Chapter 6
Dawn
The darkness from the dreamless sleep began to fade away as Spike roused from his slumber, groaning in satisfaction at the restful sleep he had gotten. His mind was still trying to look past the haze of drowsiness, but it was a slow progress that left the dragon with a couple of minutes to himself before he could summon the will to leave his warm bed. As the fog in his head started to clear away, details from the vivid dream he had began to resurface to the forefront of his thought train, bringing a sad smile to his face. He had loved everything he saw and heard in the dreamscape, everything that he learned about himself, but he knew that it was the same thing as always. It was just a dream, even if the most recent one held extremely high amounts of detail.
"Maybe the girls are right, I should at least try a little harder to leave the accident in the past. Twilight wouldn't want me to spend the rest of my life as a shutin" he wasn't too sure that he would be able to pull through with his new plan of action, but a resolve was slowly starting to build up. Of course, all it would take was a simple mixture of slurred words to destroy all of his thoughts completely, again.
"Huh? Whuzzat Shpike?"
"Holy buck!" Spike tried to jump away in shock from the unexpected mare laying down next to him, failing horribly as his foot got caught on one of the fore hooves hugging onto him, sending him face-first onto the wooden floorboards. Pained groans floated up into the lavender pony's perked ears, her little dragon had scared the living daylight out of her with his loud cursing and she was planning on asking him why he had done that, but instead moved on to a more immediate issue.
"Spike, you okay?" the scaled baby on the floor rolled over onto his back, looking up at the mare that had decided to peek over the edge of the bed to check on her assistant. He didn't care about the stinging sensation on his snout, it would heal soon enough after all. All of his mind was busy processing that he had just woken up next to his mother, swore again in front of his mother, and that he was making a complete idiot out of himself in front of his living mother.
"Uhm, yeah I guess. Just a little bit of pain on my mouth but I'll be fine." satisfied with the response she got, Twilight turned away from her bewildered baby dragon with a lit up horn that tidied up the bed with speed that those without magic would never be able to achieve. The only way Spike was avoiding a breakdown was because he had already had one in his dream, but then he began to rationalize about that subject. How in Faust's holy name did he get up to his bed if his dream hadn't actually happened? So, he concluded that his dream, in fact, wasn't a dream.
Of course, all of these thought processes happened in real time, and by the time that he snapped out of his internal corrections Twilight had organized most of the room. He swore he even saw a couple of sticky notes labeling the contents of his drawers.
"Sheesh, you're almost as messy as I am." Spike was impressed at how easily his newly-returned parental figure was taking the entire situation. She had come back from the dead without a spec of memory as to how she had done so, and she was acting like she normally would any other day. That brought a nostalgic smile to his face.
'Just like old times.'
"How does breakfast sound to you, Spike?"
"Great actually, you want me to cook?" the dragon didn't know why her return had affected his personality around her so drastically, but he felt like he shouldn't take the lavender unicorn for granted any more. Twilight picked up on the little fact that her assistant rarely ever offered to cook, and when he did it was done begrudgingly. But the Spike in front of her had a goofy smile still plastered on his face as he asked, and she decided not to mention it lest she upset him somehow.
"Nah, we can both help each other out. You probably won't believe me, but I've only eaten one flower and small bundle of mint herbs ever since I 'Woke up'."
Twilight's eyes lost their focus a little as her thoughts strayed back to the night she had rushed through the dark forest, to her confrontation against the carnivorous predator of the dangerous wilderness. She couldn't stop the automatic grin that came over her face as she remembered how easily she had destroyed any sense of dominance within him, torturing his very soul by ripping away the one thing that made him who he was. She licked her lips unconsciously as she thought about the precious liquid she had stolen from him, using him as nothing more than a food source.
She hated how much she loved it.
"Twilight?" Spike's confused gaze snapped her out of the uncharacteristic thoughts running freely in her tormented mind, leading her to question if she had actually enjoyed thinking the way she did. No, she told herself that wasn't true, that she would never come to do anything like that and be able to actually like it.
"Sorry about that, Spike. I guess I'm still a little tired from yesterday and I'm starting to doze off." it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. What would he think of her if she told him that she was busy thinking about beating a giant predator to a pulp so that she could drain his blood? No, she instead spoke of the feeling of slight fatigue cursing her sleek body, not enough to be called a 'Sore' sensation, but it met the requirements perfectly to be called 'Annoying'.
"It's cool Twilight, but your not the only one starving. Lets get this show on the road." Spike walked alongside his caretaker down the oaken stairs towards the kitchen, clutching his growling stomach as he closed any distance between the icebox and himself. The drake took charge of making a fresh batch of pancakes while Twilight took the liberty of scrambling some eggs, and their bounty was completed quickly through their teamwork.
The lavender unicorn smiled down at her child in pride towards his excellent culinary abilities, but couldn't help but feel that something was nagging at her in the back of her head. Well, a better way to put it would be that something was nagging her at the front of her head. Her horn had a tingling sensation coursing through it and it was warm to the touch, bordering on hot. Both of those things were signs that she had been using a lot of magic recently, which utterly baffled her. She considered it being a effect from her run-in with the pack of carnivorous predators in the forest, but even then she hadn't used enough magic to even remotely exhaust herself. She was getting tired of labeling everything that she didn't understand with a question mark, but she had done no research towards her physical and magical alterations yet, leaving her as clueless as a foal being asked how magic theory worked.
Breakfast was pleasant for the most part, if you could look past all the internal questions Twilight was asking herself. The mare had served herself a glass of juice as she spoke to her best friend about easier ways to organize things. After that she refilled her glass as she listened to Spike tell her more about the growing town of Ponyville, which could barely be called a town now due to its size. After finishing another glass of juice over her retelling of her escape from the velociprey, the two co-managers of the library stood from the dining table to wash the pile of dishes they had accumulated.
When Twilight was about to wash her glass she finally noticed another fact that was bound to drive her insane.
'How am I still thirsty after drinking three glasses of apple juice!'
She licked her lips, finding them to be anything but dry, yet her throat still held that annoyance that beckoned her to drink. The juice carton floated over to her in a red glow, being tipped shortly after so the fresh liquid within would fall into her empty glass. The mare gulped down the cool drink quickly, not even savoring the delicious apple essence as she tried to quench her thirst. Nothing changed in how she felt, her dreaded throat continue to call out for satisfaction, but it became obvious to her that apple juice wouldn't do the trick.
"Dang Twilight, I didn't know that you could be so thirsty in the morning. What is that, your fourth glass?" Spike was quick to catch on to the mare's curious symptom, and he chose to use it as a start-up to what he hoped would be another friendly conversation.
