Major Problems

by asmariamoon

Chapter 4: Show Us All

Major Problems

By Asmaria Moon

Chapter 4

Show Us All

Trixie stood in front of the same fountain that she had made her apology in front of the day before. She grinned as she stood up on her hind legs, and used her audio illusion spell to enhance her voice once again so that she could be heard above the crowd that had gathered for her show. "Fillies and gentlecolts!" she exclaimed. "Come and witness the Great and Powerful Trixie's return to Ponyville! The Ursa Minor may have destroyed her stage, but Trixie has no need for such flashiness. She is still Great and Powerful, even with only a simple deck of cards in her possession." Trixie said, floating her deck of cards out in front of her. "If Trixie could have a volunteer from the audience to inspect Trixie's deck, to make sure that it is not marked irregularly." she said, looking over the crowd. There was Twilight and her friends right near the front. Trixie gave another glance across the crowd, then said, "No volunteers? Well then, Trixie guesses that she'll have to pick somepony. How about you? Would you please come up and inspect Trixie's deck?" she asked, pointing her horn directly at Rarity. Most of the town had seen their fight the previous day, so she knew that there would be no doubt that Rarity was just a member of the audience, and not a planted friend, like so many hack magicians were forced to use.

"Moi?" Rarity asked, slightly confused as to why Trixie had picked her. "Well, I suppose." she said, stepping to the front of the crowd, where Trixie spread her deck out, parallel to the ground. Rarity looked closely at the backs of the cards, inspecting them for markings or holes which might give away the card's identity, but she saw nothing of the sort. "It is an ordinary deck of cards. No markings of any sort on the backs." Rarity said.

"Thank you. Now would you please take the cards in your telekinesis and shuffle them well?" Trixie asked, flourishing the cards into a pile and floating the deck toward Rarity. Rarity took the cards and shuffled them three times, then floated the deck back to Trixie. "Thank you very much, Ms. Rarity. Would you like to be the first to help Trixie in her show?" Trixie asked.

"Just as long as you do not turn my hair green again, I don't see why not." Rarity said, looking at Trixie coldly in warning of what would happen if Trixie did try turning her hair green again, but then smiling gently to show that otherwise, she was willing to help.

"Trixie promises she will do no such thing. At least, not in this show." Trixie joked, a friendly smile on her face as she flourished the cards back and forth in front of her.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Rarity said sarcastically. "I'm serious here, Trixie, my mane is off limits."

"Yes, Trixie crosses her heart and hopes to fly, stick a cupcake in her eye." Trixie said, reciting the Pinkie Pie swear she had heard the pink mare recite while rounding up ponies for Trixie's apology the day before. Trixie pushed the deck of cards into a high arc with her telekinesis, so that they sailed high over her hat, and she caught them with her telekinesis on the opposite side of her from where they had started. Rarity seemed to be satisfied with her oath, so Trixie once again spread the cards out in front of her. "Please pick any card you'd like, Ms. Rarity." Trixie said, once again pointing to the spread with her horn. Rarity wrapped her telekinesis around a single card and floated it out from the rest. "The Great and Powerful Trixie asks that you memorize your card, then put it back in the deck anywhere you please." Trixie said. Rarity committed her card to memory, then slipped it back into the deck in a random spot. Trixie gathered the spread into a pile, and flourished the deck in an arc above her hat once more, catching it with her magic before cutting the deck into halves, then quarters. spinning the cards around with her magic before piecing the cut deck together in opposite order. Trixie shuffled thrice, then flourished the cards in front of her, floating a single card out to face Rarity as she did so. "Is this your card?" she asked

"Why, yes, it is!" Rarity said, genuinely surprised that Trixie had found her card. At this, the audience stamped their hooves on the ground in applause. "How did you do that?" Rarity asked, curious.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does not reveal her secrets." Trixie answered, bowing toward the crowd. "Trixie thanks you for your assistance, Ms. Rarity." she said, bowing toward Rarity this time.

