Harry Houdini: The Great and Powerful

by CrackedInkWell

First published 16th of August, 2015

After another successful show, Trixie makes her way to her apartment during an unscheduled storm in Manehattan. It was during this freak storm that a lighted theater appears with the name of "Houdini" on the sides of the theater.

"Magic is the sole science not accepted by scientists because they can't understand it."
-Ehrich Weiss (aka, Harry Houdini).

---

One night in the city of Manehattan, the magician known as "The Great and Powerful Trixie" has moved on with her new life in her newly successful magic show. It was during this night that a certain Spirit of Chaos was spotted by the Stage Director, but he left mysteriously as he'd appeared.

After the show has been set up for the next night, Trixie walks to her apartment during an unscheduled storm which, passing an empty lot in the city's neighborhoods, lightning struck that spot where a new theater appeared. Holding posters and a sign in lights with a very odd name.

"The Great Harry Houdini: Master of Mystery."

---

A huge thank you to His Highness, PrinceCelestia for the wonderful cover art. And an equally huge thank you to Shadeol for taking the time to edit this fully.

Chapter 1: Smoke and Lightning.

There is nothing like the applause of an audience. No feeling can compare to that moment when it’s like the entire world is stomping their hooves, chanting your name as if you’re a goddess. Roses gracefully land on the stage as you bow after that wondrous performance that they’ve just witnessed.

“Trixie! Trixie! Trixie!”

This is the kind of life that the blue magician had always wanted since she was a little filly. Even after that near social suicide in Ponyville, her new start in Manehattan was now fulfilling her dreams of fame, fortune, and above all, respectability.

“Brava! Brilliant! Wonderful!

Another bow and another smile to the audience as the scarlet curtain comes down. Although, as exhausting as performing goes, Trixie still felt as if she could go on for days as long as she heard that applause.

“Another excellent show, Ms. Lulamoon.” Turning her head, she found her two twin assistants, Peppers Ghost, and Miss Direction, holding several bouquets in their forehooves.

“I agree,” one of them nodded, who Trixie assumed to be Peppers Ghost. “The illusion trick was much better than last night’s.”

Trixie magically took a hold of the flowers from her adoring fans. “Yes, this was indeed a good night. I believe it’s about time we wrap everything up for tomorrow. But before I come and help, Trixie will be putting these in her dressing room.”

There was still quite a bit to clean up after. From the mess of cards that had been swept aside and the puddles of water to the gallons of gasoline and seemingly endless coils of rope, there was a lot to clean up and put away.

But even the Great and Powerful Trixie knew that it was all worth it to please some of the toughest crowds in Equestria when it came to fine tastes in entertainment.

“Excuse me, Trixie.” This time it was the stage director. The orange stallion came up next to Trixie as they walked side by side.

“Good evening, director,” she nodded to him. “How were the box office sales tonight?”

“We’ve sold out,” he said, “but that’s not what I’ve come to you for.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Is there a problem then?”

“I’m not so sure,” he said as they neared her dressing room. “Among the audience, did you notice a certain… somepony?”

“What do you mean? As you said, it was a full house. There were so many faces out there that I doubt I could recognize anypony.”

“I saw somepony there that I think you should be concerned about,” the director said with a worried look. “I saw Discord.”

This got Trixie’s attention as they both entered her dressing room. “Discord? As in the Spirit of Chaos Discord?” He nodded. “That’s rather curious. What was he doing here anyway?”

“I saw him while I was on the balcony. He was, well… watching the show upside down on the ceiling. Come to think of it, I don’t know if anypony even noticed he was there since they were watching you the whole time. He didn’t seem to do much -- thank goodness for that -- but he seemed to look… thoughtful.”

“Is Discord still here?”

The director shook his head as she placed her flowers on the couch. “He was gone by the end of the second act. I’ve checked all over the theater for him or any sort of trace he may have left behind. The only thing I found was a lost toucan.

“Hmm… that is rather odd,” Trixie commented as she put her pointy, starry hat and cape on a coat rack. As she looked up through her small window, she noticed that it was raining outside. “Ugh,” Trixie grunted, “I thought it was supposed to be a clear night.”

“Huh?”

She pointed to the window. “I was talking about the rain. Wasn’t it supposed to be clear this evening?”

Adjusting his glasses, the orange stallion looked through the window. “Yes, that’s right. The weather team didn’t schedule rain until Friday. Perhaps somepony misplaced the paperwork or something.”

“It’s still inconsiderate of them. It would have been nice if they gave us some kind of warning beforehoof.”

“Maybe something got in the--” Before the stage director could finish his sentence, there was a surprising crack of thunder. As unexpected as it was, the Great and Brave Trixie did not jump at the booming sound and squeal like a little filly. Or, at least she tried not to.

“Dear Celestia!” the director interjected. “That sounded a little too close for comfort.”

“Oh, get a grip on yourself,” Trixie told him. “It’s merely just thunder. There’s no need to get all jumpy.”

He looked back at the window. “I wonder what’s going on out there.”

“As you said, it’s probably just a mix-up or something.” Trixie turned around and headed toward the stage. “Now come on, are you going to help with the cleanup or not?”

Soon enough, with some help from the stage director and her two assistants, everything was straightened out and ready for tomorrow’s show.

As Trixie and Miss Direction were putting their latest death trap into a corner, the twin spoke up. “Ms. Lulamoon, would you mind if I asked you something?”

“Ask me what?”

“Well, it’s about these tricks,” she said as the saw table was put back in its rightful place. “Don’t misunderstand me; I really do think that these illusions you keep pulling off are impressive. But don’t you think that, maybe, somepony else might come up with something new?”

“Like what?” the blue magician raised her eyebrow. “How many ponies do you know that could pull these sorts of stunts like yours truly can, except for that Twilight Sparkle?”

“From what my sister and I know, you’re pretty good, at a level above the other magicians in the city, but we know that sooner or later, somepony is going to come along with something better. All I’m saying is that, eventually, even you too have to come up with something newer than card tricks and magic rings.”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that,” she patted her assistant’s mane. “I’m still a much more creative unicorn compared to anypony else in this city. Whatever they do, the Great and Powerful Trixie will do it better! Do you not trust your own boss to keep our show’s seats packed?”

“All I’m saying,” her assistant said as she started untangling the ropes, “is that you should keep an eye out. You’ll never know who, or what is going to make our audience expect more.”

By the time they were ready to call it a night, they stepped outside to find it pouring with rain. It was if the pegasi were throwing pools full of water down onto the city.

Trixie’s assistants and the director called for a cab so they wouldn’t be completely wet. She, on the other hoof, cast a simple umbrella spell, telling her companions that she would be walking home since her apartment was only a few blocks away.

“Do you think that Discord might’ve brought the storm?” the director asked.

Trixie looked up at the dark clouds above. “It’s doubtful. Even Trixie has heard about the antics of that creature, and this doesn’t seem like something he would do. I mean, a regular storm? You’d think he would make it rain gumdrops and snow powdered sugar. Perhaps Discord just couldn’t resist seeing a spectacular performance.” She looked back to the director. “It’s getting late. Have a good night everypony.”

They said their goodbyes as Trixie headed off into the streets, alone. Her walk involved a few dark alleyways and several dull neighborhoods, but she didn’t worry about any potential muggings or other dangers. She’d been hung upside down over a tank of sharks in a straitjacket, not to mention that she knew quite a few defensive spells and teleportation.

Besides, Trixie enjoyed being out in the rain. Despite her hooves getting wet, there was something about the sound of it that resembled the applause from her shows. Even the very smell of the rain was calming to her.

After a few turns and a few jumps over puddles, the Great and Powerful Trixie walked down a street that had a few shops and dozens of apartments. There was also an empty lot that had nothing but weeds and three brick buildings that enclosed it.

One might think that bringing up such detail was strange. Some would think that she was just simply walking home during an unscheduled storm. Perhaps even Trixie wouldn’t have found anything significant about the lot if it wasn’t for the sudden lightning that struck it. The flash was so bright that it temporarily blinded Trixie, and the deafening boom that followed afterward brought her to her knees.

It took a few moments for Trixie to recover. But once she did, she saw something very unusual. Where there was once an empty spot in an unremarkable place in Manehattan, there now stood a lighted, if not smoky theater.

Yes, a theater! Something like the same kind of space that the magician would perform with all of its electric lights and grand brick façade that held towering windows that looked out into the darkened streets. Yet, at the same time, something about this miraculous theater seems to be completely off to Trixie. For one thing, the doors were a little too tall for anypony. The same goes for the ticket booth too.

But the biggest thing about it is what made it all so strange were the posters and the big sign above the theater. Trixie got up to examine this theater that appeared out of nowhere to get a closer look at the posters that looked like they came out of some caravel.

Although each was different, they all showed the same creature with pale, pinkish skin, a raggedy dark brown mane, a slender body, and a flattened face that looked like it was done by a child. This thing was shown in several kinds of restraints like hoofcuffs, chains, straight jackets, and she even saw one where he was inside of milk can with padlocks all over the closed lid.

Looking up to the lighted sign that hung over the theater was an enlarged face of the creature with those piercing eyes, and below were the strange words: “The Great Harry Houdini: The Master of Mystery.”

“What’s a ‘who-din-I’?” Trixie asked aloud. “And more importantly, where did this place come from?”

The wooden doors of the theater opened and out stepped a very tall and slender being, standing upon its hind legs. The thing was covered in clothing, holding an umbrella in one of its fleshy claws.

Trixie froze when the creature spotted her. The two of them paused as they each got a good look of the other before the blue unicorn slowly stepped away.

Then the creature darted back into the theater, screaming at the top of its lungs. “Boss! Boss, get out here now!”

Quickly deciding that she didn’t want to risk running into that thing’s “boss”, she quickly bolted down the street, hoping that she might run into the police somewhere.

Chapter 2: The New Entertainment in Town.

Not too long after the blue magician made her escape, another slender creature stepped into the rainy, dark streets. The man looked around, completely confused. “What?” He looked up one of the streets. “This isn’t Broadway.” He looked down another just to make sure before looking upwards. “And wasn’t the sky clear a few hours ago? What’s going on?”

“Harry?” Another figure walked through the wooden doors, in the middle of putting her coat and hat on. “Harry, what is it?”

“Something’s wrong.” He looked around the street they were on. “Bess, is it me, or is the theater on the wrong street?”

She looked around in surprise. “This isn’t Broadway… where are all the lights?”

“Do you see it, boss?” one of his assistants asked, peeking his head out of the door.

Harry turned to walk back into the lit theater. “No, I don’t see your unicorn, but I can see that we’ve somehow moved.”

“How could we have moved, Harry?” Bess opened the door for him. “And where did we move to, exactly?”

“Antony,” he turned to his assistants, “how about you run to the corner and find what street we’re on.”

“Sure thing, but what about that thing I saw?”

“If you wanna convince me that you saw a real unicorn,” Harry joked, “why not take a picture next time? They’re more convincing that way. Now go on, try to find out where we are.”

His assistant did as he asked as Harry and Bess walked into the theater’s reception. Harry walked over to one of the three phone booths and picked up the phone’s handle from the hook. He took a moment to listen to it before putting it back on the hook, doing the same thing to the other two booths. “They’re dead.” He told Bess. “Hon, all the telephones are dead.”

She looked up at the still-lit bulbs. “If we’ve somehow moved and the telephones are dead, how come all of the lights are still on?”

“There an electric generator under the theater, remember honey? We installed it in case the lights went out so we’d have a backup.”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Another assistant walked into the reception area. She was one of the assistants that helped him on stage, still dressed in her red circus costume. “And why’s there a brick wall blocking the door backstage?”

“What?” Harry and Bess asked in unison.

“Yeah, come and see.” She led them into the heart of the theater, past rows of seats, over the orchestra pit, and through the stage where a crowd of the show’s staff surrounded the area where the back entrance used to be. Harry made his way through the mob to find it exactly as his assistant described. Behind the door was nothing but a smooth, brick wall.

The magician put his hand on the solid materials. The mortar had long since dried, and none of the bricks seemed to be coming loose. He ended up stepping back and scratching his head. “Okay, something weird is definitely going on here.”

“Hey, boss.” The theater troupe turned to find one of the backstage assistants running up the aisles of chairs.

“Anthony,” Harry made his way over to the front stage, “have you found out where we are?”

“Actually, I ran into the police, and they, uh....”

“Well, spit it out.”

“They’re…” Anthony trailed off, but his inquiry was answered when two small creatures came through the curtains separating the reception area from the theater. They were both dressed in blue uniforms, the theater staff all staring at them wide-eyed.

“Alright everypony,” the pegasus said, “what’s going on… here…?”

The other stallion didn’t say a word as they both stared back at the lanky creatures staring back at them. The unicorn finally broke the awkward silence. “Huh… now there’s something you don’t see every day.”

_*_

The next morning, Trixie levitated the newspaper in front of her as she sat down to have her first cup of coffee. After unfolding it, she saw that the front page had a picture of the mysterious theater that she saw appear last night. There was also a smaller photo of one of the lanky creatures in a suit, crouching down to speak to a group of reporters.

Mysterious Theater Appears After Mysterious Storm

Manehattan, Equestria

Among all of the puzzling events from last night’s storm, perhaps none were as strange as the theater that appeared on the lower end of Fifth Street. The House of Wonder (see above) had somehow materialized during last night’s storm.

Manehattan police received a tip from a concerned citizen who claimed that she saw the theater appear right after lightning had struck the previously empty lot as she was on her way home. She said that she came running after she saw one of the strange creatures exiting the doors of the new theater.

The two nearby policecolts, Law Abiding, and Swift Order came to the scene to discover the theater and the creatures inside. “Even before we went in, we heard somepony calling out for help,” Law stated. “We quickly found out that it wasn’t a pony at all, but this two-legged thing that was on the corner. It seemed like it was looking for something, and when we called out to it, it went back into the theater, so we followed it.”

“Once we went inside,” Order added, “there were more of them on the stage, all confused with no idea what had happened. To tell you the truth, they looked like they were more surprised about us than we were with them. In fact, when I started to use my wings, they were all shocked as if I suddenly grown a third wing or something… Then there was this guy, the magician with his face plastered over the posters outside, asking us if we’d be interested in joining his show.”

The creatures have identified themselves as “Human Beings”. After some talk with the local police, they have been confirmed as posing no danger to anypony and were escorted to the Silverhorn Hotel where they could rest.

Our investigation team was fortunate enough to interview one of these Humans who goes by the name Harry Houdini (pronounced Who-dee-knee, seen lower right), an illusionist and self-proclaimed escape artist, who was happy to be interviewed by us.

