Twilight eyed the beings in front of her.

Spike stood ahead the castle's doors, a long stick firm in his right hand and a frown on his face. To his left, the artificial sun floated up and down, it's light diminished to a small glow that illuminated part of the garden without hurting their eyes. They couldn't look at it directly, but peeking at it's direction was possible, if they covered them a little.

Apparently, her assistant and the little sphere had formed some sort of friendship during the past couple of days. This was one of the things that had surprised her after returning from her self-imposed isolation. “It can understand me,” he said to her the day she saw him talking with the thing. It unnerved her for a time, the fact that Spike seemed to regard the flying object as something sentient. He was longing for attention, she believed. Fortunately, or not, she still hadn't decided, their sun had proven it's intelligence during dinner, three days ago. Small chat turned into a barrage of jokes with different themes, one of them being Celestia's… sweets problem. It seemed the sphere hadn't liked her jab at the Princess's weight. In retaliation, it made a hole in Spike's home-made curtain, somehow, and directed its rays into her eyes, turning sleeping time for the next two days into a real pain.

“Right.” She nodded. “Let's check we have everything in order one last time” In a flash of light, her notepad and a feather appeared in front of her, suspended in the air.

Spike's expression changed immediately, from a frown to an exasperated look. “Again?” He complained. “This is the fourth time, Twilight! Are we ever going to leave?”

Giving him a side glance, Twilight responded smugly, “Aren't soldiers supposed to follow the orders of their superiors without complaining?”

“Power abuse,” the dragon commented.

The unicorn chuckled. “Get over it. You were the one wanting to play pretend.”

“You are still abusing authority!” Spike looked to the artificial sun. “Oi, give me a hand!”

The sphere's response was to keep floating in its place.

“Coward,” Spike replied, disappointed. Letting out a sigh, the dragon straightened himself, placed the stick to his left, pointing to the sky, frowned and focused on Twilight. “Please forgive my disrespectful words, captain”.

“Forgiven, soldier.” Moving the feather closer to the notepad, Twilight began to read. “Empty water bottles?”

Rolling his eyes, Spike pointed to his pouch...

Fifteen minutes later, the castle's occupants could be seen walking through the forest, the image of the fortress still visible behind them, however small. The sun lead the group, its front half intensively glowing, dispersing the darkness from the trees, while its other half emitted a soft light that the other two members of the party followed faithfully. Behind it, the unicorn trotted with the dragon sitting on her back and a stick hanging on her left, tied to her saddlebags.

Twilight observed their guide. It looked like it knew the way from and to the castle incredibly well, if the accurate turns and the constant peace it seemed to maintain where any indication. Plus, they reached the gorge's bridge fairly quickly. Maybe she could use it as some sort of map. It obeyed them, to a certain extent. If she asked about the existence of a secret room back at the castle, maybe it would take her to some useful places. Speaking of secrets rooms, Spike mentioned something about a passage in one of the rooms near the tower. She has to investigate that sometime in the future.

“Here's hoping it doesn't kill me,” she murmured. Apparently, it was loud enough to catch the attention of her passenger.

“What thing?” He asked, a little worried.

“Uh?” She looked at him quizzically. “Oh! Don't mind me. Just thinking some stuff,” she answered, a blush covering her features.

“You aren't going to obsess over it, are you?”

“What?! No! I am fine, seriously. What happened then was just the shock of the situation. We have a plan now. We execute it and enjoy the results.” She tried to give a reassuring smile. The look of suspicion the dragon was giving her told her clearly that it was anything but.

“You don't look fine.”

“I am good, really.” Was her left eye twitching?

“Maybe, when we come back we can...”

“Drop it,” she interrupted.

“All right, all right. So...” He dragged the word as long as he could. Was Spike choosing his words?! Was he really thinking that she was going to snap again?!

“I am not going crazy!” It was a childish outburst, she knew it, but her pride was wounded and she really didn't want to touch the theme of her mental health right now. Or ever.

“I wasn't going to talk about that,” he responded calmly, like she was a child crying for her mom after scratching her leg. Was she really this jumpy?

“Oh…” The ground looked really interesting now. “Sorry. Guess I am not out of it completely” She laughed. Yeah, she wasn't going to lighten the mood right now.

“It's okay, I had been fighting your breakdowns since I can remember. Nothing you do can faze me.”

Twilight chuckled. “Look at you, this morning you were playing with an imaginary spear, now you are giving me an emotional speech. Little Spikey is growing up.” If he were in front of her, she would have pinched his cheeks.

“I might have asked for advice every once in a while.” He scratched the back of his head, blushing. “Your mom really knows how to deal with your episodes. And the Princess is very good at teaching about emotions. And I might have read one or two books when you dragged me to the library.”

They remained silent after that, enjoying each other company. It was good, she thought, that the one accompanying her during Equestria's darkest hour was her little brother. The dragon knew her quirks. He will keep her head in the game.

