Come Dawn or Darkness

Oh this isn't going to end well....

It was almost noon now, a cool autumn breeze was blowing through the town, and the task at hand was easily the last thing that Spike wanted to think about. As he left the boutique he began to wonder just why it was that he had to be the one to do it. Because she trusts you more than any of us, darling. Rarity had seemed so certain when she had said it, but Spike was far from convinced about the fact when he tried to look back on their conversation.

He had gone to visit Rarity in the hopes of finding out what had happened the night before, when she ran off in the middle of the feast and hadn't returned to the group thereafter. He had worried about it all night, but when Torrent had returned just as they were getting ready to leave the festival Twilight had insisted that they head back to the library and get some sleep. She had assured them all that Rarity probably just went home to do the same, there was no doubt that she had had plenty of work to tire her out over the last few days so she likely just wanted to turn in early that night.

She had gone home alright, and had remained locked in there right up until Spike had come by to check on her. She must have been watching through the window the whole time, as when he went to knock on the door it immediately swung open before his claw could even connect with the wood. She had grabbed him, pulled him inside, and relocked the front door in one fluid motion. It was not what he had been expecting, but he was honestly just happy to have found her at home and unharmed. Not that she didn't seem thoroughly shaken by what had transpired the night before, however.

Their talk had lasted for a good hour and a half, with both of them exchanging theories about what she had actually seen in the forest. Finally, the topic changed what they were going to do about the monster masquerading as Twilight's new houseguest.

"You have to speak with her, she needs to know what we saw."

"What you saw."

"You know what I mean!" She had been frantic to share the information with someone, anyone. From what Spike could see, she would have told just about anyone who had been unlucky enough to have knocked on her door that day. "Spike, I cannot stress this enough! She. Needs. To. Know..."

Under any other situation he would have given anything to have Rarity looking into his eyes as deeply as she had when she said that. Unfortunately, given the circumstances it was more frightening than anything else. "I-uh... I understand. Its just... well... Why does it have to be me? I mean, your the one who saw all of this; couldn't you just tell her exactly what you saw? I might forget part of it or something, leave out something important by mistake."

"Then we'll go over again, until you are certain that you won't forget anything important!" And so they had. Finally, after he had run out of excuses, he simply came right out and told Rarity what was really bothering him.

As she was about to escort him back to the door, he decided to tell her. "I... I don't think this is going to work. Theres no way she's going to believe me, I don't have any credibility on this one!"

She looked at him, utterly confused. "No credibility? What are you talking about?"

"I... uh... well... I may have already, kind of, maybe... accused Torrent of being a monster right to Twilight's face a few times over the last couple weeks." In truth, he had tried to convince her on seven separate occasions, the first being the very moment the pair had stepped back out of the portal where Twilight had first been pulled into the Void. For several moments after stepping into Equestria for the first time, it had not been hooded man that they had all come to recognize as Torrent, but a tall black and red monster seething with dark energy, holding poor Twilight in his massive claws. Two pairs of horns had been jutting from his skull, with two pointed upward like those of a bull and the other two coming down and out around his face like two great tusks. His skin was the same shade as his cloak, and the two seemed to run together to become a single body, with the frayed sections of the shroud writhing about like a group of snakes following him as he walked out of the portal.

Claws, horns, serpent-like cloak, and jet-black skin all quickly gave way to the form of the man they had all seen around Twilight over the last two weeks. Yet first impression tend to last, and the images of that demonic figure carrying his closest friend in its nightmarish, burning claws still haunted Spike's dreams each night. "I just... I don't think she's even going to listen to anything that I have to say on the matter anymore. So... why do I have to be the one to do this again?"

Rarity moved closer, doing her best to comfort him with her proximity. "Because. She trusts you more than any of us, darling."

And that had been the end of it. What could he have said? There was no dissuading her, and the more he though about it, the more he realized she was right. If anyone was going to convince Twilight of the danger she was in, it had to be him. Still, that knowledge alone wasn't enough to ease the stress he was feeling as he entered the library.

He closed the door behind him as quietly as possible, but it wasn't enough to keep Twilight from noticing. "Is that you, Spike? How's Rarity feeling?"

"Oh, uh, she's alright. She was just really tired after last night, otherwise she would have come back to meet up with us." In reality, this was not a lie. The run had tired her out to the point where she had simply collapsed on her couch when she got back home. He still could not think of the right words to use to explain the whole situation to Twilight, though.

"I figured it was something like that. I knew there was no way she would just run off on us like that unless she wasn't feeling well." She came out of the small room she had been reading in to speak with him face to face. Her expression quickly shifted to one of concern when she finally saw him standing there. "Spike? Is... is something wrong? You don't look so good."

"Huh? Oh, uh, well I.... Its just......... TORRENTSANEVILSOULEATINGMONSTERANDRARITYSAWTHEWHOLETHING!" He shot toward the door, hoping to escape before he any of it registered with Twilight. However, as he attempted to open it he found that the exit was sealed tightly, a pale violet aura illuminating the wood, identical to the one he now saw surrounding Twilight's horn.

