//------------------------------// // Finding Your Way Through the Factory // Story: Road to Twilight // by ShadowBrony //------------------------------// Twilight curled up around her hoof. Her heart beating slowly as she listened for anything around her. She was met with nothing but silence. The cell was dark but light could be seen coming from a crack in the lower portion of the door. A small light hung from the ceiling as well thought appeared very dim. Twilight turned unto her back and stared up at the light. Uncertainty of escape soon began to cloud her mind. She knew what she needed to do, but escaping this cell was not going to be easy. Twilight got up and made her way over to the door, put an eye up to the crack and looked outside. As far as she could tell, there were no guards outside. Which meant that yelling at them until one them got annoyed and opened her door was out of the question. Twilight felt her horn with her hoof. The ring was still locked around the base. She moved her hoof around it before trying to push from the bottom. It would not budge. Twilight let out an annoyed sigh. She was without her magic, locked in a cell within a factory that held horrors she could not begin to fathom. This was not her day. Twilight shook her head, her mind trying to come up with a solution. Finding Rainbow Dash was the top priority but first she needed to get out somehow. But it was like she had a master key or… Twilight slammed her hoof into her forehead. She slammed it a lot harder then she meant to but it seemed appropriate. Twilight checked on her connection to her Keyblade. The connection was weaker than normal but still there. Twilight could only assume the weaker connection had to do with her magic being blocked. Once she had Rainbow back, her next priority was going to be getting this blasted thing off. Twilight concentrated on her connection and soon a flash of light appeared in front of her. Her Keyblade hovered in front of her for a split second before clattering to the floor. Twilight blinked as the thought occurred to her that she may not be able to hold her Keyblade like she used to for a while. Tilting her head slightly, she tried to think up a solution. One thing that most ponies tend to do, she supposed, was hold things in their mouth. While unicorns have been known to do this as well, it is a bit less common. Thus it was decided she would have to do it the earth pony way. Twilight concentrated on her connection and summoned her Keyblade toward her. She concentrated on it appearing in her mouth and to her delight; it appeared there just like she had hoped. Only, her delight did not last long was she felt the weight soon set in and her head soon began to sag to the side. Twilight tried to reposition herself, taking note of the fact that her Keyblade has also been kind enough to remove one of the guards so that she could grip it with her teeth better. Placing her hoof in front of her for support, Twilight quickly turned her head sideways, trying to take a practice swing. It was slow and very unbalanced. Twilight felt her ears droop as she wished she had paid better attention to Night’s movements when working with a Keyblade in such a way. Such a thing would be very beneficial right now. Actually, a companion sounded pretty good period. Twilight blinked in surprise. It had been awhile since her friend had even crossed her mind. Twilight mentally kicked herself, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about the past. But still, the thought of ‘what if’ and ‘maybes’ still flooded her mind. What if she had known her real Keyblade was inside ready to reveal itself? What if she had known that a more powerful form was ready to be released, she only needed to tap into her own emotions. Maybe then her friend and companion would still be alive. Her travels up till now have only brought her to three other Equestrias, darker and so different from her own. It seemed that no matter were she went, darkness was coming to Equestria, or was already there. In the case of the past two and this current one, it appears that darkness had taken root long ago. But unlike the last two, there did not seem to be a bit of light there. Sure Littlepip and the Doctor were far from shining beacons, but still they both instilled hope. Littlepip perhaps was a bit more showy then the Doctor however, Twilight mused. "But here it feels different. Everything here feels so wrong." The rest of the world may be ok, though Twilight had her doubts. But this place, it felt so dark. The Shadows were not needed here, the feeling of darkness did not need to be filled. Twilight shivered, she had felt on edge since she got here. This whole place just felt wrong. Like she had taken a step into an awful horror story where reality itself seemed to reside in darkness. Twilight wondered if perhaps it were best to simply get Rainbow Dash and just leave. But could she really do that? Leave such a place with the knowledge that this factory could continue to take lives while the rest of the world turns a blind eye to it? Twilight knew in her heart, she could not turn her back on this world. It wasn't like with Littlepip’s or the Doctor’s case, there is no light here. Which meant, Twilight would have to be that light. With that in mind, Twilight knew what she needed to do now more than ever, find Rainbow Dash, then make sure this place will cease its rainbow making so long as she is here. With that, Twilight steadied herself, she pointed the edge of her Keyblade at the door and concentrated. It didn’t take longer than a second before a beam of light shot from her blade. The beam struck the door and a keyhole appeared in a ray of light. The door locking mechanism unlocked itself and the door slid back on its own. Twilight was now free from her room, but many more things lay in her path to Rainbow Dash. For one, she had no idea where exactly Rainbow was other than the fact that she was somewhere in this factory; possibly being held in a cell similar to hers. The other problem being that the darker Rainbow could come back at any moment and find her gone. So she was going to have to be quick, stealthy and lucky. All three of which were rarely on her side. Twilight held back a grown a exasperation. There would be time for that later. Twilight stuck her head out the door. She was in a small hallway just big enough for to ponies to casually walk through. The opposite wall to her was bare and grey. Not a single window to be seen. Twilight glanced left then right and saw other cells lining the wall. Most of them appeared to have small peep holes that could slide open just like the door and most appeared to be open. Twilight quickly ran to the one on her right and whispered through the hole, “Rainbow Dash, are you in there?” Twilight was met with silence. Turning around slowly, she glanced back and forth down the hallway. The cells just seemed to keep going. But it was silent. Twilight decided going to each of the doors whispering would take too long. So instead she figured she would go up to a door, tap on it twice, and try to listen for any movement. If she heard none, she would then move onto the next one. So she did just that, she went down the hall tapping on