Lost in a New World

by KingBrony

Twilight 1 - In The Cell

Silence.

Princess Twilight Sparkle sighed as she rose from her seat in the crystal dungeon. Across from her, the captured Sleipnir sat behind the bars. The paper with the translations proved to be useless; the two could not understand what the other was saying. It was like this for about a week: Each morning, Twilight would make her way down to the cell, and leave empty-hoofed when the day was up. Without the sun and moon to tell the time, the princess did not really know how many days actually passed.

The Sleipnir never seemed to grow angry, but rather seemed pretty calm. It did not look like a soldier, Twilight gathered. It did not look like it could fight at all. It took a while for the princess to realize it, but her attack orders were on a group of unarmed Sleipnir. As violent as the Sleipnir have been towards the ponies, Twilight knew that not all of them were like that. And they killed a group of them.

Exiting the dungeon, Twilight found Princess Cadence talking with a group of soldiers. "Make sure the ponies are being well-cared for," The princess commanded. The soldiers saluted and went off in different directions.

"Any luck?" Cadence asked, seeing her sister-in-law approaching.

Twilight shook her head. "What's worse is that there is no information on their language - that sheet was the only thing I've found in the entire Crystal Empire book collection...even in that secret room!" The princess groaned. "There has to be some way to communicate with them?"

"What about your friend, Fluttershy?"

The purple princess remembered. "Fluttershy!" ...but, Twilight didn't know where the pegasus was right now. She could be anywhere in Equestria, alone and afraid. Maybe she was already...

Cadence caught on. "I'm sorry," She said quickly. "I didn't mean it like that."

Twilight smiled. "It's okay. We need to find another way. Maybe there is a spell that can translate languages." Twilight came up with a different solution. "I'll go back to the library again."

"Good luck!" Cadence's voice trailed off as the princess left the castle. As she made her way through the streets, she was greeted by many ponies. She could hear shouts of "Princess Twilight!" coming from every direction. Everypony depended on Twilight and Cadence now. Now, Twilight couldn't let them down.

The library was empty as usual. Twilight spread her wings and floated right up to a section of books, looking for anything that might come to be useful. "Come on, come on..." Twilight said as she sifted through the collection of books. History books, novels, recipes, minor spells, but nothing Twilight needed.

Frustrated, Twilight flew down into the secret room to look at the books stored there. Sifting through even more books, the princess finally found something: "A language spell..." She said, lifting the book into the air with her magic. She found it very weird to be able to freely use her magic now after such a long time of not having access to it, evidenced by how shaky the book was as it floated in the air.

Twilight dropped the book onto the nearby table and began to look at the spell again. "Let's see here...'The words you speak will be heard by others in their own language. Useful for talking to animals or other creatures that do not share the same language as yourself'....This is it!"

"Wait...'A word of caution. This spell has not been perfected and could cause potential harm to the caster. It is not guaranteed to work with every language. Furthermore, it takes a lot of magical strength from the user. Because of this, it is not recommended to use the spell for longer than half an hour.' Looks like I have one chance at using it." Twilight grinned. She tidied up the library a bit before taking the book with her.

A few hours had passed while she was in the library; the streets were much less crowded this time. Twilight made it to the central square before spotting a familiar filly: Berry Bunches. The pink pony was playing with a couple of crystal fillies. The three were laughing when Twilight approached them.

"Twilight!" Berry exclaimed as she ran to hug the princess. "Today, I managed to fly a bit with my one wing!" The filly jumped up and down, filled with excitement.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Twilight responded, looking at the poor filly's injured wing. "Maybe you can become the first filly to fly with only one wing!"

Berry's eyes lit up. "You really think so?"

"Anything is possible, as long as you have the desire to make it happen." Twilight said, thinking about her friends. "I have to go now, but I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah!" Berry and the fillies ran off, leaving Twilight alone. The princess turned and made her way back to the castle. I wonder how everypony else is doing...she thought to herself. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were all gone...Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were missing, and the fillies were with Spike, traveling away from Equestria. For now, she was all alone, charged with protecting the remainder of Equestria alongside Princess Cadence.

The dungeons were cold and damp as Twilight made her way down to the cell. She had been this way so many times that she memorized the route - she could do it blindfolded if she really wanted to. The dungeons here reminded her of the caverns underneath Canterlot, where Cadence was held when the changelings invaded. Twilight gazed at her reflections as she trotted onward, passing a few guards who held torches.

Finally, the cell came up. It was a moderately-sized one, with iron bars running out of the ground and into the ceiling. The Sleipnir was sleeping on a cot, next to a pile of hay and untouched vegetables. One lone bench was outside of the cell - Twilight took her place on it and began to concentrate.

The princess pulled out the book with her mouth, being careful not to use magic yet. "I hope this works..." She said to herself as she read the spell. Twilight read the spell a second time, and a third, and a fourth. Every time, those warnings kept popping out at her.

"Okay," She finally spoke, ready to perform the spell. Twilight closed her eyes and gathered her strength. The princess's horn began to glow slightly, and then much brighter. The Sleipnir had woken up by now, smelling the magic coming from Twilight. She could feel her energy draining as she tried to finish casting the spell. It made her feel very dizzy and sick, but she continued. The magic began to surround Twilight, coursing through her veins as well. With a last groan, Twilight finished the spell and opened her eyes. Nothing looked different, except for the immense lack of energy she was feeling. Wanting to see if it worked, she began to speak.

