//------------------------------//
// Chapter Twelve: Twilight Town 
// Story: Paper Spike and the Thousand Year Door 
// by Sakunyan 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Twelve: Twilight Town


"So, Spike, what Element are you going to go after next?  There are only two left, after all."  Twilight stroked her chin.  "Although, I suppose you should probably go ask Pinkie for her Element since she's in town and I still haven't received word from Princess Celestia."  Spike sighed.
"Well, you see… we kind of already tried that.  She said she wouldn't help us because I crushed this really expensive berry she had and she needs another!"  Twilight stared at him in confusion.  
"What are you going to do then?  Try to find Princess Celestia?"  Spike nodded at her.
"That's exactly what we're going to do.  Give me the map, Sweetie Belle, we're going after the Princess.."

The path to Twilight Town was one hidden in the dark back alleys of Rogueport.  Just as they had reached Petalburg, they traveled to the town by pipe.  After finally heading through the pipe, the group of four had found themselves in a rather dark and eerily silent woods.
"Wait, wasn't it daytime when we came here?" Scootaloo asked, noting the bright crescent moon in the sky.  Spike shrugged.
"Maybe it just took longer to get here than we thought."  Fluttershy shivered as a breeze blew past them, shaking the bare branches of the trees.
"It reminds me of… the Everfree Forest…" she said as the looked at the dark wooded trees.  Spike gulped and laughed nervously.
"Yeah, it kind of does.  Except, maybe a bit emptier…"  He wasn't certain if it was truly empty or not, which made the feeling much worse.  They huddled closely together as they walked through the grove of dead trees on a half made path which they assumed would lead to Twilight Town.
"Why would Princess Celestia be in a place like this anyway?" Sweetie Belle asked Spike.
"I'm not sure.  Twilight never told me that."  What bothered him was the fact that if Princess Celestia were here, he assumed it would be daytime.  By the looks of the environment and the name of the town, it seemed as though it was dark constantly.

After following the path for some time, they finally came across a rather desolate town.  Spike finally found a sign, which was knocked over onto the ground.
"Yep, this is Twilight Town.  I don’t even see anyone here, though, so how do we know the Princess is even here?"  
"Well, maybe something happened to her…" Fluttershy said with a tone of worry.  Spike bit down on his cheek.  The idea of the Princess in trouble was a thought he wanted to avoid.  They continued to explore the town, which was actually a surprisingly large size.  Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle took note of the various pony statues scattered throughout the town.
"They remind me of the Discord statue." Scootaloo said, poking one with her hoof.
"But they look scared.  Why would someone make statues like that?" Sweetie Belle asked, studying the frightened expression of the statue.  Fluttershy gulped.
"…They remind me of the Cockatrice."  She and the fillies shuddered, remembering the night they had almost all been turned to stone by the mystical beast.  
After not finding any signs of life beside the crows perched in the trees, Spike decided to knock on the doors of one of the houses.  At the first house he tried, though, he received no response.  The same thing occurred with all of the houses he tried.  The group began to wonder of the town had been completely abandoned.
"But, then where's the Princess?" They heard a sudden commotion coming from inside the house they were standing before.  The door opened quickly, a young filly at the door.
"Get inside now, outsiders!  Quickly, before they return!"  The four were rushed inside as the filly locked the door and ushered them into a cellar.  When the cellar door was shut, they only had the light of a few candles.  They looked around to find the two other young fillies and a statue of an adult mare.  
"What's going on here?  Why are there so many statues everywhere?  Where is everybody else?"  The other two fillies shushed Spike's questioning.  The first one approached him.
"I should be asking why you are here, outsider.  Twilight Town isn't safe anymore.  Unless you can help us, you should leave immediately."  Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at the filly.
"Now, hold on, sister. You can't just make us leave after we came all the way out here!  What's going on that could be so bad that everyone just stays inside all of the time?"  One of the other two fillies walked in front of the other, glaring at Scootaloo.
