Magic was the topic at the table when Celestia and Spike joined the girls, Soarin and Zephyr Breeze in the Sweet Snacks Café before it opened and the breakfast rush began. The Flimflam Brothers Resort was hosting a magicians’ convention at the hotel and several performers from illusionists to hypnotists had checked in over the past few days.

Soarin held up his hardboiled egg and asked, “How great would it be if I cracked this open and a dove flew out?”

“That’d be unbelievable,” Zephyr said. “We’d be talking about it forever.”

“Plus, I’d sue this place for millions,” Soarin replied, “buy a cabin in the woods, maybe a boat... But I’d have to buy a lot of birdseed, too.”

“Why?” Zeph asked.

“To feed the million-dollar dove,” Soarin answered.

“This is an actual conversation?” Twilight asked rhetorically.

“Women are the ones always asking what men are thinking about,” Soarin replied. “Never ask me what I’m thinking about,” he advised.

“Not anymore,” Twilight retorted.

“Good,” Soarin said.

“I’ll admit, magic’s pretty cool,” Pinkie replied, “but I’m more of a human cannonball kind of girl.”

“I know a little hypnosis, myself,” Starlight said. “What about you, Spike?”

“I hate magic,” he stated.

Twilight stiffened as if Spike had slapped her.

“How can you not like magic?” she asked.

“I just don’t. You got problem with that?”

The entire table stared at Spike in shock.

“I don’t want to talk about magic. I don’t want to hear the word ‘magic’, I don’t want anything to do with magic, and I hope and pray to never see another magic trick for as long as I live!!” he yelled.

He turned his whole body away from them, but he didn’t get up to leave.

“All right, Spike,” said Pinkie, “what is the deal with you and magic?”

Spike glared at her for a moment, like he was hoping she would burst into flames. Then he went right back to staring away from them.

“Spike, what is it? What’s wrong?” Pinkie asked, genuinely concerned.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said shortly.

“Spike was part of a wonderful magic act when he was a boy,” Celestia explained, “The Great and Powerful Trixie... and Friend.”

“Wait! Trixie?” Starlight asked. “As in Trixie Lulamoon? My best friend? That Trixie?”

“Oh, you know her?” Celestia asked.

“She’s the Resort’s very own special in-house magician,” Starlight said.

“And friend?” Twilight inquired, looking at Spike.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Spike repeated.

As if on cue, Celestia pulled her cell phone and showed them a video of Spike and Trixie when Spike was seven-years-old and Trixie was thirteen. Trixie was dressed in a top hat with a cape and wand, while Spike had been reduced to wearing a ridiculous outfit with a brightly colored vest and neck tie.

In the video, Trixie was performing one of magic’s most popular impromptu tricks. All she needed to baffle her audience was a length of rope (which she proved to be strong and unprepared). She gathered the rope to find its exact center. Then she made a loop and held it in her hand. After that, she pulled out a pair of scissors and cut through the center of the rope. She twisted the cut ends in her fist; waved her other hand over it, and when she reopened her hand, the rope was back in one piece as if by magic.

“Aww... You were so cute!” Fluttershy said.

“But how do you know Trixie?” Starlight asked Celestia. “And more importantly, how does Spike know her?”

“Trixie was Spike’s closest friend,” Celestia replied.

“Another ‘closest friend’?” Rarity asked. “What about Thorax?”

“Before Thorax,” Celestia explained. “They both attended my School for Gifted Youths together and Spike saved Trixie’s life.”

“Where’d Spike meet Thorax, then?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“They were roommates in college, but before that, who knows?” Celestia replied. “A racetrack, a nightclub, Whinnyland...”

The gang turned to Spike to ask him, but he was gone. Celestia paid for all of their meals and they went off to find him. They found him with Discord, standing by the large double doors leading to one of the resort’s theaters, in front of a stone statue of Trixie’s father, the late, great Jack Pot.

