//------------------------------// // Ch 12: Breakout blitz // Story: The Elements of Chaos // by pixelbit5 //------------------------------// "Pixel!" Whisper huffed, her wings burning. "Please! We need to stop!" Pixel looked back towards his little bat friend, who was drooping lower and lower every second, threatening to fall in a heap to the ground. So, he slowly came to a stop, landing softly, kicking up a small cloud of dust. "Hey," he turned to face Whisper as she landed behind him. "you okay, Whisper? We can walk for a bit of you'd like." Whisper nodded, trying to get her breath back. "It's just…" Whisper coughed, noise echoing softly off the walls of the forever twisting hallways. "it feels like we've been flying for ages!" She massaged the cuts running over her chest, wincing. Time passed, neither of them moving, much less setting off as they'd said, not feeling up to anything, both a little disheartened. Whisper stared off into the distance, where she for the life of her couldn't see the end of the hallway. It seemed to just go on and on forever. Whisper continued to massage her cuts before turning to her friend, who was poking at his cracked glasses lens. "Pixel?" Whisper asked in a small voice. "Hm?" "Are we lost?" Pixel looked off in to the never-ending hallway, then back the way they came. Miles and miles of nondescript corridors stretched before him, a door or archway here or there, but otherwise identical. He sighed. "Yeah." He looked back to Whisper, meeting her eyes. "We're lost." It felt like they were going in circles, not getting anywhere. Heck, they'd retraced their mad rush out of the dungeons as best they could, but, if anything, it felt as if they were getting even further away. They were well and truly lost. Pixel turned with a sudden yell and punched the wall beside him at full force. It really didn't do much but hurt his wrist, but it made him feel just that little bit better. Get a bit of anger out. He stayed stock still, breathing angrily through clenched teeth. Whisper skittered back in surprise, her eyes wide as sparks seemed to fly from her friend. Pixel lowered his hoof and took a deep breath in, and out. His face softened again and he returned to normal once again. Whisper stepped tentatively back towards her friend as he straightened up. "I just don't know what to do…" she heard him say quietly, his voice strained. Whisper put a careful hoof on Pixel's withers, prompting him to stare right at her, his eyes discouraged, sad even, devoid of all hope. "Maybe we can still make our way out of this?" she said, squeezing his shoulder. "Maybe." Pixel sighed, disheartened. He continued to stare at the ground, empty, ears splayed back. "Pixel?" Whisper tried. "Hm?" Pixel grumbled, not really caring at this point. "Pixel, look at me." Pixel turned to look at Whisper hoof still on his shoulder. "I might have a way to find the dungeons." Pixel's ears flicked up and his eyes lit up. "Wait, what, really?" Whisper smiled and nodded. "Well why didn't you tell me this earlier?!" Pixel said with a grin, getting a bit skittish. "Come on then bud, let's go!" he exclaimed, waving a hoof for Whisper to follow, but looking over to the young thestral, there was obviously something wrong. "Okay," he said, tapping a hoof impatiently. "what's the catch?" Whisper grimaced. "It might help us find the Princesses… but…" Pixel raised an eyebrow. "It will mean that Twilight will be able to find us too…" Pixel nodded, brushing back his mane and letting out a huff, conflicted. "So wait," Pixel cantered back over to Whisper. "how does this work, some sort of magic map or something?" he inquired. Whisper coughed. "Well you know how bats can use echolocation?" she mumbled. "Yeah, but I don't see how tha-" But Pixel was hit by a sudden wave of realisation. "Oh! Right! Ah! Yes!" he started trotting in circles. "Wait, batponies can do that?" he turned to Whisper with a questioning frown. Whisper just nodded, meeting his frown with a neutral expression. Pixel nodded again. "Well, it's our best bet, and I really don't want to starve to death down here, so I say we give it a shot!" Pixel broke out into an optimistic grin. "Wait," Whisper shuffled her hoof into the ground. "I don't want to do this until you're sure…" "But do you want to do this?" Pixel asked. Whisper stared at the cold hard floor beneath them as she felt Pixel put his hoof on her withers, as she had done for him. "I don't want to do this, but I feel like I have to…" Whisper murmured. "But I… I… don't want to die down here…" She began to tremble again, anxiety building. Pixel pulled Whisper closer to him with a wing. "Hey, just remember, nopony's making you do this." he spoke. "If you want, we can just keep on going and hope for the best!" It was clear though that Pixel was only trying to make Whisper feel better if she decided not to go through with it. Without it, they would most likely continue wandering around down here for the rest of their lives. The two shared yet another moment of silence as Whisper came to a decision. Whisper looked up from the ground and looked right into her friend's eyes. "I'm going to do it." she said somewhat confidently. "But when I do, get ready to run. We have no idea how close Twilight is." Pixel nodded and let go of Whisper, ready to dash in either direction. "Okay, ready?" Whisper murmured anxiously. "Yeah. Whenever you're good." Whisper stood up as straight as she could, widening her stance and reaching inside herself, digging around inside until she found what she was looking for. She took in a breath, and let it go. An air shattering shriek filled the air, forcing Pixel down on to the ground, ears squashed against his head, teeth gritted. The sound seemed to reverberate