• Published 11th Dec 2015
  • 8,473 Views, 179 Comments

Book 1: A New Element of Friendship - Medley of MLP



A human turned pony gets to live in all of MLP's glory. And he gets stuck in the middle of it. Perfect times for all.

  • ...
42
 179
 8,473

What's The True Illusion?

Author's Note:

Hey there! Yep, new chapter out and just around the time everyone who's still in school is either graduating or getting let out for summer vacation. This one took me a bit to do, considering my habit of running dry on creativity. Though I got a question for you ponies: What episodes from Season 1 were your favorites and if I did your favorite, what was your reaction to my changes? I'm rather curious, so do leave a comment on that. With that said, onwards with the story!

A New Element Of Friendship

What’s The True Illusion?

*sigh* Why does it seem like I’m destined to be plagued by eternal annoyances? More specifically, for times to be woken up. It was such a peaceful sleep too. But nooooo, a few young foals decided to run into my house, Spike being dragged along with them before they somehow managed to crash themselves into my bed, flipping over and landing on my stomach. I gave a loud ‘oof’ sound as the three of them landed one on top of the other, creating a small stack of young foals on my stomach.

“Really? Why me? Why?” I groaned out as they got off of me and I got out from bed.

“Sorry about that, Mr. Royalwind!” The shorter and squatter foal said.

“Y-Yeah… You’re not gonna mark us down, are ya?” The taller foal added on.

Ah, so it seems that these two foals, more commonly known as Snips and Snails, were the ones that started it.

“Don’t worry about it, alright? Just get out now before I decide to make you both sing a duet. With everyone watching. And it will be graded,” I smirked as I saw their eyes widen and they bolted out the door.

I chuckled to myself as Spike looked at me, both in a bit of awe and worry. “You really wouldn’t do that to them, would you?”

“Nah, I was just joking on that part. Worked though, didn’t it?” I grinned to Spike.

“Touche,” Spike chuckled as he stood up as well, brushing himself off.

“So what got the two of them so excited that they managed to practically carry you away and manage to become my alarm for the day?” I questioned Spike as I got out a set of clothes for the day.

“Oh yeah, that’s right!” Spike exclaimed. “They managed to tell me before we somehow got into your house and woke you up. They said something about ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’, but that was all they managed to get out.”

“Wait… ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’?” I snapped my head towards him.

“Y-Yeah… you know her or something?” Spike stammered a bit as he noticed how quick I was to respond to the name.

I gritted my teeth a bit as Twilight dashed into my home. “Oh Spike, you’re alright! Wait… why is Medley so angry?”

“I dunno… All I said was a name and he got… scary,” Spike said as Twilight quickly picked him up and put him on her back.

“You want to know why I’m pissed?” I angrily told them, snapping my head towards them. “It’s because for all of her bragging about being ‘The Great and Powerful’, she herself has barely average magic. Except when it comes to illusions, of course. I eventually found out that she was the one who managed to trick me into giving her a fortune for a spell that made it sound like my voice was fixed, when in reality it didn't do a single thing. But before I found out, she hightailed it out of town and I hadn’t heard her since then.”

“Oh… I’m… I’m so sorry Medley…” Twilight looked really apologetic as she and Spike both shrunk back a bit from my angry rant.

Then something felt strange for a moment before I visibly calmed down. For a moment, it felt like… something or someone was trying to take over my body. Either that or it was repressed rage. To be honest, both can feel same (don’t ask me how I know). In any case, I had calmed down considerably and looked at them again, trying to not scare them off.

“Sorry you two. Old memories and whatnot. I’m feeling much more calm now, don’t worry,” I soothingly monotoned.

It took a while, but they both eventually felt it was alright to continue on, though I did notice they were flinching slightly from sudden movements I did.

“Are… are you alright to come and see the show with us?” Spike hesitantly asked after a long moment of awkward of silence.

I shook my head. “Nu-uh. I’m not going. I’m sorry, but if I go I’ll feel inclined to try and create a tornado. Right on top of her and her caravan. And I would be hoping for either asphyxiation or a far away launch.”

Both Twilight and Spike cringed at the cold tone of voice. Spike eventually nodded. “We’ll come back and tell her if she’s gotten any better. From the sound of things though… that’s really unlikely.”

“See you both later then. Sounds like the show is starting up,” I said as I heard fireworks going off.

