The Great and Powerful Trixie Rises

by kildeez

Chapter IV: Empire

Spike’s eyes drifted open, and then shut. He had slept so peacefully, despite having only the library’s hardwood floor to sleep on. There was something wonderfully soft and warm cushioning his head and it kept rising and falling in a motion he found positively soothing. His stomach rose up and down with every breath as he prepared to fall back into the blissful rest of sleep. Just rising and falling, rising and falling, rising and falling…

Just like the thing under his head.

Which meant it was breathing.

HE WAS RESTING ON SOMETHING ALIVE!!

“Gyah!” He gasped, throwing himself up and spinning around. Sweetie Belle stirred atop the volume of Potions and Ponies: Volume III she was using as a mattress, her little white tummy rising and falling peacefully. She opened her eyes, stretched, yawned, and noticed him standing a few feet away, eyes wide and body locked up in terror.

“Spike?” She asked, noticing the look of embarrassment and fear on his face. “What’re you…” two and two came together, and her face turned a bright red.

“Did you just wake up on…”

“Mmh-hmm,” he nodded fearfully.

“So,” she turned away, her neck turning red-hot beneath her collar. “Does-does that mean we…slept together?”

“I…I think,” he swallowed, shivering harder than he ever had the night before, his cheeks a deep crimson. “I think so.”

“Oh,” she replied, unable to even look at him, her hooves covering her eyes. “Oh…my.”

“Yeah.”

“Um, well, muh-maybe we should get back to…to studying…before…” she gazed out the window, the morning sun greeting her through the shimmer of the shield over Ponyvile. Her jaw dropped. “We slept through the whole night!”

“Huh?” He asked, suddenly confused.

“Everypony up! We all fell asleep!” Sweetie shrieked. A few moments later, Scootaloo’s head emerged out the top of a pile of books, a volume of The Travels of Starswirled the Bearded perched atop her head.

“What’s this all about?” She asked drowsily.

A second later, a gasp sounded from the bottom of her pile and Applebloom burst out of the bottom layer, knocking a couple hardcovers out of her way. “We overslept!” She gasped as the pile came tumbling down on her head, Scootaloo landing on the ground with a loud thump.

“Oh, man!” The little orange pegasus groaned, suddenly fully awake. “Did anypony find something useful?”

“Well, I managed to get through a few chapters,” Spike sighed, holding up his copy of Zebra Alchemy: A Canterlot Historian’s Analysis. “I found, like, a dozen herbal remedies for cold symptoms, but nothing that could really help us.”

“Y’all got further than me,” Applebloom said worriedly. “I only managed to read the introduction to The Pegasus Insurgencies on this end.”

“Oh, I only got a few pages into one of mine,” Sweetie Belle said, holding her head in her hooves.

“Don’t look at me,” Scootaloo added sheepishly. “I got maybe three sentences in before I totally zoned out.”

“So none of us made even a dent in the reading we were supposed to do?” Spike lamented, curling up on the floor into a little ball of scales. “Oh, I’m the worst assistant ever! I spend years helping Twilight with her research, and then totally drop the ball when it comes to my own, even when it means saving everypony I care about!”

“Aw, don’t feel bad, Spike,” Sweetie Belle said, resting a hoof on his shoulder. “We all kinda dropped the ball on this one.”

“Yeah, looks like we really screwed up here,” Scootaloo moaned, leaning against a table.

“Well, maybe it ain’t all that bad?” Applebloom shrugged. “Ah mean, Trixie’s been purty quiet so far. Maybe we’ll still have the day to ourselves so’s we can pick up where we left off last night?”

No sooner did Applebloom say this when a loud crash caught their attention. A thick storm-cloud materialized in the center of the room, throwing red lightning bolts as it coalesced into the shape of a mare’s head. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and their reptilian friend didn’t need three guesses to tell who it was supposed to be.

“Trixie!” Spike gasped, “But how…”

“Citizens of Lulamoontopolis!” The cloud announced, a few wisps near its edges moving to form lips. “This is your Great and Powerful Leader speaking! You are all to attend a meeting in the Town Square to await your new job assignments!”

“Job assignments?” Sweetie asked.

“There’s no way she could be talkin’ ‘bout us, raght?” Applebloom said hopefully. “Ah mean, we’re just fillies! Why would she want…”

“…This meeting is mandatory for ALL citizens, and is starting now!” The cloud-Trixie announced, and suddenly a hue of red magic engulfed each of the ponies, spreading out from their collars.

“Woah!” They gasped in unison as they were lifted off their hooves and dragged towards the front door.

“GUYS!” Spike gasped, grabbing hold of Sweetie’s and Applebloom’s hooves and planting his feet firmly in the ground. They, in turn, grabbed Scootaloo as she hovered past. “Oh thank Celestia, I nearly lost you all!”

“Aw Spike, that’s really…” Sweetie started when the hue around her and her fellow crusaders turned a deeper shade of red.

