Twilight
Twilight's eyes slowly blinked open, only to immediately shut again as she was assaulted by a spear of bright light. Turning her head to the side, Twilight opened her eyes again, meeting greater success, and for a moment she felt content, peaceful. Why, it felt like ages since she'd last woken up feeling like this in the Golden Oaks Library!
There was something nagging at the back of Twilight's mind now, but still half-asleep, she paid it no heed as she snuggled closer to the pony lying beside her. With the familiar earthy scents of bark and pine, and the welcoming sight of sunlight coming through the window between wooden walls, the young Alicorn was determined to enjoy the moment.
The moment, however, felt differently, and was quick to shoo itself out as a loud voice shattered the peaceful silence. "That must have been some party last night! I mean, what are we doing out in the middle of Whitetail Woods?" After a moment of respite, the voice continued in a lower tone. "Oh, come on; I didn't even make a cloud mat? Ugh, my wings are gonna take ages to fix."
"R'nbow, could you please keep 't down?" Twilight responded, speech slurred in her state of barely conscious. "Need coffee..." Where was Spike?
Wait, Whitetail Woods? Twilight opened her eyes again, and realized that what she'd mistaken for a window was in fact a simple open space framed on either side by tall oaks, their canopy of leaves forming something of an arch; the sun was peeking through this natural frame over the top of a massive dark mountain slope. Twilight's eyes widened as she followed the crest of the mountain, and her heart began to pound as she realized they were indeed in the middle of a forest.
But that wasn't all - despite Dash's earlier assessment, this was no forest Twilight was remotely familiar with. Scattered among the oaks and maples commonly found in Whitetail Woods were some birch trees and copious amounts of pines. She could see through the gaps that the forest extended well up the sides of the four huge peaks surrounding them. Based on the sun's location, she could place them all; one to the west, one to the south, one to the southeast, and then a simply massive mountain that all but filled the sky to the north, the peak concealed by low-floating clouds. Her present position was in a sort of trough or narrow valley that ran from the base of the north peak between the west and east ones, then turned leftward and out of sight when it came to the southern one. The sky above, she vaguely noted, was a shade of blue much deeper than she was accustomed to seeing in Ponyville or even Canterlot; they were apparently at a rather high elevation.
Turning her attention to matters closer to home, Twilight realized she was lying in the middle of a clearing, which gently sloped downward to the west - something akin to relief rushed through her as she found her other friends were also strewn around the area in various stages of awareness. Applejack was actually standing up, looking about with no small degree of alarm much like Twilight had, while Rainbow was too busy trying to pull pine needles from between her mussed-up feathers. Pinkie Pie was still asleep, a soft smile on her face as she murmured something about balloons. Rarity, off on the far end of the clearing, was just blinking awake, still blissfully ignorant of the state of her mane after who knew how long spent on the forest floor. And finally, Twilight realized Fluttershy was curled up against her peacefully, the butter-yellow pegasus nuzzling the pair of lavender hooves wrapped around her barrel.
Twilight immediately leapt up, trying and failing miserably to keep control of the warm blush rising to her cheeks. How had that happened? At least nopony else seemed to have noticed, to preoccupied with somewhat more urgent matters. "Oh, sweet Celestia, what happened to my Mane?!" Key word being somewhat.
As Rarity carried on in the background, Applejack trotted over to the resident Princess. "So, any idea where we are, or what happened to us, Twi? Last I recall, I was settlin' in at the farmstead. I ain't got the foggiest clue where we are now," She waved a hoof vaguely in the direction of the massive peak to the north, "And while I can't claim to be an expert in geolography, I'da remembered a hill that big."
"Geography, and I know just as much as you do." Her ears flattened for a moment. "Honestly, when I woke up, I thought I was back in Golden Oaks again." Applejack simply put a supportive hoof on her friend's withers.
By this point, Rarity and Rainbow had come to the same realization as the other two had, glancing about in alarm with their mane and wings, respectively, forgotten for the time being. "Well, this isn't good." The athlete said at length. "Here, lemme finish fixing my wings, and I can fly up and scout."
"That would be very much appreciated, Dash," Twilight responded, brain kicking into gear despite the caffeine deprivation. "Rarity, could you wake Pinkie and Fluttershy? Applejack, you and I will check the surrounding area and gather firewood while we're at it. I don't want to move right away, not until we've either figured out where to go or decided on a direction."
While the pine forest looked verdant and green further up the slope, down here it turned out to be a fairly loose spread, with plenty of space for the two, heading westward, to walk side-by-side between the trees. The ground was covered in grass and shrubs, all shades of yellow and tan and looking withered; the deciduous trees were almost completely bare of leaves and the evergreens were few and far between. Even Sweet Apple Acres, with its neatly organized rows, was denser than here, and considerably more luscious. The pale, watery light made everything look bleak, and the complete lack of wildlife didn't help matters in the slightest.
