"Can you draw me a dress?" Starlight levitated a scrap of blank parchment from a nearby notepad, along with a quill and some ink. She set the supplies down in front of Rarity, heart thudding in her chest.

"Yes, I can draw you a dress, Starlight Glimmer." To Starlight's relief, Rarity began to draw. But that relief quickly withered away when the drawing on the page became blatantly familiar. It was a dress Rarity had sketched months ago, a project she'd long since finished. Still, it was something.

When it was done, Rarity hovered the page in her magic, smiling vapidly. "I've finished the drawing."

Starlight gulped, shakily taking the page and floating over another.

"Very good. Now, can you draw a new one? One you've not drawn before? Show us something totally unique."

A very long moment passed, spent in utter silence. The tension was thick as fabric in the air, nearly a physical thing. Starlight wanted desperately to cut it away, to slice it through and be rid of it. It felt like the most tense few moments of her life.

Rarity's quill began to move again. It was like gravity abruptly reasserted itself onto Starlight's world, her mind no longer floating in a void of sheer, incoherent terror.

The scratches of the quill's tip against the rough parchment were like the songs of morning birds upon the dawn of a new day, a joyous sound that brought a broad, genuinely relieved smile to Starlight's face. She watched and waited as Rarity continued to silently, robotically draw. Lines and shapes came together, forming a gown that Starlight had, thankfully, not yet seen from Rarity. Given that they'd only known each other for the last few years, however, it was possible that it was an older design plumbed from the attics of Rarity's mind. That worry was counteracted, however, by the fact that the spell, as thorough and potent as it was, was nigh impossible to strain against. This little tidbit of information made Starlight both proud and a little dismayed, a mixture of her prior self showing through, standing right beside the new, more empathetic Starlight. She mentally shook herself. This wasn't the best time for self-reflection.

More important than the strength of her spell was the smile steadily stretching across Rarity's placid face. Even through the mental manipulation her glee was showing through, that almost dead, vacant upward curve of her lips ascending into something lively, whole, pure. Rarity still looked like a zombie from the nose up, but that smile was nothing short of happiness made manifest.

It was the best thing Starlight had ever seen.

Twilight was smiling too, tears rolling down her cheeks in much the same way Rarity's had moments ago. They were all, Starlight abruptly realized, crying. She lifted a hoof to her eyes, gently wiping the joyous tears away while the sound of Rarity's sketching went on. Starlight was in no rush to break the silence nor halt Rarity's progress.

"I've drawn something totally unique, Starlight Glimmer."

It was, indeed, unique. More so than that, though, it was beautiful, wholly new, and, Starlight noticed with a start, somewhat dark in tone.

Chains. The dress, tight and gothic, was clad in squeezing, constricting chains.

"That's very good Rarity," Starlight replied, her earlier elation stunted slightly by concern. "What was your inspiration?"

"You, Starlight Glimmer."

The words hit like an icy hammer to the heart. Starlight felt herself go pale, her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth as all moisture evacuated the space behind her lips.

"That's... wonderful," Starlight nervously said, glancing at Twilight. She, too, looked worried.

"It's still progress," Twilight said, smiling sheepishly. "More than we had before."

Starlight pondered the unusual dress. The symbolism was obvious, blatantly so, not nearly as subtle or nuanced as Rarity's previous work, at least the creations Starlight was familiar with. But it was, indeed, progress, and it wasn't like frustration and anger weren't valid emotions to pull from. Maybe Rarity just needed to work through the no doubt crippling fury she felt while being unable to put anything together.

Those chains looked so tight, though. The sketched pony's body looked like it could barely walk if its etched legs had the ability to do so. Certainly that was the intended effect. If Rarity's description of the void within her mind was anything to go by, this was an apt physical representation.

Starlight decided it probably wasn't as big a deal as she was making it out to be.

"Starlight?" Twilight's voice abruptly cut through Starlight's internal discussion with herself. She realized she'd been staring at Rarity's new dress design for nearly a minute straight. Maybe longer. It was hard to tell with how high her emotions were at that moment.

"Sorry, I was just lost in thought. I think this is a good sign. It means her muse isn't gone. Her talent's there, just... restricted." Starlight looked up at the hypnotized face staring back at her, that genuine smile still plastered upon Rarity's lips.

"Okay, I guess it's time to see if your creativity sticks around after the spell. Are you ready, Rarity?"

"Yes, Starlight Glimmer, I am ready."

Starlight looked to Twilight, nodding slowly.

"Alright, I'll start work on undoing the spell," Twilight announced, her horn sparkling with the beginnings of raw magic. "It'll be easier this time around, I think. I've already got all the counterspells gathered and I still remember the process. She's going to have another doozy of a headache, though. We should probably prepare some cold water."

"And her shades," Starlight added.

"Those, too," Twilight agreed.

Rarity didn't say anything, though her wide, dilated eyes remained fixated on her own drawing, staring at it like she was cast adrift amidst a raging sea and that little piece of sketch-filled paper was her only lifeline.

Author's Note

I have no idea where I want to take this. Okay, that's not entirely true; I have several paths I could take this, but I'm not sure which one I wanna follow. Any thoughts? What do you guys think of the new ending?