Vanished

Ch.1 Vanished

It was a nice and bright day in the land of Equestria, but more importantly, in the town of Ponyville. Every pony in this quant town was enjoying their day in their own way. One pony in particular wasn't doing anything spectacular, as she was lying down on a bench, nose deep in a spell book.
This pony was a lavender unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, a very adept magic user and student to Princess Celestia, a winged unicorn and ruler of Equestria alongside her sister Luna in the capital of Canterlot. Her teacher sent her to Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship. Her mane was moderate sappire blue with violet and rose streaks and violet eyes. She has what is known as a cutie mark on her flank. Her unique cutie mark is in the shape of a giant pink star with smaller stars surrounding it. Cutie marks are all unique to each pony and represent what makes that pony unique
As Twilight was enjoying her book and practicing a spell to change a bolder into a house, a voice came to break her concentration…
"Hey Twilight!" It was Pinkie Pie, a pink, hyperactive, and random party animal and occasional annoyance to anything in audio range of her. Her mane was a slightly darker shade of pink then her coat and she had cerulean blue eyes. Her cutie mark is a yellow balloon and two blue balloons, showing her love of partying.
"*sigh* Yes Pinkie?" Twilight said, trying not to show her annoyance with Pinkie interrupting her spell.
"Have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere? She said she was going to go pranking with me!"
"Have you tried looking up?" Pinkie looked straight up to see Rainbow Dash, trying to clear up the leftover clouds from a storm yesterday. Rainbow Dash, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and cerise eyes, is one of many pegasus ponies in charge of the weather patterns over Ponyville. She's tomboyish and insensitive at times, but also loyal and very brave. Her cutie mark is that of a cloud with a rainbow thunderbolt.
"Hey Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Dash immediately looked down towards the voice.
"Oh hey Pinkie Pie! I'll be done in a minute!"
"Good 'cause I though you forgot!" Rainbow Dash finished up and came down.
"Me? Forget pranking? Have a little faith Pinkie!" the two continued their conversation as they left, leaving Twilight in the peace and quiet she really needed.
"Well… I'm glad that's over. Now where was I…? Oh yeah!" She turned her attention back to the bolder…
"Hey Twi!" This time she was interrupted by Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack, a green eyed, orange pony with a blonde mane and an accent that when Twilight first heard it, she couldn't make heads or tails of what the accent was. Her job in Ponyville was to work at the family ranch harvesting apples. Her cutie mark is in the shape of three apples, showing her love for where she comes from. A very proud and trustworthy pony, she's been one of the most helpful ponies that Twilight has ever met since she arrived in Ponyville.
Fluttershy, as her name suggests, is a shy yellow pegasus with a pink mane and cyan eyes who is one of the nicest, if not the nicest pony in Ponyville and has an undying love for animals, as shown by her cutie mark being three cute butterflies. "Oh sorry… were we interrupting?"
"No it’s ok… What's up?" Twilight said, becoming very irritated.
"Do you know where Rarity is? Her cat got into a fight with Angel." Rarity was a white pony with a purple mane, azure eyes, and a cutie mark with three diamonds. She is a fashion designer and seamstress at her shop in town. Sophisticated, stylish, and beautiful, she is also the drama queen of the group, as she seems to make a big deal out of anything fashion and always wants to be the center of attention.
"No, I haven't. Have you tried her house?"
"Yeah and she's not home, which is why we came to you. Thanks anyway!"
"Yeah sure! Now back to my rock…"
As the two ponies finally left to find Rarity, Twilight tries again at the bolder…
"Hey Twilight!" This time it was a purple and green baby dragon.
"ARGH! WHAT?!" The dragon cowered behind a tree. "Oh I'm sorry Spike… I shouldn't have yelled…"
"It's ok." Spike said, as he came out from behind the tree. "I know how you get when you get interrupted during your spell practice." Spike was Twilight's roommate and assistant in her studies. His main duty is to send and receive letters between Twilight and Celestia. He sends them with his fire breath and vomits up the ones she sends back. He has been with Twilight since he was born, because she was the one who hatched him from an egg on the same day she became Celestia's student.
"So what's up?"
"Celestia sent a message asking you to come to the castle to meet someone."
"Well, let's go find the others! I wonder who Celestia wants us to meet." Twilight closed her book and began to gather her friends. After finding them all, a carriage arrived to take them to Canterlot.
As Twilight and Co. entered the castle grounds per Celestia's request, they didn't even make it to the door before they were greeted by a strange, old pony. A gray pegasus unicorn with a black cape covered with stars, a black travel bag, silver mane, orange eyes, and a cutie mark in the shape of a sparkling wind rolls. His presence made everyone slightly uneasy as he seemed quite creepy.
"So, you must be Twilight Sparkle. Celestia has told me much about you, your friends, and the adventures you've had."
"Who are you?"
"How rude of me! I am Ventus Solvite, traveler of the world and former adviser to Celestia." He said proudly.
"Former? Why did you leave?" Applejack asked curiously.
"I wanted to travel the world and learn the customs of other countries. I figured the best way to do that was to go there and find them out myself. Now I'm back and the first thing I wanted to do was to meet the great Twilight Sparkle and her friends!"
"The great Twilight?"
"Yes! A pony your age doing the things you can do is almost unprecedented! Celestia has sent me letters about your adventures."
"Well, if I didn't have the people behind me to help I wouldn't have even done any of that."
"Yes, that is well! Would you six like to see something amazing?"
"Sure…" Ventus used his magic to pull out a strange box covered in jewels from his travel bag.
"You were right! It is amazing!" Rarity said in classic fashion. He set the box down in front of Twilight.
"What is it?"
"That's just it; I have no idea what it is. For all I know it could…" Just as he said that, Twilight got close to the box and it seemed to react to her presence. The box immediately launched away everyone but Twilight and trapped her in a field of energy that began to shock her.
"AHHHHHH!"
"TWILIGHT!"
Rainbow Dash flew at the shield, but was repelled and sent flying into a fruit cart. Then, before anyone else could react, the shield, the box, and Twilight vanished in a flash of light.
Everyone was panicking, horrified by what they saw. Their friend Twilight was abducted by a box...
"What's going on out here?!" Princess Celestia heard the commotion, but didn't see what happened. Celestia was an alicorn that towered over all the other ponies. Her coat was white with a slight pinkish tint and her mane and tail was a combination of cerulean, turquoise, cobalt blue, and heliotrope and flowed as if she was underwater. Her cutie mark resembled the sun itself which was fitting as she controlled the sun.
"Ventus, what happened?!" Princess Luna wasn't far behind. Luna, being Celestia's sister, was also an alicorn though not as tall as her sister. Her coat was a dark sapphire blue with her mane being a cobalt blue, her eyes being cyan, and like her sister flows like she's underwater. Her cutie mark was that of a crescent moon and the area around her cutie mark was darker then the rest of her coat.
"It appears that…your student Twilight…"
"Yes what about…where is Twilight?" Celestia asked, as she noticed that Twilight wasn't there.
"It appears that the box I showed you earlier… pony-napped her.
"WHAT?!" Celestia and Luna shouted in shock. "I thought you said that box wasn't dangerous!"
"It didn't react to anything before, so I don't know why it would start now!"
"Where did you get that box?" Applejack finally saying something after calming the other ponies down.
"I got it from a land known as Adeptus…"
"Adaptus?! Were you insane?!"
"What is Adaptus?!"
()()()()() Meanwhile ()()()()()
*Crackling* *Thud*
As Twilight landed on the ground, burned and scarred from the ride and barely conscious, she heard a voice before passing out.
"Huh… You look like that ride wasn't pretty… Don't worry… You're gonna be ok…"

A Nation Divided

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Ch.2 A Nation Divided

As Twilight began to regain consciousness, she smelled something really good. When she tried to sit up, a sharp pain shot up her back, forcing her to stay down.
"Ah!"
"You're awake." Twilight looked in the direction of the male voice. She turned to see a dark red unicorn pony, with short, brown messy mane and a short, spiky tail. He had blue eyes and a cutie mark that looked like a green zero with white stars around it. She took a look around and didn't see much in the shack. It looked like a rundown house with a cauldron full of soup.
"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I all bandaged up?"
"Oh my name is Zero Amare. What's yours?" He seemed genuinely curious.
"Twilight Sparkle..."
"Huh… It suits you. As for where you are, you're in the worst country on this planet but the locals call it Adeptus."
"The locals? You're not from here?"
"No, if you were to see what the ponies here look like, you'd understand why. There are ponies in every corner of the world. They mostly just live in Equestria."
"That's where I'm from. I'm Equestrian. Where are you from?"
"A small little country called Libertas. Not very far from Equestria."
"Have you ever been to Equestria?"
"I have not, but I do plan to see it one day. I hear it's quite nice. Now, you wanted to know why you were all bandaged up." Twilight nodded. "When I found you in the swamp earlier today, you had some bad burns and a few cuts. Nothing serious, so I thought I bring you to my temporary home and patch you up. Anymore questions?" He said, as he was preparing what looked like a soup in the cauldron.
"Why didn't you take me to a doctor to make sure?"
"Because the nearest town is about five miles away and behind a mountain; I'm not carrying you over a mountain when I'm able to do the job just as good as any doctor. Like I said, your injuries weren't serious."
"Then how come it hurts to sit up?"
"Because the worst of the burns are on your back."
"So how long before I can sit up?"
"Tomorrow at the latest." He said reading his cookbook.
"What are you making?"
"This cookbook says "Veggie Soup", so that's what's on the menu. Want some?" He said pouring a bowl. Twilight was a little hesitant to accept the food of a stranger... till her stomach started to growl.
"How do I know it's not going to kill me?"
"Because I'm eating it too. Duh." He floated the full bowl over to Twilight. She caught one whiff of it and couldn't believe how good it smelled.
"It smells delicious!" Zero smiled at the compliment.
"I hope it tastes just as good." He said, using magic to pour a bowl for himself. Twilight managed to sit up to eat, but not without difficulty. As he sat in a chair just a few feet from her, she asks one more question.
"You said that Adeptus was the worst country on this planet. What did you mean by that?" Zero stopped eating to answer her question. After a few seconds of staring at the floor, Zero eventually made eye contact with the extremely curious pony.
"Ok, this is what I've managed to pick up from some of the people I've met. About two hundred years ago, this country used to be part of a bigger one called Duodus. Now, they had a way of determining who lead the country and it was based on who the people believed was the better leader. That leader, once elected, was given an amount of time to run the country, alongside at least five hundred other elected officials."
"Wait… Five hundred other elected officials… how did the leader get anything done?"
"The elected officials were part of a system to ensure that the leader of the entire country didn't have all the power. So, they divided it into groups and only when they all worked together could anything get done. It was a mess at the time, because there was a divide among the ponies. One half of the people weren't happy with the ponies in charge, especially after he got reelected, so they left and the country was split. Duodus was dead. The country was split was split into two: Freedus and Adeptus. When the split happened, the ponies of Freedus couldn't have cared less because the land they took was land they really didn't needed."
"So what happened after the split?"
"Everything was a mess between the countries until a spell caster by the name of Terra Motor made the country move south far enough to where the other couldn't be seen on the horizon, effectually ending all hopes of reuniting the country. Duodus adopted the name Freedus and everything returned to a peaceful state, until…" He floated a book from a bag on the floor and began to flip through the pages for something specific. He then showed her a picture of a sophisticated black pony with his cutie mark in the shape of a pale white cross. Something about him just made her skin crawl. "…He took control."
"Who is he?"
"His name was Dux Mortis, a pony that was able to convince the people of this land that he was the one that would lead them to a prosperity that would last for centuries. Two years after he was elected to lead, he managed to get the entire country brainwashed and finally turned the country into a dictatorship."
"Why didn't Freedus try to stop him?"
"Because at this point, it was no longer their main priority. They were having their own troubles and were more concerned about that then some country that was already on life support. They just left it for dead."
"So this country is an abandoned home run by a mad pony."
"Mad ponies." Zero corrected Twilight. "It's now basically run by a family of tyrants. It has been for the last hundred and fifty years and the people are starting to wonder if there's anything they can do. They give barely enough to survive and I'm only been able to make this because I found all of those ingredients."
"Then, why are you here?"
"I was betrayed by my teacher. I thought I could trust him, but he knocked me out while we were passing by the country and left me for dead." Twilight was shocked.
"What was his name?" Zero hesitated on the answer.
"He called himself Suvnet. I never believe it to be his true name, but when I asked him he gave me the same answer. What's worse is that getting out isn't as easy as getting in. It might as well be a dungeon."
"So how do I get back to Equestria?" Zero looked away for a bit before looking back at Twilight and shaking his head.
"I don't know. I've only been here for about a month and I've been able to stay out of military's attention but at this point I just want to get out of here as much as you do. But for right now, it doesn't look like you are going anywhere."
"Maybe if I could get a message out to my friends, they could help me get home."
"Maybe, but for right now you need to heal before we can do anything about leaving."
"Alright, but when I'm able to walk under my own power, I want you to take me to see the town. I want to see if everything you've told me is true."
"I don't blame you. After coming from a place of peace and love to suddenly end up in a country run by lunatics, I'd look at the pony that told me and say "Now let's delve into non-fiction shall we." Twilight stifled a little giggle, as that was actually what she was thinking during parts of his story. "So do we have a deal?" She asked, as she held out her hoof. Zero bashed his into hers.
"Deal. Now let's finish eating, because I've barely got to eat today just rounding this up." The two of them returned to eating. Twilight was a little hesitant as she wasn't sure if the great smell meant great taste. She took one bite and realized that the smell was the worst part of the soup as it was delicious.
"You're a really good cook! I think this is some of the best cooking I've had!"
"Thank you. It's nice to know that I can do some things right."
"You don't get compliments that often, do you?"
"I'd rather not talk about it." Zero said, looking away.
"I'm sorry, I..."
"It's ok, it's not like you would've known, right?" Zero said, flashing a reassuring smile, as they went back to eating. Twilight had about three servings, Zero just chuckled at the hungry mare.
"Hey Zero, thanks for taking care of me and all 'til I can get on my hooves without feeling like I'm being hit with a metal pipe. But I have to ask: Why are you doing this?" Zero wasn't ready for this question as it took him a few moments to answer.
"I don't know... I found you and knew I couldn't leave you out there. But I guess because I felt like it was the right thing to do. Does that help?" Zero knew his answer was dumb... and the distrustful look of Twilight wasn't helping.
"No problem. To be frank, I'm glad to finally talk to someone that doesn't give the impression that they've never seen the sunlight. The small towns all looked... dead."
"Why did you decide to travel the world?"
"I heard all these stories about the world and I wanted to see it all. The only place I haven't been is Equestria. Maybe after all this is over, you can show it to me."
"Maybe I could, but first you have to help me get out of here.
"But we'll save that for tomorrow!"
"Yeah... I think I ate a bit too much." Twilight laid back down on the bed.
"That's what happens when you have three servings, you starving filly." Zero said floating the bowls over to a counter top.
"Shut up."
"*gasp* How could you be so mean?!" Zero said sarcastically, causing Twilight to roll her eyes. He chuckled and sat down on his bed and soon fell asleep. While Zero slept like a rock, Twilight had trouble just falling asleep… she had never felt more alone and afraid then she did right there; She was in a strange house that didn't even belong to the stallion, in a country she knew very little about… but that was the least of her worries…
()()()()() Meanwhile in a really dark room ()()()()()
"*static* Your Majesty, I have important news."
"Ah, my fateful servant. What is it?"
"The final piece to prevent the prophecy is in place. You'd only need to destroy it."
"Thank you for telling me. I will send my best ponies to take care of it."
*Static stops as transmission ends*
"Blacklight! Round up your team and find them!"
"Yes, you're Majesty." Said a voice that couldn't be seen.
"My family has ruled for the last one hundred and fifty years and I won't let anypony stop it now…"
"…No pony at all"

No Magic is No Fun!

