//------------------------------// // Chapter LXXVII // Story: Journey to the center of Equestria // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// The words of Twilight had echoed through the ears of all the company’s members. Which had caused each of them began to fear for their lives –as well as their Rarity’s. Hands were placed upon the magical shield that was supposed to be keeping them out from interfering. Even though it wasn’t visible at all, they all felt that there was some kind of force that held them back. Which lead to shivers down the spine of Fluttershy. She couldn’t bear watching how the two Rarity’s were literally going at each other’s throat. None of them could in fact be watching it. The very fight between the two of them was fierce. A lot fiercer than any of them had seen Rarity fighting before. The unicorn had good reasons to keep herself alive of course, not to mention that she had herself to duel against. But for which one they had to cheer remained a question unanswered. There was no obvious difference in either the looks, weaponry and fighting style. It almost seemed as if someone had made a near exact copy of the unicorn and placed it against herself. At least that was how it looked like in the eyes of Twilight. “But,” the doctor began as she managed to turn her head to the soothsayer. “If they are on a duel to the dead, and they are both equally powerful, how will it end?” It was the question where nopony had thought about before. Yet the matter seemed to have been of a rather great importance. If it was indeed an exact copy of Rarity, the levels of stamina also would have been the same. The eyes of Twilight would have gone wide when she thought about the matter for a moment. Horror was filled in Twilight’s mind before a deep gulp was given off. Nothing seemed to have been making sense to her in the moment. Yet Fluttershy had hammered the nail straight on the head. A deep exhale was released through her nostrils as she tore her attention away from the fight. With a worried expression did she glance back in the eyes of the doctor. “Then I’m afraid,” she began in an equally worried tone, “I’m afraid that the both of them, shall be having their lives seen ended tonight.” Those words went past everypony like a stone cold wind. The shivers went down all of their spines when they thought about the manners in which both Rarity’s could have ceased from existence. The thoughts weren’t pretty at all and they all knew that. Once again it would have been praying for the best and preparing for the worst. The mares turned their attention back to the fighting mares just as one of them did a backflip. The fight was brutal to look at as both swords were used to aid them. Which meant that four swords in total were clashing against one another. “Ah hate to tell this, but Ah hope she survives, our Rarity that is,” commented Applejack while she couldn’t believe her eyes. The thought was shared as they all silently made their answers on the matter. But whom would have gotten out of the battle as the victor? It was either going to be Rarity, or Rarity. Inside of the magical dome were the two mares still battling it out after a couple of minutes. The clouds of the night had moved away from the moon and revealed that it was a crescent one. For the first time in a long time did the weapons cease and they both stared to the giant rock in orbit. A deep exhale was given off by the two of them before their eyes turned back to one another. “And here we are once again, so it seems,” one of the Rarity’s spoke with a chuckle in her tone. She seemed to have taken delight out of the entire scene for some reason. “The crescent moon, our birthmarks. Shared by the princess of the night,” the other Rarity replied with a gentle grin. Even the pair of them were trying to figure out just whom was whom. Who knew, perhaps there had been a spell fired that caused them to forget who was the real one? Either way, the peace between the two mares didn’t last all that long. Moments later were the swords readied again. Two yells then filled the plain before they charged at one another. For one of them there wouldn’t have been a tomorrow. Though the both them would have made sure it wouldn’t have been either of them. The matter laid a little bit difficult though. Not knowing whom was whom again only added to the confusion that they were having as the sword clashed against one another. But then, there was silence. Just plain and utter silence between the two mares. The mares at the edge of the shield couldn’t believe their eyes. The sights that they saw were just so unreal and surreal. For somehow and somewhere had both Rarity’s managed to end up in the exact same pose. It almost looked like as if the two were indeed exact copies of one another. But acted in a mirrored fashion. “Could it be that, but that thing should have been shielded,” mumbled Twilight while she did her best to make sense of the whole situation. What happened next was that she shook vivid with her head. It couldn’t have been the thing that she thought about. For even that made actually too much sense of the matter. “What are you thinking about, Twilight?” Rainbow asked after she had caught the mumbles in her ears. There wasn’t really any way out and the soothsayer felt as if she had to tell it. For if it was what she thought it was, the troubles that they were having wouldn’t have been over. A deep exhale was released through the nostrils of the mare as she closed her eyes for a little moment. Only to speak her words behind closed eyelids. “There’s a legend, an ancient legend. That somewhere within the forest of Everfree a pool exists. A pool that is able to duplicate everything that touches its