After supper, the sun began to set in the west, and soon after it was dark outside. There was no moon, no crickets or buzzing of insects, just still darkness. Twilight and the others were directed to their rooms on the upper level of the maze-like mansion and walked up a grand and opulent staircase that led into a long corridor with numerous guest rooms; each fitted with a bathroom, a closet full of clothes, and a king-size bed. Spike settled in a room just across from Twilight's, and the first thing he did in his bedroom before turning-in was pop his head out the door; wishing Twilight sweet dreams before jumping backwards onto his bed.

While Twilight felt comfortable in the mansion, she couldn't shake a certain feeling. She didn't feel watched, she felt more like she was being stalked. She turned her head constantly as she undressed and put on her nightwear; making sure the room was safe from an intruder. Twilight also noticed something else, it was subtle... but noticeable. She felt a chill run down her spine as her neck became moist from somepony's, or... something's breath. Twilight's mind was running wild with crazed ideas.

"Who's there?" Twilight whispered as she looked around the room frantically.

Twilight tried to ignore it at first, but the feeling of terror slowly began to creep up on her, the fear of the unseen. She flicked the light switch on to dispel the darkness closing in, but the bulbs blew the instant she clicked the switch. Twilight tried to run to the door, but a strange, overpowering force rendered her unable to grasp the handle. She held her head as a piercing headache began to muddle her vision; causing her to see double. Knowing she was about to faint, she instinctively directed her body toward the bed as she passed out. As soon as she hit the bed, she was out cold.

Twilight awakened in darkness soon after; her vision being taken from her by black nothingness. She looked around, tried to stand, but her hands and legs were tied to something above. She attempted to speak, but her mouth refused to open, it was sewn shut. She was standing upright, but Twilight could not move on her own. Her body was dead and slumped over; the only support being the unseen ropes tied around her neck, head, arms, legs, and waist. After a few minutes of silent horror, a spotlight broke through the blackness and cast its light on Twilight.

Her sight returned to her once the spotlight shone down on her, and her surroundings became partially visible. She was standing on a stage, an old and withered one for that matter; creaking and groaning from practically no stimulus at all. While Twilight was unable to move her limbs, she was able to move her eyes around, and she looked down at her body first. She wore a ballerina outfit similar to that of a typical music-box dancer that would spin mechanically when you opened the box.

Suddenly an invisible choir of violins began to play a broken, distorted tune. It sounded more like musical screeching, as it followed a chaotic, yet somehow precise patterns. As the music echoed across the dark room, Twilight began to feel her body move; tugged by the ropes around her body. She danced around the stage with dysfunctional grace, hideous beauty. Her dance was like the stage, old, broken, decrepit, yet deep and mysterious like an ocean. She tried to move again, but to no avail. She could only let the nightmarish vision continue on its unknown, possibly endless route.

As the violins began to slow down, Twilight felt her body slouch again, and the song ended. All was quiet for a time... until she heard a single pair of hands clap slowly, but truthfully. Twilight was unsure of the source until she heard the sound of hooves stepping up a staircase just at the other end of the stage in the corner of her eye. It was Gek, in his same psychotic tuxedo made of torn pieces of canvas off strait-jackets with belt buckles acting as buttons to hold the suit together.

Gek's smile was wide, toothy, gaping, and his laugh was nothing less than disturbing. It was cheerful, but it sounded injured, like a dying animal. The white spots in his eyes were fixed on Twilight, cold and dead inside, but intrigued by the mare. He bowed in respect to the princess before him; his smile growing larger and larger until it almost reached his ears. Twilight felt the strain on her mouth disappear as she tried to move her jaw.

"Where am I? Why am I here?!" Twilight demanded; her voice cracking as she struggled against the ropes.

"Oh sweetie, I just wanted to get properly acquainted!" Gek chuckled with his wheezy voice. "I'm sorry about the ropes, really I am, but if we're going to get along, we must learn to trust one another. Can you do that for me?"

"Go to hell!" Twilight shouted in outrage as she tugged at the ropes once more.

"Must you be so difficult your majesty? I only want to talk." Gek's voice became cold and sociopathic.

"What is there to talk about? You're a sick monster! A sick, twisted-." Twilight trailed off as she felt Gek put his clawed index finger over her mouth; approaching her menacingly and robbing her of her courage.

"Now now dear, I can't have you throw around petty insults like its pitching-practice!" Gek snickered, then sighed as his expression changed to disappointment. "For a princess you're not very well behaved..."

"W-Where are we?" Twilight stuttered as she looked at the sadistic stallion in horror.

"Isn't it obvious? We're in your head!" Gek joyously bellowed as he clapped once more. "This is where all your happy memories go to die! I quite like it in here!"

