Trixie stood to the left of a group of figures. Two dragons and Twilight’s five unmoving friends. Twilight feared the worst but quickly noticed that they were all breathing. She released a breath that she didn’t know she was holding.

Twilight’s horn lit up, but the second it did, Trixie spoke, “Ah, ah, ah,” she reprimanded, five small knives materialized at each of her five friends throats, “Wouldn’t want to do that if Trixie was you.”

Twilight glared at Trixie, but her magic faded. All she had to do was stall as Spike wrote and sent the letter. Celestia should be on her way in less than a minute, “Trixie,” she said through clenched teeth, “Is this some sort of sick form of revenge? You know that it was your fault that you messed up here four years ago!”

“That is only part of what Trixie is here for, now kneel before Trixie and surrender!” The azure unicorn declared with an evil smile and cold eyes.

“And what if I don’t?” Twilight shot back, not sure what else she could say to stall for time.

Trixie was surprised by the statement, she had expected the unicorn to simply give up at the sight before her. But she replied all the same, “Trixie will kill your precious friends...one by one,” Trixie shot back, getting a cautious glance from Garter and Rainscales, both knew that the five ponies they held were untouchable, or at least not killable.

Twilight was about to retort with another comeback when she realized something.

Dragons attacking and seeming to be under Trixie’s command...my five friends, all of us the bearers of the Elements of Harmony...that dragon rebellion...She gasped, and realization brought a smile to her face, “You wouldn’t dare! You need us because we’re the Elements of Harmony!”

Again Trixie was taken back, she was about to reply when a solution made itself present.

A grey pegasis soldier charged at her with a spear, crying out a battle cry. Trixie let the five daggers, each of which was actually an illusion, fade and grabbed the pegasis’s spear with telekinesis, twisting it and flinging the soldier to the ground.

The unexpected crash landing flung him face first into the dirt. He cried out in pain as his spear was thrust through a wing, pinning him to the ground. This time Trixie drew a blade from her saddlebag and telekinetically brought it to the doomed soldier’s throat.

Twilight’s smile faded and Trixie’s widened, “Clever mare, Trixie cannot kill these five. She, however, can kill others,” she snapped her head around, “Firetongue! Um...other dragon, you!” She jerked her head towards her downed quarry.

The two dragons quickly nabbed two of their own hostages and brought them forth, the rest of the soldiers smoldering or bleeding and dead.

“I’ll kill you you big white damned bastard!” a white unicorn with a magical cuff around his neck said, taking swings at Lightningclaw. The unicorn took the scene in front of him in, “What in all of bucking tartarus is going on!”

“Surrender now and nopony gets killed...otherwise,” she twisted the spear in the ground and the trapped pegasis yelped in pain.

“Do no such thing!” The unicorn soldier shouted as he understood the situation, “You cannot let the elements fall into enemy hands!” the soldier turned to Trixie, “Damn you to tartarus you ugly blue bitch! May worms soil your corpse and..!” the soldier was silenced as a sleeping spell took him.

“Kill that one,” she said simply.

Before Twilight could even blink, there was a flash of white and the soldier’s neck was sliced open, his blood darkening his white coat. The white dragon holding him tossed the body over his massive shoulder.

“Firetongue, not yet,” The grey pegasis soldier that Firetongue held gulped, but his gaze told Twilight not to give in. She however, wasn’t sure that she could let another pony die because of her. If she teleported away or otherwise escaped then she would be condemning both pegasi to a certain death, perhaps even some of the townsponies. But if she allowed Trixie to take her then she would be handing the dragons a powerful playing card...but one that they might not be able to use, “Surrender now or more blood will be on your hooves!”

Twilight needed to think, there must be a way out of this!

“Firetongue, kill him.”

There was no blood this time, only fire and a charred black lump. Twilight cringed, Celestia! Where are you! she cried in her mind.

Trixie didn’t show it, but she was annoyed that she only had one more hostage at her immediate disposal. She had to draw this one out.

“Five seconds, you miserable wretch,” Trixie snarled, “Five...”

The pegasis had his eyes screwed shut both from pain and fear.

“Four...”

Twilight knew that Equestria was worth more than this simple pegasis...but the fact that he would die because of her inaction stayed her thoughts.

“Three...”

Princess! Where are you!

“Two...”

“Rarity!” a shrill voice shrieked, drawing all attention to three young fillies, a white one in particular. The trio had rounded a corner and were staring at the scene before them in horror. Trixie smiled and grabbed the unicorn in her magical grip.

“No!” Twilight yelled out, holding a hoof up as if to stop Trixie, her horn began to glow but she forced herself to stop as the blade went to Sweetie Belle’s throat.

“No?” Trixie raised an eyebrow with that evil smile crossing her features.

Twilight’s mind was set, she couldn’t let Sweetie Belle be killed even it it was for Equestria’s sake. Rarity would never forgive her, her friends would turn her away as a monster, the princess would banish her...unless of course the princess was overthrown, but that was beside the point!

“Please, just don’t kill Sweetie Belle!” Twilight begged.

Trixie let out a laugh and trotted towards Twilight, keeping Sweetie Belle right next to her with the knife to her throat, when she was but a few feet from her nemesis, Trixie halted, “You surrender?”

Twilight nodded, “Just don’t hurt...” She was unable to finish as Trixie fired a blast of magic from her horn. Electricity arced across Twilight’s body and she cried out in pain, writhing on the ground. With another laugh, Trixie snapped a magical cuff around Twilight’s neck and then eased up on the electricity.

Twilight’s muscles continued to spasm from the electricity and she was barely conscious. Trixie trotted right up to Twilight and delivered a kick to her gut, Twilight folded up, holding her stomach.

“Pathetic,” Trixie said, Twilight cracked an eye open only to see a blast of sleeping magic take her consciousness, “Bind up this one and we can be on our way,” the azure unicorn demanded. She drew away the knife and dropped her small white coated hostage.

The small unicorn looked at her unconscious savior and was considering what to do when a blast of magic struck at her hooves and she galloped with a shriek off to her other friends.

Trixie trotted up to the soldier she had pinned to the ground, he fixed her with a defiant glare, “Trixie has a message for the princess and it appears that you are to be its messenger. When she arrives, tell Celestia that this is her last chance to surrender before we begin an all out war.”

“How could you betray us for those scaled fiends!” The pegasis shot back, hardly containing his rage.

Trixie only gave him a smile before trotting back to the assembled dragons and out cold elements. They gathered closely and Trixie produced a large blue gem, she struck it and the massive group was gone in a flash of magical light.