Resent.

Applejack groaned as Twilight carefully pulled the ropes. They were as tight, perhaps tighter than Twilight's, making every tug a painful experience. Not that she wasn't in pain already. Her body was visibly bruised, with some cuts scattered along her body. She gasped as Twilight did a particularly brusque tug.

"I'm sorry Applejack..." Twilight murmured.

""It ain't your fault sugarcube, it was those ponies.." Applejack mumbled. She hissed when Twilight managed to free one of her legs. The ankle was swollen and visibly bruised, probably from earlier trashing.

"What did they do to you?" Twilight asked. Applejack hesitated to answer, not wanting to seem weak. A look from the unicorn was enough to convince her to talk.

"They tried to capture us, with ropes and everything Dash, Rarity and I tried to stop them...but they were too many. They even brought ropes and stuff. The last thing I remember was seeing Rainbow Dash get bucked in the face before I was knocked out." she explained. "I'm sorry Twi..we tried to stop them...but it was hard. Seeing so many friendly faces, all turned against us..."

"Don't worry about it..." Twilight replied after a nearly a minute of silence. "Let me get you out of here."

With a final, painful yank, Twilight slipped the ropes from Applejack's legs. The earth pony slowly got up, only to nearly again had Twilight not helped her. After another try, Applejack stood on, though she was visibly trying to apply less weight on one of her front legs.

"Applejack..."

"Ah'm fine Twilight. Ah' can walk."

Carefully and silently, both mares climbed to the main floor of the town hall. Nopony was inside but them, but hey couldn't say anything for outside. It was pitch black through the windows. Even the town hall was dark, being illuminated by a few candles. Twilight Applejack quickly moved to a corner, doing their best to stay clear of the windows. Soft voices could be heard coming from outside.

"You think they can hear us?" Applejack asked.

"No. If they could they would have come in already." Twilight sighed. We'll be fine as long as we stay quiet." The weight of the situation was finally starting to set in. And it was not doing wonders for her.

"Well, use your magic. Teleport us out." Applejack suggested.

"I can't..." Twilight pointed to her horn. "...Spike covered it with a magic repellant. No horn, no magic."

"Then were stuck here. Ah got a limp and you got your wings and horn out of the question." Applejack sat on the ground. "Speaking of wings, why don't Ah' free them? I bet Ah' can chew through those ropes."

"It would take too long. Besides, even you did free them, I can't fly around in the dark. Lets leave them there, out of the way." Twilight answered. "I don't supposed you know where the rest are." she asked hopefully.

"Last thing Ah' saw was Rarity being dragged to the Sugarcube Corner, we could start there." Applejack started walking to the gate, but Twilight stopped her with a hoof. Applejack was about to complain when voices were heard just outside the door. They went just as quick as they came.

"There are ponies watching the place. If we just waltz out, we will get caught."

"Then what?"

Twlight glanced at the door, then back at Applejack.

"Can you tip hoof?"

The door opened, letting two mares inside. One purple, one blue, both of them with glowing eyes. They searched the entire hall, doing their best to peer through the heavy shadows that covered the many corners of the place. One of them, the blue one, signaled to the other to follow her, and both walked down to the basement. The purple one was about to walk down when she heard a soft shuffling behind her.

"Now?"

"Now."

Just as she turned, Applejack's powerful buck smashed against her face, sending her tumbling down the down the stairs, lading in a heap atop the blue mare. Twilight quickly checked them up, making sure they were unconscious but mostly unharmed. After tying them up, she rejoined Applejack upstairs, finding her rubbing her hurt leg.

"You didn't have to buck so hard." Twilight said. "We don't want to hurt them."

"Hey, you said buck. When Ah' buck, ah' buck." Applejack breathed. That buck had been a bit more tiring than intended. "What now?"

"Well, you said Rarity was taken to the Sugarcube corner. Lets head there."

To say that it was dark outside would be an understatement. Twilight could barely see past her nose and the only reason why Applejack could follow her was because they were the only thing that moved that didn't have glowing eyes. Mares and stallions roamed the entire town. None of them heading in any specific direction, instead just roaming around the town. Both elements decided against running, choosing instead to walk as fast as they could without making a noise.

"Spike...how could you?" Twilight though as they walked through the town, careful to avoid the gazes of the possessed ponies. The very sight of them was enough to make them uneasy, let alone the fact that Spike was partially responsible for this. That she could hear Applejack limp behind her was only making it worse.

If she was limping, then how would the others be? The question itself made Twilight shiver.

"Ah' think Ah' can see it."

Indeed. The sugarcube corner only had a single light on on the second floor. everything else was dark, except for the ominous glow if a pair of eyes. The two stopped, knowing that walking any closer would sure lead to detection.