“I said this meeting was MANDATORY!” The Trixie-cloud barked, and suddenly all four of them were being dragged off, forced out the door which swung open to accommodate them.

“Spahke! Do somethin’!” Applebloom gasped.

“I’m trying!” He screamed, his claws digging grooves into the dirt as they were dragged along. “The magic around you guys is too strong!”

“Then just let go,” Sweetie said.

“WHAT!?”

“Naw Spahke,” Applebloom sighed stoically. “She’s raght. You’re the only one in Ponyville that doesn’t have a collar on. You can slip around under the radar, which makes ya our only hope!”

“No!” He yelled, clenching their hooves tightly. “You guys are all I have left!”

“That’s real sweet, Spahke,” Applebloom said, tears in both hers and Sweetie’s eyes (mostly from his claws digging into their flesh), “but we can’t letcha risk yerself like that.” Suddenly, Applebloom and Sweetie twisted around in mid-air and kicked with their hind hooves, knocking the baby dragon’s hands away. He tumbled and landed flat on his face, his nose digging a groove in the mud. By the time he darted back to his feet and cleared his eyes, the three fillies had drifted far away and down a side street, accelerating towards the town’s square.

“Bye, Spike!” Sweetie waved.

“We know y’won’t let us down!” Scootaloo called.

“NO!” He pushed himself up and ran as fast as his baby dragon legs could carry him, which was painfully slow compared to the power and speed of the spell dragging his friends away. Huffing and puffing, he dashed along the street and almost threw himself into the town square when he noticed the large, red bolts of lightning gathering around town hall. “Woah,” he whispered as he ducked inside a garbage can. Outside, a few more ponies drifted past, all of them scared and confused. After a few minutes passed, Spike peeked out from under the can’s lid at the crowd being made to gather in front of him.

“Everypony in Ponyville must be here!” He gasped, scooting closer to eavesdrop on some of the conversations.

“…wonder what she’s got in store for us…”

“…why bring all the fillies and old ponies here? Surely she…”

“…no, I swear, it was Pinkie Pie!” Spike paused and tuned in to that conversation, trying to focus his ears as best he could as a pony near the back of the crowd continued, whispering fearfully: “I swear, Pinkie was leading the Cakes into Town Hall last night. She had the twins in her forelegs, and the Cakes looked like they were about to wet themselves!”

“But why would she do that? Pinkie’s just about the most lovable pony there is!” The pony he was conversing with asked.

“She had this weird look in her eyes, all big and blank,” a shiver travelled up the first pony’s spine. “It didn’t look right on her face, not at all. So maybe…mind control?”

“Naw, no magic can do that…”

“Well, do you have any other explanation for why Pinkie was leading the Cakes off? Or why Rarity was doing the same with that dentist?”

“Hey, I saw somethin’ just like that!” A mare nearby said, butting into the conversation. “Rainbow Dash was leading Cloudchaser and the mailmare into town hall, and she had that same look in her eyes!”

“Same with Applejack! I hear she was leading that lesbian couple around last night, and she had a blank stare on her too!” Another pony added.

“You mean Lyra and Bon-Bon?”

“So Trixie’s captured Lyra, Bon-Bon, the Cakes, Derpy, Colgate and Cloudchaser? What for?”

“I dunno, maybe…”

A poof of smoke erupting at the head of the crowd interrupted every pony, a podium with megaphones materializing into existence in front of their eyes. Spike cowered as the smoke and lightning cleared and Trixie stepped up to the podium. Tapping her hoof, a few crimson banners appeared at her side emblazoned with a logo everypony was all-too familiar with: the silhouette of a mare wearing a cape and wizard’s hat. If there was ever any doubt as to Trixie’s intentions before, it was all erased with the sight of the same, magical insignia she had used to symbolize her reign the last time she had occupied Ponyville.

“Citizens of Lulamoontopolis!” The blue unicorn announced, her voice booming throughout the town. Everypony cringed in fear at the sound. “The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to thank you all for attending this rally. Truly it demonstrates an incredible amount of loyalty to your new Empress.”

“Loyalty, my flank!” A filly yelled from the front of the crowd, running up to the podium. “We’re only here because you…HMPH!” With a thought, the collar around his throat expanded to pinch her muzzle shut. The filly stared defiantly at Trixie before a mare rushed out of the crowd and grabbed her, hurrying back with her daughter.

“As she was saying,” Trixie continued, staring angrily at the mother and filly. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has not gathered this meeting simply for you all to profess your undying love and affection for your new Empire, she also wishes to make an exciting announcement: that soon, the Empire of Trixievania shall have a standing army with which to defend its borders.”

A couple frightened murmurs whispered through the crowd as Trixie continued: “Shortly before arriving in this little city, your Great and Powerful Empress had the foresight to secure allies in the form of a local Diamond Dog den. These brave souls, who have been marginalized and ignored under the current regime, have chosen to rise up in defense of this new nation!”

