Luster

by Azure-Spark

Rating: teen
Tags: Sweetie Belle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rarity
Length: 13885

Twilight and Rarity stumble upon a massive vein of crystals just beneath the Everfree Forest, but something doesn't feel quite right. Twilight has her suspicions, and asks that they stay away. But Rarity just can't take her mind off of them

When a couple of ponies stumble across a massive deposit of crystals and gems beneath the Everfree Forest, something doesn't feel quite right. As much as Rarity wants to, Twilight insists they cannot just dig them up and put them on display. They need to be examined and studied just to make sure it's safe. So they both head home empty-hooved, much to Rarity's dismay.

But her mind keeps drifting back. A little visit couldn't hurt, right? She just wants to look, stare into their beauty. Their wonderful, magnificent beauty.

At some point, one crosses the line between curiosity and intrigue, and falls straight into obsession.

-- -- --
1st place in the Transformation Horror Write-Off, 2013
Transformations Group
Write-Off Info and Other Entries

Cover Art commissioned from Celerypony

Published 2013-12-11 14:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-11 14:50:02 UTC

Luster

LUSTER

This all started one morning when my friend Twilight Sparkle stopped by out of the blue. I believe I was upstairs at the time, daydreaming in my inspiration room. I hadn’t had any clients in quite some time, so I just planned on seeing what I could come up with of my own accord. That proved a bit easier said than done, however. To be perfectly honest, Twilight’s knock on the door might have woken me from a nap.

She’s a good friend of mine. Rather fortunate, too, however she’ll deny it. Born and raised in Canterlot. I still can hardly believe it. Honestly, besides the fact that she has a great deal more basic manners and courtesy than most ponies I know, she hardly presents herself like the near-nobility she is. As far as I can tell, that’s probably a result of her unhealthy attachment to her books. She never got a real chance to experience the sophistication of Canterlot while she was stuck in her room or a library. A bit sad, actually, if you think about it. Still, she’s my friend, and I can respect our differences.

But I’m getting a bit off-topic. After all, she didn’t come around for the sake of talking about Canterlot or books. That wouldn’t have stood out so oddly as this. No, when I opened the door and we were finished exchanging our formalities, she said this:

“So, you know your gem-finding spell? That one you taught me a while ago?”

Of course, how could I forget? Twilight might know a host of different spells, being a student of magic and all, but most unicorns don’t know so many as to get them confused. Why, I learned how to cast this particular spell around the time I earned my cutie mark. I use the gems for accents in my work, you see. And, of course, I keep a few particularly spectacular finds for myself. I like to think I can appreciate beauty when I see it.

“I don’t suppose you’ve ever tried casting it near the forest, have you?” Twilight finished.

I was a bit puzzled. At first, I thought, “Of course. I’ve had this spell at my disposal for half of my life, and all that time I’ve been in Ponyville. I must have at some point.” But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I could not actually recall having done so.

“Actually, I don’t believe I have,” I told her. “Why do you ask?”

At that, Twilight looked quite surprised. She then smiled a pleasant little smirk. “Well then, do you have a moment?” she asked. “If I’m right, I think you’ll want to see this yourself.”

Now, I didn’t exactly want to outright admit that I was having an unproductive dry spell, so to speak, and the way she spoke, this sounded rather promising. It took me an uncomfortable moment of silence to find the right words, but I settled on a compromise: “Oh, I could use a break anyway.”

With that, I locked up shop, and we were off for the forest. On the way, I started to realized just why I hadn’t been this way looking for gems in the first place. Besides the fact that you’d rarely find precious gems nearly as much in the woods as near the mountains and rock, and besides the fact that the Everfree Forest is one of the most infamously dangerous places in all of Equestria, it had to be one of the most dreadful-looking and dirty locales I’d seen in my entire life. I mean, I’d been there out of necessity a number of times before, but it’s not somewhere I’d like to go if I had an actual choice.

Twilight explained a bit more of the situation along the way. “I was out practicing my magic in the forest when it happened,” she said. “I figured that, since I can cast so many basic spells perfectly under calm conditions, I should try to practice where there might be more distractions. Not so many as in Ponyville, mind you, but out in the wild. You know, birds chirping, leaves rustling, that sort of thing.”

That was the gist of it anyway. She probably started rambling on and on about the specifics, but I don’t remember most of it. I’m sure they weren’t important anyway, however she might have thought they were, bless her heart.

Eventually, she stopped us somewhere out in the thick of the woods. I’d been spending the last ten minutes or so carefully trying to keep anything from getting stuck in my coat as we brushed past bushes and flowers and who-knows-what-else was in there, so I was a bit relieved to find that our destination was a clearing, however small.

“Go ahead,” said Twilight. “Cast the spell.”

I was a bit skeptical, but I did as I was told. Now, I was expecting a bit of a small read, maybe a distant, underground ruby or emerald or something. The last thing I was expecting was this force drawing me in, locking in on some massive, monstrous deposit of gems not too far from where I stood. I hadn’t felt anything like that in years, not since my horn drew me to that boulder full of sparkling gemstones the day I earned my cutie mark.

It took a surprising amount of effort just to dispel the effect and let me pull my head back. I’m sure I stood there with my jaw hanging open for a few moments before Twilight spoke up again. Or maybe she started with a giggle. I’m not sure. I was still in shock at the spell’s find.

“Oh, good,” said Twilight. “You could see it, too, right? I wanted to make sure I wasn’t casting it wrong or something.”

No, I was sure of what I saw. Of what we saw, presumably. It was distorted from the distance and the ground between us and it, but there was something underground. Something like I’d never seen before. And, between all different kinds of curiosity, I knew I had to see it up close.

I’m not even sure if I answered Twilight’s question, I’m afraid. All I remember is saying, “We have to get to them.”

Twilight just stood there and shook her head. “Sure, but shouldn’t we come back with some kind of equipment? It’s not like we can dig anything up with our bare hooves.”

“Sure, later,” I said. “But I want to see them first! Please?”

Okay, I probably said ‘please’ another couple dozen times, and not in the most dignified manner, either. It wasn’t exactly my proudest moment.

The point is, by the time I was done degrading myself and practically kissing Twilight’s hooves, she finally said, “Fine.”

We did a little searching around the area. Well, mostly Twilight, but I craned my neck and looked over the bushes myself. We figured that, given how close the deposit looked, there might be a cave entrance nearby. Eventually, we thought to try some magical methods, but those were mostly fruitless. Twilight had half a dozen spells ready to go, but none of them were great for finding anything or even digging our own path. At that point, I was desperate, and tried my gem-finder spell again, this time bracing myself for the tug.

As I did so, I spotted something I’d have missed before from the tug on my horn and head; a line of gem deposits, spiraling down towards the big one before they faded out completely. The best part was, the first one looked to be just a few feet away.

At this point I was worried that we might need shovels or something after all, but I was surprised, and I believe Twilight was too, to find a large rock half-buried right above the first few gems. The edges of the dirt around it were a bit sunken-in, like the rock had been dropped there. Or rather, as if it had been placed there. It was like a plug of sorts, not unlike how we’d sealed the entrance to that blasted mirror pool a few months back.

We tried to just push it out of the way, but it was no use. Despite its relatively modest size, it was stuck tight, and it felt as if we were trying to move an entire house.

Of course, we still had our magic to try. Somehow, even through telekinetic means, I could not make the rock even budge by myself. It was only when we combined our efforts that we could even make it twitch. From there, it took a few minutes of rocking it back and forth, but we eventually did manage to loose it from the hole. Strangely, without the pressure of its hold, the rock moved much more easily. Well, for me at least. I’m sure Twilight could’ve managed without my help, given enough time. I’m glad she at least let me feel like I was helping.

