Fading Star

Great.

Rarity sulked, tied tightly with thick chains to a wooden chair, a blood-soaked ball gag lodged between her lips. And, to make things impossibly worse, her magic was being blocked by some sort of spell. The taste of blood-infused rubber was foul, and Rarity could only assume that the blood was Starlight’s. The thought made her shudder, as did the anticipation for Chrysalis to come back for her.

Chrysalis had left her bound in the throne room, then disappeared somewhere without a word. Rarity was angry at herself for freezing up, letting her nerves get the better of her and letting herself be captured. She mourned for Plat, who had so foolishly lost his life trying to help her, and cursed that coward Radish, for leaving her to die. She feared for her friends, hoping they hadn’t been caught, but she was mostly fearing for herself. Now, she was just as vulnerable as Starlight had been. Rarity recollected what she had seen in the library, Starlight’s body being crushed and broken mercilessly. She feared her fate would be similar.

‘Twilight will get here first,’ she reassured herself.

Her fears heightened when the large doors to the room swung open, and in entered Chrysalis, who looked tired and worn down. It was getting late, after all. Chrysalis looked around the magnificent room to make sure no pony had snuck in, and then focused her attention back on her newest captive. Rarity was desperately squirming now in her bindings, terrified. Chrysalis stood watching, waiting for her to give up. Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis used her magic to rip the ball gag out of Rarity’s mouth. Rarity coughed and hacked up the disgusting taste of the gag, while Rarity watched on, unimpressed.

“Are you finished?”

Rarity stopped and glared at Chrysalis with resounding contempt.

“I have nothing to say to you,” she said, intimidated yet still resilient.

Chrysalis was not in the mood for more obstacles.

“Let’s make this quick, okay? I don’t want to be here all night, and you definitely don’t.”

“Make what?” Rarity asked, her voice quivering at the end.

“I need to ask you some questions. You answer, truthfully, and I won’t hurt you.”

“I’d rather die!”

“That can be arranged, but I promise you it won’t be fast. And why put yourself through that, when your rescue is so close by? Don’t you believe your friends can beat me?” Chrysalis asked, implying she knew more than she did.

‘She knows Twilight and the others are still out there?’ thought Rarity, naive as ever. Chrysalis moved fast.

“Now, how many other ponies are with her?”

Rarity sputtered, not knowing what to do.

“Tell me right now, and I won’t hurt you or them.”

That was persuasive enough.

“Two-there’s two others with her.”

“‘Her’ being Twilight Sparkle?”

“Y-yes.”

Chrysalis was taken aback. Only two? She concluded the pegasus must’ve been lying when he said eight. If there’s two with her, that makes six ponies, two of them soldiers. So, four of them had to be of Twilight’s inner circle.

‘Why would only four of the six ponies come for their friend?’

Rarity could tell Chrysalis was on to her, but was in no position to do anything about it.

“Where are the rest of Twilight and yours’ friends?”

Realizing that Chrysalis didn’t know Rainbow and the others were searching elsewhere, Rarity decided to just lie through her teeth.

“Only...only three of us came…” she said, checking her math.

“Only three? And these other two, with Twilight, why were you separated from them?”

Rarity was sweating, nervous, as Chrysalis made herself as intimidating as possible to try and scare the truth out of her.

“They...they were trailing behind...me and...we were making sure the path was safe!”

Chrysalis noticed Rarity become much more frantic. She leaned in closer.

“I don’t believe you...Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?”

Rarity squealed, until a distinct ringing sound echoed through the hall into Chrysalis’ ears. She backed away and realized it was the communication device Black Frost had given her years ago, so they could stay in contact. She shook her head, annoyed.

“Well, I guess this will have to wait.”

Chrysalis turned to the right wall of the throne room, and shot a spell at it, revealing a hollow, jail-cell like interior.

“I made this prison cell to be virtually invisible from the outside. I’m not ready for my pet to know you’re here yet, so welcome to your new home,” she said, throwing Rarity, still tied to the chair, inside. Chrysalis zapped the wall again, making the exterior of the cell appear like it was made of solid rock. Yet, inside, Rarity could still see through the wall as if it was a tinted window, making it a sort of one-way view.

“And don’t worry, your friends will be joining you soon enough,” Chrysalis said to the wall before smiling devilishly and exiting.

Chrysalis entered her bedroom hastefully and pressed a button on the gold, plate-shaped device, which spawned an ovalish portal into the air, filled with static until the ever-so unpleasant likeness of one Black Frost presented itself.

“Chrysalis!” he said with a smile. Chrysalis replied to his happiness with a scowl.

“Do you have any idea what time it is? You worthless dog.”

“Terribly sorry about that, Chrysalis, I had to use an untraceable line and the pony I’m borrowing it from is a night owl. I’d much rather be in bed, you know, speaking of, have you-”

“Get on with it!”

