Twilight had never felt her body grow so still before. Even when the Elements of Harmony had turned their powers on her unexpectedly, she hadn’t grown this tense. She had relaxed. Accepted whatever fate was handing her.
This was different. She had expected to run into something in the dark of the forest. The quiet. The shadows. She knew something would come for her. But her expectation materializing before her was so much worse that not knowing at all.
“I…” Twilight felt breathless and had to force air into her lungs. It hurt to breathe. “Who are you?”
The dark figure was silent for a long while, as if thinking if it should answer. Twilight was torn between a desire to flee and a strong urge to know who she was speaking to. In the end, her frozen legs decided the latter would have to do.
Two more twigs snapped and the creature moved forward, a small sliver of starlight glittering against a deep green coat and an ivory white mane. A long, semi-translucent black cloth covered her flank, just dark enough to hide her cutie mark. Her slender eyes blinked. She was an alicorn and immediately Twilight knew who she was looking at.
“Princess?”
The green alicorn was about to speak when the shadows surrounding them bulged and crawled. They skittered down tree trunks, through emerald bushes and across the moss and dead leaf along the ground. Their eyes glowed. An all too familiar hissing sound filled the air.
“Stop!” The soft voice was firm and held barely a hint of fear.
The darkness obeyed. It became still once again. The hissing turned to silence. It waited.
The green alicorn took a breath that shuddered. “She was probably looking for me… She means no harm…” Her eyes danced towards Twilight. They were the deepest blue she had ever seen. So deep it was nearly as black as the shadows around her. They begged Twilight to agree with her.
Swallowing in a poor attempt to moisten her dry throat, Twilight announced stronger than she felt, “I was looking for,” her mind stumbled over the truth and her voice faltered for an instant, the silence swarming in. “For… clues.” She could not bring herself to lie. The eyes watching her were too heavy. “I mean nopony any harm.”
“Nopony?” one of the shadows in the grass hissed.
“What if,” the bush asked.
“We aren’t,” the tree continued.
“Ponies?” the shadow to the nearest the green princess finished.
Twilight swallowed again. It was no use. “What are you?”
She knew before the star lit up their thin bodies. Before their eyes blinked into hers and she heard their wings buzz like those of a wasp. She heard teeth snapping and she knew she had to fly. She stretched out her wings. They were heavy. Far too heavy.
She looked to her sides to see a sickly green fluid holding them down, her muscles far too drained to fight against the added weight. It began to dry, a cracking sound popping in her ears. Adrenaline shot through her veins. Her mind raced for a spell. One fluttered across her mind and, before she could form it completely, a sharp purple glow snapped around her.
She blinked.
The princess blinked.
The changlings surrounding her blinked.
Nothing. It had done nothing. She realized too late that the spell had been one that reverses a changling’s transformation. But none were transformed now. They smiled at her. She stepped back to think. She needed time to think of a better spell. To remember something, anything. To stop her thoughts from running too fast.
She tripped, her left wing’s new weight throwing her frightfully off balance. She felt a stab of pain as she hit the ground. She heard a shout.
“Don’t hurt her! Please!”
The princess was trying to reach her, but was held back by the changlings. They were corralling her away.
A spell fluttered in her mind. A shield! Twilight grabbed the thought and with one breath the weight on her wings, the feeling of the small hooves digging into her sides and the hot breath of the changlings left her.
The many shadows fell to the ground a few feet from her, pushed back by her magic. Twilight struggled to stand, her left wing feeling horribly bent. Tears stung her eyes. She looked at the other alicorn and was about to speak when a loud crash resounded right between them, a mess of white and black lay in a mangled mess. A shadow crawled pitifully away from it, limping and whimpering.
“Silverline?” Twilight gasped. She forced herself forward.
The pegasus was a mess of scrapes and red marks very likely to become painful bruises by morning. His eyes flickered open. He gave her a small smile.
“Found you.”
The shadows were creeping forward again. Twilight took a panicked breath and brought up her shield again. The shadows stopped, eying the purple tinted bubble before them.
“That’s handy,” Silverline commended, his voice ragged. He shifted around, attempting to get up. His wings opened unharmed, but his right foreleg buckled as soon as he applied his weight to it.
Twilight moved to help him, her left wing useless at her side. “I’m so sorry I ran off. This is all my fault. I’ll…” her mind raced. “I’ll transport us back.”
“You can teleport us that far?” he asked in awe, his eyes remaining locked on the green ones watching them.
Twilight bit her lower lip. “I…” Her eyes shot towards him with worry. “How far are we?”
He gave her a sad look, already seeing where this was headed. “Far. A few miles.”
Twilight’s heart sank. “I can’t…”
“Have you recently tried?” He was looking at her horn and wings.
She looked back at him for a moment, took a breath, closed her eyes and thought of the spell. Of where she wished to be. Of the room with the papers and the windchime’s soft sounds.
Nothing. She was exhausted.
A slamming noise snapped her eyes open. The changlings were done watching them. They were ramming their bodies into her shield. It was a spell she had never perfected. Unlike her brother, Twilight rarely ever had need of such a spell. Hers wouldn’t last for long.
“Stop, please,” the soft voice pleaded, almost lost behind the shadows.
Silverline’s eyes grew wide. “She’s here?!”
Before Twilight could answer, another voice sliced through the darkness.
“That is enough!”
The shadows stepped away, like a puddle of black ink running down a tilted canvas. A tall figure landed, its green eyes wide upon seeing Twilight.
“Chrysalis!”
The surprise left her eyes and a deep green magic hit Twilight’s shield head on. It crumbled. The shadows moved. The stars disappeared.