//------------------------------// // The Curse // Story: Diamond's Dusk // by The Dragon Warlock //------------------------------// Rarity screamed as she raised herself up. She panted wildly as she looked around her surroundings, for she was back in her own room. The sun was shining through the windows. The ‘organized chaos’ around her room looked the same. Even the bed she was lying in, with the red comforter she had covering herself. “What?” she asked herself, sounding confused. “What happened to me? Was it all just some crazy dream?” A loud knocking noise boomed throughout the room, making the unicorn jump and yelp. “Rarity!” said Sweetie Belle in a cheerful voice. “Mom and dad are downstairs! They made breakfast for us and want to take us on their vacation!” “Mom and Dad?” wondered Rarity in an unsure tone. “Duh! Who were you expecting? The princesses?” asked Sweetie. “They’ve been sending us letters telling us of the news!” Rarity didn’t know what to make of this. On one hoof, she wanted to spend time with her family, but her mind kept drifting back to Nightmare Moon. “Sweetie? I’m going to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me.” “No! I didn’t go see Button Mash last night!” Sweetie shouted in a panic. “I was in my bed sleeping!” Rarity couldn’t help but smile at that. Honestly Sweetie, you’re as bad a liar as Applejack. She cleared her throat. “That’s not what I was going to ask you. What I was going to ask you is. ‘Did Nightmare Moon return?’” “Nightmare Moon?” inquired Sweetie, sounding lost. “Rarity, she hasn’t been around since you and your friends defeated her three years ago. What makes you think she’s going to return?” The unicorn felt a little relieved by those words. “Oh, I’m just checking to make sure no big danger is invading Equestria. I mean we had her, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra. You never know when the next villain will show up.” Sweetie said nothing for a few seconds. “Well. . . there’s nothing important going on,” she said. “Now come on! We got to go eat and then we’ll pack up and go with Mom and Dad!” The remaining doubts inside Rarity subsided. What was I thinking? she asked herself. All that strange Nightmare Moon stuff happening? I must be losing my mind. That’s the last time I have one of Pinkie’s Nighty Night Cupcakes. She smiled and got out of bed. “I’ll be right down, Sweetie,” she said in a jubilant tone. “Just let me make sure my coiffure is proper and prim.” “Alright, we’ll be waiting for you!” The sound of Sweetie’s humming could be heard for a few moments as she walked away. After the sound died out, Rarity trotted over to the mirror. “Well Rarity, you certainly worked yourself up over nothing. Perhaps the place we’ll go to will have a spa for me to unwind.” She looked at herself in the mirror and instantly screamed in horror. There, in the reflection, was Nightmare Moon’s face, smiling smugly at her. “Missed me?” she wondered in a mocking tone. “Don’t worry Rarity, I’ll make sure you’ll never forget me. Why just look at what I’ve given you.” Rarity, shakingly, looked at her hooves and cried out in horror. They were pitch black, like Nightmare’s body. She looked at herself in the mirror again, but the dark alicorn wasn’t in the reflection this time. Instead, it was her Nightmare Rarity form. “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” The reflection cackled. Rarity backed away in horror, but she heard a loud cracking noise. She looked down to see the floor was about to give way. Before she could react, a shattering noise echoed and Rarity plunged downwards. All the while, the spirit of Nightmare Moon laughed at the terrified unicorn. “No!” screamed Rarity. “Don’t do this to me!” “She’s waking up!” Applejack yelled. “Rarity! It’s okay!” Spike shouted. “Keep her restrained,” Twilight said in a commanding tone. “We need to make sure she doesn’t do anything irrational.” Rarity opened her eyes to see all her friends pushing their hooves down on her. “Let go of me this instant!” She screeched. “What’s going on here?!” “Hold it!” Twilight bellowed. Everypony stopped struggling and stared at the lavender unicorn. “All of you, get off Rarity, now. The sooner we explain things to her, the more quickly we can find a solution.” Everypony looked at one another with unsure expressions, but agreed to what their friend said. They released their grip on Rarity and backed away. Rarity let out a sigh of relief and took several deep breaths to calm herself down. As she did, she took a glance at her surroundings. The sound of a monitor beeping caught her attention as she noticed a heart monitor. The bed she was lying in was a simple one and had a green blanket covering her. The room had dark green wallpaper, a privacy curtain around her, and a window that allowed the moonlight in. “Alright, will somepony explain to me what’s going on?” she demanded. “One moment, I’m having a nightmare about the Nightmare Forces taking control of me. The next thing I know, I’m being held down in a hospital!” Rarity noticed that her friends each had a solemn expression on them. “What is it? Was it something I said?” “Um. . . about that first thing you said,” responded Applejack, sounding apprehensive. “Applejack! Don’t say anything!” scolded Twilight. “Say what?” wondered Rarity. “I told you all that I just had a nightmare that the Nightmare Forces tried to make me the next Nightmare Moon. Surely this was all just a bad dream, right?” The unicorn was met