Chapter 14
The couple were close to kissing, when all of a sudden, a soft voice cried out as loud as it could and made them turn their heads toward its direction. Seeming to have come from out of nowhere, the real Fluttershy was galloping toward Discord, a mixture of worry and happy on her face as she saw him. Pseudoshy narrowed her eyes but made sure Discord didn't see. Master Pseudea had planned for something like this, and his illusion magic acted accordingly.
Fluttershy stopped before Discord, a little out of breath. She'd went ahead of the others, unable to wait anymore and hurried to help Discord. The illusion she was in certainly wasn't what she was expecting. And it was very odd to see a copy of her in Discord's arms, but she was too happy to see that he was alright to think much of those other things.
"Oh Discord, you're safe!" she said. "Come on, we need to get out of here." But Discord showed no recognition and frowned at her.
"And who do you are, telling me what to do?" asked Discord sharply. Fluttershy as a little taken aback by this.
"I'm your friend, Fluttershy." she said. "Remember?" Discord scoffed at Fluttershy and turned his head to face Pseudoshy.
"You are a terrible liar." he said. "You're far from being Fluttershy, and besides, my Fluttershy is right here." He lifted Pseudoshy closer to him for emphasis. Fluttershy's eyes widened in shock and she put a hoof over her mouth. What had the Tenebris done to him? Well, she wasn't going to give up so easily.
"Please Discord, it's me." Fluttershy insisted. The rest of our friends have been looking for you. They'll be here soon, and then we can all help Eve and go home." Pseudoshy saw that she'd need to deal with this little pest and fast. If she actually managed to get the fool to snap out of it, everything would've been for nothing! Silently, she used a special spell on the illusion world that Master Pseudea had given her just in case. It would help to block anymore intruders from trying to get in and disrupt the fantasy. Next, she hugged herself close to Discord and played the damsel in distress.
"Discord, I'm afraid!" said Pseudoshy in a timid voice. She then looked up at him with big doe eyes and batted her lashes a little. "Don't go with her, please. Don't leave me." Discord smiled and tenderly stroked Pseudoshy's cheek.
"Don't worry, my dear. I'm not going anywhere." said Discord gently. Then he gave a piercing glare at Fluttershy. "That intruder however, will be."
"Oh, thank you Discord." cooed Pseudoshy. Discord carefully set Pseudoshy down and turned to Fluttershy.
"Now then, let's get down to business!" he said. With a flick of his wrist, Fluttershy was whammed by an invisible force, and skidded across the ground. Fluttershy got back on her hooves and looked Discord in the eye.
"Discord, you need to wake up from this illusion." said Fluttershy. "Can't you see you're being used?" Discord didn't listen though and whammed Fluttershy again without even touching her. Still, Fluttershy got back up and pleaded with her friend.
"Discord, please remember. Remember the truth." said Fluttershy.
"The truth? Ha! What do you know about the truth?" sneered Discord. "You don't know anything about we!" Fluttershy was spun around in the air before suddenly falling onto the ground. All these hits were starting to be too much for her. She slowly stood up and looked into Discord's face. Discord was about to attack again, when he stopped himself. That look she gave him, was one of pity. Her eyes were wet and on the verge of tears. She held out a hoof to Discord and plead once more in a soft voice.
"Discord, come back to us, come back to me." she said. Something snapped in Discord, seeing Fluttershy in such a battered up state. As Fluttershy started to collapse, Discord was instantly at her side and helped keep her from falling. Pseudoshy watched in disbelief. He'd snapped out of the spell! Because of that little Pegasus!
"Fluttershy, are you alright?" asked Discord with concern. Fluttershy smiled kindly at him.
"I am now. Welcome back." she said.
"I'm...I'm sorry." said Discord, rubbing the back of his head. "I hope you didn't get too hurt."
"I'll be fine." said Fluttershy.
"You..." Discord and Fluttershy looked to see Pseudoshy seething with rage, her face now twisted and horrifying.
"You ruined EVERYTHING!!" she screamed and zipped toward Fluttershy and Discord. Discord was prepared to deflect Pseudoshy's body, but was shocked when near the last minute, she changed into a bolt of black lightning. Discord in his shock, didn't have time to react. But Fluttershy knew what to do. She got in front of Discord and wrapped her arms around his waist, just as the bolt struck. Fluttershy let out a pained scream from the hit. The black lightning coiled around her and shot pain through her body. When the lightning was gone, Fluttershy fell backward and was caught by Discord.
"Fluttershy!" he cried. Fluttershy squinted as she looked at him, a weak smile on her face. "Why?! Why would you do something so foolish?!"
"Because." said Fluttershy in a whisper. Discord strained his ears in order to hear the next part she said. "You're my friend, and I care about you." Fluttershy then passed out, and the illusion world cracked like a broken mirror. The plants withered and died, the sky turned a sickly gray, and everything around them disappeared. Discord was now kneeling in the middle of an open space, with Fluttershy's unconscious form in his grasp. The dark fog bank evaporated, and the girls came running toward them. They all gasped when they saw Fluttershy.
