Spike sat perfectly still with his arms crossed and his knees up on the back steps of the library.  A single tear dripped down and hit the dirt, leaving a tiny crater in the soil as the little dragon tried his best to fight back his audible sobs.  He pulled his head up from his crossed arms, looking out toward the night-blanketed field behind the library.  Twilight's blood still stained the earth, though over a week of sunlight had seriously faded the color: it was only there at all due to an absence of rain.  In the large spot where Twilight had bled the most, a small plant had emerged from the soil sometime over the last week.  It stood small, but strong and healthy, thrusting a single flower into the sky.  Spike cocked his head and examined the thing from afar: it had five violet petals, and a series of long, yellow stalks in the center.  It was a beautiful flower, but Spike couldn't help from noticing the surreal nature of a single one growing exactly in the center of the stain.  He didn't pay it much mind, however, and went back to wiping his cheeks off with the back of his arm.  

The dragon stood up from the steps and turned to go back inside; his mind had changed from wanting to walk around town at night.  He slumped through the kitchen, taking in his surroundings and opening up the refrigerator to examine the rations.  Twilight hadn't gone to the store in weeks, so whatever he got was limited to what he could actually carry, which ended up not being much, and even less after Twilight stopped giving him any money for grocery shopping.  Spike's stomach grumbled a little bit as his eyes scanned the barren interior of the refrigerator.  What looked to be year-and-a-half-old butter, a small bowl of unidentifiable leftovers, and a salad drawer with a stripped head of lettuce was all that was to be found in here.  Spike took the lettuce head (what remained of it anyway) and finished it off; it was bitter and old, but at least it was food.  

He was starting to get sick of Twilight's neglect.  She literally hadn't left the upstairs of the library in weeks and it was starting to bother the dragon.  He even had to relocate his bed down to the living room because of the eerie lights and constant noise of Twilight's "practice" as she called it.  With a huff he walked back out into the living room, noticing one of Twilight's spare quills lying on the lower end of a bookshelf; Twilight had forgotten it a few days ago.  Spike looked into the bookshelf and saw a small stash of paper and ink where a larger book must have sat hiding them.  The dragon resolved that he should immediately let the Princess know about the dangerous state that Twilight was in; it was then or never, after all.  

Dear Princess Celestia,

It's Spike, and unfortunately I have some bad news.  Twilight hasn't quite been herself lately.  She found this old spellbook out in the woods and has been sitting up in her room with her nose in it for weeks!  I just don't know what I should do, and I figured that you'd be able to help.  You've always come through for her in the past, and she just won't listen to me.  

~Love, Spike.

As Spike added his signature to the scroll, he rolled it up as per the usual routine and sent it.  The flames seemed oddly to gravitate upward more than usual, but the letter still burned to smoke and wafted out one of the many open windows throughout the library.  Spike had no idea why, but the whole building smelled like smoke all the time, even though Twilight insisted it was nothing.

"You've done well, Twilight Sparkle, and have learned so very much.  I must ask you one thing before we continue however.  How committed are you to learning?"

"Oh, I'm the most committed unicorn you'll ever find, Iago."

"You have certainly proven that so far, but are you willing to make a great sacrifice in order to further your knowledge?  To reject the commonplace notions of ethics and morality?  Blurring the thin line between right and wrong, and then stepping upon it while teetering over the edges of your inevitable fate?"

Twilight slowly and carefully read the text, knowing that anything phrased this way would not be an easy task, nor would it be a "good-hearted" one.  With the promise of infinite knowledge, however, Twilight was almost salivating with anticipation, and would do nearly anything to get it.  "Iago.  Boundaries exist only to constrain.  I'll defy them as you see fit."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Twilight Sparkle.  You're so ambitious; it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  Now then, I will need you to prepare a ritual for me; a very important ritual.  Can you do this for me?"

"Of course.  What do you need done?"

"Start by getting pure beeswax.  You'll need no less than ten pounds of it, and do be sure your chemistry equipment is clean, will you?"

"Certainly.  Is that all?"

"No, it's not, but I'll fill you in some more when you need to know.  Until then, work on getting the wax and a large, very clean pot to melt it in."

"Do you have any specific preference on the beeswax?"

