"Spike."

There is fire. There is great fire, choking smoke, and catastrophe.

Broken pillars and burning buildings provided the perfect setting for the awful wails of horror and the shrieking sirens that perpetuated throughout Canterlot. Families run frantic through the streets with their crying children in tow, as the guards attempt to put an end to the havoc.

"Spike..?"

None of these facts seem to register through the dragon whelp's head as he picks himself up, brushes off any broken glass embedded under his scales, and stumbles past the flames and wreckage. All Spike can hear is a dominating ring in his ears, making him oblivious to the terrified yells of high-class ponies. Spike can only see what he had just witnessed. Spike can only see those eyes. Strange, round, curious eyes, like a toddler's. He never knew that such overpowering maliciousness could reside in those childlike eyes at the same time.

"Spike!"

Spike fell. He had tripped over a blazing, fallen, wooden, support beam. He grunts, and drags himself to his feet, only to fall onto his knees again. Spike breathes deeply, heavily, and shakily, as his hurts began to do their job. He thinks as he watches the Pegasi pound rainwater onto the consuming fires. He thought of what had occurred in the castle. Those cold eyes just did something bad, something very bad.

"SPIKE!"

Spike puts his back to the ruined building the support beam had belonged to, and stews in misery. He keeps thinking, and recalls the events of the evil eyes. He curls himself into a protective ball and silently weeps, ignoring the licking embers as his dragon hide protects him from any heat. The ringing had finally faded away, for Spike to hear the sharp sounds of cracking wood around him, yet Spike still wept.

"SPIKE!!!"

A violet aura grabs the crying dragon and tears him away from the collapsing museum whose many beams had finally burned away.

The aura deposit Spike on the back of its galloping caster: Shining Armor. Shining Armor ran through Canterlot's Cultural Pass full of flammable, falling structures and works of art, taking the little dragon somewhere safer, which was sore to find right about now.  

The Captain's quick hooves halt in a relatively clear, cobblestone path away from the fires, for the moment. He gingerly levitates Spike on the ground in front of him. Shining Armor removes his helmet, and kneels to Spike's level. Shining pants and looks at the cringing whelp with wide and imploring eyes.

"Spike. What happened in there?"

Spike only clutches at his head, shaking in fear, but giving no audible response as a feeling of intense drowsiness and the black encroached his mind.

"Spike...?" Shining lightly touches Spike's trembling shoulder with his hoof, "... where's Twilight?"

"Shiny!"

"Twily!"

Twilight leaped, and tightly embraced her missed brother inside Canterlot Castle's ballroom.

They had all just finished with their walk and decided to come back to the castle now that a couple of hours had passed, and coincidentally enough, the Captain had finished his duties as well.

The ballroom looked the same as it ever did: white tiled floors split by a red carpet that stretched over the wide stairs, which led to the higher levels of the castle. Purple banners streamed the walls while gilded doorways lined underneath, and stain-glass windows were enthroned above the stairs.

The Captain returned the hug with equal gusto. He peered down and saw Spike looking at him with a big grin.

"Who's the coolest little bro around?" Shining smiled, and extended his hoof.

"And who's the awesomest big bro in town?" Spike brought his clenched fist forward and met the hoof with an audible, 'clop!'

Shining turned his attention to the rest of the party while bearing his regular, jovial expression, "Hope the rest of you didn't have too much fun without me!"

Pinkie chuckled and bounced her way over, "There's no such thing as, 'too much fun', doofus! So of course we didn't!"

"We just had a nice stroll through Canterlot," Cadance explained, "and then we had some of Pony Joe's donuts. By the time we were done, we decided to head on back to the castle. Lucky that you just got done, huh?"

"Donuts?" Shining inquired in a low tone, revealing his sudden interest, "You brought some back for me, right?"

Twilight's ears drooped, and she looked away as blood and shame pervaded her cheeks, "Eh heh.. I sorta, ate 'em all."

Shining shook his head and sighed, "Really... again?"

"Our Twilight has always been greedy with her food," called a familiar, masculine voice as it stepped down the stairs at the head of the large ballroom, "and that seems to be the case now."

"Honey, you're just as greedy," replied a snarky, feminine voice, "I'm pretty sure she picked it up from you."

"Hey, if you wanted the eggplant you should have ordered the egg—"

"—oh, hush, we are not talking about this while we're on vacation."

