//------------------------------// // Light a Fire // Story: Twilight Manages to Screw Up More Than Usual // by Fire Gazer the Alchemist //------------------------------// Nothing. Twilight had absolutely nothing. She paced the cell, gnawing at her lip. No matter how many times she thought it through, none of her escape plans really held any water. The biggest problem was the changelings at the door. If they weren’t watching them, or even if there were less of them, it would be so much easier to plan, to talk out loud, to do anything. She looked to her brother, who was still propped up against the wall, eyes shut. It would have been a lot easier if he was awake too. Twilight sighed and looked to the girls. Bon Bon was leaning against the wall, tapping her hoof to the ground, Lyra and Octavia were sitting, Derpy was lying down and shooting occasional glances at Nightmare Moon, who was still pouting in the corner and Vinyl was… rummaging through her saddlebags. Saddlebags! Twilight looked to the pouches strapped around her torso. They were still there and—minus the Elements of Harmony—it felt like everything was still inside of them. A spark of hope hit her and she clung to the thought that maybe something in one of her friends bags might be able to help. Then she blinked in confusion. The changelings had left their saddlebags untouched? That didn’t seem right. She looked up to the one standing at the door. “We already searched them when you all were unconscious,” he said. Twilight’s eyes widened. Had he read her mind or something? “Wha—” “You were staring at your saddlebags and looked confused,” he answered. “I’m not an idiot.” Closing her mouth and pressing her lips together, Twilight sighed inwardly. “Okay, but why did you leave them with us?” “We didn’t find anything that could be used as a weapon, so Her Majesty said you could keep them. At the very least you can enjoy the last of your worldly possessions before you’re turned into a dry husk of lovelessness.” He snickered. “Never let it be said that we aren’t hospitable.” Twilight gulped. That was probably happening to Cadance right now and she wasn’t able to do anything about it. Instead of dwelling on that, she slung her saddlebags free and dug inside. There wasn’t much in them without the Elements of Harmony, but she looked anyway on the faint hope that her past self had put something in there that would help them escape. Canteen, Elements reference guide, binoculars, compass, bug spray… well… no, not the bug spray. If anything that would only offend the changelings. Twilight sighed and dropped the bag on the ground. Honestly, what had she been hoping for? That she’d somehow foreseen being captured by changelings and trapped underground back when she’d been packing for the trip? Yeah right. She paced around the cell for a while longer, unable to make eye contact with anypony and eventually took a seat. Okay… don’t lose hope yet. We might still have a way out. Twilight chewed the inside of her cheek and decided to go over her top ideas so far and see if anything new could be found. Digging our way out… no, too obvious, too time consuming, and no guarantee that we’d even dig a way to Cadance or the surface before getting caught. Taking out the guards… requires all of us to be on the same page, but we can’t get on the same page without talking it out and they would hear that… so that’s out. Maybe just making a run for it? There’s no way all of us would get out. Shining’s hurt, Nightmare’s chained up, and Spike’s not very fast… that’s out too. Twilight groaned and looked to the ground. Escape seemed less and less probable with each passing second. “You know, there is still a way we can get out of here.” Blinking, Twilight snapped out of her thoughts to realize she’d taken a seat right next to Nightmare Moon. The demonic alicorn was giving her a sideways glance of opportunity, but had laced it with ulterior motives. Twilight thought she knew what she meant, but decided to play along in the hopes that Nightmare actually had a good idea. “What are you talking about?” Nightmare shifted her gaze from the corner to Twilight. “I can help you escape, but first you have to do something for me.” It was obvious what she meant. Twilight glanced up at the three inhibitor rings on Nightmare’s horn. “No!” she declared suddenly, causing Nightmare to flinch. “I’m not releasing you.” Nightmare Moon snarled in disappointment and stood so that she would tower over her. “Think for once in your life, Twilight,” she hissed. “You’re stuck here. There’s no way you can escape without my raw magical power. If you want your ‘friends’ to be safe, you’ll release me!” Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but paused. In a way, Nightmare was right. She hadn’t thought of any good escape plans and at this rate she might never. But at the same time, they couldn’t put so much trust into a pony who had said on multiple occasions how she wanted them dead, among other things. But did she really have a choice? Twilight looked over to the rest of the cell. Their little talk had garnered the attention of everypony, even the guard who was tensing to act if she so much as reached for one of the rings. Her friends, on the other hoof, just looked concerned. Between the furrowed brows and unsure frowns, Twilight could see one question reverberating through all of them: Was she really going to do it? Pressing her lips into a thin line, Twilight shook her head. “No.” Even if it meant they might get free, it was just too risky. Nightmare scowled. “You’re an idiot.” Derpy took a step forward. “I’m sorry, Nightmare. I want to believe you want to help us, but you have to understand that you’re asking for a lot and—” “Oh just shut up!” Nightmare exploded. “I don’t want to hear any more of the baseless drivel that stumbles out of your mouth. You’re nothing! Absolutely nothing! Do you hear me?” Derpy’s mouth fell open. Her ears folded down and water lined the rims of her eyes. “I…” “Unless you plan on accepting my offer, leave me alone.” Nightmare turned around to face the corner again and Derpy retreated a few steps. Twilight ground her teeth together. “You know, she was just trying to be friendly; you don’t have to be so rude.” Nightmare scoffed. “You’re one to talk.” “What?” Nightmare rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Oh please, I’ve seen the way you act around them. The train, the hotel, all throughout the forest. You’ve been just as annoyed with all of them as I am, haven’t you? The only difference between us is that I actually have the guts to say what I’m thinking.” She narrowed her eyes. “And you have the nerve to try and scold me. I am the rightful Princess of Equestri—” “Just shut up.” Twilight stalked away, heading for Derpy. “Hey, don’t ignore me when I’m monologuing!” The sounds of a stamping hoof and rattling chains dominated the cell, but were happily ignored. Twilight reached her pegasus friend and patted her back, ignoring Nightmare Moon. “You okay?” Derpy looked up and wiped her eyes. “I’m fine. I know she didn’t… well, she might’ve meant it, but she’s just mad right now. I’m sure she just needs time to cool off.” “Sure.” Twilight tried to smile, but she didn’t really believe it. Nothing short of a magical rainbow blast from the Elements of Harmony would cause Nightmare Moon to ‘cool off’. Derpy’s trying so hard though. She really wants to befriend Nightmare. It’s kind of… kind of like how she was with me. Twilight blinked at that realization. Although before it hadn’t really occurred to her, now it did. She’d been a lot like Nightmare, minus the intent of ruling Equestria with eternal night. They were both really resistant to friendship, Twilight only changing now that she had accepted it. It was actually kind of scary to think about. How close had she been to treating everypony as bad as Nightmare? How close was Nightmare to accepting friendship like her? Twilight glanced back over to the angsty alicorn. ...Should I be making more of an effort like Derpy’s? she pondered. Then she shook her head; that was a question for another time. Right now, escape should be her focus. Octavia sighed now that Nightmare’s outburst was over. “Well, since we’re still going to be here for a while, do you want to practice some, Lyra?” Frowning, Lyra’s hooves jittered. “A-are you sure? I mean, I can play in front of a c-crowd now—kinda. I don’t know if…” Octavia smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder.“You know what, you’re right. You’ve made a lot of progress and I’m really proud of you.” “Oh.” Lyra smiled. “Thanks Octavia—” “But you’re coming in a little weak on the chorus,” she finished with a sheepish smile. “...Really?” Lyra lowered her eyelids in annoyance. “Yeah… sorry, but you know me.” Octavia kept her awkward smile in hopes that it would be enough to appease her. “Come on, Lyra, play for us a bit,” Bon Bon encouraged. She nudged her friend with her shoulder. “What’s the harm?” “Oh… all right.” Lyra took a seat and shrugged off her saddlebags, drawing out her golden instrument. She plucked the first string with her hoof, awkwardly. “Just give me a moment; I’m out of practice using my hooves on this thing.” “Thank you, Lyra.” Octavia smiled. Twilight smiled too. It’d be nice to hear Lyra play; if anything it might help take away some of her stress. Celestia knows she could use less of that. “Urrgh.” An exhausted groan tore her attention from everything else. Her gaze shifted to Shining Armor, who was shaking his head and prying his eyes open. “He’s waking up!” Spike called out. “Shining!” Twilight ran to him and pinned him with a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” “Whoa… good to see you’re okay too, Twily.” Shining brought up a shaky hoof to return the hug. “Uh… watch the bruises, would ya?” “Oh!” Twilight loosened her hold and blinked back her tears. She was just so happy that he was awake; it was a light of hope in an otherwise bleak situation. “Good to see you bright eyed and bushy tailed, Pretty Boy,” Vinyl said as she walked up to them. “How’re you feeling?” “Not… great,” Shining admitted. “What happened while I was out?” Twilight opened her mouth to explain, but Vinyl beat her to it. “Well… there’s bad news, worse news, horrible news, and a little good news. Which do you want to hear first?” Shining paused for a moment to contemplate his surroundings and all the possibilities. “Let me guess, we’re in changeling jail, they took Cadance, and they plan on harvesting all of our love.” Vinyl gave him a half-smile. “You’re even better at guessing than Smart Mare. You nailed everything but the good news.” “That’s just because I couldn’t think of any,” Shining replied. “I’m pretty sure the good news is that you finally woke up.” Twilight released her brother from the hug to give him some space. He started to get up onto his hooves again. “Ding ding ding, we have a winner.” Vinyl clapped Twilight on the back. “And Smart Mare reclaims her throne.” “Yeah, well, fat lot of good news I am.” Shining grunted and kicked the floor. “I couldn’t even keep you guys safe.” “Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it,” Spike told him. “You did your best to save us. And even without magic you kept trying to help Cadance.” The corners of his mouth tried to rise, but the gravity of the situation held them down. “Thanks, but trying doesn’t really count for much.” Twilight pressed her lips together at the memory of Shining’s attempts. He’d been almost desperate to save Cadance of all ponies. “But you still tried. For her.” Twilight looked at him. As thick as her brother’s skull tended to be, the message got through rather quickly. “Yeah, I did.” “But I thought—” “That I hated her?” Shining took a long, slow sigh. “Look, I don’t know how much she’s told you—” “Everything,” Twilight filled in. “Nothing,” Vinyl interjected. “Also nothing,” Spike added. Shining sucked on his teeth for an instant before slipping into another sigh. “All right, look: I’m still very mad about what happened, but I’m her guard and that means personal feelings come second to making sure that she’s safe.” He looked to the ground. “And I wasn’t even able to do that.” Twilight could empathize with him and put a hoof on his shoulder. “Look, it’s okay. We’ll find a way out of here before too long and then we’ll save Cadance.” Their changeling guard snorted derisively. Twilight pretended not to hear him. “And when we do, I’m going to make sure the two of you can talk it all out, okay?” Shining looked up, but he didn’t seem too convinced. “I don’t exactly want to talk to her about what happened, Twilight.” “Well you’re going to,” Twilight huffed. “Look, I know what happened between you two was… less than ideal. But Cadance had her reasons—albeit very poor ones that don’t justify her actions—but she still had reasons. The two of you need to talk about what happened.” “Twilight…” “I’m not asking you to marry her,” Twilight interjected. “I’m not even asking you to get back together with her—” Vinyl hoof pumped silently. “—But can you at least try to understand her reasoning? She did what she did because she was desperate not to lose you. I think that should be taken into consideration.” Shining groaned, but didn’t respond immediately. Instead he furrowed