“Of course, of course. Here. I’ve been thinking over exactly how to best implement your captive to our best advantage, and then, I realized that although I have heard a great deal of her capabilities through other ponies’ mouths, I have never actually seen her in action, nor have any of our friends...I think it would be in all of our best interests if we could know what we’re dealing with before we make any precise arrangements. The whole plan to defeat Celestia and seize Canterlot is a longshot, and is entirely dependent on Starlight, and Twilight Sparkle if possible, being useful assets.”

“What are you suggesting, Frost?”

“I’m asking if you would be so gracious as to give our friends and myself a sort of...I don’t know...a show, I’d guess you could say….I want to see what she can do.”

“I told you she was powerful, is that not enough? You need to travel across Equestria to prove it?”

“You’ve told me a great deal of things, Chrysalis. Some true, some not. A plan like this could mean the everlasting glory or the permanent defeat of you, our friends, and even myself. There’s just too much at stake for me to rely on your word alone…”

Chrysalis thought it over.

“I’ll have to make sure she can’t use her magic to escape…”

“Of course, take every parameter you need. But if this is to be arranged, I need to see for myself.”

“Alright, alright, fine…” Chrysalis said, not wanting to get into an argument this late. “You can come in two days' time, alright?”

“Sounds excellent, Chrysalis my dear, and, I say again, I do apologize for the late hour.”

Chrysalis stared at his enthusiastic grin and frowned, shutting off the device and falling back in bed, worn out to the extreme. Now she had even more work to do.

Chrysalis fell into bed, exhausted from the events of that day. Still, she had trouble sleeping. That scheming weasel Black Frost and his entourage of beta-level villains were complicating her plans, as were Twilight and her incessant annoyances.
Months ago, when she was planning all of this, Chrysalis occasionally had moments of hesitation, some sort of conscience calling out to her, a conscience that had been ignored her whole life.

‘How could I do this to another pony?’

Chrysalis was not usually one for regrets or shying away from evil, but at first she had to admit, going to these lengths just to ruin one pony’s life seemed a bit excessive, and, at the least, pointless. Regardless of whether Starlight was broken or not, Chrysalis would still have no kingdom, no conquests, no triumphs. However, once she had begun the process, all regrets quickly subsided. She felt like she had something to live for again, watching Starlight die. The emptiness and pain inside her was filled with resolve and satisfaction, by using Starlight as the scapegoat for all of her troubles. Watching Starlight die gave Chrysalis life. In Chrysalis’ sick, twisted perspective on the world, this seemed justified. The only way to keep her sane would be to give her an outlet to unleash on. Self-responsibility didn’t really fit well into the whole supervillain shtick.

But now, things were changing. Black Frost didn’t want Starlight to be Chrysalis’ pet, he wanted her to be a subordinate, a weapon. Chrysalis now had to balance her goals in life: punishing Starlight or conquering Equestria? Both were extremely attractive, but of course, she couldn’t pass up on the latter. Though she didn’t fully trust the capabilities of Black Frost’s allies as much as her Changeling army, with the addition of Starlight and possibly even Twilight, she might actually stand a chance.

‘I’ve got nothing to lose.’

Chrysalis didn’t like working with other creatures. Her previous army consisted of nearly identical hive-minded drones, who did everything she wanted. They revolved around her, and that was precisely her preference: egocentrism. So the question was, how should she turn Starlight Glimmer, a self-loathing beaten down slave, into a permanently loyal super-soldier?

Chrysalis had an answer, and it was rather simple. Twilight Sparkle, of course. Chrysalis was well-acquainted with the art of manipulation, and she knew the best way to get a pony to turn their back on the world is to have the one model representation of goodness betray them. Twilight was Starlight’s hero, her closest friend, her hope for redemption. If she should betray Starlight, then Chrysalis has everything she needs to corrupt her fully. These were the thoughts that carried Chrysalis to sleep, preparing herself for the trials of tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Pinkie Pie were still right beside the door to the lair, no longer invisible, sitting in silence. Emotions were running high and the pressure was on.

“So, what’s the plan?” Shining Armor whispered as quietly as he could. Twilight’s exhausted eyes met his with a look of fear and desperation. She said nothing.

“Come on Twilight, you’ve got to help us out here…”

Twilight looked at her brother, clearly under a lot of stress given he’s had two of his men killed, one captured, and one deserted.

“We-we should get out of here, look around and find a better place to hide…”

“What if she sees us?” muttered Pinkie Pie, facing the other way and lying on the ground.

“She won’t, as long as we’re careful…” Twilight said, her voice trembling. Shining Armor nodded, ready for his chance to kill Chrysalis once and for all. Twilight, Shining Armor, and Pinkie all collected themselves and started walking down the dark tunnel. Twilight had the dimmest of lights emitting from her horn, her eyes darting back and forth, analyzing every crack and rock they passed. They all made sure their steps weren’t too loud. Eventually, they saw light at the end of the tunnel, though it definitely wasn’t daylight. They all stepped towards the edge, Twilight motioning to them to let her look first. She peered out from the edge, and realized they were high up along the ceiling, far above the ground. She looked around the large main hall and noticed some sort of jail cell carved into one of the walls. She squinted her eyes through the darkness to see if anypony was inside, though nopony was there.

