Assaulted

"Any word yet?”

“No Princess. It’s been a week since young Twilight Sparkle disappeared.”

“Yes, I am aware.” Celestia sighed, getting up from her throne, and walking over to the window. “If this were any other mare though, not a alicorn……...”

“My apologies, but we need to start preparing for the worst case scenario. Twilight isn’t immortal, like you and Princess Luna are, your highness.” He held his breath, preparing himself for what he was about to do. “Permission to speak freely?”

“Of course Captain Dusk.”

“My apologies in advance.”

“YOU NEED TO TAKE A BUCKING BREAK ALREADY!!!!!!”

He took a step back at the shocked expression from the tall mare in front of him, but refused to stand down. “You have not slept since Twilight was reported missing, and you haven’t eaten in days. I know you're worried about Twilight. We all are.” He took a couple deep breaths to steady himself. “If Twilight Sparkle is still alive out there, she is most likely going to need help. She is going to need all of us . More importantly, she is going to need YOU.”

Noticing Celestia swaying slightly as she attempted to keep her composure, he walked up to the troubled mare and offered her his shoulder. Not as a guard, but as a friend that he knew she needed.

“Please Princess.” He started again, in a calming whisper. “You aren’t just a princess, you're a mother and friend to everypony here. We trust you with our lives, and right now you need to trust us. We're all extremely worried, and working nonstop to find her. However,  we need to keep our strength up. Everypony is extremely worried about you.”

“Thank you Dusk........ I think that's exactly what I needed to hear. Can you please ask the kitchen to send some food to my room? Then take the rest of the night off. I know you have been working two days straight. I'll be in my room in a few, right now……… I just want some alone time. Where no pony can find me.” Normally Celestia wouldn’t tell anypony she was purposely hiding, but while security was high, she didn’t want them worrying she had gone missing also.

“Do you want me to bring the food to your hiding spot?” Celestia opened her mouth to question the guard, but was quickly cut off.

"You keep a lounger, stack of books, sketching set with easel, and extra office supplies in a prison cell that hasn’t been used in years. It’s kind of obvious that you hide in there. Don’t worry, only the handful of guards permitted down there know. Rest assured that your secret is safe with us.” As he finished explaining, an involuntary grin appeared on his muzzle.

Celestia walked over and gave her Captain a second hug, carefully wrapping her hoof around his neck, whispering thank you making him turn red.

“Captain Dusk?”

“Yes Princess?”

“This conversation never happened.”

“What conversation?”

Rolling her eyes as he gave the most cliché answer he could have given, she headed out the door. Waiting for the door to shut, Dusk jumped up and down like a young colt.

“I got TWO hugs from Celestia! After yelling at her!”

    As Celestia walked down the halls, she would purposely go down the less busy hallways until she reached her destination, to avoid as many ponies as possible. Walking up to the prison entry, she stopped. Something was off.  She could feel the barrier holding  something inside.

“No pony is supposed to be down here.” She murmured. “Especially not a unicorn strong enough for the barrier to turn on, without a pegasus guard.” Having a bad feeling, and knowing she would be powerless as soon as she went through the door, she grabbed a spear from the guards storage room, then carefully went inside.

  Looking around she was bewildered to see scorch marks all around the prison. Walls, floor, ceiling, even some of the gates were blown off their hinges. “What in Tartarus happened here?” Slowly she continued walking, only to notice one cell locked, with a trail of blood seeping out from under the gate. Spear at ready, she made her way to the cell. Her purple eyes went wide in horror. Laying on the cell floor, she saw Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, unconscious.  Both mares were pale and covered horn to hoof in injures. Running inside, she quickly put her ear to their chests, relieved to discover they were still alive.

      “Princess!”

Celestia didn’t even bother turning around as the Captain ran inside, dropping the tray of food. “Are you alright? What happened………..” he trailed off noticing the mares, and ran to their aid.

   “We need to get them to the hospital wing.”

“Yes your highness. Let me get two stretchers and some extra guards.” Dusk explained, flying away as fast as his wings would take him. He returned two minutes later with help, only to find Celestia doing CPR on Sunset Shimmer.

“Let us in Princess.” The captain shouted, flying across the room.

Two guards put Twilight on one of the stretchers and left, while Dusk and other guard set up  a oxygen mask  over Sunsets muzzle before taking her.

In the hospital wing, the doctors and nurses immediately got to works stabilizing them.

    “I need to send word to the search party, telling them that Twilight is at the castle.”

    “I can assure you she is in good hands, your highness.”

    “I know, thank you doctor. I'll be back soon.” Celestia reluctantly left, closing the door as the doctor called for more blood.

Luna,

Twilight Sparkle has been found, and she is here at the castle. Tell everypony the good news, but I need to see you, and her friends here as soon as possible. Find them first, but do not start a panic. Be discreet. Spike is not to come. As far as anypony needs to know, everything is fine.

-Celestia

“Princess Celestia?” The alicorn turned around to see a familiar face.

“Captain, did something happen since I left?”

