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                 The Society of Shepherds                  
                       -by Thursday-                       
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                    Chapter 1 - Citadel                    
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Chapter 1 - Citadel
Pain shot through Twilight Sparkle’s body. In fact that was all the unicorn could remember from yesterday. ‘was that yesterday?’ She thought to herself. Her head spun in a disorienting fashion as she slowly attempted to stand. Her efforts were useless as she slumped back onto her hindquarters. She noticed the room was as cold as ever, ‘was this cell ever warm?’ She rolled over and caught the gaze of Rainbow Dash. The look of sadness in Rainbow’s eyes made Twilight’s gut twist. “Dashie, I’m so sorry.”
Rainbow sat up as far as she was able and looked Twilight directly in the eyes before blurting out, “None of this is your fault, Twi. We would have been found at some point anyway. Although I am gonna miss these wings.” Tears began flooding both of their eyes as Rainbow failed to flex her wings.
“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Twilight sighed as she massaged her forehead where her horn used to be, she recalled the aching sadness she felt as she watched helplessly as they clipped Rainbow’s wings in front of her. Then the jarring feeling of the saw scrapping her only source of magical expression off of her forever. “It was only a matter of time before the Keeper’s lackies caught us.” Twilight finished in defeat as she managed to get onto her feet. Twilight  slowly walked over to Rainbow and sat gently next to her before resting her head on her shoulder.
    “How long do you think we have left before they take you away from me?”
    “I don’t want to think about my life without you, Twi.” Rainbow Choke back tears as she spoke.
    “I will find you, no matter what it takes. Ever since I met you I’ve been meaning to tell you -- “ Twilight was interrupted by the sound of the cell door being opened from below. The two ponies held each other shaking in fear as they heard hooves beating their way up the stairs. Slowly out of the darkness emerged a menacing form. A jet black mare with a strange sceptre-like cutie mark. Her mane was a flowing black fog. The sight of her made all of the life pour back into Twilight as she stood in between Rainbow Dash and the approaching threat shielding her friend with her own body. “Don’t you dare touch her, Keeper!”
The obsidian pony laughed maliciously under her breath while moving the bangs from covering her blood red eyes. They eerily matched her mane and tail. The horn atop the evil pony’s head began to shine a sickly brown, like the siding of the abandoned houses of Ponyville. Twilight’s pupils shrank in horror as her entire body was engulfed in the putrid brown aura. Muscles in places only her and doctor ponies would know about immediately seized to the point that Twilight was unable to move. ‘If only I had my magic!’ Twilight screamed in her head. The evil mare holding Twilight snapped her head to the side in a jerking motion causing Twilight to skid across the ground. She collided with the nearby wall taking all of the wind out of her in the process. The Keeper, with a satisfied grin, unfurled her wings and approached Rainbow Dash preparing to escort her to her new owner.
Twilight struggled to move to Rainbow, but when she tried the spell locking her in place set her core ablaze in pain. She cried out in terror, unable to brace herself, her eyes forced themselves open only adding to the torture. Twilight lay motionless as the Keeper inched closer to Rainbow. The scene didn’t feel right to Twilight, time seemed to be flowing sporadically. Soon no sounds could be heard not even the grizzly crackle of the aura around her body. Soon enough the only sound coming out of the cold night now was a ringing in her ears. Twilight began to drift in and out of consciousness hardly able to make out the dark ponies hoof extending towards Rainbow Dash who was now floating inches from the Keeper, her eyes glowing the purest white.
Twilight looked on helplessly waiting for her turn. Rainbow’s eyes shut and she went limp in the Keeper’s hold. Twilight feared she just witnessed her friend die. Suddenly the Keeper vanished into nothing, and Rainbow dropped to the floor. The aura around Twilight vanished, but the blurry vision and ringing perpetuated. Rainbow, a collapsed heap on the dirty ground, did not move. Twilight’s resolve crumbled at the thought of what might have just happened. She mustered her strength and began to crawl towards the faded cyan pony.
