“Fine, I see your point, Pinkie, “ Rarity said, tugging at her forehooves in a futile attempt to free them from the crystalline bar which gripped them tightly. “Rock candy can be just as hard as steel and can hold a pony just as well. But I still say that mere confectionery can never be a real substitute for the solid grip of leather, the soft firmness of silk or the cushing clasp of a locked corset.”
“Your argument lacks firmness, Rarity,” Pinkie Pie said with a giggle as she stomped a hoof down on the rock candy stocks that held her friend’s hooves in their rigid grip. The candy shattered along predetermined lines that the baker and confectioner had built into the edible bondage, freeing Rarity in an instant.
“You know,” Pinkie Pie continued, as she helped clear the last bits off of Rarity’s hooves, “there’s a reaaaaally fun way for us to solve this.” Rarity looked over at her friend and smiled as she thought back over the past several weeks. She and Pinkie Pie had been meeting for tea for the past few months every Wednesday, as both of them found a little friendship in the middle of the work week did wonders for both of them. Rarity brought the tea and Pinkie brought something with her from Sugarcube Corner that always seemed to match whatever tea Rarity brought out.
She wasn’t sure which of them had first mentioned a love of bondage as a vehicle for creative expression, but it seemed both of them had either bound, glued, roped or otherwise immobilized a good number of their friends and acquaintances at one time or another. They explained it away as “practice for the next time a villain attacks Ponyville,” but at least a handful of ponies kept volunteering for “extra practice.”
Fashionista and baker had frequently discussed styles and methods of capture and restraint after that. Discussing how to hold a pony in caring durance for both the long and short term, both of them learning much from the other. However, the two reached a creative impasse when it came to materials. Rarity simply could not accept that something as inherently messy as candy could be a part of elegant bondage, while Pinkie responded with traditional materials being a crutch that slowed down a truly creative mind.
Things had reached a peak today, with a pair of stocks made out of rock candy that had quickly and easily locked Rarity’s front hooves into immobility. Rarity hadn’t wanted to admit it, but the speed and ease that Pinkie had taken control of her had made Rarity a little damp at her core. Rarity, however, was still a firm believer in the use of traditional materials, just in creative ways.
“Are you thinking of some sort of challenge?” Rarity asked, steadying her breathing. “Perhaps a contest where we take turns using our skills and materials on each other?”
“Nope-a-roonie,” Pinkie Pie said, with a merry bounce. “We know each other’s ideas too well, but you’re on the right track, we do need a contest.”
“Oh, you can’t mean...” Rarity trailed off, aghast at the audacity of the concept.
“Yup,” Pinkie said, smiling and wrapping a scarf teasingly around a hoof. “We catch and hold as many ponies as we can. Whoever catches the most before time's up, wins.”
“We need to establish some rules, Pinkie,” Rarity said, getting out a quill and some parchment.”
“Sounds good,” Pinkie said, tying the scarf into a bow around her dock. “You’re almost as good as Twilight when it comes to making lists and organizing things.”
“Ah, yes,” Rarity said, silently vowing to make Pinkie learn a thing or two about proper fashion. “First rule, neither of us can tell any other pony what is going on ahead of time. Second, nopony is to receive any permanent hurts.”
“So paddlings are okay?” Pinkie Pie asked, pleased.
“Indeed. Paddling, crops, some electro play, perhaps even some light training are all fair game,” Rarity said, before pressing on. “Third, a target must be captured and held via our chosen media. Confections and baked goods for you, fashion materials and accessories for myself. Fourth, a captured target must be held until the end of the contest, to count for a full point. A target that escapes will only count for half.”
“Oh, I’ve got one!” Pinkie Pie said, excitedly waving a hoof. “If something soooper important comes up or there’s a real emergency, we call the whole thing off until another time.”
“That’s very sensible of you Pinkie,” Rarity said, nodding and adding that to the list. “Sixth, when it is all over, we hoof ourselves over to the authorities for whatever punishment they deem fit.” Pinkie deflated a bit at that, and her ears drooped.
“Do we have to?” Pinkie asked, plaintively.
“Pinkie, we are going to be kidnapping and forcibly imprisoning a large number of ponies,” Rarity said, calmly. “No matter what our reasons for doing so, there will be consequences and it will be best for us if we face them immediately and voluntarily. Which brings me to rule number seven. Once a pony is captured, the contest will be explained to them and they will be given one chance to leave or remain to attempt to escape. A pony who opts to leave counts as a half point as long as they leave a note saying they've opted out.”
“Okie doki Loki,” Pinkie Pie said, all smiles again. “When do you want to start?”
