The following day, Rarity had come back from the fashion show. She threw her purse and handbag onto the couch and collapsed into a chair in the kitchen. She was exhausted from dealing with all the questions she was being asked. She got up to get a glass of water when a knock came from her front door. She walked toward the entrance and told whoever it was to come in and that the door was open. It was Applejack and she was smiling for the first time in months. She seemed like a completely different pony compared to the last few days she spent with Rarity. She was wearing a small green handkerchief around her neck which she took off after stepping inside.

"Come in, Applejack. Come in, dear. It's always a pleasure to have you over. You seem happy, what's the occasion?" Rarity asked, happy to see her friend smiling for a change.

"Rainbow didn't find anything at those locations, but I did get closer to finding ways to help Twilight." Applejack said with a smile.

"Oh, do tell. What did you uncover with Rainbow Dash?" Rarity said with excitement in her voice.

"Well, you're not going to believe this, but the answer may be inside Twilight's library. Though we may not have found anything useful at those locations, we definitely found something relating to magic in those spots. I went with Rainbow to a few spots and dug around and I found a few relics relating to something Rainbow called "old world magic"."

"You don't mean magic before Equestria's time do you?" Rarity said, slightly confused, "And how would Rainbow Dash know anything about magic items?"

"Well she recognized the inscriptions on one of the relics and thought it might've been old world unicorn writing. She doesn't know anything about magic or how it came to be." Applejack explained.

"Well, Twilight is the magic expert, but we can't ask her. I guess the library is our best bet at this point. Still, even if we find the right spell to undo this, would I even be able to cast it? Only a Unicorn would be able to cast a spell to undo this unless...Maybe we should ask Zecora." Rarity said, looking at her options.

"Why don't we try the library first, Rarity? You'll get to see your boyfriend." Applejack said laughing.

Rarity let out a sheepish laugh and blushed.

"A.J. stop, we were kids back then. After all, a lady like me should be looking for stallions of the highest caliber. But all joking aside, it would be nice to see Spike again. I'll grab some gems for him before we go. Anyway, is there anything else I should know before I prepare to go?"

"Well, there is one thing. Rainbow said she would meet us at the library."

"Why? I mean, this is Rainbow we're talking about and we're dealing with a magical malady, at least I think we are. What business should have with us?" Rarity asked half confused.

"She said she wants to see Twilight again; She's worried just like you and I, Rarity. But she only has time for one afternoon as she has to get back to training later."

"Well, these days any time I get to see Rainbow or Fluttershy is always a treat and I can't wait to do some catch up with Rainbow. Well, I better go get some stuff ready for Spike then we'll head off."

Rarity started toward the back of her home in order to prepare some things for Spike and her work tomorrow. She smiled while going through her clothes. Seeing Spike will be a great refreshing moment from all this craziness and being able to catch up with Rainbow will mean time spent with her friends. Rarity remembered all the times they had as kids and all the time they spent together, it seemed like an eon ago. Though she missed it, she didn't complain about not seeing much of her friends as she realized they had all grown up not apart. The event with Twilight may have separated them, but hopefully helping Twilight now will bring the five of them together in some sense.

* * *

By the time they arrived at Twilight's Library, Rainbow Dash was already there. She was wearing an adult sized uniform for the Wonderbolts and she had on a pair of flight goggles. Her blue coat shined in the afternoon sun as she lifted her goggles.

"Hey guys," she said to Rarity and Applejack, "Sorry, I kinda just hopped over after practice."

"Hey Rainbow Dash," they said in unison.

"I heard you guys were looking for a cure for Twilight's problem. I thought I might be able to help." Rainbow Dash said with a smile.

"No offense, Rainbow, but I'm fairly sure this is a magical issue. I know you want to help, but I don't know if there's much you can do." Rarity said.

"Magic schmagic, we know our friend's in trouble, we should be doing everything we can to help her." Rainbow Dash said defensively.

"Rainbow if you're not going to take this seriously--"

"Whoa there, you two, we should stay focused here, and look around the library not stand out here bickerin' like a couple of old ponies." Applejack said, stepping between the two.

"Yes, well I'm not sure if Rainbow's brash attitude is the best way to deal with this matter." Rarity said, still upset.

"Rarity, c'mon we don't have time for this, settle your differences and let's go." Applejack said with a stern face.

"Very well, Applejack, let's go." Rarity said, going up to the door to knock.

"Come in," said a voice inside.

Rarity opened the door with her magic and the three ponies walked in. Spike waved to them and told them to come in.

"I didn't expect you guys to be here," said Spike.

"I brought you some gems, dear," said Rarity going through her bag. She reached inside and took out a glass jar full of blue gems.

"Thanks, Rarity." Spike said excitedly grabbing the jar.

"Anything for my Spikey-Wikey," she said nuzzling Spike's face, "Do you mind if we poke around here for a bit? We're looking for a book to help Twilight."

"Help, yourselves to anything in the library, I'll just be cleaning Twilight's room upstairs," he said with a sigh.

"What's wrong, Spike?" Rarity asked.

