Though Thunder kept her head down she was cursing herself she had been so close she should’ve fought harder… ran faster… something! But no, now she was here, smelling of burned fur, in some sort of medieval throne room while this world’s Celestia sat in the throne and leered at her maliciously and Thunder was afraid.

“I’ve been waiting for a pony like you for a very long time you’re just what I need to finally crush this useless resistance” Celestia chuckled gleefully standing to walk toward Thunder. “I never imagined a pony like you could exist, I had theories about it, and I too attempted to creature such a creature but my subject was powerless” She scoffed “I got rid of it” she put her hoof under Thunder’s chin, making the dark blue mare jerk away from her touch. “Feisty now are you?” her eyes turned to ice “Well you’ll be easy enough to break” she shrugged “But first I have to make sure you won’t be able to go running to Princess Luna in your dreams, oh yes” Celestia smirked at Thunder’s surprised look “I know she can go into your dreams, Gray has done plenty of research on you your family tree while you were living your life in ignorance” she chuckled a second time “Follow me, I’ll show you to your room” she flicked her tail and walking from the room.

As if Thunder had a choice… the second Celestia gave the order armed soldiers flanked her and made her follow. Where Sombra’s Castle was cracked and grown over in places Celestia’s seemed to be brand new shining silver and gold everywhere Thunder looked Thunder hated it she kept her head down watching her own hooves as they walked over the soft carpet that quickly turned to cold hard stone as they turned down a brightly lit hall. The sound of something knocking against glass caught her attention as they began passing doors, looking up revealed a very familiar face. Dad! But no, he wasn’t her father, not here anyway. He was still a long noodly like being with his mismatching parts but instead of being brown and gray he was white and black with blue eyes, his mouth was moving but she couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“Poor fellow” Celestia stopped to stare at him as well, a sneer growing across her face “mind has leaked out his ears” she chuckled flicking her tail and forcing them forward once again. Thunder lost track of how far down they walked the stairs seemed endless and the silence left Thunder to her thoughts, until at last they stopped at a large metal door, it was the same height as the wall but only half the width. A black handle the only way into the room. “Come on now dear aren’t you excited to see where you’ll be staying” Celestia’s guards moved to open the large door the group walking into the dark space, one of the guards staying in the doorway while the second walked into the darkness and lit a lantern so that they could look inside. There was very little inside the room only several sets of chains lining the wall and a matching wall of torture devices which included sharp implements , whips, and other things that Thunder wasn’t familiar with. In the center of the room stood a tall metal case, it was a very unassuming thing: just dull silver with faint stains of crimson dotting around a small slit near the ‘face’ of the case.

“We had to make a few adjustments, didn’t want it to actually kill you… at least not before we got what we wanted out of you of course” Celestia jerked her chin and the guard with the lantern opened the case revealed more red stains on the inside blood Thunder realized with a shiver somepony, or maybe more than one, had died in there… she could see several small spaces where something had been removed and with a jolt she recognized the ‘case’ was in reality an Iron Mare an ancient torture chamber that would often kill those inside because of the spikes that filled the inside though it looked like this world’s Celestia decided to file them down until they were dull and non deadly. Keeping me around she glared at the ground once again berating herself before turning her fury filled eyes at the smug Celestia you won’t break me that easily she swore anger abating her fear for the moment.

And that’s where she found herself now, sitting in a cramped case the only source of light was what bled under the tiny crack of the tall metal door other than that she sat in darkness, her only companion her own thoughts. What does she think this will accomplish? Twilight would know… I wonder what they’re doing right now? I hope Red is alright… I wonder how long I’ve been in here? Her thoughts swirled like that for who knows how long before her thoughts were broken by the tall metal door creaking open, making Thunder pull her eyes from the slit to avoid being blinded by the brightness. Two sets of hooves walked into the room and Thunder heard them walking over and suddenly the case swung open making Thunder hit the floor before she was aided onto her suddenly tingling hooves by whoever was on her left. “Thanks” she said softly to the pony shaking her hooves one at a time jingling the chains that still held them.