"Main door is out of the question..." Twilight whispered.

"What about the windows? You think they're open?" Applejack suggested. Twilight looked at the single light on the house.

"Lets hope so."

Unfortunately, there was no way to reach any window from any wall without the guard noticing, which forced them to take a rather long and risky circle around the store. It was slow and painfully tense as they had to nearly crawl to avoid the occasional glances from the controlled ponies.

"Here goes nothing..." Twilight tried to lift open the window, but it didn't budge. Alarm and fear rose in her as she tried in vain to push the window open. Applejack joined to help, gently pushing the window until, with a snap, the lock gave away. Both mares quickly jumped in, praying that nopony had heard the noise.

The inside was almost as dark as the outside. What little light that came from the outside was reflected on the abandoned plates and cutlery, allowing some sort of path distinction. A sugary smell was lingering on the air.

"The light was upstairs. Come on."

To their surprise and relief, the house was empty, except for the room upstairs. Possibly. Hopefully.

"You think she's in there?" Applejack whispered as they approached the door.

"Only one way to find out." Twilight said as she gently pushed the door open. To their surprise, the room was devoid of life, the only things inside being the lightbulb on the roof and a bed.

"Okay..." Twilight slowly walked inside. Why was there nopony in? Could it be that Rarity wasn't here? The where could she possibly-

"Take this ruffian!"

Twilight barely manage to react before a hoof landed on her head, knocking her to the ground. Applejack rushed in immediately, grabbing the flailing Rarity from behind.

"Unhand me this instant!" Rarity nearly shrieked.

"Rarity! Its me! Applejack!" Applejack placed a hoof on her mouth. "Be quiet or they'll hear us!"

Rarity stopped flailing her limbs, opening her eyes and looking around her. Her eyes filled with tears as she realized who was really there with her.

"Applejack! Twilight!" she pried herself from Applejack's grasp. "You found me!" she nearly collapsed on the ground in hysterics, doing her best to reduce the drama levels. Twilight got up from the ground, having a hard time believing that the pony in front of them was actually Rarity. Her mane was dirty and completely unmade, resembling more Twilight's when stressed. Her coat was gray with dust and her tails even dirtier. All in all, it seemed like if somepony had used her as a duster.

"Ra-rarity?" Twilight asked. "What happened to you?"

"Those animals threw me around like, like some sort of doll!" Rarity answered. "Spike even messed my mane! He even threw an egg on it! Do you know how hard is to remove egg from hair!?"

"Are you injured in any way?"

"Why, a bit sore perhaps. They were pretty rough when handling me around like cattle, but other than that..." she pointed a hoof to her horn, which was covered in the same repellant as Twilight. It was then that Rarity noticed Twilight's wrists.

"Twilight! What happened to your wrists?!"

Twilight quickly put Rarity up to speed, describing all the events so far, from her capture with poisoned tea to her freeing Applejack and then finding her. Needless, Rarity was less than pleased with the answer.

"We are leaving." Twilight said. "Do you where the others are? Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie?"

"I'm afraid not. I don't even know if they are alright! Oh, I hope thy are alright..."

"Don't worry Rares, they are our friends remember? They may look easy, but boy are they tough!" Applejack reassured. Rarity smiled a little. Twilight however, peered out the window. A few ponies were staring at the window, attracted by all the noise they had caused.

"We need to get out of here. Rarity, are you sure you don't know?"

"I'm sure Twilight. I'm sorry for being of so little help."

They had a problem. If Rarity really didn't know where the others were, then they could spend the whole night looking and they wouldn't find them, eventually getting caught. On the other hoof, they couldn't stay there. The ponies outside would eventually search the house, and in their condition, fighting their way out was all but impossible.

"We need to get out of here, but where?"

"How about the boutique?" Rarity suggested. "Its not far from here, and I can close the curtains so they wont see us. Maybe we can even get our horns clean."

The number outside increased a bit.

"Excelent." Twilight replied. "Lets go."

By the time they exited the Sugarcube corner, the ponies were guarding the door, ready to stop whatever intruder that dared to enter the store.

"They're not very useful are they?" Rarity murmured.

The walk to the Carousel Boutique was just as silent as the one to the Sugarcube Corner. To their surprise, the boutique was watched by a single stallion, who was firmly planted in front of the door.

"Think we can sneak from behind like before?" Applejack asked.

"Afraid not. I locked the windows before all this happened." Rarity answered. Twilight glared at the stallion. The hree of them could probably overpower him quickly, but they would have beat him to it, and she didn't want to hurt him unless she really had to, and apparently, thats how it was going to be, unless...

"Applejack, ready to buck again?"

