//------------------------------// // Fading Talent // Story: Pinkie Pie's Special Friends // by smirker //------------------------------// Pinkie Pie was doing a party in Ponyville for a foal's birthday, "Watch this, everypony." Pinkie Pie ordered, and she lit a piece of paper on fire and it changed to a dove and flew away, the foals clapped, "And now for my next trick." Pinkie Pie declared, and she bent and contorted her body and put her hoofs together as her knees joints bent backwards, "Ta-da!" Pinkie Pie said, the ponies clapped, she then took out a dummy of Twilight Sparkle, "Pinkie, return me to my original body." Pinkie Pie said in Twilight Sparkle's voice as she made it look like the dummy said it, "Oh, relax, Twilight, it's just for the show." Pinkie Pie said in her regular voice, "Return me to my regular body now!" Pinkie Pie demanded in Twilight Sparkle's voice, and she put the puppet away, she looked at Twilight Sparkle, "Don't do that ever again, Pinkie." Twilight Sparkle stated sternly, Pinkie Pie went back to her show, she took out a red balloon and she tied it and began twisting and shaping it, she made it into an alicorn, "Ta-da!" Pinkie Pie said, the ponies clapped as she gave it to the birthday foal, she then began dancing and did many flips and somersaults while Twilight Sparkle made trapezes appear with her magic, she finished and posed triumphantly while the ponies clapped, "And now, last, but not least, I'm going to escape a death trap. Twilight, would you kindly?" Pinkie Pie asked, and she made a bed appear, she laid on it while a rope holding a dagger above her hung and was lit on fire while Pinkie Pie was cuffed to the bed. Pinkie Pie began grunting as she tried to break the cuffs, the foals cheered her on while she focused, she pulled her front right hoof back and broke the cuff's chain, she did the same with the other three cuffs and she rolled off of the bed just when the fire burned the rope and the dagger stabbed the bed, she stood up and held her front legs out triumphantly while the ponies cheered. The party ended while Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie bowed, "You need to deliver your line a little harsher next time." Pinkie Pie stated, "What? I can't do that to my friend." Twilight Sparkle remarked, "Oh, relax, it's just a show, Twilight, no hard feelings." Pinkie Pie said, "Still." Twilight Sparkle replied, "Well, let's go, better luck next time, Twilight." Pinkie Pie stated, and Twilight Sparkle went home while she went to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie entered her Sugarcube Corner and sighed as she went through a book that she wrote herself on illusionist tricks, ventriloquism, clown acts, acrobatic moves, contortions, and escaping traps, she soon heard knocking at the door, "Pinkie? Ya there?" Apple Bloom asked, "Come in." Pinkie Pie replied, and she did alongside Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, "What would you three like?" Pinkie Pie asked, "We're not here to buy anything." Scootaloo replied, "Huh? Then why are you three here?" Pinkie Pie asked, "You looked kind of upset when you were heading back here." Sweetie Belle answered, "Oh, you three noticed, hold on." Pinkie Pie stated, and she got chairs for them and they sat, they saw the book on her tricks, she came back with a chair for herself and sat, "What's that?" Scootaloo questioned, "It's a book on those tricks I did, I don't do those just for fun." Pinkie Pie explained, "What do you mean they're not just for fun?" Sweetie Belle asked, "You see, the illusions, clown acts, contortions, ventriloquism, acrobats, and escape arts are actually from ponies who used to do them, but they got unpopular as time went on, I decided to learn them so their forms of entertainment wouldn't be forgotten." Pinkie Pie explained, "To tell you the truth, the illusion arts are kind of dull when compared to unicorn magic." Scootaloo stated, "See, there you go right there, I met these six earth ponies that taught me these things, it's not about what looks good or what's popular, it's about making sure an old talent that was once used doesn't get forgotten." Pinkie Pie explained, "How do we know yer tellin' the truth?" Apple Bloom asked, "Because I got a picture of them right here." Pinkie Pie replied as she put it on the table, the Cutie Mark Crusaders saw Pinkie Pie in the picture with six elderly earth pony stallions, Pinkie Pie was in the center, "Okay, we believe ya, so, who are they?" Apple Bloom asked, "Grab some popcorn, this is gonna be a pretty long story." Pinkie Pie replied, and she got ready to talk about the six stallions. Pinkie Pie was walking throughout Equestria and was looking for a place to throw a birthday party, she saw a flyer for a filly's birthday that was asking for all entertainers to arrive, she took the flyer and went to the address. She arrived at the home and she waited for her turn to come for her to perform, she was the penultimate act. She watched and clapped and cheered at every performance, her turn came and she danced around while shooting streamers and confetti out with her party cannon, she sang next while playing ten instruments at once and everypony cheered as she went back. The last group went up to perform, it was a group of six elderly earth pony stallions, but all of the ponies got up and left immediately, Pinkie Pie looked on with confusion and went to go sit, "I'll watch you six." Pinkie Pie said, "You will?" one earth pony asked, Pinkie Pie nodded, the six stallions smiled, "Thank you." another earth pony stated, and they got ready to perform. The six stallions lined up together, "Hello, everypony, we will be performing different arts tonight, I'm Tati." the first stallion announced, he had a pale red wrinkled coat, short white mane and tail, purple eyes, and his cutie mark was a black hat with a white bunny coming out of it, "I'm Houdini." the second stallion added, he had a dark purple wrinkled coat, short white mane and tail, blue eyes, and his cutie mark was a bunch of chains, "I'm Duo." the third stallion added, he had a yellow wrinkled coat, white mane and tail while bald on the top of his head and a moustache, blue eyes, and his cutie mark was a dummy, "I'm Bozo." the fourth stallion added, he had a light green wrinkled coat, was bald and had a white tail, sky blue eyes, and his cutie mark was a red long balloon, "I'm Back Flip." the fifth stallion added, he had a light orange wrinkled coat, short white mane and tail, yellow eyes, and his cutie mark was a gray trapeze, "And I'm Double Joint." the sixth stallion added, he had a blue wrinkled coat, short white mane and tail, sky blue eyes, and his cutie mark was a joint with two white bones connected to it and bending backwards. Pinkie Pie clapped while Tati went first, he showed a bunch of cards and shuffled them, "Take one." Tati ordered, Pinkie Pie picked out a card and saw she chose a Two of Hearts, "Put it back in the deck, and I'll try to guess which card you picked." Tati said, and she did. Tati shuffled the cards and pulled out a random card, "Is it this one?" Tati asked as he showed her the Two of Hearts, "*gasp* It is!" Pinkie Pie replied, "*chuckle* And now for my next trick." Tati announced, and the other five stallions got a table while Tati put on a tailcoat. He placed his front hoofs on the table and lifted up the table without gripping it, Pinkie Pie gasped when she saw the trick, he put it down while she clapped, he got his hat next and pulled out a white cloth, he got a lighter and lit the cloth and a flash of fire appeared and it changed to a dove, Pinkie Pie gasped while Tati grabbed the bird and made it look like he divided the dove into two doves, Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped. Tati took his tailcoat off and he got a red handkerchief, he balled up his front left hoof and shoved it down, he pulled it out from the bottom of his hoof and Pinkie Pie gasped when she saw the handkerchief was now yellow, he put the handkerchief away and bowed while Pinkie Pie clapped. Houdini walked up next and he got a coffin with nails on the lid, "I'm going to warn you all now, my stunts are really dangerous, do not attempt them yourselves." Houdini stated, Pinkie Pie clapped while he went into the coffin and Bozo tied his hoofs with chains and Duo lit the rope holding the coffin lid open. He began trying to free himself from the cuffs while the rope burned, Pinkie Pie gasped as Houdini looked like he was not going to break free in time. Houdini continued to struggle with the cuffs and he managed to squeeze his hoofs out of the cuffs and rolled out of the coffin as the rope burned and the lid closed. Pinkie Pie cheered loudly while Houdini called for the next trap for him to escape from, it was a big milk can, Duo and Double Joint tied him up with chains and put cuffs on his front hoofs and the put him in the jug, Back Flip and Bozo began pouring water into the can and Tati closed and locked the milk can's top. Pinkie Pie watched Houdini through a glass panel on the can and she put her front hoofs together as she watched him nervously trying to break free, she watched him struggle while he began to appear unresponsive. Pinkie Pie and the others waited, her jaw dropped as there was no response, "Let's open the can." Bozo stated, and they did, and Houdini emerged out of the milk can with the chains and cuffs undone. Pinkie Pie gasped and was speechless as he climbed out of the can, "Thank you, I'll show you more at my next show." Houdini said, and he walked back while Pinkie Pie clapped. Duo walked forward with a dummy on his front left hoof, "Look, Fido, we have a guest." Duo stated, "More like a lonely girl." Fido responded, Pinkie Pie gasped, "Fido, that isn't nice, pay your respects to the one who came to watch us." Duo said, "I got her respect right here." Fido declared as he tried to raise his front right leg up as a threat to punch her, "Now, now, Fido, there's no need for that, she looks friendly." Duo responded, Fido looked at Pinkie Pie and she waved at him while smiling, "Oh, alright." Fido said, "Wanna greet her and shake her hoof?" Duo asked, "I'm not touching that filthy mare's germ covered hoof." Fido stated, "Hey!" Pinkie