“Well, how about we make this a weekend thing?” Rarity asked.
“Yuppers,” Pinkie said, excited at the idea. “We can start at the end of the day Friday, and have all weekend to see who we can wrap in our eeeevil clutches.” Pinkie was even twirling part of her mane in a sinister fashion while trying, and failing, to look evil.
“Let’s make it the weekend after,” Rarity said, trying not to chuckle at her friend’s antics. “I’m sure we would both like to make sure we have all the supplies we could want for this. Now, let’s go over some of the details...”
A week and half later Ponyville was treated to a very unusual weekend. All day Friday, the square in front of town hall had been walled off by a tall, high fence that had a vision scattering field over the top of it so that no pony above it could look in. From within the enclosure, there could be heard the constant sounds of hammering and sawing. At five p.m. on the dot, as the clocktower struck the hour, the doors to the enclosure opened, and out strode Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Both looked at each other speculatively.
“Good luck, Rarity,” Pinkie Pie said, holding out a hoof. “May the best pony win.”
“I plan to, but good luck to you too,” Rarity said, touching hooves with her friendly rival. Pinkie Pie then posted a notice of some sort to the inside door, and the two mares walked away in separate directions through the puzzled crowd. Looking inside, the crowd could see an assortment of cages, stakes and poles set in the ground. Half were of gleaming steel, while the other half seemed to be made of gingerbread and candy canes. Everypony looked at the odd sight and clustered around as Mayor Mare took down the notice on the gate and read it to the crowd.
“Please be aware that as of five this afternoon, Ponyville is participating in an emergency preparedness drill,” the mayor read out from the sheet she held, brow furled in puzzlement, “All adult citizens are to attempt to escape capture by Rarity or Pinkie Pie, and if captured are expected to attempt to escape their bonds. Any pony remaining uncaptured by five p.m. Sunday afternoon will be rewarded with...” The mayor turned over the sheet to continue reading and became puzzled when it stayed stuck to her hooves, wrapping around them as she flipped the page over and sticking to her forelegs.
“What in Equestria?” Mayor Mare said, trying to pull apart her trapped forehooves which were now glued together like a single limb. Struggle as she might the paper simply refused to release her, and the mayor realized what she had thought was paper was actually a sheet of solid taffy. A sheet of taffy that was actually spreading as she struggled against it, gluing more and more of her forelimbs together.
“Looks like you’re the first, Madam Mayor,” Pinkie Pie said, appearing behind the mayor with yards of what looked like red licorice rope in a neat coil.
Everypony screamed, scattered and ran as they realized what was going on, and Mayor Mare tried to escape while trapped in her three-legged gait. The determined mayor made it about twenty feet before Pinkie Pie had wrapped her rear hooves in tasty restraint, then she connected fore hooves to rear to finish the capture of the town’s main authority figure, and she made sure to be gentle as she deposited the mature mare in a cage of hardened gingerbread with rock candy bars. Even providing a pillow for the captive’s head to rest on.
Rarity had not been idle during this time either. The escape paths of some ponies had been very predictable, and Rarity was able to literally bag the spa twins with a large sack strung across the entrance to the door of their establishment. The sisters had run straight into the sack, the drawstring tightening across the entrance on it’s own and all Rarity had to do was bind the sisters with Prench scarves as they struggled to escape.
Things did not go so easily with every pony the duo set their hooves to, and more than one target used the escape clause in the rules to get out of their situation. A few enterprising ponies even used their capture as an opportunity to get some unusual promises out of Rarity and Pinkie.
"Very well, Applejack,” Rarity said to the orange earth pony still struggling in vain against the cuffs attached to the corset strapped to her body. “I will muck out your cow pens if you agree to not escape. So please stop trying to chew through the corset." Rarity tried not to imagine how hard it was going to be to get the scent of manure out of her coiffure.
"Deal, Ah’ll keep goin’ with this silly contest of yours,” Applejack said, still trying to chew on the edge of the black corset belted and locked to her torso. “But, Ah didn't say anything about not trying to escape. You wanna hold me, yer gonna have to mmrph."
"I understand, Applejack,” Rarity said, admiring the play of muscles under her captive's fur as she applied a firm double knot. “Now please stop squirming, you'll wrinkle the fabric of your combination veil and gag."
Rainbow Dash was caught when she set down for a moment on what she thought was a clear patch of ground, only to be caught as the halves of a rigid, pony shaped cup closed together around her before she could take flight again. She got to watch the rest of the contest as the soft, helpless center of a hard candy shell.