"And thank you, Trixie, for leaving my mane out of it this time." Rarity joked, smiling, and Trixie smiled back. Rarity went back to stand by her friends.

"Now then, for her next trick, Trixie will need three volunteers this time." Trixie said, and hooves raised in the audience. Trixie spotted three little fillies near Twilight and her friends, each with their hooves raised. "How about you three fillies?" Trixie said, pointing at them with her horn. One was a yellow earth pony with a pink bow tied in her bright red mane Another was a white unicorn with purple and pink streaks in her curly mane and tail, and the third was an orange pegasus with a spiky purple mane and tail. The three fillies stepped forward to the front of the crowd. Trixie noticed that neither of them had a cutie mark yet. "Now then, please tell Trixie your names."

"I'm Apple Bloom!" the earth pony said, smiling widely.

"I'm Sweetie Belle!" the unicorn said in a somewhat squeaky voice.

"And I'm Scootaloo!" the pegasus said, smirking. "And we are..." she added

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders! YAY!" all three shouted, startling Trixie so much that she lost control of her magic and almost dropped her deck of cards, barely catching them again before they hit the ground. The audience laughed, and Trixie snickered under her breath.

"Yes... well..." Trixie said, trying to regain her composure while she flourished the cards back and forth in front of her again. She shuffled them thrice, then floated them out in a spread in front of the three fillies. "The Great and Powerful Trixie requires your help for this next trick. Could each of you please pick a card?" she asked. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all pointed their hooves at the same card.

"Hey, that's the card I'm choosing! You can't choose the same card as me!" Apple Bloom said, glaring at Sweetie Belle.

"Girls..." Trixie tried to interrupt, but was barely audible over the Cutie Mark Crusaders' fighting.

"Yeah? Well, I can choose any card I want, and I want this one! You two need to choose another one!" Sweetie Belle said,

"Girls." Trixie said, a little bit louder, but the three fillies continued to fight.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I saw this card first, so it's mine! You choose another one!" Scootaloo said.

"Girls!" Trixie said, barely keeping her composure.

"We all saw them at the same time!" Apple Bloom argued.

"GIRLS!" Trixie shouted, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders fell silent immediately. "Trixie has fifty-two cards here, more than enough to allow three fillies to each choose one." Trixie said, regaining her calm demeanor.

"Sorry, Trixie." the three fillies said in unison, each placing their hoof on a different card. Trixie floated the three cards out to face the Crusaders.

"Please tell Trixie when you've memorized your cards." Trixie said, Once the fillies had confirmed that they had memorized the cards, Trixie floated them back into the spread, each in different places. "Now then, Trixie needs your help, because doing this with three cards is a bit trickier than doing it with only one. Trixie needs each of you to concentrate on your card. Try to picture it in your mind." Trixie said, shuffling the deck three times again.

She shuffled it once more just to be thorough, and then flourished the deck in a high arc above her, drawing an "Ooooooooh!" from the three fillies that had never seen somepony do that before Trixie. Trixie flourished the deck back the way it came, then cut it in halves, then quarters, then even further into eighths. Trixie spun the eight cuts of the deck around with her magic, then did a sort of shell game shuffle with the cards, mixing them around and over each other, sometimes dropping one or two cards from one cut of the deck to another with a full spin of the falling cards, so that they always landed face down. After a bit of this, Trixie gathered the cut deck up in a random order. She shot the cards from one side to the other in front of her with a spring flourish, then shot them back to the other side with another. She then performed another arcing flourish above her hat, pulling three cards out of the deck with her magic and guiding them down to rest on the brim of her hat, face down.

Trixie floated the first card out towards Apple Bloom, face toward the filly. "The Great and Powerful Trixie believes that this is your card, Apple Bloom." she said

"How'd ya guess mah card?" Apple Bloom asked, looking at the nine of clubs in front of her, to which Trixie smirked.

"As Trixie said before, she never reveals her secrets." Trixie said, before floating the second card towards Sweetie Belle, face toward the white unicorn filly. "This is your card, Sweetie Belle, if Trixie is not mistaken."

