Chapter 4: Taken
Twilight and her friends made it through King Sombra’s shadow and into Canterlot successfully. Once they were inside they searched the skies for signs of Whirl Wind.
“There!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She spotted Whirl and Flare coming in fast. She took off in the hopes of catching them, but they were too close to the ground. Rainbow landed near them just after they hit the ground, the thud from which could be heard by the others on the other side of Canterlot. Rainbow covered her mouth with both hooves as she saw them land. She walked up to the crater slowly and peeked over the edge. She saw Flare on top of Whirl’s crippled body. Flare was breathing heavily, but he seemed like he was in better shape than Whirl was.
“Oh my gosh!” Rainbow said in horror as Flare got up off of Whirl. Whirl was crippled, his back legs were in odd angles, his wings were covered in black crystals, and he was bleeding from his mouth and nose. Flare was pulling Whirl out of the crater as gently as he could.
“You… go find… help…” Flare said to Rainbow Dash with an exhausted tone.
Rainbow nodded and took off towards the castle. Flare took Whirl’s hoof and said, “You are going to make it brother. Just hang in there, you are going to be okay.” The thought of losing his closest friend brought tears to his eyes. Whirl’s breathing was becoming shallow when the medical crew arrived.
“Step aside sir, we will take it from here.” One of the medics said. There were four unicorns, each of their horns were glowing and each of them were working on different parts of Whirl’s body. The sound of bones resetting could be heard from even where Flare was standing, which was pretty far back. He couldn’t watch, he couldn’t stand there and see his friend in so much pain.
Flare started to take off his armor, throwing it aside and stretching out. Rainbow never came back, Flare assumed she stayed at the castle to wait for her friends. Flare heard a set of hooves land, he raised an eyebrow and looked to see if Rainbow actually did come back. He was surprised when he saw Princess Luna standing at Whirl’s side. They had loaded him onto a gurney and were starting to walk him back to the castle. Luna turned her head and saw Flare standing there, facing away from the situation.
She walked up to him. “Sonic Flare, thine friend hath served Equestria well.” She said with a sad smile.
“Yeah… I know… but was it worth it? He can’t even talk to you right now, he may be crippled for life…” Flare said sadly.
Luna shook her head. “These medics are the best in all of Equestria, they will fix him up as good as new. Do not worry about him, once the crystals are removed he will be fine.” She said with an unconvincing tone. It was more of a tone that said, ‘I hope he will be okay.’
Flare heard the tone she was carrying, tears were rolling down his face. “Yeah, Whirl is strong. He will be fine.”
Luna turned around and started to follow the medics back to the castle. Flare followed suit and tagged along. The only thing left behind was two sets of fake armor, a crater, and a pair of broken goggles spattered with blood.
****
Whirl’s eyes cracked open. He heard the sound of a heart monitor and the sound of a breathing machine. He felt a tube in his mouth and casts over his back legs. His wings felt like they were ten pounds heavier. The room was well lit but all he could see was the ceiling. It was like his eyes were paralyzed. A voice rang in his mind, “You did good Whirl. You did good.” It was his fathers voice, it made him smile.
“Whirl! You are awake!” Princess Luna exclaimed in surprise as she ran over to his side.
Whirl felt a magic aura over his head and he could move his eyes again. He looked over to Luna with tears in his eyes. The tube in his mouth was lifted out by Luna’s magic. “You’re okay.” Whirl said in relief.
“Of course I am okay. I made a promise to you that I would stay safe.” Luna said with a smile.
“I… fulfilled my promise to you too… I am back, just like I said I would be… THE OTHERS! Did they make it?!” Whirl asked worriedly.
Luna nodded with her smile. “They made it in because of you and Flare.”
“Flare?! Is he okay? Did he make it through?” Whirl asked as he tried to get up.
Luna placed a hoof on his chest and pushed him gently back down. “He is fine, he actually saved your life.” She said with a smile.
Whirl laid his head back down and relaxed. “Thank goodness…” He said with a sigh.
“Don’t worry about anything else except for getting well again.” Luna said as Flare walked into the room.
“Hey! Whirl! Oh my gosh! I thought you were going to die!” Flare said as he ran into the room and hugged Whirl.
Whirl let out a gasp of pain and Flare pulled away.
“Sorry, I got carried away.” Flare said with a chuckle.
