Chapter 1

"You failed the test, Twilight!"

The words echoed around the palace known as Canterlot Castle. The air was full of disappointment on this day. They had trusted one particular pony so much, only for her to fail them. To one, it didn't seem like much, failing a test. You could say they were over reacting. This was not the case. This was so much more than a test. To a small unicorn mare, a test was the peak, a thing to see if you had the skills or knowledge to pass a subject. She failed. What was her test, may you ask? Nothing too hard. Defeat a foul demonic dictator of the north, one that tortured the inhabitants of a Crystalline Empire for generations.

To the mare, this demon of the northern hemisphere seemed to be just another baddy. She had defeated the goddess of the night, corrupted by envy and jealousy. A chaotic god, prone on turning Equestria into an anarchy filled country, an entire species of love eating terrorists. This seemed no different. It was just a master of the dark arcane. Who can harness fear and feed off it. It was weakened by returning into this realm once more. This demon was banished to an ice equivalent of Tartarus for a thousand years. In pure solitude. Training, waiting, boiling with anger. This demon's name has become a curse. Nopony speaks it. It has been dubbed 'The King', to avoid the curse upon its name, The King was the mare's demise. It destroyed everything she loved, indirectly.

"But-"
The mare spoke, in a desperate attempt to reclaim the kindness of her teacher, the goddess of the sun. The goddess of the sun was busy, filing plans and papers. Signing allowances to take arms.

"I'm sorry Twilight. There is no longer anything you can do."
The unicorn mare shook, starting to hyperventilate. Her pupils dilated as her ears pushed back up against her head. She had seen this scenario before. It was playing out according to what she had seen before. Her eyes darted over a glass window; the window did not show the outside of the palace, rather, it showed a picture. The King was at the top of the picture, a sickly happiness about it. The Crystal Heart hovered just above a small horse. The pony was falling into the flames below her. This picture had depicted what had happened in the Crystal Empire. That mare was Twilight. Twilight Sparkle was falling into those flames.

Twilight had lost her friends to what had happened in the Crystal Empire. They are now slaves. They told her to run. Run to the sun goddess in Canterlot. She didn't want to leave them, but she had to. She would have been a slave as well if it weren't for her friends. She could remember the memory very clearly.

Twilight was stuck at the top of the crystal empire's castle. Greed had struck her when she first saw the Crystal Heart. She, in awe of its beauty, approach it slowly. She triggered an alarm when she approached it, triggering a defense mechanism from The King, who had just now re-entered the empire. Black crystals sprouted around the mare, at lightning fast speeds. She had managed to knock the Crystal Heart out of the cage that had now formed. It was flung onto the floor, in front of her most trusted assistant.

After a couple words had exchanged, her assistant was now running down the crystals that the King was sprouting off the tower.
"THAT IS MINE!"
The King roared from down the street. With ungodly speed, The King was now climbing up a self-moving crystalline platform. Up towards the dragon. There was no escape. The roars and cracks of the crystals could be heard as it moved upwards.

Slipping off the tower, her assistant was now plummeting down to the death making demon below. The Crystal Heart fell out of his hands as he fell, and he swiped at the air, in a desperate and useless attempt to reclaim the heart. With nopony intervening and the princess weak, there was an obvious victor. As The King rose upwards, its shadows split from it, revealing an equine form that contained all of its power. It was an intimidating figure, almost fully armored with metal on its hooves and chest. A red cape lined with a white luxury fur whipped in the wind, along with a jet black mane and tail. A tall crown stood upon The King's head, holding back its mane. It licked its chops, bearing its dragon-like teeth as it prepared to regain the Crystal Heart and slaughter the fool that was falling towards it.

The King hissed in victory, as the heart was now only a couple feet away. The dragon braced itself, hoping for a saving grace. That grace never came.

The heart shoved itself right into The King, in which The King grabbed it, stabbing into the heart with the sharp canines it was born with. A sickly grin was put upon The King's face as a crystal wall formed on the platform and blocked the dragon from falling into The King. Smashing into the black crystal wall with a crack, the dragon was dazed, knocked unconscious as he slipped off the wall, and limply down into the crowd of Crystal Ponies.

The King rejoiced, taking the Crystal Heart from its mouth and holding the heart up high. The crystal ponies below screamed in fear, panicking while The King laughed wholeheartedly. The Crystal Heart adapted a cracked outside, turning its beautiful cyan into a dull, crusty blue as it stayed within The King's metal covered hoof.

"But.. What do I do now?"
Twilight shook the memory, sorrow filling her mind. She was going to be banished. She failed her test, betrayed her friends, and now, disappointed her teacher. Nothing could describe this experience. In a futile attempt, Twilight reached out to her teacher with an outstretched hoof. Hoping to gain back what she had lost.

"Take arms, or hide. Hide from everypony until the threat has died down. This is an order, Twilight. You must leave."
Twilight could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes as she stood back up. Trotting away from her mentor, the pure white goddess known as Celestia. Her whole body shook. She denied this. She could not swallow this. It was too much. Her whole life was gone. In one day. Gone. Her brother was most likely dead or near death, same with her childhood friend known as Cadence. All her friends were slaves. Her dragon, her long-time partner in crime.. He couldn't have survived that fall.

As Twilight exited the room, the doors slammed closed behind her. This was the last time she would be to Canterlot Castle with good intentions. The guards 'escorted' the Element of Magic out of the castle. Looking back at the castle one last time, Twilight broke out sobbing. She collapsed on the stairs leading up to the entrance of the Canterlot castle. Picking herself up was a hard task to do. She laid there, crying rivers and rivers of tears that trickled down each and every step. Stairs. What horrid things. Twilight stumbled to her hooves. Limping away from Canterlot Castle, and into the city of Canterlot itself.

The ponies of Canterlot were stuck up. Usually, they would not notice one pony trotting down the street. When a celebrity trots down the street though, that is a different thing in it's entirely. Twilight could not walk one step without being bombarded by ponies asking her about the Crystal Empire failure. Apparently it was all over the news. They were so quick to report things. Twilight kept her head down, as ponies shoved her about, not on purpose mind you. They were so desperate for details. They wanted to know. They wanted to know everything, Every last thing.

Twilight stayed silent as she wormed her way through her crowd of nosy ponies that only made her tears continue to flow down her face and onto the concrete sidewalk. She found herself at the train station, buying a train ticket. She was going back to Ponyville. She was going to pack her things, and go. Where would she go? Who knows. It was Princess's orders. After receiving her ticket, she waited for the train in silence. The ponies around her refused to leave her alone. They refused to not know. Twilight scowled; her frown was most likely going to be permanent. Her horn flickered a light, sparking a small shield around the mare. She pushed back the crowd, silencing them with her soundproof forcefield.

When the train had arrived, Twilight had stopped crying. Her face was pure red, and her head was hurting, she looked like an absolute mess. Giving the conductor of the train her ticket through her protective bubble, Twilight headed onto the train. The train to her once happy town. Perhaps she deserved this. She left her friends for death, or worse. She stared out the window as the train started along the prelaid tracks. The train was empty. Her shield left her, and she now saw no need for her forcefield. She just wanted everypony to stay away from her, yet, she wanted somepony to hug her. She wanted somepony to help her.

As the scenery changed, Twilight could feel her emotions get the best of her. Emotions ranging from Sad to Angry filled her, causing her to leave the inside of the train a total mess. It looked like an angry dragon stormed through the cart that Twilight had stayed on. When she got off, she headed directly to her library. The old place was useless now. Entering her tree abode, she looked around the first floor for anything useful.

Her horn flurried with light; her magenta aura pulling her books off their shelves and onto the floor. Twilight could care less. She was furious. She hated Celestia. Did she expect Twilight just to sit down and watch her friends die!? Was she really that much of a failure in Celestia's eyes that she was recommended to hide more than she was to fight?! Twilight roared as she flung the books around the free space in the air. Stomping up the stairs, she left the bottom floor as a mess. She had toppled the table in the middle of the room down there. Anger clouded her mind and vision.

Upon going up to the second floor, Twilight repeated the process of flinging everything off of their shelves, and onto the floor. The books flung open as they smashed onto the natural wood of the tree library. Twilight smashed her front hooves onto one of the tables in the room, breaking the table with ease. She ignored the splinters in her hoof as she dished out her anger on everything around her.

It took an hour to 'pack'. The library was trashed. Windows were broken. Books were everywhere. When ponies passed by, they could hear the angry screeches of Twilight when they approached the tree library. Twilight was very, very busy. Her anger suddenly vanished, replaced by sorrow as she collapsed onto the floor once more. Now she was just a pathetic mess. Why did this have to happen to her? Why? Did she deserve this? Is it karma coming back to bite her? Where was this bad karma coming from? There is nothing sinful on Twilight's head! She was sinless! She had never killed anypony! Why did life have just to rip everything from her!? Her teacher, her family, her friends.. Spike. Spike was taken from her. For no reason. That stupid place just had to pop up and take everything from her. What were the odds? Twilight Sparkle, element of magic, famed pupil of Celestia, friend to all princesses is crippled and alone. Sobbing in her library like a worm. Crying over the loss of her friends. Of everything.

"I hope I'm not intruding on anything. I'm looking for the element of magic."

Chapter 2

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Distasteful, Twilight rose her face from the floor to meet the source of the sound. The intruder, who stood in the stairwell. Luckily, it was not Luna. The voice of this new pony was very unregal. The voice sounded like it was from the south. It reminded Twilight of Applejack. With a scowl, and not wanting to deal with anypony at the moment, Twilight wiped her tears away from her face.

"What.. What do you want.."
Twilight hissed, her voice cracking as she spoke. The pony emerged from the stairwell, and approached Twilight. Twilight had never seen this pony before. She was a dusty blue earth pony mare, with a striped cyan and dark blue mane. She had these neon green eyes, almost the same color as.. Its eyes. Upon looking at this pony, Twilight felt more anger erupt within her. For the mare's sake, she attempted to hold her fury back. This mare was innocent, from what she could tell.

The earth pony laid down only a few feet away from Twilight, brushing away the books to make a little clean spot for herself. The mare sighed, shaking her head in disappointment before locking eyes with Twilight. Twilight had furnaces of malice her eyes, which did appear to worry the mare. By the obvious hesitation before the mare started to talk, Twilight could tell she was scared.

"I know ya are really sad about what happened in the Crystal Empire, but don't take it out on yourself."
The mare started, as Twilight's top lip twitched, threatening to expose her teeth and take an attacking position. The mare stopped, thinking of what to say next, obviously.

"I have a offer for you."
The mare stood up, flicking her tail at the unicorn on the ground. Twilight felt in her gut that something was wrong as soon as that mare turned around. This wasn't a regular mare. She could feel it in her horn. There was magic about this mare. What type of magic it was is a mystery. Being on edge, Twilight's horn flurried. She furrowed her brow and pointed her horn at the mare.

"Join us, and we will take down the king of the north. Also, we won't burn your library down."
The mare continued, turning back around. Twilight looked wide-eyed at the mare. Was she offering to be her ally? Her ally in her time of need? Twilight, for once in what felt like forever, was happy. Overjoyed. She ignored the second part out of her sudden burst in happiness. Twilight gave a quick nod of her head, as the mare smiled. Twilight shot up off the floor, before promptly falling back down, straight onto her face. Regaining her stature, the earth pony mare smiled as well, and gave a swift symbol to follow.

"Do you mind if I pack up my things first?"
Twilight asked, realizing she still had nothing to adventure out with. The mare nodded in agreement before trotting down Twilight's stairs. With a quick levitation spell, Twilight was able to pick out her saddlebag from underneath her still straight bed. From behind her bookshelf, she grabbed a black robe that she thought would be useful. Seeing as the princess told her to hide, that's what she planned to do. Quickly putting on her things, Twilight looked over the disorganized library. It pained her to leave it in the shape it was. This was probably the last time she would ever be here. Twilight said her goodbyes, stashing her old Starswirl the Bearded costume away in one of the library's secret compartments, which she had installed herself.

After she was packed, Twilight clipped the robe's front together with the attached pin, one that was the exact same as her cutiemark. As much as she didn't want to have her cutiemark shown off to everypony around her, giving away her identity, she didn't have any other choice. She didn't exactly have any other black cloaks. Maybe Zecora had some. Lifting up her cloak, she put her saddlebag on underneath her cloak. Her saddlebag was also adorned with her cutiemark.

Once outside her library, Twilight noticed there was an equivalent of a bandit group waiting outside her house. There appeared to be about Twenty or so ponies outside of Twilight's home. They all either wore masks or were wearing hoods that covered their faces in shadows. When Twillight arrived, she scanned the small crowd of ponies for the mare who had previously entered her home, and she was decently easy to find. She was beside that white unicorn stallion with a pure black mane and tail.

"I'm ready to go."
Twilight informed as she stepped infront of the mare. The stallion beside the mare twisted his head to look at the mare as well. The mare scanned over Twilight, giving her a silent evaluation, obviously.

"You got any weapons?"
The stallion asked, he had directed the question towards Twilight. A sort of television reporter voice could be heard from the stallion. He was a bit strange, but it didn't matter to Twilight. She would go with a band of misfits to get rid of the demon of the north. She would do anything to get her friends back. Anything. Twilight pointed to her horn to answer the question, as the southern mare looked over at the stallion, un-amused. Obviously, the element of magic's main weapon was going to be magic. No dur.

"We've gathered intel that there may be an portal that is in the Crystal Empire, hidden away in the deepest depths. We don't know where the portal leads, but if The King finds out about it, he might be able to be anywhere and everywhere effortlessly."
Somehow, the mare had shed her country accent. Twilight didn't know how she did it, but the information she was spouting was very useful. A portal. There were a couple different portals. Some lead to different worlds, and others just teleported you somewhere, with no magical effort from pony or thing entering it.

"A quick question, why aren't you using its full name?"
Twilight asked, as the mare looked positively terrified at the question. Twilight had no idea why. The mare looked at the stallion, in hopes that the masked stallion would answer the question for her, but he just stood there silently. The mare looked back at Twilight. Shaking her head, like she was trying to shake a vision or memory from herself.

"There is a curse on his name, placed there recently, by The King himself. Each time you utter his name, you get the worst visions imaginable."
The mare met eyes with Twilight again, as Twilight could feel the truthfulness in her words. The fear. Twilight dared not to ask if this mare had seen these visions for herself. As she could tell that she probably had. She wouldn't have hesitated so much if she hadn't seen the images. Images that Twilight was now thankful she had not seen again. Twilight had seen her worst fears, back in the crystal empire. Her worst fears were now a reality, thanks to her failure. Also, another thing stuck out to her. Twilight had been referring to The King as an it. Even though it- he was clearly a stallion. A stallion of sorts. He was more like a monster straight from Tartarus. That's probably why she referred to him as an it. Demons did not have a gender.

"It doesn't matter right now. We have to get out of here. We're burning daylight. We need to get to Hollow Shades."
The mare informed. Twilight still did not know this mare's name. Perhaps that was for another day. Taking one last glance back her library, the band of ponies started to move through ponyville, and towards the eastern reaches of Equestria. This would be a long trip, if they were going to be walking there. First, they would have to get past the river that separates ponyville from foal mountain, then over foal mountain, then through a forest, then they would be in Hollow Shades. That's the path they planned on taking. Luckily for twilight, she remembered she had a compass and map of Equestria inside her saddlebag. How convenient.

The path just described seemed like the one they were going to take, seeing as there were a couple rail road tracks in the distance, running over the river. The tracks were placed on a bridge that was extremely old and unstable, but still managed to hold the trains. It wasn't too late to inform of a better path.

"Uh, may I suggest we take a different route? I know there's a better way."
Twilight informed, stopping the group she was currently walking behind. Twilight had pulled out her map, and was currently looking over it.

"We could pass through the Everfree, and through Rambling Rock Ridge. It would land us farther away from the mountain, but it does give us the option to go around the mountain instead of over it."
Twilight informed, levitating her map. The leading mare of the brigade trotted to Twilight and looked at her map.

"This map is decently old. There's a tunnel through Foal Mountain."
The mare replied, pointing at the foal. Twilight blushed in embarrassment, because she had been to Foal Mountain before. She just kinda forgot there was a tunnel through there. So, with no more interruptions, the group of traveling ponies trotted over to the rickety old train track holding bridge in silence. It wasn't too far past here. Maybe, two, three days walk at most. The ponies passed over the bridge with ease, though some seemed a bit more worried to pass over the unstable bridge than others. Most of the pegasi in the group just flew over it as a precaution.

Twilight's adventure was about to begin. An adventure of country-changing proportions. Just after she stepped past this bridge, her life would be changed. For better, or for worse? That is for the spirits watching over her to decide. One hoofstep at a time, Twilight followed the herd of other ponies. This trip would not be fun, that was for sure. She knew no one here, but maybe she would get some new friends, to help fill the void once they stopped for the night. With the sun at about mid-day, Twilight knew they would make it to the tunnel of Foal Mountain before they stopped.

Twilight found herself walking, staring off into the distance blankly as she walked. She was thinking about her friends. Where they were. What they were doing. Wether they were dead or not. That's all she could think of right now. It was a big thing that was stuck in her mind and refused to leave. She thought of Rainbow Dash, the loyal. The brave.

Rainbow Dash refused to let this scene play out. With a beat of her wings, she was soaring up towards the cackling King, who was quick to notice the mare flying towards him. He looked at her with utter confusion. Like he had never seen a flying pony before. It did not matter to him. His platform shifted and covered The heart and The king that now possessed The Crystal Empire's savior. Rainbow Dash banged on the crystal shield, her hooves quickly beaten to a pulp.

"Get outta there, you coward!"
Rainbow Dash cried, taunting the King within the crystal shell he had formed to protect himself. Which to his advantage, was working decently well. Rainbow Dash was relieved, and both frustrated. Rainbow Dash, for once in her life, was truly scared. Truly terrified. It took all of her willpower to force herself to hit this thing that had just been chasing her an hour or so ago. Something that tried to kill her, and had basically rendered Shining Armor's magic useless. The fear of the unknown. Rainbow Dash didn't know what this guy could do. She had no idea. The thin outline that Twilight had given her about this guy didn't comfort her. He was the master of dark magic. From what it had sounded, Dark magic was incredibly powerful, and by the looks of it, it helped this guy seize their only hope.

A sudden crystal pillar smashed into Rainbow Dash, punching her right in the gut, and up into the air. It left her stunned, as she beat her wings in a desperate attempt to get her air back. The crystals shattered and disappeared, leaving the new ruler out in the open. To taunt Rainbow Dash, obviously. His horn flurried with magic, as Rainbow Dash was still trying to get her air back. Once she did, she was immediately shot down.

Her wings burned like they were caught with the sun's fire. Rainbow Dash yelled. Oh boy, did she screech. Her air was taken, as he cyan wing turned to a crisp, burning black from all the crystals on it. Crystals covered her wings. They stabbed through her wings, as they grew and spread through her wings. They hurt. They burned. They smoldered like burning irons. She fumbled in the air, and down. Down to plummet into the crowd, just like Spike had. Within the last few seconds, she found herself glding down, crashing into the now grayish crystal streets.

Twilight hoped that everypony was alright. She wasn't exactly in a place to see what had happened after Spike had left. Rarity had told her that Spike had fallen down into the crowd below, and disappeared after that. She worried for two certain mares, out of all of them. She knew they wouldn't be able to survive in such conditions. Fluttershy, the Kind, shy, and fragile one, and Pinkie Pie, the constantly happy and bubbly mare.

Fluttershy was swift to join Rainbow Dash, tending to her wounds. Rainbow Dash had just stood up to the newest tyrant of the Crystal Empire. Fluttershy looked over the hyperventilating Rainbow Dash, staring at the smoking black crystals that stuck out from Rainbow Dash's wings. Fluttershy had no idea what to do. She was absolutely paralyzed when she looked at Rainbow Dash, who was holding back tears. She was probably in the worst possible pain one could imagine. Pinkie Pie had sped over to Rainbow Dash, slower than Fluttershy had, but she was still here. Fluttershy looked up at the King high above.

Fluttershy could feel something within her ignite. Something guided her into the air, and up towards the platform. Much like the previous encounter with a pegasi, the King simply stared at her like she was an alien. Fluttershy made sure to make her approach nonthreatening. She did not puff up her chest, or stick her hoof out in front of her, threatning to punch him in the snout. Once close enough, Fluttershy stopped her approach, and landed on the platform. The entire empire was silent. Silent with shock that this mare had not yet been killed. As soon as she landed, The King had hissed at her, making her flinch. It did not stop her though.

Fluttershy raised her hoof, and once she did, A crystal spire sprouted right in front of her. Blocking her path. The platform had grown from a one-pony platform to one that could be considered almost stage sized. One big enough for a decent battle. The onlookers below could no longer see what was happening with the two ponies. Stepping around the spire, Fluttershy found herself now only feet from her opponent. With a stern gaze, Fluttershy unleashed her weapon. The stare.

The staring contest went on for a good five minutes. Her opponent breaking slowly. Refusing to move from her gaze, he had tried to light his horn up, but Fluttershy would only harden her stare, causing him to stop. He had placed down the crystal heart, and it was solidly below his hoof. He obviously wanted to keep it.
"How.."
He had whispered to himself multiple times through this staring contest. Inaudible whispers were not Fluttershy's concern. It was time to show this pony what for.

"How dare you scare innocent ponies like that."
Fluttershy started, her vocal onslaught of disappointment was soon to be unleashed. Her opponent had shrunk in size slightly through the entire five minutes. He was a really hard cookie to crumble. Fluttershy could feel her stare twitch and start to burn. Staring for five minutes had burned her eyes. They were extremely dry.

"What would your parents say if I told them about this?"
Fluttershy questioned, now starting to take more steps towards the King. Big mistake. A thin, almost invisible green laser had connected the two's eyes together. Apparently she had been too far away for this green laser to connect to her eyes. The King was obviously relived by this, as Fluttershy's vision changed. She was no longer on the platform. She stood outside her own house.

Her home was burning down. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of animals ran from her home. Some burning alive, even.
Fluttershy screamed, running away from the scene, as she had ripped her eyes away from The King's. She smacked her face directly into the crystal pillar behind her. The King now towered over her, fear in her eyes, she swiftly closed them. Bracing herself. A cold, hard hoof pushed on her neck. Fluttershy could not react to this, as slowly, she could feel her air passage way closing and opening. Like this was cruel joke. Upon opening her eyes, she could see a magical aura strangling her throat. She was then lifted up to the pillar by her throat.

"You will be useful.."
He hissed. His aura now let her go, as crystals formed over her appendages. Basically strapping her to the pillar.

In all her day dreaming of what could be happening to her friends, Twilight bumped into the pony infront of her. They promptly grunted, as Twilight apologized. Twilight looked around at her surroundings. She was now in a sort of dark forest, as ponies spread out, pushing away the bushes, and getting rid of some of the plant life to make a camp. At the northern part of the camp site was a gaping large cave entrance. It was slightly foreboding, as stalactites hung off the entrance, making it look like the mouth of a monster. Or a snake with no bottom jaw. That sounded a bit cruel. After looking about the camp for a bit, she noticed they were lacking a fire.

Twilight ripped a couple sticks and branches off the trees surrounding the camp site, piling them neatly in the center of the camp. Next, she plucked a couple rocks from the surrounding area with her magic, just like she had done with the tree branches. She created a small fire place, circling the rocks around the branches and twigs. With a swish and flick of her magic, Twilight made flames erupt from the fireplace in a gorgeous blaze. She smiled at her work, seeing all the other ponies look at the now operational fire.

Next, it was time to make some friends.

Chapter 3

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Twilight looked around the fireplace. The other ponies had brought up a couple logs to sit on, and gathered them outside of the fire's reach. It was awkwardly quiet, as Twilight looked around at the other ponies. She had looked up multiple times, trying to find out where the sun had went. First, she was in ponyville, now, she was by Foal Mountain. It felt like it had only been a couple minutes. In actuality, it had been six hours. Six hours.

The other ponies had shed their masks and hoods once they had sat around the fire. They were out of public. It had Twilight slightly suspicious. Why did they need masks when they were out in public? It made no sense to her, unless they were criminals or outlaws. Twilight did not recognize any of them, though. Twilight had seen atleast a million wanted posters back in Canterlot. They were big on criminals being captured. She had seen the most outrageous of rewards. Ranging from one bit, to one billion bits. The criminals on those posters were truly a scary bunch. Twilight would imagine that his wanted poster would be up already. Seeing as he did do this gigantic crime.

Twilight would be extremely happy to turn him in, but only if they wanted him dead. Twilight would not stand to leave the tyrant alive. When Twilight got to the Crystal Empire, he better be ready for a plot whooping, It will be recorded in the history books as the most humiliating defeat Equestria has ever seen. Twilight would be hailed as a hero. She would get back what was taken from her. She would earn back her teacher's trust. Her brother would be avenged. If he was dead, that is.

First, Twilight had to get her priorities straight. She knew her end goal. Kill him. How did she plan to do that, though? Why, of coarse, get to the Crystal Empire via these ponies, then get her friends back, then use the.. the elements of harmony.. that were still in Canterlot.

Twilight smacked her face with her hoof slowly. Why didn't she take the elements of harmony to the Crystal Empire in the first place? It would have made it so she avoided all of this stuff. All of this torture. Twilight sighed. She knew that she would have to deal with her mistakes. Her abundance of them. Twilight snapped into reality, not wanting to have a guilt train slam into her all at once. She didn't want to break down infront of these other ponies, obviously.

"Read any good books?"
Twilight asked, gaining these extremely awkward stares from everypony else in the group. Twilight had to somehow start a conversation, to get her mind off things. She seriously did not want to think about her original group of friends, lest she break into tears or cause a tornado of anger blow away this entire camp. There were a couple murmurs about the group before one pony rose their voice up loud enough to be more than just a whisper.

"Before I got into this group, I used to read that Daring Doo series. It was really good."
The white unicorn stallion stated. He was the one from before, with the all black mane and tail. Twilight needed to get these ponies names down. She didn't want to nickname them just by their colors and race. With his mask off though, he had these sort of dark blue eyes. Also, with the mask removed, Twilight could actually recognize this pony. He was the ponyville press's reporter. She remembered he used to trot around with this black and white scarf, and these glasses with gray-ish lenses. Quill.. Something. Twilight could remember his cutiemark was a quill being dipped into ink, ontop of three blank pieces of paper. Twilight had recognized Quill because he had interviewed her FOUR times.

"I think I know you, isn't your name Quill Scribble, or something like that?"
Twilight asked, directing her question to the ex-reporter, who nodded in response. He looked about the group, who were now talking among eachother quietly, so that way the main topic's conversation could still be heard.

"My name is Quill Scratch, Twilight."
Quill Scratch introduced again. Twilight didn't act shocked that he knew her name. She had been around this pony a little bit, and he had to get her name down for the paper multiple times. Now that Twilight had an acquaintance within the group, she had a shoulder to lean on, if she ever needed one. She didn't feel so alienated. It was good to have someone in the group that she knew.

The leading mare of the group, the dusty blue earth pony mare, stuck her hoof up for the conversations to halt. In which, they did. She had full control of the group, like they were her puppets, and whatever she told them to do, they did. Twilight kind of looked up to the mare for her leadership skills, though this was a bit strange. How had she gained so much power within the group? Who gave her this power?

"I think we should all introduce ourselves. We haven't exactly had a proper greeting. My name is Rose Dust."
Rose Dust introduced herself, putting her hoof back down by her side. The group murmured. Twilight found this name a bit strange, as now, Twilight finally noticed Rose Dust's cutiemark. It was a bunch of blue and light brown sparkles flying through the air. Twilight wondered what her cutiemark meant. Possibly that she could create sparkling fireworks with just ground up roses? Well, it could be something more. Twilight's cutiemark wasn't exactly the most simple. She had a cutiemark in magic. As in, she could use advanced levels of magic. That was her talent. It was a rare talent to have, not common among regulars.

It took about five or so minutes for the entire group to introduce themselves. They excluded Twilight and Quill Scratch because they had already introduced themselves. Well, Quill had introduced Twilight. Twilight now locked all these pony's names into her mind. They were going to be remembered. How many ponies were in this group? Maybe it would be a good idea to do a quick headcount. Twilight guided her hoof along, pointing at each and everypony as she mumbled numbers underneath her breath. The group had nineteen ponies in it. About the size of a small class. Or the size of a regular class, if you compared it to the maximum amount of children that could be held in the school house at one time.

Twilight had tuned out of the conversations happening for a second. Apparently, in that one second, everypony decided it was time for bed, because they were now heading for the makeshift beds. Made out of leaves. The beds were all gathered up in one place, so that way they could all stay together, and if one of them left, or tried to kill another, it would alert the rest of the group. It was really like a gigantic, flat nest. It surely wasn't the most luxurious sleep Twilight would ever have in her life, but if her friends were gained back by doing this, she would do it. Twilight made sure to put out the fire before getting into the bed as soon as soon as she did, Twilight had scrambled over to the bed, picking out a spot, and laid down. Ponies laid down around her, sealing her into a small mat of ponies. They were warm, to say the least. It did smell a bit.. unhygienic. Twilight wrinkled her nose as the smell drilled into her nostrils. She couldn't help make a disgusted face as the technicolored ponies around her settled.

"Good night."
Luck Pusher called out from the opposite end of the 'bed'. Now that Twilight knew everypony here, she felt slightly safer. Seeing as all of them did not appear to be infamous bandits or criminals, even though they dressed like ones. Twilight snuggled her face into her hooves, breathing in her own unshowered stench that was less disgusting than everypony else's. They smelt like they hadn't bathed in a month. Twilight screwed her eyes shut as the group grew eerily silent. There were the soft sounds of breathing, as luckily nopony here snored. What were the odds. There was movement every so often that made Twilight's eyes open in alarm, and made her pupils dart around in a paranoid frenzy that they were being attacked. But really, it was just somepony adjusting their position. Twilight's ears decided to be complete plot holes.

Her ears swiveled, focusing on every single sound of the forest. She could hear a soft breeze off in the distance, which after a minute or so, the breeze passed over the group of huddled ponies. Then Twilight could hear something.. More. Twilight's head shot up, causing the pony infront of her, a bright yellow stallion known as Electricity Dancer to grumble from the disturbance. Twilight sworn she had heard a stick snap. Twilight knew a stick had snapped. Apparently all the ponies around her were in comas or something, because it had been about five or so minutes, and they were all asleep.

Twilight could feel something in the air. Something told her to put her head down. Hide. Now. Listening to herself, Twilight put her head back down. Something was approaching the bed of ponies. Hoofsteps. Twilight's eyes couldn't shut. She shook in sudden fear. She felt like all her blood drained. Somepony was coming. Who knows who. It could be Celestia. Luna. Celestia forbid it be Luna. That would be the worst. She didn't want Luna to hate her as well. She knew that Luna probably already despised Twilight, but she didn't want to receive a oral beating from Luna too.

"Twiiiilight..."
A ghastly voice called for Twilight. It made her skin crawl, as a sudden coldness washed over her body. Her bones chilled as she could feel her eyes twitch. She turned her head slightly. She still could not see anything. If it was a ghost, who would it be.. Who. Who did she know who could be a ghost?

