//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten // Story: Harmony Undone: The Rise of Order // by Zodiacspear //------------------------------// ’Nothing more than Celestia’s tool.’ Twilight moaned and mumbled, turning in her sleep before she felt a hoof shake her shoulder. “Twilight? Come on, Sugarcube, wake up.” Her eyes fluttered opened and she found Applejack looking over her, her friend’s visage etched with worry. “Twilight, thank Celestia you’re awake,” Applejack said, even as Twilight sat up on her straw cot. “Ya had me worried, sugarcube.” “Applejack? Wha—” she started before a hoarse cough scratched at her throat. Applejack retrieved a bowl of water from a stool nearby and held it for her to drink. “We’re in the holdin’ chambers under the Crystal Tower. Tyranny threw us all in here after he came after us.” Twilight tilted back the bowl, guzzling down the water in big gulps—spilling part of it down the sides of her mouth. When the bowl was drained, she let out a gasp for air. “Thirsty,” she offered, a faint blush on her cheeks. A small smile tugged at Applejack’s lips before she shook her head. “I understand, Twi,” she said as she set the bowl next to a plate of bread. Shuddering as she felt the fluids fill her body, she looked around their small cell and grimaced at the slick, green lichen growing on the walls. “Ugh.” She stuck her tongue out before turning back to Applejack as the earth pony donned her hat again. “Where are the others? Are they all right?” “They’re in cells like ours.” She nodded towards the bars of their cell. “Tyranny put us all together in the same hall at least.” Twilight nodded as she hopped off the cot but furrowed her brow as she spotted her Element of Harmony on a stool nearby. Looking back at her friend, she saw the apple engraved choker was still around her neck. “Tyranny didn’t take our elements?” she asked as she retrieved her Element and set it back on her head. Applejack shook her head, looking down at her own element. “Nuh uh. He left all our elements behind for some reason.” Rubbing at her scalp, she continued, “It doesn’t make a lick of sense why he left ‘em. Pinkie said even if he removed ‘em, they’d still protect us.” She shrugged. “Maybe that’s why.” Twilight’s brow furrowed but she shook her head. Wouldn’t it make more sense to remove the one weapon that could stop him out of the equation entirely? It didn’t make any sense. Walking over to the bars of her cell, she peered past them to get a better look of their surroundings. The dungeon was a cool, damp chamber of stone. A few crystals that were set in the stones above the cells caught her eye, but shook her head as she considered them. Across from her were Rainbow Dash and Rarity in one cell, and next to them were Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The four turned happy smiles her way as they caught sight of her. “Twilight! You’re all right!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she grabbed the bars to her own cell. “Girls, I’m so glad you’re all okay.” Twilight wiped away a relieved tear that threatened to spill over. “How did Tyranny catch all of you?” They each shared their tales of their private encounters with Tyranny, and when they finished, Twilight scowled to herself. He had obviously planned everything, she realized. Despite all of their careful planning, he had seen through it and prepared for it. Now they were all his prisoners, free in his quest to conquer Equestria. ’Not if I can help it.’ Twilight nodded to herself before speaking aloud. “All right, girls, we need to get out of here. First we find Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, then get back to Princess Celestia.” Her ears stood erect and she felt her heart leap as a familiar male’s voice said, “You don’t have to look for us, Twily.” “We’re here with you,” she heard a second voice say from the cell beside hers. “Shining, Cadence, you’re both all right!” Her voice cracked at hearing their voices. She tried to see past her cell but the bars wouldn’t allow her to stick more than her muzzle past them. “Us too, Twily. He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Shining asked. She scowled as memories of her battle with Tyranny and his dark ponies came to mind. “No, he just stood by as his shadows did all the dirty work. I’m tired, but I’m not hurt. How long have you been down here?” “A little over a week,” Cadence said. “It’s been a few days since you were all brought here.” Twilight’s head snapped back, her mind trying to process that. “Days?” “Three of them,” Pinkie Pie clarified. “Three