"Why don't we start with something simple? Spike, could you tell us about your time out on your own?" Cadence asked, looking to break some of the tension in the room so they could begin properly. It took him a while to settle into his chair, to get comfortable enough to talk. But he supposed if she was asking about this it must have been important to share.
"Well... after I brought Fluttershy to Twilight, she um... She locked me in the bedroom and then teleported her to the hospital. So while she was out I just changed my clothes and climbed out the window." Spike explained, watching both women for a reaction but not getting one as of yet. "After that I ran out towards the train station and followed the tracks until I found a train that was sitting in place. I guess maybe it was waiting for the tracks to clear ahead? There was an open box car so I hopped in."
"I see." Cadence said, glancing between Spike and Twilight, as if she were trying to get a read on them. "So you decided to ride the train out of town."
"Yeah. It wasn't that bad, really. I changed trains a few times. Any time they stopped I'd have to get off and then get on another one when it was getting ready to leave to avoid them seeing me. I met a couple of nice people who taught me how to get around that way."
"So vagabonds and vagrants?" Twilight spoke up.
"They were nice to me..." Spike replied, feeling defensive at such quick judgement of the people who helped him.
"A good thing they were." Cadence said, earning a glance of disapproval from Twilight but Cadence met her back with one of her own. "Had they not been nice things could have turned out worse for all of us."
"Yeah, so... they were nice. But then I fell asleep on the train after a couple of days moving like that and then Luna found me. We... had a fight."
"A fight?" Cadence asked. "What was it about?"
"How we're not family." Spike answered and that got Twilight to look up at him with concern over her previous disapproval. "How we're basically just strangers. She didn't like that, and I knew she didn't like it. But I was mad so I kept at it and eventually I woke up."
"Hmm... that... may be better left for you and Celestia to discuss later, after all of this, okay?" Cadence stated, Spike nodding to her. "So after your fight with Luna what happened?"
"I jumped off the train." Spike answered, a response that Twilight truly didn't approve of.
"You what!?" Twilight shouted at him. "Jumped off the train!? Are you out of your mind!?"
"My friends on the train tried to stop me, but I knew if I stayed there eventually Luna would find me awake instead of asleep. So I had to get out of there."
"And you'd risk your life to-"
"Twilight." Cadence said, far more stern than Spike had ever heard Cadence speak before to her. "I agree with you that this news isn't good, but what's done is done."
"You can't just-!"
"Twilight!" Cadence said, a little louder this time. "Spike needs to be allowed to tell us this story." After a moment Twilight leaned back in her chair again, Cadence turning to Spike to signal that he was allowed to continue.
"Well... I'm not gonna be jumping out of trains again because I didn't get hurt but I didn't like it either." Spike said, almost as a joke but saw no one was laughing so he pressed on. "After that I made my way to an outpost where I tried to get some food. And it was there that I ran into Devour."
"Wait, King Devour?" Twilight asked, sounding alarmed again.
"Who is King Devour?" Cadence asked, looking between everyone in the room and feeling like control in this conversation was regularly slipping out of her grasp.
"He's the Dragon-Blooded King. Revived when all of the statues in the hedge maze were turned back to life." Twilight explained. "Why would he be all the way out there?"
"I guess Luna asked him to find me?" Spike answered. "Also he was traveling back east to the Dragon Lands so it just worked out like that."
"So, you got to meet him." Twilight said, almost to herself.
"I fought him too." Spike explained and both women's eyes locked on to him. "Well... I didn't really fight him. I tried to. I thought he was going to bring me back here for some kind of bounty reward. But, I guess he was just messing with me. After he beat me up he bought me dinner."
"He beat you up!?" Twilight asked, sounding terrified.
"Well, just a little bit. I punched him first." Spike explained. "Then he bought me dinner and offered to take me to the Dragon Lands with him."
"Wait, back up. Why did he offer to take you with him? I thought Luna asked him to bring you back home?"
"He said she just asked him to talk to me. But I asked what he was going to do next and he said he was going that way and offered to take me too."
"Did you want to go with him?" Twilight asked and Spike was silent, turning his head away from her. "Spike?"
"I thought about it." He confessed. "It seemed like a nice idea. I'd never been there before and it might be nice to spend some time around people who are... y'know, like me?"
"We're like you." Twilight said, her voice shaking.
"Are you? You're humans. I'm... not. I'm something else. Isn't that right?" Spike asked them, looking around for some kind of confirmation.
"We're enough like you." Twilight said. "I never thought of you as different or strange, or not one of us. I thought we were enough for you. Aren't we?"
"I never said you weren't enough for me." Spike retorted.
"But you left! You left us all behind!" Twilight shouted back. Seeing the situation rising in tension again Cadence tried to interject.
"We should calm down before-" Cadence began but was cut off.
"You locked me in the house! You said I couldn't be trusted!" Spike yelled, rising to his feet. Twilight responded the same way and raised to her feet as well.
"You couldn't be trusted. That... that succubus! That witch changeling, she was in your mind. She compromised you."
"She saved Fluttershy's life!" Spike spat back at Twilight.
"Did she!? Did she really, or did she just make it look like she did? How can you trust anything she says? Anything she does? Why are you willing to put more faith in her than in me!?"
"Because she never lied to me!" Spike yelled and that froze Twilight in place.
