Open Maw
Dodging as quickly as she could, Fluttershy ducked back into the shadows. "Trixie survived!" was not the first thought in her head. It was "She's trying to kill me!" followed quickly by "What do I do!?" As questions go, it wasn't necessarily a poor one given the situation. Indeed it seemed Trixie had fought all through the night, the state of her cloak attesting to the close calls she had endured, hanging from her shoulders in strips and tatters. Her hat had been lost completely at some point so she had replaced it with a crude substitute made from an old half melted Nightmare Night bucket. The black and red magic that crackled around her eyes and horn had apparently been deployed only briefly into shaping it into a new chapeau, as it still bore the grinning face of a cartoon jack-o-lantern on the front. Trixie's eyes were wild, darting back and forth as she fired bursts of magic at Fluttershy. She realized that the reason Trixie's spells hadn't connected in the first place might be because Trixie was still fighting a version of the candied horde inside her head. Indeed she turned around and around, frantically looking for an enemy that she had long ago blown to pieces.
Fluttershy could hear them in the dirt around Trixie's hooves. She'd destroyed hundreds of them, but they were rebuilding themselves bit by bit in the earth. They were just waiting for night fall to come again, to wrap Trixie in a flood of candy teeth and bone. It wasn't anger she felt from them, but a recalcitrance born from an unrelenting hunger. A hunger that wilted inside Fluttershy the higher the sun climbed into the sky. She didn't want to fight, and she didn't have time for this. "Trixie if you could just~" she tried to say as another thick bolt of black lightning scoured an already crumbled building, "I'm not trying to hurt you, I'm actually~" a wave of crimson energy that crackled and burned the air ripped through the spot where Fluttershy had been moments ago. "If you'd just calm down, Rainbow Dash sent me to~" but she still wasn't allowed to finish, as a nearby lamp post was frozen solid by a sudden frosty blast. Trixie wasn't having any of it.
"Silence! Trixie proclaims that there will be no talking for the dead!! Now hold still so she can return you to the dust that spawned you, cur!!!" Bolts of black lightning and burst of crimson fire rained down all around Fluttershy. The amulet at Trixie's throat glowed so brightly with dark magic it illuminated the entire square, and physically levitated the unicorn into the air. Crimson light burst from her eyes as she screamed madly, "Dust to dust, and to dust you will return!!!! So says the Great and Powerful Trixie!!!!!"
"Enough!" roared Fluttershy, fiery emotions swelling up inside her heart. She dodged around the flashy, deadly spells, a surge of adrenaline sending a hoof flying into Trixie face. The slap stunned the unicorn long enough for Fluttershy to lock eyes with her. Fluttershy stared hard, the light from the amulet reflected as a crimson glow in her own eyes. "Now you listen to me! I get it, you've been out here all night fighting for your life! But do I look like a candy pony to you? I haven't so much as tried to nibble on you, yet you're just throwing these huge spells at me like I'm some kind of monster! Well aren't you just an assumptive little busy body? No, I totally get it, you're half crazed from lack of sleep and frightened out of your mind! Well guess what sister, that makes two of us! But while your sitting here having your little breakdown, I'm actually trying to get to Canterlot to warn Princess Celestia about this mess! So unless you want to find out what happens when all of Equestria ends up like this happy town, maybe you should stuff your little magic amulet into that abomination you have for a hat and let me go about my business!"
The entire diatribe had taken place with Trixie staring wide eyed and mouth agape as Fluttershy had raged mere inches away from her face. For a moment she was speechless, until she raised one hoof to her face, "You struck Trixie."
"I know, and I'm sorry I had to do that, but you were seriously out of control. Are you better now?" asked Fluttershy.
The crimson glow around the amulet flickered gently. The power seemed to drain out of Trixie slightly, and along with it a measure of the madness in her eyes. "Yes...yes Trixie thinks so. Everything has just been so..." she clutched her head as if in pain. "They wouldn't stop eating. Even when I blew them to pieces they drug their heads along the ground by their tongues to try and get to any bloody scraps they could find. They laughed with broken jaws and sang with their limbs ripped and scattered. It was so horrible."
"There, there," said Fluttershy, hugging Trixie and smoothing down her wild mane, "They're all asleep now. They can't hurt you anymore. We should leave though, the shadows aren't safe for you, and it will all start again when night falls."