Disappointed, she continued studying the spacious room, noticing more tunnels surrounding hers in the tops of walls that rode along the ceiling. Most importantly, no sign of Chrysalis. She could make out objects relatively well, despite the darkness, in part thanks to some massive green chandelier at the center of the ceiling. Her eyes were slowly drawn to the eerie glow of the chandelier, its soft luminescence warm and even welcoming. That was, until Twilight saw Fritz’s open mouth and unmoving body staring right back at her, suspended upside down in a cocoon of slimy green goop. Twilight jumped back in fright, Shining Armor catching her.

“What is it?”

“Did she see you?”

Twilight was trembling.

“No, no, just, come see.”

They all looked over the edge, Shining Armor’s mouth dropping and Pinkie’s body losing color.

“Is-is he alive?” asked Pinkie.

“Hopefully…” said Shining Armor, again feeling responsible.

“Look,” said Pinkie, “There’s more ponies! Tons!”

They all stared in horror, realizing nearly every cocoon had a pony held inside. She recognized some of the ponies from Starlight’s old village-Party Favor, Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, at least twenty more. She saw Trixie and Sunburst, and soon enough had to turn around, not wanting to see anymore.
She turned back around and looked through the maze of cocoons for Rarity or Starlight, but found neither. She considered rescuing one while the coast was clear, but went against it.

‘She probably has some sort of trap for that…’

Shining Armor saw the other ceiling-bound tunnels.

“What about up there? One of those tunnels might be a better place to hide.”

Twilight agreed, and, after checking to make sure it was clear, flew outside and into another tunnel.

After a few moments of tense waiting, Twilight returned.
“That one seems unused...I’ll lift you both in there.”

Using her magic, Twilight picked up Shining Armor, who was admittedly very heavy, and managed to carry him through the air to the tunnel she was speaking of, both trying not to grunt too loudly. Pinkie Pie was much lighter and therefore much easier to carry. Twilight followed, and they all trotted deeper into the tunnel until reaching a dead end. Twilight was right, the ground was caked in dust and seemed abandoned. They all sat down and relaxed a little.

“So, what’s the plan, Twilight?”

Twilight was getting sick of being asked that.

“We need to figure out where Starlight and Rarity are, and get them out first.”

“Why? Those trapped ponies are right there, why don’t we save them first?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“Because stealing thirty cocoons is going to be loud and messy, it’ll be best if we do that last. Plus, they’re not the ones being tortured to death.”

Pinkie Pie conceded to that.
“We need to be smart about this...Rarity’s already been captured, and Radish is gone...it’s just up to us now…”

Shining Armor became noticeably more agitated when Radish’s name was mentioned. Twilight noticed this and understood how he felt.

“Wait...Chrysalis set up all those traps for us...so she knew we were coming! And she knows she didn’t catch all of us, so she’ll be expecting us again, right?” said Pinkie, using her brain more than normally.

“That’s true...And Rarity will talk even more than Fritz did.”

“We don’t know that Fritz said anything.”

“She walked out of that door like she was waiting for us, Shining Armor, it’s safe to assume-”

“It doesn’t matter, guys! What I’m saying is, maybe instead of trying to rescue ponies, we should just go straight for Chrysalis.” said Pinkie, assertively.

Shining Armor seemed to like that idea. Twilight didn’t.

“We’re not trying to start a fight, Pinkie.”

“She’s already started the fight, she killed Plat! And kidnapped Rarity, and done all those horrible things to Starlight! Twilight, we can’t be on the defensive the whole time!”

“Why not? We shouldn't be the ones initiating violence! We should be the ones stopping it!”

“We’ve done things your way, Twilight, and look where we are…” said Shining Armor, his words stinging like venom. Twilight felt a little hurt, though he was right.

“I...what if...what if she…”

“If we get the jump on her, she won’t have time to hold somepony hostage or force us into a trap….We’re in deep now, Twilight, and there’s too much on the line to be playing it safe,” said Shining Armor, Pinkie nodding her head with him.

Despite it being two against one, Twilight was still; technically the leader, so whatever she said, went.

“I don’t know if I can beat her….” said Twilight, getting emotional, “she beat Starlight...and she killed a pony...I...I could never do that…”

“She’s not going to kill you, you’re too valuable...she might kill us, but she won’t kill you,” said Pinkie, laughing, though a little nervous, “And she did keep Fritz alive.”

Twilight stared at the ground, conflicted.

“Look, Twilight, I know this is going to be hard...but Chrysalis has gone past any limit of redemption at this point, murdering and torturing innocent ponies...we have to treat this with less restraint than we would normally.”

“And what are we supposed to do, kill her? I couldn’t! I’ve never!”

