Later that evening, the princesses were escorted throughout the town known as Trixieville. Though, calling it a town was a bit of a disservice as it seemed to be more like a city now.
Celestia couldn't help but stare at the many large buildings that rose nearly to the clouds that seemed to be found at every corner.
"To think this was once the quaint little town of Ponyville. It's almost like we've been teleported to Las Pegasus."
"Tis truly a pity, dear sister," Luna found herself cringing at a giant neon billboard of Trixie hanging on a nearby building. "I much preferred the more rustic feel of the Ponyville of old. There was a simple charm to it."
"Indeed, it was something I found rather admirable about it."
The pair mused more over the lost village as they headed to the center of town, where a massive stadium with hundreds of ponies cheering while fireworks shot into the air.
It was hard to know whether to call it impressive or excessive.
Celestia had been to hundreds of Wonderbolt shows in her lifetime, many of which had been quite the spectacle, but this was unlike anything she's seen before.
The stadium's scale was impressive, holding maybe over a thousand ponies. She wasn't aware of what happened after Discord's takeover, but she assumed there were so many ponies here because many had fled from other towns and cities. Though even then, it was just as likely Discord allowed them to think they were safe for his amusement.
As they made their way to the center stage, Princess Trixie stood amongst the crowd, waving a hoof with her wings held high in the air, soaking in the audience's love and admiration.
The light blue alicorn smiled as she proclaimed, "Hello, citizens of Trixieville! How are we doing tonight!?"
The crowd began to cheer louder, "Princess Trixie! Princess Trixie!"
"That's what I like to hear!" the young monarch laughed as she raised her hooves to the chanting of her name. Celestia and Luna were rather disgusted by the ego oozed by the princess. She had a very high opinion of herself and never missed an opportunity to brag. Even Discord wasn't this ego-centric.
Despite their disgust, they both kept in mind they had to go through just one of these shows. Besides, it's not like they were exactly in a position to complain or mount some offensive.
"Now, we have a special show for you all! We have two former princesses with us tonight. So, let me introduce you to Ex-Princesses, Luna and Celestia!"
The crowd began to cheer with a bit of an increase in volume as the two were placed on either side of Trixie. Luna nervously bowed her head, seeming not to be used to the crowd, while Celestia smiled and waved a hoof with practiced ease, having missed doing these kinds of things during her reign.
Her audience was enticed; Trixie spread her wings and started to hover off the ground. "Now, it is time for what you have all been waiting for! The greatest show of the ages!"
She then flew upward, her powerful horn glowing as she smirked downward at the depowered princesses. "Tonight, I'll show you my power and how powerless these former alicorns are!"
The sisterly duo felt any enthusiasm they had immediately left their bodies as they contemplated running, but with a whisk of a wand, both princesses disappeared rather suddenly. The entire crowd gasped in shock at what they saw. A spotlight immediately shined on Trixie, who casually removed her hat before digging inside with her hoof.
After a dramatic drumroll from seemingly nowhere, Trixie finally pulled her arm out and presented the princesses, now miniaturized to the size of tiny dolls. The audience erupted with excitement.
Celestia and Luna squeaked in freight but not before she tossed them back into the black void of her hat. Trixie then lit her horn and pulled out two bunnies from her hat. One was a white-coated bunny with a sun symbol near its hindlegs, and the other a black-coated one with and moon marking. The crowd oohed and awed at the little bunnies, who were now squirming about, unable to leave Trixie's grasp, and eyed the pair with wicked glee.
"Oh, that's not all."
The princess waved her wand again, and the bunnies were suddenly turned into seals before being set back on the ground. Trixie casually pulled a giant ball out of her hat before throwing it at the two. Despite the former rulers not wanting to indulge in this show anymore, their instincts seem to kick in as the two seals toss the ball across each other. The crowd clapped and was rather admired their princess's power.
"That's not all! If you think I can only turn ponies into animals, think again!"
With a whisk of Trixie's wand, she magically transformed the seals to their alicorn forms in the skimpy jester costumes. Neither alicorn looked especially happy about their little transformation show but found themselves trapped in a large crate before they could get a word out.
With a twirl of her wand, she unfurled the box, and then there, standing before the crowd, were two elderly-looking ponies with walkers; their manes were pale and thick glasses practically covering their faces. The ponies were quite impressed and clapped as the two elderly alicorns looked at each other with confusion.
"What's going on?" Luna tried asking, and false teeth came out of her mouth and clambered on the ground.
"Don't worry! I got them!" her sister cried as she dropped to her knees, as they made a crackling noise, only to immediately groan as her legs gave out, sending her to the floor.
"Guess age finally caught up with the princesses!" Trixie cackled lightly at the pair of aged mares. "Well, that's not all I can do!"
