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// No Science, No Faith 
// Story: Of Laurels & Lace 
// by WritingSpirit 
//------------------------------//

	Silence...

It was pure. Undeniably overwhelming. The lucidity of it had filled the room like the fog of dawn, the distilled echoes of any sound and noise filtered into the tweaks of naught, leaving only but what there is left.
For once, the bustling town of Pendant Lakes; the corridors of Palgiot Palace and the nature of the woodlands surrounding them... were all dragged into the perturbing pit of silence, leaving only but the senses of sight and touch to refill the void left behind for the mind to register.

Cruel for a celebration of Hearth's Warming Eve.

Rarity was in the corner of the room, solitary with only the howling snow outside and the warmth of the fireplace to entertain her. Curled up in the luxurious armchair, one she would've admired in happier circumstances, her eyes were solemnly frozen at the door, waiting for somepony (or some-dragon, for the matter) to just step into the room.
Her thoughts wandered throughout the expanse of time given to her, from past reflections to personal feelings; from hopeful wishes to deep-seated fears, yet the door remained still, giving her a while to recall the many events that led to this.

First of all - she sighed - the invitation.

Perhaps if she didn't receive the invite, maybe Winter and Harmony wouldn't have played her as the piece in some demented chess game. Maybe she and Spike would survive in Ponyville without having to care for the problems that could've happened here.
Then again, she wouldn't have known that all of this would happen to her. The nightmares... the explosions... the secrets and conspiracies hidden underneath this very roof.

What about Spike, she asked herself. Would she know how angry he is when she left the station? Yet if she did not do so, would he not be attacked first, from the millions living around Equestria?
Would she know of Octavia's relationship with Crimson, and leave the mare to face the danger alone? Would they both get killed if she were not invited to the ball and, in the end, only read of their deaths on the newspaper instead?

Such dark thoughts, she scolded herself. Yet intriguing all the same.

The conspiring events that followed soon after soon became more bizarre the way she looked at it. The chandelier... the train exploding... the murder of numerous ponies, one by one... it was crueler and darker as time goes on and on, even reaching to her friends outside of Pendant Lakes.
She knew Pinkie was dragged into the chaos before all of this started, but Applejack being involved in a car crash, Rainbow and Twilight's predicament in Fenderville... somehow nothing seemed to connect.

The motive of guilt was too... too simple.

The victims all came into her head once more, starting from Caesar Mills.
He was killed by being dragged across the train; the same one that exploded later on. Then came the death of Tassel Twist, strangled by his own sheets. Soon followed a gruel attempt of murdering Crimson... unless...
Was Crimson really the intended target? There were five ponies on stage, including him, Octavia and the original three-piece band. The chances that Harmony had miscalculated the angle due to the prospect of being discovered was high, and the chandelier might've swung towards Crimson instead of her true target. Plus, his injuries only seemed to be on the right side of his body; if he was the target, the chandelier would've made a full-head impact with him, seeing how Mirror Mare could just kill her victims with ease.

She tried to picture the scene, remembering how she held her blade to the way she swung it...
Her results finally clicked into her head, only making her gasp in shock.

Octavia was the target...

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"GATHER ALL YOUR LOVED ONES AND YOUR BELONGINGS!!!

Spike wasn't used to screaming seemingly profound orders while running around the streets; usually Twilight would murder him if he did something as crazy as that in Ponyville, but the Princess did insisted him on doing that, mainly for the evacuation of the town.
He skidded to a halt every once in awhile to knock on the doors of the many houses around the town, perking the curiosity of the terrified ponies that sheltered from the ravaging snowstorm outside. Alongside the knocking, he had pelted their roofs and window panes with small pebbles, incessantly irritating the unlucky few who lived inside.

One by one, many of them stared out of the windows, piqued with interest at the stray dragon frantically throwing stones at their houses. Some even marched out of their doors, wanting to curse and swear at him, before remembering the fact that he is, after all, a dragon.
Nonetheless, the Princess was backing him up, and every single pony living in the town knew that.

"Come on out, darn it!" he shouted, slamming his claws recklessly against one of the doors.
"I'm not gonna be there the moment this place goes down!!"

Caduceus and Cleptius was behind him, the two doctors tending to Spring on the wheelchair as they followed Spike around town, their worries intensified by her sudden fits of coughing.
"Her condition's worsening," Doctor Arrowfaith muttered grimly, with his friend nodding whilst limping from his burned hoof.

