“UGH! Now where are we?”
Twilight grabbed a hold of Spike and held him close, thinking any moment another villain would try to take him. “W-Who cares!? We need to hurry and...stop...wait? Where are we?”
“That’s what I asked.”
Twilight and Spike then got their bearings, seeing that there was no devastation, no burnt roads, no chaos, no one screaming in terror, nothing but an empty four way street with regular buildings that were still intact.
Spike pointed up at the night sky. “It’s night...D-does that mean we’re still-”
“No.” Twilight said. :”The moon’s at a different position and it’s not full. I know she would want it to be seen by everypony.” Twilight took a look around. “It seems...normal, no chaos, no fighting, no screams. This is weird.”
“Well, it is nighttime.” Spike pointed out. “Don’t you think ponies would be in bed by now?”
“In a place that’s probably ruled by one of our other foes, I doubt it, everyone’s probably working to the bone or locked in cells, o-or even...worse.”
“Even worse, huh?” Spike was still curious. “Well, I doubt we’ll find anything worse...Hmm, lets see.” He got on top of Twilight and leaned forward. “No Chrysalis.” He turned to his right. “No Sombra..” He went left. “No Nightmare Moon.” Then behind. “No Dis...line?”
“Disline?” Twilight never heard of such a word. “Since when were we against a Disline? In fact, what is a Disline any...way?” She turned to where Spike was looking, which made him turn to the opposite direction. “What in the name of…”
Spike turned around again, craning his neck to the sky to see a building so tall that they couldn’t even see the top, and right in front of it stood a line made up of different creatures ranging from ponies to zebras to griffins to- “I-Is that a minotaur?” Spike asked.
“T-There’s no way…” Twilight whispered. “T-They have to be waiting to...go to a cell or something. Not...whatever this is.” Twilight threw her arms at the building, still shocked to see it this big.
“What is this anyway?” Spike asked before realizing no answer would follow.
“I-I don’t know, but I need to.”
“What!?” Spike got off her and stood in front, blocking her way. “Are you crazy, we’re going towards disaster. Do you really wanna face whatever's up ahead?”
“Spike, you were the one saying nothing bad is happening.”
“That’s just because I didn’t see it, now come on! We have to-”
“See this.” Twilight said, hoisting him on her back with her magic and continued walking forward.
“W-Why see it? W-We can see it just fine from here. Why would we get closer?”
“Because seeing a group of creatures, especially ponies, not fighting each other is a sign that something isn’t right...or, is good...or...I-It’s just...different.”
Spike stood up. “Then let’s leave, we don’t even have to be here right now.”
“It’ll just tack a second.” Twilight promised. “We’ll just go in, and if things get bad, we’ll leave, okay?”
Spike sat back down and crossed his arms. “Fine...but if I get wrapped up in chains again…”
Twilight ignored his wining and went up front where, seeing a griffin was standing impatiently. Twilight looked at Spike to see if he knew what to say, but he only shrugged for an answer, making her sigh and clear her throat. “Um, excuse me, are you-”
The griffin immediately yelled out, “Hey! Get to the back of the-” The griffin then gasped. “O-Oh my gosh, I-I didn’t know it was one of you...u-uh...f-forget I said anything...h-here.” He then backed up and pointed at the now empty spot. “G-Go ahead and cut in front of me.” He smiled nervously, like any moment he’d be in trouble.
The pony behind him wanted to object, but after looking at Twilight, he shut his mouth. Even the creatures behind him had the same expression of horror, even a muscular minotaur hid behind a pony behind him, quivering in fear. Twilight and Spike looked at each other in confusion, then back at them. Spike leaned into her ear and whispered, “Can we go now?”
Every part of Twilight wanted to just take the map and go, but seeing a time where no one was afraid (to each other, at least) or screaming or even fighting brought out her curiosity. “N-No,” Twilight whispered. “I have to know. T-there's no way this place is good.”
“What are you talking about?” The griffin said. “This place is the best! You should know, you and your friends made it.”
Twilight could only respond with a- “What…”
The griffin smiled. “Yeah, you really did bring the place to life, now...c-cut in front, I-I’m sure he’ll let you in.”
“Who?”
The double doors burst open, making the whole crowd go silent. “What’s the hold up!?” A loud voice echoed through the street. “Who’s stallin’ the line, I want names!?”
Twilight and Spike’s gasped once they saw who yelled out those words. They instantly recognize what it was. The green eyes, the pointed ears, the huge underbite, the gigantic paws. the small legs. “W-W..wha...w-what?” Was all she could stutter as the beast looked down upon her. Its eyes were menacing and its expression looked like he’d be ready for a fight, but after a few seconds of silence, the beast smiled and yelled out,
“OH! EEEEEY! If it ain’t Sparks! If I’d known it was you, I would’ve let you in n’stead of stayin’ in line.” The oversized beast smiled. “How’s it goin’, by the way? You already back from your trip?”
Twilight and Spike’s minds were still trying to process that a diamond dog was looking right at them and not proceeding to do anything but say hi. “I...I-I...what?” Twilight squeaked out.
The beast leaned on the side of one of the doors and raised his arm inside. “Well, come on in, Sparks! Don’t keep the boss and the rest of the public waiting. I’m sure he’d love to hear what ya did.”
“W-Why?...w-what did I-” Twilight couldn’t finish, instead, she was practically shoved into the building by his huge paw, landing head first with Spike landing on her back, also, head first.
She groaned and stood back up. “Hey! Why’d you-”
*SLAM*
“Push...me…” Twilight wasn’t sure how to handle this situation, her and Spike were practically thrown into the lair of whoever was ruling and already had no escape plan, besides the map.
