(20) The Stars of the Show
It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, on days like these ponies like Trixie should be working in a profession less apt to burn her house down.
She'd already singed the fringe of her cloak after casting her 'dazzlers' too close to her person. It was simple enough spell to simulate with a Dash of powder and a stripped sparkler but the concoction was far more fiery than the magic itself would be. A quick spin had been sufficient to snuff out the cinders and it appeared that nopony had noticed, which was preferred. The less ponies taking the stage with buckets of water, the better. That'd dampen the mood of the colts and fillies...
And drake?
Couldn't say she'd seen one of them at her shows before, or much at all in Equestria. Well, maybe the town would enjoy having him in the show, if he'd enjoy coming up on stage. Time for the litmus test. Trixie stood straight up on her back hooves and projected her voice, "Enough, Trixie tires of these trivialities." She grabbed the left side of her cloak, turned right away from the crowd, and, from their perspective, slowly rose in the air until she was laying down five feet above the layer of smoke. Nothing could be seen supporting her and it surely couldn't be the fabric of her cloak, flowing and fluttering underneath her. Trixie turned her head as if she was napping, let out an exaggerated yawn, and scanned the crowd for their reactions. The pegasi and earth ponies, as well as the younger unicorns, were surprised because they'd probably never seen one of their unicorn friends or family levitate themselves. The adult unicorns were confused and intrigued, no doubt because they knew the difficulty of the effort and that her cloak should have been caught up in the aura, if there was an aura to be seen.
Yet, judging by the bemused expression on the drake's face, she may have to cancel the tours to the Dragonlands which she'd never thought to schedule. Stage magic may not be the dragons' forte... The filly beside the young dragon, however, seemed particularly gleeful watching the act. She could be a good call up in his place.
"Who among you would have the courage to face true magic first hoof?" Trixie asked as she lowered her outstretched foreleg and the stick, attached to fake hooves, that it was holding back down to her haunches that had never left the stage.
The filly leaned over and had some hushed chat with the little dragon before vigorously throwing up her hoof.
The correct and enthusiastic Trixie held back a beaming grin, restricting it to little more than a smirk.
This, was going to be fun.
Rainbow Dash snickered as the showmare called for somepony from the audience. From her elevated position, she could tell that Trixie's 'body' had been far too skinny during that last trick. She didn't know how it was performed, really, but knowing that something was up made the puzzled looks on all the other adults' faces ever more amusing.
"Should I?" The filly next to her asked.
"Huh?"
Scootaloo clarified, "Should I go down?"
"Nah," Dash erred on the side of comfort, "show's better from the outside. Besides, I think we've already got our volunteer..." She nudged the filly's withers to pull her attention from the stage and pointed to the front of the audience. There stood Sweetie Belle making a small ruckus to try and have herself selected. 'This should be entertaining,' Dash thought as she reached into the belly of the cloud they sat on.
The mare put a hoof to her lips as she motioned for Scootaloo to keep quiet and pulled out a camera from bellow.
"You should go up."
Spike jumped a little as he heard Sweetie's voice speaking softly in his ear. It was such a sharp contrast to Trixie shouting on the stage in front of them. Confused, he asked, "I should what?"
"She wants someone for a spell," she clarified before nudging him on the back with a hoof, "you should your hoo- claw? Hand?"
He eased down a little at her suggestion and prodding but his gut rose as he looked behind him to see the entire town staring up at the stage. Even if he wanted to go up and watch the mare make a mockery of sorcery in comparison to Twilight, he couldn't do it with so many ponies watching. What if he fell, or said the wrong thing, or Trixie didn't know what to do with dragon magic and had to call for somepony else, or-
"Well," Sweetie tipped Spike's run-away train of thought off it's railway, "do you want to?"
He shook his head and stepped back. The drake lifted a claw with his palm open and up to gesture for Sweetie to step forward. "I get to watch cool magic all the time. You should try to get up there."
"Alright, wish me luck!" The filly chirped out as she hopped out into the gap between the crowd and Trixie's wagon. Just before throwing her hooves in the air and calling for the blessing of Celestia herself, Sweetie glanced over her shoulder and squeaked, "Thanks Spike!"
As the showmare answered the filly's din by beckoning, "You there, come forth!", Spike was surprised again as Twilight's hoof wrapped around his shoulder and pulled the dragon into her side. He looked up to see her smiling down at him.