very waters.” “Why am I having the feeling I know where this is going to..?” Rainbow then added in a whisper, just before she rose an eyebrow. She didn’t like the words one bit that the soothsayer said, but she had to take them for what they were. “Because, the answer of what we’re searching for might actually be hidden within that pool,” answered Twilight just before she continued her explanation. “Perhaps Sunset managed to get a strand of hair from Rarity and discovered that said pool wasn’t as legendary as originally believed.” “What the name of this pool of yars?” Applejack asked almost blunt. “The Mirror Pond,” answered Twilight in an ominous tone. Back within the shield stood both of the Rarity’s still while they had a mere minute to talk again. Two swords were clashed against one another in a defensive manner, while the other two could be found just resting right at their necks. The two only glanced one another in the eyes with the sheer amount of hatred that could be viewed. “It seems we have reached an impasse, dear. You and me, both able to die at the moment. We can’t make that happen for them lot right?” one of the Rarity’s spoke just before she pointed upwards with her eyes. The other Rarity followed the gestures and there she saw the rest of the company just standing there. During their entire fight they hadn’t noticed that the group stood there. Nopony could have truly blamed them for the fact though. For they only had eyes for each other in the worst possible way of the word. “True, if we both happen to lose our lives, it would be a shame. But the cold steel in the neck, tingles the senses a little bit. Makes one, quicker, so to speak,” the other Rarity replied in a dead serious tone. The real Rarity could only think about her own survival, she wanted to return to the group. At the other end she also wanted to know exactly where and how the impostor came to be. There were just so many questions that raced through her mind, but there was just so little time for answers. A deep huff was released by the pair of them just before the blades managed to make a small slice in the necks. Not enough to cause massive bleeding, but at least a little bit. Which meant that the first blood of the night had been spilled. Blood was spilled by the both of them, to them both. “Did you honestly thought, you could have made it to safety from them? They will hunt you, hurt you, and then come to what’s most precious to you. I won’t allow that to happen,” one of the Rarity’s said moments before she narrowed her eyes. Neither of them wanted to winch in pain, it could have been shown as some sign of weakness. The unicorns never moved a step forwards or backwards as all of their energy went to their arms. Yet the other Rarity had enough of the petty insults that were thrown to her. “Oh believe me, once I’m done with you, darling, there shall be nothing of you left to even identify you with. Every bit of your body shall be vanished and fed to the sharks.” “Getting vulgar, I see? Hmhmhmh, show them your true colors.” “Right after you.” Despite the fact that it was just horrible to watch the mares fight, there still seemed to have been some kind of class that was exchanged between the two of them. They both managed to maintain their strange politeness as well as their fierce temper. Both long and deep exhales were given off by the two of them while they stared into each other’s eyes. The necks were bleeding and they felt that their time was running out. The first blood of the night had been spilled and the stakes were placed even higher. Everything could have happened. Anything would have happened in that moment. Nopony could tell who would be able to win the battle. They only hoped that their Rarity would have done it. Bit figuring out which one was theirs was a quest already given up by the mares at the sidelines. “Why would they have even agreed upon a duel to the death?!” Rainbow exclaimed moments after she had taken it into the air. She just hovered a little bit behind the group and had a bird’s eye view on the whole matter. “Because, Rainbow, in ye olden times it was a courtesy if two beings of regal had an issue, they would fight it out. The stakes usually were a lot lower. But they, they have both something to truly fight for. And the only way they can achieve it is with the death of the other,” explained Twilight to the best of her abilities and to her knowledge. Whatever the two were fighting for, it went about control of the life of the other. The imposter wanted to take the life of Rarity as she had it, while Rarity herself wanted to preserve it. There wouldn’t have been a much bigger motive for either of them. Which was exactly the thing that worried Twilight. That was the whole reason of just why they happened to be so fierce about it. Another exhale was released through her nostrils before she shook her head. “All we can do is wait. Wait and hope for the best.” “As freaking usual,” the major of the air force commented. Only to receive a dangerous sounding huff from the admiral. With the two unicorns still at the impasse and neither of them wanting to take either blade away, there was only one resort that could be taken by either of them. One of the Rarity’s looked up just a little bit before there was a grin that came to her face. The other Rarity didn’t understood it at first until she did the same motion. Within a fraction did she got everything. Their impasse had to be broken by one thing or the other. And since neither wanted to move was there only one solution that could be trusted upon. “No,” one of them spoke. “Yes,” the other replied. Within seconds had the blue aura covered the horn of the Rarity that originally glanced up. The other mare