"I... I never..."
"Didn't you!? Didn't you lie? About what we were doing, about me?" Spike asked her, looking just as desperate. "Didn't Rarity lie about me too? Wasn't everyone just lying to everyone else? Isn't that how it got this bad?"
"But... still, I love you Spike." Twilight said. "I never stopped loving you... it was just her, I couldn't trust her."
"She's the reason I'm even here right now!" Spike said, making both women's eyes grow wide.
"Wait, she's here!?" Cadence asked with a tinge of terror in her voice.
"No, she's gone already I'm sure." Spike said, sitting down again. "She came looking for me, disguised as Twilight. Said everyone was blaming her for everything that was happening and she couldn't go back into hiding until I came home." Spike explained.
"So... how did you get home?" Cadence asked, Twilight sitting down as well as she processed what was being said.
"Devour, again. Apparently he's rich or something, and said he sold his armor to a collector for a ton of bits. He bought us two tickets back to the capital. Damselfly made sure I got off at this stop and as far as I know she got back on the train to get away from all of us. So you have her to thank for me being here right now." Spike said with a sigh, hoping that would put an end to the whole debate about her. "Is that enough explanation for her?"
"I'm worse than a changeling..." Twilight muttered softly.
"Twilight, wait." Cadence spoke up to her. "That isn't what Spike is saying."
"You heard him. I lied. I kept secrets. I... took advantage of him. Multiple times. I'm worse than a changeling."
"Twilight..." Spike began but couldn't go any further, not even sure what the right thing to say in this situation was. Once again Cadence decided to moderate the conversation further.
"I think instead of dwelling on that we should discuss how we got to this point. Twilight, what exactly do you see your relationship with Spike as?" Cadence posed the question and Twilight lifted her head to look up at him. Her eyes searched his face as if she were trying to find what that answer should be. But it was painfully difficult as time carried on without her saying a word. "Twilight?"
"Spike is... precious, to me." She finally said. "Maybe the most precious person to me."
"As... a friend? A lover? A family member?" Cadence asked and it just seemed to frustrate her more.
"I hate these labels." Twilight confessed.
"Excuse me?"
"I hate having to say what... what Spike is to me. He's important, he's special, he's... he's the person who's been with me the longest. Even when... even when my brother was away training to be a knight, Spike was there. When I was alone or sad or in need of a friend, Spike was there for me. He's... he's someone I love with all my heart."
"I see." Cadence continued, looking between the two of them. "This is where I'm going to need you both to continue to keep going with me. What comes next will be uncomfortable. Do you understand?" She posed the question to them both and each one took their time to nod in agreement. Satisfied with that Cadence let herself continue. "When did your relationship become sexual?" While the question was clearly phrased and proposed it left Twilight unable to answer and Spike just looked away. "There's no event either of you can place where things took a turn?"
"Twilight... um..." Spike began, trying to find the words. "She uh... she caught me once. By myself..."
"Masturbating?" Cadence asked, the question making Spike wince with how uncomfortable it was to hear.
"Yeah. So she said she'd do it for me."
"I... see. So that's when it started?" Cadence asked and Twilight finally lifted her head.
"No, it wasn't then." Twilight answered. "That was just to help him calm down. To help him sleep at night. I read in a book somewhere that it was something that... I guess in the book it was a maid or an attendant that did it for boys to calm them. But I figured all he had was me so it wasn't a big deal."
"Hmm." Cadence considered Twilight's explanation, looking over to Spike. "Is that true? Did you think of it that way?"
"I guess I did?" Spike answered, looking as lost as any of them. "I didn't really think about it much at all. Twilight told me it was okay and then... I believed her."
"So when did that change?" Cadence asked, looking between them. "When were things less 'clinical' and more about your emotions?"
"She kissed me one time." Spike confessed. "It was a while ago but then... she kissed me and then... 'helped' me afterwards." Cadence and Spike both looked at Twilight who was hiding her face in her hands. "Things felt a little different then. And... after the stuff with my fire."
"Your fire?" Cadence asked.
"Spike was spewing fire at inconvenient moments. We live in a library, so that was a hazard to our safety. " Twilight explained, finally pulling her face up. "Zecora made him a medicine to help. It did make him do it less."
"Why do I feel there's more to that?" Cadence asked, looking directly at Twilight who was having trouble meeting her gaze.
"I... resented it." Twilight explained. "Resented it for doing for him what I should have been able to help with. So... one night... I switched it for just regular tomato juice."
"You what!?" Spike asked, looking at her in surprise. "You... you lied to me?"
"Spike, it's... it's not like I wanted you to get sick. I was there to help in its place."
"You lied...? You lied! After everything you said about me!"
"It was nothing! Compared to what you were hiding what I did-" The shouting was growing again and Cadence interjected before it could get much farther.
"Let's put a pin in that topic for a moment. Where did Rarity come into things?" Cadence asked and it stopped them both in that instant. Each one quiet for a while before Spike finally spoke up.
"I was helping her at her store. Like I did a bunch of times before." Spike answered. "It was... a big misunderstanding. I was there with Sweetie Belle-" at the mention of her name that caught a glance from Twilight. "-she was trying on a dress Rarity made and spilled a drink on it. So she just took it off in front of me and told me to take it somewhere out of the house to get it cleaned. I guess she thought she'd get in trouble and didn't think about what she was doing. Next thing I knew Rarity caught us and made us separate to talk about... I guess sex?"
