Wings of insanityby Rarity BelleChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 1Through the window did the magical light shone into the room. The light of the night itself had engulfed the land once more. Though the light of the moon tried to vanquish it from existence. It was that very light that shone through the window. A barred window that was placed within an asylum for the insane. The very asylum in which nopony else then Rarity had been taken to and held for treatment. Or as she became known in the months she spent there: doctor Rare-opus. The unicorn herself just laid upon her bed with a smirk that went from ear to ear. She almost seemed to have been delighted by some facts as they had played around. She was fully aware that her own doctors were trying to treat her for her mental illness of course. But Rarity always remained a mystery for them in more than one way. One moment she seemed to have been nearly broken, only to crawl back from the depths of her mind with a sly comment in the next. Resilient was probably the word that most of the doctors used to describe her as. Yet that never took away from the horrors she faced in her dreams. Or the delights, as they had become over the gears of time itself. For the unicorn dreamed about it every single night. That moment in time where her crystalline arms almost ended the life of Twilight Sparkle. It felt just so good to her to be able to redo it in her dreams and get it right. Every night she dreamed about new ways to end the life of the unicorn. The desires to see the death of Twilight had only risen in her priority. She knew that the other unicorn was still alive and even closer to her than ever. Even with her magic blocked off and restricted, she still sensed things that only could have been emitted by Twilight. The powers that it carried inside of it were a massive giveaway. Rarity laid upon her bed in a sideways position while the crystalline dress almost covered the whole of her body. One for her forelegs could be found holding her head up though. She gave another smirk towards something. Right in front of her –sitting in a chair– sat the doctor she knew so well. The very doctor who tried to reason and treat her for all the months she had been locked away. The unicorn had often tried to make advantage to him, but the doctor wasn’t stupid either. Whatever she tried, it never seemed to have any kind of effect. Which for some reason actually managed to delight the unicorn of crystals. It almost seemed as if she had found a match for herself. A match that equaled her own mind when it came to dedication for a job. Though his was honorable in his own eyes. In the eyes of the unicorn it just was to be thought plain stupid. Nothing could have saved her, she didn’t even wanted to be saved in the first place. But they were really hell-bent in getting her mind back on the straight path. --- While the moonlight crawled in the room through the window, the silence between the two ponies was broken by the doctor. “My dear, Rarity, you’re one tough nut to crack. That is one thing that I have to admit about you. The rest however, are all things that I do not care too much for. You have tried it many months ago to seduce me, and it didn’t worked,” he spoke up before he fixed the glasses on his nose. “Then you tried to trick me with your mindgames, but didn’t work either.” The unicorn on the other end released a simple chuckle. Once the silence had returned, she shook her head towards him. The attempt was remembered rather vividly and in almost every detail. What then followed was a gentle sigh. Only to be followed by the words of her own. “Guess that my new name never seemed to stick in your mind, didn’t it? Doesn’t truly matter though, for you all are still scared of me,” the mare spoke to him. “Care to explain yourself?” the doctor spoke up as he gestured her to continue. The grin came once more back to her face before she assumed a bit more of a normal position. Rarity’s eyes were locked upon his while the words would leave her. “Every single pony here, fears for their dear lives when they look at me. Perhaps that’s why I am in such a secured prison and only allowed to get out once a day,” she explained to him with determination. The doctor could only nod to her words. Rarity most likely did happen to have point on the matter, even if it was just such a little one. “They are all terrified for their lives, that the calm I seem to bare to them turns into a storm. I never speak a word to them, I only look at them for a second or two. The calm they see in my eyes, they are afraid it turns into insanity. Because that’s what my body tells them,” Rarity added to her words, narrowing her eyes just a little bit. The doctor rose an eyebrow to her statement. He had noticed it numerous times when he escorted her to the yard for her hour outside of the cell. What he didn’t knew was that she used that to her advantage. “I see, that’s quite the something indeed. Not a word spoken, but your presentation allows for a pose of intimidation. Not complimenting you here, just stating in my own words what you said,” the doctor returned to her. He adjusted his glasses a bit. Rarity followed up with a chuckle before she shook her head calmly from side to side again. One of her hooves stroked over her chin just before the eyes went shut. “You may say you’re not doing it, but does your mind agree upon that little fact? Perhaps, you’re just as insane as we all happen to be here,” she countered to him. The doctor couldn’t help himself but to release a chuckle of his own. Then it was him who shook his head before he spoke the final words for the evening. “I would say that this is going to be it for today. May you enjoy the evening furthermore, Rarity.” The doctor would have stood up from the chair, placed it back by the desk before he made his departure. The heavy lock of the door was caught within her ears and Rarity opened her eyes again. She glanced over to the door itself and released a gentle exhale. Even though she couldn’t just tab in her magic, she felt as if there was something that would allow her to. She felt that she had to make her escape out of the place and be free once more. She was confined to a small room not much bigger than her bedroom in the Carousel Boutique. Her head turned its attention over to the window and she looked past her mirror image. An image that revealed her true self though. She had lost her signature curls within her mane and tail but they weren’t straight either. If anything, they were just messy all together. Almost as if she didn’t care for her looks anymore. The mare glanced further than her own image, outside to the world that could be seen. The clouds at the horizon could be promising enough. For the eyes glanced at a massive storm front. A storm front that was most likely going their way and one which she could use. As long as it had lightning within it, there was a way through which she could rechannel her magic through her body. To become free once more and use the dress for something else then just the four, crystalline arms. Another grin formed itself below the muzzle of the mare. Her time would come, all that she had to do was to plan it out nicely and not make it seem suspicious. Two things she could do pretty well. “Soon enough, so very soon enough,” whispered Rarity. to herself. She laid her head upon the pillow. The mare was tired, exhausted perhaps. She needed some sleep in order to work out the details of her plan. Chapter 2The doctor walked through the halls of the asylum with his head somewhere up in the clouds. He was the one who had been talking to Rarity about all sorts of things in life. The stallion then shook his head a couple dozen times. Something about that entire mare just didn’t seemed to be making sense to him. Every single time he thought to have figured her out, there was a new curveball that was thrown at him. What followed was a gentle exhale through his nostrils as the eyes opened up again. Inaudible mutters were given off by him. Though he kept wandering through the hallways. Even though the asylum was old and could be stated as some kind of place of horror, it was still fully functioning. All of the insane ponies from Canterlot and the nearby surrounding were placed there for rather obvious reasons. Though the doctor had just been witnessing perhaps the most deluded patient that they had locked been away within the walls. Another exhale was released through his nostrils before another shake was given off by him. He honestly had tried to figure the unicorn out. To find out just what her desires were and how she worked. But she wouldn’t just give away her secrets like that. Far from it, in fact. A fact which began to dawn more and more upon him. For months had the two been talking to one another. He had tried to be her friend all of the time. But every time she saw right through what he tried to do. It was impossible for her mind to have gotten that refined in being sly, right? Another question arose within his mind before he just threw the thought out. It was late in the day and there was one more place he needed to be. --- He kept on wandering through the hallways and up the numerous stairs until he finally stood there. His eyes looked over a wooden door that seemed just so out of place in the entire asylum. The new head of the place had it installed months ago as it brought a bit of change. Though the doctor himself never really liked it. Whatever the reason behind it was, he just didn’t enjoy it one bit. Mere seconds he stood before it without a motion. His eyes constantly looked from left to right. They couldn’t bring home where he had to knock. It almost seemed as if he was terrified himself about whatever the pony inside would be doing. Yet he had to do his job. And the only way that he could have possibly done it, was to knock somewhere on that wooden door. So with a gentle exhale that went through his mouth, the stallion rose his left foreleg up. Before he even knew what had happened, had the hoof already knocked upon the door. His eyes shrunk when he realized it and a gulp followed suit. The stallion then fixed his white overcoat and the glasses once more. “Come in,” was spoken in a feminine voice from the other side. The tone in which it was said seemed to have been calm and collected. Almost as if there was nothing of true importance going on. That relieved the doctor from his deeds. He opened the door almost casually. The hinges made their signature little screech. After that he would have walked into the office of the manager. His eyes looked around and saw that everything was nicely ordered. All the dossier cabinets were nicely stored in orders with labels on each drawer. The sofa that could be found to his right made him turn away from it quicker than anything. Everything was as he remembered it. There was a bare minimum of stuff to be found outside of the desk. But the less stuff there was, the less could have been used as a weapon against the manager. Though there was one lack of something that crawled up to him more than anything. The very lack of light was a thing that concerned him. He wasn’t a stallion that was easily scared of the dark or anything the like, but it was a little bit uncomfortable to say the least. The stallion walked further into the office and closed the door behind him. Only to have his eyes then fall over the window in front of him. A window that stood behind the desk and had a view on almost every part of Canterlot. Though the most prominent feature was that it had a clear view to the castle of the princesses themselves. Before that very window stood the manager of the place. The smaller body-build could have indicated anything and the white overcoat hid the actual color of the coat. The doctor made his way closer to the desk. On purpose he made a loud noise while he pulled the chair back. The stallion wanted to get the attention of the manager more than anything else in the moment. Only after he would have sat down in the chair, would his eyes have glanced over to see any kind of response. --- The manager of the asylum began to charge up the horn that could be found right above the eyes. Its fine, raspberry colored magical aura allowed the room to be coated within that color for a moment. Only to have the candles ignite once more in a gulf of flames. Light had returned to the place in a magical manner. The doctor was glad that he could see a little bit more than just faint light of the moon. It also revealed to him the many paintings that were all hung up on the walls. Paintings that ranged from calm and serene, to the abstract and mind-bending. Though he wasn’t there to just sit and watch paintings. It almost seemed as if the two could have read other’s mind, for just as he thought about it did the manager turnaround. Finally was he greeted with the face he had seen for months already. That mulberry coat and that amethyst leg couldn’t have been made any mistake. Right in front of him stood nopony else then Twilight Sparkle herself. She allowed a deep exhale to be taken from her nostrils before she walked over to the side of her desk. “Any news, from our little crystalline friend?” she asked to him in a calm tone. Even though she hated Rarity with pretty much all of her guts, she still had a job to maintain. One only given to her only a few months ago. The doctor shook his head from side to side. “I’m afraid that there is nothing new to her. She is mad, as I have told you for months already. But she just can’t be broken by the looks of it. Every time she plays on this act before revealing she’s still there,” he answered to her. Twilight gave him a nod before she closed her eyes for a moment. “I get what you mean and it is disturbing me. She tries to cling on to whatever thought she has that is right in her eyes. A thought that is probably gruesome and dangerous all together. Which makes her even more dangerous than any other pony in here,” the mare returned to him. “You, you don’t have to tell me that. She’s a master of deception, even without her magic,” the stallion replied to her. Twilight could have only nodded to the words as they were. Rarity was indeed a master of those arts, she always had been in fact. A gentle exhale was released through her nostrils and the eyes turned back to the window. She too had seen the front that was the storm. But she prayed on the fact that it would just go over or go into another direction. But luck was rarely on her side after her accident. The amethyst leg stomped upon the floor as she took a step to turn around. “You’re dismissed, I think that there will be much bigger problems ahead of us, if I look at the weather. The calm before the storm, they often say, I think it is this night,” she added to her words. The doctor rose an eyebrow while he stood up. Her words rang truth though, as well as confirmed something eerie for his feelings. “I, I do have to say that everypony here is a lot more quiet, yes. A-Anywho, I shall leave myself out.” Twilight nodded to him before her attention was turned once more to the window. The one that bore her the breathtaking view. Her mind was allowed to wander off to places previously unseen. Places not thought about for obvious reasons. Chapter 3The following morning had Rarity awoken early by something that even she didn’t knew. Perhaps it was her mind that thought it was the time to wake up again? Or she was woken up by a sudden fall in her dreams. Either way, it didn’t truly matter as she noticed how the gray clouds had traveled over to the asylum. That fact alone caused a devious grin to be formed upon her muzzle. It meant to her that the storm was heading their way. Which naturally meant that the possible lightning it carried, also came their way. It would have been that very lightning that she use to her own advantage for a change. In those very few and precious months that she had been rotting away in the asylum, she managed to do her homework as well. The unicorn may have caused a spell to be spoken from the book she found so long ago, but there was another spell that could have been used by her. One that allowed her a form of freedom unlike anything else. As much as the crystalline arms or dress were a marvel to look at, they had both one massive disadvantage. The very fact that she never could have made a quick getaway. The arms allowed her to do it though, but she couldn’t truly hide them other than the dress of