Tyrants Path

Equestria welcomed another day as the sun rose, chasing away the nights cool air. The warm sun captured all it its loving embrace, feeding the plants and the creatures that feed upon those plants, and alerted those who happened to work in the day that it was time to rise. And, upon the Crystal Castle that rests on Ponyville...the sunlight happened to flitter through a window...and stab Spikes eyes.

His eyes slowly opened, before shutting, the young drake wincing in pain at it momentarily blinded him. He gave a groggy grumble and attempted to scoot away, the sunlight still giving its alluring touch on his face.

He scooted again. And again. Then mumbled a soft, "Mom, I get it, stop the sun so I can sleep." He scooted a third time, only to yelp as he fell out of his bed, his blanket coming with him and temporarily trapping him within its warm confines.

"Fine, I'm up, I'm up." The drake spoke, scratching his face as he reset his bed, tucking its sides in, before looking around, giving a loud tongue click as his beauty sleep was ruined.

He stretched out, his wings stretching with him, before he sat in front of a mirror, checking over himself. He had become more lanky as the years went on, his wings growing with him and tucked onto his back. His spines were still rounded and his face rounded out a bit more than his scrunched, baby face from before. He stretched his long tail out, letting it slide along the ground, his digitigrade legs stretching out a bit and flexing his three toes out.

He looked over himself and scratched his cheek, flicking away some skin he has shed in the night, it matching the rest of his beautiful purple scales, before standing up and walking towards the door, though a bit more carefully.

He didn't have the flat feet of his baby form, he couldn't expect to walk the same way. He smiled and flicked his forked tongue out, before walking down the hallway, his footsteps echoing off the halls.

Time for breakfast.

Twilight rose softly as she woke, yawning loudly as her beautiful mane was currently sticking out in random directions. She ignored her bed head and stretched, giving a satisfied groan as her back popped loudly, her wings stretching out as well.

She got out of her bed, far more graceful than Spike, and started stretching her stiff body out, twisting and turning this way and that, before settling on the floor.

The Alicorn mare sniffed the air, before smiling to herself. Spike was making pancakes! Her brain filled her with images of the breakfasty, syrup covered goodness. She opened her door and hummed a soft tune to herself as she walked down the halls.

She suddenly stopped, before a tingle went up her spine, a sense of unease filling her body. She felt something was wrong, the hairs on the back of her neck rising as she looked around.

Nothing was out of place. No impending doom to speak of. No animals attacking or rampaging. No monsters that needed soothing. No Equestria breaking threats to solve.

Not even Discord pranks to clean.

So, why was she so nervous? The cold sweat ran down her body, her hooves felt clammy, and she wanted to curl up a bit into herself, her eyes peering to and fro, trying to spot the issue.

"TWILIGHT! BREAKFAST!"

And, just as quickly as it happened, the feeling was gone and her body went back to normal, the alicorn blinking in confusion. Something was up, but she couldn't place her hoof on it. Whatever the case was, she was sure it could wait after breakfast.

A near panic attack really worked up an appetite.

She trotted down the stairs, her mind lingering on those feelings. It was so odd. It felt like something was out of place for just a moment, then the next moment, everything was fine. She would have to investigate this after breakfast.

"TWILIGHT! THERE ARE NO KIDS PAPERS TO GRADE, YOU SHOULD BE DOWN HERE!" Spike called out, hearing her hooves round the corner and go into the kitchen. Spike turned to her, seeing the puzzled look on her face and raised an eyebrow at her. "You okay, Twi?"

"I have a funny feeling...feels like it's in the pit of my stomach."

"Twilight, we have a restroom nearby, you don't need to tell me about-"

"Not that kind of feeling." Twilight interrupted his joke, before resting her face in a hoof, drawing Spikes curiosity. "It felt so cold. Like the walls might crush me or close in on me, and a sinking feeling in my stomach. I felt... anxious. Confused. Scared."

Spike stared at her as she spoke, before giving a surprised sound as he realized he had been cooking the same side of the pancake for too long. It hadn't been burnt, but it did feel harder than the other side. He sighed and slid it onto his plate, turning off the stove in the process.

"Well, hopefully breakfast takes that off your mind." Spike said as he prepared to drown his pancakes in syrup.

"The strange thing was...it felt like the thing I was scared of...or felt wrong about wasn't in the castle. Just felt like the area around Ponyville."

Spike had a face of concentration as he absolutely covered his pancakes in syrup, before giving Twilight a soft, worried glance.

"Twi, I really don't think you should check it out. If it bothers you this much, it must be something you shouldn't mess with."

"Which is all the more reason I should investigate." Twilight said, making Spike sigh into his food, the young dragon taking a bite of the syrup covered pancake. "Spike, if something...or someone is trying to stop me from investigating something, I should investigate further into it. It could be evil or might be something in trouble, I have to seek it out."

Spike looked at her, before mulling into his food a bit. He stopped and looked back at her, giving the alicorn a soft look. "Well...you should at least bring one of your friends along with you. Just in case."

"Planned on it."

It looked around, confused. This was not its territory. It was somewhere new. Somewhere strange. The sights and sounds were unfamiliar, and the smells were so strange and strong.

He huffed, shaking his head as he stared at the trees, then down lower, to the grass. He had never seen grass before. He was curious, and he gave a low, throaty rumble as he stared at it.

A branch snapped and he looked up, cocking his head curiously as he saw something...furry? Yes, furry. It had horns, great splitting ones, and a strange head and neck. He peered at it and walked forward, curiosity lingering in his mind.

The creature peered up at him, before giving a strange call and panicking. The sight made him pause, then he looked around. He must find an open area, to figure out where he was. And once he figured that out, he could get back to his territory.