Princess Twilight has been captured by an evil duchess and her friends come to the rescue. But what is the real truth?
Princess Twilight has been captured by an evil duchess and her friends come to the rescue. But what is the real truth?
This is a direct continuation of Twiggled, with the first chapter written by someone who only read the final chapter.
An exquisite corpse is a form of collaborative art where each participant only knows about part of the whole work, and must complete their part with limited context. In this case, each writer only had access to the previous chapter, resulting in the story getting confused, yet still moving forward undeterred. The exception is me having full context when helping out the others.
Looking at things objectively, Bubble Manor was every bit as opulent as the royal palace back in Canterlot. The furnishings were elaborately carved out of aged mahogany, with soft down cushions covered with silk imported from Kirea. The parlor that Her Royal Highness Twilight Sparkle found herself in was richly decorated, with a beautiful grandfather clock against one wall and a massive painting of the Duchess herself standing over the mantle. Really, if she ignored the finer detail, she could easily imagine herself back at home in the palace.
… If only she could ignore the feeling of the cold steel magical limiter placed on her neck, the distant view of royal guards clustered outside of the gates, and the tall stranger in a poncho stationed at the door to make sure she couldn’t leave. And most of all, she couldn’t get Rarity, the girl she’d seen just an hour before, out of her head. Her smile, her face, her smashing in the head of a House Manehattan thug trying to kidnap Twilight with a pipe. Her… honestly particularly impressive use of the magical instruments that said thugs had been wielding.
Her look of shock as a gunshot hit her in the gut and she crumpled to the ground.
Twilight sighed and shook her head, turning away from the window and taking a seat on a couch. There was no point dwelling on Rarity's fate; her situation was dire enough as it was. Duchess Muffins had her right where she wanted her, and given the hesitation from the royal guards she could see outside, the dastardly duchess clearly had some sort of scheme already in the works. She had to do something to stop it, but to do so she'd need to get out of here.
Getting out involved getting past her guard, the tall man in a poncho who’d shot Rarity and taken her here in the first place. He was sitting in a high backed chair next to the door, wide brimmed hat covering most of his face; it almost looked like he was sleeping. She stood up and tried to get closer as quietly as possible; if she was lucky, maybe he’d have some sort of key for the magical restrainer she was wearing.
“Don't try it.” Before she had even made it within arm’s reach, his head tilted up and he gave her a cool look. He had a deep baritone voice and a thick accent that fell on every word. "I don't wanna hurt you, Miss, but I got my orders."
Twilight sighed, taking a step back. “Am I really so transparent?”
He sized her up, taking his time choosing words. “I got a sister ‘bout your age. She gets that same look in her eye when she thinks she’s pullin’ one over on me.”
Twilight frowned. “Oh.”
He gave her a smirk and pulled his hat over his eyes. “Now if I were you, I’d have a seat. Duchess Muffins is gonna be in shortly.”
Twilight nodded distractedly, her mind racing. Duchess Muffins was coming here?! To talk to her? That… completely changed things. She gave an idle nod. “Thank you, Mister…”
Outside of Bubble Manor was a mess of activity; it seemed like every single royal guard in the city was outside of it. Rarity sat in a nearby café, doing her best to keep her patience; it was a virtue after all. However, the constantly tapping finger and the fact that her tea was completely untouched gave away the lie. Fortunately for her, the other person at the table was more than enough energy for both of them. Pinkie was going at a very large parfait with gusto.
“What on earth is taking so long…?” Rarity asked idly, her annoyance clear in her voice. “I hope nothing happened to them…”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Sunset’s voice was wry and full of amusement as she came through the door. Rainbow Dash followed behind her, looking a little more disheveled than usual, and they both sat down at the table.
Rarity flushed slightly out of embarrassment. “Well, you can hardly blame me for being concerned,” she said. “What’s it look like?”
“Well, they’re not letting anyone near,” Rainbow said.
“That much is obvious, darling.”
“Hey!! Do you want to do the report or should I?!” Once Rarity rolled her eyes, she continued. “The guards are stretched real thin. Only a few people on the servant’s entrance. Pretty sure we can take em, easy.”
“You sure you want to do this?” Sunset interjected, looking Rarity in the eyes. “If we do this, there’s no going back.”
Rarity took a deep breath. “If I don’t, I won’t be able to forgive myself. Sitwee– no, Princess Twilight– needs us.”
“Yeah!!” Pinkie said, interrupting with a smile. “Besides, we all saw the goo-goo eyes you two were making~”
Rarity flushed. “Regardless, we should get going.” She stood up and led the way out into the dingy Manehattan streets.
The route was fairly straightforward, if a tad less glamorous than Rarity would have liked; after a brief stop to pick up the magical instruments they had stowed in Sunset’s apartment nearby, then down several alleyways. Rarity cringed and clutched her keytar closer as Rainbow Dash pushed her forward anyway.
Eventually, Sunset put up an arm, stopping them. The iron-wrought gate was almost boring, in its way; completely innocuous, were it not for the fact that the courtyard behind it was the most opulent manor in Manehattan. Unlike the massive crowd of guards at the front, this one only had two guards; they were dressed in casual outfits, but their bearing was anything but.
"Okay, so what's the plan?" Rarity said, turning to Sunset.
"Plan? This whole thing was your idea," she shot back.
"Darling, please, I'm a dressmaker. You don't expect me to know how to sneak by guards."
"Ooh ooh!" Pinkie said, raising her hand. "Maybe if we bring them cupcakes they'll let us by!!"
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, you can't solve every problem with baked goods."
"You never know~"
Rarity sighed; this was going nowhere. "Well unless someone ha—"
She was interrupted by the loud twang of an electric guitar. She turned back towards the gate to see Rainbow Dash standing over the unconscious bodies of the guards, her electric guitar in hand still glowing lightly with magic.
Rarity knitted her brow. "So much for subtlety…" she muttered.
"What?" Rainbow said. "It's not like you three had any ideas!!"
"Fine, fine," Rarity said. "Let's get going, shall we?"
She led the way towards the gate, but before she, Pinkie, Sunset and Dash could get inside, they was stopped by a short barked command. "Stop right there."
