//------------------------------// // Imprisoned // Story: Happy Adventuring, Twilight! // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// "Pennington Inkwell, reporting for duty, princess!" "What?" Luna shook her head, somewhat confused at seeing her protege waiting for her in the guard tower. With Canterlot being threatened, she and her sister had taken to watching the city by day and night, putting the majority of their other duties on hold, and it wasn't out of the ordinary for them to be accompanied by several guards while they were going from place to place, but Pennington had been patiently waiting when she arrived, dressed in a night guard's uniform and sporting white wrappings on his legs. "Well, I was coming up to Canterlot to run an errand, but when I heard that someone was threatening the city, I thought you might need an extra set of hooves!" He smiled as he continued his salute. "I'm here to fulfill my duties and services!" Luna blinked again, then smiled. "As much as I appreciate the offer, Pennington, I think you'd be better off going back-" "I've already reported to Captain Armor, who approved my temporary induction of services until the crisis is over!" He grinned and approached the banister, overlooking the city. "I'm going to be keeping you company up here!" Luna was surprised. Shining Armor was rarely one to breach protocol, even with the fact at almost all guards possible were being called in to duty for the wedding. It should have taken Pennington at least a week to be checked and admitted to service, at which point the wedding would be over. With everything coming up so soon, he must have been willing to make an exception for Pennington in the interest of time. "Well, I'm afraid that there won't be much to do up here. I'm going to be spending the entire wedding day watching the city so that my sister can tend to the formalities." She shook her head. "The letter advising us that Canterlot would be attacked mentioned the wedding specifically, but most of our 'anonymous tips' aren't taken so seriously!" "The captain told me that the letter requested to be left anonymous, but came from a very reliable source. If contained several specifics regarding the date and location of the attack. It wasn't a run-of-the-mill letter saying that 'somebody somewhere is going to do a thing.'" Luna walked next to her protege, once again surprised. "And how did you get him to tell you all of this?" "All of what? He didn't give me any of the actual specifics, he just described why the guard considered the letter credible!" He laughed. "I just told you everything he told me!" Luna let out a long sigh as the sun set and the horizon grew dark. "Well, apparently, the writer asked that his identity be known only to Captain Armor, as well. Celestia and I will be allowed to know once the day of the wedding has passed." "Sounds like a pony with something to hide..." Pennington muttered, glancing down over the bannister. After a few moments, he backed away again, shaking his head nervously. "Are you afraid of heights, Pennington?" "Not all of us are born with wings, I'm afraid." He chuckled lightly to himself. "And I had an unfortunate mishap a couple nights ago that reminded me of such." "Well, you may as well tell me the story, since there won't be much else to do here..." Luna smiled as she stood near the edge, eyes rolling across the city as she scanned for intruders. "There's not much to it," Pennington shrugged. "I saw the cliffs below the city, and I thought to myself, 'I wonder if you could get around the city using that?'" "Well, if you could navigate the cliffs, I'm certain it would be more discrete than walking down the streets!" Luna laughed. "But exponentially more difficult!" Pennington laughed in return, nodding his head. "As I unfortunately discovered. I was walking along a particularly precarious ridge when the stone broke away beneath my hooves! It's a long, long way down, and I thought that I was going to die! Luckily, though, I'd brought someone with me beneath the city." "A climbing buddy?" "Well, I may be reckless, but I'm not stupid!" Pennington laughed. "More akin to an instructor, really. She caught me with a quick bit of levitation and helped me back up." He wiped imaginary sweat from his brow. "It was one of the closest calls I've ever had!" Luna nodded. "Were you climbing with Twilight?" "No! If she'd know I was taking a risk like that, she would have killed me!" Pennington chuckled again. "No, her name was Rocky Times. She's an old acquaintance of mine, and we occasionally go climbing together." "I guess that you could say that you were 'caught between a rock and a hard place!'" Luna laughed. "Yeah, I am..." Pennington whispered. The quiet lament was overlooked, however, as Luna leaned over the banister, having caught sight of somepony. "Who goes there?" After a moment, she relaxed again. "Stay indoors, Twilight Sparkle!" "Twilight?" Pennington ran forward to look as well, catching a glimpse of Twilight as she slipped through the doors of the palace. "What's she doing here? Doesn't she know it's dangerous?" "It's her brother's wedding, Pennington! You didn't expect her to stay home and twiddle her hooves, did