“I’m still really trying to figure out what happened,” he said. “We were cleaning things up for tomorrow’s show when suddenly we all heard this really loud crack of thunder over our heads, almost like a cannon going off. The next thing we knew, we were someplace else. All of our telephones were cut, there’s a brick wall where a rear entrance used to be, and now there are a bunch of talking horses walking around… uh, no offense. You see, I’ve been doing magic alongside freak shows for years, but this takes it to a whole new level of weird for us. Even my wife is still coming to terms with this place.”

According to Houdini, he has never heard of Manehattan or even Equestria, nor has he encountered any pegasi or unicorns, except in fairy tales. He claims that he, his wife Bess Houdini, and his theater troupe are from a country called the United States of America.

Police released a statement stating that they will try to get in contact with the Princesses in order to help return this theater troupe return to their home. When we told Houdini about this, we also asked what he had planned to do during his asylum in Manehattan, he responded, “we’re going to do what we’ve been doing all over our country and Europe: we’re going to entertain the folks of this city. And trust me, I’m the best at my craft, and no one can outdo the Great Houdini.”

When asked what he plans to do to advertise his show, he smiled and told us that we would just have to wait and see.

‘No one can outdo the Great Houdini?’ Trixie thought as she put the paper down on the table. Now she was curious. A slender creature, a fellow magician from someplace else, claims himself to be the best at what he does?

She looked at the photo of Harry again. “How can he be the best magician? He doesn’t even have a horn.” Trixie took another moment with her coffee. “Whoever and whatever he is, I don’t believe I have anything to worry about this Houdini.”

Chapter 3: The Great Prison Escape.

“...so, Miss Direction,” Trixie said while lifting her hat, revealing a signed three of spades, “is this your card?”

Her assistant nodded as she peeked down at her stopwatch. “Five seconds. I think you’ve just beaten my record by a full second.”

She smiled and placed the card on the table. “Sleight of hoof isn’t too difficult once you learn it, and it’s even easier if you’re a unicorn.”

“I know.” Her assistant picked up the cards that were on the stage’s floor. “So what do you think about this new magician in town?”

“What?”

“The lanky creature… uh, what was his name?”

“Houdini?” Peppers Ghost asked, putting the linking rings around her neck. “What about him?”

“Don’t any of you think that we might be getting some new competition?”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

“I mean, think about it. All of the greatest magicians have always been unicorns, right?”

“Of course they were all unicorns, but so what? It makes sense that those who can produce magic would be the most effective in this sort of business.”

“But that’s just it,” Direction pointed out, “we don’t even know what this ‘hu-mon’ -- if I’m saying that right -- is capable of. He and his troupe are a new species altogether. For all we know, this Houdini could walk through walls.”

The blue unicorn laughed. “Oh come now, do you know how ridiculous that sounds? How can something like that thing do anything better than the Great and Powerful Trixie? With my magic, I could teleport, escape straitjackets, and get out of seemingly dire situations. That thing looks like nothing more than a stretched monkey that left most of its fur back home.”

Her assistant nodded. “I suppose that sounds reasonable.”

“Excuse me, Ms. Lulamoon?” The three ponies on the stage turned to the new voice, a stallion wearing a reporter’s cap. “I’m sorry for interrupting your rehearsal. I’m with the Manehattan Times, and I was wondering I could borrow Trixie for a bit?”

She teleported herself in front of the dark gray unicorn. “And why, may the Great and Powerful Trixie ask, would you need her at this time of day? Do you need another interview?”

He shook his head. “Actually, I was hoping to ask if you could come with me to the prison for a while?”

“Prison?” The blue magician was taken aback. “Why would you need Trixie’s assistance with a prison?”

“Look, I know it sounds weird, even to me,” the stallion admitted, “but that Houdini guy is asking for every talented illusionist to come down to that place to show what he can do. I’m still not entirely sure exactly what he’s planning to do there.”

She hummed in thought, turning to her assistants and telling them to take a break until she got back from the demonstration.

One taxi ride later, the two unicorns pulled up to the Manehattan Pine Ridge Penitentiary, a fortress of concrete, brick, and barbed wire for the city’s most dangerous criminals. The pair walked through the gate and rows of security before finally reaching the front office, where Trixie found the human from the newspaper kneeling down to speak to the officer behind the office’s glass. The creature was surrounded by reporters and a few magicians that Trixie recognized as some of her other competitors.

“For the last time,” the stern pony behind the glass aid, “I am not going to lock somepony, or something, up for no reason. We only put criminals that have a committed a crime in here, Mr. Houdini.”

The thin creature folded its long arms. “Are you saying that you are not confident that your prison can hold me?”

Trixie pushed her way through to get a better look at the giant. Its mane was a little shorter than the usual stallion’s, but she could see that it was gaining some gray hairs. The nose was nearly as long and pointy as a crow’s break. Yet what caught most of her attention were the thing’s eyes that seemed able to pierce through steel. And to top it all off, she noticed the clothing it wore: a clean black suit and a tall white collar that seemed to tailor for a rich pony.

The officer raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious, sir? I don’t know where you come from, but here in Manehattan, we put our crooks behind concrete cells with walls as thick as your body. The doors and barred windows are made of enchanted steel that not even unicorns could cut through. The locks on the doors can only be opened from the outside with a special key, and they are fire, water, and magic proofed. If a pony is behaving badly, we also put them in magic-resistant chains. So really, not even you could get out, even if you tried.”

Houdini tilted his head to the side. “Is that a challenge? Alright.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a golden pocket watch attached to a silver chain. “How about I post bail and make a bet with you? This here is my mother’s watch. It still works, it’s encased with real gold, and the fob chain is made with real silver. If I can’t get out of his prison within an hour, the watch is all yours.”

He put the timepiece near the solid window’s hole. “Or, how about letting everyone in this city know that its police aren’t confident enough in their prison’s defenses to put a fella from another world behind bars, even when asked?”

There were murmurs all around from the reporters and magicians alike. ‘What in Equestria is he up to?’ Trixie thought.

The officer behind the glass took the watch and opened it. He looked back up to the human. “Are you absolutely sure about this?”

He nodded. The stallion sighed and told him to follow him through a door, leading to another room that was crowded with reporters and magicians. They watched the officer asking the giant to crouch down so that he could put hoofcuffs on him.

When he locked the cuffs around his wrists, Houdini snickered. “Really? Just one pair? Come on, put on another.” The officer’s face was twisted in confusion, but he grabbed another pair and locked them on the creature’s arms. “How about one more just to be sure?”

“Sir”, the gray stallion said, “you’ve already got two on. I doubt you’ll be getting out… but if you insist.” He put the third pair on him, but Houdini still wasn’t satisfied.

“Aren’t ya gonna throw some chains and padlocks on me?”

At this point, the officer was starting to get annoyed. “Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to prove here, but at this point, I’m certain that you’re never going to be getting out of those.”

Nodding, the human turned to the other ponies in the room. “Would the magicians here check to see if these are real cuffs?” One by one, the city’s illusionists examined each cuff that was placed on him. Some, including Trixie, inspected the cuffs with their horns. Sure enough, they were very real and very magic proof.

Once all that was done, Houdini asked them if there was any way at this point that he could get out of them. All of them, including the reporters, concluded that it was next to impossible.

The officer then proceeded to check the magician’s pockets, shoes, and even his hair to make sure that he didn’t have anything on him that would allow him to escape. He even asked to check inside Houdini’s mouth, who happily obliged.

The crowd followed the bounded human down a few barred hallways until they came to a cell with a heavy metal door. Trixie got a good look at the cell to find everything the officer had described: fully concrete with a barred window and door.

She saw Houdini being placed into the cell, with the stallion closing the door and locking him inside. “By the way,” he spoke, “if you don’t get out of by the hour’s end, you’ll be staying in there ‘til tomorrow for disturbing the peace.”

“Fair enough,” the human behind the door replied.

“And thanks for the watch.” With that, the officer and the crowd left the human to his cell.

_*_

“What do you suppose he’s trying to do?” Trixie turned to the pony that was addressing her. It was one of her rivals, a brown unicorn stallion named Card Trick. “Getting us all here to see him get locked up in jail, but what for?”

“Probably just making an idiot of himself.” She pointed to the door that led to the heart of the prison. “Besides, he still hasn’t gotten out.”

“I don’t know what he was thinking.” She turned to another magician, a newcomer by the name of Silent Hoof. Supposedly, Trixie had heard that she was good at sleight of hoof. “We all checked the hoofcuffs, and the cell was certainly real.”

“Unicorn or not,” Trixie added, “I don’t think he has any chance of escape. We all saw him get searched from his head to his shoes. There’s no way he’s going to get out in time.”

“Speaking of time,” the officer said, putting the watch down on the table, “it’s already been an hour.” He got up to open the door and head down to Houdini’s cell.

The other ponies followed behind him to the cell, where the officer unlocked it. “Alright Mr. Houdini, time’s up,” he said as he opened the door, “so it looked like you’re-- WHERE DID HE GO?!”

Magicians and reporters alike crammed together to see that the cell was empty of everything except the cuffs laying on the floor, all three of which were still locked.

“What?”

“No!”

“How?”

The crowd immediately started looking for the giant. Eventually, they ended up finding him at the officer’s desk, putting the watch back into his pocket. “What took you all so long?”

Chapter 4: A Free Ticket and a Card Trick.

“I don’t get it,” Trixie muttered. “I simply don’t get it.”

“Huh?” the reporter asked as he and the blue unicorn rode a taxi back to her theater.

“I’m talking about what that giant did,” she clarified. “How could that thing have gotten out?”

“It’s certainly a puzzle, I admit,” he agreed, nodding. “Even I’m still trying to figure out how he did it. Maybe he had a pick stashed away somewhere--”

“But that officer searched him, remember?” Trixie pointed out.

“Well… what if he had a unicorn accomplice?”

“There was not an ounce of magic found on the cuffs or in the cell.”

“Um…” the report paused for a moment to think. “What if… no… how about… no, that doesn’t make sense… I give up.”

Trixie took this opportunity to pull the pointy hat off of her head, looking at the ticket that the “Great Houdini” had offered her and the other magicians. It was for a show of his on Wednesday night at eight o’clock. She pondered what he was trying to accomplish. He and the other creatures appeared out of nowhere, shocked and confused, and now he was trying to advertise for his show in a similar fashion to the way she used to do with hers’ years ago when she was still living in her little wagon.

“Are you going to his show?” the reporter inquired.

Trixie stared at the ticket in her hoof for a moment longer before turning to the stallion. “Only to take some notes.”

As soon as Trixie came back to her theater, she went in and told her assistants and the stage director that their show on Wednesday was canceled. Peppers Ghost questioned why she would make such a decision.

“I think we’ve just gotten ourselves some new competition,” Trixie replied.

_*_

Houdini Escapes Prison: Leaves Magicians and Investigators Baffled

Manehattan, Equestria.

Yesterday, the human Harry Houdini pulled off the impossible when we walked into Manehattan’s Pine Ridge Penitentiary, asking to not only be locked up in one of its cells but also insisting that he be bound in hoofcuffs. He made a bet with Officer Lock that he could escape within the hour, betting with his mother’s pocket watch.

This reporter, along with several others from various other newspapers and the city’s finest illusionists, witnessed Houdini locked in three pairs of hoofcuffs, even going so far as to allow the gathered crowd to test the cuffs for authenticity and magical resistance. We also saw the human being locked behind a heavy steel door in a concrete cell that had been made to hold the city’s most dangerous criminals. After an hour had passed, we returned to check on him only to find that the cell was empty, with the cuffs and door still locked tight. Shortly after, Houdini was found at the officer’s desk, reclaiming his mother’s pocket watch.

“I’m completely stumped,” Officer Lock said after he sent some investigators to examine the cell. “We all saw the cuffs being put on him. I checked every spot that he could have hidden something, and even had the key to his cell in my pocket the entire time! Not only that, but the detectives couldn’t find a trace of anything that could’ve helped him escape. It’s like the thing just walked right through the door or something.”

“I’ve been doing escapes for years, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Card Trick, one of the magicians that were present at the prison. “Other than the use of real cuffs, the weirdest part is that he somehow got out without the aid of unicorn magic. I, along with many others, checked every inch of the cell for magical residue, but we found that it was completely clean. How anypony could have gotten out of there without using magic is something that I’d really like to know.”

As for Mr. Houdini himself, he plans to do public escapes in the day and nightly performances on Fifth Street while he and his troops find a way to eventually return back home. He even presented free tickets to each of the magicians who were present at the Penitentiary for his show this Wednesday.

Prices for The Harry Houdini: Master of Mystery at the House of Wonder Theater are now set to be seven bits for adults and five for foals.

_*_

The lower part of Fifth Street isn’t known for being a place that anypony would go to for entertainment. This is why the residents of said street received front row seats to an unusual view: a crowded line that reached all the way down the block. Even before the scheduled eight o’clock performance, the bright lights of the new theater lit up the street like a star that fell from the sky.

All ponies from the skeptically old to the curiously young lined up with bits in their hooves for what was possibly the most unusual show in Equestria, with none of them having any idea what to expect. Among this crowd where some of the curious magicians from a few days earlier, such as Trixie and her two assistants.

Once the blue unicorn was inside and her assistants paid for their tickets, they wandered into the theater looking for a seat. They all quickly found that the velvet seats were unusually large, potentially fitting two ponies or three foals each. Trixie and her assistants tried to find a seat as close to the stage as possible so that they could get an up-and-close look at the new illusionist’s work.

When the time came and the lights dimmed, a spotlight fell upon the crimson curtain and a human stepped out from the stage’s side. He was richly dressed and his blonde mane was pulled back.

“Ladies and gentlemen -- or should I say, mares and gentlecolts, doubters and dreamers alike! Tonight, you are about to witness one of the greatest wonders you’ve ever seen, for all of you are about to see a man that has traveled the world over, mystifying audiences from the royalties of old Europe to the streets of San Francisco. And now he has come here, in the land of magic itself, by unusual circumstances to bring his professional craft to you! So here, at the House of Wonder, I give you the King of Handcuffs himself, the Emperor of Escape, the Mastery of Mystery, the Great Harry Houdini!”

The audience applauded as the human walked off stage and the curtain rose, revealing the lanky magician himself at center stage with a starry night painted in the background. With a kind smile, he walked up to the audience and raised his hands into the air, revealing a raven and dove in each hand before they flew away.

“Welcome everyone, to what is surely the most mysterious night of your lives,” he announced. “Allow me to introduce myself. For those who don’t know, I am the Great Harry Houdini, and I shall be the one entertaining you all this fine evening.”

The audience applauded kindly before he continued. “Perhaps before we begin, I should give a brief introduction as to what I am. For you see, I am more than just a magician or that fella that just got out of jail.” This made his equine spectators laugh. “In truth, I am many things in my profession. I have been a circus magician, an escape artist, an airplane pilot, an actor, a historian in magic, and much more.

