//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 - Holding Out for a Hero part 1 // Story: The Foals of Harmony: Equestrian Rhapsody // by Rainy Meadows //------------------------------// Night had once more descended upon Equestria, bringing with it eight full hours of silence, darkness and peace. The moon hung in the sky like a great white ghost, illuminating the world with a dim, cold light which could not compare to the daytime fires of the sun's, and the stars glittered in their thousands as a cool breeze rustled the leaves of Ponyville's public library. Inside, on the upper floor, a young purple unicorn and her small draconian companion were slumbering peacefully through Princess Luna's beautiful night. For Twilight Sparkle, it had been and long and hard day of studying; ever since her little trip to an alternative dimension she had shown a particular interest in theories of other universes, and was considering writing a dissertation on said theories and how what she had seen and experienced had been either confirmed or, quite frankly, 'busted'. Spike, however, was exhausted for a completely different reason. He had spent the entire day running around the library, grabbing book after book for the pony who had dubbed him her no. 1 assistant, and now he was about ready to just slump in his bed and snore until the sun rose and he would awaken to yet another day of fetching books, doing chores and running errands. BANG BANG BANG. Or so he thought. BANG BANG BANG. "Get that for me, would you Spike?" asked Twilight, turning over in her bed. "Why would somepony come to the library in the middle of the night?" asked Spike, but he still complied. He took a candle, lit it with a yawn, wandered down to the lower levels and pulled open the library door. He was faced by a trio of tall, hooded ponies, staring at him with unseen eyes. "Hey," said Spike, "who are you? What do you-?" BLAM. Twilight was shocked into a state of full wakefulness by the explosion, and her eyes grew to the size of saucers as she listened to the sound of books falling off shelves and piling up into a heap upon the library floor. Her first thought would normally have been that she would have to reshelve and reorganise them - she hated it when somepony messed up her hard work - but there were more pressing matters at hoof. Someone had forced their way into her library, and by the sounds of things they weren't afraid to cause harm. She knew for a fact that the windows were all locked: she had barred them herself before retiring to bed, and there was no hope of escape down the main entrance, plus she didn't know if she could gather enough energy for an emergency teleportation. Besides, what if there were more of them outside? And where would she even go? An idea hit her. She could use that spell she learnt last week! It was simple enough, and there was no danger of it drawing any unwanted attention. She closed her eyes and concentrated, just as a voice shouted "Unos! Guard the door! If anypony comes this way, make sure they don't evade you." "On it," replied Unos, and a pair of large hooded ponies appeared in Twilight's bedroom. "Look, Dos, she isn't here," one of them said. "Let's just get out of here." "What, and lose our pay?" said the other. "She's still here, Tres, I can feel it. Besides, do you really want to find out what the boss will do to us if we come back empty hooved?" "Good point," said the one apparently called Tres. Suddenly Dos cried out and fell to the floor. When he stood up, he had a steady trickle of blood streaming from his nose. "You're right, she is here!" said Tres, just before he too was felled by a blow to the face and pulled himself, bleeding, to his hooves, only to receive a kick in the stomach. "This is going nowhere," said Dos. "Unos! Get a smoke grenade!" Down in the library, the final hooded pony pulled out a small translucent ball and stamped on it with his hoof, and seconds later the entire building was leaking smoke. The three intruders had pulled on gas masks, but a certain lavender unicorn could not stop herself from coughing. She lost her concentration and reappeared in the centre of the library. "Sedate her, quick!" shouted Unos. He leapt upon Twilight and pinned her to the ground, and quickly slid a ring over her horn which was instantly clipped into place. Twilight tried to teleport out, but for some reason her magic was useless and it made her horn ache. "What are you doing?" she demanded as she struggled. "Where's Spike? What have you done with him?" Her watering eyes wandered to a pile of books in front of a now empty bookcase, poking out of which was the tip of a