//------------------------------// // Severed // Story: Warped Mind // by TheUnknownPerson //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle quietly trotted towards the treeline, her friends in a small group behind her. Lance and Applejack followed closely behind her. The group stopped as they reached the tree line. "Okay everypony, pay attention." Twilight turned to her group. All eyes were on her. "Once we're inside there, no pony splits up, no matter what. We can't risk it in there. If we get split away from each other somehow, find somepony else and try to regroup, okay?" Twilight said. Everypony nodded. "Stay beside me, Blooming." Lance quietly whispered to her younger sister, pushing Blooming to her side. "Okay, I'll go make sure everything's good with the entrance, no changelings or anything, then we'll go." "Do you want one'a us to come with you?" "No. It'll only take a minute. Just keep watch." Applejack nodded. Twilight turned and trotted into the treeline, scanning the area for any changelings. She reached the outpost, seeing the area was clear. Okay... time to go--? Twilight noticed out of the corner of her eye that there was a red trail in the snow, leading to the treeline. It was dark red, already dried. Is that blood? Twilight questioned. What the hay... this wasn't here before, was it? Twilight nearly jumped as the snow cracked to her right. She took a step back and prepared to run back to her friends, but before she could, somepony coughed. A bloody hoof reached around the three, using a low hanging branch to pull its self up. A unicorn mare limped out from behind the tree in front of her. Her golden coat was covered in marks, bruises, and cuts. There was a large gash down her stomach that was leaking and dripping blood, her red mane had been splashed with dry blood, and her right eye was swollen shut. A slash went over her cutie mark, slicing over a notebook, slicing the outlines of a pony in half. "Please... Twili..." The pony wheezed, her voice weak. Before she could finish, her hooves gave out on her and she fell to the snow with a loud thump. "Oh, Celestia..." Twilight said. The mare stifled a groan as she dragged her to the tree next to her and leaned her against it. "If you can hear me, I'm going to go get help, okay?" The mare held Twilight's hoof. "No... you have to... to get to him..." "Who?" Twilight asked as she unraveled her scarf. The mare looked up to her before a cough ripped through her, blood splashing onto Twilight. Twilight quickly took off her scarf and wrapped it around her neck. "I'll be back in a minute. Just- just try to stay warm and I'll be back in a second. " Twilight said, backing away from her. After she had gotten a few feet away from her, she turned and galloped at a full sprint. That pony sounded like she was going to say my name... Twilight noted. As she passed the tree line, she saw Fluttershy and Applejack were trotting towards the tree line. They rushed up to her as they saw her galloping. "Is everything all right, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, rushing to Twilight's side. Applejack stood in front of Twilight. "What's the matter, sugarcube?" Twilight stopped in front of them, deeply breathing for whatever air she could get. "There's a pony out there... she's..." Twilight took another deep breath, this time trying not to vomit from the gruesomeness of her injuries. "I-I don't even want to think about what they did to her..." "Is there a stallion with her?" Lance questioned. She and the rest of the group quickly trotted to her. Blooming was standing beside her, tears quickly filling her eyes. "No, thankfully." Twilight said. Lance took a breath, however, she still seemed uneasy. "She's hurt really badly. The outpost's clear, so I thought we maybe take care of her before we go." "Of course we can." Rarity said, stepping out from the group and standing beside Applejack. "Okay. I'll lead the way." Twilight said, turning and trotting towards the treeline. After a moment or two, they reached the treeline outside of the outpost, seeing the mare still leaning against the same tree. "Sweet Celestia..." Applejack muttered, sympathetic. "What're we s'pposed to do?" "Fluttershy bandaged me up when I got stabbed by the changelings." Rainbow Dash suggested. Twilight and Applejack turned to Fluttershy. Her face flushed as she immediately turned her gaze to the ground. "Um... I-I bandage cuts and bruises on animals and small cuts on ponies... but that-- I-I don't know if I could help." "Can't'cha do somethin'? It don't have to