Chapter 1

Pain, nothing but pain blossoming in my head. Where am I? Why am I here? Oh right, the tower… Cheerful and Crystal. Wait, what's with the strange lights? We don't have electricity. Maybe Twilight did something? No, something was definitely wrong here

I willed my eyes to open, and they grudgingly complied

The bright lights above me made me squint, I slowly sat up and the throbbing in my skull dulled a bit

I looked around the room, it was stark white and the walls had several mirrors

'Someone was egotistic…' I thought

I looked down to avoid burning my eyes out because of the lights, the memories of what had happened flashing back through my head

The tower, the scream, Crystal and I rushing outside, the strange lights, the pain, the endless pain

I'd sort out that mess of a memory later, I had surroundings to observe

It took me a moment to figure out that not only was I stuck in a room, but I also had hooves again

"Every time I get used to the swap…" I trailed off

There was a mare, about as tall as King Valosag was, meaning that she towered over me. A radiant white coat and a ghostly mane that seemed to reflect the stars, and something else I couldn't place

I instantly knew who this was without the introduction

"The Queen of Equestria" I said simply

She nodded at me, "Pleasant to see you haven't dulled, pleased to meet you all."

"I am Queen Dolus" she introduced herself, "I hope you will have as wonderful of a time in the trials as I will."

Queen Dolus, the opposite of the King Valosag, what was the opposite or reality? It couldn't be anything like time or something crazy like that, or could it be?

"So what are you after?" I asked, "Dominion over Equestria or just crazed revenge?"

"I wouldn't say crazed revenge, but I'm proud of my daughters for taking charge the way they did." She frowned slightly, "Although my husband wasn't so eager to accept my point of view."

"We got acquainted." I said simply

"Of course you were, after you dethroned and killed him." The Queen shot me a glare

"You don't have to pretend to be friendly towards me" I shot, "I'm not dead, and there's a reason for that. What is it?"

The Queen chose to take a moment for that

"You're not… solely responsible."

My blood ran cold, she better not have-

"Don't fret, your friend and girlfriend are fine. For now."

I bit back a sarcastic comment about her calling Cheerful my 'girlfriend' and focused on the important bit

"For now?"

"As long as you behave" Dolus smiled, not a drip of kindness in it, "You're friends will be fine."

I had a thought, "How do I know you even have them?"

There was a slight glint of respect, but that quickly washed out from her eyes

"You're just going to have to trust me won't you?"

Then she turned tail and left the room

And there she left me to contemplate my fate

[…]

Of course I've always had a problem with keeping still, so I quickly set about looking around the room. It was no surprise on how quickly I got reacquainted with my new form, and my motions were now fluid and clean-cut

The air in the room tasted old yet not dusty, as if it was recycled or filtered. The walls were a strong material I didn't recognize. Not a single window, the bright lights above only served to help the feeling of the crushing earth around me

I felt panic fighting to take me, but cool logic said that this wasn't the time, and no matter what I did I had to find my friends, then I could have a heart attack

"One step at a time, eh?" I said aloud

I needed materials, I couldn't just punch my way out of here. But this queen had been smart, not a single thing in the lines of sticks or sand

I'd have to wait for the best opportunity to escape

[…]

Cheerful didn't miss my disappearance however, and the first pony she went to speak with was Princess Celestia

Of course Crystal was there to back her up, not wanting to miss out on another potential adventure

"The whole of Equestria is in a state of panic" Celestia said, "Several great heroes have been stolen in the dead of night."

"Several?" Cheerful asked, "Which ones?"

"A great mechanic named Star, from Trottingham." Celestia began, "A wonderbolt named Crisp Fire, of Cloudsdale. Even the captain of the royal guard Shining Armor has been taken from us."

"This is going to get interesting" Crystal cracked his knuckles

"Any idea why any of this is happening?" Cheerful pressed

"Sister, what of the Trials?" Luna asked

Celestia stiffened

"I think we're onto something here" Crystal said, "What are the trials again?"

"The King of Reality was our father yes" Luna said

"But we also had a mother" Celestia finished, "One who was quite obsessed with science, as such she started into genetic engineering before we had to stop them."

"It is likely that she has returned to continue her tests on our subjects" Luna shivered, "The trials could threaten all we hold dear."

[…]

It wasn't long before the doors opened again, this time with two really tough looking guards on the other side

"You will come with us to the Central Room" one said

I followed, not wanting to cause trouble before I knew what was going on

The Central Room that they spoke of was rather large, with a kitchen and several chairs sitting around the room. The roof was glass and showed nothing but endless night sky, not even a sunrise was visible

Several ponies were milling about, doing things and not interacting with any of the others in the room

I was ushered forward and the guards vanished out of sight