Madison: An Archaeologist's HIE Taleby The AtlanteanChaptersThe Everfree ForestBringing Twilight Back Up to SpeedTo Break A Horn LockThe Everfree ForestThe young woman walked slowly through the halls, flashlight in her left hand. She wore tan cargo shorts and a dirty tan button shirt, and kept her long brown hair neatly tied into a ponytail under her wide-brimmed leather hat. A worn leather satchel hung at her right hip, the strap wrapping around her torso to her left shoulder. She rather liked looking like her movie-star hero Indiana Jones. Her name was Madison Reynolds, and she had a fascination for the ancient unknown. She typically found ruined sites for others to excavate or items for them to bring back home, but that was fine with her. As long as Madison got paid, she'd give others the spotlight. She was exploring her most recent find: a castle in a forest rumored to be magical. Nobody who entered these woods ever came out, and Madison could see why, as she herself barely made it this far alive. One of her comrades wasn't so lucky, being devoured by what the rumors called Timberwolves within minutes of entering the forest. The second of the two suffered the same fate an hour later, and she had to put a precious bullet from one of her three clips in his head to spare herself the screams - and him the pain as he was dragged away. She was almost caught herself, but fired off the rest of the clip into the howling pack of wood monsters. She’d quickly reloaded, but the Timberwolves were gone, so she picked the dropped clip back of the ground and stuffed it in her satchel. Madison whirled around and whipped her pistol out of its holster as she heard a loud crashing sound in the ruin behind her, only to see one of the hallway’s great arches collapse to the floor. “Well, can't go back that way,” she whispered to herself. She holstered the old, battered 1911 Colt - her grandfather’s - and continued on. Madison walked up to one of the great double doors to the main throne room and was unable to resist the urge to look up. It was enormous, with an arched roof one hundred feet up, huge stone columns to support it, and a wide staircase leading to the thrones. Behind each throne hung a tapestry, torn from a thousand years of age. The stained glass window between the tapestries was shattered, fallen pieces scattered on the floor. The cold stone flooring was being overgrown with grass, moss, and a few large vines that creeped up the columns. A single massive hole in the roof let the soft, silvery moonlight into the chamber, reflecting off the shattered glass to make twinkling stars on the floor. All Madison could do was stare in wonder. How old is this place? Must be 700 years, minimum, she thought. And it's not even on the map. Hell, this godforsaken forest isn't on the map, either, but here I am. Madison continued through the castle. It wasn't long before she came across the castle library. Its bookshelves were filled to the brim, surprisingly, and a purple creature inside was reading, which was even weirder. Madison could clearly see that it was alone, which in itself was a relief. Her flashlight beam wandered into the library as she continued to observe the… pony indulging itself in ancient literature. Looks like some kind of unicorn-pegasus mix of a mare, but in a color I've never seen. What pony would be purple? And it's with - a dragon? Suddenly, Madison hid behind the wall and froze as she heard the pony talk. She aimed her flashlight back down the hall she came, ready to run. “Spike, did you see that?” “No, Twilight. What was it?” “It looked like a beam of light, sharp and concentrated.” The pony got up and walked over to the open library door. “Hello? I'm not going to hurt you.” Madison quickly turned her flashlight off and backed slowly towards the throne room. She stepped on a loose rock and lost her balance as it shot out from under her, falling onto her back with a thud. The impact made her lose consciousness, and Madison was out cold. The violet pony, hearing Madison fall, galloped to the door and cast an illumination spell. She saw the unconscious woman, and used a levitation spell to carry her to the table. When Madison woke, she saw sat up and looked around. The library windows told her it was morning, and she noticed the floor a few feet below her. She turned to the side, swinging her legs over the side of the table. Her first relief was that she wasn’t tied up. “Oh, God. That hurt.” She checked herself and was pleased to be in one piece. “Uh, excuse me. I was wondering who you were,” said the pony. “I'm Madison, an archeologist from Kansas. I came to explore the forest,” she instantly responded. “What species are you?” “Human. Why?” Madison turned her head to look at the pony. “Whoa, what are you?!” “If you calm down, I can explain-” “Who the hell are you?!” “I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is my assistant, Spike.” She gestured with her hoof. “I heard you fall last night.” “Well, thanks for taking care of me.” Madison said as kindly as she could while she brushed some dust off her shoulders. She said asked her original question again. “What are you, exactly?” “I'm an alicorn. But, why were you out here in the Everfree forest at midnight? It's extremely dangerous.” “I was doing my job. I might ask you the same thing.” “Peace and quiet. Being well known can get too crazy for relaxation without being alone for a while.” “Amen to that.” Madison stood up and walked around slowly. “Where are we, exactly?” After Twilight’s explanation as to what she and her friend were, Madison had relaxed. “The safest place in the Forest. This is the Castle of the Two Sisters.” Twilight replied. “Mm-hmm.” The archeologist looked at her GPS. It showed the “no signal” screen. It was also at twenty percent battery left, but she didn’t notice. “Satellites aren't picking me up. That's strange.” “Come on. I'll take you to Ponyville.” “Anything to get out of this forest. My friends - both of them - were eaten by some kind of wooden wolf.” “Timberwolves? They killed your friends?” “Yes. I’d rather not talk about it.” Madison’s face turned a dark anger very rarely seen on such a young woman. Twilight shrunk away, afraid of the woman’s expression and a possible rage. Then Madison’s face cleared, and Twilight bounded back to her normal curious self. The three walked out of the castle and through the forest. The whole way, they talked about differences in their societies, mostly for Madison’s benefit. When they arrived in town, a certain pink pony practically ran them over. “Hiya, Twilight! Who's your friend?” “Madison, this is my friend Pinkie Pie. Pinkie, this is Madison. She's an archeologist. Madison, Pinkie. Pinkie, Madison.” “You know, Twilight, my Pinkie Sense went off while you were gone. After that, we learned the news from your brother, who, by the way, is reeeaaaally nervous about you. It's really bad.” A few other ponies saw them and galloped over. Twilight introduced them as the unicorn Rarity, the pegasi Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and the earth pony Applejack. “Oh, Twilight. Thank goodness you're alright! The other princesses apparently boarded their respective trains to come for a visit. But that's not the bad part.” Applejack exclaimed, not even noticing the peach-colored human. “What's the bad part?” the alicorn asked. The orangish Earth pony looked at the others, hoping for a volunteer. Rarity did the same, as did Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Finally, Rainbow Dash said it. “The trains hit some kind of rift and now Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence have all disappeared. Right off the map.” She exaggerated with her hooves as she talked. Twilight gasped. She rapidly looked between each of her friends. Her attempts to calm down failed, and she began hyperventilating. After a minute, she fainted as she realized that it was up to her to run all of Equestria. Author's Note I started this story a long time ago. I guess that my want to continue writing despite the fact that I'm really tired made me pick this back off the shelf, blow away the dust. I've added details that you guys will never know weren't there. I think I'm getting better at place descriptions, but I don't know. So tell me in the comments: What did I do right, and what did I do wrong? Bringing Twilight Back Up to SpeedThe Princess of Friendship awoke in her bed in the Golden Oaks Library. Spike saw her get up and ran over to help her up. “Twilight, are you okay?” “I'll be fine. What's new?” “Well, in the three weeks since you fainted, everything’s gone downhill,” the dragon replied. “Three weeks? What happened? Am I needed? What do you mean by ‘downhill?’” Twilight started shooting questions at her assistant in rapid-fire mode, something he almost never saw. Spike’s reply never came out of his mouth. Instead, he ran downstairs to answer the door as the bell rang. He looked through the window first, then admitted the guest in. His apparent caution did not escape Twilight’s notice as she leaned over the rail by the stairs. “Madison, how are you?” the dragon asked. “Not good. They want an answer, and they want it now.” Twilight walked down the wooden flight of stairs, still fairly groggy. “Who's they?” Madison closed the door, locking it behind her. When she did, Twilight noticed the cuts through her leather jacket down into her back. They looked like the archaeologist was whipped. Her once-neatly-tied hair was wild, and she had slight discolorations that labeled bruises all over her face. Madison clearly wasn't in a very good condition, even considering her being a completely different species. “Let me take a look at that.” The princess pulled a book out the shelves. Spike saw it was titled ‘Healing Spells For Major and Minor Injuries.’ Twilight flipped through the pages for a minute, then asked Madison to sit on the center table. The woman complied, and Twilight cast a simple spell that surrounded Madison. The cuts on Madison’s back closed, leaving the smallest of scars. Twilight’s horn ceased to glow, and the bright aura of the spell dissipated. The princess seemed extremely weary from even the small spell, but clung to consciousness with her undying quest for knowledge. “Now,” Twilight ordered in the calmest voice she could muster, “tell me what the hay is going on around here. All I know is that I’ve been out for three weeks.” Madison and Spike replied at the same time. “Well, it isn't exactly what,” the dragon said. “It's more of a ‘how’ thing.” “One at a time! Spike?” “You fainted and Madison carried you in. However, news travels fast. The Changelings attacked, seeing that three princesses were missing and the last one was incapacitated. But Chrysalis went through the rift. So the dragons tried. But the Dragonlord went through the rift. Since then, Equestria has become a battleground for a fight between Changelings, Dragons, and ponies. Madison’s really the only one we can trust because Changelings can't morph into humans. As long as we stay here, we're safe.” “And you, Madison?” “Everything he said is true. And since these Changelings can't morph into dragons, as far as I know, you can most likely trust him. Plus, he’s been in here the whole time, looking over you with the front door locked, while I was out there.” “Alright then. But I still want to know who ‘they’ are.” Spike sighed. The green spikes on his back drooped to the side, and he looked as if he were about to die of depression. His tail suddenly looked two inches shorter to Twilight, and she realized that it actually was. It abruptly stopped at a purple cauterized stub instead of ending in a green arrow-tip point. “Oh, Spike, what happened to you? Your tail-” “The makeshift government has something against dragons, probably because of the current crisis. If Madison hadn't stuck up for me, they would've killed me.” “What did you do?” Twilight turned to look at the human. “I whacked everyone away with a baseball bat. They responded by tying me to a post and whipping me in the town square. That was last week.” “A baseball bat? What in Equestria is a baseball bat?” “This.” Madison pulled the wooden bat out from behind several books on plants. It was sleek, shiny, and it was labeled for some team. Twilight raised an eyebrow. The carefully crafted stick of wood was obviously not from Equestria. “‘Boston Red Sox’,” she read. “Who are they?” “A baseball team from my home. Somehow this came through the rift.” “From Kansas? Hmm.” The purple alicorn now stared unwaveringly at the two. “Now, tell me who ‘they’ are.” “Not Kansas,” Spike said. “Madison said they’re based in the city Boston in a state called Massachusetts." “‘They’ is the makeshift government, based in Town Hall.” Madison answered. “They want you to do something.” “What does the makeshift Equestrian government want me to do? I'm no good to anyone if they can't be absolutely sure I'm not a Changeling!” Twilight Sparkle was more confused and stressed now than she ever had been in her entire life. Knowing that it wasn't hard for a Changeling to morph into her form and that Dragons could easily turn her into a roast pony sandwich didn't help. Possibly all of ponykind depended on her not screwing anything up. The three walked out of the library and towards Sweet Apple Acres. There, they were met by a familiar orangish Earth pony with apples on her flank. “Twilight, thank Celestia you're alive!” “Hold on, missy!” Madison had her Colt pointed at the pony. “How do I know you’re not a Changeling?” “Come on, Maddie. You know it’s me.” “Say something only Applejack would know!” The human was still staring down her sights. The orange Earth pony sighed a long sigh. “Twilight has read every Daring Do book exactly thirty-seven times, in chronological order.” Twilight placed her hoof on Madison’s shoulder. The alicorn could just barely make it. “She’s right.” Madison let the pistol fall to her side and stuck it back in its place. “Alright. But if the Princess isn’t here and I run into you, you’ll need to come up with something new.” Applejack acknowledged, then turned around and walked alongside them, headed back in the direction she came. “The Apple family’s really come through with speedy talking to anypony in the country. That was quite the excellent idea, Spike.” “Thanks. It was really nothing. You set it up.” “Ah know, but you told me to. Anywho, we have news pourin’ in from reliable sources the Changelings won’t be able to track since the Apples are good at what they do. My aunt and uncle in Manehattan reported that Queen Chrysalis’ number two has set up HQ near Baltimare. Others have confirmed it. The Dragons’ number two took over the San Palomino Desert, and he’s content with stayin’ there fer now. But he’s blockin’ the railroad tracks to Las Pegasus, where some of my family in Applewood say they’re under siege!” “AJ, we’ll work on it. Have you done what I asked last week?” Madison asked. “Yeah, Ah did.” Applejack lead them to the CMC (Cutie Mark Crusader) clubhouse, which now looked like a literal tree fort on steroids. It had living quarters suspended in nearby trees, with the original clubhouse as a command center. Stockpiles of food, mostly apple products, hung in large bags around the living areas. A tall perimeter fence had sprung up around the area, with Apple Bloom, or so they hoped, guarding the only gate. “Sure is nice weather, ain’t it, Applejack?” the bright yellow filly asked through the gate as the group approached. “Yes, it is. I always bring an umbrella,” the older mare replied. Apple Bloom opened up the gate and let them in. She raised an eyebrow at Twilight, but relaxed when she saw the human standing next to the alicorn. “Don’t worry, AB. She’s the real one,” Madison said. Apple Bloom closed the gate behind them. She threw a goofy mock salute at the archaeologist, whom she referred to as “The General,” which told Madison she wasn’t a Changeling. Madison returned it, just as jokingly. It was important to remain lighthearted as long as possible, especially in these circumstances. After watching Twilight shakily climb the ladder, assisted by Spike and Big Mac above her, the woman leapt up and grabbed the wood. She hoisted herself up, using the rail to clamber up though the air. Big Mac held his big red hoof out to her, and she took it, taking advantage of his abnormal strength to finish her climb. In the original clubhouse, known as “Apple HQ” by the sign nailed next to the door, the old, frail Granny Smith was using her familial authority to direct operations throughout Equestria. The green Earth pony jotted some more notes down as Braeburn in Appleloosa gave his daily report. She nodded and his magical image disappeared. No others materialized nearby, so it was the last for the day. Granny heard the door creak open and didn’t even look up. “Applejack, I thought that was you comin’ up that ladder. And you brought good Maddie and Spike.” “Well, actually, Granny, Twilight’s here,” Applejack replied. “Spike and Maddie were bringin’ her over here when I found ‘em.” “Well, alrighty then,” Granny said. “Princess, we need to get you back up to speed on this, unless Spike already told you.” “He and Madison did give me a run-down of the current situation, yes,” Twilight replied. “What I don’t have are the specific details. And