(Continued from page 393)
It was a bold leap forward in the fields of magic and engineering, and Starry Night believed he would be able to pull it off. Gathering his close Unicorn friends, and some of his Unicorn relatives, Starry Night received a permit to build a weapons factory within Canterlot, as well as a steady flow of government funding.
He chose to nestle his workshop within Canterlot Mountain itself, believing that if anything went wrong that the sturdy mountain would shield Canterlot from any negative magical discharges.
Starry Night and his small team of workers created a total of fourteen magical items over the course of three years before his funding was cut. He was allowed to keep his facility and keep it operational, but if he wanted to be funded again, he would need a faster, surefire way of placing magical essence within items to enchant them.
Fearing the imminent Dragon attack on the capitol, Starry Night opened his doors to any and all Unicorns who were willing to help him keep Equestria safe by forming enchanted weapons and armor to fight off the Dragons.
Starry Night and his massive team of six hundred and eighteen Unicorns managed to create four thousand, two hundred and eighty-nine recorded magical items before the First Dragon War ended in 600 B.B.
At the start of the Second Dragon War, Starry Night had long since passed away. However, the Workshop is still under his family's ownership, despite having been closed at the end of the Second Dragon War.
All magically enchanted items are reportedly crafted by three factories in Stalliongrad, Equestria.
-Page 394 of A History of Magic In Warfare, by Gilded Letter.
Rapid Fire grinned excitedly as the judges announced the winner.
The stadium, packed with Changelings and ponies alike, cheered her name as she stood over the slightly bleeding body of her opponent: a purple and black striped Unicorn Necromancer.
By flashing her Peacemakers, horseshoes that covered her entire hoof and surged with electricity, brightly, Rapid Fire had managed to momentarily blind the judges and spectators enough to cheat and teleport closer to her well defended opponent.
All it took after that was a few thumps on the head after cheating her way past the Necromancer's skeletons, and Rapid Fire had the Unicorn on her back.
As the crowd continued to cheer her name, Rapid Fire- needlessly disguised in her own city as a dark green Earth Pony with a puke-green mane -turned and smirked at her opponent.
"Better luck next time, Swirly." the disguised Changeling taunted before spitting in her opponents face and trotting off.
All eyes and ears followed the champion as she departed from the arena, and the spectators left soon afterwards- a few kind souls bothering to help the defeated Unicorn back to her hooves.
At least someponies remembered what the tournament was about...
The hours seemed to melt into nothingness as Rapid Fire celebrated her victory at the Flying Scorpion; the local tavern within the Changeling Capitol of Vemn Enox.
Tankards lay cast aside, few even dripping with hard cider as the locals and travelers alike drowned their kidneys.
"And then- and then I brought my hoof down, and I swear I heard her snout crack!" Rapid Fire said, finishing her tale and causing the bar to erupt into drunken laughter.
Rapid Fire laughed alongside them before promptly falling off of her stool, still giggling madly.
"Hey, Rapid!" a cheerfully drunk voice said. "You are shoo drunk! C'mon, I'll get'cha' home so none of these boysh try an' take advantage of ya..."
"No, no, no!" Rapid Fire replied giddily as she got to her hooves, shakily. "I can walk myself...Goodnight, everypony!"
And, only because they were induced with their own drunkenness, the crowd paid heed to her call and waved in farewell as the stumbling, disguised Changeling...Stumbled out of the tavern and into the dimly lit streets of Vemn Enox...
A few minutes of wandering around and avoiding the guards on disorderly conduct, Rapid Fire had drunkenly determined that she was lost.
"Well, thish ish jusht great..." the Changeling muttered as she took a deep breath and leaned up against the wall just outside of an alleyway to catch her breath. Before her, but across the small entrance street into the alley, stood a tall lamppost with candles inside that burned fiercely but did little to help her see.
Captivated by the dim light, Rapid Fire barely noticed as a pony darted out from alley beside her, swinging a heavy club down quickly...