purple, pointed tail. "Spike?" Before she could say another word, something pierced the skin on her flank, and she was overcome with blissful darkness. "Okay, let's move out," said Unos. He picked up the unconscious unicorn, slung her across his back and the three intruders galloped out into the silent night. “Ha! Oof! Ah! Ha! Hi-YAH! Loop-de-loop around and WHAM!” Rainbow Dash landed on the bridge, her sky blue face painted with a smug, satisfied grin. “What’d I say?” she asked. “Ten. Seconds. Flat. I’d never leave Ponyville hangin’!” She chuckled at the sight of two pale blue pegasus colts staring up at the now empty skies with their jaws unhinged. “Ha! You should see the looks on your faces!” she said. “You might want to close your mouths before a bug flies in.” Soarin’s mouth snapped closed, but Lightning Strike started giggling and rolling around on the ground. “Wow,” said Soarin’. “Looks like you really are the fastest in Equestria.” “Oh, come on,” said Rainbow Dash as a blush crept over her muzzle. “I bet there’re some of your Wonderbolt pals who are faster than me.” “No way!” Soarin’ objected. “Do you know how many pegasi there are in this world who can pull off a Sonic Rainboom twice? It was hard enough for me to do it once, for crying out loud! Not to mention the fact that you totally saved my pie at the Gala last year.” Dash heard him, but she didn’t seem to be listening any more. “Rainbow? You okay?” She was staring intently at the tree which was Ponyville’s library, her eyes slowly narrowing in suspicion. She scooped up Lightning Strike in her forelegs and said “Something’s wrong,” before flying towards the library. “Rainbow, what is it?” asked Soarin’, but Dash didn’t respond until they were outside the library. “I’ve heard of silence in the library,” she said, “but don’t you think it’s a bit too quiet in there? Something is definitely wrong.” Soarin’ looked at the library. She was right, but it wasn’t the silence which was making him uneasy; it was the fact that the door was ajar, and smoke was leaking out and tangling in the leaves above. “You’re right,” he said, and positioned his two-week-old son on his back. “We better check it out.” The two lovers cautiously approached the open door, but before they could get to it, it burst open and a massive cloud of lung-wrenching smoke poured out and engulfed the young pegasus family. As Rainbow Dash coughed and flapped her wings to try and clear some of the smoke, she became aware of a small creature running out and collapsing not far from the door, coughing like there was no tomorrow. “Spike?” she asked. “Is that you?” Further fanning revealed the hunched, bent-double-coughing form of a rather bruised and battered baby dragon. “Spike!” Soarin’ exclaimed. “Dude, are you okay?” “I *cough* I think so,” Spike responded, then curled up in another coughing fit. “What happened?” asked Rainbow Dash. “I *cough* don’t know *cough, cough*,” rasped Spike. “Somepony *cough* came to the library *cough* in the middle *cough* of the night. The *cough* the last thing I remember *massive, lung wrenching, spluttering cough* - alright, I think I’m okay now – is I opened the door and there were these creepy looking guys there. Next thing I know, I’m lying under a heap of books *final, half-hearted cough* and the library’s full of smoke.” “What about Twilight?” asked Soarin’. “She’s okay, right?” Without another word, Spike scrambled to his feet and ran so fast into the library that even Lightning Strike was impressed, even though he could only show it by giggling. “Twilight!” Spike shouted to the smoke laden air of the tree’s interior. “Are you here? Are you okay?” He blinked rapidly as his eyes began to water and he started to cough again. “I can’t *cough* see a thing in all *cough* this smoke!” he pointed out. “Already got you covered!” A Rainbow Dash-coloured shape zoomed into the library and started to round up the smoke in a dull yet visibly multicoloured tornado, which was then ushered out the door and dissipated in the open air. Without the smoke, the full extent of the library’s damage was now visible. The podium that had held a carved wooden bust had fallen, and the bust had a nasty looking crack in it. Book after book was piled at the foot of one of the bookcases, which had the appearance of being smashed with a dragon shaped hammer. To top it all off, the floor was covered in scratches and scrapes, all quite obviously hoof marks. “Wow,” said Soarin’ when he saw it. “Quite a mess you got here. I haven’t seen this much chaos since Rapidfire crashed into the crowd during the performance at the Summer Sun Celebrations a couple of years ago.” “You think it’s bad,” said Spike, “you’re not the one who has to clean it all up.” “Guys!” Rainbow Dash sounded worried as she emerged from the upper floor. “Twilight’s not here! All I could find was this.” She dropped a single scrap of parchment, which had two words scrawled upon it in what was clearly very hasty writing: HELP ME “T-Twilight...” Spike stroked the scrap with a single claw as tears gathered in his wide, fearful eyes. Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash both exchanged a worried glance. This was unquestionably far more than they would ever be able to handle on their own. They needed backup. Now. “Oh, my poor little Spikey-Wikey!” Rarity hugged the baby dragon so tightly that he almost choked (but seeing as it was Rarity he didn’t really mind). “You must have been simply petrified!” “Well... not... really...” Spike tried to say, but instead he wheezed and started coughing again. The platinum unicorn released him and started blushing. “What exactly happened, Spike?” asked Applejack. “Ya weren’t too clear first time round. All ya said was ‘smoke, Twilight, strange guys, gone!’ and then ya choked again. It musta bin a might smoky in here if y’all were still chokin’ than long after.” “It was,” said Dash. “I couldn’t even see my own hoof in front of my face!” “Sorry,” said Spike. “Twilight and I were woken up in the middle of the night when somepony knocked on the door, and when I went down to see who it was, there was a group of creepy guys there. I think there were three of them, but I couldn’t see their faces. One of them hit me with something – must’ve knocked me out – and when I woke up I was underneath a massive pile of books. When I got out the whole place was full of smoke, and... and Twilight was...” He started to tear up again. “We couldn’t find her anywhere,” Soarin’ added, “and all Rainbow could find was this note. By the looks of it, I’d say she was terrified.” “Well, we don’t need to worry!” Pinkie Pie piped up. “I highly doubt they killed her. After all, why would they go to so much trouble if they could have just killed her here?” When everypony stared at her she said “What?” “That was... actually really smart,” said Fluttershy. “Well, there is a lot you guys don’t know about me,” said Pinkie. “Wait a second. Where’s Hex?” “I went up to his shop to find him, but he wasn’t there,” Dash explained. “It was like he’d just vanished.” “You don’t think he was kidnapped too, do you?” asked Rarity, her Shakespearean mind already conjuring up an overly theatrical response should that indeed be the case. “I don’t think so,” said Dash. “I mean, there weren’t any signs of a struggle or anything. Not like there was here.” She stroked one of the scuff marks in the floor, which was in the shape of a worryingly large hoof. Meanwhile, Soarin’ appeared to be deep in thought. He kept looking from the note to the stairs, and then at Spike, and at the marks carved into the ground. Suddenly, he reached forward and pressed the baby dragon’s face into the parchment scrap. “Soarin’, what the-” Rarity began, but he silenced her with a quick “Shush.” “Augh- what the hay are you doing?” Spike demanded after wiggling out from the ex-Wonderbolt’s pressing hoof. “What are trying to suffocate me or something? What the hay?” “I’m not trying to suffocate you,” said Soarin’, “I’m just wondering if you could pick up Twilight’s scent.” “Her what?” “Her scent, so we can track her down!” “What do I look like a bloodhound to you?” Spike almost shouted in protest. “There’s no way I could-” He cut himself off, and started sniffing the air. “Wait a second, got something!” he said, and still sniffing, he ran out of the library and into the street. “Ah have no idea how that worked,” said Applejack as they all followed him, “but Ah suppose we all should be thankful that it does.” “You’re welcome!” said Pinkie. The six ponies (and one oblivious sleeping baby being carried by his father) followed the small lizard as he ran through the main street of Ponyville with his nose in the air. The crowd in the street stopped and stared as he ran past, sniffing as hard as he could, and wondered why in the world he was being followed by a group of rather desperate looking young mares, plus a stallion holding a baby colt. “This way!” Spike commanded, and he started to lead his friends away from Ponyville. “Where in Equestria are we going?” asked Rarity. “I hope this isn’t going to turn out to be some wild goose chase.” “Let’s hope that’s exactly what it is,” said Dash, “because hopefully that would mean Twilight is safe. I swear, if anypony’s laid so much as a hoof on her I’ll smash them to a