//------------------------------//
// Chapter X: Rocky Starts 
// Story: A Soiled Universe 
// by Odlaw 
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Twilight had not been very confident when Pinkie Pie told them she had found the castle, but sure enough, there it was. Twilight could just see the top half of a tall and decrepit looking tower. It jutted out from behind a distant line of trees which likely hid the rest of the castle. As Twilight and the others had been searching, she had been reading the book from the library. 

According to the book, the Castle Of The Two Sisters was believed to be the only known structure to ever be built within the Everfree Forest, so it had to be it. The castle was still pretty far away but at least they finally found it. Twilight had been beginning to worry that it simply didn't exist at all and that they had been wasting their time potentially getting lost.

Apparently, while randomly hopping around far ahead of the group, Pinkie just happened to find herself at the top of the tall rocky hill where the group now stood. It was only from up here that they were able to even get a view of the tower. Unlike a majority of the forest, the hill was much rockier and weathered, with tall cliffs, mini canyons, and ravines. The hill they were on was very steep on one side and was barren of most foliage.

From their current vantage point, the Everfree Forest seemed to go on for miles around, looking a whole lot bigger than it did on the map in town. A few large flowing rivers could also be seen spearing through the forest, including one that they would eventually have to cross as it ran in between them and their goal. She just hoped they could get there quickly and without any more missing ponies.

As to why Pinkie Pie had been gone for so long, she wouldn't say. Whenever Twilight tried asking her Pinkie Pie would always dodge the question and usually end up changing the subject entirely. The others had initially joined Twilight in her curiosity but had eventually stopped asking, even telling Twilight that it wasnt worth it. Once Pinkie did come down from the trees tops, she looked like she had been swimming in a swamp or something.

Her shorts were missing, much to Pinkie's apparent surprise, leaving her in just a shirt and a pair of panties. Both of which were completely drenched in a strange and slimy-looking green fluid. Pinkie explained that she had simply fallen into a 'green slime puddle' by accident and it must have taken her shorts with it somehow. Twilight couldn't help but be very doubtful but decided to drop it, following the advice of the others. Though she did happen to notice how Fluttershy would blush whenever she looked at Pinkie as if she recognized the green gunk she was covered in. Twilight would have to ask her if she knew anything about it later.

Seeing the castle they had been looking for what felt like hours now had made the entire group breathe a breath of relief. Rarity seemed particularly thankful, her fancy dress and heels were clearly not the best for trekking through the wilderness at night. They had yet to encounter anything particularly dangerous in their search and Twilight hoped their luck kept up.

'Now all we have to do is find an easy way off this hill that isn't back the way we came...'

Suddenly, there was a loud snapping noise as, without warning, Twilight felt the ground beneath her fall away.

'Uh-oh'

"Ahh!" She and the others screamed, quickly finding themselves sliding down the face of the rocky hill, now in the midst of a landslide. Tthe terrain they had all been standing on must have collapsed under their weight, not the erosion making it unstable. With the exception of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the rockslide sent them all tumbling down the hill. Twilight heard Rainbow Dash yell something from up above them along with a startled yelp from Rarity but Twilight was far too distracted to hear, desperately trying to stop herself.

As she slid down the rocky face, she peered down and was terrified to see a that the steep hill was about to transition off a sheer cliff, sure to sentence her to her untimely death. Panicked, Twilight begins grasping at everything she can, an exposed tree root, a large rock outcrop, anything that might be able to slow her down.

Unable to find anything strong enough to hold her weight, Twilight tumbles towards the edge of the cliff, screamings as she careens over the ledge. Frantically flailing her arms, she is just barely able to grasp onto the very end of a large root that had was hanging down from beneath the ledge. Dangling from it, her arm burns as it is forced to carry all her weight.

Twilight quickly realizes that there is no way she will be able to pull herself up or even hold on for very much longer. She was used to using her magic for most physically demanding tasks, and didn't have anywhere near the kind of upper body strength required.

"Hold on, Ima comin!" She hears applejack call to her from up above.

Against her better judgment Twilight looks down, her pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks from the distance to the ground below her. The cliff face was mirrored by another opposite both of which met up together at the bottom, surrounding a small grassy canyon-like valley with scattered trees and bushes.

Hearing the crumbling of pebbles and rocks, Twilight looks up just as Applejack peers over the edge of the cliff, looking frantically before noticing Twilight's predicament.

"Applejack! what do I do?!" She gasps, her fingers burning from the friction with the bark.

Should she fall from this height, it would almost certainly be to her death and in her panicked state, there was absolutely no way she would be able to concentrate on teleporting or using any magic to save herself.

Applejack seemed like she had been to be about to reach down for her hand when she stops, eyes flicking to behind Twilight.

"Let go." The apple mare tells her calmly.

