//------------------------------//
// 03 When extremes clash 
// Story: A new breed of evil 
// by Rarity Belle 
//------------------------------//

	“She’ll come back, Spike, trust me on that fact,” said Twilight while the moon stood high in the skies. Her body could be found covered up by the blankets of her bed. Yet her one opened eye looked over to the baby dragon in the basket.

“Yeah, that’s what you said to me all day. But who knows what happened to her. You can’t just sit here and do nothing!” Spike then groaned in return. The little, purple scaled dragon was still trying to make himself comfortable within the basket. The blankets got thrown into the air before just covering the thing as a whole. Annoyed was the best description for his mood.

“That’s the problem, Spike, I have said it to you when they left the library, we don’t know where she is, we don’t know just where to search for her. She could be in the Frozen North from all we know,” Twilight then replied before she turned herself over to the window. With the magic that collected itself around her horn was one of the curtains moved aside.

What fell into the room was the wonderful light of the full moon. The other eye opened itself as well to see it. Just before it would be rubbed with a hoof and a yawn ended the motions of the mare. She wanted to help to find her lost friend more than anything, but there was just so little information known about her location. That was the key lead that she needed. If that would have been known to her, she wouldn't be sitting in her library, doubting and waiting.

No, Twilight would be outside. She would be sleeping under the starry night with Spike close to her. Alongside the road that would lead them to their destination. But she had nothing, and that was the very thing the gnawed on her more than anything.

“Can’t you send a letter to Shining Armor with the question if he had seen anything? I mean, she isn't that hard to notice. Especially there,” Spike said in a soft voice. He hid away from the invading moonlight. A slight grumble left him while he wanted to sleep, but obviously it was Twilight who had other plans when it came to it.

“I could do it of course, but that only adds more pressure to the duties my brother already has. Not to mention, the crystal guards are quite different than the celestial and lunar,” she replied.

The head of the baby dragon popped out of the blanket mess he had wrapped himself in. He looked over to the bed of Twilight. “You mean, they’re made out of crystal, like the celestial is pegasus and the lunar bat pony?” Spike said with a tilted head towards her.

Twilight allowed herself a single giggle to leave before she turned her head back over to Spike. With a graceful motion did her mane flew through the air before it came to standstill again. Though there was a much more worried look that grew above her muzzle. “I wish it was that easy Spike, but the problem is, that there are just so little guards there. Shining might be a prince and captain of the Crystalline Guard, but their numbers are few. None roam the Empire’s pavements and those few that are, are within the walls of the palace. Meaning that a guard spotting her, is almost nonexistent,” she explained to him.

Even though the clock had gone well past midnight, even though the sleep was almost getting the better of the two of them, Spike still heard every single word that was spoken by Twilight. Which made his own suspicion only grew more towards her. Of course it were the most radical of thoughts and most of them were unheard from, but he loved her more than anything in the wide world. With a deep sigh, Spike knew he had to ask Twilight the unaskable question.

