Twilight's Choice

The evening had begun in Equestria. The moon shone brightly in the night sky, the stars twinkled with ferocity and the beautifully quaint town of Ponyville shimmered below. Most of the residents of this quiet little countryside village were beginning to settle to sleep, but for the occupants of the Golden Oaks library, work was not yet complete.

Inside the library, Spike the dragon occupied himself with dish-washing, wearing his favourite pink apron, whilst his friend, the unicorn Twilight Sparkle, darted from one side of the library to the other, hastily finishing off the chores she had set herself for the night. "Spike?" she called out, "Spike!"

The purple unicorn's sleepy assistant staggered from out the kitchen like an over-tired zombie. "Ugh," he sighed "what is it, Twilight?" he groaned with what little energy he could muster.

"I need you to send this letter to the Princess, please" she smiled, levitating a scroll in front of Spike's face.

The dragon observed the scroll and sighed once more. "We've been working extra doubly hard all day, Twilight. After this, can we finally call it a day?"

Twilight grinned at the sleepy dragon, "Sure, Spike. I don't think Celestia will reply to this letter tonight. It's getting quite late and it's not that urgent." Spike stared at the letter in front of him and with a puff of smoke it was gone. He immediately threw off his apron, turned around and headed for his bed, "Thank you. Have a nice sleep, we've got lots more work to do in the morning." Spike barely responded out of fatigue. He simply waddled to his bed and collapsed on it. Twilight followed him up, picking up the blanket from underneath him and tucking him in. "Rest easy, Spike." she smiled, giving him a peck on the cheek.

Twilight observed the moonlight shining through the bedroom window of the Golden Oak library and, as she gave out an almighty yawn, realised she was rather tired herself. The pony tidied up her last few books, blew out the candles and trotted up the stairs to her bed. The night was tranquil. Ponyville slept peacefully with seldom a sound to be heard. Far away, however, a disturbance was brewing which would turn the night upon its head.

"Ugh. Ah." Spike moaned. He felt an uncomfortable sensation coming from deep inside his stomach. He let out a loud and fiery Burp! and a letter came flaming out of his mouth, disturbing them both.

Twilight massaged her head to help alert herself, "A letter?" she exclaimed, hurriedly leaping from her bed and tearing open the letter with her magic.

"What does it say?" Spike enquired.

"It's from the Princess." she worriedly explained as she continued to read, "She says Canterlot has come under siege!" she gasped, "She's dispatched a pair of guards to take us to safety."

Spike stared on at the letter in confusion, "But if Canterlot is under siege, then why is she sending guards to Ponyville for us?"

Twilight shook her head, "I don't know, Spike, but if she's sending guards to protect me then that means either we're in danger, or she needs our help, or both!" she fretted.

At that moment, they heard the doors slam open and two bulky, tall white guards draped in their Royal armour burst through. One stood guard at the open door whilst the other one addressed Twilight directly. "Miss Sparkle! The Princess has ordered that you must come with us at once! By order of Princess Celestia, we must get you to safety!"

Twilight leapt into action and trotted swiftly down the steps. "Come on, Spike!" she called.

The tired dragon had found a reserve of energy he used to sleepily climb down stairs and follow them all to the awaiting chariot. The guards harnessed themselves up to the chariot as Twilight and Spike clambered in the back. As soon as they were seated, the guards took off with haste, heading directly towards the Everfree Forest.

"We can't fly too high," one of the guards shouted from out front, "if we're seen, they'll capture us, or worse." he explained as Twilight observed the chariot flying precariously close to the top of the tree line of the forest. She was nervous. The unicorn slouched down in the back of the chariot, keeping her head low. Spike, meanwhile, was struggling to fight against his lack of sleep.

The purple pony stared out the back of the chariot towards Canterlot in the distance, "What do you think is happening up there, Spike?" Twilight's concern could be heard through her voice, but her little companion was too exhausted to respond. She shuffled towards the baby dragon and held a hoof on his head, gently stroking his spikes as he fell back to sleep. Despite the dire situation, the chariot ride was long, and Twilight was soon nodding off herself as she struggled to fight her own fatigue through the boring and somewhat relaxing flight.

She'd just fallen asleep when she felt the whole chariot shudder.

Twilight slipped off for an unknowable length of time before she was suddenly shaken into life by the violent juddering of the chariot. Before she had a chance to react, the shuddering sent her head crashing into the side of the solid gold chariot, throwing off her balance and sending her body soaring out from the chariot and into the forest below. Spike, however, continued to sleep like a rock, blissfully unaware of the dangers surrounding him.

The guards had their hands full as they were being stalked by a dark, obscured figure, swooping in and attacking them from the shadows as they continued over the Everfree Forest. As one guard turned to spot the pursuer, he was struck on the head by the mysterious figure and knocked clean out. The remaining guard struggled to support the weight of the chariot, causing the chariot to barrel toward the ground. Sadly, the impact of the crash would be more than enough to fatally injure the baby dragon...

When Twilight eventually awoke, she found herself on a dark, damp floor and as she regained her senses and looked around, she saw she was inside a small, open area inside of a cave system. As she continued to take in the gloomy, brown surroundings, she noticed only one guard was with her, and no Spike. "Miss Sparkle! Please, don't try to move much. You've suffered some head trauma. You need to rest." he insisted, placing his hooves in front of her to stop her from trying to get up.

Twi was defiant; she shuffled her hooves underneath her body and attempted to stand, "Where's Spike and the other guard?" she asked.

The guard was refused to answer, instead trying to ensure that the unicorn didn't attempt any quick or sudden movements, "Miss Sparkle, please, don't exert yourself, we need to get you medical attention as soon as possible."

"Spike was my friend and I demand to know what happened to him!" Twilight pressed, angrily.

The guard stared solemnly into Twilight's eyes. He looked away briefly, quashing any emotion as he held his nerve. "They... didn't make it" he declared.

She wanted to refuse the information, "No." she rebutted without pause, but as her brain processed the news, her heart slammed into her throat, tears began to well in her eyes, and her breathing became heavy and audible. "Y-you can't be telling the truth. You've got to be lying to me. Please tell me you're lying to me." she held her head in her hooves, sobbing uncontrollably. "He was just a baby... a baby, in my care. He had so much life ahead of him, so much potential, so much unconditional love, and now you're telling me he's... he's-" her grief prevented her from finishing her sentence.

She choked on the fluids collecting in her throat, tears streamed down her face, touching the edge of her mouth, and an image of the companion she adored became permanently etched into her mind. Memories flooded her head of the happy times they'd spent together and all the special moments they shared as she questioned where she'd be right now if it wasn't for that cute little purple dragon. The guard came over to console her. He wrapped a hoof around her, pulling her into him.

"What happened?" asked the purple unicorn.

"We were attacked over the Everfree Forest. You fell out of the chariot, and my comrade took a fatal blow which sent the rest of us down into the trees. I was lucky. I was thrown from the harness. The other guard, though... he was unconscious; the chariot crushed him... and when we crashed, Spike was hurled across the forest, landing amongst a pile of jagged rocks."

Twilight suddenly felt uneasy; she regretted asking. The tears and mucus gathering in her throat had now been met by a painful acidity rising from her stomach. She tried taking deep breaths to calm herself down, but the distress was overwhelming. She panicked more as she was unsure of whether she was throwing up from the thought of Spike's death, or from the head trauma she's suffered. The contents of her stomach came rushing up, the acidity of her vomit burning her mouth and her body collapsed and she lost consciousness as she vomited onto the floor of the cave.