Their trip immediately turned towards the lush pastures of Standard & Dale, though the raging snowstorm had painted the fields white. The air grew increasingly colder by the minute, forcing each of them to wrap another layer of scarves around their necks.
Spring herself was unusually quiet and somber, reminding Spike of Sweetie Belle when she was sad. The filly was hiding something to herself, and somehow his gut told him that none of the ponies were going to like it.

He suddenly turned to the right, his claws shifting from dirt to slate, as he marched towards a stately manor, glancing at the glazing lion of a door knocker, swinging about in the large gale.
"Spike," Caduceus called out, a little nervous.
"You do realize what building this is?"

The dragon gave a firm nod. He had never been to this part of Pendant Lakes before, but he had seen this particular structure as they were delving into the past events back in the library.
With a hefty sigh, he pounded the knocker onto the wooden surface, awaiting impatiently for a response. It came soon after in the form of clicking locks, the door opening slightly with a familiar face staring back at him.

The mare's streaking mane of blue and pink fluttered lightly from her small exposure to the storm, prompting her to brush it back with her beige hooves. Her pupils resembled her mane: her left pupil glittered a bright cyan whilst the other queerly flickered a bright, bouncy pink.
Such a strange combination, he thought to himself, though the dragon brushed it off soon after; he had more serious things to attend to, the first being reluctantly calling her name:

"Gracia?"

The rest of the ponies, including the mare herself, blinked in surprise.
"H-How..." she tried to stammer.
"How did you know my name?"

"Just say a certain sense of intuition," he replied with a cheerful grin.
"And a little help from Persimmon."

"M-Ms. Mills?"
Gracia couldn't help but let out a shivering gasp, asking:
"You know her?"

Spike would've blurted out that he saw her during their preview of the past, though the most he would be labeled might be a red slap mark on the face and the teenage mare calling him a pervert, the thought of it making him shudder.
"More like acquaintances, really," he said with a sheepish grin.
"One of my friends told me she was a good writer. She told me a little about you."

The mare started to blush with embarrassment as he continued:
"She said you were always the one jumping into the bird fountain, spraying water at all of your friends with your mouth. She also mentioned you were always a fond of one of her books. Dragonheart, is it?"

"And still is," she replied admittedly.
"A little unbelievable, really. Being sixteen and still loving the book you had read since you were five. And about the fountain... I was a playful filly last time."

Spike just smiled as she giggled with a loud, humiliating snort, her cheeks reddening even more at the memory of her splashing in the marble bowl.
"I was wondering," he suddenly said, getting to the point.
"If all of you can help."

"Sure," she replied cheerfully, her ears perking attentively.
"Anything for a friend of Ms. Mills."

"I need some help evacuating the ponies around town," he quickly explained.
"The Princess is speculating that something is going to happen to the town. I'm not sure if the storm has to do with this, but just to be safe..."

"Got it," Gracia replied immediately.
"I'll round up some of my friends and we'll convince them to get their flanks out A.S.A.P."

"There's still one more thing that I want you, and only you, to do."
Spike's words stopped the mare before she could gallop off into the house, the dragon heaving a sigh as he beckoned his head towards Spring, the filly just widening her eyes a little.
"I'm sure you know who is this, right?"

The mare nodded, smiling jovially with a slight hint of wit.
"Did Ms. Mills tell you about Gypsum somewhere along the lines?"

"A little," he meekly replied.
"She did tell me how you guys enjoy Gypsum's tales of adventures and all, even taking care of you guys the same way that Persimmon did."

"Gypsum was like our second caretaker. When Ms. Mills wasn't around, she would usually be there to make all of us happy with her music, dancing and her fascinating stories."
There was a long, dejected sigh from Gracia, having a brief moment of silence before continuing:
"The moment the two of them were gone, the orphanage wasn't that lively as it was used to be. Our new caretaker was nice, yes, though not as social as them. My friends and I usually entertained the younger foals in the orphanage and... we felt happy doing it. It made me realize why Persimmon and Gypsum did what they did, I guess..."

The mare started to smile, grinning at Spike.
"And now you want me to return the Palgiots a favor, hmm?"

"Seems that way."