The guard was standing firm and stoic, ready to deal with whatever intruder approached the house. His attention was diverted when the sound of smashed glass reached his ears. He quickly ran to the place, leaving the door alone.

"Now or never girls! Inside!"

The inside of the Carousel Boutique was just as pristine as rarity had left it, although they would have appreciated it more if they could see anything.

"I know my store by heart. Follow my voice Twilight, the bathroom is this way." Rarity said. "You too Applejack. Better if we stay close to each other."

After a few trips and stumbles, one of which had Twilight fall flat on her face, the three mares reached the luxurious bathroom. Rarity immediately went for a brush and a towel, making the latter was wet first.

"You first Twilight. We could really use some magic right now..." Rarity said as she began to rub Twilight's horn. Twilight gasped a little as a few drops of hot water touched her skin.

"You sure its gonna come off with that?" Applejack asked.

"Its a specially designed sediment." Twilight answered. "Hot water dissolves it..." a few more drops fell on her head.

"This towel is going to be ruined..." Rarity moaned as she scrubbed the horn of her friend. Drops of melt material fell on the floor. After a few more minutes of scrubbing, Twilight rubbed her horn. It was still a bit covered in magic repellant.

"I'm afraid thats all I can do for now Twilight. Without any actual horn cleaning tools, there is little I can do."

"Don't worry Rarity." Twilight said as her horn began to glow. "This will do for now."

"Can you teleport us out of here?" Applejack asked.

"I don't think so. There's still to much repellant on my horn, but I can do this." Twilight' shorn cackled with energy for a few seconds before a wave of magic surged from it, briefly covering everything inside with in purple before the darkness returned.

"I cast a silence spell. Nopony outside will be able to hear us, no matter how high we speak. I also made it impossible to see through the windows." she explained. "Lets rest here for a while before heading out again."

"Well thats a relief!" Applejack said as she left the bathroom, plopping on a couch. "I didn't thought a limp could tire me out like this..."

"I'm going to check on Sweetie Belle. Poor thing must be terrified!" Rarity climbed the stairs, leaving her two friends alone. Twilight served herself a glass of water. Her legs were shaking badly, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Applejack.

"Why don't you use tour telekinesis?"

"Effort. My mind is already strained as it is. I could end up crushing the glass by accident."

"Oh."

Now that they were out of danger, none of knew what to say. It was unnervingly quiet outside, something that Applejack was both grateful and nervous over. Meanwhile, Twilight pondered. Her mind was a mountain of thoughts and worries, and at the top were to main concerns that were wracking her apart. Her friends and their safety and-

"Did you speak with Spike?" Applejack asked. Twilight nearly dropped the glass, but managed to steady herself.

"He talked to me. He said something about stopping injustice and that they would go somewhere...I don't know with who though..." she answered quietly before joining Applejack on the couch.

"Thats not all isn't it?" Applejack said. Twilight didn't answer. "Twi?"

"He drugged me..." Twilight nearly whispered. "Applejack. Spike drugged me." she repeated a a bit stronger. "He drugged me and put me in a dungeon!"

"Twi..."

"And then he goes spouting about ending injustice and that I don't care about him and that he has real friends now! I do care about him Applejack! I am his friend!" she cried. It was funny how it was affecting her now that they were out of danger.

"Twilight, Ah'm sorry..."

"And he doesn't even let me speak! He goes on to insult me and accuse me, and yet he doesn't even let me apologize!"

"Twilight!" Applejack grabbed her shoulder. "Calm down. Spike is...not right. You said so yourself that something's weird about him. He doesn't...really mean it. Ah' don't know him as well as you, but Ah'm also his friend, and Ah' also want to help him. We'll find him and we'll get this whole mess fixed, just like we always do."

Twilight sniffed once more before rubbing her eyes. She smiled.

"You're right Applejack. I shouldn't let this get to me. I have to save Spike, and letting myself get beat by this thing is not helping!"

"Now thats the attitude!"

"Twilight! Applejack! Come up! Quickly!" Rarity shouted from upstairs. The two mares didn't waste a second in running upstairs to Sweetie Belle's room, the only room in the second floor. Rarity was sitting by the filly's bed, desperately trying to shake the filly awake, but it was no use. Sweetie Belle laid on her bed, showing no signs of waking up.

"Rarity, whats wrong?!" Twilight asked.

"Its Sweetie Belle!" Rarity answered frantically. "She won't wake up! I tried everything! Shaking her, moving her, dumping cold water on her, but nothing works!"

Twilight was taken aback by the answer. Sweetie Belle was a known hyperactive child, just like Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and yet, there she laid, placidly sleeping, blissfully ignorant of the emergency that was going on around her.

"First the adults...now the kids?!" she thought worriedly.