The Dawn Before Twilight

by CinnabarPony

The Loophole

Starlight Glimmer lie fast asleep in her bottom-floor bedroom of Twilight’s castle, limbs sticking out in odd positions and mouth slightly ajar.

The majority of her blankets, at some point during the long night, had migrated down onto the floor, as well as her pillow. Despite the sun having already come up, the violet unicorn continued to snore soundly, the patter of rain outside lulling her calmly into slumber. She had good reason for sleeping in late, however, as Trixie’s show in Las Pegasus had taken far longer than expected, thanks to her multiple encore performances, whether or not the audience had obliged to such. It was late last night when she groggily made it home, nearly collapsing a few times before finally making it to the warm embrace of her bed. She hadn’t seen Twilight, assuming her mentor was already asleep. But Starlight had a feeling the alicorn would understand if she slept in a few extra hours that morning, at the cost of being a good friend.

All of a sudden, unbeknownst to the dozing unicorn, a luminescent, sparkling green flame made its way magically through a window and above the sleeping mare’s head.

"No, Trixie... you know you can't pull Angel out of a hat... Fluttershy'll be so..."

With a soft plop, her eyes snapped open to find a rolled up piece of parchment sitting on top of her muzzle.

Starlight pulled herself up to the edge of the bed and yawned with great vigor, the letter levitating before her in her magic aura. Dragon fire; the only letters she’d ever known to have been sent by dragon fire were those from Spike, seeing as most dragons of Equestria weren’t too fond of using their fiery breath for mere postage. Why would Spike be sending her a letter? His room was right nearby, he could easily just walk in and ask her for whatever he needed. Feeling half annoyed, half confused, and all exhausted, Starlight rubbed her eyes and unravelled the scroll. Scanning the rather brief note addressed to herself, her baggy eyes began to slowly widen, as did her mouth, from which a startled shriek came forth as she fell off the bed in a mangled heap.

Barely a second after she had finished reading, the unicorn was out the door in a flash. Running through the endless hallways of the castle that resembled more a labyrinth, Spike's words leaped out at her, baffling her sleep-deprived brain and adhering themselves permanently in her mind.

She’s not even acting like herself anymore. I can’t reason with her.

Starlight couldn’t believe it. How could she let something like this happen to her mentor while she was away? Dashing towards the throne room, Starlight wondered how long it would take her to rally up the Elements and somehow find their way to Canterlot. She wondered whether it would be too late by the time they did.

---

In the end, her question was answered quite simply for her. She found all five sitting less than contently, each on their respective thrones around the cutie map. Starlight noticed that most of them were staring at the single empty throne, that of Twilight. Spike was, understandably, nowhere in sight. Starlight had to remind herself that he was in just as much danger as the Princess, trapped in Canterlot alongside her.

“Starlight, dear,” Rarity put on an somewhat fatigued smile, seemingly the only one to even notice Starlight had entered. “We're glad you're up. How was your trip?”

"Rarity! Girls!" Starlight was panting by the time she reached everypony, and she wobbled from side to side, struggling even to see straight.

Rarity daintily hopped off her throne, looking concerned, "Calm down now, Darling. What ever is the matter?"

She shoved the letter into Rarity's face with her aura, and somewhat manically turned to face the others. "I just... got a note ...from Spike. Something's wrong. Really, really wrong."

"With Twilight?" five voices asked in unison, as everypony jolted to their hooves. Starlight nodded.

"Oh my, what's happened to her?" asked Fluttershy.

"Ah told her we should'a been there to protect 'er..." Applejack grumbled, stomping a hoof on the ground. "Is she alright?"

"Goodness..." Rarity was in the middle of reading Spike's letter, expression wide with shock, "Starlight, this doesn't mean to say... Twilight's been...?"

"Corrupted," Starlight finished, then swallowed.

Rarity put a hoof to her muzzle and stared back at the others, who wore similar expressions of worry and fear.

Pinkie eventually cocked her head and asked, "Um, what exactly does that mean, Starlight? Rarity?" She looked around at the others, "You don't mean- not like, when..."

"Yeah, like... like what happened to King Sombra," Rainbow began. "Right, Starlight? You know about this kinda stuff, don't you?"

"Not nearly enough, but I have studied corruption in the past. In short, it means dark magic's taken a hold of her. So, yes, like what happened to him. But dark magic comes in many different forms, and can vary in power. Depending on how bad the corruption is, I don't even know how long she'd last."