“Then I will,” said Shining Armor, a deep-rooted fury alive in his voice. Twilight stared at her older brother, a dark cloud surrounding his soul. He scared her, when he was like this. Twilight sighed, tired of arguing and tired of thinking about worst-case scenarios.

“Ok, tomorrow we’ll look around the cavern for a good place to sneak up on her, then during the day, when the time is right...we’ll be on the offensive…”

“Alright, Twi.”

“I’ll keep watch, you two get some rest,” said Twilight, yawning.

“No, no, I’ll keep watch. You need your strength more than I do. You’re an alicorn after all…”

Twilight was about to counter, but decided after such a long day it just wasn't worth it, and lay down on the floor. The air in this tunnel was warmer than the other tunnels. Twilight didn’t know why, but sure wasn’t about to complain. Twilight finally had a brief moment of calm to dwell on the events of the day and how to work past them. She had lived her life with the expectation that everypony had a common goal of being good and helping others, just that some ponies didn’t understand how to effectively go about it. Perhaps, she realized, that was just the privileged perspective of those in power looking down at those not, a perspective of which she was guilty of. She thought about Radish, a pony who seemed mostly self-entitled, who, when given the chance, saved his own skin instead of another. Where was the justice in that?

Was Twilight supposed to be some sort of authority for the rest of the world to listen to? Why her? And why is it that the world isn’t how it should be? Every problem she had ever come across was fixable. Every villain was redeemable. Every afflicted pony could be given hope. But here, now, in this dark cave isolated from the rest of the world, there was no hope. This was Chrysalis’ world. And Shining Armor was right, Chrysalis could not be redeemed. Why did Twilight have to be the one to do what’s right? Because if you can you should? That didn’t sit well with Twilight. She began to become disillusioned with the perspective of her mentor Celestia, that friendship solves all problems without exception. Friendship with Starlight had brought her down here, and what were the effects thus far? Two ponies dead and another of her friends was captured. Maybe, she should have just left Starlight in the hands of Chrysalis and spared all the trouble.

‘No, no, that’s not right…she’s my friend. And friends put everything on the line for friends.’

Twilight closed her eyes, knowing that she had a responsibility to be the hope for Starlight, and, more importantly, bring justice to the wrongdoers like Chrysalis. And justice was coming.

Waking up bright and early, Chrysalis visited the dungeon door and swung it open. Starlight was still on the ground, her body filled with venom, immobilized and wrapped in a bundle of sticky, dusty spider web. The eight-legged arachnids were spread around the room, a few sitting on top of their captured prey. Chrysalis stifled a chuckle and teleported Starlight from the ground to outside the dungeon, dumping her on the cold ground. Starlight could barely move anything due to the venom, though she was awake. She was paler than normal, from having the occasional spider take some bites out of her flesh, which hurt like hell, by the way. Starlight’s eyes darted up sporadically towards Chrysalis. Her captor wore a smug smile, like she was impressed.

“Those little guys sure showed you, huh.”

Chrysalis zapped away all of the spider silk gluing her limbs together, though she still couldn’t move.

“Well, I don’t want a slave that can’t work…”

She zapped her one more time, effectively removing the venom from Starlight’s bloodstream, though not all of it. Her limbs felt heavy and her bite marks had become inflamed.

“Th-thank you, my Queen,” Starlight said between her panicked gasps, slowly picking herself up from the ground to her feet. Breathing had become difficult as her airways closed up from the venom.

“Did you just speak?”

Starlight’s eyes widened in horrified regret. She fell back down to her knees and lowered her head before Chrysalis in submission, shaking.

“Well, I’ll allow that just once since it was polite to thank me...but remember, I’m not going to be very lenient from now on, understand?”

“Yes, My Queen, of course.”

“Good. Now, I want you to start making me breakfast, while I have some business to attend to.”

“Certainly, my queen, right away,” she said, her head bowed. She dragged her sore body towards the kitchen. Catching her reflection in the refrigerator had become a sort of morning routine-a check up of sorts. There were still some strands of spider web in her mane, but it was too sticky to pull out. She groaned in agony from the pain of the spider bites, which pulsed and bled constantly. There were about twenty all over her body. She felt like fainting from the sight.

I have some business to attend to.

Starlight found that strange. In the nearly two weeks she had been there, Chrysalis never worked in the morning. She was always relaxing on her throne, waiting for her breakfast that she hated. Starlight hated it too, because she never got to eat it.

It was curious, then, that Chrysalis was up to something this early. Maybe it was just egotism, but Starlight had a hunch it had to do with her. Starlight had come to the conclusion that Chrysalis was absolutely deranged and obsessed with her, to the point where her torture was a priority over all else. So, it made sense that she would be the reason for Chrysalis’ unusual behavior.