“Where I come from,” Houdini took a pack of cards out of his coat pocket, “I’m known for doing things that my people would claim to be impossible, which I will be demonstrating in the coming days, as well as tonight.” He waved to the side of the stage where a chair and table were brought up to the stage. On top of the table were a pen, a metal bowl, a cup with a clear substance in it, a box of matches, a cutting board, and a knife.

“For this, I’m going to need a volunteer.” Immediately after saying that, he was quickly joined by a unicorn that teleported from her seat.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie would be more than willing to assist you,” she said with a smug smile, receiving some applause from the audience.

“I see that you’re pretty popular around here,” Houdini pointed out.

“That is because I am. I was one of the magicians that you invited to witness your escape a couple of days ago.”

He smiled. “Well, it’s a good thing that you made it to my show. If you could just hop on the chair, we’ll begin.” Trixie did so, getting a better view of the table. Houdini opened the box and started to shuffle the cards. “So tell me, Trix, being a magician yourself, are you aware of the basics of how card tricks are supposed to work?”

“Of course,” she nodded. “You give somepony a random card and then try to give them their card back after losing it in some way.”

“Very good.” He shuffled the deck again. “But as we know, there’s a big problem with card tricks: they get ridiculous pretty fast. You have to keep coming up with a new variation of it, otherwise, people stop taking it seriously, right?” Trixie agreed. “So now, I shall perform for you one of my many takes on the card trick.”

Houdini then laid the blue-backed cards on the table and spread them out. Once he did, he turned his back and took several big steps away from the cards, keeping his back turned. “For this, I want you to choose two cards from the deck. One for all to see, and the other for your eyes only. I’d also like you to use the pen to sign your name on both of them.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow but did as she was told, grabbing the pen in her magic. She picked out the seven-of-hearts and the four-of-spades. Signing both of them, she placed the heart card face up and the spades face down.

“Trixie is ready for you trick, Mr. Houdini,” she told him as the illusionist returned to the table, picking up the visible card to show to the spectators.

“The seven-of-hearts,” he declared as he put both of the cards back into the deck, shuffling it one more time before putting the deck back into the little white box. “Now, both of the cards are lost. But not only are they lost…” He then put the box into the metal bowl before pouring the clear liquid onto it.

Houdini swiftly lit a match and dropped it into the bowl, setting its contents aflame. “It’s now on fire, but not just on fire…” He quickly dumped the blackening deck onto the chopping board, grabbing the knife and swiftly chopping it into nothing but ash. “It’s now diced into pieces. In other words, whatever was in that box is now destroyed… or is it? Excuse me, miss.” He pointed towards the balcony. “You there, with those lovely green wings and the sunflower mane, wearing the brooch and hat.”

“Yes?” The mare in question stood up.

“Would you empty your purse, if you please?”

“My… purse?” she blinked. She bent down and took the purse in her hooves. “I don’t understand.”

“Can you please open it and produce the seven-of-hearts?”

Still as confused as ever, she unclasped the little back before her eyes widened. “But… how?”

“Madame, may we see it?”

The mare reached into her purse and pulled out a blue-backed card, flipping it over to reveal the seven-of-hearts with Trixie’s signature on it. This got the audience to applaud at the miracle that they had just witnessed.

Trixie, on the other hoof, stood there with her jaw reaching the floor. She couldn’t help but blink.

“Thank you, the Great and Powerful Trixie,” Houdini said. “You may return to your seat.”

The unicorn teleported back to her shared chair but noticed that her seat felt a little funny. She stood up and levitated what she sat on before gasping. It was the autographed four-of-spades!

“Oh, before I forget,” Houdini called out from the stage, “is that your card?”

Chapter 5: Metamorphosis and Intermission.

The twin assistants turned to their boss as Houdini began setting up his next trick. “Um, are you alright?” Miss Direction whispered, carefully judging the confused scowl on Trixie’s face. She looked down at the card in her hoof as if she expected it to suddenly burst into flames.

“Did either of you see anypony putting this card on my seat?” Trixie questioned both of them.

They shook their heads. “No, Madame,” answered Peppers Ghost, “we didn’t even notice it was there until you sat on it.”

Trixie remained silent in thought. Somehow, without detecting a single spell going off, two of her cards were sent into the audience. Perhaps someone had put them there… yes, that had to be it! He somehow misled the audience when he was burning and chopping the deck. He’d had plenty of time to shift the cards to an accomplice to sneak them into the mare’s purse and on her seat.

But there were several major problems that were nearly giving her a headache. She saw the cards being shuffled back into the deck, and at no time did he come close to the edge of the stage or the side-curtains, so how did those two cards with her autograph get to where they were?

A heavy chest was currently being brought onstage, along with a violet curtain hung upon a rod. “For this next trick, I will need the assistance of my beautiful wife. Bess, would you come out here please?”

He was joined onstage by another human, nearly as tall as her husband, wearing a familiar red circus costume that was similar to what Trixie’s own assistants wore during their show. Her makeup made her a tad pale with a wide, scarlet lipstick smile and her short, wavy brown mane curled like the waves of the sea.

“Evening honey,” Houdini grinned as he gave his wife a quick kiss on the lips.

“Hey Harry,” she replied.

“So, do you want to introduce yourself or shall I?”

“I’ll do it.” Bess turned to the audience. “Hello everyone, I’m Miss Houdini, Harry’s most faithful assistant. I’ve been helping him out in magic for nearly as long as we’ve been married. In fact, this upcoming Friday will be our thirtieth anniversary.” The equine spectators applauded to the news.

“Say hon,” Harry pointed to the trunk, “you remember this?”

“Ha, how could I forget? That’s the first magic trick you taught me when we were still with the traveling circus.”

“I know, so what do ya say, dear? Do you want to do the Metamorphosis act, like in the old days?”

“Well…” She turned to the audience as they made a collective mumbling sound, all of them curious as to what the trick was. “Okay, but just this once.”

“How about I go in the box first?” Harry asked, his wife agrees. Soon, assistance from the side curtains came with handcuffs, shackles, and ropes. The trunk was opened before the assistants began locking Houdini up, placing cuffs around his wrists and ankles, padlocking his shackled feet, and tying him up with rope. Another assistant soon came on stage with a burlap sack and a rope. The assistants tied it up one last time before placing the bagged man in the trunk and closing the lid.

Bess took out a heavy-looking padlock, securing the trunk’s lid. She then walked to the edge of the stage with a key in her hand. “Excuse me,” she knelt down in front of a filly, “what’s your name?”

The filly hopped out of her seat, walking up to the giant before her. “Um… Lily.”

“What an adorable name.” Bess smiled before handing the key over to the filly. “Now Lily, could you do a very important job for me? I want you to hold onto that key because it’s the only one that can let my husband out of that trunk and I don’t want to lose it. Can you do that for me?”

The little Earth Pony nodded as she took the key into her mouth before hopping back into her seat.

Bess walked over to the trunk, taking a rod that held a curtain before jumping onto the very chest that her spouse was trapped in. “Now, on the count of three, all of you are going to get a very special surprise. Ready?”

She threw the rod over her head before catching it again. “One.”

She threw it over her head again. “Two.”

But when the curtain came back down, it was Harry who caught it. “Three.” The audience gasped in surprise before erupting into applause.

Houdini jumped off of the box, letting the rod hit the floor. “But where is my wife? Oh, where could she have run off to?” He strode over to the edge of the stage where the filly sat. “Excuse me, little girl, but may I have that key please?”

Trixie saw the filly give him the key before he rushed back to the trunk, unlocking the padlock and opening the lid to show the audience the tied-up burlap sack. The human untied the rope, letting the bag drop to show the crowd his wife bound in the very same handcuffs, shackles, and ropes.

After the applause died back down, the Great Houdini called out to his audience. “Wanna see that again?”

“YES!” The theater cried.

“Alright.” He gave his wife a quick kiss before putting her in the bag, tying it up, closing and locking the lid, and returning the key back to the filly in the front row.

When all of this was done, Houdini picked up the curtain rod and held it to his shoulders. “Alright everyone, on three.”

He threw it over his head, only to be interrupted by his wife catching it. “Three!”

She got down from the trunk and walked over to the filly, asking for the key back.

Bess headed back over to the heavy lid, opened it, and untied the bag to reveal her husband in the same position that she was not a few minutes ago. The audience’s applause was just as loud as before, if not louder.

“Thank you,” Harry and his wife said as they took a quick bow. “And now, mares and gentlecolts, we shall be taking a very short intermission before moving on with the second act. We’ll resume the show in ten minutes.”

The crimson curtain fell as the equine audience’s cheers of approval began to die down.

Trixie got up from her seat, looking cross. “Miss,” Peppers inquired, “where are you going?”

“If either of you or anypony else needs Trixie, she’ll be outside getting some fresh air.” Before her assistants could say anything further, she swiftly teleported outside into the warm June air. She found a nearby alleyway where she could have some privacy, as well as a wall to vent her frustrations against.

“How…” she banged her head against the brick, “is *bang* he *bang* doing *bang* that?”

Chapter 6: The Chinese Water Torture Cell.

About nine minutes later, Trixie returned to the theater feeling a little dizzy. She returned to her seat, her two assistants noticing the reddish bruises near her forehead. “Before either of you say anything, I’m fine.”

“Where have you been?” Miss Direction questioned.

“Trixie already told you, she went outside for some fresh air.”

Her attention was now aimed toward the red curtain and the large clock on the left side of the stage, along with some numbered cards. There was a murmur from the crowd as well as the sound of war being poured into something large.

The lights soon dimmed and a spotlight appeared on the right-hoof side of the stage where Houdini walked out from. Instead of wearing a suit, he was now wearing a crimson silk robe as he strode across the stage. The audience kindly applauded as he walked towards the large clock.

“How long can a man, or pony, hold his breath?” he asked as he stopped before the timepiece. “For this next trick, I have with me the largest stopwatch in the world. You might be wondering why I’ve bought this out, or why I’m asking about how long one can hold their breath. I will show you in just a moment, but for now, let’s do an experiment, shall we? On the count of three, I want you all to take in a deep breath and hold it for as long as you can. Ready? One… two… three!”

There was a collective inhale from the equine audience as young and old puffed out their cheeks. Houdini swiftly pressed a button and the clock started ticking.

One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… after ten, the theater became dead quiet except for the slow ticking of the clock. Fourteen… fifteen… sixteen… seventeen… eighteen-- an exhale was heard. Twenty… twenty-one-- a dozen let out their breath.

“You’ll start to notice,” Houdini spoke, “that time seems to slow down the longer you try to hold onto that precious bit of air. Your chest seems to want to collapse onto itself.” More exhales. “But imagine, for a moment, that you were holding onto that air for dear life. You’re trapped underwater, upside-down and locked up.” Finally, nopony could hold their breath any longer as Houdini pressed a button, stopping the clock’s timer at sixty seconds.

“Mares and gentlecolts, I’m about to perform something similar to what I’ve just described. For this second act, I will attempt to escape from… the Chinese Water Torture Cell!” The curtain raised up, revealing a tall glass box in its center, transparent on all sides. Besides, it seemed to be a system of chains with heavy-looking stocks that had been painted red.

“Perhaps”, Houdini spoke as he walked towards the glass box, “torture may not be the correct word to describe this. No, this thing is more of an execution device where the victim’s legs are locked in the stocks you see here. They are then dunked head first into the water, where they are forced to hang upside-down without being able to move.”

Four assistants joined him on stage. “As you can see, my assistants’ carry four different locks which shall be put on as soon as I’m fully submerged into this death device. Now, as I prepare my lungs, would a member from the audience inspect the Chinese Water Torture Cell before I attempt my escape?”

“I’ll do it,” a voice spoke, followed by a flutter of wings. A pegasus stallion flew over the stage, balancing himself on the edge of the glass box. He stuck a hoof inside and pulled it back out, revealing that it was indeed dripping with water. He then flew to each side of the box, tapping on the edges and the glass itself to confirm that it was indeed a solid box. Finally, he checked the stocks, opening the wooden device while showing it to the audience. “It’s real,” he said. “I can’t figure out how anypony would get out of a deathtrap like this.”

Houdini thanked him and asked him to return to his seat. “If you’ll excuse me, I shall disrobe.” He undid his silk robe to reveal a piece of black clothing that seemed to resemble a one-piece swimsuit. He sat down before the stocks, placing his feet in the holes before his assistants placed a metal rod that locked him in place.

“One last thing,” he said, “I strongly advise that no one in the audience should ever attempt to do something like what you’re about to see unless you know exactly what you’re doing. This theater’s manager is off-stage with an ax, ready to break the glass cage in case something goes wrong because there is always that chance.”

Chains slowly raised the human upside-down and into position right over the glass box of water. Another assistant stood by with a large stopwatch and, at Houdini’s signal, lowered him head first into the water before starting the clock. Water quickly flowed over the deathtrap as everypony in the audience saw him sinking deeper into the box until the stocks on his feet finally hit the rim of the glass. The four assistants that helped guide Houdini in quickly locked all four sides of the lid, and the girl by the clock flipped a number.

“One minute,” she says as the other assistants walked away from the box while two others came onto the stage with large dividers, blocking the spectators’ view.

Trixie leaned over to Peppers. “Just watch, he’s going to pop out of there any moment now.”

They waited, and the clock ticked on.

The assistant flipped over another card. “Two minutes.”

The blue magician blinked. Miss Direction leaned over. “Is something supposed to happen by now?”

They looked around at the audience, whose faces were a mix of confusion and worry. Whispers and murmurs grew louder as the clock ticked on.

By the two-thirty mark, a voice was heard. “Is this part of the show?” The assistants quickly shared their worry as the equine audience tried to figure out what was going on.

“Three minutes,” she called out over the ponies’ ever-increasing anxiety.

“Come on, let ‘em out!”

“Is he alright?”

“What’s going?”

“Let us see!”

But the clock ticked on and the divider stayed unmoved. When the timepiece reached the three-thirty mark, more assistants joined the stage, trying to calm the audience’s nerves.

Trixie turned to her assistants who wore the same frightened look like everyone else.

“Something’s wrong,” one of the assistants on-stage said. “Get the ax, get the ax! Hurry!”

The assistants rushed over to grab both sides of the divider as an older-looking human rushed to the center of the stage with an ax in hand. The assistants tore the fabric divider aside and the manager raised his ax, ready to strike-- until they all saw that the cell was empty.

“Whoever invented that device is a lunatic!” Everypony’s heads turned to the back of the theater to find a soaking wet Houdini walking down the aisles of the theater, leaving the audience to sigh with relief.

As for Trixie, her brain came to a screeching halt as she tried to process what just happened. She turned her attention to the water torture cell, half-hoping that maybe the locks on the device were taken off by mistake, and that someone had sneaked behind the divider to unlock them.

Yet, it was clear to everypony in the theater that all four of the locks were still secured on the lid.

Chapter 7: Of Locks, Knots, and Spells.