you?" Luna turned her attention to the telescope sitting at the edge of the platform. "Twilight Sparkle is well-accustomed to danger, I wouldn't worry if I were you." "Well, if her friends are here, as well, then the six ponies most crucial to Equestria's safety are running around, unprotected in a time of danger... Forgive me if I'm not as ecstatic to see her as usual!" "Pennington!" Luna turned around, surprised. The last time that they had met, Pennington had treated her with the utmost respect, even to the point of reverence. While she didn't enjoy the attention, his attitude seemed to have taken a drastic downwards turn. "I'm sorry, Luna... I'm just a bit stressed out." "Are you lacking sleep? I've noticed that I haven't seen any dreams from you the past nights." "No, that's just because I'm using a new medication Zecora prescribed me. Helps me sleep like a foal... I've just been having trouble with my legs lately. You know, old wounds..." Luna nodded, her shock at his attitude slightly lessened. "Have you done anything that could open them up again?" "They've just been bleeding and aching a lot lately. It's nothing serious, but enough to put me out of a good mood." "And how are you dealing with the hive?" "It's still there, ready to snatch up my mind when my thoughts wander... Sometimes I can't write because I'm just dying to go back to the Plains of Lore and see them again..." He shook his head, as if the action could push away the buzzing in his skull like smoke. "I know that if I want back where I belong, they'd stop... They'd be quiet... but being a pony strands me in Equestria. My home, Twilight, the life I've made for myself, those are the things keeping me tethered here." "Pennington, you belong with the ponies who know and love you, not in a den of parasites!" Luna was going to laugh jokingly to lighten the mood, but the look he gave her at the words "den of parasites" stopped any plans to lighten the mood dead in their tracks. "Look, what I mean is, you feel like you're split between two worlds, correct? But that's not the case. The changelings are trying to tear you away from what you've loved your whole life in exchange for a life where you would never be loved for who you really are! From what Twilight told me, changelings and ponies have very different lives. A pony grows up, finds their talent, meets the special one they love, and live both with and for them the rest of their days, doing what they love and having a family. Twilight told me that it seems like once a changeling is assigned a niche to fit into, there isn't much more to their life than doing that same thing, day in and day out, hoping for a chance at fooling someone into loving them... I know that you wouldn't want that mindless, will-less life, Pennington." "Then why am I screaming to go back on the inside, Luna?" He shook his head. "It isn't like a hunger or a thirst, those fade over time! This is constant, sometimes to the point where I can't even think clearly! They make me want it!" "If there's one pony whom I know won't let himself get pushed around by an outside force, it's Pennington Inkwell." She smiled. "You've faced countless terrors that would make other ponies scream, defeated stronger foes than a few lousy changelings! You're too stubborn to die or to follow anyone else's rules. You just need to remember who you are." Pennington let out a long sigh, looking at the ground as if admitting defeat. "You should be focusing your attention to the city, your highness." Luna wanted to try and press the matter further, but he was right. He was here to fill his duties, and so was she. Turning back towards the sea of rooftops and boulevards, she realized that she would need to raise the moon in the next few minutes. "Pennington, just remember that your indomitable spirit was one of the reasons I chose you to be under my jurisdiction and instruction, rather than my sister's. Another is because I know that, some day, you're going to come across something that you cannot understand or defeat... and I hope to be able to help you when that time comes." "Why?" "The same reason you volunteered to come and teach me a mere week after Nightmare Moon had been defeated, when nopony was certain she was gone for good." "Admiration?" "Friendship." "In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't show up to the wedding at all..." Shining Armor shook his head as he walked out of the room, taking the same path that his distraught fiancee had. Twilight's head hung low with shame, and she glanced back at her friends, looking for some kind of support. There were a few moments of silence before anyone spoke again. "Come on, y'all, let's go check on the princess!" Applejack called out, and everyone, even Spike, walked around and past Twilight, leaving her totally alone. Celestia was the last to leave. "I- I was-" "You have a lot to think about..." Celestia didn't even stop to look at her, simply walking on and leaving Twilight completely alone as the doors swung shut behind her. Twilight could feel all the sureties and knowledge of Cadence's actions beginning to crumble away in her mind, and she walked back towards the spot where the bride and groom were to say their "I