Thunder blinked until her eyes adjusted to the light so that she could get a look at the ponies who had come to her “Pinkie? Rarity? How did you guys-?!” it took her a moment to realize “O-Oh… right…” she mumbled, these weren’t her friends… Sure the pink pony on her right looked like Pinkie but this pony didn’t have her spirit, her mane was straight and long instead of Pinkie’s normal puffy style and where Pinkie always seemed to have a mile wide grin this pony wore a stiff lipped frown her dark blue eyes hidden behind her mane and Pinkie’s balloons was replaced with a set of three gray rocks. The white Unicorn might’ve been Rarity… Well maybe if Rarity suddenly got into rock music anyway, her mane was still in it’s usually curled shape but it looked to dyed black and purple and cream and was a great deal shorter she wore dark makeup of some kind around her green eyes, Thunder didn’t know makeup well mind you, and around each leg she had spiked bracelets with a matching spiked collar around her neck on her flank taking Rarity’s diamonds was two crossed guitars with sharp pointed ends.

The two ponies exchanged a glance before ‘Rarity’ nudged her toward the door “Come on” she said “Celestia wants to see you” ‘Pinkie remained silent but she did glare at Thunder when the dark blue mare took more than a little prodding to get moving.

“So uh…” Thunder began, still feeling ‘Pinkie’s’ stare burning a hole in the back of her head “Who are you guys?” she asked curiously, were they like Celestia and kept their names from the other world? ‘Pinkie’ almost seemed to growl at the question startling Thunder because of her hostility but thankfully ‘Rarity’ seemed more willing to talk.

“That’s Pinkamena, and I’m Patti, you can call me Pat though if you prefer” ‘Rarity’ introduced as they walked the seemingly endless trek to Celestia.

“Nice to meet you, well…” Thunder cleared her throat “I’m Thunder Mist, but you can call me Thunder” she glanced back at Pinkamena finding only burning eyes and went back to studying the floor as she walked.

“Pat, we aren’t supposed to talk to it” Pinkamena grumbled, her voice wasn’t like Pinkie’s either, it was flatter almost sad but it had an irritated edge to it.

“Hush ‘Mena, it doesn’t hurt to tell her our names unless you’d rather she keep calling us by those other names” Pat sounded almost identical to Rarity except while Rarity’s voice had an ‘heiress’ tone to it, Pat seemed much more relaxed in her manner of speech, even looking back for a brief moment to give Thunder a playful wink as they climbed another set of stairs.

Thunder looked up as they neared Harmonious’s room, he appeared to be talking to a few stuffed animals waving his hands enthusiastically as he spoke, he didn’t even seem to know that they passed. Thunder entered the throne room again the two ponies leading her forward a few more steps before they forced her to a stop. A door opened at the end of the throne room and with a bright flash Celestia appeared, smirking all the while she approached the room glowing with lanterns because apparently the sun had set while she was in that case.

“Bow you idiot” Pinkamena grumbled low pushing Thunder down into an awkward bow, nearly making Thunder press her nose into the chains around her hooves.

“Now now Pinkamena, no need to get rough” Celestia leaned down righting Thunder onto her hooves again “and these will have to go as well” her horn glowed with dark magic and the chains dropped from her legs, Thunder rose a brow in suspicion watching Celestia.

“Thank you” she said stiffly, she wasn’t quite sure what this Celestia was playing at Twilight would know what it’s called she found herself thinking again as she followed Celestia into the dining room still being flanked by Pinkamena and Pat.

“I’ve been doing some thinking while you were away in your room today and I realized I hadn’t been a very good host” Celestia’s horn flashed and suddenly the long wooden dining table was filled with food and drink. “Go on, have some” she smiled widely gesturing for Thunder to take a seat.

Alarms began to ring inside Thunder’s head and she took a step back away from the table, her brows rising again until they hide from sight behind her mane.

