CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The bars of the cage shook as Rainbow Dash slammed into them for the umpteenth time.

"Rainbow," Twilight said, "give it a rest. We're not getting out of here anytime soon."

BAM. "There's no use in –" WHAM. "sitting around here –" SMACK. "doing nothing!"

The violet unicorn rolled her eyes. It had been hours since Trixie had ambushed them, trapped them in a giant glass fishbowl, and teleported them back to the Everfree Forest. Rainbow had been trying to escape for practically the entire time, and she hadn't gotten anywhere.

"At least my Spikey-Wikey's okay," Rarity sniffled, scooping the little dragon up in a big bear hug. She was putting on a brave face, but Twilight could tell that she was worried about Grojband's safety.

Everypony's attitude was dark, even Pinkie Pie's. The normally excitable party pony was sitting in the farthest corner of the cage, dragging her hoof through the dirt, her mane straighter than it had ever been before.

"Nobody panic," Twilight said. I'm getting tired of repeating myself. "We'll think of something to get out of this mess. We always have before."

"Well, before we didn't have a super-powerful Twilight-hatin' monster to deal with," said Applejack, pacing in tight circles around Fluttershy. "Without Spike's letter-sendin' technique workin' like normal, and without the spell to fix it, Ah don't see how we can get a letter to the Princess askin' for help. Adn nopony else will hear us from where we are."

"Then we'll just have to escape by ourselves!" Rainbow Dash yelled, kicking the ceiling with her hind legs. "Busting out is our best option!"

"This is not the time for arguments!" Twilight shouted. Infighting was what had gotten them into so much trouble in the past – having it start now would only escalate the problem.

But it was too late now. "Much as Ah hate to say it, buckin' the cage isn't helpin', just like Twilight said. We're gonna hafta think our way outta here." The farmpony slammed her hoof on the dirt, glaring up at Rainbow. In return, the Pegasus flew down and pressed her forehead against Applejack's.

"Well then, what's your bright idea, Miss Smarty Pants?"

Applejack opened her mouth, but suddenly a nearby bush rustled. Snips, Snails, and the pink unicorn and orange Earth pony from before came through it, carrying three furry forms on their backs.

Twilight let out a gasp. They were Corey, Kin, and Kon.

Corey's head stuck out of a burlap sack, and his eyes were wide in horror and shock; the pink unicorn dragged him along with a rope. Snips and Snails were groaning under Kon's weight, while the orange pony lugged an unconscious Kin. None of them looked too happy to be carrying a member of Grojband.

"Where's Laney, d'ya think?" Applejack whispered, but she quieted down when the pink unicorn – who seemed to be Trixie's second-in-command – glared at her.

"Like, shut up and junk," the unicorn snapped. "I already have to carry my gross little brother! I can't deal with stupid talking ponies right now."

"But you are a talking pony," Rainbow Dash said.

"I said, SHUT UP!"

Twilight thought for a minute. Little brother? Corey did mention having a sister. What was her name? Something starting with T...could this be her?

The bush rustled again, and Trixie stepped out, a triumphant look on her face. "That was easy," she remarked. "Trixie won't need to worry about her plans being ruined now. Get them in the cage."

There was no time for Rainbow Dash to react; in an instant, Trixie magically unlocked the cage, made her minions toss the Grojbandians inside, and slammed the door closed. Corey skidded across the dirt, coming to a stop just in front of Pinkie, who didn't look up. That looked painful, Twilight thought, but Corey didn't even react. I hope he's okay.

"You're all very privileged, you know," Trixie said grandly, tossing a swatch of fabric onto a nearby rock. "You'll be here to watch the beginning of Trixie's conquest of all the universe."

"So your ego's gotten too big for Equestria, has it, Trixie?" Rainbow Dash said hotly, forgetting all about the pink unicorn's command. Twilight could practically see the smoke coming out of her nostrils.

"Oh, that. Trixie's ego isn't big, it's realistic. With the power Trixie has now, she could take over any empire with the blink of an eye!"

"Prove it," Rainbow Dash started to spit, but Applejack shoved her hoof over the cyan Pegasus' mouth.

"Don't go sayin' nothin' you'll regret later," she whispered.

"It doesn't matter now," Trixie continued, eyeing everypony inside the cage distastefully. "Trixie has more important matters to attend to. Snips, Snails, Mina, you stay here and guard the…prisoners. Trina, come with Trixie."

The pink unicorn trailed after Trixie, while the Earth pony stayed behind, stationing herself at the front left corner of the cage while Snips and Snails took the right-hoof side. So now we know who they are, sort of, Twilight thought. Trina and Mina. I remember them now, or at least, I remember Grojband talking about them.

