Darkness.
That was the first thing Twilight thought when her eyes cracked open. She groaned, her left flank aching terribly. She put her right hand against her flank, and realised her leather armor was gone. Surprised to find that her lower abdomen was tightly bandaged, she wondered how she had ended up in the dark. Wincing at the dulled throbs of pain that coursed through Twilight’s nervous system under the pressure of her right hand, Twilight eyes began to adjust to the low lighting.
As her eyes adjusted, she realized everything was faintly lit by green light. It seemed as if she was in a expansive cave, made of obsidian and granite. As she glanced around, she saw three smooth pillars that rose around her and cemented themselves into the rock above her about sixty feet above her.
Twilight laid against stone, placing her hand against it, relief flooding her as she was not immediately dying. Her nervousness spiked as she could not quite figure out how she got here. She could recall that she had left Canterlot via teleportation circle, arriving in the battle. Twilight recalled the magic fireball going wild, and then…. Twilight narrowed her eyes at the examination of her memories. They were incomplete, it seemed. She was missing something, and Twilight had no idea where she was.
Wincing as she began to slowly force herself into a sitting position, Twilight shuddered as a dull pain throbbed on her left flank. Breathing slowly, Twilight began focusing on isolating the pain, and with a single sigil fixed in her mind and then released, the pain faded to being barely noticeable.
Looking at this chamber properly, it resembled a grand hallway, with Twilight sitting upon a smooth black dias. The dias sat upon a fleet a stairs that raised about ten feet in the center of this hallway-like room. There was two large iron worked doors to one end of the hall, and on the other end, a wall of perhaps, green glass? Twilight was not sure. The floor was mostly a pale sand color, save for the dias she was upon and the stairs, which was black obsidian. The floor did not look right to Twilight, who pursed her lips at the thought. It looked strange, until Twilight realized, the floor was actually covered in sand. Mentally chastising herself at that moment of stupidity, Twilight looked at herself. Her armor, hood, kama, pistol, and scrolls were gone. All she had were a pair of breeches and an athletic undershirt, along with her bandages. She did not even have her shoes. Twilight bristled at the thought of her pistol having been stolen.
However, upon her left leg, a black mantacle was latched to her leg, it did not have any seams, or any indication of having a lock. A thick chain seemed to be attached, but as her eyes followed the chain, she noticed it seemed to fade away into nothing after about a foot of chain.
Twilight began gently pushing herself to the edge of the dias she was upon, and then heard the rattle of metal upon stone of the foot of chain.
Cursing herself, Twilight had wished she had memorized the unlock spell from her spellbook back in Canterlot. Trying to feel out some solar magic in her soul, Twilight began to sweat as she couldn’t feel the familiar magic of her teacher. She only felt the nebulous darkness, along with her own wild magic. Twilight began to take deep breaths, an attempt to not hyperventilate due panicking. It was not working.
Trapped. Twilight had been captured, somehow. She racked her mind for how to leave, until she heard something. Snapping her head about, she examined the room for any movement, and spent ten agonizing silent minutes carefully listening for more. Satisfied there was no more sound, Twilight decided to see how far the chain would go. Slowly rising to her feet, Twilight walked to the large iron worked doors, which had no indication to how they would open, and did not budge when she pushed upon the pitted iron of the doors.
It seemed the mantacle would allow her to explore the whole room. Trying to find the source of the faint sound she had heard, Twilight came up to the glass wall, which was green. As Twilight peered into it, she was only gazing into black. Twilight put her hand to the smooth glass, curious to what the actual substance was before her. The glass was surprisingly warm, and she felt something within her find comfort. The texture was similar to the pieces of obsidian that were kept in the Canterlot Archives. Feeling off from the sensation, Twilight took a deep breath, calming her heart rate a bit.
Placing her head against the glass, Twilight heard a deep rumbling, as she analyzed the sound, it almost sounded wet, it was not a sound dissimilar to the gentle crashes of the ocean… Pulling her head away from the strangely peaceful sound, Twilight regarded the glass wall before her, a plane of sixty feet of an unknown glass-like substance.