“That man was one of the greatest showmen I’d known since Flank Sinatra,” Discord told Spike. “Jack was supposed to be the Resort’s main attraction. The theater was designed specifically to house his show. Sadly, it was not meant to be.”

He and Spike bowed their heads, almost mournfully, as if to pay respect to the dead. Spike knew that world-famous magicians used their tricks to impress supermodels and beautiful Applewood starlets the same way some guys used flashy cars to impress women who were way out of their league (Spike, himself, was guilty of using both in the past). But Spike knew Jack Pot all too well and his daughter... And it all began with a game of the old street hustle, three-card Monte.

It was fifteen years ago, when Spike was walking down a street in Monacolt. He came across a girl in a blue top hat, a blue jacket, a matching skirt and heels. She had very pale hair, beautiful dark violet eyes, and an even more beautiful smile. She was amazing.

“I know a lucky boy when I see one,” she had said.

“And you look like the cat that ate the canary,” Spike countered. “Tell me, what would your Daddy think if he knew his little girl was running a con game?”

“Some people sharpen their skills with Tae Kwon Do, I sharpen mine with cards,” she replied. “Lay your money down, rube.”

Spike put down fifty dollars, which was all the money he had. Trixie smiled.

“Of course you know the object of this game is to stay away from the Jokers and find the Queen of Hearts,” she told him. “If you can find the Queen after the cards are shuffled you win double your money back.”

“Let her rip, baby cakes,” Spike said.

“Okay, here we go. Keep your eyes on the prize,” she said as she shuffled. “Everyone wins and everyone’s a winner. Show me the lucky lady.”

Spike pointed to the left card.

“Right here, toots,”

Trixie flipped the card over.

“Son of a--!” she exclaimed. “Beginner’s luck... Keep your eyes on--”

“There,”

“Damn! This is impossible!”

“I guess all that time hanging out with transient carnival workers finally paid off,” he said.

Trixie snapped her fingers and the faces of all three of the cards transformed into the Queen of Hearts.

“I’d say the hearts are on your side, Slick,” she said. “What to go see some real magic?”

---

Trixie loved being onstage, seeing the mystified looks of the crowd as she wowed them with the simplest of magic. She had started out as a regular stage magician, performing parlor tricks, when her father, Jack Pot, introduced her to the world of true magic. She quickly began incorporating it into her act, creating illusions that would be impossible for any other magician to replicate. It was her ticket to fame and fortune. But Trixie didn’t perform for the money, or the attention. She was in it for the thrill.

She also adored Spike, so much that she went doe-eyed whenever he was around. They’d been best friends, mostly because Trixie’s father was extremely protective of her, always too worried about “bad influences”. But she had Spike and they shared a very special bond; Trixie felt it was her responsibility to make sure that Spike was happy.

Spike’s mind drifted to the last time he saw her. It was a routine they had done time and time again. The very first illusion of the night would be Jack dramatically appearing onstage, whether it was levitating down from the rafters, teleporting in with a puff of smoke, or by a simple drawback of the curtains by the crew offstage. Then Jack would introduce his daughter, usually by either helping her out of his top hat, or making her materialize out of thin air or a cloud of smoke, demonstrating Jack’s power to convince the audience that he could make his assistant(s) come and go at will. It was always one Tartarus of a show. Then they added Spike to their act. And when they did, no trio had been more famous. And no trick was too big. They had done almost every trick in the book: amazing appearances, death-defying escapes, baffling levitations, astounding vanishes, mind-blowing sleight of hand, and impossible illusions; everything from the levitating woman to the disappearing elephant.

Their final performance together, Jack and Spike stepped out in black tuxedos and matching hooded capes. Then Jack asked Spike to help him with the first trick, which involved a tall, four-legged wooden frame. Spike entered and examined the seemingly empty frame. As he looked around, the audience could see straight through it. Then Spike lowered a chain from the frame’s round top. Then, Jack handed Spike a costume—a suitably seductive two-piece number and a pair of heels. Spike hung the costume from the chain as Jack removed his cloak. As Jack attached it to the frame, Spike picked up a ghostly mannequin head. Once the cloak was in place, Spike set the head on top of the frame. Jack pulled the hood of his cloak up and over the head and he gave Spike a signal to rotate the entire frame.

