Forgotten Kingdom

by Invisible Cadance

Chapter 4: Forsaken (Twilight's Story)

The village standing in front of her wasn’t a very big one. In the daylight the wooden houses looked quite dull and beaten down. Red was the colour chosen for most of the wood. Almost every house had a small garden, but the farmlands were located to the edges of the village. The crop looked like it was ready to be harvest, and some parts had already had the crop removed. Equipment lied scattered around with no pony to use them. Cows, pigs and cats ran around freely within the village. Some were even eating of the gardens and destroying them. Most of what had flowered in the gardens had already withered away, but it didn’t seem to bother the animals at all.

“Where is everypony?” Pinkie Pie asked behind her. Fleur de Lis stood close by seeking comfort in the Earth Pony and keeping her distance away from Twilight.

The sun was standing high in the sky, yet there was no pony to be seen. The village looked as if it had been completely abandoned. “I’m sure they are somewhere nearby,” Twilight replied trying to mostly convince herself on the matter. “Maybe they’re all at a village meeting. If anypony knows anything about the castle ruins, it will be them.”

“Or maybe they’re having a super duper party and we’re all invited!” Pinkie suggested joyfully. Her new friend didn’t look too convinced on it.

They kept a high pace as they walked through what remained of the village. Birds were singing in the few trees that were scattered around the farmlands. Canterlot was visible from the village, but it didn’t look any different from when she had arrived there earlier. Cloudsdale loomed nearby high in the air. Beautiful rainbows were emerging from the floating city even though there was no rain. She played around with the thought of going there should they fail to find anypony in the village, but neither one of them had the ability to get up there. If I would have brought with me the right book, I could have cast a spell to get us there.

The interior of the village didn’t offer any more help than the outside had done. The houses slowly changed colour from red to yellow. Some gardens still looked beautiful and tall, as if they had recently been tended to, but not much else was different. Pinkie galloped up to a door every now and then to knock. Fleur would always follow, but they never received any answer from the inside. Somehow the Earth Pony managed to keep her mood up and always talk about the party awaiting them.

At the end of the village there was no party to be seen. The road extended itself far in the distance, and Twilight knew it would continue all the way to Tall Tale and Yanhoover. She hadn’t seen any ruins on her way through. The others hadn’t been any more fortunate than her.

“Let’s head back to the town hall,” she suggested. No pony objected.

The town hall was a small red building with a few windows and two wide open doors, everything the Ponyville equivalent wasn’t. On the wall hung a large sign declaring that the house was the town hall. A beat down flag of Equestria stood on the black gable roof. The two ponies had mostly faded away along with the rest of the colour. A single small road led to the house. It was surrounded by larger houses of yellow colour which made it stand out, yet it seemed like they had done their best to hide it. Unlike the other parts of the village, no animals wandered around the town hall. It seemed to her that they shied away from the road leading there.

There must be somepony in there, she thought as she moved in through the open door. The sun shined through the windows and gave the small room a horrible look. Only one room had greeted her when she moved in and there were no doors leading to others. It looked large enough to be all there was. A large wooden table stood in the middle of the room taking up most of the space. Torn down wallpapers with blue flowers on them covered small parts of the walls; the parts that weren’t covered was filled with grey stones. A small fireplace stood to the left side of the table without any wood to burn. On top of it stood a few blackened pictures with silver frames, the images were impossible to make out.

“Nothing,” Pinkie declared for her, “not even the slightest party. Geez, these ponies are really boring.”

“There must be something here that can help us,” Twilight said. “A whole village of ponies doesn’t just disappear. If there’s a library here, perhaps somepony recorded why it is so empty.”

“My hooves hurt,” Fleur complained to the Earth Pony. Her voice was almost a whisper, but not low enough for ponies nearby to be incapable of making out the words. “I found the hatch, and I’ve been walking with you forever. It’s time to rest. My body demands it.”

“It sure has been a long night,” Pinkie replied, “but our friends in Canterlot need us.”

Even if they didn’t, sleeping in a place where we don’t know what has happened wouldn’t be a good idea. “There will be time to rest once we find Princess Luna,” Twilight said instead. “For now we need to figure out what catastrophe made these ponies abandon their homes.”