"Hey, ya'll alright, sugarcube?" Applejack stopped by a narrow but long birch log and began pulling up on one end, but her concerned gaze didn't leave Twilight's for a moment. "I mean, this is all... something, but you seem a bit more down than just that."
"I guess..." Twilight ruffled her wings and grabbed the other end of the log, priming her horn to cut it into shorter segments. "I'm just worried about Spike. Is he safe at home too, or is he lost here with us, or is he somewhere else entirely? At least we're still together, but I can't bear the idea of him being lost all on his own."
Applejack hesitated a moment, and Twilight took that time to summon a purple-pink blade of telekinesis that neatly severed the log in half, then cut each half into quarters. "Listen, Twi. He's a smart li'l dragon, and mature when he wants to be. He's grown up a lot since you two first arrived in Ponyville. If he is in any real danger, ah still trust him to make it out okay. And 'sides, we don't know that he's not perfectly fine waitin' fer us to get home."
"But we don't know that he is fine, either," Twilight rebutted, but then sighed. With her telekinesis, she levitated two of the log sections onto her back, while Applejack grabbed the other two. "I really hope he is, though. But you're right, AJ; we should be focusing on making sure we get out of this alive, and just hope for the best. Let's get back to the others."
Arriving back at the clearing, they found Fluttershy picking dead leaves and other detritus out of Rarity's mane, while Pinkie hopped around, looking under rocks and gazing at their surroundings with a comically exaggerated glare of suspicion. "Ah take it Ar-Dee is already flyin'?"
"Uh-huh! She actually left just a smidgen before you guys came back!" Pinkie popped out of the hollow of a tree just to Twilight's left, nevermind that the opening should by all rights have been too small to fit her. "I've been looking around for clues!"
"Pinkie, I highly doubt that if anypony, or anything transported us here and left a cryptic and vaguely menacing yet indirectly helpful message for us, that we would not have found it by now." Rarity sounded like she'd been attempting to explain this concept for the last several minutes.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to keep looking!" Pinkie ducked back into the hole in the tree, only to come trotting out from behind one on the opposite end of the clearing. Nopony paid this any mind. "Anyway, I think tha-"
A streak of blue slammed itself to the ground and resolved into Rainbow Dash. "We need to move, now! I saw a ton of ponies heading our way from the southwest, and they did not look friendly!"
"We could try to meet up with them," Rarity suggested. "We are lost, and they could lead us back to civilization."
"You wouldn't be saying that if you saw them!" Rainbow objected, agitatedly taking flight and hovering overhead. "Big armor from head to hoof, and their swords were huge!" After a moment she added, "I mean, I could probably take 'em, but I don't want you guys to get hurt."
Rarity's eyes narrowed. "I appreciate the sentiment, Rainbow Dash, but I rather think you're underesti-"
"Okay, here's the plan," Twilight interrupted. "We head northwest, perpindicular to their path and downhill. Rainbow, can you keep just above the treetops, letting us know if they change course without being seen?" At her friend's affirmative nod, she continued, "We circle around them and head south, and try to find where they come from. Hopefully from there, we'll know how to get home."
Applejack bucked the log segments off her back. "Guess we won't be needing these after all."
"Right." Twilight followed suit, and readied herself to run. "Everypony ready? Let's go!"
It was a good plan while it lasted, Twilight felt. Shame it hadn't lasted them more than a mile or so. The troop had turned to follow them, evidently either having seen Rainbow despite the pegasus' best efforts, or just somehow predicting what the group would do. Either way, now the six friends were surrounded, and Rainbow (who was presently wrapped in a weighted net, much to her intense displeasure; Fluttershy and Twilight had only warranted ropes tied around their barrels, and a horn suppressor ring for the latter) really hadn't been exaggerating about their armaments.
"What are you doing out in the wilds?" An Earth Pony stallion demanded as he stepped forward, though he at least sounded more concerned than angry. His primarily maroon armor was just a touch more ornate than those around him, most likely the captain or an equivalent.
"Let me handle this, dears." Rarity stepped forward. "Excuse me, sirs, but we were... camping. Yes, camping, but we have gotten horribly lost. If it isn't too much trouble, may you direct us to the nearest town?" She blinked her eyelashes at him a few times for good effect.
"What." The stallion's expression, such that it could be seen under his facemask, was of pure incredulity. He closed his eyes, shook his head, then looked back at the mare with a sigh. "We'd better get you lot back to the Lakes. This kind of Uniter nonsense is above my pay grade to sort out."
