> Welcome to Discordtopia
>  by Foal Star
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter one: Escape from the Capital of Chaos
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia awoke with a start to what she could only assume was the loudest rooster to exist, possibly cawing all the way from Ponyville. 

The former Princess of Equestria looked upward with a sad and forlorn expression as she peered upward to see the sun slowly rising in the sky. It was a definitive reminder that she no longer held any sway over the enormous celestial body, though that was not the cause for her sorrow. 

The mare slowly rose from what appeared to be a bed of straw in a cage just barely large enough for her to stand up straight. The alicorn looked to see the mirror behind her, gazing upon Equestria's once proud ruler, now reduced to a circus clown with her once long, beautiful mane transformed into an oversized, poofy afro. Her muzzle is now adorned with a comically oversized red rubber ball and a comically blue top in place of her normal regalia. Worst of all, her once majestic cutie mark depicting the sun proudly was now a sun-shaped balloon. 

It was indeed a far cry from the pony who'd often left many a being awestruck by her presence, as opposed to now merely invoking laughter. 

The former monarch, however, had long grown accustomed to her jarring appearance,  seeing it'd been years since she saw herself in any form of dignified attire.

With a defeated sigh, the princess turned to see dozens of fellow clown ponies rolling around on unicycles, many tossing pies into their faces and seemingly acting as if this was normal. It seemed nearly all of her subjects had succumbed to Discord's magic, utterly oblivious to what had happened to them. 

That certainly seemed true as some of the transformed ponies started to chuck pies at her, something none of them would've dared even consider not long ago. However, Celestia was ready as she instinctively caught the pies with her horn, stabbing them through on top of each other, avoiding getting even a splotch of cream on her body.

Treating it as barely an inconvenience, Celestia lowered her head to the ground, allowing the pastries to slide down harmlessly before shaking off the remaining cream. Eyeing the clown ponies in preparation for another pastry pelting, a squeak shifted her attention to the left of her. 

Looking around, she saw her sister, now covered in crust and cream, had not been quite as reactive.

Like her elder sibling, Luna's mane was styled into a poofy afro, and a large, rubber clown nose similarly covered her muzzle. Along with some equally bright clothing and an altered cutie mark, she looked like any other clown except for the visible facelines amidst all the cream on her face.

Grumbling tiredly, she quickly wiped most of the filling away, only grabbing a single half splattered from her head before taking a large bite as that was all the food they would get before taking a seat within the cage.

Letting out another sigh, Princess Celestia heard a rumble of thunder, and she perked up, seeing it was about to rain. She then walked out a cup outside the bars, and soon chocolate rain poured down before chugging the contents despite it raining from the sky. 

The chocolate milk wasn't that bad as Luna had copied her sister's actions, right down to chugging the beverage like it was water. The two sat together in silence with the steady rain of chocolate milk pitter patting the top of their cage.

"So, did you get a good night's sleep?" Celestia finally asked mid-sip, wiping a fresh milk mustache from her lip. 

"Yeah, I guess…." Luna's tone betrayed her words, looking at Celestia, utterly exhausted and annoyed. "Be honest, sister, when do we ever get a goodnight's sleep in this hole?"

"You have a point there," Celestia sighed as another pie slammed into the side of her head, the Princess showing no reaction outside of taking a sample from the latest projectile into her mouth. "Hmm, blackberry this time."

"Might I have some of that? I'm quite partial to blackberries."

Peeling the pie from her head, Celestia slid it across to Luna, who immediately started to devour it with no care for decorum or ceremony. They'd long abandoned any care for that or even punishing the thrower. 

Whoever they were before was long gone, their minds reduced to nothing but jokes and party balloons, as was true of everypony in Canterlot. At this point, the only silver lining to this whole situation was that while being caged and perpetually pied was annoying, at least they no longer performed shows in the massive tent in the center of town. 

The princess shivered, remembering how they used to perform in front of hundreds of ponies, actively humiliated at every turn by Discord before placing them in stockades at the end of each show. And there they'd remain, prey to a seemingly endless assault of pies, cakes, and the occasional souffle, until the evening when they'd finally be returned to their cages. Rise and repeat, day in and day out, seemingly without end. 

Then, almost suddenly, Discord disappeared a few days ago, and the two former princesses were left to rot in the cage. 

It certainly wasn't that much of an improvement as Celestia started to stretch her legs abit, took out a unicycle while juggling some balls with her forelegs with  Luna followed suit. This was all the exercise they could get to keep their limbs from atrophying as they tried to stay active. It didn't help that the only food they were provided was hardly considered healthy, cakes, pies, and cookies. A long time ago, Celestia considered that a dream, but now she would've given Canterlot's entire treasury for a salad or an apple. 

This was their daily routine, and while at first hours seemed to drag on without end, now the time seemed to just fly by for them. 

After cycling for hours, the two alicorns were exhausted as they lay down together, cuddling each other and wrapping their wings over their bodies for warmth and comfort. Celestia rested her head over her sister, and she could feel the dark blue alicorn shake beneath her, showing even despite a more surly demeanor as of late, the mare was indeed scared. Celestia held her sister even tighter as she felt the same way. 

Despite the reprieve from their daily degradation in front of their former subject, the anxiety of not knowing what would happen next was terrifying. Will they be stuck in this cage forever? Will they ever escape and restore their once glorious country? Neither of them could say?

Celestia stared at the bars in front of her with a glare, wanting to just burst through them, fly off to take down Discord, and send him back to his stone prison. The thought made her horn glow, but a burst of confetti fired out instead of a blast of magical power. It was a painful reminder of just how much control the Spirit of Chaos had over them. 

Discord had altered the very magic of the world, ensuring that even simple metal bars would keep the royal duo imprisoned, a fact that only further infuriated her. Yet that moment of anger quickly fizzled out like a match in a hurricane as she knew there was little she could do. 

With a look of defeat on her face, she laid back down over her sister and closed her eyes, sleep being a single comfort she was afforded in this world. And with each day that passed, how she wished they would learn this whole experience was simply a dream they'd wake up from. 






The next day, Celestia woke up, blinking with confusion as she was still moving despite not knowing where she was going. The former princess looked down and saw she was cycling on a unicycle over a tightrope. 

Months ago, this would've left her falling flat on her face, but she'd long grown proficient enough to where tight rope riding was no different from a bike. It was still jarring as the former princess could see she was inside the giant circus tent while juggling a bunch of rolling pins. 

All around, she could see crowds of clowns all laughing and jeering at her as countless objects were thrown her way. Bags of popcorn, pies, and water balloons, all thrown seemingly without end. 

The alicorn did her best to avoid the barrage but dividing her focus between dodging and balancing proved quite the ordeal. Things only became more complicated when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

Yards away on another tight rope was her sister, similarly attempting to stay atop a high wire, with an added ball perched upon her nose. Miraculously she seemed to be holding herself up well, and she might make it to the other side. However, this moment of hope was crushed by malicious laughter from behind. 

Celestia's head managed to turn to see, to her horror, that Discord was now hovering nearby, clapping his claws with an evil smile on his face, reveling in their misery., 

"Quite the performance, don't you think?" The audience howled in excitement, having halted their attack for the moment. "Though we've seen them do this old routine a dozen times before, and I think it's about time we shake things up abit, don't you think?"

Celestia and Luna gaped in horror as their tightropes sloped, and they were now rolling at top speeds over a ramp. The ramp was directed towards a ring of fire with sharks leaping from a pool that had appeared below them. 

Both alicorns braced for their fate, only to find themselves able to miraculously clear the obstacles, landing right into a giant pile of mud. To add to the humiliation, they found the crowd continuing to laugh at them while hurling all kinds of items at them.  

Discord simply sat on his chair, laughing and clapping his claws in applause. "Ah, you two make better clowns than princesses. So much more entertaining."

Both princesses wanted to scream or perhaps take a shot at the chaotic jester but could only endure, lacking the power to take a stand against him. At that moment, all they could do was hope and pray for something that would finally break this cycle of seemingly endless misery. 








Twilight was adjusting her suit and top hat over her head, topped by a little bowtie around her neck. She then looked into a mirror and had this cunning smile on her face. 

She was Discord's prized pupil and mastered Chaos Magic after his departure. He'd entrusted her with ruling The Capital of Chaos; luckily, the place mostly ran itself since nearly all the residents were literal clowns who spent all day riding unicycles and throwing pies at each other. Honestly, there wasn't much to do in "running things," hence why she could simply trot over to the giant circus tent where they had the former princesses perform in front of their former subjects. 

Discord indeed had brought out the worst in the ponies and their jealousy of the princesses, creating a hate-fueled crowd to do his bidding, making the duo utterly miserable. A penance for a near eternity imprisoned in stone. And Twilight loved every second of it. 

Initially, she'd been content to leave them in their cages to sulk while formulating new means to degrade them. The pool of sharks and flaming hoops was a little on the cliche side, she'd admit, but classics existed for a reason, and it was undoubtedly a fun sight to see. 

After seeing the pair clear the track, she found her attention drawn to the sound of claps. Behind her were two Ursa Minors, led by Starlight Glimmer, slowly trotting over with her head lowered, leaving Twilight smelling at the pony. 

The unicorn had appeared out of nowhere, unaffected by the Chaos Magic permeating the capital. Yet whether by genuine choice or simple fear, she followed Twilight's every word. And honestly, the purple pony enjoyed her company. Having somepony who wasn't a cackling birthday reject was a welcomed reprieve from the usual madness she'd witnessed. 

"So, Starlight, are all the preparations ready?" 

The pink-coated unicorn nodded as dutifully as ever, "Yes, Twilight, everything is ready for the show."

"Perfect! I can't wait!" The violet unicorn laughed and then turned her head towards the pink-coated unicorn as Starlight mumbled, "What about all the ponies you turned into animals?"

"Oh them!? They're just disposable pawns; they won't be missed. All that matters is making sure the princesses' suffering was long and painful as possible it's the one thing Discord wanted us to do, and we will do it as maliciously as we possibly can. Is that understood?"

"Yes, mam," Starlight mumbled again as she lowered her gaze, seeming somewhat hesitant, giving the ruling pony pause. Twilight still wondered who this unicorn was and why she was so eager to serve her. "Tell me, Starlight, why do you serve me so willingly?

"I told you I'm a student of Chaos Magic like you," the unicorn responded rather sheepishly. 

"Yes, you told me that, but I don't believe you. Discord never mentioned you, and I've never heard of you." Taking a step forward, Twilight's horn started to glow, causing the clouds above to twist and warp violently. "For the moment, I'm willing to let you stay as I find your company amusing. However, if you step out of line for even one second, well… I've been interested in practicing my transformation magic concerning aquatic life. I'm sure my sharks will appreciate it."

One of the sharks popped out of the pool, eyeing Starlight with bloodthirsty eyes, causing the poor pony to back away quickly.

"Yes, mam," Starlight squeaked.

Satisfied, Twilight adjusted her top hat and depowered her horn, allowing Starlight to breathe easy. "Good to hear. Now, get the princesses and have them prepped. I need to start getting ponies to fill the seats! Tonight is going to be a night to remember!"

Needing no prompting, Starlight quickly sulked away as Twilight eyed her, still unable to shake something about the pony that bothered her. For a moment, she felt as though there was a trace of evil buried deep that matched her own. But there was still a sense that she couldn't trust her either. It was undoubtedly a frustrating issue on top of everything else. 

Eyeing inside the tent, Twilight paid the pool another glance, smirking at the sight of a dorsal fin in the water. "Looks like tonight will be when I decide if I can rely on my little assistant. And if not..then she'll be shark chum."






Celestia woke up in cold sweat from her nap, looking somewhat shaken by her dream. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she looked around the cage and saw that she and her sister were both still in their dreary cage. Hardly a comfort, but certainly an improvement from being tortured and mocked within the tent. The mare laid her head back down as she looked up at the top of the cage and turned towards the outside of their cage, seeing the sun setting. 

Despite all of the chaotic madness warping the once beautiful city into a cheap carnival, it seemed even he knew that messing with the sun was a bridge too far. But she couldn't raise the sun anymore, which brought a flare of rage inside her. The truth was Discord had allowed the sun and moon to rise and fall on their own and ripped that power from her and Luna purely out of amusement because he knew how much that honor meant to them. Even more, than stripping her status as a princess, it was like he'd ripped a part of her soul from her body.

Sadly this was a matter she wouldn't be able to dwell on for long. 

"Hey Celestia, Luna!" a unicorn shouted as they turned to see a normal-looking light pink unicorn running towards them. She came near the cage as she was gasping, "Listen, I know you don't know me, but I'm going to get you out of here!"

Without giving them a minute to process, she pulled out a key and started to unlock the cages., "We don't have much time. Twilight will figure out I betrayed her soon enough and will come at us, but this is the only shot we have! Now come on!" 

Still somewhat stunned by this, the former princess managed to get to her hooves, eyeing the mare cautiously and slowly. "Where exactly will we go? Everypony here is one of Discord's minions, and his magic has stretched across Equestria."

"There's a place where you'll be safe, trust me," Starlight replied, frantically checking every corner for trouble, "but we need to leave now!"

Celestia hesitated, fearing another trick, but nodded as she took her sister up by the hoof as they both took out their unicycles. However, both ponies glanced at the instruments before furiously tossing them to the ground, glaring at the devices before finally stepping out of the cages. 

"Let's move; the further away we get, the better," Celestia spoke, a small hint of her previous confidence returning as the trio fled off through the city of circus clowns heading to Faust knows where. 






"They what!?" Twilight roared hearing one of the circus clowns, a pegasus with a cute rainbow-colored vest and blue rubbery nose. He used to be a royal guard seeing his cutie marking as a sword made of balloons. Not that Twilight cared one hoof. 

"I…I saw them escape with that pink tunic-

"Buck!? I knew I couldn't trust her!?" Twilight suddenly roared as she turned white with her mane bursting into flames. "You get every clown to find and capture them!?"

"Yes, mam," the former guard squeaked as he ran off. Twilight turned to the crowd of ponies in the stands before eying a nearby set of guards. Without a word, she fired a blast of magic from her horn, transforming the two into perfect and terrified clones of Luna and Celestia.  

The fake alicorns looked rather squeamish as a devilish grin spread on Twilight's face as she cackled, "We're still going to have a show!? And you're going to be the stars! How lucky for you?"





Having cleared the main circle area, the three ponies ran through the city square, finding what appeared to be some kind of demented street carnival.

Countless booths and vendors were selling the greasiest looking food imaginable while offering all manner of games for those to play. Among those was a reasonably traditional dunk tank, save for the fact the water was replaced with chocolate milk, random objects in place of balls, and the cackling patrons seemed more interested in throwing said objects at the pony to be dunked rather than the target itself.

The demented act of the play was disheartening for Celestia to see, watching her normally peaceful and kind citizens happily tormenting each other in such a cruel manner. Yet she could offer no help to them for now, only hoping they could find a way to defeat Discord and free them all.

Running past several more booths, the pair quickly hid inside another booth, only to immediately regret it when they were met with an utterly putrid smell.

"What in the name of Faust is this?" Luna moaned as she held her nose in a vain attempt to block out the scent. "I'm starting to think we were better off in the cage."

"No, please come inside; I know it smells bad, but it's for a good reason; it'll keep unwanted ponies out!" Starlight added as she herded the two inside. 

Upon entering, the two princesses were surprised when they saw a skunk of everything looking back at them. "Ah, at last. Well done, Starlight, that was fast."

A talking skunk that would've seemed crazy to Celestia or Luna a few months ago. Now, that was utterly benign and Celestia, for one, was willing just to accept it." Hello, and who might you be?"

"Right to the point, I see; well, that is fine with me. Once I was a zebra, I claim, and Zecora is my name."

"A zebra, this far into Equestria? I thought they typically remained in Paris?" Luna injected, eyeing the creature curiously.

"Indeed, across the sea is where I would roam till I made Ponyville my home."

Celestia looked surprised by this news, yet a hint of excitement and hope started to fill her. "Ponyville? Are you from there? The citizens, how are they?"

Being trapped by Discord for so long, Celestia had sadly not seen the outside of Canterlot in many moons and was only left to speculate the fate that befell her other subjects. To learn anything about their current state was something she couldn't ignore. 

The skunk held up a paw and explained, "The ponies are well, I can say; however, things grow direr each day. Discord has another pony known to be quite the queen and from what I heard is quite mean."

Zecora quickly pulled a piece of paper from her large tail and unfurled it to reveal the image of a light blue unicorn with glowing red eyes, a black magician's hat and cape, and an amulet around her neck. 

"The Great and Powerful Trixie?" Luna read the name below the image with a scoff. "Quiet the ego on this one."  

Zecora seemed to agree as she continued her tale. "I kept the ponies that chose to flee when Discord brought chaos to  Ponyville, you see. Yet, Discord's magic combined with that of Everfree, turning the ponies into beasts and trees."

Celestia looked horrified at this news, only able to imagine how her subjects felt, while Luna looked a mixture of anger and exhaustion. Starlight, in turn, opted to step in to lay things out., "Look, this is a lot to take in, and there's much more to discuss. But there's a way to take down Discord and restore Equestria to how it was."

"You're talking about the Elements of Harmony?" Luna had long considered such an option and knew it'd be their best chance to prevail, save for one hiccup. 

Starlight nodded, making a slight glance at Princess Celestia. "Yup, I found all of them unscathed and ready for use."

Though this sounded hopeful, Luna looked less than happy, being reminded of darker times." I shouldn't be surprised. After I hid them when I was Nightmare Moon, it was only a matter of time before somepony found them." Luna's feelings of guilt immediately started to wash over her, recalling her poor decision all too well. "If only I hadn't been so thick-headed."

"Luna, you can't blame yourself for this." Celestia joined her sister at her side and tried to comfort her. "You couldn't have known. Discord would return." Luna was having none of it, looking up angrily with tears streaming down her face.

"It IS my fault, sister. I imprisoned you on the moon; I took the Elements way and left all of Equestria vulnerable so Discord could come along, knock me off my high horse and turn our country into this." Dropping on her flank, Luna's fire fizzled out, looking more like a child than a princess. "All this because I threw a temper tantrum."  

Celestia could only hug her sister to try and ease her guilt, while Starlight opted to continue. "Anyway, the Elements are still at your old castle. We need to find the Element Bearers and have them use the Elements to reseal Discord." 

"A sound plan, except we have no idea who the Element Bearers are or where they could be," Luna's voice choked with bitterness, still reeling from her past misdeeds. "Without them, the Elements are little more than rocks."

"I know that, luckily….I know exactly who they are." Starlight almost whispered that last part, knowing she was walking on shaky ground.

Celestia eyed the mare, her sense of paranoia sounding like an alarm, as she asked, "How do you know that? And how can you possibly be sure?"

Starlight seemed somewhat nervous as she gulped and stammered, "That's not important, but you have to trust me; we can find them. But getting to them might be a little tricky if what Zecora told me is anything to go by."

The zebra-turned skunk nodded. "Starlight is correct to be in the helm; Discord only prioritized you two and turned Canterlot into his realm. Yet his chaos has twisted the land; navigating it will be quite the demand ."

That much both princesses expected. While Discord seemed content to make them his personal playthings, they'd always considered him wreaking some havoc across Equestria. Yet they couldn't afford to let that slow them down, something Celestia was certain of.

"Very well, then we need to get going. The longer we stay here, the more we risk being imprisoned by Twilight."

Starlight nodded, eager to get out of Canterlot." Right now, Twilight is making her big debut to solidify her power, which is why the streets are mostly empty. If we're going to escape, we must do this now."

"She is right; it is time to go. However, please use these should you encounter a foe." Again the skunk seemingly pulled several objects, in this case, plastic balls, from her poofy tail. Celestia gave them a whiff and gagged as they smelt horrible. "What are they?"

"Something of my own creation, you see. Give them a toss, and your pursers will smell like me."

The princesses snickered at the idea; as they tucked the balls away in a nearby bag. The skunk then hopped from her stool onto Starlight's back. They all came out of the tent as Celestia and Luna jumped onto their unicycles. With Celestia carrying Zecora, Luna, in turn, decided to place Starlight on her back. 

"There they are!"

A group of former royal guards spotted them while pursuing them on unicycles. But Celestia and Luna started running as fast as they could as they were being chased, flying through the streets, splitting up a nearby fork, hoping to avoid their pursuers.  






Luna had Starlight on her back as she galloped through a hall of mirrors, practically assaulted by her various reflections as the guards that chased her came through. The chase came to an immediate halt when she suddenly crashed through a mirror, throwing her through the hall, and only with a bit of luck was she able to land back on her hooves. 

The former princess of the night then looked around, wondering where Starlight was. Finding her compatriot proved challenging, thanks to all the different reflections and possible wall collisions. However, her search came in half when she gazed upon a mirror with teal blue eyes with slitted pupils. 

Luna felt her stomach drop as once again she found herself staring down the reflection of her own dark self, Nightmare Moon. 

The ethereal princess started to laugh maniacally, gleefully mocking the moon princess. "Just look at yourself, a clown running through an amusement designed for children, how far you've fallen! We were Equestria's rulers only a few years ago, and the night was eternal!"

"No, all we were was a tyrant. A short-sighted fool that has allowed Equestria to fall into madness. Becoming you was the greatest shame of my life," Luna growled as she trotted through the mirrors, trying to ignore her darker side's taunts. 

Whether this was indeed Nightmare Moon, brought to life by Discord's chaos magic, or her mind deceiving her, it seemed this ghost would not be ignored. Luna's attempts to flee eventually found her surrounded by mirrors, all carrying the mocking image of what she once was.

"Regardless of what you want, I'm still here; just let me take over again, and we can take down Discord; without the Elements of Harmony!"

Rather than offer an answer, Luna simply kicked one of the mirrors in its reflection's face, more concerned with escaping the guards. "If we truly had the power to stop Discord, we'd have never fallen. You are merely a shadow, clawing at power you don't deserve, and I will never give into you again."

She began shattering mirror after mirror with another kick, sending glass in every direction. Amidst the sea of broken glass, an exit was finally visible, with Luna taking steps towards it. It was only when she glanced at a shard on a floor and noticed no pony on her back did she remember something.

"Ponyfeathers, I forgot. I need to find Starlight."






As for Starlight, the mare was groaning as she got up, rubbing her head. The mare turned to see mirrors similarly surrounded her. In the reflection of one, Starlight saw herself as she was a few months ago, with her mane braided over her head and her cutie mark being an equal sign. The reflection looked at the real Starlight with a devious smirk. "So, you found the princesses of equestria? But what does that matter when they learn it was your fault that everything is so bucked up!?"

Starlight flinched at the reminder. "I didn't know this was going to happen!? I…I just wanted to get my revenge on Twilight for ruining everything!"

"Yes, and now because of that, everything is utter chaos. Suddenly our idea of removing everypony's cutie marks doesn't seem so bad, does it?"

Starlight shoved a hoof on the ground, looking almost offended by such an idea., "No, after everything that's happened, look where that got us? Celestia knows where Sunburst is now in this hellhole, let alone everypony in OurTown is probably altered in some bucked up way just like these ponies and those in Ponyville!"

Logic didn't seem to faze her old self, looking as manipulative as ever." Yet, this is an opportunity for you to not only fix your mistakes but also take over as a princess. Bide your time, let Celestia and Luna take down Discord, then send them away into another timeline along with Twilight and her friends. From there, nothing could stop you from lying about them perishing in vanquishing Discord, allowing you to claim the throne!"

