Twilight woke up groggily. She felt a soft and warm blanket over her moved the blanket aside and noticed She was still in her gala dress. She stood up and rubbed her eyes hearing a pop in front of her. She opened her eyes and saw a glass of chocolate milk floating in front of her
She looked around confused with a shrug She grabbed a glass and leaned back against the tree. Drinking the milk she began to wonder what she was doing here. She was so lost in thought that she failed to notice a red dragon's tail moving down the tree stump.
Twilight felt something lying on her head. She looked up and jumped away from the tail. Noticing the being it was attached to make the previous night's events rush back to her, the gala, the dream, and the creature in the tree. She began to shake in fear as the creature stared at her with annoyance.
“Would you kindly not look at me like that dear,” Discord asked.
When she didn’t stop Discord shifted uncomfortably, he lowered himself to the ground and glared at her.-“Stop looking at me like that”- he said more forcefully.
Twilight looked down to the ground and closed her eyes tears threatening to fall. Discord's eyes widened as he realized what he was doing. He took a breath and floated over to her. He placed a claw on her head and began to pet her.
“I’m sorry for yelling. That was rude of me,” Twilight whimpered as he stroked her mane. He rolled his eyes and let out his aura once more. Twilight felt a sudden sense of calm and safety. She opened her eyes and saw Discord's. His eyes were blue instead of his normal red. She would still be terrified if she were allowed to be.
“Are you using magic on me?” Twilight asked in a low voice.
He continued to pet her “I’d rather talk about something else but if you want an answer no I’m not.”
Twilight lit up her horn a scanned herself for magic only to find that he was telling the truth. “What are you doing to me then?”
Discord wanted to make a joke but stopped himself. That wouldn’t make her laugh or endear himself to her. “Nothing intrusive, just some calming energy.”
She let out a sigh and they sat there for about an hour. Discord made an extra talon grow out of his chest. The talon had a watch on which Discord used to check the time. The extra limb disappeared, and Discord looked back down at her.
“Do you think you’ve calmed down enough now?”
She thought about the question for a moment, then let out a sigh. “Yes.”
Discord shut off his aura, and Twilight felt the calm feeling melt away, her anxiety returning. She began to shake in fear. Discord noticed this and gently stroked her mane once more. She looked over at him. His eyes were red, which was strangely comforting to her. Looking into his eyes revealed a strange softness to them as if they were a warm blanket she could lose herself in.
She spent some time looking into them till Discord looked away.- “Well, my dear, as fun as it is to pet you, let’s get back to business, shall we?”- He snapped his paw and made a suit appear on him.
He smirked at her, and despite herself, she couldn’t help but blush. “So uhm, what are we going to do?”
Well, first off my dear, your letter I gotta hold my end of the bargain after all.” he winked at her and made a briefcase appear next to them
He opened the case and pulled out a piece of parchment and quill. He floated it over to her and winked again. She blushed and began to write. Discord chuckled to himself. What an easy mare with a few kind words and petting She would be his in no time. If only all mortals were so easy.
Twilight looked up to Discord. “ Are the mares we’re going to see nearby?”
Discord chuckled, “Not in this dimension, but don’t worry, my dear, we can fix that.”
“How?” she tilted her head in a manner that Discord had to admit was kind of cute.
“Well, we got that.” Discord gestured theatrically at a structure behind him.
Twilight's jaw dropped. The structure was as good as new as if it was just made today. She wrote a quick description as Discord examined it. She dipped the quill in ink and cleared her throat
“So you're saying we're going to a different dimension?!” She tried to act surprised
“Yes, imagine it. You would be the first-ever pony to hop to another dimension.”
Twilight was both excited and fearful. She had read up on theories about parallel worlds and realities but that was just it a theory, but right now, she had a way to access another dimension. This was something out of Spike’s comics or novels, and yet here it was.
“And this is the only way to go between dimensions?” she asked, dumbstruck.
“For you, but let's not get into details. Come on dear, we got some things before we get started.” Discord stated.