"Yes...yes," said Trixie, eyeing the thing she had tried to make into a hat before she tossed it back on the pile of rubbish where it belonged. "I'm afraid Trixie lost her head there for a moment. You're absolutely right. Canterlot must be warned. We should go now. You said that Rainbow Dash sent you? Trixie takes that to mean she didn't make it herself then?"
"No, I'm afraid not. But she is still alive and safe for the moment. Or at least as safe as any pony is under the circumstances." Fluttershy glanced around apprehensively, aware that the day was grinding on and the shadows were starting to get shorter the closer the time got to noon. "I wish I had time to tell you more but it's really very urgent that I get to Canterlot as quickly as possible and, well, you know," the yellow pegasus fluttered her wings, indicating succinctly that she had a faster way of traveling than walking.
Trixie smirked, "Don't worry my little pony. You can fill the Great and Powerful Trixie in on the way." As she spoke, her horn flared once more with dark magic, wings of smokey shadow arching from her spine. "Now that Trixie has a little breathing room, she can fully tap the Alicorn Amulet's copious collection of magical augmentations. Do try and keep up!" With that, she took to the air with a crack of thunder. Fluttershy groaned, what little energy she had already draining away as she climbed into the sunny sky. It was going to be a long flight to Canterlot.
As Rainbow Dash, Zecora, and Big Mac had gone deeper into the forest the sunlight had faded to a few ghostly shafts that glimmered weakly through the leaves. At first, Dash had thought the weakening light was a result of the thickening forest. Thankfully, she was a weather pony, and she felt it when the air pressure dropped like a stone. The wind began to violently rustle the leaves, to her ears the sound was reminiscent of a crackling wild fire, and a storm blew up as suddenly as the one from yesterday. Zecora didn't seem overly concerned with the loss of the light, however, merely urging Rainbow Dash to remain quiet when she mentioned the change in the weather. As it stood it should've been close to high noon, but instead the watery grey light made it seem like twilight was drawing near.
The closer they drew to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, the more twisted and strange the forest grew. This part of the woods had always seemed a little dark and foreboding. Rainbow Dash remembered the first time she had come through here with her friends when they were searching for the Elements of Harmony. It was true the trees had seemed almost monstrous even then, but now they loomed menacingly and leafless on all sides, a sea of skeletal limbs clawing at the sky and lunging at the little wagon with each gust of wind. Though they had left the fall foliage behind, the trees here were not entirely unadorned. Bits of what looked like leather and sackcloth hung in strips, strung from the branches of the trees that lined the pathway like Spanish moss. Though faded, Dash could see that they had once been bright and multicolored. Here and there she could swear she saw familiar, yet faded insignias. She felt her stomach turn as she took a closer look and realized that what she was seeing were the empty hides of ponies and other creatures, draped in various stages of rot and decay from the crooked grasping tree limbs. A few bloody strips of once tawny skin seemed fresher than the others, the coagulated blood that splattered the bark of the tree it was draped over still a dull red. What looked to be an apple with a slice missing, the unfortunate ponies cutie mark, decorated the shredded skin.
When she tried to draw Big Mac or Zecora's attention to this, they just grimly shook their heads and brought hooves to their mouths, indicating it wasn't safe to talk. The sound of wind snapping the loose hides like banners and the wagon wheels crunching over the path were the only noises that seemed permissible. That was odd. There weren't any leaves around for the wheels to crunch and the path here should've been sandy, if not outright muddy, if Dash recalled correctly. Were there that many fallen branches on the road? Glancing down at the path, Dash wished fervently that she hadn't. Bones of all shapes and sizes, large and small, littered the path as it wound in and among the grizzly trees. These were what snapped and popped beneath the wagon wheels. Though impossible to tell the exact age of the femurs and rib cages, at least some of them had to be fresh given the charnel scent that wafted up from the road. It was obvious that these couldn't all be pony bones, but that didn't stop Dash from shivering. She couldn't help but note that, diverse as these bones might be, they were all uniformly gnawed and broken. As though what had made them wouldn't be satisfied until it had sucked out the last bit of marrow, the last gristly mouthful.