Starlight paused for a moment; the plan had some merit to it. Yet that same line of thinking caused all this mess to begin with. Yet still. 

However, she couldn't reply as Luna came barrelling in, taking no time to stop as she pulled Starlight onto her back and kept running.

"Are you alright, Starlight?"

"I'm fine; let's just get out of here," Starlight mumbled as she was placed on Luna's shoulders with the idea of betraying everypony to make her plans of a utopia still fresh in her mind.






Separated from her sister, Celestia found herself at a "zoo," and there she saw many animals Twilight had turned ponies into. 

There she saw seals forced to throw a ball between each other, elephants attempting to balance on a ball, and dogs jumping through hoops of fire. It was all rather cruel, and she wished to free them, but Zecora seemed to have read her mind as she whispered, "I wish we could help them, of course, but if we free them, Twilight will just hunt. Them down without remorse."

The mention of the mare left Celestia reminded of another question she'd wondered about Discord's right-hand mare for so long. "Zecora tells me, was Twilight always so cruel? Or is she simply another victim of Discord's madness?"

"I don't know, but this pains me as much as you. I can hear them crying for help as you do." Zecora gazed at the twisted sky above, "For now, we must end Discord's reign. Only then may we stop this pain."

Celestia nodded as she trotted through the zoo, only to pause upon finding a peculiar ride, "Why do I hate Celestia?" The curious alicorn stared at the sign with morbid curiosity running through her mind. "I think we should see this."

"I don't think that wise. You may not like what you see with your eyes."

Despite the warning, Celestia couldn't pull her eyes away from the ride and her curiosity. "This pony has a deep grudge against me, and I must've hurt her greatly to inspire such hatred. Perhaps if I learn why, I may be able to reason with her."

With a push, she entered the ride and arrived at a seemingly empty corridor where she saw cardboard cutouts of a little purple filly. A rather crude-sounding voice immediately started playing. "I was once a young filly who dreamed of going to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." 

A light appeared, showing another cut-out of the tiny unicorn, seated at a desk surrounded by mountains of books.  "I studied every book I could find and learned all I could about magic. I was so sure I'd get in." 

The princess lowered her head, fearing what would come next, as she saw another cutout of Twilight, now surrounded by many snobbish-looking unicorns, glaring down at the poor filly. 

 "But when I took my entrance exam and failed, that didn't stop me; I tried again and again. I failed each time but did everything I could to get in." 

They then came upon a cutout of teenage Twilight writing a letter as the voice continued,  "I then wrote a letter to Celestia for help, hoping that she could give me a chance to prove belonged in her school!" 

The scene ended, but the ride jerked, and Celestia gasped out of fear, not being ready for what was to come as the ride dropped, and there saw a cruel visage of her in flames as Twilight was now crying, reading what she wrote. 

 "But my hopes were dashed as all she did was reply that magic may not be my talent! That was the only thing that mattered to me, and she didn't even give me a chance to prove myself! Thus I gave up on my dreams and left her behind."  

Then happier music started to play as another curtain rose of Twilight using a wand to make a bunny come out of a top hat while ponies applauded her as the voice continued to narrate.  "I was set to a life of being a stage magician and had to perform with basic illusion magic to make ends meet. It was a life I didn't care for, but it made me happy to make ponies smile with my tricks." 

Then the ride turned around in a three-sixty. The curtains rose above Celestia, who sat back in fear as a cardboard cutout of Nightmare Moon towered over a group of ponies as the music became much darker. 

 "That was until the fateful day that Nightmare Moon imprisoned Celestia, and that was a grand day. It proved how hypocritical she was and allowed her sister to become a dictator who ruled Equestria with an iron hoof! Her powerlessness caused the suffering of thousands of ponies!" 

Princess Celestia looked downward, feeling rather guilty not being able to stop her sister a thousand years ago from transforming into Nightmare Moon. Then the ride became much softer as gentle, happy music started to play. They passed over a cardboard cutout of ponies as clowns playing games and eating junk food. The Lord of Chaos hovered over them as the voice continued its narration.  "That was until Discord came and saved us! He took us into his claws and made a fun paradise for all of us ponies, and better yet, he saw that I had magical talent. He then set up his school of "Chaos Magic,"  taking unicorns; he saw potential and taught them the ways of Chaos Magic." 

Another cut-out appeared, this one showing a very happy adult Twilight standing before Discord with a large star on her chest. 

 "I ended up becoming Discord's top student, and he was so impressed he made me his second in command. I knew Celestia was wrong." 

Then they came to the final part, where Celestia and Luna were performing with crowds of ponies throwing things at them; the image brought so many bad memories to Celestia that she had to turn her head away and throw her hooves over her eyes as the voice continued. 

 "Seeing Discord having the former princesses be ridiculed and mocked is the best thing he's ever done. How foolish were we to have revered them as our leaders? They don't deserve the title princesses; they're nothing but clowns! That's how they should be for the rest of eternity!" 

Then the ride ended as they appeared outside, and Celestia got up with the skunk on her back. The former princess was somewhat shaken by what she saw and how much pain she put the ponies of Equestria through; despite Twilight's vitriol, she was right.

Celestia had long berated herself for not being more proactive in finding those who could wield the Elements and help protect Equestria. She tried with Sunset Shimmer and others, but none of them possessed the ability to discover friendship, something she herself seemed to lack if what Twilight said was true. 

The alicorn burst into tears, collapsing on the ground as all the compounding pain overcame her; the former princess felt like a complete failure who deserved all the torment she'd endured for all those years. 

She would've continued to wallow in her mystery had Zecora scuttled over there and whispered into her ear." Celestia, please do not be blue; what Twilight said is not true."

The skunk's words managed to get Celestia to raise her tear-stained face to meet her companion's eyes. You may have mistakes as we all do, as I met another Twilight who adores you."

The princess blinked as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "There's another Twilight?"

The skunk scratched its head, "It does sound too odd to be true; it'll be much easier to show you."

However, as Zecora looked ready to point Celestia in the right direction, a group of guards appeared, forcing the pony princess to pick the skunk and flee. Yet she felt a renewed sense of hope start to burn inside. 

 "Hopefully, I can find this other Twilight, and maybe, we can rectify my mistakes." 
> Chapter two: The Fall of Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Down in the Library of Canterlot Palace, a bookish, orange-coated unicorn was busy in his study going over some odd messages and commands their newest ruler, Nightmare Moon, had sent [to the overburden newly designated 'royal archivist,' since the last one had somehow disappeared and he was pick picked for the tedious task].

Upon her ascension, through brutal subjugation, her highness preferred residing in the old castle in the Everfree Forest [some unamenable reasons; some said it was to satiate her need for sadisms while others thought it was for more nostalgic reasons]. At the same time, Canterlot was primarily used by her to hold court with the terrified nobles, wondering what she would do in her next tantrum. Yet, despite all her status and power, their ruler, her imperiousness highness, had seemed increasingly distressed as of late, more so than usual. Each day she'd return to the castle garden like clockwork to check on a particularly unusual statue within the garden of a chimeric creature. Supposedly it contained an ancient and powerful entity simply known as Discord. The stallion had been meaning to do some research on the supposed entity, but his recent workload had forced him to push that mission back. Though, now it seemed like he should've made the time.

As he finished his letter, his mind drifted back to the garden where the statue stood…or did as there was simply an empty pedestal. That proved sufficient cause for him to believe his queen's concerns were valid. 

Once he noticed the statue was gone, he quickly notified the queen, whose response was far from pleasant. Yet, even now, he couldn't understand why. 

The idea that Nightmare Moon would be scarred was laughable, seeing that she sent their former ruler, Princess Celestia, into the moon. So for there to be any creature, much less one she only saw fit to mention to him recently, to make her feel threatened seemed utterly ludicrous. 

And yet, she was! Her last message was little more than a never-ending barrage of curses towards him, saying how much of a fool he was. In truth, though, it seemed more like she was shouting at herself. 

It wasn't like he knew who this Discord was or why Nightmare Moon was so scared of him, but now there was a sense of dread that hung in the air. Whatever Nightmare Moon was frightened of was coming, and there was nothing he could do, save for coming through the archives for an answer. 

As he prepared to turn a page into his current book sporting the dark blue armor of Nightmare, Moon's army burst into the room. 

"Master Sunburst! Lady Nightmare Moon has been overthrown."

Sunburst felt his jaw and glasses practically drop at the declaration, unable to even entertain such an idea. Yet that slight sense of dread he'd felt early now seemed firmly validated. 

"Overthrown? How? And how can you be sure?" 

"I don't know! But the sun is out again! If that's the case, somepony must've defeated her! We're finally free!" The guard cheered, tossing his armor off and running down the hall loudly, whooping with his comrades. 

He heard ponies shout and celebrate from within the castle, utterly jubilant at their sudden liberation. And in any other time, Sunburst would be just as thrilled as them, happy to no longer be under Nightmare Moon's tyrannical hoof. But knowing what he knew now, this celebration was to be short-lived. 

With newfound urgency, Sunburst ran outside of Canterlot Castle. There he saw a crowd of ponies looking in relief, others in tears, all looking with unfiltered joy at the sun once again shining in the sky above. It'd been over a year since Nightmare Moon hid the sun, and many feared they'd never feel its warmth again. 

So then, why was there also a sense of unease? 

Princess Celestia had been sealed away on the moon, so she couldn't have defeated Nightmare Moon. Thus if not her, then who?

The sudden quandary brought silence to the crowd before some pointed upwards as pink clouds made of cotton candy, chocolate milk, and popcorn rained down on the ponies below. 

Excitement became confusion as most of the regal ponies angrily screamed at the chocolate milk staining their fancy clothes. Meanwhile, some took it in stride, with several foals happily opening their mouths and allowing the treats to pour. Sunburst, however, ignored all of that, as his sense of dread was now back in full.

Something was very wrong, and everypony, whether they wanted to or not, could sense it. And it was then a loud, boisterous laugh started to echo from the sky. 

All eyes looked to the sky as a figure seemed to slither and skulk from within the clouds before bursting outwards for all to see. His appearance left many a pony baffled, while Sunburst had to clean his glasses to ensure his vision was correct.

"It can't be…how?"

Flying high above Canterlot was the very same figure he'd seen in stone not a day ago, now looking very alive and happy about it. 

Discord eyed the city below, his eye stretching from its socket like a telescope before making an screatchingnoise.

"Ugh, this is where Princess Sunbutt has been ruling all this time? It's so dull looking." With a casual spin, he was suddenly in some painter's outfit, complete with easel and beret. "I do believe we could all do with some color."

Rather than pull out a brush, Discord instead simply held out his free claw and snapped. 

All around,  buildings became circus tents, fancy chariots were turned into unicycles, and all the fancy clothes the ponies wore were transformed into baggy pants and gaudy outfits with giant colorful pommels. Their noses became big rubber balls of various colors, while their previously well-styled manes became comically colored afros. 

As Discord marveled at his work, a legion of pegasi soldiers had zeroed in on him, spears and swords at the ready. 

The Spirit of Chaos didn't even pay them a glance. Their weapons quickly became foam toys, their wings replaced with balloons, and armor turned into clown outfits, soon matching the ponies below. 

With another snap, numerous tiny needles shattered the balloons, sending the screaming clowns below. Yet when they hit the ground below, they sank into it before popping back out of the now rubbery terrain. 

The display proved the proverbial straw as the crowd began to disperse, running around screaming for what little good it could offer them.

Amidst the chaos, Sunburst could only stare on in shock and horror, unable to find the courage to even move, much less offer a hoof in aid. 

"No wonder Nightmare Moon was so afraid of this…thing. How in Equestria can we stop him?"

"Oh, that's easy….you can't."

Sunburst's eyes practically burst from his glasses at the unfamiliar voice in his head, only to look up and find Discord playfully waving in his direction. 

"Oh, and for the record, I'm not a thing… I'm more of a What or a How!"

The draconequus then, with a claw snap, teleported everypony in the courtyard to a giant circus tent, not sitting in the middle of the city. 

The place was massive, with numerous ponies shoved into seats bound with brightly colored scarves. They all sat in their seats, awaiting what would happen. 

A pair of spotlights immediately pointed to the center of the tent before a bright explosion revealed Discord, now clad in a red ringmaster's outfit. With the microphone in hand, he made a grand sweeping gesture to the entire audience. "Welcome, my little ponies! To the greatest show in Equestria! And for our opening act, I give you…Comedy is Night and Day." 

A spotlight pointed up to the roof as a platform was lowered, revealing to the shock of all those in attendance Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, now dressed in clown outfits and on unicycles while being chased by lions. 

The sudden surreal sight brought out a myriad of emotions in the audience. Shock, amazement, joy, horror, fear, and concern. Many were crying out and angrily shouting at the treatment of their beloved monarch Celestia, finally freed from her imprisonment. Meanwhile, Luna received few words of sympathy, many bitter over the oppression her alter ego had inflicted on them. 

Many ponies (mostly former royal guards) wanted to storm the ring to rescue the Princess; even Sunburst contemplated taking some kind of action. Sadly any hope was immediately quashed as more scarves secured them firmly to the seat, their mouths now covered by large bags of popcorn. 

"Now, now. It's rude to interrupt a performance after all," Discord spoke, his neck extending to where it was just over the audience. "So please, just sit back, have some popcorn and enjoy the show. It's been a long time coming, and I'd hate to see it end so soon."

No pony attempted to stand up again, humbled by how effortlessly he'd managed to stop them all. This moment of clarity also firmly had them realize how outmatched they were. Nightmare Moon had effectively conquered Equestria and quashed any attempted rebellion in mere moments. Only Celestia had the power to match her, yet here they were, little more than Discord's playthings.

If they couldn't stop him, what chance did anypony else have?

That train of thought was playing in Sunburst's mind on loop, keeping him firmly stuck in his chair. Even though he was bound and gagged, it didn't matter; even with every limb free, he held no illusions about walking free or attempting anything. 

All he could do was sit in silence as the two most potent ponies in all of Equestria were made into complete fools to amuse their new tyrant. 





Weeks had gone by, and things had little to no change. Sunburst somehow remained out of sight and out of mind in his former home, now a dingy circus booth filled with balloons, rubber chickens, and confetti. 

Honestly, if it weren't for the sheer horror of the situation, Sunburst would ask Discord to change themes. The circus gimmick had long worn out its welcome. Though that also brought up a rather curious point.

Despite the circus-themed paint job Discord had given Canterlot, he was untouched for some reason. His hair was still the same, with no extra frills or bowties to his attire and his nose wasn't rubber. Almost like Discord's magic just missed him for some reason. 

Sunburst slowly raised his head, hearing the pit-pat of chocolate milk raining down onto the tent's canopy. He slowly poked his head out of the tent and filled it up with a cup in hoof. 

As he waited, he looked around the streets, seeing the various other circus tents and carnival booths. After several weeks of this state, ponies were now playing the games out of boredom, any sense of panic having long been worn out. Yet there was also something unsettling about the situation. Many ponies were now throwing pies at each other and making bad jokes. As if the makeup and costumes were affecting their minds. 

Sunburst's eyes narrowed, already knowing the culprit. Chaos Magic. 

A glance in his tent directed his gaze to a small stack of books, the only ones he was able to save from the Canterlot Library. Lucky for him, he could finally look up some information on Discord. More specifically, his Chaotic brand of magic only ended up making him feel more useless.

Pulling back his now-filled cup, he sat and picked up a tofu dog covered in mustard and ketchup. Watching and eating was about all he could do at this point. 

True he was a knowledgeable scholar regarding magic, but his practical aptitude was sadly lacking. Then again, Discord's magic was beyond anything he'd seen! The creature could warp reality without any defined limit, ignoring all natural and magical laws with terrifying ease. It was a miracle Sunburst hadn't lost his mind at such a revelation. 

The poor pony could only glance at his tent, basically a brightly colored prison cell, and bemoan his own helplessness. At this point, what else could he do but sit and wait for something to happen?

"Well, I'm always up for offering somepony advice. Might I suggest loosening up and having some fun?"

Sunburst practically jumped as a pair of eyes were now staring at him from his wall, with Discord himself slithering out. "Hello there! Sorry to interrupt mid-mental monologue, but I wasn't sure if I missed somepony during my little clown show? Also, your feedback on the whole overuse of the circus theme is very appreciated."

A scroll suddenly appeared in thin air with various words written under a large title that read Themes.

"I was planning to change things to keep it fresh, you know?" Discord looked the list over with a pair of oversized reading glasses. "Tell me, what sounds more appealing, comic superheroes or pirates? I don't know why but I feel like I can get a lot more out of the latter." 

Sunburst cried out in horror and scurried to the back of the tent with a look of fear in his eyes.

Casting the list aside, Discord rolled his eyes at the sudden panic. "Oh, would you relax? If I wanted to, you'd be a clown and join the princesses with the lions. I merely came to get a better look at you. It's not often I find somepony seemingly immune to my magic." 

Sunburst lay there in terror, shaking as he asked, "So…if you're not going to torture me? What will you do to me?"

Discord didn't answer; he snapped a claw, and Sunburst was placed in a classroom. The place was rather mad looking, with countless posters of the man spirit on the walls, while books, chalk sticks, rulers, and other items just floated around the room. Sitting beside him were a violet-coated unicorn mare and an unnamed, arrogant-looking blue unicorn. 

There they sat with Discord at the front of the classroom." Welcome to Discord's School of Chaos Magic. For those not in the know, I have taken over Equestria, but I'm not a ruler. Frankly, I find the idea of ruling anything too much of a chore, so I thought it'd be more productive…and fun, to find somepony to help me deal with all the management nonsense."

The violet unicorn then raised a hoof as Discord pointed to her and asked, "Yes, Twilight?"

"Um….so you said you'll teach us how to use Chaos Magic? But I have to ask, why?

The Lord of Chaos tapped a claw on her head. "It's simple, really; I need you to keep the ponies from rebelling or trying to ruin the fun! Understand? I think you three have the potential to keep the chaos going, and thus I'll teach you how to wield Chaos <!"

Then with a whisk of a claw, he had a squarish graduation cap on and a cloak as he proclaimed, "Now for your first lesson, we shall begin by turning a chicken back to an egg!"

"Yes, Discord," the two other ponies said eagerly, while Sunburst almost mumbled his response. 

Discord gave them all a stern look and snapped, "Oh come now, don't you see my hat? Call me Professor Discord." 

"Yes, Professor Discord!" Everypony shouted once more in a much more terrified tone. 

"Now, shall we begin the class?" He chimed as he swished off a stick, summoning a scared-looking chicken in his claw. 





A year later…

A year had passed since Discord had taken over, and things hadn't been looking suitable for Sunburst, now sporting a white dunce cap and sitting in the back of his class. The stallion looked much more pathetic than his classmates as he was still trying to put the chicken on his desk back to an egg, with his horn sputtering to manipulate the Chaos Magic. 

"Oh, Sunburst!? Still on square one!? Look at your other classmates!" Discord laughed as he pointed across the classroom. The stallion saw that Twilight and the other student, Trixie, both had pink T-Rexs, wearing silly dresses and tiaras while having a tea party. 

The proud instructor merely chuckled at the display, which turned to disappointment when looking at Sunburst. "I guess I was wrong about you? I figured you had some magical potential, but it seems you're much duller than your name suggests."

Then with a snap of a claw Sunburst was suddenly dressed in face paint, with black triangles painted over his eyes, now dressed in a bright white suit with poofy black buttons. 

"There, a dull costume for your dull personality!" The malicious spirit laughed out loud before snapping Sunburst away, sending him back to Canterlot. 

The poor stallion's mood now matched his face, barely acknowledging how more unstable things had gotten in Canterlot since he'd been gone. Now ponies were slamming pies in their faces, engaging in more painful-looking jokes, and some even just laughing at others' misery. 

"Hey, check out this sad sack over here."

"Aww, it's a sad clown. What say we put a smile on his face!"

Soon dozens of the clowns started to toss pies and water balloons filled with paint in his direction, utterly drenching his once white costume in a collage of colors. 

Not wanting to stick around for more, Sunburst sprinted down the streets, trying to escape the mob chasing him, but the more he ran, the more clowns gathered to throw stuff at him. He feared they would keep chasing him until tofu dogs and chocolate milk suddenly started raining from the sky. 
The mob stopped midway in their chase as the ponies began to gorge on food or lap the chocolate milk off the streets. Sunburst could only watch the insanity before him, their crazed faces making it clear any prior sanity they might've had was long gone at this point.

It seemed as though Sunburst was probably the last sane pony in Canterlot. 

"There's the dunce!" 

"Twilight!?" Sunburst cried out as he turned to see Discord's favorite student standing over him. With a playful smirk, the unicorn was wearing a top hat and cloak and twirled about in her new outfit." Like it? Discord proclaimed me as his second in command!"

"Congratulations," Sunburst squeaked as he lowered his head, somewhat scared of Twilight. During their time together, she was the most proficient with Chaos Magic and the cruelest. Her ceaseless hunger for more knowledge quickly made her Discord's favorite student, with Sunburst dreading what she'd do with such power.

Twilight threw a hoof over her cloak and laughed. "Pathetic as always, Sunburst! Well, not to worry, I'll cheer you up. It's time for my first show, and you'll have a front-row seat to see how chaos magic is supposed to be wielded!"

Sunburst could do nothing as she lit her horn, and soon the two were teleported back to the big top. Discord then appeared in the middle of the ring alongside Twilight as he threw a claw. 

"Hello, my fellow clowns! Today I have a special treat for you. I'd like to present my second in command and standing ruler of Canterlot…Twilight Sparkle!"

The crowd cheered as Twilight appeared in a puff of smoke on top of a pedestal floating over them, bowing and preening under admiration. "Hello, my subjects! Tonight will be special as Discord and I torture…I mean perform alongside the former princesses! This will be a night you won't ever forget!"

Sunburst paused, hoping the crowd would reject this at the very least, but many continued to cheer. Above them, the two former rulers attempted to ride unicycles across a tight rope. This alone, without a safety net, would've been treacherous enough. Still, Discord, or possibly Twilight, saw fit to add in a large pool of water, filled to the brim with sharks. 

The demented audience only continued to jeer at the Princess's predicament, the Chaos Magic having warped their mind to be as insane and somewhat cruel as Discord. 

As the Princesses attempted to cross, both Discord and Twilight began hurling random objects at them, pies, water balloons, and a kitchen sink at one point. It wasn't too long before the audience joined in.

Sunburst just sat back and watched in horror, throwing his hooves over his eyes, hating himself, even more, wishing he could do something to stop this! But again, he knew he would be on a unicycle with them if he tried anything. Despite knowing that none of this was his fault, he was torn up inside as he desired nothing more than to seal Twilight and Discord into stone. But he didn't have the power or the ability to do anything. All he could do was endure and hope that he might one day stop this cruelty. 





Present day

Sunburst was now sitting alone in his booth, looking more depressed than he had when this whole mess started. He had his head lowered into his There was little to nothing he could do presently. The only positive was that everypony else had long grown tired of harassing him. 

Since returning to Canterlot (or what's left of it), he's been doing his best to avoid the other ponies. At this point, he would simply look up at the sky and watch each day pass slowly, hoping that someday, things could return to normal. 

Fate, it seemed, saw fit to throw him a bone as there was a clamor of voices near his home. Completely out of nowhere, Princess Celestia and Luna rode right into his tent on unicycles. He was shocked by their appearance as they looked worn out and scared with their manes a mess, and they were both covered in dirt and on edge. 