“Wait!” Twilight finished the letter and was about to send it off when flew out of Twilight's magical grasp and over to Discord. Twilight began to sweat as it got to him but instead of reading it as she feared he sent it off in a yellow magical fire.
“That was for Spike, right?”
Twilight let out a sigh. “Yes, it was.”
“Splendid, my dear. Now let’s get on our little scavenger hunt. Why don’t we.” snapping his talon both Twilight and Discord had on stereotypical explorer outfits like something Darring-do would wear. Discord began to walk north gesturing Twilight to follow him.
“I’m just saying we should be out there looking for her!” Rainbow yelled glaring at Rarity.
“Darling we mustn’t think rashly about this. The princesses are looking into it and the entirety of the royal guard has been mobilized to find Twilight.”
“Those idiots could find their own flanks if it was on their face, we got to be there for twilight?”
Applejack rolled her eyes done listening to them bicker. Looking to the seat behind her was Fluttershy and Pinkie. Fluttershy was crying silently while Pinkie had her in a tight hug tears streams falling down her cheeks. Applejack stood up and approached the back of the traincart with some hesitation. Spike had not looked good when they saw him. His suit was wrinkled, and he had large bags under his eyes. He grumbled a hello but then quickly went back to reading notes.
Spike was pacing back and forth, looking over the notes same notes in his hands. He growled as he moved on to the next note, putting the other in the pile on his seat. Applejack felt bad for him. She knew what it was like to lose somepony and Spike clearly felt that pain now.
She took a seat next to him and waited till he finished with the pile. He growled in a way that reminded Applejack that despite being a colt he was still a dragon. She quickly looked him over seeing the anger not dissipate and decided to speak up.
“I take it you made them notes?”
Spike looked back at her with a glare. “Not like it matters”- Spike tossed the notes down on the seat. They fell to the ground in a big mess, Spike growled once more as banged his head on the seat.
Applejack moved over to the notes and picked them off the floor. “Look sugar cube I get what you going through. I lost my folks around your age, but unlike my folks, Twi is still bucking. The princesses will find her and with these notes you helping with that.”
Spike sat down and hung his head low.- “I can’t lose her AJ, I” -Spike’s voice cracked- “I can’t she all I have.”
Applejack saw tears build up in his eyes, but he shook his head and quickly regained the scowl. “I have to find her.”
"Well maybe-" Applejack's words were interrupted by a belch of green fire from Spike.
A scroll materialized in front of them. Spike quickly grabbed it and read through it. Applejack waited for Spike to start reading it out loud, but when his eyes widened, Applejack knew something was up. The train stopped, and the doors opened. Spike stood up and bolted out of the train. Applejack stood up and galloped after him.
Spike arrived at the library. He rammed into the door and fell backward his arm throbbing with pain. Rubbing his head he couldn’t help but berate himself for doing something that stupid. Pulling out the spare key from under a flower pot. He inserted the key and opened the door. He ran in and looked around.
Spike grabbed a pen and parchment. He wrote down a hastily written letter. ‘Dear Celestia, I have a lead on Twilight’s location. Hurry over here!!’
Spike sends the letter right when Applejack bursts into the library. Applejack looked down at him in both anger and concern. “Why did you run off for?”
“Let's wait for Princess Celestia to get here first,” Spike said.
He approached a package sitting in the middle of the room and tore it open. In the package was a book and two scrolls. He picked up the scroll titled. ‘Theoretical Science and Magic.’- Spike looked over to the book that was titled ‘Rituals of the Ancients.’
Spike opened the book right when a bright flash engulfed the room, blinding the two. When they recovered, they saw Princess Celestia. She had golden armor from the night before. She had a longsword at the ready. Celestia scanned the room with her eye checking that it was clear. she took off her helmet and looked at Spike.
“What did you find Spike?” Celestia asked
Spike handed her the parchment. “Twilight sent it to me.”
“How do you know it’s Twilight?” Applejack asked, eyebrow raised.
“Princess Celestia and Twilight are the only ones who know the spell to send me things.”