Spike smiled in return and turned back to the stage.
Throughout the crowd, numerous adult ponies grinned as the librarian shared a moment with her young companion. Two such ponies were the mares Pinkamena Diane Pie and Mrs. Cake, the former of which had taken note of who the drake had been speaking with just prior. She leaned over and whispered in her employer's ear, "Who do you think invited whomst? I can try and slip them some coupons again."
"It was Sweetie, dearie, and I already hoofed her a few after the two'oh them got those cones last week, dontcha know." Mrs. Cake whispered back.
Pinkie's response was, slightly, above a whisper. "They did what?!
Throughout the crowd, numerous foals frowned as their attempts to be chosen by the town's second blue braggart fell on deaf ears.
Sweetie Belle cantered across the gap to the wagon and hopped into the air. Her hooves caught the edge of the stage and her momentum continued upwards with a slight pull until her back hoof kicked over the side. With the newfound leverage, she twisted her torso and swept herself into a patch of fog that hovered over the stage. A second later, her head and shoulders popped out.
The mare in front of her peered down, visibly puzzled, and stated below her breath, "I, uh... could have helped you up."
"That's alright!" Sweetie declared and resumed waiting for the trick to begin. The jump wasn't difficult, she'd spent plenty of time running obstacle courses on the cruise last winter. Her eyes skimmed the crowd out of a fleeting moment of curiosity. She saw a curly blob of fuschia hair out there, peaking up over the sea of ponies, just across from Mr. Cake's very clear head. Faultline, the young mare who supervised the courses, had the same bubbly personality as Pinkie Pie. Both hid candies in their manes to surprise others with the sweets. She might be working there over the next break from college.
Sweetie wondered if she'd see Faultline again, though she knew that depended on when her parents returned and where they would go next.
"Now then, little one," Trixie started to yell again, and the filly looked forward to meet her gaze, "if you are prepared to witness true sorcery, proclaim your name to these guests of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" As she finished the line, Trixie pointed a hoof towards the crowd. At the same time, lights hidden under the roof of the wagon switched on and flooded the stage around them in a pink glow.
"Hello," Sweetie trilled as she waved at the audience, "I'm Sweetie Belle!" It seemed like the entire town was there to watch the show. Just about everypony knew her name already, but Trixie probably wanted Sweetie to say it for showmare's own benefit. She could see almost all the townponies from here. Applejack and her little sister were just coming into the square from the road to their acreage. The mare had the same hop to'em strut to her step as Cherry seed, the lead chef at the Baltimore resort her parents had taken her to in the spring. AJ's older brother, when he wasn't with Rarity on the quartet's stage, was just as verbose as her snowboarding instructor that trip, Dusting.
"How about a spot of chance before we begin, Miss Sweetie Belle?" Trixie asked as she pulled a deck of cards from her cape.
"Okay!" Sweetie answered, once again turning to face the entertainer.
Trixie popped open the lid to the card box, slid the deck out on to her frog, and dropped the box back into some obscure pocket of her cape. She then began to shufffle cards and bridge them back and forth, each time broadening the gap between her hooves until they were being flung in a wide arch over her head yet still landing perfectly square on her awaiting hoof. Sweetie frown, despite her best effort to suppress it.
Though the pink-lit mist in the air nearly masked it, the filly could still make out Trixie's aura guiding the cards along their path.
The deck landed on the showmare's shoulder, and with a pass of her hoof the cards slid down the length of her extended leg as she stood and leaned towards the filly. With the deck fanned out and deceptively balanced in place under her magic, she bid the filly to "Pick a card, one card!"
Sweetie heard Trixie mutter something about not making some mistake a second time as she peered at the cards before her.
She knew that it didn't matter which she picked. All the cards had the same chance, one fifty-second, of appearing. Her favorite card had only one-fourth chance of belonging to the suit of diamonds and one-thirteenth chance of being her favorite number, three. Those odds were shared with every other possible combination since no card had yet been revealed. There was no adding to twenty-one as her mom enjoyed or searching for runs and pairs as her dad preferred.
She lifted up a hoof and selected the first card it fell on. Hiding it with her other leg, Sweetie Belle glanced a peek and saw the ace of spades.
How trite, everypony liked that card. She tipped it face down and returned it to a new spot.
