Twilight woke to the sound of something clattering against metal. She groaned as consciousness slowly returned to her. The infuriating noise came unbidden once more, jarring her eyes open. The sight of iron bars laid out before her was the first thing that came into focus.
Trapped. She was cornered on all four sides by a reinforced structure. The surface she stood on was just as cold to the touch and plain as the bars that encapsulated her. Her prison wasn't physically discomforting, but it didn't exactly give off a homey vibe either.
Her surroundings were simultaneously barren and psychedelic. There was nothing distinguishable beyond the cage except the myriad of colors that bombarded her senses. A mixture of hues from red to pink and anywhere in between blended together and continuously shifted around, fighting for dominance. The whole experience left Twilight a headache in mere moments, and she shut her eyes to stave off the effects.
"Oh, I do apologize, dearest Twilight. I have never had the fortune of entertaining a guest in my domain you see." She recognized the voice as belonging to the minotaur-goat that had kidnapped her. "That should be better."
Slowly, she reopened her eyes. True to his word, the colors had been replaced by ... darkness. That was so much better. Even with the casting of an illumination spell, the alicorn could only see perhaps two or three inches beyond her muzzle.
Abruptly, her abductor suddenly appeared before her, his glowing white eyes startling her. She fell back, her flank now pressed against the chilling metal beneath her. After a moment, she regained her composure and studied his face. He had the head of a goat, and if her memory served her correctly his body was that of a minotaur. Suddenly, a thought popped into her head. "Are you ... a draconequus?"
"You are acquainted with our species, I see. But of course you are; you've met Discord." The creepiest smile formed on his face as he thrust his arms up to the air in jubilation. "That makes introductions so much more simple! Eternus is the name."
So her captor was a draconequus just like Discord. Already having acquired knowledge of some of Discord's abilities, she should somewhat know what to expect from him. With a little luck, she should be able to make short work of him and then get back to her friends. Hopefully, there would still be enough time to save them.
With that in mind, she quietly recited the incantations of a spell she knew would be able to counter Discord's magic. Only, nothing happened when it went off. She stared out into the darkness, dumbfounded. "That didn't work?!"
A disassembled head snapped into existence beside her. This would have startled her had she not already been familiar with Discord's own shenanigans. "Why, what didn't work, my dearest Twilight? Do tell, I just hate guessing games." He asked with an innocent smile plastered on his mangled face. His beard took on a life of its own, and tickled her muzzle in mock affection.
She swatted his face away, and it vanished into a puff of smoke. She stared off into the dark abyss, wondering if she was facing him or not. "My spell! It surely should have counter-acted at least some of your chaos magic."
Eternus suddenly reappeared in front of her, phasing his head through the metal bars. "Chaos magic? As if I would use anything as disharmonious as Discord's magic. It'd drive me batty." Twilight Sparkle half expect him to transform into a bat, yet he merely ran a hand down his exasperated face. He seemed pretty insulted by the mere prospect of being compared to the only other draqonequus the violet mare had ever known.
"But-" Twilight stammered, dumbfounded by this moment of epiphany. Thoughts ran through her mind at an incredible rate, discerning deductions and probabilities from the point of their introduction to the present. Nothing came to mind that would immediately give her a clear advantage over the draconequus.
"But nothing, dearest." He stared at her for a moment before a clock magically assembled itself in his hand from nothingness. "I see you racking all the gears in your head to figure out my magical essence. The clock is ticking. Tick-tock."
Because coming into contact with another draconequus aside from Discord was unprecedented, Twilight was unable to come to grips with his power. "Impossible! This looks just like Discord's magic, no matter how you slice it."
The draconequus was fuming. "Don't you dare compare me to that buffoon!" He was as red as a tomato as he flung his arms up in the air in aggrivation, clenched his fists shut, and everything shook around them. A massive structure started erecting itself from nothingness, building itself piece by piece like a jigsaw puzzle. Irritably, Eternus shook his head. "Impossible. As if our kind know the meaning of the word."
Eternus walked up a flight of stairs that came into existence as the structure built itself all around them. Thick pillars shot out of the ground on either side of him. At the top of the stairs, a beautiful throne chair sprung forth from the ground to greet the draconequus, who without a second glance sat himself down and propped a foot up on one of its arm rests. "I would get comfortable if I were you."
