All of the young ponies were in shock from hearing that Spike had somehow obtained a jewel from the Lot D. They stood there with eyes wide and mouth hanging open, except for Fluttershy who was shivering in the ground with hooves over her head.
Twilight was the first to shake into a recovery. “Okay, what is does this Gem of Death do? It can’t possibly be as bad as it’s name, right?”
“I am afraid it is quite bad. I think,” Musky Brew, an old artifact seller said. She started looking around with a bit of confusion on her face. “Wait, I can remember what the gem did. Let’s see. Something that has to do with, with death I’m assuming.”
“Think harder, please. What does the gem do?” Twilight beseeched.
“It’s right there on the tip of my tongue.”
“Ooh, let me guess.” Pinkie Pie sprang out from the bush. Appearing from seemingly every angle, she said, “Does it remove bad breath? Clean up stains? Suck moisture out of the air? Look pretty on a dress? Oh, oh, it stops paper from flying away in the wind!”
“Pinkie, let the mare think,” Applejack said as she stepped on the curly pink tail to curb the bouncy pink pony.
“Wait,” Musky Brew said. “Yes, I remember now. It sucks the life force of the wielder.”
“Suck the life force out of Spike?” Twilight’s eyes were wide in horror. “We have to find him, now!”
Musky Brew nodded. “Yes, if we find him, I can easily save him. There is a rather simple spell that can be used to protect whoever holds the gem, but there are none to stop its effects. I just need to protect Spike with the spell, take back the gem and everything will be alright.”
“Say.” Rainbow Dash hovered over, nervously looking around. “What would the effects be if the gem was eaten?”
“Eaten? What kind of question is that? Who would eat gems?”
Twilight’s horror only grew larger. “Spike would! Dragons eat gems.”
“Oh.” Musky Brew seemed to deflate, and her age was catching up, making wrinkles appear all over her face. “That might change everything. I have no idea what happens if the gem is eaten.”
“Come on, let’s go find Spike,” Twilight said. Her eyes had a fierce, determined look.
“Yes, I’m coming,” the old mare said. She slowly turned the cart around.
Applejack nudged Musky Brew on the side. She tilted her hat back and said, “I’ll take care of the cart for you ma’am.”
“Thank you very much, young one.”
“Yeah, and I’ll take care of you,” Rainbow Dash said. “We don’t have time to be taking it slow.” The tomboyish pegasus swooped down and picked up the old mare.
Fluttershy helped out by flying underneath and giving Musky Brew hind leg support. “Let us know if we’re going too fast, okay?”
“I’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time I’ve flown you know.” Musky Brew raised her hoof and pointed forward. “Now, let’s go.”
Meanwhile, Spike had just woken up. He held a claw up to his pounding head. How much time had passed since he fell asleep? The immediate area looked familiar, and yet, everything was strange. The colors of the world appeared faded, almost to the point of being black and white. Edges of the plants blurred into each other. The nearby bushes looked like nothing more than a blob of pale green. A heavy mist stopped him from seeing further than a the immediate area.
“Hello?” Spike called out fearfully. “What’s going on here?”
The young dragon took a few steps forward. A noise caused him to burst into a run. He entered into the fog and reappeared into the very same area. Spike tripped over something on the ground. Rolling to a stop, he found himself at the foot of a mysterious pony.
The pony was wrapped in a black cloak, from nose to tail. Only grey his hooves were visible. A pair of yellow eyes glowed from within the shadowy hood.
“Musky?” Spike asked hopefully.
No answer.
Taking a few steps back, he said, “Zecora?”
Still no response.
“Erm, okay. I’ll be going now.”
“Wwwait,” the cloaked stallion said. His voice flowed like the wind at night, transient and skin chilling. “Dddragon. I am here for yyyou.”
“M-me?” Spike held up a claw to his chest. “I think you must be mistaken. I don’t know you.”
“Ttthere is no mistake. You are dddead. I am here to hhhelp you move on.”
Spike shook his head while backing away. “I’m not dead! No way. You’re crazy.” He turned to run, only tripping over the same thing again.
The stallion stepped forward. He pointed to the object Spike had tripped over. “Lllook.”
Spike let out a yelp when he saw what was on the ground. It was him, or rather, his unconscious body. The Spike on the ground looked so peacefully still. How could that be? He was here, not there. Scrambling away, he ran into the mist. Coming out, he saw the mysterious stallion standing there, calm as a statue.
The little dragon tried many time to get out of the misty area. He eventually discovered that the mist acted as a boundary. Every time he got out of the area, he merely appeared on the other side.
Trotting forward, the cloaked stallion stood in the path of the running dragon. Spike collided against what felt like a solid wall.
“N-no,” Spike protested again. “It can’t be.”
“Yyyou must go. This wwworld is not fffor you anymore.”
“All my friends are here! I can’t leave them. They need me, and, and-” Spike couldn’t say anymore as tears gathered in his eyes.
“Lllet us go. The lllonger you ssstay, the hhharder it will be to llleave.” The cloaked stallion walked forward to a numb Spike. He picked up the dragon with his mouth. Rearing his head back. he flung Spike onto his back.
