Chapter 1: Dragonnapped
All was quiet in the town of Ponyville. Midnight was crawling closer, the moon rising towards its highest point in the sky. All around the town, the ponies were asleep in their beds, the only sign of life in the actual town itself being the nightly creatures doing their rounds of flying, burrowing, or whatever it was night creatures did during their waking hours.
However, though everything was silent in the town, everything was not necessarily well or even peaceful. A lone shadow moved between buildings, carefully-placed hooves avoided even the slightest of sounds. The shadow slipped past the Sugarcube Corner, past the apple cart, finally appearing to arrive at its destination: the Ponyville Library.
The figure to which the shadow belonged raised a hoof, gently trying the door. Locked, much to its dismay. However the creature would not be dissuaded: A gentle glow appeared around its head, as a diamond lifted from its pocket. The gem slowly gloated over to the nearest window, and with the smallest of noises, gently tapped against it.
With expert precision, the diamond traced a perfect circle in the glass, the diamond cutting clean through. Though the glass began to slide out, the same glow appeared around the cut portion, catching it before it could find impact with the ground. The glass was placed inside the bag near the diamond, and the hoof from the figure reached through the new hole, gently unlocking and opening the window. Though the creature figured it would have been just easier to open the window normally, it wanted to remain as ambiguous as to its identity as it possibly could, if only as to not reveal its true self.
The creature peered into the window, glancing around the library. After a short bit, it locked onto its target, the dragon known as Spike snuggled up in its basket. A grin spread across the face of the thing, as another glow caused the sleeping dragon to levitate from its place of rest. Slowly, it was replaced with a letter of some sort, as the window closed, the dragon taken from the town by the mystery creature.
..dawn came soon after. The warm, inviting rays of the morning sun washed over Twilight Sparkle's frame, drawing her from her sleep. She had the sense something was amiss, but was unable to place it, possibly due to her just waking up. She rolled out of bed and stood on all fours, stretching, feeling the bones in her spine snap. She stretched a second time to make extra sure she had stretched away all of the stiffness, before heading to her vanity. Her horn glowed, as a similar aura surrounded the comb, causing it to levitate from its position. She yawned a little, as she let the possessed brush go through her hair, smoothing it from a bedridden rag to its usual bob with a long back mane. "Spike, can you get my book on Equestrian History? I really should pick up on that a little before today's activities.
Silence met her inquiry, causing confusion in the unicorn.
"..Spike? Are you here? Stop goofing around and come.. out.." Her voice slowed to a curious crawl, as she spotted the note in his bedding. "Did he go somewhere and leave a note?" she wondered aloud, picking up the slip of paper with her magic. She read it over once, as a look of fear spread across her equine features. "If you want to see Spike again, come alone to the cave in the Everfree Forest!" She paced uneasily back and forth. "Someone's dragonnapped Spike? What do I do.." She took a seat near her podium, and scratched her head. "... I could use the help getting him back.. but the note said to go alone.. if they find out I brought friends, then Spike.."
She mulled over her actions for a short while, playing out the potential scenarios in her mind. Two things were readily apparent though: 1, whoever kidnapped Spike was an expert. It didn't seem anypony who might have been up at night noticed and 2, she couldn't risk Spike getting hurt - she would go alone. Finally having gathered up her courage, she packed her saddlebags with a little food and a book or two on hostage negotiation, should the need for such a thing arise. With the fear in the pit of her stomach as strong as ever, she marched forward towards the Everfree Forest, hoping to make it before anypony had woken up.
She uneasily crossed the invisible border into the land. The sky disappeared beneath the canopy, dark shadows cast over the majority of the area. Fortunately, it was bright enough for her to see without the aid of magic, as she marched forward around the hazards she had grown accustomed to. The air of the forest had a sort of crushing oppression to it. Though she felt every fiber of her being telling her to just turn, turn and run as fast as she can she knew she had to press on, to save Spike.
A bit of a walk later, and she happened upon the rather familiar cave from not too long ago - the dragon's cave that Spike had hidden in when she'd taken in Owlowiscious. Was this the cave that the dragonnapper meant? She looked around, the uneasiness of being alone in such a place readily apparent in her expression. Her attention however was drawn to the top of a cave's entrance, as a familiar filled her ears.
"So, Princess Celestia's star pupil, we meet again! I was almost afraid you wouldn't show up." the voice said, laying heavy sarcasm on the star pupil bit. Twilight looked up, only for the source to jump right in front of her - a cyan-toned pony, azure hair tucked behind a largely stereotypical wizard's hat, save for its dark blue color and star pattern. Its cape blew gently with the air moving around it, though it settled on her back.
Twilight blinked, the concern quickly shifting to one of pure curiosity. "..Trixie?"