"Very astute of you to know that certain bees make better wax than others.  Actually, since you asked, yes I do have a specific preference.  Out in the Everfree Forest, about eight hundred paces from the base of the mountain directly beneath Canterlot exists a very strange place.  The forest itself is magical around those parts, and many of the creatures grow to oddly large proportions; bees included.  These bees make the purest and most velvety wax that I've ever used, so if you wish you may go there.  The better the quality, the more likely this will be to work."

"I'll set out first thing in the morning, then.  You can count on me."

"Oh, I know I can, Twilight Sparkle.  I would have crushed you long ago if I couldn't.  But why wait until morning?  You've all the time in the world right now."

"The worst monsters in the Everfree Forest come out at night, right?"

"What's your point?  Are you not powerful enough to ward of any unwanted intruders?"

"I suppose I am...  It could be good practice."

"Then what are you waiting for?  Get going.  Unlike me, you haven't got until the end of time."

Spike sat quietly in his favorite chair, reading a heavy fairy tale about an oddly hungry cicada that just couldn't get his fill.  The tome sat in his lap, and the dragon felt an almost spiritual connection to the insect in the book.  His stomach growled, breaking the silence, and sent a familiar feeling up his gullet.  With a rather rude belch, the dragon materialized a green flame in front of him that formed the usual small, tightly bound scroll from Canterlot.  After slipping off the red ribbon and seal that the Princess always used, Spike unraveled the scroll and gave it a quick glance over.

Spike,

While I do appreciate your worry for Twilight and the loyalty of your friendship to her, I must think that you have to be overreacting just a little.  It seems that every other week Twilight gets unhealthily obsessed with some new book or other, and that there's absolutely nothing to be done about it without direct intervention from myself.  I'm quite certain that she'll be fine on her own, and there's far too much to do in Canterlot that requires my personal attention.  If she doesn't improve by next week, write again, but otherwise I'm sure all she needs is a little reminder of why she's friends with anypony in the first place.

~Princess Celestia.

Spike grumbled and crushed the letter in his claws, tossing the crumpled and shredded paper aside onto the floor somewhere.  The dragon decided to go up to Twilight's study and tell her to get out and talk to somepony else in the morning.  Spike approached the doorway and was immediately greeted by a very proud-looking (despite her current physical state) Twilight Sparkle, trotting toward the doorway.  

"Oh!  Hello there, Spike.  What brings you up here?"  Twilight asked in an oddly cheerful manner.  

"I was just going to ask you a favor when you got the time..."  Spike didn't want to offend Twilight, and so tried to avoid the issue a little bit. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm off to the Everfree Forest for a little while... Consequently, you can go ahead and sleep here in the study if you like.  I should be gone for the rest of the night."

"You're going to the Everfree Forest?  At night?  Are you insane?!"

"Quite the opposite, Spike.  I need to get pure beeswax, and there are apparently some bees out there that make only the best.  Plus I don't need sleep so waiting until morning would just be a huge waste of time."

"What in Celestia's name do you need beeswax from the Everfree Forest for?"

"Iunno...  I just know that I need it.  So I'll be back when I have some.  Sleep well, Spike."  With that, Twilight set off toward her front door, not allowing the dragon to protest her leaving anymore.  She quickly levitated her saddlebags over and fixed them to herself, heading into the kitchen for a little more preparation work.  She lined the bags with parchment paper to keep the wax from ruining them, and then grabbed a large knife to heat and scrape the wax with.  Without another word to Spike, Twilight left the library, and the dragon simply went upstairs and went to sleep; not in the mood to deal with Twilight anymore that night.

The cool breeze of the dead of night lightly flows through Twilight's disheveled mane, giving her an oddly refreshed feeling to be exposed to a comfortable change in temperature.  She looks out toward the forest, especially the portion that lies beneath Canterlot off in the distance, and sets off forward: her tome floating conspicuously behind her.  Twilight glanced around, finding nothing of interest specifically.  The small town of Ponyville was certainly a dark and quiet place at night; there were so very few lights around town.  The unicorn quickly trotted toward the edge of the forest, turning and pacing around it as she closed in toward the mountains.  