Once everypony had settled down and the drowning device was removed from the stage, Houdini entered with his clothes fully on for the final act of the night.

“Before we draw this show to a close,” he addressed his equine spectators, “I want to take a moment to thank you all for being such a wonderful audience.” They applauded for a moment before Harry continued. “Now, for the third act, I’m going to do something a little bit different than what I normally do in my shows. I’m going to do something very interesting.” With a wave of his hand, an assistant came on stage to set a chair beside him. “If there is anyone who knows how to tie knots, or has a pair of cuffs that you think would keep me in place, I invite you all to join me on stage and do whatever you feel would keep me secured to this chair.”

One by one, Houdini was joined by various ponies, most of which were the magicians who were present during his escape from the prison, Trixie included. Once Harry sat down, the assistants brought on stage ropes, chains, locks, and cuffs for the ponies to use. The magicians took hold of the locks and cuffs, examining each of them very closely to make sure that they were real.

Meanwhile, a couple of ponies that had naval cutie marks started tying the human to the chair as best as they could. They bound his hands behind his back, his feet to the legs to the chairs, and tied strong sailor’s knots in front of his chest.

This was quickly followed by the unicorns as they slithered chains around Houdini’s neck, waist, arms, and legs, followed by padlocks that held it all together underneath his seat. Last of all was Trixie, who held two pairs of cuffs in her aura. As soon as she placed each pair around his wrists and ankles, her horn shot out a violet light that encompassed the cuffs.

“What did you just do?” Houdini asked.

Trixie smirked. “I’ll have you know, Mr. Houdini, that I’ve just placed a spell on those cuffs that will alert me if anyone should try to use magic to tamper with them.” She then walked up and whispered into his ear, “Let’s see how you get out of that.”

“My my, you certainly underestimate me,” Harry said as she walked off the stage.

Once everything was settled down, Houdini addressed the audience. “Since I can sense some scrutiny as some of you were tying me up, how about I place a special bet?” This got everyone’s attention. “If I cannot get out of these bonds that you’ve placed on me and I admit defeat, the ones who tied me up will get a share of the money that our tickets have sold tonight.”

“He can’t be serious,” Trixie whispered to her assistants. “Is he really that confident?”

“I’ll admit,” Miss Direction said softly, “the earlier stuff might have had some sort of trick behind it, but there’s no way he’s going to get out of that.”

“How do we know if it’s a trick?” Peppers Ghost questioned. “For all we know, it could really be done by magic.”

“That’s the reason why I placed that spell on his cuffs.” The two assistants turned to their boss. “If magic is involved, then it would explain everything, but if he somehow gets out without it, then that means there’s some clever trick involved.”

Th-clunk!

Everypony turned their attention to the human, quickly noticing that the cuffs around Houdini’s hands were the first to fall. Before their eyes, the human moved violently around his restraints, causing the chair to tilt side to side until he fell over. Soon, the chains loosened around him, the ropes unwound and untangled as he flipped around the stage, almost like he was being attacked by snakes.

Locks were left behind as Harry moved around and the second pair of cuffs fell soon afterward. This made Trixie raise an eyebrow, as her magical alarm spell hadn’t gone off. It was clear to her that there was no magic involved, but at the same time, it just added to the mystery of this human. If magic as she knew it wasn’t involved, and this was indeed a trick… then how was it done? How could it be done when none of the magicians could detect anything that would aid in his escape?

Then, finally free from the entanglement of rope and chains, Harry Houdini stood. The freed human received thunderous applause from the Equestrians. He took a bow, stepping forward and gesturing to both sides of the stage for everyone that had helped him as they, too, took a bow.

_*_

“Madame?” Trixie ignored Peppers Ghost’s voice, deep in thought. Her assistant called out for her again.

“What?” she replied, annoyed.

“The cab has already stopped.”

Trixie looked around to find that they had already stopped in front of her apartment building. “Oh, thanks.” She got out of the cab, trotting up to the driver to pay him.

“Ms. Lulamoon?” Miss Direction asked. “This Houdini fellow… what do you think of him?”

“Well,” she said as she hoofed over five bits, “he knows about suspense and presentation, that’s for sure.”

“Do you think that he might be a threat to our show?” the other twin asked. “I mean, those tricks he did were incredible. I’ve never seen any magic like--”

“I don’t know if it was really magic,” their boss interrupted. “In fact… I don’t even know if it was all some elaborate trick, or something new.”

“New?”

She shook her head. “Don’t mind it, you two. Get some rest; we have some practice we need to do for our show tomorrow.”

After saying their farewells, the twin assistants rode off, leaving Trixie Lulamoon alone with her thoughts once again.

‘Okay, from what I’ve seen, either this Houdini does his tricks with something simple like a hidden pick, or he possesses some kind of supernatural magic that we don’t know about.’ By now, she was already through the door as she made her way up to her apartment.

‘Of course, the only thing that’s bothering me is how. How could he have done it? Perhaps with the help of his assistants… no, we all would have noticed. Besides, those cuffs were certainly real, as were the locks, the ropes, the chains! Even I couldn’t break them!

‘But what if it was all an illusion? Maybe he had somepony perform some kind of illusion spell to make it seem like he was tied up, or that he was underwater, or that I signed my name on…’

She shook her head as she neared the door to her little home. ‘Oh come on, Trixie, think! Everything that giant has done was all a trick, it has to be! What else could it be?’

Even as she entered her apartment and flopped onto the couch, a word kept coming to her mind, yet she kept refusing it. There was no way that this thing could perform magic without a horn.

She never wanted to admit to herself that he was capable of magic as she pulled her cloak over her eyes, drifting to sleep. Perhaps this was a new kind of magic, completely unknown to Equestria. Maybe it was a form of human magic.

Chapter 8: Whispers of Children.

“Now that my assistant is strapped down to the wheel,” the blue magician announced as she walked away from the circular piece of wood that Peppers Ghost was currently strapped onto, an usually calm look on her face. Her sister, meanwhile, held up a bag of knives for her boss, though she looked a bit worried. “I shall let it spin while I put on my blindfold.”

Trixie lit up her horn, activating a machine that started turning the wheel while placing a blue fabric over her eyes. Of course, the three of them knew that the blindfold only made it seem like she couldn’t see, when in fact she could.

“And now, the Great and Powerful Trixie will throw all fifteen daggers at her assistant without harming her.” She reached a hoof over to the bag, pretending to feel her way around.

Lifting the first knife over her head, she called out “One!” before throwing it, missing her assistant but hitting the round board. Even though the daggers themselves were real, Trixie’s horn was what really guided them, the glow of it hidden beneath her hat.

As she counted, she made sure that some of the sharp pieces of steel hit only a few inches away from her, causing the audience to be on edge as the number of knives wen tup.

“Thirteen.” The dagger landed almost a little too close to Pepper’s ear. “Fourteen.” Another hit the very edge of the wheel but didn’t fall off. “And finally… fifteen!” With the last knife in the air, she guided it next to her assistant’s neck.

There was a sigh of relief before Trixie heard the applause. Yet somehow, the cheers, stomping, and hoof-clopping seemed quieter. After taking the “blindfold” off, she turned around to find that the theater wasn’t exactly full.

_*_

Once the stage had been cleaned up and ready for the next night, Trixie made her way home on her usual route, passing the gleaming theater baring Houdini's name. After the decent sells made that night, there was a lot for the unicorn to think about.

Soon enough, she was on her street and near her apartment. The rows of buildings had most of their windows opened, letting air into their rooms and letting their conversation come out.

“You should have seen her,” Trixie heard a little colt’s voice say. “At the end of her show, she somehow got the diamond to appear under her heat while she was blindfolded, tied up, and hung upside-down over a vat of pudding, with nothing but a burning rope to hold her up!”

Hearing this made the midnight unicorn smile with pride. At least somepony was talking about her.

“Pfft. Oh, come on,” another young voice joined in, “you weren’t there at Houdini’s show. His was so much better.”

Trixie’s smile quickly dropped to a frown.

“I mean, have you ever heard of half of what he did,” the colt continued. “He was able to get himself locked in jail, in hoofcuffs, and still got out. He was able to escape out of a locked box filled with water, and upside-down too! He even got some of the audience to come on stage and tie him to a chair. He had ropes, chains, hoofcuffs, everything! And he was still able to get out! It’s like no matter what you put that guy in, he somehow finds a way out of it.”

“So what?” the other colt commented. “The hu-mon got out of hoofcuffs, what’s so weird about that?”

“That’s where things get crazy.” Trixie turned to the windows where she spied the two colts. Although their backs were to her, she could still see them talking face-to-face. “I was there when he did his show yesterday, and the Great and Powerful Trixie was there too!”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah, and rumor has it, near the end of his show when he asked ponies to come on stage and tie him up, she came on stage too. I heard that she placed some hoofcuffs on him and set an alarm spell on them so that if he or anyone else tried to use magic on them, she would know. But the weird part is, even when the cuffs came off, nothing happened.”

The other colt was taken back. “What?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “and so far, nopony can figure out how he did it. I heard that it even left Trixie stumped! And you know what? That’s exactly why I think that Houdini is the better magician.”

At this point, Trixie’s mood had soured further.

“I mean, when you really think about it, whenever you go to a magic show, have you noticed that they’re always unicorns?” The other colt nodded. “Whenever you go to those shows, you’d think that they would think that they would try to do something impossible using their horns, like levitating a key to unlock a lock or something. But Houdini gets into the most dangerous things that should be impossible to get out of, and he doesn’t even have a horn! So tell me, how do you think that anypony would be able to get out of someplace like a jail cell without magic?”

The other colt paused for a moment. “I… I don’t know. How do you think he did his stuff?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. It kinda makes you wonder what he’s going to do next.”

At this point, Trixie continued homeward with despair in her head. At least this explained why the theater wasn’t completely sold out. It was all because of him. For her, this went far above anything that mare in Ponyville had done to her. Oh no, this human, this hairless ape, this giant Houdini was doing something that she hated above all else: stealing her audience.

It was clear that she had to do something quickly. Going to his shows wouldn’t be enough. She had to find out exactly how he’d been able to do all of his impossible stunts.

A look over the flat rooftops along with the fact that Houdini’s theater wasn’t too far gave her an idea.

Chapter 9: Houdini the Human.

By the time eleven-o’-clock came around, the Great and Powerful Trixie had arrived at the roof of her apartment building. Considering that both of their shows started and ended around the same time, she guessed that Houdini’s theater was probably empty by now. If there was ever a chance for the unicorn to take a peek at what was really going on behind the scenes, it was now.

She jumped across several buildings at once thanks to her teleportation spell. Even from the flat rooftops, it wasn’t difficult to pinpoint the human’s theater as it stood towering above the surrounding apartments.

The massive brick wonder was a spectacle, even with the front lights turned off. Its titanic shadow in the moonlight acutely portrayed the illusionist himself. When Trixie finally got onto the roof of this structure, she found what she’d hoped for -- a way in. In the area where the stage was, she managed to find a metal trap door and a flight of iron stairs slithering downward.

Before she opened it, she paused, noticing that even though the trap door had a latch clearly made for a lock, it lacked one. ‘Why would a magician leave their theater this vulnerable to a break in?’ Even though her thought sent up a few red flags, she decided to cautiously continue. Using her magic, she lifted the cover and quietly crept her way down the ladder.

Her hind hoof felt the floor of the catwalk and she carefully lowered herself onto it. Looking over the side, she could see that the only thing illuminating the theater was as lonely ghost light that stood in the center of the stage. She could also see that some props were set aside off-stage, glowing in the pale glow of a single lightbulb.

She grinned. This was almost too perfect! All she needed to do now was to get down there and really examine these tricks up--

Click!

Trixie’s heart nearly stopped when she was suddenly bathed in the light of a flashlight.

“You know, I’m not all that surprised that someone has decided to break into my theater,” said a familiar voice. “To tell you the truth, I’ve been expecting it ever since we got here.”

Even though the blue unicorn’s hooves were frozen in place, she turned her neck to confirm who was holding the light. The figure was tall, and his white shirt almost made him look like a ghost, but Trixie knew who it really was.

“Uh… Mr. Houdini?”

She could hear the steps echo as the slender figure drew near, and sure enough, it was Houdini. “Wait, I think I remember you. Aren’t you the same pony from my show the other night? What do you think you’re doing here?”

“I… uh…”

“Well?” he questioned. “Tell me why you tried to sneak in before I get the cops over here.”

“Okay, okay!” she waved her hooves. “Just hear me out!”

Harry folded his arms while keeping the light on the unicorn.

“Okay, before I say anything, what are you still doing here? I thought this place closed hours ago.”

“Simple, I want to make sure that my secrets are secure, which is why I always tend to be the last one to lock up before I leave. And what do you know? Just when I was finishing up, I happen to run into you. So now you tell me, why are you here? Also… what was your name again?”

“T-Trixie,” she gulped. “Look, I know what you’re thinking, and no, I’m not really here to steal your tricks--”

“Then why are you here?” Houdini pressed on.

Trixie let out a defeated sigh. “Because… I just wanted to know how you did it all. I honestly didn’t want to steal directly from you, but I wanted to understand how someone who isn’t a pony could do the things that you do. For Celestia’s sake, you broke of prison, teleported cards into the audience, and even escaped a death trap that no sane pony would do, even if they had a horn. How do you even do it? Is it all just an elaborate trick, or do you have some kind of bizarre magic that even I’m not aware of? I don’t want to steal from you; the Great and Powerful Trixie isn’t interested in copying what somepony has already done, but wants to do it her own way! Yet, I hate seeing something that I can’t understand, and to be brutally honest, you’re driving me crazy here.

“That’s why I came alone. I just wanted to know the truth and how you did it. I came in here so I can have some peace of mind.”

In the dim light, she could see Houdini nodding his head. “You’re right about one thing; I do not claim to possess any supernatural powers because I don’t, yet I am the only one that’s able to do tricks that no one can explain. Yes, I am saying that everything you saw was a trick, clever ones that have taken years to perfect them to where they are now.

“Since you told me that your intent wasn’t to copy me, I won’t press any charges against you. But understand that if you do something like this again, I’ll have the police arrest you for breaking and entering. I’m trying to play nice since I, my wife, and my troupe are doing our best to make a good impression in a land that we’re not sure how we got to, for we’re nothing but strangers in an even stranger land.”

Trixie tilted her neck downward, nodding. “Trixie understands, and I am sorry for doing this. I just wanted to know and put this mystery to rest.”

“Please follow me.” Houdini turned around as the regretful unicorn followed close behind. “You said that you were a magician?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, one of the best in the city.”

“I guess that explains it.”

She looked up at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

“You saw me as a competition that you didn’t know how to handle.” At this point, he started climbing down the ladder that leads to the stage floor. “But to be honest, I think that in this strange country, I have to work really hard to impress beings that possess real magic.”

