Just outside, a near-hurricane force wind almost tore the ponies right off their hooves, forcing them to hug the ground. Applejack had to grab hold of Fluttershy just to keep her from drifting away. “M-maybe we should just head back inside and pretend this isn’t happening!” The yellow pegasus shrieked over the gale.
“No way!” Dash yelled back, flattening her body against the wind and clinging to the ground with all her might. “I know for a fact this wind wasn’t scheduled for tonight! Something’s going on!”
“Maybe we could ask her?” AJ asked, pointing at the sky. The ponies all gasped at the sight of a bright blue ball of energy swirling in mid-air, the wind whipping up all around it. As they watched, the ball descended to a point right on top of the town hall, shredding what little was left of the roof and scattering shingles everywhere. Slowly, the energy dissipated as everypony in town stepped out of their houses and looked up to see a familiar blue mare.
“TRIXIE!?” Twilight gasped.
“I say, what is she doing back here?” Rarity asked.
“Muh-maybe she heard Sethisto was here and came looking for him? I mean, she always was one for dramatic entrances.” As everypony watched in horror, a familiar red glow appeared near the blue mare’s neck, extending around her throat with bolts of red lightning that eventually coalesced into the Alicorn Amulet. Her eyes opened, revealing the terrible red glow of somepony beneath the Amulet’s spell.
“Or maybe she’s here t’give everypony a blast from the past,” AJ moaned.
Trixie cleared her throat and spoke, her words carried on the air by the sheer force of the amulet: “Citizens of Ponyville! The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to welcome you all to a new era in Equestria’s history!”
“Now what in tarnation…” Applejack started.
“Your town will have the great honor of serving as the new capital of Trixievania, and as such, shall be renamed LULAMOONTOPOLIS!”
“TRIXIE!” Twilight gasped, galloping up to the hall’s base. “What’s going on!? I thought you’d turned to good!”
The blue unicorn gazed down at the Element of Magic with a familiar, haughty look in her eyes. “Ah, Twilight Sparkle, the cause of the Great and Powerful Trixie’s downfall when last she was here. How nice of you to offer yourself for this demonstration.”
Suddenly, a red hue surrounded Twilight, lifting her off her hooves and high into the air. “TWILIGHT!” Her friends cried, but could only watch as she was lifted up to the roof and held in place, hovering just off the roof’s edge.
“Trixie, stop this!” She begged. “You know the path of hate only leads to…”
“Silence, Sparkle,” the blue mare sneered. “You will serve as an example for the rest of your friends to follow.”
Suddenly, something tight formed around Twilights neck, stinging her skin. She looked down to see a red hue of lightning bolts cascading around her throat, forming a perfect collar. “What is…”
“I said SILENCE!” Trixie screamed, and the bolts jumped up and wrapped around Twilight’s muzzle, forcing her mouth shut. Thinking fast, Twilight summoned a bit of her magic, hoping to catch Trixie off-guard with a bolt of her own lightning or a sleeping spell, but her horn only flickered pathetically, the red bolts cascading up her neck to drain all trace of magical energy from her head.
“Mmmph,” the purple unicorn whimpered.
“What’s the matter, Miss Sparkle? You were so talkative just moments ago,” Trixie cackled before dropping Twilight. Fortunately, a trampoline materialized to break her fall, courtesy of the Element of Laughter.
“Nice catch, Pinkie!” Rainbow gasped as she scooped the unicorn up, dropping her off with the rest of her friends as they huddled around her in concern.
“Now, what in tarnation is this?” Applejack asked, reaching for the collar of magical energy around Twilight’s neck. Her hoof darted back almost immediately. “Nngh! It feels red hot!” A few tears entered Twilight’s eyes as a couple muffled grumbles escaped her throat.
“Whatever it is, we gotta get rid of it!” Rainbow gasped. “I’m gonna get my Element, you girls do the same!”
