Sunburst, Starlight, Zecora, and the princesses all landed in what appeared to be a large field of grass.
Getting over the initial shock from the drop, the group slowly got up on their hooves and saw that they were surrounded by castles and towers.
The sudden reprieve proved brief as a sizable group of soldiers trotted over, quickly using their spears to surround and trap the group.
There was a sense of tension in the air as they all looked to see the head of the soldiers slowly trotting towards them, revealing himself to be a white-coated unicorn with a long, wavy blue mane. The stallion appeared rather stern and seemed to be cautious of strangers. Though that persona crumbled upon seeing Princess Celestia, practically dropping to his knees in shock.
"Princess Celestia! You're alive!"
The former princess, while the others looked stunned Celestia gently smiled at the unicorn."Yes, I am. It's good to see you're doing well, Shining Armor."
"Sister, you know this pony?" Luna eyed Shining Armor cautiously, tempted to fire a blast of magic if he so much as twitched.
"Yes, he was my former captain of the guard and one of the bravest ponies I had the honor of knowing," Celestia looked upon the young stallion with pride, a sense of her previous regality returning, if only for that moment.
Shining Armor lowered his head with a sheepish look and sighed. "Yes, I was, but I sadly serve another princess now."
Celestia felt her heart sting, knowing fully who he spoke of, which certainly put a damper on things. Still, she took some comfort in knowing he was at least alive and not a mindless clown.
"I understand. Things have become quite crazy since Nightmare Moon's takeover, but where will you take us?"
The former captain of the guard finally stood up, quietly signaling his soldiers to lower their weapons."For now, I'll take you to my parents' house and ask our princess what she wants to do with you. So long as you cooperate, no harm will come to you."
None amongst the group attempted to refuse, hardly sensible given the many blades pointed their way. Thus they allowed the former captain to escort the ponies through the fields.
Curiously enough, the scenery was rather stunning despite the land being altered by Chaos Magic. As they walked, Celestia couldn’t help but keep pace with Shining Armor, looking upon her former subordinate with nostalgia.“You have no idea how good it is to see a friendly face. And we do appreciate what you are doing for us."
Shining Armor bowed and said, "Anything for you, your majesty."
The former princess's cheeks flushed a light, seeing she hadn't been called that in over a year. In some ways, it was rather a relief to the alicorn as she always viewed the status as something bestowed upon her and not so much something she saw herself as and always felt it greatly hindered many of her relationships. That was why she always valued Shining Armor’s companionship, as despite their relationship mostly being professional, she considered him a friend.
"Please, you don't have to call me that anymore; just call me Celestia."
Slightly embarrassed, Shining Armor rubbed the back of his neck as he apologized. "Sorry, it's a force of habit."
As the group continued to trot, a burning question remained unanswered to Celestia: who was Shining serving now under Discord’s rule?
“Shining, what happened to you and your soldiers? I haven’t seen you since Discord’s return, and I find it odd he’d even feel the need to leave anypony, much fewer soldiers, unaffected by his magic.”
Shining Armor gave a long exasperated sigh as he explained, "After your defeat by the hooves of Nightmare Moon, I gathered most of the royal guard and fled. We decided to stake out in Ponyville and tried to lay low. My soldiers and I knew we didn't have the power to take on Nightmare Moon. But, we assumed that some pony powerful enough could eventually defeat her. If nothing else, we hoped to support them when they arose.”
Shining Armor took a minute to pause in his story as Celestia seemed to feel rather ashamed once more, as it was due to her inability to stop Nightmare Moon that led to Discord’s rule. “We don’t blame you for what happened?”
“Regardless, it was my duty to protect ponykind, and I failed in that,” Celestia mumbled to herself as she turned to her sister, trotting beside her looking just as guilty but not saying anything.
Shining Armor then decided to continue. “Well, it’s not all bad, in a manner of speaking anyway. When Discord gave the new princess the right to rule here, we assumed she’d be another sycophant, but she’s e."
Luna and Celestia gave each other hopeful looks, slightly praying that whoever this new princess was could be the key to taking Discord down.