Trixie immediately condensed the deck and shuffled it again. As the cards fluttered into one-another, she commanded "Remember, my little pony, that not everything is as it seems..." The mare held the deck aloft in her hoof and tipped it back, allowing the cards to slide back with their face forward.
Though they flashed before her too quickly to see them all clearly, Sweetie couldn't make out any cards that were not from the suit of spades. The showmare's move was angled so that the crowd could also get a glimpse at the cards, though they could probably only see that the cards were all black. Trixie caught the cards as they fell, covering her eyes with the hoof that they had dropped from. She then tossed the deck in the air and spun, her cloak stretching out to somehow catch the cards and fan them out along the hem. They were all now of the suit of hearts yet on her second spin, they ruffled and somehow switched to the suit of clubs.
Sweetie could still make out the glimmer of Trixie's aura controlling the cards through the glow hanging over the light fog, though at this point anypony would definitely suspect magical tampering even without it.
The showmare halted her spinning and caught the corner of her garment in a hoof. The cards slowly piled up again before Trixie brushed away her cloak and presented the deck to the filly once more.
"Cut the deck," Trixie commanded, "And the great and powerful Trixie will cut away any doubts you may harbor."
Sweetie reached out and plucked off the top third of the deck. Trixie immediately flicked her hoof over the card resting above the bottom part of the deck. It flew into the air and tilted back around Sweetie, boomeranging underneath her belly and once again around her shoulders. The filly danced in place for a moment, excitedly spinning to try and trace where the card was at in its flight. It curved up and fluttered in front of her face, slowly losing momentum and starting to fall down towards the fog at her haunches. Sweetie quickly raised a hoof to catch it. The aura faded as it landed there. She could tell that the card was guided on the path by Trixie, but it was still fun to watch.
Turning it face up, she saw the Three of Diamonds looking back at her. The sight brought a smile to her face, the sight of which brought a concerned frown to Trixie's face. "Is," the showmare began as Sweetie's smile leveled flat, "that your card?"
"No," the filly responded as she remembered that it was supposed to be the Ace of Spades, "it's... not."
"What?!?" Trixie objective in disbelief, her frown shifting to a much more animated expression of disbelief. "The Great and Powerful Trixie could never fail at such an act! Her performance must have been Sabotaged!"
The mare stood tall, waved an accusatory hoof towards the audience and kicked her hoof into the stage as emphasis.
Immediately, the lights mounted to the top of the wagon switched off, and the fog returned to a muted shade of grey.
Immediately after that, the cards fell out of Trixie's hoof. No aura enveloped them as they raced around her leg and swirled under and over her cloak. A startled gasp escaped Trixie's mouth as she spun around, confused by the deck's sudden animation. "Cease this insolence," she shouted as the cards vanished into the mist, "get back here!" Sweetie heard some of the parents start to snicker as the cards appeared quickly climbing up the posts to the top of the wagon. They sped across the roof past the stage lights as the showmare hopped up and down, uselessly trying to swipe the cards down. Sweetie giggled at the display as the crowd's laughter intensified. Once more, the cards dived into the fog under the stage and just narrowly avoided Trixie's reach as she leapt towards them and disappeared along with them. "Hey, hey hey," the mare's disembodied voice called out from some hidden spot, "those are mine!"
"Oh!" Sweetie called out in surprise as something brushed against her shin. She jumped up from her haunches and looked down to see the cards circle around her back leg. "Woah!" she squealed as they rustled around her back and flourished up her shoulder towards the lone card still clutched to her hoof. The last of the cards rounded off her collarbone and swung loose in the air above her, transforming the string of cards into a whirlwind of chance and cardboard. It neatly collapsed into a perfectly piled pack of playing cards. Sweetie stared down at it, stunned, until she realized that nopony was laughing anymore.
They were all looking over her. Above and behind her.
Sweetie turned around to see the Great and Powerful Trixie glaring at her. It was quite intimidating to see her whole face, unobscured by the brim of her hat or the curl of her bangs. The mare looked down at her and declared, "It was you..."
"Wha- what?!" Sweetie stuttered.
Trixie stamped her hoof against the stage and the fog turned a deep red as the stage lights flared back to life. "Have not the cards gone to you, you- you charlatan! You've stolen Trixie's magic and hijacked her performance!"