Welcome to The Magic Workshop...
She couldn't see.
She couldn't hear.
She couldn't smell.
And then, slowly but surely, her senses began to wake up. At first, her vision was blurry; her smell dull, and the sounds that reached her ears were muffled.
"Where...Where am I?" Rapid Fire asked herself quietly as she tried to rise to her hooves before her entire body jolted in pain and she collapsed back onto her belly.
"Shush; don't talk. Conserve your strength." a soft, soothing voice came quietly from beside her.
Turning her head and opening her eyes once more, Rapid Fire took in the blurry and dark sight of a sad, terrified looking Unicorn pony huddled next to her.
In fact, scanning the dark room she was in and utilizing her Changeling vision, Rapid Fire could see several Unicorns all huddled together- shivering either from the cold or fear with a few other Changelings in the midst.
"Where are we?" Rapid Fire asked again, quietly.
"I don't know. I don't think any of us know. I got pulled into an alley and beaten before I woke up here..." the pony next to her replied quietly. "Where did they get you?"
Rapid Fire gave a slight groan as she rubbed the side of her head with a hoof. "I think at King Aurus's tournament...I don't remember, though; head hurts too much. I just won a match against some necromancer and was walking back to the inn..."
When Rapid Fire trailed off, the Unicorn next to her laid a comforting hoof over her back. "My name's Regalia. What's yours?"
"I'm Rapid Fire...How long have I been out? How long have these ponies been here?"
Regalia shook her head sadly and removed her hoof before replying. "None of us know. It's too dark in here and there's no sunlight, and most of the other ponies woke up around the same time, so nopony knows who got here first. Or, most importantly, why we're even here."
"There has to be a reason! Ponies don't just kidnap other ponies for no reason-" Rapid Fire began quietly in a rushed, angry tone before halting suddenly. "Are you a Changeling? Is this a hate movement?"
Although nopony could see it, Regalia's face lit up in slight shock and disgust at the notion of being called a Changeling. "No, I'm not a Changeling! Why, are you?!"
Before a full blown fight could break out between the two whispering ponies, another voice from across the room spoke up.
"Shut up, you two! It doesn't matter if anypony is a Changeling or not- we're all in this together!"
"He's right! Take a look around- everypony here has a horn; that must mean something!" another voice chimed in.
It was, at this point, that Rapid Fire realized her comfortable Earth Pony disguise had been long since gone. Attempting to bring it up again resulted in only another jolt of pain- this time centralized in her horn.
"Don't bother." Regalia said sadly as she turned away and rested her snout on her hooves. "We're all ringed, and touching them only makes the pain worse."
Rapid Fire glared slightly as she scanned the room, starting to grasp the situation little by little.
She and a group of Unicorns and Changelings were all kidnapped suddenly and placed here, but when and why? They all had Magic Deincubators, which blocked off their magic and attacked the wearer if they tried to remove it...
Rapid Fire knew, from her time disguised as a guard in the Canterlot MagiTech division, that Magic Deincubators were not cheap, and definitely not common.
Whoever was doing this either had a lot of money, or... No. Impossible.
Rapid Fire cleared her head of such foalish thoughts before scanning the room once more- flicking her Changeling eyes between normal and night vision.
She was near the center of the small square room, and to her left sat the large iron bars of a cage. They were all in a prison cell.
A slight chittering sound inside her head caused mild discomfort and served only to break her thoughts as she looked behind her- instinctively pinpointing the location of the phantom sound.
It was another Changeling.
"Glad to ssssee you are ssssafe, ssssisssster." the Changeling whispered; his accent thick as Rapid Fire cautiously picked her way through the pool of Unicorns.
"What do you want?" Rapid Fire spit quietly in distaste.
"There issss no need to be rude; I ssssimply wisshed to talk. You ssssound familiar...Where were you during the Canterlot attack?"
"Fighting off the invaders."
"Ah, I ssssee. Sssso, you are a defector..."
