Rarity was a pale ghost in the Canterlot streets. She was shapeless, formless, the stuff of pure silence.
She stepped in a puddle. “Eeeegh.” The alabaster mare shuddered, shaking mud off of her hoof. “Icky… disgusting… muck.”
“What’s wrong?” A voice sounded in her head. Her handler and partner in crime, Anonymous. “You being a priss again?”
Rarity gasped indignantly. “I am not a priss! Priss isn’t even a word!”
“It serves its purpose.” Anon said. “Now back on task, Elusive.” Elusive was, of course, her codename. It was risky to use her real name in her line of work. But mostly it was because Anon knew she hated that name with a burning passion.
Rarity humphed. “You don’t have to remind me. It is my job, after all.” She paused. “And don’t call me that, please.
“Of course.” Anonymous said, with no small amount of sarcasm. “I respect your decision.”
Gritting her teeth, Rarity trudged on, sticking to the shadows cast by the tall elaborate buildings. Simple was not a word used often in Canterlot. Its nobles were some of the most extravagant and decadent in the land, specializing in wasteful indulgence and excessive debauchery.
She envied their life. She envied their ignorance. She envied their belief that they were on top, that they were in control, when all they held was Canterlot’s facade. Behind that, was the rotted, decrepit woodwork that just barely kept the grand city above the water.
It was a messy patchwork of good and evil, black and white, the stench of gold and the gleam of honor. It was everything, it was nothing, it was a shining palace and a filthy rathole. It was the Canterlot Underground, and it was Rarity’s home.
In the Canterlot Underground, one could find anypony and everypony. All would go through the Underground eventually: corrupt nobles, valorous knights, tired veterans, dirty beggars, the Princess, and yes - thieves like herself.
It was through the Underground that she had elevated herself from puny street thief, to a mildly respected member of the Shrouded Hoof, a prestigious thieves guild with a great deal of influence in Canterlot and beyond.
And through the guild, she was here. Breaking and entering into a secure compound based on the rumor of an ancient artifact being contained within. She sighed as she assessed the front gates. Padlocked, and probably barred from within. Drat.
“Anonymous, be a dear and check if the backdoor is available.” Rarity murmured, skirting around the building and flattening herself against the wall of the safe house. “Well?”
“Hold your ass, lady, I’m trying.” Anonymous replied. His words were mangled by occasional crunching and swallowing.
“Are you eating on the job?” Rarity asked. “That sound… nachos?”
“Totally.” Anon crunched a bit more. “Okay, I got the deets. Few guards, you wanna avoid those. They look pretty nasty. Two positioned immediately behind the door, but records say they switch every hour. A patrolling guard going up and down a hallway about 30 feet long. There’s a sharpshooter somewhere, I can’t be sure - they’ve got that locked down good.”
“Thank you, Anonymous.”
“Stay safe.” Rarity almost smiled. Anon was rude and crass, but he meant well.
Waiting outside of the door was dull, but necessary. “Okay, the guards are on the move. Go!” Once she received Anon’s message, she went to work picking the lock. Her pick slipped easily into the keyhole, and she wiggled it about for a moment, feeling for the pins. Click. Rarity’s natural attention to detail managed to pick up the miniscule sound. Click. Rarity sighed. This was supposed to be a challenge. Click.
The door creaked open. “Bingo, señorita. The way is clear… for now.” Rarity rolled her eyes and crept carefully into the safehouse. Right through the door was a square room, with a raised platform and some crates piled haphazardly around. Likely a delivery area, or a temporary storage. She briefly scanned the crates for anything worthwhile. Some bits, a bar of silver, a few rings and other assorted jewellery. She pocketed the bar and a particularly well cut amethyst ring.
“Idea~” She smiled. There were things that could be done with a decent quality gem. Enchanting, trading, perhaps even indulging in her interests in fashion. When she could afford it.
“Hey, Sugar-Cheeks, guard round the corner! Work your magic, lady.” Anon sniggered. Rarity sniffed, but quickly slipped into the proper stance when the guard came into range.
“Oh, kind sir!” She cried dramatically, sidling up to the guard. “I was just trying to find somepony I knew, but I got lost!”
The guard looked rather flustered by the admittedly beautiful mare pressing up against him. “Ma’am, I’m afraid this is private property-“ He fell over.
Rarity sighed, a dagger floating in her magic, coated in halfway blood and halfway poison. “Then nopony will miss you.” Fast acting paralysis agents were her preferred method of sabotage.
“Man, you get all the cool one liners.” Anon complained. “I’m stuck with the trashy lines. Oh, and the blueprints are really outdated, so expect no help from here.”
