[bq=“radiantrealm”]“Keep calm. Panicking will only make the situation worse.“

The line from “How to Survive Being Kidnapped” jumped into Twilight’s head.

She quickly reflected that that was much harder than she thought it would be.

Hours earlier, she had been going for a late night walk through the Canterlot

gardens, hoping to clear her head before the summit. Because of the increase

in crime recently, Celestia had insisted that she have a Royal Guard accompany

her at all times. This evening, it had been the turn of an orange pegasus who

had introduced himself as Flash Sentry. The two of them had been walking slowly

through the topiary bushes when a pony clad in a dark cloak emerged from the darkness.

Flash had immediately tried to push Twilight behind him in an attempt to shield

her, but the cloaked stallion had hit him with a spell, transforming the Guard

into a mare with a flash of blinding light. Flash had been so shocked by the

transformation that he hadn’t noticed the other cloaked pony coming up behind

him with a club until it was too late. Another pony had struck Twilight from

behind, knocking her out. Much later, she came to with a severe headache and

tied back-to-back with her companion.

“Observe your surroundings. Note any distinctive features that you can use to

identify your location or kidnappers.” Twilight cast her eyes around the basement.

It was dark, the only light coming from the moonlight filtering through a small window

set high up in the wall. The window was too small to climb out of, and provided no view

of any useful landmarks. She could hear and feel Flash’s muffled struggling as he (she?)

fought to loosen the ropes encircling them. Once again, Twilight tried to summon a spell

to free them, but something was interfering with her magic: all she was able to manage

was a brief sparking before her horn went out.

“Remember: most kidnapping victims are returned safely or are rescued.

The odds are in your favor.” Twilight glanced up at the solid oak door at

the end of the room, which had remained sealed. Flash stopped struggling.

Twilight felt her companion’s body trembling slightly and realized that

he (she?) was scared as well. She gulped nervously.

Hopefully all their captors wanted was a ransom…[/bq]