//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Imprisonment and Freedom // Story: The Balance of Harmony // by The Rising Tide of Night //------------------------------// We spent days chained in those cells. It was impossible to tell the passage of time down in the dungeons. There were no windows in any of our cells, and the only way we were able to make any sort of distinction between day and night was that food came during the day and not during what we thought was night. We were beaten, tortured, and abused at any time, but none of the soldiers touched us beyond that. I learned from snatches of conversation that Shining Armor and King Sombra both felt that any soldier that conducted themselves so heinously was not fit to live, and that the soldier and any others that were complicit in the act would be executed immediately if such behavior was discovered. Applejack was the strongest of us all, and withstood the abuse the best. Both Fluttershy and I took strength from her defiance, especially Fluttershy. Without Applejack there, I think Fluttershy would have broken by the second day, but even though she looked a wreck, she remained herself throughout the ordeal. The soldiers had given us scraps of clothing to wear, so I think that helped her feel a little bit of normalcy, even though the clothing was in tatters and smelled like death. It wasn’t until the fourth ‘day’ that we realized that we weren’t alone in the dungeons. We had each been put in separate cells, but we found the first day that as long as we were careful and quiet, we could talk to each other from our cells. It was after a particularly long torture session for Applejack that we made the discovery. I watched as she was dragged back, beaten and bloody, past my cell and dumped unceremoniously into hers, the guards slamming the bars shut and sauntering out, laughing. I crawled over to the bars of my cell, peering out at her as best I could as she lay there. I could hear her gasping in pain, but even now she refused to give them the satisfaction of hearing her cry. “Applejack?” I called quietly. I waited for a while before I finally heard her response. Her voice was tense and choked with pain. “Y-yeah, Twilight?” she gasped. “Any thoughts on how we’re getting out of here?” I asked, hopeful that she had a plan. “You-you’re gonna have to give m-me a minute, Twi,” she stammered, still gasping. “Ah-Ah’m not thinking t-too clearly right now.” “Just give up,” came a voice from the cell across from mine. It was hoarse and scratchy, as if the speaker hadn’t said anything for a long time, but clearly female and vaguely familiar. “No one has ever escaped from here.” I squinted across the way, trying to see into the dark cell, but the light from the dungeon entrance didn’t reach that far. I had never noticed anyone over there before, but looking into the cell, I saw the remains of a meal glinting in the light near the bars and heard the faint clinking of chains being dragged across the floor. “Who’s there?” I asked, pressing myself against the bars. After a pause, I heard the chains dragging and straw rustling. As I watched, I could see the vague form of a person slowly rising from the bed of straw, chains clearly dangling from her wrists and ankles as she shuffled forward with a scraping of metal. As she stepped into the light, grasping the bars of her cell, I gasped in recognition and sorrow at the sight of someone who I had been told not that long ago was now dead. She was tall and dreadfully thin, dressed in rags similar to ours. Her hair, which was striped in shades of pink, purple, and pale yellow, had been hacked short at one point, but was now growing ragged and dirty around her face. Her face was covered in cuts and bruises, and her bare arms and legs were full of old scars and fresh bruises. There was a deadness in her lavender eyes that matched the monotone of her voice. The chains were fastened tightly around her wrists and ankles, and I could see old scarring from where she had once fought against them. “Cadence?” I asked in disbelief. She looked back at me, eyes narrowing as she tried to make out my form in the dark. I saw the moment of recognition, followed by disbelief and astonishment as she slid down the bars, knees weak as she stared at me. Her voice shook as she spoke. “T-Twilight?” she asked. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake,” I recited, smiling halfheartedly. “Clap your hands and do a little shake.” She just stared at me, shaking her head. “But – but, you’re dead! Shining Armor told me he saw your body!” I sighed. “The thing is, Cadence, I’m not the Twilight Sparkle you knew. I’m from another world.” “How is that possible?” she demanded, disbelief plain on her face. I explained how Trixie had come to us and brought us to this world. Understanding dawned on her face. “I remember hearing that you had been working on that spell, but I didn’t realize…” She shook her head. “It’s all too much to take in, but since you’re here…” “Cadence, Shining Armor told us that you were dead. That King Sombre had killed you. Why are you here?” “I don’t really know what happened,” she replied. “All I remember is when King Sombre was released, Shining Armor and I came to fight him. We were managing to hold our own for a while, but then King Sombre cast a spell on him, and he just started screaming my name and crumpled to the ground. Without Shining Armor to strengthen my magic, King Sombre quickly overpowered me and captured me. I saw him use his shadow magic on Shining Armor as I was dragged away, and Shining Armor just vanished.” “Vanished?” I asked, frowning as I began putting some pieces together. “What do you mean?” “The shadows completely covered him, and he disappeared. I don’t know what happened to him. I’ve been down here ever since, just trying to survive.” She shuddered, the numbness returning to her eyes briefly. “It’s been horrible.” We heard the door to the dungeon area open, and we both immediately scurried back to the rear of our cells, Cadence’s chains scraping across the floor. Two guards walked in, a man and a woman, peering into our cells. I huddled into my pile of straw, trying to make myself as invisible as possible. I heard the guards talking to one another as they looked in. “Which one should it be this time?” the man asked. “We did the blonde one earlier, and the Commander doesn’t want us to do the same one twice in a row.” The woman peered into Cadence’s cell. “Eh, let’s skip over this one. She’s all worn out. Give her some more time to recover and we can start in on her again.” The man, who had been looking into my cell, turned to the woman. “Hey, I know. Let’s do that tall, pretty one. I think we can get her screaming in no time.” “You just want to get another look at her rack,” the woman accused. “But whatever. Works for me.” I looked up in panic as I saw them move away from my cell, and next door to Fluttershy’s. I rushed up to the bars as they opened her cell, and she began to whimper as they entered. I heard her scuffling with them for a minute, and one of the guards let out a cry of pain. I couldn’t see exactly what happened, but I suddenly saw Fluttershy scramble out of the cell, panic on her face, followed shortly by one of the guards. “Fluttershy!” I cried as she rushed past, heading for the exit. Unfortunately, she only made it a few steps past my cell before the guard tackled her to the ground. He knelt down, shoved his knee into her back and grabbed her long hair, pulling it back. He then grabbed her hand, wrenched it back, and quickly tied her hair around her wrist, followed by her second hand. I could see tears in her eyes from the pain as he hauled her up, the second guard coming out of the cell with a bloody nose. “Dammit,” the female guard growled, approaching Fluttershy. Eyeing her companion’s handiwork, she smirked through the blood. “Nice thinking.” She then wound up and punched her in the gut. Fluttershy jerked forwards, gasping and coughing, her hair pulling her arms up further and her face screwing up in pain. “That’s for my nose, bitch. Now march.” The first guard wrenched Fluttershy around, and they pushed her forward. I watched in vain as they marched her down the hallway and out of the dungeon. About ten minutes later, we heard Fluttershy’s screams echoing down the hallway. “F-Fluttershy,” gasped Applejack, and I saw her pulling herself up on her cell bars. “Dammit, Twilight, we gotta get out of here. Ah don’t know how much longer she can last.” “We can’t,” replied Cadence, coming back to the bars. “There’s no way to get out of here. Even if you could get out, where would you go? This is underneath the Palace.” “Ah don’t care,” replied Applejack, inspecting the door of her cell. “Ah can’t stand by anymore and watch my friend be hurt.” She looked closely at the hinges, and I saw her smile in a determined manner. “Ah never noticed this before,” she said. “What is it?” I asked. “Hang on, Twi,” she replied. I watched her kneel down, clench her teeth together, and grab the bottom of her cell door. I heard her grunt as she started to lift the cell door. “AJ, what are you doing?” I called, panicked. Applejack ignored me as she strained, slowly lifting the cell door. I watched in surprise as Applejack’s cell door rose, the hinges sliding upwards until they eventually slipped out, the door falling forward with a loud clang. Applejack slumped to her knees, breathing heavily, blood seeping from some of her fresh wounds. She then groaned, and slowly pushed herself to her feet, limbs shaking slightly. “Ah don’t think Ah can do that again, Twi,” Applejack gasped. “Ah’ll have to get the keys before Ah can get you out.” “Are you sure you’re up to that?” I asked, concerned. She looked over at me, wincing as she rotated her shoulders. “Ah don’t really have a choice, do Ah?” With that, she started down the hallway towards the door leading out. Cadence looked over at me, shock on her face. “How did she do that?” she asked. I smiled at her. “She’s always been a tough one,” I replied. We waited, watching the door that Applejack had just gone through with apprehension. Fluttershy’s screams had stopped, and the silence was deafening. Suddenly, the door opened once more, and we saw two forms coming down the hallway. As they got closer to our cells, we saw that it was Applejack, who was supporting a limp Fluttershy, who was bleeding profusely from multiple wounds. Applejack carefully sat Fluttershy down on the ground, and pulled out a bloody ring of keys. I watched in gratitude as she fumbled through the keys, finally finding the one that fit my cell. I threw my arms around her as the cell door opened. “Thank you, Applejack,” I cried. “Thank you.” I looked over at Cadence, who was looking at us with an expression of guarded hope. Applejack moved over to her cell, and flipped through the keys once more, opening up her cell. She then proceeded to unlock Cadence’s chains, pulling them off and flinging them into the back of the cell. Cadence just stared at her, absently massaging her wrists. “Come on, we need to move,” Applejack said, pulling Fluttershy to her feet and slinging Fluttershy’s arm around her shoulder. “Ah don’t know how long it’ll be before they find the guards.” “Cadence, let’s go,” I said, grabbing her wrist and pulling. She allowed herself to be led out of the cell, and we all rushed down the hall and out of the door. We slipped out of the dungeon and into the nearby guard room. I could see the familiar torture room through a door on the opposite wall of the guard room, and I could see the results of Applejack’s handiwork lying on the floor near the horrible table that we had all suffered on over the last few days. A thought struck me, and I hurried over to the dead guards, checking their clothing. “Twilight, what are you doing? We gotta go!” Applejack called. I ignored her, and began stripping the uniforms off of the guards. Applejack gently sat Fluttershy down on a nearby chair, and came in to see what I was up to. “Twilight, what the hey…?” I had managed to get the uniform off the male guard, and held it up to her. “Here, try this on,” I ordered. “He looks to be about your height.” Applejack stared at the uniform for a minute, then a smile grew on her face. “Good idea, Twi. Lemme check the lockers out here, see if there’re any others.” She vanished back into the guard room as I stripped the other guard. I did my best to ignore the guard’s face as I pulled her clothing off, not really wanting to look at the eyes of one who had caused me and my friends so much pain. Scurrying out of the room with the uniform under my arm, I entered the guard room to see Applejack dressed in the uniform I had given her, straining to close the front of another guard’s uniform over Fluttershy’s ample breasts. “Dammit, Fluttershy, suck it in!” she grunted, as Fluttershy winced, tears in her eyes, Applejack’s tugging scraping roughly against her fresh wounds. Cadence had already found another uniform, obviously tailored for a man, but her emaciated figure fit easily into it. “Applejack, stop it,” I ordered. “You’re hurting her. I’ve got another idea we can try instead.” Applejack flopped to the floor, exhausted from all of her exertions over a short period of time. I had to admire her strength after all she had done, especially since she had been tortured to the point of exhaustion not that long ago. However, I knew that her strength couldn’t last forever, and I was afraid of when it would give out. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to rest right now. Motioning for Cadence to come over, I knelt down next to Applejack and Fluttershy, and began to outline my plan. Pushing through Fluttershy’s interjections, I explained how we could get through the guards and possibly find our possessions. “If the three of us keep our helmets on at all times, I think we can manage this,” I finished up. I turned to Fluttershy, who was looking apprehensive. “Fluttershy, I know I’m asking a lot of you. You’ll be the most exposed, and you’ll have to play your part to the hilt. But I know you can do it.” I gripped her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. “You’ve gotten so strong,” I whispered into her ear. “Rainbow Dash would be proud.” She hugged me back gratefully, not saying anything. I released her, and asked, “Will you do it?” She nodded, her face serious. “I will, Twilight. Let’s go.” I looked over at Applejack and Cadence, inspecting them. Neither of their uniforms fit properly – Applejack’s was straining at the chest, but she had somehow managed to get her uniform closed