They continued on for what had seemed like hours in silence, the bones on the ground growing thicker, the tattered leathery hides growing more decayed. Thunder began to rumble around the horizon before they at last exited the open air crypt that had once been a forest. They emerged near a rickety wooden bridge that spanned a deep canyon. This was all that lay between themselves and where the ruins of the Princess's former fortress lay. Or rather, where the ruins were meant to lay. Big Mac had stopped so suddenly that Rainbow Dash was about to shout at him that some ponies still had fresh injuries, danger or no danger. Her words died on her lips. She realized Big Mac's sudden stop was for a very good reason. Gasping aloud, her eyes gazed up, and up, unable to take in the fullness of the structure that towered before her. Dark clouds boiled around the top, green and orange lightning crawling along their black undersides like webs of fire. Candied pegasi flew among them, directing the clouds to keep them thickest around the lofty tower. Rainbow Dash realized that it was probably these creatures that had been responsible for the storm yesterday. Now it appeared they were manipulating the weather to create an unnatural night. Even so, the steady flashes of lightning illuminated the castles glossy surface, its twisting jutting spires, and its chaotic coloration. It half reminded Rainbow Dash of those gingerbread houses that were sold around Hearths Warming, only covered in jack-o-lanterns and shaped by the hooves of a deranged baker who kept the bodies of little ponies hanging in his larder.
It was all candy, of course. Each spire and snapping flag, each winding turret, every single step and parapet was some kind of chocolate, nougat, caramel, or hard candy. Something like that shouldn't be able to exist in this world. Candy walls should've collapsed under their own weight, marshmallow stairs should've shriveled and shrunk in the sun. It should all be a sticky melted mountain of mush, but instead it towered darkly like the biggest Nightmare Night decoration that ever had or ever would exist. For some reason Rainbow Dash wished Pinkie Pie was here to see it. As horrifying as it was, she couldn't help but think the pink party pony would truly appreciate such an edible edifice in ways she never could. That is, until Dash realized it was twitching and pulsing. Writhing and wavering like the heat haze over asphalt in the summer.
At first she had thought it was just a trick of the flashing light, but no, bits of the candy castle actively squirmed. Candy ponies. The entire castle was made up of bits and parts of candy ponies stretched and bent to form arches and stairwells. Their eyeless sugar skulls grimaced and grinned from here and there along the walls. How could Rainbow Dash ever have prepared for this? How had Zecora and Big Mac ever thought they could stand up to a power so ancient and evil that it used ponies as literal building blocks for its seat of power? What little hope had dwelt in Rainbow Dash's heart shriveled and died. She suddenly found herself wanting desperately to be at home, under her blanket. Maybe with her teddy bear.
"I think now might be the right time, for me to forsake my vow of rhyme." said Zecora, pulling up the hood of her cloak, her eyes glowing yellow in the gloom. "It's time Big Macintosh. Let us go to work."
The crimson stallion whipped off the tarp that covered up the back of the wagon, unveiling what to Rainbow Dash's eyes looked like some kind of mobile mad scientists lab. Vials and vats, beakers and jars, all seemingly connected by tubes that curled and corkscrewed crazily in and through one another. A soft mist rose from one or two of the larger jars, and the azure flyer was suddenly very aware that she'd been riding along a bumpy forest path with a wagon full of things that looked very much like they could explode at any moment. Big Mac started unloading potions and flasks, stuffing them into the lining of his cloak, his saddle bag, and even loading two larger barrels on either side of his back. Zecora, for her part, seemed to have everything she needed on her person already, save for three small flat bottomed vials of bright green liquid. She suddenly snapped one in half and gave it a shake. The glow stick shone a clear green light.
Zecora smiled, probably at the confused look on Dash's face, as she passed one of the vials to her. It had a handy string for hanging around ones neck. "We've been preparing for something like this for a long time. Ever since Fluttershy and Big Mac came into my care, I've been preparing tinctures and mixtures that would be both beneficial for us, and noxious to these creatures. Zebra alchemy may not be as flashy or fast as unicorn magic, but it can be far more potent when used by an experienced practitioner." She drew three more bottles from the wagon, again passing one to Dash. Of the two she held, she pulled the cork from one with her teeth, and drank the dark orange contents. She gave a little shiver and made a face. "I'm afraid the taste isn't much to talk about, but this wasn't brewed for flavor. During her spells, Fluttershy seems to hunt primarily by sound and smell over sight. This brew will mask our odor from the inside out, but I'm afraid we'll still have to try and remain as quiet as possible. We'll still need to deal with any candy ponies we come across directly, but this should help keep us from being swarmed. Still, once inside if you must speak, do so only in a whisper."