course. But the dress itself was heavy and ponies would have noticed her in an instant. The unicorn managed to walk with the weight of the dress, much to everypony’s surprise. A fact that was deemed impossible at first by herself. Though the more she walked around with the crystals all over her body, the more she became used to it. Yet in the eyes of the doctors and guards she managed to maintain that look in her eyes. That look of helplessness and vulnerability. To them she appeared as if she still wasn’t used to the weight of the dress. That very knowledge would have been used against them on probably numerous times. --- The first drops of rain ticked against her window and the mare knew what time it was. The storm had erupted right above Canterlot and she would set her plan in motion. Her sharp mind had calculated almost every single fact that there was. Rarity even had come up with a lie to be allowed outside. Everything just seemed to have been working out the way she had planned it. For the first time in a long, long time did fate smile down upon her rather than frown. For the time in a long time, she could smell her freedom again. Yet that questioned many other things at the same time. Many things that she didn’t wanted to think about. Many things she couldn’t even imagine. If she indeed would have ever broken out of the asylum, where would she go? What would she do? And the most important question of all, would she return to her family? Though the answer upon the last question was one that was pretty easily answered. She wasn’t the daughter that they knew anymore. She had turned into a monster and she was well aware of that fact. She even adored it, actually. The unicorn had become something that she never dreamed possible and was an honor rather not taken. That alone made the mare even more dangerous. She would have gone to nearly any length to get what she desired. No, the best thing that she could do was to disown herself from her family. Just to spare them from anything that could be happening to them. Perhaps it was the most honorable thing that she could have done, perhaps it was just as crazy as she happened to be. Yet the eyes of the mare never sprung full with tears. Months in the asylum had made her stronger than ever. The unicorn wouldn’t have been able to shed a tear in any matter. For tears were a weakness that she couldn’t allow herself. The unicorn had to remain this figure of silence and pure intimidation. If the other inmates only got as much a sight of a dried up tear stain, they would have all known that she was broken to the core already. Whatever would be happening them was a future grim. And one where Rarity didn’t had the desires of finding out anytime soon. That was why she became so mentally strong. It was all because she had to survive with her will. “Finally some good luck is moving in this way. Now let’s just hope that it carries the lightning as well,” she whispered up to herself. One of her forelegs then moved itself over to the horn and gave a gentle stroke over it. At first it was smooth, until she reached the thing. In an instant did the expression on her face turn to one of thunder itself. A frown followed suit before the unicorn growled like the devil himself. A ring had been placed around her horn. One that prevented her from using any kind of magic. That was the very reason why she couldn’t morph the dress back into the arms. If that would have been possible, she had made her escape long ago already. Everything within those crystals was of course powered by magic. Which happened to be the one thing she lacked. Though memory had served her well enough. There were stories of ponies who had managed to absorb the lightning bolts and use it as some form of magic as well. The mare hadn’t tapped in her own reservoirs for months so they were filled to the brim with the stuff. Her idea? That one was simplicity itself. Her mind also remembered the book she read through. The book that caused her arms to be created in the first place. That book was read through with great attention. The memories of numerous pages came through to her as some were quickly dispatched again. The ponies of old were mad, that much was certain. But they were smart at the same time. It would have been that smartness that possibly would have given Rarity her escape. There was one thing that she could do with both her crystalline dress and the thunder that would hopefully be roaring outside. One plan that could only have been thought up by a crazed pony. Her plan was to be struck by lightning, cause a magical overload which would destroy the ring. Once she had access to her magic again, the dress would be turned into a set of wings. The crystalline shards combined with a magical field, would have created enough lift for her to soar like a pegasus. Only after that would she just make her great escape. Leaving everypony to bite the dust. Anything after that though, would have been a guess to be made. Yet the unicorn knew that it would work. She knew that her plan of insanity would be working. Even though she would be dealing with a bolt of lightning that was most likely around one point twenty-one gigawatt in power. She had one chance to make it work, or Rarity would die trying. Either way, it would have set her free and allowed her to do what she wanted. If she came to die from the overload, she would have left the world. If she would survive, she would have left the asylum. Either one of them was fine for the unicorn. A unicorn who grinned like a madmare. She sat down in the chair for the moment. She simply waited. Waited her time out for the time to be there. She was waiting for that first strike of thunder to come. Patience was required, but she still had plenty of it. Chapter 4It was that very same morning that Twilight had collected herself once more by the window of her office. The candle lights were the only lights present and she just stared out of the glass. Her mind was lost within the thoughts that she had swirling through her. The unicorn could have only prayed on the fact that the day would bring something yet. Whether it be good or bad, that didn’t matter. Though there was a feeling deep down within her guts that spoke of a tragedy which was about to happen. She couldn’t truly have placed it in her mind, but every fiber of her body sensed that something was about to go horribly wrong. The mare released a deep exhale through her mouth as her eyes closed, The damp of her mouth touched the glass and it became vague as a direct result. The day was colder than expected or her office was freezing. Either way, the unicorn thought about a thousand things at the same time. Only to make it all end by a single tear that rolled down her cheek. The mare wanted to speak her words so much. Yet she too had an image to uphold. Months had caused her mind to take on a different path than she would have liked. No longer was she that merry and cheery mare that stood ready for everything. In just a couple months, she had become just a shell of her former being. Twilight was naturally worried about her friends, whom all still lived in Ponyville. None of them had the stomach to make up to Canterlot and visit her in the new place that she had to work. Yet the orders were given off by the princesses themselves. There was no other way around the facts as they were. The amethyst leg stomped over the floor as the mare walked away from the window. Without a single word spoken did she just went to the sofa in the room. She would have dropped down upon it with a defeated mind. The feelings in her guts could have been right, but they were nothing compared to the pain she felt in her heart. She had lost her leg and gained something that was just not hers. The crystalline prostatic was often a hinder to her than a help. But she couldn’t live without it either. The head dropped itself on the pillow. Her fur coated foreleg travelled over the back of it. The scars of Rarity’s original take on her life were still there, proudly present. Every time she went over it, the horror could be felt. The scars would remain there for the eternity to come and she didn’t knew how to deal with it. All that she could have done was to cover it up by her hair. To make it seem as if nothing was hidden beneath them. Though who would she have been kidding if she did so? Who would have actually fallen for such a thing in the first place? Twilight didn’t know the answers to the questions. She only released an even deeper sigh through her nostrils. Then there was a moan that followed her up and the eyes were opened calmly once again. Just for a fraction of a second could that maddened glare be caught within them. The glare that everypony always was afraid of to see. That one glare that could have even deemed her as insane. The unicorn hoisted herself back up from the sofa and she glanced over to a painting. A painting that held the image of her with the amethyst leg and her four other friends. The only pony that was missing from the image was Rarity. She was gone for obvious reasons. Twilight hadn’t gotten over the fact that one of her own friends tried to take her very life. Even though she still was there, alive and kicking, it just never felt to her anymore that Rarity was considered a friend of hers. Naturally did she had all the right in the world to say such a thing. --- The mare stood back up on her hooves. She walked over to that very painting and kept looking at it with a great difficulty. It almost seemed as if she was trying to fight of the demons that were haunting her. That she would try her best to overcome the very things that she always had been afraid of. To conquer the things that she wanted to. The unicorn allowed a gentle growl to be released from her mouth as a direct response. She appeared to have more animal than pony in the moment. Her pacing lowered down to a near crawl. The horn on top of her head had coated itself within the raspberry light while she cast the spell in silence. That same aura also gathered itself around the painting of her friends before she simply moved it off to the sides. Behind it was most likely the most clichéd hiding place of all. For behind the painting was a safe that could be of use to her. The lock was opened via a small magical charge and the door unlocked itself from the hinges. Then she would have just opened it with her amethyst leg and glanced at the content inside of it. There it laid. There it just laid, almost like it was the most normal thing in the entire world. The unicorn’s hooves began to tremble just so slightly. She had seen the sight of it a thousand times already but every time it still invoked fear to her. For within the safe it laid. The very book that Rarity had recovered during her mission beneath the city of Canterlot. Twilight never got to know much about the operation. Other than the fact that that was the time where everything went wrong for her ex-friend. The book was taken out of the prison just by her amethyst hoof and she skipped back to her chair. The safe was locked again with her magic. The mare placed the book upon her desk. Only after she had positioned herself comfortable within the fabric of the chair was it opened. One more was it only done by her hooves and the mare trembled slightly as she glanced over the first page. Ever since she had acquired the book, she hadn’t been able to get further than the first page. Of course did she had seen further into it at one point or the other. But only because Rarity had brought it over to her tree library. At that point in time was she alone and utterly terrified of the things that could have happened to her. She had no idea whether or not she too would connect the tomes to old songs of her own past. That mistake was the entire reason that began Rarity’s very own downfall. Yet the mulberry unicorn had to know what secrets it bore. She had to know what else was written inside of it. Though for some reason she just didn’t seemed to have been able to do it. The unicorn wasn’t able to go further than the first page. Her mind got flooded with all kinds of horrible thoughts. Thoughts that made her relive the past and live in futures indescribable. The mare shook her head quickly in order to get the thoughts out of her head. The last thing she needed was to be captivated by something of her own past. With a single motion was the book closed again and she stood up from the chair. Her body quickly turned around with a deep growl as she glanced outside of the window again. --- Instead of looking up and to the horizon as she normally would have done, the eyes of Twilight did turn down and looked at the courtyard of the asylum. There was the feeling deep within her guts that something terrible was about to happen. A feeling that never left her. She still couldn’t explain the feeling at all, but she told herself always that it was caused by the book. That she had somehow managed to sense the aura of the very pages and that it only spoke ill about the future. How much of that theory happened to have been the truth was a fact Twilight didn’t wanted to find out. Her eyes continued to glance down the entire courtyard, but she never saw a single soul. The down pouring rain was the prime suspect for the matter and the unicorn nodded to herself. Yet just after she had given the nod was there a flash of lightning that caught her eyes. The eyes quickly looked up and into the skies before they began to rumble. The storm had arrived and was going to unleash hell at Canterlot. Perhaps that was the feeling of why Twilight felt uncomfortable? It was a question she desired her answers upon more than anything else in the moment. Chapter 5The very same rumbles that echoed through the ears of Twilight, were caught in those of Rarity. The unicorn glanced up to her window. She began to stare out of it for good measure. For mere seconds she continued to look at the window and the storm outside. Everything seemed to have gotten right in place for her. Everything seemed to have been working out the way that she wanted it. Her plan was a go and there was no way that she would allow herself to make it stop. Nothing would have stood in her way. Not a single pony would have prevented her from getting back the thing that she desired most. Her maddened mind had come up with a plan of insanity that would have set her free. One way, or the other. The eyes of the mare took themselves off of the window just before she stood up from her chair. That same chair was then pushed back against the desk. Rarity then turned around. She was then faced the doorway of her cell. A nasty grin formed itself across her lips. Everything was falling just into the places that she wanted them to. Everything was working out as she had planned. Her hooves began to carry her over to the door at a gentle pace. Everything had to appear normal for her doing. One deviation of her pace and the guard would have noticed that she was planning something. The grin faded away from her face in an instant. She gave an almost depressed look out of her eyes. Naturally it was all an act, an act meant to distract the guard at her door. Once the door came in reach did she gave a knock or two on it. Her position was maintained before the thing. Rarity just stood in full view of the guards eyes. A guard who had turned his attention over to her and looked through a hatch. The expression upon his face was one that spoke of confusion. Rarity never had been the kind of mare who would just have knocked on her door if she wanted anything. “Can I help you?” the guard asked before he rose an eyebrow to her. His tone was monotone, there wasn’t any emotion within it that could have been found within it. The eyes were sterner than anything though. They glanced like spears towards Rarity’s very being. Who knew that she had to play it even cooler than expected. She had one shot at it all and she was not in the mood to blow it all up. Not while she was that close at least. The unicorn in the cell gave a gentle nod to the guard. “Yes, yes there is something that you can help me with,” Rarity spoke to him. She had then managed to get the full attention of the guard. One who gestured her to continue with her words. “With, the rain pouring down as it does, I would like to have my hour in the courtyard.” Perhaps her words were a little bit too blunt for the matter. She thought about that fact only after she had spoken them to the guard. The stallion rose his