The Reception's Been Canceled

by sister_mike

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Twilight Sparkle

Find the princess. That's what the voice whispered as Twilight stepped through the doorway. It left a tingling sensation, as though she'd just walked through a thick mist. Find the Princess? The voice still sounded like Celestia. Why wouldn't she just say "Find me" instead?

"It doesn't matter, just find her," Twilight said, shaking her head as her thoughts got off track again. Her eyes finally adjusted to the new light. Her jaw dropped.

She was back in the maze. She was still in Canterlot. This was the exact opposite of where she needed to be! What was Celestia thinking, sending her back here? Were the others still here too then?

"Hello? Applejack? Rarity?" Twilight called. Nothing. The walls that had separated them earlier were gone. There were no signs of the shining doorways. Maybe she was on the other side of the labyrinth. The entrance to this one looked different. It lead out onto the streets, as opposed to the courtyard where they had entered.

No more changelings were trying to get into the labyrinth. The sky was still dark; no stars could be seen and it was a new moon. The only thing that lit up the sky was the eerie green glow of the energy being harvested all around. It came from every direction and all pooled into the palace—into that weird ponyquin.

The first task was to figure out a way to get around the city without being detected. She could try to pass off that she was a changeling who looked like Twilight Sparkle, but they knew who had escaped and probably wouldn't buy it.

"Or... I could use a spell to make me look like an unchanged changeling," Twilight thought aloud. She wasn't sure if she even had enough energy, but that magic doorway seemed to revitalize her a bit. Her optimistic spirit at least. She wouldn't question any more why the Princess kept her in Canterlot and sent her friends off elsewhere. It just meant it was Twilight's personal mission to find Celestia. Once she accomplished that, she and the Princess would come up with a strategy on how to find the others and the Elements of Harmony, and all seven of them would defeat Chrysalis.

Twilight took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She needed to concentrate in order to make the spell work. She'd only practiced it a few times at home, where she would try and turn herself into Spike. She never told the others about the spell, because it seemed unethical, in her opinion, to walk around looking and pretending like she was somepony other than herself. Tricking people like that was a low that Twilight didn't care for. But tricking changelings, she didn't have a problem with at all. See how they like it.

She paused for a moment, her breath catching—Spike. She hadn't seen him in the room with the cocoons. What had happened to him? Had he escaped? She hoped so.

She closed her eyes and began the spell. Slowly she felt a tingling sensation start at her hooves, and steadily make its way up the rest of her body. When she was fully covered, she finished the spell, carefully making sure she pronounced every word right, and then stopped. She opened her eyes and looked around. She looked down at her hooves. They were still their normal shade of purple.

"Spike always said I looked like him when practicing the spell; but to me, I always looked like myself," she thought aloud. What she needed was a mirror; but where in the labyrinth there was a mirror, she had no idea. The only thing she could do was leave the maze, and hope for the best. Or at least a shop window before bumping into any changelings.

Cautiously, she walked out of the maze. She carefully observed Canterlot. It was still. She approached the nearest shop. Her reflection showed a changeling; sick black, scaly, slick, with bright turquoise eyes.

Something past her reflection caught her attention. Something inside the shop. There, hanging from the ceiling, were three pods. From what she could make out, it looked like a mare and two foals.

"We have to fix this," she whispered, tearing her eyes away. When she stepped back, she noticed the green cloud coming from atop the shop. Most of the shops around her were the same. Ponies were trapped inside.

Find the Princess, she reminded herself, you can't save them now.

She looked up and down the streets, trying to determine where she was, and what her next move should be. When was the last time she saw Celestia? When they were battling Chrysalis. But what if that hadn't actually had happened? What if that was all in her mind?

Either way, Celestia would have been at the fake wedding. She must be in the palace somewhere, she thought. Towards the palace is where she would go.

Walking around Canterlot was creepy. It was silent, and still. Not even the wind seemed to whisper. As she walked by the train station, she saw pods hanging from the awnings, poor ponies who had been waiting to get on the train to go home. Maybe they had been trying to escape. She wondered where the train was.

What was more puzzling however, was where all of the changelings were. Where was Chrysalis? Was she in the palace somewhere? Torturing Celestia perhaps? Had the rest of the changelings dispersed, and conquered other parts of Equestria? Maybe they were fighting elsewhere, taking over another major city, like Manehatten, or Vanhoover. Were there any ponies left? Or was everyone in pods, being harvested?

No. There must be some survivors. There has to be, Twilight thought. Even if there aren't any in Canterlot, I refuse to believe that all of Equestria has been captured.

