The Shoshoniensis Boutique

Chapters

Introduction
Chapter 1: Will-of-a-Wisp
Chapter 2: Generosity Gone Wrong
Chapter 3: As It Was Written
Chapter 4: Roasted
Chapter 5: Honesty and Loyalty
Chapter 6: Rarity Versus the Zebras
Chapter 7: Close the Boutique
Chapter 8: Starting Anew

Introduction

Spike kept his position at the side of the white unicorn the whole time they were there.

Pinkie had done a great job preparing for the party. As was normal, she'd carefully prepared her party cannon so that she could fire it inside the boutique and allow table cloths, party favors, decorations, and refreshments to land where they needed to when she fired the device. And, as a result, everything had fallen perfectly into place, pleasing the pink party pony, as well as the white unicorn.

Guests, both pony and zebra, had arrived from all over, and were enjoying the refreshments and environment.

Twilight, holding a piece of cake and a cup of apple juice in her magic, approached the pink party pony and said, “Congratulations, Pinkie Pie. You've really outdone yourself this time.”

The representative of laughter smiled and giggled before saying, "Well, Rarity did all the planning."

The representative of generosity, hearing this, approached her fellow element bearers and, smiling, said, “Why, thank you, darlings. However, I couldn't have gotten things ready so quickly without the assistance of you and everypony else.”

Twilight took a moment to look around at the main room, which had no clothes hanging anywhere, at least not yet. Noticing this, she turned to the white unicorn and said, “Oh, come to think of it, after the party, should we help get all your clothes and stuff set up?”

Still smiling, Rarity replied, “Oh, I'm sure I'll be perfectly fine with the help of my little Spikey-Wikey here.” And, she used her closest front hoof to rub the top of the purple dragon's head.

Spike took a few seconds to close his eyes and enjoy the attention from the white unicorn he'd fallen in love so many years ago. Then, when the feeling of the head massage ended, he opened his eyes again. To his surprise, he looked around and found himself alone, floating through an unusual forest, with a variety of trees he'd never seen before.

While many of the trees he saw had leaves at the end of their many branches, most of those leaves were huge. And, other trees had leaves only at their tops, radiating from a central point.

It wasn't long before the little purple dragon realized he was moving, but not under his own power. On top of that, he floated through trees, but felt no collision and no pain.

Before he could process all of what was going on around him, he found himself floating into a structure he knew couldn't've been built by equines or dragons. And, he was floating around creatures that stood on their hind legs and covered themselves with what seemed to him like the skins of animals of some kind, although he couldn't be sure. Somehow, these creatures had prepared those skins so that they didn't look like skins anymore, at least not like the animal skins he was familiar with.

Even more unusual, the skins weren't the only things covering these creatures. They also used the leaves from trees, as well as what seemed to be rocks of some kind, most of which looked really appetizing to him.

Had these been the creatures that built this odd structure?

As he passed individual creatures, he heard them speak. And, to his surprise, he understood what they were saying.

One mentioned someone named Noah, who he called their king, saying something about how he would always protect them, and they would always prosper under his rule, no matter what.

Another mentioned another name, Abinadi, saying that he was wrong to speak out against their king.

Yet another talked about how this Abinadi was going to face punishment for his crimes.

Hearing this, Spike knew, without knowing how or why, that this Abinadi was no criminal.

The purple dragon stopped floating when he came to what he could only assume was the center of this structure. And, there he saw one more of those creatures, tied to a tall log, surrounded by burning sticks and fire. The creature turned to look at Spike; and, to his surprise, his shape morphed into that of the pink party pony before disappearing into the flames.

Before he knew what he was doing, the purple dragon sat up and screamed, “Pinkie!”

Next to him, he heard a voice, one that sounded familiar to him, say, “Spike, are you alright?”

The dragon turned to the direction of the voice and saw the representative of generosity next to him. Looking around, he saw that the two of them were in a bed together. Realizing that he was hyperventilating, he made a successful attempt to calm himself before saying, “I just had the worst dream. I saw these really weird creatures. One of them was burning alive, and he turned into Pinkie Pie.”

The purple dragon could only watch in shock and horror as his favorite unicorn, by no magic he could detect, started drifting upward, twitching unnaturally as she laughed. Her covers fell away, revealing that she was now floating above the bed. Glaring down at the dragon, she smiled as she said, “Oh, don't be silly, Spike. Pinkie's perfectly, perfectly, perfectly alright. She's with Twilight and the others.”

Frozen in fear, the dragon could only watch as the white unicorn stopped drifting upward, and just hovered there, midway between the bed and the ceiling. And again she laughed.

Spike swallowed hard, then asked, “R-r-rar-r-rit-t-ty?”

Suddenly, the expression of mocking laughter on the white unicorn's face morphed into one of alarm, and she screamed as she shot flames from her mouth, flames that then turned and started to consume her.

Presently, Spike leapt out of his bed, out from under his covers. As soon as he felt the ground under him, he screamed, “Rarity!”

From somewhere behind and above him, he heard the white unicorn's voice mumble, “Uh, yes, Spike? Is there something wrong?”

Unable to see in the darkness, the purple dragon jumped and rotated a hundred eighty degrees in mid air, so he was facing the sound of the voice. On all fours, he called out, “Rarity, is that you? I can't see anything!”

Next thing he knew, there was a light coming from somewhere above what he now recognized as the white unicorn's bed, now that he could see. Then, like the rising of the sun over the horizon, the light moved over the foot of the bed, showing him that the representative of generosity had moved there and was peering at him.

She asked, “Is everything alright, Spikey-Wikey?”

The dragon, still on all fours, collapsed into a sitting position. Seeing the white unicorn above him, he started sobbing, “I-I d-don't know. Are y-you alright?”

Rarity answered, “I'm fine. Tell me, what's wrong? And, are you … are you urinating?”

Presently Spike stopped crying and tilted his head, confused at the white unicorn's question. At first he was just relieved that his favorite unicorn was still alive, still untouched by fire. Then, as he calmed down, he became aware of a familiar sensation, a familiar sound, and looked down and sniffed once to realize that he was indeed peeing. He looked up at the white unicorn and, in an effort to stop himself, covered his crotch with both his clawed hands.

Sympathetically, the white unicorn levitated a nearby cloth to him, allowing him to grab it and cover his crotch with it, so that he could pee into the cloth until his bladder was empty. Then, when she saw that the purple dragon had stopped urinating, she levitated another cloth and used it to soak up as much of Spike's urine as the cloth could hold. She then levitated the cloth to the nearby bathroom, over the toilet, and wrung it out; then back to soak up more of the urine. After perhaps the second or third cycle, the puddle was gone; and Rarity made sure that none of the little dragon's urine had reached the foot of her bed.

With the mess now cleaned up, the white unicorn levitated the purple dragon upward and separated him from the cloth he was still holding, sending it to the sink in the bathroom, then asked, “Now, tell me Spike, what's wrong?”

The purple dragon didn't speak, couldn't speak, until he was settled on the bed next to his favorite unicorn, really his favorite pony. Then he wrapped his forelimbs around her closest forelimb and, burying his face in it, answered, “I don't wanna talk about it right now. C-can I sleep in your bed tonight, with you?”

The representative of generosity draped her free forelimb over the back of the little dragon, who once again, but more quietly, started sobbing; and, nuzzling him, answered, “Sure, Spike. We can talk about it tomorrow, if you want.”

Chapter 1: Will-of-a-Wisp

Gathered around the table were Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie, while Spike was at the stove, cooking pancakes.

The purple alicorn asked her fellow element bearer, “So, Rarity, how did things go last night?”

The representative of generosity answered, “Oh, Spikey-Wikey had a nightmare. The poor thing was so scared, he wet himself.”

From the stove, the purple dragon growled, “Rarity!”

Twilight turned to her assistant and asked, “Are you alright, Spike? What was the nightmare about?”

The dragon flipped over the pancake he was cooking, then sighed before turning to the purple alicorn and answering, “It was nothing.”

Twilight shook her head a couple times before saying, “I know you, Spike; and if the nightmare was so scary that you wet yourself, then it wasn't nothing. Please, tell me what happened.”

Spike turned back to the pancake and sighed again, then said, “Well, alright.” Checking first to see if the pancake in the pan was ready to join the stack on the plate next to him, he said, “I dreamed about the opening yesterday. It went perfectly, better than it had in reality.”

Rarity noted, “Well, it doesn't sound all that scary.”

The purple dragon continued, “Next thing I knew, I was floating through a forest of trees I'd never seen before. I floated through this really weird building, and there were these creatures that walked on their hind legs. Two were talking to their friends, I guess, while I floated past them.”

At this point, Pinkie said, “There's nothing scary about that.”

Spike continued, “Then, I got to this one place where there was one of those creatures in a pile of wood. The wood was burning, and he was burning too. I looked at his face, and, and, he turned into Pinkie.”

At this point, the pink party pony propped herself up on her hind legs so that she was upright on them. Turning to the left so that she was at a right angle to the table, she took a step or two before collapsing forward onto all fours. Turning to the purple dragon, she said, “I guess I could practice walking on my hind legs. But, I'm not very good at it right now.”

Spike continued, “Seeing Pinkie burning like that, I woke up screaming. Or, I thought I did.” At this point, he scooped the pancake up with the spatula he'd been holding, then put it on the top of the stack of ten or so others, before turning to the white unicorn and saying, “I was in the bed with you, and I started telling you about the dream. Then, you started floating over the bed and told me I'd just been dreaming, that everything was perfectly alright. Then you spit out fire, and it turned and started burning you!”

Alarmed for only a split second, Twilight rose to all fours away from the table, then trotted over to her assistant and started nuzzling him before saying, “If you'll remember back when I didn't believe in the Pinkie sense, when I thought all she was doing was twitching, she started trembling, then talked about a doozy that was going to happen in Froggy Bottom Bog. I followed along, thinking I was going to be there when it turned out to be nothing. But, then, we were chased by that hydra.”

Spike listened to the story, although he tried, unsuccessfully, to pull himself away from the purple alicorn's demonstration of affection. Once she mentioned the hydra, Spike interrupted, “I remember that. When we got across that broken bridge over the bog, and the hydra walked away, you thought the hydra was Pinkie's doozy. Then, when Pinkie trembled again, and said the hydra wasn't the doozy, you got so angry you burst into flames.”

Twilight backed away from her assistant and said, “That's right.”

Spike corrected, “But, this was different. Rarity didn't just burst into flames, ... she spat out fire. And, the fire she spat out ... t-turned and attacked h-her. And, it w-wasn't ... wasn't magical flames, l-like with you. I r-remember, b-b-before ... before I finally w-woke up for real, the f-f-flames that attacked her s-s-started b-b-burning away her f-f-fur, and her s-s-skin!” After that, he collapsed into Twilight's neck and started sobbing.

The purple alicorn continued to nuzzle her assistant until he stopped crying, then said, “Why don't you go sit at the table? I can finish making the pancakes.”

Spike didn't argue, didn't say anything. Still sniffling, he stepped off of the stool he was standing on, then sat next to Rarity, where a chair was provided for him, at the table.

The white unicorn nuzzled Spike under his chin for a second or two, then backed away again. Using her magic to levitate a nearby box, she said, “Oh, yes, I brought some things with me from Ponyville. I thought they could inspire me while I was here next to Shoshoniensis.”

Pinkie, back in her place, perked up as she asked, “Really? What are they?”

Setting the box on top of the table, Rarity used her magic to open it, then levitated a gold-colored necklace with a red, heart-shaped gem in it.

Seeing the gem, Spike smiled as he said, “That's the fire ruby I gave you! I was gonna eat it, but then you said you wanted it. So, I decided it was meant for you.”

The white unicorn nodded before setting it aside and saying, “I haven't decided where I shall put it just yet.”

Just then, Fluttershy entered the kitchen, carrying a basket. Setting it down next to the representative of generosity, she said, “Here's Opalescence, Rarity.”

Turning to the feline, Rarity asked, “Oh, Opal, did you enjoy your trip here?”

Presently, the white cat hopped out of the basket, growled at the white unicorn, and swatted at her with a paw of exposed claws.

The yellow pegasa said, “Cat's aren't good when it comes to traveling. I don't think it was such a good idea for you to bring her along.”

Defensively, Rarity stated, “Well, I couldn't very well leave the poor thing back in Ponyville now, could I? Not with nopony to take care of her.”

Fluttershy said, “I could've taken care of her.”

Rarity continued, “And besides, Opalescence just loves traveling.” Turning to her cat, she asked, “Isn't that right, Opal dear?”

This time, the Persian cat simply hissed before swatting at the white unicorn again.

Twilight and Spike chuckled before the purple alicorn asked, “So, Fluttershy, will you be staying for breakfast? We're having pancakes.”

The representative of kindness lowered her head before saying, “Um, no, I don't think so. I have my creatures to take care of back at my cottage.” And, she turned and ambled out of the kitchen.

Just a second or two later, Rainbow Dash's voice could be heard saying, “Fluttershy, leaving so soon?” Then, the door opened, revealing the azure pegasa.

Before she could say anything, the purple alicorn asked, “Rainbow Dash, have you seen Applejack?”

The rainbow-haired pegasa nodded her head before turning to Rarity and saying, “She said she saw some kind of garden out behind your clothing store. I think she went there to see what it was like.”

At that point, Spike volunteered, “You stay here and have breakfast. I'll go see what she found.” And, he jumped up, then headed out the door from the kitchen, then made his way out of the boutique.

Circling around the building, Spike found the orange earth mare probing some of the soil with a front hoof. Seeing her, he called out, “Hi, Applejack!”

The representative of honesty turned to see the purple dragon approaching her from behind, and called out to him, “Well, howdy, Spike!”

Continuing his approach until he was right next to her, he asked, “So, what're you doing back here, anyway?”

Applejack looked back at where she was probing, then turned to the dragon again and answered, “Ah don't rightly know. Ah's sure Ah saw somethin' a-flashin' in this spot. But, when Ah got here 'n' started a-searchin', Ah couldn't find nothin'.”

Spike pointed to the building and said, “Well, breakfast's ready inside whenever you are. If you want, I could keep searching for whatever it is you saw back here.”

The orange earth mare chuckled for a second before answering, “Nah, that's alright. Let's go back inside Rarity's boutique.” And, with that, she started heading toward the building.

The purple dragon didn't immediately follow the representative of honesty. For a moment, he stood there, looking at the spot where she'd been digging. He thought he saw something shining, something metal. But, when he went to have a closer look, the orange earth mare called to him, “Spike, come on! Yer the one said breakfast was ready!”

At that point, he decided the mystery could wait until later. And, he followed the orange earth mare back into the building.

Just into the front door, the purple dragon watched his white unicorn friend emerge from the kitchen. As he continued to watch her make her way to the nearby staircase and start climbing, he said, “I thought we were gonna have breakfast together, in the kitchen.”

The representative of generosity turned her head and nodded to the purple dragon, then said, “I've had two of the pancakes already. I'm just going upstairs to unpack. I can get started in my room. This new place, and the zebras living nearby, have inspired me to create a whole new line of clothing for them.”

Spike took a moment to close the door behind him before turning back to the purple-haired unicorn and asking, “Do you need any help?”

Rarity smiled at the dragon and answered, “Oh, isn't that thoughtful of my little Spikey-Wikey. No, you go have breakfast with everypony else. I shall get things set up.” And, she made her way to the second door from the staircase along the elevated hallway. There, she opened the door, entered through it, and closed the door behind her.

Dreamily, Spike sighed with adoration before floating to the kitchen, opening the door, entering, and closing the door behind him.

Taking a seat between the purple alicorn and the orange earth mare, Spike joined the element bearers, save for Rarity, to enjoy breakfast.

During the meal, Twilight spoke approvingly of Rarity wanting to get to work immediately on getting her shop set up.

Applejack mentioned having seen something in the boutique's backyard, and being called to breakfast before she could find out what it was.

Pinkie Pie talked about how successful the previous night's grand opening party had been.

Rainbow Dash mentioned a large building in ruins she'd noticed while flying overhead.

Spike ate silently, listening to the ponies around him, hoping for a chance to take another tour of Rarity's new boutique before visiting the nearby town.

After an hour, the ponies had eaten all the pancakes and helped in the cleanup before leaving the room to do some exploring on their own.

From the main floor, Spike could see most of the main room of the boutique. He took note of how it was possible to see both floors from the doorway of the kitchen, the unguarded hallway upstairs that connected four rooms, each with doors; as well as the four rooms on the main floor that each served a different purpose: the most distant from the staircase leading to a bathroom for stallions, the one next to it being a bathroom for mares, a storage room just before that, and a dressing room just next to the stairs. He knew the room Rarity had entered was her bedroom. After all, he'd spent the night there with her. Then, another of those rooms was going to be Rarity's inspiration room. Which one was it again?

One more of those rooms was going to be a bedroom for visitors, likely for Sweetie Belle if she ever came to visit. But, that last room was a mystery to him. It was that room over the stallions' bathroom. He'd never been in there, the first time he'd seen this place was after it's construction had been completed. Looking at the room, he had to wonder if he even dared go up and have a look.

While he spent that previous night in Rarity's bedroom with her, he'd only been in the rooms that Rarity had guided him and the other element bearers to. He'd never even gotten to see the plans for this boutique.