Rarity froze, her body going stiff. This was surely it; the gig was up. She was going to prison, never to see her dear Sitwee again. Slowly, she turned around to face the guard that had caught her.
There were only two of them; a woman in a royal guard uniform and another whose hands crackled with magical energy. To her surprise, she'd seen them before. "You two were there when Twilight was kidnapped!!"
The redhead paused, then get face hardened, and she gripped her weapon tighter. "And last I saw you, you'd been shot."
Rarity smirked at her. “You’ll find I’m full of surprises.” When Redhead didn’t flinch, she blanched. “Can’t I just say ‘I got better’ and we can get on with our lives?” Beat. “Alright, fine. Sunset here rescued me. Isn’t that right, darling?”
“Would it really be too much to say it was magic, Rares?” Sunset complained, before unslinging her guitar. “We took these off of Muffins’ minions that were knocked out; this one healed Rarity. You, uh… just saw what Rainbow Dash’s guitar does.”
“Wait.” the girl with swirly hair’s hands stopped lighting, and she stepped in front of Redhead. “... You can do that too? I thought it was just sparkle-eyes over here.”
“The name is Rarity, thank you very much,” she interrupted. “And yes. They can. Before you so rudely interrupted us, we were going to use them to rescue your princess. Something your guards seem woefully unequipped to do, if the milling about is any indication.”
Redhead sighed, and lowered her weapon. “It seems I owe you an apology, then.” She offered a hand. “Strawberry Sunrise, Captain of the royal guard. And this is Starlight Glimmer, Agent of the Crown.” she offered a hand, and when Rarity took it, she shook it. “Our hands are tied right now, that much is true. But that doesn’t mean a civilian like you should be taking it into your own hands.”
“That may be true, but I can’t just sit idly by,” Rarity insisted. “Twilight is far too important to me. Besides, it’s not like we’re helpless– you saw what we can do firsthand.”
Sunrise frowned. Several different thoughts seemed to go through her mind at once, before she let out a frustrated groan. “This is absolutely insane, you realize this?? You’re insane. But I get the sense that you’ll do it no matter what I say, and it’s not like I can help Her Highness.”
She sheathed her weapon, and Rarity’s face lit up. “You’re letting us go?!!”
“I don’t like it, but I don’t see any other options.” she offered a hand again.
Rarity ignored it and pulled her into a hug. “Oh, thank you!! You won’t regret this, dear, I promise!!”
Rainbow Dash made a face. “Can we get going now? We could’ve bagged the Duchess by now!!”
As they turned towards the gate, Starlight Glimmer grabbed Rarity’s wrist. “Wait. I know you’re insisting on going in there, but you’re going to need someone with more experience with magic and infiltration. I’m coming with you.”
Rarity lifted an eyebrow. “I suppose there’s no reason to stop you, dear.”
Rainbow Dash groaned. “Can we just get a move on? This conversation has been going on foreverrrrr.”
Sunset laughed. “Hate to say it, but I’m on Dash’s side. We should really get a move-on.”
“Yes, yes. We can get to know each other better later,” Rarity said. “Let’s get going, shall we?”
As she headed through the gate, Rarity took one last look up at the mansion, watching silently over them. Was Twilight still thinking about her? Was she safe? So many thoughts rushed through her mind.
The Duchess of Manehattan had something of a reputation, especially within the Equestrian underground.
There were, of course, the rumours that she had arranged for the previous duchess' demise in a fireworks "accident." There was no evidence, or at least none that anyone had brought forward to Twilight, since those who crossed Duchess Muffins also had a habit of falling prey to some nasty accidents.
For the most part, though, ponies didn't seem to really mind having their strings pulled by the elusive pegasus. She wasn't known for making unreasonable demands, and Twilight had to begrudgingly respect the work and efforts she put into the various charity projects around the city. Sure, it was probably just a front to let her stay in power, but it was better than nothing, and all things considered, Twilight had always found it much too difficult to sort things out when the Duchess was mostly doing good things with her influence.
Which was why Twilight was extremely worried about meeting the Duchess. Her reputation preceded her, but there was scant information about what she was actually like, and Twilight hated working with incomplete information.
She barely managed to avoid standing up and pacing around the room as she awaited her fate. Hopefully, she'd be able to survive an encounter with the Duchess without her own little accident, even if it was harder to dispose of a princess.
There was a loud crashing sound from the entrance, and Twilight recognized the sound of a vase shattering when it hit tiled floor. "Oops," a woman's voice said, sounding guilty. "My bad. Can someone please clean this up? I'd help, but, umm..."
There was some further chatter, but Twilight couldn't hear the rest of it, and a moment later, the door opened to reveal a blond-haired woman wearing a surprisingly simple beige dress.
One of her golden eyes fixed its gaze on Twilight while the other seemed to scan the room. "You're Twilight Sparkle, right?" the woman asked, waiting for Twilight to nod in minor confusion before continuing. "Oh, thank the stars you're here, Your Majesty! You can fix this, right?"
"Yup, that's me." The Duchess walked right up to Twilight with panic in her eyes as she said, "please, you gotta help me. There's guards outside and they're really scary looking and I think one of my men accidentally shot someone and now we're all stuck inside here."
This was not how she had expected this conversation to go. "Duchess, you were the one who kidnapped me in the first place," Twilight explained, feeling rather silly at having to say those words right now.
"I just wanted to talk to you!" the Duchess replied, tears welling in her eyes. "I needed to ask for your help for another thing, and then this happened!"
"I—" Twilight took a deep breath. "Okay, fine. What did you need my help with in the first place, and why did that involve having Macintosh here grab me and put a magic limiter around my neck after shooting Rarity?"
"I don't know a Rarity," Duchess Muffins replied. "I just needed help dealing with a—"
And then things got quite loud.
The wall beside them suddenly exploded, sending dust and debris flying everywhere. Twilight tried to conjure up a shield on instinct, wincing as the inhibitor blocked her magic and sent a splinter of pain right into her brain.
Duchess Muffins and Macintosh had the slightly more useful reaction of shielding their faces with their hands, which meant that they weren't the ones coughing up dust when Captain Strawberry Sunrise and Agent Starlight Glimmer walked in, dressed appropriately in comparison to Rainbow Dash, who looked incredibly fabulous while jamming out on a glowing guitar.