"Rarity thought you two were having sex?" Cadence asked curiously.
"She thought something was happening, but then she realized she was wrong but I told her that I was scared because I was taking that potion Zecora made and I didn't know what was happening to me." Spike confessed, catching a look in Twilight's eyes. She looked tired, completely exhausted. As if this conversation were draining the very life out of her. He wondered if he looked much better.
"And you two became sexually active?" Cadence asked and Spike nodded.
"She told me she'd help me. I didn't think it would be something like that but I didn't turn her down."
"I see, and how did Twilight respond to that?" Cadence asked, looking across at her.
"I hit her." Twilight said, looking down at the table. "She told me the truth. Apologized for it. Right after she did, I slapped her across the face and left."
"Oh... my." Cadence replied. "Why, Twilight?"
"I was ashamed. And angry." Twilight confessed. "She took Spike from me, without even knowing it, without being aware of what we were doing together. So easily she was able to give him everything where I wasn't willing to. So when she told me I... lashed out at her." Twilight felt her eyes tear up remembering that and looked at Spike. "I'm sorry Spike. Right after that I got depressed and didn't tell you why. It must have confused you."
"I thought it was my fault... I guess I was right." Spike said.
"No, it wasn't your fault. It was all mine. I kept up the lie and lashed out because of it. You were just... just a victim of me. Again."
"Twilight... no." Spike protested, not wanting her to think this way. Cadence kept the pace going though for them though, not wanting to lose momentum.
"But you both reconciled even after all of that?" Cadence asked.
"I... yes, me and Rarity spoke about it afterwards and we 'reconciled' in a sense."
"I see. How, exactly, did you both do that?" Cadence asked and the look between Twilight and Spike spoke volumes. "I believe you mentioned something before of you and Rarity being sexually active together?"
"With me too." Spike confessed.
"All three of you!?" Cadence said, rubbing her eyes as she was trying to put this together. "May I ask what exactly led to this?"
"Rarity suggested Spike and I should... fulfill what we were dancing around. That I should have sex. With Spike."
"I see. Twilight, is Spike your first sexual partner?"
"...yes." Twilight confessed, Cadence then turned to Spike.
"Spike, was Rarity yours?"
"Yeah... and then, she was there when I was with Twilight." He admitted and Cadence took another moment to rub her face and process what was being said.
"Well... I think we're getting closer to the root of these conflicting emotions. What exactly happened after the three of you spent that day together?"
"I... sorta became Rarity's boyfriend?" Spike said, shrugging as he did.
"What do you mean by 'sorta' became her boyfriend?" Cadence asked.
"She didn't want anyone to know about it." Spike said. "Told me it would be difficult for her if everyone knew what we were doing together."
"I see... Twilight, you were aware of this relationship as well?" Cadence asked and Twilight nodded. "And you were okay with this?"
"I thought I was." Twilight said. "I thought if he was with Rarity, he'd be happy. He'd be safe. That out of anyone she was the one that could keep him best cared for."
"Even if it was being kept a secret?" Cadence asked and Twilight shook her head.
"I didn't think it was right to pry into what their relationship was. I just wanted to support them." Twilight said.
"Twilight, while this was going on, were you still sexually active with Spike?" Cadence asked and Twilight's arms hugged around herself as if to form a sort of emotional protection.
"We slipped up a few times." Twilight confessed. "Sometimes we'd sleep in the same bed together. I thought as long as we didn't actually have sex... other things would be fine."
"Did you believe that was true?" Cadence asked and both Spike and Twilight were silent at the question. With a deep sigh Cadence sorted through her own thoughts about all of this while trying to keep on topic. "Spike, you mentioned Sweetie Belle earlier. I was informed that the two of you also had a relationship?"
"I... guess we did." Spike said, not sure how to think of what he and her were doing was.
"While you were still in active relationships with Rarity and Twilight?" Cadence asked and Spike looked away as he didn't want to see what their expressions were right now.
"Yeah... it was during that same time."
"Spike, this is a very important question: were you sexually active with Sweetie Belle as well?" Cadence asked and Spike was silent for a moment. "Spike?"
"I didn't do the same things with her." Spike finally said, sounding annoyed at having to answer this. "We just... touched each other and stuff. It wasn't like with Rarity or even Twilight. I never even saw her naked!"
"Okay... I needed to be sure." Cadence confirmed but Twilight wasn't done.
"Did you kiss her?" Twilight asked suddenly, catching both of them off guard.
"...yeah, I did."
"In our bedroom?" Twilight asked, her tone growing in emotion.
"Once." Spike said, Twilight's arms hugging around herself tighter as he answered.
"In our room... in our home. With Rarity's own sister. How could you do something so disrespectful to all of us?"
"Because we were all lying!" Spike answered, getting angry. "We were all lying already! So what did it matter? If Rarity could call me her boyfriend but I couldn't tell anyone, and you and I could do things together but didn't tell anyone, why not just... make Sweetie Belle happy too and not tell anyone? Isn't that the easiest way to do it?"
"And look where that got us!" Twilight exclaimed. "All these lies... you even lied to us about the changeling."
