she threw down a smoke bomb that wasn't very powerful, and pulled out a table from behind the curtain. There was the box and the silver ball. She picked up the ball and tossed it to herself. After saying a few magic words she looped a string around her thumbs and pulled the ball up down, and around. She finished the trick and put the silver ball in the box.
She turned the box and dropped the front panel to reveal the silver ball inside. Then she closed the panel, spun the box, stopped the box, and opened the panel to reveal a papier mâché white dove. She let the dove go at the front of the stage, hitting the floor with an unimpressive plop. Then the Trixie on the screen bowed while a few students in the audience clapped out of courtesy.
Trixie stared at the screen, even more baffled than before. "What? No," she objected. "No, that's not right at all. Where was the fog? The light show? The fireworks?!"
Micro Chips turned in his chair. "That's what I wanted to tell to earlier," he admitted. "I'm sure your shows are much more fantastic in your head, but what everyone else sees," he gestured toward the screen, "is this."
Velvet Sky put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I know this must be hard to find out like this," she said softly.
Tears fell from Trixie's eyes. "All my hard work," she whispered. "Everything I've done" She wiped he tears away. "Trixie's just another fraud!"
"No, you're not!" Velvet Sky interjected. "Look at the girl in the video. She's still doing magic tricks. Sure, they still need polishing, but you're still doing them! Look at her enthusiasm. See how natural she is on that stage. See how happy you are, performing in front of an audience."
Trixie looked back and sniffed. Slowly, the corner of her mouth began to rise. "You're right. I am." She took a few deep breaths and continued. "But what about the rest of it? Why do I experience a grand spectacle when all I'm doing is that?" She pointed at the Trixie on the screen again.
"It's possible you might have some type of psychosis that makes you hallucinate, see things that don't exist." Micro Chips answered. "But whatever it is, you can't do this by yourself."
Velvet Sky smiled. "We're here for you, Trixie."
Trixie hugged her new friends. After a moment she asked, "So what now?"
"The school counselor should still be in her office," Velvet Sky guessed.
"Okay. Let's go." Trixie waited as Micro Chips shut off the computer and closed up the A/V room. Then the three of them walked the empty halls toward the counselor's office.