"How is this possible? Winslow restrained your power over me!" Twilight replied as she struggled against the ropes.

"Oh, don't be silly! That old paladin may have stopped me from taking you over, but that sure as hell won't get rid of me!" Gek laughed. "Whether you like it or not..."

"*I'm always here...*" Gek's sadistic voice came from every direction and echoed off the invisible walls of the empty theater thrice in a chorus of chaos.

Twilight reluctantly drew closer to Gek. Her curiosity was telling her to ask more, to ask Gek what his plan was, but she knew he would be cryptic, and non-forthcoming. "What are you trying to do?"

"Oh, this and that... simply put, I want chaos. Not the childish garbage that your 'Lord of Chaos' seems to think he owns, no. I want to see everypony cry and vomit, and laugh at the same time. I want all of you to chuckle and choke on your own blood as you slit each other's throats." Gek's eye twitched as he grabbed Twilight by the jaw with his clawed hand. "I want to have some fun... and I think I'll start with you."

Gek pulled Twilight closer and drove his tongue down her throat; grabbing the back of her head to get a better angle as he sloppily kissed the frightened mare. Twilight tried to hit him, to punch him, but the ropes overpowered her as they spread her out like a convict about to be drawn and quartered. She began to cry as Gek took his other hand and groped her; leaving claw marks on her chest and stomach. As Twilight felt Gek's tongue worm its way into her nostril she vomited and began to choke as he pressed his mouth harder against hers. Gek broke off the kiss suddenly as Twilight began to tire, and he licked his "lips" greedily as he backed away; leaving Twilight gasping for air as she emptied her bowels on the old wooden floor.

"We're going to have so much fun, sweetie..." Gek purred as he ran his hand down her cheek.

Gek released her from her bonds, and she fell through the floor; falling further and further into the black abyss. Then she woke up in a cold-sweat. She hyperventilated rapidly as she examined her body to see if there were any scars, and luckily she was unscathed. She felt unclean, violated. She cried as she got up from her bed; realizing the night had passed, and noticing the time on her watch read 9:00 am. She slept in.

Twilight raced to the door, but before she could get downstairs she was stopped by Winslow, who stood outside her door with his usual stoic expression.

"Tell me everything," Winslow grunted as he looked down at Twilight.

****

Spike and the other late-risers gathered in the living room; having had their breakfast. Evelyn yawned as she took a sip from her coffee and played with the last of Edgar's pancakes with her fork. Edgar eyed up her plate eagerly; knowing she was finished.

"Fine, take it." Evelyn sighed as she pushed her plate across the dinner table to Edgar, who sucked it up like a vacuum.

Evelyn walked down the hall into the living area to meet up with the others. Liazo was on the sofa across from Masami, and he rested his feet up on the coffee table lazily. Masami shifted herself closer to Rainbow Dash on the other side of the couch and put her arm around her shoulder; pressing her voluminous chest up against her arm, and letting her cleavage show through her blouse. Rainbow Dash took a glance at her chest for a moment before flushing red. Spike was in stitches in his loveseat when he saw the look on Rainbow Dash's face.

"Shut up, Spike!" Rainbow Dash was angry and confused at the same time; stomping over to Liazo and sitting down with her arms crossed.

"Ahem. Sorry to interrupt whatever juvenile activities you were doing, but we have work to do!" Evelyn scoffed as she took a drink from her coffee and walked past Masami to the next room; demanding that the others follow.

Masami followed up with a firm slap to Evelyn's rear as she passed by; causing her to jump up and yell. Evelyn shot her the stink eye soon after and exited the room with her head held high.

"Well, let's follow Ms. Sunshine then..." Masami hopped up and followed Evelyn, with Edgar following not far behind.

"Where are we going?" Spike asked as he stood up.

"Command center," Edgar answered him as he gestured over to Rainbow Dash and Liazo. "We'll meet the others there."

"I'll get there, I'll get there." Liazo insisted as he played with his knife a few times.

Spike and Edgar left the room; leaving Liazo and Rainbow Dash alone together. She was still blushing from Masami's mockery, and there was a furious look on her face. Liazo put his hand on her shoulder slowly and tried to reassure the confused mare.

"Don't worry, she does that with every mare." Liazo lazily comforted Rainbow Dash. "Lucky for you, you happen to be her type. She loves the competitive, arrogant types."

"I'm not arrogant!" Rainbow Dash whined.

"Whatever. All I'm saying is that she thinks you're attractive, so she's gonna tease you is all." Liazo groaned as he stood up and walked into the next room; following the others to the command center.

"She thinks... I'm attractive?" Rainbow Dash blushed again as she tried comprehending the idea of it.

