Chapter 2: Holding On
Twilight Sparkle barely opened her eyes to a small amount of sunlight hitting her face from above. Once her senses started to wake up, she could smell the brine in the air, and feel the warmth of the sun overhead through a hot, metal grate. Twilight Sparkle could barely examine her surroundings, but she could at least guess she was enclosed by strong, wooden boards. Even though there was enough room, she didn’t even bother making an attempt to stand, as her legs were still tied together; that and she took a beating from the devious creatures that kidnapped her. The floor lumbered beneath her in a constant sway. She could only make one conclusion as to her whereabouts; the ocean.
She began to hear heavy breathing nearby. She couldn’t see where it was coming from, due to the fact her new room was very closed off.
“Is anypony there?” she asked, her voice cracking from the surging pain in the chest. She waited for a response, but was met only with more heavy breathing. “Hello?” she asked.
“Be quiet in there, or I’ll pull you out of there and lash you myself!” boomed a voice from, what Twilight could guess, the main deck of the large wooden sea craft. She didn’t want to experience their punishment again. If she spoke out, or so much as sneezed wrong, these creatures would beat the idea of freedom out of her again. Then she heard a whisper from the wall.
“Don’t talk. Rest.” The voice said. The heavy breathing continued. The bedraggled pony didn’t question her. At this moment, that voice was the closest thing Twilight had to a friend right now. It gave her a slight glimmer of hope, but her observations so far seemed to indicate that these dragon-like creatures just kidnap innocent creatures for slaves, or trophy spouses. The chances of her seeing the body of that voice were inevitable, but the chances of her getting to know that being were slim, as they would most likely be separated quickly after this voyage. It made her feel sick, though vomiting would likely not happen, as she had not been fed in four days.
Four days in captivity. Four days of loneliness. Four days of wishing she had just stayed at the castle. Four days of the immense fear of what awaits at her next destination. All she could think about was how much she missed her friends, and how she would never see them again. Her memories of Celestia’s warm, soothing smile as she would teach Twilight magic, and how she may never see that sight again. Her family, her friends, and her neighbors; she may never know their warm smiles on their face and the joy they brought always brought. She closed her eyes, letting the darkness embrace her, she listened as the breathing of her new hosts filled the air, soon falling into a deep slumber as her final thought was of a lit candle.
* * *
A grey pegasus, in polished golden armor, made his way through the throne room towards a frowning Princess Celestia.
“There’s yet no sign of Ms. Twilight Sparkle in Los Pegasus,” reported the stallion. Princess Celestia nodded slowly.
“Move your search party to the city of Manehatten and assist with the search there. Report to Captain Shining Armor. He is leading the search for Twilight Sparkle in that region.” The pegasus saluted her before doing an about face and trotting out the door with priority.
Princess Celestia closed her eyes, and thought about the last thing she said to her most faithful student.
“You have a lot to think about,” she said out loud. Those words rang through her mind every minute since the morning Twilight Sparkle could not be reached. Those words nagged her so much that they demanded to be spoken.
After wallowing in pity for a few moments, she approached her map of Equestria that had been repurposed specifically for the search for Twilight Sparkle. Nearly all of the main locations, notable remote areas, forests, landmarks, and treacherous badlands have all been marked with an “X.” The more that appeared on her map, the more she doubted that her studious apprentice would ever be found. She hesitated before she put an “X” over Los Pegasus on the map. If Twilight Sparkle really wanted to be alone for this long, she is smart enough to hide from all the guards, but for the entirety of Equestria being on the lookout for such an esteemed pony, she should have been spotted by now.
The princess stared at the map, wondering just how many other places Twilight could possibly be. A thought crossed her mind. What if she had left Equestria? There’s not much I can do at that point, thought Celestia. She pondered her options. After a few moments, she took out a quill, ink, and scroll and began to write. Surely it would help to write to her political contacts to keep an eye out for the missing Twilight Sparkle.
* * *
In the outskirts of Ponyville, the clouds were getting thick and grey, blocking out the sunlight and blue sky entirely. Many pegasi had been scrambled to search for the missing unicorn, so there were less ponies left to regulate the weather, allowing said storms to slip away into the sky.
After spending the past few days searching around one likely location for Twilight to run to, the unicorn’s friends used their intimate knowledge of the area near Ponyville to assist in the search for their friend; their efforts proved fruitless.They did not want to stop there, though. They would keep searching until the day they die. It was the least they could do for their best friend, though there were doubts that they would ever find her
“How could we have just left her there alone?” the pale yellow pegasus pondered amongst her friends. “If we had stayed with her, maybe she would still be here. What if she’s hurt? What if…?” Fluttershy’s face fell, obviously assuming the worst. She began to sniffle, then her emotions snowballed causing her body to force a quiet wail for her dear friend. “Oh, Twilight…”
“Now, dearie, our Twilight is resourceful. I’m sure she’s doing just fine, wherever she is, and she’s just resting peacefully, somewhere discreet, to get away from the stress of the wedding and all.” Rarity forced a smile, hardly believing herself. She agreed with Fluttershy. How could we leave her there, she thought, she has been known to go off the handle over things.
