Rarity awoke in the middle of the night. The dull ache in her sides had been plaguing her sleep all evening. Nightmares of both vicious, oversized mountain lions and Twilight’s funeral ensured that any sleep she was able to acquire was far from restful. Groaning in frustration, she slowly climbed out of the cot. Even with a fire roaring, it was far from a comfortable temperature - they were in the back of the cave. It seemed only fit she wait out the remainder of her restless night closer to the fire pit alcove.
Without looking toward her other companions, who, she assumed, were fast asleep, she slowly lowered herself in front of the makeshift fireplace and tried to curl up on the uncomfortable manila rug there. It was terribly scratchy and not the least bit soft, but at least it was warm. She felt the hot gusts of the fire’s breath wash over her face. The flames danced and flickered as they enacted their ritual of turning wood to white ash. There was a stack of firewood in the far corner that she assumed somepony had hauled there from quite a distance, as she didn’t see any trees in the cougar-filled canyon. It must have taken quite a bit of bravery to haul wood through a predator infested place such as the Galloping Gorge, and there was only one among them that would do it. Actually, he didn't so much have bravery as he completely lacked fear. Such a strange character...
She let out a great sigh. She knew it was quite an unladylike noise, but she wasn’t in the company of anypony. There was just a lot weighing on her mind. Twilight’s fate of course hadn’t left her thoughts. She knew that if anypony could find her counterpart in that other strange world, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the ones to do it, although she’d be loath to admit that to them personally. She spent a moment wondering what the two of them were doing. Had they found the other Twilight yet? Maybe they've run into the other Rarity. Knowing... well, herself - she'd be sure to help the two of them blend in better with that other world. Hopefully they were on their way back right now. She let out another sigh. Hopefully Pinkie, Fluttershy and herself would be heading back soon as well.
Agister hadn’t mentioned what they would be doing today, she assumed it was nothing. They had a hard enough time getting to this hideout themselves, and that was with a guide that knew exactly where it was and apparently could kill mountain lions singlehoofedly. She couldn't see how they would be able to leave so easily with one pony scraped up and one pony having a difficult time even walking. The thoughts of missing orders from important customers still weighed on her mind, but the newly revealed existence of some mysterious, malevolent force had taken the forefront of her thoughts. The safety of Twilight was now her primary concern. She knew the princes and princess would do their best to protect her, but did they know about the Disciples?
“Something bothering you, sweetheart?”
Rarity nearly jumped ten feet in the air. Swinging her head around wildly, she saw Dartmoor laying lazily on one of the couches. How had she missed him?
“What... How long have you been laying there?” she asked in shock.
“Pretty much all night. I can never sleep that well with other people around. Or when I’m hungover.”
Rarity didn’t know quite what to say. She hadn’t expected to hold a conversation so late at night. Or so early in the morning. She couldn’t tell which.
“Don’t… don’t call me sweetheart,” she blurted out, unsure what else to say.
“Whatever you say, Princess Priss.”
“No, just…”
“I’m pulling your leg, babe,” he laughed, “I’m from Assateague, down near Baltimare. It’s just part of the accent to address fillies affectionately, regardless if I know them or not - or if they’re perfect princesses or whiny little bitches.”
“Are you…?!” she started furiously.
“Just ignore it,” he sighed, “I’m not used to social niceties, see? Agister gets on me for it, but it’ll take a damn miracle just to get me to care enough to learn, saying nothing of learning it. You never answered my question.”
“What question?”
“What’s bothering you?”
“Oh…” she replied without commitment. He was right, there was a lot on her mind, but he wasn’t exactly the one she wanted to vent to. She would much rather talk to one of the other girls (alright, Fluttershy), or even that Agister fellow. But this brute? She sighed in exhaustion. An ear is still an ear, right?
“I suppose I am, well, worried. My dear friend, Twilight Sparkle, has met the most unfortunate fate, and…”
“You’re talking about the Kīla of Gothmog, right?”
