After Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic, had become an alicorn and a princess, she had gained many perks. She got her own castle, her own subjects (courtesy of Princess Celestia herself), and arguably most of all, the magic and knowledge to back up her immense potential in terms of a ruler. Even with all that under her belt, she felt lonely in her castle without her most loyal subject, someone she could call her own child if she wanted to, someone who meant the entire multiverse to her: Spike. Spike was becoming more and more independent as time went on. Eventually, he spoke up to his mother figure about it. They were both equally reluctant about leaving each other, but they also knew that all ponies and dragons have to move on one day, and find their own path. Spike now lives at Twilight’s old live-in bookstore, a place where he made so many memories.
Sadly, the next memory he’d make wouldn’t be so pleasant.
The day started off as normal as it could be. Spike woke up, took his morning shower, made himself breakfast, and began to sort books for his library. Because the bookstore was now Spike’s to own, he decided it would be a good start for his life to run the bookstore altogether. It paid good bits, and many of the bestiaries taught the drake some new tricks. He learned to better control his flames, making them suitable to help with cooking or heating. With his age, also came growth in his wings, making them finally large enough for flight. After getting in the swing of things, Spike felt much more content and peaceful within himself.
While Spike liked his job, he also needed his own time to recharge. He designed his schedule to where he had off on the weekends, and Fridays weren’t full days. Sometimes he felt severe burnout, and would take the entire week off. This week was one of those weeks. Spike had been feeling heavy burnout from his job, and decided to treat himself. He had already made nearly 300 bits from last week alone, so he felt it wouldn’t put a dent in his wallet. After sorting books, he checked his pantry, and found a lot of nothing in there. “Figures…” he said, almost annoyed at how he managed to devour nearly everything in his pantry in the span of a week. He didn’t dwell on it much, and instead set out to the markets to buy some more food, and hopefully enough to last him a few months at the very least.
He flew to the markets as fast as he could, eager to get what he needed (and wanted) to get, and go back home. After getting there, he scoured the place, looking for a multitude of things. He looked for ingredients to most of his favorite meals, brand name snacks, heatable lunches, and most importantly, sweets. Lots and lots of sweets. Spike arrived at the register and placed everything he had on a desk for the cashier to place values on. The cashier was a brown stallion with a red mane. After seeing the numerous amounts of things Spike had placed for him, he gave a small but audible sigh and looked at what Spike had, and how much of it he had. After doing what seemed like a dozen calculations, he finally turned to Spike and told him what he owed. “Alright, that’ll be 137.” He said flatly. Spike quickly paid the desired amount of bits, placed his things in bags, and flew off with them in hand. “That costed a lot. I think that’s the last time I become Pinkie’s little guinea pig.” He said, referencing a time when one of Pinkie’s “experimental” cupcakes gave him the munchies.
The sun was setting as Spike reached his house. He opened the front door and stepped inside. His eyes widened from the sight that was before him. His entire house was an absolute mess. Books were all over the floor, with some of the shelves they were originally on now broken. Some of his personal belongings in his desk and drawers were scattered all over the place. He might’ve even saw some of his work papers somewhat ripped. He closed the front door, dropped his groceries next to it, and ran upstairs to see what else of his had been ravaged, and witnessed paranormal activity. He saw a floating book pertaining to the Elements of Harmony, and a floating map of the country of Equestria. Spike knew this wasn’t levitation, because he didn’t see any aura surrounding the floating objects. “Uhh..hello? Who’s there!” Spike called. Seemingly out of nowhere, a pink aura in the shape of a horn materialized, and soon, Spike began to lose consciousness. Eventually, he gave in, and his body’s motions were completely out of his control.
Arachnis made himself visible and examined the dragon he had managed to get under his dependence. “Zoey, it’s clear now.” He said. Zoey dropped from the high ceiling of the room, and looked the little drake up and down. “I’ve never seen a dragon like him before. He looks kinda cute.” She said. “I don’t see the symbol. It’s not him, but he probably knows who is…” Arachnis said. Tapping into more of Cozy’s power, he scoured Spike’s memories. He found it much easier to do so with him as opposed to Fluttershy, as she showed resistance to mind control, while Spike showed little to none of it. Eventually, he found one where Spike was traveling with a purple alicorn to a grand castle. Arachnid looked further, and saw that the purple alicorn had a purple and white star ear her flanks. He immediately exited his mind. “Zoey…I found another one.” He said. “Oh, great. Where to?” Zoey asked. Arachnis motioned for Zoey to follow him and departed for Canterlot. The magic wore off, and Spike fell unconscious.
Several hours later, at the crack of dawn, Spike awoke on the floor in a cold sweat. He quickly remembered everything that had led up to his faint, and scrambled to get up in quick fashion. He looked around the room, and saw none of what he had seen several hours ago. Finally in a sense of security, he rushed downstairs and looked for his quill, ink, and paper. After sifting through the mess that his visitors had left for him, he found the required things for long distance communication. He got to his desk, and quickly wrote up a letter. He rushed as fast as he could without making any grammatical or spelling errors. Spike rolled up the paper and blew green flames onto it. The paper disintegrated into thin air and was transported to Twilight castle.
Meanwhile, Arachnis and Zoey were on their way to Canterlot to find their next target.