days,” she echoed, shaking her head. “It only seems like one.” “It was three,” Pinkie said, her chipper tone a stark contrast for the setting they were in. “Applejack’s been taking care of you the whole time too.” She tilted her head. “Which makes sense, she’s the only one who could.” “Aw shoot. It wasn’t nothin’,” Applejack said, the faintest of blushes highlighting her cheeks. Twilight smiled to her friend before turning back to the others. “Now that we’re all together, we can get out of here.” “If this little reunion gets any more cozy, I think I might get sick,” said another voice, feminine yet sinister. Twilight growled past gritted teeth at the all-too-familiar voice. “Chrysalis!” “So good to see you again, Twilight Sparkle, you certainly have been a busy little girl since you imprisoned me,” the queen said as she stepped from the shadows of her cell. Rarity turned her nose up and harrumphed. “We’ve had to share this ghastly prison with her uncouth presence since we’ve been here.” The queen snarled. “I’m not fond of the company either.” “How did you escape, Chrysalis?” Twilight demanded, narrowing her eyes at the changeling. “My hive and I were released by our mutual gracious host,” she said, her lips pulling back in a snarl. “Tyranny thought to use us for his own ends, and when I objected, he imprisoned me in a little bubble until he put me in here with the love ponies.” The royal couple turned glares her way. “We haven’t enjoyed your presence either,” Cadence said, returning Chrysalis's glare in spades. “I haven’t forgotten what you did to us at our wedding.” Chrysalis hissed at her, but Twilight interrupted. “Ignore her. We have to get out of here.” She studied her cell bars for a moment before turning to Applejack. “Hold on, I’m going to teleport us out of here.” Her horn took it’s mystic light. “Twilight, wait!” She heard her brother say a second too late. Casting her spell, her vision flashed and both she and Applejack smacked heavily against the bars. They both had to shake away the stars that were darting around in their vision. “Well that didn’t work,” Applejack muttered as she readjusted her Stetson. Chrysalis snickered, but Shining Armor spoke up. “These cells are designed to keep unicorns in by limiting their magic.” He motioned to the crystals above the cells. “A cell’s no good if you can’t keep nopony in it,” Rainbow muttered, crossing her forelegs in a huff. Chrysalis snorted. “Otherwise, I would have blasted my way out of here and left a long time ago.” A frustrated growl escaped Twilight as. “We have to get out somehow.” “Why don’t we use the key?” Pinkie Pie suggested. She turned a furrowed brow Pinkie’s way. “What key?” “The key to the cell, duh.” Pinkie reached into her curled mane and produced a dark key made of iron. “Where did you get that?” Applejack asked, her jaw dropping at the sight of the key. “I’ve had it since Tyranny picked me up to look at my element. I saw the key on him and snatched it up before he dropped me.” “You tell us this now?!” the unicorn demanded, and Twilight was sure the only reason Rarity wasn’t strangling Pinkie right now was the bars that separated them. “And miss this fun time we’ve spent together?” Pinkie grinned wide. The collective silence hung in the air like a suffocating cloak. “Besides, it doesn’t go to mine and Fluttershy’s cell,” she said before any protests could start. “It doesn’t?” Fluttershy asked. “Nope.” “Do you know who's cell it goes to?” Cadence asked. “Nope.” “I guess we’ll have to figure out which cell it belongs to,” Twilight said. “Eeyup,” Pinkie said in her best Big Mac voice, earning a glare from Applejack. “And how do you plan to do that?” Chrysalis bristled. “None of us can reach the other cells.” Twilight turned a glare her way before looking back at her friends. “I think I can still use my magic to move the key and find the right one.” “Let’s just hope it ain’t hers,” Applejack said as she looked at the changeling queen, her tone dripping acid. “She’d just run out and leave us all high and dry.” The changeling scowled but didn’t deny the accusation. “Let’s see if this works.” Twilight took in a breath and let it out before gathering her magic—focusing on the key. Normally, telekinesis was a simple thing for her to perform, but in the magic-suppressing jail cell, it was like trying to move a large boulder. The key shakingly lifted from Pinkie’s hoof and floated to Twilight’s cell, but the lock didn’t turn. Nor did it turn for Shining and Cadence’s cell, nor Chrysalis’s—much to the later’s chagrin. Twilight felt the sweat ran down her face as the