Revenge of the Shadow Pony

Seeing the castle up ahead, Starlight and Tempest saw sparks of light flashing in the background.

"Is that them?" Tempest asked, not seeing far ahead.

"It has to be. Nobody hates them more than they do each other." Starlight answered, seeing the castle light up.

"We need to get past them without being caught. Although that is easier said than done." Tempest surmised.

"Right. Doesn't really seem all to it though. All we need to be now is quiet." Starlight said, trying to find a path.

"Easier said than done though. There are gonna be creatures and monsters everywhere. Besides, what are we gonna do to escape that your horn is destroyed?" Tempest said, looking into the distance.

“We’ll find a way. We always do.” Starlight said before walking towards Canterlot.

“Starlight…” Tempest said before following after the unicorn.

The two walked towards Canterlot without drawing attention to themselves. Sneaking their way through the streets, they passed by every single creature running through town without being noticed. However, they did hear a lot of shouting from the other side of their position.

***

Meanwhile, Midnight and Spike were at each other's throats in the middle of town square. The former fired various amounts of magic lasers at the latter before he formed a shield from the ooze before grabbing the lasers with it before firing back at her.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME!!!" Spike roared as he charged Midnight.

"Aren't we in high spirits today~?" Midnight said with sarcasm in her voice before charging at Spike as well.

***

Starlight and Tempest slowly crept their way into the castle and checked everywhere for the dungeon entrance. They spent several minutes trying to find the doorway, but they came up short on any clues until Tempest found the elevator linking the upstairs to the downstairs.

"How come we haven't noticed this before…?" Starlight asked upon watching the door open.

"No time for questions. We need to get Cadance out of here." Tempest said before entering the elevator.

***

Devastation was laid everywhere across Canterlot as Spike and Midnight clashed and fired at each other while figuring out ways to outsmart one another. The buildings were leveled and the streets were set ablaze by their skirmish. All that remained for them was hostility.

"What would Rarity think of you~? What would the Royal Sisters think of you~? A big, greedy dragon who did nothing more than abuse his powers to destroy Equestria~! You should have behaved yourself back in Ponyville~!" Midnight shouted before summoning several spears.

"THAT'S RICH COMING FROM YOU!!! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME, YOU TWO-FACED, BACKSTABBING, CONNIVING, BOTTOM-FEEDING PONY!!!! AND NOW YOU WILL REPAY EVERYTHING YOU DID TO ME IN FULL!!!!" Spike roared once more before turning around to grab Midnight with his left hand.

He proceeds to shift his right hand into a powerful fist and punches her really hard in the face. She was sent flying back into a random building where she struggles to get back up, only to be ambushed by Spike once more. Midnight tried to slice through him, but the Creature intervened and grabbed her scythe before she could swing it. Spike formed multiple blade-tipped bones on his knuckles and punched Midnight directly in the nose while she was distracted. Midnight was sent flying through Canterlot, skipping and hopping as she crashed through multiple buildings caused by Spike’s blow against her.

“DIE!!!” Spike roared as he turned the scythe into a spear.

Without any warning and with the Creature’s aid, Spike threw the blade directly at Midnight. The spear moved faster than the speed of sound and it was moving three times the speed of Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom. Midnight tried to slow down and move out of the way, but the spear moved way too fast and it went straight through her heart, sending her straight into more walls.

***

Starlight and Tempest waited for the elevator to reach the lower floor and they were incredibly uneased by the earthquakes surrounding them in the castle and its lower levels.

“Just how reckless can they be?” Starlight asked, feeling unnerved by Spike and Midnight battle.

“We’re almost there! As soon as we rescue Cadance, we’re outta here!” Tempest said, looking around the elevator.

After the next three floors, they finally made it to the lower grounds of the dungeon and left the elevator. There were no guards surrounding the vicinity and it was dark around every corridor. But they could see a faint light up ahead.

“Could that be…?” Starlight speculated as she looked at the faint light behind the prison door.

“Yes. She has to be over there.” Tempest said, immediately running over to the end of the corridor alongside Starlight.

But as they were running, they were suddenly caught off-guard by the wall to their left exploding without so much as a warning. Starlight and Tempest looked over and it turned out to be Midnight herself with the spear embedded into her chest.

“Twilight…?” Starlight asked, leaning in closer to see if she was still alive.

Just then, Midnight opened her eyes and looked up, scaring the wits out of the two unicorns. But before she could do anything to them, Spike leapt through the wall and charged at Midnight, causing Starlight and Tempest to jump out of the way. They ran out of the cell and charged towards the end of the hall.

“Do you think you can kick that door down?!” Starlight asked, looking at the locked door.

“I can try!” Tempest said as she dashed towards the door.

Without thinking, Tempest jumped into the air and kicked the door down. The two got in and closed the door. They waited for Spike and Midnight to leave the area before they could do anything else. When the coast was clear, they turned around and saw an unconscious Cadance, slowly dying from a lack of liquid and nutrition. Starlight immediately went over to Cadance’s side and proceeded to wake her up.

“Princess! Wake up!” Starlight shouted.

There was no response from the alicorn. Starlight reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of water. She moved Cadance’s lips and proceeded to pour the liquid into her mouth. There was still no answer.

“Princess! Please! Wake up! Flurry Heart is safe! She is back in Zecora’s hut! You can see her again! Please wake up!” Starlight shouted, pounding the alicorn’s chest.

The words of Starlight echoed into Cadance’s ears. Even as faint as her voice was, the alicorn could hear the familiar sound of her friend and she could feel her chest being hit. She struggled to open her eyes, but she forced herself to wake up.

“S-Starlight…? Is that you…? What happened to your horn…?” a half-dead Cadance said as she opened her eyes.

“Princess! Thank Celestia…” Starlight said, immediately hugging Cadance.

“Wait. W-What did you say…? Where is m-my daughter…? Where is-?” Cadance panicked, feeling scared for Flurry Heart.

“She’s safe. She is being kept with Zecora and she is waiting for you. Come with us.” Starlight answered, wanting to ease Cadance’s worry.

“I was right to have trusted you with Flurry Heart. We need to leave now. But where is Shining Armor?” Cadance asked, now worried for her husband’s safety.

“We dunno. But we don’t-'' Tempest said before being interrupted by Cadance.

“No. He has to be in here somewhere. But where…?” Cadance said before turning towards a large black door.

The trio looked for a key before seeing an unconscious guard holding the key. Grabbing it, they opened the door and it showed Shining Armor sitting on a torture chair with various amounts of hooks hanging on his flesh, multiple chains and whipmarks surrounding his body with a prominent glasgow smile on his face, and his horn broken off.

“Shining Armor!” Cadance shouted before Starlight and Tempest proceeded to undo his bonds.

After freeing him from his prison cell, Cadance rushed over to Shining Armor and hugged him.

“C-Cadance…?” Shining Armor asked, immediately waking up.

Starlight immediately rushed over with the water bottle and gave Shining Armor some much needed liquid. After he was finished, he asked,

“What happened…? Did they hurt you…? Where’s-” Shining Armor asked before being interrupted by Cadance’s kiss.

After pulling away from him, she answered with tears in her eyes,

“Flurry Heart’s safe. She’s waiting for us, Shining Armor.”

Hearing this and understanding her, Shining Armor immediately nodded and proceeded to walk away with the group. But before they could leave, Starlight asked,

“But what about the other prisoners? We can’t just leave them here.”

“We can’t take them with us right now. They’re too weak to move and the last thing we need are more casualties. We need to leave.” Shining Armor said before leaving with Cadance and Tempest.

Having no other choice, Starlight joins after them and they proceed to go up the elevator to leave the castle grounds.