It was hot, painful, constricting, and soft. That was the only way Spike could describe his current situation. The poison from the undead was still coursing through his body and was causing him immense discomfort. The symptoms seemed to be dissipating and his sight was beginning to become clearer. He could see a blur hovering over him but the ringing in his ears from the poison induced migraine prevented him from hearing anything it was saying. He tried to blink as another blur came and put something cold on his head. The first blur was coming into focus and he realized it was Sunset, so that mean the other one had to be Bix.

"Spike? Spike, can you hear me?" The Sunset blur said making the migraine worse from being so loud.

"Hnnnng" was all she got in reply.

Bix came back and forced open Spike's mouth to pour something bitter. The patient sputtered and his symptoms were dissipating faster than before.

"Stop that! He's still injured, what good will it do to drown him as well?" Sunset smacked away Bix's hand and wiped the sweat from Spike.

A few minutes later the dragon had regained his senses and started to get up only for to get dizzy and lay his head back on the cushion they had somehow found. He opened his eyes and saw Sunset wearing a warm smile which was cut short as he was thrown off the cushion forcefully. When he looked at what the cause of it was, he saw that the cushion he had used was Sunset's lap. She didn't look too pleased with the slight grin on his face and rolled her eyes before getting up.

"Well, that explains why it smelled so good along with being comfortable." He muttered before getting on his feet and searching the room to find Bix examining the walls and his notebook.

"Glad you're feeling better big guy, now come help me do something about this wall or we can't continue," Bix said looking back at the dragon and putting away his notebook.

"Why not use that spell again? I'm sure you have some gems you could use." Sunset asked as she dusted herself off and stuffed the towels back into one of the packs.

"Spell? Gems?" Spike said with a confused look. He then realized what happened before he passed out and all of a sudden became hyper vigilant. "Wait! Where's the undead? What the fuck happened?"

"Relax idiot, in case you haven't noticed the damn thing is gone. We took care of it before it reached you." Bix stated with a smug grin.

"You two? How did you manage that?"

"Sunset here had a book given to her by one of my gang, and while I have a few choice words for her when I get back, it's what saved your life. She used up the gem you gave her, but I'd say it was worth it. Don't you Sunset?"

"Definitely, I didn't have a use for it and if giving it up meant saving Spike I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"I've never heard of a spell that uses gems. What was it?" The dragon directed the question towards Bix who was now trying his luck touching different stones on the walls.

"The spell isn't rare, just not very well used due to it using gems as it's "ammo" of choice. I'm sure that if it didn't do that it would be more common, regardless, it channels the energy from the world into the gem and depending on clarity and type of gem does something different once it leaves the spellcaster's hand."

"The Ruby that you gave me was what we used for that thing. It caused an implosion that, according to Bix, was rare due to the high clarity it had." Sunset at this point dug the book out of her pack and walked over to Spike. "Spike you should have seen it; I've never seen an implosion up close. It was like a miniature sun turning into a black hole sucking in whatever it caught. That undead was destroyed in no time at all and nothing was left behind!" She had that look of thirst only somepony like Twilight would understand.

Spike could tell that her head was swimming with all sorts of theories and possibilities. He reached for the book and Sunset handed it to him. Looking over the spell, he realized that it was a unique one though not so unique as to warrant killing over it. That meant she was safe from others trying to get their hands on it through any means. He reached into the Dimension Pocket and wrote out an Equestrian Translation, once done he handed both the book and translation to Sunset.

"There you go, if we get in trouble again you'll be able to use it. I think I might have some gems packed from the village, feel free to grab them as they were just snacks. No guarantees on the clarity, so don't expect much."

Sunset raced to the pack and dug through it with the smile on her face hardly fading. When she found a small pouch and showed Spike, he nodded and saw her search through the contents.

"What village? As far as I know, there aren't any settlements close to Freedonia. Also, you eat gems?" Bix inquired having heard their conversation. "Didn't know lizards could do that, guess you learn something new every day. Now come help me with knocking down at least one of these walls." He was trying to use a small knife he had to pick at one of the sides of a stone and try to force it loose.

"It was the one I came from, a small place and relatively ignored." Sunset answered before the topic could be expanded on.

"Your village? And yet you don't know basic Discordian? It must be an extreme backwater place then." Bix pointed to one of the stones he had been trying to get lose and Spike focused his fire into the one spot. They both watched as the stone slowly melted away from the intense heat.

