Shadows Of The Past
Chapter one: A Luna Escape
His body was twisted and broken beyond all recognition; Atom lay on the blood splattered stretcher across the warped throne room. He stirred… his legs, bent at impossible angles started to push him up off the ground. His back twisted in and out of shape as it lifted off the stretcher. His head, at ninety degrees to his spine, swiveled around to look at Twilight. Slowly placing one disfigured hoof in front of another, Atom slowly shuffled his mangled body closer to Twilight. In a gurgled, slurred voice he spoke.
“Whhhaaat’s wrong Twiiilight? Don’t yooou reeecogniiise meeeeeee!?”
Twilight sprung from her cot screaming. Atom was by her side, her hoof in his already. He wrapped his forelegs around her.
“The nightmare again?” He asked softly. It had been a week since Twilight had been caught in the library, and every night since she had the same nightmare. Twilight nodded, unable to speak. Atom sighed “You know I may be able to help if you told me what it was about…” He said in a slightly exasperated tone… it wasn’t helping that all three of them, Atom, Twilight and Blade, were sharing a cell now. For some reason the princess had moved them in together… although Atom was glad to be so close to Twilight, even in this situation.
Twilight closed her eyes and leaned back on the bede.
“I… I just don’t want to share it… it’s not easy to talk about…” She didn’t want Atom to know how much his stunt had affected her. Twilight sighed. She knew she wouldn’t be able the sleep again that night. Well… she assumed it was night, it was hard to tell in the windowless prison of glass. It was not an easy situation to be in: the prison was huge, and most of the cells empty. No matter which direction she looked in she saw nothing but the white color that the glass faded into in the distance… it was a disorientating design.
A clatter rang through the prison, startling all three of them, and the sounds of marching boots echoed down the corridors. Line after line of guards dressed in dark blues, purples and blacks marched towards the cell. They lined up in front of the Cell, and then parted as Princess Luna marched through the group towards the cell. The door swung open as her horn glowed. She marched in and loomed over the three prisoners.
Luna extended a hoof towards Atom.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Doctor, I have heard much about you.”
Atom cautiously shook the Princess’s hoof.
“Likewise… why… why are you here Princess?” Atom asked, still untrusting of her motives. Luna allowed herself a sigh, then quickly regained her composure.
“I have come to break you out while I still can. My sister has been acting more and more paranoid. Something is wrong here. I know my sister, and this is certainly not her.”
Blade stood and bowed to the Princess.
“My Princess, please do not be upset by my asking this, but how can we be certain we can trust you?” He said as respectfully as possible. Luna smirked.
“My sister already has you captured, why would she use me try to trick you into this? Anyway, you don’t have many other options.”
Blade considered this for a moment and gave a simple nod.
Twilight motioned to her horn, and the enchanted band strapped around it.
“If we are breaking out we’ll need our magic. Can you remove these?”
Luna sighed.
“I wish I could, but I would need more time than we have available, as it is we are very quickly running out of time and should get moving.” Luna answered, beckoning for them to follow her out of the cell. The group quickly made its way down the corridor to the exit
“The plan is to sneak out the back, through the sculpture gardens. That way we can avoid the bulk of my sister’s guard. But we will have to move quickly once out of the prison as we are certain to be spotted. So once we leave, we will run. My guard will hold off any patrols we run into and my elite guard will protect us personally. Alright? Once we are out we will head for the Everfree forest. It’s the closest border to us from here. It is on the other side of the mountain range. There is a set of tunnels leading through it. Do you understand?” Luna explained on the way to the end of the prison. Twilight had spotted a few unconscious guards on their way through. The group nodded, and a Pegasus pony wearing armor similar to what Blade had been wearing (though in the Luna Guard’s more nocturnal attire) placed a hoof on the door, ready to open it.
“This is Captain Sabre,.He’ll be organizing the men, and making sure we make it through, no matter what. Now, are you ready?”
Twilight and Atom looked into each other's eyes, then nodded to Luna. Blade was already prepared and waiting. Luna nodded to Captain Sabre. He flung the door open and they all started running. At first the small prison corridors were only wide enough for the ponies to file through one by one, but once out of the dungeons the guard filled out and surrounded Luna, Atom, Twilight, Blade and Sabre. As a group they charged through the corridors, quickly knocking out several lone guards as they passed, and soon they came out into the gardens.
They soon ran into a relatively large Patrol and a group of guards broke off to engage them. The main group continued on without slowing. As they passed through the large gardens there seemed to be more patrols than usual, but there was no time for them to stop and ponder it. By the time they reached the sculpture gardens only the Princess, the prisoners and a few of the Princess’s elite guard remained. Captain Sabre had broken off with some of his troops to take down a larger than average patrol. They had lost more ponies than they should have.
