A/N: Another short chapter. I still have to build some stuff, so some chapter may seem short, but they'll get longer in time. Edited by frieD195!
Twilight gawked at the strange world as she trotted out of the town she used to live in. This... World reminded her of the mindset of a 4-year old filly with so many colours. But those thoughts were diminished as soon as she thought of the sadistic beast behind it all. Discord was a force not to be trifled with, as that was something her father had always told her.
The draconequus scared the mare greatly. Who wouldn’t fear the beast who had enslaved ponykind and laughed in the face of their suffering? Twilight shook her head and made sure to avoid the soap-ridden paths. She stopped in her tracks as one single thought appeared in her head.
’Where should I go?’ The young mare tried to think of an answer for that question. She knew that there were no maps of the land, due to the constant changes made by the draconequus in charge of their world. To make things even worse, she had never actually been outside like she was right now. Her father had always walked with her, never letting her out of his sight. Twilight settled on walking toward a forest in the distant. She hoped that she would perhaps find another settlement there and start rallying for her cause.
As she started walking, she noticed that many of the buildings she saw were abandoned and some were even destroyed. Most ponies kept a tight bond to each other and never allowed any outsiders. The forest grew bigger and more ominous with every step the unicorn took. She noticed three other ponies standing by the path leading into the forest, talking to each other. She smiled and trotted a little faster, as she thought that those ponies could help her.
A rustle from a nearby bush made the mare jump slightly, and then stare at the bush in confusion. She couldn’t believe her ears as a voice came from it. ’‘Psst! Hey, you!’’ Twilight looked around, still confused. ’‘Get over here before they noticed you’’ The voice hissed. The unicorn gulped and took a cautious step forward. ’’Oh for the love of...’’ A purple clawed arm stretched out from the bush and grabbed hold of Twilight’s left foreleg and pulled her inside.
Before she could scream in terror, the same clawed hand covered her mouth. A pitiful whimper escaped the terrified mare. The creature hushed and moved a part of the bush with its other hand, making some light shine through. The light that shone through revealed the face of the culprit who had pulled her into the bush.
She saw a purple scaled face with emerald green irises and slitted pupils. On its head were green spines. Her eyes widened as she realized what was in front of him. It was a dragon. A real, living dragon! She had read about dragons in some old books, but she had never seen a real one before.
’‘What are you staring at?’’ The dragon crossed his arms and frowned. ’’I know that I look good, but just don’t stare at me for too long...’’ He chuckled at his own joke as Twilight blushed and looked away from the drake.
’’Um... Nothing...’’ Twilight smiled sheepishly, making the dragon sigh and mutter something about ponies. The dragon was much shorter than her, so he was probably still young as his voice proved her suspicions even further. One question still remained though. ’‘Why did you pull me in here?’’ She raised an eyebrow when the dragon’s eyes widened with surprise.
’‘You mean you didn’t know who those ponies are?’’ He squeaked in fear of the ponies outside. Twilight shook her head slowly. She had no idea what was so special about those ponies. The dragon facepalmed and groaned. ’‘Take another look at them, but look closely...’’ The drake moved some of the shrubbery, allowing Twilight to look outside.
She scanned the ponies for anything out of the ordinary that she should have looked for before. The ponies were two stallions and one mare, the mare was a unicorn when the stallions were pegasi. The ponies all wore similair, black coats with red hoofguards which ran up their legs. But the detail which made a chill run down her spine was their eyes; the white in their eyes were yellow, almost golden instead of the white of a normal pony.
’‘They’re called The Surrendered.’’ The drake muttered. Twilight’s jaw dropped. ’‘It’s said that ponies who give up living in... Discord’s world and come to him for mercy, he turns them into a Surrendered. I’unno if it’s true or not...’’ The dragon shrugged. ’‘But hey, at least I stopped you from going to ’em. No need to thank me.’’ The drake smiled smugly. Twilight looked away from the ponies outside, who now had departed and left them alone. The young dragon stepped out from the bush and Twilight followed him.
’‘See ya ‘round, purple.’’ The dragon nodded and started walking away from her. Twilight started panicking. She had no idea of how she would be able to make it when she just walked into danger she didn’t even know.
’‘Wait!’’ She shouted frantically and trotted to the drake, who arched an eyebrow at the mare’s behaviour. ’’I... Can-.. Can I go with you?’’ She shuffled her hooves awkwardly and smiled. The dragon shrugged.
’‘Sure, whatever. I’m Spike, by the way.’’ He motioned for the mare to follow him with a wave of his claws. Twilight started trotting behind the drake.
’‘I’m Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.’’ She said with pride, but frowned as Spike chortled at her display. ’‘What’s so funny?’’ she snapped at him, but the dragon just bursted out laughing. Twilight pouted and started trotting a little faster.
’‘Hey, wait up! I was just joking!’’ The dragon snickered and ran to catch up to the mare, who giggled and started galloping away from the drake.
Pieces of shattered stone laid scattered on the ground around her. She was working hard with the meager amount of magic she had to break the prison around her. She was barely able to chip away the stone around her mid-section. Another chunk of stone fell from her left foreleg, freeing it completely. She stretched the ancient limb, which popped and was sore. It was no mystery why her leg was sore, as it had been enclosed in stone for three thousand years along with the rest of her body.
She was lucky that Discord hadn’t returned to check up on her, or that he had sent one of his minions to her. Her thoughts of what had happened to her land swirled in her mind. How much had the monster destroyed, and would she be able to salvage it from the beast? What had happened to her younger sister? Oh, if he had laid his talons on her, he would suffer the consequences of doing so...
With another crack, she spread her magnificent wings for the first time in several millenia, but she was still far away from being able to relax. She used her wings to propel herself into the air, shattering the remaining stone on her.
Where an old, mysterious statue once stood, there stood the awe-inspiring form of one of the ancient alicorn sisters; the true rulers of Equestria, not some dreadful serpent with a knack for chaos. Her alabaster coat shone in the random moonlight. She opened her magenta eyes to take in her surroundings. She frowned as she saw just how silly everything was. It was pure, unbridled chaos...
She scowled and spread her exhausted wings once again, taking flight to search for the beast responsible. He would pay for doing this to her land. She was willing to search every corner of Equestria for him, but she was sure that he must be somewhere near her old castle in the Everfree forest.
But the mare didn’t think about overexerting herself after just escaping from her prison. Her eye-sight flickered, and a pained grunt escaped her as she had trouble keeping her wing-strokes in sync. After a futile attempt of staying airbourne, she plummeted to the forest below her as the cold grip of unconsciousness took its hold.
In another part of Equestria, a certain spirit allowed a toothy grin to embrace his features. He had sensed the alicorn’s break-out, as a force like that is not easy to ignore. He brought his talons together and balled them into fists. This just became much more interesting...
’‘Little Tia has returned. How lovely...’’ The spirit drawled as he stood up and stretched his ancient back. The ponies standing next to him, all dressed in black coats eyed the spirit cautiously. He laid his talons behind his back and started walking down the hall. ’‘Screwball?’’ A purple earth pony with strange eyes walked forward carefully.
’‘Yes, father..?’’ The mare asked carefully, momentarily shrinking back as she recieved a glare from the spirit.
’’I want you to go out and look for any signs of... Ugh... Harmony...’’ He stared down at the little pony, who was in theory nothing but an embodiment of his chaotic powers. An abomination, in other words. The mare nodded and levitated out through the window.
‘Let us play, Celestia...’