//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A Ponynapped Princess // Story: A Lost Soul in a Dark World // by TasteTheSun //------------------------------// "Hey Twilight, your soup's almost ready," Spike said as he poked his head through the kitchen's door. "Great Spike! You have no idea how hungry I am!" "Well then, just give me five minutes and you can come right in," the dragon said before disappearing back into the kitchen. Twilight was just about to put away a book she was reading when all of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Twilight quickly stored away the book, made sure she looked presentable, and quickly trotted towards the door to see who it was. When she opened it, she was greeted by a bluish-grey unicorn mare with a brown mane. Twilight also noticed that she was wearing a lab coat and a pair of glasses. Next to the unicorn was a grey stallion earth pony with a black mane. The unicorn walked up to Twilight to introduce herself. "Good evening, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Please allow us to introduce ourselves," she said while she grabbed Twilight's hoof and firmly shook it. "My name is Dr. Maxspell, and this is my assistant, Longspear. We work at the School for Gifted Unicorns, which I believe is where you attended as a filly?" "Why yes, that is correct," Twilight said, felling the pride of being recognized there. "Well then, you see, we are working on a project, and we need your cooperation to help us achieve this goal," Maxspell said. Twilight felt uneasy about the subject. "What do you want me to do?" she asked. "All we need is your participation and all will be revealed." "Well, I guess I wouldn't mind helping the school achieve their goals. I accept." "Excellent! You won't regret it," Maxspell said. And with that, she used her magic to slam the door to the kitchen shut and locked it. Twilight turned to the door to see what had been done. She could hear Spike banging on the door, pleading Twilight to let him out. Twilight turned back to face Maxspell, but instead she saw a sack fall upon her. Maxspell tied the sack closed and placed a spell on it so that Twilight wouldn't be able to move around, and unable to call for help or even hear anything outside the sack. She had been tricked. Maxspell wrapped the sack with her magic and began to carry it out the door. "We've got the package," Longspear said. "Indeed, now let's hurry back to the warehouse before we draw any suspicion." Maxspell said as she dropped the sack in the cart they brought. "Don't worry boss, we got the cover of night to protect us." Longspear secured the cart to the harness he wore. "You can never be too careful." The two ponynappers where now on there way back to their base of operations with their new prize in the back. ••• After several failed attempts, Spike finally managed to break the door down. Spike frantically looked around the room, only to find that it was empty. "Twilight!?" Spike called. No response. His eyes then fell apon the opened door that led to the outside. He continued calling for her as he ran off to search for her in the night. ••• Twilight feared for what her ponynappers were going to do to her. Were they going to hold her for ransom? Leave her for dead in a ditch somewhere? She wasn't sure what they're capable of. All she could do is lie there crying, unable to move, unable to cry for help, and unable to hear what was going on outside. It felt like an eternity since her abduction. Where were they taking her, again, she had no idea. She did though feel the cart she felt she was in come to a halt. ••• "Finally, we're here," Longspear said, exhausted after pulling the cart a great distance from Ponyville to where they were now. "Quickly, get her inside before someone sees," Maxspell commanded. They quickly pulled the cart with their captive inside an old blacksmith's workshop. Once Maxspell was sure they were safe inside, she lit some candles to provide light in the dark workshop. Longspear detached the cart from his harness and went to carry Twilight out of it. "She's... a bit... heavy," he said before lowering the sack to the ground. Maxspell then removed the sack from Twilight. Her eyes were red and puffy from all the crying she'd done on her way here. "What do you want with me?" Twilight asked in fear of what awaited her. "Let me explain why we have brought you here. You see, I did work at the School of Gifted Unicorns, but one day when I brought forth my 'ideas' on how to improve Equestria for the better, they were all rejected. I was even fired from the school by the Princess herself. You have no idea how that made me feel. But then I started thinking, and I had come to the conclusion that the princesses are 'afraid' of progress. For they are not worthy to rule Equestria. And then I remembered you Twilight. I was there on the day of your entrance exam." Maxspell revealed to her captive. "No, that's impossible, I don't remember you being there, and I should know because that was the day I earned my cutie mark. And plus, the princesses are far worthy of ruling Equestria," Twilight said, trying to deny what Maxspell had just to her, but Maxspell just continued on. "Anyway, you Twilight have the potential to dethrone the princesses and take over Equestria. And with me and Longspear by your side, we will surely be victorious!" Any traces of fear Twilight had inside her was replaced with anger. "I would never do such a thing, and I would never join you in your act of revenge. Now let me go or you'll wish you hadn't captured me in the first place!" she said with a determined and enraged look on her face while charging up the magic in her horn. "Child, did you really think I wanted you to do all of that today? Haven't you ever heard the old saying, 'all good things come to those who wait'?" And with that, her horn started glowing, and she wrapped her magic around Twilight's head. She began to feel tired, and her eye lids were getting heavy. In an instant, she fell to the ground, out cold, and was in a deep slumber. "Perfect. Now, Longspear, go get the preservation chamber." "Sure thing," Longspear said. He went off into the other room and came back out pushing a metal box out. "Maxspell, can you explain to me why we need this box for? " "It's magically enhanced so that it would preserve whatever you put in it for long periods of time. In this case, this is where we'll keep Twilight Sparkle in," she said as she lifted Twilight's unconscious body into the the box and then closed it up with the lid. "Okay, I get that, but how long do you plan on keeping her here?" Longspear asked, confused. "Until Equestria undergoes the industrial revolution I predicted to happen. Hopefully by then they'll have the technology we need for our plan, so I'd say we might need to wait a thousand years or so." "WHAT!!! Are you nuts? We won't be alive in a thousand years!" "Not unless you have an immortality spell that you've managed to swipe from the most secured and forbidden part of the Canterlot Archives." "Oh, well when you put it that way-" "-Enough talk. I must preform the spell on ourselves so that we may keep track of our progress." Maxspell took out a scroll from her saddlebags and opened it up to read what it had to say. A few minutes later, she put the scroll down, closed her eyes, and lit up her horn. Both her and Longspear were wrapped in her magic, which caused them both to float up into the air, and then suddenly, a bright flash emanated from her horn in an instant, until they both fell to the ground. Lying there, Maxspell knew her plan was already coming together. ••• Questions, Comments, Complements Any errors are accepted, always room for improvement Be sure to like and follow me both here an Twitter (@Pony3T)