Chapter 3: Users Of Magic
Chapter 3: Users of Magic
Twilight had to admit, the Dazzlings could really sing. However, she also knew that this was due to their magic siren pendants. It could take even the most untalented, most tone-deaf individuals and turn them into musical divas with the voices of the angels, and she found herself wondering what they might sound like without their enchanted, siren-enhanced voices.
Sadly, at the end of the concert, there wasn’t a single happy face in the audience. Chrysalis had sucked up all the love they had for the Dazzlings, and the Dazzlings in turn had absorbed all the negative energy that was left as a result of that, leaving only an indifferent audience under the influence of their spell, which would only make them want to come back for more the next time they sang.
The show had to end at some point though, and eventually the crowd had dispersed. After that, Twilight would say that everyone began to settle in for the night, but seeing as it was always night, that wasn’t saying much.
It seemed that Cinch had finally decided to have words with Twilight though. After putting Chrysalis away, now full of the love she had devoured, Cinch made her way over to Twilight, giving the alicorn an arrogant smirk.
“I assume you’ve figured out what I’m doing with all this,” she told her confidently. “Tell me, alicorn, are you impressed?”
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the woman. “Don’t be so proud of this little scheme you’ve got going on here. Taking a changeling prisoner, and a queen at that, is a big mistake. She’s going to seek revenge on you when she gets out.”
Looking unconcerned, Cinch crossed her arms. “She won’t be going anywhere any time soon. I’ve made sure of that. The spell on her cage is a powerful one.” She pointed at Twilight. “One that not even an alicorn can break free of.”
Twilight looked back at Chrysalis. “You’re a fool. You may have her contained for now, but she will get free eventually. The more your audience grows, the more love she feeds on. One day you’re going to have an audience that’s too big, and she’ll devour enough love to allow her to break free.”
She gave Cinch a pleading look. “And I must be freed too. I have a mission I must complete. Let me go. And let her go. No one should be caged like this. Let us go.”
“Never!” Cinch snapped. “I have plans for both of you. Neither of you will go free, not you, or her. Don’t think I didn’t take the amount of love she feeds into account. As she feeds off the audience’s love, the Dazzlings feed off their negative energy, allowing them to make the sealing spell on her cage even stronger. So you see, there will be no breaking out. You’re both mine.”
“We’re not for you,” Twilight countered. “You can’t own a magical creature.”
“Who are you for then?” Cinch demanded. “Lord Tirek? Don’t worry, you’ll get to him soon enough. I know how badly he wants you. And he’s the one you want to go to as well. So you see, I’m actually doing you a favor. I’m sure you’d much rather be taken there by me instead of by Sombra. And my way will get me a nice payment as well.”
She walked off laughing after that, but Twilight was barely listening. Cinch spoke of King Sombra. A human actually knew of Sombra. But that was an Equestrian legend, one that was all but forgotten even in Equestria. How could a human possibly know about him? True, it was possible that some stories had been passed down over the generations and Cinch heard one, but it seemed unlikely since most ponies feared the legend so much that they rarely, if ever, spoke of him. But what was most concerning was that she spoke of the evil unicorn as if he were around today.
And who was this Lord Tirek that Cinch mentioned? Whoever he was, did he have the answers as to where the other alicorns were? If he did, then Twilight would have to go see him. However, she most definitely did not want to go there as a prisoner. She wouldn’t be able to help out her fellow princesses if she was stuck in this cage.
Her thoughts then turned to Micro Chips, the so-called magical scholar. He had told her that he would come to help her out, but so far there was no sign of him. She hoped he kept is word. If he didn’t, then she didn’t know what she was going to do.
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It seemed as if she didn’t need to worry. True to his word, Micro Chips returned a few hours later, looking rather proud of himself. He hurried over to Twilight’s cage, repeatedly glancing over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t followed.
“Never fear, my lady,” he told her, seemingly attempting to make a spectacle of himself, “for I have returned. I hope you’re ready to make your escape.”
Twilight glanced at the caravan she knew the Dazzlings to be in. She could handle Cinch if it came to it, but the Dazzlings with their magic were a different story. “Are you sure now is the best time? Shouldn’t we wait for them to sleep?”
Micro Chips chuckled. “Don’t worry; it’s taco Tuesday. The Dazzlings won’t let anything distract them right now. At least Sonata won’t.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, but decided to trust him; he did know his traveling companions better than her. “Alright then. So how are you going to get me out?”
A large grin spread across Micro Chips’ face. “By fighting magic with magic, of course.” He held up the device around his neck. “I’ll use the magic I’ve stored up to break the spell on the cage.”