Princess Trixie then trapped the two in the box once more, and this time when the fours side collapsed, the two alicorns were two pudgy foals with thick diapers around their waists, playing with baby blocks with pacifiers in their mouths. The crowd dawwed as Trixie laughed. "Ah, Age Spells, my favorite! It still can't be too repetitive, after all. Let's get them back to their proper age!"
She then trapped the two foals in the box and unveiled it once more with the two, now adult alicorns, trapped in the box sideways with their heads popping out. Neither princess looked especially happy with the situation, which only became more frantic when Trixie reached into her hat again…and pulled out a rather long saw blade.
Smirking down at the pair, Trixie immediately set about cutting into the box the team was trapped in without hesitation! The two alicorns kicked and squirmed, fearing for their lives, but breaking out of the box was impossible!
Within less than a minute, Trixie sliced the box and its occupants in half. The alicorns could only stare in horror at the visible line separating their bodies as if they were made with clay. Trixie retrieved a small bag of powder from her hat before sprinkling it on the box. She pulled the box apart simply, confirming the division and sending the crowd into thunderous applause.
The sisters were both surprised that they could still feel and use their back legs. The crowd was in complete awe as they clapped and cheered. Trixie bowed as she then sealed the two back together.
Both Celestia and Luna, for a moment, felt a sense of relief at being made whole again, only for Trixie to wave her wand again, turning the box into a pair of cannons, with each princess sticking out the barrel.
With another wave of the wand, the fuse on both was ignited, sending the princesses into another panicked fit. Trixie bowed before the rest of the crowd as they continued to chant her name.
“Citizens of Trixieville! I have a special announcement! Tonight is an incredibly unique show, not simply because of the princesses' presence, but because they came to me for aid. They seek to overthrow Discord and return Equestria to its former state."
Celestia felt her eyes practically leap from their sockets at Trixie's sudden exposure to their plan. Luna looked about ready to unleash the Royal Canterlot Voice, half expecting the crowd to turn on them immediately.
However, to their surprise, the crowd cheered even louder, some chanting their disdain for the mischievous tyrant that ruled their lives.
Trixie took it all in stride as she landed between the two cannons. "Tonight! I showed you just an ounce of my power and proved that there is little doubt that Trixie is the greatest user of Equestrian Magic. Once Discord is defeated, I, Princess Trixie, will become Equestria's new Ruler!"
The speech got another round of applause and explosion of chanting as Trixie kept her hooves up in the air with her wingspan spread out. She then lit the fuse at the end of the cannons, and they exploded upwards into the sky, two massive explosions of the sun and the moon lighting up the entire stage.
The final two explosions faded with the reminisce of them drifting downwards with Princess Celestia and Luna formed next to Trixie. She gave one last bow, and the two former princesses shaking all over, did the same. Powerless to do much else, they realized how dangerous things were and how they had made a terrible mistake trusting Trixie.
Starlight Glimmer was still in Trixie's palace looking for she was looking around and trying to find Rarity, eventually stumbling upon her sweeping a nearby hall.
The mare wore a simple French maid uniform with a black bow tied in her mane. It was an outfit the mare Starlight knew would never be caught dead wearing, yet this Rarity didn't even seem bothered by it, almost seeming content with her meager standing.
The sight left Starlight feeling another pang of guilt, seeing the ordinarily passionate and, at times, fierce fashionista reduced to little more than a servant to an egomaniac.
So distracted, she didn't notice Sunburst appear at her side, looking on confused as he pushed his glasses up. "So this is the Rarity you were talking about?"
Starlight grimaced slightly at the uncertainty in his voice. She couldn't blame him; looking at the former Element, it was hard to believe she could help topple one like Discord.
"Yes…sort of. We need to get at least her motivated to leave this place; we can worry about getting her true destiny later."
The unicorn looked around, seeing no guards as they must all be attending Princess Trixie's performance. It was a perfect opportunity to try to snap Rarity out of the state she was in. The pink-coated unicorn ran down the hall and confronted the maid, who looked up and replied in a bored tone, "Hello? How was your room? Was it cleaned to your satisfaction?"
She sounded so lifeless. It left Starlight pausing at being forced to confront the results of her decision.
"Yes, it was, thank you," Starlight tried to shake off any lingering guilt for the moment. "But I have to ask what happened here? Call me crazy, but you don't exactly seem to be enjoying the whole maid thing?"
Rarity's expression didn't change an inch, as if her body was a machine on autopilot. "Before Discord appeared, I was in the service of Nightmare Moon. She offered me a job as a maid and accepted."
"Why would you do that!?" Starlight asked, somewhat surprised by the response.
Rarity scoffed, showing a hint of emotion for the first time. "I didn't know what else to do. Before that, I was going all over Ponyville doing odd jobs, working at Sweet Apple Acres bucking apples since the owner's granddaughter moved to Manehattan. When that failed went to Sugar Cube Corner and almost burned the place down. Then I went to work for the mayor as a secretary and ended up causing a riot. Nightmare Moon immediately appeared and retook the Everfree Forest as her domain. With Princess Celestia dethroned and ordered all but destroyed, I had little choice but to ask if she had any job offerings."
