Twilight struggled to lift herself from the hard ground in her prison cell; her feet nearly giving out as she stood. She weakly trudged to the metal door and spied through the crevice cut into the middle for both prisoners and guards to see in. Unfortunately, there was little chance for her to escape, as most of the changeling guards were armed with flintlocks and sabers. She only hoped that the letter she sent to Spike would reach him in time. Most of all, though... she hoped that Spike was alive to even read the message she sent him. The changeling guards had missed an enchanted notepad on Twilight's body when they searched her, fortunately.

She was hungry, and to top that off her arm had been broken in her fight with Constantine. She didn't notice it, though, and only realized this when she had attempted to stand up the first time when she woke up. She thought to herself that most likely it had been injured when her magical shield was destroyed in battle; the force of the blast knocked her senseless and the adrenaline must have dulled the pain before she passed out. It was only a few moments later when she realized that a small collar clamped firmly on her neck. Based on the situation she knew it was an anti-magic

The door suddenly slammed open, and two guards menacingly approached Twilight; grabbing her by the shoulders and causing her tremendous pain.

"Ah! Nggh!" Twilight wailed in agony.

The guards dragged Twilight up the stairs and through a larger corridor leading to a door; tossing her inside and locking the door behind them as they did so.

"What is this? Why do you treat this poor mare with such hostility?" Constantine said with a sympathetic tone of voice. "She is my guest! I suggest you treat her with the same respect you treat me with. Oh, and take that collar off will you? It's sullying the atmosphere of the room."

The guard beside Twilight loosened and snapped-off the collar as she surveyed the room closely. It was, in fact, quite lovely. It was decorated with the finest furnishings, and colors of red and royal gold gave the room the utmost opulence. Constantine had a collection of alcohol that lined the shelves adjacent from the chair in which he resided, and most were vintage; around forty to fifty years of age. Twilight watched as Constantine stood up to gather two wine glasses and then pour into each about half-full with a very old bottle of wine.

"I've been saving this one you know. I only bring it out on special occasions, and you my dear, are what I consider a special occasion." Constantine charmingly stated. "It is not every day one can become properly acquainted with an alicorn princess."

Twilight seemed thrown off by Constantine's mysterious hospitality. "Why did you-."

"Take the collar off?" Constantine interjected. "You're an intellectual one. You should have come to realize by now that I outmatch you in both magical and physical capabilities based on the outcome of our last skirmish."

Twilight stood still for a moment and reflected on the last battle. She knew she was in no shape to fight then, and she certainly was in no shape to fight now. There was no other option but to accept Constantine's hospitality for the moment. As her arm ached in pain she could clearly see that Constantine showed signs of minor concern. Although based on his almost sociopathic personality, she couldn't truly notice any signs of feigned sympathy.

"Oh dear, well that must certainly hurt. Allow me." With a snap of his finger's; Constantine's guards fastened a sling around Twilight faster than she could protest.

"Why do this? The presentation, the suddenly humble attitude, and the wine?" Twilight felt almost mocked by Constantine's abrupt change in personality.

"Twilight, I believe we've gotten off on the wrong foot. You see, I believe we both come from the same background." Constantine insinuated."We come from pleasant families, and we both strive to learn; to grow and develop into something more."

"Is that so?" Twilight sarcastically replied.

"Why yes. Look at you; so hungry for knowledge and enlightenment. Why, becoming an alicorn at your age and earning Celestia's respect is unheard of!" He began to wear down Twilight as he continued. "We both, at our core, lust for knowledge."

"We are not alike!" Twilight said in outrage. "You are sadistic and cold!"

"Do you know what King Sombra had said long ago? He had said 'Knowledge can corrupt oneself and others like an infection, but like a cure it can wipe away our doubts and fears' ." Constantine chuckled lightly at the sentiment. "He was a fool, but a learned fool nonetheless."

"What are you getting at?" Twilight became annoyed by Constantine's evasiveness towards her words.

"You crave knowledge like me Twilight Sparkle, but that is where our similarities end. I crave knowledge because I seek power. You crave knowledge because you are afraid of something." Constantine sneered at the sight of Twilight's look of distress and leaned into her ear to speak once again. "Yes. You are afraid of others not accepting you, that is why you strive for knowledge. You fear being mocked, isolated, and shamed. And most of all, you fear what you cannot fathom!"