through every single atom of the veritable catacombs under the castle of friendship, almost shaking it to its core. Whisper gasped and coughed for a second before turning and bolting off past Pixel. "This way! Come on! Quickly!" Pixel was all too happy to oblige, still trying to work the ringing out of his ears as he lifted off the ground, following Whisper as she navigated the corridors effortlessly, eyes closed, only working on sound. "I hope you know what you're doing, buddy." Pixel mumbled as he followed Whisper around yet another series of corners. "What was that?" Pastel's ears perked up, swivelling to try and find the source or the sound. "What was what?" Ember complained as she dug through a large wooden crate filled with various types of magical paints, really not caring in the slightest. The two were alone together, searching a small side room for anything that might be useful, while the others were next door tossing together something to eat from what they had found. It had been a few hours since they had been fed back in their cells after all. Ember levered the lids off of a few cans with her teeth, casting the lids aside and peering into the cans. "Okay, let's see what we have here. We have speedy paint, bouncy paint, paint that will give you cancer, I don't even want to know what that one is, and a bucket filled with wood shavings." "Can you do anything with those?" asked Pastel, who was slowly picking her way through a crate full of multi-coloured feathers. Ember groaned. "No…" Closing the crate, she sat down on the hard, cold floor, resting for a moment. "I can only get a reaction sometimes. And when I do, nine times out of ten I'm not even trying!" "Wait, really?" Pastel raised an eyebrow. "What about back in the cell?" Ember shrugged. "A hunch?" "Plot convenience?" Pastel offered somewhat unhelpfully. "…Yeah, no, let's go with hunch." she muttered, running a hoof through her hair. "Granted it was a good hunch, but still... It seems that I can hardly make anything when I want to, and when I don't, everything just goes up in smoke!" she sighed. "After all my life, you'd think I'd actually be better at this sort of thing. Heck, I made a flashbang out of a water balloon and a toothpick!" Ember chuckled, remembering. "Actually how I got this puppy." she pointed at her flank. "Wasn't a very good flashbang, but still." Pastel could see Ember's cutie mark, a gilded golden flame, now that she wasn't wearing her cloak. Now that she thought about it, Pastel hadn't seen Ember in her cloak in a while. Probably burnt to ashes or confiscated when they were thrown down here. Both mares sitting in silence for a second, Ember turned without a word and began to rifle through another crate, tossing anything she didn't deem valuable onto an ever-growing pile of useless junk, Pastel following suit. "Hey," Pastel turned to face Ember. "can you do anything with this?" Pastel held up a leathery orange sheet. "Wait, salamander skin?" Ember smiled. "This is great! Wait, I think I…" she trailed off, moving to a previously searched box. "I know I had… Ah-ha!" she pulled out a softly glowing yellow jar and held it in the air. "Liquid lightning!" She took both items and set them in the middle of the room, moving over to the junk pile. Digging through it for a few moments, she tossed a clump of moss with the other items. "Peat moss! Now, I need something a bit unstable…" she trailed off. "How about this?" Pastel asked, hoofing Ember a pouch full of a coarse powder, slowly changing colours. "I found it earlier, and I thought it looked pretty." Ember took one look inside and chucked it with the others, smiling. "I was going to keep it, but if you really need it…" Pastel trailed off, rolling a hoof in the air. "This is great, thanks!" Ember grinned. "I swear, you are on fire today, Pastel! Now if you could find me some sort of conductive residue, that would just take the cake." With a completely straight face, Pastel climbed onto one of the crates still nailed shut, turned to face the maroon earth pony, lifted a hind leg, and bucked one of the glowing crystals illuminating the storeroom, smashing it to pieces. An eyebrow raised, Ember watched as the cyan earth pony pulled a glob of mauve goo out of what remained in the wall. "Conductive residue." she stated with a smug grin. "You are welcome." Ember stared, dumbstruck. "Okay, how are you doing that?" she asked, graciously taking the glob from Pastel. Pastel shrugged. "I notice things." Ember nodded. "Yeah, but what about that?" she gestured to the divot in the wall where the glowing crystal had been. "Well, the magic in the crystal has to come from somewhere, doesn't it? That-" Pastel gestured at the glob in Embers hooves. "-is magical wiring." "Huh." Ember moved to grab the rest of the items. "Well, we better get back to the others." And with that, the two trotted through the door and out into the dimly lit hallways. "You're a little overpowered, you know that?" "Mhm." Princess Luna stared at the ceiling through tearful eyes. She lay still, having given up struggling hours ago. All it was doing was wearing her out. She lay strapped to a cold metal examination table, a single flickering light hanging above her. The entire room had a certain uneasiness about it, a veil of dread and anticipation hanging loosely over her. She focused on her breathing, trying in vain to calm herself. The truth was, she was scared. But not just afraid, but utterly terrified. She was unable to do anything; she was completely helpless. Her wings and hooves were restrained, her magic blocked, and she could hardly move her head in either direction. For all she knew, this room could go on forever. All she wanted was her dearest sister, to be held in