"Watch as I perform these now non-death defying tricks before your very eye sockets!" The Great Hoofdini shouted, eliciting several laughs from the crowd.
"Um... Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy started, but was quickly drowned out by the noise of the crowd.
"For my first trick, I shall escape from this straight jacket with ease! If my lovely assistant will come and help me…” The Great Hoofdini carefully put on the jacket with the help of an assistant. The sleeves were bound, the straps pulled tight, and the belts buckled. “There we go. Now, you can all see that I am well restrained, now watch as I release myself!"
With a grunt of effort, the Great Hoofdini shifted around in the jacket for a bit, and something came loose.
"Now, the best part about this trick..." He paused, "Is that I could still do this..." Another pause, "While alive. No skeletal tricks here folks!" The Great Hoofdini shouted as he pulled the jacket off himself and held it up beside him.
Oohs and ahs came from the crowd as The Great Hoofdini took a bow.
"Rainbo-" Fluttershy tried again, only to be interrupted once more,
"Now! This next trick is a skeletal trick! I will be assembling myself through a large maze! Will my assistants please help?"
A large wooden box was carried onto the stage, lifting it up on its side revealed a glass panel to view inside. There was a complicated maze inside, but it was still large enough for the bones of a pony to fit through. The Great Hoofdini promptly fell apart, and his assistants began to gather up his bones at random. They then began placing his bones in different corners of the maze, before finally opening a hatch in the back to place his skull in the middle.
"Now watch! I will guide my bones through the entire maze without sight!" Came the muffled voice of The Great Hoofdini.
The crowd was silent as the first few bones began to slowly lift and be guided through the maze. The Great Hoofdini had probably memorized the route, but he certainly made an act of going the wrong direction or bumping into the walls. By the time most of the bones were navigating the maze, The Great Hoofdini appeared to be really struggling. The bone's movements got more and more shaky as they converged. It eventually got so bad, that the whole box began to shake from all the bumping and jostling inside of it.
The whole thing began to teeter back and forth, and the assistants were quick to rush up and attempt to stabilize it. They weren't fast enough however, and the maze rocked back, then forth once more before it fell face down on the stage, a loud slam echoing out into the crowd. The audience winced, and the assistants scrambled to get the maze back upright.
The hatch in the middle rattled, then opened.
"Tada!" The Great Hoofdini called out as he rose from the middle, fully together.
The crowd cheered, and with a few small bows, the assistants quickly moved the large box out of the way.
"Now! For my final trick this evening, I shall do the impossible!" Shouted The Great Hoofdini,
The curtains behind the stage opened, revealing a large glass box, big enough for The Great Hoofdini and then some. Above it, there was a large bucket, though whatever it was holding was not yet visible.
"Look here folks, this glass box only has one entrance and exit! Other than that, it is completely sealed!" The Great Hoofdini explained, showing that the glass box was on a turntable, and that there was indeed only one door. He even lifted it up to show that there wasn't anything on the bottom.
"I will be locked up in this box! Then comes the best part! I will be completely buried in the desert's sand!" The Great Hoofdini announced.
The crowd gasped, the large bucket above tilted a bit, a small amount of sand trickling into the glass box.
"And here's the challenge! I have to escape... In only a minute!" The Great Hoofdini exclaimed.
The crowd was rapt at attention, and The Great Hoofdini entered the box. One of his assistants closed the door and locked it, while another rolled out a large hourglass and stood it next to the box.
"Both the timer and I will start as soon as the bucket is empty!" The Great Hoofdini said, nodding to one of his assistants.
The assistant nodded back, and began pulling a rope connected to the bucket, sand began to pour down into the box. The crowd remained silent as it filled, the turntable it was on giving everyone a good view of The Great Hoofdini slowly getting buried in sand. Fluttershy saw her chance.
"Rainbow Dash," She whispered,
"Hang on a minute, this is getting good," Rainbow Dash whispered back,
"It's important though," Fluttershy pleaded,
"It'll only take a minute, the Hoofdini guy said so," Rainbow Dash said, looking at the stage the whole time, without actual eyes though, it was impossible to tell if she actually was.
Fluttershy sighed, but decided it could wait a minute or two, she looked up at the stage as well. The glass box was nearly full, and The Great Hoofdini was completely buried in sand now. The last few grains fell out of the bucket, and the assistants nodded to each other, one knocked on the box twice, while the other flipped the hourglass.
The box continued to rotate on the turntable, and no movement was visible in the sand. Fluttershy painstakingly watched the grains of sand trickle their way down the hourglass, she kept silent however. Some time passed, and the hourglass was nearly empty, but there was still no movement in the box, and the crowd was beginning to get anxious.
The last few grains of sand in the hourglass dropped down, and the assistants nodded to each other once again. Tapping on the box three times yielded no response, all was quiet once again.
"Rainbow Da-" Fluttershy was interrupted once again,
"What a rip-off!" A familiar voice called from the crowd.
All eye sockets looked over to the voice's origin. There, a skeleton with a very familiar mane stood, a small pile of sand was gathering at his hooves.
