Trixie: Behind the curtain
Trixie: Behind the curtain
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic
It was a relatively normal day in the library of Ponyville. The unicorn Twilight Sparkle concentrated herself on one of her nearly countless books hovering before her as her dragon assistant Spike was busy cleaning up after her last reading marathon. While she did definitely study less then before the fateful Summer Sun Celebration, there was still nopony who could beat her knowledge in the arcane and obscure. There were very few things left to surprise her. Pinkie Pie still managed to do this nearly every time they met.
Somepony was talking in front of her house. She knew the voice but was unable to pin it down. The purple unicorn tried to read her book about Chaos Theory but the voice just kept talking. Groaning Twilight walked to the door to find… Trixie?
"Hello Citizen of Ponyville! Rejoice as one of the most successful plays from Canterlot has finally arrived in your town! Come and see the action packed, family friendly and incredible tale of the legendary Elements of Harmony and their desperate struggle against the dreaded Nightmare Moon!"
The purple unicorn could just stare as Trixie kept on talking about the show and then the showpony walked right through the sign with the book symbol next to her house.
"Trixie, are you feeling alright?"
As she looked around she could see three additional versions of Trixie running around repeating the same message endlessly.
Rarity ran right at her, stopping just instants before crashing into the other unicorn.
"Twilight, what did we do to deserve such a horrible fate?"
"Calm down, these are just illusions, made to promote some play."
"Didn't you listen? It is a play about us, the Elements of Harmony!! And Trixie is doing it!!!"
Without warning Pinkie Pie jumped out behind the sign.
"Cue happy intro music!"
Around two hours later the entire population of Ponyville were standing before a huge stage wagon. This one was four times as big as the last wagon Trixie arrived in. Rumours of her change and success had reached Ponyville, only to met scepticism.
The four illusions calmly walked up to the platform and everyone was expecting the wagon to fire a huge firework any second. To their surprise that didn't happen.
In the audience Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Spike were standing next to each other. Everypony and one dragon were prepared for the worst. Rainbow Dash groaned.
"I bet, she claims, that she defeated Nightmare Moon and we get to play her comical sidekicks."
Suddenly the real Trixie, at least they thought this was the real one, simply walked up from behind the curtain onto the stage and started to talk.
"Greetings, citizens of Ponyville. Trixie thanks everypony who has arrived to watch her performance and wishes to make up for her earlier missteps. This show was a huge success in Canterlot and as anypony who had witnessed her earlier shows can see; her magic has improved a lot since the last encounter."
The illusions smiled at the audience and went back behind the curtain.
"Trixie wants to give you one additional warning. This story is only based on the truth, told by ponies who mostly have never experienced any of it. Trixie likes to thank everypony and everybody who was willing to share their encounters with the Elements of Harmony with her: Several members of the Canterlot nobility, a griffon who wishes to remain anonymous, three sports pegasi and even some Diamond Dogs."
In the audience the bearers became more and more nervous.
"Still the story is likely to contain some minor changes from what actually happened. Trixie would appreciate if the Elements of Harmony could later come into her stage wagon and tell her the complete story."
The curtain opened revealing the interior of a beautiful castle. Everything radiated pure light and above all stood Princess Celestia. Except that this Princess Celestia was a lot smaller, than the real ruler, Trixies version was about the size of a normal pony but still had the same pure energy like mane. Trixie walked to the left side of the platform and started her narration.
"It was a beautiful day in the peaceful world of Equestria until the wise and wonderful Celestia was interrupted in her mediation by her personal student, the incredible Twilight Sparkle."
Trixie was engulfed in bright light and in her place stood a perfect copy of the Element of Magic herself. The illusionary Twilight rushed over to her mentor as the Princess calmly opened her eyes.
"It looks like Trixie is playing my role."
"Thanks Captain Obvious! She will play every role!" Rainbow Dash snapped back at her, still mad at Trixies last performance.
"Oh wise and wonderful Princess Celestia, my studies have confirmed my fears. The dreaded Nightmare Moon will return on the longest day of the thousandth year after her banishment. That will be the…"
Before the fake unicorn could finish, stage-Celestia continued her sentence.
"…the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. I also saw the signs; we need to take immediate actions. You need to go to Ponyville and recover the Elements of Harmony, the powerful weapons of friendship."
"Yes, my majesty… Wait, did you say friendship?"
"Yes, my trusted student. And I also order you to find and make some friends in Ponyville."
"Yes, my majesty. I am on my way."
Soon the scene vanished in a bright light and the mirage of Twilight was standing next to a similarly illusionary Spike inside a golden balloon.
This caused the real Spike to jump up and down in excitement.
"Hey! That's me! I got a part as well!"
"I hope we don't get so many scene transitions, they make me feel a bit dizzy." Fluttershy whispered.