"Uniter?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, don't try to tell me you six aren't. Being like this? It just isn't right. And going out into the wilds was downright reckless. If you're going to be part of a freaky cult, at least do it where it's safe." With that, he raised a hoof to signal, and one of the soldiers stepped forward to pick up Rainbow Dash. The pegasus thrashed about, but it was in vain. Another hoof signal, and the rest of the troop fell into a tight formation that hemmed the remaining mares in. "Let's move." The group turned back southward and set off at a swift jog, accompanied by the rhythmic clanking of the soldiers' armor.
"Ah have half a mind to buck his face into next week," Applejack muttered, keeping pace with Twilight.
"We can fight our way out if we need to," Twilight whispered back, "But that'll leave us in the same spot we were before. Let's just play along for now until we know more about what's going on." Applejack grimaced, but nodded assent.
Soon enough, the forest around them grew greener, the trees appearing more lush and thick with leaves. Twilight could occasionally hear the dull roar of rapids through the trees. There was nothing particularly noteworthy other than the continued lack of wildlife, so she focused mainly on keeping pace and keeping an eye on her friends. Applejack was gritting her teeth so tight that Twilight was half-expecting to hear a crack. Rainbow had crossed her forelegs as well as she could in spite of the net, wearing a look of grumpy resignation. Fluttershy moved along slowly, squeaking occasionally when one of the soldiers prodded her with the butt of their pikes. (A sight that made Twilight's blood boil) Rarity glanced about on occasion, worry clear in her gaze, but mostly kept her head down. The only one who seemed mostly unphased by this turn was, of course, Pinkie. While her usual bouncing had been traded in for walking along with everypony else's swift pace, she was still as cheerful as ever, occasionally asking a question or complementing a soldier on how shiny their armor was, despite the lack of response.
The soldiers, now that she had more time to examine them, really were rather intimidating. Where the golden armor of the Equestrian Royal Guard conveyed a sense of regality and heroism, this armor was a full-body affair, and rather unfriendly-looking. Made of a dark reddish-brown metal that gleamed dully in the morning sun, the suits seemed to be comprised of several flat eight-sided pyramids stacked atop one another; long bases for the main body and octagons for the head. The very top layer was actually wider than the rest, calling to mind a conical hat, and from the peak sprouted a small ribbon in green, purple, or orange. The front of the helmet, of course, was cut out; but beneath it there were form-fitting facemasks; the only way to tell the mares from the stallions, and featureless aside from eyeholes and slits at the snout. The neck and legs were protected by black chain-mail and greaves. All told, Twilight had to agree with Rainbow's earlier assessment of their friendliness, or lack therof.
"Halt!"
She was so caught up in scanning for any possible weak spots, that Twilight didn't notice they'd left the trees behind until the shouted order came. The group came to an instant stop, Pinkie nearly pitching forward onto her snout, and the unicorn took in yet another astonishing sight. Before them stretched a rather imposing wall; looking from left to right saw it stretching quite some ways up the mountains slopes before coming to an end. It wasn't even a particularly tall wall, most likely no more than two, maybe three stories tall, but its appearance was incredibly unique.
The first thing that came to mind, really, was like a small (but obviously rather wide) dam; even the evenly-spaced doorways looked somewhat like spillways. The slightly inward-angled wall, relatively easy to climb, struck her as a poor defensive method. However, Twilight couldn't say that most dams had wide triangular metal plates sticking at an upward angle from the top of the wall, overlapping like a stegosaurus' spikes and far more sharp along the edges. Made from the same dark red metal as the soldiers' armor, they overlapped enough to prevent there from being any open space for a ladder or piton, yet left gaps wide enough to serve as crenels; she could see more soldiers peeking out over them. It was an interesting design choice, and one that only upped the intimidation factor of the whole thing. Equestria seemed a long way off.
"Split 'em up!" Before she knew what was happening, she and Rarity had been shoved against each other, their seperate sets of guards coming together to form a larger circle around the two. Over their heads, she could see Pinkie and Applejack being herded together, while Rainbow and Fluttershy comprised the last group. Three of the nearest enterances opened up, and each group headed for a seperate one. It wasn't hard to realize what was happening here, and Twilight's mind went on autopilot. Rearing up, she made a sudden charge at the nearest guard... only to remember her horn was blocked, and she couldn't teleport out of danger. The next moment, she found herself on the ground, looking up at the blue sky and struggling to breathe. It had been a casual kick, but metal boots hurt.
"Come on, don't be too rough with her now. She is an Alicorn after all... think this might just be Queen Unison herself?"
She felt her lower legs being grasped in somepony's aura, and felt herself being dragged across the grass. The metal plates intruded on her point of view from below, like a jaw full of teeth rising up to take a bite from the sky itself. Then it was replaced entirely by a polished flat rock ceiling, and she felt her heart sink.
Lost. Captured. And now seperated. Could this possibly get worse?
Author's Note
Oh, Twilight, you don't know the half of it.