Pie hollered, "My sincerest apologies, ma'am, Fido's always like this, well, welcome to the show." Duo said as he shook her hoof, he went back to where he was performing, "Come on, let's entertain our guest." Duo stated, "Let's nothing we can do to entertain." Fido responded, "Sure there is, let's try singing." Duo said, Pinkie Pie smiled excitedly, Fido began letting out death growls while Pinkie Pie covered her ears and screamed, he stopped and laughed, "Fido, shame on you, you scared our guest." Duo stated, "Fine, you entertain her then." Fido remarked, and Duo began to sang in a tenor voice, he finished and Pinkie Pie clapped, "Look, I think she wants to hear more." Duo said, Fido let out an ear-piercing scream and Pinkie Pie covered her ears, "Bad Fido, you're going back in the box." Duo stated, "Wait, no, no." Fido begged as Duo put him in a box and took out another dummy, "Say hi to your guest, Dandy." Duo remarked, "My, hello, my lady, my partner is such a sore, he leaves the box in such a mess." Dandy replied, and he shook Pinkie Pie's hoof, "Now then, how shall I entertain my guest?" Dandy asked, "Ooh, I know, another song." Pinkie Pie announced, "It's nice, but I don't have my instruments, so I will try poetry." Dandy answered, "Ooh." Pinkie Pie exclaimed as Dandy cleared his throat, "A lovely mare here, beautiful like a pink rose, with pretty blue eyes." Dandy spoke, "Oh." Pinkie Pie said as she blushed, "Pinkie Pie her name, full of energy and fun, she makes all happy." Dandy spoke, Pinkie Pie blushed again, "She brings us all joy, her music is here and there, her love blooms brightly." Dandy spoke, Pinkie Pie smiled, "Uh..." Dandy said as he could not come up with another poem, "It's alright, Dandy, I think she is satisfied with your performance." Duo replied, Pinkie Pie nodded, Duo put the dummy in the box and bowed as Pinkie Pie clapped. Bozo walked forward and had many items with him, "Hi, kids, who wants to hear a joke?" Bozo asked, "I do!" Pinkie Pie hollered, "Why did the bicycle collapse? It was two tired." Bozo stated, Pinkie Pie laughed, "You look like a good girl, I got some tricks for you, music please." Bozo instructed, and Tati turned on a radio, "And now, for my first trick, a balloon animal." Bozo stated, "Ooh." Pinkie Pie exclaimed as Bozo got a long blue balloon and he began twisting and tying the balloon, Pinkie Pie watched Bozo's front hoofs as he made the balloon animal, "We have..." Bozo said as he continued shaping the balloon, "...an elephant." Bozo added as he finished, Pinkie Pie gasped and clapped as he gave it to her, "Encore! Encore!" Pinkie Pie hollered, "*chuckle* Very well, time for my next animal." Bozo replied, and he got a yellow balloon and blew it up with a pump. He began shaping it while Pinkie Pie watched enthusiastically, "Next up is..." Bozo said as he continued shaping the balloon, "...an octopus." Bozo added when he finished, Pinkie Pie took it, "Alright, time for my next trick." Bozo stated as he got a unicycle and bottles with papers stuffed in them. Tati lit the papers on fire while Bozo got on the unicycle, "I will juggle the Molotov cocktails while I ride my unicycle, if I drop one, it will shatter on the ground and start a fire." Bozo explained, Pinkie Pie gasped, "Remember, this is very dangerous, and I'm a trained professional, do not try this at home." Bozo said, and Tati threw the Molotov cocktails, and Bozo grabbed them while riding his unicycle. Pinkie Pie watched nervously as Bozo rode on his unicycle and juggled the six Molotov cocktails, he threw all six of them in the air and did a back flip off of his unicycle and held his front legs out, all six Molotov cocktails landed on his front legs perfectly, "Ta-da!" Bozo said, Pinkie Pie just watched with her jaw hanging down, "Okay, now last but not least, bubble tricks." Bozo announced, and he got a bottle, two blowers, a transparent bubble wand, and a fog machine, "I'll show you the caterpillar bubble first." Bozo stated, and he blew bubbles together, he put the fog machine in his mouth and inhaled, it blew fog into the bubbles and turned them into smoke bubbles. He alternated the bubbles between regular bubbles and smoke bubbles, there were six bubbles and began wiggling them around with his two blowers on the top bubble, he popped them while Pinkie Pie clapped, "Alright, now, time for the volcano bubble." Bozo stated, and he made a smoke bubble that was on a blower, he popped the top and smoke erupted from the bubble until it was gone, Pinkie Pie clapped again, "I will now do the love bubble." Bozo said, Pinkie Pie gasped as he made a regular bubble on one blower and a smoke bubble on the other. Bozo began hitting the bubbles against one another softly, the two bubbles fused together on the third hit, "Yay! Whoo-hoo!" Pinkie Pie hollered, "Okay, now, for smoke bubbles inside a bubble." Bozo announced, and he blew a bubble and kept it on the blower, he inhaled from his fog machine and blew smoke bubbles into it, Pinkie Pie clapped while he popped the bubbles, "Alright, and now last, but not least, the bubble cube." Bozo announced, and he blew a bubble and a second one over it, he then blew four bubbles on their sides, he then blew the fog machine into it and Pinkie Pie gasped when the fog took the shape of a cube, "Whoo-hoo!" Pinkie Pie hollered as Bozo blew again and made the cube smaller, he then popped the bubbles and bowed, he walked back with his things while Tati turned the music off. Back Flip walked forward and stretched a little, "I'm going to be doing some acrobatic moves, and remember, I'm a highly trained professional, don't try these at home." Back Flip said, and he did a few somersaults and back flips to warm up, "I need a partner." Back Flip stated, and Double Joint walked forward and laid on his back. Back Flip ran to him and jumped, he did a back flip in the air while Pinkie Pie gasped, he landed on Double Joint's hoofs in a sitting position, Pinkie Pie clapped as Back Flip jumped off while doing another back flip, he ran back while Double Joint stood up and Tati, Houdini, Duo, and Bozo ran to Double Joint and they held each other up, Back Flip jumped while doing another back flip in the air and landed at the top of the stack. Pinkie Pie clapped while Back Flip jumped down, Tati, Duo, and Bozo stood in front of him with Tati standing on Bozo's back and Duo on his back, Back Flip ran forward and jumped and did a somersault, Tati jumped up and Back Flip went through the gap between the two and Tati landed back on Bozo's back, Back Flip then jumped back while doing a back flip in the air and Duo jumped up and Back Flip went through the gap and landed back at where he started. Pinkie Pie cheered loudly while Back Flip did another back flip and landed on a table with one hoof and balanced himself, he did a somersault while Duo grabbed his front hoofs and Back Flip kept himself in a handstand position while he held onto Duo's hoofs tightly, he did a back flip and jumped down, Pinkie Pie clapped while Back Flip bowed and they all walked back. Double Joint walked forward and stretched his body a bit, "Remember, don't attempt what I'm about to do at home, you will break your bones without proper training." Double Joint stated, and he bent his knees backwards, Pinkie Pie gasped while Double Joint laid on the ground and bent his shoulder and hip joints backwards while he bent his knee joints forward, he bent his joints back to normal and he stretched his front legs out and then stretched his lower body over his own upper body and touched his front hoofs with his hind hoofs. Pinkie Pie clapped while Double Joint bent back, he then laid down on his stomach and lifted his abdomen up, he bent his body under his groin region and emerged from inside his thighs while facing Pinkie Pie, her jaw dropped while Double Joint smiled, he reverted back to normal and reeled up on his hind legs and twisted them together, he held his front legs above his own head and twisted them together, he then twisted his upper body to his left, he reverted back to normal while Pinkie Pie clapped and he did a hoofstand with his front hoofs and bent his lower body forward and touched his front hoofs with his hind hoofs, Pinkie Pie gasped. He reverted back to normal and bent his lower body and went below his own head while doing the hoofstand, he reverted back again and stood on all fours while Pinkie Pie clapped, "And now, my last trick." Double Joint announced, and he lifted his lower body up and crossed his hind legs together at the knees, he did the same with his front legs, he moved his hind legs to the sides of his head and then bent his hind knees backwards and touched his front hoofs with his hind hoofs, Pinkie Pie gasped when she saw it, he reverted back to normal and Pinkie Pie cheered loudly while Tati, Houdini, Duo, Bozo, Back Flip, and Double Joint bowed, "Best show ever!" Pinkie Pie declared, "Thank you, but that's all, catch us next time." Tati said, and they left while Pinkie Pie clapped and cheered. Pinkie Pie finished clapping and packed her things, she looked for the birthday foal and eventually found her, she walked to her, "Excuse me." Pinkie Pie stated as she walked to her, the filly faced her, "Why did you and everypony else leave when those six stallions were about to perform?" Pinkie Pie questioned, "Their acts are boring and outdated, unicorns can replicate what they do with their magic." the filly answered, "But it's rude to just up and leave like that." Pinkie Pie said, "Nopony wants to watch them, their time has long passed." the filly replied, "Where can I find them?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Why? You like them?" the filly asked, "Actually, I'm a bit curious on how they do their stunts." Pinkie Pie replied, "Oh, they live in a wagon to the south of here, can't miss it." the filly answered, and she trotted there. Tati, Houdini, Duo, Bozo, Back Flip, and Double Joint were practicing their tricks while helping one another if they needed it, Pinkie Pie walked over and watched them, she saw Tati show off an empty hat and put it on a table, he reached into it and pulled out a rabbit, Houdini broke out of a strait jacket, Duo made different voices with his own, Bozo shot water out of a flower, Back Flip did flips, and Double Joint stretched and bent his body. She clapped and the six looked at her, "Why, hello again, Pinkie Pie, what brings you here?" Duo asked, "I was wondering if the birthday foal talking about you six not being popular anymore is true." Pinkie Pie replied, the six looked down, "It is true." Back Flip said, Pinkie Pie frowned, "Is it because you all are old?