Trying to ignore his inflated ego, Twilight cried, "You'll be sorry when my friends come to rescue me! We turned Discord to stone before, and we can do the same to you."
A guffaw escaped Eternus' lips as he put a hand up to his head. "You fool. I want your friends to come. Why else would I capture you, the Princess of Friendship?" He gave a disinterested yawn and held out his hand. In the same fashion as the building was erected, a hat materialized before him; he placed it on his head and flicked it over his face. "I think I'll catch some shuteye while I wait. And don't bother trying to escape. My cage debilitates the use of your magic."
Disregarding his advice, Twilight tried focused all her energy into a single spell in order to break herself free. When it fizzled and had no outstanding effects, she had no choice but to take his word that for as long as she remained inside this cage, her magical prowess was weakened. By no means was she ready to give up just yet, but it would definitely take longer than she had expected to free herself of Eternus' clutches.
"I hope I can find a way out of here before my friends spring whatever trap he's set for them." The alicorn muttered to herself as she began to intently study her surroundings more thoroughly than she had before.
The Castle of Friendship wasn't quite as inviting without the Princess of Friendship to welcome them inside. The creak of the front doors was present as it lurched open. Starlight Glimmer had thought they had taken care of that once already, but that infernal sound was back, and it was made more pronounced as it echoed through the castle's empty chambers.
Following after her were the harmonies, all but her teacher, and Spike. Each of them wore either a scowl on their face, a worried expression, or a range of mixed emotions too broad to read. This only further highlighted the gravity of the situation. Starlight's own downcast face went all but unnoticed as she held the door open for them to enter. They continued their gait into the council chamber, their usual place of important strategical discussion.
The seats, all but Twilight's, were quickly occupied by the harmonies. When they were all seated, they noticed that along with Spike, Starlight stood at the entrance into the chamber. "Take a seat, sugar cube. This could take a minute." Applejack said, pointing a hoof to Twilight's empty seat.
"Oh, I can stand. I wouldn't want to impose." Starlight responded nervously. The grandest chair at the table was an intimidating piece of architecture, and it demanded the attention of everypony gathered around at the table. It didn't sit right with her to take up that mantle in Twilight's absence.
Looking back at her with an inviting smile, Rarity said, "Nonsense, darling. Twilight wouldn't mind in the slightest."
The others seconded her statement, encouraging her to wordlessly walk over to the chair. "If you insist." She murmured. She stared down at the chair for a moment, swallowed with a dry mouth, and eased her flank as close to the edge of the seat as possible. She was tensed, but otherwise the arrangement provided her an easier perspective with which to converse with her friends.
At once they delved into the matter at hand. "Girls, we need to rescue Twilight." Rainbow Dash stamped her hoof down in anger and bit her lip. By the way she unfurled her wings, Starlight was sure she would take flight, but instead she shifted uncomfortably and settled back down. "I'm not sure who it was or why they did it, but they've taken her hostage."
"I sure hope Twilight is okay..." Fluttershy said in a whisper as she stared downward. "What did they look like?" It took Starlight a moment to realize that there was a hint of furiousness to her voice that wasn't normally present in the shy mare.
"I didn't get a good look at him." A collection of disappointed sighs filled the room. Rainbow Dash continued on to recall the entire event and what little features she could remember of Twilight's captor, to which one of them had taken note that the mental picture she painted somewhat resembled Discord. "Now that you mention it, he did sorta look like Discord, but he was about twenty percent cooler." For that comment she received blank stares from each of them.
One problem had stood out to Starlight in the blue Pegasus' narrative. From her description of the mysterious figure, they whisked Twilight off to who-knows-where via some magical portal. She could literally be anywhere, and there weren't many clues to go off of. "How are we to find Princess Twilight?" She asked, hoping they might have some answers.
By their looks, she could tell they were as stumped as she was. "Actually, I don't know. I was hoping you might be able to tell us." Rainbow replied with a pointed stare at her. "Magic is kind of your and Twi's specialty."
"Me?" She asked. For a moment, Starlight had no idea where to begin. However, something eventually dawned on her. "I mean, I guess I could try a tracking spell. But I can't guarantee that it will lead us to the Princess."
"It's a start, darling. We just have to take it one step at a time." Rarity said as she got up from her chair and headed for the door. Before exiting, she continued, "Now if you'll excuse me, it sounds like I have a lot of packing to do for our journey tomorrow."