tried her best to keep up with the stored amount of energy but it was too later. There was nothing else that could have been done outside of taking the blow that came. Then the charge was released as one massive blast of arcane energy that came directly against the body of the other mare. The arms were spread wide in a matter of milliseconds before the whole body seemed to have gotten off of the ground. Before she knew it was Rarity flung through the air. She didn’t knew where the ride would end, only that it would have been painful to do. Which it was, for mere fractions of a second later did she crash straight into a tree. The other Rarity discharged her horn and looked over to her counterpart with a devious grin. “What’s the matter, darling? Did they never told you not to challenge a pirate?” she spoke up as she prepared herself again to attack. The blades sliced through the air while they cut through it. The grin never seemed to fade away though. The mares outside of the dome could have sworn that the one who blasted was the real Rarity. But that wasn’t the style in which she used to fight. The attention shifted over to Applejack for the answers they needed. The admiral was the one mare who had the most experience with the fighting style of the unicorn. But not even the admiral could have believed that their Rarity would have done something along the lines of what she did. The mare shook her head before she spoke her words to them all. “Ah remember our fight as if it was yesterday, all of ‘em in fact. Skilled with the blade and always challenging in one-on-one duels. Near unbeatable from what Ah heard.” The admiral had a closer look to the unicorn as she tried to make even more sense out of the matter. “It can’t be her. All her battles had been won fair and square at the training. Master fencer, she happens to be. Ah don’t think that even now, she would break her –or that– honor. Mah mind always told me she won by cheating, which caused me to grab the bottle. Not now, now Ah can think clear again and remember what happened. The one who fired the blast, has to be the impostor,” the earth anthrony spoke loud enough for the other mares to hear. The words of the admiral were indeed sounding rather promising and actually believable. At least they did so in the ears of Pinkie, Rainbow and Fluttershy. Only Twilight seemed to be having her doubts. Therefore it was only her who dared to question the theory. “But what if she thinks her honor isn’t worth as much as her life. Then it would mean that it is our Rarity who blasted that.” Applejack began to stroke her chin as the soothsayer indeed had a point. The encounters that the earth anthrony had with the unicorn were also just pretty brief and perhaps memory did fail her more then she would have liked. Which resulted in only one reply being able to be spoken. “Then Ah told mah side of the story, y’all pick out which tale ya wanna believe.” Both of the Rarity’s were still battling it out with one another. Even though one of them had crashed against a tree, there was still life that was coursing through the veins. The bleeding neck didn’t matter in the moment as it was only wiped away by the unicorn that had fired the blast. “Come on then, get up and fight me. Or did you have enough of this madness?” the mare spoke before the grin returned to her muzzle. A deep moan and a groan then came from the other mare. She too wasn’t done with the battle at all, even though she laid in the soft grass. After the hit with the tree trunk had she fallen down into the grass that laid below it. Both of her fists were then placed into it as they still had a hold of the hilts of the swords. With a gentle motion did the mare rose up again and glanced into the eyes of the other with an expression of complete and utter hatred. “Madness? My dearest, little, imbecile, you haven’t even touched upon madness. Madness, is knocking, at your door, right now,” the mare spoke up in a hateful tone before the eyes were narrowed even further. The other mare erupted out in a laughter before she spoke her own words upon the matter. “Oh my dear, you’re getting more and more verbal, what’s the matter if I may ask for that? Are you having the feeling that you’re going to die soon? Do you feel the cold breath of the devil in your neck? You’re getting desperate to make that last ditch effort to save your life. But, you, just, can’t.” Rarity had then risen up from her position and used one of the blades as some kind of strange walking cane. With the other hand she wiped her nose and then her neck. The blood came upon her blouse but she cared little about it in the moment. The eyes of both of the mares turned into the same expression as one of them still had to die. “I’m only getting more verbal, because I think I figured it all out. You’re the impostor here. We both agreed upon a duel to the death, and you’re the one that’s using magic to win. You really want to win by cheating? You really want to take my life, by cheating? How, how daft, are you actually?” Rarity questioned before she rose her other sword. But she too had another plan right up her sleeve. One, that probably would have been able to end everything there and then. A plan of utter madness, but that fitted right in her alley. The other mare released another chuckle of utter enjoyment before she rose her sword up. “No dear, I’m not going to take your life by cheating. I’m going to take it rightfully. It’s a duel to the death and one of us, has to die. I’m afraid that the cards are placed against your odds. Have one last look at them, before the life you led will cease to exist.” Rarity removed her sword from the ground before she placed one hoof firm in front of the other. Her shoulders