"So what if I did!?" Spike exclaimed to her. "She wasn't the one that hurt anybody!"
"She hurt you! She bit you! Twice. Those scars on your neck, I hate seeing them." Twilight muttered.
"She helped me." Spike protested and Twilight's face twisted into a painful grimace that he'd say that. "She helped me like no one else did."
"Stop..." Twilight whimpered.
"But it's true!" Spike protested and Cadence decided to step in once more.
"Spike, I would like some details on this." The princess asked. "You said once before she helped save Fluttershy. What was that about and how did you meet this changeling?" Spike took a deep breath, not enjoying the memories of that night but was pulling them back up while trying to ignore the pained expression on Twilight's face.
"Well... the first time I met her she was in the woods. She was dying, said that she hadn't eaten in days and told me to leave her alone. I thought maybe I could help her somehow. That if she'd rather die than hurt someone that we could figure out a way to save her."
"How did you intend to help her?" Cadence asked.
"I was going to bring her to Twilight." Spike admitted. "I figured she would know best on how to save her without hurting anyone else. But... then she bit me. And after that she just used me to recover."
"I see... so she did betray you too in a sense."
"Yeah, I guess so." Spike admitted, thinking back to that first day. "I think she was desperate."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because she stuck around afterwards." Spike explained. "Waited for me to get back up on my own. Then told me that... um... She didn't like what I was doing with Twilight and Rarity. Said we were taking advantage of each other."
"I see... and what did you say in response to her?"
"Nothing that I can remember." Spike admitted. "She just seemed disgusted with me and left."
"But you saw her again?" Cadence asked and Spike nodded. "Why?"
"I... went looking for her." Spike admitted, hearing Twilight sniffle a little as she was listening to all of this and keeping the tears back as Spike admitted his extra affairs he'd been having behind her back.
"Why?"
"I wanted to ask her about Rarity." Spike confessed. "After Rarity refused to marry me I didn't know who to talk to about it."
"And you chose the changeling?"
"Damselfly, yes." Spike agreed with Cadence.
"Why her over one of your other friends?"
"I couldn't tell any of my other friends because if I did then they'd know I was having sex with Rarity. And that was the thing Rarity didn't want me to tell anyone."
"I see... and what did this Damselfly tell you?"
"She called me a monster." Spike said, shamefully. This got Twilight's attention.
"Why would she say that about you?" Twilight asked, sounding concerned for him despite how painful these events were to listen to.
"Because I was lying to you, and to Sweetie Belle, and to Rarity about what I was doing with everyone. She said every monster she'd ever met always looked like a human and we were hurting each other for no good reason." Spike confessed, his own eyes were watering now and he'd wondered how long that had been going on. "Then I asked her to bite me."
"What!?" Twilight yelled and it got a wide eyed look from Cadence. "Why would you do that!?"
"So I'd forget!" Spike admitted. "I didn't want to think about how difficult everything was! I knew if... if she did that then I'd just forget about everything and she'd get what she needed." As he recalled it his head hung low, feeling shameful at the memory. "She didn't want to though."
"Why not?" Cadence asked, sounding very concerned right now.
"She said... she wasn't there to make me feel better. That I was using her too. I guess I was. I guess she was right about a lot of things. I was a monster." Spike lifted his head up to look across the table. "Twilight, I'm sorry for all the things I did. I thought as long as I kept everything secret everyone would be happy. But I think I was lying to myself as much as all of you. Even after someone told me I was doing it."
"Spike..." Twilight began to sit up to approach him but Cadence put her hand up to stop her.
"No Twilight, not yet." Cadence warned. "We talked about this."
"But-!"
"You'll get to have your chance soon, but not yet. Not until we're done." She explained and Twilight sat back down, Spike looking between them trying to understand the exchange.
"What was that about?" He asked but Cadence shook her head.
"We'll discuss that at the end. What I want to know next is how Fluttershy came into all of this."
"Oh, well... Damselfly and I actually met once more when I got the medicine to fix everyone's injuries from Zecora. She helped me get the ingredients but didn't bite me. In fact she told me to stay away from the woods because it was more dangerous than usual. And that she didn't want me to bother her anymore." Spike admitted feeling humiliated that a creature that survived on emotions didn't want any of his. "Some time later one of Fluttershy's pets led me to her house and uh... she was on the floor and two changelings were above her."
"Two of them?" Cadence asked worriedly. "What were they doing?"
"I dunno... they were just standing there. But Fluttershy was naked, like they had taken her clothes off and she had two bites on her."
"That poor girl..." Cadence said, sounding fearful. "If those two changelings... no, never mind that right now. What happened next?"
"There was a little bit of a fight and after they saw I could breathe fire they just ran away. Leaving me with Fluttershy. I didn't know what to do but Damselfly showed up afterwards and told me she was going to die. So I begged her to help me, said I'd do anything she wanted and then she sucked the venom out."
"She sucked the venom out?" Cadence asked and Spike nodded. "From Fluttershy with her own mouth?"
"Yeah... I had to hold her up but she did it on both of her bite marks and threw it back up on the floor."
"That's... startling if true." Cadence said to herself and Twilight reluctantly spoke up.
"It's true." Twilight confirmed. "When Spike brought Fluttershy to me she was hurt badly but there wasn't any more venom in her system. The only people that could have removed it was a sorcerer who was skilled enough to know how or I guess another changeling."
