Enchanted to Know You

by Teal

Chapter 10: Flames

Twilight slowly opened her eyes and saw Sunny right in front of her. However, something was wrong. There was something in the alicorn’s mouth and as she tried to bite down on it she recognized the material to be cloth. As her eyes began to focus and give her a clearer view of the situation, the alicorn suddenly felt panic shoot through her body. Sunny had her hooves bound together with rope, as she lay on a mattress a few hooves away from her. Staring a bit longer, she also noticed that the mare was gagged with cloth and had a magic inhibitor ring on her horn. This was not right and Twilight instinctively made a move to reach her marefriend.

Yet she couldn’t.

The lavender pony soon realized that it wasn’t only Sunny who was tied up. Looking towards her hooves, she saw that she too had been tied up. A quick glance at her back also revealed rope tightly tied around her, preventing her from using her wings. This was not good and she could feel her heart beat fast in panic.

An attempt to use her magic to untie the rope revealed to her that it wasn’t just Sunny that had a magic inhibitor ring placed on her. Upon noticing this, the alicorn princess frowned. She realized that the inhibitor ring placed on her must have been powerful. An average magic inhibitor ring would not have been able to hold back the powerful magic of an alicorn, even one who was as young as Twilight.

She wasn’t sure who made such rings, but she could guess that such powerful inhibitors were not easy to get. This made her worry even more, because it meant that whoever took them clearly had access to powerful resources. She wondered who could have possibly taken them, as she began to recall the events before she woke up.

Twilight remembered the night with Sunny, their date and their moment in her apartment. Then she remembered falling asleep and then stirring awake at one point. Focusing on that last memory, she remembered hearing a voice. She couldn’t remember what exactly the voice said, but something inside her said that the voice was familiar. Why was it familiar to her? Whose voice was it?

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she found it hard to remember where she had heard the voice before. Annoyed at this, she tried to push away the thought for now. Deciding to momentarily set aside the task of figuring out who their captor was, she instead focused on figuring out a way to get out.

Looking around her, she tried to see if there was anything in the room that she could find useful. However, the room was bare, with nothing other than but a lightbulb on the ceiling and the mattresses she and Sunny were laying on. Off to one side, a large wooden door could be found, but the alicorn already expected it to be heavily ladened with locks.

Turning her attention back towards Sunny, she could see that her marefriend was still knocked out, eyes closed and unaware of the situation they were in. Desperately, she wanted to call out to her and wake her up. Maybe together they could think of a plan to get out of the situation they were in? However, with cloth in her mouth, all she could do was make muffled screams, as she squirmed on the mattress she was on.

Closing her eyes and letting out an annoyed grunt, she tried her best to start thinking of a plan to get them out of there. In her mind, she was more worried for Sunny’s safety than her own. Her marefriend was only a few hooves from her and yet she was out of reach. The alicorn hoped that the unicorn was alright and she desperately wanted to get her out of this terrible place.

However, no matter how hard she formulated a plan, she couldn’t think of one. She had no magic to help her and even the simple use of her hooves and wings were unavailable. There was also nothing in the room the could prove useful for escape. She was trapped, they both were.

Laying there helpless, she felt anger and worry fill her heart. She wanted to try and squirm around again in hopes of loosening the rope and maybe freeing a hoof or a wing, but she quickly decided against it. The rope was tied well and tightly, she would just end up wasting energy attempting such an act.

So, there she laid in silence as she waited. She didn’t know what she was waiting for, but she did. Maybe their captor would come or maybe rescue would come. At that moment she preferred any of the two options than to be left in the silence of her thoughts.

Feeling lost, she simply stared at the ceiling and allowed herself to be lost in thought. She wondered what Sunny would think once she woke up. The alicorn doubted that the unicorn would be scared. She was a tough pony and did not scare easily. Despite this, the lavender pony felt hurt knowing that she was unable to prevent this from happening.

Twilight believed that she had failed to protect Sunny and the thought of that made a tear drip from her eye. Her marefriend was there, tied, gagged, and deprived of her magic, and the alicorn felt it was her fault. Twilight was the stronger pony, she was the one that had powers beyond an average pony could imagine, and yet she was unable to prevent them from being captured. The more she thought of this, the more tears streamed from her eyes.

What would Sunny think of her now? Would she think that she was an incapable pony? Would Sunny think that she was incompetent?

All those worries circled in her mind as she suddenly felt useless. It hurt knowing that she was unable to protect the one she loves.

Lost in her emotions, the alicorn was only distracted from her sadness when the sound of the nearby door unlocking attracted her attention. Raising her head a bit, she suddenly turned her gaze towards it to see it slowly swing open. Once fully open, the alicorn was then confused to see a pair of glowing eyes appear behind a background of darkness.

Confused, Twilight kept her eyes fixed on the glowing pair, as a silhouette of a pony emerged from the darkness. As the pony entered the room, the alicorn studied the form to see pinkish-purple fur and a dark purple mane with a teal stripe running along it. Seeing this and immediately recognizing who it was, the alicorn’s eyes widened in realization as one thought entered her mind.

Starlight Glimmer!

It had been months since she last saw her and after such a long time without an encounter she had honestly thought that she would never see her again. Yet here she was, entering the room with a devious smile on her face.

However, to make things worse, Twilight noticed something that she really did not like. Around the unicorn’s neck was an artifact that the alicorn had not seen for a long time. Made out of dark gray steel, bearing a red gem, and shaped in a form of the most powerful pony race, the lavender pony starred with fear at the Alicorn Amulet that was now around Starlight’s neck.

It had been years since she saw that dangerous artifact and Twilight was sure that it was safely locked away at Canterlot Castle. Yet here it was, in the possession of a pony she could only label as dangerous. Somehow, Starlight must have learnt about the amulet and found a way to steal it.

This was bad, this was really bad.

Watching Starlight approach her, Twilight looked on with uncertainty as she wondered what the unicorn’s plans were. The alicorn knew that the unicorn hated her and her friends, since their last encounter ended with the unicorn losing control of her village and rejecting any concept of friendship.

Twilight had hoped that during the time since their encounter at the village, Starlight had learned the value of friendship and had chosen to give up her old ways. However, by the look on her face, there was no doubt in her mind that Starlight had not yet changed.

The alicorn could tell that the unicorn wanted revenge. How she’ll get that revenge was not clear yet, but Twilight was already fearing the many possibilities, especially now that the unicorn had a dangerous and powerful artifact with her.

Once the unicorn was standing directly in front of her, Twilight gazed up to see a mischievous grin on her face.

“Ah, Princess Twilight Sparkle…” She said, as her grin creeped into a smile. “…I’m glad to see that one of my guests is finally awake.”

Scared, yet deciding to hide her fear, the alicorn gave her captor a defiant look. Feeling that this wasn’t enough, she also let out a couple of curses meant for the unicorn, as she slowly started to feel a boiling anger towards her for involving her marefriend in this. However, the cloth gagged in her mouth muffled anything she had to say, as the unicorn laughed and looked down on her.

“Oh, I’m sorry, what was that?” Starlight said, the smile still on her face. “Here, let me help you with that.”

In a flash, the cloth was suddenly pulled out from the alicorn’s mouth as the unicorn used a red aura of magic to violently tug on it. Letting out a brief pained cry, the lavender pony glared as her captor, as she felt that sudden action pull a bit on her teeth.

“Why are you doing this, Starlight?” Twilight eventually said, after making a quick check with her tongue to make sure that all her teeth were still in place. “Let us go.”

“Oh, you can’t be that stupid, Princess? Do you really think I’ll let you go if you ask nicely?”

Twilight only grunted at this and chose not to answer. Fixing her eyes on the Alicorn Amulet, she shook her head and looked at Starlight in the eyes.

“That thing is going to corrupt you.” She warned. “You need to take it off before it’s too late.”

Starlight merely laughed at this, as she shook her head. “Please, Princess, I'm not going to fall for your tricks. This amulet has given me power…more power than I had before. If you think I’ll give it up so easily, then think again!”