“Right!” The rest of the ponies scattered as Dash rocketed into the sky, keeping an eye on Trixie. As expected, the blue mare’s horn charged with energy and unleashed a flurry of red bolts her way, which she expertly dodged. Smiling at the look of frustration on Trixie’s face, the pegasus poured all her speed into an all-out dash for Cloudsdale, only to nearly break her collarbone when she smacked into an invisible barrier. Dazed, she fell right out of the sky, gliding lopsidedly like a broken kite.
“Now, where did you think you were going, Miss Dash?” Trixie asked sarcastically. “Did you really think you could leave the party before it had even started?”
Pinkie leapt into action, a catcher’s mitt materializing in her hand to cushion her friend. “Ooh, party?” She asked. “I love…MMPH!” Before she could even finish her sentence, another red lightning-bolt collar materialized around her neck and sealed her muzzle shut.
“Might as well take care of that, while we’re at it,” Trixie mumbled to herself.
Pinkie lost her grip on her friend, sending her slamming into the ground right in front of Rarity. The unicorn screeched to a halt. “Dash? What in Celestia’s name are you still doing here!?”
“It’s Trixie,” Rainbow replied, rubbing her nose where she’d smacked it against the barrier. “She’s already erected that same barrier from last time!”
“What? So Ponyville’s cut off?” Rarity looked around as ponies ran through the streets in full panic mode, slamming their bodies uselessly against the barrier when they weren’t smacking into one another. “But we all stored our elements in our homes!”
“And the barrier means we can’t get near Fluttershy’s treehouse, Cloudsdale, or Sweet Apple Acres,” Dash groaned.
“Which means the only Elements we have are Generosity, Laughter, and Magic,” Rarity sighed, taking a seat on the ground and massaging her temples. “Just half a full-set.”
“We can’t do anything with just half the Elements, so that means…” she gazed up at the random bolts of lightning slicing through the air around the Ponyville Town Hall, Trixie laughing triumphantly in their midst “…That means…” she couldn’t even bring herself to say it. It meant they were powerless against Trixie. It meant that once again, Ponyville had fallen beneath the blue mare’s reign.
“Wait,” Rarity spied something moving around near the entrance to the Town Hall. “Who’s that?”
Rainbow squinted to see a familiar yellow stallion galloping at full-speed towards the building. “Hey, isn’t that Sethisto? Why’s he in Ponyville too?”
“TRIXIE!” He screamed, running laps around the entrance to town hall. “TRIXIE!”
The blue mare turned her gaze down to him. With a tiny smile, she lifted him up to the roof and set him gently on his hooves next to her. “Oh, Sethy! The Great and Powerful Trixie is so glad you could make it!”
“Trixie, what is this!? What’s going on!? Why are you talking in third-pony again!? How did you…MMPH!” His lips suddenly sealed themselves shut beneath a hue of red magic.
“So many questions, Sethy, but all you need to know is that the Great and Powerful Trixie has realized her true calling as Equestria’s ruler! After all,” she tossed her little mane. “Was there ever any doubt that I was destined for greatness?”
The hue of magic released his lips, allowing him to speak again: “Well, yeah…I mean, no, of course not…I mean…I just…I thought we were only gonna do good things from now on! Helping ponies out and all that! Why did that change!?”
The Great and Powerful Trixie’s gaze turned ice-cold in a heartbeat. “This is the way things are now, Sethy. It was always supposed to be like this: it just took Trixie awhile to figure that out. Now, are you with the Great and Powerful Trixie, or against her?”
“Trixie, please,” he placed his hoof by hers. “Take that Amulet off and let’s go home. I can make us a nice, quiet dinner, and we’ll just settle in for the evening, alright? I’m sure all this will seem very silly in the morning. Please. You’re scaring all these ponies.”
Something flickered over Trixie’s eyes: something soft and wonderful that he recognized instantly. After all, finding the Soft and Loving Trixie had been part of the reason he’d fallen head over hooves for her these past few months. Then something hardened again, an angry grimace crossing her face. “The Great and Powerful Trixie was afraid you’d be too weak to accept her very generous offer. It really is a shame: you could have ruled over the greatest empire Equestria had ever known.”
