Prisoner

by Silent Breeze

Chapter 8

She was relieved beyond all belief. She never knew she'd love the tiled floor of the castle so much like right now. Just lying there, her whole body limp, enjoying the cold that numbed her a bit. That place had been awful, it never occurred to her just how hot it has been until the teleportation finished and she first felt the castle floor. She was in such bliss that she never wanted to stand up again from the welcoming cool floor. But alas, all good things have to come to an end. She heard a slow trot coming from the other side of the double doors and saw one of them open slightly, letting in a flowing blue mane filled with stars, as well as the head it was attached to.

A small part of her mind was surprised to see Luna up, and all things considered, it would mean she had spent a lot more time in the cavern then she expected, but the rest of her mind simply did not care enough. She looked up to the princess who was looking back quite very confused at her and simply said with a weak smile.

"Hello, Luna." The princess was still very confused, but walked inside completely and looked over Twilight.

"Art thou... alright?" She could catch the concern in the alicorn's voice.

"Never felt better~" The unicorn replied in a sing song voice, spreading out on the cold tiles. Her reply and actions hardly seemed to satisfy the night princess, as she walked inside, closing the door after herself, and walked up to Twilight, trying to help her stand up. As soon as she touched the unicorn, the confusion on her face only increased.

"Thou art simply burning up! We had not expected for his lair to be that strenuous on thou." The lunar princess let the unicorn use her leg as support and they slowly walked out of the room into the hallways, Luna making sure to close the doors with her magic before the guard came on his usual route. The princess's leg wasn't the best support she could have asked for, but it was still best to feel something colder then herself.
"This is most unusual, dear Twilight. No matter how long We hold onto thou, thine heat dost not relent." Twilight would have chuckled at the Luna's poor choice of words, but simply couldn't bring herself to do even that. She herself understood that something was wrong at this point.

"Princess... How... how long was I... lying on that... floor?..." She managed to ask, not feeling as cheery as she did back in the room. Luna thought about it for a bit before turning her head to the unicorn, still leading her down a hallway to a guest room.

"We felt thy magic at least five minutes ago... When thou haven't come for a discussion, we decided to check..." So, she was lying there for more then five minutes, and yet, she still felt too hot. Maybe there was more to her state then just the cavern getting to her... Didn't he say something about a spark?...

She couldn't think in this state, so she decided to wait until tomorrow. The lunar princess, however, had other plans. Twilight noticed how Luna's horn kept glowing after it opened the door of a random guest room. The princesses hardly ever had any guests that needed them, so it was a safe bet to think any would be empty. She helped the unicorn get to her bed, though at that point Twilight simply refused to get under the covers.

"I'm sorry... But... but no..." Was her greatest reason. The princess soon realized why the lavender mare was so reluctant to get under them.

"Then we shalt not bother thou. Have a good rest, Twilight Sparkle." She said before turning around and leaving in a rush, closing the door behind. The unicorn managed to spot the horn still glowing, even when the lunar princess didn't seem to use it at the time. She only lay on the bed for a couple of minutes before getting a much better idea. Well, realistically, it was stupid, but she was willing to try it anyway.

She slowly slid off of her bed and gone towards the bathroom, her lack of support letting itself show with her staggering all the way, falling only on the wall next to the door. She used her magic to open it up and get inside, closing the door behind herself, as she looked around. Clean, white, everything she expected from a guest bathroom. As such, she made her way to the bathtub and crawled inside of it. The coolness of the tub instantly made her feel better as she sighed with relief. It was a stupid idea, but maybe now she really could sleep. Soon enough, her theory was deemed as a success.

---

You ever get this feeling, where you can't sleep because you feel like someone is watching you? Yea, the lavender mare either, and yet, she felt a pair of eyes pointed directly at her. As such, she decided that perhaps waking up would be the best option. She tried to stretch out, but only felt something warm get in the way. Where was she ag- Oh right. Her idea. Well, now that she felt someone looking at her, she felt twice as awkward. She opened her eyes a bit, she must have forgot to turn off the lights when she got inside last night, it didn't take long to get used to it. However, when she saw who was watching her, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Princess Celestia had one of the most confused expressions one could ever see on her. She smiled once she noticed that Twilight was looking back at her, though still a puzzled expression continued to dominate on her face.

"Good morning, my faithful student. How was your sleep?" Twilight's ears laid flat on her head as she tried to come up with an explanation. She sat up as her thoughts were flying by far too fast to grasp for any solid explanation, as she tried to give her mentor at least a response.

"It was..... good?" The princess simply nodded lightly, it made Twilight feel like she had picked the wrong reply after all.

"Are you feeling any better?" Now that question was a bit stranger.

"Better? What do you mean?" Her teacher's smile faltered for just a moment before she recomposed herself

"Your abnormal temperature yesterday. Luna contacted me while still guiding you here-""Wait." There was a small pause, the princess expecting an explanation as Twilight's face was hard to tell at that moment.

