//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: The Human Side of the Story, Act One. // Story: Harry Houdini: The Great and Powerful // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// The Houdinis went up to the pony guarding the stage entrance, showing him their stamps before ducking their heads underneath the entrance. “Um, excuse me.” They looked down to find one of Trixie’s assistants. “Are you looking for Trixie?” Mrs. Houdini knelt down and gave her a wide smile. “We are, actually. You two were very good up there.” “Well thank you miss,” she nodded. “To be honest, both my sister and I were surprised that you of all… Forgive me, what are you again?” “People.” “Thank you. We were surprised that you of all people came to see us.” “We needed a break anyway,” Harry commented. “To your folk’s credit, it was presented fairly well.” She nodded. “Thank you. I’m Peppers, Peppers Ghost.” The assistant became confused as Harry started chuckling. “Is something funny? Was it something I said?” “Oh, nothing,” he waved his hand. “Anyway, could you show us where the magician of the evening is? She said that she wanted to see us.” “She’s in her dressing room. I’ll show you to her.” Peppers turned around and guided them through the backstage. After passing by all of the stage props, curtains, and ropes, the human couple crouched into the low, short hallway that led to a room with Trixie’s name on it. Her assistant knocked on the door. “Ms. Lulamoon, they’re here.” “Ah, send them in,” her boss’s voice penetrated through the door. After opening it, she showed the humans in as they squeezed through the door. “Please forgive Trixie for the mess,” the blue mare said. “Normally, she wouldn’t expect visitors without notice ahead of time. Here, let me do some quick tidying up.” Her horn lit up as she channeled her magic, levitating the props and flowers off of the couch and placed them to the side. Mr. Houdini let his wife sit on the couch, the both of them swiftly finding out that she nearly took up the entire piece of small furniture, leaving Harry to sit on the floor next to it. Trixie finally turned away from her mirror, noticing their predicament. “Should I have somepony get a pillow for you?” “Nah, I’m alright,” Harry shook his head. “Those were some fine tricks you pulled back there.” “So I take it that you liked them?” “The door trick was very good,” Bess commented. “Best and most original trick I’ve seen in a while,” Harry added. “The whole performance of that trick along with the rest of your show went very smoothly. Everything was sharp, well executed, and overall, very clean when it came to sleight of hand.” “Sleight of hoof,” Trixie corrected. “I appreciate the compliments, although everypony was quite nervous knowing that you’d be watching, especially after what you did with Hoof Cuff. It brings us such relief to know that you enjoyed it.” “As entertaining as it all was, I think I had a pretty good idea how it was done,” Harry admitted. “All except for one, at least.” Trixie tilted her head in confusion. “That bit at the start with the door left me a bit puzzled as to how it could have been done, though I do have a guess.” “That being?” He pointed to her horn. “I’ve heard that some unicorns have the ability to teleport. Does that happen?” She nodded. “Very good. Flashless teleportation, a spell of my own invention, and a good one too if I do say so myself.” “You know, I wish I could do something like that in my show. People back home would talk about it for years, like that time I made some elephants disappear.” Trixie blinked. “Come again?” “It’s true,” his wife nodded. “I think it was… what, five years ago?” Her husband nodded. “Yes, anyway, five years ago when he performed at the Hippodrome, one of the biggest stages in the world. I saw Harry help load a five-ton elephant into a cabinet with curtains all around it. When they opened back up, it had disappeared. To this day, I still can’t figure out how he did it.” “And I’m still not telling, hon,” Harry snickered. “Now there’s something I’d have liked to see,” Trixie said. “Oh, don’t worry,” Harry said, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a ticket. “With your Princess coming to see us in action, I decided that one of the tricks I’ll be doing is the Vanishing Elephant. That, and some of my other tricks that I haven’t gotten the chance to do.” The blue magician took the ticker in her aura, sticking it to the side of her vanity. “Trixie will be looking forward to this. Now, since you two are here, there’s something that has been bothering me ever since you arrived.” “What’s that?” Bess inquired. She turned to Harry. “You said once that you came from a place where you have to pretend that magic exists, but anypony would tell you that it is impossible for such a place to exist in this universe since magic flows everywhere. And given your, uh… appearance, I have to ask: Are you all from another dimension or something?” “I think the moment we saw those police ponies that found us, we realized we weren’t in New York anymore,” Harry replied. “But that’s the thing,” Trixie pointed out. “Why aren’t you more… I don’t know… shocked, or surprised, or anything? One minute you pop out of nowhere, and the next you’re performing your show as if nothing’s changed. Why?” “Well, perhaps we should start back at the beginning.” _*_ “Alright everypony,” the pegasus cop announced, “what’s going on… here…?” He didn’t say another word as he took in the lanky creatures looking right back at him. It was the unicorn beside him that eventually broke the silence. “Huh… now there’s something you don’t see every day.” There was another pause before everyone seemed to take in what they were seeing. “Is it me, or did that thing just talk?” Bess asked the question on everyone’s minds.” Officer Law blinked. “So what if we did?” Order, on the other hoof, spread his wings and flew over to the stage. Before he could land, there was a collective gasp and a few screams as they all suddenly backed away. “Hey, hey, it’s alright.” Officer Order landed on the black floorboards. “How did he do that?” one of the staff asked aloud. The pegasus raised an eyebrow. “I flew. Now seriously, what are all of you? What’s going on?” “My…” Houdini approached the equine officer. “Huh… well, I’ll be damned. A real-life pegasus.” He looked over to the officer’s partner who walked up to the stage. “And an actual unicorn, both of which can talk.” He bent down to his knee before Swift Order. “Excuse me, would either of you be interested in a magic show?” “Uh, what?” the pegasus questioned. “No thanks, sir, but you still haven’t answered my question. What are you?” “Human.” “Weird name, but alright.” He shook his head. “What’s going on here? And how did this theater suddenly get here?” “You tell us,” someone from the theater troupe spoke. “Nobody here as a clue what’s going on.” “Can someone lend me a dime so I can phone home?” one of the female assistants asked. “The telephones are dead,” Bess pointed out. “I still think we’ve somehow moved.” “Oh come on, don’t be so dumb,” another staff member said. “How could we have moved? We’re still in New York!” “I’m sorry,” the unicorn, Officer Law Abiding, spoke as he hopped up on the stage. “Where?” “Ya know, New York?” The pony returned a blank stare. “The Big Easy? The Big Apple? Manhattan?” “You mean Manehattan?” Law corrected him. “Just to be clear, none of you ‘hu-mons’ has any idea what’s going on?” “No,” Harry replied,” and it’s pronounced ‘hu-mans’.” “Huh?” The unicorn lit up his horn and grabbed a small notebook and pencil. The humans were dead quiet, staring at him in wide-eyed wonder. “What?” Harry turned to his assistants. “Get the rings,” he ordered. One of them rushed backstage and came back with one of a pair of Chinese linking rings, giving it to Houdini. “Keep that up,” Houdini told the unicorn, much to his confusion. The human encircled the floating notebook with the ring, moving it side-to-side, up-and-down, and in every other manner, he could think of. Despite it all, the book remained floating. “What are you doing?” Officer Law asked. “Well,” Harry withdrew the ring in amazement,” the wonders never cease.” “Pardon?” “How are you doing this?” Harry gestured at the book. The officer rolled his eyes. “Magic, of course.” “No, seriously,” Harry asked sternly, “how?” The unicorn pointed to his horn. “I told you, magic. Now then…” He looked around the stage at the gathered humans. “I suppose you all will need someplace to stay until we sort this out?”