Chapter Fifty-One: Failure
A few days later saw the town square bustling with colts and fillies situated before a recently constructed mobile stage. The local elementary schoolteacher, Cheerilee, had graciously brought her class on a field trip to Smokey’s first magic show on Fluttershy’s request. Even a few passing adults invested their interest.
As the dragon in disguise prepared behind the privacy of the purple curtain, he began to have doubts about performing. His magic abilities have been suffering lately.
“I don’t know, Ross. Perhaps we should quit before I end up making a fool out of myself…”
The small brown rabbit before the draconian, crossed his arms over his furry chest and shook his head. He certainly wasn’t going to allow his caretaker to back down after they worked so hard.
Fluttershy, Spike, and Chenoa, who was sitting on Pinkie Pie’s back, were located backstage with them, the two mares having helped set everything up. The pegasus was currently adjusting the bowtie around the dragon’s neck. The costume had been modified so that he appeared more like a real pony than the sad wreck he looked like during the disastrous date. With only a few minutes until the show was scheduled to start, Spike took a peek around the curtain at the audience, ready to play his part as the announcer.
“Don’t you worry about it,” Fluttershy said softly to him. “You’ll do great.”
Removing her front hooves from the tie, she gently touched to the floorboards of the stage and took a step back.
“There. You look absolutely wonderful.”
“Thank you, Miss Fluttershy,” he crooned affectionately, lowering his head to administer a quick nuzzle with a blush staining his obscured cheeks. “What would I do without you?”
“Baba buhbeh,” gurgled the baby griffon.
“Yes, what would I do without you, too?” The dragon stole a cursory glance at Pinkie Pie, his animals, and Spike. “All of you.”
Pinkie Pie beamed, bouncing in place from excitement, but made sure not to cause Chenoa to fall off.
“Not a problem at all!” she squealed. Earlier, she had offered to act as the draconic being’s lovely assistant. While she had been raring to go in a tight form fitting stage dancer’s dress with frills around the bottom, it had actually been Fluttershy who nixed the idea.
She claimed the dress wasn’t exactly appropriate -- which probably was considering the fact it emphasized attention to her rear, and that it was a show for young ponies and not a professional David Coppermane performance -- , but the irritation and the furrowed brows that immediately followed after Pinkie Pie had offered suggested it might have been an entire different reason.
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle everything?” the curly-maned pony asked. “You’re sure you don’t need a lovely assis--”
“He’ll be fine,” Fluttershy interjected, in an unusually firm tonality.
“One minute, everypony!” Spike announced.
The older draconian gulped and watched as Pinkie Pie pranced off the stage with his precious child. Feeling even more nervous, he turned to Fluttershy for some last minute words of encouragement.
Looking him over and giving him a warm smile, she tilted her head to one side a small degree.
“You’re going to do fine. I believe in you,” she reassured. “Now, go break a leg.”
With that, she jumped down and trotted off after Pinkie Pie.
Break a leg. He certainly hoped that wouldn’t happen, even though it was only an expression. Swallowing hard a second time, the dragon pushed passed the curtain and Spike to meet his audience.
“Premiering in Ponyville for the first time! Fillies and gentlecolts, I present to you--” Spike began, though he was cut off as Smokey stepped out, and everyone in the audience began stamping their hooves in applause.
Fluttershy, having taken her seat between Applejack and Pinkie Pie with Rarity positioned at the end, who were sitting in the row behind the farmer pony and fashionista’s younger sisters and pegasus friend, flashed him another smile.
The yellow pegasus’ sweet smile inspired a spike of confidence. Forgetting to introduce himself, he went right to his first trick. He might as well do the tricks he could do well first. Reaching into the jacket, he pulled out a silk black top hat, even though it was too big to fit in his tuxedo.
A few of the equines seemed to be a bit impressed. Pinkie Pie in particular was enthralled, munching on popcorn from a bucket that she hadn’t been in her possession a couple of seconds ago. Fluttershy glanced over at her friends, blinking in bewilderment at the bucket that had seemingly materialized in the pink equine’s foreleg.
“Pinkie, where--” Fluttershy started to query, the rest of her words dying as Pinkie Pie popped a kernel into Chenoa’s beak.
“Want some?” she proffered with a grin, holding the bucket out to her.
After swallowing, the baby switched her attention to her father on stage as she was passed to Fluttershy. The red-scaled reptilian, held up the hat to show the crowd there was nothing inside before digging his arm into it. He stalled for a few moments to build up suspense. He then withdrew his arm with Ross grasping onto his hand.
Fluttershy extended her foreleg to accept a hoof-full of popcorn. Eyes on stage, she noticed that the hat was empty -- but when she saw the bunny appear, she let out a cheer that was about as loud as a gentle breeze while the colts and fillies clamored among themselves.
“That was amazing!” the young white unicorn, Sweetie Belle, exclaimed, her voice cracking in mid-sentence. “How’d he do that?”
“Don’t know! A magician never reveals his secrets!” Pinkie Pie said, grinning.
Next, Ross dove back into the hat, then re-emerged with a large carrot between his paws. Setting down the hat, Smokey brought a hand to his rabbit’s ear and pulled out a seemingly endless chain of different colored handkerchiefs.
A few of the children appeared quite impressed. Two fillies, however, not so much.
“Booooo!” a pink earth pony filly known as Diamond Tiara howled. “This stinks!”
That voice reached Smokey’s ear holes and aggravated his anxiety level. The dragon’s nerves halted his performance for a few seconds before he got a hold of himself. Taking in a deep breath, he gathered up the chain of cloth and bundled it all up in his hands. He concentrated, hoping he wouldn’t screw this trick up.
Opening up his hands, all five of his doves emerged in a single file line. The birds formed a circle above his head, then disappeared into his hat.
