It had been several months since the accident. More than half a year since Twilight Sparkle had disappeared from her library, leaving only a scorched mark on the floorboards.
The Princesses had arrived post-haste once the messenger delivered the news of what had befallen the newly-minted alicorn. They'd cast powerful scrying spells, trying to ascertain where the Element of Magic had disappeared to - and failed, turning up empty-hooved hours later. Despite this, they did not give up, returning to the Golden Oaks library whenever their schedules permitted doing so. Twilight's friends also visited regularly, doing what they could to help. But it was all for naught. Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be found.
Rarity trotted downstairs slowly, shaking her head at her friends' questioning looks.
"Spike's still refusing to come out. I left some gems for him by the door."
The young drake had been hit hardest by the loss of his surrogate big sister, retreating to his room in the aftermath of the explosion that rocked the Golden Oaks.
"D'ya think he'll ever let us help 'im? He don't have to power through that hurt alone." Applejack muttered, returning to rummaging through a bookshelf - she knew Twilight would have a fit if she was to witness the farmpony jumbling up the indexed books. Ah, well, she'd make amends later. A jar or two of zap-apple jam, perhaps.
"'Tis a fool's errand. We shan't find Twilight Sparkle by picking over the books here." Luna groused, several heavy tomes floating in her magic grasp. "And what of Discord? That wily fiend must know something about Twilight Sparkle's disappearance."
Fluttershy shook her head at that, her voice quiet, but firm. "I asked him, and he knows nothing. Wherever Twilight is, it's outside even his reach."
"That's a likely story." The Night Princess scoffed skeptically.
Celestia sighed, letting out a tired yawn - of all ponies present, she was most worried, having known Twilight ever since foalhood, having watched the bookish, reclusive unicorn exceed all of her expectations. Twilight had the makings of a phenomenal pony, a spectacular future awaited her.
Well, at least it would've, were it not for this tragedy. What had happened, she wondered? There was literally nothing to tell them of what had happened, save for some scorch marks and remnants of magic.
"Is it just me, or is there something burning?" Rainbow Dash piped up all of a sudden, sniffing the air alertly, and Applejack looked around worriedly.
"Ya don't think Spike's fixin' t'burn this place down now, right?"
That's when Rarity noticed a single mote of lavender-hued light wink into existence - a meter above the scorched floorboards. It wavered, disappearing twice before reappearing, and steadily growing in size. "Um, girls?" She called out, pointing at the odd anomaly. Everypony else paused in what they were doing to look. Soon, the mote of light had grown a meter wide - it flashed brilliantly, momentarily blinding the spectators as something shot out from the sphere of light, tumbling across the wooden floor before slamming into a wall with a deafening rattle. Bleeding purple light, the sphere vanished in moments as everypony turned to look at whatever had been tossed out.
"Goddamn, that fucking hurt..." It took Celestia a moment to recognize the voice, but when she did, two thoughts - first off, Twilight Sparkle was back, and second, she just cursed. This new information gave her pause.
That was not the case with Pinkie Pie, who made a beeline for Twilight, who was slowly getting up on her hooves. Yelling a cheerful 'TWILIGHT!' at the top of her lungs, she tacklehugged her long gone friend - or would have, hadn't Twilight whirled around, grabbing Pinkie by the scruff of her neck, planting the pink mare on her back on the floor, knocking the wind out of her. As they watched, Twilight's right foreleg - which had been replaced with a metal one - transformed as the purple alicorn jammed its tip into Pinkie's cheek, making the babbling party pony's speech indecipherable.
Now that she paid more attention, Celestia noticed that a noticeable fraction of her former student was replaced with metal - her right wing was no more, replaced with a metallic mockery. The left side of her face had suffered the same fate, replaced with a scuffed plate of some foreign metal, a mechanic eye, its iris bright red, glaring down at Pinkie. A bright light shone in Twilight's chest, surrounded more of that queer machinery.
"Twilight?" Pinkie Pie tried anew, her mumbling barely audible. At that, the alicorn in question blinked, her artificial eye losing its baleful hue. Her metal leg changed shape again, more closely resembling a pony's foreleg. Letting out a sigh, Twilight stepped back, pulling Pinkie Pie back on her hooves.
"It's me, Pinkie. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. I Pinkie Promise." Twilight went through the motions, her left foreleg clacking dryly against the artificial eye. Pinkie stared at her silently for a moment before breaking out in one of her trademark smiles as she hugged Twilight again. Seeing this happen, the other Elements rushed over, joining up in a group hug.
A moment later, Rainbow Dash drew back, eyes wide as she looked at Twilight. "You look like you got run over by a train!"
"That's not too far from the truth, Rainbow." Twilight chuckled, turning to look at Celestia, her grin widening as she trotted over to her former mentor. After staring at the elder alicorn for a moment, she waved sheepishly. "Hello, Princess." Her small grin subsided as she looked around. "Um, where's Spike?"
The room was dark as she pulled the door open - barely illuminated, save for the dim beam of light emanating from the compact reactor in her chest. Noting a small bundle, covered with a blanket, she cautiously approached it. Poking it lightly once, she spoke quietly.