Whirl smiled. “I guess I owe you a life debt now huh?”
“Nah, you remember that I owed you for saving my life countless times when we were young?” Flare said with a slight laugh.
“Like the time you said we should do belly flops into the lake from that hundred foot tall tree? Then when you hit the water you were so winded you couldn’t swim.” Whirl said with a chuckle.
Princess Luna giggled at the story and Flare blushed. “Yeah, stuff like that.” Flare said as he opened his saddle bag. He pulled out the remains of a crystal tea cup that Princess Cadance had given him. “Well, looks like I am going to need another one of these…” He said sadly.
Whirl frowned. “You had what you needed and you sacrificed it to save me? Why didn’t you just go home and give it to Air?”
“Funny thing is, I forgot to give it to her before I left. At least I told her I loved her… and that I would be back… no matter what.” Flare said with a sad smile.
Whirl nodded. “I almost made you break your promise.” He said sadly.
Flare smiled. “No, it was King Sombra. Not you.”
Princess Luna cleared her throat to get their attention. Both of them turned their head towards her. “With the six ponies you brought here we will stop King Sombra. There is no need to fear now.”
As if on queue Princess Celestia ran into the room. “Sister, the elements of harmony have been stolen!” She said in a panicked tone.
“What?! How is this possible?! Only you can open the vault!” Princess Luna said in shock.
“There is only one explanation, King Sombra has infiltrators in Canterlot. We need to protect Shining Armor, now that they have the elements they will try to escape. But the only way they can do that is by taking down the barrier.” Celestia said in response.
“Sonic Flare, you stay here and protect Whirl Wind. In case King Sombra has made him a target.” Luna said in her voice of authority.
Flare gave a salute then turned back to Whirl. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia left the room in a hurry. Whirl held up his hoof to try and stop Luna, but she was already gone. “Wait…” he said weakly.
“Don’t worry Whirl, I am sure this isn’t her first war.” Flare said reassuringly.
****
Shining Armor was fighting for his life. He couldn’t use his magic to fight back otherwise the barrier would fall. The four guards on either side of the door had already fallen and yet there were more coming in. Just when it seemed all was lost a ray of light blasted the door open, all the foes in the room dissolved into nothing. Shining Armor stood up and ran over to the guards who were protecting him. Two were dead from massive lacerations. The other two were gravely injured. Medical team flooded through the door, they set up a triage and started to work on the two alive guards.
Princess Celestia walked through the door. “Changelings, I should have know. King Sombra has enlisted the aide of Chrysalis and her kin. We must keep our eyes open and Shining Armor safe. We need to take you to the safe room Shining Armor, come with me.” She said with a sense of urgency.
Shining Armor followed her out of the room and out of the castle. “Princess Celestia, why are we going this way to the safe room?” Shining asked with a confused look. He stopped in his tracks, sensing a sense of danger.
Princess Celestia stopped as well. “There is no time to delay, we must hurry Shining Armor.”
Shining Armor looked at her carefully. “What did I ask you yesterday about my sister?” He asked with a glare.
“You asked me where she was.” Celestia responded.
Shining Armor shook his head. “I never asked you anything about my sister, you told me she was on her way before I had the chance to ask, Queen Chrysalis!”
Shining turned around and ran back towards the castle. He didn’t make it far before Chrysalis flew in front of him. “You aren’t going anywhere foal! Now, take down the barrier or I will make you take it down!”
Shining Armor stood defiantly. “I would rather die than put the citizens of Canterlot in danger!”
“A noble sentiment, I can grant that request!” Chrysalis said as she lifted him off the ground with her magic.
Shining Armor was being squeezed by her magic. He couldn’t breath and he couldn’t call out for help. His horn still glowed bright and held the barrier in place. His vision began to blacken as he looked into the changeling queen’s eyes. “Good bye Shining Arm-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Chrysalis let out a loud scream of agony and a beam of light hit her. Then a second beam of blue joined the other. Chrysalis was melting away from the magic and Shining Armor fell to the ground. He let out several large breaths before concentrating on his barrier spell again. Chrysalis let out another cry of pain that caught Shining’s attention. He saw her melt away into nothingness. All that remained was a small box containing the elements of harmony.
“And so ends the reign of Queen Chrysalis.” Princess Celestia said as she landed with Luna. They walked over to Shining Armor and helped him up. “Are you alright Shining Armor?”