Trixie looked down at him. “Real magic? Don’t you have some sort of magic where you come from?

He laughed. “Trust me, if you were to appear in New York and do something as simple as using your horn to pick up a pencil, folks from all over the world would come to see, and pay you every little penny they have just to see you do a single trick. So no, where I come from, magic may not exist, but some of us like to pretend that it does.”

Both the human and unicorn magicians landed on the black stage floor as they continued their trek through the theater.

“So in other words,” she said, “everything you’ve done, all this magic you’ve performed, is all really just pretend?”

“Yes, but I would be an idiot to give away how I really did it. Trust me, I’ve debunked plenty of phonies pretending to be me, saying they can talk to spirits and such. In a way, even though my wife and I see you all as adorable ponies, I still can’t help but look at unicorns like yourself and feel a bit… jealous. Just seeing you do something like this…” He turned around and swiftly threw a small red ball at her.

By instinct, Trixie’s horn lit up before the rubber ball could hit her face. Houdini took the opportunity to wave his hands through the aura that shimmered around the ball.

“Ya see?” he remarked. “No strings, no magnets, no mirrors, just magic. Real magic. That’s why I envy ponies like you. You’re able to do all of this naturally. I, on the other hand, have to go figure out a way to fake it.” Houdini took his floating ball back, causing the unicorn to let it go.

“I see,” Trixie nodded. “Before you show me out the door… Trixie would like to thank you for giving her some peace.”

“Just make sure you don’t try to break in again any time soon,” Houdini added as they entered the foyer of the theater. He took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the entrance. “Did you say that you have a show?”

“Yes, what about it?” she asked curiously.

“Since we’re new to this place, and since you ponies have magic shows of your own, would it be too much for my wife and me to come to your show, to see how things are done here?”

That took Trixie completely by surprise. “Y-you want to see my show?!”

“Both as a way to extend the olive branch, as it were, and to take some notes for our big show on Saturday that I hear that one of your ‘Princesses’ is coming to see. And speaking as someone that’s had to perform for royalty, I know that impressing one of them is already a very tall order.”

She blinked. “One of the Princesses is coming to see you? Who? Which one?”

He put a finger underneath his chin. “Said something about raising the sun or some nonsense like that.”

Her jaw dropped. “Oh, I envy you so much right now!”

“Hey, at least the tickets for that show are still on sale.” His eyebrows arched as he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got an idea! What if we do a trade? I’ll give you tickets for that show if you give me two tickets for yours. Deal?”

She blinked. “You, sir, are really weird at this. But Trixie will accept, just so she can see more of these tricks that you do.”

Houdini tilted his head. “How come you occasionally slip into the third person?”

The unicorn, however, walked out of the door. “Trixie doesn’t always have to explain herself.”

Chapter 10: Straitjacket in Times Square.

“So, where exactly is this restaurant again?” Miss Direction asked her boss. The twins had noticed that as soon as rehearsals for tonight’s show were over, Trixie suddenly decided that she should take them to lunch. What was even stranger still was that despite the lack of a full house last night, the blue unicorn seemed oddly confident.

“We’re not too far,” she said as she turned a corner. “We just need to get across Times and the place should be right on the other side.”

The trio entered what the city claimed was the busiest place on the planet. The street was known very well by its residents, is the place where lost tourists roamed, traffic jams occurred for those unlucky enough to be traveling by cab, vendors sold their wares every dozen yards, the homeless would beg, pickpockets would steal, groups protested, and the occasional street performance.

As soon as the unicorn and her assistants stepped into the river of equinity, they immediately noticed two things. There was a huge crowd gathering near the foot of a crane, and Mr. Houdini was being secured to a straitjacket with the help of a couple of Pegasi police.

“What’s going on?” Peppers asked curiously.

“Is that Houdini?” Direction inquired.

“More importantly,” Trixie added, “what’s he doing here anyway?”

Thinking that lunch could be put on hold for a little longer, the three ponies approached the cluster of ponies around the human, noticing that the police ponies had just finished checking his straps.

“Now we need to get those legs tied,” they heard one of the officers say as they now focused on securing Houdini to the hook of the crane. Soon, ropes were wrapped around him several times before the police tied his hind legs to the metal claw that began to hoist him up.

“Oh, I get it,” Trixie nodded. Her two assistants turned to her with questioning looks. “He’s going to escape from the straitjacket.”

“Hello, Manehattan!” Houdini cried after the crane lifted him as high off the ground as possible. “Ready to see something amazing?” The crowd below cheered in anticipation. “Hey you magicians out there, can you do this without your horn?”

And the everypony on the street saw the slender human wiggle and thrash around upside-down on the hook of that metal arm, moving similarly to sea serpent out of the water. No one could help but watch him contort and turn violently. To their amazement, he managed to pull one of his arms over his head while the tight fabric slipped over it. Once that was done, he rocked back and forth, apparently trying to get the long fabric around his hands and hooked onto his shoes. It took a few tries, but he was finally able to when the audience below noticed his hands unbuckle in a few places before it slipped off of him. With his arms outstretched and his jacket in one hand, the crowd cheered at the impossible feat.

Dropping the jacket, he then set to work untying his legs. Before he did so, he swung himself over to the metal arm of the crane, hooking an arm around it before undoing the knots. Like the loony jacket, they slipped off, allowing Harry to climb his way back down to the ground.

“That was incredible!”

“That was really cool!”

“It’s fake!”

This got the crowd and Houdini’s attention. “Who said that?”

A cherry-red stallion stepped forward, who Trixie recognized as Hoof Cuff, one of her many rivals in her field of entertainment. “I said it,” he announced, “and I bet that little stunt you pulled off was all staged. Hey, I bet that jacket isn’t even real!”

Houdini raised a gray eyebrow. “What’s this? Do we have a doubter in our midst?” He strode up to the stallion, looking down on him. “And just who might you be?”

“Hoof Cuff,” he said with a smug smile. “I’m a magician too, and I can say that the so-called jacket you put on yourself is only made to look like that, and your ‘escape’ was all just an act.”

“This is fake?” Harry questioned as he picked up the thing that was wrapped around him only moments ago. “Then, Mr. Cuff, how about I give you a challenge? If you wear this same jacket, get tied up by them,” he pointed back to the police, “and escape the same way I did, then I’ll admit defeat.”

Cuff’s grin grew wider, “Done.” With that, the police quickly put the straitjacket on the unicorn stallion while undergoing adjustments to make sure it fits nice and tight.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Houdini added, turning to one of the officers. “Did you say that you have a ring that stops unicorn magic?”

“Uh, yea, I have it with me,” the officer said, producing a stony ring with strange symbols written along.

“Put it on him,” Harry ordered, seeing the stallion’s eyes widen. “If it’s so easy, I guess it would be fair if you weren’t allowed to use your magic to escape, seeing as I don’t have a horn.”

“N-now wait a minute,” Hoof interjected, but was cut off when the police officer placed the ring on his horn.

“Go on,” Houdini leaned back on the crane, “try to escape as I did.”

The stallion started sweating, but with everypony watching, he realized he didn’t have much a choice anymore. Even though he wasn’t hanging upside-down as the human had done, he still found himself struggling to move his forelegs around. Even trying to pull it upwards didn’t do him any good.

“Augh, come on!” He cursed when he fell over onto the sidewalk, still struggling to get free. Finally, he stopped moving around and tried to catch his breath. “Okay, okay… it’s real… let me out.”

“You see,” the human helped the stallion up, “no one can escape from a real straitjacket as the Great Houdini can.”

The police lent a hoof in unbuckling the jacket, freeing the embarrassed stallion as he left with his ears folded back.

“Okay, even Trixie will admit, that was an impressive trick you pulled off.”

“Oh, hello again.” The human knelt down to the unicorn. “Like the little show?”

“As intriguing as that was,” she said as she pointed to Hoof Cuff, “did you really have to do that to him? It’s not that I blame you, even Trixie doesn’t like him, but was humiliating him like that really necessary?”

“Hey, he tried to call my escape an act, so I let him have a try. While most of the things I do are tricks, I do tend to use real stuff in them. Besides, it showed him who the real expert in the art of escape really is.”

She was taken aback. “That is brutal and humiliating… I think I’m beginning to like you already! Speaking of which…” Trixie took off her hat and briefly showed Houdini that it was empty, before reaching in and producing two silvery tickets. “You wished to see Trixie’s show, so here are two for tonight. That is if you don’t have anything else planned.”

Harry took the tickets before putting them in his pants’ pocket. “I think I could cancel my show for tonight and give everyone a rest before the big show for that Princess lady.”

“Very well. I promise to give you my best performance,” Trixie replied as she turned back to her dumbfounded assistants.

“Forgive me, but did you just give him tickets to our show?” Peppers questioned.

“Yes,” Direction nodded,” isn’t he the one that’s threatening our careers?”

“Ladies, relax,” Trixie said as they began walking away. “Perhaps it would be wiser to win him over. Think about it; if in some way we become partners, friends, what have you, we might share our tricks with one another. We could dominate the magic scene in Manehattan. Perhaps all we need to do is be nice to him, and he might return that same kindness. So don’t worry. I don’t believe this will be the end of anyone’s career after all.”

Chapter 11: The Door to Nowhere.

Author's Notes:

I know some of you wanted to read about the Houdini's side of the story, so think of this chapter as a kind of set up for me to do so.

With her eyes closed, she took in a few calm breaths. Trixie stood before the curtain that hid her adoring audience from her sight. There was a hint of nervousness in her breath, but as a magician, she knew that she had to have a clear mind before her performance. But unlike all of the other shows she performed on this stage, she knew that this one was vastly different considering who she’d invited.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” the announcer declared, cueing the blue unicorn to light the fuses of the fireworks. “The Clare de Lune Theater is proud to present the legendary magician, and former Queen of Diamondia…” With a quick glance at her assistants, her horn lit up as she channeled a short distance teleportation spell aimed for the other side of the curtain. With a puff of blue smoke and the sparks of fireworks, the announcer presented: “The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Greetings, my wonderful audience!” she welcomed the evening’s spectators. “Who’s ready for some magic?” There was an inward sigh of relief as she heard the familiar applause and cheers from her audience. As the smoke cleared in the light of the welcoming fireworks, she scanned the crowd to see if she could find her guests.

Then, she spotted a couple of tall shadows off to her right. “What’s this?” she asked as the fireworks died down, putting a hoof over her eyes. “Do my eyes deceive me? Who is that standing over there?” A spotlight glided over the audience to search for the figures, falling onto two very familiar looking humans. “Why yes, it is! Mr. and Mrs. Houdini, I presume?”

The equine spectators applauded as Harry and Bess waved with smiles on their faces. “Evening folks,” Houdini nodded, turning his attention to Trixie. “That was quite the entrance you made. A bit flashy for my tastes, but it was very good.”

Trixie waited for the laughter to die down before responding. “Thank you, but aren’t you two going to sit down somewhere?”

“Well we could,” Mrs. Houdini spoke, “except we’re a little too big to fit in any of the seats. But don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine standing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not to worry,” Harry replied as he leaned back. “Let’s get back to your show. We’re curious what you can pull off.”

“Very well.” Trixie returned her focus back to her audience. “Let's not waste any more time. We have some tricks that we’d like to show all of you. Would you like to see them?”

With a collective “yes!” from everypony, Trixie smiled and raised her hoof, signaling to raise the curtain. On the stage were a platform and a backdrop of misty mountains, with the stage lights illuminating a carved wooden door that featured armored gryphons. The door itself was held up by two painted stands of ancient Gryphstonian symbols.

“Let’s talk about doors,” the midnight magician said, slowly walking backward. “There is a legend among the Gryphons that, at the height of their kingdom, there was a king who was so paranoid about his treasure that he placed his entire treasure behind this very door.” She hopped up on the platform and opened the door. “So what’s so special about this door, I hear you ask? To the Gryphons, this is known as ‘the door to nowhere’.” The unicorn went through and around the door in figure eight.

“And why is it called that? To demonstrate, my two assistants and I will enter through this wonder of the world as it slowly spins in place.” She turned to one of her assistants standing next to a switch. “Peppers, would you kindly start the turntable?”

With a nod, she pulled the lever, causing the door to slowly spin counterclockwise. Peppers Ghost and her twin quickly joined their boss’s side, all three of them stepping up onto the spinning platform. At just the right moment, Trixie opened the door, allowing her and her assistants to walk through it.

Meanwhile, the Houdinis were rather curious what the unicorn had in store until the three ponies suddenly went through the door and closed it. As the carved door slowly revealed its other side, the two humans blinked. There was nothing there! Then, the door opened back up to reveal one of the assistants sticking her head through the doorframe while the other peeked through. The one peeking through the frame went back inside as the other walked around the door, closing it from the front.

Harry studied the routine carefully. Sometimes, the assistants would walk out from both ends. Other times, Trixie would walk out with a jeweled necklace around her neck, or an assistant would walk in only to disappear on the other side.

From where he stood, he tried his best to figure out how it was done. The spinning platform was too low to the ground, with not enough room for a trapdoor nor a hiding space. He also noticed that it was too far away from the backdrop, otherwise, he might have spotted them already. Even the spectators seemed completely mystified, just as unaware as he was.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” his wife whispered.

Harry nodded. This was certainly original enough that even he couldn’t debunk it.

In the end, he was left with just one particular guess. Although he couldn’t see for sure, it was all he had to go off of.

In the end, all three ponies walked through the door together, carrying precious jewels and strings of gold as the audience applauded.

_*_

Once the show came to a close with Trixie’s final trick of making both her and her assistants disappear underneath a curtain of fireworks, the audience finished their applause and began heading out of the theater.

The Houdinis followed the crowd out until a pegasus came up to them. “Um, Mr. and Mrs. Houdini? I was told to give these to you two.” He hoofed over a couple of small envelopes before walking away without another word.

The two humans opened them, finding notes with a blue stamp on the bottom of each.

Thank you both for seeing my performance. Show the stage guard the stamps and come see me backstage. I’d like to speak with both of you.

Chapter 12: The Human Side of the Story, Act One.

The Houdinis went up to the pony guarding the stage entrance, showing him their stamps before ducking their heads underneath the entrance.

“Um, excuse me.” They looked down to find one of Trixie’s assistants. “Are you looking for Trixie?”

Mrs. Houdini knelt down and gave her a wide smile. “We are, actually. You two were very good up there.”

“Well thank you miss,” she nodded. “To be honest, both my sister and I were surprised that you of all… Forgive me, what are you again?”

“People.”

“Thank you. We were surprised that you of all people came to see us.”

“We needed a break anyway,” Harry commented. “To your folk’s credit, it was presented fairly well.”

She nodded. “Thank you. I’m Peppers, Peppers Ghost.” The assistant became confused as Harry started chuckling. “Is something funny? Was it something I said?”