"Wait-" Rainbow interjected. "You mean, this thing'll actually kill her?"

Starlight shuffled her hooves, resting her gaze on her bed-headed crystalline reflexion, "Worse case scenario."

"Oh dear, and it seems as if all of the other princesses are incapable of helping her," breathed Rarity, her panicked gaze still glued to the letter in question. "They've been put into comas? How in the wide world of Equestria is that even possible?"

"With all that dark magic..." Starlight was still looking down at her hooves, her mind conjuring up all the countless fates awaiting her mentor that she could very well be powerless to stop. "...who knows what she's capable of. And getting the other royals out of the picture is probably the first thing on the bucket list. We're lucky that's all that's happened to them, for now."

"Ya said dark magic comes in a lot a different forms, didn't ya, Starlight?" Applejack asked. "Does that mean Twilight could be corrupted just as bad as the king? That she could go on enslavin' ponies, takin' over Equestria, all that?" a chill ran down the earth ponies' spine at the mere idea of it.

"But... but that just can't be true!" Pinkie finally pepped up once more. "Twilight would never do anything like that. She wouldn't hurt the other princesses! She's... she's not anything like Sombra was! Oh, I just knew we shouldn't of let her fly off without us!"

"And why now?" asked Rarity, rolling up the parchment once more. "Why so suddenly? Out of all the times dark magic could choose to go after our dear Twilight..."

"It's when we aren't there to help her!" barked Rainbow.

"I- I'm not sure..." Starlight staggered in her speech, at the cause of more than just fatigue. To be quite honest, being in charge of a situation, especially with ponies as important as the Elements of Harmony, was still quite threatening to say the least. "A short letter isn't all that much to go of off. But I assume, whatever this dark force is, that it wanted to strike at a time where we couldn't help. And I can only imagine it'll get worse without us there for her."

"So, what are we waiting for?" Rainbow Dash leaped into the air immediately. "Twilight's in danger! We gotta get to Canterlot and stop this whole corruption thing and then give it to her her for not listening to us in the first place!"

"Oh dear, that sounds a bit harsh." said Fluttershy "I doubt any of this is Twilight's fault, Rainbow. She just wanted to protect us."

"Twilight's always put herself before her friends, we can't blame her for that..." Starlight found it difficult to look at anypony else in the eye. There was a clash going on inside her head, a battle of sorts, where not a single emotion could succeed in taking the wheel. "In any case, Rainbow Dash does make a point. We've got to get to Canterlot as soon as we can, before things get any worse for anypony there."

That was at least something everypony could agree on. Without a second thought, the mares had spilt up in order to prepare themselves for the long journey and had all agreed to meet up at the Ponyville train station as soon as possible.

---

After swiftly regrouping, five worried ponies sloshed their way through the muddy roads of Ponyville, mud matting their fur and fog clouding their vision, all eager to catch the next train. Though the thunderous weather of last night had passed, the rainclouds that had rolled in from the direction of Canterlot last night showed no sign of ceasing their downpour, and neither did the mist that had somehow managed to swallow Ponyville whole. Rainbow threatened on multiple occasions to fly up there and show those clouds who was boss, but was eventually persuaded against it. Everypony needed to keep their eyes on the prize, after all.

When everypony had at last reached the platform, Dash still giving the rainclouds above menacing glares, Rarity seemed to be the only pony who had not yet returned. The barely-visible surrounding streets seemed completely deserted. Considering the dreary state Ponyville was in, it made sense that nopony would be itching to take a stroll out in the open.

Everypony was soaked in rain and mud by the time they arrived, and were pleased to find that the next train to Canterlot would be arriving shortly.

“But... um, what about Rarity?” Fluttershy asked. She was violently shaking from the brisk morning air and freezing rain, and panicked when she noticed the single no-show member of the group.

“Well, if she doesn’t get here on time to catch the train, we're leaving without her. She can take the next train to Canterlot if she wants to!” It was unclear if Rainbow was yelling out of annoyance or just so the others would be able to hear her over the loud rainfall. It could very possibly have been both.

Applejack grumbled, “Quite the element of loyalty, aren’t ya, Dash?”