other eyebrow as well. He didn’t seemed to have fully understood what she have meant, or he didn’t get why she wanted what she wanted. “I, I’m sorry miss, but I don’t fully understand. Why would you go down and outside, in this downpour?” he questioned to her with a confused gaze in his eyes. The question was rightfully asked from his side and Rarity gave him a nod in response. Shortly afterwards would she have given her reply though. Her mind still had to think about the facts as she wanted to present them to him. There also laid the problem: she had only seconds. If she took her sweet time with a reply, the stallion would have noticed that something would have been fishy. That in return meant another bust of her plans. So the mare came up with a quick excuse that sounded reasonable to her. “It’s that specifically, actually,” Rarity managed to say. The saddened look in her eyes only appeared to have gotten greater after she glanced back through the window again. The stallion shook his head a little bit before he gave her another chance to speak her mind. “For months have I been here, locked in this prison cell with nothing here. The sun I have felt shining upon my coat every time I went out. But I have forgotten what it feels, to have a pouring rain going over you,” Rarity then spoke as her excuse for it, “I want to experience that, again.” The guard at her cell still didn’t understood of why she wanted to go outside and stand in the rain. But her words did seemed to rang some form of truth. It almost seemed as if she was actually desperate to feel the rain upon her coat. A thing thought to have been insane by him, but would he really take away such a little pleasure from her? The looks in her eyes were eventually the thing that got to him. Just that saddened look within her eyes was the thing that he couldn’t stand any longer. Those big and soppy eyes that were almost ready to burst into tears. He just gave a single nod towards her and gestured her to take a step or two back. “I would say that you have to go into the shower to feel it again, but it’s nothing compared to what’s coming out of the skies now,” the guard replied to her words. Rarity understood what he was going to do. She just couldn’t believe the sheer amount of luck that she had in the moment. Nothing in the world could have stopped her then. She would continue on with her plan and he was helping her like that. Though the act had to be kept on for a little while longer. For the door was opened up and she was allowed to move out of her cell. --- A little bit later in time did the unicorn stood at the edge of the courtyard. The grassy field before her was taking a massive pounding from the rain that came from the skies. She didn’t care too much about all of that though. She had more an eye for the thunder and lightning strikes that were crashing down to the earth. The guard had escorted her all the way to the field. But the rest of her wish did she had to do alone. The guard wasn’t going to take a single step outside of the hallway. But the unicorn, she would do it in a heartbeat. Step by step was taken by her while she walked onto the field. The drops of rain crashed against her entire body and crystalline dress before she searched for a suitable location. The place where the downpour was the most was the place where she would be standing. Not much later had she found the right spot in her eyes. She allowed herself to bath within the rain. All of it was still the act she decided to play of course. Yet there was also something that was unexpected. Rarity began to rise herself up from her hind legs for no apparent reason. Yet the action resulted in her horn being pointed up straight into the skies. The guard didn’t gave it too much attention and he turned the other way. There were about a hundred different places where he could have been in that moment. Instead he was guarding a maddened mare with a strange desire for the pouring rain. He was completely oblivious to the things as they would be packing out. --- All of the sudden was there a massive bolt of lightning that rushed itself down to the earth. It missed the roof of the asylum only just. After which it made a trip to the next thing it could impact. The highest thing in the entire courtyard in that moment was Rarity’s very horn. The bolt of lightning only saw it as the path of least resistance and made the decision to use it to its own advantage. Within the fraction of a second had the bolt of lightning travelled over to the horn of the unicorn. A mare who began to consume all of the energy that it carried. The unicorn started to wince in pain while the guard only looked in horror. Even if he wanted to do something, there was nothing. Fractions of seconds went by before the bolt had vanished again. Rarity had consumed the whole thing and the protective ring around her horn hadn’t just vanished, it had evaporated from it. The mare was free again as she fell down to all four of her legs. The horn coated itself within her signature sapphire blue aura. After that, she turned herself around in a slow manner towards him. “Hello my dear, missed me?” she spoke up in an ominous tone. Mere fractions of a second after she had spoken her words did the rumble of the thunder came roaring through the skies. That, as well as the resonations of the crystals on her back. Hell was about to be unleashed at the clop of a hoof. Chapter 6Twilight Sparkle had never taken her eyes off of the window. Almost like a meteorologist had she continued to stare to the weather. The window was given a massive pounding of both the rain and the winds that blew against it. Concern was rightfully on its place though. She didn’t had the desire to be blown away by anything, anytime soon. But the feeling in her guts were never taken away. They had remained for reasons that she would only have discovered mere seconds later. For upon the courtyard they then appeared. The eyes of the mare went wide as she couldn’t believe the sights that she witnessed. “What have you planned now?!” she exclaimed quietly to herself. The eyes were then narrowed again to focus on the scenario as a whole. Something must have been going on, right? Rarity had never just plainly asked to be carried outside like that. Especially within the likes of a thunderstorm. There must have been reasons she didn’t knew behind the mare. Twilight thought about a thousand and one things as she tried her best to remain reasonable. Though why didn’t she just teleport herself over to the courtyard, remained a thing unknown. Of course did the thought cross through her mind and the desires to do such a thing had raised within her. But somehow she couldn’t perform the spell. It almost felt to her as if something was holding her back tightly. As if something had put a leash on her and held her tightly in place. Though the mare seemed to be aware of exactly what that very thing. A growl was released through her mouth. She quickly turned around and away from the window. Her eyes glared over to the desk. Upon that very desk did it still lay. It just laid there so calm and peaceful, as if nothing was wrong with it. But that very thing happened to have been the cause of it all. The book that she couldn’t read through was the thing that seemed to have tied her down to the place. Twilight wasn’t sure about it at all. Everything just didn’t seemed to be making sense whatsoever. Yet at the same time, it made all the sense in the world. The mind of the mare began to turn and twist in ways unseen by her for a long time. Yet then it happened. The strike of lightning was caught within her office and the mare froze. In just a split second there wasn’t anything she could have done. Yet the feeling in her guts had vanished. It just had vanished in the blink of an eye. It was the very thing that terrified the unicorn more than anything else in the moment. Something had happened, she didn’t knew what, but it was terrible. There was only one thing that she could have done to confirm the thoughts that she had. Her body turned slowly back around. Her eyes watched through the window again. There, in the courtyard did she captured it. The sight that she didn’t had the desire of seeing whatsoever. The terror that was revealed before her was a thing that made her place a hoof before her mouth. It almost seemed as if she had seen the devil himself, and he was laughing at her. Most likely the most terrible thing that ever could have happened, had happened. A gulp was given off by the mare. She began to shake her head in disbelief. “No, no, no, no, no, this can’t be happening!” the mare exclaimed to herself. Terror took her over as she was forced to stand in the spot and watch whatever would have been happening next to the mare in the pouring rain. --- The guard on the other end watched over Rarity with a set of wide eyes. That charged horn could have meant anything from a simple fizzle to the largest spell ever spoken. The last thing he needed in the moment was that she would have gone ballistic. So he did the only thing that was deemed reasonable in his eyes. Step by step he came closer to her. Yet she only turned her body over to him. The resonations of the crystals were clearly caught within his ears and he could have only hoped she wouldn’t do anything foolish. “Calm down, there’s no need for any of this and you know that,” the guard spoke to her in desperation. He tried to reason with a mare who had lost all sense of it. She always appeared to be negotiable, but never did she actually got into any kind of negotiation. The maddened unicorn just remained standing there for a moment or two. Then she began to grin. The guard stopped his pacing and he looked over her. Anything could have happened and he was scared of it. No place seemed to have been safe for him to hide. He was alone in the downpour, only at the mercy of the maddened mare. “No need, you say?” Rarity repeated after him before she rose an eyebrow to him. “Well excuse me, dear, but I dare to say that there is all the need for what I’m going to do next. Months I have been held here, unable to transform this dress of mine.” “And for good reason!” the guard replied to her. Though only after he had said the words did he realize just what exactly he had said. His hoof was brought over this mouth in order to silence it. But the deed was already done in Rarity’s eyes. The maddened unicorn charged up her horn even further and growled into his direction. The eyes turned cold as ice while not a grain of mercy could be found within them. The unicorn that she once was and the mare she played in her cell had vanished. Only a dark and cold monster stood before him. One that he couldn’t escape the clutches from, even if he wanted. Rarity charged up her horn only a little bit more. She released the charge into the world. The resonations of the crystals became only stronger until they began to shift. "I think somepony wants to meet my darlings," the mare spoke just before the dress started to change. More and more were the crystals shifting all over the place. They were taken off from their location and placed within their original formation, the formation that were the four crystalline arms. Four arms that could end his life just like that if she desired. Wheezes were made by the unicorn. The pain returned to her once more. But she welcomed it in fact. She welcomed the pain that went through her body like an old friend. She had the guard right where she wanted, the arms were almost done. The time to charge was finally there. The charge faded away from her horn and she just stood there. The four crystalline arms were ready to listen to the command of their master once more. The guard on the other end was terrified. Never in his life had he even seen such a thing. Of course did he had heard from it, but never had he actually expected that any of it was true. “Impossible,” he managed to say at the sight. “Oh trust me, I’ve seen the impossible. This, is far from it,” replied Rarity before one of her arms shot forward. “Tell the devil, I’m coming for him next,” she added before the claw began to squeeze his throat. Chapter 7The guard was lifted up onto his hind legs. The forelegs began to struggle with the crystalline arm. Gulps and gasps for air were released by him. Yet during all of it did Rarity remained standing there. She even seemed to have loved the fact that he was struggling as much as he did. To her, it was something that almost felt as if she had missed it in her life. That fear in his eyes as his life was about to be ended by her. That dreaded fear actually satisfied her in more than one way. Words couldn’t have been spoken by either of them. Rarity was too delighted to say anything, while the guard was struggling too much. Nothing could have saved him though. The crystal claws were already too far around his neck. He didn’t have anything that could have helped him to take them off of him. The struggle was pointless while but he didn’t realize it yet. The desperate pair of eyes continued to look around and about while he prayed in silence. Prayers that were made to the mare in the faint hope that she would have been able to recall certain things. Though the chance of such a thing was fairly small. The more he glanced into her eyes, the more he began to realize what kind of trap she had fallen in. The madness had truly taken its toll and he would have been the first one to feel the full fury of the mare. Struggling was pointless and the inevitable needed to happen either way. The guard simply gave it up and allowed the mare to do whatever she wanted. Yet Rarity wasn’t fully without mercy either. Another arm worked its way over to the head of the stallion and got a hold of it. Rarity then had him standing up and in the right position. Her eyes simply narrowed themselves with a maddened glance clearly visible within them. One simple motion that was followed by the crack of bones. That was it. Just like that did she ended the life of the guard. The neck was twisted and she didn’t even break a sweat. He was the first ever being that was killed by Rarity. He was the first pony that saw the end of his life by the arms of Rarity. The unicorn had then truly fallen from her stand, shattered upon the ground in countless bits. No amount of medication could have helped her from that point onwards. She had sealed her own fate. It wasn’t one that seemed to be nice in any way or form. The mare just kept on looking over to his body in silence. Almost as if there was a slight feeling of remorse going through her. She would have locked it up deep inside of her. The mare growled like an animal just before her eyes were taken off of his body. Instead there was something else that captured her interest. Something she didn’t even had dared to be seeing. Something which she hated to her very guts. --- For in the opening to the hallway it stood. The third figure with the white overcoat and the amethyst leg had appeared. Nopony else then Twilight Sparkle had made the journey down there via a teleport. Her horn was still smoking while the aura had faded away. Next to the unicorn there also was the book. The mare had actually carried the book with her to the fight, for whatever reason. Not that it meant too much for Rarity in the moment. Though she did release a deep snarl towards her former friend. The other unicorn didn’t gave it too much attention. She took a step closer. Which resulted in Rarity taking a step or two back. The body of the guard was thrown aside and the arms retracted themselves. Rarity cracked her neck and sent the sounds over the courtyard. She narrowed her eyes towards the mare. Hinting towards disbelief for a moment. “What brings you here, Sparkle?” she asked in a cutting tone. The other unicorn just stood there while the rain poured down upon her. It wasn’t her place nor time to answer the question just yet. She only hid the book within her overcoat and then glanced to the maddened mare with a stern expression. Not a grain of friendliness was to be found within them. Perhaps that was the main reason of just why her friend didn’t had the desire anymore to meet her? It was another question for another time though. She had to deal with Rarity once and for all. Either she would have ended up like the guard, or locked away in the deepest part of the asylum forever more. Twilight only saw a grim future ahead of her and she was right to believe such a thing. Nothing that could have gotten out of their encounter, would have been nice. Either way, they would have been destroyed for their lives. The question only was who happened to have been stronger in both the arcane and mental games. Of course was the obvious answer Twilight herself. But Rarity always had a surprise or two behind her back. The unicorn of fashion never ceased to amaze anypony and that was taken into account by Twilight. It also meant to her that the other unicorn was constantly calculating what would be happening next. Or more specifically: with which attack the mare would have started. Anything could have happened between the two unicorns. Their strength’s laid in different parts of the arcane and could counter one another just like that. Which meant that a full on magic duel between the two would have been a massive disaster. No, the two of them had to do it in a different manner. One that would be played with only words, for the time being. Twilight still had to answer the question that was given by Rarity and she found it was time. A deep exhale was released through her nostrils while the eyes closed for just a little bit. “Isn’t it obvious of just why I happen to be here? You just murdered one of my employees after having absorbed a lightning bolt. Only that amount of power is capable of destroying the magical blocker. The real question is, what do you try to achieve with this?” the mulberry unicorn countered. She narrowed her eyes even further while she pried on Rarity. The question was one that captured Rarity by surprise though. She hadn’t truly expected the fact that Twilight would have even been able to speak such a thing to her. Yet on the other end did she had to expect the things as they were given to her. The irony unicorn released a deep growl from her soul as she placed a firm hoof on the wet grass. “I try to achieve the thing you took from me so long ago!” Rarity growled up to the other mare. Nothing would have been safe and Twilight knew that. The unicorn was dangerously close to losing everything within her mind so the game had to be played safe. “And that being what, your own sanity?” Twilight asked through. She took a step closer. The answer was something that caused the ivory mare to erupt out in a chuckle. She would have shook her head while the horn charged up once more. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, of course not my sanity. I have never been fully sane to begin with, remember?” Rarity answered to her. The charge was then released from her horn but the effects didn’t happen straight away. “I’m going to take back my freedom, once and for all.” “And just how do you plan on doing that? You can’t escape from here and you certainly don’t have any teleportation spells,” Twilight countered. She had to admit the fact that she was curious about it all. She had no clue how Rarity would have wanted to claim her freedom again. Though there were perhaps one or two methods known for her. She could only have waited for what was to come. If there was anything to come after the words. --- The ivory unicorn grinned like the devil she could be while the crystals began to resonate again. A change was going to happen soon enough, that much was certain. Though just what the change was remained a question for the nearby future. “Oh my dear, little Sparkle, you still don’t know anything about me, now do you?” taunted Rarity even further. The grin became even wider over Rarity’s face as the arms faded away. Instead there were million different shards of crystal flying all around her back. All of those little shards were connected to one another via arcane strings. If Twilight didn’t know any better, she could have sworn that it appeared like some sort of wing. Was that her plan? To just take off into the skies and fly away like that and live a free life? Rarity certainly must have lost her whole mind. For such a thing was impossible. “That’s impossible,” the mulberry unicorn said to herself. Never in her life had she even seen such a thing. But the disbelief would have turned to terror. The reality of the situation dawned back to her. It was time to put an end to everything once and for all. Whether it was liked or not. Chapter 8“You can’t do this and you know that!” Twilight exclaimed before her own horn charged up. But Rarity gave no heed to the warning. Instead had the mare just jumped up into the air. There where she began to flap her crystalline wings. The mulberry unicorn had to take a step or two back. She had calculated and thought that Rarity would fall straight back to the ground. Yet much to her own surprise, that didn’t happen at all. The ivory unicorn managed to remain within the air. The mixture of arcane and crystal was enough to keep her within the air. It naturally surprised the other mare and she didn’t knew what to say as a response to it. Anything could have happened in the moment. There needed something to happen quickly if she wanted to prevent Rarity from causing more harm. With her charged up horn did she do something rather unexpected. Instead of just fully blasting Rarity, Twilight would have pointed her horn over to the skies. The blast was fired off faster than Rarity could ascend and under a massive explosion of magic did it happen. A brilliant raspberry color could be seen. One that stretched itself to the roof of the asylum in order to become a shield. A shield that would have stopped the rain from entering, and Rarity from getting out. Naturally it furiated the other unicorn to no end. It seemed as if in the last possible moment there still was just that one little thing had gone wrong. The ivory unicorn snarled towards the other mare but didn’t had the desire to drop back down to the ground. The freedom that the air gave to her made her understand why the pegasi loved flying so much in the first place. The sapphire blue rimmed eyes looked over to Twilight. Who was awaiting whatever would have happened next. Yet Twilight seemed to realize the little fact that everything would have been played according to Rarity’s rules. Which was a thing fine by her. The unicorn charged up her horn again and allowed a deep exhale to come. Upon her back did their creation start. Two wings were formed made from the arcane dusts themselves. They looked like the wings of an alicorn but were about the size of a pegasus. They would have been perfect for the fight that was about to break out. There was no other way the matter would have been resolved by Twilight. Not anymore at least, even after everything she tried. Her horn was allowed to be discharged once the wings were created. She gave them a gentle flap. One nod was given to her before she made the jump into the air and gained in on the altitude. Her eyes were never taken off of Rarity as she did had to find a way to make sure she wouldn’t really have to kill her. Twilight just needed to make her lose balance and gravity would have done the rest. The last thing she wanted for herself was to be labeled a murderer as well. The game had to be played smart, as well as vicious. --- Rarity looked over the arcane wings of Twilight and simply rose an eyebrow to them once they were leveled again. “So this is how you intend to stop moi? To come up here and talk some sense into me? How about I save you that trouble, dear?” the mare countered the other unicorn. Fractions of a second later had the horn charged up again. A sudden blast was given from it. One that was avoided pretty quickly and graceful by Twilight. She didn’t reply with a blast of her own though. Instead she would speak her possible last words to the unicorn. “Oh trust me, I gave up on talking to you ages ago. You’re a sly devil, Rarity. But I’m something much more terrifying. I’m your worst nightmare for now. Give me your worst,” she spoke against her ex-friend. The ivory mare could have only chuckled up to the words that were spoken. To her it seemed like they were said by a schoolfilly who tried who was trying to act tough in front of the older students. Yet it also meant that the battle between the mares was going to happen. There was no escape from it anymore and the two had to fight. Which they would have been doing gladly to one another. The hatred for the other had become so deep-rooted that it didn’t matter how much they would be maiming the other in order to get what they wanted. The fight between the mares was horrible and all of the other doctors and guards in the entire asylum were looking at it. They couldn’t have done anything to stop it all from happening. It literally seemed as if the two of them were in a massive fight to the death. One had to survive while the other would have found nothing else but death at the ground itself. Nopony knew who was going to win but naturally did they all hoped for the best. Yet in silence did they all prepare for the worst. Anything could have happened and they were all aware of that. Only the patients didn’t knew what was going on. Yet the news was spreading like a wildfire. Nopony dared to watch but at the same time they couldn’t take their eyes away from them either. --- The fight itself had been going on for minutes already. Twilight and Rarity were locked with one another in the greatest battle of their lives. Punches, kicks and magical blasts had all been given off by them. But they were still there. High up in the air with the last remaining bits of stamina. Deep inhales for breath were given off by the mares as the cutting glares told enough. No words would have been spoken by the two of them. They just wanted to see one fall down to the ground. Rarity hoped of course that it was Twilight, while Twilight hoped it was Rarity. Though it was the latter one whom realized that the stakes could have been a little bit too high. Twilight was a strong pony in the arcane and Rarity had a great strength in her legs. Which sadly enough managed to cancel one another out in fact. A fact that angered both of the unicorns more than it originally could have been doing as they were both on the verges of collapsing. Only one thing could have been done in the eyes of Rarity. Only one thing that could have helped as some kind of last ditch effort. One last thing in the hope to end the life of Twilight Sparkle. Rarity’s horn began to charge itself up while her wings stopped flapping around. The unicorn then just levitated herself within the air. She spread her forelegs to her sides. It was then or it would have been never. Twilight on the other end rose an eyebrow to what would happen next until she heard the resonations. The eyes of the mulberry mare went wide when she realized what would happen. Her own horn charged up quickly and then it happened. In one explosion of magic would Rarity have sent all the bits of crystal away from her. Millions of shards travelled through the air at such high speeds, that accidents were bound to happen. Though fractions of a second before the massive explosion did Twilight had her shield ready and deployed it. She still had to turn her head away and close her eyes though. Which naturally meant that she couldn’t have been witnessing anything what was happening around her. The little gems ticked like hail on a window against her shield before they were sent into another direction. Whether it were the walls, the other shield, or the ground, it didn’t matter to the unicorn at all. Though one unlucky shard managed to travel a rather unique path. --- When Twilight opened her eyes again, it was because of a silence. She did look straight up to Rarity and noticed something. Something was gently coming out of her chest. Something that wasn’t a natural color. Her eyes then went wide as she realized what it was. Blood was gushing out of the chest of the mare while one large shard of crystal was sticking out of it. Twilight could have filled in the blanks clearly, it must have ricocheted off of her shield and right back to its master. A horrible sight it did was to witness but one that didn’t lasted too long either. The magic that was around the horn of Rarity faded away. The mare had begun to fall down to the ground beneath them. Twilight’s eyes turned away from the scene, while her ears caught the cursed splashing sound. A sound that she had never wished to hear. Yet she had done it on the other end. She got what she had wished for. Relief began to flow through her body. Relief that was mixed itself with the sadness she already carried. Chapter 9The rain was once more ticking itself against the window if Twilight’s office. The unicorn of the asylum just sat in her chair behind the desk. A gentle tear rolled down her cheek. She didn’t had any words for the events as they had happened only hours ago. She had to kill one of her best friends in the entire world just to make sure Equestria would be save that night. Of course did their friendship ended some time ago given the events. But that never took away the powerful memories that she carried about Rarity. Whether she liked it or not, the unicorn was glad for something that couldn’t be explained. While she was being sad about so many others. Things never had been truly making sense to her and the world was a place that would have never changed whatsoever. The tear was wiped away from her cheek while another revelation came to her. The very fact that nopony could have been blamed for the death of Rarity. After all, it was she who fired all of her crystals. She was wounded by one of them in the end. Yet the pain still ached deep within her heart about the loss. In front of her did the book still lay calm. Almost as if it had nothing better to do it just laid there. The unicorn’s amethyst leg coiled up around it and she left her desk for what it was. Only to make her way over to the fire place within the office. Her horn allowed itself to be coated within the coated within the raspberry color. The fires were ignited with ease. Not only did they provided a much needed warmth for her cold body, but she could also do something that should have been done long ago. The very book was held before her and the mare glanced only at the cover. “You shouldn’t have been found within the depths of those mines. You should have remained lost through the gears of time itself. They failed at doing so, I’ll be making certain not to make that mistake twice,” mumbled Twilight with a cutting glare in her eyes. Only once the fires were raging violent enough, she would have just thrown the book within it. The very book would have caught fire almost straight away and was used as an added source of fuel for the very flames. The eyes of Twilight never seemed to have been able to take themselves away from the flames. She wanted to stay with them until the book was consumed whole. Every last page and every single letter must have been turned to charcoal black before she would look away again. Nopony needed to go through the same ordeal as she had been. She wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen. Not again. --- Only once the fires had died down again and she knew that the book was consumed did she turn back around. A deep exhale was released through her nostrils as the eyes glanced through the window. Words went over her tongue that came from a language long dead. Words that formed a sentence that couldn’t have been understood by any other being. Only those that knew in which language she spoke would have understood it. Then the unicorn locked the door behind her and wandered through the asylum. Hundreds of thoughts rushed through her. Though there was only one thing on her mind that constantly came back. Ponyville, her tree-library to be exact. She had to get away from that place. She just had to get away from the mentally unstable and the insane. She needed to get her old life back, for one of her friends never would have been able to. “What goes around, comes around they often say,” the mare mumbled to herself. “But some things never change. Time comes and goes as the tides of the sea but memories shall remain. Heh, time, never thought some would have so little of it while others have aplenty.” A deep sigh then followed through her nostrils as she closed the door of the asylum. Not only did she close the front door, but she also closed off a dark and gruesome chapter of her life. Twilight was ready for a change to happen. A new future to step in with four amazing friends in that always lovely, little town of Ponyville. “Why do things never go easy?” was the last question she asked herself, before going silent again.
