Elements of Anarchy

by UndercoverBrony

Chapter 1: In which the Great and Powerful Trixie makes a plan

Chapter 1: In which the Great and Powerful Trixie makes a plan Google docs

"Only the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!" Trixie smirked smugly, preparing to launch into her favourite tale.

"Oh, give it a rest, you hack." Interrupted a voice from the crowd. "We all know the real story! Not only was it only an Ursa Minor, but the 'Great and Powerful' Trixie was terrified out of her tiny little mind and had to be rescued by Princess Celestia's pet unicorn!"

Trixie fumed. How dare this no-pony insult the Great and Powerful Trixie to her face? Curse that Twilight Sparkle and her interfering ways! Why given a few more moments, the Great and Powerful Trixie would surely have vanquished that beast herself! Every town she visited now it was the same story. Just as she was getting into her stride, some neigh-sayer from the audience would interrupt with some smart-flank comment about that damnable oversized bear or that infuriating purple pest and throw Trixie right off her stride.

Well not this time. The Great and Powerful Trixie was a professional, and the show must go on. Deciding the skip the rest of the Ursa story, she ploughed forward into the next segment of her act- the challenge! "Don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie? Well then, I hereby challenge yo-"

"Oh, pu-lease! Why would we waste our time proving ourselves against the Feeble and Powerless Trixie? Come on girls, we're leaving." The heckler turned and started trotting off, followed by half a dozen or so other ponies.

To Trixie's dismay, the rest of the crowd seemed to take this as a signal that the performance was over, and began to disperse. Boos and jeers, she could handle. Food being thrown at the stage? Why how kind of her audience to provide her with sustenance! But disinterest? How could anyone possibly not be interested in seeing the Great and Powerful Trixie in person? Just for a moment, something inside her slipped. "No! Wait!" She stopped herself. What was that? That had sounded a little... desperate. The Great and Powerful Trixie was many things, but desperate was definitely not one of them.

It was time to exit this situation swiftly, with her dignity intact. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is needed elsewhere! Begone!" She summoned up a cloud of black smoke around her, and dived behind the curtains before it could clear. One of these days she was going to have to take the time to learn a real teleportation spell.

She had hoped that in Canterlot, where she had once entertained so many eager, attentive and, most importantly, properly respectful crowds, her prior fame would have protected her against these... troublesome allegations. However it now appeared that even here her reputation was in tatters.

There was now only one option left open to her. It was time to prove that the Great and Powerful Trixie was not one to be trifled with. She would challenge Twilight Sparkle, and defeat her. There could of course be no other outcome to their duel. However... perhaps it would be a good idea first to tip the scales even further in her favour. While, of course, usually the Great and Powerful Trixie would want to give her opponent a fighting chance, in a situation as dire as this there could be no risks, however small.

It had come to her attention, rather later than it might have proved useful unfortunately, that Twilight Sparkle had somehow managed to become the embodiment of one of the Elements of Harmony. The Element of Magic, to be precise. Why, such a title was clearly far better suited to the Great and Powerful Trixie! Surely that must be the source of the power that had defeated the Ursa. How had she stolen the Great and Powerful Trixie's rightful destiny away from her?

Then it came to her. Why... it must have been in this very city that Twilight had planned her coup. She was Celestia's personal student, and had left the city only a couple of days before becoming the Element of Magic. Perhaps an investigation of her old rooms would reveal some clue... With a new sense of purpose, Trixie galloped off towards the gleaming spire of Canterlot Castle.

-

Security in the castle was light. After all, who in Equestria would dream of committing a crime against Princess Celestia? As a result, Trixie easily found her way to Twilight's old room (with directions from a guard, no less). The door wasn't even locked.

It was a tall, open room, and Trixie quickly noticed many shelves of books on a raised platform up a short flight of steps. She'd never been much of a reader- after all, what could a mere book teach the Great and Powerful Trixie? But Twilight was definitely a big book worm, so perhaps one of these books had provided her with the secret to unlock the Elements of Harmony.

She scanned the bookshelves, trying to find one with a promising title. How on earth was she supposed to find anything useful in all this-

"H-Hello? Is someone there?"

Trixie froze at the sound of the unexpected voice behind her.

"Can I help you? What are you doing in my room?"

Slowly, Trixie turned her head, hoping to get a good view of the other pony. She spotted a unicorn's horn... and a pegasus' wings... "Princess Luna. How... unexpected. The guard said this was Twilight Sparkle's room..."

"Oh." The princess paused. "Well it was... still is I guess. But she moved to Ponyville, and I needed somewhere to stay so..." Her voice trailed off. "Are you one of her friends?"