There was silence for a moment, then the crowd erupted in cheers. The Great Hoofdini took another bow, and jumped back up onto the stage.
"Thank you! Thank you all! It's always fun to perform in front of a crowd! It reminds me of when I was still alive! But unfortunately that is all for tonight folks! We have to clear the road for the parade, and as you all know, a very special guest will be attending this one!" The Great Hoofdini yelled out,
"Did you hear that, Fluttershy? A special guest at the parade! Do you think that could be Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"It seems likely, we should probably tell that to the rest of your friends," Wheat Germ said,
"Good idea." Rainbow Dash replied, before looking at Fluttershy, "What did you want to say to me earlier?"
"Oh,” Fluttershy mumbled, “I just wanted to say we should try and find Twilight is all."
"And we did! How convenient is that?" Rainbow Dash said, "How much time do we have left?" she asked Wheat Germ
"Uh..." He trailed off, looking towards the clock tower, "I'd say about fifteen to twenty minutes,"
"Cool, that means we can go see more stuff. Let's get going."
"Applejack! You're awake! We were starting to get worried." Rarity said, looking towards the swaying skeleton in the cart.
"Huh, what? Rarity? Is that you? Y'all look real thin," Applejack murmured,
Rarity chose to ignore that comment.
"Applejack?" The vendor asked, stepping closer,
"That's me," Applejack answered, shaking her skull a bit.
"Wait, did you just call her 'mom'?" Rarity asked,
"What-" Applejack didn't get to finish, as she was wrapped in a tight hug by the vendor.
"Oh my sweet little Applejack, what are you doing here? How did you get here? Are the others alright? Ah've missed you so much." The mystery mare asked,
"Ma? Ma! Is this a dream? What's going on? What are you doing here Rarity?" Applejack asked, having woken up a bit more,
"Applejack, don't freak out, but we're dead. Right now we're trying to find Twilight, darling." Rarity explained,
"Dead? You expect me to believe that?" Applejack asked, until her sight fully cleared, and she got a good look at Rarity, and then her mother, "Whoa nelly, ah believe ya now."
"Are you going to be okay?" Rarity asked,
"Ah'm fine... Wait no! What about Big Mac, or Applebloom? What are they going to do now that ah'm dead?!" Applejack worried,
"Darling, relax. We're connected to the Elements, we should have a way back. I'm not sure how it works, but the princesses were confident with us, remember?" Rarity said.
"...Ah remember. How long have we been here? Have we found Twilight yet?" Applejack wondered,
"Wait a minute, yall can go back?” The vendor asked, “Applejack, I need to talk to you, it's important.”
"Uh... ah don't know if ah can, what's the situation like Rarity?" Applejack asked,
Rarity thought for a bit, they had spent a couple of minutes searching around, and they now knew where and when Twilight was going to appear.
"You should be fine, darling. We've already figured out where Twilight is." Rarity answered.
"Really? Then ah reckon ah can speak with ya ma," Applejack said,
"Good, this might take a while though," The vendor said,
Rarity cringed, "Actually, we do have a time limit. We have to meet with the others in about twenty or so minutes. Try to shorten it if you can."
The vendor sighed, but nodded, "Ah'll try to make it quick," she assured,
"Thank you," was all Rarity said,
Both Applejack and her mother walked off to the side of the road, the entire time, Applejack was checking herself out, looking over her legs and ribs.
Rarity chose not to pry on their private conversation, and simply sat down and waited. Looking down the road, she could see Pinkie Pie still making her way down the line, trying absolutely everything there was to offer. After several minutes, she finally made it to the area Rarity was in.
"My goodness Pinkie, just how much have you tasted?" Rarity asked,
"EVERYTHING!" Pinkie Pie answered, her skull absolutely covered in food, thankfully, most of the paint had dried, so it wasn't very smudged.
"Okay.... Was it any good?" Rarity asked, a bit disgusted,
"Oh! They were all so good! I got to try cookies, crackers, soups, salads, cakes, roasts, toasts, fondue, even something called Haggis! It was all so good!" Pinkie Pie rambled,
"Haggis? What might... You know what darling, I don't think I want to know. I do have some good news however, Applejack has woken up." Rarity said,
"She has!? This calls for a party!" Pinkie shouted,
"That's not all, apparently the vendor for this cart here was her mother! They're over there talking right now." Rarity gestured to the pair at the side of the road.
Pinkie Pie gasped, and tried to dash over to go do... whatever it is she does. She was stopped when Rarity grabbed her tail in her magic, her whole spine was yanked backward, causing her neck to shorten a bit.
"It'd probably be best to leave them alone for now, it seems they want a bit of privacy. You can talk to them later." Rarity said,
"But-" Pinkie Pie tried,
"Later, darling." Rarity repeated, firmer.
"Okay..." Pinkie Pie sagged a bit.
"Hmmm," Rarity thought for a moment, "Tell you what, there are still some food carts down the line, why don't we see what else there is to try."