“You…” Twilight looked up from the word and raised one of her own eyebrows to listen to the rest. “You aren't holding anything back for me…are you?” The high word was out from him. All Spike could do was pray on the fact that Twilight took it a lot lighter than he could have imagined. But the chances were slim and he knew that all too well.


~~~~

 
Taken by a complete surprise from the question asked to her, Twilight gently closed her eyes before she shook her head a couple of times from side to side. Surely she must have lost something in the transition. Had he really called her a morpher of the truth? He was doubting her trust even after it was her who hatched him from the egg to begin with?

Deeply offended by the words of mistrust, Twilight let out a deep sigh through her nostrils and she opened her eyes to look at him. But the look that was given to the dragon was everything but a friendly or motherly one. It was one of disappointment.

Spike looked into the violet eyes of the unicorn and read the emotion like an open book. Then there was the feeling of being more than stupid that rose up within him. He had mistrusted his motherly figure, the only pony that truly cared for him as a mother. “I, I shouldn't have asked it,” he spoke up in a tone that was filled with nothing but regret.

Twilight’s ears twitched a bit when they caught the words spoken. Yet decided quickly to not go in against them. What happened had happened and there wasn't anything that could be changed on it. Though the question was remained unanswered. And if there was one thing she had a growing dislike on, it was that. Against her will had the mulberry unicorn opened her mouth to speak the words on her mind. Her answer to the unspeakable question.

“No Spike,” she started with a unintentional tone of disappointment. “I’m not holding back on anything. If there was anything, no matter how small on finding her, I would have told you right away. But there is, nothing. It’s like… staring into the void if reality and expecting to see… To see why we are here as we are.”

The baby dragon listened with great care to the rather difficult to understand words for him. After them he released a sigh of his own. With a nod towards her had he dropped himself back into the basket to get his much needed sleep. It was something that the two of them needed more than anything. All in order to set their minds and spirits straight again.

“Goodnight Spike,” Twilight spoke up in a soft tone. The energy of her horn disappeared and the curtain fell back. The light of the moon was let out of the room which shrouded itself in darkness once more. The body of the unicorn gently returned back to the mattress and the pillow before the eyes were closed. She was off into the realm of the dreams faster than originally thought.

But one other entity had its hoofs full with the task that was given before it. It didn't sleep for the night but was doing something else. Something that was a bit more active which was reading.


~~~~

 
Because back in the library of the darker arts in magic, was the entity that called itself Nightmare Rarity still busy. Scroll after scroll was being opened and read. The tomes they held within them were stored from the paper in another place. Each one of the horrible things ended up in the mind of the being. Stored there for usage later on in time.

Yet as the eyes went over the things, there was one thing that they all had in common and it was almost impossible not to notice. Under the light of the magical aura, there was one word that made its constant return on the paper scrolls. And that words was nothing else but fear.

The scrolls contained spells on how to control the very things ponies were afraid of and how to use them effectively against them. Where Nightmare Moon was all up in the face and king Sombra more working in the shadows, these spells were the perfect mixture of the two kinds. Hidden deep enough to remain a mystery, in the face enough to be effective. Almost like the entity itself. Those were the kind of powers she had been looking for to master. And the gem that was found next to them would become a greater value to Nightmare Rarity then she would have ever thought it to be.

“Perfection shall be achieved,” she mumbled to herself before erupting out in a maniacal laughter. But it couldn't be helped to notice that the spells were easier to understand than originally thought. The transition from going to mind to action was something that was a true lot easier than any other spell.

When Rarity was still her seamstress self, her abilities in magic were mostly just centered around the power and act of levitation. It was her strongest spell outside of some magical bolts that were known to each unicorn. She had tried to learn more spells of course over the course of time, but it didn't matter to her at all. All of the tomes she tried to get inside of her head were rejected almost right away.

It was never that she saw the mighty arcane symbols before her eyes and the words whispering in her ears. But when the entity removed the scroll from before its very face were the eyes seen in their fullest of glories and within them they sparked. All of the symbols from the tomes in the magical arts. Floating around like little stars to each outer corner of the eye.

It would be there where they would nestle themselves until the end of time or her existence. Whichever came first for the being. It was a rare and unique sight to behold as not many creatures had the symbols of the spells within their very eyes. Not even one of the three royals had it. Yet an easy explanation could be given for it. Neither of the three were learning the tomes at the rate Nightmare Rarity was doing.

Though as the scrolls were being read, the information was being stored within her brain. Yet there happened to be a third thing that was happening at that very moment in time. A fire had emerged. A fire was starting to rage inside of the tainted heart of the entity. A fire that was unspeakable of for most ponies in the land of friendship and harmony.

Because it would be the fires that she was feeling at that moment in time that would defy the entity’s existence and purpose in life itself. It would be the driving force for the actions to come done by her hooves and horn. The spells of fear needed a host to thrive on. There was without a doubt no better fear, then the fear that raged through the heart of the entity.

The lies used by the two shadow stallions named Fright and Blood were still present deep within the body. The fear of the five friends leaving her like dirt was still present within. And it would be from the deepest parts of that fear, that the magic would draw its power.