were cracked before her neck followed suit. Deep exhales were given off by her before she took pointed her sword to the counterpart. “Okay, if this is how we’re going to play it all, so it be. Give me, your worst then! You want to take my life, go right ahead.” The mares at the other end of the shield gasped for air as they heard it. None of them could believe that either the real Rarity or the impostor had just plainly given up. Almost as if they realized that the fighting was just complete and utter madness. Which it was to begin with actually. But Twilight knew that one of them had some sort of backup plan. A backup plan that would be initiated the moment trouble became too hot beneath their hooves. Though for the moment they could only watch. Just watch to the events as they would go down in recorded history. “So it be, my dearest Rarity. Time for you, to step out of the equation!” the mare spoke just before she charged up her horn. A sickening laughter was sent out over the plain. Together with one massive mistake. One mistake that would turn the tide and everything in trouble. "Gotcha,” the other mare spoke in a whisper before she released another chuckle. “Finally, gotcha.” The longer she stared at the horn of her counterpart, the more it could have been clearly seen. The normally always so bright, sapphire magical aura that the unicorn carried, appeared to have changed. The aura had actually and physically changed into a greenish one. The other Rarity didn’t seemed to have noticed that little fact and she just continued along with the game that was still being played. A grin then formed itself across her lips while she wanted to release the massive charge that had built up. There wouldn’t have been any words spoken by her, just the massive charge that would have ended the life of Rarity. Mere seconds later was the charge released and Rarity knew that she had to initiate her backup plan. Time slowed itself down as every heartbeat took a literal minute. The processes inside of her mind managed to slow down the one thing nopony had control over, time itself. The horn of the unicorn then charged up in the sapphire blue aura. Before she knew it had she vanished from their realm of existence. In just one poof had Rarity gone as the green magical blast hit the spot where she used to stand. The other Rarity laughed like a true maniac, she still didn’t seemed to have noticed the fact that Rarity had just vanished. No words came from her at all. All she could do was just express both her own insanity as well as the happiness she got from not just eliminating, but also eradicating the other Rarity from existence. Seconds had gone by before the charge finally seemed to have become less and less. Up to the point to where nothing would have been left from it. The horn then just discharged itself before the mare had started to pant. Exhaustion had managed to set in as she fell down to the ground. One of the swords was dropped down to the ground and her eyes glanced over to the rest of the mares. Five sets of eyes looked down upon Rarity as they didn’t knew what they had, or could be doing. The shield was still active but none dared to drum upon it. The magical charge alone was enough indication for them that their Rarity wasn’t the one visible. That green charge had never been seen by her and caused bells to ring. Not to forget the little fact that a unicorn just wasn’t able to change their aura at their will. So all facts considered up, their Rarity was still out there. She had to be somewhere in the dome of magic. She had to be hidden somewhere, to have escaped the clutches of the other mare. A mare who gently managed to crawl back upon her hooves and then looked to the rest of the group. A genuine smile of happiness was given off by her as she sheathed one of her blades. “I’ve done it. The impostor, has been, defeated,” the mare spoke before she closed her eyes. The arms spread themselves and the chest was pumped forward in a prideful manner. Victory seemed to have been hers and she would enjoy it with everything that she could. But trouble still laid waiting for the mare. In the form of perhaps the actual Rarity. Right the unicorn did the air began to shimmer faintly. Almost like an treacherous mirage that could be witnessed in the depths of the desert. The air shimmered and vibrated for a couple of seconds while it appeared that a figure rose up within it. Then the revelation came to be. For the other Rarity reappeared behind the seemingly victorious Rarity. Before anypony could have said anything and the other Rarity could have replied were there two slices that could be heard through the night skies. Two slices that bounced of bone and carved through flesh, before the gasps could be caught in the ears of everypony present. Rarity looked down to her chest and noticed how two tips of blades were sticking out of there. She began to gasp for air as she couldn’t believe what had happened. Quickly did her eyes then turn up. They noticed how Twilight still had her hand touched upon the shield. The feelings of disbelief came through her as the gasps for air became only tougher. Blood had managed to travel right in her mouth as her attacker remained hidden from her. Only the words could be heard within the air as the head kept itself straight. Words echoed in her ear from a whisper. Words that only that Rarity could have heard. Words spoken in a true dark tone of discomfort. “Never try to take my life.” The mares outside of the dome couldn’t have believed that the events had happened as they did. All of them just gasped for air in their own manner when they saw it happening. But perhaps the worst feeling had to be that behind the Rarity that was