do"s, stopping just short of the spot and laying across the stairs. "Maybe I was being overprotective... I might have gained a sister, but instead, I just lost a brother!" Tears welled up in her eyes as the full consequences of her "playing sleuth" began to set in. He was my Big Brother Best Friend Forever... and now we'll never do anything together... "TWILIGHT!" Twilight snapped out of her daze as a familiar voice screeched through the hall. "Moonstone?" She looked up as the small dragon flew in from one of the many open arches leading outside, nearly in a state of panic. "Moonstone, what are you doing here? Why aren't you back in Ponyville, taking care of Pennington?" Moonstone eventually seemed to give up on flapping her wings, dropping to the ground next to Twilight in a heap, panting heavily. "Penn... lied! He's in... trouble!" She was barely able to work out the words between breaths, gasping for air between each few syllables. "Changeling Queen... showed up... at his door! He's... trapped!" "WHAT? Why didn't he say something? Why didn't he ask for help?" "She's got him... under her hoof! He sent me... to find you!" Finally recovering, Moonstone straightened her posture. "Hmm... It seems that Pennington is still a little reluctant to help me." Both Twilight and Moonstone turned to face the pony walking out from the shadows. "Still, it's nothing that won't be fixed once the rest of the hive arrives. After that, he won't be able to fight us." "Cadence?" "No, you fool!" "Cadence" growled. "I'm surprised you never caught on, since you were the one who accompanied Pennington to the hive!" "Chrysalis... Whatever you've done to Pennington, you'd better let him go!" Moonstone shouted. "And what makes you think I've done anything to him at all? He's simply come to the realization of where this loyalties truly lie!" She grinned smugly as her horn shimmered with a verdant light. Without warning, Moonstone and Twilight were suddenly encircled in emerald flames, and before either could react, they had sunk down through the floor, being sent away through the magic. Bon Bon took a deep breath as she walked into Inkwell Commissions. She and Pennington had never been the closest of friends, but they knew each other well enough to be interested if one or the other was in trouble. She would come to him whenever she needed help with some kind of advertising, and he always had some kind of catchy motto or slogan he could think up. In return, Pennington would come to visit her every so often, always asking for the same order: a large bag of her caramel squares. He claimed to eat them while he worked on novels. Their relationship was mostly business, but every once in a while she would come and visit him when life with Lyra was getting too hectic. She'd provide the caramels and he'd provide an open seat on his couch and an offer of cheap noodles (which she always turned down). "Hello? Pennington?" She called out as she stepped into the front lobby where his customers would normally wait. "I heard you needed some help!" When she was met with silence, Bon Bon wondered if he might be asleep somewhere. She took a moment, pondering what to do. Well, that dragon made it seem like things were pretty bad... And even if he's not home, he wouldn't mind if I just look around to see what's wrong! Nodding to herself, she walked behind the counter, just as she always had when she'd come over to see him. He wasn't in the kitchen, and she did her best to ignore the mess as she walked along. As she entered the hall, she was surprised to see the first change from her normal visits: the door to his study was open. During all of her visits, Pennington had never allowed her into his study. She decided to just take a peek, just to make sure that he wasn't there. "Wow... Somebody likes Daring Do..." she whispered as she stepped inside, staring at the memorabilia all around her. It quickly became clear that Pennington wasn't in the room, however, and she decided that she ought to respect his apparent obsession and leave, shutting the door behind her. As she moved upstairs, she found herself in Pennington's living room. There wasn't much to it, but it was where they had spent most of their time talking together. She had half-expected to find him sitting on the couch, munching on caramels and sipping ramen, but the room was devoid of any ponies. The couch was empty and the chair and desk in the back of the room were unoccupied. There was nothing on the coffee table to indicate that anypony was home and had simply left for a moment. Finally, Bon Bon realized that there was only one room left to look in: the spare bedroom. Well, Pennington called it his 'spare.' It was the room that Trixie had once stayed in when the two of them were working together. Bon Bon had actually been one of the first ones Pennington had talked to after she'd abandoned him, and he still refused to sleep in there, despite claiming that he was over what had happened. Although, if he was hurt, it's the only really decent bed in the house for him to lay down in... Besides, I've already come this far. If he does need some kind of help, how horrible would it be to turn back now? Nodding to herself, she walked to