with silence and grim looks. “Come on, girls!” shouted Rarity as she started to panic. “Tell me this was all a bad dream!” No response came. The unicorn put her hoof on the blanket and took a deep breath. She pulled it off to see the horrible truth before her. The look of her body resembled the one she had in her nightmare. Rarity’s heart was racing with fear and her body trembled. “This can’t be!” wailed Rarity. “How can this happen to me?!” “We don’t know, Rarity,” said Twilight. “I’ve never seen this kind of magic before.” “There’s got to be a cure!” Rarity struggled to get out of bed. “I need to do something, anything, to turn back to normal!” “Girls! Hold her down!” ordered Twilight. Everypony placed their hooves, or in the case of Spike, his claws, down on Rarity. The unicorn struggled in vain to free herself. “Get off me!” yelled Rarity. “You can’t do this to me!” “Rarity, just calm down!” shouted Spike. “Twilight will probably find something in a book to fix this! Just don’t panic!” “Don’t panic? Oh, sure! I’ll just keep calm and act like nothing happened!” spat Rarity in a sarcastic tone. The room soon fell into chaos as everypony argued. Things were so loud, nopony noticed the sound of a door opening, with two ponies walking in. They saw the ongoing quarrel and looked at each other briefly. One of the two stepped forward. “Ahem!” Everypony quickly fell silent from the commanding tone. They all turned around to see both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, with stern expressions. Twilight wanted to crawl into a hole just from the intense stare her mentor was giving her. “I see you’ve all given your friend quite the wake up call,” said Princess Celestia, sounding disappointed. “We’ll let it slide though, since I know Rarity’s scared.” “Princesses, you two are quite a sight for sore eyes,” said Rarity, sounding a little relieved. “If I could right now, I’d kiss your hooves in gratitude for the cure you must have.” No response came, making Rarity feel even worse. “Princesses, please tell me you two have something to fix me.” Her voice was quivering. Princess Luna shook her head. “I’m afraid not, Rarity,” she said, solemnly. “All this time while you were in your coma, my sister and I looked through the archives for anything, but it was all for naught.” Rarity’s insides grew cold and her heart was racing. “We’ve never seen this kind of magic before,” said Princess Celestia, in a similar solemn tone. “In all my years as a ruler and researcher of magic, this is something that’s completely unknown to me. Even Starswirl the Bearded’s books have nothing about this kind of sorcery.” “This. . . this can’t be. . .” replied Rarity in a broken voice. Her eyes welled up with tears. “There’s got to be something you can do! Maybe the Nightmare Forces are still inside me somewhere! Try to find her and make her tell you all how to turn me back to normal.” Both princesses looked away and bit their lips. “What’s with the silence?” Inquired Rarity. “The Nightmare Forces did this to me, so they must be still a part of me.” “That’s just it, Rarity,” said Princess Luna. “We did a complete scan of your body once you were stabilized.” “Where are you going with this?” demanded the unicorn. “. . . There are no traces of the Nightmare Forces in you,” said Princess Celestia, somberly. The room fell eerily silent, with the exception of the monitor beeping, and Rarity’s eyes went wide with shock and her jaw dropped. “We don’t know what’s causing this,” said Princess Celestia. “We will continue to look for－” “Wh－Whaattt?” Shrieked Rarity. “What do you mean there’s no cure?” “Rarity, we’re sorry to say this, but there is nothing to treat this,” said Princess Luna. “Unless we speak to the Nightmare Forces themselves, we won’t find out anything more.” “But we destroyed them,” said Twilight. “What can we do now?” “We’re not sure, my faithful student,” said Princess Celestia. “Rarity will just have to, unfortunately, live with this until we figure out what we can do.” Twilight looked down in sorrow. “I understand, Princess,” she said in a depressed tone. She looked over to her friend. “Rarity, this isn’t going to be easy, but I’ll check every book across Equestria to fix this.” Rarity’s only response was lowering her head and burying it in her hooves. The tears in her eyes rolled down her face as she felt her world crumble before her. What am I going to do now? she pondered. I can’t just stay like this forever! There has to be something that can be done to end this. But what can I do when－ The unicorn suddenly felt something sharp jab her in the heart and clutched her chest. Everypony noticed the sudden movement. “Rarity!” yelled Spike. “Are you okay?” She threw her head back and let out a painful scream. Everything became a blur for the unicorn as her heart was racing and the voices from her concerned friends became a buzzing noise. My . . . friends . . . help. . . Everything went black for Rarity and she fell into a deep slumber. “Rarity! Wake up!” wailed Spike in a tearful voice. He looked over to Princess Celestia. “What’s wrong with her?” “We don’t know, Spike,” she said, trying to sound confident, but sounded worried. She looked up at the monitor connected to Rarity. “She’s still alive, but whatever happened to her caused her to maybe go back into shock.” “I’ll go get a nurse!” shouted Spike. He bolted out the door and ran down the hallway. Rarity. . . please be okay. Back inside Rarity’s ward, Twilight was pacing back