"Stop right there, criminals!" Rainbow announced. "I've got a guitar and I'm not afraid to use it!"
The actual professionals sighed as they pointed their weapons at the Duchess and Macintosh. "Step away from the princess and nobody had to get hurt," Strawberry said.
"Yeah, what Captain Sunrise said," Starlight added. "We don't want to hurt anyone, but the Princess' safety is our primary concern."
"Now, now, I'm sure we can settle this without any more violence."
Twilight froze as a familiar voice announced the presence of yet another rescuer.
Rarity stepped in, looking as beautiful as when they'd first met in that alleyway, her dress pristine and free of any bloodstains, to Twilight's immense relief. She also vaguely noticed Sunset Shimmer coming in behind her, but her focus was on Rarity and the fact that she was very much alive.
"You're okay!" Twilight exclaimed, forgetting that she was supposed to be keeping her cool. "I thought you were dead!"
"Oh, darling," Rarity replied. "You know I'm far too fabulous to let something like a gunshot wound keep down." She nodded politely to Macintosh. "Fancy seeing you again, good sir."
Macintosh tipped his hat at her. "Apologies, ma'am. Nothin' personal."
"Okay, I think there may have been some misunderstandings here," Twilight said, not wanting this to turn into a bloodbath, and also desperately trying to ignore the way her heart was racing when she looked at Rarity. They could unpack those feelings later, when their lives weren't in danger for once.
"Princess, you've literally got a magic limiter around your neck," Captain Sunrise said. "Pretty sure we're rescuing you from being kidnapped."
"Well, yes," Twilight admitted. "But it seems like the circumstances that led to my kidnapping might be a bit... muddled? I think this would be a good time for a mediated discussion." She tugged at the collar on her neck. "Preferably without this."
The Duchess shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me."
"Agent Glimmer, please remove the limiter from the Princess," Captain Sunrise commanded.
Starlight did as told, walking over to Twilight and casting a spell to disable the device. The princess sighed in relief as she felt her magic return to her.
"Okay, so, first of all, why did you need my help, and why couldn't you just ask for an audience in Canterlot like a normal noble?" Twilight asked.
Countess Muffins' eyes widened. "Wait, you can do that?"
Twilight stared at her. "Y—Yes? There's a form to fill and you'll get a response within fourteen business days usually. We usually try to keep it to seven but sometimes things don't go according to plan and allowanced—" She shook her head. "Anyways, the answer is yes, you can just do that."
"Oh." The Countess looked so forlorn that Twilight wanted to give her a hug. "Oops. Nobody told me, and I still don't really get how this Duchess thing works."
"That's... fine," Twilight said slowly, trying to regain her bearings. "Okay, so, what did you need my help with?"
"Oh, it's just terrible!" The Countess said, nearly wailing. "I'm in way over my head ever since this Duchess thing started and I'm trying to do my best but I think I accidentally become a criminal kingpin and now there's ponies who want to—"
Once the shrieking and frantic shielding of faces with hands had died down, everyone looked through the new hole in the room. On the other side, a guard in the livery of the Duchy of Manehattan, ragged and covered in soot and dust, grimaced.
“Sorry, Your Grace, the riots have escalated. They’ve got their hands on fireworks and explosives from somewhere, we’re abandoning the gates,” he said.
Duchess Muffins bit her lip, eyes distant. “The staff, are they safe?” the woman asked. The front of her simple dress was caked in plaster, and rubble lay strewn at her feet, but her focus was ever on the wellbeing of others.
Twilight nodded to herself, her doubts fading by the minute. This was clearly a woman thrust beyond her depth, but not incapable of learning to swim.
She tuned back into the conversation too late to hear the guard’s response, but from the setting of the Duchess’ shoulders she assumed things could be worse. Instead she looked to her own charges. Captain Sunrise was unrattled, and both Starlight and Rarity had seen worse not long ago. Rainbow and Sunset, however, were breathing heavily. Twilight turned to face them.
“How are you two holding up?”
Rainbow’s hand was tight around the neck of her guitar, but her voice, tight as it was, remained steady. “Still good. I did sorta do the same to the other wall, right?”
Sunset smiled. “Just surprised. I’m usually the one making the explosions happen. I’d seen the crowds when we were sneaking in, but they just seemed angry. Not… violent.”
There was awkward shuffling for a moment as the sounds of the crowd washed over everyone. As the castle shook, something sprang to the front of the Princess’ mind. “Say, Duchess, you mentioned that there were scary guards outside?”
“Oh, yes!” the Duchess nodded fervently. “They’re not my guards, I don’t know where they came from. Mine look more like, ah–” She gestured towards Big Macintosh, standing in the grays and browns and gold of her House. “The new ones come in gray and red and yellow, and they aren’t from any noble House I recognise.”
A look at the gathered people revealed that they had no more idea where the colours came from than Twilight did, so she decided to move on. One thing at a time, until something could be crossed off the list. “We should get somewhere safer. Any ideas?”
The Duchess looked like she was gathering her thoughts, but her guard beat her to it. “We can take the staff passages to the emergency exit. No-one else should know about it,” Big Mac said. “Might be a bit of a squeeze, but it won’t have no interruptions.”
“Excellent, thank you, Mac,” Duchess Muffins said. “Oh, I just know this could have been avoided somehow… what could I have done differently?”
“No point worrying now, Your Grace,” rumbled Big Mac, shouldering his gun. He lowered his eyes apologetically as Rarity flinched and went to nurse her side. “Time to move.”
The group went ahead behind the Manehattan guard, pausing only to watch him expertly tease aside a painting to reveal a narrow, padded hallway within the wall. It was in dead silence save their own breaths that they continued to follow, wincing at the occasional impact that shook the tower around them.
Princess Twilight had wound up walking just behind the Duchess, and noticed her nervous fidgeting. With nothing better to do, she spoke quietly. “What was it you wanted to ask me for help with, Duchess?”
“Ah!” The woman jumped, then slumped. “Right. As you might have heard, I, ah, didn’t really come into this position on purpose? I’ve only been the Duchess of Manehattan for some months.”
