As the years drew on, Spike's childish heart grew into that of a true adult, longing for the finer things in life; the finest things. He pursues his relationship with Rarity, but all does not go as planned.

Filled with anger and sorrow, Spike and Rarity fall away from one another. In his grief, Spike pursues new interests, and their friendship is in danger of never recovering.

But perhaps the truest words in life are these: you do not know what you had until you have lost it. Jealous and alone, finding no comfort in stallions she once loved, can Rarity reclaim her one chance at true love, before it is too late?

Once again Spike is left alone at the library while Twilight is away. Bored and tired of always staying inside he decides to go to a night club with a friend. While there he meets a mare that shows him to loosen up and live life to the fullest.

Note: This was originally written between Seasons 1 and 2, and may ignore conflicting lore established by Season 2 or later. THIS IS REALLY OLD WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS

Twilight Sparkle and her friends are snowed into the library one evening, and they happen upon that rarest of specimens - a book Twilight doesn't recognise. However, the ancient tale of adventure and intrigue they find inside ends up shattering their worldview and sending them on an adventure of their own.

This is basically what came to my mind when I heard that Lauren Faust's original concept for the show was of a more arc-based, magical girl style (this turned out not to be true, but my mind ran with it anyway), but this story ended up a long way from magical girls and well into high fantasy by the time I started writing. Also draws on select Homestuck and Dungeons & Dragons themes, and plays with a lot of things the canon leaves unexplained.

Tag update: Reduced character tags to Mane 6, CMC, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. While the Mane 6 and CMC provide most of the ensemble cast, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash are the primary viewpoint characters.

Additional Tags: Anthro, conspiracy, high fantasy, gryphons, war.

Sequel now posted!