Then, the memory of his nightmare returned to him. The place had just been built. So, why was it already giving him nightmares, and especially nightmares like that? Did that mystery room have something to do with it?

Well, he decided he could wait to find out. At the moment, his bowels and bladder were telling him they needed to be emptied. So, he went to the stallions' room, to the nearest toilet, opened the lid, climbed up and sat down on the toilet, and allowed his bladder and bowels to empty. Then, after that, he flushed the toilet and cleaned himself, then proceeded to leave the bathroom. Seeing the way was clear, the purple dragon proceeded across the main room, to the entrance to the boutique.

Spike was still unsure why Rarity had chosen to build her newest boutique half an hour outside the nearest town. Something about New Zebraland's laws regarding businesses and keeping them separate from residents. But, if that was the case, he wondered as he finally entered the town, why did he see stores and other places of business mixed in with houses and huts in Shoshoniensis?

Well, that didn't matter too much to him right now. He decided the first place he should check out was a building that reminded him of Sugar Cube Corner.

It looked like a gingerbread house from the outside, but it was very different on the inside. With all the bottles on the shelves, it seemed more like a pharmacy than a place where Spike expected to buy pastries.

Then, there was the keeper of the shop. Spike recognized her as an authority figure, based on her clothing. But, there was also something about her that was different from figures he was used to, like the princesses or Mayor Mare.

On seeing him, the zebra said, “Oh, you must be one of Rarity's friends.”

Having had his back to the female zebra, Spike started when he heard her voice. Turning to her, he sighed with relief before saying, “Oh, hi there. Yeah, I'm one of Rarity's friends.”

The zebra continued, “I must give you a warning. Behind the boutique are ruins of an ancient civilization. Terrible things happened there, and they could happen again if those ruins are disturbed. Stay away from the ruins.”

The purple dragon swallowed hard before saying, “Uh, yeah, I'll remember that.”

The zebra nodded before asking, “Now, is there anything in particular you're looking for?”

Spike, not taking his eyes off of the zebra, answered, “Uh, no.”

The zebra took a position near the front door, where he'd entered, and, settling into a canine-style position, said, “If you need anything, please feel free to come here. I'll be waiting.” And, as she stopped moving, somehow, she managed to disappear into the wall behind her.

After making a remark about how troubling the encounter had been, Spike took a brief tour of the small shop before leaving. Maybe there was a building, a store of some sort, that didn't have such a creepy owner.

Another building, one that looked like a really comfortable house on the outside, turned out to have more rooms than Spike would've expected to see in such a building on the inside. And, how could a building that looked so small on the outside be so spacious on the inside?

As Spike looked up at each door, on either side of him, he saw that each had a label. But, the labels had writing on them that he couldn't read. Looking at those characters, he thought to himself he was going to have to do some research, some study of those symbols, before he could find his way around. In the mean time, he'd just have to try his luck, and hope he didn't enter a mare's bathroom by mistake.

The first door he tried, the first on his left, put him in what appeared to be a shop where lots of fruits and vegetables were sold. Well, now he knew that, if he needed to find ingredients for Twilight's favorite foods, this was the first place he could look for them, as long as he could afford it.

To his surprise, there was a pony, a stallion, at the counter near the door.

Approaching the stallion, Spike said, “Uh, hi, sir.”

The stallion smiled down at him and said, “Oh, hi. You're new around here, I'm guessing?”

The purple dragon nodded, then asked, looking around, “So, do you grow all these yourself?”

The stallion shook his head before answering, “Actually, the locals sell their crops to me, and I sell them to anypony who wants them, locals or outsiders. Do you need anything?”

Spike took a seat near one of the shelves and, nodding, answered, “I just met one of the zebras that lives around here, I guess. She said I shouldn't go near some ruins behind Rarity's new boutique. Do you know why?”

The stallion pony turned away and sighed for a second before looking back at his dragon visitor and answering, “According to local legends, those ruins were the residence of creatures that walked on their hind legs, were built to walk that way. It seems that the ruler of those creatures was evil. According to local legend, the ruler killed one of the other creatures because that other creature tried to warn him that what he was doing was not good, and that he needed to change. After that, the group of creatures was attacked by another group, and the ruler told the males to abandon their females and young and leave so they wouldn't be weighed down. Some obeyed him, while others refused to leave. Some of those that followed him, feeling betrayed, killed him the way he'd killed that creature that'd tried to warn him.”

As he heard the stallion tell the story, Spike began to feel more and more frightened. When the stallion was done, the purple dragon said, “That's terrible.”

The keeper of the store said, “Well, it's the story they tell. Still I've never been to those ruins. Not much of a point tempting fate.”

Spike rose to his feet again and asked, “So, you're familiar with Rarity's new boutique?”

The stallion answered, “I am. I was there to see it open.”

Spike continued, “Do you know who sold her that land?”

The stallion nodded, then pointed to the door as he answered, “Their place of business is just across from here.”

As the purple dragon walked to the door, he said, “Thanks for the information.” Then, he opened the door and exited, then made his way across the hallway to the next door. Still unable to read the sign above the door, he simply opened it and entered. And, looking toward the desk, while he was surprised to see two light-yellow unicorn stallions in red-and-white-striped vests and hats, he immediately wondered to himself if he should be. Glaring at the two, he growled, “Flim and Flam.”

The mustachioed stallion smiled as he pointed to the purple dragon and asked, “Spike, right?” Not waiting for an answer, he asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

In response, Spike asked, “You're the ones that sold that property to Rarity?”

The two stallions exchanged glances before the mustachioed one answered, “That's correct. Why, is there something wrong with it?”

The other stallion added, “Whatever it is, we'll see what we can do to correct it.”

The purple dragon folded his arms in front of him and asked, “Did you happen to know any of the stories about that piece of land?”

The mustachioed unicorn said, “Ah, stories.”

His brother added, “Legends.”

The first unicorn to speak added, “Superstitions.”

Spike closed his eyes and planted a clawed hand between them, over his snout, and groaned. Letting the forelimb drop to his side, he opened his eyes again, then asked, “Does that mean you're familiar with the stories, or that you've just heard they exist?”

The two stallions exchanged glances again and laughed for a second or two before the one without a mustache said, “Stories are just that, stories. They have no basis in reality, so they can't harm anypony.”

The purple dragon pointed to the two unicorn stallions and said, “You two better be right. Because, I know where to find you now.” And, he turned and walked out the door before slamming it behind him. Emitting a sighing groan, he exited the building and made his way back to the new boutique.

As soon as he walked through the door and closed it behind him, he turned around to find himself nose-to-nose with Rarity.

The white unicorn asked him, “Why Spike, where have you been?”

Again the dragon sighed before answering, “I was just visiting Shoshoniensis to see what things were like there.” He then looked up at the representative of generosity and asked, “Did you know anything about this land, any stories connected to it, before you bought it from two stallions?”

Rarity laughed for a second before answering, “I studied this land before I bought it. There's a layer of rock underneath that's perfect for the foundation. Frankly, I'm surprised that nopony, or for that matter no zebra, has built any homes on this land before.”

Spike reached out each of his forelimbs and rested one each on the white unicorn's front legs as he looked into her eyes and said, “Rarity, I heard a story about this land, something about an evil king that killed one of his own, and was later killed.”

At this point, Rarity laughed harder before using a forelimb to massage the little dragon's head and saying, “Oh, Spike, you needn't pay attention to old superstitions like that. They can't have any basis on what we're doing here.”

The purple dragon pushed the forelimb away and said, “Rarity, you've got to listen to me. I had a nightmare last night, remember? And, you saw how scared I got. And, that's before I heard about that king. I'm telling you, something's not right about this land. You shouldn't have built your boutique here. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't think you should stay here.”

The white unicorn sighed, then nuzzled Spike as she said, “Now, you know I can't just abandon a boutique once I've gotten it set up. Not without a good reason.”

At this point, Spike grabbed the face of the representative of generosity and, forcing her to look at his face, asked, “Rarity, doesn't it seem strange to you that this is the only building here?”

Rarity smiled as she answered, “Oh, I am so fortunate to have such a brave dragon to defend me. But, you know, or you should know, that I only had to build my boutique here because of the laws that don't allow me to build it in the town. I couldn't even find a suitable building in the town to set up a boutique.”

The purple dragon started to protest, “But, I've been to Shoshoniensis, and …” Then, he decided he'd argued enough. Releasing the white unicorn's face, he sighed one last time as he turned away and said, “Yeah, whatever. I'm going on a walk outside.” And, he turned and walked to the door, opened it, stepped outside, then closed the door again.

Not paying attention to where he went, the purple dragon made his way around the new building and headed across the back yard. Then, seeing something shining in the soil, he walked over to it and dug around it until he saw that it was some kind of piece of metal. The shape indicated it served some kind of purpose, perhaps as a key or something. Keeping it in one clawed hand, he finished crossing the yard, then started walking into the forest behind the boutique.

All he knew was that he was being drawn to something either in or on the other side of the forest. And, not having anything else to do, he just kept walking.

After a few minutes, he found himself at the walls of … something. As he walked along this one wall, it took only a few minutes before he was at what he could only figure was a door. And, there was a hole in it.

Spike looked at the piece of metal in his hand, then up at the hole in the door, then back down at that piece of metal. Thinking he had nothing to lose, he shrugged before taking the piece of metal and pushing it into the hole. And, somehow it didn't surprise the purple dragon that the piece of metal fit. Thinking that the piece of metal might have been what he thought it was, a key, he tried turning it clockwise, only to find that it didn't budge. But, when he tried turning it the other way, it worked, making a clanking sound when it stopped; and the door drifted open.

As the purple dragon walked inside, he saw walls that were part of a structure that, even though he was sure he'd never seen it before, he recognized. No ceiling over the walls, but there seemed to be buildings within them.

As the purple dragon walked through the door, then past it just a few paces, he heard creaking behind him. Quickly turning to the door, he found himself frozen in place as he watched the door close, leaving him trapped inside. Finally finding himself able to move again, he ran to the door and pounded on it, shouting for help. But, when he remembered he'd come to this structure alone, he decided to turn around again and do some exploring. After all, he thought, what did he have to lose?

The long pathway ahead of him lead to an elevated building, with stairs leading to a doorway. But, before that building was what he could only guess was a main front yard completely paved over. It was wide and empty, with a large, circular hole that, he supposed, from overhead, could've looked like a dinner plate of sorts. Not very deep, but it evidently had a purpose. And, as Spike walked through it, he began to feel that the purpose the shallow hole had served had been a very bad one. In fact, it felt as though some living creature had died there, and not by natural causes. The purple dragon ran out of the hole and toward the building.

Inside, Spike stopped and looked left, then right, to have a better view at the walls.

The patterns, while worn with age, were still very elaborate. Whatever this building was for, it had clearly been a place for someone with a lot of money, based on all the designs carved into the walls and pillars. And, Spike found himself wondering if there was something to those designs, aside from showing off its owner's wealth.

In the middle of the next room was a staircase leading up to another level.

Spike approached and climbed the stairs, wondering what he'd find when he reached the top. And, once he did so, he found, immediately in front of him, what appeared to be a sofa made of stone, again worn by age and the elements, but still with an evident purpose. He looked around, and found more of those stone sofas, seven in all. He approached and jumped up into one, the one that was closest to the front of the building, then turned to have a look at the view. And, as he did so, suddenly he was aware of a large group of creatures that, once again, seemed familiar to him.

The creatures stood on their hind legs, much like he did, except they were better designed for that purpose. And, none of them had any tail. He could tell because there was one of those bizarre creatures in front of him, holding his arms out over the creatures in the yard in front of the building. And, while the creature was speaking in a language he'd never heard before, somehow he understood what this creature was saying, and that this was a male that was speaking.

The creature was saying something about how this city was so well protected that nothing, not even a deity, could destroy it. And, there were other males that joined him there, repeating what he'd said and adding details about how the history and design of the city proved that it couldn't be destroyed, and that they were free to do whatever they wanted within its walls. Then the first to stand there turned and took a step or two toward the sofa that Spike was standing on. And, the vision ended with Spike getting a good look at the creature's expression, which seemed happy and angry at the same time.

The thought occurred to Spike that the creature was going to sit down, so he hopped over the back of the stone sofa. Panting, he turned to the structure, then to where he'd seen the creature. But, the creature had disappeared, along with the others he'd seen.

Circling around the stone sofa, the purple dragon wandered to where he'd seen the creature standing, and found the yard empty. Stepping back from there, he wondered to himself if he'd been dreaming. Whatever had happened, Spike was more and more sure he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

He headed back down the stairs, then turned to a nearby room. And, walking inside, he looked up to see something he knew Twilight would envy: shelves lined with scrolls. Each wall he saw had perhaps five or six shelves, and each had several scrolls stacked on them.

Spike wasn't sure he wanted to stay any longer in this place than he needed to. But, still, there was a platform of sorts, in the middle of the room, that had a partly unraveled scroll on it. And, it was making him curious. So curious, in fact, that he found himself unable to resist approaching the scroll to have a look. But, when he got to the scroll, he noticed that it had very little writing on it. Oddly enough, he found himself able to read the message, which he did aloud: “Ye who read this, let it be known that there is a blessing on this scroll. And, as such, it is imperative that it be moved.”

Spike puzzled over the message on the scroll. If it was so important that the scroll be moved, why was it here on the pedestal, and not somewhere else? And, why was there a space between the last “it” and “be”? Wanting to get a closer look at the writing, the purple dragon picked up the scroll so he could study that odd space.

What he didn't notice, at least not at first, was, once the scroll was moved, it revealed a small hole in the center of the pedestal. And, from that hole a small fiery sphere slowly rose up.

Spike only took notice when he became aware of an odd change in temperature, evidently radiating from a point over the pedestal. Looking at it, he dropped the scroll when he saw what appeared to be a miniature, dim sun hovering just above the platform.

The sphere of fire approached the purple dragon, circled around him as if to study him, then settled on the scroll for a second or two. From there, it rose again, then shot out of the building.

Spike, suddenly fearful of what he'd just seen, knelt down and picked up the scroll again, getting a closer look at the writing. To his surprise, and growing worry, he noticed a new word appeared between those words “it” and “be.” Looking up, he realized he'd just been fooled. The scroll was meant to stay where it was. He read aloud, “And, as such, it is imperative that it not be moved.” Thinking about what had just happened, he swallowed, hard. Not knowing what else to do, he put the scroll back where he'd found it. No longer curious about that scroll, but somehow concerned for his friends, the purple dragon walked at first, then ran, out of the building, down the stairs, and back to the closed door. Except, it was no longer closed.

Even more frightened, Spike ran through the opening and back to the boutique.

As Spike entered through the front door, he was greeted by a sight he could never have expected: Pinkie Pie, Twilight and Applejack looking down at something, keeping whatever they were looking at hidden from anyone who might see from the door, while Rainbow Dash was hovering over them.

Evidently having heard the sound from the door, Twilight turned and, seeing the purple dragon, approached him and said, “Oh, Spike, I'm glad you're here. Something really strange and terrible just happened to Rarity. She needs medical attention.”

Spike, having stopped when he heard about something happening to Rarity, ran past the purple unicorn and pushed his way past the two earth mares to get a look at the white unicorn. And, while he saw no marks that might indicate anything bad had happened to her, and she was still breathing, he saw that she was still unconscious.

Circling around to her head, Spike knelt down between the tip of her head and her nose and, gently patting her available cheek, urgently said, “Rarity, wake up. Rarity, are you alright?”

immediately groaning, the representative of generosity raised her head and blinked several times before managing to keep her eyelids open. Focusing on the purple dragon, she asked, “Spike?”

Presently, the purple dragon jumped at and grasped the white unicorn around the neck, squeezing as he cried, “Oh, Rarity, I'm glad you're alright. I was so worried.”

Before the little dragon could finish what he was saying, the object of his affection said, in a somewhat comically distorted voice, “Oh, Spike, you're choking me.”

Hearing this, the purple dragon immediately let go and backed away, chuckling nervously and apologetically.

Then, as the white unicorn started rising to all fours, Twilight approached her and asked, “Rarity, do you know what happened?”

Once she was on her hooves, the representative of generosity took a moment to shake herself out before turning to her fellow unicorn and answering, “I'm not sure, darling. All I know is I was going to one of the storage rooms to sort out the clothes I wanted to hang up out here, and I suddenly passed out. Next thing I knew, Spike was patting me on the face, and everypony else was just standing there.”

Twilight took a moment to vocally sigh before saying, “Well, you seem to be alright now. So, do you need anything?”

In an unexpectedly angry tone, Rarity answered, “Just some breathing room while I get my boutique ready for business.” And, she stomped off toward a storage room.

Rainbow Dash settled on her hooves between Pinkie Pie and Applejack, and the two other element bearers watched as the white unicorn made her way to one doorway, opened it, then turned to them and said, “Well, let's get to work,” before going through the door and slamming it closed behind her. After that, all they and Spike could do was stare that the closed door, wondering what had just happened.

Chapter 2: Generosity Gone Wrong

After her attack, Rarity refused to see a doctor, insisting that she felt fine. This, in spite of evidence that she was still in some pain, and in spite of the appointments Twilight made for her.

