//------------------------------// // The Everfree // Story: My Little Crisis Core // by Mudkipman98 //------------------------------// When Zack's head finally stopped spinning, he found himself in a large clearing in the Everfree forest. Around him, he saw what he estimated to be 100 tents and shelters set up with armored soldiers in each. Some were bent over maps while others were talking casually. "Let's go," said Wavepool flatly as she cast a spell to change her clothes. They changed to a black suit with a green vest covered in pockets. Zack followed without a word as they made their way through the massive camp. Everywhere they went, soldiers bowed and saluted to Wavepool. She did her best to ignore them though, keeping her goal clearly in mind, but as soon as she passed, all eyes turned on Zack. Some gazed at him with confusion, others with fear, and some with unease. It took several minutes to get through, but they eventually came upon a path at the edge of the base. "This way," said Wavepool as she lead Zack into the forest. "So what information do you have on materia?" she asked curiously. "Our unicorn scientists have discovered that by channeling our magic into them, we can cast new spells, but we're not quite sure how the materia converts our magic properly and stably." "What do you mean stably?" asked Zack. "When a unicorn casts a spell, we have to focus on arraying our magic in a very specific way. Adjusting the flow of that magic or altering it even slightly can produce wildly different results. If too much magic is fueled into it, then the spell becomes unstable and can result in horrible consequences if interrupted. If there is too little, then the spell can fail altogether. If, for example, I were to use a teleportation spell, I would have to first direct magic to my horn and then array it in such a way that the teleportation spell could be executed. Depending on how much magic I put in, it adjusts the distance and time required for casting. However, a teleport must be calculated exactly. Otherwise, you might get merged with matter in the surrounding area. It's a sight I hope you never have to see. Do you understand?" "I think so?" said Zack, phrasing it more as a question than a statement. "Can you simplify it?" Wavepool sighed deeply before saying, "Basically, magic has two properties which we'll call 'build' and 'magic', magic being the amount of power. You need both for a spell, and failing to handle them carefully can result in dire consequences." "That makes more sense," Zack replied as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I guess if you want to know how materia handles that magic, I couldn't tell you exactly. It does most of the work for us, and it gains power the more it's used. Since I don't know exactly what fuels it, I'm just going to call it MP. Eventually, you can perform stronger magic by using more 'MP' after a materia has evolved through use." "I see," said Wavepool thoughtfully. "Like this?" One of the pockets on her vest began glowing green as Wavepool turned and fired a Blizzaga spell into the trees, covering several trees and much of the ground in a thick sheet of smooth ice with jagged ends. Zack stood still for a moment before gulping and saying, "Yeah, like that." As they continued walking, Zack began thinking. That was intense. How did she pull something like that off? I guess she's stronger than I thought. Normally, a spell should fizzle out after use, but hers stayed. I guess it's just her unicorn magic affecting how the materia functions. "How is materia formed?" asked Wavepool. "We've been discovering it all over Equestria, but we're uncertain as to where it came from." "Materia is formed when natural Mako energy condenses to incredible levels. Often times, it does it on its own due to the attractive nature of Mako. However, it can be manipulated during the process to produce new kinds or to get certain spells out of it." "And where is Mako found?" "It's generally found in natural Mako springs. It bubbles up from the Life Stream and comes out as a liquid before condensing later," said Zack. "What's the Life Stream?" asked Wavepool in confusion. "I've never heard of such a thing." "It would take too long to explain," said Zack as he waved a hand in midair, hoping to dispel further questions on it. "But, I think it's native to my world, so we aren't likely to find any Mako springs here." "Then why is there so much materia?" asked Wavepool as she rubbed her chin in thought. It seemed to be that she was thinking outloud, so Zack decided not to answer. They soon came upon a much smaller clearing, being about 30 yards in diameter with another larger path leading further into the forest. "This should be a good place to practice using the materia," said Zack. "Did you bring any of the new materia you found?" "Only one piece, but we suspect that more will be found near the camp earlier. There may also be more deeper in the forest." "Then let me teach you how to control the materia that you've