up around her breasts, and Cadence’s hung on her, overlarge – but they had their helmets on, and were holding themselves with an air of confidence, which was essential to the plan. Applejack had tucked her hair up inside the helmet as best she could, and there was a little bit of blonde poking out of the bottom. However, it was the best we could hope for. A few minutes later, I was marching up the stairs in front of Fluttershy, gun at the ready. Fluttershy was dressed back in her prisoner’s rags, her hands tied behind her back, with Cadence and Applejack following behind her, guns raised. Relying on my memories of the layout of the Crystal Palace, I carefully led them up into the palace, looking for what I thought would be a storage room. After an hour of careful searching, avoiding coming too close to any of the guards stationed throughout the palace, I began to grow frustrated as every room I thought would fit the layout wasn’t what I expected it to be. It wasn’t until a passing patrol approached us that I felt our luck might change. The patrol leader halted, eyeing us, and saluted. I saluted back as best I could and trying to hide my nerves, and he eyed the bound Fluttershy. “What’re you doing with the prisoner, soldier?” he asked. Falling back on the cover story we had devised, I replied, “Commander Shi-Twilight Armor wishes to see the prisoner. We’re escorting her to his chambers.” The soldier looked at us, curious. “But Commander Armor’s chambers are upstairs. Why are you in this wing of the palace?” “We’re looking for the prisoner’s possessions. Commander Armor wants to question her about them. We were told that they were down here, but we haven’t been able to locate them.” He nodded, smirking. “Whoever sent you this way gave you a bum steer, soldier. That prisoner’s things are in the storage room next to the Queen’s chambers. This is where regular prisoner’s things would be kept.” I winced inwardly, thankful that my helmet visor was hiding my eye. That was going to make things interesting. “Thank you, sir,” I replied, shaking my head in frustration. “I’ll be sure to let the guy who told me know.” He nodded, satisfied. Motioning to his patrol, they marched on past us, continuing their rounds. Once they were out of sight, I turned back to the others. “Dammit,” I muttered. “This isn’t going to be easy. Hopefully we won’t run into Nightmare Moon again.” I heard Cadence hiss with an intake of breath. “Nightmare Moon is here?” she asked. I nodded. “Yeah, she is. We fought her earlier. She’s the one who took my staff,” I growled. “Easy, there, Sugarcube,” muttered Applejack. “Let’s just get a move on. We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.” We headed back the way we came, and up the main stairs, heading towards where I remembered the Queen’s chamber to be. As we walked, I felt someone come up behind me next to Fluttershy. “Twilight,” Cadence’s voice asked, “How is it you know your way around this palace?” I didn’t look back, focused on the task at hand. “I’ve been here many times in my world. It seems to have the same layout.” “So the Crystal Empire has returned in your world? What about King Sombra?” I chanced a glance back at her as we approached the floor with the Queen’s chamber. “You and my brother defeated him with the Crystal Heart. He is forever gone in my world.” She remained silent for a time, contemplating what I had told her. Finally, we located the room that the soldier’s directions had indicated. I glanced around carefully, but no one appeared to be paying us any attention. I opened the door and slipped inside, motioning for the others to come with. The room we had entered was like a museum. Artifacts were displayed on the wall and in cases placed around the room. “Wow…” I said, awed. “These must be the treasures of the Crystal Empire.” “More like the trophies of Nightmare Moon,” Applejack snarled. “C’mon. Let’s find our stuff and get going.” I released Fluttershy from her bonds, and we spread out around the room, searching for our things. Applejack found our outfits folded in a case in the corner, with our cloaks. She gathered them up quickly, stuffing them into a nearby bag and slinging it over her shoulder. I found Pinkie Pie’s daggers hanging on the wall. Furious, I snatched them down, handing one to Fluttershy and one to Applejack. Applejack slipped hers on her uniform belt, and Fluttershy managed to rig something under her ragged tunic. Cadence found a sword on the wall, which she took and clipped to her belt. “I was trained in swordplay while growing up,” she said in response to my questioning look. We continued searching the room, eventually finding Fluttershy’s and Pinkie Pie’s guns. We also found some additional ammunition for them, which, since we had been running low, was a nice bonus. Applejack didn’t find her old rifle, but she was happy enough with the