Another sunrise came to greet the new day, but this time, that morning light found Twilight with neither nervousness nor excitement. Instead, the girl looked on at what lay before her with what could only be described as disappointment. Disappointment in herself, in how little she'd done, and, more importantly, how little she'd done to prevent this. The Corner Ale, the tavern she and Spike had been staying in, the home of their host, Pinkie Pie, was now gone. The fire that had begun the previous night had raged for hours, and while Twilight, Spike and Pinkie had done all they could, in the end, it was a lost fight. Now, the fire had done it's work, and the old tavern was nothing more than a pile of ash, broken timber and scorched stones. As one would expect under the circumstances, the mood was far from comfortable or pleasant.

Twilight and Spike stood beside this scene of devastation in silence, never straying from where they stood. As for Pinkie, she stared at what had once been her home, now gone. She took slow step after slow step towards the ruined pile before her, and while heat still radiated from it, it was clear that this did not phase her. Dropping to her knees, she reached forward, scooping up some of the ash and dust, before allowing it to fall through her fingers, the wind gently carrying it off to parts unknown. Twilight could feel nothing but guilt over what had happened, and while Spike looked to her with a comforting expression, it did little to make her feel better. In the end, she walked towards her host, with her voice nervous and wobbling, saying the only thing she could think to say in the wake of such destruction.

"Pinkie, I...I'm so sorry!"

The older woman said nothing, remaining on her knees and staring out at what had once been her home. In the silence, Twilight hesitated, but only for a moment, before then speaking up once more.

"I...I don't know what to say! I don't know what I can possibly do to make up for this! I just..."

But, this time, she was halted, as the kneeling woman finally spoke up.

"Stop."

Her voice, while sudden and unexpected, nevertheless seemed to be devoid of the anger or bitterness that Twilight had been expecting of her. Instead, after pausing for a few moments, and while continuing to stare at the ash on the ground, Pinkie began to continue.

"Those men...the ones from last night...why were they here?"

Twilight shook her head.

"I...I don't know! I just know they were after me."

Another silence followed, and Twilight turned to Spike, who promptly shrugged his shoulders, making it clear that he knew even less about all this than she did. Then, to Twilight's surprise, Pinkie let out a deep sigh, before then starting to get up off the floor. Twilight took a step back, flinching somewhat. No doubt, she was expecting some tirade, from Pinkie, blaming her for what happened here. But, to the shock of both youths, when the girl turned, she looked neither angry nor disappointed, but rather bore that same smile she had worn when they first met.

"Well then...I guess our first order of business is figuring out why those gentlemen wanted to kidnap a young girl and set fire to my home."

Needless to say, Twilight had not been expecting this reaction from her, and when she saw that smile, she once more felt that feeling the first time she'd met this woman. The feeling she couldn't quite understand. But, she said nothing, watching as Pinkie took a step closer to her, waggling her finger before her.

"And you, Miss Twilight, have been keeping secrets, haven't you?"

Twilight, understandably, started to look a little nervous at this, but again, she was unable to say anything, as Pinkie then continued further.

"People like that don't just go around doing stuff like this for no reason. They wanted you for something. So...what is it?"

Here, Twilight froze. She'd had an inkling as to what this was all about, why she had been the target of those men. But, given the importance of what was expected of her, she was, understandably, loathe to part with such information, especially to someone she'd only met the previous day. But, as a cold wind blew through the scene, and she turned, looking upon the ruins of that place, the ruins of a woman who had taken her in, she was once more overwhelmed with feelings of guilt. She turned to Spike, who looked on, waiting to see what she would do, before looking back to Pinkie. The older woman bore an expectant and even somewhat impatient look to her, and, after a while of thinking hard on the matter, Twilight let out a sigh.

"Spike and I...we're...we're on a mission. An important mission. Given to us by...by...Queen Celestia."

Again, a silence fell, and slowly, Twilight looked up from the ground to Pinkie. The former tavern-owner was, as one would expect, rather taken aback by such information, as she stood there, frozen in place. At first, it looked as if she had been expecting this to be some kind of joke. Perhaps Twilight, for whatever reason, had decided to just make something up to throw her off? But, as the silence persisted, and she looked from one youth to the other, and the seriousness upon their faces, she started to gain a look of realisation. Gone was her smile, at least a little, and she looked away from them. Twilight watched her with nervousness, seeing her wrestle with this new information, before seeing her turn once more to look her in the eye.

"Well, Miss Sparkle...you've gotten yourself in a real pickle, haven't you?"

Nervously, Twilight poked the ends of her fingers together, giving a nod to give her agreement to Pinkie. As for the other woman, she regained her smile in earnest, giving Twilight an unexpected slap on her shoulder before throwing back her head and letting out an almighty chuckle.

"Well, that settles it. I'm coming with you!"

To that, Twilight and Spike looked to her with shock, as the former stuttered a response.

"You...you...you are?"

A brief giggle escaped Pinkie as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Of course, silly! I'm not gonna let you go off all alone on a super-important mission for the Queen without a little help! Besides..."

Slowly, she turned to the ruins of her home.

"...if I go with you, chances are I'll come across those three guys from last night. And then..."

Just for a moment, her smile faltered.

"...I can have a nice little chat with them about what they did to my home."

Needless to say, neither of the youths felt particularly comfortable about that last part, but, after glancing to one another, they realised that it was going to be nigh on impossible to dissuade this woman from her course. So, after taking a few moments to let out another sigh, as well as to just rub her temples for a bit, Twilight gave a nod to Pinkie, silently granting permission for this, even though she knew full well that the woman would have come along regardless. Pinkie, for her part, responded to this with an even wider smile than before.

