> The Real Deal
>  by Grey Faerie
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> Playing with the Big Boys Now
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Playing with the Big Boys from Prince of Egypt starts to play.

The Great and Powerful Trixie wondered why they had decided to have her help with this one scene of the play. She was standing in the darkened theater room seemingly by herself. The wide room currently held none of the tables and chairs it often had. The stage was behind her. There were balconies and smaller stage type balconies lining the walls. The tall stands by her held bowls of low fire.
The play was an adaption of a movie of a book. It pitted two brothers against each other in a battle of faith. Trixie felt it lacked creativity as it seemed to her a knock off version of the Princesses' own fight. The scene Trixie was helping with was when the younger brother comes back with magic of his own. Which is big as he's an earth pony who a higher spirit choose as his 'Shepard'. She was to play as one of the two court magicians who goes up against the brother. A role most suited to her. The only problem was, the magicians were two greedy fakes. Trixie thought back to the last time she pitted her magic against another. 



After her second defeat by Twilight Sparkle, she tried to go back to her roots. It worked for a small time. She was able to earn a living putting on shows for children and communities with few unicorns. She tried to be humble and kind. But, it wasn't enough. The crowd wanted more. It was all too soon before she turned back to the selfish persona. And, it was only luck and poor misfortune to run into Twilight again.
The curtains on the walls raised and dim light flooded in. The curtains changed from grins to deep frowns and back. Smoke rose up from nowhere. Large statues moved into the room. They appeared around the room. They disappeared and appeared again in the middle of the room. Trixie was only to act as a stand in. To stand on marks and move on the course to see if everything was where it should be. The music was pouring in from all around her.
She moved from mark to mark. The shadows materialized new shapes and features of the decor. The audience was to be a part of the court crowd. To stand in observation of the battle. Though, in Trixie's opinion, it wasn't much of a battle. It was a show. a great and powerful show of false might and prestige.



Trixie had run into The Grand Illusionist Traveling Theater while set up in a town. The owner and some cast members had come to her show. It seemed to have impressed them as they had been more than glad to allow her in. Though, Trixie still had to start at the bottom in some ways. She worked the daytime Children's Show. She was taught to sing and dance. Her fireworks were used the most often at the end of the nighttime shows. She also couldn't go by The Great and Powerful anymore. But it wasn't so bad, The Trixie Magician had a nice ring to it.



The owner of the theater was a slightly crazy mare by the name of Illuminati. Everypony called her Naty and she was indeed a Grand Illusionist. She, along with others, created the most realistic of illusions that swept the audience to a far off desert or to the inside of a castle. Trixie would marvel at the skill of Naty. She, like Twilight, had seemed to be nothing special. She was an orange mare with grey hair. Her cutie mark was yellow falling bits of light. Indeed nothing to show she was of any greater skill then the average unicorn , until she worked her magic. The spectacle of her illusions brought a new life to the scene.
Trixie could could feel the warmth of the fires. The stone statues felt solid and rough. She could smell the perfume of the incense. There was the sound and feeling to the rumbling as the statues slid across the floor. Even the light was a falsity.
The pony that did stand out was the singing star of the theater. The loveliest of mares. A blue/blue pegasus with a voice of heaven. She was shy but lovely and didn't seem to like the spot light at times. But she flourished on stage. Her name was La Luna Nightingale and her cutie mark was a bird sitting in a crescent moon much like Trixie's own. Everypony called her Lalu. Her voice brought the strongest of hearts to tears. The evocation of her notes quelled animals. Many considered her to be the very princess of song. She did have a confident, silly side which only made her skill seem all the greater.



The might of the theater's other magicians always stunned her. It was not just Naty and Lalu that carried the weight of the theater. The others that worked in the background had skills of their own. Lights, sounds, textures, temperatures all had to be considered. The other singers were trained as well in the work of choirs. The harmony of their notes resounded through the room. Trixie could feel it in her body. Everypony also helped by working as an actor. There were main actors but extras were always needed. Trixie could remember the first time she had to dress up and dance around the tables.
She hadn't wanted to do it. She was above such foolish things. She was a headliner! She was know far and wide in some way, good or bad. Others marveled at her tricks and acted as her extra. As her support. They had frowned at her. Naty was called in.
'You have to start somewhere. You have to have been at the bottom to appreciate the top. If you didn't want to be a part of a team, you can leave. But you'll never get as good a chance for fame. Or as good a chance to learn new skills. And let me tell you, no one would want to work for a selfish pony that's never carried the weight of another.'



