Draven took a large drink from his tankard; belching as he slammed it down on the wooden table.

"Ugh, was that really necessary?" Twilight said in disgust as she waved her hand; trying to dissipate the stench.

"Ah, don't get your knickers in a wad Twilight!" Gin chuckled lightly; Coba, Jhettei, and Spike joining in on the laughter. "He's always a brute!"

"I am not you bloody wench!" Draven snorted.

"Haha! Don't worry mate, we love you anyway!" Gin said with a satisfied grin. "Say, Twilight, how about I get you a drink!"

Twilight hesitated. "Uh, I don't think I should-."

"Oh, c'mon! Just a little one won't hurt! It'll help you loosen up little!" Gin insisted as she ordered the bartender to give Twilight a drink.

As Twilight looked at Spike, he giggled lightly; knowing full well this would be her first drink. Recognizing the look on his face, Twilight crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"You think I can't do it, don't you?" Twilight asked Spike; staring him down intensely.

"Hehe... looks like Spike's skeptical princess!" Gin laughed.

The bartender plopped a shot glass down; full of whiskey. Twilight rose to the occasion and downed the whole shot, or at least held it in her mouth to try and trick Spike. At first it worked, and the whole table was impressed, that was until her eyes began to water from the intense burning sensation that tingled her snout. Twilight began to panic, and Gin grabbed her shoulder.

"C'mon deary, either let it burn or swallow it!" Gin urged the now red-faced mare.

Twilight swallowed it slowly with one large gulp, and she plopped her head down on the table; letting out a sigh of relief as her mouth began to cool.

"How was it?" Spike chuckled.

"It's not so bad once you get past the liquid-fire stage." Twilight groaned.

"Well, in that case, another round lad!" Gin waved to the bartender.

"Yay..." Twilight moaned.

Just then, Winslow and Fluttershy came through the tavern door. Winslow looked worried, and Fluttershy, a little rattled. Spike saw this and stood up.

"I'm fine." Fluttershy quietly reassured the group as she sat down at the empty seat next to Jhettei.

"Spike, I must speak with you. Come." Winslow firmly stated as he walked out the tavern door.

"Don't have too much fun when I'm gone Twilight." Spike teased the now pale-faced mare as he stood up and walked outside.

"C'mon, have another one! It'll be fine! Just try swallowing it sooner next time!" Gin laughed.

Twilight could only respond with a low groan of defeat as she lifted her head from the table.

****

The air was cold that night, and Spike could feel a chill run down his spine as he stepped out. Winslow stood at attention; watching Spike as he rubbed his hands together. Winslow turned and faced the wind as he stared up at the moon high in the sky. He was wearing a troubled expression, unlike his usual emotionless one. He turned his head quickly to the right, not paying attention to Spike but noticing the wind veering from north to east.

"Even the wind is afraid to fly in these troubling times," Winslow said as he turned to Spike. "It wants to escape, but it can't find a way out. Like all of us, it is shrouded in a blanket of darkness and fear."

"Winslow... uh, what did you bring me here for?" Spike wondered; Winslow turning his back to him again.

"On this day, the Sorcerer of Right has reared her ugly head and has issued a challenge to the victor of this tournament," Winslow said as he looked deeply into the moon. "And that victor must be you, Spike."

"What? Why?" Spike said as he began to process what was said. "Why me of all ponies?"

"I do not know." Winslow answered; lowering his head for a moment before turning back to Spike. "All that matters now, is to destroy her, once and for all."

"You're not making any sense Winslow. You're getting ahead of yourself." Spike uttered with a curious look upon his face. "What happened tonight, with you and Fluttershy?"

"Fluttershy and I had ventured, following the trail of a peculiar noise." Winslow said; sighing softly as looked down at his hooves. "It led us to Prince Wantinga, who was reciting a dark ritual to awaken Haki, the Sorcerer of Right. He had been hypnotized, for what he believes had been months on end."

"He seemed so inconspicuous... how?" Spike wondered; scratching his chin as he looked down at the ground in deep thought.

"Hypnosis induced by ritualistic methods differs from common mind-spells," Winslow explained. "It is a highly advanced magical technique that creates a feigned identity that overlaps the original one. This is something that Haki has been known in early history to have utilized to control others."

Spike had a new question, one that began to burn in his mind. "How do you know so much about the history of the Blacklands?"

"My paladin brethren kept many records of ancient wars, wizards, and magic," Winslow said. "To become a paladin, one must have a working knowledge on the writings of paladin scholars from before."

"Winslow... where are they? The paladins?" Spike asked.

Winslow stood quietly for a while. He seemed saddened by Spike's words and gave a quiet sigh in response as if trying not to gain attention from him. He looked down at his hooves once more, this time, a lot longer than he did previously.

"We are straying from the original topic." Winslow uttered after his long sigh. "I merely brought you here to inform you of what has occurred. That is all I wanted."

Spike recognized the pain in his voice and tried to ease the situation. "Winslow I-."

"You may go back to the tavern." Winslow interrupted; trying to give Spike a weak smile. "Hopefully they aren't getting themselves into any trouble."

"What about you? Aren't you going to join us?" Spike tried suggesting to the anguished stallion.