In the mean time, the white unicorn moved out of her new boutique, and into the ruins, where Spike had released the odd, floating flame. And, while she did pay visits every now and then to her boutique, she spent less and less time there, and more and more time at the ruins. She employed zebra stallions from nearby towns, or she said that's what she was doing, and kept at least one around her at all times when she was outside the ruins.

During that time period, Twilight wrote to Fluttershy, telling her about the situation with the representative of magic. The yellow pegasa, receiving the news, decided to return to Shoshoniensis to see if she could do anything to help, maybe get information from the native creatures.

Spike, in the mean time, began to be worried about the changes in the white unicorn's behavior. Did that floating flame have something to do with it? If so, how was he going to fix the problem? He needed more information.

The purple dragon was at the stove one morning, preparing pancakes, while Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were at the table.

As the five were talking, Rarity entered. Focusing on the young dragon, she asked, “Spike, weren't you supposed to be setting the clothing up in the main room?”

Turning to the white unicorn, he answered, “I'm just making sure everypony else is taken care of. I'll get to the clothes when I'm done.”

Indignantly, Rarity said, “Isn't that just like a dragon, always thinking of himself, and never about anypony else?”

Immediately Twilight rose from her spot at the table. Approaching the representative of generosity, she said, “Rarity, I think you owe Spike an apology.”

Pointing her nose in the air and huffing, the representative of generosity said, “Well, since your pet dragon is so useless without you to pull his strings, maybe you should help him, Twilight.”

At this point, Spike set the spatula he was using down next to the pan. Turning to face the white unicorn, he said, “Rarity, you know me. You know I'll do anything I can to help you. All you have to do is ask. You don't have to …”

Glaring back at the purple dragon, the representative of generosity growled, “Well, then, stop wasting your time here, and get to work on those dresses. They won't hang themselves up.” Turning away from the kitchen door, she concluded, “I shall be back in a few minutes, and those dresses had better be hanging in their places when I get back, or else.” And, she trotted backwards through the door.

Twilight started to follow Rarity, calling her name. That is, until the door, possessed by the white unicorn's magic, slammed closed in her face. Then, for a few seconds, she just stayed there, stunned. After taking some time to process what had just happened, she turned to her assistant and said, “I don't know what's gotten into Rarity. I haven't seen her like this since that fashion show in Manehattan. I'm worried about her.”

Spike sniffled and said, “S-so am I.” He then turned to take the step down from his place in front of the stove as he said, “Maybe I should go take care of those clothes like Rarity said.”

The representative of magic returned to her place at the table and replied, “No, you finish preparing breakfast first. When we're done, we'll all help you put up those clothes.”

The purple dragon turned back to the oven, sniffled again, then proceeded to pick up the spatula as he said, “Thanks, everypony.”

At this point, Twilight took the few steps to get to her assistant, then nuzzled him before returning to her place at the table. Sitting canine-style there, she said, “We've gotta do something to help Rarity. It's just not like her to behave that way.”

Breakfast around the table was filled with discussion and planning on what they could do to help the white unicorn, especially when Fluttershy arrived.

As promised, after breakfast, the other five element bearers helped Spike unpack the dresses and get them set up in the boutique's main room. With the six working together, the job was done in a matter of minutes.

In fact, it was done just a few seconds before Rarity entered through the front door. Looking around and seeing how the clothes were arranged, she snorted and said, “Perhaps you're not so useless after all, Spike.”

Peering from behind one display of dresses, the purple dragon said, “I can't take all the credit. All your friends helped, too.”

Starting to glare once again at Spike, the representative of generosity growled, “What? You mean to tell me you got everypony else to do your job for you?”

Spike shook his head before answering, “Everypony else just helped. I did my part to—“ He yelped in fear as he suddenly found himself hovering above the ground.

Magically moving the dragon until the two of them were nose-to-nose, the white unicorn growled, “I take back what I said. You are even more useless than I could've imagined!”

Revealing herself from behind another display, Twilight galloped toward the white unicorn. Taking her assistant in her own magic, she said, “You will release Spike this instant!” Then, when the purple dragon was free of Rarity's magic, the representative of magic set him down next to Fluttershy, then started stomping toward the representative of generosity, forcing her to take steps backward, and said, “You have no right to treat Spike that way. All you had to do was ask for his help, and he would've gladly given it.” Gesturing to the displays, she continued, “If you're not happy with how these clothes are set up, you can rearrange them yourself. But, whatever your frustrations are, as long as I'm around, you will not take them out on Spike, is that understood?”

Gasping dramatically, Rarity said, “How dare you speak to your queen that way.”

Surprised, Twilight repeated, “Queen?” Then, grasping the white unicorn in her magic, she said, “I don't know what's gotten into you. But, if I have to go to Shoshoniensis myself and convince one of the doctors there to make a house call, that's what I'll do, even if it means taking him to those ruins you suddenly seem to like so much.” And, with that, she released the representative of generosity from her magic.

Sensing her freedom, Rarity took a moment to stabilize herself before retorting, “Do what you think you must. And, in the mean time, you can stop spoiling your pet lizard, and get him working for a change.” And, with that, she turned and proceeded out the front door of her boutique.

Twilight watched Rarity disappear out the door, then turned to the inside of the main room and sighed, “I should've handled that better. I shouldn't've let her get to me like that.” Then, turning to her assistant, she said, “Spike, I have a new assignment for you. When I get back from Shoshoniensis, I want you to go with me to those ruins. While the doctor and I are attending to Rarity, I want you to go to that library and see how much information you can find about what happened there. Maybe there's some way we can help her.”

The purple dragon swallowed hard to keep his emotions in check. Then, he saluted and said, “Yes, ma'am.”

Satisfied, Twilight simply nodded in response. Then, she turned to the other four element bearers and asked, “Does anypony want to go with me?”

Rainbow Dash settled in front of the purple unicorn and answered, “I'll go with you. I've never been to a zebra village, and I wanna know if it's anything like Ponyville. I also wanna know what Flim and Flam are doing there, and why they sold Rarity this place.”

Pinkie looked down for a moment before saying, “I think I'll head over to those ruins.” Looking up again, she concluded, “I don't like what Rarity's turning into. I've gotta do something to snap her out of this.”

Applejack ambled up next to the pink earth mare and said, “Ah'm a-goin' with Pinkie. Ah don't like what's a-happenin' t' Rarity neither. Maybe Ah c'n learn more 'bout what's a-goin' on if'n Ah c'n git closer t' her somehows.”

Again Twilight nodded before saying, “In that case, you two go ahead to those ruins.” She then turned to the yellow pegasa and asked, “So, Fluttershy, what about you?”

The representative of kindness looked down and, starting to draw circles on the floor with a front hoof, said, “Well, I was thinking I could stay here. There are a lot of creatures that could use my help.”

Smiling, the representative of magic said, “That's just fine, Fluttershy.” Then, turning to the azure pegasa, she asked, “So, Rainbow Dash, shall we go?”

Presently, the representative of loyalty flew to the front door. Opening it, she turned to the purple unicorn and answered, “Yeah, let's go.”

Still smiling, Twilight trotted to the door, following the azure pegasa outside. She was then followed by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy.

With the element bearers out of the building, Spike took the time to look around at the setup he and five of the ponies had joined forces to put together. Then, Rarity's words echoes in his head, stinging him like wasps. How could the pony he loved so much say such awful things to and about him? What had he done to deserve those words? And, what could he do to put things back the way they were, to get back the Rarity he knew and loved?

Distraught, the purple dragon made his way through the maze of clothing displays to the staircase, then up the stairs, and to the room that had once been intended for Rarity to do her work.

Spike didn't bother to close the door behind him, he just approached the white unicorn's bed. Then, settling down next to it, he closed his eyes and started to release his emotions.

But, it wasn't long before he noticed a glow under the bed, which snapped him out of his emotional release. Moving to get a closer look, he wondered aloud, “What's that?” Then, when he pushed the edge of the blanket out of the way, he saw what was emitting the glow: a book. Years of boredom and frustration at getting only a book for each of his birthdays and Hearth's Warmings melted away as he crawled the best he could under the bed to get the glowing, bound stack of papers. But, as it turned out, the book wasn't all that far out of his reach. He grabbed the volume and pulled it from its hiding place. Then, crawling back out from under the bed, he looked at the cover, and noticed that there seemed to be nothing written on it.

More puzzled than anything else, the purple dragon clawed the book open, only to find that he'd opened to a page titled “Mosiah 11.” Looking down at the page, he saw the title of the chapter. Aloud, he read, “And now it came to pass that Zeniff conferred the kingdom upon Noah, one of his sons; therefore Noah began to reign in his stead; and he did not walk in the ways of his father.” He paused for a moment to wonder aloud, “Who's Zeniff, and who's Noah?” He then shrugged as he continued to read, “For, behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart. And he had many wives and concubines. And he did cause his people to commit sin, and do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord. Yea, and they did commit whoredoms and all manner of wickedness.

“And he laid a tax of one fifth part of all they possessed, a fifth part of their gold and of their silver, and a fifth part of their ziff, and of their copper, and of their brass and their iron, and a fifth part of their fatlings; and also a fifth part of all their grain.

“And all this did he take to support himself, and his wives and his concubines; and also his priests, and their wives and their concubines; thus he had changed the affairs of the kingdom.

“For he put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ones in their stead, such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts.”

Looking up, the purple dragon again thought aloud, “Rarity has had a lot of stallions around her lately. And, I seem to remember her telling them that there's no way her chain of boutiques could fail. And, I don't know about anything else, but she has kept those stallions around her all the time. I think I've even seen chains on some of them. Is this what's happening to her? Is she turning into this Noah character?” He then looked down and continued to read, “Yea, and thus they were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity.

“Yea, and they also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them.

“And it came to pass that king Noah built many elegant and spacious buildings, and he ornamented them with fine work of wood, and of all manner of precious things, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of brass, and of ziff, and of copper;

“And he also built him a spacious palace, and a throne in the midst thereof, all of which was of fine wood and was ornamented with gold and silver and with precious things.

“And he also caused that his workmen should work all manner of fine work within the walls of the temple, of fine wood, and of copper, and of brass.”

Looking up from reading the book, Spike thought about how the buildings he'd seen had already been built, and had been abandoned for, well, who knows how long. But, after having moved that scroll and released that unusual fireball, it hadn't been until after finding out that Rarity had apparently been attacked that his favorite unicorn had started to change. She hadn't built those ruins, but she had moved there. Was it because whatever was possessing her felt most at home there?

The purple dragon decided to look back into the book and continue reading: “And the seats which were set apart for the high priests, which were above all the other seats, he did ornament with pure gold; and he caused a breastwork to be built before them, that they might rest their bodies and their arms upon while they should speak lying and vain words to his people.

“And it came to pass that he built a tower near the temple; yea, a very high tower, even so high that he could stand upon the top thereof and overlook the land of Shilom, and also the land of Shemlon, which was possessed by the Lamanites; and he could even look over all the land round about.

“And it came to pass that he caused many buildings to be built in the land of Shilom; and he caused a great tower to be built on the hill north of the land Shilom, which had been a resort for the children of Nephi at the time they fled out of the land; and thus he did do with the riches which he obtained by the taxation of his people.

“And it came to pass that he placed his heart upon his riches, and he spent his time in riotous living with his wives and his concubines; and so did also his priests spend their time with harlots.

“And it came to pass that he planted vineyards round about in the land; and he built wine-presses, and made wine in abundance; and therefore he became a wine-bibber, and also his people.”

Looking up again, Spike tried to remember if the white unicorn had had anything to do with vineyards or anything like that, and realized he couldn't. Looking at the last verse he'd read, he decided it'd be a good idea to keep an eye on the representative of generosity, in case she did start buying grape vineyards and making wine from those grapes and selling it, just in case she was turning into this Noah creature.

At this point, Spike decided to stand up again and close the book he'd been reading. Walking to his bed, he hid the book under his covers, hoping to read it again for further clues about the creature Rarity seemed to be turning into. Maybe he could stop the process before it could fully run its course. That was his thought as he left the room.

As the two earth mares entered the building, they noticed a few lines of stallions, pony and zebra, working to clean the room. Evident were the metal cuffs on the hind hooves of each of the stallions, with metal chains to connect them so that individuals couldn't leave, and the group would be detected before they could escape.

Seeing this, Applejack thought aloud, “What's Rarity a-thinkin'? This ain't no way to run, well, nothin'. Ain't nopony should be chained up like a-that.”

Pinkie Pie turned a worried look to her fellow element bearer and responded, “Zebras shouldn't be treated that way either.” Looking around again, she added, “I don't know what Rarity thinks she's doing, but we've gotta do something to stop her.” And, she galloped on ahead.

Applejack followed close behind her until they were in the main room of the palace, in front of Rarity, who was resting on her side, nuzzling with a zebra stallion. Resisting the urge to turn away, the orange earth mare said, “Rarity, Ah wanna work for y'all.”

Not expecting the voice, the representative of generosity started, quickly turning to her visitors. It took the stallion whispering to her to remind her what the representative of honesty had said, after which she replied, “Oh, really? Well, in that case, you can start by going into the yard behind the palace. You're good at gardening, are you not? I'm thinking that yard would be perfect for growing grape vines. You can come back in and let me know when they've started growing. I may have more for you to do then.”

The orange earth mare paused for a moment, wanting to tell her white unicorn friend that she'd been hoping for a job that would allow the two to work together. But, then she decided it was better to start with what Rarity had given her, hoping that success with that job would mean she could get a job that'd get her what she wanted.

Watching the representative of honesty amble out of the room, Rarity thought aloud, “Sometimes, you just have to let these filthy mud ponies know precisely what's expected of them.” She then turned her attention to the pink earth mare and asked, “And, what do you want?”

Pinkie positioned herself so that she resembled a begging dog, then answered, “I want you to leave this place with me.” Waving a forelimb to the walls in an attempt to direct the white unicorn's attention to the environment, she continued, “Look at this place. This isn't healthy for you. If you stay here, you could end up getting yourself killed, and everypony in here with you.”

The white unicorn turned to the zebra stallion and nuzzled him for a few more seconds. She then cackled, and the stallion joined her in her mirth. After a few seconds, she stopped and, turning back to the representative of laughter, said, “Oh, Pinkie Pie, you were always good at making me laugh.” Then, after a few more chuckles, she continued, “Why, I've never felt better in my life. I have nothing to worry about.” She then rose to all fours and, marching toward the pink earth mare, said, “Now, it isn't nice of you to come in here and scare everypony with such nonsense. I'm not going anywhere. You can leave right now, or I can throw you in jail for making up such stories.”

Feeling herself caught in the unicorn's magic, Pinkie stammered, “B-b-but, R-r-rarity, …”

The representative of generosity used her magic to levitate her fellow element bearer out of the room, then throw her out of the building, as she said, “Leave, now!”

Pinkie landed painfully, and just lay there, stunned and whimpering over how Rarity had treated her. She only decided to rise to all fours again and make her escape when she heard the white unicorn demand that her guards arrest "that pink mud horse" and throw her in prison.

The pink earth mare only slowed to an amble when she made it out of the gateway out of the ruins and realized that the guards weren't pursuing her beyond the walls of the structure. She looked back for a moment, then turned ahead of her again, looking down at the ground in front of her, but not really seeing it. After a few paces, she finally stopped and collapsed into a sphinx-style position, then set her head between her front hooves.

After a period of time, how long she couldn't tell, the representative of laughter heard a voice say, “Pinkie Pie, thy friend is in grave danger.”

Startled to alertness by the voice, the party pony quickly raised her head and looked around. Not seeing anyone, she asked, “Who's there?”

The voice answered, “I am a friend. My name is Abinadi.”

Looking down, Pinkie thought aloud, “Abinadi? I've never heard that name before.” Looking up again, she asked, “Are you a pony?”

Abinadi answered, “I am a human.”

Puzzled, the pink earth mare paused for a second in thought before saying, “Wait, there haven't been any humans for thousands of years now. How is there one now? And, how are we talking, and I can't see you?”

Abinadi answered, “I have been dead for many thousands of years now. I have been granted this time that I may help thee free thy friend from the spirit that possesses her.”

At this point, Pinkie started to rise to all fours. When she was in that position, she asked, “What can you tell me about that spirit?”

Abinadi answered, “His name is Noah, and he and I were friends before he became king in this land, which was once known as the land of Nephi.”

The representative of laughter opened her mouth to ask another question, but then saw the area around her change.

Suddenly, the vegetation changed around her. She looked behind her, and noticed the ground was prepared for growing plants that seemed oddly familiar to her. Not only that, but there were skinny creatures that walked on their hind legs. They'd walk around that way, pushing machines that broke up the ground, or carrying bags from which they'd take what she quickly realized were seeds and toss them randomly around.

This vision lasted for maybe a minute or two, and Pinkie Pie got the sense that this was a peaceful life for these creatures, what she realized were humans.

Then the scene changed, and these humans were chained by their forelimbs and hind limbs so that they could only move in groups, not unlike the way the stallions Pinkie had seen in the building were where she and Applejack had entered. But, there were other hands that'd attack the chained ones if there were any that stopped working for any reason.

After another minute or two, the vision ended; and the pink party pony wondered aloud to herself, “Did that king Noah cause that kind of change?”

Abinadi's voice answered, “He did, and thy friend Rarity could do the same thing unless she is freed from the spirit of king Noah.”