some makeshift government wants me to do something, but I haven’t been told what.” Applejack gestured to the table in the center of the room and sat. The others still standing followed suit. When all were seated, Applejack started. “Twilight, the ponies callin’ themselves the ‘government’ are Filthy Rich and his wife, Prince Blueblood, and some other high-ups that want you to give them the power to rule Equestria in all practicalities. Of course, you probably won’t give it to ‘em, but they’re willin’ to go to extreme, and Ah mean extreme, lengths to get it, especially since they think they knwo what they’re doin’. ” “Could you elaborate on ‘extreme,’ Applejack? I don’t understand.” “Sure thing, sugar cube. They’re usin’ the Mayor like a puppet, and they’ve taken hostages: Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Dr. Hooves, who we need to help us in our next move, along with every Unicorn in town.” “They’ve taken hostages?” Twilight cried. “Are they insane?” “Anyone will do what it takes to keep their world from falling apart, believing that they’re safe in their little bubble. They do what it takes to survive if they have to, but this band wants more than that, obviously.” Madison said in disgust. “Right now, they’re no different from people who take hostages in my world. I say we bring in the cops and lock ‘em up.” “The cops are controlled by Mayor Mare, remember?” Big Mac pointed out. “Good point, Big Mac,” Madison grumbled. “But I have a Colt. I wanna use it on something besides a Timberwolf.” “Maddie, we can’t always have our way. Your ‘gun’ may just ruin all credibility you have as a neutral third party if you use it against ponies. They’ll think you want to take Equestria!” Granny said. Madison, who’d been inspecting and cleaning the 1911 pistol as the conversation flowed, placed it on the table. “Alright then, so the gun’s not an option. But we need the Doctor for the upgrades to this place he can get us, not to mention cooking up more ammo for me. Twenty rounds in two clips ain’t much.” She sighed. “Also, I need battery power for both my phone and GPS, which he’s most likely to have access to. Does anybody here have a plan?” Twilight glanced at her Earth pony friend. “What happened to Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow?” “They’re working on a fall-back point in the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Applejack replied. “With?” “Zecora, Steven Magnet, and some of the friendlier Everfree residents.” “Keep me informed. As for a plan to free those hostages, I could just teleport in and get them out that way,” Twilight mused. As she continued, her voice became a quiet mumble. “But they’ve probably put horn locks on everypony who can use magic. Spike and Madison are going to be known to them, but too suspicious. The Apples are spread thin across Equestria to give us an intelligence net.” Her eyes lit up for a second. Then it coalesced into a plan into her mind as she worked out all possibilities. “I’m going to go there, and give them what they want.” Author's Note Well, another one of the re-written chapters (the second of the two). I appreciate anything you can tell me about what I do right and wrong. To Break A Horn LockCelestia’s sun somehow still set over the western horizon behind Twilight. To the east, Luna’s moon rose, its silvery light shining down on the farmland beyond the town square. As Twilight turned her head to look back, she saw the sun’s orange rays turn the scattered clouds pink as the sky slowly dimmed to black. Ahead of the violet alicorn stood an impatient Blueblood, a concerned Filthy Rich, and their gang of vigilante hostage-takers. “Princess Twilight,” Blueblood called into the stillness. “I hope you've come to see that what we want is for the best.” “You want me to relinquish all my authoritative power to you, correct?” she replied. “Yes. You can remain a princess, but only in name.” Twilight glanced around nervously. “Well, I'm doubting you right now. You see, I had to come here alone just to get you to come out of hiding.” Blueblood looked surprised. “I don't know why that is so.” He signaled to his gang, and three of them came to Twilight and put a horn lock on her. Seeing that she didn't struggle, they roughly dragged her across the square. “Princess, this is just between you and me.” “If it's just you and me, why does it look like I'm being taken hostage?” “I'm covering all my bases. Take her inside. I'll deal with her later.” As Twilight was knocked unconscious and dragged into Ponyville Town Hall, Filthy Rich grimaced. He knew it was wrong, but Blueblood could have Diamond Tiara at sword point any time he wanted. Mr. Rich would do anything to keep his daughter safe. In the darkness behind where Twilight had been five minutes ago, Madison crouched behind a bush. Her hand hovered around her Colt, ready to grab and fire. When Mr. Rich walked into the building after the pompous Blueblood, she stopped fingering her gun. Twilight had thought of this, but didn't put it in the main plan. It was time for Plan B. She activated her walkie-talkie, glad to have had it in her satchel, and tuned it to the frequency of the earpiece Twilight had borrowed. Good thing I brought four of those damn purple things in my satchel. Always come prepared, I say. Finally, the fruits of my overly cautious packing habits have bloomed. Madison smiled. She hated those things, but they needed constant communication with Twilight and they were the only available option. They were line-of-sight, too, so she didn't have amazing range. But she'd manage. Madison had a weapon, which was more than most Equestrians could say, and unlike her four-legged friends, she wasn't afraid to use it on other ponies. Rarity’s ears perked. She turned her tired, disheveled head to the direction of the noise. Next to her, curled up in both fear and cold, was Sweetie Belle. Her cute, curly mane looked like a trampled hoofball field, and her green, normally vibrant eyes flickered back and forth, their dark pupils filled with fright. Rarity stood as three ruffians dragged a familiar form into the room. They then opened the cell door, which Rarity was clear of, and tossed Twilight Sparkle into the cell. The white Unicorn stayed defiantly in her spot until they left. Then she pulled Twilight farther from the bars. The princess slowly came to and rubbed her head. “Ow.” “Twilight! Why are you here?” Rarity asked hushedly. “Did those thugs take you out of the library? Is Spike safe? What's happened out there?” “One at a time, Rarity. I turned myself in.” Her shoulders sagged as she sighed that last part. “Why would you do such a thing, darling?” Sweetie Belle was now awake, and, recognizing the violet alicorn before her, shot to her hooves and tackled Twilight. “You're not dead!” she cried. Twilight ignored Rarity’s question. “It's nice to see you too, Sweetie.” After a moment, she became serious. “Why is Filthy Rich helping Blueblood? Do either of you know?” Rarity had no answer, surprisingly, considering she could run the gossip mill by herself. Sweetie, however, did. “Diamond Tiara’s down the hall! I talk to her sometimes. She isn't as mean when she's scared.” “I'll bet.” Twilight pressed on her right ear. “Madison, are you hearing this?” Through the sudden sound of munching apples, the woman responded. “Yep. Spike and I are writing down everything you hear.” “Copy that.” “Wait, is Spike in your ear?” Rarity raised a bluish-purple eyebrow in confusion, something she normally considered “too unladylike.” But it came naturally now, especially since Applejack had constantly did it to tease her. “No, Rarity, I'm not in Twilight’s ear. I'm at Sugar Cube Corner with the Cakes,” he replied. A juicy crunch, presumably from an apple, followed. “But how can we talk? You're on the other side of the square!” “Wireless communication,” Madison put in. “Twilight’s earpiece converts sound into a signal it then sends to my radio, which then converts the signal into sound. And vice versa. You can hear us because it doesn’t fit Twilight’s ear as well as I'd like. Normally, only the Princess would be able to hear what we say on our end.” Madison was eating a cupcake, and spoke between bites. “Alright, let’s get down to business. Based on what everyone says about this Mr. Rich, he seems to have a shitload of cash. That might be why Blueblood is holding his daughter: to blackmail him in order for him to be able to protect her. He might just be the guy who handles the funds.” “That seems accurate,” Rarity said. “He's even come and apologized to me while he checked on Diamond Tiara. Of course, I at least gave him the courtesy of verbal acceptance, if