“Listen,” the Earth Pony answered and made a hushing noise with her right front-hoof at her mouth.

The sound of an animal walking nearby on wooden boards was the only sound that greeted her with the exception of her breathing. It was impossible to hear the birds sing from the inside, even with the doors open. The sound crept closer for every second, and when it came so close that she expected the animal to walk inside, a large creak was what she heard instead. Then the room was filled with the sound of objects crashing into the ground. The pictures fell off their shelf when the fireplace slowly moved itself to reveal a dark passageway with stairs. Fleur started screaming hysterically at the sight.

Our answer might be down there. Cold air swept through her mane as a green coated stallion crawled out of the passage. His hair was a dark green colour and two small rocks sat on his flanks. There were neither wings nor horn on him.

“What are you doing here?” the stallion asked. He quickly scanned through the room. “Your orders were to...” The last of the words got cut off as he fell down to the ground with Pinkie on top of him.

“Who are you?” Pinkie started off her array of questions in a rapid speed. “Do you know where everypony is? Are you holding a special surprise party for me? I’m Pinkie Pie by the way. What’s your name? Do you have any friends?” The questions went on for a while without any answers.

“Please,” the stallion pledged, “I never meant to do anything. I was just, just obeying.”

“What happened here?” Twilight asked. “Where does that lead to?” She used her right front hoof to point at the passageway.

“Don’t you know?” His eyes were stuck upon the beauty of Fleur. “Princess!”

“Princess?” Twilight and Pinkie asked at the same time. The pink pony jumped off the lying Earth Pony and moved towards her friend.

“I was sent here to find you, Princess.” He raised himself up only to bow in front of the white Unicorn. “We have been waiting for you for so long. Let me lead to your castle where it’s safe. I’m sure you’ll find the treasures to your liking.”

Fleur looked at Pinkie, and shared small glances with Twilight, for an answer. It looked like she was thinking, but she remained silent for a while before responding with her soft voice. “Show me the way. Lead your princess away from this dirty ground giving nothing but blisters.” She moved towards the stallion.

“You can’t mean that,” Twilight said in annoyance. “He could mean you harm. We still don’t know who he is, or where the passageway goes. For all we know, he could be behind what happened here.”

“He’s no more a stranger than you were,” Fleur responded softly.

“The way is small for a grace such as you,” the stallion said flattering. “A small inconvenience is all it is. Your annoying pink slave, and whatever the other one is, can not follow you in there.”

“Hey, I’m not annoying!” Pinkie blurted out. “Watch what you are saying. Somepony could be hurt by those words.”

“They’re of no further use to me,” Fleur declared before she ducked down and melted into the darkness.

What kind of friend am I to prevent her from receiving what she wants? “Fleur, wait!” Twilight called out.

“Leave my princess alone!” the stallion demanded and retreated into the passageway. Soon the room was filled with the creaking sound as the fireplace moved to close the passage.

One who cares, she answered herself and rushed towards the stairs. Her two front hooves went up on the side of the moving fireplace. She pushed herself forward using her hind legs with all her strength. Although it sent out loud noises all over the room, the speed that it was moving in made it an easy target to stop. “We’re going after them.”

“I’ll show that meanie,” Pinkie said when she moved past her friend into the small passage. “You don’t think I’m annoying do you?”

The passageway had a low height which forced Twilight to crawl her way forward. Behind her the fireplace closed with a slam and shut out all the light they had. She used the same spell she had used beneath Canterlot to light their way. This time she found it much easier to do so, and there was no sweat on her body afterwards. The stairs went downward in a long, tight spiral. Rough stone walls closed in on them. “No,” she responded, “you’re a good friend.”

Pinkie was first to place her hooves upon the flat ground. Before them stood a cavern large enough to fit in under the whole village. The walls reflected and transformed her light into a red one. Gemstones revealed themselves in masses within the walls. Some were even located in the roof. In the distance two towers stood upon large red castle walls. Weak lights were coming from the inside, and the cavern echoed with the voices from hundreds of ponies. However, she could only see two ponies with the exception of her pink friend. A white and a green pony were trotting towards the castle walls through the middle of the cavern. She didn’t need to see them up close to know who they were.

