The Diary of Starswirl the Bearded: lost in another world

Chapter 3:

"In the lion's den"

When I came up to my senses again, everything around me was dark. For an instant it almost felt like, I could not open my eyes, no matter how hard I tried. At the beginning I believed I was dreaming, yet an unbearable scent of wet, rotten wood soon led me to realise that I was indeed awake. Furthermore a terrible pain in my neck was, too, an efficient reminder of what had occurred to me just a few hours earlier.

The fair moon rays, penetrating from a small window, were the only source of light in the room, meaning that whoever had taken me there had done so from quite some time, since I remembered being attacked around sunset. I knew that I did not have time for such thinking though; for now my priority would be find a way to retrieve my freedom, escaping my dark, humid prison.

I was still feeling very weak back then, but I was aware that inside of me I had the necessary strength to do what I had to. Gathering my every bit of courage and energy I tried to stand up on my posterior legs, like I had learned, observing the inhabitants of the new world, yet I soon fell back onto my place.

At that moment I could not help but notice a strong tension on my new pair of “paws”. I tried to move them, but instantly felt an intense tightening pain. I had no doubts left now: I had been tied up.

Unsure of what to do, I slowly gulped; one of my many fears had come true. I had let myself been recognised as an individual who could not be trusted thanks to my bizarre ways and run into some creature who obviously meant me harm. A voice inside of me wished to cry for help as loudly as possible. It begged me to let my tension out and scream, yet I knew all too well that no creature would come to rescue me.

I was nothing but an old, defenceless fool in the hands of enemies and without my magic there was no way for me to get out of that dangerous situation.

Losing my last light of hope, I simply waited for my fate to come true. Somepony though would have been very disappointed to see me in that state; or at least that was what I thought, when the word "hope" came to me.

Somnanbula's mystical figure suddenly passed through my mind and, just like a bright flash, it lightened up my eyes. Of course she would not want to see me in such condition, nor would the rest of my missing comrades.

I did not know where Somnanbula was at that moment, but I was sure that, however awful the place she had ended up because of the failure of my banishing spell, she would never loose the glimmer of hope and nor I should.

Filled with a new courage, I attempted to move again, yet it all ended up like it had in the first place. This time something beneath me squeaked though, meaning that I was probably tied to a chair. That was a true relief to me, for it meant that it would not be difficult for me to get free, maybe after my “paws” had began to sweat...

As I reflected upon these things, trying to figure out a way to escape as quickly as possible, I started to hear noises coming the darkness, blinding my eyes. Some creatures were probably in another room, discussing with each other and, if my hunch was right, the topic of their conversation was me.

Careful not to make any sudden moves, so that I would avoid making sounds loud enough to attract any creature to my room, I slowly approached the nearest corner, jumping up and down with my chair, until I felt the cold surface of a wall, touching my face. After placing an ear on it, I heard two distinct voices, speaking to each other and quite vigorously I should say.

Judging from what I could hear the two beings, talking in the other room, were both females. The sound of their voices was hard to perceive clearly through the wall, yet I could tell with no doubt that one of the creature speaking sounded so mad that she almost hissed as she spoke, while the other was probably more concerned than upset.

If I remember correctly their conversation sounded more or less like this.

“Was tightening him up to a chair really necessary?” The concerned one asked in a trembling tone of voice.

“Yes”. The other quickly replied assertively. “He cannot be trusted.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Wasn't he the one who randomly approached you, already knowing your name and without even saying hello?” The angry one insisted. As her interlocutor spoke those words, the first girl remained silent, meaning that she agreed with her point.

In the meantime I began to feel nervous again: it seemed like everything was against me at that moment.

“See?” The angry one went on saying, noticing that her companion would not reply.

“What did I tell you? Trust me: he is nothing but a wicked, decrepit mule who should have died of old age by now.”

“You seem to know him pretty well.” The first girl said, interrupting her interlocutor.

“Do I know him?!” The other exclaimed so loudly that the walls around began to shake. “He is the very cause of my curse. Not that you are innocent by the way, but I suppose that, in cases such as this, the enemy of my enemy really is my friend.”

“Gee...thanks, I guess.” The worried girl timidly replied to the other.

“You are welcome, but remember that I am only helping you out this once.”

“Okay, I guess that will have to work then. Now before we go to the other room and interrogate our friend...”

“My new favourite hobby!” The second one said to herself in a mean giggle.

