Resent.

When Twilight left her giant library, she had done so filled with a sense of achievement. She had managed to find the tomes she was looking for, which meant she was now armed with some sort of cure for the town. And so she had made her flight back to Ponyville as quick as possible, carrying a few books in a saddle bag.

Everything changed when she landed in front of the library.

The town was barren of life. Nopony walked the streets. Nopony was at the market. Nopony strolled around. Even with the mist clouding her sight, she could clearly see that she was alone. No sound. No movement. No nothing. Just her.

"Something's not right." she thought as she gave a quick walk around the library. The restaurant was closed. The town hall was locked. The Quills and Sofas store was closed, and so were each and every house, with their windows shut and their curtains drawn. Twilight felt a shiver run up her spine. It wasn't that something wasn't right.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Deciding that she would find nothing by exploring, Twilight turned to the library, trotting quickly. Her hooves echoed around her as she walked. It was rather unnerving. The inside of the library was no different than how she had left it. Everything was in place. Everything was in order.

Then why did it feel so wrong?

"Might as well have some tea to calm myself..." Twilight though. The kitchen was perfectly clean as well. Not a cup in the dish washer, not a pot out of place. Had Fluttershy really been that thorough? Using her magic, she took out a cup, sugar, a small bag of tea and set some water to boil. Soon enough, she had a steaming cup of tea waiting for her.

"Now, lets see about this books..." She said as she placed everything on the table. Time seemed to disappear as she began reading. She took sip of tea, almost completely ignoring the flavor, as she was too immersed in the reading. She went to the next book after a few more minutes.

"This is good, but not enough." Twilight thought, taking a long gulp of tea. "I'm gonna have to...have to..."

Her magic flickered, letting the cup fall and smash agains the floor. Her mind was clouding. Her thoughts we messy. She tried getting up, but only managed to knock a couple of books from the table. She tried again, this time managing to actually stand up, though her legs were increasingly shaky.

"What...whats happening?!" She mumbled as her sight began getting clouded by darkness. Mumbled voices began flooding her ears. She saw the door open, though it was too blurry to see who entered. She tried giving a step, but tripped with her own hoof, falling hard on the floor.

She couldn't get up anymore. She could barely think. The darkness had completely covered her vision and was extending to her thoughts. Her whole body felt numb.

"No...no..." she mumbled before closing her eyes.

And then, Twilight knew nothing but darkness.

"Come on Spike, we have work to do!" Twilight chirped as she walked down the stairs. Spike quickly followed. The sun had barely risen over the horizon.

"But Twilight, its saturday! Can't we just take a day off?" Spike asked, rubbing his tired eyes. "I wanted to go see Rarity today. Take break, you know?"

"I'm sorry Spike, but we really do have a lot of work to do today. Celestia sent me a few books that I have to correct by monday.

"Books that you asked for. You set yourself to the time, remember? Celestia said there was no hurry."

"Well, yes, but I like to keep work from piling up. If we can get this finished now, then we don't have to worry about it later. So come on, lets have breakfast and the get to work."

"But...I really wanted to have a day off." Spike begged. Twilight was subjected to the famous puppy eyes, a technique that Sweetie Belle had put to good use over the last few years. She probably taught it to Spike at one point or another. Twilight did her best to resist the sad, sparkly eyes, but relented in the end.

"Look, tell you what. Help me gather all the stuff at the table and then you can go, sounds good?" Twilight put her best smile on. Spike, hesitant for a while, smiled back at her. It was good to have an assistant like him.

"You know, I though you would know the difference between normal tea and spiked tea...then again, you have missed a lot of stuff lately."

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, but closed them from the pain. Her head pounded like crazy, making her flinch as the voice spoke. Thankfully, there was no light around. Her eyes felt like they would explode. She tried getting up, but failed. She tried again, but her body wouldn't budge. What the hay?!

"Don't bother. Those ropes wont break."

Twilight opened her eyes, the pain subsiding a little. She was in a dark room. The only source of light was a light bulb hanging from above. The floor was wooden and the walls were a pale yellow. But that didn't bother her. What bothered her was the fact that Spike was sitting right in front of her. He had crossed his legs, his tail was resting on the floor. He was...taller? Not by much, but definitely bigger. tall enough that his head was covered in shadow. Only his pale eyes could be seen.