Twilight gasped as icy water swept around her bare feet. Panic rising again, Twilight eyes raced around her surroundings. Her breath becoming ragged as the icy water lapped against her knees. She then heard a noise behind her, and she saw, to her shock, a hulking seven foot Hive. It had three glowing green eyes, staring at her, seemingly impassive. A huge cleaver-like blade was gripped in its right hand. Twilight racked her brain for Hive that used swords like the giant cleaver before her, when she recalled the potential classifications of Hive that stood before her.
Knights, and the Hive Princes. Princes were direct servitors of Hive Queens.
Rage and fear flooded Twilight.
She had no idea whether it was just a Knight or a proper Prince. The Hive lumbered towards her, its actions slow and sluggish. It was likely a knight, but it still had the massive blade, and Twilight did not.
She realized the only way she would survive is if she killed the creature. The Knight swung the blade, the keen edge seeking Twilight as she leapt back, her legs numb from the cold water. Twilight snarled at her plight. There was no escape. There was only one way out, and Twilight sought the safety of solar magic. It trickled into her soul, a small reservoir in this dark place. Twilight quickly recalled that Hive swords channel magic easily, but are dangerous because they could be sentient.
Maybe she could charge the blade with solar magic. That was no doubt her best shot. Twilight the spied a hive pistol at the Hive’s belt, and she lunged towards the huge Hive as it swung its blade in a cleaving arc towards her, the blade now wreathed in a cascade of black and green magic. Twilight narrowly dodged the blade, and clumsily grabbed at the pistol, only to knock it into the water.
Twilight cursed as she whipped around, eyes on the Hive who seemed enraged now. Twilight then felt wet chitin against her right foot. The Hive charged, and Twilight dropped into the freezing water, fingers securing against grip of the strange pistol. Whipping it out, Twilight shot the Hive’s hand and at its face, as another overhead strike crashed just mere inches from her small frame. Dropping the blade, the Hive fell to one knee, gripping its hand, screeching like a forlorn banshee.
The Hive’s howl was unearthly, and terror wormed its way into Twilight, who half-scrambled half-crawled back from the creature, uncertain of what would occur next. Frantically she looked around for the blade, until she saw it, twenty feet away, handle up, as if awaiting to be grasped.
Not questioning the strange circumstances, Twilight raced for the blade, and seized the blade with an iron grip.
Green flames exploded from the blade as Twilight felt killing intent wash over her. Twilight gritted her teeth as the fire began to rage, the pain dulled by the sigil within her mind.
Bringing the solar blade spell to mind, Twilight forced the solar energy and spellform’s sigils to channel through the blade. Orange runes etched and carved themselves audibly into the blade with a creak and a sound of fervent scratching, and Twilight felt a shift in the intent of the blade as she lifted the blade. The blade was surprising light in her hand, as black and orange flames wreathed the blade. The Hive rested on its knees, as if it knew its fate was sealed.
Twilight smirked, no doubt Celestia would be proud she had survived encountering the minions of the dark alone. She strode up to the Hive, the water seemingly calm and placid. The blade swung lightly, as she cleaved off the Hive’s head. The decapitated head fell and splashed the water.
Silence greeted the ragged Twilight, who breathed heavily from the physical exertion and the intense panic she had felt but a moment ago.
Looking at the head of the defeated Hive warrior, Twilight glanced around.
The room was dimly lit by green flames with bowls of the flames ringed around the pool of water Twilight stood in. The pool measured about sixty feet wide and two feet deep, and the water reflected the light, barely exposing the ceiling, which was natural rock. The room was octogonal, as was the pool and to her left resided a wall of glass.
To her right, was a cavity in the natural cave wall, which formed a doorway into another cavern. Steeling herself, Twilight moved toward the doorway, a flaming hive blade in hand. Twilight muttered, irritated, and a small mote of light floated above her, her solar magic now depleted in this darkness.