"So our tasks are?" the fake assistant asked.
"First royal order: Find the Elements of Harmony. Second royal order: Find. Some. Friends!"
"We should also make sure, that the festival is prepared. After all, the wise and wonderful Princess Celestia will participate as well."
After starring at the play in confusion for some time Applejack noticed that next to the purple unicorn a feather and a piece of paper hovered, constantly writing something down.
"Ah like to know, what your doing, Twilight."
"I just write every fact down. Every single mistake this performance makes. And I fear there will be more divergences later."
Soon the background changed again, this time into a composition of Ponyvilles more memorable buildings: The library, Sugarcube Corner, the Carousel Boutique, Town Square and town hall with the Sweet Apple Acres farm further away. Everything was clustered much too close together. Soon an illusion of Pinkie Pie walked on the stage, approaching the illusionary Element of Magic.
"Hello, I am new here and my name is …"
"GASP!"
Immediately the fake Pinkie vanished in a pink smoke cloud.
"Well, that was bizarre. But the incredible Twilight will be victorious in her friend making!"
The real unicorn groaned at her copy on the platform talking in third pony as the pink pony also seemed slightly unhappy. Rarity tried to cheer her up.
"Why do you pull such a long face, my dear? I think Trixie has at least gotten you right…"
"Oh come on, I did jump in the air and ran away to prepare a party but I didn't vanish in a pink cloud. But it would be fun if I could! I wonder if I could learn to do this trick. That would make the preparations for parties so much easier! I wonder if Twilight could teach me something like this. Or maybe I need some training from Rainbow Dash. Or I could…"
Before Pinkie Pie could rant further a muffin was magically moved into her mouth. Apparently a smart unicorn had brought a small collection of food to silence her pink friend.
"Even if we don't like our portrayal, we can't scream like this!" the fashion designer hissed.
The scene changed again, this time into a serene field. A mirage of Applejack was standing before several birds sitting on a tree and walked up and down, ranting about their voices, while the fake Twilight stood at the sidelines.
"Attends! You think you have the voices to impress the wise and wonderful Princess Celestia at the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration? I say you need to work harder on yourself, d'accord?"
"Oh no, Ah am speaking in fancy! And Ah was kinda hopin' my family would get at least a cameo." the real farmer complained.
The fake orange earth pony produced a rope out of nowhere and effortlessly pulled a small bird down to her.
"Well, that isn't that bad after all." the original farmer mused.
"Très bien. I am not called the magnificent Applejack for nothing. And you are out of tune!"
The bird still seemed frightened when the mirage of the earth pony finally noticed the newcomer and released the creature.
"So you are responsible for the music at the celebration?"
"Salut. And you are the pony sent to check on the festival?"
"Yes, I am usually called the incredible Twilight. And I really like your style, so how about a challenge?"
"I am catch anything or anypony! Just name the target!"
"My lovely assistant: the cute Spike."
"Yay, she never catch… Wait!" the fake Spike seem startled.
The real Spike was less pleased by this development and started to roll his eyes.
"Cute? Of all the adjectives she could think off I am the "cute Spike"?"
Rarity looked at the small dragon in surprise, only a second later Spike realized why: She already knew that he didn't like to be called cute but it was his choice of words that did catch her off guard. At the time he had arrived in Ponyville he would have problems understanding longer terms. Not so astonishing, considering that he was a baby dragon after all.
"Well I did learn a thing or two by working with Twilight."
Suddenly the background vanished into a blinding light, before taking the form of the blue sky. There the illusionary Spike flew daring manoeuver in order to outrun lassos that seemed to come from everywhere. Spike, Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were cheering for the mirage of Spike, while the farmer and Rainbow Dash rooted for the fake Applejack. The rest of the audience was similarly divided.
Eventually he was caught and brought down to the ground just as the stage shifted back to its earlier appearance.
The rapid change of scenes seemed to make Fluttershy seasick; the purple unicorn was still busy writing down errors, while the orange earth pony had calmed down a bit. On the other hoof the cyan pegasus and Rarity were unsure about what would come next. The pink earth pony shared another muffin with Derpy Hooves.
On the platform the fake purple unicorn seemed thorn between praising the mirage of Applejack for her lassoing skills and feeling sorry for her assistant.
"That was incredible! Sorry, Spike."
"Merci. You two seem nice; I'd like to meet you again at the celebration."
"Oh, we will be…"
Before the incredible Twilight could finish her sentence something crashed into her. The curtain fell down and Trixie walked out behind it.
"As you see the heroine made progress. But will she be able to stop the return of the dreaded Nightmare Moon? No spoilers please, let's find out!"
"Ah, I know that part. This must be my introduction!" the self-proclaimed fastest flyer in Equestria grinned sheepishly.
