Eight years later...

"Mah Faust, it's crowded out there," Apple Bloom said looking out at the crowd of ponies waiting for her friend, "Looks like the house is packed just like ya wanted."

"Of course the house is packed," Scootaloo said, "She's only the biggest celebrity in all of Equestria."

"Girls, please," Sweetie Belle said walking out in full make-up, "I'm not that big."

"Don't be so modest," Apple Bloom said trotting over to her friend, "Ah mean, look out there. All of them came here ta see you. They coulda gone ta see Sapphire Shores, but they chose yer concert."

"That's true..." Sweetie Belle said looking down. She still felt odd going out there and singing such upbeat songs, but it was Apple Bloom and Scootaloo who helped her pick her sound. Most artists sang songs that matched the mood of the world, which had become a lot darker in the last eight years, but not Sweetie Belle.

She wouldn't fall into depression, at least not in front of everyone else.

"Shoot, it's almost time!" Scootaloo said, "You better hurry onto the stage!"

"Right! Well, here I go!"

"Break a leg, Swettie Belle," Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle smiled to her and then trotted over to the entrance to the stage. Right at the entrance she saw a familiar purple drake waiting for her.

"Spike!" Sweetie Belle said running over to Spike and hugging him. Eight years had done Spike a lot of good. His body became much larger, making him as large as a pony. His snout grew longer and sharper, and his spines grew out really long making it look like he even had a mane. On his back was pair of wings perfect for flying. Currently he was wearing his usual attire, a blue and white robe akin to what a scholar would wear, which went perfect with his job.

"I told you I'd make it," Spike said returning the hug, "Sorry I got here so late. Princess Luna needed my help setting up for a speech."

"It's okay Spike, I wasn't mad," Sweetie Belle said looking into Spike eyes, "I know you have an important job. I'm just glad you always take time out to see my concerts."

"Of course," Spike said, "There's so much war and destruction going on these days, ponies need a distraction. That's why they're all here, so they can forget about the problems of the world and just enjoy life."

"Oh Spike..." Sweetie Belle said nuzzling Spike affectionately.

"Now get out there and make them forget," Spike said smiling. As Sweetie Belle returned the smile and walked off, Spike lightly slapped her flank, making the mare squeal in shock but delight. That's what Spike was good for. Her distraction.

As he watched Sweetie Belle trot onto the stage (definitely swaying her flank back and forth just for him) he pulled his necklace out from his robes, looking at the star shaped gemstone at the end.

"She's still safe, Rarity," Spike said, "I haven't let anything happen to her, or this element."

It was finally finished. The ultimate Archangel, a machine with enough power to change the whole world if it had the right pilot. It, like most Archangels, stood a full eight stories tall when standing on all four of it's feet, it's black and purple armor giving it an almost sinister look. The wings of the mech were designed to imitate the appearance of alicorn wings, but they were very sharp and had jets at the ends for flight. It had a black mane that looked like real hair and flowed down the sides of it's face, and the tail was just as long and wavy as it's mane. It's horn was extremely long, ideal for close quarter combat, and it's overall armor, while bulky, was still flexible enough for it to move fairly well.

This was the latest weapon in Canterlot's arsenal. The Archangel "Lucifer"

Princess Celestia stood behind the glass looking down into the testing area. The only thing inside the testing area was the mech. No targets, no dummy Archangels, just Lucifer. Celestia sighed, thinking of the number of failed candidates to pilot this machine.

"Thunderlane, are you ready?" Celestia asked through her microphone.

"All system ready," Thunderlane said, "I can turn her on at anytime."

"You sound confident," Celestia said smiling, "I hope you aren't under the impression that it's going to be easy."

"I've trained in Archangel combat for years," Thunderlane stated arrogantly, "How hard can it be to get this thing to stand?"

Celestia refrained from telling Thunderlane the truth about this mech. The real reason why this Archangel hadn't been deployed yet. This machine was...

"Whenever you are ready, start the test," Celestia said, "Please be careful Thunderlane, and good luck."

"Luck, who needs it?" Thunderlane said. From where Celestia stood, she saw Lucifer's eyes light up a sinister red, and giving it the look of a frown or serious glare. Slowly Lucifer stood up until it was fully supported by it's hind legs and forelegs.

"Good," Celestia said, "Now Thunderlane, try to make it-"

"Hah..."

"Thunderlane? Thunderlane, respond!"