got," Zack said. "That Blizzaga spell you pulled off earlier was strong, but how did you feel after using it?" "To be honest, I felt drained for a couple of minutes," said Wavepool as she blushed green in embarrassment. "I quickly recovered, but it was a lot of magic to put out at a time." "Then here's how you fix that," said Zack. "Hand me the materia." Wavepool drew it out of her pocket with her magic and levitated it to Zack. He took it in his hand before noticing something very odd about it. From one side, it looked like it had exploded. It was very jagged and looked like the mako had burst and then solidified again. He focused some energy into it before his eyes snapped open and he recoiled. "What the heck is this?" he asked out loud. "What do you mean?" "This materia is different," said Zack as tried to examine it more in his hand. "This is nothing like what I'm used to. I feel like it's about to explode. How much magic have you been putting into these things?" he asked as he looked back up. "Well," began Wavepool, "when we've practiced using them, we fueled them with as much as possible. That one was the first I found, and I've been trying to force more of that ice out of it, but to no avail. The only change was that jagged, spiked side of it." "So by using more energy than necessary, you risk damaging the materia itself," said Zack to himself in thought. He turned back to Wavepool before saying, "Can you try to force more of that energy out of a weaker materia?" "I don't have any weaker than that with me," she said. "What about you?" "Well, I do have a Fire materia," said Zack, "but I was hoping to level it up gradually. We need to test my theory on putting out more energy into the materia than I first thought possible or safe, for that matter. If I'm right, then it's probably going to destroy whichever one we use, if not make it incredibly unstable. Fire just happens to be a useful one that has plenty of applications, similar to the other base materia like Blizzard or Thunder." "We can certainly look around," said Wavepool. "I know of a pony in Ponyville who's special talent is the location and use of precious gems. I called her out here earlier to see if she could help us, but she's a little bit late. With any luck, she'll arrive shortly. Suddenly, at the edge of the clearing, the distinct sound of leaves and sticks breaking drew the attention of Wavepool and Zack. The SOLDIER reached for his sword, his hand gripping the handle as he prepared for an oncoming attack. Wavepool reacted similarly by crouching slightly and charging her horn with magic. As the sound came closer and closer, now with a more rapid pace, Zack's heart began to pound. He hadn't seen much of the forest, but the first thing that he imagined was a group of changelings, possibly hunting them. He was shocked when a white pony with a stylized purple mane, a large saddle bag and a drab bullet proof vest came tumbling out of the brush. "Why does the forest have to be so... messy?" she said as she did her best to stabilize. "You must be Rarity," said Wavepool as she relaxed and discharged her horn. She approached Rarity and said, "I'm glad you made it here safely. What happened to the escort that I assigned to you?" "I told them that I didn't need them and that they were free to go. I'm quite sure I can handle myself out here, even if I could do without all of the extra... mess. I'm sorry, but I can't find a better term for it," she confessed. "That's quite alright," said Wavepool calmly. "Are you ready to help us start searching for materia?" "Actually, I found quite a lot of it on the way here," said Rarity. She used her magic to open her left saddle bag and draw out a handful of materia. "Wow," said Zack as he admired the collection. "How did you find all of that?" "I've got a spell that I use to locate precious gems for my dresses. It usually takes all day, but these beauties were all over the surface. For once, I didn't have to go digging for them," she finished as she closed her saddle bag. "Would you like to take a look?" she asked as she pulled a single materia out of the pile. "Sure," said Zack as he took it in his hand. As he examined it, he found that it was one that he didn't recognize. It was small and black, and a strange aura was flowing from it. "This is so weird," he said to himself. "I've never seen anything like it." "Then this is a good time to test it," said Wavepool. "Rarity, stand back and give him some room." "As you wish," she said as they both retreated to the edge of the clearing. "Oh, Zack!" said Rarity as she approached Zack again. "You remember the gear I offered to make you, right?" "Yeah," said Zack as he rolled the black materia in around. "Why do you ask?" "Well, after the destruction of Ponyville, I had to temporarily stay in Manehattan. It's a glorious city full of all kinds of materials for dresses and suits." Zack deadpanned, so Rarity hurried out the rest. "While I was there, I purchased reinforced and tanned leather. While you were