"Spike? Are you awake?"
"Go 'way, Twi... 's too early..." The sleepy dragon grumbled, shifting about as Twilight let out a quiet chuckle. She only had to wait for three seconds before Spike threw the blanket aside, launching himself upwards, wrapping his arms around a foreleg in a fierce hug. "TWILIGHT! You're back!"
Twilight chuckled, fondly hugging the young dragon in return. "I am, Spike. And I've got quite a story to tell."
The small group of ponies and a baby dragon watched in awkward silence as Twilight greedily wolfed down the food-laden plate, the - as she called herself now - cyborg fully focused on the foodstuffs. Several long moments, after washing down her meal with a drink, she burped, smacking her lips as she sat back, eyeing her audience.
"Well, then... where should I begin? Guess the day when I disappeared is as good as any point for me to start from." She grinned cheekily as others leaned in a bit closer, impatience visible on their features. "Gather 'round, children... It's going to be a long tale."
Several months ago...
Okay... Note to self: do not delve into advanced teleporting spells after pulling an all-nighter...
Twilight groaned as she rolled on her back, her entire being sore and battered. A moment later, a gut-wrenching smell caused her to gag as she regained control of her faculties. Wheezing, she rolled onto her stomach, groaning in disgust as she opened her eyes...
And immediately fell silent as she finally beheld her surroundings - a squalid, poorly-lit back alley that seemed like something out of a noir novel. Torn bags of garbage littered the ground, and she shuddered, realising she'd been rolling around in trash. Her coat was now sodden with filth. Trying to cast a spell to cleanse herself didn't yield any fruits as a sharp pain lanced up her horn, disrupting her attempt at magic. Groaning at her newly-acquired headache, she slowly stood up, feeling as if she'd run a marathon around Canterhorn.
"H-hello? Is anypony here?" She tried tentatively, unnerved by how oppressive her surroundings were. It was a far cry from the welcoming homeliness of Ponyville, that much was certain. Legs weak and trembling, she trotted forwards, hoping to find somepony who could help her. The stench hanging thickly in the air forced her to breathe through her mouth, since it was enough to make her heave if she smelled it much longer. Muttering under her breath, she cantered along, idly wondering about the curious noises emanating from somewhere above her - trying to look up rewarded her with more of the same filth-covered surface. Wherever she was seemed to be some sort of an access corridor, or something along those lines.
That's right, Twilight. Keep yourself focused. Logic now, panic later.
"It's not a plan, but it's a perfect plan..." She muttered, more to herself than anything else, rounding a corner moments later, and promptly ground to a halt at the sight.
"Might be just me taking a blind stab in the dark, but I don't think I'm in Equestria anymore..." The stunned mare breathed out in disbelief.
The dirty panels abruptly ended, leaving her to gaze at a huge chasm before her - odd contraptions in a dizzying amount of colours, sizes and shapes soared through it, one of them whizzing past her mere metres away, causing her to recoil instinctively. Another wall of metal rose from the murky depths a noticeable distance ahead from her position, dotted with holes of various sizes, but she saw no means of making her way there. She had her wings, of course, but she did not feel like braving the traffic - the pilots of the weird flying contraptions clearly had no regard for the well-being of others.
Disheartened, she turned around, trotting back the way she came...
"And that's when it all kind of went to shit." Twilight spoke, much to her audience's horror - Fluttershy gasped, raising a hoof to her mouth, Applejack and Rainbow Dash both choked back a snicker, Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically, while Rarity clamped her hooves over Spike's ear.
"Oh, sorry about that. Old habits die hard, I guess. Anyways, let me get back to it..."
As the downcast alicorn cantered along, she heard rhythmical thumps some distance behind her. Curiosity getting the best of her, she turned about, squinting in an attempt to see better.
"Hello? Is anypony there?" She tried uncertainly, her voice equal parts hopefulness and anxiety. She flinched as two odd, bipedal forms rounded a corned, marching her way - the closest comparison she could draw was akin to minotaurs or Diamond Dogs, but nowhere near as bulky. As they drew closer, she took note of the various details she could notice from the closer distance - both of the strange creatures were covered in black armour, various pinpricks of light shining across their forms. As they passed under a flickering light, she noticed the letters stamped across what she guessed was a chestplate.
AUTHORITY
So, they're like the Royal Guard or something? The purple mare reasoned, taking a step forward.
"Hello? Could you please help me? I've-"
"You will surrender yourself into our custody." The first one's voice, loud, buzzing and harsh, grated on her hearing, causing her to wince.
"W-what?No, you don't understand, I woke up-" The creatures interrupted her explanation again.
"Your obstruction of our duties has been noted, and you shall now be arrested. Resistance is futile." The second creature stepped forward, pulling some sort of short club from its belt - the weapon's haft was suddenly wreathed in a crackling field of sparks as its wielder bore down upon the mare.
Her nerves fraying, Twilight did the only thing that made sense to her at the moment - she bolted, trying to put as much distance between the creatures and herself as she could, flapping her wings in a desperate attempt to boost herself along.
