Resent.

The road was quiet, which was expected from the hour. What few lights were active in Ponyville slowly vanished as the cart slowly distanced itself from the town. Spike sighed as the final light disappeared.

"Whats the matter Spike?" Derpy asked.

"Nothing, just...saying good bye to the town."

"You're not getting seconds thoughts are you?" Diamond asked. Spike shook his head.

"No. Its just that Ponyville was our home. Who knows when we will come back?"

That last bit of talk returned the cart to its silent atmosphere. The cart was being driven by Snowdrop, who was using her strange magic to make the cart move. How she was doing it was anypony's guest. Diamond Tiara laid against Derpy, who was covering her with a wing.

"This may take us a while. But I promise you..." Snowdrop said. "You will return to Ponyville."

"You're sure?" Spike asked. But Snowdrop didn't answer.

It was cold around them, which was odd, considering that it was summer. But he didn't mind. He had other things to worry about.

Like where exactly in Fillydelphia were they going to stay? Snowdrop probably had a plan already but, was it a nice plan?

What if they failed? What if Snowdrop's plan wasn't good enough? She was his friend, like Derpy and Diamond. He trusted her. She just seemed...more confident than Twilight. More prepared. Is that why he trusted her? Or maybe she just exuded a better atmosphere than Twilight. One that didn't involve slaving him around.

Unlike Twilight.

Derpy had other ideas though, as she hugged the filly closer to her. Her daughters were sleeping in Ponyville, and Diamond's ponies would take care of them. But she was their mother. And she was away from them. She was doing this for their sake. She would do anything for her daughters.

But would she be willing to drag other ponies down for that, like in Ponyville?

Diamond Tiara snuggled closer to Derpy. She was a lonely girl. She only one real friend, and that was Silver Spoon. Her parents barely paid her any attention and her school mates hated her. Sure, she was a bit acerbic in her way of treating others, but that didn't mean she was cruel with rest. She wasn't a cruel filly.

Was she? Snowdrop didn't seem to think so, and Derpy and Spike were willing to give her a chance to prove herself a good filly. She would not let them down.

At this point, Ponyville was completely gone from their sights. There was only one source of light, and that was the moon above them. Even then, the light was slightly filtered by the mist around them. Snowdrop was stoic. She wasn't a unicorn, and yet her she was, driving a cart with magic. A small part of Spike was curious as to how she was doing it, but the rest of him just accepted it as a good thing. It was as if his mind just refused to question Snowdrop's origin.

But that was good. It meant that he trusted her. Right?

"You should get some sleep Spike. Fillydelphia is still hours away." Snow drop suggested.

"How many hours?"

"About six." she answered. "Don't worry. I'll wake you once we get there."

Spike looked at Snowdrop. She was smiling, as if she was having the time of her life. He glanced at Derpy and Diamon Tiara. The were fast asleep already. He changed sides on the cart, now laying against Derpy, who unconsciously wrapped her wing around him. Within a few minutes, he was fast asleep.

Asleep with his friends.

Twilight wasn't doing so well.

Now that she had found all of her friends, the next step was to get all of them to Canterlot. The had reached the train station just the sun rose from the horizon, bathing the land in its warmth. The entire group consisted of the elements of harmony, along with Sweetie Belle and the rest of the Apple family. Fluttershy had been tending to Rainbow Dash for a while. She hadn't woken up yet, something that was starting to worry Twilight a bit.

It worried her more, however, that the first Dash was going to ask about was Scootaloo.

The train was completely silent as it made its way towards Canterlot. Fluttershy and Granny Smith were taking care of Dash, while Rarity kept an eye of Sweetie Belle, who was still sleeping. Big Macintosh had to take Apple Bloom into a room to stop her from asking questions. That left her with Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who was quietly rubbing some of the spots were the ropes were tied.

Which meant that for the first time since she freed herself, she had time to think. She didn't want to. But she couldn't help herself.

