Spike traveled back to Ponyville to check up on Twilight. Mentally, she seemed to be worse each time he saw her; he couldn’t figure out what was happening to her. He bought what he felt was necessary to keep her fed for the next few weeks. He wasn’t sure how long a bounty could take or how far he needed to travel just to find a decent score. Most of the big bounties were farther out west, where more cities were still standing and more populated.
Once he had all his supplies, Spike headed out to Twilight; making sure nopony saw where he went. He started by going to the remains of Sweet Apple Acres; years before he had set up a special tunnel hidden in the dilapidated farmhouse that led all the way to the ancient castle.
Meanwhile, Twilight was alone in the castle; or so it seemed. For a very long time now she’d been disturbed by a voice in her head. Not her own voice, but the voice of an old enemy; Discord, the god of chaos.
“How can you still be alive,” said Twilight. “I wiped you from existence!”
“I’m not alive,” said Discord, “I’m more of what you would call an imprint. I guess your spell somehow caused part of my consciousness to go into your mind. I’m not happy about it either you know. I’m simply stuck in here and can do nothing. No fun, no magic, nothing. I can’t believe you did this to me.”
“You did this to yourself, Discord,” said Twilight. “You plunged Equestria into chaos and destruction.”
“Oh please,” said Discord. “All I did was turn clouds into cotton candy that rained chocolate milk. And sure there were soapy roads, upside down houses, and popcorn fields. But I never turned Equestria into a desert wasteland, cause a major war amongst the pony races; and I didn’t destroy the princesses and cause the moon to collide into the surface of our own planet. Although, I admit that was quite a feet. Wish I had thought of it.”
“Stop it,” yelled Twilight. “I didn’t do this on purpose! I didn’t mean to cause all this!”
“But you did,” said Discord.
“Go away,” yelled Twilight as loud as she could.
“Twilight,” yelled Spike from another part of the castle. “What’s going on!? Is there someone else here!?”
Spike ran into the room where Twilight was as fast as he could, both revolvers drawn. He looked around and saw nopony else there but the two of them.
“Are you alright, Twilight,” asked Spike. “I thought I heard you talking to somepony.”
“It was nothing, Spike,” said Twilight. “I was just having bad dream is all.”
Spike could tell Twilight wasn’t being truthful, but he didn’t want to pressure her into telling him what was going on. He holstered his guns and went back for the supplies. He came back with a large supply of food, drinks, beddings, and something Twilight wasn’t expecting.
“Books,” exclaimed Twilight. “Where did you manage to find books!?”
“Wasn’t easy,” said Spike. “What with so many building being destroyed. But look hard enough in the market places, and you’ll find a few things. None of these are what I would call up to your standards. Some are fluffy filly novels, even some kiddy books, and a how to put up wallpaper book.”
“Oh Spike,” said Twilight, tearing up. “It doesn’t matter what kind of books you got. The fact that you put this much effort into it, just for me. You didn’t have to.”
“I’m not gonna just neglect you, Twilight,” said Spike.
“I mean you didn’t even have to stick around after everything I did,” said Twilight.
“Don’t ever think that,” said Spike. “You didn’t do any of this on purpose. You’ve raised me all my life, done all you could to keep me safe. I’m not going to ever leave you behind. Eventually every other pony will realize you’re not cursed or evil or any of those things.”
“I doubt my other friends will ever return,” said Twilight. “I ruined their lives. Applejack doesn’t have her farm, Rarity won’t leave her home, Fluttershy had to become a warrior mare just to keep herself and her animals safe, and we still don’t know what happened to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. And then you…oh Spike…what those awful ponies did to your eye. Then having to become a bounty hunter.”
“I’m doing what I need for us to survive,” said Spike. “And the others will return. We’re all connected on a level too deep to ever let it just fizzle out.”
“I guess you’re right,” said Twilight. “Thank you, Spike.”
Suddenly, Twilight began to grab her head and scream in pain. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, and it wasn’t the first time Spike had witnessed it. He didn’t know what caused it, or why. He did all he could, looked for various medicines and even spells to see if it could help. But nothing seemed to work.
“It’ll be alright,” said Spike, tears forming in his eyes. “I’ll find a way to help you with whatever it is causing this. I’ll go as far as I have to find you help.”
The pain appeared to be subsiding, as Twilight starting smiling and slowly fell asleep. Spike placed her on a mattress he found, providing her a pillow and blanket as well. Times were getting harder for him. He kept having to go further out into Equestria to find big enough bounties. He was worried somepony would find out where Twilight was and do who knows what to her. But they needed food and supplies, and he couldn’t leave here, he wouldn’t leave her. He needed somepony else who he could trust. Somepony willing to look after her and keep the castle safe. That’s when he got an idea.