Trixies form shifted again into a copy of the book-loving unicorn as she walked behind the curtain, which opened again to reveal the fake Ponyville, a cloudy sky, the magician on the ground and a fake Rarity with butterfly wings hovering above her.
Both the cyan pegasus and fashionista looked at each other and starred at the event in the scene.
"Sorry about that." the illusionary white unicorn answered.
"It's okay. Wait, why do you have wings?" the stage-Twilight asked.
"Aren't they beautiful? These wonderful wings are made by a spell of mine. I control the weather around here!" the floating unicorn added.
"I can't believe you stole my part!" Rainbow Dash teased Rarity.
"Maybe you will get Fluttershys character?" the fashionista countered with a grin. This caused the cyan pegasus to petrify in fear.
"Well, shouldn't the sky be less cloudy?" the fake purple unicorn remarked.
"I could clear the sky in 9 seconds flat." the illusionary Rarity seemed to be sure of herself.
"Then prove it!"
Both Rainbow Dash and Rarity looked at each other, but both noticed the other one chuckling at the interpretation of the white unicorn in the performance.
Smiling the copy of the white unicorn hovered to the top of the wagon and let the light shine through her butterfly wings, which evaporated every cloud in the fake sky.
"Behold the beautiful Rarity!" the illusion of the white unicorn shouted.
"I was trying to forget that part…" the real Rarity groaned.
This took exactly 9 seconds but caused the incredible Twilights mare to catch fire.
"Incredible. I have never seen such a unique way to clear the clouds. I seriously need to talk to you later about this spell; I think we will get along just fine…"
"Ah, Twilight I hate to disturb the moment but your hair is on fire." the illusionary Spike added.
Several ponies in the audience broke down in laughter as the purple unicorn looked around but nopony did laugh at her. They did really seem to enjoy the show.
Soon the illusionary burning Twilight rushed out of the stage.
The entire wagon was covered in light as background became the interior of one of the houses, several dresses could be seen. Next to the fake and no more burning unicorn stood the mirage of the cyan pegasus. The hair of the incredible Twilight was a mess.
"My dear, who could have done this to your incredible mane?" the fake Rainbow Dash seemed devastated.
"She has swapped our characters around." the original weather patrol interrupted.
"But you seem also similar to Photo Finish." Fluttershy added, having recovered somewhat from the constant transitions.
"It was an accident." the stage-Twilight answered briefly. "So you are in charge of the decorations, I guess?"
"Yes, the awesome Rainbow Dash is what I am called. And I need to help such a victim of fashion."
Pinkie Pie started to hum Photo Finishes theme. Several dresses floated over the incredible Twilight to form a tornado of clothes. The fake cyan pegasus smiled as she flew with an incredible speed into the spectacle as the tornado exploded into eruption of colours which swept over the audience.
Rainbow Dash facehoofed as Rarity watched with interest.
The illusionary purple unicorn was wearing a incredible pink princess dress, then a blue dress with an moon insignia, after that a pirate outfit, then Photo Finishes outfit, after that a black ninja-like suit, then finally nothing at all but her hair was fixed. The magician seemed speechless.
"What was that?"
"My speciality, the Sonic Rainboom, it allows its user to literary wear several dresses at the same time by ripping apart the space-time continuum. The Doctor doesn't like it for some reason, but what does he know? With me you always dress in style. What do you think, my dear?"
"Wait, did she just make changing dresses awesome?" the cyan pegasus asked in disbelieve.
"Say, Rainbow Dash…" Rarity looked with huge eyes at the pegasus.
"No way!" the weather patrolling pegasus answered immediately.
"That was cool, awesome and radical all at the same time. I loved it. We need to talk about this…" the fake book-loving unicorn answered in joy.
"Ehem, Twilight…" her illusionary assistant added.
"Yes, one more left, we need to check out on the food." the incredible Twilight mumbled.
"I guess she did hear stories about us, told by people who can't tell one pony from another." Pinkie Pie added with a somewhat mischievous smile.
The scene changed again, this time into another serene field. Suddenly a gigantic dragon head appeared before the magician and her assistant. The unicorn however remained calm.
The entire audience gasped in shock as Fluttershy literary fell over on her back. The pink pony tried to reawaken her, while the rest of the cast watched in confusion.
"Get ready, Spike. We will show him how cute you can be!" the stage-Twilight said.
Light illuminated her horn as the fake purple unicorn casted a spell on her cute assistant and the background changed again. This time it was a tiny version of Ponyville as two dragons about the size of a pony starred at each other. Spike didn't change proportions at all but was standing in front of an equally sized adult dragon.
"Finally more action!" Rainbow Dash and Spike shouted.
The writing of the real purple unicorn became even more intense as the original assistant brought her more paper.