"What did you do me?" she growled.

"I changed the tea for a specially made mix we had. You should keep more track of what we have in the basement. Somethings can go missing and you wouldn't even notice."

"You drugged me?!"

"Well, yeah. I needed to catch you somehow, and I knew you just wouldn't let yourself be caught. So yeah, I drugged you."

Twilight could feel her rage reach boiling point. He had drugged her, done who knows what tot he town and he was just sitting there like if nothing happened!

"At least you came down easier than the rest of your friends. Dash and Applejack put up quite a fight, but we managed eventually."

"What did you do to them? Spike! Where are they!?" Twilight tried to free herself from the ropes that bind her, but it was no use. She was completely tied.

"Nearby. I wouldn't worry about them. If I were you, I'd focus on myself." Spike pointed a finger at her. Specifically, at horn. Twilight looked up. Indeed, horn was still there, but was different some how. It was it's usual purple. it was gray, like covered in something.

"I used that magical repellent concrete you made a few years ago. It wasn't to find, but I managed eventually. The basement is a mess by the way. You have to stop throwing stuff in it, because guess who has to clean it up later." Spike growled the last part, leaning on Twilight. "Me."

"Are you doing all this because of that? Are you serious?! I can't believe you! Let me go right now!" Twilight shouted. Spike grinned again.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, we have a plan to stop all the abuse. We're going to save everypony who has been a victim of injustice, and for that, we need you to stay put..." Spike poked her horn. "...and this to stay off."

"You keep saying we...who's helping you. The changeling Queen? Sombra's horn? Tell me!" Twilight demanded. Spike smiled, as if filled with a happy memory.

"Who else but my friends Twilight? My real friends. You see, unlike you, they help me with my work, and now are waiting for me to be done here. They don't leave me behind to clean everything up while they go out have fun. They are loyal to me, kind to me, and care about me."

"Spike, I care about you. Everypony cares about you! If they did something to you, then they can apologize once you tell them, heck, I will apologize!" Twilight said.

"Your lying." Spike quickly replied.

"No, I'm not! Look, let me go and I can show you. I swear."

"Why should I believe you? For all I know, all you want is to get this over with quickly so you can return to the way things were, just like she said you would. But I got news for you Twilight. Thats not happening, and I'm gonna make sure of it." Spike stood up, walking towards the door.

"Spike, wait! I mean it! I'm sorry alright! I'm sorry!"

"Too late for that one Twilight." Spike left the room.

"Spike! Don't close the-" SLAM. "-door."

Twilight was left alone in the darkness. Her mind, now free of any poison, was trying to comprehend what had happened. Spike had hurt her. Spike had hurt her. He had insulted her before, argued with her and even shouted at her before. But she had never hurt her. The fact that he did it hurt more than the actual injury. She could feel her eyes water a bit. She sniffed.

She wanted to cry.

"No..." she whispered before sniffing again.

"I said no..." she said, swallowing a sob. Blinked, trying to get rid of the tears that threatened to come out. She choked on sob. No was no dammit!

"I have to free myself..." She started struggling agains the ropes. They're were all over her hooves and around her body, trapping her wings. "I have to help my friends..."

But no matter how much she struggled, the ropes just wouldn't come off. They were painfully tight around her, and any movement made them even tighter. She tried focusing on a spell. She could the flow of magic in her body in her body, it would not reach her horn.

"Stupid concrete..." she mumbled as she continued to struggle for a few seconds more. She stopped, panting a little. She started again, and noticed something.

"The ropes are looser..." she said to herself. That was it! If she struggled for long enough, then maybe she could loose the ropes enough to free herself!

Meanwhile, Spike walked out of the town hall basement. Who knew there were so many rooms down there? Snowdrop, Diamond Tiara and Derpy were waiting for him on the main floor. He smiled when he saw them.

"She's trapped alright. We're good to go." he said.

"Are you sure its a good idea to just leave her there? What if she uses a spell or something?" Diamond asked, but Snowdrop placed a hoof around her shoulder.