Again Pinkie looked down at the ground as she said, “I tried talking to her already, and she threw me out.” Quickly she looked up again and, gasping, said, “Applejack's working for her.”

Abinadi said, “Worry not for thy friend Applejack, for she is protected. She will be instrumental in freeing many of Rarity's prisoners.”

For a moment the pink earth mare paused. Only moving her mouth, she said, “Wait, king Noah is possessing Rarity? Does that mean …?”

Abinadi answered, “I will not possess thee. God has sent me to assist thee with thy friend. If she wishes to be free, we shall free her.”

At this point, the representative of laughter nodded before asking, “So, what do we do first?”

Abinadi answered, “Another friend of thine, Spike, has, in his possession, the record of my people, from their origin to their destruction. It hath been given him to know what he must that he may read and better understand what happeneth to thy friend Rarity. He shall also assist thee.”

Pinkie asked, “So, where is Spike?”

Unexpectedly, from behind her, she heard the little dragon's voice answer, “I'm right here.” And, she quickly turned around to see the purple dragon there, a worried look on his face.

Chapter 3: As It Was Written

It had been a few weeks since Rarity had gone to the ruins to set up, well, whatever it was she was setting up; and it had become something of a tourist trap. Turns out, perhaps not surprisingly, that Applejack's agricultural talent extended well beyond apple orchards. In fact, the wine she made for the white unicorn became well known for its quality and flavor, which attracted ponies from various parts of Equestria, as well as zebras from around New Zebraland.

In the mean time, Twilight's visit to Shoshoniensis had proven far less fruitful, with zebras more than willing to offer advise and warnings, but no assistance. And Flim and Flam continued to claim ignorance about any supernatural influences relating to the land they'd sold to Rarity.

Pinkie continued to look for ways to warn the representative of generosity about her condition and where it would likely lead, and each time the white unicorn expelled her from the ruins.

Rainbow Dash continued to keep an eye on the ruins and their occupants from a cloud high above, making flights over the city and updating the purple alicorn on how things were going.

And Fluttershy, after returning to the boutique, continued to take care of injured animals, who would give her information on the ponies and zebras that were occupying the ruins.

Looking at those past few weeks, Spike decided it was time to go back to reading that book he'd found under Rarity's bed, to see if there was any more information on this king Noah that was possessing his favorite unicorn.

After finding the page where he'd last read, he resumed, “And it came to pass that the Lamanites began to come in upon his people, upon small numbers, and to slay them in their fields, and while they were tending their flocks.” Looking up from the book, he considered that the zebras from the town closest to the boutique hadn't seemed that interested in wanting to fight against Rarity and her new home in the ruins. Still, he had to wonder if they knew how zebras were being treated in there. After all, hadn't enough of them disappeared?

He continued reading, “And king Noah sent guards round about the land to keep them off; but he did not send a sufficient number, and the Lamanites came upon them and killed them, and drove many of their flocks out of the land; thus the Lamanites began to destroy them, and to exercise their hatred upon them.”

This started to worry the purple dragon. If information were to get out about how Rarity was treating the zebras in her new dwelling, it seemed likely that they would react, and with anger; and they'd attack her and at least try to drive her out.

He continued reading, “And it came to pass that king Noah sent his armies against them, and they were driven back or they drove them back for a time; therefore, they returned rejoicing in their spoil.

“And now, because of this great victory they were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did boast in their own strength, saying that their fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites; and thus they did boast, and did delight in blood, and the shedding of the blood of their brethren, and this because of the wickedness of their king and priests.

“And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi; and he went forth among them, and began to prophesy, …”

Immediately Spike stopped. Hearing that name, he began to remember that indeed Pinkie had said something about a human spirit named Abinadi having visited her to help her warn the white unicorn about where her actions were going to lead. At that point, he decided it was time to take action. After placing the book back under his pillow, Spike proceeded to leave Rarity's work room in search of the pink earth mare.

Spike wasn't sure whether he should be surprised or not when he left the work room only to meet the representative of laughter in the hallway. Seeing nopony else around, he said, “Oh, hi, Pinkie. I was going to go looking for you.”

Presently, the pink earth mare asked, “It's about Rarity, isn't it?”

Spike nodded and grunted affirmatively.

Pinkie then asked, “So, what did you read in that book?”

At first the purple dragon grunted in curious confusion. Then, when the representative of laughter settled into a sphinx-style position so that they were at equal eye level, the thought came back to him; and he said, “Something about a king named Noah who was attacked by Lamanites and beaten once before beating them back, then his army bragging about how they could beat large numbers of them with their small armies. There was also something about a man called Abinadi.” He then asked, “Didn't you say something about a human spirit called Abinadi talking to you when you were leaving the ruins that one time?”

Pinkie nodded as she answered, “That's right.” She then stopped nodding as she continued, “And, he's been with me ever since. He's a good human, and tried to warn king Noah that what he was doing wasn't a good thing.” She then rose to all fours again and, turning away from the purple dragon, said, “We need to go back to those ruins. If things are going to turn out now, in our world, the way they did in that book; we need to warn Rarity. We need to warn her about what could happen next. Are you with me?”

The purple dragon only nodded as he hopped onto the back of the representative of laughter, ready to join her in her quest to make one more attempt to warn their friend.

Perhaps ten or so minutes later, as the two entered through the gates, it became clear how things had deteriorated.

Anyone who saw the place, not knowing what was going on, might think it had already been attacked. Ponies were either lying here and there or trying to stand on shaky legs.

Two ponies, a mare and a stallion, conversed while their bladders emptied. They had either lost their civility, or didn't know that they were publicly urinating.

One mare, as the dragon and the representative of laughter passed, started to rise to all fours, only to point her head down and empty the contents of her stomach from her mouth and nose before collapsing again.

Of the ponies in the streets that weren't on their hooves, most were snoring, evidently asleep.

Spike and Pinkie continued to make their way to the building at the end of the street where they were walking. Then, once inside the building, they made their way to the main room where they saw their white unicorn friend, asleep in a pile of black-and-white stripes and pony colors.

The representative of laughter approached her fellow element bearer and called out, “Rarity!”

Alarmed, the white unicorn struggled to rise to all fours as she screamed, then looked around and said, “What, who's there?” Then, seeing the pink earth mare, she groaned, “Oh, it's you again. What do you want?” And, she shook herself out.

At this point, it was Spike who stepped toward her and answered, “You've gotta get out of here, and you've gotta let every pony and zebra go back to their homes. If you don't, you're gonna be in real big trouble.”

Clearly inebriated, the white unicorn swayed back and forth as she cackled at the little dragon's warning. After a few seconds, she regained enough composure to ask, “Why, what in the world are you talking about, little dragon?”

Spike, collapsing onto his knees, whimpered, “I've been reading about a human king that did a lot of the same things you're doing. He grew a lot of grapes, made a lot of wine, and sold it to his people.”

Rarity attempted to settle into a canine-style sitting position with grace and dignity, only to end up slipping on one of the stallions nearby and collapsing into a les-dignified sphinx-style position. Trying to salvage what dignity she had left, she said, no slurred, “Sounds like a nice guy.” And, she concluded the statement with a loud belch.

Spike continued, “He was also attacked by Lamanites. The first time he tried to fight back, he didn't send enough and got beaten. The next army he sent drove off the Lamanites, and then returned bragging.”

Rarity pointed an unstable hoof at the dragon and earth mare as she said, “Well, it's a good thing there aren't any Lamanites here now, isn't it?” And she started laughing again.

At this point, Pinkie stepped forward and added, “It won't be humans, but zebras that come. And, in your condition, and in the condition of every pony and zebra living here, there's no way you'll be able to drive them off.”

The representative of generosity continued to laugh until a few seconds after the pink earth mare had stopped talking, after which she said, “Oh, you're kidding. Why, we're perfectly, perfectly, perfectly alright.” And, she prodded a nearby zebra stallion to get him to rise to all fours. When he did, she continued, “You see? This zebra's perfectly healthy. And, we're friends with the zebras. There's no way they'd want to attack us. Not unless you plan to turn them against me.”

The pink party pony took another step toward the white unicorn as she said, “I won't have to. What you've been doing to the zebras within these walls isn't as much of a secret as you like to think it is. These zebras have families and friends that are worried about them, and they want to see them again, in the same condition they were in when they got into these ruins. And, if they don't get them soon, they're going to do what they can to free them from your rule.”

Hearing this, Rarity started growling. Pointing to the two, she said, “How dare you spread such lies in my kingdom. Get out of here right now, or I shall send my guards to arrest you on the spot.”

Seeing the apparent determination on the white unicorn's face, Spike rose to his feet and turned to the representative of laughter. Moving toward her, he started to push her away as he said, “Let's get out of here. We're not getting through to Rarity. We need another plan.”

The pink earth mare, worry and sorrow in her face, stared at the white unicorn for a few more seconds before turning and ambling out of the building again.

But, before she could make her final exit, the representative of generosity threatened, “And, if I ever see you in here again, I shall arrest you for spreading your lies. And trust me, you will never leave here alive!”

Twilight decided the first place she should visit should be the office of the two unicorn brothers, Flim and Flam, to see if she could get more information on the property Rarity had purchased for her new boutique. That is, until she walked in on them being entertained by an earth mare dancing on her hind legs. And, she was sure she saw the poor mare being controlled by a green aura. Turning to the two unicorns, she saw that Flim's horn was glowing with a similar green aura.

Seeing their new visitor, Flam paused for a moment before asking, “Is there something we can help you with?”

The purple unicorn took a moment to turn to the earth mare, who bore a striking resemblance to Applebloom but was more physically mature; and grimaced before turning back to the two brothers and saying, “Uh, no, I don't think so. I'll, uh, just leave you two to go back to what you were doing.” And, she chuckled nervously before backing out of the office and closing the door behind her. As she ambled away, she wondered if she should do something to help that mare, who was apparently a prisoner of the two unicorn brothers. But, right now, she figured, she had another friend she needed to help.

Her next stop was the herb store, where she met up with the owner. Nodding to the zebra, she asked, “Is there anything you can tell me about the ruins behind Rarity's boutique?”

The zebra sighed before answering, “Not much, as we zebras will go nowhere near that place. But, there is a record of an ancient group of humans that once lived there. Perhaps you can find it in the possession of our town's record keeper.”

Just then, a masculine voice behind the purple unicorn said, “I'm sorry, but I cannot give you that record.”

With a start, Twilight turned to the source of the voice. Seeing the zebra stallion, she took a second to regain her composure before asking, “Why not?”

The new zebra turned away from the unicorn visitor and, sighing, answered, “Because it has disappeared. I don't know how or why, but it's just gone.”

Twilight also looked down for a moment. She then looked up again and, pointing at the zebra stallion, asked, “You knew I was going to need it?”

The evident record keeper answered, “Well, someone knew.” Focusing on Twilight again, he continued, “There is one thing I can tell you. If what is happening to your friend is what I think is happening, then she can be saved as long as she doesn't kill another pony. And, if she does, how she kills that pony will determine how she dies.”

The representative of magic swallowed hard, then asked, “Wh-what do you think is happening to Rarity?”

The stallion sat canine-style in front of the purple unicorn and, pointing to her, asked, “First, tell me, how is she behaving?”

Twilight fought to keep her emotions in check as she also sat canine-style. After inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, she answered, “All I can tell you is she's moved into those ruins. But, before that, not long after the opening of her boutique, she suddenly collapsed, like something had attacked her. When she woke up again, she became very aggressive, very combative. She's normally very generous, but she's turned selfish. I can't tell you anymore than that.”

The zebra stallion sighed, then said, “In the record that I kept is mentioned an evil king, the son of a good king, who took over rule of his father's kingdom. He lead his people to do things that they shouldn't do, and got himself destroyed when he had a prophet, another human, burned to death for the things he'd said about a coming Christ. If the spirit of that king is possessing your friend, then there may yet be time to rescue her. Like I said, as long as she doesn't kill another of her own kind, she can be saved.”

Twilight emitted a sigh of relief before saying, “Well, as far as I know, she hasn't killed anypony. So, I guess she's still salvageable.” She then asked, “So, what do I do?”

The zebra stallion nodded and answered, “She represents an element of harmony, from what I understand, the element of generosity. If you can remind her of the type of mare she's supposed to be, that she's a friend of yours, and get her to turn her life around and leave the ruins, that will give you, will give all of us, the best chance of separating her from the spirit of that evil king. But, she has to leave of her own accord. If she's forced to leave, then the spirit possessing her will only get a stronger hold on her.

“If you can convince her that leaving the ruins is her best choice, and if she agrees to do so and follows you out on her own, then you can lead her here; and we will perform a ceremony that will separate her from the evil king's spirit.”

The purple unicorn began to smile as she said, “I'm sure I can convince her. This isn't the first time she's become the opposite of the element she bares. I helped her then, and I can help her now. Thank you. I'll come back with Rarity as soon as possible.” And, with that, she rose to all fours again and galloped out of the town and back to the boutique.

Back at the boutique, she entered to find three of her other friends, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, there in the front room ahead of her.

Noting the absence of the orange earth mare, Twilight turned to the representative of laughter and asked, “Pinkie, what happened to Applejack?”

The pink earth mare tried for a minute to answer, but so overcome was she by her emotions that all she said that the others could clearly understand was “Rarity” and “vineyard.”

Tilting her head in confusion and incredulity, the azure pegasa asked, “Wait, Rarity has Applejack working in a vineyard?”

The pink party pony slowly nodded as she stammered, “S-something l-like th-that.”

Concerned, the representative of magic approached the pink earth mare and asked, “Pinkie, are you alright? Did Rarity do something to you?”

Trembling, the representative of laughter wiped a tear from one of her eyes with a forelimb as she answered, “Sh-she, she used h-her m-m-magic to th-throw m-me out of the r-r-ruins. She s-s-sent g-guards t-to t-t-try to arrest m-me.”

Twilight approached and nuzzled the pink earth mare in an attempt to calm her down as she said, “This is getting out of hoof.”

Fluttershy sighed as she said, “None of the creatures here were any help. They don't even dare go near the ruins.”

Sensing that Pinkie was calmer now, the purple unicorn backed away from her and, turning to each of the other remaining element bearers, said, “I got some information from the record keeper in Shoshoniensis, including a plan that we can use to get Rarity, our Rarity, back. This is what he said to me.”

Chapter 4: Roasted

Three of the four element bearers that were outside the ruins joined forces to put Twilight's plan into action, returning to the ruins to try to convince the representative of generosity to leave.

The first to make this attempt was Fluttershy, who made her best argument that Rarity wasn't being the generous pony she was intended to be. But, Rarity retorted that the environment she was producing was nothing but generous.

Next, Rainbow Dash pointed to the chains on the forelimbs of the ponies and zebras that happened to pass by in a line, suggesting that robbing them of their freedom was the opposite of generous. But, Rarity scoffed and said that the chains brought a sense of closeness to those wearing them.

And, before Pinkie Pie could speak, Rarity used her magic to levitate the pink earth mare off the ground and teleport her out of the building again.

This caused an immediate response from the azure pegasa, who proceeded to jump up and attempt to pounce on the white unicorn. But, Twilight used her own magic to stop her, warning that they were there to convince their friend to leave, not to attack and force her.

The representative of magic then set the representative of loyalty on her hooves again before approaching Rarity and stating that she was not being the friend that she should be. Avoiding direct talk of leaving the ruins, she pointed to the stallions surrounding the white unicorn and talked about how the environment she was producing was not the kind of generous she should be representing. Then, settling into a canine-style position, the purple alicorn talked about the time when Discord had been released and they'd gone to the labyrinth in Canterlot to stop him. She talked about how it had taken all six of them, freed from Discord's influence, that defeated the draconequus and imprisoned him in a statue again.

For a moment it seemed that Rarity was questioning what she was doing. But, her expression changed in a split second; and she rose up, growled, and started galloping at the representative of magic, an attack that Twilight only avoided by collapsing to one side. Rarity then turned to the purple alicorn and ordered her to leave, threatening her and the other three with imprisonment if they stayed.

That was the last time Twilight set hoof in the ruins that week. But, Pinkie Pie paid continual visits to warn her friend that she needed to leave.

Over the next few weeks after that, Spike continued to read the record containing information about this evil king, Noah. He even paid his own secret visits to his favorite unicorn, and watched silently as she seemed less and less able to escape from the ruins, although she seemed oddly happier and happier there.

On what would be the last time Pinkie would pay a visit to the ruins, her white unicorn friend stood ready for her at the opening where the pink earth mare usually entered.

Pointing a front hoof at the pink party pony, Rarity said, “Alright, Pinkie, I'm going to make a deal with you. If you'll stop with this nonsense about me having to leave my kingdom, about how unhealthy it is, and how I'm not being generous anymore, I'll allow you to enter. Otherwise, I shall have my guards arrest you, and you'll be spending time in the dungeon.”

The representative of laughter grabbed her fellow element bearer's forelimb and, sitting canine-style, said, “Rarity, you know what I'm going to say, and you know I won't take it back. Just let me ask you one question: have you ever known me to lie to you?”

The white unicorn said nothing in response, just tried to pull her forelimb free from the pink earth pony's grip.

Refusing to let go, Pinkie continued, “You know I'm only warning you because I care. This is not your kingdom. It belonged to somepony else, somepony that was bad. And, this place isn't just unhealthy for you, it's unhealthy for everypony, and for that matter every zebra, living here.”