Princess Celestia nodded and, after reading the letter, she reread it out loud. “‘Spike, I’m sorry I can’t be there with you. You know about my situation so I’ll keep it brief. Below, I’ll have a transcript of Discord and my conversation.’”
“She also wrote a description of a ritual sight,” Spike added, looking through the book.
Celestia had a worried expression on her face. Applejack approached her nervously, her head slightly lowered. “Princess, what’s wrong?”
“In this transcribed Discord mentions going to another dimension.”
“What?!” Applejack asked, confused.
“It’s a concept. that there are other worlds beyond the one we're on right now. it's like a multi-story house, and each floor is a different world.” Spike explained as he flipped through the book
“How do you know all that, Spike?”
“It shows up in comics a lot,” Spike explained
Applejack was about to ask another question when Spike cut her off. “Found something!”
Applejack and Celestia moved to his side and read the page. The page had an image of a structure that Twilight describes. The text read.
‘I name this place Dragon’s Point. Named after the species that appeared seemingly overnight. Speaking with some, they described a most harrowing journey. I will have to write it down later, but for now, I will remain on the location. They had built this strange structure to protect this land from beings and beasts alike.’
‘I do not know what is beyond the Vail and what sort of creatures could be so deadly as to terrify these magnified creatures. The ritual involves pieces of beings from other lands. A scale from a Dragon, an antler from a special type of dear called an Eikthyrnir. The last thing is a blue flower known as a rose. Every pony seems to love them and a few ponies have even started growing them.’
Princess Celestia lit up her horn and teleported her royal stamp and a quill. She wrote a quick letter and sent it off. Ignoring this, Spike ran over to Twilight’s desk and pulled out his test from yesterday.
Looking it over for a moment, Spike looked up at Celestia. “If they going to break the protection spell, then they would have to get an Eikthyrnir Antler. They live in the frozen forest to be near the frozen north.”
“They also need a dragon scale and a rose.” Celestia added.
Spike ran up the stairs and grabbed his backpack. He placed a few things: a pen, paper, and a few books. He quickly ran down the stairs and moved towards the door. Applejack blocked the door.
“Where are you going Sugercube”
Spike glared at Applejack not too pleased. “Don’t call me that. I’m going to find My mom.”
“Wait just an apple-picking minute. You need to rest before you can do anything.”
Spike began to fume “Aren't you the one who said you won't stop working till the job’s done.”
“Yeah, but I ain’t got many ponies to take over while I'm sleeping, you do.” Applejack stated firmly.
Smoke rose out of his nostrils. he was about to let out a jet of fire to move them when he felt a foreleg on his back. Turning around he saw Princess Celestia with a concerned look.
“Spike, please get some rest, we have a lot of ground cover and my guards and I are covering it. The moment we find Twilight or Discord I will come a wake you.” She said in a low soothing voice
Spike's eyes grew heavier and anger gave way to sorrow. Tears fell down his face as he curled up into a ball. Weeping now, Princess Celestia gently picked him up and trotted upstairs with him. She stopped on the last step and looked back down at Applejack who now looked at Spike in sympathy.
“You should go home, I’ll come and get you when we find Twilight.” without another word she trotted up the stairs leaving Applejack alone with her thoughts.
Twilight carefully trotted down the mountain. She joined Discord, who was patiently waiting for her. The two trotted down the path that was littered with snow. Twilight examined her surroundings.
The trees were covered in snow making the green landscape look silky white. She looked up at Discord who still wore an explore outfit. He had changed hers when they had entered colder climates. Looking at him concerned, She trotted beside him and cleared her throat.
“Aren't you cold?”
“No, dear, I am not. Why do you ask?” Discord responds with a smile plastered on his lips
She gestured to their surroundings, then herself. She wore a sweater over a t-shirt with a scarf and earphones to keep herself warm from the cold. Discord smiled and patted her on the head.
“You don’t have to worry your pretty little head about it. I’m not the type to be bothered by a little bit of cold.”
“Are you sure?”