"Yea… We didn't get many outsiders and only a relatively few of us knew Discordian."

"Hmm, fine forget it. I can tell when someone is avoiding to talk. It doesn't concern me anyways." Bix poured water from his canteen onto the melted stone and watched the steam fly on contact.

Spike looked into the hole to find more darkness being the only one unfazed by the cooling magma. He set fire to a torch Bix had scrounged up and threw it inside to light the adjacent room. It didn't do much but it did let him see an outline of what appeared to be a door on the back end of the poorly lit room. Not to mention it was empty save for a few spider webs and fallen rocks.

"I can see a way out in there or the outline of what I think is a door anyways. Give me second while I knock the stones loose." Spike pushed Bix away and turned his back to the small opening. He raised his tail and slammed it against the wall near the hole resulting in a loud echo of the impact. The stones around the hole began to move with each hit and soon crumbled as the small opening became a path into the next room. "Let's go, and stay behind me from now on. With no map or idea what's next, it's best I go first."

Bix followed behind the lizard while Sunset brought up the rear with Spike's and her packs. She handed Spike his pack once she caught up to them and stood next to Bix who handed her an extra torch. They both waved the torches around the room in order to get a better look at what it held and found nothing aside from dust and debris. Spike motioned for them to continue on and they reached the doorway he had seen before destroying the wall. It was bigger than he thought and had steel bars blocking the way forward. The openings weren't big enough for him to fit through and he couldn't use his breath to melt them as he needed time to recover.

"Great, more hindrances. Sunset what kind of gems were in that bag?" Spike asked as he tried to pry open the bars.

Sunset dug through the bag of gems and took out three gems, an Amethyst, Opal, and a Garnet. "There were seven gems but they consist of these three types; four Amethyst, two Opal, and one Garnet. Bix do you have an idea of what they do?"

"I know the Opal can be used to heal, and Amethyst are used for illusions. I don't know what the Garnet does and if these are any indication as to the clarity of the others then it'll be rather small effects from using them." He handed the gems back to Sunset after picking them up to check for clarity. He examined the bars and tried to squeeze through them only to be stopped by an unknown force from getting too far.

"Can't fit through properly?" Spike asked the boy wiggling his way back out from between two of the bars.

"I can, but something is blocking me from going too far. It might have a type of spell that stops intruders."

Spike tried to fit his arm through the bars and felt nothing stopping him from going through the gap. He looked at Bix and the boy tried his arm only to be met with resistance. Bix tried once more with Spike pushing him through but the resistance was there for the both of them this time.

"So it lets me through but I can't fit, where as you can fit through the bars only to be stopped by some type of spell. I can't use my fire for another hour so I guess we have no other choice than to wait."

"Let me try," Sunset asked as she tried to step through the bars. It was a tight fit and for a moment thought she felt something only for it to disappear. She gave it a final push and fell through the bars to the other side.

"What the hell? How were you able to pass when even I couldn't? I mean, look at me I'm way smaller than you are. I certainly don't have as big an ass or boobs but why couldn't I go through?"

"Bix, I'll ignore that last comment for now and I don't know why I could get through. I did feel something trying to stop me but it was only for a moment. So maybe, it just ignores certain things going through."

"It let my arm through but not Bix. We can rule out it not letting males through and it let you through so that strikes out requiring being female. Maybe… maybe it just doesn't let humans through…" Spike realized what he had said and looked to see if Bix had caught it, however, the boy was too busy trying to force his way through once more.

Spike looked at Sunset through the bars and saw her nod. They realized that the only reason she could get through was because she wasn't human. She only looked human and that was why it had resisted her slightly when in reality she was a pony. It was helpful to know that such barriers existed as they might encounter them later, but it would also let them escape if such barriers were present elsewhere.

"Hand me a torch Spike, I'll look around the place and see if I can find a way to open the bars."

"OK, be careful Sunset. If you can't find anything just come back and we'll wait for my fire to be ready."

"Calm down, I'm sure it'll be alright. If there was anything in here remotely dangerous then it would have tried to attack by now." She grabbed the torch he handed to her and left their view. The only thing noting where she walked was the light of the torch and nothing else, not even her footsteps could be heard after a while.

"You sure that was wise? She doesn't exactly have much in the way of defending herself."

"Don't worry about Sunset, she can manage just fine now that she has at least some magic. Granted it's light healing and illusion, but she's resourceful enough that it won't stop her from being safe."

