//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Reception // by sister_mike //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Twilight Sparkle Twilight groaned. Her head pounded. When she tried to open her eyes, the room spun. She closed her eyes again and took deep breaths. She was alive. She wasn't in a cocoon. She hadn't gotten a good glimpse of where she was, but it wasn't in a pod. Something continuously banged somewhere nearby. It didn't help her head. The last thing she remembered was Chrysalis walking towards her and the others. And then everything went black. She didn't remember Chrysalis charging at them or using magic. It must have been some kind of magic though—some kind of powerful magic—because how else could she explain what happened. Luna and Celestia had been about to battle. Celestia. Tears sprung to Twilight's eyes. Her beloved mentor was nothing more than a half-breed changeling-pony puppet. Though she wasn't fully a changeling, she was at a point where Chrysalis was satisfied with the transformation. And if Twilight didn't do anything fast enough, Luna was to become a puppet as well. As much as Twilight liked to believe in the night princess and her strong powers, against both Chrysalis and Celestia, she was disadvantaged and the fight was unfair. The Elements had failed. Chrysalis's power was stronger than them. How could anything be stronger than the Elements of Harmony? The Elements which had defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord. It was the Elements that kept peace in Equestria. The only thing that could possibly be stronger than the Elements was Luna and Celestia's power... Celestia. That's what we should have done. Instead of trying to fight off Chrysalis with the Elements, we should have used them to reverse the transformation and turn Celestia back into an alicorn pony. Then together, with her power, Luna's, and the Elements, we could have defeated Chrysalis. We were too gung ho about finally arriving in Canterlot and defeating Chrysalis, that we overlooked the most logical thing to do. I overlooked the most logical thing to do... and now because of my lack of leadership and coordination, my friends are probably trapped in cocoons or dead, and Equestria has no hope without them, because they are the other keys to the Elements. — Come on Twilight. You can still fix this. As long as you're not stuffed back into a cocoon, take it as a sign that you are meant to fight. Any oversight in Chrysalis's logic—such as keeping you alive and unharvested—should be used to your advantage. You'd feel it in your bones if your friends were truly gone. And if they're in cocoons, well, you busted them out once and you can do it again. Just get up, off the floor, and make a move. —But what if my friends really are gone? —Then you can still get your butt off the ground, go find Luna, free her, and the two of you can figure out a way to save Celestia. The key right now is to get Celestia away from Chrysalis and find a way to change her back. Once Celestia is back, the battle against Chrysalis can really begin. Twilight nodded to herself. She found that internal battles, though sometimes redundant, usually always worked out in the better favor. She was right after all (though really, when wasn't Twilight right?); even if her friends had perished and the Elements really were worthless, she could still go find Luna, team up with her and together they'd find a new way to save Equestria. And if that failed, maybe Twilight could go join the rebellion with the griffins and fight the changelings that way. And if that failed, maybe she's join the dragons? Or maybe she'd team up with Discord? Either way, she at least had a plan A, and a number of subsequent plans that could follow if that one failed. Her sense of confidence slowly returning, Twilight opened her eyes. The room still span, so she took deep breaths until it stopped. The banging noise continued somewhere across the room. Slowly standing up, Twilight saw that she was in the dungeons. It was surprisingly bright, many torches lit against the walls. The sky was still moonless. Twilight peered out of the small window of her cell. Luna had said that she had an army with her. Twilight couldn't see anything on the grounds, though she was facing an awkward angle. Maybe that had all been talk from Luna. Twilight hoped not. Twilight stopped for a second and thought about the others who had come with them to Canterlot. Were they still searching the palace for Discord or Luna like Twilight had told them to? Or had they been captured as well? Twilight hadn't received any sort of message from Flam. She tried to be positive and took that as a good sign. She turned away from the window to get a better look at the dungeon and her escape options. As soon as she turned around, her heart stopped and the blood drained from her face. There, lying on the other side of her cell in the middle of the walkway, was her Element crown. Chrysalis didn't destroy the Elements? Has she lost her mind? —Who cares! Get the crown! Twilight moved closer to the bars and used her magic to levitate the crown towards her—except it didn't work. She tried the spell again, but the crown lay motionless on the ground. She put her hoof to her forehead, just to double check that her horn was still there—just in case Chrysalis had pulled a Discord. It was still there. But her magic was failing her. Maybe this is the same sort of cell that Luna was put in, where my magic doesn't work. Twilight got back onto the ground and stretched her foreleg as far out of the cell as she could. She couldn't reach; she was just short. Cursing, she began to pace back and forth in the cell. She needed to get to the crown before someone else—a changeling—came down and noticed it lying there. Surely if it was brought to Chrysalis's attention, she'd realize her idiotic oversight and destroy the Elements. How was she going to get to the crown without using magic? How as she going to get out of this cell? Twilight huffed in frustration. She couldn't think straight with that incessant banging noise. She turned towards the direction of the noise and gasped. Shining Armor was in a cell across the walkway and over to the left from Twilight's. He was consistently throwing himself against the bars, trying to escape—and come after Twilight. His eyes were fixed on hers, an eerie green glow around his pupils. A sign that he was still under Chrysalis's spell. "Shining Armor, stop—listen to me. You can snap out of her spell," Twilight said, "You're stronger than this!" "That," Shining Armor said, throwing his body against the bars in between his words, "friend of yours—that dark knight—dragged me down here and put me in this cell. He's separated me from my Cadance! And tore me away from my goal, my plans to kill