Beneath the rock was a curious and yet wondrous sight. There were, in fact, gemstones not far from the surface, just as my spell had shown. But they were embedded in the wall of an underground tunnel. It looked rather narrow near the surface, but not so narrow that a pony couldn’t fit through, if barely.

We were both silent. Awestruck, perhaps. For as we both leaned into the tunnel for a better look, we saw it stretch out far and wide, down into the ground in the general direction of our sought-after motherlode. More gems and crystals dotted the entire tunnel, and oddly enough, they seemed to give off their own light. The only reason we couldn’t see any further than we did was that the tunnel turned sharply after some distance.

Twilight made some comment, but at the moment I didn’t hear her all that well. Something about the tunnel being strange or pony-made or otherwise along those lines. She managed to get herself lost in thought while I was busy squeezing my way inside the tunnel. Sure, it wasn’t the cleanest way, but if these were the gems nearer the surface, I just had to see the big ones further down.

I was anything but disappointed.

Allow me to put this in perspective. All along the tunnels, I got to get a good look at the various gems and crystals lighting the path. Fine-cut, rather large jewels, some easily as big as the average pony is tall. They were dazzling, sparkling in their own light. A few times I had to resist the urge to stop what I was doing and try to pry one off the walls. I think I even caught Twilight staring in awe once or twice.

Compared to the central chamber, that magnificent cavern, those gems in the walls might as well have been common quartz.

The cave we eventually worked our way towards, the one whose sheer effect on my spell had drawn us all this way, was absolutely covered in fine crystal, or perhaps some other near colorless gem I’ve never heard of or seen before. While we entered on a narrow rock path that snaked its way down towards the middle, I could see formations all over the walls, floor, and even ceiling. It was like a garden of sparkling, shimmering glass growing out of the ground, with the vines and flowers upon the walls, and a lush canopy overhead. Everywhere I looked, light shimmered and sparkled right back at me. I sat bathed in a soft glow of pale blue from all around.

Yet what caught my eye the most was there in the center. There was a massive pillar of solid crystal, a trunk at the center of this dazzling forest of beauty. It was easily half as big around as my very house, and twice as tall as it was wide. Somehow, it seemed to shimmer even more as I got closer. The dazzling, sparkling wonder of it all…

As I galloped up to it, I placed my hoof upon its surface and gazed up at its majesty. It was simply marvelous. Each facet upon its side was as wide as a pony and nearly as smooth as a mirror. Somehow, in the middle of nowhere, it felt like the cut of a master jeweler, made beyond the scale of giants.

Suddenly, Twilight gasped and grabbed my hoof off of the crystal. “Did you see that?” she asked.

I looked at her, puzzled, then back towards the crystal. I squinted at it, and for a moment saw nothing. Yet just as I was about to reply, I swore I saw something move. By Twilight’s jumpy reaction, I assumed she had seen the same.

Under closer inspection, there were several odd shapes swirling about inside. I thought they might be the shimmers from the other crystals’ glows, or something akin to the light of a fire, but nothing I did on the outside changed how the faint, swirling shadows looked. Not that they could detract from the beauty of the crystal, mind you.

Twilight furrowed her brow as she stepped up for a closer inspection herself. “I get the feeling this isn’t a natural formation,” she said, tapping at the crystal with her hoof.

A part of me wanted to snap at her for risking defacing its surface, but I swallowed the notion. After all, I’d basically been doing the same thing moments before.

She took a few steps back and shook her head. “I don’t know, Rarity,” she said. “I think we might want to leave all of this alone until we know more. I wouldn’t want to risk setting off some kind of magical seal or something.”

I glanced longingly back at the big crystal, and to an extent at the ones around the chamber. Just the thought of not seeing all of this majesty was enough to break my heart, but I couldn’t quite put it to words. I frankly didn’t want to. As much as I wanted to take some of this with me, more than a memory, or at least get to see it more, I knew Twilight had a point.

After a few moments without me saying anything, Twilight put her hoof on my shoulder and spoke up again. “How about this,” she said, “we go back home for now. I’ll do some research, see if I can’t figure out anything about this cave. If it all checks out, or if I can’t find anything within a few days, we can come back with Spike and start excavating. Sound like a plan?”

It wasn’t until she finished that I looked her in the eye. She was smiling at me with a look I’d only rarely ever seen: a sincere sort of apology in the eyes, with a hopeful smile alongside. It was a look I imagine I returned at that moment, as I nodded to her. “Yes, that does sound reasonable I suppose,” I told her.

“Good,” she said. “Now let’s get back to Ponyville before it gets dark.”

And that was that, for the most part. I let her take the lead, so I might spare a few fleeting glances back at the gems before we left, and we made our way out the way we came. She might have had to drag me out of the main chamber, but once we were past there, we had no further problems.

Well, at least not at that particular moment, anyway.

The real peculiarities of late started later that night. More specifically, in my dream of that night. I use the word ‘dream’ lightly in this case. I can’t exactly say that it was a true nightmare, but it was fairly close.

The odd thing is, it was so simple, looking back on it, yet it felt so overwhelming while I was asleep.

In short, I was back in the cavern. Like I wanted to be, actually. Well, sort of. I most certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be there like this. I was seated before the massive, majestic center crystal, staring at my reflection in its nearest facet. But that was just it; that was all I could do. If I tried to turn my head, nothing happened. If I tried to lift my hoof, nothing happened. I was stuck, frozen, staring at my reflection. Even my expression was frozen in place, if a little eerie. I had a blank, lifeless look to me, with my mouth open as I took slow, quiet breaths in the near-darkness.

That’s actually interesting, now that I think about it. All the light from the other crystals seemed so much dimmer in my dream. Perhaps I didn’t quite remember it right overnight. Or perhaps I’m over-thinking this. It was a dream, after all. I also remember a haze about my vision, which is perfectly well explained by this whole thing being a dream. Why not little errors as well?

But more to the point, the dream was full of strange noises and sounds. At first, it was as simple as a deep humming, echoing presumably from being in the cave. It got louder every now and again, only to fade away just the same, like a pulse of sorts.

I also heard some other sounds once the dream had gone on long enough. I was already a tad unnerved by this point, but this was what got my heart to start racing. Now, I know this may sound crazy, but remember that this was all in the dream; I heard voices. Disembodied voices, three or four of them muttering about in whispers of what I swear had to be but gibberish. I couldn’t even tell if any were from a mare or a stallion, they were so quiet and whispery about it all. The one thing I could tell was that they were talking to me, or at least about me.

Then, as they started to escalate in their intensity, I felt something of a tingling sensation in my left eye. This too escalated, from a tingling to a stinging feeling. And then, all of a sudden, it stopped, and the voices when silent altogether.

In my reflection, I saw some dark substance start to drift about on the surface of my eye, flowing about like ribbon dancing and sinking in the water, yet expanding and growing as it went.

I only saw a few seconds of this, however, as the next thing I knew, I started awake, at home and safe in my bed. Well, I didn’t exactly feel safe. My heart was racing and I was gasping for a breath of fresh air. I felt like I’d spent half the night with my lungs constricted. Only now that I had a chance to move again did the feeling start coming back to me.

That’s when I noticed, in the mirror on my dresser, the blood in my left eye, and the stinging-burning feeling that went with it.

I was in a panic. Dreams aren’t real. How could something that happened in a dream possibly affect me in the morning? Between the humming, the voices, and now this ghastly-looking eye of mine, I was rather on edge. Call it superstition, but I knew something was deeply wrong, and this was far more than a coincidence. This had never happened to me before, so even if I had felt something while I was asleep, how could I have known ahead of time exactly what my eye would look like?

This was before breakfast, mind you, though partly for my lack of appetite. Really, nopony should have to see that much blood just free-floating in their own eye. Unfortunately, it was the sort of thing that you know looks awful but you can’t quite look away from all the same. Somepony was going to see me like that if I went out, after all. Even keeping my eye closed wouldn’t look much better. No, I had to find something subtle to cover for it. In this case, I settled on a crooked-worn hat, at least as a temporary solution.