Discord rolled his eyes and whipped his tail, unintentionally sending snow up and landing on Twilight. A scarf appeared on him and he turned to her. He smiled as he saw her patting the snow off herself. He chuckled and picked up a clump of snow.
Twilight was annoyed she had walked a few miles to find something with a creature that she barely knew. Wiping off the last of the snow, she then heard a whistle. Looking up, she felt a snowball hit her in the chest.
Discord juggled two snowballs and looked over at her with a smile. “Care for a little game.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I thought we were supposed to be looking for something”
“We only need to be at the right here right now.” He tossed one of his snowballs at her. Twilight dodged the snowball but wasn’t fast enough to dodge the follow-up.
Twilight levitated two snowballs and tossed them at Discord. He rolled, grabbing two clumps of snow and forming them into a ball. Coming out of the roll, he tossed a snowball at her.
She jumped out of the way and lit up her horn, picked up a snowball. Discord stood at the ready, a smirk on his face. The smirk went away when he felt a snowball hit the back of his head. He turned around and then realized what had happened. A smile broke out on his face. He faces her, only to get a snowball to the face.
Twilight began to chuckle, her laugh sent a warm feeling to his chest. It had been a while since he had made someone laugh. A devious grin appeared on his. He snaps his talon and six snowballs appear over Twilight’s head.
Twilight stopped chucking as she noticed the shadows over her. She dove out of the way and galloped around Discord. He snapped several snowballs and flung them at Twilight at a fast rate. She noticed this and dove behind a bush.
“Hay using magic in a snowball fight is cheating.” she squeaked as she dodged the snowball.
“Oh, but all is fair in love and war my dear.”
He snapped his fingers and tossed the new snowballs at her. Twilight teleported to the other tree line. She made a snowball and tossed it at Discord. He turned around and she teleported to her original spot. She made another snowball and tossed it at Discord. She smirked as he turned to face her. Giving him a playful wink she teleported.
Discord smiled, she was having fun, now he needed her to make this memorable for her and he had a good idea. When she tossed a snowball at him time slowed down. He smiled and took a step to the side. Time returned to its normal pace and discord ran at twilight. She backed up only to be tackled by Discord.
She let out a yelp as Discord landed on her. Discord chuckled sending a shiver down Twilight's spin. He began to bring his head closer to hers. She blushed and closed her eyes realizing what he was going to do. A small part of her screamed at her that this was going too fast. no matter how much she wanted to ignore it. She couldn’t help but remember what he did Luna.
She opened her eyes and saw him close. If she leaned into it she could finally get to kiss somepony or creature in this case but she let out an internal sigh and with her hoof rolled up a snowball. Just before his lips would meet hers, she shoved the snowball in his face sending him back, flabbergasted.
He stood up and wiped the snow off, “That was devilishly devious of you, my dear.”
Twilight blushed and nervously chuckled hoping she didn’t ruin the moment. A grin cracked onto his face “You never seem to disappoint my dear”
He started to laugh hysterically the laugh seemed to be infectious as Twilight began to join in on the merriment. The two laughed for what felt like an hour then they heard a rustle in the bushes.
Faster than Twilight could blink, Discord had already gotten to the creature. Twilight heard a painful cry come from the duration of the bush. Tuning to it, Twilight gasped in horror. Discord stood there with an antler in his paw. At the base of it was blood-dipping onto the snow below.
Next to Discord was an Eikthyrnir. It was glowing a faint blue color with blood pouring out of his where its antler should be. Discord did some tricks with the antler not caring for the Eikthyrnir he had just harmed. The Eikthyrnir stood up and ran away a tail of blood landing behind it.
“So my dear, now that we‘re done here, why don’t we go on to the next item” he said, with a smile
Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she stared at the blood trail. “What is wrong with you!?”
Twilight galloped away, following the blood trail. Discord looked on, confused, and then he realized something. Smacking himself on his head. He let out a groning and began walking forward, not bothering to put in the effort to catch up with her.
