Heartache: Cherished Friendship {Book the First}

Twilight opened her eyes. She was not in bed anymore. She wasn’t even in the Friendship Castle. There was a thick fog surrounding her. The ground seemed to be dirt. The only place she could think of that is this foggy is the Everfree Forest, and even that doesn’t answer how she got here in the first place. Or why. Or where in the hay Starlight and Spike are.

She walked around for a bit, and bumped into a tree. This must be the Everfree Forest. Then, she mentally smacked herself. She was an alicorn with magical powers. She ignited her horn to light her way. Problem solved, or so she thought. Her horn wasn’t casting much light or magic, as if her powers were limited. She walked forward.

Suddenly, the fog disappeared, and there stood her five best friends, their backs towards her. She felt a wave of joy. She had no idea what was going on, but the sight of her friends always cheered her up. She trotted over to them. Pinkie turned around, and grinned at the purple alicorn.

“Twilight! I’m so glad you’re here! Oh, we’re gonna have so much fun!” Pinkie cried out.

The others turned around to face her, and they all smiled.

“Yeah! It’s been a long time since we met! The last time we met was last night!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Twilight blinked. What did Dash mean by that? They met this morning, not last night.

“Wait,” she said. “Didn’t we meet just this morning?”

This time it was the others’ turn to blink. Then, Rainbow understood.

“Oh! Are you thinking of our harmonized selves? They were the ones you met with this morning. We’re the ones you met last night, at least AJ.”

Twilight blinked. Things are now getting scary. Fluttershy spoke up, her soft words disturbing.

“You had fun with us. Though, you had too much fun. It’s our turn now. It’s time for us to have fun with you.”

Suddenly, they weren’t in a forest anymore. The surroundings faded away into a room. A plain, old, dark room. There was no furniture or windows. There was only one old door. Everything was gray. Definitely not something Rarity likes, but the unicorn seemed to have no reaction. Applejack stepped forward.

“Ah must say, you done a mighty fine job fighting me last night. Though, it’s time for a rematch.” Applejack leaped for Twilight’s throat. Twilight was shocked, but she managed to teleport away from her grasp. Rainbow was ready though, and she flew over to Twilight. Twilight teleported again, but during all of the confusion, she wasn’t paying attention to where she was teleporting.

She appeared in front of Fluttershy, who blinked, then softly smiled as Dash hit a wall. Too fast, Dash.

“Well,” Fluttershy said. “It’s very nice of you to play with me, Twilight Sparkle.”

As Fluttershy continued to ramble, which was very unusual, Rarity crept up on Twilight from behind. Twilight gasped in shock as Rarity levitated her, which was unusual for her. The alicorn struggled, but Rarity had surprising strength. She did another surprising thing as she conjured a chair. The chair was plain, with splinters sticking out.

“I think you should have a seat, dear,” Rarity said, and plopped Twilight onto the chair. She felt the pricks of splinters on her butt. Rarity conjured up thick ropes, and tied Twilight up, tying her hooves to the arms and legs of the chair. She conjured up a special string, and wrapped that around Twilight’s horn, disabling her magic. There was no need to do anything about her wings. They were pinned down against the back of the chair by Twilight’s back. Twilight was surprised because Rarity was using her magic so quickly. She also had the feeling that this was all a nightmare. So much for a sweet dream.