"Spike?"
Twilight came to this realization and immediately shot her head up to face where the voice came from. It had come from the place where the fire was located, in the middle of the camp. When she stuck her head up, she regretted it. There, in the middle of the camp, stood a black specter. Twilight's ears pressed up against the back of her head, as she desperatly tried to scream. He was here. In the camp. How he got here flew right over Twilight's head. Twilight looked over at the other fellow equines who were currently asleep.

When Twilight had looked back up, she noticed that he had grown closer. Twilight could feel her air slip from her, as she started to hyperventilate. She tried desperately tried to light up her horn, but it would not light. Her magic had slipped away from her. Each time she blinked, he drew closer. He teleported. Silently. He stood, blankly, staring with this creepy, unfeeling stare. He did not have a wide grin, nor scowl. In fact, he had no mouth whatsoever. Twilight had noticed this when he was only a foot infront of her, as his body passed through the other pony's bodies, much like a ghost would.

Twilight's pupils dilated as the two locked eyes. He lacked pupils. A sea of serpentine green stared at Twilight. Twilight could see her reflection in them. Her reflection was distorted beyond belief. It showed her face, dismorphed and completely destroyed. She looked like she had been dropped in acid multiple times. Twilight had her jaw dropped long before she had seen her distorted figure within his eyes. Twilight could see her body start to morph. Her skin bubbled. No blood flowed, as he showed no change in emotion at this. Twilight could feel fear beyond belief. She was absolutely terrified.

This all felt so real. She could feel the breeze nearby. She could feel his presence. She could feel the warmth of her new companions. Twilight could not feel the intense pain that should have been happening at this very moment. Twilight tried desperately to conjure up a spell. ANY SPELL. Even if it were that moustache one, Twilight would use it. She just needed something, ANYTHING to use against him.

A terrible screech could be heard, as Twilight covered her ears. It still seemed to pierce through her hooves and into her eardrums at maximum volume. The King's face ripped and tore, creating a hole for a mouth. It looked like somepony had stabbed his facial area multiple times, and he was completely fine with it. The slightly disturbing new feature showed off the inside of his mouth, a black abyss. With a twisted black-snakelike tounge that was almost invisible, due to it's surroundings.

"One day your evil will escape it's cage.."
He hissed, the forest disappearing into a smokey abyss. Twilight screwed her eyes shut, no longer wanting to see what horrors awaited her. She shook her head madly. This couldn't be real. He couldn't be here. This couldn't be happening. She was so lucky to be right.

"Twilight! Wake up! RIGHT NOW!"
Twilight could hear a voice screech for her. Twilight's eyes opened in a flash. She shot up, and knocked heads with Mocha Bean. A light brown mare with a dark brown mane. She specialized in the arts of making coffee. Twilight then fell back down onto the bed, looking directly up. She was surrounded by her companions. Twilight felt her face, happy to know that her face hadn't been melted with invisible acid.

Twilight could feel something leave her, as her air way cleared. She took in deep breaths of air that seemed so refreshing and new. The nightmare she just experienced had left her breathless. She was covered in a cold sweat from it. It was still fresh in her mind, and she couldn't help but replay the experience over and over in a crisp quality. It made her shake. It truly did.

Apparently that realistic experience was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare. Nightmare. Ugh. Twilight couldn't help but mentally scold herself by getting so scared and paranoid over just a nightmare. Though it was kind of terrifying, she knew Rainbow Dash would probably shake off the terror like it was nothing. If anything, she would have punched him right in his nose. Twilight knew that Applejack would do the same.

Not having any time to reminisce on her friends, Rose Dust broke through the group and approached Twilight at an alarming speed. When infront of Twilight, she promptly smacked Twilight right across the face. She then gave a nervous grin.

"Oh. You're already awake.. Sorry."
Rose Dust chuckled, as Twilight felt her now sore face with a scowl. Rose Dust gave Twilight a bit of personal space, so that way she could get up. Rose Dust offered Twilight her hoof, in which, Twilight accepted. Staggering to her hooves, Twilight continued to rub her sore face with her free hoof. Before Twilight could asked Rose Dust's reasoning for slapping Twilight across the face, Rose Dust intervened.

"I assure you, I had a good reason to hit you. Your eyes were flowing with a strange purple smoke."
Rose Dust informed. What kind of reason was tha-.. Oh. OH. Twilight knew what that infamous purple smoke meant. Back in Canterlot, when Twilight had first gotten her test, Celestia showed her Dark Magic. When Celestia had used Dark Magic, her eyes trailed with a purple smoke. Her irises had turned from white to neon green. The King used this type of magic. Twilight had learned that. Though, why were her eyes trailing purple smoke? That was the question.

"Why?"
Twilight asked, expecting an answer. Rose Dust shrugged. She obviously thought that Twilight had an idea of what it was, because she had no idea what it was. Twilight could only guess at this point. Maybe Nightmares used Dark Magic? No, obviously not. It was mystery Twilight could answer later. It was not important.

"Let's move out. We want to get to Hollow Shades as quickly as possible."
Rose Dust called out to the entirety of the group. They slowly started to funnel into the cave just ahead. Horns glowing from the small amount of unicorns they had in the group. With a grimace, Twilight followed after. Everything they had used yesterday was now gone. Including the fireplace and bed. Twilight was slightly dirty now, because she had been laying on dirt. Twilight stayed at the back of the group. She made sure to check everything was still inside of her saddlebag. Yup. Everything was still there, when she took a peak at it.

She turned her attention back into the cave. The group was gone. Twilight trotted into the cave quickly, her horn flickering to a start, it lit up a large area around her. Exposing the ancient cave walls. They appeared to be scratched by small animals or something like that. Scratch marks were everywhere. Twilight exposed more and more of the cave as she trotted down the cave's tunnel. The light of day, what little there was behind her, slowly started to disappear. Twilight really didn't want to be in a dark place right now.

Once about a minute in, Twilight's voice had grown hoarse from her yelling out for her companions. She wasn't too big on screaming, save for that one time that Spike said that it was just a test. Still enraged her. Twilight took her mind off Spike, and put it on the priority. Find the group. Who were currently gone. How fun.

Then Twilight approached something. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Twilight did not remember this cave at all, and she was at a cross section. All three options she could take showed no differences. None of them had a light at the end of them, or ominously glowed red. If Twilight came across something, she would have to fight it if it wanted a fight. She would have to fight it alone. Even worse, if he was down here, Celestia PLEASE forbid he was down here, she would have to face him. Face to face.

"Alright. Left, Right, or Forward.. Uh.."
Twilight pointed her hoof at each direction, trying to find a voice, or a hoofstep, or a something that would lead her towards the group. Twilight consulted herself. Which way should she go? Perhaps Forward, to the north? Left, to the west? Or right, to the east?

Chapter 4

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"Eeni, meenie, miney, mo.. Oh, whatever."
Twilight shrugged. She seriously could not decide which way to go. The left was off to the west, toward canterlot. So that probably wasn't the best course of action. To the right was to the east, which would bring her closer to Hollow Shades, but knowing her luck, the cave exit probably wasn't inside Hollow Shades. So forward seemed like her best bet.

Without a second thought, Twilight advanced forward into the depths of the cave. The place was rather spacious, unlike other caves Twilight had been in. While walking, Twilight focused in on the noises that she could hear. Just her own breathing and hoof steps. Nothing else. The group was absolutely gone. How they had disappeared so quickly will still be a mystery to Twilight.

Twilight glanced about the cave as her horn's light spell had lighten up the cave decently well. Enough to see about twelve or so feet all around her. Though this made the wall extremely exposed, because the walls were only seven feet in width from each other. The walls were showing off their small scratch marks as Twilight continued to delve down into the cave. Twilight was not worried by the scratch marks. They looked very old. So whatever had made them was probably gone, and no longer within this cave.

Twilight's hoof steps echoed through the tunnel she had chosen. There was nothing in front of here. Just darkness. Nothing else. Nothing was there to assure her she was going the right way. Twilight doubted she was going the correct way. Though, there was nothing really to prove that she was going the wrong way either. With a puff, Twilight continued on down her path of darkness and mystery.

While she did so, Twilight decided to do a recap on what her dream was. Though it had frightened her to even go back to what that nightmare was about, Twilight had to. There was nothing else to think about that wouldn't make her break out into tears or make this entire cave collapse due to an angry element of harmony. Twilight remembered how warm and friendly her group was, and how they would not wake up to help her. Even when there was a threat, they were like corpses. They didn't even breath. Back when Twilight had just been waiting and listening to the dream forest, their stomachs did not rise or lower. They were just stable. The forest itself was a lot more worrying within her dream. Which was strange, because the forest just appeared to be a peaceful one in real life. It did not have strange animals in it.

Twilight found the entire dream a bit strange. She remembered when he had shown up. It still gave her the chills to picture him again. Those blank green, souless eyes staring at her. They hungered. They hungered for blood. For death. She could feel it when she had looked at them. He was so tall. It only made him worse. He had towered over her easily. Then he had said something strange, with that voice she will never forget. It sounded like the King of Tartarus's voice itself.

"One day your evil will escape it's cage."
What did that mean? Twilight was not caging evil. She was not evil in the first place. She did not have a cage to cage something that did not exist. Well, she wouldn't have to, yet.. Twilight continued to wonder about her nightmare, and why it had to happen. Twilight had no explanation for the dream, or what he had meant by what he had said. Though, next time he stuck his disgusting face in her dreams, she would give him what for. She'll have him retreating with his tail between his legs, like the coward he would become.

Twilight's ears flicked. There was a sudden ping that echoed through the cave. Perhaps a bit of water that was dripping from the ceiling. It sounded that way. Twilight continued down her path, continuing to think. The message, the message.. Was it perhaps a plant that he had hatched? That he would put some evil into Twilight? Twilight would not allow that to happen. Never. She would never turn into a demon, she would never become evil. She wouldn't have history repeat.

There was another the sound. A sound of an animal. A familiar animal. Paw pads slowly padded along the stone floor of the cave. Twilight smiled. She liked cats. Though she did not have a cat, Twilight sort of liked the calm furry creatures. Her light spell exposed a small cat. It was all brown. No spots, no patches. Even it's underbelly was just brown. No stripes. Just brown. It's irises were the equivalent of the sky. It padded up to Twilight, causing Twilight to stop in her tracks. The cat was not afraid of Twilight, which was nice to see. Twilight turned to face the cat directly. It had came out of the shadows infront of Twilight. Perhaps, this cat came from a clan of cats deeper inside the cave? Ooooh! Twilight had read a book about cats living in four different clans. What was that book series called again? Twilight hadn't read it in a while, but it was really good.

The cat meowed at Twilight, making her smile stay. Such an innocent animal. Twilight, when she was a filly, actually wished to be a cat, once. Twilight put out her hoof for the brown cat to sniff. In which, the creature sniffed the hoof, before promptly pushing the top of it's head up against twilight's hoof. Twilight could feel the cuteness wash over her. Twilight liked cats. A lot. Twilight really wanted to keep this cat now. She knew she couldn't though. So after a couple minutes of petting the cat, Twilight moved forward. The cat followed Twilight, close behind. Twilight had no problem with this. She could use a bit of company while walking through here.

This cat allowed Twilight to get her mind of things. Instead of thinking about her friends, or the crystal empire, or him, Twilight thought about cats. She thought about that series of books that had the four clans of cats, and how they would fight for survival in the forest they inhabited. In one of the books, they had to move out because ponies were destroying the forest. Then they had to go on this gigantic migration to go find another home. Which they found. Twilight couldn't remember anything else past that point. Though she did remember that a rouge clan tried to disrupt the four clans, trying to make five, but then they were stopped. That was always so cool. Twilight recapped on the books as she trotted in the cave, nearly forgetting she was even walking in a cave. She was so absorbed in her thoughts of the series of books.

Twilight's head smacked up against a wall. Shaking her out of her thoughts, Twilight shook her head. Twilight looked around, seeing that the cave had taken a sharp turn to the right, into more darkness. Twilight looked behind her. The small brown cat was still following close behind Twilight. It meowed at her once more, its tail flicking as it did so. Twilight's horn activated another spell, opening up the saddle bag's flap. Twilight moved her cloak so the saddlebag could be exposed. The flap she had opened lead to a slightly empty bag. Twilight then levitated the small cat into her saddlebag. The cat wasn't all that heavy. The cat peaked it's head out the top of the saddlebag, as it's front paws rolled over the top of saddlebag as it lifted itself upwards. It looked out, facing the same direction that Twilight was. Twilight was going to keep this cat. No questions about it.

Fighting her urge to get sidetracked with her furry companion, Twilight continued forward, into the still dark caves. Twilight wondered where this cat had came from. Perhaps from within the deeper parts of this cave? Maybe it was from Hollow Shades, and it just got lost in one of the local caves? Twilight didn't know. All she knew about this cat was that it was it was really brown. Perhaps Twilight could name the cat? Maybe. What could she name the cat? That was a good question. Well, since it was so brown, perhaps she could name it something to do with the element of the earth. Maybe.. Quake? That sounds good. Quake. She liked it. It was a unisex name. So it would work with both genders.

Twilight was getting bored of just trotting through this cave. The cave walls had not changed. They still maintained the millions of scratches from before. The small scratches were still old. Still the same age. Twilight was not hearing anything else in the cave, other than herself and her cat friend. Twilight could feel her mind trying to wander off somewhere. There was no where to wander, other than to the darker depths of her memories. The memories of her friends. With nothing else to think about, Twilight, regrettably, decided to think about her friends.

She thought of the dress-obsessed pony, Rarity.

Rarity's eyes widened in terror as she watched the entire battle play out between The King and Fluttershy. The King's crystals had surrounded the now trapped Fluttershy, as the stage slowly decreased in size. The crystals holding Fluttershy had disappeared as well. Along with the Pegasus mare herself. Rarity shook Cadence frantically, in hopes she could do something, but Cadence was fully out of power. The only thing that could restore it was The Crystal Heart. Which was tauntingly, right above them. With him. All the brave pegasi were gone. There was no longer a way to reach him. His horn had grabbed the now extremely cracked and powerless crystal heart with his aura. A sickening twisted crack could be heard every once and while from his magic. Rarity glowered. She trembled as she scowled at him, defiantly. This was not a good idea.

Rarity's horn lit, her bright blue aura now attempting to grab hold of the heart. It did not catch him by surprise. She was easily overpowered by the stronger unicorn. He was triumphant. Rarity had to get the heart. She was their last hope. She tried, again, again, again. Every time, she was overpowered in seconds by the pure hatred that powered his magic. She was no match for him. A burning sensation took over Rarity's horn. Something pierced through the very bone of her horn, like a sword. It cut through her. Rarity cried out in pain, as she looked up at her horn. Crystals of pure black covered her horn, piercing through her horn, and coming out through the other side. Each one was a burning iron.

Rarity felt tears start to form as she fell to the balcony's flooring. Much like cadence, she was now out of breath. She was hoarse from screaming.

"Any other interruptions?"
He hissed from his perch over the Crystal Empire. The citizens below only continued to scream. He took this as a no. A wide grin appeared on The King's face. Magical tendrils sprouted from the tip of his horn, going out into all directions. The tendrils grabbed at ponies, slashing at them relentlessly. Including the ponies on the balcony. Fear and pain was heard everywhere in the Crystal Empire. Twilight was the only pony not to be whipped by the malice-powered tendrils. Crystals covered pony's hooves, creating hoof-cups. While they were distracted by the whips, chains linked the hoof-cups together. The shackles were made. The chains of pure black, unbreakable crystal linked to other shackles. Already making a line. The tendrils calmed, as ponies were left with large, burning marks into their very flesh. Chains rattled and screamed at their new prisoners. The line was formed very swiftly. The crystal ponies knew how to walk. Where to walk. They kept their heads down as the Crystal Alicorn and the Crystal Prince disappeared into the castle, along with Their Lord. Their Master. Their King. New slaves were added into the line.

It was time to get back to work.

Twilight could see something, just up ahead. It was a light. A magical light. Twilight broke into a sprint towards the magical light. Though it was distant, as she grew closer to the light, Twilight could see figures. Ponies. Her cat friend bounced up and down in her saddlebag as Twilight galloped. It was the group. Twilight was so happy she had gone the right way. Twilight was overjoyed as she rejoined the group. She stayed at the back.

"I'm so glad I found you guys."
Twilight commented as soon as she joined the group. Causing the group to turn around and stop. They looked at her in anger. Wrath. What was wrong? Twilight glanced around, questionably. Then she spotted something.. Odd within the group. Not only where there now Twenty ponies in the group, there was Twilight. Twilight saw herself inside the group. With the exact same cloak. The exact same mane. The exact same tail. The exact same bulge where the saddlebag would be.

"She's a changeling spy for The King!"
The other Twilight hissed, fury embedded in her vocals. The real Twilight's eyes widened. That other Twilight was a changeling. She narrowed her eyes, as her horn glowed.

Chapter 5

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Just as the group started to charge Twilight, Twilight decided to end this in the most anticlimactic way she could. She simply shot one laser beam at the opposite, burning away the changeling's disguise. The changeling gasped, as the group turned as soon as Twilight's spell had hit. The black insect's wings fluttered and buzzed as it dashed off into the darkness. The group close behind, not allowing it to get away.

Twilight galloped after, feeling slightly antagonistic as she growled. This parasite decided to copy her?! HER?! After all this, after loosing everything, they had the audacity to steal her IDENTITY?! Her horn's aura grew darker as her mind brewed with anger. Something pulled itself from Twilight, and controlled her. Anger. Fury. There were many names for it. The main ingredient to Dark Magic.

Her horn shot involuntarily, casting out a long tendril that shot into the darkness faster than a pony could gallop. It wrapped around the changeling's back hoof, and it was pulled back into the light of the group. Twilight's tendril smashed the changeling against the ceiling and walls as she let wrath pilot her magic.

She finally dropped the changeling down onto the ground infront of herself. The changeling groaned. It's face was bruised badly, it's wings were holding on by a string. The horn had been smashed off. When Twilight had realized what she had done, she gasped, returning to common sense.

Her violence buried back into it's hovel known as the back of Twilight's mind. Her guilt rushed to greet her, as her lip slightly quivered at the beaten changeling at her hooves. The group was horrified by Twilight's actions. They stood there. Their eyes judging her every movement as the changeling twitched, not long for death from starvation. Thing was incredibly skinny.

Twilight looked down at the changeling, as she couldn't bare the sight before her. She flinched at the sight of blood. She wasn't big on it, to say the least. Though the changeling suffered from blood, it wasn't much. The magic bubbled down, flickering out from Twilight's horn. Twilight didn't know what to do.

"Well.. You got it.."
Rose Dust commented, stepping forward from the group. When she did, the changeling shuddered and attempted to curl. It had failed in it's duty to save it's queen. A spy, when caught, was killed. There was no doubt about that. It was the same with all spies, but there was no room for failure in this day and age, obviously.

"Yeah.."
Rose Dust continued, poking at the changeling. She looked back at one of the unicorns in the group. Quill Scratch's blue aura covered the changeling. His mask had covered his face, but sweat obviously went down his brow as he levitated the changeling away from the purple menace.

"Look, Twilight, we are sorry we mistook you for this bug, but that.. What you did.. Do you use dark magic on a regular basis?"
Rose Dust asked, stepping up to Twilight hesitantly. Twilight was still calculating an answer to what she had done. Wait, she used dark magic? Yes, she did. She didn't mean to.. She was just a bit angry, and she needed to use magic.

"No, I swear!"
Twilight replied, her voice full of desperation. She continued to eye the changeling. Causing it to twitch in fear of being hurt further. That was uncalled for, to say the least. She had just used the cruelest of weapons, when she could have just used regular magic to drag it back towards her. She didn't have to do what she did, beating up that changeling and all.

"I know you're the element of magic and all, but if you're going to be using his magic, then we will have to kick you out. As much as it would pain me to do so-"
Rose Dust was interrupted by Twilight's yell.

"You can't kick me out!"
Twilight shouted. Still slightly heated from her actions before. Twilight needed this group more than anything right now. Without them, she would have no protection against the odds. She also would be lacking in companionship. Well, she had a cat now, but that didn't exactly fill much of a void.

"Alright. Twilight, I'll give you a second chance. Just don't use any of that dark magic, even if it is useful. We don't know if it's a beacon for him."
Rose Dust told her. Twilight cracked a smile at her new chance for redeeming herself. Her horn flicked with a magenta aura, her regular aura. She helped Quill Scratch levitate the changeling. Being an advanced magic user, Twilight found no difficulty in levitating one pony. Changeling. Whatever.

Twilight rejoined the group. Without any more words exchanged, the group trekked on. Maybe, just maybe, there was something that needed to be caged after all. Something that would grow into an uncontrollable beast. This was her first warning. This was the first blockade that would try to stop this soon-to-be rampaging beast from unleashing itself upon Equestria. This blockade was weak. It could easily be knocked down.

It was the exit. It had to be. Even if it was just a light leading back out to the entrance, it was an exit nonetheless. Twilight smiled at the light of day. The rest of the group was also ecstatic. Finally, they were going to get out. It had been what felt like years within this slowly closing in cave. Claustrophobia had obviously set in on the entirety of the group, because there were laughs of relief that paired with the joyful conversations of Hollow Shades.

Twilight's hooves and horn ached from usage. She was to fall over once she reached the outside. The exit was now only a couple feet away. The group did not speed up their pace as sunlight dappled through the cave's entrance. Wait.. Sunlight? Weren't they by Hollow Shades?

It was supposed to be dark in Hollow Shades. Once outside the cave, Twilight's hooves caved, and she fell flat on her stomach. Her horn flickering out, and now smoking from long-term usage. The changeling was dropped on the dirty forest ground. It looked pretty dead. The other ponies grumbled and growled in annoyance. Twilight realized why.

These woods were very familiar. Very. Very. Familiar. Twilight put it together. They were at the entrance. How they got here, Twilight would never know. Twilight sighed. At least there was something to talk about, and she was back with the group. They would probably get back into the cave in a minute or so.

"How did we get back to the entrance?"
Shooting Comet asked. She was a Pegasus mare who had a special talent for stars. She had a gray coat, with her mane and tail a blend of purple and blue. She was rather annoyed by this reappearance at the camp they had left behind only a little while ago. She stood next to some other ponies that had put themselves into smaller groups.

"We went around in a circle, obviously."
The ponies chatted about how they some how went in a circle. Twilight stayed silent, allowing herself to rest in the time she had. The other unicorns could have the changeling, she wasn't going to bother carrying it.

The feeling of pain left her hooves, making a stupid smile appear on her face as she laid on the dirty ground. Allowing her once pure and somewhat pristine cloak to get dirty from mud and leaves. She could care less. It was going to get dirty. It was a cloak, and it was meant to shield her from the grime and prying eyes.

"It just doesn't make any sense."
Rose Dust chatted. Twilight agreed that it made no sense, seeing as they did not come across another cross road in their cave trek. Maybe the cave had changed? No, that would make no sense either. There were weapons that could destroy entire empires, powered by love, but a changing cave? No. That was a bit too outrageous, even for Equestria.

A small meow could be heard as the head of her furry companion poked up in Twilight's cloak. Quake's ears poked straight up in the cloak. It looked like there was a small ghost underneath her cloak. Cute. Twilight moved her cloak, allowing Quake to look about. The brown cat meowed a bit before quieting down.

Twilight spent some time just sitting on the ground, petting Quake while the others planned out what they were going to be doing for the rest of the day. Though it wasn't the most productive thing for Twilight to be doing, it was better than moping around. Something she would be doing if she was still inside the library.

Twilight's eyes had moved their way over to the changeling multiple times. She felt rather bad for what she did. She didn't even know if it was alive at times. It's breaths were rather short. Twilight glanced at the loving cat before her, and back at the starving changeling.

Twilight picked up Quake with her hooves, and poked the changeling until she got a gruff response. A groan. Seeing as it was alive, Twilight placed Quake down infront of the changelings face. Quake initially wanted to keep by Twilight, and had gone back over to the purple mare, but through trial and error, Quake meowed at the changeling.

The changeling gave no response, until Quake pressed it's cat head up against the changeling's forehead. The changeling seemed to smile from this. A weak hoof was extended to pet the cat. Quake did a good job of petting itself, by rubbing up on the weak hoof. The changeling seemed to slowly regain power. Twilight knew that the group would want to ask this changeling some questions, so she just needed the changeling to have enough food so it could talk. Too much, and it'll be shifting into other ponies.

Now, they couldn't have that. Begrudgingly, Twilight took away her cat, receiving a sigh and a begging look from the changeling. Twilight turned her head, placing her cat back down by herself. Twilight turned back to face the changeling.

"Alright, Changeling. How did you find us? Who do you work for?"
Rose Dust suddenly approached, from the right side of Twilight's view. She had Mocha Bean escort her over to the changeling. The changeling hissed in response, causing Rose Dust to kneel down and get right in it's face.

"Changeling, you will tell us. If you work for him, we'll spare you for information. We might spare you either way, if Twilight wants to see you live."
Rose Dust tossed an invisible, and mental baton over to Twilight. What the heck?! Couldn't Rose Dust make this decision herself?! Seriously! Everything didn't rely on her! Twilight scrunched up her nose in slight annoyance that Rose Dust couldn't make her own decisions, despite being the proclaimed leader of the group.

"I'm a fugitive. I was in the Crystal Empire before, and that's how I know he's a threat. So don't expect anything from me."
The changeling hissed. Almost snapping it's jaws at Rose Dust in the process. Rose Dust signaled another pony to come over. It was a unicorn mare. She had a blonde wavy mane and tail. She had a sand-like coat, with a cutiemark that had a golden heart with a lock over it. This pony's name was Heart Key.

From yesterday, Twilight could remember she specialized in getting the truth out of others. Most ponies had no idea how she did it, but she explained it bluntly. It was because she was a former investigator or something like that. Heart Key knelt down next to Rose Dust.

"This changeling says he's a fugitive."
Rose Dust informed, as Heart Key nodded in retaliation. She closed her eyes, then opened them a few seconds later. Her eyes were a soft teal, and they were brimming with newfound answers, and questions.

"He's not lying."
Heart Key replied, causing the changeling to smirk. Rose Dust grimaced. There was no information to be pulled from this changeling, seeing as he was a fugitive. No information on him, no information on other changelings, basically nothing.

Twilight puffed. Rose Dust had turned her eyes over to Twilight. The one she had passed the executioner role to. Heart Key had wandered back off to join the conversations happening in the main part of the camp. They were still wondering how the cave had lead them back out here, despite the fact that they had not gone back the same path they had come in through. There was no crossroad, just a straight path out.

"Well, Twilight. Sorry to put this much pressure on you, but what do you want to do with him? Either you set him free, or we can get rid of him."
Rose Dust reminded Twilight. This did not make the choice any easier. Alright. She had the life of a somewhat-innocent, injured, starving changeling in her hooves. She really wished she didn't. She didn't have any other choice, did she? There was still hope that Rose Dust would make this decision on her own.

"Can't you decide?"
Twilight asked, only a receiving a head shake symbolizing the word no. Rose Dust was extremely true to her word, even to the extremes, when thinking over life or death. Maybe it's just because she didn't want to be responsible for the death of a changeling. That could be the likely case, in this situation, Twilight would try to pass it off as well. That's why she had tried to get Rose Dust to take the responsibility back, but she just refused to do so. Twilight knew that there would be no convincing her other wise. Plus, she seriously did not need to argue when there was an empire and sub-species to be saving.

Twilight had to decide.
Death for the love-eating terrorist or life for the badly battered insect?

Chapter 6

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There was no physical, mental, or spiritual way that Twilight could come to the conclusion of killing another. That was simply beyond reason, and downright cruel. She didn't want to be cruel. She didn't need to be cruel. Cruelty didn't get anypony anywhere, save for him. In any other case, cruelty was never the answer. Neither was violence. Twilight could not, and will not, be killing this changeling. Even if it did steal her identity while trying to get food, she wouldn't be killing it. Even if it did pose a threat against her brother and best friend in the past, she wouldn't kill it. She wasn't one for cold blood, nor blood at all.

"I can't 'get rid' of you, so you're free to go. Leave. I don't want to see you back here."
Twilight told the changeling directly, causing the changeling to get a slight look of shock. He obviously was not expecting this act of unprecedented kindness. Spies were never given a second chance. The changeling attempted to stand, only to fall back down onto the muddy ground. Twilight sighed, looking at the brown cat beside her. She was feeling especially generous. She couldn't handle another pet in the library anyways. Twilight pushed Quake over to the changeling.

"Take Quake with you. He should help with your skinniness. He's nice."
Twilight told the changeling. The changeling glanced down at the cat, then back at Twilight. Mouth agape with shock. He didn't know what to say. This act of kindness made Twilight feel extremely warm and fuzzy on the inside. Nonetheless, she enjoyed the feeling of being appreciated once more. Even if it was from a predatory species who literally despised ponies, at least she was getting some good vibes from doing something nice.

"I-I uh.. Are you sure? I can have him?"
The changeling questioned, Twilight nodded silently. Looking down at the cat who looked visibly happier with the changeling friend. Twilight smiled at the innocent animal. Quake turned to look at Twilight once more, a meow escaping it's little cat mouth. Twilight pat the top of Quake's head with her hoof.

"All yours."
Twilight confirmed, as Quake purred loudly at Twilight's decision. The changeling would give Quake more attention then Twilight would, that was for sure. Hopefully, Quake would be treated with extreme care. If (s)he wasn't, Twilight would be giving out some free round-house kicks to the face. The changeling pulled Quake in for a hug, allowing the cat to snuggle up close to his (or her) new owner.

That probably was not Twilight's smartest move. For all she knew, this changeling could just go ahead and stab her in the back when she had turned to leave him and Quake alone. Twilight made sure to keep a close eye on the changeling as she stood to go join the group. Though she would miss Quake, at least she wouldn't be crying over it too much. She felt slightly sad that her cat company was gone, but she would get over it.

Twilight decided to rejoin the group. The conversations had settled, and everypony was gathering around the firepit that Twilight had put down yesterday night. For some reason, it was still here. Twilight thought she had thrown all the rocks and burnt sticks back into the forest to cover her trail. After the group moved out once more, Twilight would throw the rocks and sticks into the forest so the group would not have to deal with being followed. That changeling wasn't going to be following them, hopefully. Twilight glanced over her shoulder. The changeling was still chilling out on the ground. Not really doing much of anything to be honest.

Twilight squeezed her way into the circle. They were currently talking about the gameplan. That game plan being that they would be getting to Hollow Shades one way or another. They were really bickering more than they were conversing. Passing the blame torch onto one another for taking the wrong path and somehow making it back to the entrance. Twilight still couldn't figure out how they had made it back to the entrance, even with all the light they had produced to look about the cave.

The bickering reminded Twilight about her first few days in ponyville, and how her friends were all arguing over some Gala tickets that Twilight had. The gala, in the end, wasn't as it was made up to be. Mostly because Twilight and her friends had ruined it. Twilight was lucky she and her friends weren't charged for the damages they had made. Maybe it was because they were the elements of harmony, and they got a free pass. Good for them.

"Shhhhhhhh. Is everypony ready to go back in, or what?"
Quill Scratch asked, making the group shut their argumentative mouths. There were a few mumbles, a couple nods of agreement, and some just outright saying yes. Twilight didn't exactly want to put her legs through that aching experience again. She really didn't. She had to get to the crystal empire again though. Why didn't she just buy another ticket to go there? Oh yeah. The train and the station were destroyed by one of the blizzards that regularly ravage the northern hemisphere.