So Trixie dressed in the ridiculous outfits. She danced around and sang songs. She even earned a few lines here and there. Trixie still considered her personal show the best bet for fame. Yet, she felt a strange completion when joined with her fellows. She would dance a gypsy group dance, or carry the wounded through a battle field. She joined her fellow cast members in class to learn new spells. But, Trixie hated asking for help. She loathed going up to another and admitting her short comings. She hated even more when it was obvious she needed help and they came around to her. But, to stay silent only hurt her more as the others so quickly mastered the spell and she was left behind.
Sneaking off to practice was hard with her schedule and it brought her no further improvement as she simply didn't understand the concept. So, it was with a dry gulp and trembling voice that she asked for help. It came so readily and kindly. No contemn or annoyance. She had been fearfully reminded of the days of primary school. The sigh of the teacher as she asked for extra time. The laughter as she tried learning something new only to fail over and over again.
Trixie was surprised to have classmates join her after hours for more training. She had wanted to laugh at their attempts. She looked down her nose as they failed to get the image right. Only for her to slip up and throw a ball across the room. There was no room for arrogance here. Each was on the same level.



Trixie eventually earned herself an assistant. A straggly young colt with a lisp by the name of Doormin. He was a green and brown haired pegasus with a door as a cutie mark. She hated him. She hated his lisp and his clumsy gait. Trixie had no need for an assistant on stage! That's what the audience was for. He would only steal attention from her. Trixie had accepted him with a servant in mind. Yet, he impressed her. When he had suggested magic tricks without magic she had thought, Ha! What nonsense. Then he build trap door cabinets and showed her how to 'make him disappear'. The crowd had never been so in awe of her skill! She could do magic without her horn! How did she do that?
The pair worked together on many new acts. She didn't need to call up audience members anymore except for fun. She bound him up in chains and through away the key only for him to get out. She sawed him in half only to make him whole again. Her new skills with illusion could make his wings disappear and yet he would fly though the air. Having a lovely assistant gained her more attention then her solo act ever did.



Trixie had known what her greatest mistake had been. She should have dropped her persona when the Ursa Minor attacked. She should never have kept up the stage presence in such an important moment. But she couldn't. Not at that time in her life. She had nothing to her but a name. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie. And why would she volunteerly admit to her lies? It was one thing to be called out on it. She could then twist the truth to keep her looking in the right if she needed to.
The worst part would have been admitting it all the truth in front of those two fans. Having to tell the whole town she lied was one thing but her fans were her number two! She was number one and she was couldn't be that without her number two. It would only be after that she realized her folly. Still! Twilight shouldn't have upstaged her! Was it so right for her to show off so much Trixie's show looked like mud next to marble? Ugh, the horrid time on that rock farm left only scars on her memory.
She trembled remembering the eyes of the owner. He could see right through her. There was no way her carefully created persona would have fooled him. She had wanted to put on a show at least but the dank town had no want for a show. Only work. The hope and color drained out of her. Trixie could feel her very self shattering with every swing of the pick. She had worked her entire life to become renown as The Great and Powerful Trixie. It was want brought her fame. Now, it was nothing more than a tabloid headline.



Her triumphant return to Ponyville hadn't been at all what she wanted. Such dark thoughts entered her mind. Everything became so twisted. The pure insanity of it all was too much on her. She gladly gave her thanks and apologizes to Twilight. For how much she had ruined her, she in turned saved her. Twilight pulled her from the wrong path she had been so blind to.
Trixie still had her doubts at times. She remember the battles lost. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie! She shouldn't have lost. She shouldn't have had to work such lowly jobs! She should be the star of her own show or even the theater. Why were ponies such as Twilight and Naty so great? How hard did they work in their life? She worked the streets of Trottingham on nothing but a soap box. She did acts in the parks of Manehatten. Trixie never had such great teachers as the Princess Celestia. Didn't that already make someone like Twilight as a cheater?
She had an advantage Trixie would have to spend years catching up to. And then there was Naty who was self taught. Where some just born great as they say? If that was the case, Trixie was more than ready to have greatness thrust upon her. Yet, as she moved around the room and listened to the words of the song. Maybe some would meant to have no real power.



The scene was coming to an end. Her favorite part was the younger brother's snake swallowing the two magicians' snakes. Trixie had her own snakes to swallow. Her demons still plagued her thoughts. She had a way to grow. That was for sure.
And so, she worked everyday with the others. She learned new spells and new tricks. Her number two became the invaluable Doormin. She laughed in the dressing room with her fellows. Trixie sang and danced and earned lines. She still loved her own personal show. But, she relished the times when working with the main show. She was a cog in the grand show. It couldn't go on without her. She proudly mailed home the programs listing her name among the cast members. She didn't see any reason now to boast about false accomplishments.
The room brightened and her fellows moved in to clean up the room. She was patted on the back for her help. Trixie could still here the just ended song in her head. Trixie was determined that one day, she would be the real deal.