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Ch. 3: No Magic is No Fun!

Twilight woke up in pain, to the sound of the wind outside. She managed to sit up without feeling like someone stabbed her and looked out the window to see snow falling. She looked over towards Zero's bed, only to see he was missing.
"Where did he go?" She looked around and then noticed something on the table in the room: it was the same jeweled covered box that brought her here. Her expression turned to anger at the cause of her current predicament.
"That thing! Why did it send me here?! Was it a joke, a prank or a trap? And then there's this Zero pony... What is he after? He seems too nice and too willing to help me..."
As she continued to wonder why all of this is happening, she tried to get out of bed. Despite some difficulty, she managed to stand on her hooves, though still in a lot of pain.
"You know what? Forget walking!" Twilight's horn began to glow, as she tried to levitate herself, but something immediately went wrong. As she began to get off the ground, Twilight's horn turned black and her magic backfired on her, blasting herself towards the wall, injuring her back.
"AHHHHH!"
Suddenly, Zero burst into the room, wearing a blue scarf. He looked over towards Twilight to see her rolled up like a crumpled ball.
"Twilight, what happened?!" Zero asked, as he ran to her and lifted her back into the bed. Twilight could barely respond, due to the pain she was in.
"This should help. If I can remember how to do it..." Zero thought and tried a spell to dampen the pain. "Twilight, what happened?" Zero asked with worry in his voice. He turned her turned over onto her back and Zero took a step back to keep a reasonable distance away.
"I… tried to… use magic to… get out of bed and get around… and when I did, my magic failed and sent me flying. I think it has something to do with that box." Twilight said, pointing to the box on the table. "I think it made it impossible for me to use magic... oh no… I CAN'T USE MAGIC?!" Twilight's screams were quickly muffled by Zero's hoof covering her mouth.
"Listen. I know that losing your magic is probably the worst thing that can ever happen to you, but I need you to not scream. Now, what else can you tell me about the box and this time, be calm." Zero then removed his hoof to let Twilight speak.
"That box is the reason I'm here in the first place! I don't even know what it is or why it sent me here."
"I think I might have an idea. When I found you, that box was glowing bright as the sun. It's actually the reason I found you." Twilight looked confused. "That box made a clear beam into the sky that I'm sure could be seen for miles! It's like it was trying to alert everyone in the country to its presence! I had to carry you a few miles to where I felt safe enough to treat you and not get attacked!" Then it dawned on Twilight.
"That box was a trap?!"
"And that's not the worst part: when I left to get wood for the fire, I saw the royal army combing the woods. It looked like there were fifty of them, maybe more. All I know is that we don't have much of a chance in a straight up fight with you unable to use magic. We have about thirty minutes before they get here, maybe less." says Zero, trying to keep a calm head, though Twilight wasn't exactly calm.
"This is great! I can't use my magic, I'm in a country I know nothing and I'm being taken care of by someone I barely trust! No offense!"
"None taken." says Zero nonchalantly.
"And now the entire Adaptus army is looking for me! Can this get any better?!"
Suddenly, an explosion shook the whole house and voices could be heard outside.
"Looks like they move much faster than I thought! We're going to have to roll the dice: I'm going to carry you out of here and we're going to see how fast these guys can move!" As Zero explained his plan, Twilight looked at him like he was insane.
"Are you sure that's going to work?!"
"No."
"Do you have a better plan?!"
"No." With that, he levitated his bag and Twilight onto his back and put the box into his bag. He wrapped a red scarf around her neck just as a soldier dressed in black armor busted through the door, as Zero turned to them.
"You're coming with us!"
"Uh… No." With that, Zero fired a beam at the soldier and sent him flying.
"AHHHHHH!" Two more soldiers took his place.
"So much for the door."
"Hang on!" Zero shot another beam towards the wall on his right, blowing it away and then ran out the hole he made.
"Later geldings! Haha!" says Zero, as he ran through the trees.
"Are you imbeciles going to let him insult you like that?! After them!" The alicorn leader commanded, dressed in black armor much better than the ones his troops were wearing, covering his entire body.
"Yes, Sir Blacklight!" The soldiers said, as they took off to catch up with Zero and Twilight.
"How did I end up with these idiots?"
As the soldiers chased Zero and Twilight through the woods, Twilight was astonished what Zero was doing.
"Zero, are you insane?!"
"Why do you ask?"
"You're running through a blizzard, being chased by a small army who want to capture us and now you're taunting them?!"
"Don't you love the southern hemisphere?! Plus, you'd be surprised how easy these soldiers are to trick. But if given the chance, they'll use the saying "strength in numbers" and just gang up on you." says Zero, as they came to a clearing at the base of a snow-covered mountain.
"I see them!" They heard a soldier exclaim.
"These guys don't want to quit? Fine by me!" Zero said, as he ran to a path at the base of the mountain and ran up it.
"Zero, what are you planning?" Twilight asked with worry in her voice.
"Something stupid and/or crazy!"
With that said, Zero rounded to a corner and saw a huge cave. "There's a cave!" Zero stopped and looked up towards a giant snow piles and fired a beam up at them, causing an avalanche.
"ZERO, YOU NUTCASE!" Zero smirked at Twilight's response and proceeded to run into the cave. Zero set Twilight down.
"Twilight, please don't get mad at me." He grabbed Twilight's hoof and pressed his own against it as his horn glowed. Suddenly he started to glow and when Twilight could see, his fur, mane and eyes turned the same colors of Twilight's and the zero on his cutie mark changed to the giant star on Twilight's. He then turned to face the front of the cave.
"Let's see if I can do something this big!"
Zero's horn glowed the same color as Twilight's, as he stood on his hind legs and motioned his arms to his left. What happened next shocked Twilight; large rocks came out of the wall and with a strained push, covered up the entrance to the cave just as the avalanche came passing just overhead. The move put a lot of strain on Zero's body, as he barely was able to put a barrier around him and Twilight to avoid getting hit by falling stalactites. After the avalanche passed, Zero fell onto his back from the amount of strain the spell put on him. He managed to pull off one more spell by lighting the whole cave up with three red orbs so they could both see, before changing back into his normal form.
"That… sucked…" Twilight was amazed. She had never witness any pony change color and cutie mark and then move the earth with such force.
"H-how did you do that?!" Twilight asked, as Zero chuckled.
"I learned it from a small mining community I met awhile back. They had spent generations perfecting a spell that could move large amounts of dirt to uncover jewels and gold underneath. I was lucky to learn the spell and I got decent at using it, though what I just tried I've never done anything like it before..."
"Not that! The color changing and your cutie mark looked like mine! Your horn glowed like mine too!"
"Oh, you mean that… ha ha…um…funny story. I don't exactly know what I did." Twilight was annoyed by Zero's excuse, but her need to know everything wouldn't make it easy on him
"Then how did you know how to do it and what it would do?" Zero sighed, knowing she wasn't going to let it go.
"OK... you win." Twilight clapped her hooves together, happy to learn something about Zero. "I have a very rare ability that not every pony can learn, but one must be born with the capability of using it. It's called 'Power Mirror'. It allows me to copy, for a short time, the abilities and powers from another pony or ponies. Even though it's extremely powerful in this regard, there's a major drawback. The more ponies I copy and the more of the power I use, the more strain I put on my body to the point that if I'm not careful, it could easily kill me. I have problems just copying two ponies, but I can handle one just fine."
At this point, Twilight was wide-eyed, mouth wide open and just flat out astonished to learn that such power could even exist and how risky it is to use it to where death could be an outcome. Her mind was officially blown by this information.
"If you could do that, why didn't you just take out all the soldiers?"
"The strain of taking out an unknown amount of enemies would have made it easy for them to catch us."
"But I can't do anything like that! If you copied my ability then you wouldn't have been able to do that with the wall!"
"When I copied your magic ability, I added it to my own to power myself up. I learned all the spell that you knew that I didn't and lost those spells when I reverted back. So when I copy ponies, I power up but if I use too much it gets dangerous."
"Tell me everything about you and your power!"
"If you must know, I might as well start as far back as I can remember..."
()()()()() Meanwhile outside... ()()()()()
Blacklight comes into the clearing... and sees soldiers buried in the avalanche Zero caused... and face hoofed
"Sir... w-we lost them..." one of the soldiers not buried said.
"Well... I can see that you idiots can't handle two ponies! One of them is injured! How hard can it be for all of you to catch them?!"
"Sir... we'll find them!"
"You better! Or you can tell the Queen you lost them!"
"Sir yes sir!" The soldier began to help dig the rest of the others out of the snow.
"They won't get away that easily... since we know where they're going..." Blacklight said staring towards the mountain...
"Miracle City..."