"Alright then!"
Gracia smiled, with the dragon beckoning Cleptius to push the wheelchair towards the orphanage. Spring just sat silently and somberly, not even bothering to spare a glance at the mare, who quickly knelt down towards the filly.
"Hey there, Spring."

Her hearty tone was met with a depressing treatment of silence, making her laugh sheepishly.
"She'll have to open up eventually..." she surmised thoughtfully, before giving the dragon a wide grin.
"Don't worry about it. I'll think of something that can cheer her up."

"Thanks, Gracia," Spike said, somewhat appreciating her presence here.

"No prob."

As the teenage mare strutted back in, wheeling in Spring with her, Caduceus slowly limped up to the dragon's side, whispering into his ear:
"How did you know she played in the water fountain?"

The dragon chortled at that, merely giving him a reply:

"Sometimes it pays not to be focused.

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But wait...!

That wouldn't make sense! If Octavia was the target, that means that Winter's motive of guilt wouldn't explain it. The murders wouldn't have any motive to connect them.
Rarity leaned back into the luxurious armchair, her head aching as she faced the facts laid out before her. She couldn't help but think there is something bigger behind all of this. It's not just about love and betrayal anymore.

After Octavia was - she shuddered - herself. There was no doubt that the bomb in her bag was meant for her. Then it was Harlequin Velvet and Basil Luck, with the mare dying from poisoning and her husband from a sniper.
Yet it still did not make any sense. Why poison one but attempt to drown both? Why not kill both at the same time? Wouldn't it be easier for Harmony to do so? Or did she want to cripple the morale of the stallion first?

Summer and, theoretically, Autumn were murdered soon after, followed by Caper and then, ultimately, Dresden, who became the first of the original six Voyagers to die. One by one, Harmony targeted all of them, leaving her and Pinkie still alive. Then there were the deaths of the ministers Twilight had told her about, which might signify her rebellion against the Canterlot Ministry and maybe the Princess herself, taking over the Patriarch's job.
Wait, she stopped. What about Winter? He's a third of Mirror Mare too, isn't he?

His victims included Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow and Twilight. Fluttershy was hurt by Pinkie as a result of it, so she could add her into the list. He did say it was the guilt of her friends unable to reach out to her, but it was already known that guilt wasn't the motive at all.
But why not her? She knew the train bomb was planted by Harmony, but why didn't Winter, as Mirror Mare, even attacked her yet? Unless...

"You're uncovering a secret. A secret that has killed, if not scarred many before you. Don't bother digging into the unknown, or you'll pay the ultimate price."

Her hoof reached for her neck, with a visible mark still imprinted, reminding her of the night after they had left the Ristorante Rugadia. The night that Mirror Mare held the blade up to her neck when she could've just slit her throat.
If the Mirror Mare that night was Winter... that means each of them were attacked before. Each of them were targeted by the Patriarch at least once, but why would he do that? He knew that they were the Elements of-

She stopped. Could it be?
No way. It's too coincidental. Too... right.

The Elements of Harmony.

But why the six of them, she asked herself. The stallion could just target the princesses, can't they? He could've even target the mare herself, yet he chose the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony.
"Elements... elements..." she muttered to herself. The word might be some sort of significant importance; that Winter might be trying to tell every single one of them something.

She started to whine in irritation. Where's Twilight when you need her?
"Come on, Rarity," the white mare encouraged herself.
"You know this..."

Elements... fundamentals, maybe?
"The fundmentals of Harmony..." she pondered. Maybe it's the fundamentals of harmony itself... or more accurately, the fundamentals of how the Princess and the Patriarch achieve harmony between each other?

The Vertigo Theory! She blinked with realization at that; of course! And it all starts with number one.
Insecurity... the two rulers of Pendant Lakes? Winter's doubts of Summer or Harmony's distrust of her friends, leading to her complete abhorrence with them? What about herself? Of the fear of becoming Mirror Mare, her own demon?

She shuddered a little at that, before moving on.
Disequilibrium. Noir Palgiot's defiance was one, along with the sudden rupture of the Sanguine Societies. Summer and Winter's argument... Harmony's summoning of the demons, probably? Or - she gulped - her few disagreements with Spike the other day?