“I am being loyal!" Dash retorted defensively. "Loyal to Twilight! She and the other princesses need us and i’m not about to let Rarity-”

“...Let me what?” spoke a familiar voice behind the hostile duo. When they turned their heads, they found the snow white unicorn, decked out in matching violet rain boots, jacket, and umbrella, her pristine coat and mane completely shielded from the harsh weather. Had Applejack and Rainbow not known the mare for years, they would have probably questioned or even berated her for almost making them late at the cost of an outfit. But this was Rarity, and there really wasn’t use in doing either with her.

“Nevermind, Rarity. We’re glad you’re here. The train’ll be comin’ soon.”

“Why of course, Darling. I would never be late to something such as this. This mission of ours is of utmost importance, as is poor Twilight's wellbeing." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "A little protection against the elements never hurt anypony. Look at you all, why, your conditions will be so bad by the time we reach Twilight that you won’t even have the strength to help her! Come here, Darling,” Rarity pulled a shivering Fluttershy towards her and attached her umbrella to the pegasus’ back.

Rainbow Dash had to bite back a curse, admitting to herself that Rarity did sort of make point with what she was bringing up. The cold seemed only to get worse as they waited. Rainbow’s teeth had started to chatter already.

“It’s too late to go back now, here it comes.” alerted Starlight, easily just as cold and uncomfortable as the rest. On the bright side, the icy water running down her spine was doing wonders to wake her up.

The train screeched to a halt in front of the five cold and soaking ponies, plus Rarity. Though even with an umbrella, Fluttershy seemed to be in the worst state of anypony on the team. Noticing this, the others were quick to let the little pegasus onto the train first. Starlight paid for their tickets with a few of the bits she had brought along with her, enough to last them a good while, she hoped, while the inspector glared daggers at the ponies tracking big, muddy hoofprints into the train car. Starlight could do nothing but offer an apologetic smile and swiftly go join the others.

The train began to accelarate, six wet and unsure mares the only ones seated in the car. For a while, nopony spoke. The chugging of the train engine and the rainfall outside the only noises that could be heard. Even though the inside was considerably warmer, Fluttershy was still quivering and had begun to sneeze frequently. Starlight feared the delicate little pony had already caught a cold. The entire vibe of the train car was identical to that of the world outside. Even Pinkie’s usual smile was barely noticeable as she impatiently tapped her hooves on a window sill.

“So…” began Rainbow, sprawled out across her seat, boredom quickly overcoming her. “Once we get to Canterlot, what are we gonna do about Twilight?”

“What do you mean, Darling?” asked Rarity, caught admiring her very eye-catching violet. “She is our friend. The reasonable thing to do is to find her and then try and talk things out.”

“But, you read Spike’s letter. He says Twilight’s not even herself anymore, didn't he? That there’s no reasoning with her.”

“Well, it’ll be different once we’re all there for ‘er.” argued Applejack. “When she sees the rest of us, maybe she’ll snap outta it. Or at least agree to talk.”

Pinkie's smile widened for a minute at Applejack's words, but then slowly faded once more, eyes still fixed on the swiftly passing scene outside.

Rainbow groaned, "But what if we can’t talk her out of it, you guys? This is magic stuff, whatever’s happening to her. I dunno if just talking’s gonna help! Especially if this is as bad as what happened in the Crystal Empire! Even the princesses couldn't stop her! And that was all of them together, wasn't it?”

"Well, we've had luck talkin' to ponies so far to get 'em over on the right side. And the six of us know Twilight better than anypony. Wouldn't it be simpler, if anythin'?"

"No, no, you've got to understand, corruption is something entirely different." Starlight's brain felt it had just passed through the ringer after the surprise, terror and exhaustion of that morning, and she was currently doing her best to rack her memory for possible answers. A nap would have been far more preferable. "It won't be Twilight we're talking to, at least, not entirely. Dark magic... it does truly awful things to ponies. King Sombra turned into a soulless monster, there was never any hope convincing him. Dark magic strips you of the pony that you are inside, it feeds off of your hate and lust for power while increasing it still-"

"Uh, Starlight? No offense, I thought you said you didn't know too much on corruption."

"Yeah, you're rattlin' on just like Twilight over there," chuckled Applejack.

"Right, sorry," Starlight eventually lifted her head and blushed slightly. "Maybe I soak up more during those lectures of hers than I think I do. Point is, if we can't talk it out with her, we're gonna need some kind of a backup plan."

"Well, I say we if we can't get to Twilight, the other princesses are our best bet, right?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, of all ponies, they've gotta be the most qualified to handle this sort of thing."

"Just makes me wonder how it happened in the first place..." Starlight muttered.