Rainbow Dash shook her head as she thought about it. Why would a mare like her? Why did Masami make her feel so warm and fuzzy? Rainbow Dash never thought about it before, nor had she noticed it, but the thought of Masami excited her, and it scared her. From a young age, she was told that ideas like that could get you locked up in Equestria, and the mere thought of Masami began to drive her crazy. She wasn't one of those mares, she couldn't be.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and ran after Liazo. She followed him to the other side of the mansion where Edgar, Evelyn, and Spike were waiting. They were standing on a large circular platform that had steel side rails and warning flashers on either side; suggesting what the contraption was able to move. As soon as Rainbow Dash stepped on, the whole structure began to lift into the air. They ascended beyond three stories and stopped at a dome-like glass structure at the top. It was massive- the platform was wide itself, but the observatory-like room was massive.

The room was filled with space-age gadgets and gizmos, monitors, a round island in the middle with a crater in the center. Everything in the room clanked and buzzed, and Spike was astonished. He walked to the center of the command center with the other but was surprised to see that Twilight wasn't with Draven and Charles, usually she would be awake before anyone else.

"Where's Twilight?" Spike asked Charles, who was sitting on a metal chair next to Draven drinking a cup of tea.

"I do not know, but I'm sure she'll be up any minute." Charles tried reassuring Spike. "Come to think of it, Winslow is absent as well. Fluttershy, have you any explanation?"

Fluttershy shook her head in response. "No, he told me to go ahead and meet up with you all. I don't know where he is."

"Regardless, we must commence the briefing," Charles insisted as he took one last sip of his tea before placing it on a nearby butler's tray, "Masami, this is your plan, you should run through it."

"Thanks, Chuck. Alright, activate command center console." Masami requested as she tapped the middle console with the crater in the center.

"Simulation, activated." The console beeped.

A huge projection shot out of the console like magic, and Spike was amazed when he saw a miniature version of Eisen. It was to scale, and displayed detailed models of streets, buildings, and other various landmarks.

"These cultists want to send a message, so it's no surprise they'll want to attack public events. Okay, so in... two hours The Liberty Day Parade is going to start." Masami stated as she looked down at her watch. "There's also a big farmer's market in the lower east side. We'll all teleport to Riker's Station... here."

Masami waved her hands across the hologram to zoom in on the station. She tapped on it and placed eleven red markers, each representing one member of the group.

"Alright, once we get to Riker's Station we split up in pairs. Spike, I want you and Butch to get to Liberty Square, you'll set up shop there- there're a lot of ponies attending the parade, so you better stay sharp, look for suspicious folks. Draven, you stay with me- we'll keep tabs on everypony's location from Riker Street. Rainbow Dash, go with Liazo- you two will be our scouts, report any suspicious activity to Evelyn and me." Masami reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of gadgets small enough to fit in an ear. "Almost forgot these. Everyone put these in your ear and molar, all you have to do is speak, and we'll answer."

"What about the market?" Draven asked as he placed the microphone in his ear-hole.

"Gin and Evelyn, go to the market, see if there's some shady stuff going on. Winslow and Twi-. Where are those two?" Masami wondered.

"Here," Twilight replied softly as the levitating platform brought her and Winslow up to the command center.

"Good. I want you, Winslow, and Edgar to join up with Gin and Evelyn, you'll cover more ground that way. Make sure Edgar stays out of sight, he might draw attention. If these cultists are smart, they'll go for him first." Masami ordered Twilight.

Spike noticed Twilight's gloomy expression and moved over to her; giving her a slight nudge to rouse her from her slump. "Are you okay Twilight?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. Let's just get this done, okay?" Twilight replied sharply; silencing Spike.

"Um, I'm sorry to bother you all, but what can I do?" Fluttershy chimed in quietly.

"You can stay here and watch my kids with Eleanor and I!" Charles proposed before Masami had a chance to answer.

"Okay..." Fluttershy whimpered with a disappointed expression.

"Alright then, now that we're all informed, I want you all to get dressed in... less noticeable clothing." Masami sugar-coated her words as she looked at the pirate's strange clothing and jackets.

"What's wrong with this?" Gin protested as she looked down at her getup.

"You all look like pirates, something like that is gonna stand-out." Masami critiqued the pirate's wardrobes.

"She has a point I guess," Draven sighed, "but I'm keeping my hat, damn it!"

"Alright, fine! Everyone meet me back here in five, Me and Eve are gonna get the teleporter up and running." Masami shooed everyone onto the hovering platform, back downstairs.

"Do you think this'll work?" Charles asked Masami, who began playing around with a nearby computer.

"It better work."

Author's Notes:

As always, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!