"Three mares appeared in our town and have destroyed our way of life!  Look at what they have done to our mother!"  She pointed a hoof back at the statue.
"Three mares?  What did they look like?"  The final filly approached to answer Sweetie Belle's question.
"One appeared to be an Alicorn of the night.  Another was an Alicorn of the day.  The third, perhaps an Alicorn of love and heart."  Spike jolted in shock.
"That sounds like the Princesses!  Celestia, Luna, and Cadence!"  He grabbed onto the cloak of the filly and shook her slightly.  "What are they doing?  How are they hurting your town?"  
Before the fillies could answer, a bell sounded from aboveground.  It sounded far, yet was still a clear sound.  The fillies shuddered and huddled together, shaking.
"What's going on?" Fluttershy asked, shaking in fear as well.
"They will be returning soon.  They always walk through the town at the strike of the bell."
"I'm surprised you were able to make it into town, outsiders.  The mares always patrol the perimeters."
"No one has been able to escape the confines of our village."  
Although they were trembling in fear, Spike clenched a fist in desperation. 
"There's no way the Princesses can be doing anything to hurt this town!  There has to be some misunderstanding!"  He headed for the cellar stairs.  "I'm going up."
"No, wait, outsider!  You can't leave!  You shall be turned to stone!"  The eldest filly ran to him, holding him back.  "Not only will you suffer the fate of our mother and many other ponies, but you shall reveal that we are still in hiding and they will surely come after us as well!"  Spike looked at her questioningly.
"What are we supposed to do, then?"  They could still hear the sound of the bells.  
"Wait until fifteen minutes has passed after the final ring has sounded.  By then the mares should have gone back to patrolling the perimeter and you may leave the house without revealing our existence.  That is, if you truly want to leave our safety."  Spike sat down on the steps.
"Fine, I'll wait.  I guess that'll give us time to think of a plan, anyways."  He looked over at Sweetie Belle.  "Got any plans?"  She groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, let me think."

The fifteen minutes had finally passed and the group had finally come to the conclusion that only Spike would go up after Fluttershy had a near breakdown, begging not to go up in the search.  He went to the door and, trying to swallow his fear, exited the safety of the cellar and home to go in search of the Princesses.
Searching the edges of the dark town did put Spike a bit on edge.  He tried to walk quietly, but it was nearly impossible with the number of dead leaves that were on the ground.  For a while, though, he was beginning to doubt the story of the fillies.  That was a thought he quickly realized was wrong.
"It seems as though another prisoner is trying to escape us, sister.  But this one doesn't seem to be a pony."
"It does not matter, sister.  I know that he is still in need of being done away with, just like the rest."  Spike quickly turned around to find in front of him the Princesses Luna and Celestia.  They stared at him with devilish grins and appeared normal for the most part, besides the fact that their eyes were only swirls of color.
"Princess Celestia!  Princess Luna!  What are you doing?"  He was backing away slowly, knowing they were either not the true princesses or something had been done to them.  "I-it's me, Spike!  From Canterlot!  R-remember?"  The Princesses smiled.
"Finish him, sister." Luna told her sibling.  Celestia's horn glowed and shot out a pink light, but Spike had already began to run away.  "After him!"  He quickly fled back into town, but remembered what the filly had said and ran in the opposite direction of the house.  Rather quickly, though, he found himself face to face with Princess Luna once again.
"An intruder?  Sister!  We have found another one trying to escape!"  Celestia came from behind, trapping him.
"I know, sister.  I shall stop him shortly, though."  Princess Cadence quickly came up behind her.
"Now, Celestia, before he tries to escape again."  Spike looked questioningly at the three Princesses, becoming a bit confused by Luna's ability to stop him again so easily.  He decided to try and buy time until he could come up with a plan.	
"Wait!  Please!  Don't hurt me!  D-don't you recognize who I am, Princess?"  He pleaded before Celestia, who stared at him with her horn still aglow.
