When the ovation died down, Houdini turned to the Solar Guard. “Wonderful shot, sir.”
“How did you do that?” he asked, still a bit shaken from the experience.
The human smiled. “Magic. Oh, and before you return to her Highness,” he parted his overcoat, revealing his shirt and waistcoat, “how about a free punch?”
The Drill Sergeant blinked. “Sorry?”
“A punch.” Harry patted his stomach. “Or a kick, right here.”
Arrow Head shook his head. “Sir, you already have mesmerized as is. There’s no need to hurt you.”
“Oh, come on. I nearly gave you a heart attack thinking you killed me.” He said with a cocky grin. “Throw me your hardest right here.”
The guard looked at the magician, over to the audience, and back again. “Are you sure?”
Harry nodded. “Yes, yes. Punch me right here, hard as you can.”
The Drill Sergeant stood up on his hind legs. “I have to warn ya, I can really knock the wind out of ya.”
He was greeted with a smirk. “Wanna bet?”
“Okay.” Arrow raised his right hoof. “Remember, you asked for this.” With a guided hoof, he swiftly hit the human’s stomach as hard as he could. Harry stepped back a bit but otherwise seemed unfazed.
With a smile, he grabbed the Sergeant’s hoof and shook it. “Thank you very much. You may return now.”
The pegasus spread his wings and flew back to the Princess’s box. The illusionist gave them both a quick thanks, much to the spectators’ approval.
“And now, for my final trick,” Houdini said as he approached the audience. “I want to conclude the discussion of the mind’s capabilities by discussing a rather particular emotion that forces anyone’s wit and talent to achieve the impossible. The emotion I’m talking about, of course, is love.”
Harry gestured over to the box where his wife resided. “I believe it’s about time I introduce you all to Mrs. Houdini.” A spotlight fell upon her box as Bess smiled and waved to the audience.
“On this very day, the twenty-second of June, exactly thirty years ago, my wife Bess and I were married. That means that tonight is our anniversary.” The ponies and even Celestia herself applauded. “So honey, I promised I would give you something, didn’t I?”
“Now, Harry,” Bess said, though her voice was much quieter since she lacked a voice amplifier, “I already told you that you didn’t have to give me anything.”
“But I insist,” Harry replied. “I promise that it’ll be something quite unforgettable.”
Many “awe's” rang out, making Bess go along with what her husband had in mind.
Then, every staff member came on stage as they wheeled out a large, heavy-looking bank vault. They slowly turned the hefty box in place to show that the only way in or out of it was through a heavy door with huge locks.
Once the vault had reached the heart of the stage, Houdini ordered it to be opened. “As a final act, I will do one last escape from this bank vault.” Some of his assistants went backstage and brought out the large stopwatch from before. “We have shown you that there is no secret door, except for the one you’re seeing. This particular safe comes from a company here in Manehattan appropriately named ‘The Lock and Key Company’. This specific model is used in many banks in the city, as well as personal safes for the wealthiest to keep their goods secured.”
His assistants pried open the vault door, showing that nothing was inside.
“Before I proceed, may I have a volunteer come up and inspect this safe?”
“I’ll do it,” came a voice a few rows away from Trixie. She quickly spotted a teenaged earth pony with a very short mane. The teen made his way out of his seat and up to the stage.
“What’s your name?” Harry asked.
“Pocket,” his voice cracked. “My name is Pocket Wrench.”
“Mr. Wrench,” the human waved to the vault, “would you take a good look at this vault to see if there’s any way for me to escape from inside of it?”
The light orange stallion walked up to the titanic black box. He walked a few circles while he inspected the sides and underneath it. The teen even went inside the empty safe, feeling along the walls and floor with his hooves.
“So Mr. Wrench,” Houdini asked, “do you think that there’s any way for me to get out of that safe?”
He shook his head. “I don’t see how you could do it.”
“Thank you. You may return to your seat.” The stallion trotted back to his seat before Harry continued. “Some of you might have already guessed it by now, but for my last trick of the evening, I shall attempt to escape from inside of this sealed bank vault. I have been told that once I’m locked in, I will have enough good air to last me five minutes. But escaping isn’t all I’m going to do, oh no! Even while I’m escaping, I will also give my wife a gift that she, as well as all of you, will remember.”
The blue magician heard murmurings all around her, everypony curious yet excited to see what the illusionist had in store.
Harry walked into the middle of the safe before closing his eyes and going into a meditative pose. His assistants and theaterponies shut the heavy door of the vault, locking it in place with the big wheel on the front of the door. When two different ponies locked the final bits in place with two separate keys, the timepiece started to tick.
Everypony waited. Now that they had caught onto Houdini’s antics, they waited for five minutes without anything happening. The minute hand ticked on as an assistant kept track of the time by flipping cards.
Five minutes… six… seven… and still nothing. Ten… fifteen… the loudspeakers remained silent. At twenty-five minutes, the audience began to wonder what was taking him so long. At twenty-seven minutes, one of his assistants walked up to the vault and banged his fist against one of its sides. “Mr. H, are you still in there?”
At thirty-five minutes, the safe stayed still, but the audience wasn’t. Growing concerns spread like wildfire.
At fifty minutes, calls for the vault to be opened were demanded by the theater of ponies, but the assistants begged everyone to wait just a little longer.
When Houdini still hadn’t emerged after a full hour, it was finally decided that the safe should be opened.
The wheel was swiftly turned after the keys unlocked it, the door slowly opening to reveal…
...nothing. The vault was empty.
Confusion was on everyone’s faces. Where did Mr. Houdini go?
“Rosie, sweet Rosabel.” Harry’s ghostly voice played out over the speakers, quivering and echoing throughout the theater as the audience tried to locate where he was.
“I love her more than I can tell,
“O’er me, she casts a spell
“My little black-eyed sweet Rosabel.”
As the singing continued, the audience was surprised to see that it had started to rain rose petals.
“There is a maiden, sweet Rosabel,
“The fairest of all that I know.”
Many looked up to the ceiling to find that the rose petals were being released from the enclosed banners. They all quickly realized that they had been held up the six banners the whole time!
“All the beauties of heaven,
“And the riches here below…
“Cannot compare to this innocent,
“Angel of whom I must tell.
“This is the tale of my first love…
“Sweet Rosabel.”
While the audience was distracted by the raining roses, Mrs. Houdini didn’t notice that someone quietly slipped into her box.
“Rosie, sweet Rosabel,
“I love her more than I can tell…” It wasn’t until Bess felt something on her chest that she looked down to find a jeweled necklace some of which held gems of many sizes and had every color of the rainbow.
“O’er me, she casts a spell,” She looked up, and there was Harry, placing the necklace on her with a smile.
“My little black-eyed sweet Rosabel,” Mr. Houdini leaned down, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.
“My charming black-eyed…
“Sweet Rosabel,” As he finished singing, the audience took notice of Harry, at last, giving him a standing ovation. He finished his show by telling his wife, “Happy Anniversary, my sweetheart.”