magical suppression weighed on her like a boulder. A pained groan escaped her as her horn gave off a few sparks, her aura fading. As the key floated fitfully for Rainbow Dash and Rarity’s cell, she let out a gasp and the key clanged to the stone floor. “Sorry girls,” she said between pants, giving Applejack a thankful nod as she offered her another bowl of water. “Don’t worry, Twilight. I think I can reach the key.” Rainbow stretched as far as she could and managed to bump the key close enough for her to grab it. “Let’s hope this works,” she said before turning the key. With a loud click the lock turned and the door swung open. “Yeah! Finally out of that cell,” Rainbow Dash said, stretching her wings wide. “Indeed, Rainbow Dash. I’m going to need to bathe for a day or more when we get home. Three days without one is just horrid.” Rarity grimaced at the collected grime on her normally-pristine coat. “Now we need to get the rest of you guys out of your cells too,” Rainbow said as she pulled on the bars of Twilight’s cell to no avail. “There should be a guard room down the hall, Rainbow Dash,” Shining told her. “I haven’t seen any guards here, except the one guard that brings us the food. In the room there should be a key ring with all the keys to this level.” “On it! Come on, Rarity.” The two hurried down the hall. The others waited with bated breath, hoping that the two were safe. A collective sigh of relief was breathed as the two returned with a ring of keys in hoof. Soon enough, everyone but Chrysalis was free. Feeling her magic returning, Twilight looked to the others with a confident smile. “All right everypony, we need to get out of here before he finds out we have escaped. Hopefully Princess Luna is still waiting for us on the borders of the Crystal Empire.” Cadence turned a worried look down the hall. “How are we to escape unnoticed?” Shining was watched the same hallway, his gaze narrowing. “With this many of us, it will be hard not to be spotted.” A pensive frown tugged at Twilight’s face as she considered the ordeal. With everypony together, stealth would be impossible. They could fight their way out, but that was something they wanted to avoid, especially if Tyranny arrived in force. If they were caught again, there likely wouldn’t be a second escape. Her frown turned deeper as she realized it only left one option. “I’ll have to distract Tyranny,” she said, earning sharp looks from the others. “While I have him distracted, you all can get past his soldiers with little trouble.” “But, Twilight, if you face him, how will you escape?” Cadence asked with obvious concern, mirroring the concerns of her friends. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen what he is able to do, and I think I know how to get past his tricks. He won’t catch me a second time.” Confidence filled her tone, though doubts did pull at her mind. “I don’t like it, Twi,” Applejack said, giving her a frown. “We might get away, but what if ya don’t? We ain’t going to leave ya behind.” “It’s the best way we can get everypony out and reduce the odds of us being captured again.” She gave her friend a confident smile. “I won’t let him capture me. I need you to get Princess Cadence to Princess Celestia so we can come up with a plan to stop Tyranny once and for all.” Their worried frowns didn’t let up in the slightest. “Don’t worry, girls, this will work,” she assured them. Despite many uncertain looks and mutters, they turned to leave. The door to Chrysalis’s cell rattled on its hinges as she shook the bars. “Wait! You can’t leave me here!” Rainbow turned a scornful look her way. “And why not? You’ll likely help Tyranny just to save your own flank.” “You can’t leave me here. If he finds all of you gone but I’m still here, who knows what he might do.” “Good.” Rainbow started climbing the stairs. Twilight looked to the changeling queen her brow hardening as she glared at the changeling queen. Chrysalis looked at her in turn, and Twilight could actually see fear in her eyes. “If he wins, there will be no place for my kind. He is as much as my enemy as he is yours,” Chrysalis pleaded. “Don’t leave me here.” Twilight looked at her for a long moment before she floated the keys over and unlocked her cell. “This changes nothing, Chrysalis,” she said, her tone leaving no room for debate. “When Tyranny is defeated, I don’t ever want to see you or your changelings in Equestria again.” The two locked stares before the queen looked away. “Fine.” Applejack whispered to Twilight as the group ascended the stairs. “Ya sure that was a good idea, Twi? Ya can’t