The Great and Powerful Trixie Rises

Chapters

Chapter II: Conquest
Chapter III: Little Heroes
Chapter IV: Empire
Chapter V: Life in Trixievania
Chapter VI: Little Heroes Fall
Chapter VII: The Pledge
Chapter VIII: The Turn
Chapter IX: The Prestige
Epilogue
Deleted Scene II: The Lord of the Reins, The Two Sisters
Deleted Scene IV: Barely-Organized Chaos
Deleted Scene V: Pulling It All Together
Deleted Scene VI: Springing the Trap
Deleted Scene VII: Evil's True Face
Deleted Scene IX: 'You're Not Enslaved, Hooray!'/Epilogue 2
Deleted Scene X: Many Happy Endings/Epilogue 3
Chapter I: Nightmares
Deleted Scene I: The Lord of the Reins, The Fellowship of the Reign
Deleted Scene III: The Lord of the Reins, The Return of the Caring
Deleted Scene VIII: Ponyville Liberated/Epilogue 1

Chapter II: Conquest

Just outside, a near-hurricane force wind almost tore the ponies right off their hooves, forcing them to hug the ground. Applejack had to grab hold of Fluttershy just to keep her from drifting away. “M-maybe we should just head back inside and pretend this isn’t happening!” The yellow pegasus shrieked over the gale.

“No way!” Dash yelled back, flattening her body against the wind and clinging to the ground with all her might. “I know for a fact this wind wasn’t scheduled for tonight! Something’s going on!”

“Maybe we could ask her?” AJ asked, pointing at the sky. The ponies all gasped at the sight of a bright blue ball of energy swirling in mid-air, the wind whipping up all around it. As they watched, the ball descended to a point right on top of the town hall, shredding what little was left of the roof and scattering shingles everywhere. Slowly, the energy dissipated as everypony in town stepped out of their houses and looked up to see a familiar blue mare.

“TRIXIE!?” Twilight gasped.

“I say, what is she doing back here?” Rarity asked.

“Muh-maybe she heard Sethisto was here and came looking for him? I mean, she always was one for dramatic entrances.” As everypony watched in horror, a familiar red glow appeared near the blue mare’s neck, extending around her throat with bolts of red lightning that eventually coalesced into the Alicorn Amulet. Her eyes opened, revealing the terrible red glow of somepony beneath the Amulet’s spell.

“Or maybe she’s here t’give everypony a blast from the past,” AJ moaned.

Trixie cleared her throat and spoke, her words carried on the air by the sheer force of the amulet: “Citizens of Ponyville! The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to welcome you all to a new era in Equestria’s history!”

“Now what in tarnation…” Applejack started.

“Your town will have the great honor of serving as the new capital of Trixievania, and as such, shall be renamed LULAMOONTOPOLIS!”

“TRIXIE!” Twilight gasped, galloping up to the hall’s base. “What’s going on!? I thought you’d turned to good!”

The blue unicorn gazed down at the Element of Magic with a familiar, haughty look in her eyes. “Ah, Twilight Sparkle, the cause of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s downfall when last she was here. How nice of you to offer yourself for this demonstration.”

Suddenly, a red hue surrounded Twilight, lifting her off her hooves and high into the air. “TWILIGHT!” Her friends cried, but could only watch as she was lifted up to the roof and held in place, hovering just off the roof’s edge.

“Trixie, stop this!” She begged. “You know the path of hate only leads to…”

“Silence, Sparkle,” the blue mare sneered. “You will serve as an example for the rest of your friends to follow.”

Suddenly, something tight formed around Twilights neck, stinging her skin. She looked down to see a red hue of lightning bolts cascading around her throat, forming a perfect collar. “What is…”

“I said SILENCE!” Trixie screamed, and the bolts jumped up and wrapped around Twilight’s muzzle, forcing her mouth shut. Thinking fast, Twilight summoned a bit of her magic, hoping to catch Trixie off-guard with a bolt of her own lightning or a sleeping spell, but her horn only flickered pathetically, the red bolts cascading up her neck to drain all trace of magical energy from her head.

“Mmmph,” the purple unicorn whimpered.

“What’s the matter, Miss Sparkle? You were so talkative just moments ago,” Trixie cackled before dropping Twilight. Fortunately, a trampoline materialized to break her fall, courtesy of the Element of Laughter.

“Nice catch, Pinkie!” Rainbow gasped as she scooped the unicorn up, dropping her off with the rest of her friends as they huddled around her in concern.

“Now, what in tarnation is this?” Applejack asked, reaching for the collar of magical energy around Twilight’s neck. Her hoof darted back almost immediately. “Nngh! It feels red hot!” A few tears entered Twilight’s eyes as a couple muffled grumbles escaped her throat.

“Whatever it is, we gotta get rid of it!” Rainbow gasped. “I’m gonna get my Element, you girls do the same!”

“Right!” The rest of the ponies scattered as Dash rocketed into the sky, keeping an eye on Trixie. As expected, the blue mare’s horn charged with energy and unleashed a flurry of red bolts her way, which she expertly dodged. Smiling at the look of frustration on Trixie’s face, the pegasus poured all her speed into an all-out dash for Cloudsdale, only to nearly break her collarbone when she smacked into an invisible barrier. Dazed, she fell right out of the sky, gliding lopsidedly like a broken kite.

“Now, where did you think you were going, Miss Dash?” Trixie asked sarcastically. “Did you really think you could leave the party before it had even started?”

Pinkie leapt into action, a catcher’s mitt materializing in her hand to cushion her friend. “Ooh, party?” She asked. “I love…MMPH!” Before she could even finish her sentence, another red lightning-bolt collar materialized around her neck and sealed her muzzle shut.

“Might as well take care of that, while we’re at it,” Trixie mumbled to herself.

Pinkie lost her grip on her friend, sending her slamming into the ground right in front of Rarity. The unicorn screeched to a halt. “Dash? What in Celestia’s name are you still doing here!?”

“It’s Trixie,” Rainbow replied, rubbing her nose where she’d smacked it against the barrier. “She’s already erected that same barrier from last time!”

“What? So Ponyville’s cut off?” Rarity looked around as ponies ran through the streets in full panic mode, slamming their bodies uselessly against the barrier when they weren’t smacking into one another. “But we all stored our elements in our homes!”

“And the barrier means we can’t get near Fluttershy’s treehouse, Cloudsdale, or Sweet Apple Acres,” Dash groaned.

“Which means the only Elements we have are Generosity, Laughter, and Magic,” Rarity sighed, taking a seat on the ground and massaging her temples. “Just half a full-set.”

“We can’t do anything with just half the Elements, so that means…” she gazed up at the random bolts of lightning slicing through the air around the Ponyville Town Hall, Trixie laughing triumphantly in their midst “…That means…” she couldn’t even bring herself to say it. It meant they were powerless against Trixie. It meant that once again, Ponyville had fallen beneath the blue mare’s reign.

“Wait,” Rarity spied something moving around near the entrance to the Town Hall. “Who’s that?”

Rainbow squinted to see a familiar yellow stallion galloping at full-speed towards the building. “Hey, isn’t that Sethisto? Why’s he in Ponyville too?”

“TRIXIE!” He screamed, running laps around the entrance to town hall. “TRIXIE!”

The blue mare turned her gaze down to him. With a tiny smile, she lifted him up to the roof and set him gently on his hooves next to her. “Oh, Sethy! The Great and Powerful Trixie is so glad you could make it!”

“Trixie, what is this!? What’s going on!? Why are you talking in third-pony again!? How did you…MMPH!” His lips suddenly sealed themselves shut beneath a hue of red magic.

“So many questions, Sethy, but all you need to know is that the Great and Powerful Trixie has realized her true calling as Equestria’s ruler! After all,” she tossed her little mane. “Was there ever any doubt that I was destined for greatness?”

The hue of magic released his lips, allowing him to speak again: “Well, yeah…I mean, no, of course not…I mean…I just…I thought we were only gonna do good things from now on! Helping ponies out and all that! Why did that change!?”

The Great and Powerful Trixie’s gaze turned ice-cold in a heartbeat. “This is the way things are now, Sethy. It was always supposed to be like this: it just took Trixie awhile to figure that out. Now, are you with the Great and Powerful Trixie, or against her?”

“Trixie, please,” he placed his hoof by hers. “Take that Amulet off and let’s go home. I can make us a nice, quiet dinner, and we’ll just settle in for the evening, alright? I’m sure all this will seem very silly in the morning. Please. You’re scaring all these ponies.”

Something flickered over Trixie’s eyes: something soft and wonderful that he recognized instantly. After all, finding the Soft and Loving Trixie had been part of the reason he’d fallen head over hooves for her these past few months. Then something hardened again, an angry grimace crossing her face. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was afraid you’d be too weak to accept her very generous offer. It really is a shame: you could have ruled over the greatest empire Equestria had ever known.”

Something slammed against the side of Sethisto’s face, sending him plummeting to the ground. “Instead, you’ve chosen to throw your lot in with THOSE weaklings!” She bellowed after him as Pinkie, still collared and gagged, managed to catch him with a pillow.

“Hmmphh-Mrrh-Hmph?” She asked the yellow stallion.

He turned back to her with a collar around his neck, a red hue over his muzzle, and a couple steams of tears pouring out of his eyes. “Mrrh,” he whimpered sadly. She hugged him close.

“That’s supposed to be your STALLIONFRIEND!” Rainbow screamed, charging at full-speed towards the blue mare. At the exact same time, Rarity reached into the ground with her magic to pull out a few rocks, hoofing them to Applejack for her to buck Trixie’s way. Yawning, Trixie easily deflected the attacks with a magical shield, scattering the rocks and sending Rainbow Dash flying off into the sky and ricocheting off the shield over Ponyville yet again. Tumbling helplessly, the pegasus was almost completely defenseless when Trixie seized her in a bubble of magic, dragging her until their noses were practically touching. Still smiling wickedly, the unicorn tapped Rainbow’s throat, allowing a flurry of lightning bolts to cascade directly from her body and around Dash’s neck.

“You take this thing off me right now, or so help me I’ll…” with a single thought from Trixie, the teal pegasus’s lips sealed themselves shut beneath a flurry of red lightning bolts. Dash could only glare while the blue unicorn towered triumphantly over her.

“Making you bow before the Great and Powerful Trixie,” she cooed, “Will be one of the greatest pleasures of her life.” Trixie cast Dash aside like a broken plaything. Automatically, the pegasus’s wings unfurled for her to flap away, only to lock up the instant they stretched out, peppered in more bolts of red lightning.

“Hmmph!?” She gasped as she plummeted to the ground, once again being saved by a quick-thinking Pinkie and her never-ending supply of soft things (in this case a large beanbag chair). Almost immediately after her hooves hit the ground, Dash unfurled her wings and tried to take off again, only to watch them lock up the moment she tried to use them. Pinkie tapped a hoof on Dash’s head, trying to get her pegasus friend to stop before she hurt herself. As expected, the pegasus just brushed her friend aside and kept trying to take off, even as the bolts froze her wings into more and more strange and agonizing positions.

“Woah, woah there!” Applejack’s voice gasped from behind them.

“Oh good heavens, what is…” Rarity added. Finally, Dash looked away from her wings to her friends, only to watch helplessly as they were dragged off towards the Town Hall.

“Don’t think the Great and Powerful Trixie has forgotten about you,” Trixie sneered as she lifted the Elements of Generosity and Honesty in front of her as if they were little insects. “Or you!” She quickly added, her magic reaching into the bushes right in front of Twilight’s house and dragging Fluttershy out by the tail. Immediately Rainbow, Twilight, Sethisto and Pinkie galloped up to her and grabbed her by the hooves, trying to keep the little yellow pegasus from being lifted away, but the moment their hooves made contact they were dragged back by their collars, forced to release her. She was dragged up to the roof with a frightened squeak.

“Oh, BUCK no,” Applejack swore, leveling a hoof Trixie’s way. “If’n you think we’re just gonna letcha lock one of those things ‘round OUR necks…”

“What do you think I’ve been doing while we were having this conversation, you simple little Earth pony?” Trixie sneered.

“Wha-“ Applejack managed before another series of red lightning bolts materialized around her neck, snapping her mouth shut as she was dropped right off the edge of the tower. “MMPH!” She started, landing in a pile of carefully-placed quilts. As she landed, Pinkie dashed to catch Rarity and Fluttershy, now also gagged and collared. The Element of Honesty moaned. There just wasn’t a thing she could do! They were all powerless against the Amulet’s sheer might!

“Now,” Trixie giggled as she teleported down to the six mares (and Sethisto). They all cowered as she advanced, gazing down at them with her chest thrust out. “As your new sovereign, I highly suggest that you all bow.”

One look into her eyes told Sethisto all he needed to know: the Great and Powerful Trixie was making a demand. He was the first to bow, a few tears wetting the grass beneath his face.

“Thank you, Sethy, and as your reward,” she tapped her hoof against the ground, and instantly the aura binding his muzzle dissipated. “You may leave now.”

“Thank you, oh Great and Powerful Trixie,” he muttered before trudging off, tears drifting to the ground beneath his hooves. The red glow off his collar lit his way as he disappeared into the crowd of panicked ponies, who had finally calmed down enough to sit and watch Trixie’s final victory.

“And as for the rest of you,” her horn glowed intimidatingly. “Bow, before the Great and Powerful Trixie feels it would be fitting to punish you all!”

Ever the logical one, Twilight knew the night could only have one conclusion. She was next to bow. It was slow, and with a certain air of dignity, like a once-powerful enemy surrendering to a greater foe. She was followed quickly by Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, each bowing one after the other. Rainbow Dash and Applejack still stood tall, glaring at Trixie defiantly, just daring her to try and force them down.

“I…I mean, the Great and Powerful Trixie figured it would come down to you two,” Trixie sighed, focusing a bit more of her magic into applying some pressure to the back of the ponies’ heads. AJ and Dash resisted, of course, and Trixie rolled her eyes. “The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t have the time or magic to spare for this nonsense, so she’ll make you both a deal: bow, and the Great and Powerful Trixie might just consider releasing your friends.”

AJ and Dash’s eyes widened, turning to their friends. All four immediately shook their heads. “Nommmph!” Twilight added before a burst of magic forced her muzzle into the dirt.

“Well?” Trixie arched an eyebrow. “Your sovereign is waiting.”

The two ponies stared at each other and sighed hopelessly. Then, with their eyes squeezed tight so as not to see what they were doing, they both dropped to their knees at Trixie’s hooves. By then, the crowd gathered around Town Hall had expanded to include every citizen of Ponyville (except the fillies still asleep in their beds), and what they saw broke what little will to resist remained: Trixie, standing over all six of the Elements of Harmony, all bowing at her feet. Equestria’s greatest defenders, bought low by one small blue mare and a piece of jewelry.

“Trixie knew you would come around,” the mare sneered as she promptly snatched all six ponies up and threw them towards the Town Hall, the door opening like some monster’s pitch-black maw, waiting to swallow them whole.

“HRMPH! MRPH!” Rainbow Dash yelled over her muzzle, wedging her hooves firmly in the doorframe and allowing her friends to pile on top of her in an attempt to resist Trixie’s magic.

“What’s that?” Trixie asked, mockingly placing a hoof by her ear. “You’re wondering why the Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t release your little friends? Well, she DID say she MIGHT consider it. And she has! The answer is no, your friends will remain where they are. Sorry, better luck next time.”

“JOOPH BIF!”

“Now Rainbow, is that anyway for an Element of Harmony to talk around her fellow villagers?” Trixie cackled before forcing one last burst of magic against Dash’s body, sending the ponies tumbling through the doorway and sealing it shut behind them. Immediately, a cluster of chains sprang out of the ground and wrapped itself over the door’s surface, sealing it shut from anypony getting in or out.

“Now, as for the rest of you,” Trixie bellowed, turning to the crowd. Everypony backed away as she focused an incredible amount of effort into her horn, red lightning bolts cascading all along it and through the crowd. The townsponies was knocked right off their hooves, dust flying up from the sheer force of the magic Trixie summoned. Once they all came to, they discovered collars around each and every one of their necks, marking their new status as peons in Trixie’s empire.

“Now, go!” Trixie yelled. “Return to your homes, hold your families close, and rest your bodies for tomorrow. You will have a lot of work to do then!”

Sadly, each and everypony did as they were told. In Lulamoontopolis, it seemed, there wasn’t any alternative.

Chapter III: Little Heroes

Spike turned over in his little basket by Twilight’s bed, pulling the covers tight over his body. Whimpering, he tried very hard not to cry. He’d done enough of that since Trixie had retreated into the Town Hall with Twilight as her prisoner. Besides, he was the man of the house now; he had to be strong, for Twilight’s sake! So why couldn’t he close his eyes without a fresh stream of tears bursting out from behind them? Sighing, he wiped at his face and sat up in bed. It was no use. He just couldn’t get to sleep knowing Twilight was in danger!

He gazed out the window at the Town Hall. The once-bright structure at the heart of Ponyville loomed over him, covered in another magical barrier that kept anypony from peeking in the windows, which gave it a sinister shine in the moonlight. Trixie could be doing anything to his friends in there, and he couldn’t do a thing about it! Why did he just sit there like a lummox while they all fought outside!? He should’ve done something the moment he first heard those crashes and explosions, not just sat at the window and watched with his mouth hanging open like an idiot! Blinking back more tears, the baby dragon tried shifting his focus to the moon, still shining bright despite the magical barrier between it and Ponyville.

“Why isn’t anypony helping us?” He asked aloud, his gaze still on the moon.

No matter how dark things may look, all will be explained, a familiar voice whispered.

“Princess Luna!?” He gasped, spinning in place. An empty, impeccably well-kept room greeted him: Twilight’s bed was still made, the cupboards and shelves were still dusted, and the slipcover along the bed’s edge was unruffled and ironed. Rubbing his eyes, Spike slapped himself a few times to try and set his marbles straight. He couldn’t afford to go crazy now! If he started hallucinating, who would take care of the library while Twilight was…gone? Sighing again, he pulled himself out of his basket and plodded towards the bathroom. Maybe he just needed a bit of water to calm his nerves. And hey, Twilight was gone, so certainly nopony would mind if he helped himself to a midnight snack…

A loud crash echoed from downstairs just as he left the bathroom. Spike froze in his tracks, his entire body locking up in fear. That could’ve been nothing, he thought, just a vase falling over or something silly like that.

Of course, it could also have been some terrible demon raised from the pits of Tartarus itself, summoned by Trixie to torment him for his relationship with Twilight!

Immediately, he dashed back into the room and grabbed a candle from the nightstand. Lighting it with his breath, the little dragon made his way outside, shivering in fear. He peeked out the door, peering left, then right, before shoving his entire body through and onto the upper landing. “He-hello?” He called.

A few creaks replied from the lower floor.

“I-I should warn you: I’m a fierce, fire-breathing dragon, suh-summoned by Trixie herself to…uh…to guard this library!” Yeah, that sounded convincing. Maybe now, if there really was something down there, it would think he was another demon and leave him alone!

Right, and maybe he could defeat Trixie, marry Rarity, and crown himself Queen of the Crystal Empire while he was at it.

“I-I’m warning you,” still shaking, he crept down the stairs, one by one. Each errant creak and pop of a floorboard sending chills up his spine, making the candle’s flame flicker and shake even more. “I-I’m really serious here! Trixie herself summoned me, so you better not cross me, or you’ll…”

A loud thump sounded throughout the library. He turned towards the broom closet, right beneath the staircase. A red glow emanated from the crack under the door: the same shade of red as Trixie’s magic. Shivering harder than he’d ever shivered in his short, baby dragon life, Spike blew out his candle and crept towards the glow. “I-I’m being serious here! You should leave now, wha-while you still have the chance!”

Something shuffled in the closet, the light shifting with it. He set the candle down and picked a vase up off the shelf by the front doorway. It was just a cheap, plastic thing he’d bought for Twilight as a Hearth-Warming present, so he figured it wouldn’t be missed if worst came to worst. Thing was, if things got that bad, would there be anypony around to miss him? “Th-this is your last warning,” he reached a shivering, clawed hand out towards the doorknob. “You-you better leave now, or-or else,” his hand rested on the knob and slowly began to twist. “Or else things could get ugly!”

The knob clicked, the door sliding open just a teensy-bit. With a deep breath, he raised the vase over his head as high as his little arms would allow and dashed into the room, screaming “YYAAAARGH!”

“BLLAAAARRRRGGGHH!” A hideous, three-headed creature screamed in return, rearing up against the far wall to strike. His eyes closing for fear of being driven mad by the mere sight of the horrendous beast, Spike threw the vase with all the might in his little dragon body. He heard it connect with something in the dark before recoiling in fear.

“OOWWWWW…What the hay was that for!?” The creature moaned.

Slowly, tentatively, Spike opened his eyes. Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle stared fearfully back at him, their faces lit up by the glow from their collars. Sweetie had tears in her eyes and a small bump on her head, the vase lying by her hooves. “Guys?” He asked.

“Spike?” Scootaloo gasped.

“What’re you doing here!?”

“We were just walkin’ around Ponyville, tryin’ to earn our cutie marks in Nightcrawler findin’,” Applebloom replied. “We got caught here when Trixie showed up!”

“Well, why didn’t you call back when I was yelling for somepony?”

“You’re the one who was tryin’ t’scare us!” She accused.

“ME, trying to scare YOU!? You were the ones creeping around in MY HOME!”

“Well, you were the one yellin’ that he was a monster summoned by Trixie!”

“And you believed me!?”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders eyed one another, realizing he had a point. As he relaxed, Spike noticed the collars around their necks. “Man, what’re those? Some new fashion statement?”

“No,” Sweetie Belle moaned, hoofing the vase back to Spike while nursing the lump on her head. “Trixie made these things for everypony in town to make sure we do what she wants.”

“Gosh, that’s terrible, here,” he set the vase aside and dashed into the kitchen, returning with a wet washcloth for Sweetie.

“Thanks,” she said, resting it on her lump. “Say, where’s your collar, anyway?”

“Uh, I guess I don’t have one,” he shrugged. “I guess Trixie sort of overlooked me when she cast the spell that made them. It’s not like every town has a baby dragon in it, y’know: she probably just forgot all about me.”

“That seems awfully convenient,” Scootaloo said, glaring suspiciously at Spike.

“Whatcha gettin’ at, Scoots?” Applebloom asked.

“Well, first Spike attacks Sweetie, then we find out he doesn’t have a collar?” She jabbed a hoof into his little dragon gut. “Seems pretty weird, if you ask me. How do we know he’s not in league with Trixie!?”

“What!?” Spike gasped.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie immediately stepped between the two, still holding the washcloth over her head. “Are you really saying Spike might betray Twilight and everypony he ever knew for no reason at all!?”

“I’m not saying there isn’t a reason, but just because we haven’t found one yet doesn’t mean…”

“Girls, girls,” Applebloom stepped in between Scootaloo and Sweetie. “Now ain’t the time for this! In case y’all ain’t noticed, Ponyville’s got a bit of a situation on its hooves.”

“Right,” Scootaloo said, backing off immediately. “Or should we say ‘Lulamoontopolis’.”

“What?” Spike asked.

“Trixie’s renamed the town,” Sweetie Belle explained. “She says it’s gonna be the capital of her new Empire!”

“Yeah,” Applebloom said. “That’s why we gotta stop her!”

“And when we do,” Scootaloo added, “We’ll be the heroes of Equestria, and everypony will love us forever.” They could just see it now: all sinking into the exact same fantasy where they stood atop a magnificent float at the head of a gigantic parade through Canterlot. Banners screaming “Our Heroes!” and “Cutie Mark Crusaders #1!” hung from every windowsill as confetti and streamers filled the air around them. Ponies danced around in the streets wearing giant, paper-mache copies of their heads. Their new cutie marks practically sparkled in the sunlight for the mob of adoring ponies to gaze upon and fawn over while Trixie brought up the rear in chains, being prodded along by royal guards with spears.

“Oh, why did the Small and Weak Trixie ever think she could go up against the might of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” She moaned, her shackles clinking along while the Wonder-Bolts streaked overhead with their new leader.

“Dashie!” Scootaloo gasped as the teal pegasus landed on the float next to them.

“Hey kid,” Rainbow Dash grinned, pulling off her flight goggles. “Pretty impressive stuff you pulled back there. Like, 20% cooler sort of stuff. Hey, if you wouldn’t mind, maybe I could…hang out with you guys sometime?”

“Hey, don’t forget t’invite me!” Applejack added, galloping up alongside their float. “Lord knows Ah sure could use a lesson in bein’ as awesome as m’little sister!”

Applebloom beamed as Rarity poked her head out of the float’s driver’s seat. “Oh now Applejack, it’s so obvious that we could never be as awesome and incredible and attractive as our sisters. We should feel honored just to be related to such an incredible group of ponies!”

The three fillies grinned happily as the Princesses swooped down out of the sky, alighting on the float right next to them. “And to celebrate their awesomeness, I hereby relinquish my crown,” Celestia said, her tiara disappearing from off her head and reappearing as three copies on each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ scalps. “I know Equestria will be in capable hooves.”

“And as the Princess of the Night, I have to say this is a rather pleasant fantasy, if somewhat unrealistic,” Luna replied.

“Uh-what?” Applebloom asked.

“Sister, did you have to go and ruin it for them already?” Celestia sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Huh?” Scootaloo asked.

Suddenly, Spike appeared between the Princesses’ heads, shoving them out of his way. “Guys, hey, c’mon!”

“What!?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders opened their eyes. The big, fanatical celebration in Canterlot was gone, replaced with the darkened shelves of Twilight’s library home.

“I was just asking how you planned on stopping Trixie, and you all got this big, blank look on your faces!” Spike said, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Oh, we’re sorry, Spahke,” Applebloom said, rubbing her head. “Guess we got caught up in a collective fantasy there, or somethin’.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Spike repeated.

“Easy!” Sweetie Belle bounded towards the stacks of books spread out on every possible surface in the library. “Twilight’s got just about every book ever written, so there has to be something somewhere in here that’ll tell us how to beat the Amulet!”

“And at the same time, we can get our Cutie Marks in research!” Scootaloo beamed.

“Wait, didn’t we already try t’get our marks in that? And failed on account of it bein’ so borin’?” Applebloom asked.

“That was just on a normal day, when we were trying to research everything. Now, we have something to focus our attention on, and a bunch of ponies dependin’ on us to find it!”

“If that doesn’t sound like a cutie mark-finding quest, I don’t know what does!” Sweetie added gleefully, clapping her hooves together.

“Well, if it could help Twilight,” Spike said, scratching his chin. “Alright, I’m in. I should warn you though; research isn’t as easy as it sounds.”

“Aw, how bad could it be?” Scootaloo said.

“Well, if that’s how you feel,” suddenly, he disappeared into the stacks of books, reappearing with at least twenty bound hardcovers in his hands, which he promptly dumped into her hooves.

“What is…” she started.

“That’s all of ancient Equestrian history,” Spike explained. “If the Alicorn Amulet is as old as its power suggests, odds are there could be some reference in there that might tell us where it came from, and what weaknesses it has.”

“Unf,” Scootaloo gasped, struggling to remain on her hooves with her stack.

“Next up should be more modern history, which’ll be you, Applebloom,” he added, another stack of books appearing in the little Earth pony’s hooves. “There’s bound to be some magician who’s had a run-in with the Amulet at some point, and if they found a way to deal with it, it’ll be in there.”

“Wow Spike, that’s really smart!” Sweetie said.

“Heh, thanks,” he blushed. “But really, I only know this stuff because of Twilight. Now, as for us,” a humongous pile of books, at least a hundred volumes’ worth, appeared between the baby dragon and the little unicorn. “This is every volume on spells and potions that Twilight owns. Hopefully we’ll find something that can nullify the Amulet’s power in there.”

“You don’t sound very certain about any of this,” Scootaloo grunted.

“I’m not,” Spike sighed. “If there WAS something here that could defeat the Alicorn Amulet, I think Twilight would’ve known about it the last time Trixie showed up. She’s spent her entire life with her nose in these books, after all.”

“So why even bother!?” Applebloom yelled, knocking her own stack to the floor.

“Well, we gotta do something to help everypony out,” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah, Celestia knows I won’t be able to sleep so long as Rarity’s in danger,” Sweetie Belle agreed.

“And besides, Twilight could have missed something. It’s not like she’s perfect,” Spike shrugged.

“Well girls,” Sweetie added, eyeing the massive stack of books looming over her head with dread. “Looks like the Cutie Mark Crusaders have their work cut out for them.”

“C’mon,” Scootaloo begrudgingly agreed, shoving her own stack into the nearest corner. “Equestria isn’t gonna save itself.”

Mr. Cake turned over in his bed, trying to remain as quiet as possible so as not to disturb his wife, resting next to him. As he often did when he had insomnia, he gazed out his bedroom window at the moon. The thing was, this time the red glow from the collar around his neck reflected in the glass, showing his tired, worried eyes atop the moon’s image. He sighed in frustration.

“You can’t sleep either, hmm?” His wife asked.

“No,” he sighed. “I can’t stop worrying about us. What’s gonna happen, you think? What did Trixie mean by ‘a lot of work to do’ tomorrow?”

“Dearest,” she said, cuddling close to him. “You shouldn’t worry about us. We survived Discord’s breakout, the changeling invasion, the return of Nightmare Moon, and even the last time Trixie showed up with the Alicorn Amulet and did the exact same thing she’s doing now!”

“But this time is different, sugarpunch!” He said, tapping at the curling bolts of energy cascading around his neck. “These mean something’s different! Trixie’s meaner, colder! Who knows what she could do to us tomorrow!?”

“Sugarbear, what did I just say?”

“I know, I know, we’ve survived worse,” he pressed his head deeper into the pillow. “But still, there’s Pinkie to worry about. Trixie could be doing anything to her right now!”

“Honeybunch, you know as well as I do how…odd Pinkie is. She probably has Trixie tearing her hair out right now, as we speak!”

“Maybe,” he sighed, his eyes drifting shut. “Maybe.” Of course, no sooner did his head settle into the pillow again when the twins started crying from their room. “Uunnnngh…”

“Pumpkin-Cake? I do believe it’s your turn to check on the twins,” Mrs. Cake said.

“And I’m pretty sure the honor falls on you for now, my little sweetpea.”

“No no, I am quite certain tonight is your night to shine, sugar-muffin.”

“And I am even more certain it’s yours, sweetie-bunch.”

“Well it could be my night, sugar-lump, so long as tomorrow is your turn to lay out the sheet-cake for Ms. Hoofbottom’s birthday.”

Mr. Cake grimaced. Sheet-cake was just about the most monotonous thing to make in all of pastry-baking: the sort of job they would shovel off on an intern, if they could afford one. But just then, the covers seemed so warm and inviting, his pillow like an old friend holding him in a warm embrace after years apart. “Deal,” he said, and listened as his wife triumphantly pulled herself out of the bed and marched to the twins’ room. A few moments later, the crying stopped abruptly.

“Well, that was fast,” he mumbled.

“I-I didn’t even go,” his wife’s voice squeaked behind him. His eyes immediately bolted wide open and he darted upright in bed, his heart pounding in fear. His wife stood just outside the door to their room, frozen in place, the glow from her collar highlighting the intense look of fear on her face. “I-I was going to, but I heard something…”

In an instant, Mr. Cake threw the covers off his body and bolted to his hooves, galloping down the hall. Mrs. Cake was right next to him, bounding alongside as they rushed towards the twins’ room. Every parent’s worst nightmares played in their heads as they ran: visions of intruders in the night or of some terrible accident rising up from their imaginations. Mr. Cake almost kicked the door off its hinges, never even noticing the faint, red glow coming from inside the room. The Cakes paused in absolute shock in the doorway.

“P-Pinkie Pie?” Mr. Cake asked.

The pink mare stood by the twins’ crib, the babies slumbering peacefully in her hooves. At first, the Cakes’ relief was almost immeasurable, seeing that not only their children were safe, but so was one of their nearest and dearest friends! But then the little pink mare looked up at them with a hauntingly empty gaze in her eyes, shimmering beneath a red hue.

“Mistress Trixie requests an audience,” she said without a hint of emotion in her voice.

Chapter IV: Empire

Spike’s eyes drifted open, and then shut. He had slept so peacefully, despite having only the library’s hardwood floor to sleep on. There was something wonderfully soft and warm cushioning his head and it kept rising and falling in a motion he found positively soothing. His stomach rose up and down with every breath as he prepared to fall back into the blissful rest of sleep. Just rising and falling, rising and falling, rising and falling…

Just like the thing under his head.

Which meant it was breathing.

HE WAS RESTING ON SOMETHING ALIVE!!

“Gyah!” He gasped, throwing himself up and spinning around. Sweetie Belle stirred atop the volume of Potions and Ponies: Volume III she was using as a mattress, her little white tummy rising and falling peacefully. She opened her eyes, stretched, yawned, and noticed him standing a few feet away, eyes wide and body locked up in terror.

“Spike?” She asked, noticing the look of embarrassment and fear on his face. “What’re you…” two and two came together, and her face turned a bright red.

“Did you just wake up on…”

“Mmh-hmm,” he nodded fearfully.

“So,” she turned away, her neck turning red-hot beneath her collar. “Does-does that mean we…slept together?”

“I…I think,” he swallowed, shivering harder than he ever had the night before, his cheeks a deep crimson. “I think so.”

“Oh,” she replied, unable to even look at him, her hooves covering her eyes. “Oh…my.”

“Yeah.”

“Um, well, muh-maybe we should get back to…to studying…before…” she gazed out the window, the morning sun greeting her through the shimmer of the shield over Ponyvile. Her jaw dropped. “We slept through the whole night!”

“Huh?” He asked, suddenly confused.

“Everypony up! We all fell asleep!” Sweetie shrieked. A few moments later, Scootaloo’s head emerged out the top of a pile of books, a volume of The Travels of Starswirled the Bearded perched atop her head.

“What’s this all about?” She asked drowsily.

A second later, a gasp sounded from the bottom of her pile and Applebloom burst out of the bottom layer, knocking a couple hardcovers out of her way. “We overslept!” She gasped as the pile came tumbling down on her head, Scootaloo landing on the ground with a loud thump.

“Oh, man!” The little orange pegasus groaned, suddenly fully awake. “Did anypony find something useful?”

“Well, I managed to get through a few chapters,” Spike sighed, holding up his copy of Zebra Alchemy: A Canterlot Historian’s Analysis. “I found, like, a dozen herbal remedies for cold symptoms, but nothing that could really help us.”

“Y’all got further than me,” Applebloom said worriedly. “I only managed to read the introduction to The Pegasus Insurgencies on this end.”

“Oh, I only got a few pages into one of mine,” Sweetie Belle said, holding her head in her hooves.

“Don’t look at me,” Scootaloo added sheepishly. “I got maybe three sentences in before I totally zoned out.”

“So none of us made even a dent in the reading we were supposed to do?” Spike lamented, curling up on the floor into a little ball of scales. “Oh, I’m the worst assistant ever! I spend years helping Twilight with her research, and then totally drop the ball when it comes to my own, even when it means saving everypony I care about!”

“Aw, don’t feel bad, Spike,” Sweetie Belle said, resting a hoof on his shoulder. “We all kinda dropped the ball on this one.”

“Yeah, looks like we really screwed up here,” Scootaloo moaned, leaning against a table.

“Well, maybe it ain’t all that bad?” Applebloom shrugged. “Ah mean, Trixie’s been purty quiet so far. Maybe we’ll still have the day to ourselves so’s we can pick up where we left off last night?”

No sooner did Applebloom say this when a loud crash caught their attention. A thick storm-cloud materialized in the center of the room, throwing red lightning bolts as it coalesced into the shape of a mare’s head. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and their reptilian friend didn’t need three guesses to tell who it was supposed to be.

“Trixie!” Spike gasped, “But how…”

“Citizens of Lulamoontopolis!” The cloud announced, a few wisps near its edges moving to form lips. “This is your Great and Powerful Leader speaking! You are all to attend a meeting in the Town Square to await your new job assignments!”

“Job assignments?” Sweetie asked.

“There’s no way she could be talkin’ ‘bout us, raght?” Applebloom said hopefully. “Ah mean, we’re just fillies! Why would she want…”

“…This meeting is mandatory for ALL citizens, and is starting now!” The cloud-Trixie announced, and suddenly a hue of red magic engulfed each of the ponies, spreading out from their collars.

“Woah!” They gasped in unison as they were lifted off their hooves and dragged towards the front door.

“GUYS!” Spike gasped, grabbing hold of Sweetie’s and Applebloom’s hooves and planting his feet firmly in the ground. They, in turn, grabbed Scootaloo as she hovered past. “Oh thank Celestia, I nearly lost you all!”

“Aw Spike, that’s really…” Sweetie started when the hue around her and her fellow crusaders turned a deeper shade of red.

“I said this meeting was MANDATORY!” The Trixie-cloud barked, and suddenly all four of them were being dragged off, forced out the door which swung open to accommodate them.

“Spahke! Do somethin’!” Applebloom gasped.

“I’m trying!” He screamed, his claws digging grooves into the dirt as they were dragged along. “The magic around you guys is too strong!”

“Then just let go,” Sweetie said.

“WHAT!?”

“Naw Spahke,” Applebloom sighed stoically. “She’s raght. You’re the only one in Ponyville that doesn’t have a collar on. You can slip around under the radar, which makes ya our only hope!”

“No!” He yelled, clenching their hooves tightly. “You guys are all I have left!”

“That’s real sweet, Spahke,” Applebloom said, tears in both hers and Sweetie’s eyes (mostly from his claws digging into their flesh), “but we can’t letcha risk yerself like that.” Suddenly, Applebloom and Sweetie twisted around in mid-air and kicked with their hind hooves, knocking the baby dragon’s hands away. He tumbled and landed flat on his face, his nose digging a groove in the mud. By the time he darted back to his feet and cleared his eyes, the three fillies had drifted far away and down a side street, accelerating towards the town’s square.

“Bye, Spike!” Sweetie waved.

“We know y’won’t let us down!” Scootaloo called.

“NO!” He pushed himself up and ran as fast as his baby dragon legs could carry him, which was painfully slow compared to the power and speed of the spell dragging his friends away. Huffing and puffing, he dashed along the street and almost threw himself into the town square when he noticed the large, red bolts of lightning gathering around town hall. “Woah,” he whispered as he ducked inside a garbage can. Outside, a few more ponies drifted past, all of them scared and confused. After a few minutes passed, Spike peeked out from under the can’s lid at the crowd being made to gather in front of him.

“Everypony in Ponyville must be here!” He gasped, scooting closer to eavesdrop on some of the conversations.

“…wonder what she’s got in store for us…”

“…why bring all the fillies and old ponies here? Surely she…”

“…no, I swear, it was Pinkie Pie!” Spike paused and tuned in to that conversation, trying to focus his ears as best he could as a pony near the back of the crowd continued, whispering fearfully: “I swear, Pinkie was leading the Cakes into Town Hall last night. She had the twins in her forelegs, and the Cakes looked like they were about to wet themselves!”

“But why would she do that? Pinkie’s just about the most lovable pony there is!” The pony he was conversing with asked.

“She had this weird look in her eyes, all big and blank,” a shiver travelled up the first pony’s spine. “It didn’t look right on her face, not at all. So maybe…mind control?”

“Naw, no magic can do that…”

“Well, do you have any other explanation for why Pinkie was leading the Cakes off? Or why Rarity was doing the same with that dentist?”

“Hey, I saw somethin’ just like that!” A mare nearby said, butting into the conversation. “Rainbow Dash was leading Cloudchaser and the mailmare into town hall, and she had that same look in her eyes!”

“Same with Applejack! I hear she was leading that lesbian couple around last night, and she had a blank stare on her too!” Another pony added.

“You mean Lyra and Bon-Bon?”

“So Trixie’s captured Lyra, Bon-Bon, the Cakes, Derpy, Colgate and Cloudchaser? What for?”

“I dunno, maybe…”

A poof of smoke erupting at the head of the crowd interrupted every pony, a podium with megaphones materializing into existence in front of their eyes. Spike cowered as the smoke and lightning cleared and Trixie stepped up to the podium. Tapping her hoof, a few crimson banners appeared at her side emblazoned with a logo everypony was all-too familiar with: the silhouette of a mare wearing a cape and wizard’s hat. If there was ever any doubt as to Trixie’s intentions before, it was all erased with the sight of the same, magical insignia she had used to symbolize her reign the last time she had occupied Ponyville.

“Citizens of Lulamoontopolis!” The blue unicorn announced, her voice booming throughout the town. Everypony cringed in fear at the sound. “The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to thank you all for attending this rally. Truly it demonstrates an incredible amount of loyalty to your new Empress.”

“Loyalty, my flank!” A filly yelled from the front of the crowd, running up to the podium. “We’re only here because you…HMPH!” With a thought, the collar around his throat expanded to pinch her muzzle shut. The filly stared defiantly at Trixie before a mare rushed out of the crowd and grabbed her, hurrying back with her daughter.