Twilight galloped, all the while berating herself. How could she be so stupid, He’s a monster, and she was about to let him kiss her. How could she? He hurt Luna; he foal-napped her and who knows how many ponies he’s hurt in the past.
She arrived at a clearing where the Eikthyrnir was lying down, whimpering. She cautiously approached the deer, not wanting to startle it. Getting close enough, she hugged the deer and stroked its head.
“I’m sorry, I should have stopped him but I will fix it.” Twilight lit her horn and cast a healing spell on the Eikthyrnir’s wound.
After a minute, the Eikthyrnir seemed to calm its muscles and stood up. Twilight let go and looked up at the gigantic creature. It looked at her as if it was expecting an explanation. Twilight nodded at the Eikthyrnir with a smile.
“I stop the bleeding and your antler will grow back a lot sooner.” The Eikthyrnir lowered its head and nuzzled her. She chuckled and petted the Eikthyrnir on its head.
“Fluttershy would love to meet you, I’m sure you two would get along.”
She heard a growl coming from the woods. Turning to the bushes, a pack of wolves jumped into the clearing and began to circle around them. The Eikthyrnir got in front of Twilight and took a defensive stance. The wolves surround the two waiting for an opening. Twilight started trembling despite herself. One of the wolves got out of formation with a growl and lunged, baring its teeth.
Discord walked through the woods following the blood. He grumbled to himself as looked up to the sky. - “You could have just made her at least a tad less emotional.”
Discord looked back at the trail of blood only to hear wingbeats behind them. He looked behind himself and saw a familiar white dragon. Discord turned around hiding the antler behind him.
“Hello Michael, come help me with Lucy?”
“Sorry brother but I can't. I'm just worried about you and Twilight.”
“Don't worry about Twilight and-” Discord paused and glared at Michael- “How did you know her name?”
I asked Father about her and what you're doing.” He stated
“And he told you, didn't he.” Discord gritted his teeth.
“No, but he told you about your companion.” He glared at Discord. “You shouldn't play with her emotions brother.”
Discord scoffed “ Father gave her to me, I'll play with her however I want.”
“She has no experience in matters of the heart. There for it can easily be shared.”
“As if I would want to do that she’s less useful to me if she to busy crying for something pointless.”
“Love isn't pointless brother. I thought you out of all of us would know that.”
Discord scoffed, “I loved Lucy, and look where that got me.”- Discord glared at Michael- “Love is only something to use, you’re foolish to feel it.”
“Father loves you.”
“And look where that got him. I'm down here, Lucy tried to overthrow him, taking a good chunk of us with him. The mortals rather hate him or don't even know if he exists. Love is nothing but pain. If anything I'm doing her a favor.”
Michael was about to chastise him when a scream cut him off. Discord's eyes widened and he sped away towards the noise. He arrived at a clearing. Where Twilight was having her foreleg torn open by a wolf.
Discord glares at the wolf and a second later the wolf bursts into flames. He shoulder-checked the wolf and glared at the four remaining wolves. Twilight's heart raced as she backed away from Discord and the wolves. holding her injured leg close to her chest she felt hot tears fall down her face.
The wolves circle around Discord. They noticed that he was not going to be as easy to take down as the other two. A wolf leaped at Discord who simply grabbed the wolf's throat and snapped it. The next two wolves jump at Discord. He simply slammed the dead wolf in one that charged at him, and pulverized them.
The second wolf jumped and bit down at Discord's throat. The knines didn’t even dent his neck. Discord grabbed the wolf's throat and chest. Effortlessly Discord ripped the wolf in two, blood pouring down onto Discord's body.
Standing back up, Discord growled, making the last wolf whimper, and ran off back into the woods. Discord dropped the corpse and then turned around. Sitting Twilight tears were falling from her eyes, her body shaking and blood pooling under her bitten leg.
Discord and looked her over. Besides her leg, she was alright. He moved forward only for Twilight to back up. The closer he got the more she backed away. Once her back hit a tree she lifted her good foreleg over her face.