"Um…he…hello?" Sunburst stammered in an unsure tone, wondering why they were here and whether they were just as crazy as the rest of the town. 

"Apologies, sorry we didn't see you there," Celestia responded with a sheepish smile despite her ragged appearance.

Luna was far less friendly, aiming her horn at him, and snapped, "Who are you!?"

Sunburst squealed, scrambling to hold his hooves up in surrender." Wait, I'm not a minion of Discord! In fact, I mostly just stay in here and mope around! I swear!"

The princesses eyed him before Celestia pushed her sister's horn away. "Sister, he doesn't look like the others. I think we can trust him."

"Sister, we can't take the chance. If we're caught now, who knows what Twilight will do to us! We can't take the risk!"

As the two continued to debate, Starlight came forward, finally looking at the one they were arguing over with immense shock. "S…Sunburst, is that you!?"

The stallion turned to face the light pink-coated unicorn. He knew the pony from somewhere, but his mind was fuzzy, having endured so much insanity for the past year. The stallion gulped and said, "Y…yes, and who are you?"

The unicorn mare slowly came up and gently placed a hoof on her chest., "It's me, Starlight Glimmer! You don't recognize me!?"

Sunburst blinked, then gasped as his mind was flooded with memories, remembering his old childhood friend. "Starlight!? What are you doing here?"

The recognition brought a smile to Starlight's face as she opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, then paused, seeming to go silent. "It's a long story."

She then helped Sunburst up on all four hooves and dusted some dirt off his outfit. "Let's catch up, but we need to find a way out of here first."

"Ye…yeah!?" Sunburst blurted out, being somewhat taken aback by everything happening at once. But the truth was, at the moment, he wasn't sure how to help. By the princesses' heavy breathing, he could see they were somewhat exhausted, so asking them to keep moving was unlikely.

Meanwhile, Starlight was talking to a skunk about going the way they came, but the small critter shook its head..and started talking. 

"The way we came sounds reasonable, it's true. But Twilight will be expecting us and will probably plant a trap for you."

"Well then, what do we do!? We can't just sit here! Twilight's show could be ending any minute!"

Ignoring the talking animal for the moment, Sunburst tapped a hoof to his chin, pondering on anything that could help. That's when a memory came into his mind, and he gasped." Wait! I know of a portal!"

"Portal!?" Everypony asked, turning towards Sunburst. 

"Yes, just come follow me!" Sunburst exclaimed as he took by her hoof. "We have to go now while Twilight is distracted!"

The rest of the ponies looked at each other as if they were unsure. Celestia turned towards her sister and whispered something as Luna shook her head and mumbled something back. Eventually, the argument led the Princess of the Night to shift her attention toward Sunburst, snapping, "Fine, we'll trust you, but this better not be a trap!"

"It's not, I swear! Please I…I just want to help end this insanity!" Sunburst cried, managing to not cower before the angry monarch. 

"Ok, Sunburst, I trust you," Celestia replied, once again trying to quell her angry sister before the group exited the tent and started heading down the road. But that was when they were suddenly being chased by pegasus guards riding on their unicycles.

"They caught onto us!" Luna shouted, "I told you this clown sold us out!"

"Stop it, sister! They just followed us here, stop fighting and peddle!" Celestia cried out as the princesses tried to peddle away from their former guards. 

The group quickly attempted to flee, yet a quick glance could see they were moving practically at a snail's pace. Sunburst could already tell the others were exhausted from the chase. It would be mere moments before they were overtaken. If they wanted to escape, someone needed to do something, and to his chagrin, he was the only option.   

Halting his run, the stallion tried to face the pegasi soldiers gaining on them! If there was any moment he needed to use Chaos Magic, it was now! Throwing any caution to the wind, the stallion attempted to ignite his horn. He gasped as Chaos Magic swarmed around him. His magic started to swirl, and crackle as buckets of water appeared over two pegasi soldiers and dumped their contents on top of them, making them slide into each other. Big red rubber shoes then appeared on others, causing two other former guards to fall onto each other. The other ponies were astonished at Sunburst's power, and the stallion started to feel rather proud before they resumed their escape. 





They then stopped near a sewer grate where Sunburst and Starlight lifted the giant iron seal up in the air and tossed it aside. They then all slowly clambered down into the depths of the sewer below. 

The group took a moment to catch their breath as they had time to collect themselves. Zecora hopped onto Princess Celestia's back while Sunburst and Starlight took time to check each other for injury as the princesses did the same.

"Well, now what?" Luna asked while eyeing Sunburst, less suspicious of him, but that didn't mean she fully trusted him.

Taking the initiative, Sunburst stood up, his white suit now stained brown, as he was nearly covered in chocolate milk, and pointed a hoof down the sewer. "The portal is in this direction. Follow me."

Luna shook her head, and even Princess Celestia was hesitant, seeing they were ankle-deep in likely filthy chocolate milk. 

Undaunted, Starlight opted to take the reins. "Look, I know you two are unsure if you can trust him, but Sunburst was my best friend. Yes, he's a coward and can be a wet blanket…."

Sunburst got a little peeved at these comments, but Starlight continued, "but that doesn't mean he's a liar; I know he's a trustworthy pony. And right now, we don't exactly have the luxury of time, so we need to get moving."

This time Princess Celestia was hesitant, but Luna turned toward her sister and said, "I don't still don't completely trust this Sunburst, but Starlight freed us and got us this far. I'll trust her judgment of him."

"Right…" Celestia stammered before the two princesses, a skunk, Starlight, and Sunburst, started their slow trek through the raging chocolate river. 

As the group trudged through the river of liquid ice cream, Sunburst was feeling nervous. While he was honest about the portal, having seen it many times himself, he had no clue if it was still present, which he hoped was the case. If not, Celestia knows what Luna will do to him. 

The group eventually came up through a fountain of chocolate milk, all dripping in the sugary beverage and welcoming the fresh air. 

Tsun was now gone, and the moon was shining directly overhead. The ponies were now looking in a hedge maze with countless creatures in stone. 

Sunburst bent his head as they slowly trotted through the garden full of statues with Tirek, Chrysalis, and many changelings. The ponies were taken aback by the cruelty put on display. What was more disturbing was that there were many ponies, all with "rebel" printed on their pedestals. 

Some Sunburst recognized most notably Fancy Pants, who'd similarly resisted Discord's initial magic attack. Others included several of the Wonderbolts like Spitfire and many prominent ponies like Raven Inkwell. 

It was quite a sobering sight, yet they slowly made their way to the middle of the garden. There they spotted a seemingly ordinary-looking vanity mirror. However, the mirror was not alone, as a massive purple dragon was sleeping just a few yards away. 

Oddly enough, despite the creature being rather terrifying and huge, there was something off about it, with it sucking on its thumb while wearing a bib around its neck. It even had a rather large in its left claw. 

Odd it not, it left the group with even more questions than before. 

"Well, we found it, but where does this portal lead to, and what is that creature?" Luna growled under her breath, already dreading having to possibly fight a dragon. 

Sunburst looked downward as this was where he wasn't sure. And said, "I honestly have no idea, I've never entered it before, and I'm just as clueless about the dragon. However, don't know where this portal leads or what this dragon is who guards it. But I can tell you that Twilight has her family living in the land on the other side shown."

Celestia paused, the name ringing a bell somewhere. "I know her family a bit; my former captain of the guard, Shining Armor, was her brother."

"Yes, he's in there, along with her parents and sister-in-law princess Cadance."

"My niece!" Celestia practically shouted, causing the dragon to shake briefly, causing them all to sweat and sigh when it continued to sleep. 

The ponies all looked at each other and were now unsure of what to do. Still, Sunburst felt much more confident and whispered, "Listen, I'll distract the dragon, he may look intimidating, but he's really just a hatchling Twilight grew up with magic. I can distract him while you slip past."

The others were astonished at what Sunburst said, except for Starlight, who looked close to having a panic attack." No, we're not leaving you behind; if you're caught by Twilight…Faust knows what she'll do to you. I'm not leaving you behind."

Sunburst stood there, considering what Starlight said. She had a point; he was effectively risking his life no matter what happened. Either the dragon crushed him, or Twilight got to torture him for all eternity. Neither option was promising for him. But then he thought about all the ponies suffering, trapped in a never-ending state of madness and lunacy. All the anger and frustration of just sitting back as Discord turned the world into a living hell began to boil up inside him. That was all the incentive he needed.

"You're right, either way, I'm doomed, but I'm okay with it. My life doesn't matter when up against everypony in Equestria. If we can stop him, then we have to take the risk."

This time, Princess Celestia stepped in, unwilling to let yet another of her beloved subjects suffer. "No, there has to be another way."

"There is no other way; if you two don't escape, then there's no hope!" Sunburst cried as he got up and turned towards the giant purple dragon before he stopped for a moment.

"Oh, Starlight, I'm sorry I left you behind when I got my Cutie Mark. I'm glad I could see you again, one last time."

Starlight was rendered speechless, eyes welling up as she moved to stop him, only for the pony to charge outwards, making as much noise as he could muster. back 

The dragon finally stirred; now awake and turning creature blinked as it turned its massive head towards him. Spotting Sunburst, the dragon roared, grabbing its enormous rattle and wielding it like a mace club. 

Not even bothering to take cover, Sunburst closed his eyes and lit his horn, allowing the Chaos MagicMmagic around him to flow. 

The dragon, undeterred, prepared to bring the massive melee weapon down upon the pony. Still, then a pacifier suddenly appeared in the creature's mouth. The dragon looked confused as it dropped its rattle with a thud as he continued to have the pacifier bob up and down in his mouth. 

Upon seeing the beast was sufficiently distracted from what it was sucking on, Sunburst couldn't help but see it was a massive diamond in his mouth. The dragon seemed engrossed in its mouth as he slowly laid back down with this relaxed look in its eyes. 

Sunburst actually looked. Sunburst was somewhat astonished at his ability to wield chaos magic, wondering where it was all coming from suddenly. But that ended when somepony practically dragged him by his collar. Hugged on his hoof, he turned to see Starlight pulling him towards the portal. as she shouted, 

"Come on! The princesses have escaped, and he's distracted!" 

Not even giving him a chance to get on his feet, Starlight charged through the portal with her friend to do whatever unknown world awaited them. She then pulled him through the portal, following after the princesses.
> Chapter Three: The Fairy Tale City of Trixieville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunburst, Starlight, Zecora, and the princesses all landed in what appeared to be a large field of grass. 

Getting over the initial shock from the drop, the group slowly got up on their hooves and saw that they were surrounded by castles and towers. 

The sudden reprieve proved brief as a sizable group of soldiers trotted over, quickly using their spears to surround and trap the group. 

There was a sense of tension in the air as they all looked to see the head of the soldiers slowly trotting towards them, revealing himself to be a white-coated unicorn with a long,  wavy blue mane. The stallion appeared rather stern and seemed to be cautious of strangers. Though that persona crumbled upon seeing Princess Celestia, practically dropping to his knees in shock. 

"Princess Celestia! You're alive!"

The former princess, while the others looked stunned Celestia gently smiled at the unicorn."Yes, I am. It's good to see you're doing well, Shining Armor."

"Sister, you know this pony?" Luna eyed Shining Armor cautiously, tempted to fire a blast of magic if he so much as twitched.

"Yes, he was my former captain of the guard and one of the bravest ponies I had the honor of knowing," Celestia looked upon the young stallion with pride, a sense of her previous regality returning, if only for that moment.  

Shining Armor lowered his head with a sheepish look and sighed. "Yes, I was, but I sadly serve another princess now."

Celestia felt her heart sting, knowing fully who he spoke of, which certainly put a damper on things. Still, she took some comfort in knowing he was at least alive and not a mindless clown. 

"I understand. Things have become quite crazy since Nightmare Moon's takeover, but where will you take us?"

The former captain of the guard finally stood up, quietly signaling his soldiers to lower their weapons."For now, I'll take you to my parents' house and ask our princess what she wants to do with you. So long as you cooperate, no harm will come to you."

None amongst the group attempted to refuse, hardly sensible given the many blades pointed their way. Thus they allowed the former captain to escort the ponies through the fields. 

Curiously enough, the scenery was rather stunning despite the land being altered by Chaos Magic. As they walked, Celestia couldn’t help but keep pace with Shining Armor, looking upon her former subordinate with nostalgia.“You have no idea how good it is to see a friendly face. And we do appreciate what you are doing for us."

Shining Armor bowed and said, "Anything for you, your majesty."

The former princess's cheeks flushed a light, seeing she hadn't been called that in over a year. In some ways, it was rather a relief to the alicorn as she always viewed the status as something bestowed upon her and not so much something she saw herself as and always felt it greatly hindered many of her relationships. That was why she always valued Shining Armor’s companionship, as despite their relationship mostly being professional, she considered him a friend. 

"Please, you don't have to call me that anymore; just call me Celestia." 

Slightly embarrassed, Shining Armor rubbed the back of his neck as he apologized. "Sorry, it's a force of habit."

As the group continued to trot, a burning question remained unanswered to Celestia: who was Shining serving now under Discord’s rule? 

“Shining, what happened to you and your soldiers? I haven’t seen you since Discord’s return, and I find it odd he’d even feel the need to leave anypony, much fewer soldiers, unaffected by his magic.”

Shining Armor gave a long exasperated sigh as he explained, "After your defeat by the hooves of Nightmare Moon, I gathered most of the royal guard and fled. We decided to stake out in Ponyville and tried to lay low. My soldiers and I knew we didn't have the power to take on Nightmare Moon. But, we assumed that some pony powerful enough could eventually defeat her. If nothing else, we hoped to support them when they arose.”

Shining Armor took a minute to pause in his story as Celestia seemed to feel rather ashamed once more, as it was due to her inability to stop Nightmare Moon that led to Discord’s rule. “We don’t blame you for what happened?”

“Regardless, it was my duty to protect ponykind, and I failed in that,” Celestia mumbled to herself as she turned to her sister, trotting beside her looking just as guilty but not saying anything. 

Shining Armor then decided to continue. “Well, it’s not all bad, in a manner of speaking anyway. When Discord gave the new princess the right to rule here, we assumed she’d be another sycophant, but she’s e."

Luna and Celestia gave each other hopeful looks, slightly praying that whoever this new princess was could be the key to taking Discord down.

They then trotted through the strange world, seeing a giant purple rainbow overhead with a glittering city in the distance filled with violet. Luna asked, "So…did Discord do this?"

Shining Armor made a gagging noise as he rolled his eyes.  "No, our "princess" has turned this place into her own vision of what Equestria should be, and it's not too bad…as long as you don't anger her."

The ponies all gave worried looks, unsure if meeting this other "princess" would provide another ally or enemy to confront. 

As the group finally entered the border of Ponyville, they came upon a fairy tale-looking palace. It was rather small and quaint, yet with a hint of luxury going by the glittering gold moat and some fancy towers jutting outward. 

Hesitantly, they then crossed a small bridge across the moat, what appeared to be a sea monster beneath the waves. Surprisingly he happily waved at Shining Armor, who waved back. 

Deciding to ignore that odd display, they finally approached the front door, where the commander gave a firm knock and waited for them to swing open. The pair were greeted by  Night Light and Twilight Velvet.

The pony parents stared aghast at the pair of former princesses, eyes only shifting to the visibly exasperated Shining to signal they were paying attention. "Hey, Mom, Dad. I need to leave these ponies here with you. Would that be ok?"

"Of course," Shining Armor's parents stammered in unison as the group entered the main hall. There they saw a hearth full of family pictures. Celestia felt somewhat stunned seeing pictures of Twilight as a filly and how different she looked before her new ascension. It was like looking at a window at a time when she could’ve done something to prevent what was happening now. Sadly, that was no longer the case. 

"So… you're Princess Celestia, correct?" Twilight Velvet asked, seeming somewhat confused by her rather gaudy attire. 

Princess Celestia saw little time to address her subjects about the changes throughout the kingdom. ”Yes, I am, and  this is my sister Luna.” The Princess of the Night awkwardly waved at the pair, still a little new to social interaction. "Hello! We apologize for our attire; we were cursed by Discord, after all." 

The attempt at humor fell utterly flat, both ponies looking less than thrilled to see the Second Princess. The wounds from her time as Nightmare Moon are still quite fresh, leaving the Princess to wish she could return to the moon.   Meanwhile, Celestia awkwardly cleared her throat, attempting to ease the tension somewhat. "Trust me; Luna knows what she did as Nightmare Moon was wrong and is trying to make up for it. We aim to overthrow Discord and hopefully return Equestria to how it was.

Luna shook her head as she held up a hoof and placed it over her chest. “As much as I thank my sister for defending me, I have to take full responsibility for my own actions. I swear I’m doing everything I can to take down Discord as well. Still, I will accept your scorn willingly if you wish to despise me. I certainly deserve more.”

Night Light and Twilight Velvet seemed to relax a little as Celestia trotted over to the rest of the group as introduced them individually. “Moving on to everypony else. This  is Sunburst, Starlight, and the talking skunk here is Zecora."

That proved the true cure for the situation as Twilight Velvet suddenly dawwed before trotting over to the skunk and booped her in the nose. “Oh, she’s adorable.”

Zecora put her paws on her hips and snapped, "A skunk I may be, but I still have my dignity!"

That only earned her another squeal and boop from Velvet, finding the rhyming only added to her adorable air. 

Starlight gave a loud, obnoxious yawn as she tugged on Sunburst and asked, "Why don't we go upstairs? I'm exhausted from our near-death experience."

Sunburst was rather surprised by Starlight and gave a nod, but before he could even say anything, he was dragged upstairs by the mare, with Luna gazing up at the two with a suspicious look. Having an idea of what exactly the pair might be up to, Celestia nuzzled her sister as she tried to get her to ease up a bit, seeing this was the first time they'd have peace and quiet in years. Might as well enjoy the reprieve while they can. 

Shining Armor then turned his attention to Celestia, offering the former ruler a curt bow."Please excuse me, but I must attend  to the new princess I serve and inform her of your arrival."

"Of course, please let her know we come in peace and we are seeking aid. If she isn't with Discord, we could use her help to find a way to combat him."

Hopefully, despite the picture Shining had painted, Celestia couldn’t help but hope the princess would at least be willing to hear them out. 

"Yes, I will; be patient, please, relax. There's plenty of food, and if you need to sleep, there are extra rooms on the second floor."

Offering the princess one last bow, Shining exited the house, his soldiers following suit, leaving the group alone with his parents.

Princess Celestia could almost cry as she hadn't received this level of hospitality in years. But she held herself together as she soon met this new princess and had to be ready. 

Deciding to take advantage of things for the moment, Celestia quietly sat on a nearby couch, signaling Luna to follow suit. Both felt an immediate sense of relief course through them, practically sinking into the soft cushions, almost forgetting all they’d been through up to this point.

Celestia, however, kept enough of her composure to pose a question she’d had since they arrived. "So…I assume Twilight worked out a deal to have you live here?"

The two both nodded solemnly, Twilight Velvet's eyes practically bursting at the seam with tears. "My poor baby has turned into a monster."

She started to wail as Celestia gave her a colorful handkerchief that seemed to continue until it was a mile-long rope of colorful cloth. Although the somewhat somber mood from before had returned, the silly antics of the princesses, unintended as they were, made the middle-aged ponies smile again. 

After wiping away the tears, Twilight Velvet regained the same serious look she’d given Luna, though now directed at Celestia. "Since we’re going to be together for a while, I do hope you’ll forgive my bluntness Princess, but I have to ask. Why didn't you accept our daughter into your school?"

Celestia looked down, having already anticipated the question. On some level, she wanted to argue it was simply an unfortunate circumstance of the time. Yet, looking at how things had changed, it was clear how poorly that decision had panned out, and even if she lacked the power to see into the future, surely there must have been some sign she missed regarding Twilight’s potential.  

"I doubt there is anything I can say that won’t sound like an excuse. Even so, I can’t imagine how the administrators could possibly have misjudged your daughter’s amazing talent.”

Celestia tried to rack her brain back to the initial meeting she’d had with the young unicorn prodigy, and finally, a crucial detail came to light. “Tell me something when she was a filly; I seem to recall something was  holding her back during the initial tryouts."

Night Light paused. "We always knew she had the talent, she studied magic virtually everyday and that’s why we signed her up for the exam. But it was as if something had gone wrong!? Like she had stage fright, we could never figure it out." 

Luna eyed her sister curiously as more information was revealed. "Sister, you knew I would return as Nightmare Moon and Discord might break free!? You didn't have any pony that could use the Elements of Harmony?"

Celestia took a hoof over her face and sighed, "Sadly, no, there were a few candidates who sadly failed, and I was losing hope. I thought I could take you on and convince you to stop being Nightmare Moon on my own…but that obviously didn't work out. Perhaps had I not been so quick to give up, perhaps I could’ve prevented all of this. "

The two princesses both became relatively silent as they sipped their tea, as Luna contemplated what they’d learned.  "Starlight Glimmer said she is from a timeline where none of this happened? If that's the case, something may have caused our timeline to split."

“Yes, she’d mentioned her version of Twilight was my most prized pupil,” Celestia muttered somewhat while sipping her tea. 

Twilight Velvet practically lept from her seat, almost jolting the princess pair."So you're saying our baby isn't a monster!?"

Celestia wanted to speak in the affirmative but knew it wasn’t that simple. Ever the blunt one, Luna decided to say what needed to be said. “Unfortunately, while I don’t doubt your daughter is or was capable of great compassion for all of ponykind, I’m afraid, as it stands, she’s as much a monster as you believe.”

Celestia quickly chimed in to soften the blow as she saw the emotional devastation on the parents' faces. “But it doesn’t have to be that way; if we can determine where our timeline’s split off, we can correct the problem and ensure your daughter becomes the hero she was always meant to be.”

That brought a small amount of comfort, but not enough to keep Twilight Velvet from bawling into her husband’s embrace, bemoaning her own failure as a parent. The sight only served to harden both princesses' resolve.

“No matter what happens, we must fix this timeline.”








Meanwhile, Sunburst was led upstairs, where he and Starlight went to an empty bedroom. There Starlight quickly slammed the door behind her, with the stallion looking somewhat surprised. "Starlight, what's going on?"

The mare gave a long-exasperated sigh, her heart pounding in her chest. She knew Sunburst would do anything for her but didn’t know how much she should tell him. Starlight decided she’ll start slow and see how much her friend could take.

"Look, I…I need you to promise me something. I'll tell you a lot about myself and what's been happening to me. But you have to swear you can't tell the princesses or any pony else, understand?"

Sunburst wanted to argue against keeping secrets but nodded regardless as Starlight waved a hoof over her mane. "Ok, a few days ago, I went back in time using a forbidden time spell to stop Twilight."

"Ok…what does that have to do with anything?" Sunburst asked while scratching the back of his mane, while silently freaking out that his friend had somehow cracked time travel.

Starlight groaned as she threw a hoof down her face, "Trust me, it sounds crazy, but the Twilight you know was supposed to be the wielder of the Element of Magic. She and her friends used it along with the other Elements of Harmony to save Equestria from numerous threats for years….or at least that’s what was supposed to happen until I…messed things up a bit.”

"Wait!?” Sunburst’s prior fear or worry vanished, and he suddenly looked at his old friend with more apprehension. “Starlight, what exactly did you do?”

The pink-coated unicorn looked downward and mumbled, "I…I was…I was under the belief that having ponies remove their cutie marks and making them the same was the best way for society to exist. I thought individuality only caused pain and suffering. Twilight and her friends basically came along and ruined my plans."