recovering in the castle, I made you gauntlets out of it to hold more materia." The white unicorn titled her head toward her saddle bag and used her magic to draw out two large, black gloves studded with small sapphires and emeralds. "I hope these are the right size," she added as the gauntlets floated towards Zack. "Hopefully, they'll slip right over the gloves you're wearing now." Zack marveled at the gauntlets as he slipped them over his gloves and strapped them on. They were incredibly lightweight but durable, each one containing a materia slot. "They fit perfectly," said Zack as he stuck the black materia into one and the ice materia he had received from Rarity two weeks ago in the other. "Do you like them?" asked Rarity. "I love them!" said Zack as he clenched his fists a few times to test how flexible his hands would be. He found that the leather bent perfectly around his hand without inhibiting his motion. He still had full range of motion in his fingers and his Buster Sword didn't feel differently in his hands when he held it. Zack latched the sword to his back again before saying, "Thanks, Rarity. This will help me a lot." "Oh, it was nothing," said Rarity as she glowed with pride. "A simple order to fill compared to what I normally get requests for." As Rarity turned and joined Wavepool at the edge of the clearing, she added, "Don't forget those materials I asked you to gather. My offer to build you better armor still stands." Wavepool summoned a magical shield around herself and Rarity before nodding to Zack, giving him the okay. Zack turned away from them and started charging the materia, willing it to execute an attack. However, when he fueled it, it pushed back, firing the energy back into Zack. He recoiled in shock as his body started to act on its own. He drew his sword as his body began to glow green, the clearing itself darkening to a near twilight. In one, swift movement, he launched into the air as he called, "Meteor Rain!" He swung his sword in a wide arc, calling forth massive meteorites that crashed into the clearing below. Zack watched each projectile violently strike the ground in the clearing, creating large, smoldering craters that left trails of smoke swirling into the sky. However, another sound reached Zack's ears that chilled him to the core. As soon as the last of the meteorites had landed, Zack heard a piercing scream coming from the edge of the clearing. He looked ahead of him where he heard the scream to see a large spurt of green blood shoot up from one of the impact craters like a geyser, leaving splotches of darkened, sticky grass around them. Zack immediately touched down when the magic disappeared. He heard the sound of Wavepool's shield drop and both her and Rarity joined him in the center. The first thing Zack took notice of was that the craters created from the limit break hadn't disappeared. Instead, smoke continued to billow out of them. Immediately following was the sight of a changeling, its bottom half missing. Its bottom half was lying a few feet away, and the changeling was screaming in pain as it desperately struggled to reach its severed hips and legs. As it crawled it left behind a trail of green blood on the grass beneath it. "Oh Celestia," murmured Rarity with a hoof over her mouth to stifle a gasp. "So we were being spied on," voiced Wavepool as she approached Zack, leaving a stunned Rarity in her wake. "I don't think so," answered Zack as he turned to face her. "I think this was just a coincidence. If it were some sort of spy, it would keep its distance. They seemed to have horns and perform magic like unicorns. If I had to guess, it would use some sort of spell to watch us from a ways away." "Well, then this just means we must stay vigilant," added Wavepool. "We have to remember why we're here. Our goals are to test out the materia, find as much new materia as possible, and to rescue Twilight and Rainbow Dash from the changelings. I think we've accomplished goal number one with your performance. Now, we must find Rainbow Dash and Twilight and evacuate them. Zack, I was told that you and Twilight spent time in the forest more than a week ago where you discovered Queen Chrysalis and her army in the castle of the two pony sisters. However, seeing as she was defeated there and most of her army destroyed, she has likely changed locations." "Good point," said Zack as he tapped a finger to his chin in thought. "Do you have any idea where she could be hiding now?" "Unless she moved out of Equestria or the forest after the Ponyville attack, then there is only one other area where she could hide." "And that is..." coaxed Zack. "The tunnels created by creatures known as diamond dogs. They are ruthless gangs of jewel hunters. They pursue their prey relentlessly and hunt gems along the way, occasionally abducting ponies to receive ransoms," said Wavepool as she looked around the edge of the clearing, scanning for any other threats. "Then that's where we should go," decided Zack. Wavepool turned her