"Tonight I would prefer solace," Winslow said with a somber expression.

As Spike walked away, he looked back, wanting to say something more, something to relieve him. However, he stopped himself before he could say anything. He had seen sorrow like this from others, but none of them shared the hardy attitude of Winslow, who always seemed so unwavering and free from emotional baggage. Spike thought it would be best to leave him be.

****

Drunken chuckles escaped the bar-goers, as they sang and danced their troubles away. Twilight being one of them. Although she was usually very aware of her own well-being, she was known to occasionally cave under the influence of peer-pressure, and the persistence of Gin was hard to refuse when given little time to think about the outcome of her "suggestions".

"Woooo!" Twilight roared in a stupor as she danced about the tavern; carelessly unaware of the various others disturbed by her intoxicated rambling.

At this moment, Spike walked in, watching Twilight dance about the tavern; eventually coming to a grinding halt as her eyes met his. It took a moment for her to recognize him, but when she did, a large grin grew on her disoriented expression.

"Spiiiiike!" She yelled in a gleeful, yet out of tune voice, like a worn-out children's song on a music-box.

"Twilight?" Spike wondered; looking over to the table they were seated at to find that only Draven and Fluttershy were still present.

Fluttershy had an obvious blush on her face, and her slow movements suggested that even she too, was drunk. Although, she was still conscious enough to remain quiet. Gin was at the other end of the tavern, seated on a high barstool where the barkeep would refill their glasses, with her head rested on the counter, and her eyes closed.

"Draven? What happened?" Spike said in a panic; shocked by the disastrous wreck that was supposed to be, 'The Princess of Friendship'.

"Well, Coba and Jhettei left to do their own thing, and... well, it sort of went downhill from there," Draven answered; trying to sugar-coat it as best as he could.

"And you did nothing to stop them from drinking this much?!" Spike said in an outrage.

"Oh, come on Spike, they were just having fun," Draven said; trying to justify his action, or lack of action so to speak.

"You call making a fool of yourself 'having fun'?" Spike shouted in outrage; removing Twilight's hands from his face that were trying to massage his cheeks. "Get- Get off, please."

"Oh, you're no fuuuun..." Twilight said in a mindless, and childlike way. "Hey, Gin! Spikey's here!"

"What?" Gin uttered quietly as she rubbed her eyes. "Spike!"

Gin ran over to Spike; tripping over a chair, and landing at his feet. She raised her hands to Spike and put on an innocent face; trying to be as cute as possible.

"Will you help me up, Spike?" She said in a phony tone of voice.

With a sigh, he picked her up off the floor with ease and held her in his arms for a moment before setting her on her feet. As she was set down, she stumbled and fell back into his arms. She gave him a wink, and took her finger and ran it down his chest.

"You're so strong..." She purred.

"Pfffttt! She likes you..." Twilight giggled. "Ha!"

"Okay, fun's over kids!" Draven announced; grabbing Fluttershy and Gin, and tossing them up on opposite shoulders. "Spike, grab your princess."

"Aww... but we were having so much fun." Twilight groaned; giving Spike a 'puppy-dog face'.

Without a word, Spike swung her over his shoulder as well, and the two dragons walked outside with the drunk mares shouting and yelling as they were suspended in the air. Well, all except Fluttershy.

"We best get back to the room, along with these three drunks," Draven stated as he let out of huff, trying to re-position Gin.

"But I don't want to go to bed!" Twilight shouted.

"Yeah, let's go." Spike agreed.

****

Spike had troubles finding sleep that night. Instead, he stared at the brightly decorated ceiling that glimmered as the moonlight entered his room. The night had been long, and despite his exhaustion, he had troubles trying to even close his eyes.

Eventually, he succeeded in closing them, but before he could enter a deep sleep, he noticed a strange shift in the blankets near the end of his bed. After laughing it off as just a product of sleep deprivation, he tried closing his eyes again. However, he felt something warm climb up his body and approach the headboard. Spike was frozen in fear at first but quickly realized that what was approaching him was not as bad as what his imagination had concocted. Gin's long silver hair fell down to Spike's face; obscuring his vision, before she tossed it to the other side.

"Gin! What are you-." Spike was cut off as Gin placed her index finger on his mouth to silence him.

"I thought you needed a little company..." She whispered in a seductive voice; alien to how she usually spoke. This caught Spike completely off-guard.

Spike looked down at the rest of Gin beneath his blanket. Her ample chest pressed up against his, and he felt her legs forcefully intertwine with his. Before he could protest again however, he felt her tongue tie itself to his. She tasted like strong whiskey, and despite the burning sensation, it was smooth and delicious. Although lost for a moment, he eventually came to his senses and tossed her to the other side of his bed.

"Gin, listen, I-..." Spike trailed off as he noticed that Gin was sound asleep, snoring. "Uhh..."

Spike tried to move her, but she squirmed and writhed about in response. So, he decided to leave her where she was. At first he was going to get up and move to another bed, but he felt his body grow ever weaker, and he closed his eyes out of sheer exhaustion... out-cold.

Author's Notes:

As always, I hope you enjoyed! Sorry about the wait, but I'm a busy guy!