“Oh, nothing,” he waved his hand. “Anyway, could you show us where the magician of the evening is? She said that she wanted to see us.”

“She’s in her dressing room. I’ll show you to her.” Peppers turned around and guided them through the backstage.

After passing by all of the stage props, curtains, and ropes, the human couple crouched into the low, short hallway that led to a room with Trixie’s name on it. Her assistant knocked on the door. “Ms. Lulamoon, they’re here.”

“Ah, send them in,” her boss’s voice penetrated through the door. After opening it, she showed the humans in as they squeezed through the door.

“Please forgive Trixie for the mess,” the blue mare said. “Normally, she wouldn’t expect visitors without notice ahead of time. Here, let me do some quick tidying up.” Her horn lit up as she channeled her magic, levitating the props and flowers off of the couch and placed them to the side.

Mr. Houdini let his wife sit on the couch, the both of them swiftly finding out that she nearly took up the entire piece of small furniture, leaving Harry to sit on the floor next to it. Trixie finally turned away from her mirror, noticing their predicament. “Should I have somepony get a pillow for you?”

“Nah, I’m alright,” Harry shook his head. “Those were some fine tricks you pulled back there.”

“So I take it that you liked them?”

“The door trick was very good,” Bess commented.

“Best and most original trick I’ve seen in a while,” Harry added. “The whole performance of that trick along with the rest of your show went very smoothly. Everything was sharp, well executed, and overall, very clean when it came to sleight of hand.”

“Sleight of hoof,” Trixie corrected. “I appreciate the compliments, although everypony was quite nervous knowing that you’d be watching, especially after what you did with Hoof Cuff. It brings us such relief to know that you enjoyed it.”

“As entertaining as it all was, I think I had a pretty good idea how it was done,” Harry admitted. “All except for one, at least.” Trixie tilted her head in confusion. “That bit at the start with the door left me a bit puzzled as to how it could have been done, though I do have a guess.”

“That being?”

He pointed to her horn. “I’ve heard that some unicorns have the ability to teleport. Does that happen?”

She nodded. “Very good. Flashless teleportation, a spell of my own invention, and a good one too if I do say so myself.”

“You know, I wish I could do something like that in my show. People back home would talk about it for years, like that time I made some elephants disappear.”

Trixie blinked. “Come again?”

“It’s true,” his wife nodded. “I think it was… what, five years ago?” Her husband nodded. “Yes, anyway, five years ago when he performed at the Hippodrome, one of the biggest stages in the world. I saw Harry help load a five-ton elephant into a cabinet with curtains all around it. When they opened back up, it had disappeared. To this day, I still can’t figure out how he did it.”

“And I’m still not telling, hon,” Harry snickered.

“Now there’s something I’d have liked to see,” Trixie said.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Harry said, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a ticket. “With your Princess coming to see us in action, I decided that one of the tricks I’ll be doing is the Vanishing Elephant. That, and some of my other tricks that I haven’t gotten the chance to do.”

The blue magician took the ticker in her aura, sticking it to the side of her vanity. “Trixie will be looking forward to this. Now, since you two are here, there’s something that has been bothering me ever since you arrived.”

“What’s that?” Bess inquired.

She turned to Harry. “You said once that you came from a place where you have to pretend that magic exists, but anypony would tell you that it is impossible for such a place to exist in this universe since magic flows everywhere. And given your, uh… appearance, I have to ask: Are you all from another dimension or something?”

“I think the moment we saw those police ponies that found us, we realized we weren’t in New York anymore,” Harry replied.

“But that’s the thing,” Trixie pointed out. “Why aren’t you more… I don’t know… shocked, or surprised, or anything? One minute you pop out of nowhere, and the next you’re performing your show as if nothing’s changed. Why?”

“Well, perhaps we should start back at the beginning.”

_*_

“Alright everypony,” the pegasus cop announced, “what’s going on… here…?”

He didn’t say another word as he took in the lanky creatures looking right back at him. It was the unicorn beside him that eventually broke the silence. “Huh… now there’s something you don’t see every day.”

There was another pause before everyone seemed to take in what they were seeing.

“Is it me, or did that thing just talk?” Bess asked the question on everyone’s minds.”

Officer Law blinked. “So what if we did?”

Order, on the other hoof, spread his wings and flew over to the stage. Before he could land, there was a collective gasp and a few screams as they all suddenly backed away.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright.” Officer Order landed on the black floorboards.

“How did he do that?” one of the staff asked aloud.

The pegasus raised an eyebrow. “I flew. Now seriously, what are all of you? What’s going on?”

“My…” Houdini approached the equine officer. “Huh… well, I’ll be damned. A real-life pegasus.” He looked over to the officer’s partner who walked up to the stage. “And an actual unicorn, both of which can talk.” He bent down to his knee before Swift Order. “Excuse me, would either of you be interested in a magic show?”

“Uh, what?” the pegasus questioned. “No thanks, sir, but you still haven’t answered my question. What are you?”

“Human.”

“Weird name, but alright.” He shook his head. “What’s going on here? And how did this theater suddenly get here?”

“You tell us,” someone from the theater troupe spoke. “Nobody here as a clue what’s going on.”

“Can someone lend me a dime so I can phone home?” one of the female assistants asked.

“The telephones are dead,” Bess pointed out. “I still think we’ve somehow moved.”

“Oh come on, don’t be so dumb,” another staff member said. “How could we have moved? We’re still in New York!”

“I’m sorry,” the unicorn, Officer Law Abiding, spoke as he hopped up on the stage. “Where?”

“Ya know, New York?” The pony returned a blank stare. “The Big Easy? The Big Apple? Manhattan?”

“You mean Manehattan?” Law corrected him. “Just to be clear, none of you ‘hu-mons’ has any idea what’s going on?”

“No,” Harry replied,” and it’s pronounced ‘hu-mans’.”

“Huh?” The unicorn lit up his horn and grabbed a small notebook and pencil. The humans were dead quiet, staring at him in wide-eyed wonder. “What?”

Harry turned to his assistants. “Get the rings,” he ordered. One of them rushed backstage and came back with one of a pair of Chinese linking rings, giving it to Houdini. “Keep that up,” Houdini told the unicorn, much to his confusion.

The human encircled the floating notebook with the ring, moving it side-to-side, up-and-down, and in every other manner, he could think of. Despite it all, the book remained floating.

“What are you doing?” Officer Law asked.

“Well,” Harry withdrew the ring in amazement,” the wonders never cease.”

“Pardon?”

“How are you doing this?” Harry gestured at the book.

The officer rolled his eyes. “Magic, of course.”

“No, seriously,” Harry asked sternly, “how?”

The unicorn pointed to his horn. “I told you, magic. Now then…” He looked around the stage at the gathered humans. “I suppose you all will need someplace to stay until we sort this out?”

Chapter 13: The Human Side of the Story, Act Two.

Ding!

“Give me a sec,” the pony behind the desk said as he placed the room keys on their respective hooks, then turning back. “Welcome to the Silverhorn Hotel, I’m Room Service. How may I…” Looking up, not only did he see a couple of police officers, but dozens of tall, lanky creatures that were so colossal that they all had to hunch over to avoid hitting their heads on the ceiling. “What in the--”

“Evening, sir,” the unicorn officer nodded. “On behalf of the Manehattan Police Department, we require your aid in sheltering some creatures that have been granted asylum. They’re completely lost and tired. Would it be possible to rent out any rooms to shelter twenty of them?”

Room Service blinked, craning his new upward at the creatures that towered over him before looking back to the officers. “Uh… asylum? Why? What’s going on?”

“A theater suddenly appeared on Fifth Street with them in it,” the pegasus officer said. “They have no clue where they are, what’s going on--”

“Aww, he’s adorable,” one of the female creatures interrupt, with some of the others agreeing with her statement.

“--and they apparently think everypony that they run into is cute,” the pegasus finished. “Before you ask; no, they’re not dangerous. Yes, the city has agreed to pay for their rooms in full. And yes, we’ve already sent a message to the Princesses. So in the meantime, could you spare some rooms for them?”

Room Service turned back to the system of keys, humming in thought and counting them up. “Well… as of now, we’ve got nineteen to spare. One of them will have to share a room--”

“We will,” Harry quickly volunteered, taking hold of his wife’s hand.

“Okay then.” The hotel clerk took the remaining keys off of the board and passed them amongst the humans. With that done, he got up from his desk and peeked through a door. “Bell, get over here! We’ve got company!”

A moment later, a red unicorn stallion in a uniform emerged from the door. “Yes, sir? What do you…” His neck craned upwards. “...need? Uh, what are those?”

“They’ve just booked out of the rest of the hotel,” the clerk said, ignoring his question. “I want you to make sure that you show them all to their respective rooms.”

The unicorn showed signs of nervousness. “Uh… s-show them?”

“That is your job.” The hotel clerk hoofed over all of the remaining room keys. “Now get to it.”

With a gulp, Bell nodded and told the group to follow him. Hallway to hallway and floor to floor, the bellhop led them each to their rooms, anxiously trying to keep an eye on the strange creatures. Sometimes he would receive a compliment from them, especially from the females who kept telling him how ‘adorable’ he looked in his uniform.

Soon the group of twenty thinned out, leaving him with one more room to show the couple.

“Here it is,” he said, unlocking the door marked 418.

Bess stepped inside while Harry paused for a moment, reaching into his pocket. “Look, we really appreciate all the trouble you’ve had to put up with. I guess it wouldn’t be rude to leave you some kind of tip?”

The unicorn bellhop smiled. “Oh, none at all.”

“Here you go.” Houdini handed a bill over to him. The stallion, however, just blankly stared at it. “Aren’t you going to take it?”

“You’re giving me a piece of green paper?”

“Paper? No, this isn’t just paper. This is a fifty dollar bill.” Harry paused. “Hold on, you don’t accept American currency, do you?”

The bellhop shook his head. “Sir, I’ve never seen that before, and frankly I don’t know if I can accept it as a tip. I mean, what am I to do with a piece of paper anyway?”

“What do you use as money then?” Harry asked as he put the bill back into his wallet.

The stallion reached into his uniform pocket and produced a gold coin. “We accept these,” he said. “They’re called bits here. Are you saying that you don’t have any?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“How long did you say you guys were staying?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Sighing, the stallion turned back to the elevator. “I’ll go talk to my boss about that. If I were you, I’d figure out how to earn some bits.”

Harry closed the door behind him and finally took a good look at their room. Other than the low ceiling, the room housed two beds. However, judging by his wife’s feet hanging off the edge, they were a little too small.

“Well, wherever we are in this ‘Equestria’, we’re broke.”

His wife sat up. “What?!”

Harry took out his wallet and threw it on the nightstand. “Apparently, all the cash we have with us is completely worthless here. Of course, this means that we can’t buy anything here like clothes or food.” He slouched down, facing Bess. “What luck we have, huh? Bess, what are we going to do now?”

“What do you mean ‘what are we going to do?’” his wife questioned. “Maybe we should do what we’ve always done and performed some of your escapes. They will give us money.”

Harry laughed. “That would work if these folks couldn’t lift pencils with their minds. I don’t know how to mystify someone who lives in a world with real, practical magic. How do you entertain crowds when they can do something like that and consider it mundane?”

“Hon, are you even listening to yourself? For crying out loud, you’re the Great Harry Houdini! The man who could escape anything, from handcuffs and coffins to jumping off bridges in chains and walking through solid brick walls! Besides, America or not, I think you’ll manage to do something fantastic in this place.”

“What makes you say that?”

Bess leaned in with a smile. “Why would a pony cop carry around a pair of handcuffs?”

Before Harry could answer, there was a knock at their door. He got up (hitting his head on the ceiling in the process) and crouched over to the door.

He found a small group of ponies, about five of them, holding notepads and pencils, along with the flash of a camera.

“Uh…” one of them said before clearing her throat. “H-hey there! We’re with the Manehattan Times, a local newspaper. We heard about a theater that just appeared, and we were hoping to get an interview from you guys. I know it’s late and all, but would you mind answering a few of our questions?”

Harry paused, glancing over his shoulder to his wife, his eyebrows raised. Bess could immediately tell from the look on his face that he had an idea.

“No problem at all!” He turned back to the reporters. “My name is Harry Houdini, and before we get to your questions, I have one that I want to ask first.”

“What’s that?” one of the reporters inquired.

“Do any of you know where the nearest prison is?”

Chapter 14: The Human Side of the Story, Act Three.

“You’re right, Bess,” Harry said as he poured the bag of bits onto their bed. The coins cascaded like a golden waterfall. “It worked like a charm. And to think this was only from today!”

Yesterday, Harry had just performed his escape from the local prison, becoming the talk of the town in just an afternoon. All kinds of ponies came to the House of Wonder’s ticket booth demanding tickets to see the miraculous escape artist themselves. The cash register quickly filled up several times with the foreign corns before the tickets eventually ran out.

Harry’s wife took a handful of bits and let them fall out of her hand one by one. “Well, it looks like we can get some more clothes. Of course, they’re going to need to be tailored, but it looks like that’s something we can afford to do.”

“And who knows?” Houdini sat down on the bed, clenching his beloved’s hand. “If this keeps up, I might still be able to find you an anniversary gift from this weird place.”

“Harry,” she said, putting an arm around his neck, “what could you possibly give me? I mean, after nearly thirty years, you’ve given me everything from roses to diamond necklaces. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if you just gave me a simple kiss.”

“Come on, Bess. What good is a kiss when I don’t have anythin’ to celebrate our thirty wild years? I mean really, it’s amazing that you’ve been able to put up with me for so long. A normal woman would have had a heart attack if their husband did half of the things I’ve done. I, for one, would love to know your secret.”

“Oh, it’s quite simple, really.” Bess gave him a quick kiss. “You just have to trust that the only pair of cuffs they can’t escape are their wedding rings.”

Harry chuckled. “That sounded a little bit corny.”

“Well, it’s true.”

There was a knock on their door. Bess got up to answer it, finding the bellhop levitating a scroll. “Letter for Mr. Houdini,” he said as he floated it over to her.

She took the scroll before thanking him and closing the door. She broke the wax seal, unrolling it to read the message.

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“Huh…” Bess went over to her husband, handing him the scroll. “Take a look at this.”

Harry took the letter and read through it.

Dear Harry Houdini,

It has come to my attention that a few nights ago, you, your wife, and your theater troupe all mysteriously arrived in Equestria by accident. While I commend the Manehattan Police and the city’s mayor for granting you asylum, I, Princess Celestia of Equestria, wish to lend a helping hoof in this confusing and difficult time.

I hope that my ponies are assisting you, for I can only imagine how shocking it must be for you to arrive in a completely different world than your own. I want you to know that I will do what I can to find a way for you and everyone else to return home as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, neither my fellow Princesses or I can come right away as we are all either away or caught up in important affairs. However, I will be able to come to Manehattan next Saturday and will be more than willing to offer my hoof in aiding your return home.