While Spike was spinning the frame, Jack did a few of his patented hand gestures and pulled a bouquet of red roses from one of his sleeves. After Spike finished spinning the frame, Jack handed him the bouquet. Jack removed his cloak from the frame and there was Trixie, wearing her top hat and the costume that Spike had hung from the chain. And she was delighted by the bouquet. The audience applauded and Spike pocketed three of the roses. He was going to need them for later. Then Jack took his cloak and stepped off to the side as Trixie stepped forward.

“Now for something simple,” she said to the audience. “Nothing up my sleeves; and my hat is empty.”

She took off her top hat and displayed the inside of it to the crowd. She even tossed it into the air to further prove that nothing was hidden inside.

“Now, who can guess what I’m going to pull out of my hat?” she asked.

Some of the audience members shouted guesses to her.

“A rabbit!”

“Some scarves?”

“Another bouquet of flowers?”

“Would you believe... more hats?” she asked them.

Trixie reached into her hat and pulled out a slightly smaller top hat. Then she pulled another out of that one, and another, and another, and another like they were nesting dolls, until she finally pulled out one the size of her fingernail.

“Thank you, thank you!” Trixie said with a smile as they cheered and her father returned.

“And now, my assistants will help me perform another illusion,” he told them, “one of the most famous in all of magic.”

He levitated an ordinary-looking table and chair onto the stage. Spike walked around the chair so that he, and the audience, could get a good look at it. Then he did the same with the table. They could see that there was nothing on or below the chair or the table. Then, Jack stepped onto the table to prove that there was nothing above him or the table. He then called Trixie over so that the audience could get a good look at her.

Jack stepped down from the table and Spike and Trixie covered it with a large sheet. After that, Spike handed Jack the chair, which Jack placed in the center of the tabletop. Ever the gentleman, Spike helped Trixie step up onto the table where she joined her father, who told her to sit in the chair. Jack stepped back down onto the stage again, removed his cloak once more, and began to raise it while Trixie was still in the chair. Spike helped cover Trixie with the cloak and Jack told the audience to watch carefully as they lifted it in front of her. Again, the audience could see that there was nothing below the table.

Jack waved his hands a bit, and when Spike lifted the sheet away, Trixie was gone. Spike helped Jack remove the chair from atop the table and Jack spun around on top of the table to prove that Trixie was really gone. After Jack stepped down from the table, Spike removed the other sheet. Once again, the audience saw nothing underneath the table... and Trixie was nowhere to be found. But wait! There she was! On the far side of the stage!

After that, Spike plunged a rose through Trixie’s heart. From the expression on Trixie’s face, the audience could tell that she hoped his intentions were honorable. But they weren’t. She let him approach from behind. And then, he plunged the rose straight through her back and out through her chest.

Spike’s first “solo” illusion was a classic trick that Jack had performed countless times all over the world. One of magic’s bread and butter tricks: levitating—more specifically, levitating someone else. For centuries, magicians have been making audiences believe that they have mastered the art of levitation. And Spike was going to do it using a solid oak plank, three chairs (two of which were set up at each end of the plank), and a pedestal in between them.

Trixie did a little dance to get the men in the audience, and Spike, into the mood. Spike gazed into Trixie’s eyes, as if to put her into a trance (I’ll tell you right now, he was the one entranced). She stepped up onto the chair in front of the pedestal, reclined on the board resting between the other two chairs, and she appeared to go limp. From offstage, Jack telekinetically lifted the chair in front of the makeshift table and levitated it towards him, behind the curtain.

