A Duel of Jewels

by Pony Circuit

First published 9th of February, 2012

Spike deals with a threat to Ponyville while his friends are off on a wild goose chase.

Spike the dragon always wants to help his friends on their adventures, despite his youth, but after he gets injured on their latest outing, Twilight refuses to let him accompany her on a task from Princess Celestia in an attempt to protect him. Little do they know, a dire threat hangs over Ponyville, and has already made plans to get divert the Mane Six's attention from the real peril at hoof. Can Spike save the residents of Ponyville and deal with his own feelings of inadequacy before his friends fall into a trap?

The Zeppo

“Aww Twilight, please? Can’t I come with you this time?” Spike pleaded.

“I’m sorry Spike, but you know you got hurt the last time you tried to help us,” Twilight gave him a sympathetic smile as she trotted around the library, packing her saddlebags “And you’re only a baby dragon still. I can’t let my number one assistant get hurt because we can’t protect you.”

“I can protect myself!” Spike retorted putting on what he thought was a brave and noble pose.

Twilight hid a smile behind one hoof and then pulled him into a hug, “I know you can, but without you watching over the library, who knows what will happen?”

Spike sighed. “Fine, Twilight.”

Twilight levitated some books over to pack. “Now, we’ll be leaving in a few hours once everypony is prepared. Did Fluttershy ask you to look after her animals again while we’re gone?”

“Yes, but I’m sure the Crusaders can do it instead, I’d probably be really helpful if I came with you…”

“Spike.” Her tone brooking no argument.

“Okay, okay!” Spike marched out in a huff, slamming the door shut behind him.

“What do you think that was all about?” Twilight asked Owlowiscious, as she checked that she had packed everything on her checklist, before packing the list itself.

“Who?” deadpanned the owl.

“Nice try. I’m not playing this game again.” She smiled, turning her attention to the note the Princess had sent her, scanning through the contents once more.

My faithful student,
Several ponies have gone missing in the caves close to Ponyville…

. . .

“Why do they always treat me like such a child?” complained Spike as he walked through the streets of Ponyville, making his way towards Fluttershy’s cottage. “I’m a dragon, not some fragile foal. Ouch!” as he stubbed his toe on a loose rock. “Okay, granted, I might not be as strong or tough as a fully grown dragon, but I can still do this!” He loosed his flame up into the air towards a passing cloud, regretting it immediately as he heard the yelp of an annoyed light blue Pegasus.

“What the hay Spike? I was sleeping there!”

“Sorry Rainbow Dash, I didn’t see you”

“Eh, no biggie. Just getting some Z’s before the big mission today.”

“Oh yeah, the mission” he replied, acting nonchalant. “Say, you wouldn’t be able to convince Twilight to-“

“To what? Let you come? Pfft! Bwahaha, you’re a riot Spike!”
­
Spike looked down. “You don’t have to laugh…”

Dash smiled reassuringly “I’m sorry kiddo; it’s just that there’s nothing that you can do that one of us can’t do already. And besides, we’ve got me. It’s cool that you want to help us, but you’d probably just get in the way. You’re like… Cloud Kicker in the Wonderbolts. A bench warmer at best,”­ she said in what she considered was the nicest possible way.

Spike grimaced a little and looked down. “You’ll make sure everypony gets back safe, right?”

“Of course I will.” Dash rolled her eyes before stretching and getting up. “We’ll see you when we get back.” She said, before flying off back home.

“Bye to you too” grumbled Spike, as he continued on the path to Fluttershy’s cottage, noticing a crying pale cream Earth pony mare being comforted by one of the farming ponies that he remembered lived next to Applejack. “Guess I’m not the only one having a bad day, I hope Bon Bon’s okay…”

. . .

“Unhoof Trixie, you ingrates!”

“ENOUGH! Quiet pony! Throw her in the cage with the others”

“No! Let me go!” the unicorn shrieked before getting shoved unceremoniously into the cage.

“Good gracious, she was almost as bad as the whiny one!” The diamond dogs looked around nervously as Spot mentioned ‘She who must not be named’. Suddenly he was seized by the throat.

“Don’t bring her up ever again. Do you understand?”

Spot nodded vigorously until he was let go, choking for breath.

“Good. Now get back to work. We have a lot to do before the end of the day. You and you, make sure you didn’t leave any trails taking this one. If we’re discovered before we finish, my revenge will never come to pass. Better yet, lead a trail someplace else. That way, they won’t find us until it’s too late.” The cloaked figure turned and walked out of the cave, swaggering menacingly.

“Why do we work for him again?” One of the other dogs asked.

Spot coughed, getting up from the ground. “Because he made a deal with us. We get ponies to find gems for us, he gets to use the gems for a while, and then he gives them back to us, and this whole mountain. He even said he would help get more pony slaves to work for us” He looked at the shrouded pony, whimpering slightly. “You heard him, back to work.”

. . .

“Fluttershy?” Spike knocked on the door. “I’m here.”

The door burst open as three energetic fillies sprung out, barrelling him over. “Hi Spike!”

“Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo? What are you doing here?”

Fluttershy flew out, looking a little tired. “Oh hello Spike” She smiled, always happy to see him. “Umm… I guess Pinkie didn’t tell you, the girls asked if they could look after the animals today.”

The Crusaders smiled, and took a deep breath. Fluttershy braced herself. “Cutie Mark Crusader Animal Caretakers! Yay!” The girls dashed off towards the chicken coop, before the poor things knew what hit them.

Spike shook his head to clear his ringing ears, before looking back at Fluttershy “Let me guess, I don’t do a good enough job?”

“What? Oh, no no no, you do a wonderful job. What gave you that idea?”

“Nothing… I guess it’s just been one of those days. Twilight won’t let me come with you because she thinks I’ll get hurt and she’ll have to rescue me. Again.”

“That’s not true Spike! We all rescue you sometimes” Fluttershy smiled innocently. “Well honestly I’d prefer if you kept an eye on Angel and the others, but the girls were just so enthusiastic…” She stopped, looking slightly hesitant.

Spike smiled. “Did they bully you into letting them?”

“Umm… well, they asked very nicely.” She blushed slightly, scuffing her hoof on the ground.

“And at least they’ll have your Angel to watch over them instead of running around the Boutique” came a voice from within. “Thank you again, Fluttershy for allowing them to ‘watch over’ your animal friends.”

Spike’s heart beat a little faster as he saw the owner of the voice, his old crush resurging for a brief moment. “H-hi Rarity”

Rarity smiled at him “Hello Spike dear, how have you been?” The fashionista trotted out of the house; her saddlebags already packed and a fashionable hat on her head.

“I’ve been… better I guess. I’m really bummed that I can’t come and help you guys on this quest.” He looked down slightly

“Spike, I hardly think you would want to go out on this ‘quest’ as it were.” Rarity said considerately. “Personally, I think Fluttershy had that right idea in wanting to stay behind, but well, the Princess asks for our help and we must answer the call.”

“Umm… yes?” Fluttershy added nervously, wondering if that was the right reply.

“So is there anything I can actually do to help?” the baby dragon asked.

Rarity threw her mane back. “Would you be a dear and check up on the girls every now and then? I’d hate for them to get into any trouble while we’re gone” She shot him a winning smile, the type she used to get even the hardiest colts to do her bidding. Poor Spike never stood a chance.

“O-of course Rarity...” The lovelorn little dragon had hearts in eyes.

“Thank you Spikey-Wikey” Rarity pet his head lightly before trotting off. “Come on now Fluttershy, we mustn’t be late. Maybe I’ll finally find some more gems while we’re gone.”

“Bye Spike, thank you for looking after the girls” Fluttershy hurried after Rarity.

Spike didn’t respond to Fluttershy. It was another five minutes before he’d realized they were gone. He shook his head, his vision clearing. “Well… I guess it can’t hurt to keep an eye on the Crusaders every now and then…” He suddenly winced, hearing a loud squawk from the chicken coop. “This could be harder than I thought. Maybe I’ll just come back in a little bit and see if they’re okay then…”

. . .

Applejack headed towards town, the pack on her back feeling very heavy. As she trotted closer to the town hall, she wondered why Twi wanted her to bring all this gear. As she got closer to the town, she noticed a familiar baby dragon.

“Howdy Spike” she drawled, the sight of her friend bringing a smile to her face.

“Oh hi AJ, are you heading out too?”

“Sure as sure. Twi wanted me to bring a lot of gear with us on this thang.” She said, gesturing to her overly filled saddle bags. “Heck, Ah don’t think we’ll need all this, but you know what she’s like.”

Spike chuckled, Twilight’s tendency to want to have absolutely everything she’d ever need on a task was not unknown to him.

“So what’re you goin’ to be up to while we’re gone, sport?” Applejack slowed down to match the little dragon’s pace.

“I don’t know… I’ll probably just look after the library. Oh, and Rarity asked me to check in on the Crusaders every now and then too.”

Applejack chuckled. “Oh, Ah’m sure they’ll keep you occupied. Mah sister and her friends always manage to get into some kind of trouble.”

“Yeah, this’ll be ‘fun’” Spike rolled his eyes, the two sharing a smile.

They were walking into town together when Applejack noticed Spike wearing a thoughtful expression. “Everything okay sugahcube? You seem a little down today”

“I guess I just feel a little left out of things lately.”

“Spike, we all know how brave you are, and how good your heart is, but we’re just worried about you is all. Imagine how Twi would feel if somethin’ bad happened to you again.”

“Your logic’s not really helping my mood.” He grumbled, with a small smile on his face.

“Hang on a second.” Applejack stopped and gave him a smile. She rummaged through her saddlebags and passed him a hooful of bits. “Here. Get somethin’ for yourself from Sugahcube Corner. That’ll cheer you up.”

“AJ… You didn’t have to”

“But Ah chose to. Now go on, get goin’” She smiled at him. “You’ll need your strength if you’ve got to keep an eye on the girls.”

Spike replied with a small smile. “Thanks Applejack.”

“Not a problem sugahcube, Ah’ll see you after this shindig.” She trotted off towards the fountain, where the Elements were due to meet up.

Spike looked down at the bits in his claw. “I guess something sweet would be nice… I wonder if they still have those sapphire cupcakes.”

. . .

Angel Bunny was not happy. He had planned on having a nice relaxing day out in the fields when they came along. Those monsters. Chasing Elizabeak and the others around the hen pen, what were they thinking? Didn’t they have any thoughts for any other living creature? How did Fluttershy put up with them? And then there was that little dragon who was supposed to check on them. If he got here ten minutes ago it still wouldn’t be soon enough. Angel sighed heavily. This was going to be a long day.

. . .

Spike opened the door to Sugarcube Corner, before falling flat on his rump to the speeding pink whir.

“Hi Spikey, bye Spikey!”

It took a few seconds for Spike to recover and recognize the blur. “Hi-“ Pinkie had already sped out of the door. “Pinkie. Guess she’s in a hurry to go too.” Spike walked over to the counter.

“Well, hello there Spike, Pinkie’s in quite a rush isn’t she? Took one of our biggest cakes for this trip of hers.” Mrs Cake said cheerfully. “What’ll it be today?”

“Hi Mrs Cake, do you have any sapphire cupcakes? I’ve had a really bad day.”

“Oh, I’m sorry dearie, but we’re all out. You’re our only customer when it comes to those cupcakes, and lately we’ve been running short on gems. We got them from Rarity last time, and she hasn’t come around with them in a while. Could I interest you in a strawberry cupcake instead?”

