Return Of The Showmare

by Horizon Spark

Chapter 5: Child’s Play

Chapter 5
Child’s Play

The first half of class was over and the time for recess had begun. Many fillies and colts ran outside as they were ready to make the most of this ten minute break. From slides, to swings, to the oddly named monkey bars, they all enjoyed their much needed free time. The only exception, was Trixie, who sulked sadly next to the building away from the others. “That was a terrible way to introduce myself to them.” She said to herself. “Made me look like a complete idiot back there.”

She lowered her head as she tried to forget about that moment in class. The audience weren't applauding and giving her praise, they were laughing at her, making herself look like a complete fool in front of everypony. Something her mother would never let happen.

“Um...excuse me?”

Just then Trixie looked up to see three fillies looking at her nervously She instantly recognized them as three of her classmates; Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine. One tapped her hooves and the others looked around anxiously, as if they were anticipating something. “Yes, can I help you?”

Minuette was the first to speak. “Yeah, we were just wondering if you really were the daughter of the Amazing Silver Wand.”

Trixie looked at her classmates in confusion. “Yes I am. But why do you want to know?”

Lemon Hearts spoke next. “Well, we were always big fans of her ever since she performed at the Summer Sun Celebration last year, and we never knew that she had a daughter.”

“And I gotta say, that was such a cool way to introduce yourself.” Said Twinkleshine.

“Really?” Trixie asked as her ears perked up. “You didn’t think it was stupid or bad?”

“Are you kidding me? That was so awesome! Only someone as great as the Amazing Silver Wand can pull off something like that.”

“Wow, thanks guys, that’s good to hear.”

“No problem.” Minuette said. “And if you don’t mind that is, do you think you could show us a some sort of magic trick for us please?”

Trixie did a double take as she looked at the three fillies in surprise. “Trick? You want to see me do a magic trick?”

“Of course!” Lemon Hearts answered. “We just wanna see one of your no doubt amazing magic tricks. If that’s okay with you that is.”

Trixie looked at the ground as she thought about what to do. The attention, it felt odd to her that these fillies were willing to spend their recess not playing with the others, but wanting to see her magic. At the same time though, it felt so good.

“In that case,” Trixie said as she got up from her seat. “Prepare to be amazed, as Trixie dazzles you with magic only a unicorn like me can perform with relative ease!”

The three fillies gasped in wonder as they looked at the young magician in awe. Knowing that she had their attention, Trixie used her magic to grab an apple from a near by apple tree, and paper towel from the classroom. She placed the paper towel over the apple and focused her horn on it. The items flashed in a puff of smoke, and only the paper towel remained.

“Wow!” The three fillies exclaimed together.

“Wait for it.” Trixie said holding up her hoof. She focused her horn on the paper towel and in another puff of smoke, the apple reappeared. But then, she lifted the covering, and showed them the apple, only this time, it was cut into four pieces. “Anypony wants one?”

The three stomped their hooves and cheered as they each grabbed their own piece and ate them. “That was totally amazing Trixie.” Minuette said as she finished her slice. “How did you do that?”

“Sorry, but a magician must never reveal her secrets. That’s mother’s number one rule to being a magician.”

“Yeah she’s right.” Twinkleshine said next. “There’s no point to telling somepony how to do a trick after showing it. Where’s the fun in revealing secrets?”

“Exactly.” Trixie said as she ate her slice and bowed to her small audience.

“So Trixie,” Lemon Hearts started. “you wanna play ball with us until recess is over?”

“Yeah!” Minuette said. “We can be friends if you want.”

Trixie looked at the three smiling fillies, then smiled back at them. “I think I would like that.”

As Trixie walked happily with her new friends, two mares invisible to every other pony, watched in the distance as they drank their tea. “Trixie’s magic seem to be improving quite well. I’ve never seen filles her age perform magic like that in ages.” Celestia said as she poured more tea in her cup.

Silver Wand laughed softly. “The old ‘Sliced Apple’ trick, never fails to impress the crowds. Took her three weeks, five rolls of paper towels, and twenty apples to get that right without cutting up the towel. Good to see that she can still pull it off without my help.”

“I must say Silver, your daughter’s magic reminds me of yours all those years ago. I could probably take her under my wing and have her as a personal student. Who knows, she may one day become better than you.”

“Ha, as much as I would love for that to happen, it’ll be decades until she can come even close to my skills. Though I wouldn't mind if you could give her a little push right now you know.”

“Now Silver,” Celestia said as she sipped more of her tea. “You know I can’t just make her my personal student. She has to earn it by excelling her magic prowess.”

“Yeah, yeah Tia, I know. But all I’m saying is that if you’re looking for the perfect candidate to take under your wing, there she is right there.”

