A Coveted Rarity

by HyperBlossom7

Stolen Treasure

The Everfree forest was silent; nary a sound could be heard. A dark but small shape moved down the narrow path that snaked through the forest. Soon the shape came to a small hut, with foreign masks hanging on the front door. The shape moved around the hut, and slipped in through a side window. One could smell faint odors of potions brewed earlier that day. A faint glow could be seen surrounding a few artifacts here and there. In one corner of the darkened room, a zebra slept. Occasionally her ear would twitch, picking up on some stray sound in its environment.

Moments later, there came a slight intake of breath, and then a green flame formed in the darkness. The dragon fire created a dim light, enough for the young dragon to see. Spike crept around, being careful not to do anything that would wake Zecora. Spike held the flame in one hand, his dragon hide preventing his claw from being burned. He had not come without knowledge. Earlier in the library, he had looked for books on potion magic, for a potion that had long term effects. Once he knew what he needed, he could come to Zecora's hut. As he looked around, unbeknownst to the dragon, his emerald eyes took on a vibrant glow. In his chest, black coils of darkness encircled around his heart. The tendrils wrapped around his heart, and started sinking in.

The dragon was unaware of all this, since he was focused on the mission at hand. Spike had a small baby dragon sized backpack to use. He got the required supplies as quietly as he could. Each time he thought he had been too loud, he glanced over to where Zecora slept. The striped mare made no movement or sign that she had woken, which allowed Spike to continue. The last item he needed was a bottle, so he looked around for Zecora's store of vials. He found one and snatched it, putting it in his backpack. As he turned, his tail brushed against one of the remaining bottles, causing it to topple over. It smashed to pieces on the floor, waking the zebra.

Spike winced as he saw Zecora's head rise. The zebra became alarmed as she saw the dragon shape a few feet away.

"Thief, thief!" she cried. "A thief in my store! You will not get what you came for!" said Zecora as she started towards the baby dragon.

Spike turned and ran, clutching his backpack in his chest. He hurried out of the hut, Zecora coming after him. However, Spike did not run back towards Ponyville. He wanted to lose Zecora first. He hurried off into the darkness of the forest, running from the path. Zecora tried to run after him, but it was too dark for her to see anything. Still, she knew who it was. There was only one baby dragon who lived nearby that she knew of. She would visit Twilight Sparkle in the morning.

~

Celestia had just raised her sun into the sky. The weather ponies had scheduled the day to be clear, which made it the perfect day for being outside. Applejack had risen and eaten breakfast. She was just finishing up her morning chores around the farm. Apple Bloom had already gone into Ponyville to visit Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo for another day of Crusading. Applejack walked out of her apple cellar after checking that no critters had gotten into it over the night.

Her chores finished, she decided to head into town. She started down the dirt road that led into the western part of Ponyville. When she entered the town limits, she saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders coming in her direction. She assumed they were heading to their clubhouse, so she gave them a smile. It faded quickly when she saw the looks of panic on their faces.

"Sis, we got a problem!" Apple Bloom exclaimed as the trio approached her, slowing down to catch their breaths.

"What's th' matter Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked, worried.

Sweetie Belle looked at her, eyes big and teary. "It's my sister, Rarity. I can't find her anywhere! She was supposed to make breakfast for me this morning," she swallowed as tears started coming. "She always makes me breakfast, or at least leaves a note..." Scootaloo put a hoof on her shoulder and she sniffled in response.

"Don't you worry none, sugar cube, we'll find Rarity," Applejack assured Sweetie Belle. "Let's take you to Sugar Cube Corner, all right? Maybe Rarity went there." Or at least maybe Pinkie Pie will have seen her, Applejack added silently. That pony rarely ever missed a thing, especially with her Pinkie Sense.

Two of the Crusaders nodded while Sweetie Belle made a mumbled response. Applejack took that as a yes and led the three fillies to Sugar Cube Corner. When they went inside, Applejack saw Pinkie Pie putting new baked goods out on display. The party pony looked up and grinned at the sight of Applejack and the Crusaders, but like Applejack, her smile faded when she saw the expressions on the Crusaders' faces.

She literally dropped everything she was doing, the sweets miraculously staying put on the platters they sat on. She ran over to the three fillies and immediately pulled them into a big hug, hoping that would cure their sadness. As nice as the hug was however, it didn't work. Pinkie Pie frowned, very worried now. She looked at Applejack questioningly.