“Now now, no need to be so skittish” Celestia’s horn lit up again and Thunder found herself wrapped in magic and forced into one of the chairs which then moved until she was right in front of the table other ponies suddenly filing into the room and taking seats at the table as well, Celestia at the head of the table. “Thunder I’d like you to meet a few ponies” Celestia gestured to the seat across from Thunder “This is Gray and Dusk Gleam they work for me and are my students in different respects, Gray is an academic while Dusk is studying magic under my wing” Thunder looked to where she was pointing spotting ‘Rainbow’ and ‘Twilight’ respectively. Gray was a washed out blue furred pegasus with a short fluffy mane in varying shades of gray, probably where the name came from, she had a smudge of ink on her cheek and thin framed black glasses perched delicately on her nose guarding bright teal eyes, she was looking at Thunder with a look she could only describe as Twilghty. Giving an awkward smile Thunder then turned her gaze to Dusk Gleam: a very dark purple unicorn with a chipped horn and orange eyes muscles rippled under her coat and her mane was short and wild taking color in shades of blue and dark purple, she didn’t really look all that interested in anything going on, preferring to instead tap her hoof impatiently perhaps eager to eat? Thunder couldn’t spot either of their cutie marks from where she was sitting

“You’ve already met Pinkamena and Pattie of course” Celestia nodded to them briefly, they were sitting on either side of Thunder at the moment, before pointing to the two ponies at the far end of the table “and down there is my main benefactor Orange Shine, and a local baker who helps keep this lovely food on our table, her name is Cloudy” Celestia grinned taking a bit of food onto a fork and taking a bite. Orange Shine had red-orange fur with rose colored eyes, her hay colored mane was brushed and styled in a very high class style bun, it’s length hidden from the hairstyle but it looked like it was quite long and she was wearing a long green scarf tied around her neck, when Thunder made eye contact with her she raised her glass to her and grinned Thunder spotting what looked like half an orange on her flank. Cloudy had golden fur and soft brown eyes, she had some flour in her pale pin straight medium length violet mane and a confident smile she merely nodded however when Thunder turned her eyes to her, she appeared to have a loaf of bread as her cutie mark though it was slightly cut off from Thunder’s view.

“Ladies, as I’m sure you’re aware at this point this is our new arrival, Thunder from the other world, she has generously offered her services to us in this time of crisis” Celestia smiled widely as a series of cheers and congratulations flew around the table, but Thunder was pretty far from cheering at this point.

“That’s not true…” she mumbled, her head bowed low so that her eyes were hidden behind her mane as she spoke, her heart almost seeming to stop for a moment before beating rapidly like fire was racing through her veins.

“What was that dear?” Celestia asked sweetly, making the fire in Thunder’s blood burn even hotter and with a noise of outrage rising from her chest she slammed her hoof on the table, startling the table into a dead silence.

“That’s not true!” her head whipped up, her eyes blazing with rage “tell them the truth: you tricked me and stole me from my home through that basin and then when I tried to go home you trapped me and dragged me here to hold me against my will! I want to go home!” As suddenly as her anger flared it went out, like blowing out a candle, and she realized with horror that when she had slammed her hoof on the table she had upturned her plate, covering Pinkamena in her food. She sank down as low as she could go in her chair, berating herself for the millionth time that day her head while the silences in the dining room pressed on.

“Well, it seems our newest dinner guest has yet to learn their manners” Celestia icily said after a while “Pattie, Pinkamena perhaps you should take her back to her room” they didn’t speak when Celestia ordered them, merely pushing back in their chairs and urging Thunder to follow, Pinkamena being especially rough as she clearly wasn’t pleased with being covered in food earlier.

And now she was here again, in the dark case just… waiting… her stomach began to growl at some point but after a while she was able to ignore it, thankfully she didn't have the chains around her hooves now. I wonder what the others are doing? How much time has passed over there? Does time pass here like it does over there or...? Twilight might know… I hope Red’s okay… her thoughts would sometimes repeat like that as she sat in the dark but at least her eyes began to adjust to the dark and after some time she managed to start to doze but as Celestia planned the dull points of the spikes kept her from sleeping deep enough to dream. She jerked awake rather suddenly when the door opened slowly, only a crack, but the light blinded her long enough that when the door closed she hadn’t seen who came inside.