attention on Rarity. "Rarity, in Twilight's friendship letters that she sent to the princess, there was mention of your abduction by the creatures. Do you remember where the caves are located?" When she received no response, she approached Rarity as she sat on the forest floor, still staring at the now dead changeling. "Rarity, we need your help on this. Please, tell us where the diamond dogs' caves are." Rarity struggled out of her stupor enough to form a sentence. "T-the diamond dogs are a-at the b-base of Canterlot mountain," she mumbled, barely audibly. "Thank you, Rarity," said Wavepool as she stood up, charging her horn with magic. "Rarity, I'm going to teleport you back to Canterlot to the medical ward. Stay there until I return. Understood?" Rarity could only nod her head slowly as Wavepool's spell activated, whisking her away back to Canterlot. "That must have really scared her," commented Zack as Wavepool's magic dispersed. "I'm sure it did," said Wavepool as she began charging her magic again. "I'm teleporting us near Canterlot Mountain. Let's hope that Rarity was correct." "Hold on a minute," said Zack, holding a hand up to pause her. Wavepool's magic diffused as Zack continued. "Luna told us to contact her if we discovered anything about the Changelings' whereabouts. We need to tell her where we think the changelings are." "Oh... right," said Wavepool, biting her lip in embarrassment. "I apologize for being so hasty. It's just that, um..." "What's wrong?" asked Zack curiously. "Do you think there are more changelings around?" Wavepool paused for a moment before she exclaimed, "Yes! That must be it. Sorry. Go ahead." Zack raised an eyebrow skeptically at her before turning around and opening his phone. It began ringing as soon as he called for Luna. A moment later, static crackled through the speaker before Luna's voice came through. "Zack? Is that you?" "Yes, Princess," said Zack. "Wavepool and I have a lead on where the changelings are. We think they've moved." "Where?" asked Luna, eager to hear Zack's explanation. "We think they're in-" Before Zack could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his back that pushed through his body. When he looked down, he found a glowing purple spear sticking through his torso, blood quickly running from around the wound. He found his breath catching in his throat, unable to form a proper scream. Instead, a strange, breathy screech escaped his lips. "Can't let you do that, Zack Fair," hissed Wavepool from behind him. Zack struggled to turn his head as he fought the paralyzed fear pulsing through him. When he looked behind him, Zack found green flames circling around Wavepool, revealing a red and black Changeling beneath the pony disguise. It held Wavepool's Blizzaga materia in its magic, the fractured crystal glowing brightly. In one, swift motion, the changeling tore the spear out of Zack's back as he fell face-first on the ground. "How did you-" managed Zack through pained gasps as he spat out grass and blood. "We filled the castle with agents as soon as we arrived," hissed the changeling as it walked around Zack. "Honestly, the Generals were the easiest to defeat. In fact, the only ones we haven't been able to get yet are Red Surge and Red Cross. The former is far too stupid. There's no need bothering with him. The second is so weak that any display of power could risk blowing our cover." "But how could you have known about Twilight's letters or everything about materia?!" "Like I said," it hissed. "We've had agents throughout the castle. At first, only a few were dispatched to gather basic information, but we gradually added more and more. With the invasion of Canterlot Castle at Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's wedding, we controlled half of the castle. With our most recent invasion, it was a near complete takeover." "So why are you telling me all of this?" choked Zack as he struggled to stand, only to have the changeling firmly plant a hoof between his shoulder blades, pinning him to the ground. "Because you're not going to be alive to stop us," hissed the changeling as it knelt near Zack's face. Zack watched the changeling's horn glow fiercely as it charged magic into its Blizzaga materia. Right as the spell was about to be cast, Zack saw a blur of green energy lance through the air and shoot through the changeling's head, leaving a gaping hole as it fell to the ground in a mess of blood. Zack looked towards the source of the attack to find Red Cross standing at the edge of the clearing, breathing heavily as his horn glowed bright green. Four guards stood around him, each one brandishing a lance in their magic. After a moment to catch his breath, Red Cross approached Zack and immediately began charging healing magic into him. From one of the pockets on his uniform, he drew out three Cure materias, each one glowing bright green as powerful magic was forcibly pushed from the gems and into Zack's wound. As the magic flowed through him, he could see the Cure