literature

Now You See It

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The wagon pushed gently against Hocus Pocus as he made his way down the final hill into Ponyville. He strained against the heavy load to keep in in check. In it was everything he held dear. It had his props, his costumes, and even his favorite hat, but all of those were replaceable. What made him fight the hardest against the runaway cart was the mare sleeping on the front bench; he couldn't replace her with all of the bits in Equestria.

He paused briefly as he approached the river that marked the boundary between the town and the outskirts. This would mark a new beginning for him and his wife. After failing with the audiences in Fillydelphia, they had packed their whole life into this one little wagon, and had decided that they'd venture forth to see if he could find a better audience for the act.

He knew that the show wasn't especially spectacular to his audiences. He had a passion for sleight of hoof tricks and legerdemain and had practiced them for years, refining his form and improving his speed. He could make a rabbit appear from his hat and could tell you what card you had picked from the deck with ease. As a colt he had even earned a wand shaped cutie mark during a school talent show. But in a world full of real magic, his parlor tricks rarely held sway.

Back in the beginning, before he had gotten married, he had been able to get a few shows booked in his home town of Fillydelphia. Initially he pulled in a few dozen interested spectators, but the audiences grew smaller and smaller as word got around that he wasn't a true magician. The reason was that, despite being a unicorn, Hocus' act worked purely on speed and misdirection, not magic. Eventually the venue had just stopped sponsoring his shows; money, not the arts, it seemed, was what truly drove the theater.

After the theater had put him out, he had worked a few odd jobs to put hay on the table. The cold reality of his early failure had been a hard lesson for Hocus, but his passion for the stage never wavered. Between shifts and on his days off, he would go to the open air mall and work as a busker; showing off his tricks and working to improve his skills. Most of the time everypony ignored him, just as they had done at the theater, but once in a while he would draw a small audience that would watch, and, if he was especially lucky, throw him a few bits for his time.

One particularly cloudy day he had turned up at the mall to practice, as he had been doing for several months. Beginning in the same way he had for weeks, he dove straight into his act. The spectacle of it drew a small crowd initially, but after only a few minutes they started dropping away, finishing the endless cycle of his shows. His conviction unwavering though he continued; even if no one watched, he was content to perform, if only for himself.

This particular day, however, even though everypony else had left, he had managed to hold the attention of a particularly attractive mare. His resolve strengthened by the unexpected audience, he pulled out all the stops and did his best work, showing off his most amazing tricks and complicated illusions.

Eventually this brought him to one of his close work acts, "For this next trick I'm going to need a voulenteer!" he said looking out into the crowd as though it were a stage full of people. The mare, aware she was entirely alone, giggled a bit at this and raised a hoof. "Aha! The fine young filly would like to volunteer?" he said putting on his best stage voice, "May I know your name my dear?"

*********

"Moonbeam," he said gently nuzzling the mare on the wagon, "we're here."

The mare slowly roused from her nap. She looked about and then returned to Hocus. "We're here already?" she responded groggily.

"Already may not be the right term for it. You were asleep for nearly three hours," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she said with a look of surprise, "You pulled the wagon that whole time?"

"It was no problem! It's light as a feather", he said, pulling against the harness briefly in an effort to show how weightless it was. However, the wagon's large mass refused to help him with his ruse, and he rebounded against the harness abruptly.

She hopped down from the wagon and wiped a bead of sweat from his coat. "Nothing is too heavy for my big stallion," she said with a smirk, before moving to stretch her stiff limbs.

Hocus tried to hide his blush of embarrassment as the sarcastic compliment worked it's way through his brain. "In any case we're here," he said waving a hoof across the quaint town of Ponyvillle.

"It's... Small," Moonbeam said looking across the village of rustic homes and tents. "I wonder if they even have an inn here."

"I'm going to be honest hon, they don't," Hocus said seriously, "but at the same time, if there's any place in all of Equestria where we will be performing to a completely new audience, this is it."

"Well, we did want to start fresh," Moonbeam said looking at the backwater village with some measure of disdain.

"And here we shall!" Hocus said, unhitching himself from the wagon. "Ponyville should mark the beginning of a new life both for the show, and for us," he said nuzzling the mare. "I promise we won't be here for long; merely for enough time to try out the new show and see if we have a chance in the larger cities where we've been heard of before."

Moonbeam sighed, returning the nuzzle. "Well, we won't know if we don't try will we?"

"And that we will my dear!" Hocus said nearly waltzing as he moved to gesture at the town, "For it is here that we will begin a new chapter in the history of show-business!"

Moonbeam giggled at his obviously overdone impromptu performance, "Then shall we find a place to park the wagon so that we can settle in for the night, and be ready for the show tomorrow?"

Hocus waltzed back towards the cart,  "So you wish it, so it shall be done!"

Moonbeam stopped him short of putting the harness back on, "I'll carry the cart for this last bit though," she said strapping herself in. "Eww! It's all sweaty!"

"Sometimes we suffer for the art!" Hocus said bounding down the road.

"You'll suffer for the art alright!" Moonbeam said with a mock angry tone, before setting off behind him with the cart as he moved into Ponyville proper.

*******
Just another little slice of Hocus Pocus. Hopefully the grammar is a bit better in this, but given how hard writing this description was, I don't hold out high hopes
© 2011 - 2024 JimTheCactus
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