Pinkie Pie, with a bounce in her step, reached the door shortly after Rarity. "I smell an adventure coming along!" Excitedly, she dashed away, leaving a puff of smoke trailing behind her.
The others followed one after the other. Starlight and Applejack were the last to leave. Instead of leaving right away, Applejack approached her. "I need ta talk to ya for a minute. I know what I'm about ta say ain't gonna make a lick of sense, and I don't rightly know if I can believe it myself, but what I'm about ta say is the truth."
Not liking where the direction of this conversation was headed already, Starlight shot her a bemused look. The farm pony merely took her hat off in response, and curiosity finally won over fear. "What is it Applejack?"
"Earlier when we were fightin' that thing, just when I was about ta pass out, I saw you tackle it. Next thing I knew, y'all were gone." The confused look on the farm pony's face matched her own. "I know it ain't you, but it was another you. Or at least, she looked like you. I just figured you'd wanna know."
She gave a nod in appreciation as they left the chamber to trot along the castle's halls. "I just don't know what it means. That monster was powerful. What will we do if we encounter it again?"
Applejack took a moment to formulate a response. As they approached the front doors of the castle, she glanced over her shoulder. "Ya know, once long ago, I had those same doubts when we faced Nightmare Moon. At the time, I didn't have the same faith in the power of friendship as Twi did. But when our elements lit up bright as the sun, I knew right then and there; there ain't nothin' stronger than friendship. And the next time we see that thing, I just know we can win."
The setting sun, dimly lit and casting long shadows over the fields, peeked through the open doors into the castle. "I wish I had your enthusiasm."
Placing a hoof over her shoulder, Applejack said, "Don't worry about a thing, hun. Everythin' will be okay. And we'll get Twi back before ya know it."
She watched as Applejack's form receded in the fields towards Sweet Apple Acres. With the exception of Spike, she was now alone in the castle. This wasn't quite how she pictured her first time spending the night in the castle alone. Without the purple dragon to keep her company, she would very well be. Despite the colorful decorations that had long ago been donated by Princess Twilight's friends, the interior walls were dark and ominous.
The importance of the royal council meeting Princess Celestia attended paled in comparison to the reports that had just come in late this afternoon. Preoccupied at the time, she did not receive word of the catastrophe that had befallen Ponyville until afterward, and when she had, she wished the meeting had ended sooner. Because of certain ponies who regularly attended, she would have liked to forego them altogether, but that would be most unbecoming of a Princess of her stature.
She reread the letter that had been given her for the umpteenth time that hour, trying to piece out the details. There wasn't much explanation to be reasoned from the parchment except that Ponyville had been attacked by some unidentified creature of unknown origin and that considerable damage had been sustained as a result of its attack.
Normally she would have been alerted in advance to such an attack by the presence of its magic. She wondered what could have caused this. In all the time she had been a Princess, she had never come across anything like this. To better protect her kingdom from this new foe in the future, she needed more information on it; she would have to send the Princess of Friendship a letter as soon as possible.
She was interrupted from her reverie by the sound of someone entering her quarters. She shifted her focus over to find Princess Luna, her sister, there looking as distraught as she felt. "Sister, I take it you have heard the news." She set the parchment down and retrieved another, this one blank, and a quill. She put ink to paper and began drafting a letter for her former student.
"We are worried sister. We know nothing of this new foe, yet he walks in broad daylight." Luna said, furrowing her brows and ruffled her wings. She closed the door behind her before pacing across the room and declaring emphatically, "We wish to survey the extent of the damages with thine eyes. Perhaps it is not too late for us to glean something from the scene."
With a frown, Celestia set her quill down and turned to her sister. "I understand. But I wish for you to be careful; I have an uneasy feeling about this." Luna shot her a smile as if to say that she would. Returning to her letter, she made a few remaining changes to it before sending it off with her magic. She continued, "I take it you will leave at once?"
Making way for the entrance, Luna replied, "We shall make haste, sister." After she left, Celestia retreated back into her thoughts, trying to think back to a time where she would have encountered something like this while she awaited for a response from Twilight Sparkle.