gun we had taken from the soldiers. I didn’t find my staff, but I found something else. “Cadence,” I called. “Come look at this.” She came over to where I was standing in front of a case against the wall. It was filled with magic crystals. One in particular, a pale pink crystal, was given a place of honor in the center of the case, resting on a satin pillow. Cadence looked into the case and gasped at the sight of the crystal. “That’s mine!” she exclaimed. We quickly opened the case, and she reverently lifted the crystal off of the pillow. “I thought I’d never see this again,” she whispered. I saw tears forming in her eyes as she clutched the crystal to her chest and I smiled at the sight of the happiness on her face, something I wasn’t sure I would see in her in this world. Looking around the case, I grabbed a different crystal, one that had a chain attached to it. I carefully removed the chain and offered it to Cadence. She took it gratefully and wrapped it around her own crystal, which she then hung around her neck, tucking it under her shirt. Applejack and Fluttershy came over to us. “We can’t find your staff, Twilight,” Fluttershy reported, “or the element.” I growled again, frustrated. I was feeling naked without my magic. “I’ll bet the element is back with the other one. My staff must be in the Queen’s chamber. We’ll have to check there. I can’t get us out of here without my staff.” The others looked apprehensive. “You sure about this, Twilight?” asked Applejack. “It’s the only place it can be,” I replied. “It’s right next door, so we’ll just have to hope that she’s not around.” I looked at them, contemplating the situation for a moment. “I’ll go over and check. I’ll look as quickly as I can and be right back.” I saw the hesitation in their faces and shook my head. “It’s the fastest way. It’ll be easier for one of us to get in and out quickly.” Applejack looked grim, but nodded. “Alright, Twi. We’ll hang here and wait for you.” She glanced over at Cadence and Fluttershy, and I understood why she was giving in so easily. The others wouldn’t survive another full-fledged confrontation with Nightmare Moon in their current condition. Fluttershy had been going strong, considering her wounds, but her strength was flagging. Cadence hadn’t been out of the dungeons for months, and while she had gotten her magic back, I knew her strength just wasn’t ready for a major confrontation. Applejack gave me a hug. “Be quick, ok?” I nodded. “I will.” With that, I turned, shouldered my gun, and slipped out of the door. Glancing around quickly, I slipped over to the next door, which was much more ornate than any other door, and pushed it open carefully. The room inside was dark, and I slipped inside, pausing for a few minutes as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Once I could see, I started quietly searching around the room. It was a large room, befitting a Queen, with a large four-poster bed on one side, some fine furniture as a sitting area, and resplendent artworks on the walls. There was a large fireplace opposite the bed, and my eyes were immediately drawn to the wall above the mantle. Hanging on the wall was my staff, looking just like I had last seen it. I headed straight towards my staff, dragging a chair over in front of the fireplace. I steadied the chair, climbed up on it, and reached out carefully, grabbing my staff from the wall mount. As soon as I pulled the staff away, I felt something wrap around my middle, and I was hauled out of the chair and into the air, letting out a cry of surprise. “Greetings, Twilight Sparkle,” called a voice from behind me. “I missed you.” I looked down and saw the flowing midnight of Nightmare Moon’s hair wrapping around me. I scrabbled at the hair, trying to dislodge it, but it tightened up, and I felt myself having difficulty breathing. She pulled me around, down to face her, and I glared into her shining eyes. She wrapped her hair around my wrists and ankles, pulling my limbs straight, and she slid closer to me. I struggled against her hair, trying to dislodge something, but she grabbed my face with her hand, and I had to hold still as she dug her fingernails into my cheek. She smiled up at me. “I knew you wouldn’t stay down there forever. You’ve always been a little too resourceful to be held. I kept your staff because I knew you would be coming for it.” She pulled my face close to hers, and kissed me deeply. Breaking the kiss, she smiled coyly, and sliced her finger down my cheek, drawing blood. Furious, I spat in her face, snarling, “I know who you really are under that shell. I know you’re Princess Luna, not Nightmare Moon, and Princess Luna would never do anything like this.” Nightmare Moon casually wiped my spit from her face. “Well, well, well. The little lady still has a fighting spirit.” She grinned at me, teeth flashing in the darkness. “I