In any event, I wasn’t quite thinking clearly. Rather than go off to see a doctor, like I probably should have, I set off early that morning for Twilight’s place. By early, I really do mean early. As in, early enough to watch the sunrise on my way there. So add on ‘lack of proper sleep’ to the reasons I wasn’t all-there-in-the-head.

With all of that together, it’s not quite so ridiculous to see how I could’ve rapped on Twilight’s front door so loudly and frantically at around seven o’clock in the morning.

I literally jumped when she answered the door so quickly.

“Rarity? What are—” is all she got to say before she returned the favor, courtesy of getting a look at my eye up close.

I think we both yelped at about the same time just then. “I-is it bad?!” I asked.

Twilight tried to smile for me, though she wasn’t so subtle about avoiding making eye contact. “Oh, i-it’s probably not that bad,” she said. “It’s, um, well—”

“Twilight?” said Spike from somewhere inside the library. Spike is like Twilight’s little brother, or just about. He’s a dragon. Still just a baby at that. He can be rather adorable at times, I must say. “Who is it?” he asked.

Twilight looked quickly between him and me and said, “Oh, um, Rarity—” She turned to me. “You know what,” she said, “why don’t you come inside?”

Well, who am I to refuse some friendly hospitality? “Yes, of course,” I said, graciously accepting her invitation.

Now, under normal circumstances, little Spikey would’ve been all over me the second I entered the room. As it stood, however, he caught his first glimpse of me just as I doffed my hat, giving him a good look at my blood-smattered eye. It took me a moment to realize this, leaving me quite confused as to his reaction.

“Gah!” he yelped. I’m not sure why he was already up at this hour. “R-Rarity! Are you okay?” he asked. Again, not building my confidence.

“She’s fine,” said Twilight, still seeming to force a smile. After I’d come in, she trotted over to a side table and started digging about in a drawer. In a moment, she came back with a magnifying lens. “Now Rarity, if you don’t mind, may I see your eye?”

I nodded, and turned to let her have a better look. It’s a bit of an awkward feeling, to have somepony look that closely right into your eye. No matter what, you have to look right back, if not try to look through them and ignore the urge to follow them around.

Then Twilight simply smiled, sure of herself as she said, “Just as I thought, nothing to worry about.”

From the look on his face, I do believe me and Spike had the same thought. As I put it, “I’m sorry, but how?!”

“It’s just a popped blood vessel,” said Twilight. Sometimes I really am impressed by her composure. Sometimes. “It can happen to anypony,” she explained.

“Oh, good,” I said, taking a sigh of relief. For the first time all morning, I began to smile. “And here I was worried it might have something to do with our little excursion yesterday.”

Well, I tried to say that, anyway. I got about as far as ‘our’ when Twilight spoke up again, rather hastily I might add. “Absolutely nothing to worry about,” she said. “Nothing whatsoever. Just give it some time, and you’ll be just fine.”

I nodded once more, giving her a sideways look. “Why, yes, that is quite the relief,” I said. “I was just saying, I was worried that I might have gotten something in my eye while we were in the cave. Perhaps some dust, or a piece of crystal—”

“Cave? Crystal?” asked Spike, turning to Twilight. “What’s she talking about?”

Twilight bit her lip and looked between the two of us, then sighed. “Look,” she said, in a much more stern tone than before. “Until I get some more research done, nopony needs to know about the crystals, okay? I’d rather not let word of this find get out of control.”

“What find?!” asked Spike. He crossed his arms and pouted, adorable about it as ever.

“I-I was going to tell you!” said Twilight, giving him a similar look to the one she’d given me the day before, apologizing with her eyes. “Just, you know, later. I need to make sure it’s safe, that’s all.”

“She’s right, Spike,” I added. “They were most certainly not normal gems or crystals. Even I could tell that.”

Spike groaned. “Oh, come on, now you’re just teasing me!” he said. “You know I haven’t had a good gemstone in weeks…”

Twilight smiled a sweet little smile and gave Spike a pat on the back. “Tell you what,” she said. “Help me out with my research this morning, and I’ll let you have whatever you want for lunch.”

Instantly, his eyes lit up. “Really?” he asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

“Within reason,” Twilight added. It’s times like this that I remember she’s also almost like a mother to him. There really isn’t a simple way to describe their relationship.

“Deal!” said Spike, saluting like a little soldier.

At that point, Twilight turned back to me and said, “I’m sorry we can’t invite you to stay, but we should probably get to work.”

“I understand completely,” I said. “I’ll leave you two to it.”

I smiled and turned about to leave. I might have imagined it, but I could’ve sworn I felt something give me a little extra push on my way out. Perhaps I’m being presumptuous. It was early, after all. Even if she did basically throw me out, Twilight did have good reason, assuming I woke her or something. Yes, looking back, what was I thinking? I could have at least waited until a more reasonable hour before just barging in like that.

“Nothing to worry about. Nothing whatsoever.” What an absolute crock.

Then came the next night, after a fairly average and boring day. Once again, I was left to try to come up with some kind of inspiring work for myself, but nothing really came to me besides the desire to sleep. That, and thoughts of the crystals. Left to my own, without anything else on my mind, my thoughts drifted back to the cavern. I could just see the sparkling, dazzling gems in that cave. I wanted to go back, just for a peek, but I remembered Twilight’s words of warning. Of course, I wasn’t about to just go against my friend’s wishes. So instead, I decided to take a nap, hoping that would help clear my mind.

And then I really did see the crystals again, or at least the marvelous centerpiece of it all.

It took a while for me to actually fall asleep, but when I did, and started dreaming, I was right back where I was the night before. Sitting, staring, entranced in the dark cavern, with only the soft glow and the deep hum to keep me company.

I should have been far more frightened than I was, but to be honest, it actually felt mostly dull. Neutral, perhaps. Somewhere between good and bad.

On one hoof, this creepiness had become a recurring thing. No more could I say it was a one-time nightmare. More importantly, everything was far more vivid. The sheen of the crystal’s surface, the must in the air, even the humming, all around me, filling the emptiness of the chamber… I could even feel little pebbles underneath my hooves.

Yet on the other, I felt like I should be relaxed. The voices began again, but their whispers were almost comforting. They were still speaking nonsense, of course, but they were familiar. As far as I knew, they were truly harmless. Besides, I was there with the crystal. That beautiful, magnificent, glorious pillar of glass and glow. I was getting what I wanted. I got to see it again, even for a few fleeting moments.

In fact, this night, I could see the smallest of smiles on my face. I was still locked in that thousand-yard stare, of course, but I could be sure that I was happy, or I was supposed to be.

Once again, the voices started to pick up in their intensity, and I simply listened in with some kind of curiosity.

“Hysbgu’uk s’e luun…” said one.

“Reih’llj tsuo wviv nau’iho…” said another.

That should give you some perspective as to how confused I was after just a few seconds of bothering to pay attention, and why I summarily gave it up as a lost cause. Instead I just turned my attention back to the crystals. They weren’t so hard to understand. Just a pretty sight.

Yet by now, I’ve made the connection between the voices and another part of the dreams. A key part, that has since led to me reevaluating the night before. For once they spontaneously went silent once more, I felt the strangest sensation wash over the side of my body. It was like someone silently splashed iced acid over me. There was a horrid chill, matched with a tingling, almost burning sensation over half of my body.

I blinked once, and the pain in my eye grew tenfold. That alone was enough to wake me.

As I woke, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, and covered in a haze that lingered over my eyes. Mostly my left eye, however, as I soon saw why.

I almost screamed, but I could not find the breath to do so. I scrambled out of my bed with what energy and feeling I had, which made me stumble over to my dresser mirror more than anything, tripping over my covers and my self evenly. I’m fairly sure I hurt myself in this process, given the aches later on that morning.