Zero's Legacy

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Ch. 4: Zero's Legacy

"If you must know, I might as well start as far back as I can remember. I was born in Libertas, I think."
"You think? Didn't you parents tell you where you were born?"
Zero immediately looked away with distress and didn't answer the question right away. Twilight wondered what she said wrong.
"I… never met my parents. I was an orphan." Twilight wasn't expecting such an answer, but now she was fully interested in Zero's tale.
"An orphan?!" Twilight asked in astonishment.
"Yep; from what I was told, I was left on the doorstep and stayed at the orphanage 'til I got my cutie mark and Suvnet found me. I can still remember the name: Bright Future Orphanage. What a clever little lie. It was in the small town of Eastmare."
"How did you get you cutie mark?"
Zero looked back on the memory with a smile, as he began reminiscing those cherish moments.
"I was the last one in my age group to get one. There were even ponies younger than me who had theirs, but how I got this green thing, I still laugh at it sometimes. I had a friend named Speed Breaker, a pegasus who, as his name would tell you, was an extremely fast flyer. Though he added "Breaker" to make himself seem cooler than he really was, Speed and I were the best of friends, as it was rare that you saw only one of us. We were basically brothers. THAT'S how close we were! Now the day we became friends, I had been at the orphanage for a good while, but I never really got along with anyone, mainly due to my anger issues that I had."
"Anger issues?" Twilight asked incredulous.
"Yep; I wasn't the hardest pony to get mad, but it's gotten better over the years. I was very impulsive and still am." Zero replied.
"So when did you meet this "Speed"?" Twilight asked with curiosity.
"It was lunch time." Zero's horn flashed, as he played the memory before Twilight, so she could see it as Zero had remembered it…
()()()()() Flashback: 2 1/2 years ago-Eastmare, Libertas ()()()()()
'We were all eating, when the pony running the orphanage, Mrs. Care, announced a new arrival…'
Mrs. Care was a pink pony, with a red mane and a bow attached to it.
"Children, I have good news! We have a new colt that arrived today, so everyone give a warm welcome to Speed!"
As she said his name, a small, shy blue pegasus came through the door. His mane and tail were black and his eyes were lime green. Every pony in the room just clapped their hooves together to make it seem like they were interested.
"Why don't you go and find a seat with the others?" Speed goes and sits next to a small Zero, who was sitting by himself.
"Hey there!" Speed greeted the colt.
Zero was silent to Speed's friendly greeting.
"What's your name?" asked Speed.
But Zero still gave Speed the silent treatment. The young pegasus sat down, as Mrs. Care gives him a plate. Speed quickly eats the food, as the young Zero looks on.
"You didn't talk very much."
"I was a loner. I was very shy and I didn't like to talk much. But Speed brought the fun loving colt out with just a positive attitude."
As Speed continued to eat like a bottomless pit, a couple of colts walk up behind him.
"You like that food don't you?"
Speed stopped eating his meal and turned around to see two colts confronting him. The leading pony was yellow, scrawny looking unicorn while his cohort was bulky and black with white mane and no tail. The big pony then picked up Speed and threw him to the ground with both front hooves.
"Then you're going to love my hoof sandwich!"
Just then, Zero jumped out of his seat and dropkicks the big pony's head, sending him over the table behind him. He then landed on his hind hooves and delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of the retreating yellow pony's side.
"WOW! How did you do that?!" asked Speed.
Zero looked at Speed and began to walk away.
"Wait, what's your name?!" Speed looked sad until Zero finally said something.
"Valor." Speed looked up when he heard Zero speak.
"What?"
"You asked what my name was, didn't you?" Zero/Valor asked, as he walked out of the room. Speed got up and followed him.
"Who were those bullies?"
"Big Bam and Smooth Talker. Every place has its bullies, I guess."
"So Valor, how did you do all that?"
"Sometimes, you learn skills from experience."
"You mean you've fought them before?"
"Yep, which surprised me that they weren't aware that I was sitting about five feet from them."
"Maybe the bullies here just don't have the brains to be good bullies?" Speed laughed at his own joke, while Valor just chuckled.
"Maybe."
()()()()() End Flashback ()()()()()
"Valor?" Twilight asked Zero.
"Back then, I went by a different name: Valor. That was the name that I was left with, the only thing I have from my parents."
"You mean Zero is not your real name?"
"You'll know why I threw away that name. We just need to get there." Twilight's suspicion of Zero just grew, now knowing that he was lying about who he really was.
"After that, we became the closest of friends, until the day I got my cutie mark. Everything changed on that day: the day I was adopted by Suvnet." Zero played another memory for Twilight…
()()()()() Flashback: Last year… ()()()()()
'Speed and I were doing what we did best: causing mayhem.'
"Come on Val!" Said a small, dark blue pegasus, as he landed on a rooftop, his cutie mark in the shape of three black, white, and blue lightning bolts. He was followed by a little; red unicorn; with messy; brown mane, a tail and a blank flank: little Zero.
"Ok Val! Today, we even the score with those jerks!"
"It's time they got a taste of being bullied!"
'You know bullying bullies isn't the answer to everything right?'
'You expect two colts to know better? You may need to lower your expectations a bit. Also I think you ask a lot of questions.'
'If I don't, then how will I know anything?' Zero thought it over.
'You got me there.'
"Oh, this is going to be good!" Speed said, rubbing his hooves together evilly.
"Yeah, it's about time they "cleaned" up their attitudes. Over eight years of bullying is about to end." The two chuckled. "Ok, we need them to chase you to the old boathouse by the lake. I'll be there, waiting to spring the trap."
"Ok, I'll see you there! I'll get their attention in about three minutes." With that, Valor took off for the boathouse.
'So your plan to spring a trap is how you got your cutie mark?'
'Not at all, Twilight. I got my cutie mark from what happened on the way. As I was running to get to the boathouse on the rooftops, I heard something in the distance on the other side of the roof…'
"Runaway carriage!"
Valor turned around to see the runaway carriage rolling down the street. He looked to where it was heading, to see an oblivious old pony crossing the street.
"Oh no." Valor looked around to see a clothesline on part of the roof. "That could work…"
As Speed was approaching the boathouse, he saw that Valor wasn't in position.
"Val, where are you? Looks like we'll have to abort." Speed said, as he flew up to spot his friend. He finally sees Valor preparing to launch a small but heavy box with the clothesline.
'Your plan is kind of flawed.'
'Oh it gets better. Watch.'
Just as the box was in position, the string goes over the box and launches Valor instead. Speed finds Valor, just as he's sent flying.
"Grandma!" A little folly shouted, as Valor goes flying by over their heads. Just as the carriage is about to hit the old pony, Valor hit the carriage shoulder first, with enough force that it just misses the old pony and tips over, injuring no one.
"Wow that hurt!" Valor said, as he grabbed his shoulder.
'Why didn't anyone else stop the cart? Where were the guards or the police?'
'I lived in a town of around five hundred ponies. It's rare that anything bad ever really happened.'
"Thank you, young one." Valor looked up to see the old pony looking over him. They are soon joined by everyone who just witnessed what happened.
"Valor! Dude, you are the craziest colt ever!" Speed said, as he landed on his hooves to help his friend.
"Valor, huh? It could only take some pony with valor to do something like that to save an elderly pony like me." The elder said, as Valor picked himself up. Valor rubbed the back of his neck, knowing that what happened was an accident.
"Give me a hoof, my bro!" Speed said, as he stuck out his hoof.
Valor smiled, as he bumped his hoof with Speed's. Suddenly, Valor glowed brighter than the sun, blinding every pony in visual range. Once the glow dissipated, every pony could see and much to their shock, they saw two Speeds.
"Val… Dude…"
"What?" Valor asked, confused by his friend's reaction until he looked at his hoof with amazement and panicked when he saw his new wings.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!" Valor shouted in disbelief.
All the ponies were speechless. The little red unicorn was now a blue pegasus. The only thing that was different was the voice and the horn that Valor still had. As Valor continued to look over his body to see everything had changed, he glowed again, but much less bright and returned to his normal form, with one little exception: his new cutie mark.
()()()()() End Flashback ()()()()()
"So you got your cutie mark from your ability? Why did it activate then but never before?"
"I don't know. Maybe he didn't have his cutie mark, but that wouldn't explain all the other ponies that did that my hooves came in contact with."
"So you have no idea why it happened then?"
"Nope and I still don't. It all started from a freak accident."
"What happened next?"
"Suvnet, a powerful unicorn standing in the crowd, was just passing through, when he saw what had happened. He said that he was a close friend of my father and he knew what I could do. He said I was a descendant of the Surge family line: A family of ponies with the ability to copy and absorb the abilities and characteristics of others. He said my family was a family of heroes that helped the world from the shadows, often posing as others who were fit for positions or other things but couldn't take it themselves. I guess you could say I'm the first to not follow in my father's hoof prints."
"So your family helped others by posing as them? That could mean that history could be wrong about so much!"
"I know. It's scary to think that one family has fooled so many over the years. I asked Suvnet where my father was and his response might as well have been him throwing a pie in my face. He said my father went missing years ago after my mother died. He saw the pain in my face and offered to train me how to use magic and control my power. Shortly afterwards, we left. I changed my name to Zero Amare because if my own dad didn't want me, then I didn't want anything he gave me that I didn't have to keep. It's also why I don't call Power Mirror by its true name: Power Surge."
"Where did you get "Amare" from?"
"I named it after one of the caregivers at the orphanage. She was the closest thing I had to a mother, though my memory of her now is kind of foggy…"
"What happened to Speed?"
"He didn't take my leaving well. I sent letters to the orphanage, but I only got one response: 'Speed is no longer living at the Bright Future Orphanage.' After that, I had no idea what happened to him."
"Wow! Maybe he was adopted!"
"Maybe, but the letter never said what happened to him, so I guess anything is possible.
"So what happened during your training?"
"It was hard, Twilight. There wasn't a day where I wasn't pushed to my limits on what I could do. Though I learned slowly, I mastered a lot in the last year, all the way up 'til Suvnet's betrayal and leaving me here on this rock."
"Wow, Princess Celestia was never tough on me, as she let me learn at my own pace. How did you get through it all?"
"Honestly, I don't know. After all the fainting from exhaustion, the pain, and plenty of yelling, I just felt that I couldn't stop 'til I found my own place in this world. Not the same place that was repeated for centuries."
"So you decided to make a path unlike those before you?"
"Exactly. I'm probably the first in my family to grow up without a real one or a real place to call home, but I want to actually mean something to the world. I guess all things have to start from somewhere, right?" Zero asked with a small smile. Twilight nodded and smiled in response.
"So what do we do now?" asked Twilight
"Now we need to head for Miracle City." Twilight was taken aback by the pleasant sounding name.
"Miracle City? You said that was a place of horror!" Zero shook his head.
"True, but it's also a place of lies. All the cities look fine and have pleasant names, but the small towns look like train wrecks." Zero stood on his hooves and magically put his bag on. "And if you don't believe me, then we're making one detour. Can you walk?"
"Detour? To where?" Twilight asked, as she tried to stand, but the pain forced her back down. Zero magically picked her up and placed her on his back again.
"The mountain village of Shutter…"