Then finally.... Vertigo. The fissure that ends all problems.
Necessensio seems to play the part with most of the Palgiot's disagreements. The Princess's curse on the family was one. Then there was Harmony's backlash by warping a demon into her, along with her current threat of destroying Canterlot...

But what about her?

Rarity bit her lip: would she and Spike end up the same way that Winter and Harmony did? Would they eventually argue to the point of no return? That she might never see his face-
"No!" she scolded herself.
"Rarity, Rarity, you are not going to let some stupid, dumb theory take control of your life!"

The possibility of it, however, still hung over her, the mare trying desperately to shake it off her mind.
Her thoughts soon wandered back to the topic, much to her relief. So far, she theorized, Mirror Mare was known to have only one, singular motive, which had split into three as a result of Harmony's mishap.

Harmony's motive was not about guilt; instead it's looking more like to crumble the power of the Ministry itself. The economy was crumbling like broken stones the moment all the powerful figures were killed by her. The murder of the Voyager Six proved even more so of her defiance against the Princess.
Octavia's... death... would've crumbled Crimson's reputation, thus leading a decline in the music industry. Her own death would've paused the fashion designing back in Ponyville (she gulped at the thought of that) and Summer and Autumn's death was to crumble the Patriarch's focus in their wine industry.

All of these so craftily planned out... as if a higher power was orchestrating it. The only pony she had seen so far of being able to manipulate Harmony is that unknown pony: the one behind all this madness.

Following the destruction of the Ministry would be the destruction of the fundamentals, or 'elements', of harmony, ending it in vertigo. Winter knew this from the start, and was trying to tell them the only way he could.
Her heart twinged with a slight bout of guilt; if she had only knew sooner...

Destroying the Ministry and then the harmony of Equestria... what's next?

Her thoughts turned to the last incarnate of Mirror Mare: Pinkie herself.
The pink mare had never hurt anypony at all; she was too harmless to do so. The most she did so far was kidnapping Fluttershy and tying her up in the barn, but that in itself the pink mare never did anything to her. Fluttershy was only brought there to watch-
She stopped, her eyes lighting up in a manner of revelation at the sole victim that her friend had tried to kill:

Herself...

Pinkie tried to kill herself! That must be it!
But what's the motive, she asked. Surely the devil that made Mirror Mare would be smarter than to think of killing itself. If it did, Pinkie could've killed either Harmony or Winter first, right?
Yet she chose herself...

Rarity stopped to ponder at the facts. Pinkie is one of the three incarnates of Mirror Mare, isn't she? Harmony represents the past, Winter represents the present and she represents the future.
The future... killing herself... kill the future?

Destroying the Ministry, the harmony and the future... it somewhat fits like a maniacal jigsaw puzzle, though it seems to make sense to the white unicorn now.

Mirror Mare's true motive: to destroy harmony.

Destroy the Ministry; the very organization that encouraged the belief of harmony and order into Equestria all those years ago or, more effortlessly summarized, destroy the past of harmony. The fundamentals is what keeping Equestria in perfect balance in the present, so destroying its fundamentals would destroy the present of harmony.
Then there is the future. The future of harmony.

Maybe that's why the raid on Pendant Lakes was staged: to hide the fact that they were here for something bigger. Something far bigger than the downfall of Canterlot itself.
The thought of it, however, only left her in a state of confusion. How would Harmony, or this mystery pony, know of the future of harmony? They couldn't have known how the future was, or would be like, can't they?

Unless...

"This machine lets you enter a dimension. A dimension in which you can see but cannot touch.This machine lets you recall not only your dreams, but also your thoughts, your desires, your emotions..."

"Your future."

"The Dreamscape Machine!" she exclaimed her thoughts out loud.
That's what they were after! To use the technology of the Dreamscape and twist the possibilities of time, all the while knowing the future events in the process! Manipulating the past whilst seeing its effects onto the future... who wouldn't want a machine such as that?
The invasion wasn't about Canterlot, she surmised. It was about the machine all along!

Wait. That would mean...!

The horror of realization soon dawned upon her. With no time to spare, Rarity suddenly got up from the armchair, kicking the blanket from underneath her hooves as she sprinted straight out of the door, the glass pendant around her neck swinging wildly at the sudden race against time.
Her heart raced with burning trepidation, beating to the sound of her frantic galloping. Sweat beads flew behind her head, her mind focused on finding the machine immediately.
Spike would've murdered her the moment she stepped out of the door, but there's no time! Harmony could be there already!
She held her breath as she turned a bend, praying softly and repetitively to herself.