"It's... horrible...! Lucifer... it's power is... AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

"No!" Celestia screamed frantically, looking at Lucifer suddenly go crazy. On it's own, it charged at the wall, tackling it with it's horn. It then began firing at the walls, knocking Celestia down as missile shot out from it's forelegs and hit the window, almost shattering it.

"Princess!" Applejack cried out running to Celestia's aid, "Are ya alright?"

"I'm fine," Celestia said slowly standing up, "Where is Rainbow Dash?"

"Right out here, Princess," Rainbow Dash said through Applejack's radio. Loud robotic stomping was heard in the testing lab, and another Archangel walked in. This one had a sleeker design, was multicolored black, red, blue, and white, and the wings of it were sharp and extended straight out like a jet. If the rainbow colored mane and tail didn't give it away, the rainbow colored thunderbolt painted on the left flank would have told anyone who it belonged to.

This was Rainbow Dash's Archangel, Remiel.

"Now Dash, remember, we still need this Archangel," Applejack said into her radio, "Try not ta wreck it. Jus' shut it down so we can get Thunderlane outta there."

"Got it," Rainbow Dash said cutting the line.

Immediately Lucifer charged at Remiel, who jumped straight into the air making Lucifer tackle the closed door behind it.

"Oh no, you're not getting me that easily!" Rainbow Dash said, steering Remiel to fly around the arena. She preferred fighting outside, but Applejack's Archangel, Michael, was still being repaired from the last time this thing went haywire.

Turning around, Remiel's wings revealed missile launchers. Remiel fired the missiles at Lucifer, but it jumped to the side and ran around to Remiel's side. Once all the missiles exploded, Lucifer stopped and looked up at Remiel, targeting it.

Lucifer pointed it's horn forward, which extended and opened up revealing a cannon.

"Oh shit!" Rainbow Dash swore in her cockpit, "You weren't supposed to use that until later!"

Lucifer fired a large red laser out of it's horn at Remiel, who just barely flew to the side out of the way. As Remiel flew away, Lucifer activated it's own missiles and fired them at Remiel, actually hitting the mech.

"Argh! Damn it, is this Thunderlane moving the mech, or is it doing this on it's own?!" Rainbow Dash asked either Celestia or Applejack, whoever answered first.

"I can't tell," Celestia stated, "Lucifer grows stronger the more it fights, so at this point it could actually be the Archangel itself!"

"Dash! Switch strategies!" Applejack stated, "Try usin Ether!"

"On it!"

Remiel flew back away from Lucifer, who was still frantically firing missiles at it. While dodging, Rainbow Dash began charging up her personal Ether.

"Opening Ether Circuit!" Rainbow Dash shouted, putting her hoof on the dashboard of her cockpit. Remiel's horn began glowing, and shot out a large thunderbolt at Lucifer, actually knocking it back. Remiel landed on the ground as the smoke cleared.

"YEAH! WHOO HOO!!!" Dash screamed, "Who's the best? I'm the best! How's that for a record AJ?"

Applejack was about to congratulate her partner, but she looked at Lucifer and saw it was still getting up, "Dash! Ya ain't done yet!"

"Huh? Whoa!"

Instantly Lucifer charged at Remiel, engaging it in horn combat. This was bad, as Remiel was a long ranged type. Apparently Lucifer figured that out. Just how smart was this machine?

"Rainbow Dash!" Celestia cried out in horror. This was definitely the worst it had ever been.

Applejack ran over to the phone on the wall and dialed the Archangel hanger, "Hey, how's Michael?" she asked, listening for a response, "He can? Good, cause Ah'm gonna need him!" Applejack then ran past the Princess to another door.

"Applejack, what are you-"

"Dash's Archangel ain't made fer close quarter combat, but mine is! Ah lost four friends ta this dumbass war, Ah ain't losin Dash too!"

Applejack ran out, leaving poor Celestia alone to her thoughts. As the fight outside commenced, she remembered the price she and Luna had to pay to keep Equestria safe.

Remiel had taken a lot of damage, but nothing too serious. However, Rainbow Dash knew that one good stab from Lucifer and she'd be done.

"This. Is. Not. Cool!" Rainbow Dash said blocking as best as she could. She tried to charge up another Ether, but her horn was occupied trying to block Lucifer's endless assault.