trust her for all the apples in Equestria.” “I’m not sure, no, but I won’t leave anypony at Tyranny’s mercy,” she said distractedly as she stared ahead. As they made it to the ground floor, they peeked past the door and saw that the coast was clear. The crystal ceiling above was dim without the light of the sun to brighten them. “All right, everypony, wait five minutes after I am gone, then get out of the Crystal Empire as fast as you can,” Twilight said, turning to face them. “Once I’ve distracted him long enough, I will join you. Head to the outskirts, Princess Luna should still be waiting for us.” “Be careful, Twilight,” Cadence said, a sentiment that was echoed by all save Chrysalis. Twilight shared a quick hug with her family and friends. “Don’t worry, we’ll meet again soon.” She turned and ran down the hall towards the throne room, her friends staring after her with worried expressions. -0- A sudden gust rattled the glass windows of the throne room, but Tyranny paid it no mind as he reclined upon his throne. The few torches along the walls, the only source of light, caused the shadows to dance across the crystalline room. He rested his head on his right hoof, his scepter held idly in his left, as his eyes remained shut. To the outside viewer, one might think him dozing. In truth, his focus was upon his minions. Through them, he saw everything they saw, heard everything they heard. He watched with grim satisfaction as his minions cornered a thief in an alleyway, pleased to see one who would disrupt his rule properly punished. A faint proud—if not smug—smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. The creatures not only made for perfect, loyal soldiers, but they also made for the perfect spies and enforcers. The sound of running hooves caused his eyes to open, returning his focus to his surroundings. After listening to them approach, a cruel smile crossed his face; the princess was on her way, just as he knew she would be. "So predictable," he said. All he had to do was make sure that a single key was stolen, and the rest fell into place. He shook his head at the futility of it all; creatures of flesh were truly pathetic. “Lady Twilight Sparkle, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?” he asked in a detached manner once she made her way into the throne room. She took a moment to catch her breath before spreading her forelegs, her horn glowing. “I’ve come to stop you, Tyranny. I want you to release everypony you’ve imprisoned and stop this now!” He scoffed. “You’ve come to stop me? By yourself? It seems a foolish, if not desperate, move on your part.” She gritted her teeth at him. “I won’t let you hurt anypony else.” He remained seated on the throne, unperturbed by her stance. “It was never my intention that any come to harm. All everypony needs to do is bow to me and accept my inevitable rule. The choice to fight and the continued strife is your own doing.” Twilight held her head higher. “Nopony would ever willingly follow you. We believe in Princess Celestia and she will stop you.” “Ah yes, Princess Celestia, the loving patron of the ponies of Equestria.” He sneered. “Tell me, child, is your faith in her really so absolute?” He leaned forward, resting his chin on both front hooves. She scowled, defiance clear to see in her eyes. “I won’t let you deceive me with your lies.” Tilting his head, he asked, “Lies? I do not need to lie or make false promises to do what must be done, child. I merely wish to enlighten you with truths that you should be aware of, as they pertain to you in particular.” It was her turn to scoff. “Truth? From you? You’re not capable of telling the truth, Tyranny.” He narrowed his eyes at her impudence. “Who was it that informed you that I would attempt deceive you? Celestia?” A disgusted snort escaped him. “She would say such things, all the more reason to protect herself and make sure her faithful tools would not dare to think of betraying her.” Twilight’s hackles rose in her outrage, causing his smug smirk to widen. “Princess Celestia is an honest and truthful ruler. She is more than you could ever dream to be, Tyranny!” He stared at her for an uncomfortable moment, the silence weighing in the throne room before he spoke. “Tell me something, child. It is my understanding your beloved Princess Celestia is responsible for your… transcendence into an alicorn. Is this true?” Lifting her head up and flaring her wings, she proudly proclaimed, “She was. I earned the honor.” “And has she told you of all the blessings that come with such an honor? Or about its curse?” His gaze bore