"Heh, yeah, I guess I just woke up with a dry throat. I'm sure I'll shrug it off later today. I've got something to ask you by the way." Twilight was quick in shifting the conversation away from her problem. She was letting the paranoia she had naturally developed shine through the cracks of her composure, making her think that if she told Spike anything more that he would somehow miraculously figure out that she had fed on the sanguine fluid of a giant carnivorous lizard.
"Fire away."
"Would you mind tagging along with me for a walk, I think I'm nine years overdue to pay my friends a visit and I wouldn't mind having you there to lend me a hand."
"Of course! Just let me get my jacket and I'll go with you, I'll be right back." Spike nearly tripped as he dashed up the stairs, filled with excitement at the prospect of re-introducing Twilight to her friends. He knew that things wonuldn't be the same as they were before, not right away at least. Rarity was still out of reach due to her residence in Canterlot and was more than likely never coming to Ponyville again, so she was out of the question entirely. And Pinkie Pie...he wasn't sure what to think about her anymore.
Twilight looked at her child run up the stairs, suppressing a giggle as she saw him very barely avoid tripping on the last step. She really did love him, especially his childish nature, which shone brightly even after nine years. In all reality, he was still a baby biologically and in mind, although he would act maturely when the situation called for it. Still, it hurt her a little to know that he would outlive everyone around him, to know that one day he would come to suffer losing her again, that she wouldn't be able to keep her promise of eternity to him.
"I'm ready Twi!" Spike's exclamatory announcement snapped her out of her gloomy misgivings, back into the reality she had to face. He was now suited in a toasty beige coat that had an inside covered with sheep wool, and the sight reminded her of a critical issue she had almost forgotten.
"Oh darn, how am I supposed to make my way through Ponyville without everypony knowing that I'm back. Sure, I'll let them now soon enough, but I don't want to start up a commotion before I get to my friends first."
"I don't know Twilight, you could try searching for something to wear in the storage room, but I don't think that would be a good idea."
"Tell me about it, it'll take hours digging through that junk before I find something suitable to disguise myself in."
The spellweaver tapped her hoof against the floor as she delved into her inner thoughts, searching for anything that might be able to help her out in her new predicament. There was only one thing that she found that could aid her, and it was named Potential.
'Hey, genius, didn't you pay attention to the coat rack near the door when you made your way to the kitchen?'
Twilight's amethyst eyes focused onto the object her neurological counterpart had advised her to look at, and she found yet another mystery waiting for her perched upon it.
"Spike, who's is this?"
The raptured mare walked slowly towards the piece of oaken furniture near the library's main entrance, getting closer to the source of her awe by the second. A cloak of the likes that the she had never seen before rested upon it, the pitch black silk emphasizing the silver strands running in a giant, thin, web-like pattern on its back. The pattern spread up to the neck, where it was cut-off by a even thicker 'Collar' of silver that had circular ruby embedded into its front. From what she could see, Twilight noticed that the inside of the cloak had a starry pattern that seemed to mimic the night sky, much like the way Luna's ethereal mane would. She wasn't much of a fashion-inclined pony, but even the spellcaster was left astonished at the masterpiece of clothing.
"No, and I don't remember seeing that there when I opened the door for the Crusaders."
'Go ahead champ, even I know that you're just drooling at the prospect of wearing that..'
Twilight paid Potential's insistent teasing no heed as she donned the mystifying piece of clothing, enjoying the smooth silk as it slipped onto her with as much friction as water. It had a cool sensation to it, but the mare barely noticed that as her attention turned towards a couple of thumps she heard on the floor near her. Her sight fell on a set of shoes that were obviously meant to go with the cloak itself due to the way they mimicked the spiderweb design on its back. The black shoes had the web pattern on the front rather than the back, and they were almost as comfortable to the mare as the cloak as she slipped into them, completing the outfit.
"Whoa Twi, that thing looks great on you, I bet it'd give Rarity a run for her money if you were to show up at her doorstep wearing that. And look, it completely covers your cutie mark just like the hood covers most of your face."
Just like Spike had explained, the mare's cutie mark was concealed perfectly behind the fine silk, and the specially designed hood shrouded everything on her face save for her muzzle in the shadow it cast. The hood was connected to the 'Collar' effect line that cut-off the spiderweb design, leaving it nothing but pitch black. It was most likely fashioned to conceal the user's face on purpose due to how its front seemed to come down in a sharp tip, heightening the darkness from the shadow it cast while allowing undisturbed vision.
"You're lucky gothic styles are this year's fashion, you'll be able to pass this off as a personal favor from the Sparkling Diamond Boutique if anyone asks."
"Fantastic, this'll make the trot to Sweet Apple Acres that much easier. Still, I can't help but wonder who would leave such an eccentric cloak forgotten on a coat rack ."
"Dunno Twilight, but if that somepony doesn't come to pick it up it's yours."
Twilight liked the idea of keeping the clothing set, seeing how she would need one for a while, and what she had on was bordering on the line that marked perfection. However, she didn't let her mind get distracted by stuff as meaningless as clothing, and instead opened the library's main door. A gust of cool wind greeted the library-dwellers as soon as the door was nudged out of the way, making them silently thank their choice to wear the warming gear. So, with mysteries to solve, and friends to reunite with, Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon left their humble abode to trek through the masses of ponies rushing to their jobs in the morning. One thing was assured in both of their minds, change was coming, and it was coming faster than anyone could have ever anticipated.
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Nothing had changed, Luna knew that her adviser was still calling for her attention, but she was lost again. From her throne, she stared at her sister's precious creation finish its rise above the horizon, bathing Equestria with the life-giving rays that kept it and its citizens alive. Her navy blue chest expanded as she prepared a sigh that was released shortly after, she wasn't in the mood to listen for one hour as her royal adviser ranted about arising tensions in the northern border. She wrote the damned reports he was reading for crying out loud! The bad news she had received yesterday left her with a negative mindset, so she decided that she would save herself the remaining forty five minutes she had left in one smooth move.
"That is very intriguing, Paper Press, but I'm afraid that I must take my leave due to a meeting a have with Sargeant Nightlock. I'll be sure to revise these reports when the time presents itself, have a good day Mr. Press."
Before he could fully comprehend what was going on, the pudgy brown earth pony found himself alone in the throne room and that all of the scrolls he planned on reading to the princess were gone. He shook his head as he contemplated his job, it seemed like a great idea at the moment when he decided he would rise through the ranks and settle down as an adviser, but he started having his doubts.
"I should have kept my job as the director of The Canterlot Times, at least there ponies listened to what I had to say."