Right before Lucifer got through Remiel's defense, another red and gold Archangel charged into the room leading with it's horn. This one looked like it was wearing red knight's armor, and was bulkier than Remiel. Its wings were larger but heavier looking, and it's horn was longer and sharper. It had a long blond mane tied in a ponytail and a matching tail. On it's flank was a golden apple.

Applejack's Archangel, Michael.

"Dash, ya alright?" Applejack asked from inside Michael.

"I totally had that ya know!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Applejack said, getting Michael into position, "Ah'll hold it off fer a bit. Charge up that Ether again an' fire when Ah give the signal."

"Okay!"

Remiel flew straight up and Michael charged over to Lucifer. The two mechs fought close quarter for a bit with their horns, until Michael stood up on it's hind legs and kicked Lucifer back. Lucifer fired missiles at Michael, but the red Archangel turned to the side and used it's large wing as a shield blocking the attacks. Lucifer charged over to Michael again leading with it's horn, this time actually knocking Michael back.

"Dash, fire it now!"

Michael jumped away right before Remiel's lightning attack hit Lucifer point blank. This time instead of being knocked back, Lucifer stood perfectly still.

It's eyes stopped glowing. Lucifer was deactivated.

Lucifer fell down into a sitting position. Remiel landed next to Michael and the two of them also knelt down. Their front chests opened up and the two pony pilots ran out over to Lucifer, who opened it's hatch revealing Thunderlane. For all his bravado earlier, he was now trembling in fear, holding his head with a look of perpetual horror on his face.

"Thunderlane, talk ta me," Applejack said helping him out, "What's wrong?"

"That machine..." he said in a shaky voice, "It's mind is too much..."

"Mind?" Rainbow Dash said, "Um, hate to break it to you, but these things are just robots. They can't think."

"No... this monster can..." Thunderlane said, "Destroy... destroy... destroy..."

"Hm..." Applejack thought to herself. She looked up at Lucifer, wondering both what kind of monster this thing really was, and what the Princesses were thinking even making something like this.

Celestia sat down in her seat, feeling relief at the victory her team had in stopping Lucifer again, but frustration at the results of this test.

It was an absolute failure.

The concert, like all of her concerts, went off without a hitch. Spike knew that his presence wasn't really needed, since there wasn't any real reason why Sweetie Belle would be in any danger, but he never forgot how desperate Rarity looked the night she and Twilight vanished eight years ago.

During the train ride back to Ponyville, Spike sat by himself thinking about how much he had changed in that one night. For some reason, after that night Spike found himself taking up swordplay. He even had a special sword he carried around with him whenever he took trips. He hoped that he would never have to use it (he wasn't really good at it) but it was nice to have it.

He also got a new job working close to the Princesses. He spent most of his time with Princess Luna, who even now was quite the enigma. Something about her always seemed otherworldly, such as her gaze, the way she spoke, even her very presence. To Spike, even though she had very feminine features, there was something almost masculine about the Princess of the Night, like she could have been a stallion just as easily as she was a mare. She wasn't butch, but she was... something.

He knew that Twilight wouldn't like it, but he had also started taking classes for Archangel piloting. Twilight was very vocal about her hatred of them after Celestia had commissioned their creation, and it had put a serious strain on their relationship. Spike could understand the necessity though. The days where "friendship was magic" were long gone. All across the world there was war, violence, death, and suffering, and weapons were needed.

Even he wondered though, did the war precede the weapons, or did the weapons precede the war?

"Spike?"

Spike opened his eyes and saw Sweetie Belle standing by the entrance of his booth. Now at eighteen, Sweetie Belle was almost as radiant as her older sister. Her mane was longer and fuller, and her tail had a natural bounce to it. Her Cutie Mark, which Spike always found himself looking at, was a heart wrapped up in a cord with a microphone at the end. Still wearing the white dress she had on at the end, combined with light purple eye shadow and red lipstick, she looked like an angel.

"Sweetie Belle, you're still wearing your stage outfit?" he asked, getting a lustful giggle from the young mare.

"I was hoping you'd help me get it off," she said looking at Spike with that special look of hers. He knew exactly what she wanted. Before he could say anything, she entered his booth and closed the door, using her magic to lock it. She then jumped onto him lying on top of him.

"Whoa! A little frisky today, aren't we?" Spike asked.

"I haven't seen you in days," Sweetie Belle pouted, " And going on tour is stressful. Don't worry, no one is going to come in and bother us, so you have no excuses. Kiss me like you would kiss a lover."

