The Return of Doctor Whooves

In Rarity's Mind...

"No... No... Please no!"

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Rarity was currently in the fits of a terrible nightmare. It wasn't one she'd just had out of the blue either. For the last couple of years, ever since her best friends in the world came together and defeated Nightmare Moon, she'd been having this reoccurring dream. At first, it was just about once a month, but then it advanced to twice a month, then little by little, it kept on coming back, until finally it happened weekly. It had gotten so bad in fact, Rarity had even gone to desperate measures, seeing Zecora, a rather mysterious Zebra from Zebrawa who lived deep in the wild and untangled regions of Everfree Forest, for a Dreamless Sleep Potion. At first it worked, and Rarity's hopes for once-more peaceful nights had been reached and achieved. But then, out of the blue, they were dashed and to Rarity's fright and horror, the dreams came back, despite all of Zecora's efforts being put into the potion. Rarity would have liked to believe Zecora just made a once in a lifetime mistake (It could happen... Right?) and messed up somehow in creating her potion, but in the back fringes of her mind, although however hard she tried to deny it, Rarity honestly believed that wasn't the case. Something more was at work here, and her mind was warning her about it. Now another thing Rarity wondered was why Princess Luna had yet to come and dispel the nightmare like she always had in the past, but it seemed, this time at least, something was blocking her. That scared Rarity far more than the nightmare itself. Now, you may be asking what the nightmare exactly was? Well, every time it was the same. Rarity was at her shop, the Carousel Boutique, designing the newest and trendiest fashions for the movers and shakers in Canterlot, Manehatten or Vanhoover. (The dream varied on the details, as dreams often tend to do.) But one thing, ONE THING always remained the same.

Rarity, hard at work at her sewing machine smiled at her latest creation, perhaps her best yet! (Rarity didn't want to brag or overstate, but she secretly thought this was one creation that would never, ever be topped!) a beautiful sky blue dress overlaid with diamonds and ribbons, and to match, a custom hat fit for a southern belle, which was perfect, as Rarity's latest custom order came all the way from Neigh Orleans. It was a big job for her, with a huge payout. If this client got what he wanted, and this client so happened to be related to the Rich Family, Rarity would get money beyond her wildest dreams. That money would be perfect for the plot of land she'd just scored in Canterlot to finally expand her business beyond the simple town of Ponyville and start her on the path to become a world renowned fashion designer. Rarity, wiping some sweat off her brow, smiled and took a glance out the window to the streets of Ponyville.

"Today, Ponyville... Tomorrow, the world!" She proclaimed. "With Celestia as my witness, this I swear!"

But then she saw it. IT. Or to be more accurately precise, a HER. There she stood, a mare about her age, even looking almost exactly like her except for the green mane and deep purple coat smoozing it up with her friends. Then, as if to add to Rarity's anger, the unknown mare began giving out diamonds and jewelry, far more beautiful than anything Rarity knew she could ever procure. Amethysts, Sapphires, Rubies, Diamonds, the lot. That's what they were all made off. And then, just to top it all of, and seemingly as if to spite Rarity, the unknown mare gave out royal horseshoes, brassards and tiaras, all made in gold and covered with jewels very similar to the ones the Royal Sisters wore and gave one set of each to her friends.

"You like them... Darlings?" The unknown mare inquired with an eerily familiar voice that Rarity just couldn't place, but she knew she'd heard it somewhere before...

"Yeah, this is awesome! I can feel myself getting 20%, no 50% more cooler just by looking at them!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Ooh, I should have a party just because I got some of these! Princess Pinkie Pie, Princess of Parties!" Pinkie hollered.

"I-I must admit, these are actually pretty good." Fluttershy stammered out shyly.

"Whoo Doggies, Ah can look mah best while bucking apples off their trees in these here fancy-smancy shoes!" Applejack proclaimed in glee.