"What happened?" asked Eve. Discord said nothing. He was too shaken to speak. Twilight drew close and checked to see how serious of a condition Fluttershy was in.
"She'll be fine." said Twilight reassuringly. "Just a little battered and bruised, but with a little rest, she'll be fine again in no time."
"Thank goodness." said Eve, the rest of the girls let out sighs of relief.
"Now that we're all together again, we need to find a way of getting back to the castle." said Twilight. "Which isn't going to be easy with our magic use being limited."
"What if we all combine our powers?" asked Sunset.
"Yeah." said Starlight. "We managed to make a good tracking spell to find you and Discord, maybe we might be able to do the same thing with a teleportation spell."
"It's worth a shot." said Twilight. "We're gonna need your help Discord." Discord still said nothing, but gave a small nod. Twilight was little distressed to say the least by this. It wasn't like Discord to be so quiet. She wanted to ask him what had happened, but figured that it was best to wait until he was ready.
Everypony gathered around into a circle, each activating the teleportation spell, and combining it with the magical aura that was beginning to build up. It was getting bigger and bigger until finally, they let go, and the light consumed them. The place they'd been in was now empty, as they traveled to the castle.
The group had successfully transported themselves outside the castle, which looked to be in even worse condition than it had been in before.
"Queen Amalthea must be in the dungeon." said Eve. "I know a way to get in, but we'll need to be careful not to get caught."
"What about Fluttershy?" asked Starlight. "She's in no condition to come with us."
"I'll stay with her." Discord said, setting her down on the ground and sitting beside her. Twilight gave an understanding nod.
"Alright then, we'll try to get back as soon as we can when we find the queen." she said. Twilight turned to Eve. "Lead the way, Eve." Eve and the girls stood close to the shadows as they made their way to the back of the castle.
"There should be a secret passage to the dungeons through the cellar." said Eve. "With any luck, it'll be unguarded." Carefully, they managed to sneak unseen to the cellar doors, where Eve ushered them inside, making sure nopony was around to spot them.
From there, things went smoothly as they descended into the cellar and were led to the far back corner where it looked like nopony had touched in years. It was covered in layers of dust and cobwebs. Eve felt around the large stone bricks, and said as she did this, "It should be right around here." Then, her hoof pressed one of the bricks inward and a passageway opened up.
"Well, there' no turning back now." said Eve. "Follow me."
Queen Amalthea tried once more for over the hundredth time to break free from her prison, and for the hundredth time her attempted failed. Amalthea slumped down to rest before she tried again. She was weak and wounded, bounded by heavy chains bolted into the prison cell's wall.
"Damn them." she cursed under her breath. "They shall suffer for imprisoning me!" Amalthea got back up and continued to pull against the chains, doing everything in her power to pull them free from the wall, or in the very least, snap the chains from the collars.
"Queen Amalthea!" The queen froze, hearing her name being called. She listened carefully to see if it really was somepony calling her or just a figment of her imagination. Sure enough, a voice echoed off the walls, calling out for her.
"Queen Amalthea! Can you hear us?!"
"Yes! I'm here!" Amalthea cried out. There was a sound of hoofsteps coming towards her, getting louder and louder. In almost no time, the faces of Eve, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and two unfamiliar Unicorns appeared.
"You're majesty!" cried Eve with relief. "We've come to get you out of here."
"Thank you, dear Eve." said Amalthea gratefully. Twilight, Sunset, and Starlight worked together to undo the locks of the prison door and the dozens of shackles on the queen.
"Tell me," said the queen. "How are things fairing out there? What have the Tenebris done?"
"They've trapped all the Nightmares in these crystals and are draining them of their essence. The Tenebris separated us when we arrived and trapped us in various illusions to steal power from us." said Eve. She then cast her eyes downward and bowed lowly to the queen.
"Queen Amalthea, I ask for your forgiveness." said Eve. "It's my fault for unleashing the Tenebris, and it's because of my stupid mistakes that you've ended up imprisoned here." When the queen was free of her shackles, she stepped out of the cell and looked thoughtfully at Eve. She then gently rested a hoof on Eve's shoulder.
"Rise, Eve. You needn't apologize for anything." said Amalthea. "I can tell you've been through a lot already. The fact that you're here now and are willing to make up for your mistakes, shows how far you've come." Eve lifted her head and looked into the queen's eyes.
"Queen..."
"Now, there are more pressing matters that we all must deal with." said Amalthea in a serious and sharp tone. "Though I am weakened now, I still have enough power and strength to do what must be done. The Tenebris mustn't get away with imprisoning me or harming my Nightmare. They mustn't revive their king and complete their plan."
"We know." said Twilight. "That's why we want to help you."
"Thank you all." said the queen. Her eyes narrowed as she went in front of the group. "We must leave this place, and prepare to face the Tenebris. They shall know my wrath after what they've done."