//------------------------------// // Escape from the Archives // Story: Princess Trixie Sparkle // by Magpiepony //------------------------------// Let's go back to that morning and find out just exactly what happened to Twilight and the others... Twilight hesitantly boarded the morning train to Canterlot. However, while her friends settled into their seats on-board she looked back at Applejack who was still standing on the platform. Twilight had a feeling that Applejack was withholding something from her, but being the element of honesty Applejack would never tell a lie, right? "Fluttershy and I will see you soon, ya hear?" Applejack called to her as the train started moving. Twilight smiled and waved, ignoring that pesky feeling of doubt. "Wait, where's Applejack?" Spike asked, rushing to the window to see their friend still back at the station. "She and Fluttershy have to stay behind. She didn't really give me much detail but she said they'd meet us at the archives as soon as possible." Twilight answered, settling into the seat beside him. "I bet she just didn't want to have to spend all day in a library looking through mountains of books again." Rainbow Dash muttered. She caught Twilight's expression and laughed it off saying, "Uh, I was just kidding of course." "Honestly Rainbow Dash, I would think you would be eager to get your body back." Rarity said, checking her mane in the reflection of the window. No matter how many attempts she tried she could not get her pink mane to do anything she wanted; it would always bounce back to normal. "The only way to do that is to find the right spell book, isn't it?" She said, abandoning her attempts on her hair. Rainbow rolled her eyes and sighed curtly, resting her head on her claw. "If we work quickly we might not need the extra help. I think I know where to start looking. Rainbow, Spike, and I will head straight to the archives. Rarity, when do you think that you and Pinkie will be done?" Twilight asked. "Early afternoon at the latest I'm sure." Rarity answered with a smile. "That may just work out perfectly. If we haven't found anything by that point I think I'll try to see Princess Luna." Twilight said. "Why not now?" Rainbow asked. "Maybe we should go see her first?" "Not just anypony can have an audience with the Princess. It might take longer to convince the guards to let us see her than it would to find the answer ourselves." Twilight pointed out. "What if we just slipped past the guards? Ooo a break in, with long twiddly mustaches. We could be the pizza ponies delivering to the Princess!" Pinkie suggested with a smile. "What's with you and mustaches?" Rainbow asked. "No no, I get it." Spike answered; he certainly had no objections to that. "I'm pretty sure the Princess would not be ordering a pizza at 7:00 in the morning." Twilight said. "Ah ha but she's nocturnal! So it's like really late for her and maybe she skipped dinner." Pinkie said, attempting to defend her idea. "Pinkie, you and I have to be at Hoity Toity's by 7:45, remember?" Rarity reminded her. "Oh yeah…" Pinkie mumbled defeated. Twilight giggled; somehow Pinkie Pie could always make a difficult situation a little more fun. "Well whatever we do let's do it quickly. I haven't been grounded this long in… forever! It's one thing to work with scales, but no wings? UGH! No offense Spike, but you should have been a flying dragon." Rainbow Dash said, jokingly nudging him to show she wasn't being serious. Or was she? "And I don't know how you ponies can pick up anything with these!" Spike exclaimed, holding out his hooves in frustration. "Let's agree to meet in the Starswirl wing of the archives." Twilight said, getting everypony back on track. "I hate to admit it but… if we don't find anything by late afternoon then Pinkie's plan doesn't seem so ridiculous. Sneaking in to see the Princess might be the only plan we have." "YAY MUSTACHES!" Pinkie and Spike shouted happily. *~*~*~* "Woah." Rainbow Dash said, her eyes widening as she tried to take in the massive size of the archives; and more specifically, the massive amount of scrolls and books. "It's like… headquarters for eggheads!" Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed, walking towards the first shelf and started scanning the book titles. Spike followed close at her heels, scanning the bookshelf adjacent from hers. Rainbow, on the other hand, was still marveling at the archives and wandered about aimlessly. "So… we're supposed to find a cure: just the three of us. Millions of books, thousands of scrolls, and the three of us. Seriously? We'd need all of ponyville to find anything in here!