Spike wrapped Trixie in the sheet that was covering the board and then he removed the center pedestal from beneath the plank so that it was supported only by the two chairs. Beneath the board, the audience could see that Spike was standing on a raised platform so they could see his legs. A few waves with Spike’s hands, and Trixie began to rise. On Spike’s command, Jack (who was still standing offstage) telekinetically moved the other two chairs, which had been supporting the plank, leaving it, and Trixie, floating in midair. Slowly, Trixie continued to rise.

Spike moved his whole arm under her body to prove that nothing was supporting her. Then, with a wave of his hand, Jack levitated a stainless steel ring the size of a hula-hoop out and Spike grabbed it out of the air. Spike passed the metal hoop around Trixie’s whole body, to prove that she wasn’t being suspended by wires, cables, or any other kind of supports. He passed the ring around her a second time, then Spike signaled to Jack, who took the hoop away and returned the two chairs and the pedestal just in time before the board floated all the way to the ground. After the pedestal was put back in place, Spike made a few more waves with his arms. Slowly, Trixie floated down to her original position and Spike removed the sheet and brought her out of her trance.

There was a brief intermission, and when the audience returned, two identical steel structures had been set up onstage.

“Now, with the help of my daughter, Spike will perform the illusion of teleportation,” Jack told them. “Take a good look at her... and not just for the obvious reasons.”

Spike backed Trixie up a flight of stairs and onto the first platform suspended overhead. They danced around the pole at the top, gazing into each other’s eyes, to prove that there was no place to hide. Spike then took a bright red handkerchief from his pants pocket and tied Trixie’s hands to the beam, over her head, using two separate knots. As Spike descended the stairs, he looked back at Trixie to make sure that she couldn’t escape. Then, he ascended the stairs of the second platform ten feet away.

With a wave of Jack’s arms, the curtains on both platforms began to rise. When they fell down again, Trixie appeared on the second platform alongside Spike, having escaped her bonds.

The level of hype continued to rise as a giant glass tank filled to the brim with water, with a platform that surrounded the top, was brought out.

“Spike will now attempt to cheat death by performing the world’s most dangerous illusion: Hoofdini’s famous water torture escape!” Jack Pot announced. “I want you all to know that this chamber is airtight, the plate-glass is bulletproof, and there are more than 500 gallons of water sealed inside! As always, do not attempt this or any other dangerous illusions or escapes! We are professionals and we have a team of safety experts standing by. Spike has been training for the past six months to pull off this feat!”

It was true. Spike had learned to expand his lung capacity and slow his breathing by putting himself into a temporary state of suspended animation. This would allow him to stay underwater without gasping for air.

Most tricks aren’t very dangerous. But this one really is. In fact, anyone who would get into a device like that voluntarily would have to have confidence in their powers of escape... or a death wish. And if it was their “swan song,” it would be one Tartarus of a way to go.

There was a timer clock next to the tank, and Trixie was going to keep track of Spike’s minutes underwater.

The lid of the chamber was lifted and Spike began to mentally prepare for the dangerous trick. First, Spike held his arms out in front of his body and Trixie cuffed his wrists together. Then, his feet were shackled inside of the lid. Once he was tightly secured, Jack began to levitate Spike, upside down, into the air. Timing is crucial in a trick like this. Spike’s blood was already rapidly rushing to his head, increasing the odds that he would lose consciousness while underwater. He was trying to keep calm. He took a few deep breaths and concentrated on lowering his heart rate and expanding his lungs so that he could hold his breath for as long as possible. He was hoisted into position. He steeled his courage, took one final breath and nodded, indicating that he was ready. Trixie and Jack stood on both sides of the tank, closely monitoring Spike’s safety and ready to alert the paramedics if anything went wrong.

Spike was lowered into the chamber and water began to pour out, cascading to the floor, since there was no extra room in the chamber. It was very real, and very wet. Trixie and Jack secured the lid and locked it with heavy duty padlocks. Spike had been underwater for almost thirty seconds.

How long could he hold his breath?

Hopefully long enough.