Twilight shook in fear as she swallowed his words reluctantly. She could not believe the halfling's words in her ear. She tried to reply, to speak, but words had failed her.

"Oh, and your little dragon friend... Spike, was it? He's on his way to rescue you right now." Constantine stated.

"W-What?" Twilight stuttered in disbelief.

"Do you take me for a fool? You don't think that magic notepad was simply missed was it? Of course not! It was I that instructed the guards to leave it on you. It was the only way to reel your little reptile in!" Constantine snickered in pleasure as Twilight became utterly afraid at the realization that it would be her that caused Spike's demise.

Constantine snatched the notepad using his magic and ushered the guards to take Twilight away to her cell. The guards threw her inside and spat on the flood as they left her behind. Twilight collapsed onto the ground and wept as she lay on the hard ground of her prison. She was completely defeated.

****

Draven and his crew were full speed ahead towards the coastal embassy. The rough sea split from the immense force of the vessel, and a strong tailwind accelerated their advance.

"Are you positive this is the place?" Draven asked; slightly shaky at the sight of the approaching fortress.

"Yes, Twilight knows what she's talking about. This has to be it." Spike uttered in determination.

"Very well. To arms men! To arms!" Draven rallied the crew around him. "This'll be one hell of a battle mates! I'm not sure what'll happen, but we have to get in and get out. Spike and Winslow will take care of infantry while we hold them at bay with cannon-fire! "

"Aye, captain!" The anxious crew members hollered.

"Spike. I don't want you or anyone else dying on me." Draven informed Spike. "If I think you're in trouble, I'm going in after you. We clear?"

With a nod of agreement, Spike turned away and faced Winslow.

"Are you ready fire-dragon?" Winslow asked; his eyes burning with a surprising eagerness. "We'll have an open window to enter the embassy through the outer wall once we get close enough, but we will need you to get us both inside."

"Wait, what?!" Spike was flabbergasted by the statement.

"Like I said before, boy, you're a dragon!" Draven patted Spike on the back. "You're stronger than you think! You've got to jump over that wall with Winslow on your back."

"He probably weighs three hundred and fifty pounds with that armor on!" Spike gawked at Draven.

"Draven! We're approaching the outer wall!" Coba shouted out as he peered through his telescope.

"No time to talk Spike. Just move." Draven said; his usual jolly tone of voice morphing into a more serious one.

"Are you sure you're up for this Spike?" Fluttershy interjected.

"It's most likely my fault she is in there." Spike uttered in guilt. "I have to go."

"Then let's go." Winslow fastened his longsword to his back as he approached Spike.

With a nervous grin, Spike felt Winslow's steel-clad arms hold tightly around his shoulders. He could already feel the tremendous weight of the armored-stallion begin to press on his back. Winslow was much taller than him, and at first Spike doubted he could even get an inch off the ground. Suddenly though, he felt the pressure diminish as he focused. His breathing slowed to a steady rate as the outer wall began to inch closer to the boat.

"On the count of three!" Winslow yelled. "One! Two! Three!"

Spike launched himself sky-high along with Winslow; the speed of the jump causing the air to make a loud gust around them. The stone wall's massive height was surpassed in mere seconds, but sooner than expected he and Winslow began to fall back to earth. He landed hard on the solid stone wall; feeling a jolt of pain as he and Winslow hit the sturdy brick of the massive barricade. They recovered, though and got up as soon as they went down; Winslow faster than Spike.

"Excellent work. I would've liked it if you had stuck the landing better, though." Winslow joked in his usual hardy attitude.

Winslow aided Spike to his feet as they heard approaching troops, followed by the sound of cannon-fire from the ship.

"Intruders! Intruder-." The approaching changeling guard's speech was cut-short by Winslow's massive blade lobbing his head clean off.

Spike was shocked at the sight of the gruesome act but shook it off once he focused on the task at hand. Winslow prepared his blade to draw more blood as he raised it to more approaching troops.

"Go! I'll hold them off while you get to your friend!" Winslow brought his hand up to his eye and tore away at the patch covering it.