Fluttershy simply surrendered when Pinkie Pie came to her door, allowing herself to be bound in a licorice web, on the promise that her animals would be cared for the duration. While Spike spent the rest of the weekend with the Crusaders at Fluttershy’s, the meek mare spent her time in bondage suspended in mid-air over the other prisoners in an ever shifting web of licorice ropes.
Twilight had been so caught up in the latest shipment of books from Canterlot, she hadn’t realized she was in any danger until Rarity tightened the straps of a magic cancelling bridle around her head. The bridle had a strap connecting Twilight’s head to her dock, that forced the alicorn princess to keep both her head and tail high. Twilight tried to resist a few times, as Rarity guided her toward the town square. The mild shocks Twilight received to the sensitive spots on her body triggered shuddering spasms compelling her obedience, and Rarity left her blindfolded, collared, and leashed to a pair of poles, confident that any attempt to escape would result in Twilight being properly disciplined.
One Ponyville resident that was left unmolested by mutual consent was Granny Smith due to her age. Both Rarity and Pinkie Pie also greatly respected the Apple family matriarch, and once clued in to what was going on, Granny was more than willing to lend a hoof to the contest by taking on the role of caretaker to the captive mares and stallions in the town square.
"Granny! Help me out of this," Applejack called to her grandmother as she spotted Granny walking up and down the lines of caged, tethered or otherwise secured ponies.
Granny made sure to check on every pony she walked by. Providing some water here, loosening a cuff a notch there, fluffing a cushion for a third. Then, Granny noticed her relative trying to squirm closer on her belly and came over to check on Applejack. To the orange mare's surprise Granny didn't release her, but instead actually pulled one of the corset straps a notch tighter.
"That should make yer time here a little easier," Granny said, getting out a cup with some water. "Need a drink?"
"Ah need out, Granny," Applejack said, and noticing that as she did, that the adjustment to the corset did make it fit a bit better, so that it moved with her now like a second skin, instead of binding against her. "Granny... ain't you gonna let me out?"
"Nope," Granny said. "Ah figger it's time you learned how to manage this kinda rodeo as well as I did back in my day."
“Granny!” Applejack blurted out, eyes and mouth open wide in shock, right up until the moment Granny Smith slid the gag back into Applejack’s mouth and made it secure.
“Heh, your father didn’t come into this world just by wishing him here, dearie,” Granny Smith said with a cackle, leaving her thoroughly silenced granddaughter to ponder a few things she’d never imagined before.
Sunday, 4:30 PM
The two mares were running neck and neck. Pinkie had secured Big Mac (who they had both decided before the contest was worth three points) by continually pouring slowly stiffening caramel over him, but Rarity had secured all three of the flower sisters together by using hoof boots that velcroed to each other in a three pony, twelve limb hogtie. The two mares stood in front of their captives, staring at the other across the open ground between them.
"I win." Pinkie Pie said, smiling and letting loose a little giggle.
Rarity raised one, perfect eyebrow. "I fail to see how that is possible, Darling." She took a step forward, and failed. Looking down at her stuck, left foreleg, Rarity gasped.
"I win by one, silly-billy. You're standing in a puddle of cobble-colored taffy." Pinkie Pie said, gesturing with one hoof. "If you don't try moving more than that leg you won't get wrapped up in the sheet. It's as sticky as flypaper, and twice as strong."
Knowing she had to get free, Rarity lifted another leg, and the sheet of taffy lifted and stuck to her belly. "Drat—" Rarity didn't get another word out. She tumbled over, and was rolled up in the stickiest taffy ever cooked.
Pinkie smiled as Rarity's instincts took over, causing the alabaster mare to thrash and pull at the binding candy that slowly snared more and more of her. At last, Rarity lay quiet on the ground, chest heaving and exhausted by her efforts.
"You okay?" Pinkie asked, leaning close in concern. Rarity couldn't talk, as a strand of the taffy had wrapped around her muzzle, sealing it closed. So instead, she huffed a breath out her nose and nodded her surrender to her sweet rival.
"Aw, it was a fun contest," Pinkie said, putting a friendly kiss on Rarity's forehead. "I'll give everypony half an hour to try to escape, just to be fair and then let ‘em all go. But first, I have to let myself out of this apron! I’ve been so busy I haven't changed it since we started."
Pinkie Pie pulled at the ties on her apron, becoming puzzled when her pulling did nothing more than draw threads out of the apron ties, leaving the garment still secured to her body. Pinkie tried again, more threads. Then again and again, until a virtual cloud of threads surrounded the pink mare.
"Uh oh," Pinkie Pie said, looking up and realizing her peril. Tangleweave spiders are blind, and hunt by sensing the heat of their prey, and their webs are the same. Floating through the air and wrapping around a heat source to snare it for the spider to deal with at it's leisure.
