A Cut Too Cruel

by Osper

Rating: mature
Tags: Dark, Spike, Rarity, Tragedy, Applejack, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 7510

The stress of dealing with a friend's death pushes Rarity to make some harsh choices.

If one of your closest friends died, what would you do? You would cry. You might sink into drunken stupor. You might even curse God. But what if there were the slightest chance of bringing them back?
With that chance dangling before Rarity, she peeks through the veil and into a world of forbidden magic, in the hopes that an answer to the age old question can be found there.
"Can a pony conquer death?"

[Inspired by Iopichio]

Published 2012-11-16 19:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-16 19:50:01 UTC

A Cut Too Cruel

A Cut Too Cruel

Rarity set down her bag, looking up at the nice, quiet evening. She levitated her nice little hat off, hanging it on the small hook of a branch that grew off the tree she stood under. The stars were quite bright, filling the sky with constellations and arrangements that took her breath away.

To Rarity, beauty was of the utmost importance in her life. It was something to pursue and enjoy, to watch as one might watch a play, the beauty of life in motion. There were so many things that were beautiful.

She kept photo books of handsome stallions and gorgeous mares at home, something to look through when she had a day off.

The feeling of fine fabrics as she cut and sewed them together was beautiful. Fine clothes on her body perfectly thrilled her senses as she stroked them, in the privacy of her home of course. It wouldn't do to have anypony see how exquisitely she enjoyed clothing.

Stars and magic, trees and animals, nature, buildings, the world was beautiful, everything had a majesty in it's own way.

Rarity unsnapped the clasps on her bag and removed a bottle of water, a bottle of tea, a small bag of sandwiches and a shovel.

Her friends were beautiful too. Not in the sapphic way, not to Rarity at least. But she appreciated the buff curves of both Applejack, whose hind side was firm and tight, and the lean, lithe curves of Dash's athletic body that, while firm, had an amount of give in the touching.

Then there was Pinkie Pie, the chubby little thing. Not really chubby, per se, Rarity corrected herself, tossing a small mound of dirt to the side.

Pinkie Pie simply had more fat than her friends. When she bounced, it would bounce a bit along with her. She was fun to pinch, like a marshmallow.

And Fluttershy, the dear mare, was actually rather fit. All the hiking to and from town and through the forests made her lean but she had enough doughy pinch in her skin to feel wonderful to the touch.

And their colors! Oh dear, staring at her friends was enough to send her into fits of joy. Though, as a lady, she had learned to hide it very, very well. It wouldn't be ladylike to be having a conversation with, say, Fluttershy and then shuddering away in orgasmic bliss simply from staring at her coat and mane.

Rarity, at the thought of her friends, had her thighs rubbing together as her eyes closed.

No!

Her eyes snapped open and she grabbed the shovel firmly in her purple grip.

Letting her mind get the best of her was what had caused her midnight journey in the first place. She couldn't let it get in her way again.

She tossed the dirt into the pile a little faster, working away at the large tunnel she needed. With nothing to think about, lest her mind wander back to arousing topics, digging was actually quite boring. Time passed, hours that were only punctuated by the rustle of wind in the tree nearby and the scrape of the shovel.

She stopped for a little meal at about 1 AM, having a sandwich and some tea, then washed her forehooves with the water. Honestly, why did digging have to be such sweaty work? Sweat was not beautiful, though there were certain ways to work it up that made it acceptable.

Another boring, dirty hour passed, Rarity wondering if this gem would be worth it. Was the temporary tarnishing of her own beauty a suitable-

Clunk.

Oh, there it was.

She hopped down into the hole, the thunk of her hooves on wood the only sound in the pit. The world topside seemed to be holding it's breath in anticipation of what Rarity would do next.

Her horn glowed as she grabbed hold of the wooden lid and peeled it back, the fresh wood seeming to be stuck on something. With a mental heave, she slammed the lid to the side and gasped, tears springing to her eyes. Before her was a vision simply too beautiful and too sad to not be moved by.

For, to Rarity's eyes, the most beautiful thing the world had ever offered her to look at, was Twilight. And to see the poor dear hidden away under the filthy earth, locked up like a common ugly pony, tore at her heart.