The dragons lunged at each other, spew fire all over the place and finally crashed into each other, causing the illusionary Spike to fall to the ground. Countless miniature houses were destroyed in the process. The stage changed back. Now the fake Twilight looked worried as the gigantic dragon head loomed over her, her dragon assistant laying unconscious in the grass.
Meanwhile the real Spike flinched at the turn of events.
"Come on! You can't let this cheater win!"
"NOBODY HURTS ANYPONY ON MY WATCH!!!"
Suddenly a copy of the fluttering pegasus slammed with high speed into the dragon head, forcing it to retreat a few inches. Her screaming awoke the knocked out Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack could just stare at the action in the scene. Pinkie Pie tried her hardest not to laugh.
"YOU WANT MORE??? FINE!!!"
"Fluttershy, I think your portrayal isn't 100% accurate." the pink earth pony was somehow able to say without breaking down in laughter. The real yellow pegasus just fainted again.
The illusionary Fluttershy began to stare at the dragon as he exploded and only a small bit of ashes remained. The fake yellow pony cheered loudly at her victory and flew some fast loops around the platform and over the audience.
"ALL PRAISE THE WILD FLUTTERSHY!!!"
Like everypony in the audience, the magician on stage tried to process the events with her mouth hanging open.
"You … you just defeated a dragon by starring at it?"
"OF COURSE!!! NOTHING IS A MATCH FOR MY STARE!!!"
Her shouting actually pushed the illusion of Twilight a few hoofs back.
"BUT YOU WERE ALSO GREAT, FOR YOUR STRONG WILL I CONSIDER YOU A FRIEND!!! FAREWELL!!!"
Meanwhile the fluttering pegasus regained consciousness by the continued loud yelling of her counterpart and looked at the platform in confusion.
"So how did I… did she… defeat the dragon?"
"She convinced him to leave and find a safer home." Rarity quickly answered before Rainbow Dash could say anything. The orange earth pony seemed to disapprove the lie, but said nothing.
The noise was also enough to reawaken the unconscious fake Spike.
"Well this friendship thing is easier than expected but somewhat louder than I hoped." the assistant yawned.
The illusionary version of Twilight seemed more determined then before.
"Now we are done with that, we should check on the Elements of Harmony in the library. Let's go!"
After another blinding scene transition only darkness could be seen, when suddenly a voice jelled:
"Surprise!"
The light reappeared to show the interior of a library as countless ponies stood there unmoving in the background like cardboard stand-ups as the illusions of Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie surrounded the fake Twilight and her cute assistant.
"Oh I am so happy you could make it. While nopony was looking we repaired the town after the epic dragon battle. We are good in that, we can rebuild this town in seconds even if it should get eaten by Parasprits. Not that that will ever happen. You need to be able to do this, if you live next to the Everfree Forest. You know it is filled with all kinds of monsters, do you? Luckily we have Fluttershy here to keep them at bay. But we love newcomers. You seem nice. But lonely, so I decided to throw you a party, so you would feel welcome. Did it work? Did it surprise you? I sure hope so." the illusionary Pinkie Pie ranted.
"Oh I like her! We could talk for hours! What am I saying? We could talk for days or maybe even weeks! What do you think girls?" the real pink pony rambled. It took a lot of restraint but everypony close to her resisted the urge to answer her question.
A short party montage followed while the incredible Twilight took a look in the book about the Elements of Harmony and wrote some information down before the party continued.
"Hey, I wanted to see more of the party!" the true Pinkie Pie complained.
The scene changed again to a beautiful decorated background for the Summer Sun Celebration. Again there were a huge number of apparently randomly generated ponies in the background as Rainbow Dash checked out the decorations, Fluttershy inspected the food, Applejack was about to give the birds a signal to sing, Rarity looked proud at the cloudless sky, visible through the glass windows, and Pinkie Pie jumped around ecstatically.
Then the incredible Twilight walked over to the podium and announced the arrival of her mentor.
"I like you all to greet our wonderful and wise ruler, the one and only…"
Before the fake purple unicorn could finish her sentence the room darkened and a illusion of Nightmare Moon appeared in the centre of the stage, surrounded by Shadowbolts. Just like the fake Celestia the effect was lessened by the fact that this Nightmare Moon was the size of a normal pony.
"I, the dreaded Nightmare Moon, will bring you all eternal night!"
"We will never bow to you!"
Nightmare Moon casually summoned darkness, shaped it into a spear and flung it at the mirage of Twilight. While nopony reacted in time, her assistant shoved her aside as the attack hit, only to be struck by the darkness himself.
Crackling madly the dark creature vanished as the curtain closed. Trixie walked out behind the curtain and looked at the audience.
"Is all hope lost to the heroes? Can they find the Elements of Harmony in time? Why do all good stories end in cliffhangers? Only time will tell!"
"Cue happy credits music!" Pinkie Pie said as everypony around her was starring at her. "That always happens at the most inappropriate moments!"