"That still doesn't make sense, it could have killed her." Cadence spoke up, seeing the look of surprise on Twilight and Spike. "It's not common practice for a changeling to suck out the venom from a victim and it's not healthy for them to ingest it or be bitten by another changeling. The effects can be fatal on one another. It's how two queens usually have to finish each other off if they're fighting for territory or control of a hive."
"I didn't know that." Spike said quietly to himself. "So... when I asked her to help, I was basically asking her to kill herself?" Spike asked Cadence worriedly who let out a sigh herself.
"It's hard to say. There's limited knowledge on how a changeling's society and biology works. The entire scope of their survival is keeping themselves secret. Perhaps your Damselfly knew she could do it because she's a queen."
"Princess, actually." Spike corrected and Cadence's brow furrowed as if she was offended he'd refer to Damselfly with her own title. "At least that's what they call a changeling who can become a Queen. She said they're princesses until they take a hive of their own. Not like you and Celestia but... it's what she said they're called."
"Well... I suppose that makes sense." Cadence said. "Though it sounds like this Damselfly is out of our lives."
"She said she wanted as much." Spike explained and Twilight spoke up to that.
"If she hates being around people so much, why does she keep coming back to you?" Twilight asked and Spike shrugged with legitimate bewilderment to the subject.
"I dunno. I think she's lonely. She said she had a sister but she hasn't seen her in a long time."
"Another queen?" Cadence asked worriedly and Spike nodded.
"Yeah, I guess they had trouble getting along and Damselfly didn't seem to like other changelings any more than she did people. She was hard to understand. But she did help me get home so I guess I'm still thankful to her. Even if she said I was the reason she has to be on the run."
"So there's another potential queen out there." Cadence said worriedly. "Well... we can only hope her sister shares the same feelings of wanting to live a private life without drama."
"I guess. So... what happens now?" Spike asked the two women, looking between them. "Damselfly is gone and I came back to the castle. What do we do from here?" He looked directly at Twilight who stared back at him sadly.
"Do you want to go back home?" Twilight asked him and Spike nodded. "Do you understand what that means?"
"Everyone will be mad, right?" Spike asked her.
"Spike, it's not just Rarity and me anymore. I told all our friends the truth." His eyes widened with realization when she said that. "Pinkie, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, they were all with me when I explained everything that happened." She said and the weight of that began to hit Spike like a blow to the stomach.
"Does... does Sweetie Belle know too?" He asked and Twilight nodded as well.
"She knows about you and Rarity. I don't know if Rarity explained our relationship to her but she knows that you were with her sister." Spike's head dropped into his hands. "They all know about us now Spike. If we go back, all of our friends will be aware of the things we did. Can you live with that?" Spike sat in his chair for a while, Twilight and Cadence giving him time to think through what this would mean. Not interrupting him as he just processed the emotions rolling through his body that all his closest friends knew the things he'd done with Rarity and with Twilight.
"Do they even want to see me again?" Spike asked, choking back a sob as he did. "Or... do they hate me?"
"They don't hate you." Twilight assured him. "We spent the entire day after Fluttershy was admitted to the hospital looking for you. Rainbow Dash covered a huge distance trying to figure out where you had gone. None of us hate you."
"Does Rarity hate me?" Spike asked and Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat.
"I can't believe she does." She answered. "She's angry with you, of course. I doubt what her sister went through was pleasant and if we go home you'll have to talk to her about all of this. But I don't believe she can hate you, Rarity loves others too much."
"Hey Twilight?" Spike spoke up from where he was covering his face with his hands. "I'm scared of going home."
"Me too." Twilight admitted. "I don't know how they'll look at us anymore... I'm scared of it as well. The truth is I came to the castle because I was afraid of how everyone would react. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss them all very much."
"I miss them too." Spike admitted, picking his head up finally to show he hadn't been able to hold the tears back anymore. "I want to go home!" At his words Twilight looked to Cadence who nodded her head quietly. Lifting up her hand Twilight grabbed hold of the table between them with her magic and slid it swiftly aside without spilling any of the contents on top of the table. Standing up she rushed over to Spike and hugged him tightly, the boy returning the hug just as strong. The rush of emotions feeling her embrace was overwhelming as they hugged and cried into each other's arms until the tears ran out. When it seemed like there was nothing left inside either of them Spike asked again. "Can we go back?"
"We can go back!" Twilight confirmed, separating the hug and giving Spike a kiss on the forehead. "I know it will be different and maybe scary but we can go back. I promise I'll do better for you. I'll do everything I can to help us get back home."
"Twilight. Spike." Cadence spoke up, both looking over at her after forgetting she had been there during their emotional moment. "I have no objections to you both returning to the village. In fact, I want you to. I think it's healthier there for you both than it is here living in the castle."
"Cadence, are you sure about that?" Twilight asked her. "I get worried you're lonely up here."
"Oh, don't worry about me Twilight. We'll still see each other plenty. Besides, this is only a temporary living situation for Shining Armor and myself." Cadence explained. "That aside, tonight I think the thing you both need to consider more than anything is what your relationship will be from here on out. And whatever decision you choose, it should be one you can be honest about. Do you both understand?" Cadence asked, Twilight and Spike feeling the weight of those words on their backs. Their friends all knew about what they had done before, but now they had to go forward deciding who they were going to be. Standing up from her seat Cadence suddenly squeezed them both into a strong hug against her. "Now come here you two! I don't mind being the stern big sister when I need to but I better get some loving hugs afterwards."