“Hello…” A voice whispered before the lantern hanging in the roof was lit revealing Gray, she still had that smudge on her cheek and her face was covered in a guilt flush as she carefully opened the iron case a small wrapped bundle on her back held in place by her wings “I… uh… thought you might be hungry” she mumbled glancing down at the floor.

Thunder blinked in surprise her stomach making another loud growl as if agreeing with Gray’s words “Yeah…” she replied unnecessarily “Thanks” she added as Gray leaned back to grab the bundle from her back setting it down in front of Thunder as she unwrapped the bundle Thunder got a chance to see her cutie mark: an unfurled scroll with a quill that had been dipped in ink “not that I’m not grateful for this, but uh… why are you here?” the bundle contained two apples and a half of a clover sandwich which Thunder began to devour hungrily, forgetting her manners for the moment in favor of pleasing her complaining stomach.

“Well after that scene at dinner two days ago I sort of felt bad, cause you hadn’t eaten and Princess Celestia didn’t seem to want to let you out yet…” Gray rubbed her hoof against her leg awkwardly sitting opposite Thunder while she ate her fill. “I know we kind of got off on the wrong hoof here, but Celestia really isn’t that bad” Gray continued, clearing trying to make amends.

“Not that bad?! NOT THAT BAD?!?” Thunder looked at Gray in a mixture of disbelief and anger “Did you not hear what I said in there, she tricked me and dragged me here and now I’m stuck in that tin can instead of home. How can you say that someone who does those things isn’t that bad?! Without me…” Thunder took a deep breath as she noticed that Gray looked almost terrified at her show of temper “Look” she started again “I don’t know how much you know about me or about my life in my world, but I have a little sister… well I guess she’s sort of a daughter now too… But she needs me if I’m there to protect her she could be shipped off somewhere else, she could be put up for adoption and who knows where she’d end up then… I don’t want to… No I CAN’T lose her” Thunder glanced off to the side her voice growing soft “I don’t know what you see in this Celestia, but my Celestia would never do this” Thunder fell silent finishing what remained of her food.

Gray’s eyes widened a little as Thunder spoke, she knew a little about Thunder’s life in the other world but she hadn’t looked deep enough to hear about a sibling… “I…” Gray bit her lip “I’m sorry about your sister…” she herself didn’t have a sibling but she knew some ponies who did and knew them a little “But I’m sure after you help us Celestia will let you go back!” Gray added in an attempt to cheer Thunder up.

Thunder looked at Gray she was sincere, at least she seemed it, but at the moment she wasn’t sure what to feel she was afraid… she didn’t know what to do and she couldn’t even talk to her mother or this world’s Luna for advice. An odd numbness was beginning to grow in the pit of her stomach but she nodded slightly nonetheless “I should probably…” she jerked her chin toward the case turning and climbing back into it sure she could’ve tried to make a break for it but she wouldn’t have made it far if Gray even let her leave the room. Everyone here seemed determined to end this war and they seemed to think Thunder was their key to that. “You should probably go before you get in trouble” she added as Gray shut and locked the case back up a slight click at it closed tight.

Why are you allowing this? You aren’t meant to be like a bird in a cage, fight it! a voice in her mind, like a tempting hiss, whispered but it didn’t sound like anyone she knew… or did it? It almost sounded like… Thunder herself. She shivered a little as chills ran up her spine it sounded so, dark. You could easily beat them, look what you did to Blueblood! STOP GETTING PUSHED AROUND! it insisted making Thunder’s head start to throb a little, thankfully the metal of the case was cold That was just an accident… She argued back leaning her forehead against the case Exactly! Imagine what you could do if you actually tried! Thunder’s shiver returned turning into a shudder where were these thoughts coming from? She had never been very aggressive, sure maybe hostile now and again but thinking about hurting ponies to get her way, it make her sick to her stomach. Arguing back and forth with herself she lost even more track of time, dozing in and out of sleep when she couldn’t stay awake any longer eventually time itself almost seemed to have stopped completely.