“Alright. I’ll report if I find something.” She sneaked on, of course after patting down the guard. It was a blur of wallways and chambers, and quite a few more guards. She seduced a few, sneaked past a few, and knock-out gassed a few groups. Rarity preferred stealth and subterfuge over direct confrontation. There were many stallions with stabbed backs as she made her way through the compound.
“Anonymous?”
“Yeah?” He yawned tiredly. “What’s up?”
“Do you know what this compound is meant for?” Rarity asked. “So far I’ve seen nothing but meaningless debris and guards. There is nothing to indicate purpose of any kind.”
Anon hummed a silly little tune. Rarity imagined that he would be checking the records. “Huh. Well, either these folks have a safe house full of nothing, or they are crazy good at hiding.”
“Meaning?”
“Nothing in the records say anything about the safe house being used for a particular purpose. It’s been under the same management for decades now, but there is fuck all about what they use it for.” Anon said. “Find out if you can, Rares. The boss would appreciate that.”
“Understood.”
The place was eerily quiet. Besides the occasional guard, everything was completely silent. And it was massive - far larger than what it looked like from the outside. The closest thing she could compare it to was the Labyrinth Warrens extending far into Mt. Canterlot. Except this was eerily abandoned - at least the Warrens were chock-full of subterranean species. This was just… dead.
Rarity sneaked about for another hour or so. At this point her loot sack was almost filled to the brim. She had traded out all of the gold for gems, and those for enchanted baubles. “Anonymous.”
“Sup.”
“I think something is wrong. This place seems to… grow.”
“Grow?” Anon sounded curious. “What do you mean?”
Rarity paused, making some mental calculations. “This is just a rough estimate, of course, but I believe I’ve walked at least the length of Cobbler Street while exploring the compound. It’s the only plausible explanation - even extension charms don’t allow for this much expansion.”
“Jeez, seriously?” She heard Anon gasp. “Okay, I’ll look into it. Meanwhile, you should focus on finding the Scepter. If that place is growing, I want you to get the fuck out as soon as possible.”
“Why, Anonymous, was that care in your voice just now?”
“Sure. Care in my pay check.” Anon said. “It’s my job to keep your ass clear and letting you get lost in a living maze will dent my rep in the guild.”
“Charming.” Rarity said. “Well I’ll have you know that I don’t need some voice in my head to keep me safe.”
“Whatever you say, lady.” Crunch crunch crunch, and the rustle of a new nacho packet. Rarity rolled her eyes. That was when she noticed the change in architecture. What was once grey concrete wall, was a dark midnight blue, studded with platinum beads that glinted in the weak lighting. “Your vitals went crazy. What’s up?”
“The building, it changed. I was in a room and the decor just shifted entirely.” Rarity shuddered. “It feels… unnatural.”
“No shit.” Anon said, snorting. “But if it’s starting to look like the night sky, then the Twilight Scepter must be nearby. Keep looking.”
“Rude.” Rarity grumbled, trotting carefully through the now gleaming blue corridors. It was eerily quiet, and for some reason a cold breeze just barely limped through the passages.
“Little pony.” Rarity stopped, a chill settling around her. “Stuck within the grooves of a path of despair.”
“Who’s there?” There was a moment of silence as Rarity’s quaky challenge echoed around the suddenly massive chamber. The room had been no larger than perhaps 6 feet in both directions. Now it was larger than even Princess Celestia’s throne room. It was so large, the sides disappeared into the distant shadows. For all intents and purposes, it was infinitely large.
In fact, given the almost magically organic nature of the compound, Rarity supposed that the chamber could be practically infinite.
“Struggling forward, yet broken beyond repair…” The voice said, tauntingly. It was vaguely female, but sounded as though many ponies were speaking at once. The voice was cold, with no hint of mercy or compassion that Rarity could glean.
“What is this place?” Rarity asked again, this time with slightly more bravery. She was a professional thief with plenty of combat training. She could hold her own in a fight.
“A lair in the dark, far from home.” The voice whispered. Rarity barely withheld a scream when a pair of gleaming eyes appeared in the darkness, crackling like an ominous green fire. From that, lines of green light snaked out in intricate patterns and shapes, until finally forming the outline of…
Rarity screamed.
A gargantuan centipede, as tall as the tallest Canterlotian tower. From what the fire had outlined, it was a creature constructed of massive bones, far larger than any skeleton Rarity had seen. As if that was not horrifying enough, the centipede had what seemed to be a unicorn skull the size of a house for a head, with two flaming pincers protruding from where the cheeks would be. The orbs of fire were nestled in the skull’s eye sockets, with a darker center which flickered about like pupils. A rage of green flame swirled in its interior, displaying the insane serpentine bundle of interlocking bones that formed its body. Somehow, the fire cast no light save for the area it occupied, a skeleton of pure darkness.