the door, first knocking, then cracking it open. Her eyes widened as she peered inside. The entire room was green, with the walls and most of the surfaces covered in a slimy, green substance. The bed had been furnished with what was probably every pillow in the house and at least a half-dozen extra blankets, giving it a luxurious, plush look. The room was warm and the air was heavy with moisture, feeling as if there were somepony exhaling in her face when she opened the door. The entire room pulsated with green light, and the covering over the walls, ceiling, and windows gave the entire place a private, secluded feel, seeing as any pony could go completely unnoticed living comfortably inside. The entire setting felt strange and alien, and opening the door felt like she had violated the sanctity of the room, breaking the green seal along the door frame, and she was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that she was being watched. Slowly and deliberately, Bon Bon shut the door, walked back to the lobby, and closed the front door to the shop. Note to self: NEVER, EVER... Look into Pennington's private life without permission. If he has something like THAT set up and suddenly needs Twilight's "help," that's got nothing to do with me! Right now, Lyra seems like the NORMAL one... When Twilight was finally able to take a bearing of her surroundings again, she knew that she was someplace dark, subterranean judging by the chilled humidity in the air. As she cast a simple spell to illuminate her surroundings, and was surprised to find herself in a cavern of mirror-like surfaces, surrounded by crystals and gems. Looking around, she tried to find any sign of other life in the caves with her. "Hello?" She rose up onto her hooves, pleased to see that her strength wasn't failing, and walked around for a few steps. "Is anyone there?" "Twilight? Is that you?" Moonstone was gripping her head as she stumbled out from one of the darker corners of the room. "Moonstone! Are you alright?" Twilight ran over to the dragon, inspecting her for injury. "I'm fine, just got the wind knocked out of me..." Moonstone put on a smile to reassure Twilight before looking around them. "So, aside from my own personal buffet line, where are we?" Before Twilight could reply, an eerily echoing laughter mocked them both as Cadence's face appeared on one of the facets like some kind of screen, producing a soft glow. "Why, the caves beneath Canterlot, of course!" She laughed. "Once home to greedy unicorns who wanted to claim the gems as their own! And now..." The face disappeared from in front of them, but quickly re-emerged on a thousand more behind them. "Your prison! No one can hear you, and no one will ever think to look for you, either! Most ponies have forgotten that these caves even exist, which is why they're the ideal place to keep the ones who interfere with my plans! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!" "Plans, what plans?" "Why, the plans I have for your brother, of course!" Just when it seemed that the alicorn couldn't look any more smug, her grin turned even more sickening. "You stay away from him, you- you monster!" Twilight quickly felt fear being overwhelmed by rage, both out of protective instinct for her brother and Cadence's mocking tone. "Only way to stop me is to catch me!" Cadence replied, her sing-song tone only serving to make Twilight more angry. Summing up her energy, Twilight unleashed a destructive blast at the polished surface... "Twilight, no!" Moonstone shouted, too late as the beam bounced haphazardly around the room, threatening both of them with its unpredictable path. After several ricochets, it finally impacted with the ground just below Twilight's hooves. Jumping back, Twilight already had another blast ready when Cadence's face appeared on another crystal. This time, the beam had been altered, able to destroy the crystal in a shower of sparks. Cadence jumped from facet to facet, always just a fraction of a second ahead of Twilight. Finally, she appeared on a large surface at eye-level with the two of them, cackling at their helplessness. When Twilight destroyed it, it opened a passage to another room, revealing a shocked-looking, disheveled Cadence. Her rage still running unbridled, Twilight catapulted herself forward, tackling the alicorn to the ground. "Twilight, wait a minute!" Moonstone called out, running to catch up. "Please, don't hurt me!" She cried. After a second, her face lit up with recognition. "Twilight! Wait! It's me!" The new Cadence raised her hooves in defense, looking up at her attacker. "I was trapped down here, too! Just like you! Please, you have to believe me! The Cadence who brought you down here was an impostor!" "A likely story..." Twilight growled, still ready to attack. Cadence slid out from underneath Twilight's body, rising up onto her hooves. After a moment to recover, she began dancing in place. "Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs, awake! Clap your hooves..." "and do a little shake!" Twilight's eyes widened in shock. After a second, she grinned and jumped forward again, this time wrapping her hooves around the real Cadence in an excited hug. "You remember me!" "Of