Twilight was mere inches away before she stopped to inhale deeply, “please be okay, Dash…” she hesitated before clutching the mare’s forehoof. Suddenly the fluid drained in Twilight’s ears, and the flow of time restored to normal. Rainbow lay motionless underneath Twilight as she poked, prodded, shook, and cradled her. “I am so stupid! Why did I have to drag you into rescuing our friends!? I could have handled the risks myself… and the worst part is I never got to say this,” Twilight sobbed heavily as she leaned in to Rainbow Dash’s lips, “I love you Rainbow Dash, I always have and I always will.” She gently kissed the pegasus before cradling her once more. Twilight simply laid there with her dear Rainbow, unable to speak, unable to move, only able to clutch to the one she loved more than life itself. All hope faded out of the Purple ponies eyes as she hung her head once more.
“Twi-Twilight?” Rainbow said as her eyes lazily opened halfway. She looked up to see Twilight stroking her mane. Joy was apparent on Twilight’s face as she violently squeezed Rainbow harder than she had ever before.
“Rainbow… I am so glad you’re okay. I am so sorry-” she was interrupted by a passionate kiss and a warm embrace from the rainbow mare. The two separated and held each other in tears of both sadness and joy. The thoughts began to race through Twilight's mind about the scene that had just unfolded. 'She feels the same way as I do!/Soon the two mares stood together, and looked each other in the eyes.
    “Where do you think she went?” Twilight said as she dusted herself off. She looked around the room, and noticed something she hadn’t the last week they were being held in the cell. “Wait what is that?” She finished gesturing towards the corpse of another prisoner left carelessly in the opposite corner of the room. They both knew of the presence of the corpse already, they were reminded of it every day because of the smell starting to emanate from the remains. She was instead pointing to the hoof of the victim. Inside was a piece of paper clutched as if it was the only thing the poor pony held dear to itself in their final hours.
Twilight walked over to the corpse and began prying the paper from the ponies hoof. Her mind was racing with questions as to why she hadn’t noticed this before. She finally managed to wrench the paper away from the rigid hoof. ‘The answer lies in the cabin with a single candle flame.’ That was all that was written on the piece of paper. Neither Twilight nor Rainbow Dash could make any sense of the message.
Twilight threw the slip of paper down and glanced out of the window she was now beside. She could see the streets of Canterlot below them, it was fairly easy since they were being held in the tallest citadel of the Canterlot dungeons. The streets seemed to weave amongst each other like a torched wicker basket as the Keeper’s destruction could be seen smoldering in the fog.
The complex aromas wafting into her nostrils from the rotting corpse forced her to snap back into reality. “Let’s go downstairs and see if she left the door open.” Twilight announced as Rainbow nodded in agreement. They plunged through the layer of fog left in the wake of their captor, down into the abyss. Their one hope was that the door was left unlocked so that they may escape into the hectic metropolis that awaited them. Continuing down the spiraling leviathan Twilight feared what would be waiting for them when they reached the mouth of the beast. After the long descent the door was discovered to be locked from the other side. Hope was once again taken from them.
“No way out, now what?” Rainbow Dash said behind Twilight who was now pacing in a circle outside of the cell door.
“I haven’t got the slightest clue.” Twilight replied back “but there must be a way out of this citadel.” A loud crack rang out from the room above them causing both of them to freeze in fear. Slowly they crept their way back up the staircase. Taking caution around every corner as they went on to investigate what the sound was. There was a strange chill in the air as they silently nudged forward. As they reached the top it felt icy.
“Look!” shouted Rainbow Dash. Twilight sharply gazed up from watching the patter of her hooves to find the corpse had gone and its effervescent aroma had floated away. “It must have gone missing just after we left.” Rainbow finished.
Twilight had a bad feeling as to who took it. She noticed something shimmering in the center of the room and trotted up to it. A spider made out of crystal was lying there glistening in the moonlight. There was no sign as to how it arrived there on the ground. “Take a look at it.” Twilight said in a moment of examination. Rainbow walked, slowly, over to the emblem on the floor. The pony hastily picked it up. “Hey, look at this, Twi!” she said as she gestured a hoof to the back of the figure. When Twilight looked down at the spider she noticed a very obvious mechanism on the under belly.
