Evil Empire

"WHAT? This is a travesty! A travesty!"

Trixie took a deep breath, extending one index finger towards the stage she had just been forced to leave.

"You'll pay for this, Rainbow Dash! Like...again..."

After lowering her voice in frustration, she eventually did the same to her head, and decided to go get some more punch. This day really could have gone a lot better. And wasn't it all just a travesty? Why, of course! She herself had stated it, after all.

"It really is," a voice suddenly confirmed said opinion from behind her. "The Rainbooms don't deserve to be in the finals. Not, when your band was so much better in the semis."

Upon turning around, three familiar faces wandered into Trixie's view. They did, of course, belong to the so-called Dazzlings. Another sigh escaped her. This day might not have gone along perfectly fine, but acting like an ordinary human being should still lie within the range of possibilities.

"Look," she told them. "Trixie doesn't know how to say this, but...ugh...I don't actually like girls...the way, you know. In all honesty, there really isn't any cash for you to grab here."

For a second, Adagio didn't respond. She narrowed her eyes, apparently trying to compensate, what Trixie had just told her. After merely a few seconds, however, the light orange color of her face's skin became quickly replaced by a sickening shade of dark red. To call her an overripe tomato at that point would have been an understatement.

"OH! SO YOU'RE STILL ONTO THAT?!" She yelled it at the top of her voice, violently grabbing Trixie by her collar. "I'm gonna say this out loud for everyone to hear. No idea, how you ever got to that conclusion, BUT WE'RE NO - FUCKING - STRIPPERS! HEAR THAT?"

"Sheesh, alright," Trixie replied, rolling her eyes, as she pulled herself loose from the enraged siren. Adagio didn't lose any further words following her initial outburst, however. She simply grabbed her two companions' wrists, dragging them out of the gym alongside herself.

Trixie would have enjoyed laughing at the ironic display presented to her, but the hostile looks from everyone else around advised her not to.

After searching for several minutes, Vinyl eventually discovered the blue-skinned magician she was looking for. It didn't turn out especially easy in a crowded room like this one, and everyone's suddenly hostile attitude didn't improve her efforts in the least. The gym's atmosphere seemed poisoned to an enormous degree; it all felt like Three Mile Island all over again.

To Vinyl's surprise, she managed to find Trixie in comparably high spirits. Despite having been kicked out of the competition minutes earlier, she had a satisfied smirk on her face. A blue plastic cup rested in her hands, from which she kept sipping CHS's prized punch - probably yet another abomination to the laws of nature - her eyes carefully guarding the exit door. As she spotted Vinyl approaching, she lifted her cup an inch higher, as to greet her.

"Didn't go all that well, I've heard?" Vinyl started, trying to omit the detail about herself having taken a bathroom break during most of the actual performances so far.

"Not really," Trixie replied with a shrug. "We did Tricks Up My Sleeve, like I intended. They didn't even finish their song properly. Whatever that was called...Smells Like Twi Sparkle, or something." She paused for a moment, one index finger resting against her chin. "But that's okay, I guess. They'll just have to do without my greatness and power."

Vinyl raised an eyebrow at that. "You sure? I remember you almost going on a rampage the last time you...well, thought you'd be kicked out."

"Yeah, well...Trixie said so. But then she ran into those strippers of ours...gosh, they're adorable when angry. Brightens up your whole day, really. I mean...they still try assuring me it's not what they do, but honestly? That's exactly what a proper stripper would say."

"I guess," Vinyl indifferently replied, casting a short glance over to the stage. "So, what now?"

"Heck, I don't know," Trixie answered, following Vinyl's eyes. "...but I sure don't need to go through the entire second semi, when there's nothing more in for myself. Also, that orange girl...Ada...something briefly grabbed me by my neck, giving me some time to reach out for her own clothing..." She reached in her stage outfit's pocket, producing a white envelope. Turning it around, a familiar handwriting stated: Week's food cash for Sonata.

"Wanna go grab some pie?" Trixie asked with a grin.

Vinyl quickly returned her expression with an even more vicious smirk. "You know," she concluded, as they turned to leave. "The two of us might have some more things in common than I imagined, after all."

As the two of them reached for the exit, all the bystanding lights got switched off at once. In a matter of seconds, the entire gym went pitch-black.

As Vinyl, Trixie, and most of the other students looked around in confusion, something did in fact light up in the room. A projector, attached to the ceiling, shot a short movie clip onto the backstage wall. Vinyl soon recognized the film: It was one of these sixties western movies she had never really given a damn about.

The two girls remained in their position, watching the video a few minutes longer. All the while, Vinyl couldn't help but wonder, why she actually associated this scene with musical performances in the first place.

After that, the clip ended, leaving the room in the same darkness as before for a short moment. When suddenly, several lights coming from the stage, illuminated the crowd, a deep, masculine voice sounded from the speakers.

"AAAAAlright, Canterlot! You wanted the best, you'll get the best! The hottest band in the world...uhh..."

There was a short pause, during which the stage got lightened up, revealing the next band. Their leader, a cross-eyes junior named Derpy Hooves, placed herself between her two bandmates, carrying a crosscut saw in one hand, and a cello bow in its respective opposite. She stood at the microphone, while scratching her head in confusion, mumbling to herself a few, inaudible words. One of her band mates facepalmed.

"Good evening," she then roared with the same, surprisingly deep voice. "We are Motörhoof. And we play rock n roll."