Twilight stayed silent, and took the longest time to get started again. Her legs were feeling slightly better, though they still hated to move. Twilight felt like complaining, but that was beneath her. She couldn't complain about this. She had to stay strong, or else she would be deemed useless by the group and be thrown out. That's what she thought. The group wouldn't actually throw her out. She was the element of magic, and that counted for a lot of stuff. She was extremely skilled in magic, unlike other unicorns in the group. Twilight wasn't going to be using much magic anymore, as she had used a bit too much.

Apparently Dark magic drained a lot of regular magic. Not a surprise, really. It was really powerful. Unlike her regular, boring magic. This one had more of a oomf to it. It felt so much better to use. It felt soothing to Twilight, as strange as that sounded. She kind of wanted to use it again.. No, no she didn't. Twilight shook her head as she clamored to her hooves, following the group once more. The group was going back into the cave, passing the changeling and Quake without a second thought. Twilight was happy they didn't glare at the changeling. Maybe it was because Twilight had said to spare it. Who knows what would be happening right now if she had said to get rid of it.

Twilight decided to not think about it. What was there to think about? Her friends were a main topic in her mind. She really didn't have much else to think about, now did she? She refused to bring Spike into her mind, her faithful assistant, who's most likely resting peacefully in the after life right now. She hoped he was having a nice, long sleep. A eternal sleep, that he would never wake from. Well, now that was a depressing thought. Call herself selfish, she wanted Spike to wake from his nap and rejoin the living. That wasn't going to happen. Ever.

Who else was there to think about? She didn't want to think about her teacher who was incredibly disappointed in Twilight, and told her to hide from her fears. Did her teacher think she was a coward or something? Twilight was not a coward. That's why she was going on this adventure in the first place. She was going to save her friends! That was her goal. She would impress her teacher, and regain her trust for a lifetime! Twilight was determined to get to The Crystal Empire now.

Twilight quickened her pace, and squeezed her way into the group, instead of lagging behind like she usually did. The other unicorn's horns lit, as Twilight kept hers off. If she used it, she would probably have her horn burn her. The cave's walls were exposed once more. Though, something felt a bit missing. The walls of the cave had nothing on them. Nothing. That was a bit strange. Twilight swore that she could remember something insignificant on those walls. Whatever.

She could already feel the pains returning. Twilight groaned softly as she felt the aches slowly began their attack. She had to get her mind off of it. Who to think about. Who hadn't she thought about? Twilight decided to think about her brother, Shining Armor. Along with his wife, Princess Cadence.

Shining Armor was sent into the air by the impact. He had just been punched by one of the black crystals, much like Rainbow Dash was. It came from underneath him, as he was forced upwards, hitting the ceiling of the throne room. Gravity dropped him back onto the now monotone and bleak floor. All black. He weakly looked upwards, only to see crystals surrounding him. He was trapped now, without his magic. If only he had helped some more. This wouldn't be happening.

Princess Cadence's insults and threats could be heard from outside the prison. Shining Armor weakly pushed against the walls of his new, temporary prison. His lungs lacked oxygen from that crystaline punch, which still ached. He could feel something in his stomach was moving around, unnaturally. Whatever was moving in his stomach, it was causing him excruciating pain. He had broken a rib, to put in plainly. Shining Armor sank back onto the floor when the pain first arrived. He knew moving would only cause more pain to arrive.

His wife's screams, he could hear them. They were cut short by something. He did not know what. They just stopped, mid-scream. What was he doing to his wife!? His fury filled him as he banged against the prison limply with his front hooves, in a futile and pathetic attempt to escape. To his surprise, the crystals crumbled. Except.. Well.. The new ruler of the Crystal Empire was now standing right infront of Shining Armor. He appeared to be examining Shining Armor.

Shining Armor could care less about the new King, or rather, the old King. Shining Armor noticed his wife, across the room. Her mouth was covered by a crystal gag. Her screams were very quiet due to her being muffled by the crystal. Her horn was made of pure crystal. It was no longer made of bone. Her wings were much like her horn. They were extended, and they were in the shape of wings. She was crying. Oh boy, was she crying. Rivers flowed from her eyes, and onto the floor.

Her eyes were the same neon green as his were, along with her irises turning to crimson. The only thing she now lacked was that jam-colored smoke that flowed from the tips of his eyes. Shining Armor's voice was unable to escape his mouth. He breathed in deep, attempting to get some 'fresh' air into his lungs.

"What are you doing to her..?"
He sputtered, causing the tyrant to twist his head around to look at the pink and newly black alicorn. Shining Armor could tell the King was gleeful while looking back at what he had done to Cadence. It was sickening. He even had a twinkle in his eye when he looked at the suffering alicorn. He was even smiling. SMILING. His unnatural and predatory teeth were shown with the smile. The Dictator looked back at Shining Armor. He did not meet Shining Armor's eyes.

"The crystal princess will stay within a crystal. She is not fit for work."
Shining Armor was told, as the crystals on Princess Cadence's body slowly covered the alicorn, like a fungus. Every time a new crystal sprouted from her body, she screamed. She shook her head madly, spraying salty tears over the old castle floor. Shining Armor staggered to his hooves, only for a new injury to appear. The king shot him, right in the chest. The burning seared through him, burning down to what felt to be his heart. Shining Armor gasped, and fell back down onto the ground, where the King wanted for him to stay, obviously. He clenched his teeth, and grabbed onto his chest. There wasn't even a mark where he was hit.

"You are fit for work. You are going to the mines."

Twilight groaned again. Again. Again. Once more. The group was growing exhausted of Twilight's moaning and groaning. They had taken a right when they came across the crossroad, because the right is the right path. Also because it went directly in the direction of Hollow Shades. Twilight couldn't bare this walk much longer. She had gone on adventures before, and walked through caves before. Though this walk felt like the longest walk she had ever had.

Then the group rounded the corner. There was the actual exit. Twilight squeed with delight as she looked out onto the dreary town that was just outside the exit. They were here. They were at Hollow Shades. Finally. It had felt like an eternity. If Twilight wrote a book about her escapades, she would make her journey through Foal Mountain four chapters long, at LEAST. That's how long it took. She was out now. Well, actually, she was still in the cave.

Hollow Shades was right outside.

Chapter 7

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Hollow Shades wasn't exactly the brightest town. It fit with the name. It was constantly shaded by the grey clouds above. The Pegasi could never move the clouds from swirling over the town. The sun was basically nonexistent. The town was almost no brighter than the cave they were previously in. Though, the lanterns and candles spread about the town always gave off light. They were hung off posts and buildings, what little there were. You could say that this town was a bit empty, or hollow even.

The buildings themselves weren't very appealing to the eyes. They were old, made of rotting oak that most likely was a safety hazard at this point. The roofs of the buildings were not made of hay or straw. They were shingled roofs. The shingles were hanging on loosely to the roofs of the buildings. There were some buildings that had gigantic holes in the ceiling, so you could look up into the unchanging gray sky. The buildings usually had a tree or two around them, though, the trees were twisted and black. Rotted, and dead. The roots had been slightly exposed, as they stayed above ground. It was slightly strange. The occasional tree had a couple leaves. Just only ten or so maximum. The leaves were brown, like they would be if the tree had withered. Which they had.

The buildings and trees were in a circle. Due to the lack of buildings in the first place, this circle could be completed. In the middle of said circle was the plaza. The plaza was completely made with mason work. There was a stone flooring, covering the original dirt ground. The plaza had a large statue, smack dab in the middle. From far away, it seemed like a statue of Celestia, like most statues would be. All statues were either of Celestia, Luna, or some other princess or hero.

As the group entered the foreboding and desolate town, Twilight could tell something was wrong. This place was just a bit more.. Barren than she had thought it to be. The place seemed abandoned. Not a single pony walked in the plaza. Hollow Shades was silent. The wind echoed around the town, as the group made sure to stay silent as they moved into the circle of buildings. Rose Dust was busy examining the statue they had approached. Twilight had taken a couple glances at the statue, before she just full on just stared at it.

The statue contrasted it's surroundings greatly. The statue was obviously cut by a master, as the anatomy of the pony being shown off in stone was perfect. The large wings that were spread seemed almost like Princess Celestia's. Each wing had flawless feathers being shown off. The wings themselves were extremely large. Not to mention, there were four wings upon this pony's back. Twilight had never heard of a pegasus with four wings.This was incredibly interesting to Twilight. The faultless statue seemed almost alive. It had a pure aura about it, contradicting the dreary atmosphere of Hollow Shades.

A mane of pure silver was wrapped around the tall pegasus statue, as it drifted down all the way to the hooves of the goddess-like figure. The silver was polished to an extreme. It reflected light from all the lanterns and candles. A orange hue was applied to the silver mane from the reflection of light. The tail of the sculpture was the same. Very long and flowing, as it wrapped around the back of the pedestal that the statue stood upon.

Whoever this was, the inhabitants of the town made sure that she was preserved perfectly. Her exemplary condition was astonishing when compared to the buildings. It's like she was their god or something. Twilight had no idea who this was. She had never read about this figure. Despite Twilight had basically read every single book in Equestria. Well, that was a bit of a stretch. She had read almost every single book in Equestria. Not a single one of the books, even the fantasy and fictional books, had a character that had four wings.

Twilight drifted her eyes onto the plaque that was on the statue. Her eyes scanned the plaque.

The Blind One, Saving Grace and Unexpected Angel of Hollow Shades.
????-5432

This pony died in Five-thousand four hundred thirty-two, huh? That was around.. Five hundred and sixty-eight years ago. That's how long this statue was around for. That was a decently long time ago, and this statue looked like it was put up yesterday. There was not a single crack in this statue. Peculiar. Why exactly did this pony get a statue? Twilight wondered as she looked up to the face of The Blind One. Her eyes were closed. That must be their equivalent of blind.

Strange. Twilight looked about the group, who was still loitering about the statue quietly. Whispering to eachother. Twilight could hear that they were talking about the emptiness of the village. Twilight thought that the village had been fled from, maybe from the recent danger there was to Equestria. That could be the case, but even then, there wasn't a reason to run from this place. Maybe they just left. Twilight picked up something. She had heard a door open. Twilight swung her head around, looking at all the buildings surrounding the plaza.

The pub, the building located next to the clock tower, had it's door slightly open. A small pony's head poked out from the bar, as Twilight was quick to notice them looking around. They seemed to notice the cliche. They then turned their head, and went back into the pub. They had left the door open. Twilight nudged Rose Dust, who still stood next to her. Rose Dust questionably turned to Twilight, as Twilight pointed at the pub with her hoof. Rose Dust nodded.

"There's somepony in the pub."
Twilight noted, talking over the whispers of the faction. The group's attention was directed to the pub, as Rose Dust left the association, and headed off to the pub in silence. The group did not follow. Twilight asked why, but nopony had answered her. Mostly because she just asked herself in her head. After Rose Dust had entered the pub, there was an awkward silence that drifted among the group. Hooves shuffled nervously. Once Rose Dust had stuck her head out from behind the door, Twilight could tell that a weight of anxiety had been lifted from everypony.

In no time, the entire group had entered the pub. It was packed with ponies. Though, they were not exactly the happiest bunch. Actually, everypony was hiding underneath tables. They shuddered. The lights of the pub were off. All candles had been extinguished. Twilight wanted to ask what was going on, but her answer was already given.

"Are the Bronze Dogs gone?"
A voice perked up. It came from one of the ponies hiding behind the counter of the bar. The pony was a small foal. A coat of black, and a mane of gray. Kind of.. Ugh. She needed to stop associating ponies with him. It only got her angry. Twilight kept her cool as the foal peeked over the counter. Rose Dust had moved over to the counter. She gave a small nod.

All at once, the candles were lit once more. Ponies jumped up from underneath the tables and resumed their days. Twilight was puzzled. What exactly were Bronze Dogs? Were they like Diamond Dogs? It sounded like it. It seemed like Bronze Dogs made this town hide and cower. Twilight approached one of the tables that had been recently repopulated.

A mare and stallion sat at the table, chatting about something. It sounded like they were arguing, or something. Twilight could care less.

"Excuse me?"
Twilight interrupted their argument, as the two ponies shot glares at the lavender unicorn. Man. These ponies sure were a friendly bunch, now weren't they?

"I was wondering what exactly Bronze Dogs were.. Do you know?"
Twilight questioned the couple, who's eyes softened slightly. The very thought of Bronze Dogs seemed to be scary to them. These things must have made a big impact on this town.

"They are these things we thought were all dead. They've been resurfacing lately. They have killed a lot of the town's populous. They've been coming from the sealed up silver mines that haven't been used in five hundred years."
The mare stated, her heated and angered tone still remaining from arguing with the stallion. Whoever this stallion was, he had pissed her off. Twilight slowly considered this, along with the information she had received early. The Blind One died five hundred years ago, so the Blind One must have fought off the Bronze Dogs, and sealed them up. It only made sense. That was probably why she was worshiped so much by this town.

"Thank you."
Twilight thanked, before walking off from the table with this new found information. The cliche she had joined was currently heading out the door, so Twilight made haste to join them. She wormed her way through the door, and to the front of the group. Where, of course, Rose Dust was. The group had only made it halfway out the door before Twilight had started to explain to Rose Dust what was happening here.

"Twilight, we're only here for one reason. It is so we may find a certain friend of mine. After that, we have to leave."
Rose Dust stated, make Twilight slightly cringe. Rose Dust was just going to leave these ponies and the Bronze Dogs to their own problems? No. Twilight was not going to allow that. She was going to help this town. No Questions. No buts. As an important member of the group, Twilight was going to keep this group stalled in Hollow Shades until the threat of the Bronze Dogs was gone. Twilight stamped her hoof on the ground.

"Rose Dust, with all due respect, these ponies need our help. They can't save themselves."
Twilight argued, as the astonished cliche stayed quiet as Twilight and Rose Dust slowly turned to arguing. Twilight knew she was going to win. They wouldn't dare fight with the element of magic, the most powerful warrior they could ever hope for. The most powerful pony there was, in terms of magic. Twilight was not going to back down. Rose Dust puffed, with obvious choler. She didn't like to fight with anypony, nor did they have time for this stupidness.

"Twilight, we can not afford to stay here. We can also not afford to loose anypony in the group to these Bronze Dogs."
Rose Dust brought up, as the rest of the group slowly poured out of the pub to listen in on the argument. Rose Dust was right. They couldn't afford to loose anypony in the group. They all needed to be alive and well if they were going to fight against the newest villain of Equestria. But, at the same time, Twilight also brought up a good point. They couldn't let the innocents die.

Before a conclusion was reached, the noise of pitter-patter could be heard off in the distance. An army of pattering paws, as they ran across the path. Twilight's head instinctively turned, as to the east, there was a large opening in the village. In the opening, there was a dirt path, that parted the trees that surrounded the town. Down that path, and inside the trees, was the silver mine. It could be sighted in the trees, it was not too far away. Making it's way down the path, were furry beasts. Hungering for whatever stood breathing inside the town.

Twilight turned to Rose Dust, who was looking at the now noisy army that approached them. The army barked and howled in glee, ravenous for the sticky red fluid that would drain from corpses. That army was made completely of brown dogs that were able to stand on their bipedal legs. They roared in joy, as they had sighted the large group of ponies who stood idiotically in the middle of the square, ripe for the picking. The lights in the bar had turned off. The door had locked.

"Now we don't have a choice, do we?"
Twilight asked with a humorous tone, as if this was nothing to her. Rose Dust's head twisted, as she glared at Twilight in great disgust for what she had just commented. Though, she was right. There was no more time for arguing. They had to fight, there was no other option. Rose Dust's fury had intensified as the Bronze Dogs entered the town. The group took a stance to fight, as the flood of dogs ran towards them.

The dogs snarled as they stopped on the other side of the town. Making a showdown eminent. This was now a stand off. Both sides stared razors at each other. The dogs towered as they took to their back legs. They snapped their jaws at the opposing side, as a warning. Neither side would stand down. Soon, this battle would commence. It was only a matter of time. Both dog and pony waited for each other to take the first shot.

The dogs showed off their fangs and claws, while horns flurried. Wings were extended, as pegasi took to the sky, taking the advantage of the sky above. Twilight growled, as the earth ponies dug their back hooves into the ground. Bracing themselves to hit those who opposes and the offenders.The statue was in the middle of the show down.

Without another second wasted, the outnumbered ponies charged.

Chapter 8

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Violence wasn't usually the answer. Actually, it was almost never the answer in Twilight's mind. Harming another was not her favorite activity to do. Even against the changelings, back in canterlot, she felt guilt for kicking their plots so hard they flew off into the distance. Right now, violence was the answer, unfortunately. She would have to fight for the innocents to keep their village, and not be tortured by these dogs. Heroism. That's what would be guiding her.

Into battle, Twilight was fearless. These animals stood no chance against a mage such as herself. Such a high-ranking magic user would not fear Diamond Dogs, much less a sub-species that just has a pallet swap. Twilight had a perfect spell prepared for this situation. A subduing spell. She wasn't one to harm animals, or anything. Though she had rushed in an kicked plot before, she would always feel great guilt for beating something to such a pulp.

Fur of both sides clashed, as horns slashed into claws. Wings beat and dove, while hooves bucked and punched. Dogs screeched and howled, as the magical sounds of Twilight's horn blended into the war cries that sounded in both sides. Such sounds could be considered scarring. Both mentally, and physically. As fangs bit into flesh, and the distressed cries of ponies echoed through the town, the inhabitants of the village could only shake and cower. Waiting for the threat to pass as a small war broke out in the middle of their small, isolated town.

Twilight's body dodged and moved as dogs threw themselves into her general direction blindly. Only hoping to hit her and knock her down. Only to disembowel her once she hit the stone ground. Twilight's quick wit kept her from being tackled, as the dogs were later surrounded by a magenta magic. Magenta magic that wrapped around their bodies, and kept them onto the ground. Ballistic, the dogs struggled against Twilight's magic. Twilight had only strapped the dogs who dared to attack her.

There was still a whole militia of dogs to go. Twilight was kept on her hooves as she ran among the fighting opposites. Blood had been spilled a long time ago. The ground below the brawl had been recently dyed red, both in Pony and Dog blood. Chunks of fur had been ripped from the dogs, as manes were torn and destroyed. Eyes had been torn out, and left to rot on the floor. Some of the dogs had already fled.

The ponies were merciless with their attacks. They were the heroes, in their minds. As the fight continued. The minority of the canines had been subdued and left on the ground. Still howling in fury and malicious intent. Their paws stuck to their sides as the magenta aura strangled their bodies and left them limp. Just to the mercy of those they had attacked.

Twilight's horn would start to burn with magic usage, as she could already feel the pins and needles that attacked her horn. Her own magic would hurt her eventually. Twilight had to make the best usage of her time when fighting. She had to make sure all of her spells hit, or else she would be using up magic for no reason. Only causing her to further the pain in her horn.

Though Twilight was agile, she was also fragile. A unicorn was the weakest in physical strength, and their flesh was all around thinner than an earth pony's was. So, one single claw to her chest could cause her to bleed out. Every strength, that being Twilights magic, comes with a weakness. Twilight made a mistake when running across the battle field. She had crossed multiple dogs in her running.

She was strafed from behind, as three claws dug deep into her flesh. Completely bypassing the cloak, and heading straight into her skin. They had ripped directly into her muscle, causing her to fall. She slid across the ground, her wound bleeding profusely. Imagine a thousand cats slashing into you all at once. All in the same spot. That's the pain she felt.

Twilight refused to give up. Her determination to save this town was more than the pain. She was stronger than physical pain. She was mentally stronger. Even though the dogs had tore into her like she was nothing but wind, she would show them. Her aura grew to atomic sizes, as her adrenalin pumped her magic to extreme levels. In this sudden burst of power, Twilight unleashed her magic upon everything. Her magic exploded on the town, covering everything in her aura.

Everything paused, as both sides limply levitated in the air. They were unable to move. Their facial expressions staying the same as they seemed frozen in time. Their eyes dashed around, looking at the field of purple magic that now surrounded them. Twilight was in control of this battle now.

Her face was blank. Her mane flowed in the nonexistent wind. A large ball of plasma surrounded her entirety. Her body twitched and spasmed as her eyes glowed with intense luminosity. Pure white eyes stared into the fighting ponies. Her magic twitched and grew, as the dogs were brought upwards into the sky.

Once high enough, they were tossed into the very heavens itself. Some could say that those dogs were the first animals to reach the ozone layer of this planet. What an honor it was to be them, hm? Newton's law of gravity states, whatever comes up, must come down. Let's just say, that once those animals landed, there was not a single one that was left.. Conscious. Or breathing. Or even in one piece.

The ponies were dropped onto the mason work. Onto the blood of their companions, and enemies. Three ponies were left without souls due to that battle. The army of dogs were all left without breath. They wouldn't be bothering this town again anytime soon, or any time in the future. The ball of magical electricity faded, going back into it's castor. The purple mage shook her head, as the bright white glowing eyes turned back to a regular pair of oculars.

Twilight's weakened state caused her vision to blur. She was unable to now tell ponies apart from the scenery, or the gray sky apart from the trees. Everything blended together in this horrid mess of dark colors that was just distasteful to look at. Twilight could feel herself being nudged by a blur of colors. There was a constant feeling of being drained of something.

Without another second, her eyes smashed closed, and she drifted into unconsciousness.

A small breeze whisked over Twilight's body. The familar feeling of grass could be felt underneath her, as Twilight blinked awake. Her surroundings were clear, and vivid. Unlike her previous condition, where she couldn't see jack. Only just blurs and colors. This was much better. The wind moved the grass softly, as Twilight laid in the midst of a tall grass prairie. She looked up, seeing the sky above. It was clear of clouds. Just a blue expanse. The sun was strangely missing. Though, that did not seem to change anything. It was still warm, like a mid-summer's day.

Twilight's surroundings were very.. Limited. Tall grass, just all around her. The grass was about Twilight's height, reaching up to her neck if she stood up fully. Right now, she was currently sitting within the tall, untouched grass. Making a small circle of pressed down grass for herself. Wherever she was, it was extremely pleasant. Wait a second. Was she dead? No, she couldn't be dead! That was just, no! She had to keep positive. She wasn't dead. There was no way she was dead.

She was just dreaming, hopefully. Though, it felt extremely real. Extremely. She could smell the faint smell of a nearby flower field. She could hear the wind. She could feel the grass push up against her gently, as it was blown by the wind. She could touch the grass, which still felt like grass. Just because it was tall grass did not mean it had a different texture to it.

Much like her previous dream, she felt unnerved. Unnerved by something. What it could be in this dream, Twilight had no idea. Everything was just so peaceful. Twilight moved her head around. She felt like something was creeping up on her, hastily. Twilight looked about the grass from her laying position.

What was that sound..? It sounded like water being released from a dam. Actually, it sounded like water busting through a dam. Twilight stood, looking about. Her eyes widened. A tsunami was heading this way, from the north east. Twilight's hooves stumbled as the bright red wave broke through the trees surrounding the field. Quickly invading the field at increasingly quick speeds.

Twilight made a mad dash through the grass, attempting to outrun the faster force. The force crashed into her like a waterfall, as her body was surrounded by a clear red liquid. It did not sting her eyes, as she swam about in the strange river of water, that only sprouted from the wave. It did not fall, it simply stayed in place. The wave continued on past her, and rushed through the prarire, and onto the other side in a flash.

Twilight needed air. Her hooves beat against the water, as she emerged at the surface. Somehow, the water was just.. Basically defying all laws of liquids. Twilight would wonder how it was doing such a thing, but this was a dream. A hyper realistic dream, to be exact.

Twilight gasped for air as soon as she hit the surface of the water. She wasn't a water pony. Though, some of the water had managed to get down her throat. Not into her lungs, but instead, into her stomach. When it had passed over her tastebuds, it tasted strange. Almost like one of Pinkie Pie's cupcakes. It tasted sweet.

"As you feed it, it only grows stronger."

"Within a couple days."
"We don't have that kind of time."
"Do you want her to have a limp?"
"No."
"Exactly. Let me do my job. You do yours."
The noises interrupted her dream. Luckily enough for Twilight, she was snapped back to reality. She was in a raggedy old room. Completely made of wood. There was a metal furnace off in the corner, and a couple paintings hanging off of the walls. She sat in a small, one pony bed. A blanket over her body, woven lazily. Mostly made of cotton, but most of it was missing. It was scratchy, and most likely infected with bed bugs. Twilight could feel small things biting her. How annoying. Twilight noticed there were two ponies sitting around her bed. One of the ponies was Rose Dust. The other being a pony in a small doctor's vest. Though, his mane was scruffy. He seemed rather old. Twilight's awakening obviously got their attention.

"She's awake."
Rose Dust informed the doctor, who gave a quizical glance to his patient, Twilight. Rose Dust was less than happy about waiting in this room, obviously. Twilight couldn't help but feel slightly dazed. Her head was still spinning from her previous actions. She couldn't exactly remember what happened in the battle. All she could remember was that she had gotten hit, and everything went black. Then she had a dream, and now she was in this room.

"Still. It does not change the fact she needs to stay here."
The doctor replied, before wandering about the room. He approached one of the shelves that was located by the furnace. He picked through the vials that stood on the shelf. Obviously looking for something. What he was looking for, Twilight couldn't tell. Though, it was probably for her wound that she had received. Which still stung. Twilight cringed as the stinging pain started to hit her.

"Doctor. We've been waiting here for two days. We NEED to leave."
Rose Dust barked at the doctor. Wait a second, she has been out for TWO DAYS? That couldn't be true. Her dream was only two minutes long. Well, then again, maybe she was under some sort of medicine that kept her asleep. Well, she was awake now. She was probably better by now. Actually, no, she probably wasn't. If she could recall, she was cut across her left flank. Twilight lifted up the covers, looking at herself. She didn't have her cloak on. Nor her saddlebags. A cast was wrapped around her left flank, covering her cutiemark. It was dyed with a red hue, from you could guess what.

She put the covers back down, and directed her attention to Rose Dust. The doctor had returned to Twilight's bed side. He was looking displeased with the situation, and Rose Dust's rushing attitude.

"If you want to leave right now, she will not heal properly. Her cutiemark will be partially gone, and she will walk with a limp for months. Because she's a unicorn, her muscle tissue will heal. If you stay for a couple days, she will be good to go."
The doctor informed, opening up Twilights mouth with his hoof. Pouring in a strange potion directly into Twilight's mouth. It tasted nasty. Like a combination of soap, sweat, and raw sea urchins. Twilight coughed as soon as she digested the fluid. She wiped her tongue with her hoof, attempting to get the flavor off.

"Twilight, tell this doctor that we have to leave right now. We're wasting time."
Rose Dust demanded. Was that an order? No pony orders Twilight around like she was a slave. She would tell Rose Dust off later. Another descision waited to be made.

Stay here for a bit longer, and heal. While also wasting time, or, leave right now, and walk with a limp?

Chapter 9

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"I trust the doctor's opinion."
Twilight objected, making Rose Dust slightly madden. What her problem was, Twilight did not know. Sure, they did need to take haste to get rid of their enemy, and get to their destination, but two days down the drain shouldn't matter. Though, it was all on Twilight's shoulders. She was the reason they stalled the group. For some reason, they did not leave her. Maybe because.. You get it. Element of magic. The best unicorn could hope for, blah-de-blah. So on, so fourth.

Rose Dust left the room with a swish of her tail. So.. Did they have books to read here? There didn't appear to be anything to read. Great. Twilight was going to be staring at walls for two days. Fantastic. This was going to be the most exhilarating two days of her life. She could tell already. It would be full on thrills from this point on.

"Hour twelve. I'm trying to recite poetry to myself. I'm also talking to myself. At times like this, I wish I was back in Ponyville, and I didn't go on this stupid trip. This is excruciating."
Twilight grumbled to herself. The clock that was hung above the door way had said the time. Nine PM. She had done actually nothing. Actually nothing. Just sitting in bed, and slowly draining her magic so she could fall asleep at some point in the future. Just activating your aura drained magic. Twilight was about seventy five percent through her magic reserves after charging up for two days. This was after twelve hours, mind you.

Twilight had trained herself to charge her magic up faster than she could get rid of it. Under normal circumstances, she would only be using her magic for levitation. Nothing more. She had practiced levitating stuff so much, she no longer was able to drain her magic from levitating small objects. Heavier objects took a bit more magic. Twilight wasn't levitating anything. She was just using magic to do nothing.

Had any other pony noticed the annoying sound that magic made when it was activated? BECAUSE THAT SOUND WAS THE ONLY SOUND SHE HAD BEEN HEARING FOR THE PAST TWELVE HOURS. Well, other than the sound of the doctor talking to her, and the sound of hooves outside her door. Other than that, it was her, and the buzzing sound of draining magic. Twilight still was not tired.

Twilight banged her head up against the bed frame. She had to entertain herself. All she had been doing was quoting famous movies for the past hours.. She had to create her own entertainment. What was up with her dream that she had? With that cryptic message?

It grows stronger as you feed it.
Yes. Plants grow stronger as you give them food and water. That is how plants work. What is that actually supposed to work? You do gain energy when eating food. That's true. That is not a lie. Wait a second, who spoke that message again? The original voice had been forgotten, and was now spoken in Twilight's voice. Well. It was probably nothing.

Twilight clapped her hooves together. Clap. Clap. Twilight glanced up at the clock, watching the seconds hand tick away in a clockwise direction. Twilight had attempted to keep her hooves clapping in the same rhythm that the seconds hand had. Twilight had been doing this for the past hour or so. It was currently.. Twelve AM. Maybe it would be best if she got some sleep.

Once that thought popped into her brain, Twilight stopped her hooves from clapping together, and cuddled up onto the old, raggedy matress. She had flung the blanket off the bed because of the bed bugs. She had also used the blanket to drain her magic faster. So after three hours, she was now down to sixty percent.

Twilight drifted back off into dream land. Though that probably wasn't the smartest idea, considering her previous dreams. This time, she was going to be control of her dreams. Twilight made sure to cast a spell on herself before she closed her eyes. This spell, she had learned way back when. Back when she was in the School for Talented Unicorns. Ah. Memories.

This dream was going to bend to her will. She was not going to let that invader morph her dreams. It was her consciousness. This dream was the dream she was going to beat the tar out of him. That would show him for daring to step a single hoof into her mind. Twilight smirked as she thought about her game plan. Her eyes were sealed now. Time for a fight within a land of Twilight's imagination.

Twilight could feel the bed disappear beneath her. Wind and air replaced the world below her. As an instinct, Twilight twitched. The feeling of air whisking past her airs did not fade. Twilight's eyes opened. She was falling down to the world below. A crisp image of Equestria was below her, as she appeared to be dropped from the troposphere. She passed through bright white clouds, as misty air clinged to her fur, leaving behind small water droplets.

Twilight calmed herself. Something broke within her dream, as Twilight's eyes snapped shut. The feeling of the gust rushing past her ears disappeared. Ground was now safely beneath Twilight's hooves. With a sigh, Twilight reopened her eyes once more. She was in a familiar location. A large field. Though, this time, the field showed no end. It just continued off into the distance, completely flat. There was a mist that covered the field, a mile's expanse away.