“They are stabilized, but critical. Due to their injuries, they are going to be out for a while. The doctor had asked me to tell you that he would recommend coming back in the morning, then for all of us to get some rest.” He walked over carrying a neither tray of food, that she somehow  didn’t notice right away. “They're safe now."

“I know.” She sighed. “Can you please go get pictures of the prison please, and then of their injuries for the records? I am going to send word to Shining Armor asking him to come. If there is something strong enough to take out the element of magic, we are going to need all the help possible.”

“Of course. We will also get his old armor ready in case he needs it.”

“Thank you.”

Dear Shining Armor,

    Twilight has been found, and is here at the castle. I do need you here right away, but do not allow Cadence to come. I will explain everything when you get here. Tell her about Twilight, and that you are coming to see your sister, and that you will be gone for a while. If she tries to go, tell her that  I said for her to stay.  She will respect my wishes.

See you soon,

  Celestia.

Celestia finally ate her meal while she waited patiently for Captain Dusk to come back with the pictures.

“Thank you very much. Tell the solar guards to retire for the night. That includes you. The lunar guards will take over their positions. Please ask Lt. Owl can inform them. When the girls from Ponyville and my sister get back, tell them to just get some rest. We'll discuss everything in the morning. Everypony is tired from searching, ad we can’t afford to miss anything, or make a mistake.”

“Yes Princess. Do you want me to wake you a little earlier?”

“Yes please. I want to go over everything personally before I have to explain it to the others.” With a salute, the guard left, leaving Celestia alone.

    The mare walked over and laid down on her bed, but unable to sleep. The images of her former students spread out on the cell floor kept coming up. The mere fact of knowing that they both might be dead if she had not found them when she did. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. Groaning she rolled over and secretly wished that however it was would just go away.

    “Tia, it’s me.”

    Too exhausted to try and use her magic, she walked over and opened her bedroom door. On the other side, a extreamly concerned looking Luna. “Where is she? Is she ok? When….”

    “Luna.” The younger alicorn knew something was wrong, as her elder sisters voice quivered. “We need to talk. I’m not telling the others until morning, but you need to know. Celestia handed her sister the pictures, while attempting to fight back the tears. “This is where she was found.”

    Luna went through the pictures, not even able to comprehend the extent of what she was looking at. She looked up to see Celestia holding two more pictures.

“She wasn’t alone.” The elder mare whimpered, handing over the pictures. Luna instantly felt outside of herself, not believing what she was seeing. Without a word, she dropped the pictures and wrapped her wings around her sister, as Celestia finally broke down.”

“I…...I almost lost them. I doubt I could ever forgive myself if anything had……. If anything……..”

Luna cooed soothing words as her sister cried into her shoulder. After a while, she noticed her elder sister had finally cried herself to sleep, a week of sleep deprivation finally catching up to her. Carefully she got her into bed, singing a soft lullaby spell to prevent any nightmares. Normally Luna hated using such magic, but she could make an exception this one time.

Laying down on the soft padded rug used for reading, she knew she would be unable to sleep. Carefully picking out one of her favorite books, she began reading by the light of her horn. Of course she knew that there was plenty of work to be done, but she decided against it. It killed her, but she wasn’t going to leave her sister like this. Not tonight.

“It will be ok Tia. I promise.”

      “Good morning girls.” Shining Armor yelled, scaring all of them. He had been hiding behind the door waiting for them.

        “Hiya Shining. The Princess call ya in also?” Applejack asked, looking around the room. No matter how many times she was in there, it still amazed her.

        “Yeah. It sounded urgent, but she didn’t want Cadence here. So I have no idea what’s going on.”

        “Hello everypony.” Everyone turned around to see Luna coming into the throne room. “My apologies, but we are needed in my sisters study. As safe as this room is…….there are too many ponies around.”

        “No problem Princess.” Rainbow Dash decided to start flying ahead, leaving the others behind.

        “Should somepony tell her she’s going in the wrong direction?”

        “She’ll figure it out soon enough, now please follow me. Wait……..Pinkie Pie. How did you know she went the wrong way? You girls have never been to that wing of the castle before.”

         “Can’t tell you. It’s a secret.” She giggled before jumping down the hall.

        “Alright then.” Perplexed, Luna decided to drop the subject for now. There were much more important matters to attend to at the moment. After walking for a couple of minutes, they came across a door with Celestial's cutie mark on it.

“Tia. It’s me.”

“Come in.”

As everypony gathered inside, they were amazed at the sheer size of it. It was easily as large as the Carousel Boutique. Taking a seat around the reading area, everypony noticed the unusual grave expression Celestia bore, and started realizing that something horrible must have happened.

“Is this about Twiley?” Shining Armor finally asked, breaking the awkward silence.

I thought they found her safe and sound.”

        “Yes, she was found and is safe now” Luna took a deep breath to steady herself. “She had been critically injured when we found her. Along with Sunset Shimmer.”

“SUNSET SHIMMER?” The girls chorused in disbelief.

        “Who’s Sunset Shimmer?”

       “I’m sorry Shining Armor, but that has to be a story for a different day. I have called you here because I fear for your safety.” Celestia sighed. She hated when she felt like she had failed, and having to admit that means she felt she can’t keep her subjects safe. “Something managed to nearly kill two very powerful mares, and not even Tirek could manage to do that.”

