The Golden Trail

Darkness, solitude, and complete silence. These were the things that made up most of Spiderweb's life. It was a fact that he had made peace with long before he became Princess Luna's personal aid. The magic he wielded and generally cold demeanor made him a rather unpleasant pony to be around. Only his brothers and Princess could stand to be around him for long, a fact that helped to ease what little discomfort his situation invoked.

As he laid in his bed, staring through the complete darkness of his room at the ceiling, he mulled over how he felt about a new name being forced onto that particular list. Said new addition laid beside him, snoring softly while she held him close. Being a master of dark magic, he was no stranger to pacts or demonic contracts. While not arcane in nature, the deal that led to this particular turn of events was no less binding.

He needed to find Moonstone. He had to kill her. He had to free the souls that the demon she summoned had in its grasp. He didn't need sleep. He didn't need rest. He didn't need to be wasting time laying in bed with a mare right now. Twilight, on the other hoof, did need to sleep. She refused to rest or let him work alone, essentially twisting his foreleg into getting rest for her sake instead of his own. As such, he was forced to find a way to work as much as possible while also finding time to let his unwanted assistant rest. The fact that it was his bed that she was so insistent in sharing during most of these sessions was beyond him, but one that he was usually too tired to question.

He flinched slightly when his eyes wandered towards the sleeping Princess. In the solid darkness of his room, he could see the small, star-like, sparkles that covered Twilight's entire body. It was a trait that all ponies that shared Luna's blood held and one that was only visible to Night Tribes. Of course, some ponies sparkled brighter than others. That was a given, but the Princess of Friendship held a shine that almost rivaled that of his Princess.

Blinking the spots out of his eyes, he slowly tried to ease himself out of Twilight's grasp. It was then that he was reminded of the Earth Pony strength all Alicorns possess. Letting out a tired sigh, he reached down and lightly flicked the mare's nose. She flinched awake, slowly grumbling and nuzzling further into the stallion's side.

"Princess, I need to get up," he frowned, trying to pull out of her iron grip.

"No....too early," she drunkenly grumbled.

Spider's eye twitched.

"Princess. My foreleg is numb and I need to use the restroom. Let. Me. Go."

There was a brief pause, then Twilight reluctantly granted his request and rolled over. Satisfied, he got up and staggered towards his personal bathroom. While he tended to his needs and waited for his leg to regain its circulation, he started planning out what he was going to do today. While there were no written records of the summoning spell Moonstone used, there were enough similar spells on record to give him a rough idea of how he could track her. The trick was finding a way around Bloodstone's magic. The demon was just as creative as he was insane and held a tremendous amount of dark power. That, combined with his inequine level of regeneration made him a truly fearsome opponent.

After taking care of his needs, he prepared to teleport himself to the castle's forbidden archives. When the spell was cast, he instead found himself falling gracelessly back into his bed. He slowly turned his head towards Twilight, the mare bearing a flat glare that was almost a perfect match to his own.

"Cancel the spell," he flatly demanded.

She replied with an equally flat, "No."

"Princess. I do not have time for-"

"You're not fully recovered yet," she cut in, a bit of anger creeping into her tone. "You and I both know that your magic takes a huge toll on you, even when you're at your best. Right now, you'll drop dead if you try to cast anything more powerful than an illumination spell. What good is that going to do anypony when we do find Moonstone?"

He looked away with a grimace.

Twilight's features softened, a sad smile slowly forming on her muzzle as she gently guided his gaze back to her with a hoof.

"I know how important it is for us to catch her. I don't want what happened at the orphanage to happen ever again. At the same time, I think we both know that neither of us are going to be able to do much if we don't come at her with everything we have."

He gave a reluctant nod, softly moving her hoof away from his chin.

A rare, mischievous smile formed on Twilight's muzzle as she added, "As such, it is only fair that we do everything in our power to keep each other rested. So, as a Princess of Equestria, I order you to get a full days sleep. Should you refuse, I am more than willing to chain you to the bed to ensure your compliance."

"That seems rather extreme, wouldn't you say?" he asked, raising a brow.

"I know how you get," she stated, holding her playful smile.

"As do I with you," Spider countered. "By that logic, I should be allowed to bind you to a bed as well. A new kink of yours perhaps?"

Twilight's eyes widened, her face instantly turning a searing shade of red.

"M-Maybe?" she squeaked, tearing her eyes away from her bedmate.