The two shared a laugh as she said this. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Celestia said. As they settled down, the alicorn heard a hard and raspy cough coming from Silver. After a few seconds, she stopped and cleared her throat, starting to sound like she’s trying to start a lawnmower. “Are you hurt Silver?” She asked in concern.

“It’s okay Tia.” Silver responded with her usual soft voice. “Just a little bug is all. Guess I need some more tea.”

“Well I still have more chamomile and green tea left for us to drink. Perhaps they can help you with your sore throat.”

“Thanks, I’ll take you up on that offer.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Trixie...Trixie wake up.”

“Mmh... yes...Princess Trixie Lulamoon does...have a nice ring…”

“Trixie it’s time to wake up.”

“You’re right... I am...better than Twilight…”

“TRIXIE!”

“AAAHH!”

The showmare leaped out of the bed, nearly touching the ceiling as she did. She fell down hard back onto bed and glared daggers at her rude alarm clock. “How dare you wake me up from such a pleasant dream Sparkle. Do you have any idea how wonderful it was?”

“Well I can tell that it had something to do with you becoming Princess Trixie. So knowing you it was probably fantastic.”

“Of course it was. Princess Celestia was just about to turn me into an Alicorn, and crown me Equestria’s newest princess. And then you had to ruin it all. I was this close Princess Killjoy.” She exclaimed as she held both hooves, mere centimeters away from each other.

Twilight couldn't help but giggle at Trixie’s misfortune. “Well I’m sorry I ruined your fantasy, but I hope this can make up for it.” She then brought in a bowl of oat cereal and orange juice and bring it towards Trixie. “I made you some breakfast in bed.”

Trixie took her breakfast with her magic and took a bite out of her cereal. “Well, I guess this will suffice. For now.”

“You’re welcome. And when you’re done I want you to go over to sugarcube corner to help Pinkie Pie. She’s throwing a birthday party for a foal and she can really use the help.”

Trixie almost spat out her cereal as if she just heard Twilight say something way too vulgar for her to say. “Forgive me Sparkle, but you want me to do what!?”

Twilight pulled out a scroll and handed it to Trixie. “This is the first meetup on your schedule. Today you have Pinkie Pie, then tomorrow you have Fluttershy, then Applejack, then Rarity, and you finally have Rainbow Dash. You’ll meet one of them each day and when you’re done, you can come back here at the end of the day.”

Trixie looked at the scroll in confusion, then looked back at Twilight with an angry glare. “You want the Great and Powerful Trixie to waste her precious time with your aggravating friends? And why am I starting with the pink one?”

Twilight stepped closer to the irate mare. “Pinkie needs help with the party, and I thought were the perfect candidate help her get everything ready for it and perform there. You can even get paid after you’re done.”

“So what? All of this is just some elaborate scheme for me to make friends, to relax in a town that will always ridicule me with the ponies that would just love to buck me in the face?”

“No Trixie, this is so you can build up a positive reception in PonyvIlle. I theorised that if you are seen around being nice to others, helping them out and such, you might be able to build up a reputation where you the whole Alicorn Amulet incident is just a faded memory. That way, ponies will be able to go to your shows and see you for the showmare you really are.”

Trixie at stared Twilight, completely lost for words. She looked back at the scroll deep in thought, then gave a soft huff. “Will you teach Trixie the spells in Hoofdini’s Book when she comes back?”
Twilight smiled as she knew her plan might end up working. “I promise, I will teach you a spell or two when you’re all done.”

“Very well then, I’ll assist this Pinkie Pie on her party. Just as long as you hold up your end of the deal.” Trixie finished the last few bits of her cereal, then began to get ready to walk out. In a few minutes, she was brushed and ready to go all missing nothing else at all.

“You’re not going to forget this are you?”

She turned to see that Twilight was carrying her signature cape and hat she wore on all of her shows. She immediately used her magic to bring it towards her. “O...of course I was going to wear this. I was just about to-” She stopped when she looked at her attire which looked cleaner and shinier when she last looked at it. “Did you clean this Sparkle?”

“Yeah,” Twilight responded. “it was all dirty when I found you. So I took it and cleaned it while you were asleep. Took a lot a detergent to get those stains out.”

Trixie took a moment to look at the attire she’s been wearing for a long time. For some odd reason, her eyes started to get all watery, but she quickly regained her composure then put on her hat and cape. “Well anyways, I’ll be taking my leave now, remember your end of the deal.”

With that, Trixie ran out the room in a huff, completely disregarding the empty bowl and cup, and the slightly annoyed alicorn behind her. “Your welcome!” Twilight yelled as she looked back at the mess Trixie left and sighed.