"I'm a pony."
"And delusional...But we can't afford to fight, now. We need to find out where we are and how to get out of here. It'ssss up to the Changelingssss to get the resssst of thesssse poniessss out of here. My name is Kisshin, by the way."
"Rapid Fire."
Before the two ponies could talk further, a light flicked on overhead and everypony held their hooves over their eyes to shield themselves from the blinding light.
"Good morning, everypony!" a cheerful voice sounded that nopony could place just yet. "My name is Silent Night, and I'll be your tour guide for today!"
"Tour guide? Where the hell are we?" a pony spoke up in fear.
"Yea- why're we all ringed?!"
"And bruised!"
"Hey, this pony's bleeding!"
"Everypony, please calm down!" Silent Night said calmly as she trotted out into view, her dark bluish-black coat and horn matching well with her pure white mane and deep purple eyes. "All will be explained when you calm down."
After a few moments, the panicking Unicorns reluctantly quieted down and Rapid Fire took yet another look around the now brightened room.
Regalia, the pony she had met before, was now huddled frightened in the corner with a cut along her cheek- dried blood staining her white coat and tails of her elegantly styled maroon and blue striped hair.
She could see two Changelings besides herself amongst the Unicorns, which she estimated to be about ten; thirteen ponies in all.
"Thank you all for your cooperation. Everything will run a lot smoother if you'll listen to my instructions from now on." Silent Night continued, still holding her cheerful smile that only made the Unicorns and Changelings uneasy. "I'd like to welcome you all to The Magic Workshop. You're the first guests we've had in quite along time- nearly two hundred years, in fact!"
"The Magic Workshop?" one pony quipped. "What the hay is that?"
"Why, I'm glad you asked! In a moment, we'll open the cell door and let you exit; one by one and then we'll begin a tour of the Workshop, exploring our history and purpose here in Equestria! But first, I'm sure you've all noticed the bright light above you. I'd like to explain that that is not a Unicorn standing above you casting an illumination spell. It's just one of the many marvels we've created through the use of this Workshop." Silent Night finished cheerfully before turning her head to nod to something or somepony out of sight. "Remember: one by one, please."
Not more than a moment later, the large steel gate slid open along its track, leaving a space for the ponies inside to exit.
None moved, however.
"Where the hay are we?"
"Yea, and why did you kidnap us?!"
"This pony is still bleeding!"
Even as the crowd began to grow unruly and active, Silent Night continued to stand outside the bars, simply smiling before a brave, gray coated Unicorn with a blue and yellow mane made a mad dash towards her out of the gate.
She tilted her head to the side, curiously, before the charging Unicorn collapsed to the floor in a tumble of hooves- shrieking in pain as the small light on his horn ring lit up and sent raw magic coursing through his body painfully.
When the spasming had subsided and the Unicorn lay still, Silent Night waved her hooves and, in turn, a trio of sun glass-wearing Unicorns trotted from around a corner to drag the unconscious Unicorn's body away.
"Now," Silent Night began, albeit less cheerful than before. "If we're all done trying to 'escape', we have a lot of ground to cover before the end of the day. One by one, now."
Reluctantly, but quickly, every Unicorn and Changeling hurried out of the cell one at a time until they stood in an orderly line along the bars.
"Thank you all for being so compliant!" Silent Night piped up after a moment or two of surveying the ponies; her cheerful demeanor returning. "Now, right this way and we'll begin the tour with a history lesson."
As the line began to merge into a stream while they walked, Rapid Fire slowed her pace and fell into step beside Regalia.
"I don't like this place..." the white Unicorn whimpered quietly.
"Something's definitely up. Don't look now, but there are two more Unicorns in those stupid glasses making sure we stay in line..." Rapid Fire whispered in reply.