Soon the palace began to emerge in front of her. It looked frightening with no lights on inside; no cheery lanterns hanging from the gardens, no birds chirping merrily. It didn't resemble the beloved palace at all. The green clouds circling above it covered the palace in silhouette. It seemed to loom over her, a dark tower that she didn't want to enter. But Celestia was in there, and she had to find her. That's why she was still here. One of the others would find the Elements of Harmony—unless Celestia knew where they were—and they would rendezvous later once they were found.

The main door was still open from when they had escaped. Quietly, Twilight went back inside. Her heart began to race—there were changelings in here. They lazed about, some yawning, others quietly chatting and snickering at each other. It looked like they were tired and relaxed, as though they had just had a big feast. Of our energy, Twilight thought. Some glanced towards her, but they didn't suddenly charge her. They thought she was merely one of them, coming back from a stroll or a fly.

One of them seemed to hiss something towards her. She wasn't sure if it was actually speaking to her or just hissing. She had only heard Chrysalis talk (in her dream?), but none of the others had said anything while they were attacking. Maybe they couldn't speak, only hiss? Or maybe the hissing was their way of communication.

Quickly, Twilight hissed back. She couldn't hesitate too long, lest they become suspicious. She hissed back viciously, and kept walking. None of them followed, nor did they try to communicate with her again. Heart pounding, she walked down a side corridor and entered the first empty room she saw.

She needed a moment to calm herself. She couldn't let herself be caught. She needed to find the Princess! Where could they be keeping her? Surely Celestia wasn't in a pod somewhere. She couldn't be. That would be impossible. If anything, she was fighting Chrysalis somewhere in the palace right now.

Suddenly something caught her attention. Her ear twitched. A light breeze seemed to float from behind her. She turned around and saw a set of stairs. She looked around the room, now noticing that she wasn't in a room at all. She was in a short, narrow hallway. There were spiraling stairs at the end, where the breeze was coming from. There were no windows on the walls, and the hallway seemed older than the rest of the palace.

Twilight suddenly realized where she was. She hadn't ever gone here before, because, well, nobody ever did. The stairs at the end led down to the dungeons. The dungeons, long and forgotten by most, just like the caves where she and Cadance were kept. Every castle and palace had a dungeon; but ever since Discord was defeated, the first time by Celestia, the dungeons had no use. Once he was defeated, there were no more problems and Equestria was in peace. With no one to be punished or contained, the dungeons had long been forgotten. Twilight was even surprised they weren't sealed off.

The wind from the stairs seemed to carry something up with them. Was that a cough? A voice? Was someone down there?

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, determination in her voice. There was a reason she had turned off into this random hallway. Everything happened for a reason.

She headed for the stairs, her heart racing again. She was going to find the Princess. She wouldn't be alone any more. Maybe then they would find Spike, and then find somewhere to hide while they planned their next move. Maybe one of the others had already found the Elements of Harmony, and they were all meeting in Ponyville right now, waiting for her. She knew it was unlikely, but the thought made her happy.

She walked down the stairs quietly and carefully. As optimistic as she was, she couldn't just barrel down the stairs and burst into the dungeons. If Celestia was in there, surely she would be heavily guarded. And what if she wasn't? What if the changelings were living down here? Or what if she walked down to find thousands of more pods?

Twilight hesitated as she neared the last bend. What if no one was down here. What if the wind was just playing tricks on her.

Then that's one place already searched, and you can move on and check somewhere else, she thought to herself. One place at a time.

Holding her breath, she turned the corner and descended down the last of the stairs. And then her mouth dropped.

There, in the middle cell, pacing back and forth, was Luna. Just Luna, alone in the dungeons. No changelings in sight, none guarding the locked prison. She wasn't in a cocoon. No green energy floated out of her soul. She didn't even look tired. Just frustrated, pacing back and forth.

"Find the princess," Twilight whispered again to herself. How could she have been so stupid? Of course there were two princesses! Three if you included Cadance, but she knew that wasn't what the message had meant. She had to find one of the princesses. Everyone seemed to forget that Luna lived in both Equestia and on the moon. She should have realized that Luna was somewhere in Equestia ; more often than not, when it was an unscheduled new moon, it meant that Luna wasn't on the moon, that she was somewhere else, and that she was in trouble.

Luna whipped her head up at the sound of Twilight's voice. Her hard features softened for a moment.

"Twilight Sparkle," she said. She sounded relieved.

Twilight smiled and began to step towards her, but then stopped.

