//------------------------------//
// 41 - Cell 
// Story: Gladiator 
// by Not_A_Hat 
//------------------------------//

<"Your mom's in a glue pot!"> I yelled, as the door to my cell shut with a clang. I groaned, laying on hard stone, and listened as my jailor's hooves receded. After a while, I managed to slip my straight-razor from a pocket and saw through my bonds. It was laborious, but I managed. I worked the hood off my head and glanced around, trying to take stock of my surroundings.
 
I'd been carried somewhere. Ok, that was clear enough. I patted my pockets and felt my sleeve; they hadn't searched me, or they hadn't thought my wand and straight-razor were threats. I'd make them regret that. I felt the singing brooch at my throat as it hummed gently. One more resource, although trickier to use. I'd lost my hat and cane, which was annoying. My cravat was ruined, which wouldn't bother me except that Rarity would undoubtedly replace it with an even fancier one.
 
I inventoried my hurts. One big bruise on my side from being kicked. One matching set on my arms from blocking an even bigger kick. At least I'd managed to guard; if I hadn't been training, that would have crushed my ribs. A scattering of thumps and lumps from my jailors. Rope burn on my wrists from being hogtied. Wet clothes, dirt, and maybe a bit of blood. But nothing dangerous or seriously debilitating. I tried to rise and fell back, hissing in pain. Scratch that; I'd sprained a wrist, probably when Tweed stepped on me.
 
I rubbed my eyes and moaned softly. I'd made a very poor showing of myself, despite my big talk. I'd have to make up for it when I escaped.
 
Had I really done my best?
 
I lay still for a while, pondering that, trying to work out what sort of actions could have gotten me out of the trap. Eventually, I gave it up. I'd been pincered, and I'd made the right choice; trying to break through the smaller, less prepared group. If they weren't windigolems, I'd have escaped clean. I'd failed badly in not watching my back, though. I needed to adjust to being in more chaotic circumstances... or stop working alone.
 
I slowly sat up and surveyed my surroundings. The cell was dimly lit by a candle in the hall. It was stone, with a stout door. Light leaked through a small barred window and I could hear rain falling from another high on the wall.
 
In the corner, an orange pony was sleeping uneasily.
 
I rubbed my eyes and checked again. Still, orange pony. Still mumbling and moaning in her sleep.
 
Still fiery mane and tail.
 
Still Sunset Shimmer.
 
"Sunset?" I called softly. I rose to my feet, wincing again as I accidently put weight on my wrist. She mumbled something, but didn't respond. "Sunset Shimmer!" I tried again, as I moved closer.
 
"Splinter?" She mumbled. I stopped, heart heavy. "Splinter, is that you? Am I dreaming?"
 
"It-" I stopped, choking slightly. "It's not Splinter. You're awake. It's a friend."
 
"Oh." She yawned weakly and rubbed her eyes. For a moment she looked very vulnerable. She blinked blearily and sat up. I circled her cautiously so the dim candlelight wasn't behind me anymore. "Wes?"
 
"Yeah." I shrugged. "What are you doing here?"
 
"I'd like to ask the same."
 
"Well, it looks like we have time." I tried to find a comfortable patch of floor.
 
"Yeah," she responded quietly. "We have a little. I'll go first."
 



 
"Wait, that was me!" I exclaimed.
 
Sunset had been nabbed by Tweed because he thought the Archive sent her to retrieve the painting. She'd missed me at our rendezvous because she'd been jumped, and despite her best efforts, overpowered, drugged with magic inhibitors, and locked in here.
 
"Really? You're with the IPB?"
 
"Um, kinda." I paused, unsure of how much to say. "Sorta? They wanted some help, and Celestia assigned me."
 
"Oh…sorry, I didn't mean to sound so harsh."
 
"It's OK."
 
"Funny thing is, the Tweeds weren't even on my horizon." She sighed. "There's a new group in town, and they're the ones who started this whole mess. The art hunt, the auctions, the break-ins…it's all them. I was digging after them, and Tweed thought I was after him."
 
"Sombra." I spat.
 
"Really?" She gave an excited gasp. "Oh! That…oh!"
 
"Suddenly, it all makes sense?" I asked dryly.
 
"Yeah." She sounded subdued.
 
