//------------------------------// // Start digging! // Story: Once there was morning... // by EbonyDanger //------------------------------// Twilight had no idea how long she had slept. Be it short or long, her slumber got interrupted by a sharp shout: “Wake up, Twilight Twinkle!” Rubbing her head, Twilight sat up with a groan. She had not slept that well. The ground was hard and uncomfortable and the only mattress the prisoners had were patches of hay they had to scratch to a large pile to sleep on. “First off”, Twilight grumbled as she looked at Rainbow Dash, who stood before her cell, “my name is Twilight Sparkle, not Twinkle. Second off, is it already morning?” She realized how hard it was for her to measure the time without the sun to guide her and give her orientation. “The Waking Period has already begun”, responded Rainbow. She was fumbling for a pair of keys. Jabbing them in the lock she worked on opening the door. Twilight took a few steps backwards. She could only move slowly because of the chains around her ankles. “Where is Spike?”, she asked once more. The Alicorn had not only slept badly because of the room's conditions but also because she had been sick with worry. She still was. Twilight and Spike had never ever been separate since she had hatched him out of his egg. Now was the very first time they actually were. And from their experience in the Crystal Empire Twilight knew that Spike's greatest fear was being replaced and separated from Twilight. He must die a thousand deaths. Rainbow Dash pushed the door open and entered her cell. “I am not authorized to give you this information”, she revealed and opened her saddle back. Twilight spotted several chains and rings in it. Before she even had the chance to protest or ask what was going on, Rainbow Dash forced the weird rack on her body. The rack was made out of two large rings. One wrapped itself around her hips, the other stuck on her neck. Between these two rings were two small chains, forming an X across her back, thus preventing her from opening her wings. A longer and thicker chain came out of the neck-ring and landed in Rainbow's hoof. “Now get out”, the Pegasus said, “It is time for you to work.” “Work?”, asked Twilight in confusion. She slowly followed Rainbow out of her cell. In the dull light of the dungeon's corridor she saw other guards, pushing out other prisoners. They all wore the weird rings (if they were pegasi), anti-magic collars (the unicorns) or only a simple ring and chains at the hooves (if they happened to be earth ponies). The guards chained them together, thus forming two lines with the ponies forming a pair. Twilight was standing next to a large unicorn, whose fur was greyish and smelled of dust. His blue eyes looked depressed and dull. The long group of prisoners started to move and Twilight, being chained to it, had no other choice then trotting along. What is going on? Twilight looked over the prisoners. They all looked like shadows of their former self, exhausted, tired and dirty. Some mumbled “food” or "water", but most of them remained silent. The way they moved told Twilight that this seemed to be a routine for them. And Rainbow Dash had mentioned work. Will Nightmare force us into slave labor like Sombra? Twilight gagged in fear. She had only known one villain that did such a thing. King Sombra, who had enslaved the Crystal Ponies. But Luna would never do such a thing! Or would she? This was Nightmare Moon they were talking about! Twilight only knew that she wanted eternal night and had tried to kill Celestia. In her world she had failed thanks to the Elements of Harmony, but this was not her world. Therefor Twilight could hardly draw any comparison. Think, Twilight! What do you know from your very first visit in Nightmare Moon's castle? The kingdom was at peace, no one could deny that. No war, no hiding in the forest, no chaos. And the ponies all seemed to be loyal to a certain extant. In fact Rarity's statement on viewing the castle indicated that it was common for Nightmare Moon to have visitors, even the peasantry. But what had made the ponies become so loyal? After all Nightmare Moon had clearly overthrown Celestia and banished her to the moon. Twilight had no idea. But from the large chain of ponies she could tell that not everypony was in Nightmare's good graces. What had they done to end here? And what were they forced to do? They had left the castle and now followed a path through the Everfree Forest. Twilight remembered her encounter with the Timberwolves and became rather anxious. She might have faced many threads in her life before and as a Princess but the wooden wolves always were special and tricky. Twilight now understood why several guards were surrounding the prisoners. They all had long spears in their hooves, which had strange blue glowing tips. They did not only guarded the prisoners but also fought of potential attackers. “Rainbow”, called Twilight, “Where are we going?” The flapping of wings. Rainbow Dash swooped down to her. She jabbed a hoof at Twilight and snarled: “That is Captain Dash to you, prisoner. And where we are going? Well, you will find out soon enough.” With a snort Rainbow flapped her wings and settled down on the top again. The group stopped. Twilight stretched her neck to get a glimpse of several rocks and a dark cage. Why are we here? They are not planning to execute us there, do they? Twilight felt her sweat running down her neck in fear. No! Nightmare Moon would not do something so gross, would she? The purple Alicorn stumbled as the line walked into the cave. It was dark first and the only sound Twilight could hear