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Well, that's one reason, but the main reason is because unicorns and Pegasi have changed ways to do entertainment, alongside what is popular, even people our age don't want to see us perform anymore." Tati replied, "How popular were you six back then?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Very popular, we were all the rage sixty or seventy years ago." Double Joint replied, "I wanna see." Pinkie Pie stated as she hopped up and down, "Come on in then." Tati replied, and the six let her into their wagon. Pinkie Pie entered their wagon and saw promotional posters for all six of them, they were a group simply known as The Entertainers, "That's a pretty simple name." Pinkie Pie said, "Well, we were the first of our kind at the time." Houdini replied, "*gasp* Really?" Pinkie Pie asked, Tati nodded, "When we started, our forms of entertaining were original, nopony did the tricks we did, at first, our audience were earth ponies only, but word quickly spread and we had unicorns and Pegasi in our crowds, and we got extremely popular, Duo, Bozo, Back Flip, and Double Joint actually got another role because of our popularity." Tati explained, "What was it?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Bozo and Duo became comedians, and Back Flip and Double Joint became dancers." Bozo replied, "We have pictures right here, Pinkie Pie." Back Flip stated, she trotted to him and looked at the photos. She saw pictures of the six when they were younger, the pictures were all white and black, she saw assistants with them on the shows, "I didn't know you six had other performers with you." Pinkie Pie stated, "They're assistants, they helped us with some of our tricks, they quit when we got less popular, we can't perform some of our tricks without them." Double Joint replied, "They look like all girls." Pinkie Pie said, "They are, they were there for eye candy." Bozo replied, "Ooh, I love candy." Pinkie Pie said, "No, Pinkie Pie, it's not literal candy." Bozo replied, "I know, that was a joke." Pinkie Pie stated, "Oh." Bozo said, "Anyway, as we said, nopony likes us anymore." Houdini said, "I'm sure there is somepony who does." Pinkie Pie remarked, "Only a few, almost nopony wants us to see us." Duo replied, "Come with me, I'm a traveling party pony, so maybe I can find a crowd for you all to perform to." Pinkie Pie stated, "What do you guys say?" Back Flip asked, "I think it's worth a try." Double Joint replied, the other five nodded, "Lead the way." Houdini ordered, "No, silly, I have to wait for a request first." Pinkie Pie replied, "Hope it doesn't take too long." Duo said, "It shouldn't, my parties are famous throughout Equestria." Pinkie Pie replied, "Well, let's wait for now." Tati remarked, and the six went back to practicing. Pinkie Pie waited and a mailpony came and gave an envelope to her the next day, she opened it and read, she went to go see The Entertainers, "Good news, everypony, I just got a request to perform at a birthday party, let's go." Pinkie Pie stated, "Wow, that was quick." Back Flip remarked, "Like I said, I'm quite popular, let's go." Pinkie Pie replied, and she carried their wagon to the location. Pinkie Pie arrived at a stallion's birthday party and she performed alongside a band, she shot out streamers and confetti with her party cannon and the band finished playing, everypony cheered, "Alright, everypony, I also bring a group of ponies to perform, too, please welcome, The Entertainers." Pinkie Pie announced, the six stallions walked out of the wagon and everypony began booing them, "Go back to your nursing home, geezers." the birthday stallion stated, Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped, "Your boom is over, and unicorns can do your magic tricks better, take your boring acts elsewhere." an elderly mare hollered, "But they also do comedy and dancing." Pinkie Pie replied, the stallions and mares booed, "Those are for losers." a second stallion hollered, Pinkie Pie just looked on speechless, "Balloon animal, anypony?" Bozo asked as he held out a balloon twisted and tied into the shape of a monkey, the ponies booed and threw food at them and Pinkie Pie quickly left. The seven ponies cleaned the food off of themselves, they waited and Pinkie Pie soon got another envelope to perform two days later and they went. Pinkie Pie performed at a colt's birthday and the foals booed at the six stallions, "Unicorn magic is better!" a colt stated, "But you're an earth pony and can't use magic." Double Joint replied, "I got a unicorn friend to cast the spells for me." the colt remarked, "But don't you want to learn how to do it without the magic?" Tati asked, "Nah, it takes too long." the colt replied, the other foals nodded, "We can still show you." Houdini said, the foals booed, "Unicorn magic. Unicorn magic. Unicorn magic." the foals chanted, Pinkie Pie and the six stallions just left. Three days passed and Pinkie Pie got another letter requesting her to perform, she and the others went to a birthday party full of elderly ponies around the stallions' ages, a group of unicorns do magic tricks and they all cheer while Pinkie Pie played music and danced for them, The Entertainers went up next when they were done, "You guys look familiar." a stallion said, "We're The Entertainers, we were extremely popular about fifty to sixty years ago." Back Flip explained, "Oh, I remember you guys now, you all should hang your stuff up, those tricks of yours are not very impressive anymore." the stallion stated, "Can they at least perform a little?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Alright, let's see what you all can do." a mare replied, and they got ready. Tati shuffled a deck of cards and held it out to a mare, "Take one." Tati said, and she did, she looked at the card, "Memorize it and put it back in the deck." Tati ordered, and she did, he shuffled the cards and picked one out, "Is this your card?" Tati asked as he showed her a Two of Hearts card, she nodded, he saw the audience was unimpressed while the unicorn performers snickered. Houdini got tied to a chair by Bozo, Back Flip, and Double Joint, they tied his hoofs and body to the chair alongside looping the rope around the chair, Houdini wiggled around and freed his hind legs as the chair fell over, he freed himself and stood up, nopony clapped. Duo got Fido and walked forward, "Fido, greet the guests." Duo said, "Bah, those pompous twits can smell my gas for a living." Fido remarked, the crowd glared, "Sorry, everypony, he's always like this." Duo remarked, and he looked back at him, "Fido, look at what you did, you just upset the crowd." Duo spoke, "You mean those geezers there who have no taste? They were always upset even before we started." Fido retorted, "Fine, let's see what Dandy has to say about them." Duo remarked, and he got him out, "What do you think of the crowd, Dandy?" Duo asked, "My, what a refined crowd full of class, I believe they are worthy of my highbrow tastes." Dandy replied, "What?! You're going to entertain a bunch of geezers?!" Fido asked, "Oh, hush, you're just a filthy dog barking nonsense right now." Dandy replied, "Really? Last week you were all round and made from blubber." Fido retorted, Dandy became speechless, the crowd remained silent while Duo quit. Bozo put on his clown makeup and walked forward, "Do you all know why monsters don't eat clowns?" Bozo asked, nopony answered, "Because they taste funny." Bozo said, nopony laughed, Bozo got a flower, "Anybody like flowers?" Bozo asked, nopony responded, "Really? This is no ordinary flower, watch." Bozo said, and water shot out of it, the crowd remained unimpressed, "Tough crowd, I see, let's try a balloon animal." Bozo decided, and he got a white balloon and filled it with air, he twisted and tied the balloon until it was the shape of a fish, nopony clapped, "I give up." Bozo said, and he walked back while looking down. Back Flip did a somersault and landed in front of the crowd, he jumped and turned his body around while in the air, he did it again and faced the crowd, the five stallions lined up and Back Flip went to their rights, he ran and jumped, he did a somersault and landed past all five of them, the crowd looked on unimpressed. Back Flip went back while the other five stallions got on their backs on held their hoofs up, Back Flip jumped and did a somersault, he landed onto Tati's hind hoofs first while standing upright and balancing himself, he did a somersault and landed on his front hoofs, he did the same with the other four and jumped down when he got to the end, the crowd was still unimpressed, "It's hopeless." Back Flip stated, and they went back. Double Joint stretched and he began bending his body, he bent his back backwards and placed his hind hoofs to the sides of his own head and placed his front hoofs under his own chin, the crowd glared at him, he did a hoofstand and placed his hind legs over himself and touched his hind hoofs against one another when they were under his chin, the crowd did not clap. Double Joint bent his front knees down and touched the ground with his face, he stretched his hind legs forward and touched the ground with his hind left leg while he stretched his hind right leg out as far as it could go while touching the ground, the crowd still did not clap or cheer, "Yeah, I think it's best you all hang up your stuff and let the unicorns do the tricks now." a second mare said, Double Joint reverted his body back to normal, "But a lot of their tricks just require them to cast spells and they don't use actual talent." Tati replied, "Yeah, my escape arts are meant to wow the audience, just teleporting out is unimpressive." Houdini added, "I think I know what the problem is, your shows are simple, it's