Shock flashed briefly across Spider's normally stoic face.

An awkward silence settled between them for a few minutes before the stallion rolled over to face away from her. Twilight had done the same, her face coming just shy of burning a hole through her borrowed pillow. Suddenly, sleep sounded like a very attractive, yet equally elusive, option for the two of them.

***

Spike Let out a sigh, the sound echoing hollowly in the mostly empty halls of Canterlot castle. The shining marble walls and opulent decorations did little to raise his spirits. Perhaps nothing would. For the first few days sense he and Twilight were summoned to the castle, Spike sensed a dark shadow had been cast over every member of the High Royal Court. When he tried to find out what was going on, everypony refused to give him any concrete details on the matter. When Twilight returned to the castle guest room he shared with her in tears, he refused to be denied answers. Again, everypony refused to tell him anything, the barely contained rage all members of the High Royal Court displayed the only thing that kept him from pressing them further.

When he vented his frustration on an evening stroll, he crossed paths with Spiderweb on his way to one of the castle's libraries. With a bit of prodding, the young drake had managed to drag the truth out of the cursed stallion. Now that he knew, he didn't know what to really do with himself. He wanted to help, but what could he do in this kind of situation? He felt lost, powerless, and it infuriated him in ways he didn't know existed.

As he continued his aimless wanderings, his thoughts drifted towards the victims. He could only imagine what they felt in that moment. Against his will, for the briefest of seconds, he imagined that his friends had been there as fillies. He just as quickly shoved that thought to the deepest, darkest, foulest corner of his mind, but the pain it conjured refused to leave. Tears started to fall. Out of frustration? Grief? He didn't know. All he knew was that he needed to find a nice isolated place to have a cry. Even if he was softer than most dragons, he still had some of the pride his kind was known for.

The soft crunch of grass under foot pulled him out of his dark thoughts, making him give his surroundings a startled once-over. Tall elder trees and carefully pruned shrubs surrounded him, their leaves already starting to show signs of early fall. The grass was equally tended to, lush and full under his feet like a natural emerald carpet. Snaking between the trees were a few cobblestone paths, each of them lined with smooth gray stones. The wind passing through the leaves and smell of nature chilled the raging emotions spiraling through Spike's heart. For a moment, he closed his eyes to let the feeling wash over him, his frustrations slowly being taken away by the wind. Taking it in, he wiped his tears away and let a small smile grace his lips. Just like it had the last few times he had wondered here, the castle gardens helped ease his troubled soul. While it could not remove the pain completely, it did make it much more bearable.

His earfins twitched when he heard something other than the rustling of leaves on the wind.

Curious, he opened his eyes and listened carefully.

Is that....Is somepony singing?"

It was faint, but he could definitely hear somepony singing nearby. Left with little else to do, he stepped onto the nearest cobblestone path and followed the song. As he got closer and closer, the voice became more detailed. It was a filly's voice, and while the song didn't have any lyrics, it held a sadness that almost crushed the poor drake's heart. When he rounded a corner past one of the garden's massive trees, he froze the second he laid his eyes on her.

Sure enough, a filly was walking down the path towards him, but she was the oddest filly he and ever seen. She had the general shape of a filly with a coat as black as night, but that was were the similarities ended. Dark green scales covered the curve of her muzzle and the top of her barrel. Her tail was like that of a lion's, with only the underside of it holding the usual long strands of hair that made up a pony's tail. Said tail was dark gray in color, a perfect match to the lion's mane that wreathed her head. Instead of a normal spiraled horn, the filly's horn looked more like a pale red tree branch cut to the length a normal Unicorn's horn would be for a pony of her size. Even the fur around her legs was different, seeming longer than it should be outside of a pony's winter coat.

However, no detail about this pony held his attention more than her eyes. They were a faded gray, but it didn't look like that was supposed to be their natural color.There was also something about them that didn't seem right to him. They looked glassy, like the eyes of a doll that was left to collect dust for a few years in an attic.

Is she blind?

The answer to his silent question came when he took a step back onto a small twig. The second it snapped, the filly stopped singing. Her whole body tensed, her odd eyes locked onto his general direction as she slowly took a step back.

"Wh-Who's there?" she squeaked.

Spike remained silent and still, not sure how to approach the odd filly or if it was even safe to do so. The pony let out a loud click with her tongue, her ears twitching for a second before a look of nervous anger formed on her face.

"I-I know you're there!" she stammered. "Answer me!"