“Starlight, I’m serious.” The alicorn said in a stern tone. “I have seen what that amulet can do. It will slowly corrupt you and take over your mind!”

“I think you’ll find that I have a very strong mind, Princess. No amulet, no matter how magical it is, could corrupt me.” The unicorn said, the arrogance in her voice evident and clear. “Now…before we get distracted, how about we focus on why you’re here?”

Realizing that she wouldn’t get through to Starlight by arguing with her, Twilight just nodded in response. She needed to find a way for the unicorn to remove the amulet. Remembering her past encounter with it, she knew that the only way to get it off was for the bearer to willingly remove it. This was a hard task. During the previous encounter, she and her friends had to resort to elaborate tricks to do it. But she didn’t have the same resources now. Because of that she needed time to think, so she hoped that by letting Starlight talk she would gain the needed time to plan.

Smiling at the alicorn’s willingness to listen, Starlight then began to pace in front of her, as she made occasional glances towards the lavender pony as she talked.

“Ever since you and your friends kicked me out of my village, I wanted revenge. At first, I didn’t know how to get it, but after watching you for months, I finally saw an opportunity the moment I saw you date that little unicorn over there.”

Twilight suddenly felt creeped out at the thought of somepony stalking her. The alicorn wanted to speak up and complain, but ultimately decided to hold back her tongue. Interrupting her captor wouldn’t help her situation. So instead she kept quiet, listening and trying to think of a plan.

“I’ve been watching you and your little marefriend over there for three weeks now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to get you both.” Starlight informed the alicorn. Twilight wasn’t liking what she was hearing, as it kept on distracting her from formulating a plan.

“Finding the right time proved to be hard, but I eventually got it and abducting you two proved far easier than expected.” The unicorn continued, before giving a mock sorry look. “I know that what I did interrupted your plans for the weekend, but I think I have more bad news for you.”

“And that is?” Twilight inquired.

“I think I need to break you two up.”

This caught the alicorn by surprise, as she stared at the unicorn with confusion and concern. “What…what do you mean?” Inside, there was a growing dread in her, as she felt she knew where the unicorn was going.

Starlight then smiled and Twilight felt unnerved by the combination of growing red eyes and the evil looking expression on her face.

“You and your friends took away my village from me…something that I worked so hard on and was dear and precious to my heart.” She said, as her tone became colder and colder as she went on. “So, just like how you took away something precious to me, I’m going to take away something precious from you.”

With that, the unicorn turned her head towards Sunny, who was just beginning to stir awake from her sleep. Twilight felt a cold chill run down her spine as she realized what the unicorn was implying. Staring at Sunny, she soon saw the white unicorn’s eyes grow wide with shock, as she stared at Starlight, before looking towards Twilight. For a brief moment their eyes met and saw the panic in her eyes. The alicorn couldn’t help but feel her heart break as the unicorn desperately gazed towards her, almost seemingly pleading for help.

Turning her gaze back at Starlight, Twilight gave her an angry look and stared daggers at her.

“Don’t you dare lay a hoof on her!” The alicorn hissed acidly, as squirmed feverishly in an attempt to escape her bonds.

The unicorn gave a short chuckle in response. “Fine.” She said. “I prefer using my magic anyways.”

“NO!” Twilight screamed in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Yet its power barely phased the unicorn wielding the evil amulet.

“I think I know the perfect spell for your little Sunny over there.” The unicorn said with a laugh.

Unable to stop her, the alicorn watched with pure horror as Starlight began to cast a spell on Sunny. Trapped and useless, she looked towards Sunny and saw her be engulfed by a red aura of magic.

Panic filled Twilight's mind while her heart raced fast. She desperately wanted to break free and save her marefriend. But she couldn’t. She was unable to save Sunny as the red aura suddenly burst into flames that engulfed the white unicorn’s whole body. A wave of heart could then be felt in front of her, as her marefriend burst into intense flames. Watching on the alicorn started to cry as she found herself unable to look away from the terrible sight.

---

Sunny felt the flames. It was painful, but she had experienced worse before. The spell casted was strong, but not strong enough to severely hurt her.