Which means she was going to endure something else horrible. Her revitalized self-hatred helped with coping with her new life of endless torture, though she still had a natural aversion to pain. It wasn’t fair to say she was squeamish or cowardly, she just wasn’t thrilled about her ear being ripped off by a hack saw. Yet, at the same time, there was that strange sense of comfort. That, through these wicked punishments, it made up for all of the horrible things she had done to other ponies throughout her life-taking over her village, dooming all of Equestria, causing mayhem, all that. Starlight’s mind was constantly somber and broodingly melancholic, always reminding herself how horrible she is and how nopony likes her because she’s so terrible. It was a terrible thing, thinking like that, but it was even worse that she found it pleasurable.Treating her punishments like “justified retribution” was about the only pleasure she could possibly get from this experience.
Finishing breakfast, Starlight, not being bound to the kitchen wall this time, was free to trot over to the throne room, however when she arrived she didn’t see Chrysalis anywhere.

“Hm.”

Waiting a few moments, her attention was caught by some rapping noise from one of the walls, like a hoof pounding on glass.

‘What is that?’

She looked at the wall where the sound was coming from, but the wall was made of rock, not glass, so why did it sound like that? She began walking over to investigate.

“Starlight.”

Starlight nearly spilled all of the food when she jumped, startled.

“My queen! Forgive me, I-I didn’t know where you-”

“It’s fine, I understand. Is that my breakfast?”

Starlight gazed down at it, as Chrysalis’ tone was of confused disgust.

“Um...yes…”

“Well, Leave it here. I have something to show you first.”

Starlight gulped, her fears from earlier being actualized as she placed the plate on a nearby table and followed Chrysalis down the hall, towards a room she had never seen before.

“It’s a new room, I just made it…”

The room was tall, and bolted tight with a large metal rectangular door. Chrysalis shot a spell at the door and opened it, revealing the interior, which was just a long, tall room, dirt floors, dirt walls, and dirt ceilings.

“Well?”

Starlight didn’t know what she was supposed to say.

“It’s...very nice, my queen.”

“I haven’t even shown you the interesting part yet, you stupid filly.”

Starlight’s ear dropped dejectedly as Chrysalis shoved her inside.

“Now, I’m sure you’ve missed being able to use your magic, correct?”

Starlight was taken aback. In her long term subjugation, she had begun to forget that she was a unicorn who used to be able to use magic.

“Um, yes, my queen,” Starlight said, nervously.

“Well, today you’ll get the chance to use it again…”

“My queen?”

Starlight didn’t understand why Chrysalis would give her this freedom, a freedom that could allow her to escape very easily.

‘Is she freeing me? Is it over?’

Chrysalis smirked at her.

“No, I’m not freeing you, you idiot. I’m testing your capabilities. There are some ponies that want to see you in action, so you’re going to put on a show for them. To display your...talents in the art of magic...This room has a magical seal, so that no magic can be used past it. That means you won’t be able to teleport out of here or blast a hole in the wall. The only magic you can use is in there. Got it?”

“Um... yes…”

“Good then, your first practice starts now.”

“Wait! My queen!”

“What is it?” Chrysalis teased, as she closed the door.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Oh, I think you’ll get the idea soon enough.”

With that, Chrysalis slammed the door, leaving Starlight alone in the darkness. Just then, Starlight felt a huge pressure in her head dissipate, like someone had lifted an anvil off her face. She moaned out loud in relief, before realizing her magic had returned. She cast an immaculate light spell to prove it, lighting up the whole room. She beamed, happy to be able to use her special talent again.

The pain in her body began to subside as the feeling of unrestrained freedom overwhelmed her. As she stood there in the narrow room, smiling to herself, the voice of Chrysalis boomed out of some sort of speaker fixed up above near the ceiling.

“Don’t get too excited, Starlight. You use your magic when I tell you to, and how I tell you to, got it?”

“Yes, my queen,” she responded.

“Now, don’t think this test is going to be easy. It’s meant to be difficult, and you may get hurt...severely...it’s all up to how hard you try. Are you going to perform well for me?”

“Yes, my queen,” Starlight said, though still didn’t know what she actually had to do.

Her questions were answered with the sound of a creaking door opening up ahead. She stared in that direction, though the room was so long her light spell couldn’t reach the darkness. She remained oblivious, until she heard the sound of a ferocious, beastly growl. Soon there were two, then three, gigantic dog-like creatures creeping out of the darkness. Their eyes shone like lightbulbs, their teeth were like knives, and they left a trail of slobber as they slowly approached. Starlight gulped in fright as they came into full view, smashing up against each other in the narrow tunnel. Starlight realized that she was meant to fight them. Yet, she held off, as the beasts had yet to show any actual aggression. They just growled at her from afar, their large forearms climbing up the walkway towards her. They almost resembled Diamond Dogs, though they were far bigger and more animalistic. One of them, the largest, stepped behind the others, and then motioned its head at Starlight.

‘Oh great. Looks like I’ve got no choice.’

Chrysalis’ voice returned to distract her.

