Three metal beasts trekked up a frozen hillside, spewing dirty smoke that fouled the pristine evening air behind them. They were vaguely equine in shape, but where the head should have been located, an open cockpit cradled a living pilot. The pilots maneuvered their machines with a series of levers and pulleys, easily traversing the snow-covered terrain where other creatures would have struggled.
As the armored walkers crested the hill, the shining lights of a town nestled within a rocky mountain came into view. The three war machines formed a line abreast and came to a halt. Warmed by the heat of their iron steeds’ engines, the pilots took in the panoramic vista of their destination below.
“There it is, Snips,” said the first pilot, a thin orange unicorn stallion. He looked over the bright, but quiet, settlement below. “Neighshe. Our target’s in there, somewhere.”
“I’ll be glad when this mission is done, Snails,” the other male pilot, a stout cyan unicorn stallion, replied. “I could be back in the warm barracks in Vectorlot. If you ask me it’s just a matter of time before this whole continent falls to Emperor Blueblood.”
Snails nodded. “Yep. These miners might be tough, but they’re no match for magitek.”
Snips moved his magitek armor closer to the cliff edge. He narrowed his eyes as he gazed over the still and silent landscape. “Do you really think there could be an esper down there, after all this time? It’s been a thousand years! I thought the war wiped them all out, or drove them away, or whatever…”
“All I know is the intel I got from the general,” Snails said. “Her report claims that the miners here found an esper.”
“Yeah, but it’s probably just another wild goose chase, right?”
“I don’t know…” Snails said with a shrug. “There has to be a reason we were given the special resource for this mission. The boss must believe the rumors are true.”
The smaller unicorn nodded, asking with only a slight tremble, “If there is an esper, you don’t think it’s still… alive, do you? I mean, it’s been a thousand years ...”
“I don’t know!” Snails snapped, slamming his hooves against his control panel. “That’s why we have her.” He gestured to the third rider, who had remained still and silent in her magitek armor.
A young unicorn mare with a lavender coat and dark purple mane shot through with streaks of pink and royal purple sat within the third machine. Most strikingly, an iron band embedded with red, green, and yellow gems encircled her head. She stared blankly ahead, saying nothing.
“I dunno, Snails,” Snips said, a shudder running through his body. “She gives me the creeps.”
“That’s no way to talk about our secret weapon,” Snails replied. “Besides, as long as she is wearing that slave crown she’s ours to control. She can’t even breathe unless we say so. We’ll have that esper and be out of here in a snap. Now let’s move.”
Snips nodded. “Okay! But uh, can we put her on point? No sense in taking risks, right?”
Snails closed his eyes for a moment before nodding. “You’re right! Good idea.” Turning to the taciturn mare, he said, “You, we’re heading out! You’ll be taking point! If anypony comes to talk peacefully, let me handle the talking. If they’re aggressive, well then, I guess I don’t need to tell you what to do, right?”
The lavender mare nodded her head, staring with hollow eyes back at Snails. As her magitek armor lurched forward and down the hill towards Neighshe, Snips and Snails both shivered, though not from the cold.
“L-let’s get this over with swiftly, yeah?” Snips said. “I don’t like being around her.”
Snails quickly agreed, the pair engaging the servos of their walkers to follow the mare towards the waiting town.
.o.O.o.
With servos whirring, engines whining, and exhaust billowing, the armored walkers did not slow as they thundered across the snow towards the shuttered Neighshe city gate. The metal gate was broad and thick, able to repel attacks from monsters and ponies alike. Revving their engines, the walkers charged through the gate, sending sharp, metallic shards flying in every direction. The booming reverberations of the impact echoed throughout the frozen mountain vale.
“No way anypony could sleep through that,” Snips called out. “They’ll be on us any minute now!”
“So?” Snails said. He flicked a switch and a low hum filled the air. “Ignore them, the esper is all that matters.”
Their magitek armor clanged down the main thoroughfare. Within seconds, Snips was proven right as a motley group of four guardsponies rounded a corner, blocking their path. The guards were wrapped from head to hoof in tightly adhering cloths and furs to keep out the bitter cold. The lead guard whistled, and a pack of three snarling grey canines leapt out of the darkness to interpose themselves between the Imperials and the Neighshe guards.
Snips recognized them immediately. “Lobos! Don’t let them get close.”
