"Twilight, it's good to see you again. I received your letter about wanting to meet with Luna." Princess Celestia said as she met her former student at the entrance to the castle itself.

It was at that moment two specific emotions ran through Twilight's body. The first being her usual overactive anxiety due to having her mentor appearing rather unannounced. (It would almost always signal her doing something wrong during her time as a student which conditioned this specific reaction throughout the years.) The second was confusion caused by the fact that Celestia was the one that received the letter she sent ahead of time to Luna.

"P-Princess! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to come without consulting you first and as much as I would love to talk about this rather unbecoming situation. I really have something of utmost importance to discuss with Luna. Though I take it that, with you being the one here instead of her, she's busy?"

The Solar Princess' smile seemed to vanish slightly at the question before a stoic mask washed over her features once more. "I'm afraid that Luna is the very reason I'm here talking to you. I was in the process of readying a letter when yours arrived addressed to my sister."

"What's going on? Is there something wrong with Luna?"

There was a sudden flash which caused Twilight to flinch. As her eyes adjusted once more she found her surroundings changed to that of Luna's chamber with the very pony asleep within the sheets of her bed. She looked pale and her hair had lost much of its celestial wonder. It reminded Twilight of the first time she saw Luna after banishing the darkness residing in her heart.

"Princess Luna... is she alright?"

"I do not know." Celestia answered walking to her sister's side laying a hoof on hers. "She has been in a deep slumber for the past few days and cannot be woken by any spells I know. I fear that something is happening in the world of dreams. Her magic grows weaker by the minute and yet, she does not seem to be in any danger."

"What do you mean? This is obviously not her own doing, as you stated before, something has to be draining her magic."

"No, I don't think that's very accurate. She has not had any signs of aggression within the dream world. If she did then her body would react with slight fits. As for her magic... it's almost as if..." Celestia trailed off trying her best not to break down in front of Twilight.

"Princess? Are you okay?" The paragon of friendship asked out of concern for the pony, not the princess, that had been part of her life for so long.

"I apologize, Twilight. It's just... it seems as if she's letting her magic wither away willingly."

"Rarity, I'm done organizing the materials in the supply closet. I'm about to start dinner. Any requests?”

“Spike, sweetie, thank you so much. I don't know what I would do without you. As for dinner, anything you make will be guaranteed to be delicious. However, right now, I have something to talk to you about; could you come here?” Rarity motioned towards the couch located in her workshop.

Spike took a moment as it was rare for the mare to stop her work for practically anything. Confused, he moved towards the seat as Rarity took hers next to him gracefully. A minute passed as the two sat in silence with a rather awkward atmosphere taking over.

“Uh, Rarity?”

“Spike, I wanted to take the time to bring up something I’ve been avoiding for a long time.”

“What is it?”

“Spike, I know how you feel about me. I’ve known for quite some time.”

“I- I…” he stuttered as his scales started to become dull as he paled slightly. He was in a state of panic as he tried to look around for some form of an exit only to have a pair of hooves direct his sight back towards the cause of his anxiety.

“Spike, it’s okay.” she said pulling him a bit closer. “I didn’t want to say anything because I thought it was cute at first. However, it's been some moons since you and Twilight have come to Ponyville. Do you really still feel the same way about me?”

“I… I do.” He answered in a hushed tone.

“Oh, Spike. I-” Rarity began before being cut off by the young drake.

“It’s just that, I don’t think it’s healthy anymore.”

“Wha- What do you mean?” She watched as he moved away from her grasp and the couch. “Spike?”

“I know that you've known how I felt for quite some time Rarity. I may be young but that doesn't make me stupid.”

“I've never thought that about you at all darling.”

“Maybe not, but that didn't stop you from taking advantage of me did it?”

“I have never-”

“Stop! Don’t you dare say that you've never done it! You had me be a pincushion for Celestia’s sake!”

Silence grew between the two as Rarity could only watch trying to think of something to say. Something that would defuse the situation currently taking hold of the relationship between the two. The relationship that she had thought was perfectly normal between friends.

“I don’t think I should come here anymore. It’s not healthy… for either of us.”

“Spike, please, don’t do this. I’m sorry about everything. Please, just give me one more chance.” She screamed hopelessly as he walked through the entrance of the boutique.

“Spike! Please! Spike!” Her magic sprung to life immediately and caught the dragon mid-step.

“Rarity, what are you doing?” Spike asked trying to break free causing the unicorn to strain her magic.

“Please, Spike. I just want to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” His words were strained as he struggled in the air to break from the field. “I don’t want to be used anymore. I don’t want to be taken advantage due to my feelings towards someone.”