“So, what was going to kill you?” He asked curiously. Ah, the child was back. She was proud of the maturity the dragon showed sometimes, but she much preferred the overly helpful kid. He could be an all time adult in the future.

“Whatever is down the passage you found. You told me a beam of light opened it, so our little friend over there,” she pointed to the sphere a few steps ahead of them, “must have something to do with it. I was already planning for it to show me some of the castle's secret rooms, if It knew any.”

Her assistant groaned. “Great, more deathly adventures.”

“It's not like I am going there any time soon. If I am stepping into uncharted territory, I am going prepared. At the very least, two or three emergency plans.”

Spike lifted an eyebrow. “Like right now?”

“This is different. We need supplies. And I enjoy food more when I know I only have to put my neck on the line once instead of everyday. Unless, of course, you are offering yourself to go inside the scary forest of death and collect food which, I might add, may not be edible.”

“You made your point. Don't rub it in my face,” her passenger huffed.

A sudden flash of light blinded the unicorn and made her trip. She regained her footing easily enough, but the sudden movement caught Spike sufficiently distracted to throw him off her back.

Lying on his belly, his face on the grass, the dragon commenced to pull the green plants out of the earth with both hands. “Seriously?” He murmured.

“We have to think of a better way for you to catch my attention,” the unicorn muttered.

Sitting, Twilight rubbed her eyes. White spots covered her vision, reducing her line of sight. Narrowing her eyes, she looked up front. Getting past her blurred eyesight, the magician could distinguish a long, gigantic, purple body lying on the ground. It extended a few meters from a river and ended in a dragon face with half an orange moustache.

A sea serpent?” Weird… and dangerous. Maybe. She didn't wanted to find out. “Right. We are taking a detour.” Getting the sphere's attention, the unicorn asked, “um, sun, can you find us another path, please?”

The ball shook itself and started to float to the river. It didn't advanced much, though. A purple glow stopped it in place and began to pull it back.

“Oh, no, no, no. We are not going anywhere near that serpent. Maybe it's nice, maybe it isn't. But I know this, it's in the Everfree. If it's in the Everfree, we can easily assume we are on its menu. I am not taking that chance.”

Assured that the globe wouldn't scape her magical grasp, Twilight turned to her assistant. He lay between two piles of grass, still on his belly. Brown spots could be seen starting to form under his hands. “Spike, get up, we are taking a detour.”

“Ugh” He responded.

They walked away until the serpent was nothing more than a purple dot in the distance. Twilight led the group, her horn glowing purple, spitting sparks every once in a while. Spike walked by her side, right hand firmly grasping her saddlebags. The ball was at the end, letting itself be dragged by the unicorn's magic. At the beginning, it fought for a few minutes, trying to break free, but soon realized the futility of its actions. Noticing the lack of force behind her, the student let it free. The sphere didn't float though: it fell to the ground and remained there, barely glowing. Rolling her eyes, letting out a sigh of annoyance, the unicorn held the sun in her magic once more, making it follow them a few centimetres behind.

Deeming the distance between the beast and them safe enough, Twilight spoke, “All right, we are doing the same thing we did last time. We pull out a tree and use it as a bridge.”

“Can we rest for a few minutes? We didn't exactly go for a walk in the park,” said Spike. He was crouched near the river, washing his hands.

“Are you tired?”

Spike nodded.

“I was the one carrying you the whole time. How are you tired?” Twilight responded playfully.

“Hey,” the dragon shot back in fake indignation, “my legs are little!” To demonstrate his point, he lifted one his legs with his hands and shook it. “Besides, I am a bit hungry.”

He whispered that last line. She heard it anyway. Maybe a break would be good. “Fifteen minutes.” She levitated the sphere in front of her. “Make yourself useful.” And placed it front of the dragon. She sat to his left.

Twilight rummaged through her bags. What did she have? Four apples, an orange and a banana. “Here,” she said, hanging Spike two of the red fruits. “It's not much, I know. Once we complete this plan, we are going to have more variety.”

“I am not complaining, Twi.” To ease the unicorn worries, her assistant gave one of the fruits a big bite and the unicorn a thumbs up.

Twilight smiled and returned to her bag. Now, what could she eat? After a few seconds of thinking, she set on the orange.

“Do you think there's going to be ponies in the town? Spike asked between bites.

A piece of the orange's peel fell to the ground. “I don't know… but if we find somepony, we bring them with us.”

An extra set of hoofs would certainly be a useful addition. The job ahead of them was not easy. Set up a little garden first, clean some of the castle's room and repurpose them as something beneficial. A lab was on the list of chambers they needed, a place to experiment with the Elements to try to discover whatever secret they were hiding. That or confirm that they are, in fact, just rocks. Her assistant's idea was good too: Replicate the shining sphere, make the copies susceptible to unicorn magic, and send them to suitable locations.

A purple hand entered her line of vision, bringing her back to reality. Spike stood in front of her, waving his hand up and down. Looking past him, Twilight saw his apples cores together on the grass. He was finished? She eyed the orange floating next to her. Part of it's juice content was exposed while the rest still remained behind its peel. How long was she out?