The pair descended the stairs, their excited, clacking hooves sending a faint echo in the halls. The male was a periwinkle unicorn with a long, dark blue mane swept over his light smile, and twin crescent moons on his flank. His better half was a grey unicorn mare with a white and purple striped, bobbed mane, along with three purple stars as her cutie mark.

Everypony immediately recognized the couple as Night Light and Twilight Velvet. Or as Twilight called them...

"Mom, Dad, you're here!"

The parents ran forward to meet the party with long-awaited greetings and friendly hugs. From here, they all made simple small talk, simply catching up on any events that occurred of late and further acquainting themselves with Twilight's friends. Of course, a good bit had happened since the last time Twilight's mother and father, or as Spike called them, Mr. Dad and Mrs. Mom, had seen their children.

"Ah! Look at the time," Night Light noted as he eyes one of the clocks on the walls, "it has gotten a bit late, hasn't it?"

Velvet raised an eyebrow, "Late? It's barely seven! You're just getting old."

Night Light pouted, "Am not!"

"Then why do you use mane-dye?"

"Because you like it." the husband retorted with a grin.

Shining visibly cringed, Twilight and Cadance blushed, and Spike pinched the bridge of his nose while sighing.

Twilight groaned, and slowly asked, "Can we please change the subject?"

"Of course, sweetey!" Velvet cheerily complied, "Besides, despite the fact that your father is getting a bit too late in his years..."

"Pfft!"

"... I'm afraid we're a bit too pooped to do anything. We had gotten lost trying to find our way to our rooms."

"And then we got lost trying to find our way back." Night Light grunted. "You'd think they'd have signs or something for a castle this big."

"Ahh, maybe we're both just getting too deep in our years." Velvet remarked.

"Hardly!" Rarity shot with a wave of her hoof, "I'd say you are both young enough to be Twilight's siblings."

Velvet giggled and nudged Twilight with her shoulder, "I had a feeling I was going to like this one."

Rainbow's stomach decided to rumble at this moment. Pinkie pulled a stethoscope from her tail and used it to listen to the perplexed flier's still-growling stomach.

Night Light raised an eyebrow, "Uh, what is she doing?"

"Honey, It's Pinkie Pie," Applejack deadpanned to the confused father, "don' question it."

"But... why was that in her..."

"It's okay," Cadance soothed with a calm tone, "you'll learn eventually, like me and Shining had to."

Pinkie Pie returned the stethoscope to its spot in her tail, and gave her diagnosis, "Yup, yer tank is empty!" Pinkie's stomach grunted in agreement, "Looks like mine is too! Anypony else hungry?"

"I sure am, considering I didn't get any donuts." Shining gave Twilight a playful smile, "How about this, go ahead and get situated in your rooms, and I'll come get you all in half an hour or so. Then, we can go ahead and use the reservations I made..." Shining dug into a pocket on his armor's saddlebags with a violet, spectral hand, and pulled out a wad of ornately designed tickets, "at Canterlot's best dinner theatre: Dramatica Dine!"

The assembled ponies simultaneously, "Oooh..!"

"And so that no one gets lost," Shining added, "I'll have somepony guide you there."  

"But we know our way around, bro," Spike responded with a smirk, "I was even born here!"

"I know, I know, but when I told him that you'd be coming to visit," Shining cryptically answered, "he didn't wanna pass up the chance."

"... who told who about what now?" Spike's question was quickly answered when he felt himself leave the ground, and plopped down onto the back of grey stallion with a short, brown mane.

"Me, of course, Spike, ma-boy!"

Spike took in a deep breath upon remembering the feel of the scarred, muscular back, "Grit Hoof? Oh man, it's you!"

"Geez, how many ponies from the past are gonna come out of nowhere today?" Pinkie asked to nopony in particular, "If this keeps going on, Fluttershy's gonna have a heart-attack!"

The Pegasus in question was concealing herself behind Cadance's large wings.

She peeked out to say, "Um.. yeah, I'm not too proud of myself right now.."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, pretty-filly!" Grit Hoof called in his low, gravelly voice, "Those kind of fine-tuned instincts would make you a great soldier! You fancy on joining the ranks?"

"Oh, eh-heh..! I think I'll pass for now."

"So, who exactly are ya', Grit Hoof?" Applejack asked as they followed the old soldier down a new hallway.

Grit Hoof smiled and glanced at the dragon contentedly riding on his back, "Spike here can tell you all you need to know about me, isn't that right?"

