It was a stormy evening in Canterlot. Ponies were sitting in their homes, huddling close to the fireplace or the heating. Thick raindrops fell from the sky, tracing over the windows in a way that some loved and some found utterly boring.
In the city's upper-class district, as close to the castle as possible, one house stuck out for a couple of reasons.
One: there was not a single light to be seen, and the curtains were all closed. Unusual, but a casual observer would say that the owner(s) had simply turned in early for the night because of the storm.
Those who knew the sole inhabitant better would disagree, of course.
And the second reason, and likely the first thing anypony would notice, was the large group of Royal Guards that had surrounded the house.
Because of the weather, nopony dared to go outside, but many were watching through the windows.
With a purple flash of light, six mares and one dragon appeared next to the Captain. The Captain saluted at the sight of them. "Your Majesty, My lord, My ladies," he greeted them, "we have surrounded the house and sealed off all avenues of escape."
With a sigh, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and sole Monarch of Equestria, nodded to the Captain. "Thank you, Gallus."
The griffon saluted again, before turning back to the soldiers.
"Are ya sure all of this is necessary, Twi?" Applejack asked, gesturing at the Guards.
Again, Twilight sighed. "I am afraid so, AJ. I do not want to risk anyp- anycreature's lives," she replied.
Rainbow Dash glared at the house. "And you’re certain Rarity hasn't been possessed or something?" she asked.
Twilight shook her head, causing her mane to wave and sparkle even more than usual. "Truth be told Rainbow, I have no idea what exactly is going on inside that house. I only know that it's magical in nature, and extremely dangerous."
Rainbow frowned. "How dangerous are we talking?"
"If it… whatever it is, goes wrong, it could blow up the whole mountain, including the city," Twilight replied.
Any further conversation was cut off as Gallus approached them again. "We are ready to commence assault at your command, Princess."
Twilight slowly nodded. "Do it."
Gallus saluted, before barking a set of orders at the Guards. They stacked up in rows of three, unicorns at the front, earth ponies behind them and pegasi and griffons above them.
Together, the three unicorns cast a shield spell, before walking towards the door. They stopped exactly three meters away from it. Two pegasi flanked a griffon as they flew towards the door. The griffon stopped in front of it, readied himself, and then gave an almighty kick.
The door shattered into a dozen pieces, and the three fliers immediately cleared the space for the unicorns and earth ponies, who followed through.
"Royal Guards! By command of the Princess, show yourselves!" the unicorn in the middle said loudly as the group entered the hallway.
When no reply came, the group marched forward. At the feet of the stairs, the unicorn repeated his proclamation.
Twilight and her friends were still waiting outside with Gallus when a pegasus flew over. "Captain, Princess, we've swept the upper floors and found no one. The rest of the team is collecting items of interest."
Gallus nodded. "And the ground floor and the basement?"
Just then, an earth pony mare trotted up. "Ground floor is clear, but the door to the basement is locked by several locks and spells, sir," she reported.
"Well done. Prepare to breach the basement," Gallus said, before dismissing them and turning to his superiors.
"Come on…" one of the unicorns muttered as he tried to dismantle the spells.
"Can't we just buck it open?" an earth pony asked.
Another unicorn shook his head. "The door's magically reinforced, and there's a spell on it that sends physical force back to its owner. In other words, you'd only hurt yourself."
"Damnit, I can't get it!" the unicorn shouted.
Twilight and her friends walked in on the scene.
"Allow me," Twilight said, her horn glowing purple. With a click, the door opened.
The unicorn bowed to Twilight. "My thanks, Princess."
"Don't mention it," said princess replied, before walking into the basement.
A long narrow staircase led to another door. This one had a sign on it: "Keep out!"
Twilight gently pushed it open with her magic, then gasped as she saw the basement.
The basement was completely empty. Deep purple runes were carved in a circle on the floor, illuminating the room in an eerie glow. Inside the circle was a second circle, and this one was coloured diamond-blue. Inside this circle stood a mare.
The mare was slightly taller than normal, with a purple mane that was perfectly styled and a white coat that contained no imperfection. A cutie mark of three diamonds adorned her flanks, and a golden necklace with a blue diamond at the centre hung from her neck. Her eyes were closed and her brow was furrowed in concentration as grey light illuminated her horn.
Twilight slowly stepped into the room, taking care to not come too close to the runic circle. Behind her, her friends and the Guards slowly entered as well, all staring at the sight before them.
"Rarity!" Twilight called out. After a few long seconds, the mare's eyes opened, and her head turned towards the Princess.
"Twilight! Can't you seem I'm a little busy, darling?" Rarity replied, as if discussing the weather.
Twilight cringed. Understatement of the century. "What are you doing?" she asked, her horn lighting up with diagnostic spells as she looked over the runes and compared them to her knowledge.
Rarity blinked, as if surprised. "Why, darling," she said, "surely such a mind as knowledgeable and wise as yourself can figure this out?"
After a few seconds of intense thinking and cross-referencing, Twilight reached her conclusion. "Are you insane?!" she asked with wide eyes.
Rarity lifted a hoof to her chin and rubbed it. "At the moment?" She looked around the room, then shrugged. "I'm feeling mildly tired, but that's likely because of the ritual I'm doing that you so rudely interrupted. But no, I don't think I'm insane."
"Rarity! Don't do this!" Starlight called. A glance at her showed she had reached the same conclusion as Twilight.
"Darling, even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop this anymore," Rarity said, pulling her hoof from her chin to gesture at the room.
The mare looked at them all with a pitying smile. "I must do this. The ritual is nearing its completion."
"Twi, what is she doing?" Rainbow asked.
"Rarity!" Spike lunged forward, only to bounce off a deep purple shield that sprung up from the runes.
"Goodbye, friends. It was my pleasure to have known you," Rarity said softly, before closing her eyes.
Rainbow and Applejack both jumped at the shield, trying to break it to no avail.
The grey light around Rarity's horn turned brighter, and the runes lit up even more.
"Farewell, darlings." It was barely a whisper, yet Twilight could hear it clear as day.
"RARITY!" she cried.
Then the world turned grey.
When the world returned to normal, Twilight saw only thin air where her friend had been, and the runes on the floor had been blown away like ash on the wind.
"She's gone," Twilight whispered, before sinking onto the floor and beginning to cry.