not mental.” “So, I'll let Mr. Rich off, but the others need to go. Since I now have a horn lock, I can't cast spells and my wings are tied, so I can’t fly. I'm effectively grounded. Madison, do you have any ideas? I never thought this far down the secondary plan route,” Twilight asked. “I could go in and bash some heads, figuratively speaking. Literally, that would get me about three steps. If I use my gun-” “NO!” Twilight cried. “I could wound most of them before somebody got smart and held me down with magic,” the human continued, ignoring the princess’s protest. “They've hunkered down real good.” She let go of the “talk” button. “This has nothing to do with the current situation, but I could really go for a pizza right now,” she said as an afterthought. “I don't think your quest for unknown food helps anything,” Spike said. He’d noticed that the radio needed another battery, and began swapping it out. Madison paid no attention to his actions, instead choosing to roll her eyes at him. “Spike,” she replied, voice thick with sarcasm, “the difference between your opinion and pizza is that I wanted pizza.” “Fine. Be that way,” he grumbled. “Just remember who's been cooking your food this past month.” “I've been a single adult for almost ten years, man. I can cook my own food.” “You're that young?” “Yeah. I'm twenty-eight.” “Twilight’s about twenty, from what I can figure.” “You just swap batteries?” Madison asked, swiftly changing the subject to the present. “Yeah. You need the old one?” “Equestria is not a disposal area for dead batteries,” she deadpanned. “Or at least it hasn't been, and I plan on keeping it that way.” “Jeez, you didn't need to be so rude.” “Sorry, I thought it was obvious. My father likes using them for weird projects.” Madison turned her attention to the radio, pressing the “talk” button. “Twilight, horn locks block magic like a wall, right?” “Yes, I believe so,” came the static-muffled reply. “Why do you ask?” “Would it be possible to overload it?” “What do you mean?” “How much magic can it take at once? As in, what would it take to bypass the lock, theoretically speaking?” There was silence as Twilight pondered for a minute. “A lot. Star Swirl the Bearded’s theory on magic blocking states that a horn lock, made correctly, would be impossible to bypass by any Unicorn, no matter how powerful. Given that we've perfected it since then, it won't work.” “But you're not a Unicorn. You're one of the four alicorn princesses.” Twilight lit up like a light bulb. “Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Okay, I'll need a second.” She searched her brain, but couldn't come up with any references of an alicorn with a horn lock. Spike, on the other hand, came through. He picked up a pencil and started calculating. Madison watched, amazed by the smoothness in which the young dragon worked. Half an hour later, he triumphantly set the pencil down. Madison took the offered paper. “According to Spike’s calculations, you need to release at least 7.495 billion pounds of magical work. This number is comparable to…” She trailed off, reading the energy output in human joules, which had been converted to on the side for her benefit. “Two hundred ten petajoules. I did a presentation on nuclear weapons back in college for history class, doing conversions and whatnot, so I can find a comparable object or unit.” It clicked. “Fifty megatons. This is equal to a freaking 50 megaton nuclear blast. Enough magical energy to destroy everything within a hundred miles.” “As in?” Spike asked. “You know that video I showed you on my phone after we learned magic could recharge it? That was the Tsar Bomba, which yielded that same amount of energy. In theory, it could yield twice that, but they never tried…” Madison shook her head. “If you do try it, Twilight, make sure the magic goes away from everyone else, or we may just be incinerated by pure magic. You would probably survive, but nobody else would.” “That's not a risk I'm willing to take.” “Just shoot out the window. I can see from here it's just some bars. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. My species can harness that amount of power.” “But ‘Tsar Bomba’ sounds like ‘Tsar Bomb,’ Madison!” Spike interjected. “That's essentially what it is. A bomb for the Russian leader to use. Largest nuclear detonation in human history. Its test made Trinity look like a pinprick.” Madison turned her attention back to Twilight. “If you do it right, we won't need to worry about being incinerated and our flaming bits being blown away by the shockwave and scattered across the landscape hundreds of miles away as the destroyed, uninhabitable, burned-out remains of Ponyville set in for a centuries-long nuclear winter. And that's putting it bluntly.” Rarity almost screamed at the thought as soon as Madison mentioned the flaming bits. But she calmed herself down, taking deep breaths. “And what will happen to Twilight if she fails?” she inquired worriedly. “Given she's extremely powerful, her own magic might protect her. If it doesn't, she and everyone in Town Hall will be atomized by the sudden blast of magic and instantly consumed into a large orange mushroom cloud as it rises hundreds of miles into the sky. Anything that remains, which I doubt there will be, will slowly come back down to earth, saturated in pure raw magic.” “Come again?” “You die.” “Oh. You made it sound much more dramatic.” “Trust me, my dad's been a nuclear engineer for thirty years. It's a quick and painless death if you're caught in the explosion, like everyone in Ponyville will be. If not, the magical fallout would saturate your cells and cause irreversible damage to your DNA, and you would slowly but surely die of what the techies back home call ‘extremely acute radiation poisoning.’ That is, you'll be cooked. Given that I can see Canterlot from here during the day, that's most likely the fate everyone there will endure if they're not killed outright.” “And your species just casually wields this power? The power to destroy entire civilizations from existence with just a few explosions?” Twilight’s concerned voice hovered dangerously close to a well-blended mix between fear and rage. Fear of total annihilation, and rage that somepony even had that capability. “Well, if you count nuclear power stations, then yeah. But we stack so much safety precautions on because we'd rather not die that if anything comes through, we can shut it down and pray to God we don't have a meltdown on our hands. Just don't worry about it and you'll be fine.” Twilight sighed, knowing it was her only option. She took in a huge lungful of air and slowly let it back out. She closed her eyes in deep concentration as the bottom of her horn began to glow with her distinctive purple magic. Rarity edged towards the wall, pulling Sweetie Belle with her. Twilight’s wings snapped the ropes holding them to the princess’s body and became outstretched, their violet feathers bristling with pure alicorn magic. Rarity’s precautions saved her and Sweetie from a sudden rope burn. Twilight’s body began to visibly shake. Unpreened feathers floated to the ground as they were rattled loose from her wings. Her mane and tail fluttered in the wind that had started to swirl around her. The cell's iron bars creaked and groaned, unable to quietly protest their strains. One broke loose and impaled itself in the wall only inches from Sweetie Belle’s horrified face. She screamed and ducked behind her sister. If Twilight heard, she paid no heed. The full force of her mind was bent on breaking the horn lock that held her back. Her magic leaked into the lock, twisting, turning, trying to snap it into a thousand pieces. Sparks flew off like embers from a crackling campfire. They impacted the stone floor and spread out, forming a meter-wide circle of dancing, swirling magical energy around Twilight. Tears of pain streamed down her face. The horn lock was fighting back, physically stabbing her with miniscule but incredibly painful bolts of lighting. Then, with a flash of light brighter than the midday sun and a shockwave of magic more powerful than Applejack’s bucking, the horn lock blasted apart. Violet magic shot out of Twilight’s horn and out the bar window she'd been facing, melting the bars and burning the grass outside. The entire building shook violently for a few terrifying seconds as Twilight’s magic dissipated and she collapsed. Author's Note I know this is a chatty one, but that's kinda how I like to tell my stories. Sorry if I overloaded on the dialogue. I just got back from a family reunion in Texas, so that's why I haven't uploaded a new chapter in a while. It was quite fun, with lots of food, drinks, and country music. Thanks for bearing with me.
The Everfree ForestThe young woman walked slowly through the halls, flashlight in her left hand. She wore tan cargo shorts and a dirty tan button shirt, and kept her long brown hair neatly tied into a ponytail under her wide-brimmed leather hat. A worn leather satchel hung at her right hip, the strap wrapping around her torso to her left shoulder. She rather liked looking like her movie-star hero Indiana Jones. Her name was Madison Reynolds, and she had a fascination for the ancient unknown. She typically found ruined sites for others to excavate or items for them to bring back home, but that was fine with her. As long as Madison got paid, she'd give others the spotlight. She was exploring her most recent find: a castle in a forest rumored to be magical. Nobody who entered these woods ever came out, and Madison could see why, as she herself barely made it this far alive. One of her comrades wasn't so lucky, being devoured by what the rumors called Timberwolves within minutes of entering the forest. The second of the two suffered the same fate an hour later, and she had to put a precious bullet from one of her three clips in his head to spare herself the screams - and him the pain as he was dragged away. She was almost caught herself, but fired off the rest of the clip into the howling pack of wood monsters. She’d quickly reloaded, but the Timberwolves were gone, so she picked the dropped clip back of the ground and stuffed it in her satchel. Madison whirled around and whipped her pistol out of its holster as she heard a loud crashing sound in the ruin behind her, only to see one of the hallway’s great arches collapse to the floor. “Well, can't go back that way,” she whispered to herself. She holstered the old, battered 1911 Colt - her grandfather’s - and continued on. Madison walked up to one of the great double doors to the main throne room and was unable to resist the urge to look up. It was enormous, with an arched roof one hundred feet up, huge stone columns to support it, and a wide staircase leading to the thrones. Behind each throne hung a tapestry, torn from a thousand years of age. The stained glass window between the tapestries was shattered, fallen pieces scattered on the floor. The cold stone flooring was being overgrown with grass, moss, and a few large vines that creeped up the columns. A single massive hole in the roof let the soft, silvery moonlight into the chamber, reflecting off the shattered glass to make twinkling stars on the floor. All Madison could do was stare in wonder. How old is this place? Must be 700 years, minimum, she thought. And it's not even on the map. Hell, this godforsaken forest isn't on the map, either, but here I am. Madison continued through the castle. It wasn't long before she came across the castle library. Its bookshelves were filled to the brim, surprisingly, and a purple creature inside was reading, which was even weirder. Madison could clearly see that it was alone, which in itself was a relief. Her flashlight beam wandered into the library as she continued to observe the… pony indulging itself in ancient literature. Looks like some kind of unicorn-pegasus mix of a mare, but in a color I've never seen. What pony would be purple? And it's with - a dragon? Suddenly, Madison hid behind the wall and froze as she heard the pony talk. She aimed her flashlight back down the hall she came, ready to run. “Spike, did you see that?” “No, Twilight. What was it?” “It looked like a beam of light, sharp and concentrated.” The pony got up and walked over to the open library door. “Hello? I'm not going to hurt you.” Madison quickly turned her flashlight off and backed slowly towards the throne room. She stepped on a loose rock and lost her balance as it shot out from under her, falling onto her back with a thud. The impact made her lose consciousness, and Madison was out cold. The violet pony, hearing Madison fall, galloped to the door and cast an illumination spell. She saw the unconscious woman, and used a levitation spell to carry her to the table. When Madison woke, she saw sat up and looked around. The library windows told her it was morning, and she noticed the floor a few feet below her. She turned to the side, swinging her legs over the side of the table. Her first relief was that she wasn’t tied up. “Oh, God. That hurt.” She checked herself and was pleased to be in one piece. “Uh, excuse me. I was wondering who you were,” said the pony. “I'm Madison, an archeologist from Kansas. I came to explore the forest,” she instantly responded. “What species are you?” “Human. Why?” Madison turned her head to look at the pony. “Whoa, what are you?!” “If you calm down, I can explain-” “Who the hell are you?!” “I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is my assistant, Spike.” She gestured with her hoof. “I heard you fall last night.” “Well, thanks for taking care of me.” Madison said as kindly as she could while she brushed some dust off her shoulders. She said asked her original question again. “What are you, exactly?” “I'm an alicorn. But, why were you out here in the Everfree forest at midnight? It's extremely dangerous.” “I was doing my job. I might ask you the same thing.” “Peace and quiet. Being well known can get too crazy for relaxation without being alone for a while.” “Amen to that.” Madison stood up and walked around slowly. “Where are we, exactly?” After Twilight’s explanation as to what she and her friend were, Madison had relaxed. “The safest place in the Forest. This is the Castle of the Two Sisters.” Twilight replied. “Mm-hmm.” The archeologist looked at her GPS. It showed the “no signal” screen. It was also at twenty percent battery left, but she didn’t notice. “Satellites aren't picking me up. That's strange.” “Come on. I'll take you to Ponyville.” “Anything to get out of this forest. My friends - both of them - were eaten by some kind of wooden wolf.” “Timberwolves? They killed your friends?” “Yes. I’d rather not talk about it.” Madison’s face turned a dark anger very rarely seen on such a young woman. Twilight shrunk away, afraid of the woman’s expression and a possible rage. Then Madison’s face cleared, and Twilight bounded back to her normal curious self. The three walked out of the castle and through the forest. The whole way, they talked about differences in their societies, mostly for Madison’s benefit. When they arrived in town, a certain pink pony practically ran them over. “Hiya, Twilight! Who's your friend?” “Madison, this is my friend Pinkie Pie. Pinkie, this is Madison. She's an archeologist. Madison, Pinkie. Pinkie, Madison.” “You know, Twilight, my Pinkie Sense went off while you were gone. After that, we learned the news from your brother, who, by the way, is reeeaaaally nervous about you. It's really bad.” A few other ponies saw them and galloped over. Twilight introduced them as the unicorn Rarity, the pegasi Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and the earth pony Applejack. “Oh, Twilight. Thank goodness you're alright! The other princesses apparently boarded their respective trains to come for a visit. But that's not the bad part.” Applejack exclaimed, not even noticing the peach-colored human. “What's the bad part?” the alicorn asked. The orangish Earth pony looked at the others, hoping for a volunteer. Rarity did the same, as did Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Finally, Rainbow Dash said it. “The trains hit some kind of rift and now Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence have all disappeared. Right off the map.” She exaggerated with her hooves as she talked. Twilight gasped. She rapidly looked between each of her friends. Her attempts to calm down failed, and she began hyperventilating. After a minute, she fainted as she realized that it was up to her to run all of Equestria. Author's Note I started this story a long time ago. I guess that my want to continue writing despite the fact that I'm really tired made me pick this back off the shelf, blow away the dust. I've added details that you guys will never know weren't there. I think I'm getting better at place descriptions, but I don't know. So tell me in the comments: What did I do right, and what did I do wrong?
Bringing Twilight Back Up to SpeedThe Princess of Friendship awoke in her bed in the Golden Oaks Library. Spike saw her get up and ran over to help her up. “Twilight, are you okay?” “I'll be fine. What's new?” “Well, in the three weeks since you fainted, everything’s gone downhill,” the dragon replied. “Three weeks? What happened? Am I needed? What do you mean by ‘downhill?’” Twilight started shooting questions at her assistant in rapid-fire mode, something he almost never saw. Spike’s reply never came out of his mouth. Instead, he ran downstairs to answer the door as the bell rang. He looked through the window first, then admitted the guest in. His apparent caution did not escape Twilight’s notice as she leaned over the rail by the stairs. “Madison, how are you?” the dragon asked. “Not good. They want an answer, and they want it now.” Twilight walked down the wooden flight of stairs, still fairly groggy. “Who's they?” Madison closed the door, locking it behind her. When she did, Twilight noticed the cuts through her leather jacket down into her back. They looked like the archaeologist was whipped. Her once-neatly-tied hair was wild, and she had slight discolorations that labeled bruises all over her face. Madison clearly wasn't in a very good condition, even considering her being a completely different species. “Let me take a look at that.” The princess pulled a book out the shelves. Spike saw it was titled ‘Healing Spells For Major and Minor Injuries.’ Twilight flipped through the pages for a minute, then asked Madison to sit on the center table. The woman complied, and Twilight cast a simple spell that surrounded Madison. The cuts on Madison’s back closed, leaving the smallest of scars. Twilight’s horn ceased to glow, and the bright aura of the spell dissipated. The princess seemed extremely weary from even the small spell, but clung to consciousness with her undying quest for knowledge. “Now,” Twilight ordered in the calmest voice she could muster, “tell me what the hay is going on around here. All I know is that I’ve been out for three weeks.” Madison and Spike replied at the same time. “Well, it isn't exactly what,” the dragon said. “It's more of a ‘how’ thing.” “One at a time! Spike?” “You fainted and Madison carried you in. However, news travels fast. The Changelings attacked, seeing that three princesses were missing and the last one was incapacitated. But Chrysalis went through the rift. So the dragons tried. But the Dragonlord went through the rift. Since then, Equestria has become a battleground for a fight between Changelings, Dragons, and ponies. Madison’s really the only one we can trust because Changelings can't morph into humans. As long as we stay here, we're safe.” “And you, Madison?” “Everything he said is true. And since these Changelings can't morph into dragons, as far as I know, you can most likely trust him. Plus, he’s been in here the whole time, looking over you with the front door locked, while I was out there.” “Alright then. But I still want to know who ‘they’ are.” Spike sighed. The green spikes on his back drooped to the side, and he looked as if he were about to die of depression. His tail suddenly looked two inches shorter to Twilight, and she realized that it actually was. It abruptly stopped at a purple cauterized stub instead of ending in a green arrow-tip point. “Oh, Spike, what happened to you? Your tail-” “The makeshift government has something against dragons, probably because of the current crisis. If Madison hadn't stuck up for me, they would've killed me.” “What did you do?” Twilight turned to look at the human. “I whacked everyone away with a baseball bat. They responded by tying me to a post and whipping me in the town square. That was last week.” “A baseball bat? What in Equestria is a baseball bat?” “This.” Madison pulled the wooden bat out from behind several books on plants. It was sleek, shiny, and it was labeled for some team. Twilight raised an eyebrow. The carefully crafted stick of wood was obviously not from Equestria. “‘Boston Red Sox’,” she read. “Who are they?” “A baseball team from my home. Somehow this came through the rift.” “From Kansas? Hmm.” The purple alicorn now stared unwaveringly at the two. “Now, tell me who ‘they’ are.” “Not Kansas,” Spike said. “Madison said they’re based in the city Boston in a state called Massachusetts." “‘They’ is the makeshift government, based in Town Hall.” Madison answered. “They want you to do something.” “What does the makeshift Equestrian government want me to do? I'm no good to anyone if they can't be absolutely sure I'm not a Changeling!” Twilight Sparkle was more confused and stressed now than she ever had been in her entire life. Knowing that it wasn't hard for a Changeling to morph into her form and that Dragons could easily turn her into a roast pony sandwich didn't help. Possibly all of ponykind depended on her not screwing anything up. The three walked out of the library and towards Sweet Apple Acres. There, they were met by a familiar orangish Earth pony with apples on her flank. “Twilight, thank Celestia you're alive!” “Hold on, missy!” Madison had her Colt pointed at the pony. “How do I know you’re not a Changeling?” “Come on, Maddie. You know it’s me.” “Say something only Applejack would know!” The human was still staring down her sights. The orange Earth pony sighed a long sigh. “Twilight has read every Daring Do book exactly thirty-seven times, in chronological order.” Twilight placed her hoof on Madison’s shoulder. The alicorn could just barely make it. “She’s right.” Madison let the pistol fall to her side and stuck it back in its place. “Alright. But if the Princess isn’t here and I run into you, you’ll need to come up with something new.” Applejack acknowledged, then turned around and walked alongside them, headed back in the direction she came. “The Apple family’s really come through with speedy talking to anypony in the country. That was quite the excellent idea, Spike.” “Thanks. It was really nothing. You set it up.” “Ah know, but you told me to. Anywho, we have news pourin’ in from reliable sources the Changelings won’t be able to track since the Apples are good at what they do. My aunt and uncle in Manehattan reported that Queen Chrysalis’ number two has set up HQ near Baltimare. Others have confirmed it. The Dragons’ number two took over the San Palomino Desert, and he’s content with stayin’ there fer now. But he’s blockin’ the railroad tracks to Las Pegasus, where some of my family in Applewood say they’re under siege!” “AJ, we’ll work on it. Have you done what I asked last week?” Madison asked. “Yeah, Ah did.” Applejack lead them to the CMC (Cutie Mark Crusader) clubhouse, which now looked like a literal tree fort on steroids. It had living quarters suspended in nearby trees, with the original clubhouse as a command center. Stockpiles of food, mostly apple products, hung in large bags around the living areas. A tall perimeter fence had sprung up around the area, with Apple Bloom, or so they hoped, guarding the only gate. “Sure is nice weather, ain’t it, Applejack?” the bright yellow filly asked through the gate as the group approached. “Yes, it is. I always bring an umbrella,” the older mare replied. Apple Bloom opened up the gate and let them in. She raised an eyebrow at Twilight, but relaxed when she saw the human standing next to the alicorn. “Don’t worry, AB. She’s the real one,” Madison said. Apple Bloom closed the gate behind them. She threw a goofy mock salute at the archaeologist, whom she referred to as “The General,” which told Madison she wasn’t a Changeling. Madison returned it, just as jokingly. It was important to remain lighthearted as long as possible, especially in these circumstances. After watching Twilight shakily climb the ladder, assisted by Spike and Big Mac above her, the woman leapt up and grabbed the wood. She hoisted herself up, using the rail to clamber up though the air. Big Mac held his big red hoof out to her, and she took it, taking advantage of his abnormal strength to finish her climb. In the original clubhouse, known as “Apple HQ” by the sign nailed next to the door, the old, frail Granny Smith was using her familial authority to direct operations throughout Equestria. The green Earth pony jotted some more notes down as Braeburn in Appleloosa gave his daily report. She nodded and his magical image disappeared. No others materialized nearby, so it was the last for the day. Granny heard the door creak open and didn’t even look up. “Applejack, I thought that was you comin’ up that ladder. And you brought good Maddie and Spike.” “Well, actually, Granny, Twilight’s here,” Applejack replied. “Spike and Maddie were bringin’ her over here when I found ‘em.” “Well, alrighty then,” Granny said. “Princess, we need to get you back up to speed on this, unless Spike already told you.” “He and Madison did give me a run-down of the current situation, yes,” Twilight replied. “What I don’t have are the specific details. And some makeshift government wants me to do something, but I haven’t been told what.” Applejack gestured to the table in the center of the room and sat. The others still standing followed suit. When all were seated, Applejack started. “Twilight, the ponies callin’ themselves the ‘government’ are Filthy Rich and his wife, Prince Blueblood, and some other high-ups that want you to give them the power to rule Equestria in all practicalities. Of course, you probably won’t give it to ‘em, but they’re willin’ to go to extreme, and Ah mean extreme, lengths to get it, especially since they think they knwo what they’re doin’. ” “Could you elaborate on ‘extreme,’ Applejack? I don’t understand.” “Sure thing, sugar cube. They’re usin’ the Mayor like a puppet, and they’ve taken hostages: Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Dr. Hooves, who we need to help us in our next move, along with every Unicorn in town.” “They’ve taken hostages?” Twilight cried. “Are they insane?” “Anyone will do what it takes to keep their world from falling apart, believing that they’re safe in their little bubble. They do what it takes to survive if they have to, but this band wants more than that, obviously.” Madison said in disgust. “Right now, they’re no different from people who take hostages in my world. I say we bring in the cops and lock ‘em up.” “The cops are controlled by Mayor Mare, remember?” Big Mac pointed out. “Good point, Big Mac,” Madison grumbled. “But I have a Colt. I wanna use it on something besides a Timberwolf.” “Maddie, we can’t always have our way. Your ‘gun’ may just ruin all credibility you have as a neutral third party if you use it against ponies. They’ll think you want to take Equestria!” Granny said. Madison, who’d been inspecting and cleaning the 1911 pistol as the conversation flowed, placed it on the table. “Alright then, so the gun’s not an option. But we need the Doctor for the upgrades to this place he can get us, not to mention cooking up more ammo for me. Twenty rounds in two clips ain’t much.” She sighed. “Also, I need battery power for both my phone and GPS, which he’s most likely to have access to. Does anybody here have a plan?” Twilight glanced at her Earth pony friend. “What happened to Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow?” “They’re working on a fall-back point in the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Applejack replied. “With?” “Zecora, Steven Magnet, and some of the friendlier Everfree residents.” “Keep me informed. As for a plan to free those hostages, I could just teleport in and get them out that way,” Twilight mused. As she continued, her voice became a quiet mumble. “But they’ve probably put horn locks on everypony who can use magic. Spike and Madison are going to be known to them, but too suspicious. The Apples are spread thin across Equestria to give us an intelligence net.” Her eyes lit up for a second. Then it coalesced into a plan into her mind as she worked out all possibilities. “I’m going to go there, and give them what they want.” Author's Note Well, another one of the re-written chapters (the second of the two). I appreciate anything you can tell me about what I do right and wrong.
To Break A Horn LockCelestia’s sun somehow still set over the western horizon behind Twilight. To the east, Luna’s moon rose, its silvery light shining down on the farmland beyond the town square. As Twilight turned her head to look back, she saw the sun’s orange rays turn the scattered clouds pink as the sky slowly dimmed to black. Ahead of the violet alicorn stood an impatient Blueblood, a concerned Filthy Rich, and their gang of vigilante hostage-takers. “Princess Twilight,” Blueblood called into the stillness. “I hope you've come to see that what we want is for the best.” “You want me to relinquish all my authoritative power to you, correct?” she replied. “Yes. You can remain a princess, but only in name.” Twilight glanced around nervously. “Well, I'm doubting you right now. You see, I had to come here alone just to get you to come out of hiding.” Blueblood looked surprised. “I don't know why that is so.” He signaled to his gang, and three of them came to Twilight and put a horn lock on her. Seeing that she didn't struggle, they roughly dragged her across the square. “Princess, this is just between you and me.” “If it's just you and me, why does it look like I'm being taken hostage?” “I'm covering all my bases. Take her inside. I'll deal with her later.” As Twilight was knocked unconscious and dragged into Ponyville Town Hall, Filthy Rich grimaced. He knew it was wrong, but Blueblood could have Diamond Tiara at sword point any time he wanted. Mr. Rich would do anything to keep his daughter safe. In the darkness behind where Twilight had been five minutes ago, Madison crouched behind a bush. Her hand hovered around her Colt, ready to grab and fire. When Mr. Rich walked into the building after the pompous Blueblood, she stopped fingering her gun. Twilight had thought of this, but didn't put it in the main plan. It was time for Plan B. She activated her walkie-talkie, glad to have had it in her satchel, and tuned it to the frequency of the earpiece Twilight had borrowed. Good thing I brought four of those damn purple things in my satchel. Always come prepared, I say. Finally, the fruits of my overly cautious packing habits have bloomed. Madison smiled. She hated those things, but they needed constant communication with Twilight and they were the only available option. They were line-of-sight, too, so she didn't have amazing range. But she'd manage. Madison had a weapon, which was more than most Equestrians could say, and unlike her four-legged friends, she wasn't afraid to use it on other ponies. Rarity’s ears perked. She turned her tired, disheveled head to the direction of the noise. Next to her, curled up in both fear and cold, was Sweetie Belle. Her cute, curly mane looked like a trampled hoofball field, and her green, normally vibrant eyes flickered back and forth, their dark pupils filled with fright. Rarity stood as three ruffians dragged a familiar form into the room. They then opened the cell door, which Rarity was clear of, and tossed Twilight Sparkle into the cell. The white Unicorn stayed defiantly in her spot until they left. Then she pulled Twilight farther from the bars. The princess slowly came to and rubbed her head. “Ow.” “Twilight! Why are you here?” Rarity asked hushedly. “Did those thugs take you out of the library? Is Spike safe? What's happened out there?” “One at a time, Rarity. I turned myself in.” Her shoulders sagged as she sighed that last part. “Why would you do such a thing, darling?” Sweetie Belle was now awake, and, recognizing the violet alicorn before her, shot to her hooves and tackled Twilight. “You're not dead!” she cried. Twilight ignored Rarity’s question. “It's nice to see you too, Sweetie.” After a moment, she became serious. “Why is Filthy Rich helping Blueblood? Do either of you know?” Rarity had no answer, surprisingly, considering she could run the gossip mill by herself. Sweetie, however, did. “Diamond Tiara’s down the hall! I talk to her sometimes. She isn't as mean when she's scared.” “I'll bet.” Twilight pressed on her right ear. “Madison, are you hearing this?” Through the sudden sound of munching apples, the woman responded. “Yep. Spike and I are writing down everything you hear.” “Copy that.” “Wait, is Spike in your ear?” Rarity raised a bluish-purple eyebrow in confusion, something she normally considered “too unladylike.” But it came naturally now, especially since Applejack had constantly did it to tease her. “No, Rarity, I'm not in Twilight’s ear. I'm at Sugar Cube Corner with the Cakes,” he replied. A juicy crunch, presumably from an apple, followed. “But how can we talk? You're on the other side of the square!” “Wireless communication,” Madison put in. “Twilight’s earpiece converts sound into a signal it then sends to my radio, which then converts the signal into sound. And vice versa. You can hear us because it doesn’t fit Twilight’s ear as well as I'd like. Normally, only the Princess would be able to hear what we say on our end.” Madison was eating a cupcake, and spoke between bites. “Alright, let’s get down to business. Based on what everyone says about this Mr. Rich, he seems to have a shitload of cash. That might be why Blueblood is holding his daughter: to blackmail him in order for him to be able to protect her. He might just be the guy who handles the funds.” “That seems accurate,” Rarity said. “He's even come and apologized to me while he checked on Diamond Tiara. Of course, I at least gave him the courtesy of verbal acceptance, if not mental.” “So, I'll let Mr. Rich off, but the others need to