She just hoped it wasn't too late.

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"Come on now, Octavia!"

The gray mare reached her hoof out, dangling from the side of the cliff as she stared into Twilight's hopeful eyes. With the snowstorm around them growing stronger, it's a wonder that she was still gripping on the jagged rocks without even falling off.
Rainbow was staring ahead at the circular chamber, though Princess Luna had already stepped inside, scanning the interior of the stone chamber.

The powerful barrage of snow even directed its invasion into the circular room itself, thanks to the oculus cut into the very tip of the ceiling. The tiled floor was decorated with carvings of various constellations and stars, much to the admiration of the alicorn.
"This isn't just some cave..." she concluded, heading towards the rickety table at the corner. She scanned through the pile of rotting books and wrinkled notes. A few tapestries hung in front, one of them charred an abhorrent black, no doubt from the broken oil lamp in the corner. All of them were about stars and calculations, reminding her of her own bedroom.
"This is an observatory."

The rest of the mares immediately joined her side, watching her as she examined the illegible scrawl of writing on some of the mottled notes. There seemed to be a few diagrams at the side as well, though the smudges of ink it became made it no different from the rest of the notes.
Octavia leafed through a few books, before spotting a word; one that was free of obscurity as well as being able to recognize.

"Ravine," she read it aloud, drawing the gaze of the others.
"The first official Patriarch of Pendant Lakes."

"So this is Ravine's observatory..." Twilight mused, looking around the rotunda in amazement as her friends wandered around the chamber.
"it's... quite an incredible feat, for ponies living all those centuries ago. The ancients, studying the stars as they note down each shape they see in the sky..."

Princess Luna was a little speechless at that, staring into the turbulent sky from the circular orifice.
"The Palgiots were interested in the stars..." she muttered quietly, her tone sounding almost apologetic.

"H-Hey guys!"
Rainbow's voice grasped the attention of the rest of them, prompting them to gallop towards her.
"I think I've found the weapon!"

Sure enough, perching at the window(?) was the weapon itself. It was gigantic, almost as large as the hydra Twilight had faced back in Froggy Bottom Bog. The circuitry of rusted pipes and discolored wiring tangled about its unfinished, plated shell, with three canisters of pure, swirling energy.
The tip of the cannon was hoisted at an angle, with three metallic cylinders built at its underside. Connected by a pipeline was some kind of rusted control system, with a few levers and a dusty button; no doubt for firing the cannon itself.

Twilight approached it slowly and cautiously, trying to study the colossal weapon. The possibilities of the Palgiots discovering and developing this sort of technology without the help of the Princesses was far beyond her imagination, the thought of it making her eyes sparkle.
"How did they even think of this?" she asked, touching the gleaming surface.

"I'm not so sure myself."

All four of them immediately turned at the foreign, devilish voice, gritting their teeth in exasperation as Harmony Peridot stepped through the stone archway, letting out a small cackle.
"It's an honor, really... standing with the princess of the night..."

Princess Luna just glowered at that, raising her snout up high in sheer indignation.
"And of course," the mare continued with a sardonic bow, turning to the lavender unicorn.
"The student of the Princess herself."

"Harmony..." Twilight growled her name, putting her hoof front, though the alicorn stepped up first, making the rest of them look up in surprise.
"Princess?"

"Hmm...!" Harmony exclaimed, slightly delighted.
"Looks like the big mare's volunteering to join our game!"

"Twilight Sparkle," she said sternly, as if it was an order.
"You and your friends must disarm the weapon first. This fight is between her and me."

With a clink of her hooves, a barrier suddenly sprung from the ground, the semi-liquid, translucent walls colored in the black sky of night. Their enemy just sneered at that, flicking the magical shield blatantly.
"You know this won't last long, would you?"

"Princess!" the lavender unicorn shouted, pounding at the walls, which rippled from each point of impact.

"Go, Twilight Sparkle!"
Her Canterlot-toned demand was joined by her steeled, determined gaze, though Rainbow's nudge at her shoulder was needed to move the mare out of her indecisive state. With a kick of her hooves, she turned back to Harmony, watching her unsheathe her pair of white blades.
"You want to fight, you lowly delinquent?" she scowled tauntingly.
"Then get ready for one!"

