//------------------------------// // Should've Known Better // Story: L'amore รจ femmina (Out of Love) // by Ospero //------------------------------// The Dungeon beneath Canterlot Castle, November 6th, 10 a.m. When Spike finally returned to his senses, his first thought was that that had been a spectacularly bad idea. His head was pounding like mad, his mouth tasted of sulfur and something even less savoury, and somepony seemed to have given his stomach a good coating of acidic paint. Then he saw the walls around him, blank and slightly damp, and the memory of the previous night came back full force. They had taken him and the other Elements into custody, along with a seemingly random collection of other ponies, and even Gilda. They had submitted willingly, even to the subdual spells. If somepony had told me that they'd have these kinds of side effects, I certainly would have thought twice about that, Spike thought to himself. He was alone in the cell, the bareness of the walls interrupted only by the equally bare wooden door. "Spike? Are you awake?" The voice had come from the left-hand wall of the cell when looking in from the door. "Twilight? Is that you?" He heard a deep breath from the other side. "Yes. Thank Ce- thank goodness you're still with us. I was afraid the spell had done something bad to you." "Well, it certainly pulled a number on me. Remember when I did that binge on the impure sapphires? This is worse." He practically heard her wince. "Ouch. Anyway, I was told we would be called in for questioning at noon." "Questioning for what, exactly? Do they seriously believe we tried to kill Princess Celestia?" Spike couldn't keep his disbelief out of his voice - the very thought was too absurd to even consider. "Well..." Before Twilight could continue, a voice from the corridor outside caught their attention - a rather loud voice. "We do believe it is our privilege by birth to speak to prisoners, Lieutenant," the unmistakeable tones of Princess Luna's Royal Canterlot voice thundered. "If thou meanest to deny us that right, take it up with the court magistrates." The answer was too quiet to make out from inside the cell, but the door was suddenly thrown open, and a rather shaken-looking guard looked in. "Princess Luna wishes to speak to you." Spike stepped outside and saw the other prisoners standing there, as well as a frowning Princess Luna. She looked over the assembled ponies and others, then simply waved a hoof at them to follow her. *** The room they were led into was spartan and seldom used, judging by the musty air. A few benches had been hastily placed around the walls, to which the prisoners were led before Luna dismissed the guards with a quick wave and look. As soon as the guards had left, the princess of the night seemed to relax visibly. She stepped over to a door and knocked on it four times. The two ponies stepping inside at that signal were only too familiar to most of the prisoners. Twilight simply stared for a few seconds before she found her tongue again. "Shiny? Cadance? What are you doing here?" Shining Armour and Cadance walked up to the prisoners, each withdrawing a key and unlocking the magic-suppressing manacles the unicorn and pegasus prisoners were wearing. Spike noticed that both the captain and his wife were not wearing their formal attire. Twilight's brother smiled. "What does it look like, Twily? We're breaking you out of prison." Luna spoke up. "Should your case go into questioning, or even to court, there is no doubt you would be convicted." "But why?" Trixie asked, voicing the prisoners' confusion. "What have we done?" "You haven't done anything, but that won't matter." Shining Armour said, looking unusually serious. "Yesterday evening at around 6 p.m., Princess Celestia was found in her private rooms. She had obviously been attacked by somepony or something - she had scorch marks all over her body, even a cut or two." Sharp breaths were heard around the room. "Who could do something like that to her?" Twilight finally asked. "Nopony knows. Yet you haven't heard the worst of it. When the court wizards examined the rooms, they found a unique kind of magical residue that has only been reported three times in recent Equestrian history." The guard captain set his jaw. "Twice on Discord, and once on Princess Luna after her return eight years ago." It took a moment for the bit to drop, and when it finally did, Twilight just gaped at her brother. "The Elements of Harmony?" "Exactly," Shining Armour answered grimly. "They went over it five times at my request, and the result was always the same. They also found two other kinds of magical trace - one of which has only been seen once before, and another that completely baffled them. They managed to identify the former as the Elements of Unity." "But how could that be?" Spike cut in. "All fourteen of us were in Ponyville at the time." "Yes. And what are we doing here, anyway?" Gilda asked. "What do the four non-Elements have to do with all this?" "Nopony knows," Luna admitted. "The names on the warrants were signed by my sister. I have never seen her this furious, and to be completely honest with all of you..." A thundering explosion that blew one of the doors into the room to smithereens cut the princess off. "Conspiring against us, sister?" the voice of the Sun Princess rang out. "Again?" The dust settled, and Spike caught a glimpse of Princess Celestia standing in the doorway. He gasped. This wasn't the sweet-tempered princess they all knew and loved, nor even the resolute defender of her realm who had gone up against Discord or Queen Chrysalis. Her mane was not the usual pastel-hued flowing mass, but a solid, unmoving armour of purest gold covering her head and most of her neck, and her eyes had gone from purple to a reddish-golden blaze. Luna moved between the doorway and the other ponies in the room. "If what I am doing here is considered a conspiracy, then you were conspiring against me when you banished me to the moon. You are not yourself anymore, Celestia." A blazing ray of golden light shot from Celestia's horn and hit Luna in the chest, throwing her back several feet. "You dare? These ponies tried to take my life, Luna! Ponies I thought were friends and loyal subjects, one of whom I taught as my student, and one whom I raised from an egg." Her eyes fell on Spike, and for a second, he thought he saw a glimpse of the old Celestia there, but it vanished just as quickly. "You have betrayed me, Elements. All fourteen of you. Time to pay for your deceit." Another ray of light shot out from the Sun Princess, but it scattered harmlessly against a shield of energy that suddenly flickered into existence