"Okay!" Pinkie Pie immediately rose back up,
"Splendid. Let's start over there, I do believe I saw something good."
Pinkie Pie had once again taken to trying every single thing available, while Rarity looked for anything that didn't look too messy; she just wanted to keep her skull clean. She wondered how she could actually taste things as a skeleton, but didn't dwell on it.
She didn't find much, and by the time they had circled back around towards the apple tart cart, she had only tried a single piece of hard candy, though it was pretty good on its own. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, was now even more covered with food, to the point where several passersby offered her something to clean herself with.
Both Applejack and her mother were waiting at the cart, having finished during Pinkie Pie and Rarity's rounds.
"APPLEJACK!" Pinkie Pie screamed as she dashed over again, Rarity following closely behind,
"Hey Pinkie," Applejack said, her voice wavering.
"Applejack dear, are you alright?" Rarity asked,
"Ah'm fine, just had a lot to take in is all," she said,
"Don't worry Applejack, we'll find Twilight soon, and then we can go back!" Pinkie Pie assured,
"Right..." Applejack trailed off.
"That reminds me, we don't have much time left. We still have to regroup with the others. Do you want to come with us Miss...?" Rarity asked Applejack's mother,
"Butter, Mrs. Butter. And sure, Ah guess ah can come with yall," Mrs. Butter replied,
"Oh yeah, uh ma? Where's pa?" Applejack asked,
Mrs. Butter froze, and looked straight at Applejack.
"A-Ah don't know, ah've been searching for him ever since ah got here, but haven't been able to find him. Ah miss him dearly," Mrs. Butter said,
"Oh... alright then," Applejack looked down,
"Let’s get going, shall we?" Rarity said, quickly changing the subject.
"Yeah! We still have to find Twilight!" Pinkie Pie shouted,
"Here we are, and it looks like we made it just in time. How wonderful," Rarity said, looking up at the clock tower.
"Where's Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, and Wheat Germ?" Pinkie Pie asked,
"Wheat Germ? Who's that?" Applejack asked,
"He's our guide, he called us 'newlydeads', he should be with the others." Rarity explained,
"Newlydeads?” Mrs. Butter chuckled, “So that's what they're calling you guys now? That's funny."
"I found it rather strange," Rarity admitted,
"I think it's pretty funny!" Pinkie Pie said,
"Hey thanks, I do try," Wheat Germ said, appearing out of the crowd.
"Hey! You found them, nice going." Rainbow Dash appeared behind,
"Hello," Fluttershy greeted,
"Howdy girls. Wheat Germ," Applejack nodded to each of them.
"You must be Applejack, hello," Wheat Germ said.
"Applejack!" Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash gasped, they went to hug her.
"We were so worried," Fluttershy whispered,
"I totally beat you at waking up," Rainbow Dash quipped,
"Was I really out for that long?" Applejack wondered,
"No, not really, but this isn't exactly a normal situation." Rainbow Dash said,
"Ain't that the truth, Ah'm still trying to wrap my head around this. It's all so strange," Applejack admitted,
"You can say that again. Anyway, who's this you got with you?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"This here is my ma, ah think she's the reason I woke up, my memory is still a little hazy," Applejack explained,
"Your mom? I mean I've always assumed, but now that I know…” Rainbow Dash looked away, “I'm sorry I guess,"
"Ah'm standing right here ya know," Mrs. Butter said, "And don't be sorry, me and Applejack had a good and long talk before coming here,"
"Right... Okay..." Rainbow Dash nodded, "Anyway, we've found out where Twilight is going to be soon,"
"The parade right? We found that out as well, did any of you happen to figure out when it was supposed to happen?" Rarity inquired,
"They were packing up a stage in preparation for it, but that's all we know," Fluttershy piped up,
"The parade?" Mrs. Butter asked, "Ain’t that supposed to happen at-"
A cacophony of bells from the clock tower interrupted her, and the skeletons in the immediate area started cheering,
"Right now," Mrs. Butter finished, then she gasped, "My cart! Ah have to move it! Ah'll be right back, wait for me if yall can." She galloped off back towards the food court.
She didn't make it very far, as a small group of cloaked individuals cut in front of her path, stopping her. They soon passed, and she continued down the road.
"Who are those ponies? They don’t seem very nice," Pinkie Pie asked, gesturing towards the group,
"Oh those? They're called Sentinels, I guess you could say they are the police force around here. They don't enforce our laws though, they enforce the world's laws. They must be here because of your alicorn friend." Wheat Germ explained,
"Why would they be here for her? Has she done anything wrong?" Fluttershy asked,
"They're probably here to protect her, alicorn souls are very rare, and there are some who would want one,"
"Why would anypony want an alicorn's soul?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"I don't know,” Wheat Germ shrugged, “It might have something to do with their ‘undyingness’,”
"Ooh Ooh! Here comes the parade!" Pinkie Pie interrupted, pointing up the road,
The ground trembled a bit, but went unnoticed due to the noise of the gathering crowd.
To Be Continued...