At the break the group talked about the first half of the play.
"She is trying really hard." Fluttershy tried to find to find something positive about the act.
"At least she isn't attempting to embarrass anypony on her stage." Twilight added while still writing her list about every mistake in the performance.
"Yes, she just does it naturally." Rainbow Dash interrupted, still sour about her portrayal in the play.
"Well, I still think she is trying to affront us! How could she get my character so mixed up? I was never… rarely that shallow." Rarity mused.
"Ah still wonder if, she want' to insult us or not." the farmer said.
"Oh now it is my turn to say something. But pretty much everything was said already. Except cue happy intro music! This is weird. Normally I can talk for a long time about…" Pinkie Pie rambled until she saw a cupcake flying by and swallowed it in on bite.
Before anypony could continue the stage wagon started to glow again, the curtain opened and the scene shifted into an actually quite realistic presentation of the Everfree Forest. In a blinding flash Trixie appeared in the scene on the top of a tree.
"Here in the deepest depths of the dark Everfree Forest the final battle will take place. As our heroine had finished her search for information about the mighty Elements of Harmony in the library, she immediately rushed into action, hoping to free her beloved mentor, the wise and wonderful Princess Celestia, cure her faithful assistant and defeat the dreaded Nightmare Moon!"
Trixie took a deep breath.
"But little did she know, that somepony had followed her!"
As the jumped down from the tree her form shifted again into Twilights and she began to wander around the stage. The trees and bushes around her moved as she walked past them and suddenly…
"Surprise!"
The illusionary versions of Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were standing right before her.
"My dear, you just can't do this on your own." the fake cyan pegasus insisted.
"Desolè, but what kind of friends would we be, if we left you hanging? Especially when you are about to do something so reckless?" the copy of the orange earth pony added.
The stage version of the pink pony happily jumped around the incredible Twilight, while the fake white unicorn smiled assuring at her.
"WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR??? LET`S BEAT THIS NIGHTMARE GOON!!!" the illusionary Fluttershy screamed literary pushing the fake purple unicorn a few inches backward.
Suddenly the entire platform as well as the village began to shake violently.
"Is th… is pa… rt of the sh… ow?" the real Rarity asked.
"My… vo…ice… sou… nds… silly… aga… in." the pink earth pony interrupted.
"Th… at… is … an… ad… van… ced illusion." Twilight said as the fake earthquake stopped.
The scene shifted again, this time showing an overview of the Everfree Forest as a gigantic dark castle had risen from the ground, surrounded by lightning and thunder. Some storm clouds swept over the audience as well. Finally the stage shifted back to the previous view.
The illusionary versions of the heroes stood there in awe as suddenly the ground broke apart and they started to slide under the stage. The scene changed again, showing a dangerous cliff right in front the outer wall of the dark castle. The fake yellow pegasus had grabbed the stage-Pinkie Pie, the copy of Rainbow Dash had saved the illusion of the white unicorn after the wing spell broke and the other Applejack had somehow secured herself with her rope to a nearby tree.
The mirage of Twilight however was slowly sliding down into the abyss, only to be caught by a lasso thrown by the fake farmer. The weight of both of them however seemed to be too much for the tree and it slowly broke in half. The illusionary orange earth pony had used one hoof to secure herself and another to hold the stage version of the purple unicorn.
"Twilight, copain, there is only one thing you can do now." The stage-Applejack said. "You need to let go."
"What?"
"Trust me." the fake version of the farmer looked the illusionary purple unicorn right into the eyes.
The incredible Twilight smiled and let go. Immediately the fake Applejack did let go as well, caught part of the wall with another lasso and intercepted the illusionary book-loving unicorn before she could fall. The entire action took only one second as the entire audience erupted into cheers.
"My, my… she thinks Ah can do this?" the real orange earth pony seemed proud at the spectacle.
"Maybe this isn't as bad, as I thought." Rarity added.
"But the part with the Manticore will be next. Just think what this could do to her." Twilight said worryingly pointing in the direction of her timid friend.
As the scene changed again the illusionary heroes had entered the dark and stormy castle. Several moon symbols were engraved into the black stones, used to build the horrible location. Suddenly a Manticore stood in front of the stage-heroes.
"Oh my…" Fluttershy said meekly.
The Manticore was defiantly larger, than its real-life-counterpart, about the size of an Ursa Minor. It had the body of a lion and a scorpion tail and besides the size it looked a lot like the real version; Trixie had probably seen a picture of the real thing.
The mystical creature growled and swept the illusions of Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity away. The stage-Rainbow Dash charged at the being several times but each attack seemed to cause hardly any damage.
The fake yellow pegasus stood next to the incredible Twilight witnessing the entire scene. The illusionary version of the purple unicorn readied herself for the next and likely very loud line of the copy of the fluttering pegasus.