materia fracturing and splitting. "Red Cross, how did-" grunted Zack. "Try not to speak, sir," said the General as he worked hard to seal the hole through Zack. Zack forced his mouth shut as the pain slowly ebbed away from his body. After a few minutes, the hole in Zack's body had sealed and he attempted to stand. As soon as he was standing, his knees buckled beneath him and he fell to the ground. Red Cross hurried to him and managed to catch Zack over his back. The extreme weight of the Buster Sword would have crushed Red Cross had it not been for a quick strength spell cast by the medical General. "We need to get you back to camp, Zack," said Red Cross hurriedly. He took another glance around the clearing before he asked, "Where's Wavepool? Wasn't she with you?" Zack simply pointed to the changeling with the gaping hole in its throat. "Oh Celestia..." gasped Red Cross. The general turned to the guards as he said, "I'm going to take Zack back to the camp. Search the area for any more changelings. If you find any, try to capture them. If you can't detain them, you know what to do." The guards only nodded and split up into two teams of two, rushing off deeper into the forest. "Hang on, Zack," said Red Cross as he shut his eyes and teleported himself and Zack out of the clearing. Back at the camp, Zack was immediately rushed to a sick tent. There, he was put to rest in a simple bed. "Why are you in the Everfree Forest?" groaned Zack. "I healed as much of Princess Celestia as I could and then teleported to Ponyville. After trying to heal Applejack, I decided to come and find you two to see if I could help. Honestly, I'm glad I did." Zack was just about to relax when he remembered why he'd been carried back to the tent. "Red Cross," he said hurriedly. "You have to listen to me. The Generals have been captured by the changelings. You have to warn Luna!" "Are you sure?" asked Red Cross as he replaced his Cure materia in a vest pocket. "That changeling posing as Wavepool told me." "Then we've got to hurry," said Red Cross as he spun around and pulled a blank piece of parchment from a stack with his magic. Taking a quill soaked with ink, he scribbled out a message before teleporting it away to Canterlot castle. Only a minute later did a message come back. "Is that from the Princess?" asked Zack. "Yes," said Red Cross as he unraveled the scroll and began reading. Zack watched the General's eyes slowly glide down the page, his pupils gradually shrinking as he did. When he reached the bottom, Red Cross' irises were practically pin pricks. He quickly snapped out of his stupor before setting the letter down on a desk with his magic. He stepped away from Zack's bed before charging his horn with magic. Zack watched as green strands of electricity arced from his horn and struck the ground around him, charring the earth below him a dark black. After a few moments, Red Cross pointed his horn skyward and let out an earsplitting yell as a massive pillar of green magic erupted through the roof of the tent, tearing it apart as green light bathed the world and outshined the sun. The force of the magic leaving his horn pushed him into the ground and left deep hoof-prints in the blackened dirt. "What did you just do?" asked Zack as Red Cross began breathing heavily from exhaustion. "I just started a temporary lock-down," he said as he began breathing normally. "What do you mean?" asked Zack. "Instead of just a building lock-down, this is a country-wide lock-down," said Red Cross. "It's similar to martial-law, but not as strict. That spell I just used is the signal to begin a lock-down. It's an order to every guard in Equestria to keep ponies from leaving cities and towns for the next week. It's a safety measure as much as it is a containment measure. It also makes operations by the military easier because it frees up the country-side and gets civilians out of the way." Red Cross drew out his Cure materia again and immediately focused it on Zack, fixing the rest of the internal damage caused by the enchanted spear. "Red Cross?" asked Zack as the general worked. "What is it, Zack?" he replied brightly. "What's your story?" "What do you mean?" "How did you become a General? I read through each of the Generals' files. They gave detailed histories of each of their exploits, but yours was pretty bare. All I found when I read through yours was a couple battles where you acted as a medic. So how did you become a General?" asked Zack, looking into the pony's eyes. Red Cross sighed before he said, "I'm not really supposed to talk about it, but I guess as long as it stays between us..." "If it's secret, you don't have to tell me," said Zack hurriedly to dispel the uncomfortable tone that had settled in the tent. "No, no, it's... not that at all," rebutted Red Cross. "I just don't want to brag." After hearing that, Zack was even more intrigued. After a few moments, Red Cross began. "Okay, so... you know how my talent is defense, right?" "Yeah," answered Zack, eagerness similar