I'm No Legendby Short StoriesChaptersAre You Insane?Why a Doctor?LimboWill It Work?Can you Cure It?What Did You See?Celestia's Missing, Too?!~Interlude: Sweetie Belle's Night Terror~What's One More?What's One More? [Alt. Version]Why Give Up?RescueDidn't This Happen Before?What's Happening in Canterlot?What Exactly Caused All This? [Backstory; 15-12]You Finally Figured it Out?Why Are[n't] You Freaking Out?EscapeWhere am I?Where Are They?Are You Insane?Lily, Rose, and Daisy stared in shock as Twilight Sparkle drew near. The princess that lived in Ponyville and the trio adored, like all other ponies, was coming directly they're way. "What do we do?" Rose asked nervously, prancing in place, "do we move out of the way? Do we smile and wave? Should we just pretend like she isn't--" Rose was greeted with a hard slap across the face. Once she recovered, she stared at Daisy venomously, not saying a word. "What?" Daisy asked innocently, "you wouldn't want the princess to see you acting like that, would you?" Rose pondered the thought for a brief second, looking away. "Fair point," she said, right as the princess stopped in front of them. She began to shake nervously while Daisy and Lily played it cool. "Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you where I am?" Twilight asked, making sure to look at all three. The three mares exchanged a look, wondering if it was some kind of strange test or joke Twilight had come up with that she wanted to try out on different ponies. Lily gave out a nervous laugh and nudged Daisy, who nuged Rose, they were soon all aughing nervously, wondeing what else to do. Twilight looked at them curiously, wondering what she had said that was so funny. "Um....why are you laughing?" She asked, feeling the tiniest bit hurt. Daisy shut up immediately, Rose and Lily following suit. Rose seemed to starstruck at the moment to form words, Lily was simply too shy, so Daisy decided to talk for all three of them. "We thought you were joking," she said simply, "you've lived in this town for, what, two years now?" Lily and Rose nodded their approval, looking concerned for the young princess. Twilight's eyes dilated down, ears folding back. Small droplets of sweat began to appear on her brow, which she used her magic to wipe off. "T-two years?" She asked, obviously trying to not freak out. "Y-your joking! This is all some sort of p-p-prank set up by S-spike, right? Please tell me I'm right." The mares exchanged worried glances again, not exactly sure on what to say. "I-i-is this a test...?" Rose mumbled after a while. Twilight's eyes widened, suddenly at a lose for words. She shook her head, knowing her mouth was hanging open. It was at that moment the mares realized all the questions Twilight was asking them were serious. The mare sincerely didn't know where she was or how long she had lived in Ponyville. Rose put her hoof to her forehead, raising her eyes to the sky. "The horror! THE HORROR!" She cried before fainting to an unconscious heap on Equestria's soil. Daisy and Lily joined her, forcing a bewildered and more confused than ever Twilight to move onto her next victim, not before a blinding flash of light interrupted her. A herd of bunnies trampled through the strange town, causing havoc for ponies everywhere. There was a cry from somewhere off in the distance, to witch Twilight's attention was immanently drawn too. "It was awful!" The mare with a lily in her mane exclaimed, two other mares by her side. She fell to the earth with a soft thump. "Terrible", the green-mained mare added in the exact same level of terror lily-maned mare had used, "Absolutely terrible!" She, too, fainted, meeting the ground just as the other mare had. An off-white mare fell with the green mared mare, only to awaken for all but two seconds and yell "The horror! The horror!" She fell unconscious again as a small group of bunnies that had broken apart from the herd hopped, scampered, and leaped over the three fallen ponies. Twilight blinked, looked around, wondering if anypony else had seen what she saw. Yet, there were no bunnies, or ponies running around blindly, or tiny bunny bite marks on the surrounding plants. She was extremely confused as to what had happened and considered asking somepony, but figured they might take her as insane--or worse. She figured it might have just been a memory of a small dream she had last night and attempted to shrug it off. If it happens again, she thought, I'll go ask Princess Celestia. Sweetie Belle poked her head through the tiny crack in the hardly opened door, her worried eyes moving swiftly from left to right then finally catching Spike's. "Oh, hi, Spike..." she greeted with a whisper, "Rarity isn't here right now....she hasn't been all morning. Have you seen her?" Spike moaned, though it's wasn't quite a surprise to him as it was with Pinkie or Applejack. It was still a shame to hear that the pony he was looking forward to seeing--or, at least, being there--had disapeered, too. "No," he sighed, "that's the problem. Applejack and Pinkie Pie are missing too." The young unicorn took a small step outside, raising an eyebrow. "They are?" She asked, her voice cracking near the end of the question. "I guess that explains the note Apple Bloom gave me this morning....I was still half asleep, so it didn't make sense to me." "What did it say?" "'Applejack is missing!!!!'" Spike fought the urge to face-palm himself and glared at Sweetie instead. "Really?" He asked in a deadpanned voice, "A note that literally says 'Applejack is missing' and you don't know what it means?" While she knew that he had a very strong point, Sweetie felt that he was questioning her intelligence in some strange way. "I was tired, okay?!" She exclaimed in an effort to defend herself, "I thought the note said Apple Jacks are missing or something; not an actual pony." He impatiently tapped his foot, wonder exactly how tired Sweetie Belle was to mistake the not as something not important at all. "The cereal?" Spike asked in the same deadpanned tone. "Did you just come here to vaguely insult me," Sweetie huffed angrily, "or do you want to say something else?" "I came here to see if Rarity was here, as I said. But, since she's not, I guess I'm off to find Fluttershy." Spike said, turning around and taking a step towards Rainbow's house. Sweetie then remembered a detail she had forgotten to tell the dragon, and immediately called out his name. "Wait! Spike! I remembered something that happened last night. I-I think it might be important information..." Spike turned around, curious as to know what could have happened. Once Sweetie saw she had his attention, she took a deep breath, nervous as to how he would react. "Last night; probably around 1:45, I heard Rarity screaming. It sounded like she was saying 'get away from me you ruffian!'" Sweetie informed, imitating Rarity the best she could. "I figured she was having a nightmare--she does sleep talk a lot--and I went back to sleep." She sighed, looking down at the ground; during her story, she stepped outside and had closed the door behind her. "I should have gone and see if she was okay....I'm a terrible sister...." Spike, who was writing down notes on a spare scroll (he usually carried one around; just in case), looked up in alarm at Sweetie's words. "Why would you say that?" He asked her, finishing off his notes, "I probably would have done the same thing with Twilight. Your not a terrible sister. Don't you try and help Rarity whenever you can?" "Yeah...but....I still didn't save her..." "How were you supposed to know?" Spike asked, rolling up the scroll. It was Sweetie's turn to fight the urge to face hoof and glare at Spike. "The outcry?" "You said you thought it was her having a nightmare," Spike pointed out, "you were probably tired and comfortable in bed and just assumed the least dangerous thing happened to her. Your mind gets wacky when it's tired, you know." Sweetie scuffed the ground, raised her head. "I guess your right...," she mumbled, "I still feel bad, though." "I completely understand," Spike said, "but don't worry. I'll find her, Pinkie, and Applejack before you know it!" He looked at the scroll, shook it in the air. "I should probably send this off to Celestia, too..." He added as an afterthought, quickly covering the scroll in green teleportation flames. He looked at Sweetie again, who had the doorknob enveloped in her light green aura. "Do you want to see if Rainbow or Fluttershy are home with me?" He asked. "I'd love to," Sweetie said, "but I should probably watch over the shop. I know I can lock the door, but I can't exactly stop a brick from crashing into a window... Good luck, though! Let me know if you find my sister!!" Her voice cracked again at the end of 'sister'. Spike nodded happily as he turned around towards the path to Rainbow's house. Sweetie turned back to her door, turning it with her magic. It hardly budged. Since she couldn't use her magic on an object without seeing it first because she was still learning, she sat down outside the door, annoyed. "Great," she mumbled, "where am I supposed to find a stray brick this early in the morning?" A scroll plopped down on Celestia's bedroom floor, a shadow quickly hovering over it. The scroll was soon carried by a colorless aura as the stranger opened it slowly. Celestia! Something really strange is going on here; I'm not sure how to handle it. Twilight has no memory of what happened over the past two years and Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity are all missing! Sweetie Belle told me Rarity cried out in the middle of the night; saying something like "Get away from me you ruffian!" She thought Rarity was having a nightmare while sleep-speaking again, so she just let it be. I tried to comfort her; I told her it was probably nothing, but I think it's something really, really serious. I need your help, please come to Ponyville or reply ASAP!! ~Spike~ "Hmmm..." The stranger said, "Looks like I missed one....." Why a Doctor?Merry May saw her from a mile away, which was surprising, considering her vision (it was blurry due to a recent eye appointment with Dr. Horse). Both of the alicorn's eyes had turned back inside her head, yet she didn't fall. She just stood there, moaning like a zombie, until her eyes returned to normal, then she anxiously looked around, seemingly oblivious to the worried and scared glances she was receiving. Merry decided to go up to the poor princess to see if she was okay. "Excuse me? Princess Twilight?" Merry asked warily, hoping not to cause her to go into that state again. "Are you okay? Do you need to see the doctor?" Twilight blinked, clearly confused as to what Merry had said. "This town has a doctor?" She asked. "Ponyville's always had a doctor." Merry said, "I just got back from him myself. I think thy won't mind if I come back with you, though." She spread open her wings, began hovering in the air. "Do you want to walk or fly there?" It was no use to ask Twilight that question, however, as she was having yet another episode. "We came as soon as we heard!" Twilight heard herself say as her vision showed a white pony with a light pink mane in a tight bun standing in front of a blue pull-away curtain. "Thank goodness", the breathed a sigh of relief. She pulled back the curtain to reveal many very sick ponies, all on their backs and moaning painfully. Twilight was shocked at the sight; never before had she seen so many ill ponies. She felt her own mouth drop as soon as she asked what happened. "There seemed to be a mishap with the baked goods..." the mare--of which Twilight now saw was a nurse --said. A pink pony with a pink, poofy mane looked up from her cot, overhearing their conversation. "Not baked goods," she moaned, "baked bads." The pegasus was in front of her, shaking her gently, extremely concerned. "Twilight? Princess Twilight Sparkle?" She asked over and over. Twilight shook her head violently to fully get out of the daze she had been in and pulled the pegasus off with her magic. "Did it happen again?" She asked, still close but obviously no longer shaking her. Twilight scrunched her nose, not filly trusting this pony--for all she knew, she could be a stalker, luring her to her home to torture her. "No..." Twilight said uncertainly, attempting to turn away from the pegasus. Merry knew in that moment she was lying. The same symptoms that she had seen before happened again. "Your lying." She said blandly, trying yet failing to take Twilight's hoof. "I'm not going to harm you," Merry said in an attempt to reassure the princess, "whatever just happened to you might be harmful--to your self being, or to other ponies." She took a deep breath, putting on a sterner tone. "You need to see Dr. Horse." She concluded. Against Twilight's will, Merry took her hoof and began to drag her towards a small building. Twilight pulled and and protested, but the mare seemed determined. You leave me no choice, she thought after a good thirty seconds. She fired up her horn and teleported away from the mare. Merry looked behind her once she felt Twilight's hoof go away. She gasped when she realized she wasn't there. Merry figured she teleported and flew high above Ponyville, trying to catch a glimpse of Twilight. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to go to the doctors and going to get whatever she had checked on. Merry let out a groan of frustration and flew back down to the ground. Maybe it'd be better to look after her vision finally cleared up. Twilight had plenty of time to hide and/or find more help until then. Spike arrived at Rainbows to see a ladder leaning against it and a broken window. Shocked and scared for the blue pegasus, he climbed the ladder as fast as he could, peered in the broken window to see... ...Scootaloo, who had ransacked the place in a nervous frenzy. "Scootaloo?!" Spike gasped, "what in Equestria are you doing?!" The orange filly jumped, turned around nervously. "Oh! H-hi, Spike," she stammered, "I was just...just....looking for my kickball?" "Uh....huh..." Spike mumbled, raising an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. He set foot on the cloud floor, but took it away when the cloud dissolved under is foot. "Did you find Rainbow Dash while you were at it?" Has asked as he put his foot back on the ladder. He assumed, since the other three were gone, Rainbow and Fluttershy would be, too. It never really hurt to check, though. Scootaloo's eyes widened, her ears pressing against he head. "NO!" She cried, "Rainbow didn't meet me for our ten o clock flying training I so nervous after she didn't appear after twenty minutes and I didn't now what to do so I broke in to see if she slept in or something!" "Right." Spike said sarcastically, "because that's the rational thing to do." Scootaloo scowled, her tiny wings starting to flap but not lifting her off the ground. "Well, what would you have done?!" "I don't know!" Spike yelled out of frustration, "All I know is Twilight's memory is gone, and so are all her friends and Celestia still hasn't messaged me back!" Scootaloo inched forward, putting her hooves on what remained of Dashes bed. "Wait," she said, "Twilight lost her memory?" Spike winced, knowing he had spilled way to much information on the filly at one time. "No?" He tried, making Scootaloo narrow her eyes. "Maybe? Sorta-kinda-yeah?" "Sorta-kinda-yeah?" The little pegasus came closer to the window, her eyes no longer narrowed but shone with confusion and sympathy. "Is that a 'yes', Spike?" She asked, "it feels like there's something your not telling me." "Oh, there is." He nodded, eyes wide. "Twilight still has her memory, believe me, but she doesn't remember anything that happened within the last two years!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air for emphasis. The motion nearly knocked him off balance and he had to quickly put his weight against the ladder so it wouldn't fall and crush him under it's weight. The filly put her hooves on the windowsill, nothing but concern showing in her face. "Is she okay?" She asked, "does she need to see a doctor?" Spike facepalmed himself, upset that he didn't think of that before. "You haven't taken her to the doctor?" Scootaloo guessed from his face-palm. "Why not?" "I don't know," Spike groaned, "I guess the fear got to my brain and I couldn't think clearly. I wanted to bring all of her friends over to see what they could do...I never though of going to Doctor Horse." He put his claws over his face, not believing how dumb fear had made him. "I'm such an idiot..." his voice was muffled by his claws, but Scootaloo caught just enough of that sentence to make out what he had said. "No, your not, Spike!" She exclaimed, "you know, I probably would have done the same thing." "Huh?" "If one of my friends lost their memory and everypony else disappeared, I'd be in to much panic to think rationally." She took a deep breath, casting her eyes off to the side. "Just...don't tell anypony I said that, okay?" Spike nodded, his spirits lifted a tiny bit from Scootaloo's very, very small speech. "Don't worry, Scootaloo," he said, offering her a grin, "I won't." Scootaloo looked around the house, now realizing the damage she had caused. "I guess Rainbow isn't here..." she said, immediately giving a nervous laugh afterwards. "Have you been to Fluttershy's yet?" The dragon closed his eyes and shook his head. "You could go and go get Twilight and bring her to the doctors while I go see if Fluttershy is home." Scootaloo suggested, her tiny wings buzzing with excitement. "Shouldn't you clean this mess up first?" Spike asked as he looked around what he could see of the ransacked house. The filly closed her eyes, shrugged, as if it weren't her problem. "Nah," she said, "it almost looks the same as when I came here. I don't think she'll notice." Spike was about to point out that Rainbow might, but realized Scootaloo was right. He shrugged as well and began to make his way down the ladder, Scootaloo quickly following him down. Spike found her around the houses closest to the castle, fighting off a lime green pegasus. "I'm telling you," the pegasus huffed as she tried to drag Twilight away, "you need to see a doctor!" "And I'm telling you, Twilight scowled, trying to put all her weight on where she was standing, "I'm perfectly fine!" "You didn't look that way earlier today!" The pegasus counteracted. Spike decided he had had enough and went between the two to try and break up the argument, but to no avail as the two didn't even notice his efforts. He finally slapped Merry's hoof away from Twilight's, huffing from exhaustion and frustration. That got both mare's attention, Twilight happy to see him. "Spike!" She cheered, "I'm glad your here!" She looked up at Merry May angrily, the pegasus looking down on her in the same way. "Could you please tell this crazy pegasus that I don't need to go to the doctors?" "Oh, don't listen to her, dragon." Merry snarled, still looking at Twilight. "She's been acting very strange. She doesn't know where she is and keeps acting like some undead pony." The pegasus visibly shuddered at the thought, "it's creeping ponies out. She needs to go." Spike raised his chin to look at Merry, eyes closed so the sun wouldn't burn his corneas. "I couldn't agree more." He said simply. "Exactly!" Twilight exclaimed before her brain could process what Spike had said. "What, what?" She looked down at the dragon and nudged him with her hoof. "You don't really mean that, do you, Spike?" Spike nodded solemnly. "Why are you so reluctant to go anyway, Twilight?" He asked, "it's not like Doctor Horse is going to fry you to a crisp or anything." "No reason..." Twilight mumbled, though there was a reason that she kept to herself for a while. She had a mild phobia of doctor's offices and when somepony told her or tried to force her into doing one of her many minor fears, she didn't like it and her stubbornness skyrocketed until she got her way. Spike crossed his little dragon arms, knowing that nervous look anywhere. "Uh...huh..." he mumbled. He was about to finish his thought when Scootaloo zoomed up next to him on her scooter. "She's not there," she said easily, as if she hadn't just zoomed across half of Ponyville as fast as her wings could take her. "Angel was trying to tell me something, but I coulden't understand him. Some parrot she must have been petsitting translated for me, though. He was saying she hadn't been there at all during his midnight feeding and there was a very quiet scream twelve minutes before hand." Spike nodded, happy Scootaloo managed to get the extra the extra information. "Thanks, Scootaloo." He smiled, "now, can you help me drag--I-I mean get Twilight to the doctors?" Twilight froze at the sudden question. She hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, but she did happen to pay attention when her name was announced. "Certainly." She heard the small orange pegasus say happily. Suddenly, two pegasi and a baby dragon turned on her instantly, and she knew exactly where they planned to take her. Panicking, she fired up her horn and teleported back up to her caste room; she would have teleported all the way to her Canterlot room but she had just somewhat mastered the teleportation spell and was tired from the amount of energy she had used up during the two times of teleportation. "Where'd she go?" Merry May asked. "I'm not sure..." Spike said, "but I know she couldn't have gone far." Limbo"I see your finally awake." The voice rang out before Applejack opened her eyes. She had been awake for quite some time, but was fearful of what would have happened if she were to open her eyes, considering what had happen yesterday. "It's okay, little pony," the voice crooned, "you can open your eyes now. It's all over." Applejack took a deep breath, her gut churning from how nervous she was. "Ah ain't doin' nothin' till somepony tells me what happened ta Twilight!" She called into inky blackness (it was dark because her eyes were still shut tight). She felt something brush past her side but didn't dare turn around to confront it. "If I told you that," the voice said, "then this wouldn't be any fun, would it?" "Discord?!" Applejack growled, "is that you?!" Voice gave out a hearty laugh, faking amusement. "Sure." It said, "let's go with that." Applejack slumped at his non-helpful reply. "Now open your eyes, Applejack," it hissed, "and nobody gets hurt." Applejack really didn't want to, but, at the same time, was unnerved by It's tone. "Alright, alright.." she sighed, "don't get yer mane in a twist..." She opened her eyes reluctantly and was greeted with a very dark, deep velvet red room. So dark, it almost looked like inky blackness, minus the fact that some light from an apple-shaped lamp revealed the room's true colors. "Where am ah?" She asked, cautiously looking around and noting the strange place didn't have any windows or doors. "Welcome to Limbo, dear Applejack." The voice responded. She finally saw where it was coming from; a strange voice box hung in the northwest corner of the room. A soft click emitted from it as soon as It was done speaking. She looked around again, seeing camouflaged furniture appear seemingly out of nowhere. "Wait...." she called, looking up at the voice box. "What in tarnation is a Lime-bow?" Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy were all awoken and treated the exact same way. Pinkie Pie's room was a dark, velvety pink, Rarity's was a pure white (since it was impossible to make white look dark without making it grey), Rainbow's was a dark blue, and Fluttershy's was a very deep, yellow; almost brown. And each had slightly different reactions when "It" welcomed them to Limbo. "Ooo! A Limbo?" Pinkie cheered, "like a limbo party?!" She pranced around, looking for a limbo stick but couldn't find any. Unfortunately for her, It had long moved on from her room. "A lime bow sounds so horrid!" Rarity exclaimed, "though I did make a hat of only a straw and three pieces of hay work once for a mare at the Crystal Fair, so I suppose I could make this work, too." She looked for supplies to get her started, but saw none. "Typical ruffians..." she huffed, "they kidnap a mare, make her a damsel in distress, give her a great idea, then give her nothing to work with." Rainbow tried to fly up to the voice box to see if some strange, creepy little elf was in there, but found her wings were wrapped in a very thick, unbreakable cotton. "I don't know what 'Limbo' means," she snarled at the box, hoping 'It' was still listening. "But once I find out how to get out of here, I'm going to make sure you get trapped in this stupid junk pile you call a room!" "A...a limbo?" Fluttershy whispered, attempting to hide behind her mane but still looking at the voice box out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, my. That sounds terrible. There aren't any animal limbs in here, are there?" 'It' had already left. Though they all had different reactions, each mare thought the same thing once they felt 'It' had left, (which took a whole lot of asking questions to the box and not getting an answer in return). How do I get out of here? Will It Work?Doctor Horse was perplexed at the situation that laid before him. A dragon, a pegasus filly, and an alicorn stared at him as he entered the room. He tried his hardest not to gawk at the princess as he went over the information Nurse Redheart had put down for him on the clipboard. "Ahh, Miss Twilight Sparkle," he mumbled, "it seems that you're suffering from...amnesia?" Twilight avoided his gaze and let her ears droop. "That's what everypony keeps telling me." She sighed, reluctant to admit she was wrong but also knowing it was about time to face the facts. "I keep denying it," she admitted, "but, I guess I'm the only one who is. Maybe...maybe I really do have amnesia...I don't know..." "Acknowledging that you have it is a step closer to fixing it," Dr. Horse said in an attempt to cheer Twilight up. He looked down at the dragon, who seemed particularly antsy. He vaguely remembered his assistant complaining about a baby dragon that had come in some time ago, that had burned the assistant's face. He wondered if this was the same guy. "She's been like this ever since this morning," Spike explained, "I don't know what happened; she was out with her friends last night and she woke up with no memory of the last two years and all her friends are gone!" Dr. Horse raised an eyebrow, set the clipboard on an empty counter space. "Did ya file a police report?" He asked. Spike blinked, arms held in the air. "Ponyville has police?" he asked, staring blankly ahead. "Well....no...." the Doctor admitted, "but Manehattan does, and they can get here within a day. Beyond that, I'm not sure how else to help you." He grabbed the clipboard again and headed towards the door. "Just bring her around the town, remind her of some of the times you spent together. That could help get her memory working again." "What if it's a spell?" Scootaloo asked from off to the side. "Would you know how to reverse it?" The stallion turned around, considering Scootaloo's question. "I suppose so...." he mumbled, "I'd need to find the reversal spell, though. It's been quite a while since I've used it." He stepped out of the room, then poked his head in a heartbeat later. "I'll be right back, try and see if you can get some of her memory back in the meantime." Scootaloo and Spike nodded, each supporting their own healthy mix of excitement and nervousness. "We’ll try..." They mumbled. ~*~ Twilight slumped her head down after countless questions she didn't know the answer too. Spike and Scootaloo were still going at it, claiming they were easy questions, and she was getting an ever-growing headache as the so-called "easy" questions continued to be asked. The door opened after what seemed like an eternity and Dr. Horse emerged, levitating a piece of paper. "Sorry for the wait," he said, "Nurse Redheart had borrowed it for a friend and forgot to tell me. Good thing her friend brought it back yesterday, else we'd be stuck." He chuckled, which was met with urgent and impatient stares. He cleared his throat and skimmed over the spell three times, then set it aside and approached the alicorn. "Are you ready, Princess Twilight?" Twilight sat on her haunches, visibly shaking. "I--I suppose..." she mumbled, "are you sure it's safe? Are there any side effects? Like---electrocution or uncontrollable crying or--" He cut her off with a friendly smile as he fired up his horn. "I assure you, Princess, there are little to no negative side effects. The worst that will happen is it'll give you hiccups." His horn glowed brighter, signaling Twilight to, reluctantly, bring her head forwards; he placed his upon her forehead and let the spell takeover. A large, blinding, light blue light filled the room, making Spike and Scootaloo shield their eyes. Doctor Horse started to tense up and Twilight started to scream. The show ended when the doctor collapsed the the floor, exhausted, and Twilight fainting from pain on the cot. "Are you okay?" Spike asked him, trying to help him up. He stood on shaky legs and smiled at his kindness. "I always forget," he huffed, "how much that takes out of me...I should be okay after a while." He nodded at Twilight, who now had her head hanging off the table. "She should be fine within a couple hours," he continued, "try and see how much of her memory she has back; sometimes it doesn't work as well as one would hope. If nothing happened, then...well..." he hesitated, raising a hoof and looking off to the side. Scootaloo came over to see if she could wake up the alicorn, turning to pay attention to Dr. Horse when he paused. "'Well' what?" She asked, "Twilight will explode?!" "No, no, no..." Doctor Horse chuckled, "it's probably a strong spell that I can't reverse. You might want to try different methods, if she's still foggy afterwards." "Of course," Spike nodded, "Thanks so much for your help, Doctor. I don't know what we could have done without you." That, of course, was an open-ended statement, for none of them were sure if the spell actually worked or not. "You're quite welcome," he smiled, regaining some more of his strength. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to check up on my two o'clock appointment. Good luck, to the both of you!" He then stepped out of the room and walked two doors down. Both pegasus filly and dragon could hear him greet the ponies inside. Scootaloo and Spike exchanged hopeful glances. "Hopefully that worked," Scootaloo said, "It seemed like it took quite a lot of energy for him to do it." Spike shrugged, walking towards Twilight. "He probably hasn't done it in a while," he suggested, "that's what happens with Twilight, at least." "Yeah...I guess you're right." Scootaloo sighed. She looked at the unconscious princess, then at the open door, where Nurse Redheart happened to be passing by. "Uhm..." Scootaloo mumbled, shifting her weight from hoof to hoof. "How are we going to get her out of here?" Can you Cure It?Ahh, you've finally joined your friends, I see....it was very rude of you to keep them waiting. "Who's there?!" Twilight jumped within her own mind and turned her head this way and that at breakneck speeds so she could try and find the pony who was talking to her. "Where are you?" Oh, I'm everywhere and nowhere. I am the air that you breath and the floor under your hooves. Twilight immediately held her breath and tried to flap her wings to get off the ground, finding that they were immobilized; she wondered why as she attempted to keep all four hooves off the ground. You need to breathe, eventually Princess... Twilight charged up her magic and made a weak bubble of protection surround her, then releasing her breath. "Whatever you plan to throw at me," she called, "it won't work! I'm protected." The bubble popped from an invisible force and Twilight glared up at where she assumed the voice was. "That was so funny, I forgot to laugh." She sneered, "why do you want me here, anyway?" I'm not the one who brought you here, my dear Twilight. You came to me when you fainted. But it seems you want nothing to do with me, so I guess I'll go. A hiss started in the distance, but no snakes or any other creatures came forward. Twilight began to prance in place, becoming more and more frantic by the second. "What's happening?" She cried, "what are you doing? What's that noise?" I'm leaving. I told you I am the air that you breathe and the ground that you stand upon. Twilight looked at the floor to see it slowly disappearing, lava glowing brightly underneath. Either you die of suffocation or you burn to death. You should be happy that I'm giving you a choice. I should be going now, I feel I've overstayed my welcome. Bye, Princess. See you in the afterlife~... "Wait!" Twilight called, "how do I get out of here?!" "We just take a couple more turns, and it should be up ahead." Spike told Scootaloo over his shoulder, the map in his hands wavering in the breeze. "This is just in case the spell doesn't work. I'm sure she'll have something much stronger." Scootaloo rolled her eyes, stepping away from a small patch of Poison Joke. "I know, Spike," she grumbled, "you told me fifty times already." "I did?" Spike mumbled, "guess I forgot. Okay, we take a right, then a left. Can you see it from here?" Spike was about to look at Scootaloo again and wound up bumping into Zecora herself. She leaned forward, concern in her eyes. "I did not see that you were in my way," she said, "so now, dear Spike, are you okay?" Spike helped himself up and grabbed the map, then went over to Scootaloo to put it in her saddle bag, all the while saying "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Zecora smiled and stood at her full height again. "I was on my way to Ponyville, though I must request, why are you two here and not with the rest?" He looked at her hopefully, took a couple steps forward. "We were actually trying to find you, we were hoping you would have a herb or a cure for amnesia." She nodded happily, but considered it an odd request. "A cure for amnesia, indeed I do. Why should I give it to you?" Spike opened his mouth to speak, but quickly got interrupted by Scootaloo, who told Zecora about what had happened to Twilight that morning, from what she got from Spike, and the events that had carried out from the rest of the day. "...so, basically, we've been going all around this town trying to cure Twilight and find her friends." Scootaloo finished, "and we figured you'd be the next step in case his spell didn't work." The zebra nodded slowly, carefully going over each detail that the filly had recited to her. Finally, she spoke with great urgency, but still having calm outline her words. "That is a huge problem, one we all need to brace. Quick, to my hut with great haste!" She turned tail and started galloping towards her home, Spike and Scootaloo quickly following after. ~*~ They arrived in no time and where quickly inside in record speed. Zecora went over to the farthest wall, which held similar concoctions to the other shelves. "You told me that after she gave a shout, she proceeded to pass out?" She asked the two, quickly greeted by nods. "We think that maybe the spell might have been too much for her," Spike suggested, "but we could be wrong." Zecora breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed a bottle containing purple liquid. She set it on the small workbench and added some pink petals to it, making the concoction turn magenta. "If she still has no memory when she wakes up, give this to her in a half a cup." Spike took it, clearly confused. "Give half of it to her when she wakes up?" The zebra nodded patently. "What does it do? What if it doesn't work?" "If the memory loss was not fixed by a spell then this should work, but only time will tell." Spike grinned at her, happy she was able to help. "Thanks you so much, Zecora. I'll be sure to let you know how it works!" He and Scootaloo ran off before they could hear her response. There was little floor left by now, and Twilight had noticed the shortage of oxygen some time ago. She tried to hold her breath, to not waste the precious air, and stayed on the sliding floor that was going pressingly faster, towards the wall where it slid into a space that would only contain the sliding floor itself. She knew a spell that could help her with this situation...something that-- "This is probably going to feel a little funny at first," Twilight said to a group of oddly familiar mares. "But you're going to have to trust me." The same pink mare that had proclaimed the cupcakes "baked bads" jumped up, clearly more excited than nervous. "I love new ideas that make you feel funny at first!" She proclaimed, but went silent as soon as Twilight started the spell. Each mare, Twilight included, got surrounded with the alicorn's aura and proceeded to go through a very strange transformation process, with their legs, bodies, heads and all shrinking to the size of a small dust bunny. Twilight gasped. The show--probably a lost memory--had token a little longer than she had anticipated, leaving her little time to try out the "new" spell that had been etched into her memory during the flashback. She soon was one of the creatures she and her possible friends were, delicate wings and long antenna's probably being the only trouble in fitting through the small space. She attempted to use her new found wings, but found they were still somehow useless. The opening grew closer, giving her more perspective and letting her confirm she'd have just enough space to squeeze through. She closed her eyes.... Ahh, ahh, ahh....don't you think using a spell is cheating? I guess I'll have to take that away from you, too. The alicorn immediately grew back to her original size, having mere inches between her and the wall, were it would push her off and she'd burn to a crisp. The oxygen lowered even further and she found she could hardly catch a breathe without her lungs screaming for more. This is what I've been waiting for..your beautiful demise. Once you die in here, you'll be dead by the time your slaves come back to help you. "They're not my slaves!" She wheezed, infuriated. "They're...they're...my friends!" She knew she still had many memories to catch up on, but she was glad that that one huge piece of the puzzle had finally fit into place. Ahh, your memories finally coming back, eh? Too bad you'll never see them again... Twilight looked down and saw she barley had enough space to stand on her hind legs, which was getting continuously uncomfortable. She knew for a fact she had to wake up before the lava met her fur. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. She was trapped within her own mind with no way to get outside help. She was doomed. What Did You See?The minute Spike arrived home with Scootaloo was the minute they noticed something was seriously wrong. Twilight had fallen off the couch they had taken ages to put her on and was withering around on the floor. She seemed to be chocking, and Spike, in a panicked frenzy, dropped the potion Zecora had given him and rushed to the alicorn's aid. Scootaloo caught the glass bottle before it could shatter on the crystal floor and gently set it aside on a coffee table before following the dragon. "Twilight?" Spike called, trying to shake her awake. "Twilight? Wake up, Twilight, wake up!" In his moment of panic, his senses had been dulled and he hardly noticed the alicorn's outer body temperature until Scootaloo, who tried to wake the princess up with him, gave a cry of pain and declared that Twi's fur felt like lava. Spike looked at the young pegasus like she was crazy, giving him just the distraction he needed to feel the mare's lava-like body heat. He gasped and drew his hands away, then looked at Scootaloo. "Go get a bucket of water." He instructed, "make sure it's ice cold. Maybe that'll help cool her down..." He added the last part to himself as his attention was drawn back to his care taker. Scootaloo quickly ran to the kitchen, fetched a pale pink bucket, and filled it halfway full with freezing water. She then lifted it out of the sink, staggering a little under the extra weight, and brought it back to where Twilight was. Spike took it gratefully and splashed every single drop onto the mare's torso. That causes her hooves to move as if she were jumping up and down, but nothing much else. Spike handed the bucket back to the pegasus and asked her to refill it. "Do you really think this'll work?" Scootaloo asked him before she left. Spike shrugged helplessly. "I dunno," he sighed, "but it's the best we can do for now." Icy cold air hit Twilight square on as she somehow stayed alive in the massive pool of burning lava. Her oxygen supply was dead, and she was having trouble keeping what little she caught before it all disappeared. But when the blast of air hit her, it shocked her, making her gasp and the little amount of oxygen she had floated away. She was terrified. A very sad and sudden realization hit her square i n the chest. Even if this was in her mental state, she was going to die here, and nopony would be able to save her. Another icy blast of air blasted her on her back, not startling her this time, but getting her slightly annoyed. It's not going to help she thought, they're wasting they're time...but...at least they're trying... as she thought this, ice started to form around her torso. She recognized the helpful cold in seconds and looked back to see what was going on. The second she looked back, they melted, and the unbearable heat met her once again. She struggled and tried to bring the ice back with her thoughts, but it wouldn't work. She figured the cold air was the key and prayed for another surge to come her way. It seemed like ages, but one finally did, stronger than the last two. Twilight tried to keep her mind on positive thoughts about Spike and 'Scootaloo' and the ice crystals formed around her torso, legs, neck, head, and finally, muzzle. She, with help from her friends, had fought the heat. Now all that was left to do was wake up before the lava seeped in again. Scootaloo was ready to pour the fourth bucket full of water on the alicorn, avoiding the puddle that surrounded her, when Spike raised his claw in a way that told her to stop. She set the bucket down and quickly came over to him to see what was wrong. She saw Twilight's eyelid flutter, as if it were trying to open, and got the jist. The water was surprisingly working. After a minute or so, Spike got up, got the bucket, and dumped it on the mare's face, shocking her awake. Twilight started gasping for air, hurriedly muttering something about a evil presence in between her wild breaths. "Whoa, whoa, Twi, what's wrong?" Spike asked, grabbing a nearby towel for her. "Calm down first, we can't understand you." Twilight gratefully took the towel and wrapped herself up so she'd be warm and dry. Before she could finish, however, her usual pink aura turned a menacing black and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. "Eid tsum ekips." Spike and Scootaloo took a step back, unnerved from what was happening. Twilight's wings spread out and her horn started to ignite, lifting poor Spike up by his tail. "Eid tsum ekips." Spike swung to and fro and tried desperately to escape the aura, but was useless against the strong pull. "Twilight!" He cried, "Twilight, stop! You're scaring me!!!" Luckily, Scootaloo, who was frozen with bewilderment, took action and ran up the the alicorn and clapped her muzzle, causing her to get out of her trance. She blinked, dropped Spike, and stared at the two. "Did you see that?" "Yeah!" Scootaloo scowled, "you went all crazy and started speaking gibberish or something." Twilight cocked her head, as she didn't seem to recall that. "I did?" She asked, receiving nods and irritated looks from the two. She paused, then added "do I normally do that?" "NO!" They chorused. Spike took a step forward, still slightly shaken from the experience, and asked Twilight what she had seen. She closed her eyes and tried to grab the memory the best she could. "I saw five rooms, one orange, one pink, one white, one blue, and one yellow. I saw we were flying to Canterlot and saw Celestia tied... something else happened, but, I saw..." she paused, the memory getting fuzzier and fuzzier with every passing second. "I---I saw...." Scootlaoo was the one to step forward this time. "What did you see?" She asked eagerly. "My--my friends." Twilight finished. "Was...was that a memory, or...? Spike gasped and exchanged a look with Scootaloo. "The spell must be wearing of..." he muttered to her; then turned to his caretaker. "That must be a clue to solving this whole fiasco." He thought aloud, "I think we should go over to Canterlot...maybe Princess Celestia will be there and send us to where the mares are!" "Has she responded to that letter you've sent her yet?" Scootaloo asked, in case she might have missed it. He shook his head and sighed. "I'm a little upset she hasn't responded, really worried, actually, but I'm sure she's just really busy right now....she might have found out about all this already and is trying to figure out how to fix it, like us!" He turned to Twilight again and eagerly asked her if she remembered how to fly. "Uh....." she unfurled and looked at her wings uncertainly. "...kind....of...? Uhm....I don't think that well, actually, but, does this place have a...a...a train station?" "Of course," Spike proclaimed, heading towards the door. "That was my back up plan. Flying is usually a lot faster, is all." Twilight looked a bit disappointed that she couldn't help out, but Spike kept reassuring her that they'd make it work and that it wasn't something to stress about. Once everypony was out the door, Spike made sure to lock it before catching up with them. Left unattended and forgotten on a coffee table in the entry way was the hoof-made magenta potion. Celestia's Missing, Too?!The train ride took two hours to long, but they finally made it to Canterlot. Twilight kept getting fan-frenzied stares, creepy smiles, and lots of questions if she could give others her hoofagraph. She tried to ignore it all to the best of her ability, and luckily, once they got off, the problem dwindled to one or two excited shouts. The trio seemed to make it up to the palace in no time at all, easily passing the Royal Guards, and moved hurriedly into Celestia's chambers. But once they were at the door, everypony stopped. The place had been ransacked; the mattress was halfway across the room, scorch marks were etched into the walls, and the lovely white curtains had been shredded and were burnt at the tips. Most notable of all; Celestia was gone. "What in Equestria happened here?" Twilight blurted as she gazed upon the sight. "I was here yester---er--the last time I was here, it didn't look like this." Spike took a couple steps into the room, as if drawn to the scene. "I don't think it's ever been like this..." Scootaloo, meanwhile, was trying to fight the urge of yelling with cheer that she was actually in the castle--actually in the princesses bedroom. "I wonder who could have done this..." she mumbled instead. Twilight followed the duo into the room, and immediately began tiding up, self unaware. "Has Nightmare Moon returned yet?" She asked them, "maybe she attacked." "That was two years ago." Spike explained without a trace of irritation in his voice. "You and your friends reformed her once you realized the spark was caused when you realized they were your friends." Twilight gave him an odd look, already feeling the memory claw it's way forward. "...if that makes sense..." Spike finished, mentally going over what he had said. But Twilight was already spacing out; Spike waved his claw in front of her face, trying to see if she was still with them. When she didn't respond, he shot her a concerned look and walked towards Scootaloo. "Find anything?" He asked her, "anything that can help us, I mean?" Scootaloo, who had been over looking at the vanity, pointed down to reveal a couple strands of a thick, black mane. "Wow, Celestia really put up a fight...but...who would be strong enough to take her away?" Scootaloo blinked, thinking of a couple villainous ponies that could easily overpower her, and, after mulling it over, decided to suggest a couple. "What about Discord?" She asked, "he could probably overpower her with his chaos magic; I remember Twilight told Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and I about how Celestia and Luna defeated him with the Elements of Harmony during a Twilight Time. If those are really the only thing that can defeat him, and you sacrificed them to save the Tree of Harmony....he's unstoppable..." Spike's eyes widened in alarm as what Scootaloo had said sank in "Sweet Celestia, you're right!" He exclaimed, "he could go back to the way he was before her got reformed! What are we going to do?!" "We can always get the others rounded up and have them summon them." She said. "But, honestly, I think I'd like to have him as a tyrannical ruler. Unlike Sombra, he tries to put fun in everything." Spike froze, a horrible thought hitting him head on. "What if it is Sombra?" He shuddered, "what if he got Discord to work together with him? What if--" Scootaloo put her hoof in his mouth, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't they blast him to smithereens a while back?" "Well...yeah..." Spike scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "But...what if he's--" "--how about we try not to ask all these 'what if' questions and focus on the task at hoof?" Scootaloo sighed and walked towards the bed, trying to find more clues. Spike was about to follow when he heard a groan emit from Twilight and went over to help her instead. "Are you okay?" He asked, "I've never seen a--a memory...I guess...take so much out of you." Twilight nodded, trying her best to persuade the little guy. "Don't worry about me, Spike, I'm perfectly fine. I just---had a montage or something. It was all the times we battled villains...I just need to rest a little, is all...I don't think I'd be much help here, anyway." "I completely understand." He said, helping her lie down so she wouldn't hurt herself. "But.." he looked over his shoulder at the hoofful of mane left behind and grimaced at how much that could have hurt. "...before you do..." he added, going to get the clue. He laid it where Twilight could see it and took a step back. "...since you..uh...remembered, just now...do you have any ideas on who's mane this might belong to?" The moment Twilight's eyes laid upon it was the moment she started to freak out. She sprang to her feet and mentioned something about leaving the oven on. She then quickly grabbed the mane and teleported back to the castle. Scootaloo and Spike shared a shrug before venturing around the room a little more. With Spike getting increasingly nervous and curious on the thought of why Twilight had freaked out over a little pit of hair, he and Scootaloo agreed to call it quits for now and try and get back to the alicorn. Once they told a guard what had happened, of course. They were finally done explaining what they saw and got a train ticket back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash looked up at the ceiling of the Celestia-forsaken room for the umpteenth time. She knew, without a doubt, there was a hidden trap door up there. She looked at the ties that had her earth bound and started tearing at them with her mouth again. A foot of paper came loose, but her wings were still trapped. She sighed. This was going to take a while. ~*~ Pinkie Pie was bored. Deathly bored. Her spronging around the room had only caused a latch on the ceiling to unhook..barely. She heaved out a huge sigh, crossed her forelegs in front of her, and rested her chin on them. Her tail started immediately twitching, so she lazily rolled to the side to avoid whatever was falling. Up above, the latch shut again. She looked up and it finally hit her like a sac of potatoes. She was going to have to bounce her way out. This was going to be a piece of cake...speaking of which, she hadn't had anything since yesterday. Her stomach gave a low growl and she sighed again. She wished she had a piece of cake with her right now... ~*~ Rarity's magic was as high as it could get as she aimed all her energy at the latch above. She had noticed it when seeing if the ceiling would be better in a shade of blue; a hole had appeared through her vision and, ever since then, it popped out like last season's fashion. Taunting her.She scowled at whomever had put her in the dreadful place and felt another burst of energy...one stronger than before. A ray shot out of her horn and disintegrated the latch. Though she was quite burnt out, she quickly teleported herself up to the roof of the place she was in. Then, before she could get a good look around, collapsed in a heap of exhaustion. ~Interlude: Sweetie Belle's Night Terror~Sweetie Belle was getting worried. Wait---no---'worried' is too weak of a word. Hectic, or even perturbed would work a whole lot better. Luna had taken control of the night shift already, and Rarity still wasn't home. She had checked the clock multiple times ever since this morning, every five or ten minutes, and the last time she checked it was 8:49 pm; 49 minutes past her bedtime. She moaned and stepped away from the broken window. Maybe...maybe if she hadn't gone out to hang with her friends and helped Rarity instead...maybe if she hadn't snuck out at midnight and had an hour-long sleep over with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo--one of which Rarity said 'no' to because they'd be leaving early to go to Manehatten tomorrow. Maybe if she had just stayed home and been a good filly, like Rarity wanted...maybe none of this would have happened. Sighing, she went back to the window. Nervousness, anxiousness, guilt, and exhaustion clung to her like an extremely sticky spider web, pulling her further and further into an odd state of dreaming and awareness. Yet she tried her hardest to stay awake--only to fall asleep not even ten minutes later. A loud knock at the door startled her awake. She looked at the door, slightly terrified of who could be behind it. If it were Rarity, she would simply walk through with ease. But what if it were one of her friends? Or one of the girls? Still cautious, she deiced to stick her head out the window, carefully avoiding the sharp glass that threatened to spill her blood if her skin slightly grazed one. There, she saw Zecora waiting patiently, inches away from the door, somehow not noticing the filly. Sweetie swiftly ducked her head back inside before she could. "What's Zecora doing here at this hour?" She whispered to herself, then realized that maybe Zecora had night visits with Rarity every now and then and she never knew because it was always past her bedtime. But...wouldn't Rarity tell her about this? In case, one night, she got to stay up past her curfew? Sweetie realized she was standing right in front of where Zecora could easily see her and maneuvered herself to right in front of the door. Before she could overthink the situation even more, Zecora's voice floated through the window. "The night is filled with crisp, freezing air; let me in, I know you're there." Sweetie looked off to the side and nearly got a heart attack when she saw the zebra's face poking through the broken glass; looking right at her. Sweetie felt a shiver race up and down her spine, but tried to ignore it and fought the urge that clawed at her to run away screaming. Instead, she forced a smile and reminded herself over and over until her heart stopped racing that Zecora is a well known, greatly trusted friend. "Oh, hi, Zecora!" She said in the brightest tone she could muster, "I'm sorry...Rarity's off on a last-minute gem hunt with Spike. Do you think you could come back later?" Her ears started to twitch, for she never exactly liked lying, and tried to hide the nervous tick by giving Zecora--what she hoped was--a pleasing smile. Zecora raised an eyebrow, as she looked at the filly's nervous body stature. "Based on the sly look in your eye, it appears to me you are attempting a lie." Sweetie hung her head low, mentally freaking out. Zecora smirked as Sweetie's reaction told her everything she needed to know. "Now that we are done playing this game; please let me in. I have something to proclaim." "Can't you just say it out there?" Sweetie asked. She knew she was being rude, but she had a very sketchy feeling in the pit of her stomach that something wasn't right. "No." Zecora didn't sound like Zecora anymore. She sounded awfully familiar, but Sweetie couldn't put her hoof on it. Whomever's voice it was, it definitely sounded like a male. The zebra's eyes suddenly went white and she reared onto her hind legs. Squid like tentacles came out of her back and reached around, trying to grab the filly. Screaming, Sweetie darted as fast as her little legs would take her up the stairs. The squid-appendages carried the possessed zebra through the already-broken window, causing it to break entirely. More seemed to sprout from Zecora's back and slid with ease up the spiral staircase, just inches away from Sweetie's hind leg; she could feel the freezing temperatures radiating from the appendages from where they were. She screamed again and tried to at least teleport her way out of the house. That's when she realized she had no horn. She tried not to halt in surprise, but instead slowed to round the corner to her room. Quickly, she closed and locked her door behind her, bracing herself against the wooden surface for extra precaution. After some seconds went by, she realized a tentacle could squeeze beneath the door crack and pull her away or they could easily break the door down, so she instead pushed most of her furniture in the way and slowly walked towards the middle of her room, certain she was safe for the time being. Seconds went by, though it felt like hours, and nothing came in to grab her. She let herself relax, yet she didn't get to relax for long. She felt another shiver tremble her whole body, and, knowing that wasn't a good thing, slowly looked behind her, terrified of what she'd see. Zecora stood a foot or two away from her open window, raised high on her extra appendages. Sweetie mentally face-palmed herself for not checking her window--classic, stupid mistake--before a cold, slimy tentacle shot forward and wrapped around her mid-section, squeezing her tight so she wouldn't slip out, and pulling her back towards the zebra. Sweetie couldn't breathe. She could feel her vision slowly start to blacken. Zecora looked directly at her, no expression on her face. "Kcirt. Ekips. Esiugsid." She mumbled. It was the last thing Sweetie heard. ~*~ She woke with a start and immediately started screaming again. Luckily, it died out as she realized she had conked out on the floor next to the window sill. She looked at the time; it was 1:45. The same time as last night when Rarity got taken. She shuddered and decided to go in the kitchen so she wouldn't be seen by anypony who decided to stop by...if anypony was awake at this hour. What dream-Zecora had said freaked her out even more than the dream itself. She only know what she had said because the CMC's secret language was simply saying stuff backwards. They hadn't used it in a while, but it had come in handy when they didn't want prying ears to hear their next scheme to get their cutie marks. She had said 'disguise. Spike. Trick.' Three simple words that will probably cause Spike a world of panic--not to mention Twilight and her, herself. Sweetie decided that, starting tomorrow, she'd board up the window (the best she could get at fixing it), and go find and help Spike on his mission, if Rarity wasn't back by then. A knock sounded at the door. Sweetie stiffened and quickly hid beneath the kitchen table. She'd just stay here until then. What's One More?"Black mane, black mane....I know so many evil doers with a black mane." Twilight paused, feeling odd to have said that so certainly. "Apparently." She added, "but I need my lab supplies. This castle is so huge, I'd probably get lost just trying to find the bathroom..." She paused again and looked around nervously, wondering if it would be better if she went back to her old home and got her DNA lab supplies, or if she should wait until Spike and Scootaloo got home. She felt increasingly guilty about leaving behind in the city. After some more thought, she decided it would be wisest to leave a note, in case they came back, informing them of her whereabouts. She'd teleport back to Canterlot, more specifically, to Celestia's room to see if they were still there. If not, she'd go to her old room, grab her supplies, then teleport back home. Happy that she finally had a plan, she went down the hall in search of a piece of paper and quill. Once the note was finished, she teleported away. Little did she know, a draft from somewhere in the building whisked the paper off the table and made it land on the floor, blank-side up. ~*~ An hour later, Spike and Scootaloo arrived outside of the castle, about to go in when they heard somepony frantically calling out their names. "That sounds like--" Scootaloo said, not being able to finish her sentence because Sweetie Belle slammed into the small pegasus at full force, causing the two to tumble over each other before hitting the base of a tree. They fell apart, completely dazed, Spike walking over to them to see if they were okay. "We're fine," Sweetie said as Spike helped her up, "I guess I don't know my own speed...sorry, Scootaloo..." Scootaloo smiled, brushing off the incident with ease. "I came down here to tell you..." Sweetie breathed, her heart still racing from what had happened. "That I...wanted to help you." "What about the boutique?" Spike asked, "I--I mean, I'm glad you're helping, but--" Sweetie smiled, passing by both of them on her way to the castle doors. "I switched the open sign to closed. Can't believe I didn't notice that before..." She looked at Spike with earnesty as she held open the castle doors. "So, you'll let me help?" Spike grinned, walking up to the castle steps. "'Course, why not?" He said as he and Scootaloo walked through the castle doors. Sweetie beamed and followed after them, closing the door behind. Twilight appeared back at Celestia's room, cringed at the mess once more. She was so used to having seen it neat and tidy when she had been in there multiple times that the new sight just made her skin crawl at what had happened. She nervously looked from left to right, wondering if she should clean the mess up now; she knew for certain that it was illegal to mess with a crime scene, but, at the same time, the small amount of OCD she had was practically screaming at her to fix the mess. Why it was bothering her now, she couldn't tell. Probably because, last time she had been here, not only a few short minutes ago, she was in a trance most of the time and too tired to notice anything afterwards. She decided to not mess with anything, closed her eyes and quickly teleported away before she could change her mind. Even then, there was a small urge to go back and pick up. She looked around her old house, surprised it wasn't as dusty as she imagined it to be. She willed another memory to take over, but none came. Huh, she thought, maybe nothing happened here within two years...that I was here for, anyway. She took a hoof step forward, the floor creaking under her weight. She continued until she was downstairs and headed for a hallway that branched towards her old kitchen. Once there, she took a right and arrived at her old lab. Yet, when she got there, she found it was completely empty. Stunned at first, was she, but then figured they had packed it up before they left to Ponyville. She was about to teleport back to her castle and ask Spike when a knock sounded at the door, startling her. She jumped and, after somewhat calming herself down, went towards the door to answer it. Before she could even open the door, however, Moondancer barged in, looking quite anxious. "Twilight? Twi?" She stopped shouting the alicorn's name once she saw her and gave her a quick hug before continuing. "I heard you were visiting again, and I really need some help on....something...uh.....important Like, really important." Twilight blinked; yes, she remembered Moondancer, of course, but she didn't think they were the closest of friends...but, then again, it could be something else she was missing. "Of course I'll help, Moondancer," she smiled, figuring this is what she probably would do if all of her memories were still in tact. "I don't think I'll be of much service, of course, but, what do you need?" Moondancer looked at her, dead serious. She closed the door and cackled. "I don't think you'll be of much service either," she snarled; Twilight taken aback from the sudden mood change. "But, no matter. The thing I need is you." Her eyes flashed a turquoise color and her legs became black and holey for only the briefest of seconds, but it was a long enough transformation for her to realize who it was. Half a gasp escaped her lips before an ooey green cocoon covered her body. She watched in horror as Moondancer changed to a mirrored version of her appearance before her eyes. Chrysalis gave out an evil laugh and a scowl towards her captor before teleporting away to Celestia only knew where. Spike, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle had been looking around for Twilight for the past half hour. There were more than 500 rooms in the castle and only three of them, making their chances of finding the curious princess seriously overwhelming. "Maybe she's back in Canterlot," Sweetie suggested for the third time since they got there, making Spike roll his eyes at the repetition but keep his tone calm nonetheless. "Maybe," He sighed, "but she could be around Ponyville, too....we really need to keep a better eye on her when she's in this state." He was about to head towards the second library, halfway out the door, when Twilight suddenly appeared in front of him. He yelped and stumbled back onto the floor, then realized it wasn't a harmful foe and helped himself up. "Sorry, Twi; didn't expect you to pop in so suddenly. Where have you been?!" Twilight shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, as if nervous, then stopped and looked down her muzzle at the baby drake. "Canterlot." She said simply, "now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired from staying up all night; I'm going to go to bed." She closed her eyes and marched up the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. "Told ya!" Sweetie cheered, "told ya she was in Canterlo--..." She stopped herself abruptly and sat down, getting a strange expression on her face. "You know....I have a weird feeling that that isn't Twilight." She mumbled. Spike nodded, his little arms folded across his chest. "I know what you mean," he said, "she'd only act that way to anypony if she somehow got her memory wiped again." His eyes widened and he looked at the two fillies, certain they were each thinking the same thing. "You don't think...?" He asked them, blood running cold. The response he got were two wide-eyed stares that mirrored his own. He quickly rushed up the stairs, Scootaloo right behind. Before Sweetie could follow, however, she slipped on a loose piece of scroll paper. She turned it over and read it to herself. Spike and Scootaloo, I've gone back to Canterlot to gather my lab equipment to test a DNA sample on the strands of black mane we have found. It shouldn't take long; I'll be back in twenty minutes. If it takes me longer, come check on me....just in case. ~Twilight~ Sweetie gasped, grabbed the note with her magic, and raced up the steps to show the others what she had found. What's One More? [Alt. Version]Lavender hooves paced the castle floor as Twilight spoke her mixed up thoughts to the empty palace to hear. "Black mane, black mane....I know so many evil doers with a black mane." She paused, feeling odd to have said that so certainly. "Apparently." As she turned around to continue her pacing, she her attention went to the nearby window and alarms rang off in her head. Something definitely wasn't right. She rushed to the window to see if her eyes were playing tricks in. It wasn't. Twilight's pupils dilated as she immediately began to panic. On top of everything else, how was she supposed to fix this?! An hour later, Spike and Scootaloo arrived outside of the castle, about to go in when they heard somepony frantically calling out their names. "That sounds like--" Scootaloo said, not being able to finish her sentence because Sweetie Belle slammed into the small pegasus at full force, causing the two to tumble over each other before hitting the base of a tree. They fell apart, completely dazed, Spike walking over to them to see if they were okay. "We're fine," Sweetie said as Spike helped her up, "I guess I don't know my own speed...sorry, Scootaloo..." Scootaloo smiled, brushing off the incident with ease. "I came down here to tell you..." Sweetie breathed, her heart still racing from what had happened. "That I...wanted to help you. Everything seems to be going crazy--I had a nightmare last night, it almost came true, and now the sky--" "What about the sky?" Spike asked. Sweetie pointed up with her hoof, Spike following her motion and gasped. One half of the sky was daylight, from the sun's position, it looked like it might have been noon. The moon was in the same position on the other half, suggesting it was also midnight. "Ohmygosh, the sky!" He shouted, eyes the size of pinpricks. "How could we have not noticed this before?!" "Well..." Scootaloo