Harmony just licked her lips with a smirk, as if the alicorn was a fresh target for slaughter. The chains dangling from the bottom end of the blades soon slid open, with the mare wielding them between her hooves like spinning grappling hooks.
"Better pray to your sister, my Princess," she said, stopping mid-sentence as she leaped towards Princess Luna, who dodged to the side the moment her hook/blade reached out to the alicorn, only to slam onto the stone floor. The sight of it only intrigued the mare's blood-lust, the desire to kill her warping further into the descending drag of darkness.

"Cause she won't be here to save you once this blade meets your neck."

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"What is time?"

Rarity galloped passed the corridors, her head frantically running through every word she had heard since her arrival to Pendant Lakes. What was just a visit to a masquerade ball became something so... catastrophic.
The voice in her head - cold with the huskiness of some unknown intruder - grew louder as she neared the ballroom. Her teeth gritted at the questions it was throwing towards her, her hooves clenched just in case.

"Time... is a tool."

Whispers flitted about suddenly, her pace slowing at the growing fear of what would be at her destination. She stopped to swallow a gulp, before exhaling it all out in a cloud of vapor.
The snowstorm outside was howling even louder than before, though she could now barely hear it once the voices penetrated her head and, to her trepidation, her sanity.

"We use time as it goes, yet we never seen what lies beyond its plains."

The majestic doors of the ballroom finally came into view, the glazing handles overwhelming her with temptation and doubt. She hesitantly reached out for the first one, gulping quietly.
The sound of a few sparks from behind the door only clarified the presence of the broken Dreamscape machine in the ballroom, yet she knew there was somepony else inside; somepony that she would never like.

"Imagine the freedom of boundaries that the manipulation of time could've given us."

She pushed the door open, hearing it grind loudly as she stepped into the crashed ballroom. The snow from outside had already invaded from the shattered windows and giant holes above, the blanket of freeze already making her shiver.
"It must be here somewhere..." she mused, trying to ignore the voice in her head, though it only seemed to grow louder... and louder...

"Wouldn't you want a power as that.... Miss Rarity?"

Rarity stopped in her tracks, her breath stilled at the sight of a canister, filled with some essence of what she believed to be the original source of power for the machine itself. It floated freely in its glass container, which was clasped in a ghostly pale hoof.
Her gaze soon turned to the pony facing her, her uncertainty growing at the red glint in his eyes. He shot her a wicked grin, tossing the canister around his hooves like a baseball.

"Seems you've figured the enigma out," he congratulated mockingly.
"I'm most certainly pleased that you and I finally got a chance to meet, mademoiselle."

The white unicorn just flinched at that, her focus more of the item in his hooves.
"Seems that way, doesn't it?" she replied halfheartedly with a small gulp at the mastermind; the pony that had orchestrated all this cacophony to happen.
"You're the one who gave me the nightmares, right?"

"Just a tip of the iceberg from my sleeves."
With a devilish smirk, he slipped the canister to the side, trotting with fine elegance towards Rarity.
"I must say, you were rather the tough one. Reminds me a little about Harmony..."

The mare's ear twitched at that.
"Shut up."

"Becoming all abhorrent, aren't we now?" he replied, laughing morbidly.
"And yet history repeats itself, does it not? What makes you think that the paths that you and Harmony share will never intertwine?"

Rarity just kicked her hooves back, harrumphing with a scowl.
"I never wanted to become her!" she yelled defiantly.
"Of all the monstrosities of the ponies that dared walk the face of Equestria, I will not become her, and that's final!"

The white stallion suddenly sniffled, though the mare remained unfazed; she could hear the mocking tone behind it.
"Such an emotional speech," he responded, clopping his hooves together.
"A shame that many aren't here to listen, with one such pony being the Patriarch himself."

The sudden mention of Winter stopped her in her tracks, the slight horror of the possibilities forming in her head only outmatched by the stallion's sudden laugh.
"Where's Winter?" she asked, though the other pony's laughter only heightened in volume.
"What did you do to him?"

"He was merely an obstacle to discard," he replied, picking up the canister as the white mare widened her eyes in realization and disbelief.
"He had been playing well in the strings I've prepared for him, but it seems the juvenile spirit within him proved his carelessness and disloyalty to me, hmm? Then again, the present was always the first to go, wasn't it?"