"Did you get a good look at any of them? The windigolems?"
 
"Windigolems?"
 
"The glass pony statues."
 
"Glisten!"
 
"Huh?"
 
"Their boss, Glisten. They say she's a crystal pony. I thought it was odd; real crystal ponies aren't faceted. She must be one of those."
 
"Oh." I thought back to Shadow. "Oh no. She has a name; that's another of his lieutenants. This isn't good, not at all. Why are they after the painting? What's so important about it?"
 
"I have no idea." Sunset sighed. "I mean, are we even sure that's what they're looking for? They've bought, 'borrowed', and stolen hundreds of pieces of art in the past few weeks."
 
"I…"
 
"Hmm?"
 
"Well, um…"
 
"Spit it out."
 
"I sensed odd magic from something on that cart." I could almost see her think. If I could sense magic, that meant I was using Splinter's horn.
 
"Wes…"
 
"Yeah?"
 
"Tell me how my brother died."
 
"…alright."
 



 
"And now I'm in a cell again." I sighed, frustration and anger showing through. I'd done my best to recount my imprisonment with the changelings. After that, I'd given a succinct summary of what landed me here. "At least this time I have a plan."
 
"What?" Sunset's voice rang with excitement. "You have a plan? What is it? Can I help?"
 
"Sure I have a plan. Wait for rescue."
 
"Uaaaaaah…." Her voice broke, and she gave a keening wail. Shocked, I shuffled over and pulled her into a hug.
 
"What's wrong?"
 
"You don't understand!" She sobbed into my shoulder. "Tweed kills ponies! Do you really think they'd imprison us if they couldn't get away with it? We're going to die. In a cell. Helpless. Like my brother. Because of Celestia."
 
"Sunset…" I stopped, suddenly realizing she had been here far longer than me and with much less to hold on to. If I didn't have friends who knew where I'd gone…I shook my head. She sniffled, calmed a little by my voice. I wanted to reassure her, but felt odd taking a hard line with somepony I barely knew. At the same time, though, we had a connection. I felt like I was carrying something forward for Splinter.
 
"Your brother was not helpless. He sacrificed his life to get me out. If that's what it takes to free you, I'll do it. I told you, I owe him my life. I'll pay that to you, if need be." She stopped sobbing, going back to sniffles. "Besides. My friends are coming for me. They'll save us both. But Tweed better not count us out just yet." I slipped my wand out of my sleeve and held it out to her. "They've left me with more than they realized."
 
"Is that…"
 
"Yeah." I peeled back the silk wrapping, to show the yellow ivory underneath. "My wand. Splinter's horn." I scooted back against the wall and tried meditating a little. My wrist was hurting. "Sunset."
 
"Yeah?"
 
"Tell me what you meant, when you said it was Celestia's fault your brother died."
 
"I…um…"
 
"What's between you two?"
 
"I don't-"
 
"Sunset."
 
"Yeah?"
 
I lifted my wand, and tapped it to my forehead.
 
"Pretend I'm your brother. At least for a bit." I wasn't sure why I felt so adamant about this, but something told me she needed a friend. This sort of confidence was the only way I saw of getting close. Sunset seemed the sort to hold others at arms-length; I needed to be a little harsher to get past that. She scooted over and curled up beside me. I stiffened a little.
 
"Splinter and I used to sit like this," she said slowly. I relaxed. The extra warmth was nice on the cold stone. "Back in the day. I was Celestia's student, before Twilight." She felt me shift and laughed dryly. "Didn't know that, did you? He was part of the guard. Maybe Shining would know him?" I shrugged; I'd never considered asking. "He wasn't captain, or anything, but he was respected and competent. Celestia sent him on missions personally." She sighed, curling up tighter. "I always hated that. I didn't like him being in danger. But Celestia said that wasn't my decision to make. Phaw." Sunset spat. "Celestia. Her 'greater good' makes me sick." I frowned, but held my peace.
 
"Then one day, he didn't come back." Her voice quavered and she drew a shaky breath. "One day, he was just…gone. He disappeared and I was alone." She lay silent for a time, crying quietly. "I hated Celestia for it." Another long pause. "It took a while for those feelings to surface, but one day it all came out. Everything. I yelled, I screamed, I ranted and raved, I even tried to hurt her. She just stood staring, like she was confused by the whole thing. I couldn't take it anymore; I turned tail and ran, and I've been running ever since." We sat in silence for a long while.
 
