//------------------------------// // Wrong Lever by Knight of Lycaeus // Story: Tainted Love: A Twysalis Prompt Tag Collab // by Foals Errand //------------------------------// by Knight of Lycaeus Doors were originally constructed from wood, simple construction that did little to barricade truly valuable things. So the concept of heavy doors made of metal was truly a prized thought. These doors were meant for secure protection of whatever was behind it however at the same time these doors were not meant to be shoved open with as much force as one could muster to the point that the door slammed open warping the sturdy frame and cracking the thicker stone wall behind it. Across the threshold came Twilight and closely behind her was Chrysalis who was quickly overtaking the Alicorn. “So remind me again why we came down here in the first place?” Chrysalis yelled as charged ahead. “We came for some key items such as rare ingredients and artifacts, I needed them for some spells,” answered Twilight as she tried to keep pace with the Changeling Queen. A series of loud roars came from behind them as the things chasing them were stalled by the size of the metal door which their greater size could not go through. “We really need to seal off this old lab!” called out Chrysalis. “Later! Escape first, I pretty sure I that I now know what had happened and that is when this lab got pushed down by the growing roots of the Crystal Oaks it made everything especially the wards unstable which then led to this mess.” What happened earlier that day…. “That was horrific,” said Chrysalis as tried to calm her breathing down. She tried to place a forehoof before herself to help her stand, but she had troubles finding the floor. “It was not as bad as it could have been,” Twilight commented as she moved over to help the stumbling Chrysalis. “Not as bad?” Chrysalis asked as she rested tried to soothe her headache with a forehoof. “We came through a series of backdoors, switchbacks, and the odd sinkhole just to get here. What other surprises could be worse than that mad trip you subjected me through just to get down here?” “Many things, I have been experimenting with potions, alchemy, wards, glyphs, quite a long list,” Twilight said as walked over to the tables. “Although thankfully with the wards the damage should be contained and then absorbed and dissipated and then all we would have is a large mess to clean.” “Why is your lab so far down?” Chrysalis asked as she joined Twilight in browsing through the stuff and poking and prodding at whatever was down here. Twilight paused and sighed deeply as her shoulder drooped, “Tirek. This lab was the basement of Golden Oaks and the only part to survive. The sudden growth of Crystal Oaks pushed it further down into the earth which is why I had to construct a convoluted means to get down as the wards prevent teleportation, warping, portals, and generally all transportation magic. Well except for one place in the lab that lets me teleport out.” Chrysalis wrapped a leg around the Alicorn who return the gesture with a nuzzle and a smile. “Thanks,” Twilight said. Chrysalis moved off and continued to poke through the lab and as she looked through the odds and ends that she could not decipher their use including strangely some preserved food called a Deep Fried Doorstop. Seeing some of the odds and ends gave her an idea and she turned to Twilight with a smirk across her face as she asked, “Oh Twilight you mentioned a lot of what’s down here, but what else? Is there a means by which I could lead a grand conquest, perhaps a conquest of one of Equestria’s neighbours maybe?” Twilight softly nudged Chrysalis, “I see that smirk and I know what you have in mind. For sure this time I will not help you in any way, shape, or form in constructing something that you could use for conquest. Besides we don’t need you conquering a nearby nation. Your near conquest of a nearby county was bad enough; we don’t need that chaos in our lives.” “Oh? I guess you have that mismatched creature for that,” Chrysalis commented. Twilight ignored her comment as she pushed past to find their intended destination. Chrysalis trailing behind could now see that they were before a large vault and off to one wall were a few containment wards holding a few alchemical creations. Twilight began moving parts here and there and getting the lock opened up. “Chrysalis could you please put your hoof on the glyph over there,” Twilight said pointed off to the wall opposite of the wall with the containment wards. Chrysalis nodded. “That sounds simple enough,” Chrysalis said as she walked over to push the glyph. Twilight pulled ahead and veered towards one of the walls. “Some of these precautions should still work.” “I hope so,” Chrysalis yelled as she heard a louder roar behind her. The escaped alchemical creations had by either the mad forces that conspired against them or by whatever they were created from had merged into a large thing that looked vaguely like a crocodile and had barged through the thick stone wall. Twilight slammed her hoof on various wards inscribed on the wall with each ward lightning up as she did, “Hit the glyph over there!” Chrysalis looked to see a pair of glyphs that she could not figure out. She was about to ask when she could hear the monsters’ roar even more loudly than earlier. She took a chance and hit one of them and it looked like nothing happened. “What was supposed to happen?” “The barriers should have gone up.” Before either of them knew it the alchemical crocodile was over their heads and about to bite down. Before they could defend themselves they both felt the warmth of the sun and Twilight quickly realized they were outside in a field just beyond Ponyville and above them was the alchemical monster. “Wrong glyph!” Twilight shouted as she turned to glare at Chrysalis. “You need to label those things better!” Chrysalis shouted with a glare of her own. However a loud roar distracted both of them and they look to see the alchemical thing lumbering off towards the town. “Oh right, that thing was with us,” Chrysalis commented. Twilight facehoofed, “Oh wonderful, we have managed to unleash a giant terror on Ponyville…. again.”