Sweetie shook her head vigorously and said "No, I, I'm not even that good at magic! I swear..." She pressed her eyes shut and held back a tear. Everypony was still watching the show, she knew, she could feel their eyes on the stage, and-
"How could it not be your magic to have done this, my Great and Powerful Protégé," Trixie said as she knelt down and spun Sweetie around to face the crowd, pulling the fillies' hoof up into the air as she did so, "when it has done what the Trixie could not and discovered your card!?"
Sweetie opened her eyes and saw the Ace of Spades resting on the very top of the deck. The worries that had so stressed her just a moment before washed away as a feeling of euphoria rushed through her. Had it been her own magic? Could Trixie have planned such a display into the show?
The crowd started to laugh again as they saw a grin spread across Sweetie's face and heard the excited giggle escape her mouth. A few of the stallions even whistled as others began to clop their hooves together. Trixie plucked the cards from the filly's hoof and slid them back into some pocket of her cape, before pausing, glancing back at her, and then pulling out one of the cards for the filly. "Well, it seems to have chosen you. Why don't you keep it, as a souvenir."
Sweetie spat out, "Thank you!" She grasped the card in one of her hooves and quickly hugged the showmare before cantering off the stage, landing on her hooves and trotting forward with not a halt in her pace.
Trixie yelled out once more, "Now, prepare yourself, ye simple ponies, as the next Daring and Dangerous act of magical prowess unfolds before your very eyes with the terrors of the cockatrice and..."
The mare's words faded away as Sweetie looked down at the card in her hoof. She could see Twilight, Rarity and Spike waiting for her at the front of the crowd, all three smiling as they waited for her to join them.
She wouldn't have tried to go up if Spike hadn't suggested it. She looked at him again and once more at the card. The spade kind of reminded her of the last scale on his tail. Well, there was at least one reason to like the ace of spades for, the same reason she liked the three of diamonds.
She sat down at Rarity's side and smiled at Spike.
She couldn't think of anyone she'd met in town or on her trips that reminded her of him.
The filly threw a hoof over his shoulders, pulled him into her side, and whispered, "Thank you."
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Whoa ho ho, this should be fun!!!
this is gonna be fun! xD
I cracked up at this line
I'm just I'm curious, but why?
And for why I read this fic in the first place was because of the first chapter. I know it doesn't mean much, but I'm yet to find a story on the premise of a failed welcoming party and the ramification that follows. I'm also like a "small event that change everything" type of story like Slice of Velvet and Pear for an example, it's just rare, so I stay to read more of its continuity.
I hope you find my reason satisfactory.
That was an exiting & enjoyable show, totally worth the wait!!!
As for why I enjoy reading this story? Because I love the interactions between Spike/Sweetie in it, not to mention the better treatment of my fave purple dragon here than the *butt monkey* role he got in canon from S1 - S5!
11396982
(No further context will be given at this time)
Cute story, I hope to see more!
11566011
There will be, eventually. Hopefully sooner rather than later, I'm just trying to brainstorm some things.
Please continue this amazing story
To the author - i'd saved this fic a very long time ago and i've hit the point to where it stops.
a few questions...is this an au (alternate universe) ? for princess celestia still mourning the loss of luna (her sister) whose still on the moon.
secondly what's scoots relationship with her teacher Miss Cheerile about...in a platonic sense mind you!
here's the criticism portion~ This fic to me feels a little disjointed for there are some moments that's just too brief (Example: the scene with shining armor, princess cadence & celestia talking about twilight moving to Ponyville) or a random one-off with princess celestia being at the cakes' bakery.
i've read a lot of stories on fimfiction for a while now & never encountered one such as this!!
you spelt pipsqueak's name wrong in chapter 3 as piptino!
p.s: you're probably thinking why i'm tagging it as To the author is for you (the writer) alone on commenting/replying back & to prevent random users from joining in my comment unannounced!
11845088
Bold of you to assume this author is still alive.A few quick answers, and sorry for the wait. Life has been a roller coaster lately.
Yes, it is an Alternative Universe following a common theory that it is Celestia who released Nightmare Moon in the pilot episodes. Here, because Twilight didn't form those friendships with the M6 as intended, Celestia kept the banishment spell in place as the right circumstances for Luna's redemption haven't occured. The catalyst for the alternate timeline is Spike seeing Sweetie Belle before Rarity on crushing on her instead, and the snowball effect that causes throughout the days that follow.
