//------------------------------// // Prophecy // Story: Land of Misery // by UnKnownSalvation //------------------------------// Ch.6 Prophecy Twilight and Zero weren't exactly in the best of spots… Captured, practically helpless with their magic gone and being chained together by the neck sure wasn't helping matters. The walls of their prison were three solid walls and a cell door, which was comprised of crossing steel plates. The one good thing about the situation is that there were no guards locked in the cage with them so they had the entire thing to themselves to form a plan. The only thing in the cell was one bench that Twilight was sitting on. "Zero, what do we do now?" Twilight whispered so no pony outside the cage could hear them. "We need to find a way out of this…" Zero muttered looking around the cage. He was still wearing the clothes he got out of the trash. "Enjoying your time in there?" Blacklight called into the cell smugly as he was following it. "Oh we just LOVE it! I'm SO impressed with the rent-a-soldiers you've got here… They actually caught something other than a cold!" Zero said sarcastically before ending angrily. "Hey we take offence to tha… ACHOO!" a guard outside the cell sneezed. "See what I mean?" "Yes I must admit I'm actually surprised by them too. After you made them look like the idiots they can be I wasn't exactly faithful about them getting this right…" "BorrRING, you are so borrRING, you are so borrRING, shut the hay up!" Zero's singing appeared to strike a nerve in Blacklight. Twilight herself was surprised at Zero as she wasn't expecting him to be like this. "Do you want to be executed tonight whelp?!" He shouted as he used his magic to bring Zero's face into the bars. "Ow… and deny your ALL POWERFUL queen the show of a lifetime?! I wouldn't dream of it!" "Zero… enough before you get us both killed!" "You may want to listen to your MAREFRIEND… HAHAHAHA!" Blacklight laughed as he left for the front of the carriage. "She's not my marefriend!" "We're not a couple!" Both Zero and Twilight responded quickly but neither of them could hide the massive blushes on their faces as they avoided eye contact with each other. "Zero, why are you trying to make every solder in this country want us dead more than they already do?" "I was testing his patience… it might come in handy to know how to make him mad later." Zero said, looking out the bars of the back of the carriage "Would you think for a second?! We're stuck in a box with no way out, on our way to get executed with no magic and you're planning for the future?!" Twilight shouted at Zero which provoked him to stand up to face her. "Twilight, listen to me: We may be stuck in a cage, we may not have magic, we may be tied together by an unbreakable and invisible blue cord but this could be so much worse." "How can this be worse?!" Twilight exclaimed. "We could be dead already!" Zero rebutted. "I don't know how or if we'll get out of this but I know this: We can't give up hope in anything till our last breath. There is no such thing as a hopeless cause unless you yourself make it hopeless on yourself." Twilight thought Zero's words over in her head. "Well… I never thought you'd be one for the corny rally speech…" Twilight said smiling with hope returning. "There's a smile." Zero said smiling himself. Then the two watched as there carriage cell was brought into a makeshift fort. "They really didn't make this fort specifically for us, did they?" Twilight said looking at how poorly put together the fort looked. "If they did I don't know if I should feel feared or insulted…" Zero said jokingly. "Set them over there!" shouted Blacklight as he started barking out orders to his troops. "No one gets in or out, am I understood?!" "Yes sir!" The troops said in unison. "Dismissed!" "Zero." Twilight whispered to get his attention. "Yeah?" "I counted all the guards I can see. There are about fifty in this whole fort." "Now I feel insulted… how can you be sure there isn't more?" "There are only a few wall guards and about half of them went inside while the rest patrol the fort." As Twilight explained it didn't take Zero's ability to read emotions in voices to detect the doubt in Twilight's voice. "Doesn't look good, does it?" "Zero, even though your speech did make me want to believe that we could get out of this I don't see how." Zero looked around but then noticed one of the guards mysteriously vanished from his post. "Wasn't there a guard there a minute ago?" He whispered. Twilight looked to see him gone too. "Where'd he go?" she whispered back. Then they noticed another went missing… then another… then another. It wasn't till the fifth pony guard went missing before they realized what was happening: They were being thrown off the wall out of the fort. But that didn't stop Blacklight from