Twilight nodded. She tried to keep abreast of the changing interests of most major regions of Equestria, and the chaotic circumstances behind the death of the previous Duchess had raised many eyebrows in the court of Canterlot. If Muffins had indeed masterminded such a farce, she was a supremely skilled actress. Still… she sounded far too lost and willing to rely on Twilight.
“One of my first goals was to work together with local organisations to help those less fortunate. I did my research and paid a few visits to prospective partners in this endeavour, and I quickly found a few. It just turns out that most of them are also run by the crime families. So now I have to work very closely with them on account of my generous donations and they’re genuinely more effective than most of the noble Houses I’ve had to deal with so I’m completely lost. I don’t want to be a criminal, Princess!”
The young Duchess was shaking by the end of her speech, but still doggedly putting one foot in front of the other. Twilight could appreciate the problem, having had to deal with unsavoury individuals before (usually through the proxy of Agent Glimmer, if she could help it.) They were genuinely driven people, most of the time, and uncannily resourceful. None of Canterlot would admit it, but they also effectively ran Manehattan.
“It sounds like you’re aware already, which is a good first step. Luckily we have had similar situations before, Duchess, so we won’t be going in blind. If anything, a crime family loyal to the Crown is an asset,” Twilight reassured.
Muffins sighed in relief, and craned her head back. “There’s more, though, Princess,” she said, “the rest of the families think it was a deliberate choice. It’s a high chance they’re involved in the riots.”
“Would that explain the guards?”
The Duchess paused to think, barely remembering to keep moving as Twilight began to bump into her. “Not at all, Princess. That would only happen with another House making a claim for the Duchy. Except all the Houses have different colours than the guards inciting the crowds.”
“Well, at the very least we can help you diversify your connections and bring in more help from the outskirts, loosen the hold of the families in Manehattan,” Twilight offered. She was vaguely aware of the confused muttering of the displaced Rainbow Dash behind her, and Sunset’s hushed crash course on the political arrangements and dynamics of this particular dimension.
They continued in a comfortable rhythm as the Princess outlined some of the steps they could take to consolidate Muffins’ control and help the less fortunate that were so oft overlooked in the massive city. Eventually everyone came to a halt when Big Mac used his impressive height to signal over his head. He pulled on the wall and stood attentively as it swung outwards, whisper-silent.
Everyone filed out of the narrow passage and onto a small lawn by a stream, scant paces from a bridge across to the main city. Twilight turned, intending to ask about a safehouse that they could commandeer for the moment, when Starlight Glimmer and Strawberry Sunrise raised their voices in overlapping shouts of caution.
There was a grunt from Big Mac, and the feeling of magic washed over the Princess. The large man had been brought to his knees, and as her senses cleared she sensed another charge being built up. Whirling around even as she crouched, Twilight saw a woman with silver hair shouting as she dove from the bridge, magic slowing her fall and propelling her towards the group. Raw, unfocused blasts of mana flew at them, all swept aside by Starlight. The second volley was even easier, as Sunset had recovered her wits and Twilight was already weaving layer after layer of protection over her immediate surroundings.
The silver-haired woman landed and sent forth a net of air, tripping up both a charging Rainbow Dash and an unsteady Big Macintosh. Agent Starlight, ever the professional, simply divided the lattice before herself and swept in close, one hand pushing the assailant’s hand from its pattern and the other slamming the magic limiter home around her neck. A choking, spluttering sound came from her mouth as Starlight brought the woman to the ground.
“Princess, she passed out as soon as I engaged the limiter. Something’s not right,” Starlight called.
“Let me take a look,” Twilight said, eyes and other senses surveying the area. “There’s no other threats right now.”
Motioning to the others to stay put, she approached the unconscious woman she now definitively recognised as Trixie Lulamoon.
“Oh, Trixie, how did you get mixed up in this?” she whispered. She turned the woman onto her back and gasped. Her clothes were rough, red and gray and yellow, and on her breast was a sigil she had thought long buried.
The Fang of Chaos.
She looked up at her most trusted agent. “He’s grown more influential than we’d feared.”
Starlight nodded, her face tight at seeing her dear friend so clearly under compulsion.
“We can’t afford a safehouse now, He must be at the centre of this, Manehattan will only be the beginning.”
It appeared that her confusing feelings for Rarity would continue to wait. This was no longer a botched diplomatic visit, it was a far grander threat.
“The Fang of Chaos,” Princess Twilight said, turning up her palms and summoning abstract images in purple flames. “A dark sigil, representing a despot from long ago named Discord. It’s said that those who wore it were under his control, and after his defeat, all of his spells were sealed as the highest form of forbidden magic. And that sigil is what I found on Trixie’s uniform.”
“F-forbidden magic?” said Duchess Muffins.
“We have a Discord in our world,” said Sunset. “He’s a reality warper and immortal. Maybe your Discord came back.”
Twilight’s dour expression shifted to wonder. “Immortal? Is that even—no, that’s for later. No, there’s no chance Discord is still alive; not even he could control life and death. But he was still a monster nonetheless. He heavily taxed the peasantry only to build extravagant decorations, he’d regularly torment them with his soldiers, and he even let an entire village die of ligma without lifting a finger.”
Rainbow Dash suddenly fell onto her back, laughing uncontrollably.
The princess blinked in confusion. “Wha?”
“Just ignore her, darling,” said Rarity, fluttering her eyelashes. “Since it isn’t Discord, could someone be using his forbidden magic?”
“Hey Twilight,” Rainbow said between chortles. “Did you know Tirek died of ligma too?”
Twilight turned back to the overturned woman. “Who’s Tirek?”
“Ligma balls!” Rainbow yelled.
There was a pause. “What does that mean?!”
Rarity huffed and grabbed the princess’s shoulders. “That’s not important right now. Focus, dear!”
Flustered not just by the conversation but by their sudden closeness, Twilight stammered, “Y-yes, right. The thing about Discord’s magic being forbidden is that as the years passed, fear of it faded and it was considered a non-issue since no one but Discord could actually cast his magic. There’s even one noble today known for collecting Discord’s writings and artifacts: the new head of the ancient but largely irrelevant Trendy Family, a man named Trenderhoof.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Trenderhoof?” She glanced toward Rainbow Dash, who shrugged from her prone position. She turned back to Twilight and shook her head. “My stars, this really is a strange dimension.”