“Oh, shiny.” Pinkie looked impressed by the sight standing before them. “Rarity would like it down here. We should take some of these stones with us to her.”

“So would Spike,” Twilight replied and quickly dug out a few red gemstones with her magic. She placed them in her saddle-bag. “His appetite is never-ending.” With the gemstones secured, she started moving towards the red castle in the distance. The stone ground was flat with a few rough spots. They moved close to the walls and blended in with the light. The cavern was massive, and she could only barely see the walls on the opposite side reflecting her light. After a while her hooves started aching with the every step she took. The surface was a lot harder to walk on than the one she had grown used to in Canterlot and Ponyville.

In closer inspection of the castle walls, she saw that they were made out of the same ruby from the cavern walls. It was cut smoothly and showed no signs of any cracks. The echo from the voices still remained, but it didn’t sound like they were coming from inside the walls anymore. They slowly moved around the wall until they found the gate. It was tall and made out of wood rather than ruby, but from across one side to the other it was quite small. She figured that Fleur had recently passed by as it stood wide open for anypony to move inside.

“There’s no pony there,” Pinkie said after she had taken a quick look inside.

Only the hard stony ground remained in the courtyard. Target dummies were spread out throughout it with lances, spears, swords, shields, and many other weapons lying abandoned around them. The small staircase that was leading up to the glimmering front door of the castle was made out of blue garnet. It looked almost as if the door was made out of diamonds, but the walls that almost swallowed it were ruby. The castle itself took from the outer walls and was full of the red ruby. So clean it reflected all of the light. However, it was quite a small castle, and the only towers were on the wall. A few poorly shaped windows covered the top, but the sight would be nothing more than a red wall.

“Do you think Princess Luna is here as well?” Pinkie asked. She picked up one of the lances with her mouth, but the shaft fell off and she spat the rest out.

“I don’t know, Pinkie,” Twilight answered. Shadows surrounded her, but they only moved when she moved. Some of them looked like they could belong to a pony. This isn’t real, echoed in her head. It was somepony else’s voice, yet it was inside her head. She shook herself for a few seconds until it was gone.

The voices still echoed in the cavern when she ascended the stairs together with Pinkie. Now it was coming from behind them rather than from within the courtyard, as she had first believed. On the door hung two large doorknobs made out of stone; they looked bulky and impossible to spin around. There was no keyhole visible. She put her teeth to the one to her left and pulled. The result was only pain in her mouth. She tried to turn the knob as well, but the sight had already revealed its impossibility.

“Maybe it’s a riddle that we need to solve,” the pink pony suggested. “What makes a door open?”

“Not riddles, but magic,” Twilight replied. She watched as something was quickly approaching the front gates. A small shimmer of green light was coming from there. “We need to find Princess Luna fast.” Do I even know if she’s in here? Where else would she possibly go without telling anypony? Please be here.

“No, it’s a riddle,” Pinkie insisted. “The answer is, secret door.” A rumbling sound filled the cavern after her answer.

Twilight ignored her friend and allowed her light to die out. The walls reflected enough from the other light for her to be able to see. Her horn lit up for a short second and she started to pant. There was no light covering the door, no sounds, nothing. It was still as stuck as it had been earlier.

“Twilight, this way!” the pink pony called on her. “It was a riddle after all.”

Her friend was standing in the door opening of a small ruby door where only a wall had been previously. “Pinkie, how did you?” she asked. “Never mind, let’s hurry.” The other light source died out and left her in darkness again.

“Wait!” a mare’s voice called on her from below.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked the darkness in reply. She stumbled through forwards using only her hooves to guide her. First there was only air, and then she walked into a wall. She put her hoof on it and followed its cold touch. Soon it was changed to the warm and cuddly body of her friend. The smell of burnt candle-grease reached her from the inside the door.

“I should ask you the same,” the voice replied. “Only, I already know who you are. Your little friend was kind enough to tell us. I would end this foolish search of yours if I were you. You do not have the permission to enter and disturb our ancestors.”