like that in a lady.” With that she suddenly flung me backwards into the wall. I bounced off of a painting and plummeted to the ground, pain coursing through my body. As I tried to push myself up, she grabbed me once more with her hair and flung me across the room into the opposite wall, crashing into another painting. I fell to the floor, landing on my back, groaning. I carefully pushed myself over onto my knees, and Nightmare Moon grabbed me again, this time flinging me upwards into the ceiling. I slammed into the ceiling tiles with bone-jarring force, feeling them give way, and she dropped me to the floor, pieces of tile raining down around me as I crashed down, bouncing on the carpeting. Aching all over, I felt my strength begin to flag, as the culmination of my ordeals the past few days caught up with me. I tried to push myself up, and was barely able to get my knee under me before Nightmare Moon encircled me with her hair once more. She forced me into a kneeling position, and knelt in front of me, grasping my chin and raising my head up. “I’m sorry, Twilight Sparkle,” she said in a sickly sweet voice. “But I’m afraid that you’re not long for this world. Mayhaps I should send you back to your old world?” The astonishment must have shown on my face, for she continued, laughing. “Oh, yes, I know where you’re from. Discord told us everything, the little dear. We’ve been expecting you the whole time. Why did you think I was waiting for you up in that tower?” My face fell as I considered the futility of her words. They were completely prepared for us. So prepared that they were ready for all six of us. Only four of us showing up must have been a joy for them. But a thought crept into my head. They hadn’t counted on us releasing Cadence. And I doubt they had considered our new abilities, which was apparent when Applejack survived her attack before. Defiance crept back into my mind. I glared up at her. “Just because you think you have everything under control doesn’t mean you do. If I’ve learned anything, I’ve found that things can change in a heartbeat, and something you thought was hopeless is now possible.” Her smile became lopsided. “Ah, well. I thought I could break your mind before I could try to break your body. It looks like we’ll have to do this the other way around.” With that, she dug her fingers into my face, and I screamed as I felt electricity coursing through me. After what felt like an eternity, the pain stopped, and I hung there, gasping for breath. Suddenly, another surge of electricity caused me to writhe in agony until it stopped, leaving me gasping again. It was too much. After all I had been through I wasn’t sure how much longer I could last. Suddenly the door burst open, and I heard gunshots. Nightmare Moon’s hair released me, and I fell to the floor once more. I was able to carefully turn my head to get a look at the door, and what I saw caused a shaky smile to form on my face. Framed in the doorway were Cadence, Applejack, and Fluttershy, all pointing their guns at Nightmare Moon. Fluttershy rushed into the room, keeping her gun trained on Nightmare Moon, who was glaring at the three of them, apparently unhurt. “Twilight, are you ok?” Fluttershy asked, kneeling down next to me. I coughed, voice raw from screaming, and nodded as best I could. “I am now,” I gasped. Fluttershy helped me sit up, my limbs still shaking. I noticed that throughout the entire ordeal, I had kept my hand on my staff, gripping tightly enough to cause my knuckles to turn white. I smiled at that, and looked up at Nightmare Moon. “See what I mean?” I raised my staff, shooting a bolt of pure white light at her, flinging her back into the wall, bouncing off and down to the floor. Nightmare Moon pushed herself up, eyes blazing, and fired a bolt of darkness at me. I was able to put up a shield, deflecting the bolt into the wall. Just then, I saw another bolt of light fly by me, striking Nightmare Moon in the side, knocking her down. “Who dares?” she cried, looking over at the door. Cadence stood there, hand out, a pale blue aura of magic glowing around it. “Twilight, we should leave right now,” she called, launching another bolt of light at Nightmare Moon, her hand shaking from the effort. Nightmare Moon glared at her, and I used the distraction to push myself up, grab Fluttershy, and rush to the door as Applejack opened fire, keeping Nightmare Moon pinned. Spinning around, I faced Nightmare Moon, raising my glowing staff while continuing to hold Fluttershy’s hand. “Fluttershy, grab Cadence,” I whispered. “Applejack, grab me.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw them following my orders. As Nightmare Moon stood, I made as if to cast another bolt of light at her. Her hair flashed around her in a defensive barrier, and I cast my spell. I saw the surprise in her eyes as we vanished, teleporting away.