Welcome to Discordtopia

by Foal Star

Chapter Five: Escaping Trixieville

It was now evening with Big Macintosh, a former apple farmer, was now a soldier in Trixie’s royal guard.

The stallion was guarding a hall with a beautiful violet carpet with the portrait of Princess Trixie slaying a Ursa Minor on full display. She was in her alicorn form shooting a beam of energy through the beast as it stood over her with its gaping jaws wide open as if it were going to devour her.

Whether or not there was an actual truth to the image was somewhat debated. Trixie claimed that after Discord gave her Alicorn Magic, she effortlessly conquered the massive creature, though some did still question its legitimacy, not enough to voice said views.

It was something Mac pondered from time to time since the portrait itself was about the only thing special in this hallway. He’d been guarding this section of the castle for nearly a year and had fallen into a fairly standard routine. He wakes up, guards, takes a break, guards, eats, guards, break, guards, then goes back to sleep. He does this day in and day out and never misses a beat.

It truly was about as mundane of an existence as one could get, ironic given his ruler’s obsession with stage performances. Yet, Mac willingly endured it, not for his sake but for those he cared for.

His family all were living rather luxuriously, thanks in part to Trixie using her magic to effectively automate the apple collection process, to where all Apple Bloom and Granny Smith had to do was sell the produce with little effort on their part.

Honestly, if his sister saw the family taking such an easy route to success, she’d have likely talked their ears off from now till Nightmare Night. Sadly, she’d up and left for Manehatten some time ago and never looked back. Things only became more concerning when Discord appeared and defeated Nightmare Moon, leaving the farm hand to fear for his siblings safety.

Though life in Ponyville was fairly comfortable, Trixie tended to keep things isolated with little information from the outside world leaking in.

Even now Big Mac wondered/feared what the Lord of Chaos did to the city and could only hope she was alright. Had he the power to, he’d kick down the nearest wall and run nonstop to the city until he’d tracked his sister down.

Yet, for all his strength, he might as well have been powerless against Trixie’s Alicorn Magic.

But for now all he can do is guard this stupid portrait and keep other servants from getting near it. And then they’d discover Trixie’s little secret, a hidden passway that Trixie explicitly told him she’d make him into one of her “assistants” for the rest of eternity.

Only benefit of those threats was they helped keep him vigilant and focused, along with the hope that someday he’d finally be able to go and check on his sister in Manehattan.

Still…that kind of motivation only works for so long, especially when the hall only had three entrances including the portrait and nopony to talk to.

Mac silently contemplated once again counting bits of dirt on the floor or maybe just apples in his head again, when he actually heard something.

“Hello, Big Mac.”

Finally alert and on guard, Mac immediately looked toward the entrance to the left and to his surprise sawRarity trotting to him.

That alone wouldn’t have gotten his attention, but the smell of what he knew to be pancakes had him enraptured, his mouth open and quickly leaking drool. It was a weakness Rarity had learned of quite well in her time through the castle, occasionally slipping him a pancake or two.

Prior to working for Trixie, Rarity had briefly worked at Sweet Apple Acres as a farmhand. It wasn’t by choice of course, but Discord’s mad takeover had practically made fashion a lost art, with his bizarre tastes and preferences causing Rarity to all but swear of sewing. Still it wasn’t all bad Big Mac had been a patient and friendly boss who’d shown her the ropes and appreciated her earnest demeanor. Said it reminded him of his sister, even suggesting the two likely would’ve been good friends had she stayed in Ponyville.

Thus when both had been basically drafted into Trixie’s service, Rarity made it a point to visit the big stallion whenever the chance arose to help alleviate his boredom. Now however, it was more than a simple social call.

“So was it another typical boring day for you?”

Big Mac, finally regaining some level of dignity, closed his mouth before letting out a loud groan. “Eyyup.”

Setting the pancakes down near the large stallion she took a spot next to him, a position they’d been in more than a few times. “Did you speak to Trixie about looking for your sister?”

Big Mac gave a sigh and shook his head no, “Eynope.”