her hooves once again as she tried to get as much rest as she could in these never-ending catacombs. But even if she did find a way to escape, she wouldn't have any idea how to find her way back to her sister. She couldn't even remember the route that Twilight had taken if she tried. It seemed that Twilight had gotten fed up with her kicking and screaming, so one sleep spell was all it took to silence her. The first thing she saw when she finally managed to pull herself awake was the manic grin of a crazed Twilight, scalpel in hoof. And she was about to plunge it deep into her chest before Luna heard a crash from upstairs, followed by a distinctly male voice yelling for Twilight, demanding she show herself. Twilight had obviously heard it too, as she threw down her tools and stormed out of the room towards the invader, grumbling angrily under her breath. Luna guessed she should be thankful, but all that the stallion had accomplished for her was to prolong the inevitable. Luna had laid there, tears silently welling in her eyes for what must have been hours upon hours, alone with herself. Occasionally she could hear something echo through the winding halls, a bang rocking the foundations of the castle, or a high-pitched screech piercing the silence and ringing in her ears. She really didn't want to think about that one. Luna could only wonder what was going on up there, back on the surface. She sighed. She missed the moon, her moon, more than anything. What she wouldn't give to see it again. Just once. But now, there was no way of knowing if she ever would again. Luna's ears perked up as she heard the large metal door grind open. She tensed, shutting her eyes tight as she prepared for what she knew was to come. The shine of a knife, the pain of torn flesh. Luna's ears swivelled as she followed the sounds of hoofsteps, getting closer and closer by the second. Soon, her captor would be upon her. Luna gritted her teeth as she resigned herself to her fate. "Princess Luna?" Luna raised an eyebrow. She didn't have any idea who it was standing behind her, but it certainly wasn't Twilight. First off, it sounded nothing like Twilight, sounding more like her friend Fluttershy if anything, and second, Twilight would never call her by her title except out of spite, much preferring 'useless' or 'disgrace to Equestria'. "We're here to rescue you." Luna relaxed slightly, cracking open an eye. She tried to turn her head to this new pony, but it was still bound to the table, leaving her to stare straight up at the ceiling. Rescue. It was something she had feared would never come. Of what importance was she? Sure, she could move the moon, but her sister had done that for a thousand years by herself. She had been all but forgotten; a whisper on the wind. What was stopping that from happening again? *CLANG!* The shackle holding Luna's right forehoof to the table fell away, letting her finally work the sleep out of her arm. "Thank you…" she murmured, her mouth dry. Luna continued to flex her hoof as a still unseen pony worked on undoing her head brace. Slipping the heavy leather strap off her forehead, short blue mane stripped of all magical properties falling into her eyes, Luna was able to lift her head and take a look at her saviours. One, a white pegasus with a bright blue mane and black-rimmed glasses, was busying himself buy clumsily picking the locks on her shackles with one of his own feathers. He obviously had almost no idea what he was doing, but be it learned skill or dumb luck, he managed to unlock the second shackle. The other pony, a dark purple thestral with a white and mint green mane had continued on her head, trying as hard as she could to pry Luna's inhibitor off with a claw, slitted eyes squinting in determination. "Are you okay Princess?" the pegasus asked. Luna stared blankly for a second before fully registering the question, and nodding weakly. "Yes… I am…" she murmured, seeming a little distant. "Thank you… Thank you so much…" Whisper grunted as she was finally able to pull Luna's inhibitor off, it flying backwards out of her hooves and hitting the wall behind her. Luna could feel her magic slowly returning to her, mana beginning to flow back into her veins. Pushing what little magic she now had into her horn, Luna carefully unlocked the remaining shackles, allowing her to finally go free. She sat up and groaned as her stiff limbs cried out in a dull ache. Slipping off the examination table, she finally let her hooves touch the ground, but let out a pained breath as her legs almost buckled beneath her. Quickly, both her saviours held her up with their bodies, allowing her to at least try to regain her strength. "Thank you, my little ponies." she repeated, beginning to sound like a broken record. "May I ask your names?" "I'm Pixel Bit, and she's Whisper." the blue pegasus answered, introducing them both. Whisper shifted, trying to keep the alicorn up, having a bit of trouble due to how short she was compared to the Princess. "We were sent by Princess Cadence-" she grunted, shifting again. "-to fix Princess Twilight." Luna nodded, beginning to stand up straighter and lean away from the support of the two ponies. "Am I correct in assuming that your endeavours were fruitless?" Pixel nodded, stepping away from the Princess, letting her stand on her own. "Yeah. Apparently we were supposed to be the new elements of harmony or something like that, but I'm pretty sure Cadence was wrong about the whole thing." Luna nodded slowly, just letting the silence of the room drag on for a bit. She took a tentative step forwards, testing her legs. Her legs ached, but were otherwise completely fine. She headed towards the door. "Have either of you seen my sister?" she asked, stepping