"LEAVE HER TO ME!!!" stage-Fluttershy shouted.
The Manticore looked dumfounded at her new opponent as the fake weather patrol slowly moved back.
"I know you." the illusionary Fluttershy said.
Everyone looked confused: The fake versions of the heroes, the Manticore and of course the audience. The so far loudest character on the entire play suddenly spoke normally?
"Do you remember? I found you. I healed you. I sent you back to your family, Coreline."
"Coreline, what a strange name for such a monster…" the fashionista mused.
The Manticore jumped next to the illusionary version of the fluttering pegasus and purred like a kitten.
"You should better leave, it is dangerous around here." the fake yellow pegasus said calmly.
The real heroes looked relieved. Most of them had expected a very violent solution.
"It is so cute!" the real Fluttershy erupted in joy.
The Manticore nodded before jumping over the wall in one huge leap and returned back into the forest.
"Yay, she did it!" Fluttershy cheered barely audible.
"WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT??? LET'S CONTINUE!!!" the copy of yellow pegasus screamed, suddenly back to her "normal" self.
As the stage-heroes continued their journey the scene changed again, this time into absolute darkness.
"Oh, I know this one!" the real pink pony smiled.
Out of the darkness several trees with evil and distorted faces could be seen. The fake heroes, even Fluttershy, screamed in terror, except one: the illusionary Pinkie Pie.
"Why… What is this?" the mirage of Rarity shouted.
Suddenly laughter filled the air.
"They are just silly looking trees. Nothing to be afraid of!" the copy of the pink earth pony said.
Just as suddenly a light spot focused at her and the pink pony began to sing.
"When I was a little filly and the sun was going dooooooown."
"The darkness and the shadows they would always make me frooooooooown."
The original Pinkie Pie smiled from ear to ear, while the other heroes could hardly believe it.
"I'd hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw, but Granny Pie said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at aaaaalllllll."
"She said, Pinkie you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears, you'll see that they can't hurt you just laugh to make them disappeeeeear."
"HA HA HA"
The real Element of Laughter joined into the song and even the others found themselves humming it. The other versions of the heroes on stage joined into the song as well.
"Sooooooo, giggle at the ghosty."
"Guffaw at the grossly."
"Crack up at the creepy."
"Woof it up with the weepy."
"Chortle at the cooky."
"Snortle at the spooky. "
Most trees vanished in pink clouds.
"And to tell that big ol' scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he's scary than he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna HAHHAHAAHAHA laaaauuuuuuugh."
Finally the last tree vanished. Everyone, both on the platform and in the audience, broke down laughing. For a moment Twilight heard Trixie`s own laughter as well.
After some moments the audience calmed down and the other heroes suddenly looked very seriously at Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash was the first one to speak.
"Okay, tell us, when did you teach Trixie this song? You can't tell us that she came up with this on her own."
"I met her in the Everfree Forest, a few days after our encounter. She was so scared. Nobody should be so sad. So I sung this song to calm her down. It did work well, don't you think? She said I should not tell anypony about it. But I didn't Pinkie Swear on it. So I guess it is okay to tell you after all this time. Otherwise you would be very confused. I wouldn't want that. And I love good exposition! But I only sang it once. I guess she really liked the song."
As the scene shifted again it turned into the interior of the dark, stormy and creepy castle. A sea dragon was chained to a huge red door in front of the fake heroes. It was in horrible condition, the body scarred and part of his blue beard was cut off.
"What did I do to deserve this?" the creature wept.
"How could they? How could they hurt such a magnificent creature?" the illusionary version of Rarity cried out.
The real white unicorn looked intensely at the scene, searching for any attempt to make fun of her.
"Hm?" the sea dragon looked at her.
"I will not tolerate this suffering any longer!" with determination the stage-Rarity rose her head, her horn began to glow and she cut through the chains binding the dragon like butter.
The dragon seemed happier but could only weekly crawl away from the door. Soon the illusionary version of the fashionista helped him and started to push him near the exit, breaking her illusionary wings again.
"Just go ahead, I will help you as soon as the poor thing is safe."
"My dear that was generous." the original Rarity smiled.
"I dunno, wasn't this more Kindness, then Generosity?" Pinkie Pie questioned.
Now one member short the group continued their search in the castle. The scene changed again, this time to reveal an open area, surrounding the centre of the dark, stormy, creepy and disturbing castle. Three members of the Shadowbolts could be seen flying around the remaining heroes.
"So you came all this way." the Shadowbolts hissed.
"This feeling. These things were created from pure darkness by Nightmare Moon." the mirage of the purple unicorn exposited in pain.
A dark energy rising from the ground beneath each pony pushed all stage versions of the heroes to the ground.
"Did you think we wouldn't notice?"