and forth, while everypony else watched her anxiously. “What should we do now, Twilight?” asked Rainbow. “Who knows what’s happening to Rarity?” “I’m not sure, Rainbow,” Twilight replied. “Whatever caused Rarity to go back into a coma can’t be good. For all we know, the Nightmare Forces could already be doing something to her.” “. . . You are partially right, Twilight Sparkle,” a contorted voice moaned. A chill ran down everypony’s body as they heard the voice. They all turned around to see Rarity, who was shaking slightly. She opened her eyes to reveal they were unfocused and unblinking, making Fluttershy nearly faint in horror. “What? No friendly hello?” asked Rarity, her voice a mix of hers and the Nightmare’s. Rainbow wasted no time confronting the dark spirit and got in her face. “You again!” she seethed. “I knew after what you just did to Rarity that you weren’t finished yet!” The possessed Rarity put a hoof on Rainbow’s face and pushed her off, sending her to the ground. Rainbow winced in pain as she got up. “Why I ought to—” “Enough already,” boomed Rarity. She looked over to Twilight, who had a glare on her face. “I see all of you have seen the nice gift I’ve left you all. Wasn’t it so thoughtful?” “What have you done with Rarity?” demanded Twilight. “She’s just taking a small nap right now,” she said. “Don’t worry, I’ll make this quick.” Princess Celestia stepped forward, with a bitter look on her. “For your sake, Nightmare, you had better answer our questions,” she spat. Rarity let out a laugh that sounded almost demonic. “Oh, Celestia, you were always such a prude.” “How dost thou still live?” asked Luna, sounding just as furious as her sister. “We both scanned Rarity’s body and there was no trace of you at all.” “Ha! You think doing that would solve everything?” mocked Nightmare Rarity. “All I had to do was keep my power low enough for you all not to detect me. It’s amazing how somepony like you, Celestia, can do so much, but yet fail in so many ways.” “Still thy tongue or else I’ll do it for you!” scolded Luna. “Don’t worry. . . as I said, I’ll make this quick,” Nightmare replied, sounding unfazed. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked. “Twilight, as I speak to you now, the last bit of my strength is dying and soon I will be no more.” Everypony looked at each other with perplexed expressions. “So what’s this got to do with Rarity?” wondered Applejack. “Why put her through more of this, you snake?” “Because. . . I found something in her that made her a prime target for one last attack from me.” Nightmare Rarity snickered to herself. “She kept something from all of you for so long, she practically had a bullseye painted on her.” “Secret?” pondered Twilight. “Didn’t I just say it was something she kept from all of you?” inquired Nightmare. “Now stop interrupting me, unless you don’t want to about what I did.” Twilight bit her lip and nodded. “Now as I was saying: Rarity kept a secret from all of you and her family. She didn’t want to let it slip about this because as much as she wanted to act on what she desired, she was very afraid as well.” “Afraid of what?” asked Rainbow. “A lot of things, you annoying blue pest.” “Hey!” Rainbow was about to tackle Nightmare Rarity, but Twilight used her magic to stop her. “Let it go, Rainbow,” she said and turned to Nightmare. “Could you at least explain a little about what she was afraid of?” The possessed Rarity mused on this for a moment. “Very well. What I can tell you is that she feared her career would be ruined. Her social status? Annihilated. The world all over would reject her and society would condemn her for what she did.” “What is it?” asked Twilight. “Breaking a Pinkie Promise?” wondered Pinkie. Everypony gave her a deadpanned expression. “What? Everypony knows not to break a Pinkie Promise,” she said, innocently. Twilight sighed and said, “Pinkie’s ramblings aside, what could be so bad?” Nightmare Rarity smiled to herself. “If you must know, listen to me very carefully. I will only say this once.” Everypony nodded and leaned in. “In her heart veiled, a secret scaled, A dark unknown desire, With my last spark, I made my mark, This curse shall not expire.” “A blight you'll be, when ponies see, Your countenance at night, Until revealed, this pain concealed, Forever shall be your plight!” The room fell silent as the dark spirit finished what she had to say. Princess Celestia looked at her sister, both of whom looking unsure about how to respond. Applejack raised an eyebrow and rubbed the back of her head. Fluttershy and Rainbow looked like they had been slapped in the face and were left speechless. Pinkie, who also looked confused, turned her head upside down and quirked an eyebrow. Twilight broke out of her flabbergasted state and said, “What does that have to do with anything?” “I told you what you needed to know,” said Nightmare, nonchalantly. Twilight gritted her teeth in frustration. “You’re speaking in riddles though! When did you become Discord?” “What can I say? I liked some of his methods.” Twilight stomped her hoof and groaned irritably. “Well that’s a lot of help! What are we supposed to take from that?” “The rest you’ll all have to find out on your own,” said Nightmare. “However, since I’m feeling a bit generous (probably because your friend is that element) I will tell you two other things.” “What is it?” moaned Twilight. “Don’t get mopey on me now,” Nightmare chastised. “I’m giving you all a fighting chance.” Twilight