His words were heard by nopony other than himself as he walked away towards his condominium within the palace grounds, going in the direction opposite to that of the alicorn of the night. Luna hastily made her way past the gossiping maids cleaning the deserted halls, in search of anything she could do to get her mind off of all the recent problems. She considered speaking actually speaking to her sargeant since he could be really sympathetic when the moment called for it, but she shot down that idea due to the side-effect of it leaving a regiment of new guards without a instructor. The lunar princess had been so lost in her thoughts that she barely managed to process that she was outside in the Royal Palace Gardens before she walked head-first into a cluster of thorny rose bushes.
With a shake of her troubled head, Luna stopped thinking about all the problems revolving around her life to enjoy the beautiful foliage to the fullest extent. Gladly, the tension that had been winding up inside her mind began to dissipate as the magic of nature took hold of her, offering a temporary haven from all the challenges she was burdened with during the rest of her waking moments.
She lost herself inside the expansive hedges and freshly groomed flora, letting go off everything she had to do to allow herself a moment of selfish indulgence. It was, however, a short-lived event that was put to an end as a shudder rippled its way across the alicorn's back. With perked ears and eyes with precision to rival an eagle's, suppressing a groan of annoyance at the disturbance breaking her out of her paradise environment. Said disturbance only continued to stare at her with its unevenly sized pupils, not moving a single joint as a conversation started up.
"Ah, little woona has decided to pay me a visit, has she. How nice of you to drop by, here to lament over another failed scouting mission I suppose." the statue's jaw stood frozen as the teasing sentences floated into Luna's mind seamlessly, the sound instantly causing more of her earlier stress to return by the second.
"That is none of your concern, Discord, and it would serve you well to not intrude with our life. We get enough enough fatigue to last us an eternity without you and your insistent prodding in the mix, so just spare us the little games you do so enjoy."
"You've still got that royal 'We' thing going on, huh?" the alicorn brought a hoof to her face as the draconequus shrugged off her please as if they had never existed, and it only sparked her annoyance even further when he brought up a seemingly random conversation up.
"Yes, we are, but you fail to listen to me. We are asking you to simply keep your pestering to yourself for now, I have enough things to deal with already, and I surely don't need to have a conversation with the god responsible for what fills most of my days now." Luna's berating had an air of finality to it, emphasized greatly as she stood to leave the vicinity of the chaos statue, but something weird stopped her in her tracks before she could even take sixteen steps
"Lulu, you don't know how very wrong you are when you say that. Now, out of all other times, is when we need to talk the most." Discord's tone of voice was completely different to the cocky prankster she had heard no more than a couple of minutes ago. In fact, his response was said logically and with an undertone pleading her to stay and listen, a polar opposite to his entire personality. She didn't know if it was all of those factors combined, or her curiosity getting the better of her, but the moon goddess turned back to face the immobilized creature.
"May we ask what we can possibly need to speak about with you, the very being who's silver tongue played a part in setting me down the path of darkness that would eventually lead to my millennium spent away from any and all interactions with other living beings." the ire in Luna's words would have brought a shudder to the draconequus had he not been frozen in stone, and he understood that there was a challenge before him if he ever wanted the moon princess to even give him an inkling of trust.
"Luna please, hear me out." please, that word broke through the lunar mare's mask of anger, forcing her to give all her attention to the still creature. In the back of her mind she swore that she had heard a...weak cough from him, but she couldn't think too much about it before he started speaking again, "I don't have much time left, I can feel him getting closer every second."
"How? The guards are stationed at their posts and we can't even feel his unique signature anywhere near here. What trickery do you attempt, Discord?" the mare jumped back into her defensive line of thought as she shot down the possibility of what the mismatched statue was trying to convince her of, only to suffer the full force of a retaliation from him.
"Perhaps you don't, Luna, but I do. You are in Equestria, a land bestowed with thriving magic, but I am somewhere far more open to the magical plane. You see, your little Element Bearers didn't just seal my body in stone as your sister and you had, they transported my very essence into a prison within the very fabric of reality. Here, even though I cannot move from the small area I am confined to, I can sense further out and deeper into Equestria than you will ever be able to, and I feel his spells working to break inside my prison." Luna caught on to something lining the final words leaving his mouth, something a god rarely ever truly experienced. Fear.
"Then why do you tell us this now, why warn us that he is trying to recruit you instead of letting time take its course? We don't see you as the type to have a sudden change of heart for the better."
"Luna, do you really think he intends to recruit me into his little gang of misfits?" he let his rhetorical question hang in the air for a couple of seconds as he let the moon goddess prepare for the true reason he is confessing everything to her, driving her to the point of scraping her hoof against the cement lining the garden pathway in an attempt to quell her overwhelming curiosity. She heard the chaos lord take a deep breath before his dialogue began once again, "Let me tell you something I figured out a few days ago. I had established direct telepathy with what remained of King Sombra after his defeat, helping him find sources of energy so that he could regenerate his body so that he would in turn release me from here. It had been going well until about a week ago, when all of my attempts to communicate with Sombra failed. I searched the magical plane for any trace of him, yet I came up empty handed every time I tried to retrieve his specific aurora from the mana stream, but something else had caught my attention as I searched."
"What was it you found, Discord." Luna's hatred towards her old friend-turned-enemy was gone at the moment, and she found herself enthralled with the tale the draconequus spoke of. All the while the weird creature spoke, he kept a low volume, another thing contradicting his usual demeanor.
"I stumbled upon two similar auroras, both shining brightly in contrast to everyone else's, and I found my attention drawn towards the larger one. After memorizing the smaller auroras position in the stream, I began to scan the stronger one and I found what I had been looking for all along."
"Did the potent aurora sphere belong to Sombra? Has he found a way to increase his strength?"
"No, this was much worse than that could ever be. The sphere itself had a white exterior, one that didn't represent Sombra's at all, but when I cracked it open to see inside I found remnants of his magical signature being absorbed by the white sphere. It didn't just hold Sombra captive, it tore him apart atom by atom as it merged itself with the magic bestowed to him, growing in strength significantly." Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing, it was...
"Impossible...he can't be powerful enough to do that yet. He's only been free for nine years!"
"Wrong, Luna, he is powerful enough to drain the Aspects Of Creation from the world itself, and he already has Corruption under his control. With that kind of power at his disposal, it's only a matter of time before he breaks into my cage and absorbs me along with the Aspect Of Chaos." as if on cue, Discord grunted in fatigue as he struggled to hold back the probes trying to dismantle the thing that both kept him imprisoned and safe. His sounds of exertion went unheard by the lunar alicorn as she processed the newest escalation the threat to Equestria had taken, and she prepared another set of questions that would help her greatly in her quest to save the land.
"Do you have any ideas on how to stop him? We've tried directly challenging him, but he never responds to our battle offers."
"Umf, don't try to...to take him on your own. F-find that other being, the one that I saw could rival him in strength. If one h-has a chance at beating him, it's the one...the one that can match his rare magical signature." the princess caught onto the tired grunts he was giving off in his attempts to buy time, and addressed them directly out of worry for her new ally. Ally, she never got to notice how close she actually was to him if their rivalry wasn't involved.
