As the warm light of the sun began to creep over the horizon, the landscape before it began to light up. Fields, hills and woodlands were all revealed as morning finally dawned, with the sound of birdsong filling the air. Although undoubtedly a pleasant sight to behold, it was soon interrupted by the arrival of an unnatural light. On the edges of a small collection of trees, Twilight Sparkle stood vigilant. She glared at the object that now hovered in front of her; a plundervine seed. Encased in a spell of her own making, it began to glow fiercely, like all other seeds before it. Closing her eyes, she began to concentrate on her magic, and within moments, the seed was consumed by powerful destructive magic. Soon afterwards, its surface began to crack, leading to the usual disintegration that had befallen every single seed she had encountered thus far. When the smoke of the spell finally cleared, she opened her eyes, seeing nothing but mere wisps where her spell had been cast. Seeing this, she let out a sigh. Okay then...where is the next one? Turning, she looked upon her saddle-bags, which had been propped up by a nearby tree, and walked towards it. After rummaging around in it for a while, she pulled out what she was looking for. Another seed, but this one whole and possessing a strange sheen to it.

Looking upon the thing, Twilight's eyes narrowed. Tell me, seed. Where to now? She caused her horn to light up, ready to activate the locator spell she'd used before. But, as time went on, a look of confusion crossed her face as she found, to her surprise, that it was not working. The seed merely laid there, without glow, in spite of how many times she attempted her spell. However, in time, her eyes began to widen. Could it...could it be? Is this it? The last of them? Just to make sure, she cast her spell a few more times, and each time, the seed remained inert. A look of sheer elation and excitement crossed her face with that, with her starting to breathe a deep sigh of relief. Oh Faust! How long have I been at this? Two weeks? Three? I lost count at this point. But, her expression soon turned to one of scorn as she looked upon the unmoving seed before her. You served me well in finding your siblings...but now it's time for you to join them. And so, like every seed she'd encountered, Twilight concentrated, encasing the lone seed before her in a bubble of her own magic. Soon afterwards, she used her great power to concentrate her magic within, burning away the seed until, eventually, nothing remained of it. When her magic dissipated, she began to smile, perhaps for the first time in a good long while. And so ends the plundervines.

But, that smile was short-lived as she began to turn, looking upon the landscape below. Off in the distance, starting to glisten in the morning sun, was a town. Although looking like any other Equestrian settlement, Twilight nevertheless looked upon it with concern. Good thing my search ended here, of all places. Because there it is. That's where I'll find it. Frowning, she lit up her horn, causing her saddle-bags to levitate, after which she carefully placed them upon her back. Taking a deep breath, Twilight began to trot off in the direction of the town, with a look of determination upon her face the entire time. Minute after minute, and hour after hour, she stayed her course, watching the town grow larger as she drew closer. In time, she finally reached the place, and began to look around. There were shops, stalls, homes, and of course, ponies, all of whom were smiling to each other and clearly happy just going about their daily business. Twilight looked on at each of them, thinking hard about what it was she was about to do. Look at them. They have no idea what lies here. Looking straight ahead, she caught sight of an entrance to a back-alley, and narrowed her eyes slightly before walking right down it.

It took a few minutes, but that little detour brought her exactly where she needed to be; a small and unassuming shop, hidden in shadows when compared to the rest of the town. Raising a hoof, Twilight pushed the door open, and walked inside. As expected, she was the only pony in here, but that was of little concern to her. For as she walked further in, she looked around at the wares on display on all the shelves around her. Old books. Skulls. Strange concoctions stored in jars. One looked upon this place and the impression they got was clear; this was a place of dark and dangerous magics. Twilight, by contrast, couldn't help but scoff at the sight of most of this. Let's see...plastic skulls...some out-of-date jello in jars...and...yep, a stuffed bird sitting by a candle. Typical pushers of fake magic stuff. No wonder he keeps his shop away from the main streets. Any real magic students would take one look at all this and call him a phoney. However, that smile vanished utterly when she turned and looked upon the shelf behind the desk. There, lying still, was the one thing in this entire place that gave Twilight pause. Forged from dark iron and bearing a bright crimson jewel at its centre, it was a necklace shaped in the image of an alicorn. Twilight felt a shiver go down her spine as she began to approach the item, but was stopped from going any further by the arrival of the store's owner; an older stallion dressed in eastern garb.

"Welcome! It's so rare to actually get a customer these days! Tell me, can I interest you in anything, Miss?"