The walk was a grueling one, taking a toll on Twilight's focus and driving her to almost hypnotize herself with the constantly moving flashes of dull vegetation.  The unicorn slowed to a stop and glanced around; she had stayed just outside of the Everfree Forest until then, but it had started to slowly creep out and close in on her.  She decided at that moment to try something that had always given her trouble before finding the book: levitation of herself.  

The unicorn looked down to her hooves, lifting her front ones up and giving them a quick look over.  She figured that personal levitation couldn't be too difficult, so she simply used her telekinesis to try and grab at her feet.  This worked, as a matter of fact, but since her feet were the ones being grabbed she didn't have a whole lot of control over her roll and yaw.  If anypony were there at that moment, it would have been a somewhat amusing spectacle: Twilight flying over with little control and the occasional flailing of hooves to try and stabilize herself.  Eventually, she got the hang of things, and hovered steadily off the ground, slowly rising over the trees of the forest and basking in the fresh air.

Twilight glanced around her and took in what little scenery she could: the moon was bright enough to illuminate a little bit of the landscape, but otherwise anything specific just merged into a blackish-gray blob for miles.  The unicorn could faintly discern the lights of Canterlot off in the distance, however, and so floated her way slowly but surely in that direction.  She experimented with various speeds and body positions, making herself more aerodynamic for a while (before realizing that she actually had control over her wind resistance via air magic) and scanned along the ground as she flew over it.  The Everfree Forest certainly changed at night; harboring dozens of odd looking creatures of various sizes, and giving Twilight the impression that she was headed the right direction.  

After about fifteen minutes of flight, the unicorn came to a space in the shadow of the mountainside city of Canterlot.  Deciding to take a rest on a small cairn along the side of the mountain, Twilight flipped her book open and levitated it in front of her, taking the time to inquire about some more direction before she set out to find the bees.  

"Eight-hundred paces east of Canterlot, huh?  Seems kinda vague... Do you have anything more specific?"

"Back in my day, measurements were pretty hit and miss...  For a time we used "Queen's Hooves" as a system of measurement, but before Celestia came along, the Queens were mortal and the sizes were always changing.  I personally decided on paces because they were constant for me.  Don't worry, I'll be keeping track and let you know if you go too far."

"You said 'Queen's Hooves'?  We had a Queen?"

"Of course we did, Twilight Sparkle.  How can you have a Princess without a Queen?  As a matter of fact we might still have one; the only explanation for the usurper that currently holds the throne is her longevity and refusal to breed with anyone...  But I digress, and this is all ancient history with nothing to be done about it, now."

"Celestia refuses to breed with anyone?  But she has nieces and nephews."

"Oh, Twilight.  Your ignorance is just so adorable.  They aren't actually related, but are simply from the same lineage of creature.  There are just so few of them left that they consider themselves immediate family.  The winged-unicorns were some of the first of the ponies, but through interbreeding they began... losing body parts.  Wings, horns, bits and pieces of their bodies that contributed to their insanely long lifespan...  Their tall stature, that sort of thing.  In a way, you're all related to Celestia, and in another way, you're all doomed to sit beneath her."

"But why aren't there very many other winged unicorns like her?  If they all live forever, wouldn't that mean there would be more?"

"There weren't very many to begin with, but their pedigree started having adverse effects on them with age.  After a certain period of time, they began to die after childbirth, but otherwise they could last indefinitely.  Celestia found this out and took the world's longest vow of chastity.  So now she stands, pure as snow, and ruling over the whole of Equestria as her race slowly dies out because they chose to follow the natural cycle of evolution."

"She never told me about that..."

"And why should she?  A student with your mental faculties could potentially be a threat. Why else do you think she took you under her wing and taught you everything you know?  She could limit the amount of knowledge you could gain, limit your power, keep tabs on you, and of course; eliminate you if necessary."

"That...  That bitch!"

"Now, now, Twilight Sparkle.  Remember what I told you about tempering your emotions.  Use them as motivation, and nothing more, lest they control and consume you.  Now then, let's just get moving and find those bees... you'll grow more powerful by the day, and soon Celestia herself will cower at your hooves."