"Um, hello?"

The Sleipnir looked at her with a different look than before.

"You can speak our language now?" He responded. Twilight heard those words as if he had been speaking the ponies' language for a long time.

"Yes! It worked!" Twilight gasped. "Now, maybe you can explain to me what's going on here..."

"Maybe you can explain what's going on here, since you were the ones who attacked us and captured me." The Sleipnir snapped back.

Twilight was shocked. "Excuse me? Your leaders attacked our princesses and...and..."

"We are here to take back what is ours, nothing more." The Sleipnir said.

"Where did you come from? I mean, where were you all this time?"

The two began to converse for what seemed like a long time. Twilight asked things about the Sleipnir, and he would answer most of them. Twilight learned much about their kingdom and their leaders, about the powers they control, how they've fought the Draconequus in the past, and how their daily lives were spent. Twilight concluded that they seemed just as normal as the ponies were...with that being said, she couldn't understand why they were so violent and hungry for ponies.

The Sleipnir looked down. "All I remember about that day is being pulled into a vortex, then the next thing I know I'm in the center of a crater...and ten thousand years have passed. I'm just a simple villager...and I'm hungry."

Hearing those words made Twilight tense up, causing her to feel even dizzier. "Why do you eat ponies!?" She said as she shook her head.

"It's your magic, not you." The Sleipnir replied quickly. "Your magic gives us an extreme burst of energy. It's...addicting." He licked his lips. Twilight looked on in disgust.

"Is there a way we can live in harmony?" Twilight asked.

"Probably not." He replied nonchalantly.

Twilight knew she was getting nowhere with this. The Sleipnir in her custody was just a simple villager. He wasn't somepony important. He knew nothing useful.

"You know they will find out about this, right?" He spoke up.

"About what?"

"Your army attacked harmless Sleipnir. Our kings hate you ponies; now he'll have a good reason to fight you even more...even up here in the north." He shivered.

"We're not the violent ones here!" Twilight shouted back. "We...you attacked us! We were living so peacefully...and then..."

"I could say the same."

Twilight couldn't take the lack of energy anymore. She cut the spell before she could pass out. The Sleipnir began talking in the strange language again as Twilight regained her senses. The princess made her way out of the cell as quickly as she entered.

"Everything okay, Princess Twilight?" One of the soldiers asked her. "I heard you in there..."

"Fine. Everything's fine." Twilight replied hastily. The princess needed to get some fresh air and shake off the dizziness.

Finding herself outside, Twilight let out a big breath. The air was so crisp and fresh that it made her feel somewhat rejuvenated. Given the state of the world, she felt more at peace in that one moment than she ever did before. However, reality came calling back to her.

She looked to the sky, remembering what that Sleipnir said. If he was right, then they would come and invade. However, Twilight knew that the Sleipnir were weak against the cold. If they were to try and attack, the ponies would see them coming from a mile away. Twilight flew out to the edge of the Crystal Empire, landing on one of the towers. The beautiful grass stretched out for a distance before transitioning into snow. Orange clouds cluttered the twilight sky. For the first time, Twilight noticed the sun and moon were both out at the same time.

"I know you're both watching over us," Twilight said out loud. "But...I don't know what to do. I need your help. I can't do this alone." She closed her eyes and held back a tear.

Equestria.

Equestria was hers to protect now. A broken Equestria that she needs to fix somehow. Twilight knew she wouldn't be able to handle that stress alone if something had happened to Cadence. I need to be stronger.

Twilight made her way back to the castle. By her judgement, it would be nighttime now. Princess Cadence was in the throne room alone, reading a letter.

"Who is that from?" Twilight asked.

"The Griffon Kingdom." Cadence said solemnly. Twilight tensed up, not knowing if it was good or bad news.

"...They...they are going to help us!" Princess Cadence exclaimed. "Here, look at what they wrote!"

Twilight took the letter and read it out loud:

To the Princesses of Equestria,

There may have been some tension between our kingdoms in the past, but we are willing to look past that in order to help you with the Sleipnir threat, on several conditions:

1)Any resources we may need while in Equestria will be given to us, with no exception.
2)We will be given free roam over Equestrian lands during this conflict.
3)In combat, our authority will go unquestioned.

We wish for you to hold out for as long as you can. We are currently trying to regroup our own forces right now. We expect no more than six months before we will be able to come and help. I hope these terms are agreeable. Best of luck for the meantime.

Griff XXVI, King of Griffonia, commander of the Griffon Force

"I don't know..." Twilight said as she returned the letter to Cadence. "I don't like these conditions at all. I was there not too long ago, and I wasn't very well-received."

"I don't think we have a choice." Cadence responded coldly. "If we do nothing, then we can never reclaim the rest of Equestria. The Sleipnir may even find a way to brave the cold and attack us..."

Twilight knew she was right, but she didn't want to rule out the possibility. She just didn't trust the griffons. "I guess you're right." The princess said.

"Look, Twilight," Cadence began to speak up. "You have to trust me on this, okay?"