“No kidding,” Snails said. “We won't have to. Now let’s see what our little friend here can do.” He turned to the taciturn unicorn in the third walker and pointed at the incoming lobos. “Kill them all!”
The mare nodded and stepped forward, leaving Snips and Snails safely behind her. She pressed a button in the console in front of her. The unicorn’s magitek armor leaned forward in an aggressive posture and a panel on the “chest” of the walker lifted open, revealing a rod sparking with electricity. A blinding torrent of lightning unleashed at the charging lobos. In the wake of the blast, the air reeked of ozone and burnt flesh. The ponies present could see that one of the beasts had been reduced to a black stain on the snow. With a shrill yelp of shock, its companions turned tail and fled into the night.
One of the guards growled and stepped forward. “Get out of our town, you scum!” he said, his voice slightly muffled by his wrappings.
“We won’t let Blueblood set his dirty hooves on Neighshe!” another yelled.
The unicorn mare remained impassive and did not acknowledge the guards’ defiance. With an enraged shout, the four guards raced forward to engage, swinging bladed cudgels. Their weapons paled in comparison next to the deadly magical machines looming over them, but still they came.
“Quick!” Snails shouted. “Take them down.”
Obediently, the unicorn placed a hoof against the console in front of her, the portal in the chest of her magitek armor opening once again. This time, a sickly green, undulating cloud of energy poured forth to envelop the charging guards. They fell as one to the snow, writhing in agony before their gurgling breaths fell silent.
“Messy work,” Snips said. He overlooked the fallen ponies, grimacing at the scene before him. “We better move before more come. I didn’t want to have this many deaths on my report.”
Snails stepped ahead and pointed a hoof down the street. “The new mine shaft should be just ahead. Let’s go.”
The trio advanced through the town without encountering any more resistance and soon found themselves approaching the entrance to the mines. They maneuvered their magitek armor through, the mare taking the lead once again. The tunnels were silent save for the clanging coming with each step of the magitek armor. Nothing came out to challenge them.
Snips smiled, looking pleased with their progress. “I guess we scared `em off. Ha!”
“Maybe,” Snails said, his voice hesitant. “Or maybe they've got something planned for us in the tunnels. I don’t trust these miners.”
“You’re such a spoilsport! Can’t you just think positively for once? I mean, every single time you say something like that, som—”
The cavern they found themselves in rumbled. Snips and Snails whipped their heads back and forth, their eyes scanning the walls and floors for possible traps, before they saw a small avalanche of dust fall from the ceiling in front of them. As they moved their magitek armor backwards, a massive spiral-shelled creature fell down through the new opening in the cavern ceiling and landed with a booming thud.
A guardpony poked his head down through the hole, yelling, “We aren’t about to hoof the esper over to the likes of you! Whelk! Crush them!”
The snail-like monster growled, its bass tones reverberating through the cavern like thunder. It inched inexorably towards the Imperials.
Snails snarled, positioning his magitek armor for battle. “You just had to go and open your muzzle, didn’t you?! We had a good thing going and then you ruin it!” He turned to the mare and said, “You, hit that thing with everything you got!”
The silent unicorn flipped a glass casing open then slammed her hoof down on the red button hidden underneath it. She watched without emotion as a panel in the shoulder of the magitek split open and a shining silver spike rocketed from the walker and slammed into the snail’s shell, exploding in a burst of sparks and flame. The snail squealed in pain before its shell started to glow, followed by a continuous flashing. Thick strands of lightning shot forward, striking against the Imperials’ machines.
The magitek armors started smoking horrendously from the damage, some of the joints fusing together from the searing heat. The walkers nearly fell over, their legs stiff and slow. Snips and Snails worked frantically to get their self-repair modes engaged, but the mare was forced to jump from her magitek. She disappeared in a flash of purple sparks, reappearing a short distance away as her machine erupted in gouts of flame, damaged beyond magical repair.
Snips stared at the destroyed wreck of the former mech, his mouth slack and his eyes wide. A growl from the Whelk roused him from his shocked state. “That’s it! You, whatever your name is, use all of your magic on that monster’s head! Bring that thing down!”
“And avoid hitting the shell!” Snails added, his hooves moving at a frantic pace to repair his machine. “I forgot about these types of monsters. We can’t take another attack like that!”
“Gee, ya think?!” Snips snapped, gritting his teeth. “Why didn’t you mention that before?!”