The magic-researching pony had to stop his jaw from dropping as things got more insane. “Remove cutie marks…you can actually do that? How? No, wait, not important. So how does this relate to anything?”

Starlight sighed as her eyes drifted to her own cutie mark, almost wishing she’d never gotten it. “After that, I managed to slip away and decided since they ruined my plans, I’d ruin something of theirs, namely the thing that mattered the most to them.”

Sunburst nodded while adjusting the glasses on his face."So you tried to end their friendship because if they never became friends, you would've never lost your power and could’ve spread your message all over Equestria."

She then slammed her hooves down at a wall and shouted, "Yes!" She quickly pulled her hooves back and offered a very soft sorry at the sudden outburst. “But yeah, that’s pretty much the whole story. 

Sunburst paused, taking a minute to take everything.

“Listen, I didn't mean for all of this to happen! I'm not evil….anymore.” Starlight practically groaned internally; this was all sounding like a bad sales pitch.“I…I think life would be better if ponies were the same. That way, no pony would be hurtful, and chaos wouldn't reign. Can't you see I was trying to stop this from happening!?"

"I can see your point…." Sunburst muttered, thinking about all the twisted things Discord and Twilight have done, not that what Starlight suggested sounded much better.

"See, even Celestia and Luna couldn't stop Discord. Faust knows everypony would be better off if they couldn't be like him," Starlight continued, practically falling into her old ways again.

Sunburst seemed to still contemplate everything as he said, "Maybe…But what are we to do with this information? Are you still bent on removing individuality from everypony?"

This time Starlight paused; she knew Sunburst didn't fully understand everything about her, so she couldn't tell him her plans. So, for now, she'll wait until she can fully trust him, then say, "No, I know I was wrong; I just needed to let you know, considering we were friends before.”

Sunburst still seemed unsure of even if he could truly trust Starlight. “Okay, Starlight, I won’t say anything for now.”

Starlight immediately brought Sunburst into a hug and silent thank you that he awkwardly returned, still far from comfortable with all he’d be told. 







Later that evening, the two former princesses opted to take a brief walk and trot through the fields heading to the nearby town. 

Despite being a considerable distance from Canterlot, it was quite impressive. 

It had a massive wall of white and light blue stone surrounding the place with towers, overhead waving flags with silvery stars and crescent moons decorating it. The two princesses were in awe as they entered through the gates and soon trotted down cobblestone streets that were colored similar light blue and white. 

Despite the entrance, there were fewer castles and more upper-class manors with ponies wearing outfits of the same decoration as the flags being a bright purple. Interestingly, despite their attire, they seemed normal,  living rather casual lives, foals going to school, ponies buying and selling merchandise at markets, and even a spa. Sweet Apple Acres was still there, but there were numerous ponies bucking away. It appeared as though the entire extended Apple Family had there if the massive mansion on the property was anything to go by.

Jarring as the sight was, Celestia couldn’t help but be impressed.“It seems this princess is doing well. At least the ponies here seem content and happy compared to Canterlot.”

Luna, however, was the most suspicious of the two once again.“I feel this is too good to be true; we must remain vigilant.”

“I understand, sister,” Celestia whispered back, still keeping a vigilant eye as they continued through the city. They eventually came to the town square and saw a princess statue. She was in a prancing position with her horn rather tall, and her wingspan was massive. Underneath the statue was a plaque that read, “Princess Trixie, the Princess of Trixieville!” 

“Not exactly the most humble Princess is she,” Luna muttered quietly to her sister, who nodded at the sight of the plaque. Seriously, naming the town after yourself, suddenly they felt far less confident about this self-proclaimed royal.

Continuing to walk, they made their way to the grandest building in the city, a castle bigger than theirs! It was made like all the other buildings, with similar white and blue bricks with  Trixie’s flags waving atop each tower. As the princesses approached the massive double doors, fireworks began exploding in the sky with PRINCESS TRIXIE spelled out in the sky. 

Walking down a massive hallway, they eventually reached the throne room, finding Princess Trixie upon a massive chair with equally gigantic wings and a tall, magnificent-looking horn just like her statue outside.

The blue-colored alicorn looked down at the princesses with a cocky smirk befitting her ego.“My my, what have we here? Discord's playthings in the presence of The Great and Powerful Princess Trixie!"

Celestia and Luna looked at each other, seeing that their "help" was an egomaniac and their hopes were slowly running down the drain that she would be of any help. 

The Princess of the Sun swallowed her pride and bowed her head., "Yes, my sister and I need your aid. Discord has ravaged Equestria, and reality as we know it is fracturing. We ask your help to combat him and end his reign."

A quick nudge got Luna to follow suit, though she didn’t placate Trixie’s ego by speaking, merely bowing and nothing more.

Princess Trixie looked intrigued at the idea,  tapping a hoof to her chin with a smirk forming on her face. "Honestly, I've been thinking of taking down Discord myself. I have lost contact with the Lord of Chaos for some time, and I don't care about him that much."

The princesses were somewhat astonished by this news. , "So… you're not going to turn us over to Twilight?"

"Of course not, and we can discuss defeating Discord at another time…though I’m willing to help you really only on one condition," The blue-coated alicorn slowly trotted towards them, both princesses dreading the demand.

Shockingly, Trixie threw her hooves up and exclaimed, "You two must join me in my shows!"

The alicorn princesses, momentarily stunned, immediately paled at the mention of “shows' ' immediately flashing back to their prior “performances” by Discord and Twilight.

Surprisingly, Trixie saw the fear on their faces and responded rather unexpectedly. "Oh, don't worry, you'll be my backup stars; no dangerous stunts required! And I’ll ensure you are well cared for. You'll be pampered like a princess without having to perform your old royal duties! Doesn't that sound grand!?"

Luna eyed her and wanted to say "no," but Celestia quickly pulled her to the side and whispered, "I know this sounds crazy, but we need to take her deal."

"Are you serious!? This crazy pony is going to get us killed! We can't be standing around performing tricks. Once Twilight informs Discord of our escape, he'll come straight here! We need to leave as soon as possible!"

"I know, but she's an alicorn and has been granted the ability to wield Chaos Magic. Despite her personality, we need her help. If all we have to do is perform a few tricks, it’s worth the trade."

Luna grumbled as she didn't like this deal. "ok, we'll stay for one night and help her with her stupid show. Afterward, we leave to find the other Elements of Harmony with or without her help."

Celestia nodded as the two turned to face Princess Trixie, who eagerly awaited their response. 

"So, is everypony in agreement ?"

Luna stayed quiet as Celestia cleared her throat."We will  help you with one show; then we'll discuss terms to defeat Discord."

"It's a deal!" Princess Trixie exclaimed, brimming with excitement as she flew towards them, looking the sisters over. "But I think you both need a uniform change, don't you think?"

The alicorn princess then lit her horn, and the two were then surrounded by swirls of magic. Their old uniforms were replaced with dark purple cloaks with sparkling stars set into the fabric. The giant red rubber noses were gone, and their afros were replaced with jester caps over their heads with jingling bells. 

The two mares looked at each other, noting that the outfits were less embarrassing and smelt nicer than their old clothes. There was a decent amount of silence as Trixie then trotted over.“So, what do you think?"

Luna turned towards her and snapped, "What'd I think!? You can sho-”

Celestia quickly clasped her hooves around her sister's mouth and said, "What she meant to say is we're quite exhausted from our trip and need some rest."

Luna gave a nod as Princess Trixie clapped her hooves together and exclaimed,  "Excellent! Captain Shiny!"

"It's Shining Armor," the stallion muttered under his breath.

"Take the princesses to the guest suite to ensure they have everything they need," Princess Trixie proclaimed. Shining Armor nodded as he escorted the princesses up through the castle steps toward their quarters.

After a shower and a quick message to the rest of their allies, the group was now together in a well-furnished room. There were portraits of Trixie adorning the walls, with a lovely canopy bed lavished in velvety blankets and pillows. There was a table in the middle of the room with a fruit basket and various pastries. But Celestia and Luna were gorging on the fruit as they both missed having something not made of processed sugar. 

It wasn't long before Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer (along with Zecora) joined them as they were accompanied by Shining Armor.

Sunburst groaned in embarrassment as he eyed the décor that surrounded them. "I know you all don't know Trixie, but you seriously can't trust her."

Celestia looked towards him as she wiped her mouth clean of some fruit juice."I know; she's self-absorbed and thinks way too highly of herself. But we don't have a choice, Discord has limited the magic my sister and I wield."

Luna turns towards her sister. "Well, for one sister, I agree with Sunburst. This Princess Trixie will stab us in the back the first chance she gets. There's no way she can tag along with us."

"It won’t come to that. I don't think she'll leave her kingdom. So we do this performance, then go to the Everfree Forest, where we can start our hunt for the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. Hopefully, we’ll find them quickly and resolve this."

Starlight had a cup of tea as she was sipping it silently, thinking about a maid she saw working in Trixie's palace."So…look…I need to explain some things."

All eyes were on the dimensional traveler, whose gaze shifted to a nearby door."One of Twilight's friends is here, actually working as a maid. Her name is Rarity."

The ponies all gasped as Celestia asked, "How well do you know her?"

Sunburst gave Starlight a curious look as she gulped and said, "I don't know her too well, but I know back in my timeline she's one of the best fashion designers in Equestria."

Luna seemed rather pleased by the news. "So this trip wasn't a waste of time after all? Is there any way we can convince her to come with us?"

Starlight shook her head. “Not sure; seeing how strict Trixie is, she might not want to just let her go. Assuming she would even want to come in the first place."

"Knowing Trixie, we would have to give her something in exchange for her. But if she likes her too much, it would be quite difficult for her to be let go of Trixie's service."

Celestia looked at a clock overhead and saw no numbers, just one arrow and a phrase where the twelve should be "Princess Trixie's Greatest Show in Equestria!" The Princess didn’t even react, expecting something to that extent."Let’s focus on one thing at a time., Luna and I have to go perform for one of Trixie's shows. After that, we'll devise a plan and hopefully get this Rarity on our side."

"But we have to be quick. Trixie seems to think she can keep us as a status symbol. But the truth is Twilight is ruthless.. if we stay here too long, Twilight will come for us or, worse, bring Discord here." Sunburst exclaimed as he seemed somewhat scared while trying to act brave.

"If we leave without Rarity, then all of this would be pointless anyways. For now, the plan is we stay here until we can get Rarity to escape with us, then we head to the Everfree Forest," Luna explained; she then looked over at every pony and asked, "Are we all in agreement?"

Everypony nodded at once and shouted, "Agreed!"

They then all clinked their glasses of tea together. Luna and Celestia then drank their tea and departed for their show.
> Chapter Four: Princess Trixie's Grand Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, the princesses were escorted throughout the town known as Trixieville. Though, calling it a town was a bit of a disservice as it seemed to be more like a city now. 

Celestia couldn't help but stare at the many large buildings that rose nearly to the clouds that seemed to be found at every corner.

"To think this was once the quaint little town of Ponyville. It's almost like we've been teleported to Las Pegasus."

"Tis truly a pity, dear sister," Luna found herself cringing at a giant neon billboard of Trixie hanging on a nearby building. "I much preferred the more rustic feel of the Ponyville of old. There was a simple charm to it." 

"Indeed, it was something I found rather admirable about it."

The pair mused more over the lost village as they headed to the center of town, where a massive stadium with hundreds of ponies cheering while fireworks shot into the air. 

It was hard to know whether to call it impressive or excessive. 

Celestia had been to hundreds of Wonderbolt shows in her lifetime, many of which had been quite the spectacle, but this was unlike anything she's seen before. 

The stadium's scale was impressive, holding maybe over a thousand ponies. She wasn't aware of what happened after Discord's takeover, but she assumed there were so many ponies here because many had fled from other towns and cities. Though even then, it was just as likely Discord allowed them to think they were safe for his amusement.  

As they made their way to the center stage, Princess Trixie stood amongst the crowd, waving a hoof with her wings held high in the air, soaking in the audience's love and admiration.

The light blue alicorn smiled as she proclaimed, "Hello, citizens of Trixieville! How are we doing tonight!?"

The crowd began to cheer louder, "Princess Trixie! Princess Trixie!"

"That's what I like to hear!" the young monarch laughed as she raised her hooves to the chanting of her name. Celestia and Luna were rather disgusted by the ego oozed by the princess. She had a very high opinion of herself and never missed an opportunity to brag. Even Discord wasn't this ego-centric. 

Despite their disgust, they both kept in mind they had to go through just one of these shows. Besides, it's not like they were exactly in a position to complain or mount some offensive. 

"Now, we have a special show for you all! We have two former princesses with us tonight. So, let me introduce you to Ex-Princesses, Luna and Celestia!"

The crowd began to cheer with a bit of an increase in volume as the two were placed on either side of Trixie. Luna nervously bowed her head, seeming not to be used to the crowd, while Celestia smiled and waved a hoof with practiced ease, having missed doing these kinds of things during her reign. 

Her audience was enticed; Trixie spread her wings and started to hover off the ground. "Now, it is time for what you have all been waiting for! The greatest show of the ages!"

She then flew upward, her powerful horn glowing as she smirked downward at the depowered princesses. "Tonight, I'll show you my power and how powerless these former alicorns are!"

The sisterly duo felt any enthusiasm they had immediately left their bodies as they contemplated running, but with a whisk of a wand, both princesses disappeared rather suddenly. The entire crowd gasped in shock at what they saw. A spotlight immediately shined on Trixie, who casually removed her hat before digging inside with her hoof.

After a dramatic drumroll from seemingly nowhere, Trixie finally pulled her arm out and presented the princesses, now miniaturized to the size of tiny dolls. The audience erupted with excitement. 

Celestia and Luna squeaked in freight but not before she tossed them back into the black void of her hat. Trixie then lit her horn and pulled out two bunnies from her hat. One was a white-coated bunny with a sun symbol near its hindlegs, and the other a black-coated one with and moon marking. The crowd oohed and awed at the little bunnies, who were now squirming about, unable to leave Trixie's grasp, and eyed the pair with wicked glee.

"Oh, that's not all."

The princess waved her wand again, and the bunnies were suddenly turned into seals before being set back on the ground. Trixie casually pulled a giant ball out of her hat before throwing it at the two. Despite the former rulers not wanting to indulge in this show anymore, their instincts seem to kick in as the two seals toss the ball across each other. The crowd clapped and was rather admired their princess's power. 

"That's not all! If you think I can only turn ponies into animals, think again!"

With a whisk of Trixie's wand, she magically transformed the seals to their alicorn forms in the skimpy jester costumes. Neither alicorn looked especially happy about their little transformation show but found themselves trapped in a large crate before they could get a word out.

With a twirl of her wand, she unfurled the box, and then there, standing before the crowd, were two elderly-looking ponies with walkers; their manes were pale and thick glasses practically covering their faces. The ponies were quite impressed and clapped as the two elderly alicorns looked at each other with confusion.

"What's going on?" Luna tried asking, and false teeth came out of her mouth and clambered on the ground. 

"Don't worry! I got them!" her sister cried as she dropped to her knees, as they made a crackling noise, only to immediately groan as her legs gave out, sending her to the floor. 

"Guess age finally caught up with the princesses!" Trixie cackled lightly at the pair of aged mares. "Well, that's not all I can do!"

Princess Trixie then trapped the two in the box once more, and this time when the fours side collapsed, the two alicorns were two pudgy foals with thick diapers around their waists, playing with baby blocks with pacifiers in their mouths. The crowd dawwed as Trixie laughed. "Ah, Age Spells, my favorite! It still can't be too repetitive, after all. Let's get them back to their proper age!"

She then trapped the two foals in the box and unveiled it once more with the two, now adult alicorns, trapped in the box sideways with their heads popping out. Neither princess looked especially happy with the situation, which only became more frantic when Trixie reached into her hat again…and pulled out a rather long saw blade. 

Smirking down at the pair, Trixie immediately set about cutting into the box the team was trapped in without hesitation! The two alicorns kicked and squirmed, fearing for their lives, but breaking out of the box was impossible! 

Within less than a minute, Trixie sliced the box and its occupants in half. The alicorns could only stare in horror at the visible line separating their bodies as if they were made with clay. Trixie retrieved a small bag of powder from her hat before sprinkling it on the box. She pulled the box apart simply, confirming the division and sending the crowd into thunderous applause.  

The sisters were both surprised that they could still feel and use their back legs. The crowd was in complete awe as they clapped and cheered. Trixie bowed as she then sealed the two back together.

Both Celestia and Luna, for a moment, felt a sense of relief at being made whole again, only for Trixie to wave her wand again, turning the box into a pair of cannons, with each princess sticking out the barrel. 

With another wave of the wand, the fuse on both was ignited, sending the princesses into another panicked fit. Trixie bowed before the rest of the crowd as they continued to chant her name. 

“Citizens of Trixieville! I have a special announcement! Tonight is an incredibly unique show, not simply because of the princesses' presence, but because they came to me for aid. They seek to overthrow Discord and return Equestria to its former state."

Celestia felt her eyes practically leap from their sockets at Trixie's sudden exposure to their plan. Luna looked about ready to unleash the Royal Canterlot Voice, half expecting the crowd to turn on them immediately. 

However, to their surprise, the crowd cheered even louder, some chanting their disdain for the mischievous tyrant that ruled their lives.  

Trixie took it all in stride as she landed between the two cannons. "Tonight! I showed you just an ounce of my power and proved that there is little doubt that Trixie is the greatest user of Equestrian Magic. Once Discord is defeated, I, Princess Trixie, will become Equestria's new Ruler!"

The speech got another round of applause and explosion of chanting as Trixie kept her hooves up in the air with her wingspan spread out. She then lit the fuse at the end of the cannons, and they exploded upwards into the sky, two massive explosions of the sun and the moon lighting up the entire stage.

The final two explosions faded with the reminisce of them drifting downwards with Princess Celestia and Luna formed next to Trixie. She gave one last bow, and the two former princesses shaking all over, did the same. Powerless to do much else, they realized how dangerous things were and how they had made a terrible mistake trusting Trixie. 









Starlight Glimmer was still in Trixie's palace looking for she was looking around and trying to find Rarity, eventually stumbling upon her sweeping a nearby hall. 

The mare wore a simple French maid uniform with a black bow tied in her mane. It was an outfit the mare Starlight knew would never be caught dead wearing, yet this Rarity didn't even seem bothered by it, almost seeming content with her meager standing. 

The sight left Starlight feeling another pang of guilt, seeing the ordinarily passionate and, at times, fierce fashionista reduced to little more than a servant to an egomaniac. 

So distracted, she didn't notice Sunburst appear at her side, looking on confused as he pushed his glasses up. "So this is the Rarity you were talking about?"

Starlight grimaced slightly at the uncertainty in his voice. She couldn't blame him; looking at the former Element, it was hard to believe she could help topple one like Discord. 

"Yes…sort of. We need to get at least her motivated to leave this place; we can worry about getting her true destiny later."

The unicorn looked around, seeing no guards as they must all be attending Princess Trixie's performance. It was a perfect opportunity to try to snap Rarity out of the state she was in. The pink-coated unicorn ran down the hall and confronted the maid, who looked up and replied in a bored tone, "Hello? How was your room? Was it cleaned to your satisfaction?"

She sounded so lifeless. It left Starlight pausing at being forced to confront the results of her decision. 

"Yes, it was, thank you," Starlight tried to shake off any lingering guilt for the moment. "But I have to ask what happened here? Call me crazy, but you don't exactly seem to be enjoying the whole maid thing?"

Rarity's expression didn't change an inch, as if her body was a machine on autopilot. "Before Discord appeared, I was in the service of Nightmare Moon. She offered me a job as a maid and accepted."

"Why would you do that!?" Starlight asked, somewhat surprised by the response.

Rarity scoffed, showing a hint of emotion for the first time. "I didn't know what else to do. Before that, I was going all over Ponyville doing odd jobs, working at Sweet Apple Acres bucking apples since the owner's granddaughter moved to Manehattan. When that failed went to Sugar Cube Corner and almost burned the place down. Then I went to work for the mayor as a secretary and ended up causing a riot. Nightmare Moon immediately appeared and retook the Everfree Forest as her domain. With Princess Celestia dethroned and ordered all but destroyed, I had little choice but to ask if she had any job offerings."

As she continued to mull over her life, Rarity's left hoof started dusting on reflex without taking her eyes off Starlight. Almost like it was second nature to her.

"Nightmare Moon thought I would make a good maid. And it was when I got my cutie mark." Rarity showed off her flank with a broom, holding two buckets of water on each side. "I assumed this was my destiny and worked up the ranks until I became her head maid."

Starlight blinked as she didn't expect to get such a mouthful from Rarity, and the way she was now had nothing to do with Chaos Magic, mind manipulation, or any forceful coercion. It was simply her screwing up the timeline. Even if Discord or Nightmare Moon had never appeared, it's very likely Rarity would've been left out on the street begging for bits or never left her parent's home.

The whole idea left her with a sick feeling in her stomach and wondering why she'd ever thought doing such a thing was a good decision. . Maybe she still believed in her ideology that if every pony were equal, things would be better. Yet, seeing the damage she'd caused to so many, and in countless instances before simply pursuing that idea, left her honestly questioning her decisions.

Regardless of how she felt, she had to fix this mess and restore things to how they should be. 

With her plan already running through in her head, she quickly placed her hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "Listen, I know you won't believe me. But you weren't always like this, and you had a very fulfilling life, and if you want any chance to see that life, we need to leave now! Twilight or Discord might be on their way to take back Celestia and Luna for escaping his circus. If that happens, there's no hope for me to fix my mistakes."

Rarity paused, blinked once, and shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, plus I have duties here that give me a fulfilling life. Even if I could become something better, this is fine."

Starlight groaned, rubbing a hoof down her face, expecting that kind of reaction. "Ok, let's try this a different way. Say you could go back in time, and you decided to make the costumes for your school play back when you were a young filly, would you?"

"Well…I did have some ideas, but I lacked the gemstones to make what I desired…Wait, how on earth did you know that?"

Starlight didn't bother acknowledging the second part and latched onto what she needed. "So…is that a yes?"

“Well…maybe…” Rarity's initial indifference seemed to crack, if only for a moment.

Starlight fought back a cheer, seeing she was getting somewhere but was nervous Rarity would still say no and stay here. She needed to push just a little bit more.

"Ok, and if you decided to keep making clothes, wouldn't you love to make fancy gowns and help find the perfect outfits for your friends? Wouldn't that sound much more fulfilling than working as a slave to some pony who treats you like dirt?"

Rarity paused as she seemed to be coming around finally. "I don't fully trust you. But I feel you're not wrong, and you have a point…Nightmare Moon and Trixie both treated me quite horridly. And even if it is what my Cutie Mark says, it never felt right to me."

Starlight sighed in relief; she had Rarity change her mind, and now the hard part was escaping the castle. "Alright, but we have to go now!"

Rarity was hesitant but nodded, following Starlight and Sunburst as they headed to the main hall. Their advance, however, was immediately halted when the doors burst open, and Princess Trixie strolled in with Celestia and Luna at her sides. 

The former stage magician, who'd been positively beaming moments ago, found the sight of the group perplexing, mainly Rarity. "Maid, what is all of this? What are you all doing here?"

Rarity quickly curtsied and replied, "I apologize, your grace. I was merely giving a tour of the castle to Starlight and her coltfriend Sunburst."