“I didn't mean to do any of that Spike! I just…”

“You just what?” He yelled before filling the magic field with his fire causing him to transport right before her eyes. “You thought that it was fine to ask for all of that even when we barely knew each other? Did you think nothing of the gifts or attempts I made towards getting you to notice me? Can you honestly say that I did it all out of the goodness of my heart and not because of the feelings you took advantage of?”

Rarity was slightly taken aback as each step towards her caused his body to grow larger and menacing. Her body was trembling as she stared into his eyes steeled by indignation.

“You’re supposed to be the element of generosity but, can you really say that everything you asked of me was fair towards my feelings and not just for your benefit?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The mare cried trying to compose herself as the makeup started to run around her eyes. “I never meant for it to go that far. I didn’t mean to take advantage of you or anyone else for that matter. Please, forgive me.”

“No.”

“Wha-”

“I said no. I can’t forgive you Rarity. I may have done so some point in the past but I’ve spent years being used regardless of my thoughts towards anything.” He raised a claw slowly as Rarity found herself cornered against the wall.

“Spike! Please! I”m sorry!”

“I’m not.”

A scream echoed through the air and was cut short just as quickly as it came leaving only a pool of red and the sound of bones and flesh being crushed. Through the gnashing of teeth one could barely make out words gurgling out.

“I’m… sorry…”

“How is she doc?”

“It’s hard to say.” The unicorn doctor kept looking over some graphs and papers from the scans that they did on the patient earlier. His face confused at the results he was reading. “For all intents and purposes, she's fit as a fiddle. There’s nothing wrong with her, physically at least.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, If you look at this graph.” He levitated said object for the both of them to see and took hold of a metal pointer within another field of magic. “ This here shows the brain activity of a normal pony.” He pointed towards a line that had dipped and spiked at random intervals. “It shows how they dream and react to the stimuli of such activities. If it was a nightmare then it would spike rapidly until the patient is woken abruptly.”

“So you’re saying she’s having a nightmare?”

It was a moment before the doctor changed the graph to one that seemed completely blank. “This is the brain activity of your friend.”

“I don’t get it. There’s nothing there.”

“Exactly. It was only until an hour ago that her activity signaled a nightmare but now our instruments and magic show her having no activity whatsoever. I fear… that your friend has become brain dead.”

“How?” The questioned echoed throughout the hospital wing making those nearby halt temporarily. “She only collapsed from what I heard. How in tarnation is this even possible?”

“Applejack, please. We are in a hospital. If you could be so kind as to lower your voice.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It's fine. As for how this happened, we’re not even close to answering that question. The nurse on duty said she was in a daze when she arrived along with Spike.”

“Did you say Spike?” A.J’s ears perked up at the mention of the scaly individual. “What’s he got to do with all this?”

“Nothing other than being a victim of assault. He was brought in with a gash on his back and a dislocated arm. We were able to stop the bleeding so his life is no danger, however, his arm might very well never recover. Whatever blast he took had enough force to burn most of the muscle and fat away leaving him practically paralyzed. I’m afraid only time will tell if he’ll ever regain full motion of it.”

“Can I see him?” Her expression was unreadable but the doctor had seen such looks before and said nothing of it.

They walked down the hallway down towards an isolated wing of the hospital for rather serious patients. They stopped at a door that matched the rest of the ones the hall was littered with and opened it to reveal a sleeping baby dragon. The farmer walked in slowly to his side as the doctor closed the door for privacy that was always appreciated during such times.

The room was silent aside from the beeping of the machines and the breathing of it’s resident. A.J took a moment as the sight as it reminded her of how Fluttershy described finding him. Injured and recovering from an event that was life threatening or close enough to it looking as if death itself had it’s way with him.

“Spike…” a gentle hoof was placed on his cast and the scene would have been heartwarming to any pony that walked in at the moment. That is, if they weren’t paying closer attention to her hoof and noticed that her gentle touch was anything but. The pressure she was applying kept increasing as she came closer which started to cause a reaction from her victim. “What did you do to Fluttershy?”

The question itself more than the pain seemed to snap him wide awake. A red tint to his eyes caused the farmer to flinch but the concern for her friends redoubled her courage as she watched the baby dragon sit up silently staring at her all the while.

Author's Note

Oh hey! So, where the heck have I been? School mainly but I still write and I still need an editor or at least someone to bounce ideas off of as I continue my efforts to better my writing. I apologize for the long wait and for the short chapter but I don't want to abandon this nor you as the readers. I'm starting on the next chapter and plan to make it lengthy and have it out within 3 weeks so as not to make everyone wait for so long.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story. Please leave a comment or critique below as it only helps me in the long run. I apologize once again for the delay on the chapter and the length of it and hope you have a wonderful day!