Only the essentials were packed tightly away in her knapsack, but Starlight didn't think it would be enough. There was always something else that she found which might come in handy. After the close call they had in the Crystal Empire, she felt they could encounter anything on their journey. It never hurt to be prepared, Twilight always said.
There were a few particulars that she set aside, however. A few quills, extra parchments, and an assortment of spell books ranging from beginner to master skill level were among some of the things in her pack. She would have tucked more away inside her knapsack, but it was getting full already and the notion of having to carry around as much luggage as Rarity seemed to want to bring with her everywhere she went seemed unappealing.
As she was about to close the flap of her sack shut, her eyes fell onto a couple of toy blocks laying on her desk. She smiled and brought them to closer to admire. Suspended in air by magic, she twirled them around and thought of her old home. As her keepsake from the village, the blocks served as the sole physical representation of their forgiveness. A forgiveness she didn't think she deserved.
A knock on her bedroom door caused her to lose focus on the toys, and without the magic to fix them in place, they plummeted to the ground with a clatter. She asked, "Spike? Is that you? You can come in."
His face upon entering her quarters was drawn in quiet contemplation. In his hands was a scroll; he drug a claw softly across the sheet as he began reading it aloud. "Dear Princess Twilight, I have received word that Ponyville was attacked today. Is everypony alright? I urgently request that you respond as soon as you can to describe the events in detail. I'd appreciate anything at all you have to tell me. Also, Princess Luna is on her way to assess the situation in the flesh. Signed, Princess Celestia."
A frown settling on her face, Starlight sat on her bed and ran hoof through her mane. "I don't imagine she will be very enthused when she hears that Princess Twilight has been abducted."
Spike began to bite down on his claws with chattering teeth. "Are you kidding? She's going to freak! What do we tell her?"
"Well, there's no use in hiding it from her, and she might be able to tell us something that will help us find Princess Twilight." Starlight replied. For the next thirty minutes or so they drafted up a response, squeezing in as much pertinent information as they possibly could about the monster and about Twilight's abduction.
When they were done, Spike rolled the scroll up and set it in flame. He then turned to her and asked, "Okay, now what?" From the nervous fiddling of his claws as he shifted his weight from the balls of his feet to his toes and back again, she could tell he was lost without Twilight there, a feeling she could empathize with.
She was about to suggest going out and helping Princess Luna when a sudden tiredness overcame her; the long hours spent on worrying over her teacher were finally catching up to her. It was mentally draining. Obstinately, her eyes closed shut, and then again soon thereafter when she reopened them to face her teacher's assistant.
Finally acceding to her body's demands, she lain on the bed and felt the welcoming softness of her pillow. Unbidden, her eyes closed and remained shut. Already she was drifting off to sleep when she mumbled to Spike, "Right now, I think we need to rest ... Our journey ... early tomorrow."
Spike emitted a small chuckle as he replied, "Uh ... Right. I knew that. I'll see you in the morning, Starlight." He closed her bedroom door behind him, leaving her to her slumber.
The full moon overhead in the night sky brightly lit the fields of Equestria. As Princess Luna soared through the night sky, she was enraptured by its pure beauty. It was times like this where she could, for just a moment, forget her duties.
She closed her eyes and took pleasure in the colt draft pressing against her fur. Continuing to stare at the moon, she gave it a fleeting smile. Its magnificence, lost on many a pony, drifted through the sky far faster than she would have liked. The night was never truly around for long enough, in her opinion.
Her attention veered away from the moon with the sight of Ponyville coming into focus. Even at a distance, she could see that the damage was extensive. Smoke billowed languidly into the sky, partially masking the moon. Her duties recommenced.
Once overhead, she flew around the town for a time and studied the damage in detail. Ponies were gathered around. Some were in shock while others were devastated. Their entire lives were ruined in the span of an afternoon. Those ponies wept openly, mourning over their losses.
Whole buildings, mostly shops and a few intermingled homes, had crumbled and fallen to the ground, leaving only rubble to remain. Some had caved in from significant burns to their infrastructure. But there were others which seemed to have been crushed by force alone.
Luna was astounded by the sheer devastation that had swept over Ponyville. It would take weeks, nay, months to make sufficient repairs. She only hoped that the damages were limited to their possessions alone and did extend to the loss of life. She needed to get down there and make sure, and she would be able to get a closer look at the destruction as well.