In a final effort to free herself, Rarity reared up on her hind limbs and pushed against the pink party pony with her forelimbs. And, forcing her fellow element bearer to release her forelimb in a failed effort to regain her balance, the representative of generosity was successful. Then, bringing her forelimbs to each side of the fallen pink earth mare, she snarled as she said, “You just want my kingdom for yourself. Once I'm gone, you'll just take over and pretend to free everypony here.”

Unable to move freely, and not wanting to hurt her friend, Pinkie plead, “Rarity, listen to what you're saying. You're not the Rarity that used to be my friend. You never needed to enslave everypony around you before. You were as good, as generous, as anypony I've ever known. You're not Rarity anymore, you're King Noah!”

The white unicorn gasped in surprise, then struck the pink party pony across the face with a front hoof. Placing that hoof against the pink earth mare's chest, she growled, “How dare you.” She then turned and called out, “Guards, arrest this filthy mud horse immediately!” She then turned back to the trapped mare and said, “You'll pay for accusing me of being somepony I'm not.”

Before Pinkie could free herself, the guards were present, ready to bind her in chains and drag her to the prison. But, as she was being dragged away, she called out, “Rarity, you still have time to prove you're still Rarity! Just let everypony go, and leave with me! The zebras of Shoshoniensis can still free you from the spirit of King Noah!”

Refusing to listen to the pleas, the white unicorn turned and entered the palace. Once inside, she approached the stallions and said, “We need to talk. I was just assaulted by that mare, Pinkie Pie, again.”

One of the stallions asked, “My queen, are you alright?”

Another asked, “Where is she?”

Rarity turned to the second stallion first and answered, “The matter is taken care of. She's on her way to the dungeon.” She then turned to the first stallion.

But, before she could answer his question, he stated, “You've got to make an example of this intruder. What do you suggest we do?”

For a few seconds the white unicorn tapped her chin with a front hoof, humming in thought. Then she put the hoof down again before saying, “I say we put her to death. Let everypony know that their queen will not be attacked without consequences, and nopony shall be allowed to spread fear and chaos in my kingdom. And, to make the statement all the more effective, she will be burned to death.”

The two zebras nodded, and the second one said, “There's a pit in front of your palace. We'll search the nearby woods for dry kindling, then we'll build a platform from it so that the mare that attacked you, once she's tied to it, won't be able to escape. We can then ignite the kindling from a safe distance, and you can show everyone around you what happens to someone who attacks you unprovoked.”

Rarity smiled as she said, “Very well. You may proceed.”

A few days passed since Pinkie's last visit to Rarity in the ruins, and she hadn't returned. And, sitting in the empty work room, Spike had started to worry about her. He then remembered the book he'd been reading, and went to his bed to retrieve it. It took only a moment of feeling under his pillow before he found the volume, then another few seconds to open it to the page where he'd left off.

He started reading to himself, “And now it came to pass that when Abinadi had finished these sayings, that the king commanded that the priests should take him and cause that he should be put to death.” Immediately he stopped.

Thinking to himself, he had to wonder, would Rarity go that far with Pinkie Pie, a friend of hers? The representative of laughter had only been warning her, admittedly as often as twice a day, that what she was doing wasn't a good thing. And, all the other ponies had been trying to get her out of there, trying to convince her to leave that place, ever since they'd heard the story about what had happened there.

In an attempt to calm himself, he swallowed, but with great difficulty. He tried breathing exercises, which helped just a little. Then he thought to himself, of course Rarity wouldn't do such a thing to her own friend. And even if she did order Pinkie Pie killed, surely the other four would help free her, could do so before she could succeed.

Still upset by the idea, the purple dragon continued to read, “But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken, for he knew concerning the iniquity which Abinadi had testified against them, therefore he began to plead with the king that he would not be angry with Abinadi, but suffer that he might depart in peace.

“But the king was more wroth, and caused that Alma should be cast out from among them, and sent his servants after him that they might slay him.”

Starting to feel hopeful about the situation, Spike began to wonder to himself, who of the other four would, could, play the role of this Alma character? His first thought was Rainbow Dash, but then he realized that the azure pegasa was not in the position to do what this Alma was doing. Could it be Applejack, who was working for Rarity in those ruins? Who else was in such a position?

Worried as much for his favorite unicorn as for his other friends, yet still hopeful, Spike continued to read, “But he fled from before them and hid himself that they found him not. And he being concealed for many days did write all the words which Abinadi had spoken.

“And it came to pass that the king caused that his guards should surround Abinadi and take him, and they bound him and cast him into prison.”

At this point, the purple dragon thought to himself, well, that's what must've happened to Pinkie Pie. And, he continued reading, “And he said unto him: Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of death.

“For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou has spoken evil concerning me and my people.

“Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands.

“Yea, and I will suffer even until death, and I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimony against you. And if ye slay me ye will shed innocent blood, and this shall also stand as a testimony against you at the last day.”

Thinking over the period of time since the completion of this boutique, Spike wondered to himself, would Pinkie Pie be that determined? How far would she go, hoping she could free Rarity from her … condition? Then again, the zebras had warned Twilight and the others that if Rarity were to kill, she could not be salvaged. So, what if she were to kill Pinkie Pie?

Knowing he could not let such a thing happen, Spike continued reading, “And now king Noah was about to release him, for he feared his word; for he feared that the judgments of God would come upon him.

“But the priests lifted up their voices against him, and began to accuse him, saying: he has reviled the king. Therefore the king was stirred up in anger against him, and he delivered him up that he might be slain.

“And it came to pass that they took him and bound him, and scourged his skin with faggots, yea, even until death.”

For a long time, Spike just froze there, staring at those last three words. Then the memory of his dream came back to him, and he realized he'd seen how this creature, this prophet, Abinadi, had died. He'd seen the death for himself, in his dream. And, if he didn't do something about it, Pinkie was going to face that same fate.

The purple dragon forced himself to continue reading, “And now when the flames began to scorch him, he cried unto them, saying:

“Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy seed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of death by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God.

“And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities.

“Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts.

“And in that day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, the pains of death by fire.

“Thus God executeth vengeance upon those that destroy his people. O God, receive my soul.

“And now, when Abinadi had said these words, he fell, having suffered death by fire; yea, having been put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God, having sealed the truth of his words by his death.”

At that point, Spike slammed the book closed and stuffed it under his pillow again. He tried to close his eyes to shut out the terror he was feeling, but then all he could see was the pink party pony in a pyramid of logs, only her head showing, burning alive. Not wanting to see the vision anymore, he forced his eyes open again. Overcome as he was with his emotions, he knew he couldn't let what he'd read about, what he'd seen, happen. He had to rescue Pinkie Pie. He had to rescue Rarity. Or, if he couldn't, he at least had to give it his best shot. And, with that knowledge, he ran, as fast as he could, out of the room, to and out the door of the boutique, and to the ruins.

Just outside the gate, the purple dragon saw the representative of honesty huddled against the wall, vibrating with fear. Approaching her, he asked, “Applejack, are you alright?”

The orange earth mare only vocalized, “It's Rarity. She done gone crazy. She's a-gonna kill Pinkie Pie.”

When Spike opened his mouth he was surprised to hear himself say, “I know.” But, he wasn't surprised to continue, “That's why I'm here, to try to stop her.”

Tears started streaming down the face of the representative of honesty as she said, “Ah don't know if'n you c'n do nothin' t' help. Ah only hope y' can. Ah tried t' c'nvince 'er to let Pinkie go, 'n' Rarity ordered ever'pony aggin me, too.”

With a determination he didn't expect, the purple dragon said, “You just wait here, Applejack. This has gone far enough. I'll do whatever I can to stop it.” And, he marched to and into the gates of the ruins. And, not even Applejack's question of “And, what if y' can't?” could stop him.

Once inside the walls of the main building, he saw the white unicorn, purple mane and tail frizzed beyond control yet somehow still recognizable, and approached her. Seeing her on her hooves, yet oddly unstable, he said, “Rarity, we've gotta talk. You need to get out of here. And, you've got to let Pinkie Pie go.”

As the white unicorn turned slowly and looked down at her draconian visitor, all she could do, at first, was vocalize.

The purple dragon couldn't tell if the scent was coming from her, or just from her mouth. All he knew was it was an intolerable stench, yet somehow familiar. For a moment Spike covered his nose and stumbled backward. Then he shook himself out.

Rarity shook herself out as well, then stumbled a bit before stabilizing herself somewhat. Focused on the purple dragon, she slurred, “Ssssssspikey Wa Wa Wa Wikey, yyyou're herrrre. Come withththth mmmme.” And, she proceeded down a nearby flight of stairs.

Thinking he might've been getting through to his favorite unicorn mare, Spike proceeded to follow her down the stairs. At their base, he continued, “Don't you see what's happening to you? This isn't what you're supposed to be. You're supposed to be representing generosity, not trapping ponies and zebras in these ruins.”

At this point, Rarity turned to him and said, “Hey, you're sssstarting to sssound like mmmy pppp, my pppp, …”

Glaring at the inebriated unicorn mare, he said, “That's because she's right.” He took another breath to say more, but then he felt himself floating above the ground, toward the white unicorn.

Inches from her muzzle, he watched as she said, purple liquid dripping from her mouth, “If you wishshsh to ssstay, you will be quiet!” And, Spike immediately found himself flying out of control past Rarity, until he hit a solid surface, which he bounced off of before falling to the ground.

Still conscious, but in pain along his back where he'd made contact with that surface, which he figured had to be a wall, he rolled onto his front and rose to his feet. Then, as he approached the white unicorn again, he looked into the cage, next to Rarity, and was surprised to see one of those odd creatures he'd seen in his dream, next to Pinkie Pie.

Pointing to the new creature, he asked, “Abinadi?”

The creature turned to him, nodded, and answered, “I am. You know of me from the abbreviated record of my people, which you have with you.” Then, as he turned to Rarity, Spike noticed that he was covered in cloth, with only his head, hands and feet visible.

Before the creature could speak, Rarity said, in an unexpectedly masculine voice, “So, we meet again, Prophet Abinadi.”

Abinadi reached out to Rarity and said, “Noah, this conflict is between thee and me. Let us not involve these creatures. Let this unicorn, Rarity, go.”

In the masculine voice, Rarity cackled, then said, “Oh, but why would I do that? As long as I have this creature, this Rarity, I can rule over this land that used to belong to us.” Again she cackled before adding, “Oh, and it is King Noah to you.”

Undeterred, Abinadi continued, “Noah, you had your chance, and you ruined it. That is why you were trapped in that pulpit.”

Rarity, or was it this King Noah character, responded, “And, I owe my freedom to this dragon, Spike.” And, she, or perhaps he, proceeded to massage the purple dragon's head with a front hoof.

Suddenly not wanting the attention, Spike pushed the forelimb away. Backing away from the white unicorn, he pointed to her and asked, “Wait, you're that ball of fire that came out of that pedestal?”

Smiling unnaturally, Rarity, no, King Noah, answered, “I am. And, I took over the first creature I could find that evaded me not. And now, with her under my control, I shall again rule over the land of Nephi.” And, louder and longer than he had before, he cackled.

Abinadi took a step toward the crazed, possessed unicorn and, pointing to her, said, “But this is no longer the land of Nephi.”

Rarity glared up at the clothed creature; and King Noah, through her, snarled, “Of course it is!”

Abinadi continued, “And, if you kill this pink pony, Pinkie Pie, what happened to you will happen to the unicorn you possess. Do you remember how you died, how you ordered that I should die?”

Slowly and quietly, King Noah growled. “I know how your life ended, I ordered it. And, I know my life ended the same way.” Then his voice started to rise in volume as he continued, “But, this is different. These creatures are different. They don't have the same sensibilities that we do. They're just dumb animals. This white unicorn, Rarity, couldn't stop me from possessing her.”

Abinadi responded, “These creatures will prove you wrong. And, as much as you'd like to believe otherwise, I can, and I will, do everything I can to interfere with your plans. I need not possess the body of another creature; for, as you can see, I have a body of my own, incorruptible, because of the sacrifice of the Christ, which you rejected. And, you, because you had a mortal body, will have an immortal one of your own some day. Let go of Rarity, and let her live her life. Let her represent generosity as she was intended to do.”

Furious, the spirit of the evil king roared out, “Silence!” Then, in the white unicorn's voice, he shouted, “Guards!”

Hoping to make the best of what he saw as his last option, Spike knelt at the front hooves of his favorite unicorn and begged, “Rarity, please, you've got to fight this. You can't let this King Noah cause your death. I know what he's planning to do with Pinkie Pie. It's the same thing he did with Abinadi. He's going to burn her to death. Please, Rarity, please stop this right now.”

Just then, the purple dragon heard a voice just beyond Rarity ask, “Yes, my queen?” And he looked up in time to see perhaps a half a dozen zebras.

He then felt himself levitated once again, and he heard Rarity say, “You, take this dragon and cast him out. You, make sure that platform you made is sturdy, but flammable. And you, stay here. When I call for you, you will take this pink mud horse and tie her to the log that shall be set up for her. Tonight, I shall demonstrate to all what happens to anypony that tries to spread discord in my kingdom.”

While the white unicorn was giving orders, he turned to face her, fearful of the creature he was seeing. When she was finished, and before a guard could touch him, he grabbed at Rarity's muzzle and plead, “No, King Noah, wait. I'm the one that freed you from that pulpit. If you have to possess anypony, it should be me.”

The white unicorn twitched her head in a way that suggested to him, somehow, control, before king Noah said, “Why, Spikey-Wikey, it's because you freed me that I'm not ordering you to prison. A fair trade, wouldn't you agree?”

And, that's when he felt teeth clamp against the end of his tail. As he was dragged away by the zebra, still he plead with the evil king to possess him instead, plead for Rarity to fight against the evil spirit possessing her.

At the entrance to the ruins, the guard tossed the purple dragon out of the wooden doors and, before he landed, closed them again.

As Spike slid on his belly to a stop, he heard the orange earth mare behind him ask, “Spike, are you alright?”

At first, the purple dragon refused to move more than his mouth as he answered, “No, I'm not alright.” Turning to the representative if honesty, he continued, “Rarity's possessed by King Noah, and she's gonna kill Pinkie Pie! I tried to convince her to stop. Abinadi tried to convince King Noah to stop. But, they refuse to listen. Rarity's gonna burn Pinkie Pie to death, and there's nothing anypony can do to stop it!” And, with that, he rolled back onto his front, buried his face in the ground between his forelimbs, and started sobbing.

Unable to think of anything else to do, the orange earth mare, attempting to calm the purple dragon, nuzzled him against the back of his neck. And thus they were for a period of time that neither of them bothered to measure.

Eventually, Spike, his eyes closed, was surprised to hear Twilight's voice ask, “Are we in time to save Pinkie Pie?”

He then heard Applejack answer, “Ah don't know. Spike here tried t' stop Rarity 'n' failed.”

He heard Twilight gasp, then ask, “She hasn't already killed her, has she?”

Applejack answered, “No, not yet. But, 'cordin' t' Spike, she ain't got much time left.”

Spike was surprised to hear Rainbow Dash's voice, but not to hear her say, “Well, we can't just wait out here. We've gotta do something.”

At that point, Spike decided to rise, open his eyes, and say, “Rarity's holding Pinkie Pie in some kind of underground dungeon. I know where it is, Rarity lead me there.”

Hearing this, Twilight said, “Well, it's settled then.” Turning to the azure pegasa, she said, “We'll go and see about rescuing Pinkie Pie. If necessary, … I'll fight off Rarity.” Turning to the orange earth mare, she said, “You wait out here, Applejack.” She then turned to her assistant and said, “Spike, you'll ride on my back. If there's any chance at all of rescuing Pinkie Pie and Rarity, it's gotta be now.”

Nothing more was said among them as Spike climbed onto Twilight's back, and they flew over the wall, with Rainbow Dash following.

As Spike looked down over the city, he noticed the depression in front of the palace was covered over by a platform made of wood, with a wooden pole in the middle of it. And, the platform was being covered by dry plant material. He swallowed hard, and could only mouth the words, “Oh, no.”

He then heard Twilight say, “We'll land on the roof over there, then I'll teleport us into the palace, as soon as I can tell it's safe.” And, not long after she said that, the two winged ponies landed on the roof of a building, one close to the palace.

Twilight used her magic to levitate Spike off her back, then in front of her so they were face-to-face. Then, seeing his expression, she asked, worried, “Spike, what's wrong?”

Spike turned away from the purple alicorn and took a few steps until he could see the platform. Pointing to it, he whispered, “Rarity, no, Noah, said they were going to burn Pinkie Pie to death. That platform's covering a hole in front of the palace. It has to be where they're going to do that.”

Twilight nodded before saying, “We don't have much time left. We've gotta teleport now.” And, with that, her horn started to glow and sparkle, immediately after which the pegasa, the alicorn, and the dragon disappeared from the rooftop.

Inside the palace, the trio were surprised to hear the white unicorn's voice say, “Well, what a surprise. I didn't think you'd be visiting me today.”

Rainbow Dash quickly turned to confront the representative of generosity. She dug at the floor under her with a front hoof until Rarity was finished speaking, then said, “We're here to rescue Pinkie Pie.” And, with that, she proceeded to gallop toward the white unicorn.