between her and her targets. She turned her gaze toward the shield's source. "Captain, cease this at once! You are assisting criminals." "Perhaps I am, your Highness, but my oath of duty obliges me in this. You tried to attack prisoners before their trial, which is..." He was cut short by another, far more focused ray of light that cut right through his shield, hitting him at the base of the horn, making him collapse. Several cries of "Shining!" rang out, while Celestia advanced on them. Spike looked around frantically, and his eyes met those of the blue unicorn across the room. A flash of golden light made him lower his nictitating membranes. He recognized what happened even before the necklace manifested - shimmering rainbow-hued metal set with a pale blue crescent moon. Celestia cried out in triumph. "Aha! Three down, one to go!" Her gaze fell on Trixie. "So, showmare, what are you going to do? Blindside me with smoke bombs and mirror panes?" "You have no idea, Princess." Trixie somehow managed to make the title sound almost insulting. "I almost destroyed their town, and yet they welcomed me back, forgiving yet never forgetting." She gritted her teeth and caused a few minor light effects to dance around her head. "I may not understand them, but I can respect them. Which you evidently do not, seeing as how you're violating your own laws here." "Well spoken for an entertainer, no doubt," Celestia said, sounding bored. "Yet what are you trying here?" Trixie grinned. "I was stalling for time and misdirecting your attention. And like a good mark, you fell for it, hook, line and sinker." "What...?" A flash of silver light tinged with purple and dark blue cut Celestia off, forming into a barrier around her. "Thank you, Trixie, but I do believe it is time to scram." Luna was sweating profusely, as were Shining Armour and Cadance. "We can't just leave you here!" Twilight shouted. "She will do nasty things to you..." "Twily, please, this is not the time for discussion. She wanted you out of the way, which means that you can somehow stop her. But you won't be able to do that from the dungeons. Get out of here, now!" her brother shouted back, indicating a door. The prisoners ran. *** Somewhere outside Canterlot, three hours later "Sorry, guys, I can't go on," Spike huffed, collapsing to the floor. "Where are we, anyway?" "Looks like the outskirts of the Everfree Forest," Fluttershy said, looking up into the trees. "Or a similar forest, at least." Rainbow Dash took off straight into the sky, returning just a few seconds later. "I can't see anypony behind us. I guess we're safe for the moment." "Yes, but what do we do now?" Twilight looked at all of them in turn. "We're on the run, we have no idea what is happening, and we only have one Element here." She bit back her tears. "And we have no idea what happened to my brother, Cadance or Princess Luna." "Uh, Twilight?" Derpy pushed through the small crowd, carefully setting a box down on the grass. "Perhaps this might help us." Twilight opened the box and drew in a sharp breath. "The Elements! Where did you find this, Derpy?" "Just outside the room where we fought Celestia. I thought it looked conspicuously inconspicuous, if you know what I mean, so I took it." The grey pegasus smiled. "So you thirteen now have your Elements, at least." "Don't forget yourself, Derpy," Sweetie Belle piped up. "The princess wanted you arrested as well, so you are important in some way." Twilight was dealing out the Elements as she spoke. "I agree with Sweetie Belle. All of us are." You most certainly are. More important than you can probably realize at the moment. Twilight, Rarity, Scootaloo and Gilda looked at each other and nodded - they had recognized the voice. A grey alicorn with dragon wings and griffin paws stepped out from beneath the trees. Welcome, Elements. For those among you who do not know me yet, my name is Warden Grey. I am the keeper of the Spaces Between. "What is happening, Warden? Do you know why the princess did this?" Twilight asked. I do not. I do know, though, that it is somehow related to the Dawn of the Seventh. "The Dawn of the Seventh? What in tarnation is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked. I wished to wait until the Four That Are Hidden were revealed, but I think we do not have the time anymore. Warden waved a hoof, and the world around them vanished, replaced by a flat, featureless grey plain. "Hey, I remember this place!" Rainbow Dash looked around. "Though I tried my best to forget about it." Fluttershy wrapped a wing around her. "We all did." When the Dawn of the Seventh begins, the Six That Endured, the Four That Are Revealed and the Four That Are Hidden will have to prove their mettle, for if they cannot resist the strains put upon them by the guardian of the Seven Prisons, they will not be able to stand up to the Seventh, and all will be lost. Warden's voice suddenly seemed overlaid with other voices, a chorus of dread. "What exactly do you mean by that?" Twilight asked. "Some kind of test?" Yes. Warden looked at Rarity. Do you remember what I told you the last time we met? "We would meet again, sooner than either of us would like," Rarity answered. You will know what I meant by that soon enough. Warden waved a paw, and the Elements of Harmony collapsed to the ground, the gemstones in their Elements going dark. "Twilight!" Spike tried to run to his sister's side, only to be cut off by a crackling grey energy barrier. You cannot. Warden looked at him with those fathomless purple eyes, and an unspeakable sadness threatened to overwhelm the young dragon. You have your own test ahead of you, and that will take all the willpower you have. Her test is not for you. The Elements of Harmony started to writhe and twitch, occasionally letting loose with a scream, and the ground beneath them soon turned dark with their tears. "Hey, Warden." All eyes turned to Gilda. "You said that the Elements would be tested, but then what are we doing here?" She gestured toward Big Macintosh, Trixie and Derpy. "Yeah, we have those fancy new necklaces now, but who are we, exactly? Are we just here to watch our friends suffer? Are you that sadistic?" Save your anger, Gilda of Boldfeather. I am not your enemy, hard as that may be to believe at the moment. Warden blinked, and his eyes turned a deep blue. Your true enemy awaits behind this. The golden disc rose out of the ground, bearing a slight golden shimmer around its edge that made Spike grit his teeth. Something was horribly wrong. All of you will be needed. It is time for you to prove that those Elements picked worthy bearers. Warden waved his paw again, and the world suddenly went black.