"Eeyup," said Big Mac, as if he needed to be told about being silent.
"I don't understand. Do you two see the size of that place!? We need to wait for Fluttershy to get here with the Equestrian Army, the Air Force, even the Navy if we can get them here. Even that probably won't be enough. We need to send word to the kingdoms outside of Equestria and get them to send as many troops as possible too! How can you possibly consider storming that place with just the three of us!?" cried Rainbow Dash, dumbfounded. "And why aren't you rhyming anymore?"
"Let me first tell you a story," said Zecora, urging Rainbow Dash to drink her potion. It tasted like old grapefruit juice and stale tea. "Once upon a time, in the lands of my father, there was a rabbit. This rabbit was no ordinary bunny, however, he was a trickster, and some thought a god in his own right. One day a jackal came to his warren and began to dig. Now the jackal himself was crafty, and had placed friends at each of the entrances to the rabbits home. If they tried to run, there were jaws waiting to snap them up. If they tried to wait the jackal and his friends out, they would starve and slow, and become easy prey. So our hero the prince of rabbits, being old and wise, marched out of his den proud and plump and said to the jackal. 'Stop! My children mean more to me than my own life. If you spare them, I will hop into your jaws willingly.' Now the jackal was crafty, but he was also greedy. And this was the largest, fattest rabbit he'd ever seen. Whether the jackal had any intention of honoring the agreement is uncertain, but even so he opened his jaws wide. The rabbit hopped, hopped, and hopped down the creatures throat. There he lodged himself, choking that old jackal to death. With that done, he climbed back out and lead the rest of his warren away from that place and made a new home in a distant land, far from any jackals."
"O-kay, nice story but I'm not sure what that has to do with us going into the castle that's very clearly made from dead ponies!" shouted Rainbow Dash, trying to scrape the taste of the potion she had downed off her tongue. "And again, why aren't you rhyming like you usually do?"
Zecora snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. "That really matters that much to you? The rhyming was just a way to keep me sane in my self imposed exile, though that is not a story that's important right now. What's important is the parable of the rabbit and the jackal. Both were crafty creatures, but the jackal was large and powerful, the rabbit merely fat. Yet even so, the rabbit was brave and risked his own life for the lives of all his people. He triumphed by giving the jackal exactly what it thought it wanted." Zecora hefted a device that was a complex series of glass tubes and rubber hoses, all leading to a tank she carefully mounted on her own back. A jet of flame shot suddenly out of the end of the device, and Rainbow Dash realized it was some kind of do-it-yourself flamethrower! "For better or worse, it's not just Luna that's been reaching out to you, but the Candy Mare herself. That monster has some kind of interest in you, and I believe that's why you and your friends were attacked before the sun set yesterday. For the sake of our friends who yet live and those who have died, for all the pony-folk, are you ready to walk into the jaws of death and make her choke?"
Canterlot was quiet, much more so than Fluttershy remembered it being from her trips there before. Back then it had bustled and throbbed, noisy and bright even in the dead of night. Under the glare of the afternoon sun, there seemed to only be a few ponies moving quickly here and there. The yellow pegasus was actually a little bit thankful of that. She worried about what effect Trixie's appearance, mane wild and body held aloft by wings of dark magic, would have on the general populace if they saw her zooming through the air towards the palace. As it was, a small contingent of pegasi wearing the livery of the Palace Guard intercepted her before she could land in the courtyard. Fluttershy was thankful of that. It gave her a chance to catch up.
"How dare you bar Trixie's path! Don't you know Trixie is the apprentice to her highness Princess Celestia!? She awaits news from Trixie even now! You delay Trixie at not just your own peril, but that of the realm entire!"
The guards whispered to one another, eyes flickering back and forth. Finally one of them said, "Of course, oh Great and Powerful Trixie. Pardon us for not recognizing you with your raiment in tatters and baring, um, wings? It's no excuse, but we were not expecting you to appear as, well, thus. If you will follow me, we will lead you to Princess Celestia. I am sure she will be most eager to hear the news you bring." He paused for a beat. "Tell me, how fair's Captain Shining Armor. Shall we be expecting his return soon as well?"