slowly out into the dimly lit hallway, ponies in tow. Whisper shook her head. "No. You were the first we found." Luna frowned. "I see…" she uttered, eyes downcast. Pixel followed Luna out the door, closing it behind him. "Don't worry, Whisper can find her! Right Wisp?" Whisper gave a bashful smile and nodded, taking a deep breath in. "You might want to cover your ears for-" Pixel insisted before his eyes caught a dark purple smudge in the distance. Before anyone had a chance to think, Pixel clamped his hoof over Whisper's mouth and tackled both her and Luna through an open doorway and into one of the many side rooms lining the hallway. Scampering into the shadows, Pixel kept his hoof held tightly over Whisper's mouth, watching as Twilight flew into view before stopping in the air and glancing down the various hallways. Right now, Pixel was glad that he had shoved the others into a room without lights, making the three ponies almost invisible. Twilight continued to hover in the air for a few seconds, time seeming to stretch out, mere moments seeming like hours. Which a scowl, Twilight finally darted down one of the corridors and off into the catacombs under her castle. With the danger momentarily gone, Pixel let out a breath that he hadn't known he had been holding, releasing his hoof off of Whisper's muzzle. With Pixel's hoof finally removed, Whisper quietly coughed and spluttered, gasping for air. Luna clumsily got to her hooves again, moving to peer out the doorway after the long-gone Twilight. "You two alright?" Pixel asked quietly, helping Whisper up. Both mares nodded, letting silence reign over them once again. "That was much too close..." Luna fretted, turning away from the door and sparking her horn in a futile attempt to light up the room. After trying for a few seconds, Luna gave up and settled for the futile light emanating from the slightly open door, that barely managed to light up the first few feet of the room. It would seem that her magic had yet to return to her. The room seemed empty, just as many others in the catacombs were, seemingly left vacant as it really had no purpose other than to take up space. "We have to be more careful." Pixel muttered. "Twilight is still out there, and Celestia knows what she'll so when she gets a hold of us…" Luna winced, turning away for a second before Pixel realised exactly what he had just said. "Sorry…" "We'll find her." Whisper moved to comfort Luna, folding a wing over her back. Well, she tried at least, as Princess Luna was about three times her size, and her wing only managed to awkwardly caress Luna's belly. Luna nodded grimly, sitting down where she stood. "I'm sure we will…" Luna said slowly, though it was clear that she was having trouble believing it. "We should rest for a bit." Pixel sighed. "Get our strength back." The group said nothing, but a silent agreement was made as they all moved into the shadows, Whisper curling up, huddled in the ceiling, Luna and Pixel sitting below, wings curled around themselves. Soon, the only sounds were of light breathing and the occasional rumble from the depths of the catacombs. "Thank you…" Luna said one last time before she finally let herself relax, feeling magic begin to slowly run back into her systems. Sunlight's horn glowed brightly as she tried to keep the small storeroom lit up in her fluorescent green aura. Shadows shifted as she walked between open crates, levitating out various foodstuffs and inspecting them, from apples to oats, bread to beans. Most, of course, had spoiled after being neglected down here for so long, but so far Sunlight had managed to find a couple cans of creamed corn, and some surprisingly edible apples. Not much, but it would do. Suddenly, dull mauve light filled the room as the door ground open, scaring the living daylights out of the unicorn. Eyes wide, she turned to the doorway, only to relax at the sight of Ember and Pastel striding triumphantly into the room. "Hey girls." she sighed in relief, heart-rate slowly returning to normal. Both Earth ponies met her with a 'hey'. "Find anything useful?" Sunlight asked, walking over to slowly close the door, leaving only her horn to light up the room. Ember nodded with a smirk. "Yeah! We got a lot of really good stuff!" She dumped all of her materials onto the floor. "Salamander skin, liquid lightning, it's all here! I can probably make something pretty sweet with all of this!" Sunlight gave a little chuckle as Ember started to lazily piece her materials together, messing about with them and seeing what came of it. "Where's Bass?" Pastel asked, grinding the door closed, leaving Sunlight's florescent green aura to light up the room. "Wasn't he here with you?" Sunlight visibly flinched. "He..." she hesitated, sighing. "Bass left... I couldn't stop him. I'm sorry..." Pastel's throat caught. "He's out there all on his own?" she asked, her voice strained. Sunlight nodded solemnly. "What if Princess Twilight finds him!?" Pastel was openly panicking now, slowly pacing back and forth in the soft green light. "I need... I need to find him, I..." Pastel never got to finish that sentence, as Ember had strode calmly up to the panicking mare and slapper her across the face. As Pastel recoiled from the blow, she brought her goof up to her cheek, staring wide-eyed at Ember, while Ember simply stared back, unamused. "You were rambling." she said simply, shrugging. Sunlight, coughed, grabbing the attention of the other two mares. "So... We good?" She asked, eyebrow raised and ready to step between the other two at a moment's notice. Pastel vacantly nodded, still running her cheek and mumbling something unintelligible. "Well," Ember chimed, pointing towards her junk pile. "I think I'll just go work on