“These are a special breed of Diamond Dogs, Starlight, that only live down here underground, you’ve probably never seen one before...They’re carnivores, and they’ve been known to tear apart anything they can find, even the unlucky pony...And worse for you, I haven’t fed them in three days.”

‘They get treated better than me then.’

Starlight planted her feet firmly on the ground and prepared herself. The two smaller dogs walked ahead of the large one, nipping at each other for who got to attack first. Starlight waited, not wanting to make the first move.

One of the dogs went first, jumping towards her. Expecting that, Starlight cast a spell, freezing it in a block of purple-colored gemstone, immobilizing it. However, as she was congratulating herself, the other dog pounced, and successfully grabbed her with its paw.

“Get….off of me!”

Starlight zapped it, burning the flesh off its face. The dog howled and dropped Starlight to the floor, whose sensitive sores burned with pain from being squeezed by the course paw of the dog. Starlight got up, dusted herself off, and cast the same spell at the dog, while it was shaking its head in pain, freezing it in place.

Two down.

Starlight took a second to wheeze in pain from being squeezed so hard, and eyed down the last dog from the end of the hall. The dog stood in an offensive posture. There was a fire in its eyes. Hunger. Anger. Hate. Starlight knew those feelings well and understood the dog’s position. They were similar, she thought, and were being played with like toys.

Despite their philosophical connection, only one could survive this. Starlight prepared herself to cast the same spell again while the dog remained stationary, until she found there was that familiar pressure in her forehead, preventing her from concentrating.

‘She put the curse on me again! I can’t use my magic!’

Fear overcame her as she stood frozen in place, trying desperately to cast a spell. The dog was no idiot, and could tell something was wrong. Now, he had the upper hand. The dog rushed at her while she was fruitlessly trying to break the curse, and swatted her into the wall. She felt one of her ribs break from the impact, and her face fell right into a pile of dirt on the ground, stinging her eyes. She groaned in pain, but the dog wasn’t about to pass up on his only meal in an eternity. The dog picked up Starlight with one paw, and squeezed her tight. Starlight tried to resist, using every muscle to try and push herself through its grip, to no avail. The pressure began to cut off airflow, making Starlight’s head turn cherry red. Starlight kept fighting, as the dog opened its mouth in delighted anticipation.

“She’s gotta save me! She’s gotta save me!”

She fought as hard as she could as the dog raised her into its opened mouth.

“It’s gonna swallow me alive!”

The dog threw her inside its mouth and slammed its jaw closed before she could jump out, Starlight screaming all the way. The dog was large enough that she fit almost entirely inside its mouth, sitting on its disgustingly slimy tongue.

Almost entirely.

Starlight’s hind legs didn’t quite fit into its mouth, and hung out, so that when the dog closed its mouth, two rows of razor-sharp teeth shot straight through them, nearly cutting them off entirely. Starlight gasped and squealed in pain, and scrambled to bring them inside the dog’s mouth when it opened it slightly, fearful of losing more appendages. The tongue swatted Starlight towards the throat, as she tried to hang on to the roof of the mouth.

“Please! Stop!”

Her magic still not working, she eventually lost her grip and fell down the throat, the red flesh skin tight around her as gravity slowly forced her downwards. Eventually her whole body was squeezed out of the throat into the stomach.

“Am I...in its stomach?”

She found out pretty quick as she felt the stinging sensation of stomach acid begin eating away at her flesh. Her legs hurt the most, as they were already ripped up and bloody. She raised them above the acid puddle she was sitting in, exposing her back, butt, and back of her head to it instead.

“Celestia help me! I don’t want to die like this!”

She tried a few more times to cast a spell, until finally, she felt her power return. No time to celebrate, she instinctively cast an incandescent beam of energy out of her horn, straight through the wall of the stomach and out of the dog’s belly. She could feel the cold air from outside, and with it the sound of pained howling. She climbed out of the hole, and fell onto the floor, her whole body burning from the acid. She was panting in exhaustion and fright.

I was almost food!

She glanced at the dog she had escaped from, who had collapsed on the ground, breathing slowly, a bloody hole in its stomach.

‘Sorry, buddy, it was you or me.’

She felt her magic withdraw again, and soon after Chrysalis entered through the door, light filling the room.

“Well done, Starlight.”

Chrysalis trotted right over to Starlight, who was too weak to stand at attention.

“I do apologize for removing your magic and making you go through being...consumed...but it really was for the best...I expect you to be a useful weapon, Starlight. A weapon meant to destroy. And using your cute little ‘freeze’ attacks isn’t what I have in mind. And I knew you had it in you, look, you just killed that dog, didn’t you? You shot a hole straight through its stomach, didn’t you?”

Starlight slowly took in that she just took a semi-conscious life. In all her years of evil-doery, she had never actually killed anypony. This was the closest she had gotten, and it felt, strangely, good. Using her aggression, her passion, her anger, had saved her life.

