Dawn put down the book and listened. Some sound from downstairs caught her attention seconds before. The old wooden house sounded strangely on his own sometimes and normally she wasn’t bothered by that, but this time some tingling feeling of unease made her freeze and listen carefully. Nothing, just the even noise of rain outside. The thunderstorm almost passed Ponyville and the rare sounds of it were muffled by the distance. Yet the light blinked a few times already and Dawn saw through the window that the next house to hers had the same problem. Perhaps the storm wasn’t completely over or the new wave was coming.
With a heartily smile Dawn looked on Marble Mark sleeping next to her. He got exhausted every day – the job on building site wasn’t in the easy list. He usually came home late those days and had enough force left to hug and kiss her shortly, wash himself and throw in some food. Then he collapsed on the bed and fell asleep to get up fresh and ready for work each morning.
Dawn asked him several times to find a less stressful and juice squeezing job, especially for an Earth pony. Mark laughed that at least it paid back. Truth to be told he paid most of their bills actually and still had enough to indulge in gifts. Still, Dawn hoped that someday he wouldn’t come home and fall flat.
But they had amazing weekends. They walked around Ponyville and in the nearby forest, sat in the park or cinema, had picnics and dinners in cafes, were holding hooves and laughed, laughed happily at each other’s jokes just as the first day. That despite they were dating for a year already and a few months passed since Mark moved with her to her house. That was almost a miracle after what she had gotten through. Why “almost” though? For her it was even more…
Dawn was a young mare almost a filly, just passed her 18 and lived with her parents who run a small farm in Applelooza. One unhappy morning she lost almost everything… and could easily lose her life. A changeling raid rushed by and touched upon several nearby farms their one included. With the first rays of sun rising in the desert, her parents were pulled out of their bed and taken away.
Dawn tried to flee but found herself cornered. Three changelings approached her… and there was no way to escape.
Then White Spirit appeared. With the powerful blast from his horn, he almost smashed the abductors against the walls. He took her outside and away on a safe distance so they could wait for the raid to roll over. There was no pursuit. Perhaps the raid was advantageous and the changelings ignored that little nuisance, perhaps the will of their queen – Chrysalis – drove them somewhere else making them hurry. Dawn couldn’t remember entirely, she just fainted when they left her ancestral nest.
White was an artist. A well known and successful one. He came to Applelooza to study nature painting and was in the field when noticed that something unruly was going on a nearby farm. Thus he saved her life.
He took Dawn with him to Manehattan and introduced as his marefriend. He took her to exhibitions and concerts and got her acquainted with the beau monde. She could remember how she was laughing at him making her portraits with a brush in his mouth stained with different paints. White scolded her jokingly for moving and being a silly-filly. That was a fairy tale. At first…
Dawn couldn’t say she changed, that must be White Spirit who did after a few months. Maybe he got disappointed in his muse, maybe artist’s luck became fickle. She could swear to eternity there was no her fault things started turning ugly.
He rarely painted during that period. He started coming home late at night… and Dawn could smell booze more and more often when he passed out on a couch. Moreover, he started beating her when she tried to talk about having a break from each other for a while even more. He cried and apologized endlessly when he was sober. But frankly speaking, those moments started wearing out to a rarity.
Fortunately, she didn’t share her humble inheritance with him. So she managed to flee. But Spirit followed. He seemed to find his guilty pleasure in torturing her.
Dawn was forced to move to several places as Spirit always found her eventually. Finally, she fell to the merciful hooves of princess Celestia and was granted a hideout in Ponyville – a small quiet town in the valley at the feet of Canterlot. Dawn bought a house there and hoped to have her peaceful life back finally, princess used her power to hide her tracks or even locked Spirit up for a while, though there was no direct evidence.
The first year Dawn spent in fear and shivering, ready to hide from every shadow in the street. Then eventually everything settled and serenity took her under its’ wings. Dawn allowed herself to believe the nightmare was over.
A year later she met Marble Mark at the cinema. Well, at the table in the café across the street from the cinema actually. There were no free tables and when an Earth pony stallion asked if she could bear his company for a while, she agreed. Despite all the past events and worries, she couldn’t simply be that impolite and ask him to leave. Besides, he looked really nice. Dawn told herself several times, that White Spirit was nicer than nice in the beginning. But apparently, her soul healed itself enough to take some risks…
He managed to get her talking, then smiling, then laughing. He came to the cinema alone just like Dawn. And she can’t remember exactly how, but they agreed to go together next weekend.