"Oh, definitely!" Spike cheered, "Grit Hoof is one of the coolest stallions you'll ever meet." he leaned back, reminiscing on the days with the veteran, "You see, back when Twilight first hatched me, she was still too young to actually take care of me, especially cause' of her studies and all, so they put me in a nursery. Grit Hoof was stationed near there, so he usually dropped in to help out and stuff. After I was a couple more years old, they stuck me out of the nursery, and put me under his guard whenever Twilight was too busy. So, I've basically known him since I was born!"

"And what a terror!" Grit Hoof lamented, "They had to have me watch Spike because the other babysitters couldn't handle him! He'd be off, burning some drapes, making nests out of pots and pans in the kitchen, or helping a certain brother-of-Princess-Celestia's-protege ruin the most important party of Canterlot with a deluge of slimy pasta!"

Twilight raised her eyebrows at the last part, "He did what now?"

"Oh, nothing," Spike swiftly hushed. "Anyway, he's been there for me a good long while, and it's been even longer since I've seen him!" Spike shifted closer to Grit Hoof's ear, "What've you been doing?"

"Well, technically, I'm supposed to be retired," Grit Hoof explained with a hoof to his chin, "but laying around with some high-paying pension is just boring. I've stayed past my required time, and the Princesses have made me Canterlot's Head Investigator for crimes and such, so that's been eating at a lot my time."

"If you are not a soldier anymore, then why do you still wear your regalia?" Rarity inquired while inspecting the many scratches and dents on the plates.

"Miss Rarity, here in Canterlot, once a soldier, always a soldier. Besides..." Grit Hoof lovingly tapped his silver breastplate, "once you wear something for so long, it almost becomes a part of you."

"A soldier, huh?" Rainbow Dash swooped overhead, "So I'm guessin' that armor has been in some awesome battles, right?"

"Oh, sure! I just don't think it is in good taste to share my tales of gut-ripping and gore-bathing. Funny thing is, most of these scratches came from Spike ma-boy over here."

Spike shrugged as he felt the surprised stares of his friends boring into his back, "Hey, learning claw-safety is a lot of trial and error."

Grit Hoof stopped before a row of large, gilded, wooden doors. "Right, here are the Guest Suites. I'm guessing you know where your old quarters are, Princess Twilight?"

"That won't be necessary," Twilight assured, "I prefer staying close to my friends rather than going all the way to the other end of the castle. I'll just use one of these rooms."

Grit Hoof blinked a couple of times, like somepony who's been caught doing something they were not supposed to be doing, "Oh. Well, I'll go and get your luggage then. I think those Crystal Pegasi already put it in your private library."

Twilight blanched upon understanding, but before she can say anything, Grit Hoof had already put Spike on the floor, and dashed off, yelling, "It won't take but a second, Princess!"

She sighed and placed a hoof to her temple, "Oh boy."

Deep, within the dark jail that the strange prisoner stood. Something else occurred. It was something small and possibly meaningless.

The prisoner snapped his neck away from the light to take note of another, more important matter. He turned his neck, stretching the straps that fastened his muzzle to the plates used to encumber his movements. He slowly moved his head up, up, and up, his eyes positioned in a way that seemed to burn through the ceiling and peer at whatever they laid upon, far beyond the limits of the cell.

"Curious."

Spike and Twilight stood before the mirrors in their suite, putting final touches to their apparel for the night. Twilight's mane was lightly styled in curls, and she wore a simple yet beautiful purple gown put together by Rarity, whereas Spike wore his trusty black tuxedo.

Twilight spotted Spike fiddling with a cane whose top was shaped like a golden cobra biting a sapphire, and rolled her eyes, "Spike, do you really need that?"

Spike frowned and looked at his cane with wide eyes, "But it's my Sophisticated-Sir-Stick!"

"......"

"Aw, fine." Spike reluctantly placed the Sophisticated-Sir-Stick back in its carrying case. "Didn't special order this thing not to use it..."

"Oh, you'll be alright." Twilight consoled with a quick nuzzle. "You look classy enough without it."

Spike relented and nuzzled her back. Eh, he could always use that beautiful rod for a different occasion that would have called for more use, such as when he personally delivers the Germane chocolates and roses to Rarity tomorrow. He was just ready to go out and have fun with his ponies. Good food, good food, and hopefully, a good performance would really make the night.

True, he had not seen the rest of the Princesses yet, but they would be sure to make it for the occasion. After all, when Celestia and Luna make plans, it is once in a blue moon that they would forsake it.

Right?

*Knock, knock* went a visitor to their door.