not flashy and bright like how the unicorns make it." another stallion remarked, "I've got flash paper right here." Tati remarked as he showed it, "No, that's not flashy enough, it needs to be bigger, brighter, and each a different color." a third stallion explained, Tati became speechless, "Can I perform for the rest of the party?" Pinkie Pie asked, "You have anything else besides your cannon?" another mare questioned, she got out her ten instruments and played them all rhythmically. She played a song while everypony looked on speechless, she finished while everypony clapped, "Good show overall, thank you, all of you." the birthday stallion stated, they all smiled and bowed and headed home. Pinkie Pie waited for the next request to come and she got it, it was to perform at a foal's birthday, she went but was immediately booed when she was about to introduce the six performing stallions, they left and she waited for the next request, it was a birthday party for a middle aged stallion, young adults and other middle aged ponies were there, they threw food at her and the six stallions when she was about to introduce them, they left afterwards, she got another letter the next day and it was to perform at a party with ponies of all ages there, but a band of Pegasi were playing music there and just kept playing until the party ended, Pinkie Pie and the six stallions did not perform. Pinkie Pie waited for her next envelopes and she got hundreds two days later, she gasped while opening them excitedly, she read them and gasped again when her joy went away, she went outside to the stallions and was almost crying, "What's the matter, Pinkie Pie?" Bozo asked as they walked to her, she showed them the letters, they saw they were requests telling Pinkie Pie to stop bringing the stallions with her or they will no longer hire her to perform at their birthday parties, "Well, guys, I guess we're done for, we have to retire and let the other ponies entertain the audiences now." Tati remarked, and they got ready to pack their things while Pinkie Pie thought about what he said, "No." Pinkie Pie said, the stallions looked at her, "Teach me your tricks, I'm still young and popular, I can pass your tricks on by adding my own touches to it." Pinkie Pie spoke, "Now that you mention it, you do seem to break physics when you do your tricks." Back Flip replied, "Uh-huh, maybe I can make your tricks popular again, so teach me, please." Pinkie Pie begged, "That's risky, we might not be able to teach you." Duo stated, "Why? Because I'm a girl?" Pinkie Pie asked, "No, because you might be too old, we started when we were colts." Houdini explained, "Oh, well, I still think it's worth trying." Pinkie Pie replied, the six thought about it, "Okay, but we can't perform with you, you've seen how the crowd treats us now, it's all up to you." Double Joint said, "I won't let you six down." Pinkie Pie replied, "Okay, I'll start first, come with me." Tati said, and she followed him. Tati got his coat and a small piece of cotton, "Alright, Pinkie Pie, I'll show you my secrets, but you must not reveal them to the audience, as it'll ruin the trick." Tati explained, Pinkie Pie zipped her own mouth closed, "*chuckle*, no need for that." Tati said, and her mouth unzipped itself, "Alright, Pinkie Pie, first is that dove trick I did for you, that paper I burn is flash paper, it is used to hide the secrets." Tati explained, "Where are the doves?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Look inside the sleeves and coat." Tati replied, she did and saw secret pockets with the doves in them, "How do you pull them out?" Pinkie Pie asked, "There's an invisible thread tied to them." Tati answered, he grabbed one and pulled a dove out slowly, "See, right here, but you have to be fast when performing, or the fire flash will disappear and the crowd will see how it's done." Tati instructed, and he lit the flash paper, it made a bright flash appear and he quickly pulled the thread to get the dove out, "Here, you try." Tati said as he put the dove back in the secret pocket. Pinkie Pie put the tailcoat on while Tati gave her flash paper and a lighter, she lit the flash paper and shrieked as she jumped back from the flash, "You'll get used to it." Tati remarked, and he handed her another piece of flash paper, she lit it and got ready to pull the thread, "Huh? Wha?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she tried to find and feel where the thread was at, she found it while Tati gave her another piece of flash paper, she lit it and got the dove out of the sleeve behind the flash, "Good job, but you need to be faster." Tati instructed, and Pinkie Pie tried again but could not find the invisible thread again, Tati moved Pinkie Pie's hoof to it. She lit another piece of flash paper and pulled four doves out of the sleeve, Tati became speechless, she reached into the other sleeve and pulled out four more doves, she hid them behind the four doves and made it appear she pulled them apart and divided them in half. She let them fly off and they came back and landed on Tati's table, "You ready to learn the next trick?" Tati asked, "Sure." Pinkie Pie replied, and he got his hat, "This is a simple one, this is making a rabbit come out of a hat." Tati explained, he showed the inside of the hat to show it was empty, he placed it down and then pulled a rabbit out. She walked over and saw a black handkerchief in the hat, "I see that there." Pinkie Pie stated as she pointed to it, "Very good, Pinkie Pie, there is a black handkerchief containing the rabbit hanging off the table where you can't see it from the audience, you put it in when you turn the hat upside-down." Tati explained, and he showed her how to do it and unwrapped the handkerchief and then pulled out the rabbit, "Wait, I have an idea." Pinkie Pie stated, and Tati wrapped the rabbit back in the handkerchief. Pinkie Pie showed off the hat and put the handkerchief in the hat, she opened it and reached into the hat and pulled a doppelganger of herself out, "Surprise!" Pinkie Pie's doppelganger hollered, Tati reeled up in shock while the doppelganger went back into the hat, "I wanna learn the card tricks next." Pinkie Pie stated, "Alright, here's the deck." Tati replied as he got it, "Hold on, I know you asked me and that mare to pick card and I got a Two of Hearts and she got a Two of Hearts, something's really fishy about this deck." Pinkie Pie said, "You're right." Tati replied as he showed the cards and held them out, Pinkie Pie gasped when she saw all fifty two cards were Two of Hearts, "They're all the same card." Tati explained, "That's cheating!" Pinkie Pie declared, "It's part of the illusion." Tati explained, "What else can you do?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Bozo?" Tati asked, he walked to them and took one of his cards, he went into their wagon and Tati stood in front of a window, he threw his cards at the window and one stuck to it on the other side, "Oh, I get it, you throw it and make it look like it went through the window and stuck to it." Pinkie Pie deduced, "Exactly." Tati replied, "What other tricks do you have?" Pinkie Pie questioned, Tati put a device on his front hoofs, he swung them out and rods came out and locked them in place, he placed them in holes on his table and lifted it up, "Oh, that's how you did it." Pinkie Pie said, he put the table down, "That's all I can teach you for now, go ahead and practice the tricks." Tati said, and she did while he watched her and helped her when she made mistakes, "Um, do you have any other tricks?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Yes, but I need assistants to perform them." Tati replied, "Do you have any other tricks that don't involve assistants?" Pinkie Pie questioned, "Yes, I'll show you two more when you get the hang of these." Tati replied, and she continued practicing until the day ended. The next morning came and Pinkie Pie sent out letters throughout Equestria saying that she will not be available to perform at parties for a while as she was trying to come up with new ideas for parties, she continued practicing the tricks with the doves and the rabbit, she did the table trick and the card trick easily, "Alright, I'll now show you the color changing handkerchief trick." Tati announced, and he got a red handkerchief and a yellow one, he stuffed the yellow one in a tube and held it in his hoof to hide it, "Oh, that's how it's done." Pinkie Pie spoke, Tati nodded and made it look like the handkerchief changed from red to yellow, Pinkie Pie tried it and got it right on the first try, "Very good, that is one of my easier tricks, I'll show you another one." Tati spoke and he got a Styrofoam cup and filled it with coffee, he showed it to her, the coffee began to disappear and Pinkie Pie gasped when she saw the cup was now full of coins, "The secret is at the bottom." Tati explained, he took the coins out and turned the cup over and revealed a hole was cut into it and there was a sponge inside the cup, "Just press the sponge up and let it absorb the coffee, easy one." Tati stated, Pinkie Pie tried it and got it right on the first try, "Not bad, well, it is one of my easier ones." Tati said, "I'll go learn from another pony now." Pinkie Pie stated, "Okay, make sure you keep practicing." Tati replied as Pinkie Pie walked away. Pinkie Pie walked over to Houdini and saw he already had his items ready for his tricks, "Alright, Pinkie Pie, my tricks are hard to perform, they take years of practice." Houdini explained, "I wanna start now." Pinkie Pie replied, "Okay, we'll start with my most famous trick, escaping from the straitjacket." Houdini said, and he put it on her. She began grunting and struggling to break free from the straitjacket, she struggled and could not get it off, Houdini undid the straps and took it off, "It takes years of practice, Pinkie Pie, don't be upset if it takes you a while to get it off." Houdini stated, "I wanna see you try it." Pinkie Pie said, and Bozo and Duo put the straitjacket on him. He began moving around and managed to free his own front right leg and then freed his other front leg, he reached back and undid the buckles and took the straitjacket off, "Keep