Kon began to stir; there was a huge lump on his head, and it looked like he might have a black eye. "Whoa, where am I? I feel awful."

Pinkie Pie's mane inflated the tiniest bit at the sound of the drummer's voice. "Kon? Is that you?" she gasped, perking up. Then, "Oh, hi, Corey, I didn't see you there."

Corey didn't budge. Twilight almost thought she heard him whimper, but decided not to mention it. Instead, she turned to Kon. "What are you guys doing here? We left you back in the zebra camp so you could go home, not get caught in the same trap we did."

"But we wanted to make sure you were okay," Kon said, sitting up gingerly. "Corey said –"

Twilight held up a hoof. "I can guess. And I'm grateful you tried, really, but now you're stuck here, too, and that doesn't help anypony."

Rarity cut in, crushing Spike even more tightly to her chest. "Oh, I am so glad you all are all right. I wasn't expecting to see you ever again!"

"There's no time for a sappy reunion!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, taking to the air once again. "We've gotta get out of here!"

Twilight quietly got up and walked over to Corey. The stallion still hadn't moved a muscle; the look on his face was one of utter despair. "Kon, what's wrong with Corey? What happened?" the unicorn asked softly.

"I'm not sure," Kon replied. "Kin and I got knocked out."

"We'll just have to surprise him, then!" Pinkie squeaked as quietly as she could, flicking the bobble on Corey's beanie with a hoof. "I think I've got a paper bag here somewhere –"

"We can just shake him," Rainbow suggested, swooping in to do so.

"No," said Twilight, pushing Pinkie away and lowering Rainbow Dash to the ground with a neat motion of her horn. "I'll try and magic him out of his shock. Something must have really horrified him, and more trauma will just make it worse." Closing her eyes, Twilight leaned in and placed her horn against Corey's, tip to tip. Then she let the magic loose.

It was a quick nudge, not all that much, but Twilight suddenly felt herself swept headlong into Corey's brain. She lay on the ground, at the very cliffs where they had been ambushed, only Corey, Trixie, and Laney stood near her. Corey's mouth was moving defiantly, but no sound came out of it, and Trixie's aura held a giant boulder above the little green mare's head. Twilight covered her mouth with a gasp. Is that what Trixie had done? Squashed her with a rock? How bloodthirsty could a single mare be?

She was sucked out of Corey's head before the thought could continue, but her magic seemed to have worked. Corey shook his head, then blinked, eyes going from empty to panicky. "Twilight! She got her! She's gone!"

"Laney?" Twilight crouched down by the struggling stallion. "What happened exactly?"

Corey gulped, then the words flew out of his mouth as if on wings: "Trixie pushed her off the cliff!"

Fluttershy, who'd been very quiet up until now, burst into wet and messy tears.

"No," Applejack whispered.

"And I couldn't save her," Corey muttered, pounding a hoof against the cage's metal floor. "Twilight, there was nothing I could do…"

Twilight's head was pounding. On top of everything else that had gone wrong…Laney was dead? Trixie even worse than any of them had thought?

Rarity sniffed. "That's just horrid. What an awful thing for Trixie to do! I didn't expect she'd ever go as far as…" She didn't finish, but everypony knew what she was thinking.

"We're so sorry," Twilight said, patting Corey on the back. She felt a tear trickling down her face, but she quickly brushed it away. I have too many stored up tears and worries right now. I can grieve after we get out of here and stop Trixie.

The violet unicorn turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, I never knew I'd say this, but…keep testing those bars."

The Pegasus shook her head. "Wait…what?"

"Just do it," Twilight said firmly. "We aren't just doing this for Equestria anymore. She's taken down Laney, and I bet she's planning to conquer more universes as we speak. This is so much bigger than us, and we need to fight. We need to work together as a team again." Twilight's head snapped toward the Earth ponies. "Kon, AJ, you two help her."

Rainbow Dash saluted, then bolted into the air. "Sir, yes sir!"

Twilight grinned, as much as possible for a pony whose friend has just died. "Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy – I know you're upset, so am I – but you need to provide the distraction. Bother Snips, Snails, and that Earth mare as much as possible."

"Okey-dokey-lokey!" Pinkie said, gently pulling Fluttershy to her hooves.

"Rarity, Spike, you're with me. We're going to try and loosen some of the magic that's keeping these bars so strong." Twilight faced the bars, summoning every drop of power that was inside her and condensing it into her horn. She could feel the thick strength of the metal beneath her and above her and all around, the electric zing of the magic surrounding it, and the heavy breathing of everypony inside as they prepared to do their duty. Celestia on high, can we do it?