Problematic

View Online

Ch. 5: Problematic

As Twilight and Zero began their trek through the cave, with only the light of the red orbs Zero summoned to help them see, Twilight decided to ask Zero more questions.
"Zero, how do you know so much about where you're going?"
"I don't." Zero replied.
"But you know the names of towns and cities?"
"Yeah, I read the map." Zero took a map out of his bag and showed it to Twilight, as he continued to walk with her on his back. The map was the entirety of Adaptus, with every town labeled on it and the Hitchalayan mountains where they were. It also had labeled the mountain entrance Zero blocked up. "Without this map, we wouldn't know where to go."
"But we're in a cave."
"Oh really?" Zero said sarcastically, prompting Twilight to scowl at him. "But I get what you mean. Yes, I don't know where to go… yet!"
"Yet?" Twilight inquired her companion.
"Right now, I'm looking for a wind current. We're getting fresh air from somewhere, so that means there should be a way out. If we follow the wind, we should find our exit." Zero said, as he looked back at Twilight.
"Yeah, you're right! So all we need to do is follow the air currents and we'll get out of here!" Zero nodded, as Twilight understood what he was doing.
"As long as we can feel wind, we'll get out of this Light."
"Light?" Twilight asked.
"Quicker to say your name, right?" Zero said with a smile, at Twilight rolled her eyes, even though she didn't mind the name. After five minutes, Zero decided to ask Twilight about herself and the life she had before.
"So Light, it's your turn."
"What?" Twilight asked.
"I told you about myself, but I know very little about you. If I'm going to help you get home, I'd at least like to know a bit more than your name." says Zero.
"Fair enough Zero. You've told me a lot more than I thought you would, so I think it's only fair that you know more about me."
Twilight began to talk about herself and slowly, Zero started to understand her life in Equestria: Her friends Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy; Her parents and brother, Shining Armor and his wife Princess Cadance; her teacher, Princess Celestia and sister Princess Luna and all the adventures she's had in her home of Ponyville, from Nightmare Moon to the Crystal Empire, to the point Zero only listen intently and not speaking beyond the occasional questions and jokes.
Eventually, they started talking about minor things: tastes in music, foods, arts and even hobbies. As the conversation went on, Twilight, bit by bit, began to feel more comfortable and more trusting with Zero. It was like they were on a first date, yet it didn't feel like that to either of them.
After an hour or so, they came to a crossroad with three ways they could go.
"Three paths to choose from; what do you think, Light?" asked Zero.
As Twilight looked at all the paths, she noticed a sparkled glow coming from the orbs was flowing slightly towards the right. The air current they were looking for was now apparent, though neither one of them could feel it yet.
"Let's go left!" answered Twilight.
"Are you sure?" Zero asked with uncertainty.
"Positive!"
Zero nodded, praying that Twilight was right. As they continued for about five minutes, the wind became more noticeable.
"This is strange." Twilight said unsurely.
"What?" Zero asked
"Why is the air all warm?"
Zero began to notice that the air was getting warmer as they continued onward.
"Yeah, you think the air would be a little colder."
As they progressed further, they started to hear rumbling.
"What's all that rumbling?" Twilight asked
"I think it sounds like a waterfall." Zero said with uncertainty.
As they got closer to the sound, they could see a light coming from up ahead. The light was coming from the entrance of an enormous cavern. They walked out right onto a narrow walkway, supported by huge pillars alongside the waterfall. Both Twilight and Zero noticed the glimmer of multicolored crystals all around the cave lit up, prompting Zero to cease using the orbs. They both look down to see a glistening lake underneath the walkway.
"It's beautiful." Twilight remarked, as she looked around the crystal cavern.
"Yeah Light, it is." Zero agreed.
Twilight looked at Zero smiling, as he looked at every detail of the cavern, except for one thing in particular.
"Twilight, look!" Zero shouted, pointing to the other end of the cavern. "That could be our way out!"
"We'll know soon enough! Come on!"
Zero took off, with Twilight hanging onto his neck. Just as they made it to the end of the narrow walkway, the ground began to shake. Around the corner in the cave, was a humongous Cyclops, with a huge wooden mallet on one hand. Zero and Twilight quickly hid behind a giant crystal to avoid being seen.
"ANOTHER LONG DAY, MAKING TUNNELS JUST TO FIND SOME CRYSTALS. IT GETS PRETTY BORING AFTER A WHILE. OH WELL, I JUST WANT TO SLEEP IT OFF."
The giant laid himself down on a bed, made entirely of crystal, as he grabbed a piece of the ceiling to eat. He soon went to sleep and after a while, began to snore, much to Zero and Twilight's relief.
"Ok Light, I'm going to sneak for the exit. Ready?" Zero whispered to Twilight, as she nodded her head in agreement. Zero took a few steps before…
*Crash*
A loose crystal fell from the ceiling, landing on top of another crystal, causing an extremely loud crash. This was followed by multiple crystals, all coming loose from their place in the ceiling.
*crashsmashcrashsmashcrashsmash*
Zero and Twilight winced from the noises the crystals were causing and thanks to Zero, shield themselves from them, remaining unscathed. When it all finally ended, they opened their eyes to see a multicolored crystal floor. They look over to see the giant hadn't even budged, much to their astonishment.
"How did Fatty sleep through all that?" Zero whispered to Twilight.
Suddenly, the Cyclops woke up and sat straight up from his bed.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" The giant turned towards their direction.
"Y-You can't be serious..." Zero said in disbelief.
"I'M NOT FAT! I'M BIG BONED!" The giant angrily shouted. He began swinging his club at the two.
"Light, forgive me."
"What?" Twilight asked.
Before Twilight could react, Zero used his magic to throw Twilight onto the walkway.
"AHHH!" Twilight shouted, before landing roughly on the walkway.
Zero then summoned a shield around himself, protecting himself from the full blow of the club. The force sent Zero flying on the other side of the room, landing onto a cluster of crystals, with the giant between him and Twilight.
"Wow that hurt!" Zero muttered.
The giant then turned his attention to Twilight. He wound up his swing to strike Twilight down, who was immobile from the pain she was already in.
"NO!"
"AHHHHHH!" Zero focused a shield off towards Twilight and bounced the club back into the giant's face, stunning him.
"OW!" The Cyclops shouted in agony.
Now mustering all of his power, Zero picked the giant off the ground, albeit with much difficulty.
"It's time for you to SIT DOWN SON!"
Zero motions to the wall and throws the giant into it, shaking the entire cavern. Without warning, the walkway Twilight was on gives way and falls out from under her, sending her falling into the water below.
"ZERO!"
"TWILIGHT!"
Zero throwing caution to the wind and dives into the water below after her. He quickly realized that it wouldn't be easy, as the debris had made the water murky and hard to see. After two long minutes, Zero finds her at the bottom of the lake, nearly unconscious. The pain she was in made it almost impossible to swim, as she sank like a rock. With little time to spare, Zero realized he had to take a chance.
"I hope she doesn't hate me for this." Zero then kissed Twilight on the lip, to give her enough air to breathe. After what seemed like forever, Twilight regained enough of her consciousness to react to Zero's kiss. He breaks away and then brings her to the surface for air.
"Twilight, are you ok?!" Zero asked, gasping for air.
"Zero, Why did you kiss me?!" Twilight demanded while holding onto Zero to stay above water, all the while blushing heavily.
"I need to give you air so you didn't drown!" Zero reacted defensively. He then noticed a current in the lake, as they were heading for wall with an opening underneath.
"Light, take a breath!"
Twilight and Zero quickly took a deep breath, as they went under the wall and resurfaced to see raging white water rapids, much to their horror.
"Hang on!"
Zero and Twilight rode the current, trying desperately to keep their heads above water. After what seemed like an eternity, the water finally began to settle and they could rest.
"What is with this country? It just wants us dead." Twilight said, gasping for air.
Zero looked towards where the current is taking them, to see an end to the tunnel. As Zero and Twilight finally reach the end of the tunnel, they noticed that they have finally reached a town. Even though it was now close to sunset and it was cold out, the water was still warm from being inside the mountain, away from the cold. Zero used his magic to get them onto dry land, the first they have seen for a long while. Twilight's bandages had fallen off in the rapids so her patchy fur was clearly visible. They lay under a bridge to rest and as a makeshift shelter from the cold winter day. They took a look around to see a decrepit town that looked like it was falling apart underneath all the snow that covered it.
"Zero, where are we…?" Twilight asked stunned.
"We're in Shutter." Zero replied.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because this place is a wreck of a town. If we're going to get some answers, this is the place. From what I've heard, the ponies here have suffered much more than anywhere else."
"Why?" Twilight asked
"Let's find out, shall we?" Zero stood up and looked to Twilight. "It will draw too much attention for me to carry you around. I'm going to give you another pain neutralizer spell, so you can walk." Twilight nodded as Zero's horn lit up red and the pain began to vanish. "How do you feel?"
"Much better, thanks to you." Twilight said, as she finally was able to stand and walk on her hooves.
"Why didn't you do that while we were in the cave?"
"Because I didn't think about it at the time…" Twilight was not amused with this answer, but let it go as she was glad to finally feel less helpless and dependent on Zero.
"One more thing." Zero's horn lit up as he shot a small beam at Twilight. When the beam hit Twilight, her color patterns changed from her normal lavender and pink and purple eyes to a fully pink mane and tail, yellow eyes, and cyan fur coat. Her cutie mark changed to three daisy flowers as well. Her patchy fur had been covered up by the spell so her burns didn't alert anyone. Twilight looked to Zero to see his fur green, eyes red, and his mane and tail now blonde. His cutie mark looked like a pickaxe. "Now we are anonymous. With the entire royal guards looking for us, we need to disappear."
Twilight nodded slowly as she understood. "I also recommend thinking up a name if we get stopped." Twilight took a look at her cutie mark as Zero moved to just under the bridge to look around.
"Call me Daisy." says Twilight.
"Works for me." Zero said as he shrugged
"What about you?"
"Valor will work. No one in this country knows my real name so, I think it will do." Zero said not looking towards Twilight.
"Not very creative, are you?" Twilight jokingly remarked, causing Zero to look back to her.
"Who saved you from drowning again?" Zero asked with a smile.
"Who forgot to give me a pain neutralizing spell so I could move my legs?" Twilight rebutted. Zero blushed as he knew he had been beat.
"Let's go." Zero muttered
Twilight couldn't help but laugh. As the two traveled through the town, drawing almost no attention, they watched guards terrorizing a poor peddler pony, who was just trying to make a living selling what he had.
"You trying to rip me off?!" One of the royal guards shouted.
"No sir! I wasn't trying anything in the slightest!"
"This is terrible." Twilight whispered to Zero.
"If I could disguise myself, I could do something." Zero and Twilight look towards a nearby alley to see thrown away brown winter clothes.
"These should work nicely."
After dressing up in the clothes to the point where he was unidentifiable, he turned to Twilight. "Hide while I take care of the guards. Once I knock them all out, I'll come find you."
"Be careful." Twilight said, showing genuine concern. Zero hid a smile under the scarf he was using to cover his face and climbed up a fence, as he entered into another alley. He crossed the street and climbed some boxes to get up to a higher vantage point, just above where the guards terrorizing the peddler.
"Someone help me!" The peddler pleaded
"Go ahead and beg for help! No one is going to help you!"
"Take another guess!" said Zero, as he jumped from his vantage point and tackled and knocked out the main guard taunting the peddler. The rest of the guards all attempted to blast Zero, but he countered by putting up a shield and then breaking it, sending shards in their direction, incapacitating them. "Royal army huh?"
"Thank you stranger! What is your name?" The peddler asked. The peddler was a gray middle-aged earth pony with a silver mane and pale blue eyes.
"Surge. That's all you need to know."
With that Zero took off towards the alley that he left Twilight in.
"Daisy, it's safe!"
"Hello Zero." Zero quickly turned to the voice to see a black armor-clad alicorn stallion…
"Blacklight!" Zero said, getting his horn ready to fight.
"Uh uh uh… you wouldn't want anything to happen to this lovely thing, would you?" Blacklight said mockingly as he pointed to the shadows, where two unicorns were holding Twilight hostage in a magic bond.
"Light!" Zero stood down without hesitation. "How did you find us, Blacklight?" Zero demanded calmly.
"That covering to the cave you made. Next time, make the rock match the area around it. I know this land better than you do, so once I figured that you were heading for Shutter, I just had to watch the two entrances from the tunnel network. I saw you come out of the river and your little palette swap and followed you. I knew taking you in a head on fight would be irresponsible and reckless, so I decided to create a scenario that would bring out the hero in you. It worked better than I could have ever hoped!"
While Blacklight continued his explanation, another unicorn came up and slapped a collar around Zero and Twilight, linked by a blue energy cord that faded away after it appeared. With the two collars in placed, Zero's magic disappeared, returning them to their normal forms.
"With these collars on, your magic is now useless." Blacklight chuckled evilly. "Take them away."
"You think you've won? This isn't over Blacklight!"
"I'm afraid you're quite wrong Zero. After all, your public execution will make the prophecy false."
"Prophecy? What prophecy?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Wouldn't you like to know? Take them away!" Zero and Twilight were thrown into the back of a carriage made of pure metal. "Send word to the Queen. We have the princess and her companion and will depart tomorrow with the prisoners."
"Yes sir!"
"Looks like the prophecy's a dud, just like the other twenty thousand that seer gave when our Queen took power. I wish she was alive today to see how they have failed her."
With that, Blacklight walked to follow the carriage, satisfied with what he's done today…

Prophecy

View Online

Ch.6 Prophecy

Twilight and Zero weren't exactly in the best of spots… Captured, practically helpless with their magic gone and being chained together by the neck sure wasn't helping matters. The walls of their prison were three solid walls and a cell door, which was comprised of crossing steel plates. The one good thing about the situation is that there were no guards locked in the cage with them so they had the entire thing to themselves to form a plan. The only thing in the cell was one bench that Twilight was sitting on.
"Zero, what do we do now?" Twilight whispered so no pony outside the cage could hear them.
"We need to find a way out of this…" Zero muttered looking around the cage. He was still wearing the clothes he got out of the trash. "Enjoying your time in there?" Blacklight called into the cell smugly as he was following it.
"Oh we just LOVE it! I'm SO impressed with the rent-a-soldiers you've got here… They actually caught something other than a cold!" Zero said sarcastically before ending angrily.
"Hey we take offence to tha… ACHOO!" a guard outside the cell sneezed.
"See what I mean?"
"Yes I must admit I'm actually surprised by them too. After you made them look like the idiots they can be I wasn't exactly faithful about them getting this right…"
"BorrRING, you are so borrRING, you are so borrRING, shut the hay up!" Zero's singing appeared to strike a nerve in Blacklight. Twilight herself was surprised at Zero as she wasn't expecting him to be like this.
"Do you want to be executed tonight whelp?!" He shouted as he used his magic to bring Zero's face into the bars.
"Ow… and deny your ALL POWERFUL queen the show of a lifetime?! I wouldn't dream of it!"
"Zero… enough before you get us both killed!"
"You may want to listen to your MAREFRIEND… HAHAHAHA!" Blacklight laughed as he left for the front of the carriage.
"She's not my marefriend!"
"We're not a couple!" Both Zero and Twilight responded quickly but neither of them could hide the massive blushes on their faces as they avoided eye contact with each other.
"Zero, why are you trying to make every solder in this country want us dead more than they already do?"
"I was testing his patience… it might come in handy to know how to make him mad later." Zero said, looking out the bars of the back of the carriage
"Would you think for a second?! We're stuck in a box with no way out, on our way to get executed with no magic and you're planning for the future?!" Twilight shouted at Zero which provoked him to stand up to face her.
"Twilight, listen to me: We may be stuck in a cage, we may not have magic, we may be tied together by an unbreakable and invisible blue cord but this could be so much worse."
"How can this be worse?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"We could be dead already!" Zero rebutted. "I don't know how or if we'll get out of this but I know this: We can't give up hope in anything till our last breath. There is no such thing as a hopeless cause unless you yourself make it hopeless on yourself." Twilight thought Zero's words over in her head.
"Well… I never thought you'd be one for the corny rally speech…" Twilight said smiling with hope returning.
"There's a smile." Zero said smiling himself. Then the two watched as there carriage cell was brought into a makeshift fort.
"They really didn't make this fort specifically for us, did they?" Twilight said looking at how poorly put together the fort looked.
"If they did I don't know if I should feel feared or insulted…" Zero said jokingly.
"Set them over there!" shouted Blacklight as he started barking out orders to his troops. "No one gets in or out, am I understood?!"
"Yes sir!" The troops said in unison.
"Dismissed!"
"Zero." Twilight whispered to get his attention.
"Yeah?"
"I counted all the guards I can see. There are about fifty in this whole fort."
"Now I feel insulted… how can you be sure there isn't more?"
"There are only a few wall guards and about half of them went inside while the rest patrol the fort." As Twilight explained it didn't take Zero's ability to read emotions in voices to detect the doubt in Twilight's voice.
"Doesn't look good, does it?"
"Zero, even though your speech did make me want to believe that we could get out of this I don't see how." Zero looked around but then noticed one of the guards mysteriously vanished from his post.
"Wasn't there a guard there a minute ago?" He whispered. Twilight looked to see him gone too.
"Where'd he go?" she whispered back. Then they noticed another went missing… then another… then another. It wasn't till the fifth pony guard went missing before they realized what was happening: They were being thrown off the wall out of the fort. But that didn't stop Blacklight from noticing…
"Where are all my wall guards?! Sound the alarm!"
*Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring…*
As the giant bell rang out and all the soldiers came running out of their probably lukewarm houses they were currently occupying and guards that were patrolling the entire town came running into the fort to help, they heard probably the last thing they'd ever hear…
"ATTACK!" Suddenly out of nowhere, a group of about fifteen guards turned on them and attacked them. This was followed by about a hundred ponies; all dressed in black like ninjas, all entered the fort starting a massive battle in the courtyard.
"Subtlety? What's that?!" Zero said jokingly.
"Why are they doing this?" Twilight said overlooking the battle.
"To save you of course!" One of the ponies ran up to the cell and removed his mask to show a middle aged gray earth pony with a white mane and pale blue eyes. It took Twilight and Zero a minute to realize that it was the peddler Zero saved earlier. "We can't afford the last hope of Adaptus to go and die without us having a say in the matter now can we?"
"WHAT?!" They said in shock. "W-why are you here?
"I see you remember me, Surge! And it's good to see that Twilight is also ok."
"H-how do you know my name?"
"A few bystanders overheard your capture and we quickly formed this plan to get you out."
While he was talking, a two more earth ponies walked up holding an upside-down bench and shoved it into the bottom of the cell
"What's that for?" Twilight said looking at the bench.
"You may want to stand back." The two ponies suddenly pushed down on the bench which took the door right of its hinges and fell to the ground with a loud crash in front of the now out-of-the-way Twilight and Zero. "Half-pin barrel hinges… They couldn't hold glue together!"
"This is a cruel joke… all we needed was a bench?! We could have got ourselves out!"
"The prisoners are free!" a guard shouted hearing the crash.
"We're outnumbered! Fall back every pony, fall back!" Blacklight said retreating from the fort. The remaining ninjas and traitors to the army began to cheer at their victory.
"Come. We must find you two a safe place to stay for the night." The peddler said as Twilight and Zero left the cell.
"Hey what about this collar thing?" Twilight asked motioning to the collars around their necks.
"I'm afraid we can't do anything about that without the combination." He said showing a five-digit combination tumbler on the back of the collar. "Don't worry; we have our air team going after Blacklight for the combo so you two only have to put up with it for a little while.
"You guys have got this down to a science!" Zero said impressed by how well run the operation in Shutter was run. "But I have to ask; who are you?"
"Oh where are my manners? My name is Shopkeep but you can call me Conner."
"Conner?" Twilight said curiously as the two names didn't even match.
"As in "He's a Conner because he takes all your money." It's just a name the guards decided to give me and I actually like it."
"I'll call you Con then. So where is this home for the night?"
"Follow me. I'll explain more about our situation after a warm meal and *sniff sniff* a shower if you'd like." Conner motioned to Zero who sniffed himself…
"*Whistle* Yeah… I should probably take these off… How do we shower with these collars on?"
"The collars chain will go through walls and stretches up to a good twenty feet. It shouldn't be a problem. We'll get you some proper clothes to keep warm here. Especially for the miss right here." He motioned to Twilight who was actually starting to shiver from the cold winter night.
"It was a lot worse before. I'm actually surprised the burn patches didn't come back." One of the earth ponies put a blanket on her to keep her from getting sick.
"Well, let us be off then!"
Every pony in the fort dispersed and made sure the town was no longer swarming with army ponies.
Conner, Twilight, and Zero all arrived at a thin two story house. It was a very basic house with nothing on the non-painted walls besides a few decorations. The living room consisted of a few lights, a brown couch, and a coffee table. "Welcome to my home. My wife has preparing a meal for you two."
"Well you must be the two I've been told so much about." A sweet middle-aged earth pony with periwinkle fur, lime green mane, and magenta eyes greeted Twilight and Zero. "It's so nice to meet you Twilight and Zero! I'm Sweet Melody!"
"Nice to meet you Melody!" Twilight said with a smile.
"Word travels fast in this town." Said Zero.
"Well I have to tell my wife when I'm planning an all-out assault on a fort, so I told her your names and how I knew it was you that was mentioned in the prophecy."
"Dinner will be ready in an hour so why don't you all make yourselves comfortable!" Melody said as she went back into the kitchen.
"Well I'm going to take a shower for the first time in two days."
"You fell in a river. Doesn't that count?"
"Not unless soap was in the water. You're not going first so live with it."
"Right. Just upstairs, first door on the right." Twilight followed the directions and went upstairs. "She seems to be a bit frustrated…"
"I can't say I don't blame her for being frustrated with all we've been through in the past two days… by the way where are we sleeping?"
"We have a friend bringing over two beds for you"
"Why don't you bring one and I take the couch?"
"Very chivalrous of you but I wouldn't recommend you doing that."
"How bad could it be…? WOW haha!" Zero exclaimed with a laugh as he sat down on the couch. "What is this couch made of, lead bricks?!"
"Yeah we only have the money to buy ourselves enough food for us so we don't have much to spend on luxuries."
"I can see that!" Zero said getting off the couch. Then something hit Zero… "You know something just came to mind; if Blacklight makes it to the capital, half the army is going to be here to burn the town to the ground, right?"
"Every pony in this town knows the risk. All we care about is keeping you two alive to take the queen down as prophesied."
"Yeah we've been meaning to ask about that; what prophecy?"
"I'll explain after dinner. Right now you've had a long day and I'd recommend that you'd relax for now."
"*sigh* you're right. I'll just wait till Twilight's done so I can take my shower." Zero said taking of the smelly clothes he's been wearing all this time and sat down on the rock couch. As Twilight finished her shower and Zero took his, another stallion came to the door at Conner's request and brought another bed for Zero.
"Why did you bring just a two pony bed?"
"It was the only one I could spare on such short notice so I figured it would work." After it was placed in the room across from Conner's, the thought of sleeping in the same bed sunk in.
"This is going to be an awkward night…"
"Yeah…" Zero agreed.
After the bed was placed they sat down for a very simple but well-made dinner of cooked vegetables.
"I would have had it done sooner but that stove takes a while to cook anything on…"
"It looks delicious!" Twilight said looking over the food.
"And tastes just as good!" Zero exclaimed eating some seasoned carrots.
*Ten minutes of eating later*
"Ok when you two finish meet me in the living room and I'll explain as much as I can about the prophecy. I need to find a copy of it…" Conner said as she finished his meal. As Twilight and Zero finished their meals and thanked Melody for making them they noticed a painting of Conner, Melody and a small foal in the hallway.
"I didn't know you were a parent!" the pleasant expression on Melody's face changed to a depressed one.
"We-we were… not anymore…" Zero and Twilight were both shocked.
"I-I'm sorry…"
"It's alright… you didn't know." They all walked into the living room and sat down.
"So let's hear this prophecy!" Zero said as both he and Twilight were brewing with anticipation as to what this prophecy they've heard so much about.
"I'll let you read it. It makes more sense read then it does said." Conner came in with a paper with the prophecy written on it.
"Ugh… you had to rhyme." Zero said as the paper was set in front of them.
"Oh there's plenty more once you start reading.