They then trotted through the strange world, seeing a giant purple rainbow overhead with a glittering city in the distance filled with violet. Luna asked, "So…did Discord do this?"
Shining Armor made a gagging noise as he rolled his eyes. "No, our "princess" has turned this place into her own vision of what Equestria should be, and it's not too bad…as long as you don't anger her."
The ponies all gave worried looks, unsure if meeting this other "princess" would provide another ally or enemy to confront.
As the group finally entered the border of Ponyville, they came upon a fairy tale-looking palace. It was rather small and quaint, yet with a hint of luxury going by the glittering gold moat and some fancy towers jutting outward.
Hesitantly, they then crossed a small bridge across the moat, what appeared to be a sea monster beneath the waves. Surprisingly he happily waved at Shining Armor, who waved back.
Deciding to ignore that odd display, they finally approached the front door, where the commander gave a firm knock and waited for them to swing open. The pair were greeted by Night Light and Twilight Velvet.
The pony parents stared aghast at the pair of former princesses, eyes only shifting to the visibly exasperated Shining to signal they were paying attention. "Hey, Mom, Dad. I need to leave these ponies here with you. Would that be ok?"
"Of course," Shining Armor's parents stammered in unison as the group entered the main hall. There they saw a hearth full of family pictures. Celestia felt somewhat stunned seeing pictures of Twilight as a filly and how different she looked before her new ascension. It was like looking at a window at a time when she could’ve done something to prevent what was happening now. Sadly, that was no longer the case.
"So… you're Princess Celestia, correct?" Twilight Velvet asked, seeming somewhat confused by her rather gaudy attire.
Princess Celestia saw little time to address her subjects about the changes throughout the kingdom. ”Yes, I am, and this is my sister Luna.” The Princess of the Night awkwardly waved at the pair, still a little new to social interaction. "Hello! We apologize for our attire; we were cursed by Discord, after all."
The attempt at humor fell utterly flat, both ponies looking less than thrilled to see the Second Princess. The wounds from her time as Nightmare Moon are still quite fresh, leaving the Princess to wish she could return to the moon. Meanwhile, Celestia awkwardly cleared her throat, attempting to ease the tension somewhat. "Trust me; Luna knows what she did as Nightmare Moon was wrong and is trying to make up for it. We aim to overthrow Discord and hopefully return Equestria to how it was.
Luna shook her head as she held up a hoof and placed it over her chest. “As much as I thank my sister for defending me, I have to take full responsibility for my own actions. I swear I’m doing everything I can to take down Discord as well. Still, I will accept your scorn willingly if you wish to despise me. I certainly deserve more.”
Night Light and Twilight Velvet seemed to relax a little as Celestia trotted over to the rest of the group as introduced them individually. “Moving on to everypony else. This is Sunburst, Starlight, and the talking skunk here is Zecora."
That proved the true cure for the situation as Twilight Velvet suddenly dawwed before trotting over to the skunk and booped her in the nose. “Oh, she’s adorable.”
Zecora put her paws on her hips and snapped, "A skunk I may be, but I still have my dignity!"
That only earned her another squeal and boop from Velvet, finding the rhyming only added to her adorable air.
Starlight gave a loud, obnoxious yawn as she tugged on Sunburst and asked, "Why don't we go upstairs? I'm exhausted from our near-death experience."
Sunburst was rather surprised by Starlight and gave a nod, but before he could even say anything, he was dragged upstairs by the mare, with Luna gazing up at the two with a suspicious look. Having an idea of what exactly the pair might be up to, Celestia nuzzled her sister as she tried to get her to ease up a bit, seeing this was the first time they'd have peace and quiet in years. Might as well enjoy the reprieve while they can.
Shining Armor then turned his attention to Celestia, offering the former ruler a curt bow."Please excuse me, but I must attend to the new princess I serve and inform her of your arrival."
"Of course, please let her know we come in peace and we are seeking aid. If she isn't with Discord, we could use her help to find a way to combat him."
Hopefully, despite the picture Shining had painted, Celestia couldn’t help but hope the princess would at least be willing to hear them out.
