> The Rise of Twilight > by Ephraim Blue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue - An Eternal Torture > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash awoke in a dreary cell. Her head ached with pain as she stood up, trying to remember everything that happened. There were several drips of water that sounded close, and she dragged herself over to the sound, desperate for a drink. She must've tried scooting over at least a foot before her wings started tugging on her back. Glancing back, she saw many dark, piercing crystals in her wings, holding them down and causing even more pain when she tried to move. "Oh..." she croaked, her mouth dry from the lack of water. "I can't move..." She plumped to the ground and allowed her wings to rest again, easing the pain a little bit. She closed her eyes, trying to sleep and ease the pain in her mind. Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... Drip... It wasn't long again before she reopened her eyes, looking in the direction of the sound. "Water..." she croaked once again, reaching as far as she could before being stopped by the searing pain in her wings. She repeated this over and over, only to fail every time. The water sounded so close, as if she could just reach it if she went a little farther. And every time she tried, her wings felt like ripping off her back. An eternal torture... a forever punishment. She did not deserve this. "Well, well..." a deep voice sounded. "Is our young prisoner having fun?" She flailed around, attempting to look at the voice. She saw nothing, but continued to hear a stallion's voice echo in her head. "You look like you're having fun." "W- Who's there...?" she said. "My, my, asking questions already, are you? You should not need to ask, but you do deserve to know who I am. I am King Sombra, ruler of the Crystal Empire." "S- Sombra...?" Rainbow asked. The name sounded familiar, but she could hardly think with nothing but the water on her mind. "D- Do you have any water...?" "Water?" the voice--Sombra--said. "You hear my name, but you do not tremble in fear. All you ask for is water. Did you not clearly hear me?" "I- I- I heard you... but... I'm just so thirsty..." Sombra never spoke for the next minute. When he did speak, he burst out laughing. "Oh, we are going to have a lot to teach you," he said. "If you did not hear me earlier, you are my prisoner." "Prisoner...?" "Yes. And because I am king, that means you only obey me. You do not speak unless spoken to, you will heed any order given, regardless of difficulty and hardship." "S- Sombra...?" "What is it now?!" Sombra growled. "Water..." Sombra's voice got further away. "When you respectfully acknowledge me as your king, young pegasus, then you may talk to me about your simple needs. Until then, you must learn that there is no water." Rainbow blinked. "N- No water...?" Drip... Drip... Drip... "But... That's water... right?" > Chapter 1 - Joyfull Reunions(?) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight walked slowly as Chrysalis and Pinkie went ahead. Pinkie bounced, but that seemed normal for her. She still had mixed thoughts about Chrysalis. Even though she came this entire way with Pinkie to get her back in Equestria, it still seemed strange. "Ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy!" Pinkie said repeatedly. "This is going to be so great! Now that Twilight's back, the six of us can have just as much fun as we did before! We'll go berry picking for my famous scrambleberry pie, help Applejack raise the barn, accidently stumble upon a magical pond that can make duplicates of ponies and be the bestest of friends forever!" "You do all that?" Chrysalis asked. "You ponies are weird." "Well, what do you changelings do for fun?" Pinkie asked, now poking her face in front of Chrysalis. "We have many traditions," she replied, pushing Pinkie about a foot to her right. "We normally scout for food, share it among our own and do it again." Pinkie was silent for a minute. "That's all?" "What?" "That's what you do for fun?" "Fun?" Pinkie went silent again. "You... don't know fun?" "Our kind is too busy to learn about... fun. We use up all our energy searching for food to sustain us." "Oh my gosh!" Pinkie exclaimed, throwing her head back in anguish. "We need to change that right now! You need to learn about fun! Now," all of the sudden some music seemed to come from nowhere and Pinkie started singing, "F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me! N is for anywhere and anytime at all, over here in the middle of Equestria!" Chrysalis stared at Pinkie as she sang and turned to Twilight. "Does she normally do that?" Twilight couldn't help but smile a bit. "I think she's waiting for you to continue the song." "What?!" "The song. The music is still playing." "But where is it coming from?!" "It's better if you don't ask. Now, try and continue the song." Chrysalis turned nervously back to Pinkie, who had her hooves pointed at Chrysalis as if signaling her. "Um... F is for