In a Dark Equestria, Once upon a time

"Where is your amulet Starlight?" asked Twilight calmly.

"I'm telling you the truth, I don't know what you're talking about. I used a time spell and ended up here, I don't understand what happened to this future," replied Starlight.

Twilight looked at Starlight unconvinced. "You expect me to believe you time traveled? I've looked into time travel, you could only have gone back in time and only for about ten seconds, it's useless. You will tell me where you hid your amulet," she said with a sinister look in her eyes.

"What? You and I worked on this spell together, you don't remember?" asked Starlight.

Starlight struggled against the chains keeping her suspended off the ground. The chains were digging into her forearms and her movements were of little use; her hind legs were chained to solid balls of metal on the floor below and both sets were so tight there was no leeway with wiggle with.

Twilight laughed at her captive. "You and I work together? Maybe those Ponies hit you too hard in the head," she giggled.

"Twilight please listen to me, something is wrong here and we need to figure out what it is, maybe then I can go back and stop it." pleaded Starlight.

Starlight tried to use her magic to get free, but an odd metal cap over her horn was preventing her from casting spells. She looked at Twilight in desperation.

"It's no use, can't use your magic with that suppressor on. Better get used to it, once I have your amulet I will have what I need to finally rid the world of magic once and for all," said Twilight with a grin.

"Rid the world of magic! How could you think to do such a thing, Twilight?" asked Starlight in complete shock.

"You know damn well why! Without magic things would be equal, that's what you always wanted right? Equality for all? Well, I will do it right! Magic has caused the world too many hardships and I will make it stop!" shouted Twilight.

"You know that's not true, magic helps make this world beautiful, you and your friends..." Starlight tried to explain but was cut off.

"You bitch!" shrieked Twilight.

Starlight's eyes grew wide with surprise as Twilight charged up in front of her with her horn glowing and sparking. Twilight grit her teeth and looked at her with rage and tears in her eyes. Before anything could be said Twilight jabbed her horn into Starlight's stomach. A surge of electrical energy shot through Starlight's body.

"Uh, gahhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!" screamed Starlight at the top of her lungs.

Starlight jerked around as her body tightened and convulsed. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she begged for Twilight to stop in her head unable to speak the words out loud.

Twilight let up and yelled at Starlight. "If it weren't for you I might still have friends!" The shout was immediately followed by another shock.

"Gi, gi, gahhh, ahhhhhhh!" Starlight stammered as she screamed.

Twilight let up again to yell. "Spike might not have left me! Celestia would still be alive!" she sobbed.

"T-twi-l-l-l-l, shtaaaaahhhhh!" Screamed Starlight as Twilight jabbed her with the electric spell again.

Twilight held the spell to Starlight for a good while. Starlight tensed up and jerked around uncontrollably. Her muscles were so stiff the cuffs and chain were cutting into her flesh from pulling on them. She could not breathe or scream anymore, just tremble and jerk as the electricity coursed through her. She was sure she was going to die but Twilight finally backed off.

"Huugh, huugh! gachk, hugh," Starlight coughed and wheezed trying to catch her breath.

Twilight glared at Starlight with seething hatred. She had noticed the scar covered mare now appeared pristine. it was as though the years of battles and war had been washed away from Starlight's body while hers remained a bruised, torn, and dirty reminder of her hardships. She hated seeing her enemy looking so healthy, so clean.

"I don't know how you healed your scars, but if I have to carry mine, I'll be damned if you don't have to carry yours. Even if I have to give you new ones, over, and over again," said Twilight coldly.

Starlight looked at her friend with tears streaming down her face. She wasn't sure how her mentor could ever have ended up like this. It hurt her more than the torture to see Twilight in this way, willing to do these things. She continued to cry for her friend as Twilight left the cell, locking the door tightly behind her.

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"Let me talk to Twilight!" yelled Spike.

Trixie chuckled as she watched the little Dragon struggle against the collar around his neck. The chain connecting the collar to the wall was short, and he was only able to move around in a small space of about one foot.

"She doesn't want to talk to you. You're a traitor," said Trixie smugly.

"Traitor? I-I'm not a traitor," said Spike.

"Whatever, I don't really care. I'm just here for information about Starlight. We really wanna know why you are so small again, and why you were with Starlight Glimmer," explained Trixie.

"I have always been small, and Starlight is my friend. She's your friend," replied Spike angrily.

"Haha! My friend! Your gonna have to do better than that," said Trixie.

Spike frowned and stared at the floor. When he looked back up Trixie was still standing in the same place, the same superior smile on her face. Spike couldn't place the feeling he was getting; it was as though the Pony before him was a completely different Pony from the one he knew. Nothing felt right to him, almost like it was an extremely intricate dream. Too real of a dream.

Suddenly he heard screams coming from a cell nearby. Terrible screams that convinced him that this was no dream. He knew he needed to escape and find Starlight, he hoped she was alright. He decided to try something to get Trixie to leave.

"Fine! We were trying to find you. Starlight used a spell on me, thats why I am small, it was a trick, but you caught us before it worked," Spike lied.

"Hahaha! I knew it was something like that. Twilight is going... to... be... mad," replied Trixie in such a smug tone it made Spike want to gag.

"So what?" said Spike.

"Oh you just wait, she'll probably kill you," giggled Trixie.

Spike simply scowled at her as she left the chamber laughing forgetting to lock the cell behind her. His plan had worked better than he hoped. Giving her the kind of information she seemed to want had both satisfied and distracted her for the time being. Now he needed to try and escape. Spike looked around for anything that might have been useful but he found nothing but an empty floor and blank walls. He tugged at the collar with all his might and then tried to breathe fire on it. Nothing he did had any effect it at all. The collar was solid and hard to grip with how tight it was, and the bolt in the wall was solid as well.

Perplexed about what to do Spike leaned against the stone wall. The screams from the cell nearby died down and Spike became aware of the tapping sound he was making with his claws. While tapping one stone he heard a certain tone, but when his last claw hit the stone above it the sound changed. It was subtle but noticeable. Quickly Spike turned to examine the stones. As he fidgeted with the stones he found that one was loose. Excitement filled his body as he began to dig the stone out of the cell wall. He had found his way out.

As soon as Spike had the stone removed he replaced it and waited for nightfall. He had woken up in the cell not long after being captured and had already learned that the guard did not pass by often at night. It was a gamble, but he was hoping this would be because they were far away, making rounds or something. He hoped they were far enough away to not hear noises in his cell very well.

When Spike felt the time was right he removed the stone once more. The stone was slightly larger than his hand but he was able to grip it well enough. Next, he lined the chain on his collar tight against the wall and began to heat it with his fire breath. After several seconds the chain was so hot he could feel the heat transferring into the collar. Spike then began to strike the chain as hard as he can with the stone. He was surprised to see the chain break after only a few strikes.

"I'm coming to save you Starlight," Spike muttered as he slipped out of his cell. "We're gonna fix all this and get our friends back."