his brow in thought and gave it some consideration. “I think,” he finally said. “That we should focus on getting out of here first.” Twilight half-frowned. He was dodging the issue. He brought up a fair point, but he was still dodging. “Okay.” She eyed the changeling standing at the entrance. He was doing his best to divide his attention to every member of the room, so he could only focus on them for a few moments at a time. If they talked quietly, they might be able to work out a plan. “We have to find a way out of here as soon as possible. By now Chrysalis is probably already extracting as much love from Cadance as possible.” Shining nodded, but his face creased in a frown. Twilight figured that he’d probably been trying to figure out ways for them to escape since waking up and had probably already run the gamut of what she’d been thinking about earlier. Hopefully if they put their heads together they could get something. The soft plucking of lyre strings filled the cell suddenly. Twilight’s ears flicked at the sound and she turned her head slightly. Her peripherals gave her a glimpse to confirm her guess that Lyra had started playing. Despite the situation they found themselves in, Twilight couldn’t help but smile a little at the infectious melody. She felt a nudge in her side, jutting her from her listening. Slightly annoyed, she turned to the offender, Vinyl, and narrowed her eyes. “What?” Vinyl merely pointed to the door, a small smirk on her face. Curious, Twilight turned. As her vision focused back around, she noticed the changeling standing guard was slowly swaying his head to Lyra’s tune. Looking even beyond him, the two guards standing outside their cell poked their heads inside, trying to deduce the source of the music. Twilight’s eyebrow rose at this discovery. Interesting. Throughout the rest of Lyra’s tune, the changelings grew slightly more complacent. The two outside wandered in for a better listening experience. Granted, they stayed close to the entrance, but it was still a massive shift from the usual. For once, all three guards were visible. Not only that, but they weren’t as on guard as guards tended to be. Twilight knew from Shining that Celestia’s soldiers were always standing at attention and tense as if they expected action every second of their lives. The changelings here were letting their shoulders slump and their bodies relax as they got lost in Lyra’s melody. Twilight looked to her brother and could see a glint in his eyes as he realized the exact same thing as her: a possible way out. Before she could even kickstart her brain back into action, the song ended. The changelings, now deprived of the ear-phoria of Lyra’s music, began slipping back into focus. Twilight clenched her jaw; that couldn’t happen. She turned to Lyra. “Hey, can you play something else real quick?” Lyra blinked. “Uh… I guess?” She glanced at Octavia, looking for a go-ahead. In response, she tapped her hoof to the ground. “I don’t know. I have a few notes I could give you and—” “Please let her play,” one of the changelings spoke up. It was echoed by the other two and they all leaned in, hoping. Octavia raised her eyebrow and looked to Twilight, who nodded. Understanding passed between them and then to Lyra as well as she saw the look in their eyes. “Well, I am a pony pleaser… er, changeling pleaser?” Octavia shook her head. “Just play something, Lyra.” “Any requests?” Lyra asked the room. “A love song!” One of the changelings called out, before anypony else could get a word in. Lyra blinked at the suddenness, but shifted to pinching her lips together in minor annoyance. “Of course. Should’ve seen that coming.” She hoisted her lyre back into position and her hooves began their dance along the strings once more. Twilight did her best to ignore the whimsical tune that flowed from the instrument and turned her focus to the guards. Between the three of them they had a dopey grin, blatant salivation and half-closed eyelids. She grinned. At the same moment, a hoof was placed on her shoulder. She barely beat back the urge to flinch and half turned to see her brother right between her and Vinyl. “Let’s sneak around and take them down from behind,” he whispered as softly as possible. “Got it,” Vinyl said, while Twilight didn’t risk speaking and opted to nod instead. With that confirmation, Shining withdrew and started to slink around to outflank the changelings. He attempted