food, that we all love to eat... U is for ultimate rule over those that defy us... N is for none left hungry, over in the hive..." Her voice trailed off as her lyrics didn't fit with the song. Pinkie stared blankly for a second before shouting, "What was that?!" "What?" "That's not what fun is about. Sure, food is always fun if you're having a pie eating contest, and always good when everyone has the energy to play, but what was that second one?!" "Um... U is for ultimate rule for those that defy us..." "You don't rule over ponies when you're having fun!" Pinkie said to her. "Well, unless your playing King of the Hill of Balloons. That's always fun in a pile a balloons!" Chrysalis was silent while Pinkie kept on rambling about fun. In the meantime, Twilight kept smiling. "Just you wait girls," she said to herself. "Everything is going to be just how it used to be when I get back to Ponyville with you all. I promise." "Over the valley and through the trees, to Ponyville we shall go!" Pinkie sang as they crossed went over a valley. "We once were away, oh sadly we say, but now we return ho~me!" "Pinkie," Twilight began, "we're not going through any woods to get back to Ponyville. It's just a regular valley." "That will never stop me from singing, Twilight!" Pinkie said as she continued singing. Twilight sighed and Chrysalis just chuckled lightly. After many hours of singing, bouncing, chuckling, sighing and just about every game that Pinkie could play while they all still kept moving, several buildings of Ponyville came into their view. Despite all of this, Twilight didn't run toward the town she lived in what seemed like many months ago. She only stared at it. Chrysalis and Pinkie noticed this, and turned to look at her. "Something wrong Twilight?" Pinkie asked. "It's just... What if they treat me like an outcast?" she said. "The girls and Spike might understand that I may have been under spell, but what about all of Ponyville? What about Luna and Celestia? After what I did, they might do something even worse than banish me to the badlands." Pinkie responded by making a "Pft" sound and saying, "That's silly Twilight! The ponies of Ponyville," Pinkie began, earning a small chuckle from that statement from Chrysalis, "will certainly welcome you back! You've saved us from many disasters! No matter how crazy you act sometimes..." "Crazy?!" "...you will always be welcome in Ponyville! I guarantee it!" Pinkie finished, ignoring the sense out doubt from Twilight with a smile. "Well, what about the Princesses?" Pinkie only chuckled with Chrysalis. "Whoever said that we had to tell them you came home?" "You mean... We keep it a secret?" "Of course! We don't need them in order to help protect Equestria! I know an anonymous pony with a huge source of information about what's going on?" "You know a pony like that?" Pinkie nodded in response. "Well, who are they?" "Uh, Twilight, I just said they were anonymous. They don't like to give out something like that easily." "Oh." "Well this is all touching and what-not," Chrysalis interrupted suddenly, "but I do believe that the two of you need to enter Ponyville in order to see your friends again." "Right!" Pinkie agreed and then promptly disappeared in a puff of pink. "Come on you two!" she said from a hill over in almost the same second from when she disappeared." This time, it was Twilight who chuckled while Chrysalis looked between the two spots where Pinkie seemingly warped between. The two of them ran up the hill and into Ponyville, Pinkie already there for no absolute reason. hr] Nothing. The boutique, Rainbow's home, the Apple Family's Farm, the cottage, the library... Nothing. There was no sign of them anywhere. Twilight sat in the center of the library floor. The place was slightly dusty, almost as if there were no pony that had walked in there for several days. Each of the places she would have expected her friends to be were void of who she longed to see. Pinkie burst in through the door, closely followed by Chrysalis. Twilight stood up and faced them. "Did you... did you find them?" "No," Chrysalis said in response. "There's no sign of any of them in all of Ponyville." "But... Why? I thought they'd be here..." Twilight hung her head in dismay. "This was supposed to be the day we all reunited as friends..." "Don't be down, Twilight," Pinkie said as she pat a hoof on her shoulder. "They can't be gone from here forever. They could have gone to Appleousa to visit Applejack's cousin Braeburn again. I'm sure that within a week, they'll be back." "You think so?" "Of course!" she said happily. "They can't stay away from Ponyville forever. If we wait here, they'll come back. I'm certain about it." Twilight's smile returned shortly after that. "Yeah... Thanks Pinkie, Chrysalis." "But I didn't say anything..." Chrysalis said before shrugging. "Oh well. I guess that we'll have to wait and see for your friends to return." "Yeah. And I'll be here waiting for them," Twilight said with all the confidence she could muster.