(Two days later…)

The Crystal Empire was preparing for Hearth’s Warming Eve despite the entire Diamond Dog raid, and it was proving to be a most joyful time of year. Snow was gently falling outside, ponies cantered from shop to shop, getting all kinds of holiday goodies and treats. The smells of fresh baked cookies and pies and cake filled the air, along with the voices of carolers, singing their joy in the holiday and the ‘Fire of Friendship’, along with ballads of Spike’s past glories in saving the Crystal Empire, much to his embarrassment and the girls’ vast amusement.

And in one room in the Crystal Spire Palace, six mares plus one dragon were planning their Hearth’s Warming party. Of course, nothing would be finalized until Princess Cadence had a look at their list, since she was organizing the Hearth’s Warming party for the nobles in residence and the like, even if she was planning on spending that time with her husband, sister in law and her friends first off.

Spike held the list as Twilight looked it over, pointing to everypony in turn with one hoof. “Okay, so Rainbow Dash and Rarity has the decorations, Applejack and Pinkie Pie has the food, Fluttershy, you’ve got carols covered...and Spike and I’ll help organize presents and the tree. I think we’re all set!”

But a definitive comical raspberry from a certain pink party pony stopped the lavender unicorn from rolling up the list proper. “Pffft! You silly fillies, you’re forgetting somepony!”

Twilight looked up from her list, frowning. “Who, Pinkie?”

The bubblegum pink pony giggled. “Skyward of course!”

Rainbow Dash shook her head as she hovered in midair. “Maybe we shouldn’t…I mean…she hasn’t really wanted to do anything with us, you know?”

Fluttershy shook her mane out of her face. “Maybe she’s just sad and wants to be left alone. I mean—she’s without her family, you know?

Rarity nodded her head, a somber look touching her muzzle. “Oh, that’s right! Poor dear. She has been in such a slump of late, unable to see her family for even a moment during this time of year. It has to be so hard for her...”

Applejack however, looked thoughtfully at the floor, and Twilight pricked her ears at her friend. “Applejack?”

“Ah’m thinkin’ there may be more t’ this than just her not wantin’ t’ hang out with us…”

“Well don’t keep us hanging, AJ; spit it out,” Rainbow Dash insisted, and Applejack looked up at the rainbow maned mare.

“Ah remember a creamsicle colored Crystal Pony stallion hangin’ about her a lot before th’ Diamond Dog raid…”

A chorus of ‘Ooooo’s, knowing looks and giggling filled the room, but Applejack stomped a hoof—she was not amused. “This ain’t no laughin’ matter, girls! Skyward didn’ like ‘im hangin’ around! She’d always tense up whenever he showed his muzzle ‘round us, an’ Ah know her well ‘nough that when she acts like that, it ain’t nothin’ good!”

Rarity laughed, waving one dainty forehoof in the air. “Oh, come now, Applejack—if all she wanted was alone time with this stallion, she could’ve said so!”

“Now hang on an apple pickin’ minute, Rarity, Ah never said…”

Spike rolled his eyes and vacated the room instantly; he definitely did NOT want to be hanging around when ‘girl talk’ started being thrown around. He huffed out steam as he walked down the halls, the guards saluting him as he passed, deciding to see if he could get any crystal berry pastries or some sapphire cupcakes, if they had them here. But...

Applejack had brought up a good point, but as usual, the antics of the other mares…

He sighed as he meandered down the road—he had wandered out of the palace, his thoughts having distracted him from his original goal of getting something to eat. Where was Skyward anyway? The others were of the mind she was with that stallion; Applejack wasn’t too sure about him and truth be told…

Spike, he being an avid gamer himself, given he and the guys: as in Big Macintosh, Shining Armor, Discord, and even Time Turner had a Guys Only Game Night every so often, wasn’t so sure either. Geek Out didn’t seem like the type of pony Skyward wanted to be around, and he also was wondering if another portal to Hayrule had shown up considering she had been gone for about two days.

It really would be the only logical explanation for her vanishing…

“Watch it watch it…NO!”

“Celestia damn it all!”

“Hey you, get out of the way!”

“Incoming everypony!

“Look out!”