Cheerilee cares for Scootaloo as her student and watching her as an orphan (Some of the background for this fic caters to early seasons implications or fandom headcanon, the lack of parents being present for Scoots being one of them). A few chapters to be released will explore her applying for adoption.
A bit of the disjointed nature is me writing this with some months or even years between returns, at different stages of writing development, and sometimes the scenes having been included as little bonus segments at the end of other chapters before being condensed to the little anthology portions. Mostly because someone brought it to my attention that Text-To-Speech doesn't read the author's notes, so people listening to the fic couldn't catch those scenes. At other points, I'm just not trying to focus too much on those characters or scenes, like those brief moments with Shining and Cadence, though many of these characters will have longer portions as the story continues.
Another reason for the disjointedness is that this sort of story (Slice of life romcom etc) isn't what I would ever really read or especially write. It's out of my element, but I have been greatly enjoying it. Part of that is trying to give glimpses of the supporting cast to more fully paint the picture of what's going on in the town. It's sort of an attempt to make up for my shortcomings as some confusion has occured like readers thinking the town is being racist towards Spike which couldn't be further from what I've been trying to to depict.
I did misspell Pips name there, but I meant to spell it Pipinto. I'm going with Pipsqueak being a nickname for him.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to be as open as I can without spoiling anything.
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I have been writing more here and there, life has just gotten away from me in the meantime.
It was a poor choice to end it (Specifically this chapter, not the story) just before another anthology chapter that will primarily be dialogue, the bane of my existence.
I may resort to skipping ahead and then returning to just after Trixie's show when I am more into the practice of writing.
The chapter after next will be Twilight grocery shopping. I'll leave it to you to figure how smoothly (or not) that goes. It may or may not include an unprovoked lesson on Equestrian antiquity.
11849087
Oh that's totally fine.
i did recheck just to make sure and it's tagged as alt.universe!
tbh i never liked the sparity ship in general because it reminds me tv shows (like fairly odd parents & adventures of jimmy neutron come to mind/for example) of guys who never got the girl of their dreams or was just unrequited-love. also the age difference/gap!
thanks for explanations!
When reading the fic i didn't get nor did it come across to me as the town was being racist towards spike
yeah a little bit strange (unicorn who came from canterlot and a dragon just showing up out of nowhere) but it's a small town and ponies talk, big deal🙄
alright you're keeping pip's name like that. are you gonna rewrite the first two chapters to make this narrative of yours a lot clearer or not?
p.s: i do have some vital information bout the 'scootaloo discourse' which i'm leaving on ch.18 of comment thread between yourself, Esorial & Moonlight_mist two years ago. so be on the lookout for that one!
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Apologies, I seem to have missed this comment.
I don't have any plans to tweak the early chapters. I might add a short blurb specifying that it begins during the pilot episodes, but I feel like enough of the chapter covers events happening differently from canon, along with the AU tag and descriptions.
At some point it'd probably be good to cover that initial interaction, though. I may have to start planning that out for when and where.
11858094
that's okay, you have a life outside writing mlp fics
alright then.
p.s: Just so you know i've taken this story off my list due to the disjointedness (which you've already explained to me why!) i'm more partial with authors on using cannon and twist it up a little bit or too the max but hey at least i tried something different.
also that comment i mentioned [in another reply] bout 'scoots situation' is still being written, look out for it!!!
11858124
No worries, thank you for giving it a try.
11858792
yeah! it was fun read
Will you read my fics/stories (When i get around to posting them that is?
it's a long compilated mess, i'll not explain on here!) they're between teen & mature with lgbt themes while mostly being alternate universe using cannon of the mlp show and equestria girls which randomly got me into this fandom in the first place!
note: i had read your reply the day before and didn't comment back!
11859783
I could take a look, but I can't promise much.
11882478
I understand, but there is something to be said about the death of the author, especially for someone leaving so soon. Of course, I respect her work on the show and how she crafted much of the world, but the incidental implications of some of it have a credence of their own. Imagine how an orphan may feel watching Scootaloo in the early seasons vs how a neglected child of absentee parents may feel watching Scootaloo in the later seasons.
Orphan Scootaloo is a concept I want to explore with the direction of the story, even with how I enjoy the idea of her ditching her babysitters.