A male Royal guard and a female Thestral guard are standing idle by a door into the secretive basement of the Royal castle. Not everypony is allowed there, only a few of the most trusted ponies can access it. The guard's task is to simply identify any pony that attempts to enter the basement, and if they're authorized, that pony can go through the doors. The door itself has two keyholes on it, one key held by the Royal guard, and the other by the Thestral guard.

"It's so boring being on guard duty on the basement's entrance." The stallion complained, before looking at the Thestral. "You're having it hard too, batpony?"

"Nope, it's an honor to guard the basement, you know." She said.

"How can you withstand the 'not doing anything for hours alone'? At least there are other ponies somewhere else." The guard asked.

"Patience. We Thestrals have been taught to be patient to survive, because we're hunters." She smirked at the other guard.

"Guh, don't remind me that you batponies eat flesh and drink blood. That's creepy." The guard commented.

"I'll let that one slide." The Thestral rolled her eyes.

A black unicorn with cyan mane approaches the basement door, and both guards took notice. Wordlessly, the unicorn levitates a scroll of paper to the Thestral. She skimmed through it quickly.

"Ah, Mr Nightray. You are authorized to enter the basement." She said.

Both guards takes a key kept in their person, two completely different keys, and inserts it into it's respective keyholes. A rather loud 'CLANG' rings through the room when the keys are turned, opening the double door keeping the basement locked from the surface. The black unicorn went through he door and went down the winding stairs into the basement below. Meanwhile the guards closes and locks the door again.

"I'm always wondering, what's down there? You batponies have excellent hearing, right?" The royal guard asks his partner.

"Oh, beats me. And frankly, I don't want to know."

The basement is a dark place in itself, despite the numerous firefly lamps on the wall. The corridors stretches into the darkness beyond, it's end is still unable to be seen from this spot. You relax your arcane nerves and the disguise spell finally wavers from your body. Dear the ancients, maintaining that spell all the way from the Castle's entrance to all the way down here really took the toll on your magic. You massage your forehead and the base of your horn to ease the pain a bit, before you continue to walk forward.

Hey, we got something real good. We have identified a pony that have access to the basement of the Royal Castle. You know, knowing what's really down there would help greatly, because all this time, it's all rumors and gossips. Some said it's a place to research magic, some said it's a place where those captured were tortured, some said it's a place for pony experiment, and so on and so forth. We gotta find out what those Royal ponies are hiding from all of us.

I know you'll be perfect for the job. Why? Cause you got that disguise spell with you, right? We'll knock that pony out, and you'll take his place down into the basement. Once you're in, find out what's in there, improvise, then get out. Should be pretty easy, right? Take care, expect the unexpected when you're down there. Do it for the Freedom Fighters!

The corridor must've been at least a kilometer in length, before you stumble upon something different then two black stone walls three meters wide on your sides. Those walls grows into a massive underground dome, with a noticeable circle pattern in the middle of the floor. As you take a step forward, a light blue glowing circle lit up, causing you to take half a step back. Soon, the room is lit by the light coming from lines, patterns, and runes on the walls. Illumination magic that flows through chalk, you thought.

Now that the lights are on, you can see what's exactly in the room. The circle pattern in the middle of the room had lowered itself a bit, creating steps to go down onto a small platform. There are three walkways onward. You decide to take a closer look by walking towards the mouth of the walkways. On the left is a hallway flanked by bookshelves, countless number of books are stored. You took one book at random, 'Electro Arcane', sounds a bit sinister. Unfortunately, you can't open it because it's sealed with a lock. You decided to not to tamper with it.

The middle one stretches a bit more before revealing a room that looks like a laboratory. There are shelves that houses all kinds of scientific tools, from beakers, test tubes, and alcohol burners. However, there's also a part of the room that's partially covered by curtains. You took a peek, rewarded by a chilling sight.

There's several beds lined up, but that's not your main concern. Rather, the table is filled with tools that one would find in an operating theater. The sight of syringes filled with unknown liquids, and surgical knives made you shiver. You decide to back away, and leave.