Rarity’s jaw dropped, “How did you know about that?! Princess Celestia insisted the only ones who could know were the royals and Elements of Harmony such as myself. How…”
Dartmoor laughed, “You think secrets are that easy to keep? Surely a gossip such as yourself should have known better.”
“A gossip!” she sputtered, “How did you… I mean, what makes you think I’m a gossiper? I would never…”
“We have spies everywhere," he laughed, "Everyone worth knowing something about, we know something about them. As the new Elements of Harmony, you six fillies are some of the most important ponies in the empire. I’m sure the Disciples know quite a bit about you as well. Their spies well outnumber ours, after all.”
Rarity felt a chill, “You mean, these Disciple ruffians have been… stalking me?”
“I’m almost sure of it. You think every customer you’ve had were there to buy dresses? You think everypony at Pinkie Pie’s parties were really interested in dancing and playing foals’ party games? You think everypony who glanced at Sweetie Belle as she did that ridiculous crusading had purely innocent intentions?”
“You’ve been stalking Sweetie Belle?!” shouted Rarity in a furious rage. Her cheeks were inflamed with passion – nopony threatens her family.
“Calm down, lady!” Dartmoor whispered loudly, looking back to the figures sleeping on the cots, “We’re the good guys, remember? We aren’t watching your sister as much as we’re watching the ponies watching her, get me? So relax, we got it under control. We’ve got some of our top people in Ponyville right now. We don’t want anything happening to any of you six, you’re too important.”
“Yes, good job with that,” Rarity spat indignantly. She still wasn’t pleased with knowing these… ponies were watching her sister.
“Hey, we had no idea that they found the kīla! Believe it or not, we don’t know much more about it than you guys do. Agister’s tearing his beard out trying to figure out why it would make Twilight stab herself!”
Rarity fell silent. Any feeling of anger she had was quickly replaced by sadness as she was abruptly reminded of the cruel fate of her friend. Dartmoor, while completely lacking any social grace, nonetheless knew when he went too far. There was an uncomfortable silence in the dank cave, interrupted only by the heavy breathing of the sleeping ponies on the cots in the back. Eventually, the silence began to eat at her. As unpleasant as her companion was, it still helped her to have something to distract her wandering mind. Silence was not something Rarity was used to, so she tried once again to stir conversation from the uncouth earth pony.
“So… if I may be so bold, why did you join with Agister and his group again?”
Dartmoor had a strange look on his face, somewhere between thoughtful and bored, “Do you know about what happened on Assateague Island thirty years ago?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
“Well, I’m not going to get into it, but it was bad. I was just a young colt at the time, when the chaos started, like the devil himself took a interest in my village. Agister was much less grey at the time, worked in the government. I heard he used to report to Celestia herself, actually. Anyway, he was there on that day, and he just happened to come across me. He saved my life, and I never got to thank him for it. He wanted to take me in, adopt me. I was in no right state to live a normal life after… Assateague. I lived my days in the wild. I learned to hunt, to kill, to survive. I found Ayden abandoned when he was a fledgling about ten years ago. He's really been my only friend, the only one I've talked to. I traveled from Manehatten to Los Pegasus, Vanhoover to the Southern Badlands. I rarely talked to a pony, but I did do business with buffalo from time to time. I mostly dealt in forbidden goods, fur, drugs, dangerous magic artifacts - that sort of thing. My life was as simple, and simultaneously as complex as a life could be. Anyway, around the time the Crystal Empire reappeared, he found me.
“I don’t know how Agister found me; nopony ever found me before unless I wanted to be found. He asked me if I could help him, if I would join the resistance. I never forgot what he did for me, thirty years ago. I signed on right then. I don’t really care about the Crystal Empire, or King Sombra, or none of that. All I know is that Agister is the only pony who was ever kind to me, and I’m not about to leave him blowing in the wind when times are so dangerous.”