"Then we will cross that bridge when we get there. Honestly, this whole thing was to get them out of the way for a while. Now, we need to get going. Are the guards in their place?"

"Yes they are. Just waiting for me to say something." Diamond answered. "The whole town is covered. They won't be getting anywhere."

"I managed to get a cart out of the mail office. We can leave anytime we want." Derpy said.

"Perfect. Everything is going perfect. All we gotta do now is load the cart with what we need." Snowdrop started walking towards the door.

"Where are we going?" Diamond asked.

"Fillydelphia of course." Snowdrop answered with a smile. "If we're going to change anything, then we have start somewhere were injustice is abundant. What do you say? Shall we begin our crusade?"

"Hay yes." Spike answered for the three of them.

In mean time, in the basement, twilight struggled to to pry herself of the ropes. Her hooves hurt, and the pain increased with every struggle. She couldn't see them in the darkness, but she could bet they weren't purple anymore.

"I can't give up now..." she continued to struggle, even though her eyes were starting to get misty with the pain. "I have to save my friends..."

The ropes tightened around her legs, making the task seemingly impossible. Twilight stopped to catch her breath. Thoughts of Spike returned to her. The things he said. The things he had done.

"No, I can't let that get to me now." Twilight resumed her struggling. The ropes became a bit looser around her. It was working! She was almost there!

"Come on...just a bit more..." Twilight pushed and pulled on the ropes that covered her hooves, ignoring the pain from the sore and broken skin. After a minute of struggle, the rope finally came off, making Twilight gasp in pain. She had done it. Her front legs were free, and it had barely taken her nearly thirty minutes of struggling!

""I can't waste time. I have to find my friends!" she went for her hind legs. The knots were as hard as rocks, even with all the earlier struggling. Her hooves were of little help for untying, forcing her to painfully push the knots of her legs. She could feel her skin stretch and burn, the struggling having done a number on it. With one final gasp of pain, Twilight freed her legs from the ropes that snared her. She could do nothing about her wings though. Without her magic, there was no way she could pull them free.

"Okay...now, where are you girls..." exiting the room was easier than expected. Spike didn't even lock it.

"Careless, as always..." Twilight thought dryly. She didn't have to be a genius to recognize where she was. The basement of the town wall was surprising large, big enough to hold food for all of Ponyville should the need arise. Twilight slowly walked through the dark hallways of the basement. Her legs were sore and itchy. They were probably very irritated, but she didn't want to look right now.

"Now, if I was Spike, where would I put five ponies?" Twilight murmured to herself as she walked through the hallway. It was a single hallways, with four doors on each side. Twilight tried opening a couple of them, but they wouldn't budge. She bucked one, blasting it open.

"Empty..." she cursed. Loud steps were heard from the wooden roof, rushing towards the stairs. Twilight nervously looked around, desperate to find a hiding place. Seeing no better alternative, Twilight ran to her former prision room, quickly closing the door and laying on the ground.

"What was that?" A male voice asked. It was monotonous and cold, like if it was a machine talking.

"Do you see anypony?" another voice asked.

"No. Must have been a rat or something."

"Check again. Remember the princess asked for perfection, like she deserves."  the other voice finished, just as robotic as the first voice. The steps approached the door, to the point where Twilight could see the shadow of the pony underneath the door. Without her horn or her wings, she was completely defenseless.

"Go away, just go away..." she whispered to herself. The stallion at the door waited for a few more seconds before finally leaving. Twilight waited for nearly five minutes before allowing herself to relax.

"Its the spell. The spell is making them do this." she slowly exited the room, peering the hallway before fully exiting. "But how?"

Now that she was alone, Twilight tried to open the other doors. Her efforts were met with failure, as the doors showed themselves to be locked one by one. She swallowed a groan. This was going from bad to worse really fast.

"Last door...I shouldn't even bother. Its probably locked too." Twilight said before placing a hoof on the door knob. To her surprise, the door wasn't locked, and it opened easily. The room it contained was just as dark as hers, and her had to adjust to the dark before she could see anything.

When they did adjust, Twilight had stifle a gasp.

The room wasn't empty, for right in the middle of it, bruised, battered and tied up, laid Applejack.