The Pony in the Box

by PinkiesYellowMouse

Rating: everyone
Tags: Derpy Hooves, Twilight Sparkle, Alternate Universe, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike
Length: 5869

Derpy gathers resources for the resistance against Nightmare Moon, but something isn't quite right about it...

Nothing's been the same since Nightmare Moon took over.

Equestria is shrouded in darkness. Celestia has fallen. Ponies are being captured left and right, forced into the Army of the Night.
But there is hope. A resistance is forming in the all but destoyed town of Ponyville. A prophet, Twilight Sparkle, says she can communicate with our fallen princess. There is a way to free our captured friends, to push back the darkness, she claims. She assigned me to collect the resources needed for this to be realized. What does she need? Bits. And gems. Lots of them.

Hey, Celestia's prices don't run cheap, you know.

My name is Derpy 'Muffins' Hooves, and I am the pony in the box.

Published 2015-12-18 22:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-12-18 22:20:02 UTC

Bits and Gems and Pony Talk

Author's Note

This story is sort of a hybrid between the Nightmare Moon future and the MLP Gameloft Game. That game is crazy addictive, even if the ads are extremely annoying. :twilightangry2:
Anyway, I decided it'd be fun to do something a little different with the game, explaining some of the stranger things that happen within it...

Bits and Gems and Pony Talk

Ah, Equestria. A place of friendship. Of harmony. A place where ponykind roamed freely, laughing and playing in the sunlight.

Well, that's how it used to be, anyway.

Believe me, I would know. I was there when it happened. When everything changed.

It was the Summer Sun Celebration. We were all gathered at Town Hall, waiting for Princess Celestia to appear, and raise the sun to make way for the dawn. I remember being able to see everything, high up from where I was flying. One eye was focused below me, watching Mayor Mare address the crowd of eager ponies. The other was focused on the balcony in front of me, where the princess was set to appear. A well-groomed white unicorn stood by the curtain, anticipating the mayor's cue to pull the drawstring. Raindrops was flying not too far from me. I wanted to say hello, but I didn't want to miss anything. I decided that I would just talk with her at work tomorrow, over at the shipping office.

That day never came.

The mayor gave her cue, the curtains were drawn, and...she wasn't there. She had completely vanished from sight. Murmurs of worry began to whisper through the crowd, which morphed into screams of panic when she arrived. Nightmare Moon. In a swirl of black smoke, she was there. From that point...I don't remember. I do remember lightning. Thunderclouds...swarming around her. There was a flash coming towards me- and a feeling of falling. Hot, rushing air slapping against my face. I'm sure it struck me. All I know, is that when I awoke again, the world was different.

I was still lying on that hardwood floor. I tried to get up. My whole body hurt with the pain seemingly manifested by a thousand shards of glass, burrowing deep into my skin. I fell back to the ground, only causing the shards to burrow deeper. I forced my eyes to focus, to know where I was. A picture came into view. A dark sky, drawn up with dim stars. A crumbling wall, a tattered ribbon still hanging from it. Town Hall, demolished.

Equestria as we knew it, destroyed.

I tried once more to get up. The pain wouldn't let me. I laid there, hopelessly. I was going to die. The world was in darkness, and I was going to die.

"Hey, is anypony here? Hello?" A mare's voice. I couldn't see the source, but somepony was out there. Somepony was alive. A sign of hope.

"Here. Come here." My voice was weak. I was sure she wouldn't hear me. A few seconds passed. Nothing. But then, I heard hoofsteps, and another set of feet padding against the dirt.

It was a unicorn that found me. A lavender unicorn, with a little purple dragon beside her. I'm sure I would have found that odd, in any other circumstance. But right then, I didn't care. I'm not even sure I really noticed.

"Hey, can you get up?" She peered down at me, with her worried violet eyes. The dragon stood beside her, trying to see me better.

"No...I-" Her face was fading out. The darkness was becoming darker, the stars vanished in the sky as I slipped away again.

When I came to, I was lying on a sheet of stars. Bandages were wrapped around me, all over my body. Everywhere I looked there were books, lining the shelves along oak walls. There was a light shining from somewhere. I turned my head towards it. It was a window...the sun- the sun was shining...