rolled her eyes, but Nightmare Rarity ignored it. “One, there’s no cure in any book. What I have done to Rarity won’t be fixed with any spell, ritual, or potion. So you can forget just wasting your time reading.” “And the other clue?” demanded Princess Luna. “You already have the key to save your friend.” Everypony’s eyes shot open and stared at their possessed friend. “We already have the key?” pondered Twilight. “What could it be though?” Nightmare Rarity chuckled to herself. “That . . . you’ll have to find out on your own,” she said, sounding weak. “My time here is over now.” Princess Celestia trotted up to Rarity. “Why are you telling us this?” she asked, sounding apprehensive. “I’m very skeptical of all of this.” Rarity smiled in a menacing manner. “Because I want to see how far your magic of friendship can go to save your friend. Besides, if Rarity wants to save herself, then the only way to do that is to break the shackles of fear that hold her. For how long that is though, I don’t even know. It’ll be amusing, though, to see her go through this and maybe she’ll come out a stronger mare.” She turned to Twilight, who was still looking irritated. “Remember my riddle well, little pony,” she said. “It could mean the difference between saving your friend, or making her an outcast for the rest of her life.” She let out one last wild laugh and then it stopped. Rarity’s head fell back against the pillow and let out a small groan. Everypony remained motionless, with none of them saying a single word. None of them knew how to break the silence, nor did they know how to react. Twilight herself wasn’t sure what to make of what she just heard. Even with how intelligent she was, she had never been this stumped over something before. “. . . Ugh. . . “ The group glanced at Rarity, who was waking up again. They all gathered around her, each pony looking deeply concerned for their friend. Rarity slowly opened her eyes and let out another groan. “Oh my head,” she moaned. “It feels like a train hit me.” “Rarity!” exclaimed Twilight as she hugged her. “We’re so good to hear you again.” The unicorn looked uncomfortable, but returned the hug as well. “Um . . . what just happened?” she wondered. “All I remember is losing consciousness again.” “You don’t remember anything?” Fluttershy asked. “Do you at least remember ya still look like Nightmare Rarity?” pondered Applejack. “Of course I do, darling,” said Rarity, sounding depressed and looking forlorn. Rainbow slapped her friend. “Smooth move, Applejack,” she scolded. “I was just asking her!” the farmer pony argued. Before Rainbow could say anything else, her tongue was pulled by Twilight’s aura. “That’s enough you two,” she lectured. “We need to figure out the Nightmare Forces meant by the riddle we got.” Rainbow pulled her tongue back in and said, “No offense, Twi, but I’m a future Wonderbolt, not a puzzle solver.” “I got to agree with you, Rainbow,” said Applejack. “My mind’s more dazed than a pony who drank too much cider.” “Maybe it’s like a game?” pondered Pinkie, her voice still jubilant. “She said something about scales, so maybe it’s like a scavenger hunt. Let’s see, what creatures have scales?” “Um, no offense Pinkie, but I don’t think that’s what Nightmare meant,” Fluttershy said. Twilight let out a sigh. “We’ll be here all night thinking about what she meant.” Princess Celestia’s head jerked up and let out a gasp. She looked up to the clock nearby and saw it was half past six. “Oh, no! I forgot to raise the sun,” she said, sounding disappointed. “I’ll just take care of it from this window nearby. The last thing I need is for everypony to think there’ll be eternal night.” “We shall lower our moon, sister,” Luna replied. She walked over to the window alongside the solar princess. Princess Luna used her magic first to lower the moon, which took only a couple of seconds. After the blue aura around her horn disappeared, she stepped back and allowed Princess Celestia to do her magic. Her horn glowed a bright yellow light and leaned towards the window. At first, nothing happened, but soon the night sky near the mountains turned orange and a bright light shined crept over. Rarity’s drowsiness suddenly gave way to a burning sensation in her chest. At first, she thought it was probably due to something doctors injected her with, but the feeling grew stronger. She clutched her chest and could hear her heart thumping rapidly. “T–Twilight!” she screamed in pain. “My body! It f–feels like it’s on fire!” Twilight, seeing the panicked look on Rarity, turned to her friends. “Rainbow! Fluttershy! Get a wet towel to cool her down! Applejack! Pinkie! Go find a doctor, now! We can’t wait for Spike anymore!” The four mares saluted and ran off. Princess Celestia, who had just finished raising the sun, rushed over with her sister to Rarity’s side. “Stay with us, Rarity,” she said, nervously. “I’ll scan you to see what I can find.” She lowered her glowing horn against the fidgety unicorn and ran it down her body. She tried to find anything out of the ordinary, but it was almost impossible to tell. After a minute, she raised her head up and had a genuine surprised look on her. “Tia, did you find anything?” Luna asked. Princess Celestia grimaced and shook her head. “Nothing at all. It’s clear she’s in pain, but I can’t find out what’s wrong.” She suddenly let out a gasp. “Look!” She pointed to one of Rarity’s hooves. Everypony turned their heads and gasped: Rarity’s hoof had cracks in it. They inched their way up to her legs and then to her body with each passing second. Rarity looked at herself, looking horrified by what she was witnessing. “What’s happening to me?” she wondered, sounding deathly afraid. A loud banging noise rang out through the room. Twilight turned to see Spike, Applejack, and Pinkie, all of whom were gasping for air and had Dr. Stable and Nurse Redheart by their sides. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy squeezed their way in, each carrying a wet towel in their hooves. “Sorry. . . we’re late,” Spike said between gasps. “You wouldn’t believe how . . .hard it is to. . . find a nurse at this time.” He heard Rarity screaming in pain and went into a panic. “What happened to her?” he demanded. “We don’t know, Spike!” yelled Twilight. “Princess Celestia says there’s nothing wrong with her, but something’s happening to Rarity!” “Give her some room!” ordered Nurse Redheart. “She’s probably going into shock again!” Rarity felt like she was about to explode. “Help me!” she screamed, desperately. Suddenly, everything became a blur for her once again. Her body, which had cracks everywhere, slowly chipped away for a couple of seconds. Everypony gasped and backed away from Rarity. All they could do was watch as her skin broke apart. Rarity’s head shot up as she let out one last scream. The sound of glass shattering echoed across the room and a bright light caused everypony to shield their eyes. Princess Celestia took no chance and used her magic to create a dome shield around everypony. The sound of glass hitting against the dome went on for a couple seconds before it stopped. As the light died out, everypony lowered their hooves and looked at Rarity, not sure what to expect. The dust around her disappeared and a coughing noise could be heard. Spike was the first to see something familiar. “Look!” he called out. The smoke around Rarity cleared and everypony let out a gasp. Rarity came back to her senses and felt a pounding in her head. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room, albeit everything was in double vision to her. The first thing she saw were the shocked looks of everypony staring at her and almost instantly felt dread. “What’s everypony looking at me for now?” she groaned. “Surely there’s nothing that could top looking like my nightmare self.” No response or movement came from them. “Honestly, you all don’t need to keep me in suspense. I don’t think anything else can surprise me.” Spike broke the silence and stepped forward. “Well look at yourself, Rarity,” he said in awe. “I think you’ll be in for a big surprise.” Rarity sighed and looked down at herself. The dizziness she was feeling quickly gave way to shock and disbelief. She glanced around and found a nearby bedpan on a table. She grabbed it and slowly raised it to her head level. She gasped and nearly dropped the pan in surprise. Her coat was as elegant as she remembered it, her mane was brilliantly curled to perfection, and her eyes were as blue as water. Rarity looked just like her old self before the Nightmare Forces took over. Rarity’s lips quivered and a smile slowly formed on her face.”I . . . I’m back to normal,” she gasped. “My skin! My eyes! My mane! Everything looks exactly the way I was before this horrible incident!” “That . . . that makes no sense,” said an unsure Twilight. “How did this even happen in the first place?” Rarity couldn’t believe what she just heard and narrowed her eyes. “Twilight, I’m finally back to my beautiful self and this is how you react?” she pondered. “You act like this is a bad thing.” “Twilight does bring up a good point,” said Princess Luna, sounding just as hesitant. “Only a few minutes ago, the Nightmare Forces took control of you and said there was no cure and spoke in a riddle. Clearly, there’s far more to this than we thought. Right, Tia?” Princess Celestia nodded. “I don’t mean to rain on your parade, but my sister is right,” she said. “We need to figure out what the Nightmare Forces meant in that riddle. Twilight, do you have any ideas?” She heard no response from her student. “Twilight?” She looked down to see her student was deep in thought. “Hmm. . . there’s something about this that’s got to pertain to the riddle,” said Twilight. “It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t get it out.” “Twilight, you’ve been up all night with everypony else,” said Spike. “Maybe you should get some rest first before thinking of this anymore. Your face looks like something Opal dragged in.” Twilight shot him a stinkeye, but a sudden realization hit her. “A blight you'll be, when ponies see, Your countenance at night. . .” Nightmare’s voice echoed. “That’s it!” cried out Twilight. She gave her assistant a hug. “You figured it out, Spike!” The dragon blushed a little and returned the hug. “Um . . . thanks, I think,” he said. “Mood swing, much?” he muttered. “What is it, Twilight?” asked Applejack. “I still can’t make heads or tails about this whole thing.” “Nightmare Rarity said that she’d be a blight when ponies see her at night,” she replied. “If my guess is correct, when nightfall comes, Rarity turns into her nightmare form. This kind of magic is amazing and something I haven’t seen since the Flutterbat incident.” “Um . . . can we not speak of that, please?” asked an embarrassed Fluttershy. “Sorry, Shy,” replied Twilight. “So what’s the next move, egghead?” wondered Rainbow. “Everypony saw what happened to Rarity, so what are we going to tell them? ‘Oh, Rarity’s not controlled by the Nightmare Forces, but only turns back to Nightmare Rarity at night.’ Yeah, that’ll go so well.” “I’m not sure,” said Twilight. “Everypony’s probably still on edge from the battle against the Nightmare Forces’ minions. Even then, we don’t know what to do with them.” “Fear not, Twilight,” said Princess Luna. “While my sister was busy looking through the archives, we offered them a sanctuary to live out their days. I have take them deep into the Whitetail Woods and set them free.” “Well that’s one problem off our backs then,” said Twilight. “We still don’t know how to tell everypony about Rarity’s condition though.” “I believe Luna and I can do something,” said Princess Celestia. “We’ll let everypony know about the situation with your friend, Twilight. Once they understand her condition, everypony won’t think she’s truly Nightmare Rarity.” “What about my career?” wondered Rarity. “Only Ponyville knows about what happened to me. If word spreads about this, it could cause a huge scandal and my dreams of being a top fashion designer are done for.” Princess Celestia rubbed her chin. “It won’t be easy, but we’ll just have to tell everypony to keep things quiet about you until we find a solution.” “Make them Pinkie Promise! I’ll know if somepony does,” Pinkie said, sinisterly. Everypony couldn’t help but shiver at that last sentence. “I will, Pinkie,” said Princess Celestia. “For now though, we got to find out what the rest of the riddle means. Luna and I will discuss things later at the castle.” She looked over to Twilight. “Have Spike send me a letter if anything comes up about Rarity. We’ll see what we can find out.” “But she said there’s no books, spells, or rituals to fix it,” said Twilight. “There has to be something we overlooked,” said Princess Luna. “We shall go to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters and check the archives.” “What if there is nothing?” wondered Rarity. Both Princesses looked away and had grim looks on them. “We will find something, Rarity,” said Princess Celestia. “Even if we have to call upon Discord for help, we will.” “Just don’t get distracted like last time, Tia,” teased Princess Luna. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” huffed Princess Celestia. She looked over at Twilight again. “We’ll keep you posted, my faithful student. Until then, farewell and good luck.” Both alicorns’ horns glowed and in a split second, they were gone. Rarity let out a sigh and threw her head back against the pillow. “How am I going to balance this out?” she asked. “My business relies on getting promotions from other fashion shows and clients.” “Just tell your customers that you’re not taking any orders because you have too much work,” suggested Applejack. “This coming from the Element of Honesty,” said Rainbow. “Didn’t know you had it in you, Applejack.” “Hey! Would you rather everypony find out about her?” inquired Applejack. Rainbow rolled her eyes and turned away. “I thought so.” “Girls, arguing won’t help us,” scolded Twilight. “We need to figure out what the Nightmare Forces meant by ‘a scaled secret.’ If we don’t, Rarity could be stuck like this for the rest of her life.” “You’ll have to do that elsewhere then,” said a stallion’s voice. Everypony turned their heads and saw Dr. Stable and Nurse Redheart still around. “Why do we need to leave?” asked Spike. “Rarity needs us.” “We need to run some tests on her and see if there’s anything else wrong with her,” said Nurse Redheart. “Even though Princess Celestia said there’s nothing wrong with her, we want to keep her under observations before we formally discharge her from the hospital. If everything goes fine, Miss Rarity can leave by tomorrow morning.” Spike opened his mouth to argue, but Twilight placed a hoof over his mouth. “We understand, Dr. Stable.” She looked at her friends and signaled for them to leave. Everypony left the room, but Spike turned around and said, “Rarity, I don’t know how we’re going to fix this, but I promise you won’t be like this forever.” She smiled softly and said, “I’m sure you all will find something, Spikey.” She gave a wave farewell before Nurse Redheart shut the door. Always the gentledrake, Spikey. Always the gentledrake. Twilight and the rest of her friends made their way to the hospital lobby, which was deserted save for the receptionist at the desk. She looked at all her friends, each of whom looked exhausted and could barely keep their eyes open. Even Pinkie, as energetic as she was, started to doze off while standing. “What do we do now, Twilight?” asked Applejack. “Even with one part of the riddle solved, we don’t know anything else.” “A scaled secret? We already have the key?” pondered Rainbow. “This whole thing is making my head hurt.” “Girls, I know this is tough, but we’ve got to figure this out as soon as possible,” said Twilight. She let out a big yawn. “For now, though, I think we better get some sleep. All that fighting we did and staying up all night left us all drained.” “Couldn’t agree more,” said Rainbow. “I won’t be sleeping the whole day away,” said Twilight. “When I get up, I’ll start looking around about transformation spells and counterspells for this. Maybe Nightmare Rarity was wrong. There has to be a way to reverse this.” “Get us to help if you need to,” replied Applejack. “We ain’t letting you do all this work by yourself.” Twilight let out a giggle. “Alright, Applejack, I will. The rest of you go home and get some rest.” Everypony