Twilight nodded as she teleported her and Spike over into the audience. I sighed, still feeling tension and anger towards that showpony, eventually deciding to go and take a small nap to relax.

It was a while later that I heard the front door slam open, jolting me awake. It looked like it was night time already from just looking outside the window, a normal night. What was not normal, however, was the sounds of screaming and loud roaring. I quickly rushed down the stairs before stopping dead in my tracks to notice who was hiding behind my door, trying to hide from the monster outside. I could instantly recognize her, who wouldn’t be able to.

“You…” I growled a bit, my face turning into an expression of fury as I methodically made my way to her.

“W-What? Someone was already occupying this place? Last time The Great And Powerful Trixie visited Ponyville, no one lived here,” Trixie arrogantly stated, not realizing the danger.

“Oh trust me. It took a while for me to rebuild my fortune that you stole,” I spat out as I got closer to her.

Trixie, for her part, finally realized who was there and she started to turn very pale. “W-Wait! Trixie can explain!”

“Oh really?!” I exclaimed. “No please, do tell me why you swindled me and gave me false hope at the same time for a good reason.”

“Trixie was just starting out as an illusionist and needed a start-up fund. No bank wanted to give Trixie a loan and no pony was wanting to invest in me,” Trixie hurriedly explained.

“So the very good reason for me to practically lose the family fortune was a way to get ‘The Great And Powerful Trixie’ off the ground?” I seethed as I felt my anger starting to rise to the very top, almost exploding.

Trixie looked frightened and downtrodden at the same time as she responded, “No… That was not the reason Tri- I- took away your money. Please… let me explain further.”

I stopped for a moment as I saw her visibly deflate herself. No longer being bombastic or egotistical, but rather a more humble mare. I was still pissed off of course, but it calmed down into a small cold fury as I stood there.

“Very well, Trixie Lulamoon. Please explain fully,” I stated in a monotoned voice.

Trixie nodded. “Back when I was first starting out, I thought I could hire on an assistant, who happened to be a close friend of mine at the time. She is no longer a friend though, after I found out she only wanted to be friends with me to be popular enough so that she could mooch off my fame and live the life of luxury while I did all the work. However, she required a hefty fee on top of all the equipment and advertising I had to get as well. She required the money that day and I was running out of ways to raise enough money to hire her. When you visited me and offered as much as you did, I thought my prayers had been answered and quickly used a big lie to get what I wanted and get out to do my show. After about a year though, my former friend and I had a big fight and she left me, trying to go on her own. She obviously failed, leaving only Trixie to do her show. I’ve tried to hire other assistants, but even with your fortune and my growing fame, they just weren’t quite the ones to help out. And so, after a few years, that large boost that started my career ended up being the reason I could get food on the table. While I was getting very famous, most of my shows were for charities, so I did not see much revenue. In fact, this show in Ponyville was going to be one of the few times I would ask for tickets and the proceeds would go to me,” She then looked up at me, her face swelling up with tears. “I apologize for saying something I know was practically a con, but I had the best of intentions and eventually it was needed to help keep my idea afloat. Putting aside my ‘Great and Powerful’ shtick, I wanted to be one of Equestria’s best entertainers that wasn’t a party planner. ‘Trixie the Illusionist’ was going to be the title before my friend convinced me to change it to ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’ so it could sell better. Eventually I was so caught up in the name, I started to believe my own hype.”

A louder roar could be heard this time as Trixie sighed and whimpered out, “And now two of my most idiotic fans decided to prove my false claims and bring an Ursa to Ponyville. I should’ve never come here at all…”

She eventually broke down into a sobbing fit as I stood there stunned. While true, she had stole my money, I could now see that she was doing it for, somewhat, noble reasons. True, I was a bit mad still, but I could forgive her for it, just as long as she payed it back. I walked towards her again and put a hoof around her, comforting her. She flinched a bit from my touch, still expecting me to strike her, but eventually cuddled a bit closer to me and cried for a bit on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry Trixie. You know what you did was wrong and you feel sorry for it. All you need to do is to make up for it, alright? Just work off the fortune. Like I said, I eventually recovered it over time and as long as you put work into clearing away the debt, as it were. I won’t count you as a friend just yet though. That needs to be earned, not just simply given. However, what you’re doing and will do will help immensely, I can tell you that much,” I smiled as she calmed down.