pulp!” With the spectral speedster listing the various ways she would end anypony if they hurt her friend, the group continued to follow Spike until, quite suddenly, he stopped at the foot of the mountain just outside Ponyville. “Why’d you stop?” asked Soarin’. “Well, it’s either stop,” said Spike, “or go down... there.” He pointed a trembling talon at a dark hole in the base of the mountain – a cave which none of them had noticed before. Rather than going straight in, it seemed to be aligned in a slightly foreboding downwards direction. Applejack poked her head in and said “Uh, howdy?” Uh howdy... uh howdy... uh howdy... came the echo. “We-w-w-we have t-to g-g-go in there?” Fluttershy stammered. “Twilight definitely came this way,” said Spike. “And the trail leads straight in there, so I-I guess we’ll have to.” “Into a cave?!” Rarity seemed aghast and the very prospect of returning to the underground, which was understandable considering that the last time she had been inside a cave it had been as the prisoner of a band of idiotic canine gemstone hunters. “What’s so bad about a cave?” asked Pinkie, walking over to the mouth of the tunnel. “It’s just like being inside, only it’s a lot darker and scarier and WHAAAA!!!” This last word was because she had been about to step in, only to discover that the downward slope was deeper than she thought and she ended up toppling wildly down it, limbs flailing like crazy. “PINKIE!” her friends cried, and they rushed over to the cave. “Pinkie, are you okay?” asked Spike. “Say something!” Rarity called. After a small pause, there was the sound of an over-energetic baker saying “You know, it’s surprisingly clean down here.” “Well then,” said Rarity, “in that case...” And with that, she too descended into the roots of the mountain. Applejack and Spike were quick to follow suit, trailed by a seriously frightened Fluttershy. Dash paused, and turned to Soarin’. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Don’t you want to help Twilight? Let’s go already!” “Not you, Soarin’,” said Dash. “I... oh Celestia, how can I say this without making it sound bad? I need you to stay behind. Somepony’s gotta look after Lightning Strike, and if you come down then nopony else will know where we are.” Soarin’ looked disappointed, but said “I understand.” “If we’re not back by sunset, send word to Princess Celestia, okay?” “Received and understood,” said Soarin’. “Good luck.” And he gave a small salute before watching with a pang of guilt as the mare he loved plunged down into the unknown. Rainbow Dash’s landing was considerably softer than everypony else’s. In her fear Fluttershy had neglected to even open her wings, let alone try to fly, and of course how could she expect the others to soften their falls in the slightest? It was pitch black in the cave; nopony had any idea how far down they were, but it was far enough for the entrance to be almost invisible to the naked eye. By the feeling and sound of it, Applejack was the first to recover. “Everypony okay?” she asked. “If by ‘okay’ you mean completely and totally blind,” said Spike. “I can’t see a thing!” “Here,” said a voice in the darkness, “let me do something about that.” There was the sound of a hoof tapping on something glassy, and not long afterwards a tiny ball hovered over to the pile of ponies. It was a transparent globe, with a miniscule lightning bolt suspended inside, and it was supported on a pair of dragonfly-like wings. “Whoa,” said Dash, reaching out to touch it with her eyes filled with admiration, “cool!” “I for one was surprised they even worked,” said the provider, “seeing as they completely snub the laws of physics and totally ignore everything I previously knew about electricity. But I suppose magic is as magic does. Just funny that way.” More of the tiny balls of lightning illuminated the features of a young brown unicorn wearing a short jacket the same colour as his coat, his black rimmed glasses framing startlingly green eyes which were devoid of their usual jubilance and jokiness. “Hex?” said Dash. “What’re you doing down here? Is this some kind of prank? Was Twilight in on it?” “If she was, then it’s the first I’ve heard about it,” said Hex. “What she means to say,” said Rarity, “is how in the world did you come to be in this dreadful hole, and while wearing such an utterly unsightly piece of attire?” “Well, it could be that I was outside taking some star charts and I happened to look down and see three rather bulky stallions carrying an unconscious purple unicorn into this ‘hole’,” said Hex sarcastically, “but then again, I could be mistaken, and also this jacket isn’t a fashion statement; it’s a precaution.” “Precaution against what, exactly?” The scientist’s eyes took on a dark, almost evil sheen, as if to say ‘You shouldn’t have asked that. You really shouldn’t have.’ “Because some ponies just want to watch the word burn,” he said, and he turned and started walking away down the tunnel. After a few steps he looked back. “You guys coming or what?” he asked. One by one, the ponies (and dragon) pulled themselves upright and started to follow their eerily serious friend into the darkness. It was dark. That was the first thing she noticed. Dark. And cold. And extremely uncomfortable. Twilight tried to set herself upright, but her hooves were bound and it was impossible to stand. She just ended up crashing back down to the freezing floor, and earned herself a bruise on her shoulder. The last thing she remembered... a band of thugs had forced their way into the library, and Spike had been lying under a pile of books... there was smoke everywhere, and she’d tried to get away, but... And then she woke up properly. Somepony had left her, hog tied, in some kind of dungeon. That’s what it felt like, at least: there was something, maybe a bag, covering her eyes and she couldn’t see a thing. So she tried to talk – to ask if anypony was there, and if so where in Equestria was she – only to find that there was something over her mouth as well, and she couldn’t make a sound. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t hear anything. “...completely unharmed?” “Well, naturally she struggled – I mean, I would have thought her nothing but foolish if she didn’t – but apart from that I can safely report that she is in top physical condition.” There was the sound of punching and something falling over, followed by a distinctly feminine cry of “STUPID! She needs to be weaker, much weaker, before we’ll be able to do ANYTHING with her, you IDIOT!” Twilight couldn’t help herself; she let out a small, fearful whimper, which was audible even though the gag and the sack that was covering her head. She heard hoofsteps drawing closer, and desperately tried to shuffle away from whoever was approaching her, but found her sight suddenly restored as the sack that had covered her head was suddenly whisked away. Instantly, she wished she had it back. Towering over her was the most terrifying pony she had ever seen – more terrifying even than Nightmare Moon, and you can’t get much scarier than that. She was an alicorn, sure, but nowhere near as majestic as Princess Celestia. Her horn was sharpened to a lethal, needle-like point, and it appeared that a vast majority of her feathers had been pulled out of her wings. Her coat was deep red, the colour of blood, and her tattered mane flowed with stripes of red so dark they were almost black. But all of this paled to insignificance behind her... ...her eyes. They were almost dragon like in physical shape, appearance and feeling, and Twilight had never seen a more vivid red in all her life. It bored into the darkest depths of her soul, and brought back memories of some of the dreams she’d had as a filly: the ones where waking up felt like the best thing in the whole world. She shied away in horror, or at least made an attempt. “What’s the matter?” asked the alicorn. “You scared? Take a look at that boys; the little pony’s scared!” The frightening spectre was joined by not one, not two, but eight large stallions in cloaks which seemed to be made of pure blackness, and every single one of them laughed at the purple unicorn who was now sweating with fear. “So this is the famous Twilight Sparkle,” said the alicorn, and she stroked her captive’s cheek with a blood coloured hoof. “I have to admit, I thought the most magically powerful unicorn in Equestria would be considerably older. You’re no more than a child. You aren’t even as old as little Haydie!” ‘Haydie?’ Twilight tried to think as she was laughed at again. ‘But-but she couldn’t- she knows Hex?!’ “I’m sure he must have mentioned me at some point,” the alicorn said, and she started to walk in circles around her prisoner. “After all, I am only the most terrifying thing you’ll ever see. LOOK AT ME!!” She snapped her head down, her face mere inches away from Twilight’s, and looked her straight in the eye. “Aren’t I SCARY?!” ‘She’s-she’s insane,’ Twilight thought. ‘Completely and totally insane!’ “As I was saying,” the alicorn continued, “my name is Deluminata. The Taker of Light, if you wish to be poetic about it. I’ve been watching little Haydie ever since before he was in nappies. I have to say, I was very disappointed in him. No one pushes Deluminata away after all she’s done for him. No. ONE!!” She paused, continuing to stare into Twilight’s eyes, as if waiting for her to respond. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Cat got your tongue?” She telekinetically tore away the tape which had until then been over her prisoner’s mouth. “Where am I?” Twilight demanded. “What do you want with me? How in Equestria do you know Hex? Why can’t I use my magic? Do you know what Princess Celestia will do when she find out you kidnapped her star student? How did-” “Honey,” said Deluminata, “hush.” Twilight was stunned by the calmness of her tone. How could she...? “Look,” she said, trying and failing to withhold her fear as those brilliant red eyes penetrated the fabric her mind, “all I want is to go home! Just tell me what you want from me and I’ll be happy to give it to you!” “Oh, I know that, Little Miss Purple,” Deluminata said as she straightened up, “but I hardly think you’ll be willing to give up what I want...” She descended into a cacophony of wicked sounding laughter. “Wh-w-what do you want with me?” asked Twilight, even though she was dreading what the answer might be. “I’ve heard your voice for less than a minute and I’m already tired of it,” Deluminata stated, and she slapped another strip of tape over her prisoner’s mouth before adding “You’ll find out what I want with you soon enough.” She turned to her cronies and said “C’mon boys. We got construction to do.” And with that, she and the stallions vanished in a small poof of black smoke. Twilight took this opportunity to examine her surroundings. It was a small cave, rectangular in shape, not unlike a dungeon. In the roof there was a pony-sized hole, covered by a metal grate, and from this hole there came a dim green light which barely provided enough luminosity for proper vision, and the dullness made her eyes hurt. She started to struggle, straining frantically against the ropes that bound her, but she may as well have tried to eat her own head considering how difficult it was. She was simply tied too tightly, and eventually gave up and slumped against the frigid stone floor. She closed her eyes, willing the situation to change, hoping against hope that this was a nightmare and she would wake up safe in her bed, or maybe that the ring on her horn – presumably what was restricting her magic – would break and fall off. As she closed her eyes, a single tear expelled itself and rolled down her cheek, leaving a long trail of despair in its wake, and dripped onto the floor where it formed the beginnings of a small pool. In all her life, Twilight Sparkle had never felt so helpless. “I’ve never seen him so... dark,” said Rainbow Dash as she and her friends followed Hex through the tunnels. “Does he even know where he’s going?” asked Spike. “I can hear you, you know,” said Hex, “and yes, I do know where I was going. I’ve only been exploring these tunnels for a few hours but I think I’ve got them pretty much figured out.” “Darling, I simply cannot withhold myself any longer,” said Rarity, “what is that thing that you’re wearing made of?” “I’m not really sure I should say with Spike around,” said Hex. “Why?” said Spike. “Whatever it is, I can take it!” “Umm...” For the first time since he had found them, the terracotta scientist looked nervous. “It’s... made of... leather.” “What’s that?” “It’s... skin. Animal skin.” His friends all stopped and stared at him in horror. “W-what...” Spike looked almost too scared to ask. “W-w-what k-kind of animal was it?” Hex gulped, and squeaked a quick response. “What was that?” “It’s... drm lfm.” “Didn’t quite catch that.” “Good gravy, boy!” Applejack shouted as she lost her rag. “What in tarnation’s the problem?” Hex let out a growl of frustration before facing them all with eyes filled with fury. “IT’S DRAGON LEATHER, OKAY?!” He bellowed with such high volume that the rock was trembled as if in fear. “THIS IS A JACKET! IT IS MADE OF LEATHER! LEATHER FROM A DRAGON! IT IS A DRAGON LEATHER JACKET!! A JACKET MADE OUT OF LEATHER FROM A DRAGON!! GOT THAT?!” His friends did not know what to be more stunned by: the fact that he was wearing dragon skin or the sudden outburst of rage which was normally only found around the resident party pony when somepony broke a Pinkie Promise. Pinkie herself had retreated to a much duller shade of her usual colours; her mane and tail had deflated and hung limply against the side of her face. “Look,” said Hex, “where Amber comes from, they have dragons, okay? And those dragons used to be servants of the gods, so they had to be really tough. And when they die, not a single part gets wasted. Once you remove the feathers, dragon skin is indestructible. It’s