"Your wish is my command," Spike said, pulling Sweetie Belle in and kissing her passionately. He didn't know when he had stopped feeling so funny about it. Truth was, now that he looked back on his feelings for Rarity, they were more of a deep admiration (after all, he was only twelve when she left). What he felt for Sweetie Belle was real, he knew it.

As such, it didn't take long for him to get that dress off of her.

After a few minutes of "playing" Spike and Sweetie Belle were lying down on the couch like seat enjoying each other's company. Spike's robes had also been discarded, and he was now stroking Sweetie Belle's mane.

"Have you found anything?" Sweetie Belle asked Spike, catching him a little off guard.

"I'm sorry?" he asked to confirm.

"About what happened to Rarity and Twilight," Sweetie Belle said, "Have you gotten any closer?"

"I'm afraid not," Spike admitted, "Damn, it's like they vanished off the face of the earth. Don't worry though, I'll find them, count on it."

Sweetie Belle nuzzled Spike's face lovingly, "You're so wonderful to me, Spike, you know that? I know I can be fussy, bossy, stubborn, and difficult to deal with..."

"Yeah, that's for sure," Spike said playfully, getting a light jab from Sweetie Belle.

"But you put up with it. I know I'm nowhere as pretty as Rarity, but-"

"You shouldn't compare yourself to your sister," Spike said, "You're amazingly beautiful by yourself. I know that where ever Rarity is, she thinks the same way about you."

"Assuming she's still alive..." Sweetie Belle said looking away.

"She is, I know it. Now, where's that smile of yours? You know the one."

Immediately Sweetie Belle started smiling and looked into Spike's eyes, making his heart race, "Spike, there's something I've been trying to tell you for the longest time, and I think now's as good of a time as any."

"I'm your best friend," Spike said, "You can tell me anything, you know that."

"I... know, but I don't want to be just... 'best friends'. Spike, I-"

The train came to a sudden stop, cutting Sweetie Belle off. Spike lightly pushed Sweetie Belle up and looked out the window putting his robes back on.

"Looks like something is happening outside," Spike stated, "Sweetie Belle, stay here. I'm going to check it out."

Sweetie Belle nodded as Spike reached into his luggage, pulling out his special sword. It had a blue handle, and the mythril blade had a green shine to it. Putting the sword on his back, he ran out of the booth and over to the front car.

"I'm a vassal for Princess Luna," Spike said to the conductor, "What's the situation?"

"Outside the train..." he said pointing a shaky hoof out, "It's... them!"

Spike looked outside and saw something crawling over to the train in the distance. Right on the tracks was an army of large red and black rhino beetles. Spike knew what those were.

"Judex!" Spike cried out, "There are two other ponies named Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Tell them to hurry outside and help me."

The conductor nodded and immediately got to calling them. Spike wasted no time jumping outside, where the Judex waited for him. These monsters also appeared in Equestria shortly after Twilight's disappearance, and were responsible for much of the destruction in Equestria.

Spike pulled out his sword and charged over to one of the bugs, but it jumped away as one of it's partners tackled Spike and threw him to the side. He flipped to his feet, but he saw even more of them approaching him.

"I can't do this alone!" he said. There weren't that many of them, and these were easy enough to kill, but with numbers like these, he would have trouble by himself.

Gunshots were heard, and one of the beetles was knocked back. Spike stood up and saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo running to his side. Both of them looked about the same as they did eight years ago, but Apple Bloom wore a dark stetson hat in place of her bow now, and her Cutie Mark was a saw cutting an apple in half. Scootaloo was built a lot like Rainbow Dash, but she had grown her mane out and it was tied in a straight ponytail. Her Cutie Mark was a fire bird.

Currently, Scootaloo was flying over them a bit while Apple Bloom had a pair of hand guns strapped to her forelegs.

"Spike, ya alright?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks."

"Don't thank us yet," Scootaloo said, "We have to clear these guys out first!"

Spike stood in between Apple Bloom and Scootaloo getting in his fighting stance. Before he would have insisted that these two go back inside where it was safe as well, but they had saved his tail so many times that he considered them allies in battle now.

"Alright, let's go!" Spike shouted.

Spike ran up to one of the Judex beetles and slashed wildly at it with his sword, knocking it back. When it fell back, Scootaloo, who had a small dagger in her mouth, flew over to the beetle and slashed at it really fast finishing it off.

