Return of the Lord

Sunlight streamed through the bars of the cage and gently stroked Twilight's eyelids. She could feel the warmth of the morning sun massaging her face, bringing her into consciousness.

Funny, the sun is normally never this warm inside my bedroom.

Trying to avoid the persistent rays, she rolled over to face the other way. And rolled onto solid concrete.

Now Twilight's eyes shot open, and she reared up in confusion. She was outside. In a cage. With a hard, concrete floor.

Twilight began to worry as a few strands of her hair began to come loose.

Where am I? Have I been ponynapped? Banished? And what about Spike?

She turned away from the drab wall of the cage and looking the other way, outside the bars, she saw a sight that both terrified her, and filled her with wonder.

Just outside her bars was a small expanse of green grass, and then, towering out of the ground, was a vast block of ugly grey stone, ornate windows carved into it's unfathomable bulk. Atop it's many towers, Weird figures patrolled carrying odd instruments, guarding over the fortress. To her left, a trellis arch lead into a beautiful garden, one that put even Fluttershy's gardens to shame.

It was magnificent. Ivy and creepers climbed the walls and trellises, whilst roses and several other proud flowers sprouted from organised flower beds. At the centre of the breath-taking garden lay the most spectacular sight of all - A wondrous white tree bearing white fruit, and nearby an expertly carved statue of some strange creature.

Twilight looked to her right and recoiled in fear. Along the back of the wall of the huge stone building, Vines of choking ivy clambered up the masonry, crawling towards the sky, determined to smother the imposing grey block. At the bass of these vines lay the real horrors though - Groups of bipedal creatures, rather thin but much taller than a pony, were mindlessly hacking at the thick plants. They wore extravagant clothing, each one trying to seem more prestigious and powerful than the next.

They were hacking the poor vines into shreds, and the violence horrified Twilight, Why not offer it friendship?

That wasn't the worst thing, however, for these strange creatures seemed completely unaware as to the pain they must be causing the vines - They hacked away, mercilessly, yet spared not a thought for the plant, instead engaging in casual conversation.

How could they take life so disrespectfully?

Behind these well-dressed plant murderers stood a group of what seemed to be peasants, as such, for they wore nothing but ragged clothes and stared at tree trunks with mechanical, dull expressions. Suddenly, to Twilight's utter amazement, the tree stump was overcome with magic, and a fully grown yew tree sprung out of the earth, fresh and anew.

Twilight was amazed, but amazement soon turned to horror as the pack of peasants set upon the tree like pouncing wolves, hacking and slashing at it's vulnerable trunk with their blunt hatchets. Within minutes of it's life's beginning, the mighty yew fell, and the pack rushed to stand next to another dormant stump, waiting for it to spring back to life, only to once more cut it down.

Twilight edged into her cage.

What was this horrible place? What are they going to do to her?

Twilight was suddenly made aware of another of the bipedal creatures, this one just outside her cage. He was sitting on a rock, basking in the early noon sun, and was scribbling onto some parchment with a quill, around him lay several books, discarded on the ground.

Twilight realised he must have been staring at her for a long time, most likely whilst she was asleep.

She started to approach the edge of the cage when a pungent smell hit her nostrils. She recoiled for not the first time that day, and frantically swung her head around to identify the source of the horrible smell. Finally, her eyes rested on a maimed corpse of a bear, lying not ten feet away from her enclosure.

Twilight retched, and struggled against the urge to be sick. The bear had horrific stab wounds, and looked like it had been removed in several chunks. As Twilight tried to back away into the corner of her cage, her hoof made a hollow sound as it stepped on the floor.

Clearing away some hay on the ground, she found a trapdoor. She tugged at it, but it was firmly locked. Suddenly she realised this must have been the small passage through which the bear had been taken from the cage. She couldn't hold back her disgust any longer, and she threw up all over the concrete floor.

The bipedal creature behind her murmured something before scribbling something more onto his scroll.

Humiliated, scared, and horrified and disgusted by her surroundings, Twilight shrank into the corner of the enclosure and softly began to cry.

She lay there for quite a while, simply crying, which the bipedal creature seemed to find most intriguing, for his note-taking rate increased. Suddenly she thought she heard hoofsteps and the clink of heavy armour approaching across the lawn. Her ears perked up.

Shining Armour?!?

Twilight instantly rushed to the side of the cage, only to have her hopes crushed once again, as she should have expected. Instead of her brother, three of the bipedal creatures had approached, each in mail armour, equipped with a short sword and a square shield.

Twilight prepared to retreat back to her corner, but what she heard next shocked her to her core.

"Reldo! His glorious majesty the King Roald requests your presence within the throne room. He demands an update on the status of the strange being!"

The guard finished his declaration, then the three of them strolled inside the palace. The other creature, who appeared to be called Reldo, collected up his books and made his way inside as well, following the guards.

Twilight, however, was just left staring slack-jawed into the air.