"Yes, I will; be patient, please, relax. There's plenty of food, and if you need to sleep, there are extra rooms on the second floor."
Offering the princess one last bow, Shining exited the house, his soldiers following suit, leaving the group alone with his parents.
Princess Celestia could almost cry as she hadn't received this level of hospitality in years. But she held herself together as she soon met this new princess and had to be ready.
Deciding to take advantage of things for the moment, Celestia quietly sat on a nearby couch, signaling Luna to follow suit. Both felt an immediate sense of relief course through them, practically sinking into the soft cushions, almost forgetting all they’d been through up to this point.
Celestia, however, kept enough of her composure to pose a question she’d had since they arrived. "So…I assume Twilight worked out a deal to have you live here?"
The two both nodded solemnly, Twilight Velvet's eyes practically bursting at the seam with tears. "My poor baby has turned into a monster."
She started to wail as Celestia gave her a colorful handkerchief that seemed to continue until it was a mile-long rope of colorful cloth. Although the somewhat somber mood from before had returned, the silly antics of the princesses, unintended as they were, made the middle-aged ponies smile again.
After wiping away the tears, Twilight Velvet regained the same serious look she’d given Luna, though now directed at Celestia. "Since we’re going to be together for a while, I do hope you’ll forgive my bluntness Princess, but I have to ask. Why didn't you accept our daughter into your school?"
Celestia looked down, having already anticipated the question. On some level, she wanted to argue it was simply an unfortunate circumstance of the time. Yet, looking at how things had changed, it was clear how poorly that decision had panned out, and even if she lacked the power to see into the future, surely there must have been some sign she missed regarding Twilight’s potential.
"I doubt there is anything I can say that won’t sound like an excuse. Even so, I can’t imagine how the administrators could possibly have misjudged your daughter’s amazing talent.”
Celestia tried to rack her brain back to the initial meeting she’d had with the young unicorn prodigy, and finally, a crucial detail came to light. “Tell me something when she was a filly; I seem to recall something was holding her back during the initial tryouts."
Night Light paused. "We always knew she had the talent, she studied magic virtually everyday and that’s why we signed her up for the exam. But it was as if something had gone wrong!? Like she had stage fright, we could never figure it out."
Luna eyed her sister curiously as more information was revealed. "Sister, you knew I would return as Nightmare Moon and Discord might break free!? You didn't have any pony that could use the Elements of Harmony?"
Celestia took a hoof over her face and sighed, "Sadly, no, there were a few candidates who sadly failed, and I was losing hope. I thought I could take you on and convince you to stop being Nightmare Moon on my own…but that obviously didn't work out. Perhaps had I not been so quick to give up, perhaps I could’ve prevented all of this. "
The two princesses both became relatively silent as they sipped their tea, as Luna contemplated what they’d learned. "Starlight Glimmer said she is from a timeline where none of this happened? If that's the case, something may have caused our timeline to split."
“Yes, she’d mentioned her version of Twilight was my most prized pupil,” Celestia muttered somewhat while sipping her tea.
Twilight Velvet practically lept from her seat, almost jolting the princess pair."So you're saying our baby isn't a monster!?"
Celestia wanted to speak in the affirmative but knew it wasn’t that simple. Ever the blunt one, Luna decided to say what needed to be said. “Unfortunately, while I don’t doubt your daughter is or was capable of great compassion for all of ponykind, I’m afraid, as it stands, she’s as much a monster as you believe.”
Celestia quickly chimed in to soften the blow as she saw the emotional devastation on the parents' faces. “But it doesn’t have to be that way; if we can determine where our timeline’s split off, we can correct the problem and ensure your daughter becomes the hero she was always meant to be.”
That brought a small amount of comfort, but not enough to keep Twilight Velvet from bawling into her husband’s embrace, bemoaning her own failure as a parent. The sight only served to harden both princesses' resolve.
“No matter what happens, we must fix this timeline.”
Meanwhile, Sunburst was led upstairs, where he and Starlight went to an empty bedroom. There Starlight quickly slammed the door behind her, with the stallion looking somewhat surprised. "Starlight, what's going on?"
