//------------------------------// // II: Silence of the Mimes // Story: Twilight and the Mime // by Final Draft //------------------------------// Twilight poured over the library’s books until she found what she’d been looking for. Located in Entertaining the Masses, was a section on performers called mimes. The section simply explained the physical appearance of a mime, and its bizarre routines. “That’s it?” Twilight asked, flipping the pages back and forth, hoping for more information. The next page was a passage on clowns (nothing Pinkie Pie couldn’t tell her about), so she let the book fall to the floor. A knock came at the door and Twilight quickly levitated all of her books back into their respective locations. She made sure the library was presentable and went to greet her guest. Standing on the other side of the door was the mime. The mare smiled at Twilight and extended a hoof out to her. “Can I help you?” Twilight asked, looking at the empty hoof. The mime brought her hoof just below her own nose and inhaled deeply, smiling as if she’d smelled a pleasant aroma. She then held her hoof out for Twilight once more and stared expectantly. Twilight continued to stare at the empty hoof and asked, “Is it a flower?” The mime nodded excitedly and pushed the hoof closer to Twilight’s nose. Hesitantly, Twilight sniffed at the air and could smell the faintest aroma of roses. She opened her eyes and carefully reached for the unseen flower. Her hoof bumped against something soft and the mime smiled. “How are you doing this?” Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes as if that would allow her to see the rose she now held. The strange performer scratched at her beret in thought and then leaned against an invisible countertop, resting her chin on her hoof. Such a position would be impossible without something to actually support her, and Twilight waved her hoof through the air. Unlike the rose, the counter seemed not to exist. At last, the mime looked back at Twilight and smiled. She closed her eyes and zipped her lips. “Please, you have to tell me,” Twilight begged. The mime crossed her forearms and shook her head. Twilight let the rose fall from her hoof and the mime’s eyes followed its path to the floor. Twilight went to take a step toward the mime, but the mime leapt into the air and somersaulted over the confused unicorn. It landed silently and smiled at Twilight. “Hey!” Twilight shouted. This time when she stepped toward the mime, it raised its hooves and patted at the air. Twilight smacked into the invisible barrier and the mime inaudibly laughed. The mime slowly reached up and pulled down on something suspended from the ceiling. Before Twilight could question what it was, a trap door opened up beneath her. She let out a scream as she fell into the darkness. The space she was falling through seemed to go on forever and the darkness was impermeable. At last, she reached the bottom and landed on something soft enough to break her fall. Twilight stood up and looked around the darkness, the glow of her horn only giving off enough light to see a couple feet ahead of her. “Hello?” she called out nervously. There was a loud crash and a beam of light shot out from the ceiling. A spotlight shone down from above and illuminated a figure in front of Twilight. When Twilight’s eyes adjusted, she saw it was just the mime. The mime’s red eyes seemed to look past Twilight, staring off somewhere into the darkness. There was another crash and a second spotlight shone down onto Twilight. Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of applause, but the sounds seemed to come from no one direction. “What’s going on?” Twilight asked. The mime ignored her and instead focused on emptying an imaginary can of whipped cream onto an invisible pie. The hissing of the aerosol was audible over the crowd’s clapping. The red eyed mare tossed the can over her shoulder and finally looked up to Twilight. The clapping stopped and a drum roll took its place. The mime reared back with the imaginary pie and aimed at her target. Twilight wasn’t sure what to do, so she got ready to dodge the invisible pastry. The second the mime threw the pie, a powerful gust of wind blew from behind Twilight. The invisible pie redirected its course and smacked into the mime’s face. The unseen crowd laughed and the mime wiped her face angrily. She tried to step toward Twilight, but the wind was too strong. The performer grabbed onto her beret and attempted to walk through the wind. Twilight too struggled against the force of the wind and found her hooves sliding out from beneath her. The spotlight followed her as she was lifted off the ground and into the air. The crowd laughed and laughed as the two ponies struggled against the gale force. “ENOUGH!” Twilight shouted at last. Her horn erupted as she cast a powerful illusion clearing spell, and the darkness completely disappeared. She and the mime landed back in the Golden Oak Library and Twilight jumped atop the mime before it could move. “Tell me how you’re doing this!” Twilight demanded. The mare looked at Twilight angrily and scrunched up her nose. “Say something!” Twilight shouted. The mare opened her mouth to talk, but closed it angrily. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me how you’re doing this!” Twilight said, making sure the mare was pinned beneath her. The mare’s red eyes darted back and forth until it saw something Twilight couldn’t. The mime reached out and pulled at the air, making a faint clicking noise. She then put her hooves over her head and closed her eyes. Before Twilight could question just what the mime had done, she felt what could only be described as a piano crashing down onto her back. The last thing she saw before being knocked unconscious was the mime smiling at her from behind a glass barrier.