It's Magic

It's Magic

By: Zelkova48

Chpater 3: Smoke and Mirrors

It was a brand new day for the denizens of Ponyville, the circus ponies and the rest of the ponies in town were getting along nicely after their recent arrival just yesterday. For the very first time almost ever since Twilight moved here from Canterlot, a group of strange guest that came into Ponyville didn’t want to wreak havoc in their quaint little town.

Ravenous parasprites, stampeding bunny rabbits and gargantuan ursa minors aside everyone was having a great day. With all of the circus ponies practicing and performing the overall feeling was generally positive and electric. It’s really too bad that there was one disheveled lavender unicorn who was acting quite spastic on such a riveting afternoon.

Twilight was currently at Sweet Apple Acres, she was trotting back and forth trying to explain the unexplainable to Applejack as she went about her duty bucking the apple trees. All the time that Twilight was trying have an engaging conversation with Applejack about how Top Hat’s tricks were really just smoke and mirrors, she didn’t realize that her constant, subconscious trotting helped to plow an entire field into neat and precise columns and rows. Big Mac managed to get the whole day off because of that. Anywho...

“I know that it’s fake, Applejack! I know how magic’s suppose to work, after all, I am the element of magic” said Twilight as she continued to move about while Applejack worked “But what he did was impossible! He’s an earth pony, there was no way he could’ve stuff all of those animals into his hat without some kind of enchantment, and he let me double check his hat too! There was nothing, nothing at all but I don’t know how he did it! There has to be some kind of logical explanation for this...”

“Yeah... uh huh... eeyup” Applejack flatly droned as she continued from one tree to the next with a bushel of apples always at her side. Applejack had been working hard the whole time since Twilight starting talking to her. At first she thought it would be a nice little talk, but instead it turned out that it had everything to do about Top Hat and his impossible tricks. Honestly, the talk became very monotonous after the first few seconds so she decided to drown out Twilight’s voice with some apple bucking while uttering a few words of acknowledgment every so often as to keep her facade.

It worked out fine... for the first few hours. After that, Applejack couldn’t handle it anymore. Applejack was surprisingly patient and very level headed during Twilight’s little (and I use that word very loosely) speech, but enough was enough. It had been four hours, four hours of nothing but baseless hypotheses and dribble about things that were deemed impossible by pony standards. She was the element of honesty and she was going to give it to Twilight straight.

“Twi!” Applejack shouted at the top of her lungs in front of the frazzled unicorn “Land sake’s girl, it’s been over four hours! Don’t you have anything better to do then to turn my brain into mush with all of yer fancy gibberish!” she exploded.

“Gibberish!?” Twilight snapped back, sounding positively offended by her friend’s rudeness “My word’s are anything but gibberish! And for the record this is incredibly important, life changing even! The fate of Equestria hangs in the balance and it’s all because of I can’t figure out Top Hat’s methods!” she cried out.

“The fate of Equestr- Twilight, are you even listening to yerself anymore?” Applejack huffed “You’re letting this whole magic thing get to yer head sugarcube. He’s an entertainer, not knowing is the best part of his performances. Why can’t you just let this go?”

        “I can’t let this go, Applejack!” Twilight angrily shouted “There is something suspicious about Top Hat and his so called... magic, and I intend to find out! Think about it, Applejack, he’s hiding something, I know it. Why else would he keep telling me that he can’t tell me his secrets?”

        “It’s because he’s a magician ya dunderhead!” said Applejack “He can’t tell his secrets because that would ruin his career. A magician’s tricks and his secrets are his lifeblood, kinda like how apples are to my family or how magic is to yours. You can understand... can’t you?”

 “No, this is different” Twilight defended herself “The things that he can do aren’t normal, Applejack. I know for a fact that only unicorns can perform magic, but then Pinkie’s cousin comes along and he tramples all over my knowledge about magic. Science, magic and logic dictates that I must dissect his methods for the good of all! I have to know, I must know” she said as her eyes began to nervously twitch about.

“Oh, for the love of- It’s like speaking to a boulder” Applejack grunted “But according to Rarity, boulders can at least hold up a decent conversation without driving each other over the wall!”