I don’t have time for this. Canterlot is under attack, and I’m chasing ghosts. “It is not our intention to disturb your sacred dead,” she said. Her horn lit up again as she brought back the light to the cavern. A blue Unicorn clad half in silver armour was standing on the courtyard. The light also reflected deep into passage Pinkie found. It looked never-ending with a small slope downwards. Red ruby covered its walls just like it did the rest of the castle.

“Oh, pretty,” Pinkie grimaced. “Let’s take it for a ride.”

“The dead do not favour magic. This place rejects it.” Her words were harsh and angry as the Unicorn started climbing up the stairs with hard steps.

She never felt where it came from, but Twilight fell down onto the hard ground as sharp pain shook through her body. The light went off from her horn, but it continued to reflect down the passage for a few moments. All she heard was her own strong breathing. The hot air licked her face after every breath. Sometimes a salty drop found its way inside her mouth.

“Abandoned your folly!” the soldier repeated, this time much harsher. “The princess is in mourning over those dead she never fully got to know. She doesn’t want to be disturbed by the likes of you. Leave this place.”

“No!” Twilight coughed out. With the help of Pinkie she pushed herself back onto her hooves. “She is my friend. We may not be the type of friends that meet every day, but I know in my heart that she wouldn’t throw me away like this. I won’t abandon my friend, ever!”

“Then share her fate in death. Perhaps you’ll get to be laid beside those already dead. Maybe you’ll even have some kind of worth then. No pony will miss you.”

“You’re wrong!” Pinkie lashed out. “I’ll miss her, and so will all her friends. With the way you talk, there’s no wonder that you don’t know these things. You’ve never had a friend because no pony wants to be yours.”

“And friends don’t abandon each other,” Twilight filled in. A warm hoof swept around her body and dragged her down. Pinkie screamed happily right next to her as she felt her body moving downwards. The soldier screamed angrily at her from behind, but she ignored the words, they were of no importance any longer. She felt almost relieved. The princess is here, but she’s in danger. I know we can save her and Canterlot.

The ride down went quickly in the darkness. A few times she scratched the walls around her, but mostly it went smooth. Pinkie’s happy cheers brought a kind of life to it, yet she never smiled. Soon enough she saw the end and light coming out of it. The Earth Pony had managed to land on all four while she crashed on her back. A few scratch wounds appeared thanks to it.

“Let’s do that again!” Pinkie exclaimed when the ride was over. “That was super fun!”

The room they had landed in was more of a long hallway. It went off in two directions, both of them leading to a crossing. Under their hooves was a large red carpet made out of wool that left no part of the floor unprotected. The walls were decorated with golden wallpapers. Very small gemstones of different colours were glued stuck to them. Large holes existed in the walls, most of them similar to the one they had entered from, seeming to indicate that the castle was full of secret passageways. Large torches hung on the walls giving the room both light and warmth. The roof differed from the rest with engravings of small ponies doing various tasks. Together they formed a short story of a pony who won the heart of another pony during a duel.

The dead do not favour magic. This place rejects it. It seemed like an obvious lie, but she had felt what happened when she attempted magic. Her attempt to open the door had led her nowhere, and the soldier had shut down her light when she approached the castle. “We need to find our way to Princess Luna without assistance,” Twilight said. “I don’t want to use my magic until I’m sure what happened up there.” She wiped off the sweat from her forehead.

“Are you okay?” Pinkie asked. “Magic means a lot to you, and if you don’t want to use it, then maybe you’re affected by some kind of curse.”

Of course I’m not okay! I only lost the magic I’ve been studying for years! I’ve lost myself! She wanted to scream out to the entire world of her suffering. Instead she said, “There’s no curse over me. Everything has its explanations, just like the poison joke. I’m certain that there’s a book in the library that will give us an explanation. This time I won’t ignore the book that is sure to have the answer.” She decided to walk in the direction the pony on the roof had walked according to the engravings.

Twilight stumbled forward to the crossing. Pinkie jumped around after her singing quietly for herself. Two new hallways greeted them; one to their left and the other to their right, both of them led to even newer crossings of a similar style. The walls lacked the passageways that the first hallway had, but she didn’t doubt that there might still be some. Engravings covered the roof everywhere she could see. Two stories were told this time, one of a pony who fought a great beast and won, and the other showed a couple getting married.