"Good, you're finally awake." The unicorn stood over me, relief glowing on her face.

"Who- who are you?"

"I am Twilight Sparkle," she stated with an air of pride, "and I can speak with the princess."

My ears perked up and the sound of this claim. Speak with the princess? How-?

"I was once her personal caretaker," she went on to say, "an assistant, if you will. She cast a spell upon me so I knew what she wanted of me, even when I was on the other side of the castle. She put that much faith in me." She paused, reflecting for a moment. "Once, I was her servant. Now-" She lifted her head up to the window, gazing at the sun with pride and slight arrogance, "-I am her prophet."

"So-you can speak with her? W-where is she?"

"She is in the moon." Her face weakened, sadness creeping over it. "Nightmare Moon put her there before she appeared to you at the festival. Without her leadership, the guards failed to defeat her. She soon had your town, Ponyville, under siege. Most of the ponies were captured and inducted into her army. Nopony could stop her tyranny." A great sense of worry washed over me. Everypony- captured? That-that couldn't be right! Just-how long was I out for...?

"But Celestia has told me," she once again beamed with confidence, "that there is a way to free them. There is a way to push back the darkness, to restore our princess to her rightful rule. But-" She glared over at me once again, "we need resources. And when you are well, I will need you to help me gather them."

I'm not sure why I accepted. My guess is that I was desperate. Nopony wants to live in a world of darkness, with all their friends held captive someplace. And what Twilight was saying...it gave me hope. It sounded completely crazy, but it gave me hope. And when you see the world crumble before your uneven eyes, you need all the hope you can get.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has come to my attention that I've forgotten to introduce myself. My name is Derpy Hooves. My friends call me 'Muffins'. I used to love muffins. There was just something so-wonderful about them. I loved them so much, I almost had an obsession. That's why my friends called me 'Muffins'- a nickname based on my infatuation with a pastry. Oh well. There are worse things to be called. Like 'Cross-Eyes'. My eyes have never been straight. And I'm sure they never will be.

But that doesn't matter now. What matters is that I've finally made it to the town's outskirts.

The town was clearly defined by the once-familiar rays of sunshine outlining it. The darkness had been pushed away from these areas, allowing them to radiate with the warmth of the sun. I'm still not sure how Twilight managed it, even after she told me. Oh well. I guess it's just 'the will of Celestia'.

My disguise, shouldered over my back, now encloses my whole body. It's not anything much to look at. Really, it's just a box. But that's the point. A box, a simple piece of trash leftover from the fall of Ponyville, would fail to catch the attention of the Army of the Night. The only one who knew of its true purpose would be-

tap-tap-tap-tap, tap Ah. There she is.

I lifted my cardboard fortress up to greet Twilight, only to find Spike, the dragon, standing there instead.

"Spike? What are you doing here? Where's Twilight?"

"Oh, you know, she's- busy." He averted his eyes off to the side, effectively avoiding my own.

"With- what?"

"I- don't know." He met one of my eyes, while still desiring to avoid them. "She- wouldn't say. But it's very important." His face scrunched ever so slightly. "'The will of Celestia', you know?"

"Yeah...I got the stuff."

"Really?" The joy of anticipation radiated from his face.

"Yeah...I got- a hundred and sixteen bits..." A sense of shock dawned on the little dragon.

"No gems?" I shook my head. Spike's joy quickly deteriorated into disappointment.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't get any. Army's been keeping those things under high security ever since my last raid," I forced both of my eyes to stare at him with the utmost sincerity, "and I know Twilight can't afford to have me captured." The dragon softened.

"Yeah- Celestia would probably charge out the wa-zoo if Nightmare Moon ever got a hold of you!" I afford myself a giggle. In times like these, you need to joke about the graveness of your situation. It's one of the few things that can keep you going.

"Well, I gotta go. Don't worry, I'll try to snatch up a gem on the next raid-"

"Wait!" The dragon clutched onto my back hoof with his clawed hands, preventing me from escaping into the darkness. "Before you go...would you like to see the town? Its- grown a lot since you last visited..." The invitation piqued my interest. See the town? It had been a while since I'd visited...had I ever really visited? I wasn't sure. But I was curious.