On the fifth generation of the blackest era
It will be ended by two both born to be a hero
One born a princess of Twilight
The other born a Valorous Zero
A mage of unspeakable hidden power
Though with all that power she will not be able to use it
But when she recovers and gains it all back
She will make evil submit
One a descendant of a heritage
One he chose to ignore
But once he truly believes in himself and where he comes from
He will help show evil the door
Together and only together can they save us
With the ponies of this land behind them
And save it from Mortis and free the land
A land they wished to condemn

"This... this is scary..." Zero shuddered.
"Now I know why you wanted us to READ it…" Twilight muttered as her shocked face looked over the descriptions of them.
"Why does it label you a princess?" Zero asked looking over the paper.
"When my brother got married, I technically became a princess… though I've yet to officially become one." Zero nodded as he now understood.
"Twilight, Valorous, and Zero; all capitalized to symbolize names. What is your name again?" Conner said looking at Zero.
"*sigh* Valor…"
"Originally no pony could figure out why there were three name-like words in the prophecy. Now I see… You changed your name to "Zero" and abandoned your heritage." That sparked something in Zero as he quickly stood up on his hind legs.
"I didn't abandon my heritage! My own dad decided to leave me at an orphanage when my mom died! If he didn't want to take care of me on his own then I don't want even what the name he gave me."
"Don't ever think that your father didn't want to take care of you! How do you even know if he didn't?!" That thought shut Zero up as he quickly remembered the family painting. As he sat back down and thought it over what Conner said, Twilight tried to change the subject.
"I have a question… Why do you need us? This prophecy doesn't explain why we're needed to save this country."
"That has been debated for a long time. But from what I can tell we no closer to finding the answer then we were a hundred and fifty years ago. Do you have any other questions that I might answer?"
"I got nothing right now… but the question factory next to me probably has some…" Zero teased as glanced at Twilight with a smile on his face.
"Haha I forgot how to laugh. I only have one; Zero can you had me the box?" Zero's eyes widened and his smile quickly disappeared.
"Box…?"
"Yeah the one that brought me here that you were caring in your bag… where is your bag." Neither Zero nor Twilight realized it at the time but the bag was long gone.
"I must have lost my bag in the rapids!" Twilight became furious.
"You lost it?!" Just as Twilight was about to punch Zero in the head…
*Knock Knock*
"Oh one more thing…" The stallion from earlier came in with Zero's saddlebags and set them down. They were definitely Zero's as they had his green zero on them "My brother found this while he was crystal collecting. I believe they belong to you."
"Well aren't we lucky?!" Zero exclaimed, glad the awkward moment was over. Zero looked into his bags and pulled out the gemmed box.
"I see your problem… that box brought you here?"
"Yes… do you know what is it?"
"It is called the Trickster's Nightmare; it's an ancient artifact that causes various effects that can be programmed into it by speaking to it."
"So Ventus meant to send me here!"
"Correct. He must have programmed it to take effect only at your touch and sent you here damaged and without magic to help you."
"So this Ventus is working for the bad guys? We need to get you back to Equestria soon!"
"But first we need to reverse the effects to the Trickster's Nightmare. The only thing that can give Twilight back her magic is the sister cube, Savior's Fantasy."
"And where is that?"
"In Miracle City though I don't know exactly where."
"It's a start!" Twilight said with an optimistic smile.
"That's the spirit!" Zero said glad to see Twilight being more hopeful even with their low odds of finding a small cube.
"It's getting late..." Conner said looking at the clock. "I say we all get some sleep and we'll figure out our next move tomorrow." Twilight and Zero agreed that after a day like they've had they deserve to get some sleep. They said goodnight to Conner and Melody and then realized they almost forgot about the fact they had to sleep together which they were quickly reminded of when they walked into the bedroom they were given.
"You want me to sleep on the floor." Zero asked.
"No its fine… besides it's freezing in here and I don't need you freezing because you want to be polite." Twilight inspected the bed to see two blankets. "I'll sleep under both blankets and you sleep under just the top one. It'll be a little less awkward that way."
"That'll work." So they get into the bed in the way they planned facing away from each other and turned out the candle that was by the bed. "Night Light." Zero said with a smirk at his bad joke.
"Night Val." Zero's smirk quickly turned to a frown.
"You win…" Zero muttered admittedly.
"Ha!" Twilight said happily which made Zero a little happy himself.
They both went to sleep tired from probably one of the most trying day for both of them when about three hours later something woke up Zero. He looked over to see that Twilight was shivering pretty badly.
"How is SHE shivering?! These blankets aren't exactly made of tissue paper, their actually pretty heavy!" Then a though popped into his head. "I could share some of my body heat… NO! That would probably make things worse! Not only will she be cold but also we'll both feel awkward." As she continued to shiver, Zero sighed as he rolled over and draped his arm over Twilight. To his surprise she doesn't just stop shivering but actually started snuggling into it, moving even closer to Zero, causing his face to turn even redder. "Yeah this was a stupid idea… Although I do feel warmer myself, I know I'm going to regret this…" With that Zero went to sleep with Twilight literally back-to front with him with the only thing between them being a blanket.
They needed there rest… because the worst had yet to come.
()()()()() Meanwhile in Equestria ()()()()()
In a dark dungeon underneath Canterlot Castle a single voice can be heard.
"I hope Twilight is okay… because we need her now more than ever…
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Nothing's Ever Simple, Is It?

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Ch.7: Nothing's Ever Simple, Is It?