Rarity had incorporated several hundred feet of the strands into Pinkie's apron, which were used to make garments form fit to their wearer, hiding them inside the ties of the garment. Rarity had assumed Pinkie had spotted the threads and changed into another apron early on, but apparently not. Within the space of three quick breaths the cloud of threads wrapped around Pinkie Pie, trapping her in an unbreakable cocoon of spider silk from her neck to her dock. The steel strong silk shimmered in the daylight.
"We caught each other!" Pinkie Pie said, laughing along with Rarity, whose body shook with muffled laughter. “Hang on, if everypony is caught, who is going to let anypony out.” Both looked over to where a tired Granny Smith was sleeping on her rocking chair, oblivious to what was going on.
“So this is why Trixie found her friend Starlight trapped in bubble gum,” a voice said from the entrance to the enclosure. “It’s a good thing the Great and Powerful Trixie is also Equestria’s greatest escape artist. Trixie shall free the helpless ponies with her vast knowledge and skill.”
Trixie began going down the line of helpless ponies, usually only needing moments to release them from whatever held them captive. The showmare kept her demeanor professional, right up to the moment she found Twilight lying on the ground before her.
"Huh, my one time rival, the Great Twilight Sparkle," Trixie said, as she bent to undo the contraption that had the alicorn hog-tied. "Done in by a simple Double Neighponese Hoof Trap. Oh, how the mighty have fallen."
Twilight Sparkle growled back at the blue unicorn who was working at her bonds.
"Oh? You have an objection?" Trixie asked, in mock surprise and backing away. "Trixie can leave you as you are."
Twilight thought about that, then decided against it. Every time she had tried to use even a trickle of magic, attempt escape or lower her tail, the fabric connecting her horn to her dock gave both a mild shock of reproof. The alicorn was no longer sure if she was being trained to be docile or to keep her tail flagged high. Either way she wanted out.
"Get me out of this, Trixie," Twilight said, realizing the traveling mage was her only hope of escape.
"Was that an order?" Trixie asked, a mocking smile on her face. "Trixie would think that the Bound and Helpless Twilight Sparkle would show more humility that that." Twilight pulled at her bonds angrily, then froze with a whimper as another shock made her tail rise another millimeter.
An hour later everypony was free except for Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who having teamed up to capture Celestia when she showed up to see what was going on, had earned a trip to the Solar Diarch’s private dungeon. Almost everypony was heading home except for one very flush alicorn standing beside Trixie. "Just remind Trixie, Princess Twilight Sparkle, what was the deal again?"
Twilight groaned. "That Dame Trixie Lulamoon of Equestria will have her title granted at the first opportunity." She just had time to finish talking when Celestia walked up.
Standing proud, Celestia's dock was hiked up so much that her magnificent tail cascaded over her back. "Forget it, Twilight." Celestia turned to Trixie. "You set me free, Princess Trixie Lulamoon." Celestia waved a hoof in a circle, and then suddenly her tail twitched. "And you can be queen if you can massage my dock so that the muscle relaxes enough for me to lower my tail."
"Queen..." Trixie’s eyes went wide as Celestia walked away giving her a frank view of the royal plot. "Trixie is coming, Princess Celestia!"
Talking the next day in the palace, Cadance tilted her head to the side. "You really made her queen? Isn't there—political problems with that?"
"No. She is a figurehead; I'm not stupid." Celestia's tail was halfway back to normal after hours of careful massage. The moment Trixie entered the room, Celestia's smiled widened. "Queen Trixie!"
"The Royal and Majestic Trixie has arrived, no need to worry." Trixie trotted in, a tray of fairycakes floating along in her magic. Practically prancing right up to Celestia's side, she leaned in and kissed Celestia on the cheek.
"Trixie can be Empress if she gives me a cake." Celestia nuzzled Trixie's cheek in return.
Two cakes floated before Celestia. "Trixie'll hold the second one for another time."
"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty." Celestia’s smile beamed like the dawning sun.
Author's Note
And that is how Trixie became Empress of Equestria.
Just a fun, silly story to round out the year with. I saw an image on Derpiboruu, posted it in Damaged's Discord server, and wrote a brief story blip to go with it. Damaged responded with one of his own, I added on to it, and before we knew it a good chunk of this very silly story was written.
I blame too much eggnog, not enough sleep and a complete lack of moral fiber on my part for what you have just read.
As always, thanks to my editors on this story. MxSpitfire and Sandstorm94. Your contributions and assistance make me so much better than I would be on my own.
All the best to everyone, and I will see you in 2018