Chapter 1Through the window did the magical light shone into the room. The light of the night itself had engulfed the land once more. Though the light of the moon tried to vanquish it from existence. It was that very light that shone through the window. A barred window that was placed within an asylum for the insane. The very asylum in which nopony else then Rarity had been taken to and held for treatment. Or as she became known in the months she spent there: doctor Rare-opus. The unicorn herself just laid upon her bed with a smirk that went from ear to ear. She almost seemed to have been delighted by some facts as they had played around. She was fully aware that her own doctors were trying to treat her for her mental illness of course. But Rarity always remained a mystery for them in more than one way. One moment she seemed to have been nearly broken, only to crawl back from the depths of her mind with a sly comment in the next. Resilient was probably the word that most of the doctors used to describe her as. Yet that never took away from the horrors she faced in her dreams. Or the delights, as they had become over the gears of time itself. For the unicorn dreamed about it every single night. That moment in time where her crystalline arms almost ended the life of Twilight Sparkle. It felt just so good to her to be able to redo it in her dreams and get it right. Every night she dreamed about new ways to end the life of the unicorn. The desires to see the death of Twilight had only risen in her priority. She knew that the other unicorn was still alive and even closer to her than ever. Even with her magic blocked off and restricted, she still sensed things that only could have been emitted by Twilight. The powers that it carried inside of it were a massive giveaway. Rarity laid upon her bed in a sideways position while the crystalline dress almost covered the whole of her body. One for her forelegs could be found holding her head up though. She gave another smirk towards something. Right in front of her –sitting in a chair– sat the doctor she knew so well. The very doctor who tried to reason and treat her for all the months she had been locked away. The unicorn had often tried to make advantage to him, but the doctor wasn’t stupid either. Whatever she tried, it never seemed to have any kind of effect. Which for some reason actually managed to delight the unicorn of crystals. It almost seemed as if she had found a match for herself. A match that equaled her own mind when it came to dedication for a job. Though his was honorable in his own eyes. In the eyes of the unicorn it just was to be thought plain stupid. Nothing could have saved her, she didn’t even wanted to be saved in the first place. But they were really hell-bent in getting her mind back on the straight path. --- While the moonlight crawled in the room through the window, the silence between the two ponies was broken by the doctor. “My dear, Rarity, you’re one tough nut to crack. That is one thing that I have to admit about you. The rest however, are all things that I do not care too much for. You have tried it many months ago to seduce me, and it didn’t worked,” he spoke up before he fixed the glasses on his nose. “Then you tried to trick me with your mindgames, but didn’t work either.” The unicorn on the other end released a simple chuckle. Once the silence had returned, she shook her head towards him. The attempt was remembered rather vividly and in almost every detail. What then followed was a gentle sigh. Only to be followed by the words of her own. “Guess that my new name never seemed to stick in your mind, didn’t it? Doesn’t truly matter though, for you all are still scared of me,” the mare spoke to him. “Care to explain yourself?” the doctor spoke up as he gestured her to continue. The grin came once more back to her face before she assumed a bit more of a normal position. Rarity’s eyes were locked upon his while the words would leave her. “Every single pony here, fears for their dear lives when they look at me. Perhaps that’s why I am in such a secured prison and only allowed to get out once a day,” she explained to him with determination. The doctor could only nod to her words. Rarity most likely did happen to have point on the matter, even if it was just such a little one. “They are all terrified for their lives, that the calm I seem to bare to them turns into a storm. I never speak a word to them, I only look at them for a second or two. The calm they see in my eyes, they are afraid it turns into insanity. Because that’s what my body tells them,” Rarity added to her words, narrowing her eyes just a little bit. The doctor rose an eyebrow to her statement. He had noticed it numerous times when he escorted her to the yard for her hour outside of the cell. What he didn’t knew was that she used that to her advantage. “I see, that’s quite the something indeed. Not a word spoken, but your presentation allows for a pose of intimidation. Not complimenting you here, just stating in my own words what you said,” the doctor returned to her. He adjusted his glasses a bit. Rarity followed up with a chuckle before she shook her head calmly from side to side again. One of her hooves stroked over her chin just before the eyes went shut. “You may say you’re not doing it, but does your mind agree upon that little fact? Perhaps, you’re just as insane as we all happen to be here,” she countered to him. The doctor couldn’t help himself but to release a chuckle of his own. Then it was him who shook his head before he spoke the final words for the evening. “I would say that this is going to be it for today. May you enjoy the evening furthermore, Rarity.” The doctor would have stood up from the chair, placed it back by the desk before he made his departure. The heavy lock of the door was caught within her ears and Rarity opened her eyes again. She glanced over to the door itself and released a gentle exhale. Even though she couldn’t just tab in her magic, she felt as if there was something that would allow her to. She felt that she had to make her escape out of the place and be free once more. She was confined to a small room not much bigger than her bedroom in the Carousel Boutique. Her head turned its attention over to the window and she looked past her mirror image. An image that revealed her true self though. She had lost her signature curls within her mane and tail but they weren’t straight either. If anything, they were just messy all together. Almost as if she didn’t care for her looks anymore. The mare glanced further than her own image, outside to the world that could be seen. The clouds at the horizon could be promising enough. For the eyes glanced at a massive storm front. A storm front that was most likely going their way and one which she could use. As long as it had lightning within it, there was a way through which she could rechannel her magic through her body. To become free once more and use the dress for something else then just the four, crystalline arms. Another grin formed itself below the muzzle of the mare. Her time would come, all that she had to do was to plan it out nicely and not make it seem suspicious. Two things she could do pretty well. “Soon enough, so very soon enough,” whispered Rarity. to herself. She laid her head upon the pillow. The mare was tired, exhausted perhaps. She needed some sleep in order to work out the details of her plan.
Chapter 2The doctor walked through the halls of the asylum with his head somewhere up in the clouds. He was the one who had been talking to Rarity about all sorts of things in life. The stallion then shook his head a couple dozen times. Something about that entire mare just didn’t seemed to be making sense to him. Every single time he thought to have figured her out, there was a new curveball that was thrown at him. What followed was a gentle exhale through his nostrils as the eyes opened up again. Inaudible mutters were given off by him. Though he kept wandering through the hallways. Even though the asylum was old and could be stated as some kind of place of horror, it was still fully functioning. All of the insane ponies from Canterlot and the nearby surrounding were placed there for rather obvious reasons. Though the doctor had just been witnessing perhaps the most deluded patient that they had locked been away within the walls. Another exhale was released through his nostrils before another shake was given off by him. He honestly had tried to figure the unicorn out. To find out just what her desires were and how she worked. But she wouldn’t just give away her secrets like that. Far from it, in fact. A fact which began to dawn more and more upon him. For months had the two been talking to one another. He had tried to be her friend all of the time. But every time she saw right through what he tried to do. It was impossible for her mind to have gotten that refined in being sly, right? Another question arose within his mind before he just threw the thought out. It was late in the day and there was one more place he needed to be. --- He kept on wandering through the hallways and up the numerous stairs until he finally stood there. His eyes looked over a wooden door that seemed just so out of place in the entire asylum. The new head of the place had it installed months ago as it brought a bit of change. Though the doctor himself never really liked it. Whatever the reason behind it was, he just didn’t enjoy it one bit. Mere seconds he stood before it without a motion. His eyes constantly looked from left to right. They couldn’t bring home where he had to knock. It almost seemed as if he was terrified himself about whatever the pony inside would be doing. Yet he had to do his job. And the only way that he could have possibly done it, was to knock somewhere on that wooden door. So with a gentle exhale that went through his mouth, the stallion rose his left foreleg up. Before he even knew what had happened, had the hoof already knocked upon the door. His eyes shrunk when he realized it and a gulp followed suit. The stallion then fixed his white overcoat and the glasses once more. “Come in,” was spoken in a feminine voice from the other side. The tone in which it was said seemed to have been calm and collected. Almost as if there was nothing of true importance going on. That relieved the doctor from his deeds. He opened the door almost casually. The hinges made their signature little screech. After that he would have walked into the office of the manager. His eyes looked around and saw that everything was nicely ordered. All the dossier cabinets were nicely stored in orders with labels on each drawer. The sofa that could be found to his right made him turn away from it quicker than anything. Everything was as he remembered it. There was a bare minimum of stuff to be found outside of the desk. But the less stuff there was, the less could have been used as a weapon against the manager. Though there was one lack of something that crawled up to him more than anything. The very lack of light was a thing that concerned him. He wasn’t a stallion that was easily scared of the dark or anything the like, but it was a little bit uncomfortable to say the least. The stallion walked further into the office and closed the door behind him. Only to have his eyes then fall over the window in front of him. A window that stood behind the desk and had a view on almost every part of Canterlot. Though the most prominent feature was that it had a clear view to the castle of the princesses themselves. Before that very window stood the manager of the place. The smaller body-build could have indicated anything and the white overcoat hid the actual color of the coat. The doctor made his way closer to the desk. On purpose he made a loud noise while he pulled the chair back. The stallion wanted to get the attention of the manager more than anything else in the moment. Only after he would have sat down in the chair, would his eyes have glanced over to see any kind of response. --- The manager of the asylum began to charge up the horn that could be found right above the eyes. Its fine, raspberry colored magical aura allowed the room to be coated within that color for a moment. Only to have the candles ignite once more in a gulf of flames. Light had returned to the place in a magical manner. The doctor was glad that he could see a little bit more than just faint light of the moon. It also revealed to him the many paintings that were all hung up on the walls. Paintings that ranged from calm and serene, to the abstract and mind-bending. Though he wasn’t there to just sit and watch paintings. It almost seemed as if the two could have read other’s mind, for just as he thought about it did the manager turnaround. Finally was he greeted with the face he had seen for months already. That mulberry coat and that amethyst leg couldn’t have been made any mistake. Right in front of him stood nopony else then Twilight Sparkle herself. She allowed a deep exhale to be taken from her nostrils before she walked over to the side of her desk. “Any news, from our little crystalline friend?” she asked to him in a calm tone. Even though she hated Rarity with pretty much all of her guts, she still had a job to maintain. One only given to her only a few months ago. The doctor shook his head from side to side. “I’m afraid that there is nothing new to her. She is mad, as I have told you for months already. But she just can’t be broken by the looks of it. Every time she plays on this act before revealing she’s still there,” he answered to her. Twilight gave him a nod before she closed her eyes for a moment. “I get what you mean and it is disturbing me. She tries to cling on to whatever thought she has that is right in her eyes. A thought that is probably gruesome and dangerous all together. Which makes her even more dangerous than any other pony in here,” the mare returned to him. “You, you don’t have to tell me that. She’s a master of deception, even without her magic,” the stallion replied to her. Twilight could have only nodded to the words as they were. Rarity was indeed a master of those arts, she always had been in fact. A gentle exhale was released through her nostrils and the eyes turned back to the window. She too had seen the front that was the storm. But she prayed on the fact that it would just go over or go into another direction. But luck was rarely on her side after her accident. The amethyst leg stomped upon the floor as she took a step to turn around. “You’re dismissed, I think that there will be much bigger problems ahead of us, if I look at the weather. The calm before the storm, they often say, I think it is this night,” she added to her words. The doctor rose an eyebrow while he stood up. Her words rang truth though, as well as confirmed something eerie for his feelings. “I, I do have to say that everypony here is a lot more quiet, yes. A-Anywho, I shall leave myself out.” Twilight nodded to him before her attention was turned once more to the window. The one that bore her the breathtaking view. Her mind was allowed to wander off to places previously unseen. Places not thought about for obvious reasons.
