Sunset Rekindled

by EldritchNexus

Breaching Fort Echidna, Part 2

Juggsman brought Sunset Shimmer and Felix Summerset into a holding cell. He shut the cell door, and shapeshifted into King Craw. Sunset and Felix promptly woke up.

"There you go, my dear Sunset." said Craw. "I've gotten you into the fort. Now, my work here is done."

He turned back to face the door and was about to turn back into Juggsman, when Sunset suddenly rushed to him.

"Wait, you're just going to leave us here?!" Sunset exclaimed.

"Like I said, I have other business to attend to." said Craw. "You're a smart unicorn, Miss Shimmer. That, I can tell for certain. I'm sure you and Felix can find a way to save your brother from here."

"But you could help us so much here." said Sunset. "Please, Craw. Could you stay a little longer?"

"Forgive me, my lady." said Craw. "But I don't take requests. Now farewell."

Sunset thought about her next strategy for a moment.

"Wait...Craw." said Sunset. "I can make it worth your while."

Craw halted.

"I'm listening." he said, turning around and grinning.

Sunset walked up to Craw, and leaned suggestively against Craw.

"You'll see, honey." said Sunset. "You'll get a big reward for this. I promise."

"Interesting." said Craw. "Well, that leaves a lot to the imagination, doesn't it?"

"Anything for my favorite Changeling!" said Sunset, nuzzling against Craw.

"How cute!" thought Craw. "A pony trying to seduce a Changeling!"

"Okay, Sunset Shimmer." said King Craw, aloud. "I'll play along."

"Thank you." said Sunset.

King Craw turned around, and put one of his front hooves around one of Sunset's, and bent his long neck down to kiss it.

"King Synthe von Craw III, at your service." he said, smarmily. "At least for now. When this is over, I expect something in return."

Sunset paused nervously.

"What...did you have in mind?" she asked wearily.

"I want you..." said Craw. "To accept my proposal: Sunset Shimmer, will you be my bride?"

Sunset and Felix both looked at Craw, shocked and wide-eyed.

"Your...bride?" repeated Sunset.

"Yes." said Craw. "You've fascinated me more than any other pony I've met in my life, and that's really saying something. I don't expect this to be done here and now, since you clearly have a lot planned for the near future. But one day, I expect you to hold your word, and become my consort."

Sunset looked up at Craw nervously. She wanted to say "No!" with all her heart. But as she looked into King Craw's red eyes, she couldn't help but think about his human counterpart, who she loved dearly. Though this Craw was not only much older, but a Changeling as well, she could sense some of the same passion that Sergeant Craw had burning inside those eyes. The kind of passion she had grown to love.

"I..." Sunset said, with much hesitation and reluctance. "I will. Wait, I mean I..."

"Miss Sunset, think about what you're doing!" said Felix. "Are you sure you can trust this Changeling? And I mean truly trust him enough to agree to something like that?"

"He does have a point, Sunset Shimmer." said Craw, still gripping Sunset's hoof. "I won't force you to do anything that you would hate. If you don't really want to marry me, then I'm absolutely confident that you can find a way to get yourself out of this situation without my help."

"Well, of course she doesn't--" Felix began.

"Shh!" said Sunset. "Felix, let me handle this!"

Sunset stammered. She looked at Craw, and her heart started throbbing. Her muzzle was reddening slightly and she started to pant. Then she thought about her brother, and remembered what was more urgent.

"Look, I need some serious time to think about this!" she said quickly. "But we won't get that kind of time while we waste time in this fort! Craw, I'll give you your answer later, when I've had time to think about it! If you don't really want to help me now, then you're free to go and do whatever."

"If that's how you feel." said Craw. "But still, I think I may need a little...pick-me-up from the last fight."

"What do you--" Sunset said, before gasping.

Craw's horn and eyes glowed with a red aura that began to cover Sunset's body. She felt her body trembling and she started to lose her breath. She felt energy growing inside her and then suddenly leaving. When the aura faded, Sunset sank onto her hind legs, gasping for air.

"Miss Sunset, are you okay?" Felix whispered behind her.

"I'm okay." Sunset nodded back, calmed. "But still...what did you just do to me, Craw?"

"I fed off your love." said Craw. "Don't worry, though. I didn't take too much of it. In fact, I think you'll find it easier to concentrate now."

King Craw let go of Sunset, and walked back to the cell door, shapeshifting into the gargantuan earth pony Juggsman. He opened the cell door and left it ajar.

"Catch y'all later!" he said.

Once the loud hoof-falls faded into the distance, Felix turned to Sunset.

"What was that all about?" asked Felix.

"It's a very long story." said Sunset. "But we can't talk about it now. First, we need to find where the others are being held prisoner."

There was another set of hoof-falls, and another templar was patrolling the corridors outside the holding cells. Felix crept up to the doorway, waiting silently. Once the templar passed by and stopped to notice the ajar door, Felix swung it open and tackled the guard. He saw that the templar dropped a blowgun that was slung to his armor during the scuffle, and grabbed it. Felix hoof-punched the templar in the head, rendering his unconscious. Sunset, at that moment, teleported out of the holding-cell. Just as she did, another templar, this time a gryphon, caught sight of the flash of bluish-green light from her spell.