For the third time she could recall the door to her room open blinding her once again she heard a set of hooves before the door clicked open and she finally was able to stretch her numb limbs out as she stepped from the case.

“Hey there!” it was Pattie, she was alone, “Celestia wants to see you” she gave Thunder a lopsided grin “come on” she flicked her tail and started leading Thunder back up the endless staircase. Thunder blinked her eyes to clear them from the glare of the sudden brightness around her following Pattie stumbling like a newborn foal before her eyes could adjust.

“How long have I been in there?” She asked, her voice coming out with a slight rasp as she asked but she needed to know how much time had passed she could never keep track in the dark case, she didn’t have a window to see the sky.

“It’s been a week since the dinner party” Pattie answered glancing back and waiting while Thunder struggled to get up the first few steps “Gray’s been very upset that you weren’t able to come out, she’s been eager to ask you about your world” Pattie chuckled but near the end it lost its mirth “You shouldn’t’ve yelled at Celestia…” she mumbled softly “You wouldn’t have to have stayed in there for so long” she turned back look at Thunder in concern.

“I won’t let her lie about my reason of being here” Thunder sniffed, feeling weak amusement at the way Pattie recoiled at the sound perhaps there is a bit of Rarity in there after all…

“Well I can understand that, but just please don’t try to press her buttons” Pattie pleaded “She’s just better when she gets what she wants then when she doesn’t…”

Thunder blinked “Is that why you follow her? Because you’re afraid of her?” but even though Pattie didn’t answer, her silence told Thunder more than words possibly could.

Once again she was lead into the throne room brightly lit by the sun it must be early morning or midday then Thunder concluded watching as Pattie was dismissed for turning to face Celestia herself.

Celestia looked her up and down, letting her lip twitch in an attempt at a smile but she obviously wasn’t interested in playing any games at the moment. “Hello Thunder” she greeted icily “has your time in your room taught you any manners?”

Thunder stepped back a step as Celestia’s dark aura washed over her, taking a breath and praying for courage she took back that ground with a shaking hoof “I-If your definition of ‘manners’ is keeping an innocent pony prisoner then I’d rather be swine” she wished her voice hadn’t trembled but Celestia’s eyes narrowed in irritation nonetheless.

“I’ve tried be civil, I’ve tried being nice, I even offered you food at my table, and this is how you repay my generosity?” Celestia’s horn lit with dark magic, seeming to block out the sunlight from the windows Thunder’s pupils constricting until it was nearly impossible to make out their colored rings as Celestia stepped toward her. “Well that just won’t do, I guess I’ll have to teach you the proper manners then…” Those were the last words spoken before Celestia lashed out with her magic.

Thunder was suddenly surrounded in blackness… what was going on? Then there was pain… head splitting bone breaking pain… she tried to scream but the blackness seemed to suffocate the sound. She felt like she was drowning but then it was gone and she being stabbed she felt sharp objects ripping through her fur and tearing her flesh she tried and get away but she couldn’t move. She felt the sharpness press against her throat and her heart stopped beating. She felt an odd fuzzy feeling fill her body and suddenly the pain was gone that was the only conscious thought she could manage at the moment, it stopped and her body throbbed in protest, even attempting to open her eyes seemed to be too much of an effort at the moment behind her eyes was soothing darkness and she could finally rest… so why bother trying to open them? Her mind wandered in a haze and vague sounds filtered through it like radio static some were voices she knew while others were foreign she heard someone talking about an unidentifiable magic but it wasn’t until she received a sharp kick to her already bruised feeling ribs that she mustered the will to slide her eyes open a crack. Pinkamena had returned and was sneering down at her in distaste as she forced her to her hooves, Thunder’s legs shook so hard she could barely remain standing but after a quick survey she realized that she was unharmed, her coat wasn’t even ruffled. What had Celestia done to her?!?

“Well… it seems like you’re even more interesting than I thought Thunder” Celestia purred reaching out to her, but Thunder recoiled away from her making Celestia’s smirk stretch a little wider before she was finally dismissed.