Spike looked up at the shouting—and his peridot colored eyes widened in shock. Further down the road, a large cart full of barrels containing some sort of crystal berry product had been jarred by an impact by another cart crossing the same way. The strap holding the barrels had broken as a result, and the barrels, free of their restraints had rolled right off the cart…and some were rolling towards him at full speed!

Spike dived to the left, just as the barrels would have smashed into him; but in doing so, he crashed right into the small street-level window of somepony’s house, the sound of the glass shattering masked by the crashing and the yells of angry ponies about the mess of crystal berry pulp, splintered wood and wet snow now all over the street, some ponies and a few guards…a lot of ponies were coming out to see the spectacle.

The young dragon groaned as he got up…buck, that had hurt…where was he?

Initial glance around the room showed that it wasn’t well lit, for one. The entire place was somewhat dusty, showing that it was in a state of semi-use. There was some old furniture down here, covered in cloth—looked like it hadn’t been used in a while, tables, chairs, an old TV set. Boxes were stacked around in rough disarray—all of them held comic books, nann-gas, old video game consoles, games, game guides…it definitely looked like somepony’s basement…

“Spike? Spike, is that ye, lad?”

Spike spun around at the familiar voice—and his mouth fell open in shock. There in front of him, bound by ropes, bruises and blood covering her bare form, was Skyward!

But she looked terrible…

Her ribs were barely starting to show, her eyes had bags under them, proving she hadn’t been able to sleep. Bruises covered her barrel, flanks and her muzzle—she in particular had a nasty looking shiner on her left eye. He also smelled the dried metallic tang of blood--her mane and tail were tangled, matted, her fur filthy, not the normal bluesteel color, more like a bluish gray…and her forelegs and hind legs were tied fast---she literally couldn’t move.

She looked like she had been dragged through Tartarus and been used as Cerberus’s chew toy to boot.

“What…what the buck happened…Skyward! Are you okay?”

The baby dragon rushed over and hugged her…Skyward hissed in pain at her cracked ribs, which flared up the second he hugged her. “Aah! Ow ow ow ow…Spike, I beg of thee, let me go,” she gasped, and he let go, muttering apologies.

“Where have you been!? Everypony is wondering where you are!”

Skyward glanced furtively in the direction of the stairwell, then back at Spike. “Thou may remember a pale orange Crystal Pony with dark orange mane and tail, with a pair of glasses surrounded by various gaming implements cutie mark, aye, Spike? He did this *cough* to me…”

Spike looked horrified, glancing over his shoulder as well. “Geek Out!? Oh my Celestia…he did this to you?”

Skyward nudged him sharply since she couldn’t move very well. “Ssh! Keep thine voice down! Aye, he wast the one who hast been stalking one throughout Princess Cadence’s fair city. He is the reason why one didst not wish to tour the city with everypony, he recorded one fighting during the Diamond Dog raid, and the one who ambushed me using an odd smelling cloth that induced sleep…”

She was about to say more, but both of them heard the door opening upstairs. Skyward sucked in a breath and looked back down at Spike in a panic.

“Spike, ye need to leave, now! Get to the others—tell them where one is being held!”

The young dragon was furious—and he wasn’t about to leave his friend behind in obvious danger, especially not in the injured state she was in. “Are you crazy? Skyward, I’m not just gonna leave you here…”

The Haylian unicorn frantically shook her head at him. “Now is not the time for heroics—go! Spike, I know thou wish to help; and ye can, by getting the others before ‘tis too late! He put this on me…he wilt find a way to stifle thine fire as well, now hurry!”

Spike now spotted the magic suppression ring on her horn and his mouth dropped open as anger burned in his emerald eyes. He wanted to fight--he could feel his fire building in the back of his throat along with his rage...but he knew Skyward was right—the longer he stayed, the less chance they had for a rescue. He had little choice but to use Skyward, then a couple of boxes as a boost to get to the broken window-- and the little dragon managed to wriggle himself out—hearing the boxes collapse behind him, then Skyward faintly yelling in anger and pain behind him-he hoped it was a distraction, and her not getting beaten again. The little dragon ran all the way to the palace—the guards cleared the way for him, bowing at his approach; he paid them no mind—one of his friends was in terrible danger!

At full speed, he crashed through the doors where he hoped the others still were. Sure enough, they were still there, and still arguing about Skyward’s so called ‘love interest’—Cadence and Shining Armor had joined the crowd while he was gone. They jumped when he busted through the doors, Twilight looking disapprovingly at her ‘Number #1 Assistant’, but before she could say anything…

“SKYWARD’S BEEN CAPTURED!”