Spike was her closest friend. She had known him all his life. Literally. She raised him. She educated him. Had she really been that blind to how she was treating him? Had she really been slaving him around? How long had this thoughts festered inside of him? As much as she hated to think admit it, he had made some pretty good points.

Where they enough to warrant all this? Spike had insulted, poisoned and trapped her. Even with all of her inner turmoil, this was taking it too far. No sane pony would ever do this over-

Wait a minute. No sane pony. Spike was prone to overreacting, but never like this. But then, why would he act like this? Did the eyes have something to with that? He did mention his friends. Which meant that somepony had either assisted him or was behind all of this. Either way, this somepony had done something to Spike.

An intense anger began setting in her heart.

"Uh...you okay sugarcube?"

The question snapped Twilight of her train of thought. Applejack was eying her with some worry. And who could blame her? The newly crowned princess looked like she had gone to Tartarus and returned. Her mane was messy, the rope marks had become all the more blatant now and there were bags under her eyes. The dangerous look in her eyes didn't help the matter at all.

"I'm okay Applejack. Just a little tired."

Applejack didn't bought, and the look on her face showed it.

"I just...have a lot on mind." Twilight finished lamely.

"Ah' know you do Twi, but don't you worry none. The princess is going to clean this mess up, just like she always does." Applejack smiled with confidence. Twilight smiled in return, doing her best to hide her pain at how Applejack was proving Spike right.

"Canterlot Terminal! All passengers must leave the train!"

Canterlot was as beautiful as ever. Shiny. Pristine. It the contrast all the more obvious once Twilight's wrecked form lefet the train, followed by her friends, who where doing little better than her. Recognizing her right away, a guard rushed to aid Twilight.

"I need to speak to the princess immediately. Take my friends and their family to the royal clinic."

Faster than one could say chimmy changas, Twilight was led through the hallways of the palace, while her friends, who followed her briefly, were taken to the clinic.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, your majesty." The guard introduced her. Celestia, completely oblivious of the reason of the visit, smiled and allowed her inside.

"Twilight, what a pleasure it is to see...you..." Her voice trailed of as she saw the wreck that was her dear student.

"Princess...we need to talk."

Meanwhile, Fluttershy nervously eyed the nurses that were bandaging Dash up. Applejack's family, being unharmed, had been taken towards another room for inspection. Applejack insisted in staying with them, but the nurses told her to at least allow them to check her leg.

"Come on Sweetie...please wake up..." Rarity whispered on the ears of her sister, who was still placidly sleeping. Pinkie still had her mane straight. She didn't look so bad with it, if you ignored that the meaning of the straight mane.

Dash was no longer unconscious. The nurses had managed to briefly wake her up in order to make sure there wasn't any other injury they didn't know about. Although she refused at first, the nurses casted a sleeping spell on her, easing her into a restful nap.

"What now?" Fluttershy asked Applejack.

"Ah...Ah' don't know." was the answer. "Ah' guess all we can do right now is wait for Twilight to finish speaking with the princess."

She glanced at Rarity, who was holding Sweetie Belle's leg. The idea that the same could have happened to Apple Bloom, that it could have been herself who would be sitting there, holding the hoof of her unconscious sister...

It made her shiver.

"We'll fix this Rarity...Ah promise."

Meanwhile, Twilight took a deep gulp from a glass of water offered by her mentor. Even after escaping the town and having her horn cleaned of the sediment, she was practically drained. She was too tired to even try to fix her appearance, so she was thankful when the princess started doing it for her.

"And Spike did all this? Are you sure?" Celestia asked once Twilight finished recounting the events of the past two days.

"I...I don't think he did it, but he definitely has something to do with it...Princess?"

But Celestia didn't answer. Her eyes were fixated on the floor, deep in turmoil. She didn't say it, But Twilight liked to think she knew her mentor enough to read her moods. Sometimes she disliked that ability. Especially when she could that her teacher was troubled.