a defence mechanism that works even in death. For that reason, dragon skin is used as armour, OKAY?” “Hex, just-just calm down,” said Dash, with tears brimming in her eyes as she approached the enraged unicorn. Pinkie too was on the verge of crying, and Fluttershy had already descended into quiet sobs of fear, and was currently being comforted by Rarity, who in turn was being hugged by a petrified Spike. “What’s the matter with you?” asked the fearful blue pegasus. “I-I’ve never seen you so... angry.” Hex sighed, as if attempting a less frightening way to vent his anger. “I’m... I’m scared, alright?” he said, and it definitely showed in his voice. “I know... I know we all want to find Twilight. I know that-that if she was here, she’d be reassuring us all with some anecdote or other, but...” He buried his face in is hooves, and when he raised it again it was becoming clear he was about to shed tears. “I-I’m scared of what we might find,” he said. “I mean, I- she could be dead. She could be dead for all we know.” “Don’t say that!” “Why not?” the scientist demanded. “We’re all thinking it. Everypony’s thinking it! She could be dead or-or in pain and there’s every chance that she’s scared out of her life and there’s nothing we can do about it!” He paused in his ranting, taking deep shuddering breaths in a forced attempt to avoid crying like a baby. “Why are you so worried about her all of a sudden?” asked the deflated Pinkie. “I mean, you’re right – all of us are scared – but... but instead of fetching all of us first, you came down here by yourself.” “As unlikely as this may sound, I do believe Pinkie Pie has a point,” said Rarity. “Hex, you witnessed the abduction of our friend and decided to attempt a solo recovery, but why?” “Ah ‘gree wit’ Pinkie and Rarity,” said Applejack, “although Ah never thought Ah’d hear mahself sayin’ those words.” “Um, guys?” Fluttershy murmured, “I don’t think we should-” “Yeah!” said Spike. “And how come you’re always so... happy when you’re around her?” “There is a lot of stuff you don’t tell us, isn’t there?” said Dash. “So what’re you waiting for? Twilight’s not getting any closer to us you know-” “I love her, okay?!” He didn’t exactly shout the words, but they had the right effect. For the second time that day, everypony had been silenced by something Hex had said. “I’m nuts about her,” he confessed. “All day, every day, I- I can’t stop thinking about her. And it’s not a crush; I know crushes – I’ve had a few, been the subject of several, and I never want to go there again. It’s like... It’s almost like I-I’ve grown accustomed to her face. She... she almost makes the day begin. I feel like my life didn’t begin until I met her. I know... I know I was- well, alright before I met her, and I know that I could easily go back to being that way but the thing is...” He trailed off, and looked at his friends again as his voice started to crack. “...The thing is, I don’t want to,” he said, and smiled as if it was some hilarious joke. “I’ve never felt this good in my entire life. And I... I don’t want it to end. I want to be with her. I mean, it-it hurts, but... it’s kinda like a good hurt. I feel like every moment with her is a dream and-and if every moment with her was a dream, then I wouldn’t EVER want to wake up.” For a while, nopony dared to speak, for fear that whatever they said would just make matters worse. “Wow,” Dash said eventually. “That was... deep.” “Yeah,” Spike added, “really deep.” “And...” said Hex, “and there’s something else: I know who it is that’s kidnapped her.” Twilight may have been scared at first, but most of her fear had been replaced by a different emotion. Anger. This pony – Hex had mentioned him once, and said that she was awful – who in Equestria did she think she was, kidnapping the prized student of Princess Celestia? Not only that, but to prevent her from using her magic; for Twilight that was like if somepony had blinded her, or taken away her heartbeat. Something was going on up there. She could tell by the shadows that passed through the dim light shining through the grating overhead. With great difficulty (due to the position she was bound in) she shuffled across the cold stone floor until she was directly underneath the hole. She could just about make out the shapes of Deluminata’s servants walking calmly back and forth overhead, and there were the obvious sounds of construction going on. Plus, if she strained her ears hard enough, she could make out muffled conversations about... something. Then she tried to shrink back as the blood coated alicorn appeared above her, and smiled down upon her captive. “It rubs the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again. HA!” Her own words launched her into a torrent of insane laughter. “You know,” said Deluminata, “we’ve got quite the little project going on here. You wanna see?” She paused, as if waiting for Twilight to answer. “I said do you want to see?” And then there was another pause. ‘Does she expect me to answer with this tape over my mouth?’ Twilight wondered. ‘What kind of crazy mare is she?’ “I’ll show you anyway,” she said, and in a flash Twilight found herself out of her dungeon and in... The cavern was tremendous. It must have been at least as large as the ballroom in Canterlot Castle. And towering overhead was a massive cylinder of glass – or at least, half a massive cylinder of glass. The stallions were hovering apparently unsupported around it while stacking curved sheets of glass into place and sealing them into their positions. The whole thing must have been able to hold an entire sea. Despite everything, Twilight couldn’t help but be rather impressed. “Well?” Deluminata ripped the tape away from the purple unicorn’s face. “What do you think?” “I...” Here, she had an opportunity. This mare was obviously completely out of her mind, so maybe – just maybe – she could take advantage of it. “I think,” she said carefully, “that if I wasn’t tied up, I could get out of here without any problems.” She felt the shocking red eyes turning in her direction. “What was that?” her captor demanded. “I said that I think if I wasn’t tied up like this, then I could escape,” said Twilight, and she allowed herself a smug smile, “and I could get out of here with no problems at all.” “Even with your magic blocked?” “Even with my magic blocked.” “OKAY!!” ‘Huh?’ thought Twilight. ‘I thought it would be harder than that. She’s... she’s gotta be up to something... if she’s got enough of her mind left in there for proper planning...’ ‘This plan is almost as crazy as she is, but I hope it works. If it doesn’t...’ Less than a second after finishing that thought, Twilight felt the ropes dropping away from her hooves. She stretched out her legs, which snapped back into motion with an audible cracking noise, and rubbed them where the ropes had chafed at her skin. Then she stood up and started to run. With her freedom of movement restored, her levels of confidence shot through the roof. She could see an exit – a dark tunnel set into the wall nearby – and galloped towards it at top speed. Later, she would regret it. Later she considered that it was highly suspicious of neither Deluminata nor her cronies to make an attempt to stop her. But right now, she felt free to- WHAM. -to run into what felt like solid rock. Once the stars had all faded away, she sat up on her haunches and saw that the tunnel was... Twilight stood up, and felt it with a tentative hoof. It was just an illusion, and behind it was a solid rock wall. How could she have been so stupid? Something wrapped around her neck and she was dragged, choking and gasping desperately for the air she urgently needed, back to where Deluminata had hardly moved a muscle, and the purple unicorn was roughly dumped, wheezing for oxygen, into the centre of a circle that had been formed by the insane alicorn and her crew. “Looks like you thought wrong,” Deluminata stated. “I think I should’ve told you that the only way to get in and out of this place is by teleportation. You can’t just run out of here, and you certainly can’t get out with your magic blocked.” She stepped out of the circle, and the dark coated stallions closed in around the terrified young prisoner. “Boys, she’s all yours,” said Deluminata. “And take as much sweet time as you need...” “...Because you’re going to enjoy this.” NEXT TIME: Holding Out for a Hero part 2 “She was allowed a drink from the fountain of youth, in exchange for her sanity.” “What’s that you’re drinking?” “This? Red Bull. It’s an energy drink from where I come from.” “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but... bottoms up, Pinkie.” “They were- th-they were... hurting her...” “Kill me! Take what you want from me and just-just KILL ME!!” Author's Note: Yeah, I'm probably going to go to hell for this. This is the first part of the finale. I don't know how long it's going to be, just that it's going to be spread out over several chapters. If you're reading this, I guess you've gotten over the annoyance of the trick spoilers from the previous chapter's author's note. I was worried that Deluminata may be viewed by some of you as a Villain Sue (bear in mind that she barely had any marbles to lose in the first place) but again I'll leave that to you, the reader, to decide.