“Awh, look how happy they are,” Pinkie said at the sight of the engraving. “We should go that way.”

“I concur,” Twilight replied panting. “Love leads the way.” It was an expression she thought was fitting. If it would actually lead her where they wanted was something she doubted, but it was a start. Where are you, Princess? She stumbled into the hallway with the pink pony following her.

This place is a maze, Twilight thought after walking around for longer than she cared to remember. Most of the castle that they had passed looked quite similar. What differenced them were the engravings on the roof and the torches. All the images had their own story to tell, some of them sad, others happy. They had followed the ones showing a pony in love, but those had soon run out. Instead they choose to follow the stories that ended pleasantly. Neither one had led them anywhere else but hallways.

“This isn’t working!” she finally cried out in annoyance. “Doing anything is better than wasting time here. We should head back to Canterlot. There we can at least be of assistance. The city might fall any second.”

“I don’t think that such a good idea, Twilight,” Pinkie replied. She had somehow managed to keep her good mood up and was sure they would find something in the castle, but she had been quiet most of the time. “We were helpless the last time we were there, and we didn’t pick up any treats. Plus, I can sense that’ll find Princess Luna somewhere in here.”

“Can’t your sense tell you where to find her?” she asked sarcastically. Pinkie’s sense had eluded her scientific methods before, so she saw it best not to delve too far into it. On the roof she saw the story of a pony winning the heart of another in a duel. Do I even know the way out? All around her was the same old walls with golden wallpapers, but there were no passageways. Everywhere they seemed to taunt her.

“No, silly,” the Earth Pony said. She happily bounced up and down. “It does tell me that we aren’t alone here. There’s somepony behind this wall talking. It’s a quite boring conversation.”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. All around her was the sound of her and Pinkie’s breathing. There was no talking, no singing, nothing. It had always been so during her tour through the castle. “I can’t hear anything,” she declared. “Are you certain there is somepony talking?” She never heard the filly’s song. It was a weird thought to get used to, but she was willing to trust her friend on this. “Then we need to find a way to the other side.”

“It’s a thin wall. A party should knock it down.” Pinkie kicked the wall with her right front hoof. It went partially through and left a small round hole in its place.

“No, wait.” The dead do not favour magic. She sighed at the thought. “Let’s kick it down!”

Piece after piece fell down from the wall under their kicks. Twilight’s hind legs kicked hard and firm through the soft wall, but as they progressed through she brought her legs up more slowly. Soon enough she switched to her front legs. One of her kicks brought her far through, and cold air swept over her hoof. She quickly pulled it back and peered through the hole. There was light everywhere. A bright burning light that seemed to fill the entire room.

“You waited this long to bring me the news of the intruders?” The voice was cold and filled with superiority.

“I had no choice,” another voice replied. It sounded awfully familiar to her. “The crystals were active, and there was an Earth Pony. I tried, Your Magnificence, but they refused to heed my warnings. Fear not, they’ll never find their way through the castle. Our newly acquired princess is safe and ready to be drained.”

“No. They’re here listening to us. Stay and watch how you should deal with intruders.”

The wall Twilight had been kicking down together with Pinkie was encased in a red glowing aura. She backed away from it before it transformed into rubbles and fell down on the ground in front of her hooves. Her eyes closed immediately, and she slowly forced herself open them. A spiral of bright light met her in the large circular room that was revealed. It was positioned in the middle of the room and went from the floor all the way to the roof. The remaining walls were decorated with the same golden wallpaper, but the roof had the engravings of a red unicorn defeating a black Alicorn before burning a city sitting on a mountain and its defender, a white Alicorn.

Close to the light stood a blue Unicorn mare clad in silver armour. A shield with a ruby on it decorated her flank. Beside her sat a red Unicorn facing the light. A golden crown sat on her head. Her hair was blood red and sparkled. She looked slightly taller than the soldier. Light flowed through her body, and Twilight had to peer with her eyes to see her cutie mark, a white crown.