“Hmph, and here I thought you were the only one who would back me up on this. But as it turns out, I was wrong!”Twilight snapped back “Well, if that’s how you’re going to act then fine! I’ll do everything myself! I’ll expose the truth, you’ll see, and I shall be vindicated for it! Eh ha ha ha ha!” she began to laugh maniacally. Applejack just facehoofed herself. She was glad that the circus was in town, because right now Twilight would fit right in.

“Just promise me you’ll go home and sleep on it before you go on another one of yer eck spoh zits shuns” Applejack used air quotes on the crudely pronounced exposition “ At least if yer gonna do this, be sane when you do it”

“What!? I’ll have you know that as of this moment I am the sanest pony in all of Equestria!” Twilight exclaimed as a few more locks of her mane sprung themselves out of place to further her accentuate her slow descent into madness.

“Twilight, if ya ain’t got anything else you want to say, please, get off my farm before you end up throwing Ponyville into another one of yer crazy schemes” Applejack stated rather bluntly.

        “Oh, you’ll see. You’ll all see...” Twilight eerily whispered as she backed away from the farm in a very dramatic fashion. Eventually, she faded away onto the horizon and back into town as Applejack thought of some home remedies to cure the raging headache that was she was currently suffering from. Applejack just let out a loud sigh, this was going was going to be another one of those days.

        “Big Macintosh!” Applejack called out.

        “Eeyup” her older brother exited the farmhouse upon hearing his name.

        “Even though the fields have been plowed, can ya cut up some wooden planks?” Applejack asked “I have a feeling we’re gonna be needing them sometime this month” Big Mac silently nodded and proceeded to the tool shed where he retrieved a large logging saw before leaving to find some spare lumber around the house.

“I really hope we don’t have to use those...” said Applejack as she resumed her work.

* * *

Meanwhile...

         Top Hat and Pinkie were busy enjoying their time together baking at Sugarcube. Even though the talented magician was on vacation he had decided to spend some time with his beloved cousin by assisting her in the kitchen along with the Cakes. During the time that they would bake, they casually chatted amongst themselves to catch up on past events while tending to almost the entire town with their orders.

        Ever since he had asked to work alongside the Cakes business had been booming, and the sales figure had past into quadruple digits after only just a few hours of work. It was so successful in fact that Carrot Cake had collapsed more than once from both exhaustion and from shock once he saw how much money that they were making.

Ais it turns out, practicing your magic tricks while baking confectionary creations and chatting with your distant relative can draw in a large crowd. Top Hat making his signature dessert, the crispy on the outside and creamy in the center surnyky, for the locals to partake in probably had something to do with it as well. It was like some kind of publicity stunt, only it’s not. A dinner and a show, why didn't the Cakes think of that?

It was now late in the afternoon and the little bakery was starting to calm down. Serving over a couple hundred orders have completely exhausted the bakery’s staff as well as their food stock so they had to close down early. In place of where all the flour and eggs used to be were nothing but bags full of obscene amounts of bits, there was so much dough that it literally replaced the dough inside the bakery itself. It was a good day for everyone who worked there, well, almost everyone.

Top Hat sat by the counter of the dim bakery and sighed in exasperation. He enjoyed talking with Pinkie Pie, listening to all of her tall tales and adventures with her friends. He in turn talked about how he traveled the world and the look of awe that he would experience each and every time he went on stage with his co workers, whom he would always refer to as his family.

Everything he said had such warmth and happiness to it, but it was really all just to mask the deep depression that he was actually feeling on the inside. Nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Top Hat reached into his top hat and pulled out a small flask that had his cutie mark emblazoned on it. Out of that same hat he also pulled out a small shot glass with his name on it. He unscrewed the cap to the flask and poured out what some would assume to be vodka into the tiny glass. He looked down into the shot glass, his eyes heavy and full of regret and sorrow. Without even thinking he lifted up his glass and downed the liquid fire.