“Trenderhoof was hardly a threat, though,” Twilight continued. “He didn’t even have an affinity for magic… but he did start showing off some parlor tricks after he acquired that magic staff. I only thought it escalated his magic to a beginner level, so he wasn’t on my radar before, but if there was more to that artifact, then maybe…”
Sunset stepped forward. “Wait, a magic staff? Was it a tall wooden staff, real dark wood, taller than me? With a blue crystal on top?”
“Shit!” exclaimed Sunset. “That’s the Staff of Sacanas, something from our world. We came here to get it before it caused any trouble, and I don’t know if it’s because of the flow of time being different or whatever, but we clearly screwed up there.”
Captain Strawberry Sunrise rolled her eyes. “Should’ve figured this was all the fault of you other-dimensional weirdos.”
“Strawberry,” chided the princess. “Regardless of whatever boost the staff granted, the magic Trenderhoof used is still of our world; no need to throw blame around.”
Sunset sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s fine, Twilight. Blame is totally warranted in this case. But we’ll make up for it.” She wrapped her fist with her palm. “Just show us where Trenderhoof is and we’ll fix everything.”
Rainbow shot up. “We’ll make him wish he had boffa.”
Twilight arched an eyebrow. “Wha—”
Rarity put a finger on her lips, eliciting a sudden rush of blood in the princess’s cheeks. Ignoring this, the purple-haired visitor simply said, “Don’t. Just don’t.”
Agent Starlight sighed. “Yes, fine. Now, Duchess Muffins, about that safehouse you mentioned? I know our princess said we didn’t need one, but we can’t just leave Trixie on the street like this.”
“Could take her home like you usually do,” Strawberry added with a smirk, earning her a sharp glare.
Duchess Muffins rubbed her fingers together. “Oh, yes, yes. Well, actually, Big Mac knows where we can find one better than me.” She turned to her guard. “Do you mind?”
“Ee-nope,” the large soldier said. With a wave, everyone followed behind him while the city rioted in the distance.
Big Mac lifted the shutter door and, after a quick scan, ushered everyone in. Starlight went in first, carrying the unconscious Trixie with her magic, and the others followed shortly after. Big Mac pulled the shutter down behind him, muting the sounds of chaos outside, and flipped a switch.
Row after row of lights turned on, revealing shelves of wooden crates with black apple logos printed on them, along with an open area with chairs, couches, a TV, and a mess of empty cider bottles.
Starlight looked around with a frown as she placed Trixie on the cleanest couch she could find. “This is an Apple Family base.” She scoffed at the man who led them there. “When Duchess Muffins mentioned she was working with crime families, I should’ve figured you were on loan from one of them.”
Big Mac crossed his arms. “Family’s family, but I guard her because I wanted to. Anyway, shouldn’t be anybody bothering us here.”
Twilight gave her royal guards a stern look. “With the noble families all compromised, we should consider it a blessing that Muffins got herself mixed up in all this. Trenderhoof wouldn’t have even thought to take over crime families.”
Muffins nodded serenely. “It all works out in the end. Even if by accident.”
Strawberry and Starlight both grumbled, but conceded their point and moved to examine the base and treat Trixie respectively. As everyone else found somewhere to sit, Twilight found herself lost in her thoughts and she paced around the shelves of crates.
The Fang of Chaos returning. Visitors from another dimension. The unusual death of the old Duchess of Manehattan—surely slipping on a banana peel, falling into a bowl of spaghetti, and choking on a noodle had to be a result of chaos magic!—and Muffins replacing her. It was hard to believe all of this was happening now.
Yet somehow, what bothered her more than the current threats was what would happen after. Rainbow, Rarity, and Sunset were here to find their staff and surely they would return home after that. Yet in the short time their paths crossed with her diplomatic trip to Manehattan, they’ve all become such good friends. It couldn’t just end like that, right? Especially…
Twilight looked up, realizing she was far away from the lounge area she started at. She considered doubling back, but then she heard… music. Following the notes, she found Rarity sitting on top of a crate, fiddling with her keytar. Glittering moonlight showered her from a cracked window, bouncing off of her luxurious purple hair and highlighting her soft skin and lovely facial features. Her blue eyes were distant, adding to her otherworldly feel. Twilight stared at her for what felt like hours—and she could have easily gone for hours more—before the woman turned and gave her a curious look.
“Hello there, darling. What are you doing just standing there?” she said with a smile that indicated she knew exactly why.
Twilight jumped. “I, uh… heard your music!” She shuffled over and sat next to Rarity. “I was actually wondering about your instruments. They’re magic, right? I mean, I know they’re magic, I’ve seen them in action, but is that how magic works in your world?”
Rarity looked down at her keytar. “Oh! Well, normally we don’t need any tools to use magic. Well, Rainbow would, but not Sunset and me. However, when we cross dimensions, that becomes considerably more difficult. In another dimension—a third one—Sunset discovered that music can channel magic no matter what dimension you’re in, so that’s why we use these. These are actually just normal instruments by the way, but we each have our particular… I suppose favorites?” She clicked her tongue. “Ack, Sunset can explain this better than me.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “No, it’s fine, I like hearing about it from you!” She scratched her cheek. “But we can talk about something else if you want.”
Rarity gave her a look, then sighed. “Darling, before we continue down this path, there’s something you really need to know. Back home, in my dimension… I…” She put her hand to her chest. “I am a horse.”
Twilight touched Rarity’s other hand as her eyes glittered. “Oh Rarity. I may be a princess, but I’d never find sex work objectionable.”
Rarity blinked, then blinked again. Then finally she broke down laughing.
Twilight frowned. “I’m being serious!”
Rarity wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh darling, I know, I know. I appreciate the sentiment, believe me I do, but you misheard me. I said—”
There was a loud bang and the ground rumbled, knocking some smaller objects off of the shelves. Both women shot up.
“That was close,” Rarity said.
“We can’t afford to wait any longer,” Twilight said grimly.
Everyone gathered in the lounge after the explosion and they quickly got to work.
“Trixie still isn’t awake, so we can’t get any information from her,” said Starlight. She bit the inside of her lips. “And even though I removed Discord’s sigil, she would still be under its control anyway.”
“So if we attack Trenderhoof, we’d be going in blind,” said Captain Sunrise.