The sky turned even darker.
"We will end you, and then Nightmare Moon can finish her spell in silence."
The fake Rainbow Dash painfully struggled against the darkness.
"The night will be eternal."
The darkness around the illusionary cyan pegasus intensified but she resisted it. The real Rainbow Dash looked with tension onto the display of willpower.
"There is nothing you can do about it."
As sudden as it appeared the darkness around stage-Rainbow Dash vanished.
"Are you done trash talking? We will not just lay down to you and your horrible fashion choices!" the fake weather patrol added. "Seriously you are just shadow copies of the greatest aerial team ever: The Wonderbolts!"
"Yeah, tell them!" the original Rainbow Dash cheered.
"You can't save them. Just forget about them and join the winning team. You will make a fine Shadowbolt!"
"I must tell you one thing however…" the illusionary cyan pegasus said.
Before the Shadowbolts could say anything, the illusionary Rainbow Dash flew over the audience and charged right at the minions as bright rainbow colours filled the air. The impact engulfed the entire scene into a bright explosion of colours and the Shadowbolts vanished into the darkness.
"I never let my friends down!" the fake cyan pegaus continued her sentence.
The entire audience erupted into cheers at the fireworks display. On stage the illusionary Rarity caught up to the other heroes as the curtain closed. Calmly Trixie walked out of the curtain to narrate the final part of the play.
"Every piece is in place. The heroes overcame every obstacle in their way as only the dreaded Nightmare Moon herself remained. But here our heroes will need more than their own strength to prevail. Let us witness the final act!"
Trixies form shifted again, taking the appearance of Twilight Sparkle one last time as the curtain opened again and the scene shifted into a dark and ancient throne room. Illusions of Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie appeared next to her. Before the heroes stood their opponent, Nightmare Moon, the five stones representing Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, Loyalty and Honesty floating around her. Behind the mare of darkness was a sphere of light, pulsating in various colours.
"Ah, my future subjects. I am just finishing the spell that will ensure that the sun will never rise over our beloved country again. Take a seat."
Again darkness rose from the ground to paralyse the actors but this time it went differently. Twilight Sparkle floated quickly aside, both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy dodged the attack with quick areal movements, Pinkie Pie jumped aside, crashed into Rarity, saving her as well.
"I meant to do that!" the quirky illusionary pony added.
"We will not fall for the same trick again, Luna!" the fake magically gifted unicorn shouted.
"YOU WILL NO CALL ME THAT! I AM NIGHTMARE MOON!" the illusion of the embodiment of Darkness shrieked furiously.
While she did that the fake pink pony suddenly appeared above her, apparently hanging from the top of the stage wagon, and grabbed the floating element of Laughter. At the same time the illusionary yellow pegasus and Rainbow Dash charged at their respective Elements and secured Kindness and Loyalty. Before anypony could react the mirage of Rarity took the Element of Generosity with her telekinesis and the fake Applejack lassoed the Element of Honesty into safety.
"HOW DARE YOU? But it makes little difference. Do you not realize what is missing right now?" the dark princess asked with a sudden shift in tone.
"The… the last Element is missing. The complete mystery that should appear when the other ones are joined together." The illusion of Twilight Sparkle remembered.
"You don't need to worry about that." the mare of darkness smiled as her darkness grew, filling the entire room and swallowing the entire group. A black cloud obscured the scene and started to creep out into the audience, as the ponies in the first row slowly tried to distance themselves from it.
Then the sound of class breaking could be heard as the darkness vanished in an instant and the illusion of Princess Celestia stood in front of the stage-heroes. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity all surrounded Twilight Sparkle.
"My little ponies, you have done wonderful so far. Don't give up now. I will hold her back as long as I can." the princess turned her head to her corrupted sister "This time I will not fail you, this time we will SAVE YOU!"
Both physical embodiments charged at each other and rare energy erupted from the collision.
"WHAT CAN WE DO NOW?!?" the fake yellow pegasus screamed in fear.
In that moment the mirage of Twilight realized that before the Princess saved them, every one of her friends was ready to sacrifice herself to save her. This ignited something inside her and light erupted from her eyes.
"I have finally realized it. I have friends, Friends who are kind to me. Friends that found friendship in beings others would just call monsters."
As she said that the stone with the Element of Kindness changed into a necklace and flew to Fluttershy.
"Friends who are honest to me. Friends who did everything to catch me, before I fall into the abyss."
Then the Element of Honesty changed into a necklace and flew to the orange earth pony.
"Friends who are generous. Friends that would do anything to free anypony... anybody from suffering."
At this moment the Element of Generosity became a necklace and flew to Rarity.
"Friends who are cool, awesome, radical and loyal. Friends who stay true to their real friends, no matter what."
