The Canterlot Prison

Roar

After the invasion of Canterlot, many changelings were taken prisoner. They were found unconscious all over Equestria, since the shield expanded outward, flinging them in every which direction. Roar was one such changeling, one moment he was closing in on a group of ponies in an alley, and the next he saw a pink wall of magic rushing toward him. After that he blacked out, waking up in a prison cell with two other changelings.

He was named Roar for one of his talents, he had a very loud voice when he chose that could be made into a terrifying roar. Because of this, he woke up with an iron cuff around his muzzle in his prison cell. He remembered waking up, the rough feeling of straw beneath him and his head throbbing. He was too weak to stand, so he lay on the floor. He felt the presence of two others in the cell, they helped him sit up on the ground against the wall. He felt something cold and hard around his muzzle, restraining him from opening his mouth, he could barely talk.

And once he had gotten the strength to open his eyes, he saw his cell-mates. They were both changelings, also prisoners. They had probably been taken captive several days before him. As he studied their features their names popped into his head, Venom and Talon. He had never really spent a lot of time with either, but Roar knew that would soon change as they were locked in this cell.

It made him very angry, being trapped. He war Roar, a good warrior in the hordes of Chrysalis's Hive, he should be out in the world, flying, fighting, and...feeding...not stuffed inside of a damp, stony prison cell. The thought of food tantalized him, but he knew there would be no one who would willingly let him feed off of their emotions and energy while he was in prison, which dampened his hopes. Sure, there would be some kind of solid food they would give to pony prisoners, but without proper food, changelings cant survive for very long...They could eat normal food, but it wasn't very filling or nourishing for changelings.

What did they want with him in this prison anyway? He asked one of they guards when he came by, for a moment he thought of tricking the guard and then draining his energy, but the guard probably saw it in his eyes.

"You can't use any of your magic here, the Princesses have put up spells in the prison that prevents you from using harmful magic, it's worthless trying."

Roar did try, and he magically sensed the Princess's spell around him like a thick fog, he wouldn't be able to penetrate it unless he had some serious power, which was impossible to get here. So Roar ended up asking the guard his question, turns out, they were just keeping all of the changelings in prison to prevent them from feeding off of the pony populace.

So, he was in a prison cell, he couldn't feed since there were no emotions available in the cell, he couldn't use magic, and he could barely talk. Roar was not one to easily give up, but this situation was hopeless. He spent his days sleeping, conserving his energy, and chatting with Talon and Venom. He got to know both of them really well, and one might even consider them friends. Roar preferred the term 'acquaintance' , or 'ally'. Venom was a good fighter, Roar had done one or two missions with her before, and she had a very flirty, sassy personality. Roar came to respect her. Talon was a simple warrior, not of any renown or fame, but he did possess a sense of humor and moderate fighting skills. He was one of the few people who could make him laugh. Laugh.

The first time Talon told a joke they were just chatting like they normally did, and when Roar attempted to laugh through his cuff, they all realized something. Laughing, positive emotions. They hadn't fed in a long time, which was slowly weakening and would eventually kill them, but now they had an idea. Roar could tell they were all thinking the same thing. He still smiled from the joke, and now also from their new realization.

"Go ahead, we all need it."

Talon and Venom immediately absorbed his happy emotion, leaving him as he was before the joke. They all smiled, they had found a way to keep each other alive. Talon told jokes and they talked, making each other happy, which they then cycled around, nourishing each other to stay alive.

And so their days fell into a schedule, sleep in as long as you wanted, eat whatever the prison rations there were delivered to them, and take naps whenever. But the highlights of their days was after lights-out, when they talked to each other, and then fed off of each others excess positive emotions. With this method, they stayed alive for far longer than they should have.

They tried to contact changelings in the other cells but the cloudy spell prevented them...for now. But little by little, Roar, Talon, and Venom grew stronger, physically and magically. Eventually they got powerful enough to go through the spell, but under the radar so none of the guard would notice. They did this by briefly changing into  Princess Celestia herself, cast the communication spell, and then turned back, anyone sensing wouldn't think anything out of the ordinary of a spell cast by Princess Celestia.

When they first tried communicating, they learned that all the other changelings were starving and slowly dying, they spread their idea to all the other changeling prisoners, and soon they were all healthy again, the only problem was they were still stuck in these prison cells. The Princesses spell prevented them from feeding on the guard, casting harmful spells, and long-range communication, but gradually the changelings grew in power, ready for a breakout. Again, the only problem was that somepony would have to break in to break them all out. And so the changelings waited, survived, and rested, waiting for someone to come. And one day, they did.