These strange creatures speak Equestrian?!?

Time passed, and the foreign sun followed it's path across the brilliant blue sky. Twilight sat in the cage, with her head resting on her hooves, softly crying whilst the hours passed. The creatures nearby, whom had still not ceased their torment of the trees and other foliage, paid her not even the slightest of glances.

Eventually, after much time had passed, a creature exited from a door in the side of the castle and began strolling towards the rock near the cage, his arms were full of books. Twilight recognised him as the creature who was studying her earlier. He sat down, laid the books on the floor, and withdrew a quill. Choosing a presumably empty tome, he picked it up, opened the pages, and began writing, and occasionally glanced up at Twilight.

Twilight simply sat and stared at a suitably grey section of wall. She simply wanted to go back home, back to the princess, back to her studies, back to spike, back to her friends. She looked at the strange creature once more.

"What if I had imagined it? What if they speak some weird language, and I never return home again?

Twilight wondered whether she should try and talk to the creature, but was filled with worry, and was too nervous to try it. They had done nothing horrible to her yet, except of course, keeping her in a cage, but she didn't want to take the risk.

"But if they think I am but cattle, what fate awaits then?"

The creature may know where she is; the creature may know how to get her home.

Although her usual streak for being excited at new creatures, or the prospect of new knowledge, was gone, Twilight bravely stood up and approached the cage. Swallowing a lump in her throat that seemed larger than her whole body, she took a glance at the creature, who was, at the current moment, seated, and focusing on his notes, not noticing Twilight in the slightest.

"Hello?" Twilight said with trepidation, her voice hardly above a whisper.

The creature stopped writing and raised his head, looking around in confusion. Seeing nobody, he shrugged and returned to his notes.

"Hello" Twilight said somewhat more forcefully, almost at Fluttershy volume as of now.

This time, the creature looked a little worried. He once more surveyed his surroundings, and after identifying nothing that appeared to have spoken, scratched his head thoroughly, and with a look of slight concern, continued his musings on the parchment.

Twilight, despite the situation, was starting to get the slightest amount annoyed. She stomped her hoof, earning an interested glance from the creature, then drawing herself up, spoke out at the top of her lungs.

"I said hello!" Her voice wasn't, in fact, too loud, but it's effect was dramatic.

The creature was seemingly frozen in a look of shock, surprise spreading across his features with his mouth hanging slightly open; The creature dropped his pen and book.

Twilight started to shrink back a little, worried she had made the wrong decision.

"Oh no, he dosen't look too friendly... What if he hits me? Or kills me? Or worse, harms my friends? How will i ev-"

"GREAT SARADOMIN'S BEARD!"

The creature exclaimed this at the top of his lungs, in the standing position, and at a volume so loud that all of the garden could have heard. Much to Twilight's surprise, nobody really seemed to notice, and if they did, did not care.

The creature stared through the bars intently at her, with renewed vigour, seeming to re-examine every inch of her like his last calculations were completely off.

"You speak the common tongue?" The creature pressed, excitement dripping from his voice.

"Well..I..um, yeah, I guess?" Twilight replied, a little confused, and a little intimidated, by the creature's excitement and new found intrigue.

"This changes everything! Oh, what I could learn from such a creature. Tell me dear, do you by any chance remember how you arrived here? And what, may I ask, is that mark on your flank?" The creature asked, and seemed to be wanting to ask even more questions, but refrained in order to let the purple unicorn respond.

"Well I can tell you about my cutie mark, but I was kinda wondering whether you knew how I got here? I just want to get home, really." Twilight had originally sounded a little sceptical that the creature had never heard of a cutie mark, but this soon turned to sadness as she was reminded of her home back in Ponyville.

"Hmm, well it seems we both have much to discuss, and both much to learn from one another. First, however, let us remove you from that cage, it is certainly no place for you to reside in, and I could sense your discomfort. I will alert the guards, and we can talk later in my library."

The creature spoke quickly, not allowing Twilight to get a word, or even a letter, in edgeways. Her ears had perked up at the mention of a library, however, and she looked forwards to discovering how she could return home.

Princess Celestia was sat in the throne room, staring idly at a section of wall. She was still pondering the strange event that had happened a few days prior, for it had shaken her to her hooves, it's magical power far outclassing either her or her sister. At first she was worried Discord had returned, but a quick check of the garden proved otherwise.

The shockwave's power was immense, it's magnitude preventing either her or her sister from even attempting to try and identify from where or what it had originated.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the doors to the throne room were swung open, and a white unicorn guard dressed in ceremonial gold plate galloped down the hall, his hooves making soft clunks against the thick, red, carpeted floor.

He stopped short of Celestia, panting heavily.

"What is it?" Celestia asked, curious as to why she had had her thoughts intruded upon.

"It's news from Ponyville your majesty - Twilight Sparkle has disappeared" The guard replied.

Celestia's eye flew wide, her face frozen in a mix of shock and concern.

"What.!?"