//------------------------------//
// The Other World 
// Story: On the Corner of Straight and Narrow 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	As the light faded, Trixie became aware of Sam's voice.  "And so ends another mind boggling mystery solved by the loping wits and capriciously applied violence of the Freelance Police!  Who's up for a Sugar Grenade?"

Trixie was soon able to see her surroundings.  She and Sam were standing beside the Desoto outside their apartment.  At least, it looked like they were...except for all the sand everywhere.  "Trixie is up for answers.  What just happened?"

"That's what I want to know!" Max demanded.  "I'm still a brain in a jar!"

The jar Max's brain was in was strapped to Sam's back.  "Don't be silly Max," Sam commented nervously.  "You've always been a brain in a jar."

"No I haven't!" Max complained.  "I'm a short, sexy lagomorph with an enormous mouth and dead shark-like eyes!"

"Hold that thought little buddy," Sam interrupted.  "We've got some idolizing to do."

"Say what?" Max demanded as Sam - along with many other people nearby - knelt before a massive statue of Max...or at least, as Trixie quickly put together, of Max's body.

"Sammunmak is handsome!" a robotic pharaoh statue reminiscent of a drive thru face proclaimed.  "Sammunmak is cute!"

All the people kneeling stood up.  "When we think of Sammunmak we give a big salute!" they proclaimed together, saluting.

Trixie blinked.  "Did we somehow end up in some alternate reality?  Or was Sammunmak serious when he talked about reality kneeling before him?"

"You know, that would actually explain this," Max allowed.

"Attention everyone!" Sammunmak's voice proclaimed from the speaker.  "From this point forward, those little things at the end of your shoe laces, ag...lets?  Yes!  Aglets are hereby decreed to be the most horrible things in all the world!"

"It's a good thing I don't wear shoes," Sam commented.

After a time, Max and Trixie heard a voice from the heavens.  "Max, beware!"

"Who said that?" Max asked.

"Who said what?" Sam inquired in confusion.

"That was a psychic voice, Daddy," Trixie pointed out.

"Oh yeah!  Forgot that was possible!" Max said.

Oh, the pony can hear me too... the voice said.  Well, at least she has hooves and telekinesis.  Maybe that will help fix the world...

So The Great and Powerful Trixie and her Daddy are going to undo what Sammun-Mak did with the Toybox? Trixie asked telepathically, emphasizing her name petulantly.

Indeed, the voice replied.  You must-

Do nothing until we know who we're talking to, Max countered.

...you may call me Dr. Norrington, the voice replied.  Make contact with the rebels.  They will give you the-

Wouldn't it be easier for Trixie to just make contact with the Toybox and wrest control of it from Sammun-Mak in a battle of psychic and magical will?

...that would be incredibly reckless, idiotic, and dangerous, and risk the very fabric of creation, Norrington pointed out.

Sounds like a plan! Max said eagerly.

...and make...puppies and kitties rain from the sky? Norrington suggested hesitantly.

Trixie loves kitties and puppies! Trixie proclaimed.

...and go splat on the pavement.

I love it when they do that! Max replied.

...between the two of you, there's no way for me to convince you not to try this, is there? Norrington asked.

Nope! Max and Trixie replied together.

Norrington was silent for a time.  May the gods help us all, he said finally before his presence faded from their minds.

So...where do you think the Toybox is? Max asked silently.

Well, if Trixie had done something like this, she'd keep it as close as physically possible without risking a continuous reality rewrite based on stray thoughts, Trixie replied, so...probably in the throne room in the royal presence.

Nice thought, Max agreed.  He then switched back to spoken communication.  "Hey Sam?  How do we get into Sammun-Mak's presence?"

"Only those who've earned the three Accessories of Privilege," Sam explained.  "I know Grandpa Stinky has the Medallion of Tithing...but I'm not sure of anyone who has the others: the Pendant of Inquisition and the Ornament of Fealty."

Trixie thought for a time.  "...Mommy?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes, Trixie?" Jane replied, though her voice was scratchy.

"Mommy?" Sam asked in confusion.

"Mommy, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't exist in this altered world," Jane replied.  "However, your magical aura prevented the alterations from erasing your goggles, so I can still communicate with you - and the local information networks - through them.  Though just barely..."

Trixie thought quickly.  "Can you get an image of the three Accesories we need to get into Sammun-Mak's presence?"

Jane was quiet for a time.  "...I have one...it's a snapshot of someone who bears all three...but what will you do with it?"

Trixie raced over to the Desoto, where the C.O.P.S. were still there.  "Can any of you print stuff?" she asked.

The scanner beeped quietly.

"...I see what you're doing..." Jane began.

After a time, the image printed.

"I've reached...the limit...of my influence... ... ..."  Jane's voice trailed off into static.

