Mirrors

by Talguy21

5: Shatter

Chapter 5: Shatter

I awoke to darkness, with something cold and metallic on both my horn and my left-hind leg. Tugging with the leg revealed it was chained to something. I tried to make a light with my horn. The result was meager, but considering I probably had a magic inhibitor ring on, it'd have to do. It allowed me, at least, to make out some of the details of where I was. I could guess I was in some sort of cell, which was reinforced by the bars on the other side of the room. The floor is uneven, and seemed to be hewn from black stone. It had bumps and nicks in it. The wall seemed hewn with about as much care. Rough, but not sharp, it connected with, big surprise, more black stone at the ceiling. The bars too were made of some sort of dark metal. The guard, having noticed my light, began giving me the stink-eye. Oh, cut it out. At least let me see the hole I'm imprisoned in. Around me, three other shapes laid prone on the floor. The larger, darker shape I could only assume was Entropy was laid on his back, with his head against the wall, in restraints much like mine. Twilight was in a corner, the middle-dark shape, in what looked to be zero-mobility forehoof cuffs and a full-horn magic inhibitor. Like Entropy and I, she was chained to the wall. Rarity, the lightest shape, and who was nearest to me, appeared to be merely roped to the wall. She did, however, also have a magic inhibitor. Her mane seemed disheveled, and there were tears pooling nearby her head as she slept.

"Rat!" the guard shouted, "Power down, or I'll power you down!" Begrudgingly, I obeyed, and I was plunged into darkness once more. I doubt I could have kept it going too much longer anyway. I note, as my head had begun to throb.

"What's going to happen to us?" I quietly ask, trying not to wake anypony. The guard, however, wasn't so considerate.

"You two traitorous scum are to be made an example of! The unicorn is to be relocated to the broods, and the Princess will be held hostage until further notice. Enjoy your final day, nymph, because this is it." the guard sneered. This guy's the scum.

"Where's Chrysalis?" I hiss.

"Her Majesty is away. You scum aren't worthy of her time." he growled. I've met Canterlot nobles more pleasant than this guy. I turned away from him, towards the wall. Feeling along my side, I searched for my blade. To my surprise, it was actually still there! The invisibility spell had worked! I just need an opening to use it. We must be in the lower dungeon. Not many criminals are kept here, and fewer for long, so there aren't many guards here, compared to the rest of the Hive. It is at the center, though, which creates its own problems. Assuming I know what I think I do, we may still have a chance. I bided my time until I began to hear a droning buzz from outside the cell. Once I was sure he was out, I moved carefully over to Rarity and gently prodded her awake. She shook her head, and peered through the darkness in my direction. Given the light level, I doubt she could see me clearly.

"Who's there?" she whispers, shaking and trembling.

"It's me, Dawn." I whisper, lighting my horn as well as I could, and revealing my face.

"You're... a Changeling?" she choked. I nod, a small smile playing at my lips. "I let myself get counseled by a changeling?" she gasps.

"Hey, that's racist. I never meant any ill will. The story I told you in the boutique was all true." I murmur. She looks like she's going to speak again, but I put a hoof over her mouth. "We'll talk once we're out of here. I need you to go and wake up Twilight." I motion towards the princess. Rarity nods and quietly moves over to her friend, gently shaking her awake. Twilight, once conscious, looks up at her horn and sighs.

"If we're where I think we are, we're in deep!" she exclaims. I shh her, and angle my head towards the sleeping guard. Comprehension dawns on her face, and she nods.

"Rarity, loop your rope around Twilight's horn, if you can." I hiss. "I think I have an idea." She shot me a confused look, but did as she was told. "Twilight. Focus as much power as you can into your horn. Just power it as much as you can." Twilight closes her eyes, and for what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened. Then, her eyes re-opened, glowing bright white, as she grunts with the exertion. The metal casing over her horn began to glow red, then white, as the rope began to hiss. After another moment, it snapped. "There!" I say, and Twilight's eyes snap back to normal. She fell to the ground with a thud, clearly exhausted. I motion for Rarity to come over to me. She does so, sneaking a glance at the guard, who is thankfully still out cold. "Lean your head in. I'm going to see if I can get that inhibitor off."

"Won't that hurt?" she asked, looking to me with uncertain eyes. "Don't these things shock you if you touch them?" I smirk.

"Not if I don't touch it." I whisper. I lower my head down to my side and bite onto the handle of my knife, being extra careful with my fangs. Rarity gasped as I seemingly drew it from thin air, but didn't speak. She just stared at the knife, a hint of fear in her eyes. The knife, being single sided, was placed, flat to horn, and I slowly pushed up on the ring. After a small push, there was a soft *ping* as it came loose. As I slid it off, an azure glow slowly engulfed both the horn and the inhibitor, and it was gently lowered to the floor. I sheathed my blade in its now visible scabbard. "Now, get the keys. They should be on a wall hook, just over there. I point with my head. Sure enough, on a steel hook, a crude ring of keys hung. Rarity lit her horn, and they joined us in our prison sentence. On the ring were four items - a tiny, intricate key, a small, but simple key, a large, iron key, and a thin piece of metal with a hook on the end. After a couple minutes of unlocking things, we woke Entropy. Now free of our restraints, I levitated the large key into the lock on the door, and with a *thunk*, it came open. Entropy snuck up to the guard, who began to stir heavily in his sleep. Entropy clubbed him over the head with Twilight's former magic cage, and that was all for him. We moved him into the cell, locked him up in Twilight's restraints, and gagged him with the rope before locking him in. Twilight then wielded the key into the lock before doing the same to the doorjamb. As she worked, Entropy turned to me.

"So, how are we getting out of here?" He asked, his uncertainty pulsing in the air.

"We're Changelings, aren't we, Entropy? We sneak out." I reply. I turn to face Twilight, who had finished sealing the cell. "This may tingle a bit, but please try to hold still." My horn lit, and fired a stream of green fire at the alicorn. At first she flinched, but then seemed to be hypnotized by the dancing flames. They consumed her entirely, and when they faded, Twilight looked just like a changeling. She looked herself over with curiosity, and experimentally twitched her wings. "Entropy, please do the same for Rarity. I can only keep two disguises going." He nodded and turned to the unicorn, repeating what I had done. When it was done, he hid the scar over his eye with a pulse of flame. I also subtly edited my own look. The ponies probably wouldn't notice, but it'd make all the difference. Rarity gave her wings a quick flutter, raising a short way off the ground before landing gracefully. She must have some experience. "Now, neither of you use magic while we're in the open. We can't hide a magical aura's color." I say.

"Why not? It shouldn't be too difficult." Twilight added, before lighting her horn to test my statement. True enough, it still shone its steady magenta light from the smaller changeling horn.

"Nobody knows." Entropy said. "Leading theory is that it's genetic, or maybe it's changed based on how it's learnt. I've heard of ways to change the colors, but it's often dark magic. We've been looking into it as a people for a long time, but haven't made much headway." He added a small shrug to the end of his statement. Twilight seemed intrigued, but I cut in.

"As much as I'd love to theorize, we should really try to get out of here before they realize we've escaped."

Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

Lucky break. Wonder if that guard will be punished?