It started out like any other day in the Canterlot Prison, Roar was the first one to wake up. He sat up, trying to yawn through the iron cuff around his muzzle. He had almost gotten used to the thing. It was hard to tell time in the prison, since there were no windows or outside light, torches blazed along the halls. One could ask the guard for the date, but none of them really cared, they didn't need to count down days or anything.

Roar sat alone for a while, lost in thought. Talon woke up at the other corner of the cell, stretching his hooves out. He noticed Roar staring out of the bars.

"What's up?" Talon said, walking over to sit next to Roar.

"Hm? Oh, it's just I have kind of this feeling..."

"What kind of feeling?"

Roar looked around, but there were no guards patrolling around their cell.

"Like today is the day, the day we get out of this stinking cell."

"How can you tell?"

"Can't you feel it? There is another power somewhere out there, far away but powerful enough for me to still sense it."

Roar breathed in like he could smell the far-away presence of power.

"It is full of dark purpose and magic, and it is getting closer."

Talon probed for magic with his horn, there wasn't really a need since Celestia's spell clouded around them and he doubted there was anything else. But, he did feel this power, it was indeed far away, it was large, dark, and powerful, and it was closing in on Canterlot. Talon turned to Roar,

"Yeah, I feel it too."

They both sat there, feeling the dark power race toward Canterlot. When it was close enough, they realized it was several different sources, all with the same power, probably two or three ponies. Changelings could sense magical sources better than most ponies, as they used it for hunting. The ponies were probably near the gate, judging how far away it felt.

"Do you think they have come to break us out?"

"Maybe, but you can never be sure,"

Roar stood back up and walked to the other side, nudging another black pony in a corner. Venom raised her head, bleary-eyed.

"*Yawn* What is it? You know I like to sleep in."

"Search for magic with your horn."

Seconds later, her eyes widened. She felt the power coming closer too.

"What is it?"

"We don't know, Talon and I hope it is here for the changelings in prison."

Venom stood up and they all moved to the edge of the cell, watching the hall where the entrance was, expecting other changelings or even Chrysalis, their queen, to come and break them out. The power kept getting closer, Roar sensed it was moving downward, probably going down the steps in the building above. Yes! It is here for us! Roar thought, excitement rising.

He connected with the changelings in the other cells.

Do you feel the power coming?

It was several seconds before response. Another changeling named Scythe responded,

Yes, I do. I woke up the minute I felt it coming.

Good, so the other changelings were awake and aware. Everyone was wide awake, staring at the hallway that led in or out. Hoof-steps echoed down the hallway, and three ponies came into view. Two were guards, escorting the final pony. It wasn't a changeling at all, or anypony they had seen before, but they were obviously there for them, and they reeked of dark magic.

Both guards were surprised to see every changeling in the prison awake and alert, watching out of the bars. But it didn't matter, they were sealed behind iron bars. The changelings and the guards thought their guest was strange. They wore a large black cape and hood that covered most of their features They could see their hooves and muzzle, which were black-and-gray striped. A gray horn held up the top rim of their hood. A zebra? The changelings were confused. The guards were following protocol, someone wanted to visit the occupants of the prison and they had to escort them.

The zebra walked around the prison, looking in each cell. To the guard the zebra was just looking for a specific prisoner, but to the changelings they could sense that there was something else going on. The zebra was using hidden magic, probing each cell, determining each changelings skills and power. The zebra stopped in front of Roar, Talon, and Venoms cell, staring Roar straight in the eyes, although Roar couldn't see any. Who was this strange zebra and what did they want?

The zebra smiled,

"I've found him."

The comment was specifically directed at anyone, but the guards came over anyway.

"Okay, then. We'll leave you two to talk."

The zebra didn't even turn around to talk to them, he was still fixated on Roar.

"Oh no, that won't be necessary, both of you need to stay here...and never go anywhere else!"

Roar finally saw his eyes, they flashed open, completely white and glowing. The zebra suddenly whipped around, grabbing the guard to his left around the back of his head and chin, pulling violentely. The guard's neck snapped instantly, and he fell limp. The other guard jumped back in surprise, bringing up his spear. The zebra didn't seem to notice the spear inches away from his head. Instead he made a shooing motion with one of his hooves and dropped the dead body.

"Go, get out of here, and get as many of the guard you want, I like a challenge."

