“Greetings everypony! It is I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, offering every creature some lessons in real magic!” Trixie introduced every creature to today’s show, whilst everypony in the room rolled their eyes.
“Prepare to be amazed as I will be your teacher on how to do three simple card tricks to become a great and powerful show-creature yourselves! All you will need is a pack of simple playing cards and a good sense of misdirection, the key to any successful magician like Moi!” Trixie handed everypony in the studio a pack of cards from her supply of magician tools, “I think the best way to do it is by giving you a demonstration and then actually showing you how to do it, okay?” She turned her attention to Sunset next to her.
“Sunset, the Great and Powerful Trixie has a pack of twenty-one cards. Can you check that they’re genuine playing normal cards?” Trixie used her magic to shuffle and fan the cards out so Sunset could check on them. Sunset gave a nod of confirmation. Trixie then put them in a pile.
“Now pick a card, any card! Look at it, but don’t tell me what it is” Trixie instructed Sunset loudly. Sunset chose one from the far left and looked at it and to the others in a way so it isn’t shown to Trixie. It was the eight of diamonds.
“Now put it back anywhere in the pile,” Trixie told Sunset, who placed the card in the far right this time.
“Trixie shuffles the cards so it’s perfectly mixed in. Trixie is now going to put them in three separate piles facing up and you need to keep an eye on your card,” Trixie began to separate them face-up. The eight of diamonds appeared on the first pile on the left. After completing the separating, Trixie then put them all together them and separated them into three piles again. Sunset’s card was now in the middle pile.
“Sunset, which pile has your card in?” Trixie wiggled her eyebrows. Sunset chuckled and pointed to the middle pile. Trixie then placed the cards back into one large pile and separated them, Sunset’s card being placed back into the middle pile again. Again, Sunset was asked to point to where her card was, which she pointed to the middle pile.
“Okay, so that we know that somewhere in this pile has your card, I am going to guess which one is yours,” Trixie told Sunset and the others what she was about to do. She then got the middle pile, stacking each card one after the other. When she reached the eight of diamonds, she selected it to everypony’s amazement.
“Is this your card?” Trixie smirked triumphantly, which Sunset nodded. Everypony clapped, though Starlight just smiled knowingly at Trixie’s showpony business.
“Impressive,” Sunset admired, “So, what is your secret?”
“Usually, a true magician never reveals her secrets, but for this tutorial, I can make an exception,” Trixie smiled, “This is a simple trick, unlike all the advanced things that I can do.”
“By advanced you mean smoke bombs, rabbits out of hats and flowers at the end of wands like you do?” Starlight mocked, causing Trixie to glare at her friend.
“Don’t forget, It was Trixie who escaped the Moonshot Manticore Mouth Dive!” Trixie pointed her hoof at Trixie. Starlight rolled her eyes at that moment.
“I think you’ll find it was me that teleported you out of that manticore’s mouth on your Humble and Penitent Trixie's Equestrian Apology Tour,” Starlight shot back, causing Tempest to look at Starlight in surprise.
“That’s a long title to say out loud,” Tempest remarked.
“It’s a working title!” Trixie shouted in annoyance, “But we’re getting off-topic. Here is how you do the card trick I did with Sunset.” Everypony got their cards out at the ready, separating to get twenty-one cards each.
“The start is your basic magician’s saying, to pick a card, any card. You all can chose a card to practice on yourself,” Trixie started to explain, which they all drew a card each, “You also tell them to look at the card, but not to yourself.” The others nodded, waiting for her to continue.
“You then tell your target to put it back anywhere in the pile and you shuffle the deck,” Everypony did as Trixie instructed, shuffling the deck in their magic, or hooves in Tempest’s case.
“They you will separate them into three piles, so that’s seven in each one, telling your target to look out for their card. Once they point on which pile has their card,” Trixie instructed them. Everypony followed her step, keeping an eye for their card when separating.
“Then you ask them which pile has their card, and they are going to point to it, and now we get to the important part of the trick,” Trixie announced in a way to get everypony’s attention, “You are going to grab the pile to shuffle again, but when you grab the pile that contains their card, you are going to place it in-between the other two piles that don’t have their card.”
“So that’s why the card was in the middle all the time, because no matter where you put it in the middle of the other piles, it’s always going to be in the centre,” Sunset said in realisation. Trixie winked at Sunset.
“Here, you can raise the drama. Ask if they are sure that it has their card or point to the other piles to clarify it they are certain about it,” Trixie explained, “Nothing beats a good stage presence and acting.” Starlight rolled her eyes again at Trixie’s acting over the top acting skills, “It’s important that you do this three times.” They separated the cards out and their card was now in the left pile.
“The trick is that no matter what combination the cards are in, the eleventh card is always going to be their card,” Trixie explained. The others checked if what Trixie said was correct, and sure enough, the eleventh card of the pile was their card.
“Well how about that,” Starlight looked in surprise.
“And that, ponies, is how you do a simple card trick. You’re very welcome,” Trixie finished with a flourishing bow and tip of her hat.
“Well, thank you Trixie to her demonstration and lesson on how to do a simple card trick. We are going to take a break here for today, but we will be back soon for more great and powerful talks and fun,” Tempest mocked Trixie’s catchphrase slightly, earning a glare look on Trixie’s face.