Zero awoke first to find himself in the same position he went to sleep in with Twilight right next to him.
"Looks like I got up first, albeit a bit early for my tastes but I'd rather not risk her waking up…like this." Zero thought, figuring it was just before sunrise, as he could see light coming from the horizon through the window. He managed to get out of bed without waking her to see clothes for him and Twilight hung over some chairs. The clothes were all a bland brown but were warm-looking and slightly heavy. There was a note hung on one of the chairs so with little light in the bedroom he went into the brightly lit hallway to read it:
Thought you two could use some proper clothes for the winter. Meet me outback when you two are ready. It's time I pointed you in the right direction.
Conner
P.S. You work fast my friend.
"Next time I ever sleep in someone's house, I'm locking the door!" Zero looked at the clock in the hallway to see that it was around ten, before he walked back in and looked over to Twilight and remembered he was still magically chained to her. "Might as well wake her up." Zero smiled as a thought came to his head.
"She's kinda cute when she's asleep… No! Stop it head!" She starts to shake her with his hoof.
"Twilight… Twilight…" She only response is a grunt and turning away from Zero. "*sigh* I know that feeling. Unfortunately I don't have the patience for it." Zero grabbed the covers with his mouth and yanked them straight from the bed. Twilight immediately began to shiver at the loss of her blankets.
"Ugh… wha?" Twilight groaned.
"Morning sunshine! Ready for another fantastic day in Adeptus?!" Zero shouted with fake enthusiasm and a goofy smile on his face.
"What time is it?" Twilight asked, as she turned to look out the window.
"Ten o'clock." Zero said frankly
"Ten?!" Twilight sat straight up on the bed.
"Yeah, it's winter. The sun doesn't exactly get up early. How are you feeling?" Twilight moved her limbs around to check for any lingering pain.
"The pain is mostly gone. Nothing worth noting."
"Great! Now come on, Conner wants to meet us outside." Zero said, throwing Twilight's new clothes to her. The two began to change into the clothes, which covered as much of their bodies as possible.
"I don't think I've ever felt warmer!" Zero said, as he finished putting on his scarf.
"Yeah, although it's kind of itchy…" Twilight said, scratching herself uncomfortably.
"Well, now that we're ready, let's go see what Conner has for us."
"And hopefully a way to take these collars off…"
"Let's hope the Pegasus they sent had some luck." As they walked outside, they saw Conner sitting down on a bench waiting for them.
"I was beginning to wonder if you two would ever get up." Conner said as he looked over to them.
"Sorry but I'm more the pony to wake up AFTER the sun." Zero rebutted.
"Same here." Twilight agreed.
"Well I've got good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
"*sigh* what's the bad news?" asked Zero
"The bad news is Blacklight got away and with him, the codes for the collars."
"Well, some pony as sleazy as him must have found a rock to hide under." Twilight said
"I'm sorry we were unable to do more to help get the collars off."
"Eh… Even if you got the collars off, we'd still be stuck together in this mess, so as much as I'd love to have this thing off and my magic back…I always know it could be a lot worse. Besides we still have the good news!" Zero said, trying to keep a level head and optimistic.
"Indeed! We know some pony that can help remove the collars! He also may be able to help you get the Savior's Fantasy!"
"Really?! Where is he?!" Twilight jumped with joy to know they have a chance to get back her magic.
"Follow me." Conner led the two to a downhill path that, since it hadn't snowed in a while, was clearly visible along with certain patches of grass underneath, to show them a pristine and beautiful city in the distance that looked nothing like what they were expecting. The path lead to a huge dense forest that Zero swore he couldn't see more than fifteen feet into.
"You will find him in Miracle City; one of the few cities that doesn't look like it's in a country ran by a tyrant. It's kept like that to keep the massive amounts of citizens happy."
"They only seem to care about the cities and not about the small towns." Twilight muttered, looking at the city.
"So, who are we looking for?" Zero asked, trying to keep focus on their main objective.
"No pony knows what his real name is, but he calls himself Sprocket. He's a unicorn that has mastered most, if not all, forms of technology and has often been one of the biggest problems for the military." Conner answered.
"So you're sure he can get these off?" Twilight was a bit skeptical that they would find him by themselves.
"If he can't, then no pony will!" Said Conner, insured that this will work. "But be careful. He's not exactly… all there."
"Awesome; I've always wanted to put my neck out for a loony." Zero sarcastically remarked, with a smirk that faded once Twilight's annoyed glare caught him.
"Because all trains have been cancelled and must stay in the cities, you two will need to go through the forest to get there. Stick to the path and you should arrive safely. Find a pub called "Paradise" and tell the bartender "New Life". He'll know what to do."
"Right!" Twilight exclaimed nodding her head. "Thank you for everything you've done for us, Conner!"
"So what are you guys going to do?" Zero asked.
"We'll be fine! It will take more than an army to stop us! All the other small towns have joined so we've basically cut off the major cities between. Today's the day we finally stand up against them!" Zero and Twilight both nodded with smiles, as Conner left to prepare for the impending assault.
"Conner: Destroyer of Armies!" Zero joked in very deep voice, prompting Twilight to roll her eyes.
"So we have to go through there?" Twilight looked at the forest as it reminded her of the Everfree forest.
"He said as long as we stick to the path, we should be fine. Besides, other ponies must have gotten through this forest unscathed if they wanted to connect the towns."
"You're right! What am I worried about? It's not like I don't have my main form of defense to help me in this time of need!" Twilight shouted sarcastically.
"Eh, it could be worse." Zero just shrugged and began to walk down the path towards the forest.
"You like to stick to that thought, don't you?"
"If I didn't, I would be panicking to you right now and then we'd both be screwed!" Zero said, stopping to look at Twilight." Now come on Light! The faster we get through this forest, the faster we'll be able to get these collars off and get your magic back!"
Zero turned back to the path and Twilight followed. They came to a sign just before the forest:
"Reckon Forest. Doesn't sound very threatening, does it?"
"Neither does Everfree forest but you'd be shocked what's in there!" They both continued into the fog-filled forest, unsure what to expect.
After a long time of walking and listening to all the creepy sounds of the surrounding forest, Zero finally spoke up.
"Why does every creepy places on this earth have to have fog?! And not just any fog! Oh no! It's the fog that's so thick you can barely see the dirt path in front of you! I'm afraid I'm going to run into a tree or trip on a root or something!" Zero proceeded slowly, trying not to run into something.
"I know what you mean! The Everfree forest back in Equestria had fog like this too sometimes."
*hiss*
"What was that?!" Twilight heard it loud and clear.
"It's just a snake… I hope." Zero said trying to keep calm.
"Zero… where's the path?" Twilight and Zero both looked down to see snow and grass but no dirt path.
"*sigh*… Dammit." Zero said bluntly, realizing he had just lead them off the path and into the middle of nowhere.
*HISS*
The hissing was getting much closer now and it sent chills up to Twilight's spine and now Zero was sure that it wasn't "just a snake".
Suddenly a giant blackish gray snake appeared without warning and circled the two, preventing their escape. The two thought they were dead and in their fear, huddled together.
"Do not worry. I will not harm you. It is sssafe to look asss I have no plansss on killing you today…yet." The snake hissed out.
"Did that snake just talk?!" Twilight asked, just realizing the talking serpent.
"Forget that! I don't like how he said "yet"!" Zero pointed out, as they both let go of each other.
"Why are you here then?"
"Sssometimesss we meet the thingsss we'll never be able to exssplain. I just want to play a little game. If you win, I'll lift the fog ssso you're journey through the foressst will become easssier. If you lossse, you're my dinner." The snake slithered up to them, sniffing his possible dinner.
"And if we refuse to play?" Zero asked, looking at the snake, as it circled them.
"You can wander aimlessssly through this foressst for all I care. I doubt you'll find the entranccce! And once you're bodies finally give out… you'll be nothing more than tasty morssselsss.
"What do you think, Zero?" asked Twilight.
"We could either wander forever with no sense of direction or we can win his game and find the path again."
"What's your choiccce?" The basilisk was beginning to become inpatient. Zero looked at Twilight with obvious worry.
"What's the game?"
"Simple: The first to tag the other wins. But there is one catch: you both have to tag me and I have to tag both of you." Zero looked into its eyes and notices the snake is blind.
"But you're blind. How can you even see us?"
"There are more waysss to sssee then just with your eyesss. Let'ss ssee if you can keep up!" The snake slid back into the fog as it grew denser and denser to the point where Twilight and Zero were right next to each other but couldn't see each other.
"How are we supposed to do this?!" Twilight shouted, as they were back to back on their hind legs looking for the snake.
"Shhh… Don't make a sound." Zero whispered calmly. He closed his eyes and listened to the surrounding area.
*hiss…Hiss…HISS…*
"DUCK!" Zero and Twilight both fell straight onto their bellies, dodging the serpent's tail. Zero jabbed his hoof to his left and hit the recovering snake right in the gut.
"Gotcha!" The snake hissed as he flew back into the fog.
"How did you do that?!"
"Twilight, listen. Not to me but to him. You need to focus not on looking for him, but on listening to where he is." Twilight got what Zero meant. That's how the snake could see where they were. Not by sight, but by sound. Twilight closed her eyes and listened. All of a sudden she could see past the fog in her mind and see only the snake thanks entirely to his hissing.
The snake tried to surprise them by staying low before attacking. They both sidestepped and while the snake flew by, Twilight got a hoof on him.
"We won!" Twilight shouted elated to win.
"*sigh* Very well. A deal is a deal." Suddenly, the fog completely lifted up and the path became clear. It was about ten feet in front of them.
"Wow, it was really that close?" Zero joked, his normal attitude returning. Twilight rolled her eyes again. She looked towards the snake.
"Why did you do all this?"
"Sometimes you need to make sure those you meet are ready for what lies ahead. You two performed well. But know this; sometimes you need to learn a new trick to defeat a new opponent." With that, the snake took his leave and slithered away, into the forest till neither one of them could see him.
"Come on Light. We need to get out of here before something else comes along."
"Right!" Twilight nodded as they both took off down the path in full gallop, hoping to get to the end faster. After about ten minutes of galloping they came to a clearing full of rocks. But right in the middle of the path, stood a tall ogre.
"Zero, look!"
"Oh, what now?"
"Halt! None get through unless they can defeat me!"
"Really?! More of this nonsense?!" Twilight looked around and noticed just how big the rocks were.
"Zero, I have a plan." She whispered her plan into his ear.
"Oh, you are a devious pony! Ok big guy! We accept your challenge!"
"Then prepare to forfeit your lives!" The ogre charged head first towards them. The two ponies ran in different directions to dodge. Zero bucked a small rock off of another rock and into the back of the ogre.
"Want some?!" The ogre roared as he charged right at Zero. At the very last second, Zero jumped out of the way and the ogre, unable to stop himself, ran head first into a boulder, demolishing it.
"Damn! Big boy got a hard head!"
"Not surprising since he has no brain in it!" Twilight surprisingly joined Zero in the mocking to get his attention on her now… and it worked.
"I have more brain then you think!" the ogre retorted.
"Then prove me wrong!" The ogre roared as loud as he could as he charged like a runaway train for Twilight. Zero almost couldn't look. Then just like Zero, she sidesteps and again the ogre hits a boulder.
"Come on! You can do better than that!"
"I don't know Zero! He seems to have problems thinking things through!" The ogre's fury had boiled over. He now grabbed a nearby boulder and through it at them.
"Look out!" Zero pushed both Twilight and himself out of the way as it landed, shaking the whole ground.
"What now?" Twilight looked over to see the ogre picking up the biggest rock of them all.
"Zero! We need to take out his legs!" Zero nodded and ran to the ogre, his back turned to them. Just as he picked it up over his head and turned to throw it, Zero drives his horn into the foot of the ogre, causing him to drop the rock on his head and fall to the ground unconscious. Zero managed to remove his horn in time to dodge the falling stone.
"AW! Now I have ogre blood on my horn!" Zero complained
"It'll clean off. Besides, who's fault was that?" Zero sighed as he knew she was right. "What do we do about him?"
"I say we leave before he wakes up." They both turn to leave.
"Halt! You have passed my test. Allow me to point you in the right direction." The ogre pointed to the middle of three paths.
"Thank you!" Twilight said nodding.
"You two proved you can use others weaknesses against them. But you're not out of the woods yet."
With that, the ogre crossed a stream and disappeared into the woods.
"Wait! What did you mean by that?!" But he was long gone.
"We should keep going, Zero!"
"What else is in this crazy place?!"
"I'm afraid to guess…" With that and in no particular haste, they set off for the next and hopefully final obstacle. They continued until they got to a part of the forest that looked different than the rest. All the trees looked like a forest fire came running through. What's more, there was a path of spider webs in front of them. Each path branched off onto another, creating multiple ways to get around.
"We should be on guard. I think we found our next problem."
"Indeed you have!" They both turn to the voice to see a chimera standing right behind them. It had the head of a lion, a goat's head coming out of its back, and a snake for a tail.
"*sigh* Ok, what's your game?" Zero voice was monotone, as he knew it was something stupidly hard.
"Simply make it to that gate over there." The chimera pointed to the end of the path to a gate.
"And the catch…?" Twilight asked, afraid of the answer.
"THIS!" Suddenly the chimera sent the surrounding trees ablaze, quickly spreading from tree to tree. "You best get going." The chimera began to cross the forest.
"What now?" Zero asked, looking at Twilight.
"We need to pick the paths with the least number of burning things in our way." The smoke started to make Twilight and Zero feel kind of weak.
"You ok?"
"I'm not sure…"
"How about I carry you on my back while you pick the paths?" Twilight nodded, as she got on his back. They began to work together to get out. Twilight would pick the paths that would offer the least resistance and Zero used his own physical abilities to get past without harm. After ten minutes they were finally home free as they had to just make it to the end of the path, but all the smoke and carrying of Twilight had taken its toll on Zero, as he collapsed and loss consciousness.
"Come on Zero… We're almost done…" Twilight pulled Zero by his tail and found out that he was actually quite heavy for his size. After finally reaching the exit, which was also full of smoke, she too collapsed.
"I'm surprised you actually made it out alive. It's been a while since some pony made it through all the challenges." The chimera that had waited at the end for them snapped its paw's fingers and the fire immediately began to die out. He carried them to a nearby stream and splashed them with water.
"*spitting water* What happened?" Twilight asked, being the first to regain consciousness.
"You two passed!"
"We did?" Zero seemed in disbelief.
"You proved that the most straightforward path isn't always the wisest. Sometime you have to take detours to get there safely. Anyway, take that path and I believe you'll arrive at Miracle City." They both looked into the direction of the path.
"Thank y-" Twilight was cut off, as the chimera suddenly gone. "Let's get out of this crazy forest."
"Before they change their minds and make more stupid hoops to jump through." Twilight and Zero galloped down the path and before they knew it they were at Miracle City. They looked like they had been through hell with the clothes they were wearing slightly torched. They noticed that guards were standing in front of the city gates, no doubt trying to keep the rebels back.
"So, now how do we get inside?"
"We're going to need to learn a new trick and I think I know just what to do." Zero noticed a drain pipe and pointed to it.
"Ugh… the things I have to go through are unbearable sometimes…" The two headed down to the corner of the town wall where the drain pipe was. They both climbed through and began their journey to find Sprocket, although they were in for quite a surprise.
*Meanwhile*
"Sir! What is the plan?" The soldier asked Blacklight who somehow managed to get to Miracle City before Zero and Twilight did. He was standing in a library looking over a glass box with a white jeweled cube inside it.
"We need to make sure that they never get the Savior's Fantasy."
"And how do we do that?"
"You'll see soon enough." Blacklight replied with a confident grin.