to be as nonchalant as possible as he worked his way over to the one furthest away. Vinyl followed after, moving to the middle of the group and Twilight took the one on her end. Everypony around the room did their best to act like they weren’t noticing it. Bon Bon had taken a profound interest in the ceiling, Derpy was looking at either the ground, or Nightmare, or both, and Octavia was intently focused on the strings of the lyre. None of them could resist a glance or two back towards the makeshift ‘strike team’, however. Luckily the changelings were too lost in the music to notice. Twilight and Vinyl looked over to Shining for the cue to go. Lyra’s playing seemed to increase in volume as tension rose. Shining’s blue eyes narrowed as he positioned himself behind his changeling. He paused, then nodded. What happened next was lightning quick. Shining drove his fetlock into the back of his changeling, causing it to cry out and flail to the ground. Lyra’s music came to an abrupt end now that the violence started, and she tensed up all over. Vinyl tackled her changeling a split second later, knocking them both to the ground. Twilight’s changeling had enough time to react to the first two attacks and turn to face her before she brought up a hoof and whacked it across the face. It stumbled, but didn’t go down. As it shook itself to its senses it glared back at her. Cringing, Twilight took a step back. She wasn’t exactly a strong fighter without her magic, but she had hoped that that would have done something. “Big mistake,” it hissed at her. She saw its legs tense, ready to pounce. “Hiiya!” Octavia sprang forward with a right hook, making contact with the changeling’s jaw. After a thunderous snap, it fell to the ground. Twilight grinned. “Thank you.” Octavia returned the smile. “Not a problem.” “Is anyone’s changeling still conscious?” Shining asked. Twilight turned to him and saw his changeling sprawled across the floor in a heap. She winced slightly for it, but couldn’t find any pity. Instead she turned to her own and saw it lying on the ground. “Not ours.” “Right here,” Vinyl replied from the ground. They glanced down to the floor of the cell and saw Vinyl struggling to pin down a writhing changeling. Everytime he tried to wiggle a limb free, Vinyl clamped down on it. “Allow me,” Shining said, stepping forward.   Vinyl blinked in curiosity, and reluctantly eased up on her captive. He tried to flee instantly, kicking Vinyl off and trying to make a run for the door. Shining easily countered, knocking him to the ground. Before the changeling could get back up he grabbed his foreleg and held it to his back, pinning him to the ground. “Okay buddy,” Shining pushed his foreleg further against his back, eliciting a yelp from the creature. “You’re going to help us out.” “As if I’d ever—Ah!” He winced as Shining drove his foreleg against his back. “Let me finish,” Shining calmly told him. He got no objections. “Good. Now, I want you to tell us just two itty bitty pieces of information. Just tell us where Princess Cadance is, and how to remove this gunk from our horns. That doesn’t sound too hard to answer, does it?” The changeling jerked violently, but Shining held firm. He pressed against the held foreleg, making the changeling hiss in pain. “This isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Twilight said. “There’s no way he’ll just tell us what we want to know.” “You got that right,” the changeling spat. “Not even for another love song?” Lyra asked, holding up her lyre tantalizingly. He grunted. “I will not fall for your tricks a second time, siren.” “...I’m a pony.” Derpy reached into Bon Bon’s saddle bags and withdrew a familiar treat. “How about for a muffin?” The changeling narrowed his eyes. “Oh… right, you eat love… my bad.” Derpy sheepishly tucked the muffin away. “Well, I do bake everything with lots of love,” Bon Bon said. “Does that count?” “No,” the changeling bluntly replied. “Ah.” Twilight sighed. They were going nowhere fast and wasting valuable time because of this changeling. She had half a mind to let her brother give his method a try again. Before she could suggest that, however she heard the clatter of chains. Turning her head, she saw Nightmare Moon standing up and stalk her way over from the corner. The scowl on her face was evident as she approached. Everypony backed away, giving her a straight shot to the changeling, who was still helplessly