Twilight blinked. At least, she thought she did. The muscles that controlled her eyelids contracted, that’s for sure. She felt herself exert the force necessary to open them, and certainly felt her eyelashes untangle. But, as her eyes creaked open, she didn’t see anything. She felt no pain. Everything was dark.
Even worse, she couldn’t move. She couldn’t feel any restraints. In fact, Twilight really couldn’t feel anything at all. She couldn’t feel her wings, couldn’t feel her limbs. She tried to cast a spell, to raise her head. She couldn’t. No matter what she tried, her brain refused to communicate with the rest of her being. All she could do was lay. Alone. In pitch darkness. With no feelings, no sensations, nothing but her thoughts.
If Twilight had the physical capacity to panic, she would have. Clearly, someone wanted her here. Twilight knew that. However, what she didn’t know was why. If she couldn’t be proactive in escaping, she might as well try and figure out how she got here. She focused her thoughts, concentrating, trying to block out all her fear, all her anxiety. Twilight focused on the last thing she could remember…
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Spike was rudely awakened as he felt his entire body pulsate. He could see a glowing light brush through his eyelids. As he blinked away his sleep, he glanced towards Twilight’s vacant throne.
His attention was forced towards the table as the next spasm rattled his body. Spike saw six symbols fly towards the center of the table, before all beginning to circle one point directly at the center. Spike was relieved, at first. If six are symbols are there, I must not have to do anyth-
His line of genius was promptly interrupted by another wave of magical energy. He turned his attention back to the symbols- every cutie mark was represented save for-
Down the hall, Spike heard a massive bang, followed by a series of small thuds. “TWILIGHT!” he exclaimed, his claws cutting faint scratches into the marble floor as he tore in the direction of the noise.
Behind him, the symbols slowed and began to spin. Round and round they went, each falling into place until they had formed a perfect circle which hovered, steadily rotating, directly above the Castle of Friendship.
"TWILIIIGGGHT!" Far above her, Spike's voice echoed off the walls. Twilight looked up, extended her wings. She frantically took flight, rushing back up into the castle proper. Her hooves hit the floor at the instant that Spike tumbled through the door- he looked up, surprised, as Twilight flicked her ears, trying to get the mounds of dust out of her mane and clear her eyes.
"W-what's wrong, Spike?"
"What do ya mean, 'what's wrong'! I-I heard a huge bang, and-and the map…" Spike's body was wracked by another round of magical energy. As he spasmed, the light emanating from within him lit up the whole room.
Spike stopped twitching, and stared at Spike with such intensity that he felt as though she was trying to bore a hole through his head. In a low, almost threatening voice, Twilight inquired "The map? What about the map?" As Spike once again began his magical spasms, Twilight instinctively glanced at her own flank.
No pulses, no magic.
"Spike." No response. "Spike!" Still nothing. "Goddammit, Spike." Twilight let out a shrill whistle, and Spike's eyes flew open. "Spike, who- who did the map call?" "Ugh…" Spike blinked, his mind struggling to re-engage after being virtually electrocuted.
"The map.. Right. The map. It called everyone." Twilight glanced at her flank, before looking back at Spike, eyebrow raised. "I mean, e-everyone except you."
Twilight's eyes widened, and she bolted from the room. Before she had even cleared the door, she had already cast a teleportation spell. In a poof, she materialized perched above the map. Frantically, she flicked her eyes across the surface, desperately trying to discern where the map had called everyone. Finally, she found it. Directly at the center, her friends cutie marks and a strange caricature of Spike's face circled her castle.
Twilight teleported to her library, appearing out of thin air with a quiet ‘poof’ and the slight smell of fresh magic. She looked left and right, scanning each title as her eyes fell upon them. Several stories below, the massive doors of the castle gate cracked open. As sunlight poured in, so too did her friends voices- "Twilight!" they called, the sound reverberating off of the long castle hall.
From deep within a far hallway, a strange magical signature began to rise. Magical power was being pulled from every conceivable source- the pinkish aura’s were pulled thinner and thinner as they were ripped from the castle, books, the table, flying across the throne room before being pulled into the hall. A cloud of magical energy began to build up, and the faint outline of somepony was visible hovering amid the magical hurricane. As magic was pulled from every conceivable force, it began to swirl around this mysterious figure and gail-force winds ripped through the castle.