“Sure, I guess that’ll do fine.” Spike offered a weak smile, passing over the bits AJ gave him earlier. “How are Pound and Pumpkin doing?”

Mrs Cake gave him a weary smile and passed him the cupcake. “They’re happy and healthy, but my goodness, aren’t they a hooful.”

“I can imagine, what with what Pinkie told us the time she was babysitting.” Spike turned to leave. “Thanks Mrs Cake.” As Spike approached the door, it opened, the bell ringing. A dark cloaked figure entered, shuddering slightly upon seeing the rows of baked confections.

“Take care of yourself now dearie”

Spike was still looking at Mrs Cake, and accidentally bumped into the robed pony, his cupcake brushing into the pony’s cape. “Oops… sorry man.”

The cloaked pony let out an audible gasp of horror, quickly turning and galloping out of the shop. Spike and Mrs Cake shared a confused look. “I wonder what his problem was.” Spike said, looking at the sad remains of his bruised cupcake. With a sigh, he headed back to the library.

. . .

The cloaked stallion stormed into the caves, screaming in rage.

“We aren’t going fast enough!” complained the cloaked pony angrily. “We need more unicorns!”

“But… master, you haven’t brought any more ponies since the… loud one” Fido winced, a strange looking gesture on such a big dog.

“Then go out and get some! I command you to!”

Rover glared at him. “But you’re supposed to be the one that lures the unicorns here, pony.”

“Do you see this? Do you see this!?!?!” The stallion screamed hysterically. “A stain! An icing stain! On my clothes! On my person! This cannot stand! I am altering the deal!” He took several deep calming breaths and put on a threatening tone. “You will go and get more unicorns and you will go and get them now, or else I will take all the gems and leave!” The stallion stomped off deeper into the cave system, kicking the bars of the cages as he passed the prisoner cells, upsetting a very light turquoise unicorn mare.

Spot watched as the stallion stomped off. “This deal is getting worse all the time…”

. . .

Spike sat down, wondering what he’d do with the rest of his day. The library didn’t seem the same as usual without anypony else there. His friends had already left by the looks of it. There wasn’t much else for him to do in the meantime.

“I guess I could sort through the chronicles of Starswirl the Bearded again. It’d be a nice present for Twilight when she gets back.” He looked up at the towering bookcase and gulped. This could take some time.

. . .

“Haha! Look Scoot, Ah can see another one over there!”

“Yeah! Come on Sweetie, let’s try and catch it!”

“I really like her plume!”

Angel swore under his breath. He wasn’t going to get a moment’s peace today was he? And boy, judging by the dirty looks on his winged ‘friends’ he was going to get a good talking to later on. He wished he didn’t have the reputation as Fluttershy’s favourite pet. It meant that he was sometimes seen as her proxy when she wasn’t here. That meant it fell to him to look after the animals when she was out with her friends, and if something went wrong… well, he hoped that the seal didn’t want to use him for juggling practice again.

Angel saw something out of the corner of his eye. Those were new. What were they? They reminded him a little of Winona somehow, but a giant, monstrous Winona. He gave a little sniff; smells like they didn’t bathe either. He wondered why they were here. Wait… were they heading for the foals? Well now. Suddenly things were looking up.

“Quick!” cried the smallest monster. “Grab the unicorn pony!”

The largest monster leapt to obey his commands.

“Sweetie, run! They’re after you!” Apple Bloom stood her ground against them, before getting pushed out of the way.

“What? Why?” Sweetie tried dashing away, but was quickly caught by Fido.

“Hey! Let her go you big bully!” Scootaloo charged in to her friend’s aid, inspired by tales of her role model.

“Ow! Why is little pony hurting Fido?”

Angel smirked from the sidelines. Serves them right. Now all he had to do was sit back and wat-

Suddenly, there was a little poofing noise, and he looked at his shoulder. “Wait! Are you really going to leave those poor little foals to get taken by those big mean dogs?” asked a tiny Fluttershy, a light halo over her head. Angel nodded, receiving a little pout from Flutterangel in return. He faltered slightly.

There was another poof. “He can do whatever he wants to Fluttershy” scowled Rainbow Dash from his other shoulder, her multi-hued tail replaced by one far more demonic. Angel nodded, agreeing with his little devil.

“But they might get hurt…” Even in imaginary form, the sad Fluttershy’s look pierced through the heart of Angel, and even Devil Dash couldn’t stand up to it, fading back to whence she came.

Angel sighed. Fine. He’ll do things her way. But what was he going to do? He grumbled. May as well get that dragon to do something, he thought as he bounced quickly towards the Books and Branches library.

. . .

“Ow!” Spike shot the offending book an accusatory glare, rubbing the lump on his head. “Try to do something nice for someone…” he grumbled. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging on the door. Spike opened it and looked around. “Who’s there?” There wasn’t a pony in sight. Spike was about to turn away when he heard a firm cough. “Oh. It’s you.” Spike stared down his nemesis from all the times he looked after Fluttershy’s friends. Angel just glared at him in return, his forelegs crossed and one foot pounding with a distinct lack of patience.

“What do you want?”

Angel pantomimed out a series of gestures. Spike looked completely confused. “What?” He waved a claw dismissingly. “Whatever. I’m not looking after you today. The Crusaders are.”

Angel waved vigorously. “What?” Spike tilted his head. “Did… something happen to the fillies?” Angel nodded vigorously. The thick dragon was finally getting it!

“Are they in trouble?” Spike groaned inwardly. “Great” he thought, “This is the last thing I need”. Angel nodded again.

“Okay, where are they?” He walked out, closing the door behind him. Angel just bounded off towards Fluttershy’s cottage. “Okay then…” Spike hurried along behind the bunny.

. . .

Spike arrived as quickly as he could. ”Dear Canterlot! That bunny’s like a little battery, no wonder he runs rings around me when I’m looking after Fluttershy’s critters.” he thought to himself, panting heavily outside Fluttershy’s cottage.

“I don’t see them Angel. Where are they?” He turned to the unphased rabbit, who pointed out an obvious trail of scuff marks in the grass. “They were … taken by something?” The rabbit facepawed. Clearly the dragon was still a little on the slow side mentally as well as physically.

A loud feminine shriek was heard in the background. “That sounded like Sweetie Belle!” Spike sprinted forward towards the sound, his weariness forgotten.

He caught an incredulous sight. Several Diamond Dogs were trying to pull Sweetie Belle away from Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, who were holding onto their friend for dear life. The dogs had taken some nasty knocks from the three fillies too, by the looks of things.

“Gah! This is taking too long! Grab all the ponies!”

“No you don’t! Let them go you mongrels!” Suddenly Spike had everypony’s (and dogs’) attention, the foals looking at him with hope and the dogs with rage.

“You! The whiny pony’s friend!” Rover strode towards him. “Oh, I am going to enjoy this… You two, take those three back to the lair.”

“Spahk! Help!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were scooped up in one quick swoop. “Let us go! Mah sister will come after you!”

“Leave them alone!” Spike charged in, doing his best to try and stop the dogs from taking his friends. He grabbed on to Rover’s leg, growling fiercely, before the dog’s fist crashed into his face. He fell to the ground, stars swirling around his eyes. He struggled to get back to his feet, before being punched again.

“You ruined our plans scaly one! You and that whinging, whining unicorn… We dogs always remember our grudges.” Rover held him down, mercilessly beating the poor dragon.

“No! Leave him alone!” Sweetie bit Spot’s leg, trying to do something to help Spike, but she was quickly subdued again, Spot sucking on his injured leg.

“Boss, we’re done now, let’s go!”

Spike watched helplessly as he saw the last of the fillies, unable to move with the pain of his injuries, Rover still pinning him to the ground.

“Spike! Help!!!” In his growing pain and fatigue, he could’ve sworn he’d just had a massive fit of déjà vu, but the Diamond Dog pummelling him was new.

Rover grinned victoriously. “Whiny pony can’t save you now, dragon!” He got up, leaving his battered opponent still lying on the ground. “You’re lucky we diamond dogs have better things to do than get revenge.” With one last smirk the dog dove down the freshly dug tunnel.

Spike’s head was spinning; he could barely see one claw in front of him. His hearing was fading too, the only sound were the Crusader’s plaintive cries for rescue. Why couldn’t he get up? His mind was filled with the voices of his friends, blurring into one another’s. “We’re just worried about you” said the hardworking farmer. “We all rescue you sometimes” the butter yellow Pegasus continued. “On the battlefield, you never think about what’s next.” Pinkie Pie. Even in his dreams she confused him. And why was she wearing a bandana?

A sharp voice rang out through the din. “There’s nothing you can do, you’d just get in the way” Rainbow’s visage came and went. She’s right, he thought, as he felt the darkness coming. One last voice spoke, right before the end. “Please Spike… I don’t want you to get hurt, you’re just a baby dragon.”

“I’m… sorry… Twilight…” and the peaceful blessing of unconsciousness was all that was left.

. . .

“Twi, darlin’? You sure this is the right place?” Applejack raised a curious eyebrow, staring at the foreboding mouth of the cave.

“All the tracks pointed this way…” The lavender unicorn looked uneasy.

Pinkie looked around in what she called her ranger gear, the other ponies, being used to her quirks didn’t question it. “The air smells foul… something dangerous lurks nearby.” She sounded a lot more serious than usual, before she sprang back up. “Or it could just be your friend Harry’s place, right Rainbow Dash?”

“Heh heh… yeah, I think he lives somewhere else Pinkie.”

A chilling wind blew around the six friends, leaving Fluttershy quivering.

“While it may look… unappealing to say the least, I trust Twilight enough to believe that she followed these tracks perfectly. Come along girls.” Rarity walked in without a backwards glance.

Applejack shot the back of Rarity’s head a look that said ‘Oh, hay no’. “Well if she’s goin’ in, ah’m goin’ in.” AJ charged in after her, mumbling to herself. “No way ah’d live it down if Rar went into someplace messy and ah didn’t.”

“I’m going in too!” The prismatic blur showing Dash’s assent in the matter.

“Weee! Don’t forget me!” Pinkie cartwheeled in behind them.

Twilight shared a glance with Fluttershy. “I don’t like it, but I guess we’d better head in. Who knows how all those ponies got lost in here?”

Fluttershy squeaked, following Twilight quickly. “Don’t leave me out there by myself!”

Inside, something stirred. Something new had entered its home. And in the darkness, it hungered.

In the Dark

“Spike... don’t make a girl a promise… if you know you can’t keep it...”

Spike woke up, gasping for air. Judging by the level of light, he’d been unconscious for at least two hours. He tried moving, and groaned near instantaneously. He’d never been in this much pain before in his life. The last thing he remembered was somepony shrieking his name, as the pain kept coming. He thought back to before that; he had been doing something, what was it? The foals, something to do with the foals...

“Urgh…” Something was tapping his face. He tilted his head slightly to look at it, a whole new wave of pain crashing down on him. “Ow.” Why did Angel look ups- Oh. Everything came flooding back to him, the fillies being abducted, the Diamond Dog beating him to a pulp… he had to get the girls back. Somehow. Maybe when the world stopped spinning… Blackness again.

Angel sighed. The dragon look pretty beaten up. What would Fluttershy do here? No wait, panic wouldn’t help. What else? He smiled triumphantly. That would work. He bounced back to the cottage and into Fluttershy’s bathroom. Somewhere in here there was a medical kit she used for sick creatures. Surely something in there would help the dragon.