And yet, now that I had a clear view of my face, and just why my left eye had shut itself, none of that mattered. This whole time, the most feeling I had was on the left half of my face, as well as in my back left leg. But my face moreso, as I felt it grow tighter and tighter, right around my eye. It felt dry, hardened, and stiff. I could hear a sickening crack or two, met with sharp pains each time, from within my very self. And worst of all, I felt my eye burn and twist, contorting upon itself.

There, in the mirror, as I finally dared open my other eye again, I could see what became of it. Of me. On my right, my face was perfectly normal, the same as it had ever been. On the left, my pupil has stretched tall and thin, like some kind of predator. My once-soft and luxurious coat had hardened into a pair of silvery, rock-like ridges above and below my eye. As I felt them, horribly shaky and tentative about the very notion, I confirmed something slightly different. They weren’t rock. They were scale.

I was about to cry, should I find my voice again. I blinked a few times just to be sure it was mine, and I swear, I saw another set of eyelids or something on my ‘new’ eye. Gross! I could almost even feel them at that.

In all this ruckus, I barely even noticed my leg, but after another nauseating internal crunch or two, whatever had been happening to it ceased as the feeling returned. I took a deep breath to prepare myself, then tried to walk around to show it better before the mirror.

It looked thinner, possibly more boney and gnarled. I could see, reflecting off the mirror and the moonlight, more scales in crusty patches here and there. The big change at this point was at my hoof, if I could even call it that anymore. Three claws pierced out of it, and I could feel every one. I tried moving them, as best I could figure how. I’m not sure why I was so surprised when it worked.

At this point, I gasped for a breath of air, much like when I had woken the night before, then collapsed onto the ground, sobbing. Obviously, this was bad. Were these still dreams, or something else? What else could they be? Sure, I was getting disfigured nightly, but how?

The main problem, however, was with my face. Yes, really. I have a certain reputation to uphold, and the last thing I needed was for somepony to see me with half of a grotesque, mutated face out in public. And, I suppose, my leg would cause a similar reaction. For my line of work, appearance is everything.

So I decided to try to wait it out. For all I knew, this was like my eye from the day before, just a bit more extreme. Maybe I passed somepony with a rare disease in town that day. Maybe I’d brushed up against something in the forest, and was just having a delayed reaction. Either way, the last thing I wanted to do was let anypony see the ghastly reflection of my former self that I’d become.

For the time being, I thought, I’d just have to cover myself up, and try to avoid going into town so as to avoid many questions. A dark shawl or two, something simple, something easy to put on, and with enough flow to better disguise my ‘changes of shape’.

That was the plan, at least as I’d devised at four in the morning, short one caveat. I told myself that if this got too extreme, if it continued for another night, I would ‘suck it up’ as it were and try seeing an actual doctor. Unfortunately, I never did think of anything more sophisticated.

I’ve always thought my big sister Rarity was kinda strange. She’s always, always trying to look her best, you gotta twist her leg just to get her to do anything fun, and I swear she tries to be even more grown-up than Mom and Dad. I don’t get it. Sometimes I don’t know how we can even be related. And I’ve asked, too.

I guess that’s just how sisters can be. Still, I kinda do feel bad for her sometimes. I don’t know how she doesn’t get bored doing all of that.

So, the other day, I thought I’d pay her a visit. You know, the friendly, sisterly thing to do.

Normally, when I’d pay her a visit, I’d like to surprise her and just let myself in. But today, for some reason, the front door was locked. I thought that was a little odd, but then again, sometimes she gets a little mad when I sneak up on her, so it at least made sense.

I tried knocking on the door a few times, but she didn’t answer, so then I tried the doorbell. Once, twice, three times… I was beginning to think she didn’t want to see me!

Finally, after what felt like forever, I heard some hoofsteps inside. The next thing I knew, Rarity was there! Except she only opened the door by a hair and looked around outside kinda weirdly.

“Good afternoon, Sis’,” I said, trying to go inside. Either the door was still locked or something, or she was holding it in place.

“Oh, hello there Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity. “D-do you need something?”

“I just thought I’d pay you a visit,” I said back with a smile.

“Oh, well, that’s… nice,” she said. Yet she still didn’t let me in. “Could you by any chance come back another time? Now’s really not—”

“Pleeease!” I said. The thing is, I know how to get to her. Big, sad eyes and a wobbly lower lip… there’s no way she can say ‘no’ to that!

She hesitated, but after a moment, she sighed and said, “Fine, but just for a little bit.”

Yes! I was in. Everything was going great. I headed on inside, ready for a whole afternoon with my big sister, helping her and playing games and having a good time.

Only… that’s not what I got.

What happened next was just freaky, and I don’t think I could ever forget it if I tried. See, when I got inside, I noticed Rarity was wearing some weird… stuff. Like dark blue cloths she just wrapped around herself. A few were kinda hanging around her back legs, I guess like the weirdest dress I’d ever seen. But there were another few wrapped around her face, which I thought was kind of odd. What, did she hurt herself?

I kinda tilted my head to the side to get a better look, to see if I couldn’t see under the loose bits. That’s when I saw it. There was like barely enough light to make it out, but I swear, this was what I saw: her left eye was like a kinda-glowy cat’s eye! You know, with that slit-pupil thing. There were some other bumps or something under there, but that wasn’t as big of a deal.

I just about screamed. “Rarity!” I said. “What happened to your—”

“Sweetie Belle!” she yelled. Rude. “If that’s how you’re going to act today, then maybe you should just stay outside!”

“But your eye—”

She nodded her head to the side to shift the wraps around. Real subtle, Sis. “I popped a blood vessel, and I’m trying not to scare anypony,” she said.

“What about your leg?”

And then she just pointed to the door. “I changed my mind,” she said. It wasn’t quite yelling, but she definitely sounded ticked off now. “I need to focus on my work. Please, go find something else to do. We can ‘hang out’ later.”

I frowned. “I’m sorry! I’m just worried about—”

Now she got in my face, with this kind of ‘dead serious’ look about her. She was so close, I could actually see her other eye again. That really didn’t help make her look any less scary. “There’s nothing to worry about,” she said. “Understand?”

I nodded, forcing a smile. And, of course, lying through my teeth.

“Good,” she said, suddenly back to acting like everything was all hunky-dorey. She opened the door for me with her magic, then gave me a little shove. “I’ll see you some other time then, yes?”

“Sure,” I said, still forcing that smile. At least I did until I got outside and she slammed the door behind me. I know we’re sisters and all, but come on. She was acting like a real jerk!

I was suspicious, however. This all seemed just too weird, even for Rarity. So I did what any good little sister would do. I peeked back in the window, saw she was headed to her back room, then snuck around the side of her boutique to keep my eye on her.

Apparently she was headed to some pad of paper on a desk she had in the back room. I guess that’s normal for her. That’s how she draws out her dress ideas and stuff. Sometimes I wonder if she’d have been able to just be an artist instead. Her drawings are really good.

Actually, I got to see what that would’ve been like a few seconds later. She just sat there, holding the quill and staring at the paper. Then she yawned, and blinked a few times. Suddenly, her eyes— well, at least the eye I could see— went kinda cuckoo. Like it was somewhere between psycho and just silly. Kind of blank, too. It’s like she forgot she was supposed to be awake.

But then she started drawing. It wasn’t a dress though. Not unless she’s started making dresses for rocks, anyway. It was like gemstones and stuff. Maybe crystals. I don’t know, I always get them mixed up, especially around Rarity.

I was pretty sure something had to be wrong with her now, but at least it seemed harmless. I didn’t wanna risk making her mad at me all over again though. So… okay, I was a little bit of a tattle-tale. I ran home and told Mom and Dad about all this weird stuff. I don’t think they really believed me though. Dad kinda laughed at me when I brought up the drawing stuff. Still, I’m worried about Rarity. I’ve never seen her do or act anything like this before.