Now, only the right hallway remains. But as you enters that hallway, the corridor stops into a small circular room. There is, however, a white circle on the floor. You stood on it, and as you did, a panel appears from the floor within a hoof's reach with two buttons. One with an arrow pointing up, and the other is an arrow pointing down. An elevator. You pressed the down button, and the floor under you slowly descends deeper underground...

The elevator puts you into a world of darkness as it goes down. As soon as it touches the ground and stops, the lights went on, and it reveals yet another narrow corridor that leads to a reinforced door. You simply touched it with your hoof, and it opens automatically, revealing the room within. However, what you see inside made you conclude that you shouldn't enter.

First of all, you see several ponies suspended in cyan crystals, frozen in time. You don't know who they are, but they bear an expression of either shock, pain, fear, or their eyes glazed up. So perhaps, the rumors of ponies missing because they got kidnapped into the Royal Castle is not just empty rumors.

Second, there are more lab equipments and a bed in the middle similar to the room in the middle hallway upstairs. But you can't identify any of the equipment except the 'Magic inhibitor ring', a unicorn's most feared items. One of the tools has an arm supporting a small buzz saw, and another has sharp hooks. You dare not imagine what they're used for. The bed itself have restrains to put a pony's hoof in.

And finally, there's somepony in there, and she sees you. It's a pink unicorn with dual colored mane, purple and cyan', with a white cloak. You know who that is...

Pink... Unicorn... purple eyes... purple and cyan mane...

This mare is a mystery. What we know is, she's called Starlight Glimmer, one of the mane eight. Some said her magic is known to be very powerful, only second from the leader, Twilight Sparkle. Some said that she have her own special set of spells that only she can use. I don't know, there are no ponies we know that can tell about her magic. Be very careful if you encounter her, we don't know what she can do.

"Hey! Who are you!?"

Instinctively, you let out some 'Umm' and 'Uhh' before realizing there's no reasoning that can save you out from this. This basement is highly restricted, surely those that can come down here would recognize everypony else that can enter the basement. With that in mind, you turn around and broke into a sprint.

"Hey! Come back!" You hear her coming for you. There's no telling what she'll do to you if you get caught. You've a mission to do, that is to get information down here and report back to the hideout. What's hidden down here must be told to the rebels, and everypony else, the Royal Castle might be doing pony experiments!

You ran until you reach the elevator, but suddenly the pink unicorn appears a few meters in front of you via teleportation. A beam of magic flies towards your face, thank the ancients your shield managed to block it completely. When the beam stops, however, she's no longer there. Suddenly, you feel searing heat hitting you back, causing you drop to the ground. Somehow, she managed to get behind you.

"Who are you? How did you get down here?" She kept asking you, but you know answering them won't help your cause. You took a glance upwards towards the opening the elevator came from, and lit up your horn. In a flash, you're back on the upper level of the basement. You continue to run, reaching the massive dome once more.

But that unicorn is there.

You screech into a halt, and her horn shines a bright cyan. You hear her speak something in old Ponish, before, in a flash of bright light, a massive shield appears that covers the entire dome, trapping you with her inside.

"Since you're not going to talk, I'll have to conclude that you are an intruder." She declares. "With that, I won't let you get out from here alive."

You tried to teleport out from the shield, but your magic just fizzled out. No matter how many times you tried, you stay in the exact same place you're standing.

"Don't even try, this shield blocks magic signatures as well." She said, seemingly reading your mind. "You cannot run anymore."

Well, if flight is no longer an option, then fight it is. You stare down at your opponent. You're about to go toe to toe with a member of the mane eight, Starlight Glimmer, no less. You ARE known for your talent in magic in the rebellion, but can you even match her level of mastery? She erects this massive shield like it was nothing. You dare not take your eyes off her.

"So, I'm guessing you're one of those Freedom Fighters rebels I heard so much about. You actually have potential judging from your control of teleportation." Starlight slowly started to walk around you in an arc, her white cloak lightly flutters behind her. "You would be of use to us..."