to that of a child building within him. "Well, as a colt, I had an uncanny level of magic. But not just any magic. I could heal almost any wound. In fact, whenever I fell or got scraped up, my scrapes and scratches healed right away. After seeing what my magic could do without me even trying, my parents took me to Canterlot for an audience with Princess Celestia. I was immediately enrolled in her school for gifted unicorns. After some special training to control my magic, I decided to join the Equestrian army and help save the lives of ponies who were injured on the battlefield. Unfortunately, the Princess decided to censor much of my file. She called some of my skills 'miracles'. She feared that if ponies learned about my power, then they would become more reckless during combat and put themselves at greater risk. After only a couple of years, the General of Defense died of old age. When the Princesses had to come to an agreement on who should replace him, they immediately came to me. I accepted, but I've only been in command for a year or so. I'm still not used to the new rank and what comes with it." "You'll get the hang of it eventually," encouraged Zack as Red Cross finished. When Red Cross motioned for Zack to stand up, he said, "Do you really think so?" "I know so," smiled Zack. "In SOLDIER, I was Second Class. When I got promoted to First Class, it took time for me to get used to the new position. Even wearing this combat armor felt different somehow, even though it's fundamentally the same design. A few days after graduating to First Class, I had to give a short speech to some new Third Class SOLDIERs who had just joined. I was terrified at first, but after only a few seconds, I got the hang of it. Trust me," said Zack as he walked past Red Cross as he went for the entrance of the tent. "You'll do fine." Red Cross spun around as he asked, "Where are you going, Zack?" "Well, my mission isn't finished yet," he said as he stopped. "I've still got to find Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. The changeling that was posing as Wavepool supposedly teleported Rarity back to Canterlot. We can't trust that, though. She must have sent Rarity to the changelings' lair as a prisoner. With half the Elements of Harmony captured along with three of Equestria's generals, they're almost unstoppable right now." Zack paused as he smiled and said, "Almost." The gesture filled Red Cross with confidence. "Wait a minute," said Red Cross. "Rarity? Why would she be in the Everfree Forest with you two?" "The changeling told me that she had asked Rarity to join us and help us search for materia. Whether or not the real Wavepool sent Rarity the initial message I can't say, but I'm sure Rarity's been captured by now. I'm going to storm their hideout and get them all back." "But that's crazy!" blurted Red Cross. "If you go in there alone, you'll only get yourself killed. If you really do find where they're all hiding, Sephiroth will kill you outright!" "I've had a really crappy month," said Zack. "You just fixed me up, good as new. Sephiroth won't stand a chance now." Zack made a triumphant fist when he finished speaking. At the same time, however, he felt like he was lying to himself as well as the General. In his heart, he knew Sephiroth was much stronger than before and that, if he came across the son of Jenova, things could go horribly wrong. But at the same time, he knew he had to save Twilight and the others before the Changelings planned another attack. "That's not what you said at the meeting in Canterlot," pointed out Red Cross. "Sure, it'll be dangerous. In fact, you're right. Going alone isn't smart. I could use an extra hand," said Zack as he smiled and held his hand out to Red Cross. The general froze entirely. "Are you serious?!" he shouted. "Just two soldiers won't be enough! We need more!" "Like I said, trust me," said Zack calmly. "If more ponies are in danger now, then there isn't time to organize the army and plan an attack based purely on speculation from a traumatized witness." "What do you-" "I'll tell you later," said Zack quickly as he cut off Red Cross' protest. "By the time we're set for a raid, the changelings could have already made another move. If you insist on me not going alone, someone still needs to go as a scout to see if the information I got was valid." Red Cross paused for a few moments as he thought. As dangerous as the situation was, they had to act quickly. The pony knew his healing magic would be invaluable with only two soldiers available, as any damage sustained would have to be quickly patched up to avoid death. Having only one soldier to command helped Zack's case even more as Red Cross would only have to look out for himself and the Ex-SOLDIER. After another moment to try and protest, Red Cross finally sighed in defeat. "Okay. You've convinced me," he said. "I'll teleport us out right now." "What about the camp?" asked Zack. "Is there anyone else here to command everyone?" "I'll tell my second-in-command