Right around the time she decided to make her descent, some of the more fortunate ponies finally took notice of her, and they kneeled out of a sign of respect to her authority. Others joined in soon after when they realized that a Princess had graced them with her presence.
Landing with a swiftness and elegance only a Princess could pull off, Luna peered into the eyes of her subjects, hoping that the worry she felt wasn't discernible on her face. "We seek forgiveness for our late response to this calamity and wish to deliver retribution to those responsible. We hope harm has not befallen to anypony."
Responding to inquiry, they proceeded to tell her their accounts of today's events. It wasn't much to go off of, but she was glad to discover that everypony was intact at least. Satisfied that there were no serious injuries to tend to, her focus shifted back to her investigation into the mysterious entity.
Their description of the attack was about as disjointed as the afternoon report she and her sister had received. She thanked them for their input and turned back to the scene. There were markings over the ground and holes interspersed across the courtyard. There was no physical manifestation to identify the monster; perhaps its magical residue would prove to be more insightful.
With the casting of a spell she tried to discern the presence of residual magic in the area. When she sensed no magic in the area, Princess Luna was shocked. There was an absolute void of magical energy in the surrounding courtyard. It was as if Tirek had risen from Tartarus once more and drained everypony of their magic. That couldn't have been possible, however, as he was still locked away the last time she checked.
There was one source several hundred paces or more away that she did sense, however. Taking flight, she quickly rose into the air, startling her subjects. She sped towards the source of magic. It took a moment, but as she approached it, she surveyed the area of the town and found there to be more vandalism here, albeit far less impactful.
She allowed herself for a closer inspection, and upon landing gracefully, she furled her wings at her sides. The extent of the damage to the building was a singular hole made to its entrance. Its door, along with small chunks of wall, laid on the floor undisturbed. There seemed to be nopony around to give testimony, however.
As she stepped closer, she rekindled her magical spell to distinguish the identity of the being responsible for this. Its magic flooded her senses as she took in its essence. She closed her eyes, basking in its familiarity. The bearer was akin to Discord.
This didn't make sense to her, however. If it had been Discord, surely his magic would have permeated throughout Ponyville and not be isolated at a singular focal point. "We grow more confused by the second. We must discuss this Discord." She murmured to herself just before taking flight once more.
The sound of the train's horn resounded throughout the station, indicating it would depart soon. The entire station was devoid of anypony aside from them. Granted, it wasn't particularly large to begin with, but Starlight was glad for the relative privacy that the small station afforded them as six ponies and one dragon huddled together.
It wouldn't be long now before they stepped through those double wide doors, open to receive any last minute boarding passengers. There was still one last thing that they had to do first, however. There was still the matter of figuring out where they needed to go, and to do that, Starlight Glimmer needed to cast a pony detection spell.
"Come on, Star. You got this." Applejack said encouragingly as the horn blared once more. The others stared at her in anticipation.
Pouring all her focus into that one spell, she shut the book she retrieved the spell from and passed it off to her friends with one hoof. In her other hoof laid one of Twilight's most prized possessions, a copy of one of her Daring Do novels. She touched her horn to the book and the spell went off.
Allowing a moment to pass, she await for the spell to take effect. When nothing happened, Starlight stared at the book with a frown. "It didn't work."
"Try again, darling." Rarity said with a wink. The spell book in her hoof, she opened it to the page listing the detection spell and held it up for Starlight to read.
Scrutinizing the instructions on the page, it donned on the pink mare what her mistake had been. So focused on firing the spell off correctly was she that she had forgotten to recite the correct incantations to go along with it.
She tried again, this time to great effect. A glimmering particle of blue light rested on top of the book shortly before it spiraled away from it and whizzed off in the direction of Appleloosa. A destination now in mind, Starlight turned to the others and said, "Alright. With any luck, it'll lead us right to her. I hope."
Without a chance to react, she was suddenly pulled into a group hug by her friends, who were excited that she had managed to pull the spell off. "Of course it will, silly!" Pinkie Pie had been the first to respond. "And when we rescue Twily, we'll throw her a 'Welcome Back To Ponyville, Hope The Mr. Bad Person Didn't Hurt You' party!" This elicited giggles from the other girls.
Starlight spent one last minute looking at Ponyville before she and the others stepped onto the train. She wondered idly how long it would be before she would lay eyes on Ponyville again.