He stopped speaking abruptly, and Rarity almost expected him to say more. It seemed like Dartmoor wasn’t in the habit of telling stories, or even talking to other ponies, but Rarity had understood what he meant. She felt a tinge of sorrow for the stallion in front of her. Equestria was a relatively peaceful place, and there weren’t a lot of ponies who had to deal with kinds of tragedy and isolation this pony had gone through. The name “Assateague” was vaguely familiar to Rarity, but she didn’t quite remember its significance.
“I’m afraid I’m not quite familiar with Assateague Island. Would you…”
“No,” said Dartmoor sternly, “That’s not something I talk about. If you have to know, ask Agister later. It’s getting late, you should probably try to get to sleep.”
Rarity knew when to quit while she was ahead, even if her curiosity dictated that she continue to pester. She laid her head down on her hooves in front of her hooves, but it seemed sleep would evade her that night. Not because of her injuries, but the unrest of her mind.
***
Applejack awoke at the crow of a rooster. For a moment she forgot where she was in the haze of early morning sleepiness. The crow of the rooster meant there were trees needing bucking. She sleepily rolled out of bed and landed on all fours, but something wasn’t right. Her forelegs were way too small.
Oh yeah, Ah’m a human, she laughed to herself.
She shook the sleep out of her eyes and slowly pulled herself up in a standing position. She wasn’t used to standing up all on her own from a kneeling position quite yet, so she used the bed for support. She slowly crossed the room and opened the bedroom door. An absolutely delicious smell wafted in from the hallway. She inhaled deeply and smiled. Somebody was making breakfast. She walked over to the door she knew belonged to the guest bedroom and rapped loudly on it with her fist.
“Rainbow! Wake up, breakfast is ready!”
A barely audible grunt, full of sleepy laziness, met her ears.
“Oh for cryin’ out loud, Ah’m comin’ in!”
She walked into the bedroom to see an startling, if amusing, sight. Rainbow was laying on her bed with her head facing the foot of the bed. Her knees were pulled up to her chest in a fetal position with her face pressed into the mattress. Applejack wondered for a minute how she could breathe. Turning on the light, she jumped back with a familiar frenzy of adrenaline when she realized that Rainbow Dash was, once again, naked.
“Gosh durn it, Rainbow!” Applejack cried as she averted her eyes, “How many times have Ah told ya, ya have to wear clothes here!”
“All the time?” mumbled Dash into the bed.
“Yeah, all the time! Ah don’ wanna keep worryin’ about stumblin’ in on ya buck-ass naked all the time. Thank Celestia you’re plot’s facin’ the other way!”
All Rainbow Dash did in response to this statement was mumble slightly as she shifted in her position.
“Ah don’ even want ta think might happen if the other Applejack stumbled in on ya like this! The poor girl’s confused enough as it is without ya showin’ off your parts ta anybody unfortunate enough ta…”
“What?” asked Rainbow, looking up, “What’s she confused about? I don’t have anything she doesn’t have. I mean, I think so. I’m not really sure how human-people’s bodies work, but there…”
“Never mind,” responded Applejack quickly, “Forget Ah said anything. Just make sure ta get dressed before ya come down ta breakfast. Celestia knows ya already scarred poor Applebloom for life.”
She saw Rainbow Dash smile sheepishly as she closed the door behind her. She could barely hear the sounds of her rolling out of bed, so she turned around to go downstairs for breakfast. To her surprise, as soon as she spun around, she found herself standing nose to nose with her counterpart.
“Ya know,” Human-AJ said, “Ya really know how ta have the worst timin’ in the world. Ah was just about ta wake you two up for breakfast. How come Ah never get to stumble in on…”
“Applejack,” said Pony-AJ as she held a hand up to her mouth, “Shuddup. Y’all have issues.”
She could feel the other Applejack’s lips curl into a smiled underneath her hand. She just sighed and made her way down to the kitchen, ensuring Human-AJ didn’t try to take a peek into the guestroom. Apparently the two of them were the only ones who were up. She went to sit down in her usual spot to see the plates already had food on them. She had waffles, applesauce and cheese grits. She looks to the plate sitting at Rainbow’s usual seat and noticed a generous portion of bacon alongside the rest of her fare.
