Twilight awoke with a start, Luna's words still ringing in her ears. She sat up suddenly, once more surrounded by darkness. But this, she already knew, was not the darkness of her dreams, but rather the natural darkness of the room she and Spike had taken lodge in. Squinting, she remembered that she had taken her glasses off to sleep, and so started fumbling around, patting the ground around her until, at last, she found what she was looking for. With her glasses once more upon her eyes, she took a few moments to get used to the light levels. It was dark, to be sure, but, there was just enough light coming out of the window from the stars to give her the means to make out basic shapes. Chief among them, of course, was Spike, as he lay on the floor nearby, breathing steadily in a clear sign of deep sleep. For a time, all seemed calm and well.

Then, mere moments later, Twilight's eyes widened, and she remembered well what Luna had said to her in the end. Her head snapped in the direction of the window, and sure enough, she could see a faint orange glow of some sort from something outside. Frowning, she quietly got up, and walked carefully over to see. Thankfully, for the sake of Spike's continued slumber, she had taken her boots off before going to sleep tonight, so her feet made no noise whatsoever as she took step after step towards that window. Eventually, she reached it, and slowly peered outside. And here, she could see that the glow she had seen was that of a fire from a torch. Squinting her eyes once more, she noticed that the torch in question was being held by three shadowy figures walking about out there. Immediately, she turned to her friend.

"Spike!"

Her words were not a shout, and yet, they had enough urgency in them to accomplish their goal, as the young Prince began to stir from his sleep. Groggily, he opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings for a moment before finally turning to his friend.

"Tw...Twilight? What's up? It's still late out."

Gesturing to the window, Twilight's expression was one of determination.

"You need to get up. I think someone's out there. Someone...not good."

Needless to say, Spike seemed a little incredulous to that claim, but, for the time being, he said nothing. Instead, as he slowly got up, he watched as Twilight moved past him and sat down on a nearby chair. As the girl reached over for her boots, ready to slip them on, the Prince walked carefully to the window himself, peering out just as Twilight had done. And when the latter was finally ready, standing from her chair, she looked to the boy, who turned to her with a similar look of concern.

"Who are they?"

To that, Twilight simply shrugged her shoulders, adjusting her glasses slightly before looking to her friend in earnest.

"I don't know, but...I think we should check it out."

Understandably, Spike seemed less than eager to carry out such an idea, but, seeing the look on Twilight's face, it was clear to him that he wasn't going to be able to deter her on this one. So, letting out a sigh, he gave her a nod, and together, the two started to make their way out of their room. They tried moving as quietly as possible, which, as one would expect, was no easy thing when trying to get somewhere quickly. They passed door after door on their way through the tavern, and one of which, they could hear, had a great deal of snoring behind it. Doubtless, this was where Pinkie was sleeping, so they made sure to be especially cautious around that door. After a while, they made it to the ground floor, and headed straight for the front entrance, making sure to keep it closed and secure after they'd left it.

Now, they were out, and they walked along the grass around the walls, struggling to see in the darkness of the night. But, as before, they saw that same orange glow. Whoever it was that was here, they were just around the corner, leading to an understandable bout of nervousness on the part of both youths. They slowed their pace, stopping just short of the corner of the building, and Twilight herself began to peek around. Sure enough, there they were. A trio of men, clad in animal furs, looking somewhat rough around the edges, and, more to the point, bearing looks of stress and frustration upon their faces. The middle man, the second-tallest, was the one carrying the torch, and looked to his cohorts before speaking.

"Anythin?"

The other two shrugged their shoulders, with the largest of them speaking up in response.

"Nothin. I tell ya, this ere's a waste of our time!"

The little one glowered at his taller companion.

"We ain't got no choice! If that...that...thing doesn't get what it wants, then who knows what it'll do to us!"

There was a look of concern shared amongst the three, and all the while, they had no idea that they were being watched. As for Twilight, she listened in with interest, with Spike close behind, never taking his eyes off her. Then, almost inevitably, Twilight pushed her luck one step too far, and placed one hand upon one of the wooden boards of the wall she was hiding behind. Clearly, it was an old board, which, of course, led to a loud creaking sound the moment she touched it. Her eyes widened with shock, as did Spike's, and for good reason, for now, the three men were alerted to their presence. Before Twilight had a chance to duck behind the walk to keep hidden, the one with the torch held it forward, illuminating things just enough so that her face could be seen. All at once, the men looked on with shock.