Rarity's horn activated, and she and Twilight immediately began to suck some of the power away from the cage's bars. Spike added a spurt of green fire, which Twilight knew would soften the bars and make them more susceptible to bending, if not breaking. "Go!" Twilight yelled.

BAM.

"Again!"

BAM.

"I wouldn't say no to a nice big creamy cream pie right about now –"

BAM.

A crack appeared in the metal, just a hairline crack, but it was progress –

BAM.

"We're almost there! Just a little more force might do it!" Twilight panted. "One – two – three – and –"

BAM.

CRASH.

Everypony was thrown back into the middle of the cage and stuck fast, completely frozen except for breathing and blinking. Twilight tried to move her foreleg, but she couldn't – it was as if somepony had glued it to her body.

"Nice try, all of you, but Trixie knows better than to leave the cage in the hooves of these incompetent fools without putting a silent magical alarm on it," the pale blue mare said, snapping the cracked bar back together without a tiny bit of effort. "Trixie supposes you thought that she was an idiot. Well, you were very, very wrong."

Someone, most likely Rainbow Dash, let out a muffle mmmph. Trixie whipped toward the cage and narrowed her eyes. "Trixie will appreciate some silence while she monologues, thank you," she snapped, horn flashing pale pink in a way that Twilight found much more threatening than it had before.

"Breaking this hole in the fabric of time and space did something to Trixie's magic," the mare continued, turning slightly to include her minions in the conversation. "When it happened, Trixie gained the ability to perform any spell she so desired. Her powers rival the princesses' now."

Twilight's eyes widened as much as they could through Trixie's immobility spell. If she could have moved, she would have been hyperventilating. Anypony with more power than Celestia and Luna would be more destructive than even Discord, and that was saying something. How could Equestria fight back against such a threat?

"Oh, Great and Powerful Trixie," Snips said hesitantly, "what are you going to do now?"

Trixie stepped nearer to a black disc that hung, suspended, in the middle of the clearing. She reached out a hoof to stroke the edges of the circle, which rippled like fabric caught in a breeze. "Oh, not so much really…Trixie's just going to use her newfound abilities to put on a show for the entire fabric of reality." Smiling nastily, the unicorn began to charge up her horn. "And for the opening act, Trixie thinks she'll start with – what was it called? Earth?"

Corey and Kon's eyes bugged out. Twilight could tell what they were thinking: She's already taken our best friend – not our universe, too!

Trixie shot a beam of energy straight into the heart of the vortex. It began to shimmer through all the colors of the rainbow, stretching at the edges with an awful tearing sound until it was big enough for a full-grown stallion to fit through. Without warning, a beam of light punched through the clearing, bright as the summer sun. Twilight couldn't see anything. It was if Equestria had simply disappeared from beneath their hooves.

A melody, soft and quiet as a cloud, drifted past Twilight's ears. Then the light faded.

Twilight and the others were back in the cage. Trixie's minions stood in a row next to it, as if they had never left. And Trixie herself was staring at the portal, in which swirled an image of a blue-and-green globe.

"Trina," she called. "Come here."

Twilight could only watch helplessly as the pink unicorn trotted over to stand by the blue one. "As Trixie promised, the Earth will be yours," Trixie said. "And if the creatures that live there ever defy you, they will have Trixie to answer to. Including the ones that are caged over there right now."

Corey whimpered, but Trixie and Trina didn't seem to hear him. "Finally, Nick Mallory will be mine!" Trina squealed, jumping up and down. "OMG, you have NO idea how much this means to me! Like, thanks and stuff!"

"Don't mention it," Trixie smirked, her eyes flashing with what looked like a red glow. "Now, which world does everyone want to see Trixie take over next?"

So, uh, hello again, faithful and first-time readers alike.

We know you want an explanation, and truthfully, we don't really have one. We've all just been so busy that there really wasn't time for writing through all the homework and other commitments.

We do feel bad about leaving you high and dry for so long again, but unfortunately, we can't make any promises as to whether Chapter Nineteen will be sooner or later. We will try our best, though, and we hope that last chapter's cliffhanger kept you coming back enough that you got to read this chapter!

Another shoutout to the people who kept reading even when there seemed to be no hope. You guys are the best.

And to our new friend the Wholocked Brony, I'm so glad you liked it and wanted more, and so sorry that you had to wait so long.

Don't forget to review, check our poll, and keep checking on us just in case. :3 With luck, we'll see you soon!