Fear that was being used to spread even more fear over corners of the wind, something that hasn't been seen for the ages. Not even Nightmare Moon could have come up with the idea if she tried. Her mind was too much lurking towards the power side of the darkened magic. Sombra would have used mostly tyranny and deception to get his way with his disloyal subjects back when he ruled.

No, what she had created, what Rarity had become, was a true new breed of evil.


~~~~

                     
Way back on the outside and lying against the walls of the fogyish chamber, the clouds of shadow all had taken the opportunity to just lay down for the time being. Vastly asleep to regain their strengths was much needed and outside of the singular cloud that stood on watch, everything was even more silent than a graveyard.

Not even the treacherous Shadowfright and Shadowblood were awake to discuss the events as they were for their queen. They were vast asleep in a world without dreams they found themselves. A world that was just as empty as they were. A void of shadow and nothing else. A saddening place it was indeed. And in that place, they still found their very rest.

Yet it worst part was, it was the place they were born. They hailed from deep within the void of darkness. The time from twilight till dusk was there they were pulled away from a thousand years by Moon to become her servants. A duty that carried on as long as a Nightmare was still alive.

Their duties being to protect the one in charge while the plans were being forged. They were nothing more than useless foot soldiers. However, during the banishment of Moon, the two in particular developed a mind of their own which was used to forge the plan for Rarity’s trap. But it wouldn't be enough for them. They wanted to arise and become the kings of the nightmare forces.


~~~~

                     
Back inside of the library had the entity of Nightmare Rarity placed her eyes over the final scroll. She turned herself around before rolling it up again. With grace she flew and hovered back to the entrance of the place. Her head was filled with the spells, her mind as sharp as a knife and her mood crazy enough, she began the ascent back up.

The only cloud that was still awake saw her coming and nodded towards her in a respectful manner. Though Nightmare Rarity looked at all of her sleeping forces and grumbled deeply to herself. “Wake them up,” she muttered to the guard.

On the command that was given to it, the cloud would release a roar that turned into a screech. A sound filled with the purest agony of any creature was more than enough to get all of the clouds back in the air. Confused of why they were woken up so brutally did all of them gaze over to the cloud that was the being before the connections were being made.

Still not truly sure of the times, none spoke up towards or against her as they caught the starry sprinkles in the corners of her eyes and the magical aura. And it were those eyes, that moved themselves from right to left in a slow manner. Looking at each and every one of the clouds in a manner of utmost disappointment. “I shall not make a comment on the fact that you all but one, were sleeping for the time I have been down here. But that’s a matter to be discussed later. For now, there are greater things on the move and we have to adjust our course and heading.”

“And here I thought she had no idea of where she wanted to go to in the first place,” Blood spoke up with a near silent chuckle to his partner.

“Will you just shut up?” Fright whispered in return. The attention was then focused back on the entity. “I’m trying to listen to what she’s muttering.”

“Fine, fine, fine,” replied Blood to him before the attention was set back on her.

The eyes of the entity never left any of her forces out of them as she continued to speak her words. A speech of power was being produced by her mind and said by her tongue. “With the discovery of this place, hidden right here, there are changes that are going to be made within the plan that was being forged inside of my mind. Instead of continuing the trek more towards the civilized world, we shall set up our base right here. Right here in this very chamber of fog. It shall become your home, my home even. And it shall be from here, where we shall operate to accomplish our goals against the so called wonderful land of Equestria. The soil shall turmoil wherever you step, hearts will freeze at the sights. Any questions that you might have?”

Questions there were without a doubt from the clouds, but none of them even dared to speak against her for the fact that her very eyes send down an ice cold shiver down their spines. And then it moved into the very essence of their creation. So they did the only thing that they could truly do, and that was erupting out in a loud cheer of numerous animalistic sounds to praise their new queen for what she was.

There were also some who stayed dormant in the silence. They had sunken deep into their simplistic thoughts. Rarity was not Moon, that was clear as glass for them. The iron hoof with which she ruled was no more. It hadn't been for a thousand years even. Some dared to doubt the facts as they were. But none had seen the entity in the fullest of power yet.