“I… I think I can deal with that… It’s going to take a while, isn’t it?” She giggled a bit nervously.

I chuckled a bit too. “Only 5,000 bits you need to work towards. Charity work still counts, I’ll just count it as me making a donation anyways. For charities, only a tenth will actually be what I would’ve put in. So, a show gets a donation of 100 bits, that’s 10 bits less off the debt. Sound fair? After all, it’s not about the money, it’s about what it represents.”

She nodded before another roar echoed, even louder this time. “Not to ruin the mood, but Trixie does want to remind you that there’s still an Ursa outside.”

“I get the feeling that if you’re gonna live here, you’ll definitely need homeowner’s insurance,” I sighed as we both got up and ran outside. “You distract it, I’ll knock it out. Then Twilight can handle the rest.”

Trixie nodded and off we sped where I could see the rest of my friends also trying to fend off the Ursa… Minor? I forget, was it the blue ones that were Minors or were they, wait, no, scratch that, it was a Minor. Always smaller in comparison to the Majors. In any case, I simply strode up close to it and sang a lullaby to the big blue bear. It worked it seemed, as it slowly fell asleep as Twilight lifted it up with her magic, using the Ponyville water tower as a big baby bottle of milk and sending it back off to the cave, thus saving Ponyville once again from a threat. Once the Ursa Minor was taken care of, my friends turned and saw Trixie close by. They looked ready to go at her, but I quickly, put myself in the way of them, stopping them all in confusion as to why I would do this.

“Friends, I know from what it sounds like, Trixie was playing you all for a cheap laugh. However, I think she’s changed enough to not want to do that anymore. ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’ was vanquished by a better pony, known as ‘Trixie the Illusionist’. Plus, if I can trust her, considering my history with her,” at this the girls looked nervously at each other. Looks like Twilight told them no doubt, “I think you girls can too. Besides, she’ll be staying here to work in Ponyville for a while, you can keep an eye on her then, alright?”

“I dunno Med, she did kinda make us look like complete fools all while yammering on about how ‘Great and Powerful’ she was in comparison to Twilight,” Applejack looked hesitant. “However… I can tell yer being honest in saying she wants ta change. I’ll trust you on this, Med, don’t make me regret this.”

Rainbow seemed to be in the same vein, as did Rarity and Fluttershy. Twilight actually looked OK with it to begin with and any excuse for Pinkie to throw a party was OK with her.

I smiled at Trixie. “Looks like you’re now officially a part of Ponyville. If the Element Bearers can trust you, you’re not a bad pony as others may believe.”

I then turned stern as I saw Snips and Snails try to sneak away and quickly intercepted them. “Now, would you two happen to be the ones that tried to bring in an Ursa Major and were only lucky in the fact that you got an Ursa Minor instead?”

They nodded as they went to their stomachs. “We deserve whatever punishment you give us, Mr.Royalwind sir, ” Snails said eventually, sounding apologetic.

I stared down at them as my voice became crisp. “You will both write me an individual essay on what exactly you did wrong and will have to perform a duet in front of the whole class by next week. The essay will be due the week after your duet. One of them will be graded, the other won’t.”

They nodded and sped off back home. I turned to my friends with a small smirk. “Sometimes it’s so much fun being a teacher. Though in this case, I think the punishment was fair enough for them.”

They all nodded as they saw everyone, including Trixie, was asleep around us Mane 7 and Spike. I blushed a bit and shyly kicked a hoof. “...bit too much?”

Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile and giggle as she levitated everypony back to their homes, looking exhausted herself. “I think it’s time we all go to sleep now. Night everypony!”

We all said our good nights as we made our way back to our homes. Feeling a bit proud of myself for knocking out an Ursa Minor with just my singing alone, it made me wonder what else I could do with it. I eventually just put it in the back of my mind, counting it as a special thing that happened and leaving it at that.

I finish my thoughts before heading off to bed, for real this time. Hopefully. Maybe. Unless Luna decides to visit my dreams again, this time without showing off stuff to my friends. I also realized that today I showed that I truly was the Element of Understanding, able to actual overcome my hatred of somepony in favor of seeing the situation from multiple perspectives. Looks like that’s an illusion, wisped away by the reality of it all. Well, I bid you all a good night as well. See ya!

End of Chapter 8