practicing, you're going to be using it for a few tricks." Houdini said as he put it back on Pinkie Pie. She grunted loudly as she tried to break out of the straitjacket, she continued grunting as she could not get herself free, she grunted as she tried to pull her front hoofs apart, but sat and panted. Houdini walked to her and took the straitjacket off, "I'll tell you how to escape then, before I do the straps, cross your dominant front hoof across your other front leg." Houdini explained, and he put the straitjacket back on her while Pinkie Pie kept her front right hoof over her front left leg, "Next, use your dominant hoof to grab a hoofful of the fabric on the inside." Houdini added, Pinkie Pie did, "Now, fill your lungs with air, but slowly, you doing a big inhale will let the audience know the secret, so inhale through your snout slowly." Houdini instructed, Pinkie Pie did until her abdomen expanded, "Now, stand up straight until I do the last strap, when I do, bend yourself down to give yourself room to escape." Houdini instructed, and he tightened the buckles and Pinkie Pie bent her shoulders down when he finished, "Okay, now, move your dominant hoof to your weak front leg's shoulder and move your other front leg down." Houdini instructed, Pinkie Pie grunted as she struggled but got it, "Good, now rest your hoof on that shoulder, now, this is the hard part, throw your dominant leg up and try to move your head between the gap." Houdini instructed, Pinkie Pie threw her front leg up and put her head in the gap, she bounced backwards and grunted loudly as she tried to get her head through, she fell on the ground and struggled to get her head through, she grunted and began throwing her body back and forth, she took a deep breath when she got her head through and panted, "Alright, now undo the sleeve buckle with your teeth." Houdini instructed, and she did, "Next, undo all buckles with your hoofs." Houdini said, and she did, "And lastly, put the straitjacket on the ground and push it off with your hind hoofs while moving your upper body back." Houdini instructed, and Pinkie Pie did and got it off, "Phew." Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she wiped sweat off of her own forehead, "Let's take a break, Pinkie Pie, you need to practice, for some of my tricks, you need to escape from the straitjacket while hanging upside-down." Houdini spoke, Pinkie Pie screamed, "We'll try again later, let's see if you can escape being tied to a chair." Houdini said, and he got one. He put Pinkie Pie in the chair while Duo and Back Flip got rope, "Okay, first, clench and flex your hoofs, that'll give you more space to free yourself." Houdini explained, and she did while she got tied, "Okay, now relax your muscles." Houdini instructed, she did and gasped, "I have more space to move." Pinkie Pie spoke, "Yes, now try to free yourself." Houdini replied, and she began wiggling her legs around, she freed her own hind legs and fell on the ground while undoing the rope on her front legs, she managed to free herself and stood triumphantly, "I did it!" Pinkie Pie hollered as she jumped up and down, "Yes, but you need to be faster, there are some of my tricks where you have a time limit." Houdini replied, "As in?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Death traps, if you don't escape in time, you die." Houdini answered, Pinkie Pie gasped, "Come on, you need to keep practicing." Houdini stated, and she did. Pinkie Pie tried to escape from the straitjacket faster than before, she flexed her muscles and every buckle on the back undid itself while she ripped the sleeves at the shoulders when she pulled them apart, she took it off, "Not bad, but you can't do that during a show." Houdini said, "Sorry about your straitjacket." Pinkie Pie remarked, "It's alright, I have plenty of spares." Houdini replied, and he got another one and put it on her, she tried to escape again but had trouble getting her head through the gap when she lifted her front right leg up, she screamed and stopped, the six stallions took the straitjacket off and Pinkie Pie clutched her right shoulder while in pain, "I see, let's rest for the rest of the day." Houdini said, and they all went into the wagon. The next day came and Pinkie Pie rested a little since her shoulder hurt, she went over to Duo while he cleaned his two dummies, "I'm ready to learn, Duo." Pinkie Pie stated, "Okay, first, you need to make it look like you're not speaking when you make the dummy speak, you need to put your teeth together lightly, and then part your lips slightly in a small smile, and move your tongue around." Duo instructed, "Like this?" Pinkie Pie asked in a muffled voice, "Yes, now, practice saying these letters without moving your lips: A, C, D, E, G, H, I, J, K, L, N, O, Q, R, S, T, U, X, and Z." Duo instructed, "Hold on, I need to write that down." Pinkie Pie said as she got paper and a pencil out of her mane, she wrote down the letters while Duo repeated them, "Okay, how long do I practice?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Thirty minutes." Duo replied, and she began, she practiced the sounds for thirty minutes while the other six stallions went on with their days. Thirty minutes passed and she went back to him, "I'm ready for the next lesson." Pinkie Pie stated, "Alright, the letters B, F, M, P, V, W, and Y are different, you can't pronounce them without moving your lips, so we do it differently, for B, M, and P, we use different letters, substitute B with D, M with N, and P with T; for F, V, W, and Y, we use sounds to substitute them, the sound 'eff' substitutes F, and V is substituted with 'thee', for W and Y, we combine two sounds to make them, for W, we combine O and E, and for Y, we combine O and I." Duo explained, Pinkie Pie wrote it down, "How long do I practice?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Twenty minutes for each one of those." Duo answered, and she began. Two hours and twenty minutes passed and Pinkie Pie exhaled and went back to Duo, "Wow, it's nice to see how dedicated you are, next is operating a dummy, which one would you like to use, Fido or Dandy?" Duo asked, "Fido, please." Pinkie Pie responded, and he gave it to her, "Alright, the lever and bar to move his head, eyes, and mouth is in his back, place your hoof in him, and you'll feel the lever." Duo instructed, she did and felt it, "*gasp*, I do." Pinkie Pie said, "Move that lever up and down to open and close the mouth, use the wires under it to move his eyes, and use the bar itself to move his head around, also, when you give him a voice, make it a voice similar to your own." Duo instructed, "Like this?" Pinkie Pie asked in a voice lower than her regular one, "Very good, and remember, you have to open the dummy's mouth with each syllable of each word." Duo replied, "I wanna move his hoofs around." Pinkie Pie spoke, "Sorry, but I can't do that with my dummies." Duo replied, "Maybe I can try something." Pinkie Pie spoke, "Alright, here, you can have Dandy for your practice." Duo replied, and he walked away. Pinkie Pie held Fido and Dandy up and they looked at each other, "What are you looking at, pompous snob?" Fido asked with Pinkie Pie using a tone lower than her actual voice, "Why, our new controller, she looks rather friendly." Dandy replied with Pinkie Pie using a tone higher than her actual voice, "I'd rather have Duo, he made us sound more fitting." Fido spoke, "Fido, that's no way to greet a lady." Pinkie Pie replied in her normal voice, "A lady? You look more like a spinster." Fido retorted, "*gasp* Fido, I'm in my twenties." Pinkie Pie remarked, "I bet it's just your makeup." Fido retorted, "Fido, do calm yourself, that is no way to treat a lady." Dandy spoke, "Do you have any new poems for me, Dandy?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Not at the moment." Dandy replied, "Oh, um, my jaw and mouth are starting to hurt, that's for today." Pinkie Pie said, "Good, I'm getting tired of seeing you around." Fido replied, "Please, Pinkie, my lady, allow me to lead you to your room." Dandy spoke, "It's alright, Dandy, I can go there on my own." Pinkie Pie replied, and she gave the puppets back to Duo and rested for the rest of the day. The next morning came and Pinkie Pie's mouth and jaw muscles were sore, she rubbed it and went to her next teacher, "Bozo, I'm ready to learn." Pinkie Pie hollered as she trotted to him, "How's your shoulder?" Bozo asked, "Still hurts, but I can manage, oh, and before we start, I already know how to ride a unicycle and juggle." Pinkie Pie replied, "Alright, first, we need to get your clown makeup and outfit on." Bozo instructed, and he painted his own face white, painted big black eyebrows above his own eyes, put a red round nose on his snout, put a red wig that made it look like he had his mane on the sides of his head and was bald at the top of his head, and he wore a light blue long-sleeve shirt and pants, the shirt had two white buttons and white cuffs on it, he also wore white ruffles on his neck, white gloves on his front hoofs, and long brown shoes on his hind hoofs, "Alright, Pinkie Pie, let's get your clown appearance ready." Bozo stated, and he stopped when he saw Pinkie Pie already had an outfit, "How's this?" Pinkie Pie asked, her face was completely white with red paint on her lips that went all the way past her cheeks to form a big smile, her mane and tail were green, and had on contact lenses to make her eyes brown, she was wearing a purple blazer, a green vest, a brown silk tie with diagonal zigzag patterns on it with a few spots lighter than other areas, a light blue long-sleeve button-up collared shirt with hexagons on it, purple pants, black leather gloves on her front hoofs, and socks with black, purple, green, and dark orange rectangles on them and brown shoes on her hind hoofs, "You might scare a few foals with that, but let's start." Bozo replied, and she got ready to learn. She watched Bozo as he got his clown material, "Alright, Pinkie Pie, I have the most diverse set of lessons, I'll start with two basic ones, first one here is this flower." Bozo explained as he showed it to her, "Ooh, very pretty." Pinkie Pie stated as she got a closer look, water shot out