None had seen the abilities she was capable of. Though the same thing went for Rarity against the forces. She had no idea of what they were capable of, or even what they had done to her. Oblivious to the sheer facts as they were, the entity that was Nightmare Rarity smirked through her own cloud of fog before her eyes turned themselves over to the skies above. The roof of the fogyish room was something that was of major concern to her.

Though that was a problem for later because of the fact that the order needed to be restored. Times to see how she would challenge the land with her new powers would come sooner or later. And the time to make the beings who she once considered to be her friends, was something that both strengthened her and weakened her at the same time. Her mind clashed at any moment when she thought about them.

Troubled and clouded, that was it at the moment for her. Almost like the fog she found herself in. Troubling the travels to be made and clouding the vision of the eyes. “Yes, fog,” she softly mumbled against herself before the eyes lowered themselves again. Once more they went all over the place to witness the army of shadowy clouds before her. But she was looking for two in particular. Two who were responsible for the deeds done against her ivory coated self.


~~~~

                     
“Shadowfright and Shadowblood. I need you two before me, right now,” the entity spoke up. She had to admit that the difficulty was there to spot them clearly through the masses. Both of the clouds were taken by a complete surprise at their mentioning and looked to her in a confused manner. It was, as confused as a sphere of steaming shadow could look.

Impossible that she had heard of our plans, right? Every path we walked had been covered. I swear to you Blood, if you mean the end of me, you’re going down with me, Fright through to himself. Though the two orbs hovered towards their queen in silence.

“My queen,” the both of them spoke at the same time. They made a slight bowing motion with their round shaped bodies. Then it was Fright who decided to take the word further and ask. “Why did you call for us two specifically?” His tone was a careful one, one used to pry the information loose from the subject before them. Even if it was their leader.

“The reason of which why I called the two of you before me, is the fact that you two showed me something else. Something no other of you have showed me before. That being, intelligence. You two can handle yourselves in a fight alone I presume,” said Nightmare Rarity against the two of them. Daring words were spoken out of the mouth of a being unspeakable. Yet the two of them could only nod towards them.

She happened to be right. They could stand themselves when surrounded and would fight back until they were mortally wounded before retreating. “That’s… correct, your nightness,” Blood spoke up in response to her words. It was not in favor of Fright though as he had promised himself to take the words and speak against her.

Since they were with the two of them, it was only fair to share the speaking burden. At least that was the thinking in his mind. “We’re, flattered, by your words my queen. Shall we, take our leave?” Fright asked of her, hoping they were allowed to go.

“No,” the entity replied to them. The pair of eyes rested each upon one cloud before her.

Oh no… this is it, Fright thought. He considered his days to be over at that point. It was impossible for him to even comprehend just how on earth Blood managed to keep himself so calm under the situation. They could face their extinction from the word and he just remained as calm as ever. Blood had either made peace with his life a long time ago, or he didn't understood the severances of the situation as it hung above their head.

Two anvils that were ready to be cut by a blast of magic hung above their heads. But what and why she had truly called them before her, was something completely different. And something they could have never even thought about.

“The two of you, shall raise in the ranks. You two become the commanders of my reign. Standing directly below me when it comes down to orders. Don’t make me regret the choice in the two of you,” the entity spoke towards them in an honorable tone. That was until she reached the final part, after which it was just sinister.

The two clouds of shadow made a bowing motion towards the queen, After that, they levitated themselves back into the mass of cloud and shadow. Neither of them could truly believe the words that were spoken against them. They stood in command of all the forces that remained. They could –if they wanted– kill her in her sleep and continue on with their own diabolical plans. Unlimited access was that what was given to the two of them.

Content with the words that were spoken, the two of them made a smirking emotion behind their spherical existence and the entity of the unicorn turned herself back around to look over the entrance of the library.

Countless thoughts moved themselves through her mind. Yet she just stared at the gaping hole. Thoughts about how it could be reformed into the fortress she had come up with. Because she was keeping herself to her promise. It would be that patch of land that would be transformed into her domain. A place hidden in the forest covered by the thick fog that was natural to the place. It almost seemed to be too perfect.

But as she kept looking there was something in her mind that made her snicker. There were spells that she could use. Spells that had aided her on more than one point in time. But it were also spells she was afraid of to be seen using in the public view. She happened to be a mistress of the gemastic arts. The art of the gem or gem magic in the common tongue. Not only could she find the most precious of stones in the ground like a metal detector, she could also summon them.

It was the very summoning spell that was something of true interest of her. Because that would mean she would be able to raise a fortress. One made out of the strongest material she had in her possession. That material would be nothing else but pure crystal. It was a plan that was just too beautiful to let it lay left. It would be the way she did it. The way to build a safe haven for herself and her forces of shadow. Their base of operations was one step closer to becoming a frightening reality.

The entity turned itself around and looked over the wall of fog and the very ceiling. The dimensions were being drawn inside of the mind together with the sheer looks of it. The blueprints being made up on the spot, everything was worked out in the finest of details possible.