“As she was saying,” Trixie continued, staring angrily at the mother and filly. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has not gathered this meeting simply for you all to profess your undying love and affection for your new Empire, she also wishes to make an exciting announcement: that soon, the Empire of Trixievania shall have a standing army with which to defend its borders.”

A couple frightened murmurs whispered through the crowd as Trixie continued: “Shortly before arriving in this little city, your Great and Powerful Empress had the foresight to secure allies in the form of a local Diamond Dog den. These brave souls, who have been marginalized and ignored under the current regime, have chosen to rise up in defense of this new nation!”

The murmurs grew more fearful as one unicorn stepped forward. “But Miss Great and Powerful Trixie, the Diamond Dogs hate ponies! Why in Equestria would they agree to help you?”

Immediately, a red hue appeared around her muzzle. The unicorn backed away immediately, fear-spawned tears filling her eyes. “They have not agreed to help the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie replied angrily. “They have agreed to aid this idea, this new concept, helping this nation rise to its real potential as a beacon of hope for all the world’s oppressed beings! And all they ask for in return is a bit of your time for some manual labor!”

A few more murmurs entered the crowd. “But Trixie,” another pony raised his hoof. “Just what do you mean by a ‘bit’ of our time?”

“That’s THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE, to you!” The unicorn bellowed, zipping the pony’s mouth shut. “And by a ‘bit’ of time, I of course mean just some time spent in their diamond mines, helping them meet a few mining agendas for, say, about twenty years?”

Immediately, the crowd roared its disapproval.

“That’s slavery!” A pegasus yelled.

“We’ll never stand for this!” Another added.

“I can’t stand it! I hafta get out of here!” A unicorn screamed, making a run for the town’s border, only to be slammed back by the barrier.

“SILENCE!” Trixie’s voice rumbled, and instantly everypony’s mouth slammed shut, their collars springing into action. Trixie glowered at the crowd, her eyes blazing with a red hue, and instantly the anger on everypony’s faces turned to fear. A few in the back tried to slip away, only to be stopped short as a red hue of magic appeared around their bodies again, lifting them up and placing them right in the center of the square. There was no escape.

Breathing deeply, Trixie suddenly looked down at her hooves and lowered the brim of her hat, hiding her eyes. “As of right now,” she said just loudly enough for everypony in the crowd to hear. “You will all begin practicing for your new roles in the Diamond Dogs’ mines. You will find tools and plans throughout the square. The plans are to be followed exactly.” Her horn flickered, and massive boxes filled with pickaxes, shovels, and massive scrolls of paper suddenly appeared throughout the crowd. The ponies stared at the boxes, then at Trixie.

“Well?” She asked. “GET TO IT! I want these projects finished for our guests’ arrival tomorrow!”

Staring dejectedly at the ground, everypony slowly grabbed a tool or a roll of paper and began making their way out of the square; yellow X’s appearing at street corners throughout Ponyville to mark the dig sites. Spike smiled as the Cutie Mark Crusaders appeared out of the crowd, unhappily carrying pickaxes and shovels. “Guys!” He grinned, leaning out of his garbage can just a smidgeon.

“Spike!” Sweetie Belle gasped, galloping up to him as discretely as possible. “Where’ve you…ow!” She started as she bounced off an invisible barrier.

“What the…” Scootaloo said, pressing a hoof against a new force field surrounding the town square.

“Hey, how come they can leave?” Applebloom added, pointing to a group of ponies making their way into the next alleyway over. As she spoke, another group of ponies nearby tried to leave with their grandmother in tow, hobbling along with a shovel in her wrinkled hooves, only to watch her run right into the barrier as well.

“It’s not just us! It’s all the fillies and grandparents!” Scootaloo gasped.

“One announcement I forgot to make,” Trixie added cruelly. “I wish to unveil the latest program available to the citizens of Trixievania: a caretaker system for the young and the infirm. While the rest of you toil away to build this great nation, your loved ones will rest peacefully in the ‘Trix-Dome’.”

“WHAT!?” Sweetie Belle gasped as the red hue appeared around her body again, along with every elderly and foal-aged pony trapped in the square. As the town’s populace watched in horror, the old and the young were lifted away and raised into a massive cloud of red magic gathering over the Hall. Before anypony could react, a massive, fishbowl-like structure materialized in the center of the square, every single pony in Trixie’s clutches disappearing into the gaping maw at its top. A strange, red fog spread throughout its inside, completely enveloping the new prisoners.

“No!” Spike gasped, cowering inside his trash can as each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were lifted away from him and dropped into the bowl, disappearing into the mist.

One young mare, the same mother from before, dropped her tools and galloped up to the bowl, slamming herself against it. “Sally! No!” She sobbed, her hooves not even scratching the surface of the new prison.

“Your loved ones will be well taken care of, and will be released by the end of the week,” Trixie said coldly. “That is, so long as you all do as you’re told.”

“MONSTER!” The mare screeched, galloping to the podium. “YOU-MMPH!” To absolutely nopony’s surprise, the mare was swiftly gagged, lifted off her hooves, and transported right into the bowl, made to disappear within the swirling red mist.

“I hope there are no objections,” Trixie said.

“No, oh Great and Powerful Trixie,” the crowd gathered just outside the town square replied in fearful, tear-filled unison.

“Good,” the unicorn replied as she trotted towards the Town Hall, more of her banners materializing at its entrance. “Now, get to work.”

Chapter V: Life in Trixievania

Sethisto had never been more miserable in his life, and it wasn’t just because he had been forced into slavery, made to carry buckets of dirt out of the rapidly-growing tunnels beneath Ponyville. It wasn’t just that the work was hard and the red glow of the collar around his neck was his only light. It wasn’t just the nasty looks some ponies gave him as he trotted by, knowing of the relationship he’d had with their enslaver, or the attempts at sympathy some of the other ponies gave him, trying to make it all better with a few kind words (and he wasn’t sure which was worse). It wasn’t just the fact that the wooden stocks he used to carry his buckets were really starting to chafe, although they were, and in fact he was probably gonna need somepony to rub some cream on his back when this was all over, somepony who cared and didn’t mind the cream and hey, maybe even thought the whole thing could be used as a gateway for something a bit more intimate. Somepony like…

“…like Trixie was,” he moaned quietly, a few more tears springing up. It was her! How could this have happened!? Here, he thought he’d finally found a mare who was kind and compassionate and didn’t mind all the “Great and Powerful Trixie” merchandise in his room. For Celestia’s sake, they’d just gotten used to living together! He’d just started using a coaster for her antique coffee tables and she had begun to respect that his toothbrush needed to be sealed inside its own private drawer when not in use. They were really hitting it off! And now that same mare had enslaved not only him, but an entire town in some insane bid at world domination! Yeah, odds were the girls at “Ask Gabby Gums” weren’t gonna have some advice for this.

Sniffling, he trudged along with his buckets, deeper and deeper into the tunnel. In just a few short hours, the citizens of Ponyville (or should he say ‘Lulamoontopolis’) had actually managed to dig a pretty decent-sized series of tunnels, mostly thanks to the guidance of a team of construction ponies that had arrived the day before to evaluate the roof on Town Hall, only to find themselves stuck in the same situation as everypony else.

“Alright, alright, I want dis tunnel linked up with the one comin’ outta the north by two, you bums got dat!?” The forepony announced to the workers and civilians in his tunnel, Trixie’s plans unfolded on a rock in front of him. The brown Earth pony tucked a pencil by his ear and gazed over the plans one more time, scratching at his collar with his hoof. “Man, this stuff don’t make a whole lotta sense t’me,” he muttered to himself.

“What doesn’t?” Sethisto asked absentmindedly.

“Well,” the pony replied, not bothering to look up from the plans. “I can’t figure out what in da hay this Trixie broad is tryin’ to get done with these tunnels. By da looks of ‘em, they just look like a buncha random tunnels goin’ under every street, kinda like your standard water main, but they’re way too big and unformed for dat!”

“A sewer maybe? Like a public works project for improving the town?” Sethisto asked hopefully.

“Yeah, maybe, ‘cept she don’t strike me as the type to be doin’ stuff like…” he cut-off as he looked up from the plans, his eyes narrowing as he realized who he’d been talking to. “Oh. It’s you.”

“Y-yeah, it’s me,” Sethisto replied, staring at the ground to avoid eye contact. “I-I just came down here to move some dirt.”

“Yeah, the pile’s oveh dere,” the forepony pointed at a massive pile gathered at one side of the tunnel, never taking his glare off the little yellow unicorn.

“Thank you,” he mumbled and trudged along, trying to pretend the other ponies weren’t there, weren’t all glaring at him as they continued expanding the tunnel his ex was forcing them to dig.

“Hey, big yellow! Nice choice in marefriends!” One of the locals jeered, the rest of the workers bursting with laughter. Sethisto blinked back more tears, just focusing on filling his buckets and turning back up the tunnel, only to be tripped up by the forepony as he galloped past. The whole tunnel rumbled with cheers and jeering ponies as Sethisto pushed himself back up and hurried to the surface. Cripes, was he going to have to go through that every time he went back? Today was gonna be a nightmare!

“Psst,” somepony whispered. “Sethy!”

“Hmm?” The little yellow unicorn turned to find a hot-pink earth pony leaning against the wall, a shovel in her hand. “Oh, hey! You’re the schoolteacher! Miss…”

“…Cheerilee, yeah, hi,” the mare replied.

“Hi yourself…so…” he continued awkwardly. “…What-what is it you wanted to say to me?”

“Well, first of all, I just wanted to say how sorry I am for…all of this. How things have worked out for you, I mean.”

“Oh,” great, one of them. He so didn’t need this right now. He immediately turned to head back out the tunnel. “Thanks miss; I’ll just be getting back to work now.”

“Wait!” Cheerilee pressed a hoof on his shoulder to get him to stop. “I want to help you!”

“Help me? Lady, you can’t even help yourself!”

“Well, see,” she sighed. “I might have a way to get you out of dirt-hauling duty for a little while.”

Immediately, the yellow unicorn dropped his stocks and turned to her, practically jumping with joy. “Really!? That’s great! How?”

“I can see you’re all for this. That’s good,” Cheerilee said, pulling out a small bundle of papers. “Our ‘Great and Powerful Empress’ has demanded hourly status reports on our progress, and it’s my turn to take this tunnel’s report to her. Thing is…”

“…You’re scared,” Sethisto replied flatly.

“Aren’t you!?”

“My marefriend just broke up with me by enslaving myself and everypony I know. Once some of the sheer, crushing agony leaves my heart, I’m sure there’ll be room for fear.”

Cheerilee’s eyes widened. “That’s…depressing. Anyhow, it would give you an excuse to leave the tunnels. At least, for a little while. And it might even give you a chance to do some…investigating.”

“Investigating? Who do I look like, Sherlock Hooves? What, exactly, would I be investigating?”

“A reason for all this, you idiot!” Cheerilee yelled, startling him. Calming herself, the pink mare continued: “Look, we both know Trixie has been changing for the better these past couple of years. I’ve heard about the charity banquets and the farmers in dire straits she’s helped out. It’s like she suddenly decided to pull a complete about-face with her life, isn’t it? Isn’t that why you fell for her in the first place?”

Sethisto bit his lip. Truth be told, he’d fallen for the show mare long before this past year, ever since he saw her show in Trottingham. Something about her confidence, the way she carried herself on stage, had always attracted him, and the fact that she wasn’t at all hard on the eyes didn’t hurt either. Then he heard about her charity works and her attempts to help other ponies, and suddenly he had to get closer to her. Funny thing was, Trixie didn’t even know about this: she just thought the wall-to-wall Trixie merchandise in his room meant he was a somewhat-obsessive fan (but fortunately not obsessive enough to creep her out) and her attraction to him was just a happy coincidence. Maybe if he’d told her how happy…maybe this whole fiasco never would’ve happened…

He snatched the bundle from Cheerilee’s hoof in his teeth. “I’ll do it,” he called over his shoulder, already galloping out the tunnel. “Wiff me luck!”

“Good luck,” the pink mare whispered, looking after him in concern before picking up her shovel. “And…be careful.”

By the time the yellow unicorn made it to City Hall, most of his enthusiasm had completely melted away. Spitting the bundle out into his hoof and hoping Trixie didn’t mind his saliva (she never had before, but things had changed somewhat since those days), he gazed up at the sinister, darkened structure that had once been Ponyville’s Town Hall. A few days ago, its faded paint and crumbling shingles had lent it some measure of small-town charm while allowing it that happy pastel-flavored theme most of Equestria’s citizens were only too familiar with. Now, the magical barrier surrounding it gave it a sinister hue, even in the midday light. Its pastel purples and pinks were now tinted to darker browns and blacks, which combined with the general wear-and-tear to make the whole building look like something out of a ghost story: like that one house outside every small town in Equestria the local foals would constantly dare each other to spend Nightmare Night in.

Of course, none of the stories surrounding those houses were true. They always turned out to be just some big old house that had been abandoned because the previous owners moved out and nopony wanted to fix it up, or some stupid thing like that. And really, if he thought about it, Sethisto figured this was just another case like that: just everypony building up a legend around something that really wasn’t scary at all. Yeah, that was it! Really, the Ponyville Town Hall was just like those big empty houses, except this one was occupied by his ex-marefriend who, over the course of the past twenty-four hours, had broken into a Royal Canterlot vault to steal an ancient artifact, used said artifact to make herself unbelievably powerful, enslaved an entire town, and gone on an absolutely insane quest to take over all of Equestria. Oh, and as her ex-stallionfriend, if any emotion remained between them, it was hatred. Pure, blazing hatred.

Suddenly, the tunnels didn’t seem so bad anymore. At least there the ponies who hated him didn’t have the power to rip open the fabric of reality and summon a massive, multi-tentacled monster to eat him.

Sethisto gulped fearfully, his hooves shaking so hard that he almost lost his grip on his bundle of papers. But it wasn’t like he could back down now! If everypony was super-mean to him before, just how bad would they be if he tried to dump this job back on the local schoolteacher? A pony who probably hosted class for every one of their foals?

Summoning every scrap of bravery in his little pony body, Sethisto tightened his hold on the papers and trotted up to the door. Now, how did one greet a monarch? Or, should he say, somepony laboring under the insane delusion that she was a monarch? Well, probably the same way he would’ve been expected to greet the Princesses. Thing was, he’d never had to greet the Princesses before! It’s not like they attended Trixie’s charity balls or ever requested somepony with an extensive knowledge on the rarity of certain Trixie-licensed merchandise. Maybe just a bow when he got in? Oh shoot, but the fact that she was his ex-marefriend probably complicated things. Maybe he should skip the bow and go straight to groveling at her hooves for mercy. Yeah, she’d kinda been into that back when they were…

“WHO DARES DISTURB THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE’S QUIET TIME!?” Trixie’s voice bellowed from inside.

“GYAH!” Sethisto gasped, tripping backwards and almost losing his grip on the bundle of reports. Still completely unsure of what he was doing, the little yellow unicorn stammered: “I-it’s me, Sethisto. I-I have the hourly report from the Northwest Tunnel.”

There were a few moments of dead silence on Trixie’s end, during which Sethisto was absolutely certain she was summoning her magic for one, big lightning bolt to turn him into a smoking crater with some mildly-yellowish ash at the bottom. Before he could go to Plan B (cry and beg for his life) Trixie’s voice returned: “Proceed.”

The door slowly creaked open, the chains across its surface falling away. Every single instinct Sethisto had developed from years of lonely nights watching cheapo horror flicks on the Sci-Filly channel screamed for him to just turn and run and find a really dark corner to hide in forever. But still, he had a report to deliver. Gulping once more, the little yellow unicorn swallowed his fear and took a few, shaky steps inside, puffing his chest out to appear as big and brave and massively over-muscled as the protagonists in every one of those cheapo films he’d watched.

Then the door slammed shut behind him, and he screamed like a little mare in the sudden darkness. Regaining his bearings, Sethisto straightened up. After a few minutes, his eyes adjusted to the eerie, red glow off his collar, allowing him to see. He was standing in a large hallway leading to the main lobby. The cheap linoleum from the day before had been replaced with lavish silken throw rugs from a local merchant, one massive portrait dominating an entire wall, cast in darkness. Swallowing again, the little yellow unicorn took a single step forward, and suddenly a group of torches on the walls blazed to life. Yelping, he leapt back, calmed himself, and continued forward. At the very least, he could see the portrait now: an oil painting of Trixie glaring down into the hallway, her eyes glowing intimidatingly while the amulet shimmered on her throat. Shying away from the painting, Sethisto managed to get through the hallway and into the lobby without breaking out into a full gallop or crying, which had to mean something for his stallionhood, right?

The moment he set hoof in the lobby, a spotlight appeared, then another, and another, lighting up a red velvet carpet leading up to a regal throne made of cookies. He shivered. Trixie had told him about this throne while recounting the last time she’d found the amulet. At the time, it’d sounded like an incredible combination of awesome and delicious. Now, it just looked scary, like the kind of chair Josef Stallion would have sat in.

As he stared fearfully, Trixie appeared in the air just above the throne, hovering in place, the red hue of the Amulet’s magic encasing her body. She descended slowly, her eyes closed, red lightning bolts sparking all around her. She came to a rest in the seat of the throne, her rear hooves crossed and one of her front hooves curled up on the throne’s arm to allow her to rest her chin, just like some of the powerful monarchs Sethisto had read about. Or, at least, had seen in a cheesy flick starring Arnold Schwarzeneighger as a muscle-bound barbarian lord. Trixie’s eyes slid open, studying Sethiso nonchalantly as they glowed a deep crimson in the dark.

And somehow, she still looks amazing to me, and I’d still give my right hoof to be with her,’ Seth mused. ‘Wow. I am pathetic.

“Proceed,” Trixie said, waving her hoof.

“Wha-oh, right!” Seth said, remembering the bundle still in his hoof. He galloped up to the throne, deposited the papers on a little round table by its side, and bowed.

“Is that all?” Trixie droned in a voice that reeked of boredom.

“No…uh…oh Great and Powerful Trixie.”

“Very well,” she snatched the papers up and turned away, a door opening up on the far side of the room. “You may leave.”

“Th-thank you, oh Great and Powerful Trixie,” he gasped in relief, turning to head back down the hallway he entered through. This was so great. He’d half expected her to blast him with some spell to transform him into a bean burrito the moment she saw him! He should just run right back to the tunnels, happy to still be alive…

He paused.

He hated that word, should. He probably SHOULD have stopped buying Trixie merchandise after he’d needed to take out the second mortgage on his home to keep his collection going. He probably SHOULD have reconsidered spending all his vacation weeks and holiday money on a trip out to the country just to see if he could help out at one of Trixie’s charity balls. He most certainly SHOULD have just told Trixie it wasn’t a good time when she asked him to move in with him, rather than quit his job in Manehattan and sell half his belongings to pay for the trip to her tower.

Yeah, Sethisto really sucked when it came to following his own advice. He’d thrown caution to the wind a million times before, though, and he saw no reason to start listening to himself now. Steeling his resolve, he whipped around and screamed: “TRIXIE!”

The little blue mare paused, her star-studded cloak flowing behind her. She turned to him, actual surprise behind the crimson glow in her eyes.

“What in Celestia’s name happened!?” He barked, his eyes suddenly blazing with rage. “You were doing great things to help other ponies! You paid for a farmer’s foal to have a life-saving operation for pity’s sake, and now this!? What’s going on!?”

She turned on him, rearing up on her hind hooves. “How DARE you talk to your…”

“No, how dare YOU! I loved you! With every piece of my soul, I loved you! You were this awesome magician I saw in Trottingham with all the confidence and all the power I knew I could never have, and I loved you!”

She paused, descending back on all fours. The glow in her eyes flickered. “Tha-that really was you at Trottingham? And…and you…”

“Yes, okay!? I loved you from that first moment I saw your show! I couldn’t get you out of my head! That’s why I have so much of your stuff! Not for the collector’s value like I said, that was a bunch of horse manure: it’s all worthless, overpriced crap! And I still bought it!” His voice shook, tears streaming from his eyes as he continued. “I loved you every day, and when you started running the charity balls, I loved you even more! I had to get close to you! That’s the only reason I volunteered to help! I’ve loved you for years, and the day you said you loved me back was the happiest of my life!”

“I-I can’t…”

“AND THEN YOU THREW IT ALL IN MY FACE!” He screamed, rage rejoining the multitude of emotions bubbling up in his heart. Angry tears blazed wet trails down his cheeks while his voice boomed throughout the Hall: “You took that love and you destroyed it, and for what? Some insane dream for world conquest!? I would’ve GIVEN you the world; all you had to do was ask, you stupid mare! And instead, you just threw me aside like a kid’s…”

Suddenly, Trixie’s gaze darkened. The brim of her hat dipped low and lightning shot across the room, grabbing Sethisto and pinning his hooves to the ground, his muzzle sealing itself tight beneath his collar. Eyes widening in fear, the little yellow unicorn could only watch as Trixie strode up to him, looking down at his bound form like one might look down on an anthill. “Your admission of your love for your Empress is the only reason she is now sparing your life,” she hissed. “Go now, before she changes her mind.”

The lightning-shackles disappeared, and Sethisto leapt to his hooves. “Th-thank you, oh Great and Powerful Trixie,” he gasped, pressing himself against the far wall. She bowed her head again, covering her eyes with the brim of her hat as she disappeared through the door on the far side of the room. Still shaking, the little yellow unicorn waited a few moments before getting to his hooves and turning back down the hall. Okay, he REALLY should just leave now, should just gallop back to his hole in the ground and his stocks and…

There was that word again. Should.

Sighing at his own stupidity, Sethisto turned back to the lobby. The door on the other side of the room beckoned, promising to answer all of his questions. Could Trixie really have turned so evil in such a short period of time? And where were the Elements of Harmony, anyway? What was she doing to them? And just what had she been working on all day, back here in the dark?

Puffing out his chest and trying to channel as many cheesy sci-fi movie stars as he could, Sethisto crossed the room towards the small ray of light. Swallowing, he reached for the doorknob and slowly began to turn it. What would be back here? Something earth-shattering that would destroy his image of Trixie as the Great and Loving magical blue mare? Something so terrible it would drive him insane just to view it? Still shaking, he pulled the door open just the slightest little crack, peeking through with one eye. “What the…” he muttered at what he saw.

“Always the curious one, arentcha, Sethy?” Trixie’s voice cooed behind him.

“Huh!?” He turned around in surprise.

And then, like a barn owl spotting a field mouse out in the open, she descended upon him.

Chapter VI: Little Heroes Fall

Spike peeked outside his trash can, still shaking. Outside, the glass prison containing his friends shimmered in the mid-afternoon light. He scanned around; trying to see every corner of the square to make sure it was empty. It had been a few hours since Trixie’s speech, and he really didn’t think anypony could see him, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. At least THAT lesson from Twilight stuck, he thought as a partially-deflated soccer ball popped up next to him.

“Whaddya think, Bally? Does the coast look clear?” He asked his new friend.

The soccer ball, being a piece of trash he’d found at the bottom of a garbage can and befriended in hopes of retaining his sanity, said nothing.

“Man, you’re right; Trixie could have all sorts of booby traps around that bowl! And besides, it’s not like I have any way to get to that opening up top,” he sighed and slunk down to the bottom of the can. “I guess it was stupid to think a baby dragon could do something that the Elements of Harmony couldn’t.”

He looked around the inside of the can hopelessly, his eyes eventually falling on a broken eggshell. “What’s that, Engelbert?” He asked, scooping up the shell with his free hand.

The eggshell, also being a piece of trash he’d found at the bottom of a garbage can and befriended in hopes of retaining his sanity, also said nothing.

“Well, okay! Yeah! You’re right! Everypony’s depending on me!” Spike’s gaze hardened as he poked his head back out of the can. He smeared some of the grime from the lid’s bottom onto his cheeks as he surveyed the Town’s Square. “It’s like Sweetie said: I’m the only one in Ponyville that doesn’t have a collar, which makes me the only one who can get around unnoticed!”

Suddenly, his eyes softened. “Sweetie…” he mumbled. Just what was wrong with him? He’d never thought about Rarity’s sister this way before! The idea had never even crossed his mind! So what the hay was going on? Was it still Rarity he loved, or…

Suddenly, the soccer ball popped up next to him bonked him on the head. “Ow, Bally! What was that for!?”

Once again, the soccer ball said nothing.

“Right, mare issues later! Everypony needs rescuing, so I have to stay focused! Thanks, Bally!” Taking a deep breath, Spike hopped out of his can and tucked and rolled to his feet. Still looking around, he spied across the square towards the massive, curved surface of the bowl.

“Gyaah!” He coughed in an attempt to summon a battlecry as he dashed across the square, his baby dragon legs carrying him as fast as they could (which still wasn’t much, but it was nice to see him try). His eyes squeezed shut for fear of running into some sort of magical trap; Spike stumbled around in the darkness, trying to keep his bearings and his hold on his newfound, inanimate friends. He only stopped when something rose up and struck him in the face, bouncing him back and knocking him off his claws.

“Don’t hurt me! Please! I’m too young to die!” He gasped, pushing himself up onto his knees and assuming a begging position faster than you could say: “Open your eyes, you wuss!” Sadly, nopony was around to say something along those lines, so Spike had to remain kneeling for a full two minutes before he worked up the guts to look.

The swirling, red mist of Trixie’s prison filled his view. He stumbled back again as he stared up at the massive glass structure that dominated Ponyville’s square, the perpetual storm boiling away inside it. Bolts of red lightning appeared from the clouds inside randomly, shooting out at him. “Okay Spike,” he muttered to himself. “On the upside, you made it to the prison…dome…thing. On the downside…”

He gulped. “You’re starting to wish you hadn’t.” He took a few steps backwards and felt something crack beneath his weight. He looked down and scooped up the shattered remnants of one of his garbage-based friends.

“You’re right again, Engelbert, everpony’s counting on me,” he sighed dejectedly, dropping the shells. “So, all I have to do is figure out how I’m gonna…”

He stopped as his hand rested on the surface of the prison and stuck fast. He looked down, noticing a bit of yolk stuck to his palm. His face lit up. “Engelbert, you’re a genius!”

He picked up the soccer ball and dropped it next to the small pile of eggshells, smearing more goo from the shells onto his hands. “You guys stay here and keep watch: I gotta go in there alone.” And just like that, he threw himself on the glass and started the long climb up with his new friends watching in awe and fear. Or they certainly would be if they had eyes, or brains, or feelings, or any of the basic stuff required to watch or feel anything. As it was, the two objects just sat there awhile before a gentle breeze managed to roll the partially-deflated soccer ball away, crushing the remnants of the eggshells as it rolled lopsidedly into a darkened alley. It had quite a few adventures from there, but that’s a story for another time.

It took nearly a full half-hour of climbing, but Spike managed to reach the top of the bowl, wheezing with the effort. “Dragons…were not meant…to climb…” he huffed as he finally reached a point where he could stand, balanced precariously on the opening’s edge.

Sweat dripping off his body and smearing away the remnants of the egg on his hands, Spike gazed down into the swirling, misty depths of the prison. Up here, he could hear the random crackle of bolts of energy dancing around beneath him, blasting all throughout the bowl’s depths. “W-well,” he sighed, trying to calm his shivering knees. “No time like the present.”

Taking a deep breath, the baby dragon took one step and leapt right off the ledge, his knees tucked into his chest as if he were pulling off a cannonball. The air inside rushed by his body as he fell, and for a few panicked moments, he was afraid he was just going to splat against the floor, a little purple mess for Trixie to clean up later. Holy sweet Celestia, I’m an idiot! He thought, tears brimming in his eyes from the wind. Why did I think this was a good idea!? And now everypony’s gonna stay locked up and they’re only gonna find me when they wake up and I’ll never get to practice that tongue-thing with Rarity and I’ll never…

Just a few yards short of the bottom, a couple bolts of lightning raced out of the mist and encircled the baby dragon, lowering him gently to the ground. He remained curled up in a little ball there for a while, holding his breath until his face turned blue and forced him to let it out with a gasp. Choking, he started thrashing about as if he were succumbing to poison gas, his mouth foaming. Eventually, his thrashing stopped, his eyes glazing over and staring blankly up at the roof.

Then he licked his lips and sat up. “Huh,” he muttered. “I guess the air’s breathable after all. And I guess Trixie installed a safety net to catch all the ponies, which makes sense since she did sorta toss ‘em in here.”

He stood, looking around. “But then, where are they? It’s not like they just…” Something bumped against the back of his head, interrupting him. Steeling his nerve once more, he twisted around with a gasp, fists raised. Silver Spoon floated by, snoring loudly. “Oh,” he said, pushing her body away. As he looked around, he noticed even more dark shapes off in the mist, their silhouettes lit up by the occasional flash of lightning.

“Well, that explains it!” He exclaimed proudly. “Magically induced comas! I’m sure that makes things easier for Trixie to manage in here.”

Taking a few, unsure steps forward, the baby dragon waded through the mist, searching for his friends as more snoozing ponies drifted by. “Oh, finding them will be like looking for a needle in a haystack! How am I even s’posed to…ow!”

Scootaloo’s hoof bucked against the side of his head. He glared at her in annoyance. “Scootaloo, why dontcha try being more…SCOOTALOO!” He gasped in joy, grabbing the little orange pegasus and pulling her in for a hug. “And where you’re at, odds are the rest of the Crusaders aren’t far behind!”

Sure enough, hovering just a few feet overhead, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom snoozed peacefully. Nearly jumping out of his scales in joy, the little dragon grabbed the remaining fillies and hugged them close. “We’re back together again!” He grinned, only to realize they were all still sawing logs. “Aaannnnnd you’re all out like a light.”

He arranged the three foals on the ground and scratched his chin. “How am I supposed to wake you guys up? If I had Pinkie here, it’d be a snap, sure, but hey! I got my dragon breath!”

Positioning himself so that his mouth hung right over all three of the little faces in front of him, he reached down inside his gut for a good ol’ pocket of gas, eventually summoning a putrid belch that echoed off into the distance, smelling of the onion and garlic chili he’d eaten the day before. The three foals continued sleeping peacefully. “Huh, that usually wakes Twilight up in a flash,” he muttered, scratching at his chin again. Then another idea hit him. “Maybe I just need to think of something that would definitely get you all up!”

Running up to Scootaloo, he started jumping up and down next to her head. “Scootaloo, Scootaloo! You’ve gotta come quick! Rainbow Dash says she’s giving free flying lessons to everypony who just asks, but it’s only for the next five minutes! And oh, Sweetie Belle! Rarity says she just made a plate of cookies with a contract on them saying she’ll admit to the whole town that you’re the better, more talented, sister! But you have to eat ‘em all in the next five minutes or it’s no deal! And Applebloom! Babs is coming to Ponyville and she says she’s bringing her chapter of the Cutie Mark Crusaders with her! But they can only stay for five minutes before their train leaves!”

The three ponies remained fast asleep. Spike sighed and inhaled, preparing to scream his little lungs out. He’d been saving this for an emergency, a time of dire crisis in Ponyville, but if this wasn’t an emergency, he didn’t know what was: “EVERYPONY! TWILIGHT’S FOUND A WAY TO GIVE YOU ALL CUTIE MARKS WITHOUT ANY EFFORT ON YOUR PARTS WHATSOEVER!”

The ponies gave no reaction whatsoever. “Aw c’mon,” he sighed, kneeling dejectedly at their sides. “If that didn’t work, what will? C’mon Spike, think!” What did he know about magically-induced comas? Well, not very much. Twilight was the research pony of the group, not him. Still, he HAD seen stuff like this before, in movies and stories and the like. But how accurate were those? They always ended with the big, strong hero arriving to break the curse with…

”…With a kiss,” he gasped, turning back to the crusaders. They all dreamt peacefully, snuggled up on the floor, but somehow, Sweetie seemed…especially peaceful. Something about her set her apart from the other ponies, and it wasn’t just her lighter coat. Spike gulped. What was wrong with him!? Why was he just starting this now? Could it be…

“No,” he said stoically. “My heart belongs to Rarity. I can’t…” Of course, the best way to find out if what he felt was love was to…go through with it. In the stories, the brave prince always awakened the sleeping beauty with true love’s kiss. So, if what he felt was anything like that, then maybe, just maybe…

“Welp, it would be killing two birds with one stone,” he figured, his claws shaking. Reaching down, he slowly wrapped his arms around Sweetie’s shoulders and pulled her in close. Palms drenched in sweat, the little dragon lowered himself, entire body quaking, eyes slamming shut, lips puckering up for the kiss. He slowly made his way towards Sweetie, their lips growing closer and closer. He let out a breath to keep himself calm, and immediately Sweetie bucked back, her hooves slamming into his stomach. “Guphaw!” He gasped and dropped to his knees, arms wrapped around his middle.

“Spike?” A sweet little voice asked.

The baby dragon opened his eyes, making Sweetie Belle’s face out through the tears of pain. “Sweetie?”

“Oh, I knew you’d come!” She gushed, wrapping her hooves around his shoulders. As she held him close, the pain screaming through Spike’s body didn’t seem to matter so much, at least until they both came to their senses and pushed away. “Uh-hum…yeah…” she stammered, blushing.

“Well,” Spike said, also blushing. “Wh-what happened to you guys?”

“What do you mean?”

“You were in this weird, magical coma! I couldn’t wake you all up and I…” his cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red, still visible in the red tint cast by the mist surrounding them. “…Uh…started getting desperate…and…stuff.”

“I dunno,” Sweetie shrugged. “I just remember this awful smell, like…onions and garlic…”

Spike’s eyes lit up. “My dragon’s breath! It must not’ve worked before because I wasn’t close enough!”

“Say what now?”

“Nothing, just hold on,” the little dragon ran up to Applebloom and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her in close. As Sweetie watched with jealous rage growing on her face, Spike lowered his face over the little Earth pony’s nose and exhaled.

“Guh-hoh!” She coughed, one of her hooves whipping around in a right hook that caught Spike across the chin. The baby dragon dropped, a bit of blood trailing from his mouth as Applebloom returned to her senses. “Ugh…what’s goin’ on…”

“Applebloom!” Sweetie sang, wrapping her hooves around her friend.

“Sweetie Belle!? Aw shoot,” the little Earth pony looked around. “Where are we?”

“Inside Trixie’s prison,” Spike explained, trying to stem the river of blood flowing from his mouth.

“Oh what the…” Applebloom galloped up to the little dragon and held his chin. “What in the hay happened t’you?”

“You did. Apparently, you’re not a morning person,” Spike snickered, cringing with her touch.

“Aw consarn it Spike, Ah didn’t mean…” she looked up, noticing the obvious glint of jealousy growing in Sweetie’s eye just over Spike’s shoulder. Two and two instantly slammed together in the Earth pony’s head, and she grinned, releasing the dragon. “Welp, what’s say we get goin’ then, huh? So, where’s Scoots?”

“We were about to get her,” Sweetie replied flatly, pointing to the little bundle of orange feathers on the ground.

“Well, that’s just great! Why don’t we…”

“Nonono, wait,” Spike said, running over and grabbing Scootaloo. “It’s a magical sleep. There’s only one way to wake her up!”

“Ooh!” Applebloom said, her eyes lighting up. “Lemme guess: true love’s first kiss!?”

“Actually,” Spike said as Sweetie glared at her friend. “It’s more like a combination of onions, garlic, and the fact that Twilight hasn’t been around to brush my teeth for two days.”

“Oh. Well, what’re y’waitin’ for?”

“In a minute, but first, couldja guys maybe hold her down? I’m not sure I have any more body parts to spare.”

“Sure, Spike,” Sweetie said, pinning down the hooves on Scootaloo’s left side while Applebloom took the right. Giving them each a thumb’s up, he smiled hopefully and lowered himself over the little pegasus’s body, exhaling all over her face in a long, drawn-out breath filled with the worst stenches of whatever he’d eaten over the past couple days. After a few short moments, the pegasus’s head suddenly butted forward, smashing into his nose and sending him flying back.

“Three times!? How is three times in a row even fair!?” He cried, now trying to block the flow of blood from his nostrils too.

“Oh man, did anypony catch the number of that chariot what hit me?” Scootaloo moaned as she sat up woozily.

“Scoots!” Her friends shrieked, wrapping their hooves around her.

“Woah, easy girls, easy,” the pegasus said as she stood up and glanced around. “Wow, where are we? Did one of Pinkie’s parties get totally out of control?”

“Naw, this is Trixie’s prison fer all the fillies and old ponies,” Applebloom replied.

“Wow, for real? Jeez, how come I can’t remember getting thrown in here?”

“Trixie apparently put a spell on everypony goin’ in. By the looks of it, they’re all asleep!”

“Jeez,” she looked around, spying the silhouettes of ponies drifting about in the distance. “Well, what’re we waiting for? Let’s get ‘em up!”

“Not so fast,” Sweetie said. “I’m all for that, but would getting everypony up really help us here?”

“Huh?” Her friends asked.

“She’s right,” Spike said, dabbing at the blood running down his face. “There’s just a bunch of old ponies and little foals in here. Before long, we could have a bunch of ponies screaming for their mamas and a few geezers with no idea how to handle ‘em all. Doesn’t that sound like it might attract a bit of attention? Besides, I don’t think I got enough breath (or intact body parts) to get them ALL up.”

“Dangit,” Applebloom fell to the floor. “Then what’re we s’posed t’do?”

“Well, if we can’t wake everypony up, we’ll just hafta bust out ourselves!” Scootaloo said, grinning confidently.

“How in Equestria’re we supposed t’do that?”

“I guess we could start by finding the exit?”

“Oh, I already did,” Spike sighed dejectedly.

“Really?” The pegasus leapt to his side. “Why didntcha say so? Where is it?” The baby dragon simply pointed upwards. Scootaloo followed his claw up, up, and up all the way to the hole at the top of the dome, now just a tiny pinhole of light somewhere far off in the mist.

“You’re kidding me.” She moaned.

“I really wish I was.”

“How’n the hay are we s’posed t’get up there?”

“I dunno, I dunno,” the baby dragon sighed and took a seat on the mist-covered ground. “If any of us could just fly or had some teleportation magic…”

“Well, we could always build somethin’,” Applebloom suggested. “We’ve always been good at that.”

“Great idea, genius,” Scootaloo said sarcastically. “And just what’re we supposed to build something with? A few puffs of fog and some magic lightning?”

Spike’s eyes lit up. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea!”

“Huh?”

“When I fell down here, something caught me,” he explained, pacing back and forth through the mist. He pointed as a bit of lightning flashed off to their sides, silently piercing the mist without any thunder. “It felt all tingly and weird, kinda like I think that lightning’s supposed to feel like.”

“You’re sayin’ the lightning saved ya?”

“Well, Trixie still wants everypony alive in here, right? Otherwise, she couldn’t use them as hostages to get everypony out there to work in the Diamond Dogs’ mines. And she was sorta just tossing you in here all willy-nilly, so she probably has some sort of safety net in place...so…”

“So what if we use that to our advantage?” Scootaloo said brightly.

“Spike! If that stuff before didn’t prove you were a genius, this totally does!” Sweetie gushed, wrapping her hooves around his shoulders.

“Heh…thanks…” he said, his face turning a bright red while Applebloom shot Scootaloo a knowing look.

“One thing you’re missing here, genius,” Scootaloo said, remaining totally oblivious to Applebloom’s look. “We’re not exactly electricians here. We don’t know how to even get the bolts to appear, much less use them to throw ourselves around.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing I have a tough old dragon hide!” He exclaimed, patting his belly. “It’ll give us plenty of room to experiment with!”

“Girls, you know what this sounds like?” Sweetie said hopefully. “It sounds like a Cutie Mark-finding quest!”

“That’s good enough for me!” Applebloom cheered. “Let’s cue the montage, everypony!”

And so, after a few tries that ended with Spike landing flat on his face, the trio of ponies discovered that if they all stood on their shoulders they could get their dragon friend high enough to trigger the net when he leapt off, and at the same time he discovered that a few pegasus feathers could stop any nosebleed. After figuring that out, they needed to spend another couple hours tracking down the supplies they needed to manipulate the net and give Spike a line he could drop down to them once he was safely outside. A few more hours passed and the sun’s light at the top of the prison faded away while they gathered enough clothes and rags to tie into a rope, along with a few shovels that had been dragged along by some of the ponies when they were being tossed into the prison.

“Okay,” Sweetie said, giving the knots on her clothes-rope a tug. “Are we ready?”

Spike wrapped the rope around himself like a bandolier. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Then let’s do this,” Scootaloo said, positioning the shovels into a random order sticking out of the ground before climbing onto Applebloom’s shoulders. Sweetie followed suit, allowing Spike to climb atop the tower of ponies and take a long, hard look down, just in time to realize how insanely stupid this idea really was.