Oh, and I looked it up, and that is not what a popped blood vessel looks like. Liar.

I took a small nap that afternoon, after a brief encounter with my sister. It was something I probably needed, given how fast I seemed to pass out. At least it was a restful sleep for once.

Of course, by ‘small nap’, I mean I was out for several hours, completely missing lunch. I might not have woken up at all had my stomach not started growling. It was odd, though, how I felt. I was hungry, but nothing I could think to have seemed all that appetizing. Part of me just wanted to go back to sleep, but my stomach was having none of that.

I ended up just throwing together something of a more well-thought-out outfit, while making sure to keep things covered up of course, and headed out into town for a quick little shopping venture. Nothing too extravagant, mind you, but just a bite to eat to get me through the day.

I kept my head low and did my best to avoid making eye contact with the ponies around. This worked for the most part; I swear, I even saw Spike out by himself with some kind of shopping list, and he didn’t even notice me. That has to be a first.

The one encounter I did have to work my way through happened on my way back home: my parents. I ran into them around one of the grocery stalls. It figures that if anypony around town would recognize me while I was in disguise, it’d be them. I figure somepony saw more than I thought she did. And of course, she told our parents all about it. Luckily, whatever she told them must have been so outlandish that they barely gave it any thought. It was almost too easy to convince them that she was just being a child. They probably had already been thinking the same.

I was in a hurry to get home, so whatever conversation we had was kept short. It’s strange, I can’t seem to recall much more of the specifics, or even any general topics that might’ve come up. I’m sure none of it was that important.

A lot has happened since then. I’ve learned so much, so much has become clear to me. It’s a bit overwhelming.

Lo and behold, when I went to sleep that night, I soon found myself in the cavern once more. This time, I thought I was prepared. I wasn’t going to stay around for the voices. No, I made a promise to myself, before I even went to bed that night. If it happened again, I wasn’t even going to let my once-beautiful body continue to be mutated into whatever monstrosity I had started to become.

This was easier said than done. Once in the dream, again I heard the humming, saw the crystals. The beautiful, majestic, sparkling, marvelous crystals. And, as before, I couldn’t move. I could only stare and listen, waiting.

So I did the only thing I could. I tried to wake up. I tried to envision my bedroom, the blanket I was laying underneath, my soft pillows beneath my head. I tried to remember what time it was, where I should be. And, despite feeling nothing in return, I tried, tried, and tried again just to move my head. Just to turn my head to one side or another.

And then, somehow, I did it. I moved. I tilted my head to the right. As did my reflection, staring silently back at me from within the big crystal.

Only then did I break eye contact, and get to look around the chamber. I took a breath, and felt the thick air of the underground. I shifted my hooves about and stood up, hearing the crunch of dirt and rock beneath me.

I looked curiously at my reflection. My eyes remained wide and wild looking, though I felt calm. I felt safe, there in the crystal’s soft, warm glow. Yet still, with what doubt I had remaining, I felt the need to check; I reached up and felt around my eye. My left eye, with the ridges around it.

The voices, whispering in an echo, came from all around me. Soon, a coolness washed over me, all of me. I could hear a crackling coming from my sides, and my legs, and even possibly my face. Before my very eyes, I could see my hoof split open to three or four points; it cracked apart nearly like an egg, slowly, and with whatever was left between the points oozing back into me. It was so gradual, it was almost hypnotic.

My heart was racing, yet a bigger part of me didn’t want to run. The voices continued. I think I started to understand them, in a way. Not the words themselves, but the notion. As my once-luscious coat hardened into silvery scales, as claws pierced out of my flesh in a sickening squelch, they were telling me not to be afraid.

In the mirror of the facets, I could see the same happening all over. My legs were turning, one by one. First my hooves split, then crusted over with hardened scales. They started to thin themselves, it looked, as the scales grew up their length. I believe I even saw some of my coat fall loose, shed like the fur of a mere animal, glistening in the cavern’s glow.

On the back of my head, I heard more crunching from within. I could see my ear, left again as my eye, drop back of its own accord. I felt my skin stretch and tear as my ear forced itself down further and further, only for my skin to stitch itself back together with a line of scales. Finally, my ear split itself into three, squelching and contorting as my hooves had into claws, only this time leaving a membrane between the points, like a fish’s fin.

And that’s where it stopped, strangely. With still most of my coat, my head, and tail intact and unchanged, I couldn’t help but wonder why. A part of me was thankful for the mercy. At least like this I could justify seeking help in the morning.

But another part of me didn’t want to. The part of me that felt more in control, at least. I strode around to get a look at myself. It wasn’t just the crystals anymore. I was sparkling, dazzling, at least upon the parts that had been changed. I wasn’t becoming a monster. I was becoming beautiful.

The voices, they wanted to help me. They wanted to give me a gift, and they wanted me to stay. Now I knew, now I knew what was happening. Why, night after night, this was no dream. This was real. I was being drawn there out of my sleep.

It was the crystals. The gems. They wanted me there. They wanted me to stay, and to protect them. To marvel in their beauty, as they might marvel in mine. The wondrous, sparkling crystals spoke to me.

They wanted to belong to me. I knew it from the moment I set my eyes on them. I wanted them, as much as they wanted me. They wanted to be mine. All mine.

I wanted to thank them. I approached the center crystal and reared up before it. It felt so much more natural, with my legs reformed, just to stand up on two. What’s more, it let me feel the center, master crystal. To caress it, let it know that I was oh so grateful for it and the others’ gift. To let it know that I would be there.

The crystals would be mine. All mine. Soon enough, they would. But it was not yet time, or so they told me. I had to return home first. One more day, that was all. And then we could be together.

It’s not about Twilight anymore. Or Spike. Or Sweetie Belle. Or even me. Surely, nopony would understand. Not now. Now when I look like this. But who cares?

It’s all about me and the crystals. My beautiful, precious crystals. Mine, all mine.

I couldn’t believe it! Mom and Dad came back later that night and said they saw Rarity, and she seemed perfectly fine! Are they blind or something? There’s no way she was all right.

I decided to take matters into my own hooves. If there was something wrong with Rarity, what kind of sister would I be if I let it go unnoticed?

The next day, I got my friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo together to help me out with a plan. See, I figured that if Rarity already knew I sort of told on her, she probably wouldn’t just let me back in to talk to her. She’d probably just yell again. Instead, I got to talking with my friends, and we came up with a better idea. We were gonna spy on her.

The plan was simple. All we needed was a ball. Sometime late in the afternoon, we made our way over to the boutique. Once we got close enough, I passed the ball to Apple Bloom. Then Scootaloo ran a little closer to the house, and Apple Bloom passed the ball to her. Then I ran a little closer, and Scootaloo passed… well, you get the picture. It was something like a spinning triangle of ponies.

The point was to get as close to her house as possible without getting yelled at. As far as she’d know, we weren’t snooping, we were just playing a game.

Once we got so close that we couldn’t go any further, me and Apple Bloom got in close to two of the windows. I passed the ball on, then tried to look inside. It was dark, and kind of hard to see with the glare from the setting sunset coming off of it.

“See anything?” Scootaloo whispered to us.

We both shook our heads. “Nah,” I said. “Let’s move around to the other side.”

Again, we worked our triangle formation around, this time to spin around the house. I’m actually pretty impressed that we didn’t get dizzy doing this. When we got to the far side, or at least to the next-closest windows, I ended up being the odd filly out while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo got to sneak a peek inside.

“Well?” I asked, passing the ball to Apple Bloom.

Just before she caught it, she did a double-take, and the ball bounced off her flank. Her and Scootaloo both leaned up to the windows for a closer look.