Whatever position she got in mind for you, from her superior to a guinea pig, there is no way you'll ever join the current rulers of Equestria. The Two sister's rule shrouds everypony in despair. Resources that can be used to make life easier would be swallowed into the bowels of the Royal Castle for who knows what. Even here in Canterlot, most ponies were living on a 'just enough' standards. Other towns are worse, as your fellow rebels had told. If anypony opens their mouth against this, there's a good chance they'll vanish the next day. Now, you got a pretty good idea where those ponies went.

"Well, first things first, let's see how good you really are!" Starlight teleports several meters to your left before shooting a magic beam. Somehow you managed to guard yourself in time with a shield. Then, she teleports to the right, mirroring her attack. You dodge rolled to avoid the incoming beam, conserving your arcane energy.

The next thing you know is she's levitating several meters in front of you, launching yet another magic beam. You decided to meet her attack head on, and clashes your own magic beam with hers. Your magic are on even grounds with hers somehow. Soon, both beams dissipate, and Starlight lands on the ground again, smirking.

In a brief flash, suddenly she's almost nose to nose with you. Another flash, she's a bit to the right. Another flash, you can hear her teleporting to your left. Flash. Flash. Flash. Flash. She's teleporting around you with crazy speed, and you can never have a good look on her, or predict her next location. Suddenly, your train of thoughts were derailed abruptly when she lands a sucker punch on your cheek. Then, she disappears again.

"Over here!" You hear her voice behind you, and she kicks your flank, causing you to drop to the floor. Damn this mare, she's playing you like a damn fiddle right now.

Once again, she teleports around you, like a predator playing with her meal. Enough is enough, you know one spell that can stop her. Concentrating your magic on your horn, you whip your head up, and erects your shield, which suddenly expends into three times it's size. You can hear the oh so satisfying 'SMACK!' and Starlight yelp of surprise as she got thrown to the floor in front of you. You felt your pride build up as the pink unicorn get back on her hooves.

"Hmph, pretty smart. Guess you can still focus through that." She remarks. "But you're way too naive if you think that's my only trick."

You're not letting her do anything funny, and immediately fires a magic shot. She uses her own shield to absorb the impact, before retaliating. Your head shifts into high gear as you fight this deadly duel with her. Fire at her, then block or dodge her shots. You actually have a good amount of experience in a magic fight, but it seems that she's even better. Neither of you are getting hit, and neither of you are letting up the attack. You figure if you kept doing this, you might tire yourself out. So, with that in mind, you did a horizontal sweeping attack, hoping she can't avoid that.

She just teleports up and levitates in mid air again.

You hear her speak old Ponish, and her horn sparks small blue magic orbs that stays in the air. She did this multiple times while teleporting around to avoid your attacks. Suddenly, the orbs flew at you in groups. You managed to dodge the first wave, but you got bombarded by the second one. You feel several spots on your coat burn, causing you to groan in pain. Quickly standing back up again, you decide to switch into a different tactic. You teleported right in front of her, grabbing her from the air and dropping her to the floor. It seems you caught her completely off guard.

As she's struggling under you, her horn lit up, but you quickly use your hoof to press down on her horn's base, interrupting her spell. Your other hoof finds her neck, you've decided to strangle her to death while she can't use any spells. Her own hooves pushes your chin upwards, trying to free herself, but your grip is stronger. After several seconds pressing down her neck, you started to hear her gasp for air desperately. Her struggle got more desperate, and her horn sparks like crazy. Before you can finish her off, however, a raw burst of magic sends you flying across the room. You barely have any time to realize what just happened. As you recover from the blast, her violent cough rang through the room. Though slow, you both end up standing up at the same time. There's an expression of disgust and anger on her face.

"What are you, a unicorn with no dignity? That's such a dirty trick!" She growled. "You rebel don't even know how to fight like a proper unicorn, disgusting!"

You ignore her insult and lit up your horn again, however, you feel an unstable spark of magic on your horn. Looks like her impulsive burst of magic did some damage. You stand down, thinking about being passive and giving time for yourself to recover. Starlight took the initiative and attacks first with a simple shot. You dodge and expect more, but she decide to stand down as well.