"Welcome to the Hall of History, fillies and gentlecolts!" Silent Night said from far ahead of the two rear ponies. "The Magic Workshop was founded by Starry Night, nearly one thousand and six hundred years ago, during the First Dragon War. Starry Night had once been a traveler to many distant lands and, when he returned from his travels to Equestria, he found his country burning from the flames of Dragons. Angered by this and willing to do anything to help the war effort, Starry Night secured the rights to build a factory within Canterlot Mountain that specialized in enchanted weapons."
As the line walked down the hallway, they were greeted with sights of weapons, shields, and other war devices- all either pristine and cleaned, or looking as if they would soon crumble to dust.
All however, were surely from a very long time ago.
"Weapons of all different sorts with all different kinds of enchantments. For instance, this Workshop can make a double edged sword, magically infused to never loose its edge." Silent Night said, attempting to entice awe from the Unicorns behind her. "From his travels, Starry Night had learned that all creatures leave varying amounts of magical essence behind wherever they go that lingers long after their own death. Harnessing this magic, however, was extremely difficult and time consuming. With a dragon attack imminent on the city of Canterlot, and funding spread thin to safely infuse weapons and armor with stable levels of magic, Starry Night was faced with a brutal choice: Find another, faster, way to make enchanted items, or watch as Canterlot burned around him."
As Silent Night led the group around a corner, they were greeted with four large glass windows; two on one side, and two on the other, of the hall. Within the room stood four small, hoof sized cylinders and a wide, curved, tube sitting open on the floor in the middle of the circles.
All eyes and ears turned towards one window in particular, in which the brash Unicorn from before was being dragged into the room from a door that led elsewhere.
The three sun glass-wearing Unicorns carefully fitted the poor soul's hooves into the circles and locked them into place as the metal half-tube raised up to support his shivering body. Two Unicorns stepped back to let the third trot forward and close the cylinder around the trapped Unicorn's torso as he weakly struggled- fear obvious in his eyes as his body slowly began waking from its slumber.
When the Unicorn was being firmly held by his torso and hooves, a metal contraption descended from the ceiling to wrap around his snout and hold his head still as he began struggling more and more.
Finally, a smaller metal contraption descended from the ceiling as the Unicorn inside the room was secured- every eye staring in shock and horror as they could only guess what was to come.
As the metal contraption reached his head and fit itself over his horn, the Unicorn shut his eyes tightly and silently cried.
Nopony could hear his screams through the glass and their own rushing blood as the metal thing suddenly stabbed itself into his skull and forcefully ripped out his horn- the small, glowing ball at the base that was the source of all Unicorn magic dripping with blood before the now hornless Unicorn fell unconscious once more.
"This is an outrage! Let us go!" shouted a pony as they took up a stance to defend the group at the head of the line.
Silent Night only giggled softly. "I'm afraid I can't do that. We have a very strict schedule today, and we're already falling behind as it is. If you'd all just please follow me, we can get on to showing you what The Magic Factory can make besides weapons and armor."
In an instant, the hallway was a flurry of motion- ringed Unicorns rushing the lone tour guide or the two sun glass-wearing Unicorns in an attempt to save themselves while the two Changelings besides Rapid Fire simply huddled together, flicking their teeth against their fangs in their native, verbal tongue as the chaos surged around them.
And then, everything simply stopped.
Every ringed Unicorn froze in place for an instant before the floor of the hallway was littered with spasming bodies.
Rapid Fire struggled and screamed in pain and terror as raw, uncontrolled magic throbbed and tore through her body; sending her eyes flicking back and forth as her vision switched between normal and night vision.
Her body was going haywire, and the pain seemed to last forever until finally it stopped and she lay panting and crying on her side- too hurt to even breathe properly.
"I truly hope that will be the last time anything like this happens." Silent Night said darkly with a smile as she picked her way through the collapsed and panting ponies towards the trio of Changelings. "Nopony knows whether or not Changelings have magic stones in their head, too. Guess we'll find out, won't we?"
"W...Why are you...D-Doing this...?" Rapid Fire whimpered pitifully, causing Silent Night's ears to perk up and her face to brighten.