course I do! How could I forget the filly I love to sit for the most?" Cadence replied, returning the hug. "Ummm... Did I miss something?" Moonstone asked, staring at them both as if they had gone insane. "Moonstone, this is her! This is the real Cadence!" "Well, I could have told you that!" Moonstone laughed, tapping her face next to her left eye. "I have 'special eyes' remember? And I guess that she used to foalsit you?" "That's right! But... who are you?" Cadence asked, walking up to Moonstone. "What happened to Spike?" "Spike's still up top, helping put the figures on your wedding cake, if I had to guess..." She held out a claw to Cadence, shaking her hoof. "I'm Moonstone! I'm Pennington's assistant!" "Pennington?" Cadence's eyes widened. "Have either of you seen him?" "You know Pennington? Pennington Inkwell?" Twilight asked, taken aback. "Well, I didn't catch his last name... But that's what that changeling-" "Chrysalis." Moonstone stated quietly. "That's what Chrysalis called him." She shook her head. "He was the one who brought me down here!" "WHAT?" "I was trying to tell you, Twilight!" Moonstone shook her head. "Pennington's in horrible trouble! Chrysalis has him wrapped around her hoof, and he can't get free!" "How?" Twilight shook her head, hardly able to believe her ears. "Why would he let her do that?" "Because she's the Queen!" Moonstone shook her head. "A changeling literally can't deny a direct order from their ruler, and Pennington is bound by the same laws!" "But he saved my life by doing just that!" Cadence shook her head. "He ran in the way of a spell she was going to use to kill me!" "He did? Twilight looked back at Cadence, who nodded her affirmation. "Well, Pennington's still part pony, so if she didn't command him not to get in the way, then it's plausible that he could still rebel, but only through indirect means." Moonstone nodded. "That's why he sent me to help you. When Chrysalis showed up at our door, he said that he had sent me someplace I wouldn't be able to get in the way, but I just hid in the basement. Each night, for as long as he could without her knowing, Pennington told me everything that we needed to know..." Her face became sad for a moment as she reached into a fold between her scales. "Oh... and Twilight, he wanted me to give you this. He said that the two of you left it behind when you were trying to escape the hive." Pulling out a scrap of paper, she passed it to Twilight, who levitated it in the air for both her and Cadence to read. "'Clientele: Twilight Sparkle...' Moonstone, this is my receipt for the commission I asked him for! What do my ideas for short stories have to do with-" "'Plot: A pony (unspecified character) finds their way into the changeling hive and uncovers a vicious plot: to replace one of the princesses with a changeling in order to invade Canterlot discretely...'" Cadence continued reading. "Twilight, I think your fiction... is becoming fact!" Moonstone shook her head. "'Ending: Unspecified. "Spooky.' Pennington wanted you to know about this... And I'm sorry. It isn't his intent to make you feel guilty, but he said that you needed to know that he never finished it... I guess it's supposed to be some kind of metaphor for how it's up to us to change the ending ourselves." Twilight sat down, her spirits beginning to fall. "Does that mean... this is my fault?" A gentle hoof on her shoulder prompted her to look up again, straight into Cadence's eyes. "Twilight, right now, the only one worth blaming is this 'Chrysalis!' We can figure out who was responsible for what later!" Helping her up to her hooves, Cadence turned to look deeper into the caves. "Right now, we need to stop her!" "There's one more thing!" Moonstone shook her head, cutting the eager pair off as they started on their way up the sloped cave. "It was the night before he and Chrysalis left to sneak into Canterlot, but he said that this was the most important message of all!" "He told me, that if we ever ran into him and needed to fight him, we needed to 'aim for the head.'" "What? Kill him?" Cadence asked quietly. "Is that the only way to stop him from following her orders?" "I don't think so..." Moonstone shook her head. "Just before saying that, he asked me, 'Moonstone, if you can munch on rocks like candy, could you bite through a unicorn's horn?' I think that he might have meant that we can easily stop him if we can just stop him from using magic..." She reached into the pocket on the other side of her body, pulling out a small black ring. "That's why I brought this! A Class AAA Magic Inhibitor! This little puppy could bring Chrysalis or even a fully-fledged alicorn to their knees!" Cadence and Twilight both stared at the object for a moment. "Where did you get something like that?" "You'd be surprised what Penn keeps in his basement, Twilight!" Moonstone grinned. "But this was all I could carry from Ponyville to Canterlot!" Twilight and Cadence each looked at one another, slightly unsure about this new information. "Either way, let's get going!" Cadence shook her head. "We have to hurry if we want to stop them before the wedding is finished!" Twilight and Moonstone both nodded, and the three took off running.