"How do you know it's me? Don't I look like a changeling?" Twilight asked. Luna sighed and closed her eyes. She shook her head.

"I can see you for who you really are," she said quietly. Twilight walked towards her, and stood in front of her cell.

"What happened? I mean, what really happened? Did that evil witch really marry my brother? What happened to Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked.

"I cannot answer all of your questions Twilight Sparkle, for I do not know. I mostly sleep during the day, for I guard the night. I do not know if your brother married the changeling. My Day Guards—the ones who watch Equestria for me for those few hours that I do sleep—they alerted me once the attack had already begun. The barrier around Canterlot had been broken and the changelings were everywhere. By the time I got here, all of the wedding party had been implanted into pods. My sister was nowhere in sight. Neither was Queen Chrysalis when I first arrived. I managed to save one little filly—a friend of yours I recognized. But then I was ambushed by more changelings than I could count. They tried to implant me as well, but it did not work..."

"Why not? Why didn't it work?" Twilight asked. "I'm surprised to see that they aren't guarding you right now. You are powerful Princess Luna, just as powerful as Princess Celestia. Surely they would fear you too."

Luna sighed again and looked Twilight straight in the eyes.

"Their dark magic does not work on me for one simple reason; dark magic still lives within me. The Elements of Harmony may have changed me back from Nightmare Moon, but she still lives within me. I control her now, and use her power for good. But because of this, it counteracts the changelings' magic to harvest energy from me. Changelings can only harvest and feed off of good energy, they cannot feed off of the dark energy they are made of. It is a variable of the same magic of Nightmare Moon. That is the reason I can see through your disguise, see you for you. And that is why they left me here, imprisoned. They were not sure what else to do. Chrysalis tried a few things, but our magic abilities are matched. Without my sister and our combined strength, I cannot defeat her. And neither can Celestia. Her magic may be good magic, but it is still the same strength as Chrysalis'. We are a team Celestia and I; we need to work together."

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. Nightmare Moon was still basically alive? Nightmare Moon was the reason that Luna was still here, fully capable of a fight? Essentially, Nightmare Moon had saved Luna!?

"That is also the reason," Luna continued, "that Celestia and I do not control the Elements of Harmony any more. Although I do not use the dark energy, while it lives within me, I cannot control the Elements. That is why you and your friends are now their keepers."

Twilight was a little stunned. She had no idea. Celestia had never fully explained why the Elements had suddenly chosen Twilight and her friends. Sure, they were fundamentally personifications of the elements, but other than that, she had always wondered why the princesses stopped using them.

"I realize this is a lot to take, and may compromise any trust you have towards me," Luna said, breaking Twilight's thoughts, "but believe me when I say Nightmare Moon is not in control, and nor shall she ever be in control again. After seeing that festival in Ponyville, and that so many ponies celebrated the night... any jealousy that Nightmare Moon and I once shared, is gone. You were the first person to be kind towards me after the change Twilight Sparkle—aside from my sister of course. I would hate to break what was becoming a friendship between us by confiding my dark secret in you."

"I trust you Princess Luna," Twilight said without a moment's hesitation, "and I would love for us to be friends."

Luna smiled. "Excellent. Now, I think I know how you can get me out of here."

And with that, Twilight began to work on freeing the princess.

Comments

[sister_mike]

Ok! Here's Chapter 2! I was a little eh.. on doing two Twilight chapters in a row, but I had her next phase planned out in more detail than the others.
I don't plan on all chapters being this long!

Also still open to anyone who wants to make me some cover art (so it doesn't look like I'm copying this other story that I've never seen)

And I realize this chapter pretty much ends with the same wording as the first one. That's just the way it sounded best in my head, so, ba ha, deal with it.

[loststone]

a bit rushed but good all the same

[mbpony 512]

Hurrah, nice update, now with Princess Luna by their side the Changeling army doesn't stand a chance.

Please do keep up the good work upon such a wonderful story as this one.

[sister_mike]

1286913

Thanks for such a nice comment!

[Darth Link 22]

Very nice... Keep up the good work!

[ctzmsc3]

I noticed two errors:

"Or maybe the hissing was there their way of communication.

Quickly, Twilight hissed back. She couldn't hesitate too long, lest they become suspicious. She hissed back viscously viciously, and kept walking."

Otherwise, good story!

[sister_mike]

1288907

Thanks for the corrections! Typos drive me crazy, especially when they're my own. My spelling has gone downhill lately (just ask BronyMike), so it's much appreciated!