go. Since I now have a horn lock, I can't cast spells and my wings are tied, so I can’t fly. I'm effectively grounded. Madison, do you have any ideas? I never thought this far down the secondary plan route,” Twilight asked. “I could go in and bash some heads, figuratively speaking. Literally, that would get me about three steps. If I use my gun-” “NO!” Twilight cried. “I could wound most of them before somebody got smart and held me down with magic,” the human continued, ignoring the princess’s protest. “They've hunkered down real good.” She let go of the “talk” button. “This has nothing to do with the current situation, but I could really go for a pizza right now,” she said as an afterthought. “I don't think your quest for unknown food helps anything,” Spike said. He’d noticed that the radio needed another battery, and began swapping it out. Madison paid no attention to his actions, instead choosing to roll her eyes at him. “Spike,” she replied, voice thick with sarcasm, “the difference between your opinion and pizza is that I wanted pizza.” “Fine. Be that way,” he grumbled. “Just remember who's been cooking your food this past month.” “I've been a single adult for almost ten years, man. I can cook my own food.” “You're that young?” “Yeah. I'm twenty-eight.” “Twilight’s about twenty, from what I can figure.” “You just swap batteries?” Madison asked, swiftly changing the subject to the present. “Yeah. You need the old one?” “Equestria is not a disposal area for dead batteries,” she deadpanned. “Or at least it hasn't been, and I plan on keeping it that way.” “Jeez, you didn't need to be so rude.” “Sorry, I thought it was obvious. My father likes using them for weird projects.” Madison turned her attention to the radio, pressing the “talk” button. “Twilight, horn locks block magic like a wall, right?” “Yes, I believe so,” came the static-muffled reply. “Why do you ask?” “Would it be possible to overload it?” “What do you mean?” “How much magic can it take at once? As in, what would it take to bypass the lock, theoretically speaking?” There was silence as Twilight pondered for a minute. “A lot. Star Swirl the Bearded’s theory on magic blocking states that a horn lock, made correctly, would be impossible to bypass by any Unicorn, no matter how powerful. Given that we've perfected it since then, it won't work.” “But you're not a Unicorn. You're one of the four alicorn princesses.” Twilight lit up like a light bulb. “Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Okay, I'll need a second.” She searched her brain, but couldn't come up with any references of an alicorn with a horn lock. Spike, on the other hand, came through. He picked up a pencil and started calculating. Madison watched, amazed by the smoothness in which the young dragon worked. Half an hour later, he triumphantly set the pencil down. Madison took the offered paper. “According to Spike’s calculations, you need to release at least 7.495 billion pounds of magical work. This number is comparable to…” She trailed off, reading the energy output in human joules, which had been converted to on the side for her benefit. “Two hundred ten petajoules. I did a presentation on nuclear weapons back in college for history class, doing conversions and whatnot, so I can find a comparable object or unit.” It clicked. “Fifty megatons. This is equal to a freaking 50 megaton nuclear blast. Enough magical energy to destroy everything within a hundred miles.” “As in?” Spike asked. “You know that video I showed you on my phone after we learned magic could recharge it? That was the Tsar Bomba, which yielded that same amount of energy. In theory, it could yield twice that, but they never tried…” Madison shook her head. “If you do try it, Twilight, make sure the magic goes away from everyone else, or we may just be incinerated by pure magic. You would probably survive, but nobody else would.” “That's not a risk I'm willing to take.” “Just shoot out the window. I can see from here it's just some bars. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. My species can harness that amount of power.” “But ‘Tsar Bomba’ sounds like ‘Tsar Bomb,’ Madison!” Spike interjected. “That's essentially what it is. A bomb for the Russian leader to use. Largest nuclear detonation in human history. Its test made Trinity look like a pinprick.” Madison turned her attention back to Twilight. “If you do it right, we won't need to worry about being incinerated and our flaming bits being blown away by the shockwave and scattered across the landscape hundreds of miles away as the destroyed, uninhabitable, burned-out remains of Ponyville set in for a centuries-long nuclear winter. And that's putting it bluntly.” Rarity almost screamed at the thought as soon as Madison mentioned the flaming bits. But she calmed herself down, taking deep breaths. “And what will happen to Twilight if she fails?” she inquired worriedly. “Given she's extremely powerful, her own magic might protect her. If it doesn't, she and everyone in Town Hall will be atomized by the sudden blast of magic and instantly consumed into a large orange mushroom cloud as it rises hundreds of miles into the sky. Anything that remains, which I doubt there will be, will slowly come back down to earth, saturated in pure raw magic.” “Come again?” “You die.” “Oh. You made it sound much more dramatic.” “Trust me, my dad's been a nuclear engineer for thirty years. It's a quick and painless death if you're caught in the explosion, like everyone in Ponyville will be. If not, the magical fallout would saturate your cells and cause irreversible damage to your DNA, and you would slowly but surely die of what the techies back home call ‘extremely acute radiation poisoning.’ That is, you'll be cooked. Given that I can see Canterlot from here during the day, that's most likely the fate everyone there will endure if they're not killed outright.” “And your species just casually wields this power? The power to destroy entire civilizations from existence with just a few explosions?” Twilight’s concerned voice hovered dangerously close to a well-blended mix between fear and rage. Fear of total annihilation, and rage that somepony even had that capability. “Well, if you count nuclear power stations, then yeah. But we stack so much safety precautions on because we'd rather not die that if anything comes through, we can shut it down and pray to God we don't have a meltdown on our hands. Just don't worry about it and you'll be fine.” Twilight sighed, knowing it was her only option. She took in a huge lungful of air and slowly let it back out. She closed her eyes in deep concentration as the bottom of her horn began to glow with her distinctive purple magic. Rarity edged towards the wall, pulling Sweetie Belle with her. Twilight’s wings snapped the ropes holding them to the princess’s body and became outstretched, their violet feathers bristling with pure alicorn magic. Rarity’s precautions saved her and Sweetie from a sudden rope burn. Twilight’s body began to visibly shake. Unpreened feathers floated to the ground as they were rattled loose from her wings. Her mane and tail fluttered in the wind that had started to swirl around her. The cell's iron bars creaked and groaned, unable to quietly protest their strains. One broke loose and impaled itself in the wall only inches from Sweetie Belle’s horrified face. She screamed and ducked behind her sister. If Twilight heard, she paid no heed. The full force of her mind was bent on breaking the horn lock that held her back. Her magic leaked into the lock, twisting, turning, trying to snap it into a thousand pieces. Sparks flew off like embers from a crackling campfire. They impacted the stone floor and spread out, forming a meter-wide circle of dancing, swirling magical energy around Twilight. Tears of pain streamed down her face. The horn lock was fighting back, physically stabbing her with miniscule but incredibly painful bolts of lighting. Then, with a flash of light brighter than the midday sun and a shockwave of magic more powerful than Applejack’s bucking, the horn lock blasted apart. Violet magic shot out of Twilight’s horn and out the bar window she'd been facing, melting the bars and burning the grass outside. The entire building shook violently for a few terrifying seconds as Twilight’s magic dissipated and she collapsed. Author's Note I know this is a chatty one, but that's kinda how I like to tell my stories. Sorry if I overloaded on the dialogue. I just got back from a family reunion in Texas, so that's why I haven't uploaded a new chapter in a while. It was quite fun, with lots of food, drinks, and country music. Thanks for bearing with me.