"Are you crazy?!" Twilight exclaims, yelping as she feels the strength in her arm and fingers begin to wear away.

"No I ain't, I promise you'll be safe." the apple mare assures.

"That's not true!"

"Now you listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe." Applejack says, doing her best to put on a reassuring smile.

Twilight just stares back at the country mare with wide eyes as, for some unknown reason, Twilight felt compelled to believe her. Something about the country mare just bled pure honesty. With just the slightest relaxation of her grip, Twilight lets go and she plummets downwards, rapidly picking up speed as she falls. She screams as wind whips past her, the ground quickly rushing up to meet her.

"AAAHHhh-Oof!" Twilight's panicked scream is interrupted as she is suddenly caught by both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the two of them holding her up from under her arms.

Relief washes through Twilight, and she sighs in relief. She yelps again as Fluttershy very nearly loses her hold on Twilight, making them drop a few extra feet.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm not used to holding anything more than a bunny or two..." Fluttershy apologizes.

As she is slowly lowered back down to the ground, she turns to see Applejack leaping down the cliff face, from handhold to handhold, with relative ease. Once safely back on the ground, Twilight is finally able to breath easy again, holding a hand to her chest to feel her rapid heartbeats. Looking around she is thankful to see the others are also safe and sound.

Pinkie seemed to have been mostly unaffected, still lightly bouncing in place with a happy smile. Rarity, on the other hand, seemed to have been the worst off. Luckily, she didn't appear to have any injuries beyond a few minor bruises and cuts. Her dress appeared to have taken the brunt of the damage, having been torn up quite a bit.  While not completely exposed, Twilight could definitely now tell that she was, in fact, not wearing anything underneath her dress.

'I'm sure Spike will get a kick out of that' She groans inwardly, rubbing a bruise on her arm.

Suddenly realized Twilight didn't see Spike anywhere.

"Spike?!" She shouts, looking up in hopes to see him on the cliff, but there was nopony there.





Spike groans as his eyes slowly open, his vision blurry and fogged.

"Ugh, what happened?" He croaks.

He was lying on his back, likely on stone or marble based on the cold and hard surface beneath him. Spike used to enjoy taking naps on the cool floors of Celestia's palace when he was little, so it was a pretty familiar feeling. Once his vision clears he could make out what appeared to be the broken remains of a ceiling above him. All that was left was a few broken stone archways that looked like they could collapse at any moment. Through it, he could see the full moon staring back at him from the center of the night sky.

"Ough" He groans, lifting a hand up to a bump on the top of his head which was giving him quite the headache. Sitting up slowly, he takes a look at his surroundings.

He appeared to be inside of some kind of ancient structure, long since forgotten by ponies, with vines and other plant matter having overgrown large portions of it. Despite being not in very good shape, he couldn't help but think of the princess's throne room back in Canterlot. it even had large, now empty, windows, where one of the large stain glass windows, that Celestia was so fond of, would fit perfectly. To his right, a large doorless doorway led to a set of spiraling stone steps leading either to the next floor down or into a basement.

Close to his left, at the far end of the room, there was a strange sculpture or statue. It reminded Spike of some of the solar system diagrams that Twilight had sitting around at home. Behind that, against the far wall, he could just make out what appeared to be a large throne, with the shattered remains of a window above it. It looked as if someone had burst through it with a great deal of force.

Getting up slowly from the cold stone floor, Spike quickly realized something else. He was completely naked. Instinctively he reached down to cover himself but after glancing around quickly decided it didn't really matter. As long as he wasnt aroused his little buddy tended to keep to itself inside of a tiny slit beneath some scales on his crotch. The only real reason he wore clothes was that he was brought up to, as well as if he did get aroused, at least he could try to hide it.

'Did I get hit by something? How in Equestria did I even get here?'

The last thing he could clearly remember was when he and the others had been looking at the tower of the castle that was were looking for. He had just been thinking about how relieved he was to finally see it when the ground beneath his feet had suddenly started to fall away. He saw the others begin to fall and then...darkness. 

It certainly felt like he had been hit by something. Perhaps he had been hit in the head by a rock, and the others had been forced to carry him to the castle? If so then where were they now? Surely they wouldn't just leave him on the ground in the castle throne room, open to the elements? The idea of the others carrying him naked made him blush.

'I hope I didn't have any particularly 'interesting' dreams...'

He had been about to start searching for the others when he heard a voice that made his back spines stand on end.

"Oh is our little drake finally awake?" A powerful feminine voice says, sending an icy chill down his back. Whirling around, Spike takes a step back as Nightmare Moon herself lands on the ground just a few feet front of him, wings outstretched and wearing an amused grin. From up close her lizard-like cyan eyes seem to glow and her sharp teeth were visibly serrated.