you. But little did he know that my Queen would transport you down here. Oh the irony." His eyes burned with anger, and they never left Twilight. "Shining Armor, listen to me. You're under a spell. Cadance is fine, it's Princess Celestia who is in danger. Chrysalis has turned her into a puppet and—" Shining Armor screamed as he threw himself against the bars viciously. He hit the bars hard, the noise vibrating throughout the dungeon. He staggered back and shook his head. When he looked up again, the green around his eyes was gone. His eyes filled with tears. "Twilight—I'm so sorry. I have no control. I can hear what you're saying, but the spell is taking over faster and faster," he said quickly. He jumped around nervously. "My conscious is being kicked further and further back into my mind and I am losing myself. I can't stop it. I'm trying, but I—" His head twitched and the green was back. "When I get my hooves on you," he hissed darkly, "I am going to tear you apart. No magic required. I'm going to do it slowly and savour every minute." Twilight cried out something incomprehensible. She had never felt so trapped in her life. There was nothing she could do to help her brother, and she couldn't save herself either. She went to the window in her cell again. Maybe if she saw someone passing by she could signal to them somehow, and get them to— Just then, the door opened at the top of the stairs with a bang. Twilight whipped her head in the direction. She could see the shadow of a pony walking down the stairs. "Twilight? How did you end up down here?" CloudsArmor asked, as he tentatively walked down the stairs. "CloudsArmor! You need to get me out of here!" Twilight cried. "Soldier!" CloudsArmor jumped at Shining Armor's booming voice. His look of surprise went from Shining Armor back to Twilight back to Shining Armor. "Captain, sir! We've been looking for you! Were you and your sister imprisoned toge—" "CloudsArmor—you need to get me out of here. Shining Armor is under a spell and—" "Soldier, I need you to get me out of this prison cell at once," Shining Armor said, his eyes still fixed on Twilight. "We can free my... sister... together." "Right away, sir," CloudsArmor said. Conveniently, the keys were hanging on a rack nearby. By the fact that Shining Amor hadn't used his magic to get the keys and free himself, Twilight gathered that either his cell was magically compromised as well, or he was so hell bent on his mission to kill her that he simply overlooked the keys. "No—CloudsArmor, you need to listen to me. Shining Armor is under a spell," Twilight said, speaking very quickly, "If you release him, he'll kill me. He's been compromised by Chrysalis and has been programmed to stop at nothing to kill me." CloudsArmor looked shocked. "Are you serious?" "Please, let me out. We need to leave him down here, and find the others. I know where Princess Celestia is, and we need to use the Elements of Harmony to—" "SOLDIER! As your commanding officer, I demand that you release me from this prison cell right now. That's an order," Shining Armor spat. CloudsArmor looked torn. Twilight could tell he was having an internal struggle as to whether he should disobey his captain or not. "CloudsArmor, please! Listen to me! He's under Chrysalis's spell! He's going to kill me!" Twilight cried. "An order soldier!" Shining Armor shouted. "Disobeying your commanding officer is grounds for treason! And under the circumstances of Equestria's current state, I should think that her security has been compromised enough! We're all on the same team! Release me and I shall take care of Twilight Sparkle!" CloudsArmor looked pained. He looked between the two, the set of keys in his mouth. Finally, he stood up straight. "Shining Armor is my commanding officer, Twilight. And while you may have been the leader of our renegade team, with my real captain back in action, we can all work together to get rid of Chrysalis," CloudsArmor said, as he walked towards Shining Armor's cell. "CloudsArmor! No!" Twilight screamed. CloudsArmor had barely unlocked the cell door, when Shining Armor knocked him over and came barreling out. He charged towards Twilight's cell and began ramming against it like he had been doing earlier in his own. Twilight backed into the corner of her cell, tears streaming down her face. "No..." she whispered. CloudsArmor quickly jumped up. He looked confusedly at his captain and back to Twilight. She looked at him. "Help me, please," she whispered. Realizing his mistake, CloudsArmor charged towards Shining Armor. But his captain was stronger. CloudsArmor had barely made contact when Shining Armor threw him across the room. CloudsArmor jumped right back up and tried to corral Shining Armor to the other side of the room and away from Twilight's cell. The two moved back and forth, but slowly CloudsArmor was making progress, and was pushing Shining Armor into another cell down the hall. Shining Armor stood on his hind legs and whinnied angrily. He stomped his feet, trying to scare off CloudsArmor, and in the midst of it, Twilight heard the delicate tinkle of something breaking. "No!" she whispered. As CloudsArmor and Shining Armor continued to do their dance and moved out of the way, Twilight ran up to the bars of her cell. And sure enough, lying in the middle of the path, was the shattered shards of her Elements crown. Shining Armor kicked CloudsArmor hard in the jaw. The blow sent CloudsArmor flying again, and Shining Armor ran back in front of Twilight's cell and paced furiously. CloudsArmor staggered back up and looked at Twilight, who had backed further into her cell again. "Just go! Get help!" Twilight shouted. CloudsArmor nodded and clambered up the stairs. Twilight just hoped that while he was gone, Shining Armor would forget that his magic should work now that he was out of the cell. If he found a way to open her cell, maybe she'd be able to run past him and trick him into going in and locking him inside... But as soon as CloudsArmor was out of sight, Shining Armor turned to Twilight with a terrifying grin on his face. The latch to her door open magically and Shining Armor stood in the doorway. "I'm going to enjoy this," he said darkly. Lightning flashed outside. Twilight backed further into the cell. As long as they were both in the cell, their magic wouldn't work; But Shining Armor was so much more stronger than Twilight and quicker. She wouldn't stand a chance. She was doomed. Just then, Shining Armor hesitated and looked down at the floor. Twilight then heard it too. A faint beeping noise. A small metal ball, with a red blinking light rolled into view and it beeped steadily. Shining Armor cocked his head to the side confused. Suddenly it began to blink more rapidly. "Shining Armor, get down!" Twilight shouted. And then the bomb exploded.