“I very much agree, Rainbow.” said Rarity. “So, that's our course of action? Try and have a rational conversation with the dear, and if that proves… ineffective... do our best to rescue Celestia, Luna, and Cadance first, and employ them for additional assistance."

“And- and Spike!” Starlight interjected, at last coming to her senses. “He sounded so scared in that letter. I can only imagine what he’s going through right now, with all that’s happening. We need to make sure he’s safe.” Having lived with the little dragon for a good while now, Starlight had grown to care for Spike as if he were almost like she would a little brother. His situation made her worry just as much as Twilight’s.

“Why, of course,” stated Rarity. “Though I doubt Twilight would dare to hurt him, I assume little Spikey Wikey is simply mortified wherever he is. We must take care in getting him out unharmed.”

“Yeah,” agreed Rainbow. “Like you said, all the other princesses are in... commas, right? Who says that can’t happen to Spike?”

“Comas, Rainbow," corrected Rarity. "And yes, I suppose that is a possibility. We must do our best to ensure his safety, the poor little one.”

A sniffling Fluttershy listened in silently to the entire conversation, which only succeeded in making her even more fearful and worried. She wanted nothing more than the two of her bestest friends to be alright, not to mention Equestria's rulers, and from the looks of things, such a goal wouldn’t be a very easy or straightforward one. Through the shivers and small sneezes for which she was helpless against, Fluttershy promised herself that she’d help Twilight and Spike, and the rest of her friends in any way she could.

Dead silence hung on the train for a while after that, save for the occasional sneeze from Fluttershy.

Rainbow stared up at the ceiling, “Starlight, just thinking, are you sure there isn’t any kind of, spell or something….”

“No, Rainbow, there is no ‘spell or something’. I can’t fix something if I don’t know what it was caused by. Or what exactly it is, for that matter. First thing's first, we need to get answers from the source.”

Rainbow retreated into silence once again with Starlight’s rather vexed response. The unicorn found herself guilty over her tone, Rainbow had caught her in a moment of panic for her mentor, worrying whether Twilight would end up alright and if somehow she herself could have prevented all of this. Surely Rainbow would understand that. But before she could begin any sort of apology, Pinkie Pie gasped and pounded a hoof against one of the train windows.

“Um, you guys, is my memory sore, or does Canterlot not usually have loads of scary-looking guards circling around it?!”

The others gathered to get a look. Pinkie was right. There were dozens of royal pegasus guards in the sky, all patrolling the capital city. It seemed that reaching Twilight would be a bit harder than they all were expecting. Out of nowhere, Rarity let out a shriek and shielded her head with her hooves. A fully armored pegasus guard was speeding right towards the car.

---

Once she had heard the news of six very familiar ponies on their way to Canterlot, Princess Twilight was quick to place a suspect. She strutted briskly towards the guest room where she had left Spike, her face twisting into an angry grimace. She was less than pleased, to say the least, and an deep growl escaped her mouth every so often as she made her way towards her destination. Nopony dared to get in her way, all castle staff stepping aside and courtly bowing whenever the princess stormed past.

When she got her hooves on that dragon...

Spike was still in Twilight's guest room. He knew far better than to leave. Where would he go, after all? The best thing to do now was wait. He sat on Twilight’s desk chair, watching his legs dangle above the beautifully carpeted floor. The miserable weather outside was doing nothing to lift his spirits. He wasn’t sure at the moment if Twilight’s room was a necessarily good place for him to stay, especially since he was getting rather hungry. Or the castle itself, for that matter. But Spike wanted anything but to leave Twilight behind. He feared to think of her condition worsening with nopony she cared about around her. No, he was right to stay. Even if it wasn’t the real Twilight talking, she’d had a point when she said that he had a duty to both her and Equestria. She had asked him to be there for her during their time in Canterlot, and that’s exactly what he was planning on doing. Until the others hopefully arrived to help, that is.

Spike quite literally jumped out of his seat when a resounding knock came from the bedroom door. He peered up at the source of the sound from behind the back of Twilight's chair, too afraid to get any closer. The knock came again, only far more intense. Far more angry. The room itself seemed to shake with every collision of hoof against wood.

Taking a deep breath, Spike reluctantly made his way towards the awaiting door. Twilight, or at least that thing that had taken over her, had apologized before, but he was still awfully wary to trust anything the mare said, and rightly so. Nevertheless, he was indeed intending on keeping his promise to be there for her, and put on the bravest face he could when he at last opened the door.