Shaking off his shock, he took a step towards her and nervously said, "Hi."

The filly took another step back, body poised in a defensive manner as she held her nervous scowl.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she demanded, pink and blue flames flickering across her body in small embers.

His eyes widened at the sight.

"M-My name is Spike! I came out here to..."

The frantic edge in his voice petered out into melancholy as he remembered why he was here.

"To...clear my head."

One of her ears flicked before all of the tension slowly bled out of her. Concern replaced suspicion on her face before she sat down on her haunches. At the same time, the small embers that dotted her body extinguished themselves, leaving small puffs of smoke in their wake.

With a voice as soft as silk and delicate as an autumn leaf, she asked, "A...Are you okay?"

Taken aback yet again by the the filly, a sad smile slowly spread across his lips.

"Y-Yeah," he forced out.

"Are you sure?" she softly pressed. "You sound...sad. Do you want to talk about it?"

"N-No," he sighed.

"Okay," she nodded. "I'll listen if you change your mind. I-I'm really good at that."

Thanks," he chuckled. "What's your name?"

"Echo Song," she smiled. "But you can call me Echo, if you want."

"Nice to meet you," he smiled, taking a seat on the path to get comfortable. "I'm Spike."

"I know," she giggled. "You told me already."

"Oh. Right," he awkwardly chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

The sound made Echo's ear twitch, a look of confusion briefly flashing across her face.

"So," he continued, "Do your parents work in the castle or something?"

Echo's smile turned pained at that, her ears wilting as she stared down at the ground.

"No. I don't have parents. My friends and I used to live at an orphanage, but....everypony....."

her body shivered, wet sniffles falling out of her along with a small stream of tears. What she said next made Spike's heart sink into his gut.

"They're...They're all dead."

***

Twilight's mind was spinning. Between keeping Spider from over working himself and her own personal turmoil, it was a small miracle that she could brush her own mane in the morning. Combining that with her own personal thoughts of the stallion in question made things even more complicated. Her thoughts about Spider and the mad-mares they were hunting tugged at both halves of her mind in a violent stalemate that forced her body into autopilot.

As such, she let out a startled yelp when a maid set a plate of pancakes in front of her. A quick look around revealed to her that she had somehow made her way from her room to the royal dinning room. She also noted that she was not alone at the table. Princess Celestia sat at her usual place at the head, a deep weariness weighing down her features. To anypony else, she looked as regal as she usually did, but it wasn't hard for a pony that had spent as much time as Twilight had with her to notice the subtle grief creeping past the elder princess's facade.

"Twilight," Princess Celestia politely nodded, a soft smile set on her muzzle.

"Good morning Princess," Twilight said, returning a more openly tired greeting.

Celestia took in her former student's demeanor with a critical eye, concern slowly slipping through her mask. A heavy silence settled between them, both of them lost in their own thoughts on current grim events. While Celestia had the advantage of centuries to ease the pain, Twilight was not so fortunate. She could see the haunted look in her former student's eyes and the way her whole body sagged in her seat. The bags under her eyes showed a lack of sleep, not a new feature given the mare's habits, but the flecks of dried tears were.

Taking a deep breath, Celestia decided to cut through the tension.

"Are you and Spiderweb making progress?"

Twilight sighed, floating a knife and cutting off a piece of butter with her magic.

"Yes and no. Spider has been able to determine a few small details about Moonstone's spell, but not enough to find an effective counter. As if that wasn't bad enough, the spell makes Moonstone difficult to track and it is almost impossible to detect."

"I see," Celestia nodded, a grim shadow crossing he face. "Is there any other way to find her?"

"Maybe," she frowned, staring at her food in thought.

"Go on," Celestia softly urged.

"Well," Twilight continued. "From what we were able to gather, Moonstone Dagger is obsessed with Gold Vine. At first, I thought they were working together, but then I looked into the history between their families."

Celestia nodded, a deep frown briefly flickering on her face.

"Keeping that in mind, we tried to find Gold Vine instead."

"Am I to assume that you have met complications on that front as well?" Celestia asked, tone neutral.

The tired sigh Twilight let out was all the answer she needed.

"It does not surprise me," Celestia sighed. "Gold Vine is an accomplished assassin. Even without her assets, she still has all of her training to keep her hidden."