said their farewells and trotted out of the hospital. “Alright, Spike, ready to go?” She heard no response. Twilight shrugged. “Must be asleep already.” “I’m not asleep,” he said, sounding bitter. Twilight turned her head to see Spike was sitting on the couch, with his head hanging low. “What’s wrong, Spike?” she asked. “Aren’t you happy that Rarity is okay?” The dragon let out a sigh. “I’m glad she’s okay now, but . . . this shouldn’t have happened to her,” he spat. “Spike, none of us knew that the Nightmare Forces would do that to Rarity,” said Twilight. “This was something none of saw coming. We couldn’t do anything at all to stop this anyway.” “But I could have!” he cried out. Spike’s head drooped again and his body was shaking. He muttered something, but Twilight didn’t hear him. “What was that, Spike?” she wondered. “It’s my fault this happened. . .” “Say again?” “It’s my fault this happened! Okay?” He barked. Twilight backed away and was shocked to see her friend on the verge of tears, but looked furious. “Spike, how is this your fault?” she asked, nervously. “There was nothing any of us can do.” “But I was so close to her!” he cried out. “I. . . I faced her when she was still Nightmare Rarity. She tried to take control of me, but I fought her off. I was so close to saving Rarity. . . and I didn’t do anything.” A few tears ran down Spike’s face. “I know you all were counting on me, but she needed somepony to save her,” he said, tearfully. “If I didn’t stand around like some dolt, I could’ve saved her from being like this.” Twilight wrapped her hooves around Spike and pulled him into a hug. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Spike,” she said in a motherly tone. “Rarity knows that this was something we had no knowledge of.” “Yeah, but what kind of friend was I to not even do anything?” moped Spike. “All I did was stand there with a scared look on my face as she captured me.” He pulled out the sack containing the Fire Ruby. “I even told her how much she meant to me, but it was too late.” “Spike, I want you to look at me,” ordered Twilight, sternly. The drake looked up to her to see a small smile on her face. “I know it seems like you failed, but that doesn’t mean you can give up now.” “But I–” “But, nothing. Rarity needs all of us to be with her. She’s scared and worried that she could be stuck like this. Didn’t you say she called you her favorite dragon?” “Um . . . well, yeah, I guess,” muttered Spike. “Don’t you see, Spike?” wondered Twilight. “She needs you and all of us. She can't face this alone and I know you don’t want to see her suffer anymore, right?” Spike shook his head. “Then you can still do something for Rarity. She needs not only us, but you’re needed too.” “Really?” asked Spike, sounding a bit hopeful. Twilight nodded. “Since I’ll be busy looking for a cure and the others will be busy, how about you help keep an eye on her? I’m sure she could use her ‘favorite dragon’ as her protector.” Spike blushed slightly. “Do you really think so?” he inquired. “Come on, Spike,” urged Twilight. “You can protect Rarity from any danger and make sure she’s safe. Didn’t you once dream of being like her knight in shining scales anyway?” “Twilight!” Spike looked down. She giggled to herself. “I’m sorry Spike, I shouldn’t have gone that far. But, in all seriousness, you can still help her. She needs one of us to make sure nothing happens to her. If she starts to freak out about her condition, you can keep her calm. Why, she’d be very grateful to have you by her side. If there’s anypony I can count on to be helpful, it’s you, Spike.” The dragon smiled to himself and wiped his tears away. “You’re right, Twilight,” he said, proudly. “Rarity needs me more than ever. I couldn’t save her from what happened to her, but I can still protect her from any more danger.” He stood up tall and held his head high. “Until Rarity is cured, I will protect her from anything, or anypony, that tries to harm her. I swear this upon the hon–” “Spike,” warned Twilight, sternly. “Don’t you even go there.” The dragon was about to argue back, but he remembered all the stuff that happened last time. “You know what? You’re right,” he said. “I still don’t know what I was thinking that day.” “Let’s try to forget that,” said Twilight. “No argument from me,” replied Spike. He then let out a big yawn. “Let’s just . . . go . . . home.” Twilight chuckled to herself and carefully placed the dozing dragon onto her back. “Let’s go home already, Spike. You’re going to need plenty of energy to help Rarity.” She grimaced to herself. “We all are, if we are going to save Rarity.” Inside the Canterlot Castle, two ponies were trotting down one of its many long hallways. One pony was a gray unicorn with a combed back black mane, had a red quill and ink bottle for a cutie mark, and green eyes. He was levitating a scroll and quill, and was scribbling notes. The other pony was white with blue eyes, an elegant curly yellow mane, and had two crosses, one gold and one silver, to form a compass rose. “Have the invitations been sent out?” asked the white unicorn in a haughty voice. “They have, sir,” the gray unicorn said in a rather stern voice. “All the Canterlot Elite should have them before the day is over.” “Has the Canterlot Orchestra been booked?” “It’s already taken care of. However, I should warn you that Octavia and Frederick will be running a little late in meeting up with the rest of the band. They tell me that they need somepony to