"...thanks Mom."  Focusing her magic, Trixie fired up her spell to detect extra dimensional energy.  Finding a source, she closed her eyes tight and concentrated, trying to grab hold of the source.  Trixie hopes this works... she thought silently.

With a pop, the rhinoplasty appeared in front of her as her magic sputtered.  "That was...hard," she breathed, applying the rhinoplasty to the image of the three accesories.

"You okay there, Trixie?" Max asked.  "It sounds like you're overdoing it again."

"Like that's anything new," Trixie mumbled as she dropped the rhinoplasty into the jar.  "Now turn into the medals."

Max quickly used the rhinoplasty to do so.  "Now what-"

"Now you be quiet," Trixie hissed, sticking the Max-medals to Sam's tie.

"Wow!" Sam proclaimed excitedly.  "I didn't know I'd acquired the medals of honor!  I can't wait to go meet with the great Sammun-Mak.  We should head there immediately!"

Thank you for being so gullible, Uncle, Trixie thought silently as they hopped into the Desoto.





At the museum - which had been converted into a royal palace - Papierwaite stopped them as they tried to approach the throne.  "Stop!  Who dares trespass into the inner circle of Lord High Sammun-Mak?"

"I dare, Grand Vizier Pepperpot!" Sam proclaimed.

"And we've got the Accessories to prove it!" Trixie proclaimed.

The once museum curator frowned.  "Those accessories allow only one to enter!  The filly must remain here!"

"But I'm responsible for her!" Sam pointed out.  "I can't leave her to wander around willy-nilly!"

'Pepperpot' grunted.  "We shall consult his Holiness, then," he replied.  He turned and led them towards the throne.

Sammun-Mak - in Max's body - sat upon a golden throne with the Toybox right next to him, close enough that he could touch it easily.  "Who dares approach us during our entertainment?" he demanded.

"Forgive us, oh Holy One," 'Pepperpot' replied.  "Sam here has obtained the three Accessories of Privelege and desires to bask in your presence, but is unwilling to leave the filly unattended."

Sammun-Mak turned to observe them for a time, then grinned.  "A simple solution presents itself!"  Using his telekinetic powers, he jerked Trixie into his lap.  "The filly may remain!  Sam must now seek out his own new Accessories to be in our presence.  He will remove himself immediately until he does so."

"B-but..." Sam began.

"Uncle Sam!" Trixie whimpered, shuddering.  She did not like Sammun-Mak petting her.

Something inside Sam snapped.  With a growl, he lunged forward.  "Get your hands off my niece you son of a bitch!" he snarled.  His fist pulled back and lunged around faster than anyone could react, punching Sammun-Mak right off his throne.

Everyone present stared.  "You dare strike our divine person?" Sammun-mak demanded angrily.

"I'll do more than that, you-" Sam began angrily.

As Sammun-mak seized Sam in his psychic powers to protect himself, Trixie seized her opportunity.  She leapt onto the Toybox.  Runic symbols flared the same blue of Trixie's magical aura across its sides, expanding outward.

"Get off my Toybox!" Sammun-mak demanded, tossing Sam aside.  "Only I may touch it!"

"You're forgetting your royal plural!" Max called as he turned back into a brain.

"You aren't the first to tear Daddy's body apart for his own ends," Trixie growled as the energies of the Toybox flooded her frame, surrounding her with a pure white aura that flared off of her, shining from her eyes and Cutie Mark, also telling her, Sam, and Max the proper name for the mark on her rear somehow.  "And I'm going to tell you the same thing I did him..."

The energies of the Toybox erupted, and the very fabric of reality tore asunder.

"Give me back my Daddy!" she screamed in a voice that was both hers and not hers at the same time.  Reality vanished in a blazing white.





When the light faded, Max was back in his body, Sam was shaking his head in confusion, nearly everyone else was unconscious, and Trixie was slumped over the Toybox, barely breathing.

"Trixie!" Sam and Max said worriedly, rushing up to her.

"Is she going to be okay?" Max asked as Sam picked her up.

Sam carefully examined her.  "She doesn't look injured..." he said quietly.  "But she's cold..."

"Magical exhaustion," Jane said from Trixie's VR goggles.  "She pushed herself several standard deviations beyond her limits...again..."

"She'll be okay?" Max asked again.

"She just needs rest," Jane said.  "That's all."

"And a safe place to rest in," Max pointed out.  Seeing several dozen Sams wearing only boxers marching towards them from inside the museum, he exclaimed, "Which isn't here!"

Thinking quickly, Sam slipped Trixie into a pocket of his coat, placing her into his inventory.  "Safe enough?"

"Sure!  Let's get out of here!" Max proclaimed as they both made a run for it.