Angel rummaged through the kit, spotting a small crystal. He remembered something about it; Fluttershy had been given it by her friend Rarity, something about charged magic, and healing acceleration. Angel shrugged. Enchanted objects were way above his pay grade, but he’d give the thing a test. Anyway, he was pretty sure he’d seen that dragon chomping on some rocks from Rarity before, so he probably wouldn’t care.

Spike was in a deep dream. His friends were all there, but they were ignoring him for some reason. He didn’t know what he had done wrong; all he wanted to do was try to help. He tried to speak, but Applejack shoved an apple into his mouth and held it shut until he swallowed. He started choking, before tasting the familiar taste of an aged amethyst, with a hint of magic. He looked around at his friends, and they started to vanish, turning into the unamused face of Angel Bunny.

“Angel? The girls! Where are they?!?”

Angel rolled his eyes. A little thanks for saving his life would’ve been appreciated. He pointed out the huge tunnel behind Spike, with obvious signs of scuffle around it and sighed, looking around. Fluttershy used to really like this meadow too.

From the moment Angel showed him the tunnel, Spike knew what he had to do. Despite all his shortcomings, he knew he was the only one who had any chance of rescuing the girls. They were his friends and not only that, he’d made a promise to Rarity, and he owed Applejack who constantly looked out for him. And well… he was pretty sure Rainbow Dash would be a little happy about him rescuing her self-proclaimed number one fan. Without another thought, he leapt down the tunnel, eager to avenge himself and prove his worth. In the back of his mind, he wondered how he was fighting fit, but didn’t look the gift pony in the mouth. As he rushed down the claustrophobic tunnel, he could swear he could hear a soft chittering behind him, but soon that was gone too, into the deep darkness that was the tunnel.

Angel stopped trying to call out to Spike. He was furious. He didn’t even get to pass Spike the warning that came with the gemstone. Well, at least he tried. It wasn’t his fault what happened to the dragon now. He dropped the warning note down the hole, and headed back to the cottage to start trying to calm down all the animals.

. . .

“Let us go!” Scootaloo still struggled against her captors, before Fido finally dragged the fighting Pegasus from the ground.

“Shut up pony! If you had not tried to stop us from taking the unicorn, you would still be free” said Spot, annoyed that they had differed from the original plan.

“But why would you want me?!? I don’t even have a Cutie Mark” Sweetie looked confused.

“Because the boss pony told us to get unicorns” answered Fido. “And he said he’d give us lots of gems when we’re done.”

“Shut up you imbecile. You don’t have to tell these ponies anything. You ponies will work in here and you will be fed. Disobey, and we shall put you in the Pit” spoke Rover maliciously.

“Why should we listen to you? You hurt our friend!” Scootaloo was incensed at Spike’s injuries, having seen the little dragon do his best to try to save them. Rover just smiles evilly, and grabbed a handful of feathers on her wing, pulling quickly, dropping the result on the ground. Sweetie gasped, even the other two dogs looked shocked at the act of wanton violence. Scootaloo blinked for a moment, before yowling loudly.

“Now you know. We will hurt you too.” Rover laughed and walked up ahead of the others. Sweetie shot her friend a worried look, but Scootaloo gave her a reassuring smile.

Apple Bloom was strangely silent throughout the exchange, Scootaloo noticed. She arched her neck around Fido’s thick shoulder to check on her friend, and noticed that Bloom’s mane was lying loose, her teeth frantically worrying away at her trademark ribbon, leaving tiny red shreds on the ground. Apple Bloom sensed herself being watched and immediately stopped, looking around. Scootaloo put a hoof to her lips gently and motioned to Bloom that she should continue. Maybe, if they were lucky, somepony might find them.

. . .

“Ooh, wait a second girls, I just need to do something” Pinkie said, smiling as usual, despite the oppressing feeling the cave gave off. She unpacked her saddlebags and took out a giant platform cake and laid it gently on the ground in a corner, quickly decorating it.

“Pinkie dear, I hardly think this is the time for eating.” Rarity looked a bit bemused by the party pony’s antics.

“Oh, it’s not for me, I just thought I’d leave it here for later.” She told Rarity happily, confusing the elegant unicorn further. As the group had stopped, Twilight turned to her friends.

“Suddenly I’m really glad Spike isn’t here for this, I’ve just got this really bad feeling that he’d get injured if he was here” she said, looking a little worried, before gazing at the ominous cavern ahead. “I don’t know what I’d do if he got hurt that badly ever again.”

“Ah completely understand what you mean sugahcube. Every time Apple Bloom tries one of her crazy stunts to get her Cutie Mark, it feels like mah heart would stop. But Spike’s a sensible type, and he seemed really set on wantin’ to help us. We do leave the poor feller high and dry a lot of the time.”

“And imagine how boring it must get back in Ponyville without me there?” Dash added. Applejack and Rarity rolled their eyes at Rainbow’s level of self involvement, catching sight of each other as they did so, and rolled their eyes again.

“That may be the case Rainbow Dash, but the poor dear will have quite a time I’d imagine. I asked him to keep an eye on the foals while we were gone, and I speak from experience in saying that can be a… messy task.”

“Hmm… thank you Rarity. That should keep him out of harm’s way.”

Applejack muttered under her breath. “Clearly you don’t know mah sister well enough.”

“Hey guys” Pinkie giggled. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if Spike got into loads of trouble looking after the Crusaders and went on a wild adventure and got a teensy bit hurt, despite everypony trying to protect him? And all the things we’re looking for are connected to it, but we’re all on a wild goose chase?”

Everypony’s jaws dropped.

“What? Is there something on my face? Is it a bat? Ohmygosh it’s a bat isn’t it?!? Get it off get it off!!!” Pinkie started flailing wildly for a moment and then stopped. “Oh wait, why would a bat be on my face?” she giggled. “Oh you big kidders.” With a prance in her step she trotted deeper into the cave singing to herself. “La la la, la la la…”

There was a long moment of silence as the confused friends recovered their wits.

“… Ah swear, ah will never understand that pony.”

. . .

Reaching the bottom of the tunnel, Spike quickly set off after the tracks on the ground. They’ve got to be heading back to their old camp, he thought to himself. Spike walked down the caves slowly and carefully. The marks along the ground were quite self explanatory; the girls had put up quite a fight before the dogs had finally stopped dragging them and picked them up. A few orange feathers lay on the ground, and Spike looked startled, seeing little drops of red on the floor near it. Upon closer examination, he realized it was a ribbon of some kind, probably Apple Bloom’s. They were leaving a trail for him!

Spike heard noises up ahead. He skidded to a halt and ducked behind a stalagmite, peering out to see what was going on. Up ahead he saw several unicorns, both mares and stallions, some were digging using their hooves and magic, others were pulling carts full of gems, all under the watchful eye of guard dogs.

“What in Equestria are they doing down here?” He whispered softly, asking nopony in particular. He took a closer look, noticing that he knew several of the ponies that were being forced. There was Pokey Pierce trying to chip away chunks of rocks, and Colgate dragging a cart filled with gems of all sorts. Despite himself, he drooled at the sight of the gemstones. It had been a long time since he’d seen gems of that cut and carat.

A loud feminine shriek broke his reverie. It wasn’t one of the Crusaders, he was sure of it, but he recognized it somehow nonetheless. Spike crept forward along the side of the cave as quickly as he dared, sticking to the shadows so neither dog nor pony would see him. As he approached the mouth of the tunnel, he stopped suddenly. One of the guard dogs looked alerted, despite the fact that he had been moving as noiselessly as possible. Spike froze completely still as the dog took a quick glance around. For a moment, he was certain that the dog had seen him, but he appeared to have gotten away with it. As soon as the dog disappeared back to his post, Spike slipped by behind him. The little strips of ribbon were starting to get further apart, and he’d missed the vast majority of them in the earlier cave. Apple Bloom must’ve run out of ribbon, he thought to himself. He kept going through the grotto, until he got to a large thick wooden door. Seeing no other way the girls could’ve been taken, he slowly and cautiously opened the door.

It was a dungeon. That was the only way he could describe it. He’d seen the old dungeons of Canterlot, despite the fact that they hadn’t needed to be used in such a long time that even Twilight couldn’t find records on them, but while that was Pony-made, this was different. The Diamond Dogs had taken a cave formation and somehow shaped it into a prison where they could keep ponies who would not serve them, complete with bars made with some metal. Clearly, one of the dogs had some skill at metallurgy, or one of their pony captives had been forced to make it. Spike heard a sombre song being played on a stringed instrument, and a soft voice singing along with it.

He continued his stealthy approach through the jail, his heart aching at the haunting melody, and the sights of ponies he knew locked in cells. Most of those ponies were looking down, lost in thought, and nearly every cell and cage was full, he noticed, only one left seemingly recently vacant. He didn’t know why he was still hiding, but crept on nonetheless. His caution was well vested, as there was a dog watching over the cells. Luckily for him, the dog was fast asleep from the tune, and an empty jar that smelled a little like Sweet Apple Acre’s cider. When the little dragon approached, the dog started slightly, but only to turn over and start snoring. Spike let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He looked into the final cell where the music originated from, and saw a sight that caused him to sigh in relief. The girls were there, enthralled by the music of the cell’s other occupant, a sad looking Lyra with one black eye, playing her lyre and singing softly to them whilst sitting on a rock in that strange way of hers.

“Girls?” He whispered loudly, hoping the sound would reach them. Lyra jumped, suddenly startled, the music screeching to a stop and the battered lyre clattering to the ground. She turned around swiftly, moving to protect the fillies before realizing who surprised her.

“Spike!?! What are you doing here? You’ll get caught by those things!” Spike tried anxiously to calm her down. Even in the depths of his drunken slumber, the guard dog would probably hear Lyra’s frantic high pitched voice. The foals got the message quicker, Apple Bloom covering her mouth with her hoof, having lived with her big sister’s example for so long.

“It’s okay Lyra, I’m here to rescue…” He took a look around the room. There were an awful lot of ponies in here; he thought to himself, it’d take a miracle to sneak them all out without the dogs catching them. “Everypony. I’m here to rescue everypony.”

Sweetie Belle swayed on the spot from relief and smiled at him and whispered, Scootaloo supporting her up. “Thank you so much Spike, they only wanted me for some reason… it’s my fault Scootaloo and Apple Bloom got taken too.”

Lyra gave Apple Bloom a nod, showing that she’d calmed down enough to talk normally. “They want unicorns” she whispered. “They force us to find and mine for gemstones, and since we’re the only type of pony that can use magic…”

“Why are you guys all in cages instead of being forced to work then?” Spike asked, looking at the bars and trying to figure out a way to break them.

Lyra smiled a little proudly, wincing at her bruises. “This is where they put the disobedient ponies. I bucked one of the guards in the face and nearly escaped, before the pony in charge caught me.”

Spike smiled, quite impressed. From what he’d heard his friends say about Lyra, he’d assumed she was a bit of a cry baby, incapable of such a fierce response like that. “Why’d you do it?” Then Spike turned and looked at her full on. “A pony’s in charge here?” he asked quite loudly and incredulously. Apple Bloom reached out through the bars and shoved a hoof in his mouth, and he gave a meek laugh.

“We saw him too.” Apple Bloom said. “He’s a big colt, almost as big as mah brother, but we couldn’t see his face, he was wearin’ a dark cloak with a hood. He spoke real fancy like, kinda like Rarity. Ah don’t think he’s from around here.”

Lyra nodded in agreement. “And as for the dog… he took my lyre.” She looked at the battered instrument on the cell floor sadly. “My parents gave it to me.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you earlier.”