"Discord, is everything alright? You sound...weird." the tendrils slamming against the harmony barrier sealing away the chaos god began to grow a spiderweb-crack on its surface, and the fracture only grew in size even though he tried in vain to stop their access. With a shattering sound only the mismatched being could hear, the intrusive probes pounced on him, wrapping around his limbs at the same time as one of them reached for his throat.
"Lu...Luna, go. Find the one b-before it's too late," everyone of his syllables was charged with terror now. Gone was the maniac-like prankster that the world knew, leaving behind what once was a normal draconequus leading a normal life, one that didn't involve magic-draining tendrils dragging him across his jail cell's flooring. Before the world became shrouded in darkness for him, he managed to utter out one last sentence, one that would have spared his life if he hadn't been so childish so long ago in the past, "For what-t it's worth...I'm sorry Luna...for everything I've do-"
A strangled scream was the last thing the baffled, and quite terrified, mare heard over the telepathic communication system before it shut down. Horror and confusion made way for panic, shown clearly by the way she jumped forwards towards the statue so that she could place her trembling hoof against it. The statue was laced with chaos energy still seeping out from the god within, or at least it was supposed to be. Her magical scanning spells came back cold, the statue was nothing more than a statue now without its inhabitant, but that didn't make what came next any easier.
Cracks began to spread across the petrified body's limbs, originating from his wrists, ankles, and neck. Luna stared on with a horrific bated breath as the imperfections on the stone began to grow wider and deeper, blinding white light seeping through them from someplace unknown hurting the moon mare's eyes as she refused to look away. With a sickening crunch, the statue exploded in a flash of unrefined mana that sent the princess flying across the clearing with several small pieces of the statue digging into her skin, burning her with the same raw magic that had given the rupture its strength.
With stinging eyes, Luna dragged herself across the floor toward the remains of the draconequus' statue, not caring about the sharp pebbles scratching her on the way there. The thin trail of blood she had left lead to her laying in the rubble, clutching a small pile of the marble in her forelegs as she began to fiercely tighten her grip on it. Her teeth grit together as she let her furious thoughts stir. There were little things that caused her to fully lose her composure, but murder without being needed was the perfect catalyst for her boiling ire. Feeling something rising in her throat, she turned her head towards the celestially blue sky above, releasing the voice she had suppressed for so long since her return.
"WE WILL GET YOU FOR THIS, YOU INCOMPETENT FOAL! DO YOU HEAR US!? WE WILL DESTROY YOU JUST AS WE SHOULD HAVE IN THE PAST! CURSE YOU FAUSTIAN, CURSE YOU!"
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"Hmm, I'm sorry Luna, but I have a standing curse at the moment, so I'm going to have to turn down your generous offer." the source of the night alicorn's rage, who went by the name of Faustian, sat at the summit of Canterlot Mountain. He had been bored of sitting around all day waiting for a reply from his grandchild and decided to check on one of his favorite ponies, and the Royal Canterlot Voice was still fresh in the air as he spoke to nopony in particular.
He loved that particular spot in the world, it was so disconnected from everything else that nothing but the magic-infused shout of a princess would be able to reach the chilled heaven he was resting in. His ears flicked towards a spot to his left and, without turning to see who it was, addressed the new arrival.
"It's about time you decided to show up, Mimy, and just so you know, you'll never be able to sneak up on me. Where have you been since we last met?" the mare moved closer to her superior, swagger evident in her hoofsteps as she neared the pensive stallion.
"I went to go take care of a few lose ends I had left on my last visit to Manehatten, and let's just say that they'll be sleeping with the fishes for quite some time." she snorted and laughed at her malicious deeds, remembering the terrified expressions on their faces as she tied their hooves to a slab of rock, the sounds of their last breaths bubbling up to the surface without their owner following suit. Faustian wasn't as amused at her antics, which was made clear when he pointed one of his fingers towards the mare, summoning a silver lightning bolt that scorched her hoof.
"Ow! Watch the temper, Fausty! First you go and creep me out by changing your fore hooves into those...things, and now your using them to shoot lightning at me!."
"These are called hands, Mimy, and their appearance should be the last thing you should be worrying about since you deserve much more than a simple shock as your punishment. I'll let you slide mostly for today, consider yourself lucky that I'm in such a good mood."
"Yeah, woo-bucking-hoo, old timer. What are you doing up here anyway, it's freezing and you can barely breath." the mare shivered as she sat on the snow covered ground, taking in shallow breaths to conserve the thin oxygen levels around her.
"Perhaps if you would stop spending so much time wandering off to someplace other than the combat training room you'd develop some resistance against such trivial factors."
"Well sorry for having a life! What do you expect me to do, sit around all day in your stuffy hideout instead of going outside to enjoy my free time?"
"I expect you to be at a moments notice instead of hiding yourself among the crowds. Now that you're here, I can assign you the reserve operation here at Canterlot."
"Finally! Okay, who gets to die?" Faustian was intrigued by how bloodthirsty the mare was, but he knew what her roots were, knew exactly where her nature originated from.
"No one dies tonight, Mimy." he ignored the whine that escaped her muzzle as he continued speaking, "I'm sending you inside the castle to keep an eye on things and to have you there if you are needed. You'll have to fill out an application to get accepted into the castle grounds as a worker, allowing you to avoid any and all suspicion towards you."
"Fine, I'll go, but if anything goes sour I'm decimating the entire platoon!"
"You better hope it doesn't go sour, or you can kiss your powers goodbye. Which reminds me..."
"What do you mean 'take my powers'? I don't think you can actually do thaaAAHHHHH! " the mare collapsed on the ground as a sudden stinging pain stabbed every inch of her body, the agonizing sensation only being rivaled by the splitting migraine she had suddenly developed, and tears were fought back as her vision began to fade . As Faustian's black horn powered off, rapidly dispersing the pain from Mimy's twitching body, and he stood next to her on his hind legs with his arms crossed across his white chest.
"Don't underestimate others' abilities, Mimy, or you'll suffer many fates similar to this one. You still have your powers, but I've decided to lessen them to a certain degree that'll assure me you won't ravage the castle in the middle of the night, and as a punishment for your recent insubordination. Now, I want you're report on how you did on your application by tomorrow night, do not fail me."
Before she could properly get on her hooves to give him a taste of her annoyance, the stallion disappeared from the mountain summit, reappearing somewhere not even Mimy herself could hope to find. The mare really hated him at times, but she reminded herself the huge favor he had done for her in the past, and it cooled her down significantly. She would get really confused as to what Faustian wanted in the end, he made it seem as if he wanted to take over the throne, yet he never made an offensive move toward the capitol. He had the power, the advantages, and the tactical insertions in place, but he never put any of them into effect unless they were needed as a last resort. Maybe she'd figure him out some day, maybe she'll never now, only time would tell.
"Pfft, probably just old an old pony being an old pony.." with that said, Mimy hopped off the edge of the cliff and spread her wings as she flew towards the castle gates. Her schedule would be filled for quite some time, but maybe she'd be able to sneak an assassination or two during her indefinite stay at the castle. All in all, maybe her stay wouldn't be so bad after all, so long as she put her creativity to use.
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"We're almost...there...Twilight." Spike was panting from the long and tedious walk over to Sweet Apple Acres, his only relief being the cool wind running throughout the massive town. The trip had stolen multiple hours from their schedule by that point, leading Twilight to wonder how in the world a change that drastic was possible. Nine years ago the road went directly to the farm, but new buildings and constructions of the like caused the path to twist and turn, adding many extra miles to the total distance they had walked. Not to mention that the dragon hadn't exercised in a long time, he might have looked the same, but he surely didn't have the stamina he used to.
Twilight wasn't faring any better than her assistant since she too had her tongue lolled out as she breathed heavily. She didn't understand how she had outrun a pack of speed-based monsters without a hitch yesterday, yet she couldn't make the trip across town without hyperventilating. Also, that damned thirst was still there, scraping her throat whenever she staggered back a breath. Nopony seemed to pay the two much attention, obvious since they simply passed by the duo as they rested, although every now and then somepony waved at Spike in surprise at seeing him out of his library.
Going against her better judgement, Twilight levitated her tired son off of the ground and onto her back. He had reused to hitch a ride on the unicorn express for some reason back at the library, and even now he showed signs of reluctance at letting her carry him, but he ultimately settled down on the soft cloak.
"Thanks Twilight, but you really don't have to give me a ride there you know. We're just a couple of minutes away." after he failed to get a response from his still caretaker, he patted her back in an attempt to gain her attention, "Twi?"
The cloaked spellcaster wasn't listening to anything, all of her senses had diverted their power to her scarlet eyes, which had caught wind of something that made her lick her lips. Apparently somepony had scraped themselves against a broken piece of metal on the park bench, earning a small gash on their side. The lavender unicorn couldn't care less about the pony being wounded, she only had eyes for the precious fluid leaking out of the warm body. Her instinct to survive almost got the better of her, but she caught herself before she did anything rash.
Not in public, it would attract too much attention towards us
The scarlet fled Twilight's eyes, but she could faintly remember that she had liked the view of the blood seeping from the shallow wound. Her confusing mind finally registered that her assistant had spoken to her, and she quickly sprung into action before the pause got awkward.
"Uhm, it's alright Spike, really. I'd feel bad if I let you keep walking while your exhausted." the mare started her trot
"It's just that I don't want to use you like this, you're tired too. I just want you to feel okay, and having to carry me around is just a burden I don't want you to have." Spike looked down as an embarrassed blush burned his cheeks. He didn't tend to show his emotions very much, but having Twilight there made him confess his deepest sated thoughts and fears, and it felt good.
"Spike, do you want really me to feel as comfortable as I can?" the magically gifted unicorn stopped her brisk walk to turn her neck around, looking at her little purple dragon straight in the eyes. He simply nodded as a response to her question, prompting a smile that could barely be seen due to the cloak's hood.
"Good, then you'll let me carry you around because it's what makes me feel comfy. You'll see one day, Spike, you'll see how your babies will smile back at you when you're the one giving them rides." addressing him as her child once again satisfied both of them, ending the short debate with mutual winnings. Without anything stopping them, the Sparkle household moved ever closer to the vast expanse of Sweet Apple Acres, and the fields themselves could already be seen from their point of view, billowing in the wind as the late afternoon sun cast its light over the orchards.
Before they got any closer, however, a red carriage sped past them with the speed only achievable through a triple horsepower system, nearly running them over as it disappeared into the seclusion the orchards provided. She could tell that it wasn't from around here due to the excessive amounts of useless decorations placed on it, not to mention that the carriage's license plaque had 'Manehatten' printed in bold letters under the identification number. These thoughts managed to distract Twilight enough that she walked past the golden gates to the fields without noticing immediately, and they continued until she stumbled upon a very familiar building.
Nopony was near the Apple's Farmhouse, save for the three stallions that moved the carriage parked nearby, but a distant echo of a buck resounded through the plethora of trees. The sound caught the duo's attention and it began to lure them deeper into the foliage, but it only took a shout heard through the walls of the house to bring their attention back at the old building.
"Aw, what is it now Baron? Can't ya see that I'm trying to work here?!" Twilight and Spike eavesdropped that one sentence before they concluded that it was, in fact, their freckled farm friend. The door to the Apple residence had been left wide open, presumably by the stallion known as Baron when he walked in to speak with the chief farm pony, and the library-dwellers made their way over to a couch in the cozy living room. Muffled shouts could be heard through the door leading into the room the two ponies were meeting in, none of it anywhere near comprehensiveness.
Just as Spike hopped off of Twilight's back and onto the couch, the wooden door to the locked room slammed open as the amber stallion that had been arguing with Applejack stormed through the living room towards his carriage, not letting his angered gaze linger on the two new occupants of the room for more than a single second before he left the house's interior.
'Sheesh, makes you wonder what put a stick so far up his flank.'
'I'm not going to argue with you on that one, he seems to have some serious issues.'
Spike gestured for her to enter the room her orange friend was in. He didn't know how Applejack would react, but he wanted for his caretaker to manage this on her own terms and he didn't want to get in the way. Besides, he could walk in after the initial heat died down. With a deep intake of breath, the concealed lavender mare took the first step to reintegrating herself into her 'Normal' life. The room she entered was fairly small and square-shaped, with two chairs in front of her, a line of bookcases on the far wall, and most importantly, a strong orange mare wearing a black suite with a red tie. As always, her trademark stetson hat rested upon her ponytail-style mane, masking her face almost as much as Twilight's cloak due to how her head was tilted downward as she scribbled away at a sheet of paper.
Applejack felt the presence in her room and grit her teeth in annoyance, thinking that Baron had sent one of his goons to try and intimidate her to sign his contract again. Her green eyes raised from their spot on the paper and she spit out the pencil she had sunken her teeth into, preparing to talk down yet another stubborn idiot that thought that he could to take her on.
"That freakin' Baron never gives up, does he? Listen up here, punk, Ah don't care how fancy and rich you and your brown-nosing employer are, you boys will never lay a hoof on the deed to this farm for as long as Ah live. Ah'm ready to buck a fool in the face, but are you willing to lose all of your teeth, partner?" Twilight was surprised at the hostility that had arisen so easily due to a little misunderstanding, and she set about to correct it as soon as possible. But, seeing that Applejack was in no mood for games, she decided to be just as blunt with her own approach.