"It's more than that," Twilight groaned, floating a slice of buttered toast to her mouth. "Even the best concealment spells leave some level of arcane residue, but no matter what I try, I can't find anything! It's as if her Unicorn magic signature was wiped right off of Equis!"

"I see," she frowned, watching Twilight wolf down her toast. "Do you suppose that she...ended her life?"

Twilight cringed at that, then shook her head in the negative.

"Spider and I thought of that, but none of our spells could find a body. He even tried to summon her soul, just in case, but nothing happened."

"I see," she sighed, a frustrated frown marring her normally serene face. "That does complicate things."

"Yeah," Twilight grumbled, staring blankly at her plate as she tore into another slice of buttered toast. "Spider and I are trying everything we can think of to find them, but it feels like all we're doing is bashing our horns into a wall. I don't know what to do and it's driving me crazy!"

"You are not the only one," Celestia grumbled, a large chunk of her mask falling away as she sagged in her seat. "Luna has been scouring the dream realm for any traces of Moonstone or the demon she summoned. I have agents all across Equestria on the look out for any signs of her as well. Asking them to do the same with Gold Vine might make things easier, assuming that she can even be seen."

"That would be a huge help," Twilight smiled. "Speaking of help, could you ask Discord to lend a hoof?"

A sheepish smile slipped onto the elder princess's muzzle, her eyes not willing to meet her former student's.

"Discord is currently...digesting the news of Moonstone Dagger's deeds."

"How badly did he take the incident?" she asked, a cold dread settling in her gut.

"He now needs to replace eighty percent of his realm."

"Doesn't he live in an infinite chaotic void?" she blinked, nervously nibbling on her toast.

"Yes," Celestia nodded, tone flatter than a sheet of paper.

A painful silence settled between them, both of their bodies operating on auto-pilot as they thought over everything they had just learned. A task that became gradually more difficult to preform the longer Celestia watched Twilight eat. Slowly, the elder princess's mask slipped away into a look of deep concern and slight amusement over what she was seeing.

Reschooling her features, she cleared her throat to break the silence and said, "Perhaps it would be better if you left this task to my sister and I."

"Huh?" Twilight gawked. "Why? Am I doing something wrong? Am I not doing enough?"

"That is not it," Celestia reassured. "In fact, I think you may be putting too much effort into this. Even I can see that you are starting to unravel."

Twilight huffed at that.

"I...might be pushing myself a little hard," she allowed, then hastily added, "But I need to do this! I need to do whatever I can to catch Moonstone! I have to!"

"I understand how you feel," Celestia nodded. "I also know that working yourself thin will not help anypony. For now, I suggest that you return to Ponyville and leave this matter in mine and Luna's hooves."

"I can keep going," Twilight pressed, taking a bite out of her toast. "I know I can keep going a little longer."

Celestia raised a brow and said, "Twilight, look at what you are eating."

Confused, she did as she was told. She stared blankly at the half-eaten butter-soaked napkin floating in front of her mouth. Her face heated up as she slowly met her former mentor's smirking face.

"M-Maybe I could use a break," she sputtered, setting the napkin onto the table. "But what about Spider?! If I don't stay, he really will work himself to death!"

"I am sure Luna wouldn't be against him coming with you," Celestia chuckled. "A vacation would do that stallion some good."

"I don't know," she frowned, floating an actual slice of toast to her mouth.

A motherly smile settled onto Celestia's face as she lightly rested a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

"It will only be for a few days. If we discover anything important, we will let you both know immediately."

"Do you promise?" Twilight pressed, almost pleaded.

"I swear by the Maker's name," Celestia nodded.

Under those sacred words, Twilight let her worries fall away in place of plans for herself and Spider. Both princesses held in small chuckles as they contemplated how the work-a-holic was going to take the news. The Maker knew they could use the small bit of catharsis.

***

Spike sipped lightly from a cup of tea, the soft smell of lemon and honey easing his jittery nerves. Echo, Quail, and a familiar mint Unicorn mare shared the table with him, each enjoying their own cups of tea. The serenity of the castle's gardens surrounded the odd group. Most of this was ignored by Spike, a bulk of his focus being aimed at the blind filly to his left.

It had taken some time, but he was eventually able to talk the filly down from her crying. After gently wiping away the tears, he helped guide her back towards the castle's gardener. When they reached the gray Earth Pony, they were nearly balled over by a near frantic Lyra Heartstrings. After half an hour of fussing, Lyra was satisfied that Echo was okay and the group was all herded towards a table in the garden by the royal gardener.