Just beyond the entrance, Twilight's friends stood plastered against the wall. Applejack fought to raise her hoof, trying to shield her eyes and get a look into the throne room. She couldn't see a thing. "What in tarnation?"
Despite it’s position at the center of the powerful magical vortex, this unknown mare appeared unfazed. The shadow of her mane hung flat, not one hair blown out of place. Completely unmoving. As Applejack stared, two blinding bright white circles appeared where the mares eye’s should be. She blinked once, glancing around briefly, until the mare’s gaze fell upon the table. In an instant, the crackling buildup of magical energy could be heard even above the roar of the wind.
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“Aauuguguugggg!!!” Twilight was wrenched from her memory as the lamps hanging from the ceiling of the room ignited, instantly filling the pitch blackness with light. Though by no means bright, after an indeterminate length of time spent in perfect darkness, even the light cast off of these faint lamps hit Twilight’s wide pupil’s like a freight train. Twilight screamed, the the lights blasting into her head and burning the back of her retinas.
She desperately clenched her eyelids. This did very little, however, as the ghost of the lights continued to fry her brain. Between the insane amount of information cascading through her mind and the pure pain that such an onslaught brought, Twilight fainted. Once again, her mind was blissfully empty.
Such bliss could not have lasted for long, however. For the second time, Twilight opened her eyes. The light was still startling, but not blinding. Twilight blinked, squinted, and blinked again. Finally, she could see. Apparently, Twilight was not laying down- in fact, she was perched vertically on her hind legs. She carefully opened her eyes, and inspected the wall before her. It was an old structure- crumbling brick, creeping moss, the smell of mold permeating the room. The only item that appeared to be new was a large wooden button, embedded in the wall.
Twilight opened her mouth. In a quiet, raspy voice, she said “W-w-what?” So. She could talk. She must be regaining her motor skills. She could feel. Something was wrapped around her hooves. She tried to turn her head to look, but couldn’t. Instead of answers, she only felt metal cutting into her forehead. Twilight wriggled her arms, flexing her muscles. The sound of rattling metal filled the room. If I can move, then maybe… Twilight closed her eyes, and concentrated, trying to summon any remaining mana.
She moved the magical energy from her core to her horn, and tried to cast a teleport spell. As the energy left her horn, Twilight felt a lightning bolt of pain rip through her body as the magical energy was thrown back at her. As Twilight stood slack, held upright only by her restraints, she heard a metallic ping, followed by a slow whirring of clockwork. With no other option’s, Twilight thought back to where she had left off.
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Rainbow Dash zipped high above the castle. She had always welcomed being called by the map- especially since it gave her an instant 'out' from Wonderbolts training. She hovered above the castle for several moments, planning her grand entrance- after all, the map had never sent them anywhere time sensitive, and if you can be awesome- which she was- you might as well make an entrance.
Suddenly, deep within her gut, she felt a powerful vibration distorting the air. She glanced around, although she didn't have to hunt for long. Directly below her, a small circle of purple energy had punched a hole in the Castle's ceiling. Dash threw herself to the side as the beam of energy ripped upwards, blackening several of her feathers as it blasted past. Dash, flaring and twisting her wings to regain control. She looked behind her. The beam vibrated, the air around it humming audibly.
Suddenly, the beam vanished. Below her, a giant sphere of energy blossomed out, the physical shock waves of this magical blast ripped her from her place in the sky, throwing her up and away from the castle proper. As Dash was knocked off course, the sound of the explosion reached her- a gut-wrenching BOOOOOM echoed across Ponyville, shattering glass in several nearby cottages.
Dash flailed about, desperate to right herself before she felt the all too familiar embrace of cold earth. She managed to right herself moments before impact, and came to a screeching rest. Nailed it! she first thought, before turning back to the dust-cloud steadily rising above Twilight's castle. My friends... she thought as she took flight once more, nearly cracking a rainboom as she sped through the Castle's doors.
Within the Castle, Twilight blinked. All around her, clouds of dust floated, any visible surface already being covered in a blanket of dust and debris. She ran down the stairs, sliding as she careened around the corner. Applejack leapt up, brushing the mounds of dust off of herself with her tail.
