Dog days.

Spike stretched and yawned, sitting up he scratched his back as he lazily looked around.

"We were waiting for thee to awaken, young drake." Nightmare said.

"Nightmare? Where are you?" He asked glancing around. "Oh right... I'm letting you stay in me. Do you want to wake the guests or should I?"

"We... Would think it best for thou to awaken them. The two alicorns do not care for us." She sighed.

"Two... Alicorns?" He said. "Wait, that blue one, who was she?" He asked getting out of his bed.

"Celestia's sister, Luna. She was the one that made us from her greed, anger, and hatred towards the mortals when they slept through our night. She resented them, seeing them frolic and play in Celestia's sun, while we got nothing in return." Nightmare hissed.

"Hey, that's not true." He replied sternly as he went down the stairs. "You and her give everyone something Celestia can't."

"And what would that be?"

"Dreams."

"Thy lying skills need improvement." She said bluntly.

"I'm serious, in dreams you let ponies see dead family members, live their wildest fantasies, even confess their love to another. You and her gave them what they always wanted, you should be proud."

She remained silent as he traveled further down, seeing the lobby full of sleeping ponies he groaned.

He crept up on Pinkie and shook her shoulder, she turned a little before springing up. She grinned and sat patiently.

"Pinkie, could you wake the others while I go get Crimson?" He asked.

She saluted before taking out a air horn. Spike rolled his eyes at her before going downstairs.

Halfway down the stairs he heard the surprised screams of six mares, he almost tripped from one of them rattling the foundations. He rubbed his head spines in annoyance from the noise.

He stopped short of the bottom, his eyes widened as he looked at the cage.

The front had been blown, or rammed away. It was imbedded in the wall in front of the cage, shakily he made his way over to look inside.

The inside was even worse, blood covered the floor and walls, a few pieces of fur were in the back from the deer, the diamonds on the walls had been shattered. He gulped when he saw the chains were missing the shackles.

"Everyone!" He yelled up as he ran. "If you see Crimson, don't-"

A scream broke out through the panic already put in place, he made himself go faster and nearly broke the handle off the door as he entered the lobby again.

Fluttershy was wiping something crimson off her fore-head. Her pupils dilated as she looked up, every pair of eyes following her.

"Crimson!?" Spike gasped.

She was up on a rafter looking down at them groggily. She yawned before jumping down, she passed a glance towards Fluttershy as she passed.

"I need to go wash that deer off my teeth, I'll be right out." She said as she went upstairs to the bathroom.

"D-Deer..." Fluttershy whispered.

"Yeah," Spike said getting all eyes on him. "She may have broken out last night, or this morning." He grinned nervously.

"Gee, we didn't know." Rainbow huffed. "It's not like we found out when I started, Oh I don't know, yelling at her when I saw a pair of red eyes looking at me."

"Rainbow, ya screamed louder than Rarity." Applejack said. "It was just as loud as, um, what's ya name again?" Applejack asked the blue alicorn.

"Luna." She replied simply.

"Yeah, ya screamed just as loud as Luna this morning." Applejack chastised.

"We found it unnecessary, that thou had to use..." Luna stared at Pinkie, mulling over her words. "Thy small can."

"As did I."

The blue alicorn snapped her head towards Spike, her eyes widened in fury as she saw him with purple eyes.

"Nightmare Moon." She growled. "Stolen another's body, we see."

"Actually," she said with a smirk. "He let us take his body willfully."

"Ti's not possible." She said. "What scatter headed pony would take thee?"

"A non-pony apparently." She smirked inspecting a claw. "Or, a goddess."

Luna stood up, her short blue mane falling loosely around her head as she charged her magic.

Nightmare rolled her eyes before letting Spike have control again. He shook his head before focusing on Luna. He dived out of the way as she fired a bolt of magic at him. He felt his head spines get singed as it passed and scorched
the wall behind him.

"Hey! It' me!" He yelled as she was readying another spell. "Stop It's me, Spike!"

She stopped and squinted at him before giving a snort and turning her nose up. He sighed, slumping against the wall as he rubbed his temples.

"Alright everypony, I'm sorry about this morning." Crimson said as she came down with a red towel around her neck. "Especially about the blood dripping on you Fluttershy."

"T-The deer..." She muttered. "W-Why the deer...?"

Crimson frowned and sighed, she shook her head in thought.

"If I haven't said it once, I'll say it now. I have no choice but to kill. So, it was either you all last night, or the deer."

"Yeah, why didn't-"

Crimson gave another roar towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow stopped and sat behind Celestia. Luna went wide eyed before tentatively getting up, she walked up to the unicorn and stared for a moment.

"Thou art moon blood?" She asked. "Interesting, we thought them to be killed off. But it appears they live..." She put a hoof under Twilight's chin and tilted her head up before feeling her throat with the other hoof. "Fine vocal cords," she looked at Twilight's side and nodded. "Physically well. Thou art the most intriguing one that hast crossed our path."