~~~~

                     
“What do you think she’s doing?” Blood spoke up in a faint whisper to the actions that were clearly visible.

Fright could only guess to the whirlwind of events that was going through that skull of hers as he shook his body in a manner of not knowing. “I truly am having not even the slightest of clues here really.” he then spoke up in all of his honesty. Something that was rare to come by to begin with.

“Then we best pray we can strike before it is truly too late.”

“You think I don’t know that!? But we can’t do it here, not in front of the rest. We need to have a moment with her alone after everything is being established. …Or have you forgotten about Moon already? Luna was as weak as possible. She couldn't even defeat her own sister for bloods sake!” Fright snarled in a whisper.

Blood on the other end, despite being slow and considerable dumb, always had an eye for history in any shape. Written and unwritten, if it had happened, he wanted to know. “Of course I hadn't forgotten about that! And to fill in on that void in that brain of yours, Luna only lost from Celestia because of the fact no soul in this realm or ours knows exactly how powerful she is!”

Then the whispering argument broke loose between the two. Words were snarled to one another in a low tone that the entity couldn't hear it, and their fellow clouds of shadow wouldn't even look around. From the words, it sounded like bits of Nightmare Moon’s lust for power had moved over into one of the two newly assigned commanders.


~~~~

                     
But without a warning of any kind had the magical aura of Nightmare Rarity become much more intense as its bright blue light shone like the sun. The nightmare forces in the first row all hissed like a changeling towards it as they did their best to hide from it in all of their might. It was a desperate attempt though, for the light was so powerful, it almost shone right through them.

Both Fright and Blood dared to look into her direction. They tried to discover just what caused her power output to have changed into that much all of the sudden. For never, ever, had Rarity herself managed to do it on her own. A stronger mixture of the essence of Moon and the already known magical powers from her, combined? But that’s, that shouldn't be possible, Fright thought to himself. He turned himself back into the darkness again in order to keep pondering.

Nightmare Rarity on the other end looked different. She continued on with her magical powers and the light became only brighter and brighter. It caused her troops to retreat back into the fog and natural darkness of the night that had been caring over the woods for times to no end. With the sheer power that was surging through her, she would raise herself up to the being she always secretly had desired to be.

With her heart tangled in the tentacles of her personal fears, were her spells that fed from it like leeches from blood. But where blood would eventually run out, the entity of Rarity –or as she preferred to be called: Nightmare Rarity– was stuck in a vicious circle. She couldn't forget the fact that her friends wanted to leave her like dirt. That were the embers that always would ignite the fires. The very fires from which her devilish powers would feed from with great pleasure.

Not until she had given each of them their reckoning would be time for a new fear to take its place and thus become the dominant fear that would drive her down the path of her own madness. As the light kept shining were the forces retreating and the forest remained calm had Nightmare Rarity decided to speak her words in a tone of utmost sinister. A tone of malice and hatred, but also one of a sickening joy. “And then, the nightmares come.”


~~~~

                     
While the night crawled by for the residents of Ponyville, were none even aware of that what was going on in the woods of White Tails. It was in the home located next to the lake that the young Sweetie Belle allowed her emerald green eyes to be seen by the world. With a yawn she rose up from her pillow and started to rub through her eyes. “Another day… Ugh,” she groaned to herself.