into her. A soft frown pulled at her lips, even as her wings folded back to her side. “Curse? What are you talking about?” His mocking laughter echoed through the rafters of the throne room. Twilight blinked. “Wha-What is so funny, Tryanny! Tell me!” A pitying smile crossed his face. “She hasn’t told you. You poor foal. It is like Celestia to hide the awful truth from her subjects, even the ones she favors.” Glancing away, he added, “A motherly instinct that continues to be her undoing.” “What curse!” she demanded. Looking back, he sat straighter upon the throne. “I have seen the passing of generations of ponies in my long existence, child. Centuries have been but days to me, and there are but few others who can claim that as well as I. Among them is your beloved Celestia and her sister. Have you ever wondered how that is possible?” He watched her tilt her head at the question, no doubt rummaging through the tales she was told. “She and Princess Luna were born as alicorns,” she finally said. His laughter mocked her again. “Is that the lie she tells? No matter, the fact is that she has transcended above the pony folk she rules over in being an alicorn. It has granted her power—” he leaned forward looking at her closely. “—and the ability to see her country through many, many years of her reign.” Her eyes widened as recognition slowly kindled. “What are you—?” she started, her voice cracking. “If it is not obvious yet, child, alicorns are long-lived creatures. It is a gift of the transcendence into something above the common pony.” He leaned back in his throne again. “Now, think of the implications of this, for your sake in particular.” Her voice softened and her irises shrunk as realization struck her. “You don’t mean?” “Indeed.” His sneer made its way into his tone. “You, young Twilight Sparkle, will also see the birth and death of generations of ponies, including those of your dear friends whom you rely upon for the majority of your strength. No doubt as your beloved princess had planned for you from the moment she first took you under her wing.” The revelation echoed within her mind. Was it true? Was she destined to see centuries come and go as Celestia and Luna has? What did that mean for her friends? Was she doomed to see them age before her and worse, see them pass on while she remained to grieve? Did becoming a princess also mean she would have to sacrifice everything she ever cared about? Did Celestia know from the start? So many more questions swam through her mind in that awful moment. The tears came unbidden, and she could do nothing to stop them. She tried to remember anything Celestia ever spoke of what it meant to be an alicorn, but all she could remember was the princess told her it would all become clear in time. What was it that she didn’t want her to know? Why didn’t she tell her? What was so horrible that she couldn’t tell her? Was she hiding something from her? Why?! He continued mercilessly. “You shall helplessly watch your friends age and die, as well as their children and theirs after them. The feeling of their loss will not lessen with the passage of time, and it will continue until you feel nothing but a void in your heart where friendship had once resided. Why Celestia chose to allow you to learn the magic of an element so easily lost is beyond my comprehension.” He let her stew in misery, her barely choked back sobs echoing through the throne room. He glanced to the side as images of the element bearers and the royals on the outskirts of the city fought with his soldiers. The images did not last long, as the last thing he saw was magical bolts obscuring his vision. ‘Clever,’ he thought to himself before looking back to the grieving princess. “Tell me now, child, do you still believe that the gift you received from your beloved princess to be a blessing?” The tightening of her throat kept her from speaking any of the protests she wanted to voice. He chuckled at her misery and calmly stood, walking towards her. “It seems you need time to think, my lady. It is time that we part ways.” Twilight made no effort to stop or challenge him. “…Our fight is not over, Tyranny.” She spoke past her grief as he stepped past her. He smirked at the budding anger that underlined her grief, and Tyranny knew that anger was not directed at him alone. “No, it is not,” he agreed. “But the next time you dare challenge me, you had best do so with all of your might, for I will not be so merciful again.” He turned his derisive glare her way. “Now begone!” Watching her flee back down the hallway, a cruel smirk pulled at his lips.