"Yeah, it is! Good guess!" Sweetie Belle said, gazing at the two of hearts in front of her.

Trixie's smirk grew wider. "Trixie did not have to guess, she knew." She floated the last card out to Scootaloo, again face toward the filly and the rest of the crowds. "Trixie believes that would make this card yours, Scootaloo." she said.

"Wow! Awesome! It is!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she watched the ace of spades float in front of her.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you for your assistance with her show, Cutie Mark Crusaders." Trixie said, smiling down at the three fillies.

"Are you kidding me? That's the same trick as the last one, except you did it with three cards instead of one!" a pink earth pony filly with a striped lavender and white mane and tail and a crown for a cutie mark exclaimed.

"Oh, it seems that the Great and Powerful Trixie has a neighsayer in her audience once again! Perhaps you would like to volunteer to assist Trixie with her next trick?" Trixie asked, looking at the filly as the Cutie Mark Crusaders took their places in the crowd again. Trixie's eyes dared the pink filly to accept her offer as she floated the deck of cards back into the pocket of her cape. The filly only glared back at first.

"Why not? It's not like I won't be able to see right through your lame tricks up close." the filly said, causing Trixie to bare her teeth before she regained her composure and just smiled at the filly. So she thought Trixie's tricks were lame, did she? Well, Trixie would have to show her just what she could do.

"Before we get started, can Trixie ask your name? Trixie likes to know the names of all her victi... she means... assistants." Trixie said, smiling. The crowd laughed at Trixie's joke. The filly only let out a fake laugh, a slight bit of fear in her eyes.

"My name is Diamond Tiara." the filly said, turning her nose up and pointing a hoof towards the tiara which sat atop her mane. It looked silver, with a jewel at the top of each of its five points, but the metal was almost wire-thin, and the jewels were small and circular, and it was probably a lot cheaper than it looked at first glance.

"Trixie wonders whether your daddy bought that for you." Trixie said, which drew some snickers from the crowd, some of which specifically included the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Twilight's group of friends.

"So what if he did?" Diamond Tiara asked, which drew more laughter from the crowd.

"So let me get this straight... your special talent is... wearing that?" Trixie asked, barely able to cover up her own laughter behind a hoof. Diamond Tiara blanched.

"Just get to your trick already! I want to prove just how lame you are to everypony sometime today." Diamond Tiara said.

"Yes, yes, keep your cheap costume jewelry on, Miss Tiara." Trixie said, and the crowd laughed once again as Diamond Tiara bared her teeth. Trixie floated her hat off, she liked to have her horn visible to the audience when she was casting her illusion magic. It didn't matter when she was only using telekinesis, like she was doing with the cards earlier, but she wanted the crowd to be able to spot every time she cast an illusion spell during her show. "Please stand stage right, and turn around to face the audience." Trixie said. Diamond Tiara moved to her right, then turned to face the audience. "No, Miss Tiara, that is stage left. You will never make it far in life if you can't tell left..." Trixie said, raising her front hoof closest to Diamond Tiara, "...from right." Trixie said, raising her other foreleg and pointing to the opposite side of the stage.

Diamond Tiara growled and walked over to the other side of the stage, muttering something that Trixie barely caught the tail end of as she passed. "Trixie is sorry, Miss Tiara, but you were mumbling. Could you repeat that, for everypony to hear?" Trixie asked.

Diamond Tiara grinned. "You probably couldn't hear me because, like I was just saying, you are a no-talent hack." she said, smirking broadly.

"Oh, dear, that cuts Trixie deep, especially coming from a pony whose only talent is wearing cheap, wannabe-princess jewelry." Trixie said, which drew more laughter from the crowd. "But enough pointless banter. It is time for Trixie's next trick. She will require a prop. And how wonderful that you seem to be wearing one!" Trixie said, pointing at Diamond Tiara's tiara, and the crowd laughed again.

"As if I'd ever let you touch my tiara. How dumb do you think I am? You'll probably break it in half!" Diamond Tiara said, defensively putting a hoof between her tiara and Trixie.