"Well...alright. It- would be nice to rest before I have to leave again..." An almost crazed grin spread across his face. He begin to drag me there by the hoof, forcing me to hover in the air to avoid dragging along the ground.

"C'mon, there's a lot to see! I just know you're going to love the lemonade stand!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...and that's Sugar Cube Corner, see? Good as new!- I guess. I never really got to see it before Nightmare Moon came..." I marvel in awe at the bakery, looking almost as delicious as the goods it used to sell. Memories flash before my eyes of days spent in that place, simpler days spent eating freshly baked muffins, complaining and joking with Raindrops about our boss...

"Hey, is Raindrops here?"

"Raindrops?"

"Uh, yellow pegasus? Turquoise mane, kinda styled like mine?"

"Hmm... I don't think we've seen a pony like that in the shop yet..."

"The- shop?" Before he could answer my question, I notice two ponies across the street. They were making playful jabs at each other with their hooves, and appeared to be laughing, silently. I immediately recognized them.

"Lyra! Bon-Bon!" The mares took notice of my yelling and looked in my direction. Lyra waved. Bon-Bon simply smiled.

Lyra and Bon-Bon had been my friends since fillyhood, the lucky kind of friends you keep with you your whole life. I thought for sure they were lost, but here they were, safe and sound in the sunlight. It was almost like a dream...

I couldn't help myself. I ran over to them and grappled them into a full-on hug.

"You're safe! You're safe! I can't believe your both safe!" Bon-Bon taps my shoulder. She wanted out of the hug. Sheepishly, I let them go free. It just seemed so much like old times...I let my old, excitable personality take over. I learned to suppress it for my raids, but- it just came pouring through...

Bon-Bon touched my shoulder again. She looked at me fondly, in a forgiving way. She understood. I smiled.

Lyra, meanwhile, was very excited about something. She opened her mouth, as if she was about to tell me something, but didn't. She sank, disheartened. Bon-Bon layed a hoof on her back, also saddened by something I didn't understand.

"What's wrong?" They don't answer me. They only look at me with sad eyes. Eyes that know they can't tell of their pain.

"Hello!" A chipper voice called out from behind me. I recognized that voice. From a seemingly distant memory...

"Pinkie Pie?" The bubbly pink mare nodded. Everypony in town knew Pinkie Pie. The eccentric party planner that always seemed to know just how to make any and everypony smile. I knew her a bit better than others. She used to work at Sugar Cube Corner, and I'd see her just about every time I went in to satisfy my muffin fix. She was always there with a chipper greeting and a smile, and an eccentric conversation if she wasn't too busy...I'd forgotten how much I missed those...

I reluctantly waved good-bye to Lyra and Bon-Bon, who both managed small smiles in return. Pinkie waved me over, obviously excited to see me.

"Pinkie! I- wasn't expecting to see you here! How have you been?"

"I win again!" The pink mare slaped a hoof against her mouth.

"Umm...are you okay?"

"Pinkie Sense!" Two hooves over her mouth this time. Her eyes were starting to get misty.

"Is- something wrong?"

"This calls for a party!" She couldn't contain it any longer. Little drops of water begin to leak from her eyes. I tried to reach out a hoof, but she drew back, and ran off, tears still flying from her eyes.

What was that about? It was clear she didn't want to say those- well- random things to me. The way she said them too...it didn't look or sound like it was coming from her. It was like she wasn't in control of her own speech...

"Uh, I think we should go now..." Spike! I'd been so caught up in my emotions I had forgotten about him. From the tone of his voice, he was clearly uncomfortable with the events that had unfolded, and frankly, I was as well.

We didn't get very far down the street before something else caught my attention.

"Um- what is that?" Behind the library was a large cave-like mass, covered in pink crystals and with railroad tracks protruding from the entrance.

"Oh! That's the Crystal Mine!" We walked closer to it, and I started to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"The- Crystal Mine?"

"Yeah! It- sort of just appeared one day, out of the blue. Twilight said it was just 'the will of Celestia.'" He frowned for a second, reflecting on something. "...Anyway! She said that it was here to bring us great fortune! When ponies come out of there, they always come back with bits and...mmm..." There was something he wanted to say, but he didn't seem to be able to say it.

