Slowly, consciousness began to return to Twilight. As she began to stir, she felt something was wrong. Each of her hooves and her barrel was wrapped in something cold and hard, almost as cold and hard as the floor she lay on. There was an unusual weight on her horn. She also just felt…off. She could no longer feel her magic coursing through her, but there was more to it than that. It felt as though there was something else in place of the magic, tingling through her like electricity.

As her brain began to function once again, she tried to remember what had happened. She recalled sitting in the box when a series of unusually strong headaches had begun to plague her. Then the Queen had announced something, unbearable pain had hit her, and then was gently soothed away. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember what had caused it all to happen.

“Wake up, Twilight Sparkle,” a voice said, a familiar yet stern voice. Slowly, Twilight opened her right eye and winced at the light of the room. She furiously blinked both her eyes to focus, and felt her pulse increase when she saw who was speaking to her.

“Y-Your M-Majesty?” Twilight asked, stuttering as she looked up into the green eyes of the Queen. Eyes open and clear, Twilight could now see that she was in a stone cell. The only window outside was barred, as was the small window on the thick metal door. Twilight focused on the Queen, but she could see the guard captain, Sunset Shimmer, next to the door.

“Did you plan this?” the Queen asked, glaring at the prone mare. Twilight flinched, but she did not dare look away from the piercing eyes of the Queen.

“P-Plan t-this?” Twilight stammered, trying to back away ever so slightly only to hear a faint jingle as she moved. She looked down nervously. The weights on her hooves were metal cuffs, attached to chains and connected to an anchor in the middle of the floor. Twilight had read enough to know that the weight on her horn had to be a magical restraint designed to prevent her use of magic because metal cuffs wouldn’t normally stop a unicorn who could simply pick the locks. She also saw the dark purple torc that lay around her neck, and the Element of Magic that lay within, glowing with a steady pink light.

Twilight suddenly saw an image in her mind of her magic surge breaking the case, the element repairing, and…nothing. That was it. But these weren’t her memories. She was watching the event as though she had slipped into someone else’s head. She could see her face, wide-eyed, and pained.

“No. No, I didn’t plan this. I don’t know what happened,” Twilight whispered, looking back at the Queen in fear. “I was just getting headaches, but then I saw the element and my magic went wild and all I felt was pain and—”

“Enough,” the Queen said. Twilight clamped her mouth shut and curled in on herself, whimpering slightly. “Can you remove the torc?”

Twilight blinked in confusion, trying to understand the unusual request. “I-I can try, I g-guess,” she said, placing her front hooves on the torc. She began to try and push the torch up her neck, but it refused to budge. It didn’t feel like it was attached to her at all; in fact, she could barely feel it around her neck despite its size. Twilight tried using both her front and hind hooves to lift the torc, but no matter what, it didn’t budge an inch.

Suddenly, a green aura surrounded Twilight’s hooves and pulled her upright, as though another pony was helping her to her hooves. Before Twilight could register what had happen, it vanished and her hooves fell.

“It’s as I thought,” the Queen said, looking at the torc. “I could not remove it either. It seems that you are now stuck with the Element of Magic, quite literally.” She frowned.

“Y-your majesty?” Twilight asked. “W-why am I locked up? I-I swear I don’t know what happened. A-Am I in trouble?”

The Queen looked at her with a suddenly emotionless expression. “Did you not notice?” she asked flatly. When Twilight just tilted her head, the Queen simply lifted a hoof and pointed at the mare’s barrel. When Twilight turned to see what she was pointing at, all her thoughts just stopped.

Purple wings.

On her back.

Attached to her.

Said wings were strapped to her sides via a leather restraining band, and Twilight could feel that band on them. The wings were real.

Twilight’s breathing came short and fast. She had wings. Wings and a horn. She was… was…

“You're now an alicorn,” the Queen said, drawing the attention of the panicking mare. “Whatever the element did allowed you to do something that has never been accomplished before. You are the first pony in history to ever recover their godhood after it was stripped away by the Cloud.”