"The place just hasn't been the same without Twilight around. It's nice that I get to sleep where ever I want now, but having Twilight around always kept me busy organizing things and keeping us stocked on parchment and quills. Since she's gone, all I've been doing is dusting the place every few days. I took Owlowiscious to Fluttershy's Cottage the day the thing happened. I didn't know what else to do."

"We've all kinda drifted apart since that day, Spike, I'm sorry." Said Applejack with a hoof over the dragon's shoulder.

"Anyway, let's get to work. Hopefully there's something in here about those relics Rainbow found with Applejack on their outing." Rarity said as she started picking books out of the shelves and flipping through them.

"Don't worry, Spike, I'll do everything we can to get back Twilight. I promise." Applejack said, still worried about Spike.

"I sure hope you're right, Applejack."

Spike looked really depressed, but he went back to organizing things in the library and dusting the shelves. Rarity turned to look at him just as he was walking away. She felt bad for him, losing someone so close to him. She thought about walking over and talking to him and maybe comforting him, but decided against it as the solution to all this would solve more than just Spike's sadness.

Hours pass and still not a thing was found on the relics. They came upon a few books that mention lunacy but nothing like the case with Twilight. Rainbow bid them goodbye after a few hours and the two continued to search for a cure. They had almost given up when Applejack stumbled onto something.

"Well, I don't think this is what we're lookin' for, Rarity, but this is as close as it'll get," said Applejack as she started reading the text. "Legend has it that whoever possesses knowledge of these relics and brings even one of them to use as a spell catalyst will cause unknown problems for the user. Use with caution."

"Do you remember her using one of those relics you saw during the spell she cast when we were there?" Rarity asked.

"Not exactly, she had us blindfolded that day claiming it was a surprise, remember?" Applejack said, reminding her friend.

"Ah, yes, I do remember being blindfolded before we went into the library. But if that's the case, you don't think she used it do you?"

"Well, I certainly hope not, for both our sakes," Applejack said, with a worried face.

The two ponies walked out of the library feeling uneasy. What if Twilight had done something to her friends that her friends couldn't see? Had the spell broken the 5 friends apart? Rarity had questions upon questions in her head. She parted ways with Applejack along the way to to her home. By the time she got back, Rarity was completely exhausted. She grabbed a drink from the fridge, trotted to the couch and fell asleep. She dreamed her friend Twilight was calling to her from the end of a dark hallway. As she ran toward the voice, the voice faded and shrank away from her, spell blasts had suddenly surrounded her and she felt like she was in a war zone. The dream shifted again, this time Applejack was talking to Rainbow Dash. The two were talking quietly about how Twilight had finally lost it and then they started bickering and arguing about pointless things and finally the two went their separate ways. The dream shifted again and she was watching herself and Pinkie yelling at each other about Twilight's condition and again two ponies walked away from each other.

Fluttershy was the only one to hear the news from Rarity and although she saw this too, it was more of a somber sadness than anything else. All Fluttershy said was "Oh..." and she went back to her animals. She didn't say a word since that day about the incident. Rarity woke up with a jolt. Realizing she still had a drink in her hoof and it was still only early evening. She checked the time, it was still still early so she started work on some of the orders she had put aside earlier that week for a few customers. She worked with a melancholy mood as she sewed and cut the fabric for the dresses. She remembered all too well, why she and Pinkie were arguing. Pinkie wasn't taking the situation seriously enough and Rarity had slapped her in the face with tears in her eyes. Pinkie knew what was happening; With Twilight gone, their friendship had broken apart and she couldn't handle it. She and Rarity haven't spoken in several months; Far more time than she had spent with Applejack in silence.

Rarity had just about given up on the idea until she went to see Twilight herself and realized she had to gather the other five. She started with Applejack, then Rainbow Dash, and finally Fluttershy. While Applejack has talked to Pinkie on a few occasions, she didn't really want to see anyone until this mess was resolved. Applejack surmised that she simply couldn't handle the truth of Twilight's condition and left her be. Applejack had asked Rainbow to talk to her, but Rainbow couldn't get a response out of her either which was odd because those two were inseparable friends when they were younger.

'Times must've changed too much for Pinkie,' thought Rarity, still somber, 'but we need her back, she may be the only pony to give us the morale we need to fight this. I'll ask Applejack to come with me and we'll get Pinkie back...No matter what.'

Rarity finished her orders, turned off her lights and went to bed. She was ready to face her fears from that day and bring the group back together again, no matter the cost.

Author's Note

This chapter took WAY too long to complete. I was literally sick for a week so I couldn't even work on this thing for most of the week. I had one idea that I tried to roll with, but it just felt like bad Hasbro writing, so I scrapped it and re-wrote it. It still kinda Deus Ex'd but it it was not as Deus Ex'd as the original idea. I didn't really have time to go over this one, so if there are typos there, I apologize in advanced. I've been trying to get this out for a week, but ya. My mind just couldn't take the overload of writer's block and a stress-induced cold. Anyway, uh couple notes here. I took an idea to explore Spike's involvement in all this and how he managed to cope with the stress. I didn't really see a way to put Pinkie in this, and admittedly I kinda forgot about her till near the end of writing this chapter so....yeaaah, umm. Sorry? Anyway, hopefully you guys will keep reading this. Umm, I'll add more chapters next week, I promise.