"Tartarus, who needs Rarity when we got somepony like you, Forsythia?" Twilight asked, and the finally given a name mare chuckled darkly. That last one, that last phrase from Twilight hurt most of all, hitting Rarity like a punch to the gut and as if she had been really punched to that specific area, she tumbled to the floor and hit her head on the floors of the Carousel Boutique, drawing blood from the top of her head and covering her perfectly kept mane in it. Despite all of this, Rarity didn't care one jot. This was the Worst Possible Thing! She had been abandoned, left for dead by her friends all because of this... this newcomer who'd seemingly come up out of nowhere! Rarity couldn't help herself, she broke down completely and began to cry, her so-called friends hurtful words echoing in her mind...

Rarity awoke with a start, panting and sweating. What a dream! Despite knowing her friends would never let her down and leave her for real, Rarity still felt very frightened from the dream she had just experienced. What if... Just what if she was wrong about her friends, and if one day, that mare really did come to town and do all the things the dream promised? What then? What would she do next? Fashion was her life, and to have somepony else steal it all away from her would be absolutely dreadful indeed. Then, she heard a soft rapping on the front door, and sighing to herself, quickly using her brush to style her mane just right and toss off her manecurlers, she ran downstairs to meet her guests.

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every-" Rarity said in her usual greeting, before noticing who it was. In front of her stood Twilight, Rainbow and of course the Doctor. Rarity gaped at the Doctor's attire, he was dressed in an absolutely dreadful (At least in her mind) brown tweed suit with a bow-tie to match, making him look rather like an old Trottingham style history professor. To top it all off, he had a fez! A fez, of all things!

"Celestia above, does he have no taste in fashion whatsoever?" Rarity mused, but kept her thoughts to herself. After all, a lady never says such rude things about one's friends. Then Rarity noted Twilight and Rainbow's attire, they were dressed like they were going off onto an adventure out into the bush, with Rainbow wearing a pith helmet to top off her ensemble, making her look rather like Daring Do.

"Rarity, you look terrible." Twilight said bluntly, noting Rarity's tired eyebrows and the blood dripping from her mane. Little did Rarity know it, but something HAD hit her in the gut and knocked her to the floor doing that dream of hers. Something very powerful indeed.

"Oh sorry dearies, just a bad dream." Rarity replied with a yawn. Rainbow raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"And the blood?" She asked, and Rarity's eyes widened in shock as she felt the sticky substance dripping from her mane. "How the... What the...?" Were the only thoughts running through her head at that moment.

"Oh... I... I just bumped my head on my bedrest this morning, that's all dearies. Nothing to worry about whatsoever." Rarity lied. None of the three ponies standing in front of her looked as if they believed her for a moment.

"But enough about me." Rarity continued, wanting to change the subject of her conversation. "Where are you three off to this fine morning?"

"Oh, us?" Twilight laughed. "We're off to Zebrawa, a little vacation into the bush, to see it's natural beauty. You see, I got curious about Zecora's homeland a few days ago, and so I asked the Doctor about Zebras and their home country, and he thought after all we'd been through together lately, we needed some time off and so he offered us up a little trip. Imagine, the beauty, the wonder!"

As Twilight rambled on about how excited she was and the things they'd surely see, a small voice in the back of Rarity's mind whispered "See, look, they're already leaving you behind." but Rarity pushed it away to the back recesses of her mind, to it's deepest and darkest corners. No, she would not let her dream affect her! Her friends would never do such a thing. It was only natural for Twilight to want to see and learn about new things, and as for Rainbow, Tartarus, she probably just wanted to experience something close to a Daring Do type adventure. Rarity didn't have the heart to tell her such a thing would probably never happen, so she left Rainbow to her fantasies. Rarity though, had to admit, even if it was only to herself she was a tad jealous that she wouldn't get to see Zebrawa, she'd heard the fashions there were absolutely exquisite and if she ever saw them, she might just get a whole new line out of it! She could call it "A Walk on the Wild Side"!

"...The untamed wilderness, the wildlife, the culture!" Twilight continued to ramble before she was cut off by Rainbow placing a hoof over her mouth.

