Chains

Chapter 1 Awakening

I slowly open my eyes…As my head hurts terribly. You could say, that I, quite frankly, don't remember anything.

It feels like something hit my head, something hard…Ouch…Yes, it must have been like that, even though I can't prove it.

I am, anyway, able to prove, where I could be.

Let's see…A dark, completely made out of stone room, only lit up by a few burning torches. The scent of rotten flesh comes to my notice, as I see some bones lying in a corner, together with chains.

And I just noticed…I am in chains…So…Is this here a prison of some sorts?

The chains are on my behind legs and my front legs, I can't really move, but I'm sitting so it is actually not that bad.

Even though…Why in Celestia's name am I in a prison? I mean seriously, I usually don't get into any fights, nor do I steal…Why would I be imprisoned?

Now that's just great, my brown fur is getting very dirty from these chains... Well at least my light brown mane didn't get dirty.

I'm not a Pony who cares about getting dirty or not, but I also don't roll around in dirt. I have a common sense for that.

I hear someone coming, the steps echo through the cave and the fire of the torches on the other side of the room is moving, as a pony, completely hidden in a brown cloak, comes closer.

As the stallion stands in front of me, I play dead…Or to be more precise, I play sleeping.

"Now to get you to magic chains as well, before you get any silly thoughts." A pretty squeaky, yet threatening voice says.

"This should keep you in here for a good and long time. I don't know how long you will survive, but I got to say, that you won't see much from your home. If you do, you will have about one or two years of freedom and then die of elderness, ha. Suits you well, fool."

I may not seem like it, but I could easily turn my silly thoughts into silly actions. The chains are pretty thin, but not so thin that they would be able to be broken apart by anypony. He probably just put those on in case I awake before he got a better imprisoning mechanism onto me.

To be honest, I would never do anything as stupid as this, or even something that brings me to jail, and I will find out what the hell happened, but for now I got to get rid of this guy before he puts me away forever.

My sense of freedom takes the better of me…

Just as he moves closer to me, I can feel my heart pumping harder and harder.
I only got this one chance, so I better use it right now.
He just wants to use his magic channelled by a white beam through his horn, which is also hidden underneath the cloak, as I break free from the chains with my behind legs, and jump onto him, landing on top of him, using my every leg to keep his blocked.

"I am sorry, but I got to do this."

I am not a pony who just kills. This is pure self defence, really! I use the chains I didn't break from my front legs, push them onto his throat as he makes weird choking noises. I look away, as this doesn't suite me at all.

It takes about one minute until he finally settles and stops breathing. I then easily break free from the chains and move his body into a corner.

I…Will just not remember this. Everything is alright.

"Oh…Thank Celestia." A very exhausted, female and weak Voice said.
This came from my left so I turn around and see another prisoner: A Mare, a unicorn. Her fur is red and her ruffled mane is brown. She looks very tired, and is chained up in a lying position.

She looks like she has been through hell.

"No need for thanks, I didn't intend to do this…Why the hell do you look so…Well, you know…"

"I do know that my appearance may not appeal to any pony…And I may not look like it…But I'm fine."

The only thing that is fine about her is her horn. She has wounds all over her body, her fur is red, and some parts of it are even redder than others. There is only one thing that overshadows her heavy injures: The way she is imprisoned.

She looks like she is normally chained down, yet a green gloom glows on from the metal.

Are those the magic chains this guy talked about? Didn't he talk about years of imprisonment? And…More important…What is a normal and polite unicorn like her doing here?

"It may sound a little awkward, but why are you here?"

She turns her head to one of the torches that lights up the cave, as it flickers, her eyes slowly close and she begins to speak.

"I was in need of an assistant and searched for a strong pony to help me finish a very powerful spell, for which I needed heavy items. I can't carry those, not even with my transport magic.

So I looked for an earth pony, as they are known for using the magic power inside their body for physical strength, speed and agility, to help me, and it happened that you were in need of a job.

We moved to a hill, not far away from Ponyville, as I started to plan everything. The spell was supposed to help my Grandmother and heal her from her curse, so I tested it on you. It was an empowering spell.

Everything went…Well, not too exciting. A huge, blue light emitted from the middle of it, as you started to fade in the bright shine.

Suddenly, the whole mix became unstable and exploded – even though, it didn't do anything.
We thought of that.

Celestia soon found out what happened, as she managed to locate the crazy power of the spell. I've clearly overdone it with the amount of blue Chyant Powder.

You see…At first, it doesn't look like anything happened to you, but actually you are much stronger than you were before. You can't lift houses or anything, but you broke those chains like it was nothing."

She opens her eyes, looking directly into my face, as her expression seems very empty, if not blank.

"And I thought those chains are thin."

"No, they are actually standardized and regular. The power of this spell was so insanely high, that she said it would be far too much for a unicorn without any permission to just test out on somepony. Since we experimented with such strong magic, we are now here."

I am a little astounded by how few I can remember, but then again we have been hurt a lot.

"And the wounds on your body, what is with those?

"Speak for yourself, but I will explain this too. The magic turned you a little bit aggressive as you attacked the guards, which had to calm you down. I tried to help you, but it didn't turn out so well for us."

Long story short, we messed up a testing of a spell and now I'm stronger than usual, and because of this huge break of the laws of magic, we are imprisoned forever. Now this is one big pile of stupidity.

"This is ridiculous. Why would they keep us away for so long?"

"The spell wasn't allowed, okay?

Well, you got us free"

"Of which I am not proud about how I did it."

"If moral becomes freedoms enemy, give it up. You did the right thing without being sure about it."

"Is that so? Well, how do I get you free then?"

She avoids my sight, as she sadly moves her head to the side.

"It won't be as easy as you may think. You either need the creator of the chains, who you just murdered, Alicorn magic or…"

"Could you finish your sentence? The first two aren't options at all, since I wouldn't expect Celestia, Luna or Cadence to help a prisoner, and necromancy isn't possible."

"Well, legends once spoke of an ancient artefact, yet made of great but lost technology of ancient times.

It is said to break any kind of magic, even the one used by royals, ancient magic and also…Prison magic."

"This artefact sounds fitting for the plan, and like it would get the job done. But this also sounds like its hidden far away so that no pony could get it without a lot of work, right?"

She opens her eyes.

"It is nothing that isn't possible, as it is rebuilt able. I know how and what we need…If you could…
I interrupt her, as she speaks. My eyes widen, as I take a deep breathe:

"I may be free… But to be honest I can't just let someone starve here. Okay I will help you...But how can I get out of here, so I can get the needed stuff?

"The place is quite small, only two turns around the corridor and you're free. The colt who you got rid off was the only guardian of these halls."

"Well…I would go out and search for those tools I need to get you free, but we got more important problems. The corpse has to disappear. Then, we need some supplies, as this could take a while right?"

She let's out a little smile.

"I like your ways of thinking, first things first yes. But we also need to write reports every day, as the police station would get curious whether everything's fine or not. He used some kind of magical sending system, comparable to the letter sending of a dragon."

"Okay. I will search for a way outside, and then come back and look at this messaging thing. You just stay here, okay?"

She looks at me with a serious face. I forgot.

"Oops. Eh…I will be right back. By the way, a few things bother me…How do you know about this messaging system?"
"Well…"

"Also…you said first things first right? How comes I don't even know your name yet?"

Her tummy makes noises, as she blushes.

"Ahem, I've seen him use it as I got here…Also, I will tell you my name as soon as you return with some food, since we will have all time for small talk then."

I turn around, as I make my way to the exit. Even though I may be free, I feel with her…And somehow, I feel very bond with her. Did she skip some things and lie to me? Are we maybe even friends? Maybe she doesn't remember anything as well?

All I can think of clearly is now, that I need some food and will have to do my best to get rid of those Chains.

It's…

It still hurts.