“I see, I’n not exactly sure why, surely you've gained plenty of her favor over this past year…but your right to remain cautious one slip up and all that work could be for nothing.” Rarity sighed as she lifted the pancakes to his mouth and fed him as if he were a child. Despite how silly this was, Trixie told him he had to remain vigilant almost twenty four seven.

That sadly included standing like a statue and not moving an inch. Yes it was silly but Trixie was only slightly above Discord when it came to things like logic.

Before Rarity could give Big Mac the coffee she paused, her comment bringing a certain detail to light. Namely, if she gave Mac the sleeping potion, Princess Trixie would most certainly punish him and he’d never see his sister again. And that was assuming the punishment didn’t also involve permanent imprisonment.

Even if it was for a good cause, could she really condemn an innocent stallion, one she considered a friend, to such a fate?

Rarity looked into Big Mac’s kind eyes and said, “Big Macintosh I…I have to confess something but I need you to remain calm.”

The stallion eyed her, being a bit suspicious Rarity cleared her throat and continued, “Big Mac I am distracting you as some friends of mine will be escaping.”

He paused, heart thumping in his chest. “W…what did you say?”

“Listen to me, Princess Trixie is never going to help you find your sister and she’ll most likely just use you until you drop dead. Please come with me and we can find Applejack together."

Big Mac flinched, fighting back the urge to move a muscle seeming to be rather transfixed by what she just said. “R...Rarity y…you’re betraying the princess?”

“We don’t have a choice. I was hesitant as well, but there’s a chance we can not only save your sister but all of Equestria! We can’t simply let things remain as they are, especially with Trixie in charge of Ponyville.”

Rarity’s gaze drifted to the portrait of the Princess and she gagged at the massive vanity piece. “Please Big Mac, all you have to do is come with us.”

Big Mac quivered being unsure of what to do, he wanted to remain loyal to Princess Trixie but that was mostly due to fear of what she would do to him and his family. But he knew that what Rarity was saying was true, it was only a matter of time before something happened that finally gave Trixie an excuse to finally get rid of him.

Sighing in defeat and finally moving his head and neck, he nodded. “I’ll help, but I need to go grab my family. I can't leave them here.”

“Ok, just meet us on the outskirts of the city, and hurry!”

Big Mac nodded and saluted, then replied with a “Eyup!” He then hurried off as Rarity turned to see the rest of her group sneaking over through the hallway.

Both Celestia and Luna turned their eyes to the direction Mac had fled in, Luna looking both confused and perturbed. “Why is he still awake and where exactly is he going?”

“Sorry, but I couldn’t put Big Mac to sleep, he’s my friend and I couldn’t leave him. He’ll come with us.”

Everypony was weary of this decision. “You do realize that the more of us there are, the harder escaping will be?” Celestia was not one to abandon her subjects, but this situation was dangerous and risky enough as is. Thankfully, Starlight’s own prior history gave a quick solution to the problem.

. “Look, I somewhat know Big Mac, at least from my universe. Given what I’ve seen of this universe, he’s not that different from my world’s Mac and he was about as trustworthy as you can get. We should be okay.”

The rest of the ponies reluctantly agreed seeing they didn’t have time to debate and followed the maid through the dark maze like caverns as they made their way to the end of the tunnel.

Lucky for them Trixie seemed pretty confident in the passage’s concealment, as it otherwise lacked any kind of defenses or traps one would expect.

“Anypony else getting the idea this is a little too easy?” Rarity couldn’t help but state the obvious they were all thinking, a sentiment Luna shared.

“Indeed, escaping from Canterlot required more than a little effort on our part,” Luna and Celestia squirmed at the memory of the clowns and endless assault of pies they’d endured. “Arrogant Trixie maybe, but I still find it hard to believe she wouldn’t have some other trick in the event of something like this.”

Though Starlight and Celestia shared their fears, neither saw the benefit in worrying about such things at the moment.

“Look guys, we can’t afford to worry about that sort of thing right now. Who knows, maybe we finally caught a break and things are just this easy.”

