If you talked to the spirits of dead ponies, they would all tell you the same thing. They would say that death is the final release, and that when your time comes, you must accept that it was meant to be and move forward. However, as Rarity pondered this, she couldn't believe that her death was planned. It was all so sudden - and she did suppose that death was always sudden - but it wasn't natural. No matter what she tried, she couldn't open her heart to the idea of death.
Even if there were no similar cases to be heard of, she knew the truth. Her ultimate demise had been an accident - a blip in the course of history. After all, she had gone out on a peaceful expedition.
It had taken her an untold amount of time to remember what had happened, and while it had seemed an eternity of darkness, it had likely only taken a matter of weeks for her memories to return.
It had all started with the annual dragon migration. Princess Celestia had thought it would be a good idea to celebrate and renew the long-standing (if unsteady) truce with dragon-kind through sending a group of ponies to experience the long expedition. Naturally, she had sent the elements of harmony, along with Spike, to take on the important task.
It had all started out fine. They had arrived at the first campsite a day early in order to set up their supplies. The next morning, the enormous group of reptilian beasts had arrived, and each pony was assigned to a willing dragon who would fly them throughout the journey and explain the traditions. Rarity remembered her partner -- he had been polite and charming, and always willing to help her. There was hardly time to process the whole scene before they were off.
After that, things were fuzzy. If her memory was correct, then there was a significant possibility that they had stopped along a few other campsites that day. The issue was fairly simple; even that which she could remember seemed to be happening to a stranger, her memory's viewpoint a rather distanced third person's.
Nonetheless, Rarity continued onward, her intangible hooves retaining their hold on gravity and yet not quite able to grasp the surface of the earth. This lead to her tripping more than occasionally at the pitfalls in the ground her invisible body produced. The leaves of Equestria were scattered all about, brown and red in color, with a texture that looked quite crisp.
She had almost made it back to Ponyville, and it was certainly a good thing. Though her non-existent muscles could not ache, her faux eyeballs stung from taking in so much of the world. If only she could shut it all out! Her soul took in the energy of the living plane, registering every movement of every plant blowing in the wind. It was both a dreamy and terrifying experience, and Rarity wasn't sure how she felt about it. She did, however, know that it was quite obnoxious of the world to inform her of its every move.
Hoofing it throughout the untamed countryside had been amazing, truly. Her intangible form was unable to dirty itself, yet that did not stop her from cringing inwardly each time a swamp needed crossing or it was necessary to splash through mud -- minus the splashing. On occasion, it seemed almost as though she could feel the objects around her.
There was a certain allure to dirtying herself, if only to disprove that she was unable to feel anything. It made her wonder if she was similar to a ghost in that sense - after all, ghosts were not able to touch the world around them either. However, each time Rarity thought on this, she would quickly shove the idea of it away, into the deep subconscious of her mind. There was no time to be pondering such things. She needed to find her friends and see to it that they were aware of her status of 'perfectly fine', and then she needed to have a long talk with Twilight about her intangibility and what could be done about the matter.
It was at this point that she was nearing the town square. Her mind debated all of the possibilities. Should she immediately dash into Sugarcube Corner, or should she head towards the library? Neither seemed to outweigh the other. If she aimed for the bakery, then her trip would be short, however, there was little chance Pinkie would be home, and even less that she would be there with their friends.
If she went to the library, it was nearly a garuntee that either Twilight or Spike would be home and willing to help. Yet this would take a great deal of time that she simply did not have.
Opting for library, she put haste into her step, nearly galloping (nearly -- to gallop in a non-emergency would be most unlady-like) as she desperately attempted to waste as little time as needed. After all, her friends were most definitely fretting over her days-long disappearance, and she wished not to worry them.
As she sprinted past the town hall, she paid no heed to the mayor or anypony else who may or may not have been watching her hooves sink into the ground before springing right out again.
The library was a sight for sore eyes, and as she proudly trotted up to the door, opening it with her magic (which, surprisingly, still worked, though it left no aura around the objects being moved) and opening her mouth to speak, her eyes shut in pure joy, yet she was cut off.
"Did you see those dragons? They were huge! I thought for sure they were going to plow right over me!"
A shy, timid voice obviously belonging to Fluttershy quelled the owner of the tom-boyish one. "Well, that wouldn't have been a problem if you had just rode your dragon like the rest of us."
"And sit there like a prissy old princess? No thank you!" Rainbow Dash fired back, presumably with her muzzle stuck up in the air.
Rarity opened her eyes, ready to explain that there was nothing wrong with being a princess, when a distantly familiar voice beat her to it.
"Now, darling, there is nothing wrong with a little bit of princess-hood. Some of the airs we flew in were simply filthy! All of the smoke and smog from those beasts' nostrils was clinging to my pelt the entire time!" The beautiful voice quickly continued, "Not that the view wasn't simply gorgeous of course."
Rarity's mind spun in circles so quickly that she should have been on the ground, clutching her head in misery. Yet she was too distracted by the sight she was taking in to truly realize that she should lay down and moan.
The luxurious pony in front of her was an exact replica of Rarity herself. She had the same pelt, the same mane, the same horn. Her cutie mark had not a detail wrong. She even moved and spoke as fluidly as the original. Yet the true Rarity knew that she was not the original, and had obviously, in the true Element of Generosity's time of weakness, taken advantage of her friends.
Roaring a battle cry that none of the others appeared to notice, she flared all of the magic she could muster into her horn and charged at the intruder.
Author's Note
This was a lot of fun to write, so I hope that it will be a pleasant read. Please let me know what you thought in the comments! After all, if you hate it, how am I supposed to be upset over it if you don't tell me?