"I'm so glad you asked, dear. Most of you were picked at random- useless, unimportant Unicorns that nopony would miss or notice if you went missing. Still, for some of you, we were paid by very wealthy customers to capture. You, specifically, 'Rapid Fire', have some very powerful enemies." Silent Night explained with a giggle before stepping away. "Unfortunately, we only have four machines and a limited amount of time; meaning that we'll have to resort to messier ways to extract those precious little baubles. Golden Flame, take 'Rapid Fire', Regalia, Kishin, Phi, Lumin, and...Loose Screw? Who names their child that? Regardless, take those ponies and make sure they do not get placed in the machines. We're being paid quite a bit to make them suffer. As for the rest, strap them in and begin removing their horns."
Orders given, Silent Night trotted slowly away as more Unicorn guards rounded a corner and began dragging the worn out ponies away.
Rapid Fire lost consciousness.
You'll Never Leave Here Alive
When she started to think again, the wounded Changeling let out a pained groan.
Her head was throbbing and she felt as if she was swimming in the darkest part of the ocean.
When she tried to open her eyes, she was met only with darkness until she remembered that she was a Changeling and could flick her eyes into a different vision in order to see.
What she saw made her scream.
All around her lay the skeletal bodies of decaying and decayed Unicorns- mares and stallions of almost all ages, from late teens to near-death-elderly.
All had broken stumps or holes in their head from where their horns used to be.
Silence! They laugh at your fear- we need the advantage! a voice growled in warning within Rapid Fire's head; another Changeling.
Where are we? Where are you? Rapid Fire thought hurriedly as she backed herself into a corner, away from all of the death.
In the room next to yours, I think. replied the voice. My name is Kishin, and the other Changeling is Lumin.
Hello! came a happier, denying voice.
In a moment, a tall Unicorn guard with a fiery mane is going to open one of our doors. Channel all of your strength into your front hooves and appear to be sleeping or something. Just lay down with your horn pointed at the door and, when it opens, charge. Aim to impale, and then let the rest of us out. Kishin ordered through their localized hive mind.
As if on queue, the soft clip-clopping of hooves on tile began growing louder an louder as the walker neared.
They stopped just shy of Rapid Fire's door before she heard a soft jingle of keys and the slide of a heavy bar, to which Lumin let out a shriek of rage as he charged forward- catching the unaware Unicorn off guard and driving his jagged horn deep into her chest while pushing her back and into a wall.
Not a sound came from either of them, and the Changeling clicked his teeth in disgust before pulling his horn from her limp, shocked body and snatching up the keys.
We have to hurry- that shriek couldn't have gone unnoticed! Kishin explained hurriedly as he and Lumin began to unlock Rapid Fire's door.
Hurry to where? We don't even know where we are- which way to go! Rapid Fire replied.
We'll get somewhere, eventually! Standing here isn't helping! Lumin chimed in before all three members nodded and began charging off down the hall together...
"It's going to be alright, dear." Regalia said through tears as she tried to console a smaller, mute mare with a similarly white coat.
The young Unicorn's mane was similar to her own in style, albeit a cool mint green that matched her tear laden eyes.
Both Unicorns were huddled together for a few more moments before a pair of guards came forward to drag the small, terrified Unicorn away to be harnessed.
Phi, whom Regalia had taken to calling as such on just a wild guess, flailed her hooves in a futile attempt to escape their clutches and at least go back into the comforting hooves of the bigger Unicorn. With her mouth opened in silent screams, the guards dragged the struggling Unicorn away.
It broke Regalia's heart, watching it all and not being able to do anything- let alone having her mind racked as she imagined Phi struggling on and on as they beat the small Unicorn.
Regalia would never hear screams to know if she was granted peace, or if she was still being tortured just out of sight.
Now, it was only Regalia and two others- two Unicorn stallions named Loose Screw and another named Clumpy; who was also a mute.
"We have to do something." Loose Screw said as-a-matter-of-factually, startling Regalia slightly.