“Stay away please just stay away.” She sobbed.
“Twilight you're safe, those wolves are gone they can't hurt you anymore.” Discord tried to comfort her only for her to whimper.
Discord felt a pain in his chest as he saw the state she was in. He snapped his talon and Twilight's foreleg was fixed. Despite her foreleg being as good as new she still cried. Discord lowered himself to the ground he looked up at her.
“Twilight it's time to go now.” He ordered softly, She continued to cry and refused to move
“Twilight we have to go.” He stated firmly. She didn't move.
He growled internally and then came up with an Idea. he gently picked her up bridle style and gave her a warm smile. She looked up at him with both fear and graduated none wining out. It stung Discord but he could understand a pony wasn’t meant.
Twilight was about to hop out of his arms and give him a piece of her mind when she heard something. A calm constant beat, She didn’t know why but with everything that happened today the beat gave her a sense of comfort. She placed her head on his chest so she could hear it better.
The steady beat was the only constant from the chaos of the past two days. She let her tears fall while Discord floated out of the area. Unbeknownst to the two a white dragon looked at them in concern.
Spike hugged the pillow he was lying on, dried tear stains on it. He woke up a few minutes. he got out of Twilight’s bed and moved down to the library floor. He walked to the work desk and pulled out a map.
He opened the book and flipped to the page he found the ritual and marked down the dragonlands, and the frozen forest. He read the passage again. ‘Blue flower is known as a rose.’
Spike stood up and moved to a bookshelf. Looking in the H, S section he grabbed two books. ‘History of flowers’ and ‘strange history of the rose flower.’ He searched the books for hours reading every page, examining every detail.
The sun began to go down. Standing up he approached a cabinet and pulled out a couple of candles. Walked back to the work desk and lit the candle with a jet of green fire. The sun finished its descent leaving the library in near darkness.
He read more till he came across the page with a blue flower. He turned to the next book ‘Strange History of Rose Flower.’ Spike flips to the table of contacts and then moves to the entry of the blue rose.
‘The first rose type ever discovered. A stallion by the name of Red Wing was gifted it by a dragon who wished to be friendly. They planted some near a rainbow spring.’ Spike marked Rainbow Falls and looked at the map.
The three points made a triangle out of the locations. It was a large area to cover but he knew he had to search it. He stood up and heard his stomach grumble but before he could head to the kitchen he heard a knock on the door.
Spike approached the door and opened it. Standing there was Applejack. She had a plate of apple slices and pie. She smiled at him “Can I come in?”
“Sure, come in AJ.” Spike gestured for her to enter.
They moved over to the kitchen AJ noticed that Spike was still studying at the desk. They entered the dark kitchen and sat down at the table. Spike left the room and brought in two candles.
He placed them down on the table and took a seat. Applejack pushed the plate closer to him and smiled at hermile. He picked up a slice and ate it. Applejack looked around the dark room.
“Uh Spike, where are your lights?”
“Their magic activated, without mom, they wouldn't turn on.”
“Well, darn.”
Spike ate a few slices “What are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to check in on you. I know how hard this is for you.”
“I just want her back, AJ.”
“And we'll get her back. The princesses and the guard heck even Dash won't stop till they find her.”
“We don't have much time. if Discord gets all the ritual items, then we'll never get to see Mom again.” Tears formed in Spike’s eyes threatening to fall.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. Applejack sighed. “We'll stop Discord and save her, don't worry.”
Spike looked outside the window. It was pitch black with nothing to really pay attention to. Spike absent-mindedly eats the slice of pie. Applejack saw the lapse in conversation and tried to pick it up again.
“So Spike have you found anything?”
Spike looked at her and then nodded. “Yeah, hold on.”
Spike walked out of the kitchen and grabbed the map. He entered a moment later and placed the map on the table moving the plate and candles just before doing so. Applejack examined Spike’s work with interest.
Spike points at the three points he made. “This is where the ritual items would be. Now I think the ritual sight would be within these places. The rose, the Eikthyrnir, and the dragon scale.”
