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Trixie Luna Moon

by Lets Do This

Chapter 1: A Simple Illusion

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A Simple Illusion

All was hushed, in the tower room adjacent to the Library Annex at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. For the Great and Powerful Trixie was about to face the most difficult, most challenging, most hoof-biting feat of her entire career...

... sitting quietly, not uttering a word, whilst another pony struggled with the simplest of illusions. And it was one of her personal favorites, besides...

TING... TING... CLATTER.

"Oh, sherbet!" Starlight Glimmer muttered crossly. Then, remembering she was "on stage", so to speak, the lavender unicorn spoke up more loudly, facing the otherwise empty room. "Well... I'm baffled, folks! They were linked before, but they sure aren't now. Would you assist me in examining them again, my helpful volunteer from the audience?"

Trixie nodded, and accommodatingly took the steel hoop that she was offered, apparently at random. She made a show of feeling around it with her forehooves, verifying that it was solid, while Starlight did the same with the one she still held. Then, taking the ring back from her, Starlight presented them both with a flourish.

"All right, here we go again... on three... one, two, three..."

TING... TING... SMACK.

"Ow!" Starlight ruefully sucked her injured hoof. Then she sighed, and looked helplessly at Trixie.

"I give up... what am I doing wrong?"

"You've nearly got it, Starlight," Trixie said encouragingly. "Nearly. And great recovery, by the way -- when things don't go quite the way you plan, keep your audience in mind. Give them the chance to be on your side. Remember, they want the trick to work as much as you do. You just need to keep it cool, help them believe that eventually it will work, that you were only making a show of flubbing it."

"I just can't seem to get the crash link part right." Starlight frowned at the rings in her hooves. "It's so hard. It needs such precision!"

"Oh, nonsense." Trixie casually took the rings from her -- first the one, then the other, letting them gently clink together as they rested on the curl of her fetlock. "That's actually the least part of the trick. There's a flaw in one of the rings, you see, and you just need to keep it mind, make sure it's in the right place at the right time. The trick itself is in the patter, the presentation -- the showponyship. Keeping up a steady pace, a steady rhythm. Lulling the audience's suspicions, bit by bit. And then, all at once -- hey presto!"

She casually let one of the rings slip from her hoof. TING. It hung gently from the other, already linked.

Starlight giggled. "See! That's what I mean. You make it look so easy!"

"Pfuh! It just takes practice, bestie!" Trixie said. Taking hold of the rings with both hooves, she tugged at them, ostentatiously making them clink and clatter, apparently solidly connected. "Not to mention presence on the stage, and total, unstinting confidence in yourself... and we both know I've got that, right?"

Starlight laughed, and nodded. Trixie laughed right along with her, at the same time eyeing her friend, making sure Starlight was no longer hung up on her failure. After all, the worst way to master a trick was to struggle with it, beat your head against it, cementing your own sense of inadequacy...

... unless of course, that was part of the trick too...

Trixie stared at the rings, as if baffled by them herself. And then, subtly shifting her hoof-grip on the left one, she looked straight at Starlight...

And held out the other ring, unlinked.

"Here, let's do another practice run," Trixie suggested. "Just so you get used to the props. Then we'll work on the pitch and pacing some more, help you get that down."

"Thanks, Trixie." Starlight took the rings, and let Trixie show her how to position them again. Then she tapped them together.

TING... TING... CLINK.

"Hey!" Starlight said proudly. "Voila!"

"There, you see? Nothing to it!" Trixie said. "Just practice that move a few times, Starlight, and you'll be playing these things like tambourines."

"I just might be." Starlight nodded. "You're a great teacher, Trixie."

"A Great and Powerful Teacher!" Trixie reminded her, smugly. "And don't you never forget it!"

"Absolutely!" Starlight agreed. "Were you always this good? I mean, did somepony just pull you out of a hat or something, already able to do magic like this?"

Trixie abruptly fell silent, looking sad.

"What is it?" Starlight asked, concerned.

"Nothing, Starlight," Trixie said quickly. "And no, Trixie wasn't always this good. It took a lot of work, just getting here." Then she brightened up a little. "But I had a couple really good teachers, helping me along."

"Wow!" Starlight said. "I'll bet they were Great and Powerful, too -- right?"

Trixie nodded, a distant look on her face.

"You have no idea, Starlight... none at all."

Next Chapter: Two Teachers Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 9 Minutes
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