The mare gave a long-exasperated sigh, her heart pounding in her chest. She knew Sunburst would do anything for her but didn’t know how much she should tell him. Starlight decided she’ll start slow and see how much her friend could take.
"Look, I…I need you to promise me something. I'll tell you a lot about myself and what's been happening to me. But you have to swear you can't tell the princesses or any pony else, understand?"
Sunburst wanted to argue against keeping secrets but nodded regardless as Starlight waved a hoof over her mane. "Ok, a few days ago, I went back in time using a forbidden time spell to stop Twilight."
"Ok…what does that have to do with anything?" Sunburst asked while scratching the back of his mane, while silently freaking out that his friend had somehow cracked time travel.
Starlight groaned as she threw a hoof down her face, "Trust me, it sounds crazy, but the Twilight you know was supposed to be the wielder of the Element of Magic. She and her friends used it along with the other Elements of Harmony to save Equestria from numerous threats for years….or at least that’s what was supposed to happen until I…messed things up a bit.”
"Wait!?” Sunburst’s prior fear or worry vanished, and he suddenly looked at his old friend with more apprehension. “Starlight, what exactly did you do?”
The pink-coated unicorn looked downward and mumbled, "I…I was…I was under the belief that having ponies remove their cutie marks and making them the same was the best way for society to exist. I thought individuality only caused pain and suffering. Twilight and her friends basically came along and ruined my plans."
The magic-researching pony had to stop his jaw from dropping as things got more insane. “Remove cutie marks…you can actually do that? How? No, wait, not important. So how does this relate to anything?”
Starlight sighed as her eyes drifted to her own cutie mark, almost wishing she’d never gotten it. “After that, I managed to slip away and decided since they ruined my plans, I’d ruin something of theirs, namely the thing that mattered the most to them.”
Sunburst nodded while adjusting the glasses on his face."So you tried to end their friendship because if they never became friends, you would've never lost your power and could’ve spread your message all over Equestria."
She then slammed her hooves down at a wall and shouted, "Yes!" She quickly pulled her hooves back and offered a very soft sorry at the sudden outburst. “But yeah, that’s pretty much the whole story.
Sunburst paused, taking a minute to take everything.
“Listen, I didn't mean for all of this to happen! I'm not evil….anymore.” Starlight practically groaned internally; this was all sounding like a bad sales pitch.“I…I think life would be better if ponies were the same. That way, no pony would be hurtful, and chaos wouldn't reign. Can't you see I was trying to stop this from happening!?"
"I can see your point…." Sunburst muttered, thinking about all the twisted things Discord and Twilight have done, not that what Starlight suggested sounded much better.
"See, even Celestia and Luna couldn't stop Discord. Faust knows everypony would be better off if they couldn't be like him," Starlight continued, practically falling into her old ways again.
Sunburst seemed to still contemplate everything as he said, "Maybe…But what are we to do with this information? Are you still bent on removing individuality from everypony?"
This time Starlight paused; she knew Sunburst didn't fully understand everything about her, so she couldn't tell him her plans. So, for now, she'll wait until she can fully trust him, then say, "No, I know I was wrong; I just needed to let you know, considering we were friends before.”
Sunburst still seemed unsure of even if he could truly trust Starlight. “Okay, Starlight, I won’t say anything for now.”
Starlight immediately brought Sunburst into a hug and silent thank you that he awkwardly returned, still far from comfortable with all he’d be told.
Later that evening, the two former princesses opted to take a brief walk and trot through the fields heading to the nearby town.
Despite being a considerable distance from Canterlot, it was quite impressive.
It had a massive wall of white and light blue stone surrounding the place with towers, overhead waving flags with silvery stars and crescent moons decorating it. The two princesses were in awe as they entered through the gates and soon trotted down cobblestone streets that were colored similar light blue and white.
Despite the entrance, there were fewer castles and more upper-class manors with ponies wearing outfits of the same decoration as the flags being a bright purple. Interestingly, despite their attire, they seemed normal, living rather casual lives, foals going to school, ponies buying and selling merchandise at markets, and even a spa. Sweet Apple Acres was still there, but there were numerous ponies bucking away. It appeared as though the entire extended Apple Family had there if the massive mansion on the property was anything to go by.