---

It was still early morning when Trixie left the castle. While almost everypony was still in their houses, some were too busy setting up shops or heading to there other jobs to notice the blue unicorn. It was one of those rare instances where she didn’t want the want the attention as she ran towards Sugarcube Corner. She did remember Twilight rambling about some gingerbread looking building and she guessed that’s what she was looking for. After a minute of searching (and the occasional glares from onlookers), she finally stood in front of the bakery where she was about to knock on the door when…

“GOOD MORNING TRIXIE!”

The door flung open nearly decking her in the schnoz before she jumped out the way. She then saw the bouncing earth pony herself. “Oh hi Trixie how’s it going?”

Trixie dusted herself and looked at Trixie with a solid look. “Annoyed, but I guess it could be worse.”

Pinkie chuckled. “Well turn that frown upside down, because we’re going to throw a super duper party for a happy little colt! Isn’t that exciting!?”

“I guess it is, after all I have performed in a couple birthday parties back then. But I never helped prepare a birthday party before.”

“Well dontcha worry Trixie, party planning is my special talent. And I can help you help me get everything all set. Just follow me and we can get started.”

As she bounded down the hall, Trixie rubbed her temples as she felt a migraine coming on. ‘If this pink one’s annoying chatter’s my punishment, then kudos to you Sparkle.’ she thought as she followed her. She looked around to see how bright and colorful everything looked, which felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the purple colored castle.

“Hey Trixie,” Pinkie called as she got out utensils in the kitchen. “did you ever meet my sister Maud when you were working at my family’s rock farm?”

The question caught Trixie off guard as she was reminded of the days she had to work at that Faust-forsaken job. “Trixie did meet that Maud you speak of. Although she was rather weird when she’s around me.”

...

2 Years ago…

Trixie chipped away at her current rock formation with a pickaxe. She started sweating bullets as she continued hacking away at the same formation for the upteenth time, and it was starting to piss her off. Never had she felt so degraded in her life, but after everything that transpired in the past week, she had to take this job.

“Worst week ever!” She mumbled to herself. “I swear, when I get out of this place, I’ll make that Twilight pay for what she’d done to me. I just need to make a few more bits and I’ll be able to-” She stopped when she felt the presence of somepony behind her. She turned and jumped when she saw Maud and her usual blank expression. “Do not sneak up on the Great and Powerful Trixie like that! What do you want anyways?”

“You look sad.” Maud said in her ever so familiar monotone voice.

Trixie scoffed. “Trixie is not sad, but she is annoyed by your presence. I have no time to deal with your pointless prattle about rocks, stones or whatever. Now get out of her sight and let Trixie get back to her-” Trixie stopped mid-sentence when saw Maud holding what looked like a necklace made of colorful ricks. “What is that?”

“It’s a rock candy necklace. Me and my sister likes to make these and give them to each other as tradition. And I made this for you to cheer you up.”

She placed the necklace on Trixie’s neck as she stood there in stunned silence. It took several minutes for her to snap back to reality as she noticed the necklace around her neck. “Well...um...whatever just please let me get back to work.”

“You’re welcome.” Maud said as she walked back to the house. When she was gone, Trixie looked at her new necklace and took a bite out of a piece. She noticed how surprisingly good it actually tasted and smiled. ‘I guess it won’t be so bad here.’

…

Trixie shook her head as the flashback faded from her mind. “Anyways, shouldn't we be preparing for a party or something?”

Pinkie jumped right in front of Trixie almost scaring the unicorn. “Yeperooni! We we have some cupcakes to make, and you can help me bake them.”

“Baking cupcakes?” Trixie questioned nervously. “Trixie never baked cupcakes before, I don’t know how to make them.”

“Don’t worry Trixie, I can teach you easily!”

“Please, the Great and Powerful Trixie has no need learn how to bake cupcakes. You can take care of that while…” Trixie stopped as she heard upbeat music randomly playing. “Where is that music coming from? You’re not going to sing are you?

All you have to do is take a cup of flour!
Add it to the mix!
Now just take a little something sweet, not sour!
A bit of salt, just a pinch!
Baking these treats is such a cinch!
Add a teaspoon of vanilla!
Add a little more, and you count to four,
And you never get your fill of...
Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty!
Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty!
Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!

Pinkie finished in a flourish as Trixie groaned in annoyance.

---

After an hour of getting everything all set, the party was ready to go and many young fillies filed in the dozens. As the party was under way Pinkie and Trixie both brought in a huge cake for the birthday boy, who was a dark blue young unicorn colt with a lime green mane and tail. He also didn’t had a cutie mark.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOONLIGHT!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she and Trixie plopped the cake on the table. Moonlight smiled as he looked at the giant pastry in sheer awe. “Now blow out the candles and make a wish!”
Moonlight immediately closed his eyes and blew out his seven candles. He jumped up jor joy as he took a slice of cake and joined his friends who were enjoying their slices as well. Meanwhile, Trixie was busy wiping the frosting and cake batter off her fur and mane. She was still feeling annoyed by Pinkie’s rather wild baking practices. “Well, at least this is all over, now Trixie can leave this crazy place with her dignity and clothes still intact.”