“Welcome,” the red Unicorn said and turned to them. Her eyes were blood red, and her face was clean and straight except for a few wrinkles under her eyes. “It would please me to hear that your stay here has been pleasant. I’m afraid I haven’t had the time to introduce myself before now. I am Queen Verdite, the ruler of Bolivianite.”

Twilight slowly moved over the rubble and into the room. Pinkie followed her closely behind. The light filled her body with warmth the closer she got. She looked over the room multiple times, but mostly kept her sight on the two Unicorns.

“I’m Pinkie Pie,” the Earth Pony replied to the introduction. “This is Twilight Sparkle. This castle has not been a pleasant stay. First, there are no parties. Second, there are too few slides. Third, all the rooms look the same. There needs to be some variety.” She allowed some balloons to fly out of her saddle-bags in an array of colours.

“So I’ve heard,” The Queen answered. “I’m afraid your complaints can’t be fixed. There’s very little material down here.”

“What have you done with our friend?” Twilight asked, cutting right to the chase. And Princess Luna, where is she? She allowed those words to remain in her head instead of speaking them.

“It should please you that she’s safe. She is a princess after all. I have great plans for her, but that’s not something she wishes you to learn. Perhaps you’re not such good friends as you believe.” The Queen laughed slightly and the light shied away from her. Once she stopped, it returned to grasp her body.

“Liar!” Pinkie screamed out. “We were great friends. Together we had some rough times, but we always stuck together through it. Until one of your meanies came and swayed her away with lies.”

“I do not lie,” Verdite replied, “but it’s up to you to believe what comforts you the best. I can merely aid you in finding the right path.” She turned away from them and into the light.

She used magic to bring the wall down, Twilight thought. If she can do it, then so can I. “No,” she said, “Pinkie’s right, you’re lying to us. I heard what you said about draining the princess, it did not sound pleasant. What do you want?” Her friend nodded at her with a smile.

“I merely wish that you would end your folly. Princess Luna isn’t here. She hasn’t been here for a very long time. Leave this place now, and I’ll allow you to return home unharmed.” The light withdrew from the Queen again. It circled around the soldier before turning back. Black burn marks were left on the silvery armour, and the air was filled with the smell of burnt fur.

“I’m not leaving until I see that Fleur is safe, and hear from her mouth that she doesn’t want to return back to her home.” In the distance Twilight could hear screams, but she couldn’t make out the words. A loud crash followed it and the screams stopped.

“With your permission, Your Magnificence, I’ll check out what occurred.” The soldier started backing away from the light and towards the edges of the room. There was no door in the room, so she was only moving towards the walls. When she turned around, burn marks were visible where the armour didn’t protect.

“Stay!” Verdite commanded. A small array of light moved towards the blue Unicorn. The Queen sat still, unmoved and playing with the light that still grasped her.

“No! No! Not this! I’ve served you well. Please.” The soldier screamed loudly as the light grasped her entire body. It lasted for a second before the light withdrew and left only the smell of burnt flesh and silver. Nothing remained of the Unicorn. She couldn’t do anything to help, or so Twilight told herself upon seeing the sight.

“You killed her! What kind of monster are you?” She was baring her teeth and the fur on her back had risen. Pinkie stood still with her mouth open, but she was quiet.

“I drained her,” Verdite said. “You were given the chance to flee. It is not my fault that you chose to not take that chance. Your princess has returned, and my patience with you has run to an end.”

“You’re going to kill Fleur as well? I won’t let you. We’ll stop you with the power of friendship.” Twilight saw the attack coming before it happened, and had enough time to cast the same spell she had cast in Canterlot. A purple glowing shield appeared and covered a small area in front of her and Pinkie. The attack was the same kind the Queen had used against the blue Unicorn. An array of light hit the shield in the middle and sent Twilight grasping for air. The shield shattered at the same time as she fell down to floor. Pain ached through her stomach.

She crawled forward, her legs refusing to raise her up. Pinkie rushed forward with her tail hitting all the air around her. “Take that you mean bean!” The Earth Pony waved her front hooves to hit the Queen. She took a deep breath and focused on the light. Her horn glowed for a while, but no magic left it. The pink pony fell down to the ground in a wave to laughter; there Pinkie made no attempt at moving.