noticing… "Where are all my wall guards?! Sound the alarm!" *Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring…* As the giant bell rang out and all the soldiers came running out of their probably lukewarm houses they were currently occupying and guards that were patrolling the entire town came running into the fort to help, they heard probably the last thing they'd ever hear… "ATTACK!" Suddenly out of nowhere, a group of about fifteen guards turned on them and attacked them. This was followed by about a hundred ponies; all dressed in black like ninjas, all entered the fort starting a massive battle in the courtyard. "Subtlety? What's that?!" Zero said jokingly. "Why are they doing this?" Twilight said overlooking the battle. "To save you of course!" One of the ponies ran up to the cell and removed his mask to show a middle aged gray earth pony with a white mane and pale blue eyes. It took Twilight and Zero a minute to realize that it was the peddler Zero saved earlier. "We can't afford the last hope of Adaptus to go and die without us having a say in the matter now can we?" "WHAT?!" They said in shock. "W-why are you here? "I see you remember me, Surge! And it's good to see that Twilight is also ok." "H-how do you know my name?" "A few bystanders overheard your capture and we quickly formed this plan to get you out." While he was talking, a two more earth ponies walked up holding an upside-down bench and shoved it into the bottom of the cell "What's that for?" Twilight said looking at the bench. "You may want to stand back." The two ponies suddenly pushed down on the bench which took the door right of its hinges and fell to the ground with a loud crash in front of the now out-of-the-way Twilight and Zero. "Half-pin barrel hinges… They couldn't hold glue together!" "This is a cruel joke… all we needed was a bench?! We could have got ourselves out!" "The prisoners are free!" a guard shouted hearing the crash. "We're outnumbered! Fall back every pony, fall back!" Blacklight said retreating from the fort. The remaining ninjas and traitors to the army began to cheer at their victory. "Come. We must find you two a safe place to stay for the night." The peddler said as Twilight and Zero left the cell. "Hey what about this collar thing?" Twilight asked motioning to the collars around their necks. "I'm afraid we can't do anything about that without the combination." He said showing a five-digit combination tumbler on the back of the collar. "Don't worry; we have our air team going after Blacklight for the combo so you two only have to put up with it for a little while. "You guys have got this down to a science!" Zero said impressed by how well run the operation in Shutter was run. "But I have to ask; who are you?" "Oh where are my manners? My name is Shopkeep but you can call me Conner." "Conner?" Twilight said curiously as the two names didn't even match. "As in "He's a Conner because he takes all your money." It's just a name the guards decided to give me and I actually like it." "I'll call you Con then. So where is this home for the night?" "Follow me. I'll explain more about our situation after a warm meal and *sniff sniff* a shower if you'd like." Conner motioned to Zero who sniffed himself… "*Whistle* Yeah… I should probably take these off… How do we shower with these collars on?" "The collars chain will go through walls and stretches up to a good twenty feet. It shouldn't be a problem. We'll get you some proper clothes to keep warm here. Especially for the miss right here." He motioned to Twilight who was actually starting to shiver from the cold winter night. "It was a lot worse before. I'm actually surprised the burn patches didn't come back." One of the earth ponies put a blanket on her to keep her from getting sick. "Well, let us be off then!" Every pony in the fort dispersed and made sure the town was no longer swarming with army ponies. Conner, Twilight, and Zero all arrived at a thin two story house. It was a very basic house with nothing on the non-painted walls besides a few decorations. The living room consisted of a few lights, a brown couch, and a coffee table. "Welcome to my home. My wife has preparing a meal for you two." "Well you must be the two I've been told so much about." A sweet middle-aged earth pony with periwinkle fur, lime green mane, and magenta eyes greeted Twilight and Zero. "It's so nice to meet you Twilight and Zero! I'm Sweet Melody!" "Nice to meet you Melody!" Twilight said with a smile. "Word travels fast in this town." Said Zero. "Well I have to tell my wife when I'm planning an all-out assault on a fort, so I told her your names and how I knew it was you that was mentioned in the prophecy." "Dinner will be ready in an hour so why don't you all make yourselves comfortable!" Melody said as she went back into the kitchen. "Well