Two of the beetles charged over to Spike knocking him back, but once again he flipped to his feet. Before they could charge again, Apple Bloom jumped in the air and flipped over the beetles. Pointing her guns downward she fired at three of them actually breaking their exoskeletons a bit.

One of the beetles charged up energy into it's horn and fired at Apple Bloom when she landed. It was about to charge at her, but Scootaloo jumped in the way.

"Ether Drive!" Scootaloo shouted. A fire ball came down from the sky and landed on top of the Judex, killing it. By now there were only about ten or so left.

Spike was in the middle of a group of Judex spinning around slashing at all of them. He charged up energy into his sword, and spun around knocking them back, and then jumped into the air and thrust his sword into the back of one of the beetles killing it. Things were looking good for Spike and his group, but that changed when red lasers shot at them from the sky. They all looked up and saw more Judex heading their way, these looked like hornets though.

"Sheesh, why are they even attacking like this?!" Scootaloo asked.

"Ah don't know, but this is relentless!" Apple Bloom shouted. She stood on her hind legs and pointed her guns at the hornets. She then began firing at them with scary accuracy.

Scootaloo and Spike ran over to Apple Bloom's side and began fighting the beetles that were still approaching her. Together, the three of them were able to take the enemy's numbers down a good deal.

Spike looked over to the train and saw a few of the beetles backing away. On instinct he looked up and saw something big flying down. It was a massive praying mantis Judex! It had large bladed arms like scythes, and it was much larger than the train. It was about as big as an Archangel would have been.

And it was slowly making it's way to the train.

"They're after the train!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"We can't take on something that big!" Scootaloo shouted. Spike looked around and saw that the smaller Judex were scampering away.

"We have to try at least! Come on, let's go!" Spike commanded. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded (the latter clearly skeptical of their chances of survival) and made their way to the train. They climbed to the roof of the train so they could get a slightly better attacking angle, and got in their fighting stances.

"Can we not die today?" Scootaloo urged, not getting a response from her comrads, but making her fears vocal. Apple Bloom attacked first, simply standing on her hind legs and firing at the monstrous bugs face, apparently only doing minimal damage.

The Judex raised it's arm and slammed down, almost hitting Apple Bloom but she rolled out of the way. Spike took that opportunity to fly up to it's face and slash at it with his sword. That wasn't smart, as the second he reached it's face, it shot some sort of red beam out of its eyes at Spike knocking him back onto the ground.

"SPIKE!!!" both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo cried out. Scootaloo turned to the praying mantis monster and charged up her Ether. When it launched, the monster actually slashed the fireball away with it's blade arm.

"What the hell?!" Scootaloo whined, "Nothing is working on it!"

"We'd need Archangels to face something this powerful!" Apple Bloom stated, "At this point, Ah don't know what we can do!"

Spike slowly got up and saw Sweetie Belle running over to him.

"Sweetie Belle...? Spike said sitting up.

"Spike, are you okay?!" Sweetie Belle asked frantically.

"It's not safe here. You need to get back inside!"

Sweetie Belle shook her head, "The conductor said it's going to take a while to get the train moving again. Besides, I'm not going to just watch while the most important person in my life gets hurt."

"Sweetie Belle..." Spike said looking down. It was touching that she wanted to be here with him, but still...

The praying mantis stopped paying attention to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, and immediately turned to where Spike and Sweetie Belle were. It then began slowly walking over to them.

"Leave 'em alone!" Apple Bloom shouted running after the Judex. She flipped in the air and shot at it's face, landing right in front of it. At the same time, fireballs continued to hit the monster's face, but neither attack did more than irritate it, when it showed by slashing in their direction knocking them back.

"Apple Bloom! Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle cried out. Both she and Spike looked up at the giant praying mantis as it loomed over them. Sweetie Belle hugged Spike trembling in fear while Spike looked up, praying and hoping for a miracle. If it didn't happen, they were both dead.

That miracle came in the form of a large blue laser beam from the sky knocking the praying mantis back.

"What the hell?" Spike asked, looking up. Once again, he saw something that shocked him, but this wasn't a bad thing. He saw an Archangel landing in front of them. This Archangel was mostly white, but it had a few blue pieces of thicker armor on it's body, making it look like a knight in crystalized armor. It's wings were folded at it's side but looked pretty standard, and it's horn looked long enough to be used as a lance. It's mane and tail were both indigo in color, and were curly and fancy.