muttered. "Scootaloo?" Spike asked, "Did you see this beforehoof?" Scootaloo folded her little ears back. "I did. On the train. But you were so excited and talking about getting closer to the case, and I didn't want to ruin your good mood." She brought them up as a thought occurred to her. "But...maybe Twilight knows enough to stop everything?" Spike sighed. "I doubt it," he muttered, "but I guess it never hurts to ask." The three went inside the castle, Scootaloo holding the door open for the first two before going in herself. She stopped immediately as soon as she heard frantic crashes from somewhere in the castle and Twilight shouting out frantic cries. "Uuhhh..." she said as she wandered farther in, up to where Spike and Sweetie stood, staring at the lavender alicorn. "What's going on?" Twilight turned her head at breakneck speed and saw the three standing there. She didn't hear them come in over all the noise she was making. She grabbed Spike with her magic and shook him, making the young dragon go cross eyed, mirroring Twilight's own. "Have you looked at the sky lately, Spike?" She asked in a slightly psychotic tone. "Yeah, uh--" "What could it possibly mean?" She asked no pony in particular. Dropping Spike, she went back towards the window to see more and more ponies looking up in slight alarm, though they weren't running around like chickens with no heads. "Why isn't anypony freaking out over this?" Spike exchanged a glance with the two foals, stood up and walked to Twilight's side. "This...this kind of happened before." "What?!" "Amnesia." Spike simply said, tapping the side of his head. Twilight lowered hers and sighed. "Right." She scowled, "that." "But, you and your friends got everything under control!" Spike continued, "and you probably will again, soon. I think you just need some guidance." Twilight cocked her head to the side. "Guidance?" She furrowed her brow for a minute before perking up with glee. "Luna!" "Uhh..." "Thanks, Spike!" She smiled, "I'm sure Luna will be able to help me with this. How hard can it be, right?" She grinned at the three of them as she fired up her horn, then blinked away. Spike rubbed his forehead and sat down on the castle floor, facing away from the two fillies. "This isn't good," he sighed, "I have a feeling Luna's missing, too." Why Give Up?Twilight had a rotten, horrible, inexpiable feeling something dreadful would happen the moment she got cocooned. It was odd, she had to admit, to see green slime come out of the changeling queen's horn; it had almost looked like her aura until it hit Twilight dead-on and rendered her immobile. The way the cocoon worked was strange, as well. It surrounded her, coating her everything but her mouth, nose, ears, or her wide-eyed stare, that, and it hardened the second it touched any surface rendering her immobile and feeling oddly like glue against her fur. Things got increasingly unusual when she witnessed Moondancer transform to a sort of doppelganger; unsettling to see herself grin so wickedly and laugh so cruelly as if she had planned to kick some puppies after setting fire to Celestia's mane. Finally, the bizarre freak show was over when Chrysalis vanished in a green, spiral smoke pattern, similar to the one that appeared when she had transformed. Twilight was left to ponder what could have happened had she not been there when she was. Would she be safe, back home with the others, or would some evil doer find her there, and potentially harm her friends along with her? Was this the safer option? She was upset that she'd never be able to tell if it was, and decided to try and teleport away so she could warn them in time. She fired up her horn, expecting to see the interior of her castle after the spell faded; she opened her eyes and found she was still stuck in the cocoon at her old house. Confused, she looked around the best she could, waited a minute in case the spell had been delayed for some strange reason. Her eyes veered upwards as she thought about what the substance the changeling queen did to her magic. Did it alter it? Did it actually cause delays? Or worse....what if it actually stopped her magic all together?! Twilight began to visibly shake and sweat at this thought; she bit her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up over the years of stress and anxiety and trying to get perfect scores on all her tests. She closed her eyes and attempted the breathing technique Cadence taught her, happy to find she could at least move her forehoof to do the technique accurately; she tried it three times and it still didn't calm her racing heart. Unsure of what to do next, and getting more anxious and scared by the second, she screamed out a cry for help. ~*~ Minuette and Twinkleshine were heading back from Moondancer's, each slightly terrified, albeit curious, at what they had seen. The poor unicorn was stuck in a green, see-through cocoon thing and kept mumbling about Queen Chrysalis and her changelings. "Is she back?" Twinkleshine had asked, her fear clear as a bell. "Is she trying to take over Canterlot again?" Moondancer had just kept her head down, mumbling to herself about what she had been through. After several failed attempts of trying to get the substance off, Minuette, at one point, had tried using a jackhammer, they both decided they'd try to go get some help, hoping that somepony--anypony would listen to their plead. As they turned towards the bridge that lead to most of the castles, they heard a scream for help; it sounded like the end of one, and it was quite faded and distant, but they heard it nonetheless. They looked at each other, droopy ears perking up in hopes the sound would come again. They turned around and started towards where they thought they heard the scream, thinking that it might be Moondancer, when a large, blinding purple light started to flash repeatedly. The two turned their heads, shielding their eyes the best they could, and saw it was coming from Twilight's old house. Twinkleshine stared wide-eyed at Minuette, concern, and curiosity wrote all over her. "Think it's Twilight?" She asked, prancing in place, "think she's in trouble?" Minuette narrowed her eyes in determination, facing the extravagant household. She cast a sidelong glance at her best friend before going back to where Twilight might have been. "Only one way to find out." She said, then immediately beamed at Twinkleshine and started prancing towards the home. Twinkleshine sighed and caught up with the enthusiastic unicorn, stepping in front of her, blocking her path. Minuette skidded to a stop and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What's wrong?" She asked, upset that she wasn't able to get to Twilight at that point and time. "Shouldn't we go help her?" "I'm not saying we shouldn't..." Twinkleshine sighed, unsure of how to continue. Minuette, while extremely kind and always wanting to help, didn't always think things through. "...but...maybe we should have a plan, first? You know; in case the changelings are still there..." She looked over her shoulder nervously, as if worried that a changeling would leap out from behind her and fillynap her as well. Minuette sighed, wishing Twinkle wasn't always so worried all the time. However, she knew that Twinkle wouldn't let her go any further without a 'plan', of sorts, so she decided to please her. That and what Twinkle said could be true--changelings could be littered throughout the whole building, and if they just barged in there all willy nilly, they wouldn't be able to save their only princess friend. She and Twinkle pondered about what to do, Minuette getting more and more anxious for each passing second; the flashing purple light had stopped and she wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. She stood up and started pacing around, mainly to try and get her nerves under control. Finally, an idea hit her dead on, she turned towards Twinkleshine so fast that she could have sworn she would have gotten whiplash. "I got it!" She cheered, "we both know the shield spell, right?" "...kind of...?" Twinkleshine sparked up the spell to show what she meant; a light blue bubble formed around her, yet when Minuette went to see if it was strong enough, it crumpled under her weight. "I've been meaning to practice it," Twinkleshine said sheepishly, "I've just never really had a good reason of why I should use it, so I put it off." Minuette smiled and patted her bud on the back. "No worries," she said, "I got your back; I think mine is strong enough and large enough for two ponies..." she tested it out, a dark blue bubble surrounded her and an extra foot of space. She beamed at Twinkleshine, stopped the spell. "See? Room to spare!" She turned her attention towards Twilight's old house as the flashing lights started up again. "Now, c'mon, Twinkleshine, let's go! Who knows what might happen if we wait any longer?" Twinkle wrinkled her nose; space didn't seem large enough for two ponies, and she didn't get to test its strength unlike Minuette did to hers. But she knew that Minuette was starting to get a teensy bit annoyed with her stalling; a bad habit she had picked up from her youth. Twilight was in trouble; it was about time to stop stalling and start helping. She took a deep breath and got side to side with Minuette, who immediately cast the shield spell around the two. It did happen to be slightly cramped, but Twinkleshine decided to keep her complaints to herself. She cast a sidelong glance at her best friend, full of fear and determination. She hoped the determination overshadowed the fear as she repeated the same phrase Minuette had said to her five minutes before hand. "Only one way to find out." ~*~ Minuette and Twinkleshine ran through the house, shield spell starting to waver. Twinkle looked up at the fading bark blue bubble then over at Minuette. "Uh..." she said between breaths, "is this...going to...hold?" Minuette nodded, though it looked like she was being strained as visible sweat began to appear on her brow and her face was starting to turn red. Twinkleshine inwardly gasped, as she hadn't looked over at her best friend since they had started. She stopped abruptly, looked over at the exhausted unicorn, and told her to take the spell away. "Why?" Minuette asked through her long and heavy deep breaths. "I can hold it out...a little...longer. Just until we get...to the top of the stairs." Twinkle raised an eyebrow at this, to which Minuette hung her head low. "Fine," she said, "I guess...I could use... a little break." She then proceeded to lie on the ground and looked up at the cream-colored unicorn. "go up the stairs; Twilight's room is to the left. She should be in there." "What are you girls talking about?" Twilight's voice cried out from behind them. "I'm right here!" The two unicorns turned around to see their friend in the same green substance Moondancer was in. She was glaring at them, a little upset that they haven't noticed her before, even though it was completely obvious where she was. "Oh." Minuette giggled despite herself as she and Twinkleshine obtained matching, sheepish grins. "Whoopsie..." Spike barged into Twilight room, Scootaloo close behind him. Impostor-Twilight looked up from her book that she more than likely skimmed over and, once she saw who was there, rolled her eyes and went back to reading. Spike, meanwhile, crossed his arms and glared at her, waiting for her to say something, or possibly be intimidated by his look. "Whaddya want?" She grumbled after she realized they wouldn't leave. Spike tapped his foot impatiently and started pacing around the room. "You left, again, for Canterlot and you didn't even leave a note." He paused, realizing his tone and demeanor was relativity harsh. He stopped pacing and faced her, claws held in a little plea. "We just want to see if you're alright, is all." 'Twilight' raised her eyebrow, not looking up from her book. "Is that so?" She muttered. Spike looked over to Scootaloo, wondering what to do. Scootaloo shrugged and made a gesture for him to continue. Spike sighed at the fillies lack of help and faced 'Twilight' once more. "Yes," he said, "yes it is." He took a step forward to try and get her to pay attention to him instead of her book. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked, his posture suggesting he'd probably have a heart attack if she were to say 'no'. She let out a low groan, irritated with him, but Spike would never be able to guess why. "Hunky dory." She said in the same monotone she'd been using for the whole conversation. "Now, get out." Spike took a step back , surprised at how harsh those three words came out, and quickly tried a different tactic. "Okay, w-well...what did you do in Canterlot? Why'd ya disappear on us so quickly?" The lavender alicorn sighed, looked up from her book. "Can't we talk about this later?" She hissed, "I'd like to be alone with my studies..." She made the door open with her magic and levitated Spike out of the room. He froze, unsure of what to do; his reaction coming as Twilight dumped him a foot above the ground and slammed her door shut behind him. He blinked, still trying to process what had happened. He then leapt to his feet and tried the doorknob, finding it would barely turn. She had locked it from the inside. "Oh, very mature, Twilight..." he grumbled to himself as he slumped against the center of the wood-framed crystal door, "all we're trying to do is solve this stupid mysterious curse and catch the stupid mysterious villain, but you're making it ten times more difficult." Scootaloo walked up and sat down next to him, in an effort to comfort the distressed baby drake. "Hey...it's okay." She said, awkwardly shifting her weight on her forehooves, "I'm sure she's just...stressed; you know how mares can get when they're stressed, right?" Spike glared at Scootaloo, immediately feeling guilty that he did; but he was so fed by be getting 'clues' that wound up carrying them on a wild goose chase. "Sure." He mumbled; facing the floor. He stood up and turned his back to the young mare. "I'm just gonna...go to my room." Scootaloo watched in despair as he slowly made his way towards the end of the hall, stopping just short of it and entering his room. She sighed and went downstairs to tell Sweetie what had happened, not knowing what else to do. She was halfway down when the energetic unicorn slammed into her for the second time that day, making both fillies see stars. They shook their heads to get rid of the crazy vision, of sorts, and Sweetie immediately ignited her horn, catching something that was in the air, and brought it down to Scootaloo's eye level. "Huh?" Scootaloo found herself saying, "what's this?" She grabbed the paper with her hoof and began to read it to herself. Sweetie watched anxiously as Scootaloo read it, waiting for her reaction and an idea on what to do. Each second seemed longer than the last until, finally, Scootaloo dropped the paper, clearly confused. "Okay, so she did leave a note. So what?" Sweetie folded her ears back, a bit embarrassed. "Remember how I said 'I don't think that's Twilight'?" "Yeah?" "Well...the note said she went to Canterlot to get her DNA supplies....a-and she didn't come back with anything." Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and continued down the stairs, Sweetie quickly following after. "And, don't you think she would have said something about it? Like..." Sweetie paused, took a deep breath and did her best Twilight imitation as she continued. "'I went to Canterlot to get my supplies, but I couldn't find them so I came back here'? I don't know...it's just unnatural for her to be so evasive, even if she got her memory wiped again...I think..." Sweetie sighed, ears drooping, upset at how unsure she sounded. "Could we at least go check on her?" Scootaloo, now at the bottom of the stairs, stopped abruptly and turned around to face her friend. "You know... Spike and I already did, but..." "But what?" Sweetie asked, her hopes starting to rise. "She seemed pretty mean to Spike, and...and she wasn't sleeping; she was reading, yet she told us she was going to bed when she got here...though, to be fair, I'm not completely sure how she acted before she came here." Sweetie turned around, started going up the stairs again. "What are you doing?" Scootaloo asked her, staying put. She stopped and looked over her shoulder, one hoof raised in the air, anxious to keep going. "I'm going to ask Spike," she explained, "if anypony--er--dragon would know, it'd be him." Scootaloo followed, trying to figure out how to tell Sweetie what had happened. "He's the only dragon that would know," she said instead. Sweetie rolled her eyes, still trotting forward. "You know what I mean." The pegasus filly sighed, knowing that, sooner or later, Sweetie would know that Spike had basically given up. She didn't want Spike to yell at her, or be upset with her because of something she was unaware about. So, Scootaloo raced ahead and tried her best to block Sweetie's pathway on the wide set of stairs. Sweetie narrowed her eyes and scoffed, showing a great resemblance of Rarity whenever she got annoyed. "Scootaloo, this is kind of important..." Sweetie said, stepping around the pegasus. "don't you want to help Spike with this problem? This is probably an important clue...thing..." she looked at the paper again, unsure if she could call it a 'clue' or not. She shrugged and continued on her way, only to be blocked by Scootaloo five steps later. "Yeah..." Scootaloo chuckled uneasily, "about that...." Sweetie interrupted her with a growl and side-stepped the pegasus once more. Scootaloo sighed and raced ahead again, blocking the top of the stairs the best she could. "Sweetie, listen," she said; the unicorn was a mere ten steps away from passing her by once more. "Spike..." she folded her ears back, her eyes shifting wildly. "Spike he..he wanted..." Sweetie was at the top now, paused, waiting for Scootaloo to continue. "He what?" Scootaloo quickly glanced down the hall towards Spike's room, Sweetie's gaze following her friend's. "Oh, he's down there?" She asked, "I thought he was still with Twilight or something." She chuckled a little and continued down the hall towards his room. "Thanks, Scoots. I owe ya one." Scootaloo winced at the mistake she had made and followed anyway; there was no stopping Sweetie now. At best, she could put all the blame on herself. ~*~ He lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, knowing he was probably letting everypony down. At the most, the pony gang and the CMC, who'd never see their sisters again. This thought alone made half of him want to get up and try again, but the other half was just to exhausted. He couldn't tell if it was staying up all night, Twilight's new attitude, the fact that she could have possibly got her memory erased somehow again, or all of the above. Whatever the reason, he just wanted to stop, for only a second, and let himself catch up on all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. A loud bang startled him awake, causing him to nearly fall out of his cot. He started at the door in a disgusted manner, as if it had summoned somepony to wake him up, and walked over to it groggily, getting a head rush from bolting up so fast. He didn't remember falling asleep and instantly wondered when he had when another knock came, sounding urgent. "I'm comin', I'm comin'." He grumbled, reaching up to turn the knob; he opened the door to see an excited and anxious Sweetie Belle, holding a piece of paper in her aura, accompanied by a nervous, almost guilty looking Scootaloo. Sweetie ran into his room, not waiting for an invite in. Spike, slightly upset she was the one who interrupted his slumber, muttered an unkind word under his breath. "Spike! Spike! I--" she paused, her keen ears hardly picking up a smidgen of what he had muttered. "What'd you say?" She asked, curious, as she had heard her name. Spike held the door open and silently gestured Scootaloo in, inwardly wincing and facepalming himself that he didn't keep his thoughts in his head. He whirled around to face her and beamed in, what he hoped, was a respectable manner. "Nothing," he said through slightly clenched teeth, then, noticing the paper again, decided to quickly change the subject. He pointed at it, pretending that it was the most important and interesting thing in the whole castle. "Hey, what's that?" He asked, unclenching his teeth. "It's a note Twilight left for us." Scootaloo explained as Sweetie handed the note to him. "We were wondering how she acted before she came here, in case that Twilight in her room isn't the real Twilight." Spike nodded, mainly paying attention to the note than anything else. "Uh..." he said, "she kind of acted how she's acting now." "Are there any slight differences you maybe noticed when talking to her before?" Sweetie asked somewhat desperately, "any at all?" Spike let out an 'uh' again, trying to think of a subtle thing he didn't see beforehand. "Keep in mind that Twilight said she'd be going to sleep when she arrived, yet Scootaloo told me when you went up to confront her, she was studying." Sweetie continued, "does that help anything?" It took a couple long, agonizing minutes, but Spike finally snapped his claws, getting both fillies hopes up, as they already had all their attention on him. "I can't believe I didn't notice it before!" He said, more to himself than to his company, "it's so obvious, now that I think about it!" Sweetie was leaning forward on her forehooves in a manner that copied Pinkie Pie, curiosity eating away at her patience. "What is?" She finally blurted, since it was obvious Spike was waiting for one of them to ask. "Lie." Spike said simply, like it would be as obvious to the two fillies as it was to him. The two traded a confused look, then looked back at him with the same expression. "Whaddya mean, 'lie'?" Scootaloo asked. "In all the years that I've known her," Spike said as he folded up the note and put it in between his blanket and mattress. "Which is practically my whole life, I might add, I've never seen Twilight lie." Scootaloo raised an eyebrow, thinking that 'never' was an understatement. "Never, huh?" Spike thought about her question and realized, in a way, she was right to ask it. "Well, not never," he corrected, "but, whenever she attempted to lie, it was super obvious. Still is." He shrugged, knowing they'd ask why that would be. Sweetie nodded, she knew a couple fillies and ponies who were kind of like that; Apple Bloom was like that, except for when she lied about getting her cutie mark that one time and ended up getting the cutie pox, and a couple other times as well. "What if she changed her mind?" She asked him, "just...just to be, you know, safe." She added afterwards. "She would have told us, if her memory had been wiped again--" he stopped himself and went over to close the door, then spoke in a lower tone; he had a sneaking suspicion a certain somepony was trying to listen in on their conversation somehow. "Even if it hadn't, she still would have let us know." Sweetie leaped in the air, unable to contain her joy. The clue that she had found, that chose her, one could say, had been helpful all along! This actually takes us one step closer to solving the whole thing! She thought excitedly. "What are we waiting for?" She asked loudly; it was hard for an easily excitable filly such as herself to calm down once she got hyper. "C'mon, let's go interrogate her again!" Spike and Scootaloo smiled at her over enthusiasm and followed her through the door and down the hall. When they got to Twilight's room a mere five seconds later, Spike stepped forward and tried the doorknob. When it wouldn't turn, he blushed, remembering that the impostor had bolted it shut. He reached out and knocked instead, but nopony answered. "Twilight!" He called in a sing-song voice, masking the irritation best he could, which, he had to admit, was pretty good. "We'd like a word with you..." he stood back and waited, but there was still no answer. "What did you expect?" Scootaloo unintentionally jarred, "the impostor probably thinks that you think they're still Twilight, and 'Twilight' is still annoyed with you." She explained, using hoof quotes around the second 'Twilight'. Spike glared at her, throwing his claws in the air, not liking her new tone. "Why didn't you say that beforehand?!" Scootaloo folded her ears back and bit her lip, hearing the tone he had used that had mimicked her own. "I didn't think it'd make a difference," she said quietly, "sorry I yelled; I think we're all too stressed out from this messed-up case." Spike huffed, letting himself calm down before accepting Scootaloo's apology, more to make her feel better than actually accept it. "It's fine," he said, thinking it was probably the fastest he and a friend of his ever technically fought then made up. "you two, stay right here; I'll be right back." He added, then ran down the stairs as fast as his little legs would carry him, took a few lefts then a right, and arrived at one of the many broom closets the castle held. Opening it up, he grabbed a key and ran back to where his company waited. "A key?" Scootaloo gaped once she saw what he held. 'why didn't you just grab that in the first place?" Spike turned his head over his shoulder towards her, eyes closed and chin as high as he could hold it in that position. "I didn't think it'd make a difference." He mocked, then opened his eyes and smiled at the somewhat distraught face Scootaloo had on. "Nah, I'm just messin' with ya." He said, "Twilight doesn't like to be interrupted and told me to only use this key when completely necessary or in extremely important situations." He faced the door again, placing the key in the keyhole. "I think this situation is pretty important to everypony..." They watched as he turned the key and pushed open the door. The second the door was open, they saw Twilight's bed covers taken off and hanging out the window. Most importantly, the impostor was gone. Twinkleshine and Minuette walked over to Twilight, slightly upset with themselves that they didn't notice her before. "Are you alright?" they asked simultaneously. "No," Twilight sighed, "I'm not. Obviously." She rolled her eyes then stared at them again. "What are you do--" they watched in shock as Twilight's eyes rolled to the back of her head, her mouth staying agape. She held this pose for what seemed like the longest time before going back to normal minus the fact that she was eyes full of tears and she seemed to be breathing heavier like she had been holding her breath the entire time. The two unicorns couldn't tell if both noticeable signs were from the pain that must have come from that experience, or something else. Minuette took a hesitant step forward, cocking her head to the right just so. "Are...you sure...?" Twilight looked at them, wide eyed and through a new light. She, too, took a step forward, the green substance on her horn moving with her, making a squelching noise. "Minuette?" She gasped, "Twinkleshine?" "Uuhhhh...yeah..." Twinkleshine said uneasily, "seriously, Twi, what's wrong? Why are you acting so weird? And why are you trapped in a cocoon, like Moondancer?" She shook her head to clear the confusion and, when that didn't work, stood on her hind legs and placed her forehooves on either side of her head. "What in Equestria is going on here?!" She yelled, to which minuette flinched and signaled her to calm down. She got back on all fours and laughed nervously. "Sorry," she said, "didn't mean to freak out like that." "It's okay" Twilight smiled, "I would probably freak out, too, if I were in your hooves." She sighed and began to tell her friends what had happened. From yesterday morning to thirty minutes agao, and they seemed to drink it up, only asking the occasional question. "...and that's why I'm stuck in this...thing now." She finished. Her ears had folded back and she had sat down during her tale, along with the others. "I just need to get out of this soon as possible to help Spike again. I have no idea where Chrysalis went, or why she changed into me, or--" "Twilight," Minuette called, trying to get her attention. "Twilight, calm down," she said, "it'll be okay; just let us know what we can do, and we'll do it." Twilight smiled, grateful for the offer and loving that she decided to rekindle the friendship with her Canterlot friends last year. "Can you get me out of this?" She asked them. "Except that." Twinkleshine responded, looking from Twilight to Minuette then back again. "we tried with Moondancer; i-it didn't..didn't work." Twilight sighed, tried to think of another solution. Her ears perked up, suddenly, as she heard a noise come from somewhere in the back; it sounded like glass shattering, quickly followed by heavy hoofsteps. "Quick, go get Spike and the others," Twilight instructed hurriedly, nervously looking over her shoulder to estimate how much time they had to get out of the house. "Tell him where I am. He'll know what to do." The hoofsteps sounded louder and heavier, a shadow appeared on the west side wall. "Go! Get out of here!" She whisper-yelled, "get before they see you!" That seemed to get the message through that she was done. They quickly saluted her, though she felt that wasn't exactly necessary, and escaped right before the pony who broke in came around the corner. Twilight breathed a breath of relief and waited anxiously to see who would appear. She didn't have to wait for very long. RescueRainbow tried for the 500th time since she was in there to get free of the ties the bound her from flying up to the trap door. She was still recovering from trying to parkour up there for the 499th and the tight ropes were starting to irritate the bruises she had earned. She stopped, hearing a sudden thud on the top of her box. "Hello?" She called out, hearing no reply in return. "Hellooooooo?" She perked her ears up as high as they could go, trying to catch just the tiniest sound she could. Still nothing. "Listen, creepy filly-napper man," she warned, "if you're trying to scare me, you got another thing coming! The second I get out of here, I'm gonna bust your chops so hard--" The hatch above her opened and Rarity's face peered in, slightly swaying from left to right as she looked inside. "Rainbow Dash?" "Rarity?!" Rainbow cheered in a mix of happiness and disbelief. "How did you manage to--" "Shhhhh!" Rarity whispered, "keep your voice down, Rainbow. You don't want your only chance of freedom to go back to that stuffy prison cell, do you?" She raised her head a bit, smiled, still trying to keep her body on balance. "That said, I'm ever so glad to see you again. Hurry up and fly out of there before I pass out again." Rainbow motioned at the ropes. "Can't really do that." She said. Rarity leaned in again and squinted, seeing the tight material that had Rainbow stuck to the ground. "Oh, dear me." She muttered, "my troubled eyes must be making it hard for me to see." "Are...you alright?" Rainbow asked her. "I'm fine." Rarity answered. "Just not used to exerting my magic this much, is all." She closed her eyes and tried to relax her self a little, as the stress of getting caught was making her exhausted as well. "Hold still, Rainbow," she said, opening her eyes again. Rainbow sat and felt the ropes loosen around her torso, one coming in view every so often wrapped in a weak version of Rarity's aura. The second Rarity was done, Rainbow dashed out of the blue, boxy prison and landed at Rarity's side. "Where to next?" She asked, closing the hatch. Rarity went to the edge, trying to see if she could see another room such as hers and Rainbow's. "I'm terribly sorry, Rainbow," she said with distraught. "My i can hardly see a thing with how bad my eyes are right now. Do you think you could look over this way and see if you could find a--" "It's dark pink." Rainbow interrupted, already hovering in the air. She had copied Rarity before hand. She looked down at her then over at Pinkie's box. "Do you want me to go and get her while you rest?" Rainbow asked. "Maybe I could get Fluttershy and Applejack, too, if they're trapped here. We could all meet here so you won't have to wear yourself out so much. Rarity smiled at the speed demon, already lying down. "Your sure you don't mind?" Rainbow flexed her wings. "Positive." "If you're certain." Rarity yawned. "Just be cautious and careful. Who knows if..or when that villain will trap us again." Rainbow nodded, about to fly away. She then stopped herself and looked at Rarity with concern. "What if, while I'm gone--" Rarity had already dozed off. Rainbow decided to stop talking, as to not accidentally wake her friend. If she's not here when I get back with Pinkie, Rainbow thought, I guess I'll have to look in her box, too. Didn't This Happen Before?A holey black leg came into view, followed by it's buggy owner. Chrysalis was glaring at something down the hall, Twilight assuming the room she had crashed into. Chrysalis ruffled her tattered wings and focused her attention on Twilight and the room surrounding the alicorn. "My dear, sweet child," She crooned, trying to lure Twilight into a false sense of comfort, "I just happened to hear voices as I flew in and am curious to know..." her voice changed from gentle and sweet to brittle and commanding without pause. "Who were you talking to just now?" "I--I---uh..." "And where are they?" Chrysalis continued, looking around the room wildly. "Did they escape before I came? Or are they hiding out somewhere?" She paused and eyed Twilight suspiciously. "Were they... friends of yours, coming to visit?" Twilight could feel sweat rolling down the sides of her face and her heart rate increase. Why am I so scared of her? She thought to herself. She doesn't have her massive bug army, like she did last time... She closed her eyes to regain her composure then looked Chrysalis in the eye. "Friends?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "That's ridiculous. Why would I ever waste my time on something as stupid as making friends?" Chrysalis pulled back, pleased with this answer. "Must be in my head again..." she grumbled to herself quietly before walking over to stand guard at the door. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, letting herself relax. Suddenly, the green bubble around her dissolved and the princess was hit by an agonizingly painful ray of magic. Once the spell was over, she blinked and looked around her old home. She smiled to herself and stood up, but once she saw Chrysalis in her home, she shrunk away. "Who are you?" She asked fearfully, "and what are you doing in my home?" The key clattered to the floor, making a racket in the otherwise dead-silent castle. The trio shared the same expression of shock and disappointment as their eyes covered her bedroom time and time again. That was it; the imposter left them with no clue of where she was going. Spike's ears folded down for a brief second before popping back up. "We need a map." He said finally, entering her room. "A map?" Sweetie asked as she followed him. "She could be anywhere in Equestria by now. Hay, she could even be down there, in the town, disguised as somepony else." "True." Spike replied, reaching past a couple different books and potions on Twilight's desk. He pulled out an orangeish yellow one and showed it to the two. "That's why this will help us out." Scootaloo's eyes widened and she dashed downstairs. Spike gave a quizzical look in her direction, but decided to shake it off and open up the concoction. "What's it do?" Sweetie asked. "It'll help us spot changelings in disguise." He answered. Sweetie still looked a little befuddled. "Zecora wanted Twilight to test it out a couple weeks ago," he explained, "so Twilight went down to the Crystal Empire and tried it out, cause there was rumors of Changelings being there. Turns out, there was two, so she sent them back to their hive." Sweetie nodded and took the bottle out of his claws using her magic. Scootaloo came back up the stairs and set a magenta potion on the side of Twi's desk, then watched as Sweetie popped the cork out and drank a couple sips of the elixir. Her pupils tripled in size by the time she removed the bottle from her mouth and she blinked several times to try and get them to go back to normal. "It's supposed to do that." Spike supplied helpfully, "see anything different?" "Yeah..." Sweetie said, her voice overridden with amazement. "I can...I can see where she went. Like-like watching a movie on rewind." Spike grabbed the bottle out of her magic hold and tried to find the label on it. "Did I grab the right one...?" He muttered to himself. "Me next!" Scootaloo cheered, plucking the mixture out of his claw with her mouth. She took a couple sips then held it out for Spike to take. Her pupils tripled in size, too and she watched Chrysalis escape on repeat as well. Spike drank the last of it and put it aside, next to the magenta concoction. His pupils grew and he watched the buggy queen, with a nearly transparent copy of the princess over her doing the same movements she was doing, enter the room in a slowed down hurry and grab whatever she had left on the bed, then fly out the window, only to stop for a moment to see a portion of the bed sheet had gone through one of the many holes in her leg. She rolled her eyes and used her magic to get it off, then flew away in a slightly panicked frenzy. The scene started to repeat itself, but Spike looked away as he had already seen enough. "I guess we just follow her ghost." He shrugged. He turned towards the door and took a step back at the second potion on the desk. "Ohmigosh, I forgot all about this!" He cried, quickly cradling it in his claws. "I guess we got so wrapped up in trying to help Twilight, that we didn't even use it." Scootaloo nodded solemnly. Sweetie, meanwhile, was trying to figure out what the vial did, and why it was such a big deal. "Uhhh...what's it do, exactly?" She asked. "It was supposed to help Twilight gt her memory back" Spike said, leading the way out of the castle, "but since we forgot about it, something bad could happen. Or, if not, it could at least her get her full memory back instead of just bits and pieces." He looked down at the vial with slightly broken hope, watching the changeling ghost out of the corner of his eye. "...I hope..." What's Happening in Canterlot?"Thought you could fool me?" Chrysalis sneered as she closed in on the frightened and clueless alicorn. "We knew that spell would wear off eventually. We just wanted to make sure it hadn't already." "Huh?" Twilight asked, backing away from the frighting villain. "Wh-what spell? Who are you? What are you talking about?" "That's the downside of this spell," Chrysalis grimaced, "All the questions." "Where's Spike?" Twilight continued, oblivious to Chrysalis' words, "I need him to help me look up something. Something important. If I can't get the news to Celestia, there's a possibility that the state of Equestria could hang in the balance!" Chrysalis smiled. "You keep living in your strange little fantasy, Twilight." She walked towards the staircase and laid down, eyes on the alicorn at all times. "I'm so happy I can watch this unfold off-hoof. I wanted to do it before but," she shrugged, "too risky." Twilight watched the intruder as she moved and talked cautiously, wondering if this pony with holes all over it was a possible threat or not. "Watch what..?" She fired up her magic, "you do realize you're an intruder, right? I might as well call the royal guards and have you evicted from my home..." "You invited me in, though." Chrysalis lied, "remember? And my relationship with the royal guards goes way back..." It technically did. "Really?" "Yes, really." "You don't look like anypony I've ever seen..." Chrysalis fought the urge to roll her eyes at the alicorn's current gullibility. "I know, I'm awfully special, aren't I." She said sarcastically. Twilight eyed her for a few seconds longer than the queen was comfortable with. She finally straitened, fluffing her wings. "I don't completely trust you, but you're the only source I have at the moment, so you're off the hook." She paused, eyeing the buggy queen again. "For now." Using her magic, Twilight grabbed a broom and threw it at Chrysalis without a second thought, then trotted forward in an attempt to get up the stairs to her studies. "Could you help me clean this place up? I asked Spike to do it before I left, but I guess he's skipping out on his duties." Chrysalis, knowing she put herself in this situation, but offended nonetheless, decided to take her annoyance out by messing with the current bimbo that was with her. "Why don't you just fly up?" She called, then started sweeping as if she had said nothing at all. The hoofsteps dawdled, then slowly came to a stop all together. A pause. "I HAVE WINGS?!" The train arrived at Canterlot, though the ride there seemed to take an eternity or longer. Spike, Sweetie, and Scootaloo were the first ones off and were nearly at Canterlot's town square before half of the other passengers were off the ride. Skidding to a stop, The three watched Chrysaghost glide overhead towards a familiar castle in the distance. He nodded to himself and ran west, the others following. "Whoa...." Scootaloo breathed, "is..that where you used to live?" "Yeah." Spike said, "the castle in Ponyville is kind of an upgrade but it's kind of a down-grade, too." Before Scootaloo could ask what he meant, two mares came over to the small group, somewhat breathless. "There you are," Minuette said between trying to catch her breath, "We've been looking all over Canterlot for you, Spike." Spike scrunched his nose in confusion. "Me? Why?" "Because Twilight..." Twinkleshine looked both directions, as if she were nervous they were being spied on. The next couple sentences she said sent a bone chilling tingle all over his tiny body. "Twilight's in danger, Spike. There's somepony in her home. She sent us off to find you." Eyes wide, Spike looked up again at Chrysaghost, heading towards the old home. He didn't know why he didn't think much of it before, maybe it was the old adrenaline rushing through, making his brain foggy and unfocused, or maybe it was shreds of hope that still clung to him, clouding his sense of reality. The new burst of traumatizing stress that was now bolting through his veins smacked the hope away temporally- long enough for him to realize what exactly was wrong with the whole scenario. "Sweet Celestia!" He cried, drawing attention from the local Canterlot snobs, "Chrysalis is the one in her home!" "Chrysalis is back?!" Several bystanders screamed. They didn't wait for Spike to confirm it and instead started running around like chickens with their heads chopped off in a type of blind panic. "Where's Celestia?!" One maroon stallion shouted. "She'll know what to do!" Another mare added. "Let's all go and demand she banish this villain from Equestria for eternity!" The maroon stallion directed. "But how will we know she's not a changeling?" Another stallion asked, "how do I know you're all not changelings..?" As the chaos and fighting continued, the two mares, foals, and dragon snuck away unseen. "Oh, cleaning crew~?" Twilight called from her studies. Chrysalis grimaced, mentally cursing the clueless alicorn for-- she didn't even know how many times--in that hour. She marched up the steps, blatantly irritated. She had tried to tell Twilight that she wasn't a cleaning mare a couple orders ago, but Twilight didn't seem to be letting it go, for reasons unknown. "I told you before," Chrysalis growled, "I'm not here to clean. I'm your guest." Twilight stared at her blankly, a small smirk growing across her muzzle. "But I don't recognize you." She stated, "when did we meet?" Chrysalis scoffed. "I don't know--" "--So we're not friends!" Twilight interrupted. "It was so long ago I can hardly remember." The queen finished. Twilight eyed her again, but went back to looking at the Mare in the Moon book. "If I apparently invited you in," she said, "and I have a nearly perfect photographic memory, so I don't know why I don't remember that, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." "I don't think you understand what's going on here." Chrysalis jeered. "There are enemies that are trying to harm you..I'm keeping you safe. You can trust me, I promise you, I'm telling you the honest truth." The lies slipped off of her tongue like turpentine. "Oh?" Twilight asked, stepping away from her pedestal, keeping a fair distance between her and the villain. "Because I don't think you're telling me the truth at all." What Exactly Caused All This? [Backstory; 15-12]When Chrysalis attacked, it seemed like another ordinary one-versus-six type of thing. A quick blast from the violent, reforming rainbow they summon when battling baddies and she'd be gone again; only to return six months later with yet another battle plan. It was obvious that without her changeling army, now under the rule of King Thorax, she was practically useless against the mares. This time. This time was different. Definitely different. The whole scenario started out with Spike leaving for the day to go and help Ember with a current dragon problem she didn't know how to handle. "I'll be back by the end of the day", he had promised his guardian as he boarded the train, "and I'll try to remember to bring you that lava rock sample you wanted." Rainbow and Twilight waved goodbye to him as the train left the station until said train was out of sight. The cyan pegasus then turned to the lavender alicorn, saying something about how she was starving and wanted to grab a hayburger before heading back to the castle. Aside from this, all of Twilight's senses were focused on some type of - what could only be described as a black blob - contrasting with the nice light blue sky the pegasi had prepared for the week. "Uh..." Rainbow waved a hoof in front of her face, trying to get her attention. "...Twi...?" She looked at her friend with concern, trying to see what she was staring at. Luckily, it didn't take long; pointing a hoof at the menacing shapeless blob, she screamed "what in Equestria is that?!" Around them, a couple townsponies that overheard them glanced upward, their gaze stuck once caught on the mysterious sky blob. They seemed fretful, some huddling around each other as a type of protection. Once Twilight saw and heard them cowering in fear, her neutral face turned into a frown. "What is it?" "What does it mean?" Cries came out from different directions, now more ponies around the train station than before, trying to see if anypony else knew what it was. "Princess Twilight will know!" Somepony cried out. She remembered that voice from about a year ago and attempted to hide a scowl; she decided she didn't like this pony who repeatedly brought unwanted attention to her. Nevertheless, ponies gathered around the station area where Twilight and Rainbow stood, questions galore shooting out at them. "Is our world ending!?" "Is it the end times?!" "Is this the start of the apocalypse?" "Did I leave my oven on?" All eyes turned towards Angel Wings, who took the day off from Wonderbolt training due to a sprained wing. "What?" She asked, "it's an important question!" Rainbow nudged Twilight in the side, motioning upwards with her head. "Ahh." Twilight muttered, getting the message. "Uhm... I understand that this.. object? Is threatening by it's appearance, so Rainbow and I will fly up and investigate." She spread her wings, eyes still on the crowd, and flew up, Rainbow close behind her. She could hear cheers for her bravery, but she mainly just did it because she was curious herself--not that she'd actually say that out loud, of course. "Whaddya think it is?" Rainbow asked, catching up easily. Twilight shrugged; best she could. "I don't really know; there's a number of theories floating around in my brain." Rainbow slowed down, still facing her friend. "Oh, really?" She dodged a blue jay, "like what?" "Well, it could be a type of UFO with aliens from another land. I've heard of these strange ones--fives tiny hooves attached to a larger hoof, they don't have any fur except on top of their heads-- and even some don't have any there. They walk on two legs instead of the usual fo-" "Your describing humans, aren't you?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah." "You've been through that portal multiple times." "Yeah, but I still don't understaAAAAAAH!" A weird aura grabbed Twilight by the middle just then and pulled her inside the UFO. It took Rainbow a second to recover from shock, but she eventually started pounding on the blueish blackish crystal with all her might. "Let go of my friend, you crazy, filly-napping machine!!" The arm started to go after her. Alarmed, she dashed away in search of the other four. "Is that what that thing is?" Pinkie asked; beside her was Applejack, Fluttershy, Starlight and Rarity, Rainbow had just finished frantically filling them in on what happened. She had a hot air balloon ready for those without wings and, after answering a couple clarifying questions, they were off towards the floating crystal, Rainbow pulling the balloon as Fluttershy once did to save her from Discord's curse. It was no use, though. The aura grabbed them all, rendering them motionless, bringing them inside the contraption. They don't remember much after that. Just that they were dropped inside their tiny boxes and the crystal ship moving so fast that they all got slammed against a wall and knocked unconscious. Spike came back at the end of the day, as promised. He was shocked to discover Twilight went to bed early [there was a note on the door from Big Mac saying he found her in the middle of the street passed out, maybe from exhaustion, and decided to bring her home]. Nevertheless, he placed the lava rocks that he had gathered in a small bag in a corner by his room and, him exhausted himself, passed out on his little cot. Only to be awoken eight hours later by a ground shaking cry of his name. You Finally Figured it Out?Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Why Are[n't] You Freaking Out?Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.EscapeShe opened her eyes and staggered to her hooves, half terrified that whomever had put her in the dreadful place would do it again while she was unconscious. It filled her with delight to see that she was still on top of things--both literally and metaphorically--and looked around to try and see where she was. Inky blackness surrounded her for miles. The ceiling she walked on was probably 6 feet in each direction, yet the room she was in seemed smaller. She approached the edge and squinted, hoping to see if there was some way out of the place, or to see if she could find a box that the rest of her friends were held captive in. As she squinted her eyes and leaned forward ever so slightly, she somehow saw a navy blue box on what she supposed was the horizon. "Don't you worry, Rainbow Dash." At least, she assumed it was Rainbow Dash. "I'm going to set all of us free." With that, she fired up her horn and vanished in a blink of light. Celestia struggled and strained against the tight ropes that bound her to the ground. She knew she had seen a somewhat clear view of the lowlife's face before they had taken her, but all she could say fr certain was that, whomever it was, had horns. She would have used her magic to get out of the dank prison cell a long time ago. In fact, she did, once, but a horrendous device had electrocuted her to points of unimaginable pain, knocking her unconscious. When she awoke, she was back where she started. Nevertheless, she kept trying to put on a fight, even if she was incapable of moving. "You're going to waste your energy, you know..." The scoundrel taunted, "why don't you save your energy, huh? Here. Have something to eat." She heard the door open and a plate skidded across the floor; she looked up in time to see the light show just the tiniest bit of their face; enough to recognize them. She gasped, collapsed to the ground, hitting the plate just right so the food went flying to the other side of the room. "Tirek." She breathed, hardly paying any attention to her lost supper; she didn't even care. All she wanted to know was how he had escaped. Where am I?"SPIIIIKE!!!" Twilight yelled, waking the baby dragon. Though he was upset to be woken up and unable to sleep until noon as he always did, he recognized it as a scream of help and rushed over to Twilight's room. The moment he steeped into her doorway, he saw her tangled up in her bedsheets, on her back, and on the floor. Seeing the normally cautious and organized mare in such a runt made him attempt to suppress a laugh. Twilight raised an upside-down eyebrow and huffed. "Little help?" She asked in a very annoyed tone. The little dragon vaguely recognized that tone; she hadn't used it in such a long time. He hurriedly rushed in and grabbed a loose sheet corner that was by Twilight's tail. He gave it a yank, and the sheets somehow came loose, freeing the alicorn in the process. She offered him a smile yet nothing else beyond that. Instead, she headed toward her door and paused. "Spike?" She asked. "Yes?" He replied; slightly annoyed she hadn't thanked him yet, or apologized for waking him up. She turned around to face him, cocked her head slightly. "Where am I?" "What do you mean?" He placed a claw on his hip, wondering if she was messing with him. She looked around, clearly confused. She took a step towards him and repeated the question. "Where am I? When I went to bed last night, I was in Canterlot. Now I'm in this overly bright and shiny.....what is it, exactly? A mansion or something?" Spike couldn't believe his ears. Why was Twilight taking this act so far? He just didn't seem to see the funny side of it, but laughed nonetheless to get her to quit it. "Very funny, Twi." He said, "you had me there for a second. I must say, your acting skills are getting a whole lot better. I take it Pinkie's lessons are paying off?" "Who's Pinkie?" Twilight asked, more confused than ever. Spike rolled his eyes and walked past the puzzled alicorn. "It's not funny anymore," he mumbled, "I'm going to go make breakfast. Do you want to help me?" "No, I'm good," she responded, "could you at least point me to the library in this place?" Spike stopped in his tracks. Twilight might take a joke a bit to far every now and then, but she would know she should stop once one told her it wasn't funny anymore. That, and she'd never-ever in her life-joke about a library. He turned around, concern etched on his face. "You don't know where the castle library is?" He asked. "Oh, we're in a castle?" Twilight asked as she looked up at the ceiling, "I should have known from its inside design and structure. Then again, I haven't stepped hoof outside of this room." "You really don't know who Pinkie Pie is or where you are?" Spike continued, ignoring her comment. "Does the name 'Rarity' ring a bell? Or 'Rainbow Dash' or 'Applejack'?" The poor guy was starting to panic, his voice rising and becoming faster with each word. Twilight gave a simple shake of her head, sending him in to absolute fear. "Ooooooooooh," he mumbled, anxiously hoping from foot to foot. "This is bad. This is really bad...." Not knowing what else to do, he threw his head back and screamed for some help. "STARLIIIIIIIGGHT!" He ran down the hallway as quick as he could, faintly hearing Twilight's snarky reply behind him ("The stars won't answer you, Spike! They can't talk!"). Once he reached her door, he knocked urgently, barging in after a few seconds passed. He knew it was rude, but he needed some help and hoped--maybe--she knew how to fix whatever had happened. There was only one problem, though. She wasn't there. Her bed, neatly made with no wrinkles, was 'destroyed' in seconds, as he thought maybe she was under the covers or the bed itself. The small, neat vanity Rarity had given her was a mess as soon as Spike got near it. There were some posters hanging on the wall that Spike glanced over to see if she was hiding in there, but it was to no avail. He slumped down against the door frame, not knowing what else to do. He felt defeated for only a moment, to say the least, before his stomach growled with hunger. Breakfast! He thought happily, she could be making breakfast for us! She had got into a habit of getting up earlier than the two just to make breakfast for them. Spike hopped downstairs, full of new hope, as he smelt scrambled gems and fresh daisies with grass; the favorite breakfast of the two that only Starlight knew how to make perfectly. What he saw though, made his hope sink to Equestria's core. Twilight was standing next to the stove, flipping the gems every now and then with her magic, hungrily eyeing the fresh daisies, grass, and lettuce. From what he could tell, Starlight was nowhere in the castle. He'd have to check most of the many castle rooms once breakfast was over. He sighed for the umpteenth time that morning. It'd probably be better if I went and asked one of the other mares he thought as Twilight levitated the gems over to him on a plate. She sat down, immediately started chewing on the grass. Spike pushed his plate away from him, the small scarping sound catching Twilight's attention. "Are you okay?" She asked him. "I'm fine," he said with a weak smile, trying to hide his disappointment in not finding Starlight, "I guess I'm just not hungry." His stomach proved him wrong by growling loudly. Twilight gave him a look and pushed the gems back to him. He frowned at his stomach, cursing it in his mind, then wolfed the gems down. Twilight smiled, staring on her lettuce. Spike, meanwhile, got out of the chair, pushed it in, and headed towards the door. Twilight didn't notice him, thankfully, or, if she did, she didn't say anything. He was going to try and see if any of her friends knew what to do. The closest mare was Pinkie Pie. Where Are They?He was so close to heading outside when a scream ripped through the castle, followed by his name urgently being called. He huffed, wishing she would give him enough time to get help, and ran back to the kitchen. "Twilight! What's wrong?" He asked, fearing the worst. Though he didn't see any fire or burglars in the room, he did see the frightened mare staring at her now open wings; ones she hadn't opened all day--until this moment. "Why do I have wings?!" She shrieked, not taking her eyes off them. "Are they an optical illusion? A hologram? A prank? Spike, was this one of your childish pranks?" She grabbed his shoulders and shook him, her eyes dilated to the size of pinpricks. "Please tell me it was one of your childish pranks!" Spike blinked, not exactly sure how to respond. "Uhhh..." He said as he stared at the frenzied alicorn. After a moment passed, he shrugged uselessly. She groaned and let go of him, started to pace. "I knew it would be no use asking him..." she mumbled to herself, "but I thought he would give me an idea of why..." The baby dragon watched her mumble and pace until he was sure she was in her own little world (which wasn't long), then slipped out the door, closing it soundlessly behind him. Even though the sun was out, it was still freezing outside. He glanced up at some of the pegasi who were trying to get the breeze the perfect temperature then continued on his way. Sugarcube Corner was only a block or two away; it was a path he had traveled down so many times before that he hardly had to have his eyes open to see where he was going. He should have kept them open, though. One moment, he was on his two feet, the next he was tumbling down to earth. Dazed, but not hurt, he looked behind him and saw a rock that was sticking out of the ground had tripped him. Grumbling to himself and the rock (though he knew it was ridiculous to do so), he stood up and brushed himself off. "Y'all alright, Spike?" A young, familiar voice asked. Spike turned his head to see Apple Bloom looking at him with concern, her saddlebags on, the normal hustle of the monthly farmers market going on behind her. If Apple Bloom's still here... Spike thought happily once he saw her, then Applejack should be here as well! Apple Bloom's eyes widened as she looked off to the side then back at the dragon. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he was staring at her and it was starting to creep her out. "Uh...Spike?" She asked after a good minute of silence passed. Spike shook his head, as if getting out of deep thought. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." He scratched his head sheepishly, looking at the ground. "Was I staring into space?" Apple Bloom nodded. "Sorry about that..." "It's fine," Apple Bloom sighed, "hey, have ya seen Applejack anywhere? She promised yesterday she'd help me with mah apple buckin' skill--or lack of one--but ah didn't see her anywhere in the house this mornin." It was the fillies turn to look at the ground as she absently kicked a pebble out of the way. "Ah thought, maybe she'd be in town square up an early, or be over at Twi's er somethin'." "Wait...Applejack's gone, too?" Apple Bloom tilted her head, confused by Spike's question. "What do ya mean by that?" She asked, "Is Twi gone, too?" "No." Spike said, then after some thought, changed his answer. "I mean yes. I mean--" he scoffed at himself and hung his head, wondering how to explain it without getting the filly worked up more than she was. "It's complicated, I guess. She's still there, but...." he bit his lip, knowing that truth was a good way to go yet not sure how to continue. "Her memory isn't...?" Apple Bloom's eyes widened again, clearly alarmed by the new information. "TWILIGHT LOST--" "Her spell book!" Spike quickly said to the surrounding ponies as he clamped a claw over the filly's mouth. Forcing a laugh, he took his claw off her face and shook his head with a smile. "Who knows how long it'll take to find it? It's driving her insane." The filly gave him an irritated look, but went with it nonetheless. "Yer right, Spike," she said loudly to anypony still listening, "let's head ta Sugar Cube Corner an see if Pinkie mistook it as a bakin' book." She then started to push Spike towards the bakery, he soon started to walk beside her. "Why would Pinkie mistake the spell book as a baking book?" Lyra Heartstrings asked her best friend, Bon Bon once they left the strawberry stand. Bon Bon shrugged, guiding them both towards the asparagus stand. "Pinkie mistakes a lot of things for a lot of things." She said simply, "it was bound to happen one of these days." It was obvious to Spike and Bloom that the bake shop was falling behind on orders. A long, snake-like line trailed out of the shop and ponies all over-front, back and middle- where starting to grow impatient, angry shouts rose from all over. "I ordered a pie ten minutes ago!" Pokey Pierce yelled, shaking a hoof in the air. "My cake was supposed to be finished by now!" Lemon Drops added. "I just came here for a blueberry shake!" Filthy Rich scowled, "I didn't want to wait in line for half the day! I'm a very busy stallion!" Apple Bloom and Spike ducked out of view of the irritated ponies and slipped inside, where the scene was ten times worse. Pound and Pumpkin Cake where wailing they're little heads off, Mr. Cake trying his best to shush them up and take orders, while Mrs. Cake was frantically cooking and serving the goodies. The school filly walked up to the counter to talk to the Cakes, Spike close behind. "Hey!" Sassaflash growled at the two the moment they reached the counter, "no cutting! You two go back to the line and wait like the rest of us." "Oh, don't worry, we will soon," Spike assured, "we just...have a delivery to pick up, is all." Sassaflash brought her head down so she could be eye-to-eye with the dragon. She scowled and pushed her nose up to his. "Like I said," she hissed, "get. In. Line." Spike backed up and glanced at the line, shocked to know it was a simple pick up line for the orders. He wondered why the Cakes hadn't filled them out before hand. Apple Bloom got in front of Spike, looking quite upset somepony had talked to one of her friends like that. "You do know he's the assistant to Princess Twilight Sparkle, right?" She retaliated. Sassaflash stood tall again, looking slightly confused. "Yeah? So?" "So, ah recommend y'all don't talk ta him like that. Unless, a course, you want to bring the whole thing up to Twilight or even Celestia herself." Sassaflash's expression changed from confused to worried in a heartbeat. She mumbled an apology and attempted to take a step back, running into the pony behind her. Apple Bloom smiled gratefully and turned towards the counter, started ringing the bell. Mr. Cake noticed immediately and silenced the bell with a gentle tap. "Uh..yes..Apple Bloom?" He asked nervously. "Is Pinkie Pie here?" Spike asked, stepping forward. "We need to talk to her; it's kind of super important." Mrs. Cake, who was coming out of the kitchen carrying a tray of cupcakes in her mouth, set them on the counter and faced the two. "If she was here," she said, "this place wouldn't be as hectic." She picked up the cupcakes and carried them to Sassaflash, who was off to a vacant table once the tray was in her mouth. "I don't know how Pinkie does it," Mr. Cake said while shaking his head, "her constant energy, while a bit annoying at times, is the perfect thing we need to keep this place from reaching...well...this state." Spike furrowed his brow, while Apple Bloom raised hers. "Was she in her room?" "We checked." Mr Cake deadpanned, "She wasn't under her bed, or on the ceiling, or under the covers, though that's uncommon for her. Gummy was on the bed, but he was freaking out." "How?" Spike asked, "doesn't he usually just stare blankly into nothingness?" Carrot Cake nodded, about to explain, but Shoeshine barged her way past the filly and dragon, a very threatening look on her face. Luckily, Cup Cake came back from taking some other orders from the long line and happened to hear Spike's question. "When Pinkie's around, yes," she answered, "but it's not internal freaking out, like she says her sister does. He was running around the bed sheet, tearing it up, throwing the stuffing out of it...stuff he does when Pinkie's not here. Trust us, we've seen it before." Apple Bloom and Spike exchanged a look, wondering what they should do now. "Could....we see...?" Bloom asked uncertainly. "Oh, heavens, no!" Carrot Cake's eyes widened as he spoke. "He tried to escape once we came near him. If--I mean--when Pinkie comes back, we don't want her to be upset and leave again to find her precious alligator! Who knows how long she'll be gone?" "A day?" Spike shrugged. "Do ya know when Pinkie'll be back?" Carrot shook his head, taking the bits from Shoeshine. "Who knows? Months, perhaps, or maybe just a week..." Spike and Apple Bloom lowered they're heads with a small groan. "Thanks anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Cake." Spike offered. "Good luck with the orders." "What about Applejack?" Apple Bloom asked as Spike turned to leave. "Has she been by here?" Carrot shrugged, finally calming the babies down. "Not that I know of," he said, "she could be somewhere in line, though." She stared at him, blinked, not sure how else to react. "Oh." She said after she realized she'd been staring for a bit too long; she was about to turn away and leave without so much as a 'thank you' when an idea stopped her in her tracks. She turned around, gleaming with pride. "Hey!" She exclaimed, "can ah help with the orders? Pinkie, AJ an Granny Smith taught me a thing er two in the world a cookin'. I'd be a great 'replacement'! That is--until Pinkie gets back." Mr. Cake thought about the idea, his hoof to his chin and his eyes wandering to the ceiling. After a good minute or two of possible pros and cons flying about in his head (the worst being the place burning down), he realized the list shared much resemblance to Pinkie's and nothing bad has happened with her so far--besides the fact that she went and disapeered, but that wasn't exactly on the list. "I don't see why not," he answered, "long as you don't burn the place down," he added with a chuckle. "Ah'm sure ah won't!" She cheered, rushing into the kitchen, surprising Mrs. Cake, then immediately started to help the anxious baker. Spike didn't notice. How could he? He was already out the door. He was already halfway to Rarity's. Twilight was still freaking out about her wings. She had, on multiple instances, tried to pull them off with her wings and had been greeted with pain. She had tried to look for her scientific studies journal, yet it was nowhere in sight. Neither was Spike. She had waited so, so long for him to come back, but her patience was was running thin. She looked at the time; he had slipped out two hours ago. She had called for him again, after she was done pacing and talking to herself, but when he didn't run to her aid, she figured he must be ignoring her or escaped at one point or another. She was furious for an hour afterward. The alicorn looked at the time again; it had only changed by a minute. She looked at the door; the knob didn't turn and nopony--or dragon was coming through. With a frustrated sigh, she scrawled a quick note on a stray, empty scroll that she found among the many others in Spike's room (it had taken a while, but she had finally figured out where it was located), and used a sticky spell to stick it on the outside of the door. After she was done, she ran towards what she assumed was the town hall; it seemed to be the largest building there. Maybe somepony could help her better than Spike--help her know where she was, for example, or how she got there. Or--maybe, just maybe, somepony could help her find a way back.