"For so long, I've been pushing everypony away."
 
I sighed at that, and ran a hand over her whithers, patting her gently. Finally, I got my thoughts in order.
 
"Celestia said it wasn't your decision to make about sending Splinter out, but I know it wasn't hers either." She sniffled a little, but that was all; I continued. "Splinter didn't talk about you much, but I remember…well, we'd had a bad night. Both of us. We were broken and bleeding, in pain and maybe a little delirious. It's an odd place to be; both extremely vulnerable, physically, and still pretty much unkillable. Does weird things to your mind. Anyways, he told me about his sister. His beautiful, smart, powerful, beautiful, perfect sister, who was studying magic to make the world a better place. He loved you, Sunset." She sniffled a bit more at that.
 
"More than that; he was proud of you, and wanted to make the world better for you, even a little." I sighed. "That's why he fought. For others. He fought for you his whole life. He fought for me." I wiped a tear away from my own eye. "He was a great pony. But…well, I guess what I'm trying to say, is don't hold his disappearance against Celestia. Or at least give her a chance. She's not playing chess; she doesn't believe the ends justify the means. Ponies aren't pawns to her, and she would never send your brother if he didn't go willingly." I shrugged, awkwardly. "Did you know Celestia never stopped  searching? When I met Luna, she was working on missing pony cases. It helped us track down the changelings. She was searching for him."
 
"R-really?"
 
"Really."
 
"Do…do you think Celestia would still t-talk to me?"
 
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure of it. All you need to do is ask." The conversation lulled again and I focused on my meditation. After a while I concentrated on my wand and barely managed to cast the only spell Lyra had taught me. I wasn't really supposed to do this without her supervision, but I was getting better. The magic in my body thrummed as it harmonized, and Sunset gasped.
 
"What was that?"
 
"Sorry." I shook my head. "I can't tell you; I promised. It's a type of metamancy." I concentrated on the sequence of notes I needed, and felt magic start focusing on my wrist. I could feel each of my bones vibrate. It was still an odd sensation. A lack of raw agony meant it wasn't a fracture, though. I ran my wand over the area, scanning. It was a sprain, a bad one. I focused my magic as best I could, trying to use the energy to the best effect. I managed to reduce the swelling a little and even repair the tendons a bit before my concentration slipped and I gave up with a gasp.
 
I'd actually managed a half-minute or so. That was pretty good.  I felt the skin on my arm; it was warm, but didn't hurt. I had to be very careful of burns. Any dissonance in my internal magic was released as heat which elevated my body temperature, and I didn't have a magical musical ass like my teacher.
 
"What were you doing?" I glanced up; Sunset was staring at me, fascinated.
 
"Reiki?" I shrugged. She quirked an eyebrow. "Sorry." I grinned. "I'm used to giving silly answers. But…you're a pretty good magician, huh? Being Celestia's…former student?"
 
"Mmm."
 
"Well, it's a technique for manipulating internal magic. I concentrated some on my wrist to help it heal, since it was sprained for me earlier."
 
"Oh. Interesting." She leaned over and ran her horn along my arm. I froze, unsure of what to do; she was on magic inhibitors, right? I saw a flicker of magic, vibrant cyan shining in the dark, and yanked my arm back with a gasp.
 
"Don't hurt yourself!"
 
"Oh." She looked up, just as surprised. "That worked. Wes, that…" She stopped suddenly and jerked to her feet, pacing haltingly around the cell muttering. I watched her for a bit, unsure. I could press her; she might even talk to me. But was it worth it?
 
I closed my eyes, trying to think of a way out, and I fell asleep without realizing.
 



 
Sunshine and music woke me.
 
I'd slumped sideways, and was laying in the one small sunbeam our tiny window allowed. The light was playing across my amethyst brooch which was singing gently. Sunset was curled up next to me, her back to mine. I yawned and stretched, trying to wake up as our situation filtered back.
 
I grimaced, stood, and started stretching slowly. No point in hurting more than necessary.
 