Where she normally was always happy to wake up, the last night had been troublesome for her. Especially when it came down to the matter of her family. After they had separated their way, Magnum was insisting on going out there to find his daughter and her sister. But Pearl kept her hoof strong in the ground by saying they had to wait. It caught the filly right in the middle of it all.

Sweetie knew half about the danger of the situation. Her innocent mind was what saved her from most of the troubles that laid on the outside world. Though it probably more often than not got her and her friends into it for whatever reasoning. It was all in the hunt for their cutie marks. The only thing she was truly looking forward too.

The young filly left her bed with another yawn that was louder then she had thought it would be. She giggled softly in response while a light crimson red blush begun to occupy her cheeks. She moved from her bed over to the window and pushed the curtains aside. And it was then that the always magical sight was revealed to her.

With the morning rays of the sun running into her room, Sweetie giggled a little bit while she rested her head on the sill and just watched to the world outside. The light that shone through the gaps of the trees and the reflection in the water. And at the small dock he could be found, fishing as almost every free day he had, her own father.

Though that wasn't where her mind was working on or busy with. She wanted to snuggle in the hold of Rarity just so badly. It was something, that she truly missed. While it was true that the two had troubles with one another more often than not, it were the precious times they spend together in true harmony that she loved most. And the ivory coated unicorn mare always cherished them with her heart.

“Where have you gone to, sis?” she questioned herself aloud before the head was removed from the sill. It was a question that had been weighing in her mind for days by then. Everypony knew that she was gone, yet nopony could possibly tell her where she had gone too. Not even the mayor of her hometown was able to tell or say even the slightest. “Somepony just can’t vanish from the face of the lands like that, or can it?”

It was a rather troublesome question that she asked herself. One she rather didn't had the answer on to begin with. Though as much as she wanted to have her sister back, the thoughts had to have placed back. For she had said to her friends that they would be doing some more crusading for their cutie marks.

A considerable useful waste of their time. Trouble was something that always laid ahead for the three of them but they always managed to overcome it. Either it be on their own or through some external help. It didn't matter to Sweetie Belle what they would be doing though. As long as it took the thoughts off of her little and innocent mind. A mind that was oddly enough making peace with the decision to keep on waiting for her sister to come back again.


~~~~

                     
The day crawled by like any other and for some it was a relief, to others it was a hellish torture. Spike the dragon found himself wandering through the streets as he had taken a day off to collect his very thought on everything. It went about the past night and the words spoken during the previous day. In his own mind he couldn't believe it.

Through street and lane he wandered without aim to his legs. Wandering like a zombie, he just walked until his legs gave in. It was an endurance test in both the physical degree as well as the mental. Though he considered it more of a torture given by forces higher than the royal alicorns, the first dragons. Hatched and raised in the care of a pony, it had made him forgot most of the draconic manners others lived by. But the ones who ruled over them all, he had never forgotten.

Down on his luck and simply unable to come up with anything else he could do, Spike let the decision fall to go to the place his crush lived. The very building he wasn't truly excited for to see, but had too if he wanted to find anything on the matter. The very home of Rarity, the famous Carousel Boutique.

So with the afternoon sun in his back, the baby dragon made his way over to the street it was located on. No words were spoken nor were there any thoughts that ravaged his mind. Almost like a husk or shell he walked in a consistent pace. The many ponies he passed all looked up in a strange and curious manner towards him as they wondered what in the name of the princesses could have happened to him.
Yet where many wondered, none asked.

When Spike did look up at the building, he saw the posture of Sweetie Belle by it. He shook his head a couple times. The dragon wasn't sure if he had seen it correctly or anything but gambled it on being right. “Hey Sweetie,” the baby dragon spoke up when he was in hearing distance.

The young, white coated, pinkish and white maned filly turned herself around and looked at the dragon with a smile. She hadn’t even jumped when he called her name, meaning she wasn’t that deep in thought. “Hey Spike,” she replied with her usual happy toned voice. “What brings you here today?”

“I think the same question can be asked to you,” Spike then replied. He stood still next to her. Before the filly could make any reply did the eyes of the dragon went up the building that had been gathering dust for the first time in ages.

“I was just… looking,” Sweetie replied as innocent as she possibly could. “But what about you? Why have you come here?”

As soon as the filly spoke up again, the dragon turned his attention back to her and listened to her words. While they calmed him to a degree, he really didn't want to answer the question for her. But as any good gentlecolt, he had to. “Just wandering, trying to get the matter out of my head. I’m going crazy without her, you know,” he said to her, forging a fake smile across his lips.

“Tis hard not to think about it, but I go with the others. We have to wait for her,” the filly said before she made a couple blinks with her eyes. Sweetie focused her attention on him for as best as she could. “You can’t make peace, can you?”

Spike shook his head from side to side at the spoken words and closed his eyes under an exhale. “No I can’t. It keeps chewing on me no matter what I do. I know she’s out there, but… but I can’t get to her.”

“Tis hard for us all, Spike, truly. But, we can’t give up or go on a search for her.”

“Yeah, that’s what the mayor and Twilight also spoke,” the dragon added in a slightly more annoyed manner. The dragon began to make his departure from her. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts. “See you later, Sweetie,” Spike said and then he was just off.

The little unicorn tilted her head to a side at the entire scene and simply watched him go his way. It was only when he was far away from her, that the words rolled out of the mouth of the young filly. “I… suppose we’ll see each other later.” Unsure and uncertain of what had happened, Sweetie blinked a couple more times before she turned herself around. The day was coming to a closure and she didn't wanted to miss dinner at all.

It was a most unusual meeting between the two of them and one that would be forgotten rather quickly through the gears of time. Yet as she made her departure from the place, the young unicorn turned herself around one last time to witness the building in most of its old glory. A deep sigh left through her nose as she remembered most of the good times the two had with one another. And then it was back, back to the house at the lake, back to her beloved parents.