Sunburst's face quickly matched his name at the designation. "We are-"

"Oh yes! My coltfriend, we're just having a tour of your lovely castle, right dear?" Starlight replied rather quickly while kissing Sunburst on the cheek. The stallion's face turned a deeper shade of red as he responded in incomprehensible babbles. Thankfully that seemed to sell the deception. 

"Well, that is sweet, but cleaning must be done. Now maid, go and take my two new assistants to their chambers. They are quite exhausted after the show. Also, you will be quite busy as we prepare for our trek!"

"A trek, your grace?" Rarity asked with a queasy look on her face.

Trixie looked over and exclaimed gleefully, "Yes! One week from today, we will ride out to defeat my rival Twilight and then take on Lord Discord himself! But there's so much to pack. Also, I'll need an audience to witness me sealing Discord in stone!"

Despite looking utterly horrified at the idea, Rarity performed another curtsy without question. "I understand your grace. I shall do as you ask."

"Excellent. Now, ensure these two are well fed and given water." Trixie added as if she were talking about some pets. 

The alicorn princess then strutted off as both Celestia and Luna slowly trotted over to the group looking wholly exhausted and scared at the same time. 

Once they heard the door shut, Celestia collapsed onto the ground, practically gasping with exhaustion. "I'm sorry, Starlight, but we cannot rely on Trixie to help us. I'm not sure about the pony you're familiar with, but this one is quite unstable !"

"Unstable, she's utterly deranged." Luna practically shouted out, barely able to lift her own head up. We'd be better off leaving Discord in power than letting her rule. I dread what kind of insanity she'd bring to Equestria.

Starlight sighed, "Well, there goes my original plan; I might as well go back to our rooms before this looks suspicious."

As the princesses slowly picked themselves up and had Rarity guide them, Starlight eyed the maid again, hoping perhaps another solution could be found.






The collective group was back in the guest room, where the exhausted ponies sat around the center table, drinking wine and eating from the fruit basket. They all looked exhausted or defeated as their one chance to escape failed.

Starlight turned to the former princess of the sun. "Celestia, I have to know, how powerful is Trixie?"

Celestia took a long swing from her glass before finally responding. 

"Powerful, she uses advanced spells that would normally take thousands of years to master and bend the fabric of reality at a whim. Discord has truly given her a portion of his Chaos Magic."

Luna nodded, biting into a pineapple, of all things, without a hint of hesitation. "I must agree with my sister; Trixie cannot be defeated through combat. If we were to face her, she would imprison us like what Discord did back in his circus." Both Celestia and Luna shivered at the notion. "We don't wish ever to repeat that mistake."

Starlight plopped down her chin onto her hooves. "There has to be another way…we have to think of something."

Surprisingly, Rarity, who'd stayed with them despite her prior orders,  was raised with a hoof. "Starlight told me what's going on, and I understand you all need to leave…I…I have a plan for you to escape."

"Really!?" Everypony asked in unison.

Rarity nodded and continued, "Yes, there's a hidden passage in the castle that Trixie placed just in case Discord decided to turn on her."

"Ok, what's the catch?" Luna asked, eyeing her.

Rarity looked down, somewhat apprehensive about speaking. "Well, it's guarded by her most trusted servant, Big Macintosh. He's a massive and powerful pony who guards it day and night. It's his only job. But it's a secret. I only know about it because I talk to him occasionally after bringing him his daily meals."

"Ok? So how do we get past him?" Starlight asked.

Rarity smiled as she explained, "I know his favorite food, apple cinnamon pancakes. I'll make some along with his usual coffee during his ten-minute break. While he's distracted, You all can slip into the passage unnoticed, But if I'm going to escape, somepony needs to slip something into his drink."

Zecora cleared her throat, getting all eyes on the talking skunk. "I'll make a sleeping draught for you, but I require some ingredients for the sleeping brew."

"Ok, what is it that you need exactly? I can fetch you things at the market tomorrow?" Rarity asked.

Zecora took out a quill and a scroll and began jotting down the list of ingredients. Meanwhile, Luna turned towards Rarity. "This is all well and good, but I assume the secret passage requires pushing a stone or pulling down a torch. How can you show us what to do so we aren't confused or lost down there?"

Rarity chuckled to herself, seeing how easy it was. "Well, that's the best part; the secret passage is behind a massive portrait of Princess Trixie herself. It's an illusion, hop through it, and you'll end up in a maze of caverns and tunnels. Once there, light your horns, and a glowing moss will guide you to the exit and right into the Everfree Forest."

Luna couldn't help but stare blankly at the relatively simple escape route. "I honestly can't tell if she's arrogant, incompetent, or lazy. Not even a few traps, just a simple illusion, and you're practically there?"

Rarity only offered a shrug while Celestia gave her sister a light pant on the shoulder. "Try not to overthink it, Luna; let's be thankful it is so simple for a change."

Starlight still seemed to be skeptical of the plan. "Ok? So, you make pancakes and some coffee. We'll make our way to the portrait; you then have Zecora slip her sleeping potion into Big Mac's coffee and serve it to him during his break. Meanwhile, we sneak to the portrait, hop inside and make our way to the Everfree Forest. Then when he's asleep, you come after us."

Rarity nodded and replied, "Yes, that sounds like a plan."

"Well, that sounds too easy. You're sure Trixie doesn't have traps, spells, or some monster lurking down below waiting for us?" Starlight asked as she was still feeling uneasy. 

Rarity scoffed, "Please, why would Princess Trixie have a flesh-eating monster in her escape tunnel? Also, you forget she's an egomaniac. She's so up her flank she doesn't think anypony is smart enough to figure out her portrait is an illusion. Please, trust me on this."

Still skeptical, Starlight was happy Rarity decided to join them. Still, it sounded too easy, especially after their near-death encounter with a massive dragon just a day ago. But…maybe it was that simple, and she needed to relax a bit. 

"Well, we should at least vote on this. All in favor of Rarity's plan raise a hoof; all opposed give a neigh."

Everypony raised a hoof (besides Starlight), and she didn't even bother neighing seeing she was outvoted. "Ok, we're set with Rarity's plan. Be ready because we're going to bust out of here tomorrow night."
> 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.”
> Chapter six: Twilight's Plan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One month earlier…

Twilight woke up, groaning loudly as she rubbed a hoof over her head and looked around what appeared to be a forest that she assumed was the Everfree Forest. However, the more she looked around, the more perplexing things seemed to be. 

Rather than the dark, ominous woods with a growl or threatening sound from every shadow, the woods were cheerful and lively. In every direction she looked, birds were chirping in the air  while bunnies bounced around where she stood. 

If Fluttershy had been there, she’d likely have been bouncing right along with them. 

Shaking that thought off for the moment, Twilight finally took note that the Cutie Map, the reason she was even here, was nowhere to be found.

“The hay?” Twilight practically screamed as her eyes immediately scanned every blade of grass, branch and stump for the map. “Where in the world are we right now? Logically we should’ve appeared in the same spot the map would be in this world, but clearly that’s not the case.”

“I’m just as confused as you Twilight, every other time the map’s always been right in the same spot,” Spike replied as he helped Twilight onto her hooves.

The duo quickly resumed their search for the map pedestal but seemingly only could find a relatively idyllic looking forest. The image only became more serene when numerous animals appeared out of the foliage, including bunnies, deer, and squirrels. 

The seemingly adorable scene quickly took on a darker edge as, heading the party of animals, was a skunk, armed with a tiny makeshift spear, pointing it at them and snapped, "Capture Twilight now! Before she escapes somehow!"

Before anypony could say or do anything, two deer strung Twilight up in vines. In contrast, a few rabbits who Spike and Starlight Glimmer at spearpoint.

Twilight kicked and cried as she struggled to break through the, "Can someone explain what's going on? We are not Changelings, I swear!"

"Don't play dumb! The Changelings are long gone. Keep her lock and key. This is a great victory!" Zecora cheered as she threw her spear in the air, with a cry from the forest critters. The sound of their zebra friend’s voice coming from the skunk quickly drew looks of shock and surprise from the captured trio. 

Their questions would be left unanswered for the moment, as once Twilight was properly bound, she,along with Spike and Starlight, were led through the forest by spearpoint giving the three a sense of deja vu. 

Though unlike before, they were led to a valley instead of a clearing and the differences only continued from there. 

It looked similar to the village in the timeline where Chrysalis had conquered Equestria. However, the most significant difference was that the place was inhabited by forest critters instead of ponies. 

The creatures gave the group suspicious and scared looks, some jumping into bushes. The group eventually came to make a shift cage made of ruined stones and a few thick pieces of wood, and they were thrust inside with Twilight still tied up. Once they were locked inside, the critters left with Zecora. 

As soon as they were alone, The violet alicorn glared angrily at Starlight. "See what you’ve done!? I was trying to show you the consequences of your actions, and you still wouldn’t listen to me!”

Starlight rolled her eyes at the princess’s anger. "What I’ve done, and what exactly is that? Ended your precious friendship!? Remember, you're the one who brought me here, so this is all your fault, not mine."

"Seriously!?” Twilight practically slammed her forehead against the manic mare. “You don't think that anything you did was wrong? You don't think we just saw a talking skunk, and somehow she thinks keeping me as a captive is a good thing?"

"Maybe everypony realized I'm right and you're wrong!? Maybe the Everfree Forest is beautiful and has talking animals!? I don't get why you're so surprised. I mean, you have a talking dragon."

Spike looked at her almost like she’d grown a second head. "Yeah, because most dragons can talk, not skunks. Also, was it just me, or did that skunk sound a lot like Zecora?"

"Zecora, who's that?" Starlight, being the only one not familiar with the zebra shaman, looked utterly confused. 

Twilight ignored her, paused to think. "You're right, Spike. That skunk does sound a lot like Zecora. Maybe in this reality she’s always been a skunk, maybe they just have similar voices or maybe something happened that made her that way. Either way, there’s a lot more going on here than we realized.”

The sound of footsteps interrupted their conversation and found the aforementioned skunk, followed by a few armed bunnies, approaching them. 

"Curious you know my name, and you even look the same. Yet even now it is clear, you are not the Twilight I fear," The skunk explained as she slowly approached the cage with a suspicious look. "Before I set you free, I need your identity."

Twilight sighed and put a hoof on her chest "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I was a student of Princess Celestia. I've been the Wielder of the Element of Magic for over two years and have been living in Ponyville that long." 

She paused, chuckled to herself, and continued, "In fact, we met under similar circumstances. I thought you were a witch cursing me and my friends, and it turns out we trotted into a field of Poison Joke, and you were just trying to warn us."

"As far as I remember, I have never met you personally, but I can see in your eyes that you have integrity," The skunk turned her attention to the pudgy purple drake."Now for the drake, please tell us who you are so we can determine your fate."

Spike, flinching a little at the potential outcome, quickly placed a claw over his chest, "I'm Spike, the brave savior of the Crystal Empire."

Twilight rolled her eyes at her assistant’s act of aggrandizement while Zecora could only shiver.

"Maybe in another life, here the Crystal Empire returned under strife, King Sombra brainwashed his citizens to conquer the land. However, It wasn't long until Discord revealed his hand. Sombra fell in his wake and  is now a popsicle atop of a mountain of ice cream cake."

Starlight, Twilight, and Spike just blinked and stared at the story, stunned. Zecora eyed them. " Discord has conquered everything we see, this is the truth I tell to thee?"

Twilight's mouth went agape "...Discord won!?"

Zecora continued, "Not so soon, initially we were conquered by Nightmare Moon. However, she too fell and became his clown. Now she just juggles and uses a unicycle to roll around."

Funny image aside, Twilight felt herself going into panic mode, as this reality was getting worse by the second. 

"How long exactly has it been since Discord returned!?" Twilight replied in a panicked tone.

"Almost a year, I fear."

Twilight started to sweat and stammered,"Where are the Elements of Harmony?"

"Why do you ask? They are useless and not up to the task." Zecora spoke with a bleak tone, having long ruled out the jewels as useful. 

"No, we can still use them, but even if time has changed, my friends and Imust still be around. If we can get them together, we can stop Discord and hopefully before Tirek arrives."

Starlight scratched her head and asked, "Um, whose Tirek?"

Twilight's eyes went wide, "Were you living under a rock!? You never heard of Tirek!?"

"Um…you forget Our Town was kind of off the grid; it's not like we got daily news about anything going on."

Twilight slammed her hoof into her face. "He's a Centaur with the power to consume magic. Just imagine Discord, but instead of wanting to cause chaos and mischief, he simply causes destruction and misery!”

While that got a look of surprise from Starlight, she still didn’t look too concerned. “So what? All Discord has to do is snap his fingers and he can turn Tirek into a balloon animal or something right?”

Twilight did pause on that note. True Tirek’s ability to eat magic was formidable, but she recalled he was only able to steal Discord’s magic after stealing the power from nearly everypony in Equestria, something Discord would surely notice and respond to quickly. 

As it was, the centaur was little more than a minor nuisance. Still though.

“Tirek’s much more clever than he lets on. It’s possible he could trick Discord and regain enough power to challenge him and if he wins, all of Equestria is doomed.”

That at least seemed to get Starlight to sweat a little bit, and Zecora almost looked convinced, able to see the genuine fear in her eyes. 

Yet… 

"Perhaps there is truth to what you say. Though it hardly matters anyway."

"Why's that?"

The skunk pawed at her and continued, "Because you see, as of now, you're the enemy. For several months now, Discord has been getting bored. So he has been relying on his second in command, Twilight, who performs his every demand."

Twilight blinked and then pointed at herself, "Me… you mean in this world, I'm Discord's second in command?"

The skunk nodded somberly. "Despite his power, Discord is almost like a child, letting his games and pranks run wild. Twilight is cold, cruel and ruthless to a t. She is by far the greater enemy.”

There was a solemn pause despite the peaceful sound of the forest nearby. There was an air of dread surrounding the group. 

The skunk Zecora offered a gesture, motioning the animals to open the cage. “If you are truly not of this place then return to your home with quickened pace. We have long since accepted that hoping for salvation is a thought best rejected.”

Twilight looked utterly shell shocked by the almost defeatist declaration and it seemed like even Starlight was starting to finally understand how badly she’d damaged things. 

"Okay, maybe I messed things up a bit, still…maybe there’s something we can do. Maybe evacuate as many ponies as we can to another country perhaps or maybe.

"No!" 

Everypony tried to tell Twilight as she hardened her expression, "We aren't giving up. If I’m as evil as you say I am, then I know that Twilight is just hurt and in pain. There’s no chance I’d just fly off the handle like that without reason. If we want to do anything else, we’ll need her on our side and to do that we’ll need help. We need to find Princess Celestia and Luna.”

Zecora merely shook her head somberly at the idea. "Twilight, you don't see? Princess Celestia and Luna are under lock and key. We have no idea where they can be, and what's worse, everypony in Canterlot is now insane. Any attempt at rescue would be in vain.”
‘
This roadblock did little to stop Twilight, already mulling over her remaining options before a thought suddenly struck. 

"It'll be impossible for me, but not her." she pointed at Starlight Glimmer, whose eyes went wide, 

"Me!? Why me!?"

Not bothering to answer, Twilight dragged her down into the tent away from Zecora and pulled her up until they were face to face. “Listen, I know you don’t care for me or what I stand for, but I’m sure you at least care about Equestria and don’t want to leave it like this right?”

Starlight paused and glared. She seemed reluctant but eventually relented "No, I don’t. Making ponies suffer, contrary to what you might think, has never been my goal.”

"Then you need to infiltrate Discord's city and make him trust you, and you have to do it fast. By my calculations, we have four months until Tirek returns; he'll be weak at first, but it won’t take him long to start accumulating power. We need to move fast and stop him before he attempts to usurp Discord."

True it certainly sounded crazy, and one would assume Starlight would just use her spell to flee this dimension, but Twilight made it clear she’d just chase after her no matter how many timelines she fled to. 

Besides…now that she’d been forced to remain in this world longer than a few moments and get a scope of the damage her decision had caused…it gave her a bit more perspective on the impact her desire could bring. 

"I…I understand,” Starlight nodded, fully committing to helping out. “So we don't have any time to waste, huh?"

"No, we don't. I'll hunt down the locations of my friends and hopefully manage to gather them together so we can use the Elements of Harmony. Meet me back here, and we can discuss our next steps."

Starlight eyed her, then continued, "Ok, Twilight, but we're only working together because I don't want Equestria to be destroyed either. When we fix this and return to our original timelines, we will remain enemies; this changes nothing."

Twilight didn’t hesitate to nod, placing that particular issue under matters to address later. 

"Agreed. Honestly, I'm not sure if I can ever forgive you for this, even if we fix everything. However, avoid mentioning our situation as much as possible, I doubt many of the ponies from this timeline would be happy to find out you technically caused this to happen.”

Starlight turned a few shades paler at the idea, recalling her own town’s uprising only much larger and likely much more violent.

"Yeah, I wanna avoid that.”

The plan set, they trotted back to the front of the cage, and Twilight turned to Zecora.“Alright, we have a plan."






Present Day

As soon as the ponies left Trixieville, they took a moment to finally catch their breaths, enjoying the brief respite.

Sadly the moment was ruined for the twin princesses, whose bodies quickly began to sprout the same clown attire they thought they’d disposed of back in Canterlot.

Luna groaned in anger as she touched her afro. "I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with this outfit any longer."

Celestia sighed with equal annoyance at the rubber nose on her face. "Discord is as petty as always. Trixie’s magic might have overridden his while we were inside her town, but now that we’ve left, we’re back to being clowns again.”

Lun almost looked tempted to tear the afro off, but knew it was fruitless and simply huffed angrily to divert her focus elsewhere.

The group then turned their attention back to the Everfree Forest, and everypony was amazed at what used to be a dark, gloomy forest filled with Timberwolves. Now it looked like something out of a fairy tale with lush foliage and birds chirping filling the air. Despite the Chaos Magic wafting from the forest, unlike the chaotic nature of Canterlot, or the ego that served Trixieville, this magic was serene and relaxing, like a gust of spring air filled with the smell of spring flowers filling the air. 

Yet, despite the welcoming atmosphere, Zecora remained vigilant. "Now, before we enter this ghastly hollow, there are some rules you need to follow. Don’t consume anything without my say, lest they transform you in some way. The same goes for the streams and brooks, unless you want to receive strange looks. Most of all, stay close to the group, many a beast will attack you in one fell swoop.” "

Everypony nodded, and began trotting at a steady pace through the woods, while admiring the surprisingly beautiful scenery . Things became even more inviting when they spotted a field of lush wild carrots spotted about the ground.

They then heard a munching sound, and they turned to see a guard blushing as he had a carrot in his mouth. Still, he slowly shrank before their eyes as his ear grew out and loppy, with two black beady eyes and a cute pink underbelly. 

"Oh, dear."

Zecora sighed, "I told you not to eat anything."

She waved a paw, and they continued. It was only a short time until they came across a stream with a cute little bridge arching over. As they crossed, they watched another bunny stumble right into the waters. Before anypony could do anything, they watched a transformed wild unicorn neighing and snorting as it ran into the forest.

That earned looks of surprise from those still present, while Zecora simply brushed it off with casual ease. 

“Discord’s magic has had many an odd effect. Best not to question and simply accept.”

The group continued their trot, all more cautious across the water, before they soon came upon a field of mushrooms with fairies flying about, little ponies with butterfly wings fluttering by giggling and waving their wands, shooting glitter at them. 

Zecora quickened her pace and gestured to the group to follow suit."Ignore them, please; they won't do a thing; they are trying to blind you so that you step in a mushroom ring."

Sadly, the warning came too late as another poor pegasus guard had a blast of glitter hit him in his face, sending him stumbling into a mushroom ring. His wings turned into butterfly wings, and his uniform was now a tutu with his sword and a glittery wand. 

Shining Armor slammed a hoof into his face and ordered, "Please watch your step! We need as many bodies as possible if Princess Trixie comes after us."

The former captain didn’t like leaving one of his men in such a state, but as it was there was little they could do.  

The ponies tightened their formation and became more alert on where they stepped despite the pesky fairies fluttering about. 

Eventually, they were taken to a meadow, and the beauty just tranquil beauty practically erupted with deer, bunnies, squirrels, raccoons, turtles, ducks, and geese all walking about talking and seeming to be just going about their business, but the mass of ponies showed up. 

Zecora came off and held her paws, "Everyone, please be calm! The princesses have returned!"

The many creatures immediately began clapping excitedly, earning awkward glances and waves from the Princessesses, having not received such a warm welcome in quite a while. 
The sound of hoofbeats quickly broke through the applause as Twilight burst from the crowd, sending the entire atmosphere and leaving Luna to immediately aim her glowing horn at the Princess of Friendship. 

Twilight immediately unfurled her own wings only to immediately bow her head to try and show no hostility. "Wait, it's not Evil Twilight; I'm the Good Twilight!"

Luna didn’t look even slightly convinced, while Celestia was more unsure, though their concerns shifted when Starlight finally arrived. “She’s telling the truth, everypony just calm down and we can sort this out.”

Seeing Starlight vouch for her, Luna let the glow from her horn fade and gestured the still kneeling Twilight to rise. In turn now getting a good look at the pony in front of her, Twilight almost had to do a double take. 

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, is that really you?"

Opting to lighten the mood a little, the former Princess of the Sun hooked the red nose on her face. “Indeed it is, though I suppose our current attire makes that hard to believe.”

It certainly was jarring to see the formerly most powerful pony in Equestria in a rainbow afro and bright red nose, but that was par for the course in Discord’s mad world. "I heard what happened to you and Princess Luna, but seeing you two like this is another thing entirely."

Circumstances aside, the sight of her mentor brought a smile and sense of relief back to the young alicorn. "Princess Celestia, I still can't believe you're here."

The alicorn's steady trot broke into a run. She ran into Celestia's chest, who reflexively wrapped her wing around her as Twilight began to weep. The princess was stunned as, for years, a version of this same mare had been tormenting her and her sister, and now the former princess was embracing her as if she was her child. 

Yet, for whatever reason that she couldn’t hope to explain, it felt right, as though it was always meant to be. 

Celestia cradled the still weeping mare, still reeling from all that had happened. "It's all right Twilight. You're safe."

"Y…you have no idea how long I’ve needed to hear that," Twilight whispered as she got ahold of herself and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Listen, we have a lot to discuss. But we should go to my hut and talk things over there."

The interaction was interrupted by Shining Armor, who’d approached them and found himself staring in surprise at the Element of Magic. "You really are Twilight?"

Wiping away a few tears, Twilight opted to settle any remaining confusion. "Well, not your Twilight, but seeing my BBBF is still doing well is nice."

Shining almost felt his heart clench at the mention of the nickname his Twilight used to call him. "Yeah…it's nice to see you as well.”

There was an awkward pause for a moment as Shining wasn’t sure what to say, before shifting back to his more professional demeanor. “We'll get started setting up a perimeter. The last thing we need is Princess Trixie or Evil Twilight giving us a surprise.” With a quick salute, he led several of the guard ponies to get to work, while the rest headed further into the forest towards Zecora’s makeshift village. 

Those ponies that didn’t follow Shining almost immediately collapsed once inside the village, the creatures quickly offering them fresh fruit and water, which they all happily took. Twilight herself took a moment to relax as well, looking upon the scene before her. 

"Well, I'm glad everypony is here and…Rarity?"

The sight of the maid clad mare made Twilight do a double take, while Spike’s expression turned love struck. 

"Yes, darling? May I help you," the mare asked as she curtseyed in her maid uniform. 