Twilight glowered at the mist. She had not told her spell to make that mist. Twilight glanced off into all directions. Nothing was different. The light fog was still white. The expanse above was covered by mist. Twilight was in a dome made basically of clouds. It was a perfect circle.

"I know you're here."
Twilight hissed at the entity that had been in her dreams previously, The King. She received no answer from him. Twilight took a stance, making sure she was ready for anything that he tossed at her. Wether it be Celestia, Luna, or any of her friends or family, she would be ready for any tricks he might try to play.

"I know you can appear."
Twilight jeered. She once again, received no response. What else did she expect. Previously, he was the one who was in control of her dreams. He must be surprised that she had full control of her dreams, unlike usual. She was prepared for him. She wanted to kick his plot this dream. Oh, how foolish.

"Show yourself!"
Twilight bellowed out to the tall grass expanse. No response. Twilight fumed. What was he doing? The one time she wanted him to show up, and he wasn't. She thought he would probably jump at the chance to fight her. Obviously, she was wrong. Was that spell all for naught? Or maybe he was just smarter than she thought he was. Once he gave at least one signal he was here..

"Violence will only help it achieve it's goals."
He whispered into her ears. As soon as he said that, Twilight conjured up a large bottle to capture him. The bottle had been made right beside her, catching the dark cloud within it's glass walls. He had the same appearance as he had in the first dream he appeared in. He stood there, blankly. Just staring at her.

His appearance made her stumble, and fall onto her back. Even though he had been contained, Twilight was still frightened of him. His black hoof reached out for the glass confinement. As soon as that hoof made contact with the glass barrier, the glass shattered into a rain of razor sharp pieces. All flung at the lavender unicorn. She had made them stop mid-air, and had flung them off to the side, so she may not be barraged with small swords of glass.

His body morphed and swerved like smoke, as he drifted from the glass bottle, and up to Twilight. Twilight swore she was prepared for this. She KNEW she was prepared for him. How could she be giving into weakness like this? He even gave away his position. He set up everything for her, but she was failing to kick his plot.

"Let's see if you can control your evil, because if you fail.. The day it escapes, that day will be the end of you."

Twilight awoke in cold sweat, and scrambling. Due to her frantic state, she slipped off of her bed, and onto the floor. Where she was greeted by the wooden and splinter covered floor. She was also reintroduced to her saddlebag and cloak, which happened to be nicely placed by her bedside. Both of which were now crunched by Twilight's purple equine body.

Twilight rubbed her head as she brought herself back up with her magic. She took to her hooves, regaining her footing. She could feel a slight pain in her back leg, but it was minimal. Nothing more than just a slight annoyance. She stretched her leg out as she recapped on her failure. She had him right where she needed him to be. What was keeping her from destroying his plot?

Fear. Period. Nothing else, but pure, unadorned fear. Perhaps, that was what kept a lot of ponies from facing him. Other than Celestia and Luna. Those alicorns were fearless. They were still her idols, even when she was disobeying their commands to hide. She was going to face the threat head-on.

There was one problem, though. If Twilight couldn't even face up to him in her dreams, then how would she confront him in the real world? This was annoying. She had told her friends to face up to fears, and now she couldn't even face her own. Perhaps there was a way to surgically remove fear from her mind. Wait a second. The brain had a section known as the amygdala.. The part that controls fear! Perhaps, she could just get a surgeon to remove it! Genius.

Twilight did not know any surgeons, unfortunately. Nor did she have the money to be operated on. How unlucky for her. Maybe she could just use the 'Equestria is in peril, and I need you to..' ticket. She had not tried it before, but it was sure to work. She was Celestia's prized pupil. Ponies should be listening to her. She was a higher authority, after all..

No matter. She would get it removed in the near future. Perhaps, if the group just happened to stumble upon a wandering surgeon who just so happens to regularly operate on brains.. Then she could convince them to remove it.

"Get Twilight, then get out! GO! GO!"
Twilight could hear the yells from outside her room. Twilight quizzically raised an eyebrow, and was about to race towards the door, but the door raced to her instead. It had been flung off it's hinges, and thrown towards Twilight. Twilight was able to duck underneath the object, as it crashed into the wall behind her. Glancing back at the wooden object, and then at the door frame. There, stood one of the stallions from the group. Also known as Log Chuck. He specialized in.. Well, bucking down trees.

Twilight could tell the situation was dire. She didn't have much time, obviously. Twilight grabbed her stuff, and ran out of the room, and out into the hallway of the home. It was very bare, and it appeared to be a hotel. There were multiple other rooms, though their doors were swung open. Apparently. everypony else had been staying here while Twilight had healed.

Log Chuck and multiple other ponies galoped down the hall, as Twilight made her way after them. Every other step she took, her pain would act up. Causing her to slightly pause between each hoof beat. She hadn't healed fully, but there obviously wasn't time for her to heal right now. Whatever was causing this distress had to be dealt with right now.

The small rescue party ran down a flight of stairs. Twilight didn't need this right now. This would only cause the pain to act up more, if she ran down these stairs. She could see the bottom of the stairs. Listening to her magic, she conjured up a quick teleportation spell to transport her down to the bottom of the stairs.

The downstairs floor was a small lobby, complete with chairs of old. A counter could be located beside the stairs. The counter was currently unoccupied, for reasons that didn't matter at the current moment. Twilight moved herself out of the way of the rampage of the team that was meant to get her out of the building. They acted like the building was on fire.

They pulled her out of the building, and into the square of Hollow Shades. Where it appeared to having another war breaking out. This time, the war was not being fought against dogs, no. The war was being fought against heavily armored guards ponies. These ponies had identical coats, all a dark cyan. Their manes and tails were almost black, though hints of blue could be sighted in their manes.

They were equipped with spears made of an infamous crystal. The darkest crystals known to pony kind. Their armor appeared to be laced with the stuff as well. The guards seemed to be taking every single hit without a scratch of damage to their armor or flesh. Twilight was puzzled by this, but she was pulled by the small rescue team. They dragged her along, and out of town.

"The contact was one of his agents. We have to get out of here, and get to Manehatten as quickly as ponily possible."
A husky stallion's voice informed, as guards were busy fighting with the locals, and a couple of the stronger group members that decided to stay behind and fight. As soon as they exited the town, Twilight could feel something was wrong. One of those guards, out of the corner of her eye.. It must've been her imagination. It had a contradicting coat color, compared to the other guards. Yellow.

Chapter 10

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Now, if Twilight was given time to react to what was happening, she would have gone out there and fought. She had precisely zero seconds to react to herself being dragged out of the town, and into the forest beyond. The forest known as the Everfree forest's sibling. The Neverfree. Whoever came up with such a name seriously needed to come up with a better name, because that name was just plain cliched and stupid.

This forest wasn't compacted like it's sibling, no. It was very tall and spread out. The complete opposite of the exotic forest that stood outside of ponyville, actually. This forest might seem decently easy to navigate through, but here's one of the problems with it. This forest, this one in particular, releases magical gasses each year that cause hallucinations and nausea. This gas has no color, and cannot be seen by the naked eye.

It is especially bad for unicorns, because natural magics that come from the earth can mess them up extremely if the threat is dangerous enough. It will heighten the effects of the gas if a unicorn using magic happened to breath it in. As long as the magic stayed off, then the gasses would not triple their effects on the victim.

Enough exposure to the gas, and it would drive a pony up the wall. Eventually leading to their demise.

The town was at least fifteen or so hooves (Feet) behind them at this point. Which isn't very far. Though, the trees did seem to do a good job in covering up the diminished group of ponies. Twilight's hoof had been strained from the pushing and shoving, which in other words, was not very good. They had her pulled out of bed in the middle of healing, and she still was recovering from her nightmare.

Twilight puffed. This sudden work of exercise was not very helpful, but it was required at the moment. They had to get away from the town, as quickly as possible. If even one of those soldiers manages to see them within the scraggly trees, then they would be goners. From what it seemed, there appeared to be some incredibly strong magic around them. Seeing as their armor and skin was not damaged in the slightest by hooves or weapons.

The weapons they had were slightly intimidating. They were large, pointed spears of blackness. Like the jousting spears that were used in.. Well, jousting. Except, out of the same exact material, and much more of a hostile weapon than an entertaining tool. Which is what normal spears were for. Twilight had seen normal spears, but those weapons seemed a bit more advanced. Strange how an empire that's been gone for a thousand years can return with weapons that are still better than Equestria's.

Kind of sad.

Twilight quickly took a glance over her shoulder, back at the town behind her. The sounds of battles were still loud in her ears as she ran from the outbreak. Though it got farther and farther away, it echoed through the forest at a high volume. Everypony else probably did not have this effect, because Twilight was still slightly drowsy from being woken up just a minute ago.

Nevertheless, she had to run. Run to keep up with the group, and away from the soldiers. What the heck was Celestia doing? It's been, what, almost a week and he still had not been dealt with. Once she reached the Crystal Empire, she better be assisted by the entire royal guard militia. Whatever was left of them, anyways. Pathetic sods cant even defeat changelings..

Twilight couldn't keep her gallop. She gasped, exasperated, as she desperately stopped for air. The group now slightly ahead of her, did not stop, however. She breathed in deep gulps of the forest's air, unaware of what properties the air had in this certain season. The group was now five hoof steps in front of her.

Now ten. Twilight needed to keep up. A simple teleportation spell should help if she used it now and again. Her back leg was straining and lagging by this point. Without a second thought, she poofed out of existence for a millisecond, and reappeared next to her group. Who were all still running. Something seemed to have changed with the small group of ponies, but Twilight was too busy focusing on running.

Twilight had switched between running and teleporting repetitively. Each time she had teleported, she slowly grew this feeling to vomit. Perhaps it was the forest that was making her feel woozy, but the group was not stopping it's sprint. Oh. Wait. They were slowing down, finally. Twilight's gallop had turned down to but a shamble as soon as she saw the group slowing down.

Eventually, they stopped. Twilight's eyes grew blurry. Enough with the blurriness. It was obnoxious. Twilight felt something work up her throat. She gagged. Twilight instinctively covered her mouth before unloading her lunch from a day or so ago. Twilight had some food while being treated for her wounds. It was just a couple hay sandwiches, nothing much. It was all on the floor now, in a digested mess.

Twilight coughed, as her eyes grew misty from vomiting. Her face was now red. Luckily, she had not barfed in the group's direction. Luckily enough for her, or else she might have totally embarrassed herself. She could already feel another load trying to leave out of her mouth. She struggled to keep it down, as the flavor now stuck in her mouth only tried to help the next round escape Twilight.

She gulped, letting out an exasperated sigh after she released her breath. She was shaking at the moment. She knew that if she looked at her mess for a bit too long, then she knew her body would be tempted to add to the already big mess. Twilight needed to keep her lunch down for the travel. Just in a few hours, she would grow hungry.

She wiped her muzzle with her hoof, getting rid of the excess vomit. She then wiped her hoof on the grassy forest ground. When she looked back around, luckily, the group was still sticking around. They didn't run off like they had back in Foal Mountain. Twilight had wondered about how they had gotten so deep in the cave within seconds, back when she was in bed.

They were oddly quiet. Silent. Dead silent, in fact. Twilight stumbled over to them. Her trot unorganized from the previous task she had just done. She moved her way up to one of the ponies in the group. Mocha Bean. She seemed almost frozen. Twilight waved her clean hoof infront of the mare's face. No response.

Great. What was going on here? Twilight scowled. She pushed Mocha Bean. Mocha Bean did not even move a centimeter. Okay, Twilight already had her visit from him today. She did not need another one right now. It had only been a minute. Twilight flung her head backwards, and stared up into the sky.

"Uggghh. Just get it over with, you."
Twilight moaned, before snapping her head back to the proper altitude. No response. What else did she expect, honestly. Twilight poked Mocha Bean repetitively. Nothing changed. It seemed like time itself was frozen. Everything except for Twilight and her green mess off to the left.

"I'm going to sit here until you appear. I know this is your work. Don't try to do a sneak attack. I know you're here."
Twilight continued. She increased the speed of which she poked Mocha Bean. Mocha kind of felt a bit like fluffy fur. Just, pure fluff. Nothing else. Even though she had a short coat.

"T-twilight? Are you there..? I'm.. I'm scared!"
A voice called off in the distance. It sounded like a small child. Male. Though it sounded slightly feminine. Twilight recognized this voice. Spike. Twilight rolled her eyes. A obvious trick. She wasn't going to be falling for that again. The pace of the poking heightened, slowly. She was kind of hoping that time unfroze so she wouldn't have to deal with this.

"I'm serious! Twilight! This isn't funny! I couldn't find you at home!"
Spike's voice continued. Twilight grumbled. There was no way that Spike was alive. She knew this full well. Just another illusion. Just another nightmare trap lure thing. He knew about Twilight, somehow, but he didn't know that much. Obviously. Twilight was ready this time. No way was she going to flake out on kicking him right in the ass.

Twilight's horn sparked to life as she looked around for that shadowy form that he took. It wasn't anywhere. Instead, she spotted a small purple and green figure out in the distance, between the spaced out trees. He was not facing Twilight's direction. It was a small dragon. No wings. That was spike. He had his claws cupped over his mouth as he called out for Twilight. He had tears balled up in the edges of his eyes.

Twilight wasted no time shooting a small laser at the dragon. The dragon appeared to react to the laser hitting him, holding his arm, where the laser had hit. It wasn't much of a laser, just a test one to see if he was real. He gasped as he noticed Twilight and the group. His feet flew as he ran to Twilight faster than somepony could say 'How?'. He wrapped his hands around Twilight's cloaked body.

Being pulled into a tight hug by her assistant who she thought was dead, Twilight eye's grew wide in shock. She put her clean hoof around the dragon, returning the hug. She could feel the moisture of his salty tears on her coat. This was too good to be true. Twilight maintained her aura, just incase he suddenly reappeared to give her some prophetic bull. She was getting sick of it.

"Spike, what are you doing out here?! It's dangerous!"
Twilight scolded, looking down at her still crying friend. Spike looked at her, still sniffling as he pulled away to give her some space, which was appreciated.

"I went to look for you.."
Spike answered simply. Twilight made sure to look both ways for the intruder of her dreams. Which she knew that this was a dream. When she looked back at Spike, he was gone. Just poof. Gone. Well. That was anti-climatic. You'd think that he would build up Twilight's trust that this wasn't a dream before he pounced and flung a riddle at her before leaving.

Twilight puffed her chest, letting out a small growl as she did so. What was next on the agenda? Maybe he would pop out of the tree tops or something. Fall flat on his face, and make himself look like an idiot. That would be the funniest thing she would have seen all day. Considering this day has only lasted a minute.

"Twilight?"
Spike chimed up. He was actually just right beside her. Oh. Twilight glanced over at the dragon, who was pointing to the path that Twilight had recently teleported and sprinted down. A way's down the path came a heavenly light. Twilight's pupils dilated, instead of constricting. Normally, when exposed to great light like this, pupils would constrict.

A large alicorn figure was wandering from the light. A long, flowing mane of silver followed behind the mare. Instead of flowing in nonexistent wind, it just simply bobbed and moved as the alicorn-like figure moved. The alicorn lacked a horn. In fact, the only alicorn thing about it was the fact it was really tall.

Every time Twilight would blink, the figure would grow closer. Along with the light. The light was the sort of cliched god light. One that constantly followed behind a godly figure. More details of the figure was revealed as it drew closer. It was all gray. It's eyes were closed, and it had a sort of rocky body. Not made of fur, but stone. It was that statue from Hollow Shades. What exactly was it doing here?

With another blink, the statue was now sitting in front of Twilight. It's forelegs underneath it's stomach. It 'stared' at Twilight with closed eyes. Twilight almost felt entranced by the laying statue before her. It gave off this warmth that could not compare to anything else but an angel. Like Celestia's warm embrace whenever she did a task correctly. How she missed that feeling,

Now she was feeling it again. Twilight smiled, as she felt common sense wash away, and this drug-like feeling take over her senses. Spike had just disappeared again, but she had not noticed. Twilight was busy just looking at this statue. She smelled the air. Cookies, freshly baked and escaping from their oven prison could be smelled. Where it was coming from, Twilight didn't know.

The statue pulled Twilight in almost a bit too fast. Extending a wing, that Twilight soon found herself under. Twilight had not teleported, she was just suddenly underneath the stone wing of the statue. The wing did not feel heavy on Twilight's back as she snuggled up next to the once inanimate object.

"Twilight, stay with me. I will teach you the wonders of this forest, and what magic it holds. I implore you, the beauty will astound you. Stay with me, Twilight. Let us wander."
The statue asked. It had such a graceful voice. Actually, it was the voice of Celestia. Twilight had not recognized the voice. She was focusing more on the statue then the voice it was producing. She had listened to what it had said though. Every single thought in her mind was about the statue. Nothing else. The statue. The statue. A god. A angel.

Twilight had a choice. She could stay with this statue who was currently comforting her, or, she could frolic back into the darkness and peril. There was an obvious route to take here.

Chapter 11

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"I want to see what this forest has to show me.."
Twilight answered, almost like a drunkard. She felt like she was walking on sunshine, or rainbows. Clouds, possibly. Whatever she was walking on, she felt good. Really good. Comforted, warm, almost like she was laying in a bed of the finest silks. The statue seemed to pull her in closer. Twilight was now pushed up against the statue so much, that she no longer had any personal space. The statue appreciated her company, and Twilight appreciated the statue's company.

"Come with me, my child. Let us travel deep within the forest. Deep, so deep.."
The statue cooed, as Twilight soon found herself on the back of the statue. She had held onto the statue's long neck to keep herself upon the stone back. Twilight smiled, almost stupidly as she rode upon the statue. The surroundings became a blur, as the statue and Twilight appeared to travel at almost light speed. No wind pushed Twilight back as the statue bounded through the forest elegantly.

Twilight giggled, almost a little too much. She felt like she was a filly. Every single bit of common sense was numbed as she was being taken deep into the imaginary forest. She threw her hooves up into the air, as the horse below her galloped. The surroundings soon slowed down, returning back to a crisp and clear picture. The statue had taken her to a small pond, that a stream ran into.

Twilight clamored off the statue, and onto the grassy ground. Maintaining her extremely stupid smile, she approached the pond. The statue followed after her. Grace and beauty in every step she took. She put a wing over Twilight. The wing felt cold. It made Twilight get concerned, as she turned her head to face the statue's face. So that way, she could see if the statue meant something wrong. The statue's emotion did not change.

"I heard the depths of the deepest waters are beautiful. Brimming with life."
The statue commented. Twilight smiled, blind to what the statue actually meant, due to her drug-like state. She peered into the pond. Gazing at the almost pitch black waters, Twilight continued to grin like a moron. The statue's wing pushed down hard onto Twilight's back. Not so hard that she would fall, but just hard enough so that she would stay in that spot. The back wings extended, as it slowly started to push Twilight towards the pond.

A familiar whisper on the wind, and that habitual chill that shot up her spine appeared. The stone on the statue cracked. The process of being pushed into the pond was halted. The drug that had infected her had halted its effects. Twilight backpedaled from the pond that copied the vastness of space itself. The statue scampered, as chunks of it fell onto the ground of the forest. Panicked, it attempts to fly away were cut short. It crumbled away to dust.

Sparks of black electricity buzzed off of the previously alive and animate statue. Twilight blinked. What exactly had just happened? It was just gone? Well. That was certainly strange. Twilight glanced about. Her common sense had just told her that the statue had attempted to drown her. Somepony had just saved her. Whoever it was, she was grateful for it.

Now.. Where exactly was the group? Great. Now she had to find them again. How was she supposed to find them now?

Twilight could feel something splash against her face, as she snapped into reality. In front of her face was an empty bucket, dripping with water that was now upon her face. The bucket was being held by a blue aura. Twilight glowered at the bucket, as she coughed in annoyance. She was still in the same spot that she was previously in. She was not laying on the ground, sleeping. Maybe she had undergone some trance..

"Jeez Twilight."
A stallion's voice chimed. It was Quill Scratch, she recognized it. He soon joined by her side, as she glared at him. She was all wet now, thanks to him. How nice of him. Twilight noticed her surroundings were the same. Well, almost, that is. She didn't have time for sightseeing at the moment.

"You were about to fall into that pit."
Quill Scratch joked, pointing at the pit that was previously shown to be a pond. Twilight's eyes widened. Was that statue trying to shove her into a pit? Actually, it might not have been a statue. It must have been a illusion, or something. Twilight glanced over to the dust of the 'statue'. The dust was replaced by a couple dark logs. Possibly, a Timberwolf? Why would a timberwolf want to shove her down a pit? Strange.

"What happened to me?"
Twilight questioned, backing farther away from the pit. The stream was still there, it ran into the pit. Making a small waterfall that looked admitting pretty.

"You just suddenly ran off after barfing."
Quill Scratch informed, making Twilight blush from embarrassment. Seems like they did notice that she had barfed. Hopefully they wouldn't be talking about it. Twilight rubbed the back of her head. So maybe, a timberwolf had only been around when she was at the pit? That could be it.

"The rest of the group is waiting for you, I came after you to get you back."
Quill Scratch continued, turning tail, and heading off. Twilight was quick to follow him. She took the bucket so he wouldn't have to levitate it. He was a weaker unicorn. Probably couldn't even hold it for five minutes. Twilight looked around the forest. She could see the group just ahead due to the spaced out trees.

After five or so minutes of walking, she reached the group once more. They all looked pretty annoyed that they had to wait for her. Twilight apologized, as the group continued on walking through the forest that seemed to have no end. Every time she had been traveling, she thought about something. Who was there to think about now? Oh, yes. Applejack.

The texan had been put into chains, much to her distaste. She bucked the air, and struggled madly against the magic that contained her rage. She grunted as the shackles clipped onto her front and back legs, restraining her as she was dropped from the magical aura. Applejack attempted to run off, but the line of other laborers had already been formed. A chain linked all slaves together by their necks. A shackle had been put around her neck, as the chain connected to the front part. Another chain sprouted off the back, and went to the next laborer.

She wouldn't be beat. Not now. She jangled her chains, as the other slaves submitted to their fates. Working until death, would be their new fates. No happiness. No light. Why a pony would do this was beyond applejack, and she could care less right now. All she cared about at the moment was escaping her chains, and freeing these ponies. The empire seemed to change as soon as he had enslaved them, and the changes weren't good ones, to say the least. A bleak shade of black devoured the pure cyan roads, as the buildings turned crack and adapted a darker shade of blue. The previously put up festive decorations were burning within a blazing inferno. All things flammable were on fire, actually. Burning within a green and purple flame of pure hatred.

Applejack continued to have hope. She could escape these extremely dense and thick crystal shackles. They were heavy, and hard to move in. She shook her head madly, hooves stumbling as she attempted to attack the air and shake these shackles off. With the heavy shackles on, she found herself being depleted of energy. Her bucks were getting lower and weaker, and she could feel the first drop of sweat go down the side of her face. She puffed, panting as she started to get pushed forward by the pony behind her.

"C'mon.. Ya'll can't give in yet!"
Applejack shouted, as she continued to be pushed forward. Chains rattled as the new line of slaves trotted, getting back to work. Things had not changed. Things were never going to change. The amount of hatred, anger, and fear had only increased. Allowing him to only gain more power. The more of those three factors that he received, he only grew in power. He was in his prime, as long as the regular dose of negative emotions was directed to him. Which it seemed like he had more than a regular amount, considering he had just levitated every single pony in the empire, and put them in shackles.

"Don't talk. Look down. Right now. He'll punish you."
The crystal pony infront of her hissed, as Applejack's eyes narrowed. No way was she going to submit to him. Even though she was terrified of him, as long as he wasn't around, she would rebel against his rule. Applejack shook her head. She was slightly tired, but she was going to get out of here.

"Do you want to go to the Sandpaper Room? PUT YOUR HEAD DOWN."
The crystal pony demanded, making Applejack's eyes widened. This pony was rather rude, considering they had almost just saved them. Almost. Their work was all futile, apparently. She put her head down. She would rebel later. In the near future, when she had the perfect time to strike.

"How many ponies did we loose?"
Twilight asked, looking behind her. They were just about out of the forest by now. They had said to go Manehatten, and that's exactly where they were going at the current moment. Twilight had checked the map she had. Manehatten was off to the east. They would have to go the north after getting out of the forest.

"We only have nine ponies. We lost Rose Dust, so, I guess you're the boss now. Until Rose Dust finds us again. I hope she finds us. She has all the plans."
Log Chucker chatted, as the group of nine ponies wandered. This was a very boring walk. Luckily, it had only taken them an hour to see the exit of the forest, which was now just ahead. Twilight was happy about this. She was feeling another upchuck trying to force it's way up her throat once more. Twilight started to gallop, getting ahead of the group, and being the first one out of the forest.

The forest's air tasted so much thicker than the outside of the forest air. The regular oxygen tasted so much sweeter, and refreshed Twilight's senses. She breathed the fresh air with great pleasure. The group was soon behind her. They didn't seem to appreciate the air as much as she did. She didn't know why she had liked the air outside of the forest more than the inside. You'd think that the forest's air would be fresher.

Nevertheless. Twilight had to keep going, along with her group. Kind of sad that some of them couldn't run off.

Just off in the distance was Filly Delphia, across those hills that blocked Filly Delphia. They weren't heading that way, though. Up to the north, past that small mountain, and then follow that train track into the city. They would have to get past a couple hills, then they would be free to stay in Manehatten. They would probably have to stay within a cheap hotel, or find another contact, or something. Either that, or just wait until Rose Dust found them. That is, if she was still alive.

"Let's just go."
Twilight said, signalling to go to the north. Up ahead, was a large mountain. Along with some hills. Twilight's hooves were starting to ache once more from all this walking. She seriously was going to take a rest after a bit of walking. Twilight had been given the front of the group, as everypony followed behind her. She was liking the leader role. Maybe she wouldn't give it back.

After trekking over a couple hills, the group took a quick sit down. They talked about some current events that weren't related to the trek. Somethings about celebrities that Twilight could care less about. Twilight looked up to the sky. It was about mid-day already. She could tell from the sun being directly above them. Maybe four PM, or five.

Twilight looked back around. These plains seemed strangely familiar. She thought of where she had seen these plains from before. Putting her hoof on her chin, she looked into her database known as knowledge. It was on the tip of her mind. Back in Canterlot, before she was friends with her friends, and before they had beaten Nightmare Moon.. She had read a book.. A book about monster locations.. Something about rolling hills being a prime place for.. Something.. What was it..

The ground rumbled, catching everypony off guard. Twilight frantically turned her head around, noticing that the ground below them was rumbling. She could feel the ground lift. The hill levitated, as the ponies scrambled off as soon as they could. Twilight balanced, as she stood. There was something below them. Twilight couldn't see it. Though, was she could see, was that she was now up extremely high. She looked off the back of the hill, down at the ground. Everypony else was down, way below her.

She felt like she was on a gigantic perch. Twilight scrambled about the hill, as she had no idea what was going on. Then it hit her. She remembered. Rolling Hills were a prime location for Collosi. Especially underground Collosi.

Chapter 12

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Twilight lost her balance as soon as the colossus started to move. She gripped onto the grassy hill-head of the colossus with her hooves. She clenched her teeth, focusing. She climbed upwards.

Most collosi have a weak spot on their heads. While she had no idea what this one looked like, considering she was at the very top of it, she just guessed it was here. She kneaded the grass as she crawled. Hoping to find an obvious difference in the grass. A certain soft spot, whatever.

She could feel the colossus start to bend, and move. She soon found herself working against gravity, as the colossus dipped it's head forward. Twilight's saddlebag had slipped off of her body, and falling down to the ground all the way below. It didn't matter right now. She focused on her opposition.

The Collosi, while rather slow, had a major amount of strength within it's size. It was a power house. One single swat from a hand (or hoof, or paw) of a colossus, and you'd be either in an emergency room, or coffin.

So, if she planned to 'defeat' this thing, she needed to be extremely careful, and agile. That shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

Twilight's horn sparked as the beast put it's head back up to a regular state. She cast a spell, as a blue, snake like magical energy surged through her horn. It peaked out, and then shot into the hill. A large, blue, almost cyan, symbol appeared. It looked like a large wind symbol. Two swirls along a straight path.

It was directly smack dab in the middle of the hillside. Twilight just needed to get to it. She narrowed her eyes, quickly tossing herself forward and onto the symbol. Furrowing her brow, she let loose one of the more powerful magics she had access to.

A spear of dark magic shot through the symbol, and most likely directly straight into the colossus. A large roar could be heard as the spear was removed. As soon as it was pulled out, a toxic spray of a strange black steam shot out from the colossus.

A hand perked up from the west side of the hill, as Twilight knew what it was going to do. The hand swept and swiped across the natural formation, successfully knocking Twilight off. Twilight was pushed off by the hand, and was quickly plummeting.

She flailed her hooves, swiftly picking out a spell. What one, what one?! Teleport! Teleport!

Twilight popped out of existence, before returning into existence. Once more atop the hill. She sighed, rushing over to symbol once more. Charging up the dark magic spell she had used before. The spear of hatred levitated close to Twilight's face as she jumped onto the symbol. The spear thrusting downward, digging deeper into the hill. The symbol suddenly flickered out. A mist of blue fluttered about, before quickly snaking off in the air. Down the hillside, and most likely to the next weak spot.

Twilight withdrew her weapon, releasing the black geyser from the gigantic creature once more. Two hands appeared, holding onto the southern part of the hill. Obvious grumbles of pain could be heard. Twilight's spear dissolved as she switched back over to regular magic.

A magenta rope latched onto the left thumb of the left hand. Twilight was soon dragged off of the hill, and was found dangling by her horn off the side of the beast. At this point, she got to see what it looked like. It was a humanoid colossus, with a surprisingly small head. It had four arms, two up higher, and two lower down.

The torso itself was rather rugged looking. Made of either rock or steel. She honestly could care less right now. The torso had a waistline, obviously sticking out. As the colossus walked about on it's strange, peg-like legs, Twilight looked about the body. Twilight let go of her current attachment, linking over to the belly. She whisked herself forward, skidding forward to the place she had linked. She promptly stopped herself once she was close enough. Dropping down onto the stuck out waistline. It was about three hooves wide. Twilight would have to be careful. She put one hoof on the stomach, as she worked her way around the waistline.

Eventually, she found her way to the rump of the beast. Just as luck would have it, the symbol was upon the back of the colossus. Just a bit up higher. By the neck, actually. Twilight rolled her eyes. Her large spear appearing once more. Being a unicorn was extremely useful at times.

Instead of doing an extremely tedious task of actually scaling the back of the titan, Twilight simply levitated the weapon up high enough. Twilight thrust the magical weapon into the fleshy surface that the symbol was upon. Another screech echoed from the colossus. Without giving it a break, she withdrew it, before digging it into the colossus once more.

The arms wrapped around backwards, grabbing Twilight. Catching her by surprise. Twilight had used a lot of magic. So by this point, she would have to plan out her attacks properly. The weapon retracted to it's master, flying to her side as she was raised up to the face of the beast. It was obviously angry. It's small eyes glowing with red fury.

Twilight nervously laughed, as she squirmed in the tight grip of the creature's hand. A sudden line appeared across the colossus's face. The line parted, revealing a small mouth. Twilight tossed herself in the hand, as a familiar blue mist flew itself into the mouth of the colossus, and directly onto the roof of the mouth.