~~~~

                     
With the hours that passed by, Spike had made himself comfortable within the living room of the library. On his chest laid a book where he had been reading out the time before. Yet as time passed, the words grew weary on him. They tired him and he had fallen deeply asleep inside of the chair.

Twilight herself was still working in her study area with the glasses on her nose and the candles burning bright. Outside of the occasional mumble, there was nothing else that left her. Which on their own turn left Spike to sleep undisturbed.

At least so it appeared. For within the mind of the little baby dragon, it was a whirlwind. All of the read words and events of the day came rushing back to him like cannonballs that were being fired. Mumbling in his sleep, he started to turn and twist around while the visions of his mind came and went. Visions that spoke about the darkest things that could have happened to her.

Yet there was one that stood out above all others. The love of his life who smiled upon him like nothing had happened to her. The dragon wanted to run over to her and hug her ever so tight and just cry at her return. But that packed out a whole lot differently than expected.

For when he wanted to move himself further towards her, his legs suddenly froze and there was a lightning flash that blinded him. One that went straight for the ivory white unicorn.

A yell. A scream of agony was heard before the everlasting silence fell.

It was only when the light cleared up again that Spike was able to see what happened. The world around him had become darker in appearance, foggier even. But he didn't care about that, he wanted to see nopony but her. He got his wish granted, in a truly horribly manner.

Because where the ivory coated unicorn used to stand, stood a mare easily the size of Celestia herself. He couldn't make out the rest of this, thing, as the magic had collected itself around the horn, but also something on top of the horn. A gem. It, it almost was like a beacon among the darkness. A beacon of hope for those lost.

He wanted to say something against the being, asking it where Rarity went. Because it was not possible that the being, was his crush. Yet the creature never even looked over the baby dragon. Instead it turned itself around and calmly walked away like nothing happened. With his legs still frozen, Spike could only watch how the light of the magic continued to travel through the darkened world he had entered.

From time to time he meant to see a set of blue, cat like eyes among the darkness but that was all. And then he spoke the single name with all of the might in his body. A might that caused him to breath his signature green fire from the mouth as long as the name kept rolling. The name of nopony else then, “Rarity!”