//------------------------------// // It pains me to leave you // Story: Uniconia's desire // by xcedra //------------------------------// The day was growing late, and the progress on the stone around the chain was not going any faster. Already two of her three remaining shoes was bent to near uselessness, she would have to find a way to flatten them if they were going to be of any use, and the third didn't like like it was going to hold up much better *snap* the shoe snapped in half, its delicate mostly ornamental nature not cut out for the hard work she had been demanding of it, never the less its shreds were sharp enough that in snapping it had cut into her chestnut.* “Fewmets!”** Twilight exclaimed dropping the broken shoe. Without really thinking about it, she dunked her hoof into the water bucket she had been provided, but only for a second before she yanked it back out “FEWMETS!” Mordlewort was easy to absorb, and by placing her hoof in the drugged water she had no doubt exposed herself to more of the drug. In her frustration She kicked the bucket over, and threw the broken shoe at it. stupid stupid shoes; stinky crappy water and dumb flippin luck. she stomped her hoof and the fresh pain brought liquid to her eyes. She refused to cry though, she was already using up more fluids then she could replace. Using her teeth she ripped off part of the blanket covering the bed and wrapped it around her injured hoof. She had never appreciated how much work Earth ponies really had to do, except maybe during winter wrap up. Everypony worked hard that day making sure winter finished and spring could arrive without the use of magic. If ponies could end one season and start another without magic, what was a stone wall to stop her. Humming the songs of the winter wrap up season to keep her spirits up, Twilight got back to work. She knew she had at most an hour before the next meal arrived, and she wanted to get as much done before she was interrupted again. ~~~~~ Sneaking around the dungeons alone was one thing, doing it with a group of ponies and a young dragon was another thing entirely. Lucky for Flash and Gallant the guards tended to travel in pairs, with torches, so they had plenty of warning, and they did out number them 2:1. Even more if you counted Spike who acted as lookout during these small skirmishes. Gallant led them to a small side door, which would make it so that they would not have to cross the large courtyard. It was however on the opposite side of the castle as the road they wanted to take, so once they got out of the castle they would still have to sneak, only this time along the edge of the nearly dead river that ran around the castle edge; this river had once been the source of the long dry moat. “Listen, Gallant, I know the chance of being able to get twilight out of the tower are small, and the risk of getting inured or killed is high, but if I fly up at dusk when the light is low but there is still too much for good night vision, I can make sure she is in that tower, and it's possibly I might be able to get her out. I have to try.” Gallant nodded “We will try it then, the rest of us will be ready to run in case you are spotted, but we will wait-” and he drew a rough diagram of the castle and surrounds in the dirt at their hooves and marked a section “here. If you can get her out, meet us here. If you Can't get her out, let her know we are going for help, and meet us here.” Gallant clapped Flash on the shoulder “Good luck” Flash nodded, and sneaked his way closer to the northern tower. Gallant watched him for a second, then headed out with as much stealth as three ponies and a dragon could muster. ~~~~~ Twilight's dinner had consisted almost exactly the same as her lunch, they had taken the knocked over empty bucket and replaced it with a fresh one. The big difference between the last meal and this was the lack of an apple. With no other way to quench her thirst then the drugged water, Twilight was not sure how long she could hold out. Then too, it was entirely possible that going without water, or any other way to hydrate, would cause her to pass out, then they could hydrate and drug her anyway. She thought back to her studies trying to decide how long she could go without water before it would harm her, when she heard a noise outside her window. She went over and opened the curtains; to this point she hadn't really inspected them, and was as unsurprised as disappointed to find that they were barred. What did surprise and encourage her however was the sight of a slightly worn orange Pegasus pony flying outside. “Flash!” she gasped softly, putting her hoof on the glass. He fly closer and did the same. “Don't worry Princess,” she could barely hear him and figured he was talking low to avoid detection “Spike, the other guards, gallant and I are going for help. We will get you out of this.” “Be careful Flash, I want to trust Gallant but-” The door opened and the guard outside put his head in “Who are you talking to?” out of the corner of her eye Twilight saw Flash fly off. “Princess Celestia.” the Guard stiffened “She is setting the sun you know.” He gave a a small glare, shut and locked the door. It gave Twilight courage to know her friends were free and headed back to Equestria. She would keep working to get herself free as well, but at least now she had a little more time. She picked up one of the shoes, liked her dry lips, she thought of how little headway she had made to the stonework; if I want to succeed at this, I am going to need my strength. Flash got free and he has no magic, I will just have to go a little longer without mine. With that she settled into the dinner she had been provided, slowly drank the water to mach sure she didn't founder. After she finished, she stomped on the shoes to flatten them back out, a slightly painful process, then began to hack at the stone some more. ~~~~ Flash dropped below the window as the door to Twilight's prison opened. At least he had seen that she was being given food, water and a decent place to sleep, the restrains on her wings bothered him, as did whatever reason she had not used her magic to free herself. There had to be a reason, but for all the feathers in his wings he could not come up with one. As dusk turned into to twilight, he made his way to where he was to meet up with the others. Leaving Twilight behind tore at him, but he knew that their small force was insufficient to free her. Taking turns carrying Gallant and spike on their backs, The three Pegasus ponies made their way back to Equestria.