“Guys, I dunno if…” he started, shaking nervously.

“Don’t worry Spike!” Sweetie chimed right below him.

“We believe in you!” Scootaloo said.

“And hey, if y’got yer marefriend under ya, what could be goin’ wrong, right?” Applebloom asked, grinning mischievously. Sweetie Belle glared down at her as she beamed up at them.

“Yeah…wait, what?”

“Fly like the wind, lover-boy!” The country pony chimed, bucking her shoulders to topple the tower. The purple dragon screamed as he plummeted through the air, hit the net, listened to the lightning sizzle around the metal and wood of the shovels they had positioned, and was promptly slammed into the ground with greater force than he’d ever felt before.

“Oooohh,” the Crusaders grimaced.

“Is-is he alive?” Applebloom asked.

“Tough old dragon-hide,” Spike replied, lifting his blood-covered face off the ground. “Remember?”

“That looked like it hurt…” Sweetie said concernedly.

“Naw, naw, I’m table monkey cranberries China.”

“What?”

“I said I’m fine.”

The girls beamed. “Attempt number two?” Applebloom asked as they rebuilt the tower.

“I’m ready when you are,” he said, immediately rocketing up on top of their heads. This time, he tried hitting the net with his shoulder, allowing less of his body first contact. It promptly sent him tumbling through the fog off to the side, screaming the entire way. Their only clue that he was even still in the dome was a loud thump somewhere in the distance, echoing throughout the prison.

“Spike?” Sweetie asked cautiously. “Are you dead this time?”

There were a few moments of tense silence before the reply echoed back to them: “Gimme a second to figure that out for myself, will ya?”

The Crusaders all sighed with relief. “Jeez, that’s one tough little dude,” Scootaloo said.

“Yep, great choice in stallionfriends, Sweets,” Applebloom said, nudging Sweetie Belle and raising her eyebrows.

“He’s not my stallionfriend!” The unicorn said defensively.

“Aw wait, what? You and Spike? When’d that happen!?” Scootaloo gasped.

“It never happened! We’re not…he’s not my stallionfriend!”

“Ah dunno, Sweets, the writin’ seems t’be on the wall here!” Applebloom snickered.

“There is no writing! He’s just a friend! I mean…I mean…” she sighed and took a seat on the ground. “A pony and a dragon? Has that ever happened before? And how would it even work?”

Her friends’ expressions immediately turned to concern. “Aw jeez, Sweets, have you…been thinking about this?” Scootaloo asked.

“Just since we danced together at the wedding. I sorta started thinking about it, like, playing with the idea in my head. I mean, he does hang around Rarity a lot, and I’ve seen how sweet he can be, but I just…some things have been going on that made me start to really think about it…what if he and I…y’know…”

“Can’t hurt to ask,” the pegasus said with a shrug.

“But it can! I mean, he still might have a thing for my sister, and even if he gets over that,” she sighed again, holding up her hooves. “He’s a dragon, I’m a pony, is it even possible for those to go together?”

Applebloom trotted up to her friend and rested a hoof on her shoulder. “There’s only one way to find out,” she said with a knowing smile.

“I dunno you guys, I still don’t…”

“Okay!” Spike exclaimed, appearing from the mist and immediately noticing the looks on everypony’s face. “Hey guys, c’mon! Keep your spirits up! I’m sure I’ll get it this time!”

“No Spike, it’s not that, it’s…uh,” Applebloom took one look at her friend, who promptly shook her head. “It’s…nothing. So, how’s about we get this goin’?”

“Okay,” Spike said, waiting patiently as they rebuilt the tower. “I think all I have to do is land feet-first to get what I just got, but upwards!”

“Sounds good,” Sweetie said, offering her hoof to help him up. “Ready?”

He tightened the rope around himself and wrapped his claws around her arm. “Absolutely,” he said, and just then, he looked like some sort of warrior to the little unicorn. She saw a flash of him scaling a mountainside, the grime on his face now camouflage makeup, a bandana wrapped around his head, blowing in the wind as he gazed up at his goal with a determination in his eyes she’d never seen in anypony before. “Oh my,” she blushed as he climbed past.

“Okay,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Here I go-OOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The little dragon screamed as he was suddenly shot straight up into the air, the bolts catapulting him right towards the little ring of fading daylight.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders all fell atop one another in joy. “Cutie Mark Crusader: Electrical Engineers!” They sang, high-oneing before gazing at their flanks expectedly. After a few minutes passed, they each realized nothing was going to happen.

“Darn, I guess you really can’t win ‘em all,” Scootaloo sighed.

High above their heads, Spike sailed through the air, the circle of light growing bigger and bigger until he suddenly burst out of the mist, landing on his face just on the lip of the hole. “Woah, woah,” he gasped, arms wheeling around as he struggled to keep his balance. Eventually, his stance calmed, and he sighed with relief. “I honestly can’t believe that worked,” he mumbled as he untied the cloth rope around himself and started lowering it through the hole.

“Guys, I’m sending the rope now,” he called into the mist. “Be careful!”

“Alright Spike, we will!” Sweetie sang. Ah, there she was again. Oh wait. Crud.

Oh no, just what was he gonna do here? He could only give his love to one pony, but who would that be: Sweetie or…

Something rushed past behind him, quick as lightning. He paused and turned, scanning around. The entirety of Ponyville lay before him, eerily quiet in the late-evening light. “Is everypony still in the tunnels?” He mumbled.

“Spahke?” Applebloom’s voice this time.

“Right, sorry,” he continued lowering the rope. “I’m getting distracted up…”

A whisper travelled by his ear, like the razor-sharp edge of a pegasus wing cutting through the air at supersonic speed. Dismissing it as paranoia this time, Spike didn’t even look up, continuing to lower the rope until he felt a tug.

“Alright Spike, we got it!” Scootaloo said cheerfully.

“That’s great! I’ll just need to find someplace to tie this off and…” he was interrupted by a pair of thumps on the glass behind him. Shivering in fear, the baby dragon slowly turned to their source.

“Ruh-Rainbow Dash? Twilight?” He asked.

The Elements of Loyalty and Magic stared back at him, their collars invisible in the evening light.

“Oh, I’m so glad you guys are here! Especially you, Twilight!” He beamed as the rope stretched taut in his claws. “Well, no offense to you, Rainbow, I mean, I’d hug y’both if I wasn’t kinda in the middle of something.”

Suddenly, the cyan pegasus darted forward and swooped right over Spike’s head, bringing her hooves down on the rope and stopping it short. “Hey, what’s the big idea?” The cyan pegasus turned to him, eyes wide. Now that she was facing away from the sun, he could see the red glow in them. “Oh no,” he groaned.

“Mistress Trixie has commanded that nopony be allowed to leave the Trix-Dome,” the Element of Loyalty droned. Twilight trotted up next to her and promptly sliced through the feeble rope with a small bolt from her horn.

“No!” Spike gasped, lunging forward to grab the rope, but just a bit too late to keep it from slipping away into the red mist.

“Spiiiiikkkke!” The Crusaders screamed as they suddenly plummeted away into the darkness below.

“Guys!” He sobbed. A lilac hoof stomped the glass by his face. He turned around fearfully.

Twilight gazed down at him, her eyes completely blank. “As Mistress Trixie commands, we obey,” she said in the same, robotic tone as she pressed a hoof against Spike’s backside.

“Twilight!” He cried. “It’s me, Spike! For Celestia’s sake, snap out of it!”

There was a moment of hesitation on the unicorn’s part. If Spike had turned around just then, he might have noticed red-tinted tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. But it was only a moment. “As Mistress Trixie commands,” she repeated, nudging the dragon forward and sending him plummeting into the mists below. “We obey.”

Chapter VII: The Pledge

As the sun set over the village, the citizens of Lulamoontopolis slowly filed out of the tunnels, their energy expended, their bodies aching, and their spirits low. The only thing they had going for them was the fact that the job was done. Empress Trixie’s plans had been followed perfectly, and hopefully, that would be enough for an iota of mercy.

Once they had all gathered in the Town Square again, another poof sounded and Trixie appeared at the podium. “Well done, my loyal subjects!” She sang with a genuine smile on her face.

“Yes, oh Great and Powerful Empress,” the crowd droned. Trixie’s display earlier had succeeded perfectly, leaving everypony completely drained of the will to fight.

“Ah, you’re learning,” she tossed her mane. “In that case, I have a surprise for you: consider it a reward for your loyal service today.”

Suddenly, a titanic glass box materialized into existence right next to the glass bowl, slamming into the Earth with a deep rumble. The box’s interior flooded with more of the red mist as a massive set of double-doors appeared on its side, swinging open. The crowd shied away from the entrance, gazing at one another uneasily. “Your Great and Powerful Empress would like to introduce the Trix-Box, or ‘Trox’ for short,” Trixie said, giggling at her own little joke. She leveled a piercing glare on the crowd, which promptly offered up a few, uneasy laughs.

Satisfied, she continued: “The Trox will serve as your main means of transport when our Diamond Dog allies arrive tomorrow, allowing you to travel to their den in the same ease and comfort offered to your loved ones in the Trix-Dome (henceforth known as the ‘Trome’.)”

“Now hold on a second,” a balding, bright-orange Earth pony stepped out in front of the crowd. “You said you’d let our ponies go if we did whatcha told us!” A few other ponies nodded in agreement before Trixie promptly sealed their muzzles shut.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie said she would consider it,” Trixie replied icily, gazing down at the crowd like a bunch of ants waiting to be crushed. “And she has: the answer is no. Your loved ones will remain where they are to ensure your further cooperation. Now, get in the Trox.”

“That’s not fair!”

“We won’t stand for this! And we’re NOT getting in there!”

“Resistance? Still?” Trixie said, sealing the muzzles of every pony who spoke up. “How dare you!? After all Trixie has done for you! Well then, she sees she has no choice.”

Stomping her hooves, the crowd watched uneasily as a sudden burst of color appeared in the sky: a rainbow that descended to street level, swooped over their heads, and landed somewhere at the edge of the square. “Ruh-Rainbow Dash?” Somepony at the head of the crowd asked as the cyan pegasus turned on them, a red glint in her eye on top of the collar around her neck.

“All hail the Great and Powerful Trixie,” she muttered before taking off in a sonic rainboom that deafened everypony’s ears.

Next, a massive explosion of streamers and confetti sounded from the rooftops, blinding some ponies at the rear. “All hail the Great and Powerful Trixie,” the Element of Laughter chimed as she gleefully blasted away at the crowd below, hemming them in from behind.

This was followed by a massive, magical poof off to the pink mare’s right as the Element of Magic advanced from one of the side streets, cracks and pops sounding off her horn, adding to the panic growing in the crowd. “All hail the Great and Powerful Trixie,” she repeated.

Finally, the Element of Honesty joined in the fun, picking a bushel of apples from a cart left in the street and bucking them in the crowd’s direction. “All hail the Great and Powerful Trixie,” she mumbled as the apples went off like little sauce-filled bombs in the crowd. With the ponies scared and running around in confusion, Trixie hemmed them in with a series of magical shields, forcing them closer to the doors of the Trox being held open by the Elements of Generosity and Kindness.

“Fluttershy, please!” Somepony at the front said as the massive crowd behind them forced them forward, closer and closer to the doors. He dug his hooves into the ground, staving off the inevitable plunge into the mist for just a few minutes more. “Y-you don’t have to do this!”

“Of course I do, silly pony,” she replied, smiling with her usual, gentle demeanor as the mist swallowed the pony up and dragged him in. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has ordered it so.”

Near the edge, a few mares managed to break from the grip of the shields, making a break for freedom. Mare number one, the DJ known as Vinyl Scratch, made it nearly halfway across the square before Rainbow Dash descended on her, scooping her up with a strength Vinyl never imagined a pony having. Mare number two, Vinyl’s longtime marefriend and well-known cellist, Octavia, screamed her lover’s name, tears gathering in her eyes before she was blindsided by a spell from Twilight and dragged back to the front of the crowd. Mare number three was none other than Cheerilee herself, who managed to make it all the way across the square and into an empty storefront.

The school teacher panted, a sob escaping her throat as she threw herself inside and locked the door behind her. She knew it was pointless: Trixie could easily blast the thing off its hinges, but it still gave her some measure of security. As she stood there, listening to the cries of terror of everypony she knew outside, Cheerilee fell to the ground in tears, her head in her hooves. How could any of this be happening? It couldn’t possibly be real! This madness, this insanity, was never meant to exist in Ponyville! Why couldn’t she just wake up in her bed at home and find this was all a dream!? Why…

Do not fear, little one; all will be explained, a certain, royal voice sang in her ear. Cheerilee looked up just as the back door opened and slammed shut.

“Wha…” she started, trying to squint into the darkness beyond the tiny bubble of light her collar provided. Something was moving around back there. “Princess Luna?”

“Not quite,” the figure in the shadows replied, his voice still wonderfully familiar.

“Sethisto!” She gasped, running to the unicorn’s hooves in relief. “Thank Celestia! I thought Trixie had…taken…you…”

She trailed off as she looked up into the yellow stallion’s eyes, glowing the same red as each of the Elements’ outside. “No…” she gasped, trying to struggle out of his grip.

“All hail the Great and Powerful Trixie,” he droned before touching his horn to her forehead, forcing her to join the other citizens of Ponyville in the cold, dark embrace of sleep.

The sun rose over Ponyville, warming Trixie’s face. She smiled calmly as she stood ready at the pedestal in the now hauntingly-vacant town square. Perhaps she should lower the shield a bit, just get a quick second of pure sun…

No, something whispered inside her. Your enemies are many, you cannot take such a risk before the Dogs get here.

Trixie grimaced at the sound of the voice as she ran her hoof along the edge of the pedestal. The voice of the Amulet had grown stronger these past few days, more insistent. It was a terrible feeling, knowing something was slithering its way into her mind, trying to reach her innermost thoughts, but it was necessary, and it did have a point. She had come too far to risk messing things up now.

“Muh Great an’ Powerful Empress,” somepony said off to her side, disrupting her thoughts.

“Ah, Applejack,” Trixie said with a genuine smile on her face as she turned to the red, shimmering glow in the eyes of the Element of Honesty. “What news do you bring?”

“Miss Sparkle would lahke t’report that the final preparations are ready down below, an’ Miss Dash says she’s spotted the Diamond Dogs’ convoy just a few klicks away. They shouldn’t be long now, yer highness,” AJ replied, her voice completely robotic.

“Good, good, and I take it the Elements of Kindness and Generosity are already in position?”

“Just as ya ordered, yer greatness.”

“Perfect,” Trixie said, her tone growing more serious. “You and the others know what to do.”

“Yes, yer almaghty powerfulness,” the earth pony replied before bowing and galloping away.

Trixie took a few deep breaths and gazed out over the Ponyville Town Square. “Welp, this is it, it’s now or never,” she sighed before sending a few bolts of red lightning into the air, blasting the shield over Ponyville out of existence. Time to get this party started.

Wardog Shizukh of the Northern Den drummed his fingers impatiently on the strange, smooth seats of his benefactors’ latest gift. He stared out the window as the Everfree Forest streamed by, his army marching alongside the sleek form of the horseless chariot.

“It’s real cool, isn’t it, lord?” His secretary asked for the fifth time that day. “This ‘limo-sing’ is just something else, right?”

The Wardog just grimaced at the smaller mutt as he gazed out the window. The little yapper was really starting to get on his nerves.

“I mean, think of all we could do with friends like them, eh?” The little mutt gazed up at him with massive, puppy-dog eyes. “If they can make things like this, just imagine what they…”

Suddenly, Shizukh grabbed the little dog by the neck, lifting him up into the plush leather seat with ease. “I’m well aware of what this could mean for us, you li’l git! What, you don’t think I’ve thought about it? Wondered what else they got? Maybe even gotten more you don’t know about!?”

“Gack...no sir…” the smaller dog squeaked, clawing at the iron grip around his throat. “I just…wanted…to praise you…for your [ACK] great choice…in allies!”

The Wardog kept his grip for a few moments longer before releasing the smaller dog, returning to gazing out the window. “Get me another grog from the cooler-box, twerp.”

“Y-yes sir, right away sir,” the smaller dog whimpered, and a few moments later, a bottle of the crude alcohol slid into Shizukh’s claws, still ice-cold from the box. He grinned as he lifted the bottle to his lips, the powerful liquid inside warming him. He was used to getting the things he wanted, having been the leader of his den for the past decade or so. His underlings knew what the pack leader wanted, he got: be it a bag of diamonds fresh from the mines or a bowl of grog warmed by the breath of an elder dragon (which had resulted in quite a few trips to the burn ward for his minions). Thing was, in recent years it stopped being enough. Oh sure, it was still amusing to sit at the head of the table and laugh at the local idiots as they were made to do a jig for some bits, but it just wasn’t quite doing it for him. He knew there were others out there with far more power than he could ever hope to have, and that idea started to burn. He started seeing these others everywhere: Celestia in his morning grog, Luna in the reflection off a crystal in the mines, Discord snaking his way through the darkness of the tunnels, even Chrysalis started popping up in the lumps in his evening oatmeal!

Power… that was the key: so amazing, so tantalizing, yet so far from his claws. The little taste he had now was all he could ever hope for, and these past few years that fact had started to leave a bad taste in his mouth.

Then he met the smooth-skinned creature in the grey clothes, and everything had changed. Suddenly, there was hope for a new tomorrow, one where he ruled! Hope that the Princesses could be beat, that Discord’s magic could be turned on its head, that even the Changeling hordes could be brought low! As he gazed out over his fellow dogs, marching along the trail with spears in hand and looks of determination in their eyes, he saw that amazing future forming itself right in front of him. All the species of the world: Pony, Griffon, Changeling, Dog, and demi-god bowing at his paws, forever knowing what he stood…

“Sir?” A voice interrupted his thoughts. On instinct, Shizukh’s paw lashed out and wrapped itself around the throat of its owner.

“What?” He grumbled, glaring into his secretary’s eyes as the little dog choked.

“We’ve arrived…sir…the blue pony’s…town…as you requested.”

“Oh,” he replied, dropping the smaller dog. “Good. Thanks, y’little git.”

“Yuh-you’re welcome, sir.” The dog coughed, sucking in air greedily.

Shizukh watched as the buildings of Ponyville rolled past his window, his army arraying itself in the streets. The barrage of pastel colors assaulted his eyesight immediately. He grimaced and averted his gaze: this candy-colored bullcrap would be the first to go once Equestria had fallen. He hated dwelling on the surface to meet with some pony, but he figured he could always use a few extra weapons in the ol’ arsenal. The blue pony had approached him less than a week ago with a powerful amulet and talk of an alliance, coupled with promises of fresh labor in his tunnels to sweeten the deal. He accepted, figuring he could always use another pawn in his army, and with his other allies’ weapons, the blue pony most certainly wouldn’t be too much trouble to dispose of once her usefulness had reached its end.

“Sir, are you sure about this?” The secretary at his feet asked. “I mean, I know the army’s only here to make sure this blue pony don’t try to double-cross us, but did we need to bring…”

The Wardog growled. “You questionin’ my orders?”

“No sir, of course not, sir!” The smaller dog gasped with a nervous laugh. “How could I ever doubt the choices of one so intelligent, so wonderfully gifted, so…”

“Shut up,” the Wardog grumbled before crawling out of his ‘Limbo-zine’ and taking a quick look around at the town square, his army gathering in formation around him. The village of Ponyville was surprisingly quiet. It was eerie: all these bright-colored buildings and markets lying empty, and the big, creepy crystals in the center of the town square didn’t help the feeling either.

The blue pony stepped down from a pedestal in front of the town hall and bowed in a rare act of humility. “Lord Shizukh,” she said, spreading her hoof around the town. “I wish to welcome you to Lulamoontopolis. As you can see, everything is as we discussed.”

“We’ll see about dat,” he grumbled, kicking some dirt at her hooves before turning to one of his guards. The dog placed his spear on the ground and pulled out a strange device, like a radio with a tuning fork wired to it. The device beeped and whirred for a few minutes before a green light blinked on its side, Trixie looking on with a worried look on her brow.

“S’all clear, sir,” the guard-dog said, adjusting his bronze helmet. “The Elements a’ Harmony ain’t nowhere t’be found.”

Shizukh growled menacingly, making Trixie back up a few steps. Even to a pony with the power of a goddess in her hooves, the Wardog’s massive frame and baby-sized fists were more than enough to scare the daylights out of her. “Th-that’s good, right?” She said, trying to hide the unease in her voice as the massive dog advanced. “Ju-just like we agreed on.”

“Maybe it is, an’ maybe it ain’t. I heard those ponies what were supposed t’wield ‘em were in dis village. How come they ain’t here?”

“Oh, you’re mistaken, Lord!” The unicorn said defensively. “The jewels that give the Elements their powers have been…disposed of. The ponies themselves are under my power, safely incapacitated from interfering in any way.”

He glowered at her. “Where?”

“Just over there, with the rest of the populace,” she replied, pointing towards the large glass structures in Ponyville’s square. The Wardog turned to them and squinted, making out the silhouettes of hundreds of ponies drifting about in the weird, red fog inside. However, two silhouettes stood out amongst them: one a unicorn with an impeccably well-kept mane kneeling just inside the doors of the box-shaped structure, the other a pegasus with a curlier mane lying just inside the doors of the structure that looked like a giant fishbowl. “Those ponies you see closest to the doors are the Elements of Generosity and Kindness. The rest are probably floating around in there somewhere, along with the rest of the town’s ponies, all gift-wrapped and ready to go!”

Shizukh scratched his chin as Trixie gazed on worriedly. Suddenly, he tapped his foot a few times on the ground. A few seconds later a medium-sized Diamond Dog surfaced, covered in garbage and dirt. “Report,” the Wardog said.

“All’s clear, sir,” the digger said, saluting. “The ponies ‘ave just been diggin’ around in the dirt. Had t’dodge a few of their tunnels t’stay outta sight, but that’s all.”

The Wardog scanned the glass structures for a quick moment before turning his cold, piercing gaze back on the little blue unicorn. She didn’t even raise her voice at him for keeping a spy beneath her hooves, and in fact had her eyes on the ground the entire time she faced him. He gave her a nice, big, fang-filled grin. “Nice job. Maybe you ain’t as useless as y’look.”

“Thank you, sir,” the unicorn said with immense relief as she motioned to the Town Hall. “And think nothing of the spy, sir. I would almost certainly do the same if I was in your position. Now, if you would be so kind, I’ve fixed up a room in my palace for us to discuss the next step in our plans.”

“One sec,” the Wardog said before turning to the army arrayed behind him. “Alright, ya gits! I wantcha all on yer best behavior while I’m havin’ a jaw with the pony! That means no lootin’, no fightin’, and especially no breakin’ into places t’see what shinies you can steal!”

A disappointed moan rumbled through the army as he turned back to the hall and marched through the doors, followed by his secretary and two of his burliest guards. “You can get them to follow your commands just like that?” Trixie asked as he strode past.

“Trust me: they’d be stupid not t’listen,” he replied with a fang-filled grin that sent shivers up her spine.

“Fixed-up” wasn’t the term Lord Shizukh would have used for what Trixie had done to the lobby of Ponyville’s Town Hall. “Made splendorous,” “tidied-up and remodeled,” and “completely overhauled” might have been better terms for how the lobby looked now, but since Shizukh had spent most of his life digging for shinies, his vocabulary wasn’t anywhere near enough to come up with those words. He had to settle for standing at the lobby’s entrance, trying very hard not to look impressed.

The interior had been totally renovated: peeling wallpaper and faded linoleum replaced with fresh white paint and luxurious throw rugs. Marble columns lined the walls, each holding a pair of flags bearing the insignia of Trixie’s empire: the visage of the mare in her hat and cloak, with an all-seeing white eye at its center. The plain, magical fluorescent lighting had been torn out entirely, replaced with perfectly-controlled mood lighting provided by large clamshells interspaced along the walls, between the columns. The entire room was dominated by a humongous oak table, polished to a beautiful shine, with dozens of antique oak chairs set around it and a table cloth bearing a gigantic version of Trixie’s insignia.

“I hope you don’t mind. I took some of the free time I had back here to redecorate this place into a proper conference room,” Trixie said as she took her place in one of the chairs. “I do hope it suits your tastes.”

“Yeah, uh, s’alright,” the Wardog stammered as he sat across from her, his guards and secretary taking seats next to him.

“Oh, but I’m sure you’re famished from your journey,” she suddenly turned and screeched: “SETHISTO!”

Immediately, a yellow unicorn in a French maid’s outfit appeared at her side, his eyes wide and glowing red. “Yes, oh Great and Powerful one?” He droned.

“Our guests require refreshments. Now.”

“Of course, your highness,” he bowed before disappearing into the back area.

“Now, don’t mind Sethisto,” she said to her guests as the unicorn returned, pushing a cart filled with covered plates. “The hypnosis spell has left him a bit more…empty-headed than the other ponies I’ve tried it on, but that’s to be expected. I’ve already grown quite attached to him in the short time he’s been in my service.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” the Wardog replied as a silver plate was set before him and uncovered. It took every scrap of his impressive willpower to keep from just drooling all over the plate and swallowing its contents in one gulp. Apple fritters, apple pies, apple dumplings, anything sweet that could possibly be made from apples, all baked up and crammed onto one little plate.

“Enjoy, sir,” the yellow unicorn droned as the Wardog carefully lifted the dainty fork set at the plate’s side and slowly lifted every scrumptious morsel to his mouth. Every instinct screamed for him to just bury his muzzle and engorge himself, but he was calm, collected. He knew appearing like a big stupid animal could be a huge mistake here. The blue one might take that as a sign that he was dumb or something; maybe try to push for more on her end of the negotiations.

It was a shame his subordinates didn’t share the same restraint: the moment they saw the food on their leader’s plate, they lunged, knocking the yellow one out of the way and attacking the cart like a pack of starving dogs. Yeah sure, they WERE dogs, and they WERE starving (he’d been withholding their daily rations as punishment for missing last week’s gem quota) but this still looked bad for him. Shizukh grimaced, making a mental note to add another week to their punishment as he cleaned his plate, making sure not to lick it clean like he really, really, REALLY wanted to.

“I’m glad to see my food is such a hit,” the blue one said as she levitated the yellow one clear of the ravenous dogs.

“Thank you, miss,” he said as she set him gently back on his hooves. “Will that be all?”

“Yes, Seth,” she said with a strange gleam in her eye. “Just head back and take stock of the pantry, will you?”

“Of course, Empress,” he replied before disappearing into the back room once more.

“Alright, enough jawin’,” Shizukh barked, slamming a fist the size of his own secretary against the table. “Time t’git down t’business.”

“Of course, Pack-Leader,” Trixie nodded. “Now as you know, I am prepared to offer the entire populace of Ponyville to serve in your mines, which should free more of your dogs up for army work, as I’m sure you’ve also figured out.”

“Uh…yeah, a’course.”

“In addition, I am ready to offer my services in battle, which as you can see by what I’ve done here,” she tapped her hoof on the massive insignia on the table. “Are quite impressive.”

“Yeah, I’ll admit you prolly wouldn’t be bad in a fight, pony,” he scratched his chin. “So, what’s in it fer you?”

“An excellent question, commander! Right to the gist of it, right to the meat, guessing my next move and…uh….” She drifted off as he glared at her impatiently, cracking a few of the bones in his knuckles. The stalling tactic wasn’t working. Best to just get to the point: “Canterlot. I want Canterlot.”

“Really?” Shizukh arched his eyebrow, hardly able to disguise his glee. Behind him, his subordinates exchanged knowing looks and wicked grins. “Is that all?”

“Canterlot is the pinnacle of Equestrian society. Placing my throne where Celestia’s used to be will be an affirmation of everything I’ve ever wanted. You can have everything else, I just want Canterlot.”

“Hmm,” the Wardog made a huge show of scratching his chin in not-so-deep thought. “Alright pony, you got yerself a deal.”

“R-really?” Trixie’s eyes beamed, her hooves racing to her cheeks in joy. “Oh, thank you ever so much!”

“No problem, pony,” he replied, disguising a knowing smirk by reaching for his glass of water. Oh, if this pony only knew of his plans for Canterlot! She could have it, alright, and she could rule over the worms and the scattered survivors of what was to come in her very own empire of ash.

“I gotta say pony, yer alright,” he said, reaching across the table with his hand extended. “I think this might be the start of somethin’; not just for you, but for…me…” something rumbled somewhere far off. The Wardog’s ears perked, made sensitive by years of looking for every crack or crumble in a tunnel wall, every sign of an impending cave-in. He looked down to his water glass, sitting on the table. The water rippled back and forth.

“EVERYDOG DOWN!” He screamed, diving under the table. His subordinates, conditioned by years of following his orders, followed suit, landing right at his side.

“Wha…” Trixie said dumbly before a massive explosion clapped somewhere high over their heads, a green light emanating from the windows.

“Get down!” One of Shizukh’s guards barked. “Get down you stupid…”

The front windows shattered in a massive boom, raining shards on their heads. Shizukh automatically covered his eyes as a deep roar boomed outside and a white light threatened to blind him. When he opened them again, the blue one was gone.

“WHAT’S GOING ON!?” Shizukh’s secretary screeched as he pulled himself out from under the table. The once-great conference hall was a burning wreck: chairs lay in shattered splinters all over the place, the once proud insignia draped over the table now covered in dust. The ambient lighting flickered weakly as most of the columns around the lights cracked and crumbled. Half the roof had been blasted away by the force of the explosion, revealing a series of six twinkling lights in the sky, surrounded by hurricane-force winds.

“THE ELEMENTS!” Shizukh barked as his guards pulled themselves out from under the table. The Wardog aimed a glare at where the pony had been sitting. “What’s the meanin’ a’ this, you stupid blue…”

His eyes fell upon a crumpled form, pinned beneath the rubble of one of the columns. A bit of red oozed over her cloak, her hat pulled back to reveal a pair of eyes rapidly glazing over. “Dang,” he grumbled as one of his guards ran over to try and pull the amulet off the blue one’s neck.

“Well?”

“It’s stuck or somethin’!” The dog gasped.

“Then just leave it, we’re gettin’ outta here!” Shizukh screamed, and immediately the four dogs ran for the door, leaving their former ally behind in a sticky red pool.

Outside, it was pure chaos as Shizukh’s army struggled to remain orderly despite the panic quickly travelling through their ranks. Some dogs stood at attention, spears aimed skyward, while others had already dropped their weapons to stare upwards, dumbfounded. “It’s the Elements! We’re done for!” One dog screamed off to his right, and Shizukh growled in that direction.

“Get in formation, you gits! Act like the soldiers you’re trained t’be!” He bellowed, only to be drowned out by a strange, low whirring noise. He turned his eyes back to the six lights in the sky as they descended. His beady little pupils shrank as six ponies came into view, each surrounded by a white orb of light. “I…I said get in formation! D-don’t let this…”

Suddenly, a beam of green light shot from the middle of the formation, shining onto one of his platoons in the street below. The ground beneath the dogs’ feet gave out beneath them, sinking them waist deep into some strange slurry. One of the dogs in the midst of the slurry gave it a sniff, and then a taste. “Oatmeal?” He asked aloud.

“Hey! I’m stuck!” One of his comrades screamed. “This stuff’s like glue!”

“Hey, yeah! I can’t get out either!”

The dogs’ cries for help were quickly drowned out by others as the beam of light raced through the streets, turning the ground beneath the dogs’ paws into an extra-thick mixture of raisin-filled oatmeal (with a touch of cinnamon for taste). Shizukh watched in horror as his army was brought low by high-fiber health food. “H-how?” He whimpered. “The Elements ain’t even in town, we…you!”

“Huh?” One of his soldiers asked before Shizukh’s claws were at his throat.

“What didja screw up, huh? The thingy was supposed t’tell us if the Elements was here!”

“I-I didn’t…screw up…sir…the thingy said…” the soldier choked. “The thingy said…”

He was interrupted by the screech of rubber against dirt, and the familiar rev of Shizukh’s favorite toy. “’Bout time,” he grumbled, tossing the soldier aside as his “Lime-o-sign” roared up beside them. The moment the sleek, black shell screeched to a stop, his secretary reached up and popped the door open for Shizukh, which he immediately slammed shut after leaping inside.

“Hey, what!?” His soldiers shrieked, pounding on the window.

“Sir?” His secretary asked, peering at his Warleader in confusion. “What about us?”

“Not my problem,” Shizukh replied as the horseless chariot sped away, heading for a side-street that remained miraculously intact despite the Elements’ wanton, fiber-filled destruction.

“Go, go, go!” He gasped at the driver through the divider between them. He gazed out the window in a panic as the Elements turned their attention towards him, their eyes glowing with raw power. A beam of light rocketed out, turning a patch of ground just behind the vehicle into oatmeal. Still they sped on, swerving wildly to avoid the Elements’ shots, taking out fruit stands, overturned crates, and whatever else got in their way.

Shizukh only breathed a sigh of relief once the vehicle was clear of the city and back in the cover of the Everfree forest. The Elements seemed to be hovering in place, either unable or unwilling to follow him. It didn’t matter. He was safe. He leaned back in his seat and breathed deeply. Okay, he had to reassess the situation. Sure, his army was incapacitated and his ally was probably dead, but he still had the smoothskins. And he still had their greatest gift: the one toy even better than the lime-sine. He grinned. He could still do this. He still had his strength, there had to be a clan leader somewhere he could bend over his knee and dominate, and with an army again, he’d be right back on schedule.

“Take me t’ the big-boom-thingy,” Shizukh barked to the driver as he reached into the cool-box for another bottle of grog. “I wanna check on it before we get goin’.”

“Yes, suh,” the driver replied through the divider. “And where was that again, sir?”

“Where is…the caves south of Canterlot, ya stupid git! A few klicks out from the den, where it’s always been!”

“Really?” The divider slid open as the vehicle screeched to a halt.

“What the - why’re we stoppin’, y’big…stupid…” Shizukh drifted off as a smiling, pink face poked out from the front end of the vehicle. A pony’s face.

“Hi there!” The pink pony said gleefully as the divider slid all the way down. “My name’s Pinkie Pie and this is my friend!”

A lavender unicorn poked her head out next to the pink face. “Twilight Sparkle, otherwise known as the Element of Magic, perhaps you’ve heard of me?” She said with a smart little smile on her face.

“E-Element,” Shizukh stammered, his claw just a few inches away from the cork on his bottle. He turned to the six lights glowing in the skies behind him, then back to the two ponies in his limeo-shine. “Buh-but…huh?”

“Oh, he’s all confused, Twilight,” Pinkie said, concern in her eyes.

“Well, perhaps he needs a nap then,” the unicorn replied mischievously. “He’s had a rough day, and maybe things will start looking better after he’s woken up.”

“A nap? Wha…” he managed to stammer before a brilliant, purple bolt knocked him back against the seat. Shizukh grinned dumbly, snickered a bit, and promptly slumped to the floor, little stars in his eyes.

“Night-night!” Pinkie said gleefully as the Wardog’s eyes slid shut.

Chapter VIII: The Turn

TWO DAYS BEFORE SHIZUKH’S ARRIVAL

“Is everypony alright?” Twilight asked in the darkness of Town Hall, illuminated by her new accessory. She squinted, searching for her friends amidst the moans of pain with what little light the collar around her neck provided.

“Yeah, Ah’m here,” Applejack said sullenly as she walked up to her.

“Same here,” Rainbow Dash limped into view, Fluttershy helping her nurse a lump on her forehead.

“We’re…okey dokey, lokey,” Pinkie added, trotting closer. Somehow, she didn’t sound like her usual, chipper self.

“It’s going to take a few perms to get my mane back to the way it was, but other than that, I’m quite alright,” Rarity said as she strolled to join her friends.

“Okay, good, we’re all here,” Twilight said, her voice cracking. “That’s good, so…so…”

“Sugarcube?” Applejack put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “It’s okay. Just let it out.”

“I-I’M SO SORRY GUYS!” The Element of Magic moaned, tears tinted red by the glow off her collar streaming down her cheeks. “I-I really messed up here, I let you all down!”

“Aw Twi,” Rainbow Dash said, nuzzling her friend. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Trixie’s the one who dropped back in with the Alicorn amulet.”

“Buh-buh-but, I’m the Element of Magic! I should’ve known something like this could happen again! I should’ve been ready in case…”

“It’s okay, none of us saw this coming,” Fluttershy said, looking up from tending to Rainbow’s wound.

“I know it certainly caught me by surprise,” Rarity added sheepishly.

“Yeah, and besides,” Pinkie said hopefully, “Maybe Trixie will go easy on us? She’s already removed our gags and everything.”

“You seriously…” Rainbow started, only to be silenced by a glare from her friends. “I mean…yeah! That stuff with the Amulet last time was, like, forever ago! How mad could she still be?”

The purple mare was still absolutely inconsolable, though she wasn’t outright sobbing anymore and had settled for sniffling into Applejack’s shoulder. How could she just stop feeling this terrible guilt? Even after Trixie’s first attack on Ponyville, she had done nothing to ready herself, nothing at all to prepare for the possibility that she might…

Remember: all will be explained, Luna’s voice whispered.

“Princess?” Twilight mumbled, looking around. “What…”

Suddenly, the blue mare burst through the door, her cape billowing behind her and her eyes sparking with energy. Immediately, the friends took up defensive positions, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash shoring up the front and Fluttershy cowering in the rear. Trixie stood, gazing down at the friends with a haughty look in her eye. Before anypony could react, she tapped her horn against a wall, a strange purplish glow emanating from it. “This building is now completely sealed off from the outside world. Nopony can hear or see anything that we do,” she announced after a few minutes.

“Alright, Trixie,” Dash snorted. “You wanna get to my friends, you’ll have to go through me!”

“No,” Twilight brushed her friend aside and stepped forward, a look of resignation on her face.

“Twilight!?”

“It’s me you want, isn’t it, Trixie?” The lavender unicorn asked as she trotted on. “Well, you have me. You win, okay? My friends don’t have anything to do with this, so just…”

“No, Twilight! That’s not how friendship works!” Dash quickly took the unicorn’s side, soon to be joined by the remaining Elements of Harmony.

Trixie stared, eyebrows raised. “You would all stand by your friend’s side at such a terrible time, with such danger as this?” She asked.

The Elements gazed back defiantly. Except for Fluttershy, who actually answered timidly: “Well, what kind of friends would we be if we just abandoned her?”

“Guys…” Twilight said, knowing that arguing with the five mares would almost certainly be pointless. She sniffled. “You don’t…guys…”

“Impressive,” Trixie interrupted. “Your friendship is even stronger than Trixie had imagined. We will need to use that if this is to work.”

The six ponies stared at her, the defiant looks giving away to curiosity. “I-if what is to work?” Twilight asked shakily.

“The things Trixie…I am about to show you cannot be allowed to leave this room. Thousands of lives may depend on it.”

“Huh?” Applejack asked, thrown off-guard.

Immediately, Trixie seized the distraction to grab Pinkie in a bubbling aura of her magic, levitating her off her hooves. “PINKIE!” Her friends screamed as the Element of Laughter was suddenly and violently thrown against the floor, the boards cracking beneath her body with the force of the blow.

“NO!” Twilight gasped, a sob escaping her throat.

“You jerk!” Rainbow screamed as she charged, “You evil, monstrous…”

“WOOH! That was fun! Can I ride again!?” The Element of Laughter chimed, seemingly unfazed by the brutal hit she just took.

“Buh?” Her friends all asked, staring wide-eyed at the pink mare as she promptly stood up and bounced along towards them.

“Seriously guys, you have to try that! It’s awesome!” She chimed.

“The collars act as shock absorbers: anypony wearing one cannot be harmed by physical means,” Trixie shrugged. “Just a little bonus I added, just to be safe.”

“W-Why?” Twilight stammered. “If you were going to take over Ponyville again, why would you bother with something like that?”

“As I said: the things that I am about to show you cannot be allowed to leave this room,” Trixie repeated as she stepped towards them, reaching into her cloak for a folded up piece of parchment and holding it out for Twilight. The lavender unicorn cautiously reached forward, snatching the parchment away and backing off into a corner with her friends.

“What is it, Twilight?” Fluttershy whispered as the others kept an eye on Trixie.

“It’s a letter from the Princess!” Twilight gasped as her eyes scanned the page in front of her.

“Well, poindexter, what’s it say?” Rainbow Dash hissed, still keeping a glare aimed Trixie’s way.

“Uh…I’m not sure I can read this out loud, but, hold on.” Twilight leaned around her friends’ shoulders to shout Trixie’s way: “Hey! You said this room is soundproof now, right?”

“On Trixie’s honor!”

“Okay,” confident that any secrets shared would be kept, Twilight began to read aloud:

My dearest Twilight,

If you are reading this, then Phase One has been successful and everypony in Ponyville believes themselves to be under Trixie’s power. I wish to apologize for any undue stress this incident may have caused you and your friends. Just know that this is all part of a greater design and that everything Trixie has done has been at my bidding.