Twilight was skeptical about that. He may have magic, but knowing how to use it was something else entirely. A lot could go wrong if you didn’t know how to use it properly. “Are you sure you can do it?”
Looking a little too confident, Micro Chips nodded. “I’ve been practicing small spells. I’m pretty sure I can handle it. Now, stand back, my lady, and I shall rescue you.”
Contrary to his boast, almost as if he were uncertain as to what would happen, he slowly began to open the device. Twilight could indeed sense magic inside it of various kinds. She still didn’t know how he had managed to store magic like this, but right now she was grateful for it. At least she would be if he managed to get her out.
Magic spilled from the device and began to swirl around the cage. Much to her surprise, it began to get results. The cage began to flicker, almost as if it were disappearing. She became hopeful that she would indeed be getting free, but then the magic faded, and the cage became solid once more.
A disappointed pout crossed Micro Chips’ face at his failure. “Hmm, well, I would have liked for that to have been the spell to free you. Guess I didn’t use enough magic to counter the Dazzlings’ spell. I didn’t want to use too much since I didn’t know what would happen.” He tapped his chin in thought, then snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. “I know, maybe I can use a spell to simply break you out. Watch now as I bend these bars apart.”
He unleashed more magic from his device. This time, it flowed around his hands, and he reached for the bars to pull them apart. However, there must have been another spell on them to prevent anyone from breaking them on the outside as well, for as soon as Micro Chips grabbed the bars, he let out a pained yelp and pulled his hands back. Looking down at them, Twilight saw that his hands had some pretty nasty burns on his palms, and he shook them to relieve the pain.
“Well, so much for that,” he muttered sheepishly, now looking embarrassed. He gave her a bashful grin before shaking his head and putting on a determine look. “Ok, this time I’ll use a little more magic to destroy the cage itself. Prepare yourself princess… and lets hope this works.”
He let out some more magic, more than he had the other two times. It flowed around the cage, and Twilight sensed something beginning to take affect. But then, much to her horror, the cage began to shrink rapidly. She let out a frightened cry as she realized that she was going to be crushed.
“Stop!” she shouted. “The cage is shrinking! Stop!”
A horrified look crossed Micro Chips’ face, and he immediately ceased his spell, leaving the cage at only half its original size. He dropped to his knees, looking exhausted, and a defeated look passed over his face. “I’m sorry, princess. I didn’t mean for that to happen. It seems I still can’t control large amounts of magic. It looks like I won’t be getting you out that way.”
Twilight feared that he was giving up, but she wasn’t willing to quit just yet. “No, don’t stop. You do have control, you simply used the wrong spell. Please, try again.”
An embarrassed smile crept up Micro Chips’ face. “I’m sorry, princess. The truth is, as a scholar of magic, I wanted to impress one of the four alicorns with a fancy spell to set her free, but it looks like I’ll have to settle with impressing you with my skills as a pickpocket.”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a set of keys. Getting to his feet, he walked over to the door of the cage, and began searching for the right key. A twinge of irritation went through Twilight at how he had put her in danger by trying to show off with his use of magic when he had the keys all along.
“I managed to swipe these from the Dazzlings without them noticing; that’s the real reason why I acted now. Once they discovered what I’ve done, they’re not going to be happy about it.” Fortunately, the keyhole hadn’t shrunk with the cage, and he managed to unlock the door, beaming proudly as he opened it. “You’re free, my lady!”
Twilight flew out of the cage and settled down beside Micro Chips. Her earlier irritation at his attempts to show off was now replaced by gratitude, and she turned to thank the nerdy human.
However, just as she opened her mouth to thank him, the sound of voices reached her ears. She recognized the voice of Adagio as she and the other two went walking by. “I’m telling you, Sonata, your obsession with tacos is not healthy.”
“What? I just love tacos. What’s wrong with that?”
“You have pictures of them on your clothes. No one loves a food that much without it being considered unnatural.”
“Um, girls,” Aria interrupted. “What’s Micro Chips doing?”
They turned to see the human in question standing by Twilight’s open cage. And standing behind him was Twilight herself. The two groups stared at each other in surprise before the silence was broken by Sonata. “Ooh, someone’s in trouble.”
Adagio, however, wasn’t as easygoing about it as she pointed an accusing finger at Micro Chips. “You little thief! You took the keys, didn’t you? Oh, you’re really in for it now. Miss Cinch is going to feed you to the changeling.”
“Run!” Micro Chips shouted, and suddenly charged at the Dazzlings. “I’ll deal the with them!”
Adagio’s angry look became an arrogant sneer as she brought her hand up to her pendant. “Deal with us? Oh, that’s rich.”
