//------------------------------// // The Prologue // Story: The Nightmares That Form Bonds // by Ty The Draco //------------------------------// "Phew, glad I'm done for the day. These orders from the Crystal Kingdom might have taken some time, but I am finished!" said Rarity as she put her latest creations up for delivery tomorrow. After doing so, she soon realized how late it was by looking out her window and seeing the sun setting. She let out a big yawn, deciding it was time for her to get her beauty sleep. It had already been a full week since she was rescued by her friends from the Nightmare forces and pretty much saved her life. As soon as the fashionable pony got to her room, she closed the door behind her. Before going to bed, she faced a mirror. "I can't believe it has been already a full week since I was rescued... Almost feels like yesterday. I need to find a way to thank them." said Rarity as she closed her eyes and thought about that day. She got kidnapped and sent to the moon, she was forced to think her friends would abandon her for another pony, she hurt and imprisoned them, and she even was forced to hurt Spike. But the fact they never gave up on her gave her the knowledge that they would never abandon her. She even thought Spike was about to say three certain words to her, but she never got to hear them herself. But the young dragon proved himself to be the bravest on that day, being able to outsmart and trick the entire Nightmare army several times as well as resist her temptations. 'He was really brave...but...how can I repay him?' thought Rarity as she opened her eyes. But when she did, she realized her legs seemed to be longer. Her room was already darkened, so it was hard to see even her own coat. But one thing that did seem different was her mane. It felt like it was flowing. Confused, she looked up towards the mirror as the moonlight finally gave enough light into the room. The only thing she saw looking back at her...was her in her Nightmare form. All that could be heard from the Carousel Boutique was a loud scream. ========The Next Day======== "Where the hay is she?!" asked Rainbow Dash, who was annoyed about Rarity being late to the party all of them were having. "Yeah, I totally wanted to hold a weekiversary party for us saving her to show her how much we mean to her!" said Pinkie, though she was still finding a way to keep the party alive. "Don't worry girls, I know she'll be here soon. At least I hope so..." said Twilight as she stretched out her wings, which she was still getting used to since she got them two days after they had beaten the Nightmare forces and had been training how to fly since she came back from the other world. "Ah hope so too Twi'." said Applejack, who had brought some homemade cider from Sweet Apple Acres for all of them to drink. "Oh, I hope nothing bad has happened." said Fluttershy. After hearing these words, Spike, who was also there, immediately got up and ran towards the door. "Where are you going Spike!?" asked Twilight. Spike only stopped for a minute to say these words. "To check on her." said Spike before he took off in a hurry. Twilight began to go after him, but suddenly stopped. 'Well he's starting to mature after all...maybe I should let him do this by himself...but I wish I could do more for him...' thought Twilight, thinking about most of the times she and the baby dragon had done things together, which was not very much, causing the Alicorn to hurt a little on the inside. Meanwhile, after some time, Spike got to his location, nearly out of breath, but he forced himself to breath normally as he entered the Carousel Boutique in search of Rarity. Without Sweetie Belle, who was with the other Crusaders, there, it seemed quiet. But most of the rooms were lit except for one upstairs, which Spike did eventually find. He went to open the door, but as he began to, a voice suddenly came from the room. "No! Don't come in here!" came the voice. Spike immediately knew who it belonged to. "Rarity, is that you?! What's wrong?" asked a now concerned Spike. Rarity recognized the voice and spoke out again. "Spike? Oh it's you...I'm sorry for that terrible outburst, I'm dealing with something...I thought I was done with." said Rarity. Spike then began to wonder what was bothering her so much, but then he decided on something. "Rarity, I'm coming in." said Spike, causing Rarity to panic again. "No! Don't!" but it was too late. Spike opened the door, only to find a large lump in Rarity's covers that was shaking. Spike knew the reason why and went over to the bed, then got up on it and placed a hand on the covers, unaware of the door suddenly being magically slammed shut, making the room completely dark again. "Rarity, please tell me what's wrong. I want to help." said Spike. Rarity, who was still hiding under the covers to prevent Spike from seeing her in her