Book 1 - Prisoner and Savior

by Midnight_Lights

Chapter IV - Stopping the Spell

Twilight's vow to stay alert was tough to keep, but she was determined to find out what was causing her memory loss.

On top of that, Twilight also had to act like she wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. This meant that she had to restrain herself in the mines to keep from using a levitation spell, and she had to keep her face mundane and emotionless. However, her hardest challenge was to not utter a single word, no matter how quiet, in case any guards overheard her. Twice Twilight had caught herself right before she spoke to a guard. One was to ask a question, and the other was to criticize them from what they had done to the creatures here.

After a long day in the mines, Twilight was almost too hungry to care if they heard her, but she kept her mouth shut as she took her food. Dinner had begun, and dinner meant an opportunity to check for anything that could be the cause of Twilight's memory loss.

First, Twilight needed to wait for the perfect moment to cast a detection spell. It was one of the few spells she could remember, along with levitation, illumination, and possibly even teleportation if she really tried. Twilight guessed that these were the spells that she used most often back in her home. Twilight also knew that other spells existed, but they were at the edge of her memory, and Twilight didn't know what they did, how they worked, and definitely not how to cast them.

As Twilight looked around, she thought that none of the other creatures would report her; they were probably still under the spell, and even if they weren't, then maybe their shared experience would be enough to create a friendship, and they wouldn't report her because of friendship.

Well, I definitely knew a lot about friendship at home, it seems some of that knowledge carried over.

With the other creatures no longer counted as a threat, Twilight focused on the guards. She stared straight ahead at the male creature in front of her, while also watching the guards out of her peripheral vision. She waited for a good opportunity for a few minutes, then the guards just...walked away?

Maybe they're taking a lunch break too? Twilight thought. Whatever the reason was, Twilight wasted no time in casting her spell on the food; the guards could come back at any moment.

Nothing.

There were no spells or strange magic hidden withing the food, just basic nutrients packed into a pile of slop.

Strange...food would be the best way to deliver a potion. Maybe it's in the air?

Twilight cast another detection spell, this time aimed at the air around her, this version of the spell came easier, and Twilight guessed that she may have used it before. Of course, there was nothing. Frowning slightly, Twilight tried one other spot; the collar.

Please work please work please work! I've got no more ideas after this.

This time, Twilight felt the spell return to her. The echo was very, but it was enough that Twilight thought that she could feel a hint of dark magic, or maybe alicorn magic - since they were so similar.

Yea! Thought Twilight. She had found the source of the memory loss; now she had to remember a spell or find another way to stop the collar.

As Twilight internally celebrated her little victory, she failed to notice that the guards had returned. When one of them saw the light of her horn, he realized what he must do next.

. . .

"Hey Xul, have you seen the new prisoner yet?"

"Which one?"

"Uh. Purple," Trine gestured to his red skin, "this big," He bent down a little to show how tall the prisoner was. "quadruped," Trine picked up one of his legs, showing the sleek guards boots. "Kinda looks like one of those things from Earth?" He forgot the name.

"Oh yeah, why?"

"I think that I'm going to take it up for inspection. It might be interesting enough to get me a raise."

"Why? Isn't it just a pastel...horse?"

"Yes, but it's been acting off lately. I think its body is reacting to the formula, and last few times that happened the creatures basically went wild and destroyed everything they could. I'd say preventing that would be good enough to get me a raise."

"What's it doing?"

"Well, it's a lot stronger, it got better at pushing rocks, almost too quickly. And yesterday, when Deam and I came back from our lunch break, it was glowing!"

"Glowing?"

"Yeah! Just its horn though, so probably a weird reaction to the formula, as I said before, it seems like a good enough bet that it'll get me a raise."

"Oh, yeah definitely. Just make sure to tell me when you do that...uh so I know I won't have to keep track of it anymore."

The two guards went the separate ways shortly after, but Xul left feeling nervous. She had lied when she said she didn't want to keep track of it, and now she had to make sure she was on duty to bring in the alien for inspection.

. . .

The next day was incredibly boring for Twilight, and she had really begun to hate her new job- calling it labor was more like it.

Maybe if I could use my magic, everything would be easier, but nooo- these creatures make it so I have to restrain myself. Do they not understand friendship? I bet we could work twice as hard if they improved our living conditions!

Twilight would usually try to stay calm in situations like these (well, she thinks that's what she could do, it's kind of hard to figure that out with so little memory), but now she was starting to become angry at her captors, and her lack of memory, but she knew that she would have to keep up the facade. Twilight found that this was easier to do when she had something else to focus on, and for now, her focus was on the collar. Whenever a guard wasn't looking, Twilight would glance down at it, in hopes of discovering how it worked.

So far, Twilight had discovered that the collar was made out of a type of silver metal and was very thick for its side. It had a green light on the left side of it, and it was very tight around Twilight's neck. Twilight thought that she could feel some cold metal on the side of the collar she couldn't see, and she could hear a faint humming noise emanating from within it. Thinking of the spell she had cast earlier, Twilight guessed that the collar ran mostly off of mechanical devices, and not magic.

If only I knew a spell that could expose the machinery, but I bet that those don't even exist in...Equestria? Yeah, there... For the first time, Twilight felt sadness about being away from her home, even if she couldn't remember it. However, emotions could wait, for now, she had bigger problems to face.

Twilight thought about simply breaking the collar, but that would definitely attract the guards' attention when the noticed she wasn't wearing it. She guessed that the green light would have to stay on.

Maybe there's a spell for something like this? But I can't remember anything...

Twilight racked her brain, trying to puzzle together a solution.

I need some kind of spell to break things, and maybe another spell to keep the green light on.

The alarm rang again - it was time for Twilight to go back to work, where she wouldn't get a chance to cast any more spells...right?

Comments

[fanreader999999]

*reads description*

*looks at the story it was inspired by*

On Hiatus

Uh oh.

[Midnight_Lights]

10042347
Uh oh?

[StarzGecko]

I do feel like you can make the chapter longer, but that’s up to you. It’s been fine being short and enjoyable to read