Chapter 3The following morning had Rarity awoken early by something that even she didn’t knew. Perhaps it was her mind that thought it was the time to wake up again? Or she was woken up by a sudden fall in her dreams. Either way, it didn’t truly matter as she noticed how the gray clouds had traveled over to the asylum. That fact alone caused a devious grin to be formed upon her muzzle. It meant to her that the storm was heading their way. Which naturally meant that the possible lightning it carried, also came their way. It would have been that very lightning that she use to her own advantage for a change. In those very few and precious months that she had been rotting away in the asylum, she managed to do her homework as well. The unicorn may have caused a spell to be spoken from the book she found so long ago, but there was another spell that could have been used by her. One that allowed her a form of freedom unlike anything else. As much as the crystalline arms or dress were a marvel to look at, they had both one massive disadvantage. The very fact that she never could have made a quick getaway. The arms allowed her to do it though, but she couldn’t truly hide them other than the dress of course. But the dress itself was heavy and ponies would have noticed her in an instant. The unicorn managed to walk with the weight of the dress, much to everypony’s surprise. A fact that was deemed impossible at first by herself. Though the more she walked around with the crystals all over her body, the more she became used to it. Yet in the eyes of the doctors and guards she managed to maintain that look in her eyes. That look of helplessness and vulnerability. To them she appeared as if she still wasn’t used to the weight of the dress. That very knowledge would have been used against them on probably numerous times. --- The first drops of rain ticked against her window and the mare knew what time it was. The storm had erupted right above Canterlot and she would set her plan in motion. Her sharp mind had calculated almost every single fact that there was. Rarity even had come up with a lie to be allowed outside. Everything just seemed to have been working out the way she had planned it. For the first time in a long, long time did fate smile down upon her rather than frown. For the time in a long time, she could smell her freedom again. Yet that questioned many other things at the same time. Many things that she didn’t wanted to think about. Many things she couldn’t even imagine. If she indeed would have ever broken out of the asylum, where would she go? What would she do? And the most important question of all, would she return to her family? Though the answer upon the last question was one that was pretty easily answered. She wasn’t the daughter that they knew anymore. She had turned into a monster and she was well aware of that fact. She even adored it, actually. The unicorn had become something that she never dreamed possible and was an honor rather not taken. That alone made the mare even more dangerous. She would have gone to nearly any length to get what she desired. No, the best thing that she could do was to disown herself from her family. Just to spare them from anything that could be happening to them. Perhaps it was the most honorable thing that she could have done, perhaps it was just as crazy as she happened to be. Yet the eyes of the mare never sprung full with tears. Months in the asylum had made her stronger than ever. The unicorn wouldn’t have been able to shed a tear in any matter. For tears were a weakness that she couldn’t allow herself. The unicorn had to remain this figure of silence and pure intimidation. If the other inmates only got as much a sight of a dried up tear stain, they would have all known that she was broken to the core already. Whatever would be happening them was a future grim. And one where Rarity didn’t had the desires of finding out anytime soon. That was why she became so mentally strong. It was all because she had to survive with her will. “Finally some good luck is moving in this way. Now let’s just hope that it carries the lightning as well,” she whispered up to herself. One of her forelegs then moved itself over to the horn and gave a gentle stroke over it. At first it was smooth, until she reached the thing. In an instant did the expression on her face turn to one of thunder itself. A frown followed suit before the unicorn growled like the devil himself. A ring had been placed around her horn. One that prevented her from using any kind of magic. That was the very reason why she couldn’t morph the dress back into the arms. If that would have been possible, she had made her escape long ago already. Everything within those crystals was of course powered by magic. Which happened to be the one thing she lacked. Though memory had served her well enough. There were stories of ponies who had managed to absorb the lightning bolts and use it as some form of magic as well. The mare hadn’t tapped in her own reservoirs for months so they were filled to the brim with the stuff. Her idea? That one was simplicity itself. Her mind also remembered the book she read through. The book that caused her arms to be created in the first place. That book was read through with great attention. The memories of numerous pages came through to her as some were quickly dispatched again. The ponies of old were mad, that much was certain. But they were smart at the same time. It would have been that smartness that possibly would have given Rarity her escape. There was one thing that she could do with both her crystalline dress and the thunder that would hopefully be roaring outside. One plan that could only have been thought up by a crazed pony. Her plan was to be struck by lightning, cause a magical overload which would destroy the ring. Once she had access to her magic again, the dress would be turned into a set of wings. The crystalline shards combined with a magical field, would have created enough lift for her to soar like a pegasus. Only after that would she just make her great escape. Leaving everypony to bite the dust. Anything after that though, would have been a guess to be made. Yet the unicorn knew that it would work. She knew that her plan of insanity would be working. Even though she would be dealing with a bolt of lightning that was most likely around one point twenty-one gigawatt in power. She had one chance to make it work, or Rarity would die trying. Either way, it would have set her free and allowed her to do what she wanted. If she came to die from the overload, she would have left the world. If she would survive, she would have left the asylum. Either one of them was fine for the unicorn. A unicorn who grinned like a madmare. She sat down in the chair for the moment. She simply waited. Waited her time out for the time to be there. She was waiting for that first strike of thunder to come. Patience was required, but she still had plenty of it.
Chapter 4It was that very same morning that Twilight had collected herself once more by the window of her office. The candle lights were the only lights present and she just stared out of the glass. Her mind was lost within the thoughts that she had swirling through her. The unicorn could have only prayed on the fact that the day would bring something yet. Whether it be good or bad, that didn’t matter. Though there was a feeling deep down within her guts that spoke of a tragedy which was about to happen. She couldn’t truly have placed it in her mind, but every fiber of her body sensed that something was about to go horribly wrong. The mare released a deep exhale through her mouth as her eyes closed, The damp of her mouth touched the glass and it became vague as a direct result. The day was colder than expected or her office was freezing. Either way, the unicorn thought about a thousand things at the same time. Only to make it all end by a single tear that rolled down her cheek. The mare wanted to speak her words so much. Yet she too had an image to uphold. Months had caused her mind to take on a different path than she would have liked. No longer was she that merry and cheery mare that stood ready for everything. In just a couple months, she had become just a shell of her former being. Twilight was naturally worried about her friends, whom all still lived in Ponyville. None of them had the stomach to make up to Canterlot and visit her in the new place that she had to work. Yet the orders were given off by the princesses themselves. There was no other way around the facts as they were. The amethyst leg stomped over the floor as the mare walked away from the window. Without a single word spoken did she just went to the sofa in the room. She would have dropped down upon it with a defeated mind. The feelings in her guts could have been right, but they were nothing compared to the pain she felt in her heart. She had lost her leg and gained something that was just not hers. The crystalline prostatic was often a hinder to her than a help. But she couldn’t live without it either. The head dropped itself on the pillow. Her fur coated foreleg travelled over the back of it. The scars of Rarity’s original take on her life were still there, proudly present. Every time she went over it, the horror could be felt. The scars would remain there for the eternity to come and she didn’t knew how to deal with it. All that she could have done was to cover it up by her hair. To make it seem as if nothing was hidden beneath them. Though who would she have been kidding if she did so? Who would have actually fallen for such a thing in the first place? Twilight didn’t know the answers to the questions. She only released an even deeper sigh through her nostrils. Then there was a moan that followed her up and the eyes were opened calmly once again. Just for a fraction of a second could that maddened glare be caught within them. The glare that everypony always was afraid of to see. That one glare that could have even deemed her as insane. The unicorn hoisted herself back up from the sofa and she glanced over to a painting. A painting that held the image of her with the amethyst leg and her four other friends. The only pony that was missing from the image was Rarity. She was gone for obvious reasons. Twilight hadn’t gotten over the fact that one of her own friends tried to take her very life. Even though she still was there, alive and kicking, it just never felt to her anymore that Rarity was considered a friend of hers. Naturally did she had all the right in the world to say such a thing. --- The mare stood back up on her hooves. She walked over to that very painting and kept looking at it with a great difficulty. It almost seemed as if she was trying to fight of the demons that were haunting her. That she would try her best to overcome the very things that she always had been afraid of. To conquer the things that she wanted to. The unicorn allowed a gentle growl to be released from her mouth as a direct response. She appeared to have more animal than pony in the moment. Her pacing lowered down to a near crawl. The horn on top of her head had coated itself within the raspberry light while she cast the spell in silence. That same aura also gathered itself around the painting of her friends before she simply moved it off to the sides. Behind it was most likely the most clichéd hiding place of all. For behind the painting was a safe that could be of use to her. The lock was opened via a small magical charge and the door unlocked itself from the hinges. Then she would have just opened it with her amethyst leg and glanced at the content inside of it. There it laid. There it just laid, almost like it was the most normal thing in the entire world. The unicorn’s hooves began to tremble just so slightly. She had seen the sight of it a thousand times already but every time it still invoked fear to her. For within the safe it laid. The very book that Rarity had recovered during her mission beneath the city of Canterlot. Twilight never got to know much about the operation. Other than the fact that that was the time where everything went wrong for her ex-friend. The book was taken out of the prison just by her amethyst hoof and she skipped back to her chair. The safe was locked again with her magic. The mare placed the book upon her desk. Only after she had positioned herself comfortable within the fabric of the chair was it opened. One more was it only done by her hooves and the mare trembled slightly as she glanced over the first page. Ever since she had acquired the book, she hadn’t been able to get further than the first page. Of course did she had seen further into it at one point or the other. But only because Rarity had brought it over to her tree library. At that point in time was she alone and utterly terrified of the things that could have happened to her. She had no idea whether or not she too would connect the tomes to old songs of her own past. That mistake was the entire reason that began Rarity’s very own downfall. Yet the mulberry unicorn had to know what secrets it bore. She had to know what else was written inside of it. Though for some reason she just didn’t seemed to have been able to do it. The unicorn wasn’t able to go further than the first page. Her mind got flooded with all kinds of horrible thoughts. Thoughts that made her relive the past and live in futures indescribable. The mare shook her head quickly in order to get the thoughts out of her head. The last thing she needed was to be captivated by something of her own past. With a single motion was the book closed again and she stood up from the chair. Her body quickly turned around with a deep growl as she glanced outside of the window again. --- Instead of looking up and to the horizon as she normally would have done, the eyes of Twilight did turn down and looked at the courtyard of the asylum. There was the feeling deep within her guts that something terrible was about to happen. A feeling that never left her. She still couldn’t explain the feeling at all, but she told herself always that it was caused by the book. That she had somehow managed to sense the aura of the very pages and that it only spoke ill about the future. How much of that theory happened to have been the truth was a fact Twilight didn’t wanted to find out. Her eyes continued to glance down the entire courtyard, but she never saw a single soul. The down pouring rain was the prime suspect for the matter and the unicorn nodded to herself. Yet just after she had given the nod was there a flash of lightning that caught her eyes. The eyes quickly looked up and into the skies before they began to rumble. The storm had arrived and was going to unleash hell at Canterlot. Perhaps that was the feeling of why Twilight felt uncomfortable? It was a question she desired her answers upon more than anything else in the moment.