"Spike, what has gotten into you?!"

"Its true though! Rarity saw everything last night!"

"Saw what? I have no idea what your talking about!"

He was panicking now, with no idea where to begin or what to say he began looking for another way out. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that he felt a warm, tingling sensation running over him as he was lifted into the air by the unicorn's spell. He never had been able to get used to the feeling of magic washing over him, it felt as though there was an army of tiny ants crawling over his scales; not painful, but by no means a comfortable experience. She held him at eye level in front of her, ensuring he had nowhere to go.

"Spike, what is going on? What are you trying to say? I already know you don't like Torrent, that you don't trust him. But do you really think just shouting out accusations and trying to run away isn't going to help your case. Just calm down for a minute and tell me what happened."

"Alright. Your right. Sorry... Ok, so you know how Rarity left early last night? Well, she left because she noticed that Torrent left. She followed him to see where he was goi-"

"-Why would she do that?"

"Because she doesn't trust him, okay!? Uh, sorry... Its, its just that neither of us really trust him much. So she went after him him and he ended up wandering into the Everfree Forest. She followed him through it until he stopped at some little clearing and took out that weird green sword. She said he started pulling these glowing orbs out of it and releasing them into the air... and we're pretty sure they were souls."

"Those were probably the ones that he drained out of the centipede monster he saved me from. Those creatures are just giant coagulations of lost souls, doomed to wander the Void until they're strong enough or smart enough to escape through a portal... like the one I opened..."

"Right, well, he uh..."

"He was releasing them into the air? So he was setting them free, since they can't journey to the afterlife from the Void. That sword must be some kind of vessel that he can carry them around in until he finds a suitable place to set them free!"

"Yes, but-"

"Thats amazing! I mean it was one thing when he explained it in words, but actually being able to see it with your own eyes? That must have been amazing! Did she say what the souls looked like when they dispersed? Or if they said anything? Torrent had mentioned that some of them will have little bits of wisdom to share before they leave depart."

"Twilight, your not listening to me! Yes, he released a bunch of them, and yes I'm sure some of them said something. But your missing the point. After he had let some of them fly off, he ATE ONE!!!"

Twilight looked at him with an expression of severe confusion. "He.... ate one... Ate a soul?... Spike, you realize souls aren't a physical thing, right? They can't just be eaten, Rarity must have misinterpreted what she was seeing."

"But, but, but thats what she said she saw. And what about those monsters in the abyss? I thought you said they grew by EATING souls?!"

"Well, yes, but the Void is a weird place like that. The rules that apply there aren't the same as the ones we have here."

"But I, she...you...." He had known it would end like this. She doesn't see it because she doesn't want to see it. What am I supposed to do?! He was at a loss for words. Nothing he said now would make any difference; they had lost this round. "Fine... If you won't believe me, I'll just have to find some proof!" He attempted to march dramatically out the door, only to find himself still suspended about a foot off the floor by Twilight's spell.

"Spike, please... please don't get carried away with this. Its not that I don't want to believe you... Well, no I guess thats not true. What I meant was: its not you that I don't want to believe; your easily one of my most trusted friends, its just that this all seems so ridiculous that I simply can't believe it without some kind of proof."

Spike opened his mouth to speak, but she quickly cut him off. "Look, if you really believe Rarity saw what she says she did, I'll have a talk with Torrent; see what I can find out about it. But so far he has given me absolutely no reason not to trust him, so I'm not just going to turn around and start accusing him of things like this based on something Rarity thinks she saw in the middle of the night in a dark forest."

She let him down and walked past him, closing the front door soundlessly behind her. Spike wasn't sure what Torrent would tell her. He wasn't even sure that she would actually ask him about it. All he knew was that it wouldn't be something that help their cause in any way.

"Boy Spike, you really blew it on this one. One chance, and you couldn't even convince her that something might be going on behind her back. Great job..."

"Well, the important thing is you tried."

Spike could feel his heart stop beating for a split second, his eyes widening to the point that the door in front of him completely faded from focus. Don't turn around, don't turn around, don't turn around! He began to turn, slowly pivoting to face the main room of the library. No no no no! How could I have been so stupid?! What did I say? How much did I give away just now?! RARITY! I said that she saw everything!

As he turned to face the large circular room, the hooded figure came slowly into view, standing exactly where Twilight had been only a moment before. He was in his normal form, but his cloak was divided into seven strips, just as it had been at the end of Rarity's story. They writhed like tentacles behind him, until one began to reach toward him. He would have run then, or at the very least screamed, but fear had completely immobilized him. So he remained perfectly still and silent as the thin metallic cloth wrapped itself around him, pinning his arms to his side and lifting him into the air beside Torrent.

"Come. Lets have a little chat, you and I..."