I'm going to take a shower for the first time in two days." "You fell in a river. Doesn't that count?" "Not unless soap was in the water. You're not going first so live with it." "Right. Just upstairs, first door on the right." Twilight followed the directions and went upstairs. "She seems to be a bit frustrated…" "I can't say I don't blame her for being frustrated with all we've been through in the past two days… by the way where are we sleeping?" "We have a friend bringing over two beds for you" "Why don't you bring one and I take the couch?" "Very chivalrous of you but I wouldn't recommend you doing that." "How bad could it be…? WOW haha!" Zero exclaimed with a laugh as he sat down on the couch. "What is this couch made of, lead bricks?!" "Yeah we only have the money to buy ourselves enough food for us so we don't have much to spend on luxuries." "I can see that!" Zero said getting off the couch. Then something hit Zero… "You know something just came to mind; if Blacklight makes it to the capital, half the army is going to be here to burn the town to the ground, right?" "Every pony in this town knows the risk. All we care about is keeping you two alive to take the queen down as prophesied." "Yeah we've been meaning to ask about that; what prophecy?" "I'll explain after dinner. Right now you've had a long day and I'd recommend that you'd relax for now." "*sigh* you're right. I'll just wait till Twilight's done so I can take my shower." Zero said taking of the smelly clothes he's been wearing all this time and sat down on the rock couch. As Twilight finished her shower and Zero took his, another stallion came to the door at Conner's request and brought another bed for Zero. "Why did you bring just a two pony bed?" "It was the only one I could spare on such short notice so I figured it would work." After it was placed in the room across from Conner's, the thought of sleeping in the same bed sunk in. "This is going to be an awkward night…" "Yeah…" Zero agreed. After the bed was placed they sat down for a very simple but well-made dinner of cooked vegetables. "I would have had it done sooner but that stove takes a while to cook anything on…" "It looks delicious!" Twilight said looking over the food. "And tastes just as good!" Zero exclaimed eating some seasoned carrots. *Ten minutes of eating later* "Ok when you two finish meet me in the living room and I'll explain as much as I can about the prophecy. I need to find a copy of it…" Conner said as she finished his meal. As Twilight and Zero finished their meals and thanked Melody for making them they noticed a painting of Conner, Melody and a small foal in the hallway. "I didn't know you were a parent!" the pleasant expression on Melody's face changed to a depressed one. "We-we were… not anymore…" Zero and Twilight were both shocked. "I-I'm sorry…" "It's alright… you didn't know." They all walked into the living room and sat down. "So let's hear this prophecy!" Zero said as both he and Twilight were brewing with anticipation as to what this prophecy they've heard so much about. "I'll let you read it. It makes more sense read then it does said." Conner came in with a paper with the prophecy written on it. "Ugh… you had to rhyme." Zero said as the paper was set in front of them. "Oh there's plenty more once you start reading. On the fifth generation of the blackest era It will be ended by two both born to be a hero One born a princess of Twilight The other born a Valorous Zero A mage of unspeakable hidden power Though with all that power she will not be able to use it But when she recovers and gains it all back She will make evil submit One a descendant of a heritage One he chose to ignore But once he truly believes in himself and where he comes from He will help show evil the door Together and only together can they save us With the ponies of this land behind them And save it from Mortis and free the land A land they wished to condemn "This... this is scary..." Zero shuddered. "Now I know why you wanted us to READ it…" Twilight muttered as her shocked face looked over the descriptions of them. "Why does it label you a princess?" Zero asked looking over the paper. "When my brother got married, I technically became a princess… though I've yet to officially become one." Zero nodded as he now understood. "Twilight, Valorous, and Zero; all capitalized to symbolize names. What is your name again?" Conner said looking at Zero. "*sigh* Valor…" "Originally no pony could figure out why there were three name-like words in the prophecy. Now I see… You changed your name to "Zero" and abandoned your heritage." That sparked something in Zero as he quickly stood up on his hind legs. "I didn't abandon my heritage! My own dad decided to leave me at an orphanage when my mom died! If he didn't want to take care of me on his own then I