Suddenly, she was awake in her room. She turned around frantically to see if Spike was still around. Then she looked down at the broken picture frame and picked it up. She looked at the frame of her and Spike together. Just then, a tear dropped on the picture. Then out came the repeated sobs in her voice as she gazed at the picture.

“What have I done…?” Twilight asked with her voice nearly breaking.

Looking at the picture once more, she said,

“What have I done…?”

Repeating the line multiple times, she could no longer hold back the pain she kept within herself. Activating a soundproof barrier, she screamed as she destroyed her entire room in grief. After destroying her entire room, she laid on the ground with picture in her hooves and cried like a newborn foal.

“It’s all my fault… it’s all my fault…” Twilight wailed as she looked at the picture.

Thinking back to the times when she and Spike were with each other, she could feel nothing but turmoil as she hugged and kissed the photo. Covered in tears and snot from crying so much, Twilight came to the realization of what she must do. She looked at the picture and said to herself,

“I may have failed him as a teacher… and as a sister… but I can still save her. I just need the power to do it.”

Twilight knew what to do next as she looked at her scythe by her desk. Grabbing her gear and her weapon, she walked outside the Crystal Empire without batting an eye towards anypony.

. . .

As Twilight wandered around, she attempted to find more answers. Just then, she started to hear a high pitch in her ears. She covered her ears to block out the noise. Her head started to hurt and before she could realize it, she was lost. There was a doorway looking right at her.

“What is this?” Her mind was tempted to go see what it was but she kept away from it. She refused to fall down the same hole twice. “I can’t fall for this again… I need to get Starlight and the others. After all, if this is indeed where the creature lies, I rather not fight it head on without a reliable backup plan. I need-”

She spotted something not far from where she was standing. As she got closer to it, the door before her vanished and she couldn't understand why. She knew this trick before when King Sombra trapped her and Spike under the Crystal Empire Castle. “I guess I have no choice…” She inched closer and as she finally got a good look at it, she noticed that it was some kind of creature, one she didn't recognize. Twilight knew something was wrong but she couldn't just run away either. “Hey. Are you okay? Do you need any help?”

The creature didn't answer and instead, kept messing with whatever was in front of it. Twilight chose to press on. “To be honest, I don't really know where I am. This may be quite a stretch but you wouldn't happen to know where I am, do you?”

The creature turned its head slightly and at that moment, Twilight flinched at their face. It was expressionless, and somewhat twisted. But even worse was the look on it. It was somepony she recognized and knew all too well. “N-No… this can't… why do you… so familiar…?” Her throat closing as she looked. Backing away, she didn’t know what to fo on assessing the situation. She decided that she had to run away to safety. “Look, I'm just gonna… keep moving in this direction. Besides, if I keep walking around, I'm sure I'll find my way out.”

The creature revealed something in their hooves and Twilight couldn't help but grow more scared as the creature stood in front of her. It raised the unknown bottle and it started to glow. After several moments of silence, the bottle broke and revealed some form of organic seed.

“I wanted it so badly… to make everything back to normal…” It's face grew more deformed and contorted. “I didn't want this to happen… I only wanted to make things right…”

Twilight didn't know what to do at this point. She was beginning to breathe frantically.

“Back to normal? What are you talking about? Do you know something about the creature?”

The creature started to dissolve into the ground. Then it turned into its dragon form. “No matter… Even if everything falls to me… I'll do whatever it takes…”

The contents of what was in the bottle started to form into imps. The creature's smile became more morbid, and incredibly twisted with malice. Twilight knew she had no choice but to fight her way out. But before she could do anything, the creature grabbed the weapon and held it near Twilight’s neck. After a few moments, the ooze formed and it appeared to be a small dragon. However, it was pure black and its pupils were green.

“Hello, Twilight.” She couldn't believe her eyes. She was shocked to hear who the voice belonged to. Her number-one assistant turned enemy… Spike. However, unlike before, it was real and far more taller. “Did you miss little old me?” It asked with a demonic smile.

Twilight's fear changed and her eyes changed color. They were filled with rage, grief and discomfort. “You could say that…” she said with a low voice. Her horn grew and her magic changed color of black. “I shouldn't be surprised that you would stoop this low to accepting deals from strangers.”

Before she could fire off a single spell, the creature grabbed her horn, nullifying her magic. “Stop!” The creature faced her and grabbed her by the throat. “This could save us. Think of all the possibilities that this could bring us.”

Twilight tried to get out of it's grasp, but all it did was make her struggling more painful. “No, I- You can't-”

The shadow walked behind her as the creature continued to talk. “Poor little Twilight. You will understand soon enough…”

As it said that, the shadow pierced Twilight's chest, delivering the seed into her heart. The shadow smiled as it threw Twilight to the ground.

“And with that, my plan is complete.”

It dissolved as it left Twilight unconscious in the middle of the forest.