Sparkle's Quest, Samuel's Journey (Book 1 of The Alicorn Chronicles)

Chapter 8: The Source of All Evil

The tower's evil power shook Sparkle to the core as they walked through. The only was she could keep her sanity was, surprisingly, Samuel. It was the fact that every time he did something, weather it was the interrupting her, or guiding her through the dark, it brought her back to her sanity.

When they reached the pedestal, Samuel placed her hoof on it. The evil powers shot up her leg, and she immediately removed it. Then, the amulet appeared.

"The Amulet of Amüs de..." Samuel whispered.

Evil poured from it, immediately causing Sparkle pain. She tried not to cry out, but had to step back. Samuel didn't even notice.

"I've searched for this... For so long." Samuel said in awe of its evil power.

"This is the source of all evil in Equestria! Why would you-" "I'm not a good person Sparkle." Samuel looked at her, red eyes glowing.

"But Sam-" "Stop." He said.

Sparkle took a deep breath, but stepped closer to observe the amulet. Samuel picked it up, and set it inside a small box he had. He replaced the amulet with a fake one.

"To prevent suspicion..." He explained.

Then, they turned and left the tower.

The exited the tower, and continued to walk. The longer Sparkle stayed near the amulet, the more tired and sickly she felt. It was like it drained all of her energy.

Moondrop began to whimper.

"It's okay Moondrop..... I'm fi-......." Sparkle tried to say, but she lost consciousness....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sparkle awoke in another small clearing, but not the same one she was in before. She was in her sleeping blankets, and Moondrop was asleep by her side.

The moon rose high in the sky, and it looked like the middle if the night, but Samuel stood in the middle if the clearing with his back to her, tending a fire.

She stood, careful not to wake her pup, and walked over to him.

"First of all, how did I get here? Second, it's the middle of the night! Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Sparkle asked.

Samuel chuckled. "Well, it seems as if the amulet drained your powers and energy, and you little pooch made me bring you to this clearing. As for your second question, do you really want those things to be disturbing your sleep?" He asked, motioning to the pony beasts Sparkle had encountered earlier.

"No..." She admitted.

"Exactly." Samuel said.

He touched his horn into a large pot over the fire. The liquid inside began to glow with his black magic. Sparkle watched. He walked and poured the liquid all around the outside edges of the camp, and then returned.

"That'll keep 'em out." He said.

As he began to set up his side of the camp, Sparkle watched him. She didn't understand why Tia and Lu would banish him! He didn't seem all that bad.

He sat down on his sleeping bag. And he looked at her. Their eyes met for a moment before she turned away. She got out a scroll and pen and began writing to Celestia and Luna like she did every night.

"Dear Tia and Lu,

I miss you so much my friends!

My journey has taken me to the Vale. I am here tonight, and have located the center of all evil. How am I going to bring goodness to it? I don't know. I'm working on that part.

I'll see you both soon. Take care.

Your faithful student.
-Future princess, Sparkle Shimmer."

She rolled up the scroll and sent it to her mentors.

She glanced over at Samuel. Why she left him out if her letter, she didn't know. Call it a gut feeling. She knew that if she told the princesses about him, they'd take him away. And she was just starting to not feel lonely anymore.

She laid down and snuggled close to Moondrop. And just as she was about to drift off to sleep, she thought she heard Samuel whisper...

"Thank you."

~Sparkle Shimmer