The Alicorn Amulet held powerful and great magic, that was true. But it was nothing compared to the mature alicorn magic she held within her. Sure, its sudden use caught her by surprise earlier and managed to knock both her and Twilight out, but now that she was fully awake and able to concentrate her magic, it was weak.

Glancing at the artifact while she was still engulfed in flames, she frowned at the fact that it was in the possession of some random pony. Clearly there had been a major security breach at Canterlot Castle, one that had not been noticed by the E.U.P. Guards. An investigation and inquiry would have to be conducted later on and she made a mental note to do so as soon as possible.

Returning to the situation at hoof, she started examining herself and noticed that the rope that had bound her hooves and the cloth stuffed in her mouth had now been burnt to dust. Meanwhile, the magic inhibitor ring on her horn was beginning to melt.

She almost rolled her eyes at the inhibitor. Based on how it felt on her horn, the inhibitor seemed to be one that was made for average unicorns. Something as simple as that could not block the large storage of magic within her. Had it been in place when she tried to use magic, it would have quickly cracked.

Looking away from the amulet and its bearer, Sunny’s eyes soon focused on Twilight. The alicorn was terrified and she felt her heart break to see the distress on her marefriend’s face. In her eyes was a mixture of fear and worry that she had never seen before. Staring at her and trembling, it was clear that the alicorn was being scared by the sight in front of her.

Sunny was troubled by this.

Although Twilight's reaction showed that she truly loved her, Sunny did not like to see her marefriend in such pain. Right now, Twilight was hurting emotionally and she could only imagine what kind of mental wound the sight before her was making. From the alicorn’s perspective, Sunny was being killed. No, not just killed, she was being burnt to death by a spell that was made to mimic and contain the heat of the Sun onto a single target.

Luckily for Sunny, the Sun was a domain she was familiar with. However, Twilight did not know that. The young alicorn did not know the true power within her.

This brought up another concern to Sunny, as she knew that once the spell was done, Twilight would see her alright and unharmed. Of course, she knew that the alicorn would feel relief at first, but after that she would be confused. After all, no normal unicorn should be able to survive such a deadly spell from the Alicorn Amulet.

It seemed that the moment to confess had now been forced upon her. The circumstances were far from what she wanted, yet there was no turning back now. In her mind, she cursed herself for not telling the alicorn earlier. To do this here, after witnessing something that brought so much emotion from her, might break Twilight inside. If that were to happen, Sunny knew that she would not be able to forgive herself for causing it.

Frowning, and lost in thought, she was only pulled away from her internal struggling when she noticed the pain begin to ease slightly. Eventually, the feeling of heart started to dissipate, as the spell casted on her ended, leaving her staring at two shocked ponies.

Turning her eyes back towards the unicorn bearing the Alicorn Amulet, she could see her eye twitch, as her mouth hung open in disbelief. Switching her gaze towards the alicorn, she saw that Twilight was equally shocked, as wide eyes and dilated pupils stared at her with uncertainty.

Sighing, Sunny tried to figure out what to say as she began to stand up from her position. This would be a hard explanation and she knew that she would have to tell Twilight the truth once the shock subsided from the alicorn.

Once again the white unicorn stared at the ponies before her and waited for them to say something. But they didn’t. They just stared, both still holding a look of shock. An awkward silence now engulfed the room, once which she didn’t know how to break.

However, Sunny realized that the inaction suddenly opened an opportunity to them. With the amulet bearing unicorn still in shock and disbelief, she now had the chance to rush towards Twilight and teleport the two of them out of this room they were trapped in.

She knew she needed to act fast to do this, but if she was quick enough it was guaranteed to work. Deciding not to waste anymore time, she began to take her first step and prepared to rush towards the alicorn in front of her.

But before she could get far, she was interrupted by the sudden casting of a spell on her. Almost immediately, she noticed that it was the same spell casted on her earlier.