“What if we never find her? What if she’s gone… FOREVER?!” screamed Pinkie Pie. “I can’t NOT throw her parties! That would be rude to stop! Then what if she never comes back and I throw all these parties for her and she never shows up and everypony is sad?!” The pink pony finally stopped to take a breath, then let her head down until it hit the ground.
“Now don’t think like that, gals. We’re sure to find her if we just keep lookin’!” Applejack had been trying her hardest the past few days to keep everypony from breaking down; not that the loss of their dear friend had not taken its toll on her as well. Even if one of us followed her we wouldn’t be in this situation right now, thought the orange farm pony. Suddenly, a cyan blue pegasus crashed down by the group.
“Oh, Rainbow Dash!” exclaimed the marshmallow white unicorn. “Please tell us you found her! Or something that will tell us where she’s gone.” The newly arrived sky blue pegasus’ face said it all, small tears forming in the deepest crests of her eyes.
“We couldn’t find anything from the air,” she said. “I was hoping you guys would have something.” The news from the pegasus caused them all a great, visible pain. A few tears were shed, though all of them were trying their hardest to believe that they would see Twilight Sparkle again someday. Even through all of the doubt, Applejack raised her head with a new look of determination, and with a couple tears proudly dripping down her face, she stood tall.
“We gotta keep lookin’! We won’t give up on her, right girls?” In an almost fluid movement, all of them met Applejack’s bold green eyes and did their best to raise their heads to her level. Even Fluttershy, who was still silently letting the tears flow with steady lungs, managed to feel Applejack’s determination.
* * *
Twilight woke up to the sound of deep loud bells. After the first few rings, she could hear one of her captors shouting.
“Give the sails some slack! We’re approaching the dock!”
“I am, I see it!” the other snapped back. However curious Twilight was about this new land, it wasn’t worth getting kidnapped and beaten within an inch of her life to see it. There must be a reason she had never heard of it. Maybe no pony who had come this way had lived to tell about it. Or maybe it was so great that they decided to stay, she thought, attempting to convince herself that there was a silver lining to this darkness.
Many long minutes had passed before she felt the watercraft thump against another wooden structure. She caught the movement of the two dragons through the grating, jumping to tie the ship down to the dock, and took a tentative gulp, never looking forward to being moved by them. They usually had a spear pointed at her, even though she couldn’t move. She’d get poked just for looking at them funny. Twilight had since learned to always lower her gaze when she was being handled by the dragons.
Whoever was in the block next to her was removed first. Twilight tried her hardest to get a good look at her, feeling sympathetic attachment to the unfamiliar being. All she could tell was that she was a little larger than a pony and had a rounder body.
The dragons had taken Twilight’s closest thing to a friend away, but they took an awfully long time. The scholar pondered why. Maybe she was purchased already and is being sent elsewhere. Whoever bought her must be meeting the dragons here to pick her up and they’re running late. They must be waiting for them, she thought. She hoped for the best for the other creature, as she understood the torture she had to endure.
Twilight’s captors returned.
“Who knew Equestrian cow would pay so well? Two gold pieces for the whole thing!” Each of the slavers held a shiny gold piece and each slipped it into their leather satchel, just happy as can be. Twilight on the other hand felt her heart shrink and seize up. These dragons just marked that cow for death! All for a couple of shiny coins. The pony felt like crying, but her muscles would not let her. She was petrified by her fear and anguish.
The dragons then pulled the grate off of Twilight’s mobile prison and lifted her out with complete disregard to her comfort, rattling her around enough for her to realize just how numb her extremities were and just how roughed up she had become. The new air around her had reinvigorated the stench of the blood and urine that her fur had soaked over the past few days. She felt ill enough to vomit, but she held it back. The dock itself seemed secluded and empty except for a couple of other docks and ships, and just one small building that probably belonged to a port master. She could guess that this wasn’t a regular dock. She hoped it wasn’t.
Before she could process her surroundings properly, she was tossed into a shiny metal cage bolted atop a simple wooden cart. She nearly yelped in pain, but she was getting used to being tossed around by now. However, she grunted when they tightened the binding rope on her legs. The rope that bound her had only recently removed the superficial skin on her forelegs.
From what she observed from her wheeled prison, she was in a desert. There were a few palm trees on the beach and going forward there were nothing but heat waves and a sandy sea. Her cage did not protect her from the heat, and she had already been cotton-mouthed since the boat ride. She was bound to get water from the slavers at some point, but with the sand gusting in her face, that moment would not come soon enough for her. After all, if she died, they would have done all that work for no profit, which was obviously all they cared about. Then came some thoughts: Just how much is a pony worth out here? Will I go for more or less because I’m a unicorn? Wait a second, she thought. Am I actually considering my worth to them?
Twilight attempted to relax, but insanity had already set in, her head pounded, and her body ached. The world around her was new and the fear of what was coming was very real.. She couldn’t be sure of anything right now; her fear had overcome her rational thought.
A disturbing point came to mind: How much more do I have to endure? How much more can I endure?
Twilight shut her eyes, the hot dry winds carrying little grains of sand brushed against her mangled fur, her thoughts carried, I must find a way to escape… Can I escape? Is it even possible?
End of Chapter 2