that we're going deeper into the forest to search for more materia." "What if they question you?" "I'll tell them I've got you with me," smiled Red Cross excitedly. While he had engaged in major battles, he had never been part of a small squad infiltration. As dangerous as it was, the prospect energized him. "Alright," agreed Zack. "I'll leave it to you." Zack watched the green pony run off through the camp to a larger tent near the center. While Red Cross was gone, Zack double-checked his equipment. He still retained some of his materia and a few items, but he was admittedly unprepared. Moments later, Red Cross approached him. "Okay," he said, doing his best to hide his childlike excitement. "I'm ready to go." "Then let's head off," said Zack. Red Cross began charging his horn full of magic as he whisked Zack and himself off to the base of Canterlot Mountain and the presumed prison of Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and potentially Rarity and the generals. [br] Twilight struggled roughly against her bonds in her prison cell. Both of her wings and each hoof was bound in iron shackles, all magically enchanted to prevent being lock-picked with magic from any but a select few changelings. Another magic-dampening shackle covered her horn to prevent her from using magic. Like a cancerous growth, it sapped her energy. From what she could gather, Twilight was underground. The air she breathed felt stale in her lungs as she breathed deeply, huffing with exhaustion as she tried in vain to break her bonds. Once again, she gave up and fell limp, hanging in the cell as her chains suspended her. Twilight snapped to attention as she heard the clacking of changeling hooves approaching her cell from down a long hallway. As they passed, she saw them all wearing thick, red plate armor, clanking with each step. More chains leading to shackles dragged along the floor behind them as Twilight guessed more prisoners were being brought in. When their prisoners passed her cell, a silent shriek escaped her lips. Three ponies were being dragged behind them on the floor, beaten and bruised, their green suits ripped and torn, some even oozing blood. The guards were pulling three of Celestia's Generals through the dirt, presumably on their way to their own cell. Among them, Twilight could make out Wavepool, Firemane, and Earth Shatter, each one being dragged by their hind-legs past her cell and further down the hall. A few moments later, Twilight heard metal grinding against metal as cell gates were pulled open and slammed shut, creating a loud bang that resounded throughout the dungeon. "How did they get the Generals?!" gasped Twilight under her breath. But wait a minute, she thought. There were only three of them. What about Red Surge and Red Cross? Where are they? Twilight sat in silence for another few minutes before the sound of more hooves filled her ears. They came to rest outside her cell, revealing the slender, broken form of Queen Chrysalis staring at her with glowing, green eyes. "Let me out of here!" shouted Twilight. She knew it was in vain, but something in her forced her to shriek in desperation. "I'm sorry, Princess," hissed the Queen as she glared daggers at Twilight. "But we need you here. With you captured, no doubt Zack Fair will come to your rescue. And, once we have him, nothing will be able to stop us from conquering Equestria." "What do you need him for?" asked Twilight as scenarios of Zack rescuing her and the others flashed in front of her mind's eye. "We don't need him at all," chuckled Chrysalis. "All we need is him dead. You, on the other hand..." Twilight froze in fear as a shadow seemed to grow from behind Chrysalis before separating from her completely, revealing a ghostly Sephiroth next to her. Twilight could tell it wasn't the real thing, but she still shook in her shackles. The door to her cell was slowly opened by Chrysalis' magic and the ghost of Sephiroth glided across the floor toward her. "What are you doing?" she asked shakily, fear holding an iron grip around her. As the phantom approached her, Twilight felt as though darkness was gathering around her, sucking her deep into an abyss. Before she knew what was happening, the ghost rushed her and drove its sword through her chest. An unimaginable pain seized Twilight as Sephiroth's ghost diffused into her body through his sword and filled her being. Twilight could feel pure evil coursing through her body before coming to rest around her heart, a vice grip around her soul. Before she knew it, the demon had wrested control of body. She could no longer move her legs or even her head. She had no control whatsoever. And yet, Chrysalis kept her in chains and left without another word, traveling through the prison tunnels before her hoof steps passed out of Twilight's earshot. The lavender Princess was left to hang, completely alone and unable to even struggle against her shackles and chains. Silently crying, she fell asleep in her cell, finally relinquishing all control.