"So this is goodbye I guess." Spike spoke to his traveling companion as they stood at the train stop of the capital. His final destination within eyesight as the castle stood over every building surrounding it.
"If we're lucky it is." Damselfly responded, still in her human disguise from their travel here. Spike was finally home and she could drop him off here and be on her way.
"Where do you plan to go from here?"
"Wherever. It doesn't really matter. Probably some place that's got enough people for me to be around but without any competition for the food. Far away from here, that's for sure."
"Hey Damselfly... I'm sorry about all the trouble I may have caused you." Spike said and Damselfly couldn't help but smile and laugh lightly. "I'm being serious here."
"I know you are, it's just... I'm not one who's used to getting apologies. Still, I suppose I'd be dead in the forest if you hadn't come along that day. So this makes us even." Damselfly said, putting out a hand to him. Spike hesitated but eventually took it, giving a friendly handshake between them. "Thought about what you're going to say to Twilight Sparkle when you first see her?"
"Not really. To be honest, I'm just trying not to freak out over it."
"Well I didn't babysit you all this way for you to chicken out now. She's waiting, get up there and put an end to this mess. For all our sake."
"Yeah, I will. Thank you again for traveling with me. Be safe out there."
"Don't worry your spiky little head over me. By the time you're in that castle this train will be gone and we'll be out of each other's lives." Damselfly said and Spike nodded in return, turning to walk away from the train platform and head up to where his family was waiting for him. Letting out a sigh of relief Damselfly returned to the train and entered her cabin, stretching her limbs out now that it belonged all to herself. Truth was she didn't have any idea where she'd go from here but putting some distance between her and all of the humans she'd grown too close to was the best thing she could think of. She didn't hate any of them but the constant interactions put her at far too much risk and it would be much less stressful on her if she just disappeared into the night where no one could find her ever again. With these intentions in mind it wasn't surprising that Damselfly was shaken when she heard a knock at her cabin door. Not expecting anyone at all to try and find her before boarding checked their tickets. Maybe Spike came back for some reason?
"Yeah? Come on in." Damselfly called out to the person on the other side and watched as the door slid open. Though it wasn't Spike that was there waiting for her. Instead a capital guard walked in. Covered in black armor that had the symbol of the moon emblazoned on the chest piece. After the first came a second and then a third until Damselfly found herself looking up at three women all covered head to toe in the armor of Luna's Night Guard. Wide eyed she stared up at them, shivering a little at seeing them appear before her. "Uh... C-can I help you?"
"Please come with us quietly." The middle guard said firmly. "If you choose to resist we cannot be held responsible for what may happen next."
"Wait, what!? What's this all about, I didn't do anything!" Damselfly spoke up suddenly. "I paid for this ticket fair and square, I ain't some stowaway."
"This has nothing to do with your ticket ma'am, if you'll please?" The guard asked and Damselfly looked between them. She didn't know how they found her on this train or why they suddenly appeared but she didn't have any intention of finding out. As the door was currently blocked she shot up to her feet and made for the window. Hands outstretched reaching for the window pane to lift it up but finding her reach falling short as a body covered in heavy armor grasped hold of her waist and wrestled her to the ground. Damselfly tried to wiggle herself out of the hold but another set of hands grabbed hold of her ankles and locked iron shackles onto them. Realizing the severity of the situation she struggled harder but the other two focused and pulled her arms behind her back, ignoring her pleas to remove themselves from her body as they attached shackles to her wrists as well. Fully restrained she tried to pull free of the locks but it was useless. Before she could cry for help a gag was tied around her mouth fiercely to restrain her ability to speak.
"Well that was easy enough." One of the guards commented to the others, almost cheerfully as they hoisted her up onto her feet.
"Really thought she'd put up more of a fight. Guess they were wrong about her." She wanted to ask who that was but her attempts to speak became muffled grunts through the cloth gag around her mouth. "Alright, get a walking criminal." Damselfly was given a hard shove in the back by one of the guards behind her and she had to be careful to watch her feet as she stumbled with the heavy chains around her legs. People cleared a path, stopping to stare at the green haired woman being taken away in chains off of the train.
Damselfly's mind was racing as to how this could have happened so fast. Spike had left not just minutes ago and these guards were there, ready to swoop in upon her. They were wearing Luna's symbol, had she been spying on her through their dreams to arrest her? Had Spike betrayed her for some sort of leniency from the princesses? As she was publicly paraded through the street, earning the glares of those watching she couldn't help but keep a few tears from falling down her cheeks. This was the reason why she had spent so much time staying away from people. Judgment, anger, hate, disgust. She could feel all those emotions directed at her and these people didn't even know who or what she was. If they could be this heartless to their own kind how could she hope to trust them as another creature?