The group rounded a corner and entered the Sculpture garden. They went into the main courtyard and were ready to head for the back gates when they swung open and a line of Celestia’s guard marched out, forming a semi-circle around the group. They slid to a stop and started to back track towards the maze, but the same thing happened; Another group of royal guards poured out of the maze, completing the circle and hemming them in by the Discord’s Statue. Twilight heard Atom curse under his breath.
The guard stayed still, and every member of the surrounded group was trying to calculate a way out of the situation. A group of the royal guards closest to the maze parted to make way for a Pegasus pony clad in the armor of Celestia’s captain; the armor Blade had once worn. Blade growled at the sight. “
So Celestia already replaced, did she!? BAH!” Blade shouted angrily, and the new Captain snorted but otherwise ignored him.
The Captain stepped forward.
“Princess Luna, did you really believe that Celestia would be so foolish as to let you go around unchecked? She has been keeping a very close eye on you as of late, and it was a simple matter to stop your little escape plan. Now, come along quietly and we can avoid anypony coming to harm.” He spoke in a smooth, commanding voice.
Luna lifted her head proudly.
“I will not Surrender. I cannot stand by while innocent Ponies are condemned for no reason other than the Princess’s increasing paranoia. Or have you not noticed that Celestia has become more and more unstable in the last few weeks?” She asked, though more an accusation than a question. The Captain snorted in derision.
“Of course I have. We all have! But we are loyal to Celestia no matter what! Not that I expect that to be a concept you would understand.” He declared proudly and contemptuously.
The Princess’s eyes flashed with anger.
“I am loyal, but I only owe my sister the loyalty of Family. As Princess of Equestria, my loyalties are firstly to my subjects. I shall not stand by while my sister treats our subjects unfairly and unjustly while we are supposed to be the ones to uphold that Equality and Justice.” Luna said with the pride and authority of a practiced leader.
The Captain was silent for a moment, before continuing.
“Princess, I am truly sorry about this… but if you will not surrender, I will be forced to capture you by force. Those are my orders… Troops, Adv-" He was cut off but the sound of clattering as Captain Sabre Charged through the line of Celestia’s guards with a large group of Luna’s guards behind him, though it was obvious they had still lost a large amount of their original force. The group of Guards Battered its way through the line of Celestia’s men in a wedge formation.
The unit of Guards drove into the middle of the circle and set up around Luna. Captain Sabre announced his orders to his remaining men.
“We will hold this point, the statue. Defend the Princess at ALL costs!” He shouted. Anger Flashed across the eyes of Celestia’s Captain.
“CHARGE!” He ordered. “Crush them before more of their troops arrive!” Celestia’s guards advanced forwards and Luna’s guards prepared to defend themselves. There was a few seconds where time seemed to stand still for Twilight, where Clestia’s guards advanced across the remaining distance, before the two forces clashed in an explosion of sound.
The battle soon descended into chaos, a blur of sounds and sights. The attackers swarmed along the line of defenders, breaking against it and falling. These were Luna’s best soldiers; they were very skilled and experienced, but even so they were not invincible and when one would fall Celestia’s troops would exploit the hole in the defense to its fullest. Troops were swarming into the middle, at which point Blade, the Princess, Atom or Twilight would push them back, although Twilight was hindered by her inability to cast spells. Though Atom surprised everyone, despite his lack of brute strength and his lack of magic, he was fast and accurate, quickly taking down opponents that threatened him. He defended Twilight like a Stallion possessed, sending anyone who would cause her harm flying.
The battle lasted for what seemed like an eternity, though it couldn’t have been more than half an hour. Even so time on a battlefield is counted in seconds, not minutes, acting on instinct and reflex, and so no one was quite sure how long the battle had been going on. Luna’s guard had suffered greatly; they simply didn’t have the numbers to hold out against Celestia’s troops. They had taken to pulling back before assaulting again; driving at the defenders in waves. While this gave brief periods of respite for the defenders, it also meant that more of Celestia’s men we able to break through with each wave.
Every one of Luna’s guard and the group in middle were covered in a fresh set of cut’s a bruises which slowed them and made them less effective overall. Over time, more and more of Luna’s troops fell. The line wouldn’t hold out much longer and Celestia’s troops knew it. They attacked with more and more determination, hammering against the defenders with unmatched ferocity.
After an especially vicious wave, Captain Sabre, with a line a line of blood running down his cheek, shouted an order.
“Fall back! Fall back to the Staue!” The line of defenders collapsed in, retreating in closer to the statue. It was not ground they wanted to loose, and it meant they now had no room left to retreat, but they needed to fall back or the line would have been obliterated. Twilight was now backed up against the Plinth of the statue.
Celestia’s Troops charged towards Discord’s Statue again, in what looked to be their most powerful attack yet. To everyone's surprise, they skidded to a stop, a look of horror on their faces. A dark chuckle echoed across the battlefield, cutting through the noise and silencing everypony. A chill ran down Twilight’s spine - she knew that laugh… she knew it all too well.
“My, my… What a delicious display of Chaos! Muahahaha!” Discord’s dark voice rang out across the courtyard. Nopony dared to move.