Strange and Unusual Punishment
Twilight sat on her haunches and rubbed her temples with her hooves. "So, let me get this straight." She looked to Trixie, who looked like she wanted to drop a smoke bomb and flee. "You teleported the Cutie Map to the spa and, while Starlight was trying to find it, you refused to take the matter seriously?"
Trixie gulped and nodded.
Twilight then looked to Starlight, who looked like she wanted to teleport away. "And you thought it was a good idea to literally bottle up your anger, which lead to three ponies being brainwashed and attacking Trixie?"
Starlight looked to the floor and nodded.
Twilight groaned. "You both should be glad that I'm not your mom because if I was your flanks would be red right now! Seriously, my baby niece doesn't give me as much trouble as you two give me!"
Meanwhile, at the Crystal Empire...
A very tired Shining Armor, covered in mashed peas, looked to his wife. "You think Twilight would mind watching Flurry for a few hours?"
Princess Cadence, in a similar state as her husband and holding an alicorn baby who had just fallen asleep in her forelegs, nodded. "Let's drop her off tomorrow. Hopefully, Twilight won't be busy."
"We're very sorry, Twilight." Starlight apologized. "We both acted stupid, but at least we learned something."
"Right! And that's what it's all about!" Trixie added. "Learning lessons. Magic is friendship. All that good stuff." She gave a nervous smile.
Twilight sighed. "That's true, and I'm glad you both learned something about friendship. But I can't keep letting you both off all the time. You both must be punished." She said sternly.
Starlight grimly nodded. "You're right. We must be punished."
Trixie looked to her friend. "We do?"
Starlight gave Trixie a look.
"Uh, Trixie means, we do!" Trixie corrected.
"Hey, Twilight!"
Twilight looked behind her to see Pinkie Pie had entered.
"Something told me that I was needed here!" Pinkie said excitedly. "Do you need my help with something?"
"Ummm, I don't think so, Pinkie."
"Oh, okay! Must have been a false alarm." WIth that, Pinkie bounced out of sight.
Twilight sighed and returned her gaze to Starlight and Trixie. "Now, as for your punishment..." Twilight rubbed her chin, trying to think of a fitting punishment for them.
As Pinkie blissfully bounced down the castle hall, she felt herself being caught something. She looked and saw a humanoid creature in black clothes and a white Cthulhu mask that moved with life as if it was a real face. The strange creature had caught her under his arm and brought her into a sort of side hug.
Pinkie looked at the strange being. "Who are you? I haven't seen you around here before."
"We'll talk about that later." The creature assured her. "Right now, the priority is Starlight and Trixie," He spat out Trixie's name like it was a curse word. "Get punished for being a bunch of idiots. And I have the perfect idea for it."
"Ooooh, tell me!"
Despite the mask not having a mouth, the creature seemed to smile.
Pinkie appeared beside Twilight and whispered something into her ear.
Starlight and Trixie looked at each other in confusion.
Once Pinkie finished, Twilight gave her a funny look. "Umm... Are you sure that would be the appropriate punishment?"
Pinkie nodded. "Absolutely!"
Twilight thought for a few seconds before shrugging. "Good a punishment as any I suppose. But where are we going to get the stuff?"
"I've already handled that!" A black, humanoid creature in a white Cthulhu mask dropped from the ceiling, scaring all the ponies but Pinkie. In his arms, he carried two white boards that seemed to have writing on them as well as a camera.
Twilight stared at the stranger. "Uhhh, Wh-Who are you?!"
"We'll talk about that some other time. As for now," He handed the boards to Pinkie. "You show them the flashcards; I'll manage the camera."
"Okey-dokey-lokey!" Pinkie said as she took the boards.
The creature turned on the camera and pointed it at Trixie.
Trixie suddenly became very excited. "Oh! Are we going to be on TV?!"
"Yes, indeed." The creature answered. "In fact, you two are gonna be seen all over Equestria and then some."
Trixie looked like she was about to faint. "All over Equestria and then some?! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh-"
"Calm down, calm down. Just look at the camera and read aloud the flash card." The creature stifled a chuckle as he pointed to Pinkie, who held up the flashcard for Trixie to read.
Trixie straightened out her mane and took up a proper pose as she opened her mouth... until she saw what the card said. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "...N-No. No! I-I can't say that! N-Not in front of the entire world!"
"Either you read it or I'll bring out the purple thing!" The creature threatened.
"The... purple thing?"
"Here's a picture." He showed Trixie a photo of said object.
Trixie stared at the picture with an expression of terror. "...Okay. I'll read it."
The creature nodded and put away the photo.
Trixie looked at the flashcard and gave a humiliated sigh. "I'm the T to the R-I-X-I-E Lulamoon. And I'm the only one with stage magic in this very room. I'm... Trixilicous."
The creature busted out laughing as Trixie sat down with a blush on her face, humiliated beyond belief.
"Now, it's Starlight's turn." The creature said once he composed himself. He turned the camera to Starlight and motioned for Pinkie to show her the card.
Starlight read the card and took a deep breath. "I'm the S to the T-A-R-L-I-G-H-T and ain't no other unicorn's as OP as me. I'm Starlightlicious." Despite herself, Starlight blushed.
The creature busted out laughing again before taking back his flashcards. "Good luck, you two! Soon, all of Equestria will know your names! Literally!" With that, he teleported away.
Trixie slowly got up and walked away. "If you'll excuse Trixie, she's gonna go drown herself."
"Let me join you." Starlight said as she followed her friend.
Twilight watched the two leave before turning to Pinkie. "Who was that guy?"
Pinkie shrugged. "Beats me."
Discord wiped tears from his eyes as he tried to contain his laughter. " Oh, that is cold, Madness!"
Madness' Cthulhu mask had an expression of pride on it. "Coming from you, that's saying something."
Discord straightened up as he remembered something. "This reminds me of something I did a few months ago." With a snap of his fingers, a screen appeared in front of the two of them. On the screen was a very annoyed-looking Tirek.
Tirek sighed. "Alright, I'll do this. But after I do, you will tell me where Twilight's friends are!"
"Yes, yes. Of course." Came Discord's voice, though he was off-screen. "Just go on and say it."
Tirek set his jaw and took a deep breath. "I'm the L to the O-R-D-T-I-R-E-K. Once I have all the magic, Equestria will pay. I'm... Tireklicious. There! I said it! Now, where are they?!"
The Spirit of Chaos and the King of Madness both burst into laughter.