The march to the castle was slow and steady but it didn't lead where she expected. Instead of stopping at a jail or a police station she was being led to a side entrance of the castle itself, much lower and out of the way from the main pathways leading to the front gates. Directed inside the guards took her down staircases into tunnels that smelt like they hadn't been occupied in some time. When they finally arrived at the bottom as they marched forward her eyes could see a multitude of empty jail cells around her. It seemed her journey was going to end in the dungeons of the human kingdom. They walked a further distance until finally stopping at a seemingly random cell, one of the guards opening it with a set of keys and walking inside. The other two leading her in and removing the shackles from her wrists and ankles and then exiting the cell. Walking out after them the guard with the keys closed and locked the door after her, smirking as she did. "Have a nice stay in the royal suite, traitor."
Damselfly waited until the guard had left her alone, listening to the sound of their boots against the stone floor, walking back the way they came and up the stairs that had brought them down here. Reaching up Damselfly removed the gag around her mouth and coughed, clearing her mouth out from the tight fabric that had been pressed into her lips. Once she was free of the gag her eyes adjusted quickly to her surroundings and her first realization was how dirty her cell was. There was a bed and a toilet and nothing much else. But dust covered everything as if it hadn't been cleaned in years. Letting out a sigh she sat down on the bed and looked down at the filthy floor. "I guess I was doomed to come here sooner or later."
"Say's who?" A female voice spoke, making Damselfly jump up in surprise.
"Who said that!?"
"Over here." The voice spoke, followed shortly after by the sound of rock scraping against stone as she could see a brick over her small cot wiggle and pry loose. Pulled into the next cell over. Approaching the hole in the wall Damselfly lowered herself to see a pair of lavender eyes looking back at her. "So they threw you in here too?"
"Yes... are you...?"
"Innocent!? Obviously." The woman responded. Damselfly was going to ask if she was also a changeling but that didn't seem to be the case. "Jerks just picked me up off the road and threw me down here."
"I got picked up off the train." Damselfly responded, sitting on the bed so she could more comfortably talk back through the small window. "Do you know why they brought us down here?"
"Who knows? Those princesses are probably just mad with power. I blame Twilight Sparkle." The woman said angrily.
"Huh... that's funny, I might blame her too."
"Really? Well we got something in common then. What's your name?"
"You can call me Damselfly. Who are you?"
"You might have heard of me? I'm known far and wide around this kingdom. The one, the only, the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Trixie announced herself, though Damselfly couldn't say she had any idea who this woman was.
"Uh huh... so why exactly do you blame Twilight Sparkle for this?"
"She's always been jealous of me." Trixie accused, the anger deep in her voice. "I was just minding my own business, traveling on the road to put on my show and the next thing I know Luna's guards appear out of nowhere. Accusing me of trying to take over a village!"
"That's a pretty serious accusation." Damselfly said.
"Yeah, you got that right. I hadn't done that in months." Trixie confessed which made Damselfly blink in surprise at such a confession. "But if they were going to arrest me for that they should have done it the day of. Not so much later!"
"Okay then, so how long have you been down here?"
"Just a few days. The guards bring me food but they won't tell me when they're going to let me out or why they're keeping me here."
"Is that a fact?" Damselfly said, looking around. "It is strange, don't you think?"
"Yeah, arresting people off the street like that. Don't I get a trial or a chance to speak to a lawyer or something?"
"Well not just that. We're in the dungeon." Damselfly explained to the eyes staring at her.
"Yeah, obviously, just look around you. It was the castle guards who arrested us."
"But do castle guards arrest people?" Damselfly asked and Trixie looked confused.
"Don't they?"
"I thought they just guarded the castle, like the name implies. Besides, have you looked around down here?"
"How could I? This place is pitch black and the bars are magic proof. Can't exactly get up and explore."
"It's empty besides us." Damselfly explained, getting up from the cot and looking through the bars. Every other cell in the dungeon was lacking a person filling it besides the two of them. "Plus this place is filthy."
"Well it is a dungeon."
"Yeah but if they're keeping people here shouldn't it be maintained in some way? There's something wrong about all of this." Damselfly said, returning to the hole in the wall. "I don't think we were arrested. I think someone's keeping us here in secret."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know yet. But it's the only thing that makes sense, doesn't it?"
"Well... I guess. Why did they say they arrested you?"
"They didn't. They just pulled me off the train in shackles." Damselfly explained.
"And you didn't do anything wrong?" Trixie asked her suspiciously. "Nothing at all that would get you locked up?"
"Well... I guess there is one reason." Damselfly said quietly.
"...yeah? What is it?"
"I'm not obligated to tell you that."
"Oh come on! After all of that!?" Trixie yelled at her through the small hole. "I told you what I did. You can't even be honest with me?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Oh yeah? Try me."
"Fine... I'm a changeling princess that fucked Twilight Sparkle's personal assistant." Damselfly confessed and watched the eyes staring at her as they grew wide and suddenly left her sight as Trixie laughed out loud. The sound of it echoing through the empty dungeon. She just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Told you."
"Are you kidding me!?" Trixie kept laughing. "Yeah right, sure, you're a changeling and you fucked that little shrimp that tags along with Twilight Sparkle. And I'm actually Princess Luna!"
"I can prove it to you if you want." Damselfly said, feeling more confrontational now that she'd been laughed at.
"Oh yeah? Are you going to become me next?" Trixie asked.