and went on her face, "First basic, squirt water, I have a pump and a tube connected to the flower under my outfit." Bozo explained, "What's the second basic?" Pinkie Pie asked, Bozo pressed his own nose down and it made a honking sound, "My nose honks." Bozo replied, Pinkie Pie pressed down on it and it honked, "Okay, let's get started, hold on, I feel welcoming gift for you, here you go." Bozo said as he took a coin out from behind his ear and gave it to Pinkie Pie, "Thank you." Pinkie Pie said, "Okay, I'll start with my most famous tricks, the balloon animals." Bozo stated, and he got several, "Alright, Pinkie Pie, you have to shape the balloon animals by twisting and turning them, and some use more than one balloon." Bozo explained, Pinkie Pie nodded, "I have several cheap tricks, too, I'm doing one right now." Bozo stated, "Really?" Pinkie Pie questioned, "Yup, for your first balloon animal, we have..." Bozo replied, and he filled up the balloon and tied it closed, "...a snake." Bozo added, Pinkie Pie laughed as she took it, "Alright, let's start with something easy, we'll begin with a dog." Bozo instructed, and he twisted and turned the balloon slowly while Pinkie Pie did it with him, the two made a dog together, "*gasp* I did it! I did it! I did it!" Pinkie Pie hollered, "You did, but there's still more for you to learn." Bozo replied, and he got more balloons, "Next, another dog, a french poodle." Bozo stated, and he showed her how to make it, she got it after a few tries, "Very good." Bozo said, "I wanna make another dog." Pinkie Pie stated, "Alright, I'll show you how to make a wiener dog." Bozo replied, and he showed her while she copied him, "Good work, I'll now show you more animals." Bozo said, and he showed her how to make a bear, a butterfly, a monkey, a giraffe, an elephant, a rabbit, a flamingo, a crab, a lizard, and an octopus, Pinkie Pie had trouble on the octopus, "Keep practicing, octopus takes time, now then, onto the next ones, the ones that take two balloons to make." Bozo instructed, and he showed her how to make a horse, a unicorn, a monkey on a tree branch, and a duck, she made them all with ease, "There, we're done." Pinkie Pie stated, "No, you're not, time to make objects." Bozo replied, "Objects?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Yup, first up is..." Bozo replied, and he shaped a balloon, "...a sword." Bozo added, he handed it to her and Pinkie Pie began swinging it around, "Alright, I'll now show you the two balloon sword, alongside the flower and the rose." Bozo said, and he made them and Pinkie Pie copied him and got them after a few tries, "I did it!" Pinkie Pie hollered, "Alright, now onto the next tricks, the bubbles." Bozo said, "*gasp* That was my favorite part of the show!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "Good, now I'm going to show you how it's done, so get a fog machine, you're going to need it." Bozo replied, and she did, "Alright, first, let's see how good you can blow bubbles." Bozo said, and she blew one bubble after another while they struck to one another, "*chuckle* You can already do the caterpillar bubble." Bozo stated, "Really?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Yup, use the fog machine so the bubbles alternate between regular bubbles and smoke bubbles, and when you finish, put a second blower beside the first one." Bozo instructed, and she did, she made the caterpillar bubble, she wiggled it around to make it dance, she popped the bubbles afterwards, "Okay, next is the volcano bubble, it's very simple, make a smoke bubble, and pop the top." Bozo instructed, and she made it, she popped the bubble at the top and smoke flew out, "Alright, time for another cheap trick, the inside-out bubble." Bozo said, and he blew a bubble, touched its top to make it go back into the blower, turned it around, and blew the bubble back out. Pinkie Pie laughed while Bozo popped it, "Okay, a bubble inside a bubble, but before I do, a warning, Pinkie Pie, you need to have bubbles in your mouth for this trick, and they taste terrible." Bozo instructed, "I'll give it a try." Pinkie Pie responded, "Okay, let's see if you can handle it." Bozo said, and he blew a small bubble and put it on his tongue, he blew a big bubble and blew bubbles out of his mouth into it, Pinkie Pie tried and put the bubble on her tongue, she gagged and rubbed her own tongue with her front hoofs, "Yeah, I didn't think so, it took me about two to three years to get used to the taste." Bozo stated, "What's next?" Pinkie Pie asked, "The love bubble, simple, use your two blowers, one has a regular bubble, and the other has a smoke bubble, hit them against one another until they form together into one bubble." Bozo explained, Pinkie Pie made them and tried it, the regular bubble popped, "Aw, it's they don't." Pinkie Pie stated, "Blow another one and see if they do get together." Bozo instructed, and she blew another bubble and hit them together and they fused into one bubble, "*gasp* They do!" Pinkie Pie rejoiced, and she popped it, "Okay, here's one to blow smoke out, watch carefully." Bozo instructed, and he blew a bubble and with two blowers and then put them beside one another, he then got a bubble blowing wand and blew a smoke bubble at the bottom of it, he popped it and the smoke moved up in a swirling pattern, he then popped the bubble at the two blowers and smoke blew out of both of them, Pinkie Pie tried it and it popped the first time, she tried again and got it the second time, she popped the bubble at the two blowers and the smoke flew out, "Okay, time for the bubble cube." Bozo said, "That was my favorite, I wondered how you made that." Pinkie Pie replied, "Well, watch and learn." Bozo spoke, and he blew a bubble with his two blowers, he moved one while the bubble hung off of the other, he blew another bubble and it was over the first one, he blew four more to the sides of the two bubbles and then inhaled his fog machine and used his bubble wand to blow smoke into the six bubbles and it formed a cube, he blew on it and the cube changed to a smaller one in the center of the six bubbles. Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped while Bozo popped the bubbles, "Okay, you try." Bozo said, and Pinkie Pie tried and could not get the second bubble, "Keep practicing, you'll get it one day, I'll show you one more." Bozo stated, and he blew two bubbles again with one on top of the other, he then blew eight small bubbles between the two and then blew smoke into it to form a rectangle, he blew more and Pinkie Pie gasped when the eight small bubbles began spinning around. He popped the bubbles while Pinkie Pie practiced for hours and Bozo stood by to help her when she had trouble, "Tell me, Bozo, how did you do that coin behind your ear trick?" Pinkie Pie asked, "I placed it there before I started teaching you." Bozo replied, "Oh, why don't you do any magic tricks?" Pinkie Pie asked, "That's Tati's job." Bozo replied, "What about dancing?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Back Flip does that." Bozo replied, "And the jokes?" Pinkie Pie asked, "I usually make them up on the spot." Bozo replied, "Oh." Pinkie Pie said, "Well, go ahead and keep practicing." Bozo instructed, and she did while he helped her, the two took off their clown outfits and makeup at the end of the day and they slept. The next morning came and Pinkie Pie went to go see Back Flip, "I'm ready, Back Flip." Pinkie Pie spoke, "How's your shoulder?" Back Flip asked, "Much better." Pinkie Pie replied, "Good, but before I begin, Pinkie Pie, acrobat training is hard, my and Double Joint's training are the hardest ones." Back Flip warned, "I'm ready to learn." Pinkie Pie replied, "Alright, but before you can do acrobats, you need to build strength and flexibility, it might be easier for you than me since girls are usually more flexible than boys." Back Flip said, "I’m really strong for my age." Pinkie Pie replied, "Let's see how strong you really are then, lay on your back and hold your hoofs up." Back Flip stated, and she did. Pinkie Pie laid down on the ground and Back Flip jumped onto her hoofs while doing somersaults in the air, he landed on her hoofs and jumped down, "Hmm, you're strong enough to hold me up, we can skip the strength training then." Back Flip stated, "I grew up working on a rock farm." Pinkie Pie replied, "Ah, no wonder why, you're definitely strong enough then, let's loosen your muscles by doing some stretching." Back Flip instructed and they did. They stretched their backs side-to-side, touched their hind left hoofs with their front right hoofs and hind right hoofs with their front left hoofs, did splits, Pinkie Pie could not go down all the way, they did reverse lunges next and stretched their front legs forward, and the last stretch was stretching their front legs down their backs while holding their knees’ with their other front hoof, "Alright, stretching the abdomen is one a lot of ponies can't do, we're going to do a hoofstand and stretch our hind legs out." Back Flip instructed, and they did, Pinkie Pie grunted and fell over after two minutes, "That's long enough, now for exercising." Back Flip stated, "There's more?