“What are you doing?!” I whispered. They were gonna blow our cover!

“I don’t think she’s home,” said Apple Bloom, shaking her head.

Scootaloo did the same. “Actually, it doesn’t look like she’s ever been home.”

“What?!” I asked. I forgot to whisper, but I don’t know that it really mattered at this point. I trotted up next to them and took a look inside. I was shocked. Rarity’s always been so neat and tidy, but the house looked like a total mess: tables turned over, mannequins taken down, cloth thrown about all over the place…

I took a few steps back and tried to look upstairs. Even though it was getting late, there weren’t any lights on.

“Maybe she moved and didn’t tell you?” Scootaloo suggested.

But I knew better. Even if she did move, she wouldn’t have left all her stuff behind. Either she was trying to trick us, or things were even worse than I thought. It took me a second, but I got an idea to test that.

I cleared my throat, leaned up to the side of the house, and said, as obviously as I could, “I sure hope Rarity doesn’t mind us playing in her garden. It’d be a real shame if we got dirt all over the side of her house!”

Somewhere in the middle of that, my friends caught on. So we waited for a reaction. And we waited. And waited.

Eventually, I gave up and stomped back over to the ball. “What is she hiding?!” I yelled.

Now, I don’t want to get in too much trouble, but let’s just say that, hypothetically, the next thing I did involved kicking our ball. And, hypothetically, that ball might’ve crashed right through Rarity’s back window, shattering it into a million tiny little pieces…

Assuming that’s what happened, I didn’t even realize I could kick that hard. All three of us winced as we looked over the damage. That window would probably need to be completely replaced after that.

“I think you’d better go inside,” said Apple Bloom, giving me a nudge.

“Are you crazy?” I said. “Do you know how much trouble I’m gonna be in?”

Scootaloo offered me a bit of a smile. “W-well, it doesn’t look like she’s home, right? Even if she is, if you hurry, maybe you can get in and out without her noticing!”

I considered it, crazy as it sounded. “I don’t know…”

Apple Bloom scowled at us. “Applejack says I should always tell her right away if I break somethin’. She’d be a lot madder if I tried to hide it.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “Yeah, but Applejack’s not Rarity.”

It took a second, but she got what I meant. “I-I mean,” she said, trying to smile the same way as Scootaloo, “what Scootaloo said.”

The two of them waved me on, and even though I didn’t really want to go, I kinda thought I didn’t have a choice. I mean, Scootaloo had a point, but they hadn’t seen Rarity the other day. She could already get scary when she’s angry, but with that new eye, she looked absolutely terrifying.

But like I said, I didn’t think I had a choice, and with a gulp, I headed for the door. I knew I was gonna get caught, I knew I’d have to face the music sooner or later, but I went in anyway.

Now, I thought it was freaky to see her house so messy from the outside, but once I got inside it was downright creepy. All the furniture and stuff was where it shouldn’t be. The lights were out, and most of the blinds were drawn. If there were any cobwebs or spiders or anything like that, it could’ve passed for a haunted house.

It was some weird kind of quiet, too. Like it was so quiet, I could hear myself breathe. Every step I took through the front room felt louder than the last. It didn’t help that I started to slow down since I was so nervous. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that I was already too far in to really get away.

Eventually, I made my way to the back room where the window broke. Bits and pieces of glass were all over the floor, at least that I could see. Without the little bit of sunlight that came into the front room, this room was somehow even darker.

I squinted my eyes and looked around for the ball for a minute or two. I didn’t wanna move around too much. The last thing I needed was to step on broken glass. Eventually, I took a chance and very, very carefully stepped around the bits I could see.

That’s when I spotted the open door. I had forgotten where exactly I was, since everything looked so different, but seeing that door, it all came back to me: that was the door to the basement. At first, it was a relief to find something remotely normal and recognizable in here. But then I realized the reason the door was open.

Just as I thought, when I peeked down the stairs, our ball was sitting right there at the bottom.

As quick as I could, I went downstairs and grabbed the ball. The stairs were kind of old and wooden, and made a lot of creaking noises while I was on my way down, but I didn’t really care. I had the ball, I could go.

But something caught my eye when I got downstairs. I mean besides the fact that I finally found somewhere where the lights were on, even if it was just one half burned-out lightbulb.

It looked like something had smashed a hole in the wall just about as big as a pony, only they kept going. And since this was in the basement, that meant digging through the ground. There was no way somepony made this on purpose, especially not my sister. It was too rough round the edges, and kind of twisty. It looked more like a cave than a tunnel.

Then I saw something kind of glisten around the mouth of the cave-tunnel-thing. I knew I was pressed for time, but I was curious, so I left the ball where it was and trotted over for a better look. It kinda reminded me of chalk, when I got a better look at it, only shinier, like glitter. Kind of a silvery shaving around the edges.

Suddenly, I heard somepony at the top of the stairs. Three guesses who.

“Hello? Is somepony down there?” asked Rarity.

I didn’t know what to do. I was trapped and freaked out and I panicked. Without thinking, I ran over, grabbed the ball, and tried to take it back upstairs. Of course, by the time I had the ball, Rarity was downstairs with me, blocking the way.

Somehow, she was covered in ten times as many wraps as before. The only parts of her I could really see were her good eye and her mouth. And this wasn’t some kind of fashion thing, or at least I hoped not. She looked like she had been trying to wrap herself in a dark body cast!

“Sweetie Belle, what are— Do you know what happened to my window?!” Yep. She was ticked off again.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I said. Again, I wasn’t thinking. I could’ve maybe tried to think of an excuse or something at this point, but not after that. “It won’t happen again, I—”

She looked at the ball, then to me, then just sighed. Somehow, that calmed her down. “Well,” she said, “at least you’re being honest about it.”

My heart skipped a beat. I thought I was in the clear. “Y-you mean you aren’t mad?” I asked.

“Hardly,” she snapped right back. “But I’m too tired and it’s too late to worry about now.” Then she yawned so loud it started to make me sleepy. “I’ll talk to Mom and Dad about your punishment in the morning. Just… just go and think about what you’ve done or whatever.”

“Okay!” I said, a little too cheerfully. “I-I mean— okay…” That time I hung my head and waited until she seemed satisfied. Just another trick I’ve learned over the years. It gets to her.

Rarity finally stood aside to let me by her. “Good,” she said. “Watch your step on the way out. Sorry if I’m a little short with you right now, I just woke up from a—”

And then she stopped out of nowhere. I was halfway upstairs already, and only really paying half-attention. Suddenly I saw a blue aura wrap around the door and slam it shut when I was only a few steps away. So close to freedom, so close to getting out and away from all this. If I’d have been just a little faster, it would’ve all been over.

I know I screamed when I turned back around and saw her. First of all, apparently she was twitching a bit, and had been for a while, which knocked the wraps off of her face and one of her forelegs. It wasn’t just her eye now, it was half of her head. There was barely any fur left, only scales and ridges and this frill… thing about where her ear should’ve been. That’s not even to mention what her hoov— what her claws looked like. Long, scary, and sharp. I’d never seen anything like them.

Her eyes were wide and wild, and kind of cuckoo all over again. I guess it only made sense that she was talking to herself on top of that.

“What, my sister?” she asked no one. “No, it can’t— she is?! No, that’s not right. Not little Sweetie Belle…”

Then she turned towards me, eyes wide but blank. I froze, shaking in my hooves. This wasn’t right, none of this was right.

She blinked a few times, her only ear twitching, then glared at me. I swear, she bared her teeth just then, and I almost screamed again. They were sharp and pointy like a wolf, or maybe a shark.

“But of course,” she growled. “Why else would you be down here?”

I’m still so confused about how we got to this point. She didn’t give me any warning, she just… pounced at me! I don’t even know what she would’ve done to me if she’d made it.

