Flash and Twilight were dragged unconscious into a new cell room.
Twilight opened her eyes slightly, looking at Flash, and promptly closed them again. The ringing in her head stopped once she heard a door shut.
She opened her eyes once more to see Chrysalis staring at her. She stared right on back, waiting for her to make her move. She saw Flash behind her, being dragged to a cell, along with her friends. They looked almost as weak as Cadence was.
Chrysalis smiled at Twilight. "Soon," She said.
Before Twilight could ask what she meant, the door opened, and a changeling dragged in Shining Armor, throwing him to the ground when he reached the cell.
He looked even worse than the last time Twilight saw him.
Twilight tried to fight the spell and walk to her brother's side, but it was too powerful.
"Tell me the spell," Chrysalis yelled. "Now!"
Shining's face was covered with tears. He looked at Twilight.
Chrysalis growled and slammed the door behind her, leaving her minions to lock them in their cells.
It had been nearly an hour since the Queen had left the cells, Twilight had tried to reach her brother's hoof through the cell bars but couldn't reach him.
"I'm so sorry Twilight..." he uttered, finally gaining enough strength to talk, "I tried to stop her..."
"We can defeat her," Twilight said. "We have gone through so much without the Elements of Harmony; we can make it through this."
"You don't understand...."
Chrysalis walked back into the room. "Have you come to a decision, yet?" she demanded.
Shining Armor gave up, wanting to bear no more pain. "Yes," he grunted. "I'll take you to the Tree of Harmony..."
Chrysalis let him out of his cell and used her magic to make sure he wouldn't try anything. She slammed the door shut behind her.
Twilight could hear a faint crying from her sister's cell, next to her. She tried to reach out of the bars.
"Don't cry, Cadence, we can make it through this," Twilight said. "We have always gotten through our challenges.”
"But you don't even understand what's going on..." Cadence whispered. "What she is planning..."
"We can do this, Twilight..." Rainbow grumbled. "We have never lost before."
The others murmured in agreement.
Twilight let out a chuckle. "You girls remember The Gala?"
That got a soft laugh out of everypony as they all took a trip down memory lane, reminding each other of all their days together and all their battles.
Cadence hung her head. "You don't even know what she's doing..." she wiped a tear off her face.
Shining Armor hung his head, he walked beside Chrysalis, chained by her magic, guiding her to the Tree of Harmony.
He stopped when they reached the tree and ignited his horn, struggling from all the injuries he had from that day. He pushed himself as far as his tired body could go.
A beam shot toward the star in the tree, causing it to glow and remove the gems from their sections. Now unbound from their perch, they clattered at Chrysalis's hooves.
She brought up six necklaces that looked similar to the ones Twilight's friends wore and put them to her side.
Shining Armor fell to the ground, exhausted from the job and all the pain his body was in. Unable to move, Chrysalis dragged him with her magic.
Tears fell from Shining Armor's eyes as he wept softly.
I'm so sorry, Twiley... I'm so sorry...
They returned a few hours later with the Elements of Harmony. Chrysalis locked the door behind her to make sure nopony would try to escape and began walking towards the cages that held the various captives.
The changelings threw Shining Armor back into his cell and walked away, leaving him lying there.
"I'm so sorry Twilight…" he whispered.
Chrysalis laid out the Elements of Harmony in front of her, then brought out the necklaces and put them in. They made the gem's natural colors glow green. Satisfied with the result, she opened Pinkie's, Applejack's, Rarity's, Rainbow's, and Fluttershy's cells, levitating them out.
She put the necklaces onto their necks, they all screamed out in agony when they made contact with the jewelry.
"No!" Twilight yelled, trying to break out of her cell to help her friends.
Her friend's coats colors glowed around their bodies as they screamed out. Twilight banged harder on the cell, feeling the bars come loose.
It finally broke free. Twilight ran out, hoping and praying that she could reach them in time. Flash ran beside her, apparently also escaping from his cell.