Jarring as the sight was, Celestia couldn’t help but be impressed.“It seems this princess is doing well. At least the ponies here seem content and happy compared to Canterlot.”
Luna, however, was the most suspicious of the two once again.“I feel this is too good to be true; we must remain vigilant.”
“I understand, sister,” Celestia whispered back, still keeping a vigilant eye as they continued through the city. They eventually came to the town square and saw a princess statue. She was in a prancing position with her horn rather tall, and her wingspan was massive. Underneath the statue was a plaque that read, “Princess Trixie, the Princess of Trixieville!”
“Not exactly the most humble Princess is she,” Luna muttered quietly to her sister, who nodded at the sight of the plaque. Seriously, naming the town after yourself, suddenly they felt far less confident about this self-proclaimed royal.
Continuing to walk, they made their way to the grandest building in the city, a castle bigger than theirs! It was made like all the other buildings, with similar white and blue bricks with Trixie’s flags waving atop each tower. As the princesses approached the massive double doors, fireworks began exploding in the sky with PRINCESS TRIXIE spelled out in the sky.
Walking down a massive hallway, they eventually reached the throne room, finding Princess Trixie upon a massive chair with equally gigantic wings and a tall, magnificent-looking horn just like her statue outside.
The blue-colored alicorn looked down at the princesses with a cocky smirk befitting her ego.“My my, what have we here? Discord's playthings in the presence of The Great and Powerful Princess Trixie!"
Celestia and Luna looked at each other, seeing that their "help" was an egomaniac and their hopes were slowly running down the drain that she would be of any help.
The Princess of the Sun swallowed her pride and bowed her head., "Yes, my sister and I need your aid. Discord has ravaged Equestria, and reality as we know it is fracturing. We ask your help to combat him and end his reign."
A quick nudge got Luna to follow suit, though she didn’t placate Trixie’s ego by speaking, merely bowing and nothing more.
Princess Trixie looked intrigued at the idea, tapping a hoof to her chin with a smirk forming on her face. "Honestly, I've been thinking of taking down Discord myself. I have lost contact with the Lord of Chaos for some time, and I don't care about him that much."
The princesses were somewhat astonished by this news. , "So… you're not going to turn us over to Twilight?"
"Of course not, and we can discuss defeating Discord at another time…though I’m willing to help you really only on one condition," The blue-coated alicorn slowly trotted towards them, both princesses dreading the demand.
Shockingly, Trixie threw her hooves up and exclaimed, "You two must join me in my shows!"
The alicorn princesses, momentarily stunned, immediately paled at the mention of “shows' ' immediately flashing back to their prior “performances” by Discord and Twilight.
Surprisingly, Trixie saw the fear on their faces and responded rather unexpectedly. "Oh, don't worry, you'll be my backup stars; no dangerous stunts required! And I’ll ensure you are well cared for. You'll be pampered like a princess without having to perform your old royal duties! Doesn't that sound grand!?"
Luna eyed her and wanted to say "no," but Celestia quickly pulled her to the side and whispered, "I know this sounds crazy, but we need to take her deal."
"Are you serious!? This crazy pony is going to get us killed! We can't be standing around performing tricks. Once Twilight informs Discord of our escape, he'll come straight here! We need to leave as soon as possible!"
"I know, but she's an alicorn and has been granted the ability to wield Chaos Magic. Despite her personality, we need her help. If all we have to do is perform a few tricks, it’s worth the trade."
Luna grumbled as she didn't like this deal. "ok, we'll stay for one night and help her with her stupid show. Afterward, we leave to find the other Elements of Harmony with or without her help."
Celestia nodded as the two turned to face Princess Trixie, who eagerly awaited their response.
"So, is everypony in agreement ?"
Luna stayed quiet as Celestia cleared her throat."We will help you with one show; then we'll discuss terms to defeat Discord."
"It's a deal!" Princess Trixie exclaimed, brimming with excitement as she flew towards them, looking the sisters over. "But I think you both need a uniform change, don't you think?"