On the nearby path, Twilight and the other ponies were travelling in a hurry. They called out, “Spike!” hoping for a response, but none came. Both unicorns had their horns glowing to light up the dark wood path. Owlowiscious’ eyes were shining brightly in the darkness. He and Fluttershy were scanning the area from the skies.
“Wait!” Twilight suddenly stopped.
Applejack hadn’t been prepared and ran into her. Backing out of Twilight’s butt, the rancher pony asked, “What do you see, Twi?”
The book loving unicorn stepped forward. Lowering her head, the light around her horn revealed a flower that had been crushed into the dirt by heavy wheels. “This is the flower I asked Spike to find!”
“Spike!” everyone started calling out again.
Hearing his name had shaken Spike out of his stupor. He couldn’t reach them however as the cloak of the mysterious stallion was wrapped around him tightly. They were travelling through the ground. He was somehow able to see through the dirt and up at his pony friends.
“Twilight!” Spike called out. No one seemed to hear him. “Rarity! Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash!”
The old mare, Musky Brew, stared at the ground as if she saw something. She even jumped off Rainbow Dash to get a better view. What she saw, however, was merely a shadow that probably came from some leaves under the moonlight.
The other ponies were frantically searching the area. It was Owlowiscious that finally flew into the middle of everyone, hooting excitedly.
“He found something,” Fluttershy said.
“Lead on Owlowiscious,” Twilight said.
Leading on didn’t really entail going far. The brown owl just flew off through the bushes on the side of the trail.
“Spike!” Everyone said in unison when they saw his still body just behind the bushes. Twilight was the first to his side.
“Is he alright?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight’s hoof was pressed onto his chest, and her head was tilted near his mouth. She could barely get the words out.“He’s not breathing.”
“Oh no, poor Spike!” Rarity exclaimed. “Do something Twilight!” She shook the other unicorn vigorously.
“Where’s that gem?” Applejack asked.
After pushing Rarity off, Twilight looked around. “I don’t see it. He must have eaten it.”
Pinkie zipped up to spike. “Let’s get it out then.” She pried his mouth open with her hooves. Her head was unable to fit inside, no matter how much she tried.
From below, Twilight forced Pinkie’s head away with her own. “Keep his mouth open. I think I can see something.”
“Okey dokey lokey.”
Using her horn to create light, Twilight peered inside. Everyone else watched tensely as she worked. As the seconds passed, they bit into their lower mouth more and more. Carefully and slowly, Twilight wrapped her magic around the gem. Sweat dripped down her face and around her nose. Fluttershy wiped it away with a towel.
“I think I got it,” Twilight said in a strained voice. Inside Spike’s throat, the gem wiggled around. She had to be very careful not to use too much power or move the gem too much. “Come on. Come on.” The Gem of Death slid forward, bit by bit. After getting it past the hard part, Twilight wrenched her head back, accidentally smacking into Pinkie Pie’s nose, but the gem flew out.
Musky Brew caught the gem in a black towel. Her hooves worked quickly to wrap it up.
“Is Spike alright?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight shook her head. “He’s still not breathing.” Looking back to the old mare, she asked, “How fast does the Gem of Death work?”
Musky Brew shook her head. “Normally, it would take at least a week to have dangerous effects, but I don’t know what happens if the gem were to be eaten. I think,” Musky Brew sighed, “that the Gem of Death must have sucked out all of his life force.”
“No!” every pony gasped. Moonlight bounced around in the tears on their face. Owlowiscious landed solemnly on Twilight’s back.
Twilight continued to nudge Spike’s body. Her tears dripped down to the ground. “Spike, you can’t be gone. I need you.” Her voice was cracking badly and the words could hardly come out.
“There might be hope,” Musky Brew said. She looked down awkwardly as seven pairs of eyes zoomed to her. “Might, as in chance, for poor Spike.”
“What?” Twilight said immediately.
“I saw something I have not seen in a long time. A shadow of death. They are the ones that bring lost souls to Lot D, where all souls go. Normally, the shadows of death are completely invisible, but when a soul has not truly been lost from this world, their invisibility fades somewhat.”
“So what you’re saying is,” Twilight’s brow were furrowed in concentration, “Spike was taken away by one of these shadows. However, you saw the shadow, which meant that Spike isn’t really gone?”
“He is gone,” Musky said, “though only mostly gone. At this point, it is still possible to bring his soul back to his body and he’ll be alright.”
“Really?” Every pony perked up. Rarity looked particularly messy from her eyeshadow running under the flow of tears.
“It will be very dangerous however.” Musky Brew looked at each of the tear filled yet hopeful faces. She didn’t want to tell them because of where they must go. Yet she knew they would do everything in their power to get their dear friend back. She didn’t have the heart or courage to stand in the way of that. “Lot D, that is where Tartarus, prison of monsters, is located. It is deep underground, where the sun and moon won’t reach. In there, you will no longer be under the protection of Princess Celestia. But if you want to get Spike back, you all must go into Lot D and retrieve his soul!”
A long silence followed. All the young ponies nodded, one at a time, starting with Twilight and ending with Fluttershy.