//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: Descent // Story: Canterlot Wedding Remix // by chronicLurker //------------------------------// “I didn’t expect anything like this,” Rarity observed. Deep in the bowels of the castle, in a narrow and low-ceilinged corridor that led to nowhere but endless rooms of forgotten storage, a hole had been opened in the wall. Two guards snoozed nearby, victims of Twilight’s extremely convenient spell, and six mares were looking into the darkness beyond with wide eyes. “It looks like a tunnel,” Twilight said, lighting her horn to illuminate what was basically a roughly carved tube with stone walls which led down into the mountain. Chewing her lip nervously, Rainbow Dash asked, “Do you want me to scout it out? ‘Cause I would, y’know, but it’s kind of dark.” “No, I think we should stay together,” their de facto leader replied. “I’ll go first to light the way.” Without hesitation, Twilight brightened her horn and sallied forth into the unknown. Her friends followed with varying degrees of enthusiasm. There was no sound but the tapping of hooves on stone as the ponies carefully picked their way down the tunnel in single file. A few hundred meters in, the narrow passage abruptly opened into a cavernous chamber dominated by massive crystal formations. The light of Twilight’s horn cast everything into pink-edged relief. It was a cave which appeared at first glance to be natural in origin, with passageways sprawling off into the darkness in every direction. Nearly every visible surface was a jagged landscape of mirrored, faceted gems in shades of blue and purple. Even the floor of the cave – smooth as glass but somehow not at all slick – was made of glossy crystal. Nopony spoke until they had all entered the cavern and gotten a look at the glittering spectacle. “Oh my,” Fluttershy said softly, breaking the silence in the gentlest way possible. “That’s one way of putting it,” Applejack agreed, tipping her hat back with a hoof and looking up warily at the dark patches where parts of the distant ceiling were lost to shadow. “This is incredible,” Twilight exclaimed, her tightly controlled voice vibrating with scholarly fascination. “I had no idea there was anything like this down here. The history books don’t mention any caves under Canterlot. I wonder if the Princess knows.” “It’s beautiful,” Rarity breathed wonderingly, her eyes wide and glistening with little stars. “I’ve never seen such astonishing, marvelous, enormous gems.” “Oh Rarity, I hate to, um, interrupt,” Fluttershy ventured, “but you, um, you have a little drool there...” “Girls?” Pinkie stomped to get everypony’s attention and gravely announced, “My knee is pinchy.” Twilight searched her memory for what a pinchy knee warned of and just had time to think, something scary is about to happen, before a dozen guards exploded from the shadows. The stallions – every single one a grey unicorn – didn’t even give warning before they went on the offensive. Twilight instinctively knocked one away from her with a burst of magic when he attempted a kick to her head. The other girls were dodging nimbly or, in the case of Fluttershy, collapsing into a trembling heap and sending her assailant sprawling when his target dropped under his attack. There was no time to argue and no time to think as the scuffle escalated. The cave was lit by strobing magical light in pink and green as spell blasts were fired off. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were running interference for Fluttershy while Twilight and Rarity held their own surprisingly well against their much larger opponents. Most of the mares were still acting defensively, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash began to kick first. One of AJ’s adversaries was bucked into a crystal hard enough to crack the gem. “That’s enough!” The harsh cry cut over the sounds of battle and, for a moment, all of the combatants froze, eyes swiveling toward the tunnel. Shining Armor strode in, his barding gleaming and his expression furious, and barked, “Everyone, stand down!” The guards immediately fell back, though they maintained a rough circle around the mares. A few of them cast dim light spells, producing an eerie green glow that made the surrounding gems glitter menacingly. “Shining Armor,” Twilight began, “We were just-” “Just what?” He demanded sharply, striding right up to the smaller unicorn and looming over her. “You have no idea what you’re getting into, do you?” “You could just tell me!” His expression cooled and he studied her thoughtfully. “Do you trust me, Twilight?” “Of course,” she replied. “You’re my brother.” His horn flashed bright green and he fired a blast of concussive energy point-blank that slammed into Twilight and sent her tumbling across the floor. She careened right into one of the guards, who wasted no time in pinning her to the ground with his large hooves. It was hardly necessary; the violet unicorn was struggling just to stay conscious. The surprise attack made the other mares hesitate long enough for the guards to capture Fluttershy and Rarity as well. Before AJ, Dash, and Pinkie could even conceive of launching a counterattack, Shining Armor called out, “Stop! Don’t move or I’ll have my men break Twilight Sparkle’s horn.” Twilight winced and squirmed as a second soldier stepped up and lifted a hoof to press against her horn, but her pleading eyes were locked on the white-coated Captain of the Guard. He smiled nastily at her in return. Applejack scowled and muttered a few choice words under her breath, but she didn’t resist as other soldiers stepped up to restrain her. Pinkie Pie had gone utterly rigid, apparently taking the words ‘don’t move’ literally. Rainbow Dash hesitated, hovering in midair. “She’s your sister,” she objected. “There’s no way you would-” Shining Armor nodded his head toward Twilight’s guards and the unicorn screamed as the pressure on her horn increased. “Stop, I give up!” Panicking, Dash dove for the ground and flattened her body against the crystal. “Stop!” At another nod, the hoof moved away from Twilight’s head. Her horn was whole and undamaged, but she shuddered with the aftereffects of the magical blast, betrayal, and fear. Only her eyes moved when the shadow of the white stallion fell over her, and she looked up at him through tears. Grinning widely, Shining Armor commanded, “Don’t use your magic unless you want your friends to suffer, Twilight Sparkle. At