"I could." Damselfly offered, reaching her hand through the hole. "Just grab on for a second and you'll see." As her hand was stretched through the dungeon wall Damselfly realized this was yet another poor choice she was making. Even if she thought the two of them had been taken down here for reasons that weren't related to the law she still didn't know this woman. Who had in fact confessed to a crime as intense as trying to rule a town. Though as she was about to pull her hand back she felt a soft palm take hold of her own.
"Fine, I'll bite." Trixie said as she grasped her hand.
"Well normally I'm the one that does the biting. But that won't be necessary for this." Damselfly said. Gripping the other woman's hand she focused on her and began to draw some energy from her body.
"Whoa... what.. is this?"
"I'm eating some of your compassion." Damselfly explained. "Though I'm trying not to take too much."
"How come it feels good?" Trixie asked, her voice sounding softer now.
"That's part of how changelings get their food. We draw out the pleasant feelings inside you. I think that's enough." Damselfly let go of her hand and pulled it back, Trixie nearly trying to grab it again as she left.
"Wait!"
"Calm down, you'll feel normal again in a moment." Damselfly said, letting Trixie get her bearings before returning to herself. "Hmm... you didn't mention you were wearing a cursed amulet when you did that crime."
"How did you know that!?"
"Because now I know you." Trixie heard her own voice reply, looking through the hole in the wall to see Damselfly's green eyes replaced with her own. "I took a little peek into your heart during that handshake. Got a bit of an ego, don't you Great and Powerful Trixie?"
"No one asked you to do that!" Trixie shouted at her angrily. "Also change back to your own voice, it's weird talking to myself.
"I would have thought you'd prefer that over another person." She replied in Trixie's own voice, before changing back to her original human disguise. "So, believe me now?"
"Hmph... well... if it's a trick it's very convincing." Trixie said, sounding embarrassed at having exposed so much of herself to a stranger. "Though that would be amazing for a magic act, with that kind of skill you could perform a whole slew of tricks people wouldn't be able to figure out. Say after you get out of here are you looking for work? I could use an assistant on the road."
"You'd hire a changeling?" Damselfly asked in amazement.
"Honey, with your skills you'd get all the love and admiration on stage that your tummy could handle. And I'd get all the cash I'm rightfully missing out on on my current shows." Trixie said with a confidence that surprised Damselfly. "Though I suppose we need to get out of here first. Maybe you could do something when the guard comes to feed us?"
"It's worth a shot until we figure out why we're here anyway." Damselfly said. "I'm still surprised a human would so willingly throw her lot in with a changeling."
"Hmph, don't compare me to other humans. After all, I am the Great and Powerful Trixie. A little changeling girl needing my help isn't someone I'll turn my back on."
"Wouldn't you be getting my help to get out of this situation?" Damselfly asked.
"With your skills, yes, but it was my idea to use them. That's what stage direction is all about. I bring out the best in everyone working for me." Trixie boasted and Damselfly couldn't help but smile. There was something about this brash woman she was finding herself drawn towards. Soon after, the sound of boots hitting stone could be heard in the distance. "Oh, someone's coming. Remember the plan, if you see an opening drain them dry and maybe we can get out of here." Sliding the loose stone back into place the hole in the dungeon wall was covered again as both women sat on their cots. Damselfly unsure if such a dangerous plan would work but it was better than any idea she currently had as escaping seemed smarter than staying here to see what would happen. As the heavy boots drew closer though a feeling began to creep inside of her, something familiar and threatening. Looking forward to the bars, one of Luna's night guards appeared before her cell, though it was a different woman than the three that had brought her here.
"On your feet, prisoner." The woman spoke, Damselfly rising to her feet as instructed. The armor covered her body well but there were exposed spots on the undersides of the arms she could see through the dark. If Trixie's plan was successful she could grab hold of one of her arms and bite her, drain her unconscious and hopefully find some keys on her to let them escape. "So, thought you'd slip through the capital without us noticing?"
"Noticing what? I didn't commit any crime." Damselfly said.
"Neither of us did!" Trixie yelled from her cell next door, the woman in armor glancing over at her with an annoyed look but turning her attention to Damselfly once more as she got closer to the bars. Damselfly approached as well, searching her for an opening so she could have a moment to attack.
"Looking for me to drop my guard? Maybe thinking you'll grab my arm and bite me with that changeling venom of yours?" The woman in armor asked and Damselfly took a step back. "That's right, I know about you. In fact... if I had to guess, I'd say you were the one that sucked out the venom from Fluttershy's veins, aren't you?"
"That's... impossible." Damselfly said, taking another step back. "Who told you?"
"I just put the pieces together. It would explain why she was immune to the enchantments Trixie put on the village with all of her assistants."
"I didn't put any enchantment on Twilight Sparkle's stupid town!" Trixie protested from her cell. "...recently, anyway."
"She doesn't have any assistants either." Damselfly spoke up.
"No, she doesn't." The woman in armor said. "Though no one thought anything of it when she rolled into town with all of them and put up that big tent. After all, everyone there already knew who Trixie was and recognized that little cart of hers."
"You guys took my cart when you arrested me." Trixie said from her cell. "How could I have done all of that if I was in here?"
"You didn't." Damselfly said with horrible realization. "You were just their patsy... because they needed someone to be able to sneak into the town unquestioned."
"You always were the clever one, Damselfly." The woman in armor said, smiling in the dark at her. "And now it's time for you to use that cleverness to serve the rightful royal family."