“Press it.” Twilight choke out nervously. Rainbow hovered a forehoof over the device for some time before quickly jabbing the button. A loud popping sound forced her to drop the insect like apparatus in fear that it may inflict harm. The button activated a spring forcing out what looked like a crudely constructed key. “That’s convenient.” Twilight chortled nervously. The atmosphere was thick and nearly suffocating.
“Maybe too convenient.” Rainbow said in her usual confident demeanor. They were relieved but anxious and hesitant to trust this discovery at the same time.
Twilight picked up the key and gripped it tightly. The two mares locked eyes for what seemed like forever. “Are you ready?” They both seemed to ask at the same time, and each knew the answer. Down the spiraling staircase they went again. Each window slit they passed they could see the darkness of night outside with the occasional fire glowing down below. They reached the door much faster than they had on their previous trip down the staircase. The noisy sound of water dripping from the pipes echoed through the walls and pounded in Twilight’s ears as if her brain was robbed of blood.
Twilight slipped the key into the lock. As she twisted it she could feel the tumblers shifting. As Twilight reached the end of her stroke she heard one last loud click. Her eyes slammed shut and fear poured through her body. She took one final glance over Rainbow, and felt confidence rise back into her being. Gripping the handle she turned it, and charged through the door and off into the night. Rainbow happily at her side.

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                  Chapter 2 - The Opening                  
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Chapter 2 - The Opening
They had escaped the citadel at last. Though they may have escaped the citadel they were still trapped inside the dungeon. Twilight felt hopeless now as her and Rainbow quickly darted through corridors. Escape seemed impossible but they kept running. The two ponies saw a guard rounding the corner ahead of them and quickly but quietly ducked into a nearby room. Guards were everywhere, crawling around like ants in their hill. Moments later the alarm bell rang echoing their fate. “They know we are missing, come this way.” Twilight whispered to Rainbow, tugging on her tail. They sank into the shadows as several guards trotted by.
When the guards’ footsteps had faded off into the abyss Twilight flexed forward a bit around the table from which they had hidden behind. She could see nothing through the door from the angle she was in. She gulped heavily and leaned closer to the door to find another possible route. When she had stretched to her limits she dared to take her hoof from the corner to slide further along the table towards the door. A quick sigh of relief could barely be heard when she made it without a sound. She miscalculated however that the door was propped fully against the wall, it wasn't.
The door slammed violently causing a booming sound to echo through the fortress. Twilight’s sinuses cleared into the back of her throat. They were captured for sure. If the guards could bleed through walls they would have had them within seconds. “Move away from the door!” Rainbow screamed.
Twilight instantly threw herself against the wall next to Rainbow hiding in the corner. ‘Is this really how it ends?’ She thought desperately. Trapped in a corner and they barely made it out of the tower. As the footsteps grew louder the life seemed to drain out of their faces.
All around hoofsteps echoed with the occasional shout. Twilight saw a hooded figure run towards them. Her heart pounded nearly through her chest. Her blood boiled and her body pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat. She could see the look on Rainbow’s face was just as terrified as hers. We can not die now… we will not die now!” Twilight eyed a weapons case across the room. Quickly darting towards the rack she grabbed two swords that lay there. She slid one of them under the table towards the mare in shadows. Rainbow acknowledge and mounted it firmly into her hoof.
“Take that side.” Twilight whispered as she herself crouched on one side of the door. Rainbow reacted before Twilight was even finished speaking. The air silenced as adrenaline shot through Twilight. It did not take long for a guard to run through the doorway. Down he fell as Rainbow Dash cut through the rough part of his lower thigh. He did not suffer much longer as Twilight finished him off. The grizzly sound of his bones cracking as the sword plunged into his up back made Twilight nearly vomit. Moments later the room began filling with guards. Little did they know the two were hidden behind the weapons case shortly before they arrived.
They dispersed to the next available room; Twilight guessed they figured the two of them fled to another room after dispatching one of their guards. However they had not been foolish; they left what seemed to be two guards outside just in case. Once again they were trapped. “Now what?” Rainbow started to whisper.