Even experienced divers would find it terrifying to hold their breath while handcuffed and locked inside a tank of cold water with virtually no way out. Spike had been in much trickier positions than this. A minute later and Spike was still inside, struggling to escape. Even if he’d smuggled a lock-pick into the tank, reaching the locks on the outside would be impossible!

After he had managed to turn himself right-side up, he wrestled with the cuffs. He had been underwater for two whole minutes and he still hadn’t made any progress. But he didn’t show any signs of panicking, more like frustration. Three minutes and still holding his breath; it was then that he began to almost stand at the bottom of the tank as he slipped into his hyper-trance. Four minutes and Spike slowly slipped into his state of relaxed consciousness. A few air bubbles escaped from his lips. Jack and Trixie were still standing at the ready in case he needed help. Quite a few people in the audience wondered if Spike was okay. Another minute had gone by and Spike was still underwater and going into his trance.

Some more bubbles escaped from his mouth.

“Spike has been holding his breath for exactly five minutes!” Jack shouted.

Time was running out.

Still standing beside the tank, Trixie felt helpless. She wanted to get Spike out of there, but he had told her and her father in advance that he wanted to do it alone. It was going to take a miracle to get out of that.

Finally, Spike floated to the top of tank. His head and face were still underwater. There was no way for him to breathe. Panic overtook Trixie as she climbed to the platform at the top and she began to remove the locks to free him.

She struggled as she pulled him out of the water. She placed her hand on his neck to feel for a pulse while she placed her other hand on a pressure point in his back, monitoring for any sudden jerks or contortions that would indicate distress.

Nothing.

The paramedics were still standing by in the wings offstage, ready to act in the event of the worst.

Suddenly, Spike gasped.

He was alive! He was shaken, a little out of breath, almost completely out of strength, and barely even able to keep his head up, but none the worse for wear. And even though he hadn’t escaped, the audience still clapped, thankful that he was not dead.

And for their grand finale, Jack made two nine foot tall male elephants (one seven thousand pounds, the other five tons) appear, disappear, and reappear. Using his telekinesis, Jack raised a very large sheet (aside from the long poles sewn inside to hold it upright, it was not gimmicked in any way) in front of one of the elephants. He repeated the process with a second sheet, and then both of them dropped. The elephants had disappeared. Jack raised the sheets again and when they came down again, the elephants were back on the stage. The crowd roared, giving them a standing ovation. After the show ended and everyone else had gone home, Jack pulled Spike aside.

“I remember when my daughter first brought you to see one of my shows,” he said. “You had no interest in magic, and yet you were dying to learn. And for some reason, I wound up teaching you secrets I’ve never shown anyone else. I’m sorry you’re going to be moving on.”

“Same here,” Spike replied. “It was an honor to work with you.”

“I’ll miss you, Spike. And so, I trust, will Trixie,”

Jack smiled at his daughter and left the two of them alone.

“I thought you’d be finishing the tour with us,” Trixie began.

“I’m leaving for Jockeypan tomorrow,” Spike told her.

He had told her at least once before that he would be on a plane in the morning... and he was.

“I know,” she said, “first San Franciscolt, then Horseolulu, and Trotkyo.”

Trixie didn’t want him to go. She had made that abundantly clear, several times, but she knew that no matter what she said or did he would leave.

“Here,” he said.

He gave her the other two roses he had pocketed earlier before plunging the third one through her heart.

“I wish I could give you more,” he added.

“I have something for you, too,” she replied.

She reached behind her back and produced a pair of white men’s opera gloves. Spike knew that Trixie would ask him to try them on, so he did and they fit perfectly. They were a little dated, but still fashionable.

“As long as you wear these, your luck will never run out, and no harm will come to you,” she told him.

Spike gave her a smile and said, “I know I’ll see you again someday.”

He gave her one final hug and left. As the years went by, Spike started gambling (and found it to his liking). He had always had good luck, but now it had been amped up by the white opera gloves Trixie gave him before they parted.

Now, every time Spike wore those gloves, or even thought about magic, they reminded him of her.

---

Back in the present day, Spike was still standing in front of Jack’s statue with his head still bowed.