“I’ve got room service here, for a mister... Spike the Dragon?” The indigo unicorn servant wore a cheery, sparkling white smile and held a sizable bowl of gems in her aura of the same hue. She looked down to find a baby dragon whose heart was clearly threatening to jump right out of his chest.

“I assume that’s you! You doing alright, hun?” Spike could at first only nod as he took the bowl of gems from the smiling pony. But once he came to his senses, he managed a sentence.

“But... miss, I didn’t order any room service.”

“Oh don’t worry, dear. The kitchen staff knows you. They told me you hadn’t eaten all day and to bring some top-quality gems up for you,” She let out a high-pitched little chuckle, her head arching back. “I had to do a double take when they said that! I didn’t even know we kept gems in the kitchen. Guess i’ve still got a lot to learn about this place.”

“Oh, well, uh- thanks a lot.”

“Anytime, Spike. The name’s Silverberry. If there's anything else you might need, just let me know.”

She bid him farewell and skipped off, leaving the door slightly ajar as she did so, as the little dragon let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps he’d been panicking more than was neccesary. He doubted the room had actually shook when that sweet unicorn had merely knocked on the door. Letting out a nervous chuckle, he seated himself on his bed and began stuffing his mouth with delectable gemstones. They had done it right and given him mostly the green ones. Even with the situation at hand, Spike was pleased to find that the castle staff were still worried about sustaining him. In fact, Silverberry hadn’t even seemed mildly alarmed about the condition of Twilight and the other princesses. He understood castle servants were supposed to be hospitable, but he had expected a bit more of panic. Nopony even seemed to be aware of the situation at hand.

“Spike... where are you?”

The relaxed dragon nearly choked on his translucent lunch when he heard a voice just barely recognizable as Twilight’s. It was a downright unsettling tone, as if the alicorn was the antagonist of some kind of horror film. Spike had seen a few of those in the past, and very much regretted that decision now. He scrambled to his feet, but hadn’t noticed that the door had been left open just a crack, where an electric green eye was now staring at him with intensity. He backed up, every step a bit quicker than the next, until he had inadvertently pinned himself against the opposite wall. The glowing eye’s position had not shifted. With the soft glow of a magic aura, a grayish pink now instead of her usual magenta, Twilight opened the bedroom door and stared down at Spike furiously.

The first and only thing catching Spike's attention at the moment were Twilight's unnaturally colored scleras. He had no idea when or how they had come to change color, and wasn’t too comfortable with the new look. As he could back away no further, the dragon could only stand and watch as a seething princess got closer and closer. She slammed the door behind her with her magic, blocking any hope of escape. Her breathing was heavy, and the look in those horrifying things one might call eyes felt like blades puncturing Spike all over his body. Never before had Twilight looked at him that way before. The little dragon's limbs grew numb as Twilight finally reached her assistant, and looked down at the petrified dragon without a hint of pity. Her expression would have worked just as well without words, but they came anyway. They weren’t Twilight’s, those words. They may have been coming from her mouth, in something resembling her own voice, but those words, that tone, those were somepony else’s. Each and every one of them stung the little dragon like daggers dipped in poison.

“Spike?” The voice was not particularly loud, but there was no mistaking its fury.

“Y-yes?” the little dragon said with a gulp.

“You sent a letter to Ponyville, didn’t you?”

“I-I…”

“Because six ponies from Ponyville are headed this way now, i’ve been informed. So tell me, did you send a letter there?” Eyebrows began to narrow with the accusation.

"Six ponies from Ponyville?" Spike thought."Did Twilight not even remember her own best friends? Or did she just not care enough to speak their names?"

“I- no, I would never-”

“LIES!”

The harrowing voice echoed through the room, which did literally shake this time. Books fell off their shelves, and the ink jar spike had used previously toppled off the desk and created an expanding black stain on the carpet. Spike wished he could have been anywhere, anywhere in Equestria but here. There was no hope for him, surely.

“You sent them that letter!You told them about our plans! You disobeyed us, Spike! AND FOR THE LAST TIME!”

Knowing he’d soon regret it, Spike couldn’t help but voice pretest, “But- Twilight! You told me not to send a letter to the Elements of Harmony... and... and I didn’t! I didn’t tell them anything!”

“Really, now? Well, can you explain to me why they are on their way here as we speak!?” Spit flew from Twilight's mouth with every word and her teeth were bared like a rabid dog.