Of course, Rarity wasn't crazy. She had attended Twilight's funeral. She had cried with the others and gone through a period of mourning like the others. But she had not been content to sit on her rump like the others and let this happen. There were ways to fix this. Ways to have Twilight return to them.

“I'm sorry it took so long Twilight. Dreadful amount of dirt atop you and all. Here, let's get you out of there.”

She lifted the purple ragdoll from the coffin with her magic, straining and puffing at the weight. She wasn't as skilled as Twilight had been with telekinesis and it showed. But, after scrunching up her face in an angry pout and pulling with all her might, Twilight slid free of her deathly bed and was lain, only a bit roughly, on the ground outside the hole.

“I'm sorry for the rough ride, Twilight. You'll simply have to give me a little magical training when this is all over.”

She climbed up, her hooves scrabbling on the dirt, mussing her white coat as she strained to pull herself the rest of the way. A shower would be first when she got back to the boutique with her friend.

Twilight lay on the green grass, her mouth slightly agape as though she only slept. The moonlight washed over her skin, dying it a pale purple. Rarity sucked air through her teeth at the sight, the cold making them chatter.

“So beautif-AAAAGGGH!”

Her eyes, descending over Twilight's body and eating up every delicious morsel of beauty, had found the secret kept from her friends. A secret known only to the morticians and the guards who had retrieved the body.

Twilight's back legs were gone.

While Rarity was one to cry at the slightest provocation, proven on many occasions when a stain found its way onto her clothes, this was different. Tears collected at the edges of her eyes as she stumbled closer, falling onto her knees beside her marred friend.

“My beautiful...my precious magical gem...I'm so...I'm sorry...”

Raritiy's breath hitched in her throat, muffled as she buried her face in the cold, furry chest of her friend. It was like hugging an ice cube.

Rarity sniffed, dabbing the tears away with her hooves. She wouldn't cry any more. Enough crying had been done and more of it wasn't going to help. If she could bring Twilight back from the dead, as she was sure she could, then getting a new pair of legs shouldn't be a problem either. In the mean time, there were prosthesis she could attach, just for looks.

“We'll get you some nice, pretty new legs darling, don't you worry. You'll be just fine when this is all over.”

She emptied the big bag she'd brought with her, tossing the food and shovel into the hole, and pulled it over Twilight's body. The clasps snapped closed again and she shoved the dirt into the hole with a forceful magical shove, smoothing it out a bit so it was even and attractive.

Her friend was heavier than she'd thought she'd be, Rarity straining under the weight she'd lifted onto her back.

“Ugh, Twilight, I'm only saying this because I'm your friend. Maybe you should go on a diet when you're alive again.”

And she staggered back to Ponyville.

Rarity slept in late the next day, though you could hardly call lying on her fainting couch all night tossing into the horrible light of day, sleeping. Her bones popped as she stretched, her muscles aching in a way they never had before after such rigorous physical activity.

Twilight, being a guest, had been given Rarity's own very comfortable bed and even now lay in the curtain-drawn darkness, snuggled in her covers.

“Ah, the things we do for friends. I think I'll just pop on up and grab my make-up case.”

She creaked the upstairs door to her room open, shivering in the freezer like chill. She'd cranked the AC and had had several dozen tubs of ice placed around the room to keep Twilight from getting that 'not so fresh' feeling.

She'd told the cute young stallion at the store that she was having a party.

“Sorry Twilight. Just getting something.”

With her small black bag in magical tow, she turned and almost tripped over the tiny white filly she called her sister. While she didn't trip, leaping back in terror with a shocked scream sufficed as a reaction.

“Why did you do that Sweetie Belle!? You know I hate it when you sneak around! Remember when you made me stab myself with a sewing needle?”

Sweetie Belle flinched, remembering the time vividly and all the blood.

“I just walked up the stairs like a normal quiet lady, like you're always saying I need to be. Sorry Rarity.”

Rarity patted her sister's head, giving her a flash of smile.

“Well, I guess I can't fault you for that.”

Sweetie Belle shivered at the breeze from the partially open bedroom door, making to push it open.

“Why is your room so cold?”

Not missing a beat, Rarity redirected the prodding hoof and goaded her sister ahead of her down the stairs, closing the door as she passed.

“Because I'm in heat.”

“Ew, Rarity...”