"Well, that's a very nice way of saying 'Hello', don't you think?" the mare in the suit didn't believe her perked ears, did she really just hear Twilight's voice come from that pony? No, it was impossible since the unicorn was buried inside her crypt, or at least that's what Applejack's logical thought process was saying. Her emotions, however, were running wild from the effective catalyst-like effect the mare's voice had on her, and she fought to hold back tears that had been long overdue to be shed. Just as she thought she had managed to control herself, the pony that sounded like Twilight pulled her hood back before speaking in her surreal voice again, "Did I miss anything while I was gone?"
Applejack was startled by the mare's appearance, which was exactly the same save for the fangs poking out over her lips. As far as she could tell, this was the late Twilight Sparkle of Equestria in all her lavender glory, a realization so shocking that it caused her too fall back to the ground after she leaned back into her chair too strongly. Before the cloaked unicorn could do anything to help, the nicely crafted timber chair shot into the air as the mare underneath bolted upright in an attempt to get a closer look at the horned pony in her home.
"Twilight...is that really you Sugarcube?" Applejack knew she must have looked like a freak by how she was acting, but this situation called for anything but a freakout. An orange hoof rose to touch the lavender cheek in front of her in a test to see if she wasn't hallucinating, but all it took was a single reply to fuel her belief.
"Of course it's me AJ, just ask Spike." hearing his name, the purple dragon appeared in the room instantly by means even he didn't understand, ready to make this go as smoothly as possible. He knew what Applejack had been hiding from the world would play a major role in this reunion, the very reason she put herself through all the stress she went through with a desk job instead of being outside bucking apples like the generations before her had. Still, all of that could be solved later. Right now he had to help out his caretaker with convincing the orange mare that it wasn't some kind of elaborate prank or nightmare, but neither of them understood that she was basically a living lie detector by now. She had believed every single word that had left the unicorn's mouth as soon as she heard no sign of deception in them, but she let the little drake go on his little rant about how he had come across his mother yesterday, fainted, had a breakdown, fallen out of bed, and the insignificant piece of information on how satisfying his breakfast was.
During the little dragon's monologue, she kept staring at the paradoxical mare in the room, noting the subtle changes on the overall exact representation of her supposedly deceased friend. The little pair of teeth sticking out over her lower lip dragged her attention to them, mostly because Nightmare Night was yesterday, but also because they looked so real. She would have never thought Twilight would invoke something as powerful as intimidation over her, but her new muscular build and sharpened teeth let her know that the lavender spellcaster could have her shaking on the floor if she wanted to.
Slight intimidation aside, her self-control was starting to break away slowly, and the urge to holler out at the unicorn's return was growing in insistence. But among the joy, she felt something else, something hidden deep in the shadows of her ego.
Twilight didn't know when it happened, or how it had happened without her knowing, but she found herself being choked alive in the surprise hug she was receiving. She smiled at the little fact that this revelation had gone smoother than her reunion with Spike, but it dampened slightly when the Apple mare spoke next.
"Ah'm so-o sorry-y...Ah'm the one r-responsible for w-what happened to you." her pleas for forgiveness where stuttered by her crying, but these weren't just tears of sadness or those of joy. These were tears of guilt, fueled by her witnessing everything that came about due to her weakness on the day she was supposed to have died, and harbored for nearly a decade by the only lie she could successfully pull off, a lie to herself. That was why when Twilight tried to calm her down she responded by rejecting it immediately.
"No Applejack, it's not your fault...it never has been."
"Yes it was. If Ah hadn't been so bullheaded as to try and handle that rock thing on my own I wouldn't have gotten you killed."
"AJ, don't be stubborn, please. I was the one that sent you, along with the rest of the girls to fight the golem in the first place. So, if there's to be any fault, it's my own for not making the choice to evacuate the cave instead of taking a gamble at trying to beat that monster."
"But Ah'm th-"
"Applejack, no. I made my choice nine years ago to sacrifice myself so that you could live happily with your family, not so that you could wallow around thinking about how it could have gone differently," seeing how her friend was bound by guilt, Twilight used the force of that very emotion to break past her stubbornness. Many might call that technique cruel, but it was effective against the farm mare, putting an end to her stuttered apologies as they separated from their hug, "Besides, I'm here now for good, and nobody is going to change that."
Spike smiled at the pair, knowing that things would go smoothly from there on out. Of course, he understood it would take time for the farm mare to fully leave behind her guilt conscious, but at least now it would happen. Still, he had that feeling again that he was forgetting something really important involving Twilight, but he couldn't quite put his claw on what it was.
"So...back from the dead, huh?" Applejack's mind now had the clarity to realize what the lavender mare being in front of her meant, and how impossible it was supposed to be.
"Pretty much. There's nothing as confusing as waking up in a coffin with no idea how you got there, fighting your way through the Everfree, and arriving in what used to be a small town only to find that nine years have passed without my knowing."
"Don't you worry Twi, Ah'm sure you'll fit in just as good as you did before. Besides, we don't need to know how you came back, all that matters is that you are." Twilight didn't exactly agree with the part about not having to find out her revival's reason. Reanimation was something she had scarcely heard of, and every time she did it involved a rotting creature of pure evil being introduced into the world. Still, she was glad her orange friend had a positive view for the future.
"Only time will tell, AJ. Anyway, my little mysteries aside, how have you been handling as the head of the farm all these years?"
"It's had it's ups and down, just like you noticed a couple of minutes ago." Twilight now noticed that the suited mare's accent was severely reduced as opposed to the last time she heard her, no doubt a result of having to speak to more 'High class' ponies, "Damn Baron, he's been trying to take over my farm to set up a carriage factory on my land ever since he heard of Granny Smith's passing. He thought Ah would be a fool that would just hand over the deed to the farm if the pouch of bits looked big enough, but Ah wouldn't sell him this land willingly even if he had me at gunpoint." Applejack's ire at the snobbish red stallion was evident in her green eyes. She seriously hated him with all of her honest heart, especially the way he would scam the poorer individuals out of everything they owned, leaving them for dead out in the cold.
"So, he's been trying to swindle you out of your farm for all these years, nonstop?" Twilight was intrigued at how the passing of an elderly mare that was rarely seen in town could possibly attract a 'Big-shot' stallion with an appetite for power. Granny Smith had never mentioned any companies trying to conquer her own, but it was possible she had taken it as a secret to her grave, trusting her granddaughter to make the right choice when the time came.