"Trixie promises that your precious knock-off jewelry will be returned to you safe and sound after the trick." Trixie said.

"Do you swear?" Diamond Tiara asked.

"Trixie crosses her heart and hopes to fly, stick a cupcake in her eye." Trixie said, reciting Pinkie Pie's swear for the second time during her show.

"All right, then." Diamond Tiara said, taking off her tiara reluctantly and holding it out to Trixie on her hoof. The top of her head felt almost bare without her namesake sitting atop it.

"Thank you." Trixie said, her horn glowing lightly as she took the tiara in her telekinesis. "Whoops!" Trixie said, releasing her telekinesis to see the horrified look on Diamond Tiara's face before catching the tiara gently again with her magic a fraction of a second later.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Diamond Tiara said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Trixie knows she is." Trixie said, turning Diamond Tiara's sarcasm into a compliment. She floated the tiara in front of her, and said, "Now then, watch closely." as she prepared the spell, her horn glowing brighter as she focused on the tiara. The tiara began to glow as bright as Trixie's horn, and slowly began to change in appearance as Trixie's illusion took hold. The crowd laughed at the end result, a red and blue jester's cap with three floppy points, a bell at the end of each one. Trixie smirked at Diamond Tiara. "Trixie believes that it suits you better." she said, drawing more laughter from the crowd. Diamond Tiara could only stammer, wide-eyed with horror as she gazed at what had become of her most prized possession. "Do not worry. Trixie has only cast a temporary illusion on it. It still weighs the same, and feels the same on your head, and the spell will wear off in an hour." Trixie said, floating the jester hat over to Diamond Tiara and placing it on her head, the illusory bells making an illusory jingling sound as the hat settled into place.

Diamond Tiara gazed up at what used to be her tiara. "You... you promised it would be safe and sound after the trick." she said, tears forming in her eyes as the audience began to laugh again.

Trixie smirked broadly. "Trixie never specified the length of time after the trick before it would be returned to its normal state." she said, a devious smile on her face. "Trixie thanks you for your assistance, Miss Tiara." she finished. The audience laughed and stomped their hooves as Diamond Tiara ran off the stage, bells jingling with every step. Trixie floated her own hat back onto her head and took a deep bow. "Fillies and gentlecolts, the Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you deeply for your applause, and hopes to see you again at her next show." she said.

---

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, everypony. I just got stuck in the middle, and couldn't get motivated because of that. But I finally snapped out of it and wrote the rest.

Comments

[gapaot]

I really didn't like it. Trixie act like a cheap magician and bully, making fun of Tiara at public (and I love that filly). Pointless banter with Rarity, where Trixie don't even slightly rebuke fashionista's threats. Cheap laugh and cheap card tricks, filly abuse... and why would she use card tricks when she can use illusions? Her magic is working, and illusions way cooler than cards.

[DashXColt]

So was this The Great and Powerful Trixie's act if she wasn't so rudely interrupted? I like card tricks

Sad there was no Twilight this chapter... I guess we're in for a long story, huh?

[Fox-Sama]

all the while I read the end all I can think is TAKE THAT Diamond Tiara! and you gave me an Idea for my own story! thanks a lot!

[gapaot]

44427
Why everypony hates that cute filly? Sure, she made fun of Applebloom, but in "Cutie Pox" Applebloom made fun of Tiara. And I don't see what's the difference and why one of them marked as bully and other as cute funny fully.

[KnightMysterio]

Interesting. And while Diamond's an easy target (and by 'easy target,' I mean that she's the proverbial broad side of the barn), I'm honestly surprised that everypony let Trixie get away with going after her. Maybe Diamond's just that unlikeable in-universe. Or she's get some negative feedback next chapter.

Well, an interesting read nevertheless.

[Royal Brisk]

44427

I was thinking pretty much the same thing about Diamond Tiara, Fox-Sama. Of course my biggest problem with Diamond Tiara is that she's basically a brat who acts like she's better than everypony else just because she seems to get everything she wants from her parents.