don't want even what the name he gave me." "Don't ever think that your father didn't want to take care of you! How do you even know if he didn't?!" That thought shut Zero up as he quickly remembered the family painting. As he sat back down and thought it over what Conner said, Twilight tried to change the subject. "I have a question… Why do you need us? This prophecy doesn't explain why we're needed to save this country." "That has been debated for a long time. But from what I can tell we no closer to finding the answer then we were a hundred and fifty years ago. Do you have any other questions that I might answer?" "I got nothing right now… but the question factory next to me probably has some…" Zero teased as glanced at Twilight with a smile on his face. "Haha I forgot how to laugh. I only have one; Zero can you had me the box?" Zero's eyes widened and his smile quickly disappeared. "Box…?" "Yeah the one that brought me here that you were caring in your bag… where is your bag." Neither Zero nor Twilight realized it at the time but the bag was long gone. "I must have lost my bag in the rapids!" Twilight became furious. "You lost it?!" Just as Twilight was about to punch Zero in the head… *Knock Knock* "Oh one more thing…" The stallion from earlier came in with Zero's saddlebags and set them down. They were definitely Zero's as they had his green zero on them "My brother found this while he was crystal collecting. I believe they belong to you." "Well aren't we lucky?!" Zero exclaimed, glad the awkward moment was over. Zero looked into his bags and pulled out the gemmed box. "I see your problem… that box brought you here?" "Yes… do you know what is it?" "It is called the Trickster's Nightmare; it's an ancient artifact that causes various effects that can be programmed into it by speaking to it." "So Ventus meant to send me here!" "Correct. He must have programmed it to take effect only at your touch and sent you here damaged and without magic to help you." "So this Ventus is working for the bad guys? We need to get you back to Equestria soon!" "But first we need to reverse the effects to the Trickster's Nightmare. The only thing that can give Twilight back her magic is the sister cube, Savior's Fantasy." "And where is that?" "In Miracle City though I don't know exactly where." "It's a start!" Twilight said with an optimistic smile. "That's the spirit!" Zero said glad to see Twilight being more hopeful even with their low odds of finding a small cube. "It's getting late..." Conner said looking at the clock. "I say we all get some sleep and we'll figure out our next move tomorrow." Twilight and Zero agreed that after a day like they've had they deserve to get some sleep. They said goodnight to Conner and Melody and then realized they almost forgot about the fact they had to sleep together which they were quickly reminded of when they walked into the bedroom they were given. "You want me to sleep on the floor." Zero asked. "No its fine… besides it's freezing in here and I don't need you freezing because you want to be polite." Twilight inspected the bed to see two blankets. "I'll sleep under both blankets and you sleep under just the top one. It'll be a little less awkward that way." "That'll work." So they get into the bed in the way they planned facing away from each other and turned out the candle that was by the bed. "Night Light." Zero said with a smirk at his bad joke. "Night Val." Zero's smirk quickly turned to a frown. "You win…" Zero muttered admittedly. "Ha!" Twilight said happily which made Zero a little happy himself. They both went to sleep tired from probably one of the most trying day for both of them when about three hours later something woke up Zero. He looked over to see that Twilight was shivering pretty badly. "How is SHE shivering?! These blankets aren't exactly made of tissue paper, their actually pretty heavy!" Then a though popped into his head. "I could share some of my body heat… NO! That would probably make things worse! Not only will she be cold but also we'll both feel awkward." As she continued to shiver, Zero sighed as he rolled over and draped his arm over Twilight. To his surprise she doesn't just stop shivering but actually started snuggling into it, moving even closer to Zero, causing his face to turn even redder. "Yeah this was a stupid idea… Although I do feel warmer myself, I know I'm going to regret this…" With that Zero went to sleep with Twilight literally back-to front with him with the only thing between them being a blanket. They needed there rest… because the worst had yet to come. ()()()()() Meanwhile in Equestria ()()()()() In a dark dungeon underneath Canterlot Castle a single voice can be heard. "I hope Twilight is okay… because we need her now more than ever… "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"