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// 3 The Big Plan 
// Story: Welcome to my Nightmare 
// by Bronyxy 
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“Welcome, Twilight Sparkle” greeted the light blue unicorn with heavy sarcasm, “So glad you could make it.”
“Trixie! What in Equestria do you think you’re doing?” shouted Twilight, struggling to free herself.
“What does Trixie think Trixie’s doing?” said her captor in an understated voice dripping with evil intent, “Why this is just the beginning of Trixie’s payback. You made Trixie a laughing stock. You ran Trixie out of town. You’re the perfect little pony – aren’t you?”

“Why are you tormenting my friends?”
“Oh, its all part of the plan. You see, Trixie knows they’re helping you maintain this state, and none of them would dare to risk you by stopping in their meditation. So all Trixie has to do is follow your trail, which presumably leads to your pitiful little library, and take the Elements of Harmony for herself.”
“No Trixie! You mustn’t! You don’t know the power …”
“Oh, but Trixie does … and the first thing Trixie’s going to do is send all of you on a one-way ticket to Tartarus, leaving Trixie to rule unopposed!”
“The Princesses will stop you!”
“Uh, no, actually. You see they've lost their connection to the Elements, and so when Trixie has all six and turns them on Celestia and Luna, they won’t be able to fight back! Equestria will belong to Trixie!”

“OK, Trixie” said Twilight, hanging her head in defeat, “But how did you get so powerful? This level of magic is way beyond you.”
“Oh, let’s just say Trixie had a little help” she said, toying with a pendant hanging round her neck.
Twilight looked at the glowing artefact.
“That looks pre-Unicornian to me” she stated, “But I’ve never seen it before. If I know anything about artefacts from that period, you’re playing with something very dangerous. It may well give you what you want, but it will take something far more valuable from you in return. Please Trixie, take it off while you still can!”
“Nice try, Twilight” she scoffed, “But this is Trixie’s meal ticket for ruling Equestria, and no fairy tale from you is going to stop me. Anyway, lovely as it is to talk with you, Trixie has a date to keep – with the Elements of Harmony!”
”NO!” screamed Twilight as the light blue unicorn disappeared.

The white ball of magical energy moved slowly clockwise and gently enveloped the orange farm pony who kept her eyes steadfastly shut as she felt the magical aura drift over her. With sleight of hoof practiced over many years of working crowds, Trixie deftly lifted the orange bejewelled necklace from the Bearer of the Element of Honesty and moved on to the Element of Generosity. This was way too easy!

Only when she had worked her way round to the last pony did she feel any resistance. She could feel the cyan blue mare resisting and saw her eyes twitch, so quickly cast a spell to desensitise her as she completed her wicked plan. The Bearer of the Element of Loyalty – how fitting that she should be the one to put up a fight.

With all five Elements safely in her grasp, Trixie returned the way she had come and soared back to her caravan where she would remove the sixth and final Element; the Element of Magic. She would force Twilight to watch as Trixie rose and became the omnipotent ruler of Equestria, totally unable to stop her inevitable demise and that of her interfering friends!

Materialising into her caravan, Trixie looked at the desperate shape of Twilight Sparkle, still stuck fast. She would toy with her; listen to her beg and plead. She had time for some fun, after all.
“Trixie” said Twilight in a voice of unexpected authority, “I will give you one last chance to stop.”
“Or what?” she scoffed, “I have five of the Elements of Harmony here. You have the sixth. Watch as the Great and Powerful Trixie plays to her biggest audience yet – the whole of Equestria!”

“Trixie, please, let’s talk about this” said Twilight, “Don’t make the biggest mistake of your life.”
Trixie was going to talk with you some more, but you are boring her. Trixie will give you the choice, either let Trixie take the tiara from you or you hand it to Trixie as a gift so Trixie won’t be quite so cruel to you when she is Queen.