44430

Now I agree that Diamond Tiara is a cute little thing but with her past actions she seems to be falling into the "Beauty is only skin deep." category.

[Rakoom]

Best Trixie I have seen by far! You really DO make Trixie into a strong mare who won't get pushed around! Rarity's part was really good, CMC's part was just as good, but the last part was rather questionable. Sure, Trixie really is a badass when on her grounds. But I still can't see everypony laughing as a little filly runs off the stage crying after being humiliated in front of everypony else. Just isn't right, no matter how strong my hatred towards anyone acting like that stands.

[PoptartKitten]

44390

I guess being an author is just like being Trixie, there will always be naysayers in the audience.

Anyways, keep it up with the comedy!

[asmariamoon]

44430
I really do not like Diamond Tiara. I don't know why, there's just something about her meanness that rubs me the wrong way. I think it's because Diamond Tiara's meanness is completely offensive, as opposed to defensive like Trixie's (at least, that's the way I see Trixie, and that's the way I portray her), and she uses it against ponies who she most likely thinks would never fight back, like Apple Bloom and Twist, which is, of course, the average bully mindset. The way I see it, in The Cutie Pox, Apple Bloom was just getting revenge for how Diamond Tiara treated her in Call Of the Cutie, which isn't the best thing to do, but they're both still fillies. But then, that's just my personal opinion. I'll respect yours, and try to lay off the Tiara-bashing in the future.

As for why Trixie didn't respond to Rarity, she's already started to make friends with two of Rarity's friends, and she knows first-hand that Fluttershy won't stand for fights between anypony and her friends,so she decided to play nice.

[Professor Donger]

44390 no one likes diamond tiara she's a bitch and i hope she dies in a hole with sunday and monday

[gapaot]

44512

I understand why you feel that way about Tiara, and glad to see you'll try to lay off Tiara-bashing; yes, she didn't act very nice, but she's just filly. To think that we never saw her parents, even at their cutecenera, shows that she may be ignored and neglected in her family, or abandoned by one of the parents. There's other thing - she seems to attack only blank-flanks, Snips, Snails or Twist pretty much ignored, so Tiara may feel insecure because her cutiemark is silver tiara: what it means, that she's good at wearing jewelry? That's sad, if you think about it.

[asmariamoon]

44540 Oops! Sorry, fixed it. Thanks for letting me know.

[fieryShaman]

44564
"Tiara may feel insecure because her cutiemark is silver tiara: what it means, that she's good at wearing jewelry? That's sad, if you think about it."
My head-canon is that her special talent is making jewelry, and she's just SO PROUD of her first real creation she wears it everywhere. Silver Spoon, while we're at it, will inherit the vast flatware empire run by her mother and father, known for being the first company to specialize in making utensils for those who cannot use telekinesis to manipulate objects.

I have to agree with the others that Trixie seems to be trying to win friends through bullying, and while she's probably won over the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS (yay!), I'm hoping for a bit of a talking to about taking matters into her own hooves.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Hmm, a bit put-off by how she acted around Diamond Tiara... not that she doesn't deserve it, though. Trixie was good around Rarity and the CMC, though, displaying saint-like patience with the latter.

[NotABrony1]

Aw... I feel kinda bad for Diamond Tiara now. I guess she deserved it though.
Can't wait for the next chapter anyway

[tangra]

Loving the story, but there's one glaring mistake I noticed while reading - Trixie abandons the third person, although she quickly recovers.

"Before we get started, may I ask your name? Trixie likes to know the names of all her victi... she means... assistants."

Other than that I'm loving the story, but I'm still waiting for the shipping to start. Then again I love a good buildup.

[asmariamoon]

45180
Aw, horseapples... and I usually catch those too!

[Dee Bee Doo-wop Cooper]

Me and my friends have the same opinion of diamond tiara, special talent wearing a tiara? I think I'd rather be a blank flank.

[Dee Bee Doo-wop Cooper]

46967
Same opinion as Trixie that is.