“Because you didn’t give me time!” Snails said, his focus still on his control panel when he noticed the mare’s horn glowing. “What does she think she’s doing? She’s not going to be able to levitate something that large, is she?”
Both stallions fell silent as they witnessed an act few ponies had ever seen. The mare chanted to herself quietly, her horn glowing a bright magenta before a radiant red glyph exploded from her body. The summoned power coalesced into an inferno under the snail monster, bathing it with flames. It writhed in agony, screaming tones alternating between guttural and a screeching falsetto, before trying in vain to seek sanctuary in its armored shell. The merciless flames didn’t recede, instead cooking the Whelk alive inside of its shell. Moments later, the monster simply dissolved into a puddle, the shell crumbling into dust.
Snips and Snails gaped, staring with unblinking eyes at the sight before them. Snips was the first to recover his ability to speak, asking, “Umm... i-if she can use magic that powerful, then... why would she be given a weaker magitek to use?”
“Err, maybe because of the better mobility?” Snails answered. “These can move faster than a pony could run, and longer too. Now we’re down a tek, and we still have to escape after all of this! How are we going to get her and the esper out of here?”
Snips sighed, before punching his console and snarling through his teeth. “We’ll worry about that when the time comes. We should keep moving before they can find another one of those monsters to throw at us.”
“Why worry about that? We’ve got her!” Snails said, pointing at the unicorn mare, who was lying on the ground, her chest heaving for breath. “Oh. Yeah, okay, good plan! Hey lady, are you hurt?”
The mare shook her head, though staggered slightly when she made to stand back up. She stood still, once again doing her best impression of a statue.
Snips shrugged at the display, moved his magitek armor forward and said, “Alright, Snails, you take point, just in case. Lady, you’re going to follow him and make sure nothing catches us off-guard. I’ll be taking the rear. Let’s move out! We have to be getting close.”
.o.O.o.
After several tense minutes of navigating the mines and their dead-end paths, the Imperials finally found the cave that contained what they had been searching for. In the center of the chamber was an enormous hunk of jagged ice. Snips and Snails both gasped, the sound echoing in the cavern. Inside, barely visible through the ice, was a strange creature unlike any they had ever seen before. It was three times their size, made even larger by its frozen prison. The gigantic proportions of the esper were hard to fathom, thrown off by the light manipulation the ice caused.
Snips looked to the mare, who, for the first time, showed the slightest hint of emotion, though he couldn’t tell what it was. Her eyes had focus where before they stared blankly ahead. “You stay put. Snails, come on, let’s go see what we can find out about this esper.”
As they approached the esper in their magitek, Snails stopped when he heard a small noise come from the mare. Turning, he saw her slowly take a half-step forward. He blinked, then asked, “Hey, what’s with you? Do you know something we don’t?”
Snips and Snails felt a lump form in their throats as they saw a flicker of confusion cross the mare’s face, the most emotion she had shown the entire trip. Snips flinched from a pulsing light in his peripheral vision. “Hey, where’s that light coming from?” He looked towards the esper, and felt like a stone had settled in the pit of his throat and stomach. The world around him faded away as the glowing esper took up the entirety of his vision. “Uwaaa—!”
Snails whirled around but his partner had disappeared without a trace. “S-Snips? Where’d you go?! C-come on, this isn’t funny!” He whipped his head from side to side, his eyes wide, but all he noticed was the pulsing light radiating from the frozen esper. There was no trace of his partner or his magitek. “W-what’s happening?! Aughhhh!”
The mare blinked and Snails was gone.
For the first time in her life, she was without somepony else to tell her what to do. She stood stock still for several moments before the esper started glowing again, though with a softer intensity than before. Slowly, she raised her front hoof and took a small step forward, an invisible force compelling her to get closer to the frozen creature. Barely conscious of her movements, she made her way to the esper at the pace of a snail, her eyes full of curiosity. As she neared it, it began glowing steadily, rather than in pulses, and the mare unknowingly glowed as well. She opened her mouth, though no words came out. The air crackled and sparked as electricity arced out from the esper to the mare. Her head and horn exploded in pain as energy lanced through her and to the slave crown. Finally, the sweet embrace of unconsciousness gripped her tightly and she fell to the ground, unaware of the world around her.
.o.O.o.