“A test,” The centipede said, inching forwards until the abomination was within an arm’s reach. Rarity’s screaming ceased, instead falling into frenzied shivering. “An oath, perhaps, as a test of spirit.”
“Rarity?” The unicorn whipped around by instinct alone, recognizing the voice. She felt terror fill her soul as her eyes fell upon the small form of her sister.
“S…Sweetie Belle?” Rarity had no words, her mouth working silently.
“Duty to family, a bond most strong,” The centipede whispered, its voice but a cool breeze, drifting past Rarity’s ears. “An oath to blood, the tenacity of family.”
“Can you protect her?” It was a challenge, daring her to respond. Rarity, however, could not answer. Her breath was caught in her throat, as she stared at the small filly before her. “Can you protect me?” The voice twisted midway, the trembling tone of the centipede replaced by a voice most sweet and soothing. A voice Rarity recognised with dread.
“Why… Why is she here?” Panic threatened to consume her as she stared into the ghostly apparition. Sweetie Belle flickered slightly as she frowned, tilting her head. Her mane bounced in exactly the same way it had done for as long as Rarity could remember.
“Don’t you want me here, Rarity?” The question pierced her heart. “Maybe I’ll come back later…”
“No, don’t! Please, Sweetie, don’t go!” Rarity spluttered, as her sister faded into the darkness. She fell to her knees, as tears of despair fell onto the ground.
The centipede clicked its mandibles in disappointment. “Your blood is spilt. An oath violated. Your will is broken.”
“How is it possible? Why is she here?” Rarity shook her head as though in a daze, and sluggishly pushed herself to her hooves. The silence was deafening, her voice seemingly lost into the shadows.
“The end of all roads, all journeys, all paths.” The creature breathed, skeletal legs clicking loudly against the ground. The words came from its mouth, yet Rarity heard them clear in her mind. “The youngling had passed through some time ago, along with her parents. A place of rest for all who travel and all who do not, those who stand in the face of death and those who fear its arrival.”
“You are not worthy of passage.” The centipede decided. “Should the fateweaver call for you, tell her that the Path of Bones bars your way.”
“What… what do you mean?” Rarity asked, her voice shaken and weak. “What do you mean, passage? Where does this lead?”
“They pass, or they do not. Those who do find their travels’ end. Those who do not will find their efforts wasted. Such is the nature of all journeys.” The centipede said with a hint of pity. “A shame, traveler. Your journey’s end could well have been where the youngling went.”
“And knowing so, you still deny my passing?” Rarity said, standing as she felt rage fill her limbs. “I will go where my sister goes.”
The centipede paused. “Perhaps there is fire yet in her heart. A few dying embers, to be fed and grown into an inferno. You walk the path of the lost, but live the life of fire. A shade by heart, but a spirit by soul. Something new and unexpected.”
“Perhaps you did not hear me clearly, beast.” Rarity growled. “I will go to my sister, and you will not stop me!”
“You are not worthy of what lies beyond the Path of Bones.” The centipede said. “But you have proven worthy of redemption.”
“Redemption?”
“You are no longer, but perhaps it is for the best. The Shadowfell fills your being, but your heart beats with a ferocity and tenacity no shade deserves to possess. You are beholden to fate, but not indebted to death. A mortal soul housed in immortal flesh, a being borne of the shadows yet born with a radiant fate. Reborn, for all intents and purposes. Revenant, an escapee of the mortal coils into another never ending cycle.”
It was only after the whispers faded that the pain hit Rarity full force. She fell, clawing at her horn as it slowly began to flake and crack. Agony consumed her mind, suffering of such intensity that she did not notice her very being changing at the most basic of levels. She no longer had a coat, her flesh exposed to the chilling wind. Then they too were gone, bubbling away until all that remained was bone and spirit. With no nerves to feel pain and no brain to think, Rarity was suddenly assaulted by an eerie peace.
The peace lasted but a moment, as darkness rushed in to create tissue where muscle once flexed, knitting together flesh and organs, and filling the new body with blood of liquid shadow. Her eyes flew open as her consciousness returned, drawing breath with her new lungs. She was suddenly painfully aware of a few things that definitely did not belong to a pony.
She lifted her hooves tentatively. They were rough and jagged, covered by patches of scales reminiscent of a bird’s legs. She did not need to turn to know that her hindlegs were similar in appearance. Her wan coat sickly and pallid, painfully like the clammy discolored skin of a corpse. Thankfully, her mane was unchanged, the same rippling purple waves that gleamed even in the mysterious weak glow that permeated the yawning space.
“The Path of Bones awaits your return, but only when you have earned your passage. You shall return to where you came, and complete the task required of you. Be warned, revenant, for although the fateweaver cannot hold you with ease, you are not immune to the call of the Shadowfell. And if you are sent here once again, and you have yet to prove yourself, you will become lost.”
Rarity moaned, her head ringing from some undeterminable source. She opened her eyes and nearly screamed as light flooded her vision, causing a burning pain in her mind.
“Ow… please turn down the light…” Rarity groaned, taking a breath in relief when the glaring light faded away. “Thank you…” As soon as her eyes stopped stinging, she opened them again, taking in her surroundings.
Now it was obvious that the light that had stung her was from her own horn, because there were no obvious signs of he was in some kind of large tent, lying atop a pile of blankets. The tent was rather plain, a simple purple cloth with no bottom, so grass covered the ground. A few bags and pouches were scattered about, alongside a few books and some alchemical reagents. Next to her was some sort of staff, a rod of solid silver inlaid with sapphires.
“The twilight scepter… wait, how do I know that?” Rarity blinked. Her memories were fragmented, and unclear. Bits and pieces floated about - her name, skills, contacts, certain locations and feats she had performed…
Sweetie Belle. That woke her up, wisps of some long-forgotten power swirling about her. Sweetie Belle, to whom she had sworn an oath of protection. Sweetie Belle, her only true family. Sweetie Belle… the sister that she had failed.
No more. Rarity’s eyes glinted as she found purpose once more - to prove herself worthy to go to where Sweetie Belle was.
“Oh.” She turned her head to the entrance of the tent. A lavender unicorn trotted in, bulging saddlebags at her sides, a heavy looking tome in her magical grasp. When she noticed that Rarity was up, she dropped the book quite suddenly. “Oh! You’re awake!”
“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Rarity asked.
The other unicorn blinked. “You don’t remember?”
“Remember what?”
“You were locked in combat with an owlbear, half mauled to death and trying to protect that rod.” She said, gesturing at the twilight scepter. “I stepped in, sent off the animal, and brought you here. Although you were bleeding quite heavily when we got here…”
Rarity glanced down at the bedding, which was caked in dark dried blood. “I see. Well, in that case, I must thank you for your assistance and hospitality. My name is Rarity, and you are…?”
“Twilight Sparkle, scholar and wizard. Good to meet you, although I would have preferred better circumstances.” Twilight said, setting up a cooking stand with practiced ease.
“What do you mean? I think your tent is plenty nice. Very homely.” Rarity nodded appreciatively. “Good color, too.”
“Color?” Twilight gasped, incredulously. “We are at a critical juncture in Equestria’s history, and you like my tent’s color?!”
“I… what?” Rarity tilted her head. “I have been… out of the loop, as it were.”
Twilight balked. “Out of the loop? How can you be out of this?” She pointed out of the tent opening.
“It’s night time, Twilight. I hardly see what the-“
“It’s three in the afternoon.” Twilight said. Rarity’s mouth fell open. “…You seriously didn’t know?”
“Um, Twilight, what is the date today?” Twilight told her, and Rarity blanched. “Oh. Oh dear.”
“What?”
Rarity blinked, and shook her head. “Um, nevermind, I was just being silly. But I’ve been… sheltered, as it were, and didn’t have the chance to observe the skies recently.” A week had passed since… since… what was she doing before again? It did not matter - it had been a week since she had last been conscious.
“I… see. Well, I suppose you deserve a recap of recent events. Basically, an ancient prophecy has come to pass, legends come back to life, and… night time reigns supreme. At least, it’s what I believe,” Twilight sighed. “I suspect the Mare in the Moon has returned to reclaim her throne as Equestria’s true princess… Canterlot has fallen, the guard is barely holding, and Celestia is… indisposed.” She took a shuddering breath. “She left a message for me, because I study under her… to go to Ponyville and find a mare called Sunny Skies.”
Rarity flinched. “Sunny Skies?” Memories streamed into her mind.
“You know her?”
“Know would be an understatement.” Rarity coughed. “But that’s all in the past. So you are headed for Ponyville now?”
“Yes, but it’s far too dangerous to travel for long periods. The longer you’re out there, the easier it is for monsters to find you.” Twilight said, levitating the thick book she was carrying. Flipping it open, she indicated at some byzantine graphs and scribbles. “Somehow these lunar monstrosities detect minute amounts of lunar radiation that accumulate on living entities when exposed to moonlight, and they follow signatures that are moving which is their preferred method of tracking.”
“They sense moonlight?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Well, basically, yes.”
“Than nowhere is safe…” Rarity whispered, before her eyes widened in realization. “Wait, that’s it!”
“What?”
Rarity shot to her hooves, her sapphire eyes gleaming with a determined light. “This is my proof, my quest!”
“My DESTINY!” The pile of bedding collapsed.