“...and Starlight said she’s too busy to come with Trixie,” Trixie added, she was wearing a blue short-sleeve shirt showing off her stomach, she had her cape on but had taken the hat off during her pleading session. She wore a pair of white jeans, just baggy enough to slide down her hips a little, but not so baggy that she’d have to worry about them falling as long as she had her belt semi tightened. She was waiting patiently for a response from her friend, who was drinking a steaming cup of tea.

“So, I’ll ask again,” Spike replied for the second time, “why come and ask me?” He was wearing a light blue long-sleeved shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. The two were sitting alone in the castle, Twilight had been called out on a friendship quest with Applejack to Las Pegasus and Starlight had a friendship lesson with Rainbow Dash. Trixie sat in silence, knowing exactly how Spike wanted her to answer.

“Cause Trixie ran out of options,” she said flatly.

“Well usually I hate being the last choice, but sadly I’m not one to leave somepony so desperate that they’d beg on their knees for me to come with them.” Trixie lighted up on that.

“So, you’ll-”

“Yeah, I’ll help you go find your lost wagon wheel,” Spike said with a wave, “just let me finish up my tea.”
Three days ago, Trixie had come back from a show and was attacked by a manticore. She’d been saved through a well-timed intervention by Fluttershy, but had lost a chunk of her wagon, and her insurance didn’t cover the cost of a new wheel in addition to the rest.

“Oh, thank you so much!” Trixie practically sobbed as she hugged him, Spike only barely avoided spilling his tea. “The shop won’t let Trixie take it back without the wheel, and Trixie doesn’t want to spend another night in this maze of a castle!”

“Twilight gave you a chore list, didn’t she?” Spike asked simply.

“She gave Trixie a chore book!” Trixie shot back, “Trixie will not stay here a day longer than she has to!” Spike sipped at his tea for a moment before nodding.

“Alright, let’s go to the scene of the crime.”

---30 minutes later---

“Why was Fluttershy even out here?” Spike asked as the two sat on a large rock. Ponyville was just a small town in the distance as they looked at the scenery.

“Dunno, something about someponies’s pet running off or something, Trixie was too busy having a panic attack to hear her explanation.”

“It probably didn’t help that she had the manticore carry you back did it?” he asked with a chuckle, remembering seeing the show-pony passed out in said creature’s arms as they brought her back from the wreckage.

“Well, Trixie passed out as soon as it touched her so...” Trixie replied taking a drink from their canteen of water to hide her embarrassment. Spike looked around.

“So where did you lose the wheel?” Trixie pointed in front of them into a dense forest. Spike pointed at the large empty field behind them, chuckling slightly.

“Good, cause I would have judged you if it had been on this side. Any idea if our friendly neighborhood manticore broke it, cause I’d hate to have come this far to find nothing but a broken wheel.”

“Trixie remembers that when the side broke, the wheel rolled off that way,” Trixie said, simply pointing to the point ahead of them where the path made a turn, leading it right away from the woods. Spike and Trixie walked over to the sight and found a fairly sized levee leading into the forest. Spike nodded.

“Yeah, I figured we’d somehow end up going in there.” he waved forward. “Ladies first?” he asked.

“Oh, how polite of you,” Trixie replied sarcastically as she stood in place.

“Isn’t it?” Spike replied as he set off into the forest with Trixie following in tow behind him.

“…so, how far do you think it rolled?” she asked, as she ducked under some leaves.

“Well it was raining, so my guess is this area had some water in it when it rolled in here, so it’s more of a where did it end up at. There are no rivers or streams nearby, so it’s probably at, or near the end of this levee. And if it’s not then a wild animal decided it liked the way it looked and we’re never seeing it again, unless Fluttershy happens to find said animal.”

“So, this little adventure of ours is a hit, or a miss.”

“It’s been that the entire time,” Spike replied. The two walked on for a short while, talking about whatever they could think of, to pass the time until they reached the end of the trail they’d been following. Its end was at the top of a dip that was seemingly consuming the entire forest for as far as the two could see. The woods in front of them just sank down for almost a mile. Spike looked down at the smooth cutting on the side, down below them he could only see a vast sea of bushes.

“So, this part of the forest is sinking,” Spike noted, “that boded well.” Spike turned to give Trixie the bad news that they would have to stop and find a way to get down and found her attempting to climb down. “Wait, don’t-” Spike attempted when the dirt she was putting her weight on began crumbling. Her hand flashed out and grabbed his leg. Trixie fell over the edge, and Spike fell with her, only just grabbing onto the edge of the cliff. In mere moments it became clear to both of them that the bottom was a lot further down than it had appeared.

“Trixie thought these were bushes,” she yelped as she put her hoof on top of what she now knew was a fully-grown tree. Spike looked up as the ground he was holding onto began to give way.

“I think we were supposed to,” he said simply, the edge broke off and the two plummeted down, breaking a multitude of branches on their way. At the end of the fall, the two lay bruised and beaten on the ground. “I hate optical allusions,” Spike muttered irritably as he got up, covering a sore spot on his arm with his hand.

“So does Trixie,” Trixie replied as she rubbed her back. “Ouch, everything hurts.” The two looked around and froze. As far as they could see there was nothing ahead but darkness. Their fall through the tree had given them a few light-spots, but they noticed at once that the tree was rapidly regrowing its branches. “Spike, how do we get out of here?” Trixie asked worriedly as the light rapidly diminished. Spike touched the smooth side of the cliff and watched it crumble at his touch.

“We don’t,” Spike replied, the two looked at each other and scooted next to each other against the wall as their natural light was covered by the tree. Trixie cast a spell to make her horn glow, allowing them to see a small area around them. The two were breathing heavily as they looked around. Their original panic ironically deafening them to the absolute silence of the forest. No wind, no rustling of the branches above, and not even the sound of animals was to be heard.

“What is this place?” Trixie asked as the two looked around. Spike kicked a rock, which flew for a short while and landed in front of them. The stone hit the ground with a loud, hollow thud, followed by a cracking sound around them. The two watched as the ground around the rock began cracking.

“Absolute bullshit,” Spike exclaimed, as the rock fell beneath the ground. The floor was caving in, closing in on them. “You held us when we fell, but you aimlessly kick things into the dark?!” Trixie shrieked, as they began to slide forward, arm in arm. Spike and Trixie screamed as loud as they could, while they were swallowed by the earth. Just like the branches before, the hole they’d created closed as soon, as they fell.

Unbeknown to them, the rock Spike had kicked, appeared back on the surface, glowing orange, as a huge hand reached through the trees and picked it up. “Clever intruders, found the key,” a horribly raspy voice said as nine eyes lit up within the tree’s branches, “they must be caught before they reach the treasure room!"

Meanwhile, Spike and Trixie rolled through the dirt and only came to a rest when the dirt dissipated into nothingness, as they were blinded by unnaturally bright light. After a moment the two blinked it off and found themselves lying in a metal lined hallway.

“What the fuck?” Spike asked the empty hall, as he and Trixie got up. Trixie looked around for a moment, sighing. “Trixie is never seeing that wheel again, is she?” she muttered disheartedly.

“If we both survive, I will pay for the damn wheel,” Spike replied as he tapped on the floor, “cause this level of bizarre deserves some reward." Before Trixie could thank him, the ceiling above them began shaking as it opened up. Trixie reacted before Spike did and pulled him out of the way, as a large hand came down from the ceiling, a hand big enough to hold Spike or Trixie in its palm. It was quickly followed by four others before it pulled its owner inside. It looked, for lack of better words, like a monster, it had dog like feet, four arms, a long, thin tail, covered in spikes, and a hunched back with a shell, with more spikes to account for.

The beast had a pony like head, with two eyes in the normal place and five more, placed above, in between and next to the usual pair. It had two long teeth, curved to the side on either side of its muzzle. A pair of ram-horns and pony like ears grew atop its head, with a chunk of the left ear missing. And if all of this wasn’t enough, its voice sent chills down both their spines.

“Come out little intruders,” it said, “come out and I promise your death will be faster than if you’d force me to catch you!” Spike and Trixie decided with a nod, to sneak towards the nearest doorway. The two made their way through the room as fast, and as silent, as they could. The room was large and seemed to be made mostly of jade, a shimmering green material. They made their way up a series of stairs, hoping it would lead them to the exit.

Instead, they found a podium, floating, in what they assumed to be a display case, bearing a pair of simple looking earrings. On the side of the podium stood a small sign.

“The Portara,” Spike read aloud, “two warriors shall place these on one of their ears, and they will become greater than the sum of their parts.” Spike and Trixie looked at them for a moment, contemplating what to do. “That sounds really cool, but Trixie doesn’t know if she can, in a clear conscious-” The raspy voice rang through the room, cutting her off.

“Come here to me, or I shall make you eat your own bowels!”, the voice was still reverberating from the walls as Trixie scrambled to get on spikes back to reach the podium “Take ‘em, take ‘em, take ‘em!” Trixie said as she took the earrings, the monster’s voice rang out once again, calling the two thieves, as it climbed the stairs. Trixie gave one to Spike and clipped hers on. He followed suit.

“Ok, so now what!?” Spike asked before their two earrings sparked with lighting. At once the two were engulfed in it and seemed to turn into light. The two light sources melted into one, and in a flash of light, two different looking eyes opened on one body.

“What?” Trixike asked as she looked at her sharp fingers. From the waist down she had scales, further up, she had fur. She was wearing Trixie’s cape, and shirt, which now had her cutie mark on it, and Spike’s shorts, which now showed little green flames on the pockets. She had Spike’s tail with a tuff of Trixie’s tail on the end. She was much taller than the two of them had been as well.

Her horn was curved back, her body was the same shade of blue as Trixie’s fur had been, but the end of her hooves, hands, tail, and horn where all the same shade of purple as Spike’s scales, she had the showponie’s mane, with stripes of green, like the dragon’s spikes. She barely had a moment to take in the fact that she was them, and that they were now her before their hunter arrived, the fury in his eyes more eminent than before.

“You stand guilty of stealing from the Hall of Ancient Magical Artifacts!” the voice rang out, causing Trixie to flatten her ears against her head, as it made its way up the last couple of steps.

“Prepare to drown in your own blood!”

Author's Note

a Third series? I can only hope it goes better than the original.

you say it's weird that Spike is wearing shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, I say that it's what I wear most of the time.