Twilight's teeth gritted together as she stood up and paced around.  She wasn't quite sure if she believed everything that Iago had told her, but the possibility was there.  The possibility was always there.  She placed her book into her saddlebag and then took a running start toward the ragged cliff face just a few feet away.  With a powerful leap, she dove into the night air, catching her body with telekinetic force and propelling her forward and down, entering the forest canopy at a dangerous speed.  She managed to create a barrier of pure force around her body, pushing branches and leaves and other dangerous things away before they got anywhere near her, bringing herself to a landing at the base of a large tree.  

Twilight glanced around her immediate surroundings, spotting some small clump of moss on the side of a tree and ripping it off telekinetically.  She pulled the clump toward her and ignited it viciously, giving herself a floating torch to light the area with as she trotted calmly through the foreign landscape.  Eyes in the shadows closed and darted away when exposed to the light, and various noises would halt in her presence every step she took.  It was like the entire world was making a path for her to travel through, and she wanted even more of that feeling.  

After a few minutes of wandering (or maybe it was an hour, Twilight couldn't tell), the unicorn started to pick up a dull, droning sound from somewhere in the distance.  She had lost track of exactly where she was, so she just instinctively followed the noise and listened for it to pick up in volume.  It didn't take too long for Twilight to hear the noise coming from multiple directions, leading her off into a bizarre section of the woods where there seemed to be very little decay going on along the ground.  The soil felt hard and brittle, very difficult for anything to grow in, yet she was surrounded by thick and healthy trees.  

Once the droning sound had surrounded her, Twilight started to get a little frustrated.  Just as she was about to torch the entire section of forest, a massive yellow streak took her by surprise from the left side.  She stumbled and fell off of her feet, tracking the blur as it traveled quickly, yet lazily, off in some direction: this was a standard bee that was nearly the size of a normal pony.  Twilight took off after the buzzing monster, keeping up with it in hopes that it would lead her back to its hive.  

Twilight wasn't quite prepared for just how large the hive would be; her jaw seemed to almost hit the floor as she approached it from within the trees.  Above her stood a ridiculous mound of a hive spilling out of the cavity of a massive (and once-regal) tree.  The tree was actually wilting from the weight of the hive, and the large bee (amongst many others) landed on the underside of the hive, crawling in through a hole that might have been big enough for a dragon to fit through.  The unicorn very slowly approached it and worked her way beneath the structure.  

She could only offer pity to the mighty tree struggling to hold up the weight of the hive, but somehow she felt nothing else toward it.  Her usual compassion, even for the occasional plant, had worn away completely by this point, and her actions entirely reflected it.  Twilight, without a second thought, took to her levitation once more, heading upward into the hive and nudging her way past a few of the monstrous bees on the way inside which was pitch black, but certainly not silent.  Twilight's ears were buffeted with the loudest torrent of buzzing that she'd ever heard in her life, and certainly the loudest that she ever hoped to hear.  She left the opening and scanned along the forest floor, eventually taking a reasonably sized stick up in her telekinesis (already straining her mind from carrying herself in such balance) and lighting it ablaze.  She returned into the hive and glanced around: taking in every single bit of her surroundings with awe.

There were hundreds of honeycombs, with each hexagonal cell large enough for Twilight herself to curl up in if she wanted.  Each one seemed to be full of honey or pollen, and oddly enough devoid of grubs.  Twilight located several cells toward the bottom of the hive and dropped herself on the of the structure.  The material itself was entirely beeswax, and she just happened to be lucky enough to land on a portion that wasn't coated in honey.  Twilight took out her knife and began to heat it, only stopping after it glowed red hot and produced enough heat for her to actually feel several feet from her face.  The surrounding bees didn't pay any mind to the unicorn's presence, continuing about their lazy task as if nothing else mattered.

The unicorn carved away a slab of beeswax as thick as her foreleg and as wide as her own body, letting the precious honey spill out into the surrounding space.  She tried a little; dipping her hoof into the goop and pulling away in a very long strand until she could lick a little off.  The instant it touched her tongue, Twilight felt extremely relaxed.  She almost fell to her knees, but managed to hold herself up after a little bit of adorable stumbling.  With a few deep breaths, Twilight regained her footing and set her hoof down, inadvertently sticking it to the floor with the remaining honey.  This was no threatening feeling, though.  As a matter of fact, Twilight had never felt better, (nor had she tasted better honey) in her entire life.  She pulled the slab of beeswax away and placed it in her saddle bag, repeating that step once more for another slab and removing her tome, filling up both of her bags to the brim with the fresh wax, and leaving no more room for storage.  Twilight wasn't finished, though, and decided to craft a small "jar" out of some of the remaining wax; collecting a large portion of the honey for herself, and then taking off after she was satisfied.  