Are You Insane?Lily, Rose, and Daisy stared in shock as Twilight Sparkle drew near. The princess that lived in Ponyville and the trio adored, like all other ponies, was coming directly they're way. "What do we do?" Rose asked nervously, prancing in place, "do we move out of the way? Do we smile and wave? Should we just pretend like she isn't--" Rose was greeted with a hard slap across the face. Once she recovered, she stared at Daisy venomously, not saying a word. "What?" Daisy asked innocently, "you wouldn't want the princess to see you acting like that, would you?" Rose pondered the thought for a brief second, looking away. "Fair point," she said, right as the princess stopped in front of them. She began to shake nervously while Daisy and Lily played it cool. "Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you where I am?" Twilight asked, making sure to look at all three. The three mares exchanged a look, wondering if it was some kind of strange test or joke Twilight had come up with that she wanted to try out on different ponies. Lily gave out a nervous laugh and nudged Daisy, who nuged Rose, they were soon all aughing nervously, wondeing what else to do. Twilight looked at them curiously, wondering what she had said that was so funny. "Um....why are you laughing?" She asked, feeling the tiniest bit hurt. Daisy shut up immediately, Rose and Lily following suit. Rose seemed to starstruck at the moment to form words, Lily was simply too shy, so Daisy decided to talk for all three of them. "We thought you were joking," she said simply, "you've lived in this town for, what, two years now?" Lily and Rose nodded their approval, looking concerned for the young princess. Twilight's eyes dilated down, ears folding back. Small droplets of sweat began to appear on her brow, which she used her magic to wipe off. "T-two years?" She asked, obviously trying to not freak out. "Y-your joking! This is all some sort of p-p-prank set up by S-spike, right? Please tell me I'm right." The mares exchanged worried glances again, not exactly sure on what to say. "I-i-is this a test...?" Rose mumbled after a while. Twilight's eyes widened, suddenly at a lose for words. She shook her head, knowing her mouth was hanging open. It was at that moment the mares realized all the questions Twilight was asking them were serious. The mare sincerely didn't know where she was or how long she had lived in Ponyville. Rose put her hoof to her forehead, raising her eyes to the sky. "The horror! THE HORROR!" She cried before fainting to an unconscious heap on Equestria's soil. Daisy and Lily joined her, forcing a bewildered and more confused than ever Twilight to move onto her next victim, not before a blinding flash of light interrupted her. A herd of bunnies trampled through the strange town, causing havoc for ponies everywhere. There was a cry from somewhere off in the distance, to witch Twilight's attention was immanently drawn too. "It was awful!" The mare with a lily in her mane exclaimed, two other mares by her side. She fell to the earth with a soft thump. "Terrible", the green-mained mare added in the exact same level of terror lily-maned mare had used, "Absolutely terrible!" She, too, fainted, meeting the ground just as the other mare had. An off-white mare fell with the green mared mare, only to awaken for all but two seconds and yell "The horror! The horror!" She fell unconscious again as a small group of bunnies that had broken apart from the herd hopped, scampered, and leaped over the three fallen ponies. Twilight blinked, looked around, wondering if anypony else had seen what she saw. Yet, there were no bunnies, or ponies running around blindly, or tiny bunny bite marks on the surrounding plants. She was extremely confused as to what had happened and considered asking somepony, but figured they might take her as insane--or worse. She figured it might have just been a memory of a small dream she had last night and attempted to shrug it off. If it happens again, she thought, I'll go ask Princess Celestia. Sweetie Belle poked her head through the tiny crack in the hardly opened door, her worried eyes moving swiftly from left to right then finally catching Spike's. "Oh, hi, Spike..." she greeted with a whisper, "Rarity isn't here right now....she hasn't been all morning. Have you seen her?" Spike moaned, though it's wasn't quite a surprise to him as it was with Pinkie or Applejack. It was still a shame to hear that the pony he was looking forward to seeing--or, at least, being there--had disapeered, too. "No," he sighed, "that's the problem. Applejack and Pinkie Pie are missing too." The young unicorn took a small step outside, raising an eyebrow. "They are?" She asked, her voice cracking near the end of the question. "I guess that explains the note Apple Bloom gave me this morning....I was still half asleep, so it didn't make sense to me." "What did it say?" "'Applejack is missing!!!!'" Spike fought the urge to face-palm himself and glared at Sweetie instead. "Really?" He asked in a deadpanned voice, "A note that literally says 'Applejack is missing' and you don't know what it means?" While she knew that he had a very strong point, Sweetie felt that he was questioning her intelligence in some strange way. "I was tired, okay?!" She exclaimed in an effort to defend herself, "I thought the note said Apple Jacks are missing or something; not an actual pony." He impatiently tapped his foot, wonder exactly how tired Sweetie Belle was to mistake the not as something not important at all. "The cereal?" Spike asked in the same deadpanned tone. "Did you just come here to vaguely insult me," Sweetie huffed angrily, "or do you want to say something else?" "I came here to see if Rarity was here, as I said. But, since she's not, I guess I'm off to find Fluttershy." Spike said, turning around and taking a step towards Rainbow's house. Sweetie then remembered a detail she had forgotten to tell the dragon, and immediately called out his name. "Wait! Spike! I remembered something that happened last night. I-I think it might be important information..." Spike turned around, curious as to know what could have happened. Once Sweetie saw she had his attention, she took a deep breath, nervous as to how he would react. "Last night; probably around 1:45, I heard Rarity screaming. It sounded like she was saying 'get away from me you ruffian!'" Sweetie informed, imitating Rarity the best she could. "I figured she was having a nightmare--she does sleep talk a lot--and I went back to sleep." She sighed, looking down at the ground; during her story, she stepped outside and had closed the door behind her. "I should have gone and see if she was okay....I'm a terrible sister...." Spike, who was writing down notes on a spare scroll (he usually carried one around; just in case), looked up in alarm at Sweetie's words. "Why would you say that?" He asked her, finishing off his notes, "I probably would have done the same thing with Twilight. Your not a terrible sister. Don't you try and help Rarity whenever you can?" "Yeah...but....I still didn't save her..." "How were you supposed to know?" Spike asked, rolling up the scroll. It was Sweetie's turn to fight the urge to face hoof and glare at Spike. "The outcry?" "You said you thought it was her having a nightmare," Spike pointed out, "you were probably tired and comfortable in bed and just assumed the least dangerous thing happened to her. Your mind gets wacky when it's tired, you know." Sweetie scuffed the ground, raised her head. "I guess your right...," she mumbled, "I still feel bad, though." "I completely understand," Spike said, "but don't worry. I'll find her, Pinkie, and Applejack before you know it!" He looked at the scroll, shook it in the air. "I should probably send this off to Celestia, too..." He added as an afterthought, quickly covering the scroll in green teleportation flames. He looked at Sweetie again, who had the doorknob enveloped in her light green aura. "Do you want to see if Rainbow or Fluttershy are home with me?" He asked. "I'd love to," Sweetie said, "but I should probably watch over the shop. I know I can lock the door, but I can't exactly stop a brick from crashing into a window... Good luck, though! Let me know if you find my sister!!" Her voice cracked again at the end of 'sister'. Spike nodded happily as he turned around towards the path to Rainbow's house. Sweetie turned back to her door, turning it with her magic. It hardly budged. Since she couldn't use her magic on an object without seeing it first because she was still learning, she sat down outside the door, annoyed. "Great," she mumbled, "where am I supposed to find a stray brick this early in the morning?" A scroll plopped down on Celestia's bedroom floor, a shadow quickly hovering over it. The scroll was soon carried by a colorless aura as the stranger opened it slowly. Celestia! Something really strange is going on here; I'm not sure how to handle it. Twilight has no memory of what happened over the past two years and Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity are all missing! Sweetie Belle told me Rarity cried out in the middle of the night; saying something like "Get away from me you ruffian!" She thought Rarity was having a nightmare while sleep-speaking again, so she just let it be. I tried to comfort her; I told her it was probably nothing, but I think it's something really, really serious. I need your help, please come to Ponyville or reply ASAP!! ~Spike~ "Hmmm..." The stranger said, "Looks like I missed one....."
Why a Doctor?Merry May saw her from a mile away, which was surprising, considering her vision (it was blurry due to a recent eye appointment with Dr. Horse). Both of the alicorn's eyes had turned back inside her head, yet she didn't fall. She just stood there, moaning like a zombie, until her eyes returned to normal, then she anxiously looked around, seemingly oblivious to the worried and scared glances she was receiving. Merry decided to go up to the poor princess to see if she was okay. "Excuse me? Princess Twilight?" Merry asked warily, hoping not to cause her to go into that state again. "Are you okay? Do you need to see the doctor?" Twilight blinked, clearly confused as to what Merry had said. "This town has a doctor?" She asked. "Ponyville's always had a doctor." Merry said, "I just got back from him myself. I think thy won't mind if I come back with you, though." She spread open her wings, began hovering in the air. "Do you want to walk or fly there?" It was no use to ask Twilight that question, however, as she was having yet another episode. "We came as soon as we heard!" Twilight heard herself say as her vision showed a white pony with a light pink mane in a tight bun standing in front of a blue pull-away curtain. "Thank goodness", the breathed a sigh of relief. She pulled back the curtain to reveal many very sick ponies, all on their backs and moaning painfully. Twilight was shocked at the sight; never before had she seen so many ill ponies. She felt her own mouth drop as soon as she asked what happened. "There seemed to be a mishap with the baked goods..." the mare--of which Twilight now saw was a nurse --said. A pink pony with a pink, poofy mane looked up from her cot, overhearing their conversation. "Not baked goods," she moaned, "baked bads." The pegasus was in front of her, shaking her gently, extremely concerned. "Twilight? Princess Twilight Sparkle?" She asked over and over. Twilight shook her head violently to fully get out of the daze she had been in and pulled the pegasus off with her magic. "Did it happen again?" She asked, still close but obviously no longer shaking her. Twilight scrunched her nose, not filly trusting this pony--for all she knew, she could be a stalker, luring her to her home to torture her. "No..." Twilight said uncertainly, attempting to turn away from the pegasus. Merry knew in that moment she was lying. The same symptoms that she had seen before happened again. "Your lying." She said blandly, trying yet failing to take Twilight's hoof. "I'm not going to harm you," Merry said in an attempt to reassure the princess, "whatever just happened to you might be harmful--to your self being, or to other ponies." She took a deep breath, putting on a sterner tone. "You need to see Dr. Horse." She concluded. Against Twilight's will, Merry took her hoof and began to drag her towards a small building. Twilight pulled and and protested, but the mare seemed determined. You leave me no choice, she thought after a good thirty seconds. She fired up her horn and teleported away from the mare. Merry looked behind her once she felt Twilight's hoof go away. She gasped when she realized she wasn't there. Merry figured she teleported and flew high above Ponyville, trying to catch a glimpse of Twilight. Whether she liked it or not, she was going to go to the doctors and going to get whatever she had checked on. Merry let out a groan of frustration and flew back down to the ground. Maybe it'd be better to look after her vision finally cleared up. Twilight had plenty of time to hide and/or find more help until then. Spike arrived at Rainbows to see a ladder leaning against it and a broken window. Shocked and scared for the blue pegasus, he climbed the ladder as fast as he could, peered in the broken window to see... ...Scootaloo, who had ransacked the place in a nervous frenzy. "Scootaloo?!" Spike gasped, "what in Equestria are you doing?!" The orange filly jumped, turned around nervously. "Oh! H-hi, Spike," she stammered, "I was just...just....looking for my kickball?" "Uh....huh..." Spike mumbled, raising an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. He set foot on the cloud floor, but took it away when the cloud dissolved under is foot. "Did you find Rainbow Dash while you were at it?" Has asked as he put his foot back on the ladder. He assumed, since the other three were gone, Rainbow and Fluttershy would be, too. It never really hurt to check, though. Scootaloo's eyes widened, her ears pressing against he head. "NO!" She cried, "Rainbow didn't meet me for our ten o clock flying training I so nervous after she didn't appear after twenty minutes and I didn't now what to do so I broke in to see if she slept in or something!" "Right." Spike said sarcastically, "because that's the rational thing to do." Scootaloo scowled, her tiny wings starting to flap but not lifting her off the ground. "Well, what would you have done?!" "I don't know!" Spike yelled out of frustration, "All I know is Twilight's memory is gone, and so are all her friends and Celestia still hasn't messaged me back!" Scootaloo inched forward, putting her hooves on what remained of Dashes bed. "Wait," she said, "Twilight lost her memory?" Spike winced, knowing he had spilled way to much information on the filly at one time. "No?" He tried, making Scootaloo narrow her eyes. "Maybe? Sorta-kinda-yeah?" "Sorta-kinda-yeah?" The little pegasus came closer to the window, her eyes no longer narrowed but shone with confusion and sympathy. "Is that a 'yes', Spike?" She asked, "it feels like there's something your not telling me." "Oh, there is." He nodded, eyes wide. "Twilight still has her memory, believe me, but she doesn't remember anything that happened within the last two years!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air for emphasis. The motion nearly knocked him off balance and he had to quickly put his weight against the ladder so it wouldn't fall and crush him under it's weight. The filly put her hooves on the windowsill, nothing but concern showing in her face. "Is she okay?" She asked, "does she need to see a doctor?" Spike facepalmed himself, upset that he didn't think of that before. "You haven't taken her to the doctor?" Scootaloo guessed from his face-palm. "Why not?" "I don't know," Spike groaned, "I guess the fear got to my brain and I couldn't think clearly. I wanted to bring all of her friends over to see what they could do...I never though of going to Doctor Horse." He put his claws over his face, not believing how dumb fear had made him. "I'm such an idiot..." his voice was muffled by his claws, but Scootaloo caught just enough of that sentence to make out what he had said. "No, your not, Spike!" She exclaimed, "you know, I probably would have done the same thing." "Huh?" "If one of my friends lost their memory and everypony else disappeared, I'd be in to much panic to think rationally." She took a deep breath, casting her eyes off to the side. "Just...don't tell anypony I said that, okay?" Spike nodded, his spirits lifted a tiny bit from Scootaloo's very, very small speech. "Don't worry, Scootaloo," he said, offering her a grin, "I won't." Scootaloo looked around the house, now realizing the damage she had caused. "I guess Rainbow isn't here..." she said, immediately giving a nervous laugh afterwards. "Have you been to Fluttershy's yet?" The dragon closed his eyes and shook his head. "You could go and go get Twilight and bring her to the doctors while I go see if Fluttershy is home." Scootaloo suggested, her tiny wings buzzing with excitement. "Shouldn't you clean this mess up first?" Spike asked as he looked around what he could see of the ransacked house. The filly closed her eyes, shrugged, as if it weren't her problem. "Nah," she said, "it almost looks the same as when I came here. I don't think she'll notice." Spike was about to point out that Rainbow might, but realized Scootaloo was right. He shrugged as well and began to make his way down the ladder, Scootaloo quickly following him down. Spike found her around the houses closest to the castle, fighting off a lime green pegasus. "I'm telling you," the pegasus huffed as she tried to drag Twilight away, "you need to see a doctor!" "And I'm telling you, Twilight scowled, trying to put all her weight on where she was standing, "I'm perfectly fine!" "You didn't look that way earlier today!" The pegasus counteracted. Spike decided he had had enough and went between the two to try and break up the argument, but to no avail as the two didn't even notice his efforts. He finally slapped Merry's hoof away from Twilight's, huffing from exhaustion and frustration. That got both mare's attention, Twilight happy to see him. "Spike!" She cheered, "I'm glad your here!" She looked up at Merry May angrily, the pegasus looking down on her in the same way. "Could you please tell this crazy pegasus that I don't need to go to the doctors?" "Oh, don't listen to her, dragon." Merry snarled, still looking at Twilight. "She's been acting very strange. She doesn't know where she is and keeps acting like some undead pony." The pegasus visibly shuddered at the thought, "it's creeping ponies out. She needs to go." Spike raised his chin to look at Merry, eyes closed so the sun wouldn't burn his corneas. "I couldn't agree more." He said simply. "Exactly!" Twilight exclaimed before her brain could process what Spike had said. "What, what?" She looked down at the dragon and nudged him with her hoof. "You don't really mean that, do you, Spike?" Spike nodded solemnly. "Why are you so reluctant to go anyway, Twilight?" He asked, "it's not like Doctor Horse is going to fry you to a crisp or anything." "No reason..." Twilight mumbled, though there was a reason that she kept to herself for a while. She had a mild phobia of doctor's offices and when somepony told her or tried to force her into doing one of her many minor fears, she didn't like it and her stubbornness skyrocketed until she got her way. Spike crossed his little dragon arms, knowing that nervous look anywhere. "Uh...huh..." he mumbled. He was about to finish his thought when Scootaloo zoomed up next to him on her scooter. "She's not there," she said easily, as if she hadn't just zoomed across half of Ponyville as fast as her wings could take her. "Angel was trying to tell me something, but I coulden't understand him. Some parrot she must have been petsitting translated for me, though. He was saying she hadn't been there at all during his midnight feeding and there was a very quiet scream twelve minutes before hand." Spike nodded, happy Scootaloo managed to get the extra the extra information. "Thanks, Scootaloo." He smiled, "now, can you help me drag--I-I mean get Twilight to the doctors?" Twilight froze at the sudden question. She hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, but she did happen to pay attention when her name was announced. "Certainly." She heard the small orange pegasus say happily. Suddenly, two pegasi and a baby dragon turned on her instantly, and she knew exactly where they planned to take her. Panicking, she fired up her horn and teleported back up to her caste room; she would have teleported all the way to her Canterlot room but she had just somewhat mastered the teleportation spell and was tired from the amount of energy she had used up during the two times of teleportation. "Where'd she go?" Merry May asked. "I'm not sure..." Spike said, "but I know she couldn't have gone far."
Limbo"I see your finally awake." The voice rang out before Applejack opened her eyes. She had been awake for quite some time, but was fearful of what would have happened if she were to open her eyes, considering what had happen yesterday. "It's okay, little pony," the voice crooned, "you can open your eyes now. It's all over." Applejack took a deep breath, her gut churning from how nervous she was. "Ah ain't doin' nothin' till somepony tells me what happened ta Twilight!" She called into inky blackness (it was dark because her eyes were still shut tight). She felt something brush past her side but didn't dare turn around to confront it. "If I told you that," the voice said, "then this wouldn't be any fun, would it?" "Discord?!" Applejack growled, "is that you?!" Voice gave out a hearty laugh, faking amusement. "Sure." It said, "let's go with that." Applejack slumped at his non-helpful reply. "Now open your eyes, Applejack," it hissed, "and nobody gets hurt." Applejack really didn't want to, but, at the same time, was unnerved by It's tone. "Alright, alright.." she sighed, "don't get yer mane in a twist..." She opened her eyes reluctantly and was greeted with a very dark, deep velvet red room. So dark, it almost looked like inky blackness, minus the fact that some light from an apple-shaped lamp revealed the room's true colors. "Where am ah?" She asked, cautiously looking around and noting the strange place didn't have any windows or doors. "Welcome to Limbo, dear Applejack." The voice responded. She finally saw where it was coming from; a strange voice box hung in the northwest corner of the room. A soft click emitted from it as soon as It was done speaking. She looked around again, seeing camouflaged furniture appear seemingly out of nowhere. "Wait...." she called, looking up at the voice box. "What in tarnation is a Lime-bow?" Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy were all awoken and treated the exact same way. Pinkie Pie's room was a dark, velvety pink, Rarity's was a pure white (since it was impossible to make white look dark without making it grey), Rainbow's was a dark blue, and Fluttershy's was a very deep, yellow; almost brown. And each had slightly different reactions when "It" welcomed them to Limbo. "Ooo! A Limbo?" Pinkie cheered, "like a limbo party?!" She pranced around, looking for a limbo stick but couldn't find any. Unfortunately for her, It had long moved on from her room. "A lime bow sounds so horrid!" Rarity exclaimed, "though I did make a hat of only a straw and three pieces of hay work once for a mare at the Crystal Fair, so I suppose I could make this work, too." She looked for supplies to get her started, but saw none. "Typical ruffians..." she huffed, "they kidnap a mare, make her a damsel in distress, give her a great idea, then give her nothing to work with." Rainbow tried to fly up to the voice box to see if some strange, creepy little elf was in there, but found her wings were wrapped in a very thick, unbreakable cotton. "I don't know what 'Limbo' means," she snarled at the box, hoping 'It' was still listening. "But once I find out how to get out of here, I'm going to make sure you get trapped in this stupid junk pile you call a room!" "A...a limbo?" Fluttershy whispered, attempting to hide behind her mane but still looking at the voice box out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, my. That sounds terrible. There aren't any animal limbs in here, are there?" 'It' had already left. Though they all had different reactions, each mare thought the same thing once they felt 'It' had left, (which took a whole lot of asking questions to the box and not getting an answer in return). How do I get out of here?
Will It Work?Doctor Horse was perplexed at the situation that laid before him. A dragon, a pegasus filly, and an alicorn stared at him as he entered the room. He tried his hardest not to gawk at the princess as he went over the information Nurse Redheart had put down for him on the clipboard. "Ahh, Miss Twilight Sparkle," he mumbled, "it seems that you're suffering from...amnesia?" Twilight avoided his gaze and let her ears droop. "That's what everypony keeps telling me." She sighed, reluctant to admit she was wrong but also knowing it was about time to face the facts. "I keep denying it," she admitted, "but, I guess I'm the only one who is. Maybe...maybe I really do have amnesia...I don't know..." "Acknowledging that you have it is a step closer to fixing it," Dr. Horse said in an attempt to cheer Twilight up. He looked down at the dragon, who seemed particularly antsy. He vaguely remembered his assistant complaining about a baby dragon that had come in some time ago, that had burned the assistant's face. He wondered if this was the same guy. "She's been like this ever since this morning," Spike explained, "I don't know what happened; she was out with her friends last night and she woke up with no memory of the last two years and all her friends are gone!" Dr. Horse raised an eyebrow, set the clipboard on an empty counter space. "Did ya file a police report?" He asked. Spike blinked, arms held in the air. "Ponyville has police?" he asked, staring blankly ahead. "Well....no...." the Doctor admitted, "but Manehattan does, and they can get here within a day. Beyond that, I'm not sure how else to help you." He grabbed the clipboard again and headed towards the door. "Just bring her around the town, remind her of some of the times you spent together. That could help get her memory working again." "What if it's a spell?" Scootaloo asked from off to the side. "Would you know how to reverse it?" The stallion turned around, considering Scootaloo's question. "I suppose so...." he mumbled, "I'd need to find the reversal spell, though. It's been quite a while since I've used it." He stepped out of the room, then poked his head in a heartbeat later. "I'll be right back, try and see if you can get some of her memory back in the meantime." Scootaloo and Spike nodded, each supporting their own healthy mix of excitement and nervousness. "We’ll try..." They mumbled. ~*~ Twilight slumped her head down after countless questions she didn't know the answer too. Spike and Scootaloo were still going at it, claiming they were easy questions, and she was getting an ever-growing headache as the so-called "easy" questions continued to be asked. The door opened after what seemed like an eternity and Dr. Horse emerged, levitating a piece of paper. "Sorry for the wait," he said, "Nurse Redheart had borrowed it for a friend and forgot to tell me. Good thing her friend brought it back yesterday, else we'd be stuck." He chuckled, which was met with urgent and impatient stares. He cleared his throat and skimmed over the spell three times, then set it aside and approached the alicorn. "Are you ready, Princess Twilight?" Twilight sat on her haunches, visibly shaking. "I--I suppose..." she mumbled, "are you sure it's safe? Are there any side effects? Like---electrocution or uncontrollable crying or--" He cut her off with a friendly smile as he fired up his horn. "I assure you, Princess, there are little to no negative side effects. The worst that will happen is it'll give you hiccups." His horn glowed brighter, signaling Twilight to, reluctantly, bring her head forwards; he placed his upon her forehead and let the spell takeover. A large, blinding, light blue light filled the room, making Spike and Scootaloo shield their eyes. Doctor Horse started to tense up and Twilight started to scream. The show ended when the doctor collapsed the the floor, exhausted, and Twilight fainting from pain on the cot. "Are you okay?" Spike asked him, trying to help him up. He stood on shaky legs and smiled at his kindness. "I always forget," he huffed, "how much that takes out of me...I should be okay after a while." He nodded at Twilight, who now had her head hanging off the table. "She should be fine within a couple hours," he continued, "try and see how much of her memory she has back; sometimes it doesn't work as well as one would hope. If nothing happened, then...well..." he hesitated, raising a hoof and looking off to the side. Scootaloo came over to see if she could wake up the alicorn, turning to pay attention to Dr. Horse when he paused. "'Well' what?" She asked, "Twilight will explode?!" "No, no, no..." Doctor Horse chuckled, "it's probably a strong spell that I can't reverse. You might want to try different methods, if she's still foggy afterwards." "Of course," Spike nodded, "Thanks so much for your help, Doctor. I don't know what we could have done without you." That, of course, was an open-ended statement, for none of them were sure if the spell actually worked or not. "You're quite welcome," he smiled, regaining some more of his strength. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to check up on my two o'clock appointment. Good luck, to the both of you!" He then stepped out of the room and walked two doors down. Both pegasus filly and dragon could hear him greet the ponies inside. Scootaloo and Spike exchanged hopeful glances. "Hopefully that worked," Scootaloo said, "It seemed like it took quite a lot of energy for him to do it." Spike shrugged, walking towards Twilight. "He probably hasn't done it in a while," he suggested, "that's what happens with Twilight, at least." "Yeah...I guess you're right." Scootaloo sighed. She looked at the unconscious princess, then at the open door, where Nurse Redheart happened to be passing by. "Uhm..." Scootaloo mumbled, shifting her weight from hoof to hoof. "How are we going to get her out of here?"