"Rarity's missing, apparently," the farmer explained. "Didn't even leave a note or nothin, she ain't at the boutique according to Sweetie Belle."

Pinkie Pie nodded, thinking over Applejack's words. This explained the doozy she had felt when she woke up that morning. She was still feeling it, but she tried her best to hide it as not to scare the young ones. Pinkie Pie couldn't stand to see the three fillies so sad. She couldn't stand to see anypony sad, for that matter. So she quickly thought of something that would cheer them up hopefully.

"I bet's she's playing hide and seek!" Pinkie Pie said in a bubbly manner.

"I doubt-" Applejack began, but got a pink hoof in the mouth.

Pinkie Pie put her other hoof against her lips and said in a soft whisper, "Just go with it."

Applejack sighed and nodded in understanding. She trusted Pinkie Pie to look over the Crusaders, as the party pony had done so a few times in the past. She turned to her sister and her friends.

"All right, listen here. Y'all stay with Pinkie Pie, and behave yerselves. Ahm gonna go look around for Rarity. Ahm sure she's in Ponyville somewhere," she told them. "Can you do that?"

The three nodded, their expressions sincere. They weren't about to joke around when one of them was so upset. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were close that way. Applejack smiled in satisfaction and turned to Pinkie Pie.

"All right, Ah'll come back later then. Take care y'all," she said with a tip of her hat.

Applejack walked out of the bakery, a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She herself was worried about Rarity. Applejack knew Rarity wasn't the kind of pony to just up and disappear without telling anypony. Something wasn't right, she could feel it. Applejack looked up at the skies, hoping to find a certain mare with a prismatic mane. Sure enough she spotted Rainbow Dash flying overhead.

"Hay Rainbow Dash!" she called up. "Come down here for a moment, ah need ya!"

The cyan pegasus looked down and saw Applejack calling to her. She slowed down and changed her path to land in front of Applejack. The look in the farmer's eyes told Rainbow Dash that this was something serious.

"What's up, A.J?" she asked.

"Rarity ain't at home. She was supposed to make breakfast fer Sweetie Belle, but the poor filly woke up to an empty house," Applejack explained. "Ah need you to fly around Ponyville, see if you can spot her. Stop by Fluttershy's Cottage too, see if she's there. Ah'm gonna go to the Library."

Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding. "Got it!"

With a smile she flared her wings and shot back into the sky. Applejack watched her for a moment before heading to the Golden Oaks Library. She walked on in, since it was a public library. Applejack looked around, wondering where the library's resident unicorn was when she came through a doorway that led to the lower levels. Twilight Sparkle's brows were furrowed in worry, and she almost looked relieved to see Applejack standing in the doorway.

"Applejack, thank Celestia!" she cried, running to her. "Have you seen Spike? He's not here. He didn't even leave a note."

"Are y'all serious?" Applejack was surprised. "That's ironic seeing as Rarity's missing as well."

"Rarity's missing...?" A look of horror came over her face. "Oh no, what if someone's dragonnapped Spike and ponynapped Rarity?" Her voice was becoming a little high pitched, much to Applejack's concern.

"Now now don' be jumpin' to conclusions," Applejack said calmly. "It might just be ah coincidence."

"It may not, considering what I have seen. If you let me inside, I will tell you what I mean," said a familiar voice.

Applejack turned around and saw Zecora. Twilight brightened at the sight of the zebra and both ponies stepped aside to let her in. Zecora gave them a thank you and walked into the Library.

"Zecora, Spike has gone missing!" Twilight said once they were all inside.

"I had a feeling that was the case, because last night he broke into my place," rhymed the zebra.

Twilight and Applejack exchanged looks of surprise and back to the unicorn. "What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Last night was when I saw the little drake. Now he has something not his to take. I have a bad feeling about what he intends to do, for what he took makes a special kind of brew," Zecora explained.

Applejack didn't like the sound of that. Even though she knew Twilight used magic and Zecora was a trustworthy zebra, stuff like that always made her uneasy. Still, if this was related in anyway to Rarity's disappearance, it didn't sooth her fears at all. Applejack knew Spike wouldn't hurt Rarity, but his breaking into Zecora's home was awfully suspicious. She shifted uncomfortably on her hooves, looking at Zecora.