“We don’t know how many guards are out there, for now we wait.” Twilight felt sickly and anxious. She felt the urge to get up and charge the guards, which would most certainly end in death.
No where else to go but in the corner behind a weapons case awaiting discovery and death. Twilight felt something rough and scratchy brush up against her flank and heard a sound above them. She looked up to a door opening into the ceiling. A rope had been lowered and a voice cut through the night “get up here.”
Twilight grasped the rope and pulled herself up as hard as she could muster leaving the bloody sword underneath. She made it up safely now it was Rainbow’s turn. “Come on.” Hissed the stranger.
Rainbow started climbing. She was half way there. She managed to get up just before the strange mare rescuing them started dragging the rope back through the opening and gently closed the door.
“Follow me, quickly!” The stranger whispered. Twilight really didn't feel like questioning their rescuer and obeyed. The crawl space was cluttered with dust and cobwebs. Twilight did not know how she could tell where she was going it was so dark in the tunnel. They rounded a corner after what felt like ages. “There’s a drop up ahead.” she warned.
Twilight’s eyes had adjusted at this point; She could vaguely make out the stranger. Before long her figure vanished into black darkness and Twilight froze. “Where did you go?”
Twilight heard Rainbow in front of her whisper off into the night, “She vanished.” She sounded panicked.
“Just keep moving forward!” The stranger shouted. She sounded distant to the two mares. Twilight moved only a few feet before she felt the ground shift to a downward angle underneath her. Cold night air whisked past her as she slid down the tunnel. They entered a new tunnel lit by candles. The brightness from the flames caused their eyes to strain to adjust to their new surroundings.
“How far underground are we?” Rainbow Dash asked in awe. Her eyes lit up at the marvelous display of candles trailing off into the distance.
“Just under the lowest level of the prison.” the stranger continued on, “this tunnel will take us out of here.” she began running forward. “Come on!”
They followed closely behind their guide through the tunnels every twist and turn. Twilight watched the flames dance as they trotted past. They had finally reached an opening where the tunnel let out into a wide cavernous room. The floor was rough and damp. The ceiling was supported by pillars about 20 feet in length. There were some smoldering old sacks lying in the corner of the room and some rubbish was jumbling up in the center of the floor. Dirt, old leather, scraps of clothes and what appeared to be bones.
“What is this place?” Twilight asked the unknown stranger.
“The opening.” she replied coldly.
“What do we do here?” Rainbow asked matching her tone.
“There are four doors here. Only one leads to freedom, the others-” she paused before continuing “Goddess knows what.” There was an extremely uncomfortable silence.
“Well isn't there a safer way out?” Twilight finally asked nervously expecting an answer.
“I could not tell you. When I came here I took an alternate path. It caved in on me. This, sadly, was our only option out.” she seemed just as nervous as the two mares were.
“How can we tell which door we are supposed to take?” Rainbow ask.
“The only thing I can tell you about the opening is it was crafted by the keeper. There is supposed to be a riddle that needs answered, in it lies the way to freedom.” She diminished sounding unsure.
Twilight noticed a slip of paper lying on top of the pile in the middle of the room. “Could this be the riddle?” She asked the stranger as she snatched up the paper.
“Let me read it - yes this is the riddle!” She sounded a little excited.
“Well, what’s the riddle then?” Twilight asked excitedly. It took the light purple stranger a while to respond. Her response was of no help however as she spoke the riddle aloud.
“First think of a person who lives in disguise, who deals with secrets and tells naught but lies. Next tell me what’s always last to mend. The middle of middle and the end of end. And finally give me the sound often heard during the search of a hard to find word. Now string them together and answer me this, which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?”
Twilight knew she had read this before, but where? The answer is the door they choose, which could end their lives. “I have the first part; a person who lives in disguises is a spy… or Pinkie Pie.. as for the other parts I’m still trying to think.”
Rainbow stopped after much pacing, “well, the last to mend, the middle of the word middle, and the end of end would be the letter D.”
“Yeah, yeah and the sound I always say when I have trouble thinking is an err sound.” The stranger said in excitement.