I am sorry, but once again, I must ask too much of you and your friends. Equestria faces a crisis on an unprecedented level, and once more requires you six too place yourselves in mortal danger for the sake of others. I can only ask, not order, you to cooperate, but I trust that you will all do the right thing.

About two weeks ago, the Canterlot high courts received word that the leader of a local Diamond Dog den was conspiring to overthrow the government of Equestria. This rebel, known as “Wardog Shizukh” to his den, has managed to acquire an incredibly dangerous artifact, left over from a more war-like time…

“Oh my…” Twilight paused in her reading, her friends all sitting spellbound around her.

“C’mon, keep reading! We don’t have a whole lotta time!” Trixie said, hopping from one hoof to another like a little foal waiting for the bathroom.

“Okay, okay! Uh…right,” Twilight continued:

This weapon, combined with Shizukh’s highly-trained army, pose an obvious threat to the peace and harmony of the land. Fortunately, I have devised a plan utilizing each of you and your friends’ skillsets, along with Miss Lulamoon’s talents as an actress, which should see Shizukh’s army defeated and the location of the artifact discovered without bloodshed on either side. This is important, my faithful student: if we attack Shizukh’s army outright, any life lost in the battle could serve as an excuse for the rest of the dens within Equestria’s borders to rise up, destroying the fragile peace that has kept harmony between our races for centuries. I have entrusted Miss Lulamoon with sharing the details of this plan with you and your friends, but that is all. Shizukh’s spies could be anywhere: we cannot risk bringing more ponies into the know than necessary.

Before you accept this task, you must know the danger you will be in. Once the Dogs’ army arrives, you will be grossly outnumbered and outmatched. We have measures in place to protect the citizens of Ponyville, but to avoid detection, we cannot provide reinforcements should things go wrong or your covers be blown. In addition, you will be unable to utilize the Elements of Harmony, as we believe Shizukh has discovered a way to detect them. Maintaining the illusion that will allow us to trap his army will thus require you, your friends, and Miss Lulamoon to be on your own, almost completely defenseless should the ruse be discovered.

Remember: capture Shizukh, immobilize his army, and above all, discover the location of the artifact. We absolutely cannot risk such a powerful device falling into the wrong hooves.

Good luck, my faithful student. I have the utmost faith in you and your friends. I know you won’t let Equestria down.

With Love and Harmony,

Princess Celestia

“All will be explained,” Twilight mused, hardly able to believe her eyes. The six friends sat in the corner, dumbfounded.

“That…that has to be a fake, right?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, this is insane! Like the plot to a bad movie!”

“Or fanfic,” Pinkie chimed in.

Twilight just shook her head. “See this seal?” She asked, holding her hoof up to the intricate insignia at the top of the parchment. “It’s impossible to fake. It can only be made with a stamp that Princess Celestia has on her at all times. This letter’s real.”

“Ohmygosh!” Rainbow Dash gasped, her eyes shimmering with excitement. “It’s just like we’re in a Daring-Do book!”

“Now before we go gettin’ all excited, we should ask ourselves…” Applejack said, raising a hoof for calm.

“What’s this at the bottom here?” Pinkie interrupted, squinting at the letter.

“Huh?” Twilight asked, studying the letter. “Woah, it’s an extra bit I didn’t notice before!”

She cleared her throat and started to read again: P.S: Hey Twi, it’s your favorite Lord of Chaos! Princess Frumpybottom up there thinks she can keep me out of the loop on her little secrets, but we know better, don’t we? And to think, she was just gonna have Trixie burn this letter when you lot were done with it! Fortunately, I realized how boring that would be and added my own special touch, set to go off the moment you finish reading this...

Suddenly, the letter exploded in a burst of brown goop that covered the ponies. “Eew!” They all shrieked.

“My perm!” Rarity lamented, collapsing to the floor.

“Ugh,” the ponies all turned fearfully as Trixie stepped forward, her face completely covered in the goop. After a few tense moments, Pinkie tentatively licked a bit off her hoof.

“Chocolate sauce,” she chimed.

“Trixie could have sworn she kept the letter out of the chaotic one’s claws,” the blue unicorn sighed. “Twilight, if you could be so kind?”

“Uh, right…” the purple unicorn summoned a bit of her magic and, to her delight, watched her horn spark with power once more, cleaning the ponies of any remaining sauce. “You returned my magic?”

“Of course, and thank you,” Trixie replied with a small smile. “Now, Celestia just wanted Trixie to make sure this was perfectly clear: any one of you can back out right now. She wanted me to emphasize how dangerous this mission would be, and how deadly it could get if Shizukh uncovers our illusions too soon.”

“Plus, we’re gonna have to put our trust in you,” Rainbow Dash added coldly.

“Yes,” Trixie sighed, bowing her head. “It will also mean putting your trust in me, even after all that Trixie has done to you.”

The six all looked at each other, obviously unsure. “Does the Princess have a backup plan?” Twilight asked.

“Yes: attack Shizukh’s army directly, and pray that one of his underlings will give us the location of the artifact, while also praying that the Diamond Dog dens will be open to more diplomatic methods and won’t all immediately rebel upon hearing of the battle.”

“That’s a whole lotta prayer,” Applejack said, sounding unsure.

“Not to mention all the ponies and dogs that could be hurt if the Diamond Dogs DO decide to rebel,” Rarity added.

“Listen,” Trixie said, removing her hat to show the pleading look in her eyes. “Trixie can give you all the reasons in the world to trust her. She can show you the changes she’s made in her life and in the way she deals with other ponies, but she has a feeling that just wouldn’t work. So, Trixie is asking you, from the bottom of my Great and Apologetic heart, please trust me. Please? If not for Trixie, then for the sake of Equestria?”

Surprisingly enough, Fluttershy was the first to step forward and take Trixie’s hoof. “O-okay,” she stammered.

“Fluttershy!?” Her friends gasped.

“Well, I-I couldn’t live with myself if somepony got hurt because I was a little scared,” she replied, still averting her friends’ gaze.

“You know, that is a very good point,” Rarity promptly trotted up to the pair and daintily stuck her hoof next to Fluttershy’s and Trixie’s.

“Well shoot, if Flutters an’ Rares got the guts, what’s it say ‘bout me if Ah don’t go on?” Applejack said, smiling as she placed her hoof next to the other three.

“And hey, when it’s all over, we can have a ‘You’re Not Enslaved’ party for the entire town!” Pinkie chimed, slamming her hoof into the mix.

“Yeah, Ah’m sure they’ll love that,” AJ mumbled and turned to the remaining two ponies.

Twilight swallowed. “The Princess has faith in me,” she muttered, shakily placing her hoof next to her friends’. “I’ve never let her down before.”

“And then there was one,” Rarity sighed, turning to Rainbow Dash. The teal pegasus snorted and glared at Trixie, who promptly tucked her hat low to avoid eye contact.

“Dash?” AJ asked, sensing her friend’s hurt pride. A part of her was still sore from Trixie’s display earlier. “Y’know we ain’t complete withoutcha.”

The pegasus glared at the other six ponies, who flashed her the biggest, saddest, puppy-dog eyes they could muster. Everypony knew there was only one way the night was going to end: with a cyan hoof next to theirs. It just took Rainbow Dash awhile to accept it as well. “Aw shoot, fine,” she grumbled, placing her hoof in the cluster. “I’m in too.”

“Guys,” Trixie said, obviously swallowing a lump in her throat, “this is all…”

She was interrupted by the cyan hoof smashing across her jaw, laying her out over the floor. “RAINBOW!” Her friends gasped.

“Ugh,” Trixie moaned as she scraped herself off the ground, trying to stomach the geyser of blood erupting from her mouth. She turned on the six suddenly, her eyes glowing with power and rage, red lightning bolts crackling from her body. “You DARE strike the Great and Powerful…”

She interrupted herself as the other ponies backed away fearfully. Immediately, the unicorn backed off, her voice dropping to a low murmur. “Um…sorry. I meant the Great and Apologetic Trixie. That was very rude, Rainbow Dash.”

“Huh,” Rainbow cocked an eyebrow before offering her hoof with a smile. “Not bad, Trix. Guess you really have changed.”

“You know Trixie will have to get you back,” Trixie said, smiling cockily as Rainbow helped her back to her hooves.

“Looking forward to it, oh Great and Powerless one.”

The remaining ponies breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, now that that’s settled,” Twilight said, clapping her hooves together. “What’s our Great and Powerful plan to take down this ‘Shizukh’ guy?”

“Quite simple, Miss Sparkle,” Trixie replied, hiding her reddening cheeks at Twilight’s reference to her favorite quote. “We use the Elements of Harmony to scare him into giving us what we want.”

The other ponies rolled their eyes. “Um, Trix? Have y’all forgotten th’ Princess specifically told us we couldn’t use th’ Elements in her letter?” AJ asked.

“Hmph,” Trixie tossed her mane and grinned mischievously. “Apparently, you lot have forgotten who you’re talking to. They won’t be the REAL Elements; they’ll just look like them.”

“Dear Sweet Celestia,” Twilight gasped. “To do that, you’d need one amazing plan, and somepony with the know-how to pull it off. Somepony who had some experience in pulling off illusions and special effects, somepony like…”

“…Like Trixie!” Pinkie beamed, cartwheeling away from the rest of her friends to wrap her forelegs around the blue mare.

“Um…yes, that’s the main reason Celestia came to Trixie with this task,” Trixie replied, trying to wrench herself free of Pinkie’s hug. “Trixie is the best one to…okay, is there any way to get the pink one off!?”

“Not that we’ve found,” Applejack sighed. “Just let ‘er be, she’ll leggo eventually.”

“So,” Rainbow Dash said, grinning as she pulled on an imaginary pair of shades. “What’s the first step in this super-secret plan of yours?”

“Well,” Trixie replied, still trying to wriggle free of Pinkie’s grip. “That would be finding replacements for all of you. Ponies to play the Elements of Harmony while you guys sneak around, pulling off other parts of the plan.”

“Umm…okay,” AJ thought for a while. “Truth be told, Ah always thought Bon-Bon could look like me if she, y’know, let ‘er hair down or somethin’.”

“And if Bon-Bon’s coming along, we’ll have to bring Lyra too,” Twilight said. “She can probably do a decent impression of me.”

“Well, um, if we have to use somepony in town, I think Derpy could copy me,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Cloudchaser!” Rainbow Dash said almost immediately. “She’s the only pony in town who’s ever come close to keeping up with me!”

“I do suppose Colgate might be able to imitate me,” Rarity said thoughtfully. “The little dahling has always taken care of her smile, if only she would do the same for her mane…”

“Mr. Cake!” Pinkie interrupted, finally releasing Trixie. “Mr. Cake could totally do me!”

Ignoring the double entendre, the ponies all stared at her. “Um, Pinkie? Mr. Cake is a stallion.” Twilight said.

“Well, duh! I know that!”

“Dahling, could you perhaps think of somepony different? Another Earth pony, perhaps a mare?” Rarity asked hopefully.

Pinkie folded her forelegs stubbornly across her chest. “Mr. Cake is the only pony that has my build and my love for candy. It’s him or nopony.”

“Ugh, fine, whatever,” Trixie sighed. “The sooner we can get these ponies in here, the sooner we can start making them look like you all.”

“Then what’re we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash said, preparing to race outside. “We’ve gotta get…”

“Not so fast,” Trixie said, raising a hoof. “Everypony thinks you are all Trixie’s prisoners, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow said, slumping to the floor.

“Then how’re we gonna get these ponies in here? We don’t have all night, an’ it’s not like you know where t’go find ‘em all,” Applejack asked Trixie.

“Well, Trixie has an idea for that, but,” the blue mare sighed. “It’s not very pleasant, and she hesitates to try it.”

“Well g’wan! Spit it out!”

Trixie took a deep breath before she continued. “Before she left Canterlot, Trixie was taught a certain spell that the Princess believed would come in handy. It’s a healing spell, usually used to delve into the mind of somepony to help them deal with an emotional trauma.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard of it: the Hypnotico Crucialus. It was banned and labeled as black magic in most medical circles because of what it could be used for.”

“Oh, of course she knows it,” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes.

Ignoring her friend’s rudeness, Twilight continued. “The Hypnotico Crucialus was banned after somepony discovered it could be used to place a pony in a complete hypnotic trance, rendering most of the frontal lobe inoperable and leaving them highly open to outside suggestion.”

“In English, poindexter.”

“She’s trying to say that it could be used to control somepony,” Trixie said. “The Hypnotico Crucialus can be tweaked to leave a pony in a weird trance, rendering them completely under the power of whoever casts it.”

The room fell silent again. “Are you serious!? That’s the plan!?” Rainbow Dash bellowed.

“That s-sounds scary,” Fluttershy added.

“How can ya expect us t’leave ya totally in control of our noggins!?” Applejack yelled.

“Trixie knows, Trixie knows! It sounded like a terrible idea in the first place,” Trixie said defensively. “That’s why she figured it would be better for you all to just ACT like you’re under her power! That way, you can sneak around town without worrying about giving the ruse away!”

The other ponies averted her gaze almost immediately, except for Applejack, who kept looking quizzically at her friends. “Ooh, acting,” Rarity said, biting her lip as she gazed worriedly at her orange friend.

“What?” Applejack asked.

“I dunno how well acting would work for us,” Pinkie said, stealing a glance at Applejack.

“Seriously, what is it? Why’re y’all lookin’ at me?”

“Now Applejack,” Twilight replied, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “You’re a great pony, an incredible friend, and a testament to the integrity of the entire Apple family. Thing is, your acting…it…uh…”

“It’s terrible!” Pinkie shouted.

“Well, I didn’t want to put it that roughly, but yes. You can’t act worth beans.”

“What’re y’all talkin’ about? What’s wrong with m’actin’?”

“It’s true, Applejack,” Rarity said. “Dahling, I’ve seen foals in kindergarten plays that could act better than you.”

“Now hold on!” Applejack said stubbornly, brushing Twilight’s hoof aside. “Don’t y’all think yer exaggeratin’ a bit?”

“Yeah,” Trixie said, oddly coming to the Earth pony’s defense. “She has a point, girls! Nopony can be THAT bad, right?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Why don’t we just let her show you herself. Applejack, could you please give us your best impression of a mare in a hypnotic trance?”

“Gladly,” the Earth pony said, stomping her hoof. A frown came over her face as she plunged deep into thought.

“Well?”

“Hold on, hold on, Ah’m thinkin’ how Ah’m gonna do this, uh…” after a while, AJ shrugged and dipped her head low. “Just gotta get into character...”

She stood up straight. “OOOoooohhhhh,” she groaned, her eyes rolling around in her sockets as she toddled along with her legs stiff. “Trixie has done put a spell on meeee…y’all better run! Oooooohhhhh…”

Giggling, Pinkie promptly hopped up to her friend and jabbed her in the ribs. “Ow!” AJ twisted towards her friend, eyes shooting venom. “Pinkie, what in tarnation…Ah mean, OOOoOohhhhhhhhh…”

“Okay, stop. Just, stop.” Trixie said massaging her temples.

“How’d Ah do?” AJ asked, looking at her hopefully.

Trixie glared back. “Trixie has a migraine now. Do you understand what that means? It means your acting was SO bad, it is now causing Trixie physical pain.”

“Aw, what!? C’mon guys, it wasn’t…”

“And you broke character when Pinkie touched you,” Rarity said. “Dahling, what do you think will happen if you do that when this Shizukh brute appears?”

“Ah’ll…uh…” Applejack sighed dejectedly. “Well, shoot. Ah’m sorreh, everypony.”

“It’s okay, Applejack,” Fluttershy said comfortingly. “We can’t all be great actresses.”

“You know, you don’t have to participate,” Trixie shrugged. “You can just hang back here. We can probably get this done with just five ponies.”

“Naw,” Applejack shook her head fiercely. “There’s no way Ah’m lettin’ m’friends go out an’ risk their lives without me.”

“Are you sure? Because Trixie really can’t do this without your permission. The Hypnotico Crucialus only works if the pony it’s being used on is perfectly willing. They have to want to be hypnotized. Otherwise, their natural mental defenses will cause the spell to fail.”

“Yeah,” Applejack nodded. “Ah’m sure.”

“And if Applejack is going through with it, I am too!” Dash barked, sailing to her friend’s side.

“Pinkie too! Pinkie too!” The pink Earth pony bounded to the others’ sides.

And just like that, the remaining three joined their friends, hugging each other close. “Now hold on everypony, this ain’t…” Applejack started.

“Now, don’t you start,” Twilight said sternly. “This is our choice too.”

“Wha- you all want Trixie to put you in a trance!?” Trixie gasped.

“Applejack shouldn’t have to go through it alone,” Fluttershy said.

“Besides, this’ll leave less room for error,” Twilight shrugged. “If we’re all hypnotized, none of us will break character when it really matters.”

“You guys,” Trixie sniffled. “This is so…that is so…”

“Okay, don’t be gettin’ soft on us now,” Rainbow said, swooping over her friends’ heads to deliver a swift noogie to the blue mare’s head. “We’ve still got a long way to go before we can start with the group hugs.”

“Right,” Trixie smiled as the pegasus rejoined her friends and they all huddled together. “Is everypony ready?”

“Go for it!”

“Eee-yup!”

“I-I guess so…”

“Dahling, I was born ready.”

“Light it up, Trixie! I’ve always been curious as to how a hypnotic trance feels!”

“Ooh! Ooh! Before you fire, couldja slam me around a few more times? That was seriously so much fun!”

“PINKIE!” The Element of Laughter’s friends laughed before a brilliant red light enveloped them all. The laughter stopped almost instantly. Trixie stood back, a bit of smoke drifting off her horn. The Hypnotico Crucialus had taken quite a bit of power, which combined with the effort of maintaining the barrier and the collars all around Ponyville to put a huge drain on her magic, even with the Amulet’s power augmenting her own.

Panting heavily, she asked: “Well? Did it work?”

“Did what work, Mistress?” Fluttershy asked robotically, her eyes wide and glowing red along with the rest of her friends’. The six ponies stood perfectly erect, all ramrod straight.

“Trixie is going to take that as a yes. Alright,” Trixie said, sighing with relief. Time to get down to business. “Pinkie, I wish for you to bring the ponies known as the Cakes back here.”

“Yes, mistress,” the pink mare replied before bowing and trotting out the door. A shiver travelled up Trixie’s spine. The cold tone in the mare’s voice just seemed so unnatural, especially coming from Pinkie.

“Uh…Rarity, I want you to retrieve the pony known as Colgate.”

“Yes, dahling mistress,” the white unicorn bowed elegantly before following her friend. So the spell didn’t completely wipe a pony’s personality. That was nice to know.

“Fluttershy, you’ve got Derpy!”

“Of course, mistress.”

“Miss Applejack, retrieve the ponies known as Lyra and Bon-Bon.”

“Yes, m’mistress.”

“And Rainbow Dash,” Trixie bit her lip in thought for a while. Suddenly, a wicked grin spread across her face. The Amulet began to pulse with an eerie red glow. “Give Miss Sparkle a nice big kiss. On the lips. Don’t stop until I tell you to.”

“Nngh…yes, mistress,” Rainbow said, initially resisting before the spell took total effect. The pegasus walked up to her lavender friend and took her face in her hooves, slowly advancing, Twilight not even resisting as her friend pulled her in, her lips quivering as they delicately touched.

Trixie glowered evilly, the amulet around her neck glowing brighter and brighter as she watched. This was just as it should be. Nopony should dare stand against the Great and Powerful Trixie and…

This isn’t you, little one.

Suddenly, the Amulet’s glow weakened. Trixie blinked and watched in horror at what she had done, the wicked glint instantly abandoning her eyes. “NO! Uh…stop! Stop now, please!”

“Yes, mistress,” Rainbow Dash said, releasing her friend, who smacked her lips unconsciously.

Another shiver raced up Trixie’s spine. “Just…get Cloudchaser and get back here, okay?”

“Of course, mistress,” the pegasus bowed before making her exit, leaving the blue and the lavender unicorn alone in the Town Hall’s lobby. Trixie’s hooves shook, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes as she clutched at the Amulet. ‘It’s getting stronger,’ she realized. No, not yet! She still had so much to do! She couldn’t…

“Mistress?” Twilight asked, regarding the blue mare with her blank, staring, red eyes. “What would you have me do?”

“Uh,” Trixie stammered, trying to regain her senses. She just had to focus. She could do this. The Amulet hadn’t taken her mind just yet. “Well, first off…” The Amulet around her neck flickered once, and the red hue disappeared from Twilight’s eyes.

“Wha…” the violet unicorn mumbled, swaying on her hooves. Trixie was at her side almost immediately.

“The Princess mentioned there could be dizziness for anypony leaving the trance. Just have to be careful about that.”

“Oh-okay,” Twilight yawned, still leaning on Trixie for support as she looked around. “Wait, where is everypony? And-and why do I have the taste of Peppermint-flavored cider in my mouth?”

“Tha-that’s a side-effect of the spell, I’m sure,” Trixie said, laughing nervously. “As for everypony else, they’re still out gathering their replacements.”

“Okay, um,” the lavender unicorn looked at Trixie in confusion. “What’s going on then?”

“Funny you should ask that,” Trixie grinned. “Trixie needs your help making something.”

Author's Note

Be honest, how many of y'alls heads just went boom?

Chapter IX: The Prestige

TWO DAYS LATER

As terrible as the Town Hall looked before, it looked even worse now that it’d had to endure an attack from the fake Elements of Harmony. Still, Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she stepped carefully through the ruins, ducking under a beam as she picked her way along. Everything had gone exactly as they’d planned.

“Careful, sugahcube,” a voice said behind her. “There’s some glass by yer hoof.”

“Thanks, Applejack,” the unicorn smiled at her friend, inching her hoof to the side as the Earth pony popped up beside her. “Now, could you tell me how you took those dogs out so quickly? I couldn’t see from where I was standing.”

“Hey Twi, you really think this is the best time for an interview?” Rainbow Dash asked as she landed effortlessly next to the beam, bracing her shoulder against it as her friends passed underneath. “Any other time, I’d LOVE to talk about how awesome I am, but right now…”

“I think Twily just wants to hear something to distract her from how scary this all is,” Fluttershy added, cautiously hovering along until her flank brushed by an exposed nail. “EEP! I-I know I do!” She promptly shot to Rainbow’s side and cowered behind her pegasus friend, shivering as her eyes darted around for anything scary in the cold, dark ruins.

“Actually, I’ve read that it’s best to go through a debriefing as soon as possible, while the event in question is still fresh in the mind,” Twilight explained, her head turning for a split-second. Suddenly, Applejack bolted forward and grabbed her flank, stopping her in her tracks. The unicorn turned back to where she was walking and found herself staring face-to-face with a massive glass shard, her friend having saved her from literally impaling herself. “Of course, that other reason is good too,” she laughed nervously.

“Well, what can Ah say, sugahcube?” AJ replied in relief, happy her friend hadn’t just turned herself into a pony-kabob.

“We’re just masters of subtlety,” Rainbow added coolly. “Those Dogs didn’t stand a chance once we set our minds to grabbin’ that…big, weird…pony-less…chariot…thing.”

“Ooh, subtlety!” Pinkie said, skipping effortlessly along, her body oftentimes mere inches from splintered wood and pointy glass shards. “Is that what you call that thing where you grabbed that one Dog in a headlock and choked him out while he was distracted because Applejack had just punched his friend?”

“Ahem, yeah Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash sighed, rolling her eyes. “That’s subtlety.”

“Wussy went down with one punch,” Applejack added under her breath, pulling her trademark hat down over her eyes. “Them Dogs got glass jaws, Ah’ll tell y’what.”

“I say, is anypony going to ask me how my part went?” Rarity asked as she daintily laid a handkerchief over the ground before shimmying under the beam. “I mean, I know it wasn’t the most exciting of parts, but convincing everypony that we weren’t really under Trixie’s power still took quite a bit of effort!”

“Of course, Rarity,” Twilight smiled. “You can tell us all about it while we make our way to Trixie. I’m sure she’s buried pretty deep down here.”

“Actually, Ah wouldn’t be too sure ‘bout that,” Applejack said, her voice gaining a solemn tone as she pointed. Twilight turned and saw what was, at once, the most tragic and the most hilarious thing she had seen that week: a male unicorn stallion in a French maid’s uniform, weeping at the side of a certain blue mare.

“Sethisto,” she sighed, placing a hoof on his shoulder.

He looked back at Twilight, tears soaking the front of his apron, his hooves wrapped around the part of Trixie’s body that wasn’t pinned beneath the Roman-styled column. He hadn’t even taken off the little white hat in his mane, which was now covered in red from sobbing into her chest. “Sh-she lied to me, Twilight,” he sobbed.

“Oh Sethy,” Twilight replied. “She had to lie to everypony, or else it wouldn’t have…”

“No,” he shook his head, holding the lifeless body closer. “She lied when she caught me in here earlier. She said she was gonna put me to sleep, and when I woke up, everything would make sense. Shuh-she said she loved me and…and…” he gazed down at the lifeless blue form in his hooves and bawled. “She said I’d just wake up and everything would make sense, but it doesn’t. She’s gone! How could anything make sense now, huh!? How could getting herself killed make any sense at all!?”

“You’re right, Sethy,” Twilight replied knowingly. “It wouldn’t make sense.”

“It…wouldn’t?”

“Of course not, which is why she had me work on something a couple nights ago, before I focused on implementing that oatmeal spell outside,” the lilac mare pulled a small vial filled with green fluid out of thin air. “Sethy, do you know what this is?”

The stallion shook his head, looking more and more confused as Twilight unceremoniously dumped the contents of the vial down Trixie’s throat. “It’s an antidote for a certain brand of the Manticore’s poison. Now, usually a Manticore’s vemon is almost always fatal. However, if mixed with a few key ingredients in the proper amounts, the poison gains a delayed reaction. Rather than killing its victim immediately, there is instead a twelve hour window of time during which the victim can be saved.”

“We get what yer gettin’ at, sugarcube,” Applejack said, smiling at her friend. “But if y’can pick up th’ pace, Ah think Sethy could use some comfort more than a science lesson raght now.”

“I’m getting to it; let’s just see if he figures it out!”

“I don’t get it,” Sethisto sighed, wiping at his eyes. “What does Manticore venom hafta do with Trixie being duh-deh…” he gave up on finishing the sentence, unable to even say the word out loud.

“Well Sethy, during that twelve-hour window, there is a special side-effect: the victim slides into a coma with a greatly reduced heart and respiration rate combined with sleep paralysis, producing an effect that almost perfectly mimics death.” Sethy stared at her for a half-second before something dawned in his eyes. Twilight smiled. “Do you get it now?”

“Y-you’re saying Trixie’s just…”

Suddenly, the blue mare gasped behind him, her eyes bugging out as her lungs greedily drank in air. “Trixie!” Her stallionfriend screamed, wrapping his hooves around her. “H-how!? There’s so much blood, you should be…”

“…Vampire…bat’s blood…” she panted, wiping some of the sticky red stuff off her face. “Good for…potions. Never leave home…without some.”

“You brilliant, incredible…” he gasped, squeezing her and locking his lips over hers, tears drifting down his cheeks. After a while, Rainbow hovered over to break them up.

“Okay guys, I know you’re ready to suck each other’s faces off, but now’s not the time,” she explained. “I’m pretty sure Trixie needs air more than she needs love for the time being.”

“Trixie,” Twilight said, studying the blue mare on the ground. “How are you feeling? Any side effects left from the potion?”

The blue mare nodded, tears welling in her eyes. “Trixie cannot feel her legs,” she said, crying softly. “Trixie is a paraplegic! How can Trixie…”

“No, Trixie is a moron who doesn’t know when to listen,” Twilight replied, rolling her eyes as she wrapped her magic around the column pinning the magician and lifted it away. “I told you not to let anything fall onto your body before the venom kicked in, your circulation’s been cut-off!”

“That’s just because Twilight is a nerdy pony with no sense of showmareship,” Trixie replied stubbornly, silently grateful for the warmth rushing back into her hind legs.

“Trixie, I know this is a really warm time for us all,” Twilight said awkwardly. “But, if you please, I think it’d be a good idea for you to take off that Amulet.”

“Wha-oh!” Trixie stared at the small red jewel still locked around her neck. Her hooves began to grab for it. “Trixie had almost forgotten she was still wearing it to keep it safe from the Diamond Dogs! Trixie will just…just…” she drifted off as the world around her turned red, her eyes glowing. Her hooves raced to grab the Amulet, but they seemed to weigh a ton each, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t get them to her neck in time. They landed on the Amulet with a pair of loud thuds that echoed in her ears.

Something hissed in her ear as the red in her vision grew deeper and deeper: Did you really think it would be that easy, little pony? You are mine! Mine and mine alone, to use as I…

A yellow hoof thrust through the sea of red and grabbed her, pulling her back into reality. Sethisto stood over her, concern on his face as he reached down and rested his hoof on the Amulet next to hers. His was followed by a lilac hoof, then a cyan, a pink, another yellow, a white, and finally a burnt orange. Sethisto and each of the Elements of Harmony were all gathered in a tight little circle around Trixie, each resting their hooves on the Amulet, each lending Trixie all their love and all their hope and all their support for one last little push.

Suddenly, the magician found the strength to raise her hooves and rest them on each side of the Amulet. She inhaled, exhaled, readying herself. What are you doing!? The voice gasped, unable to comprehend this newfound strength. The blue mare slowly undid the clasp keeping the Amulet latched around her neck. No, stop! Think of the power you will be losing! You’ll just go back to being a worthless excuse of a magician, living in the Elements’ shadow with her doofus of a stallionfriend! You’ll be nothing again! Do you really want that!?

Sethisto stared down at her, smiling through the tears gathering in his eyes. “More than anything in the world,” the magician replied before wrestling the Amulet off her neck and tossing it aside like so much trash. She leaned back, gasping for air while Sethisto hugged her close, nuzzling into her chest. The Elements beamed with pride on their faces down at their new friend. Off to the side, the Amulet’s glow slowly faded, its power once again falling dormant without a host.

“You did it, Trixie,” Twilight said. “You’ve kept a dangerous artifact out of the wrong hooves, stopped Shizukh’s army, and avoided a war without a single drop of blood spilt, and all while fighting the Amulet’s influence!”

Trixie wrapped a hoof around Sethisto’s back, winced at the stiffness in her shoulder, and played it off as a cocky half-grin through gritted teeth as she replied: “Was there ever any doubt?”

Author's Note

And yes, "Pledge" "Turn" and "Prestige" ARE references to the stages of a magic trick. Because I'm clever like that.

Epilogue

Luna’s private cadre of bat-pony guards marched past patrols sent from Canterlot, each with their spears at the ready as they rounded up any Dogs left in the mines. “Uh, Princess?” One of them asked, his yellow eyes glowing in the dark. “We’re…uh…having trouble gathering all the Dogs. They’re not being as cooperative as we’d like.”

“Hmm?” She looked up, her train of thought interrupted. “Oh, of course. Simply explain to them that we are only here to search for an artifact their Wardog has stolen and that the males we have captured will be returned to them in a timely fashion, and that we pledge our support for their holding a democratic election for an Alpha Dog to replace Shizukh.”

“Yes, Princess,” the guard nodded. “Also, there is somedog to see you.”

“What?” She asked as the guard stepped aside, revealing a smaller, female dog with white fur and a long, ugly scar tracing down the side of her cheek and through one milky-white eye. The Princess stared for the quickest moment before recomposing herself. “Ah, yes, and to what do we owe this meeting?”

The Dog stood there, her one bad eye gazing blankly into nothingness while the other glared. “You ponies took Shizukh now, didntcha?”

Luna sighed. She had hoped to get out of the den before any awkward questions like that could be asked, but apparently that was just too much to ask for. “Yes, we are afraid so. Shizukh’s attempts to annihilate Canterlot cannot go unanswered, and he must remain in one of our prisons as punishment. We simply cannot risk him returning here to try destroying us again.”

The dog nodded, her good eye glistening. Suddenly, she stepped forward and wrapped her paws around the Princess’s neck. “Hey, hey!” One of her guards gasped.

“’Tis quite alright,” Luna said, waving the guard off before embracing the hug.

“It’s really over,” the dog sniffled in Luna’s hooves. “It’s finally over.”

Luna sighed. She had seen this before: this pain, this hopelessness, the crystal ponies were exactly the same way after their Empire’s return. It only made sense, though. Only a power-hungry maniac would try something on the scale of what Shizukh had attempted. After some time, the dog thanked the Princess once more and left quietly, tears still streaming down her cheeks in joy. The Alicorn continued her journey along the twisting caverns and sparkling lights of the gems half-buried in the walls.

After some time, they came across one darkened cavern with a massive door bolted in place across its entrance. Four guards stood at attention: two of Luna’s Night guard on one side, two of Celestia’s Day Stallions on the other. One of the day stallions saluted and approached her. “My princess,” he said, bowing at her hooves.

“Rise, Commander,” the Princess replied. “You are sure this is where the artifact has been stored?”

“Quite sure, ma’am. Once we found the door, we knew we’d arrived, just as that little dog told us.”

Luna nodded. “That little dog has been a great help, we might not have ever found this room without his directions. Not in this maze.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Tell him we shall honor his request to become a full citizen of Equestria, strange as it is.”

“Princess! A Dog becoming a…” a glare from Luna silenced the Commander’s protests. “Yes, Princess, we shall inform the Dog as soon as our mission is complete here.”

“Excellent,” Luna continued, studying the door. “Now, have our orders been followed perfectly? Has anypony set foot in this room since you secured this entrance?”

“No Princess, just as you ordered. Once the forward guard found this door, they just sent a runner back to lead us to it. No one, pony or dog, has been inside since we found it.”

“Good, now open it.”

“Yes, Princess,” the guard raised a hoof, and immediately the three guards behind him nodded and took their places in front of the door, focusing their magic on it. After a short time, a few metallic clanks sounded and the door creaked open, its well-oiled hinges gliding silently along to reveal utter darkness inside.

“Very good,” Luna said as she stepped into the darkness.

“Urk-Princess, wait! There could be traps!”

“I am well aware of the dangers, Commander, but what is about to take place in this room must remain the closest of well-guarded secrets. Please seal the door now.”

“I-yes, Princess,” he sighed, seeing that he had no choice.

Luna took a step inside and shivered as the door closed behind her. Shizukh’s mine was about as cold and dreary a place as had ever existed in Equestria. The Wardog had never paid attention to things like aesthetics or proper lighting, keeping his mines cold and dark for his workers to dig in, only allowing them light at the end of the day in his specialized grog-hall, set in one of the outer caverns under his personal supervision. There, he could control who stayed and who spent the night in the dark and cold with a mere wave of a paw. Luna mused on the manipulations of the old Wardog with disdain. ’Twas the thinking of a tyrant, not a true ruler, that built this wretched place, she grumbled, wings folding around her body for a degree of extra warmth. Of course, it’s not like she had expected this particular chamber to be well-lit or anything, but a couple lanterns would have been nice. How did that old tyrant even find his way around in here?

As her eyes adjusted to the dark and her night-vision kicked in (she was the Princess of Night after all), Luna made out the shape of a large, dark box in the corner. She laid a hoof on it tentatively and listened to a loud, metallic clang reverberate throughout the little structure. She sighed. It was just as they feared. “No hooves or Dog hands built this thing,” she mused aloud.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a voice rasped behind her. Disguising her surprise, she turned to see a human man in a leather jacket with jet-black hair and a cigarette clenched between his lips.

“Hello again, Mr. Sawyer,” the Princess said coolly, trying to disguise her surprise. “It is good to see you again.”

“And you, Princess, though I wish like hell it could be under better circumstances,” the man replied, tapping out the ashes on his cigarette. Luna tried to hide her concern: the man looked like he’d seen better days, with his hair messed and sticking up in places and dark bags beneath his eyes. His ongoing war was obviously taking its toll.

“So…h-how goes the war?” She asked, cursing herself for stammering.

“It goes,” he shrugged. “Mars and his army are lashing out everywhere. As we speak, hundreds of worlds burn and tremble with battle, millions of souls thrown into the clamor and horror every hour. And those are just the battles we know about. Things like this, things like the little secrets Mars has been sharing to spread chaos throughout the multiverse, could take years to uncover and disarm.”

“I…Swarm, I’m so sorry. I’m so very…”

“Save it,” he grumbled, walking up to the box and pressing his hand against it. “At least this little secret can be disarmed right here and now.”

“Indeed! Thanks to your intelligence, the Dogs will never be able to unleash some of those terrible human weapons we saw back in Coltton. And we did it without any bloodshed, so the Dogs are left without a reason to rebel!” She crossed her forehooves confidently. “As you can see, Equestria is more than capable of defending herself.”

“We’ll see,” he sighed, waving his hand. As she watched, the air swirled about, slowly coalescing into something with form and shape. His hand danced about in exaggerated circles, slowly giving rise to a large, metallic shield. Well, perhaps shield was too generous a term for it. It was more a simple metal circle than any sort of armor a member of the Canterlot guard would want around.

“Lead,” he explained, wedging the circle in the ground so that it stood between the Princess and the box. “It’ll protect you just in case.”

“In case of what? Are these not small arms such as we have seen before?”

“With Mars, it’s always best to prepare for the worst,” he replied, resting a hand on the box. Nodding to her, he ensured she was completely covered by the shield before easily lifting the lid. It landed on the ground with a massive thud, cracking some of the rock beneath it as it settled. The bipedal demi-god leaned over the edge of the box and peered inside. He grimaced. “You maniac. You impossibly evil lunatic.”

“Swarm? What is it?”

“The worst,” he replied, tilting the box up to where she could see inside. “The very thing that shield is meant to protect you from. I was afraid of this once I realized Mars was porting a lead-lined box into Equestria, but I was hoping…”

He took another drag off the cigarette. “…I dunno. I just don’t know what I was hoping for.”

“Can I…”

“Any radiation traces have been identified and countered, Princess. It is perfectly safe for you to look.”

Luna leaned around the shield and caught sight of the thing in the metal box. It didn’t look like much: just a big metal orb with rivets running down its side and a strange symbol on its front. She squinted through the darkness to make the symbol out: three black fan-like shapes branching off a central black circle. “What does that mean?” She asked, pointing to the symbol.

“That is the symbol for nuclear radiation, Princess. Surprisingly enough, it is exactly identical to the symbol used by dozens of worlds to warn of the same danger. This, Princess, is mankind’s greatest contribution to the absurd and the unthinkable,” the man replied, taking another drag off his cigarette while supporting the device with one arm. “This is a nuclear warhead.”

Luna nodded, trying to hide her complete ignorance for half the terms the man had just used. “Verily well, Swarm. Now, what does it do? Is it some sort of bomb?”

“Yes and no, Princess. It’s not just any bomb. It’s THE bomb. This bomb has an explosive yield of approximately one-point-five megatons of TNT, giving it almost one-hundred times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima near the tail-end of World War Two.”

Luna nodded again. Finally, she sighed and admitted defeat. “I am sorry, Swarm, but we know not of what thou speaks. How bad is that?”

“Well, considering the bomb dropped on Hiroshima vaporized everything within a mile of the initial blast sight and instantly killed sixty-thousand people, with an additional hundred-thousand dying over the next month or so as a direct result of injuries and burns sustained from the blast and poisoning from radioactive fallout,” he paused to take another drag off the cigarette. “Pretty freakin’ bad.”

The Princess stood in shock, her eyes widening, pupils narrowing to little pinholes. “Tha-that’s horrible,” she stammered, dumbfounded.

“Most humans thought so too,” he replied, dropping the case back on the ground and lifting the lid back into place. “That’s why so many human worlds have managed to avoid the use of nuclear weapons, instead solving their disputes with more diplomatic or conventional means, though there are quite a few exceptions, I’m sorry to say.”

The Princess cringed as she watched the man drag the massive weapon off, a green glow emanating from the rock wall behind him. “What do you plan to do with it?”

“Scrap it. I know of a few human worlds that could find some more peaceful uses from this thing’s uranium heart. And as for the casing…” he actually paused to think about that one, scratching at the back of his head. Eventually, a small smile appeared on his face. By the looks of it, the man hadn’t smiled in a long time. “…I think it’ll make a great ambulance once it’s melted down. Or a fire truck. I’m still not sure.”

“Swarm, wait,” she sighed nervously. Summoning her courage, the Princess placed a hoof on her chest and activated the bit of magic she had prepared beforehand.

The man paused. “Yeah?”

“Before you go, I was thinking I should thank you somehow for all you’ve done for us,” she said, slowly walking around the box.

“There’s no need: this is something I need to…” he trailed off as he turned, his eyes widening as he looked at her. The cigarette dropped from his lips. Luna stood before him on two well-shaped legs, her body a perfect, hourglass-like figure. Her exposed, light-blue breasts practically screamed out at him as she balanced as gracefully as she could on two hooves, wobbling this way and that.