“Because, well, I-I may have sent one to Starlight, instead…”

“Oh, so you thought if telling the Elements of Harmony about our plans isn’t allowed, surely you’d be fine letting my exceeding magic student know? Who rivals myself in terms of her skills?”

"Well, at the very least she remembers who they are."

“Why in Equestria would you think that an acceptable thing to do, Spike? To disobey me in such a way after I specifically told you not to. Did you really think you’d be able to get away with it?”

The young dragon forced himself to shout back, “No! I didn’t think i’d get away with it, but I had to disobey you, Twilight! I didn’t have a choice! You’re in trouble, and it’s my job to help you! The others- the others can help! We can help you, Twilight!”

“That’s Princess Twilight! And I do not need the help of a puny, worthless dragon. I don’t need help from anypony! I’m doing fine on my own. I can control the sun and moon, I can make everypony love me! I have everything a good leader needs. Soon all of Equestria will kneel at my hooves. You! You’re only in my way here," Twilight’s dark aura sprung to life, swirling and twisting around her horn in an unnatural fashion. She pointed it right towards her faithful assistant, her soulless eyes focusing in on him. “And now-” Twilight’s teeth were clenched, her body shaking with rage,” You’ll find out what happens when you disobey the princess of Equestria!”

---

Spike was dead.

He knew it. Dead.

He’d been stupid, quite frankly. And now, he was dead. And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

He’d tried protecting Twilight, protecting himself, protecting Equestria. He hadn’t succeeded in any of it. He lay curled up in a ball in the corner of Twilight’s bedroom, tears beginning to leak out of his eyes, knowing that in a few seconds, it would all be over, and he would have failed in his duty to protect the Princess. Trying to talk Twilight out of whatever hold she was in had been proven unsuccessful, and now he’d never again get to see her true face. Just the seething being that that vile thing had transformed her into. All he wanted was his best friend in the world back…

Twilight’s horn was pointed threateningly at Spike, a spell charged up that would leave little left of the dragon once all was said and done. But as seconds dragged on into minutes, Twilight still hadn’t cast the spell. Her anger was still there, her horn still aimed and loaded, but she wasn't attacking. She could see Spike, her little assistant, curled up in a ball, scared to death, crying, for Celestia’s sake, and she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Yes, he had disobeyed her, twice in fact, and yes, he did not deserve to be here, but Twilight’s deep rooted bond with Spike still kept her from performing the spell she so desperately wanted to cast. With a sigh, she let her charged attack spell fizzle out and turned away from the dragon, defeated.

“What are you doing? Destroy him, already! He is of no use to us. Keeping him around will only put everything we’ve worked towards at risk!”

“Destroying him…" She fished her mind for a feasible excuse. "It’ll cause too much of a fuss. I’ll make sure he never disrupts our plans again, trust me.”

Still scared out of his mind, the young dragon opened his eyes when he realized that it had been a fairly solid amount of time and he was pretty sure he hadn’t died yet. He wiped the newly formed tears out of his eyes, and sat up to find Twilight, facing the other direction, her head hanging low with what appeared to be shame.

“T- uh... Princess Twilight?” Spike stood up and addressed the alicorn worriedly, but didn’t dare approach her.
Twilight finally rose her head, still facing the opposite direction. The dragon wasn’t going to complain, he could do without seeing those dreadful eyes again.

“Spike, you are going to follow me. You are not to ask questions, and you are not to leave my side, or there will be consequences. Got it?”

“Uh- got it! Yes- got it, Princess!” For the time being the overwhelmed dragon seemed only surprised and relieved that he was still alive. Twilight, for whatever reason, had decided not to hurt him. He definitely wasn’t about to ask why. Instead, he followed Twilight out of the guest room like a foal upset with their parent, hesitant in getting too close, yet still afraid of straying too far out of pure instinct.

The alicorn wordlessly lead Spike down multiple staircases, as the world around them got darker and darker with less and less natural light able to reach them. Spike hadn’t ceased to notice that far more guards than usual were patrolling the halls, wearing inexpressive and focused faces, none so much as giving him a passing glance. He was curious of this odd behavior by usually quite friendly ponies, but quickly stopped himself from asking any unnecessary questions. Or necessary questions, for that matter, such as where they were going. The act of talking as a whole was a risk, he decided.