As she continued to mull over her life, Rarity's left hoof started dusting on reflex without taking her eyes off Starlight. Almost like it was second nature to her.
"Nightmare Moon thought I would make a good maid. And it was when I got my cutie mark." Rarity showed off her flank with a broom, holding two buckets of water on each side. "I assumed this was my destiny and worked up the ranks until I became her head maid."
Starlight blinked as she didn't expect to get such a mouthful from Rarity, and the way she was now had nothing to do with Chaos Magic, mind manipulation, or any forceful coercion. It was simply her screwing up the timeline. Even if Discord or Nightmare Moon had never appeared, it's very likely Rarity would've been left out on the street begging for bits or never left her parent's home.
The whole idea left her with a sick feeling in her stomach and wondering why she'd ever thought doing such a thing was a good decision. . Maybe she still believed in her ideology that if every pony were equal, things would be better. Yet, seeing the damage she'd caused to so many, and in countless instances before simply pursuing that idea, left her honestly questioning her decisions.
Regardless of how she felt, she had to fix this mess and restore things to how they should be.
With her plan already running through in her head, she quickly placed her hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "Listen, I know you won't believe me. But you weren't always like this, and you had a very fulfilling life, and if you want any chance to see that life, we need to leave now! Twilight or Discord might be on their way to take back Celestia and Luna for escaping his circus. If that happens, there's no hope for me to fix my mistakes."
Rarity paused, blinked once, and shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, plus I have duties here that give me a fulfilling life. Even if I could become something better, this is fine."
Starlight groaned, rubbing a hoof down her face, expecting that kind of reaction. "Ok, let's try this a different way. Say you could go back in time, and you decided to make the costumes for your school play back when you were a young filly, would you?"
"Well…I did have some ideas, but I lacked the gemstones to make what I desired…Wait, how on earth did you know that?"
Starlight didn't bother acknowledging the second part and latched onto what she needed. "So…is that a yes?"
“Well…maybe…” Rarity's initial indifference seemed to crack, if only for a moment.
Starlight fought back a cheer, seeing she was getting somewhere but was nervous Rarity would still say no and stay here. She needed to push just a little bit more.
"Ok, and if you decided to keep making clothes, wouldn't you love to make fancy gowns and help find the perfect outfits for your friends? Wouldn't that sound much more fulfilling than working as a slave to some pony who treats you like dirt?"
Rarity paused as she seemed to be coming around finally. "I don't fully trust you. But I feel you're not wrong, and you have a point…Nightmare Moon and Trixie both treated me quite horridly. And even if it is what my Cutie Mark says, it never felt right to me."
Starlight sighed in relief; she had Rarity change her mind, and now the hard part was escaping the castle. "Alright, but we have to go now!"
Rarity was hesitant but nodded, following Starlight and Sunburst as they headed to the main hall. Their advance, however, was immediately halted when the doors burst open, and Princess Trixie strolled in with Celestia and Luna at her sides.
The former stage magician, who'd been positively beaming moments ago, found the sight of the group perplexing, mainly Rarity. "Maid, what is all of this? What are you all doing here?"
Rarity quickly curtsied and replied, "I apologize, your grace. I was merely giving a tour of the castle to Starlight and her coltfriend Sunburst."
Sunburst's face quickly matched his name at the designation. "We are-"
"Oh yes! My coltfriend, we're just having a tour of your lovely castle, right dear?" Starlight replied rather quickly while kissing Sunburst on the cheek. The stallion's face turned a deeper shade of red as he responded in incomprehensible babbles. Thankfully that seemed to sell the deception.
"Well, that is sweet, but cleaning must be done. Now maid, go and take my two new assistants to their chambers. They are quite exhausted after the show. Also, you will be quite busy as we prepare for our trek!"
"A trek, your grace?" Rarity asked with a queasy look on her face.
Trixie looked over and exclaimed gleefully, "Yes! One week from today, we will ride out to defeat my rival Twilight and then take on Lord Discord himself! But there's so much to pack. Also, I'll need an audience to witness me sealing Discord in stone!"
Despite looking utterly horrified at the idea, Rarity performed another curtsy without question. "I understand your grace. I shall do as you ask."
"Excellent. Now, ensure these two are well fed and given water." Trixie added as if she were talking about some pets.
The alicorn princess then strutted off as both Celestia and Luna slowly trotted over to the group looking wholly exhausted and scared at the same time.
Once they heard the door shut, Celestia collapsed onto the ground, practically gasping with exhaustion. "I'm sorry, Starlight, but we cannot rely on Trixie to help us. I'm not sure about the pony you're familiar with, but this one is quite unstable !"