Around twenty minutes later, the two of them had put themselves down at their usual table at Sugarcube Cafe. Trixie had kept the very same grin on her face all, along, while Vinyl had buried an overly frustrated expression in her palms for quite some time, now.

She groaned. "I still don't get why I'm the one to pay for the drinks, again."

"I told you, I'm broke." Trixie leaned back in her chair, legs crossed, enjoying her vanilla milkshake. An emptied package of peanut butter crackers ornamented the table in front of her.

"Well," Vinyl looked up in anger, rubbing one hand against her forehead. "You wouldn't be, if you hadn't burned the frikkin dollar bills on the way here! Like, honestly, what the hell?"

"This is not about money," Trixie replied, setting her drink back down. "It never was. It's about sending a message. Even without any wealth..." She quickly produced the - by now, emptied - envelope from her pocket. "...I'll still be able to humiliate them tomorrow. And I think, I deserve as much. I've been through more than enough, today."

A short silence ensued, during which Vinyl slurped down some more of her own chocolate drink (this really was getting out of hand), while Trixie poked around her own with a straw for a while.

"And you know what?" she suddenly continued, raising her eyes back up. "Weren't it for our beloved Fall Formal Princess, I'm sure I'd have totally kicked their butts today."

"Huh. I don't know..." Vinyl hardly even got any further in her sentence, since all her thoughts kept drifting off to her drink over and over again. "Kinda funny though, how she only shows up, whenever there's some extracurricular stuff. Just saying...I've never seen her in any of my regular classes."

"Well, you know...royalty." Trixie shrugged. "Don't blame it on me, anyways. I voted Sunset Shimmer."

"Really? Gotta be honest...some disgusting tyrant competing with some chick, who just randomly showed up at school two days ago...that's kinda tough. I actually decided to vote for a third party candidate back then. Didn't stop my lighting equipment from being totally destroyed by their displays of lasers, though. I guess that was a dumb decision, then..."

For a moment, Trixie chuckled, raising a questioning look from her comrade. "Third party candidate, huh? You should know better than to waste your ballot like that. Trees died for producing that paper. I mean, honestly...you remember what country we live in, right?"

"Actually, no...you?"

"Meh. Never really been one for politics."

And once again, silence. With a shrug, Vinyl went back to slurping down her drink, letting Trixie to the world of her own thoughts. Had the two of them known about their school becoming vigorously enslaved by three dark, extraterrestrial menaces, simultaneously...

...well, they probably couldn't have cared less. But that's not up for debate right now, is it?

Obviously getting bored with herself, Trixie soon extended one hand, as she started mingling with the envelope in front of her, again. She got especially concerned about the corner of what seemed to be some piece of paper still stuck inside. Only one small corner had slipped out of its depths, just now.

The two of them barely recognized it. Curiously, and with a swift pull, Trixie removed the tiny sheet from it's paper jacket, holding it in front of her face with both hands.

Vinyl only saw the backside for some time. It still got her awfully curious. The paper was rather minor, its side lengths not exceeding three or four inches. Some parts of it had already faded to yellow, judging from which it had to surpass at least...well, thirty, or forty years of age by now? A few, cursive words had been scrabbled on this side with pencil. Vinyl couldn't make out any of their meanings. She could barely tell one character from another.

"So, what's there on it?" she asked, increasingly anticipating an answer, as Trixie's eyes widened in shock.

Her wizard friend took a deep breath, before finally answering: "You...you remember the day we met those Nazis in here?"

Vinyl rolled her eyes. Of course, that still didn't express anything due to her shades, but she didn't mind. "Yeah, right. Except I highly doubt that's what they were."

"Well I for one don't." Giving her response, Trixie sounded more resolute and determined than ever. "In fact, what would you say if they, and the three new girls at school were the exact - same - people?"

"Trixie, don't. You're getting ridi..." She stopped dead in her tracks, as Trixie let the paper swing around, revealing its other side to her.

On it, there was a black and white photograph. Judging from its content, Vinyl had never been wrong about the age. Slowly, she removed her shades in order to get a better picture of it all.

The image itself remained highly disturbing: It portrayed the three girls from their school - the ones Trixie had been so kind as to introduce as strippers - in centered position. All three of them were wearing black uniform jackets and hats, combined with equally black miniskirts and pairs of high leather boots. They were standing on top of a pile of rubber, a bombed-out factory building behind them.

The entire, bizarre scenery was captured by a simple phrase in Gothic letters:

Minsk, Reichskommissariat Ost, August 1942

Mouth agape, Vinyl couldn't help but stare at Trixie in a mix of confusion, and amazement. Could she possibly be right about...

Oh, come on. That's just plain ridiculous.

"That's not shopped," Trixie said, answering an unspoken question. "I've seen a number of fakes in my days, and trust me, there's more behind all this than just some IT skills."

"But...but I don't understand," Vinyl stuttered. "How can this...what does it even mean..."

"Means, we'll have to conduct some research, I'm afraid." A grin crept back onto Trixie's face, as she added: "...and on Friday, when the finals are happening...well, looks like we've got a party to crash."

After yet another short silence, she snorted. "I mean, I was gonna do that, anyways, but..."

Vinyl facepalmed. "Thanks a lot, moron. We just missed the cliffhanger. AGAIN!"

"Oh," Trixie replied, awkwardly scratching one ear. "So that's the whole chapter already?"

"Yeah, I guess we should just end it here."