“Put these together, spy d err. SPIDER.” Twilight said solving the riddle. “Hey!” Twilight shouted to Rainbow, echoing through the cavern.
“What?” Rainbow responded in panic.
“What was the key made of?” Twilight realized. Rainbow slowly realize what she was on about.
“A spider!” Rainbow proclaimed.
“I don’t understand. What are you talking about?” the stranger asked the two, she was quite puzzled.
“The answer is a spider.” Twilight said as she revealed the key. “Check those doors; one of them is bound to have a spider on it.” She announced while running towards the doors. It was just their luck that multiple spiders began cascading downwards out of the webbing in the ceiling, each one as large as a good sized horse. A spider crawled over each door, two red ones and two blue ones.
One red spider rested in a newly spun web above its door while the other red one simply crawled around above its door. Same for the blue spiders, one in webbing and one not. “Great how can we tell which one to pick?” The stranger asked in concern.
Twilight had a brilliant thought “it’s obviously a blue one. This key is blue crystal. And if you listen to the riddle the spider is mending his web. So it’s clear that we go through that door.” She pointed towards the door with a blue spider resting in its web above the door, its massive legs were sprawled out.
It was eying the mares like flies, spreading webs across the ground ready to recoil on top of them. It was just waiting for them to come closer. Fally Twilight mustered up the courage to get closer, keeping low as she crept around all the webbing. She tried to open the door but it was locked. It was at this point that she realized she had the key to unlock this door. This key seemed to be a master lock opener as the door clicked open.
Once the door was opened Rainbow and the stranger joined her in sneaking past the spider guarding the door. They entered the tunnel with bated breath. When nothing happened to them they all let out a small sigh of relief at the fact that they had picked the right door. This caused Twilight to wonder what was waiting behind the other doors. Perhaps when the wrong door was opened it activated the welcome mat of a giant funnel web spider sucking the victim into its lair, never to be seen again. She shook the thought out of her mind not really caring to think about it.
Twilight could see light up ahead. “I see the way out!” She called back to the other two. They ran what felt like maybe a mile. As the group neared the exit giant blue spiders began crawling around above them on the ceiling. They leaped down from the ceiling above and reared up violently.
“Stay together!” Rainbow Dash screamed trying to see in front of the spider horde as they ran through them. Twilight narrowly avoided a string of web slinging towards her. The sticky ball on the end smashed against the wall where it stuck hard. She did not want to be pegged down with hundreds of over sized spiders chasing after them.
There was the exit of the tunnel. Twilight made it there first. She crouched behind a boulder outside and looked up in time to see Dash escape by lunging out of the tunnel. The spiders came to an enormous halt at the tunnels mouth.
“I don’t think they can pass outside!” Twilight cheered with a lift in spirit. The onslaught had retreated back into the eternal darkness. Morning was coming, the sun began to peak over the horizon.
They had escaped through the opening.
Twilight looked over at the mysterious girl. “Okay before we proceed any further I believe we need some formal introductions.”
“Yes quite. My name is Evelyn.” the stranger answered, her hair cast across her face which made her glow under the morning light.
“I'm Rainbow Dash.”
“And I’m Twilight Sparkle.” The air grew silent except for a few birds chirping in the trees above.
“Well girls, it’s time we set off.” Evelyn requested getting to her feet.
“To where may I ask are we going?” Twilight pleaded to her in wonder.
“To find shelter, we’re heading for Neighagra Falls to the East. It’s a land about 30 miles from here, which is where we shall find an abandon lakeside inn. That is where we shall take refuge from the Keeper.” Evelyn explained as she walked through some trees.
“What lake?” Twilight asked her while getting up to join her.
“Lake Garn.” She began poking through the thick forest. The two mares follow behind carefully avoiding whiplash from branches.
"Why did you rescue us by the way?" Twilight asked cooly.
"The Keeper thinks that keeping the Elements of Harmony separated can keep her safe to reign over us. I was hired by a select few ponies who believe that you and your friends are the key to bringing her down."
They walked a few hundred feet before something strange happened. The ground gave way beneath them.