“Go ahead and eat up,” said Human-AJ, smiling at her, “We’re gonna be takin’ a trip around town ta talk to everypony Ah know. Ah’m sure somepony knows where we can find Twilight.”
“Y’all just can’t use that box thingy ta talk ta her,” asked AJ through a mouth full of waffle, “Applebloom was able ta talk to ya yesterday, and y’all weren’t anyway around!”
“That’s because she knew mah number, sugarcube. If Ah don’t know Twilight’s number, Ah can’t call her.”
“So let me get this straight. Y’all have to remember everypony’s numbers and their names? What the hay is the point? That’s just confusin’.”
Human-AJ laughed, “Naw, Ah don’t really remember anyone’s numbers. The phone does that for me.”
“Ya mean that phone-thingy jus’ up and knows people’s numbers? Then ask it what Twilight’s number is!”
The other Applejack opened her mouth to explain all the things that were wrong with that statement before promptly closing it. The pony-girl had a good point. Why didn’t they try to find Twilight online?
“Ya know what, sugarcube? Ah might jus’ do that.”
Applejack ate in silence as her counterpart messed around with her phone for a few minutes. The smile on her face slowly straightened, then became a complete frown by the time she turned off the phone in annoyance and looked up.
“Not a durn thing. Nothing in Google, no Facespace. Ah mean, no Facespace for cryin’ out loud! Even Granny Smith has a Facespace, although she uses it mostly ta post embarrassing picture on our pages.”
Pony-AJ had no idea what she was talking about, “So what does that mean?”
“What it means, sugarcube, is that this is gonna be a lot harder than it seems. Ah just hope one of the other girls knows somthin’.”
As Human Applejack was talking, Rainbow Dash entered the kitchen and flopped down in her breakfast chair. There were bags around her eyes, her hair was a mess, and Applejack was pretty sure she had her pants on backwards (though she had to admit, she wasn't exactly and expert on pants either). She was wearing another one of the human AJ’s outfits, and it was noticeable. There were huge stretches in the fabric where her chest was, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the cloth’s owner.
“Sorry about that sugarcube. Ah guess Ah fill out a little more’n you do. We can pick you up somethin’ downtown when we go if ya want.”
Rainbow shrugged sleepily.
“We can’t really afford to get ya that much, though. Ya may want ta stop by Rainbow’s – our Rainbow’s – place and see if she’d help ya out a little in that department.”
At this, Rainbow’s eyes lit up. She looked up eagerly, any semblance of exhaustion gone.
“Really? We’re gonna stop by the Human-me’s place? That’s just… awesome! Man, I wonder what her house looks like. I mean, I don’t think it’s made out of clouds, but if she’s just as awesome as me, I bet it’s just as cool. I wonder…”
“Hold up there, sugarcube,” Human-AJ laughed, “Ah doubt Rainbow’s even up yet. Ah need ta give ‘er a call a little later. Right now we need ta focus on getting’ stuff done. Ah don’ think Sugar Cube Corner is open quite yet, but Carousel Boutique usually opens pretty early. Fluttershy probably…”
“Uhm… excuse me? Did somebody say my name?”
All three girls looked up in bewilderment to the side door. A girl with long pink hair, half hiding her face, stood at the screen door that opened to the outside. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash knew immediately who she was from both her appearance and manner of speaking – the human Fluttershy. A loud barking noise accompanied her entrance, and a dog very familiar to everyone present bounding in the door. She jumped up on the human Applejack and immediately began licking her face.
“Durn it, get down, Winona,” Human-AJ laughed, “I plum forgot y’all were bringing her back today.”
“Yes,” smiled Fluttershy, “She’s doing much better. I think it was… meep!”
Fluttershy had entered the kitchen enough by now to notice Rainbow Dash and the doppelganger Applejack. Her eyes went wide while her pupils simultaneously shrank as she jumped behind Human-AJ.
“What the… Oh, you’re worried about them?” asked Human-AJ, “Well, shoot, this ain’t a easy story ta tell. Ya remember when Twilight came ta our school last year?”
Fluttershy nodded weakly.
“Well, these folks are from the same place as Twilight. They’re jus’ ponies who’re just like us. That’s Rainbow Dash, as ya probably coulda guessed. And the pretty one there is known as Applejack. There’s probably another Fluttershy over there too. Anyway, Ah’m glad ya stopped by. Ah forgot y’all were bringin’ Winona back today. Why stop by so early?”
“Oh, uhm, I have to go to class later,” she said quietly.
“Fluttershy here works as a receptionist at the local vet,” explained Human-AJ, “She’s also goin’ ta school to be a full-fledged veterinarian, although Ah think that’s jus’ insultin’. Our Fluttershy is good enough ta be a vet right now if she wants to.”
Fluttershy blushed at the compliment.
“Our Fluttershy’s pretty good at animal stuff too, ya know,” said Rainbow, “There was this one time, with this giant dragon…”
“MEEP!”
“…and she just gave it a hay of a talking to and zoom! – that dragon flew away faster than any pony in Ponyville. Besides me, of course.
“So anyway,” she continued, “What were you Applejacks talking about when I came down? I never got to ask.”
“Oh, Ah was jus’ saying how Ah couldn’t find Twilight on mah phone. Y’all never heard of a Twilight around town, have ya, Shy?”
Fluttershy shook her head, “Sorry, no.”
“Wait, hold on a minute,” interjected Rainbow, “What’s this phone thing you said you were searching? Huh?”
“It’s called a cell phone, sugarcube. It pretty much has anything you’d ever want to know on it,” Human-AJ explained as she handed the phone to Rainbow.
“So what do people use it for?” asked Applejack.
Human-AJ shrugged, “Mostly ta look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers.”
Applejack’s mouth hung open as she stared at her counterpart. What? Twilight Sparkle would kill – torture, maim and kill – to get her hands on something like that (well, she's think about it anyway). And the human’s use it to look at pictures? Maybe humans weren’t smart as they appeared.
“Cool!” cried Rainbow Dash, “You mean I can just like, insult a random stranger on this thing? How do I do that?”
Human-AJ sighed, “Just touch the little box that say ‘Umeagle’.”
Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out slightly as she concentrated on using her new found power. The Applejacks turned to Fluttershy, who withdrew slightly at the renewed attention.
“Ya got any ideas ‘bout where we should start lookin’.”
“Uhm, have you tried Pinkie Pie? She knows a lot of people in town, maybe…”
“Hey,” interrupted Rainbow loudly, “What’s ASL mean?”
“It means ‘age, sex, location’,” replied Human-AJ with a sigh, “They just want ta know a little about you.”
“Oh…”
“Ah think Ah agree with ya,” said Applejack, turning her attention back to Fluttershy, “She might be our best bet. Even if she don’ know Twilight, she might know someone that know her. Ah really shoulda asked her when we saw 'er the other day, but Ah guess we were too worried about gettin' somewhere ta sleep.”
The girls nodded in agreement. Everybody finished the food on their plates as Fluttershy waited patiently, rubbing Winona’s tummy. Dash grabbed bacon strip after bacon strip, frowning at the phone. Eventually, she growled and threw it back at Applejack. Everyone present raised their eyebrows, but knew better than to say anything. Eventually, breakfast was finished and Human-AJ put all the dishes away. She sighed as she saw that yet again, Rainbow Dash had refused to eat all non-meat items on her plate.
“Ah guess it’s about time ta get goin’…” she said as the dishes were washed.
"I have to go to school now," announced Fluttershy, "I'll try to come back later this evening, if that's okay with everybody?"
Applejack answered in the affirmative as the four girls walked to the front door as the chilly autumn air greeted them. Fluttershy got into her small hatchback as the other three made for AJ's turck. As they walked toward the truck, Human-AJ looked down at the last Umeagle conversation on her phone and chuckled.
You are now connected with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: ASL?
You: mare, pegasus, ponyville
Stranger: R U srs
You: huh
Stranger: male, dragon, fudgeumama land
You: dragon, really? how big are you?
Stranger: 20 inches and thick
You: wow, thats sad. i know a baby dragon whos bigger than you.
Stranger: thats not what your mom said last nite
You: that doesnt make sence
Stranger: i bet your moms easy
You: Are you calling my mom easy to beat!!!
Stranger: lol. No, your dad does that.
You: no way. noponys faster than my mom
You: except me
Stranger: LOL!!
Stranger: UR lame
Stranger: suck my balls
Stranger has left the chatroom.
***
Spike rolled over in his bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Where was he, again? Oh yeah – in Twilight’s room at the Crystal Palace. He closed his eyes to try to get some more sleep, but as desirable as it sounded, he couldn’t quite get there. His eyes were tired, but his mind was not. He groaned and opened them once more, revealing a tray of delicious looking food in front of him – a cheese and ruby omelet, toast and a glass of apple cider.
“Wow!” he exclaimed sleepily.
“Do you like it?” a voice to his left asked. He looked over to see a white pony with rose red hair looking after Twilight.
“Carmine!”
“I thought maybe you’d like a little something different today,” she smiled as she wrote something down on a clipboard, “The palace chef and I went to school together as foals, so I asked him if he had anything other than the usual pony fare.”
Spike took a bite of the omelet. It was one of the most delicious things he’s had in a long time. All of the food he could normally get in Ponyville was typical of a grazing animal – hay, flowers, grains and some fruit. A dragon could survive on such food, of course, but it was hardly desirable.
“I didn’t even know ponies ate eggs,” he said though a mouthful of food.
“They don’t,” she said as she sat down next to him, “but being a capital city, we have a lot of food fit for foreign dignitaries. I don’t think any gryphons, for example, would be caught dead eating a daisy sandwich.”
“Is this… Sweet Apple Acres cider?”
“Yep! It’s more popular than you’d probably have guessed. Shining Ar… I mean, the prince loves this stuff. Actually, I think the chef might have pulled this out of the prince’s personal stash. He might…. Well, he owed me a favor.”
“And you used it to get me breakfast?” Spike asked incredulously.
“What can I say?” she blushed slightly, “You looked like you could use a pick-me-up. You’ve been doing nothing but sitting in your bed reading those old books we got at the library. It’s like you’ve been possessed by Twilight…”
She suddenly trailed off as she had said something she didn’t mean. She looked over at Spike nervously, as if waiting to see if he got upset.
“It’s ok, Carmine,” he said, “I know you didn’t mean it. I know her soul is right where it belongs. I just know it.”
He cast a look over at Twilight’s motionless body on the bed. Carmine breathed a sigh of relief, her faux-pas overlooked.
“Do you think she can hear us?” he asked.
“Maybe,” she started thoughtfully, “In a normal magic coma, the patient can hear and see everything she would normally, but would be unable to move other than to perform basic bodily functions, like breathe. But with this thing,” she cast a glance at the Kīla of Gothmog, “I can’t really say for sure. Its power is unlike anything we’ve seen in either magic or medical literature. So there’s a chance she can’t but If you want to talk to her, that could certainly help. I can’t imagine what the poor thing must be going through, unable to talk or move.”
Carmine looked over at the ornate grandfather clock on the opposite wall of the guestroom.
“It’s about time for my shift to be over. Nurse Agate should…”
She stopped suddenly, her eyes attentive and ears perked.
“What…” Spike began.
She held a hoof to her mouth to shush him and crept toward the guest room door. There were sounds of shouting in the hall beyond the shut door. A faint sound of clashing metal. An explosion.
Almost as Carmine reached the door, it burst open on its own as a pegasus stallion with a shock of blue hair leapt into the room. He was all too familiar to Spike.
“Not you…”
“Who are you?!” demanded Carmine.
“I’m a guard. Flash Sentry,” the stallion panted, “Someone’s attacking the palace! Whatever you do, stay here! No matter what you hear outside.”
“Now wait a minute, the…”
Flash had slammed the doors shut before she could utter another word. Spike and Carmine Quartz looked at each other in utter shock and confusion. A great thud resounded from the door of the guestroom as it seemed Flash had shoved something heavy in front of it. Carmine immediately ran and tried opening the door.
“It’s no use!” she shouted, “They open outwards!”
“What are we going to do?”
Carmine looked around desperately before her eyes rested on a window. She flew toward it and threw it open with all her might. The crystal paving below them was an intimidating forty feet below. Shouting erupted from beyond the guestroom door, and both her and Spike spun their heads in fear at the ever closing sounds of battle.
“We have to jump!” she said with iron determination.
Spike simply nodded his head, trusting everything to the only friend he had right now.
“Help me get Twilight on my back,” she said as she tried pulling the comatose mare off the bed. A great thud landed against the door behind them. Spike froze with fear just as Carmine managed to ease Twilight onto her back. The alicorn laid in an awkward sideways angle due to the dagger still protruding from her stomach so Carmine had to continuously shift to ensure she didn’t fall off.
There was a thud at the door, as if something - or somepony - was thrown against it.
“Grab that sheet Spike,” she said. Spike did nothing but stare in fear, “Spike! Snap out of it!”
Spike shook his head to clear the cobwebs, but all he managed to do was make himself dizzy. He somehow shifted into autopilot as he ripped the top sheet off the bed. He wanted to think, to process what was going on, to come up with a plan, but it appeared his brain was unable to perform any function of thought. He made to hand the sheet to Carmine.
“I can’t tie knots!” she exclaimed, “I don’t have claws! Quick, use the bed sheet to tie Twilight to me.”
Spike hesitantly got to the task and tied Twilight to her back. Truth be told, he usually didn’t have a lot of reason to tie knots in the library, and it had been a year since Twilight had taught him how. He wrapped the sheet around her and started tying the corners in big bows under Carmine’s stomach. The door banged again as he heard the unmistakable sound of scraping. He knew what that meant – somebody was moving the obstacle that was holding the door shut.
“Hop on, hurry!” cried Carmine in panic. Spike jumped on top of the covered bulge on her back that was Twilight and held on tight. Carmine galloped to the window sill and jumped on the ledge.
“What are you doing?!” asked Spike desperately, looking down to the drop before them and then promptly shutting his eyes, “You’d have to be a pegasus or a unicorn to make it!”
“Hey, wait!” called a voice behind them. Flash Sentry had appeared in the open doorway. He rushed toward the three on the window sill, but Carmine gave a mighty buck. It landed squarely on Flash’s face, painfully knocking him back.
“Close your eyes and hold on!” shouted Carmine.
Spike shut his eyes as tight as he could as Carmine pushed off from the window sill with all her might. Spike felt the terrible sensation of weightlessness as they rapidly approached the ground below them.
***
Shining Armor felt a metal-clad hoof strike the side of his face. Laughter echoed around him. He was in his throne room, but it was almost unrecognizable. The brightly colored banners laid ripped upon the floor. His normal crystal guards were missing, having been replaced by what appeared to be street ruffians. A unicorn stallion with a great scar on the left side of his face stood in front of him. He briefly shook the pain out of the hoof he had just used to hit Shining.
“I said, where is Twilight Sparkle?!”
All he got in return was a sarcastic smile from the Prince.
“Fine! If you won’t tell us, maybe we can get your wife to tell us!” the scarred stallion screamed, “All of you, come on. We’re moving this party to the king’s armory.”
As the rest of the ponies in the room began moving toward the combined armory and torture dungeon, the unicorn leaned close to Shining Armor. He whispered so that nopony else could hear – “How much do you think we can stretch Cadence on the Rack until she breaks? I bet those prissy little wings will rip off first…”