Then she and the others began to sing. Their pendants flashed brightly, and magic burst forth from them. Micro Chips, however, opened his device, and his own magic flowed out to meet theirs.
“You shouldn’t underestimate me!” he declared. “I have years worth of magic stored up in here.”
“You loser scholar!” Adagio snapped. “You can’t even do a simple magic card trick, let alone any real spells.”
Then she, Aria, and Sonata let out a loud, continuous, musical cry. Rings of enchanted sound waves flowed from their mouths and over Micro Chips, pushing him back. He continued to lose ground as he was overwhelmed by their power.
Twilight knew that she should be taking the opportunity to escape, but she just couldn’t not yet. There was something she had to do first. And so she made her way over to Chrysalis’ cage. She knew how dangerous changelings could be, but she just couldn’t bear to see her caged like this, especially after having lost her hive and having ended up all alone.
Still, she hesitated as she stood beside the cage, weighing the risks of letting her out with the wrongness of leaving her imprisoned. Chrysalis seemed to see that she was second-guessing her decision, and egged her on.
“Set me free,” she hissed. “We’re sister you, and I.”
Twilight wouldn’t go that far, but she did understand what Chrysalis was saying. And so she used her magic to release the changeling queen from her confinement, overpowering whatever spells the Dazzlings had placed on it now that she herself was free. Chrysalis burst from the cage and immediately took to the air, hissing like an angry cat as she flew around.
Worried for her rescuer, Twilight returned her attention to Micro Chips and his magical battle with the Dazzlings. She saw as he lost further ground, and was then finally blasted off his feet by their magic.
Adagio’s lips spread into a smirk as she looked down at him victoriously. “Serves you right for betraying us. Now, lets get that alicorn.”
They turned to Twilight, but before they could make a move towards her, Chrysalis landed in front of them. The Dazzlings gasped in surprised at the changeling’s sudden appearance, but recovered quickly and reached for their pendants.
They weren’t fast enough, and Chrysalis hit them with a blast of magic from her crooked horn. The magic beam flowed over them, and all three of their pendants shattered, the pieces falling to the crowd in front of them.
The Dazzlings collapsed, looking dazed, but seemed otherwise unharmed. It didn’t take them long to realize what had happened though, and Adagio grabbed a handful of the broken pendants. Then she, Aria, and Sonata looked up at Chrysalis in horror. Twilight couldn’t blame them for their fear. Without their pendants, they were just ordinary human girls.
But it seemed that Chrysalis wasn’t through with them yet, and she hissed at them. The Dazzlings immediately jumped up and took off running. Chrysalis made to go after them, but another voice distracted her.
“What is going on out here!?”
Cinch came storming over. She surveyed the scene, but before she could fully figure out what was going on, Chrysalis charged over to her. Cinch let out a startled cry and fell backwards as the changeling loomed over her.
“You thought you could hold me indefinitely?” Chrysalis seethed. “You thought you could use me for your little scheme? Well, now it’s my turn to use you how I see fit. Lets see how you like being my prisoner.”
Cinch opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Chrysalis began to devour what little love was in the woman’s heart. Twilight’s own heart broke for the woman, but she knew that Cinch had invited this fate upon herself. Besides, she had her human friend she needed to save before Chrysalis turned her wrath on him as well.
“Now’s our chance,” she told him. “Lets go while she’s distracted.”
As Chrysalis began to wrap Cinch in a cocoon, Twilight used a teleportation spell, and both she and Micro Chips were transported away. They reappeared what Twilight deemed was a safe enough distance away, and Micro Chips collapsed, looking horrified at what he had seen.
“Oh no, what have I done,” he muttered to himself. “This wasn’t what I wanted to happen. I was just trying to… I just wanted to…”
“It’s not your fault,” Twilight told him sadly. “Cinch brought this fate upon herself long ago. The only crime you’re responsible for is breaking me out.”
Micro Chips looked up at her. “Don’t you feel any remorse for her?”
Twilight closed her eyes. “Of course I do. I feel for all living things. As the Princes of Friendship, I want nothing more than for everycreature to come together in friendship. But that’s also why I couldn’t just leave Chrysalis in her cage like that and let Cinch continue to use her to victimize all those people for her own greed. Now they won’t fall victim to Cinch’s scheme, nor will they fall prey to the Dazzlings’ magic. And who knows, maybe since I saved Chrysalis, she’ll turn over a new leaf and eventually come to accept love rather than take it. And the Dazzlings, without their magic pendants, maybe they can find a new place in the world where they don’t have to constantly take from everycreature. So while I do feel sorry for Cinch, I don’t regret what I did, knowing all the good that can come of it.”