"Alright, if you say so." Bix sat down in front of the bars and rummaged through his belongings looking for something. "So… how did you end up meeting her? Usually, lizards like you tend to either enslave humans or make them toys." He pulled out a small bundle and opened it to reveal a block of cheese and some grapes. Cutting thin slices of the cheese, he wrapped them around the grapes and began eating them.

"Well, as you said, we weren't always friends. I met her through the actions of my sister, Sunset didn't use to be as nice as she is now."

"That's her being nice?"

"Yea, trust me it is. Anyways, she turned a new leaf after some stuff happened that I'd rather not talk about. Once she did it was like we saw the real Sunset for the first time. It was only when I met her the second time that we became friends. She helped my sister and me through a bad situation and that's when I truly thought her as a friend. I haven't seen her in seven years though; so she was surprised to see me when we reunited."

Spike kept trying to look further into the dark, making sure to see if the light from the torch disappeared or if some sound echoed from the direction Sunset had left. He could hardly see the light she had with her as the darkness was swallowing it the further she got, he didn't like letting her go alone especially in a dungeon. But, with how she was personality wise, she would have gone even if he tried to stop her. She couldn't leave well enough alone and while it was usually one of her more endearing traits. This place was not the ideal location for her to head off with her lack of experience.

"Ah, so you aren't just a slave then? I thought it was weird for you to be doing so much for her." Bix finished his last bit of cheese and put away the bundle before getting up. "And here I thought she was one of those lizard lovers."

"Lizard lover?" Spike turned to look at him, trying to fish for an answer.

"Yea, you know. People that take on lizards like you as lovers rather than someone of their own species. Not many around, but enough for them to be labeled as freaks."

"Whatever, she isn't like that and we're just friends." Spike turned back to the bars and took a big breath. He churned the fire inside him and focused the heat on the bars blocking their path. It took a while for them to melt, but eventually nothing was left except for the top parts hanging from the entryway, while the rest lay in a pool of molten metal.

"Perfect, let's go after her then. It's been a while and I can't even see her light anymore. No telling how big this place is or where she could have gone. Hell, for all we know she could be dead by now."

Spike grabbed Bix by the collar and snarled at him for that last comment. The boy was scared for a second from the sudden threat but recovered quickly with a calm demeanor.

"Alright, I get it already. Geez, can't even take a joke."

Spike let him drop and grabbed Bix's torch walking towards the direction he had last seen Sunset's light go. Bix followed close behind keeping an eye out for any corpses or loot that the girl might have missed in an effort to find a way to open the bars. He did think it strange that she had taken so long considering that an hour wasn't that long of a wait. She should have been back before that if she didn't find anything, and yet, she had continued on.

They walked further into the darkness and Bix kept looking around the room to find nothing. He stopped as he collided with Spike. The dragon had stopped short of something and as Bix looked around the hulking figure to see what it was, he realized that they made a mistake in letting the girl go alone. The object that had made his bodyguard stop was a wall, not just any wall it was a wall that signaled the other end of the room. It shouldn't have been possible as one look in the direction they came was the entrance with the melted bars. The room they had walked into was smaller than they thought and this wall proved it.

"Great, Freedonian dungeons at their best! Confusing, Frustrating, and Deadly. Now, what do we do?" Bix complained as he tried to search the wall for anything that might make it move.

He didn't get much of a chance before a claw grabbed him and pushed him to the side. He watched as Spike's demeanor changed. His eyes blood red and teeth showing as he snarled, his claws growing and the spikes on his tail becoming sharper. Before Bix had time to ask what was going on, Spike let out a roar so fierce it left the boy temporarily deaf. He watched on as the beast who was formerly his bodyguard slammed against the wall knocking it loose and smashing it in two hits. As soon as the wall had crumbled, Spike's figure ran inside and Bix followed quickly after him. He made a mental note to never try threatening Sunset again, this was something he didn't want to go up against.

Sunset looked back to where she left Spike and Bix as she moved forward through the room. She did this every now and then to gauge how far she had gotten in her search. The room was pitch dark if not for the torch she carried. Everywhere the warm glow of the light didn't touch seemed to end in absolute darkness. When she wasn't checking a wall or looking at the ceiling, she was searching the ground for some indication as to how the bars could be moved. After a what she thought was a good amount of time she turned to make her way back to the others only find that no direction held the light of a fire other than hers.