With this bold proclamation the Element of Loyalty took the form of a necklace and flew to Rainbow Dash.
"Friends who fill the air with kind laughter. Friends that stood up against the fear surrounding my heart."
Finally the Element of Laughter changed into a necklace and flew to Pinkie Pie.
"I learned many things today. I also learned that I can, with the help of my friends, wield the final element: The Element of Magic."
Suddenly a crown appeared on her head and the energy around them took the form of a rainbow and charged at their occupied opponent. Too late Nightmare Moon realized that the power had reached her and covered her in various colours as Princess Celestia carefully stepped aside.
"HOW COULD YOOOOOUUUuuuuuuuu…" were Nightmare Moons final words to the victorious Elements.
Again everypony heard the sound of something breaking in the beaming light and as the audience could see the stage, Nightmare Moon had vanished. In her place stood Princess Luna, freed from her own darkness. Slowly Princess Celestia approached her younger sister.
"Luna, after all these years… We were meant to rule together in Harmony. Please let us return to our original places: As the rightful rulers of night and day."
The group of heroes looked anxiously at the Princess of the Night, until she jumped up and stated to hug her older sister. Luna looked at the audience and proudly proclaimed:
"Thank you. I was saved from my own darkness. Always remember that even in the darkest hour there is light to guide you."
As the curtain fell the audience erupted into cheers.
"Twilight Sparkle! Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie! Applejack! Rarity! Trixie!"
The true heroes felt somewhat uncomfortable by the cheers for their own names at first but eventually joined as well. Except that they chose to only cheer for Trixie and the other members of their circle.
The curtain opened again as all main characters walked back onto the platform: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Fluttershy, Princess Celestia, Pinkie Pie, Princess Luna, Applejack, Nightmare Moon and Rarity. Each of them bowed politely to the audience as Trixie walked up at the sidelines and applauded as well. Eventually she spoke to the present ponies.
"It took a long time and effort to create this play. Trixie thanks you for your attention to this great and powerful production!"
With a final bright explosion of fireworks everypony on stage vanished as the audience restarted their deafening cheers. After several minutes of cheers eventually almost everypony had left the place. Only the Elements of Harmony remained.
"I think it is time to visit the one responsible for this production." Rarity said.
Soon they entered the huge stage wagon. It was filled with various decorations and magical items to produce the countless illusions occupying the platform.
"Impressive, every item here is enchanted. These kinds of magic need to be recast constantly, do you know what this means?"
"Twilight, could we save the explanation for later?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh, so many colours!" Pinkie Pie happily bounced around the structures.
"So, what do you think of Trixie's play?" Trixie calmly walked up to them, watching them carefully.
"Ah want to be honest. At first we thought that it would be horrible. You got almost everypony wrong." Applejack began noticing Trixie's disappointment at her words. "But you fought for your story. The audience loved it. We loved it and Ah realize why that is so: You loved the play as well."
"Yeah, the effects were awesome!" Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie shouted in perfect unity. The cyan pegasus was somewhat confused by that, while the pink pony just continued to smile.
"You poured your soul into it, quite literary. The entire time you were behind the stage operating the illusions and providing the various voices and effects. You never used this power to talk down on anypony. You could have easily embarrassed each one of us, but we soon realized, that you meant well." the book-loving unicorn proclaimed.
Outside the large list of mistakes written by Twilight vanished into thin air, being teleported back into her library, where a confused owl could just ask: "Who?"
Back inside the wagon Fluttershy noticed something, the sound of someone very silently weeping. She took a look at Trixie in front of her. She wasn't crying, instead she smiled confidently at them. Then Futtershy realized that little drops of water appeared under the showponys head.
Eventually it was Rarity who put the clues together.
"You are still using illusions, my dear. Just drop it. Nopony will laugh."
Like broken glass the image of the smiling self assure unicorn in front of them broke as the real Trixie lay on the floor crying tears of joy. The bearers realized that while the travelling magician had performed a play about friendship, she was all alone in the back of her stage wagon.
"Trixie… I was afraid that you would hate it. That Trixie wouldn't even get a chance to perform, but Trixie had to come, I had to do this for myself… but I didn't want you to see me like…"
"That is nothing to be ashamed of!" Twilight quickly added, while Pinkie Pie picked up the sobbing pony.
"On stage you always have to smile, but here you can show your real feelings." Rainbow Dash of all ponies said seriously, only to quickly counter the confused looks of anypony around her by returning to her usual quirky behaviour. "But your magic has easily become 20% cooler!"
Trixie smiled at the ponies before her, beginning to understand more and more why these six were chosen as the Elements of Harmony.
"Would you still follow my original offer and tell me what really happened?"
Everypony nodded and began telling her the tale of the mare inside the moon.
"Cue happy ending theme!" Pinkie Pie randomly shouted. Nopony found that strange anymore.