Her words surprised Micro Chips. He hadn’t considered all that. It was no wonder why she was the Princess of Friendship; she certainly knew a lot more about it that he did. Was that why she was here? Was she on some sort of friendship quest? He had never actually stopped to consider why she was so far from her home before.
“Where will you go now?” he asked her.
Twilight decided that she could trust him after all he had risked to help her. “I’m searching for the other alicorns. They’ve disappeared from Equestria, so I’ve come looking for them.”
Micro Chips jumped to his feet. “Take me with you! I know I may not be of much help, and what little magic I can use pales in comparison to yours, but I promise that I’ll help out however I can.”
A smile grazed Twilight’s face. She had to admit, it would be nice having some company on her journey, even if he was a magic nerd like Micro Chips. Besides, she was a magic nerd herself. “You may come with me if you want. Although I wish you would ask for another reward for freeing me.”
Micro Chips rubbed the back of his head bashfully. “Yeah, well, I doubt even you could grant me what I truly wish for.”
Twilight sighed, knowing right away what his secret desire was. “No, I can’t grant you actual magic. Whatever magic you do end up using will be whatever you manage to store up in that device of yours.”
Sighing, Micro Chips gave a shrug of his shoulders. “That’s alright. I’ll make do. But maybe you could help teach me how to control magic a little better so I don’t screw up again like I did back there.”
That reminded Twilight about what she had learned while she was imprisoned. “While we were speaking, Cinch spoke of selling me to somepony called Lord Tirek. She said that he wanted me badly, and that he was the one I was looking for as well. What do you know about Lord Tirek?”
Micro Chips blinked, clearly not expecting the question. “Oh, well, um, just rumors really. I heard that he rules over a worn down kingdom that he himself drove to ruin after he took it from his brother, Scorpan. It’s said that he sucked all the life and magic out of it until it became a barren wasteland where both food and water are scarce and the people are poor, but have nowhere to go. There are some variations of the story, but it’s all basically the same.”
Twilight considered this. It wasn’t much to go on, but it sounded as if this Lord Tirek was a magic user himself, or maybe a consumer of magic. There weren’t many creatures like that, but there were some, and they could be dangerous if they consumed too much magic. The most likely case was that he was a centaur. They were know for devouring magic, and were fully capable of draining life from the land.
“And what about King Sombra?” she asked. “I heard from a dragon that he was the one responsible for the other alicorns’ disappearance. Have you heard any stories about him?”
Micro Chips let out a sigh. “Oh, geez, even more than of Tirek, but also even more vague. He’s been mentioned in some of the stories I’ve read about magic. Some say he’s a ghost, some say he’s an incarnation of evil, some say he was once an ordinary unicorn that was taken over by dark magic. There’s really no telling what’s real and what’s made up.”
He hesitated, as if he were thinking about something. “But there have been whispers that Sombra has returned. What more, I have heard Lord Tirek’s name brought up in these rumors. So if Sombra is the one responsible for the alicorn’s disappearance, and Tirek wants the alicorns for something, then it’s possible that they’re both responsible.”
“Hmm,” Twilight muttered thoughtfully. This was much more information than she had expected him to know. “And what about the Crystal Heart? Wasn’t it supposed to keep Sombra from returning? Have you heard anything about it?”
“Just more stories. Some say that Tirek destroyed it, enabling Sombra to return. Some say he merely deactivated it and hide it away in his castle. Others say that he summoned Sombra from the ether, and uses the Crystal Heart to control him and force him to do his bidding. I can’t tell you what’s the truth, but the stories do indicate that the two of them are in league with each other in some way.”
A shiver went down Twilight’s spine. It was beginning to sound like the stories of Sombra might be true after all. It really surprised her that the old Equestrian legends had reached this far, but if they had, then maybe Sombra really was real and actually had returned. What was worse, it seemed as if he was working with this Lord Tirek person. If this was true, then it would mean that she had not one, but two enemies she had to face.
But face them she must. She had to do whatever it took to save Celestia, Luna, and Cadance and return harmony to the world. And, if she were perfectly honest with herself, she was actually beginning to feel a little afraid. But at least now she would have a friend by her side on her journey.
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Pretty bad.
I still can't get over that actually happened when the Sirens/Dazzlings returned in 2019.
You mean deal with them? I don't think there should be the in that last part of the sentence. 😒
No your not.
Plus, she deserves it for what she did, same with what the sirens just had coming their way. 😏
The sirens I do think have a chance but chrysalis, no. 😑
Wait, did Tirek ever actually have a brother?
Oh my! 😰
I'm glad prior to reading this I got to watch the entirety of "The Last Unicorn" so now I know how the movie goes and some things that'll be the same or different in the future chapters to come!