pinned down. Nightmare Moon leaned forward, her face becoming the dominating force in the changeling’s field of vision. Twilight could practically feel the nervousness radiating off of him, which she completely understood. Nightmare Moon could be pretty intimidating even with her restraints. “Now you listen to me, gnat.” Nightmare voice was twisted with menace. “Do you know who I am?” The changeling slowly shook his head. Nightmare grinned evilly, showing off an impressive set of sharpened teeth. “I am a millennia-old goddess with enough power in my left hoof to lay waste to civilizations. I have spent countless hours alone on the moon, that isolation only twisting my blackened heart more than you could possibly imagine. I am heinous. I am darkness. I am the story that parents tell their foals to scare them into behaving.” She leaned in further. “And if you don’t tell these idiots how to get out of here, then there will be a new scary bedtime story about the changeling whose entrails could be found everywhere from Canterlot to the Badlands. Do I make myself clear?” “C-Crystal.” The changeling was shaking. Even Shining looked a little paler and the threat wasn’t even directed at him. Twilight herself felt goosebumps, but she ignored them. “Such a submissive race,” Nightmare mused as she leaned backwards. “I may have to make servants out of them. Could be handy for espionage.” “Plot world domination later, Nightmare,” Twilight waved her hoof dismissively at the demonic alicorn. “We need to focus on questioning him.” “All right,” Shining said as Nightmare took a step back. “So, where is Cadance and how can we get this stuff off our horns?” “The alicorn was taken to the dining chamber. It’s only about two levels above us.” The changeling squirmed, likely feeling bad about his betrayal, but was egged on by fear. “A-as for your horns, the goo bound to them is much softer than you think. I’m told it has a keen resemblance to candle wax.” “Candle wax?” Shining and Twilight chorused. “Yes!” the changeling hastily nodded. “Even a soft flame would be able to melt it free.” He grinned. “If you had any that is.” Spike stepped forward, coughing into his claw. “Ahem.” Twilight, along with everypony else, turned to him, grinning. The changeling stared at them all, brow furrowed. “I don’t get it, why are you all staring at the lizard?” “Because I’m not a lizard,” Spike said proudly. “I’m a dragon!” The changeling blinked. “...And?” Spike rolled his eyes and blew a soft, green flame from his mouth. It dissipated quickly, but the implication was clear. “Oh…” the changeling stared at the ground in defeat. It lasted only for a moment, before he lifted his head up in triumph and gave a laugh. “You’ll still never escape. The Queen only gets more powerful with each drop of love she eats. By now she’s probably already drained your pink friend of everything she has. There will be no stopping her now.” “That’s enough out of you.” Shining brought his hoof down hard on the changeling's head. With a thud, his muscles relaxed and he slipped to unconsciousness. Shining stood up and dusted himself off. “This could be bad,” Twilight murmured. She didn’t know the Queen of the Changelings could draw power from love. It was a game changer, even if they did get their magic back. They might as well be out of the frying pan and into the fire. “Girls…” Bon Bon grinned. “Don’t worry, Twilight, we’re ready for this.” Vinyl clapped her on the back. “Yeah, what are friends for if not for fighting bug monsters together?” Everypony else nodded in agreement. Twilight smiled. It was good to have friends. Nightmare made a gagging sound. “Oh, just hurry it up already. This rocky prison is starting to remind me of the moon, and trust me you don’t want me thinking about my time there.” “Not a problem,” Spike said. He looked at the unicorns in the room. “Ready?” Lyra and Shining nodded. “Whenever you are, Spike,” Twilight said. Vinyl touched the base of her horn nervously. “Just don’t roast the goods, you know? I kinda really need this horn for DJing.” “Don’t worry,” Spike assured her. “I’m pretty good at controlled burning.” Twilight smiled teasingly. “I don’t even want to know how you know that.” They all shared a brief laugh, enjoying the calm before the storm. Then Spike took a breath in preparation. Shining leaned in first, silently agreeing to be the test dummy. Once his horn was in place, he nodded. “Do it.”