//------------------------------// // Foalnapping // Story: Why Did I Choose to be Trixie? // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// Trixie was in the process of making our room to her satisfaction when Chocolate Sweetness returned to our suite in great haste, her expression one of great fear. My wife was flabbergasted by her appearance and wondered why she had barged in. "What do you want?" the show-mare asked in annoyance, doing her level best to control her anger. "Y'all are in great danger," the pegasus replied, her voice nearly trembling. "Y'all need to hide! NOW!" Giving her a bewildered look, she asked, "Trixie does not understand. Why do we need to hide?" "Security couldn't keep 'em out -- they're comin'! They're comin' here! They know y'all are here!" She turned to look at the door she forgot to close behind her and trembled as she heard heavy hoofsteps approaching from down the hall. "Shit! Yer outta time!" The door, which had been left partially open, was flung hard by a group of the biggest, burliest stallions Trixie had ever seen. Most of them were earth ponies, but there were a couple of unicorns to assist with their magic. The pegasus tried to stall them, but they pushed her aside. "A-hah, I knew I'd find you here!" a rather smallish unicorn stallion exclaimed. He was flanked by six of the stallions who served as his personal guard. They frowned deeply. "So, you are that bastard's wife! Oh, and I see you have your foals with you! This is perfect!" "Who are you? Why are you here? Trixie demands you tell her why you have broken into her room!" "You see this pegasus here?" he asked, pointing to the brown mare. "Your husband gave control of my casino to her! She has tried to keep me away from my casino, but she underestimated how much money I was willing to spend to get it back! I will show you what happens to those who cross me! Seize her!" Two of his guards grabbed the pegasus by her wings, hoisting her off the ground. She screamed in pain as her wings could no longer support her weight, the stallions grunting with the effort to carry her. "Please! Please let me go!" she whimpered. The guards holding her carried her to a window overlooking the strip and with all their might, they heaved her through the window. The pegasus screamed as her body crashed through the glass and fell fifty stories to the street below. Trixie was aghast at this scene and Marina started crying, which caused her little brother to start crying as well. The sounds of other ponies screaming at the ground level made their way up to the penthouse suite, eliciting a grimace from the show-mare. "You'd better not try that with Trixie," she stated defiantly, lighting her horn. She readied her magic to defend herself. "How could you do something so heartless?" "Your husband is the one who engaged in heartlessness by taking my casino away from me. Well, I'm taking it back, and I'm paying his cruelty back in spades. I'm not going to kill you -- not yet anyway -- I need you and your foals as bait. I intend to kill your husband!" he cackled gleefully. "You realize Amethyst is an Alicorn Prince?" asked Trixie. "I didn't leave anything to chance! I have enlisted the services of the strongest magic users in Las Pegasus -- so you're coming with me! Take her now!" His unicorns were indeed very strong magic users, who quickly subdued the show-mare and our foals. Trixie tried to fight back, but was caught off-guard from her blind side. An inhibitor ring was placed on her horn as well as one for Marina and Jade, who continued to cry, considering how much pain the ring was causing him. Two earth pony stallions carried her, two more took our foals. Marina whimpered and cried out for her daddy. "Jade can't use magic yet! Take that ring off him!" Trixie demanded. "You should be thankful I don't have my guards toss him out the window after that pegasus!" the casino owner shouted, causing Trixie to scream in rage at him. "Silence her!" One of the earth pony stallions struck the show-mare quite hard in the back of her head, knocking her out. Marina started wailing when she saw this, and one of the other stallions taped her mouth shut. Her whimpering was about all that was heard, save for the small stallion's laughter. The group of ponies took the elevator down to the main level, Trixie and her foals being carried by some of the earth pony stallions. Before leaving the casino, the former owner stopped by the security desk and informed them that he was taking his casino back and that they were now working for him. They then left for another location which served as a command center for this casino owner. ------------------------------------------- My meeting with the mayor proved to be