Cold.

Stiff.

Hard.

Dark.

That was all Twilight saw and felt when she slowly opened her eyes. Her head pounded like drums, and she kept putting her hoof onto her forehead, hoping that it will stop. She groaned as she started to sit up, still rubbing her forehead.

She now started to adjust her eyes to the darkness. Then she started looking around. At first, she thought that she was alone in the cold, barren unknown spot that she's in. But when her eyes adjusted more, she could make out bodies in the room. She recognized them well, and of course, was thankful that they were breathing.

Rarity was at the corner of the room with her eyes closed. One of her hooves was a little elevated than the rest, who were laying flat on the ground. Starlight was farther from the white pony, and her position was similar to Rarity's. Twilight looked around to find Spike. She saw him laying on his right side, his face facing the wall.

Gathering all the energy she could grasp, she got to her hooves and walked up to Spike. She prodded him with her hoof.

"Spike?" Twilight whispered his name. "Spike?"

It took a while, but eventually Spike started opening his eyes. He yawned as he woke up, showing his sharp teeth.

"Twilight? Is that you?" Spike asked as he rubbed one of his eyes.

"Yes, it is, Spike." Twilight soothed him. She went close to Spike and hugged him tight.

"W-Who were those ponies?" Spike started shivering. Twilight couldn't tell if it was from fear, or from the cold temperature of the area.

"I don't know, Spike. But we're about to find out." Twilight told the dragon. He looked at her right side, seeing Rarity and Starlight's unconscious bodies. "Let's wake the others."

As soon as she gave the order, Spike immediately went up to Rarity. He said her name repeatedly as he kept tugging her with his claws. Still nothing from her.

Meanwhile, Twilight went up to Starlight and prodded her body with her hoof, similar to what she did to Spike. "Starlight? Are you there?"

After maybe two minutes, Starlight finally opened her eyes, showing her dazed, lavender-colored pupils. "Huh?"

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia you're alright." she now prodded her body with her snout, telling her to get up.

Starlight looked around the area. "Where... are we?" she asked her friend.

"I... don't know." Twilight told her. She put her hoof on the cold wall. Then she felt the rubble of the ground underneath them. "But... we're moving."

"To where?" Twilight heard Rarity's voice. She turned and saw that Spike was lending her a hand as she got up. The unicorn staggered for a bit, but she soon found her footing.

"We don't know." Spike answered her.

Next to Twilight, Starlight's eyes widened a little when she spotted a tiny window on one of the walls. She staggered due to the ground rumbling. She grumbled when she kept falling, so she eventually levitated herself to the window. After looking outside, her head titled in confusion.

"I... don't recognize this area." Starlight told them, not sounding optimistic.

Curious, Twilight flapped her wings and headed to where Starlight is. She looked out the tiny window, hoping that she would be the source of the answer. But she understood Starlight's confusion. It looked like they were near a cliff that led to the ocean.

"I don't know where we're going." Twilight told Rarity and Spike, to which they looked unsettled.

"Let's get out of here. You and Starlight are powerful enough to bust us out of here, right?" Rarity suggested. Beside her, Spike nodded.

Starlight put her hoof on her chin, thinking. Meanwhile Twilight shook her head. "Not until we find out what's going on. Obviously these strange ponies are up to something, and I, for one, want to know exactly what it is. And..." Twilight stopped as she turned to Spike, then Starlight. "We can find out why they tried to capture Spike. Then once we find out, we will stop them as soon as possible. We can't let them get away with this."

Starlight narrowed her eyes as she nodded, and Spike crossed his arms as he nodded. Meanwhile Rarity looked a bit hesitant.

"I don't know, my darlings. Maybe we should escape while we can. I mean, who knows where they are taking us?" Rarity told them while she started rubbing her hoof nervously.

"Once we scope out the location, then we will escape and tell Celestia." Spike told her. "I mean, its not like they can easily trap a princess or anything."

Rarity still looked hesitant.

Moments after, the ground suddenly felt still. All of them were immediately alert as it happened. Their ears perked as they heard the loud creaking gates outside. Once the sound stopped, they began to move.

After that, they stopped. This time, they heard rustling hooves outside. Beside the four, they heard a handle move. Then the doors opened, revealing more of the same ponies that they had encountered before.

"Everybody out." A pony with a deep voice commanded. "No funny business over there."