the slightest hint of a glow, we’ll break something they’ll miss.” His horn lit again in blazing, bright green and she flinched away, but this time the light ran over his whole body like fire. Suddenly, instead of Shining Armor, he was the grey unicorn guard from her brother’s office. Stunned, Twilight gasped, “You’re a shape shifter?” He laughed derisively. “You really haven’t got a clue, do you? Stupid little ponies. Well, you wanted to see what’s really going on.” He turned, gesturing for the guards to follow, and headed further into the cave. The soldiers prodded their captives to follow with varying results. Twilight staggered a bit when the guards pulled her to her hooves, but she steadied after a few steps and went along meekly. The guard holding Pinkie was forced to carry her with his magic, as she was still pretending to be a statue. The other mares were more or less compliant. Several minutes of winding around crystal formations later, the path widened into a larger cavern. In the middle of the crystal floor, a group of the grey unicorn stallions stood guard over a single captive. The dirty pink-coated mare lay on the ground, her wings limp at her sides and her multi-colored mane and tail ragged and matted. A heavy collar and thick chain bound her to the ground and she’d been bridled and hobbled. “Behold,” the leader of their little procession announced smugly, “the Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, in all her glory.” Disbelieving, Twilight tremulously called, “Cadance?” The princess stirred slowly, lifting her head and blinking baggy eyes. Recognition dawned alongside horror on her still-pretty face and she whimpered softly, her wings twitching in agitation. “Twilight Sparkle first,” the stallion who’d briefly worn Shining Armor’s form told the guards. At his order, they pushed the violet unicorn forward until she stood only a few feet away from the reclining princess. The guard who’d nearly broken her horn held Twilight in place, but she did her best to ignore him. “Cadance, what is this?” Twilight asked desperately. “What’s going on?” Cadance looked toward the leader of the guards, who nodded at her and coaxed, “Go on, tell her.” The princess turned back to Twilight and listlessly explained, “They’re changelings. Shape shifters.” The bit in her mouth made her slur her words a little, but she was understandable as she went on wretchedly, “They feed on love. I...I make ponies love them.” In an instant, Twilight remembered being a little filly, too small for a cutie mark. She was walking along a street in Canterlot, following a teenage Cadance. Suddenly they were both distracted by the sound of a couple arguing about...some mundane little thing, not really important. Twilight was scared and upset in the way of small foals who don’t yet really understand that adults are not perfect. To her, grown-ups yelling meant that something was terribly wrong. Cadance smiled reassuringly, her horn lighting with a soft blue glow. A pale pink heart formed at the tip and flew toward the arguing couple. As simple as that, the fight was over. The ponies were too busy cooing at each other to care about anything else. Cadance smiled proudly at her young charge, who was appropriately amazed and enchanted. Her well-oiled machine of a brain put together the rest. Twilight knew that her expression was one of revulsion, but she couldn’t even begin to put on a neutral face. It was such an awful thought, and yet it explained almost everything – the crowded streets, the way everypony seemed to be paired off. Still, she felt a pang of guilt as Cadance looked away, ashamed. “It’s not your fault,” Twilight told her. “I-“ “Enough talk,” the changeling standing over Cadance barked, prodding the winged unicorn with a grey hoof. “Use your spell.” “Not Twilight,” Cadance begged, “Please, if you have any compassion-“ The changeling sneered as he leaned in and replied, “You know the consequences if you defy us, pony.” Cadance’s expression crumpled into defeat and she nodded weakly, the chains attached to her collar clanking. "I'm sorry, Twiley," she sobbed, her horn glowing blue as a gleaming crimson heart began to grow at the tip. "I'm so sorry!" She couldn’t use magic, but no one had told her not to struggle. Twilight tried to pull away, but the harsh hooves just held her tighter, digging into her coat and making her fear grow. The heart was the size of her hoof, but it looked enormous as it shone bright red in the greenish gloom. "Don't!" Twilight cried, squirming against the grip of the strange stallion. "Let go!" The heart broke free, snapping in two and flying toward Twilight and her captor. She tried to scream, but her lungs emptied when the magic hit her like a punch to the chest. It didn't hurt, at least not physically. No, it actually felt...good. Pleasant. Her whole body was suffused with warmth, and Twilight felt a blush rise to her face as she stumbled slightly. Ooh, everything kind of tingled nicely. She giggled softly and shook out her coat, feeling weirdly fizzy inside and liking it. "Twilight!" She looked up at the sound of the hoarse shout and saw Rainbow Dash struggling against a pair of royal guards. Her other friends were similarly restrained, stricken expressions on their faces, and Applejack was pinned down under the hooves of three large stallions, her face mashed into the stone floor and her hat several feet away. "What's wrong?" Twilight asked, taking a shaky step toward her friends. "What's happening?" "Hush, Twilight," a smooth voice purred in her ear. She jumped a little and turned her head as a larger form brushed along her side, but her worries melted away like mist under sunlight when she saw who it was. His pristine white coat and loving lavender eyes were as familiar to her as her own cutie mark. "I love you," she told him, needing to say the words as much as she needed to press herself close and feel the brush of his coat as she rubbed her head against his shoulder. He was soft and strong, like silk over steel. "Ahhh," he breathed, ruffling her mane as he nuzzled her in return. "That's...nice. You're just delicious, love." "I'm happy," Twilight said, and she was. "So happy." Someone was softly sobbing and her friends were calling her name, but it all seemed so distant. One of his wings draped over her, pulling her a little closer and making her hum in pleasure. As long as he was there to protect her, everything would come out alright.