"Any idea has to why he did it?" Celestia regained her composure, hiding the pain behind the facade of a ruler. She could agonize about her Spike later. First she had to worry about her ponies.

"He says that...He said that I slaved him around. That everypony slaved him around..." Twilight murmured. "He found others like him...he calls him his true friends."

"Who?"

"I don't know!" Twilight shouted, finally letting loose after a whole night of pain. "I don't know, I don't know I don't know! He just did all this. To me! To my friends! To Ponyville! He-he said that I used him all the time! I didn't know Princess, I swear!"

Twilight launched herself at the princess, who hugged her with her wings. Twilight sobbed on the chest of Celestia, now free from the stress of being in danger or trapped. Celestia could feel her heart breaking at both the sight and the knowledge of what transpired, but she remained strong. She had to remain strong. For Twilight.

And if this was all just as Twilight said, for Spike as well.

"Twilight, my dear student...you went through so much in so little time. You are hurt, tired and depleted. You must rest now. We will deal with Spike once you are more mentally able for the task." Celestia coed.

"But-"

"Sleep my little pony..." Celestia's horn glowed slightly. Twilight tried to stay awake, but her eyelids became heavier by the second. With short moments, the newly crowned princess was fast asleep. Celestia placed on her back, careful to not wake her up.

"Don't worry Twilight. We will end this, and we will save Spike...I promise you." was her las thought before she left the throne room. The guard posted outside immediately snapped in attention once she appeared on his sight.

"Please have my sister meet me in my chambers. It is a matter of terrific urgency." She instructed him.

"And what if the princess is asleep?"

"Tell her that I sent for her."

The guard hesitated for a few seconds, but nodded, quickly departing to fulfill his duty. Once he was out of sight, Celestia merely teleported to her room. With a quick but gentle spell, she placed Twilight on the bed, covering her with the blankets. It had been many years since she had to do something like this. It broke her heart that it was under this kind of circumstances.

She sat on the floor, staring at the window. The sun was now reaching the middle of the day. She could see Ponyville from there too. Just like Twilight had said, the town was gone, replaced by a mass of fog. She sighed. This was not pretty at all.

"Tia...I believe that the sun is still up."

Celestia turned around. Right besides the bed stood Luna, still wearing her pajamas. Her mane was a mess too. Anypony's appearance would be if they had barely slept for a few hours. Celestia would have chuckled at her sister, but not now.

Specially not now.

"Luna...please get dressed." she explained. "We have an emergency."

"Wha...what?" Luna stuttered.

"Get yourself ready for the day, then meet me at the royal clinic."

And with that, she vanished in a flash of light, leaving her poor sister confused and concerned for the gravity of her tone. She didn't even notice Twilight sleeping.

"Princess Celestia!" Applejack bowed, or tried to, once the the princess entered the room they were in. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie followed her example. rainbow Dash stirred a little, but did nothing else. Rarity was to focused on her sleeping sister to pay any attention.

"Twilight has told me what happened." Celestia started. Fluttershy cringed. "Now I want to ear your side of the story. And please hide no details. If we are to fix this whole situation, then we must know every single aspect of it."

Applejack took the lead, making sure to tell what Spike had done before this whole thing started, like when he was a jerk to them. She skipped the part when they were with Twilight, ending with the most uncomfortable part of the all.

When they where captured.

"They knocked me and Dash around. Flutterhy and Rarity less so. Pinkie Pie...they gagged and bound her like an animal."

"I am here sister." Princess Luna walked in the room. Even though she had cleaned herself up, one could notice the bags under her eyes." What is it that you need?"

Celestia walked towards Rarity, placing a hoof on her shoulder. Rarity looked at her, begging her with her eyes to do something. Anything. She just wanted her sister to be okay.

"I'll put you up to speed Luna, I promise I will." Celestia stood aside, allowing Luna the perfect view of Sweetie Belle. "But first...I need you to wake this filly up."