Partial Possession chapter 5

>Sooner than later, you are politely kicked out of the spa, and step outside
>Oh right. The sun's out. You're uncomfortably warm and your eyes take a moment to adjust.
"Hurry your white ass up, Celestia."
>You mutter under your breath, and stop walking for a second
'Uh, sorry.'
>Fluttershy hums and continues moving. Not a moment passes before Rainbow Dash descendes from above
>"Hey, 'Shy! How're you holding up?"
>"Oh, I'm doing just swell. How are you?"
>"Glad to hear it! I'm fine! Just dandy!" Sanic says as she glances from side to side
>"In fact!" She puts an arm around your shoulder. "I've got a gig to do! And uh, I kind of need help"
>You sense a disturbance in the force. As if a thousand shy horses cried out silently
>"G-gig?" Flutters asks
>"Yeeah, no problem! So uh, Pinkie had a comedy show today, but she's off getting the ingredient, soo..."
>She trails off and looks around, then leans in and whispers. "She asked me to fill in. I have no jokes."
>Fluttershy was silent.
"No worries, I've got this."
>"No we don't!" She immedietly countered, stepping back
>"Pleeease, Fluttershy!" Rainbow begged. "I can't go there and look stupid! Everyone will be there!"
>"I won't do any better!" She starts shaking and brings her hooves up to her chest.
"Rainbow, I don't think this is actually a good idea. I mean, I'll still do it, I just know it's stupid."
>Sanic horse looks at you with pleading eyes. "Scootaloo will be there! I can't let her down like that!"
>Flutters suddenly gains a glint of determination. "W-well...if it's for the children..."
>Shit, she's actually doing it. Go you, Flutters.
"Okay, we're going to need clothes that have pockets."
>"Why?" Fluttershy immedietly asks.
"There's no time. Rainbow, go ask Rarity for them. Flutters, we're going to need some pasta. Let's kick this shit."


>It took nearly 5 minutes of talking about the intricate details of human humour, but she agreed to pasta-pockets
>You don't actually plan to make a joke in the show about it, but it makes you laugh.
>You realize most of your humour is things that make you laugh, and not others. Shit.
>Either way, you find out Rarity was actually in the midst of making a suit for Pinkie. Green top, polkadot tie.
>Nice. You smile confidently in the window of a shop, and it all looks completely out of place.
>'I hope you know what you're doing...' You can feel the anxiety building up in your other half
>implying you've ever made a plan in your life
>That doesn't seem to help her, but you're looking forward to interacting with a lot of ponies at once.
>As you start to shovel the spaghetti in to your pockets, you find there are several props already included
>A deck of cards, 'peanut brittle' labelled "SNACK", and a list of more props to get. You don't have time to read that shit.
>You have no idea how the bottle of peanut brittle fit in your pocket. You can't fit it back in.
>It sucks being a quadraped. Now you have to walk on three legs to the stage.
>Luckily, it isn't far, just in front of the town hall. Most townponies have taken their seats, and you walk backstage
>Mayor Mare, Lyra and Bonbon, and Derpy are all there, helping set the place up.
>"Where's Rainbow Dash?" The Mayor asks.
"I'm filling in for her, she got caught up at work."
>Sly
>"The pegasai are all here!" Mare looks out from behind the curtain. "I can see Rainbow in the audience!"
>Well, you tried.
"She wussed out."
>The Mayor stopped in place. "Oh. Well, alright. The show is just about ready! Break a leg!"
>Wow. That's fucking horse-racist.
>Fluttershy this entire time is hyperventilating. You mentally pat her on the head.
"Look at it this way: what's the worst that could happen?"
>"Fall off the stage and actually break a leg." She responds
"Yeah, but then only you'll die."
>She gulps