Ahead the group finally saw a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel and made it outside…only to find themselves surrounded by soldiers all pointing their spears with Shining Armor leading the helm.

All eyes immediately were on the visibly sweating and embarrassed Starlight. “Okay, nevermind, our luck is absolutely the worst.”

---

The small band of ponies quickly found their backs against each other, completely encircled by the many soldiers around them..

Starlight bent to Rarity and whispered “I thought you said no pony knew about Princess Trixie’s secret passage.”

Rarity started to look rather nervous and started shaking and stammered. “They didn’t, there must be an alarm or something?”

“Or Big Mac betrayed you and warned them?” Luna grumbled angrily, her cynical side rearing it’s ugly head again.

“He wouldn’t do that,” Rarity snapped.

“Quiet!” Shining Armor quickly shouted as he came forth .“By order of Princess Trixie! You are all under arrest for attempting to flee her kingdom!”

Celestia, trying to regain some of her previous fire, stomped a hoof to the ground and stood against the army. “Penalizing ponies simply for wishing to leave? What kind of a ridiculous law is that?”

“As it states in the law of Trixie, all ponies who step into her kingdom are her subjects and thus fall under her authority. Without exception.”

The soldiers took a step forward, their spears getting closer, causing Celestia to step back towards the group, all contemplating what exactly their options were.

Thankfully, a loud voice nearby managed to do the job for them.

“Eynope!”

They turned to see Big Mac leading a host of soldiers who then all pointed their spears at Shining Armor and his ponies. Furious, the Captain of the Guard held a hoof and pointed towards the host Big Mac led, shifting their attention to their own defense. “Big Macintosh are you saying you’re defying Princess Trixie!?”

“Eyyup!”

“And you do understand that if you and your soldiers don’t stand down this is going to end up as a battle? Do you want that?”

“Eynope.”

Blunt as always, and a quick look at those beside him made it clear they shared his desire to avoid a fight.

“But then…why are you defying her!”

Big Mac sighed. “Because I’m tired of her. She treats all of us like her playthings, always promising to help us but never acting on it. She ain’t fit to be a ruler, especially since if Luna and Celestia are still alive then they are out Princesses.”

The soldiers began to lower their spears on both sides. What Mac said had some logic behind it, enough to shake the resolve of many, though Shining Armor didn’t seem as moved. At least that was until his glare turned into a smirk.“Well, I have to say Big Macintosh that makes a lot of sense.”

He turned towards his soldiers and gave a nod. With looks of almost relief and thanks, many started to throw their spears to the ground and it wasn’t long until all of the guards Shining Armor lead were now laying themselves at the hooves of the two princesses.

The sudden heel turn left all the other ponies stunned.

“Sister, do you understand what’s happening right now?”

“No Luna, I’m just as confused as you.”

Shining took a quick glance at all those in place and made sure they were safe. “So for the deception your highness, but we had to see who was truly loyal to Princess Trixie before we made a move.”

Celestia couldn’t help but be impressed with her former Captain. “Clever, you acted as if you’d be arresting us and Big Mac pretended to be leading a rebellion. That way you could know for certain who wasn’t onboard with betraying Princess Trixie.”

“Yes, he told me that Trixie had a silent alarm in her caverns. Once we received word we came here to “stop” you but the truth is we're all rebelling.”

Almost every soldier seemed to nod as one cried out “are you serious!? You have any idea what Trixie will do to you if she learns of your betrayal.”

Shining didn’t seem the least bit concerned, happy to finally speak his mind for once. “The point is she’ll never learn of our betrayal because we’re all leaving.”

As Big Mac had soldiers come with their families and loved ones they were planning a mass exodus from the city and into the Everfree Forest for refuge.

Celestia and Luna both were relieved and they escorted the train of ponies into the Everfree Forest all hoping things would be much smoother from here on out.

“Well, things seemed to have worked out better than expected Celestia,” Luna eyed the significantly larger force they now had on their side. “We may just pull this off after all.”

While Celestia appreciated her sister’s confidence, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling she was getting. “Perhaps sister, let’s just hope our good fortune holds out.”