The murmurs grew more fearful as one unicorn stepped forward. “But Miss Great and Powerful Trixie, the Diamond Dogs hate ponies! Why in Equestria would they agree to help you?”

Immediately, a red hue appeared around her muzzle. The unicorn backed away immediately, fear-spawned tears filling her eyes. “They have not agreed to help the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie replied angrily. “They have agreed to aid this idea, this new concept, helping this nation rise to its real potential as a beacon of hope for all the world’s oppressed beings! And all they ask for in return is a bit of your time for some manual labor!”

A few more murmurs entered the crowd. “But Trixie,” another pony raised his hoof. “Just what do you mean by a ‘bit’ of our time?”

“That’s THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE, to you!” The unicorn bellowed, zipping the pony’s mouth shut. “And by a ‘bit’ of time, I of course mean just some time spent in their diamond mines, helping them meet a few mining agendas for, say, about twenty years?”

Immediately, the crowd roared its disapproval.

“That’s slavery!” A pegasus yelled.

“We’ll never stand for this!” Another added.

“I can’t stand it! I hafta get out of here!” A unicorn screamed, making a run for the town’s border, only to be slammed back by the barrier.

“SILENCE!” Trixie’s voice rumbled, and instantly everypony’s mouth slammed shut, their collars springing into action. Trixie glowered at the crowd, her eyes blazing with a red hue, and instantly the anger on everypony’s faces turned to fear. A few in the back tried to slip away, only to be stopped short as a red hue of magic appeared around their bodies again, lifting them up and placing them right in the center of the square. There was no escape.

Breathing deeply, Trixie suddenly looked down at her hooves and lowered the brim of her hat, hiding her eyes. “As of right now,” she said just loudly enough for everypony in the crowd to hear. “You will all begin practicing for your new roles in the Diamond Dogs’ mines. You will find tools and plans throughout the square. The plans are to be followed exactly.” Her horn flickered, and massive boxes filled with pickaxes, shovels, and massive scrolls of paper suddenly appeared throughout the crowd. The ponies stared at the boxes, then at Trixie.

“Well?” She asked. “GET TO IT! I want these projects finished for our guests’ arrival tomorrow!”

Staring dejectedly at the ground, everypony slowly grabbed a tool or a roll of paper and began making their way out of the square; yellow X’s appearing at street corners throughout Ponyville to mark the dig sites. Spike smiled as the Cutie Mark Crusaders appeared out of the crowd, unhappily carrying pickaxes and shovels. “Guys!” He grinned, leaning out of his garbage can just a smidgeon.

“Spike!” Sweetie Belle gasped, galloping up to him as discretely as possible. “Where’ve you…ow!” She started as she bounced off an invisible barrier.

“What the…” Scootaloo said, pressing a hoof against a new force field surrounding the town square.

“Hey, how come they can leave?” Applebloom added, pointing to a group of ponies making their way into the next alleyway over. As she spoke, another group of ponies nearby tried to leave with their grandmother in tow, hobbling along with a shovel in her wrinkled hooves, only to watch her run right into the barrier as well.

“It’s not just us! It’s all the fillies and grandparents!” Scootaloo gasped.

“One announcement I forgot to make,” Trixie added cruelly. “I wish to unveil the latest program available to the citizens of Trixievania: a caretaker system for the young and the infirm. While the rest of you toil away to build this great nation, your loved ones will rest peacefully in the ‘Trix-Dome’.”

“WHAT!?” Sweetie Belle gasped as the red hue appeared around her body again, along with every elderly and foal-aged pony trapped in the square. As the town’s populace watched in horror, the old and the young were lifted away and raised into a massive cloud of red magic gathering over the Hall. Before anypony could react, a massive, fishbowl-like structure materialized in the center of the square, every single pony in Trixie’s clutches disappearing into the gaping maw at its top. A strange, red fog spread throughout its inside, completely enveloping the new prisoners.

“No!” Spike gasped, cowering inside his trash can as each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were lifted away from him and dropped into the bowl, disappearing into the mist.

One young mare, the same mother from before, dropped her tools and galloped up to the bowl, slamming herself against it. “Sally! No!” She sobbed, her hooves not even scratching the surface of the new prison.

“Your loved ones will be well taken care of, and will be released by the end of the week,” Trixie said coldly. “That is, so long as you all do as you’re told.”

“MONSTER!” The mare screeched, galloping to the podium. “YOU-MMPH!” To absolutely nopony’s surprise, the mare was swiftly gagged, lifted off her hooves, and transported right into the bowl, made to disappear within the swirling red mist.

“I hope there are no objections,” Trixie said.

“No, oh Great and Powerful Trixie,” the crowd gathered just outside the town square replied in fearful, tear-filled unison.

“Good,” the unicorn replied as she trotted towards the Town Hall, more of her banners materializing at its entrance. “Now, get to work.”

Comments

[vullture]

YOU BITCH! You can take Colegate and Cloudchaser but I'm putting my foot down when it comes to Lyra, Bon Bon, and Derpy!