Revealed to Spike and the troops close by, was an eerie sight indeed. Spike paused for a moment as he looked at what was hidden underneath the patch. His left eye was much larger than his right. It had a yellow pupil, a putrid green iris, and where there should have been white in his eye... was instead pitch black. Green veins outstretched from Winslow's eye as it focused on his enemies; hailing his oncoming attack.

His strikes were impossibly fast, and no enemy saber could even touch him in his onslaught. Winslow was almost intangible as he dodged point-blank flintlock-fire, and he moved as if the wind carried him.

"Quit standing there and get moving!" Winslow ordered Spike.

Snapping out of his astonishment, Spike jumped down into the maw of the stone fortress. What few changelings that weren't occupied with Winslow attempted to attack Spike but were incinerated into ashes by the large blast of fire that escaped his mouth and leveled the locked entrance-way ahead; allowing him access inside. Spike was not confronted by any guards along the way through the large hallways of the embassy, as most were being slaughtered by Winslow outside. Spike had no clue where exactly Twilight was, but he knew his best bet was the prison downstairs.

Sure enough after descending the stairs and racing down a couple of corridors he had reached what he believed was a prison based on the numerous metal doors lining the large underground chamber.

"Twilight!" Spike called out in desperation.

"Spike?!" A voice yelled back in response.

Spike rushed towards the source of the reply and stopped after finding the right door. He peered into the door slot to see the familiar purple mare.

"Twilight! Are you okay?" Spike asked Twilight; showing much relief.

"Spike, how did you get here? How did you get past the guards?" Twilight inquired; dumbfounded by the whole situation.

"It's a long story Twilight, and I'd prefer telling you later!" Spike ignited his hands and readied his clenched fists. "Right now, I've got to get you out of here!"

"Since when could you do that?" Twilight was shocked at the sight of Spike's strange ability.

"Stand back," Spike ordered Twilight as his flaming fists knocked down the metal door.

Spike raced to Twilight and brought her back to her feet; swinging her usable arm around his shoulder for support. His attention was then drawn towards the cast around Twilight's arm for a brief moment.

"Where did you get that?" Spike said; somewhat puzzled.

Spike was halted as Twilight stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the stallion that stood before the two. Constantine was leaning against an adjacent wall, sipping his glass of wine as he did so.

"He gave it to me." Twilight muttered in reply; disgusted by the wicked stallion's presence.

"I don't believe we've been properly acquainted young fire-dragon." Constantine sadistically stated, then bowed in respect. "My name is General Verulius Constantine."

"Listen, buddy, skip the intro. What do you want?" Spike impatiently interrupted.

"Very well. I've brought you here so that I may kill you. Is that better?" Constantine sneered in psychopathic pleasure.

Spike let go of Twilight and stood in front of her as a guard. "Are you the one that did this to her?" Spike's heart boiled over with anger.

Constantine chuckled in a mischievous manner, as he took another sip from his wine, almost mocking Spike as he took his time to reply.

"What's so funny?" Spike asked Constantine in strife.

"Oh, nothing. The last time I heard a fire dragon dare speak to me like that was a long time ago." Constantine's eyes glowed a ghostly green as his laughter grew demonic and powerful. "I enjoy killing vermin dragons like you."

"Shut-up!" Spike ran at Constantine and took a blazing swing at him.

"Spike, don't!" Twilight warned Spike.

Spike was caught off guard as Constantine dodged, and immediately retaliated with a swift knee to his chest, winding him momentarily. He recovered quickly and tried to strike once more at his head, but again Constantine evaded and blew him back hard into a wall with a blast of magical force. Spike struggled to get back on his feet from the powerful blast, but drove himself to in determination.

"Weak!" Constantine quickly ran at Spike with his magical saber drawn ready to strike at his neck.

"No!" Twilight screamed.

A sudden blast of lightning knocked Constantine back, and Spike looked across the room to see the source of the bolt.

"Stay away from my crew member, you monster." Draven intensely stared down Constantine.

"You made me spill my wine, Draven," Constantine stated in disappointment as he emerged from a pile of rubble that was once a wall.

Lightning began to burst from Draven's body, creating a barrier of searing electricity that made the ground tremble. His eyes were electrified with power, and his fists crackled with thundering might.

Twilight could not believe her eyes. "A thunder dragon..."

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading!