Sweetie Belle trotted through the front door of her sister's boutique, a paper bag in her mouth. Behind her, Applebloom and Scootaloo snuck up, the unicorn filly in front oblivious to their presence.
"Hiya Sw-"
The filly squealed, dropping the bag to the floor as she spun in place, coming face-to-face with her fellow crusaders.
"Oh! Uh, hey girls!" she exclaimed, grinning numbly.
"Sweetie, where have y'all been?" Applebloom asked, confusion on her muzzle.
"Yeah, we haven't seen you all weekend!" Scootaloo added.
"Oh...y'know, this and that" she responded, her green orbs wandering around the room.
"Right...well, come on! We lost a lot of time, those cutie marks aren't going to find themselves!"
"Um...right...about that..."
"What is it?"
"I've uh...I've got things to do!"
"Things" Applebloom said, unconvinced.
"Yep! Lots and lots of things to do! Rarity wants them done lickety-split!"
"What kind of things?"
"Chores!" she replied, a little too quickly.
"Can't y'all do 'em later?" Applebloom asked.
"No can do!"
Sweetie plucked the bag from the ground, and charged further into the boutique.
"Hey! Sweetie! Wait!" Applebloom cried as she and Scootaloo went after her, giving chase to their friend.
They scuttled across the showroom floor as Sweetie trotted up the stairs, her hooves clopping against the wood as she went, the bag still tightly secured in her mouth. At the same time, Rarity came down, a scowl evident on her muzzle.
"What in Equestria is going on down here?" she asked, forcing the three rambunctious fillies to stop in their tracks.
They blinked at each other, before Sweetie spoke up.
"I was just...uh...going upstairs to do those chores, you know, along with the really big one?"
Realization dawned on the elder's face as she discovered what she was hinting at, and nodded.
"Oh...well, I'm sure you could go crusading," Rarity suggested "those 'chores' could wait until later"
The smile on Sweetie's face vanished, turning into a look of dejection as Rarity addressed the other two in the room.
'Wait a minute...she's actually encouraging us to go crusading?' she thought, confused.
This was Rarity they were talking about, right? The same one that always made a fuss whenever she got the slightest bit of dirt on her coat? The same one that admonished her on a daily basis about the adventures she had with the other two fillies? That Rarity?
"Do enjoy your time out," Rarity stated, turning to head back up the stairs "I'll be here if you need me"
"Wait!" Sweetie Belle shouted, a little louder than intended.
"Yes?" Rarity asked, one ear askew as she looked over her shoulder.
"Could you please put this upstairs, with..."
She nodded up the stair- to what, was lost on the other two fillies occupying the room.
"Of course dear," the elder smiled, taking the bag in her magic as the smaller hesitantly turned to exit the boutique with her friends.
"How's she been?" Sweetie mouthed, afraid her friends would hear her.
"Fine" Rarity responded, doing the same.
She nodded, and waited, as if there were something else she wanted to say.
"Ya comin' Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom called, Scootaloo and herself already waiting just outside the door.
"Yeah..." she responded, leaving "bye Rarity!"
"Goodbye, have fun!" she replied, closing the door with her magic as she watched the trio dart down the road, towards Sweet Apple Acres.
'Please don't let them come back with a restraining order...' the unicorn prayed, amusing herself with the thought.
Though, she supposed she should've let Needles visit with Sweetie for a few minutes, if only to let the biped know she was alright. But it was for the best, as the creature had shut herself up in her room, refusing to answer the door whenever she knocked, attempting to coax her out. As she ascended the stairs, she wondered what could be the matter, and why the biped didn't just tell her. Her speech lessons were coming along, she could make full sentences at the moment, yet still had a loose grasp on her grammar (as far as Rarity could tell, the biped hardly said a word).
Rarity trotted up to Needles' room, and knocked, the paper bag still in her magical grasp. She once again, received no response. Sighing to herself, she set the bag in front of the door, the blue aura disappearing as she called out.
"Needles, Sweetie brought a present for you," she called, speaking through the gap beneath the door "I'm leaving it right here"
She then turned, and heading back towards the staircase, her eyes drawing themselves back to the door, hoping to see the door open just the tiniest bit, and Needles' gloved arm to shoot out and grab the bag.