This would require some subtlety Although Luna had also been defeated by Twilight, and as such might have been expected to hold some of the same animosity towards her as Trixie did, from what she had heard the Princess was thoroughly repentant and thus probably not a reliable ally. Still, Trixie did not much fancy trying to find what she was looking for in all those hundreds of books, and Luna most likely knew a fair bit about the Elements of Harmony...

"Why yes, the Great and Powerful Trixie is... an acquaintance of Twilight." Even as a lie she couldn't manage to refer to her as a 'friend'. "Trixie is... researching the Elements of Harmony. Trixie was hoping there would be something useful in her old rooms."

"Really?" Luna looked somewhat surprised "Surely Twilight herself would be the best pony to ask about that?"

"Er..." That was a rather obvious flaw in her logic indeed. But the Great and Powerful Trixie was nothing if not resourceful. "Of course, usually that would be true... Bu-ut you see Trixie is planning a surprise for her! So of course if Trixie asked her it would ruin the surprise"

The Princess was still looking rather confused. "Well, I'm not sure I quite understand what sort of surprise you'd be planning to do with the Elements of Harmony... Still, I don't think it's any kind of secret, not any more at least. I have some... experience with the Elements of Harmony myself." The princess blushed at this reminder of her earlier misdeeds. "What do you need to know?"

Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, being stuck on the moon for a thousand years blunted a pony's social skills enough to make it difficult to spot even a pretty blatant lie. Just as the Great and Powerful Trixie had planned, of course. "The Great and Powerful Trixie just wishes to know how Twilight came to become the Element of Magic in the first place, rather than... some other pony?"

"Oh, is that all? It's pretty simple really. All she had to do was bring together the Elements of Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and Loyalty- embodied in the spirits of her friends. With the spark of friendship, Twilight was granted the Element of Magic, and with it the power to defeat... er... me..." Her eyes dropped to her hooves guiltily.

Honesty? Kindness? Laughter? Generosity? Loyalty? Pah! Weak emotions, all of them! How had such touchy-feely nonsense given Twilight so much power? Still, Trixie, could now see the form of the spell in her mind. The Great and Powerful Trixie would be able to do it so much better! However, much as it pained her to admit it, she wouldn't be able to do it alone... "But how did Twilight manage to find the other elements out of all the rest of the ponies in Equestria?"

"Oh, that was Celestia's doing." Explained Luna. "She knew what was coming, so she cast a spell to find the best ponies to represent each of the elements. When she saw that they were all in Ponyville, she sent Twilight there with the instructions to make some friends. I think that after that the Elements must have been drawn together somehow, but now I'm just theorising."

"Is there any chance that you might know how to cast that finding spell?" Asked Trixie hopefully.

"Oh..." Luna thought for a moment. "Well I could give it a try, I don't see any harm in it." Her horn began to glow, and a disc of light appeared on the floor between the two ponies. Slowly, the colours began to separate and Trixie could see an image forming inside it...

-

Prince Blueblood was cantering through the royal gardens, admiring the many fine flowers on display. None of them, of course, as fine as he, but pleasing to the eye nonetheless. From the corner of his eye, he spotted another fine sight- two very attractive young mares were looking in his direction. When he turned to face them, one of them giggled nervously. A natural reaction, he thought, for a mare to have when noticed by such a fine specimen of stallionhood.

He approached the pair at a slow walk. "Well hello, I am Prince Blueblood..."

"Oh yes..." The mare giggled again. "We know who you are."

"Well of course you do!" Blueblood smirked. "One is, after all, the most eligible bachelor in all of Canterlot!"

"Yeah, you're something alright." Another nervous giggle. To be honest Blueblood was already beginning to tire of them. A small amount of giggling was flattering, but too much just wasn't... ladylike. Plus there was a thought niggling in the back of his mind that something was just a little bit... off.

"We've got biiig plans for you." The other mare continued. "How about you just follow us somewhere a little more... private."

Well well well. That certainly got his attention all right. He pushed his misgivings aside, enjoying the boost to his already bloated ego. Blueblood, you absolute stallion, he thought. You've still got the touch. He followed the mares off the main path, away into the deeper parts of the garden.

However, it didn't take long for that unsettling feeling to return to him. They really were going quite far from the path, and the weather ponies had been watering the gardens last night so the ground out here was rather... muddy. Why his hooves must be getting positively filthy! "Um... ladies, are you sure this is a good idea? The ground here is quite... damp."

"What's the matter Prince?" More giggling. Definitely NOT nervous giggling. No, he realised, they weren't nervous at all. They were laughing at him. "Afraid to get... dirty?"

Oh no.

