Walking inside the castle, the dragon and griffin guards saluted the Shadows as the passed by. Yona helped Little Strongheart drag a tortured Pinkie Pie with her when they entered the throne room. The creature and Tirek waited for them inside.

“Your Highness…” Gallus said before kneeling along with the Shadows.

“Do you have her?” Tirek asked, looking directly at them.

Yona threw Pinkie on the ground to the creature’s feet.

“I knew I was right to send you six after this thing. The corruption on her friend was the perfect cover, after all.” the creature said, glee with mania.

The creature got off its throne and grabbed Pinkie’s face. It proceeded to start running its claws through her skin, drilling them deep into her skull, poking her brain in the process. Pinkie screamed in agony as the creature drove them deeper inside. After several minutes of penetrating her skull with its claws, it stopped and threw her to the ground. At first glance, she was dead. But seconds later, her wounds started to heal, surprising the others in the throne room. It ecstatically said,

“I was right! The suit does make you immortal! If I learn to hone and apply this magic, our soldiers will be unstoppable!!!! But how did you get this?”

Pinkie remained tight-lipped about the the creature’s questions. Seeing this, the creature growled and stuck her against the walls through her stomach. Pushing forward into her pancreas, he said,

“Perhaps I wasn’t making myself clear on my question. How did you get this power?”

Coughing up blood but remaining silent, Pinkie refused to answer the creature’s question by defiantly turning her head away from it. Seeing this, the creature decided to forward its claws into her chestplate. Pinkie screamed as the creature drove its claws deeper into her heart.

“ANSWER!!!” the creature commanded.

Even as she still suffered at the hands of the creature, Pinkie kept quiet about the secrets behind the suit she was wearing. Disgusted, it threw her to the ground before trying to think about what to do next. Just then, Pinkie said,

“Why…?”

The creature, along with the others, turned in surprise upon hearing her speak.

“Why are you doing all this? We never did anything to upset you. But you decide to spread this ugliness all over Equestria. What did we do to deserve all this?” Pinkie said in a sorrowful tone.

“Because you deserved what was coming to you. I knew somebody who was close to you. He was a special friend to you. The same one that you and those pathetic pony friends of yours expelled from before I blessed these wretched lands with my… influence.”

“What…?” Pinkie asked in a confused manner.

“He was a good boy. A rare case that your kind threw away the moment you cast him out.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! And even if I knew who he was, what makes you think I would throw my friendship away over anything as silly as a small mistake?”

“I wonder the same thing myself. But it doesn’t matter now. After I unlock the secrets behind this suit, I will use this power of yours to undo the Crystal Empire of its power. When I destroy the barriers and I made my way to the center of your edifice… I will make everypony that you love suffer.” It looked at its claws, noticing their slow disintegration and he asked, “I have but one question… why are my subjects starting to… disintegrate?”

“Sire-”

“Take her to the dungeon! None of you are to touch her until I figure out how she was able to integrate this suit…”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The Shadows heeded.

The Shadows proceeded to drag Pinkie to her cell. But before they left, she said,

“I have no idea who you think you are… but when Twilight gets here… you’re gonna regret… the day… you were born.”

Amused by Pinkie’s boast, the creature said,

“We’ll see about that. Take her away!”

On that note, the creature walked away with its mind still lingering on the suit Pinkie wore.

“This could prove dangerous if they realized its full capabilities. It’s a good thing I chose to be rid of her when I had the chance. If only-”

“Sire?” a voice called out.

The creature turned around and saw that it was the hippogriff servant.

“Avian. What do you want?”

“I noticed that you were distressed. Is there anything I can do to soothe your turmoil?” Avian asked in a worried manner.

Knowing that he couldn’t afford an uproar of what he knew, the creature said,

“It’s nothing. Just… go over the preparations for tonight’s dinner. Now get out of my sight.”

Startled but retaining his composure, Avian said,

“A-As you wish, Sire.” Avian said before bowing.

After watching Avian leave, the creature continued to ponder about the suit on Pinkie.

“I will need time to think this over. Go oversee the preparations for your future queen.” the creature said.

After the creature dissolved itself back into Spike’s body, he started to question what the creature was thinking, but then he realized,

“Oh dear. The preparations! I must oversee the preparations for tonight! But I need something to wear… I must return to my quarters!”

Moving forward, Spike started to wonder how long it would be until Ember would arrive. He was in tatters the more he thought about her. But he was torn on what Pinkie wore. He had no idea why she was nor why the creature was piqued by it. Spike thought,

“Why wasn’t I told about this? Could it have…?”

The more he wondered about it, the more suspicious he became. While Spike knew that the creature figure out how to get into the Crystal Empire, he wasn’t sure how such an outfit on Pinkie existed. It ate into his brain the more he thought it over.

“It’s not as if it was keeping any secrets from me. We have planned everything together for the sole purpose of taking over Equestria. But if it already knew about these suits that Twilight and Pinkie wore… no mind. I have to attend to other matters.”