"Prisoners escaping?" he said. "Not on my watch! I have to tell--"

ppppphhhhhhhiiiip!

Felix loaded the blowgun with a dart, and blew into it hard, shooting the projectile square into the gryphon's neck. The gryphon gagged and flailed around before suddenly dropping to the floor, dead as a doornail. Felix and Sunset both looked on in surprise, and were horrified as a silvery-blue foam bubbled around the spot where the dart struck the gryphon. Felix rushed over to the gryphon's body, and sniffed the foamy substance.

"Cyanide." he said. "These darts have cyanide in them! Miss Sunset, we need to hide these bodies!"

"Got it!" said Sunset, using her telekinesis to levitate the two guards into the holding-cell, and then shutting the door. After Felix, grabbed the rest of the satchel containing the poisonous darts, then they went on down the corridor, inspecting the other holding cells.

They came upon two templars, one a pegasus and the other a zebra, conversing with each other.

"So, did you ever...you know, have fun with any of the prisoners?" asked the zebra.

"All the time." said the pegasus. "Torturing Changelings is fun!"

Felix loaded another dart into his blowgun, and shot the pegasus templar in the neck, killing him even faster than the gryphon.

"What the--" the zebra exclaimed.

But Sunset teleported on top of him and grappled with him, putting him in a stranglehold.

"Where's my brother?!" she growled. "Answer, and I'll let you go!"

"I...don't...know!" groaned the zebra.

"He's a big red unicorn stallion!" said Sunset. "Crazy red-and-orange mane, copper eyes, he's not that hard to miss! Likely wearing guard armor!"

"Oh, yes! The prisoners that were brought in last night!" said the zebra. "They're being tasked to help construct the new tunnels for this fort! They're just one level up, being overseen by the other templars!"

"Thanks!" said Sunset. "Just for that, we'll promise not to kill you."

"Oh, thank you so--"

Thump!

The zebra was knocked out cold by Felix, even as Sunset eased her grip on him. The two went up the stairway to the next level. They were now in a massive network of tunnels that looked more like a mine than a fortress. There were support beams and overhanging lanterns running down the middle of each tunnel, the ground was less man-made and covered in dirt, and there were huge red barrels with long black fuses protruding from the top and "XXX" or "TNT" labeled on the side stacked here and there. There were also the sounds of wheels rolling along the ground and whips cracking in the darkness.

---

Radiant Dawn, Sigma, Canopy, Lightning Dust, and several other ponies and Changelings were forced to work on the tunnels, and several templars were lashing the prisoners with whips to keep working. If any unicorns or Changelings tried using magic, they would be shot and killed with the poisonous darts fired down at them from more templars above.

Radiant, being the largest and strongest prisoner, was instructed to haul a large wagon carrying mining equipment for the other workers and prisoners to use. Lightning Dust had to carry heavy barrels of gunpowder to sites where they would be detonated to make more room for work. The Changelings, however, had to do all the hard work: digging and mining the tunnels, detonating the explosive manually, and receiving the shortest break periods of all the prisoners. What was more, none of the prisoners were allowed to fly or use their magic.

"Radiant, what're the chances of the other guards finding us?" asked Lightning, during one of their break periods. "If I have to carry another barrel, I might break my back! I'm a pegasus! I'm built for speed, not heavy lifting!"

"We just have to hope that the other guards made it to Baltimare, or at least to the Changeling Elite." said Radiant, whose throat was parched from the hot subterranean air. "I'm sure someone will find us!"

"But how?" asked Lightning Dust. "We must be, like, a kajillion miles below Fort Echidna...or whatever they call that place."

There was a whip crack.

"Break's over!" shouted an earth pony templar. "Both of you, get back to work!"

Radiant growled angrily.

"Radiant, it's best to do what he says." said Lightning, trying to calm her boyfriend down. "These guys don't look like they tolerate slackers or ponies with an attitude."

"Just they all wait." thought Radiant, as he was getting the yoke put back on him to pull the wagon again. "One disturbance, one chink in their watch, and I'll be all over these guys."

"Get to work, lazy-boy!" said a nearby overseer, lashing him hard with his bullwhip.

Radiant pushed forward, grunting as he hauled the wagon.

"So...thirsty." he moaned. "Need...water."

Suddenly, a bowl of water was splashed down on his head from above.

"There ya go!" shouted another overseer on a high observation platform. "Now get going, big boy!"

Radiant kept going, feeling more and more humiliated with every step he took. Not only was he being forced to do hard labor for the first time in his life and being whipped every so often, but he could barely keep his balance.

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise in the distance and the sound of fighting and raised voices.

Comments

[00RaiserGundam]

Whoa, Sunset. Just because King Craw reminds you of Sergeant Craw, you can't make any rash decisions like that. You really need to think about that.

[Lord Nopony]

5303615 I am totally with ya!

[JimmyHook19]

King Synthe von Craw III

hmmm.... that roman numeral at the end of Craw's full royal name.... what does that mean? :/

btw, sorry about the delay I had in order to read this chapter. IRL, I have quite a busy schedule. here is how it goes:

1. Backyard Sports
2. DVD watching
3. Walking on the path from where I live.
4. doing 3 things on my Dad's computer.
5. reading the Harry Potter series
6. playing Pokémon Moon

once I get those things done on schedule, then I get on my laptop.