"No.  I do not recognize you.  Why should I, dragon?  Dragons are disgusting beasts.  Soon only Alicorns will roam and rule these lands."  Her horn began glowing more vividly, but he quickly remembered his own ability.  Swiftly, he picked up a stone that sat beside him and blew his fire over it, consuming it and causing the stone to disappear.  Celestia watched and without warning the stone appeared over her head and dropped, knocking her momentarily senseless.  Her eyes reverted to normal for a moment.
"…Spike?"  His heart leapt as she seemed to recall who he was.  Cadence quickly stomped up to the Princess, her eyes suddenly changing to a glowing green state.
"Don't listen to him!  Turn him now, quickly!  Then destroy him!  He's only trying to fool you, Princess!"  Celestia shook her head, her eyes reverting back to the distorted color.  She started walking towards Spike again.
"P-princess, no!"  She shot a second beam of light as Spike scrambled out of the way, running towards the entrance of Twilight Town.  The mares galloped after him, taking flight to gain speed.  As soon as he reached the front gate, he dove for the bushes near the town's sign and crawled along the village gate, hiding behind trees.  He could hear the Alicorns cursing in vain as they lost sight of him.  Leaning against a tree, he sighed in relief.  His only option now was to wait until he could see a clear path back to the house, which he figured was unlikely.  
As he rested and watched for the return of the mares, he soon spotted a shadow walking in the distance on the path leading up to Twilight Town.  When the shape became fully visible, he quickly recognized it and ran out to greet them.
"Twilight!  What are you doing here?"  Glancing around, he quickly dragged her back into the foliage to hide from the Alicorns.  "I'm glad you came, but it's really dangerous here!  You can't walk around in plain sight like that!"  The mare tilted her head.
"Spike, where is everypony?  Has everyone gone missing?  What's going on?"  Spike grimaced.
"Everyone in this town has either been turned to stone or is in hiding.  Fluttershy, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle are safe inside one of the houses with a few fillies."  Twilight looked out past the bush, into the town.
"Where are they?  We should head to safety if there's trouble about!"  Spike shook his head.
"It's too risky right now, but they're hiding in that house with the dead flowers lining the outside."  He pointed towards the house.  Twilight smiled at him.
"Great!  Thanks for your help, Spike!  I think I'll be on my way, now."  Spike looked over at her.
"What?  Twilight, did you not hear what I said?  It's too dangerous!  You can't go!"  She grinned at him menacingly.  A shiver went down his spine as her eyes began to glow green.
"Oh, but I think I can, little dragon.  Don't worry, though, I'll at least spare you the chance to wake up before you're turned to stone.  I'd rather like to see your expression."  As she spoke, the disguise melted away, revealing the black, insect-like body of a changeling.  Spike froze as he looked up and stared into the eyes of Queen Chrysalis. 
"It's you again!" he exclaimed.  She grinned with pointed teeth.
"Good night, Spike."  
With a sudden burst of green magic, Chrysalis sent Spike into a deep sleep as he fell unconscious to the ground.  She immediately transformed herself into one of the crows and flew over to the house he had pointed out earlier.  When she realized the skies were clear of the Alicorns, she landed on the ground and transformed herself to take on the shape of Spike.  Quickly, she knocked on the door, imitating Spike's voice.
"Hey!  I'm back!  Let me in, quickly!"  Just as she'd hoped, a young filly opened the door and ushered her inside.
"Thank goodness, you've returned.  Honestly I’m surprised, but I'm sure your friends will be grateful.  Do you know how to rid our village of those flying mares?"  She followed the filly down into the cellar, where she spotted three familiar ponies whose faces she remembered from Canterlot.  They gathered to hug her and upon release she turned to answer the question of the young filly.
"Yeah, I think I know exactly how we can get rid of those Alicorns.  All you have to do is listen to my plan…"