The princess blushed with a snout that still extended out from the rest of her head ever so slightly, still not quite human. One of the pony-like ears poking out the top of her mane twitched as she tried to cover her now fully-exposed marehood. “This form is…interesting to say the least. It took some practice to get used to walking on two legs, but I think I’ve gotten quite good.”

“Huh…how!?”

“Discord’s magic,” she replied, smiling sweetly. “It can be used for more than simple mischief. His shape-shifting spells are almost as powerful as Changeling magic, and can be applied to anypony he wishes. Though he never was able to alter my face to something more…human.”

“Why!?”

“Because you’re incredible, Swarm. You’re one of the few beings of the metaverse who has seen the very nature of reality itself, gazing upon the full glory of creation and processing its majesty, yet still caring for each and every one of its myriad little denizens. Most beings with our level of power have become complacent with time, but you,” she strolled in close, smiling seductively as one of her newly-grown hands traced a teasing circle around his crotch. “You still have that fire, that passion, that care, to the point where you are willing to throw yourself into the fire for the sake of a few of these creatures. That is a quality that is so disappointingly rare, so…”

“Wait,” he held up a hand to stop her.

“’Tis the horse-face, isn’t it?” She sighed, turning away as she hugged herself. “I knew it. Maker above, I’m so sorry, Swarm. I’ve over-stepped my boundaries, and…”

A strange, squishing noise interrupted her, followed by a sound like knives being sharpened. She whirled in place, nearly losing her balance. A rather large, muscular Earth pony smiled up at her, his mane a light blue and his coat a pale yellow. The pony gazed at her with red eyes that shimmered with the light at the hearts of galaxies. She caught sight of his flank (and what a flank it was, maker above!) bearing a cutie mark shaped like a Colt Revolver spewing out a model of the Milky Way Galaxy.

“Your room. Let’s say, 10:00 tonight?” He asked.

“It’s a date,” she replied, smiling as both pony and bomb disappeared in a flash of green. Nearly squealing with delight, the Princess transformed back into her normal form and practically skipped out of the chamber, a quartet of her Lunar guard surrounding her the instant she was out. One of her sister’s guards appeared out of a side cavern and saluted.

“Princess,” the Solar Guard said, standing with his chest thrust out. “How did the artifact collection go?”

“Perfectly!” She replied, not even trying to contain the joy leaking into her voice. “We have a date!”

Each and every one of the guards’ eyes widened, though they were professional enough to keep from voicing their true surprise. Nodding and saluting, the guards clad in golden armor watched as their ebony-clad counterparts escorted the Princess back to the surface. The moment she was out of earshot, the first guard turned to his partner. “She goes in to disarm a device of unimaginable power, and comes back out with a date!?”

“Alicorns, dude.” The other guard shrugged.

Author's Note

If you don't get the epilogue, don't worry: it's filled with references to my other fic, "The Chronicles of Swarm", so all the answers you're looking for are right there!

Deleted Scene II: The Lord of the Reins, The Two Sisters

The Alicorn Amulet shimmered in the dim light, the darkness within it glowing sinisterly. Trixie could almost see the corrupting, dark magic as a cloud within the gem, fluctuating and bouncing around inside its tiny, red prison. She balked at the mere sight of it. “Kuh-keep that away from me! I…I can’t…I mustn’t…”

“You must,” Celestia sighed. She slowly took the Amulet from its box, levitating it before the blue unicorn. “Miss Lulamoon, I am aware of what happened the last time you and this object crossed paths.”

“Oh…oh Heaven...” the magician stammered, backing away from the Amulet as if it were an entire pack of timber-wolves.

“But you have to understand that is exactly what makes you the ideal pony for this! Miss Lulamoon…Trixie…” the white Alicorn dropped the amulet, letting it clatter to the floor. “…Trixie, as the only pony in the past millennia who has spent an extensive amount of time wearing the Alicorn Amulet, you are the only one who knows how its influence feels, and possibly, how to fight it.”

“Oh yeah, are you sure about that, Princess? Because last time it felt pretty influential to me!”

“Trixie,” Luna said, stepping forward to place a hoof on the magician’s shoulder. “We wouldn’t ask if the situation were not dire. But it is. It really and truthfully is. Shizukh’s plans could, at best, spark a war that could see thousands of his kind and hundreds of ours killed, and at worst, could see Canterlot in ruins. This is the only way to gain his trust and prepare the trap we require in the short amount of time we have. It’s the only way to save all these ponies’ lives and get to the artifact before it falls into the wrong hooves.”

“I…I…” Trixie curled up against a wall, far away from the amulet, tears gathering in her eyes as a certain yellow stallion appeared in her memory. “I can’t. I-I’m a changed pony. I’ve done too much to go back to that, I…I can’t risk what I have now. I can’t.”

Celestia gazed down at the sniffling, blue mess in pity, so terrified and saddened that she could hardly believe this was the same Great and Powerful Trixie that had strode into this room with such confidence just a few minutes earlier. She wished she could think of some other way for this to work, some way that wouldn’t require so many ponies to put their lives on the line. But there wasn’t. No matter how she looked at it, this was the only way to achieve the best outcome. However, it all couldn’t work without Trixie; the only pony she knew might withstand the Amulet’s influence.

“I understand what thou art going through, little pony,” Luna said suddenly, and Celestia turned to her sister in surprise. Regret and sadness filled the Princess of Night’s eyes. “I know what it’s like to have a past you wish to escape, one you wish to leave behind so you can begin anew. I know what it’s like to have to start over, to relearn how to talk to others, how to think of others, how to bury the memories and urges of something you wish had never happened.”

“Nightmare Moon,” Trixie whispered, eyes widening.

“And I know how much you love what you hath built now. I know you have ponies in your life that you might never have spared a second thought for before, but now cannot imagine living without.”

Luna nuzzled her sister, and the Princess of Day nuzzled back, trying to fight back tears. “Luna…” she whispered.

“But you cannot let your love for your new life interfere with what you set out to do,” the Princess of Night said. “Just because you haven’t fallen back on old habits does not mean you get to put your hooves up and relax. You must keep going forward, keep pushing, and keep the darkness at bay with the kindness you continue to share with others, because if one just stops and says they are content with their life, then was it really forgiveness you were seeking in the first place? Or just a way out of the cycle of hatred you had built for yourself?”

Luna’s hardened eyes focused on the unicorn. Celestia continued to nuzzle her sister, unable to keep her tears at bay, allowing them to dribble onto the blue Alicorn’s coat. Trixie continued to shiver, staring at the Amulet as if she were afraid it was going to jump at her like a snake. Her eyes darted around the room as she processed what Luna had just said. Was it really forgiveness and a life of good that she wanted? Or was it, as Luna said, just a “way out”? Just what had she really done to make up for the bad she had done in her past life? Most importantly, what had she done to show the six mares she most needed to forgive her that she was worthy of forgiveness?

The Elements appeared in her mind: how she had worked them, making them slave away into the night to throw together big, pointless posters and statues. Oh, the Element of Kindness had been so scared during that time. She had been so very scared…and the relief on her friends’ faces when Twilight had returned, showing them all that she was alright and just living with a zebra friend during her banishment…

“I…I’ll listen to what else you have to say,” she said, standing on her hooves. She trotted closer to the Princesses, still making sure to give the Amulet a wide berth. “I’ll listen to your plan. I’m not saying I’ll do it, or that I’ll ever go near that…thing again. But I’ll listen to what you have to say and then judge for myself whether to do it or not.”

“That’s all we want right now,” Celestia said as she rested her head on her sister’s back, her smile bright enough to outshine the star she was responsible for raising in the morning. “But to make sure, let me ask: do you understand the plan so far?”

“I think so,” Trixie said, wiping at her nose with the back of her hoof. “I am to show up at Shizukh’s doorstep, then high-tail it to Ponyville where I’ll get the citizens to help me dig these tunnels? Then we all just sit back in these domes while the Elements blast the tunnels out from under Shizukh’s feet?” When she said it all out loud, the whole thing sounded a bit less horrible. At least this way, Trixie just had to wear the Amulet around Shizukh. That didn’t sound too hard.

“Things are a bit more complicated than that,” Luna replied. “For one thing, we believe Shizukh has procured technology capable of detecting the presence of high concentrations of magic, hence why Celestia and I cannot engage him directly, and why thou cannot utilize the Elements of Harmony. The moment he detects the Elements being engaged, he will just turn tail and slink off back into the mountains.”

“Oh,” Trixie said, her hat deflating. “Well, I can still get everypony’s help to…”

“There is more,” Celestia interrupted, worry growing on her face. “Diamond Dogs are notorious for their ability to dig around, and Shizukh’s paranoia regarding his own allies and citizens is well-known. Both these factors combined lead us to believe that once you approach him with offers for an alliance, he will almost certainly place a spy within your midst. As I said,” she tapped a hoof on the ground. “The enemy could have spies right beneath our hooves.”

“So, nopony in Ponyville can know I’m acting on your behalf, right?” Trixie asked, eyes widening in terror. “You want me to return there as a…a…”

“A conqueror. I’m sorry, yes. The ponies of Ponyville will most certainly need to help you against their will.”

The blue mare’s jaw dropped, hanging open and closing again, her eyes growing moist again. “I-I…how could you ask me for that!?” She screamed, tears brimming in her eyes once more. “How could you ask me to reenact the biggest mistake of my life!? How could you ask me to put that Amulet back on, just like before, and…and…”

“Trixie? You said you would hear us out,” Celestia said. “Please, at least hear the rest of what we need to say.”

Trixie sniffled, but at length, nodded for the Princesses to continue.

“Now, there is some leniency to be had with this rule,” Luna said. “We are sure you are familiar with casting protection spells over small areas that could completely block out any listening ears, and as such you might be able to reveal your true intentions to a small group of ponies.”

“A small group?” Trixie said. “You mean the Elements of Harmony, don’t you?”

“We do, although this would add a few extra complications. Some of the Elements’ acting skills aren’t exactly up to par,” Celestia said, pausing as Luna faked a cough with a quick ‘Applejack’ under her breath. “So for them to continue throughout the town, certain…precautions would need to be taken.”

“There is a spell known as the Hypnotico Crucialus,” Luna continued. “It is used mostly by mental hospitals to aid ponies dealing with emotional trauma. However, it has been banned in most circles because with a few tweaks, a willing pony submitting for a simple head examination can be turned into the spell-caster’s puppet, completely unable to refuse any request the caster makes.”

“Oh for…” Trixie moaned. Brainwashing. Enslavement. This went beyond anything she’d tried the last time the Amulet was in her hooves, but still she couldn’t even bring herself to cry this time. She was all out of tears, growing numb to how terrible what she was being asked to do truly was.

“But remember: the pony must be willing!” Celestia said quickly, seeing the way the blue mare drooped. “That means you won’t even be able to use this spell on the Elements unless they wish for it, so it’s important you explain exactly what you’re going to do before the spell is cast.”

The Princess of Day bit her lip. “Do you have any questions?”

“No,” Trixie kept her eyes on the ground, the brim of her hat disguising the sadness within them. This was the best way to save Equestria from war and chaos? To have her enslave an entire city once more, reliving the worst sin she had ever committed, while risking the lives of the very ponies she was most indebted to? Impossible! How could this help her leave the past behind!? How could the Princesses ever ask anypony to do this!? How could this…

“Trixie,” Celestia said, seeing the doubt on the blue unicorn’s face. “Before you give us your answer, remember that I had a question for you to answer.”

“Yes, Princess?” Trixie asked, fighting the urge to headbutt her way out the doors and run screaming from the palace.

“That question is: how far are you willing to go for a group of ponies you don’t even know?”

The magician was taken aback by the Princess’s question. “I-I’m sorry, what?”

“If war breaks out between Equestria and the Diamond Dogs, it is true that many ponies will be thrown onto the battlefield. However, it is almost certain you will not know these ponies. They will be warriors, sworn to defend Canterlot, with perhaps a few volunteers from random territories. It is almost certain that the war will hardly affect you or your lifestyle. It will be fought in far-off places, safely away from major population centers, in the countryside. But,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s those ponies’ own fault for living out there in the first place, right?”

Trixie remained silent. Her head looked like it weighed a thousand pounds.

“Now, let me ask you the question again: for nothing more than the lives of a couple hundred Dogs and a handful of strangers she has never met, how far would the Great and Apologetic Trixie be willing to go?”

Trixie sniffled. This was so very unfair. How could Celestia be asking her this!? How could her own, loving, omnibenevolent ruler want this for her!? How could she ask for the little magician to risk everything she had built up for…for…

A young foal’s face crept into her mind, his eyes lighting up as his father told him they finally had the money for a real prosthetic leg, and soon he might be able to get up and walk out of his chair. His face was followed by a yellow unicorn stallion’s, gazing at her with every single scrap of love he could muster as he caressed her mane and whispered: “I love you, oh Great and Apologetic one.” She had giggled at her new nickname that time, and she managed to muster up a tiny smile this time.

Her eyes slowly rose from the floor, determination joining the tears welling in them. Celestia smiled at the sight. She straightened her hat, inhaled, and exhaled. “Farther than you could ever know, Princess,” she said, wiping the tears away as she dashed across the floor and gazed down at the Amulet.

As she drew closer, it seemed to suck her hooves in, like a magnet attracting a paperclip. Somehow, even though she’d never felt it while in the Amulet’s presence, it felt familiar. Like seeing a relative at a reunion after a decade apart. But there was something sinister beneath the feeling. It was just the Amulet drawing her in, its magic willing her to pick it up, if a gem charged with dark energy could have a will. She looked back at the Princesses, and they smiled in return.

“Thank you,” Celestia whispered, and with a deep breath, Trixie closed her eyes and latched the Amulet around her throat.

The power coursed through her body, igniting every nerve ending and bringing her awareness to an incredible new peak. She opened her eyes, letting them spark wildly with power, and she could see the Princesses as they really were: tiny little beings, undeserving of their titles. The Amulet showed her the fear that existed on their faces, the way they backed away from the sparks of power shooting randomly off her body, scorching floor tiles and igniting curtains. She grinned wickedly at the thought of the Princesses cowering at her hooves, realizing their new place in the new Equestrian order, the one where she ruled over a real…

“TRIXIE! THIS ISN’T YOU!” Luna screamed, and suddenly the magician was bought crashing back down to reality. The glow faded from her body, retreating back into the Amulet.

“Oh…oh Celestia,” she gasped, swooning. The Princesses were immediately at her side to support her. “It was…it was…I wasn’t me for a second,” the magician sniffled.

“It is as I feared,” Celestia sighed. “Where before the Amulet was able to use your hatred and jealousy to influence you, it knows you now intend to use it for good, so it must use more overt attempts to assault and master your mind.”

“My mind…oh my gosh, it can think!?”

“Not exactly,” Celestia said as her sister mumbled something about a ring and something called a ‘Frito Haggins’. “To call what the Amulet is capable of as ‘thinking’ would be a bit generous. It does, however, possess something resembling a will, courtesy of the dark magic within it. Magic, both light and dark, has a tendency to influence its user towards good or evil, depending on its alignment. And when a will of pure good intentions meets such a high concentration of dark magic as the Amulet, the resulting dichotomy can be…disorienting.”

Trixie didn’t need any more explanation. She could feel it: the dark intent of the Alicorn Amulet slithering into her mind like a clump of earthworms released into the earth. She could feel the light inside her, struggling to retain control. It was an all-out war taking place, with her very soul as the battleground. The magician’s hooves raced to the Amulet, ready to tear it off…but…

Sethisto…

“Trixie? Art thou alright?” Luna asked.

“Y-yes, Princess,” she replied, allowing her hooves to rest at her side as she stood on her own. “I…I think I’m going to be alright. For now.”

“Good,” Celestia said, a business-like tone entering her voice. “You shall have two days to get used to the Amulet, and the spells you will require upon reaching Ponyville. After that, you must be off to Shizukh’s den.”

“Yes, Princess,” Trixie said, wearily making her way out the throne room, the Amulet hidden within her cloak.

“Oh, and Trixie?”

“Yes, Princess?”

The magician turned to see both Alicorns looking at her with the most incredible look of pure gratitude in their eyes, with smiles so warm they practically heated her face. “Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts,” Luna replied.

“Y-you’re welcome, Princess,” she said, hurrying out the door with the thought of those smiles keeping the encroaching darkness at bay.

Celestia sighed as the boom of the doors slamming shut echoed around the room. “Discord? You can come out now, sweetheart.”

“What was…” Luna started before a mismatched pair of eyes locked on her own.

“Hi.” The draconequus said with a crooked grin.

“Gah!” Luna leapt back as the Lord of Chaos howled with laughter.

“Oh, Lulu! You are simply too much!” He laughed. “One little ‘hi’ and you burst to pieces! It’s hi-LARIOUS!”

“Discord,” Celestia said, keeping her face neutral. “I take it you heard all that we discussed just now?”

“But of course, Tia! I’ve been hanging out in the eaves this entire time,” he said, waggling a finger in his marefriend’s face. “Now, why did you go and try to hide something from me, hmm? Dontcha know better by now?”

“Luna,” Celestia said. “Could you leave us, please? I would like a moment in private with Discord.”

“Of course, sister, I’ll do as YOU ask,” the Princess of Night replied, shooting Discord a dirty glare as she trotted from the room, slamming the doors shut behind her.

“Sheesh!” The Lord of Chaos sighed and shook his head. “Save a girl’s sister, and how does she repay ya?”

“She just doesn’t know you like I do,” Celestia smiled, nuzzling his nose. “She hasn’t taken the time to see the wonderful hero underneath the messy exterior. Like most of the kingdom, I’m afraid, she still views you as the chaos tyrant.”

“Oh, a tyrant, was I? Tell me, did Sombra ever bless his citizens with chocolate milk rain? Or living chocolate rabbits? Or how about the Grand Russian Bison Ballet Corps?” He sighed, snapping his fingers to turn Luna’s throne into a giant gingerbread cookie. Taking a seat, he snapped off a piece and shoved it down his throat. “The way ponies talk, you’d think I was their version of Hitler! Yet did you see me opening up concentration camps for the elderly? I think not!”

“These things take time, dear, and a reputation that has stood for a few millennia can take a while to reverse,” she said, smiling as she strode up to him and broke off a piece of candy-cane from his throne.

“Time, bah,” he grumbled. “I think I’ve waited long enough for these little, xenophobic pricks to warm up to me.”

“Careful, Dissy,” Celestia replied, ice creeping along the edges of her tone. “Those little, xenophobic pricks happen to be my beloved subjects.”

“Oh? And what’s the pretty little pony princess gonna do?” He snickered. “Put her stallionfriend in the stone again?”

She glared back at him. “She could just refuse sex for a few months.”

“Heh,” he snickered, rolling his eyes to her. She kept up the glare. The smirk faded from his face. “You’re not serious, are you?”

“Try me.”

“Shit. Alroight, well played, Tia,” he grumbled, stretching out on the throne before returning it to its natural state, sans a few bitemarks, with a snap of his fingers.

“Discord,” she sighed and shook her head. “Please don’t tell me you only showed up here to annoy my sister.”

“Of course not, dear Tia!” He laughed, taking her face in his his claws. “I also wanted to annoy you!”

“Dissy,” she smiled, shaking her head. “Why are you so determined to make yourself the bad guy in every conversation we have?”

“Because the bad guy gets to have all the fun,” he replied, his tail silently creeping along the tile until it reached her shoulder and began to stroke slowly, up and down. She shivered under his touch. “Come now, you can’t say you’d prefer it if I were a little goody-two-shoes, running around, hugging everpony and frolicking in rose bushes or some crap, would you?”

“I’d prefer it if you were more honest,” she replied, pulling away. “I mean, you seem to want everypony to see the big, evil draconequus, when all I want is for everypony to see the great and noble hero.”

“Tch,” he snickered. “Dear Tia, ‘hero?’ Come now, you can’t be that naïve.”

“Oh? If there isn’t so much good in you, then why did you relay the warning from Swarm about Shizukh?”

“Please,” he rolled his eyes yet again. “I just owed him a favor or two, that’s all.”

“A favor?” She cocked an eyebrow. “When did Swarm do something for you?”

His cheeks turned bright red, and rather suddenly he switched to the defensive. “Nothing, nothing! Just…picked up some of the chaotic slack in the multiverse while…I’m engaged with you, is all.” His eyes darted around the room, focusing anywhere but on her.

“Discord, what’s that you keep telling me about trying to bullshit a bullshitter?” She asked, an eyebrow arched.

“Oi! Being the spirit of chaos is a full-time job, and I…”

“Oh my gods,” she gasped suddenly, and based on the glee in her eyes, Discord realized she’d hit upon exactly what Swarm had done for him. His face plummeted as she leapt on him, the warmest of smiles on her face. “It’s me, isn’t it!? Swarm’s the one who shoved you back into my hooves, and you feel like you owe him for that!”

He didn’t say a single word, but turned away from her and tried to block her line of sight on his face with a hand, his face a deep chartreuse.

“Ohhhhh, Dissy, you big sweetheart!” She cooed, wings splaying out as she leaned towards him for a kiss. He responded with a sudden downpour of chocolate milk right over her head, soaking her from head to toe and flattening her otherwise ethereal mane. He smirked as she sputtered, only to scowl again as she parted her mane and revealed that little smile, her vermillion eyes lit up like the star she commanded.

“I love you too, Dissy,” she sang, giving him a sweet, soaking peck to his cheek before trotting out of the room, a little side-to-side motion in her hips. “And you can peel your eyes away from my flank whenever you want!”

He moaned as the doors to the room slammed shut, leaving him alone on Luna’s throne. It was getting easier for her to predict him. She was far more intelligent than even he’d ever guessed, and from the start he’d known she was brilliant. “Not a good sign, ol’ chap,” he muttered, double-checking to make sure he was alone before pulling out a velvet-lined box. Peeling the little, brown, sugary kiss from his cheek, he carefully laid it in the box and snapped it shut. That one was a keeper! But now, back to business: how was he going to get back at his marefriend for this? It had to be subtle, he knew that much. She’d never in a million years expect something subtle or underhanded from him. Oh, but what? How could he…

His eyes drifted across the desk set along one wall, eventually falling upon the little scroll the Princess had prepared for Trixie, complete with official seal and everything. A grin crossed his face as he drifted across the room and snatched the scroll in his claws, only breaking the seal after making sure the royal stamp pad was still there for him to redo it. “Now, let’s see…” he mumbled, scanning over his marefriend’s words. “Boring, predictable, blah-de-blah-de-blah… ‘destroy this message once you have finished with it’? Oh, Tia! How cliché!”

He shook his head and tsked before snapping his fingers. His personal quill pen materialized beside him and happily yipped. Stroking it gently, he set it to work on a new ending for Celestia’s note. “And done, and…done!” He said once the charm was complete. “There, now that’s a proper self-destruct mechanism!”

Replacing the scroll on the desk and reapplying the seal, he cracked his knuckles and cast his pen away, allowing it to vanish in a small cloud of confetti. “And with that handled, I get to see what Lulu’s up to!” He mused, bouncing happily out of the throne room with a carton of eggs and a few rolls of duct tape at the ready. Oh, today was going to be so much fun!

Deleted Scene IV: Barely-Organized Chaos

“Always the curious one, arentcha, Sethy?” Trixie’s voice cooed behind him.

“Huh!?” He turned around in surprise.

And then, like a barn owl spotting a field mouse out in the open, she descended upon him, wrapping her hooves around his neck in a powerful, yet tender, hug. “That’s what Trixie has always loved about you!” She gasped, showering him with kisses. “Always curious, never backing down! Ooh, Sethy…you’re so…so…”

“Ugbuh…” he replied, his mind barely able to process the shock.

“Okay,” she said, calming down. Her heart raced as she pulled him in close, whispering into his ear as they embraced. “Sethy, you probably have a lot of questions right now, like why all those ponies are back there, uncollared and working on costumes and plans and whatnot.”

“Fut-aggledah...”

“Just know that it’s all for something really important. Trixie can’t go into details right now, but she will later, promise. Right now, a lot of lives depend on this staying secret, do you understand?”

“Feh.” The yellow unicorn replied, his mouth-brain connection still trying to reload.

“Good. Now, Trixie is gonna put you into a sort of sleep, okay? It’s just to make sure you don’t accidentally say anything to anypony out there. That would be very bad. But she needs you to trust her completely beforehand, otherwise it won’t work. You have to trust Trixie when she says it’s for the very best, and when you wake up, everything will make sense, okay?”

She gazed into his eyes longingly, worriedly, and he realized something. For all her power, what he was about to say could devastate her. Here she was, standing over an entire city as its enslaver, and she was at his mercy, on the edge of being emotionally destroyed by something he said. With that realization, he knew exactly what to say: “Okay, Trixie. I trust you.”

She beamed at him. “I love you, Sethy. I love you so, so much.”

“I…I love you too, Trixie,” and somehow, he felt even happier than that first time he’d heard her say those three little words.

She smiled, her horn sparking with red Alicorn power before she touched it to his forehead, and suddenly the world went blank.

“And we add a few gems to accent the cutie-mark, and…there!” Rarity smiled as she added the finishing touches to Colgate’s disguise. “Ladies and gentlecolts, I give you Rarity the Second!”

The dentist stepped down from Rarity’s pedestal and admired herself in the mirror. “Gotta hand it to ya, Miss Rarity, you really know your way around a makeup kit,” she said, tossing her new curly, lavender mane and blinking her perfectly-lengthened eyelashes.

“Well, that is a very nice thing to…”

“If only I could say the same about your dental hygiene!” The dentist whirled around and stuck a hoof covered in white body paint in Rarity’s mouth. “I may not have my records with me, but I can tell just by looking that your gums have receded at least two millimeters since your last appointment! Did you buy that water pick like I told you?”

“Well, um…of course!” Rarity said, looking around uneasily.

“Hmm, you haven’t been using it twice a day though, have you? I think I should…”

“And just like that, we’re moving along!” Rarity said, shooing the dentist out of her dressing area.

“I’ll setup your next appointment later!” Colgate said as she trotted to join the other finished mares. Rarity already had Lyra and Bon-Bon made to look like Twilight and Applejack, but that meant she was only halfway there. She sighed as she trotted over to the other side of the small room. She still had a long ways to go.

“Hey Rares, how’s it goin’?” Rainbow asked as she trotted by, hovering at the lip of a massive cauldron alongside Fluttershy and Cloudchaser.

“Not bad, Rainbow! I’m halfway done! How is your little…concoction coming along?”

“We think it’s coming along,” Fluttershy said, looking down at the bubbling goop below her. “Although I’m still not sure what Trixie could possibly have planned for this.”

“Yeah, y’all sure that Trixie isn’t just messin’ with us, making us make all this oatmeal as a big joke or somethin’?” Cloudchaser asked.

“I doubt it, I-I mean, why would she?” Fluttershy said.

“I dunno…wait, has anypony seen Derpy?”

Suddenly, the mailmare sprang out of the glop and landed at Rarity’s side, splashing the unicorn with the bubbling liquid. “Oh, there you are Derpy.” Dash said. The mailmare replied with a strange sound, like a cross between a cat’s purr and a lawnmower starting up.

“Oh-kay, I’ll just leave you to that,” Rarity said as she trotted to a bench set along one of the walls, where the Cakes were helping Applejack with some baking. Nopony noticed as Derpy donned a fedora and sneaked towards a secret panel on the wall, her eyes uncrossed as she pressed her hoof against a certain plank, which gave with a little click. Immediately, a vacuum tube opened up beneath her hooves and sucked her down, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

“Next up: Pinkie,” Rarity sang as she trotted up to the baking ponies.

“Hmm?” The two Cakes looked up from their toddlers, playing with Pinkie on the floor.

“Oh my Gawrsh, I guess that’s me,” Mrs. Cake replied, rubbing some dough off her hooves with her apron. “I’m guessing you’ll be turning me into Pinkie now, hmm?”

“Actually,” Rarity said sheepishly. “Pinkie specifically requested Mr. Cake to play her role.”

The stallion’s jaw dropped as he turned away from his baking to the pink mare, rolling around on the floor with his toddlers. “Pinkie!?”

“What?” She asked, looking up from tickling Pound Cake’s tummy. “I love candy, you love candy…”

“But you do realize I’m a stallion, right?” He asked desperately.

“Of course, silly! But who can really tell the difference from a distance?”

Mr. Cake stared at her, jaw agape. “I would think they’d notice some differences, thank you very…”

“Now honey, you know she didn’t mean it like that,” his wife nuzzled up next to him. “You have to admit you’ve always had a somewhat…petite frame.”

“I…what!? I…what!? I…” he stammered, trying to control himself.

“Th-there’s nothing wrong with that, sweet-pea!” She said defensively. “Some stallions are born with big, buff, ultra-muscular bodies, and some just…aren’t.”

His jaw dropped even lower. “I CANNOT BELIEVE…”

Suddenly, the door slammed open, offering a merciful reprieve for the mares as Trixie trotted in with some new pony in tow. “Heya, Trixie,” Applejack said, looking up from the mixing bowl she was bent over. “What’s…uh…who’s that?”

“Hmm? Oh!” Trixie turned and nuzzled the yellow stallion. “Everypony? This is Sethisto, Trixie’s stallionfriend from back home! Isn’t that right, Seth?”

“Yes, oh Great and Powerful one,” the unicorn replied robotically.

“Y’hypnotized him too!?” Rainbow Dash asked. “How’d you convince him to go through with that?”

“That’s just him,” Trixie said, coddling the yellow unicorn. “My little Sethy.”

“Yeah right,” Rainbow snorted, turning back to the cauldron she was working over. “Sounds more like my little doormat to me.”

Suddenly, a red lightning bolt shot out and nailed the teal pegasus, knocking her to the floor. Dazed, she looked up as Trixie teleported to a spot next to her, her eyes blazing, both literally and metaphorically. “Don’t you DARE talk about him that way, you worthless little fly! Trixie could…”

“Trixie! You’re scaring the foals!” Pinkie screeched. Trixie gazed up from Dash, still raging, but the moment she saw the fear-filled tears filling the eyes of the foals in Pinkie’s hooves, the anger abated. Her eyes regained their normal hue.

“Trixie is…I’m sorry, I…” she stammered, backing away from Rainbow as Fluttershy helped her back onto her hooves. “I-I didn’t mean…Trixie is gonna check on Miss Sparkle!” Once again, the blue mare teleported away, disappearing in a flash of red smoke.

“Jeez, what was that all about?” Dash asked. “I was just kidding around!”

“M-maybe we should just get back to work,” Fluttershy said, pointing back to the large, bubbling cauldron. “I’m sure she’s just stressed out.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash replied, glaring upwards, towards the bell tower she knew Trixie had transformed into a workshop for Twilight.

“Oh nononono, why are you acting up now?” Trixie whispered to the amulet around her neck as she stood at the bottom of the stairs leading to Twilight’s workshop. “There’s still so much to do! Trixie needs these ponies to trust her, and you’re gonna…”

“Trixie?” Twilight’s voice floated down to her. “Trixie, is that you?”

“Yes! Uh, yeah, uh…” Trixie sighed, tucking the amulet back beneath her cloak. “Trixie is coming up!”

“Wonderful,” the purple mare poked her head out into the stairwell. “I have something to show you!”

“Of course she does,” Trixie sighed with relief, thankful for the distraction as she joined Twilight in her small, improvised laboratory. The tiny attic within the steeple atop Ponyville’s Town Hall didn’t seem like much, but Twilight had worked day and night turning it into a functioning laboratory. Beakers and test tubes fizzled and spat while Bunsen burners flickered in the near-darkness, plastic tubing carrying concoctions of varying colors to every corner of the room. Samples of different plants stood in small pots and baggies in one corner, a mortar and pestle nearby. Trixie’s eyes widened. “T-Twilight?”

“Yep?” The lavender unicorn asked as she appeared in one corner. Trixie leapt back as she stepped casually into view.

“Jeez, Twilight! You almost gave Trixie a heart attack!” She gasped. “What is all this!?”

“Oh, this? Well, when you detailed the potion you needed from me, I knew I needed a proper laboratory to create it! So I set this up while you were away.”

“Huh-how did you find time to build all this!?” Trixie asked, still gazing at the complex network of tubes and ampules running throughout the small room. “When did you sleep?”

Twilight blinked a few times. “Sleep?”

Trixie’s eyes widened even further. So that’s why she’s Celestia’s protégé, she realized. She’s out of her freakin’ mind! “T-Trixie just wanted to check in on you,” she said, trying to shake her nerves away. “You seem to be doing alright on your own, though.”

“Ugh, you would think so, but no,” Twilight sighed, snorting in frustration as she turned to the beakers on the ancient desk before her. “When you told me you needed a potion to fake the effects of death, I knew it would be difficult to fabricate, but this one is turning out to be a real mind-bender. I’ve been experimenting with Nightshade petals and Manticore’s venom, but this is all I have to show for it.” She held a beaker up in her magic filled with an eerie, slimy, green liquid that glowed in the dark.

“Is this close to what we need?” Trixie asked.

“Well, it does mimic the effects of death without killing the pony for a good twelve minutes…”

“Okay, so far so good…”

“…and then that pony spontaneously combusts and vomits up their own lungs,” Twilight finished, shaking her head sadly.

“Ah,” Trixie said, backing away from the potion. “You just go ahead and keep working on that, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Twilight sighed and tossed the beaker over her shoulder, watching it explode violently in a corner. “Makes for a cool fireworks show, though.”

“Hey,” Trixie’s eyes lit up as she watched the liquid hiss and spit up little sparking embers. “We might be able to use that after all! It could substitute for a magical attack!”

“Maybe,” Twilight shrugged, taking a seat on the floor. “So, how are things downstairs? Everything going smoothly?”

“Oh, more than smoothly,” the magician replied, hopping from one leg to another like a filly trying to hide a secret they badly wanted to share. “We’ve been found out!”

Twilight bolted to her hooves, eyes wide in full-on panic mode. “WHAT!?”

“Easy Sparkle, calm!” Trixie replied reassuringly. “It’s just by Trixie’s stallionfriend, Sethisto!”

“Oh,” Twilight sighed with relief. “He’s taken care of then?”

“Yes, I have him under a mind control spell like I used on the others,” Trixie replied nonchalantly.

“Oh, good,” Twilight replied, smiling and nodding uneasily. She returned to her beakers for a little while, trying to put off the question that had popped up at the mention of the yellow stallion, but with the conversation stalled, she found no alternative but to ask it. “So, I’ve been meaning to ask: what is it you see in Sethisto, anyway?”

Trixie arched an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re a big, famous showmare with a checkered past and a talent for awesome performances and he’s…” she trailed off, a hoof waving in the air as she searched for the right words, eventually deciding that there weren’t any. “…not.”

“Oh, you don’t know him like I do,” Trixie giggled. “He’s soft, and he’s sweet, and gentle. I mean, he trusts me so completely he let me cast the mind-control spell on him, just like that! What other stallions would just do that for some mare because she asks?”

“Not many,” Twilight admitted.

“Oh, but he’s so much more than that kind of stallion,” she cooed, hugging herself, not noticing the red tint entering her irises. “He’s just so cute that sometimes I wanna grab him by the mane and tear his damn throat out!”

Twilight’s eyes widened. She took a few steps back from Trixie. The blue mare bolted upright as she realized what she’d just said and turned to the purple mare. “I…I…I should check on the others!” She gasped, getting ready to gallop right back down the long, twisting staircase.

“Trixie, wait!” Twilight gasped, leaping forward to grab the magician’s shoulder. “What in Equestria was that!?”

“It was nothing, nothing!” The blue mare squealed. “Really! Nothing at all to be worried about, nothing to…”

“Oh my sweet Celestia, it’s the Amulet, isn’t it?” Twilight asked.

Trixie bit her lip. She knew Twilight was smart, but she hadn’t expected her to hit the nail on the head so quickly! Her shoulders slumping, she fell on her haunches and bowed her head, defeated. “Yes, it’s the Amulet. Its influence is trying to work its way deeper into the mind of Trixie.”

“Oh gosh,” Twilight gasped, kneeling at the other mare’s side.

“The Princess warned Trixie this could happen,” the blue mare moaned, cradling the Alicorn Amulet in her hooves, her eyes wandering over its wicked, black surface and the evil it contained. “It’s worse now than last time because it knows Trixie is trying to use it for good.”

“It ‘knows’?” Twilight asked, gazing at the small jewel. “I didn’t think a piece of jewelry could think.”

“Trixie’s not sure. Princess Celestia just mentioned it in passing and then Princess Luna mumbled something about a ring and a weird little creature called a ‘Frito Braggins’. At any rate, that’s part of the reason why she picked Trixie for this job: because Trixie has experience with the Amulet and she knows how its influence feels, and so she thought Trixie would be able to fight it better than any other pony.”

“Trixie, that’s terrible,” Twilight whispered, her hooves pulling the other mare in for a hug. “You’re risking so much for this…I honestly had no idea!”

“Thank Trixie when this is over, Sparkle,” Trixie replied, tugging herself out of the hug and wiping at her eyes. “Thank Trixie when Equestria is safe.”

“So…you talking in third pony again?”

Trixie nodded sadly. “Just another effect of the Amulet’s influence. Trixie will keep fighting it, Twilight, but she isn’t sure…she isn’t sure…”

“Just remember why you’re doing this, Trixie,” Twilight said, pulling her right back into the hug. Trixie sniffled, and Twilight ran a hoof through her mane, whispering into her ear: “You’re a good pony. Always remember that. You’re a good pony, Trixie Lulamoon.”

“I-thank you,” the tears were starting to flow more freely now. “I’ve done so much to you and your friends, and for you to just forgive it all…just, thank you. Thank you so much.” Trixie let out a long, shivering gasp. What had she ever done to deserve this? Somepony telling her it was going to be fine, caring for her in a time of need, she never deserved something like this. She felt so lucky just because Twilight was there. So very lucky that this kind, gentle, unicorn cared so much for her. This kind, loving, adorable, dorky, beautifully colored, intelligent, well-figured, gorgeous…

Holy dear sweet Celestia! Thinking fast, the magician pushed herself out of Twilight’s grip, trying (and failing) to keep her cheeks from flushing a deep red.

“Trixie?” Twilight asked, a touch of pain and confusion in her expression.

“Well, wouldja look at the time! Trixie should check on all the other ponies now!” The blue mare gasped, looking at a non-existent watch before darting down the stairs, leaving behind one very confused scientist.

After a while, Twilight shook her head sadly and turned back to her work. “The stress of dealing with that amulet must be getting to her,” she mumbled as she focused on creating a compound that WOULDN’T cause a pony to crap out their lungs.

And just a few steps below her, Trixie sighed and peered through her hind legs at her marehood. “Oh nononono, why are you acting up now…”

Author's Note

Doo-be-doo-be-doo-bop, doo-be-doo-be-doo-bop...DERPYYYYYYYYYYY!

Deleted Scene V: Pulling It All Together

The ponies all gathered around the large, oaken conference table (scrapped together from a few tables out of the local hardware store and fused with some Alicorn magic). Everything was set for the trap being laid for Shizukh. The others were in their disguises, the tunnels had been dug, and Twilight had a potion for Trixie that probably wouldn’t kill her. All they needed now was to iron out a few kinks, namely…

“…How in the heck are we going to get Lord Shizukh alone with all this random stuff we’ve got going on!?” Rainbow Dash asked, thumping a hoof on the table.

Trixie (sitting at the table’s head, of course) sighed and rubbed a hoof along her forehead. Fighting the Amulet was starting to take its toll now, which was beginning to show as a mild headache right behind her eyes. “That’s why Trixie has gathered you all here. There’s still a few things about the plan to lay out.”

“Heavens above, with everything we’ve already done, how could there still be something we haven’t touched on!?” Rarity sighed with exasperation.

“Easy, we forgot the most important part like a bunch of idiots: we need to kidnap Wardog Shizukh himself and get him to tell us where the artifact is,” Trixie grimaced. “Without that location, the artifact might just slip into somepony else’s hooves. Trixie shouldn’t need to tell you all how bad that would be.”

“Well, alraght,” Applejack cracked her neck and shoulders, making sure they moved around easily. “That should be easy once we got this varmint’s army on the ropes. Just nab him and make him cough up what we wanna know.”

“Usually, you’d be right; a leader without his army should be easily intimidated,” Twilight sighed, a hoof running nervously through her mane. “But Wardogs are different. Only the toughest, strongest diamond dogs get to be a den leader. Even if he is just a big bully, getting anything from Shizukh would still take time.”

“Time we don’t have,” Trixie sighed, her head cradled in her hooves. “So, any thoughts, anypony?”

A few moments of awkward silence followed, only interrupted when Pinkie quickly slunk away to one corner of the room to play with the Cake twins, being watched over by the group while Mrs. Cake finished up her baking and Mr. Cake studied his new, pink form in the mirror and whispered “…I’m a stallion…I’m a stallion…I like cold beer, hoofball, and poker night with the guys…I’m a stallion…” over and over again.