“Spike never knew his father,” Celestia told the girls, “and after his mother died, Dragon Lord Torch entrusted me with Spike’s care. I raised him like my own son. Upon learning that Barbara was a ballroom dancer, Spike decided to pursue becoming a dancer on his own.”

Spike looked down at the white gloves on his hands.

“Trixie’s mother had been hospitalized for quite some time,” Celestia continued. “Her father, Jack, was always working and she spent most of her childhood alone. They were virtually inseparable until Spike decided to study abroad and they parted ways. It’s hard to believe it’s been almost five years.”

“Five years?!” Pinkie cried.

“She and her father were very fond of him,” Celestia said.

“I was a different person then,” Spike said with a passive sigh. “I doubt she’ll even remember me.”

“Knowing Trixie, most likely, she will!” Starlight stated.

“Well you all can go in and check out rehearsal if you want,” Discord told them. “Right now, Miss Soleil and I have some business to discuss.”

And he walked off with Celestia.

---

The theater was laid out like the Midnight Lounge; with booths lining the walls and tables all across the floor. There was a string quartet playing, sitting in the far corner of the room; and most of the people seated around the theater were street magicians, illusionists who specialized in close-up magic and tried way too hard just to get attention.

At a table of three, one of them was making a soda can float through the air. He held it gently between the fingertips of both of his hands. He blew on the can and suddenly, in began to rise. He quickly snatched it before it went too high.

The second magician was making a coin penetrate a sealed can of beer. With the coin resting on his outstretched palm, he forced it through the bottom of the can. Nothing in his hand, but when he shook the can Twilight could hear the coin rattling inside. The magician broke the seal and the beer began to flow. He poured it into a glass, careful not to spill a drop of the suds. But the coin was still inside the empty can. He shook the can and the coin fell out through the top, slightly smelling of brew. An ordinary can of beer, still factory sealed, and an ordinary coin—nothing really special about either of them—a simple, good, and convincing sleight of hand trick that anyone could master and fool ‘em every time.

And the third man was doing trick that was often used by street magicians to convince their audience that they had freakish powers: tapping a bent bottle cap on the bottom of a clear (and empty) glass bottle. With the cap resting on his fingers, he continued to tap until the cap appeared inside the bottle. It seemed to have penetrated the glass without breaking it.

Twilight looked over at a table of five. One of them, a woman, was playing with linking rings (a trick that one can buy at just about any magic store). Two of the men were vanishing objects—one was using toothpicks while the other was using a book of matches. They held the little wooden sticks in plain view, made a few magical waves with their hands, and poof! The toothpick, and the matchstick, were both gone; vanished without a puff of smoke and without as much as a hint of sawdust. Twilight would have been impressed by that if he hadn’t seen the so-called “invisible tape” that was stuck to their thumbnails.

The fourth took a match from the second guy’s matchbox, lit it, and then lit a candle with it. Then, he took a piece of white paper and crumpled it into a ball. He touched it to the flame and, of course, it lit flared up. But it didn’t burn. He unfolded the paper to reveal a 100-dollar bill. A little warm, but still cold, hard cash—another classic piece of close-up magic that street performers presented as a brand-new miracle. And the fifth magician transferred the flame from the candle to his thumb and back again without burning himself before he blew out the candle.

And finally, at a table of four, one magician was making his cigarette pass through a (not-so-solid) half-dollar while the second was taking the cigarette’s ashes from the ashtray and making them pass through his hand. He sprinkled some on the back of his right hand, made a fist, and then rubbed the ash with his left hand. The ash had disappeared. He opened his fist and the ash was in his palm.

The third was making a crumpled 20-dollar bill float. At first glance, the bill looked authentic and unrigged. A few hand gestures and it looked like the bill was moving on its own. Then it began to hover in midair between his hands. Then, with a little coaxing, it did a little dance. Finally, it floated straight up to his hand. He unfolded it. It was still wrinkled, but other than that, unharmed.