Twilight Sparkle pressed further, "What does this brew of yours do?"

Zecora had a grim look on her face as she explained, "It is a dangerous elixir that extends one's life. It has a force to pierce through your soul like a knife. While many seek to use it they do not know it is a curse, for the longer one has it, they become worse. I fear for the life of young Spike, and I think we need to find the little tyke."

"And Rarity, too," Applejack added. "She could be in danger."

Zecora's explanation had only deepened Applejack's fears. She was more then anxious to go looking for Rarity. Twilight picked up on this and nodded in agreement.

"We need to go find them," said Twilight. "Zecora, mind if we go back to your place? Maybe we can pick up on a trail."

"If there is a trail, I do not know, but checking for one we can do so," said the Zebra. "Please follow me into the Everfree."

Both Twilight and Applejack nodded and the three of them left the library. Zecora led them out of Ponyville and down the path that led by Fluttershy's house. Applejack looked in the cottage's direction to see the rainbow maned pegasus flying towards them.

"There you are Applejack! Oh hey Twilight, Zecora," Rainbow Dash gave the other two a nod. "I just talked to Fluttershy. She's pretty shaken up."

"Shaken up?" Applejack repeated. "Ah don't like the sound a' that."

Rainbow Dash nodded solemnly, "She said she saw a dragon last night. A big one."

Twilight frowned, thinking about this for a moment. She didn't think it was Spike, she was sure of that. She had already seen Spike as a giant dragon, but Rarity had gotten him back to normal. However, a small sliver of doubt was eating away at her. The doubt was due to the circumstances of the situation. Both Rarity and Spike were missing; Fluttershy had seen a giant dragon that may or may not have been Spike, and Spike had broken into Zecora's place and stolen a brew that apparently made for eternal life. The evidence couldn't be ignored, but Twilight still wanted more proof.

"Did she say what the dragon looked like?" Twilight asked hopefully.

Rainbow Dash shook her head, "No sorry. She was too frightened to look for long."

Twilight sighed, knowing that was most likely true. Fluttershy was a very timid mare, and easily frightened. "So both Spike and Rarity are missing now..."

"Wait, Spike's missing too?" Rainbow Dash hadn't known this part of the story. "What happened?"

"Spike broke into Zecora's place last night and stole ingredients to make something that would give a pony eternal life," Twilight explained. "We were on our way back to Zecora's hut."

"Right. Sorry but I'm gonna stay with Fluttershy for a bit. Hope you understand," said Rainbow Dash.

"No problem, RD," said Applejack. "Now I don't wanna wait any longer, so let's git moving."

"Good luck," said Rainbow Dash before turning to fly back to Fluttershy's.

"Come on, everpony," said Applejack to the other two.

The three of them continued onto the Everfree forest. They went down the path that led to Zecora's hut. The zebra's eyes widened when her home came into view. The state of the hut was completely different than it was before. For one part, a huge piece was missing from it. Mostly the roof and the right side of it, but almost all of the roof.

"No!" she cried, running into her hut.

Applejack and Twilight ran in behind her. The entire place was a mess. Shelves had been torn off the walls and rafters and beams had fallen. There was broken glass on the floor and her cauldron was turned over. Many of her ancient artifacts looked like they had been burnt, as if destroyed in anger.

"Zecora, I...I'm so sorry," Twilight said after a long moment of silence.

Applejack gulped and looked where most of the wall had collapsed. Now she could see a clear path through the forest, since further ahead were fallen trees and crushed undergrowth. She looked back to Zecora, who was moving around picking up broken bits of debris.

"Zecora..." Twilight walked to the zebra's side.

"It is all right, just leave me be. You must go find Spike and Rarity," said Zecora softly.

"Are you sure we can't help you clean up?" Twilight asked worriedly.

"I built this hut on my own, and I can easily restore my home," said Zecora. "You two go find the dragon and Miss Rarity, but be careful for you are in the Everfree."

"If you're sure..." Twilight wasn't sure about leaving Zecora here on her own. The zebra did have a point though. She sighed and nodded, "All right. Take care of yourself, Zecora. We'll be back soon."

"Let's git going, then," said Applejack.

