It's been three weeks since the fight. Shadow Siege's wounds had begun to heal, though not very well. An infection had begun to spread, causing his cuts to ooze pus. The smell had soon filled up Shadow's dark cell. Shadow Siege was almost relieved when the door opened, letting in the smell of a damp, underground cavern.
When Shadow Siege could see again, he saw a large, well-built pegasus standing behind a chained mare. The mare was the one he'd seen fighting in the arena three weeks ago, just before he did. The Guard shoved the mare into Shadow's cell, and chained her to the wall beside him. The mare spat into the guard's face, who promptly kicked her in the side.
"You better learn to control that temper, girl," The guard spat back in a gruff voice.
"You will never prevail," The mare replied. "Celestia will crush you beneath her hooves, and claim victory over all of Equestria once again! You will all d-" She was cut off as the guard kicked her again.
"If your precious princess could save you," He started. "You would've gotten out of here long ago. Nay, your princess can do nothing!"
He turned away and slammed the door, plunging the cell into darkness once again.
"Hey," Shadow Siege croaked. "Do you really believe that?"
The mare didn't reply.
"My name is Shadow Siege," Shadow Siege said.
"I'm Solar Flare," the mare replied. She lay down and turned away from Shadow Siege.
Shadow Siege winced as he lay down as well. His infected wound began to bleed again. He tried to cover it up and stop the bleeding, but it flowed past his hooves and continued to leak onto the cold cell floor.
"You're bleeding," Solar Flare said, concerned.
Thank you captain obvious. Shadow thought.
"Let me help." Solar Flare pushed her forelock to the side, revealing a long white horn. Even in this dark cell, Shadow Siege was able to see it clearly.
"You're an alicorn!" Shadow exclaimed.
Solar Flare just nodded. She pointed her horn towards Shadow's wound. It began to glow with a magical aura, and Shadow's wound started to feel better. After a few seconds, pus began to leak out like crazy, before stopping when the wound scabbed over.
"There," Solar Flare sighed. "The infection is gone. Now your body must heal on its own."
Shadow Siege couldn't believe it. "Th-thank you," He muttered.
Solar Flare nodded again. She swept her forelock back into place, concealing her horn as if it were never there.
"You must never tell," She blurted out. "If they found out I'm an alicorn…" She trailed off.
"Don't worry," Shadow Siege said. "Your secret's safe with me."
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Three weeks later, a slot opened up at the bottom of the cell door. A tray with muddy straw and old wheat seeds was shoved through. Shadow Siege cautiously crawled up to it and gave it a sniff. "It's food," He said. He dragged the tray back towards Solar Flare and pushed it towards her. "Eat," He ordered. "It may be the only food we get for another month."
"I'm not hungry," Flare lied.
Shadow Siege wasn't fooled. "You're right," he said. "You're starving. Now eat. I won't take no for an answer." He pushed the tray closer to Flare.
Reluctantly, Solar flare sniffed it, then took a bite. It tasted like dirt, but she didn't care. It was food, and she was starving.
After finishing a small portion, which was almost too much to handle, Flare pushed the tray back to Shadow Siege. "You need to eat as well," She stated.
Shadow thanked her and began to eat. He took only a few bites before he got full. "We should save the rest," he said. "We can eat tomorrow."
And that's how it went. Every two weeks, another tray was shoved into the cell. The two would eat a little, then save the rest. They grew stronger this way. Shadow's horn began to heal, and his wounds disappeared. Solar Flare had begun doing exercises with her wings in order to get them strong again. This continued for three months, until, finally, Shadow's horn had healed. He was able to use his horn to light up their small, damp cell, as well as levitate objects. Eventually, his horn got strong enough to lift Solar Flare off the ground for five seconds. The pair continued to strengthen and train for five more weeks, until one day, the door opened.
It was a pair of guards, both unicorns, holding whips. One of the guards trotted into the cell and unchained Shadow Siege and Solar flare.
"Get up," The guard said. He cracked his whip above Shadow's head to make his point. Acting weak, the two got up and followed the guards out of the cell. They looked each other in the eyes, their plan about to come into action. While the guards locked the cell door behind them, they sprang.
Stay Tuned for Part 5!