Eventually, Twilight tapped a hoof on the table. “Okay girls, why don’t we just start from the beginning and work our way up to where we need to be?” Seeing as there were no better ideas, the other mares nodded. “So, from the top, what happens first?”

“That’s easy,” Trixie said. “Shizukh’s convoy shows up in Ponyville. Trixie will drop the shield to allow him in, which will leave us all exposed to spies, so nopony drops their cover from that point forward.”

“Right, and then?”

“The varmint shows up at Town Hall for some of m’treats and small talk with Trixie,” Applejack added. “In the meantime, the ponies we’ve got imponynatin’ us will be settin’ themselves up just outside town, waitin’ for Sethisto t’give the signal you’re gonna program into him.”

“So, Sethisto gives the signal on Trixie’s command,” Trixie said. “Then what?”

“Well, as I understand it, the fake Elements will attack, collapsing the tunnels beneath Ponyville and trapping them in some sort of gooey substance…” Fluttershy started quietly.

“Oatmeal.” Trixie replied.

The other ponies stared at her. “Oatmeal?” Twilight asked.

“Princess Luna was very clear on that point. Oatmeal.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well, if Princess Luna thinks it’ll work…” she motioned to Fluttershy to continue.

“Um…okay, the dogs get stuck in the stuff, and then Shizukh will be left all alone.”

“Meanwhile, Fluttershy and I will be inside the Trix-dome…” Rarity continued.

“Trome. It’s called the Trome now.” Trixie interrupted.

“What?”

“Trome.”

“Just go with it,” Twilight sighed.

Rarity gave an annoyed snort. “Ugh, fine. Fluttershy and I will be in the Trome…” she glared over at Trixie, who gave a satisfied nod. “…and we’ll be there to calm down the ponies once the spells break down and the dogs are all apprehended.”

“Which leaves just that one hole in the plan,” Twilight sighed. “How do we convince Shizukh to tell us where the artifact is?”

Once again, the awkward silence descended over the entire room. Rainbow Dash sighed and leaned back in her seat. “Well shoot; we could just let him lead us to it.”

The entire table turned to her, Twilight’s eyes widening in realization. “What did you just say?” The lavender unicorn asked.

“Um…I just said we could let him lead us to it,” Dash replied with an eyebrow arched in confusion at her friends’ reactions. “I mean, he does know where it is, and maybe we could…”

“That’s brilliant!” Twilight gasped, leaping out of her seat and planting her hooves on the table. “We just let him lead us straight to it!”

“Um, Twi?” Applejack said, raising a hoof. “We’ve already established Shizukh’s not the most agreeable guy around, how’re we s’posed to talk him into leading us where we wanna go in time?”

“It’s easy! It’s so simple, I can’t believe none of us saw it,” she gasped, leaping up and down on the table in joy.

“Careful, careful! Trixie had to work really hard to find tables this well-polished!” The blue mare exclaimed, summoning a spray bottle and a rag to wipe at where Twilight had just been jumping around.

“Oop, sorry,” the lavender mare blushed and took her seat, recomposing herself. “But really, it’s not that hard if you think about it. Just put yourself in Shizukh’s place!”

“Okay!” Pinkie gasped, suddenly leaping back into the conversation. She closed her eyes and thought for a second, then opened them again with a mean growl. “Rrrrrr…I’m Lord Shizukh, you better do as I say…rrrrrr…”

“No no no no, not literally!” Twilight facehoofed. “Look, just think about it: say you’re Lord Shizukh…”

“…rrrrrr…”

“Pinkie!”

“Twilight!”

The unicorn glared at her friend and frowned. “No.”

“Fine,” dejected, the pink mare stamped back to the corner to play with the twins as Twilight tried very hard not to slam her own head repeatedly against the table until one or the other broke.

“Okay, so say you’re Lord Shizukh,” she continued once she’d recollected her calm. “You’ve just lost your entire army, you’re cut off from all hope of reinforcements, and your greatest enemies know what you’re up to. What do you do?”

Every set of eyes around the table widened. “Trixie would go to ground,” Trixie gasped. “She would want to head right out and gather up whatever resources she had left.”

“Yep, especially the most important resource,” Twilight said expectantly.

“The artifact!” The others all gasped in unison.

“Absolutely correct. So that’s our way in: we let Shizukh slip away from Ponyville, and we follow him right to the artifact. Piece of cake.”

“Unless, of course, he makes it to the artifact before we apprehend him,” Trixie pointed out. “In that case, he could just use it on anypony who heads in after him.”

“Or he could even use it to trigger a siege,” Rarity pointed out. “With something that powerful, he could hold Equestria’s forces at bay long enough to stir up the rest of the Dog dens, and then we’ll have the exact war we’re trying to prevent!”

“Oh,” Twilight’s ears folded back in her mane. “I…didn’t really think about that.”

“But it is a good plan,” Trixie said thoughtfully, a hoof scratching her chin. “We just need to make sure we’re close enough to stop Shizukh before he can make it to the artifact, but far enough where he won’t see us until after he’s led us to it. And I might have an idea as to just how to do that.”

“Well, oh fearless leader,” Rainbow said, hooves crossed over her chest expectantly. “We’re all ears.”

With a super-pony effort, Trixie ignored Dash’s rudeness and continued: “Diamond dog den leaders are notoriously egotistical, and being the strongest and toughest dogs around, who can blame them? It stands to reason that one would want to show up to a meeting in style. As in, say, with a carriage of sorts? One where they would be divided from the other riff-raff, the driver included?”

The other ponies gasped. “That’s it!” Twilight yelled suddenly, stamping her hooves again (and leaving marks, much to Trixie’s exasperation). “We just need to replace the driver!”

“But we need somepony who at least sounds like a dog…” Rarity said, trailing off as she gazed over at her friend, currently in a spit bubble-blowing contest with the Cake twins. “I say, did Pinkie’s growls sound rather…realistic?”

“Yes they did,” Twilight smiled as she turned to the pink mare still playing in the corner. “Pinkie?”

“Hmm?”

“Could you give us your impression of a diamond dog?”

“Oh, now you want to hear an impression?” The pink mare harrumphed as she strode over to the table, her hooves on her hips. “Just a second ago, you were telling me ‘no’.”

“Pinkie,” Fluttershy said, her hoof going to her friend’s as those big, blue eyes pleaded with her. “Please?”

“Aww,” Pinkie sighed, shoulders slumping. “Whydja hafta bring Flutters into this? That’s so unfair.”

Still groaning, the pink mare got down on all fours and cleared her throat, squinting her eyes and scrunching up her snout as best as she could. “Alroight, ya gits!” She announced in a voice like sidewalk gravel being run through a cement mixer. “Git yer gear and get to minin’! I want this tunnel expanded two days ago, and nodog’s gettin’ any suppah ‘til it’s finished!”

She sat up and giggled as the other ponies all stared. “See? Impressions are fun!”

“We have a winner,” Rainbow Dash said with a knowing smile.

“I’ll go with her too,” Twilight said. “I can hide somewhere in the carriage and give her support in case we need to take Shizukh down fast. So, all that’s left is to get rid of any guards around Shizukh’s carriage once he’s arrived.”

“Me an’ Rainbow can handle that, no problem.” Applejack replied, winking and setting her hat up higher on her head.

“Are you sure? Diamond dogs are notoriously tough fighters,” Trixie said.

“Dontcha worry your pretty little head about that,” Dash replied, her wings flexing powerfully. “Just do your part, and me and AJ’ll take care of those big, mean dogs no problem.”

“Still, Trixie would prefer it if you all had a distraction on your side,” the blue mare said, gesturing with a hoof. “Something to give you an advantage when dealing with those guards.”

“A distraction, eh?” Rainbow Dash shrugged and pointed towards the pink mare, now in a race with the Cake twins to see who could cram the most crayons up their noses. “Pinkie’s always been good with those.”

“Eh…for this one, Trixie thinks we would need something more subtle,” the blue mare looked over just as Pinkie sneezed, a cloud of red wax raining all over the twins, who giggled in delight. “And the pink one is about as subtle as a bag of hammers to somepony’s stallion-bits.”

“Stallion-bits,” AJ mumbled, covering her face up with a hoof as she suppressed a snicker. She cleared her throat to continue. “Well, that would just leave Twi here fer the distraction. I s’pose she could come up with somethin’ magical, raght?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow’s eyes lit up. “Or maybe we could get really clever.”

All eyes turned on her. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Well, the dogs are all guys, right?” Rainbow asked.

“The ones that will be in the city will almost certainly be male, yes,” Trixie said.

“And Twilight, you’re a mare,” Rainbow batted her eyelashes innocently at her friend. “Right?”

“L-last time I checked,” Twilight asked while Trixie’s face lit up.

“Yes,” the magician gasped. “Yes! It’s terrible, it’s horrible, and it’s just underhanded enough to work!”

“Dahlings,” Rarity said nervously. “You lot can’t be implying that Twilight should…”

“Seduce them!” Trixie exclaimed.

“Shake her boo-tay for those dogs!” Rainbow added, nearly bouncing in her chair with childlike glee.

“What!?” The lavender mare nearly fell out of her seat. “Y-you can’t be serious!”

“Oh, c’mon, Sparkle!” Trixie exclaimed, grinning devilishly at her. “It’s not like you don’t have the looks for it!”

“Well…thank you…but I can’t…”

“Oh, just give it a try!” Rainbow exclaimed. “You never know! You could be a natural!”

“Twi, a natural seductress?” Applejack snorted, tilting her hat up for a better view. “This Ah gotta see.”

The purple unicorn stared at all the eyes upon her, biting her lip, sweat dripping off her forehead. “Guys, I don’t…”

“C’mon!” Trixie said, getting out of her seat and striding up to her. “Just pretend Trixie is a big, scary diamond dog and give her your best shot!”

Biting her lip still, Twilight sighed and obeyed, getting down on her hooves. “Um…hi there…big…guy…” she started awkwardly, eyes darting around the room. “Wha-what are you up to…in these…in these…”

“You are really bad at this,” Trixie said, deadpanning.

“I told you!”

“Okay, showmareship number one,” Trixie said with a roll of her eyes. “Confidence. You need to act like you know what you’re doing!”

“But I don’t know what I’m doing!”

“Nopony else needs to know that! Now,” she immediately poked and prodded the unicorn, thrusting her chest out and tilting her chin up. “It’s just like the act Trixie puts on during her shows. You are no longer Twilight Sparkle the adorkable little book worm….”

“…umm…” Twilight blushed as Trixie continued her work.

“…You are now cool, confident. You’ve broken tons of hearts before, and now you’re looking for your next prey. And there he is!” She grabbed Twilight and pointed at a footstool, upon which sat Twi’s old Smarty-Pants doll, recovered from Big Macintosh hardly a few weeks before. “Your next target! You are a predator on the move now! You know exactly what you want and how to get it! He means nothing to you, except as your next one-night stand!”

“You’re making this character sound like some sort of monster,” Twilight said.

“In a way, we’re all monsters,” Trixie replied, eyes staring ahead blankly. Twilight arched an eyebrow. The rest of the room fell silent. Eventually, the magician rolled her eyes. “Look, you’ve read books with mares like that in them, right?”

“Well…it wasn’t exactly sanctioned by Princess Celestia…” Twilight said, cheeks reddening.

“Is that a yes?”

Twilight bowed her head. “Yes.”

“Good, just pretend to be that mare!” Trixie said, taking a step back. “Remember: you are no longer Twilight Sparkle. You are confident! You are collected! And you are on the hunt! And…action!”

Twilight stood there, frozen in place, her heart beating audibly. Rolling her eyes again, Trixie gave her a quick nudge to the flank, and Twilight shot forward with a surprised yelp. Looking back over her shoulder, she could see her friends urging her on quietly, and even Trixie leaning forward expectedly. With a nervous quiver, she turned back to the doll. Okay, like Trixie said, she thought, trying to calm herself. Calm. Collected. Confident. Just like the mares in the stories…just like the mares…

Wait, why did she even have to think about those mares for confidence? She was Twilight Goddamned Sparkle! The Element of Magic, the one who her friends all depended upon! This should be a snap for her! With a final breath, Twilight closed her eyes. When she opened them again, there was a new spark of confidence in them, burning quietly.

“Hey there stranger, welcome to my bedroom,” she said, her voice breathless, her eyes half-lidded and oozing with lust as she strode up to the doll, her tail swishing side-to-side with her hips. “Now, don’t think that me letting you in here is an invitation for any funny stuff. I mean…”

She trailed a hoof gently over the doll’s head, slowly running through its mane to caress the little cloth chin. “…Not that I have a problem with funny stuff,” she finished with a quick bite on her bottom lip and a little peck to the doll’s forehead. Ending by batting her eyelashes, she turned back to the table, a hopeful smile lighting up her face. “So, how was that?”

The entire table was silent. Every pony stared back at her, eyes wide, jaws slack.

“Oh, that bad?” She sighed, sitting on her haunches, her ears folding back dejectedly. “I knew this wouldn’t work.”

“No, no, Twi, that was…” Trixie swallowed shakily, her cheeks growing bright red. “…good.”

Fluttershy’s wings popped up with a little ‘pomf.’ “Really good,” Dash added, her wings giving a faint shiver.

“Really?” Twilight asked, looking up.

“Yes, really, just…keep practicing, yeah?” Trixie said quickly.

“Well, now that’s all settled,” Applejack croaked. “Should we go over the plan again?”

“Of course,” Trixie said as she and Twilight rejoined the table.

“Okay, but can we skip the first part?” Pinkie asked, magically materializing back in her chair. “I think that would just bore the readers.”

“O-kay,” Trixie said carefully, looking over to Twilight for an explanation, but just getting a shrug in return. “So…Shizukh drives into town…”

“…Trixie puts on a one-pony show for him…” Dash continued.

“…then Sethisto gives the signal to the fake elements…” Fluttershy this time.

“…who launch their fakey attack, triggering the traps we have all over town for them…” Pinkie.

“…Shizukh makes a run for it in his carriage…” AJ kept the plan going.

“…which has me and Pinkie for drivers…” Twilight said.

“…which lets us get the location from him so we can turn around, bonk him on the head, and be back in time for a ‘You’re not enslaved’ party for all of Ponyville!” Pinkie finished gladly.

“Pinkie!” Twilight glared.

“What?” She asked, staring Twilight right back. The pair kept the glares up for a while before Pinkie finally relented. “Okay, okay, a ‘you’re not enslaved’ soiree.”

Twilight’s glare darkened.

“Fine, a grouping.”

And darkened.

“Gathering?”

Darkened.

“Friendly get-together?”

Finally, the lavender mare rolled her eyes. “I suppose that’s the best I’m going to get from you.”

“How Trixie was ever defeated by you six will always shock and mystify her,” Trixie mumbled, her head in her hooves again.

Deleted Scene VI: Springing the Trap

Sharpfang was about as happy as a diamond dog could get, and why wouldn’t he be? He had the perfect job, after all. Being the personal driver for Lord Shizukh meant he got to sit in the warm, comfy seat of the incredible machine the “hoo-mans” had gifted them with, and he got to learn how to use each one of its amazing devices! From the windows that magically opened and shut themselves with a neat little whirr, to the little knobby thingy that popped out and burnt like the dickens (a fact that only took him three burn marks on the tongue to discover), the gift was just full of marvels and wonders to keep a dog entertained, and that still wasn’t the best part of his job!

No, the best part had to be that he was close enough to Lord Shizukh to gain preferential treatment, but never really within arms’ reach. Oh sure, he still had to sit close enough to the big guy at dinner where every little offense was instantly punished with a wallop upside the back of the head, but here, in this machine, there was a nice little divider between himself and the back part where the Wardog rode. There was even another window that went up and down with its own little whirr! So despite his status, he was never a convenient target for the brute’s anger, instead remaining a safe, silent constant in his life that just had to get close during dinners. It was just too bad he couldn’t say the same for Shizukh’s secretary. The poor little mutt had been strangled half to death at least three times that day, and that was just on the ride into town!

Yes, the future was looking bright for Sharpfang, so bright he had to squint just to see it. Or maybe it was just that his life of cruelty and hardship underground had left him unaccustomed to the light. Who knows? Sharpfang certainly didn’t, and he didn’t care, because he had power windows, a cigarette lighter, and whatever these sparky things were that he was about to apply to his tongue.

“Shiny,” he snickered as the wires in his paws sparked and fizzled, a bit of spittle dribbling off his tongue as it slowly approached the bare metal tips. A half-inch from contact, there was a knock on his window. Rolling his eyes, he hit the button to roll down the window, only giggling a little bit with the whirr of the tiny motor.

“Wot’s dis now? I was kinda busy,” he muttered as he looked out the window, only to find nothing there.

“Ahem,” a little voice said. Sharpfang leaned out the window to find a little violet unicorn sitting there, gazing up at him nervously. He paused, his mind trying to process this development. And trying. And trying. For somedog who picked up the basics of operating a limousine within a few short days, he really wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, even by dog standards. Finally, his brain shifted a few gears out of “Neutral” and powered up a little.

“Pony, what you doin’?” He asked.

The pony swallowed and bowed her head. “I-I’m sorry mister, it’s just…I can’t take it here anymore.”

“Oh? Wozzat?”

“Trixie’s so cruel to us,” a few tears drifted off the pony’s face as she looked back up at him. “She drives us to make these tunnels and build these statues day in and day out, and…and I can’t take it anymore! Please! I need to get out of this town! I-I’d do anything!”

His ears perked up at that, his interest piqued so high that he never even noticed the sliced onion lying at the pony’s hooves. “Anything?”

“Y-yes,” the pony said nervously, but still placed her hooves on the edge of the window and looked him in the eyes, her eyes going half-lidded. “Anything you want, anything you could wish for.”

She licked her lips and leaned in, whispering right in his ear: “Any sort of pleasure you desire, in any place you want. Just name it and it’s yours.”

It only took his brain a few seconds to process that implication, but this time the transmission was being helped along by the ol’ stick shift. A grin spread across his face. “Well, that sounds…” he paused as a scream sounded out. He turned, taking his eyes off the little pony just as a burnt-orange mare galloped right up to one of the soldiers standing outside and delivered a powerful buck right between his legs. As he sank to his knees, a scream of pain trapped in his throat, she finished him off by clocking him across the jaw. The other soldier turned, spear raised to attack, only to have it knocked aside by a cyan blur. A split-second later, a pegasus with a shocking rainbow mane landed on his back and grabbed his spear, pulling it from his grip and catching his Adam’s apple with the wooden handle.

“Wha…” Sharpfang gasped, turning back to the lavender pony. The guards had been taken down so fast, his already-slow brain never even had the chance to raise the possibility that the unicorn at his side was part of a scheme to overtake the machine. That possibility only popped up after she had nailed him right between the eyes with a magical blast, stunning him and leaving him to slump over in his seat.

“What part of subtlety don’t you girls understand!?” The unicorn gasped as Sharpfang’s eyes drifted shut, dark ooze filling his vision.

“It worked, didn’t it?” He heard a raspy voice say. “Oh, dang it, Applejack!”

“What?” Another voice, this one with a country accent, said indignantly. Sharpfang felt himself being lifted out of his seat by a magical aura and dragged into the street.

“You bucked him in the dick!” The raspy voice accused as he was lowered into something that felt suspiciously like a garbage can. “You don’t buck a guy in the dick! I mean, is that what we are now? Just a bunch of dick-bucking assholes?”

And then all was darkness.

Twilight trotted through the streets of Ponyville, confidently making her way to the smoking ruins of the town hall. She admired her handiwork: Princess Luna’s spell had worked perfectly, even without her personal magic boost. “Who needs magic when you have chemistry?” She mused as she trotted past.

A few of the Dogs still trapped up to their necks in oatmeal jeered as she made her way past, but she ignored them and continued on. “Hey, hey! Pony!” One dog yelled, trying to get a rise out of her. “When we get outta this, we’re gonna burn this place t’the ground!”

Suddenly, his face was forced into the oatmeal by a set of pink hooves. “Oops, sorry!” Pinkie said, hopping off. “I thought your big ol’ head was a stepping stone or something! Or wait, did I hurt you? Oh, I’m sorry! Why don’t I help you feel better?”

“What are ya…” the dog asked, trying to keep up as she promptly hopped on his head, grabbed the corners of his jowls, and forced them up into a smile before launching into one of her trademarked songs:

“WEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL…

You might be stuck now, in the muck,

And you might be feeling down on your luck!

But behind every frown, there is a smile!

So sing with me, it’ll be worth your while!

Just…”

“Graaaah!” The dogs all screamed, desperately trying to free their arms to cover their ears. Fortunately, Twilight appeared at Pinkie’s side and stuck her hoof in her friend’s mouth.

“Does anyone else have anything to say about Ponyville?” The lavender unicorn asked. “Or do I leave her here to keep cheering you up?”

“GO! JUST GO!” The dogs all screamed.

“And take the pink banshee with you, pluh-heaze!” The first dog groaned.

“I thought so,” Twilight smiled, and released her friend’s mouth before hopping off the dog’s head. “Come along, Pinkie, we have some unfinished business at Town Hall.”

“Ooh, you better be talking about…”

“No Pinkie, we’re still not having a full-on ‘you’re not enslaved’ party for the town’s populace, I’m just,” she sighed, closing her eyes. “Really exhausted after these last few days, okay?”

“Aww, alright,” the pink mare sighed, eyes downcast. They trotted along as they approached the square, Pinkie lagging behind Twilight until the unicorn was forced to relent.

“Nngh, fine! A small party.”

“Yay!” Pinkie skipped ahead of her friend. “Come on, Twilight! Everypony’s waiting!”

“I know,” Twilight said, smiling once the sides of the “Trix-Box” and “Trix-Dome” rose up in her vision, alongside the smoking ruins of Town Hall. “I know, now, are you ready? We’re probably gonna have a lot of emotional ponies on our hooves pretty soon.”

“Ready, Freddy!” Pinkie smiled.

Twilight nodded before sending up a large purple flare, bolts materializing from the tip of her horn and enveloping the two glass structures. Slowly, the structures began to fade from existence, the broiling red clouds inside dissipating in the open air like the morning mist against the sun’s rays. Eventually, two figures trotted out of the clearing smoke: a unicorn and a pegasus.

“Now, come along, everypony,” the pegasus said gently, leading a pair of fillies along. “We’ll get you back to your mommies and daddies soon, just follow the sound of my voice.”

“I say, is this mist approved for working with perms? Because otherwise, Trixie is going to get a very stern talking to when this is all said and done,” the unicorn added.

Twilight smiled at the sound of the familiar voices. “Hello Fluttershy, Rarity, glad to see you girls made it through okay.”

“Twilight, dahling!” Rarity said, rushing to wrap her hooves around her friend as fillies and parents rushed into one another’s hooves behind her, families reuniting in the mist. “So glad to see you’re okay!”

“You girls, too! I was afraid to see what might have happened to you once the ponies in those prisons woke up with you two all alone.”

“Well, they were a bit upset at first, but I managed to calm them down once I told them what was really going on,” Fluttershy said, handing the fillies in her hooves to their respective parents.

“Dahling, these are our friends and neighbors! They were more than willing to listen to us! Of course, I did have some trouble here and there, but nothing yours truly couldn’t handle.” Twilight could only smile as a pair of stallions trotted by behind Rarity, averting their gaze and hiding the perfectly-manicured hoofmarks on their cheeks. “Really, if anything we were worried for you!”

“Oh yes,” Fluttershy added. “We were afraid things might not have gone over so well with Shizukh.”

“Yes, tell me, did that brute give you any trouble?”

“Of course not, Rarity,” the Element of Magic smiled cutely. “Once he spat out the location of the artifact, he went down with a simple stun spell. He’s in the trunk of his vehicle now, sleeping it off until a royal guard unit can retrieve him.”

“Well, Ah’ll be,” a certain orange Earth pony appeared in one of the alleyways leading to the square, her silhouette marked by her trademark hat. “Didn’t think you had it in ya, Twi.”

“Yeah,” another voice added, swooping down from the rooftops as a flash of cyan with rainbow-streaks. “Who’d a’ thought poindexter here would be able to take out a big, tough, Wardog?”

“Rainbow, Applejack,” Twilight’s smile widened. “I’m so glad you’re alright! A part of me was worried you might have run into trouble after we took Shizukh’s vehicle!”

“Tch, us? Getting trouble from these losers?” Rainbow Dash smiled confidently. “Twilight, do you know us at all?”

“Though that does remind me,” Applejack added, walking over to one of the garbage cans. She promptly bucked it over , and out rolled a trio of semi-conscious Diamond Dogs: two in heavy battle armor, and one in a little tuxedo and cap.

“I say, who are these brutes!?” Rarity gasped at the unconscious dogs landing by her hooves.

“The dogs who were supposed to be watching the horseless-chariot-thing,” Rainbow replied nonchalantly. “Seriously, it was no big deal.”

“Um, Twilight?” Rarity said, motioning to the Town Hall, still smoldering from the “attack.” “Are we forgetting somepony?”

“Ah, right,” the lavender unicorn turned to the crowd of relieved ponies gathering before her. “Alright everypony, we’ll be right back! We just need to get the mare of the hour!”

A cheer rose up from the crowd as the six turned and trotted into the ruins. “Let’s just hope she’s okay,” she added under her breath.

“I-I’m sure she’s fine, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. “I mean, you created that potion yourself, right? She has to be just fine!”

“Yeah,” Twilight offered a smile that was in no way reassuring. “Yeah, I’m sure she’s okay. She has to be.”

Author's Note

Man alive, I had an entire separate story here, huh!? Jeez...maybe I should've posted it as it's own thing, but honestly I was afraid that would spoil everything for anyone who hasn't read the original.

Deleted Scene VII: Evil's True Face

Trixie floated about, surrounded by a bottomless abyss of infinite darkness. Before her laid the endless nothingness at the edge of her subconscious mind, yearning to swallow her whole, to devour the light that was her life and extinguish it forever, enveloping her until there was nothing, would always be nothing, allowing for the existence of absolutely nothing. So, this is what happens when you die, eh? She wondered.

Boooooooorrrrr-ring. That was it! It was just nothing! Nothing at all! Celestia above, she hoped this wasn’t what really happened when you died, or else some religious ponies had a ton of explaining to do! As it was, maybe she could just dismiss this as something that happened when you were only near death. Yes, denial seemed a lot less existentially terrifying than the alternative. As it was, she just wished she had something to do while she waited for Twilight to do her hero thing and pull her little azure ass out of the fire.

As if responding to her wishes, a little light flared up on the edge of her vision. “Finally, something’s happening!” She muttered. Ignoring the problems with muttering to oneself in a semi-existent subconscious state, she maneuvered herself around and angled her body towards the light, floating at it by gyrating her hooves like she was swimming. It didn’t take long to get close to the light, except as she got closer, she realized it wasn’t glowing white. No, it was more of a…

“…red…” she gasped, immediately turning around and trying to ‘swim’ away. Too late: a red bolt arced out of the light and wrapped around her barrel, dragging her in closer. “Lemme go!” She screamed. “Release the Great and Pow-I mean, the Great and Apologetic Trixie this instant! Or she will…”

“Oh, come now, Trixie,” a deep, throaty voice rumbled. “Is that any way to treat an old friend?” Trixie shivered with the sound, recognizing it instantly, and why wouldn’t she? It had only haunted her nightmares every other week or so since she’d first put on that accursed Amulet.

The lightning dragged her in closer to the source of the light, where a bald, powerful-looking unicorn sat upon a throne made of cookies. Both his coat and eyes were tinted red, bolts of red lightning curling away from his back like tentacles. He gazed down upon her from the only-too-familiar throne with a glare that reeked of ego and self-righteousness, a little smirk twisting the corner of his mouth. Swallowing her fear, Trixie forced herself to look the unicorn in the eye. “So, I take it you’re the mental manifestation of the Amulet’s power,” she scoffed nervously. “Somehow, I was expecting somepony a bit more handsome.”

“Just as I was expecting somepony with a bit more power to act as my avatar on the plane of mortals,” he replied in that awful, booming, hissing voice. “But we must play the cards we’re dealt, Lulamoon. Sometimes, that just requires a bit more creativity.”

“Oh, drop the act. You aren’t real, none of this is!” She spat accusingly. “This is just the result of Trixie’s oxygen-starved brain. Right now, she is lying under a column in the Town Hall at Ponyville, waiting for Twilight to come and revive her, and when she does Trixie will live happily ever after with Sethisto and the thanks of Equestria for averting a war.”

“Hmm, yes, Twilight. Let’s talk about her, shall we?” The unicorn leaned back in his throne and held a hoof out, a wine glass filled to the rim (red wine, of course) materializing in his grip. Trixie would have rolled her eyes at how cliché the whole thing was if she hadn’t been terrified out of her wits. She knew what this creature was capable of, after all. “It’s not like you have anything better to do.”

“Actually, Trixie was just considering taking up calligraphy, or perhaps…GACK!” She choked as the lightning around her waist arced up and wrapped around her throat, clenching tightly. It was only a few moments before the grip was released and she could breathe again, but that was more than enough to send a spike of terror through her mind. Though she couldn’t feel it, she knew her heart would be racing right now.

“Don’t play games with me, Lulamoon, not after we’ve shared the same head for as long as we have.” The unicorn said dryly, taking a sip from his glass. A whimper escaped Trixie’s throat despite her best efforts. The unicorn grinned. “I just wished to offer an alternative for your future.”

Trixie sneered, finding just a tiny scrap of her courage remaining. “Y-you no longer have anything that Trixie is interested in!”

“Oh really? So you no longer have any interest in power? Wealth? The ability to bend other ponies to your will?”

“Trixie has everything she needs now, things you’ll never understand! Things you could never give her!” She bellowed defiantly. She hung limply, suspended in the spirit’s magical grasp, not even giving him the ounce of satisfaction from squirming futilely in his magic’s grip.

“Are you very sure about that? Because there is still the mare in question,” the unicorn waved a hoof, and an image of Twilight’s face materialized in the air by his head.

Trixie bit her lip, but remained defiant. “T-Trixie no longer wishes Twilight Sparkle any harm! She only wishes the best for her now!”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that. We share the same head, after all. In fact, I think it’d be safe to say you wish even more for her now.” Setting his glass down on the armrest, the red unicorn clapped his hooves and an image of Trixie’s smiling face appeared next to Twilight’s. Smiling wickedly, the unicorn clapped again and the images faced each other with a blush, drawing closer and closer until the image of Twilight suddenly turned and planted a kiss right on the image of Trixie’s lips, desperate and full of passion, cheeks flushing red. Trixie looked away while the unicorn dispelled the embracing images with a wave of his hoof.

“Poor widdle Twixie,” he said mockingly, his voice oozing with fake sympathy. “You get the stallion of your dreams in the end, but will it be enough? Won’t there always be that nagging little thought at the back of your mind, wondering what could have been? Such a shame you can’t have both, or…” he summoned the images again, only this time the pale yellow head of Sethisto appeared next to them. After a quick second, the Trixie-image turned away from the Twilight-image, who looked on with a contented smile as the blue mare embraced the yellow unicorn. “…can you?

“In reality, you know you could never have both Sethisto and Twilight Sparkle. Even if both were to accept such an…open relationship - and trust me when I say that’s a very big ‘if,’ - it would still earn you the scorn of everypony around you, no matter how many good deeds you perform for their sake.” Once again, he dismissed the images with a wave of his hoof. “I can change all of that. I can change both Twilight’s and Sethisto’s minds. They’ll both welcome you with open hearts; you won’t HAVE to settle for just one! And I can do the same for the other ponies! You will all be accepted with open hooves wherever you go! Why just settle for what the world is willing to give you when you can change it to give you everything you desire!?”

He settled in his throne again, the wine glass back in his hoof. “I can give you all of that. All you need to do is keep me around when you open your eyes again.”

Trixie bit her lip. It’s not like she wasn’t unhappy with Sethisto, of course! He was the kind of stallion that hopped on a day-long train ride just over a little bit of concern for her, the kind who occasionally surprised her in bed with breakfast and made it a point to attend as many of her shows as he could, but then there was Twilight. Over the past few days, she’d come to realize just how special the Element of Magic was: kind to a fault, forgiving, blindingly intelligent, and just so…so…cute! An adorable little bookworm that threw herself at her studies with a kind of passion that was like a rare gem amongst a sea of ponies, a passion that burned away into the night, leaving anyone lucky enough to witness it staring in awe. She just wanted to know what it would be like to be the focus of all that passion and love and hope. Not that she’d ever throw away what she had with Sethisto just to act out some fantasy, but a part of her would always wonder…

Wait…what was she doing!? She wasn’t really considering this maniac’s proposal, was she!?

“I-if Trixie said yes, you’d just use her to hurt ponies again,” she said.

“Oh, but what does that matter when you have love?” He asked, clapping his hooves and summoning the three semi-transparent images again, all nuzzling one another, only this time Trixie’s image wore the Amulet. “And they would love you, for as long as you wanted them to.”

Trixie gasped when Sethisto and Twilight’s images opened their eyes, revealing the red glow of the Amulet’s influence. Immediately, she shook her head in disgust and let loose with a quick firebolt on the three images, dissipating them once more. “NO!” She screamed. “That wouldn’t be real! It wouldn’t be their love! It’d just be you, messing around inside their heads! They wouldn’t be the ponies Trixie wants!”

“Oh, like you would be able to tell the difference,” the unicorn scoffed, his already-red eyes blazing with hatred. “Besides, it’s not like you’ll have much choice in the matter! I was just offering you the chance to come along willingly!”

“Huh-“ Trixie gasped as the bolts dragged her closer to the throne, forcing her to stare directly into those wretched, scarlet orbs as he glared at her.

“All this time we’ve been together, and you still don’t know how much power I have over you!?” He unleashed a deep, evil laugh that echoed far into the distance and sent shivers up her spine. “I was just giving you a way to join me willingly, but now I see I’ll just have to take you by force!”

“I-that won’t happen! Twilight is on her way! She’ll know what to do!” Trixie gasped desperately, suppressing tears. “She’ll bring the Princesses down on you before you can hurt anypony else!”

“Oh? Somehow, I don’t see how you’ll do that if you don’t remember this conversation.”

“What…” she started before he touched his horn to hers. Her eyes instantly went blank as red lightning bolts danced down his horn and cascaded around her head, flickering around her eyes.

“I-where am…I…” she trailed off, immediately falling into unconsciousness. Again. Which made this the mother of all sleeps, the unicorn guessed, kicking the little pony away just as the tendrils of wakefulness snaked their way into her mind and wrapped themselves around her, pulling her towards a dim light glowing somewhere far off.

“I’ll be interested to see if you reject me twice, little pony,” the unicorn grinned. “Not that you’ll be able to. I mean, what’re you going to do? Defeat me with the power of love and friendship!?”

And then he tossed his head back and laughed and laughed and laughed, his voice booming in the darkness.

Author's Note

Shyeah, I know I haven't posted anything for this story in a while. After my TCB story blew up, this sort of fell on the wayside, especially as I started taking up new projects and whatnot. But after a user commented about wanting to see this finished, I figured what the hell, went digging on an old laptop's hard drive, and found out I had most of the prewriting pretty much done up until the end! Go figure.

Anyway, I figured what the hell, ran some quick edits, and now will be posting the finale up until the very bitter end. Might as well, right? And for anyone who was waiting for this, I'm sorry, I really didn't think there was any interest in seeing this finished. So yeah, my B. Sorry that most of you are probably gonna have to reread the whole damn thing just to remember what this is all about.

Deleted Scene IX: 'You're Not Enslaved, Hooray!'/Epilogue 2

Rarity took a deep breath, calling over her shoulder: “Now, make sure you get behind the ears, okay? I’ll not have you miss a single speck of filth on your body!”

“Yes, Miss Rarity,” Carnifax grumbled from the tub setup in the middle of the floor, surrounded by bubbles, his vest draped over a chair next to one of her ponyquins.

“Good boy,” she smiled as she kicked the door shut and took off in the direction of the tavern, already looking forward to an evening with her favorite ponies in the world. Making sure to avoid the lakes of oatmeal still bubbling away in the middle of most of the streets, she surveyed the devastation wrought by the past couple days. A park bench lay half-submerged in oatmeal, one of its legs scorched by a magical blast. A few columns of smoke still drifted from the shattered remnants of the Town Hall, which barely even had the scaffolding set up. Still, despite the work that obviously still needed to be done (mostly in resurfacing the streets), she couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief wash over her, like after a day at Aloe and Vera’s, especially as she stepped inside the quiet little tavern blasting rave music from the windows so loudly that the streamers were nearly torn away.

Sliding past the mob of dancing, raving ponies, Rarity side-stepped a few glow sticks and sidled up to the little table in the corner she knew her friends would be occupying. She smiled contentedly at the familiar sight: Rainbow Dash and Applejack engaged in a drinking contest along one side of the table, while Fluttershy and Twilight nursed their drinks and chatted amicably with Sethisto and Trixie, who in turn shared the same seat. Well, maybe Sethy and Trixie were new additions, but she liked to think of herself as an adaptable pony. After all, she was the one who had just accepted living with a diamond dog for the foreseeable future.

“Rarity!” Twilight smiled, pulling out a stool for her friend. “Glad to see you made it!”

“Of course, dearie,” the white unicorn smiled easily as she took her place at the table. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well…” Twilight said, drifting off awkwardly. “We were just worried you might have gotten…hung up.”

“Oh come now, were you all truly worried Carnie might have tried something?” She smiled and winked cutely.

The other ponies all paused, all eyes focusing on the Element of Generosity. Trixie bolted upright in Sethisto’s grip. “You named it!?” She gasped.

“He already has a name, darling, I merely gave it a more…sensitive touch,” Rarity replied, waving a hoof dismissively.

The blue unicorn slumped in her chair, shaking her head. “You girls are, by far, the strangest ponies I have ever met. And that’s counting that one stallion with the jelly fetish.”

“You should come by on Holidays, we haven’t even shtarted to get weird yet,” Dash remarked before belching loudly.

“I think we’d like that,” Sethisto said a split second before a party streamer landed in between his ears, draping over his face. Blowing it out of the way, he smiled at the other mares as Pinkie materialized from the crowd next to him.

“Oopsy daisy,” she grinned, snatching the streamer out of his grip. “Thanks, Sethy.”

“Don’t mention it,” he replied, his jaw dropping as she promptly turned around and took off over the crowd, suspended by balloons. He pointed at the materializing party favors. “How did she…”

“It’s Pinkie Pie,” Twilight replied, sipping her drink.

“But…that’s not a real answer! That’s…”

“Darlin’, s’the only answer yer gonna get,” Applejack replied, trumping Rainbow’s belch with one of her own.

Sethisto’s hoof dropped, his head hitting the table. “Ugh, this town…”

“Don’t you just love it?” Trixie gushed.

Sethisto smiled weakly at her. “Usually, yes, but right now, I just have a headache.”

“Allll-right, everypony!” The DJ bellowed, standing over her trademarked turntables at the head of the dance floor, the only place she would ever be. “This is yer host, Vinyl Scratch aka DJ P0N-3, who’s havin’ fun tonight!?” A series of whoops and hollers answered her, the mare drinking in the ecstasy of the crowd. “Hokay everpony, but right now, I think we should slow things down just a bit!”

The deep, thudding base was replaced by a long, slow piano, earning a few confused looks from the audience. “Hey now, I see those looks, but remember: this is a party for everypony in town, lovers included!” As she spoke, a certain, gray-colored mare in a pink bow tie strutted up to the turntables, and the pair shared an intimate kiss right over Vinyl’s equipment before the newcomer climbed into her marefriend’s hooves. “So c’mon, everypony! Grab someone special and get out on the dance floor!”

“Think a dance would make you feel better?” Trixie asked, motioning to the floor as the slow, lilting music continued.

“With you,” he smiled and stood up, offering his hoof. “Of course it would.”

The pair gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes as the stallion led them onto the floor, the slow, easy beats helping them to move, swaying with the rhythm in each other’s grasp, soon lost in the crowd of ponies.

“Ah, love,” Rarity swooned as AJ and Rainbow Dash gagged.

Twilight smiled and sneaked a quick peek over at the children’s table, where Spike, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and a few other foals colored and chatted happily. As she watched, Spike’s claw reached across the table to grab a red crayon, hoping to touch up the little barn he was drawing, only to bump right into a certain, white unicorn’s hoof. He looked up just as she did, their eyes locking for a second before they both turned away, blushing deeply. Of course, Applebloom took the opportunity to start singing at the top of her lungs: “Spike ‘n Sweetie, sittin’ in a tree…”

“And speaking of lovers…” Twilight added, motioning to the little pair as they dog-piled the young farmer.

“Quite the interesting development, if I do say so myself,” Rarity mused.