Zecora nodded and went on to slowly cleaning up. Twilight turned to Applejack and the earth pony turned to go out of the hut. The two ponies left Zecora's hut and headed down the path that was thought to have been made by Spike. Applejack still wasn't positive that Rarity was with Spike, but then she found the evidence she needed. On the ground up ahead, covered in dirt, was a note.

Twilight spotted the note and went over to it quickly. She used her magic to levitate the note, the paper surrounded in a pinkish aura. It was a note from Rarity, meant to be sent to Princess Celestia. She shared the note with Applejack, and the farmer realized Rarity must have dropped it while going with Spike.

"Well ah think that's enough evidence to know Spike's taken Rarity," Applejack concluded.

"Most likely..." Twilight sighed, thinking back on the last couple days. "Spike had been acting a little off since the whole fiasco on his birthday. I should have seen this coming."

"Now don't you blame yerself, sugar cube, It wasn't your fault," Applejack assured her friend. "Right now, let's just focus on finding them okay?"

"Okay. Thanks Applejack," Twilight smiled gratefully at the orange mare.

Applejack and Twilight continued on down the path. They were going in an unfamiliar direction now, so Twilight made sure to leave magical traces so they could find their way back. Every few yards she would illuminate her horn, and a sphere of energy would be sent outward in a five mile radius. She made sure to leave pointers so they could stay in the right direction. This was easy for the most part, due to the path Spike had made. Unfortunately, after a few hours of walking, the path ended.

Twilight looked up, guessing Spike must have flown upward and out of the Everfree. Wait, 'flown?' That was new for Twilight. Last time, Spike hadn't had wings. This probably meant the situation was worse than last time, Twilight feared. Now they didn't have a lead to go on. She looked worriedly at Applejack and the earth pony understood as well. They would have to go blindly from here on. That fact made both mares uncomfortable, and Twilight searched through her mind to find a solution. Then she got an idea.

"Applejack, you trust me right?" she asked the farmer.

"Of course ah do, sugar cube," said Applejack. "Yer my friend."

"Ok, I'm going to levitate you as high as you can. Hopefully you can get above the tree line and see any clues about where we might need to go," said Twilight.

"Uh, levitation?" Applejack drew in a breath. "Well, you'll just be bringing me upward right? It's not too complicated?"

"It's not tricky at all, Applejack," said Twilight. "Don't worry, I won't let you get hurt."

"All right, go for it then," said Applejack, bracing herself.

Twilight concentrated, her horn glowing brightly. A pinkish aura surrounded Applejack, and the earth pony felt herself being lifted into the air. Applejack tried not to close her eyes in fear as she was brought higher and higher. She looked up towards the sky and Twilight managed to bring her just above the treeline.

Applejack gulped, never having been so high up without anything to hold onto before. She shivered slightly, the altitude making it a little colder. She gulped and looked downward to where Twilight was. Applejack hoped Twilight knew what she was doing, because she didn't want to die as a result of the unicorn's magic.

"Can you see anything?" Applejack heard her call.

"Hang on, ah'm looking!" she called back down.

Applejack took a good look around. She felt herself being turned around and smiled gratefully. Then she spotted a huge mass in the distance. It looked like a mountain, but it was covered in a dense fog. She knew dragons liked mountains, since Twilight had told her about dragons one time when she had asked. It could be their best chance at finding Spike and Rarity. She took note of the direction the mountain was in and looked down.

"Twilight! Ah see something, looks like it might be a mountain! It's a ways away, but ah think it might be our best shot!"

Twilight nodded and gently brought Applejack back down to the ground. The earth pony sighed in relief as her hooves touched the familiar earth underneath her. The aura around her faded and Applejack immediately turned in the direction she had seen the mountain. She lifted a hoof and pointed.

"That way," she told Twilight.

"East? That sounds about right," said Twilight. "Draconia is in that direction, though I doubt Spike would go that far."

"Well let's head on out," said Applejack. "Ah'm mighty worried about Rares."

"Me too Applejack," agreed Twilight.

The two of them started their journey through the Everfree and towards the mountain.

Author's Note:

Welp. There ya go. Thanks to Ghosttown Brony for Editing! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I don't know when the next one will be coming out, depends on how long it takes me to write it. Thanks for reading!

Comments

[HyperBlossom7]

Please leave comments because thats the best part about writing stories because it lets me know people are actually reading them and enjoying them. Thanks

[Weird Dragon]

Can't wait for more chapters