“You did a really great job Trixie!”

At the corner of her eye, she noticed Pinkie with cake batter still in her mane and giving her a warm smile. “I did?”

“Of course you did silly filly! I know you didn’t like getting all messy but I really appreciate everything you did. This is one of my greatest parties yet, and I’ve never seen Moonlight so happy before.” Pinkie then proceeded to give Trixie the biggest bear hug she could muster. “Thank you so so much!”

“P...Pinkie...can’t...breath.”

“Oops, sorry.” She said as she released her iron grip.”

“That’s okay, and you are welcome, it’s actually kinda feels nice to be here now.” Trixie said with a surprisingly genuine smile.

“Um, excuse me ma’am.”

Trixie looked down as she saw the birthday boy pulling at her cape. “Moonlight isn’t it? Do you require something?”

Moonlight released his grip and looked down nervously. “Are you actually the Great and Powerful Trixie Ma’am?” He said in a polite tone.

Trixie looked at the colt in confusion. “Yes..that is me. Is there something wrong?”

Moonlight suddenly gave out an audible “Yes.” As he hopped in place out of sheer joy. “I always wanted to meet you Miss Trixie, ever since me mum took me to Canterlot and I saw your shows!”

Trixie stood there surprised at the colts sudden admiration. But then decided that it might be a good time to make somepony happy, and to milk the praise. “Well lucky for you my young fan, the Nice and Generous Trixie has took time out of her ever so busy schedule, to lend a helping hoof towards preparing your birthday party.”

“Wow, that’s so cool, thank you so much Miss. Oh does that mean you’re here to perform at my party?”

Trixie was caught off guard by the question as she nervously rubbed the back of her head. “Um...well...I…”

“Of course she can perform for your party!” Pinkie yelled as she jumped out of seemingly nowhere, something Trixie would never get used to.

“We’re going to give you the greatest magic show you’ve ever seen!”

This excited outburst caught the attention of the other fillies, as they cheered at the idea of an amazing magic show. They all rushed at the two older mares their eyes filled with curiosity and wonder. While Pinkie was looking at them at excitement, Trixie looked at them with confusion and a hint of fear.

“Um...Pinkie,” Trixie whispered. “I’m afraid I can’t perform in front of these fillies.”

Pinkie heard the sad tone in Trixie’s voice as she turned towards her. “What,” she yelled silently. “but why not?”

“I just can’t, the Great and Powerful Trixie refuse to perform today, and I’m afraid I can’t explain why.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” Pinkie then lighted up as she ran straight upstairs in a pink blur and returned a second later suit and top hat. “In that case, I’ll take over for you, I can be great at magic tricks too.” The fillies around them cheered more as Pinkie flourished her hooves around theatrically, doing a rather spot-on imitation of the showmare.

Trixie only scoffed. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but my feats of magic cannot be performed by ponies like you. It took me years of practice and experience, something you’ll never...compare...to.” She slowed down as she noticed that the kids around her were surrounding, Pinkie as she was doing card and ring tricks, and what looked like an optical illusion where she was levitating a napkin.

“And for my next trick…” Pinkie then took her hat, flipped it upside down, and dipped her hoof deep in it. Seconds later, she lifted her hoof as she was holding a plushie of Trixie along with her hat and cape. “Here ya go Moonlight, just for you.”

Moonlight eagerly took the plushie and hugged it tightly. “Thank you so much Miss Pinkie.” As the other children cheered and begged for more (which Pinkie was more than happy to oblige), he noticed out of the corner of her eye, Trixie hastily leaving the bakery with her head lowered.

Author's Note:

Added in a little Maud and Trixie moment for the fans and shippers. You know who you are.

Comments

[Texus]

I think i take it a bit to seriously, but i would prefer it if Characters like Twilight, or Celestia would ask others for their own opinion sometimes, and not just do with them what they think is right.

Nice chapter, but i get the feeling the day with Pinkie somehow backfired at the end of the chapter.
Even if it is not to much, to show her that she can do some Magic Tricks too, made her feel even less great and powerfull i guess.

[Frankie2]

So, it seems Trixie's mother was starting to get sick, if she wasn't sick already. It also seems Trixie has some really deep issues.

[Horizon Spark]

6384682 Pretty much.

[Mr Swanky Hat]

“Yeah she’s right.” Twinkleshine said next. “There’s no point to telling somepony how to do a trick after showing it. Where’s the fun in revealing secrets?”

Penn and Teller beg to differ