“...Would you mind telling me why you were snooping around the school of all places, Adagio?”

“For the last time I wasn't snooping, I was just...”

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by a squeaking noise, coming from the room where I was. It had taken only a moment for me to doom my own self: I had made that noise, moving the chair to which I was tied up. I knew all too well that I was not supposed to let that happen, yet, as the sound of that familiar name reached my ears, I briefly lost control.

Adagio, how could it be?!

“Did you hear that?!” The angry girl exclaimed, as soon as she heard the noise. “It sounds like our guest is awake. Let's go pay him a visit, shall we?!”

“Fine, but, please, go easy on him, whatever he might have done to you to deserve your wrath.” The worried one added, noticing that her interlocutor was ready to blow off her steam on me.

“Oh, there is no way I am doing that. My sisters and I have some unfinished business to deal with, now that he is here. But don't worry, I promise I will leave you some time to ask him your questions and, in case he refuses to cooperate, I will make him spill the beans!” The second creature went on saying; the sound of her teeth grinding followed her words.

“Speaking of your sisters, why weren't they with you? Last time I saw you three I thought you were practicably inseparable.”

“This time I just decided to take a walk on my own and that's the only answer you're gonna get for now, Shimmer. But don't worry too much, I've just given them a call and our location. They're probably on their way here already; I'm sure they have a thing or two to say to our old friend, too. But for now I am gonna enjoy having him all to myself.”

Another noise, louder than the previous one, interrupted the two girls again and, exactly like the first time, I had made it. In a desperate attempt to free myself from the ropes that held me tightly, I had caused my chair to fall over and myself along with it. The fall caused me to bump my chin on the floor, while my old spine, which had taken too many hits in this adventure for my tastes, began to hurt again and the ropes, tightening my hands, sent an unbearable pain through my arms.

Soon a door opened from behind my back, letting a bright light enter the room. I heard the distinctive sound of steps coming toward me. At that moment I wished to turn around and face the enemies in their eyes, courageously like I always had, yet the condition I was in prevented me from doing so. During those dark, brief moments, for the first time, I truly felt weak and defenceless against a terrible foe.

As soon as the noise, of which I have spoken of, was interrupted, I saw a pair of very peculiar and at the same time familiar-looking boots.

“Starswirl?” A voice called out gently. “Are you alright? Did you get hurt?” It took me nothing but a brief moment to recognise who was speaking to me. It was Sunset Shimmer, the very same girl who I had met that afternoon and just a while ago was having an inconvenient conversation about me with some other creature.

“He's fine, Sunset. Put him and the chair back up, even if I must admit that this position is rather suitable for him.” Said the other voice from before, this time speaking loud and clear.

Soon afterwards Sunset put me in a more comfortable position, as she had been told by her companion. When I was back with my “hooves on the ground” so to speak, I gazed at the figure before me.

The individual in question must have been around 5 feet and 8 inches tall; moreover she was very thin, as if she had been suffering from hunger for a very long time. Her face was obscured by the shadow, created by the light, coming from the door behind her back; yet that did not hide either the amber colour of her skin or her voluminous, curly hair. She was wearing a lavender jacket on top of a purple attire; around her waist I saw a golden, spiky belt.

Without uttering a single word, the creature slowly walked toward me in a threatening way; in the meantime, feeling helpless, I could not avoid gulping in nervousness.

The being stepped forward, until she was finally just a few inches a way from me; it was then that she began to speak. The hiss in her voice still haunts my most horrible nightmares.

“Now,now, look at who we have here!” She said, kneeling before me, so I could see the grin on her face.

Her complexion was incredibly young and handsome, yet what stuck me the most was the vivid fire in her magenta eyes. A flame of pure hatred and anger, burning devilishly before me.

“What happened to you, Starswirl? Cat ate your tongue? I remembered you being much more loquacious.” I did not utter a word in response, I did not wish to, nor did my usually brave and righteous spirit for once.

Smirking, the girl turned around, facing the wall: she was probably pleased with seeing me silent; it made her understand that I was defenceless against her.

“I bet that you are wondering why we decided to bring you here.” The curly-haired one went on saying, turning her gaze to me again. “Or why, when you woke up, you found yourself tied to that chair. Don't worry, Starwirl, you will have your answers in due time. Right now I believe that you own us some explanations yourself.”

Saying these things, the inhabitant of the new world turned around the chair to which I was still tied up, a detail that she had so generously reminded me of, and me along with it.