"Okay Twi, I think she gets it." Rainbow deadpanned. As Rarity waved them goodbye from her shop door, Twilight mused to herself (After mentally squeeing over the fact that Rainbow had given her a nickname, before then brushing it off as just something done out of friendliness. After all, Rainbow called Applejack "AJ" didn't she?) "Hmm, something's off with Rarity... I just can't quite put my hoof on what it is though. Gah, Twilight, you're probably just being overly paranoid. It's not like Rarity is going to be possessed by some evil spirit or anything while I'm gone. Just sit back and relax and enjoy the adventure." and walked, taking a quick look behind her to see if Rarity was truly alright. She sighed in relief when she saw Rarity shut the door and through the windows, saw her go back to work on sewing something as always, never noticing the dark blue mist floating ominously above the Boutique...

"Come on Twi, you're being such a slowpoke! We're going to leave ya behind if you don't pick up the pace!" Rainbow called from ahead of her and Twilight yelled "Coming!" before mentally musing "Zebrawa, here we come!"

R.I.F.T Headquarters...

Meanwhile at R.I.F.T Headquarters, Target was dealing with problems of her own. To be honest, she wasn't really sure over half of the new recruits were even ready for the true strains of a mission that may or may not come up in the near future. All they seemed to care about was how awesome it was to be part of a top secret organization and goofing off. Case in point, behind her, Scrabbling was currently dressed in a Royal Ranger's outfit (A dark green hooded garb built for defending the wildernesses on the edge of Equestria) and drawing an arrow from his quiver before letting out a cry of "You have failed this city!" in what he thought was a deep and menacing tone before drawing his bow back and aiming for a target set up on a table. Unfortunately, he missed by about a mile and hit Target's husband in the flank.

"Ow, you bastard! You hit me in the bloody arse, moron!" Sudoku shouted in fury as Galaxy and Lightning Dust shared snickers and Sunburst just looked away in embarrassment. Target groaned and turned back to the magical orb on her desk, in which the face of the Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor could be seen.

"Idiots, the lot of them. I mean, you saw that, right?" Target groaned as she rubbed her temples in resignation. "Half of them aren't even ready, and Galaxy... Don't you even get me started on him. He's completely psychotic! I mean, first thing he asks when we got here was that did we grab his sleeping coffin from his barracks! I mean, a coffin for crying out loud! How did he even get his way to the top of the Night Guard? Was "Luna forgive me..." Luna drunk on hard cider when he got promoted?"

Shining held up a hoof to stop her rant.

"No, he got promoted because he's good. Very, very, good. I've seen him in action. Believe you me, he's not somepony you would want to get in the way of." Shining stated, before giving a brief shudder at some of the memories of Galaxy fighting in a brief resurgence of power in the Griffin Kingdom about a month ago. The end result was very... bloody to say the least, and that wasn't even considering what he did to the opposition's leader, mounting him on a stake as a warning to Equestria's enemies and to make sure the current leader of the Griffin Kingdom didn't get any ideas. "And as for Scrabbling, as yes I did see that in the background, it's not the worst thing somepony could do with an arrow. Remember when Cadance got the bright idea to bring love to all the ponies in Canterlot some years back with arrows?"

"...I remember alright." Target replied, flushing red when she and her husband had been caught up in what was known as the "Canterlot Hearts and Hooves Day Grand Orgy Celebration". Thankfully, guards had been sent out to stop the mess. But, perhaps needless to say, no interviews or photos were given to the newspapers. A grand disappointment really.

"Me and Celestia personally chose these ponies because they're the best of the best at what they do. Because if the world goes sour and the Doctor isn't here to stop it, you can be damn well sure they'll avenge it." Shining said definitively, and that was all he said on the matter before cutting the transmission feed.

"Oh, how helpful..." Target muttered to herself in irritation and began to think hard about going down to a local bar for a nice cold one.

That Night...