Twilight looked away from the mirror and headed to the knob to answer the knocker. She clicked it open with a shine of her horn to see Shining Armor waiting outside.

"Are we ready to go?" Twilight asked with an expectant grin.

"Well, Princess Celestia and Luna are finally here."

Twilight's wings fluttered in excitement, "Oh, that's good! I was worried they weren't gonna show up."

"And then they cancelled the reservations."

"... huh?"

"Yup." Shining bluntly stated, "They've just arrived, and they said to cancel the reservations to the dinner-theater." Spike lumbered to the door after hearing the news.

Before he could voice any confusion, Twilight asked another queston "Really? Why? Did something come up?"

Shining Armor scratched the back of his head, "Sort of. I think I know what this is about... but I should probably let them explain, considering I don't know too much myself. I already told your friends that the plans fell through. Just follow me."

Twilight furrowed her brow and nodded, following her brother out the door. Spike slowly went after them, taking notice of a dropping weight in his gut. This was supposed to be a vacation, what could have gone wrong? Well, it could very well be nothing. It could just be some extra-important issue somewhere in Equestria that the Princesses have to deal with.

Well, Princesses included Twilight, didn't it?

It had been some time since Spike thought about it, because he believed that it had already been fully digested. His Twilight  Sparkle, a Princess. Already, she herself had gotten somewhat used to the prospect of it, as did the rest of her friends. At first, Spike was worried. Did this mean he was going to see less and less of her? That his Twilight would be off to save the day without her little dragon by her side even more?

Luckily, that was not the case. She still stayed in Ponyville with her friends, carried out random adventures on a week by week basis, and still grew. However, she still had that little dragon-brother-thing. So what did the royalty make him? A Royal Butler? He didn't like the sound of that. A Vizier? Maybe, he still has to haul her off the deep-end every now and then.

Honestly, he could care less about those titles right now. In the end, all that mattered to Spike was that she was still with him, that Twilight had not forgotten about the bumbling dragon on her back. A strange type of love. Not a mother and son, or a sister and brother type of love. They were their own two, and that made the love matter all the more.

Spike awoke from his thoughts and saw that he was already mounted in his usual spot upon Twilight's back, and was traversing down the steps into the ballroom, flanked by Shining Armor and Cadence. Spike supposed that the seemingly missing time-frame was due to the years of getting in the same position again and again.

That, and Twilight's arbitrary teleportation. She is a smart-cookie, no doubt, but her forgetfulness of the incredibly useful magic baffles the greatest minds.

Spike looked forward to see Princess Celestia and Luna waiting at the bottom. Their unreal, ever-flowing manes depicting the spectrum and night sky, stood in start contrast to their still upright forms and large eyes, making them resemble a pair of sentinels keeping an eternal vigil.

They reached the twin Princesses, and Spike began to shift off of Twilight's back to give a bow alongside Shining. Twilight had to stop herself from doing the same. It was still awkward for her not to bow to her mentor, but Princess Celestia urged against it.

Princess Celestia wasted no time with formalities when she began to speak, "We must make haste my ponies, there is a very urgent matter that burdens upon us."

Spike detected the serious atmosphere the tone gave off, and immediately shrinks, stifling the bow and staying on Twilight's back.

"Does this have anything to do with the letter Grit Hoof sent, Princess Celestia?" Shining asked.

"Everything," Princess Celestia responded, "we need to hurry our way there right now."

Twilight glanced at Shining and Celestia, noticing a previous discussion, "What happened, Princess?"

"Has another threat been made..?" Cadence warily questioned.

Luna pursed her lips, "Not exactly. A dangerous prisoner within the dungeon is acting strangely. We are to be headed to the cell to ensure precautionary measures. Just in case."

Cadence and Twilight relaxed. They are just adding some extra locks, maybe a strong, alicorn-powered barrier or two. No giant, mutant cockatrices or Changelings to worry about.

Then why did they look so serious?

"Due to enchantments placed on the dungeon, we are only able to blink to the beginning of the keep." Celestia explained as she charged her horn with golden energy, "We must hoof the rest of the path."

A bright white flash overtook the group, and they disappeared from the ballroom.

With another flash, they all arrived before a pair of gargantuan, weighty, iron gates surely leading to the holds of Canterlot's criminals. Instead, Celestia and Luna turned to the staircase to the left of it, ignoring the doors.

They ran down and down and down again, going farther than Twilight, Cadence or Spike have ever been.