"You've.... y-you..."
Rarity couldn't bring herself to say it. It's impossible for the Patriarch to... to...
What about Pinkie, her heart thumping with frustration at the thought of it. She couldn't have perished along with him too, did she?
"Why are you doing this?"

"Solving a problem that no science or faith can solve," he merely answered, walking towards the doors.
"One day, you will come to see that, when my plans are in fruition, the benefits that will be provided. When Canterlot falls to its knees, you will see those who had kept it away from you. You would see those who had kept the secret to the day they've desecrated in their graves. A world with no science nor religion. A world of nothing but purity."

"One day," he whispered to the sound of howling wind.
"You'll understand..."

"NO!"

Rarity's sudden outburst only made the stallion perk up in surprise, brushing his black mane aside as she spoke:
"You wish to crumble harmony; the very thing that unites all of us in the kingdom of Equestria. You wish to cause chaos and prove that our world is nothing but a worthless trove of secrets. Well, there's more to it than that!"

"In my life, I had seen the world of Equestria change before my eyes," she continued, stomping her hoof down.
"My sister... my friends... my Spikey-Wikey... they were all fighting for me, wishing that I was safe. I won't descend to any more of your lies in your nightmares anymore. I will never, never, EVER travel the path that Harmony did! And as the goddess is my witness, if you want to fight me, and fight against the harmony of Equestria, then so. Help. ME!!"

"I see..."
The stallion merely grinned at her speech, instead taking out a remote. It was small, plated in silver, with only one button to press on. The sight of it only made Rarity's eyes widen in uncertainty, yet with rage all the same.
"You have condemned me to nothing but disappointment," he scowled.
"And with each side of it, there's always a price for that."

The sound of ticking started up the moment his hoof pressed onto the button, with the stallion dissipating into a cloud of dust, laughing morbidly at her predicament. Rarity could only look around in horror, slowly cringing towards the floor as he spoke with an echoing chuckle:
"Goodbye.... Miss Rarity..."

*BOOM*

Time slowed for her...

Flashes of red, orange and yellow flames soared around her, the heat from it tingling her skin...

Rarity closed her eyes, clutching tightly onto the glass pendant around her neck.
The world was a blur of chaos... nothing but a hell of explosion after explosion. Glass whizzed past her ears... rocks thrown towards her mane...

The only sound she could look forward to was the silence. The same one that had overwhelmed her.

Bored her.

And, in the end, entertained her.

For now, all she could do was sleep.
All she could do was to picture the smiles of everyone back in Ponyville, all free from the bindings of the events of Pendant Lakes, which she was dragged into by a forsaken, wine-scented invitation.

"...rity...!"

No plagues... no nightmares...

"Rarit...!"

No problems... no bloodshed...

"Rarity!"
The world suddenly snapped back, as a pair of emerald-like pupils stared back at her, cradling her in his scaly arms like she was a newborn filly.
"Rarity!" a familiar voice shouted sternly, pulling her from the blurred borders of reality and fantasy.
"What the hell were you doing in there?!"

"Sp-Spike...?"
Rarity just held back her gasp, looking at the dragon before her.
Behind him was the flaming remains of the Dreamscape machine and the Equinox Ballroom, pummeled into a swirling tower of gray smoke. It almost seemed to match the rage of her lover, who was literally glaring daggers into her.

Then, he suddenly sighed in defeat, muttering something inaudibly before saying:
"Seriously, what's with you and near-death experiences suddenly? What happened to the 'don't-do-anything-crazy' Rarity that I fell in love with?"

"Oh, please~!" she shot back with a smile, slightly relieved that he wasn't that furious.
"It's not like I'm the only one who would do something crazy like jumping underneath a falling ceiling of glass. Plus, I thought you loved some adventure in your life?"

"I'm going to set this aside, for once."
Spike brushed her disheveled mane to the side, the concern on his face evidently growing.
"If you do something stupid like that - again - at least let this gentledragon of yours join you, okay?"

Rarity giggled in response, her cheeks blushing as he stole a kiss from her.
"Promise, my little marshmallow?" he cooed, reaching out his claw.
The white mare stuck her hoof in, shaking it with an eager nod and a meek reply:

"Promise, my little Spikey-Wikey."