“Oh that’s not what’s wrong with it, it’s looked like that for a while” she gave him a small smile. “I haven’t been able to get it back in tune since that dog fiddled around with it.” She chuckles softly. “That really should be the least of my worries, shouldn’t it?”

Spike smiled, before remembering the situation at hand. “How do I get you guys out of here?”

“From what I saw, those three dogs that grabbed us each had a key of some kind. The cage opened as soon as they waved it in front of the bars.” Scootaloo said.

“Okay, I guess I’ll just have to grab one of their keys… Oh, Scootaloo, are you okay?” He asked with sudden concern. ”I saw some of your feathers on the ground. And I found your trail Apple Bloom, thanks.”

“Eh, it’s nothing. Pegasi moult every now and then. They should probably have come out earlier, but I was too busy to take care of them.” She gave a low chuckle. “You should have seen the look on the dog’s faces when I did that fake howl afterwards. Hey! Maybe I should try acting for my cutie mark!” She smiled, despite her surroundings.

Spike smiled. Soon that smile turned to a look of horror as the door to the dungeon slammed open and another guard dog came in. The dog sniffed the air and looked up straight at Spike

“Foolish purple scales, you think I not discover you? You not know a dog’s sense of smell far greater than sight? Especially a Diamond Dogs’…” The guard dog walked closer to Spike, growling threateningly.

A rock flew out from one cage and smacked the dog in the face. “Spahk! Run for it!” Applebloom bucked another rock towards the dog, Scootaloo fetching some more ammunition.

“But what about you?”

“You’re not going to be able to rescue us if you get caught too!” Lyra picked up some more rocks and started pegging them at the dog as well, who was now whining on the floor. “Get that key! Or try and get Twilight or somepony to help you!”

Spike didn’t want to leave his friends, but he didn’t have much choice. He ran out past the still sleeping first guard and the whimpering second, his heart heavy with regret. It did not last long however, as he turned the corner and ran right into a group of guards and slaves.

“Oh pony feathers.”

The dogs seized him, growling, and pulled him out into the main chamber. Spike sighed. This was it, it was all over. And now his friends would never find him or the Crusaders. As he prepared himself for whatever doom he thought the dogs would inflict upon him, an imperial voice rang out.

“Enough. Hold him still. I want to see the face of the creature that dares interfere with my plans.”

The guard dogs let go of him and stood back respectfully. As soon as they backed away, the stallion strode forward, with the confidence of Rainbow Dash and the room commanding grace of Rarity. He took off his hood, revealing to Spike the face behind Ponyville’s latest troubles.

“You?!?”

. . .

Twilight led the way into the deeper parts of the dark cave, her horn lighting up to show the way. “What in Equestria?” She glanced around at the grime and muck, spotting several small pools of dirty water covered in scum, piles of what she hoped were just rubbish and for some reason, feeling a strange primal feeling in the back of her mind. She shook it off, chalking it up to nerves.

“Urgh, Twilight, are you sure this is the place? It is positively filthy in here!” Rarity made a disgusted face, pointing a hoof at the dank musty pile in the centre of the cave. “And look at that water stagnation! I’d say this place hasn’t been cleaned in decades.”

“Normally Ah ain’t one to fuss about mess, but Rar’s got a point here, this place is disgusting.” Applejack turned up her nose at the smell. “It smells like… well, ah was goin’ to say mah brother after Applebuck season, but ah don’t know; maybe some poor critter died in here or somethin’.”

“Oh dear, I hope no little innocent creature got lost in here…” Fluttershy’s voice started breaking up, and Pinkie gave her a hug to console her.

“I’m sure nothing would be silly enough to come in here deliberately, Flutters. Present company excluded of course.” The party pony gave her a reassuring smile.

Rainbow Dash saw the worried look on her oldest friend’s face still there. “Fluttershy, I’m sure if there’s anything down here, and that’s a big ‘if’, we’ll probably see it when we find those ponies who got lost here.”

“Well girls, speaking of Colgate and the others, I don’t really see any signs of th- AHH! “ Twilight turned around, shining her light on the pile and suddenly gasped and stumbled at the jabbing pain in her mind, the light on her horn going out. She felt an old powerful consciousness, something infinitely alien to her.

“Twilight!” cried five ponies simultaneously, Rarity immediately taking up the illumination duties, wincing as she felt a strange feeling.

“I’m okay, I’m okay. I just felt… I don’t know, I can’t describe it…”

“Umm… maybe we should leave?” Fluttershy looked down as she gained everypony’s attention. “It’s just well… I’m getting scared.”

“You’re not the only one sugahcube, but we’ve got a responsibility to those missin’ ponies.”

“Applejack’s right” said Twilight. “Princess Celestia gave us a mission and we’re going to go through with it”

“You’re right, what if they’re lost, or lonely or scared. We have to find them… can we look for them somewhere else though? They really don’t seem like they’re here. We would have heard them by now.” Fluttershy pointed out.

“She has got a good point Twilight, and I must say, this place does give off… how to put this delicately…”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “It gives Rar the willies. Same as me. If we can’t find a sign of them, ah’m all for skeddadlin’.”

“Please Applejack” Rarity said with disdain. “I do not ‘get the willies’, I simply have the common sense to know when I’m afraid. But I do think you’ve had one good idea all day, so shall we depart?”

Rainbow put on a brave face for her friends “Aww come on guys, don’t tell me you’re all chickening out. It’s just a cave.” She smiled and took to the air, hovering above the piles of filth and decay. “Nothing the heroes of Equestria can’t handle.”

Pinkie suddenly looked around warily “Girls, I really don’t like this… my knee’s feeling pinchy.”

Twilight turned around to look at her friend, so unusually subdued. “Your knee’s feeling pinchy? Doesn’t that mean…?”

Pinkie nodded, whispering “Something scary’s about to happen.”

As Pinkie shivered, nopony noticed the long feeler that slowly slithered out of the central pile of muck, wrapping around one of Dash’s hind legs and yanking her down to earth hard.

Villains

The sounds of a scuffle were audible from within the jail. The three members of the CMC looked at each other and ceased their barrage upon the hapless guard dog whining pathetically on the floor.

“Do you think he escaped?” Sweetie innocently asked.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sighed softly.

“I think there’s been a change of plan.” Lyra gave the little unicorn a hug and a sad smile. “Here, why don’t I play a song for you?”

A soft melody wafted through the jail once again.

. . .

“Bluebell?” Spike snorted derisively.

“That’s Prince Blueblood!” The stallion screamed. “I demand to be addressed by my proper title!”

The prince was not as Spike remembered him from his days in Celestia’s palace. He hadn’t often seen the royal unicorn when he ran around performing tasks for Twilight, but he had had the time to chat with his friends among the servants and guards. Bluebell was one of the kinder nicknames that they had given the ‘Royal Pain’ due to his constant preening. Some of the other nicknames he was given weren’t as kind. However his usually well kept mane looked dull and messy, several loose strands lying across his face, and there were several small stains on his face of different colours, which Spike could’ve sworn smelt like old icing. Upon closer examination, his right eye had slight tic, and both eyes looked fairly blood shot. Was this really the same stallion that had been voted Canterlot’s Most Attractive Stallion for five years running? Spike had read in one of Rarity’s discarded gossip rags that he hadn’t often been seen in public since the Grand Galloping Gala, aside from a few appearances where he’d been described as outshining all those who stood around him, so what was with his .

“So” the Prince continued. “You’re the little pest who’s been sneaking around here, hmm? Do you think you can stop me?”

“You, Prince Blueblood, have been taking ponies from their homes and forced them into slavery! Anyone with any kind of decency would want to stop you! Princess Celestia would be horrified to see this!”

“Wait, you know Aunty?”

“Of course I do, I spent over half my life in the palace.”

Blueblood tilted his head at that. “Do I know you?”

“No, but only because you don’t care about anyone but yourself. Look at the harm you’re causing to these ponies! Think of the lives you’ve destroyed!”

Blueblood’s face fell a little. “I didn’t want to have to force ponies to aid me, but I needed assistance to create a newer, better Equestria.”

“With Diamond Dogs?”

“Yes, well, these mongrels were all that I managed to find after I ran from Canterlot. I promised them I would help get them more gemstones than they had ever seen before, and I knew just the way to do it. I would help lure them unicorns from the nearby towns and villages, and they would put them to work in the mines. Of course this process was a little slow, so eventually I gave them leave to take ponies by force. This was the only way I could help fix the problems of the land.” He cast his cloak to the ground. Despite his dishevelled appearance, he still stood as tall as ever, with such a commanding figure that the guard dogs in the room shrunk down slightly.

“Problems? What problems?”

Blueblood blinked. “You want me to tell you my plan? Well, it will not hurt to explain it. You may even join me. Unlike these dogs, you appear to have an inkling of intelligence, so listen well, little dragon.”

. . .

“Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie cried out in horror, tackling her out of the thing’s grip.

“What the hay was that thing?” Dash yelled, getting back onto her hooves and helping her saviour up.

“I don’t know!” Twilight called out in distress. “Fluttershy?”

“I- I don’t know either, it mustn’t belong around this area” she squeaked.

“It must be the thing that took the ponies!” Applejack charged in with her rope and tried to lasso the wayward appendage. The rope found its mark, but the creature was too strong to be subdued by one pony, even one as strong as AJ. The farm girl soon found herself hanging on to the rope for dear life as she was jerked towards a giant pile of debris and filth, the origin point of the tentacle. Looking up at the tentacle she was tied to, she spotted several strange dots on its. Two of them opened, showing eyes gazing deeply into her soul. Applejack let go of the rope with a shriek of terror, the foul stench of the creature making her eyes water, and she fell quickly to the floor, luckily being caught by Twilight’s magic. “It’s got eyes! That thing’s got eyes on its tail!”

A gaping maw rose out of the pile of trash and roared, the overpowering stink of it stunning all the ponies for a moment. Over four pony heights tall, and five wide, it was the same colour as the scraps of garbage that rattled off its side, and its skin looked slimy and mottled. Two more tentacles popped out from either side of its body, joining the first, but lacking the eyes and nostrils of the original. Instead, their ends were sharp and spiked; the better to injure its prey. The monster looked around and opened its mouth wide again, in eager anticipation of its next meal, its breath causing those nearest it to shudder.

It was a truly horrific aberration. All the ponies were frozen in place save for one.

“YOU! I’LL BE WASHING THAT SMELL OUT OF MY MANE FOR WEEKS BECAUSE OF YOU” Rarity charged the monster from the side, screaming in the most unladylike manner, peppering it with little bits of rubbish thrown with her telekinesis before turning around and lashing out at it with a mighty buck, one that even Applejack would’ve been proud of.

The creature didn’t even seem to notice.

With almost uncaring slowness, the creature turned to face her. Rarity quivered in fear, wondering if her rash action would cost her more than she bargained for. Before the creature could snatch her up, a pink blur rushed by and knocked her out of the way.

“Honestly, what’s with me pulling rescue detail today?” Pinkie smiled down at Rarity and held out a hoof to help her up before she suddenly started shaking. “Wow! That’s a new one… achy hooves, shivering shoulders and an eye flutter? I wonder what that one means.” She smiled back down at Rarity again, only to see Rarity’s wide eyed look of fear. Pinkie quickly bent down and picked up a small sign from the ground, writing down one word.

“Uh-oh.”

. . .

Blueblood took a deep breath and assumed a thoughtful stance. Spike groaned. Was he really going to go into a full on evil monologue?

“As you may have heard, my untarnished reputation has suffered somewhat of a mishap of late. In order to regain my noble status, I seek to remove that which has… blemished my pony. My lust for justice was frowned upon by Aunty Celly, so I departed the castle in order to improve the lives of Equestrians everywhere.”