"Princess..... You know telepathy magic?" Celestia chuckled, her smile returning. At least she knew her student was better, judging from her priorities.

"Yes, Twilight. But before you ask about it, I would like an answer first." Twilight's face first was of confusion and disappointment before realization dawned her, all happening without a single moment.

"Oh! Right, sorry. Um..." She looked down at herself. She felt mostly normal, nothing was really off, she felt fine while pressed against the tub with her haunches, so maybe... Wait...
"I... I think I'm still a bit warm... The bathtub isn't cold at all to me..." She said. The princess was a bit skeptical on her answer, considering, if she was correct, that Twilight spent the whole night in that tub, especially when she was still as hot as her sister told her before. Instead, she walked closer to her student, earning a confused look from her student, and put her hoof to Twilight's forehead, just below her horn. She learned that her student was, in fact, correct. Twilight's temperature was still above normal, but the unicorn seemed to feel perfectly fine.

"Hm... You are right, my faithful student. But, do you feel comfortable with your temperature?" She asked. The lavender mare took several seconds to think through it and replied a bit hesitantly.

"Well... It's not bothering me... But, if it's possible, I'd like to see him again..." The princess smiled and put her hoof back down.

"Yes. But remember, your train arrives today. I'll come for you if you'll overstay there. But first, I suggest you freshen yourself up." Twilight looked at her teacher for a few seconds before turning to the mirror in front of the sink nearby. Her cheeks flushed from how messy her coat and mane looked: There were loose hair strands all over her mane and a quick look at her tail revealed one big chunk of purple lying in the tub behind her. She touched her coat and realized just how sticky it felt from the sweat.

"Um, yes. Thank you, Princess." The sun princess simply chuckled lightly before leaving her student alone in the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She was quite worried when she entered and didn't find Twilight in the bed. If she wouldn't have been in the bathroom, Celestia felt like she would go search for her and make sure she was alright before anything else. After allowing Twilight to learn more about her 'guest', she felt responsible for any changes Twilight might endure.

She walked down the hallways towards the throne room, it was still early morning and Twilight had at least a few hours before the train. As much as Celestia wanted to spend them with her dear friend and faithful student, she knew that Twilight needed to sort her problem first and it would probably take up all of the remaining time. She sighed, but smiled.

---

Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that the princess found her earlier, seeing a friendly face definitely boosted her confidence. She trotted down the hallway, her image much better after the quick shower, though she didn't know for how long it would last her. Once she was outside the bathtub before, she instantly felt how she still was too warm to be normal. Surprisingly, that didn't bother her too much now, everything just started to feel colder then herself instead. It was a bit unnerving, but she would meet Terror soon and ask what was going on.

Terror... he never really told his name. He said it himself, it was just a nickname, and she really didn't believe he had no name. Well, not like he would tell it to her that easy. Maybe if they got to know each other a bit better, he would open up, though the way he acted last time made her sigh. The unicorn soon saw the double doors and opened one of them to get inside. Closing the door behind herself, she walked towards the symbol, looking at all the runes. This time, she had to do both the spell to the cavern and back by herself. She wasn't sure how long she could stay because of that, and the worst part was she had no way to tell the time. Twilight simply sighed and decided to improvise. She wanted answers.

An aura surrounded her horn as the runic symbol began to glow like before. She noted to herself that it was much easier to do it then she thought before. She closed her eyes so the light wouldn't blind her and only opened them when she felt a sudden rise in temperature around her. The teleportation was successful, so at least that was going in her favor so far. She felt the incredible heat again and decided not to wait until she's exhausted again and jumped off the platform, galloping towards the entrance to the cavern.

To her surprise, the other light source was exactly in the same spot as yesterday. Did he really not move this entire time? She shook her head and simply galloped towards the second light source, casting the illumination spell. She really needed to think of a better way to light her path, but there was no time to think on details right now. Twilight slowed down her pace when she saw that he was, in fact, lying on the exact same spot as before. Only this time his head wasn't lying on the rocks, his neck was raised up and his eyes were closed. When she trotted to the entrance of his little section, his eyes slowly opened. She walked a bit closer before deciding to start.

"Good morning, Terror. Hope you had a nice rest." She started, trying to calm herself enough to try and have a nice conversation before her questioning would begin. She wanted him to trust her after all, and being demanding would probably not help her cause.

"I have no sense of time here, Twilight Sparkle." He replied, which caused her ears to fall flat. Well, so much for being nice. Then again, she really couldn't fault him for that, it was impossible to tell the time in this cavern. Maybe that's why Celestia told her she'd come for the unicorn before? She pushed the thought aside, concentrating on the stallion in front of her.

"Right, sorry. Did you at least rest? You said you were tired last time." His eyes were exactly like yesterday, half open and staring at her with an unidentifiable emotion.

"I have not been given rest for a while now." He simply replied. She expected him to say something else, but he just laid there and looked at her, tilting his head lightly. That finally gave her the message that he was waiting for her question. He still didn't want to talk out of order, which somewhat irritated her. But if anything, that just meant she'd try harder.