        Everypony visibly flinched at the mention of his name.

        “Because of this, my sister and I have decided to separate you. If you are in different places, then it would be a lot harder to get to you all. Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor you will  stay here. Now that you are a Wonderbolt  Rainbow Dash, on top of being the element of loyalty, you two would be good to have around for security. If that is alright with you, of course.”

        “Twilight is in the hospital. Buck yeah am I going to stay. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Shining nodded his head in agreement.

        “Now Fluttershy and Applejack will stay in Ponyville. Fluttershy you have your animals to take care of, and Applejack the farm. Yes, I am aware that it will be easy to find both of you, but I will have three guards assigned to each of you. They will be in disguise of course. Lastly Rarity and Pinkie Pie, in Shining Armors absence I am hoping that you would help Cadence. You don’t have to do paperwork or anything like that, but with her pregnant, and both of you having experience with pregnant mares and foals, then I trust she will be in good hooves.”

        “Of course Princess. We will be more then happy to help her.” Rarity exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically.

        “I have one question.” The stallion turned around to the younger alicorn. “Luna, may I see the pictures of where they were found, please? I trust that pictures were taken.”

        “I have them right over here.” She gestured for him to follow her. “I must warn you, this pictures are rather………..gruesome.”

        “I’ve seen my fair share of crime scenes. I’ll be okay..” He trotted to the other side of the room.

“You may not repeat what you are about to see.”

Taking the pictures in his aura, he started looking through them carefully.  For most of them, his expression had been indifferent as he carefully  studied them. The he saw the picture of Twilight. Dropping the pictures, he ran out of the room with Luna running after him.

“I was afraid that might happen.” Celestia sighed. “Your train leaves tonight. Until then, feel free to roam around the castle. We can talk about this more after lunch, after you had time to process this. Please remember, as of right now you are in protective custody, but you are all safe.”

“Mighty kind of you Princess. Any chance we can at least see Twi, fore’ we leave? The farmer asked with a glimmer of hope.

“Perhaps later on tonight, but not at the moment.” everypony started going over everything that they had just heard, in their heads, as they left. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity went back to their rooms, and Pinkie Pie started heading towards the kitchen.

“Princess?”

“Yes Fluttershy?”

“If Sunset Shimmer is here, then would it be alright if I had Spike tell our counterparts from Canterlot High that she is over here and safe? They must be awfully worried about her.”

“That is a wonderful idea. Please tell him, to also have one of them try to find her book. I know where Twilight keeps hers, so we can keep in touch. If you wish you may go with him, in Twilight’s place. Just please be careful.”

“Yes Princess, and I think Spike can handle it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity though.” She added meekly before running out. No doubt heading towards the gardens.

“That takes care of a couple more things.’ Celestia sighed again. The alicorn took her favorite seat next to the window, before allowing  the tears to start falling again. “I’ll find out what happened. I promise.”

The rest of the day just seemed to blur together. The two mares laying in the hospital was all she could think about for obvious reasons. The next thing she could remember, had been saying goodbye to everypony at the train station.

Not even a minute after she arrived back at the castle she heard a familiar voice calling her.

“Princess!”

“Captain Dusk, what is it?”

“You’re needed in the hospital wind. NOW.”

Teleporting herself to the hospital, she couldn't help but stand there for a moment shocked at the scene. Sunset was on the floor with new injuries, the doctor and nurse in front of her to guard her. On the other side of the room Shining Armor and Luna were holding Twilight in a anti-magic containment barrier.

Twilight had turned a shade grayer, her eyes were pitch black, and she was shaking rapidly as if having a seizure. Without even giving it a second thought, she rushed over to aid in keeping Twilight contained.

“What’s going on?” Celestia whispered, bewildered.

“She started having a large magic surge. When we tried to get it under control, she went crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it.” The doctor explained, his voice noticeably wavering as he attempted to stay calm. A couple minutes later the mare returned to her normal colors. once again unconscious.

“Shining Armor, find me a limiter. I’m going to enchant it to control her magic.” The former guard knew exactly where they were, and handed one to Luna. The doctors and nurses had managed to get Twilight back into bed, but with one change. They added restraints. Luna carefully placed the limiter over Twilight’s horn, and strapped it into place.

“Thank you so much.” The doctor bowed, still catching his breath. “I highly doubt we could have handled her by ourselves..”

“You don’t have to thank us. We should have prepared for a magic surge from the start. Luna, you and Shining go get some rest. You’ve earned it."

"What about you Tia?"

"I’m staying here, just to be safe.”

“Let us know if you need anything.”

“I will.”

As they turned to leave, Luna felt a very familiar feeling. Once she hadn’t known in years. Looking over his shoulder, Shining noticed the alicorn holding her head.

“Are you alright? You weren’t hurt, were you?”

“No, I am alright. I need to do a couple of things before I retire to bed. I trust you remember where your room is.”

“Nope, I have no idea.” He teased, turning down a hallway.

“It can't be. It was destroyed. Nevertheless  I need to work fast. I won’t let it take over again.”