current form, wanted him to leave so badly, but knew he would stay there until she finally spoke. She sighed before speaking out. "Very well...Spike, I just can't go out. My current appearance would just...scare everypony. I don't want to scare them, so I've hidden myself away until I can find a way to fix this..." said Rarity, who let tears fall from her eyes. She couldn't bare to let Spike see her like this for fear of scaring him away and telling the others. "...Rarity...you can't do it alone." Spike suddenly said, causing Rarity to grow confused. She was about to ask why she couldn't do it alone when Spike cut her off. "You remember when I grew to that big size and nearly destroyed all of Ponyville. It was because of my greed that it happened...but it was also because I grew selfish. But it was because of you that I learned that it was better to give then get." said Spike as he looked at the nightstand beside Rarity's bed and saw the Fire Ruby there. The same Fire Ruby that he gave Rarity before his birthday as well as allow him to return to normal during his rampage. It got destroyed during the battle with the Nightmare forces, but was restored when Rarity was brought back to normal. "Ever since then, I've kind of wanted to be...well, a successor to your Element of Harmony I guess. I don't want to be like the other dragons who are greedy and cruel. I want to help others and be generous to them all the time...because of you Rarity. And when you were under Discord's influence...I wanted so badly to stop you from being so crazy about a certain rock." said Spike, with the mention of the rock made Rarity cringe. "I thought we agreed to never speak of that again." said Rarity. "I was busy throwing up scrolls from the Princess to be there for that agreement. But what I'm trying to say is...you've done so much for me. And even though I helped saved you...I don't think that's enough. Rarity, whatever it is that's bothering you so much, please let me help." said Spike. Rarity then thought about the times Spike had helped her. She then wondered if he took his help for granted in the past because of his crush on her. '...Not this time...' thought Rarity as she quietly sneaked a peek at the Fire Ruby, where she was somehow able to see Spike's reflection in it. She saw something in his eyes that convinced her there was nothing she could do to stop him from what he had his mind set on doing. "Alright Spike...but please, promise me that when you see me, you won't freak out..." said Rarity. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." responded Spike, doing his best to do the motions of the Pinkie Promise. Rarity giggled a bit from seeing Spike do it through the reflection before sighing. She then started slowly lowering the covers while sitting up. The first thing Spike noticed as Rarity sat up was that her horn seemed to be longer and a darker color. This immediately gave him an idea of what was wrong as soon enough, Rarity was sitting straight up, revealing to Spike that she was in the form she was in not so long ago. "Rarity..." was all said Spike. Rarity quickly tired her best to look away, letting tears form in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Spike if I'm scaring you...I wouldn't blame you if you went to get the girls to-" said Rarity before she was suddenly cut off by Spike putting a finger to her mouth, making her stop talking as she looked at Spike. "Rarity, if you were gonna say what I think you're gonna say, then don't continue. Besides, why would I do something like that?" asked Spike, knowing how Rarity was going to finish that sentence. Rarity only looked at Spike out of shock. "You mean...you're not scared?" asked Rarity. Spike looked her in the eyes with a smile on his face. "I have no reason to be Rarity. If you were still under Nightmare's control, I would be. But the way you've been acting because of this is all the proof I need. Rarity, I would never be afraid of you. You're my friend and I'll always be there for you." said Spike as he hugged Rarity, who looked even more shocked until a smile came on her face before she returned the hug. 'I just wish Twilight would do the same for me...' thought Spike suddenly, thinking about his past with the lavender pony. But the moment he felt Rarity return his hug, his thoughts were soon ended as his face turned a bright red. He had rarely been hugged by Rarity like this before and it felt nice. Meanwhile, Rarity had a small blush on her own face, grateful for the fact that Spike wasn't scared of her in this form. But she also felt something else and she couldn't quite put her hoof on it. All she knew that holding Spike like this right now made her feel more safe then she's ever been before. "Thank you Spike. You really are such a gentledrake." said Rarity as she released the hug, while Spike did the same and backed away with a small blush