"You didn't have the chance to sleep yet?" He suddenly straightened his head and looked at her intently. He didn't look aggressive, but she learned that he never shows his emotions, so took a step back regardless.

"That is not the case. The younger girl accused me of something that caught my interest." Her ears suddenly straightened up. Young one? Who else knew about- Luna? She was Celestia's younger sister, did he refer to her?

"Princess Luna? She was here? What happened?" She asked, forgetting about her caution and taking a few steps to him.

"Indeed. She accused me of causing your temperature to rise. Even gone as far as trying to assault me." That did not sound good at all. Her ears fell flat again as worry crossed her face.

"Oh no, what did you do?" He seemed far too calm when talking about one of the most powerful alicorns threatening him.

"Calmed her down and asked about you." Twilight found that explanation a little too far fetched.

"Just like that?" When her reply was silence for at least a minute, she gave up and decided to simply continue on.
"Well, what do you think?" He closed his eyes and lay there for a few second before giving his reply.

"As absurd and unbelievable as this theory is to me...My only guess is that visiting my home lit up your fire." She actually could hear it, even if it was gone the next time he talked. His voice betrayed his irritation. So, he wasn't a rock after all and had emotions, that was somewhat good news. Still, she wasn't sure what caused it.

"Is... something wrong with that?..." She asked, careful not to tip him over the edge. To her surprise, he simply opened his eyes and talked as if he was completely fine, albeit too calm for his own good, as usual.

"Not exactly... Come over here, Twilight Sparkle." That really caught her off guard; he actually talked out of line. Was he worrying about something? Against her better judgment, she decided to come closer to him, standing right in front of the lying alicorn. His eyelids further opened, something she didn't expect, as he stared directly into her eyes. His eyes weren't completely open still, but there was only a bit closed which would hardly count.

She noticed how something started to change in his eyes. His stare held the same intensity, but something was moving in them. She finally saw the iris of his eyes start to move. She never seen something like this before, his irises filled with red flames which slowly danced. She could swear the fire was come right from the eye and dancing in the air, similar to his mane and tail. After several seconds, she felt a strange heat near her temples. His gaze faltered. She then felt the heat disappear and he closed his eyes, the flames hiding under his eyelids. The unicorn blinked a few times and took a few steps back.

"Um... What just.... happened?..." She asked, a little shaky. She brought a hoof up to her temple and felt that it was, as she felt before, hotter then before.

"Your fire..." He muttered, earning a confused look from the lavender mare. He then opened his eyes like before, his half open eyes looking at her general direction.
"Tell me, Twilight Sparkle." Ok, so he was now leading a conversation. This was starting to frighten her a bit, he was changing from an answering machine to an actual person far too fast.
"Have you been taking an interest in... how would your kind call it..... fire.. magic?" At least two parts of that sentence rang bells in her head, but she decided to keep them in the back of her head and first answer his question.

"Fire magic...? Well, yes, after I started to try gather information about... well, you..." She gave a light sheepish grin.

"I'm flattered. Regardless, then that means you need to continue your study." Twilight was a little confused by his conclusion. She was going to continue studying it regardless.
"Eventually you'll learn to control your own fire within." That just further confused the poor mare.

"But... what?" She sat down on her haunches, but doing so revealed that she was already starting to sweat from the heat surrounding her. She quickly stood up, she was not intending to leave as exhausted as she did yesterday.
"Terror, could you please just tell me what caused this?" He finally half-opened his eyes.

"Perhaps the young girl had some weight to her words after all." Before Twilight was able to add anything, he finished in his calm tone.
"Two sparks meeting never lead to anything good." At this claim, Twilight stood still, standing towards him with her side, as her head turned between the exit from his seemingly favorite section of the cavern and himself. In the end, her logic won over her curiosity.

"Maybe in my next visit we could talk about it?" She asked, looking at him. He didn't reply with an answer, rather by putting his head down on the rocks. Seems like he understood the visit was over.

"Goodbye, Terror. I hope to see you soon." She turned away and walked towards the exit from his section. He didn't reply back.

Comments

[Silent Breeze]

Here's the next chapter of the fic. Not much I can say about it. I'm just noticing a pattern where I always submit a new chapter past midnight my time. Oh, and I love to write Luna whenever she talks.

Enjoy! Comments are always appreciated.

[Deathpony]

ah shes a young fire mage eh? So Twilight is going to learn fire magic and Celestia is going to find out and get mad or is Terror going to teach her some fire magic? Cant wait for the next chapter

[Silent Breeze]

637642 Can't reveal anything just yet, so we'll just have to wait for what happens next when I feel less lazy and write the next part.

Glad you're enjoying the fic.

[jmj]

Elemental Savant. Fun times. I agree with Deathpony, Celestia is gonna troll so hard. I want to see if she can get a grip on her budding powers. Should be cool....er...um...hot!