The old, dusty, gray steps in the lower levels bore more questions into the three's minds. What prisoner required a separate section of a castle to keep? What colossal monster must lay down there?

Spike decided to keep his questions to himself for now. He was not sure if he wanted the answer.

This was different for Twilight.

"Princess Celestia... what exactly is down here?"

"An old, sleeping, prisoner that should have stayed asleep."

With that piece of enigmatic information, they stayed their inquiries.

They all ran on. Through dimly lit corridors covered in no decoration or ornament that had been so common with the castle.

They kept dashing until they ran out of building. They were now surrounded by the carved stone of a mountain, following a paved path by artisans of olden times.

Finally, they all reached a metal door at the end of the path, covered in complex, iron contraptions that kept it sealed. Princess Celestia nodded to the guards, and they take to the interminable task of undoing the many locks on the gates.

The last lock fell away, and the guards begin to heave on the door until it groans open.

Celestia and Luna slowed to a walk as they led the way into the final room.

Twilight eyes scanned the chamber as she entered, processing the features of the enormous cell. They stood on a steel balcony fixed to the rock wall of the mountain with steps on either side. The platform overlooked the expansive, gray-tiled floor where a tiny fragment of light peeked through the ceiling, shining on the only colors in the center of the keep: Celestia and Luna's mark.

"This is the strongest and most impregnable jail within Canterlot, resting within the very heart of the mountain!" Princess Luna lectured, "Very few ponies have ever seen what lay here, and nopony has ever escaped once put into this dungeon. Any and all teleportation is sealed away by enchantments in the very stones and tiles, forbidding even the most powerful of mages of a swift exit." She indicates this by tapping the stone wall with her horn, causing a dark green rune to momentarily glimmer through. "Luckily, only one criminal need be placed here."    

Cadence tentatively peered over the rails and beckoned to the light, "Wait... what is that thing?"

"That which we are here for." Luna whispers.

What Cadence had been referring to was the sole denizen of the damp cell.

There it resided, bipedal, tall, and covered in enough inhibiting metal that it could have been wearing a suit of armor. From what one could tell, it had the build of a Diamond Dog or Minotaur, but much slenderer and only stood as tall as Celestia's head. Around its chest and back was a heavy plate engraved by arcane runes, connected by small chains to the wide locks over its legs and arms. Its hands and feet were attached to shackles large enough to hold a manticore's paws, which were stretched taut, and led to recesses in the walls and floors, apparently failing to do its job of restraining movement. Covering its face and head was a slit, metal muzzle. The last bonds were binding a long, single horn that curved from the side of its head into the air, blunting the surely-sharp tip at the end. Judging from the fact that each of the manacles hummed and glowed with a dark, green tint, they must have been enchanted to stifle any magic from the thing. It paid no mind to the newcomers and simply stared into a fixed spot in the ceiling, its head tilted away from them.

The most obvious thing about the prisoner, that even an infant could have gleaned, was that it gave off a feeling of wrongness. So, very, wrong.

Twilight's naturally inquisitive nature guided her to walk towards the steps leading down, so that she could get a closer study of the being.

"Stop," Celestia commanded without a glance, "we need no close proximity until the actual spell is executed."

Twilight halted, and returned to Celestia's side, now even more curious about the strange entity. "Sorry, Princess.."

Celestia allowed herself a small smile, "It's fine, Twilight, I understand. It's just that it is best to keep as wide a berth as possible  from him..."

"Sister," Luna urged, "we must reinforce the seals quickly!"

Celestia's frown returned upon remembering the job, "Yes. Cadence, Twilight, all that must be done is to recharge the locks with the dark magic I've showed you two some time before. Afterwards, Shining Armor will add a small-scale barrier encasing the prisoner for optimal protection. Do you both understand?"

Twilight and Cadence nodded, recalling the powerful magic that they had to use at one time or another.

Spike was not going to like this. He never liked it when Twilight used that sort of magic, ever since the disturbing illusions it had caused at the Crystal Empire. Admittedly, it was a trap set by Sombra, but the visions still haunted him to this day. A vision of abandonment at the hooves of the pony that had hatched him, was the most terrifying thing he could think of.

"Now, position yourselves in two corners behind his figure," Celestia ordered as she rose into the air with her sister, charging her horn with ancient spells, "me and Luna will take the other two sides. Go!"