"I'm a bit impressed, that spell was capable of knocking out a pony for days, yet here you are, awake within an hour." The evil alicorn says, her right hand resting on her hip, while the other grasps a scythe taller than she was. As it is she was easily as tall as Celestia, being a little bit more than an entire head taller than himself.

"W-where are the others!?" Spike demands, doing his best to keep composed through the intense aura of fear and magical power radiating off of her. She chuckles.

"Why so concerned about them, little dragon? Are they not your cruel masters? Are you not just one of their slaves?" She asks, gesturing towards him with her scythe.

"W-what?! I'm not a slave!" He says, feeling insulted by just the idea alone.

Nightmare scowls at this. "Nonsense!" She slams the pole of her scythe against the ground. "No doubt Celestia has found some way to enslave your kind in my absence. She has probably made you one of her worshiper's servants, brainwashed from birth to fulfill their every need or desire. She would do anything to keep her sun-loving subjects on her side!" She shouts, her angry voice reverberating around the room.

She seemed as if she had been about to say more, but stops herself, regaining the composure lost from her sudden rage.

"If you are truly not one of their slaves, then why follow them here? Why should a dragon such as yourself care for the feeble problems of those ponies? Before my banishment, your kind was among the proudest and most selfish creatures in all the land! Your kind hoarded vast treasures, destroyed whole towns by night or day, and even stole virgin mares from their villages, bringing them back to be ravaged in your lair. Is this why you are here? Do you plan on pillaging them as well?"

"No! I would never do anything like that to them!" Spike shouts, fists clenched in anger, fueled by her accusations.

"Then why!? Why have you followed them here? What are you seven searching for?!" She demands, taking steps towards him, her long scythe flashing down and leveling with his neck. "Do you attempt so foolishly to try and stop me? To banish me once again in an effort to bring back the one who has so clearly fooled you into subservience?!"

"We will stop you! Twilight and the others will find the elements and bring back the princess!" He says, much to her apparent amusement.

"Why, I'm afraid it is far too late for that. They will never make it to this place, and even if they do, I will kill them all myself!"

Suddenly, Spike is surrounded by Nightmare Moon's icy magical aura and his arms and legs are forced together as if wrapped in cold metal constraints. With an amused smirk she hovers him up, floating him to the far end of the room and putting him down on what was left of the broken throne. Even once she releases him he is left unable to speak or move.

"There, that shall hold you in place until I have dealt with your friends. But don't fret, I do not plan on killing you." She says, dissipating her scythe into dark mist and lifting her hand to his cheek. "Maybe once you are freed from your enslavement, and realize all that I have done for you, you will be willing to see the light of the moon." She chuckles. "After all, it has been quite a long time since I have had the pleasure of being alone a well-built male such as yourself."

Spike shivered as he feels Nightmare moon eying him up hungrily, focusing much longer than he felt comfortable with on his crotch. It didn't help much that she had leaned over to come face to face with him, making her skimpy armor provide him with an ample view down her cleavage. While not appearing very physically protective, it was likely heavily enchanted. Looking up at him again, she gives him a sultry look.

"It is said that almost every virgin mare who has ever been taken by a dragon...has never wanted to leave their lair, having been too entranced by their jewels. Perhaps I could find out why..."

With a sinister giggle, her whole body transforms, turning into the dark blue misty cloud he had seen in the town hall. It swirls around him before disappearing from a window, leaving him sitting there naked and magically bound to a throne. Looking ahead he notices the strange sculpture has also disappeared, leaving a square block of empty space on the floor.

'I really hope the others don't find me like this.'

As if working against him images of the dark alicorn slowly stripping off her skimpy armor flash through his mind.

'Really not helping brain...'





"Hmmm, now where are those meddling sun-lovers..." Nightmare Moon growls, flying quickly through the forest as she heads towards the site of the rockslide she caused. 'I have not been properly satisfied for over a thousand years and I won't tolerate six pitiful sister-worshipers trying to get in my way!'

As she neared the cliff, she had initially expected to find at least a few corpses lying at the bottom of the valley rockslide had slid down to. However, instead, she was frustrated to find all six of them in seemingly perfect health. Rushing behind some trees on the cliffside above them, she watched.

They appeared to be searching for their dragon, the two pegasi circling in the air above. Of them, one drew her attention the most. The purple unicorn that had called her out when she made her appearance. The dragon had even been standing next to her at the time. Even from here she could feel her magical potential, though it was very clearly untapped. She would have to be careful around her.

Even with that unicorn around, she could still easily just fly down and destroy them all with very little effort, but she Nightmare Moon didn't want to. It had been over a thousand years and while she had been able to banish Celestia, she had a bit more pent up frustration she could take out on them. Still, she would have to get a bit more crafty. The others had managed to escape from that rockslide unharmed, so perhaps it was about time that something that lived in this wretched forest gave them a piece of its mind...and maybe another part of it too...