Upon hearing that sentence the group of ponies in the room shot to their hooves as if they had found out they’d been sitting on a hill of fire ants.

Twilight ran over to Spike; her disapproval evaporating faster than Pinkie Pie and cake at a cake eating contest. “What do you mean, she’s been captured?!”

“She’s been…”

Rainbow Dash arced off the cloud she had been reclining on that she had shoved in from somewhere outside the palace. “Where’s she at?”

“Is she okay?”

“No no, she’s…”

“I hope she’s not hurt…”

“She needs…”

“I thought she was…well…you know…!”

“EVERYPONY SHUT THE BUCK UP!”

Spike’s uncharacteristic shout of frustration plus profanity added shocked everypony silent. The young dragon huffed smoke before he began to speak again.

“Skyward got ambushed and foalnapped by that one Crystal Pony—called Geek Out. He’s been stalking her throughout the streets of the Crystal City, and he’s the reason she wouldn’t go outside with you guys anymore. He’s been stalking her, and he recorded her fighting during the Diamond Dog raid—he must’ve seen her shield or something…”

Cadence put a hoof to her mouth, looking horrified. “Don’t tell me he knows where she’s really from?!”

Spike looked grimly at Cadence. “Skyward told me he suspects but she refuses to tell him anything—he’s starving her to get her to crack! He’s even hit her—she’s covered in her own blood, she’s got bad bruises on her body, face and muzzle…and the worst part? She’s got a magic suppression ring on her horn!”

Applejack slammed a hoof against the floor with a thunderous crack. “Ah knew tha’ four-eyed son of a manticore wuz up to no good! No wonder Skyward went missin’—we thought it wuz just another portal!”

Shining Armor cocked his head at the orange farmpony. “A portal?”

Rarity nodded. “A few days after Nightmare Night, several ponies were horribly murdered in town. Skyward and Applejack found the culprit, and Skyward killed it—it was a…a…Liza…Lizze…”

Twilight shook her head. “It was a Lizalfos—a bipedal lizard with medium intelligence, able to wield weaponry and native to Hayrule, living primarily in shadowy areas and caves. Being that it was here, Skyward traced the monster’s steps, found the portal near the Nightmare Moon statue in the Everfree Forest. She told me she was in Shadeleaf Swamp for nearly a day—when here, she was gone for about four to six hours; a significant time difference. She broke Ganondorf’s curse on the swamp, and returned here, using the Harp of Ages to seal the portal with the Sonata of Sealing Princess Zelda gave her. So, when she vanished…”

“We thought it was another portal that had shown up.” Fluttershy shifted from hoof to hoof, looking worried. “Maybe next time we should go with her, so she’s not all alone…then none of this would’ve happened…”

Rainbow Dash reared up on her hind legs. “So, what are we hovering around for? Let’s go get her!”

The rainbow maned pegasus shot off like a multicolored bullet—or would have if Rarity hadn’t grabbed her in her magic, bringing her to a screeching halt. “Now just a moment, Rainbow Dash! We can’t just go barging in—Skyward is his hostage, the poor dear, and just crashing in will only make things worse!”

Shining Armor nodded grimly. “She’s right—in a hostage situation he could potentially kill Skyward if threatened. We need to figure this out carefully.”

“An’ if Skyward dies…Hayrule as well as Equestria is doomed fer sure,” Applejack muttered darkly, and Cadence glanced at the orange farmpony.

“We have to rescue the Heroine of Time. Spike, can you get that magic suppression ring off her horn?”

Spike put a claw to his chin. “I think I can, why?”

“If you can get that ring off of her horn she can get out. We’ll distract him so you can get back inside.”

Twilight held up one hoof. “Not necessarily—she might be too weak to teleport herself out if he was starving her. That and he might have barred the window if he thinks she broke it, Cadence—Spike won’t be able to get in that way.”

Shining Armor smirked as he walked over to the group. “Leave that to me. Now let’s go—we’re running out of time…”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Uh—can you not use that phrase, please?”

Shining Armor blinked, then facehooved, realizing what he had said. “Right…never mind. Everypony, move out!”

************************

The Hearth’s Warming Day Parade wasn’t scheduled until later that week, so when ponies noticed their heads of state, their national hero and the Elements of Harmony emerging from the palace with an entire squadron of armored guards behind them, they wondered if it was a rehearsal going on. However, the stern looks on the guards faces and on their rulers' muzzles warned ponies something very serious was happening. Spike was with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor at the head of the column as the group marched through the streets towards Geek Out’s domicile. The baby dragon was able to retrace his steps and point out the house in question—the crystal berry pulp hadn’t been cleared yet and his footprints were still there on the sidewalk, leaving a clear trail for them to follow. The street level window was still broken but it had been blocked off by cardboard—filled with something heavy, not to mention he could see a ‘Legend of Zelda’ nann-ga cover sticking out of the window too. The windows were closed, the shutters pulled down, and Shining Armor was willing to bet Bits to pastries the doors were locked too.

Shining Armor directed the guards to form a perimeter around the guilty pony’s house in question, to prevent Geek Out from escaping with his prisoner…once he got a signal from one of the hovering pegasi guardsponies, he ‘lifted’ a megaphone to his muzzle.

“Geek Out! Come out and surrender yourself, immediately! You have until the count of three to do so peacefully!”

Inside the house, Geek Out had just finished dragging Skyward upstairs—she had put up a token fight, but he had slapped her horn a few times and punched her in the ribs for good measure to quiet her. She spat blood onto the floor, coughing harshly while he tied her to the wall. He leaned down to lift her chin up…only to yelp when she bit him on the hoof. He reared back to strike her once again...

Both ponies ears pricked when Shining Armor’s declaration echoed outside; Skyward grinned broadly, the smile having an edge of malice to it; Geek Out was trying not to lose his composure—how the HAY did they find out she was here?!

The creamsicle/orange colored stallion opened the window, just enough to be able to see the guards; before he tugged Skyward—or her head anyway, into view. “What’s the charge, big shot? And how rude of you—can’t you see I got a guest with me at the moment?”

Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed—he could see the bruises Skyward was sporting as well as the magic suppression ring on her horn. “Don’t try to make it worse! You’re under arrest for foalnapping a citizen of Equestria, illegal use of a magic suppression ring, aggravated assault and battery and abuse charges! If you let her go, we can cut a deal on lessening your sentence!”

“I can’t let her go! You don’t get it! There’s another world out there, so close to our own! And she’s got the answers! But she won’t tell me anything! Don’t you get it? I have to know…I’ve got to see it for myself!”

Shining Armor rolled his eyes inwardly as he tried to reason with the madpony. “Come on, Geek Out; you don’t want to hurt her, do you? It’s bad enough you put a magic suppression ring on her—you know how demeaning that is for a unicorn?”

While Shining Armor and the guards were at the front distracting Geek Out, Rainbow Dash, Spike and Twilight got into the house from the back door—Twilight using her magic to undo the lock, then open the door silently. They snuck through the kitchen, into the hallway where they could hear Geek Out---Skyward was also in the room with him but she was now out of sight from the guards.

Rainbow Dash choked back a gasp, Spike put his paws over his mouth, and Twilight looked horrified, eyes shrinking to pinpricks---Skyward was without her armor—she bore dark bruise marks on her face and one side, and the magic suppression ring was around her horn still. Dried blood also stained her fur, and cruel looking cuts and welts were also evident in her once soft, glossy coat. She was scowling murderously at Geek Out—who had tied the rope around her neck to a heavy looking sofa—and her neck was showing chafe marks by this point—the marks were pretty raw looking. Her mane and tail were a tangled mess, her fur was matted…

But both the rainbow maned pegasus and the lavender unicorn could see the seething anger in Skyward’s royal blue eyes—and the indomitable flame burning in them. Twilight could also see she had been chewing on the rope—trying to keep it hidden, but she had been trying to free herself.

“I don’t want to cut a deal! I want her to tell me what she knows!”

They could hear Shining Armor from outside via the megaphone he was ‘holding’. “She knows how to fight and she wears armor—what makes you think she’s not a guardspony from Canterlot? We sent for reinforcements concerning the Diamond Dog attacks!”