Chapter 5The very same rumbles that echoed through the ears of Twilight, were caught in those of Rarity. The unicorn glanced up to her window. She began to stare out of it for good measure. For mere seconds she continued to look at the window and the storm outside. Everything seemed to have gotten right in place for her. Everything seemed to have been working out the way that she wanted it. Her plan was a go and there was no way that she would allow herself to make it stop. Nothing would have stood in her way. Not a single pony would have prevented her from getting back the thing that she desired most. Her maddened mind had come up with a plan of insanity that would have set her free. One way, or the other. The eyes of the mare took themselves off of the window just before she stood up from her chair. That same chair was then pushed back against the desk. Rarity then turned around. She was then faced the doorway of her cell. A nasty grin formed itself across her lips. Everything was falling just into the places that she wanted them to. Everything was working out as she had planned. Her hooves began to carry her over to the door at a gentle pace. Everything had to appear normal for her doing. One deviation of her pace and the guard would have noticed that she was planning something. The grin faded away from her face in an instant. She gave an almost depressed look out of her eyes. Naturally it was all an act, an act meant to distract the guard at her door. Once the door came in reach did she gave a knock or two on it. Her position was maintained before the thing. Rarity just stood in full view of the guards eyes. A guard who had turned his attention over to her and looked through a hatch. The expression upon his face was one that spoke of confusion. Rarity never had been the kind of mare who would just have knocked on her door if she wanted anything. “Can I help you?” the guard asked before he rose an eyebrow to her. His tone was monotone, there wasn’t any emotion within it that could have been found within it. The eyes were sterner than anything though. They glanced like spears towards Rarity’s very being. Who knew that she had to play it even cooler than expected. She had one shot at it all and she was not in the mood to blow it all up. Not while she was that close at least. The unicorn in the cell gave a gentle nod to the guard. “Yes, yes there is something that you can help me with,” Rarity spoke to him. She had then managed to get the full attention of the guard. One who gestured her to continue with her words. “With, the rain pouring down as it does, I would like to have my hour in the courtyard.” Perhaps her words were a little bit too blunt for the matter. She thought about that fact only after she had spoken them to the guard. The stallion rose his other eyebrow as well. He didn’t seemed to have fully understood what she have meant, or he didn’t get why she wanted what she wanted. “I, I’m sorry miss, but I don’t fully understand. Why would you go down and outside, in this downpour?” he questioned to her with a confused gaze in his eyes. The question was rightfully asked from his side and Rarity gave him a nod in response. Shortly afterwards would she have given her reply though. Her mind still had to think about the facts as she wanted to present them to him. There also laid the problem: she had only seconds. If she took her sweet time with a reply, the stallion would have noticed that something would have been fishy. That in return meant another bust of her plans. So the mare came up with a quick excuse that sounded reasonable to her. “It’s that specifically, actually,” Rarity managed to say. The saddened look in her eyes only appeared to have gotten greater after she glanced back through the window again. The stallion shook his head a little bit before he gave her another chance to speak her mind. “For months have I been here, locked in this prison cell with nothing here. The sun I have felt shining upon my coat every time I went out. But I have forgotten what it feels, to have a pouring rain going over you,” Rarity then spoke as her excuse for it, “I want to experience that, again.” The guard at her cell still didn’t understood of why she wanted to go outside and stand in the rain. But her words did seemed to rang some form of truth. It almost seemed as if she was actually desperate to feel the rain upon her coat. A thing thought to have been insane by him, but would he really take away such a little pleasure from her? The looks in her eyes were eventually the thing that got to him. Just that saddened look within her eyes was the thing that he couldn’t stand any longer. Those big and soppy eyes that were almost ready to burst into tears. He just gave a single nod towards her and gestured her to take a step or two back. “I would say that you have to go into the shower to feel it again, but it’s nothing compared to what’s coming out of the skies now,” the guard replied to her words. Rarity understood what he was going to do. She just couldn’t believe the sheer amount of luck that she had in the moment. Nothing in the world could have stopped her then. She would continue on with her plan and he was helping her like that. Though the act had to be kept on for a little while longer. For the door was opened up and she was allowed to move out of her cell. --- A little bit later in time did the unicorn stood at the edge of the courtyard. The grassy field before her was taking a massive pounding from the rain that came from the skies. She didn’t care too much about all of that though. She had more an eye for the thunder and lightning strikes that were crashing down to the earth. The guard had escorted her all the way to the field. But the rest of her wish did she had to do alone. The guard wasn’t going to take a single step outside of the hallway. But the unicorn, she would do it in a heartbeat. Step by step was taken by her while she walked onto the field. The drops of rain crashed against her entire body and crystalline dress before she searched for a suitable location. The place where the downpour was the most was the place where she would be standing. Not much later had she found the right spot in her eyes. She allowed herself to bath within the rain. All of it was still the act she decided to play of course. Yet there was also something that was unexpected. Rarity began to rise herself up from her hind legs for no apparent reason. Yet the action resulted in her horn being pointed up straight into the skies. The guard didn’t gave it too much attention and he turned the other way. There were about a hundred different places where he could have been in that moment. Instead he was guarding a maddened mare with a strange desire for the pouring rain. He was completely oblivious to the things as they would be packing out. --- All of the sudden was there a massive bolt of lightning that rushed itself down to the earth. It missed the roof of the asylum only just. After which it made a trip to the next thing it could impact. The highest thing in the entire courtyard in that moment was Rarity’s very horn. The bolt of lightning only saw it as the path of least resistance and made the decision to use it to its own advantage. Within the fraction of a second had the bolt of lightning travelled over to the horn of the unicorn. A mare who began to consume all of the energy that it carried. The unicorn started to wince in pain while the guard only looked in horror. Even if he wanted to do something, there was nothing. Fractions of seconds went by before the bolt had vanished again. Rarity had consumed the whole thing and the protective ring around her horn hadn’t just vanished, it had evaporated from it. The mare was free again as she fell down to all four of her legs. The horn coated itself within her signature sapphire blue aura. After that, she turned herself around in a slow manner towards him. “Hello my dear, missed me?” she spoke up in an ominous tone. Mere fractions of a second after she had spoken her words did the rumble of the thunder came roaring through the skies. That, as well as the resonations of the crystals on her back. Hell was about to be unleashed at the clop of a hoof.
Chapter 6Twilight Sparkle had never taken her eyes off of the window. Almost like a meteorologist had she continued to stare to the weather. The window was given a massive pounding of both the rain and the winds that blew against it. Concern was rightfully on its place though. She didn’t had the desire to be blown away by anything, anytime soon. But the feeling in her guts were never taken away. They had remained for reasons that she would only have discovered mere seconds later. For upon the courtyard they then appeared. The eyes of the mare went wide as she couldn’t believe the sights that she witnessed. “What have you planned now?!” she exclaimed quietly to herself. The eyes were then narrowed again to focus on the scenario as a whole. Something must have been going on, right? Rarity had never just plainly asked to be carried outside like that. Especially within the likes of a thunderstorm. There must have been reasons she didn’t knew behind the mare. Twilight thought about a thousand and one things as she tried her best to remain reasonable. Though why didn’t she just teleport herself over to the courtyard, remained a thing unknown. Of course did the thought cross through her mind and the desires to do such a thing had raised within her. But somehow she couldn’t perform the spell. It almost felt to her as if something was holding her back tightly. As if something had put a leash on her and held her tightly in place. Though the mare seemed to be aware of exactly what that very thing. A growl was released through her mouth. She quickly turned around and away from the window. Her eyes glared over to the desk. Upon that very desk did it still lay. It just laid there so calm and peaceful, as if nothing was wrong with it. But that very thing happened to have been the cause of it all. The book that she couldn’t read through was the thing that seemed to have tied her down to the place. Twilight wasn’t sure about it at all. Everything just didn’t seemed to be making sense whatsoever. Yet at the same time, it made all the sense in the world. The mind of the mare began to turn and twist in ways unseen by her for a long time. Yet then it happened. The strike of lightning was caught within her office and the mare froze. In just a split second there wasn’t anything she could have done. Yet the feeling in her guts had vanished. It just had vanished in the blink of an eye. It was the very thing that terrified the unicorn more than anything else in the moment. Something had happened, she didn’t knew what, but it was terrible. There was only one thing that she could have done to confirm the thoughts that she had. Her body turned slowly back around. Her eyes watched through the window again. There, in the courtyard did she captured it. The sight that she didn’t had the desire of seeing whatsoever. The terror that was revealed before her was a thing that made her place a hoof before her mouth. It almost seemed as if she had seen the devil himself, and he was laughing at her. Most likely the most terrible thing that ever could have happened, had happened. A gulp was given off by the mare. She began to shake her head in disbelief. “No, no, no, no, no, this can’t be happening!” the mare exclaimed to herself. Terror took her over as she was forced to stand in the spot and watch whatever would have been happening next to the mare in the pouring rain. --- The guard on the other end watched over Rarity with a set of wide eyes. That charged horn could have meant anything from a simple fizzle to the largest spell ever spoken. The last thing he needed in the moment was that she would have gone ballistic. So he did the only thing that was deemed reasonable in his eyes. Step by step he came closer to her. Yet she only turned her body over to him. The resonations of the crystals were clearly caught within his ears and he could have only hoped she wouldn’t do anything foolish. “Calm down, there’s no need for any of this and you know that,” the guard spoke to her in desperation. He tried to reason with a mare who had lost all sense of it. She always appeared to be negotiable, but never did she actually got into any kind of negotiation. The maddened unicorn just remained standing there for a moment or two. Then she began to grin. The guard stopped his pacing and he looked over her. Anything could have happened and he was scared of it. No place seemed to have been safe for him to hide. He was alone in the downpour, only at the mercy of the maddened mare. “No need, you say?” Rarity repeated after him before she rose an eyebrow to him. “Well excuse me, dear, but I dare to say that there is all the need for what I’m going to do next. Months I have been held here, unable to transform this dress of mine.” “And for good reason!” the guard replied to her. Though only after he had said the words did he realize just what exactly he had said. His hoof was brought over this mouth in order to silence it. But the deed was already done in Rarity’s eyes. The maddened unicorn charged up her horn even further and growled into his direction. The eyes turned cold as ice while not a grain of mercy could be found within them. The unicorn that she once was and the mare she played in her cell had vanished. Only a dark and cold monster stood before him. One that he couldn’t escape the clutches from, even if he wanted. Rarity charged up her horn only a little bit more. She released the charge into the world. The resonations of the crystals became only stronger until they began to shift. "I think somepony wants to meet my darlings," the mare spoke just before the dress started to change. More and more were the crystals shifting all over the place. They were taken off from their location and placed within their original formation, the formation that were the four crystalline arms. Four arms that could end his life just like that if she desired. Wheezes were made by the unicorn. The pain returned to her once more. But she welcomed it in fact. She welcomed the pain that went through her body like an old friend. She had the guard right where she wanted, the arms were almost done. The time to charge was finally there. The charge faded away from her horn and she just stood there. The four crystalline arms were ready to listen to the command of their master once more. The guard on the other end was terrified. Never in his life had he even seen such a thing. Of course did he had heard from it, but never had he actually expected that any of it was true. “Impossible,” he managed to say at the sight. “Oh trust me, I’ve seen the impossible. This, is far from it,” replied Rarity before one of her arms shot forward. “Tell the devil, I’m coming for him next,” she added before the claw began to squeeze his throat.
Chapter 7The guard was lifted up onto his hind legs. The forelegs began to struggle with the crystalline arm. Gulps and gasps for air were released by him. Yet during all of it did Rarity remained standing there. She even seemed to have loved the fact that he was struggling as much as he did. To her, it was something that almost felt as if she had missed it in her life. That fear in his eyes as his life was about to be ended by her. That dreaded fear actually satisfied her in more than one way. Words couldn’t have been spoken by either of them. Rarity was too delighted to say anything, while the guard was struggling too much. Nothing could have saved him though. The crystal claws were already too far around his neck. He didn’t have anything that could have helped him to take them off of him. The struggle was pointless while but he didn’t realize it yet. The desperate pair of eyes continued to look around and about while he prayed in silence. Prayers that were made to the mare in the faint hope that she would have been able to recall certain things. Though the chance of such a thing was fairly small. The more he glanced into her eyes, the more he began to realize what kind of trap she had fallen in. The madness had truly taken its toll and he would have been the first one to feel the full fury of the mare. Struggling was pointless and the inevitable needed to happen either way. The guard simply gave it up and allowed the mare to do whatever she wanted. Yet Rarity wasn’t fully without mercy either. Another arm worked its way over to the head of the stallion and got a hold of it. Rarity then had him standing up and in the right position. Her eyes simply narrowed themselves with a maddened glance clearly visible within them. One simple motion that was followed by the crack of bones. That was it. Just like that did she ended the life of the guard. The neck was twisted and she didn’t even break a sweat. He was the first ever being that was killed by Rarity. He was the first pony that saw the end of his life by the arms of Rarity. The unicorn had then truly fallen from her stand, shattered upon the ground in countless bits. No amount of medication could have helped her from that point onwards. She had sealed her own fate. It wasn’t one that seemed to be nice in any way or form. The mare just kept on looking over to his body in silence. Almost as if there was a slight feeling of remorse going through her. She would have locked it up deep inside of her. The mare growled like an animal just before her eyes were taken off of his body. Instead there was something else that captured her interest. Something she didn’t even had dared to be seeing. Something which she hated to her very guts. --- For in the opening to the hallway it stood. The third figure with the white overcoat and the amethyst leg had appeared. Nopony else then Twilight Sparkle had made the journey down there via a teleport. Her horn was still smoking while the aura had faded away. Next to the unicorn there also was the book. The mare had actually carried the book with her to the fight, for whatever reason. Not that it meant too much for Rarity in the moment. Though she did release a deep snarl towards her former friend. The other unicorn didn’t gave it too much attention. She took a step closer. Which resulted in Rarity taking a step or two back. The body of the guard was thrown aside and the arms retracted themselves. Rarity cracked her neck and sent the sounds over the courtyard. She narrowed her eyes towards the mare. Hinting towards disbelief for a moment. “What brings you here, Sparkle?” she asked in a cutting tone. The other unicorn just stood there while the rain poured down upon her. It wasn’t her place nor time to answer the question just yet. She only hid the book within her overcoat and then glanced to the maddened mare with a stern expression. Not a grain of friendliness was to be found within them. Perhaps that was the main reason of just why her friend didn’t had the desire anymore to meet her? It was another question for another time though. She had to deal with Rarity once and for all. Either she would have ended up like the guard, or locked away in the deepest part of the asylum forever more. Twilight only saw a grim future ahead of her and she was right to believe such a thing. Nothing that could have gotten out of their encounter, would have been nice. Either way, they would have been destroyed for their lives. The question only was who happened to have been stronger in both the arcane and mental games. Of course was the obvious answer Twilight herself. But Rarity always had a surprise or two behind her back. The unicorn of fashion never ceased to amaze anypony and that was taken into account by Twilight. It also meant to her that the other unicorn was constantly calculating what would be happening next. Or more specifically: with which attack the mare would have started. Anything could have happened between the two unicorns. Their strength’s laid in different parts of the arcane and could counter one another just like that. Which meant that a full on magic duel between the two would have been a massive disaster. No, the two of them had to do it in a different manner. One that would be played with only words, for the time being. Twilight still had to answer the question that was given by Rarity and she found it was time. A deep exhale was released through her nostrils while the eyes closed for just a little bit. “Isn’t it obvious of just why I happen to be here? You just murdered one of my employees after having absorbed a lightning bolt. Only that amount of power is capable of destroying the magical blocker. The real question is, what do you try to achieve with this?” the mulberry unicorn countered. She narrowed her eyes even further while she pried on Rarity. The question was one that captured Rarity by surprise though. She hadn’t truly expected the fact that Twilight would have even been able to speak such a thing to her. Yet on the other end did she had to expect the things as they were given to her. The irony unicorn released a deep growl from her soul as she placed a firm hoof on the wet grass. “I try to achieve the thing you took from me so long ago!” Rarity growled up to the other mare. Nothing would have been safe and Twilight knew that. The unicorn was dangerously close to losing everything within her mind so the game had to be played safe. “And that being what, your own sanity?” Twilight asked through. She took a step closer. The answer was something that caused the ivory mare to erupt out in a chuckle. She would have shook her head while the horn charged up once more. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, of course not my sanity. I have never been fully sane to begin with, remember?” Rarity answered to her. The charge was then released from her horn but the effects didn’t happen straight away. “I’m going to take back my freedom, once and for all.” “And just how do you plan on doing that? You can’t escape from here and you certainly don’t have any teleportation spells,” Twilight countered. She had to admit the fact that she was curious about it all. She had no clue how Rarity would have wanted to claim her freedom again. Though there were perhaps one or two methods known for her. She could only have waited for what was to come. If there was anything to come after the words. --- The ivory unicorn grinned like the devil she could be while the crystals began to resonate again. A change was going to happen soon enough, that much was certain. Though just what the change was remained a question for the nearby future. “Oh my dear, little Sparkle, you still don’t know anything about me, now do you?” taunted Rarity even further. The grin became even wider over Rarity’s face as the arms faded away. Instead there were million different shards of crystal flying all around her back. All of those little shards were connected to one another via arcane strings. If Twilight didn’t know any better, she could have sworn that it appeared like some sort of wing. Was that her plan? To just take off into the skies and fly away like that and live a free life? Rarity certainly must have lost her whole mind. For such a thing was impossible. “That’s impossible,” the mulberry unicorn said to herself. Never in her life had she even seen such a thing. But the disbelief would have turned to terror. The reality of the situation dawned back to her. It was time to put an end to everything once and for all. Whether it was liked or not.