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Only three exercises, squats, running in place, and jumping jacks." Back Flip replied, "Oh, I can do those." Pinkie Pie remarked, and she did got back up. She did the squats, running in place, and jumping jacks and finished quickly, "Alright, now for the jumps, hold on a minute, I'll go get the mats." Back Flip said, and he got them, "Alright, we'll start with the basics, first, a back flip, watch and copy me." Back Flip instructed, and he did one, "Alright, your turn." Back Flip said, and she began. Pinkie Pie reeled up on her hind legs and held her front legs up above her head, she kept her hind legs shoulder-width apart, she bent her hind knees a little and then swung her front legs up while she jumped, she could not do the back flip and landed face first on the mat, "I was like that when I started, too, keep practicing." Back Flip instructed, and she did. Pinkie Pie continued to try to do the back flip but kept landing face first on the mat, she inhaled and exhaled sharply and tried again, she pulled her hind knees up towards her chest while in midair, she stretched her hind legs out, she landed with her hind legs straight and exhaled sharply as the shock from the landing traveled through her body, "Good, but you need to bend your knees when you land, Pinkie Pie, it'll absorb the shock." Back Flip explained, and she tried again but landed face first on the mat again, she tried again and had trouble tucking her hind knees in while in midair, but she got it and landed with her hind knees bent and the landing was less painful, "Alright, keep practicing, we'll do the somersault when you get the hang of it." Back Flip instructed, and Pinkie Pie kept practicing while he acted as her spotter, she got the back flip several times but messed up on most attempts, she got up slowly and panted, "Let's rest for today, Pinkie Pie, you'll make mistakes exhausted like that." Back Flip said, and they did, she laid down for the rest of the day. The next day came and Pinkie Pie groaned as her muscles ached, she forced herself to get up and went to go see Double Joint, "You alright? Your muscles ache." Double Joint said, "I still wanna learn." Pinkie Pie replied, "You sure?" Double Joint asked, Pinkie Pie nodded, "Okay, we'll take it easy so you don't hurt yourself, contortionist training is painful, since you have to bend your joints and spine in unnatural ways." Double Joint explained, "I'm ready." Pinkie Pie declared, "Alright, we'll start with something basic, try repeating what I do." Double Joint said, and he laid on his stomach, he lifted his hind left leg up while pressing his hind right hoof on the knee, he reached back with his front left hoof and grabbed his own hind left hoof, "Go ahead and try." Double Joint instructed, and Pinkie Pie stretched a little and groaned in pain from sore muscles, but she managed, "Okay, now try to pull your hind leg over your head and face." Double Joint instructed, Pinkie Pie tried but screamed since trying to stretch her leg hurt, "Endure the pain, Pinkie Pie." Double Joint said, she grunted as she tried to move her hind leg past her own head, she stopped and panted, "Not everypony can get it first time, come on, let's try another one." Double Joint said, and they stood up and walked together. They went into the wagon and Double Joint did a hoofstand, he pressed his hind hoofs against the wall and began bending his back down, Pinkie Pie tried and grunted loudly as her sore back ached more and more as she bent down farther, she fell and panted, "Can you continue?" Double Joint asked, Pinkie Pie panted and stood up, "Yeah." Pinkie Pie answered, "Alright, let's try another one." Double Joint said, and he went to a stand, he placed his front right hoof on it and lifted his entire body up, he tucked that leg’s knee into his hip and held his body up to his right side, he did a split while in midair and held his hind right leg forward with his front left hoof, Pinkie Pie gasped at seeing it, "You try." Double Joint stated, and she did. Pinkie Pie grunted but could not do the split, she fell over and screamed when she fell on the floor, Double Joint stopped what he was doing, "Hmm, maybe you should try after your muscles aren't sore anymore, let's try a simple one." Double Joint said, and he reeled up on his hind legs and bent his back as far back as he could, his entire upper body touched his lower body and he touched the back of his hind hoofs with his front hoofs, Pinkie Pie tried it and could not bend back as far as he could, "Let's stop for now, you'll need to be able to do those before I show you more." Double Joint spoke, and he walked away while Pinkie Pie tried again, she exclaimed as she fell on her back, she crawled back into the blanket and rested for the rest of the day. A few days passed while Pinkie Pie waited for her muscles to heal, she went back to performing for birthday parties, everypony cheered at seeing her back, "Alright, everypony, as you all know, I've been practicing new tricks, but to do those tricks, I need assistance, so those six I've had with me are going to be setting up the stage for me, are you all okay with that?" Pinkie Pie asked, the ponies nodded, "Great, well, let's get started." Pinkie Pie declared, and she did. She got a spool of yellow thread and took out a long length of it, she tore it into pieces while hiding a ball she made before the trick behind her hoof, she broke the thread off and hid it in her hoof, she moved the ball to her other hoof while secretly throwing the broken pieces of thread behind herself, she undid the knot and the thread appeared to be back together, but everypony's jaw dropped when they saw the yellow thread was now multiple colors, it was now red, sky blue, light pink, light green, and purple with yellow ends, "If you all liked that, I'm just getting started, Houdini, Double Joint, put the straitjacket on me." Pinkie Pie instructed, and they did while the ponies looked unimpressed, "I know, I know, you all don't like this, but I promise, I'm going to break out of this a different way." Pinkie Pie assured, and the straitjacket was put on her. Pinkie Pie bent her body down and began grunting as she flexed her back muscles, the buckles and straps undid themselves a little while the crowd's attention was caught, she flexed her front legs next and the ponies heard tearing, she grunted as she flexed, she soon lifted her upper body up and grunted loudly as she ripped the sleeves apart from the straitjacket while the buckle broke, the straitjacket tore open at the front and Pinkie Pie took it off while the crowd gasped, "Ta-da!" Pinkie Pie hollered, the crowd looked on with dropped jaws but soon began clapping, "Now, for my next trick." Pinkie Pie said, and Duo gave her Fido and Dandy, "Say hi to the crowd, you two." Pinkie Pie ordered, "Bah, a bunch of hooligans are watching us." Fido replied in Pinkie Pie's voice a tone lower, "I'm sorry, everypony, he's always like that." Dandy spoke in Pinkie Pie's voice a tone higher, Pinkie Pie then let go of the two dummies, "Ha-ha, I'm free at last!" Fido spoke, the crowd screamed as the dummy moved on its own, Duo's jaw dropped at seeing the dummy's hoofs move as well, "No, you are not, Fido, you still have me to watch over you." Dandy replied on his own, "Catch me if you can." Fido declared, and he began to run away and Dandy tackled him down, the two began fighting, "Alright, that's enough, you two." Pinkie Pie said as she picked them up, they stopped acting on their own and she handed them back to a speechless Duo. Pinkie Pie went back and got long balloons and bubbles, "Watch this, everypony." Pinkie Pie stated, and she blew up one of the balloons and shaped it into a butterfly, the crowd remained silent, she flicked her hoofs back while a flash of fire appeared and the balloon changed to a real butterfly, she flicked her hoofs again and another flash of fire appeared and it changed back to the balloon butterfly. The crowd looked on shocked and speechless while she got another balloon, she blew it up and shaped it into a dog, another flash of fire appeared while she flicked her hoofs and it changed to a real dog, she did another flick with her hoofs and the flash of fire appeared and the dog was now a balloon animal again. She gave the balloon animals to the birthday pony, "Alright, everypony, my last trick, bubbles!" Pinkie Pie announced, and she blew a big bubble, "Hi, everypony." Pinkie Pie's reflection in the bubble said with a gurgled voice, the crowd jumped back while screaming, "Ooh, you all look so wavy from inside here." Pinkie Pie's reflection spoke, the crowd looked on speechless while Pinkie Pie popped it, "That's all I have for now, everypony, I'll try to come up with new stuff while I'm on break." Pinkie Pie stated, the crowd looked on with stunned silence before they clapped slowly and they all soon applauded her while Pinkie Pie bowed, "Till next time, everypony." Pinkie Pie said, and she and the six stallions left. Pinkie Pie was back in the town and the six stallions were around her, "How did you do all of that?" Back Flip asked, "I have my ways." Pinkie Pie replied, "What are the secrets?" Tati asked, "Oh, um... about that, there are no secrets." Pinkie Pie explained, the six stallions exclaimed with confusion, "You mean... you're not using any secrets?" Houdini asked, Pinkie Pie shook her head, "I'm using a power and sense that has been passed down my family for generations that allows me to break the laws of physics." Pinkie Pie explained, "Is it from your mother's side of your family or your father's?" Bozo asked, "Both." Pinkie Pie replied, the stallions' jaws dropped, "I know, it's a shock." Pinkie Pie remarked, "Wait, this is perfect, you can use that to make our talents popular again." Duo spoke, "What about you six?" Pinkie Pie asked, "We're going to retire. Pinkie Pie, our talents now lie within you, we hope you can pass it down to future generations." Tati replied, "I won't let you down." Pinkie Pie declared, "Thank you, come on, Pinkie Pie, we got more to teach you." Double Joint stated, and they went back to training her. Houdini had Pinkie Pie hang upside-down from a tree branch while restrained in a straitjacket, she struggled to break free since there was a time limit with a custom-made bear trap to her sides ready to squash her if she didn't escape, she ripped the straitjacket off and then the ropes, she fell to the ground as the rope holding the trap burned away and it closed, "Let's keep trying." Houdini stated, and he and the other five stallions set up another trap, there were spiked walls to Pinkie Pie's sides while she was tied to a chair with rope, she tried to break free and relaxed her muscles, she fell to the ground while trying to free herself, she managed to free herself and heard the walls coming, she jumped back while they hit one another, "No, Pinkie Pie, like this." Houdini said as he walked forward and the stunt was restarted. He worked to break free from the ropes and the walls began moving forward, he jumped up and landed on top of the spiked walls when they hit one another, "Oh, that's how it's done." Pinkie Pie stated, "Yes, come on now, there's more to teach you." Houdini