Oh dear Luna, he is monologuing. Spike rolled his eyes. Maybe he could slip out somehow while the Prince was busy wrapped in his own thoughts.

“Before I left Canterlot, I met a pair of brothers who had the most wondrous inventions. I told them of my troubles, and they told me they had just the thing I needed to solve my problems. Although it cost me most of my bits, they sold me a set of blueprints to a wondrous device that they assured me would permanently rid me of all my problems. All I need to do is make the device and let it do the work for me. All I have to do is put it near the object of my loathing and it will make it disappear forevermore. But there was a catch. The device requires a large quantity of gems, and strong magicks to enchant them. Whilst I might possess the mental strength and skill to wield such arcane energies, I found that the amount of gems necessary for the device was quite large. Far more than my now rather meagre finances could afford. So I set out to find the creatures most well known for their hordes of gemstones!” Blueblood appeared to think that he was performing for a crowd of thousands, posing and strutting about.

“But… unfortunately I didn’t know the locations of any nearby dragon dens, and I doubt even I could best a fully grown dragon and steal his hoard. You wouldn’t happen to have a den of jewels, would you?” Spike shook his head.

“Pity. Where was I? Ah yes, dragon dens. So I sought out the next most well known creatures instead. The Diamond Dogs. They have a precious stone in their name, so I believed that they of all creatures would have the vast number of gems I needed to make the device. Unfortunately” Blueblood glared at the flea-ridden guards in the room, “this pack seemed to be facing difficulties lately too, and I, being the caring individual that I am, asked them for the reason for their misfortunes. We discovered that we have a common enemy, but I shall come back to that later. Actually, no. Let’s talk about her now. That white unicorn with the violet mane. She is the cause of my downfall. And after I’ve dealt with Equestria’s problem, I believe I shall do a little problem solving of my own.”

. . .

Even with Pinkie reflexes, the creature managed to grab her with its main tentacle and pick her up high into the air. With a speed that defied its bulk, it sunk its rows of fangs into the pink pony, but before it could bite down hard, it was hit in its side by a charging Twilight Sparkle and Applejack. The creature growled, dropping its meal, who was swiftly caught by Rainbow Dash, in a well coordinated, yet silent attack. Rainbow checked over her friend, and aside from a few small gashes where the teeth had cut into her, Pinkie appeared fine.

“Fluttershy! Take care of her!” Rainbow laid Pinkie down next to the shy Pegasus and flew back into the fray.

“I don’t know why she’s so worried Flutters” Pinkie said weakly. “I’m great. Never been better. Is it just me, or is it a little hot in here?” Pinkie closed her eyes slowly, looking a lot weaker than usual, although her wounds weren’t bleeding.

Fluttershy laid a hoof on her friend’s forehead. She felt like she was burning up from within, as if she were gripped in the thralls of a high fever. Fluttershy pulled Pinkie to the side of the cave, trying to take care of her as well as she could in the grimy location.

“Oof!” Applejack and Twilight were knocked over by the sweep on one of the creature’s aggressive limbs. Rainbow started dive bombing the monster, trying to corral its ability to lash out at them, Rarity continuing to cover them by hurtling small objects into its mouth and ‘face’. In spite of the resistance the girls were putting up, the creature was heedless, reaching out for the two ponies on the ground closest to it. AJ managed to roll out of the way, and behind some mounds of garbage, but Twilight was scooped up by it. She shrieked, her vision filled with teeth and saliva. She closed her eyes and prayed to Celestia for salvation, before suddenly, her hooves were firmly on the ground again, a blue aura surrounding her. She spotted Rarity sweating with the strain out of the corner of her eye. As the beast reached out for her again, an expertly aimed apple hit it right in one of the eyes on its tentacle.

“That’s right big an’ ugly, step away from the unicorn!” AJ dropped down her saddlebags and stood her ground, wanting to make up for her earlier moment of weakness.

The monstrosity turned slightly and bellowed at her, swiping again with a spiked appendage. Prepared this time, Applejack leapt from pile to pile of rubbish, with her famed athleticism, but already Twilight saw that it was in vain. For all her and her friends’ abilities, they couldn’t hope to subdue the horror that beset them, and no way to find the missing citizens of Ponyville. She was too tired to muster a single spell right now, and couldn’t concentrate at all with the unnatural stench of decay the creature seemed to emanate. Applejack landed heavily near her with a groan, and struggled to her hooves again.

“We have to get out of here! There’s no way we can get past this thing, even if the missing ponies are here!” Twilight called to her friends, trying to get their attention over the din.

“C’mon! We can take him!” Rainbow Dash shouted, flying over Twilight’s head to try again, before being grabbed by the tail by AJ, who dragged her bodily from the cave. “Let me go!”

Rarity stood in the entrance to the cavern, her horn lit up brightly to guide them. “Girls! Come on!”

Fluttershy looked up at them from the far side of the cavern with a sinking feeling. There was no way she’d be able to get Pinkie out past the beast safely, even with the help of the others. There was only one solution. The Pegasus raised her voice, and very peacefully said “I’m staying with Pinkie. I know you’ll come back for us.” She ignored the horrified looks of Rarity, Applejack and Twilight, and Rainbow’s howl of despair at the thought of her oldest friend and her best friend being left in harm’s way. The others had no choice but to get out, the bulk of the beast and its lashing tentacles blocking off the sight of their timid friend.

Utterly defeated, Twilight turned to her friends. She felt like crying, but knew she had to hold it in, if only to encourage the others. “We have to get back to the library. Maybe I can find a book on how to defeat this creature, and then we can save Pinkie and Fluttershy.”

“I can’t believe you’re even suggesting that!”

“We don’t have a choice!” Twilight almost screamed. “If we go back in there, we’ll be as trapped as they are, and then who’s going to save anypony then?”

Rainbow grumbled, but agreed with this logic, although she refused to admit it. The battered four ponies headed back to Ponyville as fast as they could.

. . .

Fluttershy felt a strange sense of calm as her friends got away, the creature still roaring after them. She could do this. She could protect Pinkie until they got back. She just needed to be silent. More silent than Mr Mousey at the dead of night. She could do this. It was just like playing a game of ‘Shh’. Except her challenger was very scary. And the stakes were much higher. Much, much higher.

. . .

Spike’s voice was cold, colder than the young dragon had ever talked to anypony. “You… you’re going to hurt Rarity?”

Blueblood waved his hoof dismissively “Was that her name? She probably told it to me, but all I remember about that harlot was how she ruined my reputation and looks at the Grand Galloping Gala and stole my place of honour at the launching of the HHAS Harmony. You could tell what she wanted from me though. No different to the countless mares I’ve met in Canterlot. But she is the one who ruined me. If it wasn’t for her, I would still be regal, respected!” Blueblood finally started to show some real anger. “Thank you for giving me a name, so I know who I can ‘repay’ this gift to.”

Something inside Spike snapped. Nopony threatened his friends. Especially not Rarity. He charged at Blueblood, trying to inflict whatever damage he could upon the noble upstart to protect his friends. Without even looking Blueblood telekinetically threw him into a wall. Spike groaned, feeling his scales bend with the impact. He looked down at his injuries, and was shocked to discover that he didn’t actually feel them, and saw little flickers of blue energy ran over his rent scales, fixing them as good as new. He looked a little confused at this new development. Blueblood didn’t notice, still in mid monologue.

“So, as I was saying, after I finish solving the problem that threatens all life in Equestria, I shall find this… Miss Rarity, and take my vengeance. Before I can tell you how I shall this menace, I must ask you something.” Blueblood looked up at his audience. “Will you join me?” His face fell. The little dragon who’d proven to be such a good audience had disappeared. That wasn't very polite at all.

Spike kept running. He had to do something, find somepony that could help him. He hoped he could get far enough away before that buffoon realized he’d gone.

A petulant voice called out. “Come back! You didn’t even let me get to the best part! Dragons...”

. . .

“I still can’t believe we left them there” Dash muttered angrily as she stomped around the library.

“Rainbow, please, none of us wanted to leave them there…” Rarity pleaded to her unhearing friend.

Dash turned on them. “What kind of friends are we if we just leave each other behind at the first sign of trouble?

“You know we had no choice Rainbow. If we hadn’t left when we did, we’d be stuck there with them still, or worse, dead.” Applejack replied, scowling. “Do you think we would willingly leave Fluttershy and Pinkie behind unless there was no other choice?”

“Everypony quiet!!!” Twilight snapped. “If you would all shut up for just one minute, I can find out what that thing was and how to save them.” She looked back down at her aging tome, flipping through its dusty pages, her eyes moving so fast they were almost blurring. “No no no! Where is it?” she muttered to herself.

Applejack whispered to Rarity. “What book did she ask you to grab?”

“Some dusty old thing, I think it was called the ‘Monstrous Compendium of Equestria, 4th Edition’ or something like that”

“Shouldn’t Spike be here to help?” added Dash, still angry with the situation. “This is what he’s good for after all.”

“He’s probably still looking after the foals -”

“AHA! I knew I’d read about something like that before!”

“So what was that thing?” Dash flew up into Twilight’s face, demanding an answer, before she was suddenly yanked back to the ground by her tail.

Applejack spat out Dash’s tail. “Settle down Rainbow, Twi will talk in her own time, go on sugahcube?”

Twilight looked pained “According to my books, that thing was an Otyugh.”

“A what?” “Come again now?” “What in Equestria is that?” The other ponies replied, filled with confusion.

“An Otyugh. It’s a terrifying creature that lives in filthy places like dank caves or sewers. They’re supposedly very rare in Equestria, only living in areas like dark swamps or caves…”

“Enough about their background! What did that thing do to Pinkie and Fluttershy?”

“It’s said that its mouth is filled with germ that can cause a dangerous fever in ponies and other animals, paralysing them for several days unless they are given the proper treatment. They also live off a diet of filth and…” Twilight gulped, before squeaking “meat.”

The other ponies jaws collectively dropped, Rarity recovered first. “No! I refuse to believe it. They cannot have been eaten by that … thing!”

“They won’t have… yet. The book says that Otyughs leave their prey in the filth of their home for several days before they…” She snapped the book shut. “We should hurry. It says that there’s a potion that can puts an Otyugh to sleep for 10 years. All we need is a powdered ruby, the sap of a twenty year old apple tree, pure liquid rainbow and the essence of poison joke.” Twilight looked around the room at her friends’ resolute faces. “I think we all know what we have to get. I don’t have to tell you what’s at stake here, so get the things, and meet back here. Everypony clear? Let’s go.”

. . .

As Spike ran through the tunnels, the howling of dogs behind him, he stumbled across the tunnel he had fallen down earlier. A small piece of parchment lay on the ground, and he scooped it up. Despite the peril he was in, he felt compelled to read it. Luckily for him, as the number one assistant to Twilight Sparkle, librarian extraordinaire and egghead to boot, he’d learnt a few tricks when it came to speed reading small documents. The note was a message written in Twilight’s familiar scrawl, with a small sketch of a gem with a medical styled cross emblazoned on top of it.

Dear Rarity,
I’ve been doing a few more experiments with the gems, and this technology is highly unstable. Although it can be used to heal ponies, or power objects, having too many gemstones charged with magic could prove disastrous, causing a calamity of catastrophic capacity! I’m not too sure how many other ponies know about this now, Princess Celestia passed some of my research to her magicians and well, word could get out pretty fast. So whatever you do, don’t keep the enchanted gems too close to each other, we don’t know what could happen!

