Chapter 1

It was an unusually hot day in the town of Ponyville. The birds were chirping, the squirrels were foraging for nuts, and Fluttershy was enjoying every minute of it. She was lying under the big oak tree in her backyard, watching as her chickens played and ate seed with each other.

She sighed happily as she splayed her hooves out in front of her, the soft grass welcoming her fur. She stretched her wings out and rested her back against the oak. Suddenly, she felt a tickling sensation in her wings, and it spread to her back, then her side, and finally, her neck. She already knew what it was.

"Hello there, Mister Lizard!" she squeaked happily.

The small reptile chirped back happily at her and scurried down her shoulder, landing on the ground. It then darted away, searching for food. Fluttershy rested her head against the tree and closed her eyes.

"Fluttershy!"

The yellow Pegasus jumped, squealing. She looked up to meet Twilight's face.

"Fluttershy, I need your help!"

Fluttershy got to her hooves. "Oh, anything for you, Twilight. What is it?"

"I need to test a potion on you. It's supposed to make you run 12 times faster, but when I asked to test it on my other friends, they all said no. So, PLEEEEAAASSE?"

"Oh, um, well...why do you need to make a potion like that?"

"When somepony drinks it, they can run so fast that, when they jump into the air, they can actually fly for a good five seconds. I've always been curious as to how flying feels like, so I made the potion. But it still needs a test subject!"

"Oh, okay...for you, Twilight."

"OHHH, thankyouthankyouthankyoooooouuu!"

Twilight gave Fluttershy a huge bear hug and quickly led her out of the Pegasus' yard.

"So...this potion is supposed to make you 12 times faster?"

Fluttershy held the beaker that contained the opaque purple liquid in her hooves.

"Yes, but don't drink it yet. I have to get some stuff from downstairs, first." Twilight trotted down the stairs and went to the underground floor.

Fluttershy turned back to the potion. On the beaker was a phrase that read, "POTION: RUN 12x." The Pegasus blinked, then set it down, very carefully, onto the chemistry table. She looked around her, surveying the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of books in the library.

"Hey, Fluttershy!" a voice called.

Fluttershy turned and met Spike. "Oh, hi, Spike." replied the yellow pony quietly.

"Are you gonna be Twilight's test subject?"

"Y-Yes...why?"

"Oh nothing, just wondering."

Fluttershy blinked at him a few times, then continued to gawk at the amount of books in Twilight's home. The dragon walked around the table, looking up at it. He was too short to see what was on top of it. Curiosity got the best of him, and he turned to Fluttershy and said, "Hey Fluttershy, what's on the table?"

"Oh, you know...chemicals...and things like that..."

Spike, being the nosey dragon he was, pressed on and said, "What kinds?"

"Potions...and s-stuff."

Spike looked back at the table. Maybe if he jumped up there, he could see what Twilight was experimenting with. Dragons tended to be very curious creatures, and since Spike here was one of them, he leaped into the air and landed on the edge of the table. It rocked and wobbled under the sudden new weight. Fluttershy whipped around and cried out in terror. The table crashed to the floor, spilling all of its chemical contents onto poor Spike. He screamed as some of them got in his mouth, some of them dissolved into his scales, and some of them just burned him really bad.

He quickly scrambled away and got to his feet, panting. Fluttershy rushed over to him immediately.

"Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yeah...fine..."

"Fluttershy? Spike? What was that noise?" Twilight's voice sounded from underground.

"Oh, nothing! I just knocked a few books over, that's all!" called Spike.

"Oh, okay! Just checking!" replied the unicorn.

Fluttershy wanted to tend to Spike's wounds, but she was afraid of getting the chemicals on her. She decided that living creatures mattered more than a simple liquid.

"Don't touch me, Flutters! You could get these chemicals on you!" cried the dragon when Fluttershy made an attempt to touch his shoulder. He hastily backed away.

The Pegasus pulled back and whimpered. "Then...wh-what do we do?!" she cried in absolute panic.

"Er...I'll get Twilight!" Spike rushed down the stairs, screaming, "TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!"

Fluttershy listened carefully.

"What, Spike?"

"I got the chemicals all over me!"

"OH MY GOD, SPIKE! HOW?!"

"Well...I kinda jumped on the table to see what was on top of it, and it crashed and all the chemicals got on me."

"SPIKE, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

"I was curious, okay?! I'm sorry!"

"Spiiiiike! Ugh, come here, I have a chemical shower."

The timid pony heard the sounds of clopping hooves and pitter-pattering dragon feet. Fluttershy backed away from the doorway and looked back at the spilled chemicals on the floor. They were sizzling, fizzling, bubbling; you name it, they were doing it. Fluttershy wanted to clean it up, but she was too afraid to get the chemicals on her. So she just decided to sit down and wait while Spike was being cleaned up.

It was half an hour later when the yellow Pegasus noticed that it was taking an awfully long time for Spike to get cleaned up. She slowly trotted over the doorway and quietly walked down the steps. When she reached the bottom, she timidly called out, "Spike? Tw-Twilight? A-Are you okay?"

No reply.

"Spike? Twilight?" Fluttershy called louder.

Still no answer.

Fluttershy dared to raise her voice. "SPIKE? TWILIGHT?"

The air was as silent as a lifeless animal.

Fluttershy blinked and slowly trotted into the underground lab. She could see why the chemical table was on the other floor. The lab was full of scientific equipment, leaving absolutely no space for a large table. The Pegasus made her way through the stuff and came to a door labeled, "CHEMICAL SHOWER." She quietly knocked on it.

No reply.

Fluttershy began to get seriously worried now. "H-Hello? Anypony there?" she asked.

No answer.

Fluttershy turned the knob, and found the door was unlocked. She quietly made her way in and gasped.

Twilight was lying sprawled on the floor, blood dribbling from her mouth. Her entire body was stained with blood, both new and old. Her mane and tail were mostly ripped right from her body, and multi-colored hairs were spread across the whole room. But...there was something much, much worse. Spike was hunched over her stomach, making strange sounds that sounded almost like eating.

Fluttershy began to cry silently. "Sp-Spike?" she choked out.

The dragon slowly turned his head and stared at the yellow pony. His eyes were a deathly red and blood stained his face and dripped from his mouth. A piece of meat hung from his jaws. Fluttershy realized it. Spike was eating Twilight.

The Pegasus didn't even hold back. She vomited, the pale orange liquid splattering all over the already stained floor. Spike didn't seem the least bit unnerved by this. He stood up and stepped to the side, revealing a gaping hole in the purple unicorn's stomach, her ribs jutting out from bloodied flesh and tissue and her innards splayed across the floor, crimson pouring from them. The dragon was absolutely COVERED in blood. It was almost if the color of his scales was actually red instead of purple.

Fluttershy was now on the verge of fainting. She let out a piercing scream and raced away as fast as she could, tears pouring from her eyes. She zoomed past the science equipment and bounded up the stairs and into the library. She could hear snarling coming from behind her, and realized that Spike was chasing her.

"YOU'RE MINE!" he screamed in a dark, evil tone that sent shivers up and down Fluttershy's spine.

The timid Pegasus was about to open the front door when something pounced on her and brought her to the floor.