Sweet Celestia, she was so overcautious about him, maniacally careful tiptoeing each step of their relationship! Now she could laugh at herself, but back then it didn’t look so easy. Mark was thoughtful and gentle, he really cared for her… and thus things came where they came. Obviously, she told him about her past so he could understand why she was distant in the beginning. The last few months were marvellous and Dawn finally found her peaceful harbour.
But yesterday she came across electrifying shock, disbelief and despair all at once. Dawn couldn’t be completely sure, but she thought she saw Spirit in the street. Was he already out? How could he find her? Or did he? He didn’t look like he was specifically searching for something or somepony. She wasn’t entirely sure that was him there, as the first reaction was to whisk in some side street and curl like a snail in its’ shell.
When she got home she tried to think about the incident as calm as she could afford and made herself confident this was just her imagination. But she also promised herself to be careful till she found out the horizon is clear.
“I won’t allow him or anypony else take away my normal life!” she decided to be hard as steel about that.
The night light flickered once again. Then it went completely out. The pegasi must have turned off the atmospheric electro station worrying it could overload because of again strengthened storm.
Dawn put away the book. The dark house started sucking her confidence pumping cold fear in instead. It seemed that she heard some crackling from downstairs again.
Dawn touched Marble by his shoulder, then shook a little.
“M-m-m…” muttered Mark hoarsely, slowly waking up. “W-what’s up, Dawn? It’s late, what time…”
“Shhh,” Dawn put her hoof to his mouth. “In the name of Equestria be quiet! It’s half past midnight. The lights are out because of the thunderstorm.”
“But the main thing is,” she whispered shaking. “I think I heard that someone got in our house…”
“I’m afraid it could be him,” she added in a few seconds. “It seems I’ve spotted him in the street yesterday… But I decided that was my imagination…”
“Oh, Dawn! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” sighed Mark finally shaking away the remnants of sleep.
He got up and took her by the hoof. Held for a while warming and calming her.
“Let’s go,” he whispered. “There is no point in sitting in the room with one entrance which is also an exit. Let’s kick him out of your… our house… or anypony else who dared to break in.”
He smirked, Dawn saw his white teeth blinking. But she didn’t share his enthusiasm entirely.
“Please, darling!” she whispered pleadingly. “You must be careful. I told you White Spirit is as big and strong as you… besides he is a unicorn.”
“We’ll see,” Marble huffed and hugged her lifting from the bed.
“I’m not saying you can’t take him out,” she allowed herself to let out a weak smile. “We just need to be careful. If he is drunk again, he is out of his mind…”
She kissed him shortly. Then they quietly sneaked from the bedroom holding hooves. The hardest task was to get down the stairs not making them creak.
Everything was quiet on the ground floor, but it was too early to relax. Dawn peeked in the kitchen on the left. Rain streams on windows made weird shadows running down the walls and furniture with each lightning flash, but apparently, there was nopony there as well.
“Wait here,” Dawn breathed into Marble’s ear. “I’ll be right back.”
The kitchen was her turf and Dawn was sure she could take something to defend themselves while being unheard. Slowly she crossed the room and pulled the locker. Another flash lit the knife which Dawn took out trying to disturb other metal stuff not.
She heard the steps in the hall behind her back, some heavy fling. A bright flash reached the edge of her eye.
“NO! NO-NO-NO-NO!!!” shouted her mind when she turned on the spot and rushed towards the source of the sounds.
She flipped the switch on the hall’s wall almost breaking it with the strike of her hoof in a faint hope that electricity supply was fixed. No result. She saw a pair of shadows struggling on the carpet. One was knocked down to the floor, another towered above holding him as it seemed on the neck. The green glow was spreading slightly from the horn of the standing figure.
“Dawn, wait…” she heard the husky voice.
Everything went dark in her head. Dawn put all her fears, all her hate, all her sorrows… all her regret about collapsing happiness into one spear strike. The knife hit the target and after a moment the standing figure slowly lowered to the floor. The glow dimmed.
With a nasty buzzing light turned on. Marble managed to knock Spirit unconscious and pinned him to the floor, but the knife found its’ last abode in Mark’s chest. The light was leaving his eyes and life was leaving his body with a black pool of blood forming underneath.
With a weak squeak, Dawn sank to the floor, but before her eyes rolled up, she saw in her darkening gaze as the green glow spread from the black horn to the whole Marble Mark’s body… revealing smooth chitinous “skin”, folded transparent wings and legs with holes.
Author's Note
The usage of White Spirit name and its' parts (which and where) was obviously intentional 