"Unstable, she's utterly deranged." Luna practically shouted out, barely able to lift her own head up. We'd be better off leaving Discord in power than letting her rule. I dread what kind of insanity she'd bring to Equestria.
Starlight sighed, "Well, there goes my original plan; I might as well go back to our rooms before this looks suspicious."
As the princesses slowly picked themselves up and had Rarity guide them, Starlight eyed the maid again, hoping perhaps another solution could be found.
The collective group was back in the guest room, where the exhausted ponies sat around the center table, drinking wine and eating from the fruit basket. They all looked exhausted or defeated as their one chance to escape failed.
Starlight turned to the former princess of the sun. "Celestia, I have to know, how powerful is Trixie?"
Celestia took a long swing from her glass before finally responding.
"Powerful, she uses advanced spells that would normally take thousands of years to master and bend the fabric of reality at a whim. Discord has truly given her a portion of his Chaos Magic."
Luna nodded, biting into a pineapple, of all things, without a hint of hesitation. "I must agree with my sister; Trixie cannot be defeated through combat. If we were to face her, she would imprison us like what Discord did back in his circus." Both Celestia and Luna shivered at the notion. "We don't wish ever to repeat that mistake."
Starlight plopped down her chin onto her hooves. "There has to be another way…we have to think of something."
Surprisingly, Rarity, who'd stayed with them despite her prior orders, was raised with a hoof. "Starlight told me what's going on, and I understand you all need to leave…I…I have a plan for you to escape."
"Really!?" Everypony asked in unison.
Rarity nodded and continued, "Yes, there's a hidden passage in the castle that Trixie placed just in case Discord decided to turn on her."
"Ok, what's the catch?" Luna asked, eyeing her.
Rarity looked down, somewhat apprehensive about speaking. "Well, it's guarded by her most trusted servant, Big Macintosh. He's a massive and powerful pony who guards it day and night. It's his only job. But it's a secret. I only know about it because I talk to him occasionally after bringing him his daily meals."
"Ok? So how do we get past him?" Starlight asked.
Rarity smiled as she explained, "I know his favorite food, apple cinnamon pancakes. I'll make some along with his usual coffee during his ten-minute break. While he's distracted, You all can slip into the passage unnoticed, But if I'm going to escape, somepony needs to slip something into his drink."
Zecora cleared her throat, getting all eyes on the talking skunk. "I'll make a sleeping draught for you, but I require some ingredients for the sleeping brew."
"Ok, what is it that you need exactly? I can fetch you things at the market tomorrow?" Rarity asked.
Zecora took out a quill and a scroll and began jotting down the list of ingredients. Meanwhile, Luna turned towards Rarity. "This is all well and good, but I assume the secret passage requires pushing a stone or pulling down a torch. How can you show us what to do so we aren't confused or lost down there?"
Rarity chuckled to herself, seeing how easy it was. "Well, that's the best part; the secret passage is behind a massive portrait of Princess Trixie herself. It's an illusion, hop through it, and you'll end up in a maze of caverns and tunnels. Once there, light your horns, and a glowing moss will guide you to the exit and right into the Everfree Forest."
Luna couldn't help but stare blankly at the relatively simple escape route. "I honestly can't tell if she's arrogant, incompetent, or lazy. Not even a few traps, just a simple illusion, and you're practically there?"
Rarity only offered a shrug while Celestia gave her sister a light pant on the shoulder. "Try not to overthink it, Luna; let's be thankful it is so simple for a change."
Starlight still seemed to be skeptical of the plan. "Ok? So, you make pancakes and some coffee. We'll make our way to the portrait; you then have Zecora slip her sleeping potion into Big Mac's coffee and serve it to him during his break. Meanwhile, we sneak to the portrait, hop inside and make our way to the Everfree Forest. Then when he's asleep, you come after us."
Rarity nodded and replied, "Yes, that sounds like a plan."
"Well, that sounds too easy. You're sure Trixie doesn't have traps, spells, or some monster lurking down below waiting for us?" Starlight asked as she was still feeling uneasy.
Rarity scoffed, "Please, why would Princess Trixie have a flesh-eating monster in her escape tunnel? Also, you forget she's an egomaniac. She's so up her flank she doesn't think anypony is smart enough to figure out her portrait is an illusion. Please, trust me on this."
Still skeptical, Starlight was happy Rarity decided to join them. Still, it sounded too easy, especially after their near-death encounter with a massive dragon just a day ago. But…maybe it was that simple, and she needed to relax a bit.
"Well, we should at least vote on this. All in favor of Rarity's plan raise a hoof; all opposed give a neigh."
Everypony raised a hoof (besides Starlight), and she didn't even bother neighing seeing she was outvoted. "Ok, we're set with Rarity's plan. Be ready because we're going to bust out of here tomorrow night."