“Sunset here has some questions for you, Starswirl. Would you be so kind to answer them for us?” The curly-haired girl hissed in my ear like a snake; the sound of her voice was so acute that it made me tremble in my chair.

“Starswirl.” The one, called Sunset, began to speak. “This afternoon, when we first met, you called me by my name, plus you approached me in a very unfriendly and let's just say creepy kind of way. I would like to know why and who told you who I was.”

I did not gave the girl any answer, as if I could have ever stooped down to speaking to some creature who, instead of helping me like I had been told, had agreed to cooperate with one of the worst evil being in all of the dimensional universes.

“Did you hear that, Starswirl?” The other one intervened from behind my back, still grinning evilly.

“This kind lady just asked you a question, would you be a gentlecolt and give us an answer now!”

Again I did not utter a word: as I have already mentioned, I had managed to get out of situations which seemed hopeless before. There was no way that a threat like that would influence me.

“I said answer!” The angry girl yelled, raising her arm in a rage of fury.

“Adagio!” Sunset exclaimed from behind her back. “Don't!”

Perhaps there was a natural charm in the youngster's voice, or she was sorceress like I had thought in the first place. Still something in her gentle tone seemed to calm down Adagio, even if only slightly.

Giving up the idea of hitting me, the curly-haired girl turned around to her companion. “You are right.” She finally sighed. “We need him in one piece, if we want to make him spill the beans. If I let my anger get the better of me, there's no way of telling what I'll do to him.”

“We'll wait for your sisters to arrive.” Sunset went on saying, placing a hand on Adagio's shoulder in a clear attempt to comfort her. “I am sure that he'll be more reasonable, once he sees us all together.” Without adding anything the curly-haired girl nodded in approval.

“Adagio Dazzle...” I spoke at that precise moment, as my pride had, as usual, gotten the better of me. “I don't know what your mean skims are this time, but I can assure you that they shall not work on me. Meeting you was an unfortunate turn of events, true, yet the simple fact that you and your ally have tied me up here will not be enough to defeat me. I shall prevail again, fiend, exactly as I and the other pillars prevailed against you at the time of our first meeting. Furthermore I wish you to know that I do not regret anything, let me say that again, anything of what I have done to you and your...”

Before I could finish my sentence, I was hit on the cheek by a powerful fist.

“Mean Skims?! Prevail?! Pillars?! Do not regret?! Have you ever taken time to reflect on how pathetic you are, Starswirl?!” Adagio exclaimed with a terrible tone of anger in her voice. “What do you think you can do this time, Starwirl?! You are in my power: nopony, not even your precious companions can come rescue you this time. You are alone and without magic in the dark of a room, yet you still think you can prevail?! They may treat you like a sage, Starswirl, but you can't fool me! I know the real you and I know for a fact that you are nothing but a powerless, old coward and a child who still believes in old tales in which good always wins!”

Getting under the siren's skin had not been wise of me, for it had caused Adagio to get even more upset at me than she
already was. Now she was delivering me one powerful punch after the other, painting my face red, while shouting.

“What are you gonna do now, Starswirl?! Where are the other pillars, Starswirl?! How are you gonna get out of this bad situation without your precious magic, Starswirls?! Will you tell me how are you gonna win this time, Starswirl?! C'mon, tell me! Tell me! Tell me!”

Suddenly my torment ceased; the taste of blood was in my mouth once more, yet this time I had the impression that one of my incisors was indeed broken. As I tiredly opened my eyes, I saw that Sunset had stepped into the very middle of Adagio's wrath and grabbed the other girl by the arm, preventing her from delivering me another one of her fists.

“Let me go!” The curly-haired one shouted angrily. “Why are you stopping me?! I told you I would be rough on him, plus he is our common enemy!”

“I won't let you hurt him even more, Adagio” The red-haired youngster exclaimed assertively. “Even if he is a threatening creep and a jerk, I still don't understand why you are being so hard on him. What did he ever do to you to deserve you being so angry at him for such a long time?!”

At the sound of those words, the siren shrugged the other girl's hand off her arm, right before yelling.

“You want to know...What he did to me?! You really do?!” As she spoke those words, Adagio's face suddenly became as red as a chili pepper and tears began to run down her cheeks.

Seeing Adagio's state, Sunset timidly nodded in response to her previous question. So the curly-haired girl shouted.

“Then I'll tell you what he did!”