Something slammed against the side of Sethisto’s face, sending him plummeting to the ground. “Instead, you’ve chosen to throw your lot in with THOSE weaklings!” She bellowed after him as Pinkie, still collared and gagged, managed to catch him with a pillow.
“Hmmphh-Mrrh-Hmph?” She asked the yellow stallion.
He turned back to her with a collar around his neck, a red hue over his muzzle, and a couple steams of tears pouring out of his eyes. “Mrrh,” he whimpered sadly. She hugged him close.
“That’s supposed to be your STALLIONFRIEND!” Rainbow screamed, charging at full-speed towards the blue mare. At the exact same time, Rarity reached into the ground with her magic to pull out a few rocks, hoofing them to Applejack for her to buck Trixie’s way. Yawning, Trixie easily deflected the attacks with a magical shield, scattering the rocks and sending Rainbow Dash flying off into the sky and ricocheting off the shield over Ponyville yet again. Tumbling helplessly, the pegasus was almost completely defenseless when Trixie seized her in a bubble of magic, dragging her until their noses were practically touching. Still smiling wickedly, the unicorn tapped Rainbow’s throat, allowing a flurry of lightning bolts to cascade directly from her body and around Dash’s neck.
“You take this thing off me right now, or so help me I’ll…” with a single thought from Trixie, the teal pegasus’s lips sealed themselves shut beneath a flurry of red lightning bolts. Dash could only glare while the blue unicorn towered triumphantly over her.
“Making you bow before the Great and Powerful Trixie,” she cooed, “Will be one of the greatest pleasures of her life.” Trixie cast Dash aside like a broken plaything. Automatically, the pegasus’s wings unfurled for her to flap away, only to lock up the instant they stretched out, peppered in more bolts of red lightning.
“Hmmph!?” She gasped as she plummeted to the ground, once again being saved by a quick-thinking Pinkie and her never-ending supply of soft things (in this case a large beanbag chair). Almost immediately after her hooves hit the ground, Dash unfurled her wings and tried to take off again, only to watch them lock up the moment she tried to use them. Pinkie tapped a hoof on Dash’s head, trying to get her pegasus friend to stop before she hurt herself. As expected, the pegasus just brushed her friend aside and kept trying to take off, even as the bolts froze her wings into more and more strange and agonizing positions.
“Woah, woah there!” Applejack’s voice gasped from behind them.
“Oh good heavens, what is…” Rarity added. Finally, Dash looked away from her wings to her friends, only to watch helplessly as they were dragged off towards the Town Hall.
“Don’t think the Great and Powerful Trixie has forgotten about you,” Trixie sneered as she lifted the Elements of Generosity and Honesty in front of her as if they were little insects. “Or you!” She quickly added, her magic reaching into the bushes right in front of Twilight’s house and dragging Fluttershy out by the tail. Immediately Rainbow, Twilight, Sethisto and Pinkie galloped up to her and grabbed her by the hooves, trying to keep the little yellow pegasus from being lifted away, but the moment their hooves made contact they were dragged back by their collars, forced to release her. She was dragged up to the roof with a frightened squeak.
“Oh, BUCK no,” Applejack swore, leveling a hoof Trixie’s way. “If’n you think we’re just gonna letcha lock one of those things ‘round OUR necks…”
“What do you think I’ve been doing while we were having this conversation, you simple little Earth pony?” Trixie sneered.
“Wha-“ Applejack managed before another series of red lightning bolts materialized around her neck, snapping her mouth shut as she was dropped right off the edge of the tower. “MMPH!” She started, landing in a pile of carefully-placed quilts. As she landed, Pinkie dashed to catch Rarity and Fluttershy, now also gagged and collared. The Element of Honesty moaned. There just wasn’t a thing she could do! They were all powerless against the Amulet’s sheer might!