was a weird hammering. Then a guard enlightened a stinky, smoky oil lamp. In the sickly light Twilight saw that the prisoners were slowly walking towards a table, where another guard seemed to do something, before they walked to a wall and... seemed to beat their heads against it? What is the meaning of this? Twilight furrowed a brow in confusion and scratched her chin. She would have loved to ask but a sharp tough on the chain reminded her that she was chained to the other prisoners and hurried to catch up. The line now moved towards the table and Twilight thought she saw the guard jamming something in the pony's maw. And before Twilight knew it she got pushed to the front of the line. The guard pony - a grumpy looking Bat Pony – took a small pebble and tried to slam it in her maw. Twilight angrily refused. “Take the stone!”, snarled the guard. The Alicorn shook her head. She would not get herself humiliated in front of these dark creatures. The guard looked like he wanted to jam the stone in her maw nonetheless for a short time. Then he smirked wickedly and placed the stone back. “Fine. Then you will work without the stone.” Twilight thought about some smart answer she could give, but a sharp push of the chain made her stumble towards the next wall. It was a dark, rough wall. Twilight eyed it with itching eyes and tried to figure out what was demanded. How did this ugly rock had anything to do with work? “Dig!” Rainbow Dash's shout made her look up. The Pegasus was soaring briefly under the cave's ceiling. Her spear prickled and she looked around with critical eyes. “Start digging!” Are you kidding me? Twilight looked at the wall and her jaw dropped. How were the ponies suppose to dig? She lifted her hooves, but realized that the chains were trimmed in a way that did not allowed her to use them for digging. Now she understood why everypony had to take a stone as soon as they entered this cave. It also explained the strange clicking sounds. The ponies were all standing on several spots of the cave. They had risen themselves to their hind legs and now used the stones (which were apparently harder then the wall) like hammers. Still Twilight could not tell what use this had. What was so special about this cave? Where there gems in it? Minerals? Was this a mine? Twilight had been doing nothing for so long that Rainbow Dash suddenly swooped down and jabbed the spear in her side. Electricity burned itself through her flesh and made her mane bristle. Twilight howled in pain and wanted to jump upwards in instinct. “Dig!”, bellowed Rainbow Dash and pushed her head close to the wall. “I don't have a stone”, whispered Twilight. She whimpered as the Pegasus slammed her face against the stone. Her nose cracked open and bled. “Then you will dig without.” A swooping of wings and the Pegasus flew back to her spot near the ceiling. Twilight glared at Rainbow, before she turned her attention towards the wall once more. Her stomach turned over as she understood what the general forced her to do. Shaking and lips trembling, Twilight opened her maw and dogged her teeth into the rock. It tasted awful. Her teeth seemed to crunch under the sore surface but with a great amount of effort the Alicorn was able to break apart a small piece of stone. She gulped and spat it out at once. Uaarghhh, I will never be able to watch Maud, smashing a rock, again without having this taste in my mouth. Twilight digged her teeth into the rock. She had to use her head like a hammer so each contact with the stone made her jaws ring. Her eyes were shut and tears trembled between her lids. The dust ran in her throat and made her cough. Twilight lost any sense for time. She digged her teeth into the stone. The surface (or her teeth) cracked. Blood landed in her mouth. Twilight digged her teeth into the stone. The cave was dark and her ears ring in the rhythm of the hammering of the other ponies that were digging for whoknewwhat. And I thought Sombra is the one with the slave labor. Twilight felt the anger build up inside her every time she jabbed her jaw in the stone. She had heard about the grey unicorn that had enslaved a whole population. Blimey, she had even fought him! Then why was Nightmare Moon doing this? It had such a cruel hypocrisy to itself. The nation was loyal to the dark mare. They were forced to loyalty, unless they wanted to end up in this cave in the middle of the Everfree Forest, digging for a needle in a hay sack. Twilight stopped after almost an hour. She felt the sweat dripping down her nose. Her throat burned and her chest hurt. This labor was horribly exhausting. Panting the Alicorn casted a look at her working partner. It was the dusty unicorn, to whom she had been chained. He stopped and whipped off the dust of his face, revealing white fur. As he threw his head back in an attempt to catch a hint of fresh air, Twilight spotted his short blue mane. This cannot be. This time panting because of excitement and a dark foreshadowing, Twilight threw a glance at the colt's cutiemark. A blue shield with a purple star in it. “Shining Armor!”, Twilight shouted in surprise. The colt turned his head. He spat the stone into his name. “That is my name”, he responded, “What do you want?” Her color rose and Twilight feebled through her mane. “Ehm, I...I….”, she stammered. His dull expression brightened and he tilted his head aside. “That is strange”, mumbled Shining, “You remind me off my little sister, Twilight Sparkle. However she does not have wings.” Twilight laughed nervously. “Awful coincidence, right?”, she asked, “Ehm, how is Twilight doing, if I may ask? You see, I am not from here and I