on his face. "Hehe, you're welcome Rarity. Now, let's try and fix this so you can come with me to Pinkie's party. How did you find out you can turn in that form in the first place?" asked Spike. Rarity started to think about what happened when she transformed in her Nightmare form. "Well...I was thinking about what happened during the battle on the moon...and how I was forced to transform into this. And when I opened my eyes after thinking that...well, you can see what I saw next." said Rarity, sounding a bit sad. However, this somehow gave Spike a possible solution to the problem. "Hmm...I think I know what to do. You turned into your current from when you apparently were thinking about the transformation...so how about you try thinking about turning back into your normal form." said Spike. Rarity nodded before closing her eyes and thinking about what Spike told her to think about. Suddenly, her horn glowed and her whole body was enveloped in a blue magical aura. Rarity then started to shrink a bit as her mane and tail slowly returned to normal and her dark purple body started to brighten until it was back to the marshmallow white. She felt a small tingling sensation of her flank as her cutie mark returned back to it's regular look. Soon, she opened her eyes and Spike noticed Rarity's eyes were back to the familiar looking ones he was so used to. "Oh my, it worked! How did you figure that out so easily Spike?" asked Rarity, completely impressed with Spike figuring out how to solve her problem so easily. "Well, when you live in a library with not much to do between breaks and naps, you sort of become a bookworm yourself." said Spike, giving off a bit of an embarrassed laugh. "Well it paid off. How can I repay you Spike?" asked Rarity, feeling very grateful. "Well...c-could you walk with me to Pinkie's party. J-just as friends of course!" said Spike, his face becoming a bright red again. Rarity only giggled, but then she gave Spike a warm smile. "Of course Spikey Wikey. But please promise not to talk about what happened here. I don't want the other to know about...you know." said Rarity, flinching a bit at the thought of the others possibly finding out about her new form and possibly rejecting her. "I promise Rarity. Now let's go." said Spike. Rarity soon pushed the thoughts she was having back into her mind as she nodded. However, as soon as they left the room and to the door, Sweetie Belle suddenly came in, looking a bit sad for some reason. "Oh, hello Sweetie Belle! Did my sister enjoy school today?" asked Rarity, but Sweetie just looked at the ground. "Yeah...I kind of did." was all Sweetie Belle said. The tone of her voice however, made Rarity concerned if something was wrong. "Sweetie Belle, is something wrong?" asked Rarity. Sweetie Belle just shaked her head to respond. "Don't worry Rarity...I'm just tired..." said Sweetie, hoping Rarity didn't find out she did have a bad day at school thanks to Diamond Tiara. Today, she kept on bothering her and the other Crusaders about all sorts of things along with Silver Spoon, who seemingly held back for some reason. Rarity seemed to buy the lie though as she just nodded. "I see. Well I hope to see you at Pinkie's party." said Rarity as she and Spike made their way to the party. Sweetie went to her room and just laid there, thinking about the day she had and had one thought. 'What would Rarity say if I told her the truth? I'm trying to deal with this alone...but...' thought Sweetie before sleep overtook her. That Night Rarity was still up as she looked at her mirror, thinking about what happened in the past few hours. It may have been a lot to take in, but she was thankful Spike was not scared of her new form and didn't tell anypony else about it. She thought about her new form for a little bit, feeling herself change into her Nightmare form as she looked at herself in the mirror. True, she was scared of this new form at first, but she was now starting to get use to it. "It will take a while...but I'm sure I'll be able to be not be scared of being like this in due time..." said Rarity. She was about to change back into her form when suddenly, she heard something at the door. She quickly looked over at the door and saw a note near it. She used her magic to bring it over and open it to read it. Hey Rarity, I know this may be sudden, but tomorrow night, can you meet me in Twilight's basement? I promise I can help you learn to be better with your new form. -Spike "Hmm...I really hope this is not some cruel trick..." said Rarity as she turned back into her regular form. She then put the note down and went to bed. But as she laid in bed, she began to wonder what Spike wanted her for. His note said he could help her with her new power. She hoped it was not a cruel trick, but deep down, she trusted Spike and knew he would never trick her. She smiled a bit as she fell asleep.