"You!" the leader called out.

As one would expect under the circumstances, Twilight was terrified of what was happening. Frozen in place, she watched as the three men began charging towards her, and it was only when Spike placed his hand upon her shoulder that she was jarred out of her trance-like state of fear. Snapping her head in his direction, she looked on as he took on a look of determination.

"We have to go! Now!"

And with that, they were off, running as fast as they could, heading straight for the door back into the tavern. But, barely had they run for a few seconds when Twilight, for some reason, was halted entirely. In their charge, one of the men had reached forward and had gotten a hold of the back of her robe, dragging her back. And Spike only noticed this when she let out a loud scream because of it. He spun around, just in time to see the largest of the men get a hold of her, wrapping his huge arms around her forcefully in an attempt to keep her still.

"Quit yer strugglin, girlie! It's gonna be a long trip!"

Twilight, perhaps out of pure instinct, opened her mouth wide and bit down hard into the arm holding her, leading to a howl of pain from the large man.

"ARGH!!! You little...!"

Raising his other hand, he balled it into a fist, leaving no mystery as to what he planned to do to her next. But, before he or any of the other men had a chance to go any further, they were shocked and taken aback by the sudden arrival of a burst of fire, shooting at them. Instinctively, they leapt backwards, just in time to see the flames hit the spot on the ground where they had been standing. As the grass smouldered, they looked up, and there, standing before them, was a very angry-looking Prince. Spike's stance was an aggressive one, and as he held out his hand towards them, the men saw, to their horror, that it was bathed in green fire. As for Spike's face, it was one of rage, as he narrowed his eyes towards them.

"Let...her...go," he spoke menacingly.

The men, understandably, were rather hesitant to proceed with their plan, especially now that they had an angry, fire-wielding teenager on their hands. They looked to one another, unsure of how to progress, before looking down to Twilight, who was continuing to struggle in their grip. As for Spike, he took a single, threatening step forward, much to the concern of the men, and this, it seemed, was just enough to make them choose. Whatever distant worry they had regarding the source of their presence here, they knew that their immediate fears were far more concerning to them right now. So, slowly, they loosened their grip on the girl, and Twilight immediately burst forth from them, running forward to Spike's side. The look of fear on her face was as clear as day, and Spike looked to her with sympathy.

"Are you okay?"

She was shaken, that much was certain, but she nevertheless gave Spike a nod. The boy nodded back, visibly relaxed at seeing his friend free from those men, but, his expression then turned sour as he faced them once more.

"Now then...what are we going to do with you?"

The men took a step backwards, but, before anyone had a chance to do or say anything else, another voice then made itself known.

"What in Tartarus is going on out here?"

Twilight and Spike turned, and saw, as they'd suspected, that the voice belonged to Pinkie. She had apparently come out to see what all the commotion was, and now stood there with an incredulous look on her face, with her hands planted firmly on her hips as she tapped her foot impatiently.

"Well? I'm waiting."

Twilight turned to her in earnest, opening her mouth to give some kind of explanation. However, before she got even her first word out, something happened. The leader of the three men, apparently having seen his chance, took the torch he was carrying and violently threw it forward. It was not aimed at the two youths, or Pinkie for that matter, but rather, to a nearby window. The throw found it's mark, and the torch broke through the panels of glass, tumbling into the ground floor of the building. Pinkie, seeing this, took on a look of shock, as did Twilight and Spike, when they too realised what had happened. The effect was immediate, as the fire within soon caught on the nearby wooden furniture, setting it alight. In the confusion, and in the darkness that they now had around them, the leader of the men turned to his cohorts.

"Run for it!"

And with that, they were off, and it was too late before the other three actually noticed they were gone. Now, however, they had more immediate concerns, as the fire within the tavern began to grow and rage uncontrollably. Pinkie, understandably, looked on in horror, rushing to fetch a nearby pail of water, no doubt with the intention of putting it out. Twilight and Spike watched, seeing the older woman burst back into her building, with smoke billowing out of the door behind her as she entered, and for a time, the two were dumbfounded by everything that was happening. But, as before, they shook themselves out of it, looking to each other with a nod before rushing forward, Twilight calling out to her host.

"Pinkie! We're coming!"