got captured because of something really silly.” Shining blinked in confusion and surprise. Twilight felt the corner's of her mouth aching from the smile she held with great force. She hoped to get him talk. Tell him, what had happened with her in this world. And why was Shining down here? Where was the BBBFF, she once knew so well? How did he got in this prison? Shining picked up his stone and started his work again. For a short moment he said nothing. Then his tired and sad voice filled Twilight's ears: “My little sister failed the exam for Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She was very sad and was sure to be a failure. Twilight locked herself in her bedroom and focused on her studies more then anyone. She hardly goes out anymore.” Shining sighted in regret and kicked a few nuggets around. “You have to picture her as a silent, socially awkward, small, sickly unicorn, that hardly can leave her nose out of books.” Twilight's ears fell down and a deep sorrow painted itself on her face. Oh, no! In her mind she could easily imagine herself. This was not the life she had ever wanted. This was not what she wanted for anyone. It felt like Moondancer all over again. However did this Twilight even knew Moondancer? From what Shining Armor had said, she had never made it into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. So she probably was all alone. Twilight asked: “What happened when Nightmare Moon took over?” Shining Armor glared at her. “Seriously do you know anything about this place?”, he snarled as if it was obvious what happened. The Alicorn responded: “I said it before. I am not from here. Could you enlighten me on the past events? Please?” Shining lowered his head. When he finally spoke it felt like he was dragging the words from afar: “We, the guards, learned about Nightmare Moon the year she was about to return. Celestia explained to us that we had to do everything in our power to keep the Summer Sun Celebration safe. We doubled the guards and prepared ourselves for whatever might appear. We all were stunned by shock when Nightmare Moon finally revealed herself. The common ponies all panicked and of course we attacked in thigh formation to overpower her. However a bunch of unicorns against one Alicorn is a lost cause. My brave soldiers and I got struck by lightning. It was very painful and numbed us. We were like paralyzed.” Twilight had no trouble picturing this event. She had seen what Nightmare Moon could do with her own eyes. And during her Summer Sun Celebration there had only been three guards! How painful must it have been for six or even more? And Shining Armor had been under them. Twilight was sure her brother too in this world was Captain of the Royal Guard. After all the loss of the Rainboom only affected her and her friends' life. And later all of Equestria, she thought with gritted teeth. “Go on”, she asked of Shining Armor and the white stallion continued his tale. “When Nightmare Moon announced that the night would last forever, Princess Celestia appeared out of nowhere. She explained that Nightmare Moon could not do this as it would destroy the balance of the life and world. Nightmare Moon however would not listen. She said she had waited too long for this moment and nopony, not even the great Celestia herself, could stop her. That's when she attacked the Solar Princess.” Shining's eyes widened at the memory and his voice shook: “It was hard to see what was happening. The fight was vicious. Nightmare Moon and Celestia were flying above our heads and hunted one another with magical beams. They moved so fast that we could hardly follow. And then there was a bright flash of light” – he coughed – “and like spilled ink the darkness spread itself across the sky. And in the blackness we saw the moon and on its silver surface Celestia's face.” His voice died and tears ran down his cheek. Oh no! Starlight Glimmer, what have you done? That mare had ruined countless lives with one action. Each and every future or in this case presence had left deep marks in its habitants. Twilight pressed her head against Shining Armor's neck and hugged him. Tears dropped down her snout. “I am so sorry”, she whispered. How could she ever make that right? Twilight had promised Applejack whom she had met in a future where Equestria raged in a war with King Sombra that she would set things right. But how was she supposed to set things right? She was stuck in one of these futures for Celestia's sake! The parchment role was probably rotting somewhere in the forest. If the wolves had not found and eaten it. Don't think that, Twilight! You will find a way! You have always found a way. With the help of her friends. However it did not mean that she could not make friends in this world. Celestia had thought it her in her probably first lesson: It was never too late to make friends. The bashing of wings. “No chit chat here!”, shouted Rainbow Dash. She stabbed the strange spear in Twilight's and Shining's sides. Both howled in pain and rose to their hind legs. The tips were loaded with electricity. “Now continue digging!”, snarled Rainbow at both. Her ruby eyes glowed through the helmet. “The gems for Princess Moon do not find themselves. Just like the building material does not find itself.” Shining Armor sighted reluctantly and picked up his stone. The rhytmic hammering sound filled Twilight's ears. She too had no other choice then starting to digg. Her lips already started to bleed as she bite into the stone again and again. And while the pain numbed her maw, her eyes narrowed in anger. If this was what her future looked like then she wanted no part of it!