//------------------------------// // Guessing Games. // Story: Writer's Block. // by xXCondemnedSoulXx //------------------------------//         The night had begun to set on the land and it had come time for the ball to begin. Daylight was sporting his Joker costume suit and Dusk was filling out the matching dress quite nicely. They stood before the castle, just outside the castle gates and were in the process of planning out how to save the lazy eyed mare.         “Ok, the guards will be watching over the ball and making sure nothing bad happens. If they’re royal guard material, they’ll have keen eyesight. So slipping by them will be near to impossible.” Daylight told the mare.         “Encouraging words. Thank you.” Dusk stated with a light chuckle.         “I wasn’t finished. Since I have the power of the scroll, I can summon a distraction, something to keep the guards preoccupied while we slip by into the dungeon. This plan should run smoothly, but there’s one small setback.”         “What is it?” asked the mare.         “Well...” John began to rub the back of his neck anxiously. “Remember when I was telling you that I was closterfobic?” “Only around large groups of people, yeah. Why?” asked the mare. “Well, for the plan to work; we need to get into the center of the room so I can summon the distraction. And since the center of the ballroom is where everyone is going to try to be, this is a bit... problematic.” Daylight could feel his heart slowly start to race and his breaths became more frequent as the thought of being surrounded by ponies ravaged his mind. His fears were sent into a complete stop as Dusk placed the palm of her hand against Daylight’s face. “I have an idea. Look into my eyes.” The author followed her order and stared into her eyes, and they seemed calming. As she stared back into his, she said,“When we enter the ballroom, and we’re making our way to the middle, just stare into my eyes and forget the world around us.” “Ok.” Daylight looked to the front gate and gulped. He turned back the mare and let out a faint smile,“I’ll try.” “Ditzy’s not going to save herself, come on.” Dusk stated. “Right.” The two strode forward towards the gate and there stood two royal guards. One with a checklist and the other with a big red box. Dusk and Daylight stood there and watched as a party of other ponies approached the gate. The guard with the checklist spoke up,“Ticket.” he blandly stated. The first mare and stallion placed their tickets inside the red box and turned back to the guard with the checklist. “Name.” The stallion said,“Mr. and Mrs. Wingsley.” The guard signalled for them to enter and they strode through the front gates with their noses in the air. The next couple approached and followed the same procedure, but then a problem arose. “Name.” The stallion spoke up,“Mr and Mrs. Sliverwing.” “You’re not on the list.” Stated the guard. “You could look past that if I were to say..” the stallion pulled out a large wad of cash and slipped a few bills in the guards armor suit. “How about now?” asked the stallion. “You’re not on the list and I suggest you leave.” “You do speak english, don’t you? If not, then money is a world known language. Now please let us pass!”         The guard drew his sword and he was soon followed by four other guards watching from a distance. “Leave now.” The guard said threateningly. The stallion and the mare cowered in fear as they took off.         Daylight looked to Dusk and said,“Well, that could have gone better.”         “What about us? I don’t know if we’re even on the list!” Dusk whispered in a worried tone.         Daylight held his arm out towards Dusk,“We’ll just have to try.” Dusk wrapped her arm around Daylight’s and they proceeded up to the two guards.         “Ticket.”         The author placed both of the shining golden tickets inside the red box and turned back to the guard.         “Name.”         “Mr. and Mrs. Break, we’re filling in for Mr.Fancy Pants and Mrs.Fleur de Lis.”         The guard spoke up as he looked to the two before him,“Ah yes, The Breaks. Please, come in.”         “Thank you.” Daylight said, the sudden change of tone and attitude the guard was showing was odd, but welcoming. He lead the couple up to the front doors of the castle and signalled for the guards to open it. As they slide the solid golden doors open, Daylight was sent into a world of questions. ‘Why are they treating us like this?’ He thought to himself. Being cautious, Daylight made sure to watch out for any suspicious behavior from the hordes of guards that surrounded them.         The guard holding the checklist gave a bow and gestured for them to enter,“Mr and Mrs. Break, we’ve been expecting you.”         The doors slide open and they were greeted by the mass amounts of ponies, dragons, zebras, and many more influential individuals. Daylight retreated to his thoughts:         ‘Run, run and don’t look back.’ Daylight’s thoughts said to him.         ‘I can’t! I need to save Ditzy!’ The author thought back.         ‘Those eyes, look away!’         ‘Wait.. those eyes.’ daylight shot back to reality and turned to Dusk, he held her calm hands inside his, shaking. “I need your eyes.”         “Here.” She gazed into his eyes as he stared back, he could feel the world slowly fade away and everything seemed to calm. “Better?” Asked the mare.         “Much. Thank you.” He turned back to the crowd of ponies and creatures alike and felt contempt as he held Dusk’s hand. “Shall we?” He asked.         “Let’s.”         Daylight was lead by Dusk into the ball. Every pair of eyes seemed to be glaring down at them but with the power of comfort, Dusk. Everything was going better than expected. Daylight looked towards the dance floor and felt something come over him, the churning in his stomach began to spin again.         “I need to sit down.” Daylight stated. Dusk turned to him and nodded, she then lead him to a nearby table and sat them both down.         “Is something wrong?”         “I can’t seem to focus.” Dusk thought to herself for a moment and came up with a brilliant idea. She left the table and quickly paced herself over to buffet. Daylight sat at the table and held his head in his hand, he felt sick to the brim but needed to focus. That was when Dusk returned.         In one hand, she held a glass of wine and the other held a familiar black tonic. “This should calm you down.” She handed the mug of blackness over to Daylight and he took it into his shaking hands. “What does that taste like? I’ve heard that Darkmoon used to drink that stuff too but it looks a little too strong.” She asked.         Daylight turned to Dusk before putting the rim of the mug up to his lips. He took a quick sip and set the mug down on the table. “Well, I can’t exactly taste, and neither could Darkmoon. So the only way for you to know is if you try some.” He held out the mug towards Dusk and she retreated into thought.         “Wait, I got an idea. Try to drink about half of the mug.”         “Try? There is no ‘Try’.” Daylight shot down the entire mug and the tonic began to work its wonders. “Maybe I...” He was interrupted by Dusk as she planted a small kiss on his lips, she held herself there for a moment or two. As she pulled herself away, small squeals of delight came from behind the two. As they turned, they could see three small fillies. Daylight thought to himself for a moment,‘Wait a minute. Are those three the CMC? How did they get in here?’ and then the more important question popped into mind,‘Did Dusk just kiss me?’         He turned back to Dusk, her cheeks were pump red as she took a sip from her wine. “It’s pretty strong, I don’t see how you can’t taste that.” She let out a small cough as she tried to laugh. “So, you feeling calm yet?”         Daylight gave himself a quick look over, his hands were steady and his mind was just a bit clearer. He looked back over to Dusk and smiled,“Seems about right.” He leant forward towards Dusk. “Let’s get this over with.”         “In a moment.” She reached down to the table and grabbed a napkin. She dabbed it across Daylight’s lips and wiped away the foam that had seeped out of the mug. “Now we can go.” They stood from the table and made their way to the ballroom floor. Daylight took Dusk’s hand into one of his while he set the other on her waist. She rested her free hand around his neck, and a smile came across both of their faces as they spun and danced their way throughout the dancefloor.         Every moment seemed to carry on for an eternity but to Daylight, it would have been a blessing. They spun and twirled as they danced their time away. “Daylight..” Dusk rested against the author’s chest and closed her eyes.         “Yes?” Daylight asked the mare and he rested his head against hers.         “We’re in the middle, what now?”         Daylight lifted his head and looked around the room, during the time they’d been dancing, they somehow managed to make their way into the center of the ballroom. Daylight rested his head back onto the mares head and whispered back to her,“Now the plan starts.”         With a quick thought and a bit of summoning, out popped a small scorpion. He crawled up onto Daylight’s pant leg and crawled up to his shoulder. Once he reached his neck, he sat and waited for a command. “Can I ask of you something, dearest creation?” Daylight asked the small arthropod. The scorpion seemed to nod and Daylight continued,“I need you to cause a distraction. But I ask you that you please do not hurt anyone. Should things get out of hand, come find me in the dungeons down below, do you understand?” And with that, the scorpion nodded and slowly crept its way back down to the ground.         Dusk looked over to the doors leading down towards the end of the room in the far left corner and said,“Those are the doors to the dungeon. We need to get down there before everything turns into chaos.”         “How can you be certain?” Daylight asked. “You haven’t been to the castle yet, have you?”         She looked up into Daylight’s eyes and smiled,“You don’t know what it’s like to want to be a princess.” She let out a small chuckle and lead Daylight through dance down towards the doors. After a moment of dancing, they were only a bit away from the dungeon doors when suddenly a loud cry could be heard, soon followed by a large chorus of screams and cries of terror. The guards standing throughout the room began charging towards the source of the screams, even the guards blocking their way into the dungeons. With only a moment to step inside before getting caught, Daylight and Dusk slipped in the doors unnoticed.         “And how did you know these were the doors? Sure I get the whole wanting to become a princess aspect but how do you know the layout of the castle? Isn’t it supposed to be a secret?” Asked the curious author. Dusk turned to him and smiled as she grabbed a torch off the wall.         “Well, I may not be all knowing, but I did find some things that belonged to my mother. I may not have met her but I still have some of her things. There was a map of the Canterlot castle, ‘blueprints’ in a box Darkmoon gave me a while back. I studied it all the time, thinking of what I’d do inside the castle on lazy days but.. dreams are just that. Dreams. Dark used to keep in touch all the time, but then he disappeared. You know the rest.”         “Oh.. I’m sorry.” Daylight stated.         “No need, come on. Ditzy’s waiting.”         Daylight grabbed a mounted shield off of the wall and Dusk handed the torch to him. He held the shield in his left hand and the torch in the right as he slowly crept down the stairwell leading towards the dungeon. “What’s with the shield?” Dusk asked.         Daylight turned to her for a brief moment and said,“Well, if there are guards down here, a shield would do a hell of alot better at blocking a sword attack than flesh and bone.”         “Oh. I get it, carry on.”         They continued to creep down the stairs until they finally reached the room that housed all the inmates. Only a few unlucky ponies had been caged and sentenced to the depths of the castle. As they passed by the caged criminals, a few actually looked to the pair and questions began to echo throughout the room. “What are you two doing here? Breaking ‘Into’ Jail?” voiced one stallion. They ignored their questions and proceeded through the rooms in search of Daylight’s invaluable friend. All seemed to be lost when they couldn’t seem to find her and Daylight knocked on one of the inmates’ cell door to attract his attention.         “Yeah? What do ya want?” Asked the orange stallion.         “Do you know where they are keeping a mare by the name of Ditzy Doo at?” Daylight asked.         “The name doesn’t ring a bell, what’s she look like?”         “She’s a grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane and tail.”         “You mean lil’ wobbly eye! Yeah, I seen her. But information isn’t free ya know.”         “What’ll it cost? Daylight asked with a bit of irritation.         “The key’s ta’ mah cell.” He said with a smug tone.         Daylight looked around the room and noticed a pair of cell keys hanging on a large key ring that hung off a nail that had been pounded into the wall. “Can you go grab those for me?” Daylight asked Dusk, she nodded and quickly retrieved the keys and handed them to the author. “Thanks.” He turned to the stallion once again and looked to him and asked,“Ok, where are they holding her?”         “She’s a ceilin’ decoration in the throne room, their keepin’ her in a cage and waiting for that John Dixon guy. Ok, I told you where they’re keepin’ her, now it’s time ya’ll set me free.”         “Ok.” Daylight put the key into the keyhole and twisted the lock open, he opened the door and as the prisoner tried to walk through, Daylight slammed a punch into the stallion’s gut, causing him to double over in pain. The author grabbed the stallion by the mane and threw him at the wall at the far end of the cell. He slammed the door shut and locked it.         “What the hell? What was that for?” Asked the stallion. “What about your end of the deal?” The stallion clamped his eyes shut as he held his face in his palms.         “I would have set you free, but no one. And I mean No one talks like that about her.”         “Somethin’s wrong with mah eye...” The stallion slowly opened his eyes and one seemed to be locked into place as the other shot around in different directions. “You son of a bitch! Ya gone an’ broke mah eye!”         “Wobbly eye.” Daylight retreated to his thoughts for a moment. He returned to reality with a smirk across his face. “Some people would call that poetic justice.” Daylight turned to Dusk and smiled,“To the throne room then.”         “Are you crazy? She’ll be waiting for you there!”         “If I can’t save Ditzy, what use do I have in making promises? If I need to face death in order to save Ditzy, then I’m just going have to.”         Daylight dropped the shield and handed the torch over to Dusk,“I don’t want you to die...” The mare trailed off.         Daylight turned to the mare and gave a weak smile as he planted a quick kiss on her cheek,“Stay here and hide. I’ll be back.”         Would he be back? To him, the answer was a mystery. There was only hope, and within hope, there are truths... and lies.