A smaller addendum lay underneath the first message, written in a much more elegant manner.

Dear Fluttershy,
Twilight and I discovered several new spells we could store in gem stones, and I thought this one may be of some use to you and your animal friends. All you need to do is rest it against their injuries and their wounds would heal. Do take heed of Twilight’s letter though, it wouldn’t do to find my gift to you accidentally destroyed your cottage.
R.

Spike’s mind raced with the logic the small note implied. He knew Twilight and Rarity had been working together a lot lately on a special project, but he’d been asked to not get involved in it at the time. They probably didn’t want him to accidentally eat some of the enchanted gems. Wait a minute, he thought, that was how he must’ve been revived earlier by Angel. Although, judging from what he remembered, Angel most likely shoved the gem down his throat rather than applied it to his wounds. That meant that a pure lump of concentrated magical energy was inside his stomach. And with what the note said later… d-did that mean if he got too close to another enchanted gemstone he would explode? And what would happen if he got too close to a bunch of enchanted gemstones? He shuddered at the thought and started sprinting again as fast as he could. If the wrong hooves abused Twilight’s discovery, horrible things could happen.

Spike stopped dead in his tracks.

Was Blueblood going to destroy his home?

Into the Woods

The howls of dogs echoed off the walls of the tunnel. They were gaining on him.

Spike ran like never before, the images of a destroyed Ponyville filling his head. He had to find somepony, Twilight, Applejack, anypony! Surely they’d be back from task from the Princess by now. They’d know what to do.

But what could they do? The diamond dogs had kidnapped more than a score of ponies, not even including the Crusaders. Twilight would be disappointed in him for getting in so much trouble, even if it wasn’t his fault, and if something happened to the fillies, he was pretty certain that Rarity and Applejack would blame him for not taking care of them.

And Blueblood was building a bomb, a bomb, of all things. He’d seen the results of a Sonic Rainboom on Applejack’s old barn, and he’d heard of the magical outburst Twilight had had when he was hatched, compared to the sheer power and scale of this magical gem bomb, the town would be destroyed, the bomb’s magical and warping effects forever changing whatever it did not directly destroy.

He was just a library assistant! The biggest thing Twilight had ever had him handle was renovating the library after the Parasprite invasion. Coming up with Ponyville saving plans was well beyond his pay grade.

The harsh light of day poured in from a passage to his left. Taking a quick glance behind him, he decided to throw caution to the wind and go towards the light.

. . .

“You. The leader, Grover. Come here.”

“Its Rover boss pony. What is it?”

“That dragon knows we’re here. Bring him back to me. Alive, preferably.” Blueblood commanded.

“Why alive?”

“He may still be of some use, and that way we can find out whether he told anypony about us.”

Rover growled, but assented. “Fine boss. Me and my boys will get him.”

“Not all your ‘boys’. Call your guards back. Just go and fetch him with a couple of your dogs. Do we know what he was doing in here?”

If Rover was unhappy with Blueblood’s commands, he did not show it. “One of the boys said he saw him in the jail, but he got attacked by the new prisoners.”

“Hmm… maybe one of them knows something more about our intruder.” Blueblood strode off. “I shall see to them later. First bring me the fool who let a group of foals get the better of him. I shall be checking on the construction of the device.”

After he left, Rover shook his head. “I’m starting to hate this pony.”

. . .

It was mid afternoon. Out in the brown pockmarked wasteland near Ponyville’s preferred gem hotspot, two ponies galloped quickly, deep in search.

“Rar, can’t you do this yourself?” Applejack sounded annoyed. “We all have things to get. Ah don’t want to leave Fluttershy and Pinkie there for even longer because of your consarned prissiness.”

“Well, Applejack” Rarity replied haughtily, “I would be more than capable of completing this endeavour sans present company, but I need somepony to dig, and since I left the only one who’d be any use with assisting me looking after our siblings, that meant I had to resort to finding somepony who’s used to mucking around in the mud, in other words, you.”

Applejack didn’t know whether to feel insulted by the fashionista. “A little mud never hurt anypony, and what, you won’t touch dirt even to save a friend’s life?”

“I would too! I lay in that horrid little mud hole of yours for over five minutes during the Sisterhooves Social! I just see no need for me to waste my time chipping a hoof in the dirt when you could do it much faster; you’re used to being filthy after all.”

“But you go for mud baths at the…” AJ shut up and gritted her teeth. Fighting wasn’t going to make this go any faster. Just suck it up Applejack. Remember why you’re doing this. You weren’t strong enough or fast enough to help Fluttershy or Pinkie so you’ll make up for it whatever way you can. Even if it does mean having to endure this all day. Heck. At least she managed to get things done in there. I was just plain useless. “Right. So where do we get started?” she said brusquely.

“One moment please” Rarity trilled. She made a show of looking for gems with her magic, but inside, she despised herself. All her flaunted grace and elegance had been of no use in that dark cave. I couldn’t even do the slightest thing to aid my friends in there. Maybe Fluttershy was right. Maybe my love of fashion is just petty and frivolous. I should have seen that Fluttershy needed help with Pinkie, I could have helped her somehow… Well with Celestia as my witness, I shall do my best to save my friends! …Even if I need Applejack to help me.”Hmm… It’s as I thought. There doesn’t seem to be any precious stones anywhere around here.”

The farmer raised an eyebrow. “Ah thought that this place was filled with all kinds of gemstones. What happened?”

Rarity sighed softly. “There’s been a shortage of gems around Ponyville lately. It has affected some of my business with several of my more prominent clientele.”

Applejack’s accusing gaze softened. “Why didn’t you tell me? Ah would have done something to try and help.”

“Oh? And just what would you ‘have done’ exactly, pray tell? ‘Bucked’ the ground and made gems pop up?”

A scowl quickly replaced AJ’s sympathy. “Fine. Forget ah offered. Let’s just find that gem and get to the farm.”

“Fine!” Rarity turned up her nose. And what is she so angry for? Hmph.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Rarity.”

“What?”

“You kinda need to point out where ah should be diggin’. Ah don’t know where the gems are, and we don’t exactly have time to mine the whole region.”

Grumbling at the earth pony’s logic, Rarity cast her gem finding spell again, trotting off to find a hotspot of gems. “Well… there’s one small cache over there.” She marked out a spot on the ground. “But it’s very small… I doubt there’d even be a large enough ruby for the potion.”

“Ain’t no harm in tryin’.” Applejack started digging down through the ground. She knew that she’d most likely need her strength later but she knew her limits. She attacked the ground with gusto, trying to extract the gems in as short a time as possible. She winced slightly as her hoof nicked a sharp object, but smiled, knowing that she had found what she was looking for. “Ah hah! Found that fancy rock!”

“Applejack. That’s a garnet. Not a ruby. I can’t even use that in one of my dresses, it’s barely worth anything!”

AJ bit back another retort and dropped her hard won prize. “Okay, then try and find me another spot to dig.” She turned her back and looked around, hoping to get this over and done with sooner rather than later.

Rarity picked up the discarded gem and put it in her saddlebag. Maybe she had judged it too early, at this rate, having any precious gemstones for later dresses would be useful. She slowly started scanning around, concentrating on the magical reverberation that gems gave off. “Hmm…”

“C’mon Rar, hurry up!”

“Patience is a virtue Applejack. Some things cannot be rushed.”

“Well, if you don’t hurry up, we won’t be able to get that potion made in time!”

“I’m fully aware of that. Now would you please… Oh!” Rarity sensed a strong aura, close by. “There’s one nearby! Oooh! My goodness, it’s quite large. Wait, that’s quite strange.” Rarity started looking around the hole filled landscape. “It seems to be moving towards us. That can’t be possible unless…”

“WAAAAAH!” A purple dragon flew out of the tunnel, startling both ponies before landing in a heap.

Blinking, AJ trotted over to inspect the crumpled up dragon. “Spike? What are you doin’ out here?”

“Yes, are you alright Spike?”

“I’m okay. What do you mean out here? Wher-“ Spike looked around. “Oh!” He got back up to his feet. “Well… I had to… uh…” He swallowed. This was going to be difficult. If he told them about what happened, they’d realize that he didn’t protect their little sisters, and now they were in danger. “Um… I could probably use your help for something.”

“Spike, ah hate to be rude, but we’re kinda in the middle of somethin’ important here. What could be so bad that you need us for?”

“Applejack’s quite… right, dear. We are in a bit of a hurry.”

Applejack spoke under her breath. “Oh, so now she’s in a hurry.”

Rarity heard the earth pony and shot her a dirty look, holding back a retort.

Spike looked at the two ponies. He knew they had their differences, but they hadn’t bickered like this in a long time. Something must’ve happened between them, but he didn’t have time to enquire. “Well, the girls got into some trouble.”

“That’s pretty much par for the course with those three.” Applejack gave him a sympathetic smile.

“I’m certain a dragon of such excellent capabilities as yourself can handle looking after our sisters for just a little longer. We really have some urgent business to do.” Her voice trailed off and she gasped, eyes filled with little sparkles. “My stars! Look at the size of that ruby!”

“Ruby?” Spike looked around. “Where?”

“Right there in your claw! Did you find it underground Spikey Wikey?”

“Umm, yeah, I guess I must have.” Spike replied, looking at his ‘weapon’.

Fluttering her eyelashes, Rarity approached him. “Oh, Spike, that is an awfully shiny ruby, is it not? I don’t suppose you would mind letting me borrow it for a while, dear?” She put a hoof under his chin, and unleashed the full power of her smouldering pout. The poor dragon was left dumbstruck, jaw dropped, still barely holding the ruby.

“Oh for Pete’s sake! We don’t have time for this Rar!” AJ snatched the gem from Spike’s claw with her mouth. “Spike, we really need this right now. Ah’ll pay you back for it tomorrow, but right now, we really need this, and Rar and ah have to get some more things so we can help Twi. You can talk to her about it later if you have a problem. Can you get back to town by yourself? Rar and ah have to get to the farm lickety split.” She trotted over to Rarity and tossed the ruby into her saddlebag, oblivious to Rarity’s alarmed cry of “Careful!”

Spike shook himself awake. “Huh? What? Oh, sure Applejack. What do you guys need it for? I was kind of wondering if you’d be able to help me with something too.”

“No can do sugahcube. We’ve got to get movin’ pronto. Lives are at stake.”

“Thank you ever so much for parting with this though, we really appreciate it.”

“What she said. We’ll explain things later. Sorry Spike. Now c’mon Rar. Yee-hah!” Applejack broke into a breakneck run towards her home.

“Urgh.” Rarity muttered, disgusted. “My mane will look like a mess after this. Ta-ta Spike.” She followed after the farmer. “Applejack! Please do we have to go so fast? The farm will still be there.”

Spike simply blinked as the two ponies bickered as they ran. “Okay… so I couldn’t tell Applejack or Rarity. They would probably have been angry to find out that I let their sisters get into trouble… Maybe I’ll be able to find Twilight back at the library.” He started jogging back to Ponyville, hoping that he’d be able to fix things in time.

. . .

Blueblood trotted triumphantly around the magical device, nestled in the centre of the small cave. Soon, very soon, he would be able to complete his plan for a better Equestria, neigh, a better world! All it had taken was a few minutes looking in the Equestria Daily Classified section, a lot of bits, and the livelihoods and freedom of a group of country hicks who didn’t really matter (honestly, what kind of self respecting Unicorn would live in Dirtville anyway?). But now it was all coming together. Just a few more wagons of gemstones, and the artifact would be complete.

He stroked a chunk of blackest obsidian on a chain around his neck, the little rock that had made this all possible. The two brothers had assured him that a small chunk of obsidian would help amplify his powers to a level rarely seen amongst normal unicorns, and above that it would be essential to activating the device to do his bidding. ”It is a strange fate that something so small and unassuming could hold so much power. Such a little thing…”

The bound guard dog looked strangely at him. “Who are you talking to?”

“How dare you address me, you simpleton! First you let this intruder inside, then you let yourself be knocked unconscious by foals, but now you deem yourself worthy of speaking to me?” Blueblood glared at him with manic eyes. “I believe a lesson needs to be taught. Your fellows thought you should be spared, but I think it is past time that I show you mongrels that I am no pony to be trifled with. The creature will feed well on your bones, I think.”

. . .

Spot’s nose was pressed to the ground, sniffing intently, Rover looking on, and appearing increasingly more irritated. ”What is it? What do you smell?”

“Pony flesh…”

“Bah! Ignore the ponies! We must find the dragon!”

“The dragon’s scent is here too. The ponies went that way.” He pointed in one direction. “But the dragon… the dragon went to the pony town.”

Rover growled. “This is going to be harder than I thought. Run dogs!”

. . .

Spike stumbled back into town after his long run, panting for breath. Looking around, he noticed things were the same as this morning, but only now could he spot the differences; the general lack of unicorns in the square, the tearful husbands and wives who’s partners had gone missing. He didn’t know who else he could turn to for help, other than the smartest pony he knew. He just hoped Twilight had finally come back.

“Twilight?” he called out, entering his home.

“She’s not here Spike” a voice rang out from above.

Spike looked up at an annoyed looking Rainbow Dash, lying on top of a bookcase. Boredom flickered across her face as she tossed a bottle filled with what he could only think of as a rainbow from one hoof to the other. “Do you know where she is?”

“I don’t know. She’s probably at Zecora’s or something, she had to get some “poison joke essence”. She said with hoof air quotes. “All I know is if they’d just let me get everything we needed, we’d have already made this potion by now.”

“Potion?”

“Don’t worry Spike. It’s nothing you can help with anyway. Besides, we need a babysitter for the foals anyway, and it’s not like you have anything better to do, anyway.” Rainbow was frowning to herself, quite deep in thought.

“Umm… alright. Hey, Rainbow, do you think you can help me with something?”

“No. I can’t. Look Spike. I have some really urgent things to do okay? I don’t have time for your mindless problems.” Thoughts of her friends in peril filled Dash’s mind. She almost wanted to go off by herself to rescue them, but even she knew that she’d need help too get Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie out of there. She hated Applejack and Twilight’s stupid logic.

“What? What’s wrong?” Spike was taken aback by her outburst. Rainbow might not have always cared for his problems, but he’d never recalled a time when she unleashed her temper on him.

“Didn’t you hear me earlier? I said don’t worry,” snapped Rainbow. “Nothing’s wrong.”

Spike stared at her in silence, Rainbow still fuming. He turned to leave, when a voice called out behind him.

“Spike, wait. I’m sorry. I’m dealing with a lot of stuff right now, okay? I’m having a little trouble dealing.”

“I get it. Hey, listen. If you had a problem, and you didn’t know who you could turn to, what would you?”

Rainbow gave him a small smirk. “Spike. Don’t you know who you’re talking to? I deal with my own problems. Remember when I tried to get that book from the hospital? If you can wait until we’re all done, we’ll help you out. Otherwise you’re just going to have to learn how to deal with things yourself, short stuff.” Rainbow’s smile grew a little less cynical.

Spike paused. “Thanks Rainbow.”

“Any time. You couldn’t pick a better role model than me.” Dash said, a little cockiness getting back into her voice.

Spike started out of the library again. “Well… good luck with whatever’s ‘not wrong’. You said Twilight was at Zecora’s?”

“Mmhmm,” Dash nodded. ”But I’m pretty sure she’s going to be busy too, there’s no way your problem’s as bad as ours.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” mumbled Spike under his breath, as he started waddling hurriedly in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

. . .

He looked like a mess, his mane flopping limply across his face, but Blueblood turned and addressed the small crowd of dogs that had gathered to witness his judgement. He stood at the mouth of the back tunnel of the Dog’s lair, in their forbidden sector. Within, dwelt the Otyugh, the guardian of the cave. Not much could be seen of its lair from the tunnel, the flickering flame of a torch barely casting a dent in the dark shadow. He could tell the beast was awake from the rumbles in the trash heap of its lair, something must have disturbed it earlier. Good, he thought to himself. This will make for a much better lesson. With the slightest concentration, his horn lit up, casting a vocal amplification spell, which echoed through the necklace hanging around his neck and magnifying it tenfold.

“BEHOLD! THE FATE OF THOSE WHO FAIL ME!”

He allowed himself a little smirk. Magicks that were far beyond his reckoning before could be cast with but the flicker of a whim. He could lift not only this bound and gagged dog, but most likely every one of the mongrels in attendance should he put his mind to it. It was a good day to be Prince.

“THIS FOOL ALMOST LET OUR GRAND SCHEME GET DISCOVERED BY THOSE WHO WOULD DARE OPPOSE US! HE MUST BE MADE AN EXAMPLE OF!”

The faint grey-yellow glow of his magical field was tinged with little flecks of black, but Blueblood paid no notice. The trussed up hound was held high above his audience, slowly brought over to the tunnel. He knew how the dogs feared the beast that dwelled within, they dared not disturb or fight the abomination not after it had feasted on many of their ancestors. Blueblood himself had only heard of such creatures in hushed whispers from the palace guards, an Otyugh was a terrible foe to face.

“HE ALMOST COST ALL OF YOU YOUR VALUABLE GEMSTONES! HIS INCOMPETENCE ALMOST COST US ALL OUR REVENGE! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO FAIL US ALL!”

With that proclamation, the magic holding the dog vanished, casting him down into darkened piles of rubbish. The dog let out a little whimper as a foul stench grew stronger, debris being scattered as a long feeler reached out and grabbed it. The dog struggled in vain, but couldn’t move at all. It looked up, the whites of its eyes showing as it was lifted up again in a much less magical fashion. The dog let out a loud whine as the tentacle tightened around it, before being suddenly silence with the loud crack of bone.

“NOW YOU SEE THE PRICE OF FAILURE!” Blueblood let the spell fade, speaking once more in his normal regal voice. “Now, will he be getting some company? Or will you go back and do your jobs?”

The dogs let out a soft mournful howl for the fallen colleague, knowing that at least his death had been quick. A little foolish smile slipped onto Blueblood’s lips. He hadn’t used the Royal Canterlot voice in years. Aunty Luna would be proud of his decibel level. He trotted back, feeling smugly satisfied that his message had been understood by his minions. These peons would not dare oppose him now. He watched as the dogs went back into the caverns to work, and blew out the torch, shrouding the tunnel with darkness once again.

Nopony noticed a shuddering butter yellow Pegasus still protecting her friend, watching the entire incident with fearful eyes.

The I in Team

She had just gotten used to the darkness, but the glare of the sudden flame on the very far side of the cave was unmistakeable. Fluttershy tried very hard not to move, but felt herself sink down a little the trash anyway, the sound of Pinkie’s feverish breathing drowning out any other sound in the cave. Pinkie would need medicine soon. Fluttershy slowly and quietly took her saddlebags off, rummaging around. No… she didn’t have anything that would really help. Some bandages, but no medicine that would help a pony. She sighed to herself. Applejack would have had medicine, a whole medical kit. Applejack could always be relied upon to think of things like that on a trip. She started bandaging Pinkie’s wounds, hoping that she’d be able to clean them later.

Loud sounds rang out from the far side of the cave, and the giant pile of garbage shifted. Fluttershy eeped softly and curled up protectively around Pinkie as the Otyugh had started to move away. Relieved, Fluttershy looked up, seeing the creature pull itself towards the place where light was coming from. She started looking back down to check on Pinkie, but the light from the flaming torch glinted off something shiny lying on the ground. She checked the spot again, waiting until she saw the gleam again. With a start, she realized what it was.

Making sure Pinkie was safe, she slowly unfurled her wings and flew just above the layer of rubbish, being careful to not to disturb anything. The sounds grew louder, making her wince. She landed next to the green saddlebag, thankful that her friends had managed to leave something for her somehow after all. Fluttershy put it over her back and almost immediately fell down with a squeak. Applejack’s pack was far too heavy for her to carry. She opened it, looking through the contents for the little red pouch full of pills and ointments she knew her stalwart friend carried. She smiled to herself, Pinkie was going to be okay. There was a loud crack from the other side of the room and Fluttershy threw herself down again with another tiny eep. The echoes started to die down, and the light began to go out. The Otyugh had stopped moving, and Fluttershy quickly took the medicine back to Pinkie, fearfully glancing at the last place she had seen the monster, but thankful for the chance she was given.

. . .

Galloping hard, Applejack looked up into the sky, spotting a flight of crows circling above the farm, and sighed.

“And just what are you so exasperated about?” inquired an out of breath Rarity, the physical exertion taking its toll.

“Never you mind Rar.” AJ looked away, and slowed her pace so the unicorn could rest a little.

“I insist Applejack. You’ve been in a mood ever since before Pinkie and Fluttershy…” she teetered off, unwilling to think about the pain her two friends must be facing, “before we went into that… cave. The others may not have noticed, but I did.”

“Its nothin’ you need to worry about. Its banal and selfish, and quite frankly it's beneath me to even think about it.”

“I assure you Applejack, your secret is safe with me.”

“Do you know what time of year it is?”

“Why of course, it’s the week before the Spring Equinox.”

“Yeah. And why am ah never around this time of year?”

“Well, you’re normally working on the farm, working on the…” realization dawned on Rarity’s face.

“On the Zap Apple harvest. Exactly.”

“So why did you come with us then?”

“Because Twi asked me to. And she wouldn’t ask for mah help at this time of year unless it was really important. Ah know what mah priorities are, Rarity. No matter what the task, we Apples are up to the job.”

“And why is that?”

Applejack shrugged. “It’s what we do. Saving ponies, farming things: the family business. Macintosh can handle gettin’ the harvest ready, hopefully. And if he can’t, well… mah friends' lives are more important than a good harvest. Even if it could cost the farm.”

“I’m certain that your brother is more than capable of keeping things under control. With any luck we’ll be able to save our friends before the Zap Apples ripen. After all, crows are only the second sign, no?“ Rarity bore a pensive look on her face.

“Well, no, they’re the thi-“

“IDEA!” Rarity exclaimed gleefully. “Applejack…” she wheedled. “Surely it wouldn’t be too much fuss to get some sap from one of the zap apple trees?”

“Wait, what now?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

Rarity fluttered her eyelashes until AJ shot her an unamused look. “The ingredient called for the sap of an apple tree, not a Zap Apple tree. Heck, mah family hasn’t even found out all the effects of zap apples, and we’ve been harvestin’ them for over 50 years. If we deviate from the plan now, we could mess things up for everypony.”

“Come now Applejack.” Rarity spoke with the air of one infinitely wiser, causing Applejack to roll her eyes and sigh. “Zap apples have all that natural magic within them, and I’ve been working with Twilight on several mystical experiments now, I insist that the sap of a zap apple tree will work much better.”

“Y’know, we don’t actually have any 20 year old trees right? The only ones we’d be able to find that are that young would be in the Everfree forest somewhere.”

“So we’ll just go into the Everfree and find one. Get in, get out. Evade anything that tries to stop us.” Rarity looked quite determined, a glint in her eyes.