Chapter 8“You can’t do this and you know that!” Twilight exclaimed before her own horn charged up. But Rarity gave no heed to the warning. Instead had the mare just jumped up into the air. There where she began to flap her crystalline wings. The mulberry unicorn had to take a step or two back. She had calculated and thought that Rarity would fall straight back to the ground. Yet much to her own surprise, that didn’t happen at all. The ivory unicorn managed to remain within the air. The mixture of arcane and crystal was enough to keep her within the air. It naturally surprised the other mare and she didn’t knew what to say as a response to it. Anything could have happened in the moment. There needed something to happen quickly if she wanted to prevent Rarity from causing more harm. With her charged up horn did she do something rather unexpected. Instead of just fully blasting Rarity, Twilight would have pointed her horn over to the skies. The blast was fired off faster than Rarity could ascend and under a massive explosion of magic did it happen. A brilliant raspberry color could be seen. One that stretched itself to the roof of the asylum in order to become a shield. A shield that would have stopped the rain from entering, and Rarity from getting out. Naturally it furiated the other unicorn to no end. It seemed as if in the last possible moment there still was just that one little thing had gone wrong. The ivory unicorn snarled towards the other mare but didn’t had the desire to drop back down to the ground. The freedom that the air gave to her made her understand why the pegasi loved flying so much in the first place. The sapphire blue rimmed eyes looked over to Twilight. Who was awaiting whatever would have happened next. Yet Twilight seemed to realize the little fact that everything would have been played according to Rarity’s rules. Which was a thing fine by her. The unicorn charged up her horn again and allowed a deep exhale to come. Upon her back did their creation start. Two wings were formed made from the arcane dusts themselves. They looked like the wings of an alicorn but were about the size of a pegasus. They would have been perfect for the fight that was about to break out. There was no other way the matter would have been resolved by Twilight. Not anymore at least, even after everything she tried. Her horn was allowed to be discharged once the wings were created. She gave them a gentle flap. One nod was given to her before she made the jump into the air and gained in on the altitude. Her eyes were never taken off of Rarity as she did had to find a way to make sure she wouldn’t really have to kill her. Twilight just needed to make her lose balance and gravity would have done the rest. The last thing she wanted for herself was to be labeled a murderer as well. The game had to be played smart, as well as vicious. --- Rarity looked over the arcane wings of Twilight and simply rose an eyebrow to them once they were leveled again. “So this is how you intend to stop moi? To come up here and talk some sense into me? How about I save you that trouble, dear?” the mare countered the other unicorn. Fractions of a second later had the horn charged up again. A sudden blast was given from it. One that was avoided pretty quickly and graceful by Twilight. She didn’t reply with a blast of her own though. Instead she would speak her possible last words to the unicorn. “Oh trust me, I gave up on talking to you ages ago. You’re a sly devil, Rarity. But I’m something much more terrifying. I’m your worst nightmare for now. Give me your worst,” she spoke against her ex-friend. The ivory mare could have only chuckled up to the words that were spoken. To her it seemed like they were said by a schoolfilly who tried who was trying to act tough in front of the older students. Yet it also meant that the battle between the mares was going to happen. There was no escape from it anymore and the two had to fight. Which they would have been doing gladly to one another. The hatred for the other had become so deep-rooted that it didn’t matter how much they would be maiming the other in order to get what they wanted. The fight between the mares was horrible and all of the other doctors and guards in the entire asylum were looking at it. They couldn’t have done anything to stop it all from happening. It literally seemed as if the two of them were in a massive fight to the death. One had to survive while the other would have found nothing else but death at the ground itself. Nopony knew who was going to win but naturally did they all hoped for the best. Yet in silence did they all prepare for the worst. Anything could have happened and they were all aware of that. Only the patients didn’t knew what was going on. Yet the news was spreading like a wildfire. Nopony dared to watch but at the same time they couldn’t take their eyes away from them either. --- The fight itself had been going on for minutes already. Twilight and Rarity were locked with one another in the greatest battle of their lives. Punches, kicks and magical blasts had all been given off by them. But they were still there. High up in the air with the last remaining bits of stamina. Deep inhales for breath were given off by the mares as the cutting glares told enough. No words would have been spoken by the two of them. They just wanted to see one fall down to the ground. Rarity hoped of course that it was Twilight, while Twilight hoped it was Rarity. Though it was the latter one whom realized that the stakes could have been a little bit too high. Twilight was a strong pony in the arcane and Rarity had a great strength in her legs. Which sadly enough managed to cancel one another out in fact. A fact that angered both of the unicorns more than it originally could have been doing as they were both on the verges of collapsing. Only one thing could have been done in the eyes of Rarity. Only one thing that could have helped as some kind of last ditch effort. One last thing in the hope to end the life of Twilight Sparkle. Rarity’s horn began to charge itself up while her wings stopped flapping around. The unicorn then just levitated herself within the air. She spread her forelegs to her sides. It was then or it would have been never. Twilight on the other end rose an eyebrow to what would happen next until she heard the resonations. The eyes of the mulberry mare went wide when she realized what would happen. Her own horn charged up quickly and then it happened. In one explosion of magic would Rarity have sent all the bits of crystal away from her. Millions of shards travelled through the air at such high speeds, that accidents were bound to happen. Though fractions of a second before the massive explosion did Twilight had her shield ready and deployed it. She still had to turn her head away and close her eyes though. Which naturally meant that she couldn’t have been witnessing anything what was happening around her. The little gems ticked like hail on a window against her shield before they were sent into another direction. Whether it were the walls, the other shield, or the ground, it didn’t matter to the unicorn at all. Though one unlucky shard managed to travel a rather unique path. --- When Twilight opened her eyes again, it was because of a silence. She did look straight up to Rarity and noticed something. Something was gently coming out of her chest. Something that wasn’t a natural color. Her eyes then went wide as she realized what it was. Blood was gushing out of the chest of the mare while one large shard of crystal was sticking out of it. Twilight could have filled in the blanks clearly, it must have ricocheted off of her shield and right back to its master. A horrible sight it did was to witness but one that didn’t lasted too long either. The magic that was around the horn of Rarity faded away. The mare had begun to fall down to the ground beneath them. Twilight’s eyes turned away from the scene, while her ears caught the cursed splashing sound. A sound that she had never wished to hear. Yet she had done it on the other end. She got what she had wished for. Relief began to flow through her body. Relief that was mixed itself with the sadness she already carried.
Chapter 9The rain was once more ticking itself against the window if Twilight’s office. The unicorn of the asylum just sat in her chair behind the desk. A gentle tear rolled down her cheek. She didn’t had any words for the events as they had happened only hours ago. She had to kill one of her best friends in the entire world just to make sure Equestria would be save that night. Of course did their friendship ended some time ago given the events. But that never took away the powerful memories that she carried about Rarity. Whether she liked it or not, the unicorn was glad for something that couldn’t be explained. While she was being sad about so many others. Things never had been truly making sense to her and the world was a place that would have never changed whatsoever. The tear was wiped away from her cheek while another revelation came to her. The very fact that nopony could have been blamed for the death of Rarity. After all, it was she who fired all of her crystals. She was wounded by one of them in the end. Yet the pain still ached deep within her heart about the loss. In front of her did the book still lay calm. Almost as if it had nothing better to do it just laid there. The unicorn’s amethyst leg coiled up around it and she left her desk for what it was. Only to make her way over to the fire place within the office. Her horn allowed itself to be coated within the coated within the raspberry color. The fires were ignited with ease. Not only did they provided a much needed warmth for her cold body, but she could also do something that should have been done long ago. The very book was held before her and the mare glanced only at the cover. “You shouldn’t have been found within the depths of those mines. You should have remained lost through the gears of time itself. They failed at doing so, I’ll be making certain not to make that mistake twice,” mumbled Twilight with a cutting glare in her eyes. Only once the fires were raging violent enough, she would have just thrown the book within it. The very book would have caught fire almost straight away and was used as an added source of fuel for the very flames. The eyes of Twilight never seemed to have been able to take themselves away from the flames. She wanted to stay with them until the book was consumed whole. Every last page and every single letter must have been turned to charcoal black before she would look away again. Nopony needed to go through the same ordeal as she had been. She wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen. Not again. --- Only once the fires had died down again and she knew that the book was consumed did she turn back around. A deep exhale was released through her nostrils as the eyes glanced through the window. Words went over her tongue that came from a language long dead. Words that formed a sentence that couldn’t have been understood by any other being. Only those that knew in which language she spoke would have understood it. Then the unicorn locked the door behind her and wandered through the asylum. Hundreds of thoughts rushed through her. Though there was only one thing on her mind that constantly came back. Ponyville, her tree-library to be exact. She had to get away from that place. She just had to get away from the mentally unstable and the insane. She needed to get her old life back, for one of her friends never would have been able to. “What goes around, comes around they often say,” the mare mumbled to herself. “But some things never change. Time comes and goes as the tides of the sea but memories shall remain. Heh, time, never thought some would have so little of it while others have aplenty.” A deep sigh then followed through her nostrils as she closed the door of the asylum. Not only did she close the front door, but she also closed off a dark and gruesome chapter of her life. Twilight was ready for a change to happen. A new future to step in with four amazing friends in that always lovely, little town of Ponyville. “Why do things never go easy?” was the last question she asked herself, before going silent again.