"Bits and what?" He hesitated.

"Um...shards!"

"Shards?"

"Oh yeah! They're pieces of the Elements of Harmony!" Wait- the Elements of Harmony?

"I thought those were just a legend."

"Nope! They're real! And when we collect all of them, we're going to use them to defeat Nightmare Moon!" A way to defeat Nightmare Moon. Twilight had been right. There was a way to stop her...

"Look, I'll show you! " This time, Spike grabbed me by the wing and pulled me over to a glowing, floating gem near Sugar Cube Corner. I have no idea how I didn't notice it before.

"This is the Element of Laughter! We activated it a while ago." It was magnificent. The gem was shaped like a balloon with no string, and it had a sky blue sheen. It shone brightly on its carved stone pedestal, glistening in the sunlight.

"It was pretty easy to activate when we found it.", Spike started to brag, "I mean, Laughter shards are everywhere. The stores keep producing them, ponies keep finding them in the Mine, and they're always showing up in the Balloon Pop! Along with those wells...we have like, ten of those things now..." My gem-induced trance was broken.

"Wait, you just, produce those things?!" Spike was at a loss of words.

"Uh- yeah?"

"But, you can't just- if- how do you-?"

"I-I don't know but- ugh, I can't take this any longer!" He collapsed to the ground, head clutched in his hands.

"Spike, what's wrong? What's going on?"

"I-I been wanting- needing to tell you something, but- I can't do this to Twilight! She's- she's the only- my only- friend..." His eyes were leaking tears.

"What do you need to tell me?"

"I- Twilight has been-"

"Spike! There you are!" The unicorn appeared almost out of no where, wearing a beautifully made dress.

"Oh- Twilight! How was- dancing?"

"Wonderful! I got such a high score this time!"

"You just keep getting better..." Spike trailed off, not sharing in the mare's excitement.

"I know! At this rate, we'll have that Junebug pony by the end of the week for sure! We've been needing somepony to help Vinyl at the theater... Oh, by the way," she adoringly looked over her purple and yellow laced skirt, "could you invest a few of our gems into- getting more dress materials?"

"What? But- we were saving them to rescue that Rainbow-Dash pony..."

"Well, its not my fault that Celestia commands a sacrifice of gems in order to unlock the boxes in Rarity's storeroom. Besides, there's an outfit that will give Applejack a thirty percent increase of score at the Mine, and- well, you know how- rebellious she's been lately." It was at that moment that she finally caught sight of me.

"Oh! Hello Derpy! I didn't expect to see you here..." She smiled in a way I knew was fake. Spike cringed. "So- how have you been?"

"Twilight? Can we- talk?" The awkward smile on her face grew bigger.

"O-kay...Spike, can you take care of...?"

"Sure..." he slowly walked towards the other side of town, still reluctant to do so.

"Alright...let's go to my place, okay?" Her fake smile still persisted. I followed her to the library, making one of eyes glare directly at her.

"We're here!" She closed the door slowly. "Now, what do you want to-"

"Alright, what's going on, Sparkle?" A few trickles of sweat leaked from the unicorn's forehead.

"What are you talking ab-"

"The Crystal Mine? Element Shards? Ponies not being able to speak? Spill, Sparkle!" My breathing was heavy with rage. She put on another one of those fake smiles.

"You've got it all wrong, Derpy! It is Celestia that makes all of this possible! Celestia demands sacrifices of bits and gems to bring us back our captured friends! Celestia gave us the Mine to gather the materials necessary to save our world from darkness! Celestia made the work hard to teach a lesson to the ponies that do not see her way, the ponies who would foil her plan! It is all Celestia's will, Derpy!" Her breath was heavy against my face. Celestia's will...it suddenly dawned on me.

"You can't speak to Celestia...can you?" She dropped the smile. This, however, was only temporary, as she soon grew a new one- a genuine one. One of malice.

"You're smarter than you look, Derpy." She began to pace, "I've never actually met Celestia. Well, I did see her raise the sun when I was a filly...the Summer Sun Celebration...it seems that holiday has always been tied closely with my life, Derpy." She paused, turned around, and began to pace again. "Seeing that made me want to study magic. My parents- tried to get me accepted into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but- when it was time for the entrance exam-" she drooped her head, "-I failed."