The majority of the equines in the crowd cheered. Diamond Tiara and her companion, Silver Spoon, were clearly still not entertained, and even the unicorn brothers, Snips and Snails, were quickly becoming disenchanted.
“Man, this is boring!” Snips complained. “Where’s all the fireworks and explosions and stuff?”
“Quiet, now!” Cheerilee admonished with a glare directed at the portly colt. “Don’t distract him!”
‘Well, that’s the end of the easy tricks,’ Smokey thought to himself. Trying to ignore the dissatisfied unit of the crowd, he lowered his front half and reached into the hat… only to shy back as Pinkie Pie’s head popped out.
“Hiya!” the mare greeted, then turned her head to beam at the audience.
“What in tarnation?!” Applejack cried, whipping her head to Pinkie Pie -- who had her entire head shoved into her bucket of popcorn. Sighing, she removed her Stetson from her head and buried her own face in it in slight exasperation.
The winged reptile appeared too stunned for words. Or, he would have if his face was visible. His anxiety was piling on his nerves as he moved onto one of the more complicated tricks -- one he had not yet fully mastered.
Gently pulling Pinkie Pie out of his hat, he set her down on his opposite side. He untied the cape from his neck and draped it over the pony, intending on attempting the disappearing trick. As she had been pulled out of the hat, the rest of her body just as enigmatically could be seen being drawn all the way into the popcorn bucket. Applejack’s younger sister, Apple Bloom, who had been constantly shifting her attention back and forth between the stage and the bucket almost immediately leaped over the back support of her seat and pounced on it to stick her head in herself to investigate. Unfortunately for her, she failed to find her way out of the hat.
“Now how did she do that?!” Apple Bloom cried out, withdrawing her head and prodding the bottom with her hoof. Sweetie Belle snatched it from the earth filly to examine it with their winged friend, Scootaloo. The rest of the ponies kept their eyes on Smokey, wondering what he was going to do next.
Narrowing his eyes, he utilized all of the focus he could muster.
“I command you to disappear!” After removing the cape, he and his audience saw that Pinkie Pie was still there. Now sweating, he tossed the cape back over her. “Disappear!”
Again, the trick failed.
Pinkie Pie giggled. Though she wasn’t disappearing, she was obviously having fun.
“Boooo!” Diamond Tiara shouted again, reaching behind her to wrench the popcorn bucket from Scootaloo and ignoring the pegasus filly’s whine of protest as she hurled it at the magician on stage.
“Hey!” came the dragon’s indignant cry as he lifted an arm to shield himself from the barrage of popcorn. Even as Cheerilee attempted to scold Diamond Tiara, that didn’t stop Silver Spoon from throwing her hot dog, managing to hit him right in the face and cover the inflicted area with a mixture of ketchup and mustard.
Pinkie Pie, despite herself, immediately fell backwards onto the stage in a fit of laughter. As she did so, everyone in Cheerilee’s class followed suit -- with the exception of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo only laughed for a second before realization dawned that her friends weren’t and promptly quieted down. Applejack looked a bit shocked while Fluttershy was mortified on Smokey’s behalf.
Smokey couldn’t handle any more of this. All those equines laughing at his inability… Backing away from the audience a couple of steps, he whirled around and retreated behind the curtain.
Applejack and Rarity gaped, gazing at each other, as did their younger sisters and Scootaloo. The other colts and fillies were still laughing, Pinkie Pie rolling around and laughing with them so hard, it escaped her notice when she rolled right off of the stage and onto the ground below.
Gasping, Fluttershy spread her wings, Chenoa in the safety of her forelegs as she fluttered after Smokey.
Rising onto his feet, the dragon pulled the head of his costume off. A teardrop slid down his scaly cheek as he sat down at the edge of the platform, allowing his legs and part of his tail to dangle. All six of his animals were concerned, this having been their owner’s worst show yet.
“Smokey? … Smokey!” the yellow-pelted pony called out to him as she slipped through the curtain and touched down onto the wooden surface on three hooves, her right foreleg carrying the chick. Pursing her lips, she frowned deeply and crossed over to his side. The teardrop coming into view, she unfolded a wing to rest it upon his back. Stretching her body and lifting her head, she pressed it up against his neck in a soft, comforting nuzzle.
“I’m sorry,” she said, gazing up at him with tears pooling in her own blue-green orbs in an emphatic gesture. She knew all too well about performance anxiety and choking under pressure.
“I admit it…” Smokey began as he clenched his eyes shut, unable to even look at the mare and baby next to him. “I’m not that great of a magician. I haven’t been able to go through a single show without messing up. Maybe I should just quit magic.”
“No! No, don’t say that.” Fluttershy reached up with her free hoof to wipe the teardrop away. “You’re not a bad magician, you just need some more practice.”
“Miss Fluttershy…” He shook his head. “My magic shows have been growing worse, and leaving me more exhausted…”
Sighing, Smokey brought a hand to his forehead as a dull throbbing bloomed from within his cranium.
“I should just stick with what I can do.”
The mare gave a sympathetic “awww” before pulling him into a warm, caring hug. Holding him there for a few moments, she let him go.
“Well, then… let’s… Why don’t we go ahead and go get some ice cream? I know Chenoa would love some soft treats.” She directed a motherly smile down at the child. “Wouldn’t you, Chenoa?”
“Num-num!” Chenoa squealed, shoving out all of the shame her father was feeling. In fact, it coaxed a laugh from him. Imitating him, she let out a laugh of her own.
Giggling, Fluttershy shifted her attention from the infant to Smokey and slid her foreleg around his arm. With a smile, she motioned with her head towards the cobblestone path that led to the local ice cream parlor.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
Once the mare removed her foreleg from his arm, the dragon pulled the head of his costume back on.
“Alright!”