"Twilight, what in tarnation was that? I mean-"
"Not to interrupt, Applejack dear, but I too would like to know what is going on." Rarity cut in. "One moment, I am speaking with a valuable customer- then, my cutie mark begins to, well, buzz. Now that I'm here, everything's exploding! And, and, and... Oh sweet Celestia!" As she brushed her hooves against her head, she could feel her mane- disheveled, dust-caked. Rarity let out a bloodcurdling scream, crawling over to her throne before collapsing into a sobbing heap upon it.
"Well girls, I- I don't know. I was on my way down here because Spike told me the table summoned you, when it just exploded!" Merely seconds after this exclamation, the table behind Twilight shimmered, flickered, and finally filled once again with a map of Equestria. Twilight whipped around, and, feigning surprise, exclaimed "What... it wants you to go to Canterlot?"
Fluttershy looked up, daintily asking "Do- do you think it has something to do with the explosion?" Applejack cut in.
“Do ya’ll think it’s got something to do with that mare?”
"It might" Twilight responded. "It must be important- I think you guys should get there as soon as possible. I'll stay here, and try to figure out what happened to the table." Twilight's horn glowed, and from around the corner floated an unconscious Spike. "Oh, and could you take Spike?" Fluttershy let out an affirmatives, and after mere minutes, the girls all grabbed the go bag's that they kept in the castle, and began the trek to the Ponyville train station.
Twilight turned around, walking back into her castle. As she passed through the doors, they clattered shut with a resounding boom. Twilight let out a brief sigh as she surveyed her wrecked throne room. As she passed the table, the image faltered, and failed, disappearing with a wisp into the aether. Twilight gave it a glance.
In that instant, she saw a form rush towards her. She hadn’t even had time to ready a spell before the needle of a syringe was buried in her neck. This mare clad in a black robe, depressed the plunger. And within seconds, Twilight’s face lay scrunched the on the floor, the cool stone against her cheek the last sensation she experienced as her world faded to black.
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That was it. That was how she got here. Once again, Twilight struggled to move. As she struggled, the mechanical whirring stopped. Suddenly, with a snap, her shackles were unlocked. Twilight collapse onto the floor, giving each of her limbs a good stretch before hauling herself to her hooves.
Twilight looked side to side. For the most part, the rest of this room was not unlike the wall she had woke up to. However, on one side, a large iron door sat bolted into the wall. She looked behind her, inspecting her shackles. They lay bolted to a metal pedestal in the center of the room. Looking behind the pedestal, Twilight could see a long glass window. Whatever behind it was darkened.
Twilight turned her attention back towards the button. She approached it, inspecting, looking for any kind of booby trap. She took a breath, readied her hoof, and punched the button before leaping back. From behind the wall, the muffled clunking sound of mechanisms activating could be heard. Twilight crouched low, trying to minimize her profile for whatever would come next. She heard the crackle of magical energy, and closed her eyes, prepared for the worst.
Instead, she only heard a dark, heavily distorted voice.
“Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I want to play a game. For years, you have squandered your powers as a princess. You never act on you own volition, refusing to formulate your own beliefs. You have asked Celestia for all the answers, refusing to look at her outside of your rose-tinted glasses. When the device strapped to your body activates, your horn will be severed from your skull and your wings ripped from your body.” Twilight’s eyes widened. Horrified, she lifted her hooves to try to pull off the device. She struggled for several seconds, to no avail. Suddenly, the voice continued “Oh, and I would be careful about using magic if I were you. The device diffuses it, sending an amplified wave back into the wearer. Behind you is a case. Choose the most important item. In one hour, the doors will close- and lock forever. Change or die- make your choice.”
Behind her, The case lit up. Behind the glass cubbies lay several items. Twilight couldn’t make out what exactly they were. But, as the clock on the wall began to tick, she knew.
It was time to play.
Author's Note
I just rewrote this chapter, and started rewriting the next. I finally got access to a computer and a little extra free time, so we'll see when the new bit comes out. I wasn't at all happy with how this was originally, but I think it's better now, and I hope any readers notice an improvement.
CuttleFishGod