Pinkamena was silent as she lead Thunder back toward her prison but Thunder couldn’t resist the words as they slipped from her throat “Why do you support Celestia?” clearly out of all of them that she had met so far Pinkamena knew the most about Celestia’s cruel ways, did Pinkamena just like being mean? Thunder hoped not, Pinkie Pie was such a nice pony surely Pinkamena had a good side too. Pinkamena grunted in response but maybe it was the pain but Thunder recklessly continued “I mean, I know you don’t really like me, but there must be a reason that she has your loyalty?” she froze when Pinkamena suddenly turned to her ready to flee but surprisingly Pinkamena didn’t strike her… instead she sighed.

“You know, once you and I might’ve been friends… but Celestia has her ways of corrupting pure hearted ponies” without another word Pinkamena turned and lead Thunder down the stairs, being surprisingly considerate as they slowly made their way down, she didn’t even insult her when she tripped up on the last few!

The cold of the case as a blessing on her sore body for the first time ever she was glad to be stuck in it trying to relax her throbbing muscles was no easy task however. Thunder jumped hitting her head off the top of the inside of the case when the door creaked open, surely it hadn’t been that long? Her surprise only grew when her visitor was revealed to be Gray who shut the door and lit the lantern casting nervous and guilty glances at Thunder the whole time before she finally let her out of the case.

“I saw what happened” She suddenly blurted before Thunder could open her mouth to speak “in the throne room” she explained when Thunder only gave her a blank look “I was going to talk to Celestia about the basin… and I heard her talking as I started to open the door so I was waiting before going in and I saw her…” Gray and Thunder shared identical shivers before the Gray continued “I wanted to make sure you were okay” she shuffled awkwardly “I never knew Celestia could be so cruel” she admitted softly.

Thunder opened her mouth to retort but the wounded look in Gray’s eyes stopped her “I’m fine” she said instead “just a little sore” she tried to reassure but Gray merely looked her up and down a fire in her eyes.

“No, you’re clearly not…” she replied and Thunder could almost hear the wheels in her head turning “and if Celestia is truly like that…” she then paused, leaving the pair in silence for so long Thunder wondered if Gray was waiting for her to speak “We have to find a way to get you home” Gray decided at last with a defiant nod.

“But… I thought you supported Celestia?” Thunder looked at Gray in disbelief seeing Rainbow in her fiery teal eyes.

Gray sighed “I do, she raised me but she isn’t the same pony she had been back then” at Thunder confused look she sat “When I was a filly my parents disappeared and Celestia took me in, she helped me find my love for books and she worked hard to make sure I was happy but… after what I saw back there, maybe she isn’t as perfect as I thought growing up… I’ll always care for her, but…” she looked down at the floor her voice failing her

Thunder nodded silently not sure what to say to try and comfort her but Pattie’s words came back to her mind Gray has been eager to ask you about your world… an idea popped into her head and she smiled slightly “You know, in my world you aren’t really into books” she hinted.

Gray’s head jerked up looking interested “Really? What’s it like over there? What am I like? Do I still read? What about the others? Is your world in war too?” Thunder had to hold up a hoof to stop the the onslaught of questions pouring from Gray’s mouth.

Thunder settled down on the cold stone floor of her room and gestured for Gray to do the same her legs were starting to ache from standing like that. “Well first all, in my world, you’re called Rainbow Dash you’re more of a cyan color then this” she gestured to Gray’s fur “and you have a mane that is filled with every color of the rainbow, as the name would suggest, you’re the fastest flyer in all of Equestria and you can perform something called ‘The Sonic Rainboom’ I haven’t seen it myself but from what I’ve heard it’s pretty cool” Thunder chuckled at the excited look on Gray’s face “You’re the element of loyalty in my world and you’d never leave a friend behind, but you can be stubborn at times and very competitive usually with Applejack, or as she’s known here, Orange Shine in my world she runs a large apple farm with her family: Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applebloom...” Thunder began to tell Gray all she knew of her world: from Rainbow’s unflinching loyalty and her love of Daring Do, Applejack’s clear honesty and her ‘apples to the core’ family ties Pinkie Pie’s vibrate cheerfulness making every pony smile and her fondness for parties of any kind, Fluttershy’s unending kindness and the moments she would face dark and evil for her friends, Rarity’s, sometimes not very easy to see, gentle generosity and her love for making fashions, all to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s mighty magic, and her large heart willing to help any friend in trouble. She told Gray about the elements of harmony, about her father Discord and her mother Luna and her little sister Red, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and her own element of courage, which she still couldn’t believe she possessed and even of Ponyville itself with its kind ponies and crisis’s every other week both magical and not.

