Two hours passed in eerie silence as Spines and her follower moved through the trees. For some time Spines was unsure if this was the right direction but to her relief, a familiar green gem that protruded from the ground eased her worries. Spines took the lead the whole hike but not once did she hear her companion. No steps or leaves crunching, it was almost as if he wasn't there...Spines turned her head to see if he was even still there. "Yess?" And he was. She wondered how could such a tall man move with such stealth.
Spines shook her head. "Nothing..." She noticed how close they were to the clearing near the cottage. "...I don't mean to be rude but I can't have you be seen by anypony." Mentally she slapped herself, how could she just give orders to this powerful and violent man. Her face drained and she stiffened herself in fear of some sort of reaction from him.
"...agreeed" The man seemed to bend the darkness around him and somehow sunk into the shadows. She gasped and looked around, he was gone without a trace. She took a few steps into the clearing and the light. Before she could wonder where he went a tugging sensation made her look down to see her own shadow.
"What the hell." She muttered at the sight of the deep black pool that was in her shape, it was like looking into a void.
"I follow..." Then the black void slowly faded into a more natural black while being slightly darker than regular shadows.
Feeling a bit overtaxed in 'what the absolute fuck' moments the poor girl just shrugged. "Alright." She wondered how many months of therapy she would need after all of this was done.
____
Just as last time she got her stuff in the tree and clothes on. A casual walk to the castle in an attempt to look casual seemed to prove useless as a few ponies would stare at her in shock and turn in the other direction. She wondered why this was until she thought she must have looked a mess from the dust and scratches. She brushed it off and hurried home. She looked at the sun's position. "Still noon. At least Dusk won't be too worried I left."
___
Spines was in her home but found that Dusk was not. This wasn't in his usual schedule but interruptions in the life of the Element of Magic were not uncommon, she wondered if the fate of Equestria was in the balance again. "Nah, I've only been gone for a few hours." She sighed while entering the library. "No way could I miss something like that."
The man in full height stepped forward into the center of the room. Spines didn't even hear him go back to his normal form but she decided just to get used to the idea of never being able to hear him. She looked in anticipation of whatever he was about to do. "Excellent." Hundreds of thin tendrils shot out of his back and grabbed several books and seemed to scan each one in only a few moments. Spines awed in amazement as every book in the entire library was picked, scanned and put neatly back into place in the span of three minutes.
"Solaris!" That was all Spines said after all of it was done, she could hardly comprehend what she saw.
The man made a strange shifting noise that came from his throat and started vocalizing noises that held no real meaning. "Hrrrrr...thiss troove of information was most helpful." His voice suddenly became more refined. Spines compared the tone to a grumpy but intelligent middle-aged man. Even his fidgety demeanor turned into that of a man who analyzes and computes everything around him. "Yes." He looked down to Spines. "Thank you mortal, I was starting to fear the thought of losing my mind from lack of mental stimulation. If that happened I might have became a savage not unlike those disgusting Blood Spawns." Even with the new personality he still didn't have a face or any real way to express emotions.
Spines quirked her eyes in confusion. "What are Blood Spawns?"
"Something you will become quite familiar with soon dear mortal...hmmm what should I call you?" He had no eyes or mouth still but contours on his white face shifted around to almost emulate how facial expressions may work, he looked thoughtful for what Spines could guess.
Spines put a claw to her chest. "I am Spinekollian the Dragoness but please call me Spines. What did you mean by becoming familiar with those monsters?" A slight tone of worry escaped her mouth.
"Well Spines, you were infected by the old blood of a demonic abomination. If the taint fully overtook your mind you would have certainly been driven mad and feral. I removed most of the taint but enough remains that you are at risk and a target of the Spawn and hiiim." He clutched his fist in anger but vanished as soon as it came. "At any rate, I think I can use you to my benefit child." A bit of Spines's optimism faded and a twinge of fear seeped into the back of her mind. What did this entail? He chuckled a bit at her change of posture. "Don't worry, while you may be mortal to an extent you are far different than anything I have ever seen before." He stared right into her eyes. "You interest me and I believe we can benefit greatly from one another. Trust me dear Spines the fate of this world hangs in the balance and I predict you can help me tip it in our favor." He put his claw-like hand out. "Let us do business."
Before she could think about a response the door blew open which scared the living hell out of Spines. "AH!" She turned to see her brother with a look of anger and worry etched in his eyes. "D-dusk?!"
"Where. Have. YOU. BEEN!" She Didn't expect the royal Canterlot voice. Her sensitive ears rung. She looked back quickly and of course, the man was gone. She turned back to see Dusk storming up to her face. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you!? I had to contact Solaris and he was not happy to find out his daughter was missing for TWO MONTHS!"
Spines' eyes shrunk in horror. "How long was I out? Oh noooo." She couldn't form another thought or word as her brain just decided to shut off when it couldn't find a way out of this.
Dusk noticed the dirt and light scratched all around her body. She could almost feel the room grow cooler as most of the hot anger was replaced with frozen fear. "Oh no, who did this to you?" He started looking her over like a father to a daughter. "Were you kidnapped? Are you hurt? Please say something Spi-!" Dusk collapsed suddenly. A black tendril removed itself from the prince's neck.
"Wh-I I I i...DUSK!?" As if a light switch was flicked on her brain began functioning again. The man appeared out from the darkness of the book cabinets.
"He will be fine, we need to go now Spines. Something very important has just come up and we need to be there now." He took her arm. "Lives are at stake." He seemed furious and began running and leading her out of the castle. Innocent young lives you know..." The voice was inside her head now. The man was gone, no one was leading her by force but she felt him inside leading her steps to the right place. Spines had no choice in this, but at the moment she knew this was important.
She knew her life was just about to become that much more complicated.