In the meantime, I have given an order to the staff at your hotel that if you need anything, you only need to ask. They’ll do what they can to see that it is done. Outside of that, I recommend enjoying yourselves until we can sort this mess out.

Signed, the Princess of the Day, Raiser of the Sun, etc…

Princess Celestia

“Next Saturday?” Harry raised an eyebrow. “That’s our anniversary. At this point, I don’t know if we’ll need any help.”

“A Princess is coming to help us…” Bess trailed off in thought. “You know, since it seems like things are looking up for us, what if we give her a show, too? I mean, even if we don’t end up going back home, we should at least secure ourselves here just in case.”

“Yeah, good point.” Harry put his hand under his chin. “If we’re going to do that, we might need to rent a bigger theater for the occasion.”

_*_

“I see,” Trixie said once the Houdini’s had finished their tale. “To be honest, I’m impressed that you’ve managed to make a name for yourselves so quickly, yet Trixie can clearly see now that it is because you needed to earn some bits so that you could stand on your own hooves, in a manner of speaking.”

“Quite,” Harry nodded, “and since we’re not certain how long we might be staying, it doesn’t hurt to be financially secure.”

The blue magician nodded. “I know that feeling a little too well myself. Do you have anypony that might miss you back home or any of your troupe for that matter? Are there friends and family that await you?”

“Our family isn’t a large one,” Bess admitted. “The only family Harry’s got is his brother, who’s also a magician. I suppose everyone else has people waiting for them, though. Some of them are starting to get homesick.”

“I think that’s the hardest part for everybody right now,” Harry commented. “Even though we’re in a place of wonder such as this, we tend to miss the familiar feel of home.” He got up off the floor and stood up. “Anyway, thanks so much for that wonderful show. It really helped me see what kind of a show we have to give tomorrow.”

The blue mare smiled. “Trixie does what she can. I wish you the best of luck in performing for the Princess of the Sun.”

He reached out his hand to shake her hoof. “Just you wait, I’ve already got a new trick planned, one that I’ve never done before. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“What new trick?” Bess inquired.

Both she and Trixie looked over to Harry, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he pointed to his mouth with his pointer finger while his thumb stood straight up before he closed his jaw in a wide grin.

Confused, Trixie turned to Bess just in time to see her eyes widen. “Harry! I thought you promised me that you were never going to do that.”

“I know, I know, but I think I’ve finally figured out a way to do it safely.”

“Do what safely?” Trixie questioned.

“Quick question.” Harry leaned down over her. “You don’t happen to know what a gun is by any chance, do you?”

Author's Notes:

Up next, the performance for Princess Celestia!

Chapter 15: Sabotage on the Manehatten Bridge.

Houdini Attempts to Jump off Manehattan Bridge

Manehattan, Equestria

The human illusionist Harry Houdini has announced that, in preparation for his show for Princess Celestia, he plans to do a public stunt by jumping off of the Manehattan Bridge at 11 o’clock. Mr. Houdini has asked for help from the city’s police to restrain him with cuffs, chains, and heavyweights before being plunged into its waters.

“At first, we outright refused,” Officer Law Abiding told the press. “We expressed our concerns for doing something as foolish as this, along with the risks that it presents. Mr. Houdini then told us that he’d done this sort of thing before in fast-current rivers in the middle of winter. We ended up making a compromise: we will allow him to make the jump, but only under the condition that the depth he’s diving into is at least two hundred feet, and that we’d have a diving team ready if something went wrong.”

Mr. Houdini declined to make a comment.

The public escape is to promote Harry’s new show at the Gryphodrome Theater at seven tonight. Tickets for the event are priced at 10 bits for adults and 5 for children.

According to Mr. Houdini’s philosophy, if you post a notice in the newspaper that says you’re about to do something insane, hundreds of thousands will come to see you do it. Before eleven, a crowd swarmed the only bridge connected the island city to the mainland, all watching the chained-up individual standing on the railing.

From young fillies to old stallions, the swarm of equines was packed tight. Some of the officers hung around the edges, making a few last minute checks. Harry stood in his blue swimsuit, his front arms held up to showcase the three heavy-duty cuffs that had been placed on him. Attached to his arms were two thirty pound iron balls, while a shackle around his neck was connected to his ankles with chains.

Among the crowd was Trixie, who after reading the article in the paper knew that she had to see this stunt for herself. The blue mare tried to get as close to the humans as possible, which landed her right in front of a police line that was trying to keep the spectators back.

“Thank you for coming folks,” Houdini announced to the crowd. “I appreciate you all for coming out here to see an old man jump to his death.” His morbid joke got a few chuckles. “For those who don’t know, I am promoting my upcoming show tonight at seven. I am about to attempt to jump into several hundred feet of freezing water, from a height of at least sixty feet. As you can see, I’ve been restrained with heavy duty chains, cuffs, and weights for good measure. For those of you with weak hearts, I advise that you look away, as there’s still a chance that I may not make it.” With that, he crouched down before springing off into the dark blue waters below with a splash.

From where Trixie was standing, she noticed something odd as he hopped off the stone railing. An orange aura permeated the spot he was previously standing, levitating a small piece of twisted metal attached to a piece of fabric.

“Ha, I knew it!” She looked to the side to find Hoof Cuff in the crowd. The red unicorn levitated the piece of metal over to himself. “A lock pick! That’s how he gets out.”

“What are you doing?” the blue magician pushed her way over to her rival. “Where did you get that?”

“He’s a fake,” he said. “See? I knew I noticed something strange when he was walking around. This thing was at the bottom of his hind leg.”

Trixie looked at the pick before a look of realization crossed her face. Her rival had just taken the only means of escape the human had, and he was now sinking even further underwater.

“You idiot!” She shoved him over. “Do you realize what you’ve just done?! He’s locked up right now and sinking to the bottom! Give me that!” She snatched the pick from him and galloped over to the guard rail.

‘Oh, I can’t believe I’m even doing this!’ she thought as a sense of vertigo hit her.

“Hey, stop!” she heard a police pony yell out, but thoughts of her new friend underwater and of all the times she was called a villain rang through her head. Those thoughts motivated her to throw off her starry cape and hat before clenching the pick in her hoof and jumping into the icy waters below.

She briefly heard screams coming from above, but that was quickly replaced with the feeling of her hind legs hitting the icy water and the sudden drop in temperature. She fought off the urge to scream from the shock, quickly opening her eyes and spotting a blurry figure moving around beneath her.

Without thinking, she dove further downwards as quickly as she could. When the water got too dark, she lit her horn for some light. Sure enough, she spotted the struggling human who was searching his legs for the pick. She started to feel pressure on her lungs but forced herself to keep swimming until she reached Harry.

Even in their blurry vision, they both took notice of each other. Harry quickly grabbed the pick and began to work on the cuffs and locks that bound him.

With that done and her lungs desperately screaming for air, Trixie swam upwards as fast as she possibly could. She managed to break through the surface with a large gasp.

“Ma’am,” a Pegasus officer called out, “are you alright?”

“It’s Houdini,” she yelled. “He’s been sabotaged!”

“What?!”

“Hoof Cuff,” she pointed to the bridge, “took away his only method of escape! I don’t know if he’ll be able to get out in time!”

She saw the officer’s face turn pale before flying over to a nearby boat. “Get down there,” he told the diving ponies. “He’s in trouble! Go get--”

Before he could finish his sentence, a figure breached the water’s surface a few yards away from the blue mare. A hand with a pair of cuffs rose above Harry’s head in triumph.

“Mr. Houdini!” The officer flew over to him. “Mr. Houdini, are you alright?!”

The human escape artist was visibly out of breath. “What a rush,” he managed, holding up a pair of dripping cuffs. “Nothing can kill the Great Houdini!”

_*_

With the human and unicorn fished out of the freezing sea and being taken care of a nearby boat, the pegasus officer listened as Trixie explained what had happened to both him and Harry.

“This is just a new low for him,” the blue magician commented. “Being humiliated the other day was one thing, but taking away his only way to escape a deadly trick like that? That’s too cruel, even for me.”

“I just thought that it fell off,” the human said. “Even before I jumped, I knew something was off. It wasn’t until I was under and panicking that I saw her swimming down with it.”

“I see.” The officer jotted down their testimonies before putting his notepad away. “Rest assured that Hoof Cuff will be prosecuted for this. Although, neither of you told me what exactly he took that made it difficult for you to escape.”

“He had a hidden lock pick,” Trixie explained. “Once I saw it and realized what was happening, Trixie felt it was necessary to jump in and help Mr. Houdini out before he drowned.”

“A lock pick?” the pegasus blinked. “Where did you hide a lock pick? We searched you before you jumped.”

“Sorry,” Harry smiled, “can’t tell you that.”

The officer nodded and turned to Trixie. “Ms. Lulamoon, that was a very courageous thing you did.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t really think it through. I just realized what was happening and decided that something had to be done.”

“But it was that quick thinking that saved my life back there.” Harry patted her on the back. Soon, their boat came to the harbor and the pair stepped off onto the dock. “How about I give you a couple tickets to my next show?” Harry told the officer. “I really appreciate your help in saving my neck back there.”

The pegasus stallion shook his head. “No thank you. I’ll still be on duty by the time your show starts. In the meantime, we still have somepony that is in need of some questioning.”

“Fair enough,” Harry nodded. “Thanks again for all that you’ve done.”

The mare finished drying herself with the towel she was given. She began walking away until Mr. Houdini stopped her. “Where’re you going?”

“Trixie really needs a break,” she told him, covering her limp mane with the towel. “I really need some time to sort out what just happened. I mean, you almost died back there, as did I.”

“I've heard countless stories about heroes doing what you just did.”

“I’m no hero, I’m just a magician.” She turned to walk away, but the giant quickly followed beside her.

“Why not? You saved me--”

“I wasn’t thinking,” she cut him off.

“And yet here we are,” Houdini pointed out. “That doesn’t change what happened, and regardless of what you think, I have to thank you for what you did.”

She paused to look up at him. “You don’t even know me that well.”

“No,” he replied, “but I do know a good soul when I see one. One that is willing enough to try and make a friend out of.”

Another pause on Trixie’s part. “Really? Do you want to be my friend? I’m sorry, but I think I need some more time to slow down for a bit.”

“Fair enough,” Harry nodded. “I expect that you’re still coming to tonight’s show?”

“Indeed.” The mare turned to exit the docks. “If only to see what other clever tricks you’re capable of.”

Chapter 16: The Milk Can Escape.

The Gryphodrome was said to be the largest theater in Equestria, housing about a thousand seats and covered with a strong, cast iron dome. It was the kind of place where circuses, stunt devils, actors, and magicians performed once their names were noticed by the city. As Trixie entered the enormous stadium-like theater, memories came back to her about her own triumph, gaining her fame and performing in this very place.

She sat on the second of three balconies that overlooked the titanic stage, large enough to house several apartments. Above her were six banners attached to the interior of the domed ceiling. Three of them held the Equestrian National Seal, while the others bared the initials “H. H.”

Looking around, the mare saw that the seats were almost packed as ponies tried to find a place to take their seats. She also took notice of the box seats closest to the stage, draped in blue fabric and bearing the Royal Family Seal. They were surrounded by Solar Guards all standing at attention. They had been standing there ever since the Princess had come early.

Then, at exactly seven, a voice was heard over the loudspeakers. “All rise for Her Majesty, the Diarch of the Sun, the Solar Mother of Equestria, Princess Celestia!”

Everypony in the theater rose as one as a spotlight shined upon the Royal Box, revealing the white alicorn herself. There were applause and wishes of welcome that greeted her as she smiled and waved to her subjects.

“And now, the Gryphodrome theater is proud to present, the Master of Mystery, the Emperor of Escape, the King of Hoocuffs himself! Mares and gentlecolts, please welcome the one and only, the Great Harry Houdini!”

The audience applauded when the lanky human walked out from behind the huge red curtain, wearing the same silk scarlet robe that Trixie saw him perform in several nights ago. Not only that, but the same timepiece was brought on stage as well.

But unlike that night where she first saw him perform, Trixie saw that he was holding a small blue object. She immediately recognized it, knowing that the theater handed the small pins out to performers to help project their voices over the loudspeakers. Such a thing was necessary for a theater as massive as the Gryphodrome.

“Good evening, mares and gentlecolts!” Harry turned to Princess Celestia and took a small bow. “And good evening to you, Your Majesty. I must say, you have no idea how refreshing it is to see someone of a similar size!” The audience and Princess laughed.

“Now then, before we begin…” Houdini slowly walked over to the oversized stopwatch. “Let’s take a moment to talk about the mind. I believe we can all agree that it is such a marvelous thing. With it, we can read, write, create masterpieces, and even dream up impossible ideas that no one else could even think of. It also because of the mind that one can do wondrous and amazing things.

“Everything you are about to see, mares and gentlecolts, commoner and royalty alike, is the extent and potential of the mind’s true capabilities, whether with a horn or lack thereof. For although I may be fifty years of age, do not be fooled by my appearance. I have exercised my own mentality to pull off the impossible, so be prepared to be exhilarated, mystified, and captivated as I push myself beyond the limits of the mind.

“Case in point.” He put his hand on the clock. “I have with me the largest stopwatch in the world. For my first trick, let me pose a question: How long can one hold their breath?” The curtain partly opened, revealing two men carrying a milk can, being careful not to spill the liquid inside. Meanwhile, a woman in a circus costume entered from stage right, taking her place right beside the watch.

Harry walked back to the center of the stage. “This milk can is filled to the brim with water. And if the gentlemen would please turn around, you will see that there are no hidden panels nor a trap door on its bottom.” As he spoke, the men carrying the can did as they were told, turning the milk jug in place before bringing it to Houdini.

“Since we’ve established that it is genuine,” Harry said, disrobing until he was down to a blue swimsuit before stepping into the can, “let’s do a little experiment. On the count of three, I’d like the audience to take a deep breath, and then try to hold it as long as you can. Is everyone ready? One, two, three!” With that, Houdini submerged himself into the tight space of the watery can, while the female assistant pushed a button on the stopwatch to start it.

Like the last time, Trixie saw and heard nearly everypony take a deep breath, trying to hold it while the timepiece echoed through the theater. They all tried to wait for Harry to reappear, but once they noticed that he still wasn’t surfacing, many of them let their breath go.

By a minute and twenty seconds, Harry’s head popped back up. “Pretty difficult isn’t it?” he asked, his hair dripping wet. “And now, before I dive back in, I shall be placed in handcuffs.” His assistants come out with a pair of handcuffs and a large, padlocked lid. “I will also be locked inside with this lid. While I’m inside, I will be concealed by a large circular curtain, and my lovely assistant shall time me.” His assistants started to cuff him. “Now, I should inform the audience that I have an assistant backstage with an ax in the event that something goes wrong. Because let’s face it, there’s always that chance.”