Geek Out scoffed as he grabbed Skyward’s shield—huffing and heaving he managed to lift the heavy thing to show them the Haylian standard on it. Skyward smirked in disdain at his weak attempts to lift her shield—out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, and curled up in pretense of turning away from Geek Out—

She saw Spike near the couch, and she uncurled just enough to keep an eye on her captor, who was pointing one hoof at the gathered guards outside.

“You think THIS is a joke? This is a REAL Haylian Shield!”

Shining Armor snorted. “So somepony made it, big deal! You wanna know how many ponies could make something like that in a snap?”

“THIS IS THE GENUINE ARTICLE! I’M SERIOUS! NOPONY COULD HOLD A SHIELD LIKE THIS, OR THE ARMOR SHE HAS? THAT’S HAYLIAN CHAINMAIL ARMOR, NOT CANTERLOT ARMOR!”

Shining Armor scoffed, but deep down he was worried. This pony clearly knew his stuff and the worst thing was he didn’t know how accurate he was actually being. Cadence stepped forward, knowing they had to buy the others more time. “Geek Out, please…what do you want? Just tell us…calmly, please.”

Geek Out dropped the shield with a gasp—it was heavy, and he coughed before he spoke. “…Ever since I was a colt, I always thought there were other worlds out there beyond our own. Never mind all that UFO crap—I mean stuff that games are made of. When I heard her playing the ‘Oath to Order’ song on that crystal flute, and then the ‘Song of Time’ I thought she was just a fellow fanpony in armor who knew how to play. But when I saw her shield after the Diamond Dog raid, I knew she couldn’t just be a fanpony!”

Shining Armor glared at him. “So, you foalnapped her just to get answers? Why didn’t you just ask her?”

Geek Out’s mane was going in all directions at this point—eerily enough he looked like Twilight during her ‘Lesson Zero’ phase. “She wouldn’t talk to me! She kept running away from me---the way she talks, it’s as if she doesn’t know how to speak normal Equestrian!”

Cadence shook her head at him disapprovingly—other ponies were muttering to themselves, even as the guards were keeping them at a distance. “It’s none of your business how another pony chooses to speak. Please, Geek Out…let her go.”

“Not until she confirms the fact Hayrule exists!”

Spike had managed to get close to Skyward by this point, but he wasn’t close enough to get the magic suppressor ring off of her horn. Skyward’s legs were bound, so she couldn’t get it off on her own either. The dragon looked back at Twilight and Fluttershy and mimed removing the ropes on her legs then him breathing fire---Twilight lit her horn, waiting…if she didn’t time this right…

Cadence continued. “What would you stand to gain from this? Is hurting an innocent mare worth it?!”

“I didn’t want to hurt her! But she refuses to talk! I tried to get her to think of the possibilities if that world does exist! A new place for ponies to explore, maybe to make new friends—or the magic… all she has to do is confirm it, help us find a way there!”

Cadence held up a hoof. “Let’s say for a minute that your theory is correct. But, how do we know they’d be friendly towards us? Think about that a second—not all ponies are friendly…what if they attacked us on sight? What about the other tribes? The Goron, the Zora…would they be friendly? From what little I know, the Gerudo tribe certainly wouldn’t be nice…”

Twilight’s magic glowed around the ropes holding Skyward’s legs---the knots were magically undone and Spike shot a little bit of flame through the rope binding her to the sofa. The Haylian unicorn was lifted into the air by Twilight’s magic and borne swiftly through the air...

Geek Out’s ear twitched backwards at the sound of magic being used…and his eyes shrunk to pinpricks when he realized Skyward had escaped; and who was aiding her! The mad-stallion rushed after the mares plus one dragon, trying to recapture his prize. Realizing that Twilight had succeeded in freeing Skyward, Shining Armor ran around the back of the house, the guards fanning out to prevent any escape from Geek Out if he decided to run. The Prince Consort of the Crystal Empire charged past his fleeing sister, Spike and the two other mares…

And body slammed the hapless creamsicle colored stallion to the ground, the guards swooping down and slapping hoofcuffs on him even as he thrashed and writhed, screaming like the madpony he had let himself become.

The danger was over—but Skyward collapsed to the ground, her magical aura sputtering out, her strength drained from lack of food and the abuse she had suffered at the hooves of her captor. The worried voices of her friends echoed in her ears as she sank to the crystalline ground, her eyes inexorably closing…

Darkness took her, settling over her like a comforting blanket as she passed out...