The first thing that the mare was aware of when she awoke was that she was warm. This was a significant change from the feeling of cold she last remembered. She almost started panicking, worried that it was a fire, when she realized that there was no searing, painful heat, but rather a low, comforting warmth that seemed to radiate from all around her. She moaned softly as she felt the ache in her legs and body and started to curl up so that she could rest more comfortably. She froze, however, when she heard movement just a dozen hooves away from her. After a second, she jumped from her position, only to get tangled in a heavy blanket and fell to the ground. She righted herself in a heartbeat, taking the room in a glance, before sagging to her knees as her vision got blurry, her skull pounding with every heartbeat.
As she tried to blink the light-headedness away, she felt another body press up against her, helping her to support her weight. “Whoa, take it easy! I only just removed the crown, too!”
From what she could tell, the voice belonged to an elderly stallion, though it had a gentle, caring timbre. She blinked a few times, her vision coming into focus, and she turned to look at the equine next to her. He was an earth pony with a light brown coat and grey mane. After a moment to make sure she wouldn’t get light-headed again, she said, “Wh-where am I? Head... hurts.” She grunted, wincing from a throbbing pain in her head that prevented her from being more loquacious.
The stallion gently held the mare down, preventing her from making any further movements. “Take it easy now, okay? No sense in hurting yourself.” He eased up on the pressure when finally she stopped squirming.
Content that she wasn’t going to try moving again, he pointed to a metal device sitting on the table against the far wall of the house. “That’s a slave crown. The others you were with had complete control of you because of it.”
“But... why can’t I remember anything?” the young mare asked, her voice weak and thick with confusion.
“Don’t you worry yourself about that, okay? It’ll all return to you eventually. Well, at least in time, it will...”
~ A mysterious young mare, controlled by the Empire, and born with the talent of Magic... ~
The unicorn’s face scrunched up, her eyes tightly closed, before saying slowly, “M-my name is... Twilight Sparkle,” she said in a hesitant tone.
To her surprise, the stallion seemed pleased with her answer and gave a low whistle. “Wow! Never heard of anypony recovering this quickly before! Now you just take it easy, okay? It takes time for you to remember things, and that’s not important if you can’t remember something immedi—”
Something pounded against his front door, making the stallion jerk his head towards it.
Twilight squeaked, jumped into the air, and hid behind the stallion, shivering at the noise. The stallion turned to comfort her, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder when they heard shouting.
“Open up!” a rough voice yelled from outside of the house. “We know you have that witch from the Empire in there! She’s an officer of the Empire and must pay for her crimes! Hand her and the magitek over right now!”
“Oh no, I have to get you out of here! Hurry!” the stallion said, leading Twilight to a door further back in the house. He reached down to pick up a saddlebag lying on the floor and set it on her back. “There’s no time to explain! Just run, okay? Make your way out of here through the mines! I’ll keep them distracted!”
Twilight gave a helpless look towards the stallion, her eyes wide with fright. “B-but who are you? Why are you helping me? I don’t know what’s going on!”
The stallion sighed. “Look, there’s just no time. I’m sorry! I’ll send somepony along in a little bit to make sure you get out alright. None of this was your fault, and I’m just doing my best to make sure you aren’t punished for something that you had no control over. Good luck... now go!”
Twilight swallowed even as she was shoved out the back door, hearing it slam behind her. She took a few deep breaths before charging forward, stumbling a little in the deep snow. Twilight saw a bridge up ahead and started to cross it, the wood creaking underneath her hooves. She was most of the way across the rickety old bridge when she heard voices yell beneath her.
“There she is! She’s heading for the caves! Cut her off!”
Twilight shrieked and started galloping as fast as she could off the bridge and into an opening in the mountain ahead, her hooves echoing against the walls as she charged down the path. Her breath came out in ragged gasps, the cold air cutting at her throat, making it more sore than her throbbing muscles. She slowed down to turn a corner, but saw guards pouring out of a side shaft ahead of her. Twilight slid to a halt, almost sitting down in her haste to turn around. Shouts from behind alerted her to more guards, forcing her to duck into a corner.
Her face fell upon coming to a dead end. Twilight’s whole body shook, her ears pinned to her head. There was nowhere to go and the guards’ voices were coming closer. She whimpered and backed up against the wall, trying to make herself as small as possible. She gave a quick plea that whatever was about to happen would occur swiftly.
There came the sound of cracking rock underneath her body and before she could react, Twilight felt herself falling. Darkness surrounded her, making it impossible to tell how fast or how long she fell. Something struck against the back of her head and her mind spun with a small memory from the lockbox of her past.