Once he was ready, Harry looked over to the ticking clock. When its arm reached the sixty-second mark, Houdini took a deep breath and dove back in. His assistants quickly placed the lid on top of the can and began locking the padlocks. A large curtain descended from above, and the assistant flipped the card, marking the time.

“One minute,” she declared.

Although Trixie had seen this before, she still had to admit that the trick was a little exciting, as well as dangerous considering the size of the milk can. She noted that it seemed just barely big enough for the human to squeeze into.

“Two minutes,” Trixie noted that similarly to what happened last time, the audience started to get worried. As the seconds ticked on, the sense of dread grew stronger.

“Three minutes.” Even Celestia herself had a look of worry peeking through her normally calm face.

“What’s going on?”

“Is he okay?”

“Four minutes.” The assistant sounded a bit worried herself.

Soon, history repeated itself as a thousand voices rang throughout the theater out of concern for the magician. Even the assistants shared their concern, seemingly looking worried that something had gone wrong.

Suddenly, an assistant came rushing from backstage with a bright red ax. As he raised it above his head, the yellow curtain drew back. There, on top of the can, triumphantly stood none other than Harry Houdini, still dripping wet with his arms crossed and a pair of unlocked cuffs in his hand.

The audience applauded loudly, amazed to see that the locks on the lid were still secured.

Chapter 17: The Vanishing Elephant and the Brick Wall.

About five minutes later, the stage was reset for the next trick. While Houdini excused himself, the curtain opened up to reveal a tall structure. The audience saw a massive platform with a ramp leading up to a flat surface. On each of the four corners stood a post, each holding up a velvet canopy and red curtains draped over the sides.

‘What is he planning to do now?’ Trixie shared the same thoughts as the rest of the audience, with even Celestia gazing at the structure in curiosity.

As they waited, the blue unicorn noticed two things. First was a muffled noise that seemed to be coming from behind the curtain in the background. It sounded almost like somepony was stacking stones or something else that caused some sort of scraping.

The other was that across from the Solar Princess stood Houdini’s wife. Instead of being in a circus costume like she expected, Bess wore a black dress with a red bead shawl. Her hair was still short and wavy, and underneath her makeup, she seemed thoughtful of the stage’s unique setup.

A spotlight illuminated the left side of the stage as Harry walked out, now fully dressed with the speaker stone pinned to his tie. He strode out before the audience’s applause.

“During my time here in Equestria, I have discovered something that’s caught my interest ever since I first arrived,” he said. “That discovery, as strange as it might sound to you all, is that you ponies possess magic that my kind has written off as impossible. The ponies of the earth possess the strength of stone, and the ponies of the sky have been granted the ability to fly into the heavens above. Those gifted with horns have powers that are only limited to their imaginations. In fact, many of you here might say that the ability to levitate objects and teleport are limited to unicorns.”

Trixie nodded to herself, inquiring where he was going with this.

“Then I must tell you, mares and gentlecolts, that this is simply not true.” This statement got the whole theater whispering to one another. “For while it quite obvious that I was not born with a horn, I have spent fifty years of my life perfecting my mind to make the impossible, possible! I can hear you wondering how I am able to prove such a bold declaration. I would be more than happy to demonstrate.”

With a hand raised high above his head, he gestured to those hidden backstage.

“May I introduce to you, from our very own Manehattan City Zoo, Lilly the Elephant!”

From stage right, a pale gray tusked elephant that easily towered Houdini and his troupe slowly crossed the stage as the crowd respectfully stomped their hooves. Leading the elephant was a violet pegasus with a blond mage who was wearing a dark green uniform.

“Lilly here is nine feet tall, weighing just a bit over five tons,” Harry told his audience as he walked around the passing elephant. “Truly, a living marvel to behold. She was rescued from poachers in the grassy plains of Zebrica who I am told wanted her ivory tusks. Thankfully, she now resides in the sanctuary of your city’s zoo.”

As the audience continued applauding, the pegasus led Lilly up the ramp and into the center of the canopy structure.

“But now, mares and stallions of all ages, with the power of my well-trained mind, I will make this beauty vanish before your very eyes, causing her to suddenly reappear back at the zoo.”

Curtains from all sides of the structure were closed by the humans with a little help from a few pegasi until all four sides were drawn, hiding the elephant from view.

Now with Harry standing at center stage, he closed his eyes. He put one hand on his chest while his other was in front of his face with his fingertips placed on his forehead. Taking several deep breaths, he slowly turned around. The audience was captivated and watched his every move, wondering how he would make the large animal disappear.

Now facing the enclosed structure, he slowly raised his hands before giving a sudden and sharp CLAP! He then gestured with both of his hands, signaling his assistants to open the curtains.

Three sides of the canopy were pulled aside, revealing the enclosed space devoid of an elephant.

Gasps were collectively voiced, ponies’ jaws dropping to the floor with eyes wide open. Without a puff of smoke or a flash of light, a five-ton creature had just disappeared in front of a crowd of at least a thousand ponies. The silence was quickly broken by thunderous applause.

‘For something that claims to not have magic, that was a really good trick,’ Trixie thought. ‘I should really figure out how he did it.’

“Thank you very much.” Harry took a bow while his assistants pulled the tall structure off of the stage. “While making an elephant vanish is quite difficult for someone lacking a horn sticking out of their forehead, how about I do something a little bit harder?”

The green curtain was suddenly pulled away, revealing several construction ponies finishing a brick wall. Confusion spread across the audience’s faces just as the last pieces of brick and mortar were placed.

“As you can see,” Houdini pointed to the construction ponies, “while the show was going on, these brick masons have spent the past hour quietly erecting this brick wall, doing their best to not interrupt the show. What an achievement.”

While the audience applauded, the construction ponies took their leave. As they left the stage, one of Harry’s assistants came on and brought him a mallet.

Taking the hammer into his hands, Houdini turned to the audience. “As you can see, this wall--” he hit the dried brick wall with the mallet, “--is completely solid on all sides.” He walked around to all of the sides, smacking them with the mallet. “This wall has been built right into the very back of the stage, so it should be impossible for me to go around it without any of you seeing me.”

His assistants took the heavy mallet away, leaving only Houdini and the wall on stage. “I may have made a full grown elephant vanish, but my next trick will show that I can use my mind to walk through this very brick wall.”

Intrigue spread throughout the crowd. Trixie glanced over at Celestia, noticing that she was craning her neck over to get a closer view, but her expression was otherwise unreadable.

As Harry went into a meditative state, four female assistants joined him on stage. They dragged out two flat panels on wheels that had been painted to look like bushes. As they showed off both sides of the dividers, Houdini slowly made his way toward the brick structure before the set pieces hid him away from the audience’s view.

When the panels were wheeled away, the ponies were surprised to see that Houdini had suddenly appeared on the other side of the wall.

“Wanna see that again?”

”YES!”

Like before, the human meditated and the assistants blocked the audience’s view for just a moment before Harry reappeared on the other side.

Chapter 18: The Bullet Catch.

After approval by the audience’s hooves, Harry Houdini again excused himself from the stage as his assistants and stageponies alike worked on something curious. Bags and wheelbarrows full of sand were dumped in front of the brick wall, forming a mound around it. They worked quickly to pile the sand until it was around two-thirds of the wall’s height. Once that was done, a pedestal and a painted bullseye were placed directly before the small mound of sand.

While this was all being set up, Trixie looked over to the box where Mr. Houdini’s wife was sitting in. She had a hand covering her mouth in dread, seemingly knowing what the next trick entailed.

Harry himself walked on stage soon after, holding a long and oddly-shaped stick made out of wood and metal.

“May I have your attention please, mares and gentlecolts?” Houdini declared to his audience. “The trick you are about to witness is something that, for a long time, I have deemed too dangerous to attempt. I have done many dangerous things in my career. I have been tossed into rivers in chains and handcuffs, buried alive, trapped in a submerged crate, strapped onto a lit cannon, swallowed by a whale, and even locked in an airtight vault. And yet, all of those are nothing compared to what you’re about to see.”

He then held up the strange stick for all to see. With the help of the stage lights, Trixie examined a small mechanism that looked similar to the triggering mechanism of a crossbow. “I have been informed that Equestria yet to invent a device such as this,” Harry continued. “I hold in my hands an older model of a weapon we humans call a ‘gun’. While I apologize for not having one that’s more up-to-date, this was all I could find laying around.

“Of course, this may not seem like a weapon at first, but once I demonstrate its power, everyone will come to realize how dangerous this trick really is.” He turned to the Princess. “If I could, your Majesty, I’d like to borrow someone who is most skilled at using a crossbow.”

Everypony’s attention turned to the Princess’s box. Celestia put a hoof to her chin in thought before waving to one of her guards. A pegasus approached the Sun Princess as she bent down to whisper something to him. He gave her a quick nod and a salute before taking flight and landing before Houdini.

“What’s your name, soldier?” Harry asked.

“Sir, Drill Sergeant Arrow Point of her Majesty’s Solar Guard, sir!”

The illusionist laughed. “Be at ease,” he said as one of his assistants came on stage, carrying a horn with a cork in it. “Please allow me to show you how these old guns work.” He gave the rifle to his assistant, while Houdini gave the guard and audience a commentary as to how his assistant was preparing it.

“First, a little bit of gunpowder is poured into the barrel before being firmly pressed by the ramming rod. Next, a little wad of paper is added along with a small piece of lead called a ‘bullet’. Make sure that all of it is firmly pressed in using the rod. Once that is done-- thank you,” Harry took the rifle back into his hands, “all that needs to be done is to cock the igniter back until it clicks.” Harry demonstrated, the rifle giving off a loud click. “You may notice that a small piece of metal is sticking out from underneath. Since the real trigger is too small for pony hooves, we’ve modified it a bit to more closely resemble a crossbow trigger.”

Arrow Point nodded and looked over to the bullseye where an assistant was placing a coconut on the pedestal in front of it.

“Now before I hand this over, I should inform everyone here that once this trigger is pulled, there will be a loud explosion, so be sure to cover your ears. As for the Drill Sergeant, I should warn you to never pull the trigger unless you’re sure the bullet will fly straight at the target. Also, be sure to have the butt of the rifle held firmly in place with your shoulder because it will give quite a kick.”

The loaded gun was handed over to the Solar Guard, who then stood up on his hind legs in order to hold the weapon. “As you can see,” Harry pointed to the coconut, “your target is, let’s say… thirty-five or forty feet away. Unless, of course, you want to be closer.” Harry added with a cocky smile.

Arrow Point looked over to the Princess. With a quick nod from her, the Sergeant carefully placed the rifle on his shoulder and took a few steps forward. He took aim, lowering his gun as he pointed it towards the coconut.

“Fire when ready, Drill Sergeant.”

Trixie covered her ears, as did many of the audience, as the Solar Guard took a moment to focus on the target. Then, he pulled the trigger--

Ka-BOOM!

The weapon let off a thunderous boom as everyone in the theater jumped, gasped, or even screamed at the deafening explosion. Not even a fraction of a second later, the coconut had exploded into pieces as milk splattered onto the stage floor. Arrow Point had nearly been knocked over, completely shocked at the amount of power the small piece of metal and wood produced.

Nevertheless, Houdini clapped at the performance. “Excellent shot, Drill Sergeant. I would trust you with my life.” The audience took this as their cue to applaud the Solar Guard’s first lucky shot with such a unique weapon.

“And now,” the magician said as his assistants took the rifle away to reload it, “since we’ve established how deadly this thing is, we’re going to shoot it once more, with a little twist. You will all soon see why this is considered to be the most dangerous trick ever conceived. And do not worry, Arrow Head, for I guarantee that you’ll be perfectly safe.”

Houdini took the bullet from his assistants and produced a marker from his coat pocket, presenting both to the Drill Sergeant. “Would you please mark this bullet?”

Arrow Point uncapped the marker and took the bullet in one hoof, carefully etching a star on the side of it before giving it back to Houdini, who swiftly placed it in the barrel before pushing it down with the ramming rod.

With the gun now reloaded and cocked back, Harry gave the weapon back to Arrow before walking toward the target.

“Now Drill Sergeant, take aim.”

Raising the otherworldly weapon, the guard eyed the bullseye. But then, to everyone’s confusion, Houdini stepped right in front of the target.

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “What is he doing?”

“I will now attempt to catch the bullet,” Harry proclaimed, “with nothing but my own teeth.”

A horrified gasp went throughout the theater. They had seen the coconut shatter like a vase under the power of the weapon. Had Houdini gone mad?

The Drill Sergeant’s eyes widened, more reluctant than ever to have volunteered to do this. He glanced over at Celestia for guidance, wondering if he should go through with this.

“I said I trust you with my life, Drill Sergeant,” Harry said, getting the pony’s attention back. “Now let’s see if you trust me.”

Arrow Head snapped his head back over to the Princess, his eyes pleading for her to spare him from such a monumental responsibility. Celestia, however, only had an eyebrow raised. She eventually nodded, allowing him to fulfill Houdini’s request.

Gulping, Arrow raised the rifle one more time, focusing his aim on Harry Houdini’s mouth.

“Drill Sergeant Arrow Head,” the human said, “fire the gun.”

“No!” a screech came from the crowd. “Don’t do it!” Many others soon joined in with concern.

“Fire!” Houdini shouted over the loudspeakers.

“You’re going to kill him!”

“Do it!” the illusionist commanded. “Fire the gun!”

“Stop!”

“Don’t do it!”

“Think of what you’re doing here!”

“Don’t shoot!”

A riot of voices pleaded for the lone guard to stop, standing stock-still as he held the loaded rifle aimed at the magician’s jaw. Even with years of discipline and constant praise for his ability to see reason, he couldn’t see any scenario where the insane human survived this stunt, especially after seeing the damage that was dealt with the coconut.

Closing his eyes, he tried to block out the crowd for a single moment before focusing all of his attention on Houdini. He had seen him escape from a locked milk can, made an elephant disappear, and even walk through a brick wall. Hoping that the human knew what he was doing, Arrow took aim and pulled the trigger--

Ka-BOOM!

To everyone’s horror, Harry flew backward with his hand covering his mouth. He fell over the target and landed on the sand behind it.

“HARRY!” Mrs. Houdini screamed, covering her mouth with her hands in sheer terror.

There was a pause as the smoke from the gun cleared. Not a single soul dared move, frozen in shock at what they’d just witnessed.

But suddenly, Mr. Houdini rolled off of the sandy mound and onto the floor of the stage. He slowly stood up, lifting his head and showing off a shiny object in his teeth. As the audience’s eyes grew, Harry walked over to the stunned Drill Sergeant and spat the bullet into a porcelain bowl that an assistant had just handed him.

“Is this your bullet?” he asked the Solar Guard, taking the marked piece of lead out of the bowl.

The theater erupted in cheers and sighs of relief.