At the Carousel Boutique, Rarity once again found herself tossing and turning in a fitful sleep. No, just no. Please darlings, no!" She whispered in her sleep as once again, the scene played itself out in her mind. It was the exact same, in every way. Rarity, hard at work at her sewing machine smiled at her latest creation, perhaps her best yet! (Rarity didn't want to brag or overstate, but she secretly thought this was one creation that would never, ever be topped!) a beautiful sky blue dress overlaid with diamonds and ribbons, and to match, a custom hat fit for a southern belle, which was perfect, as Rarity's latest custom order came all the way from Neigh Orleans. It was a big job for her, with a huge payout. If this client got what he wanted, and this client so happened to be related to the Rich Family, Rarity would get money beyond her wildest dreams. That money would be perfect for the plot of land she'd just scored in Canterlot to finally expand her business beyond the simple town of Ponyville and start her on the path to become a world renowned fashion designer. Rarity, wiping some sweat off her brow, smiled and took a glance out the window to the streets of Ponyville.

"Today, Ponyville... Tomorrow, the world!" She proclaimed. "With Celestia as my witness, this I swear!"

But then she saw it. IT. Or to be more accurately precise, a HER. There she stood, a mare about her age, even looking almost exactly like her except for the green mane and deep purple coat smoozing it up with her friends. Then, as if to add to Rarity's anger, the unknown mare began giving out diamonds and jewelry, far more beautiful than anything Rarity knew she could ever procure. Amethysts, Sapphires, Rubies, Diamonds, the lot. That's what they were all made off. And then, just to top it all of, and seemingly as if to spite Rarity, the unknown mare gave out royal horseshoes, brassards and tiaras, all made in gold and covered with jewels very similar to the ones the Royal Sisters wore and gave one set of each to her friends.

"You like them... Darlings?" The unknown mare inquired with an eerily familiar voice that Rarity still couldn't place, but she knew she'd heard it somewhere before. In a corner of her mind, the voice of Princess Luna was crying out to her. "You know this voice Rarity, you've heard it before! Fight it off! You can do it, just like I-" before the voice was swiftly cut off by some unknown force.

"Yeah, this is awesome! I can feel myself getting 20%, no 50% more cooler just by looking at them!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Ooh, I should have a party just because I got some of these! Princess Pinkie Pie, Princess of Parties!" Pinkie hollered.

"I-I must admit, these are actually pretty good." Fluttershy stammered out shyly.

"Whoo Doggies, Ah can look mah best while bucking apples off their trees in these here fancy-smancy shoes!" Applejack proclaimed in glee.

"Tartarus, who needs Rarity when we got somepony like you, Forsythia?" Twilight asked.

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Rarity let out a heartbreaking sob as then she found herself in a boarded up Carousel Boutique, with a sign on the front of it reading "Closed Forever" and knocked over dress dummies with Rarity in the middle of it all, sobbing into her hooves. Then an almost seductive voice reached whispered in her ear as a blue mist floated around the darkened room.

"You know, you can stop this from happening."

"H-How...?" Rarity tearfully asked as the mist floated around her.

"Take my power Rarity, you can be the best pony you can be..." The voice whispered, and then Rarity at last recognized it.

"Nightmare Moon! B-But I thought you were destroyed! I saw it!" Rarity stuttered out in fear and denial.

"Oh, my dear, dear, Rarity, true power can never be destroyed completely. I always survive. Now take my power."

"NO! I won't!" Rarity shouted even as the darkness closed in around her and Nightmare Moon's voice became more menacing in tone.

"Oh, my dear, you don't have a choice in the matter..." She growled, and the mist entered Rarity and she soon found herself being transformed. Her fur became black as night, her horn sharpened to a dangerously tipped point, wings sprouted out from her back and her mane and tail became misty and flowed in an invisible wind with stars and white streaks in it as her Cutie Mark became a black diamond.

With a powerful explosion that blew the roof of the Boutique, Rarity emerged, but she was no longer the kind Element of Generosity anymore. She was now the Nightmare Spirit and this time, the night would last forever!

"Oh my stars, do I look gorgeous or do I look gorgeous? This is the Best Possible Thing to ever happen to me! But never mind my looks. The night shall last forever, and it shall be absolutely fabulous! And this time... And this time nopony shall stop me! NOPONY!" Nightmarity cackled madly and shot off like a bullet, heading for her first stop... Canterlot City.