“Now,” Trixie giggled as she teleported down to the six mares (and Sethisto). They all cowered as she advanced, gazing down at them with her chest thrust out. “As your new sovereign, I highly suggest that you all bow.”
One look into her eyes told Sethisto all he needed to know: the Great and Powerful Trixie was making a demand. He was the first to bow, a few tears wetting the grass beneath his face.
“Thank you, Sethy, and as your reward,” she tapped her hoof against the ground, and instantly the aura binding his muzzle dissipated. “You may leave now.”
“Thank you, oh Great and Powerful Trixie,” he muttered before trudging off, tears drifting to the ground beneath his hooves. The red glow off his collar lit his way as he disappeared into the crowd of panicked ponies, who had finally calmed down enough to sit and watch Trixie’s final victory.
“And as for the rest of you,” her horn glowed intimidatingly. “Bow, before the Great and Powerful Trixie feels it would be fitting to punish you all!”
Ever the logical one, Twilight knew the night could only have one conclusion. She was next to bow. It was slow, and with a certain air of dignity, like a once-powerful enemy surrendering to a greater foe. She was followed quickly by Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie, each bowing one after the other. Rainbow Dash and Applejack still stood tall, glaring at Trixie defiantly, just daring her to try and force them down.
“I…I mean, the Great and Powerful Trixie figured it would come down to you two,” Trixie sighed, focusing a bit more of her magic into applying some pressure to the back of the ponies’ heads. AJ and Dash resisted, of course, and Trixie rolled her eyes. “The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t have the time or magic to spare for this nonsense, so she’ll make you both a deal: bow, and the Great and Powerful Trixie might just consider releasing your friends.”
AJ and Dash’s eyes widened, turning to their friends. All four immediately shook their heads. “Nommmph!” Twilight added before a burst of magic forced her muzzle into the dirt.
“Well?” Trixie arched an eyebrow. “Your sovereign is waiting.”
The two ponies stared at each other and sighed hopelessly. Then, with their eyes squeezed tight so as not to see what they were doing, they both dropped to their knees at Trixie’s hooves. By then, the crowd gathered around Town Hall had expanded to include every citizen of Ponyville (except the fillies still asleep in their beds), and what they saw broke what little will to resist remained: Trixie, standing over all six of the Elements of Harmony, all bowing at her feet. Equestria’s greatest defenders, bought low by one small blue mare and a piece of jewelry.
“Trixie knew you would come around,” the mare sneered as she promptly snatched all six ponies up and threw them towards the Town Hall, the door opening like some monster’s pitch-black maw, waiting to swallow them whole.
“HRMPH! MRPH!” Rainbow Dash yelled over her muzzle, wedging her hooves firmly in the doorframe and allowing her friends to pile on top of her in an attempt to resist Trixie’s magic.
“What’s that?” Trixie asked, mockingly placing a hoof by her ear. “You’re wondering why the Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t release your little friends? Well, she DID say she MIGHT consider it. And she has! The answer is no, your friends will remain where they are. Sorry, better luck next time.”
“JOOPH BIF!”
“Now Rainbow, is that anyway for an Element of Harmony to talk around her fellow villagers?” Trixie cackled before forcing one last burst of magic against Dash’s body, sending the ponies tumbling through the doorway and sealing it shut behind them. Immediately, a cluster of chains sprang out of the ground and wrapped itself over the door’s surface, sealing it shut from anypony getting in or out.
“Now, as for the rest of you,” Trixie bellowed, turning to the crowd. Everypony backed away as she focused an incredible amount of effort into her horn, red lightning bolts cascading all along it and through the crowd. The townsponies was knocked right off their hooves, dust flying up from the sheer force of the magic Trixie summoned. Once they all came to, they discovered collars around each and every one of their necks, marking their new status as peons in Trixie’s empire.
“Now, go!” Trixie yelled. “Return to your homes, hold your families close, and rest your bodies for tomorrow. You will have a lot of work to do then!”
Sadly, each and everypony did as they were told. In Lulamoontopolis, it seemed, there wasn’t any alternative.