I frowned down at my new suit. Maybe it wasn't totally ruined, but being thrown through puddles and sleeping on the floor definitely hadn't been good for it. Still, that was the least of my worries. I prowled the cell again, this time in daylight, trying to find something we could use. The cell was solidly locked and barred; the walls were thick blocks of stone, mortared firmly with tough cement. The bars in the high window were thick and solidly set, probably with melted lead. I completed my circuit, groaning in frustration. My brooch reflected the noise back sweetly and I searched myself again. Still, one suit, one wand, one straight-razor, two cufflinks, and one amethyst brooch. I played absently with my wand, spinning it vacantly around my fingers as I tried to think up something useful.
 
My mind kept coming back to the brooch. Singing stone, as far as latent magic went, was intense. There was plenty of power in the thing, if I could tap it. I unpinned it for a closer inspection. It was a carousel pony, picked out in dozens of flawlessly faceted amethysts. It buzzed as I ran a finger over it and I subconsciously tried to identify the chord.
 
Wait. What was I thinking? I'd been working with sound magic for weeks. I frowned as the idea hit me. If I could fuse what I'd learned from Vinyl and Lyra into something workable, could I release some of the magic stored in the brooch? Unsure, I sat back down next to Sunset, put my head in my hands, and stared at it, pondering.
 
"Mwha?" I glanced at my comrade as Sunset uncurled slightly, blinking up at me. "Oh. Morning."
 
"Morning. Sleep well?"
 
"Better than expected." She yawned. "Um, I think…some of that talk last night was good for me."
 
"Good." I paused. "Uh…I wanted to say, I'm sorry for forcing that out of you. It wasn't really my place, but-"
 
"Ssssh." I stopped in surprise as she placed a hoof on my mouth. "Don't apologize. You were trying to help, and I think it did. Umph." She stood, shook herself off, and ran a hoof through her mane. "For now, for better or worse, we're in this together. And for the first time in years…" She glanced back, inspecting her cutie mark. "Things might actually be looking up for me. If we can just get out of here."
 
"Well, I did have an idea on that." I raised the brooch. "Any thoughts on how to make this explode?"
 



 
"Wait, are you sure that Heather's spell has three modes?"
 
"Absolutely!"
 
I watched curiously as she turned back to the runes she was sketching in the dust. Working with Sunset was nothing like working with Twilight. They were both incredibly intelligent, which made sense; Celestia had picked and tutored them personally. However, with Twilight, we shared almost all our knowledge. It took no more than a word or three, and complex equations sprang to mind, full-formed. With Sunset, she was painstakingly working proofs, and I still had trouble following. To be fair, this was about as arcane and obscure magic as you could get; not exactly 'common knowledge'.
 
It helped that I'd been brushing up on echonarcy recently. Without that, we might have been out of luck. As it was, I think we'd nearly come up with an idea.
 
"Oh!" I suddenly saw what she was getting at with her diagram. "Yeah! That would actually work." I spun the brooch between my fingers, examining it. I carefully extracted the fastener, and slid the ornament into my pocket; the solid silver post pin would be the target of this spell. If I could actually cast it.
 
"Sure it would, if you had a power source." Sunset gave me a skeptical look. "This is only an amplification spell, after all."
 
"Leave that to me." I smiled, more confidently than I felt. "I'll make it work, one way or another. For now, I just need to do my best on this." I held up the pin.
 
It was still early in the morning. We'd woken soon after sunrise, and I didn't want to waste time. I had no idea what Tweed planned for us; it surely wasn't anything spectacular, but surely wasn't pleasant, either. I shuddered a little, and my skin crawled as I remembered I was once again in a cell. Slightly more subdued and motivated, I drew my wand and gathered my concentration.
 
"Good grief." I looked up; Sunset was watching me with a mixture of awe and disgust. "How are you so weak?"
 
"Well excuuuuuse me, Miss Unicorn. I'm not supposed to be able to do any magic. Cut me some slack."
 
"No, seriously; what's up with you and magic? I read you as a giant on my scope when you escaped Sombra's anomaly, but when I arrived, you had nothing! Now you're active, but only a trickle? Tell me how you're doing this!"
 
"Anomaly?" I thought back to my blurred memory of our first escape from the Crystal Empire. "Oh, the portal! That was with Twilight's help." I shrugged.
 