Rarity cackled, then said, in a voice oddly masculine, yet familiar to Spike, “Oh, I don't think so.” And, her horn started to glow and sparkle.

Instantly, the azure pegasa found herself unable to move. She couldn't even struggle as she was levitated into the air.

So surprised she couldn't move, Twilight could only ask, “R … Rarity?”

And before the others could do anything to stop her, the white unicorn used her magic to thrust the azure pegasa into the purple alicorn, effectively knocking them both unconscious.

Seeing the representatives of magic and loyalty thus incapacitated, Spike turned to his favorite unicorn and said, “Rarity, you've got to stop this.”

The white unicorn approached the dragon and said, “Oh, I don't think so. In fact, you can do your part to serve your queen.” And, again her horn glowed and sparkled.

Immediately, Spike found himself unable to move, and, like Rainbow Dash, was levitated above the ground. Unlike the azure pegasa, though, he was magically carried out of the building and to the center of the wooden platform. Then, hovering over it, his mouth was magically forced open; and a clear oil began to squirt from the back of his throat.

To those watching, it might have looked as though the dragon was either salivating or vomiting. But, Spike knew what was happening to him.

Dragons have a gland in the back of their mouth, just above the throat, that produces a special, flammable oil. And, that oil, combined with a special, sparking tooth and their own lung power, allows them to appear to spit fire from their mouths.

But, he wondered, how was Rarity making him produce the oil and keeping his sparking tooth from igniting it? Was this something King Noah had learned to do to dragons? Or, did Rarity have this information all along? Spike could only wonder about these things as he was magically dragged through the palace, up the stairs, and to the porch which was occupied by those stone sofas. And there he was finally released, exhausted from what he'd been forced to do.

But, Rarity made it clear she wasn't finished with him just yet, as she called out, “Guards, bring the prisoner to the platform, and tie her to the post!”

Perhaps a minute later, four zebra guards guided the pink earth mare to the wooden platform, then proceeded to tie her to the pole in the middle, her forelimbs tied behind her.

As soon as the guards were finished and had moved off of the platform, Rarity approached the edge of the elevated porch and, propping herself up, pointed to the platform; and King Noah said, “Behold, the pony who tried to spread fear in my kingdom, and assaulted me personally. This is how such criminals shall be punished in my kingdom.” And, she used her magic to position Spike over the end of his oil line, then open his mouth, then use his sparking tooth over the oil.

Spike could only hope that, for once, his sparking tooth would refuse to work. But, his hope failed him. He couldn't see it, but he could feel the spark fall from his mouth onto the line of oil. And, from there, the oil ignited, the flame making its way to the steps, where a drop of burning oil would light the next line on each step down until the fire got to the platform. At that point, he could only think to himself, 'I'm so sorry, Pinkie Pie.'

In the mean time, from outside, the pink earth mare shouted, “Rarity, listen to me! Don't you realize the example you're setting for your subjects? Now everypony living here is going to think it's alright to kill each other, the way you're killing me! And, the way I die will be the way you will die!”

The purple dragon, now able to move on his own, scrambled away form the fire and toward the edge of the balcony. And, he could only watch helplessly as the kindling, then Pinkie's tail and mane, caught fire.

The pink party pony turned to him and said, “Spike, it's alright. This isn't your fault.” She then turned back to the white unicorn and continued, “But, Rarity, why don't you fight against King Noah? This isn't generosity! You heard Abinadi! King Noah's not your friend! I am! And so are Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy!” The voice of the representative of laughter started to fade as she used the last of her energy to shout, “I'm so sorry, Rarity!” And, with that, she fell limp and allowed the flames to consume her.

Around the fire neither pony nor zebra made a sound. And, not even the demands of Rarity or King Noah could get them to vocalize approval, or even disapproval.

In the mean time, unbeknownst to the crowd, the azure pegasa had managed to make her way to a rooftop where she could see what was happening to her pink earth pony friend. And, as she watched, her grief over the loss of her friend turned to anger and hatred toward the unicorn that had caused her death. Within herself, Rainbow Dash promised that the white unicorn would never cause another death, not as long as she could do anything about it.

Chapter 5: Honesty and Loyalty

Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had to wait until nighttime before they could collect Pinkie Pie's remains. And, in the mean time, they made arrangements for a funeral for the party pony. In the days that followed, Princess Celestia and Fluttershy came to join in on the ceremony, Princess Celestia specifically to withdraw from the pink earth mare the right to represent the element of laughter, before Twilight performed the burial ceremony on one of her friends.

After the former representative of laughter was buried, the azure pegasa started talking about killing Rarity, or at least punishing her for what she'd done to a fellow element bearer.

The purple unicorn did her best to placate the representative of loyalty, hoping to talk to the white unicorn before Rainbow Dash could carry out her threat.

In the mean time, Spike began to feel more and more responsible for what had happened so far. After all, he was the one that had released that ball of fire, that King Noah, that had attacked and was possessing his favorite unicorn. And Rarity, possessed by King Noah, had killed another creature, a fellow element bearer, and by fire. While he agreed with Rainbow Dash that the white unicorn had to be stopped, he didn't want to see her killed. If he could separate King Noah from Rarity, he would. And, even if he couldn't, he had to give it his best shot.

One morning, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack sat at the table, each on their own side, in silence as Spike finished preparing pancakes for them.

It wasn't until Spike placed a plate in front of each pony, each with a stack of pancakes, that the azure pegasa pounded her front hooves on the table and shouted, “I'm telling you, we've gotta do something to stop Rarity from killing anypony else! And, if it means killing her, then so be it!”

As calmly as she could, Twilight responded, “I know we can't let her kill anypony else. But, until we can be sure it's our only option, I can't allow you to do that.”

Fluttershy stared at the stack in front of her and, slowly shaking her head, said, “I just can't believe Pinkie Pie's really gone.”

Applejack turned to the representative of kindness and said, “Neither c'n Ah, Sugar Cube. 'N', Ah'm still havin' problems believin' Rarity's 'sponsible fer it.”

The representative of magic, dividing her attention among her fellow element bearers, asked, “So, what do we do? Risk more ponies, or even zebras, being killed by her? Should we kill her ourselves, as Rainbow Dash suggests?”

Presently, Spike ran to his adoptive mother and grabbed her closest forelimb before shouting, “No, you can't do that!”

Turning to her assistant, Twilight nuzzled him as she responded, “I know how you feel. None of us wants to be the one to kill Rarity.”

Shaking his head, the purple dragon continued, “No, you don't understand.” He stopped shaking his head, and tears streamed from his eyes as he continued, “Maybe, … maybe Rarity can't be saved anymore. Maybe, … m-maybe nothing can stop her from … from being k-killed. B-but, is it up to us to decide when it happens? When she … when she …?” Unable to say anymore, he buried his face in Twilight's shoulder and started sobbing.

Attempting to calm her assistant, Twilight rested her head over the back of his neck.

Applejack stared at her stack of pancakes for a few more seconds before rising to all fours and backing away from the table. Turning to the kitchen door, she said, “Ah's sorry. Ah ain't hungered. Ah's a-gonna head t' those ruins 'n' see what Ah c'n do. Maybe Ah c'n still talk some sense int' Rarity.”

Pointing at the earth mare with her free forelimb, Twilight turned to her and said, “I'm afraid … I'm afraid it's too late for that. We need a different plan. I don't know how, but we need to get as many ponies and zebras out of those ruins as possible before Rarity does to them … what she did to Pinkie.”

The representative of honesty paused for a moment before returning to her place at the table. Sighing, she said, “Yer right, Sugar Cube. Right now, them ponies 'n' zebras in them ruins is prily a-thinkin' 'bout how they's a-gonna 'scape.”

As soon as the orange earth mare was back at the table in a canine-style position, Fluttershy turned to the purple alicorn and asked, “So, do you have any ideas?”

Still focused on Applejack, Twilight asked, “Do you know of any alternative escape route from those ruins?”

The representative of honesty looked down as she started to answer, “Ah's thought Ah saw what used t' be one, but it's blocked off long time ago.” She then focused on the representative of magic again as she continued, “If'n Ah c'n wait 'til night, when them guards is a-sleppin', maybe Ah c'n free some o' th' pris'ners 'n' get 'em out through th' front gate.”

Twilight continued, “Do you think you could free at least one pony and one zebra?”

Applejack rubbed the bottom of her chin with a forelimb as she answered, slowly, “Maybe, if'n it's one 'v each a time.” Putting the front hoof down, she continued, “But, most o' th' ponies 'n' zebras is chain. If'n any o' those goes a-missin', Rarity'll 'spect somethin' wrong. Far's Ah know, Ah's th' only one that ain't chain 'r drunkt all th' time.”

Twilight nodded and said, “So, Applejack, I'm putting you in charge of freeing as many of those ponies and zebras as you can.” Turning to the two pegasae, she said, “Maybe I can enlist the help of the zebras in Shoshoniensis to help rescue their own kind, and maybe even the ponies.” Focusing on the representative of kindness, she asked, “Fluttershy, will you help me with that?”

Shying away from her stack, she answered, “I, uh, I guess.”

Again the purple alicorn nodded, then turned to the representative of loyalty and said, “Rainbow Dash, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Spike. Can you do that?”

With no apparent second thoughts, the azure pegasa answered, “Sure, no probs.”

One last time the representative of magic nodded, then turned to her stack of pancakes and said, “Well, in that case, let's eat. We'll get to our assignments when we're done.”

As silent afterwards as they were, they still took longer than usual to eat their pancakes. But, when they were done, Rainbow Dash and Spike were the only ones that stayed at the boutique.

The azure pegasa and the dragon watched as the other three exited the building, saluting them farewell and hoping for their safe return. Then, once the door was closed, the azure pegasa turned to the dragon and said, “Well, Spike, I guess it's just you and me. So, what do you wanna do?”

The purple dragon answered, stretching, “I think I'll head upstairs. I need to get some sleep.”

Under her breath, the azure pegasa said, “Yeah, sleep.” She then said, so that she knew Spike could hear, “Maybe I'll go outside.”

The dragon turned to the representative of loyalty and asked, “Shouldn't you stay in here, you know, keep an eye on me?”

Rainbow Dash sputtered dismissively and asked in response, “What trouble could you get into in your sleep?”

At this point, Spike folded his arms, a look of incredulity on his face, and said, “Ever since Pinkie's death, we know you've been wanting to get back at Rarity. You said so yourself. But, I also suspect that, while Twilight assigned you to take care of me, it's the other way around.”

Pointing with a front hoof, first at the dragon, then at herself, then setting the hoof down under her again, the azure pegasa asked, “So, if you're supposed to be taking care of me, why did you say you were going to take a nap?”

At this point, as much as he could, Spike covered his face with one of his clawed hands. Sighing, he removed the hand again and said, “Alright.” Then, turning to the steps and starting to ascend them, he gestured to the representative of loyalty to follow him as he said, “I have something I guess I need to show you now.”

Somewhat cautiously curious, Rainbow Dash started following the purple dragon up the stairs as she asked, “Yeah, and what would that be?”

At the top of the stairs, Spike proceeded to the room he and Rarity had once shared and opened the door as he answered, “Maybe a month or two ago, when I was in Rarity's bedroom, I saw something glowing under her bed. Curious to see what it was, I had a look. To my surprise, I found a book there. I got it out and opened it up, and it went right to a page of a lesser book, I guess, called Mosiah.” By this point, Spike was at the door to Rarity's room. Once inside, he waited for the representative of loyalty to enter with him before closing the door behind her, then, proceeding to his bed, continued, “I've been reading it since then. The story's about a human named Noah, who became king over a group of humans after his father died. But, he wasn't a good king like his father. He made a lot of wine and sold it to his people. He taxed his people, and used the taxes to build something of a palace for himself and his priests. Then, when a man called Abinadi—“

Immediately on hearing the name, Rainbow Dash repeated it, then continued, “Pinkie mentioned that name the first time when she came back from those ruins after warning Rarity to get out of there.”

The dragon nodded before continuing, “When he tried to warn this king Noah that he shouldn't be doing what he was doing, king Noah had him killed, burned by fire.”

The azure pegasa added, “Just like Rarity did to Pinkie Pie.” Then, seeing the purple dragon nod, she asked, “Do you think Rarity's been turning into this king Noah?”

Spike had a major struggle with his emotions before he was able to answer, “I, ... I w-wouldn't b-be s-surprised.” In another attempt to calm himself, he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before continuing, “Any way, that's as far as I've read. If you want, I can read more of the story to you.”

As the dragon reached under his pillow to get the book, Rainbow Dash looked back at the door, then back at him. Then she settled down into a sphinx-style position and said, “Yeah, why not.”

Spike sat in his own bed and smiled unsteadily at the azure pegasa before opening the book and reading, “And now behold, the forces of the king were small, having been reduced, and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people.

“And the lesser part began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them.

“And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.”

At this point, the representative of loyalty grunted with interest before saying, “I wonder if this Gideon was a friend of Abinadi.”

Spike shrugged before answering, “Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't.” Tapping one of the pages, he continued, “There's another human mentioned, Alma, who tried to talk king Noah out of killing Abinadi, and king Noah tried to kill him. But, he escaped and led a bunch of others out of the city, even formed a church. Gideon and Alma may or may not have been friends.” He then stopped tapping as he concluded, “It could also be that this Gideon just didn't like what king Noah was doing.” He then continued reading, “And it came to pass that he fought with the king, and when the king saw he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the temple.

“And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of Shemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land.

“And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, spare me, for the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us, yea, they will destroy my people.

“Now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his own life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.”

At this point, Rainbow Dash opened a wing and stretched it between Spike and the book. Then she said, “I'm guessing Twilight assigned me to take care of you because she was afraid that if I went to kill Rarity, she'd likely capture me and kill me instead, probably the way she killed Pinkie Pie. But, if events happen the way they happened in your book—“

Spike interrupted, “I don't know who's book this is, I just know it isn't mine.”

Rainbow Dash folded the wing again and continued, “But still, if I go to kill Rarity, I'll be so awesome that I won't have to worry about being killed myself.”

The dragon added, “But, you won't kill Rarity either. You'll just scare her, and she'll look for any excuse to escape.”

The azure pegasa rose to a canine-style position as she said, “Well, in that case, I'll just have to look out for that.”

Hearing this, Spike jumped over the book and, grabbing the representative of loyalty by her face, said, “This isn't the time for that.”

Presently Rainbow Dash reared back, surprised at the dragon's unexpectedly bold response. She opened and flapped her wings to stabilize herself, then closed them again and said, “Alright, Spike, I'll play it your way, for now.”

Spike nodded quickly, then let go of the azure pegasa's face. He then turned away and said, “We'll wait for everypony else to return before we make another move.”

As soon as they entered, Twilight and Fluttershy were greeted by a zebra stallion, who guided them to a room across from the store. There, they were surprised to see a large, elliptically-shaped table surrounded by stools, where more zebras were seated.

After the two ponies each took a seat on one side of the table, the purple alicorn said, “Uh, hi.”

The stallion who had escorted them took a seat among his fellow zebras and said, “After the death of your friend, we thought you'd want to have a conference with us."

Twilight took a moment to look down as she said, “Yeah.” She then looked up at the zebra opposite her, but she was surprised when Fluttershy asked, “So, does that mean you'll help us?”

The zebra mare opposite the two ponies took her turn looking down as she answered, “We wish we could.” Looking up at the representative of magic again, she continued, “But, we cannot act without sufficient evidence. Yes, we are aware that zebras and ponies have come up missing. But, without any witnesses to back up your claim, we just can't act. We hope you understand.”

At this point, Twilight smiled as she said, “I have a pony on the inside working on that right now. By tomorrow, we should have the witnesses you need.”

The zebra mare nodded and said, “Well, then, come back tomorrow with your witnesses, and we'll hear them out. If their testimony is sufficient, then we'll take action.”

The purple alicorn nodded in return and said, “To be honest, us ponies are the same way. At least most of us. We won't take violent action unless we have enough of a reason.” And, with that, she rose and made her way to the door to the room. And, after exiting through that door, she made her way to and out of the door to the center.

Applejack went back to the ruins, and resumed her job of growing and harvesting from the grape vines, until nighttime. Then, checking to see that the way was clear for her, she proceeded to free one pony and one zebra from their chains, then lead them to the front gate, keeping as quiet as she could.

Once outside the gate, she pointed the way to the boutique, quietly ordering the two freed equines to make their way there. Afterwards, she went back inside.

She followed this pattern twice more before being met by two guard ponies as she entered the front gate again.

One of them ordered, “Stop right there. You have no legal right to release her majesty's prisoners.”

Skeptically, the representative of honesty asked, “Seriously?” before continuing, “Rarity ain't got no rights t' 'prison nopony.”

The other guard said, “She's the queen, and that gives her the right.” He then grabbed the orange earth mare by the mane and tossed her ahead of him, away from the gate, before saying, “You are under arrest.” And, he nudged her ahead of him.

Back in the palace, the guards woke the sleeping unicorn mare, saying, “Queen Rarity, we caught this earth mare freeing some of your prisoners.”

Sleepily, the representative of generosity lifted her head and asked, “Huh, what?” Then, lighting her horn and turning to get a look at her fellow element bearer, she asked, “Applejack, is this true?”