my bomb now." She didn't wait for a response before she moved towards the edge of the room to work in peace. "I'll try not to blow you two up." So after Sunlight quickly made sure Pastel was okay, the room eventually lapsed into an ever-familiar silence, an uneasy tension hanging over the three mares, the only sounds being Ember clumsily pricing together their only hope for escape. She felt slightly guilty about hitting Pastel, but she was being annoying, and she really couldn't have Pastel breaking down in tears right then. Was it mean? Yeah, yeah it was, but it had worked, hadn't it? She wasn't mewling about that stupid stallion anymore, was she? Just needed another taste of reality. As Ember ground up the peat moss in her hooves and put it into the rainbow powder's pouch, carefully mixing it in, she could only hope that her lucky streak would continue. Pixel, Whisper, and Luna trotted briskly down one of the many winding corridors in this annoying labyrinth. They had only rested for maybe ten minutes, but Luna had claimed that her magic had returned in full force, and she was ready to set out into the dungeons once again. Though Luna claimed to be fine though, Pixel was skeptical. Something about the way she carried herself, head held a little too high, strides a little too long, it just felt off to the pegasus. But really, there was nothing he could do but follow behind her as Whisper lead the way. As for Whisper, seeing as they had all agreed that getting her to screech her lungs out was probably a bad idea, seeing as Twilight had already gotten frighteningly close once before and they didn't want another encounter like that, Whisper had decided to tone down the volume. Now, instead of screaming as loud as she could and following the echoes, she was now releasing a continuous 'eeeee' that scanned the immediate area, including behind doors and around corners. Apparently, it was some form of batpony communication that Pixel didn't really understand. A bonus of this was that it could hardly be heard unless you knew what you were listening for, or you were right on top of it, meaning the chances of Twilight finding them because of it were fairly slim. A downside though, was that the noise made Pixel fairly uncomfortable. He was willing to put up with it though, if it meant that they could find Princess Celestia sooner, and hopefully escape these endless winding corridors. Princess Luna stumbled, using a flutter of her wings to right herself with a soft grunt. Whisper glanced back, but said nothing and continued scanning the doorways as they passed. Pixel frowned, raising his hoof to say something, but lowering it a second later with a dismissive shake of his head. She wouldn't listen to anything he had to say, her desire to find her sister was too strong. Pixel could imagine how she felt, being separated from the one she cared about most. Sure, he hadn't had his older sister taken away by a mentally unstable alicorn, but really, who had? This wasn't exactly a common occurrence. Luna clencher her teeth as she felt a headache coming on. Her magic was returning, yes, but it hut. With this new influx of magical energy rushing into her mana pool all at once, it made her dizzy. But she couldn't let it get the best of her; she would not falter in her mission. Her senses dulled as she diligently pushed on, staring through a bad case of tunnel vision. She had to find her sister, no matter what. Twilight had gone absolutely mad, driven to hurt anyone to make Celestia suffer. Luna was lucky Twilight was pulled away when she was, or Luna might be no better than a surgical cadaver, lying dead on that cool metal table. The thought made her shudder, and she couldn't bring herself to think about how Celestia would react, slumped over her sister's beaten corpse, sobbing into her mane. A single tear escaped Luna's eye, weather from fear, pain, or thoughts that she hoped to Faust would not come to fruition, the world would never know. Whisper stopped moving, almost being bowled over by an unfocused princess and a zoned-out pegasus. She coughed quietly as her 'eeeee' came to an end. The lack of sound was deafening, the small team having grown used to the constant high pitched whine after a couple minutes. Pixel peeked over Whisper's shoulder as she stood in front of a door. It looked just like any other in the dungeons, a cold metal slab, a small, barred window with a shutter that kept the room inside in a constant state of gloom. "Is she…" Luna faltered, a tiny smile slowly making its way onto her lips. "Is Celestia here?" Whisper nodded. "Maybe. There's someone in there, but it might not be Princess Celestia." Pixel moved to stand between Luna and the door. "We should be ready to fly if it's not." he said, flaring his wings to emphasise. Luna nodded and muttered a confirmation under her breath. Satisfied, Pixel nodded to Whisper to open the door, the metal grinding on the rocky stone ground. "Sister?" Luna whispered, flaring her wings, ready for escape in case things went screwy. "Are you in here?" The small group peered into the gloom for a moment before they heard the rustling of chains, and a pair of violet eyes peered back, half-lidded and broken. As the door was pushed slowly open, more of the beaten figure was unveiled. A filthy, off-white coat, broken wings and a blackened eye now marked what had once been the protector of Equestria for a hundred generations. As Celestia looked up at her younger sister and the two ponies she carried with her, her eyes few wide. "Lulu?" She asked quietly, sitting up straighter and leaning towards the door. Luna nodded, and with tears in her eyes, moved over to stand before her sister. She smiled, her knees shaking, before she gave in and