Twilight smirked as she was put closer and closer to the mouth. Her weapon close, she readied herself. Once close enough, she shot a beam of the dark arcane into the roof of the colossus's mouth, making it retaliate back. A hand reaching to cover it's mouth. Twilight laughed hysterically, as purple smoke started to peak from her eyes. The weapon shot into the closing mouth. Sticking straight up as the jaw closed. The weapon was forced into the roof by the creature's bottom jaw. Making it screech, dropping the unicorn.

A familiar Pegasus stallion had caught Twilight. His name was Roaring Gust. He had a bluish sort of coat, along with a slightly more bluish mane. Spiked. Since she had been caught, she saw no need to teleport. Plus, by the looks of it, this creature was already done.

The rocks and boulders attached to it were crumbling and rumbling. Black sprouts started to spray from every part of the colossus. Bursting with poisonous colossus steam. The arms were starting to fall, as the colossus itself attempted to keep its balance. It dropped down to it's knees, before falling flat on it's face. They were nearly hit by the thing falling. Luckily, Roaring Gust decided not to die today, and moved out of the way before it could smush the two.

That was rather quick. Even gigantic and lumbering creatures were no match for this purple pony. With this new magic diversity in her hoof, she could defeat anything! Twilight rejoiced as soon as she returned to the ground. A wide smile upon her face as she looked back upon her most recent enemy.

She just single hoofingly defeated a COLOSSUS. How cool was that?! Might I add, in less than an hour was the beast fallen. Actually, in less than ten minutes! All thanks to that handy spell. Wait, when did she learn that spell? Last time she had checked, she didn't know that sort of weapon conjuring spell. Whatever! It worked, and she saved everypony from certain doom!

Twilight puffed, wiping the slight bit of sweat off of her forehead. She took a second to stop laughing, as she turned back around to look at her group mates. They looked.. Less than pleased, to say the least. They all had these scowls and glowers on their faces.

"What's with the faces?"
Twilight asked, breathing in and out. She was slightly out of breath from her awesome battle. They just stood there. As if she knew why they were glaring at her.

"You used bad magic, Twilight."
Log Chucker stated. What the Tartarus? 'Bad' magic? No magic was bad. All magics were used for good reasons. She used her magic for good. Not evil.

"What?"
Twilight laughed, making the group obviously more disgusted. Twilight seriously wondered what they were talking about.

"Your eyes, Twilight. They have dark magic smoke coming from them."
Quill Scratch spoke up, worming his way to the front of the group. Dark magic? Wait, she had used dark magic! BUCK!

Twilight poked her horn, smacking it. A tiny little black spark flew from the tip of her horn, and down to the grassy ground. Twilight was horrified. The purple smoke had retracted back into her oculars at this point. She stamped a hoof on the landing place of the black spark.

No. No dark magic allowed. Even if it was useful. No dark magic. Even if it was useful.

Twilight sighed, disappointed and shamed by her arcane choices. The group seemed to ease once she noticed what she had done.

"Sorry. Something just came over me. It was the strongest magic I had access to."
Twilight apologized. She was comforted by a group hug by her acquaintances. Twilight calmed herself, embracing her companions. Friendship was more powerful than dark magic. She knew this. Nothing could stop the magic of friendship.

The group had spent a little bit by the colossus corpse. Just to see it off. Which, after a couple minutes, crumbled into stone dust. They had only stuck around to see the colossus fully disappear. After that, they had started to move on to Manehatten. That creature's untimely death was unfortunate. Twilight had retrieved her saddlebag from underneath the dust. Luckily, it wasn't too badly damaged. It was basically fine.

Though, in death, comes life. The ashes of a colossus can sprout Gray Leeches. Which were usually found in mines. They were actually used as tools. They drank the sweat of a worker. Instead of blood or magic, like other leeches. If you were a smart spelunker, you'd bring a gray leech down in the mines with you. If you didn't want to drown your co-workers in your disgusting body fluids. A colossus usually made two of those things upon death.

Twilight's mind was not on the gray leeches. Currently, she was thinking about her dark magic usage, and how she could limit it. Maybe she could teach Quill Scratch how to do a magic blocking spell? Nah. He probably couldn't. Most unicorns couldn't.

Twilight rubbed her temple with a free hoof. How was she going to deal with this asinine magic? It was only going to annoy her more. By Celestia, she needed help. Seriously. How was she going to get rid of it? Could she get rid of it? Who knows. Maybe there was a magic sucking demon that could get rid of this magic that was probably rooted in her by now.

Maybe there was no way to get rid of it. Maybe dark magic was a disease that came with it's own array of powerful spells. Spells that provided strange pleasure and joy when using. You could call it a useful drug, actually. Sooner or later, it would find its way into the majority of her life, instead of the minority.

It would happen, inevitably. Hopefully she wouldn't give into the soothing and fulfilling after effects of the darker element. Normally, if she had used regular magic to get rid of that colossus, she would be having one hell of a horn ache. To the contrary, this drug was providing a decently nice feeling to her horn. Instead of the burning after effects of regular unicorn magic.

There seemed to be cons and pros to this magic. She would just have to magnify the cons. Magnify them. A lot. A whole ton. Right now, the pros were outweighing the cons.

What were the cons..

Alright. It was forbidden by Celestia, and frowned upon. That was really about it. Though she did look up to Celestia, she kind of didn't appreciate the whole 'go hide in the corner with your tail between your legs' thing. That was a foolish action, to try to limit Twilight. This was HER battle, and if Celestia thought she wasn't going to fight it, she was WRONG.

Now she was just being sour. Twilight looked forward to sitting in Manehatten, waiting for a most likely dead mare to arrive and show them the directions. How long would they wait? Years? Twilight had better things to do than sit and wait for a dead mare.

She would wait two weeks. Tops. Then she would stomp off to the Crystal Empire, and end this battle. Then she would tell Celestia to remove the dark magic, and she would go back to her old life. Friends, and getting rid of gods and threats to Equestria. The usual.

Everything would be normal. Normal. Normal. Normal. Twilight would make everything better. She didn't care what she had to do. She would free her friends, and end the war. Then go back to ponyville, rejoice, and then, the next day, she would act like it never happened.

She would smile as Pinkie Pie jumped and bounced over to Golden Oak's Library. A silly getup on, with a basket of letters in her mouth. Twilight would open the door to her library, as Pinkie would do a song and dance. Talking about a party. Then, when it was time to party, Twilight would dance until midnight, with all of her friends. Joyful and drunkard like laughter all through the night! Yes. That's what she needed to get.

Dark magic stood in the way between her goal, and her. She wouldn't allow that. Now she had a reason to get rid of it. To despise it. Good. That's exactly what she needed right now. No sarcasm intended, that's actually what she needed.

The group had now wandered upon the railroad. The railroad lead directly into the city, so if they just followed it, they would be fine. Plus, they couldn't get lost at this point, really. If they did, it would have to be an extremely stupid mistake. Twilight hoped that they wouldn't make that idiotic of a mistake.

Twilight took a quick glance behind them. No train coming out from the tunnel. The tunnel being the one that cut through the small cluster of mountains known as Equine Mountains. If they wanted to, they could just head through this tunnel, follow the tracks, and end back at the Neverfree forest. On the opposite end, closer by Hollow Shades. They wouldn't be doing that. Also, hopefully, she could actually take the train instead of walking. Her hooves will die if she had to walk all the way back to Ponyville.

Twilight wondered.. What were her friends doing right now? Hopefully they weren't suffering. That would be horrid. She would save them. They just had to wait. How long? Twilight didn't know. A while. Hopefully soon. She didn't want her friends to be tortured for much longer.

She didn't want her friends tortured at all, actually. That would be preferred.

Manehatten was just ahead. Hopefully, the wait wouldn't be too long until Rose Dust's coffin showed up. Twilight hoped she was still alive. Or else this group would wander around Equestria like chickens without heads who were very slow at running or walking.

Chapter 13

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Manehatten wasn't the most green place in Equestria. It was one of the most gray ones, when it came to the amount of concrete that could be seen within the city. While concrete was abundant, most cities or towns refrained from using it. Due to the high cost of the material, and how ugly it looked, crystals were becoming the better building material. Some places in Equestria have already been using the material. Ordering it from the slave-labor powered city in the north.

While this may seem cruel, the crystals, when taken away from the empire, turn a pure cyan. Canterlot has banned the crystal distribution already, for some pretty obvious reasons. That doesn't stop the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Empire is very wary of it's customers. Very, very wary. They have to be. Crystals are usually exchanged for food goods, seeing as how remote the empire is.

"The crystals themselves are actually more than just building materials. Our alchemists have been experimenting with the things, and have revealed a pleasurable aspect to the crystals. Within the minerals, specifically the blackest crystals that can be shipped out, can have dopamine located in the innerwalls of the crystals. This dopamine causes addiction to the crystals, meaning a drug-like effect to eating these crystals.

Further effects can be found if the crystal is smashed to dust, then snorted. This sets up a need for the crystals. Further crops and food goods are traded between the empire and the southern part of Equestria, Within recent news, the takers of the crystalline drugs slowly turn into zombie-like slaves due to a strange and foreign chemical that has never been seen before.

This chemical effects the entire nervous system of the brain, and after scans of activity, the most active place of the brain was the reward center. Everything else was either not active whatsoever, or showed minimal activity. Due to this, the drug users offered themselves up as slaves for the Crystal Empire's picking, in exchange for mining the crystals, and an abundance of the drug.

Those who could not get the crystals would go through withdrawals. Crying, shuddering, spasming.. One thing was for sure. One thing was a constant. Each pony addicted, when going through withdrawals, would mummer a poem. A cursed poem, that even when recorded, would utterly destroy the audio. Turning it into silence. Any attempt to get the audio to decode itself was failed.

Who knew that all of this could happen within a four-week time period?

Schools are trying to get the children away from the minerals, while teenagers blankly took the drug without a second thought. Thinking it was cool that they were doing some evil thing that made them feel good. Even adult ponies were stupid enough to take the drug. Only ones with previous addictions, obviously.

Treatments have been set up. While most ponies were smart enough to stay away from even talking about the northern hemisphere, the treatments were routinely full of ponies. All suffering from the lack of crystals. They could not even speak a single word other than the ones in the poem.

The poem-"

Twilight had heard enough. She turned off the television. It had been about three weeks since she had arrived in manehatten. The group had been scrounging for bits, and they had managed to get a small hotel room that had only two beds. Most ponies slept on the floor, while Twilight slept at the end of one of the beds.

The rooms was not the best looking, but it was better than sleeping on the street. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the carpet was dirty from all the hooves passing in and out of the room. Twilight was responsible for most of the dirt that littered the carpet. She had a thing for pacing. She was extremely worried.

Why wouldn't she be? Sitting in one place for this long? Her friends could be dead, and she was sitting here, watching television. Well, the tv was off right now, but still. Her point still stood. Apparently, the group NEEDED Rose Dust to turn up, or else they were completely lost. Twilight felt pity for them, and she just could not leave them alone. She was the current leader.

She didn't know where to go. Rose Dust didn't leave any notes behind. She didn't leave behind anything to go off of, other than 'go to manehatten, and go find the contact'. Who the Tartarus was this contact anyways!? Twilight can't read minds! Actually she could, but she didn't have time to scan Rose Dust's mind when they were escaping from troops.

Twilight had been fiddling with magic to pass the time. Other than watching television. Twilight found that she couldn't access the dark magic when she was calm. Which was a bit strange. Though, Twilight was actually less than calm. She was paranoid. Either way, she couldn't fool around with Dark Magic. She couldn't even get a flicker. It was peculiar. Maybe it had left her magical system?

That would be great if it just poofed out of existence for no reason. She knew it wasn't that simple, though. While she had been sitting in this hotel, Twilight had been putting some magical puzzle pieces together. Mental ones. A real puzzle would be good, right about now. She was a bit bored.

Twilight figured this. Dark Magic couldn't be used when Twilight was calm or happy, because it was powered off evil feelings. Well, not so much evil as they were negative. They were now nicknamed evil, because they related to Dark Magic. Even though that wasn't really evil either.

Those emotions were the following. Blood lust and anger. She knew that blood lust was apart of dark magic because she was able to use Dark Magic when she had fell that colossus. Twilight also knew that anger fueled Dark Magic due to the fact she had used dark magic to open that nightmare door in the Crystal Empire. She had been frustrated with the door, and Dark Magic just took hold.

Those were the only two appearances of dark magic so far. Twilight didn't know what else Dark Magic was made out of. Just evilness, she reckoned. Either that or cruelty. That could be a source, actually. Who knows. The master of Dark Magic did, obviously.

"I'm going out. I'll go see if I can get some bits."
Twilight announced as she slid off the front of the bed. The remaining members of the group dismissed the lavender mage exiting the hotel room. Twilight closed the door behind her as she exited.

The hotel room's door lead directly outside, out onto the hotel's concrete pathway. Which showed off all the doors and rooms on the floor. Twilight trotted down the pathway, ignoring all the sounds that would come from the other hotel rooms. They were awfully obnoxious, with that blaring music. It was complete garbage, this modern music.

Twilight sighed in annoyance, wearing a grimace as she turned the corner. The exit. In the previous hall, the area to her right was blocked off by a wall. Now, there was no wall. Just a street. This was the entrance and exit to the hotel. The lobby was just off to the left, now.

Twilight was not interesting in checking out of their room that they had basically lived in. She needed to go to the library. She wasn't actually going to go and find bits. She needed to read away her boredom. Her worries. Twilight had gone to the library everyday, and it seemed to be helping, slightly. She had been just reading everything she could find in the local library.

It didn't matter what. As long there was text written in paper, Twilight would read it. Wether it be crappy romance novels, or crappy stories in general, Twilight would read it. She would read anything. Anything. She needed to dive into another world, to get her mind off the real one. The crappy world, that only loaded her up with grief.

Twilight had actually thought of turning to drugs, but that wasn't exactly the smartest idea with this new found knowledge of crystals drugs. Also, she didn't have any bits for drugs or alcohol. It was for the best that she used books as a way to escape. It was the cheapest, and least addicting way.

Twilight made her way down the street, passing the routine scouting of guards. They have been all over the place since the second week of being here. It seems like Celestia is finally getting her royal plot in action, and is actually trying to fight the threat, unlike all the other times she didn't. She just left EVERYTHING for Twilight to do. Well, it was her problem at the moment.

Twilight just had to wait until Rose Dust got here. Who the Tartarus knows why she was taking so long. It was aggravating, honestly. Twilight had made a limit to how long she was going to stay in this concrete city, and it was well past succeeded. She needed to get out of this place, or it would be the end of her.

Maybe she could just follow the guards out onto the battle field? No, that was too risky. Celestia would probably just nab her and throw her back to where she started, in Ponyville. Either that or lock her in a cage so she couldn't fight her own battles. This was a serious issue, and Twilight needed to help deal with it. Her friends lives were on the line here.

Twilight glowered as she passed some civilians. They didn't exactly look very happy either. This whole 'Equestria needs more soldiers, so you're getting drafted into war' business wouldn't make one very joyful. Twilight had not been drafted. She kind of wished she was drafted, though. It would give her complete access to the Crystal Empire. No contacts. No waiting. Just there. Just go. Just go in. Just fight. Just win.

Twilight knew she wasn't going to. Celestia wouldn't allow her student to go to war. Though, when the changelings attacked, apparently that was an incredibly different deal. 'Go get the elements', blah, blah. One side is going to die in the end, and that's the tragedy. In this case, it won't be a tragedy. She hated her enemy. A lot.

For all of the sins that the Crystal Empire committed, Twilight would not allow any oppressors left breathing. She wouldn't tolerate it. That seemed a bit harsh, but Equestria needed that entire empire destroyed, turned to dust, burned, then left to float away in the wind.

Twilight pushed open the glass door of the library. Entering the familiar area once more. This was the second time today.

The floor went unpolished, but it's tan checkerboard floor looked very nice. The center of the library, just ahead, was populated by old and antique tables. Their value was decently high. They were lined up horizontally. Lamps stood up on the tables, waiting idly to be turned on by a reader.

Around the library, towered large book shelves, made of oak. Books organized properly. Organized, and reorganized by hers truly. She had put them in shelves, according to their genre. The books were decently dusty, some so dusty that their titles could not be read. Twilight had not gotten around to organizing the second floor of the library, but she needed to give the librarian some work to do. It was their job, after all.

Twilight took a seat at one of the tables, pulling in a chair as her horn's aura grabbed a nearby book off a shelf. She received a book in the 'Warriors' series. Twilight had read one of the books in this series before, just yesterday. It was rather interesting, but all of the other books were checked out. Presumably gone.

Twilight floated the book back onto the shelf, plucking another one that was right by it. It was a gray book. After placing the book down on the table, Twilight noticed how.. Monotone and small it was. It had an old, bearded pony on the front, and that was the most noticeable feature. The book was called 'The Giver'.

Twilight had read this book before, and it was about a kid in a dystopian future, who becomes a receiver of memory. Which causes a bunch of stuff to go down after he starts to receive some messed up memories.. Yeah. Twilight had heard there was movie coming out about this book. Which was cool, she guessed. Though, the movie was sort of postponed due to the war.

Twilight looked around the library. It was so unfortunate how barren this place was. It seemed like everypony was transferring over to televisions to keep them entertained for long periods of time. Also, movies. Other than the librarian, there was nopony else in the library.

Scratch that. The door to the library had just opened. Twilight turned, to see who it was. There, at the door, was Quill Scratch. He was holding some sort of large paper in his blue aura. Once he was noticed, he smiled, trotting up to Twilight. Sitting on the opposite end of the table.

"So, I was looking through all of our stuff, for that materials list you said to make.."
Quill Scratch rolled out the paper on the table, as it seemed like a simple map. Except, it had a few additions onto it. There were notes over at least every single town. They were written decently neat. There were also a bunch of red paths leading to every town. It seemed to

"I found this inside of your saddlebag. I think Rose Dust must have stuffed it inside of there before we escaped from Hollow Shades. I think this must be her plan."
Quill Scratch pointed out, tracing the path with his hoof. They were currently in Manehatten. What was written was 'Meet with Light Nova'. Below that was 'Go to Fillydelphia'. Obviously, that was the plan that Rose Dust had left. Why hadn't she asked Quill Scratch to do this earlier?

"How exactly are we going to find this contact?"
Twilight pondered out loud, as Quill Scratch turned the map around. On the back, in very faint, yellow ink, were a bunch of names. Why it was written in extremely hard to read yellow ink was beyond her. Twilight's horn took hold of the map, changing the yellow ink to black. She had learned that spell in Celestia's School for Talented Unicorns. This was the only spell she seriously doubted she needed in life. Apparently, it was useful.

The entire backside was now literally covered in names. Each name had a small list underneath it. Twilight looked upon the list. Surprisingly, she found her name. It was crossed out. There was a bunch of stuff under her name. Location, and how to get herself to join the group. Though, it was all crossed out. Nothing was readable. How disappointing.

Twilight browsed the other names, eventually finding Light Nova, who was right underneath Sugar Heart. Twilight looked over Light Nova's description.

Light Nova

Male, Pegasus
Manehatten
Cheerful Lizard Tavern
1. Talk to bar owner.
2. Tell password.
3. Pay 5,000 Bits.
4. Receive Bag of Unknowable Happiness.
5. Steal Feline's Translator.

"Rose Dust wants us to get a stupid bag? This can't be right. How does she expect us to get five thousand bits? This plan has so many flaws.."
Twilight complained, looking down the list of other ponies. A bunch of them involved the aforementioned stupid bag. Maybe Twilight should have checked that stuff first before stating the stupidness of the bag. Why they needed these pony's help was beyond her. Couldn't they just go to the Crystal Empire and wreck the place?

"I have no idea, but five thousand bits could be pretty useful."
Quill Scratch pointed out, as Twilight couldn't disagree with that. They could buy a lot of weapons with five thousand bits. Those weapons could be decently useful. Like, canons, catapults, other stuff.. It was also help if they got magical armor, so that way they wouldn't be utterly slaughtered every time they encountered a soldier from the enemy's side.

"I've been reading the news, and there's a bounty of ten thousand bits set on this unicorn in Fillydelphia. Apparently she stole a bunch of valuable stuff that belonged to the mayor."
Quill Scratch continued. Twilight pondered over how much stuff could be stolen to get a bounty of ten thousand on your head. Unless it was just one thing. Twilight never heard of something so valuable in Fillydelphia. Maybe they got an import or something from the Griffon Kingdom.

"Ten thousand bits could be really useful.. Go tell the rest of the group we're leaving for Fillydelphia tomorrow."
Twilight stated, as Quill Scratch nodded, before taking off. Pushing his seat back into the table before leaving the library.

Twilight looked at the book. She might as well get reading, while everypony else got prepared.

Chapter 14

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Twilight was happy to get out of the concrete jungle. Even if it was for just an hour or so. The group, once departed, had to head straight to Fillydelphia. Like Twilight had told them too. They needed those bits if they were going to take trains to the locations on the map. Her hooves were killing her, and her stomach was dying for food. They rarely had any, if they were lucky, they could combine their bits to get some fast food. With ten thousand bits? That's capable of a lot.

What exactly? Ten thousand bits, by itself, could buy a decent sized apartment in Manehatten for about five years. Five years. A decently long time. Twilight wasn't looking for real estate. She was looking for equipment. Before the trek across the rolling hills that linked Manehatten and Fillydelphia together, Twilight had made an Wanted Equipment List. Lists were her best friend. Lists were also very useful, and could organize things. The list was decently long. Ranging from Canons to Pole Arms. Basically, she wanted to buy her own little army with that money, once she got it. She would get it.

She was determined. Nothing could stop her when she was determined. Nothing. Not Celestia, not her friends, not even a force on this planet. Nothing. Except herself, that is. She could stop herself, but she wouldn't be doing that. She was going to finish this. She was set on doing so.

Twilight would push through any obstacle, any opponent, anything, to fulfill her goal. Including hoof aches, which she had experienced more than enough of during the course of this fiasco. She was sick of the redness of the bottom of her hooves. They had faded while she had lazed around in Manehatten, but they were still sore. Twilight didn't work out a lot. So this journey was decently exhausting for her. Despite her escapades with her friends up mountains, those types of things took one day, maximum.

This has gone for basically a month. It was June second. Twilight had been reminded of the date every day on the news. It was a bit obnoxious, but it helped to keep track of how long this went on for. Also, it helped to know what day it was, so she could mark what days they had to leave for the next location, and what days they needed to be in a certain place. So on, so forth.

Speaking of the news, the news was brutally honest. They spoke the truth, the brutal truth. They didn't care about the public's distaste about the honesty they spouted. Kind of admirable, honestly. They had talked about that crystal drug a bit before the group had left.

Twilight had taken a couple minutes to listen in on the report about the victims. They had a small documentary, interviewing the victims, who weren't very talkative. One of them was a wonderbolt. It was decently shocking to Twilight, but she wouldn't blame them. These were pretty bleak times. With this gigantic war going on, everypony was feeling decently blue.

The group had dropped their usual chattiness through the weeks they had spent in Manehatten, which was mostly due to the fact that they were mourning the loss of everypony that did not return from Hollow Shades. Twilight missed them as well, despite the fact of not knowing a good chunk of the group. Other than that one time that they had introduced themselves, she didn't get to know all of them too well.

So, while traveling to the next destination, they held a silence for the lost. A silence maintained for the majority of the wait for Rose Dust to return. Return from Hollow Shades. Her, and about.. Ten other ponies did not return from that foreboding town that they had fought for.

Twilight was kind of sick of the moping and doping, it was all these ponies did. It's been FOUR WEEKS. Couldn't they get over this sort of stuff? Well.. She kind of had a similar situation going on, but, she didn't mope about it! She was determined to free her friends! She wasn't being sad about it. She was setting a goal. A goal that she constantly thought about.

Maybe she was being a bit redundant. Just a tad. Perhaps Fillydelphia could help her get her mind off of it.

When the entered the city, they were greeted by the exact same atmosphere. The same atmosphere from Manehatten. While the buildings were not as tall, it could still be classified as a concrete city. It wasn't very glamourus, despite the fact that the sun shone down brightly upon the city. Attempting to bring out happiness.

No pony really cared about the sun at the current moment.

Twilight's eyes darted about the street, looking on the lamposts, and other things. She was trying to find wanted posters, but to no avail. There were no wanted posters in sight. Just advertisements for things she could care less about. Like shampoo, or conditioner. Something decently useless.

Twilight shook her head. Perhaps they could find the police station, and ask about it there. First of all, where exactly was the police station? That was the main issue at the moment. If they just wandered aimlessly around the city, they would have a chance at finding it. Then again, the group did have a couple Pegasi just doing nothing.

"Hey, Roaring Gust, Silver Key. Could you guys go and find the police station? Like, just scout for it."
Twilight questioned, looking back at the battalion of ponies behind her. The two pegasus ponies shot into the air, as quick as they could. Without question. It was pretty nice to be in charge. Twilight still liked it.

Once they had disappeared, the group continued to walk. They would probably be back in a couple minutes. Twilight took this time to look about the city. See the ponies they passed by. Some were talking on phones, while others just simply walked. This city was not free of guards, though. The group had passed by a couple of them.

Twilight had tried to ask where the police station was, but they just kept walking. Ignoring her. How rude. She was trying to make some friendly conversation, and they just spat in her face. Metaphorically speaking, of course. They were too busy focusing on the pavement more then they were focusing on her.

Ponies were just seriously rude now a days. Kind of disappointing, honestly.

After a couple minutes of walking, the two pegasi had returned. They didn't seem to be in too big of a rush. So, nothing was very important, it seemed.

"The police station is just a couple blocks down."
Roaring Gust yawned as he landed. Twilight anxiously looked forward to visiting the station. It was a strange place to be excited to see, but, it meant she would be getting those bits soon. Call her greedy, she wanted to make it rain with bits. Even though it would be at the cost of somepony else's freedom.

Great, now she felt bad. Just as she stepped into the station as well. The place wasn't too advanced, it was a bit dated, honestly. The wallpaper was peeling, and what was left of the wallpaper was all but faded. The tiled floor looked like it hadn't been cleaned or polished in a year. It could be worse. At least the counter looked decent.

Twilight looked about the walls, as she entered the station. Upon the left wall, there was a large board. As in, bulletin board. While the rest of the group loitered about in the station's lobby, Twilight approached the board. It was littered with papers, absolutely full of different criminals. Wanted posters on wanted posters.

Twilight started from the bottom of the board, pointing her hoof along the different ponies. Each one looking more intimidating than the last. While they looked nasty, it was mostly because of their ugliness. All of the ponies on this board looked absolutely horrid. All the same. Scars on their eyes, short hair, cutiemark about heinous activities.

Except for this one.

Twilight pulled a particular poster off of the board, smiling. She might have found who she was looking for.

Unlike the others, this one in particular stood out to her. Not just the fact that it had ten thousand bits as the reward, but that this mare did not have a cutiemark about villainous pursuits. It was just a sun. She did seem rather happy about being on the wanted poster. Another thing that stood out about this mare was that there was nothing listed. Nothing. Usually, there would be a list of offences. Perhaps she had such a long list, that they couldn't fit them onto the poster?

That could be the case, actually.

"Inkwell? Wait.. What was his name again.. Uh.. Quill Scratch!"
Twilight called out for Quill Scratch, forgetting his name. Good thing she remembered quickly, or this would have turned extremely awkward. The white unicorn had turned his head to see why his name had been called.

"Yeah Twilight?"
Quill Scratch asked from half way across the room.

"What is the 'filly who has a bounty set on her' name?"
Twilight asked, just for confirmation. She looked down at the poster, waiting for an answer back. If this was the pony they were looking for..

"Sunset something."
Quill Scratch stated, going back to his own business. Talking among his peers. Twilight instantly linked together the name. Sunset Shimmer was her opponent. Twilight was going to get those bits. Unless Miss Sunset had something worth ten thousand bits. Then she wouldn't take her in.

Twilight stashed the wanted poster into her saddlebag, before approaching the counter. Where she received a glare from the cop who was currently playing receptionist. He obviously wasn't pleased in having to watch over this crummy and falling apart station. Maybe, once it collapsed, they would build a new, modern one.

"Excuse me, officer."
Twilight started, trying to be as polite as possible. Even though she was currently a sort of mercenary. Kind of. She would do anything for bits. Almost anything, anyways. She needed a good meal.

"I was wondering what information you had about Sunset Shimmer."
Twilight asked for the details of the fiend. The cop seemed to guffaw at Twilight's request. Like she wasn't suited for chasing criminal master minds. Twilight could feel a slight twitch in her lip. Twilight kept her calm demeanour as she stared at the cop. Waiting for her answer. The cop stopped his laughter.

"Heh. She stole something of the mayors. A pendant. Apparently it's extremely valuable. She was last sighted at the Iron Noblehorse. It's a tavern, near the outskirts of town."
The cop informed, before pulling up a newspaper from seemingly nowhere. It did have a big headline. About the war. Not surprising. Twilight rolled her eyes, processing the information. Last place sighted, a bar.. Despite how much she hated the place of beer and mead, she would have to visit one. She heard that they smelled awful, and were full of incredibly touchy and 'I don't know of personal space' sort of stallions. A force field would help once she arrived.

After rallying her fellow ponies, Twilight headed out of the station, and back onto the street. In search of the pub. Surprisingly, the pub wasn't very far away. Just a bit farther down the street, actually. So much for being 'on the outskirts of town'. When she had approached the place, she was immediately bombarded by the smell of Mead. It could be worse, mead was made of honey as one of it's main ingredients, so she wasn't too disgusted.

Without a second thought, she entered the bar. Before promptly turning to the group, and telling them to stay put. After she had done so, she entered the bar, closing the door behind her. She could hear the awkward silence between the group from inside the establishment.

The bar looked better than the station did. The floor was complete, sanded, and looked brand new. Felt nice to the hoof. The walls were made of stone, giving it a sort of medieval look. It could be better, but it was alright. The bar's counter was currently being polished by a stallion. A couple ponies sat on the stools that were up against the counter, sipping mugs full of alcoholic liquids. They sure were taking mead to a serious level.

Twilight spotted a free seat at the counter, and swiftly took the opportunity to sit on it. The bartender trotted up to her. She knew what he was going to ask. They all asked the same thing.

"What can I get ya?"
He asked. Twilight was right, and she wasn't surprised. She wasn't here to order anything. She didn't have any bits. She kind of wanted a bit of mead, honestly. Maybe she would come back later.

"I'm looking for a mare."
Twilight started, her horn glowing, about to take the wanted poster out of her saddlebag before the bartender thought it would be a good time to crack a joke.

"Aren't we all?"
He laughed, causing a couple customers to laugh along with him. Twilight rolled her eyes at the joke. She didn't need to be in a relationship right now. That's not what she meant.

"Do you know where I can find this mare?"
Twilight whipped out the poster, shoving it into the stallion's face. He pushed away the paper so he could actually view it. He seemed to examine the picture for a couple seconds, before nodding. He knew something, it seemed.

"She comes in here time to time, yeah. What about her?"
The stallion questioned. If twilight had to beat him for answers, she wouldn't. Mostly because that is rude, and uncalled for. She would get this mare in a peaceful manor, and get the bits in a peaceful manor as well.