Opting to ignore her attire, Twilight simply decided to get the obvious out of the way. “I’m guessing this is the first time we’ve met, or rather Evil Twilight and you?”

"You would be correct I’m afraid. Despite your other’s reputation, I wasn’t even aware of her until I heard Princess Trixie rant about you and wished you to be demoted to her court jester."

Huh, even in this alternate reality, Trixie still hated her. Guess some things just never changed. 

"What about me!?" Spike asked rather desperately, still eyeing the rather fetching outfit the alabaster mare wore.

For whatever reason, Rarity found herself smiling fondly at the small dragon, "Oh, sorry darling, I don't know you either. In fact, I don't think I’ve ever met a dragon before."

Spike groaned, "Rats!"

"I see…" Twilight sighed, seeing things had gotten a bit more complicated. “ Alright, well, you may not know me, but in my world, you’re one of my closest friends and probably one of the best fashion ponies in Equestria.”

A hint of light appeared in Rarity’s eyes at the mention of fashion, but they quickly dulled back to their usual look. "I see. Starlight told me this, too. I’d like to believe it’s all true, but I’m still skeptical for the moment"

"Well, even that's a start, and yes, we are telling the truth. But we can discuss that later, right now I need everypony’s attention.”

"Of course, please continue," Rarity responded as she performed another cutesy before wandering off.

Moving to the front of the village, Twilight used her magic to pull out a chalkboard and a quick tap of it got everypony’s attention. "All right everypony. Now I know me being here must be confusing since most of you know me as an evil magician named Twilight. First, let me be clear that's not me..though to keep things simple I will refer to her as Evil Twilight or ET while I'm good Twilight or GT."

Everypony nodded their heads as Twilight continued, "Good! Now to clear up any further confusion, I’m a Twilight from an alternate timeline, one where things occurred very differently to here.”

A quick flick of the chalk, several lines were drawn across the board. "This is the timeline I came from where I met my friends here in Ponyville, then we went to the Grand Galloping Gala, defeated Discord, saved my brother's wedding from Queen Chrysalis, saved the Crystal Empire from Sombra, then followed by me becoming a princess. Now after an incident involving a Time Spell, history was altered that led to events occurring that allowed Discord to take over all of Equestria unopposed.

Twilight drew a line back to when they defeated Discord, "In my timeline my friends and I used the Elements of Harmony to defeat him. However, as Rarity just pointed out, my friends and I never met in this timeline, thus once Discord was free, nopony could stop him.”

“I thought the Elements were just a myth or just hunks of rock?” One of the guards commented, reflecting the mindset of many from Twilight’s time prior to the defeat of Nightmare Moon.

Rather than have Twilight explain it, Celestia opted to lend some credibility to the claim. “The Elements of Harmony are real and were how my sister and I defeated Discord before. However, they only work if the users possess the essential qualities found within said elements.”

“Wait, if the Elements are so powerful and you’ve used them before, why haven’t you tried using them now?”

”When I was forced to seal my sister  away into the moon, we lost the ability to wield them and I was forced to hide them away. Since then, I’ve been searching for those who could use them before Nightmare Moon returned. Sadly, I failed" The former monarch felt her head slowly grow heavy under the gaze of her subjects. "I failed to save my sister and thus set the chain of events that led to Discord's return."

"Princess, it's ok; you're not the one to blame," Twilight replied, saddened to see her mentor look so defeated "Besides, we still have a chance to make things right.”

Turning back to the board, she returned her chalk to another point on the line. “Moving back to my timeline,  a few weeks after I became a princess, we lost the Elements of Harmony, returning them to the Tree of Harmony to save the princesses from some evil vines Discord sewed in the ground over a thousand years ago. Then about three months later, not long after we held the Equestria Games ...."

She then circled a big dot a week after that., "Tirek returns."

Like Starlight, the name earned looks of confusion, curiosity and disinterest from the crowd, though Celestia and Luna looked horrified at the idea.

“Tirek?”

“He escaped?”

"Yes, he managed to break free from Tartarus and  almost destroyed Equestria. Ironically enough, our Discord helped us defeat him…though he did team up with him for a while."

“Hmph, seems your world’s Discord is about as trustworthy as ours.” Luna glowered, likely wishing she could take a shot at the other Spirit of Chaos.

"Now, from what I can calculate, it's been a year since Discord won. So I would say…" she then circled around the time she became a princess. "I would say we are around here, so we have time to defeat Discord and save Equestria and hopefully find a way to meld our timelines and make it as if none of this happened, but the only way we can do that is if we can unite ET with the other wielders of the Elements of Harmony."

Celestia gulped and asked, "Twilight can't you make friends with them? Wouldn't that still work?"

Twilight shook her head no "I don't believe so; it took a considerable amount of effort just to get him to behave and it was only after Tirek’s betrayal that he finally acknowledged us as true friends. Uniting the other Element Wielders is our only option.”

Starlight however didn’t look convinced, practically stomping up to the stage. “You do realize that all your so-called friends have never met you or simply recognize you as an evil dictator right? Plus we have no guarantee this universe's Elements would work with you in place of our world’s Twilight.”

"Well, we have to try, but we can save her for last now; we should focus on the others," Twilight explained. She flipped the board and there was a map of Equestria with Canterlot named "Capital of Chaos" then below that Trixievill, Cloudesdale with a ? the south with "beware fire breathing chickens" and the "Desert of Sadness" and near the east side of the map read "Enchanted Forest" and northeast near the ocean was "Toy City" each area had a circle with ET in Capitol of Chaos, R in Trixieville PP in the desert of sorrow FS in the enchanted forest RD in Cloudesdale and AJ in Toy Town.

Twilight came to the R in Trixieville and crossed a line through it. "While Starlight and Zecora hatched a plan to rescue Princess Celestia and Luna, I searched for my former friends. Now with Rarity, that leaves five others. But like we said, ET will be the last."

Celestia pointed at Cloudesdale, "Why is there a question mark there."

"Well, the truth is I can't get in. A giant golden fence surrounds the city, and the pegasi guarding it barred me from going inside. There's some powerful magic around it as the clouds are impenetrable; you can't fly through them or even blast through them. Besides that, I traveled around for a bit, looking for any sign of my friends.”

Her hoof quickly zeroed in on Toy Town

“From what I gathered my friend Applejack is in what is or was Manehattan and as of right now, she’s a literal porcelain doll. The only way I can even speak to her is by getting invited to some kind of tea party, which I’m still working on.” Her hoof quickly shifted places on the map. “In the south, everything has been converted to giant temples and pyramids. From what I can tell, the ponies there worship another of my friends, Pinkie Pie, as a goddess, and she has enslaved them to build these structures.

"Some friends, huh?" Starlight grumbled.

Twilight glared at her as if she wanted to say something but continued, "Well, for now, the closest one is nearby." She pointed at the Enchanted Forest not far from where they were. "I found that Fluttershy has been turned into a bear living in a cave not far from here. I tried to get her out, but she's rather aggressive." Twilight pointed to a leaf wrapped around her right foreleg while shuddering at the memory. 

"So what's the plan?" Starlight asked scanning over the map, "Do we have any idea how to get these crazy friends of yours to actually become friends?”

Twilight almost looked ready to snap at the former cult leader, this whole debacle was her fault after all. “It’s a work in progress. Besides we managed to get Rarity here didn’t we?”

“Well…yeah…”

"See, that's a start. I heard she was Princess Trixie's most loyal servant, yet she's here and clearly is going against her. If we can get her to fight back, then getting her and the others to become friends and save Equestria should at least be doable."

"Well, yes, but how do we do that?"

Twilight turned her attention back to the board and continued her lecture "Well, first, we should get the Elements of Harmony at the Castle of The Two Sisters here," She pointed at a drawing of a fairy tale castle. "Thanks to Discord’s magic, these aren’t ruins any more, but This some kind of enchanted castle, and I'm going to need help navigating through it, then we can head over to Fluttershy."

She then pointed at a cave not far from the castle. "After we get Fluttershy to come with us, I say we go to Manehattan and go to this "tea party" and convince Applejack to come with us; then I suggest Princess Celestia and Luna fly to Cloudesdale and get Rainbow Dash."

Twilight then lowered her stick to the south and said, "However, the hardest will be Pinkie Pie. Everything south of Ponyville is a massive desert filled with crazy fire-breathing chickens that probably used to be dragons and giant statues of Pinkie Pie trotting about. But there are a few places we can take refuge if need be, one being Las Pegasus, which is now a giant walled play zone for kids Not sure what's going on there as you can’t enter unless you’re eight. However, in Appleloosa everypony has been turned into cows, luckily, they're all pretty nice there, and the milk is great. So if need be we can stop there for shelter."

Another tap on the map pointed directly to the former capital of Equestria. "Once we gather my former friends, we should all return to the Capital of Chaos, take on Evil Twilight, and convince her to change her ways. If we can do that, we can find Discord, seal him back in stone, and then I'm sure I'll be able to go back in time and ensure that this never happens!"

Everypony seemed unsure, but Princess Celestia got up and clapped her hooves together. "Quite impressive Twilight. Despite the circumstances, it seems you’ve managed to craft a fairly well put together plan in such a short space of time.”

Luna also seemed to be impressed, eyeing the rather organized map "I see why in your timeline, my sister praises you so well."

Twilight practically preened under the praise, only to be jolted when Zecora saw fit to use her head as a makeshift podium. "Well, it seems we have a plan before we take our leave. Does anyone have anything to add to this scheme?" 

Everypony was quiet, none even attempting to offer a counterpoint or argument, something Twilight was more than happy with. "Excellent! I agree with Zecora; let's get some rest. I bet all of us are going to need it."

They all started to break off, with Twilight and Spike going to their makeshift bed of hay and leaves. Meanwhile, Sunburst and Starlight were escorted to a hut nearby. 

As Princess Celestia and her sister trotted through the small village, she saw that Big Mac and Rarity were sharing a hut. It was an adorable scene with the maid brushing the stallion's mane as he snored.

Celestia and Luna trotted through the enchanted meadow with fireflies dancing in the night and the star above shining bright. This was the most peaceful night she had ever seen before Discord's reign.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Luna asked, eyes happily tracing across the midnight sky.

"Yes, it is; remember how the Everfree Forest was before Discord's magic corrupted it?"

"Yes, this is quite close to the forest we knew as foals. But despite its beauty, it's tainted with Chaos Magic."

Princess Celestia’s mind drifted back to the unfortunate ponies who’d been turned into a bunny and fairy just to get to this location. In someways the woods were even more dangerous than before. Even so…

"I don’t think this is Discord's Chaos Magic at work. He mainly focused his attention on Canterlot. Everything else in the world is altered due to the unpredictable state of  his magic, which now permeates the essence of the world.Everything can be altered in ways we can't imagine."

They eventually reached a small brook that gushed water over sparkling rocks. It was quite pretty, even if it was infused with Chaos Magic. Luna then gently raised her head to Celestia's ear and whispered, "Want to sleep here under the stars?"

Celestia nuzzled her sister as she replied, "I wouldn't mind that at all."

The two lay together, their wings covering each other for warmth, the only sound being crickets chirping and the brook gushing water over rocks and stones. With the light of lightning bugs lighting the grass and the cool breeze wafting through them, the two princesses felt something they haven't felt in a long time, peace.
> Chapter Seven: Princess Trials
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following morning, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna were escorted across the enchanted woods by Zecora, the little skunk scampering eagerly through the forest. 

The trip proved relatively short as the trio quickly appeared before a distant palace. 

The skunk held a paw and said, "This is where the two sisters fought and brought despair." 

The alicorns both gaped in awe at the magnitude of the building, looking much richer and more elegant than how it was even back in its hay day. However, the strangest part was the tower jutting up through the forest's center. None of those present could see the logic behind said choice.

Regardless, the two sisters looked up in awe, seeming to be completely amazed by the majesty of the new castle that was once a ruin. On some level, looking up at their former home with its renewed glory was almost nostalgic. Yet, there was another new addition they couldn't help but notice. Near the castle, a sparkling river could be found with the feeling of magic wafting from the waters. 

A sign overhead read.  "Only the Two Sisters may enter and create a pact within these waters." 

"So this is why we're needed?" Luna whispered as she stared into the river, which seemed to shimmer and sparkle almost unnaturally.

"There's more to this than we think. "Celestia remembered this forest's various effects on other ponies. "To press forward, we must endure whatever effect these waters will  have on us."

Twilight lit her horn as she scanned the magic around the forest. "It seems so. The magic itself seems a bit different from the rest of the forest. It's chaotic,…but it doesn't feel as potent."

Another faint shimmer from the waves did little to ease the confidence of those present. 

Celestia and Luna both gave each other hesitant looks, having already witnessed the many random effects simply touching the water in this forest could have. It was effectively a roll of the dice and could be anything. 

Yet, given the situation, they had few other options. 

"I suppose we could go on three?" Luna asked, only half seriously, while Celestia was trying to keep her confidence.

"Better to just jump in now, rip the bandage off," Celestia muttered, knowing the longer they dragged this out, the less nerve they'd have to do it. 

With barely a breath or another word, the two princesses charged and leaped into the rushing waves.

The effects were immediate. 

The two alicorns barely breached the river's surface before seeing their wings and horns disappearing. Then their manes and tails changed, now tied up to look like some old fashion hairstyle, along with their tails being knotted and the duo now clad in magical gowns. Celestia's clown suit became a bright yellow dress, while Luna had a gorgeous violet gown appear over her.

The white-coated alicorn spun around in her new outfit, seeing the end of the dress somehow missing the water's edge as if it was designed not to get wet. 

Celestia sighed, seeing her outfit. "Can't say I was ever much for formal wear, and look at my mane?" The Princess's hoof attempted to untangle the beehive her hair had been turned into, seemingly unbothered by her lack of wings.

Luna looked down at her reflection, and she couldn't help but burst into laughter. "It is certainly a bit different from our usual look. Though, I dare say we look more like princesses than we have in the past."

Princess Celestia looked down at her reflection, seeing her mane tied up, the dress, and a cute little sparkling gold tiara on her head. "I suppose it does make us look more regal…but it's still  over the top if you ask me."

Luna was willing to concede that point but shifted her attention to the forest ahead, Celestia following suit.

With a quick look and nod, the pair slowly trotted forward, hopefully, ready for whatever they might encounter. 







It took a few hours as they continued to look across the sky, now blocked by branches and tree leaves. The oath seemed straightforward, but they appeared to trot around in circles; worse, they didn't have wings, so they couldn't fly above the canopy or use their horns to move the branches. Add on their dresses and stylized manes getting caught on every other tree; it made an otherwise casual stroll into an exercise in patience. 

Princess Luna was the first to break a little, tugging her mane free from the eighth branch in the last five minutes" Ugh, it would appear we underestimated this challenge. Forcing us to wear such restricting attire in such an environment was far more devious than we thought."

Celestia turned to her sister and tried to reassure her. "Indeed, though there's little we can do about it now… we just need to keep going. As long as we press forward, we'll reach the castle. Besides, at least we aren't dressed as clowns anymore."

Looking back at her dress, Luna groaned, "I suppose you're right, sister; I can't imagine trying to ride a unicycle through this forest." Her eyes stared onward, looking at the seemingly never-ending brush before them. "Though, is pressing ahead really all we can do? Are we even certain we're heading in the right direction?"

Her sister didn't know how to respond as she felt stuck with the same question. It wasn't as though they could keep going on indefinitely. 

As if to answer, the foliage around them began to shake with life before countless animals emerged from the woods. Unlike back at the makeshift town, these critters seemed more compelled by curiosity than instinct or aggression. 

Luna blinked as if she seemed to remember something, bent her head down to the creature's level, held out a hoof, and whispered, "Hey, it's ok. No pony is going to hurt you."

The rabbits and other animals came hurrying over, chipmunks and squirrels scampered onto her dress, and some baby deer came out to kiss and nuzzle her. An owl even nestled into her mane, making the former Princess giggle., "Oh my! I certainly didn't expect this!"

Celestia couldn't help but smile, only to let out a squeak when some squirrels ran up her dress, then gasped as a fox leaped onto her back. She was somewhat surprised by their behavior. Outside of Fluttershy, animals were usually less friendly. 

"I suspect Discord's magic might be at work again. It seems it's not just the plants and water we need to worry about?"

Luna didn't seem to agree, happily petting a small possum she held like a foal while the owl perched in her mane. "Sister, I believe, even for our current situation, that seems a little too far-fetched, don't you think?"

The Princess of the Moon seemed to light up momentarily as she mused over something. "Say, perhaps we could give singing a try?"

"Why would we do that?" Celestia now wondered if perhaps the magic was affecting Luna for proposing such a random idea. 

Luna gave a baby deer nearby a pat on the head as she explained, "A long time ago when we were fillies, there was a fairy tale about how princesses could sing to animals when others were lost in the woods, which helped them guide them to their castle. Do you remember it?"

Celestia paused as she reminisced for a bit; for some reason, she could recall that storybook, though the exact details were a bit hazy. "Now that you mention it, I do remember…do you think maybe we left it in our old library, and the Chaos Magic that has afflicted this forest has used it to make the Everfree Forest into something similar to the story."

"It's certainly no less likely than anything else we've seen Discord do with his magic," Luna mused as she quietly petted the deer. "And if that is the case, then it's likely we're the Princesses from the tale, hence our change in attire."

The alicorn princess sighed long and said, "We have been trotting for hours; this may be our best course of action."

The former Princess of the Sun cleared her throat and then started to hum a tune. Soon the animals began to dance around the alicorns. The two were then pushed forward down the path. The two were then slowly escorted, trotting down a path, and they eventually came to the edge of the woods. 

Princess Luna felt a proud smirk appear on her face, satisfaction dripping from her expression., "I told you I was right."

Celestia's cheeks flushed pink as Luna started to hum alongside her, and they continued to trot through the woods together, both looking somewhat embarrassed regarding their situation. 







It wasn't long until they came to the edge of the forest, where the animals suddenly dispersed, and the two were now staring at a massive hedge maze. The hedges towered over them, having to be over a hundred feet, with massive vines curling through the foliage and red and pink roses blooming. 

"Well, this doesn't seem too bad?" Luna replied.

Celestia looked up, straining her neck so her eyes could see the top of the hedge. "Yes, just a hedge maze…hopefully."

Entering with some slight trepidation, the two princesses began to trot through the maze. 

Barely a few yards in vines started to grow out from the hedges. Celestia eyed them and then quickly jumped out of the way as a vine tried to tangle them. Luna skipped over them, doing her best to avoid the fast-growing weeds., "I don't remember this in this story!?"

"Just run!"

The two continued to speed through the mass of vines dodging and weaving through anything that attempted to trap them. Then out of nowhere, a giant hedge grew between the two.

Celestia looked up at the wall of  foliage now separating her from her sister." Luna!"

"Celestia!"

The former Princess of the Sun sighed. "Thank goodness, can you stand?"

"So long as no more vines show up, then yes. It would appear we'll need to keep moving separately from her sister."

Celestia wished she'd had her horn to burn through the wall but sighed, knowing that wasn't an option. "Very well, but if you are in trouble, scream as loud as possible, and I'll come running no matter what comes."

"Ok, now hurry, the vines are still coming!"

Celestia looked behind her and saw a mass of vine-like tentacles sprouting. The alicorn had no choice but to keep moving forward if she didn't want to be caught. 

She galloped through the hedge maze with one last glance at where her sister was.

The trek proved more challenging as the walls of vines continued to chase her like a horde of snakes. Yet after what felt like an hour of running, she finally found the end of the labyrinth and was greeted by a castle, not unlike the one a child would find in one of their storybooks. The sight relieved her, and she almost dropped to give her aching legs a break. However, to her horror, she found  Luna, who'd also seemingly escaped the maze, had somehow been tangled up within the mass of withering vines slowly wrapping around her.

"Sister, help!" 

Celestia didn't hesitate for a second as she galloped back into the maze and took hold of her sister's hoof, pulling with all her might." Let my sister go!"

With a hard yank, Celestia managed to tear Luna away from the vine's grasp, and the two collapsed, the remaining vines retreating into the maze. 

Both princesses took several seconds to catch their breath, thankful to finally be free from the maze, before finally looking up at the castle.

After her experience with the vines, Luna looked utterly drained, her dress ripped and covered in mud, while her previously tied mane was haphazardly hanging all around. "Please, let that be the last of these agonizing challenges."

They were both out of breath as they went through the front entrance. Celestia took a few breaths and said, "Hopefully, that's the end of the trials."

Luna sadly didn't look optimistic about their chances. "Knowing our luck, I doubt, at this point, all we can do is hope for the best and, if all else fails, bulldoze our way through."

The two sisters looked worn out and breathless, but the two pressed forward toward the castle doors.






The two sisters slowly entered the castle and were now in a massive ballroom. The floor was made of marble tiles, with a chandelier hanging overhead, illuminating the room with hundreds of candles. However, the two suddenly gasped at each other as the floor broke out. 

The tiles shifted and moved about until they formed a rather random-looking pattern that led up to another room above them.

"Sister, it's been a few thousand years, so my memory is a bit hazy. Was this in the story?" Luna asked, eyeing the room cautiously. 

"No, Luna, there was not." Celestia looked equally unnerved, already sensing something foul likely awaited them. "And unfortunately, I'm unsure what our next action is. The story isn't much help if the magic isn't following it."

Luna attempted to find a solution, scanning the room for some hint as to what they needed. She attempted to look back in her memories of the story for some hint. Anything that could be helpful.

"Hmmm, sister, I might have an idea.

"What is it?"

"This might sound odd, but we may have to dance."

Luna didn't even bat an eye at the look of disbelief on her sister's face. "Look around, sister; this is a ballroom of some kind, and typically, in fairy tales, large dances were held in ballrooms. Thus, it stands to reason we need to dance if we are to advance."

It sounded wild, but it wasn't like they were operating based on standard logic, and her sister's hunch about singing to the animals got them out of the forest. And it wasn't an exceptionally demanding or demeaning request. 

So she started to wave her hips and, getting close to her sister, began dancing with Luna, stepping onto the tiles spaced across the void. The pair moved across the room with effortless ease, years of etiquette training finally coming into play, as the room seemed to shift again, stairs reforming as they quickly ascended, without breaking their stride until they'd finally reached the top.







The room was small, with a few cupboards filled with porcelain, and in the middle was a simple tea table with two cups of still-simmering tea sitting on a platter.  

Celestia trotted over and saw a little note near the table. "Drink this tea and wait until noon?" To her surprise, she looked up to see a clock with both arrows pointing at eleven. They would have to sit here and drink tea for an hour to progress. 

"Finally, an easy challenge!" Luna sighed as she plopped onto her seat and seemed to relax as she began to sip a cup, only for Celestia's magic to stop her.

"Sister, I believe we've long established there's no such thing as an easy challenge in this situation." Between the long trek through the woods in restrictive clothing to the murderous maze, expecting things to be simple now was a luxury they couldn't afford.  

Under normal circumstances, Luna would have agreed with her sister. Still, several hours of running and fighting had worn away at her patience as she ripped the cup away. "Sister, you sound paranoid. Surely a sip or two couldn't hurt?"

Celestia couldn't get a word in before Luna took a long slurp from the cup, letting out a content sigh as she finished. "Ah….I needed that more than I imagined. And see sister, nothing bad happened."

The Princess still waited with bated breath for something to happen. A trap to spring, something catching on fire or shapeshifting…anything. Yet after more than two minutes of painful silence, nothing changed. 