quite frustrating -- I was trying to exercise restraint, but the mayor's intransigence angered me greatly. After informing the mayor that I was to govern the city, under authority of Princess Celestia, the mayor scoffed at my claim and told me to prove it. I wrapped a wing around her and teleported to Canterlot Castle's Royal Throne Room to have the mayor meed the Solar Princess herself. I grinned as the mayor prostrated herself before the elder Alicorn, who scolded me for bringing such a matter to her attention. "Celestia, might I remind you of just how corrupt Las Pegasus truly is? This is why I had to bring the mayor here, as she doubted the veracity of my claim. I still need to talk to the Chief of Police for that city to arrange for certain security measures for my wife and foals -- I'm not sure of how much time I have before the former casino owner tries to do something." "Heh. You're about to find out," the mayor chuckled. "That stallion met with me earlier today -- once he finds out you're back, and that you've brought your wife and foals with you -- heh, heh, heh -- he swore revenge --" "That's enough!" Celestia thundered, causing the mayor to fall flat to the floor. The mare pissed herself, making a mess, causing the Alicorn to glare in disapproval and wrinkle her nose. She lit her horn and used magic to clean up the mess immediately. "Amethyst, you have free reign to do as you please in that city," Celestia stated with contempt in her voice. "Take this mare back to her office and don't trouble me with these matters any more. You have my blessing to do as you wish." "Celestia, if what this mare says is true, and if my wife and foals are in danger -- I cannot be held responsible for my actions in tracking them down and dealing appropriately with any pony who might cause them harm," I stated almost venomously, glaring daggers at the mayor. She seemed to shrink back in fear from my gaze, then saw an equally harsh stare from Celestia, who nodded her head at me. For a split-second, I saw a corner of her mouth turn upward in a smile. "Thank you, Celestia," I offered almost cheerfully. I wrapped my wing around the mayor and teleported back to her office. "So, mayor, you see how serious I am." "Uh -- uh -- I'm sorry, your Highness," she said very meekly. Without bothering to address her further, I trotted out of her office and back to the street. The sounds of ponies screaming caught my attention, so I galloped towards them to find out what was going on. "Help! Somepony fell out of a window!" a lime-green pegasus shouted as she saw me galloping towards her. "Did you see who it was?" I asked, huffing a little as I caught my breath. "Looked like a brown pegasus -- a fat one," she replied. I returned to my gallop, increasing my pace as I feared the worst. A team of medical ponies were gathered in a circle in front of the Visage casino and my heart sank when I saw them. "Excuse me, please, I need to see who it is," I announced loudly. A few of the medical ponies parted to allow me to see what had happened. The sight was enough to turn my stomach as I approached the lifeless form of Chocolate Sweetness. "Who's responsible for this?" I shouted, my frustration giving way to rage. "Whoever did this is going to pay!" "Your Highness, who was this pony?" one of the medics asked. "She was the owner of this casino! Somepony had to have thrown her out of a window! I know she would never jump," I uttered angrily. "My guess is that the previous owner is responsible -- I'm going to turn this city upside-down to find him -- he is going to pay for this with his life!" I teleported to the police station and stormed inside to the front desk. "Tell me where the police chief is, right NOW!" I shouted. My anger had caused my mane and tail to take on the appearance of living flame, my eyes burning red with fury. To say the police ponies in the station were intimidated would be a serious understatement. One of them hurriedly fetched the captain, who trotted out to meet me, an expression of fear evident upon seeing me in my present state. "Um, your Highness, how can I help you?" he asked, his voice trembling a little. "I need to know everything about a stallion named Strong Arc," I replied firmly. "He is the former owner of the Visage casino -- and he's responsible for murdering Chocolate Sweetness. My wife and foals are in danger -- he threatened their lives as well as mine -- but I intend to make him pay not only for his threats, but also for murdering a friend of mine." "Um, I don't think that's such a good idea -- he's very wealthy and has connections all over Equestria -- he owns nearly half of Las Pegasus -- I can't tell you anything else about him -- if I did, he would have