"I'm hunting her with my colleagues. I was wondering if you had any information on her."
Twilight insisted that she get some sort of data out of this guy. If he didn't have any, she would be better off looking for this mare's hideout right now. Instead of wasting time here, she could be out there. Catching the bad guys. Justice. Being a superhero. That sounded fun, actually.

"She causes a ruckus around here, breaks a bunch of stuff, then leaves. We've called the police on her a bunch, but they never find her."
Twilight internally facehoofed at this. She didn't care what she did to the bar. She wanted to know where she lived! Or where she could be found! Wait, if she could be found here, Twilight could just stay here until she comes.

"You won't need the police. I'm going to turn her in."
Twilight replied, rather happy of herself for saying that. Made her sound cool. The bartend seemed to chuckle at this. Another pony who underestimated her.

"She's a pretty skilled unicorn. Not every unicorn that walks into my bar can completely wreck the place, and then disappear without a trace."
He informed, his laugh dying off. Twilight scowled. She put away the wanted poster, rolling it up, and putting it back into her bag. Slowly. As her aura flickered off, she put her two front hooves on the counter, and nearly stood up in her seat. She towered over this lowly pony. He only seemed to smile at her. Idiot.

"Can she defeat the elements of harmony? Even one?"
Twilight asked, her tone serious. He processed this for a good five seconds.

"Probabl-"
He was cut off by Twilight's aura snapping his mouth closed. She glowered, her eyes on fire. Why she was getting so angry about this, she had no idea. That wasn't on her mind at the moment. What was on her mind was showing her superiority.

"Do you want to see how fast the element of magic can topple this building?"
Twilight threatened. It was like she had been taken over by something. Perhaps, it was the overwhelming amount of grief she had to deal with. Without anything but books to take her out of her world. She was taking out her emotions on this stallion, and she would come to regret doing so. It would add to guilt.

The stallion shook his head as soon as the threat was made. She released the stallion's mouth from the spell, and put herself back into her seat.

"If you don't want me to destroy your business, you'll get me a shot. I seriously need one."
Twilight sighed. The stallion, who now smartened up, rushed over to get her the hardest liquor they had. Within a couple seconds, he had slid over a shot, filled to the brim. He was careful enough to not make it spill. Twilight had grabbed it, mid slide. Holding it up to her mouth with her magenta magic.

She had managed to down the whole drink. Even though it tasted absolutely nasty. She could feel herself numb up a bit. Much better. Twilight's anger was currently minimized, for the moment. Twilight put the shot glass back down, gently. She gave out a sigh of relief as she dropped the glass. The bartend seemed much more willing to talk.

"I'm going to stay here until she arrives. I hope you don't mind my friends waiting with me."
Twilight basically just stated that she was going to stay here.

"No, I don't mind. Bring friends, family! Haha.."
The pale stallion nervously chuckled as Twilight's aura wrapped around the door handle of the establishment. The door was opened, as the rest of the group flooded into the bar. They walked quietly to the back of the room, where a large, corner booth waited to be sat in. It could fit a couple of them. They would take two booths. Close to eachother of course.

"We'll get her out of your mane."
Twilight promised, before pushing herself off of the stool, and back onto the ground. Trotting to the corner booth, where they kept a spot open for their leader. Once she had wormed her way into a decent spot, Twilight put her head back up against the seat. Time to play the waiting game.

Chapter 15

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It had been a couple hours, and Twilight was bored out of her mind. She had not bothered to ask for any more drinks, because she felt bad about threatening the owner. Karma did come back to bite her flank. Twilight had gone into little conversations with her temporary friends, but they would end after a couple minutes. They didn't really have much to talk about.

The current conversation was about some celebrity she could care less about. Some model who stars in a reality television show. They were bickering about her role in society, or something like that. Who cares? Twilight didn't care. They cared, it seemed. While Twilight was busy resting her face on the table. Twilight allowed her mind to play out scenes. Maybe they were real, she didn't know.

What she imagined at first was a rather strange fantasy.

Within the hive, you are either too weak to stay, or you are promoted to a stronger rank. Among the changelings, there was a set hierarchy. The highest class that there could be was the King and Queen. The most recent Queen of this hive, Queen Chrysalis, was overthrown and demoted due to being too weak. She had failed her hive, and now, she had to pay for it.

The changelings had recently found a better Queen, or King. Whichever one it was, they were uncertain at the moment. This new royal was brought in recently, and was quickly moving up the ranks of the hive from the amount of love that could be eaten from it. The new royal was crowned swiftly.

Parades and celebrations rang out for the new royal. As they watched from high atop their palace, they sat silently. Their escort who originally brought them to the hive, stood next to the royal. Looking down upon the rejoicing citizens. They danced in the streets, while the royal looked upon the festivities with glee.

"My upper-"
The changeling started, but was silenced by a flick of the new royal's tail. The changeling recalculated their sentence so his upper would be pleased.

"Quake. This is your kingdom. What is your first decree?"
The changeling asked the feline ruler. Who did not reply. They just sat upon the railing of the balcony, with all the grace of a proper Queen. Though, they had all the intimidation factors of a King. Just a flick of their ear could have you beheaded. Kind of harsh, but that was how it worked.

"Meow."
Quake replied, looking to the sky. The changeling nodded in response, humbling his chin. He was the only one in the kingdom who could truly understand his upper. For some reason, the royal did not want to be in charge of the kingdom. They refused to wear the crown in private, or around the castle.

"We have no other choice, my upper. The old queen is gone. You must lead us to glory."
Being the new adviser was a hard job when the pers- cat you are advising won't listen. Quake slowly turned it's head to look the changeling straight in the eye. He could feel himself shrink underneath the glare of the cat.

"Meow, Mew?"
Quake's fur started to stand, as the changeling frantically started to back off. With despair and fear obvious in the adviser's expression, Quake jumped off of his perch, and onto the floor of the balcony. The changeling continued to shrink himself as the ruler drew closer.

"N-No! I do not question your rule, Emperor!"
The changeling stammered, as the puffed up cat was now only a few paw steps away from the changelings face. Quake hissed with fury, making the changeling cringe. Squeezing his eyes closed as the ruler scolded him. There was no emperor in the changeling hierarchy.

Quake calmed, patting the snout of the terrified changeling, comfortingly. His fury had suddenly faded, as the changeling slowly opened his eyes. Still decently scared of the brown cat.

"Meow mew meow."
Quake stated, as the changeling smiled. An extremely nervous smile, be it. It was still a smile. At least he knew what gender the Queen was, now. He would inform the Minstrel to tell the rest of the kingdom about this soon enough. Now was not the time.

"Thank you, my Queen."
He stammered, as his Queen returned to her perch. He knew there was more that she was going to say. He could tell. As she curled her tail around her body, she returned to looking down upon her kingdom. She was pleased by the festivities now. Something had clicked in her brain, it seemed.

"Meow. Meow, meow, mew."
Quake sighed, her joy now suddenly gone. Her ears did not go back against her head.

"It truly is a pity that no changeling else can understand you."
Her adviser sighed as well, now standing back up, and returning to the railing. Putting his hooves on the strange, green metal. Quake seemed to get an idea from this.

"Meow! Mew, meow. Meow."
Quake chatted with glee, as her adviser seemed to get what she was talking about. While it would be expensive, and decently hard to open up a school to understand feline tongue, it would be worth it. They had to understand their queen some how.

"So, your first decree is to open up schools for languages? I'll inform the teachers about it."
The changeling smiled, looking at his friend and Queen. While she could be moody at times, they were still friends. Which meant he had more of a connection with her.

"There's going to be some real changes around here."

Oooookay. Twilight couldn't think of anything else for that. While she smiled at the thought of a cat Queen of the changelings, she knew it could never happen. Apparently her imagination put her in a state of daydreaming, because the conversation that was happening at the corner booth was all but muted. She still did not care.

What else could she imagine? Hmm.. Oh, how about this..

"My dear sister, we seem to be out of tea."
Luna uttered the cursed words, as Celestia looked down into her cup. Utter disappointment upon her face. Luna shut the cupboard, looking for what other beverage she could serve for breakfast. She found a small, circular container. With a quick bit of magic, she took off the lid of the container. Inside was an abundance of coffee beans.

Luna usually had coffee while her sister had tea. She knew that her sister wasn't going to adapt to coffee very easily, but it would be worth a shot in having her try it.

"Would you like some coffee?"
Luna asked, looking back at her sister. Who wore a face of disgust. Coffee? No. No coffee for her. She was a tea pony, and she was not going to have coffee. Not now, not ever. Celestia gently placed her tea cup on the wooden table, and promptly walked out of the room.

Luna, quizzical, dropped the container of beans, and followed after her sister. Out of the room, and into the hallway. Her sister was already decently far away, just turning the corner. She seemed to be headed for the throne room. Luna took to the air to follow after her floor-bound sister.

She was just too fast for Luna, despite her slow trot. It was strange. Perhaps she was teleporting? No, there wasn't the sound of magical transportation. When she heard the door of the throne room creak open, Luna sped up, and nearly smashed face first into the gigantic door.

She teleported to the other side of the door, to find her sister sitting in the middle of a strange marking on the floor. She sat in the middle, as Luna slowly landed. Her sister had her back turned to her. Luna could feel something wrong about her sister. She approached, cautious of what was going to happen.

She halted her trot when a strangely maniacal laugh echoed around the room. It's source was unknown, but the sound was familiar. Luna's eyes narrowed as she listened. It grew louder every second, as Celestia giggled along with it. She then broke out into full cackle, flinging her head backwards. As a worried lunar princess looked upon the situation in horror.

The incantation on the floor flared up, as flames sprung from the markings, encasing her sister. The flames turned into a brownish water, which swirled around her sister in a ball. She could see her sibling's curled body within the water as it transformed her. Her mane was completely gone.

The ball suddenly broke, revealing a pure white alicorn. A mane of brown, that flowed in the air. With a cutiemark of the sun, Luna recognized this figure.

"You! Release my sister!"
Luna hissed at the figure. She had battled her before, the last time they ran out of tea. Over a thousand years ago. She was known as Celestia, before hand. Now, she was transformed into.. Eternal Tea. Her laughter was haunting, and it could only take an entity of great power to destroy her once more.

"Oh, dear sister.. I do not need to be released. I am still your dear Tia. Now, Luna, join me. Let tea be the ultimate drink. With your help, we shall allow tea to be the eternal drink for all of Equestria!"
Eternal Tea laughed, her malicious intent was obvious. Luna growled, she knew there was only one thing to do. She had to call upon a deceased soul, that she had not used for over a thousand years. The very soul of coffee itself. Luna's horn flurried, as she took to the air.

"Never!"
Luna shouted, a white ball encasing the night colored alicorn. Eternal Tea gasped, blocking her eyes with her wing. When she had removed it, Luna was no longer there. Instead, flying right in front of her, was her opposite. Her rival, the opposing force she hated. The opposing force that hated her.

Infinite Coffee.

Eternal Tea roared in anger at this, as she sped to battle. Her horn pointed straight at her enemy. Poised to strike, Infinite Coffee outstretched her hoof, as a ball of magic charged. The horn clashed with the ball of pure, unadorned coffee magic. As an explosion covered the entire throne room-

"Twilight. Equestria to Twilight."
Quill Scratch waved his hoof in front of Twilight's eyes, snapping her out of her epic dream. It was just getting good. Ughhhhh. What did he want? Why did he have to interrupt her? Twilight sat back up in her chair, giving Quill Scratch a decently annoyed look. Quill Scratch pointed away from Twilight, and past all the other ponies.

He pointed at the door of the bar. There stood an orange mare. Unicorn. Red mane, striped with yellow. Twilight smiled. Bingo. Sunset Shimmer was here. How lucky. Maybe, if she was stealthy enough, she could drug her, and drag her back to the police station. Oh. Twilight didn't have any sedating drugs. Uh. She did know some sedating spells, but they only worked on things that were not Equines.

Sunset Shimmer wore a smirk as she walked up to the bar, sitting on one of the stools. The customers immediately vacated the premises. Leaving the bartender and Sunset at the counter. Just the two of them. Twilight decided she would wait for the right time to strike. The bar was decently silent. Her group had shut up as soon as that unicorn had walked through the door.

"The usual?"
The bartender asked, as Sunset nodded in reply. Setting down a couple bits on the counter, the bartender swiftly grabbed them. He filled up an entire mug of the same alcohol that Twilight had previously. This mare was tough. Twilight wasn't a drinker, though. Give her some credit.

"Anypony out to get me?"
Sunset asked, before taking a sip of her drink. The bartender shook his head. Twilight would have strangled him herself if he had said that she was going to get caught by Twilight.

"Good. Do me a favor, and stop staring at me. Your very presence is making me want to vomit."
Sunset spat, as the bartender took the insult like a man. He didn't even flinch at it. He simply pissed off, going to the back of the room, where a door was located. Beside the booths, there was a door. In the left corner. Twilight found this was a good time to make her presence known.

Twilight hovered all of the ponies up off of their seats, so she could shimmy out of the booth. Once out, she placed them all back down. She trotted up to the counter, sitting one stool away from the criminal. Sunset seemed to eye her out, with a cocky smile.

"You're pretty brave to sit near me. It's almost like you want to get your flank handed to you."
Sunset laughed to herself, as the rest of the establishment looked upon the situation in anxiety. The tension rose when Twilight faced Sunset right in the eye. She seemed to give a fake gasp when she saw Twilight's face.

"I've heard of you, you're that mare who got her ass kicked by mister Crystal Meth up in the Crystal Empire!"
Sunset laughed. Seriously? Mister Crystal Meth? Was that the best insult she could make? Twilight could make better ones. She had a whole list, actually.

"I've heard that you've been causing trouble around here. Stealing stuff."
Twilight stated. Sunset rolled her eyes at this. A bored expression crossed her face.

"Yeah, and? I see you're dark magic scum, but I'm not pointing it out. Oh wait, I just did."
Sunset pointed out. Twilight hadn't been using dark magic recently, how could this mare tell? Perhaps she studied magical changes to appearance. Twilight didn't have the chance to study that when she was in school. They wouldn't allow those sort of books outside the education system.

"I see you enjoy making ponies angry."
Twilight replied, trying to stay calm. Which obviously meant that Sunset needed to try harder. If she tried harder, it would be harder for Twilight to not just fully lash out upon this mare. With a relentless lash out, Twilight could not be stopped. She would try her hardest to keep herself back.

"It makes me happy to see idiots loose their mind, and just completely lash out at me. Then I dominate them, and utterly humiliate them."
Sunset explained with a smirk. Twilight knew that most bullies did this. Was this mare just a grown up bully? That's pretty damn sad.

"Just like I will do with you."
Sunset continued. Twilight allowed her eye to twitch. So, this criminal was going to purposely make her angry, so that way she would be more sloppy when it came to attacking? That was a decently smart strategy. Twilight wasn't going to allow it to happen.

"Really? I'm pretty sure you aren't going to get that far."
Twilight cockily smiled, making Sunset frown. Twilight was not going to waste any more time. Her horn instantly lit, a spell cast, as a laser of magenta shot from the tip of her horn. With quick thinking, Sunset had teleported out of her stool, and off to the side. In the more vacant and tableless part of the establishment. The laser slammed into the ground, making the floor charred.

"Because I'm going to turn you in."
Twilight jumped off of her stool, and onto the floor. Staring her enemy straight in the eye. Sunset's horn took a light as well. She had waited hours for this battle to start, and Twilight sure as hell was not going to loose it.

Twilight shot another restraining spell at the fiend, as the rest of the group started to scoot out from the booths. She had explained that they were to help fight Sunset, or keep her in a certain place if she starts to run. Which she did, as soon as she saw that Twilight's little group of mercenaries started to move from their spots.

She ran out the door, and onto the street, as Twilight was hot on her tail. She shot multiple blasts at the escaping mare. Surprisingly, a light blue forcefield was put up. Her magical blasts absorbed into the field. This unicorn was decently skilled. Perhaps Twilight had underestimated her after all.

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she focused on the field. A large spell charged. She knew forcefields couldn't hold against certain magical attacks. Or physical and constant damage. Twilight quickly calculated the best spell she could use. She had a barrier pierce spell, just the thing she needed at the moment.

As they turned the corner, Sunset shot back at Twilight, with a spell of her own. It wasn't very damaging. It singed her fur, but really, that was all. Twilight internally scoffed at the attempt to slow her chase down, as the regular bustle of ponies parted for the two running mares, and the large amount of ponies that followed after.

Twilight's spell unleashed upon the shield, a magenta spear shooting out of her horn, and breaking the barrier. Sunset growled at this, picking up the pace. Both unicorns would feel the effects of using too much magic in the future. Twilight gathered more magic in the horn on her head, preparing an attacking spell.

Sunset's blue teleportation spell activated once more, as she teleported halfway down the block. That was unfair. Instead of continuing to run, Sunset spun around, and charged a spell of her own. She put her head down, her horn facing the ponies who tailed her. Magic swirled around her horn like a small twister, as a incantation appeared in front of her. A sun, within the middle of a circle. All made of cyan magic.

The ponies, the bystanders, yelled and moved out of the way as a large beam shot from Sunset's horn, and through the circle. Twilight gasped, her spell ultimately switching to a defensive shield conjure. She could feel her horn start to burn as she used these advanced spells.

The laser split and went around the shield, breaking apart as it moved down the street. As the laser faded, and the caster tired, Twilight threw off her shield, and continued to run after the criminal. This chase lasted for about a full thirty minutes, before Sunset was forced out of the city.

Now, within the rolling hills, the two exhausted parties caught their breaths.

"You got some.. determination.."
Sunset huffed, her magic swirling around her horn. Much like Twilight. The two unicorns refused to let the other win. They seemed to be equally matched. Seemed. Being dark magic scum could have an advantage here. Seeing as this mare didn't have any purple smoke flowing from her eyes, Twilight could conclude she wasn't used to it.

"But, you will never beat me!"
Sunset exclaimed, shooting yet another wimpy laser at her opponent. Twilight did a simple shimmy to the side, and allowed the laser to pass her. It really seemed like there wasn't going to be a victor here. The two were both exhausted from running around a city.

"This is your last chance, surrender. Or I will be forced to harm you."
Twilight threatened. She did kind of try to hurt Sunset before, in the bar. But, meh. She kind of just forgot about that. Twilight was focused on her prey.

"I'm not going to go to prison!"
Sunset hissed, shooting yet another laser at Twilight, as this one was larger than the last. Twilight regained her calm nature, while Sunset was still exhausted. She had been casting offensive magic, which was more tiring than defensive. Twilight casted a small shield once more. This one completely absorbed the laser.

"If you don't want to go to prison, you'll have to learn how to not commit crimes."
Twilight stated, conjuring up a restraining spell. Leaving her shield down for a split second. Sunset took this opportunity to actually physically tackle Twilight to the ground. About to beat the living hell out of Twilight's face, she was restrained by two stallions who were the strongest in the group. Log Chucker being one of them.

"Let me go!"
Sunset roared, flailing in their strong grasp, about to shoot lasers directly into the strong stallions. A magical block was placed upon her horn, as her aura fizzled out into nothing. There was an obvious sigh of relief from the two stallions as she was now almost completely defenseless.

Sunset sure did put up a fight as she was forced to the ground. She swore, and swore. Some swears were so offensive, Twilight actually put another spell on her. A muting spell. Which just made it so she mouthed out words, but no noise escaped. Soon enough, the block would break. Twilight was durable enough to keep all the spells up for a bit, but they would have to make this quick.

"You know.. You have something of extreme value.. Worth as much as your bounty is.."
Twilight chatted to the restrained criminal. Hostage. Whatever she was at this point. Twilight could just leave her be, and take the amulet for herself.. That would spare Sunset from actually going to jail, which it was obvious she did not want to go. Plus, having another strong unicorn like that on her side, that could be useful..

Twilight put a hoof up to her own chin.

Take Sunset Shimmer to prison, and have her face due justice for her crimes? Or.. Take the amulet for herself, and just sell it, and maybe even get more bits than anticipated? Maybe if she did the second option, she could gain a favor with this skilled unicorn.. Choices, choices..

Chapter 16

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Twilight speculated, thinking over her options. She came to a conclusion. Some would call her extremely devilish for choosing what she had chosen, but.. If she was going to eat tonight, she would have to choose it.

"Alright. Hoof over the amulet, and we won't take you in."
Twilight stated, as she took off her muting spell from Sunset's mouth. Sunset shot this deadly glare at Twilight. There was no other choice, she was completely at the mercy of Twilight and her decisions.

"Piss off, it's mine! You'll never get it. Plus, you'll never find it. I've hidden it away."
Sunset promised, as Twilight's magic flickered on once more. A small necklace-like object levitated out from Sunet's mane. A circular object was around the golden chain that tied the necklace together. The circular object was a yellow mineral of sorts, outlined by a golden rim. The yellow mineral was darker, like smoldering sulfur

"Dammit."
Sunset sighed. Twilight fished around for what else might be inside Sunset's mane. Maybe some spare bits.. Okay, maybe Twilight shouldn't be a mugger. She did get out some chaptstick from her mane. Twilight took that. Her lips were getting a bit dry. She put the rest of the things she found back into Sunset's mane.

She hovered the amulet away from Sunset. Just in case she tried anything.

"There. You have it. Now let me go."
Sunset demanded. She was angry, obviously. With her stuff being rummaged through. It was kind of private stuff, all of her stuff. Plus, she was now without chapstick. Seriously. What was wrong with ponies? Stealing chapsticks? What has the world come to?

"No."
Twilight stated, with a smirk. She wasn't going to take this mare's stuff and run. That would be rather unruly. She would take the mare's stuff and walk away. Go turn it into the police. Then, the rest of her plan would go into action. She would never be on the criminal bulletin board if this worked. She didn't exactly belong there, she didn't do anything wrong, and she planned to keep that straight record of purity for the rest of her life.

"Excuse me?"
Sunset hissed back at Twilight's smiling face. Though she was restrained, she was still a rather intimidating mare, Twilight would give her that. If she hadn't been subjected to her worst fears in the past, she would find Sunset as a worthy opponent, with magic to fear. She had bigger fish to fry, really. She had a shark to kill, up in the north.

"No. I'm not going to let you go. You are going straight to prison, and I will be getting that bounty off of your head."
Twilight sneered, almost happily. It was her first time handling a criminal, as well as her first time talking with one. She had no interest in bargaining. It was time for the court system to handle this rowdy mare. Sunset was still attempting to flail her way out of the stallion's grasp. Pretty determined.

"I am not going to jail."
Sunset stated, with a menacing glare shot towards her unicorn handler. Twilight was still smiling, which only made Sunset's rage grow.

"Oh yeah?"
Twilight asked, lowering her snout down to Sunset's face. Since she was on the ground, that was pretty low.

"Yeah."
Sunset spat, launching spit directly onto Twilight's face. Not accidental spit. A huge glob of spittle was launched directly onto Twilight's muzzle. Twilight's smile vanished right there and then. She rose back up to standing up properly, wiping the spit off her nose with her hoof. Promptly flicking it back onto Sunset's face.

"We'll see about that. I'll take you directly to the mayor. How's that sound?"
Twilight asked, as Sunset's facial expression vastly changed. She had a look of despair about her. Twilight could tell it was just an act of sarcasm.

"Oh no! What ever shall I do? The mayor? Oh nooo!"
Sunset would have put her hoof on her forehead, if it wasn't pinned to the ground. Twilight rolled her eyes at this, and picked Sunset up from her spot on the ground. The two stallions released her, as she was levitated by the magenta aura.

"I am doomed if the mayor finds me!"
Sunset emphasized, now putting her hoof on her forehead. Trying to be a drama queen, obviously. Reminded her of Rarity's breakouts, with the 'it's the worst possible thing' stuff. Weird. Then again, everypony had their good things about them. Even if they were amulet stealing criminals who spouted insults like a teakettle spouting hot smoke.

"Are you going to do this the entire walk?"
Twilight sighed, attempting to block her out. She was going on and on about how the mayor was going to be her doom. The sarcasm was overwhelming.

"Do you care?"
Sunset asked, Twilight put her head down with annoyance. She flattened her ears. She didn't even bother to answer that. The rest of the group followed after Twilight. Their annoyance apparent as Sunset continued acting like she was distressed by going to the mayor.

"Where is the amulet!?"
The mayor screeched. It sounded like she was going to flip her desk. She was outraged. She wanted that amulet. Twilight stared at the sunburn-colored earth pony mayor. Twilight sat calmly in her chair, as she looked over to Sunset, who sat in the chair next to her. Twilight had put another muting spell on Sunset. This one made it so she couldn't even open her mouth.

"When I caught up to Miss Shimmer here, she had already disposed of it. I'm very sorry."
Twilight apologized, as the mayor was busy flipping her shit. She looked like she was going to wreck this entire room. This room was pretty nice looking too, with all these glass cabinets. They were full of different awards, achievements, etc. Rather interesting awards.

"No. Nonono. I can smell it. It's here. In this room. WHERE IS IT!? WHERE IS MY AMULET!?"
The mayor slammed her front hooves on her birch wood desk. It seemed like she was going to break the thing. It had startled Twilight when she slammed her hooves onto the desk.

"I saw her throw it into the ocean. I tried to get it out, but the waves had already whisked it away."
Twilight swore, trying to be as truthful sounding as she could. If she was going to get away with this act of thievery, she would have to be as honest sounding as possible.

"I don't trust you, Twilight Sparkle. You may be Celestia's student-"
"And the element of magic."
"But I do not know you. Therefore, I cannot trust you. So. Tell me. Where is it."
The mayor continued to demand. Geez. She sure was determined. Even though Twilight had already told her where it was. In the ocean. Twilight gave a shrug, as the mayor fell backwards into her chair. She was desperate for that yellow amulet. What it did, Twilight was still unaware.

"I need it.. I need that amulet.. What am I going to do without it..? Take it raw? It won't be as good.. Oh no.. I need to get it back.."
The mayor rubbed her temples with her forehooves. What the heck was she talking about?

"I'll post a reward for finding it."
The mayor chatted to herself, pulling out a multitude of papers from a drawer in her desk. She then retrieved a pen from the corner of her desk. Twilight looked back over at Sunset, who had her hooves crossed in utter displeasure. She was obviously very annoyed to be here.

"Don't I get the bounty? I brought the one you wanted to you."
Twilight pointed at the criminal beside her, looking back at the mayor.

"Yes, yes. One second."
The mayor mumbled, looking over paperwork. When she found an open moment, she went back down to her drawer, and pulled out a decently large sack of bits. She placed it on her desk, as Twilight smiled at this. She levitated the bits into her saddlebag, which she was still carrying on her back.

When Twilight had opened her saddlebag, she made sure to be careful..

"Is that.."
The mayor sniffed the air, like a dog. Twilight quickly shut her saddlebag's flap. This mayor was really, really strange.

"I knew I wasn't wrong. My nose is never wrong! YOU HAVE MY AMULET!"
The mayor exclaimed, as she started to go around her desk. Twilight ran from that mayor, quickly getting to the door. Sunset followed behind her. Twilight flung the door open, as the two unicorns swiftly exited the room. Slamming the door behind them, and bolting down the hall. Past the receptionist desk, and all the way to the elevator.

It sounded like the mayor had broken through the door, and Twilight didn't doubt that she did. Twilight smashed the elevator's button. Luckily, it was still on this floor. The doors were quick to slide open. Twilight could already see the mayor running down the hall. Sunset smashed the first floor button, then the close door button. Luckily, the doors slid closed just in time. The mayor probably slammed into the elevator's doors.

Twilight and Sunset listened to some relaxing elevator music for a good couple of minutes. While the Mayor was busy screaming through a police radio she had stashed in her office. She wanted that amulet back. It was like she worshiped it or something.

While Twilight waited, she unbinded Sunset. The muting spell was gone again.

"You're even more greedy than me."
Sunset mumbled, looking over to the wall of the elevator. Twilight shrugged. Sunset should be thanking her, that Twilight decided to not shut the door behind her, and leave Sunset with that rampaging mayor. The elevator music was here to calm the tension, at least.

"Hey, I need bits too. I've gone without them for a good month. Don't judge. You've probably done worse."
Twilight pointed out. She turned to face the other wall, as the two childishly ignored eachother, refusing to make eyecontact.

"So, you're the element of magic, huh? You got a crown?"
Sunset asked. Twilight wondered about what sort of question that was.

"Yes, but it's in Canterlot. The princess has it."
Twilight answered. Wait, why had she not taken the elements of harmony to defeat the King? Why didn't she do that? Did they need to be polished or something? Why had the princess refused to let her take them? It was too late for that.

"And I'm going to guess she isn't going to be using it for maybe.. The next thirty moons?"
Sunset quizzed. Thirty moons.. Two years, or so? Twilight knew that the princess would probably need the elements within that time frame. With all the thousand year enemies returning, Twilight knew that if that crown was stolen, then the other elements couldn't activate.

"She'll be using it. Hopefully."
Twilight answered once more. Twilight also knew that Princess Celestia could no longer use the elements of harmony. Maybe it was a big mistake to leave ponyville after all. Why hadn't she thought of this earlier? Through her entire four week break, this had not once popped into her head.

The doors of the elevator slid open, as the two unicorns rushed out into the building's lobby. They ran past all the other visiting ponies, and out onto the streets. Where the rest of the group waited. Twilight wasted no time in telling them to move out. A squad of police ponies were rushing straight this way, from down the street. They rode in a carriage, a decently fast one at that.

The big group of ponies running down the street were beginning to get gunned down by electrical guns. They shot pure bolts of electricity. It was just enough shock to make a pony fall to the ground upon contact. So, after a good couple of shots, almost the entire group was gone. Except for Twilight and Sunset, who were protected by Twilight's magic. Twilight didn't intend to protect Sunset, but the orange unicorn got close up enough to Twilight that the shield protected her as well.

Twilight had lacked enough magic to make a big enough shield. So, as they ran, they did not look back. They ran from the city, as quickly as they could. Leaving the rest of the group behind. Twilight really regretted the fact that she couldn't save them. She was stuck with a thief. Great. Why hadn't she just Sunset in, and not have to be super greedy? She didn't know.

Now karma was quickly coming back up to slap her across the face. She had kind of asked for it.

Chapter 17

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"This is all your fault, you know."
Sunset repeated. Twilight regretted taking that muting spell off, because Sunset had been ranting about greediness this entire way. Once the two were out of the reach of the police, Sunset ran her mouth. Twilight's ears had been folded backwards, to show off her annoyance. Her face had shifted to match.

"You just had to have all of the glory, didn't you? The bounty, and the amulet? I thought that the next pupil of the great Celestia would be a total goodie two shoes."
Sunset continued, driving the point home again. Twilight had heard this all day. It was getting redundant at this point, and Twilight seriously could not stand it. She had argued with Sunset a bit, but she found that there was no way to pierce that thick skull that Sunset was born with. What Twilight did wonder about is how Sunset knew these things about her. The fact that she was Celestia's pupil. Not a lot of ponies knew about that, like they knew about the Elements of Harmony.

"Oh Princess Celestia, I'm back from shopping! Twilight, you did get everything I wanted, correct? Yes! Even the druggie's amulet!"
Sunset imitated Twilight and Celestia. The impressions were surprisingly good. Within the past couple minutes, Sunset had explained what the amulet's effects were. Apparently, it was supposed to enhance the effects of any drug. Sunset had also explained that the Mayor was a Crystal user.