let herself fall into her sister's embrace. Luna relished in the feeling of her sister's hooves wrapped around her, weak as the hold was. As she nuzzled into Celestia's breast, Luna absently sparked her horn, quickly undoing her sister's locks and inhibitor, freeing the raw skin underneath. That little spark of magic sent pangs through her brain, worsening her headache, but right at that moment, as she felt her sister's limp body fall onto her, Celestia grinning wide, her eyes flooded with tears, Luna couldn't possibly care any less. "I thought…" Celestia wheezed, wrapping her forehooves around her little Lulu ever tighter. "I thought you were gone… I was so scared…" "Me!?" Luna fretted. "What has happened to you!?" Luna looked over her sister's body and was able to see a plethora of scratches, bruises, and a veritable pool of dried blood running down Celestia's side. But most pressing to the younger alicorn, was the black eye and broken wings. Luna silently sweared that she would send Twilight to Tartarus for this, or whatever force held dominion over her; she would not rest until they were laid at her hooves, begging for mercy from a mare that would give none. "I am fine…" Celestia said, her voice strained. Though it was evident to everypony in the room that their princess was in fact not fine. Far from it in fact. Luna saw this, but nodded anyway. "Can you stand?" she asked, offering a hoof. Celestia nodded and accepted the hoof, but she had hardly gotten off the ground before her legs gave out and she fell, breathing heavy and pained. "Princess, I-" Pixel spoke up, before being silenced with a hoof from Celestia. "I'm fine." she said sharply. "Just let me…" Staggering, she levered herself up using her sister a support, resting most of her weight on Luna, who was, in turn, leaning on Celestia. As they supported each other, they started toward the door and into the light, nuzzling into one another. "Do you think they're going to be okay?" Whisper said, only loud enough for Pixel to hear. Pixel simply shrugged. "They've got each other, so I guess?" He turned to walk out the door after the two alicorn princesses. "I mean, they've survived this long together, so there must be some sort of dynamic there." "Eh, good enough…" Whisper muttered as she followed after the group, shutting the door behind her once she was out in the hallway. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna watched as Whisper moved in front and stared scanning the hallways, letting loose another quiet 'eeeee'. "I'm so glad I have you back, Lulu." Celestia said quietly as she leant into her sister's side, hanging a limp and broken wing over Luna's back. "As am I, Tia…" Luna smiled. "As am I." "You know, I'm worried about the others…" Sunlight confessed to Pastel. "Whisper and Pixel, I sent them into the most dangerous part of the castle, and Bass, well, I can't help but feel that his leaving was my fault…" Pastel put a tentative hoof on Sunlight's shoulder. "I'm sorry?" she offered. "No, it's fine. I just think that we should have found a way to keep in touch." Sunlight wilted, her shoulders slumping where she sat. "And how are they going to get back to us?" she sighed. "Why did anypony ever listen to me? My plan was horrible…" Pastel smirked. "You came up with it on the spot. It was bound to have a couple holes." she offered, getting up and trotting around the room. "I guess you're right…" Sunlight said quietly. "But that doesn't fix what has happened." Pastel chuckled. "Let's just focus on getting out of here. You can mope when we're back in The Crystal Empire." Sunlight nodded before turning her head behind her. "Ember!" she called into the darkness. "How's the bomb going!?" Ember walked quietly within range of Sunlight's magelight, setting down a fully completed bomb. "Actually, I finished about five minutes ago," she stated matter-of-factly. "but you guys were having a moment, so I decided not to ruin it." You could practically hear the snark hanging in the air, and frankly, it was annoying Sunlight. "Well, if you're all done with it, then we should find a wall that leads outside." Sunlight said, gingerly taking the bomb in her telekinesis. "Then the only thing we need to worry about is finding the others, then we can get out of here." Pastel shrugged. "They'll probably turn up sooner or later, plot convenience and all." Sunlight smiled. "Well," she said slowly, sounding somewhat sceptical. "everything's worked out pretty well so far, so I'm willing to go along with that theory for a little bit if it helps us out…" Pastel grinned and gave Sunlight a light punch in the arm. "There y'go Blissy! Just let everything go its course! Everything'll be fine!" Pastel trotted over to the door, wrenching it open, letting the soft violet light fill the room. Sunlight cast aside her magelight, letting it dissipate as she followed Pastel out the door, gesturing Ember to follow. "So…" Sunlight muttered only loud enough for the others to hear. "I guess we just find a wall leading outside and blast our way out, right?" Ember nodded. "Should punch a hole right through." Ember paused, thinking. "Or fizzle almost instantly, trapping us in here forever to either starve or be blasted into atoms by a psyco princess. It's kind of a fifty-fifty shot." "Not very encouraging." Pastel deadpanned. "But speaking of encouraging, here comes our plot convenience!" Pastel stopped walking and waved her hoof down one of the numerous side passages, smiling like an idiot. Stopping with her, both mares began to stare at Pastel, a little confused as to what she was going on about. But then, ears swivelling, they heard it. A small, high-pitched whine that, once you heard it, cut through the relative silence like nothing