"Oh, now this I've got to hear. She was dead on her hooves. How was she helping you?"
 
"Oh. Um. Well, it all started when Sombra had us up against the ropes, and I nearly ripped this gem out of my chest…" I closed my eyes, letting half my brain wander haphazardly through the story of experimenting with our link while the rest of me carefully detailed the spell into the brooch pin.
 



 
"Crazy." Sunset shook her head. "You two are crazy."
 
"Thanks." I breathed a sigh of relief as I finished. I tapped the pin; the aura didn't disintegrate, so I'd wrapped everything up properly. "Well, that's the way it is." I slid the pin back through the ornament, and listened; it seemed slightly louder. "Now, what's our plan?"
 
"Blow something up!" Sunset sprang to her hooves, head held high. "Let's make some noise, and get out of here!"
 
"H-hold on a second!" I grabbed her mane, trying to calm her slightly. "Is that really the best idea? I'll need some rest before I can be sure of working this, and you're still coming down from inhibitors. Anyways, we don't know what's going on out there. Maybe there will be a better opportunity?"
 
"Wait!" Her ears swiveled, locking onto something I couldn't hear. "What's that?"
 
"You have better ears." I climbed to my feet. "What's up?"
 
"Yelling. Clashing. Fighting? Sounds like…something about apples?"
 
"Oh!" My fingers shook as I fished the brooch back out of my pocket. "Alright, we're leaving. Ten to one, that's our reinforcements."
 
"We have reinforcements?"
 
"Hay yeah! I've been saying this whole time; friends are coming for us. We'll let them know where we are, and they can clean up the rest of this." I triggered my meditation technique with a few quick breaths. "Now, hush. This will be tricky enough as is."
 
I shifted my wand to my left hand, holding it at arms-length with my not-sprained wrist, aimed directly at the cell door. I slowly scraped my magical resources together and wrapped the brooch in a crackling orange aura. Sunset watched apprehensively as I levitated it. It slowly hovered out in front of me, until it hung in the air about half-way to the wall. This was stretching the limits of my power; I'd slightly increased my capabilities, but I was only up to three one-bit coins in my training.
 
Now for the hard part.
 
I mentally arranged the words for the spell, carefully superimposing them on my conception of the brooch. Then imagined a line from the end of my wand, extending from the tip to the wall, and running directly through the ornament. I pulsed my internal energy, being sure to hold the spell-words, and imagined it vibrating. The brooch hummed in response.
 
Slowly, I amped up the power. A feedback loop began; I watched the wall, listened to the brooch, and adjusted my internal harmonies to match. I worked as quickly as possible, but sweat sprang out on my forehead; dissonance was already heating my bloodstream. If I held this too long, or didn't get it just right, I'd cook myself from the inside out.

The brooch's singing slowly intensified, harshening and deepening. It swooped down through the lower registers. For a second, I nearly lost control as my bowels quaked and dust and rubble danced on the floor. I tightened my grip and it passed.
 
Sunset had her hooves blocking her ears, and I didn't blame her. The sound was immense now, mirroring the sort of racket I'd raised in the caves. I saw wisps of solid magic curling off the amethysts as they began sublimating, the solid energy returning to fluid power as the vibrations pulsed through them, amplified and directed by the spell I'd woven into the pin. A swirl of light curled around the brooch, forming a vortex as the activation threshold was passed and the feedback loop became self-maintaining. The resistance crumbled suddenly, and the spell changed from an uphill climb to a downhill slide. I choked up my grip before it ran wild, checking to ensure I had everything set. I canvassed my internal power, double-checked I was pointing it at the right place, rechecked my harmonies, and when I was absolutely sure of myself, let it rip.
 
It finished in one long crescendo, not really a bang so much as a roar. The brooch flashed brightly and the wall thrummed, sound waves focused totally on one spot, selected by my internal harmonies, amplified by the brooch, and powered by the singing stone. A simple dungeon wall couldn't withstand that sort of fury. It caved like a giant kicked it, literally blasted across the hall. Sunset and I stood coughing in the smoking rubble.
 
"We need to move!" I yelled, taking a second to scoop up the twisted, smoking piece of metal that had been the brooch.
 