For a moment, I felt sorry for her. But then she continued,

"I've never really had a destiny. Even to this day, I still don't have a cutie mark. But my first steps toward this life were on that day. When I couldn't hatch that dragon's egg, I- I got so mad I- I picked it up with my magic and stole it! And you know what? It felt- good..." Her smile grew wider, more devious, "It felt good to steal. To do wrong. I wanted the egg for myself, so I hid it in the bushes outside and convinced them all that I smashed it! And you know what?" Her smile grew ever wider, "it felt good to lie as well." She peered directly into my one nervous eye that was watching her, and continued.

"My parents had to pay out a good sum of money for that egg. Dragon eggs aren't cheap, you know. But I didn't care. I snuck out of the house the next day and retrieved it. That egg became Spike. I'm not sure how I was able to keep him hidden from everypony, but I found a way. Meanwhile, I'd become especially interested in-" she paused, as if for dramatic effect. "-evil.

"Evil, Derpy, villainy! The causing of bad deeds gave me a rush I had never felt before! Even as young filly it made me feel alive! But I didn't want to just do bad things, oh no- I wanted to be the greatest at doing bad things, the best I could possibly be! I researched all of Equestria's greatest foes, and how they rose to power! Most of them did it with magic..." Her smile fell. "But!", she quickly recovered, "there were other ways they were able to rise to power. My personal favorite was deception. I loved deceiving ponies. I practiced my craft by causing trouble around the house, and successfully shifting the blame to my older brother. Eventually, I got very good at it." She squinted her eyes in a menacing fashion, her smile growing ever more sinister. "I kept Spike in the dark about all of this, of course. The best henchman are the ones who are ignorant."

"You disgust me." This comment only seemed to delight her even more.

"Thank you! I try my hardest to impress." My watching eye glared at her sharply. She didn't notice.

"Anyway, it was during my research that I discovered the tale of Nightmare Moon, and the prophecy of her return. I knew I had to be there for that. So when the time came, me and Spike ventured out to the place she was most likely to appear: the host town for the celebration that year, Ponyville.

"We managed to secure a base of operations at the town's library. I told Spike we were there on vacation. I was unable to avoid complete undetection, however- that pink mare, with the poofy mane- I'm sure you've seen her- somehow got wind of my existence and threw a party for me. Spike had fun. I didn't."

The party at the library...I remembered that! It was right before the ceremony...just about everypony in town was there...how could I have missed her?

"Besides that setback, it all went smoothly. Nightmare Moon arrived right on schedule, and I enjoyed watching her reek havoc on this town." She took a moment to stare out the window, in that same arrogant way she had on the first day we met. "Spike had fallen asleep, giving me the perfect opportunity. I made myself noticeable by being the only pony in the streets not running around frantically in a panic. When she approached me for questioning- as I expected- I remained calm. I told her that I swore my undying allegiance to her, and that I had a plan as to better assert control. Luckily, she bought in. My plan- which I had carefully constructed over many years for that very moment- was to give her control by giving the ponies hope.

" We would give them a 'prophet'- one that could 'talk' with the imprisoned Celestia- that would promise the ponies light and freedom from the dark. In order to do this, the ponies would have to work- they would each obtain a job assigned to them by the 'prophet', that would allow them to produce bits, experience, and shards. The bits were used as sacrifice to Celestia- giving the ponies more places of work, 'freedom' for their friends, and more land in the sunlight- this she was skeptical of, but I assured her that the maximum area of sunlight was quite small in comparison to all of Equestria, and that it would all be worth it in the end.

"The shards were used to fuel fake Elements of Harmony. The real ones are carefully stored away in Nightmare Moon's castle. And the experience?" She chuckled, "that was one of my more ingenious parts of the plan. You see, with the experience, the ponies could raise the town's 'level'- which allowed 'Celestia' to grant them more opportunities to rescue ponies- and, more things to distract them from their primary goal. I came up with so many distractions. A wedding in Canterlot, helping an apple orchard, saving the Tree of Harmony deep in the Everfree forest...but these weren't the only distractions. You see, everypony's job was assigned based on how many 'stars' they had. The more complete stars, the better their job could be. And how did they earn stars? Why, they played games of course! Each time the timer went off for a pony to play, they would get to play a game that did nothing except make them feel accomplished. This earned them a few measly star pieces. When they completed their star, they got to play another pointless game, and the star was there to stay. The best part? They would have to shell out bits to play, further detracting them from their original goal.