The terrified guard dashed back up the hallway, racing up the stairs and yelling an alarm. Roar was initially impressed by this zebra, it took enormous strength to snap somepony's neck in one blow. But why did they want him?

"We've been looking for another good warrior like you, what is your name?"

"Roar"

"Great name for a changeling, anyway, let's get to business."

The zebra took something out from under his cloak, a necklace made of gray stone, a shape of a pony with a horn and wings spreading adorned the top, and a small red ruby was in the center. The alicorn amulet!? How had this zebra gotten the alicorn amulet? The zebra put the Alicorn Amulet on his neck, and red briefly flashed at the edges of his pure-white eyes.

The zebra concentrated on a spell, and a purplish wisp of magic with red outline came out from the amulet, floating through the bars and going right into Roar's chest. Roar jumped, startled by the sudden onslaught of...power. Roar could feel the immense power the magical wisp held, taunting him to accept it and use it. Of course, he immediately accepted the power from the wisp. He felt the magic flow through him, becoming part of him...changing him.

When he opened his eyes again, he felt different. Was everyone else shorter? Or was he...taller? Roar looked down at himself, and was startled by what he saw. When he had accepted the magic, it had changed him physically as well as magically. For one, he was taller, maybe even as tall as an alicorn. His skin seemed to take on a darkish-red color, but he still had the sharp holes and edges that dotted his limbs. He felt heat around him, he glanced over his back to see that his tail and mane had become slowly waving flames, and his wings had disappeared all together. That was the one drawback to his new form, I liked those wings.

Venom and Talon came up to his side,

"Well, this is...different." Talon said, looking over his friends new looks. Roar had to look down slightly. Shouts and rapid hoofsteps came from above, hurrying into the prison. The zebra glanced in the direction of the hallway. He gestured to the iron bars that held him in the cell.

"Let's see what you can do."

Roar felt more powerful than he had ever before, so the iron bars blocking him seemed like a mesh of sticks. He was about to blast through it when he remembered two things, the iron cuff around his mouth and the magic-blocking spell. He cast a spell that would have normally made acid rapidly erode the cuff, but instead he felt his skin heat up rapidly, melting the cuff instantly. He experimentally moved his jaw around, feeling muscles he hadn't been able to use in a very long time. He laughed at his new power, he felt like he could do anything. With a thought, fire erupted around one of his hooves, then he jumped forward and punched. The magic-blocking spell held him back momentarily, but it collapsed under the pressure of Roar's attack. The iron bars exploded outward in a fiery blast, sending bits of metal across the room, still red-hot from heat.

Roar looked at his hoof, fire receding off. Interesting, he thought, this new power is specific to fire, which I cannot get burned by. Guards rushed into the prison, gaping at Roar, then they charged. Talon and Venom rushed into combat, eager to release all of their pent-up anger from months in prison. The hooded zebra continued to puzzle Roar, he stood up on his back legs, two broad-black swords coming down from under his cloak, and then he fought like that. Meanwhile, Roar cast another spell, fiery whips spring from his horn, grabbing the bars around all the other cells, and with a strong jerk, parts of the iron bars melted off, allowing the other changelings to get out.

Talon grabbed the spear of a guard attempting to stab him, then rolled back and threw the guard over him into several changelings,who grabbed the guard and drained his energy. That reminded him, he was hungry, Talon thought as he licked his lips, unfortunately for the guard.

Venom dodged another spear, flipping behind the guard and quickly wrapping her hooves around his neck, holding him in place and choking him. Then she drained his magic, filling her with energy and power. Who's next! she thought.

Roar faced several guards in front of him, they were wary to attack since they had never seen a changeling like this before. Roar smiled. He reared back, filling his lungs with air, and then slammed down, his voice exploding in a ear-ringing roar. The guards dropped their spears and covered their ears, some were even pushed back several feet. It felt good to do the thing that had given him his name, Roar smiled again.

The guards were dropping like flies, the changelings hadn't had a good meal in months. When most of the guard lay on the ground, moaning and trying to recover energy, the rest retreated up the stairs. The changelings followed, eager to once more prey on Canterlot. Roar was about to follow them when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. He turned around, seeing the mysterious zebra.

"Let them feed, you and I have more important matters in the throne room."

The throne room? Roar liked this zebra, he had given him power and broke the changelings out of prison, he would follow him anywhere to pay him back.

"Oh, by the way, I never got your name."

The zebra turned to Roar, smiling.

"My name is Prince Ravenus."