The other mare kicked him, hard, knocking him off his balance, and he slipped down a nearby slope, sliding down the hill on his side, collecting a fine covering of mud all over. "My beautiful coat!" He exclaimed, dismayed.

Their prank completed, the mares left him to his wallowing, laughing hysterically all the way out of earshot. Slowly, the Prince's despair faded into anger. There was only one thought on his mind.

Rarity.

That... that... COMMONER had humiliated him at the gala. Feeding him carnival food, splattering him with cake, and having the NERVE at the end of it all to yell at HIM! And to make matters worse, it seemed that every mare in Canterlot seemed to be taking HER side! Where once he had been hounded by suitors, now it seemed nopony wanted anything to do with him!

Well this was the last straw. While he knew not how, he vowed that he would bring his regal vengeance down upon her if it was the last thing he did!

After he'd washed all this blasted mud out of his coat, of course.

-

"No no no no no!" Photo Finish screamed. "Scratch behind your ear! Harder! Harder! Like a dog! A DOG!"

"Um... OK" Her model desperately tried to stretch her leg around, but she just couldn't reach. As she did so, she suddenly lost her balance and slipped over, falling into a heap and throwing her carefully prepared costume into disarray "I'm sorry..."

"Enough!" Exclaimed Photo Finish, stamping on the button to collapse her camera away. "You are hopeless! HOPELESS! I go!" She pranced out of the studio, her entourage following behind with her equipment while the hapless model slumped dejectedly on the stage.

That Fluttershy! She had invented a whole new form of modelling! And then she had just vanished! Unbelievable! Unforgivable! She had tried to recreate 'ze magic' with other models, but none of them had the poise, the presence, the PASSION to pull it off.

But there was no going back. How could she, after experiencing PERFECTION? After the other fashonista's had failed to recreate Fluttershy's performance they had returned to the more traditional forms of modelling, but not Photo Finish. She refused to be defeated, and her reputation had collapsed because of it.

There was nothing for it. She would have to go back to Fluttershy, and this time she would not be taking no for an answer. Fluttershy would shine across Equestria! Whether she wanted to or not!

-

Inkimena nuzzled the rock along slowly, stacking it up onto the pile that she had been building all day. In another couple of weeks, she would be finished harvesting all the rocks from the East field. Of course, by the time she'd done that, it would already be way past the time to start harvesting the South field. It seemed that nowadays she was always behind schedule

There wasn't really anything she could do about it though, now that she was working the farm alone. Her parents were tired out from many years of rock farming, and were unable to work any more. Her sister couldn't help because she spent all day looking after them. Now it was up to her to continue the family business on her own.

Of course... there was her OTHER sister. But that was no good. Pinkamena had abandoned them years ago. She had left behind this life of good honest hard work to live a life of leisure! Partying all day and night in Ponyville while her family lived in poverty... Tears began to well up in Inkimena's eyes.

"Oh Pinkamena, how could you abandon us?" She wailed. "We need you so much, and you never even visit! Not even to see your poor frail parents..." She sniffed back a tear. Despite her family ties, Inkimena just couldn't help but hate her sister for what she had done. Why... she oughta march right on into Ponyville and confront her, let her know all the damage she'd done and... and... oh she didn't know what else.

But... she just didn't have the time. These rocks weren't going to farm themselves. She sighed, and dried her eyes. There was work to be done, and she wasn't going to shirk it like her no-good sister. She ambled off towards the next rock, trying to put her sister behind her.

-

Gilda glided aimlessly through the sky. She didn't have anywhere specific to go, and she hadn't come from anywhere in particular either. The past few weeks had stripped her of her entire life. It had all started when she'd gone to visit Rainbow Dash in Ponyville. At first everything had been great, but over the course of her visit things had turned sour between them, and they hadn't spoken since.

When she had returned home, Gilda had realised something disturbing. Nobody she knew actually liked her. Oh, they were polite enough, but she could see it in their eyes- they just didn't want her around. Her only real friend had been Dash, and now even she had abandoned her.

So... she'd taken off. Left her life behind, and flown off into the sunset. It had been cool for a while- gliding wherever the wind took her, taking what she wanted, when she wanted, and generally just doing whatever the hay she wanted. But as time passed, she had started to feel a little weary. Not from flying around all day- she could handle that easy, just this odd feeling like something was... missing.

Idly, she glanced down, and spotted the last thing she wanted to see. Ponyville. Somehow her random flying had brought her here, back to where her problem had begun. For a moment, she wondered whether she should just fly on down, find Rainbow Dash, and apologise for everything. Maybe their friendship could still be salvaged.