“What just happened?” Spike asked, rubbing his head. “And why’s it so dark?”
Seeing this, Twilight lit up her horn, the only other light source was the one in front of them, which was just a pair of doors with flashing lights seeping through. “What the hay is this place?”
“Who cares, l-lets just get outta here.” Spike reached for the map, but Twilight took it out of his claws.
“Spike, I gotta know. This timeline is the strangest one yet, I haven’t seen any of my friends in danger, not a single creature has tried to get us yet, and I don’t see Starlight anywhere...something is very wrong.
“Then let’s just go!”
Twilight shook her head and made her way to the doors on the other end of the hall. “I’m sorry, Spike, we’re not leaving until I find out what’s going on here. This could be importANT!.”
Spike stopped her inches away from the door by pulling on her ears. “Twilight, what if this is a trap? What if it’s really bad? What if we see our friends...i-in a bad situation.”
“Then we’ll leave and try to forget this timelines exists.” Twilight put her hoof on the door. “Now, come on, we have a story to figures out.”
Spike sighed. “This is gonna suck…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The double doors must’ve been soundproof, because the second she opened them, a loud beat came pumping through both of their eardrums.
“What kind of music is this!?” Twilight shouted, covering her ears with her hooves.
“I-I dunno! C-Can we please leave now?” Spike did the same and closed his eyes. The music still seeping through his claws and into his brain.
Twilight continued moving, even though her eyes and teeth were clenched and her ears were flopped down to block out the noise, Spike managed to open one of his eyes just in time to see that Twilight was about to bump into someone holding three players of drinks. “Twilight! Look o-”
*SLAM*
Twilight and Spike fell to the floor and the drinks flew in the air, almost came crashing on top of them, but the yellow pegasus that was holding all of them managed to catch every drink on the platter and even get the one’s she missed on her wings and head. A roar of applause came from the crowd, making her blush and set all the drinks where they were. “Uh...T-Thanks…guess practice makes perfect.” She then turned to Twilight and brought her back on all fours with her arm. “S-sorry about that, miss, I-I was supposed to brings theses to...Twilight?”
Twilight managed to get her eyes straight and look right into the face of her friend in a waiter's outfit. “F-Fluttershy? Is that you?”
“Fluttershy? Where?” Spike got up and turned around multiple times to find her, only for Twilight to help him by grabbing his head and turning it too her. “Oh...oooh...t-that really is you, isn’t it?”
The shy pony nodded. “Um...y-yes, it is...W-What are you doing back here so early? I thought you were meeting-”
“What happened to you!?” Twilight yelled, seeing that her friend no longer had a long tail, but one as long as Twilight’s, and her face covered in makeup.
“W-What do you mean, I always look like this when I’m working. By the way, where’s your suit, T-The boss spent a lot of bits on that.”
“The boss?” Twilight’s suspicions skyrocketed. First a dog shoved her in this place, now her friends a servant to the crowd. “Where are they!?”
“T-The boss...H-He’s on the top floor...w-where else would he be?”
Twilight went face to face with her. “Take me to him. I've gotta know who's in charge.”
“Um...o-okay, I-I was on my way there anyways.” Fluttershy gulped and adjusted her grip on the platters on her wings and head. “T-This way.”
Twilight followed close behind, her ears getting used to the beat echoing through the room, which looked more like a club than anything. A bar in the corner, a stage that had a floor leading to the middle with a mic at the end. Twilight couldn’t understand any of it. “What kind of place is this? It’s not a chamber, it’s not some throne room, not a workplace for ponies...what is this place?”
Twilight bumped into the side of the elevator door, hitting one of the buttons. “Oh, a-are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight rubbed her head. “Yeah...I’m fine, what about you?”
“Me?” Fluttershy wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Um...I’m okay, I guess, nothing out of the ordinary has happened here at RovCorner.”
“Rov-what?” Spike said.
“That’s the name of this place...Um...Are you sure you're okay? You act like you’ve never been here before.”
“That’s because I’ve-”
*ding*
The three of them faced the elevator door as it slid open, waiting for it’s passengers. “Well, this way.” Fluttershy said, stepping in and waiting for Twilight.
Twilight put on her most determined face while Spike held onto her and gulped. “Here we go…” Twilight said, ready for her dece...or, ascent into the darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“H-Here’s his room.” Fluttershy pointed ahead, right at a large door, with a gold plate on top which read ‘the boss’.
Twilight was sceptical. “So, this elevator only has his room on this floor.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Of course, that’s how we designed it, don’t you remember, Twilight?”
Twilight sighed, knowing it would be impossible to explain. “H-How about I just go on ahead while you go back.”
“Um...o-okay.” Fluttershy pressed down floor button as Twilight and Spike exited the elevator, the doors slowly closing the sight between the two ponies and dragon before shutting.
Twilight looked up at the door, knowing there was no turning back once she opened it. “Last chance.” Spike said. Twilight just ignored him and raised her hoof to the door.
*knock knock knock*
A few seconds passed before a voice shouted, “Who is it?”
Twilight was hesitant to say, but she knew something was up, and she had to take drastic measures to find out what is happening here. “It’s Twilight!”
“And Spike!” Spike yelled out, getting a glare from Twilight. “What?”
“Well then, come on in! You don’t need permission.”
“I swear I’ve heard that voice before.” Twilight whispered.
“Me too.” Spike said. “But from who?”
“Only one way to find out.” With a deep breath, Twilight reached for the handle and turned it, ready to face whatever lies ahead.