>You move through the curtain, and wave. The crowd starts clapping at first, then confusedly dies off
>What, you never seen a yellow horse before?
>You look closer at the audience, ready to pick a single audience member to torture
>You see a light blue mane on top of a blue head, with a horn poking out
>FUCK, this is too good.
"You there! Would you like to be the volunteer for Fluttershy's acclaimed Pegasus Magic Extravaganza!?"
>The crowd cheers, and Trixie confusedly stands up, walking to the stage.
"Welcome, welcome! Thank you for coming up!"
>To the side, Derpy slides in a table full of more props. Perfect.
>Trixie takes a small bow and nervously smiles, unsure of what is about to happen.
>You hand her the shaking can of peanut brittle, the "SNACK" label starting to peel off.
"Before we get started, I offer you a tribute of nourishment for your bravery in coming up on stage!"
>Fluttershy is missing. You think she might have bluescreened. Ah well, you move to the table anyways.
>Trixie raises a devious eyebrow, and grabs it telekinetically, pointing it to you and opening it
>Peanut brittle falls to the stage, out of the compressed can. You both stare at it, wide eyed.
>
"The hell, man? I got that just for you."
>You raise a hoof, pointing it to the mess.
"Ah, nevermind, who am I to judge how you eat!"
>The crowd laughs, and Trixie blushes slightly, offsetting her blue cheeks to a purpleish hue
>You expected that to just be a corny classic to buy time. Better than expected, though.
>You look at the table. It's full of junk that makes no sense without context.
>You grab another deck from the table, and find it has a string through each card, holding them together
>Uhhh, you don't know what trick this is. Time to improvise


>You pull it from the table, holding the cards together and concealing the string, and walk to Trixie
"Now, I have this deck! Look, it's an average deck, right?"
>Trixie takes a glance at it and nods, playing along
"Then explain this shit."
>You twirl it above your head, the cards stretching back and fourth from the momentum
>The string eventually snaps and they fall all over the stage, each and every way. The crowd laughs again.
>Your confident smile widens again. Trixie herself puffs up her cheeks, holding back a giggle
"Okay, now I have a deck that's actually regular."
>You shuffle and hold the cards from the first deck, SOMEHOW, with them facing you, trying to memorize them
"Pick any card, and I'll tell you what it is."
>Trixie starts going for a card, and then stops, realizing the game. You laugh
"I'll cheat if you let me! Alright, we'll do it the other way, but it doesn't always work."
>You switch them around, and she picks a random card. Fuck, you can't remember that one. IMPROVISE
"Memorize it, and then place it back in the deck, shuffle it any way you want."
>She looks at it for a moment, then places it with the rest of the cards, picking them up and shuffling
>She stops, and hands them back. Your grin doesn't falter, but a bit of sweat trickles down your brow
>Fluttershy is nearly in tears at the back of your head, and you try to keep your cool, blinking them back
>You make a gesture with your hoof over the deck
"I have magically raised the card to the top, and I've even changed it!"
>You pick the top card up, and look at it.
"To the 2 of hearts!"
>The crowd claps, and Trixie laughs, and you heave a big sigh of relief. You need to stop with this card shit.
>The crowd might be really naive, but Trixie is starting to see through you.
>You bow, and point a hoof to the magician next to you
"Trixie, our volunteer, everybody! Now go back down and enjoy the show!"
>They applaud and Trixie trots down back to her seat.




>Okay, time to think of some material.
>Fuck
>You got nothing.
>Nearly a minute passes, and Fluttershy finally takes the wheel
>"Thank you everybody, now that my opening act is done, Rainbow Dash will take over!"
>Rainbow's face falls, and Flutters runs you both off stage, behind the curtains
>She collapses in a pile behind a crate and shivers
'Hey, don't worry Fluttershy, it's okay! We got some good ones in there!'
>You try to comfort her, but she shakes her head
>"No, YOU got some 'good ones' in there, and they made ME look like someone completely different!"
>She placed her hooves over her eyes. "And then we just froze and looked like failures."
'I didn't know what to do either.'
>Then tears started, and she sniffled. 'I know, I don't mean to blame you. I just feel so ashamed."
>You kind of feel it too. As much as you try not to, those last few moments were very shameful
>Plus you went back on your word to cut down on being rude.
'I'm sorry, Flutters. I shouldn't have gone overboard. Not when you'll have to take the hit. I'm really sorry.'
>You both stay there for a while, sobbing quietly. You pull your arms around yourself in a weird kind of self hug
>After a few more minutes, you can hear voices calling out backstage.
>"Fluttershy? You back here?"
>"Fluttershy! Darling, are you alright?"
>Applejack and Rarity's calls cause your ears to perk up, and they come around the corner of the crate
>"There you are! Oh, sweetie, please get up off the ground."
>You stand up
>Spaghetti falls out of your pockets on to the floor
>You look down, and give a weak smile. Fluttershy rubs the tears out of her eyes and giggles softly
>The shared giggle slowly turns in to a laugh, both Applejack and Rarity looking quizzically between the spaghetti and you
>"I knew you were right, Anon. It did come in handy." She speaks, with the raspy voice of someone who just cried their heart out
>A not-so-brief hug between the two friends and her later, the tears stopped flowing.