me killed," the captain offered, shuddering at the thought of what horrible fate might befall him and his family. "I don't want to have to destroy this city in order to accomplish my objective," I responded flatly. "But if my wife and foals have been harmed..." I said, letting my words trail off. I witnessed the captain slinking back toward his office in an attempt to avoid further confrontation. "Run, you coward! Run!" I shouted after him. I turned to the other ponies in the station who were watching this spectacle unfold. "Do any of the rest you know where I can find Strong Arc?" My query was met with a cacophony of answers, all of them in the negative, along with a great many shaking their heads to express their doubts. "Are all of you being paid off by him?" I asked incredulously. I received the same answer. "Let me just simply say this -- if you are on the take, and he is the one bribing you, you will all suffer a worse fate than what he threatens," I stated, a deep contempt dripping from my words. "Your lack of cooperation will be addressed." I turned to trot out of the station, only to have one rather bold stallion accost me before I reached the front door. "I will not tolerate you bursting in here and threatening us," he said. I scowled at him and allowed my fury to cause my mane and tail to burst into flame once again. My eyes flashed red as I met his gaze, my size intimidating him into submission. "I will not tolerate any protection of those who would do harm to me or my family or to anypony I consider my friend. Considering this Strong Arc stallion murdered a friend of mine, I will take whatever measures are necessary to bring him to justice. If you are protecting him to protect yourself, then you are a coward of the highest order. I have no further time for these distractions," I nearly hissed as I strode forward through the door, leaving a very stunned police stallion behind. The sun had been lowered for the evening and the lights of all the casinos on the strip lit up the night sky with a colorful barrage, the intensity almost overwhelming. I took a moment to observe it before reminding myself of my purpose. I teleported back to the penthouse suite Trixie and I were staying in, though I found the door to the hallway blocked by police tape. One of the windows was still broken, brown feathers and bits of brown hair clinging to some of the jagged edges. I scanned the location with my magic to trace the magic signature of anypony who might have been here, noticing a great many unicorns had been here. Without any other clues to assist me, I began teleporting to each trace. It took nearly fifteen teleports before I finally found a unicorn who knew who I was looking for and where to find him, though he cautioned me that I was on the trail of a very powerful pony who had lots of connections and would stop at nothing to destroy any who would interfere with his plans. I thanked her for her information, then followed the next trace. As it turns out, this one was the one who had attacked Trixie. My teleport took me directly to his location, though he wasn't alone. ------------------------------------------- "There's somepony coming," a pale green unicorn stallion announced to his associates. "He's -- he's very powerful," he added almost fearfully. "Might be the pony boss is looking for," one of the earth ponies mused. "Think he'll be pleased by this." A flash of blinding light and a pale yellow POP heralded my arrival in the midst of the lounge Strong Arc's personal security detachment were relaxing in. I erected a strong magic barrier around me to ward off any attacks as I surveyed my surroundings. The pale green unicorn gave me a worried look as I met his gaze. "You. You know where my wife is. Tell me where she is. NOW," I stated firmly. "Boss didn't say nothin' 'bout us messin' with an Alicorn!" one of the other earth ponies exclaimed fearfully. "You have five seconds to show me where she is. Then I will start taking lives," I stated a bit more loudly as I tried to keep from going into full rage mode. "Five." "You're kidding -- you're kidding, right?" another earth pony asked, his voice trembling. I lit my horn, glowing an angry red and zapped him with a bolt of lightning, causing him to scream in agony. "Four." "Shit! He's not kidding! Get the boss here now!" another earth pony shouted. "Three." The pale green unicorn lit his horn and summoned Strong Arc, and then disappeared. I witnessed the disappearance and scowled, using my magic to trace the signature of that pale green unicorn, then teleported after him. "Um, boss might be in trouble," one of the earth ponies announced. "Heh, I think that Alicorn's in for a world of hurt," another one chuckled.