He waited, and waited, and waited for the burning sensation to fill his throat and to numb whatever pain he was feeling deep within his heart. But it never came. He looked up into his hooves only to find that his glass was gone along with the contents within it. He slowly turned his head to see a disapproving PInkie Pie staring at him in sadness. In her hooves was the liquor and in her eyes were questions. Questions about why he was drinking like this.

“Heh, hello there kuzina” Top Hat weakly droned with a shaky grin “I didn’t see you there. I thought you were seeing the children to bed”

“They’re already fast asleep so I thought I came down to check up on you” Her sad eyes began to bore itself into the very core of Top Hat’s soul, and that killed him on the inside for her to see him in such a state “Cousin, Top Hat... you never told me you drank”

“Heh, I started a few months ago” he replied “It’s nothing serious, I’m just... drinking for fun, that’s all” he lied through his teeth.

“Around me there is no such thing as drinking for fun” Pinkie Pie trotted over and sat beside him, hoping to come to a compromise with such a dirty habit “Is something the matter?” she asked kindly.

“No, kuzina Pinkie... there’s nothing wrong” Top Hat poorly defended himself, his response was anything but convincing to Pinkie and she desperately wanted to help out her family member.

“Top Hat, you know better than to lie to family” Pinkie said in the caring tone. With that, Top Hat broke down almost immediately. Tears began to well up and he began to quietly sob as Pinkie pulled him into her for a gentle hug. He hugged her back, his tear trailing off of his face and soaking both of their coats. He quietly whimpered to himself for the next few minutes as PInkie stood by him the whole time, trying to find the root of his issues and a solution to it “Top Hat, tell me, what’s wrong?”

“I... I can’t say, Pinkie” he said as he pulled away from Pinkie “It’s too hard. I can’t relive the memories” he spoke quietly as he unraveled his bow tie “Please, just let a poor magician keep his secrets. Please?” he pleaded as his emotions threatened to overtake him again. Pinkie looked at him with discerning eyes, she smiled gently and gave him another hug.

“I’ll promise to stay out of your business only if you promise me you won’t drink anymore” said Pinkie “That is unless you’re using this stuff for cooking” she added. Top Hat returned the smile before replying.

“I promise” he said with utmost sincerity.

“Pinkie promise?” Pinkie asked with a raised eyebrow. Top Hat chuckled a little, he hadn’t performed a Pinkie promise in a long time since he last talked with Pinkie.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye” he performed the ritualistic actions and received a smile from his cousin in return “Do you trust me now?” he asked.

“I trust you” said Pinkie as her bubbly mood returned “Now get rid of that stuff will you? It’s gonna give you a tummy ache if you drink it” she said before leaving for her own room. Top Hat simply smiled and waved as he waited for Pinkie to leave the room before he turned his head back to the flask that was on the counter. He took a couple of looks around the room to see if he was truly alone before he grabbed the flask.

“Breaking a Pinkie promise...” Top Hat quietly whispered to himself “It’s probably going to hurt... but right now, I’m already hurting. Might as well dig the hole a little deeper” in an act of complete defiance against his own word to his cousin, he lifted up the flask and downed the whole thing before letting out a loud belch “Well, that wasn’t... so... *hic!* bad...” Top Hat could feel the effects of the alcohol taking over his systems. His eyes grew heavy and his mind lost track of itself.

Now he isn’t that great when it came to alcoholic beverages. A single shot would’ve already gotten him tipsy. But a whole flask full? He went down faster than a boulder over a cliffside. Within the span of only a few seconds he was in the realm of dreams as a river of drool streamed out of his slacked jaw. The pain that he was feeling was gone, he’ll probably feel terrible in the morning but at least for now the pain was numbed entirely.

* * *

Little did the unconscious stallion know, he was being spied on the whole time. Pinkie came out of the corner that she was hiding behind, she walked over to Top Hat and frowned deeply. She wasn’t angry that he had broken a Pinkie promise nor was it about his drinking. She was sad about how he could do such a thing without regards for others. Something really bad must’ve happened to him if he would drink himself unconscious.