“I...I had to…”

“Of course you did. And you’re alive because of it. You should be rejoicing.”
Starlight remained on the ground, until Chrysalis noticed her hind legs, twisted, bloodied, and ripped to shreds; they were also laced with drops of acid, burning small white sores onto her muscle tendons and bloodied flesh.

“Can you walk?”

Starlight glanced down at her legs, which she couldn’t even move.

“No, my queen.”

Chrysalis sighed with annoyance, and shot a beam of magic at them, repairing Starlight’s legs to their usual selves, shapely and clean.

“Th-thank you, my queen.”

Chrysalis smiled a little, almost impressed, almost satisfied. At least, that’s how Starlight interpreted it. It felt nice, for her queen to be proud of her. She was a pet after all, and being a good pet was about the only success she could hope for nowadays.

Chrysalis walked along, leading Starlight back into the Torture Room. Starlight hoped for a lesser punishment as a reward for her successes, though she knew that wasn’t realistic. Instead, she found herself looking at a small, tight freezer of some sort, with a padlock on one side. Before she could react, Chrysalis pushed her inside, stuffing her limbs tightly in so that she fit.
“Your wounds looked pretty bad, so I thought I’d put some ice on it,” she said, smirking, shutting the door as the temperature dipped below freezing. Starlight closed her eyes in the white interior of the freezer, as the cold began to set in. She was tired and aching, and though the circumstances weren’t ideal, this was her chance to rest.

Right then, Twilight was awoken by the others.

“Hey, Twilight, Chrysalis is gone somewhere, I think we should go down there and look for a good place to wait for her.”

“And an exit too,” said Pinkie, who was playing with a rock a ways away.

“Oh yeah, Pinkie thinks it’s a good idea to find an exit first, just in case.”

“Why not go back the way we came?”

“It’s locked, remember?”

Twilight nodded and got up.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Twilight flew down to the ground level, and levitated her companions down alongside her. The torches to the cave were lit, making sight a lot easier.

“Alright, let’s split up. Look around for anything-an exit, a place to wait for Chrysalis, Starlight, anything,” said Twilight, commandingly.

They all went their separate ways, Twilight towards the rooms off to the side. Twilight approached one of the doors on ground level, a large wooden door with metal bolts. It was slightly ajar, enough for Twilight to slide in. She looked around at the torch lit room, and saw no signs of Rarity. She did recognize the room, as the Torture Room, the room she saw Chrysalis slice up Starlight’s legs through the portal in the library. She examined the wooden work bench and saw numerous blood stains, some fresh, some old. She noticed a white, freezer towards the right, padlocked. She found that odd, but before she could check it out, she was distracted by a speck of pink flesh, covered in blood and dirt, on the ground next to the bench. It was a piece of Starlight’s ear, though Twilight didn’t know that. All she knew was that it belonged to Starlight and it wasn’t removed very delicately. She gulped in fear and exited, moving on to the next room. This was the kitchen, and Twilight took note of the wide array of fruits and vegetables Chrysalis had in storage.

‘She really does get around Equestria...right under our noses.’

She noticed a bolt and chain near one of the walls above the kitchen counter.

‘Starlight is making her meals for her?’

Twilight hadn’t realized how submersive Chrysalis would take making Starlight into her servant. She didn’t know what was more frightening, her fantasies about what this place would be like, or what it was actually like.

Her eyes widened at the distinct sound of Pinkie screaming for help somewhere else in the cave.

“Oh no….”

Twilight ran out of the kitchen back into the Main Hall, and listened for where the screaming was coming from. She followed the noise down a corridor and around the corner, stopping dead in her tracks.

“Twilight! Run!”

Chrysalis turned to face Twilight, her horn glowing and her legs ready to pounce. She was fuming with anger. Chrysalis was holding Pinkie in the air by her tail with her magic, grinning.

“Your highness…”

“Drop her. Now,” Twilight spat, with no suggestion of compromise.

“Is that any way to say hello? It’s been so long, my dear.”

Twilight took one step closer.

“I mean it.”

Chrysalis giggled and took a step back.

“If you want to fight, you have the first move. But I’ll warn you, Princess, in this place...I always win.”

Twilight said nothing, maintaining eye contact. In truth, she was just stalling, waiting for Shining Armor, who she had seen hiding behind a wall on the other side of the corridor, to strike.

“Well? What are you waiting for?”

At that, Shining Armor jumped out and zapped a ray of energy at Chrysalis, slamming into her head. Shining Armor expected that blast to kill her, or at least knock her out, but she was stronger than he expected. Chrysalis grimaced in pain and turned around, as Twilight prepared to strike as well. Without hesitation, Chrysalis threw Pinkie towards Twilight, crashing into her and sending both to the ground. Chrysalis devoted her attention to Shining Armor, who was pacing around her, ready to attack.

“Oh, if it isn’t the Loverboy? I expected better.”