Under Their Muzzles

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Ch.8: Under Their Muzzles

In the blackness of the sewer system, with only the light peeking through the sewer covers and a few lit lanterns on the walls, Zero and Twilight were now trying to figure out how they could reach the top without drawing unwanted attention. They were walking along on cobblestone paths that worked as walls to trap all the sewage into a river. There were small bridges connecting the paths and ladders on the walls leading up to the sewer covers. Zero climbed up a ladder to listen to see how many ponies were around and he kept getting the same answer.
"Too many here too?" Zero whispered in disbelief, listening to the sounds of the crowd above them, realizing this cover is a no go and continued on with a sigh.
"How many covers have we tried? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?!" Twilight shouted and started to think that they're not getting topside this way.
"I lost count at five…have we been here before?" Zero asked, looking around and thought the current location was familiar.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we were." Twilight retorted. "This is stupid! We're getting nowhere!"
"SHH!" Zero hushed Twilight, before they realized that, coming around the corner, about twenty or so feet from them, was a light. The two quickly hid behind another corner, hoping to avoid detection as quickly as they could. When the light finally passed the corner, they saw it was a grayish unicorn stallion, dressed in elegant armor, floating a lantern with his magic. It didn't take a genius like Twilight to figure out what he was.
"Ugh…why am I always stuck with sewer patrol? None of us have actually found anything down here!" The unicorn sat down a mace against the wall and then sat down next to the sewage river, his back turned to Twilight and Zero. Zero raised his hoof up to his mouth to tell Twilight not to make any noise. Zero snuck up behind the guard, grabbed the mace with his mouth and…
*Whoosh* *Thud*
Zero took the mace and clobbered the guard, knocking him out cold.
"Sorry buddy, but you just picked a bad day to come into work." Zero said, putting the mace back where he found it.
"Zero, what was that for?!" Twilight was shocked by her companion's action, but Zero didn't respond, as he grabbed the guard's tail with his mouth and dragged him to another lantern on the wall to see. After spitting out the tail, he turned and finally spoke up.
"He said there was more than one of them down here, right?" Zero said with a clear smile. "Then all we need is another guard outfit and we can simple climb out of the sewers and no pony will give a crap! We can go anywhere in the city and not get noticed!"
Twilight thought about the idea and looked at the guard. His armor was silver in color, with gold fabric underneath and he had a scarf with a royal emblem on it. The emblem looked like an alicorn silhouette over a crown. The scarf would be perfect for hiding their collars.
"And where exactly are we going to find a set of armor my size?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. Zero had already begun to strip the unconscious guard of his uniform.
"These guys come in all shapes and sizes. I'm sure at least one should be close to your size! And if we can't find one, then I'll come up with something on the spot!" Zero said, getting the last piece of the uniform off and began to work at fixing the dent in the helmet.
"That scares me a little…" Twilight wasn't fully confident in Zero's improvised planning, but his calm and confident exterior seemed to help Twilight from losing her mind with thoughts of hopelessness. Zero finished putting on the guard armor and turned to Twilight.
"Well then, I hope it doesn't come to that, but with the luck you and I have been having, it's really anypony's guess." Twilight nodded her head in agreement. "How do I look?" Zero looked like an actually legitimate guard. The collar was covered and his cutie mark was completely out of sight.
"Like a child playing with his dad's clothes but right now, you're all I've got." Twilight responded, showing a teasing side that surprised Zero a bit.
"So there is a sense of humor in there. Yes, the indoctrination is going perrrrfectly." Zero said, rubbing his hooves together and faking an evil chuckle, earning another stifled giggle and an eye roll from Twilight. Zero grabbed the sleeping guard and hid him in a dark corner, hoping no one figured out who he is.
"This really isn't the time for jokes." Twilight remarked.
"Alright, I'll be good." Zero said. "Let's go get you some proper armor!" Zero began to walk.
"Do you know where to go?" Twilight asked, uncertain of Zero's action.
"No." Zero just shrugged with his smile never fading.
"Do you know where to start?" Twilight asked wide-eyed.
"No. So I'm just going to keep walking until I find what I'm looking for." Zero said bluntly.
"Zero, they're not going to just come running around that corner."
"HEY YOU!" The two looked to see three guards running straight to them. The unicorn guard in the front was smaller than the earth ponies behind him…and just about Twilight's size.
"Ah, you're just in time to help me with this escaped criminal!" Zero exclaimed, thinking fast.
"Good work uh…"
"Blaster." Zero replied, his head sweating with anxiety.
"Good work, Blaster!" The lead guard said, falling for Zero's disguise. "That'll show that ass Blacklight that our town's own guards can take care of this matter!" The guard said in a condescending way.
"You may have caught me but you'll never catch Zero! He's smarter AND brave than all four of you combined!" Twilight shouted at the guards, while Zero looked at her with astonishment.
"You insolent little…"
"Sir, permission to speak?" Zero was trying hardest not to worry about what Twilight had said.
"Permission granted, soldier."
"I just have one thing to say…WHAT THE HAY IS THAT?!" Zero pointed to behind the guards to draw their attention away. They all quickly turned to see… nothing; but as soon as they turned back to face Zero…
*Whack*
Zero bucked as hard as he could on the unicorn guard's face, sending him flying about three or four feet. Twilight, who figured out what Zero was doing, followed suit, as one of the guards was too busy looking at Zero to notice her hind hooves flying into the side of his face in time to react. The third guard rushed at Zero, but he was just a little too quick on his hooves and responded by tripping the legs out and Twilight hit the airborne target with another buck to the face.
"Made ya look!" Zero exclaimed happily.
"I can't believe that actually worked." Twilight said in astonishment.
"I can't believe it either! I can't believe anypony on this world or any other could be this gullible, incompetent, and all around just stupid! And you said that they weren't going to just come around the corner." Zero said, running his fore hoof through his messy mane with a smug smirk.
"Ok, I was wrong." Twilight actually admitted defeat to Zero for the first time since he met her. "Way to think you your hooves." Twilight complimented sincerely.
"Thanks Light, but did you really mean that?" Zero asked.
"Of course I did, Zero! That was really clever of you!" Twilight responded with a smile.
"Not that. What you said before." Twilight's eyes darted away and her smile turned a bit more awkward with a blush, before she gave Zero her answer.
"Well yeah, I mean, you've been making smart decisions for the most part and you've been very brave in the caves, against the guards, in the forest, and even here now when we're both at our weakest in the middle of a city filled with guards who want to capture us and kill us and you still can find a reason to hope, to smile, and to laugh."
Zero gulped as he tried to work up something to say, but before he could, the unicorn guard began to stir.
"Ugh…what happened…?"
*Whack* Zero, annoyed with this moment ruined, kicked the guard yet again, knocking him back out. They looked at the now unconscious unicorn. With the moment gone, Zero figured it was time to get back on track.
"It looks like this one is about your size…pretty small stallion." Zero muttered, inspecting the body before removing his armor for Twilight to try on.
"Great! We can finally get out of this place!" says Twilight.
"I don't know, Twilight, I kind of like it down here! What with the rats, the crystal green waters, and the unidentifiable substance that I may never get off my hooves actually make this place quite homey." Zero's sarcasm wasn't what Twilight wanted to hear, but at this point if she rolled her eyes anymore, she would get dizzy.
"Here you go!" Zero placed the armor down for Twilight to wear. Twilight put the armor on, with some help from Zero getting the heavy metal on.
"Why do these things have to be so heavy?!" Twilight exclaimed, as she wasn't expecting the armor to be THIS heavy.
"Wells it would be bad show if they got stabbed in the kidneys, right?" Zero asked, shrugging then proceeded to hide the body of the stripped unicorn, but left the others out in the open.
"Why are you only hiding one?"
"You'll see soon enough!" Zero said with a wink. "Well let's see if it works." Zero said, walking up to a ladder proceeded to head up it, out of the sewers, with Twilight following up behind. When they opened the top, they weren't blinded by the sunlight as it was close to sunset. As they climb out, they are first seen by a lot of passing ponies, but are then ignored as they deemed nothing was out of the ordinary… except for another guard.
"Hey! You two are supposed to be down there on patrol!"
"Sorry Sir, but we have a problem! We believe that the escapees are down in the sewers and are taking out all the guards down there. We need more help!" The guards face turned to horror as he completely bought everything Zero was saying.
"R-right soldier! Don't you move from this spot! I'll be right back!" The guard took off, running to find his commanding officer.
"Dumbass." Zero and Twilight then disappeared into the crowd, trying to draw as little attention as possible. "Ok, where did Conner say to go?"
"He said find a pub called "Paradise"!"
"Then that's where we go! Let's see if we can get directions." Zero walked up to a random blue pony. "Hey you! Do you know where the Paradise pub is?!" Zero pretended to be a guard to avoid suspicion.
"Uh… I-I-It's just down the road! Please don't hurt me!" Obviously she was about to piss herself.
"Looks like you get to live today." Twilight joined in, faking a masculine voice. They both took off down the street where the pony had been pointing. "Think we may have overdone it, Zero."
"Yeah, I think the death threat was a bit too much." Sure enough, just down the street as the mare said, was the Paradise bar. "Let's hope this works…"
"I know it will work!" Twilight said with a warm, hopeful smile. Zero returned with one of his own and the two walked in. When they walked in, they received a few glances, but every pony in the room continued on with what they were doing when Zero and Twilight sat down at the bar. The bar itself seemed well kept all around, though appearances can be deceiving.
"How can I help you gentlecolts?" The bartender that asked was a brown stallion and welcomed the two with a smile.
"New life." Zero muttered under his breath but was loud enough for the bartender to hear.
"Through that door." The bartender looked over to a door on the far side of the room that had a sign saying "Employees only".
"Thanks." Twilight said quietly. They both got up and managed to make it to the door with no trouble.
They climbed up the stair and after a while, they began to hear something.
"They pay… oh they will pay… and when they do… OH it will be so satisfying!" Twilight and Zero both stopped halfway up the stairs and looked at each other as they listened. "It's all prepared… now I just wait… and then… and THEN… IT WILL BEGIN! HAHAHAHA!"
"I have the sneaking suspicion we found Sprocket." Zero whispered with a fake puzzled look on his face.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Twilight asked sarcastically. They both continued up the stairs to see something along the lines they should have saw; a room filled to the brim with books, gadgets, gizmos, and tools... lots and lots of tools, all placed an a controlled disaster kind of way where only the pony who put it there would ever find it without actually looking for it.
"*Clears throat* Excuse me?" Zero said to the mumbling mad colt. The stallion had a yellow coat with spikey white mane and a tail that was pitch black in certain places. One would assume he may have electrocuted his tail... or spilled paint on it. He was wearing goggles and writing on a piece of paper. His cutie mark looked like a gear.
"KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The unstable stallion panicked at the sudden surprise. Add to the fact that Zero and Twilight were still dressed as guards were enough for any stallion to have a heart attack. Before anypony in the room could react, a blue streak flew from behind a curtain and tackled Zero to the ground, knocking his helmet off.
"Take this you scumbags!" Just as he was about to attack again, the pegasus stopped. "Val?!" Zero looked up to the pegasus and couldn't believe it.
"Speed?!" Zero looked at his flank to be sure and spotted a three lightning bolts, black, white, and light blue cutie-mark on it. The tail and mane was black and the eyes the same lime green. It was him alright. "W-Why are you here?!"
"It's a funny story actually…" Speed rubbed the back of his head with his fore hoof. "Give me a sec; I got to go find Sprocket." Speed walked back behind the curtains, leaving a confused Twilight and an displeased Zero.
"Zero…" Zero didn't respond to Twilight. 'What's wrong with him? Isn't this his best friend?'
'Speed… I hoped I didn't have to see you again…' Zero thought, staring towards the curtain his friend was behind expressionless.
()()()()() Meanwhile, Back at the Library ()()()()()
"Sir! Everything is in place as you've specified!" a guard that appeared to be Blacklight's second in command.
"Did you double check?" Blacklight was standing outside on the library balcony.
"I did better than that! I quadruple checked!"
"Good. And the escapees?" Blacklight turned to look at the guard
"We have confirmation they have arrived in town and have made contact with the resistance."
"Good work! If this goes right, they won't need a doctor…they'll need a mortician."
"Sir. I don't think anypony will go to the funeral…"
"You'd be shocked how many would show up for the funeral of their "last hope"." Blacklight said, chuckling evilly through his helmet.
"But what happens if they overwhelm us? That Zero character looks pretty powerful and crafty and if Twilight Sparkle gets her magic back…"
"Don't worry!" Blacklight exclaimed, cutting the guard off. "I've taken the necessary precautions."
"What do you mean sir?" Blacklight doesn't answer, as he proceeds to laugh with great delight.

Grand Theft Artifact

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Ch. 9 Grand Theft Artifact

A few minutes after the mysterious reappearance of Zero's friend Speed Breaker, Twilight, no longer wearing the heavy armor, was looking at some books in the piles, while Zero went and followed Speed, wanting an answer to his question.
'Why is he even here?!' Zero thought.
Soon, Zero went beyond the red curtain to see a very basic, but very big bedroom that had the walls covered in equations and sentences with more books thrown onto the floor. The bedroom had multiple beds placed everywhere, but it was mainly Sprocket's bed that had all the books around it. Speed was looking at Sprocket as he was hiding under his bed as if that would save him.
"It's okay to come out, Sprock. They're not going to hurt you." Speed said gingerly, trying to settle Sprocket down. He stuck his head out and looked at Zero and immediately crawled back under his bed, as Zero was still wearing his armor.
"No! H-He's one of them! H-He wants to t-throw me into p-prison! D-D-Do you know what they do to ponies like me in p-prison?!" Sprocket stuttered.
'When Conner said he wasn't all there… I think he put it mildly.' Zero thought, putting his hoof to his face.
"Sprock, if they were here to take you away, how would the guards normally come in here?"
"T-they would've broken in through t-the windows a-and they would've b-broken down the door?" Sprocket himself wasn't sure.
"Right, yet these two came in through the door and didn't cause any harm. They are both unicorns like you and if they wanted to stop you from running, they could have just grabbed you and taken you away." Speed talked to Sprocket the way a parent would talk to their scared foal.
"O-okay…" Sprocket reemerged and turned to face Zero, who had finally taken the guard armor off. The collar was now in full view and immediately caught Sprocket's attention.
"Huh… I-I thought they'd upgrade their stuff by now. Got captured, didn't you?" Zero nodded with a chuckle. Sprocket's stuttering seemed to have calmed down to just a soft voice.
"Yeah…ha-ha…that's actually why we're here. I don't suppose you can get these things off of me and my friend?"
"Please, an amateur could get these off. G-Give me a second…" Sprocket's horn glowed yellow as did the collar. Before Zero could ask what he was doing…
*Click* *Thud*
The collar came right off in no time and fell to the floor. An astonished Zero stared at the collar that's been given him so much grief.
"N-Now where is this friend of yours?" asked Sprocket.
"Follow me, Sprocket." Speed then went through the curtain with Sprocket following behind him. Zero quickly snapped back to reality and followed them as well.
()()()()() A few minutes ago… ()()()()()
As Zero stepped behind the curtain to follow Speed to get Sprocket, Twilight found herself alone with her thoughts.
'Ok, we're one step closer to getting my magic back. I just need to keep calm, but Zero has been acting strange, even for him! Ever since Speed showed up, Zero hasn't made a joke or said a thing to me. What's he hiding?'
"Well, you must be Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight was snapped from her thought, startled by a female voice. She turned to see an ultramarine pegasus floating next to the open window with an intrigued look on her face. She had a ruby red mane and tail, with electric blues streaks and emerald green eyes. Her cutie mark looked like swirling white streaks, almost resembling a wind.
"H-How do you know my name?" Twilight was still on guard, as the pegasus landed.
"Tsk girl, every pony in the city would know your name if they saw that thing around your neck." She said, as she set a wanted poster on the floor with her name and Zero's, along with descriptions of them from the collars all the way to the color of the streaks in Twilight's mane. She also sat a three-day old newspaper with an article on a museum acquisition: The Savior's Fantasy.
"Although, I doubt they actually will be able to put two and two together. I'm Wind Ryder, by the way!" She extended her hoof with a warm smile.
"I-its n-nice to meet you!" Twilight bumped her hoof against Ryder's, as she returned the smile.
"So where is this Zero that I've heard about?" asked Wind Ryder.
"He went after his friend Speed to get Sprocket." Twilight pointed towards the red curtain.
"NO WAY! Zero is friends with Speed?!" a surprised Ryder then leaned closer to Twilight's face, causing her to jerk her head back.
"Yeah, but didn't Speed say anything about it?" Twilight questioned the Pegasus.
"I'm afraid not. He's been a bit distant to me lately…" The mare finally sat down on the floor and looked at towards the curtain, listening to Sprocket's incoherent shouting from under his bed.
"He mentioned he had a friend named Valor, but because of a falling out they ceased being friends." Twilight blinked in surprise.
"What? Zero…Valor never mentioned that." Twilight suspicion of Zero was now back and in force.
"I wonder why…" Ryder muttered, still gazing at the curtain.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Twilight then leaned her head to Ryder's, allowing the pegasus to whisper to her ears.
"I don't know the full story, I'm afraid. Speed has always been scarce with his past before coming here about three months ago. No matter how hard I pressed him about it, he always avoided the subject. Although if you're given time to press Zero on the matter, he may spill the beans a little bit easier than Speed." Ryder broke her gaze from the curtain to look Twilight in the eyes.
"Then, if you can get me some time alone, that's exactly what I'll do." Twilight had a fire in her eyes, now determined to see what Zero was truly hiding.
*Muffled thud*
They both looked to the curtain wondering what the noise was. A few seconds later they see Speed and the now calm Sprocket coming through the curtain, followed shortly by Zero with his collar off.
"Hey Speed!" Ryder waved with a happy smile.
"Ryder? Back already?" Speed looked a bit off guard.
"Well it didn't take me very long to find what we're looking for. Would it kill you to read a newspaper every now and then?" She threw the newspaper she brought towards Speed's hooves. He read the circled article aloud:

Savior's Fantasy on display.
Now at the Mortis Museum of Ancient Artifacts.
See and learn about this powerful artifact.