She sighed heavily, it’s not like she didn’t see this coming. They were both at fault to be honest. Even if Top Hat drained away the vodka in the sink, Pinkie would’ve gone and investigated the cause of his depression anyway. She was willing to break her own sacred vows to see Top Hat smile again. She trotted on over to the poor sleeping stallion and prodded him a few times to see if he would stir. It was no good, Top Hat was out like a light.

“Come on, let’s get you back to your room cousin” Pinkie tried to lift Top Hat up and carry him to the local inn where he stayed, but it might be a little harder than she originally thought. Despite how lanky Top Hat actually was, he was a bit too heavy for the Pink pony to pull around. She needed some help, a wheelbarrow perhaps?

Just as Pinkie was coming with a solution to carry Top Hat, the door to the bakery wildly swung open to reveal Twilight, whose dark silhouette by the doorway looked outrageous given her bedraggled mane and creepy yet determined smile.

“Top Hat! I have come to discover your secret, and I won’t take no for an answer!” she flamboyantly proclaimed before she finally took in the sight before her. Top Hat was on the floor unconscious while Pinkie was trying and failing at trying to move him.

“Oh! Hi, Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed “I’m really glad you’re here! Do you think you can help me out? Top Hat’s out cold and I need some help with getting him back to the inn” she asked. Twilight was taken aback. She had this amazing speech and plan all laid out when she confronted Top Hat and his magic tricks but now it was all for naught since Top Hat was sleeping off a tough drink.

“Bwuah?” Twilight babbled “But... my vindication”

“Twilight, you can vindicate yourself all you want when my cousin is in a warm bed and not on the cold floor of the bakery” said Pinkie “Come on, use your magic or something and levitate him for me, that would be really helpful” Twilight just stared slack jawed at the two before conceding with Pinkie’s request. Applejack was right, she should sleep on her ideas first before putting them into action. Otherwise, her target would just be drunk out of their minds.

As Twilight lifted Top Hat into their air, she began to rethink her plans. Perhaps she was being a bit too blunt with this one. Maybe she should take it slow, examine his wares one at a time before openly exposing Top Hat in front of him. She mulled over some thoughts as they were walking towards Ponyville’s local inn.

Once inside Top Hat’s room, Twilight gently settled down Top Hat into his bed before Pinkie personally tucked him in. They made sure that he was alright before leaving, but just as Twilight was leaving, a small glint off the corners of her eyes piqued her interest.

Twilight walked over to the source and found it to be Top Hat’s deck of playing cards, the exact same one that he used during her personal performance. A wicked grin crept it’s way onto her face as she quickly swiped the cards before hiding it behind her neck. She quickly covered the card with her mane before calming trotting out of the room with a successful grin plastered on her face.

“This will explain everything, I just know it” she quietly whispered to herself. however, just as she was about to leave the premises, Pinkie ran up to her face with a stern look in her eyes. Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat, had she already been figured out? “Listen, Pinkie, I can explain! It was all in the name of logic, I swear!” she pleaded.

“Huh? What? I was just going to ask you to meet me at the traincarts tomorrow, that’s all” said Pinkie “I want to talk to some of the circus performers to see if they know anything about why Top Hat’s feeling so glum” she pulled out he detectives cap and bubble blowing pipe “Meet me there tomorrow my plucky assistant, so that we can investigate together”

Twilight was about to object to being her plucky young assistant again but then an idea popped into her head. She could examine the cards and then go to the circus with Pinkie tomorrow to ask if any of the performers knew anything about Top Hat’s method. In Twilight’s mind, it was a win win situation in her case.

“Of course, I guess I’ll see you there tomorrow then, Pinkie” Twilight replied before Pinkie dashed off towards the bakery. Without missing a beat, Twilight hightailed it outta there and teleported herself all the way back to the library with the cards in tow.

The moment she was inside her home she went and locked all of the doors and closed all of the blinds before rushing past a confused Spike as he wondered what the heck had Twilight feeling so jumpy. She ran all the way into her lab and locked the the doors in there as well as she threw the deck of cards onto her examination table. Her face had a devilish grin on it as she opened up the packaging and carefully pulled out all of the cards.

“Heh heh heh heh... time to find out what makes you so special...”