"Oh! But it gets better- there were special kinds of sacrifice objects they couldn't just obtain by doing work, oh no- these were very special. First there's the hearts, which are very 'rare' and sought after. And then there's the gems..." Twilight slowly paced towards me, getting uncomfortably close to my face. "Do you want to know why I always acted so thrilled when you managed to get a gem?" She raised an eyebrow, inquiring deviously. I felt my face growing sweaty.

"Because gems-are everything." She removed herself from my face, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Gems can do so much." She once again began her pacing, "they can make things be built faster. They can grant freedom to certain ponies. They can be used to obtain things that bits- are just unable to buy! And if, slowly but surely, we saved up enough of them..." She chuckled at her own villainy, "...we could even save Celestia."

"That's a lie." She gave me a smirk.

"Of course it is! But it gave the ponies hope," she turned away from me once more, "and that's the entire point. When ponies have hope in a hopeless situation, they will obey. Of course, some are less willing to follow the rules than others- and that is where the Mine comes in.

"Every time a pony arrives in town, they are sent to the Mine. The Mine is a seemingly endless maze of mine cart track, that the pony, in their mine cart, must navigate through. There are broken pieces of track, dynamite, and vile creatures at every turn. There are rewards to be won from the Mine- bits, gems, shards, even ponies- but the danger far outweighs the prizes. Most of the ponies who go in sustain injury- and never want to go back. Well, with the exception of Lyra. For some reason she just wanted to keep going back there. 'Made her feel alive', she said. She's a strange one, that pony." I nodded in agreement. "Anyway, the ponies were introduced to the Mine early, so that they would grow to fear it. Then on, if that pony became- 'rebellious' in any way, they would be sent back there to correct the behavior.

"And finally, even with the Mine in place, there would still be ponies who would want to cause trouble- so, just after their arrival, a spell would be put on them to prevent them from communicating. No speech, no writing. Only gestures with barely comprehensible meanings. They would be told that their loss of words was because Celestia had to use the power from their speech to keep the sun up. For you see, when ponies communicate, they spread ideas. And when they spread ideas, they rebel." Her smile now grew with the villainous confidence of thinking that she was clever. "In time, the ponies would either become so distracted in their mindless tasks that they would pose no real threat, or they would lose all confidence in the rebel cause and would return to Nightmare Moon's army.

"Nightmare accepted this plan. After capturing a large number of ponies and forcing them into her army, a system was set up. Every time we successfully 'sacrificed' enough bits to 'Celestia', they were sent to Nightmare Moon. A pony from her army, pretending to be part of the resistance, would then 'sneak' the chosen pony out of the castle and send them here. The other ponies would simply be told that the pony was sent out to scout, escaped, or, if they were of a rowdy kind, executed. Nightmare, thinking me loyal, gave me power to preform the necessary spells, and I became the prophet. Of course, there were a couple setbacks...the spell used to prevent communication would do so with the exception of a few phrases...but for the most part, my plan worked flawlessly. Of course, this was not to help Nightmare Moon. I have another plan, a plan I've been working on for as long as the one for this town. You see, I've also been studying the terror of Tirek, and his ability to drain magic from ponies. I have been formulating a spell that will allow me to replicate that ability...and when it's completed, I will use it on everypony in this town, proceeded to Nightmare Moon's castle, drain eveypony there as well and take the throne from her, gaining control over all of Equestria."

I couldn't hold back any longer. Fueled by rage, I charged headfirst at Twilight, only to be stopped by the glow of her magical aura.