“Uh?” Smart...

“You spaced out. Care to share?”

“Oh, sorry. I was thinking about our next course of action, when we come back from Ponyville.”

“What if we finish this plan first?”

“I am just trying to have an outline we can follow. I don't want us rushing things.” She was becoming defensive. Let him win this argument. “But you are right. Let's finish this one first.”

Twilight got up, stretched a little, returned the orange to her saddlebags and walked to the orb.

“We are leaving. Are you going to follow or keep pouting?”

The globe didn't move.

The magician huffed. “Have it your way.” Her magic enfolded the sphere and lifted it from the ground. This thing had it out for her. Granted, she had not been an amiable pony, but it hadn't given her a reason to be either. Whatever.

“Why don't you teleport us? The dragon asked.

“Because the last time I teleported something with me, it caught on fire.” Now she was watching the ball. “And someone decided to interrupt my sleep for the last two days.” She returned her attention to Spike. “I need more practice too. I may overshoot our destination.”

“If you say so.”

Stepping close to the forest, Twilight planted her hoofs in the dirt. Her horn ignited and a nearby tree shined purple. She began to pull, throwing her head back. The earth under the plant started to break, slowly exposing its roots. The tree commenced to levitate, but it didn't move. Its roots refused to budge, hugging the earth with all the force they could muster. Closing her eyes, the student moved backwards. The tree's foundations stretched. Seconds later, they broke. The sudden release of force almost made Twilight trip. She caught herself with her hind legs. Stabilizing the tall plant, she directed it to the river, following it safely behind.

“Wow,” her assistant commented, clapping.

“C'mon, you had seen me levitating big things before.”

“It's still awesome.”

She was sweating and puffing a little. Taking that into consideration, she agreed, “it's a bit impressive.”

After carefully placing the tree between the two extremes of land, she rounded the bridge and kicked it to make sure it was fixed. It didn't fall. It didn't move either. As good as any other sign. Well, the definitive test was coming.

Turning around, she spoke, “I'll go...” Wait, where was Spike?

Before panic could settle, she heard a scream behind her. “TWILIGHT! HURRY UP!” her assistant was at the other side of the stream, jumping, with his arms wrapped around the orb. When did he snatch it? More importantly, when did he cross the bridge?!

“SPIKE!” Twilight traversed to the other side in what it felt like a second. When the unicorn jumped off the tree, Spike was sure he was in trouble. Every step she made brought a chill to his spine.

Five minutes and a scolding later, they resumed their advance through the woods.

The numbers of trees was decreasing. Ponyville's outskirts were close. Once they reached them, her plan would be put in action. It was going to be dangerous. The town was the epicentre of the Nightmare's return, the first place consumed by the shadows, so it was out of her list of raiding locations. She really hoped the Nightmare hadn't decided to stay there. Anyway, if that place wasn't accessible, they still had that cottage near the Everfree's entrance and the apple farm just some meters away.

Now she only needed to be sure that her assistant will keep next to her at all times. She didn't need him to be captured or… ugh, just thinking about it made her stomach revolt. Well, she wasn't being fair with him. The possibility of Spike being trapped by the Nightware was as high as hers. Ok, hers was worse. The alicorn only saw her, when she invaded the summer sun celebration, not Spike. As far as Twilight knew, for the mad mare, the dragon was nopony. She wasn't risking it anyway. If something attacked them together, she could blast it away. Unlike her BBBFF, she wasn't trained in the use of offensive magic, but she had raw power. Still, she needed to make sure.

“Spike, when we get out of here, you remain near me at all times. You only move if I do or if I tell you. Don't wander on your own. We don't know what kind of defences, if any, Nightmare Moon put in the town or in its vicinity. Understood?”

For a second Twilight thought he was going to complain, but something changed. His face turned from an expression of annoyance to one of surprise. What did he see? “Don't go anywhere alone. Stay by your side. Follow your lead. Got it.”

Twilight nodded, surprised. What with their previous interaction, she was expecting a little more resistance. His words, although sincere, still seemed to echo some anger underneath. Friction will be no good. Make peace. “Hey, about what happened back then.” Here goes nothing, “I was going to cross first, to make sure the tree was safe. I didn't want it to fall. Not with you on it. Still, if I screamed like a witch, sorry.”

“Same here. Didn't want you to drown… I was worried.”

“Hey.” Twilight stopped him and turned him around. “Thanks.” She hugged him. He hugged her. “But it's my job to worry about you, not the other way.”

“Next time, we talk.”

“Deal.” They separated. Well, that went excellent.

Looking up, the unicorn noticed an opening between the trees. At the other side, green land could be seen, no trace of forest. They were finally out.

Joy! That was all Twilight could think as she dashed to the exit. The excitement was short lived, unfortunately, because when she observed her surroundings, the sight of a black cloud in the spot where Ponyville should have been crushed it completely.

Author's Note

22-11-2015: Fixed some errors (>>6656815)
18-12-2015: Changed "pen" to "feather"