"Great! So...what do we do first?"

Twilight, at that question, seemed stumped, but only for a moment, as it was now Spike's turn to add his voice to the proceedings.

"Well...given the confusion from last night, it's not gonna be easy to find out where those guys went. But..."

A look of thoughtfulness crossed his face before he carried on.

"If we're lucky...we might at least get a feel for where they came from. And if we find that...then we might have a better idea what's going on."

To this, Twilight gave a nod.

"Yeah, but...did anyone actually see which direction they walked here from?"

Both Spike and Pinkie shrugged their shoulders to that, and for a moment, it seemed as if that particular line of questioning was at an end before it had begun. But, before any of them could say anything else, they were interrupted by the sound of rustling nearby. All together, they turned, looking upon a nearby large bush, with it's branches and leaves jostling about furiously. For a brief second, they worried that the men might have returned, but, to the relief of everyone there, it turned out to be someone else entirely. A man, whom Twilight recognised as being the drunk from her first few moments at the tavern, stumbled out of the bush, apparently having slept there all night. As he got up, he gave a wide smile, speaking in a groggy and still clearly drunken fashion.

"I can help you, Mommy!"

On and on they ran, never stopping, even though their lungs demanded that they do so. The arrival of the dawn gave them, at long last, reason to stop, as the night's end made it clear that they had travelled far enough. The three men, exhausted and disappointed from their night's activities were looking even more worse-for-wear than usual, with the smallest of them turning around to see where they had just come from. Sure enough, he could still see a large column of smoke rising from the far horizon, much to his worry.

"This is crazy! We was just supposed to get the girl and get back! Now all this mess has come up on us!"

To that, the middle man looked to him with a scornful look.

"Quit yer complainin! We've done far worse than burn a tavern in the past, remember?"

A look of discomfort crossed the smaller man's face, and, for the time being at least, he stopped. As for the larger of the three, once he had stopped panting, he scratched his head, looking to his leader.

"So...what do we do now?"

Hearing that, the leader of the men shrugged his shoulders.

"How should I know? We can't get the girl, not with that crazy fire-kid with her. And we can't go back. If we do, that thing back there will just...just..."

"Just...what?"

Immediately, all three of them froze. It was as if they were statues, held in place by sheer overwhelming fear. The arrival of that all-too familiar voice was, naturally, a concern for all of them, as their eyes darted about all over the place to try and find it's source. But, unlike that old and crumbling castle, they found no darkness, no shadow or smoke that it could have come from. It was, to their horror, simply here.

"H...hello?" the middle man asked.

Barely a second had gone by before the response came.

"Yes...I can hear you, fool. And I am...less than happy as to your performance."

The three men began to visibly shake with that, now fearing for their very lives. And yet, before they even had a chance to plead their case, the voice returned.

"But...you needn't worry. I realise now that my request of you was...ill-conceived."

Confusion crossed the face of the leader.

"Um...pardon?"

"My thoughts were newly-woken...erratic. I was, for lack of a better word...not myself. I no longer wish for you to capture the girl."

A sigh of relief as big as anything escaped the three men after hearing that, and for a while, they actually felt some measure of joy, knowing that their failure was probably not going to result in some terrible punishment. In fact, so good were they feeling that, after a moment, they gave each other a silent glance, before starting to slowly inch backwards, even though they had no idea where this voice was right now.

"Well then, er, Sir, if you don't mind, I think my brothers and I will just be..."

"No."

The return of the voice halted them instantly, and together, they let out a loud gulping sound, making it very clear just how nervous they were. But, as before, they said nothing. Instead, they kept their mouths shut as the voice continued.

"I still have plans for the girl...and others like her. But for now...I will be taking less...direct means. Plans must be made...and others consulted."

A few seconds of silence passed before this unseen force addressed them again.

"And as for you three...I still have need of...grunts."

Though taking a moment to feel somewhat insulted by such a word, the three nevertheless were unable to say anything, as that voice once more interrupted them.

"In fact...just to make sure you do not fail me again...it might be time for me to take matters into my own hands. And for that...you may yet aid me."

Confusion returned to their faces, and they looked to one another, hoping beyond hope that one of them knew what was going on. But, none of them had any chance to say or do anything, as then, to their immediate horror, they witnessed something that they knew they would remember for the rest of their days, whether they wanted to or not. They saw, all around them, that things had suddenly turned a lot darker, and it did not take them long to realise why. The shadows of the castle were here, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They encircled them, causing them to shake with terror. Then, after a while, the shadows lunged forward, targeting not the group, but rather, just the largest of their number.

The two smaller men watched in fear, as their largest sibling was struck by the smoke-like shadows. He was gripped in them tighter than a fist, and as he struggled, yet further bad news came to him. The darkness pressed forward, forcing it's way into his eyes, his nostrils, his mouth, everywhere it could gain entry. The result was inevitable, as the man let out the sounds of a victim of drowning. He twitched and writhed and convulsed, gasping for air, all while the others could do nothing but stand by and watch. The darkness continued to seep in, going on and on until, at long last, it stopped. The darkness was in him entirely now, and he collapsed to the ground, unmoving. Cautiously, the leader of the men looked on, taking a single step forward.

"F...Fido?"

Then, after a long wait, the man on the ground finally moved, forcing himself up. The other two took a step backwards, and when their cohort looked to them, they saw, to their shock, that his eyes were now as black as night. And when he opened his mouth, what came out was that same, terrible tone they had so come to fear.

"It is time...to get to work."