“So, Spike and Sweetie…”

“Yes, indeed,” Rarity said, sipping her cider.

Twilight sighed and took a large gulp of her drink, then smiled brightly. “Thank Celestia!”

“I know! Darling, I didn’t want to say anything, but thank the Princesses he’s getting over me,” Rarity chuckled and shook her head. “I was afraid he was going to reach high school and still be crushing on me!”

“Nothing worse than a pubescent dragon with an unrequited crush,” Twilight enthused.

“Heavens above, could you even imagine!?” A shiver travelled up the fashionista’s spine. “I mean, I love him as a friend and would hate to see him hurt, but here I was worried I’d have to break his heart at some point!”

“Really, Rares?” Applejack asked, butting into the conversation. “You wouldn’t wanna even try t’give the dragon a li’l taste?”

“Oh come now, Applejack, don’t be ridiculous!” She scoffed. “The age difference between us is just too much! I don’t even know his age, but even I can see he’s just too young of both body and mind for the possibility of a relationship to ever be on the horizon! I mean, could you imagine the scandal? It’d be like Princess Celestia engaging in a relationship with Twilight!”

“What!?” Twilight gasped, obviously taken aback. “That would never…”

“Exactly!” The unicorn scoffed as Rainbow Dash shoved another mug of cider down Twilight’s gullet. Panting heavily, the lavender unicorn looked at her friends, bits of froth from the drink bubbling out her mouth, then laughed heartily. The rest of the group joined in, all laughing at the incredible, impossible notions they had just come up with.

“Huh-hey! How-how about Celestia an’ Luna!?” Rainbow Dash slurred drunkenly. The rest of the group nearly fell out of their chairs at that one.

“I know! I know! Chrysalis and Luna!” Applejack laughed. The whole table was nearly beside themselves with that one, and they weren’t even close to done yet.

“Twilight X Sombra!” Rarity earned a quick punch to the shoulder for that one.

“Pinkie X Changeling!” Rainbow guffawed.

“Discord X Celestia!”

All at once, the entire table fell silent. Twilight shivered in her seat, her coat bristling. The other ponies sat upright.

“Did y’all feel that?” Applejack asked, taking another sip of her drink.

“Yeah,” Twilight shivered again. “It felt…strange…”

“Like we just stumbled over something dreadful…” Rarity added.

“I think I’m done with random shipping today, girls?” Twilight said.

“Yeah,” the rest of the table agreed, quickly settling in for a somewhat more reserved night of drinking.

Author's Note

This one actually contained a few sneak previews of my other fic, A Princess And Her Queen, because originally that fic was set in the Swarm-verse as well. After a while though, I realized the connections to this universe were not only tenuous but also holding the fic back, so I rewrote it to be its own independent thing. I think it benefited the story in the long run.

Deleted Scene X: Many Happy Endings/Epilogue 3

The music beat in everypony’s chests as each couple swayed to the beat, held in one another’s hooves. Every slow twang of the piano playing from the speakers seemed to make each couple hold one another a bit closer, clenching one another a bit more tightly, but for one couple in particular.

Trixie and Sethy gazed lovingly into one another’s eyes. After a week of absolute chaos, heart-rending disasters, and light hypnosis, they had found each other all over again. Now, it was time for the Great and Powerful Trixie to reap her reward. And still, something nagged at the back of her mind. She sighed, peering out the corner of her eye at the lavender unicorn sitting at the table, laughing with her friends with that adorable little giggle. “Can’t always get what you want,” she mumbled under her breath.

“What?” Sethy asked, thankfully oblivious to her little eye-corner peering.

She gazed back at him, looking into those rich, gray eyes and seeing more love than she’d ever thought possible. But was she worth it? Did a mare whose heart could be so unrestricted deserve this kind of love? How could she stay with somepony so loving if she was never quite able to give 100% of herself to him?

“Trixie, what’s wrong?” He asked, honestly concerned. She opened her mouth, ready to just spill it all out in front of him, but then a strange smile spread across his face, far more confident than any she’d ever seen there before. “Hey now, whatever it is, it can’t be all bad. After what we just survived, do you really think anything could hurt us?”

Oh, if you only knew… she wanted to sob, but she kept her muzzle tight. Here was the stallion who had looked into the eyes of a tyrant and slaver and seen something worth saving, worth being with, worth preserving. In that instant, she wanted to do everything in her power to make sure this unicorn never had to suffer like that again, never would feel that heartache again, never would want for anything again.

And if that’s not love… she realized, her lips closing over his before she nuzzled deep into his chest. …then I don’t know what is.

“It’s nothing, I just love you,” she replied. “You know that, right?”

She expected another one of his sweet little nothings whispered into her ear. Instead, she got: “Blech! I knew you little ponies were corny when it came to affairs of the heart, but that…that was wretched!”

She balked and took a few steps back, staring up at the draconequus standing in Sethisto’s place. “Discord, how…” she finally took a good look around. The piano music and turntables at the outer edges of the bar had been replaced with a chicken coop, a bunch of chickens inside all pecking their little heads out to play an assorment of out-of-tune bagpipes. The other guests were now an assortment of wookies, tutu-wearing buffalo, and disco-loving androids shaking their groove-thangs to the best of their gyroscopic flexors’ abilities.

“Oh, this is a dream,” she replied dryly.

“Not quiiiite,” he replied, his snake-like body uncoiling in the air as he drifted lazily by her head. Trixie shivered at the sight. A few months of so-called “reformation” only did so much when talking about a creature that had descended into lore as a tyrannical, chaotic monster for thousands of years. “This is just a little dream-bubble I have crafted for private conversations. Your body’s still going on auto-pilot, so don’t worry: as far as little Sethy’s concerned, you’re just a bit less talkative right now.”

“What do you want?” She asked fearfully, probably a bit more so than she meant, but you never knew how to act with him.

“Now, what’s with the widdle scaredy pony?” He asked, pinching her cheeks in his claws and stretching them out as far as his arms would go, like they were latex rubber. “I’m reformed, didntcha know? I just wanted to check up on one of Celestia’s citizens.”

“What?” She asked.

“Now, I couldn’t help but notice a certain longing you had for a certain sparkle-butt,” he said, drifting through the air in a hovering rowboat.

"What!?"

"Oh, you know," he whipped his hand out, now colored purple and with a little horn on it, looking more like a purple snake than a unicorn. "'Herr therr, Ehr'm Twerlert Sperkle, an' Ah ferkin' lerve berks.'" He said, moving the puppets lips out of sync with his voice.

His hand popping back to normal in a burst of confetti, he turned to her as she tried very hard not to laugh. "That Sparkle."

"I-ahem," she pointed her nose upwards. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I am merely interested in Twilight because she is an interesting, intelligent pony, and Trixie would love having her for a friend."

"Oh, really?" With a snap of his fingers, a whole section of the wall vanished, making way for a heart-shaped bed with frilly little pillows and lace covers. Atop the bed lay a whole menagerie of ballgags, leather handcuffs, dog collars, and other fetish gear, all resting next to a certain unicorn in socks.

"Oh, Triiixie..." the Twilight clone called, smacking a hoof against her flank as her eyelids fluttered seductively. For a few moments, the little blue unicorn in the room became the little red unicorn in the room.

"Your subconscious would beg to differ," Discord winked as the Twilight on the bed shot them a saucy little wink, revealing magenta eyeliner on each of her eyelids. "Among other things. Good lord, is that a dildo in the shape of a dragon's fist I see? And people say I'm depraved!"

"Dear sweet Celestia..." Trixie gasped, nearly swooning to the floor in embarrassment.

"Oh, but what's this? Another desire?" Snapping his fingers, an image of Sethisto popped up at the bed's side, also clad in socks.

"Trixiiiiee! We're both waiting for you!" He called, crawling into the bed and laying on his back.

"Don't leave us waiting too long now, Trixie!" Twilight called, voice oozing with lust.

Eyes locked wide in horror and shame, she finally shook her head. "Alright! Enough, please! I admit it!"

"Wonderful, admitting is the first step towards recovery," the draconequus said, holding her shoulders comfortingly as he donned a plaid jacket, glasses, and a bubble-spewing cigar pipe.

"Wha-what!?" She sobbed.

"I dunno, sounded like something Freud would say."

"Who!?"

"Y'know, asking questions is only supposed to help if they're intelligent and well-thought out!" He huffed.

"Well, excuse me for not feeling very intelligent and thoughtful right now! I'm kind've getting all my repressed urges and deepest, darkest thoughts shoved in my face!" She cried.

At that, a little smile played at the draconequus's lips. She turned away from him, tears dribbling off her snout and trickling to the floor. Of course, the oppressive silence that followed only served to amplify the animalistic grunts from the pair on the bed, still sitting there at one end of the dance floor.

"Could you at least get rid of those two? The…noises are very distracting," she whimpered.

"Of course," he replied, and with a snap of his fingers the pair of unicorns, the bed, and the terrible assortment of fetish toys disappeared.

"Why do you even care about this, anyway? It's just some unicorn's stupid, impossible fantasy." She mumbled, just barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Well, contrary to popular belief, I do have a soft spot for Tia's little ponies," he said, strolling in front of her, hands clasped behind his back. "Especially ones as brave as thou."

The unicorn opened her eyes. Did the God of Chaos just pay her a compliment?

"So, tell ya what: we're gonna get you a few things you've been wishing for, and hopefully that'll satisfy a few curiosities, both yours and mine."

"What?"

His expression soured. Suddenly, he reared back, his mane forming into a large, black afro. "Say what again. I dare you, naw, I double-dog dare you, muthahfuckah!"

She whimpered and cowered into a little ball on the floor.

"Not a Tarantino fan, hmm? Eh, don't worry, he can't be everyone's cup of tea," he sighed, dropkicking the afro into the corner, where it exploded in a rainbow-colored burst of clouds.

"Look, Mr. Discord…" she sighed.

"It's just 'Dissy' to ones such as you, my little pony," he said with a warm smile.

She blinked a few times. "Alright, Dissy, I am very tired right now, a-and I still need to find a train for me and Sethy to take home before I can rest in my own bed again, so please, whatever this is, c-could you wrap it up?”

“You ponies are always in such a hurry, never taking time to stop and molest the roses,” he sighed, shaking his head as a rosebush materialized behind him. He turned and sashayed across the floor, a claw trailing across the bush, which promptly giggled and blushed. Trixie rubbed at her eyes, and the impossible bush was gone. “Very well. I just wantcha to know I had a certain…reward in mind for doing such a wonderful job.”

“Re-reward?” She shivered at the thought of what the God of Chaos might consider a reward.

“Yes, Tia thinks I should take a more positive role in her ponies’ lives, so, here we are!” He spread his claws out. “And just so you know; turning down a gift can be a very rude gesture.”

“Umm…”

“So before you go, just remember one thing,” the draconequus swooped down head level with her, hissing right into her ear: “Have fun.”

“Have fun?”

“Have fun.” He grinned, then snapped his fingers. In an instant, she was back in Sethisto’s grip, swaying with him on the dance floor. No transition, no weird rushing sequence, she was in Discord’s strange little dreamworld one second, and dancing with Sethisto again the next.

Trixie’s head spun, and she stumbled suddenly, bumping right into another couple. “Hey, Trixie!” Sethisto gasped, catching her as the other couple glared at them. “What’s up?”

“Nuh-nothing,” she started. “Just tired, is all.”

“Should we leave?” He asked, motioning towards the door.

“Probably,” she shivered. Just what had Discord meant by a reward? And did she really want to find out? “Yes, we should go, we should definitely leave now.”

“Hey guys,” Twilight butt in, suddenly striding up to the dance floor. “I think I overheard you saying you needed someplace to stay?”

Trixie’s heart thudded in her chest. “Actually, we were just going to catch a train home tonight, which we should probably do really…”

“There aren’t any trains running out of Ponyville, though,” Twilight said.

Trixie could hear her pulse in her ears now. “Wh-what?”

“You completely sealed the town off for three days, remember? Rail lines included. There’s no way the rail depots will even know to send a train here until morning, at least.”

“Gosh, that’s such a shame,” Sethisto said. “I was really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.”

“Oh gosh…” Trixie said nervously, prancing from one hoof to the other. It was almost like fate was keeping her here, forcing her to see just what the draconequus had in store. “Oh gosh…”

“Well, if you’re that worried about a place to stay, I have some extra room up at the library,” Twilight offered.

“Oh…”

“Perfect!” Sethisto said, pulling Trixie in close. “That’s really nice of you, Twi!”

“Oh, it’s the least I can do after Trixie saved Equestria from an all-out war,” Twilight waved a hoof. “I mean, so long as you’re both okay with it.”

“We are more than okay,” Sethisto said, turning to his marefriend. For an instant, she could swear she saw that scraggly little patch of beard Discord tried to pass off as facial hair pasted to her stallionfriend’s face, but with a blink it was gone. “Aren’t we, dearie?”

“I…”

“Of course she is!” Twilight gushed enthusiastically, and for yet another instant, Trixie could swear the lavender unicorn’s eyes matched the red, mismatched pupils of the God of Chaos himself. “After all, she knows not to turn down a draconequus’s gift, right?”

Eyes widening in a mixture of fear and curiosity, she nodded dumbly. “Uh-huh…” she managed to choke out.

“Then it’s settled!” Twilight smiled and clapped her hooves together. “You two are staying with me tonight! Oh, it’ll be just like a sleepover!”

At the mention of “sleepover,” the image of Twi spread out on a heart-shaped bed, resting in between a large, black dildo and a pair of hoofcuffs covered in pink fur popped into Trixie’s head. Her entire body turned bright red again, starting at the cheeks. “I…I dunno…”

Ugh, do I have to do everything myself!? The draconequus’s voice snarled. Before Trixie knew what was happening, a claw ran through her mane and tapped against her forehead. She felt something stir within her as a bleak, gray chrome ran all over her body, starting where the claw had tapped her and consuming her entire form. Noo…we’re not looking for gray… the voice said thoughtfully, and with a snap of his fingers the gray snapped to a light pink. Trixie’s eyes went half-lidded. She bit her lower lip, her marehood suddenly giving an involuntary quiver as she turned back to the wide, dumb eyes of the unicorns with her.

“Oh, that sounds wonderful, my sexy, little ponies,” she said breathlessly, her heart thudding so hard in her chest that the others could almost hear it. “In fact, I have the most wonderful idea for some games we could play…”

“AJ! AJ, wake up!”

The earth pony groaned and turned over in her bed. “Five more minutes…” she grumbled, keeping her eyes firmly shut. If the stabbing migraine in her temple was any indication, she had a killer hangover from her drinking contest the night before with Rainbow, so the last thing she wanted to do was open her eyes. No, it would be much better to keep them nicely shut and in the dark, thank you very much.

“AJ! Please, it’s about Trixie!”

She bolted up in the bed, eyes springing open. “Whazzis about…ah-ow…” she grimaced and massaged her temple, head spinning, pain just starting to subside a bit. She was way too hung over to be dealing with this.

“Applejack, c’mon!” She gave a start at the lizard-like, emerald eyes peering up at her from the floor, thinking for a quick second that it was Chrysalis gazing up at her, then realizing how stupid that idea was as Spike crawled up on the bed with her.

“Spike?” She croaked, voice hoarse from a dry throat.

“Please! You hafta help! Pinkie and Rarity already laughed me off, you’re my only hope!” Spike pleaded.

“Hnngh…” she groaned, flopping back onto her pillow, the bedsprings beneath her complaining loudly. “Whatever it is, Ah’m sure it can wait ‘til mornin’.”

“Trixie has gone crazy again and she’s torturing Twilight and Sethisto in the library!” He spat out in one quick breath.

Applejack’s eyes bugged wide open. All sleepiness fled her body as she twisted in the bed, wrestling the covers off her body and belly-flopping on the hardwood floor. “Jeez, Spike, why didntcha say somethin’!?”

“I did say somethin’! Just now!” He screamed defensively, watching as she bucked the wall next to her bed, causing her trademark Stetson to fall off its hook and land right on her head.

“Ahh, right, consarn it…” she gasped, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she limped for the door. “Now real quick, why dontcha go over what’s happenin’?”

“Oh, it was awful!” He gasped, tears welling in his eyes. “There were whips and chains and ball-gags and…”

Applejack paused just short of throwing herself through her bedroom door. “Ball gags?”

“Yeah! And it was all setup in Twilight’s bedroom and…”

“Hold up,” she raised a hoof to quiet him down. “Why dontcha start from the beginnin’?”

“Well,” he sniffled, wiping at his nose with the side of his arm. “I was just straightening things up from the other night…”

“Other night?”

“Yeah, me and the Cutie Mark Crusaders tore the library apart trying to find something to beat the Alicorn Amulet the night Trixie first showed up,” he shook his head. “We didn’t find anything though.”

“Alraght, back t’what happened?”

“R-right, so I found this book on the floor called ’Potions and Poultices: The History of Alchemy in the Zebra Nations,’ and the thing is we have separate sections for Alchemy and Zebra History, so I just went upstairs to ask Twilight which one it should go to and I heard all these noises coming from her room and I saw…” his blabbering took a quick pause there. He let out a shaky breath. “I saw…”

“Whadja see, sugarcube?” She offered. “G’wan, tell me.”

“Oh, what’s the point?” He sank into the bed. “You’ll just start laughing and not be able to stop, like Pinkie. Or maybe you’ll turn red and faint like Rarity did when I told her.”

“Spike, ya really think Ah’m the jokin’ around, faintin’ type?” She asked, deadpanning.

Hope rising in his eyes, he sprang to his feet. “Okay, so I saw Twilight and Sethy and they were tied up in these leather straps, and they had ballgags in their mouths and blindfolds on, and Trixie had this weird corset on and she kept spanking them on their butts with this big paddle and she kept calling them ‘naughty little ponies’ and she had this big black thing that looked kinda like my…”

“Okay, stop raght there,” Applejack said, raising a hoof. She removed her hat and started fanning herself with it. “Land’s sakes…”

“W-will you help?” Spike asked.

Applejack bit her lip. Just how was she supposed to explain this to a baby dragon? “Spike, what you saw in there wasn’t Trixie torturin’ Twi an’ Sethisto.”

His eyebrows hunched in confusion. “No?”

“Naw, it’s…it was…a…” her eyes lit up. “A game!”

He looked at her suspiciously. “A game?”

“Yeah, a game grown-up ponies play sometimes when they’re feelin’…” her hoof traced a few figure-8s in the air as she searched for the right word. “…frisky.”

“Frisky?”

“Yeah,” she said, clamping her hooves down on the young dragon’s shoulders. “Now, this game is s’posed t’be real private, personal business fer the ponies playin’ it, so you need to make sure you never, EVER, talk about whatcha saw tonight t’anypony else, y’hear? Even t’me, Rares, an’ Pinkie.”

“Really?” His eyes widened. “What about Fluttershy?”

The farmpony nearly fell out of her horseshoes at the thought of Fluttershy’s reaction to Twilight’s little ‘midnight escapades’. “Especially Fluttershy.”

“Oh, wow, okay,” he scratched the fin on the top of his head. “I guess I could keep a secret if I have to.”

“Trust me, if y’want other ponies t’keep treatin’ Twi right, y’have to.”

“Alright,” he raised a hand, palm out, and placed the other on his chest. “I’ll even Pinkie Promise to it.”

“Stick a cupcake in yer eye?”

“Stick a cupcake in my eye.” He affirmed, tracing an ‘X’ across his chest with a claw.

“Good,” she smiled. “Now that’s settled, Ah think it’d be a good idea fer you to sleep over here while Twi finishes her…game. Y’all can take m’bed, Ah’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Aw, no, Applejack, I can just head back to the library!” He said, but the sudden way his head drooped and the little yawn he gave to punctuate his sentence told her he’d be lucky to even walk out the door under his own power, even if she wanted him anywhere near the library that night.

“No way, mister, yer tired as it is,” she scooped the dragon up in her powerful forelegs, cradling him as if he were her own foal. Now that the urgency of needing to ‘save’ Twilight was gone, he had drifted off almost instantly.

“But…I should…” he mumbled, obviously losing the battle against sleep.

“Whatcha should do is get some sleep,” she affirmed, tucking the little dragon in. “Ah’ll be right in the livin’ room if y’need anything.”

“Okay…AJ…whatever you…say…” the little dragon yawned and stretched his arms, scratching at his back before turning over in the bed and drifting away.

The farmpony smiled as she tip-hoofed out of the room. It was nice to see Spike could be so worried about his caretaker that he’d nearly collapse with exhaustion just to get her some help. Pulling some spare blankets down from the hallway closet, she made her way to the couch to make herself at home, fluffing up one of the pillows along one of the armrests and knocking the rest to the floor. She sighed contentedly as she settled in under the spare sheets she spread out for herself, just barely remembering to pull off her Stetson and leave it on the coffee table before her eyes drifted shut. Still, something nagged at the back of her mind, no matter how hard she fought to keep it down: the image of Twilight, all roped-up, probably suspended in mid-air, begging for release as drool rolled around her ball-gag. Not far away, Trixie would be standing with a paddle, her heart probably racing with anticipation as she cinched up her leather corset and reared back for…

In the darkness, a blush rose on the farmpony’s face. “Consarn it, why’s it always the quiet ones?” She grumbled, turning over on the couch and drifting off once again.

Author's Note

Welp, that's it then. After all this time, that's all the material I have for this story.

For anyone still out there and paying attention, I wanna thank you for sticking with it for so long, and so sorry for the long delay between chapters. I had figured any interest in seeing this alternate conclusion was pretty much gone, and between work and my other fics, this one just fell by the wayside. I honestly didn't think it important enough to even spend the effort it would take to post. So to all of you, thank you for sticking with it, and thanks for still being here. You rock, have a moustache. :moustache:

Chapter I: Nightmares

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat, the air like acid in her lungs. The heat of a flaming carriage blasted her face, orange flames curling up into the sky. No wait, she was looking too closely. It wasn’t just a carriage, it was a store. Why was a store on fire? No wait, a city! A whole city, filled with houses and storefronts and quaint little cobblestone streets below her, burning as hot as a blast furnace just at the foot of the hill she was standing on. Overhead, the smoke choked out the sun, tinting the sky a crimson red. The wind carried ash and sparking embers up to her as she watched the scene in awe. She had to go, had to move, had to scream, had to do anything! But her hooves were paralyzed, rooted to the ground. “What is this?” She asked aloud, her voice shaking in terror.

“Never fear, little one, all will be explained,” the Princess of Night’s voice soothed her, like a familiar face in a crowd of strangers.

“Princess Luna?” She asked, still paralyzed. As if on cue, the night-blue Alicorn appeared at her side. “Princess Luna, what…I’m dreaming, aren’t I?” The Princess nodded. “Oh, that’s such a relief!” Twilight gasped, though she didn’t honestly feel relieved. This dream was just too real and too horrible for anything of that sort.

She gazed down at the burning village uneasily. “But what do you mean, ‘all will be explained’?”

“Do not worry: no matter how dark things may look, all will be explained,” the Princess repeated.

“I don’t…hey, who’s that?”

A pony trotted towards them, covered in a strange pointed hat and cloak, smoke drifting off her body. The pony moved slowly and deliberately, as if she were afraid she’d collapse into a pile of ash with one wrong move. Judging from the inferno she was walking away from, Twilight figured that would be a reasonable assumption to make. As the mare drew closer, the unicorn began to recognize a few marks on her body: mostly the star-like designs on the burnt ruins of her cloak.

“Trixie?” Twilight asked. “Trixie, why are you in my…” then she saw it: the familiar red glow by the blue mare’s neck, complete with the red hue surrounding her eyes. “The Alicorn Amulet! Princess! She’s stolen the…” Twilight managed to break her paralysis long enough to turn in place, only to find the Alicorn had vanished. There wasn’t a trace of her to be found, even among the charred, gnarled trees that must have once been the Everfree forest. The unicorn turned back to the newcomer in fright, and found herself staring right into Trixie’s eyes, the rest of her face cast in shadow. There was something awful about these eyes, something very wrong, and it wasn’t just the red glow caused by the Amulet’s power. Twilight recognized it somehow, but couldn’t place exactly where she’d seen it. Perhaps in some old picture from the more chaotic years of Equestria’s history, in the eyes of a pony who had seen something terrible, something indescribable in her time, something that could haunt them forever.

Clearing her throat, Twilight did her best to swallow her fear and stare the blue unicorn down. “Why did you do all this!? Huh!?” She barked.

The eyes kept staring at her. Suddenly, two red lines dribbled down from them, rolling off the silhouette of Trixie’s cheeks and landing on the ground. They sizzled like acid in the dry, yellowed grass. “How deep?” The blue unicorn asked, voice shaking.

Twilight nearly leapt back in surprise, but managed to hold her ground. “H-how deep, what?”

“How deep do you think the pit goes?” A few more red drops dribbled off her cheeks. “Just how far down do you think you can go? Because I promise you, that’s a false bottom.”

“What…” there was no hiding Twilight’s fear now, though she still managed to hold her ground and face Trixie when she said: “I don’t understand.”

“It’s a false bottom. The pit has no bottom. The pit goes on forever,” Trixie stepped forward a pace, revealing the charred, flaking remnants of her skin. Her face had been burnt almost completely off, her lips nothing more but black, twisted bundles of skin revealing two rows of jagged, yellow teeth. Yet still, the look remained frozen in Trixie’s eyes, only now Twilight could see the way the tears oozed down the unicorn’s ruined skin. They weren’t tears.

Trixie shook her head, flecking drops of blood onto the grass. Twilight swallowed her breath, shivering fearfully. “Wha-what are you talking about?” She asked.

The once-blue mare leaned forward and whispered into Twilight’s ear, her burnt skin cracking around her mouth to form the word: “Suffering.”

Twilight’s eyes darted open with her alarm clock’s ring, Trixie’s voice echoing in her ears. Rubbing her eyes, she realized her hooves were trembling, her heart racing. “What was that?” She mumbled, trying to steady herself.

“What was what?” Spike asked, sitting up in his little basket at her bedside. He stretched, yawned, and scratched at the scales on his back, looking at her expectantly.

“It’s…nothing, Spike, just a nightmare,” she replied, throwing her covers off. “Why don’t you go get breakfast started? I’ll be down in a second to help.”

His stomach groaned audibly. “Sounds like a great idea,” he smiled and hopped to his feet, plodding down the stairs to their kitchen. Her hooves still trembling, Twilight trotted for the bathroom, throwing a bit of water on her face. She studied herself in the mirror. Just what was that dream? It had been so real, and so terrifying, even after the Princess had helped her realize it was just a nightmare! And why was Trixie in it, of all mares? She hadn’t even seen that little unicorn since her charity banquet that past fall.

“I wonder what she’s gotten up to,” Twilight mumbled, trying to distract herself from the nightmare. It didn’t work. No matter how hard she tried, her mind drifted back to those horrifying red eyes, that terrible burnt face. Perhaps her friends were right. Maybe she’d finally pulled one too many all-nighters and the irregular sleep cycles were sending her subconscious into chaos. Maybe she really needed a vacation after all.

“Um…Twilight?” Spike’s voice drifted up from the kitchen, following a trail of black smoke and the wail of the smoke alarm. “I could really use that help now!”

“Ugh,” she sighed in exasperation. That’s it; it was definitely time to ask Princess Celestia about a vacation.

Twilight burst through the doors of the Mayor’s office, trailing papers from the bookbag around her neck. “Sorry I’m late!” She gasped. “Spike made a mess in the kitchen, and I had to…”

“Miss Sparkle, you know I always have time to spare for my best event coordinator,” the Mayor interrupted with a smile. “Besides, I was just conversing with this young stallion about somepony he was concerned about.”

“Wha…” Twilight hadn’t even noticed the other pony in the lobby, though his short-cropped red hair and pale yellow body should have stood out against the drab gray walls. “Oh, Sethisto! I’m so sorry, I didn’t even…”

“It’s alright, Twilight,” he said, interrupting her (yet again. Why wasn’t anypony letting her finish a sentence today?) “I can see you’re having a bit of an off-day.”

“Heh, yeah,” she set the bag down and sighed. “So, are the rumors I heard true? Are you and Trixie a bit of an item now?”

“Oh, we’re not just a ‘bit’ of an item: we moved in together!”

“Really? That’s great!”

“Well, I guess she couldn’t resist my stallionhood for long,” he said with male pride in his voice
as he flexed one of his forelegs. “What can I say? The babes just can’t stay away once ol’ Sethy turns on the charm.”

“Yeah, well,” Twilight said, smiling and rolling her eyes. “I’m glad you’re both doing okay, but I have to know just what brings you here.”

“Oh, right, sorry,” he replied, smiling sheepishly. “Actually, it’s Trixie. A few days ago, she said she had to leave for Canterlot on some business, then she packed up some things and left. I’m just headed there to make sure she’s okay.”

“Oh,” Twilight scrunched up her eyebrows in thought. “That is weird. Did she say why?”

“No, just that it was something important and she couldn’t tell me what.”

“Huh,” Twilight’s frown deepened. That was twice in one day Trixie had come up in her mind, and the first was in a nightmare. Could that just be a coincidence? Desperate to change the subject, her mind drifted to something else she had planned later that day: “W-Well, if you’re not doing anything later…”

“Oh, Twilight,” he said, raising a hoof and feigning a blush. “I’m flattered, I really am. But my heart belongs to Trixie, and you should feel awful for trying to tempt me away from her.”

“I was just going to ask if you wanted to join me and my friends for a little get-together we’re having later on,” she said, grinding her teeth.

“I know, I’m just yanking your chain,” he grinned widely as he walked out the door. “And thanks for the invite, really, but I should probably get back to the inn and rest up. My train leaves early tomorrow, and I don’t want to miss it!”

“I understand,” she said brightly, waving him off. “Well, goodbye, and say hi to Trixie for me!”

“Will do!” He called as he walked out the door, allowing Twilight to turn back to the Mayor.

“And again, I’m really sorry, Miss Mayor, I honestly intended to…”

“I already told you that no apologies are needed, Miss Sparkle! Now, why don’t you get down to showing me some of your plans for fundraising? Our roof isn’t going to repair itself!” As she spoke, a low creaking sound echoed through the building and a plank fell from the ceiling, landing at Twilight’s side. “And…do hurry, please.”

“Any Elevens?”

“Pinkie, for the last time,” Rainbow sighed, rolling her eyes once again. “There are no Elevens in Go-Fish!”

“Yes there are, silly,” the pink pony giggled. “They’re called Jacks!”

“IF YOU KNEW WHAT THEY WERE CALLED THEN WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST…”

“Alraght, let’s settle down there,” Applejack said, resting a hoof on her pegasus friend’s shoulder. “It’s only a game, after all.” The pegasus snorted in frustration, but obeyed. This was Twilight’s tree house, after all, not her home in Cloudsdale where she could whip up a twister whenever she felt like working out some anger.

“I say, Fluttershy, could you hand me another mug?” Rarity asked from across the table, trying to distract everypony as she pointed to the stack of cups by her friend’s hoof.

“Oh…um, of course,” the little yellow pegasus replied, hoofing it over.

“Drink up, girls, there’s plenty cider t’go around!” Applejack said, patting the barrel sitting on the floor next to her.

“And while you’re at it, why don’t you regale us with another tale from that fascinating pen-pal of yours,” Rarity continued, her eyes twinkling in the lamplight.

“Oh, there really isn’t too much more to tell,” Fluttershy said, her cheeks blushing. “He was just telling me about this nice young mare he met back home.”

“Oh,” Rarity replied flatly, taking a few extra sips from her mug. “How…nice for him.”

“Oh yes, after his time with his country’s army, I think he deserves it.”

“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow Dash added. “Now Fluttershy, you’re sure this guy is for real? I mean, I’ve never even heard of this country he says he’s from.”

“Yeah, and Ah checked with Twi here,” AJ added, resting a hoof on her purple friend’s shoulder. “She says she couldn’t find this ‘Murika’ place on any of her maps, or a city called ‘New York’.”

“Well, Princess Celestia set him up as my pen-pal, and I’m sure she wouldn’t have done that if she didn’t think he was trustworthy…” the little yellow pegasus replied.

“Fine, fine, but still,” AJ sighed, turning her attention to Twilight. “Twilight, what’s wrong? You ain’t said a word all night!”

“Hmm?” The Element of Magic finally looked up from the table. “Oh, sorry.”

“What’s gotten into you, dahling? You look like you just found out that polka dots are on their way ‘in’,” Rarity said, shivering at the mere thought.

“Or that the Wonderbolts had rejected your application,” Rainbow added, cringing at the idea.

“Or that they’d just run out of milk at the bakery and were using alligator snot as a substitute in their cream puffs!” Pinkie gasped. The other ponies paused and stared at her. “…not that that happens, of course!”

“It’s…it’s nothing like that,” Twilight said, making a quick mental note to never eat at Sugarcube Corner while Pinkie was on duty again. “It’s just the Mayor rejected all my proposals for fundraising for the hall’s roof!”

“What, you mean she didn’t think an hour-long seminar on the importance of collating would get enough ticket sales?” Rainbow snickered, leaning back in her chair and sipping from her mug. “Shocker.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know that messy desks are a real problem in Ponyville, and a seminar to teach ponies how to tidy themselves up would be just what…”

A loud crash rumbled outside. Now getting very annoyed at the continuing myriad of interruptions, Twilight bolted away from the table. “What in…”

“Now, what in tarnation was that?” AJ interrupted.

“Y-yes, what was that?” Twilight sighed.

“I do believe we should check,” Rarity said. “Somepony could be hurt out there.”

“Alright girls, let’s go,” Twilight said as Spike stumbled down from their bedroom, rubbing his eyes.

“What’s…” he started.

“Spike, stay inside, it’s too dangerous,” Twilight barked before racing out the door with her friends.

“Aww, I never get to dash out into danger,” he pouted before obediently turning back up the stairs.

Deleted Scene I: The Lord of the Reins, The Fellowship of the Reign

ONE WEEK BEFORE THE CAPTURE OF SHIZUKH

Trixie trotted through the gates of Canterlot as they swung open for her, guards standing at attention as she walked along the great hallway leading to the throne room. She pulled her cloak tight around herself, trying to disguise her nervousness. She reviewed a few tricks to keep her mind occupied, going over the Aces hidden behind her fetlocks and the ball buried in the pocket in the tip of her hat. Sure, she had done private shows before, mostly for kids’ birthday parties, but this was about as far from a child’s birthday party one could get without walking in on the graduation ceremony at a law school. This was the royal court. She was going to perform in front of the Princesses of Night and Day! The ponies who were responsible for maintaining harmony and balance in all the land, and who’s hoof clippings possessed a thousand times more magical power than she had in her entire little pony body! This was quite a few worlds removed from a bunch of snot-nosed foals.

Foals, yes, that was it, she just had to distract herself with something else! Now, Sethy had started talking about foals, and oh Celestia, was that ever a talk! For Heaven’s sake, she was a show pony, not a…a…a wet nurse! She could…hardly even…imagine…

The doors to the throne room towered high over her head, blasting all other thoughts clean from her mind. She gulped, her knees quivering. This…this could be the greatest show of her life. Or the show that led to her banishment to the moon. She figured the odds were probably 50-50. If only Sethy was here… she thought. She was always so much braver when he was nearby.

“Hey, kid,” a gruff voice called off to her side. She turned, still shivering, to one of the aging guards standing at attention right beside the door. He was an older pony, but not too old. She’d say he might be nearing retirement within a few years, with a touch of gray entering his brown mane and an ancient scar tracing down the side of his face.

“Y-yes?” She stammered, and immediately scolded herself for it.

“Relax,” he said with a smile, the scar twisting naturally with his cheeks. “The Princesses ain’t gonna bite, not even Luna. They’re probably the nicest ponies you’ll ever meet. They’re not gonna eject ya from the kingdom, unless you’re here to try an’ overthrow ‘em.”

“Ha ha, yeah,” she laughed nervously. He nodded to her and resumed his stance, staring straight-ahead with the same frozen look of a statue. Trixie inhaled, exhaled, and threw the doors open, striding in with her head held high.

“Behold, the Great and Powerful Trixie has arrived!” She announced, fireworks materializing around her body as her hooves made contact with the plush red carpet leading to the royal thrones. Then the doors slammed shut behind her, the wind from the force of their closing nearly ripping her hat off her head, and for a second the Great and Powerful Trixie became the small and frightened Trixie.

“I-uh…” she stammered, standing before the princesses as they sat upon their equally-imposing thrones. The royal pair stared down at her, perched on their thrones, their gorgeous manes drifting in some unseen wind as they regarded her with eyes that had absorbed a millennium of wisdom, pain, sorrow, and euphoria. Celestia and Luna, the two most powerful beings in Equestria, a single word from whom could rewrite history, forge legends, and bring down tyrants. They were gods for all ponykind, the model around which everypony was supposed to form their lives.

And she was supposed to perform magic tricks for them.

“I…uh…” she inhaled, exhaled, and straightened her hat, determination growing in her eyes. The Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t need long to recover at all. “I have arrived to…”

“Miss Trixie,” Celestia said, her face unreadable. “I am afraid I must apologize for a bit of deception on our part.”

“I’m sorry, what was that, your majesty?” The magician asked, an icy knot of fear beginning to form in her stomach.

“Though we are sure your magic is really quite impressive,” Luna said, stepping down from her throne. “We did not summon thee here for a show.”

“Oh, really?” Trixie laughed nervously. Oh dear sweet Celestia, what’s this about then? Is this about the riots I caused in Trottingham!? I refunded everypony their bits! Or, or is this…

Trixie gasped. She knew what this was about. Ponyville! Twilight might have forgiven her for that little ‘incident’ with the Alicorn Amulet, but had Celestia? Of course not, how could she!? She had assaulted Celestia’s own protégé and enslaved the Elements of Harmony, who had defended Equestria on behalf of the Canterlot Courts not once, but three times she could think of just off-hoof! This must have all been a ruse to get her to show up without bothering local authorities!

Immediately, Trixie collapsed to her knees in full begging position, tears streaming down her little blue cheeks. “Pluh-hease, Princesses! I had no idea Twilight was THE Twilight Sparkle! I was just so jealous and so angry, and…and the Amulet’s power had overcome me! I didn’t mean to eject Twilight from Ponyville, or take over the entire town! I just…I just wanted…oh please, don’t…”

Celestia descended from her throne and trotted up to Trixie, glaring down at her. “You made that all up just now, didn’t you?”

“I…I…” Trixie sniffled, her heart racing in fear. But at the end of the day, she knew she couldn’t lie to the Princess. Not now, with her literally towering over her, like a mountain made out of horse. The best the magician could hope for now was that telling the truth would ease Celestia’s fury, perhaps convince her to reduce her sentence from execution to life imprisonment. Trixie sighed and kept her eyes locked on the ground. She didn’t think about Sethisto, though right then saving her own skin seemed to be the most pressing matter. “Yes, I did. Though the Amulet amplified all that jealousy and rage, in the end, I still made the conscious decision to act upon it.”

Celestia’s face almost instantly broke into a smile. “Impressive. That wasn’t a bad lie, all things considered.”

“Huh?”

“We knew you were the right choice for this job when our sister first told us about your skills as an actress,” Luna said, stepping closer to stand side-by-side with Celestia. “And your recent charity works have given us cause to believe you might just be the pony we need.”

“Um-oh!” Trixie immediately stood and bowed, barely disguising the relief washing through her body. “I-it would be an honor to serve you, my Princesses! Of course! I take it you wish for me to perform in some sort of play? Perhaps for some fellow statesmen or…”

“I am afraid not,” Celestia sighed as she quickly sealed the room, placing a magical shield over the door while Luna shuttered the windows.

“It is of the utmost importance that thou not disclose what we are about to reveal to thee,” the Princess of Night continued. “The enemy’s spies could, quite literally, be right under our hooves.”

“Spies?” Trixie asked as she realized just what the Princesses could be asking for. “Oh…oh my gosh. You want me to pull off some sort of mission, don’t you? Act as some kind of spy?”

“You’re far more intelligent than your first impression led us to believe, Miss Lulamoon,” Celestia said.

Trixie wasn’t sure whether to feel complimented or insulted, but she still made it a point to bow. “Thank you, your excellency.”

“And you are right, we do wish for you to act as a spy of sorts,” Luna added.

“But by the time we tell you all you need to know, I hope you understand the risks you’ll be taking. So before you say yes to what we need from you, I will ask you a question, and I expect you to answer it honestly,” Celestia said, looking Trixie right in the eye. Her voice reeked of the gravity of situation. Trixie gulped. Whatever this was, it had to be a matter of life and death. “Understand?”

“Y-yes, your highness.”

“Good,” Celestia said, her horn sparkling as it drew the form of a Diamond Dog in the air. The drawing had fists that looked more like giant legs of ham attached to the end of its arms, and it possessed a massive body hardened and toned by a life in the mines. His beady eyes glimmered with the shimmer of Celestia’s magic, as if they gleamed with their own, malevolent light, his mouth drawn back in a permanent sneer that revealed a snaggle-toothed row of razor-sharp fangs. Trixie shivered despite herself. If he looked this scary as a drawing, she didn’t even want to know what this dog might look like in real life.

“This is Wardog Shizukh,” the Princess of Day continued. “He rules a decently-sized den about fifty kilometers north of here. We assumed, like most den leaders, that he was content with his lot in life and in maintaining the peace that has existed between our races for decades, delicate as it is.”

“This all changed a month ago,” Luna said. “We now have reason to believe he has decided to rebel against the Canterlot monarchy, stopping at nothing short of our downfall and the usurpation of our government.”

Trixie’s jaw dropped. “My goodness! How many dogs does he have at his command!?”

“Currently, we believe his army numbers in the 150 to 200 range.”

“Oh, is that all?” Trixie smiled. For a second there, the Princesses had been making this out to be a real crisis. “Well then, why don’t you just send the Royal Guard after him? Surely, they could handle anything such a low-level den leader could pull.”

“It’s not that simple,” Celestia continued, swiping away the drawing with her hoof. “As I’ve said, the peace between Equestria and the Diamond Dog dens within our borders has always been tenuous at best. If we attack him outright, the other dens could use it as an excuse to completely rebel.”

“Though we are certain such a rebellion would fail,” Luna added quickly. “We are not so certain about the loss of life on both sides. It could be…appalling. Thousands of ponies and dogs, just throwing themselves at one another on the battlefield, it could be an absolute monstrosity!”

“And there is one more factor to consider,” Celestia said. “We believe Shizukh has acquired a weapon of sorts.”

“A weapon? What kind of weapon?” Trixie asked.

“We can’t be sure yet, but we do know it has great power. We believe it to be an artifact left over from the ancient times of war, before the establishment of Equestria as a nation. And though we are uncertain if it is still dangerous,” Celestia sighed. “We cannot take the risk of it being used against our subjects if it is.”

“Okay, so let me guess,” Trixie said, smiling with the thought of herself frozen in an action-movie pose, propelled in the air by an explosion with a dagger clenched between her teeth and a rebel dog spinning away beneath her flailing hooves. “You want me to rush in there, take out all the guards with my magic, grab Shizukh, and force him to tell me where the artifact is before rushing back here with him and the object in tow, right?”

“I’m afraid nothing so action-packed, my little pony,” Celestia giggled. Trixie deflated slightly as the image of the Great and Vengeful Trixie disappeared from her mind. “We have arranged for you to have a meeting with him under the guise of a diplomatic mission.”

“In reality, you will be there to bait the trap,” Luna said. “You will show up and invite Shizukh and his army to the village of Ponyville. You do know the way, correct?”

“Oh,” Trixie said awkwardly. “I might have come across it once or twice.”

“Good. Now, Shizukh shall walk into this meeting thinking you are there to help resolve his current disputes with Canterlot. Once there, you shall reveal to him that you wish to propose an alliance and aid him in his quest to destroy Equestria.”

“Of course, this will be part of the ruse to lure him in,” Celestia said. “Once you have secured Shizukh’s confidence, you will journey to Ponyville and lay the trap we have planned.”

Suddenly, Luna’s horn sparked with energy until a small, fishbowl-like structure shimmered into existence on the royal floor. “What the…” Trixie said, resting a hoof on its surface.

“This is a simple manifestation spell, known as the Aguamentis Existantulum, taught to fillies in their first year at the Canterlot Royal College of Magic,” Luna explained. “They usually only use it to play pranks on each other, or to hold a few household pets, but we have something a bit more grand in mind.”

Her horn sparked once more, and suddenly the bowl expanded until it reached to the ceiling, dominating the throne room. Trixie took a few steps back and gaped: the thing had gone from something the size of a fishbowl to scraping the high-vaulted ceilings of the throne room in less than a minute!

“This bowl is now nearly indestructible,” Luna said with pride in her voice. “A few simple augmentations make it so that the glass could withstand a dozen blasts from the best unicorns in Equestria for weeks on end without even cracking!”

“Wow,” Trixie gasped. “But…what does it have to do with your plans for Shizukh?”

“Quite a lot, actually. You see, its size means the entire populace of Ponyville could reside within with no problem at all, and its indestructible properties mean it could be the perfect bunker, ensuring nopony is carried off by Shizukh’s goons should something happen.”

“So they shall be taking cover once you have built this,” Celestia said, pulling out a small piece of parchment and hoofing it to the unicorn. Trixie unrolled it to reveal a huge diagram filled with drawings and symbols she could never hope to understand, with squiggles and markings about soil composition and reinforcement beams that might as well have been written in Latin for all she knew. Seeing the confusion on her face, Celestia smiled and explained: “That is a system of tunnels the citizens of Ponyville will be helping you dig, running under every street. We’ll send a construction crew in ahead of you under the pretense of surveying the town’s hall, so you’ll have professional help in constructing this network. Once it has been formed, a simple transfiguration spell should cause the tunnels to collapse, trapping Shizukh’s army once they arrive in the streets of Ponyville.”

“Although…” Luna said. “Another spell could trap them in something else…”

“No Luna. We are not having Trixie drop the dogs into a pile of oatmeal,” Celestia said, rolling her eyes in exasperation at her younger sister.

“But think of the terror when the ground beneath them turns into disgusting breakfast food, sister!” Luna gasped, hopping from one hoof to the other in her excitement. “Think of the bran-filled terror!”

“Simply collapsing the tunnels should be more than enough to inspire fear in Shizukh’s heart, fear which will allow us to wean the location of the artifact out of him,” Celestia replied sternly. “I highly doubt he is going to be very afraid of something he eats every morning.”

“Evening, sister. Diamond Dog leaders are more nocturnal than not.” Luna corrected with a smart little tone in her voice.

“Whatever,” Celestia said, smiling despite herself. “The point is that this plan is supposed to inspire fear in Shizukh’s heart so that he simply spits out the location of the artifact, not make him laugh until he wets himself.”

“I still say it should be part of the plan,” Luna said stubbornly.

“So that’s it, then? Just meet with Shizukh, show up in Ponyville, have everypony help dig some tunnels, then blast the tunnels right out from under his feet when he shows up?” Trixie smiled brightly. “Piece of cake!”

“I’m glad you like our plan so far,” Celestia said, smiling brightly.

“But of course,” Trixie said, making sure not to miss the opportunity for a little tail-kissing. “A few little details I’m still missing, though: what do I have to sweeten the deal and make sure Shizukh doesn’t just say no when I meet with him? My own contingent of royal guards, disguised as bandits? Or, ooh! How about a few jewels from the treasury? I’m sure the Dogs would love that!”

Celestia and Luna eyed one another warily. “Actually, yes and no to that last part,” Celestia said as her sister turned to retrieve a box from a darkened corner. “It is a jewel, but it’s most definitely not part of the treasury.”

“Why wouldn’t it…” Trixie started, but immediately stopped the instant Luna opened the box, revealing the Alicorn Amulet.

Author's Note

Yep, we're back here again! I have a BUNCH of crap that could practically be it's own story set in this storyline, but I'll just post it here, mmkay? Mmkay.

Deleted Scene III: The Lord of the Reins, The Return of the Caring

Mr. Cake was sure that if somepony had told him this morning that the Elements of Harmony would personally escort him and his family to their doom that very night; he would’ve laughed in their faces. Nopony was laughing now. Not even the Element of Laughter, still holding his children captive. Just a few feet away, his mailmare stared blankly at a wall, while that local string player (what was her name…she was the one who was into mares…oh, right! Lyra!) was busy trying to break the spell over each of the Elements.

“Applejack, buddy, c’mon! It’s me, Lyra!” The aquamarine unicorn waved a hoof around the Element of Honesty’s face. “You were the first pony I told when I hopped outta the closet, remember!? You introduced me and Bon-Bon, for Heaven’s sakes!”

The orange Earth pony stared blankly ahead, the red hue still glowing in her eyes.

“C’mon pal, I know you don’t wanna do this to your old buddy, Lyra!” She picked up her marefriend’s hoof. “So we’re just gonna take our leave and…”

Instantly, Applejack and Rarity moved together, blocking the mares’ path. “Mistress Trixie has requested an audience with everypony in this room,” Rarity said emotionlessly.

“Y’all can’t refuse an invitation from the Great and Powerful Trixie,” Applejack added.

“Oh, it’s no use,” Mrs. Cake sniffled. “They’re not our friends anymore. They’re under some kind of spell, can’t you see?”

“Th-that can’t be!” Derpy said, tears threatening to breach her crisscrossed eyes. “These ponies are the strongest I know! Trixie couldn’t have made them different so fast!”

“Apparently, she could have,” Colgate said solemnly. “I offered Rarity a free checkup when she showed up at my door, and she still took me. Now, what could explain how anypony could resist a free cleaning besides an evil, hypnotic trance?”

“Um…” Mr. Cake said, pulling his wife close and allowing her to cry into his apron. “I could think of a few things just off hoof.”

“Well, if we’re going out, I’m glad it’s at these ponies’ hooves,” Cloudchaser shrugged, looking around at the five Elements surrounding her. “I mean really, could you come up with anypony better to…do the deed?”

“I guess I can’t,” Mr. Cake mumbled, his wife looking up at him with glistening, wet eyes. “But hey, it might not even come to that! Trixie might have something…else in mind…”

Realizing how bad that sounded, Mr. Cake sealed his lips as his wife dove into another crying jag in his apron. The remaining captives sat in silence until a door slammed open and Trixie strode in. Almost immediately, she face-hoofed herself. “Oh for Celestia’s sake, you bought the whole family!?” She groaned in Pinkie’s direction.

“Of course, mistress!” The pink mare said brightly. “I was just gonna bring the parents, but then the kids would be all alone in that big empty house and I remembered how much I like spending time with them and hey then I remembered technically they qualify as Cakes so I figured…”

“Okay, shut up,” Trixie moaned, grateful that the spell gave Pinkie a much-needed ‘off-switch.’ “I guess I’m just running a bucking daycare center now…”

“Um, Miss Trixie?” Mr. Cake said, his voice quivering. “Wha-what are you planning to do to us?”

“Please, not my children,” Mrs. Cake whimpered, still holding her husband. “She can do whatever she wants to me, but not my children…”

“Oh, right, the kids. Dizziness,” Trixie said thoughtfully. “First of all, Pinkie, could you please give Mrs. Cake her foals back?”

“Of course, Mistress,” Pinkie said, holding the foals out for their mother. Mrs. Cake slowly released her husband and eased towards her children, quickly taking them up in her hooves and showering their little faces with tearful kisses the moment they were hers again.

“Now, everypony else? Get close to a pony and give them a hoof, like they’re swooning and you wanna give them support. Get ready to catch them in case they fall,” Trixie ordered. Still confused, the remaining ponies obeyed. “Now, on my mark, three…two…one…”

Trixie’s amulet flickered, and suddenly the red haze disappeared from each of the Elements’ eyes. Instantly, they all swooned, nearly hitting the floor but for the ponies strategically placed nearby. Except for Fluttershy, who managed a few steps before slamming face-first into the ground away from Derpy. “Oops, my bad,” the crossed-eyed pegasus said sheepishly.

“Aaaand that’s what the shock-absorbers in the collars are for,” Trixie sighed, rolling her eyes as the Elements regained their hoofing.

“Puh-Pinkie Pie?” Mr. Cake asked the mare in his hooves.

“Oy…the one and only!” She said queasily before vomiting a stream of glitter all over his apron.

“Yep,” he sighed, flicking a few strands of vomit off his drawstrings. “It’s you alright.”

“I must say,” Rarity said dizzily, swooning in Colgate’s hooves. “That spell certainly takes a lot out of a pony.”

“A-Applejack?” Bon-Bon asked the pony in her hooves, unsure of what was going on.

“The wha-one…one an’…what Pinkie said,” the Element of Honesty grumbled as she pushed herself to her hooves. “M’head feels like a whole chorus a’ buffalo’s been tap-dancin’ on it.”

“Trixie probably should have warned you about that,” the blue unicorn said sheepishly as the remaining Elements of Harmony pushed themselves to their hooves. The other ponies looked around in confusion.

“Okay, I’ll bite, what’s going on?” Cloudchaser said eventually.

“Well…” Trixie started.

“…’S a bit hard t’explain,” Applejack added.

“I don’t even know where to start!” Dash said.

Rising to the occasion, Pinkie leapt over the ponies and landed at Trixie’s side, speaking fast enough to send a hummingbird into convulsions: “Okay so there’s this really really bad dog and he’s out to blow up Equestria and he’s got a big explodey thingy that can blow up Canterlot and we gotta find that and also stop him without hurting his army or else the other Diamond Dogs’ll rebel and a lot of ponies and dogs could get hurt if that happens so Trixie’s posing as a possible ally to lure them all in one place and dupe him into giving us the location of the explodey thingy by faking an attack by the Elements of Harmony which we can’t use because the Dogs can detect them somehow and no other pony can know about this because the Dogs are really good diggers which means they could have spies in Ponyville already and we need you to pose as us while we keep his head spinning with magic and stuff.”

She collapsed to the floor, panting heavily as her face faded from blue back to its normal pink. “Wow,” Dash said, eyebrows rising. “Everything we wanted to say in one breath. That was impressive even for her.”

“For the ponies in the room who don’t have the attention span of a bumblebee,” Trixie sighed, running a hoof through her mane. “Yes, this has all been a setup for an elaborate plan to capture a wicked Diamond Dog. Yes, Princess Celestia herself gave me this mission, how else would I get the Amulet out of Canterlot?”

The other ponies in the room looked at each other and shrugged. She had a good point there.

“No, the Elements aren’t really under Trixie’s control, I can only mind control somepony if they willingly allow it to happen, otherwise Trixie probably would have done it when last Trixie was here. And yes, in order to complete this plan and save Equestria from certain destruction, we all need your help.”

The ponies all stared back at her, totally stunned. Their eyes drifted to Applejack, standing next to the blue mare. “Yeah, it’s the truth,” she said, and to emphasize her point, the collars all faded from existence around the ponies’ necks.

A quick sigh of relief made its rounds throughout the room. “Now, are there any questions?” Trixie asked. After a few awkward moments, Mr. Cake raised a hoof. “Yes?”

“So, just to be clear, we’re all supposed to pose as the Elements of Harmony?” He asked.

“Well, not all of you, we wound up grabbing a few extras,” Trixie replied, glaring at Pinkie, who smiled obliviously back at her. “But yes, that is the hope.”

“And we’re supposed to do this for your sake?” Lyra asked accusingly.

“Not Trixie’s sake: Equestria’s sake,” Trixie clarified, her eyes suddenly sparking with power. “This is a mission straight from the Princesses themselves, meant to save hundreds of lives. And if that’s not good enough, then there’s the door, but you walk out Trixie doesn’t ever…”

“Ahem,” Rainbow said with a quick nudge to the magician’s shoulder. “Trixie, your evil is showing.”

Immediately, the sparks faded from her eyes. “Right,” she said, standing up tall. “Anyway, that’s the gig. So, you all in, or out?”

To her surprise the ponies all screamed “IN” while hopping in place like a bunch of fillies just told that they were going to Celestialand.

“OH MY GOSH! This is something out of a Daring-Do novel!” Lyra gasped as her marefriend tried to keep her under control.

“That’s what I said!” Dash added.

“I’m gonna be an Element! I’m gonna be an Element!” Derpy sang, tripping over her own hooves and crashing into Rarity’s side.

“Wow,” Trixie mused, eyes wide in shock. “That was way easier the second time around.”

“You must be gettin’ practice with tellin’ ponies thangs,” AJ replied with a shrug. “Now, if’n y’wanna lead the way, oh fearless leader…”

“Wait!” Mr. Cake’s hoof rose above the crowd of joyous, relieved, and predominately female ponies. All eyes turned on him. “Before we take off on this whole, zany, highly convoluted adventure, there’s one thing I have to know!”

“What would that be?” Trixie asked.

“Why do you speak in third-pony?”

Her jaw dropped. “Trixie just…she means, I just…Trixie doesn’t usually…ugh, it’s a long story, okay? Couldja all just get some rest? We have a lot to do when the sun comes up.”

“Just follow me, everypony!” Rarity sang, happily leading the way to one of the back rooms. “We have cots and sleeping bags for everyone!”

Trixie waited until the last of the excited ponies was led out of the room, all chatting amicably with one another. She sighed and closed her eyes, her hooves rubbing at her temples. The little voice whispering at the back of her mind was growing stronger, but she had to keep fighting, she had to…

“Trixie?” She opened her eyes again to see the Element of Kindness standing there.

“Whaddya want?” She snapped, a bit more harshly than she meant to.

Fluttershy cringed. “I-I’m sorry, you just looked like you were in pain for a moment, and I-I just wanted to know if you were alright.”

“Oh,” the magician pasted a smile on her face. “Of course I’m alright. Everything’s going just according to plan, isn’t it?”

“I-I think so, I’m not…”

“Don’t worry about it, Miss Flutters,” Trixie replied, urging her out the door with the others. “Everything’s going to be just fine, you understand?”

“I-I guess so…”

“You should know so,” Trixie replied, ignoring Fluttershy’s unsure looks and half-glances over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her. The moment she was alone, Trixie fell against the door and slumped to the ground, shivering in the dark as the voice in her head whispered in a hissing, evil little cackle. “E-everything is gonna be j-just fine.”

Deleted Scene VIII: Ponyville Liberated/Epilogue 1

A few minutes after defeating the Alicorn Amulet with the power of friendship, Trixie stumbled towards the light radiating from the Town Hall’s exit. Her hooves gave out from beneath her and she started to fall, only to be stopped by a helping hoof from the yellow unicorn at her side. “Thank you, Sethy,” she said with a strained smile as he supported her.

“Stop trying to walk on your own,” he scolded. “You heard Twilight: your legs are gonna be woozy for a while!”

“Trix – I mean, I can stand on my own, thank you very much,” she scoffed, though she didn’t make any moves to break out of his grip. He smiled and shook his head, tightening his grip on the headstrong mare. After a while, something occurred to her. “Sethisto…”

“Yes?”

“I was just wondering why you were still wearing that…thing.”

“Hmm? Oh,” he gazed down at himself, still clad in the revealing French maid’s outfit, complete with fishnet stockings and a little white apron. His cheeks flushed red. “I guess I was so distraught about losing you back there, and then so relieved when it turned out you were okay, that it never even occurred to me to take it off.”

She immediately leaned in closer. “Celestia above, I love you,” she whispered into his ear.

Grinning, he promptly leaned over to whisper in her ear: “Besides, I wanted to keep it around; I fully expect to see you in it at some point.”

Her eyes widened, and then her face settled into a saucy half-smile. “How’s tonight sound?”

“If you’re up for it, maybe.”

“Guys, everything carries in here. This Hall was designed with acoustics in mind, remember?” Twilight said, shaking her head. “We can all hear everything you’re both saying.”

“Oh, Twilight,” Trixie said with a mischievous grin. “I’m sorry, did you want to come too?”

“What!?” Both Twilight and Sethisto gasped.

“Well, I don’t want her to feel all left out,” Trixie shrugged.

“That wasn’t the point I was…” Twilight stammered.

“Wow,” Rainbow Dash mused as she sailed lazily overhead. “The hormones in the air are unbelievable. You three think you can keep it down long enough to meet our adoring public? We’re almost out of here.”

“But I wasn’t…” Twilight started.

“We were just…” Sethisto continued.

“She was the one who…”

The pair of blue mares smiled at each other, then started cackling, Dash taking off ahead of the group towards the light at the Hall’s exit. “C’mon, everypony!” They heard Pinkie yell. “Your audience is waiting!”

“Well, Trixie?” Twilight looked over to the blue mare.

Trixie smiled and cracked her neck. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has never refused an audience.”

“Then c’mon!” Sethisto shouted, hobbling as fast as he could while still supporting the blue mare. “Let’s get you out there!”

The remaining ponies dashed into the light and out of the ruined structure, leaving the darkness and silence behind for the deafening cheers awaiting them outside. The entire crowd, holding their loved ones close and realizing that they were standing in the middle of a defeated enemy army, roared as the eight ponies made their way into the sunlight. Falling into their normal routine of accepting the cheers of hundreds, the six quickly smiled and waved back, while Trixie took a few bows and Sethisto stood next to her awkwardly, grabbing her whenever a bow looked like it was going a bit too low. Ponies everywhere whooped and hollered, stomping their hooves in congratulations as the Mayor stepped forward.

"Well girls, it seems once again, this town owes you a great debt." She said, smiling easily. Eventually, her eyes fell upon the blue mare standing off to the side. Trixie cringed despite herself. She may have had to deal with rampaging crowds, riotous ruffians, Ursa Minors, possessed jewelry, and a nightmare from the depths of hell itself, but the Mayor still held a certain aura of authority, maintained by years in the public eye. Which was probably why she had held her position nearly unopposed for so long, now that she thought about it.

"You as well, Miss Lulamoon," the Mayor said, her easygoing smile never wavering. "As much as it shocks and surprises me to say those words."

"Heh," Trixie shrugged, still leaning on Sethisto. "It shocks Trix-me to hear them."

"Twilight!" Spike's voice cried out from the crowd once the initial cheers calmed down. Smiling, the little violet unicorn opened her forelegs as the baby dragon raced onto the stage, followed closely by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Is it over now? Really and finally?" He asked.

"Yes, Spike," she beamed, looking over to Trixie as she nuzzled her stallionfriend. "It is really and finally over."

“One thing Ah don’t get though,” Applebloom said, gesturing to the lakes of oatmeal and the Dogs struggling in them. “If you guys were runnin' around, pretending to be all hypnotized and stuff, then who did all this?”

“Oh, that’s right!” Twilight said, face-hoofing. “Since the real Elements of Harmony are gathered here, I guess it is about time to bring back the fake ones.” Her horn glowed, summoning another flare which lit up high over the town square and exploded in the midmorning sky. Even the ponies embracing their family members stopped to watch the brilliant sight, and then their jaws all dropped as the Elements of Harmony dropped from somewhere in the sky, supported by a hue of magic. They watched in stunned silence as the doppelgangers met and embraced in front of everypony.

“You were all so brave,” Twilight said.

“Couldn’t have done it withoutcha,” AJ said as she hugged her double.

“We owe you big time,” Rainbow added, rubbing the side of her hoof along her double’s nose, revealing a touch of purple beneath a layer of blue.

“Just make sure not to miss an appointment next time you make one, okay?” The Rarity double said, straightening one of the curls in her hair and smearing off a bit of purple in her mane to reveal a toothpaste-like mix of light and dark blue. “And that reminds me: Rarity, you have a tooth-cleaning in six months. Please don’t forget.”

“Aheh, of course I won’t…dahling.”

“And, if it’s not too much to ask, couldja maybe pop these contacts out? They’re starting to get all scratchy,” the Fluttershy double bleated. Smiling, Fluttershy promptly removed the lenses from her doppelganger’s eyes, revealing a pair of golden, crisscrossed pupils. “Thanks, I was starting to get all woozy from how wobbly the world looked!”

"Hey, if you all don't mind, I think I'd like to be Rainbow Dash a little while longer," Cloudchaser exclaimed, flexing her wings. "I'm kind of digging the manestyle."

"Wanted a few more minutes of the awesomeness, huh?" Rainbow said, cracking her teammate on the shoulder. "Can't say I blame ya."

As the ponies all set to chatting amicably and mingling with the crowd for every big reveal they could manage (even Trixie, who still had to lean on Sethisto for support), only a few saw the great swarm breaking out over Ponyville, only taking notice when a few unicorns in golden armor teleported amidst the crowd and began clearing a small circle within it.

“Presenting their royal highnesses, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia of Equestria, along with the Lord of Chaos, Discord!” One of them announced. The entire square fell into a hushed silence as the royals descended amongst their subjects, guards fanning out throughout the town and beginning the long task of apprehending each and every one of the dogs caught in the muck. A trio of ultra-powerful beings landed in the square with the grace and poise expected of them, their wings folding neatly around their bodies as they stood with poise and royal pride. Or, that was how Celestia and Luna arrived, anyway. Discord crashed a 1980s DeLorean into the pavement, popped out wearing a red varsity jacket, and started asking everyone if they “had some plutonium on ‘em.”

“Princess!” Twilight said happily, immediately running in to nuzzle her mentor.

“My dearest student,” Celestia said, voice brimming with pride. “I knew you could do it.”

“Did we not tell thee that all would be explained?” Luna added with a little wink and a smile.

“Well, you could have been a bit more specific,” Twilight grumbled, still embracing her teacher while her cheeks reddened.

“Aye, but where would the fun have been in that?”

“Um, hello? No hugsies for the draconequus?” Discord grumbled, pouting and folding his arms while the remaining Elements, their doubles, and Trixie leaning on Sethisto slowly made their way towards them.

Pulling out of her student’s grip with a final nuzzle, Celestia strode up to meet the group flanked by her sister and the grumpy Chaos Lord. “It seems as though Equestria owes you all quite the debt,” Celestia said, beaming. “Your bravery and honor has averted what could have been an utterly disastrous situation.”

“Especially thee, Miss Lulamoon,” Luna added, staring directly at the unicorn resting on her stallionfriend’s back. “What thou hast accomplished here is nothing short of a miracle.”

“Hey, Trixie-I am a magician, remember? The impossible is kind of my thing.”

“This still leaves one matter, though,” Celestia added, motioning towards the Town Hall as a pair of guards trotted out of its façade, the Amulet suspended between them.

“Yes, that,” Trixie said, ears folding back. “Sorry Princess, but after all the time I spent close to that thing, I really didn’t want to touch it again.”

“Understandable,” Celestia nodded. “But now that it’s back in our hooves, I think we can say this matter can be closed, hmm?”

“Maybe,” Trixie said with a harrumph. “Personally, I think you should all try to find the deepest, hottest, most active volcano you can and throw it in. Then dig up the ashes and feed them to timberwolves. Then blow up the wolves. With fire.”

“Oh, if it were only that simple, my little pony,” Celestia mused, summoning a wooden strongbox and draping the necklace inside. “As it is, you’ll just have to settle for us locking it in the deepest vaults below Canterlot again.”

After a few moments of thinking, Trixie nodded. “I guess that shall suffice.”

“Trixie!” Sethisto said sternly.

“Okay, okay, it’s good, sheesh,” she laughed. Sethisto just smiled and shook his head. Only Trixie would be so flippant with the Princesses of Day and Night (and, to a lesser extent, the spiritual embodiment of chaos).

“Actually Princess, it is quite good that you showed up at this time,” the Mayor added, eyeing the still-smoldering ruins of the Ponyville Town Hall. “Not to destroy the mood, but our Town Hall is ashes now! We couldn’t even pay to repair the roof before, how are we supposed to pay for an entirely new building!?”

“Ah, yes, there is the matter of that,” Celestia sighed, covering a knowing smile with a hoof. “Well, I think you’ll find there is a construction crew in the area that happens to be up to the task.”

“That would be us!” The forepony Sethisto recognized from the tunnels said, striding up with a small army of stallions in orange safety vests and hard hats at his back.

“Well hello, Heavy Lifter,” the Princess said. “I hope you and your stallions enjoyed your little vacation in Ponyville.”

“Vacation my right flank! You sent me an’ my stallions here knowin’ we’d get dragged into this mess!” The stallion yelled accusingly, angry hoofstomps sounding from the construction ponies all around him. “We are professional workers, we ain’t supposed to be used like dis! We’re expectin’ full pay fer the work that one made us do here!” He levelled an angry hoof on Trixie, who cowered behind Sethisto.

The Princesses both reached a hoof up to their chins in fake thoughtfulness. As she hummed to herself, Celestia winked at Twilight, who smiled knowingly in return. She did love it when one of the Princesses’ plans came together. “Very well, stallions. How does double-pay for the past forty-eight hours of work sound?”

The mob fell silent. “Duh-duh-double pay?” One of the construction ponies asked.

“Oh verily well, you drive a hard bargain: we’ll make it triple.” Luna added.

“Tri-triple…” most of the ponies’ mouths went slack. They each stood ramrod still, rooted in place, as if they were all afraid they might be dreaming and moving an inch off their spots might break the illusion.

“And quadruple your normal rates for the work done to repair Ponyville Town Hall,” Celestia said with a wink to her sister.

“And after all that hard work, perhaps thou and thy families would all like to relax,” Luna added with a wink back. “How doth two weeks’ paid vacation in the Jamarecan islands sound?”

“Ja-Jamareca…” the forepony stammered.

“Quadruple pay,” the pony next to him added before his eyes rolled up and he fell unconscious to the ground.

“Wow dude, fainting? That’s, like, three-hundred stallion-points lost right there,” the pony next to him said as their leader rushed up to the Princesses and began kissing their hooves profusely.

“Y’won’t regret dis, Princess! Ponyville’s gonna get a palace t’rival Canterlot fer this!” He said between smooches. “Mark m’words!”

“Oh, that really isn’t necessary…” the Mayor said.

“Sister,” the construction pony nearest to her said, throwing a foreleg over her shoulders. “The most powerful being in all of Equestria just wrotecha a blank check for rebuildin’ yer Hall. You really gonna look a gift Alicorn in the mouth?”

The Mayor considered this for a while, then grinned. “When can you all start?”

“Whenevah y’want, Mayor!” The forepony said, pushing himself away from the Royal pair’s hooves and galloping to the Mayor’s side, ushering her away from the square. “Now, I’m thinkin’ we should start off with the front: how do y’feel about gold-plated gates?”

As the entire group disappeared around a corner to hammer out the details for Ponyville’s new Town Palace, Celestia smiled and shook her head. “Now, if that’s everything…”

“Princess!” One of the guards strode up to the group and saluted.

“Of course it isn’t,” she sighed, rolling her eyes towards the guard

“A Princess’s work is never done,” Luna said sagely, nodding towards the guard. “Yes, Private, what is wrong now?”

“One of the dogs wishes to speak with both of you.” He replied, lowering his hoof.

“A dog?” Luna mused. The royal pair exchanged looks. Even Discord looked up, eyebrows raised. Eventually, they all just shrugged cluelessly at one another. “Verily well, guard, bring him forward.”

Nodding, the guard retreated around a corner, quickly returning with a couple more guards leading a diamond dog along at spearpoint. It definitely wasn’t the most impressive dog the group had seen: kind of scrawny, actually. Even standing on two legs, he barely rose to just over his pony guards’ heads. He had matted, purplish fur (though it looked pretty soft by dog standards) and a simple red vest which looked like it could use a good cleaning, though not as badly as some of the other dogs’ clothing. Still, despite his thinner build and smaller stature, the ponies all regarded him with suspicion, Rainbow Dash going so far as to clop one hoof in the other and shake her head slowly as he approached.

To everypony’s surprise, the moment the dog approached the Princesses he sank to one knee and bowed. “Greetings, oh Princesses of Equestria.”

“And salutations to you,” Celestia replied, an eyebrow arched. “No offense to your race, but you seem a bit more cultured than most of the diamond dogs we have had dealings with.”

“Most diamond dogs aren’t expected to put on a decent show for visiting rulers and diplomats,” the dog shrugged, sticking his hands in the pockets on his vest. “Look, I’m gonna cut straight to the chase here: I know what you’re after, I know what it looks like, and I know how to lead you straight to it.”

“Oh?” Luna glared suspiciously. “And why wouldst thou betrayeth thine own leader to aid us?”

“He’s not my leader,” Carnifax replied, a tint of anger materializing in his eyes. “Not anymore.”

“Be that as it may, we’re more than willing to listen if you have anything to offer us,” Celestia said quickly. “Mister…”

“My name is Carnifax, and until about two hours ago, I was Shizukh’s personal assistant and secretary. Every little secret about his den was in my paws at some point or another, even the ones he didn’t want me to know,” he glared at each of the ponies in turn. “Now, do you want my help finding what you want, or not?”

“And just what would you ask for in return?” Celestia asked.

“Full Equestrian citizenship, and total amnesty from any punishment my colleagues may suffer,” he replied without missing a beat. “I wanna be able to live in any pony community of my choosing, and have all the rights and opportunities that a pony would enjoy.”

“Nope,” Rainbow Dash said. “No way, Jose.”

“In yer dreams, varmint,” AJ added.

“After the hell you all put me through!?” Trixie screamed, nearly falling off Sethisto’s back in the process. The yellow unicorn quickly wrapped his hooves around his marefriend, keeping her from trying to throw her weakened body at the dog, if only on the off-chance that one of her limp hooves might flail around and sock him.

“Fine then,” the dog waved a hand dismissively and turned around, as if getting ready to just walk away. “I’ll just be on my way to the nearest dungeon, then. Good luck finding what you need in those miles of tunnels by Shizukh’s den, though. I mean, seriously. Good luck. You’ll need it if you have any plans of finding it anytime within the next century.”

“Wait,” Celestia called, and every other being in the square turned to her. Accustomed to being the center of attention, the Princess strode up to the little dog and smiled gently, as if it were just the two of them, not also hundreds of other ponies and a draconequus watching with growing interest. “Your offer is accepted, young one. Provided the information you give us is valid, you will be granted full citizenship under the Equestrian throne, with all the benefits it provides.”

“What!?” Everypony gasped.

“Marvelous,” Discord mumbled with a mischievous grin.

“Hush!” Celestia’s hooves rose for calm before everypony could start shouting at once. She surveyed them, making sure she faced each and every one of her subjects at some point. “This is not up for debate. This dog may have knowledge vital to the safety of Equestria as a whole, knowledge I cannot risk losing.”

“But sister,” Luna gasped, galloping up to her sister. “We have no place to put him, where will he stay? Who will ensure he doesn’t try something?”

A few moments of silence followed, before a most unexpected voice replied: “Oh, for heaven’s sake! I’ll do it!”

All eyes turned in surprise to the speaker. “Rarity…” Twilight gasped. “I…what!?”

“Darling, can you think of anypony better to keep a dog in line?” The alabaster unicorn said with a little wink. “I’ve been thinking about journeying into those tunnels for more gems anyway, and I could use the extra set of hooves-er, paws. And besides, I am the Element of Generosity, am I not? What kind of Element would I be if I were to refuse shelter to somepony…or, should I say, some dog?”

“It’s settled then,” Celestia said happily. “Carnifax, you are to stay with Miss Rarity of Ponyville until further notice.”

“Wait-I…” Twilight started.

“I accept!” The dog gasped, his stubby little tail wagging as he bounded happily up to the unicorn and, also unexpectedly, wrapped his arms around her. Rarity flushed a deep red and struggled in the dog’s grip, still strong by pony standards. His eyes shooting open, the little dog quickly released her and took a few steps back, blushing deeply. “I-I mean, that is incredibly gracious of you, Miss…”

“Rarity,” the fashionista said with a smile and a wink, sticking out her hoof. “Element of Generosity, at your service, darling.”

“Well, you certainly live up to your title,” he said, taking her hoof in his paw and kissing it gently.

Blushing, the white unicorn smiled at each of her friends. “You see? This shouldn’t be as hard as any of you are making it out to be.”

“Um…what shouldn’t be?” Carnifax asked.

“Why, civilizing you, of course! I mean, I’m sure you’re quite clean by dog standards, but you’re still rather dreadful by pony standards!” She promptly began poking and prodding him with her magic, that familiar blue shimmer finding every speck of dirt and every patch of matted fur. “I mean, when was the last time you actually used conditioner!? And this vest! Darling, rags were never in vogue!”

“Well…I never actually...” he started as he was pushed roughly towards the boutique. “Aw, by all that is good and shiny, what have I gotten myself into!?”

“Feh,” Spike snorted, crossing his arms and watching the pair disappear into the fashionista’s home. “Poor guy’s got no idea what he’s in for.”

“Well, it looks like that’s all settled,” Celestia said, nodding satisfactorily as she turned to the pair of guards that had escorted the small dog around. “Do keep an eye on them, if you please. I would like to ensure Mr. Carnifax doesn’t get to any sort of mischief while the rest of the town is celebrating.”

“Yes, Princess,” the guards exclaimed.

“Um, Princess,” Twilight said nervously, glancing nervously over her shoulder at her friends for any signs of activity, specifically of the pink and hyperactive sort. “I’m sorry, but did you say ‘celebrating’?”

“I did, my dearest student, can you think of a better time for a party?”

“But Princess!” Twilight moaned, preemptively pointing to the spot in the air where Pinkie immediately popped up and shot away as a small blur to prepare the mother of all parties. “I told her no!”

“Oh, but it is such a fine time for a party, my most faithful student,” the Princess replied with a little wink.

“Bu-but…you can’t…ugh,” Twilight moaned, trotting past her friends dejectedly. “Everypony c’mon. We’re going to a ‘You’re not enslaved’ party.”

“Uh…didntcha tell Pinkie she couldn’t…”

“I know what I said Rainbow just come on!” Twilight hissed. Shrugging, the other ponies followed her to a small tavern on the outskirts of town, already decked out in balloons and streamers, with music blaring loud enough to rattle the windows.

“How did she…” Trixie started, staring up in awe at the impromptu party setup.

“It’s Pinkie Pie, that’s how,” Applejack replied smartly as she trotted past. “Anypony wanna show off their moves on the dance floor?”

“Dance floor? Since when does anyplace in Ponyville have a dance floor?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Since about ten seconds ago when I deployed my emergency rave floor, silly!” Pinkie replied, abseiling from the roof on a party streamer.

“Of course,” Rainbow smiled and shook her head. “Come along then, everypony, it’s time for a Pinkie party.”

“Pinkie party?” Some pony in the crowd said. “You know what? I could use one of those after a couple days like this.”

“What’s the occasion?” Another pony asked.

“The fact that we’re not enslaved.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Sounds awesome!” The second pony gasped, bouncing enthusiastically towards the tavern. “I can’t think of anything better to celebrate!”

He didn’t even notice Twilight as he passed, staring back over Ponyville with tired eyes as the town’s populace streamed by her. She cringed slightly as she heard the crinkle of streamers and cheap, paper table cloths behind her. She didn’t have to turn around to know Pinkie would be hanging there, probably on the edge of a party streamer, a grin that could outshine the sun on her face. “Yes, Pinkie, I know they like the idea.” She mumbled.

The shimmer off Pinkie’s teeth grew brighter as her smile grew wider.

“Yes, Pinkie, I am aware that this proves me wrong.”

Even brighter.

“No, I would really not appreciate you pointing this fact out to me right now. Just…let me enjoy this night, get some sleep, and you can rub it in my face all you want in the morning, okay?”

“Okey-dokey, loki!” The pink mare hugged her lavender friend and promptly bounded off to host the party brewing around them. Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes before trotting in through the door, hardly even realizing that a few beings still weren’t inside.

Spike had fallen behind, his eyes still dwelling on the boutique with a sense of longing. As such, he was the only one to notice the tiny pink shape sneaking along through the bushes by the fashionista’s home. Arching an eyebrow, he followed after it, eventually cornering the shape in an alleyway. He hid behind a garbage can for a good look at it: pink, fluffy mane, three balloons on the flank, hot pink coat. There was no denying who it was supposed to be, though her normal bounce had been replaced with a quiet little sneak as "she" tip-hoofed away.

The baby dragon took cover behind a trash can and peeked over his shoulder at the tavern, confirming another pink pony just in front of the door, bouncing around, chatting with other ponies, her mouth going fast enough to make a hummingbird dizzy. He shook his head and smiled. No way that could be anypony but Pinkie, which made this pony her double, but then, why were they trying to sneak away? Just who had played Pinkie in all this, anyway? His curiosity getting the better of him, the baby dragon stood up and called out, "Hey!"

The pony cringed and quickly turned around, a transparent smile pasted on their face. "Well, hello there, Spikey...wikey!" They said in an obviously falsetto voice. "What're you up to on this…sparkly…sunshiney…fun day?"

"Nice try," the dragon crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow. "But Rarity is the one who calls me Spikey-wikey, not Pinkie."

A few drops of sweat rolled down the pink pony’s forehead, carrying trails of makeup with them. "I-I don't know what you could possibly be..." the pony was interrupted when 'she' backed up into a trash can, tilting it over with a loud crash. "Oh, cinnamon sticks!" The pony exclaimed, then realized their mistake. The pony covered their mouth with a hoof, eyes widening as the dragon's jaw went slack.

"Mr. Ca..." he started, cutting off only when the baker galloped up to him and jammed a hoof into his mouth, his eyes shooting daggers.

"Two months of free donuts whenever you walk into the shop or a shallow grave on the outskirts of town," the baker pony hissed. "Which is it going to be?"

Understanding immediately, Spike pulled the hoof out of his mouth and grinned. "Make it three months, and this never happened."

"Deal," the pony and the dragon shook hands/hooves and parted ways, leaving Spike free to rejoin the growing celebrations, and Mr. Cake free to lock himself in his room, scrub the paint off, and do a few pushups while trying not to sob uncontrollably.