“That’s fine, we’ll improvise,” said Rainbow, swinging her guitar. “With this baby and a couple lead pipes, nothing can stop us.”
“Normally I’d want more of a plan, but I think Rainbow has the right idea,” said Sunset. “We’ll go in on our own. Trenderhoof in our world is a loser, so if we sneak past whatever traps he has, we’ll be able to stop him pretty easily.”
Rarity nodded without any sign of disapproval, which only increased Twilight’s determination as she said, “I’ll go with you.”
Before the interdimensional visitors could respond, Captain Sunrise shouted, “Absolutely not!” She poked the princess’s chest. “I don’t care how good you are with magic, there’s no way I can allow you to go into a dangerous situation you don’t need to.”
Twilight glared. She was a princess, she could override her whenever she wanted. There’s no way she could leave Rarity to go into danger like that. And yet… she was indeed a princess, and she trusted Strawberry precisely because she spoke the truth. She took a deep breath and slowly released it. “Yes. Yes, you’re right. But still, they can’t go alone. Agent Starlight, you guide them to Château Branché and aid them anyway you can.”
Starlight looked at Trixie with furrowed brows, but stood up straight and saluted regardless.
Twilight put her hand on her guard’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about Trixie. I’ll look into undoing her mind control.” And, she left unsaid, if she learns anything important, she’ll rush to Rarity’s side.
Captain Sunrise nodded. “So that’s it then. Rainbow, Rarity, Sunset, and Starlight will go to Château Branché. The princess, Duchess Muffins, her bodyguard-slash-mobster Big Mac, and I will stay here with Trixie.”
Sunset nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s go, then.”
The assault party left without further word, though Rarity looked over her shoulder back at the princess.
Twilight grabbed the hem of her dress and narrowed her eyes. If there was anything inside Trixie’s mind that would help, she’d find it.
In the darkness of Château Branché, a man sat on a throne. His glasses were lopsided, he slouched to the side, his mouth was agape, and his eyes were glazed over. His name was Trenderhoof, and he was the man behind all this.
“Or so they think,” said a high pitched voice.
A woman leaned against the throne, gripping a tall staff with a blue gem, her black and red dress offset by her poofy pink hair and her bright grin. She tapped Trenderhoof and he fell down to the ground. “Won’t the girls be surprised when they get a load of me!”
“Trenderhoof couldn’t have put Château Branché somewhere more, er… hospitable, could he?” Rarity asked, pulling a twig out of her hair.
It had hardly been what, thirty minutes since she, Sunset, and Rainbow had left the Apple family bunker and already they found themselves wading through a most dreary hodgepodge of tree, shrub, mud. Wherever Starlight was leading them, the suggestions of an old pathway were certainly there, if one counted drowning wood and the occasional rusty nail signs of a boardwalk once upon a time.
“Yeah, no kidding. I’d kill to have my wings!” Rainbow said as she shook one of her legs in a vain attempt to remove some of the mud. “You think our Trenderhoof used to live in the Everfree, or something?”
“Trenderhoof doesn’t live out here,” Starlight said. She hardly seemed bothered by the forest’s obstacles, hacking away at any of the shrubs and vines that dared cross their path. “But it’s the quickest way,”
“How?” Sunset asked. “It feels like we’re just going deeper in. We could’ve just gone around, right?”
“You’ll see,”
Infuriating, but wholly unsurprising. Rarity let out a huff.
“Will this at least be a quick route?” Another twig in her hair… fantastic. “I’m not sure how much more I can take of this shrubbery,”
“Should be. Can’t say there’s much ground to cover now,”
* * *
“Come on, come on,”
In the Apple family safehouse, Twilight held a hand over Trixie. Getting into the woman’s mind was… complicated, for lack of a better word. Granted, taking a trip into a mind was hard enough as was with how fundamentally intricate it was to begin with. But with Discord still hanging onto Trixie’s mind, that introduced another unknown.
‘That and she’s also from another world. Should I have tried diving into Rarity’s mind before trying this?’ Her face began to burn at the thought of the – although mostly professional – intimacy at diving into Rarity’s mind. ‘Maybe not…’
Oh well. She had to focus on the here and now.
Twilight closed her eyes and laid her hand on Trixie proper. Indeed, she could feel Trixie’s mind easily enough, but there was something else there too; constantly shifting, distorting. Whatever it was, it was foreign.
‘I’ll need a closer look,’
She sucked in a breath through her teeth and pressed further, carefully pushing herself through the myriad of corridors and connections that made up Trixie’s mind. She didn’t want to be too fast, both for fear of being detected by Trixie, or potentially damaging her. The consciousness was a delicate thing, prone to damage like the rest of the body. It was a nerve wracking process, and she privately thanked Sunrise, Duchess Muffins, and Big Mac for not making a scene – wherever they were. A sense of weightlessness took over her body before vanishing, and her feet made contact with a hard, stone surface.
Opening her eyes she found herself in a stone hallway, wide enough for five of her to stand shoulder to shoulder comfortably. The ceiling – or lack thereof – wasn’t far above her, easily within arms reach, where it gave way to a pitch black void. She couldn’t see too far behind her either, a haze of the same blackness of the void obscured anything more than a few arms reaches away.
In front of her, however, was a transparent yellow barrier. At least, that’s what it looked like. It wasn’t completely solid, swirling and churning like storm clouds, though much, much faster. Beyond it the hallway continued, free of the haze behind her, and split off into other hallways not far down.
“I’m on the outskirts…” Twilight mumbled as she stepped up to the barrier. “I can’t say I’ve been here before,”
Tentatively she raised a hand to the barrier. It crackled as her hand got closer, which was… ominous, certainly. She lowered her hand and let out a hum. For being magic cast by a dead guy, it was surprisingly lively.
“Okay… here goes nothing?”
Twilight sucked in a breath and pressed an arm into the barrier. It passed right through, and after a pause, she forced the rest of herself through as well.
“I suppose it’s not much of a ‘barrier’ is it?”
She looked down at herself. She didn’t feel any different, which was probably a good thing. She never had before. ‘But I guess I can’t be too sure,’ She cast one last glance at the ‘barrier’.