She became disappointed, however, as no such thing occurred, silence dominating the hall as she waited. With hesitation, she turned, and headed into the shop floor, ready to take on the day's workload.
Needles lay on the floor, her body curled into a large ball as she slept, her dreams pervaded by nightmarish figures emerging and re-merging with the darkness surrounding her. She felt like a child, cowering in fear and spinning on her feet as the creatures grew closer. Eight red eyes suddenly flashed from the shadows, and a deep rumbling was felt from beneath her. An enormous figure suddenly leapt out, and she could do nothing more than watch it, the red porthole of her helmet following it as it landed, the ground beneath it shaking violently as she nearly soiled herself.
'No...no...nononNONONONO!!!' she screamed mentally, finding herself in disbelief at what she was staring at.
A familiar triangle shape raised itself, and she felt herself flinch as she waited for the attack.
It came down, and a blood-curdling shriek filled the dark arena, surrounding everything as the drill did its magic.
Needles waited, and waited, more shrieks and screams flying around as she continued to hear the heavy whine of the drill piercing flesh continued.
She nearly jumped back in shock, when she saw the armored figure, fighting off the creatures as its eyes continued to burn red with rage.
'Get up! Do something!' her mind told her, her own feet finding purchase on the floor of the dark pit.
She shakily raised her harpoon, and steeled herself as best she could as the shadowy-figures charged her. The weapon pierced one of them- it hollered in pain as the harpoon shot through its stomach, and every creature behind it gather in droves around the two.
She never thought she'd see the day, herself fighting beside one of what Tenenbaum once called 'monsters'.
'Not the time' she chided herself, getting back into the groove of fighting off Splicers.
Not many were present in this 'Equestria', and Rarity had made it very clear that she wasn't to harm any of the equine creatures-
-if her charges came to harm, however, that was a different story...
One of the shadow-figures came crashing down beside her, she lifted her foot, and delivered a swift kick, her boot connecting with the shadow's head as it crushed it. She didn't hear a crack, or even a splat- the head just disappeared as it vanished in a whisp of yet more darkness.
Two more charged her, and she swung her arms out, swinging them as she twirled, knocking the two on their backs as they fell. Behind her, shadows overwhelmed the Daddy, chewing away with sharpened teeth and wide mouths at the armor. She turned, in time to see him crash to the ground, the shadows unrelenting as they continued to chew at him, his eyes flickering.
'Damn it!' she cursed, continuing to fight off the creatures as they did their best to do the same to her.
She would mourn later- for now, she needed to escape this hellish nightmare, find a safe spot to rest.
Another pit opened beneath her, suddenly gobbling her up as she fell, all noise and distractions disappearing in an instant as her body landed with a hard thump against a carpeted floor.
Footsteps-
She struggled to lift herself, at least to limp away while she still could.
"Goodness, you are hurt, yes?" an accented voice said, her vision blurring as she caught a brief glimpse of a pair of brown sneakers "Come, ve vill get you safe"
A hand placed itself beneath her shoulder, and she numbly felt herself being moved.
She could do nothing as she lost consciousness.
"It is alright?" Luna asked, her royal form standing beside the blonde-haired woman.
"She is, yes," the woman responded "I found her severely injured, I was inclined to help her- you would have done the same, ja?"
"We are not sure we would have," the princess replied "this is the first time We have seen her dreams, let alone somepony such as her"
"My little ones are more innocent, they have not yet been corrupted, so I vould not know"
"Agreed"
Luna watched as the small fillies played, either with small, wooden blocks, or coloring books.
"Satisfying to know that these poor things have a kindly matron," Luna stated, her wings ruffling "even if said ponies involved are imaginary"
"Ve are real, to an extent, I think," the woman said "memories lying in wait, so zat someday she might remember"
Luna thought on it, watching the fillies continue to play, oblivious to their presence.
"Vell, I must attend to my little ones"
The woman turned to leave the room, leading into the very one they were observing.
"Verily, we must attend to Our duties, as well" Luna replied, preparing to leave herself.
"Could I ask you for a favor?" the woman asked.
"We might grant it"
"Look out for her, ja? Her dreams, at the very least?"
"We will act upon it, to Our fullest ability"
"Thank you" the woman said.
With that, Luna's form dissipated from the room, reappearing in her own chambers.
'What to do?' she wondered to herself, the image of the biped still fresh in her mind.