doors, never hearing a sound once. Eventually, she reached the end of the hallway. There was a steel door with a simple lever to open it. Twilight decided to double back and try the other direction, just to make sure she didn’t miss any. After spending a good half an hour, tapping on doors, Twilight sat down to catch her breath. She was back at the steel door, the other direction having ended in a dead end. Or to be precise, a door that could only be opened from the other side. It was then that a thought ran through Twilight’s mind. “Where are all the guards?” Twilight blinked, “I guess this is a factory but then why all the cells? Just what is going on here? What kind of factory is this?” Twilight felt that the answers weren’t going to come to here sitting down. Quickly getting up, she opened the door with her hoof and quickly stepped inside, doing her best to close the door silently behind her. She was met with a long empty hall way. The lights above her flickered making the hallway seem almost creepy in a way. Twilight cautiously made her way down, her hooves echoing against the marble floor as she silently made her way forward. As she walked, Twilight began to notice a hallway splitting off and going to the right as another one continued onward. Twilight stopped as she neared and tried to decide which way to go. Twilight glanced right; the hallway was dark and seemed even more spooky than the one she was in. Forward had more light but had a turn coming up. Maybe continuing on her current path might not be such a bad idea. But then, Twilight heard something that made her heart skip a beat; the familiar clopping of hooves coming from the non-spooky hallway. Twilight felt her mind race. “Oh not now. I can’t be found now!” Twilight glanced to her right again, “Dark and spooky hallway it is then.” Twilight frantically ran through the dark; only stopping once her face hit a door. Twilight rubbed her now throbbing nose and tried the door knob. It was locked. Twilight frantically turned around, the illuminated hallway showing shadows of two ponies walking down it. Twilight bent low and hoped the darkness would keep her hidden. Twilight felt a bead of sweat run down her cheek as the pony’s hoof steps grew closer. Then they stopped. Twilight held her breath as they stood at the end of the hallway, their silhouettes making them look far more scary for Twilight then they should have. Though the idea of her getting caught now could also be adding to the fear she was feeling right now. Both appeared to be talking but Twilight could not pick up on what was being said. The ponies stood there for a minute longer before finally moving on. Twilight let out the breath she had been holding, her body relaxing. She was just about to get up when one of the ponies appeared at the end of the hallway. Twilight quickly lowered herself back to the ground as her the one at the end of the hallway call something out. Sounded like he wanted to check something. Had the pony noticed her? Twilight scooted herself back until her tail touched the door. The pony was now moving towards her. Twilight gritted her teeth. The pony was moving slowly, almost appeared to be grumbling. Maybe he hadn’t noticed her after all. But he was still heading her way, perhaps to wherever lay behind the locked door. Twilight could see him moving closer and closer, soon he would spot her, or at the very least trip over her. Twilight was going to have to act fast. If surprise was on her side, she might just have a chance. She waited as the pony grew closer and closer, trying her best not to breathe too hard or give away her position. Just as the pony was within a few step from her, Twilight jumped up, summoned her Keyblade and turned her head hard to the left, effectively swinging the Keyblade hard at the pony in front of her. The pony in question appeared surprised as a flash of light appeared in front of him but soon found the blunt end of the blade making contact with his skull. The wall soon came to greet the other end and the pony fell to the ground with a thump. Twilight felt her heart beat at a million miles per hour. Her breathing was skyrocketing and her sweat was falling faster from her face. The pony lay unmoving in front of her. Twilight waited, making sure that the pony was knocked out for sure before dismissing her Keyblade. She looked back down the hallway and was relieved to see it empty. The other pony may have continued on or may be waiting around the corner, but for now she was in the clear. It occurred to Twilight then that perhaps walking around the way she was may not work so well. There may not always be a dark corridor for her to hide and attack in. Perhaps a disguise might be better and the lab pony at her hooves looked like a good place to start. Twilight knelt down and did her best to examine the pony in the dim light. From what she could tell, the pony was Pegasus; which made a lot of sense in hindsight. He had a lab coat that fit over his wings; possibly to protect them as he had a smaller jacket underneath. He wore lab goggles and had a clip board with a lot of blank papers attached to it. Twilight quickly undressed the pony, first taking off his big overcoat before getting his jacket. She then grabbed his goggles. She quickly put on the coat but realized that there were holes in the back for wings. Since Twilight did not have wings, that may lead to some suspicion. Twilight eyed the blank papers the Pegasus had as an idea began to form in her head. Taking a few out off the clip board, Twilight began crimpling some of them up with her hoof into balls. She then put on the big coat. After making sure it was secure, she began stuffing the balls into where a pegasi’s wings would normally be. It may look a little crude but to any other pony it would appear she at least had something under her coat. She then licked her hoof and began pushing her mane so that it would stick upwards and hopefully cover her horn. After making sure her mane was good and messed up, she quickly put on the goggles. They felt a bit loose but were at least able to stay on. She then felt around her coat once more, hoping that there might be some keys around. After all, he was heading down this way for a reason. No sooner did she do so did she hear a nice little jingle of keys. Twilight bent down and fished them out of her pocket with her mouth. Three keys could be seen strung together on a key-ring. Twilight squeed in excitement, until a thought hit her like ton of bricks. Twilight quickly banged her head against the wall. “I have got to be one of the stupidest egg heads to ever walk Equestria.” Twilight dropped the keys and summoned her Keyblade. Within a few seconds the door was unlocked and Twilight felt like slamming her head against the wall again. Probably a good thing I haven’t found Rainbow Dash yet, she would never let me live that down. Twilight let out a long sigh as she opened the door and walked out, quickly shutting the door behind her, locking it again. A light above managed to flicker to life for a moment revealing an unconscious white Pegasus with a blond mane. The pony twitched, “There’s... cookies and... By the door,” it muttered before falling deeper into unconsciousness.