“Wow…” Gray said after Thunder finished the story of the Alpha Minor and Twilight saving the town “No wonder you want to go home so bad…” her brow furrowed “I have a story for you now” she smiled, waving away Thunder’s assurances that she didn’t have to tell a story in exchange “No I mean it, it kind of makes me think of you actually” she shifted her wings brushing Thunder’s as she did so “There was a earth pony named Daedalus,a genius architect, who had been banished to a land called Crete for attempting to kill a boy out of jealousy, in Crete there ruled a king named Minos, a strong unicorn. Years passed and he fell in love with a slave of the king and married her and they had a son who they named Icarus Life went on without incident until one day Minos called upon Daedalus.” Gray paused making sure Thunder was keeping up with the story before continuing “For you see Minos wife had fallen in love with bull and gave birth to a being that was half pony and half bull and the king wanted to hide the strange beast, so he asked Daedalus to build a labyrinth to hide it away.”

Thunder’s head tilted curiously was she supposed to be the beast in this story? How did Gray think this story was like Thunder? She shook off her thoughts for the moment realizing that Gray wasn’t done with her tale.

“So Daedalus did as his king requested, building tall towering walls with the beast at its center where it fed on another who was put into its clutches, Unfortunately for Daedalus and Icarus, the king didn’t want them revealing what was inside the labyrinth so he trapped them inside a high tower. But Daedalus was very clever he knew they could only escape by the air because Minos had control over every ship and vessel in the land and they were being checked thoroughly so that they couldn’t sneak aboard.He found himself often watching the birds that were flying around the tower he began to watch the way they managed to fly and realized how they could escape the tower. For a large period of time, he was gathering all the feathers he could find lying around and joining them together with wax he managed to fashion two pairs of wings, one for himself and the other for his son. The day arrived when they were to execute their escape plan but Daedalus had a grave warning for his son. He forbade Icarus to fly too close to the sun because the wax would melt and they wings would fall apart, or to fly too close to the sea because then the feathers would get damp and they wouldn’t fly. Father and son both then perched on the edge of the tower and leapt off and manage to fly away not only from their prison and Crete itself. Unfortunately, Icarus soon forgot his father's warning and filled with the exhilaration of flying, he flew too high and too close to the sun. The intense heat melted the wax on the wings, the feathers came loose. A few minutes later, poor Icarus plummeted down into the sea drowned” Gray finished glancing to see Thunder still looking very confused.

“How does that remind you of me?” Thunder asked she did enjoy the story but she didn’t understand what Gray meant.

“Well… I think if Icarus was a real pony he’d understand how you feel I think” Gray blushed “I’m sorry I guess I might’ve just went out on a limb with it” she stood quickly “I should probably go before someone notices” she adds not looking at Thunder as she stood as well to enter the case.

“Will… Will you come back soon?” Thunder asked softly as she heard the cases lock click and the lantern go out at first she thought Gray wasn’t going to answer, the door pulled open and she could hear Gray’s hooves walking away.

“Yes” she barely heard the whispered reply but as the door closed a small smile stretched across her face for the first time since she came to this place, at last she had something to look forward too… whenever Gray came back...

Author's Note

Sorry for the LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG wait guys, I was having some troubles in real life and my muse for writing kind of tanked but I hope this long chapter makes up for it :D and toward the end 'Gray' tells the myth of Icarus, I added it in because I thought it complimented Thunder's current problem pretty well and I've always like the story hope you enjoy this chapter and more will be coming soon