"He sure has, and he'll probably keep doing it until he finds some other company that catches his eye, and I feel sorry for the fellas that do." Applejack's side of the conversation was interrupted by her stomach growling in protest at her negligence towards her hunger, bringing an embarrassed chuckle into the room, "Heh, Ah guess I forgot about dinner when Baron came in here. Would you two mind joining me? Ah made more than enough and Ah'd sure love to have some good conversation."
"I'm up for it. What about you Twi?" Spike chirped up from the sidelines, finally speaking since the serious atmosphere had dissolved away, not to mention that the trip to the acres had raised his appetite along the way. In all honesty, Twilight couldn't say she was in a much different situation, save for the fact that her hunger wasn't the issue, it was her terrible thirst.
Her thoughts once again wandered into unknown territory, casting a numb effect over her body as her subconscious mind put its instincts into effect. The amethyst eyes on her face trailed down from her friend's face towards her neck, where she could faintly see the little bulge under the skin that marked the artery. Her irises flashed scarlet for a second as she heard the steady, strong beat of the healthy farm mare's heart.
Thump-thump...thump-thump... thump-thump
The beautiful sound was music to her flicking ears, causing her dry tongue to slide over her lips almost imperceptibly as her saliva started to build up. Calculated plans of isolation and predation coursed into her mind without her knowledge, being brought in by a part of her that was desperately trying to win control over her motor skills.
"Equestria to Twi, you awake?" Spike's inquiry was enough to snap the lavender mare out of her trance for the second time that day. She immediately started berating herself out of fear, asking herself why she was having such strange ideas formed inside her head. Her horror wasn't just born from the thoughts themselves, they were born from the way she reacted to them at first, with enjoyment and anticipation. Perhaps some food would help quell her discordant line of thought.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that. I'd love to stay for dinner Applejack." the mare in the suit grinned widely at the interesting company she had, preferring them much more than the loudmouthed bastard that kept pestering her every week.
"Then come along, I hope you two'v still got a taste for apples, because Ah'm serving up some of Granny's famous apple stew."
Leave it to the Apple Clan to come up with every possible use of apples in foods. The obsession-like loyalty to apples that AJ still held strongly in her heart brought a smile to Twilight's face. Maybe, just maybe, she could live a normal life from thereon out. Even if her friends had gone through some changes during her absence, they were still the same mares she had saved the world with in the past at their cores, and all they need is someone there to bring them all together again.
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Fluttershy stayed true to her name as she fluttered towards the entrance to her house, a basket full of medical herbs she had harvested from the Everfree's edge hanging from her mouth's grip. The sun began to make its slow decent in the sky, meaning that the nocturnal predators of the forest would come out soon, put an end to her scavenging session.
As she put the basket down to open the door, her eyes wandered to a small tombstone in the distance, bringing a tinge of sadness into her heart. She had lost many animals over the years, mostly due to their short lifespans, but none of them had hurt her as much as Angle's passing had. In fact, it was almost as heart wrenching as Twil...
She shook her head slightly before she got too lost in thought like she usually did when she thought about death, not wanting to loose the confidence she had built up for the conversation she had to start soon. Her unlocked door was nosed open easily, granting her access to her cozily small cottage. The butterscotch pegasus trotted towards her coffee table to set down the herbs she had collected, placing them in plain sight so that she wouldn't forget to organize them later on during the night.
With her charge set down, Fluttershy walked back outside into the fresh air, ruffling her wings in the natural excitement all pegasi got right before they set off into the sky at speeds that could only be beat by teleportation. Of course, the animal-loving vet wasn't one of those pegasi, choosing to fly at a calm pace that would allow her to take in the surrounding scenery instead of just blurring it all with speed.
The afternoon's light caused all the clouds she flew past to glow orange, turning them into works of art rather than just parts of a system used to water the planet. One of such clouds refused to phase into a different color like the rest of its brethren, mainly because it was painted using rainbow juice to match the coloration of its owner.
Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion was reached by Fluttershy in a matter of minutes, due to how closely located it was to her cottage. The cloudway leading to the front door displaced slightly as the butterscotch pegasus' hoofprints were left in her path, fluffing back to its normal form after a couple of seconds of not having the weight on top of it. A yellow hoof came down gently on the doorway with a chromatic thunderbolt painted onto its features, urging the mare within to respond with a timely appearance.
The door opened almost immediately after the knocking was finished, swinging open to reveal the cyan pegasus within, who adopted an excited smile on her face when she saw who her visitor was.
"What's up Fluttershy?" the mare being addressed could faintly hear the sound of a running television coming from within the house, explaining why the speedster has answered so quickly.
"Hi Rainbow, I just came to check on you to see if you were prepared for tomorrow." at that, Dash's smile faltered a little. She never liked it when her friend came to ask her about their little treks, but she also knew it was an issue that couldn't be avoided. Her icebox was as barren as her cabinets by this time of the month.
"Oh...it's tomorrow?"
"Yes, you see, I just ran out of oatmeal, cereal, bandages, and most of the things I need every day. I think it'd be best if we go soon, if that's okay with you." Fluttershy was going to go, whether Rainbow went along with her or not, but it had become a habit to ask for permission for things as trivial as grocery shopping. Unbeknownst to her, the cyan mare felt as if she couldn't let her shy friend face the city alone, knowing how much she disliked large crowds. So, bound by loyalty and against her own wishes to stay secluded, she agreed to accompany her.
"Yeah, that's cool Flutters. I'll meet up with you first thing tomorrow morning." the quiet pegasus smiled back at her best friend, noting that the reluctance in her voice was a lot less concentrated than the first years after the accident, "Do you wanna come in, or what?"
"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but I need to get back home to organize my medical plants, maybe some other time." the butterscotch mare gave herself a pat on the back in her mind for turning down an invitation without hesitance. All of the extra time the duo of pegasi had spent together had altered their personalities in subtle ways, such as Fluttershy gaining more courage and Rainbow Dash learning to be more humble towards those around her.
"See you then. Good night Fluttershy!" the chromatically maned mare called out as her friend as she started to hover away towards her cottage, and made her way back inside her mansion after she flew out of sight. She didn't know why, but she had a funny feeling regarding the trip tomorrow, as if something was going on that she didn't know about. She chalked up her explainable sensation to just being a case of the jitters before walking back towards her living room to finish watching her movie.
"Nicoltas Cage, you may be good, but you're still no match for the Daring Do franchise."
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"And that's pretty much everything Ah'v changed sine I took over the farm, and things have been running smoothly ever since. That is, if you can look past Baron and his insistent attempts to convince me to give it all up."
Applejack took a chugged down her glass of her chilled, non-alcoholic cider to cool down her throat from her lengthy explanation. The fascinating details had Twilight extremely interested, almost enough to ignore her own orifice's protests, especially the part where her farm friend told her about how she managed to export all of her produces across Equestria after she entered a partner ship with a transportation enterprise.