I got lucky, if you could even call it that. She didn’t really pay attention to how low the ceiling was in the stairwell, so she ended up hitting her head and landing a few stairs short.

I couldn’t move, I was so scared. I think I started to cry. “Rarity?” I asked. “Wh-what are—”

The closest thing I got to an answer was a nasty snarl. It didn’t even sound like her anymore. She just looked and sounded like… like a monster.

I tried to push on the door, but she’d locked it. Every second I wasted, she clawed her way that much closer. I didn’t have a choice. I had to go around her. Or, in this case, over her.

As she laid sprawled out on the steps, slowly trying to get back to her hoof-claw-things, I managed to hop on and over her. I tried to say I was sorry, but I couldn’t really talk at the moment or anything.

I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry. I wanted to just wake up and get a hug from Mom and have her tell me it was all just a bad dream.

Instead, as I turned down the tunnel, the only way out I could find, I heard Rarity scream behind me, “The crystals are mine! Mine!” Her voice was so shrill it hurt just to hear it.

I didn’t know what she was talking about, and I didn’t care. I just kept running into the dark tunnel. Sure, it was scary, but nothing compared to what was behind me. Nothing compared to my monster-sister.

When I’d first ran into the cave, I could hear some kind of scritch-scratch sound behind me. Rarity’s claws, I figured. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to find out if I was right or not. I just knew I had to get away.

Eventually, I found that the darkness let up a little. I was surprised, but I didn’t really think too hard about it. I’d gotten plenty of bumps and bruises on my shins trying to walk through the rock-filled black. It was about time I could see again.

As I got closer to the foggy blue light, I realized it was coming from some crystals in the wall. It was a pretty light, kinda nice to just stare at for a while. For some reason, it felt kind of warm near it, like it was more of a not-so-hot fire or something. I didn’t mind. It was a nice change of pace.

I didn’t stay for too long, or at least I tried not too. Sooner or later, I heard the scritch-scratching all over again, and I knew I had to get moving. I guess because the cave was a little cramped she couldn’t keep up with me. I didn’t really care why at the time. Frankly, I wasn’t even sure she wasn’t just messing with me somehow.

The tunnel turned kinda sharply after that, but I saw more light up ahead. Of course, I’d be headed that way anyway. It’s not like I had a choice. But as I went, I began to notice something about the walls. Besides the crystals, of course. I saw something kind of glittery on the walls, kind of like what I saw at the beginning. At first I thought it was just random sparkles, like I’ve seen on rocks on the side of the road, but then I realized they were in patterns.

I had to stop and scratch my head at these. It kind of reminded me of something I’d seen in one of our schoolbooks. Hieroglyphs, I think. Well, kinda. It was something between that and upside-down-sideways normal letters.

Every few feet, there was another bunch of them. Sometimes they went left to right, other times up and down. I think one might have even been on the ceiling. All of them were drawn on the walls in the same silvery chalk, too. Well, mostly. Some of the marks looked darker, and perhaps a little reddish.

Then I rounded another corner. It was a short part of the path, with another corner just like ten feet away or so. But the walls, floor, and ceiling were covered in more writing. This time, I could read it. I could definitely read it.

“Mine, all mine. Mine, all mine. Mine, all mine. Mine, all mine…”

Hundreds— thousands of times, over and over again, the same thing, scratched out in this creepy looking hoofwriting. I started to feel sick, like I was gonna throw up. Not just because of the writing, or the chase.

“Mine, all mine.” Didn’t Rarity say exactly that about the crystals?

I sat there, scared stiff but shaking all over, for just a little too long. I heard the scratching get closer and closer. She was almost there, almost to me. I had to move, and I couldn’t.

You know that feeling when somepony’s looking at you, but you can’t see them? The scratching stopped, then I felt that chill. I started to whimper, and at the same time, I heard this hiss from behind me.

That’s when I finally tried to run for it. I tripped all over myself, getting up again that fast, but it was worth it. She growled, but I didn’t dare look at her. I felt the swipe of her claws just barely miss my tail, just grabbing a few hairs instead. Sure, that hurt a lot, but I knew it could’ve been worse.

But as I ran around the corner, I spotted her out of the corner of my eye. She was still snarling, prowling after me like a tiger in the dark, but she wasn’t really moving much more. I stopped just around the corner and peeked back.

Turns out that scratching was her, alright. But it wasn’t her footsteps. She stopped, found a free spot on the way, and started scratching away. Her claws, her scales were the chalk, grinding away against the hard rock.

I didn’t stay long enough to see what she was writing. I already had a pretty good idea.

At the end of the tunnels, I came out into this spectacular cave, completely covered in crystals. Up until now, I’d just thought that Rarity was talking about the ones on the way. Somehow, this made some twisted kind of sense. I’d seen Rarity go ga-ga over hoof-sized gems before. I could definitely believe she’d lose her mind to try to keep these. Not that that was a good thing.

As soon as I got over the pretty, sparkly sights, I headed on in. Through the glow in there, I thought I could see another path, only this one led up. That’s where I was headed, and in a hurry. After all, Rarity wasn’t exactly going to wait up.

I trotted up towards this huge gem in the middle through the crystals. It was strange, but I thought I heard a kind of buzz coming from it. I’m sure it was glowing brighter than the rest, at least. And it was really pretty, too. Sparkly, glittery…

While I was busy staring at it, I almost forgot completely about Rarity. That is, until I saw her reflection rushing up to me. I gasped and jumped out of the way just as her claw slammed on the ground, right where I was a second ago.

My heart was pounding in my chest. If I hadn’t have already cried myself out on the way, I’d probably have been gushing right then as I stared my sister down. She still had that wild animal look on her face as she snarled and raised her claw again.

“Rarity!” I shouted. “Stop! Please!”

“They’re mine!” she growled back. She took another swipe at me, but it came just short. Just to be safe, and even though my legs wouldn’t stop shaking, I started to back away.

“Rarity, it’s me! Sweetie Belle! Your little sister, remember?”

She clawed at me again. I jumped to my left, just out of the way, only I hit my head on the big crystal. She stood over me and bared her teeth at me. “All I see is a greedy little jewel thief,” she growled.

Okay, I’ll admit, I was out of options. And I was more than a little bit desperate.

So I did the only thing I could think of. I gave her the saddest eyes I’d ever had, and let my lower lip wobble a bit. At least this time it wasn’t all fake for once.

Even with all that, though, she bared her sharp teeth, raised up a claw, and was about to come down on me. But just before she did, she stopped. I opened my eyes and saw just what had happened; she stopped right before hitting the crystal.

She stopped growling and snarling and all that. Instead, she turned her crazy eyes to the crystal. Her mouth started moving, like she was saying something, but if she was, it was too quiet for me to hear.

I took the chance to get out from under her, but just as I did, I heard a loud crunch behind me. My heart stopped. I thought one of us broke something, or something fell on her, or something like that.

Instead, she was up against the crystal, just staring at it as she ran her claws down its side. But the crunch I heard wasn’t from that. As best I could tell in that light, the hair was falling off of her tail. And it was slowly stretching out, one twisting crack at a time.

All at once, I forgot all about Sweetie Belle. There I was, staring at my reflection once more, as all the rest of the world started to fade away. I was beautiful, magnificent. Just like the crystals. Just like my crystals.

And now, their gift would be complete.

I could feel my inside stretch and contort, my tail growing outward, longer, and thicker. Scales grew where the hair dropped loose, scattering to the floor of the cave.

I had to twist and turn myself just to accommodate the rest. Just as with my tail, my mane began to simply drop off of me, except this time, something grew to replace it. Crunching, squelching noises came from all down the line of my back. Sharp spines stabbed their way out of me, forming a line from my horn all the way to the end of my still-growing tail. Each one looked like a curved, violet dagger, glistening in the light.

The changes began to complete themselves, with the remaining half of face left to go, and I leaned in that much closer to the crystal. I was grateful, thankful. I loved it for what it had done.