"Sunset, please, PLEASE, shut up."
Twilight begged, as Sunset puffed with anger. Obviously, she was not going to shut up. Why Sunset still persisted and had decided to follow Twilight was beyond her. Maybe it's because she wanted the amulet back. That was a reasonable conclusion.

"You can't tell me what to do, you're dark magic scum!"
Again with that dark magic scum stuff. What was wrong with dark magic? Is it because it was powered off negative emotions? Maybe it was because it was unreliable? Perhaps it was because nopony knows exactly how to control it, or who it was created by? Well, Twilight had a good idea about that last one.

"Sunset, what is your problem? I mean, really, what is your major malfunction? All you do is spout insults! Is your life really so sad and pathetic that you need to insult other ponies to make yourself feel better?"
Twilight looked over her shoulder at the pony tailing right behind her. Twilight had no idea of what Sunset had been through to get this cold. So, Twilight was just taking a guess that Sunset had been bullied so much that she started bullying as well. How rude. It wasn't going to work here.

"You act like a highschool bully, who wants everypony to be under their control because you can make them feel bad!"
Twilight spat, not realizing what she had just said. Sunset did realize what Twilight had said, though. Her face shifted to shock, as if Twilight had just found something out about her. Sunset was quick to hide her shock, replacing it with anger.

"So please, do me a Celestia-damn favor, and SHUT THE TARTARUS UP!"
Twilight screeched, before turning back around, and continuing down the path. Sunset wallowed in frustration, while Twilight cooled off. Sunset was going to be with her until she got that amulet back, Twilight reckoned. Well, there was some bad news to be shared, sooner or later. She wasn't getting that amulet back.

The two were walking through a forest, Balitmare Woods, to be exact. They were hiding in here from the cops. Well, actually, Twilight was going to Baltimare to drop off Sunset. Maybe hoof her over to the not-as-insane authorities there. The forest was densely backed, and despite it being day time, it was decently dark. Unlike the Neverfree, with its still incredibly unoriginal name, this forest did not have invisible gas. It was just a forest. Nothing special about it.

Oh, except for the ancient eldritch forest dragon that is said to be sleeping there. But other than that, nothing special. Just a regular old forest. Twilight and Sunset were unaware of this dragon's existence, due to their lack of knowledge on the forest. So, upon entry, nothing seemed wrong.

As the two trekked through the forest, Sunset had attempted to take the amulet back multiple times over. Due to the restriction on her horn, Sunset was only prohibited to her hooves. Nevertheless to say, she was a pretty bad thief. Eventually, Twilight got annoyed by Sunset's attempts to take back the amulet and just decided to wear the stupid thing around her neck.

The two spent the entire trek silent. Why Sunset wanted this amulet so badly, Twilight really didn't care. Twilight was going to sell it. She needed the bits to build up some sort of small militia. Plus, the bounty that she had already received from the Mayor was enough to get her by with a tiny militia for now.

Twilight glanced upwards through the trees, using her magic to part the leaves. Huh. The sky was orange. It was most likely sunset at the moment. Twilight doubted she was going to get any sort of sleep with.. Sunset.. Okay, where did she go? Sunset was right behind Twilight just a couple seconds ago, now she was gone.

Twilight looked back down at her neck. No, the amulet was still there. Twilight guess Sunset just gave up and trotted back the other way, but that would require sounds of hooves and actual walking. Plus, with that restriction on Sunset's horn, Twilight doubted she would be teleporting anywhere any time soon.

"Huh."
Twilight shrugged. If Sunset decided to piss off, that was fine by Twilight. Sunset was a rather rude pony and Twilight didn't need those sort of ponies around her at the moment. Just brought her down more than it needed too. Plus, it didn't help the whole dark magic issue. Twilight didn't really know how dark magic worked (especially from that sudden dark magic she had used on that colossus), but she knew it was something she wanted to stay away from. Even if it was a rather bountiful, easily collected and powerful magic.

Twilight trotted through the forest for another five minutes before she sensed something was a bit off. She got a sudden chill up her spine as something brushed past her leg. When she turned to look at what had poked her, she was greeted with nothing. She just thought her imagination was just running a bit wild, considering whatever had passed by her didn't feel furry. Nor did it feel like it was scaly. It just felt like an object was pushed past her.

Twilight began to hum. She had nothing better to do while she walked. She needed to get her mind off her aching legs. She had been walking for a decently long time by now and she was getting pretty fatigued. It felt like she had been walking for hours. Which, she had.

Okay, something brushed past her again. She was not imagining it. Twilight jumped around to face whatever had brushed past her. What did she expect? Some sort of forest monster? An ent? No. Trees. More and more trees. The trees she had just passed a couple moments ago. Trees.

Lots of trees.

More trees.

Even more trees.

Well, what would you expect? This is a forest after all. What else would there be in here but trees? Well, there would most likely be animals. Animals were a pretty important part of an ecosystem after all. To have a forest without animals? Well, one of those just simply did not exist.

For example, there was a squirrel just up ahead on that tree branch. Twilight didn't pay the squirrel any mind as she walked towards it. It was just a squirrel. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

What was out of the ordinary was the sudden root that wrapped around the squirrel and tugged it off between the trees. Twilight heard it's squeals as it disappeared completely from view. This had shocked Twilight, as she listened into the squeals. Hopefully she wouldn't run into whatever that root belonged to. She had a feeling it was not a tree (or at least not a regular one).

That was none of her business. So, with her guard up and a slight bit of paranoia, she continued her trek. She had two minutes of pure silence. No wind, no squeals of nearby squirrels, nothing. Just herself and the noises her hooves made. The eerie silence of the forest was not helping Twilight's paranoia.

SNAP.

Twilight fired a bolt of magic at the snapping of a nearby stick. That bolt of magic flung itself into the trees, and made a loud bang when it hit a random tree. Twilight rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. Yeah, the lack of company in this forest that was slowly growing darker was getting to her.

Twilight's ears flattened as she listened to the tree she had hit had made a loud thump onto the ground. She wasn't around the tree she had hit, but the thump was rather loud. She may have just toppled a tree on accident. She really needed to get a grip on her fear. Maybe it was the lack of companionship. Ever since this journey started, she had some form of company.

First, it was that group of ponies for the first half, then Sunset. Now, Twilight was alone. Twilight had not been alone for a decent amount of time. Well, she did feel awfully alone, but she still had companions to travel along side her. Well, except for that one time they all left her behind inside that cave.

Loneliness. What a horrible thing it was. It was a very sad fate, for one to be alone. Alone without a friend in the world. Well, no friends that were nearby, anyways. Twilight had friends, but they were a bit.. busy at the moment. Yeah, busy was one nice way to put it.

Something interrupted her thoughts. It had startled her, as it would startle anypony else. That root, much like the one from before, had started to wrap around her hind leg. Thinking on instinct, Twilight's horn burst to a start with her magenta colored magic. She summoned a laser which cut directly through the root, and even dug into the ground below it.

The root, now severed, withered quickly. A bit too quickly. The dead part around her leg dropped off and faded into the soil below. Twilight charged up her magic. That thing, whatever it was, was coming to get her and she had to be prepared for the possible onslaught it may cause.

The part of the root which had not been severed slithered back into the undergrowth of the forest. That was a bit sad (also a tad disappointing, honestly). Twilight had expected more of a fight than that. Oh well-..

Twilight's ears flicked. That sound.. It sounded a bit familiar. It sounded like trees being toppled. Yeah. That definitely sounded like trees being subjected to gravity. That actually sounded like trees being subjected to gravity in her direction. Yeah, the noise was getting closer. Twilight ran. It was instinct.

Luckily enough, thanks to her instinct, she managed to get out of the way of a falling tree that had headed her way. From the not so densely packed forest emerged a tree. A large tree, different from all other trees due to the fact it was sprinting at her. It used its roots to dash at her. It's like it was a tree with a bloodlust.

Twilight was running from the tree. She was scared of the thing, despite the fact that it was a tree. When she looked back at the monstrosity behind her, she looked at the thing's face. Oh yeah, this thing had a face. Well, a face of some sort. The eyes were on two different levels of the face. The mouth was crooked, and the tree was lacking of any other features. The eyes seemed to take on an expression of anger. The mouth was formed into that of a frown, as if the tree (if it had any vocal cords) would be yelling at her.

Twilight just kept on running from it. The tree was not scary by any means, but she knew she wasn't going to want to be caught by that tree. She didn't want to know what happened to that squirrel from before. Nope, nope she did not.

That tree was not going to give up, it seemed. Twilight was beginning to tire from her running. So, she planned some sort of attack. If this tree was out for her blood, she would have to do something about it. The most powerful arsenal in her magical library that she could easily access within a couple seconds was.. Ugh.. Dark magic.

She swore she would stay off her Dark Magic usage. It was seen as shameful, apparently. Also, it didn't really make any logical sense. She didn't even know any dark magic spells, yet, she was able to use dark magic without any problems whatsoever. Whatever. It didn't matter. Twilight slid to a halt, kicking up dust and dirt behind her as she turned to face the oncoming threat.

Her horn bubbled with the socially unaccepted magic, as she focused it. How did she do this before? She formed some sort of scythe, right? How did she do that? No matter how hard she tried, she could not conjure that scythe like before. Well, now the tree had caught up to her.

It's roots wrapped around her body as Twilight took on a look of anger. Why did this stupid magic only work sometimes? The tree threw Twilight into it's mouth, where she landed with a loud crash. The inside of the tree's mouth was hollow, and full of leaves. Though, the walls of the tree were not covered with any sort of comforting, so Twilight just ended up smashing horn first into the back wall of the tree.

Twilight groaned as she looked around her new surroundings. She rubbed her head. Her horn was hurting like hell. It felt like stubbing your toes all at once. It was terrible, it was. Twilight knew she wasn't going to be able to use magic while her horn was in the state of pain.

"Well well well. Look who joined the party."
A voice chimed off to her left. While the inside of the tree was rather dark (due to the time outside), Twilight could still look around the insides of the tree.

Sunset was over there, off to the left. Her hooves crossed and with a most unamused look upon her face. On top of Sunset's head was that squirrel from before, who wore the same sort of look.

"Yeah, well hi to you too."
Twilight replied, before standing up. She was heading towards the mouth, the only exit. As soon as she was within three feet from the mouth, the mouth slammed shut, leaving them all in pure darkness.

"You're not getting out, trust me. I've tried."
Sunset stated.

Twilight wandered around like an idiot in the dark. She eventually just picked a spot and sat down in the pile of leaves.

"Well, I have magic. I just have to wait until the backlash ends, and then I'm going to be getting out of here."
Twilight was going to get out of here once her horn stopped hurting. Sunset had that magic block on her horn, so she was not going anywhere anytime soon.

"What, you're just going to leave me here!?"
Sunset growled.

"Basically, yes. You're not exactly a nice pony to be around, Sunset. You're a bit of a.. how I say.. Female dog."

"Take that back before I come over there and go ballistic on your purple flank."

"Sunset, it's pitch black in here. You don't know where I am."

"Shut up. I can find you."

"I'd love to see you try."

"I will! Then, once I find you, you're going to wish you never called me a-"

"No swearing, Sunset."

"SHUT. UP."

The two were pretty quiet after that. Sunset was shuffling around in the leaves, snooping around for Twilight.

A couple minutes had passed..

"Do you give up yet?"
Twilight wondered out loud, as Sunset was STILL looking for Twilight. Sunset made a loud snorting noise. Obviously that was a no. Twilight decided she was going to take a nap. Sunset was obviously not going to find her anytime soon, and it had been a while since she had gotten a good night's rest.

"Whatever. I'll see you in the morning."
Twilight sighed before burying her face into the leaves. This tree was not going to let them out, and that was obvious. Also, it was keeping Sunset in here with Twilight. It was possible that she could have some sort of use, Sunset. Perhaps a traveling buddy, if she weren't so rude.

Twilight's dreams were remarkably peaceful that night. Mostly because she did not have a dream whatsoever. Really, it was just blackness. Silence. Nothing else, nothing more. It kind of just felt like Twilight had closed her eyes for a couple seconds, and awoke the next day.

Speaking of waking up, Twilight awoke within the tree. The tree's mouth was open, allowing light to flood into the hollow inside. Sunset was also asleep. She was curled up in a little nest of leaves that she had most likely made. The squirrel from before was sleeping on top of her.

Twilight yawned, before she tapped her horn with her hoof. Groggily, she allowed her horn to light up. She was going to bust out of here. A simple teleportation spell would be enough to get out of here. Well, she couldn't just leave Sunset in here. That would be a bit cruel.

Twilight sighed. Sunset was the only company Twilight had and as rude as Sunset was, she was a form of companion. A rude, forced companion, but still a form of companion. Twilight didn't want to be on her own. She really didn't. From that walk from yesterday, she got rather nervous when she was alone for a bit too long.

Twilight decided she would get Sunset out of here, but Twilight would have to force the rude pony to partner up with her. Sunset obviously didn't have any plans from here, and neither did Twilight, in all honesty. Twilight thought of just journeying on back to Ponyville, really. It was a mistake to leave in the first place.

Plus, Sunset seemed to be a rather advanced unicorn. If the two of them worked together, maybe they could.. Nah. It was preposterous, that thought. Two magically advanced unicorns wouldn't be enough to take down any empires any time soon. Well, then again.. Two magically advanced unicorn spies could be enough to sneak in and destroy the empire at it's core..

No, it still sounded ridiculous. Something needed to be changed about Twilight's plan. If she wanted Sunset on her side, she would have to gain Sunset's respect. Perhaps waiting for her to wake up would be something worth respecting. Then saying sorry for the arguments from yesterday. Yeah, maybe that would work.

Twilight just needed to go through this plan step by step. The first step was to gain Sunset's trust. That was easier said then done. To have Sunset trust her, it would take quite a bit. Perhaps a couple months. Yeah, it would be hard to befriend a mare like Sunset.

For now, Twilight would have to wait for Sunset to wake up.

It took another thirty or so minutes before Sunset woke up. Sunset did a quick stretch before smacking her lips. When she had noticed that Twilight was just sitting there, staring at her, Sunset got an expression of anger.

"I was waiting for you to get up so we can leave."
Twilight stated before Sunset could say anything. Sunset seemed slightly confused by this.

"You said that-"
"I bluffed."
Twilight interrupted. Sunset gave her an angered puff in return. Sunset held this awkward silence, so Twilight just figured that they should be getting out of here now.

"Why are you suddenly being all buddy buddy, Ms. Dark Magic Scum?"
Sunset suddenly questioned as Twilight was preparing a spell. A simple teleportation spell should be enough to get out of here.

"Well, you seemed a bit lacking in the buddy department."
Twilight replied. Sunset gave Twilight another curious / disgusted look.

"You're probably just like me. Friends off somewhere else and you're off to get them back. Anyways, I'm sorry about the argument from before. I was just a bit angry from being separated from my group."
Twilight apologized. Now that seemed to catch Sunset off guard. Not the supposed connection the two had, but rather the apology. She quickly recovered from the shock. She just pouted and grumbled as Twilight poked her in the side, and teleported the two of them out of the tree's belly.

The tree did not seem to notice their disappearance from it's hollow inside. It had planted itself back into place, and at the current moment, it's eyes were closed. Maybe even trees got sleepy. Who knows. Neverless, with a quiet (and what Twilight thought was an awestruck) Sunset by her side, the two headed away from the tree. The tree itself had just planted itself down in a random spot in the woods.

After a good couple of hours and a couple times of climbing up trees to see where they were, the two exited the woods on the other side.

Baltimare was just off in the distance now. Just maybe forty or so minutes away by hoof.

"Dark magic scum, did you really mean all those things?"
Sunset asked. Twilight didn't really like being called 'scum'. What makes dark magic such a scummy thing anyways? She felt her lip twitch slightly as she was called scum once more.

"My name is Twilight, Sunset. Please use my name if we're going to be friends."
Twilight replied with a forced calmness. Twilight needed to keep cool if she wanted Sunset's help. She had double the odds of taking down the empire if she had another unicorn by her side. Plus, as previously explained, Sunset was advanced in magic. Advanced enough for lasers, teleportation, etc.

"..Friends? What? I still don't understand why you turned so nice all of a sudden. You must want something out of me. Well, I'll tell you this, Twi-"
"All I want is your trust, Sunset. I'm on a quest to save literally of Equestria. To stop a war before too much of it engulfs all of Equestria. I needed your amulet to get weapons. I am sorry for not explaining that either. Though, if you do want to join me in my quest, that would be really great."
Twilight interrupted Sunset once more, as they continued their trip to Baltimare. Really, that was the next stop. Twilight originally planned to just hand Sunset in, but that was now slightly out of the question.

"Yeah, and what do I get out of it?"
Sunset quizzed. Twilight thought about it for a second.

"Well, just to name a few.. Glory, gold, fame, adoring fans, and a place among the Hall of Heroes. Alongside myself, of course. We would have our names in gold all over the world. Everything on this planet would know of our actions here. They would hold a grand parade, all for us. I mean, that's probably just an underestimation. Who knows what sort of things we would receive. But, y'know, if you don't want to.."
Twilight left the option up to Sunset. Twilight was currently in front of Sunset, so she had to turn her head to look back at the orange mare. Sunset had her eyes closed, with a large smile upon her face.

"Yeah, sure. How do you plan to exactly do all of that?"
Sunset scoffed at Twilight. Well, yeah, the idea was still floating up there in the air, but it was still an idea. Twilight had escaped from the empire once, she could most certainly do it once more.

"Well, I am the Princess's prized pupil. I'm pretty sure I could ask her about it."
Twilight thought about going back to Canterlot. Seeing her mentor again, it would be a bit weird, wouldn't it. The two didn't really leave off on the best note. Yeah, chances were that Princess Celestia wasn't going to be helping her out any time soon.

"What, does she have some magical teleportation mirror just hanging around in her castle that can lead to the Crystal Empire?"
Sunset questioned. Well, Princess Celestia was an alicorn and all. Perhaps she could just teleport the two of them behind the empire's defenses and just let them do the things that they needed to. Meh, or perhaps they could find another way in. Chances are that if the Princess had the power to do that, she would have already teleported her army through the defenses and would have won the war.

"Well, I'll figure that part out later. I just need some time. Lots of time and a lot of time to research the stuff I might need for the plan."
Twilight replied, thinking about where she could go to research. Well, there was one place she could go. Though, it was all the way back in Ponyville, and she had left it in pretty rough conditions. Also, it was her home. She was pretty sure that old tree library would do just the trick.

Though, then again, she could just spend her time researching in the Baltimare library. She had heard it had a lot of magic books in it. Though, it would take a lot more time to search around that large library to find the things she needed. It was infamous for it's constant unorganized state.

So, there were two choices here. She could go home by taking the train in Baltimare, or she could just stay in Baltimare and research there instead.. Huh.

While Twilight was deciding between the two options, Twilight and Sunset entered the city. Twilight had insisted that they go sit by the train station while she thought about where to go.

Her library, while quaint, had a lot of books in it. They were mostly magical books, and she had trusted those books for many a year. She had some very powerful spell tomes in there, along with some pretty interesting research on all sorts of species of animals. She thought that if she got some help from another species, she would have an easier time with having some other species helping her out.

The Baltimare library was very, very large. It had information on nearly every topic in Equestria. Ranging from dental hygiene to even the way that Alicorn Magic worked. Though, it would be very hard to find anything in there due to the vastness of it, and the fact that it was so unorganized that you could find a cat care book inside the astronomy section.

Where to go..

Chapter 18

View Online

Staying in Baltimare was definitely a good decision. When the two unicorns entered the library, they were almost instantly astonished by the pure size of this library. Nevertheless, it looked incredibly big on the outside and it was incredibly big on the inside as well.

The walls of the library were dark mahogany, as columns of the same material reached to the ceiling of the library. These columns also held up the other floors, which could look down upon the floors below them. The way to look down at the previous floors was through the large, circular hole that cut through the upper floors (naturally, this hole was fenced off so visitors would not fall down it).

On the first floor, there were bookshelves everywhere. There was a complete lack of any sort of desk to read on. It kind of just seemed like you would read on the floor. Yeah, seemed like those rumors of disorganization were sort of true. Also, the bookshelves were incredibly tall. Though, some taller than others. That didn't matter, though.

They really seemed rushed in putting in all the furniture in this place (despite the fact is was constructed years ago). Maybe it was rushed and sloppy due to the fact that they had spent all their money on this dull, white marble floor. It must have been polished and shiny at one point in it's existence, but at the moment, this floor was rather dull. It's white shine was deteriorated down into a light gray.

The color of the floor was not their main concern though. What was their main concern was reading books (well, Twilight's main concern was). Twilight looked about for some sort of librarian. By the entrance, there was a large U-shaped oak desk. The desk looked like it was imported from the past. It looked all old and splintery.

This desk was up against the entrance wall, and the desk stood vacant. Not a single pony behind it (though there was a clock directly above it). The librarian must have been out doing something important. They might as well help themselves to all the books they could. Twilight looked over at her new companion, who was pretty much just doing this for the money and fame.

"So, what exactly do you plan to find here?"
Sunset questioned with a sarcastic tone in her voice. It sounded like she doubted they would find anything in here. It was very unlikely that they would find nothing in such a large library. It was famous for the variety of books. It was the third largest library in the entirety of Equestria. They were bound to find something.

"Anything that can help us. Alchemy books, tomes, research about changelings.."
Twilight went on and on. Twilight had not explained it to Sunset, but through the past couple of minutes they spent walking to this humungous library, Twilight had been formulating a plan. It was a very, very rough draft of a plan, but it was still a plan.

"Wait, why do you want research on those bug-pony mutants?"
Sunset sounded rather confused. She spat out bug-pony like it was a slur. If there were any changelings around here, one of them would have probably smacked Sunset upside the head for calling them such an insulting sounding term.

"I have a feeling I'm going to be needing their help."
Twilight answered, before starting to walk off towards the bookshelves. They might as well get started, this battle plan wasn't going to be making itself any time soon. Sunset quickly tailed after Twilight. From the look on Sunset's face, Twilight could tell that the orange mare had some more questions.

"And what makes you think that they're going to help you? Changelings are a literal pony sized parasite. They don't help anyone."
Sunset brought up. This was a good point, but Twilight knew there was going to be a reason for them to help her out. She helped out a changeling once. She didn't know if that changeling ever made it back to it's hive with that brown cat, whatever it's name was. They were quite the duo, that changeling and cat.

"I'll convince them somehow, trust me."
Twilight replied. Sunset wore a frown. She seemed to be regretting the decision to help Twilight out with this. Yeah, Twilight didn't really know how she was going to convince the changelings to help her out. Unless that changeling from before was some sort of important figure in changeling society, she doubted she was ever going to get their help.

"Your plan already sounds ridiculous, Sparkler."
Sunset rolled her eyes, and began to stomp off. She stomped off into the direction of another bookshelf. Twilight knew that looking through the designated book types would not help her whatsoever. It didn't matter what sort of bookshelf they looked through, they would always end up looking through a random variety of books.

Twilight grabbed a book off the bookshelf which was now in front of her. Her magenta aura dragged the book down for her viewing. The book that she had grabbed was how to properly create statues of stone. It had a picture of a stone dragon thing on it. Twilight couldn't help but feel a bit of deja vu when she looked at this dragon thing. What was it's name again? Something that started with a D, probably.

Twilight stared at the picture, trying to figure out who this dragon-serpent-thing was. The name was on the tip of her tongue, it really was. Whatever, it didn't matter. Twilight shoved the book back into the slot it previously occupied. Twilight took out the next book. Even from here, she could tell that book wasn't going to be any help to her.

Twilight repeated the process of judging books by their covers, titles and authors until she found something that seemed to be decently interesting. She scanned over the title again as she brought it closer to herself.

"Lost Artifacts from Old Equestria, huh.."
Twilight whispered out loud. The cover was a illustration of some sort of golden statue, or something (looked a bit like a totem pole). Twilight flipped open to the table of contents. To her surprise, this thing had about three of those tables filled with contents. Each table of content showing off a different name to some artifact.

There were such colourful names like 'The Mirror of Missed Opportunity' and 'Orb of the Tartarus Serpent'. How very charming. Some of these things sounded decently useful, like the ever infamous 'Cloak of Invisibility'. Such a cloak would completely block out any use for changeling help.

Twilight had planned to learn the art of changeling magic in order to sneak her way into the empire. She still didn't know how she would get past the forcefield, but she was still figuring that out. If this cloak actually did exist though, she would be having a very easy time getting into there and killing that stallion who has her friends captive.

Now that she thought about it, if she made peace with the changelings, her name would be remembered for generations by not just one species.. Her name in the history books, bringer of peace in Equestria. Not just once, but twice. Yeah. That sounded awesome. If she had the chance, Twilight would try to make peace with the 'bug-pony mutants'.

Twilight closed the book, and put it off to her side. She decided that this book would be pretty important, just in case she needed a backup plan if the changelings refuse her offer to help them. Twilight continued on through the row of books she had to go through. Something told her she wasn't going to find anything truly important.

Yeah, no, nothing. Twilight had literally only found two useful books in this entire bookshelf. One being the artifact book and the other being a book on how to cast foreign magics. The foreign magics book seemed rather strange. It sounded like it was written by some loon in a mental hospital, but it was still something.

Twilight took a quick glance over at the other bookshelf, where Sunset was. Sunset was in a pile of books, as she was quickly looking through every single one of them. She had deshelved the entire bookshelf, and was just sitting in a pile of all those books. It was a rather smart idea. It wasn't like they were pressed on time. Celestia was probably giving them a lot of time, seeing as how her army is a lot bigger than his.

"Have you found anything?"
Twilight stated just loud enough for Sunset to hear over the sound of pages flipping. Sunset suddenly stopped her train of progress and looked up from looking at the book.

"No. You what would make this a lot faster?"
Sunset questioned from the pile of books.

"What?"
Twilight replied back. Sunset should have everything that would make researching a rather easy task. Though, what was peculiar was that Sunset was using her hoof to flip through pages.

"Giving me back my Faust-damn magic."
Sunset growled. Oh. Twilight sort of forgot, she didn't put on the magical binding spell. Sunset sort of had all the access to the magic she held. What was weird was that Sunset still thought Twilight had the binding spell on her.

"Sunset, you already have your magic. Just use it."
Twilight responded. Sunset poked at her horn, as her light blue aura shot on. Sunset put a decent amount of her pile back into the shelf she was currently in front of. She didn't bother to organize it. This place was incredibly unorganized already, she wasn't even going to bother.

Twilight was kind of surprised that Sunset didn't just take that amulet off of Twilight's neck and just run. Yeah, the amulet was still around Twilight's neck. The thing looked decently pretty, she wouldn't lie. Though, she didn't plan to use it for any of it's functions. Twilight had gotten some pretty dirty looks from wearing this amulet and she did wonder why. Twilight wasn't really too educated on enchanted amulets, as shocking as it may seem.

One thing she did know about enchanted items was that it didn't matter what the item looked like, it could hold any sort of enchantment. Even a shard of wood, when enchanted, could light somepony on fire with a single prick off the pointed end. You could put literally any sort of enchantment onto things, though it wasn't very wise to put a Catching Fire enchant onto a piece of armour. Enchanting was about common sense. Also your connection to magic. Twilight just never took up enchanting in her studies, it kind of seemed a bit boring compared to her other courses.

Whatever. Enchanted items didn't matter at the moment. She would have to sell this thing eventually. Sell it to a pawn shop or something like that. Perhaps a magic shop. Meh. The extra money would help, she guessed. Even though she was decently rich from Sunset's bounty, Twilight still kind of needed more money.

If she wanted all the things she needed for this plan, she needed to have money. Money was usually the end goal of every single stallion and mare in this world. Ponies were rather greedy like that, weren't they? It didn't matter, though. If she met the end of her goal, she would restore peace to Equestria. Now, to be greedy to do such a thing? There was nothing wrong with that, was there?

Twilight moved herself to the other side of the bookshelf, where a whole new world of books stood before her. She thought about it. Fame, money, glory, a solidified place in the Equestrian history books as one of the greatest heros of all time.. Yeah, that sounded good. She would impress the Princess again. Yes, she would earn back her mentor's respect! That is what she would do.

With that thought in mind, Twilight was now determined to find some good books. Oh, look here! This was a.. a.. uh.. Yeah, this probably belonged in the adult section. Twilight, now a bit embarrassed, put the book back into where it previously was. She wasn't going to bother with that sort of book. She wasn't here for that sort of book (it was really more of a magazine).

Twilight never got bored of books. Never. Though, she did find the task of just looking through shelves without even reading the contents of the majority of these books to be a rather boring task. It seemed as if Sunset agreed, because she was asleep on a pile of books. How could Sunset fall asleep at a time like this?

Twilight guessed that Sunset just wasn't into books like Twilight was. Maybe Sunset just got a bit more bored from the task of looking through books. Though, Twilight will admit that Sunset had found some pretty good stuff. Stuff like 'The Complete History of the Changeling Empire', 'Alchemy for Beginners' and other things of that sort.

Twilight picked through Sunset's books which she had picked out. Yeah, Sunset was having a lot better luck than Twilight was. Sunset had about seven or so good books while Twilight was stuck with four. Maybe it was from the lacklustre job Twilight did, but she did go back to check the other books for anything valuable and found nothing of the sort.

Twilight didn't know how long she spent looking through the useless books, but it seemed like a pretty short amount of time. Though, it was kind of strange that all the lights in the library had been shut off. Perhaps there was some sort of power outage or something. That was a thought.

Twilight decided to look around for a clock. Perhaps there was a clock on one of these walls.. Ah, there was one by the librarian's desk. She remembered there was one above the desk. It would be a tad bit hard to read, but it was there. So, moving out from the area between the bookshelves, Twilight headed for the librarian's desk.

Upon arrival, nothing seemed different about the desk. Still, nopony behind it. The clock was still up there, though. So, squinting her eyes, Twilight made out the following numbers. 11:56. Twilight could only reason that it was 11:56PM because of the lack of lights being on and the severe lack of anypony else.

Well, since it was almost midnight, Twilight figured she would find a place to sleep. She might as well find some sort of closed off section of the library to stick around in. So, within a couple minutes (and two flights of stairs) Twilight made her way up to the third floor of the library. It seemed decently dusty, so she figured nopony had come up here in a decently long time. Plus, it would take ponies a longer time to find them if they were up here.

Twilight looked down on the first floor from the third. She focused on the books that she had picked out. She got a mental image of them out, as she couldn't really see them from here. Her magic grabbed onto something, as she tugged it up. Luckily enough, the mental image was good enough for her magic. The books she had thought of had flown up to the third floor.

Twilight set the books off to the side, as she was about to find a place to sleep. Then, she thought about her new companion. If she left Sunset down there, chances were that when the first ponies to come into the library would see her. Then, chances were that the two of them would be forbidden from this library.

Twilight could see Sunset from here. Well, that orange dot seemed like her anyways. So, focusing onto the pony on the first floor, Twilight levitated the orange pony all the way up. Due to the fact that Sunset was indeed a pony and she was also pretty heavy, it was a little harder than levitating books.

After retrieving the sleeping mare, Twilight tried to remember what books Sunset had chosen. For some reason, she just simply couldn't remember. Great. So, with a huff and a puff, Twilight teleported herself back down onto the ground floor. She was going to be going to sleep soon, so she could use all the magic she wanted.