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in distress. "Rainbow, have you ever even heard of the Dewey Decimal System?" Twilight asked skeptically. "Dewey who?" Rainbow replied. "Is he the librarian here?" Twilight sighed, "No, Rainbow Dash, the Dewey Decimal System is a way of organizing the library so that you can find a book or scroll on any topic you'd like! All you'd need is to look up the topic in the catalog" "No kidding? Wow. You eggheads are pretty clever aren't you?" Rainbow answered. "I'm not an egghead!" Twilight protested, having to say it for the millionth time. "I'm just kidding, loosen up Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said laughing. "Where should I start looking?" Twilight's anger melted away and she even allowed a little smile on her face. Rainbow Dash was always looking for ways to push her buttons. "I think there's a section upstairs on odd and unusual magic. Do you think you could-" Twilight started. "I'm on it!" Rainbow replied, already racing towards the spiraling staircase. "It's the second bookshelf on the left!" Twilight called after her. "What about me, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Spike, do you remember that time Celestia gave me a test on counterspells? Do you remember where I found that book? You know; the big red one. " She asked. "Oh yeah! That's over here!" Spike said proudly. He took her deeper into the archives with determination. He wanted to prove just exactly how useful he could be, even as a pony. Twilight had every confidence she would find answers here. Princess Celestia stocked this library herself; so anything she could have known about this spell would be here, somewhere. Twilight and Spike stayed on the first level, pulling book after book from the shelves but with no success. After a couple hours, Spike had almost given up. He was lying on the floor flexing his wings in and out with fascination. "Spike!" Twilight scolded. "Stop messing around." "What? Huh? Oh! Yeah um… there's nothing in this one." He said chuckling in guilt and pushing a scroll away. Twilight sighed and turned away. She couldn't blame him for losing hope. Twilight never imagined she wouldn't find a trace of it by now. She didn't expect an easy answer; but at least something that could take them in the right direction would have been nice! Using her magic, she sadly restocked the shelf of books she had just gone through. While Twilight busily restocked the books a familiar grey pegasus pony passed by outside the archives. She caught sight of Twilight through a large window and gasped. She looked frantically around outside until she found a wanted poster posted to a pole nearby. Comparing the image to Twilight she was sure she'd found the right pony and ran straight for the castle. *~*~*~* "Hey Twilight!" Rainbow Dash called from the second story. "I think I found something!" Twilight's head shot up and her face was lit with excitement and hope. She didn't even call out a response, she simply bounded towards the stairs and up to see what Rainbow Dash had found. "What is it?" she asked looking for the book or scroll Rainbow had found with all their answers. Rainbow smirked and pointed to a door she found hidden behind a tapestry of Princess Celestia. "What better place to hide a book on this kind of magic than in some secret room?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Where did that come from? I've never seen that door here before." Twilight said in astonishment. She'd combed every inch of these archives and she couldn't remember finding a door like this. "How did you even find it?" Rainbow Dash shrugged, "I uh… I guess I got a little bored." "What do you think is inside?" Spike asked excitedly. "Oh no, Spike. We aren't going in there." Twilight replied. "What?!" Rainbow Dash and Spike asked in unison. "This is obviously hidden for a reason! Maybe Celestia doesn't want ponies poking around in there. After all, these are her archives; it just doesn't feel right." Twilight said. "Oh come on! It's not like we're having any luck finding information anywhere else. What have we got to lose?" Rainbow asked. "Just unlock it with your magic." "No!" Twilight protested. While Rainbow and Twilight argued Spike got an idea. He grabbed Rainbow Dash by the tail and stuck the end of it into the lock. "Hey! Put me down!" Rainbow protested, hanging helplessly from Spike's grasp. Spike didn't respond, he shifted the tail around in the lock, pressing his ear to the door listening until he heard a clicking sound. He dropped Rainbow Dash and smiled smugly. "I can't believe that actually worked." Twilight said astounded. She finally admitted to herself that she was too curious not to at least take a peak. "Alright fine we can look inside for a second. But if there's nothing in there that would seem useful we won't even go inside. Agreed?" "Yeah sure." Spike said, pushing the door open. The three of them poked their heads inside to see what wonderful secrets must be contained within. Much to their disappointment, the room appeared to be nothing more than a private reading room. Unused scrolls were stored in a cabinet nearby, soft pillows were laid out in front of a cozy fireplace and a small window let in the sunlight. "Well that was a dud." Rainbow muttered. "Maybe there's a secret compartment or something." Spike suggested. "Oh no you don't." Twilight said, stopping Spike from entering the room. "We promised!" "Everything's covered in dust, it doesn't look like this room has been used in years." Rainbow observed. Twilight caught sight of something unusual, "If nopony has been in here in years… then why is there a book missing on that shelf?" she asked. Rainbow Dash and Spike looked to where she was pointing. The bookshelf in question was full with the exception of one place on the bottom shelf. The three of them ventured inside to get a closer look. "There's no dust here, somepony's taken this book recently." Twilight said. "You don't think that's the book we've been looking for do you?" Spike asked. "If that's what Trixie used to cast this spell, how in the hay did she get her hooves on it?" Rainbow demanded angrily. "I don't know." Twilight responded, but while she and Rainbow Dash were distracted Spike heard a noise. "Wait!" he said, rushing out the door to investigate. Rainbow Dash and Twilight exchanged confused expressions. Spike ran to the railing along the second floor and looked down to see the commotion below. His little heart nearly stopped when he saw Canterlot guards pouring into the archives. He raced back to his friends and announced: "We've got company!" *~*~*~* "I knew this was a bad idea!" Twilight said in fear. She used her magic to pick up Rainbow Dash and ran out of the room, shutting and locking the door behind her. "It must have been enchanted, to keep ponies out! Somehow it alerted the Canterlot guard! We've just committed a crime!" Twilight said in panic and exaggeration. "A crime?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Breaking and entering. We'll be sent to the dungeon for this!" Twilight responded. "I can't go to the dungeon! I'm claustrophobic; I'll never survive in there!" Spike cried in fear. "Let's get out of here." Rainbow said, running away from the staircase where Canterlot guards were ascending. Spike was running beside her but they noticed Twilight was not with them. "Twilight, Come on." Rainbow shouted running back to grab her. "No Rainbow, we have to try and at least explain ourselves." Twilight said. "No time." Rainbow said, grabbing her tail and tugging it towards her. When her strength wasn't enough to move her she called out to Spike to help her. He gripped her tail in his mouth and tugged her away with him. "Ow!" Twilight cried, "Alright alright!" She exclaimed, running beside them as the guards reached the top of the stairs. "Stop!" One of the guards shouted after them. "In the name of the princess!" "Luna!?" Twilight said happily. Maybe their luck had finally changed; she knew this was her only chance to appeal to the princess. She stopped running away from the guards and ran back towards them instead. "Twilight!" Spike yelled after her. Rainbow stood in his path before he could sprint after her. "Wait." Rainbow Dash answered skeptically. She wasn't so sure these guards could be trusted. It was already too late to stop Twilight. "Get her!" One of the guards shouted, pouncing on Twilight in an attempt to chain her. "Trixie Lulamoon you are hereby under arrest for treason to the crown: as ordered by Princess Twilight Sparkle. You are coming with us." "Trixie!?" Twilight asked in horror. The realization hit her like a massive blow. These guards weren't Luna's at all; they were all just a pawn in Trixie's twisted game. She dodged their first attempt at chaining her, but more guards swarmed around her holding her down. "Get away from her you jerks!" Rainbow shouted. She barreled into the mass of guards and kicked one in the leg making him fall over. She didn't have the agility and speed that she did before, but for a baby dragon she still could pack quite a punch. The momentary distraction was all Twilight needed to cast a spell that transported her out from under the guards and next to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow hopped up onto her back without needing to be asked and Twilight ran away towards Spike who was calling out to them. "Over here! Hurry!" he called, waiting at the top of the staircase prepared to make a break for the door. "Spike look out." Rainbow called, she saw that there were more guards racing up the stairs. These guards were unicorns and used their magic to hold Spike in place. He cried out helplessly unable to get away. "Twilight get me over to the railing." Rainbow said. Twilight didn't hesitate. She took Rainbow as close as she could to the stairs. Rainbow leaped off her back and out in front of Spike. The unicorns paid her no mind; they greatly underestimated her influence to stop them. When they got close enough, she jumped up and grabbed onto one of the guard's horns. That effectively disrupted his magic and he reared up trying to shake her off. Rainbow waited until he shook towards the right and let go of his horn jumping onto another guard and putting her claws over his eyes. The guard turned his head sharply to the left and he collided into the one beside him. The two of them fell backwards down the stairs and into the other guards in pursuit. Before Rainbow could celebrate her victory Twilight snatched her by the tail and swung her up on her back. The guards that were already on the second floor had caught up to them and Spike was trying to hold them off. He didn't know how to use Rainbow Dash's body right so instead he flailed his legs helplessly. Although it didn't keep them back, it did create quite a hilarious distraction. "Come on, Spike!" Twilight called to him. The three of them wove in and out of the bookshelves leading the castle guard on a crazy chase. At one point, they decided to split up hoping they could take out more guards that way. Rainbow Dash was hiding one aisle over from a team of guards. She climbed up a ladder and hoisted herself up on top of the bookcase. With an excited and smug little grin she called out. "Hey, clueless! Up here!" she shouted. When the group of guards looked up, she bombarded them with scrolls. The scrolls unraveled knocked into the guards. The scrolls themselves bounced off their armor leaving them unharmed, but the parchment draped over top them. She kept throwing scrolls, creating layer after layer of parchment that they had to try to wriggle out of. Twilight used her teleportation spell to pop from one place to another, confusing the guards who would get close but always missed their opportunity to grab her. She hated to admit it, but this was kind of fun. She did her best to lead the bulk of guards away from her friends. She planned to get them as far away from the stairs as possible so they could make a break for it. Spike made the unfortunate mistake of running into a dead end. Two guards that pursued him found him trembling in the corner. He couldn't use his hooves to throw books at them. Frustrated he kicked the book shelf next to him and it wobbled. He smiled and kicked it again much harder this time and it tumbled down on top the guards coming for him. Unfortunately the toppled bookshelf created a chain reaction like a row of dominoes and each bookcase in line came crashing down. Twilight was close by when she saw the bookshelf fall. She screamed and teleported herself away before it could hit her. The guards trapped underneath the toppling book cases were essentially unharmed; their armor took most of the blow. Rainbow Dash wasn't paying attention; she called out a cry of victory when the guards near her took off running. She believed she had scared them off on her own until she saw the bookshelf in front of her come crashing into the one she stood on. Rainbow screamed as she was thrown from the bookshelf and out of the second floor. She was heading straight for the ground at an alarming rate and closed her eyes in anticipation. Just before Rainbow hit the ground Twilight caught her with magic and set her down carefully. She and Spike had gotten to the stairs and had raced down to save her. The three of them made a dash for the front doors. Rainbow had jumped up on Spike's back and was clinging to his mane. "We're almost there!" Twilight said hopeful. She used her magic to open the doors and gasped. She stopped running so suddenly that she slid across the marble floor causing her to run into Spike and Rainbow Dash. Just outside the door more guards stood waiting. Seeing the wreckage inside and the lack of their peers nearby they stormed towards Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Spike collided hard against the wall near the left door. Then as the guards stormed towards Twilight the doors swung open further; completely trapping Rainbow and Spike behind them. Spike opened his mouth to scream to Twilight but Rainbow threw her claws up over his mouth to silence him. They were no good to her trapped behind here; it was too easy to get caught. They would have to wait for the first opportunity to pounce and then they could take them by surprise. Twilight had seen where her friends crashed and breathed a little sigh of relief; at least they were safe. She knew it was futile to take on this many guards at once. They were coming at her from every angle now. The ones coming from upstairs were especially upset. She dropped down to the ground and covered her head with her hooves. Rainbow had to make a decision; and she didn't have any time to think it through. They had the opportunity now to pounce, but there was very little chance they could get to Twilight from here. There were simply too many guards. She held Spike back, choosing not to let them make themselves known. Spike understood the decision Rainbow Dash made and reluctantly stopped fighting against her. Rainbow Dash winced when she heard Twilight scream, and Spike couldn't bear it. He screamed her name but it was muffled by Rainbow Dash's claws still over his mouth. The confusion of Twilight's capture kept any guards from hearing him. From the crack between the door and the wall caused by the thick hinges they watched Twilight's capture helplessly. One of the unicorn guards locked a strange device on her horn, essentially stopping her from using any magic to escape. She was shackled into chains and she did not fight against them. She made eye contact with her friends; glad that they were staying put. "The Princess approaches!" One of the guards announced. The other guards stood aside and at attention, bowing to someone as they entered the library. Rainbow and Spike both gritted their teeth and growled when Trixie came waltzing into the archives. "Well done." She said with a smile. Twilight growled and looked up at her with utter hatred. "You won't get away with this." She muttered. Trixie didn't reply she merely smiled. Then turning to her guards she said, "Bring the prisoner to the castle dungeon. I'll figure out what to do with her there." The guards all bowed and forcefully led Twilight out following behind Trixie. *~*~*~* Rainbow and Spike felt even more helpless than before. They couldn't come out of hiding until the guards had all cleared out, but if they waited there would be no way to follow Trixie and Twilight. A strange noise in the corner caught Rainbow's attention. Much to her shock and surprise she saw Rarity pulling herself up through a window. Spike looked frantically from Rarity to the guards still inside the archives. He and Rainbow both feared she would be caught. Then for no clear reason they heard quite a commotion going on outside. The guards inside rushed out and around the building towards the noise. Rainbow and Spike seized the opportunity. Whatever was distracting the guards it was exactly the luck they needed to get out undetected. They dove into a bush nearby and saw what the fuss was all about. There were cupcakes soaring through the air attacking the guards. It didn't take them long to notice Pinkie Pie trying to catch one in her mouth. "You grab Rarity and I'll get Pinkie. Let's get over to that hedge." Rainbow whispered to Spike, pointing to a tall hedge that lined a garden. He nodded and crept slowly along the wall of the archives hoping not to be caught. Rainbow ducked, tucked, and rolled towards Pinkie Pie. She gripped her tail with her claw and pulled her away, racing towards the hedge. "Hey!" Pinkie cried in protest and disappointment. She couldn't see who had grabbed her until they were successfully hidden behind the hedge. "Rainbow Dash! You're okay!" She squealed in delight. She threw her hooves around her in a tight hug. "Pinkie… can't… breathe…" Rainbow gasped. Meanwhile, Spike had used all of his strength to pull Rarity from the window. She screamed in fear and tried to kick him away from her. "Wait! Rarity it's just me!" he said frantically, holding out his hooves defensively. "Spikey Wikey?" Rarity asked both surprised and happy to see him. "Let's go!" he said, pointing towards the hedge where they caught a glimpse of Pinkie Pie disappearing into hiding. Spike and Rarity joined them just before they could be spotted. "Ooooh we're so happy you're okay!" Rarity said joining Pinkie Pie's hug of Rainbow Dash. Spike joined them too, burying his face in their hug. Rainbow struggled to push them all off her to catch a breath. "Where's Twilight?" Pinkie asked. "SHE'S GONE" Spike said, bursting into tears. "TRIXIE'S GOT HER!" Rarity and Pinkie both gasped in horror. "Where did she take her?" Rarity asked. "The Canterlot dungeon. She said she didn't know what to do with her yet." Spike answered. "I can't just sit by and let Trixie take our friend! I say we get over there right now and figure out how to get her out!" Rainbow demanded. She felt incredibly guilty for abandoning her friend in the archives. She wished she could take it back, she would choose to fight instead of saving herself. "Oh yeah, three ponies and a dragon are going to march in past all the guards and magically get her out." Rarity said sarcastically. "We'd need an army to do that." "Wait! What about Applejack and Fluttershy? They'd want to help." Pinkie pointed out. "Are they in Canterlot?" Spike asked. Nopony could answer to that. "When does the next train get to Canterlot?" Rainbow asked. "Soon! Let's see if they're at the station." Rarity suggested. The four of them had to wait impatiently until the guards at the archives were distracted or gone, then barreled out of their hiding place towards the train station. *~*~*~* Twilight was shackled to the wall in one of the dreariest and darkest part of the Canterlot dungeon. She had never actually been in this part of the castle before, and had no idea what to expect. Without her horn, she could not even light the room for comfort. The only light she had was the sun shining from a very small window. Twilight usually wasn't one to give up, but she had no idea what to do. There wasn't any way she could see getting out of here on her own. She knew her friends wouldn't leave her here but part of her wished they would not try to save her; she didn't want them to get caught. "Why?" She whispered to herself, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Because you had it coming, that's why." Trixie answered. Twilight's head shot up to see Trixie unlocking the door to her cell. She hadn't really expected anypony to reply to her question, it was supposed to be rhetorical. "What's this? The great princess doesn't have anything to say? What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" Trixie taunted. She laughed at Twilight's expense. "I never knew just how evil you really are, Trixie. There's no redeeming a pony like you is there?" Twilight answered bitterly. "Evil? Gee… isn't that a bit harsh? After all, I thought we were friends." Trixie said. "FRIENDS?! You'll NEVER be my friend!" Twilight screamed and pulled against her chains in anger. Trixie scoffed and smirked. "Doesn't matter. I don't need friends; I've got an entire kingdom to love me. I couldn't have imagined how much I'd love being you. I mean, besides the goodie-four-hooves reputation I have to maintain it's really rather easy." "Princess Celestia will see through you in a second. Do you really think you can fool everypony forever?" Twilight said. "Princess Luna didn't seem to have a problem accepting me." Trixie replied. Twilight's heart sunk; she couldn't believe Trixie was clever enough to fool Luna. For the first time she truly understood how Princess Cadance must have felt when Queen Chrysalis took her place. "I'm sure I'll think of something before Celestia returns. Besides, I don't exactly need to convince everypony just the right ones. I've studied you and your pathetic little friends long enough to know how to act like you." Trixie said. "If you're so confident then why are you here?" Twilight asked; sick of Trixie's badgering. "And miss an opportunity to see the look on your face when I finally beat you? Never." Trixie said. "My friends will come for me!" Twilight snapped but she regretted mentioning them the moment after she'd already spoken it. "Oh I know all about their pathetic little rescue attempt back at the archives. They're in cozy little cells of their own. They have you to thank for that. You could have spared them this fate. I planned on convincing them I was you; if it weren't for your selfish actions they could be free but you just had to get them involved didn't you? Looks like that was a big mistake wasn't it princess?" Trixie lied. She would say anything to bring Twilight more pain. Twilight curled up and cried. Her friends, her home, her life… everything was gone. Maybe Trixie was right, maybe she could trick Celestia like she did Luna. What next? Would she take her parents away too? What about Cadance and Shining Armor? "Now you'll feel the pain I felt when somepony takes everything away from you. You'll see just how much you ruined my life!" Trixie said angrily. "You're a monster." Twilight whispered trying to mask her tears. "Not anymore, I'm a princess." Trixie said. She slammed and locked Twilight's cell door and laughed.