As the white unicorn rose to all fours, albeit shakily, the orange earth mare answered, “Y'ain't got no right t' 'prison nopony, 'n' no zebra fer that matter.”

Rarity scoffed and said, "I'm the queen."

For emphasis, Applejack pointed to the representative of generosity with each word as she said, “No, yer not.” She then put the front hoof down again as she continued, “Yer th' element o' generosity. 'R, that's what yer s'pose t' be. This ain't yer home, it's just some ruins that no zebras don't even enter.” Her voice then started to crack with emotion as she continued, “Ah don't know what happened t' y'all, Rarity, but this place ain't no good fer yeh.”

Turning to the guards, the white unicorn asked, “Where are the prisoners? We must get them back.”

Applejack snorted derisively before answering, “Ain't gonna be no use. B' now, least one o' them's made it t' yer boutique, 'n's a-tellin' th' others 'bout what's been a-happenin' 'round here. By t'morrow, there's gonna be zebra's a-swarmin' this place, a-freein' ever' pony 'n' zebra you 'prisoned here.”

At this news, Rarity glared at the orange earth mare and growled out four or five breaths. She then turned to her guards and, pointing her nose in the air, ordered, “Take this filthy mud horse to the prison. We shall make an example of her as we did with Abinadi.” And, with that, she collapsed into unconsciousness.

Momentarily puzzled, the two guards looked at each other. Then they shrugged and proceeded to escort Applejack to a cell in the prison under the palace.

Chapter 6: Rarity Versus the Zebras

Four ponies, three zebras, and one dragon were present to meet Twilight and Fluttershy as they entered the boutique.

The purple alicorn turned to the representative of loyalty and asked, “So, Rainbow Dash, where's Applejack?”

The zebras and the three ponies with them looked down at the floor as Rainbow Dash answered, “I don't know. She hasn't come back yet.”

Twilight continued, “Well, in the mean time, I've got some news. The zebras of Shoshoniensis won't take action until they have evidence that they can act on. And, that means we need to bring back witnesses that were in those ruins with Rarity.”

At this statement, the three ponies and three zebras looked up again at the representative of magic; and one of the zebras said, “Well, then, we have good news for you. Because of Applejack, we were able to escape from those ruins and make it back here.”

Focusing on the evident representative of the six, Twilight nodded, smiled, and said, “Excellent.” Her smile then morphed into a look of worry as she continued, “But, when I asked Rainbow Dash about Applejack, I noticed that the six of you looked down. Did something happen to Applejack?”

The three ponies and three zebras exchanged looks, then their apparent speaker turned to the representative of magic and answered, “Well, that's the bad news. There's only been three of us zebras and three ponies rescued. Since Applejack hasn't come back with any more ponies or zebras, well, that can only mean that Rarity took her prisoner for freeing those of us that she did.”

Hearing this, Rainbow Dash snorted a few times, each time with increasing anger, before saying, “This time, she's gone too far.”

Presently, Spike took a position between the azure pegasa and the door, saying, “No, Rainbow Dash, wait! You can't do this!”

Glaring at the dragon, the representative of loyalty snarled, “I can't allow Rarity to kill anypony else, especially not another one of my friends. I have to free Applejack.”

The purple alicorn flew between her assistant and her fellow element bearer and, focusing on the azure pegasa, said, “I know how you feel. But, there's another action we need to take first. We have the witnesses we need to get the zebras to fight with us, on our side. And, as long as we can get them to join with us early enough, we can ensure that Applejack comes out of this alive.”

Turning her glare on the representative of magic, Rainbow Dash growled, “And, what about Rarity? What's to say she won't go ahead and kill somepony else, or some zebra, instead of Applejack? We can't let this continue.”

Spike agreeed, “No, we can't.” Then, when he knew he had the azure pegasa's attention, he continued, “But, we won't be able to kill her, either. You remember what I read to you from that book? If you go after Rarity, ready to kill her, you won't succeed. That spirit of King Noah that possesses her won't let her go just like that. He'll use her knowledge of you against you. It won't be you, it won't be me, it won't be anypony of us here that kills her.”

Pointing to the dragon, the azure pegasa snarled, “You're so in love with Rarity you can't even see how much of a threat she's become.”

Calmly, Spike said, “I'll admit I'd be happy to see her come out of this alive, and back to the way she was.” Then, his voice, colored with grief, started to crack as he continued, “B-but, … but I can also see that's probably not gonna happen. I know that R-r-rarity killed Pinkie Pie. And, because of that, she … she's probably not going to live much longer. But, you heard me read that story to you. If you try to attack Rarity, you're gonna be Gideon; and you won't be able to kill her anyway!”

Rainbow Dash put under her the hoof she'd been pointing at the dragon, then took slow, deliberate steps toward him as she asked, “So, what do you expect me to do about it?”

Twilight turned her head enough to get a look out the window in the door, then said, “It's too late to do anything right now. We'll have to wait until tomorrow morning.” Then, turning to the azure pegasa, she said, “Let's have dinner, then we'll sleep for the rest of the night. Tomorrow, Fluttershy and I and these ponies and zebras will go to Shoshoniensis and talk with the leaders there. With these six and their testimonies, we should get the zebras on our side, ready to act.”

The representative of loyalty emitted a sharp, groaning sigh before saying, “Alright, we'll do it your way.”

Spike started making his way to the kitchen, until the purple alicorn asked him, “Oh, before you start preparing dinner, would you like to show me that book you mentioned?”

For a moment, the purple dragon was surprised. Then he remembered he had mentioned the book earlier. So, he turned his course from the kitchen to the white unicorn's room as he said, “I found this book under Rarity's bed one day about a month ago. I know it hadn't been there before, and I don't know who it belongs to. Anyway, when I opened the book, it turned right to a story about a bad king that made and sold wine to his people, taxed them of a lot of their stuff, and built a palace for himself and his priests. Then, when a man called Abinadi started warning him and his people about what they were doing, King Noah threw him in jail and later killed him.”

By this point, he and Twilight were at the door to Rarity's room. So, he opened the door and entered, followed by the purple alicorn and the yellow pegasa.

As soon as the three were in the room, and Fluttershy had closed the door, Spike approached his bed, reached under his pillow, and pulled out the book. Then, as Twilight took the book in her magic, the dragon let go of it, then approached one of the white unicorn's work stations as he said, “You know, I watched Rarity put her stuff away. I'm pretty sure the fire ruby I gave her is in one of these drawers. Maybe, if I can show it to her, maybe I can snap her out of this, and get her back without her having to die.”

In the mean time, the purple alicorn opened the book using her magic, then started looking at the words on the pages. After a minute or two she gasped, then said, “Spike, I think you may want to hear this.”

By this point, the purple dragon had found the necklace holding the red, valentine-shaped gem. Turning to his adoptive mother, he asked, “What's that?”

Twilight read, “And it came to pass that Gideon sent men into the wilderness secretly, to search for the king and those that were with him. And it came to pass that they met the people in the wilderness, all save the king and his priests.

“Now they had sworn in their hearts that they would return to the land of Nephi, and if their wives and their children were slain, and also those that had tarried with them, that they would seek revenge, and also perish with them.

“And the king commanded them that they should not return; and they were angry with the king, and caused that he should suffer, even unto death by fire.”

Spike swallowed hard and gripped the fire ruby closely to his chest. Without turning, he asked, “Is there anything else in that book about King Noah?”

He heard the purple alicorn answer, “That's all I can see. The paragraph immediately after that reads, 'And they were about to take the priests also and put them to death, and they fled before them.'”

The purple dragon squeezed his eyes closed as he slowly said, “I'm not hungry right now, and I don't feel like cooking anything. Twilight, could you make dinner tonight?”

The representative of magic focused on her assistant for a few seconds before saying, “Sure, Spike.” And, with that, she, followed by the yellow pegasa, exited the room.

When the door was closed, the purple dragon finally opened his eyes again, pulled the gem away from him, looked down at it, and pleaded, “Rarity, please be alive by the time I get to you.” And, with that, he waddled to his bed, collapsed into it, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

In the mean time, as the purple alicorn descended the stairs, still holding the book in her magic and followed by Fluttershy, she heard the spokes zebra say, “That's the book my leaders have been holding onto. Where did you get it?”

Twilight used her magic to maneuver the book to in front of her face before answering, “Spike said he found it in Rarity's room. Apparently, he's been reading it this whole time. He said he doesn't know who it belongs to. If it belongs to you zebras, then we should bring it back with us. I do seem to remember the zebras at the market saying something about a book that had disappeared mysteriously.”

The zebra said, “While that book has been in our possession for as long as we can remember, we can't say honestly that it belongs to us. It's the record of humans that lived here long before we did, and it's one of our ancestors that first found it in a structure that we think was built by humans when they existed. The book doesn't age, and only our chosen leaders have been able to understand what's written in it. In fact, since the book was found, we've been choosing our leaders based on who can read it.”

The representative of magic used her magic to move the book out of her field of view before saying, “Well, anyway, I'll be preparing dinner tonight. Spike's not feeling well.”

The other ponies and the zebras nodded in agreement, then proceeded to the kitchen.

After breakfast, that next morning, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy headed out with the three ponies and three zebras that had been prisoners in the ruins, leaving Rainbow Dash and Spike to tend the boutique.

The azure pegasa waited for a few minutes until she was sure that her friends and those going with them were far enough away. Then, she quietly made her way out of the building and flew off toward the ruins.

In the mean time, Spike watched the representative of loyalty disappear through the front door of the boutique. Seeing no further reason to stay, and still holding the fire ruby in his grasp, he made his own way to the front door of the building, opened it, and exited, closing the door before heading toward the ruins himself.

Again, the zebra stallion that had been there to greet Twilight and Fluttershy before was there to meet them. But, this time, along with the two element bearers were three more ponies, as well as three zebras.

After showing the group in, the stallion took his position among the rest of the zebras, opposite the two element bearers and six former prisoners, before saying, “I believe I recognize one of you zebras.” Pointing to the one who had been speaking for the six freed prisoners, he asked, “Didn't you move to those ruins around a month ago?”

The zebra nodded slowly before saying, “I'd heard that they were producing juice from grapes, and I wanted to have a taste of it.” He then looked down as he added, “But, because I had no money to pay for it, Rarity imprisoned me and forced me to work to pay for what I had drunk.”

The zebra, apparently chief of Shoshoniensis, looked at the other new arrivals and asked, “Is this the same thing that happened to the rest of you?”

One of the ponies, after shaking her head, stepped between the two element bearers and answered, “My friends and I, when we heard about Rarity being queen in the ruins, went there and talked about how she was the element of generosity, and that she might not be a bad queen because of that.” She then looked down and added, “I guess even saying something nice about her is illegal there. At least, we thought we were saying something nice about her.”

At this point, the chief rose again and said, “We're going to need to see evidence of mistreatment. Do you have any?”

The zebra that had been speaking for the group positioned himself, then lifted one of his hooves and placed it on the table, as he said, “We each had a metal band on this leg, and were chained together.”

The rest of the zebras took their position on one side of the element bearers and behind their representative, placing on the table the limb that had been shackled; and the three ponies took their positions on the other side of Twilight and Fluttershy, and followed the zebras' example.

The limbs shown demonstrated evidence of mistreatment, with a band, perhaps five or so centimeters, above the ankle, of dried blood and exposed skin and even muscle and bone where the metal had rubbed against it.

After the murmurs of shock rippled through the other zebras, the chief said, “I believe we've seen enough. But, I'm not sure we have enough zebras here to commit to a rescue of the zebras and ponies in those ruins. We shall contact Simplicidens, just beyond the ruins, and enlist their help as well.” Moving from his place among his fellow zebras and toward the former prisoners, he concluded, “In the mean time, these six need medical attention.”

Hearing this, the purple alicorn rose and said, “You're going to have to move quickly. A friend of mine, Rainbow Dash, is likely heading to the ruins right now to free another friend of ours, Applejack.”

Another of the three ponies, moving her leg off of the table, nodded and said, “I was the last one freed, along with one of the zebras. And, since Applejack didn't return with us or any more zebras or ponies, we can only assume she was taken prisoner.”

The zebra chief nodded and said, “Then I shall contact Simplicidens immediately. In the mean time, we have a medical facility in town.” Pointing a front hoof at each of the three zebras and three ponies, he concluded, “You are welcome to go there for medical treatment. If you don't know the way, please feel free to ask any zebra in town.” And, with that, he made his way out of the room.

But, as the chief zebra was opening the door, Twilight remembered something; and she said, “Oh, and by the way, I believe I have something of yours.”

Turning to the purple alicorn, the stallion asked, “You do?”

The representative of magic nodded, then used her magic to open the pouch of one of her saddle bags and produce the book inside. In the mean time, she said, “Spike, my dragon assistant, found it under Rarity's bed. Apparently, he's been reading from it this whole time.”

Focused on the volume, the chief zebra said, “Well, that explains why we haven't been able to find it.” Turning his attention to the purple alicorn, he continued, “There seems to be some kind of a blessing on that book. It seems that its inability to age is part of that blessing. It also disappears every now and then, only to be found in the possession of someone who evidently needed advice from it. And, it always finds its way back to us.”

Using her magic to move the book to the zebra stallion, Twilight said, “You can have it back now.”

The chief zebra smiled and nodded, then said, “You can leave it on the table, and I'll get it when I return.” And, with that, he turned again and headed out the door.

By this time, the half dozen former prisoners had gathered together again in a group.

Twilight asked them, “So, are you staying here?”

The spokes zebra nodded and said, “I know the way to the clinic from here. I can guide everyone else there.”

The representative of magic, after setting the book on the table, nodded back at the spokes zebra, then said, “In that case, Fluttershy and I will return to the boutique. If Rainbow Dash and Spike are still there, we'll talk to them and let them know we have the support of the zebras of Shoshoniensis.” And, with that, she, followed by the yellow pegasa, left the building.

Rainbow Dash took only a second to get to the ruins from the boutique, and even less than that to find her way to the prison cell where Applejack was being held. There, before the guards could react, the azure pegasa attacked them and knocked them unconscious before taking the key to the cells and unlocking the door, freeing the orange earth mare.

As she stepped through the open doorway, the representative of honesty asked, “Did yeh git the prisoners Ah freed?”

Rainbow Dash nodded as she answered, “We got the three ponies and three zebras. They're going with Twilight and Fluttershy right now to get the zebras to help free everypony here.”

Applejack nodded in return before saying, “Good. This ain't no place fer nopony. Ain't no place fer no zebra, neither.”

At this point, the representative of loyalty circled around her fellow element bearer and started pushing her from behind, saying, “We don't have much time. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Feeling herself losing balance, the orange earth mare moved her front and hind legs a step or two forward to keep from falling, then turned to the azure pegasa and said, “Ah agree.” She then looked ahead of herself again and started galloping for the stairs. Then, she suddenly stopped and started backpedaling away from them.

The azure pegasa only had to fly toward the stairs to see what her fellow element bearer was backing away from: Rarity. And, based on what Rainbow Dash could see of the white unicorn, unkempt would be an enormous understatement.

Twitching her neck erratically, the white unicorn stumbled down the stairs toward the orange earth mare and asked, “Now, darling, where do you think you're going?”

The representative of loyalty answered, “She's leavin'.” Then, seeing that she had Rarity's attention, she added, “You had no right to throw her in jail. And, you had no right to kill Pinkie Pie.”

The representative of generosity retorted, “She kept coming here, spreading lies about me and my kingdom, ever since she arrived. Do you think I was going to let her live to continue to menace me and my people?”

Rainbow Dash flew toward the white unicorn until she was inches from her face before saying, “This isn't your kingdom. This is just a bunch of ruins. Nopony's been living here for thousands of years.”

Rarity smiled and cackled, then said, “That's where you're wrong.” Her voice then faded, replaced by an oddly masculine voice, as she continued, “I'm free now, and I shall rule over the Nephites, all the Lamanites, and every other people that lives here.” The masculine voice faded and Rarity's voice returned as she cackled, and her horn started to glow and sparkle.

But, that's all that happened.

Puzzled, Rarity tried again to use her magic, but with the same result.

Seeing the glow and sparks fade away, the azure pegasa said, “Well, it looks like you don't have your magic anymore. Now, if you'll just come with me, we can leave this place and—“

Presently, the white unicorn shouted, “Never!” and turned and galloped back up the stairs.

Before following the representative of generosity, the azure pegasa turned to the representative of honesty and said, “You get out of here. I'll take care of Rarity.”

The orange earth mare nodded, then followed her fellow element bearer up the stairs again, then turned and galloped toward the gate, making her way out of the ruins as fast as she could.

In the mean time, Rainbow Dash followed the white unicorn out of the building, further into the ruins, and toward the remains of what, she guessed, had once been a remarkably tall tower. If what she could see of the remnant was any indication, it wouldn't have been able to reach Cloudsdale even if the cloud city had been floating nearby. But, it probably could've come close.

The representative of loyalty pursued the representative of generosity along the pathway spiraling up the height of the tower, until she stopped where the trail, and for that matter the tower, ended.

Frantically, Rarity looked around her, hoping to see some evidence of some kind of an attack. Then, seeing a small town off in the distance, one with zebras evidently going about their business, she pointed to the town and said, “Wait, look! The zebras are going to attack me, uh, my kingdom! You have to let me defend my people!”