Applejack smiles, “Well that certainly narrows it down, but still a lot of ground to cover.”
“Ture, but it's a start. If mom stalls him long enough, then we could find her before Discord could do anything to her.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Get Princess Celestia on this map,” Applejack encouraged.
Spike smiled and moved back into the library, gesturing for her to follow. He moved over to the desk and picked up a piece of parchment. He wrote a letter explaining what he was researching and what he found. Looking over the writing, Spike corrected his spelling and then sent it to Celestia with a jet of fire. He moved over and sat down at the desk.
Spike looked over to Applejack with a smile. “Thank you, AJ for checking up on me”
“Anytime, Spike, I know what you're feeling.”
“You said that before. What happened if you don’t mind me asking?”
“It was a camping trip. My folks and Applebloom were out trotting on a mountain trail. Mac, Ganny, and I were setting up camp a mile away. I wanted to join my folk, so I snuck away when Mac and Granny weren’t looking. I heard a loud crash and just hurried up.”
Applejack gained a melancholic look. “My folks were crushed under some boulders. Applebloom was off to the side, just balling her little eyes out. I picked her up and we got back to camp. We um didn’t stay too long after.”
Spike stood up and hugged her hug. “I’m Sorry”
“Don’t be, happened a long time ago. Just please promise me you keep doing what you doing.”
“I don’t need to promise that,” he said determinedly
“Good, because you can bring her back you save her.” Applejack patted him on the head then in a bright flash of light Celestia and Luna stood in the middle of the dark room.
Celestia lit up her horn, and the lights turned on. Luna raised a brow when she saw that the element of honesty was holding the young dragon close. The two separate, both with blushes on their face. Spike grabbed the map and handed it over to Celestia.
Celestia took the map and gave Spike a wink who rubbed the back of his head. Looking it over she noticed the three spots made Celestia raise a brow. “So you think this would be where Discord and Twilight would be?”
“Yes, it's about a fifty-mile radius but I’m sure with the guard and us looking through it will find them in no time”
“I’ll have the guard patrols around the area,” Celestia stated.
“we will join them. We will also have our own guards secure the item.” Luna stated
Celestia's eyes widen. “Be careful, sister Spike is the exception, not the rule.”
Luna's eyes widen slightly. “Sister, thou must inform me of what we missed over our banishment”
“Can I come with you?” Spike asked looking at Luna
“Forgive me spear-”
“Spike,” he interrupted in annoyance
Luna flinched. “forgive me, Spike but you must rest for the trials ahead.”
“What but I found this and I woke up a few hours ago.”
“We have spoken as a subject of Equestria you will do as we will”
“Sister!”
“We can no longer order are subjects anymore.”
“Only if they work for us.”
Luna let out a sigh “thou are a dragon but still a child. I will not have you fight alongside me.”
Celesta saw Spike's face fall, Applejack trotted up to him and patted him on the back. Celestia was about to speak up when Luna glared at her and pulled her to the side. After a whisper conversation, Celestia trotted over to Spike and hugged him.
“Tomorrow I will have some guards come and help you with your search Spike.”
“Thank you, princess.”
“Just call me Celestia, Spike.” she said gently
The two separated with Spike going back to the desk and Celestia heading to her sister’s side. Luna lit up her horn and teleported the two away. Spike let out a sigh and walked back to the desk.
Applejack looked at Spike, he was reading the book he opened earlier in the day. She looked around the room and noticed The books weren’t touched. The floor was devoid of hoof prints that would normally be there after a busy day. Applejack approached the door.
She looked back at Spike before clearing her throat. “Spike I’m heading home, you uh want to join me.”
“No, thank you Applejack I got work to do.”
Applejack let out a sigh. “Okay, then but my door is always open for ya if you need it.”
Without another word Applejack left, leaving Spike to his own devices. He looked at the corner of the desk where a picture sat. In the photo was him and Twilight celebrating his tenth birthday last year back in Canterlot. He put down the book and picked up the photo. He held it tightly to his chest and sobbed.