replied, and he got more. He came back with the milk can, "The secret to this is in the top here, there is no water up there, I can breathe there, and the chains can be slid out of, and a little force will open the cuffs, you just have to wait when you're out of them." Houdini explained, "Can I try?" Pinkie Pie asked, and Tati and Bozo tied her up while Duo and Houdini put her in the milk can and Back Flip and Double Joint poured the water in, they then put the lid on. Pinkie Pie kept her head above the dome while Houdini removed the rivets, she slid out of the chains and took the cuffs off easily, she pushed her head up and was outside, "See, simple just like that." Houdini said, "What else do you have?" Pinkie Pie asked, and he got a glass rectangular chamber filled with water and a glass coffin, "There's a few secrets to the water chamber escape, but no secrets to the coffin escape." Houdini explained, and Tati and Back Flip put Houdini in the chamber with his front hoofs cuffed and his hind hoofs shackled to the lid, they then put padlocks on the lid and slid the pins out of the hinges. Houdini struggled while Pinkie Pie watched nervously, he lifted himself up with a handle hidden in the lid and took a breath, he went back into the water and took the cuffs off easily, he went back up again and escaped, "That was scary." Pinkie Pie stated, "It's all in the act of convincing, I'll show you my last trick after I dry up." Houdini replied, and he did, "Alright, last one, this is dangerous, you need speed and strength to do this one, it's escape from being buried alive, the coffin is made from glass so the audience can see what you're doing." Houdini explained, "Where's it going?" Pinkie Pie questioned, "In a bigger glass chamber." Houdini answered, and Double Joint rolled it out. Houdini put himself in the glass coffin while Tati and Duo nailed it shut, it was put into the glass chamber carefully and the five stallions poured a big bucket of dirt over the glass coffin, it was six feet of dirt. Houdini controlled his breathing while Pinkie Pie watched very nervously, he began kicking the center of the coffin’s lid with his hind right hoof as hard as he could and the dirt began falling in, he created an arch to move the dirt to his sides, he kept kicking and broke the glass, he crawled out and began digging his way out of the dirt while Pinkie Pie gasped, he emerged at the top of the dirt and jumped down, "See, like I said, there's no tricks or secrets to that one." Houdini stated, "Uh... can we skip that one? I'm not comfortable being buried alive." Pinkie Pie remarked nervously, "Of course, that's for advanced escape artists, I've had a lot of training with that one." Houdini replied, Pinkie Pie smiled, "Well, let's get back to escaping from the straitjacket while upside-down." Houdini said, and she tried for the rest of the day and failed. A few days passed and Pinkie Pie was learning how to do a somersault while Back Flip taught her, "There you go, keep your back straight." Back Flip instructed, and Pinkie Pie did a somersault roll first, "Good start, but you have to jump when you perform, try to do the somersault while you're in the air." Back Flip instructed, Pinkie Pie tried and failed, "Keep trying." Back Flip instructed, and she did and got it a few times, "Not bad, let's rest for now." Back Flip spoke, and they did, "Back Flip, did you and Double Joint do shows together?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Of course, we were the most popular duo, we were the group's dancers, my acrobatic skills and Double Joint's contortions made us an instant hit." Back Flip replied, "Who was the least popular?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Um, that's kind of hard to say, we were all famous, some were more or less famous than others depending on where in Equestria we were at." Back Flip replied, "How much more do you have to teach me?" Pinkie Pie asked, "A lot, there's still the hoofsprings, landing on front hoofs, acrobats with hula hoops and trapezes, and side flips." Back Flip replied, Pinkie Pie groaned, "Don't be sad, we'll take it one at a time." Back Flip spoke, and they rested. The next day arrived and Double Joint was teaching Pinkie Pie, "Alright, let's see if you can walk, do what I do." Double Joint instructed, and he laid on his stomach, bent his lower-body upwards, and placed his hind hoofs beside his front hoofs and began walking around, Pinkie Pie looked on with shock and tried, she grunted loudly as she tried to stretch her own body, she gave up and panted, "What else can you do, Double Joint?" Pinkie Pie asked, he grabbed his own front right leg and dislodged it at the shoulder and spun it around while her jaw dropped, he then bent his entire leg back, he locked it back in place, he then bent his spine backwards and walked to Pinkie Pie on all fours, she watched fearfully as he came near her, "These are some basic moves." Double Joint stated, and he straightened his back, "I'm kind of too scared to continue training." Pinkie Pie said, "Let's continue another time." Double Joint replied, and they finished for the day. A few days passed and Pinkie Pie had to leave and go perform elsewhere, Bozo decided to do a little comedy for her, he and Duo were sitting and waiting for a train and had lunch, they got ready to eat until Tati walked to them, "Duo, you have a letter from your wife." Tati said, and they walked together. They left the scene and Bozo began to take Duo's food and started eating it, "*gasp* Bozo!" Pinkie Pie scolded, he stopped when they came back and Duo looked at his meal, he shrugged and was ready to start eating until Tati arrived again, "Duo, you also have a letter from your daughter." Tati said, and he walked with him. Bozo took Duo's tray and began eating his lunch with a spoon, he ate quickly and Duo came back and saw him eating his lunch, he watched him while trying not to laugh, "Hope you're full now." Duo stated while chuckling, Bozo spat out some of the food and coughed, Bozo finished the meal and began coughing from having too much food in his mouth, Pinkie Pie laughed at seeing how his face looked, the scene finished and the three bowed, "Aren't you mad, Duo?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Of course not, it's part of the show." Duo replied, "But he ate your lunch." Pinkie Pie stated, "It's fine, Pinkie Pie, we're just acting." Duo replied, "It looked real, though." Pinkie Pie said, "That's what made it funny back then, anyway, I'll do one more scene before you go." Bozo stated, and he did. Duo and Bozo were standing together and they shivered, "It's freezing, Bozo, I don't know when this blizzard is going to stop." Duo spoke, "Hold on, I'll be back." Bozo replied, and he left, he came back a few seconds later, "Here." Bozo spoke as he gave running shoes to Duo, "Thanks." Duo stated as he put them on, he did and then looked at Bozo while he put on heavy duty winter boots, he narrowed his eyes as he looked at him, "What?" Bozo asked, "You gave me no good shoes while giving yourself good quality winter boots." Duo said, "I'm sorry, but this was literally the last thing they had in the store." Bozo replied, "Oh, never mind, I'm still cold." Duo stated, "Hold on, I'll go get you some clothes." Bozo responded, and he trotted away, he came back with clothes, "Here." Bozo stated as he gave Duo a vest, he put it on and sighed with relief, he stopped when he saw Bozo put on a heavy duty winter coat and tied it closed with a sash, the coat covered his entire body, he wore a hood and had fur trimmings on it, "Hey, give me that, I'm still cold." Duo demanded as he took it off, Pinkie Pie gasped when she saw Bozo was also wearing a thick long-sleeve shirt, pants, and a balaclava with built-in goggles, they were all black. Duo took them off and Pinkie Pie screamed when she saw Bozo was also wearing long johns, she noticed Tati, Houdini, Duo, Back Flip, and Double Joint were trying very hard not to laugh. Duo threw the clothing away and his and Bozo's stomachs growled, "Hold on a minute." Bozo stated as he left, he came back and gave Duo an ice cream cone, "Thank you." Duo said as he began eating the ice cream, he heard sizzling and looked, he saw Bozo cooking hot broth on a portable stove and was making himself soup. Pinkie Pie screamed when she saw what he was doing. Duo snatched the pot away and began eating the soup while Bozo just got another and began putting soup in that one, they finished and bowed while Pinkie Pie clapped, "There you go, Pinkie Pie, still a shame you have to go, just make sure you look at our instructions and booklets on how to do our tricks." Bozo stated, "Don't worry, I will, but what about you guys?" Pinkie Pie asked, "Oh, relax, Pinkie Pie, we have more than enough money for a lifetime from when we were famous, we don't need jobs." Back Flip replied, "Alright, I'll be going now, buh-bye." Pinkie Pie said, and she left while the six stallions said bye to her. Pinkie Pie was sitting in Sugarcube Corner with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, the three fillies were eating popcorn as they listened, "Wow, Ah never knew ya had party teachers, Pinkie." Apple Bloom spoke, "They taught me a lot, and I treasure them." Pinkie Pie replied with her voice breaking, "Where are they now?" Sweetie Belle asked, Pinkie Pie tried not to cry as she got newspapers and showed them the articles, they saw all six of them have already passed away, "Oh, so they're no longer around." Scootaloo said, Pinkie Pie nodded while wiping a tear away, "I'm the only one who now knows about their tricks and their secrets, due to them not being popular when I met them, they had nopony to pass their tricks down to, so it's up to me to do it." Pinkie Pie explained, "Wow, that is heavy, well, we have to get goin', Pinkie, thanks for tellin' us." Apple Bloom remarked, and they left. A week passed and it was time to perform at another pony's birthday, Pinkie Pie went there and began performing, she did everything Tati, Houdini, Duo, Bozo, Back Flip, and Double Joint taught her in their memories, she did all of their moves that she could do and did them at every party so their talents would not be forgotten.