This whole time, I’d simply shut out the outside world. Even the voices, as they spoke, were but background to the gloriousness I was becoming. And yet, try as I might, my sister’s shrill cries could not be wholly silenced.

“Rarity, stop!” she screamed. “You don’t have to do this!”

Ah, so naive as always. She hadn’t the slightest idea what was going on. And, once I was done, I planned to keep it that way.

“Think of your friends!”

More potential thieves, or perhaps those who’d seek to ruin this some other way.

“Think of your family! Of your little sister!”

The crystals would be my family now. Besides, they told me all about your scheme, Sweetie Belle. You want them all to yourself. You want their gift instead of me. No, I won’t let you. You’ll never have it.

But then, my thoughts began to drift back. I wondered how I had gotten there, to this point. Sure, to some extent, I did have my family to thank for raising me, and helping to get me started. Without my home, I would never have been able to sneak down here so easily, even if I didn’t know it at the time.

My home, however, was certainly something. Something that was mine. Just like the crystals. And I’m sure I had more gems within. And even the dresses and cloth must have had value. Perhaps I could even consider the furniture…

As I began to contemplate all of this, I felt a strange warmth growing within me. Even as, in my reflection, I saw my eye and frill complete their change, I was not yet done. For as I realized just how much was, in fact, all mine, the cavern seemed to shrink around me. Every part of me stretched out, my limbs and muscles groaning in strain. Even my snout, slowly turning more jagged and wicked by the second, grew out and away.

All the while, as I grew taller, and wider, and stronger… I held the crystal as close as I may. Yes, now I could be there, always there. I could defend my precious, sparkling darlings forever.

Finally, as my ascension ceased, I took a good, hard look at myself. Fully gone, a pony no longer, but beautiful and glorious.

“Yes,” I said. “Now I see. It’s all mine. Now… and forever.”

Impossible. It had to be. There’s just no way this could’ve been happening.

I thought she was just a monster before, or maybe cursed or something. I tried to get through to her one last time, and that only made it worse.

All that was left of her were the colors. White, purple, and blue-eyed. She wasn’t a pony anymore. Not like this. She grew. I don’t know how, but she grew. Big, huge, right before my eyes. And scaly, scary, sharp and…

Now I was trapped in this cave. Trapped with a huge dragon, as big as a house, that used to be my sister.

Then she said, in this deep, creepy, hissing voice, “It’sss all mine.”

She turned her eyes towards me, then turned her whole head. Her eyes stayed as wide and wild as ever, but there was something not right. It wasn’t like before. Before, she looked crazy, now she just looked like the monster she was.

Right then. That’s when she stopped being Rarity. That’s when she stopped being my big sister.

As I stared at my reflection, something happened that I did not expect. For one moment, I was a powerful, beautiful dragoness. I had done it, I had accepted the crystals’ gift and grown to be their protector and owner.

The next, the dragon before me, on the other side of the crystal facet, turned her head and spoke.

I did not.

I could not. I could not speak, I could not look away. I could not even move.

Now I understood, truly, the call of the voices in this cave, and the shadows of this prison. They wanted to warn me, to tell me to stop and to run away. But I couldn’t listen. I couldn’t understand. Not with that other voice. The one in my head. The one I thought was mine.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to claw my way out of that glass prison. But I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

But that’s not to say it was for my own sake. I didn’t want to go, not like this, but…

If I could only save one of us, that might have felt enough. But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t tell her to run.

I had no choice. I hadn’t had a choice since I first came down here. And never again would I.

I screamed. That just made her mad.

That thing that used to be Rarity stomped towards me, and I ran down into the crystals again. I wasn’t running to anywhere in particular, just away. I just wanted to hide my head and make it all go away.

The dragon roared. In such a tiny cave, I felt like I was gonna go deaf. Still, I kept running in and out of the crystals near the floor. They were kind of big, almost like bushes, and I could just barely squeeze under some of them if I wanted to.

Just as I was running between two of them, the dragon suddenly slammed its huge claws down right in front of me. I gasped and jumped back, but when I tried again in a different direction, the same thing happened.

It snarled and growled again, only this time, it was close. Really close.

As in, right above me, with just a few crystals between me and its giant mouth of razor-sharp teeth.

I cowered back as far as I could under the crystals as it kept clawing around them. For some reason, it couldn’t quite get to me, but I could feel its breath all around me: hot, wet, and just gross.

Yet the more it tried to get to me, the more I realized why I was still alive; it didn’t want to hurt the crystals.

Finally, I had my chance. It leaned back and roared again, probably really frustrated. Even though I couldn’t even hear myself think, I knew what I had to do. That path up and out of here was right there. I just had to run a little more, then I’d make it out.

Just before I left the crystals, I heard this deep hiss. I looked back, and I don’t know if I was sorry I did or not. The dragon twisted its long, snake-y neck around and glared at me, then took a deep breath.

If I hadn’t kept running, I’d have been toast. Literally. That thing spat a cloud of blue fire at me.

I was hot, sweaty, and scared, and probably starting to go a little numb from all the running by now. Every part of me was aching and screaming at me to stop, but I knew I had to keep going.

The tunnel out was winding and twisty, kind of like the one from Rarity’s basement. It was kinda dark, too, at least compared to that big room. There were glowy crystals on the way, but not too many.

At one point I rounded the corner and almost ran face-first into something. I stopped cold, waiting to see what it was. I had to stand still and catch my breath just to see clearly.

Turns out, as best could tell in the dim light, it was Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight!” I said. I didn’t care that she wasn’t my sister or anything, she was a familiar, friendly face. I hugged her leg tight and didn’t want to ever let go. “Twilight, we have to get outta here!” I said. “Rarity, she— the crystals are bad. They changed her, I don’t know how. And I— she—”

I would’ve gone on, but I thought I’d heard her say something back. It was soft and quiet, almost like a whisper under her breath.

“No. Sleep. Don’t.”

She was muttering a bunch of words. It sounded crazy, it sounded like she’d lost her mind.

And when I looked up, I saw the worst part yet. One of her eyes looked like a cat’s eye, with scaley bits on either side.

She kept mumbling to herself, like she was talking in her sleep with her eyes wide open. “Crystals. Bad. No. Sleep. Princess said. No. No. Sleep.”

“Twilight!” I screamed, desperate. “Snap out of it!”

I tried to shake her, and at first I thought that worked. She shook her head, and her eyes started to clear up a bit. “Sweetie Belle?” she asked. “Where are we? Where—” She gasped. “Was I just sleeping?!”

“I think?” I said. “Please, we have to get out of here! Rarity— The crystals— That’s not Rarity, she’s some kind of—”

And then her eyes went cuckoo, just like my sister. “Are the crystals okay?” she asked. “What did Rarity do? Is she still there?”

We heard a roar from back down the tunnel, and Twilight galloped right on past me. I don’t even know what she said after that. Something about the stupid crystals, I’m sure. I stopped caring after that.

The last I heard out of that cave was a roar and a horrible scream.

I’m surprised I made it as far as I did after that. I couldn’t feel my legs anymore, and by the time I found the exit, there was this ringing in my ears, and my eyes felt kind of sleepy. I tried to see where I was going, but it just looked like I was wearing a mask or something. But at least I was back above ground.

Now I’m just taking a nap here, right in the middle of the woods. I’m too tired to do anything else. I just want to go to sleep. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll actually wake up from this nightmare.

I can’t stop picturing that dragon Rarity turned into though. I don’t know how I’m gonna tell Mom and Dad. They probably won’t believe me. They never do.

Maybe I just shouldn’t. I don’t want anypony else to get hurt. If anything, I could just check myself to make sure they’re okay. I mean Rarity and Twilight.

I mean… she wouldn’t hurt the crystals, would she?