‘I hope this doesn’t affect my body,’
* * *
“And here we are,”
After finally] ridding themselves of that ghastly forest, Rarity, Sunset, and Rainbow stumbled into a clearing, which wasn’t exactly ridding themselves of it, but close enough. For now. They all followed where Starlight pointed.
A well with a blue glow inside it sat in the middle of the clearing; a humble construct made of stone that sat on a small patch of grass surrounded by a puddle. Rainbow was the first to walk over it, and gave it an experimental kick.
“What the hay is this?”
Starlight raised an eyebrow. “I’d hope you can see it’s a well. It will take you to Trenderhoof’s,”
“What?” Rainbow eyed the well a split second longer before turning her attention back to Starlight. “Wait! I thought you said he doesn’t live out here!”
“He doesn’t. I said this is the quickest way to his place,”
“But that’s basically the same thing!”
“It’s really not, Rainbow,” Rarity said. She and Sunset both made their way over to the well proper, and she cautiously bent her head over the brim of the well. Whatever liquid in here was unnervingly close to its surface. She would hardly have to bend down to scoop some of it up in her hands. “So, how exactly does this well take us to Trenderhoof’s?”
“We’re jumping in,” Sunset appeared strangely grossed out as she eyed the well. “Aren’t we?”
“Correct,”
“Of course we are,” She let out a sigh as she hopped onto the stone rim. “Alright, come on girls. Let’s get this over with,”
‘Jumping in,’ Rarity suppressed a shutter as she mimicked Sunset’s movements. ‘Well, I suppose my clothes can hardly get any more unpleasant,’
“That was quite a good guess,” She said to Sunset. Anything to distract herself from what fate awaited her clothes.
“It’s not as much of a guess as you’d think. Equestria’s got ‘em too. Or, we used to, anyways. Before Celestia removed them.” Sunset reached down and scooped up some of the strange water. Well, whatever it was it didn’t seem to be water. It broke off in little globules much bigger than water ever would, and slipped through her fingers effortlessly, leaving no trace it’d ever been there. “You’ll see why. Leaping through them is not a fun experience,”
“Yeah, yeah!” Rainbow had joined them on the rim, her feet fully submerged in the strange liquid. “Are we gonna stand around here yacking, or are we gonna go get that staff of Suck-A-Nuts?”
“Suck a…?” Sunset’s cheeks reddened as the words sputtered and stumbled. “It’s Sacanas, Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow just cackled before leaping into the water.
* * *
“Ohmygosh, they’re here, they’re here, they’re here!” Pinkie clapped her hooves – no, hands together as flashes of blue light appeared right outside of Château Branché. The three girls stumbled to their feet, all clutching at their heads. Rainbow seemed to recover the fastest, pulling Sunset to her feet, and producing a lead pipe from… somewhere. Was she gonna try and break down the door? That’d be rude! Sunset and Rarity both stumbled to their feet, and Rarity looked ready to vomit. She didn’t though, which was good!
“Alright, girls. The sooner we get that staff, the sooner we can stop Manehattan’s riots. Let’s go,” Sunset’s voice was loud enough to be heard through the window. Pinkie really hoped Sunset wasn’t trying to be stealthy!
As soon as the three girls began making their way toward the château, Pinkie booked it back to the throne with the puppet Trenderhoof. She couldn’t hold back a giggle as she heard the front door crash open.
“Do you ever feel like you were meant to do something else?”
Twilight blinked, trying to get a feeling of her surroundings. The hallway and barrier were completely gone, in their place was a lake surrounded by fog. She was seated on a small wooden canoe, bobbing up and down against its surface.
Water lapped against the side of their boat, rocking it gently back and forth gently. “What do you mean?”
Across from her, Trixie shrugged. She looked like a completely different person, wearing a beanie, jacket, and dark gray jeans. She stared down at the bottom of the boat, elbows resting on her knees.
“Like something… Everything, even, is just wrong.”
Twilight squinted at her. A faint static filled the air, materializing as a sort of ringing in her ears. “Like with cutie marks? That kind of stuff?”
Trixie shook her head.
“No, like… Like the things that you do, they’re not for the reason you thought they might be for.”
Twilight was quiet, observing her carefully. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Well… Magic. I have it as a pony. I use it as a human. It makes me… me.” Trixie looked up to meet Twilight’s gaze. “It’s what defines me. Maybe even my destiny. I don’t know what I’d be without it.”
“There’s an old story in Equestria,” Twilight began. “About an ancient pony philosopher who managed to get rid of his cutie mark. He wanted to see if he could truly detract himself from his destiny, or what fate decided he should do.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “What happened to him?”
“The story goes that he went insane. He tried doing a hundred different things, but in each and every one he found hints of his own special talent. So he felt that in the end he could never really escape it.”
Trixie began to chew her cheek. “Hm.”
“What’s got you thinking about those kinds of things?” Twilight asked carefully.
“I think I’m trying to make myself disappear.”
The boat creaked and groaned beneath them.
Twilight could sense dark magic ebbing and flowing in the waters beneath them. It was rushing back and forth, up and down and in circles. Doing everything but going nowhere. Weighing on them both like stones.
“He showed me something,” Trixie said after an eternity. “He showed me… Everything, actually. All of me. From everywhere. But each version of me… they just looked the same. All of them doing magic.” She spat the last word out with disgust. “Is that really all I am? Some joke with nothing but cheap tricks?”
“Trixie, whatever he showed you… You can’t think of it as real.”
Trixie clenched her hand into a fist. “But what if it is? How can this be all I am, all I’ll ever be, across… Millions and millions of possibilities?”
“Maybe it’s just a part of you,” Twilight suggested. “Not in like… in a negative sense. But more than that it’s always with you. That you always challenge the unknown.”
Trixie hung her head. “Maybe.”
“Discord thrives in chaos. He’s connected across realities… This is what he does. He sows uncertainty, plants doubt. Because there’s nothing more chaotic than fear.” Twilight extended a hand and placed it on Trixie’s knee. “Or maybe even the realization that we can never know anything for certain.”
Twilight felt something pulse beneath the waters and knew that her time was running out. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
A purple glow enveloped them, and the lake quickly faded away.