"Oh silly, did you think I would let you do that?" She raised me into the air, and threw me hard against a bookshelf. "I haven't explained how you fit in!" She giggled. "You were a bit of a wildcard, actually. You see, after Spike woke up to see the destruction, he wanted to see if anypony was still out there. To humor him, I agreed. We walked for a bit, and I called out for ponies to respond. Imagine my surprise when you did. I'm assuming that Nightmare and her army overlooked you because they thought you were dead.

"Making you part of the town would be a bit troublesome, especially with Spike being involved... so I devised a different job for you. I convinced you of the same basic principals, but with a different purpose- 'raiding' the castle for the same materials everypony was working for. The guards were kept in the dark about you so the task would be difficult- and in case any of them were brought here. These high-stakes 'errand' missions kept you busy, and kept what could have been a disastrous problem out of my mane.

"And now, you know everything!" Her magic held me down as she crept toward me, with the same look in her eyes as a tiger about to pounce on its prey. "It's too bad you'll never be able to share it with anypony, because Derpy, I think it's time you learned to be quiet." Her front hooves stood on top of my chest, while her back hooves pinned down my wings. I kicked my legs, but she seemed immune to my struggle. Her horn began to glow. I knew what was coming. My mind began to race. Should I call for help? Should I continue to try and fight her? Should I-

A bang suddenly came from the door, bringing in a fresh swarm of sunlight.

"Speakin' in fancy!" We turned our attention to the door. Standing outside was a group of ponies, being lead by an orange mare wearing a cowboy hat. I recognized her from the Ponyville marketplace...I would always see her there, selling apples.

"Oh! Hello everypony!" The confidence I'd seen in her earlier quickly drained away. "What are you all doing here?"

"They're here to fight back." From amid the crowd came forward a little purple dragon, one I knew all to well.

"S-Spike! What are you doing?"

"I don't want to do this Twilight! You used to be my friend, but- what you're doing isn't right!"

"Spike, sweetie, would you please ca-"

"Don't call me THAT!" Twilight was taken aback. The dragon was fuming, "I didn't pay for the materials like you asked me to. I went back and stayed outside the library. I heard your conversation, and what you said about me..." Tears ran down the dragon's face. "I'm just some dumb henchman, huh? Well, this dummy got smart!"

"Spike..."

"I knew when you said that, that all of my doubts about you had been right! So I rounded up everypony to end your rein!"

"Spike, you're making a mistake..."

"GO!!!" All of the ponies suddenly charged in and tackled her to the ground, releasing me from her hooves.

"Derpy! Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Listen, there's a spell that stopped all the ponies from talking!"

"Well, we have to find it! If we can figure out how to reverse it we could help everypony talk again!" I nod. Furiously we began to scour the library, while the other ponies wrestled with Twilight.

"Hey everypony! " Pinkie held up a book while grinning excitedly. I swooped in from the air to grab it.

"The Magic of Speech! Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About Communication Spells! This is perfect! Thanks Pinkie!"

"Party time!" She slapped a hoof across her mouth and blushed.

"Let go of me!" The unicorns held Twilight by the hooves, while the orange mare tied a lasso around her waist. The dress she'd been wearing was now scattered around the floor in shreds, with a few tattered remains still clinging to her body.

"Send her to the Mine!", Spike directed the crowd.

"WHAT?! The ponies pushed her outside and dragged her to the Mine's entrance. A mine cart was already waiting for her. The mob shoved her into the cart while she struggled to break free.

"You can't do this! I am your prophet! This goes against Celestia's WIIILLLLLLLLLLLl!!! The cart was pushed into the Mine, swiftly shifting her out of view.

"C'mon everypony! To the darkness! RUN!" Spike led the way, and we ran, and ran, and kept running through the night.
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After our escape, we set up camp outside on the old picnic grounds. The unicorns were able to learn the reversal spell, and everypony was able to talk again. So far, neither Twilight nor the Army of the Night have been able to find us. Twilight... what she did, and what she was planning to do, was despicable, but- when I think about what happened to her, I somehow can't help but feel a little sorry for her. Really, all she ever wanted was a destiny. But the way she went about finding it...I shouldn't be thinking about that now. Our group of ponies has been planning an inside attack on Nightmare's castle for the past few weeks now, and the time has come to put it into action. I'm not sure how it's going to end up, but we won't know if we don't try.

No more diversions. It's time to go.