While Rarity loved a nice, slow breakfast, there were a lot of things to do that day and she couldn't spend any time savoring as she normally did.

“So, what are you planning to do with the crusaders today, dear?”

Rarity sipped at her cafe au lait, hoping that her sister had a big adventure that would keep her out of the boutique. Cutie Mark Crusader's Corpse Finders just didn't have a very nice ring to it.

Sweetie Belle didn't disappoint, grinning so hard Rarity was afraid she'd strain something.

“We're going to be detectives today! And we've already got our first case!”

Rarity dumped her dishes in the sink, nodding the filly after her as she stepped out the door.

“And what is it? Missing cat? Perhaps a dreadful rash of candy thefts in Ponyville Elementary?”

“Somepony stole a body from the cemetery!”

Were it possible, Rarity might have turned even whiter but she settled for almost tripping in the middle of the street. How had word gotten out so fast? Did the grave tender really have nothing better to do than check the graves every morning?!

“Sweetie, that's disgusting! And in such poor taste too, Twilight was a good friend of ours.”

This time Sweetie was the one who faltered.

“S-somepony stole Twilight!? I-I didn't think that it was- I just heard in the market th-that-”

Tears sprang to her eyes, not only at the memory of the kind librarian but also that some depraved sicko would steal her body.

Rarity cursed herself mentally with words that would have made the roughest of stallions blush. She'd offered too much information.

“Oops. Listen, Sweetie...I mean, who else would a smart thief take, right? Everyone loved Twilight.”

What a weak lie.

“But you go play with your friends and find something else to do besides being Detectives. Why don't you take this money and go to Sugarcube Corner? Take a day off from Crusading.”

She pushed a bizarrely large amount of bits into her sister's hooves and wiped away the tears that fell down her white cheeks.

“O-okay...”

Sweetie kissed her sister's cheek before walking off, most of the energy she'd had earlier having dissipated.

This was getting harder and who knew how much time she had? What clues had Rarity left and just how good were the guards detecting skills? She'd better get Twilight up and around soon or else she might be too busy spending the rest of her life in prison to get a second chance.

She cantered towards the library at the end of the street, suddenly thrust into an imagined race against the clock.

The inside was the same as always. Neat and tidy, books put away and shelves dusted. Twilight's touch was still very much evident in her home. In the way she made sure every book was in line with it's neighbor to how there were never any books in the drop off bin.

Rarity took a breath, gently filling her lungs. Twilight's scent was still on the air.

And little by little, as time passed and books were once again checked out, all of that would be lost.

Unless she stopped it.

“R-rarity?”

Spike, her little Spikey-wikey, waddled down the stairs wrapped in the blanket from Twilight's bed. Seeing where Rarity looked, he hurriedly tried to unwrap himself, to avoid it looking exactly like what it looked like but she merely grabbed the edges of the blanket magically and pulled him closer.

She buried her face in the fabric, smelling Twilight on it. Her cheek brushed Spike's and she felt him wrap his tiny arms around her neck, pulling her in tight. He'd been crying.

“I know, Spike...”

“I miss her...!”

He hissed into her ear. His claws dug into the nape of her neck as he tried to fight back any more tears. Rarity had considered bringing the little dragon in on her plan but who knew, one way or the other, how he would react? No...she couldn't trust anypony, or dragon, until it was all over.

“This is all my fault Spike...if I weren't such an idiot, maybe she'd still be with us.”

The library was silent as they held one another, the ghost of Twilight binding them together. Spike had been the most crushed of any of them and nopony seemed to know what to do for him. As Twilight's friends, they felt like it fell to them to take care of him during this time but...how? Twilight had known him the best and had known just how to make him feel better.

As it stood, Rarity was the only one that even approached that level but his feelings for her made it awkward. She didn't want things to take an awkward romantic turn at this time, though only because she'd prefer him to be a little older. It might kill him if she rejected him now.

“Spike...I'm sorry but...”

“Oh...right...”

He pulled his claws from around her neck and stepped back, pulling the blanket tight around him.

“I just-”

“No, I know. And if it wasn't really important, I'd stay but I came to pick something up. Things to do and all.”

He wiped his eyes and waved his arm around the library.

“Well, I'm in charge so...whatever you like.”

She put a hoof to his chin, making him look at her.

“We'll spend time together very soon Spike. Tomorrow, okay?”

