Flash got into his car and was about to start the engine when Trixie abruptly opened the passenger’s door and sat down without a word.
“Drive,” she demanded, not even sparing him a glance.
“Ehm, Trixie—” Flash began, but was immediately cut off.
“Can’t you hear me? Drive!” Trixie crossed her arms and looked away.
Reluctantly, he turned on the engine. He waited for a second before he released the handbrake and drove off.
It was silent, and Flash, not knowing what was going on with Trixie, bit his lip repeatedly, trying to come up with several ideas of what was going on.
He didn’t dare to ask, not with the bad mood Trixie was currently in. The repeated snorts, the tapping with her feet, and the sudden outrage, when a passenger had crossed the street on red, showed Flash that it would be suicide to upset her even more.
The problem was, he didn't know where to drive. He didn't know where Trixie lived, so he drove back to his own home, hoping she wouldn't object to the turns he took.
But as they approached his house and he signaled to turn in, Trixie turned to him.
“What are you doing?” she asked with a raised voice.
“Ehm, I’m—” Flash stuttered, but Trixie interrupted him.
“Keep driving!”
He scratched the back of his head but followed her order. He had no idea where he was supposed to go, so he didn’t do any turns.
Fortunately, the remaining drive was short, as Trixie ordered him to stop before Canterlot's amphitheatre.
"Come with me," she commanded.
Flash let out a sigh. He had no idea why he was so patient with her. Had they ever even talked before? He remembered how during the Battle of the Bands, he and Trixie's band had been rivals, so they shouldn't have had a good relationship at all. What could she possibly want from him?
"Well, are you coming or not?" she snapped impatiently.
With a roll of his eyes, he turned off the engine and followed her. As they passed the rows of seats, Trixie marched straight onto the stage, with Flash trailing closely behind her.
She finally came to a stop and turned to face him. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her fists were clenched tightly.
Concerned, Flash took a step back.
"Alright, Flash," Trixie announced. "I'm going to show you two tricks. Tell me which one you like better."
Flash gulped nervously. This couldn't end well for him.
Stretching out one of her arms and hands with her fingers straight, she extended her thumb toward the back of her palm. Suddenly, a playing card appeared, which she then let fall to the ground. She repeated the process a few times before reaching out one last time and producing several cards at once, which she spread out like a fan.
Flash noticed a proud smile on her lips, which disappeared the next moment. She let the cards fall to the ground before stretching out her other hand.
“Now the second one.”
This time, she showed both sides of her hand, and even wiggled her fingers, before with a quick movement several playing cards appeared in her hand. She spread them out like a fan, then closed her hand to a fist. When she opened it again, the cards had vanished into thin air.
Flash's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. That last part caught him completely off guard.
“So?”
“Well, it's…” Flash began, but he paused when he saw the fierce expression on Trixie's face again.
"Second one?" she asked through clenched teeth.
He nodded slowly.
"Of course you do," she muttered, closing her eyes. Suddenly, she chuckled. "Of course you do." Her chuckle turned into a laugh.
Flash raised his arms in defence and stepped backwards.
Trixie's laughter stopped, and she opened her eyes, aiming her gaze in his direction.
"Isn't it crazy, Flash," she said, putting her left hand on her hip, "how easy I have it now?" She stretched out her other hand, and with a twist, a flower appeared out of nowhere. "I can do everything I could've only imagined." She let the flower fall to the ground and reached for her magician's hat. "No one will ever know how the trick is done." She showed him that the hat was empty before turning it around, and a set of cards fell out. "Because there is no trick anymore."
She threw her magician’s hat aside and reached into her pocket. In the next moment, she hurled a smoke bomb at him, covering him completely. When the smoke cleared, he found himself standing between the seats.
“I don’t need to do any tricks anymore!” she yelled from the stage, before tossing another smoke bomb to the ground.
“Because now, I have real magic!”
He turned around and jumped in surprise when he saw that Trixie was now standing behind him.
“I shouldn’t have learned anything at all!” She grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him close to her face. “These ten years of trying to be like my father, learning from the books he left for me? These ten years of me standing before a mirror, repeating a trick over and over again until I could do all of them blindly? These ten years of recording myself to catch any flash of the tricks, perfecting them to hide every method?”
She pushed him away.
“I didn’t have to do any of it!” She kicked a chair away. “They were a waste of time!” Another chair fell victim to her rage. “All that effort I had to put in? Absolutely pointless, because now I have real magic!”
She jumped at him and threw a smoke bomb to the ground. When the smoke cleared, they were back on the stage.
Trixie fell silent, her eyes watering and her breathing becoming rapid.
“Why?” she muttered, burying her face in her hands. “Why me?” She broke down into sobs.
Flash watched helplessly, trying to process what she had just revealed to him. What could he say anyway to comfort her? Why had she chosen him to open up?
“I don’t want it,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t want to have magic. If I have it, what’s the point of a magic show anyway?”
Flash scratched his head, having trouble understanding that part of her perspective.
Trixie looked up, wiping away her tears. “I’ve devoted my whole life to being a magician. I could see myself improving every month, every year. I grew, I evolved, I made progress. But now?” She snapped, and a coin appeared between her fingers. She opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated.
Flash waited quietly as Trixie lowered her head and slumped her shoulders.
“There is nothing more to reach,” she whispered, barely audible. “I have what every magician can only dream of.”
She remained in that position, not saying a single word. Only her occasional sobbing gave her a shake of her body.
Flash didn’t interrupt the silence. He simply kept staying in his place, waiting till Trixie would say something again. It wasn’t comfortable for him, but he didn’t know what else to do to help her.
Then, Trixie took a deep breath and looked up at Flash.
“Trixie is sorry for taking up your time. They're right about you being a good listener.” She snapped her fingers, and the magician’s hat flew to her hand. Another snap and the cards on the ground followed.
“Maybe,” she said, looking away. “Maybe she'll figure something out. Trixie doesn't know yet. But she had to talk to someone.”
She turned back to Flash, a smile forming on her face. "Thank you so much for listening."
With a nod, she turned around and walked off the stage.
Flash watched her go, noticing that her steps were now more confident and her movements more relaxed.
“You're welcome,“ he said quietly with a smile.
Author's Note
Funnyly enough, EqG Trixie has indeed magic canonically:
In case someone gets confused on why Trixie is angry, I made this blog post, going into details on why Trixie was angry in the first place.