Once more the pain came and once more it barely did any damage to her. Halting in her tracks, she decided to stay put, not wanting to get close to Twilight while the spell was still on her. Although she knew that the intense and deadly heat would only affect her, the residual heat that it created, although not as dangerous, could still burn surrounding things if it was close enough. This was proven true by the fact that the mattress she was on earlier was burnt after the first casting and she didn’t want Twilight to experience the same fate.

For a moment, she contemplated approaching the amulet wearing pony and let her feel the heat. But she decided against it. She doubted that the pony would let her get close and she might end up using magic to shove her away and towards Twilight in an attempt to push her away. There was a likely chance of it occurring and she didn’t want to risk it.

As she waited for the spell to end, Sunny took the chance to formulate a new plan. She couldn't rush up to Twilight now, the amulet bearing unicorn might hit her with the spell if she did.

Having noticed the magic inhibitor ring on Twilight’s horn, and seeing that the alicorn had not once casted magic, she concluded that it must have been powerful enough to block her magic. Because of this she realized that Twilight would most likely be unable to shield herself if the spell was targeted on her. Sunny did consider the idea of casting a shield on the alicorn if she was targeted, but she was afraid she might be unable to do so in time if that happened.

Although an alicorn’s body would be strong enough to survive such a deadly spell, a young alicorn like Twilight didn't yet have the maturity and power to prevent severe damage from being inflicted. Sunny knew that if Twilight was hit, she would be unable to trot it off like her.

Frowning, she found their situation becoming increasingly more difficult. It seemed that there was no way to escape without Twilight potentially getting hurt. There was also no chance for them to convince the unicorn to remove the amulet willingly, since she seemed really determined to make use of its power.

However, a plan suddenly popped into Sunny’s mind, one that had to be executed delicately.

Waiting for the last bits of the spell to dissipate, she allowed the flames to disappear before turning towards the amulet bearing unicorn.

“Listen, you should really stop doing that, it’s getting really annoying now.” Sunny said in a mocking tone.

In response, the unicorn fired another burst of magic and hit her with the same spell again. Sunny couldn’t help but smile at this reaction, she was reacting the way she wanted her to.

“You’re seriously wasting your time with that.” Sunny continued once the spell ended.

However, the unicorn did not listen. Once more Sunny was hit again, and once more she came out unharmed.

“This is becoming really boring.” The white unicorn said in a nonchalant tone.

In response to the last remark, the amulet bearing pony let out a long and loud frustrated cry. Giving Sunny an angry glare, she stomped her hoof on the ground as she vented out her rage.

“This thing is completely useless!” She screamed, as her voice echoed within the room. Then, with her magic, she ripped the amulet off of her neck and violently tossed it onto the floor. “It can’t even harm a simple unicorn!”

Seeing this and knowing that this was her chance, Sunny quickly used her own magic and casted a spell on the unicorn in front of her. Before their captor could react, she was suddenly wrapped by Sunny’s magic, which bound her hooves, gagged her mouth, and covered her horn with a field that acted as a magic inhibitor. It was a useful apprehending spell that she had developed herself and she was proud to finally be able to use it successfully.

Satisfied that their captor was no longer a threat, the white unicorn then used her magic to pick up the fallen amulet and place it on the floor before her hooves. Then, lifting her hoof, she did what she believed should have done a long time ago.

Slamming a heavy hoof on the Alicorn Amulet, she hit it with such great force that it was destroyed and crushed to pieces. Once she was sure that the remaining shards posed no more threat, she then lifted her head and looked towards Twilight. Seeing her, Sunny noticed that the poor alicorn still held a look of confusion on her face.

Rushing towards her, she wasted no time at pulling away the magic inhibitor rings on her horn, before removing the rope that kept her tied. Once free, the alicorn sat up on the mattress and placed a troubled glance towards the unicorn.

“How…” She began, as Sunny felt Twilight’s glare at her. Looking back at the alicorn’s eyes, she felt saddened to see a hint of caution in them, as if the mare did not know her. “How did you do that? How did you survive a spell from the amulet? How did you destroy it so easily with your hooves?”

The barrage of questions continued and seemed to have no end. Pressing her face against the white unicorn, the lavender pony suddenly stood up and flared her wings. Clearly the shock of the events that had unfolded in front of her was just now processing in her head.