Rainbow Dash scoffed and said, “You don't have a people. You're a pony, remember?” Then, looking at where the white unicorn was pointing, and seeing the evidently peaceful zebras there, she continued, “And, those zebras don't look like they're ready to attack anything or anypony.”

Pulling the hoof she was pointing with back to herself, Rarity said, “Well, you know as well as I do how unpredictable and violent zebras can be.”

Incredulously, the azure pegasa deadpanned, “Yeah, like Zecorah.” More seriously, she continued, “All I want is for you to leave this place with me. Can't you just do that?” And, she started flying closer to her fellow element bearer.

Rarity scoffed, “Yeah, leave with you so you can burn me to death, just like I did with Abinadi.”

For a moment Rainbow Dash was puzzled by the statement. Rarity had killed Pinkie Pie. Who was this Abinadi? Then she shook herself of her confusion, remembering something about Pinkie mentioning a human spirit called Abinadi, who said he was going to try to help her get Rarity out of the ruins, and free of Noah's spirit and influence. Settling on the pathway, and separating the white unicorn from her chance to escape, the azure pegasa said, “I'm not here to kill you. I just want you to leave this place. Maybe we can still separate you from King Noah.”

For a split second the representative of generosity smiled. Then, she leaped at her fellow element bearer and pushed her aside, galloping past as she said, “Not today, Gideon.” And, she cackled one last time as she galloped down the pathway again.

Fighting to maintain her balance, Rainbow Dash stumbled and fell backward off the side of the pathway. But, she managed to avoid falling all the way down by catching the side with her closest wing. There she hung until she stopped swinging, then grabbed the other side with her other wing. Then, she swung, not unlike a child on monkey bars, toward the end of the pathway until she could swing herself up and onto it again. Then, realizing she'd allowed the white unicorn to escape, Rainbow Dash groaned with frustration before galloping back down the pathway.

In the mean time, Rarity made her way back to the palace, where she woke her guards and told them that they needed to leave as soon as they could. She then lead the group to an underground pathway behind the palace, then used her magic to move the stones out of the way. It wouldn't be until the path had been cleared and the group was on their way to safety that Rarity would have time to wonder why she could use her magic then, and not when she had tried to apprehend Rainbow Dash or Applejack.

Chapter 7: Close the Boutique

As the purple alicorn and the yellow pegasa entered the front gate, they were met by a disappointed Rainbow Dash and a relieved-looking Applejack.

Twilight glared at the azure pegasa and asked, “Didn't I tell you to stay at the boutique?”

Glaring back at the representative of magic, the azure pegasa retorted, “I couldn't let Rarity kill another one of my friends.”

The representative of magic sighed before responding, “I know how you feel. But, Rarity's also one of our friends.”

Rainbow Dash had to take a few seconds to fight down her emotions, although she couldn't keep a tear from escaping from one of her eyes. When she thought she had her emotions under control again, she squeaked, “I know.”

In an effort to calm her fellow element bearer down, Twilight nuzzled her. Then she backed away again and asked, “So, what happened?”

The representative of loyalty cleared her throat, then answered, “I managed to free Applejack, then Rarity came in and tried to use her magic. But, I guess she was so drunk she couldn't. So, she ran off.

“I tried to stop her, but she went to this tall … thing behind the palace. I thought I had her at the end of that pathway on the way up, but she jumped me when I landed in front of her, knocked me off the path. When I finally managed to get back up, she was gone. I searched the palace, but I couldn't find her or anypony with her.”

Twilight nodded before saying, “I've got good news. The zebras are going to help us free everypony here.”

Rainbow Dash smiled uneasily as she said, “Well, I guess that's good. But, like I said, I haven't been able to find Rarity anywhere.”

The representative of magic reasoned, “Well, if you haven't been able to find her in the palace, then she's not there anymore. She may not even be in these ruins anymore. And, if that's the case, maybe we can finally reach her and get her back to Shoshoniensis so we can free her from that King Noah that's been possessing her.”

The orange earth mare said, “Ah hope so. But, Ah ain't 'spectin' much. If'n it'd been us that c'nvinced 'er t' leave, then maybe we could'a taken 'er back with us. But, she done gone run off, 'n' Ah think it's with 'er group o' ponies 'n' zebras.”

The representative of magic nodded and said, “Well, in the mean time, the chief of Shoshoniensis is sending word to a nearby village, Simplicidens, to help in the rescue. Although, if Rarity isn't here anymore, that rescue may go better, quicker, than I was expecting.”

After a few more minutes of talking amongst themselves, the four element bearers separated and went to each of the houses in the ruins, knocking on doors and telling ponies and zebras alike that it was time to evacuate.

In the mean time, Spike, hiding against a wall to keep out of sight, heard what the element bearers were saying. Looking down at the fire ruby, he thought to himself, “Maybe she's still alive. I sure hope so.” And, with that, he headed off in search of his favorite pony.

Somewhere in the jungle, Rarity and her herd of ponies and zebras emerged from the underground pathway, then galloped as fast as they could for perhaps a minute or two until they were worn out and figured it was safe for them to stop and rest.

One of the ponies, after catching his breath, said, “I feel like we left something behind.”

Rarity approached him and said, “Well, we can't very well go back and get it now. No doubt the zebras've swarmed the place and destroyed everything just after we escaped.”

Another pony turned to her and said, “Wait, I thought you and your zebra and pony friends said nopony'd be able to destroy that place.”

Rarity indignantly responded, “Well, that may be true. But, I didn't say anything about the zebras now, did I?”

The zebra in closest proximity to the white unicorn glared at her and growled out, “Hey.”

The representative of generosity scoffed and said, “What, you didn't really think I was going to trust you striped horses now, did you?” And, she started cackling.

This angered zebras and ponies alike.

One of the few zebras that remained close by the white unicorn leaned toward her and said, “This is not the time for that kind of attitude. If we're gonna survive this, we need to work together, and you're just antagonizing those you should be uniting.”

Rarity growled back, “Don't you dare talk to your queen that way. I shall say and do whatever pleases me. “ To the group as a whole, she continued, “You are my subjects, and you shall do everything your queen tells you to do. Or, would you prefer to die as Abinadi did?”

At this point, ponies and zebras separated into two different groups, one forming behind Rarity, the other behind the pony stallion that had been first to speak.

In the mean time, that stallion answered, “If you're referring to your friend Pinkie Pie, then no we wouldn't. But, maybe you would.”

By this time, it was clear that Rarity had made more enemies than friends.

Rarity, as though ignorant of the meaning of the stallion's words, paused and grunted in confusion and incredulity.

The stallion turned to one of the other ponies and said, “I saw some dead trees and bushes as we were galloping past. Go get them and bring them back here.”

As the pony nodded before turning and galloping away, the white unicorn mare growled, “How dare you threaten your queen. I shall see you burn in the fire you prepare for me.”

The stallion glared back at her and snarled, “I don't think so. You were never a good ruler. You couldn't even rule yourself.”

Rarity grinned at the stallion through her fury as she snarled back, “Oh, you shall regret the day you spoke so insolently to your queen.”

The stallion turned to one the zebras behind him and said, “There should be some vines nearby. Get them. We'll strap this mare down.” Turning back to the white unicorn, he concluded, “I have had more than enough of this 'queen' nonsense.” And, he reared up and, taking a step toward the white unicorn, dropped on top of her, striking her with his hooves.

Spike had spent maybe an hour maneuvering around the zebras that had suddenly flooded the ruins, doing his best to keep out from under their hooves. After seeking shelter in an underground pathway, he noticed that it seemed to continue for some distance. Curious, he started following the tunnel until he found an exit, evidently well beyond the ruins. From there, he found it easy enough to follow the trail of trampled vegetation to a spot where a campfire had been prepared, and apparently a meal cooked.

The purple dragon began to feel hungry until he saw the remains of what had been cooking, incorrectly. And, as far as he could tell, none of it had been eaten. In fact, unlike most meals he'd heard of involving cooked meat, the creature had been restrained so it was standing, not laying down. But, the most telling evidence was the skull. Even though all else had been burned away, the skeleton remained. And, the skull clearly had a horn sticking out of it.

As Spike, abandoning the valentine-shaped gem, ran toward the remains, he didn't want to believe that they were those of his favorite unicorn. But, a part of him had to be sure. And, when he freed the skull from the rest of the body and sniffed it, the familiar scent was all he needed. Indeed, though he didn't know who or how, somepony had trapped his Rarity in a fire, one that that pony, or perhaps zebra, had made, and perhaps left her to burn to death.

Spike just stood there, holding the skull so that it was facing him. He stared into those sockets that had once held the blue eyes of the unicorn he'd loved so much, knowing they'd never smile back at him again. The purple mane and tail so well groomed, the fur white as snow, all had been burned away. All that was left of Rarity was her skeleton, and all he could free from that log was her skull.

Perhaps there was some part of him that hoped that if he stared into those sockets long enough those eyes would return, the skin would reform, the mane and fur would grow back, and he could hear her voice just one last time. But, dragons aren't designed to hold something for very long, not the way Spike was holding Rarity's skull. And, after maybe a minute or two, as the remains of the white unicorn's head slipped out of his hands, so did his hope of seeing her alive again. And, so also did his control over his emotions. No longer did it matter who had done this to his favorite unicorn. What mattered was she was no longer alive. And, all the purple dragon could do, all he could think of, was to collapse onto the unicorn's skull and sob like a hatchling.

Late in the afternoon, Twilght and her remaining friends returned to the boutique, happy that at least they had succeeded in freeing all the prisoners.

The purple alicorn called out, “Spike, I've got good news!” Then, when she didn't hear a response, she again called, “Spike?”

Rainbow Dash flew up to the second floor saying, “I'll check in Rarity's work room. Maybe he's asleep in there.”

Somehow, the representative of magic knew that her azure pegasa friend wasn't going to find him there. But still, she said, “Yeah, maybe you're right.”

As the representative of loyalty proceeded to enter the room, Applejack said, “If'n he ain't in there, he could be in th' kitchen, cookin' dinner fer us all.” And, she proceeded toward that room.

In the mean time, Fluttershy said, “If Spike isn't in the boutique, maybe the creatures outside know where he went.”

Before Twilight could agree or disagree with the representative of kindness, Rainbow Dash emerged from the white unicorn's work room and said, “He's not in here.”

As if on cue, Applejack emerged from the kitchen and said, “He ain't here neither.”

Worries quickly built up in the purple alicorn's thoughts. But, she pointed a forelimb at her chest as she inhaled deeply, then away from her chest as she exhaled slowly. Now calmed down, she said, “Alright, everypony, there's no need to panic. Here's what we'll do.” Pointing to the azure pegasa, she said, “Rainbow Dash, you check the other rooms up there.” Pointing to the orange earth mare, she continued, “Applejack, you check the rest of the rooms on the main floor.” Turning to the yellow pegasa, she concluded, “Fluttershy, you go talk to the creatures in the nearby woods, just in case—“

Before the purple alicorn could finish giving orders to the representative of kindness, the door opened behind her; and the purple dragon slowly entered, apparently hugging a white object.

That's what Twilight first saw when she turned to her assistant and shouted, “Spike, you're back! Where have you been?” Then, noticing that he wasn't paying attention, not to mention there was something oddly familiar about the object he was carrying, she paused for a moment before asking, “Spike, is something wrong? What are you holding?”

Spike said nothing at first, just held out the object he was carrying, waiting for Twilight to take it with her magic. Then, when she did, Spike said, “I w-was going to t-take the f-fire ruby to R-rarity. I thought I c-could snap her … snap her out …”

It took only a few seconds of study for Twilight to realize Spike had brought back the skull of a unicorn. Turning to the dragon, she asked, “Spike, where's Rarity? What happened to her?”

Spike continued, “I w-went to the r-ruins. I couldn't find Rarity there. I found an underground t-tunnel. I followed it. It led to, I don't know, somewhere outside. And there I saw a trail of b-broken s-stuff on flattened ground. I knew it had to be Rarity and everypony that went with her. So, I followed that path.” Fresh emotional wounds reopened, and Spike's voice started to crumble as he continued, “Th-th-there was a f-f-fire. It wasn't me, I don't know who did it. B-b-by the t-t-time I got there, it'd b-b-burned out. All I know is th-th-that … that skull … is … R-r-rar-r-rit-t-ty.” His legs folded under him, and he collapsed into a sitting position. Folding his arms over his knees, he buried his face in his arms and started whimpering again.

Rainbow Dash, hovering above the upper floor, came in for a landing next to Twilight.

Applejack slowly trotted up next to Fluttershy, opposite from the representative of magic.

It wasn't hard to tell they were all feeling the same thing. No matter what Rarity had done, she was still one of them, an element bearer, a friend, a pony.

Sincerity coloring her voice, Twilight nuzzled her assistant as she said, “I'm so sorry, Spike.”

Suddenly Spike stopped whimpering and, with a dark determination none of them expected, growled, “Shut it down.”

The purple alicorn took a step back and grunted in alarmed confusion and curiosity.

The purple dragon slowly clarified, “This boutique. Shut it down.”

The representative of magic froze in place. Only her mouth moved as she said, “I don't understand.”

Spike finally looked up at his adoptive mother, revealing in his expression the fury he felt, before saying, “This place has been too expensive. If I have to burn it down myself, I'll make sure it closes and never opens again.”

Seeing the expression on her assistant's face, Twilight immediately felt her wings clasp tightly against her sides, and her ears folded against her skull. While she hadn't seen Spike this way before, instinct told her that he was determined to do what he said he'd do. Turning to the other three ponies, she ordered, “Everypony, get whatever you want to salvage, and get out!” And, she proceeded to head out the door, hoping her assistant would follow. But, before she left, she turned to see he hadn't moved. She took a step toward him and said, “Please, Spike, whatever you do, leave the building before you burn it down.”

Spike slowly answered, “You, too.”

It wasn't long before the four ponies, the dragon, and a pile of their belongings were outside the front yard of the building.

Seeing all was safe that needed to be, Spike approached the front door. With an angry scream, he shot a flame out of his mouth, one larger than any of the four ponies could've expected to see from such a small dragon. He went to a corner, then the center of a side, then another corner, then another center of a side, screaming his fiery scream at each one, until the boutique was engulfed in flames. Then, back at the front door, but a few feet away from it, his fury spent, the purple dragon turned his back on the inferno and walked away.

Chapter 8: Starting Anew

That night, the zebras of Shoshoniensis took in the four remaining element bearers, along with Spike and the ponies and zebras they'd rescued from the ruins. Then, the following day, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash searched through the charred remains of the boutique, looking for the fire ruby they thought had been left in there. But, when they couldn't find it, they assumed it'd been burned completely.

All, that is, except Spike, who remembered he'd left it in the jungle, near the campfire where he'd found Rarity's remains. But, wanting to put the incident behind him, he'd decided not to mention it to his adoptive mother or the other element bearers.

As the days passed, the group returned to Ponyville; and Twilight made a detailed report of the incident to Princesses Celestia and Luna. In turn, the daytime princess put an investigation team together to send to New Zebraland. The only thing that kept the plan from proceeding was that Spike, who she'd chosen to lead the team, refused to go. Instead, he gave his own report, taking responsibility for the death of the representative of generosity.

From the skull of the white unicorn, which Twilight had brought back, Princess Celestia retrieved the right to bear and represent the element of generosity, and conferred it on her little sister, who was, at the same time, happy and sad to receive such a gift.

In the mean time, the right to bear and represent the element of laughter was given to Cheese Sandwich, who had been drawn to Canterlot, thinking he was there to throw a “party to end all parties.” Then, when he heard about Pinkie Pie's death, he, like Sweetie Belle with generosity, was equal parts happy and sad to receive the right to bear and represent the element of laughter.

Not long after the new element bearers were instated, the remains of the white unicorn were buried, with full honors.

Because of their service to the element bearers and other citizens of Equestria, the zebras of New Zebraland, especially those of Shoshoniensis and Simpicidens, became fast friends with the ponies of Equestria; and frequently traded supplies and equines between them. And, out of respect for the law of New Zebraland, as well as to remember the loss of the original representatives of laughter and generosity, Princess Celestia joined the leader of New Zebraland in banning all tourism or investigation of the ruins where one element bearer had been killed, and another had all but been the same.

One year, to the day, after the boutique had been opened, the element bearers gathered at the remains of the boutique, which the jungle had started to take back; and Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash told the story about how the opening of that boutique had lead to the deaths of Pinkie Pie and Rarity.

In the mean time, Spike wandered from the group, around the ruins, to the pathway, which surprisingly remained unreclaimed by the jungle, and to the place of the campfire, or at least where he thought he'd remembered it being. But, to his surprise, he found nothing there. No fire pit, no log, no remains of his favorite unicorn, and no fire ruby. At first he'd thought he might not have gone far enough, or maybe had gone past the spot. But, the location had been branded into his memory; and he knew where he was had to be where that heart-shaped gem, not to mention Rarity's unburied remains, should be.

Had all of them been stolen? Had the creatures of the jungle buried the evidence ahead of him? Had he, in his delirium over his loss, buried all the evidence and then forgotten? He couldn't say for sure, and the fact of the matter was he didn't care. As far as he could tell, there was nothing to connect him to that spot, nothing to return to. He turned and headed back to the remains of the boutique, never to return to that spot again.