"There is no time to speak of that! Even if there were, Trixie would not divulge state secrets to a common guard such as yourself. Trixie's words are for the Princess alone!"
"Of course, of course. And what of this pegasus that hovers meekly behind you. I take it she is your companion?" asked one of the other guards.
"Foal, do you not recognize Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness and friend of Celestia's previous apprentice!?" thundered Trixie. "She and her friends were pivotal in saving Equestria from both the machinations of Nightmare Moon and the dread Discord! You should welcome her graciously as your savior!"
Fluttershy had never heard Trixie speak about any other pony in such a manner. Apparently neither had the guards, as they looked at the pink maned pegasus with awe and new found respect. It made Fluttershy blush a little especially given, as far as she was concerned, that she hadn't done anything special. It had always been Twilight who had led her friends in Equestria's hour of need. Fluttershy had always kind of considered herself just to be along for the ride, relying on everypony else to solve the big problems. Still, it was nice of Trixie to recognize her contribution. It was Fluttershy's turn to lead the charge this time. Perhaps from safely behind Trixie and Princess Celestia?
Without a moments more hesitation, the guards led them to a nearby balcony, and into the great hall of stained glass that preceded the throne room. Celestia had usually met ponies elsewhere in the palace in the past, reserving the throne room for official business like the greeting of foreign dignitaries. It was a little odd to see Celestia perched on her throne at this time of day. But then it had been a long, long time since Fluttershy had seen the Princess. Another change were the guards, clustered around her in protective formation. It was almost as if she was already expecting news of an impending attack. Perhaps since Shining Armor had never reported back, the guard had been put on alert. She didn't have much time to ponder this, however, as they were ushered before Celestia without the usual pomp or ceremony.
"Welcome back, my apprentice. What news do you bring me?" said Celestia in dulcet tones.
"You're majesty, Trixie brings word of the utmost importance. It is worse than Trixie feared! The curse that was placed over Ponyville was no localized phenomena or accident, but a deliberate act by a being of unimaginable dark power known as the Candy Mare!" Trixie paused for dramatic effect, ever the show pony thought Fluttershy. "This monster is responsible for the deaths of uncountable citizens of Equestria across millennia of time. But the Curse is incomplete! It is Trixie's belief that this very night, on Nightmare Night Eve, she will seek to do to the rest of Equestria what she started in Ponyville, spreading her influence until everypony has been wiped from the realm!"
"I see, and what evidence do you have to support these findings?" asked Celestia coolly.
"Evidence? Your majesty, Trixie presents Fluttershy, missing for this entire past year and one who has managed to withstand the Candy Mare's influence while yet being afflicted by her abominable candy curse. She can corroborate everything Trixie has said so far and offer key information on the location of the Candy Mare and her undead armies strengths and weaknesses. Honestly, Trixie had thought you would be more surprised by her presence than anything I've related to you so far." Something like doubt flickered in Trixie's eyes. "Oh."
"Oh indeed," said Celestia, the harmony in her voice replaced by a sonorous echo of another, far stranger voice. That is when the guards on either side of her throne brought down their axes, severing Trixie's head from her shoulders. The glow faded from the Alicorn Amulet as Trixie's corpse tottered and fell. The look of surprise never left her decapitated head.
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Wait wait wait what just happened? Did Celestia got controlled by candy mare and chopped Trixies head off xD I'm so confused
Well Trixie it seems you weren't a head of the game ... I'm so sorry
HOLY SHIT
IT'S GOIN' DOWN FOR REALL
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Wow, peoples just dyin' left and right up in this bitch!
Jesus Christ.
What the Frick!?
Hang on a second, I notice the monsters are hiding in the forest Trixie...
Looks into the camera
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The pieces fit together rather well so far. I’ll wager that since Celestia was under the Candy Mare’s influence, that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are probably both needed to complete the ritual. There was no way to get Dash to go into Ponyville or the Everfree without summoning her to Canterlot and sending her with a reassuringly sized and competent force. It also explains why Dash didn’t have any nightmares after she and Celestia talked.