"It's an Archangel..." Sweetie Belle said in awe of the machine that was standing guard over them. The Judex stood up and made a loud shrill cry of anger. A mechanical whinny came from the Archangel as it kicked the air a bit, and then charged over to the monstrous bug.

Using it's horn, the Archangel lunged forward. The Judex caught the machine's horn, but was thrown off balance by a sudden movement from the Archangel. The Archangel jumped back a bit, and charged up energy into its horn, and fired it's blue laser beam at it. This time the Judex was ready and flew straight up and out of the way. The Archangel looked up, and then spread it's wings, which oddly enough didn't have jets on it. The Archangel then took off to the sky, jets on it's feet sending it up.

While the machine and monster charged at each other, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom ran over to Spike and Sweetie Belle, looking up in awe at the fight.

"Is that guy one of yours?" Scootaloo asked Spike.

"The castle doesn't have a model like that as far as I know," Spike stated, "I think that's a custom Archangel."

"Makes sense," Apple Bloom stated, "Ah mean, the thing's so powerful. Can't mass produce somethin like that."

The praying mantis flew straight to the Archangel about to slash, but in one swift and graceful motion the Archangel dodged the attack. It even did a fancy flipping motion that wasn't at all necessary, but it looked pretty.

That hit Spike hard for some reason. Why did the pilot do that? It was almost like they were... showing off.

The Archangel shot a small blast out of it's horn to antagonize the Judex, and then landed back onto the ground. The Judex followed and began wildly slashing at the Archangel, who moved around the monster with such grace it was like it was dancing.

"Damn, that pilot's good!" Scootaloo said, "He's got that thing moving like a real pony!"

"He's just showin off at this point," Apple Bloom said, "Whoever the pilot of that machine is, they're havin too much fun an' realize that they can finish the enemy at anytime."

"Showing off...?" Sweetie Belle said to herself, now paying real close attention to the Archangel's movements, as was Spike. For some reason, looking at the Archangel had his heart racing. Why though, he hadn't ever seen this machine before.

But something about how it moved. It was mesmerizing. Almost as mesmerizing as...

The Judex fired its eye beams at the Archangel, but it jumped and even flipped out of the way, slowly making its way over to the Judex. When it was right in front of it, the Archangel gracefully spun around and buck kicked the monster back. With it's back turned to the monster, its horn started glowing as the pilot began casting an Ether. Just as the Judex was about to stand, a large white diamond shot out of the ground impaling the monster, killing it.

Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were cheering loudly, as were the passengers of the train. Spike and Sweetie Belle however, couldn't take their eyes off the Archangel as it stood there not moving. Realizing that it was custom made, Spike was about to approach it to see who the pilot was to thank them, but he and Sweetie Belle stopped when they saw the insignia on the machine's flank.

A blue diamond.

For Spike, the gears were turning faster than ever, and he noticed Sweetie Belle was trembling holding back tears. The way it moved, how it drew the fight out longer to show off, its finishing move being crystal related, and now the insignia...

"Sweetie Belle, are you okay?" Scootaloo asked, "You look like your about to break down."

"I don't believe it..." Sweetie Belle said looking up at the Archangel, "That Archangel... I think the pilot is..."

The Archangel turned around and began walking away. Spike was frozen, but it wasn't possible. There was no way that the one inside of that Archangel was...

Sweetie Belle ran after the Archangel a bit, "Wait! Don't go!" she screamed.

"Sweetie Belle, get back here!" Apple Bloom commanded running after her friend. Sweetie Belle stopped running and called the name that would confirm everything for Spike.

"RARITY!!!" Sweetie Belle screamed. The Archangel hadn't stopped walking, but when it heard that name, for a split second...

It stopped walking.

That did it. Spike couldn't believe his eyes, but that confirmed it.

"It's you, isn't it?!" Sweetie Belle screamed at the Archangel, "You came back to save us! To save me!" Sweetie Belle said, "Please, come out! I want to see you!"

The Archangel stood there for a few more seconds, but then started walking off again.

"No... No! Rarity! Please don't go! Rarity!" Sweetie Belle cried, but it was no use. The Archangel activated it's jets and flew off, "Rarity...!" Sweetie Belle then broke down completely, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo running over to her comforting her. Spike would have been there too, if he wasn't so shocked himself.

She was right there. Rarity was right there, but then she was gone...

Author's Note

A mysterious Archangel has appeared, and all signs point to the pilot being Rarity. But why didn't she come out to see her sister? Where did she fly off to, and where has she been all this time?