watch over their foal while they’re performing.” The white pony scoffed. “You’d think they’d hire a nanny to look over their child while they do their job.” “They say they want to raise him properly,” said the gray pony. “They say they’ll hire Octavia’s stepsister, Vinyl Scratch and her husband, Neon Lights, to look over the child if they are open.” “Well tell them they have only two days to find one. I’d rather not be forced to dismiss the orchestra, but I won’t allow them to throw off my plans.” The gray unicorn quirked an eyebrow. “Forgive me, Prince Blueblood, but why are you so uptight about this?” he wondered. “You know ever since those ponies attended the event, you were never exactly seen in the most positive light again.” The Prince spun around and his eyes narrowed. “This year will be different, Quick Note,” he said, calmly. “I’ve been out of the public’s eye for so long, they most likely have forgotten about me. When I make my return, I shall show that I have changed my ways by telling everypony I went on a journey of self discovery. Besides, with all the crazy things that’ve been happening in Equestria, that dreadful night has been long forgotten.” “Your highness, I don’t think that–” “What can we tell them, sister?” a mare’s voice asked, muffled. Prince Blueblood put a hoof against Quick Note’s mouth. “Hold on, I know that voice.” He noticed a door nearby and leaned his head against it. “You know how they’ll react, Luna,” said another mare’s voice. Prince Blueblood raised a brow. “Aunt Celestia? Aunt Luna?” he pondered. “What are they planning?” “But surely if they knew the full story, they wouldn’t panic about her condition,” argued Luna. “We should inform the public about her.” “I can’t let you do that, Luna,” said Celestia. “Not everypony would believe us. Some would think we were under her spell and she’d be targeted by other ponies who deem her a threat.” “All of Ponyville knows about Rarity’s condition. What would happen if they let it slip out to somepony else?” Prince Blueblood twitched and his eyes narrowed. Rarity. . . I knew I hadn’t heard the last from that ungrateful mare, he thought. What are you doing now? “Pinkie Pie made them all do her promise, sister,” said Celestia. “If what Applejack told me was right, she can get a little overzealous about a pony breaking a Pinkie Promise.” “Well. . . the citizens, while intimidated, seemed honest enough to keep this a secret,” Luna replied. “So if we’re to reverse this curse, when should we depart for the old castle?” “We’ll have to take different shifts in searching,” said Celestia. “Since you do most of your duties at night, I’ll search for a solution and vice versa.” “What if other ponies get suspicious?” “We’ll tell them that we’re doing some extra royal duties that require both of us. But just remember, not a single word about Rarity to anypony else; especially Blueblood.” Prince Blueblood nearly banged his hoof against the door, but he stopped himself in time and took a deep breath as he listened in. “I know they both have a bad history, but he doesn’t seem to show it anymore,” said Luna. “Maybe he’s gotten over her?” “I doubt it,” said Celestia. “He’s not exactly one who accepts criticism of any kind. However, we’ll talk more about this later. I need to get to the throne room and see what work needs to be done.” “I shall take a small nap and then go off to the castle to begin my search.” “Very well then. Let’s get moving before anypony gets suspicious.” The sound of hoofsteps nearing the door caused Prince Blueblood to back off. “Your highness, what’s–” Quick Note was cut off as Prince Blueblood put a hoof over his mouth and dragged him around the corner. The sound of a door opening and closing echoed throughout the hall, followed by the sound of hoofsteps trotting down the hall. Both stallions waited until the hoofsteps faded away. Blueblood let out a sigh of relief. “That was far too close.” “Sir, what was going on in that room?” wondered Quick Note. “I don’t think your aunts would approve of you snooping on–” “Quiet!” seethed the prince. A sinister smile grew on Blueblood’s face and his eyes narrowed. At last. . . after all these years, an opportunity presents itself to me. That filthy commoner, Rarity, seems to be keeping a secret from all of us, but what kind of secret? Maybe something that could destroy her career? If it’s something even my aunts don’t want let out, it could forever ruin her life. It’d be only fitting after the way she acted so rude to me. If I’m going to find out what her secret is, I’ll need some help then. “Prince Blueblood?” inquired Quick Note. The prince turned around and had a pleasant smile on his face. “Do me a favor, Quick,” he said cheerfully. “Send out a summons request for my close friends in the Canterlot Elite to meet me tomorrow night.” Quick looked surprised. “Tomorrow night? But what if Princess Luna asks about why they’re here?” “They aren’t going to go through the front gate,” he scoffed. “Tell them to wait by the statue of Starswirl the Bearded on the east side of the castle.” “Very well then,” Quick responded, sounding hesitant. “What should I tell them the nature of the business is?” Blueblood smiled again. “Tell them that it’s time to take care of a thorn in my side.” "Understood." Quick bowed and turned to leave. "Wait a moment!" barked Blueblood. "I have one other job for you!" Quick turned around and said, in a shaky tone, "Yes, your highness?" "You're going on a trip. Now listen up."