"And what would we do? Where would we go? Nopony would believe us!" Regalia challenged quietly.
"We would escape- this place has to have a door somewhere or else we wouldn't have gotten here!" Screw shot back before the group heard the ominous sounds of returning hoofsteps.
As the Unicorn executioners rounded a corner, Clumpy carefully made his way closer to the door...
"Attention, all floor staff: We have three escapees. One guard is down. Move to sectors 6, 7, and 8 to apprehend. Use of lethal force is authorized." a voice sounded loudly over some magically powered machine that amplified sound as the guards unlocked the cell door.
Using the timely distraction to his advantage, Clumpy carefully slid out of his cell between the gap in the ajar'd door.
To Regalia and Screw's shock and horror, he continued on past the guards quietly until he disappeared around a corner...
Which way, now?! Lumin questioned hurriedly as the trio reached yet another T-Intersection.
The alarm had been raised and the guards pursuing as the three Changelings continued to flee through the confusing, maze like hallways and corridors that filled the facility.
All it is, is hallway after hallway with more and more walls! I haven't seen those rooms, our cells, or the History Hall at all! continued the distressed Lumin.
"Quiet!" Kishin hissed before leading the survivors down yet another hallway. "Do you hear that?"
"Yea- sounds like...Pounding? And metal. Definitely metal." Rapid Fire chimed in.
"That meansss we've found the 'Workshop' part of thisss hellhole..."
You know what this means?! Lumin chittered excitedly within their heads. This means we're finally free! There has to be a door in there that leads somewhere we haven't been!
"There's just...One problem with that..." Rapid Fire whispered uncertainly, before motioning towards her ringed horn. "We can't shift to hide ourselves..."
"That mother bucker!" Regalia shouted furiously after the guards had locked their cell again and trotted away hurriedly. "He didn't even try and help us!"
Pacing, the white Unicorn began brainstorming ways to have Unicorns regrow horns if she ever got out of here, clearly intending harm for a certain blue coated, orange-blonde maned Unicorn.
"Just relax. Getting all worked up won't help anything." Loose Screw said with a sigh as he settled himself back onto the floor, snout laying over his light purple hooves.
"Excuse me for being furious that our ticket out of certain, painful death got selfish!"
"You think I'm not upset, either?! I was happy living alone- a nice quiet life! Now, I'm going to die in a place where I'm not even sure I can trust the prisoners!" Screw shot back irritatedly.
"You and me both, buddy!" Regalia screamed sarcastically. "I was just a simple dressmaker- who the hay could hate me so much that they wanted me dead?!"
As the pair continued shouting insults at each other, neither noticed the stern looking Unicorn, who glared behind his sunglasses before unlocking the cell door...
Rapid Fire stood staring; both in fear and disgust, but also in respect as Kishin whined quietly- doing his best to ignore the pain as he pulled and yanked at the magically enhanced ring around his horn.
The fact that his horn was jagged, like any other Changelings, certainly didn't help the process of pulling it off.
But, after a few minutes of Lumin and Rapid Fire keeping watch, Kishin finally managed to free himself of the binding- growling furiously before tossing the wretched thing down the hallway.
"Now, who'sss next? We all have to walk through the mud if we want to get to the lake..." the freed Changeling questioned with a pained smile before his form became engulfed in green flames to reveal a beige-coated Unicorn with a pair of sunglasses.
"...Clumpy?" the pair of bickering Unicorns questioned in confusion as they turned at the sound of the large iron gate slamming against the wall, staring in confusion, shock, and glee at the grinning mute.
"Oh, I never doubted you for a moment!" Regalia cried as she tackled the smiling rescuer- planting a kiss on his cheeks and causing him to blush before he was helped to his hooves and hugged furiously by Loose Screw.
"But, how the hay did you get dressed like this? And- your horn! You're unringed!" Regalia whispered in shock.
In reply to her question, Clumpy produced a pair of slightly glowing tongs
