//------------------------------//
// Manipulation 
// Story: My Enemy's Enemy 
// by BudCharles 
//------------------------------//

“Is it just me, or is this pathway getting steeper?” Fluttershy asked, a mixture of exhaustion and concern in her voice as she and Chrysalis continued to trudge forwards through an ever darker and rockier tunnel.
 
“It is certainly longer than I remembered it,” Chrysalis replied, “but I’m sure this is the right entrance. I’ve used it to leave the nest several times - and to enter when my front entrance guards fell asleep on the job.”
 
“I see” Fluttershy giggled.
 
“They were nearly dying of starvation so I didn’t wake them up.”
 
“Oh my. I’m sorry for giggling. I didn’t know.”
 
“It is fine.”
 
The two of them continued walking silently - it began to feel more like climbing than walking as the pathway continued getting steeper, no end in sight. Fluttershy began shivering a little with the realization there was a massive drop underneath her, but she forced herself to keep going.
 
“Something definitely isn’t right,” Chrysalis finally admitted.
 
Suddenly Fluttershy’s ears tilted back against her head in scared realization.
 
“Um, Chrysalis?” she spoke up nervously.
 
“Yes?”
 
“Well… I think this might be Sombra’s doing.”
 
“What do you mean?”
 
“Well, Twilight said something about him creating a staircase that, kind of, stretched on forever?”
 
“And?”
 
“Well this might be the same thing. In other words he’s um, leading us in the wrong direction.”
 
“So what are we supposed to do.”
 
Fluttershy whimpered.
 
“We’re supposed to go down.”
 
“As in jump?”
 
“Yes, jump. Down. The long, dark, tunnel.”
 
Chrysalis sighed. “Grab my hoof.”
 
“Huh?”
 
“Grab my hoof. We’ll jump together.”
 
“Thankyou!” Fluttershy exclaimed in surprise.
 
“Yeah yeah, make it quick, I don’t want pony germs all over me.”
 
With that, Fluttershy grabbed on to Chrysalis’ hoof, and the two of them jumped. Chrysalis heard the most ear-piercing scream she’d ever had the displeasure of hearing in her life.
 
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - oh, that wasn’t so bad” Fluttershy commented as the two of them landed gently on the ground below.
 
“Um… Chrysalis?” she asked, as she saw her friend standing silently in front of her.
 
“NO! PUPA!” Chrysalis suddenly called out.
 
Meanwhile, Sombra guided his new-found ‘student’ back to the Throne room, where a single, solitary changeling was visible, its limbs pinned to the ground with sharp crystals. It was lying still, trying as hard as it could not to cry out from the pain.
 
“It’s been nice having someone to talk to about my… interests” Sombra told Twilight as she climbed up the ladder behind him.
 
“I’ve found it’s been quite fun to learn about, since you ‘opened my eyes’ so to speak” Twilight joked.
 
“Right, everything’s ready. Time to try out that spell” Sombra instructed.
 
Leaving Sombra standing back at the top of the ladder, Twilight walked quietly over to the changeling and stood over it, causing the creature to close its eyes in fear.
 
Twilight charged up her horn before sending a beam of black, cloudy magic directly towards the changeling’s stomach. It gently dissipated, having no effect.
 
The changeling opened its eyes in surprise. They were still the same as normal.
 
Twilight took a step back.
 
“Not enough power,” Sombra observed, “try again. Stronger this time.”
 
Twilight nodded, charging up her horn a second time, before sending a huge pulse of magic in the changeling’s direction. A big cloud of dust was stirred up - but when it cleared, still no change.
 
“You… missed,” Sombra noted, “what’s going on?”
 
“Perhaps the mind spell you used is impacting my accuracy, master?” Twilight suggested.
 
“That hasn’t happened before” Sombra replied, sceptically.
 
“Well, I am a… uh… I am a powerful pony, so my magic needs to be much more precise, perhaps.”
 
“Of course. I will cast an accuracy boosting spell.”
 
A flash of light later, Twilight was back in position and ready to fire the spell a third time.
 
She turned to Sombra as if to ask confirmation - he nodded eagerly.
 
Twilight took a deep breath, then took a step back and began charging.
 
And continued charging.
 
And continued.
 
And…
 
“FIRE ALREADY!” Sombra demanded.
 
“Whoa!” Twilight squeaked in surprise, jumping backwards and sending the beam of magic into the roof, causing a stray rock to come tumbling down, cracking one of the crystals holding the changeling down.
 
The changeling shook the crystal out from its right front leg, and quickly broke apart the crystals on its other legs. Its wings started buzzing as it darted for the room’s entrance, only to be held back by Sombra’s magic.
 
“Ugh, I’ll demonstrate how to do it, then you try, alright?” Sombra offered.
 