Shining Armor, enraged, shot at her again, though this time she dodged it. She zapped at him too, forcing him to dive out of the way. Twilight rose to her feet and shot at Chrysalis, non-fatally. Chrysalis was thrown into a wall from the blast, disoriented for a moment.

“Shining Armor! Run!”

Twilight and Pinkie turned to run back the way Twilight came as Chrysalis was temporarily out of commission. Shining Armor followed his sister’s instruction, though had to run in a different direction than them, as Chrysalis was stumbling in between them. He escaped through another corridor, not knowing where he was going.

Twilight and Pinkie kept running, Pinkie a little beaten up. Neither stopped or turned back, even as they heard the sounds of Shining Armor and Chrysalis clashing once again. Twilight was nervous, yet filled with adrenaline at the thrill of confrontation.

“Twilight! Wait!”

“What?”

They both stopped, Pinkie catching her breath, trying to speak.

“Chrysalis, she-she was going to take me that way,” she said, motioning down the hallway that led to the throne room, “It must be where Rarity is!”

“You’re sure it was that way?”

“Positive.”

Twilight nodded, and the ponies turned left, running at full speed. The door was so close.

Until Chrysalis' head, stuck on the wrong way on her neck, dropped down from the ceiling right in front of them. She laughed with her booming voice as the ponies froze, Pinkie being grabbed and pulled into the darkness up above. Twilight shot at Chrysalis, to no avail, as Pinkie’s screams grew quieter and quieter until they were suddenly silent. Twilight was now standing in the dark hallway, alone.

“Celestia help me.”

Twilight took a breath and continued running into the throne room, opening it and slamming the door close. She felt to her knees, having lost her brother and one of her best friends. Now she had nopony. She held back tears and remembered time was of concern.

Standing up, she examined the room. There was a large, magnificent throne at the end of the room, surrounded by large emerald pillars that touched the ceiling. She saw dried blood on the floor, and somewhere else was what seemed to be feces. She jumped to alert upon hearing a noise like banging on glass, coming from the wall to her right. She approached it, and heard a faint sound of a pony yelling.

“Is that...Rarity?”

She heard the faint voice calling her name.

Behind the glass separation, Rarity pounded as hard as she could, until she felt Chrysalis’ magic surround her and teleport her out of the room.

The noise stopped abruptly. Twilight backed away, confused.

“Twilight Sparkle…What do I make of all this?”

Twilight turned around and ignited her horn, but wavered, at the sight of Pinkie Pie, Shining Armor, and Rarity, all on their knees, encased in magic on the ground. Chrysalis was standing behind them, holding them like dogs on a leash.

“You barge into my home, sneak up on me and try to attack me? Where are your manners?”

“I’m not scared of you, Chrysalis. Now give me my friends back. Or else.”

“Or else? You know what, Twilight Sparkle, you may not be scared of me, but I am scared of you. You’re smart, you’re powerful, and worse yet, you’re brave enough to risk this much just to save one stupid pony. But, there are rules that we civilized beings must live by. And one of those, is a right to property. This is my home, Twilight, and that pony you’ve come for is my pony. She wants to be here.”

“Enough games, Chrysalis!”

“It’s no game, Twilight. I own that pony and I’m not going to just hand her over.”

“Then I’m going to make you.”

“Try it. I won’t win, of course. But you know who really won’t win? These three, because the second you try and pull something over there, I’m putting a hole between each of their eyes. And the best part is, you get to watch. You want Starlight? Fine with me, she’s stuck in that white freezer you must’ve seen in the room with the table.”

Twilight’s heart stopped, realizing she had been inches away from rescuing Starlight.

“So sure, you can go save her, right now, but you’ll have to kill me first, and I’m taking these three with me. Or, you could give up, right now, and spare all of your pitiful souls the harm.”

Shining Armor scowled on the floor, furious at having been beaten. None of them made any effort to try and dissuade Twilight from letting them die to save Starlight, because was it really a fair trade? But at the same time, none of them had the nerve to doom Starlight and themselves to a life of torment. They all just sat there, conflicted. But it was Twilight who was really struggling. How much was worth losing for Starlight? Two soldiers were a lot. Two of her closest friends? Her own brother? If she gave up, she wouldn’t have to face the dejection of defeat. Perhaps there was honor in giving up to sacrifice one’s pride to save a few more.

Maybe I never should’ve come at all. Would’ve saved a lot more.

Taking a few more moments to argue with herself, she eventually lowered her horn. Chrysalis smiled, but tried her best to show some sportsmanship.

“I admire your value in life...but, maybe here, it’s worse to be alive than dead.”

“You won’t win, Chrysalis.”

“It seems as though I just did.”

Not permitting Twilight to give another retort, Chrysalis zapped Twilight, prohibiting her from using her magic, the same spell placed on Shining Armor and Rarity. All four ponies were thrown in the invisible cell, to waste away in defeat.
Twilight looked back up at Chrysalis, who was staring at nothing, a radiant smile on her face.

“After all these years...nothing can stop me.”