Feeling the pressure from the questioning, Sunny tried to avoid Twilight’s gaze. Deep inside she could feel the anxiety build up inside her.

Hoping that she may still excuse herself from the dreaded moment, the unicorn decided to risk a lie.

“It was a fake amulet.” Sunny said, trying to sound confident. However, she could feel her hooves shake beneath her.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at her and gave her a frown. From all the time she knew the alicorn she knew that this was a bad sign.

“That was not a fake amulet.” The lavender pony said sternly. “I could feel it, I sensed its power. It was the real thing and you managed to deflect its magic as if it were nothing. So, tell me, how did you do it? Is there something you haven’t been telling me?”

Sunny looked at Twilight and hesitated. Biting her lip, she knew that this was the moment she had avoided for so long. She was feeling the fear, she was feeling the sadness. it was all mixing inside her and it felt terrible. She wanted time to pause. She wanted to avoid this moment. But she couldn’t. It was here and she had to face it.

Taking a deep breath, Sunny looked at Twilight one last time before closing her eyes. She then began concentrating, as she allowed her disguise spell to fade. Feeling it disappear, she then allowed her wings to spread and her mane to flow bright and vibrant. She was herself again, she was in her true and natural form.

No more walls, no more facade, this was her.

Once she opened her eyes, Celestia anxiously looked at Twilight. The lavender pony stood there and stared back at her with surprise. Folding her wings, the young alicorn looked on and slowly sat on the floor. For a moment her mouth opened to speak, but quickly closed, as her pupils darted at every part of the white alicorn that stood there.

Waiting for a response from the other alicorn, Celestia stood there patiently, as her heart beat fast inside her chest. She was afraid of what Twilight had to say, but she knew she had to take it no matter how bad it was.

Yet Twilight remained silent. She did not say a word and just stared with the same shocked expression on her face.

Feeling worried, Celestia lifted a hoof in an attempt to reassuringly touch her shoulder.

However, before she could do so, Twilight suddenly drew her body back, as she gave the Solar Princess a betrayed expression. Staring at this gaze, Celestia could feel her heart break.

Looking away from the older alicorn, the lavender pony then engulfed herself in a bright flash of magic. In a blink of an eye, Twilight teleported away. In the split second before the flash blinded her, Celestia could swear that tears were dripping from the younger alicorn’s eyes.

Sighing, the white alicorn sat down and hung her head. It didn’t take long for her own tears to drip down.

What had happened hurt worse than her nightmare.

Comments

[MooseWhisker]

Lol this chapter got published just as I finished reading the previous one.

[Xalok]

Bloody Starlight That girl need to learn when to quit.

[Stahlseele]

Starlight Glimmer!

called it!

[MooseWhisker]

However, the unicorn did listen. Once more Sunny was hit again, and once more she came out unharmed.

Small typo.

Great chapter!

[Teal]

11797568
Woops! Thanks for the spot!

[Aiwhisper]

Woah what a twist. I was on the ‘Disguised Cadence’ team.

[N4rwh41]

11797603
Same. Shame. I guess it was never established at what point in the show we were at, so Starlight showing up makes sense. Celestia's plan to just annoy Starlight into taking off the Alicorn amulet was hilarious XD. Looking forward to the inevitable discussion.

(Does anyone know if there are grammatical rules for placing periods when emoticons are used in a sentence?)

[stag the story teller]

now that's how you use a deux ex machina to solve the problem, to bad this one actually started more

[Teal]

11797647
Oh, one of the earlier chapters made a couple of subtle references as to which point in the show this was

[stag the story teller]

11797849
you know what's funny, in the end Starlight did get what she wanted, to break Twilight's trust in Sunny and thus break her heart, to bad it had to be Celestia/Sunny that actually did it

[Shipster1916]

Great story so far, definitely a unique and intriguing concept.

[Teal]

11798034
Task failed successfully.

[stag the story teller]

11798088
plz make sure that either Twilight or Starlight or both rub it in Celestia's face in one of the following chapters