.o.O.o.
A female griffon with wild head-feathers approached Twilight, who was strapped to a metal table. She couldn’t see anything around her as her head was bound and forced to look up. The griffon lifted a talon, revealing a gleaming metal band.
“Well, well, well,” the griffon purred. “How fast you’ve grown, Twilight. It seems like only yesterday that you were a little foal trying to pick up a pebble. Now you’re roasting our soldiers alive, without our orders.” The griffon reached down and traced a talon against Twilight’s face. “We can’t have that, can we?”
The other claw placed the crown around Twilight’s head and snapped it into place.
“There, now you’ll follow us without question.” The griffon chuckled, her beak splitting into a wide grin. “You’re ours once again, Twilight Sparkle.”
.o.O.o.
Twilight distantly registered her body impacting against the ground and remembered nothing more.
.o.O.o.
The old stallion sagged against the front door, having finally convinced the guards that he had been forced to help the “witch” in return for his life. The last guard had just left when he thought he heard something move in the back room. His eyes widened.
“The slave crown...” He rushed in towards the back, his body tensing for a fight. Upon his arrival however, he found his worries only half confirmed. There was somepony examining the slave crown but it was not one of the city guards.
The old stallion let out a breath and said, ”Hey! What took you so long?! You were supposed to get back a day ago!”
A cyan-hued pegasus with a rainbow-streaked mane and tail looked up, rolling her eyes as she replied, “You seriously need to have more faith in me! I mean, come on! This is me we’re talking about!”
~ Treasure hunter and trail-worn adventurer, searching the world over for lost relics of the past... ~
“Riiiiiiight, Rainbow Dash,” the stallion drawled, giving her a half-lidded stare. “That’s why it took you a week to go to those old ruins to steal th—”
“Hey! That’s Professional Treasure Hunter! And no, some jerk got there before I did. Luckily, it wasn’t what I was looking for, so it’s no big deal.” She waved a hoof and leaned against the wall. “So what did you need me for? You’re the one who called for me, right?”
“Yeah, there’s this unicorn I want you to meet from the Empire. Sh—”
“You what?!”
Rainbow Dash was in his face in a second, thrusting her nose against his. “This better not have something to do with that Imperial... witch I’ve heard about! You know th—”
“I know!” The old stallion pushed the pegasus out of his personal space. “There’s already been word about Imperial troops being sent here after her right now. We couldn’t even stop three magitek from doing whatever they wanted, so what makes you think that we’d be able to handle the Empire itself?”
Rainbow Dash scowled but didn’t interrupt. The stallion turned away and continued. “Right now, there’s no way that we can stand against the Empire. The only way that we can remain independent at this point is to join the underground resistance movement, a group called—”
“The Returners,” Rainbow Dash said. She rubbed a hoof against her chest, adopting a casual tone. “Yeah, I’ve heard of them. I even know a few. But what does this have to do with that witch? If you want an assassin, you know that I don’t do that kind of stuff.”
“Exactly,” the stallion replied, nodding his head. “You know that metal band you were playing with when you came in? That was a slave crown so she wasn’t in control of herself. If we could get her on our side, we might have a fighting chance against the Empire. We just need to convince her to help.”
Rainbow Dash remained silent, her eyes narrowed. “So, basically, you’re saying that she had no freedom at all whatsoever? Even if she really, really wanted to, she couldn’t do anything herself?”
He held the crown out, raising an eyebrow as he asked, “Do you want to find out for yourself?”
Rainbow Dash backed away, waving her hooves before her. “N-no! I believe you!” She took a deep breath, released it slowly and said, “All right. I think I’ll help her out, but I swear, if she acts even the least bit evil, I’m going to take her to the guards right away!”
Leaving before he could say anything else, Rainbow Dash rushed out of the house, heading for the caves at top speed, leaving a faint rainbow-hued contrail following her. Neighsheians looked up to see what was flying so fast, but all they saw was a fading rainbow heading towards the mines. As she drew closer to the entrance, Rainbow Dash slowed down and took in her surroundings. She saw a small shaft sticking out of the face of the mountain, meant to help with the ventilation of the mine to provide fresh air for the miners. Grinning, Rainbow Dash flew over to the entrance and glided inside, working her way down the mine in search of the mare with the strange magical powers.