As Twilight took off into the night, she saw several of the bees seem to cast her a glance.  She couldn't really tell if they could even move their heads in a way that did that, but she didn't let it bother her all the same.  The unicorn took to the skies of the Everfree Forest, leaving the large hive behind and flying through the air with her load of wax and honey.  The effects of the honey hadn't quite worn off at that point, though, and Twilight could swear that the wind was quite literally kissing her mane.  Everything felt different; not necessarily worse, but different; it was almost as if every single feeling she'd ever felt was coming alive for the very first time.  She could hear the leaves rustling below her in the wind, even though she was whizzing past them far too quickly for such a soft noise.  She could see the individual lights of her library, regardless of the fact that she was miles into the forest, and she could feel the various temperature differences in the air as she passed by it.  Everything was so vivid and so wonderful that she never wanted to stop.  

She decided to enjoy her state, doing a kind of barrel roll in the air and feeling every single tip of her mane tickle across her skin as it slapped against her neck.  She took in a very deep breath after holding herself upside-down and perceiving the world from a zero gravity perspective.  The air swirled in her lungs, and she could feel each little chamber in her chest fill with life-giving oxygen, and then expel it from her body.  She was almost overstimulated from her senses, but everything looked, sounded, felt, and smelled absolutely beautiful.

Once she finally reached her library, Twilight landed on her porch in the upper portion.  She opened the door softly and stepped inside, noticing everything within.  The honey wasn't affecting her quite as strongly at that point, but she could still feel her heightened senses tingling in every single pore of her body and mind.  As the honey gradually wore off, she examined the beeswax in her saddlebags, removing them along with the parchment paper and placing the slabs on her desk.  From the looks of it, she gathered a little bit more than enough, but that would allow her to do some study on it after she found the time.  She placed her small jar of honey toward the back of her desk, and opened her book on the little bit of clean space that still remained.  There was already a good amount of text written out for her to peruse.

"Very good, you've gathered nearly double the amount I asked for.  It seems that the bees have been growing lately, and making the wax more dense every single year.  The reason I had you gather this, my student, is because I'll need you to make votive candles for me.  These won't be just any candles, but will indeed help with a small ritual that could bring us together even closer.  The power behind this ritual can tear apart any life that catches itself unprepared in its wake, so it's absolutely imperative that we use pure materials, perfect concentration, and have a mastery of the various elements.  You can do what you will with the rest of the wax, though it should seem unremarkable to you.  Perhaps holding a small magical charge, but otherwise just beeswax.  

Though, I see you took some of the honey.  Quite an interesting idea, for I never tried it.  It was my notion that it was poisonous...  but I suppose that's not the case since you're still alive and kicking, Twilight Sparkle.  Pray tell, what's it like?"

"It's very interesting...  It tastes sweet, and thick, and with a perfect consistency.  It's not too sweet though, and doesn't overpower your taste buds, but then after you eat it you feel extremely relaxed.  After that, you seem to come back into perfect consciousness, and your senses have...  Well, they've exploded almost.  You can feel and see and taste and hear every little thing around you, even things far away.  It's wonderful."

"That's perfect.  Keep some of that honey, you'll need it for the ritual.  In the mean time, however, there's one thing you need to do before you make the candles.  Deep in the forest to the southeast lies a primeval spring.  This spring is very magical, and in fact provided me with a great place to revive my power in my life.  This spring is as old as Equestria itself, and should be treated like a place of worship, but getting there is no small task.  You will be tested by the Everfree Forest, and most likely brought to your knees.  Should you succeed, the reward is a water that, when distilled, produces crystalline salts that will retain the perfect magical essence of any element they're treated with.  A very valuable thing indeed.  I want you to get some of these salts, and imbue them with elemental power before we continue.  Once that's finished, there will be only a few more steps.  You're a wonderful student, Twilight Sparkle.  Don't fail me now."

"I couldn't fail you if I tried, Iago."