As they walked, Twilight's horn sparked ever so slightly, and an enormous guard immediately entered the hallway and began walking at the alicorn's side. Spike looked on with pure confusion. What was wrong with these guards? Surely they know something was wrong? That neon green eyes weren't anywhere near normal! That was unless Twilight...

No, no. Spike was sure there had to be some other explanation. Sheer panic might have caused her to use mind control in the distant past, but as a Princess? He knew her better than that.

After what seemed like an eternity of hooves and claws echoing on marble, Twilight and the guard had led spike to a secluded door leading to a long, cobblestone hallway illuminated only by torches lining the walls. A chill ran down the dragon’s scaly back just looking into that dark place. It contrasted from the bright and welcoming atmosphere of the castle so much it was just plain bizarre. His only hope now was to look up to the alicorn in obvious fear. Her eyes, surprisingly, had lost their unnatural hue and had returned mostly to normal. Her expression hadn’t changed a bit.

“Well? Come on, now.”

Given no choice in the matter, Spike started walking down the compact, gloomy hallway, which sloped downward into eternal darkness. The place had an odd smell and the air was full of dust, so much that the dragon couldn’t help himself from sneezing. Eventually, his curiosity overcame his will for survival, and he asked:

“Where- um, where are we going, Princess Twilight?”

To his despair, the alicorn’s mouth only shifted into a small grin. She didn’t give an answer. But even as the place was so new and foreign to him, Spike felt he had a pretty solid idea himself of where they were, based on the dreary vibe alone.

The castle dungeons. Spike didn’t even know Canterlot castle had dungeons.

Eventually, the three reached a barred door near the end of the eerie hallway. The alicorn swung it open and pointed a hoof inside, demanding the little dragon enter.

“Wait, what?”

Twilight only sighed and motioned to the guard standing behind her. Without so much as a moment’s hesitation, he kicked the little dragon inside and slammed the door shut behind him. Not bothering to focus on the great pain he had endured from a stallion's fully charged kick, he ran up to the door and wrapped his claws around the thick metal bars, looking up at his friend with pleading eyes.

“Twilight! You can’t do this! Please, I-I’m sorry!” But the alicorn was already halfway down the hallway, her guard sticking to her side like glue.

“Think of it as a blessing. You’re still alive, aren’t you?” Twilight faded away into the darkness, and Spike heard the loud slamming and locking of a door.

He was alone.

---

Returning back upstairs, Twilight was wearing a lovely smile, for she was quite pleased with herself in her decision. Now she wouldn't have to go through the emotional trouble of hurting that sorry little excuse for an assistant. He was out of the picture and now she could continue on with what was really important. Their master plan wasn’t nearly complete, after all. With a simple wave of her hoof, her guard bowed and galloped off, leaving the two of them to talk.

Twilight really was impressed of these ponies’ dedication. Both her and her new friend's combined magic was proving incredibly influential in controlling the castle staff. It was originally the voice's idea, but it was proving astounding at making Twilight's job all the more easy, with countless other ponies now at her beck and call.

But a hundred or so ponies was nothing compared to an entire country. They’d need to gain a lot more power before they got that kind of influence, and Twilight wasn’t about to let anything get in her way of that goal.

Turning a corner and making sure nopony was near, the princess loudly boasted to her new friend of her recent accomplishment. While the pain the odd voice caused her was still apparent, it hardly affected her much anymore, more like a mild headache than anything else.

“See? What did I tell you? The dragon is taken care of and not a single pony will know of him being gone. I told you I had everything under control.”

“Perhaps, Twilight, your idea did work to a degree. Not that I wouldn’t have enjoyed seeing the little bastard reduced to ash. You’re taking quite the risk with the mercy you give. It won’t do anything to help us. You know that.”

Twilight seemed unsure of herself before responding, “I… well, yes, I suppose you’re right. But you know as well as I that this was the best course of action, that killing him would have made a scene, and ponies would grow worried...”

“Are you kidding? Everypony in this castle is under our complete control! We could murder every last soul they cared about just for the sake of it and they wouldn’t dare question a thing!”

“But we don’t know that. Our spell hasn’t been in effect for all that long, it’s best not to take chances. What’s important now is that the dragon is out of the picture.”

“Speaking of getting ponies ‘out of the picture’, Twilight, I’d say we're more than prepared to move on to the next stage of our plan, don’t you think?”

An wide grin enveloped the alicorn’s face.

“You’re right. I believe it is about time.”