"So that's what they're up to..." Speed said, as he finished reading.
"Looks like they know what we're looking for. It has to be a trap!" Twilight was expecting Zero's sarcasm, but got nothing from him. He seemed a bit too troubled with something…
"Of course it's a trap! It can't be anything else!" Sprocket's calm demeanor gave way to his paranoid behavior yet again.
"Calm down Sprock. We haven't fallen into any trap yet."
"Y-You're right…we'll come up with something." Sprocket walked over towards Twilight and took her collar off as well. It didn't really matter to her as it changed very little. Unlike Zero, who can now use his magic in full effect, Twilight still had no such luxury.
"So how are we going to make sure the trap fails?"
"Maybe if they were too focused on something else, they won't notice some pony taking the Savior's Fantasy."
"Like what?"
"Like me." Every pony in the room immediately looked to Zero in shock.
"Are you insane?!" Sprocket shouted back
"Jury's still out on that one." Speed raised his hoof to calm down Sprocket.
"Now, now, I think Zero may be onto something. If they busy looking at something else, they won't be watching Savior's Fantasy. Then Ryder and Twilight can just grab it." Zero nodded as his friend was right.
"That doesn't sound like a very good plan." Twilight expressed doubt on the plan.
"But it's about all we got, so it'll have to do." Speed didn't like the plan either, but knew the luxury of choice was not there for them. "While Zero and I keep the guards busy, you two will get the box and get right back here." Twilight and Ryder nodded.
"What about me?" Sprocket spoke up.
"Just stay here, it's safer that way." Sprocket nodded as well. "We'll leave after it closes in two hours."
Speed went back behind the curtains with Sprocket and Ryder followed to leave Twilight alone with Zero, just like she asked.
"Ok Zero, spill it!" Twilight immediately demanded from her friend.
"Huh?!" was all Zero could say, shocked by Twilight's angry demeanor. "W-What do you mean?!"
"You've been acting weird ever since we got here and now I find out why: you lied to me about what happened between you and Speed." Zero thought it'd be pointless to keep it up.
"You're right… I did lie." Zero looked visible ashamed which made Twilight soften up a little.
"But why Zero?! Why lie about something like that?!"
"Believe me, if I told you the full story, you wouldn't have trusted me at all. So I lied because I didn't think anypony from here would ever tell you. I'm sorry I lied."
Zero's shamed look was then replaced by a serious demeanor, something that Twilight is starting to become more accustomed to. His happy-go-lucky demeanor seemed to give way to a much more serious pony.
'Is this the real Zero?' Twilight thought. "How can I trust you if you won't be honest with me?"
"I'll tell you what: When this is all over, I'll tell you the full story. No questions asked."
"That's if we get out of this…" Twilight pointed out.
"I promise that whatever it takes, I'm going to help you get home!" Twilight just chuckled.
"You do that..." With that rather cold remark, she trotted off to join the rest, leaving Zero with his thoughts and his frustration.
'I'm. An. IDIOT!'
()()()()() 2 hours later… Outside the Mortis Museum of Ancient Artifacts: Twilight and Ryder ()()()()()
Twilight and Ryder were standing on a roof adjacent to the museum roof. Ryder was on lookout waiting for Zero and Speed to enter through a skylight.
"Ok, the boys are in position." Ryder said, looking through a pair of binoculars.
"So now it's our turn." Ryder picked up Twilight under her fore arms and flew (with considerable difficulty) to another skylight on the other side of the building. They peaked through to see the Savior's Fantasy, with only about twenty ponies guarding it.
"Do you have it?" Ryder asked, opening the skylight.
"Of course I do, Ryder!" Twilight reached into the saddlebag Zero gave her to pull out the Trickster's Nightmare. "Now we wait…"
*Boom… Boom… Boom…*
"What was that?!" One of the guards shouted.
"Come on! That must be them now!" The majority of the guards ran
"We have to touch the two together and you should have your magic back in force! I'll be right back!" Ryder whispered as she flew down and landed next to the case. Inside the case was a white cube studded with various colored gems. The pegasus walked right behind a nearby guard as silently as possible. She then stole the key to the case and unlocked it. "Thank you boys so much."
"HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE!" the guard ran for the wall and pulled down a switch with his mouth.
*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*
"Uh oh!" Ryder muttered, as she quickly grabbed the cube and flew as fast as she can to the open skylight.
"Finally, this nightmare is one step closer to being over." Twilight said, as she had both jeweled cubes now.
"Yeah, that's all well and good, but we need to get out of here!" Ryder shouted, as she threw both of the cubes into the saddlebags and picked up Twilight to make their escape.
"Wait! What about Zero?!" Twilight asked Ryder.
"I'm sure he's fine! From what you've told me, he should be able to think of a way to get away!"
Before Ryder could say much more, a large group of pegasus guards swarmed them from all directions, surrounding the duo. It didn't help that Ryder was carrying Twilight under her hooves, making it impossible for her to outrun them.
'How are we going to get out of this?!'
Suddenly ,the two cubes began to glow in Twilight's saddlebags and created a giant pillar of light that blinded every pony that looked at them. The pillar then changed into the shape of a dome around the museum before dissipating, teleporting Twilight and Ryder away from the museum and back to the upstairs of Paradise, causing Sprocket to nearly have a heart attack. Twilight and Ryder looked around in shock and confusion.
"Huh? How did we get here?!"
"D-Did the cubes just teleport us halfway across town?"
"Y-yeah… I think they did." Sprocket had finally calmed down enough to ask what happened and got the full story from their end.
"But what happened to Zero and Speed?" The girls lowered their heads, as they began to worry. After ten minutes of waiting, Zero teleported in before collapsing; he looked like he been through a very long fight.
"Zero!" Twilight ran to Zero's side first.
"Where's Speed?" Ryder asked concerned.
"*Heavy breathing* I…don't know…I think he…might have been caught…" With that he passed out.
"Oh no…" was all Ryder could say.
"Come on. Help me with Zero!" The three carried Zero to a bed where he fell asleep.
If only they knew…
()()()()() 30 minutes ago: Zero and Speed ()()()()()
"Zero, you ready?" Speed asked, as they stood next to the now open skylight.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Speed flew down, landing silently on the floor, while Zero jumped and used his magic to stop his decent just before landing.
"Ok, it would be best if we split up to distribute the work load." Speed whispered.
"Right." The two then split up down different hallways. 'Ok, I just need to create a giant diversion. That shouldn't be that hard.' Zero thought, as he galloped into a large but unguarded hall. There were multiple artifacts that Zero had some knowledge, but the rest just mystified him. The hall also had a second and third story to make room for the biggest attention grabber in the room: a giant stone statue of Dux Mortis. Zero stopped to look at the statue.
'That statue… If I can make it fall, then every guard in a square mile will come to see what happened!' Zero smirked to himself. 'A well placed concussion blast should do the trick!' As began to charge his blast to take out the legs…
*Boom*
"Huh… might take more than one."
*Boom… Boom…*
"Well, I didn't think you'd fall for it. Maybe you're just as dumb as I thought." Zero stopped charging and looked around for the voice.
"Up here!"
Zero looked up to the second story of the room to see Blacklight waiting for him all alone. Blacklight, still clad in his full-body armor, removed the helmet that obscured his face. He had black fur, orange eyes and no mane and a scar over his muzzle.
"You got a face only a mother could love and even she hates it." Zero said with a smirk
"Still the jokester I see. Tell me something: Why do you fight us?"
"Huh?" Zero tilted his head to the side in confusion.
"We are very fair to our citizens when they obey us. Those who break our laws should be punished, right? So why would you fight alongside those who would rather live in a world of chaos with no rules to keep them in line?" Zero hung his head to the ground and began to chuckle to himself.
"Something funny?" Blacklight asked, arching an eyebrow.
"You know, I actually don't care about your government or your queen or what she's done." Blacklight was surprised by this answer. He was expecting something more heroic and cliché.
"Then why do you still fight us?!" Blacklight demanded.
"Easy: it seems to be the only way for me to leave this stupid country!" Zero replied
"You mean…you just want to go home?" Blacklight looked at Zero with incredulous.
"Well…I don't want just me…." Blacklight eyes squinted a bit in interest. "Twilight Sparkle…I lied about what I had done in my past, so I made a promise to her that I would do whatever I needed to do to make up for what I did. And I'll start by getting her home!"
Blacklight's eyes were now wide open. "I always keep my promises, Blacklight and if you're in my way…" Zero's horn was now glowing brightly, ready for battle.
"Tough words from some pony that can't move." Blacklight chuckled.
"What?!"
Suddenly and without warning, Zero was bound by powerful magic. He was lifted up, until he was standing on his hind legs. Zero looked to Blacklight but noticed his horn not glowing.
"Well Val, I never thought you'd be this dumb." Zero turned his head in shock towards the familiar voice…to see Speed. Zero was at a loss for words.
"What's this? No clever comeback? No stupid quips?" Suddenly all the guards that heard the concussive blasts from Zero came running in before being stopped by Blacklight.
"Huh…YOU FOOLS!" Speed shouted at the guards running in.
*BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP*
Suddenly the alarm sounded, causing Zero to smirk.
"Great works girls!"
"Get back there now! A few of you stay here!" Blacklight commanded, as a major bulk of the guards ran to the Savior's Fantasy exhibit.
"S-Speed… why…?" Speed just laughed.
"*sigh*You still don't get it, do you Val? Speed…"
Suddenly, Speed let out a flash of light and transformed into something else…a unicorn. His fur, mane, tail, were all jet black, and his eyes became fire red. His cutie mark was almost unidentifiable as it too was black but a lighter shade.
"…IS NO MORE!" Now Zero was truly confused and shocked.
"I would like you to meet Shadow and I couldn't find a more fitting name! You see Valor, Shadow here has mastered a pretty useful spell. He can switch the exact appearance of any pony and learn everything about them, down to your suppressed memories!" Zero gasped.
"I see you figured out what happens now. Shadow, he's all yours." Blacklight turned and walked away.
"It would be my pleasure!" Shadow walked up and placed a hoof on Zero's forehead and his heart. Then his horn began to glow a dark red.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Suddenly a searing pain shot through Zero's body, engulfing him. As Shadow began to take the information he needed, his appearance began to change, until he looked exactly like Zero.
"When he's done, take what's left and get rid of it." Blacklight ordered what's left of the guard bulk before leaving the room. Zero's cries were suddenly silenced as Shadow began to probe his memories.
'I can't let him win! Fight Zero!'
'He's resisting. I can't get a good read on his memories. Just blurs of pictures… He's a determined one.' Just then, a bright pillar of light appeared from the other side of the building and formed a dome around the building, distracting Shadow from what he was doing along with the guards watching.
'Now's my chance!' Zero took immediate advantage and let out an all-or-nothing concussive blast in all directions, knocking Shadow into a nearby pillar, launching every other pony into whatever was behind them and weakening the legs of the Dux Mortis statue, causing it to crumble and take out a few chunks of the second story, making the third floor and roof to begin collapsing.
"...I… need…to get… out of here…" Zero managed to speak as he pulled himself to his hooves. He dragged himself outside and walked a few feet before he collapsed, blacking out soon afterwards. The last thing he heard before that was voices…
"Well lookie here…"
"That pony doesn't look so good…!"
"You're right… Let's see if we can help him…"
"Hurry! Before any other ponies show up…!"
()()()()() Meanwhile ()()()()()
"Sir we have a problem!" "Zero" said, as he ran to Blacklight at one of the few places collapsing: the front door.
"What happened?!" Blacklight tried not to show too much emotion to keep his troops moral up.
"Zero managed to stop me. I couldn't get everything I need."
"What are you missing?!"
"The only recent memories I have are from his first two days with Twilight, nothing more."
"That will have to do. Where is Zero anyway?"
"I don't know. He could be anywhere by now."
"Well, you let me worry about him. Go and take care of our other guest. Make sure she has your undying trust and bring her to the capital." "Zero" bowed his head and teleported away.
"Sir… what now?" a lone guard asked, as Blacklight turned to leave the building.
"Find the real Zero… and end him…."

Land of Misery

by UnKnownSalvation

Vanished

A Nation Divided

No Magic is No Fun!

Zero's Legacy

Problematic

Prophecy

Nothing's Ever Simple, Is It?

Under Their Muzzles

Grand Theft Artifact