Twilight kept her eyes on the amulet behind him, opening her mouth to speak.

"Well, I..."

But, she was interrupted when she shopkeeper spoke up, holding a jar of strange-looking liquid before her.

"Perhaps I could interest you in this cure-all fluid from beyond the borders of Griffonstone?"

Twilight shook her head at that.

"Er, no, I'm actually..."

"Then how about this tome of ancient cooking spells, written by the fabled Buzo the Gluttonous?" the stallion urged.

The young unicorn began to narrow her eyes a little.

"No, thank you. I'm actually..."

"How about this ancient stick of...er...stickiness!"

"NO!!!"

Twilight's words had been harsher than intended, and the shopkeeper took a few steps backwards, watching her with some concern. Realising how aggressive she must have appeared, Twilight quickly composed herself, clearing her throat before putting on a small smile and speaking in a calm tone.

"Thank you for your suggestions, but I’m actually more interested in that."

She raised a hoof, pointing straight at the amulet behind the counter. Seeing this, the stallion smiled, no doubt smelling a sale in the making.

"Ah! I see you have an eye for quality. That there is the fabled alicorn amulet! A magical artefact from before recorded Equestrian history, the amulet is said to bestow great power on those who wear it, though I doubt anypony truly knows the extent of that claim."

Twilight frowned as she looked upon the ancient artefact. Oh, believe me, I know all about what it can do. But, she quickly put on a smile once more as the stallion turned to her.

"I'll take it. How much?"

To Twilight's surprise, the stallion's smile faded somewhat, and he stood beside the amulet, looking more than a little incredulous.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but I doubt anypony such as yourself could possibly afford..."

But he was stopped form speaking any further when Twilight's horn lit up. From out of her saddle-bags, a single brown sack was levitated out, before being unceremoniously dumped onto the counter, as it fell, a stream of bright gold coins flowed from within. As expected from a merchant, this caused the stallion’s eyes to practically leap out of his skull. Now transfixed at the display of wealth before him, he began to almost salivate at the mouth, muttering a little before finally getting out a coherent sentence.

"Um...on second thoughts, perhaps you can afford it."

Twilight smirked at the sight of him like that. Always good to know that dragon's hoard comes in handy from time to time. So, Twilight watched as the stallion hopped up onto a nearby chair, propping himself up as her reached up for the amulet. After carefully bringing it down, he placed it upon the counter, after which he began to wrap it up in a small nearby bag. After having tied it closed, he held the bag up, offering it to Twilight, who took it by way of her magic. With the bag now hovering in front of her, Twilight gave an appreciative smile to the stallion, who now busied himself with staring at that small pile of gold in front of him, before making her way out of the shop. Once outside, Twilight's smile was wiped from her face as she glared angrily at the bag. She looked left and right, making sure that nopony was around to see her, before making her way further into the alleyway. She walked for some time until she finally came upon a dead end, safe from the gaze of anypony nearby. Sighing, Twilight used her magic to cause the bag to twist upside down, and soon enough, the amulet fell out, making a brief clanging noise as it collided with the ground. Looking down upon the amulet, Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"Trixie is my friend. I trust her. The way she is now, I know she would never resort to using you. But even so...she's not the only pony who could. Anypony who wears you becomes corrupted. They become twisted versions of what they should be. You're a blemish on Equestria. A stain of dark magic. And like all such evil power..."

She raised a hoof, eying the amulet menacingly.

"...I will stomp it out."

With an almighty stamp of her hoof, Twilight struck the amulet, immediately cracking the red amulet at its centre and shattering it. After having taken her hoof off, Twilight watched as wisps of red-coloured magic began to rise from the ruined gem, after which they simply faded away, like steam. There goes its power. She sighed a little, but it was short-lived, for she now looked once more upon the fragments of the gem, along with the iron container around it, which had been horribly bent out-of-shape thanks to her assault. Then again...can't be too careful. Lighting her horn up again, she began to levitate one of the fragments up to her, at which point she closed her eyes. Much like with the plundervines, strong magic was being condensed onto that spot, disintegrating the gem fragment within moments. With the deed done, Twilight looked upon the tiny wisp of smoke that remained of it, smiling slightly. I have to make sure nothing remains of this amulet. Not...one...piece. She looked down, gazing at the ruined form of the amulet, before looking up, right at the sky.

"When this is done...only one thing remains before I go home."

Her expression changed, becoming harsh and steely.

"A little visit...to Tartarus."