“You do realize that the forest is dirty right?”

“Well to borrow a phrase somepony once told me; I know my priorities. And with Celestia as my witness, I shall not leave my friends in peril a moment longer than I have to.” Rarity put on a burst of speed and ran towards the deep dark of the Everfree forest, Applejack following within seconds.

“We just need to be careful. After all, how many times have we told our sisters never to go into the Everfree?”

. . .

Lyra hugged the three little fillies close. It was getting cold in the dungeons, and the new guard had prohibited her from playing any more music. She sported a few more bruises for her earlier defiance, but had protected the little fillies from harm. For the first few hours, they had talked endlessly about how their sisters and heroes would come save them all. Lyra knew of the ponies they talked of, but wasn’t really friends with any of them. As the cold started to settle in and there were still no signs of rescue, the three little fillies started to give in to despair. Lyra did her best to distract them with songs and fairy tales, but eventually it was no use.

From the conversations she’d overheard from the guards, she knew that Spike had managed to escape somehow, but even she had given up hope on the dragon managing to find somepony to help them. She also found out the identity of their captor, but she refused to let the foals give up, even if she didn’t truly believe that somepony could stop Prince Blueblood. As a former resident of Canterlot, she’d heard of the prince, but had never met him in person, even with her friendship with Princess Cadence. She had seen him in his publicity stunts, but never paid any attention to the pony who in her mind was an overblown windbag.

Ahead of her, the guard dog snapped to attention. The head honcho, Prince Overblown Windbag himself stepped into the cells with a dead set expression.

“So, which ponies did that dragon talk to?” The imperious tone of Canterlot’s most well known prince sounding harsher than he ever had to his (not usually captive) audiences. When the dog pointed to her cell, she nudged the fillies awake and whispered to them to be quiet, telling them to hide behind her.

“And what exactly did the dragon talk to you about, hmm?” Blueblood leered at the cage with one bloodshot eye. He turned back to the guard. “Leave us, cur.” The dog trotted out, leaving Blueblood face to face with Lyra and the three fillies under her protection. “And just what do we have here, hmm? A quarrelsome mare, and a trio of foals. Why would that dragon have wanted to talk to you?”

Applebloom glared at Prince Blueblood, heedless of his size and appearance. “He followed us here because he wanted to help his friends! Who helps you, you big bully? Monsters? You’re alone and you know it!”

Blueblood’s left eye began twitching and he opened the cell door with his master key. He looked ready to strike Applebloom, but Scootaloo and Sweetie quickly stood in his way, with Lyra stepping forward in front of them too.

"You're not going to touch them you bastard." Lyra snarled. Blueblood barely glanced at her before backhoofing her across the face.

“Foolish foal, you think that dragon will be able to help you? Friends or no, he stands no chance of escaping.” He laughed manically, spittle flying everywhere. Lyra flinched under the rain of expectoration. “Even now, my best three dogs are on the trail of that rude, uncouth dragon. He’s as good as done for,” Blueblood grinned triumphantly and turned around to exit. “Now I know he had no real aim in coming here, I have nothing to worry about.”

Lyra turned down and whispered to Scootaloo. “Get your friends ready to run.”

“What?” replied the perplexed Pegasus.

“You’ll know it when it happens.” Lyra smiled to herself and lunged at Blueblood in a crash tackle.

. . .

“Argh! So many ponies!” Rover complained angrily. “And so colourful! How can they stand it?”

“I think they’re pretty,” Fido said, be rewarded with a cuff across his ear for his troubles.

“You don’t think they’re pretty because you don’t think! Spot, where is the dragon?”

“The scaled one has left again… he’s gone towards the tunnel in the forest.”

“Good. Run dogs! This place is much too silly and frilly for my liking.” Rover and Spot loped off towards the forest, Fido giving a soft whine and casting a longing look towards the peaceful village of pony folk before following suit.

. . .

Spike walked down the path Twilight always took through the Everfree Forest to get to Zecora’s hut, eager to try and get some help from the pony he could always rely on. He hoped he still had time to fix everything before something awful happened to Applebloom and his other friends. Thankfully, within ten minutes of wandering, he saw a familiar silhouette trotting towards him. As soon as she realized who was on the path, Twilight started galloping towards him, calling his name.

“Twilight! Thank Celestia I found you, I could really use your-” the little dragon was swept up into a big hug by the lavender unicorn.

“Oh Spike… I’m so sorry… I have to do something right now… if anything happens to me, please, take care of Owlowiscious and… tell my parents, and the Princess… and my brother…” Twilight hugged him close, tears flowing freely.

“What? What’s wrong? Twilight, you’re starting to scare me.” Spike put a claw on her face. “Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“I love you so much Spike.” Twilight put Spike back down, wiping the tears from her eyes. “You’re the best friend and assistant I could ever ask for. But there’s something really important that I have to do. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”

“Twilight, no. I’ve been kept in the dark by Rainbow, Applejack, even Rarity. But not you too. I deserve the truth.”

Twilight sighed. “You’re right Spike.” She took a moment, gathering her thoughts. “We were looking for those missing ponies and found a trail that led to a cave. There was this thing in there, an Otyugh, some kind of ancient monster… and... well… it got Pinkie. We tried to get her out, but the Otyugh was too big, too dangerous. It separated us from her, and Fluttershy stayed behind to try and keep Pinkie safe. The others and I… we’re trying to make a potion, something that will put the Otyugh back to sleep, but I don’t know if we’ll all make it…”

“Well then, let me help you!”

“No! It’s bad enough that my friends are going to be in danger… If I knew my family would be too…” Twilight started crying again. “I don’t think I can do this…”

Spike gripped Twilight by the shoulders, and looked right into her eyes. “You’re Twilight Sparkle. The most magical unicorn in all of Equestria. Hoof chosen by Princess Celestia herself. The bearer of the Element of Magic. And the wisest, most smartest, pony I know. There’s nothing that you can’t do.”

Twilight smiled, the flow of tears slowing. “Thank you Spike. You’re always there for me when I need you. Just like how I need to be there for my friends. I know you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself; it would just give me peace of mind if I knew you’d be safe. I know that whatever task you put yourself to, you’ll achieve it.” Twilight gave her long time friend and companion a nuzzle. “Remember Spike, I’m counting on you to take care of the foals. I know you’re more than up to the challenge.”

Spike looked down. Twilight already had enough problems to deal with without him burdening her with his own. But something Twilight said made him think. She believed in him, just as he believed in her. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to do things himself.

He looked back at Twilight. “You know I am. Just promise me something, okay?”

“What?”

“Promise me that I won’t have to tell your family anything, because you’ll be safe.”

Twilight put a hoof on his hand gently. “I promise I’ll do my best. Now I have to go find the others to finish this potion.”

“I saw Rainbow in the library earlier, but I don’t think Applejack and Rarity have got everything yet.”

“Thank you again Spike.”

“Anytime Twilight. I have something I need to take care of too, so I’ll see you at Fluttershy’s when you’re all safe?”

“Definitely.” Twilight smiled at him, before galloping back in the direction of Ponyville.

Spike turned around, filled with the confidence that he could do anything, thanks to Twilight’s faith. He knew he had to get back to the tunnel near Fluttershy’s cottage to save the foals, and everypony else trapped by the Diamond Dogs, as well as figuring out some way of disarming Blueblood’s bomb. There was just one thing in his way. Well, more accurately, three things.

“Hello dragon,” Rover grinned menacingly.

. . .

“Well? Which way do we go?” Rarity looked around the clearing from tree to tree, completely lost.

“Give me a second would you? Granny Smith never gave me the complete directions on how she got to that grove, and she was a scared little filly at the time.” Applejack sat down and thought for a few minutes. “There,” she pointed, “that way.”

“Why that way?”

“Zap Apple’s have a particular scent before their harvest. Ah’d recognize it anywhere. It’s like Pinkie says; when in doubt, always follow your nose.”

“I hope you’re right.”

The two ponies trotted in the darkness, Rarity providing a soft light with her horn to guide the path. Applejack’s nose had led them true, both of their jaws dropping upon seeing the grove. It was more colourful than Granny Smith had described it, and far more vivid with flora. Rarity let out a soft gasp at the sight, and Applejack trotted around in wonder, touching the odd tree as she gazed in awe at the wild orchard of apples that had led to the creation of Ponyville. By rights, this spot would be a Ponyville landmark, had it been located anywhere but the Everfree Forest. She could hear a voice talking to her, but didn’t heed it at all, completely lost in the splendour of nature. A jab from a hoof broke her out of her reverie.

“Huh? Wha?”

“Applejack? Equestria to Applejack? I asked you which tree we should get the sap from.”

“Oh. That one.”

“How can you tell?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Do ah question you on stitchin’ hems and the such?”

“Point taken, now, if you’d be so kind as to help me get some sap out of the tree?”

Applejack trotted up to the tree and placed her hoof on its trunk. “Hey there little tree,” she whispered. “Don’t mind me, ah just need to get some sap out of you. Ah’m dreadful sorry, but it’s really important.”

Rarity huffed, but didn’t say anything. Applejack slowly scraped the bark with the edge of her hoof humming a soft melody, until the tree started leaking sap.

“There we go, that’s a good tree.” She turned to Rarity. “Okay, he’s ready, got the jar?”

Rarity elevated the small flask out of her saddlebag with her magic, opening it and touching the tip to the side of the tree, the sap slowly sliding down into it. “There. Now we just need to find Twilight and then we can get our friends home safe and sound.” She recorked the flask and wrapped it in a protective coating, putting it back into her saddlebag. She turned back to look at Applejack, who was looking around with a worried expression. “Something wrong?”

“Can’t you hear it?” A twig snapped somewhere around them, Applejack turning quickly, her ears perked up in alert.

“Wha-What is it?” Rarity stuttered nervously.

“Aw heck, ah should’ve realized… the first sign… timber wolves…”

“What do we do?” Rarity looked around, trying to find a courage inside herself as the first wolf stepped into the orchard.

“Get into the tree Rar, double time!” AJ lowered her body, allowing herself to be used as a stepping pad to help her friend up. Rarity understood immediately, climbing into the tree as best she could. More timber wolves started pouring into the clearing, slavering and howling as they caught sight of prey in their territory.

“Applejack! Hurry! They’re getting closer!”

AJ leapt up, wincing from an earlier bruise and failed to reach the lower branches. Desperation in her eyes, she tried climbing up the trunk of the tree, hooves scrabbling hopelessly. Seeing her friend’s predicament, Rarity wrapped herself around the branch and reached a hoof down to try and help her. AJ jumped again despite the pain, just managing to grasp Rarity’s hoof with her own. Rarity groaned, unused to holding the weight of another pony, and tried her best to pull the earth pony up, the timber wolves already leaping and snapping at Applejack’s trailing hind legs. Looking up, Applejack saw Rarity start to slip off her already precarious perch on the branch and immediately understood what needed to be done.

“Rarity… let go.”

“What? They’ll kill you!”

“And if you hold on, you’ll fall too.” Applejack tried to get her hoof free. “Just let me go!”

Rarity struggled to hold on, a look of sheer stubborn resolution on her face. “I’ll never let go Applejack. I’ll never let go.” She desperately tried to think of something, anything she could do, her hooves barely able to hold on to the branch.

Applejack looked up at Rarity with sad eyes and a soft smile. “Look after mah family for me.” She leaned up and bit Rarity’s hoof, the sudden pain and shock causing her to let go.

The serenity on Applejack’s face would haunt Rarity forever.