"Shit, which direction was it? Spike! Bix! Can you hear me?" She shouted into the dark with no reply as the room seemed to swallow her voice. Not even an echo from her shouting could be heard or the slight noise made by the wind passing through the room. It was nothing less than complete and utter silence that surrounded her. She walked to what she thought was the opposite wall but found herself walking further and further into the dark.

"This isn't natural, something is keeping me from getting anywhere in this room." She knelt, grabbed a rock and threw it into the void waiting to hear the impact. The impact never came as the rock seemed to vanish.

"Nothing, this place is a whole lot of nothing. I guess I just have to keep walking and hopefully find a way out or a way back to the others."

The silence was unnerving, the only thing she could hear were her own footsteps and the crackling of the torch. Time seemed to stop as every step would lead her to more void and uncertainty. The more she walked the less likely it seemed she would find her companions. The only things she had on her were the clothes she had come with, Spike's tooth, a small dagger one of the children gave her, and the catalyst for the gem spell. The gems themselves were in her pants pocket but were ultimately useless. There was no need to heal, no need for illusions, and the Garnet was nothing but a mystery she had no clue as to solve.

"Spike did say that this dungeon wouldn't act like regular ones due to being in the Domains. Is the latent chaos in this land that powerful? Or is it because of this Mad God and his influence? Which brings up another question, why did Spike give part of his soul to something referred to as a Mad God?" Her voice was gradually getting louder as she asked the darkness those exact questions only to deep silence as a response.

"Great, I'm talking to myself in a dark room located in a dungeon famed for chaos. I'm sure that's healthy for my sanity. Then again not much else to do is there?"

"That's true, this place is pretty maddening at times. Then again, there is always that door to go through."

"Door?" Sunset asked walking ever forward.

"Yes, that door just up ahead to your left. Didn't you notice it? No idea as to what could be behind it but maybe you would like to find out?"

Sunset looked to her left and noticed a wooden door with a tiny bit of light emanating from the edges. She wondered why it had gone by unnoticed and how it seemed so welcoming. She stepped closer to the handle and opened the door. As she stepped inside towards the light the door closed allowing her to snap into focus.

"Wait, who was that talking to me?" before she could ask anything else the light shone brightly and swallowed her.

"Where am I?" Sunset's asked as she regained her vision from the flash. Rubbing her eyes, she focused on what was in front of her. The blurs were taking shape and the sight before her made her do a doubt everything.

"Twilight?"

She was back in Ponyville in Twilight's chamber. The crystals and bed were all as she remembered. The moon was glowing through the window shining its soft white glow on Twilight who lay sleeping. She looked at herself and found not a human form but a pony. She was back to normal, the light had taken her to Ponyville. How it happened she didn't now but she was back. She moved over to Twilight to find the Princess having a nightmare, she tossed and turned in her sheets; a look of agony plastered across her face.

"No, please… Don't leave me alone again…"

"Oh, Twilight…"

It was obvious that the nightmare was about the disappearance of her and Spike. It was flattering to know she was important to Twilight but it made her uneasy for being the cause of such distress. She knew that the day Spike vanished was one that affected the purple unicorn and hers was no different. Sunset reached and held Twilight's hoof, she gave it a light squeeze.

"It's alright Twilight, you're not alone. It's alright now."

"Are you sure about that?" a voice asked from behind Sunset.

The room grew still and a chill was coursing through the air. Twilight's breathing had stopped and her hoof grew stiff. Sunset turned to find the same strangely clothed man she and Spike met in Freedonia.

"You? Why are you here? You can't be here… unless… this is an illusion."

"Oh no, it's real very much so. You're in your quaint little horse town with your little horse friends."

"How are you doing this? You shouldn't be able to do this unless you had immense magic."

"Let's leave that aside for now. Right now, I need you to understand your position. I know that this place has an entity of chaos so I can't stay long before he realizes I've taken over."

"You mean Discord? Is that why you're doing this? You want to get to Discord?"

"Oh please, that second rate mishmash of animal appendages has nothing to do with any of this. I know mice with stronger influence than that thing. I simply don't want to deal with the whining it might do if we met. It's the same prospect of dealing with a child who thinks highly of himself."

"Discord a child?"

"We're getting off topic so that's enough of that. Now, as I was saying, your position in all this is pretty important. You see, the instant you walked into Freedonia I knew you weren't from where I reside. That meant you were just like Spike, that allowed me to trace the magic back to this place."