"HALT. LETHAL FORCE HAS BEEN AUTHORISED." The same voice declared a ways behind her and she spared a quick look behind - it was much to her dismay that she saw her pursuers were springing, full-pelt, chasing her down with little trouble. Panic rising, she galloped as hard as she could. Rounding a corner, she heard an odd noise, like firecrackers going off. Literally a heartbeat later, several small projectiles struck the wall behind her, striking up a small shower of sparks. Distracted, she lost her balance, sliding across the grimy flooring before coming to a halt. Before she had the chance to recover, something struck her side, and everything dissolved into pain.
"They had the nerve to assault you, a princess of Equestria?!" Luna snarled angrily, the midnight blue alicorn's wings giving an angry flap. Everyone else, sans Celestia - the alabaster alicorn simply frowned, contemplating the words - also voiced their shock at this. Twilight raised a hoof - and her voice - in an attempt to get others to quiet down.
"Quiet down, please. Let me tell what happened afterwards."
Her senses returned slowly to her - a muffled, high-pitched whine blocked out much of her hearing, and everything she managed to look at was blurry and out of focus. Most worryingly, however, it seemed her heart was misfiring. Feebly, she tried to right herself, only to realise she was being dragged across the ground, her left hindleg held in an iron grip.
She couldn't even shout for help.
Luckily, it seemed fate was looking out for her that day - somewhere behind her, she could hear somepony land on the ground.
"HALT. Unceremoniously, she was forgotten as her captors turned to engage the new threat. There was a crackling whine of something being charged, followed by two sharp cracks - projectiles whizzed past above the prone alicorn, striking one of her captors, cutting its ramblings short in a pair of small explosions.
"HA-" It's comrade fared no better, soon joining it on the ground in a acridly-smelling, twitching heap.
And then there was silence. Well, relative silence, at the very least, as her saviour knelt down at her side, eyeing the prostrate alicorn.
"Well, what do we have here?" A quiet, low voice spoke, an odd metallic twinge to its timbre.
Unfortunately, Twilight was too busy passing out to answer the stranger's question.
Consciousness returned slowly to the abused mare, but she was lying on something soft, that much she was aware of. An odd prickling sensation around her elbow, however, was a mere slight inconvenience, considering she felt like she'd been put through a clotheswringer, and she soon made her displeasure vocal, groaning tiredly as she tried to sit up.
"You are awake, at last."
"Nerrr~" Twilight groaned, before something clicked in her mind, and she rolled onto her stomach, cracking her eyes open, wincing slightly as she noticed a blurry shape move around somewhere in front of her.
"You are lucky to be alive. The Authority units have little concern whether or not their stun batons are overcharged." The same blur spoke further, kneeling down at her side. Blearily, Twilight tried to say a coherent sentence, but the blur beat her to it again. "Remain still, or this may sting more than it's supposed to." There was a mild pinch above her jugular vein, followed by a quiet hiss. A couple of seconds later, Twilight noticed her headache had retreated - she still hurt all over, but at least she now could see and think straight.
She could also see the bizzare, metal-covered creature sitting right nearby. Shocked, she opened her mouth to speak, but the creature made a shushing gesture before speaking in a subdued voice.
"Remain quiet. The Authority rarely wander this deep into the slums, but there are more dangerous things lurking about. Shout and panic, and they will come seeking blood."
Twilight drew in another breath, but thought better - her jaw snapped shut, and she nodded instead.
"No doubt you have many questions - so do I. But this no place for idle talk. Come with me if you want to live - we can converse somewhere safer than here. Can you walk?"
"U-uh, yeah, I think so. What'd you inject me with?"
"A shot of adrenaline. You suffered a mild cardiac arrest from being struck by an Authority stun baton. I prevented them from taking you, and have had you on medication since. The IV should be safe to remove now." Twilight looked down at the thin tube sticking out of her elbow - carefully gripping it in her mouth, she slowly pulled it out from the vein, letting out a hum of curiosity as the small puncture it left only bled for a moment before stopping.
"Good. Give me a moment to pack up my things and we'll be good to go then." The creature made to turn, but was stopped as Twilight tugged on his coat, forcing him to face her again.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle." She spoke, sticking a hoof out at him. "What's yours?"
The creature, its expression indecipherable, stared down at her before grasping her hoof, shaking it twice.
"My name is Hector, though there are some in this place call me the Omega Man."
"Oh, well... nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Now, let us not tarry any longer. This place will not remain safe for long, and I would prefer if we were well clear of it by then."
"Oh, that is so chivalrous! A princess, rescued from her predicament by a daring rogue!" Rarity sighed daintily, clutching her forehooves to her chest, a dreamy expression on her face, making others to snicker - even Twilight's serious mien faded some, as the alicorn let out a brief chuckle.
"Ah have t'agree, it does sound like somethin' out of one a'them romance novels ya read, Rares." Applejack added her two bits, causing the purple-maned unicorn to huff, but the reaction was good-natured. "Anyhow, sorry fer th'interruption, sugarcube. What happ'ned afterwards?"
"Well, like Hector said, there were more dangerous things lurking around, waiting for the right moment to ambush you. As we made our way to a place he said would be safe, we encountered an entire pack of them..."