Twilight ran as fast as she could toward her friends. They all fell to the ground, their coat's colors fading and their screams stopping.
"No!" Twilight ran to her friend's sides, sobbing into their coats. "Girls! I'm so sorry!" she cried repeatedly.
Flash stood a few feet away from her, hanging his head, but because of this, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.
Twilight stared at him her distraught face turning into one of shock. She quickly bolted up and ran as fast as she could towards him.
"Flash, look out!" she yelled. But she could not reach him in time.
She watched in horror as Chrysalis shot a blast of magic at him.
Flash hit the ground with a grunt. She ran and held him in her arms, tears falling from her face.
"Flash, no! Please! Don't leave me!" she cried. She held him close to her. "I love you! Don't leave me! Please! Don't go!"
Twilight stared into Flash's eyes. They looked clouded. He weakly moved his hoof to Twilight's. She held it tight.
"Don't leave me."
Flash's grip grew weaker and his eyes slowly shut.
"Flash, don't do this to me, please! I can't lose you too!"
Flash went limp in her arms and shut his eyes, his hoof falling to the ground.
"No!" Twilight yelled. "No, nonononononono, Flash Please!" Twilight held Flash close to her again. "Don't go!"
She tried to use her magic, but the spell Chrysalis cast on her only made it worse. She felt herself grow even weaker by the second.
It didn't take long for her feelings to change to that of unbridled anger. She rose slowly and turned to face Chrysalis.
She tried to run and attack, but her anger clouded her actions. Her attack was quickly blocked by the Queen and was only tossed aside.
Nothing could stop the changeling... for once in her life, Princess Twilight Sparkle... lost.
She just gave up and looked limp, shutting her eyes. A tear fell from her face as she prepared herself for the necklace's cold embrace.
She didn't have to wait for long. Twilight let out a scream of agony as the necklace attached to her; the necklace was forcing the spell to work faster, causing more pain throughout her body.
She slightly opened her eyes.
She saw Spike in front of her, held tight in Chrysalis's grasp. A pink aura floated out of his body, causing him to scream out in pain. He managed to find enough strength to look at Twilight, reaching out his claw.
"Mama!!!" he yelled.
Twilight stared at him as Chrysalis dropped him onto the floor.
"Spike!" Twilight yelled with every ounce of strength she had.
Spike slowly got up from the ground, almost unable to gather the strength to do even that. But before he could fully rise, he was levitated in front of Chrysalis. The dragon struggled, trying to figure out a way out, even though it was hopeless.
The spell grew faster on Twilight. Her eyes grew heavy.
"Spike..." she mumbled. She slowly closed her eyes staring at Chrysalis as Spike continued struggling.
"Spike..."
Darkness surrounded her, everything going cold.
"Spike..."
Twilight could hear the screams of her friend as the darkness grew deeper and deeper into her mind.
She managed to open her eyes, but found nothing but darkness around her. It grew closer to her. She tried to run, but her body wouldn't move.
The darkness wrapped around her and smothered her body. Slowly but surely, it made its way up to her head.
Twilight whimpered, trying to get away.
It tightened around her and made a shape that slithered its way into her ear. She tried to move her head, to keep it away, but her body wouldn't move.
It slowly crawled into her ear and then wrapped around down to her face.
Her vision gradually grew darker.
Celestia flew toward the scene, igniting her horn and firing at Chrysalis, Luna flying beside her.
Chrysalis let out a shriek. All the power she had been using was causing her to grow tired. She quickly retreated to regain her strength.
Celestia landed beside Twilight, not concerned about the Queen enough to give chase. The small alicorn was shaking with fear, and her coat's color was slowly fading.
"I'm afraid we're too late, sister." Luna hung her head.
Celestia levitated Twilight with her magic. "Not yet," she said. She flew off back to the castle with her sister flying right behind her.
It's so dark...
Someone, help me...
It's so cold...
Help...
Pinkie,
Applejack,
Rarity,
Fluttershy,
Rainbow,
Spike...
Friends...
Where are you...?