“Wire,” Twilight thought. “More specifically, a super-fine thread that is virtually impossible to see.”

The thread acted like a fulcrum, or an improvised pulley, allowing him to raise and lower the bill, depending upon how far away he moved his hand. The more slack he took up, the closer the bill went to his hand. And by hooking the thread between his fingers, he could control the movement of the bill, making it look like it was dancing. And the fourth magician was debating whether to use his deck of playing cards or a seemingly ordinary spool of thread.

Spike, Soarin, Zephyr Breeze, and the girls took seats at the tables closest to the stage and a voice boomed from all around them.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Flimflam Brothers’ Resort is proud to present the Mistress of Illusion, the Prestidigitator without Peer—the one, the only, Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The lights dimmed and Trixie appeared on the stage in a puff of smoke.

She was still the gorgeous pale-haired, violet-eyed beauty that Spike remembered. Except now she was wearing a strapless blue silk leotard covered in sequins (her ample breasts peeked tantalizingly from the top) under a blue tuxedo vest with gold buttons, a matching tuxedo jacket with gold cufflinks, a blue bowtie, her blue top hat, a black cape, and fishnet stockings with her blue heels.

The first trick she performed was a simple transformation. Using her telekinesis, she levitated a glass of water from one of the tables in the theater. Then she levitated an empty coffee mug from another table. She grabbed both cups out of the air, and she poured the water from the glass into the coffee mug. Then she gave the mug a little shake. She poured the water from the mug, only it wasn’t water anymore... She had turned the water into ice!

The girls applauded, especially Pinkie Pie. Trixie clapped her hands together, made a few magical gestures, and an enormous straw basket levitated onto the stage.

“For my next trick, I’ll need a volunteer from the audience,” she said.

Pinkie Pie frantically waved her hands in the air while Spike crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Oh, we have a handsome young man right here, front and center,” Trixie said, motioning to Spike. “I assume the lovely blonde next to you is your date?” she inquired about Applejack.

“Actually, I’m his date,” Twilight spoke up.

“And I thought I was the magician,” Trixie joked, which earned a roaring wave of laugher from the other illusionists. “I’m just teasing. Why don’t you come on stage?” she directed at Spike.

“Go on, Spike,” said Twilight, “it’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, Spike, go on, do it!” Pinkie added.

Spike stepped up to the stage, and then climbed into the basket.

“I have to underscore the warning for the young people that are watching, and the drunk people, don’t try this at home,” Trixie told the audience. She leaned over Spike and added in a whisper, “Don’t worry, you’re perfectly safe.”

She put the lid on the basket, and then she levitated no less than a dozen swords onto the stage. They were very real and very sharp. Trixie plunged the first sword, a thin scimitar, through the center of the basket.

“Yeesh!” Spike breathed. “That was close!”

Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hands as Trixie drove more swords through the basket. It seemed like the blades were cutting right through Spike. But if that were true, Spike would have been screaming.

One by one, Trixie removed the blades from the basket, but she was far from done. After she removed the final sword, she removed her cape and covered the basket with it. Then she proceeded to levitate the basket into the air.

Trixie pulled on her cape, and the basket and Spike were gone.

“Where did he go?” Twilight asked.

“I bet this isn’t the first time she’s said that on a date,” Trixie told the audience. “Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. You’ve been very kind,” she added with a bow.

Suddenly, a hoarse, petulant voice roared from above them. A voice that was very different from the one that had introduced Trixie.

“Get out! NOW!!”

Suddenly, a tall, thin man in a tattered suit and a scary mask appeared on the stage in a blazing inferno. Some of the street magicians ducked under tables for cover while others fled the theater. Fluttershy screamed and ran as the masked man shot fireballs out of his eyes and they burned through the cables of a steel cage that was holding a 1200cc motorcycle suspended high above the stage. The cables snapped and the cycle plummeted toward Trixie!

Next Chapter: It's Magic, Part Two Estimated time remaining: 17 Hours, 23 Minutes