Oh hay no. What was she thinking? There was no way in Equestria that she was going to apologise. No, what she needed was payback. She needed something big, something to show Dash that she was the boss and that she didn't need Dash or anyone else.

But what? This was going to take some planning...

-

The ball curved gracefully as it flew over the net, bouncing just inside of the line. Ace focused carefully on his swing, artfully guiding the ball back across the net in a stunning passing shot to land perfe- No, scratch that, to land just outside of the line. Horseapples.

"Out!" Yelled the linespony, raising his hoof in the air.

"Game, set and match, Topspin!" Declared the umpire. "FINALLY."

But he had spoken too soon. Ace was not finished yet. He knew that the ball had been out, of course, but he was damned if he was going to be defeated by anything as easily subverted as the TRUTH. Summoning all his anger, of which he had a plentiful supply considering how badly this match was going, he spat out his racket and launched into an angry tirade. "You canNOT be serious! The ball was clearly on the line! It was on the line!"

Unfortunately, the umpire did not seem particularly impressed by his outburst. "Not this again, Ace. You don't have to contest EVERY SINGLE POINT that you loose, you know. The ball was out, we all saw it."

"It was on the line! I'm making an official challenge. That means you have to consult Hawkeye!"

"Ugh... fine." The umpire sighed. He turned to a griffin which was hovering above the court. "Hey, Hawkeye, was the ball in or out?"

"Huh? What? Oh... I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." The griffon replied.

"Just let him have the point, I don't mind." Interjected Topspin. "It's just a game, after all, nothing to get all worked up about."

Just a game? JUST A GAME? That only riled Ace up even more. This wasn't just a game, this was the quarter final of Wimbridle! The most prestigious tennis competition in Equestria! And he was Ace! Five times winner! Equestrian number one (until recently), and if he lost this game he'd have been knocked out of the last three tournaments he'd entered in a row without even seeing a semi-final.

Still he shouldn't complain too loudly, as it appeared that Topspin's sentiment had had the desired effect. "You know what, fine!" Snapped the umpire. "I'm tired of arguing with you Ace. 40-15, Topspin serving for the match. Let's just get this over with already."

Ace picked up his racket with a grin on his face. Advantage Ace! He thought. Across the court, Topspin tossed the ball up in the air, raised his racket high... and smashed the ball right past Ace's face, so fast that he never even had the chance to get a glancing blow. Before the umpire could say anything, Ace spat out his racket again and started shouting. "I wasn't ready! That doesn't count! Nobody gets an ace past Ace! You all know it! It never happens! It was out anyway! His foot was over the line! I demand a rematch! Topspin should be disqualified!"

The umpire waited patiently until Ace had run out of excuses then, with great relish, delivered his verdict. "Game, set and match Topspin. No arguments, no rematches, no disqualifications." He paused. "Although having said that I may bring your unsportsponylike outbursts today to the Equestria Tennis Association if I hear another peep out of you today Ace."

Defeated, Ace trotted dejectedly off the court, shunning Topspin's offer to shake hooves. How had it all gone so wrong? Not so long ago he'd been on top of his game, best in the world, but now it seemed that nothing ever went his way any more.

Except, of course, he knew exactly where it had gone wrong. His lucky racket... ruined! He'd washed it, changed the strings, tried everything he could think of, but after that day it had somehow never felt the same again, and he had been hopeless ever since. He was sure now that the racket was cursed.

What's more, he knew who had done it. He'd seen it in her eyes when he'd first noticed what had happened. Guilt, that's what it was. And honestly, the clue was in the name- who else would have been responsible for smashing apples with his racket than Ponyville's own Applejack? There was absolutely no possible way that he could be wrong on this.

But maybe, just maybe, there'd be a way to break the curse. Break Applejack, break the curse! Of course! Why hadn't he thought of this before? That was LOGIC right there, plain and simple...

---

"Oh dear..." Luna frowned. "I don't think that was right. None of those ponies looked like they'd be very good Elements of Harmony at all. One of them wasn't even a pony. I'm sorry I couldn't be any more help."

On the contrary Princess, thought Trixie. I think you've just given me exactly what I needed. "Well, never mind." She said out loud, trying to sound disappointed "It was only a demonstration after all. You've been very helpful." She had to go now, and find these ponies before they moved too far from where she'd seen them in the vision. "The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks you. Goodbye!" With that she galloped out of the room, eager to set her plan in motion.

"Goodbye!" Luna called after her. "Um... thanks for visiting me!" She stared down at her hooves dejectedly. It was so rare for her to get visitors, and this one had left in such a hurry. "I never did get a chance to ask who this Trixie was that she kept talking about..." She muttered to herself.