"So you want to take over Equestria?"

"Not even remotely close. You see Sunset, I work for someone you might call eccentric. My boss, so to speak, desires pure chaos in all forms. Which leads me to your friend the dragon."

"Chaos? Spike? Wait, you're talking about that Mad God, aren't you? What does he want with Spike?"

"Nothing too dangerous, he just wants him to stay where he is creating all kinds of chaos. Think of it, a bipedal dragon with the knowledge of another world. It can use magic and has the potential to be as strong as ancient dragons. Don't you think that corrupting such a being has potential for unlimited chaos?"

"Were you the ones that took him? Is that why he's there?"

"No, honestly, his being there is a fantastic accident. I'm getting ahead of myself, the reason I'm doing this is because you are giving him the idea to try and leave. While it's making for great entertainment, we would rather he just give up entirely. So here we are, I'm giving you a chance to return here. I just need you to forget about the dragon, and in case you have any thoughts of trying to find him I'll be taking any memories you made." He extended a hand towards Sunset as she tried to think of what to do.

"So what's it going to be sweetheart? Do we have a deal?"

Sunset stood still to think for a moment but it was only for a moment. She walked up to the man and bucked him only to hit nothing and stumble slightly.

"I take it that's a no?"

"Fuck you! I'm not leaving my friend behind just because you want to please some fucked up deity. You have no right trying to corrupt him!" She yelled at Sri and tried to summon any magic she could only to fail.

Sri just laughed and with a snap of his fingers the scenery changed. It vanished as if being washed away by rain. A strange feeling overcame Sunset and she found herself on her hands and knees in her human form. She stood up and wiped herself down with a scowl.

"I thought you'd be smarter than that. Listen to me little girl, I'll only warn you once. Don't try anything like that again or your friend will have a hard time trying to find all of you."

"Bite me."

Sri extended his arm and took the form of a viper. The serpent appendage launched at Sunset and sunk it's fangs into her left leg. She let out a scream of pain before trying to throw the creature off. It shrank back before she could grab it and turn back into an arm.

"You offered. Don' think too badly of me now. I just had to make sure you won't talk about this meeting and what you've heard. The curse I put on you will constrict your heart if you so much utter a word about all of this." He walked towards Sunset disappearing briefly and appearing right behind her.

"Just to show you I'm not that bad of a guy I'll give you this." He said before Sunset turned to try and punch him causing him to disappear.

She felt a weight being added in her left jacket pocket as she turned once more to see Sri back where he had been standing. She reached inside to take out whatever it was he put inside.

"A rock? You're giving me a rock?" She was about to throw it at him but stopped as a sharp pain struck her chest. She dropped the rock and clutched her chest gasping for air despite it burning each time she did.

"I did say not to say anything. Now, keep the rock around. I'm sure you'll find it useful later on." He started walking into the darkness leaving Sunset where she was still gasping for air. "Oh, and if I were you I'd move as soon as possible. Your friend isn't exactly in his right mind."

He vanished in the darkness and Sunset could suddenly breathe again. She gulped for air and remembering what he had said; moved to her right as fast as possible. Just as she moved a howl pierced the air and a crash came from behind. A tall bulky figure charged through the rubble and stopped where she had been. She couldn't see it all that well in the dark but she could make out sharp claws and blood red eyes. Its tail was thrashing around as it sniffed the air and green fire was coming out of its mouth as it bared its fangs.

It turned towards Sunset and walked over to her. Sunset grabbed one of the Amethyst to cast an illusion. She felt the magic drape over her and couldn't tell what it kind of illusion was being put out. As the creature got closer she stayed silent and watched as she began to see it better. She held back a gasp as the creature stopped in front of her and reached out to grab her.

"Spike! Stop! That's Sunset!" a voice called out in the dark.

The creature stopped and its eyes grew dim. The spikes protruding out of its back shrank and the fire from around the mouth died. Sunset watched in horror as the monster that had caught her turned into her friend. The corruption of her dragon friend had already begun and this was the result.

Author's Note

Another Chapter out! Still searching for possibly very helpful people that can edit these as I finish them because I can't catch all my mistakes. If anyone wants to volunteer let me know via message and I'll get to you as soon as I can.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story. Please leave a comment or critique below as any critique helps me grow as a writer. Have a great day!