else. Ember wondered if she ever would have heard it if Pastel hadn't pointed it out, but more importantly, how in Celestia's name Pastel had heard it in the first place. But, just as quickly as it had appeared, the whine abruptly cut out. Pastel's smile wavered as she turned and walked a few steps into the passage. "Whisper, it's us." she stated simply. Nothing. Pastel sighed. "Come on Whisper, you're making me look bad." Slowly though, a dark purple muzzle slowly crept around the corner, followed by a tentative hoof and deep red eyes. Whisper visibly relaxed once she laid eyes on the small group of ponies assembled before her, gesturing to the group of her own, who followed her as she walked to meet back up with the others. As Whisper walked off to the side of the group and Pixel annoyedly accepted a hug from Sunlight, Celestia and Luna had been left respectfully off to the side, simply enjoying each other's embrace. The group stayed together, casually chatting and revelling in the feeling of being united once again. The conversations warm and, for the first time since this whole debacle had begun, more or less free of the constant overhanging stress of being re-captured by Twilight. Actually, it was a real miracle that Twilight hadn't found them right then and there, as they really weren't making any effort to conceal themselves, even going as far as to stand literally right in the middle of the hallway. But then again, an alicorn attack really would have ruined the moment. But of course, there was one pony that couldn't enjoy the moment like the rest of them. Ember cleared her throat loudly, shocking everypony in the hallway out of their warm and fuzzy stupors. "Well, this is nice and all, but if it's okay with everyone, I'd like to go blow stuff up already." The group let out a collective sigh as they all nodded and begun to move again, following Ember, who had started walking off without them. As they caught up, Sunlight spoke up. "Okay, We should split up again to search for a wall that we can-" "Shhhhhhhhhhhh…" Sunlight found herself cut short as Ember held her hoof against Sunlight's lips, rudely silencing her. "Blissy," she started. "the help is appreciated, but please shut up. I've handled it. There's a crumbling wall in one of the cells down the hall." "Wait, how did-" Sunlight began before she found herself silenced yet again. "I got bored of the stupid cuddle party and wondered off, that's how. Seriously, you were at it for over five minutes. Now are we done here, or can we finally get going?" Sunlight raised her hoof to object reply, but lowered it and simply nodded, waving her hoof for Ember to continue down the hall. Smirking, Ember led the small group through the maze that was the lower levels of Twilight's castle. Soon, they came across an open door that lead into a room like many of the others. One major difference though, was that the back wall was cracked, letting small amounts of the never-ending sunlight stream through. Roots seemed to spider in through the cracks, as if a tree had decided to have its way with the cold crystal wall intruding on its home. "Whoa…" Pixel whispered, hardly loud enough for even himself to hear. It felt as if it had been ages since he had seen the sun. He stepped into the small beam of sun, feeling it flow through him. He was so close, and he wasn't about to give up now. Celestia stared through the crack, eyes wide in the same kind of wonder you would see on the face of a filly on Hearths Warming day. After all this time, there it was. Her sun. Her beautiful, beautiful sun. Even through her broken wings and blackened eye, she broke out in a smile, tears beading at the corners of her eyes. Throat catching, she began to happily son into Luna's neck, who began stroking her mane as she supported her older sister. "There it is." Sunlight murmured. Taking the bomb in her levitation, she set it down at the base of the wall, stepping slowly away. "We should probably get back…" Pastel announced, and was met with a round of murmurs and nods. Sunlight led everypony out the door and behind the wall, helping along Luna and Celestia, who was still happily tearful. "Would you like to do the honours?" Ember inquired Sunlight. Sunlight simply smiled. "I'd love to." Sending her magic up and through her horn, Sunlight focused her aura around the fuse of the bomb, sparking it. Everypony there could hear the fuse tick down, until the hissing sound quieted, and air pressure built. A loud bang ruptured through the catacombs, sending rubble flying out the door of the little side room and scattering in the hallway. Dust flew through the air as the noise from the blast rung through everypony's ears. As the last couple pebbles rolled to a stop, Sunlight peered around the doorframe to see a gaping hole in the wall before them, rays of sun streaming through, jagged vegetation clearly visible through the hole that, moments before, had been a more-or-less solid wall. Slowly trotting back into the room, Sunlight stepped into the large beam of sun that spattered the ground, feeling its rays warm her coat. The blast had left a pile of rubble and dirt from the outside forest to tumble down into the now vacant space, making an unstable ramp of sorts that led out into the open. "Well," Luna smiled up at the sun, nuzzling her sister softly. "shall we proceed?" "Wait!" Pastel spoke up. "What about Bass? We can't just leave without him!" Whisper coughed quietly, grabbing Pastel's attention. "I… I could try and find him?" Pixel shrugged. "She does a thing." He said to Pastel. They were met with an uneasy nod from Pastel. "I guess it's worth a shot... give it a whirl!" Whisper looked to Sunlight, who nodded, a 'why not' look on her face. So, she let loose