The alicorn princess then lit her horn, and the two were then surrounded by swirls of magic. Their old uniforms were replaced with dark purple cloaks with sparkling stars set into the fabric. The giant red rubber noses were gone, and their afros were replaced with jester caps over their heads with jingling bells.
The two mares looked at each other, noting that the outfits were less embarrassing and smelt nicer than their old clothes. There was a decent amount of silence as Trixie then trotted over.“So, what do you think?"
Luna turned towards her and snapped, "What'd I think!? You can sho-”
Celestia quickly clasped her hooves around her sister's mouth and said, "What she meant to say is we're quite exhausted from our trip and need some rest."
Luna gave a nod as Princess Trixie clapped her hooves together and exclaimed, "Excellent! Captain Shiny!"
"It's Shining Armor," the stallion muttered under his breath.
"Take the princesses to the guest suite to ensure they have everything they need," Princess Trixie proclaimed. Shining Armor nodded as he escorted the princesses up through the castle steps toward their quarters.
After a shower and a quick message to the rest of their allies, the group was now together in a well-furnished room. There were portraits of Trixie adorning the walls, with a lovely canopy bed lavished in velvety blankets and pillows. There was a table in the middle of the room with a fruit basket and various pastries. But Celestia and Luna were gorging on the fruit as they both missed having something not made of processed sugar.
It wasn't long before Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer (along with Zecora) joined them as they were accompanied by Shining Armor.
Sunburst groaned in embarrassment as he eyed the décor that surrounded them. "I know you all don't know Trixie, but you seriously can't trust her."
Celestia looked towards him as she wiped her mouth clean of some fruit juice."I know; she's self-absorbed and thinks way too highly of herself. But we don't have a choice, Discord has limited the magic my sister and I wield."
Luna turns towards her sister. "Well, for one sister, I agree with Sunburst. This Princess Trixie will stab us in the back the first chance she gets. There's no way she can tag along with us."
"It won’t come to that. I don't think she'll leave her kingdom. So we do this performance, then go to the Everfree Forest, where we can start our hunt for the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. Hopefully, we’ll find them quickly and resolve this."
Starlight had a cup of tea as she was sipping it silently, thinking about a maid she saw working in Trixie's palace."So…look…I need to explain some things."
All eyes were on the dimensional traveler, whose gaze shifted to a nearby door."One of Twilight's friends is here, actually working as a maid. Her name is Rarity."
The ponies all gasped as Celestia asked, "How well do you know her?"
Sunburst gave Starlight a curious look as she gulped and said, "I don't know her too well, but I know back in my timeline she's one of the best fashion designers in Equestria."
Luna seemed rather pleased by the news. "So this trip wasn't a waste of time after all? Is there any way we can convince her to come with us?"
Starlight shook her head. “Not sure; seeing how strict Trixie is, she might not want to just let her go. Assuming she would even want to come in the first place."
"Knowing Trixie, we would have to give her something in exchange for her. But if she likes her too much, it would be quite difficult for her to be let go of Trixie's service."
Celestia looked at a clock overhead and saw no numbers, just one arrow and a phrase where the twelve should be "Princess Trixie's Greatest Show in Equestria!" The Princess didn’t even react, expecting something to that extent."Let’s focus on one thing at a time., Luna and I have to go perform for one of Trixie's shows. After that, we'll devise a plan and hopefully get this Rarity on our side."
"But we have to be quick. Trixie seems to think she can keep us as a status symbol. But the truth is Twilight is ruthless.. if we stay here too long, Twilight will come for us or, worse, bring Discord here." Sunburst exclaimed as he seemed somewhat scared while trying to act brave.
"If we leave without Rarity, then all of this would be pointless anyways. For now, the plan is we stay here until we can get Rarity to escape with us, then we head to the Everfree Forest," Luna explained; she then looked over at every pony and asked, "Are we all in agreement?"
Everypony nodded at once and shouted, "Agreed!"
They then all clinked their glasses of tea together. Luna and Celestia then drank their tea and departed for their show.