"What?"
 
I shook my head, pointed, and started running. Sunset followed.
 



 
"Rarity, no! She's with me!"
 
A thousand shining needles froze in midair, mere inches away from Sunset. My companions, Rarity and Applejack, had left the general melee behind and come looking for me once they heard the noise. I guess I was inextricably linked to explosions in their minds.
 
"Mares, you've never met her, but this is Sunset Shimmer. Tweed nabbed her instead of me, which is why she never showed. Anyways, who's keeping the mob busy?"
 
"My uncle and his horses." Applejack shrugged. "Family is there for you. Plus, they get to crush a rival."
 
"Do they need our help?"
 
"You kidding?" She gave me a skeptical glance. "They'd take twice as many and still not break a sweat."
 
"Oh." I sagged against a wall, tension slowly seeping out of me. "Then maybe we should run, before whoever is in charge of prisoners thinks to check."
 
"Right." Rarity nodded and led the way. We left unnoticed.
 



 
"So, let me get this straight," Applejack said for the fourth time, as we let ourselves into the back of the gallery. Opaque had left me instructions for my return, no matter it was half a day later than expected.
 
"Oh, really!" Rarity sighed. "Listen, it's very simple. Both Tweed and Glisten, Sombra's lieutenant, were after the painting. Wes was against Tweed, and Sunset against Glisten. Following?"
 
"So far."
 
"Tweed knew something was up. Maybe Glisten did, too. But Tweed thought that Sunset was the pony after him, so he foalnapped her. Because of that, Wes wasn't bothered until he ran into Sombra's goons. Then they knocked him down and Tweed captured him. He got thrown in with Sunset, and Sombra got the painting."
 
"Wait…they switched targets?"
 
"Sort of?"
 
"Oh…huh."
 
"Well, that was a bust!" I exclaimed, futility and frustration welling up as we made it to our room. I flopped onto one of the beds, not bothering to remove my bedraggled suit.
 
"We couldn't have expected Sombra." Rarity shrugged stoically.
 
"I know, but I'm so sick of being one step behind him! We actually had an opportunity here; we stumbled on one of his plots before we even knew it, and we still couldn't do anything! He's always one step ahead, and I'm beginning to feel like I'm running in circles!" My head swung around as a knock came on the door.
 
"Good, you're back!" We all gasped, as Opaque staggered through. The small mare was covered in dirt and grime, and even had a few bruises and scrapes, a far cry from the immaculate image she'd presented last night.
 
"Opaque, are you OK?" Rarity rushed over and supported her as she sagged against the door.
 
"Oh, I'll be fine." She pushed herself upright, and glanced at us. "It's good to know you made it. And with this, we have something to pin on Tweed, even if it's not theft; imprisonment and assault is a good start. But I have news. After Wes got captured," I grimaced; she shrugged, "I reported to Fancy, told you, Rarity, then triangulated his comm, and tailed the…what did you call them? Windigolems? Until they reached their destination."
 
"You found them?" I sprang upright, energy suddenly restored. "We need to move! If we're quick, we might be able to attack them before they escape!"
 
"Right!" Opaque nodded. "But first, I visited my study and found this." She stepped into the hall and retrieved a small box, labeled 'reinforcements'. "I think it's from the Princess but it's addressed to you, Wes." She passed it over. I frowned, and slit the tape holding it closed.
 
On top was a letter; it crinkled as I spread it out.
 
"Wes," I read aloud, "I'm sorry I couldn't meet you in Canterlot. Thank you for assisting Fancy. Since Sombra is involved, I've decided to authorize the use of gratuitous force. Move quick; if he's got what he needs, he'll be gone ASAP." Confused, I checked the box. A grin slowly spread across my face.
 
"Why are you smiling like that?" Sunset asked, confused. I tipped the box upside down, and Rarity and Applejack added their grins, looking at what fell out.
 
"A zebra would call those tiger smiles." Opaque glanced at the three of us. "Care to share?"
 
"Ah, yes." I held up a gem-studded iron horseshoe. "Arglefraster, meet the team. Team, Arglefraster." I pushed myself upright. "Opaque, I feel like ruining someone's day. Let's have a go at Sombra's ponies; we can plan on the way."