Twilight stared defiantly into the burning red eyes of a madpony and did not respond.
“You’re only making this harder on yourself. Trixie will make you clean out the toilet block of the Royal Guard every day – with your tongue!”
Twilight’s insolent glare was beginning to rattle her victorious monologue. What did she know?
“Trixie demands an answer!” she screamed.
“And precisely what answer would you like, Miss Lulamoon?” enquired a calm and mature voice emerging from the shadows.

Trixie froze.

It couldn’t be!

She turned quickly to see Princess Celestia leading Princess Luna into the centre of her vision. Quickly she cast a spell to make Twilight’s tiara fly into her greedy hooves, but a yellow force field already surrounded the lilac unicorn, just as a blue aura took the five necklaces from the startled showpony.
“We do not believe these are yours” said Luna, staring sternly at Trixie.
“The pendant, if you please, Miss Lulamoon” asked Celestia.
“NEVER! Trixie would rather …”

The sentence hung unfinished between them as she was hit by a yellow aura and a blue aura simultaneously and fell to the floor unconscious. Just at that moment the spell binding Twilight dissipated, and she rose to her hooves.
“Twilight” asked Celestia, ”Please would you remove the pendant from its latest victim.”
“Victim?” queried Twilight as she removed it from Trixie’s neck.
Celestia and Luna ceased their auras and smiled at Twilight.

“Watch the pendant, Twilight” said Celestia, and before her eyes it dissipated into thin air.
“What just happened?” she asked, wide-eyed.
“I suspect you will see that again in your lifetime Twilight” said Celestia, “It appears every fifty years or so and seeks out somepony whose greed and lust for power it can feed off as it drives them further into madness. One clue pointing to possession is the glowing red eyes. Once it is removed, the bond is broken and it disappears to recover its strength in the realm of dark magic once more.”
“Does it have a name?”
“We can think of many” said Luna.
“So Trixie is an innocent victim then?”
“Yes” said Luna, “She is a sadly troubled individual, but cannot be held accountable for her actions whilst under the pendant’s control. Forgive her, if you can.”

“Now we must return to Ponyville” said Celestia, “Your friends have done an admirable job keeping the circle whole, but it is now only fair that we relieve them. Come Sister, Twilight.”
With that, all three followed the blue trail out of the caravan where Trixie lay on the floor to recover from her ordeal and come to terms with what she had done.

Twilight floated down gently back into the circle and felt a tear of gratitude form in her eye at the way her friends had kept the magic together, just through the combination of their personalities since they had been relieved of their Elements. She marvelled at how united and supportive her friends had been, and how lucky she was to have them, thanking each in turn as she went around the circle returning the necklaces to their rightful Bearers.

Once the Bearers were all complete again, she closed the circle down and the exhausted friends all looked up to see the Royal Sisters standing before them, immediately bowing out of respect.
“There is no need for that, my little ponies” said Celestia, “I think it is us who should be thanking you for your belief in your Elements and your belief in each other.”

“Perhaps it would help if Twilight Sparkle were to explain” suggested Luna, and all ponies, including the Princesses sat or lay comfortably as the fancy took them. Twilight recounted the story to gasps from her friends and a few choice words when Trixie’s name was mentioned.
“What I don’t understand though Princesses” said Twilight, “Is how you knew where to come to rescue me?”

“Once we received word by messenger that the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony could be under attack, our Sister woke us at once” explained Luna, “We cast around the dark realm and discovered an unusually high concentration of magical activity around Miss Lulamoon’s caravan. Naturally, we went there with our Sister as soon as we could and once we found Twilight, we merely awaited events to unfold. It was your foresight, Twilight that alerted us, and the courage of all of you that enabled us to prevail.”

“So no more bad dreamy dreams then?” enquired Pinkie, now resplendent with her curly mane once more.
“No; the nightmares have gone” said Luna confidently.
“I think I know what maybe in order now” said Celestia, “Do you feel ready to throw a party?”
The pink party pony gave a broad smile, “Yes indeedly!”