"You really can't go wandering off like that," Lyra sighed. "If Bonny knew I lost you like that, she would've wrung my neck."

"I'm sorry Ms. Lyra," Echo mumbled, sipping from the cup held in her hooves.

"Hey, I said no Ms. Got it?" she sighed, a small smile gracing her muzzle. "Makes me sound old."

Echo nodded, taking another sip.

Lyra let out an exasperated sigh, earning a small chuckle out of Quail.

"Good thing Lord Spike found her, then," the gardener smiled, adding a couple of sugar cubes to her cup.

"No kidding," Lyra chuckled. "Thanks for finding her, bud."

"Yeah," he nodded, taking a sip from his cup while he watched Echo.

Both mares traded questioning looks.

"Bit for your thoughts, Lord Spike?" Quail asked.

"Huh?" he blinked, snapping out of his daze.

"Yeah, you've been staring at Echo for a while now," Lyra stated, a small knowing smile forming on her muzzle.

"H-He has?" Echo asked, face heating up as she turned her head toward him.

"Perhaps he is smitten with you," Quail chuckled, refilling her cup.

Echo's blush grew while Spike quickly sported one that was almost just as strong.

"I-It's not like that," he sputtered. "I just...I've never met a pony like her and I...I'm sorry for staring."

"I'm not a pony," Echo giggled. "I'm a Kirin."

"What's a Kirin?" he cautiously asked.

"They are a special kind of creature that is a mix of dragon and Unicorn," Quail explained, refilling Echo's now empty cup. "Most of them live in the Peaks of Peril, but there are a few small villages scattered in the more remote parts of the country or the Dragon Lands."

"They mostly stick with each other, so it's rare to see any of them outside of their villages," Lyra added, giving Echo a sympathetic smile. "No surprise you've never seen one."

Spike nodded, more openly staring at the filly.

"So, do you eat gems like dragons too?"

Echo giggled and shook her head.

"I'm fire-proof, but aside from that, I'm not that different from a pony."

"Just don't make her mad," Quail smiled, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah," Lyra nervously chuckled. "Bonny wasn't too crazy about all of the runes I had to put up all over the house last night."

"Huh?" Spike blinked, looking back and forth between the two mares.

"I'm sorry," Echo squeaked, hiding her face behind her hooves. "Please don't tell him!"

"Alright, alright," Lyra chuckled. "He'll probably figure it out later anyway."

"What do you mean?" Spike asked, raising a brow.

Lyra gave Echo a warm smile.

"Well, Bonny and I have been working on adopting Echo here for a while now. After...everything that happened recently, we decided to jump all the way into it."

"Really? So, that means she'll be heading to Ponyville?" he asked, lighting up.

She nodded, chuckling at his enthusiasm.

"When?" he pressed.

"If all of the paperwork goes through, she should be heading home with her tomorrow morning," Quail smiled.

"That soon?" he wilted.

"No need for that," Quail frowned, moving a tray of cookies towards him. "Once all of this nasty business has been sorted out, you will be able to spend as much time as you want with your new fillyfriend."

"It's not like that!" he cried, claws hitting the table as he aimed a hot-faced glare at the gardener.

Both mares laughed at his misery, while Echo sheepishly fidgeted with her hooves.

"Could we...be friends then?" she softly asked.

When she turned to offer the question, she did it with a small smile that made his heart flutter. Suddenly nervous, he scratched the back of his head as he tried to get his tongue to work. Shaking off most of the unfamiliar feeling that had him, he cleared his throat and gave his answer.

"S-Sure! I'd lo-I mean, uh, I wouldn't mind being friends."

"Th-Thanks," she sheepishly nodded, holding out a hoof. "It's nice to meet you, Spike."

"S-Same," he shakily nodded, gently gripping her hoof.

Echo flinched, her head turning towards the point of contact between them.

"You're not a pony, either?" she asked.

"Nope," he smiled. "I'm a dragon."

"Really?" she blinked.

Before he could answer, she reached up and lightly touched his face with her free hoof. The filly's touch froze him on contact, his face gradually growing hotter as the hoof gently trailed across the scales on his face and neck. After a few minutes, she lightly pulled both of her hooves back to herself with a faint blush. While it was said almost too softly for him to hear, what came out of her mouth only added to the burn in his cheeks.

"So cool."

While the two children had their moment, the two mare's shared a knowing smile over their cups of tea.