The air hung still and stagnant in the night sky, and the oppressive summer heat was able to linger like a thick blanket over the town; while on most nights, a breeze would have at least made it feel a bit colder but no—there was no reprieve from the waves of heat that permeated every one of the buildings below.

In one of these buildings—one of the uppermost crystal spires that jutted out from the Castle of Friendship, to be precise—a small purple dragon lay between the sheets of a small bed in a small room all by himself. However, unlike most of the residents of the small town in which he resided, Spike was not asleep. He mumbled and grumbled as his eyes lay wide open and he stared up at the shadowed murk of the ceiling; although the room was small, the ceiling—as it was in the other rooms of the castle—was quite high up there and, in the dark, it was impossible to see it clearly even though silver moonlight poured in through the open window.

A magic-powered fan sitting atop the bedside table was blowing a strong breeze across Spike's body and the sheet he lay beneath fluttered as the artificial wind flitted in between its folds. And yet, even though the fan helped a little bit, Spike could still feel the uncomfortable heat surrounding him in the room and the fan mostly just blew around the hot air that was already there. What's more, he didn't feel tired, not at all. He didn't know how long it had been—he could probably get up and poke his head out the window to check the time from the moon's position in the sky, but that would probably just frustrate him.

Spike sighed. At least he didn't have to do anything important the next day—it was Saturday, after all, and Twilight would likely be away from the castle all morning, having tea with Rarity and Fluttershy or something else like that. Maybe the next day would be cooler and he could take a nap. He knew it wouldn't, but he could hope. Or maybe he could talk to Rainbow Dash, and see if the mare would do him a favour and cool down the weather a little.

But then Spike realised that there was actually someplace colder he could go to sleep—the cellar. He'd actually slept down there before, one time in the winter when Twilight had diplomats from somewhere or other over, and it was pretty darn chilly—even more so than the main part of the castle had been. Resolving to go down there, Spike let out another sigh and threw the sheet off of his scaly form before sliding off the bed and onto his feet. He pressed the little off button on the base of the fan and the blades slowed as he balled up that top sheet and held it under his arm. Without a second thought, Spike walked across the room, opened the door, and left the room.

The tall crystal hallways at night always gave Spike the creeps (though he would never admit this to anypony else), so he kept his eyes trained forward as he speedwalked forward. The dragon was careful to not make too much noise, though; Twilight was asleep in her own room which bordered that hall, so any loud noises would probably wake the mare. And Celestia knew she needed her sleep with how hard she overworked herself.

It was when Spike had reached the large, open lobby room in the centre of the castle that he first heard the little electronic pips coming from somewhere to the right. At first he thought a door was squeaking or something of the like; however, as he drew closer to the door to the throne room, they repeated louder and louder. Raising an eyebrow, Spike turned to the room and turned the crystal doorknob, pushing the door in.

Once he could see inside, it was pretty obvious what was making the noise: a small device on a small table on the far side of the room which lit up red with each electronic pip. Spike jogged across the room and pressed one of the buttons atop the device. There was a crackle.

"Hello?" an unfamiliar masculine voice said, emanating from the speaker grille on the little device. "Is anypony there?"

"Erm, hi," Spike said quietly.

"Hi, this is Doc Zed of the Kindred planet. Who is this?"

"Uhhh... can you please hold for a second? I'm gonna go get Twilight." Spike dropped his sheet next to the device and ran out of the room, claws clinking on the crystalline floor as he went. Twilight would know what to do, Spike was sure of it. She would know how to deal with whoever this was. And, most of all, she would know why the pony on the other end of the line wasn't Scootaloo.