“W-why… H-how…w-wings… a-alicorn…?” Twilight stuttered. This was too much. Her mind couldn’t process this. Twilight silently begged that the Queen wouldn’t drop any more bombshells of information on her, but the Queen continued despite Twilight’s progressively more hysterical breathing.

“Shortly after your little flare, Thorn, in an act of brazen defiance to my commands, tried to kill you to see if the element could be removed.” Twilight let out an involuntary wail and quickly pressed her hoof over her mouth, struggling to control herself. The Queen was not deterred. “However, the Element of Magic reacted and struck Thorn before she could touch you, causing her horn to badly fracture. She will recover, eventually, but it is clear that we will be unable to remove the element, and attempting to do so will only result in pain for those involved.

“As a Keeper, I’m sure you know what we did to the other elements. They were locked away in anti-magic chambers to prevent outside forces, specifically the Cloud, from ever touching them or tracing their magical signal. Since you now wear the element, you will follow a similar fate.”

“W-What?” Twilight asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“You have been asleep for nearly a week,” the Queen continued, ignoring the purple alicorn. “In that time, a room here in the castle has been prepared to house you until the element can be removed, or that it is otherwise indicated that you should be released. The room will be covered in anti-magic runes similar to the element cases, but as a precaution, your magic will be restricted as well, whether it be your unicorn, pegasi, or earth pony magic. You will be cared for, but you will not be allowed to leave. Ever.”

“B-B-But what about m-my family? M-My friends? L-Lady Celestia and L-L-Lady Luna?” Twilight cried. She was a bit afraid of her magic, but it was still a part of who she was. Her life wasn’t perfect, but it was far better than it had been and was probably the best she could ask for given the circumstances, even with the occasional stress and night terror. The thought of losing all of that…

“They will not be permitted to see you,” the Queen said without batting an eye. “The protection of the elements is what is most important. And because you now hold the Element of Magic, it will be impossible for me to wield them and heal Equestria.” Twilight’s eyes widened. The Queen scoffed before leaning to whisper in her ear. “Are you surprised? I am one of the few ponies with the knowledge to successfully wield the Elements of Harmony, but now because of you, I can’t. Equestria will remain broken, because of you.”

Twilight collapsed, sobbing as she turned away from the Queen, trying to think of a counter, a way to prove her wrong. She wanted to say something. Anything. But nothing came.

“Enjoy your last night of freedom. The room will be finished tomorrow morning,” the Queen said, turning and walking out of the room. Sunset turned to follow, but just before closing the door, she turned to look at the sobbing alicorn. Without the Queen noticing, her horn lit, creating a small and invisible soundproof bubble.

“Get some rest, Twilight,” she said, catching the alicorn’s attention. “I have a feeling you’re going to need it.” She allowed the spell to dissipate and closed the door with a solid bang.

Twilight obeyed without thinking. The shock of the Queen’s news was making her head hurt beyond the capacity for rational thought. She stood shakily and climbed into the small cot hanging from the wall. She had to stick her hooves out awkwardly so she was not lying on her chains, but she was too exhausted to feel uncomfortable and fell asleep almost instantly.

Ten years ago…

“Lady Celestia, Lady Celestia!” Twilight cried as she ran quickly into her teacher’s lounge, only to come skidding to a halt as she caught sight of the other guest in the room. Standing there was none other than the Queen herself. Twilight had never actually met her, but she had heard stories and rumors from others in House Shining Star about what she was like.

“It’s ok, Twilight,” Celestia said, looking at the unicorn warmly, although Twilight could see a hint of nervousness behind her smile. “The Queen was simply here to check on your progress as my student.”

“Indeed,” the Queen said, her voice loud and strong, causing Twilight to shiver slightly. “She has told me that you are progressing very fast, even faster than Sunset Shimmer did. Your scores on her evaluations rival that of a unicorn twice your age. So I thought I should come see for myself.” As she spoke, her eyes began to glow bright green, covering her irises and pupils. Twilight felt her magic examining her, looking deeper into her that anyone else had before.

Twilight knew the Queen was using ‘magic sight,’ a rare alicorn spell that allowed an alicorn to examine another pony’s magical signature. Celestia had used it on occasion to see how Twilight’s magic was developing or to make sure the unicorn was healthy, so Twilight had become used to the feeling. But the Queen’s felt more…invasive. It lacked the subtle and gentle touch that Celestia used, and dived directly into Twilight’s magic and examining every inch and detail of if. After what felt like hours, the Queen released the spell, and Twilight stood shaking.

“You have not been exaggerating, Celestia,” the Queen said, nodding curtly. “Her magic is indeed impressive.” The royal alicorn caught sight of the small stone plate that Twilight was balancing on her back. “What do you have there?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Twilight gulped slightly before looking to Celestia for help. Celestia simply nodded, signaling her to explain.

“I-It’s a project I w-was working on,” Twilight stammered, finding it hard to meet the Queen’s eyes. “I-I think I found a w-way to help explore the m-Miasma.”

Both alicorns were shocked by this announcement. Twilight hadn’t even told Celestia that she was working on such a project.

“Can you explain how?” the Queen asked after a minute of silence.

Twilight nodded slightly before levitating the tablet off her back. The tablet was circular, and had ten gems imbedded around its outer rim, with a complex symbol in the center. “T-The biggest problem with M-Miasma exploration is the energy r-reserves of the pony casting the r-resistance spell. I think that i-if we use a gem matrix, w-where the gems are filled with magic and are used to p-power the protection enchantment through a spell r-rune, we could create a separate d-device to protect ponies entering the M-Miasma.” Twilight kept her eyes on the stone tablet as she talked, not daring to look up. “T-This is just a prototype I made. I-I haven’t tested it yet.”

“Allow me,” the Queen said, her magic gently taking hold of the tablet. Twilight relented her hold as the Queen lifted and inspected it. After about a minute, the royal alicorn lit her horn. The gems began to glow as the magic entered the matrix and started to power the symbol. Unfortunately, the light quickly flickered and died, causing Twilight’s head to fall in disappointment. She had never managed to get the matrix to work, but no matter what she changed, she couldn’t figure out the problem. However, a quick flash caught her eye, and upon looking up, she gasped. The symbol was now floating above the stone. Quickly, the Queen’s magic latched onto it and altered it slightly, eliminating a single line in the center before reattaching the symbol to the stone.

Lighting her horn again, the Queen ignited the gems again, and this time the symbol glowed brightly, projecting a shield around her. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was clear the prototype had worked.

“There was a simple mistake in the symbol,” the Queen said, ignoring Twilight and Celestia’s slack jaw expressions. “The gem matrix also needs to be improved to allow for more even magic distribution and longer life spans. Other than that,” she said, before turning and walking away slowly with a slight smile on her face, “excellent work, Twilight Sparkle. It seems I was right to assign you to Celestia. Keep up the good work.” She shut the door behind her with a flourish.

Present day…

Twilight slowly opened her eyes. She remembered that day. Her matrix project had been a big part in further exploration of the Miasma, maybe what even led to the discovery of the Element of Magic. It was the only time she had spoken to the Queen face to face, at least until today. Twilight sighed. Even after her mind had time to process everything, she still couldn’t believe it. She had ascended, apparent gaining back what her ancestors had lost, but now she was about to lose her entire life because of some stupid gem. A stupid gem SHE HELPED FIND!

“Stupid element,” she muttered, glaring down at the gem still embedded in the torc. “I bet you’re what caused my magic to go crazy in the meeting hall. Why did you have to pick the center of the auditorium filled with every alicorn in existence to make me go crazy? What did I do to deserve this punishment, huh?” She got no response, so she just huffed and chose to glare at a nearby wall. Eventually her expression turned from anger to sadness. “Why me?” she whispered.

You will learn soon enough.

“EEP!” Twilight cried in shock, falling off the bed and onto the cold stone floor with a clatter of chains. “What the…? Who…?” she began before a banging could be heard on her cell door. Turning, she saw a guard enter, place a tray on the floor, and turn to leave.

“Eat,” he said before closing the door with a bang. Still unsure what just happened, Twilight walked over to examine her food. The meal consisted of a simple soup, an apple, and a glass of water. Her stomach let out a growl, prompting Twilight to begin eating the apple first. It was a little difficult to do so without her horn, but not too hard.

The strange voice still echoed in her head, even as she ate. She thought she might have been hallucinating when it happened during her flare, but this time she definitely heard something.

Before she could think on it further, she noticed something odd on the tray. Squinting, she realized there was a small piece of paper under the water glass. Gingerly lifting the glass, she removed the slip and quickly read it:

When an opportunity appears, take it

Twilight blinked in confusion. What did that mean? Before she could think on it further, something else caught her eye. There was something in the soup. Something shiny. Grapping the spoon, she immediately tried to fish it out.

Klang.

Twilight dropped the spoon and the offending object in shock. A key. There was a shiny silver key in her soup. But what was… With a realization Twilight scooped up the key with a hoof and felt around her horn until she found the keyhole on the restraint. The key was too new to be for her leg restraints, so maybe… She immediately tried the key.

Click.

IT FIT!

Twilight was stunned. After a minute, she quickly regained her senses, and relocked the restraint, hiding the key in her mane before she began to scarf down the rest of her food. She had been given a way out. She could escape! But she had to be careful. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the guard came back in and retrieved the tray. After the door closed, Twilight unlocked her horn and began using her magic on the first leg restraints. Moonlight was shining through her barred window, but Twilight couldn’t tell the time since the moon was blocked from view. The only thing she knew was that she had to escape by sunrise. Then she just had to get back to Lady Celestia and—

BOOM!

Suddenly, a loud explosion rocked the entire prison complex. Twilight had just gotten the wing restraints off when the floor shook. Her wings quickly spread out and prevented her from falling over.

‘Oh Celestia, this feels WEIRD,’ Twilight thought as she tried to control her new limbs. The fact that they were sore from being trapped to her sides didn’t help either. Suddenly, more explosions sounded from outside. Alarms began to blare as the prison continued to shake. Twilight, ignoring her wings for the moment, quickly jumped over to the window and gasped at the sight. Her window was overlooking the cliff that Canterlot sat on. Far below, she could see the flashes of cannons and hear a multitude of thumps as the cannonballs impacted the prison.

‘Who the HECK would be crazy enough to attack Canterlot!? And why attack the prison!?’ she thought. This was insane. Everypony knew the Queen lived here, and there was no telling if any of the alicorns were still here after her ascension. Why would…whoever it was… decide to attack NOW of all times?!

Suddenly, she was forced to duck as a cannonball flew directly through her barred window and into the metal door, blowing it off its hinges.

That’s why.

Twilight jumped again, but quickly shook her head. She could worry about the female voice in her head AFTER she escaped the prison. Poking her head out of the broken door, she saw that the guard that had brought her food was nearby unconscious. The rest of the hallway was abandoned.

‘Ok Twilight, just stay calm,’ she thought as she began to make her way down the hallway. ‘You have a chance here. You can’t teleport out, the prison is warded against that. Just stay calm and—‘

“HEY!” A guard yelled as he rounded the corner.

“EEP!” Twilight cried in shock. Her horn flared to life far more quickly that she was used to and her spell shot down the hallway. The guard had no time to react. After the smoke cleared, Twilight found herself staring at a potted cactus dressed in guard armor.

“Sorry,” she squeaked out, before running past. That spell would only last a few hours at best. Now all she had to worry about was the rest of the guards in the prison, the fact that her magic had a very fine hair trigger now, and the fact that she probably now qualified as a wanted fugitive. ‘No pressure,’ she thought as a few strands of her mane began to stick out from stress.

Despite the fact that she was in a heavily guarded section of the prison, with solitary cells and overflowing with guard stations, there were so few guards in the halls it was ridiculous. Some of the stations were completely empty, while other guards were so distracted with the attack that Twilight was able to easily sneak past. One station even had a guard asleep for crying out loud. How could he sleep when the prison was being pounded by cannonballs? But just when she thought it couldn’t get stupider, she saw that most of the guards not in stations were going in the opposite direction of her and her cell. ‘There is no way security is this bad,’ Twilight thought skeptically, but it certainly seemed that way.

Unfortunately, despite this good luck it soon became apparent to Twilight that she had no idea where she was. She could have sworn that was same sleeping guard she passed three times already. Where more guards asleep despite the noise? She couldn’t tell. At this rate, she would never escape the prison by the time things calmed down.

Left.

Twilight flinched. And then there was that.

‘I really hope I’m not going crazy,’ she thought.

You’re not. Now take a left and then take the third right.

Twilight jumped this time as the voice actually responded to her, but rather than question it, she decided to follow its instructions. ‘It’s not like I have a better plan at this point,’ she thought as she took the left. When she turned right, she immediately crashed into somepony. However, before she could retaliate, a set of hooves and a set of claws wrapped tightly around her in a hug.

“TWILIGHT!”

“Flash!? Spike!? What in the name of Celestia are you doing here!?” Twilight cried, not believing her eyes. But there they were, looking a bit worn out, but beaming at her.

“We’re here to rescue you!” Spike cried, not relinquishing his hold.

“WHAT! Are you both CRAZY! Don’t you know how much trouble you’ll be in if you’re caught? And if Celestia and Luna found out…”

“They already approved the mission,” Flash said, smiling smugly as Twilight gaped at him. “They told me to come and get you out. It seems that you beat us to the punch.”

Twilight was about to respond when a guard rounded the corner less than three feet away from the trio. Thankfully, before he could yell a warning, Flash had already flicked a sleeper bomb off his wing. It scored a direct hit with the guard’s face, knocking him out almost instantly.

“We need to move. Now,” Flash said, breaking the hug and pulling Twilight to her hooves. Spike also relinquished his hug and hopped on Twilight’s back.

“Whoa,” Spike said. “Celestia wasn’t kidding when she said you ascended.” He poked one, and it sprung out instantly.

“EEP!” Twilight cried as she staggered, off balance. “Please don’t poke them Spike, they’re very sensitive right now, and the fact they were bound to my sides for a few days doesn’t help.”

“Sorry,” Spike said, smiling awkwardly.

As the three ran down the hallways, Twilight began asking questions.

“What exactly is the plan here?” she asked.

“We need to get you out, then make our way to the Everfree Forest. It’s the only place that you’ll be safe.”

“THE EVERFREE FOREST!?” Twilight cried in shock, only for Spike’s claw to clamp over her mouth as a guard patrol passed. Thankfully, her shout had been blocked out by a well-timed explosion. Twilight bit her lip under Spike’s claw, trying not to cry.

The Everfree Forest was a thick, untamed forest towards the center of Equestria. Unlike the rest of Equestria that had been torn apart by the destructive magic of the cloud, the Everfree seemed to thrive on that raw energy. It had its own weather, the animals were dangerous, and no one, not even the alicorns, dared to enter it except on very rare and desperate occasions. It also surrounded about 90% of the Miasma, possibly drawing strength from it and allowing for all kinds of mutated creatures to roam the forest.

“Why in Equestria’s name would we go there?” Twilight asked after Spike let her mouth go. “We should just go back to Lady Celestia. I’m sure—“

“The entire property is already swarming with the Queen’s guards,” Flash said, cutting her off. “They’re looking for anything that might explain what happened or any scrap of evidence that Celestia and Luna knew what was going to happen. As expected, they haven’t found anything, but if we try and go back you’ll just be captured all over again.” Flash sighed before turning to look at Twilight. “Your family is safe, but we can’t go back. Even if I’m found, Lady Luna will need to claim that I went rogue while she works on a new play to get you out. We need to go into hiding, and the Everfree is the only place we can do so.”

“B-but my work… my books…” Twilight said, her eyes starting to fill with tears. She remembered what the Queen had said, but there had been a part of her brain that thought things could back to normal, or that she could get help from her mentors and come up with a solution. It could never happen now. “My life…”

Flash, never missing a beat, stopped walking and turned to immediately hug Twilight, catching her slightly off guard. “I know it’s hard to accept,” he said. “And I know what its like to have to leave your home behind, but right now we need to escape. I promise that I will help you through the emotions later, but can you keep your head on for just a bit longer?”

Twilight shuttered and sniffed, but nodded. “Y-yeah, I… I can try.”

“Just focus on the escape,” Flash said, releasing her and turning around to check the next corridor. “Everything else comes later.” Twilight shuttered but nodded, doing her best to keep up as Flash continued to lead the way down the corridors. As they ran, she tried not to think about losing the only life she had ever known. A few encouraging words from Spike calmed her more than she thought they would, at least for the moment. Eventually, after avoiding a few more guards rushing off to deal with the chaos, the group arrived at small room. Upon entering it, Flash immediately closed the door and blocked with a large cart filled with cleaning supplies. As he did this, Twilight glanced around and noticed the only thing in the room was a large grate on the floor. Her eyes went wide.

“No.”

“Twilight…”

“No way, I am NOT going in a SEWER. Do you know how many kinds of bacteria live down there!?”

“I don’t want to know,” Flash said as he pried the cover off. Twilight cringed as the smell wafted into the room. Clearly the lid had been enchanted to block the smell. “But this is the only way out right now. Unless you think we can get out without being seen by all the guards outside and avoid all the cannonballs.”

“Who is even firing on this place?” Spike asked. “I know Luna snuck us in with her magic, but I don’t remember them ever mentioning they were going to attack. And why haven’t the cannonballs stopped by now?” And just like that, the rumbles stopped. Spike gave a little giggle.

“Ok, we need to move now,” Flash ordered.

“There is no way I’m going down there,” Twilight said again, chancing a look down the dark hole in the ground.

“Then I’m sorry,” Flash said.

“Sorry for wh—“ Twilight began before screaming as Flash gave her a hard shove in the flank, pushing her right down the hole. Twilight desperately tried to flap her wings in the few seconds of free fall, but they were uneven and uncoordinated and they barely slowed her down. Thankfully, her magic reacted and formed a small bubble shield, allowing it to break her fall rather than the river of sludge. The sewer itself was a large tunnel with a curved ceiling and a small service walkway on the right side for repair ponies. But Twilight didn’t care about that.

“CELESTIA DAMMIT FLASH!” she screamed, as Flash bounced down onto the bubble beside her. Her mane began to smoke as she glared at the pegasus. Her eyes were red, and her look had a 25% chance of melting stone. “I DID NOT WANT TO GO SWIMMING IN SEWAGE!”

“And you didn’t. And now we also have a ride so we don’t need to walk all the way,” Flash said, pointing with a hoof. True to his word, the shield was lazily drifting down the river of sewage.

“UGH! Why do you always do this!?” she yelled, still glaring daggers.

“Because the longer we waited, the better chance there would be of the guards finding you after they realized you escaped.” Flash said, matching her gaze with no fear. “My number one priority right now is protecting you and making sure you don’t end up spending the rest of your life in an anti-magic box.” His eyes softened. “You’re stronger than you think, Twilight. Instead of just refusing to do something, you need to start using your magic to make something doable. There are going to be a lot of situations out there where you need to make split-second decisions, and not doing something just because it’s dirty or rude can cost you your freedom, and maybe even your life.”

“My life?” Twilight asked. Her eyes were still wary, but her mane was no longer smoking.

“Let’s say your being chased by a Manticore. You have three second to decide of you want to keep running, or dive under a muddy bramble of bushes that the Manticore can’t follow you through. What would you do?”

“Go under the bramble,” Twilight said instantly. “But did you really need to push me into a sewer? What if I didn’t get the shield up in time?”

“You really need to start trusting yourself more,” Flash said, smiling at her. “You’ve had years of experience under the training of Celestia and Luna. You know probably more spells than all the other unicorns in existence. You just need to start using them. Besides, I’m sure you have a spell somewhere in that big amazing brain of yours that could clean us of sewage if we did fall in.”

Despite the situation, Twilight couldn’t help but blush slightly at the praise. “Ok, ok, I get it. More magic, more quick thinking. Not exactly something you’re taught as a Keeper,” she grumbled.

“That’s why I’m here,” Flash said, causing Twilight to raise an eyebrow.

“The Ladies said you would need to know how to fight,” Spike chimed in, “so they gave Flash a few combat books and told him to help sharpen your reflexes. They also gave him a few on flying because, well, you know.”

“We’ll worry about that part later,” Flash said before looking ahead. “Seems our stop is coming up.” Sure enough, up ahead there were a series of bars over the sewer tunnel cutting it off from the rest of the sewer, probably to stop escape attempts. There also was a sizeable hole blown in the right side of said bars right over the walkway. Twilight looked at Flash questioningly. He shrugged. “Luna said to come this way and there would be a way out, I didn’t actually think she would just blow up the bars.”

“I don’t know, I could see her doing that,” Spike said with a grin. Twilight just sighed. Once the shield reached the grate, she teleported the three of them over to the small walkway next to the river of sewage. Thankfully whatever enchantments might have been on the grate were destroyed, allowing her to teleport. The three then carefully made their way through the opening, carefully avoiding the jutting bits of metal. As soon as all three of them were past, the metal began to glow before it quickly reconstructed itself, leaving no sign that they had been there. “Well, that’s convenient,” Spike said with a shrug.

After a few more minutes of walking, the group came upon a staircase leading up. With Flash in the lead, the group quickly ascended the stairs until they reached a rusted metal door. As they pried it open, the sounds of a siren immediately fell upon the ears of the party, one that was far louder than the attack alarm.

“I think they know you’re gone,” Spike said, looking at Twilight.

“What was your first clue?” Flash asked, “The siren or the army of guards running around?” True enough, the entire night sky was filled with pegasus guards and they could hear the march of many armored hooves on the cobblestone streets. “I thought we’d have more time before they noticed you were gone.” Flash grunted in frustration.

“Well…” Twilight began shyly, “A cannonball DID blow the door off my cell, and in my rush to get out I didn’t think of repairing it, so there’s a good chance they might have seen that once the attacks stopped.”

“Looks like we need plan J,” Flash said, exiting the sewer and motioning for Twilight and Spike to quickly follow. He nodded to Twilight. “Do you have enough control to open your wings to their fullest length at your command?”

“I-I think so?” Twilight responded nervously as the group hid in an ally to avoid a guard patrol. They were very close to the edge of the city, but there were no paths off this portion of the mountain. “Why?”

“Because plan J stands for ‘plan Jump,’” Flash said, wincing as Twilight’s eyes widened.

“You… that… I can’t fly! I just got wings and have only been awake for maybe three hours! Please tell me you have another backup plan,” she begged.

“No, I don’t, and it’s the only thing I can think of that has even a chance of success,” Flash said, grabbing her and forcing her under an apple cart before quickly joining her. About five seconds after, another guard patrol thundered past. “They’ll have pegasi all over the mountain side looking for ponies trying to go up or down, and all the trains will be searched extensively. But since we’re near the Canterlot Waterfall, there’s a chance that we can use the water and mist to hide our escape. It won’t work in the daylight though, so we need to go now.”

“But I CAN’T FLY!” Twilight stressed, her mane beginning to stand out at random angles from anxiety.