Spike was going through his third dish of stew in his attempt to sate his hunger, which was still as big as it was nine years ago, gulping down everything in his bowl before serving himself another. His gluttony had him distracted throughout dinner, so he never actually got the chance to speak or listen to the two chattering mares sitting at the table with him. The only thing other thing his mind was concentrated on that didn't involve eating was that nagging sensation that he was forgetting something really important that would bite him on his rear of he didn't remember soon.
"Things have really gone swell with you then, Applejack. I have to ask though, do you regret having to lead the entire farm? I bet it could be a really stressful job."
"Ah don't exactly regret it, but sometimes Ah do let myself think back to the days when Ah would be applebucking. Ah love my job right now, always will, but Ah'd love it even more if things could just go back to being simple again, where Ah could be helping Big Mac with the orchards instead of being cooped up in here." Applejack reclined in her chair, remembering the days she would go adventuring with all of her friends, the days where every choice she made didn't determine the fate of the farm, letting her lips pull up into a happy grin elicited by her nostalgic memories.
"Why don't you just let somepony else you trust take some of the load of your back, like a co-owner of sorts. They won't have complete control over farm, but they'll be able to help you out with some of the smaller tasks, and to work as an adviser to you when you need to make important decisions." Twilight had learned a lot about business managing during her years at the castle. It was nearly impossible not to, what with being around the sun monarch of Equestria so much. That train of thought drove the lavender mare into a territory her mind hadn't wandered to yet, the one regarding the Royal Sisters. She had yet to send Celestia a letter informing her about her return, but Applejack spoke up before she could.
"Ah hadn't really thought about that. Shoot Twi, you've just arrived here and you're already solving one of my major problems. You haven't changed one bit." the stetson clad mare saw the look on her friend's face, and so did the purple dragon. It spoke of urgency that was about to be addressed, making Spike feel that sensation of impending doom much stronger than he had before.
"Thanks AJ, you just reminded me that I haven't told Princess Celestia about all of this. Maybe she can help me figure out why I'm back in the first place." Twilight noticed the weird looks her friends were exchanging, not liking them at all. Applejack seemed to be giving her assistant a disbelieving look while his eyes widened in recognition, and the both turned to look at her with nervousness plastered onto their faces. The farm mare's honesty was stronger than Spike's loyalty, forcing her to say something she would live to regret.
"Uhm, Twilight?"
"Yes?"
"Can you promise me you won't freak out about what I'm about to tell you?"
"Well I won't know unless you tell me what it is you're going to tell me."
"Just promise me will you."
"Okay okay, I promise. Now what's got your tails in a twist guys?"
"Princess Celestia...Princess Celestia's been missing for six years. Ah'm sorry Twi, but Luna told us tha-..."
The horned mare was gone. Her mind suffered a breakdown of proportions she had never dreamed of before, leaving her nothing more than an empty husk of emotions at the moment. Her pupils dilated as she retreated into the safety of her mind, trying to find comfort in her memories in hopes of making the reality she was faced with to go away. She wanted to weep, she wanted to curl up into a ball instead of going to search for her friends, but most of all, she wanted the world to make sense again. She sought out her perfect reality inside her subconscious, leaving the forefront of her mind perfectly vacant as Applejack tried to calm down the onslaught that was bound to break out due to her honesty-bound revelation.
The unicorn's head fell limply to the table, nearly falling into her bowl as her mind restarted itself. Neither of the other two occupants could see her face since the cowl had fallen into place along with her horned skull, concealing her features. When she lifted her head back up, the shadow cast over her facial features didn't let them see her expression at all, save for the leveled line that marked her mouth.
"Applejack...Spike...I need some time alone right now. Thank you for the dinner, but I think I need to take a walk to clear my head. Don't wait up for me Spike, I'll be home right after I'm done with my stroll."
That voice. That voice was not Twilight's, and the farm mare knew that just as clearly as the dragon's. Twilight would have gone half-insane due to the shock, instead, this mare set it aside as if it were nothing more than a trivial problem to be dealt with later. Before they could object, the unicorn stood from her spot at the dinner table, quickly making her way out through the front door. That little moment left the dragon and the head mare with slightly agape mouths, wondering what it was they had just seen. Perhaps they were wrong, maybe something had changed inside the lavender bookworm they loved, something more life-changing than any quantity of time could ever hope to amount to.
Further out in the field, a red stallion with a blond mane watched with wide eyes as what he believed looked like a mare sped through the trail leading into town, leaving a dust storm in her wake. The strand of hay he was chewing on fell out of his mouth as she blasted into the air, jumping from tree to tree as she made a beeline for the city, quickly disappearing from his line of sight.
'Now, we must drink, but who holds the correct elixir?
In no time at all, the cloaked pony found herself atop a particularly tall building, giving her a good view of the city that housed her. She briefly recognized that the cloak she had found in the castle yesterday was perfect for keeping her warm against the night air, but it was quickly drowned out by her base instincts as she scoured the city with her scarlet eyes.
From the point she was at, she could see the infrared signatures of the ponies walking the streets, sleeping at their homes, and a couple here and there that were lurking in the darkened alleyways of the city. Her eyes locked onto one of those in an alley, but another signature caught her attention before she made her move. It shone brightly even though it came from within a building, signifying that the plasma within that host would be perfect for consumption, and it was much closer than the alternative choice she had. Naturally, her sights set onto the easier target, locking onto her heat signature as she began to make her move.
The fanged huntress made her way across the rooftops, much like the day she had arrived, jumping across the gaps without a single pair of eyes seeing her in action. She made short time of what could have been a trip that could have taken hours, and she now stood atop a building in front of the one she had marked as her target for the night. Strange, she had been near that strange place before, but that didn't influence her choice to teleport inside.
She was greeted by very dim lights, which didn't really affect her due to her nocturnally adapted eyesight. The furnishing was simple, with multiple booths lining the wall leading her to the conclusion that she was inside a store again. Her horn tingled as a form of extrasensory perception kicked into effect, making her ears flick to the left. Her lightly glowing eyes widened as she heard the wind whistle almost imperceptibly, giving her the chance to raise a hoof in time to block a broom handle that would have swatted her on the back of the head.
The nocturnal predator seized the handle in her hooves and pushed it away, staggering the would-be attacker for a couple of seconds. The time granted was enough to let the lavender mare to spin around to see her opponent, who happened to be her target as well.
The mare she had chosen as her perfect source glared at her through a mane so slick it seemed to be sharpened to a point at its tips. Her celestially blue eyes took in her appearance just before the hardened to match steel, unyielding to the intimidation cast by the spellweaver. The three balloons adorning her pink flank shifted as she stood on her hind legs, balancing herself with the broom to shout at the intruder with a voice laced with universal venom before attempting to bash her again.
"Get out of my house!"