Drained beyond measure, Celestia finally plopped down and sighed in defeat. "Seems I might've been wrong for once…and I need this." Celestia brought over one of the cups and finally took a drink, enjoying the warm liquid going down her throat and warming her sore body.

Luna took a seat next to her sister, enjoying the moment. "These trials have weighed heavily on us, Celestia. Tis the first time I've truly felt my age."

"Believe me; I know, Luna." Celestia sat beside her sister and wrapped a hoof around her shoulder. "Sadly, we can't relax until this world is put right…then maybe we can enjoy a nice long vacation."

Though that brought a brief smile, it still left the pair silent, save for the ticking clock and little else to do. 

"Celestia tell me something…why couldn't you find anypony to take the Elements of Harmony?"

"Hmm," Celestia asked.

Luna looked her sister square in the eye, almost accusatory. "I understand things were difficult, shouldering my responsibilities as well as your own, yet in all that time, you were unable to find anypony worthy to wield the elements?"

Celestia didn't even act surprised at the question, having anticipated it for some time." Believe me, Luna; I tried; centuries I spent searching so we'd be ready. Unfortunately, it was not up to me; the Elements chose their wielder, not vice versa."

"Hmm, a convenient excuse," Luna muttered, not accepting such an idea, and Celestia quickly picked up the hint.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry, the mystical elements older than even the two of us happen to have their minds. Need I remind you, sister, we didn't create them?" Celestia's tone snapped back, Luna narrowing her eyes in response.

"All I'm saying, Celestia, is it certainly sounds like a helpful way to shield yourself from legit criticism over your most crucial responsibility in a thousand years." 

"Oh, you want to talk about criticism? You're the one who attacked me in the first place. If you felt you weren't getting enough attention, you should've spoken to me instead of throwing a destructive temper tantrum.

"TANTRUM!" Luna practically exploded angrily, her royal voice shaking the room without damaging the cups on the table. "I served this country faithfully as one of its protectors, yet none of my efforts were appreciated. I had more than cause to be angry."

"And in doing so, you acted in a way that ultimately left our kingdom with one less ruler and rendered the Elements useless," Celestia responded with equal fire, staring down her angry sister as before. "I am sorry that you felt neglected; I truly mean that, but how you responded was foolish, and I would hope 1000 years on the Moon would've taught you that."

Luna didn't offer a retort yet glared at her sister. 

"You abandoned me! And forgot about me!"

"Don't you dare blame your turning into Nightmare Moon on me!"

"Maybe I am! Maybe if you would have treated me like a sister, we wouldn't be like this!"

Celestia was searing in rage; she stomped off and was about to leave the room. But she stopped rather suddenly, then slowly turned to the note and the tea sitting on the table and whispered, "Luna…the…the tea…."

"Yeah, what about it?" Luna had since turned her back to her sister, refusing to meet her in the eye. 

“The challenge…this tea… I think it's influencing us to be…."

"Honest and mean?"

Celestia almost growled at her sister but shook it off. "No…not honesty, this isn't honesty. We're just being vile to each other."

Luna seemed to be at least considering what was said, finally looking at her sister again before a glance at the tea caused her eyes to widen in realization. "All these years we've been bottling up these thoughts for so long, I guess this tea just let them all out at once."

Part of Luna wanted to hurl the teacup at the nearest wall but settled for simply pouring it on the floor. "I am sorry about what I said, sister. It's just…with everything that's happened, it's hard not to want to point hooves at somepony." 

"Believe me, Luna, I understand. Hopefully, this will be the last challenge we have to face."

The former Princess of the night laid herself into her sister. "Yes, though I suppose this did help us sort through our issues a little. Though next time we should hire a therapist…I think we both need one at this point."

Celestia couldn't help but smile and hug her sister close, and they waited until the doors opened up, and the two princesses trotted through the doors. 






The two now found themselves slowly trotting up a massive flight of stairs, which seemed to be leading them up to the central tower they'd seen previously. The pair continued to ascend until finally reaching another room, only to find this room lacked any window or door, meaning their progress was once again halted.

Luna groaned as she threw her hooves in the air. "UGH, this is infuriating. How many more ridiculous tasks must we endure before this is over."

Celestia wasn't as sure, looking around the room for some exit but finding none. "Calm down, Luna; this is simply another test we need to complete. And every test has a solution of some kind; we just need to figure out what it is."."

Luna sighed as she plopped down on one of the stairs and asked, "So this is like an escape room?"

"Seems the case. Meaning, we'll have to search every inch of this room if we want to find an exit."

Celestia started pulling books from their shelves, dashing objects about, moving pictures, and looking over porcelain statues. But nothing seemed to work. 

After over an hour, the pair plopped together on a nearby bed, Luna practically slamming her head against the pillow. "What if this wasn't a test but a trap? Maybe we weren't worthy and are now trapped here for eternity."

"Don't give up, sister; I'm sure there's a way out of this."

Luna barely lifted her head, looking almost wholly defeated at this point. 

"How, we tore the room apart, and there are no keys, no locks, and the books are useless drives., This is just a tower. It doesn't even have a bathroom."

That seemingly random observation finally caused something to click for Celestia. "Luna, do you remember this room from the storybook?"

Luna rolled her eyes. "I think the Princess got locked in a tower and had to wait a hundred years for a prince to rescue her. And sadly, we don't have any princes coming for us."

"That's not necessarily what I meant, sister," Celestia spoke As she looked at a nearby wall, noticing there was a window they'd somehow missed in their efforts. "What if we jumped?" 

Luna shot up almost immediately." Without our wings or horns!? Are you crazy!?"

"Perhaps, but at this point, I believe it might be our only option." Celestia walked towards the window and peered out, looking down below. "As it is, we don't have many other options. Perhaps the final task is a matter of trust, both in ourselves and that the Elements wouldn't lead us astray."

Luna wanted to say it was insane, but after looking around at the ruined room, they were clearly out of options. So, hesitantly, she walked over and took her sister's hoof.

"This is crazy; you know that, right?"

Celestia only chuckled as the two approached the window and peered down at the grass below. The former Princess of the night looked scared. "Are you sure?"

Celestia nuzzled her and whispered, "I'm sure, trust me, it's not going to be like the story. We'll rescue each other as we always have."

Luna held onto her sister regardless and closed her eyes. Celestia then gave a deep breath as she pulled Luna and jumped towards the ground. The two suddenly fell, their dresses billowing around them as they headed toward the ground. 







Two pairs of eyes rapidly blinked as the two suddenly woke up and saw that they were back in the middle of a room and turned to see six familiar-looking jewels. 

"It worked…." Luna almost refused to believe it, half expecting the Elements to blow away like a cloud of smoke. Yet Celestia could pick up one, the Element of Magic, which remained.

"Yes, Luna, we finally found them." Celestia smiled more considerably than she had in a long time, tears leaking from her eyes as she looked upon what would finally be their salvation. Luna was equally emotional, hugging her sister happily so they'd succeeded at least. 

The pair spent several minutes standing, just soaking in their success before tearing off a piece of their dresses and using them as a makeshift bag before finally returning the way they came. Surprisingly this proved much easier as the hedge maze parted for them, and it almost seemed like the trees of the forest pulled themselves back, all to ensure as smooth a journey as possible.

What had previously taken several hours of almost backbreaking labor only took the two former monarchs a single hour before they finally returned to the village, with an awestruck Twilight there to greet them. 

"Y… you found them!?"

Both princesses nodded happily, holding up the bag with the Elements in tow; however, before they could celebrate, they noticed something resting near Twilight. 

It was a glass bottle filled with sparkling water and a letter nearby. 

"For any enchanted by the forest, drink this."

Celestia gasped as she lifted the bottle to her face, "So this water will return ponies to normal?"

"Hopefully, let's find out," Luna spoke, eagerly drinking the contents. 

The results were quick, as it wasn't long until a horn and a pair of wings grew out, and she flew to the river to look at her reflection. "Oh, my Faust! My horn and wings are back! Oh, how I've missed this."

Seeing things were safe, Celestia drank the water and waited. It wasn't long until she felt her horn resprout upon her head and her wings growing back. The sight of them and a quick flex brought a sense of relief to the Princess. "Oh, thank Faust, finally."

Luna looked over herself in the river and saw her wings and horn were back, and they were both back in their previous clown attire. Still, clowns or noti, the former princesses were relieved to have their missing appendages back and started throwing confetti in the air. 

Meanwhile, Twilight slowly trotted over, transfixed by the six jewels that now lay on the ground. The violet alicorn picked them up, practically squealing at seeing them. "I can't believe you found them!?"

Celestia turned towards her and hugged her close to her chest. "We did! And not just that…" She hugged her sister, "I feel like we made a huge step closer to getting things back to normal!"

Luna nuzzled her sister and said, "I'm glad we're together and alive."

Twilight stood between the two other alicorns rather awkwardly while completely enveloped in Celestia and Luna's soft coats.

The moment they lasted for about a minute before they finally split up and shifted focus to more pressing matters.

Twilight carefully picked up the vial of disenchanting water. "Now we just need to figure out how to use this. There isn't enough to give to every pony in this forest."

Twilight's eyes then drifted over to the river Luna and Celestia had previously entered, and a thought entered her head. Trotting over, she poured a small amount of the water into the river, which caused it to shimmer more brightly than before, only dying down after a moment, with the water now shining a different color.

Cautiously, Twilight dipped her hoof into the water before pulling it out again. As expected, her hoof was unchanged. Twilight quickly retrieved another vial to fill up before splashing some water on another transformed pony, restoring him to normal.

"Looks like mixing the disenchantment water ended up purifying it and creating more. Now we can cure everypony in the forest." 

Filling up another vial, Twilight turned their attention back to the princesses. "Now that we've got the elements and this water, there's still something else we need to take care of back at the village. 







The three alicorns trekked through the enchanted forest and eventually came across a  massive cave. There they could hear something snoring loudly from within. Zecora pointed a paw toward the source of the noise. "This is the ally named Fluttershy?"

"Pony? A pony can snore like that?" Luna whispered.

Twilight nodded and explained, "She's not a pony now. As I said before, my friend was transformed into a bear. I've tried to coax her out of the cave and convince her of who she was…but nothing's worked."

Recalling the disenchantment water, Celestia trotted towards the cave. A twig snapped under her hoof before they heard a low growl. 

A massive yellow bear came forward with glaring green eyes. She roared and charged at Celestia, who stood her ground. With quick and practiced ease, Celestia lifted the water bottle, and a quick flick splashed some of it into the beast's face.

The former monarch blinked as the giant; angry bear shrank to a meek-looking, yellow-coated pegasus. "Wh..what happened? Where am I?"

Twilight ran over and exclaimed, "Fluttershy!"

A look of panic and anger returned to the pegasus, who immediately shoved Twilight away and retreated closer to the cave. "Get back!"

While remembering the situation, Twilight took a small step forward to try and get through to her friend. "Fluttershy, listen..y…you were enchanted and turned into a bear. We turned you back to normal."

Fluttershy eyed her, "Or maybe you turned me into one and have come to rescue me so that I would feel grateful to you?"

Luna decided to take a step in and offer a second voice. "She speaks the truth, dear Fluttershy. We are merely here to help you."

The pegasus rolled her eyes and then scoffed, "The only pony I trust is myself; you can't rely on anypony to save you."

She returned to her cave, but Luna held up a hoof, "Fluttershy."

The pegasus turned around, and upon getting a better look at Luna, she got into a defensive stance. "Nightmare Moon!?" she turned to Twilight and exclaimed, "You sold me out to Nightmare Moon!"

"What, no!? Of course not!"

Luna took a few more steps forward and tried her hoof again at diplomacy." I was Nightmare Moon, but I am no longer Princess Luna. Like you, I was once alone, scared, afraid, and distrustful of everypony."

"Yeah and? Why would I trust you? After everything in Equestria, why should I listen to anything you say?"

"Because I'm here to give you a choice. If you sulk in this cave and try to hide from everypony, you'll be like the bear you once were. Alone and angry." Luna stepped closer and offered a hoove to Fluttershy. "Please, at least give us a chance to earn your trust before you cast us aside."

Fluttershy eyed them, mentally weighing her options now that she could think again." I'll come with you, but we're not friends!" She trotted along, watching them as they followed through the woods. 

As the larger group continued onward, Celestia noticed Twilight seemed quite downtrodden. The reunion didn't go as planned.

Twilight didn't answer at first, still eying Fluttershy from behind, only able to sigh at sight." I should've expected this, but it still hurts."

"I understand," Celestia whispered. "But I'm sure you can be friends if you get her to open up."

"Hopefully, it still hurts seeing her like this."

The white-coated alicorn could only offer her pupil a kind nuzzle in response. "I'm sure one day she will return to how you remember her; just be patient."

Twilight sighed, looking up at Celestia, and said, "Thanks, you're right; for now, we should go find anypony who's been enchanted and have them drink some of this water."

"Of course, and then we'll find your other friend. Applejack is next, right?"

"Right…" Twilight picked up a vial of the enchanted river water and said, "I believe I have a plan to get you into her tea party."
> Chapter Eight: A House made of Plastic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was early in the morning, with the sun's rays just starting to shine through the stained glass windows of Trixie's grand hall. The former magician-turned-alicorn was sitting atop her throne, drowning her anger with a bottle of wine. She didn't even bother getting a glass, chugging it down recklessly.

While it was hardly a dignified look, she didn't care; it wasn't like she had many subjects to judge her. 

Trixie's grand castle was empty, most of her soldiers and servants having abandoned her during the escape by seemingly another Twilight Sparkle and the former princesses. Their success had emboldened others to flee, and with virtually no true loyalty from her subjects, she hadn't the horsepower to bring them back. 

In less than a day, Trixie was utterly alone and forced to care for herself, which proved a lost cause, being unable to cook for herself or even keep her home clean. Thus, she'd settled for cleaning out her wine cellar, though only after being forced to contact her hated rival for help with the current situation.

The very thought of allying with her oldest rival only caused her to angrily drink even further, growling despite the burning alcohol in her throat. This quickly halted when the bottle's contents were drained, prompting her to toss the empty bottle against the wall and levitate over a new one. 

She was just in the process of uncorking it when hoovesteps caused her gaze to shift to the entrance of her hall. Even in an inebriated state, she could make out a familiar purple shape, which caused her eyes to narrow.

"Good Morning, Trixie." Twilight greeted formally while taking her top hat off. 

"Twilight, I was beginning to worry you wouldn't make it! And it's Princess Trixie," Trixie snapped as she sat up on her throne, putting the wine bottle beside her chair. 

At the mention of her title, Twilight merely chuckled. "Oh yes, please forgive my manners Princess." 

Trixie's anger rose, causing the bottle she was trying to open to crack, though she paid it little mind. 

Twilight teleported towards her and then replied with a smirk. "So, I heard you had the former princesses right in your hooves and let them escape."

"Yes, no thanks to your brother. Not only did he stab me in the back, but he also took most of my soldiers with him!" Tririxe shouted, pointing her horn at her. "Perhaps I should be torturing your parents; they probably helped him with his coup."

Surprisingly, despite the threat against her family, Twilight didn't react, barely looking bothered by the idea. 

"While I'm sure that would likely prove useful, I can't allow you to lay a hoof on either of them," Twilight replied with a sigh with a bored expression on her face as she looked around the empty room and then asked, "So, outside of mulling over your own failure, why did you call me here?"

Still glaring at her enemy, Trixie tossed the still-floating bottle behind her as she approached. "Because we need to talk about our next plan of action and discuss the elephant in the room."

"And that will be?"

"Discord hasn't been seen in over a month."

"And?"

The casual indifference in Twilight's tone caused Trixie's blood to boil as she got right into her rival's face. "Aren't you supposed to be smart!? We both know Discord, and we've seen how bored he's been getting lately. Obviously, he doesn't care what happens to Equestria and has gone to entertain himself somewhere else."

That did seem to merit a slight reaction from Twilight, a single raise of the eyebrow in little interest. 

"The thought had crossed my mind. But what exactly are you proposing?"

Trixie, levitating another bottle and uncorking it, poured her a glass of wine and levitated it to her. "It's simple: we betray Discord and split Equestria."

Twilight blinked before almost immediately snapping. "Are you crazy? And what do we do if Disord returns? We can't possibly hope to stop him."

Trixie surprisingly remained calm, taking a sip from the bottle. "If Discord returns, you'll cling to him like a security blanket, and he'll pass the whole thing off as a bad joke; he probably doesn't even remember I exist." 

Taking another moment to take another long swing from the bottle, she continued. "Let's be completely honest; Discord doesn't care about us or this kingdom; we're just toys for his amusement. He only keeps us around because we suck up to him. We're so beneath his notice he likely won't even care if he does return, assuming he's not busy tormenting the thousands of other creatures on this poor, doomed continent."

Twilight looked to argue, mulled over what Trixie had said, and took her sip from her glass. "That's a pretty logical look at things; I'm impressed. But let's say we betray him and take over Equestria. What exactly do we do then?"

"We fix Equestria, of course?! I'm not saying we make it how it was before. I have my tastes, after all, as do you. But with our prowess in Chaos Magic, you could finally get rid of that ridiculous circus and turn Canterlott into whatever you want. Then we go on to every other part of Equestria and fix things or improve whatever Discord's magic changed."

Overall, it sounded like an enticing plan, reasonably well thought out, and theoretically, it could work. 

Yet, rather than consider it or even hint at consideration, Twilight laughed with a twisted smile. "Sorry to disappoint you, Trixie, but I'm one step ahead of you."

She whistled, and two massive dragons strolled into the grand hall, covered in black scales with white underbellies, and strangely were wearing bow ties. With a smirk, they both came right up behind Twilight.  

"I've been dabbling with my powers over the years, secretly turning ponies into all kinds of magical creatures. I knew one-day Discord would also abandon Equestria, and I have been preparing an army to take full control of the kingdom. Sorry for keeping that act up for so long."

Upon hearing what Twilight said, Trixie gulped and started to feel sweat coming down her brow. "I see…"

The mare yawned as she poured the remaining wine onto the rug. "So, since we're clear on the power dynamic before I leave, I'm assuming you had one more proposal to make?"

"Yes," Trixie squeaked as she tried to regain some modicum of goodwill with her rival. "We need to take down the rebels hiding in the Everfree Forest."

That at least piqued Twilight's interest. "I heard those rumors, so that's where my brother and the other traitors are hiding?"

"Yes, along with, I assume, anypony that Discord's Chaos Magic hasn't influenced. It's also a safe bet that's where the missing princesses are hiding." Trixie, still eying the dragons wearily. "However, to ensure they never threaten our rule, we must ensure their capture. Once we start dismantling Discord's magic, they will try to assert dominance."

"I'm already on it; we'll have them before the week is through." With a quick flash of magic, the mare then produced a more elaborate-looking bottle of wine, which she happily poured for herself. "Let's toast then; we work together to restore Equestria and capture the princesses. After we take down these rebels, we can discuss how we'll cut up our dominion."

"I'm glad you agree," Trixie muttered with a false smile while internally seething at being outplayed again. The pair tapped their glasses and drank before Twilight turned and headed for the exit,  massive dragons lumbering behind her, causing the entire castle to shake as they left. 

When they were gone, Trixie, with a distraught look, collapsed onto her throne, slammed a hoof over her face, and whispered to herself, "I need to build an army fast! If I can't, Twilight will destroy me for sure!"







Meanwhile, the princesses and their Twilight traveled across the Everfree Forest, doing their best to avoid anything especially unwelcoming or potentially hostile, particularly the ponds with the transformation water.

Miraculously, they made it out of the forest without any hiccups compared to before and finally reached the edge of the woods. However, there, they came to a train station that looked much like one built for a toy with a road made of plastic and a full-sized toy train awaiting a toy stallion with a uniform. 

Much like the station, train, and tracks, the stallion looked just as plastic as the rest, with a rather creepy painted-on smile. The group jumped in fright when he lifted one of his arms rather suddenly, and a robotic-sounding voice came out of him.

 "If you're heading to The Big Toy Box, please get on board."  

The three mares were more than a little suspicious of the train; it was more Chaos Magic. Regardless, they took the bull by the horns, slowly trotted onto the train, and sat across from each other in cramped, plastic seats.

"Well, barring anything else happening, this train should take us to Manehatten," Twilight stated as she tried to adjust her position to gain some level of comfort.

"Ok, but what should we expect to find there?" Luna felt even more on edge, not helped by her larger body, leaving her with less room to move.

Before any answer was given, the train started to move and chug, though with considerably less noise due to its lighter and less metallic frame. It certainly made Twilight's following sentence easier to hear. 

"The entire city looks like a massive foal's toy room, and most ponies there have been turned into life-sized but otherwise harmless dolls. But the plan we need to follow is us finding Applejack."

While that earned a round of nods from those present, Celestia couldn't help but look a little embarrassed. "And, I'm sorry, Twilight, who is Applejack again?

"She's an orange-coated earth pony. In my world, she was an apple farmer in Ponyville. She typically had a more rustic attitude, but in this timeline, she acts more like Rarity."

The two blinked, "You mean like a maid?"

"No, my Rarity, she used to be a fashionista and a drama queen but…you know, a bit stuck up and sort of snobbish."

"Oh, so, like your average citizen of Canterlot?" Luna answered, a lightbulb seemingly appearing over her head. Celestia looked a little less than amused.

"Now, sister, I agree Canterlot's citizens could use a lesson or two in humility, but they aren't all that bad."

"Anyway." Twilight raised her voice slightly to get things back in focus. "I took that transformation water from the Everfree Forest due to a crucial detail. You see, Applejack regularly holds a tea party every day but only invites dolls…the idea is you can temporarily reassume the forms you took in the forest to hopefully get an invite, then convince her to come with us."

It was a sketchy plan. Still, the alicorns nodded in agreement as the train continued, the pair quickly catching sight of the city or the toy replica version it had become. The buildings were now massive stacks of wooden blocks on top of each other; the streets from afar seemed to have this plastic sheen with everything made of plastic. The Statue of Harmony herself, holding the torch over her head, was now a giant toy made of plastic bricks of some sort, which was now surrounded by the water, which now had white suds bubbling over the surface and smelled quite nice. A quick glance at some large rubber ducks floating in the water made it clear it was supposed to be bath water.

Chaos Magic really was as random as one could expect.

They eventually made it to the station, where, as they got off, only to were quickly surrounded, in a sense, by various ponies, now transformed into dolls. Curiously enough, all of them were engaged in some form of play. They were either kicking balls down the street, some playing hopscotch, or jumping rope. Despite their odd world, the ponies all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"Sister, I'm very disturbed by this. I'm sure I once entered a nightmare like this." Luna shivered slightly at the many painted faces of the various dolls, with Celestia offering a calming pat with her wing. 

"Before we continue…we need you two to put on your disguises," Twilight spoke up, levitating over two bottles of water.

The two alicorns gave annoyed sighs as they drank some of the enchanted water, and soon, their wings and horns disappeared. Rapidly, their manes and tails started to change, now tied up to resemble an older hairstyle, with their tails being knotted and the duo now clad in magical gowns. Celestia's clown suit became a bright yellow dress, while Luna had a gorgeous violet gown appear over her.

Twilight quickly joined them, downing some of the enchanted water herself, and the two others watched as her wings and horns disappeared; a beautiful blue dress appeared with frills at the edge of the skirt, and a tiara was plopped on her head. 

"Hmm, somepony is a little more comfortable with this transformation than us." Luna eyed Twilight, who flinched a little under her gaze.