“NO! I - want the pleasure of doing it myself.”
 
Sombra gave her an uncertain look.
 
“Alright, one more try. Only because I like you.”
 
Twilight smiled, her smile appearing a little unnerving due to her blacked-out eyes. “Thank you.”
 
“No! No! NO!” Chrysalis screeched, writhing on the floor, tears streaming from her eyes.
 
“Please, calm down,” Fluttershy urged, placing a comforting hoof on Chrysalis’ shoulder, “n-nothing’s wrong!”
 
Chrysalis didn’t even notice.
 
“You monster Sombra! You monster! I’ll kill you a thousand times over! I’ll-”
 
Suddenly, something caught Chryssie’s attention. Somepony staring at her. It was a firm stare, but friendly, familiar.
 
“Fluttershy!” Chrysalis exclaimed, throwing her arms around the mare. She was even softer and fluffier than Chrysalis remembered.
 
“You’re alive,” Chrysalis whimpered, “h-how?”
 
“I’ve been standing right here the whole time,” Fluttershy assured, “you just suddenly, well, went nuts. N-no offence.”
 
“So Pupa is-”
 
“Fine. Still standing outside the nest probably. I doubt he would’ve gone and asked for help like we told him to. He is Pupa after all. Probably considering whether to come running in to save us.”
 
Chrysalis chuckled, wiping away her tears.
 
“Have any of us not broken down crying yet?” she joked.
 
“Only Twilight I think,” Fluttershy replied.
 
Chrysalis took a deep breath. “So I suppose that was Sombra’s doing. The whole me going insane thing.”
 
“I think so. Twilight described a trap like that too.”
 
“Of course!” Chrysalis suddenly exclaimed. “I know where Sombra’s taken her!”
 
“You do?”
 
“The most secure place in the nest, the throne room. Only thing is, he doesn’t know about my escape passage.”
 
Fluttershy smiled.
 
“Then let’s go kick his flank.”
 
Chrysalis stared in shock, her jaw hanging so much it almost fell off.
 
“Oh my, did I really say that? I think we’d better get out of here before the spell starts affecting me too.”
 
“I think so.”
 
Twilight took a deep breath, before scratching the ground with her hoof a couple of times and preparing her fourth and final attempt at a mind control spell, aiming it directly at the changeling Sombra was holding in mid-air with his own magic.
 
She continued charging until her horn was smoking slightly, straightened up her posture again, and - hesistated.
 
“What’s wrong?” Sombra grumbled impatiently.
 
“N-nothing, I just want to be sure it will work.”
 
“Of course it will work, come on.”
 
“Just, if it doesn’t work, you might get mad and -”
 
Sombra gave Twilight a look of pure, un-diluted frustration. “I will not get angry unless you keep stuffing around, now use the spell.”
 
“R-right, sorry master.  Um…” Twilight took another breath.
 
Luckily, she was interrupted when Chrysalis and Fluttershy came crashing through a weak point in the squishy green roof, tumbling in like a big pile of feathers and - whatever changeling wings were made off and bringing a couple more stray rocks down with them.
 
“Your traps have failed, Sombra,” Chrysalis declared, “you didn’t stop us!”
 
“Yeah,” Fluttershy added, “now give back my friend - i-if you’re okay with that.”
 
Sombra released his changeling prisoner, turned to face the new arrivals and laughed.
 
“Ha ha ha, I never wanted to stop you. No, this will be much more fun.”
 
Twilight turned around and stared directly at her friends.
 
“Twilight, kill them” Sombra commanded, confidently.
 
“No” Twilight answered.
 
“What?” Sombra gasped. “You can’t defy me!”
 
Twilight smiled as her eyes returned to normal in a blinding flash of light. She trotted over to her friends and turned to face Sombra, a determined grin on her face.
 
“How? HOW!” Sombra demanded.
 
Twilight giggled. “Really Sombra? What did you think would happen when you gave me the only book with a counter to the mind control spell you used.”
 
Sombra’s eyes widened with realisation. “B-but, your eyes! There’s no spell that can fake that!”
 
“But there is. The spell you used to make ponies have visions - it was in that book too.”
 
“That’s dark magic! You - you should be -“
 
“Corrupted? Really? You think I would abandon my friends, my morals, everything I stand for, just by using one spell?”
 
Sombra let out a roar of anger. “I TRUSTED YOU!” he snapped.
 
“Like your people trusted you? Before you enslaved them? Used them for your experiments?”
 
“Be QUIET!” Sombra roared a second time, picking up Twilight with his magic and slamming her into the wall, which she bounced off, before rolling onto the ground, her wing catching on a crystal, causing her to wince in pain.
 
“Leave… her… alone!” Fluttershy cried, charging directly towards the evil king. He turned towards her, his horn charged and ready to attack.