be much as it's somethin'." Fluttershy remained quiet for a moment, staring at the ground. "I guess I-I could try bandaging her gash and cleaning her up a bit." "Thank ya kindly." Applejack said, stepping out of Fluttershy's way. --- Shining Armor sat in the corner of the cell, staring at the door to the outside. He'd been guarding the cell for well over a couple of hours now, all while Cadance was still unconscious. Nothing but silence... Shining noted, sighing and wiping down his face. "Taltra!" Cadance sprung up, looking around the cell in a panic. "Cadance? Are you all right?" Cadance turned to Shining. "Thank Celestia..." Cadance said. She got up and trotted over to Shining, sitting down beside him. She winced as leaned down to sit. "That's gonna hurt for awhile. You did take a pretty bad beating before I got over there." "Where's Taltra?" Cadance asked. Shining looked away from her, guilty, "I... I'm sorry. I tried to stop them, honestly, but they still took her." Shining said. Cadance looked away from him and let out a few swears. "I hope she'll be okay." "Me too, Cadance." Shining said. Although he knew the possibility of that was slim to no chance. "Are you all right?" "Oh-- of course. I'm fine. Just a few bruises and a bloody snout." Shining said, chuckling a bit. "Okay. Good. Glad that you weren't hurt that badly." "You too." Cadance leaned into Shining's shoulder, resting her head on the crease of his neck. "I know Twilight will get us out. I just know it." Shining smiled. Cadance glanced up a smile of her own. --- Fluttershy and Twilight leaned over the mare. Twilight held a small cloth over the mare's gash as Fluttershy wrapped the rest of her remaining scarf around it and tied it. She dunked her hooves in the snow, rubbing the blood free from her hooves "Okay... that's all I can do." Twilight looked over the mare. The blood and dirt on her face had been cleaned along with her mane and the gash on her stomach had been bandaged. Her cutie mark was more visible, showing an open notebook, with the outline of a pony in the middle. A cut had been slashed across the pony, slicing it in half down the middle. "Thank you. Go ahead and get cleaned up. I'll see if I can learn anything about her." Fluttershy nodded, trotting away from Twilight. "Twi..." The mare groaned before she could finish. "Try not to speak. You're really hurt." "No... I have to tell you-" The mare stifled another groan, every word she said painfully. "Your brother is changing soon." She finished. Twilight stared at her, confused. "How do you know that?" Twilight asked. "What do you mean? How do you know I'm out here for Shining?" The mare released a loud cough. She wheezed, struggling to breathe. "Calm down. Catch your breath." Twilight said. The mare took a few moments to breathe before she spoke. "I was with Shining Armor." She said. "I-I was his guide." "His guide? What do you..." Twilight trailed off, lost in her thoughts for a moment. Then she came to a sudden realization. She's a changeling! She quickly stumbled back. "No-" The mare reached up for her, only to wince. "I-I couldn't hurt you if I wanted. Everything hurts." She put her hoof back down. "Are you a changeling?" "I-I was..." The mare said, looking at her hooves. "Then Queen Chrysalis cast some spell on me and Shining. I became less of a changeling as he became more of one." She finished. Twilight didn't know whether to be fearful or to be in disbelief. "But I swear I don't serve her anymore." "Are you telling the truth?" Twilight asked. The mare nodded. "Okay. I trust you." Twilight said. The mare smiled as she nodded. "How'd you get so injured?" "Queen Chrysalis had me dragged out of my cell and thrown into the courtyard. S-she just-- just let her guards beat me and cut me until she was satisfied. Every one of them beat me... except one..." The mare said, pausing for a moment. She seemed to become lost in her thoughts for a moment. "Is everything all right?" Twilight asked. The mare stared at the ground for a moment more before gazing back at Twilight "That's when she did this." The mare said, pointing to her right eye. "She just... just shot a magic bolt into my eye like it was nothing and then... then she just started hitting me in my eye. And she wouldn't stop until he jumped in and pulled her off of me." "Can you see out of it?" "It's too swollen. Maybe a little." "Okay. Who pulled Queen Chrysalis off of you? Shining?" "No... I'd rather not say who exactly." "Okay. That's fine. What's your name?" "Queen Chrysalis always referred to me as Taltra." "What'd