Walking through the castle corridors, Spike kept thinking over the plans he had for his proposal to Ember. After making his way up to his bedroom, Spike went to the speaker and said,

“Avian.”

“Y-Yes, Sire?” the hippogriff responded, albeit timidly.

“I require your presence in my quarters, please. At once.”

“Right away, Your Majesty.”

After getting off the speaker, Spike started to wait inside until Avian would come to his room. While he waited for the hippogriff to show up, the creature came out of Spike’s body.

“What do you want?” Spike demanded in an annoyed manner.

“You felt it, didn’t you? The power corroding from that suit.” the creature said, looking at its fingers.

“I don’t have any time for your discussions. I have been planning this since the past few months and I will not have anybody this taken away from me. Especially not a certain pony wearing a suit with disintegration.”

“But this power could be yours. If we figure out a way to hone its abilities, we could be unstoppable. The Royal Sisters wouldn’t hold a trinket against you. We have to-”

“No. She is not to be touched until we find a way to keep the disintegration at bay. None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t decide to possess her. Coming along with the fact that you went and killed the Princess of Life.”

“I was able to get ahold of her scythe and sneak inside the Crystal Empire. If I could manipulate a pony to our side, we have a ghost of a chance in stealing this power for ourselves. Their powers are but a glimmer of what we could achieve if we spent more time in researching this suit of hers.”

“I have already made it clear. Nobody is to touch her until we find a way to suppress the side-effects on that suit. She will be placed in the underground dungeon where no one is to find her and nobody is to see her. That is final.”

Growling at Spike’s decision for his reluctance to obtain more power, but knowing his rule was absolute, it said,

“Fine… but know this. The time will come when you will have to reveal yourself to that pink pony. And when you do… I will promise that I will set her teeth to the grindstone. I will roll out her intestines. And I will boil her eyeballs until they pop like balloons. No pony will escape my wrath.”

“When the time is right, I will make good on my promise that I will reveal myself to Pinkie Pie. But for the time being, she will remain under microscope.”

With that being said, the creature dissolved itself back into Spike’s body. Five minutes later, Avian showed up with great haste. After catching his breath, he asked,

“What can I do for you, Your Majesty?”

“Do you happen to know of any tailors for clothes of special occasions?”

“Sire?”

“I’m sure you already know about my proposal to the Dragon Lord. I expect that you happen to have any form of expertise in fine dining?”

“Well, I do know a few of my fellow hippogriffs and griffins who designed for various regal figures. But I would have to send out for their arrival and I don’t have a clue as to where they are. Plus, the Dragon Lord Ember will be arriving in a few hours from now. What do you suggest we do, Your Highness?”

Several minutes have passed since Spike thought about the dilemma they were in. While he knew it was true that the tailors could be anywhere across Equestria, he couldn’t afford to waste anymore time in dilly-dallying as he waited for Ember’s arrival. It was bad enough that they had to deal with the suit on Pinkie Pie, but now he was in between a rock and a hard place for a suit. So he decided this.

“Do you have any expertise in the field of tailoring?” Spike asked, turning towards Avian.

“Sire?” Avian replied in a confused manner.

“I’m asking if you know how to design clothes for regal figures.”

“Well, I helped with the design choices and measuring for Queen Novo a few times during our reign at Mount Aris before the Storm King took over. But I don’t have much experience with sewing or fabric choices.”

“Are there any tailors nearby?”

“I will check around for any tailors. I will be back shortly, Your Majesty.”

“Okay. Just be sure to check in on the chefs for tonight’s dinner. I want it all well-cooked by the time the royals arrive.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After Avian left, Spike got off his bed and looked outside the balcony. He was more than eager to see Ember. He continued to stay outside until the tailors arrived and helped Spike with his measurements along with the fabrics for his choice of clothes. Afterwards when he finished getting dressed, a hippogriff ran into his room and said,

“Your Highness, the royals have arrived!”

“And Ember?” Spike asked.

“With them, as we speak.”

“Oh dear…” Spike said in a small, panicked voice.

“Calm yourself, Sire. I will oversee the preparations for tonight. You just go downstairs and entertain your guests until dinner is ready.” Avian suggested.

Having heard him and calmed down, Spike put his hands on Avian’s shoulders and said in a relieved tone,

“Thank you, Avian. I knew I made the right choice in making you my personal servant.”

“I’m very pleased to see you are recomposed, Your Excellency. Now go. Your guests grow impatient by the minute.” Avian said in a flattered manner.

“Indeed…” Spike said before rushing out of his room.

Making his way down to the front, he stopped running and wiped the sweat off his forehead. After composing himself in a regal manner, he turned towards the two dragons guarding the door. After signalling them with a nod, they proceeded to open the door where the rest of the royals awaited.

Author's Notes:

Special thanks goes to Saberking2012 for helping me with this chapter.