"Thank you...?" Crimson said glancing over at Spike. He shrugged in response. "So, your Princess Luna, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Crimson gave a small smile, showing a row of canines.

The other ponies in the room gasped, Crimson ran her tongue over her teeth before grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry, some of the effects after the change remain momentarily throughout the morning. I should be normal looking again in an hour or two." She said. "Besides, it's not healthy forcing myself to change back."

"Thou art most unusual." Luna spoke again. "Thou knowest of Nightmare Moon inhabiting thine young drake?"

"I was there. He still hasn't told me what happened after I left." She looked over at him. "Why was the floor partially scorched when I got back? And why Nightmare Moon's mane also, had burn marks?"

"I told them not to touch anything." He admitted. "To be honest, I don't know why I was so grouchy that night... I just felt a sudden urge to start yelling, even burning anything in my way. Oh, that reminds me," he turned to the ponies and cleared his throat. "I'd like to apologize for being an ungrateful host."

"Parden us," Nightmare said. "We do not have time for talk, Crimson has given us a task. A small quest if thou will."

"That's right!" Crimson said. "I was busy picking fur out of my teeth that I forgot!"

Fluttershy shuddered as she turned a shade of pale green.

Crimson looked around the room before spotting the tomb resting by the bust of the horse head. She threw the towel to the side and opened the book up, skimming through the pages she stopped near the back and pulled out an object wrapped in cloth.

"Would you be able to use a piece of him to track with?" She asked holding it in her telekinetic grasp.

"Aye, he would have nowhere to run then." Nightmare replied.

"Good," she unwrapped the cloth and the room gasped. "What? He is a male, he was bound to have larger teeth." She said as she twirled the large canine around. "Impressive, isn't it? He showed me, not on purpose mind you, that if a lycan were to lose a piece of themselves, such as this tooth, then it would remain in this state. It remains like this because the contaminated blood is no longer flowing through it, but instead sitting in it."

She gave the tooth to Spike, he looked at it for a second before his eyes turned purple. He put both claws over it and a black light began to flow out from between his claws.

"it is done." She said opening her claws. "We could not find him directly in our weakened state, but we have enchanted his tooth. Where he is, thou may point towards his direction and it will turn black, turn it away, it turns white. A simple spell really."

Crimson took the tooth again and began moving it around the room, when it faced the back wall it turned blacker than sin. She turned it away and it turned into a eye watering shade of ivory.

"Thank you," Crimson said as she put the tooth back on the book. "Now, all we have to do is find atleast what area he's in."

"We can be of assistance." Luna said. "We art a fine tracker."

"Thy sister's guards do not count." Nightmare smirked as Luna blushed.

"Ti's the same thing. Only we art looking for a pony of a different era in this one."

"Oh good, that narrows our choices down to three ponies." Spike said. "You, no offense of course, Crimson and Silver." He spat the last word. "If I wasn't cold blooded I'd say his name makes my blood boil."

"Crimson, may we see the tooth?" Luna asked.

Crimson nodded before handing the tooth over to the second Lunar princess.

Luna wrapped it in her own blue aurora, letting the tendrils of magic examine it. With a small smile, she let go and handed it back to her.

"He is four thousand, three hundred and four feet North. Past a large body of water and in a city." Luna gave a toothy grin. "Is that enough?"

"Yes, that's plenty." Crimson grinned, her teeth looking much duller. "Because that means he's in Londmane. Spike, or Nightmare, go pack your things. We've got a long journey ahead of us."

"Um, Crimson, how are we going to get across sea without a boat?" He asked.

"I can provide a boat." Celestia said. "I can have it ready for you within-"

"Actually," Crimson interrupted. "I have my own boat." She grinned at their expressions of shock. "What? I am a princess, did you honestly expect me not to have something like that?"

"Thou art a princess?" Luna asked. "Who was thine father? What land did thee control? We may have know him."

"He was king Artharius Highborn, one of the three and only remaining elders of the Highborn clan. He controlled a vast amount of land, unfortunately," she frowned, a memory resurfacing. "Mother did not survive when I had been born. Father had told me she was a beautiful so young looking thou would mistake her for a poppet. We had been next to him when our empire had fallen, watched as our father was murdered and left to stand in the ashes. But, thou would have known him not, for thou had been imprisoned long before."

"We art... Sorry to hear of such tales." Luna bowed. "Thy Equish is very well spoken."

"Huh? Oh, was I speaking in middle Equish? That happens when I... Remember." She turned back to the small hatchling. "Spike, are you done packing?"

"Crimson, all I brought with me here was a tooth brush, a pillow and blanket, toothpaste and a lampshade." He said holding the toothbrush and paste in one claw while he held the blanket in another. "I'm leaving the lampshade though."

"Fine, let me pack and we can be off." She said as she placed the tooth back inside the cloth.