"If you want to play that game, be my guest... I've been wanting to use this, anyway." Starlight gives you a sinister grin that causes the hair at the back of your neck stood up.

Starlight shields herself and once again chants something in old Ponish. The shield burst violently, and gives you a sight to be scared at. There are THREE Starlights standing and looking at you. They simultaneously levitates to the air and moves in a synchronized circle motion.

"See if you can survive this!" All three Starlight speaks, before opening fire, raining magic bullets towards your direction. You cast your shield, it's the only way to survive that attack in your head. The bullets pound at your barrier relentlessly. You feel pain on your horn every time an impact hits your shield, but somehow you managed to hang on. The pink unicorn switches to a beam, but not just any beam. The three magic beam from the three Starlights merges into one, bigger beam. You kept your shield up, but like protecting yourself with a sheet of paper against a sword, the beam pierces your shield and hits you in your chest, pushing you until you hit the barrier. It feels like being pushed by a giant, searing red rod of steel with force.

You collapse to the ground, there's a big scorched mark on your body. The pain is surreal, feels like there's a burning hole in your chest. The effect of your shield got shattered also did a number to your horn, giving you a great pain on your forehead. It feels like the world is rocking back and forth, and your vision starts to blur. But you see Starlight walking towards you with a rather smug smile, her doppelgangers seems to have disappeared. You growl at her, your horn sparking wildly as you try to summon your magic again.

"Looks like it's time for me... to finish the job."Starlight's horn summons an arcane orb that's steadily grows larger. Looks like this is how she'll kill you, with a big magic explosion. However, you're far from giving up. You dig your inner focus, just one, clean, magic shot will stop her. Feeling your magic stabilize better, you fire the magic bullet right at the orb.

The orb's color changes to your magic's color.

What the...? That's not right...

"Gotcha." Starlight chuckled.

In an instant, the orb flew into your horn, and all your senses run amok. You see random moments in your life, you hear noises that you've probably heard before, you can't feel your body, and there's the most intense pain you've ever felt pounding your head. You can't even tell if you're actually screaming in pain, or flailing you body everywhere from the disorientation. You feel like you're going to throw up.

"Hello there." You hear Starlight's voice amongst the chaos. "If you're wondering what did I do, I simply seize control of your brain."

Your breath got stuck in your throat. This can't be. You have heard about this spell before, but most thought no unicorn can perform it, and it's considered to be forbidden. Basically Starlight can see all your memory, control all your nerves, and, the worst part, even temper with your organs. By simply sending the wrong signal, she can make you throw up until there's nothing left, or even change your heart rate into a dangerous level.

"Now, what should I do here..." Starlight asked rhetorically. "Make you blind? Deaf? Cut your ability to breathe?". You've felt fear like you've never felt before. She can do all those horrible things to you without remorse. At least you get a good look in your life before it'll be taken from you. Before the mare can do any of that, something seems to have picked her curiosity.

"Oh, what's this?"

You feel she's doing... something with one of your memories. You can tell because you're currently remembering that moment with great detail. You remember what you hear, what you feel, and what you see. Right now, she's looking at your memory about--

Oh no

"Hmm, so that's it, huh? Good to know." Starlight noted. A brand new wave of fear overwhelms you. She's not supposed to know about that! This is bad, REALLY bad.

"You know, I've decided a way to kill you. Tell me, what is the most precious thing for a unicorn?" Starlight asked. You didn't answer. Not only because your senses are still failing you, but you know Starlight can just probe that answer from your head.

"That's right!" What quickly follows is the feeling of similar to being electrocuted, and it feels like knifes are being jammed into the base of your horn. You can't even scream, the pain had clouded even the simplest command you can do.

"THEIR MAGIC"

A snap

Author's Note

Eeyup, if you're wondering who are the members of the 'Mane Eight' besides the Mane Six, Starlight is one of them. Who's the other one? Stay tuned!

What could've Starlight possibly found in your memory? Hmm...