“Feeble creatures,” Verdite laughed out. “I’m not a cruel ruler. Your princess is here, but there’s naught you can do now. You should thank me for being so kind to let you die with this knowledge.”

The Queen’s horn glowed in a strong red aura that also surrounded Pinkie. “No!” Twilight screamed, but the sound she made was much lower than she intended. She forced her legs forward towards the Unicorn. Her breathing was fast and heavy. It was loud enough to reach out into the hallways. As she managed to close in half the distance, the red aura disappeared and her friend with it. Pinkie. The word was stuck in her throat as a clump.

“Such a pity. This could have ended much cleaner if you would never have followed your feeble friend. A time comes for all of us when we must pay for who we serve. Now it has arrived to you.”

All Twilight saw was the red Unicorn’s horn glowing red when the last word had gone silent. Then everything went black around her. She moved her hooves through thin air without hitting anything. Cold air hit her from below, and it dawned for her, she was falling. She couldn’t say how quickly or how far. The wind made no sound. She was all alone with only her breathing to keep her company.

The cold stone barely hurt when she landed on it. Her saddle-bag took most of the fall, and was ripped open as a result. The book only barely managed to keep itself inside on its own. I should have brought with me another book. She was lying down on an uneven stone floor. There were three walls covering her on three sides, all looking the same as the floor. On the fourth side were steel bars barring her way out. Through them she could see similar cells on the opposite end. Torches were lit all over the room and filled it with small amounts of light. The air was filled with the smell of rats. Somewhere in the cells there was somepony screaming.

“Twilight!” a familiar voice called out to her. She couldn’t react before she had a pink pony hugging her.

“I’m so glad to see you, Pinkie,” she said. A smile crept up on her face. “I thought I lost you.”

“Don’t be silly,” the Earth Pony responded. “I fought the Queen and thousands of her minions before they managed to lock me in here.”

“I was there,” Twilight sighed. She pushed herself up, slowly at first, but faster once her legs had stopped shaking. The cells that she could see from her own looked empty on ponies, but there were feathers and fur lying in them. She kicked the bars as hard as she could without losing her balance. They made no indication of moving. There was no lock on them, or any other way to open it.

“Bring her in!” said a voice accompanied with the sound of a pony moving on hard ground. The screams she had heard became much louder for every second that passed.

Two Unicorns clad in armour entered the room carrying a wooden pole. Both of them were also carrying a spear each over their backs. One was bright yellow with red hair, and the other one was grey with white hair. Wrinkles were all over the second pony’s face. They smiled at her as they placed the pole down in the middle of the room. It was almost tall enough to reach the roof, but thick enough to be too hard to destroy with brute force. She couldn’t see their cutie marks due to the armour covering their flanks.

“You’re in for quite a show,” the younger Unicorn said smiling. “I hope you like it because you’re next in line.”

“I always love shows,” Pinkie responded. “Do you want to see the trick where we change places? I’ve trained very hard for it.”

Before the pink pony received an answer, a green Earth Pony entered the room dragging a white Unicorn on the ground. Three fleur-de-lis covered her bruised flank. The beautiful pink mane and tail were messy with dirt everywhere. Her screams were ear deafening, and the stallion kicked her at times. That quieted her for a few seconds before she continued with her screaming.

“Pinkie,” Fleur pleaded when she discovered the two prisoners. “Twilight, please.” That was all she managed to cry out before she was roped stuck to the pole. A bright light poured down from the roof along the pole, creeping in on the white Unicorn.

“What are you doing with her?” Twilight asked. She didn’t need an answer to her question. Only one thing crossed her mind. The green Earth Pony ignored her and whispered a few words that she couldn’t make out, and the older Unicorn drew his spear as a response.

Twilight’s horn lit up the room in a purple light as the spear was shoved towards Fleur’s throat. It was too late; her spell was finished and shot out. She heard a scream of pain, and then the pain coursed through her body. Her legs gave up underneath her and darkness crept in around her. It was as if she had been the one hit. Somepony called her name, but she heard only the calling of the cold floor underneath her. The purple light from her horn died out, and all the torches with it.