you like for us to call you then?" "Radiant..." She said, looking up at Twilight. "Radiant Shine." --- An Hour Later Twilight Sparkle trotted over to the treeline, looking at the building and seeing that the area was still clear. We can't stay here out in the open for much longer. Twilight thought. She looked to Radiant, seeing her still leaning against the tree, unconscious. And we can't leave Radiant Shine to die... Twilight thought. She sighed, staring at the clearing with the building, thinking of what she could do. Maybe I could have a couple of my friends stay behind with her... make sure she'll be all right while we're gone. But we'll need all the ponies we can get if we're going into the Changeling's Kingdom... there were hundreds of them last time, and we barely managed to expel them last time. Twilight fought with herself for a moment before turning and trotting to the group. I can't let Radiant die. "Everypony, listen." Twilight said, gaining everypony's in the group's attention. "We're gonna be heading into the outpost soon. But I need to ask two of you to stay behind to make sure Radiant will be all right." "Shouldn't we have all hooves on board if we're going in their home?" "I thought that too, but we can't allow somepony to die if we're able to do something about it." "All right. Can't say that's not gonna make things easier for us, though..." "So, who's willing to stay behind?" Twilight asked. Slowly, but surely, Fluttershy stepped out. "I-I will, if no pony minds. Since I'm the one who patched her up." Fluttershy said, trotting over to Radiant. "Okay. Anypony else?" Rarity stepped out. She trotted over to Radiant and stood beside Twilight. "I'd be of more use here anyway." Lance stepped outside of the group with Blooming "Maybe you should stay here too, Blooming. Mom and dad'd kill me if they knew I let you get into the Changeling Kingdom twice." Lance said jokingly. Blooming looked up at her, smiling, but still worried. "Are you sure? You're still sick, you should stay too." "'Course. I'll be fine." "Okay... just please be careful." Blooming said. Lance hugged her and kissed her forehead. "I love you, okay?" "Love you, too." Blooming said. Lance trotted back over to the group. "Okay, we should head out if we want to reach the Changeling Kingdom by noon." "Okay, darling. Everypony be cautious out there." "You guys stay safe too. We'll be back." Twilight and everypony else in her group said their goodbyes as they trotted towards the small building. Rainbow Dash trotted up to the door, putting her right fore-hoof on the knob. She looked to Applejack and Pinkie, making sure they were ready. "Well, no reason to dilly-daddle, let's go on with it." Applejack said. Rainbow Dash nodded in a agreement, opening the door and stepping through. --- Shining Armor and Cadance sat in the corner of the cell, leaning against each other. Creaak Four changeling guards stepped in, standing in front of Queen Chrysalis. "Grab them. Keep them separated." Queen Chrysalis ordered. The changelings stepped in quickly, taking action. They opened the door, rushing in. Shining stood in front of Cadance, blocking them. "Foolish of you to want to be captured first, but if that's what you'd like, then so be it." Two of the guards tried to grab Shining. He pushed them away before he had the chance to drag him away. "Stay away from him!" Cadance exclaimed, standing up beside Shining. "Cadance, don't-" One of the two changeling guards grabbed his right fore-hoof as the other punched him in the snout. They quickly bound his fore-hooves with chains and dragged him away as the other two guards grabbed Cadance. "Don't you dare!" Shining yelled as he was dragged out of the cell. He struggled against the changelings' grasp, but he was still weak. "Take him to my throne room. We'll continue it there." Queen Chrysalis said. The guards nodded as they dragged him out of the room. --- "Huh?" "What is it?" "There's no changelings in here or anything." Rainbow Dash said, trotting down the staircase into the hall below. Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Lance Force, and Pinkie Pie followed behind. "What the hay're we s'pposed to do now? Doesn't look like this is the big post we thought it'd be." "I guess we follow the hallway." "That's it?" Lance said under a cough. "That's all I've got. Don't see any rooms or diverging hallways so far." "All right... but keep on your guard. And if you see Rocky, let me handle him." Lance said, trotting in front of them and down the hallway. They followed behind. ---