Twilight was escorted down to the dank and damp dungeon beneath Canterlot. She tried to ask more questions to those who escorted her, but they ignored her pleas. They shut her in with the sheath over her horn, straps over her wings, and shackles around her hooves. Spike was muzzled and chained to the ground. He gave a little puff of sadness as he curled around Twilight’s hooves, his eyes drooping.
“How could this have happened, Spike?” Twilight mused, her voiced tinted with desperation. “Our Celestia would never have treated a mysterious extradimensional visitor like this.”
“This isn’t our Celestia. Who knows how different this world is?” the little dragon responded.
Twilight sighed, lowering her head. "I don't know, Spike. I don't know." Despite the bleakness of their current situation, the inquisitive purple pony couldn't help but inspect everything around her. The chains linking her legs together seemed to be made out of more than simple iron, and they had the same strange prickly feeling that the ring around her horn did. Her bindings were not the only strange thing. Her own body, as she had previously noticed, was taller than before, but her hooves were now cloven, like that of a deer or a goat. Little tufts of feathers stuck out from the back. She swished her tail in front of her, and now saw that it looked more like a lion's than a pony's, excluding the dorsal feathers like that of a bird's protruding from her behind.
She was still taking in these new additions to her body when she heard hoofbeats coming down the stairs. Her ears perked, and she rose, her chains clinking. From the stairs came pearly-white legs tipped with golden shoes with the emblem of a sun on them. Cascades of mane shimmering in pale colours gracefully flowed with no wind down the tall visage of Celestia. Around her neck was a collar, intricately designed with solar symbology. Utop her head was a crown that perfectly exemplified majesty and glory, with the sun as a backdrop to her long horn. On her forehead, at the base of the horn, was a sun symbol that looked just like her cutie mark. Her flank was blank.
“Princess- I mean, queen Celestia!” Twilight cried. “I knew you’d come for me!”
“Silence.” The alicorn’s voice had such an air of authority that Twilight immediately shut up. “You shall not speak until I command you.” Spike and Twilight exchanged a glance. Celestia turned to her guards. "You may leave us now." The other ponies bowed deeply, and left the room.
"Now, tell me. How did you get your wings? Did Cadence give them to you?" the queen's eyes bored into Twilight.
"What? No! Listen to me, I-" Twilight tried to speak, but was cut off by Celestia's commandeering voice.
"Could it have been... her? Even as her shadeself? Worldspinner protect us..." the alicorn muttered, almost to herself.
"Shadeself? Worldspinner? Who's that?" Twilight raised her eyebrow in confusion.
This caused Celestia to stop. "... You've never heard of the Worldspinner? Have you been living under the ocean for all your life?" The imposing queen almost smiled.
"I've been trying to tell you! You may not believe me, but I'm from a different dimension. I followed someone who stole something very valuable from me, and I'm here to get it back. I don't know why you're queen, who a worldspinner is, or whatever a shadeself may be, and believe me, I am desperately curious to know what they are, but right now I am on a mission to save my own world and possibly this one and would appreciate it if I wasn't chained to the floor right now!" Twilight was breathing heavily from her rant, but she collected herself. "Your Majesty."
"You came through the portal? I suppose it is open for now..." The queen was hardly fazed by Twilight's outburst. "You must tell me everything! My brief excursion into your world was so long ago... Before everything had fallen apart."
"Deal! But first, please let me out of prison."