impaled, another Rarity stood. The confusion of whom had managed to kill who continued to rise up. They all thought that their Rarity had killed the impostor, but it could just as well be that it was their Rarity who stood there with two blades sticking out of her chest. None dared to say a word, all of them awaited the final words, curse or spell. Anything trembled beneath their hooves as they were all shaking. Even Twilight was still shaking upon her legs. The soothsayer had never been subjected to that much intense violence during one night. Never had she seen actual blood dripping off of the edge of a blade. That night, that cursed night would have been a change for them all. It would have been a literal change for the mare that tried to impose Rarity. For the horn of the unicorn began to charge up again. More and more arcane energy had collected upon it. Yet not spell of offence was given off. Instead it almost seemed as if something was venting something. The unicorn behind the unicorn did a couple of sniffs through the air before she yucked in disgust. “Dark magic. I smell that from miles away,” she whispered up. Then it finally happened. The body of the impaled Rarity just erupted out in a massive ball of green flames. Flames that became so hot that the mare behind the fireball had to take a couple of steps back. Rarity would have released her swords in order to do so while a hand protected her eyes. Whatever was happening, they hoped it would have been the last for the night. For a couple of seconds did the flames raged on like there was no tomorrow. Until they did died down again. As mysterious as they had come, so mysterious they disappeared again. But instead of the other Rarity, they did revealed something else that stood there. With the two sword still impaled through the armor and breasts even had an old enemy of the company returned like that. There was a dark creature who stood there. A creature that they had seen in the Frozen North before. Twilight instantly recognized the being thanks to the unique jagged horn. Only one being in the land had such a thing, and she had the guts to speak the name of the devil. “Dark Witch Chrysalis,” she spoke before her eye narrowed in disgust. She thought it was about time as well that they would have encountered her again. The Dark Witch began to yell in pain. She tried to reach for the swords and placed her hands on the actual blade part. Chrysalis could try all she wanted, but she never would have been able to get the hilts that stuck out her back. Insectoid screeches were released as she even tried to move one of the blades. Green blood oozed out of the wound while even more came through her mouth. She was in true pain for the first time in a long time. All that she could do was to turn herself around and face her killer. Which was exactly what she did. Rarity had charged up her horn to give herself some light as she looked deep in the eyes of Chrysalis. “You dirty bitch!” the Dark Witch growled while she spat out her green blood. “You just had, to do that, didn’t you?! Burn in Tartarus!” “After you,” the pirate replied in a stone cold tone. She had heard enough words of the Dark Witch and didn’t even hesitate to pull out her biggest flintlock. With one swift motion was it cocked and aimed right at the head of Chrysalis. Silence had taken over the pair of them while the Witch could only curse the unicorn. But doing so wouldn’t have helped her in any way or form. So all they did was one last look between them. Chrysalis her eyes were filled with a genuine hatred towards the unicorn, while Rarity’s were filled with something that could have been seen as regret. Why she carried that in her eyes would have been a mystery for all of them. There it was, the last boom of the evening. A smoking flintlock before a body dropped to the ground. A pair of swords were shoved up even further into the wounds. The sapphire blue aura faded from existence after one last spell had been done. A spell that would have returned the blades to their rightful mistress. The flintlock was stored in its original location before the mares felt that the shield faded away. Once again they could go back to Rarity and either smack or hug her. But as they looked over to Rarity, they all noticed that dark glance in her eyes. She had just killed Chrysalis in cold blood and the killer looks were still clearly visible within her eyes. All of the mares gulped a little bit because they knew what it meant. They were all just terrified of her in the moment. Each step that she took was a powerful one. Almost as if she still carried enough hatred within her to do it again, but then to one of them. The mare just walked past the rest of the company without even looking back. Where they feared the mare, Rarity wanted to forget everything. All the stress of the night had just crawled up to her. All of it ached her heart and she only had one command to speak. “Applejack, you’re next on watch,” were the only words that Rarity said. Her tone was empty, lifeless and just didn’t match her eyes whatsoever. But the reason of why she spoke like that was easily given. Only a couple of hooves after she had said the words, Rarity crashed down. Rarity just crashed down into the grass and seemed to have fallen either asleep or unconscious. Applejack couldn’t do anything else then to take up the order of the unicorn. Not even she had ever gotten a glance like that from her. None of them wanted to speak a word, they were all both amazed and utterly terrified of the events from that night. It was a night that would be remembered by all, but for all the wrong reasons. And their biggest hope? That they never would be having to witness something like that ever again.