Spike felt Twilight's back muscles work as she flapped her wings and took to the air among the other three Alicorns. Spike watched as the four Princesses drag the incredible sorcery from the depths of their beings. Black, purple, and green energy swim through their horns and eyes like furious sharks, thrumming with arcane force. Spike felt himself tremble as they focused the awesome power. Maybe he should have gotten off before? He braced himself for the coming burst, wishing that this time, he had just stayed behind.

Celestia struggled to contain the magic as she shouted, "N... Now!"

They release the mounting power, causing a pitch-black beam to erupt from their horns and strike the engraved signs on the steel.

The chains seem to greedily drink up the dark magic as it absorbed the energy, and its eerie green glow intensifies several shades brighter. Of course, the prisoner did not seem to care one bit as his bonds grew stronger and heavier.

Spike loosened his hold on Twilight's body as the beam began to slowly wane away.

He breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew! Glad that's over."

"AGH!" Twilight shrieked in surprise.

Her concentration on stably lessening the dark magic broke from the interruption. The beam sputtered and warped, until it thins to a single point, and bursts in a radial blast of pure energy!  

Spike was abruptly thrown off of Twilight's back, and thudded against the rock wall with an audible, "Oof!"

He slid down the craggy surface, hit the dusty ground, and entered an involuntary roll, which was eventually stopped by something heavy and hard.

Spike clambered to his feet while rubbing his sore back, "Ohhh... I'm know gonna feel that tomorrow." The unfortunate whelp opened his eyes and noticed that the prisoner has moved from its unnaturally still position. It had turned, and looked down at him with the oddest eyes. They were large, blue, and resembled cracked glass. The eyes were trained on him, with a head cocked to the side, reminiscent of a child. Despite the innocence one might assume the eyes possessed, they terribly frightened the dragon. Somehow, with that naive stare, was a cold, calculating, inspection. It was the look a sick mind would give a butterfly before tearing its wings off.

"Curious."

Spike began backing away from the keen gaze, "Wh-what?"

"How is Spike here?!" Celestia demanded, "I instructed that no one else should come!"

"Oh, Tartarus, I forgot that he was even there!" Shining cursed.

The prisoner took a heavy step towards Spike, causing the dark-green luster to blister and spark in resistance.

"How curious!" he rasped with more spirit. "A baby dragon. Why, I've never seen one!"

A hand of golden aura quickly enveloped Spike, and whisked him away from the prisoner's reach, onto the raised platform before the gate.

Celestia pointed to Shining Armor, who had already rallied the guards to surround the convict, "Shining Armor, help us perform the shield spell, NOW!"

Shining lowered and charged his horn at the prisoner, "Roger that, Princess!"

The party energized their horns once more, and conjured a small, tight, impenetrable white bubble around their target.

The Alicorns landed on the ground with slight clops and heavy panting.

"Princess Celestia, I don't understand!" Cadence asked after regaining her breath, "He barely moved, and you are acting as if he's gonna break free and destroy Canterlot!"

The prisoner entrapped in the bubble scratches his head and taps the bubble.

Luna approached the confused princess and put a hoof on her shoulder, "Princess Cadence, those charged manacles would be weighty enough to render ten of my dear sister powerless, motionless, and flat upon the ground."

"Ten Princess Celestia's?!" Twilight incredulously shouted, "But, that's impossible! What is he? Why is he even..."

Celestia held up a hoof to silence her, and shook her head, "Despite his movement, those chains will restrain him from harming anypony or moving much further, so do not fret. But, either way, you both must leave. He is too excited. If he notices you... it will only get worse. Go."

"But—"

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," Celestia imperiously decreed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, shaking the very foundations of the mountain, "I am going to need you to comply to my request and leave this place while he is conscious. Please, go!"

Any intention to stay and ask more questions disappeared from Twilight's mind. She and Cadence bowed and flapped their wings, taking to the air and ascending to the platform.

Spike was still watching the scene of the prisoner perceiving the clear addition to his environment. Princess Celestia's Royal Canterlot voice was still ringing in his ears. The prisoner's awful eyes still permeated through his mind. And, once again, he felt himself get thrown upon Twilight's back.

"Come on, Spike!" Twilight huffed as she galloped through the corridors, "We need to leave Princess Celestia and Luna to... whatever the heck that thing is."

Curious...

"T-t--twi?" Spike blustered, "What was that? Why does Princess Celestia have that down here?"

How curious...

"I don't know, Spike." Twilight's forehead creased her brow and she ran harder, "But... I intend on finding out."

A baby dragon... Why...

I've never seen one!