“You don’t need to fly,” Flash said. “You just need to open your wings when I say ‘now’ and glide. Gliding is easy, you just open your wings and let the air slow your fall as you shoot forward.” Twilight was about to protest when Flash turned to look her in the eyes. “Please Twilight, just trust me on this. If you can open your wings, you’ll be fine. And if you have a better idea, please let me know now.”

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but could only sigh. “Ok, I’ll try. But you need to carry Spike in case I don’t make it,” she said, levitating the dragon over to his back.

“There is water at the bottom, you know,” Spike said. “And since you’re an alicorn, aren’t you, like, super durable or something?”

“That doesn’t mean it still won’t hurt,” Twilight said with a sigh. After dodging another patrol, the group found themselves near the large spring-fed lake in Canterlot that fed the waterfall. The area served as a nice park with a restored open field and a few trees. It also meant there was almost no cover from their current location to their destination: the cliff that was marked off by a series of ropes.

“Ready?” Flash asked.

“No,” Twilight said nervously.

“Me neither, but this is our only chance.” Flash extended a hoof. Twilight gulped, but reached out and took his hoof, clutching it tightly. “On the count of three. One… Two…”

“THREE!”

And with that, the two ponies sprinted across the open field, running directly towards the cliff. Twilight felt her heart pounding with both excitement and fear. This was the craziest thing she had ever done, it defied ALL logic in her mind, and she was STILL GOING TO DO IT! With this final thought, she leapt over the guard ropes and over the cliff of Canterlot. For a moment, she felt like she was flying.

But then gravity kicked in.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” she screamed, as did Spike, and the two ponies and one dragon plunged over the edge of the mountain city. Twilight flailed her body in a panic (though only just managed to avoid flailing her wings), while Spike clenched his eyes shut. With some subtle maneuvering, Flash directed the trio into the mist the waterfall was creating, drenching them and making them almost impossible to see from the outside. The roar of the water drowned out Twilight’s screams out as they plunged.

Down and down they fell, approaching the large lake at the bottom. As they approached, Twilight felt Flash clench her hoof, prompting her to look over at him. He began mouthing numbers in a descending order. Or maybe he was yelling them and she simply couldn’t hear. Either way, she began to mouth along as the lake grew closer and closer. Finally, just as they were about to hit, Flash mouthed ‘now.’

Twilight immediately spread her wings as far as they could go. The sudden force on her still new body part caused pain to shoot through Twilight’s limbs. The force of the air was intense, so much so it felt like her wings were about to be ripped right out of their sockets. As the air caught the underside of their wings, Flash and Twilight were no longer falling but speeding across the surface of the lake, leaving a wake as they went. After only a few seconds, they were soaring over the shoreline and into the Everfree Forest. It was then that Twilight realized through her pain that they had a new problem: She didn’t know how to stop!

Thankfully Mother Nature decided to improvise and the pair quickly collided with a large tangle of vines. The plants slowed their momentum so abruptly that both Twilight and Flash were left to crash into the underbrush.

“THAT WAS AWESOME!” Spike cried, jumping out of the brush and dusting himself off. “Can we do that again someday?”

“Not if I can help it,” Twilight groaned, sitting up and rubbing her sore wings, both of which seemed very reluctant to return to her sides.

“Look at the bright side,” Flash said, rubbing his head. “You’re free.”

Twilight blinked before looking up at the city that was just barely visible through the thick tree canopy. “Yeah,” she whispered. “I’m free.”

Author's Note

SHE'S FREEEEEEEEEE! FREE FALLIN!
Alternate joke:
Flash: I believe I can flyyyy
Twilight: WELL I DON'T!!!

This chapter was a blast to write. I don't know why but it was.

But poor Twi With the element around her neck, the Queen can't heal equestria! Or so she thinks.

What will happen next? Where is the rest of the gang? Will I ever stop asking the reader questions? I don't know, but this is the last chapter for now, though I do plan to add another one next week, so keep an eye out

Next time: Let sleeping alicorns lie