Without hesitation, the anonymous ponies activated their magic. Once they were in their aura, they cruelly tossed them out of the vehicle, and landed on the sandy floor. They shook her heads to shake the sand out of their manes, or in Spike's case, scales. They looked up and saw that the building was tall, and they were surrounded by giant stone walls, surrounded by barb wire. Where were they in, a prison?

"Where are we?" Twilight asked them. However, one of the ponies went up to her and towered over the princess.

"You only speak when we tell you too." The same deep-voiced pony said.

"That's not how you treat a princess!" Rarity gasped in shock. But she only got slapped by the pony.

"She's no princess to us." The pony said in a monotonous tone. "Now, this is the last time I'm going to warn you: stay quiet."

Starlight looked around the scene. She cleared her throat. "Ok, this has been well and good, but I think its about time we leave." she told them. She even glared at the guards, as if she was challenging them to get near her. "We're out of here."

Starlight nodded towards Twilight. Then she nodded back, getting the message. They both lit up her horns and they teleported the four of them away. When they did that, they were expected to appear in a forest, far away from this facility. But instead, they were hit by an invisible magical force field. They were knocked back instantly.

Starlight rubbed her head before blinking her eyes to see the blocker. "What's this?" she asked, outraged.

"I... think its a force field, forcing us in." Rarity told her. She turned towards Twilight with a narrowed look. "So we couldn't escape."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "How was I supposed to see the invisible force field?"

"So we can't leave?" Spike stammered, his pupils were small. "H-H-H-How do we escape?"

"You can't." The deep voiced pony said behind them. His tone was filled with mockery. Twilight squinted her eyes. It was hard to tell if he was smiling under that mask.

"Ooh, I always love it when they try to escape, General!" Another pony said behind the deep-voiced pony, whom his name is apparently General.

"Shut up, Guard 109!" General commanded.

He ducked his head. "Yes sir."

The General turned back at the four. "Your crappy attempt to leave has amused me. But playtime is over." he said to them. He turned his back and faced the guards that were behind him. "Lock them up once they have most of their magic drained." he ordered.

"What?!" Rarity gasped. "You're doing what?"

Before he answered, he teleported the four to another room inside the building. This time, they were inside a room that was filled with giant tanks filled with all colored liquids. They gazed up at the giant tanks, completely in awe and in confusion.

"What are those...?" Spike asked.

"I have no idea." Starlight answered him.

Then at once, guards from all around the room ran inside the building. They immediately got to their positions. Two guards were sitting beside each side of the tanks, for whatever reason. Four guards each blocked each of the doors that led the way in and out of the room. Then ten guards marched up to the four.

"Who goes first?" A pony with an unusual high-pitched voice asked.

Beside him, his companion face-hoofed. "The strongest is always first, Guard 334."

Guard 334 laughed. "Oh right. That means Mrs. Sparkle is first."

As he said the words, multiple guards quickly grabbed Twilight in all sides. "What is going on?" she demanded. She activated her horn to teleport her friends away from the group and try to find another way to escape. But they launched a tube onto Twilight's horn. The see-through tube revealed magenta liquid coming through the tube, and inside the tank.

"Twilight!" The other three screamed.

Guard 334 started laughing wildly. "Hahaha this is fun!"

"I think that mask drove you insane." His companion complained. "Ever since you converted, you acted more insane than ever."

"Converted...?" Starlight repeated the words to herself. "What does that mean...?"

"Next!"

Before Starlight could recollect, the tube quickly detached from Twilight's horn, then it latched onto Starlight's, draining the magic from her.

Guard 334 looked towards Rarity. "Wait, do we drain her magic? We all know her magic doesn't seem to be as powerful as these two."

His companion turned towards Rarity. Then back at him. "Apparently you lost braincells too. It is mandatory to have every unicorn magic drained from their owners. Have you forgotten about that so easily?"

Guard 334 said nothing.

Once the tube was detached from Starlight's horn, the tube turned towards Rarity. Rarity braced herself as the tube attached onto her horn.

"Wait, Guard 002! What about the dragon?" His high-pitched voice was filled with excitement once he pointed at the dragon.

Guard 002 looked at Spike, then shrugged. "He will be of use later."

Spike could only gulp while his feet were quivering in fear. He looked up at the tanks while he bit his lip in nervousness. What is this place? he asked fearfully.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3 Estimated time remaining: 7 Minutes