Can you Cure It?Ahh, you've finally joined your friends, I see....it was very rude of you to keep them waiting. "Who's there?!" Twilight jumped within her own mind and turned her head this way and that at breakneck speeds so she could try and find the pony who was talking to her. "Where are you?" Oh, I'm everywhere and nowhere. I am the air that you breath and the floor under your hooves. Twilight immediately held her breath and tried to flap her wings to get off the ground, finding that they were immobilized; she wondered why as she attempted to keep all four hooves off the ground. You need to breathe, eventually Princess... Twilight charged up her magic and made a weak bubble of protection surround her, then releasing her breath. "Whatever you plan to throw at me," she called, "it won't work! I'm protected." The bubble popped from an invisible force and Twilight glared up at where she assumed the voice was. "That was so funny, I forgot to laugh." She sneered, "why do you want me here, anyway?" I'm not the one who brought you here, my dear Twilight. You came to me when you fainted. But it seems you want nothing to do with me, so I guess I'll go. A hiss started in the distance, but no snakes or any other creatures came forward. Twilight began to prance in place, becoming more and more frantic by the second. "What's happening?" She cried, "what are you doing? What's that noise?" I'm leaving. I told you I am the air that you breathe and the ground that you stand upon. Twilight looked at the floor to see it slowly disappearing, lava glowing brightly underneath. Either you die of suffocation or you burn to death. You should be happy that I'm giving you a choice. I should be going now, I feel I've overstayed my welcome. Bye, Princess. See you in the afterlife~... "Wait!" Twilight called, "how do I get out of here?!" "We just take a couple more turns, and it should be up ahead." Spike told Scootaloo over his shoulder, the map in his hands wavering in the breeze. "This is just in case the spell doesn't work. I'm sure she'll have something much stronger." Scootaloo rolled her eyes, stepping away from a small patch of Poison Joke. "I know, Spike," she grumbled, "you told me fifty times already." "I did?" Spike mumbled, "guess I forgot. Okay, we take a right, then a left. Can you see it from here?" Spike was about to look at Scootaloo again and wound up bumping into Zecora herself. She leaned forward, concern in her eyes. "I did not see that you were in my way," she said, "so now, dear Spike, are you okay?" Spike helped himself up and grabbed the map, then went over to Scootaloo to put it in her saddle bag, all the while saying "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Zecora smiled and stood at her full height again. "I was on my way to Ponyville, though I must request, why are you two here and not with the rest?" He looked at her hopefully, took a couple steps forward. "We were actually trying to find you, we were hoping you would have a herb or a cure for amnesia." She nodded happily, but considered it an odd request. "A cure for amnesia, indeed I do. Why should I give it to you?" Spike opened his mouth to speak, but quickly got interrupted by Scootaloo, who told Zecora about what had happened to Twilight that morning, from what she got from Spike, and the events that had carried out from the rest of the day. "...so, basically, we've been going all around this town trying to cure Twilight and find her friends." Scootaloo finished, "and we figured you'd be the next step in case his spell didn't work." The zebra nodded slowly, carefully going over each detail that the filly had recited to her. Finally, she spoke with great urgency, but still having calm outline her words. "That is a huge problem, one we all need to brace. Quick, to my hut with great haste!" She turned tail and started galloping towards her home, Spike and Scootaloo quickly following after. ~*~ They arrived in no time and where quickly inside in record speed. Zecora went over to the farthest wall, which held similar concoctions to the other shelves. "You told me that after she gave a shout, she proceeded to pass out?" She asked the two, quickly greeted by nods. "We think that maybe the spell might have been too much for her," Spike suggested, "but we could be wrong." Zecora breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed a bottle containing purple liquid. She set it on the small workbench and added some pink petals to it, making the concoction turn magenta. "If she still has no memory when she wakes up, give this to her in a half a cup." Spike took it, clearly confused. "Give half of it to her when she wakes up?" The zebra nodded patently. "What does it do? What if it doesn't work?" "If the memory loss was not fixed by a spell then this should work, but only time will tell." Spike grinned at her, happy she was able to help. "Thanks you so much, Zecora. I'll be sure to let you know how it works!" He and Scootaloo ran off before they could hear her response. There was little floor left by now, and Twilight had noticed the shortage of oxygen some time ago. She tried to hold her breath, to not waste the precious air, and stayed on the sliding floor that was going pressingly faster, towards the wall where it slid into a space that would only contain the sliding floor itself. She knew a spell that could help her with this situation...something that-- "This is probably going to feel a little funny at first," Twilight said to a group of oddly familiar mares. "But you're going to have to trust me." The same pink mare that had proclaimed the cupcakes "baked bads" jumped up, clearly more excited than nervous. "I love new ideas that make you feel funny at first!" She proclaimed, but went silent as soon as Twilight started the spell. Each mare, Twilight included, got surrounded with the alicorn's aura and proceeded to go through a very strange transformation process, with their legs, bodies, heads and all shrinking to the size of a small dust bunny. Twilight gasped. The show--probably a lost memory--had token a little longer than she had anticipated, leaving her little time to try out the "new" spell that had been etched into her memory during the flashback. She soon was one of the creatures she and her possible friends were, delicate wings and long antenna's probably being the only trouble in fitting through the small space. She attempted to use her new found wings, but found they were still somehow useless. The opening grew closer, giving her more perspective and letting her confirm she'd have just enough space to squeeze through. She closed her eyes.... Ahh, ahh, ahh....don't you think using a spell is cheating? I guess I'll have to take that away from you, too. The alicorn immediately grew back to her original size, having mere inches between her and the wall, were it would push her off and she'd burn to a crisp. The oxygen lowered even further and she found she could hardly catch a breathe without her lungs screaming for more. This is what I've been waiting for..your beautiful demise. Once you die in here, you'll be dead by the time your slaves come back to help you. "They're not my slaves!" She wheezed, infuriated. "They're...they're...my friends!" She knew she still had many memories to catch up on, but she was glad that that one huge piece of the puzzle had finally fit into place. Ahh, your memories finally coming back, eh? Too bad you'll never see them again... Twilight looked down and saw she barley had enough space to stand on her hind legs, which was getting continuously uncomfortable. She knew for a fact she had to wake up before the lava met her fur. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. She was trapped within her own mind with no way to get outside help. She was doomed.
What Did You See?The minute Spike arrived home with Scootaloo was the minute they noticed something was seriously wrong. Twilight had fallen off the couch they had taken ages to put her on and was withering around on the floor. She seemed to be chocking, and Spike, in a panicked frenzy, dropped the potion Zecora had given him and rushed to the alicorn's aid. Scootaloo caught the glass bottle before it could shatter on the crystal floor and gently set it aside on a coffee table before following the dragon. "Twilight?" Spike called, trying to shake her awake. "Twilight? Wake up, Twilight, wake up!" In his moment of panic, his senses had been dulled and he hardly noticed the alicorn's outer body temperature until Scootaloo, who tried to wake the princess up with him, gave a cry of pain and declared that Twi's fur felt like lava. Spike looked at the young pegasus like she was crazy, giving him just the distraction he needed to feel the mare's lava-like body heat. He gasped and drew his hands away, then looked at Scootaloo. "Go get a bucket of water." He instructed, "make sure it's ice cold. Maybe that'll help cool her down..." He added the last part to himself as his attention was drawn back to his care taker. Scootaloo quickly ran to the kitchen, fetched a pale pink bucket, and filled it halfway full with freezing water. She then lifted it out of the sink, staggering a little under the extra weight, and brought it back to where Twilight was. Spike took it gratefully and splashed every single drop onto the mare's torso. That causes her hooves to move as if she were jumping up and down, but nothing much else. Spike handed the bucket back to the pegasus and asked her to refill it. "Do you really think this'll work?" Scootaloo asked him before she left. Spike shrugged helplessly. "I dunno," he sighed, "but it's the best we can do for now." Icy cold air hit Twilight square on as she somehow stayed alive in the massive pool of burning lava. Her oxygen supply was dead, and she was having trouble keeping what little she caught before it all disappeared. But when the blast of air hit her, it shocked her, making her gasp and the little amount of oxygen she had floated away. She was terrified. A very sad and sudden realization hit her square i n the chest. Even if this was in her mental state, she was going to die here, and nopony would be able to save her. Another icy blast of air blasted her on her back, not startling her this time, but getting her slightly annoyed. It's not going to help she thought, they're wasting they're time...but...at least they're trying... as she thought this, ice started to form around her torso. She recognized the helpful cold in seconds and looked back to see what was going on. The second she looked back, they melted, and the unbearable heat met her once again. She struggled and tried to bring the ice back with her thoughts, but it wouldn't work. She figured the cold air was the key and prayed for another surge to come her way. It seemed like ages, but one finally did, stronger than the last two. Twilight tried to keep her mind on positive thoughts about Spike and 'Scootaloo' and the ice crystals formed around her torso, legs, neck, head, and finally, muzzle. She, with help from her friends, had fought the heat. Now all that was left to do was wake up before the lava seeped in again. Scootaloo was ready to pour the fourth bucket full of water on the alicorn, avoiding the puddle that surrounded her, when Spike raised his claw in a way that told her to stop. She set the bucket down and quickly came over to him to see what was wrong. She saw Twilight's eyelid flutter, as if it were trying to open, and got the jist. The water was surprisingly working. After a minute or so, Spike got up, got the bucket, and dumped it on the mare's face, shocking her awake. Twilight started gasping for air, hurriedly muttering something about a evil presence in between her wild breaths. "Whoa, whoa, Twi, what's wrong?" Spike asked, grabbing a nearby towel for her. "Calm down first, we can't understand you." Twilight gratefully took the towel and wrapped herself up so she'd be warm and dry. Before she could finish, however, her usual pink aura turned a menacing black and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. "Eid tsum ekips." Spike and Scootaloo took a step back, unnerved from what was happening. Twilight's wings spread out and her horn started to ignite, lifting poor Spike up by his tail. "Eid tsum ekips." Spike swung to and fro and tried desperately to escape the aura, but was useless against the strong pull. "Twilight!" He cried, "Twilight, stop! You're scaring me!!!" Luckily, Scootaloo, who was frozen with bewilderment, took action and ran up the the alicorn and clapped her muzzle, causing her to get out of her trance. She blinked, dropped Spike, and stared at the two. "Did you see that?" "Yeah!" Scootaloo scowled, "you went all crazy and started speaking gibberish or something." Twilight cocked her head, as she didn't seem to recall that. "I did?" She asked, receiving nods and irritated looks from the two. She paused, then added "do I normally do that?" "NO!" They chorused. Spike took a step forward, still slightly shaken from the experience, and asked Twilight what she had seen. She closed her eyes and tried to grab the memory the best she could. "I saw five rooms, one orange, one pink, one white, one blue, and one yellow. I saw we were flying to Canterlot and saw Celestia tied... something else happened, but, I saw..." she paused, the memory getting fuzzier and fuzzier with every passing second. "I---I saw...." Scootlaoo was the one to step forward this time. "What did you see?" She asked eagerly. "My--my friends." Twilight finished. "Was...was that a memory, or...? Spike gasped and exchanged a look with Scootaloo. "The spell must be wearing of..." he muttered to her; then turned to his caretaker. "That must be a clue to solving this whole fiasco." He thought aloud, "I think we should go over to Canterlot...maybe Princess Celestia will be there and send us to where the mares are!" "Has she responded to that letter you've sent her yet?" Scootaloo asked, in case she might have missed it. He shook his head and sighed. "I'm a little upset she hasn't responded, really worried, actually, but I'm sure she's just really busy right now....she might have found out about all this already and is trying to figure out how to fix it, like us!" He turned to Twilight again and eagerly asked her if she remembered how to fly. "Uh....." she unfurled and looked at her wings uncertainly. "...kind....of...? Uhm....I don't think that well, actually, but, does this place have a...a...a train station?" "Of course," Spike proclaimed, heading towards the door. "That was my back up plan. Flying is usually a lot faster, is all." Twilight looked a bit disappointed that she couldn't help out, but Spike kept reassuring her that they'd make it work and that it wasn't something to stress about. Once everypony was out the door, Spike made sure to lock it before catching up with them. Left unattended and forgotten on a coffee table in the entry way was the hoof-made magenta potion.
Celestia's Missing, Too?!The train ride took two hours to long, but they finally made it to Canterlot. Twilight kept getting fan-frenzied stares, creepy smiles, and lots of questions if she could give others her hoofagraph. She tried to ignore it all to the best of her ability, and luckily, once they got off, the problem dwindled to one or two excited shouts. The trio seemed to make it up to the palace in no time at all, easily passing the Royal Guards, and moved hurriedly into Celestia's chambers. But once they were at the door, everypony stopped. The place had been ransacked; the mattress was halfway across the room, scorch marks were etched into the walls, and the lovely white curtains had been shredded and were burnt at the tips. Most notable of all; Celestia was gone. "What in Equestria happened here?" Twilight blurted as she gazed upon the sight. "I was here yester---er--the last time I was here, it didn't look like this." Spike took a couple steps into the room, as if drawn to the scene. "I don't think it's ever been like this..." Scootaloo, meanwhile, was trying to fight the urge of yelling with cheer that she was actually in the castle--actually in the princesses bedroom. "I wonder who could have done this..." she mumbled instead. Twilight followed the duo into the room, and immediately began tiding up, self unaware. "Has Nightmare Moon returned yet?" She asked them, "maybe she attacked." "That was two years ago." Spike explained without a trace of irritation in his voice. "You and your friends reformed her once you realized the spark was caused when you realized they were your friends." Twilight gave him an odd look, already feeling the memory claw it's way forward. "...if that makes sense..." Spike finished, mentally going over what he had said. But Twilight was already spacing out; Spike waved his claw in front of her face, trying to see if she was still with them. When she didn't respond, he shot her a concerned look and walked towards Scootaloo. "Find anything?" He asked her, "anything that can help us, I mean?" Scootaloo, who had been over looking at the vanity, pointed down to reveal a couple strands of a thick, black mane. "Wow, Celestia really put up a fight...but...who would be strong enough to take her away?" Scootaloo blinked, thinking of a couple villainous ponies that could easily overpower her, and, after mulling it over, decided to suggest a couple. "What about Discord?" She asked, "he could probably overpower her with his chaos magic; I remember Twilight told Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and I about how Celestia and Luna defeated him with the Elements of Harmony during a Twilight Time. If those are really the only thing that can defeat him, and you sacrificed them to save the Tree of Harmony....he's unstoppable..." Spike's eyes widened in alarm as what Scootaloo had said sank in "Sweet Celestia, you're right!" He exclaimed, "he could go back to the way he was before her got reformed! What are we going to do?!" "We can always get the others rounded up and have them summon them." She said. "But, honestly, I think I'd like to have him as a tyrannical ruler. Unlike Sombra, he tries to put fun in everything." Spike froze, a horrible thought hitting him head on. "What if it is Sombra?" He shuddered, "what if he got Discord to work together with him? What if--" Scootaloo put her hoof in his mouth, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't they blast him to smithereens a while back?" "Well...yeah..." Spike scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "But...what if he's--" "--how about we try not to ask all these 'what if' questions and focus on the task at hoof?" Scootaloo sighed and walked towards the bed, trying to find more clues. Spike was about to follow when he heard a groan emit from Twilight and went over to help her instead. "Are you okay?" He asked, "I've never seen a--a memory...I guess...take so much out of you." Twilight nodded, trying her best to persuade the little guy. "Don't worry about me, Spike, I'm perfectly fine. I just---had a montage or something. It was all the times we battled villains...I just need to rest a little, is all...I don't think I'd be much help here, anyway." "I completely understand." He said, helping her lie down so she wouldn't hurt herself. "But.." he looked over his shoulder at the hoofful of mane left behind and grimaced at how much that could have hurt. "...before you do..." he added, going to get the clue. He laid it where Twilight could see it and took a step back. "...since you..uh...remembered, just now...do you have any ideas on who's mane this might belong to?" The moment Twilight's eyes laid upon it was the moment she started to freak out. She sprang to her feet and mentioned something about leaving the oven on. She then quickly grabbed the mane and teleported back to the castle. Scootaloo and Spike shared a shrug before venturing around the room a little more. With Spike getting increasingly nervous and curious on the thought of why Twilight had freaked out over a little pit of hair, he and Scootaloo agreed to call it quits for now and try and get back to the alicorn. Once they told a guard what had happened, of course. They were finally done explaining what they saw and got a train ticket back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash looked up at the ceiling of the Celestia-forsaken room for the umpteenth time. She knew, without a doubt, there was a hidden trap door up there. She looked at the ties that had her earth bound and started tearing at them with her mouth again. A foot of paper came loose, but her wings were still trapped. She sighed. This was going to take a while. ~*~ Pinkie Pie was bored. Deathly bored. Her spronging around the room had only caused a latch on the ceiling to unhook..barely. She heaved out a huge sigh, crossed her forelegs in front of her, and rested her chin on them. Her tail started immediately twitching, so she lazily rolled to the side to avoid whatever was falling. Up above, the latch shut again. She looked up and it finally hit her like a sac of potatoes. She was going to have to bounce her way out. This was going to be a piece of cake...speaking of which, she hadn't had anything since yesterday. Her stomach gave a low growl and she sighed again. She wished she had a piece of cake with her right now... ~*~ Rarity's magic was as high as it could get as she aimed all her energy at the latch above. She had noticed it when seeing if the ceiling would be better in a shade of blue; a hole had appeared through her vision and, ever since then, it popped out like last season's fashion. Taunting her.She scowled at whomever had put her in the dreadful place and felt another burst of energy...one stronger than before. A ray shot out of her horn and disintegrated the latch. Though she was quite burnt out, she quickly teleported herself up to the roof of the place she was in. Then, before she could get a good look around, collapsed in a heap of exhaustion.
~Interlude: Sweetie Belle's Night Terror~Sweetie Belle was getting worried. Wait---no---'worried' is too weak of a word. Hectic, or even perturbed would work a whole lot better. Luna had taken control of the night shift already, and Rarity still wasn't home. She had checked the clock multiple times ever since this morning, every five or ten minutes, and the last time she checked it was 8:49 pm; 49 minutes past her bedtime. She moaned and stepped away from the broken window. Maybe...maybe if she hadn't gone out to hang with her friends and helped Rarity instead...maybe if she hadn't snuck out at midnight and had an hour-long sleep over with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo--one of which Rarity said 'no' to because they'd be leaving early to go to Manehatten tomorrow. Maybe if she had just stayed home and been a good filly, like Rarity wanted...maybe none of this would have happened. Sighing, she went back to the window. Nervousness, anxiousness, guilt, and exhaustion clung to her like an extremely sticky spider web, pulling her further and further into an odd state of dreaming and awareness. Yet she tried her hardest to stay awake--only to fall asleep not even ten minutes later. A loud knock at the door startled her awake. She looked at the door, slightly terrified of who could be behind it. If it were Rarity, she would simply walk through with ease. But what if it were one of her friends? Or one of the girls? Still cautious, she deiced to stick her head out the window, carefully avoiding the sharp glass that threatened to spill her blood if her skin slightly grazed one. There, she saw Zecora waiting patiently, inches away from the door, somehow not noticing the filly. Sweetie swiftly ducked her head back inside before she could. "What's Zecora doing here at this hour?" She whispered to herself, then realized that maybe Zecora had night visits with Rarity every now and then and she never knew because it was always past her bedtime. But...wouldn't Rarity tell her about this? In case, one night, she got to stay up past her curfew? Sweetie realized she was standing right in front of where Zecora could easily see her and maneuvered herself to right in front of the door. Before she could overthink the situation even more, Zecora's voice floated through the window. "The night is filled with crisp, freezing air; let me in, I know you're there." Sweetie looked off to the side and nearly got a heart attack when she saw the zebra's face poking through the broken glass; looking right at her. Sweetie felt a shiver race up and down her spine, but tried to ignore it and fought the urge that clawed at her to run away screaming. Instead, she forced a smile and reminded herself over and over until her heart stopped racing that Zecora is a well known, greatly trusted friend. "Oh, hi, Zecora!" She said in the brightest tone she could muster, "I'm sorry...Rarity's off on a last-minute gem hunt with Spike. Do you think you could come back later?" Her ears started to twitch, for she never exactly liked lying, and tried to hide the nervous tick by giving Zecora--what she hoped was--a pleasing smile. Zecora raised an eyebrow, as she looked at the filly's nervous body stature. "Based on the sly look in your eye, it appears to me you are attempting a lie." Sweetie hung her head low, mentally freaking out. Zecora smirked as Sweetie's reaction told her everything she needed to know. "Now that we are done playing this game; please let me in. I have something to proclaim." "Can't you just say it out there?" Sweetie asked. She knew she was being rude, but she had a very sketchy feeling in the pit of her stomach that something wasn't right. "No." Zecora didn't sound like Zecora anymore. She sounded awfully familiar, but Sweetie couldn't put her hoof on it. Whomever's voice it was, it definitely sounded like a male. The zebra's eyes suddenly went white and she reared onto her hind legs. Squid like tentacles came out of her back and reached around, trying to grab the filly. Screaming, Sweetie darted as fast as her little legs would take her up the stairs. The squid-appendages carried the possessed zebra through the already-broken window, causing it to break entirely. More seemed to sprout from Zecora's back and slid with ease up the spiral staircase, just inches away from Sweetie's hind leg; she could feel the freezing temperatures radiating from the appendages from where they were. She screamed again and tried to at least teleport her way out of the house. That's when she realized she had no horn. She tried not to halt in surprise, but instead slowed to round the corner to her room. Quickly, she closed and locked her door behind her, bracing herself against the wooden surface for extra precaution. After some seconds went by, she realized a tentacle could squeeze beneath the door crack and pull her away or they could easily break the door down, so she instead pushed most of her furniture in the way and slowly walked towards the middle of her room, certain she was safe for the time being. Seconds went by, though it felt like hours, and nothing came in to grab her. She let herself relax, yet she didn't get to relax for long. She felt another shiver tremble her whole body, and, knowing that wasn't a good thing, slowly looked behind her, terrified of what she'd see. Zecora stood a foot or two away from her open window, raised high on her extra appendages. Sweetie mentally face-palmed herself for not checking her window--classic, stupid mistake--before a cold, slimy tentacle shot forward and wrapped around her mid-section, squeezing her tight so she wouldn't slip out, and pulling her back towards the zebra. Sweetie couldn't breathe. She could feel her vision slowly start to blacken. Zecora looked directly at her, no expression on her face. "Kcirt. Ekips. Esiugsid." She mumbled. It was the last thing Sweetie heard. ~*~ She woke with a start and immediately started screaming again. Luckily, it died out as she realized she had conked out on the floor next to the window sill. She looked at the time; it was 1:45. The same time as last night when Rarity got taken. She shuddered and decided to go in the kitchen so she wouldn't be seen by anypony who decided to stop by...if anypony was awake at this hour. What dream-Zecora had said freaked her out even more than the dream itself. She only know what she had said because the CMC's secret language was simply saying stuff backwards. They hadn't used it in a while, but it had come in handy when they didn't want prying ears to hear their next scheme to get their cutie marks. She had said 'disguise. Spike. Trick.' Three simple words that will probably cause Spike a world of panic--not to mention Twilight and her, herself. Sweetie decided that, starting tomorrow, she'd board up the window (the best she could get at fixing it), and go find and help Spike on his mission, if Rarity wasn't back by then. A knock sounded at the door. Sweetie stiffened and quickly hid beneath the kitchen table. She'd just stay here until then.
What's One More?"Black mane, black mane....I know so many evil doers with a black mane." Twilight paused, feeling odd to have said that so certainly. "Apparently." She added, "but I need my lab supplies. This castle is so huge, I'd probably get lost just trying to find the bathroom..." She paused again and looked around nervously, wondering if it would be better if she went back to her old home and got her DNA lab supplies, or if she should wait until Spike and Scootaloo got home. She felt increasingly guilty about leaving behind in the city. After some more thought, she decided it would be wisest to leave a note, in case they came back, informing them of her whereabouts. She'd teleport back to Canterlot, more specifically, to Celestia's room to see if they were still there. If not, she'd go to her old room, grab her supplies, then teleport back home. Happy that she finally had a plan, she went down the hall in search of a piece of paper and quill. Once the note was finished, she teleported away. Little did she know, a draft from somewhere in the building whisked the paper off the table and made it land on the floor, blank-side up. ~*~ An hour later, Spike and Scootaloo arrived outside of the castle, about to go in when they heard somepony frantically calling out their names. "That sounds like--" Scootaloo said, not being able to finish her sentence because Sweetie Belle slammed into the small pegasus at full force, causing the two to tumble over each other before hitting the base of a tree. They fell apart, completely dazed, Spike walking over to them to see if they were okay. "We're fine," Sweetie said as Spike helped her up, "I guess I don't know my own speed...sorry, Scootaloo..." Scootaloo smiled, brushing off the incident with ease. "I came down here to tell you..." Sweetie breathed, her heart still racing from what had happened. "That I...wanted to help you." "What about the boutique?" Spike asked, "I--I mean, I'm glad you're helping, but--" Sweetie smiled, passing by both of them on her way to the castle doors. "I switched the open sign to closed. Can't believe I didn't notice that before..." She looked at Spike with earnesty as she held open the castle doors. "So, you'll let me help?" Spike grinned, walking up to the castle steps. "'Course, why not?" He said as he and Scootaloo walked through the castle doors. Sweetie beamed and followed after them, closing the door behind. Twilight appeared back at Celestia's room, cringed at the mess once more. She was so used to having seen it neat and tidy when she had been in there multiple times that the new sight just made her skin crawl at what had happened. She nervously looked from left to right, wondering if she should clean the mess up now; she knew for certain that it was illegal to mess with a crime scene, but, at the same time, the small amount of OCD she had was practically screaming at her to fix the mess. Why it was bothering her now, she couldn't tell. Probably because, last time she had been here, not only a few short minutes ago, she was in a trance most of the time and too tired to notice anything afterwards. She decided to not mess with anything, closed her eyes and quickly teleported away before she could change her mind. Even then, there was a small urge to go back and pick up. She looked around her old house, surprised it wasn't as dusty as she imagined it to be. She willed another memory to take over, but none came. Huh, she thought, maybe nothing happened here within two years...that I was here for, anyway. She took a hoof step forward, the floor creaking under her weight. She continued until she was downstairs and headed for a hallway that branched towards her old kitchen. Once there, she took a right and arrived at her old lab. Yet, when she got there, she found it was completely empty. Stunned at first, was she, but then figured they had packed it up before they left to Ponyville. She was about to teleport back to her castle and ask Spike when a knock sounded at the door, startling her. She jumped and, after somewhat calming herself down, went towards the door to answer it. Before she could even open the door, however, Moondancer barged in, looking quite anxious. "Twilight? Twi?" She stopped shouting the alicorn's name once she saw her and gave her a quick hug before continuing. "I heard you were visiting again, and I really need some help on....something...uh.....important Like, really important." Twilight blinked; yes, she remembered Moondancer, of course, but she didn't think they were the closest of friends...but, then again, it could be something else she was missing. "Of course I'll help, Moondancer," she smiled, figuring this is what she probably would do if all of her memories were still in tact. "I don't think I'll be of much service, of course, but, what do you need?" Moondancer looked at her, dead serious. She closed the door and cackled. "I don't think you'll be of much service either," she snarled; Twilight taken aback from the sudden mood change. "But, no matter. The thing I need is you." Her eyes flashed a turquoise color and her legs became black and holey for only the briefest of seconds, but it was a long enough transformation for her to realize who it was. Half a gasp escaped her lips before an ooey green cocoon covered her body. She watched in horror as Moondancer changed to a mirrored version of her appearance before her eyes. Chrysalis gave out an evil laugh and a scowl towards her captor before teleporting away to Celestia only knew where. Spike, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle had been looking around for Twilight for the past half hour. There were more than 500 rooms in the castle and only three of them, making their chances of finding the curious princess seriously overwhelming. "Maybe she's back in Canterlot," Sweetie suggested for the third time since they got there, making Spike roll his eyes at the repetition but keep his tone calm nonetheless. "Maybe," He sighed, "but she could be around Ponyville, too....we really need to keep a better eye on her when she's in this state." He was about to head towards the second library, halfway out the door, when Twilight suddenly appeared in front of him. He yelped and stumbled back onto the floor, then realized it wasn't a harmful foe and helped himself up. "Sorry, Twi; didn't expect you to pop in so suddenly. Where have you been?!" Twilight shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, as if nervous, then stopped and looked down her muzzle at the baby drake. "Canterlot." She said simply, "now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired from staying up all night; I'm going to go to bed." She closed her eyes and marched up the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. "Told ya!" Sweetie cheered, "told ya she was in Canterlo--..." She stopped herself abruptly and sat down, getting a strange expression on her face. "You know....I have a weird feeling that that isn't Twilight." She mumbled. Spike nodded, his little arms folded across his chest. "I know what you mean," he said, "she'd only act that way to anypony if she somehow got her memory wiped again." His eyes widened and he looked at the two fillies, certain they were each thinking the same thing. "You don't think...?" He asked them, blood running cold. The response he got were two wide-eyed stares that mirrored his own. He quickly rushed up the stairs, Scootaloo right behind. Before Sweetie could follow, however, she slipped on a loose piece of scroll paper. She turned it over and read it to herself. Spike and Scootaloo, I've gone back to Canterlot to gather my lab equipment to test a DNA sample on the strands of black mane we have found. It shouldn't take long; I'll be back in twenty minutes. If it takes me longer, come check on me....just in case. ~Twilight~ Sweetie gasped, grabbed the note with her magic, and raced up the steps to show the others what she had found.
What's One More? [Alt. Version]Lavender hooves paced the castle floor as Twilight spoke her mixed up thoughts to the empty palace to hear. "Black mane, black mane....I know so many evil doers with a black mane." She paused, feeling odd to have said that so certainly. "Apparently." As she turned around to continue her pacing, she her attention went to the nearby window and alarms rang off in her head. Something definitely wasn't right. She rushed to the window to see if her eyes were playing tricks in. It wasn't. Twilight's pupils dilated as she immediately began to panic. On top of everything else, how was she supposed to fix this?! An hour later, Spike and Scootaloo arrived outside of the castle, about to go in when they heard somepony frantically calling out their names. "That sounds like--" Scootaloo said, not being able to finish her sentence because Sweetie Belle slammed into the small pegasus at full force, causing the two to tumble over each other before hitting the base of a tree. They fell apart, completely dazed, Spike walking over to them to see if they were okay. "We're fine," Sweetie said as Spike helped her up, "I guess I don't know my own speed...sorry, Scootaloo..." Scootaloo smiled, brushing off the incident with ease. "I came down here to tell you..." Sweetie breathed, her heart still racing from what had happened. "That I...wanted to help you. Everything seems to be going crazy--I had a nightmare last night, it almost came true, and now the sky--" "What about the sky?" Spike asked. Sweetie pointed up with her hoof, Spike following her motion and gasped. One half of the sky was daylight, from the sun's position, it looked like it might have been noon. The moon was in the same position on the other half, suggesting it was also midnight. "Ohmygosh, the sky!" He shouted, eyes the size of pinpricks. "How could we have not noticed this before?!" "Well..." Scootaloo muttered. "Scootaloo?" Spike asked, "Did you see this beforehoof?" Scootaloo folded her little ears back. "I did. On the train. But you were so excited and talking about getting closer to the case, and I didn't want to ruin your good mood." She brought them up as a thought occurred to her. "But...maybe Twilight knows enough to stop everything?" Spike sighed. "I doubt it," he muttered, "but I guess it never hurts to ask." The three went inside the castle, Scootaloo holding the door open for the first two before going in herself. She stopped immediately as soon as she heard frantic crashes from somewhere in the castle and Twilight shouting out frantic cries. "Uuhhh..." she said as she wandered farther in, up to where Spike and Sweetie stood, staring at the lavender alicorn. "What's going on?" Twilight turned her head at breakneck speed and saw the three standing there. She didn't hear them come in over all the noise she was making. She grabbed Spike with her magic and shook him, making the young dragon go cross eyed, mirroring Twilight's own. "Have you looked at the sky lately, Spike?" She asked in a slightly psychotic tone. "Yeah, uh--" "What could it possibly mean?" She asked no pony in particular. Dropping Spike, she went back towards the window to see more and more ponies looking up in slight alarm, though they weren't running around like chickens with no heads. "Why isn't anypony freaking out over this?" Spike exchanged a glance with the two foals, stood up and walked to Twilight's side. "This...this kind of happened before." "What?!" "Amnesia." Spike simply said, tapping the side of his head. Twilight lowered hers and sighed. "Right." She scowled, "that." "But, you and your friends got everything under control!" Spike continued, "and you probably will again, soon. I think you just need some guidance." Twilight cocked her head to the side. "Guidance?" She furrowed her brow for a minute before perking up with glee. "Luna!" "Uhh..." "Thanks, Spike!" She smiled, "I'm sure Luna will be able to help me with this. How hard can it be, right?" She grinned at the three of them as she fired up her horn, then blinked away. Spike rubbed his forehead and sat down on the castle floor, facing away from the two fillies. "This isn't good," he sighed, "I have a feeling Luna's missing, too."
Why Give Up?Twilight had a rotten, horrible, inexpiable feeling something dreadful would happen the moment she got cocooned. It was odd, she had to admit, to see green slime come out of the changeling queen's horn; it had almost looked like her aura until it hit Twilight dead-on and rendered her immobile. The way the cocoon worked was strange, as well. It surrounded her, coating her everything but her mouth, nose, ears, or her wide-eyed stare, that, and it hardened the second it touched any surface rendering her immobile and feeling oddly like glue against her fur. Things got increasingly unusual when she witnessed Moondancer transform to a sort of doppelganger; unsettling to see herself grin so wickedly and laugh so cruelly as if she had planned to kick some puppies after setting fire to Celestia's mane. Finally, the bizarre freak show was over when Chrysalis vanished in a green, spiral smoke pattern, similar to the one that appeared when she had transformed. Twilight was left to ponder what could have happened had she not been there when she was. Would she be safe, back home with the others, or would some evil doer find her there, and potentially harm her friends along with her? Was this the safer option? She was upset that she'd never be able to tell if it was, and decided to try and teleport away so she could warn them in time. She fired up her horn, expecting to see the interior of her castle after the spell faded; she opened her eyes and found she was still stuck in the cocoon at her old house. Confused, she looked around the best she could, waited a minute in case the spell had been delayed for some strange reason. Her eyes veered upwards as she thought about what the substance the changeling queen did to her magic. Did it alter it? Did it actually cause delays? Or worse....what if it actually stopped her magic all together?! Twilight began to visibly shake and sweat at this thought; she bit her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up over the years of stress and anxiety and trying to get perfect scores on all her tests. She closed her eyes and attempted the breathing technique Cadence taught her, happy to find she could at least move her forehoof to do the technique accurately; she tried it three times and it still didn't calm her racing heart. Unsure of what to do next, and getting more anxious and scared by the second, she screamed out a cry for help. ~*~ Minuette and Twinkleshine were heading back from Moondancer's, each slightly terrified, albeit curious, at what they had seen. The poor unicorn was stuck in a green, see-through cocoon thing and kept mumbling about Queen Chrysalis and her changelings. "Is she back?" Twinkleshine had asked, her fear clear as a bell. "Is she trying to take over Canterlot again?" Moondancer had just kept her head down, mumbling to herself about what she had been through. After several failed attempts of trying to get the substance off, Minuette, at one point, had tried using a jackhammer, they both decided they'd try to go get some help, hoping that somepony--anypony would listen to their plead. As they turned towards the bridge that lead to most of the castles, they heard a scream for help; it sounded like the end of one, and it was quite faded and distant, but they heard it nonetheless. They looked at each other, droopy ears perking up in hopes the sound would come again. They turned around and started towards where they thought they heard the scream, thinking that it might be Moondancer, when a large, blinding purple light started to flash repeatedly. The two turned their heads, shielding their eyes the best they could, and saw it was coming from Twilight's old house. Twinkleshine stared wide-eyed at Minuette, concern, and curiosity wrote all over her. "Think it's Twilight?" She asked, prancing in place, "think she's in trouble?" Minuette narrowed her eyes in determination, facing the extravagant household. She cast a sidelong glance at her best friend before going back to where Twilight might have been. "Only one way to find out." She said, then immediately beamed at Twinkleshine and started prancing towards the home. Twinkleshine sighed and caught up with the enthusiastic unicorn, stepping in front of her, blocking her path. Minuette skidded to a stop and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What's wrong?" She asked, upset that she wasn't able to get to Twilight at that point and time. "Shouldn't we go help her?" "I'm not saying we shouldn't..." Twinkleshine sighed, unsure of how to continue. Minuette, while extremely kind and always wanting to help, didn't always think things through. "...but...maybe we should have a plan, first? You know; in case the changelings are still there..." She looked over her shoulder nervously, as if worried that a changeling would leap out from behind her and fillynap her as well. Minuette sighed, wishing Twinkle wasn't always so worried all the time. However, she knew that Twinkle wouldn't let her go any further without a 'plan', of sorts, so she decided to please her. That and what Twinkle said could be true--changelings could be littered throughout the whole building, and if they just barged in there all willy nilly, they wouldn't be able to save their only princess friend. She and Twinkle pondered about what to do, Minuette getting more and more anxious for each passing second; the flashing purple light had stopped and she wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. She stood up and started pacing around, mainly to try and get her nerves under control. Finally, an idea hit her dead on, she turned towards Twinkleshine so fast that she could have sworn she would have gotten whiplash. "I got it!" She cheered, "we both know the shield spell, right?" "...kind of...?" Twinkleshine sparked up the spell to show what she meant; a light blue bubble formed around her, yet when Minuette went to see if it was strong enough, it crumpled under her weight. "I've been meaning to practice it," Twinkleshine said sheepishly, "I've just never really had a good reason of why I should use it, so I put it off." Minuette smiled and patted her bud on the back. "No worries," she said, "I got your back; I think mine is strong enough and large enough for two ponies..." she tested it out, a dark blue bubble surrounded her and an extra foot of space. She beamed at Twinkleshine, stopped the spell. "See? Room to spare!" She turned her attention towards Twilight's old house as the flashing lights started up again. "Now, c'mon, Twinkleshine, let's go! Who knows what might happen if we wait any longer?" Twinkle wrinkled her nose; space didn't seem large enough for two ponies, and she didn't get to test its strength unlike Minuette did to hers. But she knew that Minuette was starting to get a teensy bit annoyed with her stalling; a bad habit she had picked up from her youth. Twilight was in trouble; it was about time to stop stalling and start helping. She took a deep breath and got side to side with Minuette, who immediately cast the shield spell around the two. It did happen to be slightly cramped, but Twinkleshine decided to keep her complaints to herself. She cast a sidelong glance at her best friend, full of fear and determination. She hoped the determination overshadowed the fear as she repeated the same phrase Minuette had said to her five minutes before hand. "Only one way to find out." ~*~ Minuette and Twinkleshine ran through the house, shield spell starting to waver. Twinkle looked up at the fading bark blue bubble then over at Minuette. "Uh..." she said between breaths, "is this...going to...hold?" Minuette nodded, though it looked like she was being strained as visible sweat began to appear on her brow and her face was starting to turn red. Twinkleshine inwardly gasped, as she hadn't looked over at her best friend since they had started. She stopped abruptly, looked over at the exhausted unicorn, and told her to take the spell away. "Why?" Minuette asked through her long and heavy deep breaths. "I can hold it out...a little...longer. Just until we get...to the top of the stairs." Twinkle raised an eyebrow at this, to which Minuette hung her head low. "Fine," she said, "I guess...I could use... a little break." She then proceeded to lie on the ground and looked up at the cream-colored unicorn. "go up the stairs; Twilight's room is to the left. She should be in there." "What are you girls talking about?" Twilight's voice cried out from behind them. "I'm right here!" The two unicorns turned around to see their friend in the same green substance Moondancer was in. She was glaring at them, a little upset that they haven't noticed her before, even though it was completely obvious where she was. "Oh." Minuette giggled despite herself as she and Twinkleshine obtained matching, sheepish grins. "Whoopsie..." Spike barged into Twilight room, Scootaloo close behind him. Impostor-Twilight looked up from her book that she more than likely skimmed over and, once she saw who was there, rolled her eyes and went back to reading. Spike, meanwhile, crossed his arms and glared at her, waiting for her to say something, or possibly be intimidated by his look. "Whaddya want?" She grumbled after she realized they wouldn't leave. Spike tapped his foot impatiently and started pacing around the room. "You left, again, for Canterlot and you didn't even leave a note." He paused, realizing his tone and demeanor was relativity harsh. He stopped pacing and faced her, claws held in a little plea. "We just want to see if you're alright, is all." 'Twilight' raised her eyebrow, not looking up from her book. "Is that so?" She muttered. Spike looked over to Scootaloo, wondering what to do. Scootaloo shrugged and made a gesture for him to continue. Spike sighed at the fillies lack of help and faced 'Twilight' once more. "Yes," he said, "yes it is." He took a step forward to try and get her to pay attention to him instead of her book. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked, his posture suggesting he'd probably have a heart attack if she were to say 'no'. She let out a low groan, irritated with him, but Spike would never be able to guess why. "Hunky dory." She said in the same monotone she'd been using for the whole conversation. "Now, get out." Spike took a step back , surprised at how harsh those three words came out, and quickly tried a different tactic. "Okay, w-well...what did you do in Canterlot? Why'd ya disappear on us so quickly?" The lavender alicorn sighed, looked up from her book. "Can't we talk about this later?" She hissed, "I'd like to be alone with my studies..." She made the door open with her magic and levitated Spike out of the room. He froze, unsure of what to do; his reaction coming as Twilight dumped him a foot above the ground and slammed her door shut behind him. He blinked, still trying to process what had happened. He then leapt to his feet and tried the doorknob, finding it would barely turn. She had locked it from the inside. "Oh, very mature, Twilight..." he grumbled to himself as he slumped against the center of the wood-framed crystal door, "all we're trying to do is solve this stupid mysterious curse and catch the stupid mysterious villain, but you're making it ten times more difficult." Scootaloo walked up and sat down next to him, in an effort to comfort the distressed baby drake. "Hey...it's okay." She said, awkwardly shifting her weight on her forehooves, "I'm sure she's just...stressed; you know how mares can get when they're stressed, right?" Spike glared at Scootaloo, immediately feeling guilty that he did; but he was so fed by be getting 'clues' that wound up carrying them on a wild goose chase. "Sure." He mumbled; facing the floor. He stood up and turned his back to the young mare. "I'm just gonna...go to my room." Scootaloo watched in despair as he slowly made his way towards the end of the hall, stopping just short of it and entering his room. She sighed and went downstairs to tell Sweetie what had happened, not knowing what else to do. She was halfway down when the energetic unicorn slammed into her for the second time that day, making both fillies see stars. They shook their heads to get rid of the crazy vision, of sorts, and Sweetie immediately ignited her horn, catching something that was in the air, and brought it down to Scootaloo's eye level. "Huh?" Scootaloo found herself saying, "what's this?" She grabbed the paper with her hoof and began to read it to herself. Sweetie watched anxiously as Scootaloo read it, waiting for her reaction and an idea on what to do. Each second seemed longer than the last until, finally, Scootaloo dropped the paper, clearly confused. "Okay, so she did leave a note. So what?" Sweetie folded her ears back, a bit embarrassed. "Remember how I said 'I don't think that's Twilight'?" "Yeah?" "Well...the note said she went to Canterlot to get her DNA supplies....a-and she didn't come back with anything." Scootaloo raised an eyebrow and continued down the stairs, Sweetie quickly following after. "And, don't you think she would have said something about it? Like..." Sweetie paused, took a deep breath and did her best Twilight imitation as she continued. "'I went to Canterlot to get my supplies, but I couldn't find them so I came back here'? I don't know...it's just unnatural for her to be so evasive, even if she got her memory wiped again...I think..." Sweetie sighed, ears drooping, upset at how unsure she sounded. "Could we at least go check on her?" Scootaloo, now at the bottom of the stairs, stopped abruptly and turned around to face her friend. "You know... Spike and I already did, but..." "But what?" Sweetie asked, her hopes starting to rise. "She seemed pretty mean to Spike, and...and she wasn't sleeping; she was reading, yet she told us she was going to bed when she got here...though, to be fair, I'm not completely sure how she acted before she came here." Sweetie turned around, started going up the stairs again. "What are you doing?" Scootaloo asked her, staying put. She stopped and looked over her shoulder, one hoof raised in the air, anxious to keep going. "I'm going to ask Spike," she explained, "if anypony--er--dragon would know, it'd be him." Scootaloo followed, trying to figure out how to tell Sweetie what had happened. "He's the only dragon that would know," she said instead. Sweetie rolled her eyes, still trotting forward. "You know what I mean." The pegasus filly sighed, knowing that, sooner or later, Sweetie would know that Spike had basically given up. She didn't want Spike to yell at her, or be upset with her because of something she was unaware about. So, Scootaloo raced ahead and tried her best to block Sweetie's pathway on the wide set of stairs. Sweetie narrowed her eyes and scoffed, showing a great resemblance of Rarity whenever she got annoyed. "Scootaloo, this is kind of important..." Sweetie said, stepping around the pegasus. "don't you want to help Spike with this problem? This is probably an important clue...thing..." she looked at the paper again, unsure if she could call it a 'clue' or not. She shrugged and continued on her way, only to be blocked by Scootaloo five steps later. "Yeah..." Scootaloo chuckled uneasily, "about that...." Sweetie interrupted her with a growl and side-stepped the pegasus once more. Scootaloo sighed and raced ahead again, blocking the top of the stairs the best she could. "Sweetie, listen," she said; the unicorn was a mere ten steps away from passing her by once more. "Spike..." she folded her ears back, her eyes shifting wildly. "Spike he..he wanted..." Sweetie was at the top now, paused, waiting for Scootaloo to continue. "He what?" Scootaloo quickly glanced down the hall towards Spike's room, Sweetie's gaze following her friend's. "Oh, he's down there?" She asked, "I thought he was still with Twilight or something." She chuckled a little and continued down the hall towards his room. "Thanks, Scoots. I owe ya one." Scootaloo winced at the mistake she had made and followed anyway; there was no stopping Sweetie now. At best, she could put all the blame on herself. ~*~ He lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, knowing he was probably letting everypony down. At the most, the pony gang and the CMC, who'd never see their sisters again. This thought alone made half of him want to get up and try again, but the other half was just to exhausted. He couldn't tell if it was staying up all night, Twilight's new attitude, the fact that she could have possibly got her memory erased somehow again, or all of the above. Whatever the reason, he just wanted to stop, for only a second, and let himself catch up on all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. A loud bang startled him awake, causing him to nearly fall out of his cot. He started at the door in a disgusted manner, as if it had summoned somepony to wake him up, and walked over to it groggily, getting a head rush from bolting up so fast. He didn't remember falling asleep and instantly wondered when he had when another knock came, sounding urgent. "I'm comin', I'm comin'." He grumbled, reaching up to turn the knob; he opened the door to see an excited and anxious Sweetie Belle, holding a piece of paper in her aura, accompanied by a nervous, almost guilty looking Scootaloo. Sweetie ran into his room, not waiting for an invite in. Spike, slightly upset she was the one who interrupted his slumber, muttered an unkind word under his breath. "Spike! Spike! I--" she paused, her keen ears hardly picking up a smidgen of what he had muttered. "What'd you say?" She asked, curious, as she had heard her name. Spike held the door open and silently gestured Scootaloo in, inwardly wincing and facepalming himself that he didn't keep his thoughts in his head. He whirled around to face her and beamed in, what he hoped, was a respectable manner. "Nothing," he said through slightly clenched teeth, then, noticing the paper again, decided to quickly change the subject. He pointed at it, pretending that it was the most important and interesting thing in the whole castle. "Hey, what's that?" He asked, unclenching his teeth. "It's a note Twilight left for us." Scootaloo explained as Sweetie handed the note to him. "We were wondering how she acted before she came here, in case that Twilight in her room isn't the real Twilight." Spike nodded, mainly paying attention to the note than anything else. "Uh..." he said, "she kind of acted how she's acting now." "Are there any slight differences you maybe noticed when talking to her before?" Sweetie asked somewhat desperately, "any at all?" Spike let out an 'uh' again, trying to think of a subtle thing he didn't see beforehand. "Keep in mind that Twilight said she'd be going to sleep when she arrived, yet Scootaloo told me when you went up to confront her, she was studying." Sweetie continued, "does that help anything?" It took a couple long, agonizing minutes, but Spike finally snapped his claws, getting both fillies hopes up, as they already had all their attention on him. "I can't believe I didn't notice it before!" He said, more to himself than to his company, "it's so obvious, now that I think about it!" Sweetie was leaning forward on her forehooves in a manner that copied Pinkie Pie, curiosity eating away at her patience. "What is?" She finally blurted, since it was obvious Spike was waiting for one of them to ask. "Lie." Spike said simply, like it would be as obvious to the two fillies as it was to him. The two traded a confused look, then looked back at him with the same expression. "Whaddya mean, 'lie'?" Scootaloo asked. "In all the years that I've known her," Spike said as he folded up the note and put it in between his blanket and mattress. "Which is practically my whole life, I might add, I've never seen Twilight lie." Scootaloo raised an eyebrow, thinking that 'never' was an understatement. "Never, huh?" Spike thought about her question and realized, in a way, she was right to ask it. "Well, not never," he corrected, "but, whenever she attempted to lie, it was super obvious. Still is." He shrugged, knowing they'd ask why that would be. Sweetie nodded, she knew a couple fillies and ponies who were kind of like that; Apple Bloom was like that, except for when she lied about getting her cutie mark that one time and ended up getting the cutie pox, and a couple other times as well. "What if she changed her mind?" She asked him, "just...just to be, you know, safe." She added afterwards. "She would have told us, if her memory had been wiped again--" he stopped himself and went over to close the door, then spoke in a lower tone; he had a sneaking suspicion a certain somepony was trying to listen in on their conversation somehow. "Even if it hadn't, she still would have let us know." Sweetie leaped in the air, unable to contain her joy. The clue that she had found, that chose her, one could say, had been helpful all along! This actually takes us one step closer to solving the whole thing! She thought excitedly. "What are we waiting for?" She asked loudly; it was hard for an easily excitable filly such as herself to calm down once she got hyper. "C'mon, let's go interrogate her again!" Spike and Scootaloo smiled at her over enthusiasm and followed her through the door and down the hall. When they got to Twilight's room a mere five seconds later, Spike stepped forward and tried the doorknob. When it wouldn't turn, he blushed, remembering that the impostor had bolted it shut. He reached out and knocked instead, but nopony answered. "Twilight!" He called in a sing-song voice, masking the irritation best he could, which, he had to admit, was pretty good. "We'd like a word with you..." he stood back and waited, but there was still no answer. "What did you expect?" Scootaloo unintentionally jarred, "the impostor probably thinks that you think they're still Twilight, and 'Twilight' is still annoyed with you." She explained, using hoof quotes around the second 'Twilight'. Spike glared at her, throwing his claws in the air, not liking her new tone. "Why didn't you say that beforehand?!" Scootaloo folded her ears back and bit her lip, hearing the tone he had used that had mimicked her own. "I didn't think it'd make a difference," she said quietly, "sorry I yelled; I think we're all too stressed out from this messed-up case." Spike huffed, letting himself calm down before accepting Scootaloo's apology, more to make her feel better than actually accept it. "It's fine," he said, thinking it was probably the fastest he and a friend of his ever technically fought then made up. "you two, stay right here; I'll be right back." He added, then ran down the stairs as fast as his little legs would carry him, took a few lefts then a right, and arrived at one of the many broom closets the castle held. Opening it up, he grabbed a key and ran back to where his company waited. "A key?" Scootaloo gaped once she saw what he held. 'why didn't you just grab that in the first place?" Spike turned his head over his shoulder towards her, eyes closed and chin as high as he could hold it in that position. "I didn't think it'd make a difference." He mocked, then opened his eyes and smiled at the somewhat distraught face Scootaloo had on. "Nah, I'm just messin' with ya." He said, "Twilight doesn't like to be interrupted and told me to only use this key when completely necessary or in extremely important situations." He faced the door again, placing the key in the keyhole. "I think this situation is pretty important to everypony..." They watched as he turned the key and pushed open the door. The second the door was open, they saw Twilight's bed covers taken off and hanging out the window. Most importantly, the impostor was gone. Twinkleshine and Minuette walked over to Twilight, slightly upset with themselves that they didn't notice her before. "Are you alright?" they asked simultaneously. "No," Twilight sighed, "I'm not. Obviously." She rolled her eyes then stared at them again. "What are you do--" they watched in shock as Twilight's eyes rolled to the back of her head, her mouth staying agape. She held this pose for what seemed like the longest time before going back to normal minus the fact that she was eyes full of tears and she seemed to be breathing heavier like she had been holding her breath the entire time. The two unicorns couldn't tell if both noticeable signs were from the pain that must have come from that experience, or something else. Minuette took a hesitant step forward, cocking her head to the right just so. "Are...you sure...?" Twilight looked at them, wide eyed and through a new light. She, too, took a step forward, the green substance on her horn moving with her, making a squelching noise. "Minuette?" She gasped, "Twinkleshine?" "Uuhhhh...yeah..." Twinkleshine said uneasily, "seriously, Twi, what's wrong? Why are you acting so weird? And why are you trapped in a cocoon, like Moondancer?" She shook her head to clear the confusion and, when that didn't work, stood on her hind legs and placed her forehooves on either side of her head. "What in Equestria is going on here?!" She yelled, to which minuette flinched and signaled her to calm down. She got back on all fours and laughed nervously. "Sorry," she said, "didn't mean to freak out like that." "It's okay" Twilight smiled, "I would probably freak out, too, if I were in your hooves." She sighed and began to tell her friends what had happened. From yesterday morning to thirty minutes agao, and they seemed to drink it up, only asking the occasional question. "...and that's why I'm stuck in this...thing now." She finished. Her ears had folded back and she had sat down during her tale, along with the others. "I just need to get out of this soon as possible to help Spike again. I have no idea where Chrysalis went, or why she changed into me, or--" "Twilight," Minuette called, trying to get her attention. "Twilight, calm down," she said, "it'll be okay; just let us know what we can do, and we'll do it." Twilight smiled, grateful for the offer and loving that she decided to rekindle the friendship with her Canterlot friends last year. "Can you get me out of this?" She asked them. "Except that." Twinkleshine responded, looking from Twilight to Minuette then back again. "we tried with Moondancer; i-it didn't..didn't work." Twilight sighed, tried to think of another solution. Her ears perked up, suddenly, as she heard a noise come from somewhere in the back; it sounded like glass shattering, quickly followed by heavy hoofsteps. "Quick, go get Spike and the others," Twilight instructed hurriedly, nervously looking over her shoulder to estimate how much time they had to get out of the house. "Tell him where I am. He'll know what to do." The hoofsteps sounded louder and heavier, a shadow appeared on the west side wall. "Go! Get out of here!" She whisper-yelled, "get before they see you!" That seemed to get the message through that she was done. They quickly saluted her, though she felt that wasn't exactly necessary, and escaped right before the pony who broke in came around the corner. Twilight breathed a breath of relief and waited anxiously to see who would appear. She didn't have to wait for very long.
RescueRainbow tried for the 500th time since she was in there to get free of the ties the bound her from flying up to the trap door. She was still recovering from trying to parkour up there for the 499th and the tight ropes were starting to irritate the bruises she had earned. She stopped, hearing a sudden thud on the top of her box. "Hello?" She called out, hearing no reply in return. "Hellooooooo?" She perked her ears up as high as they could go, trying to catch just the tiniest sound she could. Still nothing. "Listen, creepy filly-napper man," she warned, "if you're trying to scare me, you got another thing coming! The second I get out of here, I'm gonna bust your chops so hard--" The hatch above her opened and Rarity's face peered in, slightly swaying from left to right as she looked inside. "Rainbow Dash?" "Rarity?!" Rainbow cheered in a mix of happiness and disbelief. "How did you manage to--" "Shhhhh!" Rarity whispered, "keep your voice down, Rainbow. You don't want your only chance of freedom to go back to that stuffy prison cell, do you?" She raised her head a bit, smiled, still trying to keep her body on balance. "That said, I'm ever so glad to see you again. Hurry up and fly out of there before I pass out again." Rainbow motioned at the ropes. "Can't really do that." She said. Rarity leaned in again and squinted, seeing the tight material that had Rainbow stuck to the ground. "Oh, dear me." She muttered, "my troubled eyes must be making it hard for me to see." "Are...you alright?" Rainbow asked her. "I'm fine." Rarity answered. "Just not used to exerting my magic this much, is all." She closed her eyes and tried to relax her self a little, as the stress of getting caught was making her exhausted as well. "Hold still, Rainbow," she said, opening her eyes again. Rainbow sat and felt the ropes loosen around her torso, one coming in view every so often wrapped in a weak version of Rarity's aura. The second Rarity was done, Rainbow dashed out of the blue, boxy prison and landed at Rarity's side. "Where to next?" She asked, closing the hatch. Rarity went to the edge, trying to see if she could see another room such as hers and Rainbow's. "I'm terribly sorry, Rainbow," she said with distraught. "My i can hardly see a thing with how bad my eyes are right now. Do you think you could look over this way and see if you could find a--" "It's dark pink." Rainbow interrupted, already hovering in the air. She had copied Rarity before hand. She looked down at her then over at Pinkie's box. "Do you want me to go and get her while you rest?" Rainbow asked. "Maybe I could get Fluttershy and Applejack, too, if they're trapped here. We could all meet here so you won't have to wear yourself out so much. Rarity smiled at the speed demon, already lying down. "Your sure you don't mind?" Rainbow flexed her wings. "Positive." "If you're certain." Rarity yawned. "Just be cautious and careful. Who knows if..or when that villain will trap us again." Rainbow nodded, about to fly away. She then stopped herself and looked at Rarity with concern. "What if, while I'm gone--" Rarity had already dozed off. Rainbow decided to stop talking, as to not accidentally wake her friend. If she's not here when I get back with Pinkie, Rainbow thought, I guess I'll have to look in her box, too.
Didn't This Happen Before?A holey black leg came into view, followed by it's buggy owner. Chrysalis was glaring at something down the hall, Twilight assuming the room she had crashed into. Chrysalis ruffled her tattered wings and focused her attention on Twilight and the room surrounding the alicorn. "My dear, sweet child," She crooned, trying to lure Twilight into a false sense of comfort, "I just happened to hear voices as I flew in and am curious to know..." her voice changed from gentle and sweet to brittle and commanding without pause. "Who were you talking to just now?" "I--I---uh..." "And where are they?" Chrysalis continued, looking around the room wildly. "Did they escape before I came? Or are they hiding out somewhere?" She paused and eyed Twilight suspiciously. "Were they... friends of yours, coming to visit?" Twilight could feel sweat rolling down the sides of her face and her heart rate increase. Why am I so scared of her? She thought to herself. She doesn't have her massive bug army, like she did last time... She closed her eyes to regain her composure then looked Chrysalis in the eye. "Friends?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "That's ridiculous. Why would I ever waste my time on something as stupid as making friends?" Chrysalis pulled back, pleased with this answer. "Must be in my head again..." she grumbled to herself quietly before walking over to stand guard at the door. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, letting herself relax. Suddenly, the green bubble around her dissolved and the princess was hit by an agonizingly painful ray of magic. Once the spell was over, she blinked and looked around her old home. She smiled to herself and stood up, but once she saw Chrysalis in her home, she shrunk away. "Who are you?" She asked fearfully, "and what are you doing in my home?" The key clattered to the floor, making a racket in the otherwise dead-silent castle. The trio shared the same expression of shock and disappointment as their eyes covered her bedroom time and time again. That was it; the imposter left them with no clue of where she was going. Spike's ears folded down for a brief second before popping back up. "We need a map." He said finally, entering her room. "A map?" Sweetie asked as she followed him. "She could be anywhere in Equestria by now. Hay, she could even be down there, in the town, disguised as somepony else." "True." Spike replied, reaching past a couple different books and potions on Twilight's desk. He pulled out an orangeish yellow one and showed it to the two. "That's why this will help us out." Scootaloo's eyes widened and she dashed downstairs. Spike gave a quizzical look in her direction, but decided to shake it off and open up the concoction. "What's it do?" Sweetie asked. "It'll help us spot changelings in disguise." He answered. Sweetie still looked a little befuddled. "Zecora wanted Twilight to test it out a couple weeks ago," he explained, "so Twilight went down to the Crystal Empire and tried it out, cause there was rumors of Changelings being there. Turns out, there was two, so she sent them back to their hive." Sweetie nodded and took the bottle out of his claws using her magic. Scootaloo came back up the stairs and set a magenta potion on the side of Twi's desk, then watched as Sweetie popped the cork out and drank a couple sips of the elixir. Her pupils tripled in size by the time she removed the bottle from her mouth and she blinked several times to try and get them to go back to normal. "It's supposed to do that." Spike supplied helpfully, "see anything different?" "Yeah..." Sweetie said, her voice overridden with amazement. "I can...I can see where she went. Like-like watching a movie on rewind." Spike grabbed the bottle out of her magic hold and tried to find the label on it. "Did I grab the right one...?" He muttered to himself. "Me next!" Scootaloo cheered, plucking the mixture out of his claw with her mouth. She took a couple sips then held it out for Spike to take. Her pupils tripled in size, too and she watched Chrysalis escape on repeat as well. Spike drank the last of it and put it aside, next to the magenta concoction. His pupils grew and he watched the buggy queen, with a nearly transparent copy of the princess over her doing the same movements she was doing, enter the room in a slowed down hurry and grab whatever she had left on the bed, then fly out the window, only to stop for a moment to see a portion of the bed sheet had gone through one of the many holes in her leg. She rolled her eyes and used her magic to get it off, then flew away in a slightly panicked frenzy. The scene started to repeat itself, but Spike looked away as he had already seen enough. "I guess we just follow her ghost." He shrugged. He turned towards the door and took a step back at the second potion on the desk. "Ohmigosh, I forgot all about this!" He cried, quickly cradling it in his claws. "I guess we got so wrapped up in trying to help Twilight, that we didn't even use it." Scootaloo nodded solemnly. Sweetie, meanwhile, was trying to figure out what the vial did, and why it was such a big deal. "Uhhh...what's it do, exactly?" She asked. "It was supposed to help Twilight gt her memory back" Spike said, leading the way out of the castle, "but since we forgot about it, something bad could happen. Or, if not, it could at least her get her full memory back instead of just bits and pieces." He looked down at the vial with slightly broken hope, watching the changeling ghost out of the corner of his eye. "...I hope..."
What's Happening in Canterlot?"Thought you could fool me?" Chrysalis sneered as she closed in on the frightened and clueless alicorn. "We knew that spell would wear off eventually. We just wanted to make sure it hadn't already." "Huh?" Twilight asked, backing away from the frighting villain. "Wh-what spell? Who are you? What are you talking about?" "That's the downside of this spell," Chrysalis grimaced, "All the questions." "Where's Spike?" Twilight continued, oblivious to Chrysalis' words, "I need him to help me look up something. Something important. If I can't get the news to Celestia, there's a possibility that the state of Equestria could hang in the balance!" Chrysalis smiled. "You keep living in your strange little fantasy, Twilight." She walked towards the staircase and laid down, eyes on the alicorn at all times. "I'm so happy I can watch this unfold off-hoof. I wanted to do it before but," she shrugged, "too risky." Twilight watched the intruder as she moved and talked cautiously, wondering if this pony with holes all over it was a possible threat or not. "Watch what..?" She fired up her magic, "you do realize you're an intruder, right? I might as well call the royal guards and have you evicted from my home..." "You invited me in, though." Chrysalis lied, "remember? And my relationship with the royal guards goes way back..." It technically did. "Really?" "Yes, really." "You don't look like anypony I've ever seen..." Chrysalis fought the urge to roll her eyes at the alicorn's current gullibility. "I know, I'm awfully special, aren't I." She said sarcastically. Twilight eyed her for a few seconds longer than the queen was comfortable with. She finally straitened, fluffing her wings. "I don't completely trust you, but you're the only source I have at the moment, so you're off the hook." She paused, eyeing the buggy queen again. "For now." Using her magic, Twilight grabbed a broom and threw it at Chrysalis without a second thought, then trotted forward in an attempt to get up the stairs to her studies. "Could you help me clean this place up? I asked Spike to do it before I left, but I guess he's skipping out on his duties." Chrysalis, knowing she put herself in this situation, but offended nonetheless, decided to take her annoyance out by messing with the current bimbo that was with her. "Why don't you just fly up?" She called, then started sweeping as if she had said nothing at all. The hoofsteps dawdled, then slowly came to a stop all together. A pause. "I HAVE WINGS?!" The train arrived at Canterlot, though the ride there seemed to take an eternity or longer. Spike, Sweetie, and Scootaloo were the first ones off and were nearly at Canterlot's town square before half of the other passengers were off the ride. Skidding to a stop, The three watched Chrysaghost glide overhead towards a familiar castle in the distance. He nodded to himself and ran west, the others following. "Whoa...." Scootaloo breathed, "is..that where you used to live?" "Yeah." Spike said, "the castle in Ponyville is kind of an upgrade but it's kind of a down-grade, too." Before Scootaloo could ask what he meant, two mares came over to the small group, somewhat breathless. "There you are," Minuette said between trying to catch her breath, "We've been looking all over Canterlot for you, Spike." Spike scrunched his nose in confusion. "Me? Why?" "Because Twilight..." Twinkleshine looked both directions, as if she were nervous they were being spied on. The next couple sentences she said sent a bone chilling tingle all over his tiny body. "Twilight's in danger, Spike. There's somepony in her home. She sent us off to find you." Eyes wide, Spike looked up again at Chrysaghost, heading towards the old home. He didn't know why he didn't think much of it before, maybe it was the old adrenaline rushing through, making his brain foggy and unfocused, or maybe it was shreds of hope that still clung to him, clouding his sense of reality. The new burst of traumatizing stress that was now bolting through his veins smacked the hope away temporally- long enough for him to realize what exactly was wrong with the whole scenario. "Sweet Celestia!" He cried, drawing attention from the local Canterlot snobs, "Chrysalis is the one in her home!" "Chrysalis is back?!" Several bystanders screamed. They didn't wait for Spike to confirm it and instead started running around like chickens with their heads chopped off in a type of blind panic. "Where's Celestia?!" One maroon stallion shouted. "She'll know what to do!" Another mare added. "Let's all go and demand she banish this villain from Equestria for eternity!" The maroon stallion directed. "But how will we know she's not a changeling?" Another stallion asked, "how do I know you're all not changelings..?" As the chaos and fighting continued, the two mares, foals, and dragon snuck away unseen. "Oh, cleaning crew~?" Twilight called from her studies. Chrysalis grimaced, mentally cursing the clueless alicorn for-- she didn't even know how many times--in that hour. She marched up the steps, blatantly irritated. She had tried to tell Twilight that she wasn't a cleaning mare a couple orders ago, but Twilight didn't seem to be letting it go, for reasons unknown. "I told you before," Chrysalis growled, "I'm not here to clean. I'm your guest." Twilight stared at her blankly, a small smirk growing across her muzzle. "But I don't recognize you." She stated, "when did we meet?" Chrysalis scoffed. "I don't know--" "--So we're not friends!" Twilight interrupted. "It was so long ago I can hardly remember." The queen finished. Twilight eyed her again, but went back to looking at the Mare in the Moon book. "If I apparently invited you in," she said, "and I have a nearly perfect photographic memory, so I don't know why I don't remember that, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." "I don't think you understand what's going on here." Chrysalis jeered. "There are enemies that are trying to harm you..I'm keeping you safe. You can trust me, I promise you, I'm telling you the honest truth." The lies slipped off of her tongue like turpentine. "Oh?" Twilight asked, stepping away from her pedestal, keeping a fair distance between her and the villain. "Because I don't think you're telling me the truth at all."
What Exactly Caused All This? [Backstory; 15-12]When Chrysalis attacked, it seemed like another ordinary one-versus-six type of thing. A quick blast from the violent, reforming rainbow they summon when battling baddies and she'd be gone again; only to return six months later with yet another battle plan. It was obvious that without her changeling army, now under the rule of King Thorax, she was practically useless against the mares. This time. This time was different. Definitely different. The whole scenario started out with Spike leaving for the day to go and help Ember with a current dragon problem she didn't know how to handle. "I'll be back by the end of the day", he had promised his guardian as he boarded the train, "and I'll try to remember to bring you that lava rock sample you wanted." Rainbow and Twilight waved goodbye to him as the train left the station until said train was out of sight. The cyan pegasus then turned to the lavender alicorn, saying something about how she was starving and wanted to grab a hayburger before heading back to the castle. Aside from this, all of Twilight's senses were focused on some type of - what could only be described as a black blob - contrasting with the nice light blue sky the pegasi had prepared for the week. "Uh..." Rainbow waved a hoof in front of her face, trying to get her attention. "...Twi...?" She looked at her friend with concern, trying to see what she was staring at. Luckily, it didn't take long; pointing a hoof at the menacing shapeless blob, she screamed "what in Equestria is that?!" Around them, a couple townsponies that overheard them glanced upward, their gaze stuck once caught on the mysterious sky blob. They seemed fretful, some huddling around each other as a type of protection. Once Twilight saw and heard them cowering in fear, her neutral face turned into a frown. "What is it?" "What does it mean?" Cries came out from different directions, now more ponies around the train station than before, trying to see if anypony else knew what it was. "Princess Twilight will know!" Somepony cried out. She remembered that voice from about a year ago and attempted to hide a scowl; she decided she didn't like this pony who repeatedly brought unwanted attention to her. Nevertheless, ponies gathered around the station area where Twilight and Rainbow stood, questions galore shooting out at them. "Is our world ending!?" "Is it the end times?!" "Is this the start of the apocalypse?" "Did I leave my oven on?" All eyes turned towards Angel Wings, who took the day off from Wonderbolt training due to a sprained wing. "What?" She asked, "it's an important question!" Rainbow nudged Twilight in the side, motioning upwards with her head. "Ahh." Twilight muttered, getting the message. "Uhm... I understand that this.. object? Is threatening by it's appearance, so Rainbow and I will fly up and investigate." She spread her wings, eyes still on the crowd, and flew up, Rainbow close behind her. She could hear cheers for her bravery, but she mainly just did it because she was curious herself--not that she'd actually say that out loud, of course. "Whaddya think it is?" Rainbow asked, catching up easily. Twilight shrugged; best she could. "I don't really know; there's a number of theories floating around in my brain." Rainbow slowed down, still facing her friend. "Oh, really?" She dodged a blue jay, "like what?" "Well, it could be a type of UFO with aliens from another land. I've heard of these strange ones--fives tiny hooves attached to a larger hoof, they don't have any fur except on top of their heads-- and even some don't have any there. They walk on two legs instead of the usual fo-" "Your describing humans, aren't you?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah." "You've been through that portal multiple times." "Yeah, but I still don't understaAAAAAAH!" A weird aura grabbed Twilight by the middle just then and pulled her inside the UFO. It took Rainbow a second to recover from shock, but she eventually started pounding on the blueish blackish crystal with all her might. "Let go of my friend, you crazy, filly-napping machine!!" The arm started to go after her. Alarmed, she dashed away in search of the other four. "Is that what that thing is?" Pinkie asked; beside her was Applejack, Fluttershy, Starlight and Rarity, Rainbow had just finished frantically filling them in on what happened. She had a hot air balloon ready for those without wings and, after answering a couple clarifying questions, they were off towards the floating crystal, Rainbow pulling the balloon as Fluttershy once did to save her from Discord's curse. It was no use, though. The aura grabbed them all, rendering them motionless, bringing them inside the contraption. They don't remember much after that. Just that they were dropped inside their tiny boxes and the crystal ship moving so fast that they all got slammed against a wall and knocked unconscious. Spike came back at the end of the day, as promised. He was shocked to discover Twilight went to bed early [there was a note on the door from Big Mac saying he found her in the middle of the street passed out, maybe from exhaustion, and decided to bring her home]. Nevertheless, he placed the lava rocks that he had gathered in a small bag in a corner by his room and, him exhausted himself, passed out on his little cot. Only to be awoken eight hours later by a ground shaking cry of his name.
You Finally Figured it Out?Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Why Are[n't] You Freaking Out?Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
EscapeShe opened her eyes and staggered to her hooves, half terrified that whomever had put her in the dreadful place would do it again while she was unconscious. It filled her with delight to see that she was still on top of things--both literally and metaphorically--and looked around to try and see where she was. Inky blackness surrounded her for miles. The ceiling she walked on was probably 6 feet in each direction, yet the room she was in seemed smaller. She approached the edge and squinted, hoping to see if there was some way out of the place, or to see if she could find a box that the rest of her friends were held captive in. As she squinted her eyes and leaned forward ever so slightly, she somehow saw a navy blue box on what she supposed was the horizon. "Don't you worry, Rainbow Dash." At least, she assumed it was Rainbow Dash. "I'm going to set all of us free." With that, she fired up her horn and vanished in a blink of light. Celestia struggled and strained against the tight ropes that bound her to the ground. She knew she had seen a somewhat clear view of the lowlife's face before they had taken her, but all she could say fr certain was that, whomever it was, had horns. She would have used her magic to get out of the dank prison cell a long time ago. In fact, she did, once, but a horrendous device had electrocuted her to points of unimaginable pain, knocking her unconscious. When she awoke, she was back where she started. Nevertheless, she kept trying to put on a fight, even if she was incapable of moving. "You're going to waste your energy, you know..." The scoundrel taunted, "why don't you save your energy, huh? Here. Have something to eat." She heard the door open and a plate skidded across the floor; she looked up in time to see the light show just the tiniest bit of their face; enough to recognize them. She gasped, collapsed to the ground, hitting the plate just right so the food went flying to the other side of the room. "Tirek." She breathed, hardly paying any attention to her lost supper; she didn't even care. All she wanted to know was how he had escaped.
Where am I?"SPIIIIKE!!!" Twilight yelled, waking the baby dragon. Though he was upset to be woken up and unable to sleep until noon as he always did, he recognized it as a scream of help and rushed over to Twilight's room. The moment he steeped into her doorway, he saw her tangled up in her bedsheets, on her back, and on the floor. Seeing the normally cautious and organized mare in such a runt made him attempt to suppress a laugh. Twilight raised an upside-down eyebrow and huffed. "Little help?" She asked in a very annoyed tone. The little dragon vaguely recognized that tone; she hadn't used it in such a long time. He hurriedly rushed in and grabbed a loose sheet corner that was by Twilight's tail. He gave it a yank, and the sheets somehow came loose, freeing the alicorn in the process. She offered him a smile yet nothing else beyond that. Instead, she headed toward her door and paused. "Spike?" She asked. "Yes?" He replied; slightly annoyed she hadn't thanked him yet, or apologized for waking him up. She turned around to face him, cocked her head slightly. "Where am I?" "What do you mean?" He placed a claw on his hip, wondering if she was messing with him. She looked around, clearly confused. She took a step towards him and repeated the question. "Where am I? When I went to bed last night, I was in Canterlot. Now I'm in this overly bright and shiny.....what is it, exactly? A mansion or something?" Spike couldn't believe his ears. Why was Twilight taking this act so far? He just didn't seem to see the funny side of it, but laughed nonetheless to get her to quit it. "Very funny, Twi." He said, "you had me there for a second. I must say, your acting skills are getting a whole lot better. I take it Pinkie's lessons are paying off?" "Who's Pinkie?" Twilight asked, more confused than ever. Spike rolled his eyes and walked past the puzzled alicorn. "It's not funny anymore," he mumbled, "I'm going to go make breakfast. Do you want to help me?" "No, I'm good," she responded, "could you at least point me to the library in this place?" Spike stopped in his tracks. Twilight might take a joke a bit to far every now and then, but she would know she should stop once one told her it wasn't funny anymore. That, and she'd never-ever in her life-joke about a library. He turned around, concern etched on his face. "You don't know where the castle library is?" He asked. "Oh, we're in a castle?" Twilight asked as she looked up at the ceiling, "I should have known from its inside design and structure. Then again, I haven't stepped hoof outside of this room." "You really don't know who Pinkie Pie is or where you are?" Spike continued, ignoring her comment. "Does the name 'Rarity' ring a bell? Or 'Rainbow Dash' or 'Applejack'?" The poor guy was starting to panic, his voice rising and becoming faster with each word. Twilight gave a simple shake of her head, sending him in to absolute fear. "Ooooooooooh," he mumbled, anxiously hoping from foot to foot. "This is bad. This is really bad...." Not knowing what else to do, he threw his head back and screamed for some help. "STARLIIIIIIIGGHT!" He ran down the hallway as quick as he could, faintly hearing Twilight's snarky reply behind him ("The stars won't answer you, Spike! They can't talk!"). Once he reached her door, he knocked urgently, barging in after a few seconds passed. He knew it was rude, but he needed some help and hoped--maybe--she knew how to fix whatever had happened. There was only one problem, though. She wasn't there. Her bed, neatly made with no wrinkles, was 'destroyed' in seconds, as he thought maybe she was under the covers or the bed itself. The small, neat vanity Rarity had given her was a mess as soon as Spike got near it. There were some posters hanging on the wall that Spike glanced over to see if she was hiding in there, but it was to no avail. He slumped down against the door frame, not knowing what else to do. He felt defeated for only a moment, to say the least, before his stomach growled with hunger. Breakfast! He thought happily, she could be making breakfast for us! She had got into a habit of getting up earlier than the two just to make breakfast for them. Spike hopped downstairs, full of new hope, as he smelt scrambled gems and fresh daisies with grass; the favorite breakfast of the two that only Starlight knew how to make perfectly. What he saw though, made his hope sink to Equestria's core. Twilight was standing next to the stove, flipping the gems every now and then with her magic, hungrily eyeing the fresh daisies, grass, and lettuce. From what he could tell, Starlight was nowhere in the castle. He'd have to check most of the many castle rooms once breakfast was over. He sighed for the umpteenth time that morning. It'd probably be better if I went and asked one of the other mares he thought as Twilight levitated the gems over to him on a plate. She sat down, immediately started chewing on the grass. Spike pushed his plate away from him, the small scarping sound catching Twilight's attention. "Are you okay?" She asked him. "I'm fine," he said with a weak smile, trying to hide his disappointment in not finding Starlight, "I guess I'm just not hungry." His stomach proved him wrong by growling loudly. Twilight gave him a look and pushed the gems back to him. He frowned at his stomach, cursing it in his mind, then wolfed the gems down. Twilight smiled, staring on her lettuce. Spike, meanwhile, got out of the chair, pushed it in, and headed towards the door. Twilight didn't notice him, thankfully, or, if she did, she didn't say anything. He was going to try and see if any of her friends knew what to do. The closest mare was Pinkie Pie.
Where Are They?He was so close to heading outside when a scream ripped through the castle, followed by his name urgently being called. He huffed, wishing she would give him enough time to get help, and ran back to the kitchen. "Twilight! What's wrong?" He asked, fearing the worst. Though he didn't see any fire or burglars in the room, he did see the frightened mare staring at her now open wings; ones she hadn't opened all day--until this moment. "Why do I have wings?!" She shrieked, not taking her eyes off them. "Are they an optical illusion? A hologram? A prank? Spike, was this one of your childish pranks?" She grabbed his shoulders and shook him, her eyes dilated to the size of pinpricks. "Please tell me it was one of your childish pranks!" Spike blinked, not exactly sure how to respond. "Uhhh..." He said as he stared at the frenzied alicorn. After a moment passed, he shrugged uselessly. She groaned and let go of him, started to pace. "I knew it would be no use asking him..." she mumbled to herself, "but I thought he would give me an idea of why..." The baby dragon watched her mumble and pace until he was sure she was in her own little world (which wasn't long), then slipped out the door, closing it soundlessly behind him. Even though the sun was out, it was still freezing outside. He glanced up at some of the pegasi who were trying to get the breeze the perfect temperature then continued on his way. Sugarcube Corner was only a block or two away; it was a path he had traveled down so many times before that he hardly had to have his eyes open to see where he was going. He should have kept them open, though. One moment, he was on his two feet, the next he was tumbling down to earth. Dazed, but not hurt, he looked behind him and saw a rock that was sticking out of the ground had tripped him. Grumbling to himself and the rock (though he knew it was ridiculous to do so), he stood up and brushed himself off. "Y'all alright, Spike?" A young, familiar voice asked. Spike turned his head to see Apple Bloom looking at him with concern, her saddlebags on, the normal hustle of the monthly farmers market going on behind her. If Apple Bloom's still here... Spike thought happily once he saw her, then Applejack should be here as well! Apple Bloom's eyes widened as she looked off to the side then back at the dragon. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he was staring at her and it was starting to creep her out. "Uh...Spike?" She asked after a good minute of silence passed. Spike shook his head, as if getting out of deep thought. "Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." He scratched his head sheepishly, looking at the ground. "Was I staring into space?" Apple Bloom nodded. "Sorry about that..." "It's fine," Apple Bloom sighed, "hey, have ya seen Applejack anywhere? She promised yesterday she'd help me with mah apple buckin' skill--or lack of one--but ah didn't see her anywhere in the house this mornin." It was the fillies turn to look at the ground as she absently kicked a pebble out of the way. "Ah thought, maybe she'd be in town square up an early, or be over at Twi's er somethin'." "Wait...Applejack's gone, too?" Apple Bloom tilted her head, confused by Spike's question. "What do ya mean by that?" She asked, "Is Twi gone, too?" "No." Spike said, then after some thought, changed his answer. "I mean yes. I mean--" he scoffed at himself and hung his head, wondering how to explain it without getting the filly worked up more than she was. "It's complicated, I guess. She's still there, but...." he bit his lip, knowing that truth was a good way to go yet not sure how to continue. "Her memory isn't...?" Apple Bloom's eyes widened again, clearly alarmed by the new information. "TWILIGHT LOST--" "Her spell book!" Spike quickly said to the surrounding ponies as he clamped a claw over the filly's mouth. Forcing a laugh, he took his claw off her face and shook his head with a smile. "Who knows how long it'll take to find it? It's driving her insane." The filly gave him an irritated look, but went with it nonetheless. "Yer right, Spike," she said loudly to anypony still listening, "let's head ta Sugar Cube Corner an see if Pinkie mistook it as a bakin' book." She then started to push Spike towards the bakery, he soon started to walk beside her. "Why would Pinkie mistake the spell book as a baking book?" Lyra Heartstrings asked her best friend, Bon Bon once they left the strawberry stand. Bon Bon shrugged, guiding them both towards the asparagus stand. "Pinkie mistakes a lot of things for a lot of things." She said simply, "it was bound to happen one of these days." It was obvious to Spike and Bloom that the bake shop was falling behind on orders. A long, snake-like line trailed out of the shop and ponies all over-front, back and middle- where starting to grow impatient, angry shouts rose from all over. "I ordered a pie ten minutes ago!" Pokey Pierce yelled, shaking a hoof in the air. "My cake was supposed to be finished by now!" Lemon Drops added. "I just came here for a blueberry shake!" Filthy Rich scowled, "I didn't want to wait in line for half the day! I'm a very busy stallion!" Apple Bloom and Spike ducked out of view of the irritated ponies and slipped inside, where the scene was ten times worse. Pound and Pumpkin Cake where wailing they're little heads off, Mr. Cake trying his best to shush them up and take orders, while Mrs. Cake was frantically cooking and serving the goodies. The school filly walked up to the counter to talk to the Cakes, Spike close behind. "Hey!" Sassaflash growled at the two the moment they reached the counter, "no cutting! You two go back to the line and wait like the rest of us." "Oh, don't worry, we will soon," Spike assured, "we just...have a delivery to pick up, is all." Sassaflash brought her head down so she could be eye-to-eye with the dragon. She scowled and pushed her nose up to his. "Like I said," she hissed, "get. In. Line." Spike backed up and glanced at the line, shocked to know it was a simple pick up line for the orders. He wondered why the Cakes hadn't filled them out before hand. Apple Bloom got in front of Spike, looking quite upset somepony had talked to one of her friends like that. "You do know he's the assistant to Princess Twilight Sparkle, right?" She retaliated. Sassaflash stood tall again, looking slightly confused. "Yeah? So?" "So, ah recommend y'all don't talk ta him like that. Unless, a course, you want to bring the whole thing up to Twilight or even Celestia herself." Sassaflash's expression changed from confused to worried in a heartbeat. She mumbled an apology and attempted to take a step back, running into the pony behind her. Apple Bloom smiled gratefully and turned towards the counter, started ringing the bell. Mr. Cake noticed immediately and silenced the bell with a gentle tap. "Uh..yes..Apple Bloom?" He asked nervously. "Is Pinkie Pie here?" Spike asked, stepping forward. "We need to talk to her; it's kind of super important." Mrs. Cake, who was coming out of the kitchen carrying a tray of cupcakes in her mouth, set them on the counter and faced the two. "If she was here," she said, "this place wouldn't be as hectic." She picked up the cupcakes and carried them to Sassaflash, who was off to a vacant table once the tray was in her mouth. "I don't know how Pinkie does it," Mr. Cake said while shaking his head, "her constant energy, while a bit annoying at times, is the perfect thing we need to keep this place from reaching...well...this state." Spike furrowed his brow, while Apple Bloom raised hers. "Was she in her room?" "We checked." Mr Cake deadpanned, "She wasn't under her bed, or on the ceiling, or under the covers, though that's uncommon for her. Gummy was on the bed, but he was freaking out." "How?" Spike asked, "doesn't he usually just stare blankly into nothingness?" Carrot Cake nodded, about to explain, but Shoeshine barged her way past the filly and dragon, a very threatening look on her face. Luckily, Cup Cake came back from taking some other orders from the long line and happened to hear Spike's question. "When Pinkie's around, yes," she answered, "but it's not internal freaking out, like she says her sister does. He was running around the bed sheet, tearing it up, throwing the stuffing out of it...stuff he does when Pinkie's not here. Trust us, we've seen it before." Apple Bloom and Spike exchanged a look, wondering what they should do now. "Could....we see...?" Bloom asked uncertainly. "Oh, heavens, no!" Carrot Cake's eyes widened as he spoke. "He tried to escape once we came near him. If--I mean--when Pinkie comes back, we don't want her to be upset and leave again to find her precious alligator! Who knows how long she'll be gone?" "A day?" Spike shrugged. "Do ya know when Pinkie'll be back?" Carrot shook his head, taking the bits from Shoeshine. "Who knows? Months, perhaps, or maybe just a week..." Spike and Apple Bloom lowered they're heads with a small groan. "Thanks anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Cake." Spike offered. "Good luck with the orders." "What about Applejack?" Apple Bloom asked as Spike turned to leave. "Has she been by here?" Carrot shrugged, finally calming the babies down. "Not that I know of," he said, "she could be somewhere in line, though." She stared at him, blinked, not sure how else to react. "Oh." She said after she realized she'd been staring for a bit too long; she was about to turn away and leave without so much as a 'thank you' when an idea stopped her in her tracks. She turned around, gleaming with pride. "Hey!" She exclaimed, "can ah help with the orders? Pinkie, AJ an Granny Smith taught me a thing er two in the world a cookin'. I'd be a great 'replacement'! That is--until Pinkie gets back." Mr. Cake thought about the idea, his hoof to his chin and his eyes wandering to the ceiling. After a good minute or two of possible pros and cons flying about in his head (the worst being the place burning down), he realized the list shared much resemblance to Pinkie's and nothing bad has happened with her so far--besides the fact that she went and disapeered, but that wasn't exactly on the list. "I don't see why not," he answered, "long as you don't burn the place down," he added with a chuckle. "Ah'm sure ah won't!" She cheered, rushing into the kitchen, surprising Mrs. Cake, then immediately started to help the anxious baker. Spike didn't notice. How could he? He was already out the door. He was already halfway to Rarity's. Twilight was still freaking out about her wings. She had, on multiple instances, tried to pull them off with her wings and had been greeted with pain. She had tried to look for her scientific studies journal, yet it was nowhere in sight. Neither was Spike. She had waited so, so long for him to come back, but her patience was was running thin. She looked at the time; he had slipped out two hours ago. She had called for him again, after she was done pacing and talking to herself, but when he didn't run to her aid, she figured he must be ignoring her or escaped at one point or another. She was furious for an hour afterward. The alicorn looked at the time again; it had only changed by a minute. She looked at the door; the knob didn't turn and nopony--or dragon was coming through. With a frustrated sigh, she scrawled a quick note on a stray, empty scroll that she found among the many others in Spike's room (it had taken a while, but she had finally figured out where it was located), and used a sticky spell to stick it on the outside of the door. After she was done, she ran towards what she assumed was the town hall; it seemed to be the largest building there. Maybe somepony could help her better than Spike--help her know where she was, for example, or how she got there. Or--maybe, just maybe, somepony could help her find a way back.