"Well, I disguised myself to get in here a couple of times in the past. It helped that everypony just assumed I was the evil version of me and never looked much into it."

Celestia quickly nudged her sister to cease with the question whilst eyeing the large toybox city before them. "Twilight, given your time in this city, is there anything important you feel we should know before we enter?"

"Mostly, we should keep your identities a secret. Even with how crazy everything is, we can't afford to trust anypony right now. Anyone of them could easily try to sell us out to Discord or my evil doppelganger."

"Right, we can think up some names," Celestia chirped. She then nuzzled her sister, who looked more annoyed. "Hopefully, this is the last time we have to turn into fairy tale princesses."

The three mares slowly trotted through the city, Celestia and Luna finding themselves gawking at the massive dollhouse-style buildings and various ponies in equally loud and brightly colored dresses. Eventually, they approached a particularly large building with a red roof, yellow walls, and a large apple on its face. At the front, two large doll ponies awaited them.

Hesitantly, Celestia stepped forward. "Hello, is this where Applejack is hosting her tea party?"

One of the doll's heads turned with a crack towards her.  "Yes, and who are you two?" 

The two both gave each other unsure glances before introducing themselves.

Celestia bowed and said, "I am Princess Sunny Sky! Or Princess Sunny, if you prefer!"

 "Oh, that's a very pretty name."  The doll spoke eerie, chipperly before turning its head to Luna.  "And what's your name, little pony?" 

The former princess of the night sighed. "I'm her sister, Princess Night Sky."

 "Night Sky and Sunny Sky, what delightfully sweet-sounding names! I'll go to see if Applejack has room for two more guests!"  The Doll turned about to enter, only for its head to turn 180 degrees around to look at Twilight.  "And what about your friend?" 

The two turned to Twilight, who gave a pre-rehearsed laugh. "Oh, I'm Princess Sparkle, and I sadly have a previous engagement. That is…. I'm due for a dress-up party with my friend Bon Bon."

"Oh, well, that's a shame that you have to miss the party." The doll shrugged and then trotted into the mansion. Celestia felt herself breathing with relief before eying Twilight. "Are you sure about this? Wouldn't it be better to have you with us inside?"

"I should stay outside and keep guard if anything happens; just let me know when you contact Applejack and find a way to be alone with her. Hopefully, you and Luna can get her to come with us."

Listening in on the conversation, Princess Luna whispered, "We're taking quite a gamble here, Twilight. Are you so certain we can pull this off?"

"We don't have much of a choice…like I said, I'm not entirely sure if this Applejack will cooperate, so keep your cards close to your chest until you think it's alright to reveal who you really are to her."

The two princesses agreed silently, and then the doll returned from within the mansion.  "Princess Sunny Sky and Night Sky, please come inside; your invitation to Applejack's tea party has been granted." 

The two mares slowly trotted through the doll house's front entrance into the Applejack mansion. 







The former princesses were quietly escorted through the mansion, which was, fittingly enough, decorated like a doll house with bright orange wallpaper, little pink apples, and a bright yellow rug leading throughout the dollhouse. Cute plastic furniture decorated the place, with various pictures of an orange-coated earth pony wearing various dresses and posing. 

Eventually, they were led to a massive room where other dolls, like stallions and mares, all wearing gaudy outfits, were sitting around a giant circular table covered in an orange tablecloth with red apples printed on it, covered with dozens of empty cups and plates. The entire scene was somewhat awkward as the dolls were all drinking from them as if they had liquid inside. Some dolls didn't have mouths and silently nodded along to various conversations. 

At the back of the table was Applejack, an orange-coated mare with a blonde mane, but her body was like the guards, being glass-like and shiny. Her body was clad in a frilly yellow dress, and a sun hat with a massive green emerald shaped like an apple sat around her neck. 

To the princesses, the scene was a mixture of horrifying and somewhat embarrassing, as both knew all too well what they would have to do. 

The tension quickly rose as Applejack's eyes finally met their own. "So we have two newcomers? Welcome to my tea party. Please introduce yourselves."

The two sisters gulped as they secretly wondered who would say something first, only for Luna not so subtly to push her sister forward. "Hello, I am Princess Sunny Sky."

Her sister followed suit, rising up and bowed. "And I am Princess Night Sky."

Everypony at the table flashed them smiles and whispered underneath their breaths, and Applejack gasped, "Princesses! Oh my! I had no idea I would be having royalty today!?"

She then clapped her hooves as two porcelain dolls came up behind them and poured the two cups of actual tea. Applejack lifted her cup and exclaimed, "Let's give our new guests a toast!"

They all held their plastic tea cups and placed them to their lips. Despite their own trepidation, Celestia and Luna did as well; despite the embarrassing nature of the scene being a tea party with a bunch of sentient dolls, it was as if they stumbled into a little filly's dream. 

Then again, it was still a lot better than how they were treated back in Canterlot. 

With the opening setting, Applejack settled into her chair with her many subjects following suit, Celestiand Luna included. "Now I have to ask, what brings you to my tea party?"

Celestia was uncertain about what to say, knowing this was a bit of a minefield to enter. Still, seeing that they had to pretend their mindless ponies, she flashed a practiced smile and said, "Oh, we just wish to see you, Applejack; we heard so much about your famous tea parties that my sister and I had to come to see them!"

"Yes, we traveled all the way from Trixieville to join this tea party," Luna added, trying to keep her eyes away from the many blank faces staring at them.

Many ponies gasped around the table as Applejack eyed them. "I see, Trixieville, you say?"

Celestia slightly nodded, then said, "Yes, we are from Trixieville…we escaped as we heard how much better Manehattan was."

Applejack's expression didn't change, though Celestia could sense some kind of change in her demeanor. "Well, that's rather flattering of you to say… however, I am afraid you will have to leave. You see, The Big Toy Box doesn't have any food, and you would starve if you stayed here."

Both Princesses quickly eyed each other, mentally trying to devise a way to keep the conversation going.

Luna then turned to face Applejack and gulped, "Yes, we knew that; in fact, we also came to ask if…we can become dolls ourselves?"

Celestia's eyes widened, surprised by Luna's response, while the plastic farm mare smirked. "Well, I didn't think you would ask."

Princess Celestia then felt her body stiff, as did Luna's, as they seemed unable to move as their flesh started to look plastic and gave off a sheen.

"Don't be scared; I promise it's totally painless, and once it's done, you won't have to worry about being hungry, getting old, or needing to go to the bathroom ever again. Isn't that just wonderful?"

All the dolls clapped in reverence towards Applejack as the two princesses quickly completed their second transformation of the day.

It wasn't long until the two sisters groaned, and they doubled over. Celestia felt her entire body turning from flesh into plastic, her mane and tail turning into fabric. She then looked over at Applejack, wanting nothing more than to send her flying for turning her into a plastic doll. But she regained her composure and, with a smile, replied, "Thank you, we look amazing."

"Of course, now that you're dolls, why don't we have a private discussion?" Applejack clapped her hooves as she rose, and every other doll did the same. Celestia and Luna rose up as well. "I apologize for cutting my tea party short, but there are some important matters I need to discuss with the newcomers. We will meet up tomorrow around the same time."

"Yes, Applejack!" many dolls exclaimed; they all clattered and clanged as they trotted off. Applejack smoothed out her dress and then turned her attention to the newly created dolls. "Now come along. I don't have all day."

The two mares followed Applejack, and Celestia squeaked, feeling the weight of her former body gone, leaving her stumbling due to the sudden lightness. Also, her movements were much stiffer, taking more effort to ensure she was balanced. Luna similarly struggled as they followed the mare through the mansion to her room.

It was as gaudy and plastic-like as the rest of the house. The only real difference was there was a massive canopy bed, and sitting above was a portrait of Applejack with a few other ponies, an elderly earth pony mare, a massive red-coated stallion who was holding an adorable little yellow-coated baby filly. 

Once the doors shut, Applejack immediately faced them, her face managing to show a great deal of annoyance compared to before. "Alright, now start talking. Who exactly are you really? And don't bother lying further; I knew you were deceiving me the moment you entered."

Both sisters felt their hearts stop momentarily, not expecting to be found out so quickly. Still, it wasn't like they were in a position to do anything else at this point. 

"Very well, my name is Celestia. And this is my younger sister Luna."

Applejack's eyes went wide, "I knew it, though I see you don't have your wings and horns. Likely some spell to get inside." She then regained her composure. "However, I have to ask why would you come here? Is it just so you can stay in Manehattan and play as dolls?"

The former princess of the sun shook her head. She hoped deep down Twilight's trust in Applejack would pay off. "We want you to come with us, and we need you to help us defeatDiscord."

Applejack's eyes again widened before she burst out in uproarious laughter. "Oh, me taking down Discord!? I don't think you've been paying attention; I'm a literal doll at this point. Part of the reason I never leave is because I'd crack under the slightest pressure."

Luna opted to switch in for her sister. "I understand, but we found a special water that can reverse the curses of the Chaos Magic here. We can turn you back to normal ponies."

Applejack held up a hoof and said, "Hold on now, why would I want that? I have everything I want and more! I was the Diva of Manehattan, and even now, I have more power and influence than ever! Why would I ever want to give that up?"

"Are you serious!? You're a bunch of toys playing tea party; don't you want your normal lives back!?" Luna shouted, stomping her hoof or attempting to with her limited mobility. "If we take down Discord, we can change things to how they were! Return Equestria to the peaceful land it once was."

The porcelain doll crossed the room and said, "You're assuming that everypony was happy with their lives before everything changed. But you two are even more stupid for coming here than I realized."

The two alicorns paused as they tried to move, but Luna gasped as she felt her body seeming unable to move. Celestia herself tried to get near her sister, only to find herself just as immobile. The princess gritted her teeth and tried to say something, but her face started to feel stiff, and her lips pressed together.

"That tea I gave you before was created from the waters of the river you crossed over. It can turn ponies into dolls, but I'm afraid it also makes you motionless. Pity." 

The doors to the room opened, and two porcelain dolls brought in two massive boxes. The two were picked up and forced into a standup position as twist ties went around their limbs and strapped them, then a plastic see-through cover was placed over them. 

Applejack then strode over them with a smile, "Good, now you two just stay put. I need to make a call."





As she walked away, Applejack couldn't help but feel a bit awful; she didn't want to harm the former princesses of Equestria; in fact, she was pretty happy they came to see her. But the truth is things have changed, and she had to do whatever it took to keep Manehattan from Discord and his minions. 

Strengthened her resolve, she trotted across her room towards a glowing orb, tapping it and watching it glow with the image of Trixie appearing. The usually prideful alicorn was currently in the midst of downing another bottle of wine while lying flat across her bed. 

Applejack almost looked at the mare with a hint of disgust and pity before tapping it again. "Uh, Trixie?"

The mare cried in shock, practically gagging on the wine she'd been drinking before finally noticing her viewer, "Oh, Applejack didn't expect to see you."

"Yes, well…uh, just wanted to let you know I have the former princesses with me."

Immediately, the mare's eyes lit up, and she excitedly squealed. "Excellent! Now things are heating up as Twilight, and I just made a pact."

Applejack's eyes went wide. "Wait, you and Twilight made peace!? What about Discord!?"

"What about him? We all know he hasn't been around for a month! Besides, we have the best claim and the power to take over. But I can't trust Twilight. She'll probably backstab me the first chance she gets."

Applejack regretted calling the former magician, simply wanting to resolve this and keep her head down. Now, it seemed she'd stumbled into a coup. 

"So, uh, what are you going to be doing in the meantime?"

Trixie sighed, coming down off her prior high. "I…I actually need you to sit tight. First, I need to recruit ponies from here and Manehattan to create an army."

"An army!? You promised that Manehattan would remain neutral as long as we don't align with Twilight!"

"I'm sorry, but I have to break that promise." Despite appearances, Trixie did seem genuine in her regret. "Twilight is creating an army herself. I fear she'll crush me if I don't make my own."

Applejack paused, then asked, "You promised you'll turn me back to a pony when you arrive."

"Of course,"

"And my family? Are they ok?"

"They'll be safe."

"Does that include Big Macintosh? I heard he left with Shining Armor."

Trixie sighed annoyedly, "Yes, even Big Macintosh; even though he betrayed me, we still have a deal, and unlike Twilight, I always honor my agreements."

Applejack glared at Trixie, then snapped, "You better make good on that deal; if I hear that you did anything to my family, I-"

"You'll do what!? Remember that I still possess Chaos Magic while you're just an easily breakable doll. You'd do well to remember that dear Applejack." 

Applejack paused; knowing her place and position, she grumbled, "Fine."

"You better keep the former princesses secure; if I hear you let them escape, I can't promise your family's safety."

Applejack slammed the ball back onto the plastic table and angrily cried out. She was seething, knowing Trixie was strong-arming her, and worse, she didn't know if Big Mac or anypony from her old farm was safe. 

The mare looked out with the sun setting over the toy city and wondered if she was making the right decision. The mare collapsed onto her bed, which was also made of plastic, and just lay there missing, being able to feel or sense the world around her; outside of sight and sound, she couldn't smell, taste, or touch anything. 

Despite her grandstanding and attitude, the mare just wanted to return to normal and, if it indeed were possible, would've happily accepted the former princess's offer. Yet, that was not to be; thus, she would play Trixie's game for now.






Later that evening, Twilight was trotting back and forth outside the mansion as the moon rose. She knew that the princesses should have come back by now. Granted, she'd contemplated the possibility of things going wrong. Still, given Applejack's more haughty attitude, she assumed the worst would be her kicking them out ...unless she was working with evil Twilight or Trixie. 

She quickly slammed a hoof to her face. "How can I be so stupid!? I just got the princesses captured!"

Now, with few options, she, using her magic to levitate, snuck into the mansion through one of the open windows and carefully trotted through the estate; to her surprise, the place was primarily empty outside of the gaudy furniture. 

Walking further inward, Twilight eventually came to Applejack's room and found the princesses in the boxes of all things. She used magic to open the plastic see-through openings and remove the twisted ties around their bodies without missing a beat. Quickly, she pulled out the enchanted water and sprinkled it on top of them both, and then slowly, the two transformed back to their flesh and blood bodies once more, the pair looking positively relieved. 

Luna rubbed her red rubber nose with a hoof and grumbled, "Thank you, Twilight; I apologize this plan didn't work out as well as I hoped."

Twilight shook her head as she was ashamed and said, "No, this is my fault. I should've expected that Applejack was working with Trixie or Evil Twilight. So who was she working for?"

"Trixie." The two sisters grumbled in unison.

Luna turned to Twilight, "I'm sorry about your friend, but I believe it might be best to leave and cut our losses."

"No, we can't leave; look, this Applejack isn't the one I knew, but deep down, I know we can convince her to help us. We have to try something."

"But how can we convince her? Whatever leverage Trixie has against Applejack was clearly enough to sway her. She'll never agree unless we somehow figure out what it is and deal with it. We should get out of her before we alert her guards."

Twilight looked utterly downtrodden at the idea but agreed nonetheless. "I guess you're right, but how can we get out of here?"

Celestia turned to the packaging they were trapped in a few minutes ago and smirked, "I have an idea."






The following day, Applejack found herself tied up in a box; upon realizing she was strapped in a box, she kicked and cried, but her glass-like body made it difficult to really do anything to escape. She then spotted the two clown princesses who were smiling at her as Trixie had before 

"Release me at once!"

Princess Celestia hopped over and said, "Not until you answer some questions."

"Fine! Ask away, but I'm not telling you anything."

The shift in personality was quite drastic. It reminded The princess of how Fluttershy and Rarity acted, seeing their lives were horrible even before everything went to hell. Applejack's life must not be as glamorous as she was letting on.

"How about we learn about you first? Tell me what happened in your former life?" Celestia's tone shifted, becoming more soft and compassionate, akin to how she'd addressed her subjects before Discord's reign. 

Applejack futilely struggled again for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Well, I used to live in Ponyville, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay on my family's farm for the rest of my life. So I moved to Manehattan and stayed with my aunt and uncle. Now, I had to admit I wasn't thrilled with my life and, at one point, looking for a sign to see if I should stay. That sign never came, so I stayed and lived my life here. I went to parties and learned to be sophisticated, talking to Equestria's rich and powerful ponies. Still, no matter what I did, I never received my cutie mark and remained nothing more than a rich bachelorette. Then this Chaos Magic changed everything, turning me into this porcelain doll and my mansion a doll house. And now, thanks to that, everypony wants to come and attend my tea parties; I'm the most popular pony in Manehattan. It ain't perfect, but it's not terrible either."

Luna, however, needed to look more convinced. "Because it sounds like you were never happy and clinging to a false version of yourself? If you had a chance to return to your farm in time, would you?"

Applejack looked down and growled, "Maybe…"

Celestia sighed, "My sister and I have a fairly good idea of what's happening. Trixie, she's holding your family hostage, isn't she?"

"Yeah, and if you don't stay here, she will turn them into slaves!" Applejack screamed, almost lurching forward in desperation. "If you cared about me, you'd release me and remain here without any issue."

Both Celestia and Luna looked at the desperate plea with sympathy. "I apologize, but she cannot capture us. If we do, I fear we'll be used as hostages to keep the citizens of Equestria from rebelling while she continues to control them. She may even turn us over to Twilight to be tortured."

Luna shivered at the thought and whispered, "I would rather die than go back to that."

Their answer caused the porcelain Applejack to shake, her face seemingly shifting as she cried. "Don't you two get it! If I don't turn you over, that'll happen to me and my family too! How can yah expect me to choose between mah Family and Ya'lll?"

Applejack blinked momentarily and blushed, releasing in her distress that she'd briefly fallen back into her original accent. 

There was a long, somber pause as the three thought over what to say next. Luna then looked up and asked, "Have you ever wondered why you never received your cutie mark?"

"No, and I don't see how that's relevant?"

Celestia looked up, catching onto what her sister said, then continued. "Applejack, listen, Discord has somehow distorted our world's timeline, maybe even altered how things should have been for you. That's why your life has been nothing but misery, and your cutie mark never appeared. This is our chance to change things and save our world. If you help us defeat Discord, I promise we will ensure your family is safe forever."

"How do you expect us to defeat Discord?! How do we even match his power!?"

Luna smirked. "That's funny you should ask, but I think you might be one who can help us defeat him."

"Me How!? Before, I was just a snobbish Earth Pony, and now I'm just a porcelain doll! What could I possibly do!?"

Celestia eyed a door nearby and used her magic to pull it open, revealing Twilight to Applejack, whose painted eyes widened. 

"Don't be alarmed, Applejack. This isn't the Twilight you're familiar with; rather, she's a Twilight from an alternate timeline, one she says is free of tyranny and where everypony, you included, lives in peace."

"Sounds like a load of horse crap to me!" Her harsh tone and language caused Twilight to wince while Luna opted to keep talking. "Even I was skeptical, but she and this Starlight Glimmer she came with seem to be telling the truth; something went wrong, and our timeline has been altered. And it seems you're one of the six who can wield the Elements of Harmony and restore Equestria to how it was."

"Besides, you can't trust this, Trixie," Celestia spoke, eyes narrowing at the mention of the magician. "She's desperate to cling to her power, and with Discord seeming to have abandoned Equestria, Evil Twilight is likely taking steps to usurp Trixie and will likely not think twice about harming you or your family."

Applejack was still hesitant, but she looked up, "Ok, you two made valid points…before we continue, can you untie me? I promise I won't run."

They did as she asked and took her out of the box as Applejack continued, "Listen, there's another reason why I decided to work for Trixie: she promised us to keep Manehattan neutral. We may be toys, but it's much better than what I heard the poor folks living in Canterlot are dealing with, not to mention the rest of Equestria."

Celestia and Luna both couldn't help but agree with her silently with slight nods. 

Applejack looked down and growled, "You two made your proposition, but I want to put your word where your mouth is. Can you really change us back to normal?"

"I thought you would never ask," Twilight then came forward, and Applejack glared at her, taking a step back. "I still don't trust you; for all I know, you're just the same old spiteful Twilight as always."?"

"No wa-"

Before Celestia could say anything, Twilight took a spray bottle and gave her a few squirts. They watched as her glass-like body turned into warm flesh, growing heavier and dense, and she started to breathe and felt the air in her lungs; she could feel the plastic beneath her hooves. 

"Oh, my Faust!? It worked! You turned me back into a pony again!"

"Yes, and like they said, I'm a different Twilight from another timeline, and we need you to come with us." 

Applejack blinked, being somewhat surprised, but shrugged. "Alright, seeing you're not trying to torture Celestia or shatter me for working for Trixie, I'm assuming you're telling the truth."

She turned to the two princesses, "Now, I can't leave just yet; if Trixie finds out, there's no telling what she'll do. I need to trick her into thinking I still have you captured…I can't leave until she's defeated to ensure the safety of Manehattan and my family."

"Sadly, I'm afraid we don't have the numbers to defeat Trixie as we are," Celestia muttered, annoyed at yet another roadblock.

"Well, how much of that disenchantment water do you have?"

Twilight raised the flask and said, "It doesn't seem like a lot, but it seems always to refill so that it could be infinite.

Applejack trotted back and forth, then she sighed, "OK, well, I have a plan to save the ponies of Manehattan and stop Trixie…but I'm gonna need the pegasi from Cloudesdale."

Twilight replied, "Wait!? But how will we get to them!? And what is your plan!"

Applejack turned to Twilight. "Come now, ain't it obvious? That water you have seems to negate the effects of Chaos Magic. If we can get that water on Trixie, she'll turn back into a showboating, mostly powerless unicorn. But the problem is she's going to have her defenses up. So we'll need the pegasi of Cloudesdale to rain that water down on Manehattan, along with Ponyville, just to be safe. Heck, you might even be able to use that to defeat Evil Twilight as well. But you need to go now; Trixie's gonna be here any minute."

The trio looked ready to panic, with Luna already looking for the window Twilight used to enter with Celestia following, while Twilight stayed behind for a minute to speak with her friend.

"We can't just leave you here; the second she sees you aren't a doll anymore, she'll know something is up."

Applejack, showing a bit of her former stubborn pride, stomped up to Twilight and started pushing her in the direction of the princesses. "Let me worry about that; if you and the princesses get caught, we're all done for."

Twilight planted her hooves firmly and used her magic to pull Applejack back. "I can't just abandon you like this. I'll stay with you to help keep Trixie distracted. With any luck, I can convince her I'm the Evil Twilight to help explain why you're not a doll anymore."

As she mentioned her plan, Celestia entered again, only to find the flask floating in front of her face, with Twilight looking at her. 

"I have no idea what to expect in Cloudesdale, but from now on, you two will focus on getting the pegasi to rain this water on everything, then find Rainbow Dash. We'll stall Trixie."

Celestia looked ready to protest but knew there was little time to do so and relented. "Alright, Twilight, this might be the only plan we have. We'll return here once we get the pegasi to rain this disenchanting water on Equestria."

Luna popped in after her sister, nodding in agreement. "I…I do not completely agree with leaving you two to deal with Trixie, but seeing her arrogance, I doubt you'll have little trouble stalling her."

The three hugged each other one last time, and then the two sisters unfurled their wings and flew out the window; the two were now flying over the city of toys with the sun just breaking over them. Celestia looked back and, with a sad smile, said, "This is it; no more time to waste."

"Yes, it seems so, but the next time we return, this city will be like it was before Discord's Chaos Magic changed it."

"I hope that is the case, sister; I hope once we leave Cloudesdale, most of Equestria will be like how it was…"