another shrill cry that ran through the corridors of the Castle of friendship. Everyone's ears flattened against their skulls as the noise rocked the ground beneath them. As the nose began to die down and the echoes began to sound, Whisper's ears swivelled wildly. Her expression turned grim and her eyes widened. "I..." She mumbled, mostly to herself. "No, that can't be right, I-" She was cut off when a pair of dark grey hooves stepped forward out of the hallway, only them and the tip of a muzzle visible. With the bright light now streaming in from behind them, the group could only barely see the outline of a pony. Anything past his hooves and muzzle though, was lost to the relative darkness. "Bass!" Pastel exclaimed, jumping forward. But she was soon stopped by Whisper's hasty hoof. For one reason or another, she really didn't want anyone getting close to him. Bass gritted his teeth, unmoving. "I'm sorry..." He said stiffly. Sunlight smiled. "Bass, is this about earlier? Because if it is, just know that I don't hold anything against-" She never got to finish that thought. "Oh, this is rich!" A voice rang through the group, sending chills up their backs despite the warm sunlight. "Such sentiment! Such pure, unbridled affection! This, ladies and gentlecolts, is true friendship!" Bass was pushed forward roughly, his hooves giving beneath him and falling bodily to the floor. As his form entered the light, the ponies before him could now see a large magic shackle biting into his neck, a familiar transparent green. "How ironic" Twilight sneered, floating softly into view. "that all of the values that I once stood for wholeheartedly, I would come to utterly despise." Everypony held their ground, despite the fact that most felt like running as fast and far as they could, trying as hard as possible to get out. And escape was so close! It would have been easy, just turn, run, and don't look back… But, for a reason that nopony could place, maybe fear, determination, or some other random quality, they stayed. "But look at you!" Twilight continued, tugging at the magical chain connecting Bass solidly to her hoof, eliciting an undignified yelp from the pony in question. "Banded together, working as a unit, all desperately trying to escape… Well done, by the way, colour me impressed." "Wh-what are you going to do to Bass!?" Pastel yelled, her voice breaking. Twilight chuckled. "Well, seeing as he tried to kill me earlier, plus the little incident in the dungeons," Bass shrunk away as Twilight spoke, squeezing his eyes shut, as if he was trying to disappear completely. "I was thinking maybe some light torture, maybe a red hot iron, y'know, whatever I'm in the mood for, really." All the while, Twilight's malicious grin remained apon her muzzle as she pondered what to do as she slowly killed what had become an annoying little thorn in her side. "Wait! You can't! I… I…" Sunlight fretted, her throat choking up as she tried to find a way to rectify the situation. "Take me instead!!!" she cried, eyes welling up as she shot forward, standing before a mildly surprised Twilight. Twilight raised an eyebrow, slightly loosening her grip on Bass' magical chain. "I…" Sunlight stuttered as the full weight of what she had just said began to dawn on her. "I would be of more use to you… And I couldn't bear to see someone else get hurt… Anyone else…" Black Bass was now looking up at Sunlight Bliss, who now stood beside him, teeth clenched, tears beginning to roll down the sides of her face. Bass looked up at Sunlight, eyes wide. What was she doing? She was going to get them both killed! Why endanger the both of them if it gained nothing? And why the hell would she put herself before Twilight for him of all ponies? He had done nothing but ridicule her since he had met her… Was he really worth trying to save? Even if it was sure to end in failure? Twilight chuckled darkly, her smile growing ever wider, almost to the point of being unnatural. "A noble act…" she said as she considered. "Very well," she announced. "I shall accept your offer!" Instantly, the sickly green shackle around Bass' neck vanished, leaving him to cough violently as he was able to finally breathe fully again. Though, at the same time, the shackle moved to around Sunlight's neck, causing her to choke as she was pulled beneath Twilight's feet. Twilight laughed as she stared at Sunlight, looking straight down into her scared, emerald eyes. Oh, those beautiful emerald eyes… Sunlight slowly pulled herself up until she could stare into Twilight's murky green eyes herself, trying to show herself to be stronger than she felt. "Now," Twilight started as she charged her horn. But she hesitated, her smile wavering somewhat, but it was gone before anyone knew it was there. "get out. Leave, never to return, or I promise you that you will die." Nopony there needed to be told twice, Pixel and Whisper flittering up to help the land-locked up the unstable heap of rocks and out into the forest outside, each giving special attention to Princess Celestia, who seemed to have zoned out, numb to the entire situation. As soon as the entire group had been helped outside and Celestia had been given back to her sister, Twilight began to retreat back into the relative darkness of her castle, her sickly green aura encompassing the pile of rubble and levitating it back into place, rebuilding the wall, solid as when they had started. As the very last piece of the wall was sealed back into place, Pixel watched as Sunlight was pulled around the corner and out of sight, Twilight's psychotic laugh ringing in his ears. And so Twilight's magic locked the last piece of the puzzle back into place, stealing Sunlight from them for what could have been the final time.