The throne room of Château Branché was in ruins. Wayward blasts of magic charred wood and shattered stone. Sunset, Starlight, and Rarity stood panting, while Rainbow Dash laid face-down in a crater with her arms and legs bent. They faced a figure who reared back, gripping her face while laughing crazily, holding the Staff of Sacanas with her other hand.
Between breaths, Rarity said with a light laugh, “I never expected Pinkie Pie to be this tough.”
“Really?” Sunset said with a smirk. “I saw this in her the whole time. I really regret not bringing balloons to distract her this time.”
With a wild grin, Pinkie twirled her staff… then suddenly her face turned neutral and she stopped, the staff flying out of her hands.
Rarity, Starlight, and Sunset looked at each other blinking, then turned back to their former assailant.
“Pinkie, dear, are you alright?” asked Rarity.
Waving her arms in circles, Pinkie replied, “Yup, all good here!”
Getting up from her crater, Rainbow Dash rubbed her head and said, “Pinkie, what the hell happened to you?”
Pinkie’s mouth turned into a three and she said, “You see, there was a complicated chain of chaos magic possessing people. Trenderhoof summoned Discord’s magic into Trixie, so she was the main possessee, then she possessed Trenderhoof, and then he possessed Trixie in turn, and then Trixie possessed me, and then I possessed Trenderhoof!”
Sunset scratched the top of her head. “Why were you all possessing each other?”
Pinkie waved her hand dismissively. “Oh that’s way too much to get into! But anyway, looks like Trixie’s possession got cleared up, and now everyone’s fixed!”
Starlight grunted. “You really expect me to believe all this? That everything’s all fine now?”
“It does sound like the fighting stopped outside,” said Rarity, holding a hand to her ear.
Starlight looked at the smiling pink woman warily for a while then sighed. “Alright, fine. Someone besides her take the staff, and let’s regroup with the princess.”
“What about him?” Rainbow said, pointing her thumb at Trenderhoof, splayed out on his throne.
“Leave him,” said Starlight. “The full story will be hard to explain to the public, but if he’s found at the center of it all, he’ll be the fall guy—which is convenient because it really was all his fault.”
Pinkie blinked. “Fall Guys? What?! I love Fall Guys!” Dashing up to the officer, Pinkie shook her violently. “I wanna be the fall guy!”
Sunset pulled them apart and held Pinkie at arm’s length. “Let’s just go back to the base.”
“So that’s how it is,” finished Sunset.
Twilight hummed. “Well, given all that, it’s strange that the chaos magic would send its lynchpin right to us.”
Sitting next to the princess on the base’s couch, Trixie gave a toothy grin and waved her hand dismissively. “Well obviously Trixie couldn’t be kept out of view for long.”
“I think it’s more likely that the different chaos magic victims weren’t following any overarching plan and themselves lost track of who the lynchpin was,” said Sunset.
Starlight leaned over and examined Trixie with narrow eyes. “So you aren’t the Trixie I know, then?”
Trixie fluttered her eyes and crossed her legs. “Oh, but I’ve certainly known plenty of Starlights, if you know what Trixie means. And Trixie is willing to know more.”
Starlight grimaced. “Yeah, I think I’ll stay a one-Trixie girl. Anyway, if there’s more than one Trixie…” She looked at Twilight. “Does that mean there’s more than one of everyone? Like more than one Princess Twilight?”
Rarity giggled and fanned herself with her hand. “Oh goodness me, if there was another Twilight in our world, I would have never thought about leaving.”
Twilight and Sunset both looked at Rarity with wide eyes.
Rarity smiled. “And it looks like you caught my meaning. Yes, now that I’ve found a world with a Twilight, I can’t even imagine leaving her.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Woah, are you sure, Rares? Don’t you have, like, a whole dress empire? And a little sister?”
Rarity scoffed. “My businesses run themselves at this point, it’s barely a challenge. Human clothes, on the other hand, will be a whole new test for me! And it’s not like I can’t visit with Sunset’s help.”
Twilight shot up. “Also! Going into Trixie’s mind and interacting with the chaos magic gave me some interdimensional insight. I’m sure I can figure out a way across worlds too.”
Rarity motioned to the princess. “See! It’s fine.”
Sunset hummed. “Well, I suppose I can’t disapprove of the choice, but you’re making dimensional travel sound more casual than it is. There’s a real chance it’ll be years before we get a stable connection to this world again.”
Twilight stepped forward. “How long will the current connection last?”
“Another few days.”
The princess grew a determined smile. “Then I better do this now.”
Twilight took Rarity’s hand and looked into her eyes. “Rarity… it’s only been a day, but everything I experienced that day—no, the very moment I met you, showed me that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” She knelt, making Rarity gasp and making everyone else widen their eyes. “Rarity, will you marry me?”
It didn’t take long for her to respond, “Yes! A thousand times yes!”
They embraced and kissed, and kissed, and kissed, but just as everyone else started leaving to give them space, Twilight broke it off to say, “Wait! So, uh, I want all of you at the wedding. Well, if I can get one ready before you have to go.”
Pinkie shot up between the lovers. “Oh you don’t have to worry about that! Parties are my thing, and I still have a bit of chaos magic, so…”
She snapped her fingers.
Just as quickly as the city found itself in strife due to Trenderhoof’s riots, they were quelled by a sudden wedding of their princess to a strange but charming outsider. To say this came as a shock to the queen was an understatement, but she was soon convinced by the true love her daughter had found.
Damage lingered, but Duchess Muffins used her underworld connections to quell any opportunism on the part of criminal organizations and redirect them to the city’s support. Soon, Canterlot was better than ever.
Eventually, it was time for the visitors to go. Pinkie wanted to be the fall guy so bad that they made her one alongside Trenderhoof. By all accounts, she was quite happy, but she was still discreetly released in time for their departure.
Trixie never showed up when it was time to leave, forcing Sunset, Rainbow, and Pinkie to leave her behind. Rumors said she died when a young boy told her she wouldn’t be able to cast the self-destruct spell and she proved him wrong, but Rarity thought not even Trixie would do that… probably.
Years passed, and finally Twilight developed a way to stabilize a portal between her world and Rarity’s old one. They had a fantastic life together, and would have far more happy years together.
Even so, Rarity and Twilight looked back fondly on the day they met… even if they couldn’t quite agree how it went.