Twilight eventually found the books that Sunset had picked out. They were all rather colorful, though one in particular was a bit questionable. It seemed more like a personal choice, so Twilight wasn't going to talk about it. The book was titled 'How to make good Villains 101'. It was a bit strange, but no questioning. Yup.

Another teleport lead Twilight back up to that third floor. Now that she was back up here, she would go put Sunset's books over by her. Done and done. Alright.. Everything was in order. The two of them should be hidden up here. So, without a further need to halt, Twilight got herself situated. The floor wasn't very comfortable, but she did have her cloak to cushion her head.

It took her a decent while to get to sleep.

Twilight was now fully aware that she was dreaming. She didn't have a dream in a while, but that wasn't really a problem seeing as how he loved to just invade on almost single dream that she had. He would come in here, give some vague comment and then she would wake up. It had already gotten obnoxious, and Twilight was decently sick of it.

So, in her dream, Twilight just sat. Where did she sit? In her treehouse home. More specifically, she sat on the balcony. She was just staring out into the night sky. She could tell that he was going to pop up. She knew. She was one hundred percent positive. So, she sat. She waited.

The moon in the sky suddenly descended, as the sun rose up into the sky. It didn't even give the sky enough time to make a hue of pink for dawn. Twilight didn't care. She really didn't. He was going to show up, it was obvious. Twilight was just waiting. She wanted to give him a piece of her mind. She really did.

Sure enough, he did appear. Not in front of her face, but his stupid black cloud was now blocking out the sun. A spire of smoke descended from this cloud, shooting directly at Twilight. Twilight just sat there. She was just waiting for this stupid dream to be over. His presence was getting a tad old now.

All she wanted to do was get rid of him, not listen to his vague prophecy or whatever it was. Twilight couldn't really remember what he had said before, it had been a while.

The black smoke surrounded Twilight, as she felt a cold sweat begin to form. Just a bit of a chill. She didn't really want to admit that she was still a tad scared of him. Maybe it was because of the fact he knew a lot more about controlling fear than she did. Chances were that she was being forced to fear him. Yup.

Twilight felt her heart inside of her throat. No, she wasn't scared. Nope. Nope, nope. She was getting better in resisting the urge to scream in his face and run the other way like a madpony. Nope, not scared whatsoever. She swallowed her bravery, and stared that smokey illusion straight in the smoke. She couldn't really detect any sort of face.

"And the day it escapes, that day will be the end of you."

Twilight woke up with a startle, like she did all the time with his stupid prophecy dreams. What was the point of those stupid dreams anyways? They were kind of just unnecessary. Well, that dream was useless, seeing as how Twilight couldn't remember any of those other stupid riddle prophecy things. It had been over a month, was she expected to remember it? No. She didn't even think it would be important anyways.

Twilight could see that Sunset was still asleep, and the lights of the library were still off. This meant she had more time to sleep. Oh, goodie.

Twilight debated on going back to sleep because she might have to listen to more of his "that day will be the end of you" sort of riddle. Twilight could care less. Chances were that if she went back to sleep, she would have a dream that was just about pure blackness. So, with that thought in mind, Twilight shut her eyes (and tossed and turned a bit) before falling back to sleep.

Turns out that she was right. When Twilight fell back asleep, all she was met with was the peaceful atmosphere of blackness.

Chapter 19

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Twilight and Sunset were smart unicorns, there was no doubt about that. They had worked on going through every single interesting book they could find. Even the ones with a single hint of resourcefulness were looked through. Though, reading books took time. Not that time was currently stressed, but it was better to get things done with sooner rather than later.

It had taken them hours upon hours to just find the good books inside this library. They worked through at least four or so large bookshelves per day. The things were big and had an extremely large variety. Though, the place was littered with them. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of bookshelves in here. It was the third biggest library in Equestria; it should be this large.

The two needed to work constantly. The research was not going to get done by itself. Luckily enough, nopony seemed to notice. Nopony paid them any half of their minds. It was understandable and it was most likely better off that way. The two didn't need any distractions. Speaking of distractions, the two needed food. That was obvious; it was a necessary part of any living thing.

Twilight, being the mare with the bits, went out to buy all the food. She didn't buy a lot of food. She really just bought enough that would last them through that day. She was had to be conservative, even if it did leave her with a roaring stomach. For the other things they required, there was a bathroom. Really, that about covered it. They had all the required supplies.

Food, Water and a bathroom. Sunlight was minimal, at the most. Though, it didn't seem too important. Really, it just made them a bit pale.

No, scratch that, it made them really pale. Why? How? There's just one reason. The two unicorn mares stayed inside that library for a good four months researching and going through books. Yeah, four months. Even when Sunset insisted that they were done researching about two months in, Twilight refused. They still needed to make a thorough plan. Which meant they had to read through all the important books once more.

They had collected about two hundred books that seemed useful, so reading through all of those books once more would definitely take a while. They were all decently over a hundred pages long.

So, you could probably imagine Sunset's nagging and complaining about rereading every single book they had already read. Yeah, Twilight was pretty tired of it. Though the two did get a bit closer as acquaintances. They had shared a couple conversations about interests and family. One of the conversations that they had was a bit strange.

"So, Sparkler."
Sunset had started off. Sunset had this weird nickname for Twilight, Sparkler. Twilight didn't complain about it, though. It was a decent nickname, in her opinion.

"What's your story?"
Sunset continued. Twilight looked up from the book she was currently reading (The Art of Equestrian War). Twilight had a pretty short life story. It could really just be summed up with 'Went to a place to get friends, lost all my friends a couple months ago'. Though that would be a tag bit vague and uninformative.

"Got sent to Ponyville, acquired the Elements of Harmony, beat a bunch of baddies. Then, I lost to one and lost all my friends."
Twilight summed up her entire life story rather easily. Granted she did have to leave a couple things out to keep the story short and sweet.

"What about you?"
Twilight quizzed. Sunset was quiet for a while as she processed the question.

"Got sent to another dimension for a couple years, came back looking for the Elements of Magic. You."
Sunset replied. Twilight thought about this. Though it did bring up some questions, Twilight couldn't help but feel there was something a bit strange about it. If Sunset was sent away for a couple years, then how did she know about Twilight's existence? It was strange indeed, considering how Twilight had never seen Sunset before in her life.

"Well, I guess you kind of did find me."
Twilight stated with a slightly joking tone as she looked back down at the book. She still had a long way to go on this thing.

"I guess, but let's just say I didn't expect to be reading books by your side."
Sunset stated plainly. Twilight decided she didn't want to continue this conversation much longer, as the two did need to get this research done. Even though there was plenty of time to waste (they didn't know if time was of the essence; since there were no televisions to broadcast the news in the library).

The two had small, brief conversations all through the four months they spent together. It was a decently enjoyable four months for Twilight, as she enjoyed reading books. Books were awesome. The same couldn't really be said for Sunset, it seemed. Though, it didn't matter. The two had made a plan.

Twilight looked over the plans once more. They had created a sort of simple, basic plan on a piece of lined paper they had found a while back. There were pencils all over the library, so it was rather easy to get ahold of one of them. Twilight was currently thinking of the things that could go wrong with their plan. The changelings refusing to help them had already been covered with the Cloak of Invisibility from that artifact book. She had already noted that.

The basic details of the plan were such.

1. Go to Canterlot.
2. Sneak into castle.
3. Find if they have any records on Changelings.
4. If they do, use records to find out where a hive is. (If not, skip to step 7.)
5. Find the Hive.
6. Request help, promise that the Changelings will have full acess to all the love the Crystal Heart can reflect if they help. (They must be peaceful to the Crystal Ponies as well)
7. If they refuse, find or buy Cloak of Invisibility.
8. Find a Crystal Dealer. (Search any sort of slums of any city.)
9. Either sneak or convince them to let us join them on their next trip to the Crystal Empire.
10. Hide inside the cart/whatever they use to transport goods to the Crystal Empire.
11. Put on cloak or changeling disguise.
12. Get through the defenses when they are opened to retrieve goods.
13. Sneak through the city (change into guard if changeling magic is available).
14. Get into the castle.
15. Wait around (act like a guard if changeling magic is active) until night time.
16. Find the Royal Bedchambers (If there are maids, ask where the chambers are. They aren't going to refuse help to get rid of him).
17. If it has a barrier spell on it, break through with brute force.
18. Kill him while he's asleep or while he's recovering from the blast on his barrier.
19. Fight through the guards that will probably rush to his aid (or jump out the window and use teleportation to land safety).
20. If possible, free the slaves.
21. Leave them to deal with the anarchy.

This plan was a tad bit flawed, though Twilight did plan to ask for Celestia's aid on this task. She would inform the Princess of this plan, and have her armies wait outside the Crystal Empire, if possible. Once that shield lowers, then they would be able to charge in and get rid of the guards. Plus, chances were that Celestia would also bring the Elements of Harmony with her. So, Twilight would be getting her friends back together and just blasting the entire place with rainbows all over the place.

Twilight also had another plan in mind. Though, it wouldn't be as satisfying as this one was. Her other plan was once she got into the Empire, she would already have the Elements of Harmony with her. She would find her friends, then she would activate the Elements. Bam. Every problem would be solved with a single Rainbow shooting into that big ol' crystal tower castle thing. It would destroy him.

Still, she would kind of like to see his demise for herself, as sickening as it sounded. Nevertheless, one of them was going to be removed from existence in the end. Twilight was not going to allow herself to be that one.

Sunset's role in the plan seemed to be rather minimal. The two of them would usually be sticking side by side and defeating anypony that was needed. Nevertheless, the company of another pony on this mission was comforting. Plus, the extra help would always be helpful. If Twilight ever found herself surrounded or outnumbered, it would be helpful to have another powerful unicorn by her side.

Twilight folded up the piece of paper and stuffed it into her saddlebag. Her saddlebag and cloak had gone somewhat unused for the past couple of months. They had only been used when Twilight had to go out to buy food or sell things. Well, she didn't sell things, she sold a thing. More specifically, she sold that amulet. It had taken her a while, but she had finally managed to get rid of the thing a month back.

It had fetched a surprisingly good price, more than she had anticipated. Around twelve thousand bits, to be precise. Twilight still had her stash of bits from before, but it had been dwindled down to around seven thousand.

Twilight had a decent amount of money, it was probably going to last for a decently long time. It had paid for the two for the past four months, it would probably pay for their next trip. Plus, having all this money would allow them to get onto a train rather than walk all the way there, how pleasant. It would be nice to get on a train again. The thought of getting to a place in less than a day was a rather nice thought.

"Sunset, are you ready to go?"
Twilight called out as she equipped her saddlebag and cloak.

"Yeah. Are we just going to leave all these books here?"
Sunset asked. She was on top of a pile of the books they had read through. Twilight thought about it and then retrieved a book from the pile. It was that artifact book. She put the book into her saddlebag before Twilight started to head for the stairs down to the first floor. Sunset followed after.

"You look a bit nervous."
Twilight commented on Sunset's rather distressed looking face as Twilight bought some train tickets. The pony behind the counter brought out a pair of little blue slips of paper known as train tickets. Twilight retrieved the tickets with her magic, hovering one over to Sunset who grabbed it in her own aura.

"I haven't been to Canterlot in a really long time. Plus, I don't think Celestia would be very happy to see me again."
Sunset sighed as she looked at the train ticket. Twilight and Sunset started to head for the train that was stationed at, well, the station (shocker, I know). The conductor was waiting by one of the train's opened doors. He was rather patient.

"Why's that?"
Twilight questioned as she floated the ticket over to the conductor, who punched a hole into the ticket with a hole puncher which he held in his mouth. Sunset did the same, as the two entered the train.

"We didn't really leave off on the best note. I doubt she'll be joyful to see that I'm back."
Sunset explained as the two trotted down the aisle of the train, passing by a couple seats that had ponies sitting on them. The train was decently stuffed with other ponies, so it was kind of hard to find seats. The two did eventually find a seat, though. They would have to sit side by side, but that was fine. The two settled down onto their seat.

"Yeah, I didn't really leave off on the best note with her either. Threw a tantrum once I got home."
Twilight recalled that memory. Man, it had been a while hadn't it? It would be a sort of fresh of breath air to see her again. Twilight did miss her mentor, unsurprisingly. She just hoped the two of them could make up and just work together to solve this problem that they had. It was a sort of major problem, this war. There was no doubt that the Princess would accept their help.

"She threw me into a whole other dimension. I kind of threw a tantrum as well."
Sunset admitted. Yeah, color Twilight curious. She kind of wanted to know why the Princess would throw Sunset into another dimension. Other than just being plainly rude (which had kind of been dulled down due to the amount of time they had spent together), there wasn't really anything wrong with Sunset. Sure, she was a tad bit snarky at times, but that was just her personality.

"I bet she'll be happy to see you, though. You're her prized pet."
There was the snark. Twilight played it cool.

"I meant pupil."
Sunset quickly fixed her error.

"Maybe. I'm pretty sure she told me to not get involved with all this war stuff. It's been a long time, though. My memory is a bit foggy."
Twilight replied, ignoring Sunset's 'accidental' snark.

The roar of the train's engine started to fire up. Twilight truly appreciated the fact that she had all this money to spend on train tickets. She didn't know how much abuse the bottoms of her hooves would take on a trip to Canterlot by walking. Just thinking about scaling that mountain by hoof made her cringe. Thank Celestia for technology. The loud squeals of the train's wheels could be heard as it started down it's tracks.

"So, you're still getting involved, even though she told you not to. Nice."
Sunset stated with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well, sometimes you have to make bad decisions for the greater good."
Okay, that sounded a tad cheesy.

"Anyways, the trip is going to be a couple hours long. I'm going to sleep. Seeya in a couple hours."
Twilight yawned mid-sentance, as she rested her head on the comforting cushions of the seat. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to cast a spell upon her own ears. It was a sound blocking spell. Ah, the silence was rather nice.

Twilight sort of didn't sleep at all last night just so she could sleep on the train ride. She fell asleep almost instantly when she closed her eyes. The two had waited until the two a clock PM train, so Twilight had to wait until then. A rather hard task, surprisingly. Twilight truly felt envy for those who could go for a couple days without sleep. They were strong minded individuals, they were.

Twilight rubbed her eyes groggily. She yawned as she raised her head up. Sunset was still sitting beside her, though Sunset was sort of using Twilight as a pillow for her back. The backs of these train car seats were made out of glass, so they weren't really the softest of materials. Twilight could tell Sunset wasn't paying attention to Twilight's consciousness.

Twilight didn't really know what to do in this situation, she wasn't really a pillow, nor had she ever been a pillow. Twilight was just thinking of levitating Sunset off. So, that's exactly what she did. Twilight sat up as she held Sunset's shocked figure in place. The two did not exchange a single word, but Twilight could tell what was going through Sunset's head just by looking at Sunset's face.

Sunset was, naturally, shielding her face from eye contact with Twilight. Yeah, it would be rather embarrassing. Anyways, Twilight scooted over to the window. She had sat on the inside of the seat, so she got to look out the window.

The outsides of the window were rather uninteresting. It was just a view of Ponyville and beyond. Apparently she didn't sleep for too long, because they were currently climbing up the Canterlot mountainside. They were up decently high, so there was a pretty nice view from here. The sky was beginning to change its hues to fit the setting sun. This train didn't have a clock in it, so Twilight would wager it was around six PM.

It took a couple more minutes before the train's wheels began to screech to a halt. Some sparks had flown up into the window's view as the train halted at their destination. With a stretch, Twilight got off the chair. She felt her joints snap back into place with a satisfying pop as she began to trot down the aisle. Sunset was close behind her.

Other ponies did cause a bit of traffic before they could reach the door to exit the train, but it was decently short wait. After they had exited the train, Twilight just stood there on the train platform. She got a bit of deja vu being here. She took in a big breath of air to hopefully keep her nerve down. She took a quick glance over to Sunset, who was looking pretty enthusiastic about being here. Yeah, maybe I shouldn't be sarcastic. Sunset looked pretty worried about being here.

"Sunset, you look a bit pale."
Twilight commented on Sunset's nervousness. They had already addressed this, but she seemed to be regretting her decision about agreeing to follow Twilight to Canterlot. There wasn't really any sort of reason to worry, they would be in and out within two hours or less.

"We're both pale, Sparkler. We've been inside a library for months."
Sunset covered up her worry rather nonchalantly. Twilight would give Sunset some credit, though. Her voice lacked any sort of weakness.

"You know, if you don't want to go into the castle, you don't have to."
Twilight offered. Sunset's face distorted into one of slight anger.

"What, do you think I'm scared of meeting Celestia again Sparkler? You're dead wrong. I'm not scared of her."
Sunset pouted like some sort of kid. Twilight rolled her eyes at this as the two walked off the train platform. They had ventured to a nearby street that was only a couple feet away from the train station.

"But,"
Sunset started as they began to walk down the street, passing by multiple rich ponies (with their snouts in the air, of course). They had also passed by a lot of guards within these past couple of seconds.

"Sparkler, would you happen to know what happens to ponies who have been gone from Equestria for a while?"
This was a strange question. Twilight scrunched up her nose.

"Could you be more exact?"
Twilight replied as some guards began to eye Twilight up. They didn't seem to be eyeing her up in a good way, either. More in a sort of 'we've got our eyes on you' sort of eyeing up. It's like they were expecting her to do something.

"Like, ponies who were banished from Equestria?"
Sunset had hesitated when saying this. Banished, huh. Twilight was getting a sort of sneaking suspicion that Sunset had been banished from Equestria and sent to some sort of other dimension. It fit rather nicely with the other backstory puzzle pieces that Sunset had given to Twilight. They weren't physical items, but Twilight was keeping a part of her mind on Sunset.

"Well, Nightmare Moon got destroyed by the Elements of Harmony and reverted back to Princess Luna."
Twilight explained the fairly short list of ponies who have come back. Then, one more entry popped into her head. Sunset was looking around nervously. Seems as if her confidence had gotten destroyed. Twilight had no idea why, but it just was.

"Then we have The King, who's going to get assassinated in his sleep."
Twilight added. Yeah, this also didn't seem to help Sunset's confidence out either. In fact, it just seemed to make her more nervous.

"Why do you ask?"
Twilight continued as Sunset now was trotting side by side with Twilight. She was looking off behind them. What, was somepony following them or something? It didn't really matter right now. They were going to Canterlot Castle, they weren't going to cause a lot of trouble. They were probably just going to visit Celestia, ask for some Changeling research papers and leave.

"Oh, no reason really. Also, hey, is it just me, or are those guards following us?"
Sunset asked. Twilight took a quick glance over her shoulder. Yeah, there was about four or so guards that were following them. It didn't really matter, they didn't do anything wrong. The guards were keeping a considerable distance away, so they were probably just doing something else. Hopefully.

"Just ignore them. Anyways, Sunset, I was wondering about something. Did you get banis-"
Twilight was cut off by a hooftap on her shoulder. It was the one of the guards from the group. Holy, they were fast. Twilight didn't even hear them run up to the two. Twilight turned around to face the guard.

"Hello, Miss Twilight Sparkle. We have orders from Princess Celestia that if upon any time that we see you, we must escort you back to Ponyville."
The guard had a sort of no-nonsense air about him. He spoke flatly, in a demanding tone. He was a bright white, much like the other guards (except for that one over to the left that was a bit gray). He had a blue mane, no surprises there. All guards did.

"We've come here on official business, officer. We need to speak to Princess Celestia at once."
Twilight retorted with a demanding tone. The guard didn't even flinch when she had stomped her front hoof. Without even a second's delay, he withdrew his spear from a holster in his armor.

"We will be escorting you to Ponyville, Miss Twilight Sparkle. You are to come quietly and without any issue, or else we will be forced to take unnecessary actions."
As the stale faced guard commanded Twilight to go back to Ponyville with them, Twilight felt her eye twitch. No. She did not just waste four months of research just to be stopped by guards. No, no she did not. She was not going to be stopped here. This was her first roadblock, but she didn't expect to be coming this early on.

"Officers, please be reasonable. We've been through a lot of research to get to this point. We have valuable information that the Princess herself needs to hear."
Twilight kept her cool. She took deep breaths. She didn't need any dark magic to act up right now. No, no she did not. If she had that magic act up right now, chances were that she might be arrested. She just had a feeling that she would be arrested. She wasn't sure if they would arrest her for the use of dark magic, but everypony seems to hate it so she wouldn't be surprised if they did.

"Even if what you are saying is true, we cannot allow it. The Princess had denied all public visits and will not be seeing anypony any time soon."
The guard replied. His spear still readied, as the other guards seemed just about ready to attack the two unicorns as well. Deep breaths, calm the nerve, keep the dark magic down..

"Do you mind if I ask why?"
Twilight asked anyways, the guard's facial expression did not change as he seemed to process the request.

"Orders are orders, even if we don't know why she orders us to do so."
The guard admitted. Wow, so the Princess wasn't letting ponies talk to her for some unknown reason. Twilight figured it would be because she was worried about spies or something. Yeah, spies were an issue, weren't they?

"So, you're following orders that literally have no logical backing as to why they are decent orders just because they are from Celestia?"
Sunset spoke up. Yeah, it didn't make any sense. If the guards didn't know why the Princess was giving them orders, then chances were that the Princess wasn't having a good time planning out her battles. Though, Twilight was currently daring to think that the Princess wasn't a good battle strategist.

"They are orders from the most important pony in Equestria. We are sworn to follow them without question. Our duty is to protect citizens and carry out whatever the Princess demands."
The guard's stale tone slowly began to waver. He was obviously doubting something now. Twilight thought of a reply, but Sunset beat her to the punch.

"So, if Celestia says to go murder your own family," Sunset began, as the guard's face turned to instant shock. "you're saying that you would do it without question?"

The guard was silent. He put his spear back into it's holster with a sigh.

"Listen Miss Twilight and company. We don't want any problems. We have enough on our plate with this war going on. We have to search every single caravan that comes into Canterlot. Every single train. Every single citizen. We have to search them for any sign of Crystals. We have to do this everyday and some of us have to go out to fight the war head on. We don't need you refusing to cooperate with us. We really, really don't."
The guard chatted. Twilight didn't think there would be Crystals in Canterlot. Huh. Well, it's better to be paranoid about it then to just let it go without any sort of recognition. From what Twilight remembered, it was a drug.

"Officer, if you don't want any trouble then you should allow us to see the Princess. As an Element of Harmony and one of the most powerful Elements of Harmony, I need to see her. I have words that her ears need to hear."
Twilight was still standing her ground on this. She was going to see Princess Celestia, she was. She didn't care if this guard wouldn't let her-.

"Fine. Once you have talked to her about whatever you need to talk about, you will be coming with us. No questions. You will be going back to Ponyville as she has demanded."
The guard sighed as Twilight smiled in response. Seems like she was going to see the Princess after all. Whoo.

Chapter 20

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"We're here."
The guard announced as he looked upon the grand wooden doors that lead into the throne room. Twilight couldn't help but feel nervous. She was meeting her own teacher again, despite her teacher's orders to stay in Ponyville. Twilight was wondering if she was to be punished for such a thing. She was just stuck here hoping for the best, really.

"Yup, we definitely are."
Sunset stated, staring at the doors. Twilight could tell she was worried. Yeah, Twilight was worried as well. Who wouldn't be? They were meeting one of the most important ponies on the planet. The pony who raises the sun. The pony who was currently probably in a bad mood because she had a war to fight and strategies to plan.

"Soooo.."
Sunset turned her head to look over at Twilight. Twilight looked at Sunset. The two were just there, staring at each other. Waiting for either one of them to go through the doors first. It was nerve racking, it was. To meet an angered goddess? If you tell me that you wouldn't be worried, I'd call you a liar.

"Are you two going to go talk to the Princess or what? We have no problems escorting you back to Ponyville right now."
The guard threatened. Twilight shot him an ugly glare before looking back at the door. With a gulp, Twilight nudged the door open slightly with her hoof. Then, she pushed it open. The insides of Canterlot Castle's throne room looked the same as they always did.

Large pane windows were showing off historical events were on either side of the walls, allowing the light of day (or night) in through them. The floor, so nicely polished to reflect ponies or objects as if it were water. There was a long soft red carpet that lead up to the golden throne. The throne itself had two banners hung up around it. These banners didn't seem to hold any other meaning other than to be tasteful decorations. There were also two small pools of water that stayed around the throne as well. They were purely aesthetic.

There was one thing that was missing.

"Princess?"
Twilight called out into the empty throne room as she entered it with Sunset by her side. Yes, there was a significant flaw with the throne room. The pony who usually sat in it was not here. In fact, there was nopony here. There was not even a single guard in here either.

Twilight, with a perked eyebrow looked back at the guard who was currently standing in the throne room's doorway. He seemed just as confused as Sunset and Twilight were.

"Maybe she's in her War room.. Uh.. Just stay here, I'll go get her."
The guard closed the door behind him as he left the two unicorns inside the throne room by themselves.

The two made themselves comfortable on the carpet. Just sitting and waiting for the guard to return with the ruler of the sun. Might as well just talk while they waited.

"Sunset, I was going to ask you something before the guards interrupted us."
Twilight began. She was going to get a story out of Sunset at some point. It might as well have been now. Twilight didn't care if it was weird or COMPLETELY UNRELATED to the situation and plan at hoof. She needed it out of the way so that way she could focus on other things. Like an assassination.

"I was going to ask if you got banished by the Princess."
Twilight continued. Sunset got this stupid looking smile on her face.

"That's ridiculous Sparkler. What would I do that could make her banish me?"
Sunset replied.

"Considering that I first learned your name from a poster board for wanted criminals, I'm pretty sure you might have a history of crime."
Not that there was anything really too worthwhile to steal from the Princess. She didn't get too angry by things getting stolen. Even when her crown got stolen, she kept a cool head.

"Rude. I only stole that amulet because, one, it was valuable and two, that stupid Mayor never got off my flank and I needed a way to get back at her. Was it a mare? Whatever. Doesn't matter."
Sunset muttered the last three sentences to herself.

"You know, there's no reason to hide your banishment from me. Chances are that the Princess will reveal it anyways."
Twilight stated. Actually, chances were that the Princess would not do such a thing considering it had nothing to do with the current situation.

"Yeah, whatever. I got banished to another world for a couple years because I was ambitious and wanted to reach my ultimate goal in life. There, you happy?"
Sunset spat. What a nice biased, lack-luster backstory you have there.

"Very much so, thank you."
Twilight was rather content now that the mystery of Sunset's origin was out of the way (even though it was somewhat changed). It was too vague to her liking, but Twilight decided she would further question Sunset's banishment on the journey to the Changeling Hive or to the Cloak of Invisibility.

The two were relatively silent until the guard returned from his little escapade to find all mighty Princess Celestia. Nevertheless to say, his efforts were not in vain. When he had reopened the door he had previously closed, he was accompanied by the white goddess herself.

The Princess didn't seem to be in too good of a condition, compared to her regular self at least. She had a sort of sour looking face (at least for now) with bags underneath her usually calm and beautiful eyes. Those same eyes seemed rather stale now. Well, in a state of war, they would be.

Her mane didn't change and really nothing else about her hair in general had changed either. It was still ethereal and as marvelous as ever.

The most noticeable thing about her highness was that she wore a sort of suit. Now, it wasn't just any suit. No, it wasn't made out of your regular fabric that regular suits are regularly made out of. This one was made out of metal, a yellow metal that was the exact same shade as those weird boots that royalty always seem to wear. This yellow, metal suit wrapped around the chest area of the Princess and a decently big collar (the entire neck was covered). This suit also reached all the way back to the hind legs, just to make sure everything was protected.

Twilight had no idea why the Princess was wearing a suit of armor considering Twilight was pretty sure her highness never really went out onto the battlefield herself unless completely necessary.

"Oh, hello. I didn't expect to see you around these parts again, Twilight."
The Princess said in a calm demeanour despite the way she was dressed. That sour look I previously talked about? That changed into a friendly smile. A friendly smile that Twilight was unsure of its realness.

"I've come here to ask a favor, Princess."
Twilight stated politely. She stood up because it seemed a bit rude to be sitting down while talking to her.

"I was wondering where I could find a Changeling Hive. I believe that if I got their assistance that this war could be easily ended."
Twilight chirped happily. Though the Princess stayed quiet. She appeared to be looking at something else. Her eye contact was drifting from Twilight just for a split second. It was fairly obvious she was looking Sunset (who was still sitting, how rude). Though her eye contact quickly snapped back onto Twilight.

"I'm sorry Twilight. I'm afraid I can't. Ever since Queen Chrysalis was blown out of Canterlot by Cadence and Shining Armor, the Changelings, as a collective species, have refused to return any form of contact in a peaceful way. It would be much too dangerous even with your magical prowess. Along with that, we haven't gotten any reports of any Changelings sighted since then.
Now that was an easily disproven fact.

"I saw a Changeling just a couple months ago by Hollow Shades. He was a bit skinny, but I sent him on his way with a cat I found. He didn't tell me anything about his hive."
Twilight replied.

"If you believe it is in Equestria's best interest to seek out our former enemies, I will not stop you. Your failure in the Crystal Empire does not shape this decision. I wish you a safe return home with a new ally to Equestria."
The Princess chatted as a golden glow formed upon her horn. A book (its papers sticking out in some places) appeared within her magic's golden grasp. It had a dark green cover that lacked any sort of word or title.

"This should be the most useful in your search for them."
She continued, floating the book down to Twilight. Twilight was a bit anxious to find out what was inside of said book but that could wait for the train back to Ponyville. Twilight hovered the book into her saddlebag. You know, for safe keeping.

Twilight was about to thank the Princess for the gracious donation before she had craned her neck down. She spoke in a more reserved and quiet tone.

"I see you've made a new friend. Please regard her with the utmost kindness."
The Princess whispered before promptly heading off. Not a single word spoken afterwards. The guard from before hastened to Twilight after the Princess had left.

"Alright, let's go. Time's up, no more lollygaggin'."
The guard motioned for the two to get out of the throne room. Nevertheless to say, they did follow said motion.

Twilight was rather happy with the results of this little venture into Canterlot. It had turned out to be rather fruitful. She got to see her mentor again, got this book on changelings, and she got a vague answer of why Sunset got banished. That'd be character development. Heaven knows that's needed this far into the story.

As the two boarded the train to Ponyville, Twilight wondered. Would she stay in Ponyville for a bit for some nostalgia? Maybe just head off for the Changelings after she's read through the book thoroughly enough to understand where they could possibly hiding? Maybe she could consult Sunset on her opinion, seeing as how she would be traveling with Twilight for the rest of this time period.

Once the two got settled into their seats, Twilight opened her mouth.

"Sunset, since you're going to be traveling with me," Twilight began, getting Sunset's attention, "I need to know something. We have two choices. We could stay in Ponyville for a while or we could head off to find the Changelings as soon as I finish reading through the book the Princess gave me."

Sunset thought about it for a second as Twilight brought out the book from her saddlebag.

"It's not exactly like we have time against us either. There's plenty of books in my old home that could be of use if we read through them for a day or so."
A tempting offer. More research never hurt, did it? Then again, there were ponies dying out on the front lines of war. Well, that's what's being told nowadays. Twilight and Sunset were usually away from the towns or cities when they got attacked by opposing forces. Maybe it was best if they moved out as soon as possible.

A Fear that Came to Pass

by ChingKittyCat

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20