Shining nodded and took a few more breaths. “Let’s get him back to the castle sister.” Luna said as she put a wing over Shining’s back to support him.
“Thank you Princess Luna. Thank you Princess Celestia.” Shining said as they moved back towards the castle.
****
The elements were ready, the ponies who wielded the power were ready as well. They stood in position inside of the barrier. Whirl was watching from a wheel chair from the side and Flare stood next to him. The necklaces and tiara started to glow and the elements began to lift into the air. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia stood by and watched with Shining Armor. Everypony had a smile on their face. The ground started to shake and Shining Armor took down the barrier. A rainbow shot from the six ponies and headed straight towards the shadow.
The impact shook the ground violently. A scream of pain was heard throughout Equestria. An explosion of power sent a shockwave that knocked the ponies on the ground down. Whirl looked up at the elements and saw a dark beam travel through the rainbow. It hit the six and they were encased in black crystal. The crystal expanded to Shining Armor who was stunned due to the explosion. It covered his horn, then his entire body. Then it reached out to Celestia and grabbed her wings. It didn’t take long for her to be covered as well. Whirl leaped into action being the only one not stunned by the explosion, he wheeled himself over and leaped in front of the crystal before it grabbed Luna. “Get out of he---!” He said before he was covered.
Flare saw his friend wheel over and jump in front of the crystal before it grabbed Luna. Unable to do anything before he couldn’t stop him. But the tremors were lessening and Flare ran and grabbed Princess Luna and pulled her away. “We need to go!”
Luna was crying and trying to grab Whirl from the crystal, but Flare held her back. “He sacrificed himself for you! Now go!” Flare yelled as he started to move Luna. She finally relented and ran away with Flare following closely. “We need to get to the Crystal Empire to get help!”
Luna’s horn was glowing causing sirens to go off. This signaled the ponies to evacuate. Guards were scrambling to hold back the shadow while others escorted citizens from the city. The shadow began to form into a pony figure, King Sombra was whole again. “Foals! Time to kneel at my power!” His horn started to glow and shadow figures rose from the ground. These forms started to charge the guards and break through the lines.
Flare followed Luna to the train station where ponies were being loaded onto trains. “I thought these were shut down!” Flare said in surprise.
“We either take the chance of the train or we let our citizens get captured.” Luna said seriously. Her horn started to glow and fired a beam of blue light towards the shadow figures. Many of them dissipated into nothing. “We need to go!” She said as she fired off another volley.
Flare got on the train and was followed by Luna. When they got on board with the last of the guards she started firing volleys out the window. After the train was away she used her magic to make the train go faster. Flare was pinned to his seat while the guards fired out the windows at the figures chasing them. After only a few minutes of going they were far enough away that they could stop firing.
Luna pulled her head back into the train and started to cry. She put her hooves over her eyes. “I failed. I failed them all.” she said sadly.
Flare didn’t know what to say, his mouth kept opening and closing as he tried to say something. He finally reached over and gave the princess a hug. “No, no you didn’t. I don’t know what happened, but there is no way you could have seen it coming. We all thought it was going to work, even your sister.”
Luna sobbed at the sound of her sister. “They are stuck there, with King Sombra… He is probably torturing them as we speak.” She said as she hugged Flare back.
“You know, I am sure your sister cried this much when you were gone. But she kept on going. She kept on ruling. Make her proud and keep on fighting, in her name, in your name… in Whirl’s name…” He said as he started to cry as well.
****
King Sombra walked up to his newest statues. “Mmmm, you all look very nice. A perfect example of my power.” He moved along to Celestia. “And you. You defeated me once and banished me to the ice of the arctic north. Let’s see how you enjoy the cold.” His horn started to glow and the crystal around Celestia grew icicles. “One thousand years will not be enough for you.” He said as he turned away. Moving in front of Whirl he gave an evil grin. “You, are a strong stallion. Three times in crystals and two times you managed to escape. I could use you.”
King Sombra’s horn started to glow and it covered Whirl’s head. In his mind he lived another life, one of pain and suffering at the hands of the princesses. Being tortured for twenty years in a matter of seconds. When Sombra’s horn stopped glowing the crystal faded. Whirl’s wounds were healed and he stepped out of the wheel chair. “Who do you serve?” King Sombra asked him.
“My high lord King Sombra.” Whirl said as he knelt down in a bow.