He nodded, swallowing hard. It seemed to make him more nervous than happy.

“A-alright. I'll...I'll be sorting books if you need me.”

She let his chin go and went to the shelves. She watched him from the corner of her eye, taking books to keep up a pretense. What she needed was in the basement, kept away from the innocent eyes of a Celestia fearing public. What Rarity needed was something Twilight had only shown her accidentally, something kept very hush-hush.

She slipped down the basement stairs when Spike had become too busy writing something to pay attention to her. There were only a few minutes.

The basement was unlike the rest of the library. It was dark and slightly damp, a single magical candle providing all the light for the windowless, subterranean room.

Here. This was where Twilight's death had started. This wretched little room, with a request that Rarity come watch Twilight cast some new spells. She placed a hoof on the rough little table and heard that innocent little request.

Rarity, want to come help me with some magic? Spike is out today...

What she needed now was in the locked case against the wall. Rarity wondered what the point of having a locked case was if you were simply going to put glass panes on the front but felt that she shouldn't question good fortune.

Taking a stored book out of a box, she cracked it against the glass, breaking it into large pieces that fell from the frame. She looked in, spotting what she needed immediately in the rather unpopulated locked case.

Twilight had explained that these books were borrowed from the Royal Archives and were forbidden to be cast from. Instead, she read them as a precaution against accidentally doing something awful and to learn counter-measures against them. That Celestia let them leave the palace at all was testament to the faith she had in Twilight's judgment.

Rarity had only accidentally learned of the existence of these 'evil' books and Twilight, feeling that she could trust Rarity's lack of interest in magical matters, had told her a bit about them.

And this one has some fascinating ideas on the transmutation of life and death...

She took the book and quickly slipped back upstairs. Her eyes darted to Spike and saw that he was still working on a list of some kind.

“Thank you Spike. I'll just be taking these then.”

She slipped the spell book between two others, a medical volume and a book she borrowed frequently on the history of buttons. They waved in the air for him to see.

“Okay. Um...I guess I'll see you tomorrow. And...um...”

He pressed his claws together, twirling them over one another repeatedly.

“Thanks for checking on me. I know why you're the one who comes by the most...and I'm not...I'm not taking it the wrong way. I understand.”

He really was smarter than any of them gave the dragon credit for. She lightly kissed his forehead, watching him blush at the contact .

“See you tomorrow.”

It was nice to have the sunlight back on her shoulders as she left. All this unhappiness and death and ruined lives had turned the normally beautiful days they lived into a rather rotten cycle of remembrance and sadness.

She flipped to the first page of the book she'd picked up, the others floating beside her.

Chapter one...

“Ugh...my head hurts...”

Rarity rubbed her eyes, the book finally closed in front of her. Almost ten full hours of straight reading and note taking, sometimes having to decipher Twilight's meaning despite her impeccable magic-writing, had worn the white unicorn down to a nub of her former self. If not for Twilight's notes in the margins, she wouldn't have had any idea what half of what she was reading was about.

She sipped her freezing cold tea, formerly piping hot, and let out a sigh.

It was time.

She grabbed a case of tailoring chalk and trod up the stairs to her room. The chill had abated a bit as the ice had melted. Twilight still lay in the bed, on her back and hooves over chest.

Beautiful.

While the room was fine enough to serve as a stage for a miraculous, holy resurrection, and the womb of the reborn Twilight, it was too small. There were circles and mandalas that needed to be drawn and the carpet wasn't exactly conducive to chalk markings.

No, the basement would have to do. It wasn't as nice but it was big, if she moved some of her junk to the outer edges.

“Sorry dear. I know, it would have been nicer to awaken in the lap of luxury but...you know how it goes sometimes. We'll make do.”

She assisted Twilight onto her back, carefully carrying her downstairs and extra careful to avoid bumping her head on the wall. Though Twilight alive with a headache was preferable to dead Twilight, why add problems?

She realized she still hadn't done anything about getting legs for Twilight but the book had been less than informative on the subject. Twilight would have a scare when she awoke but surely the smart unicorn would have a spell for regrowing limbs. Perhaps something lizard based. They regrew limbs, didn't they?

She propped Twilight in a corner and folded her front hooves in her lap.

“You sit here. We'll be ready in a moment.”

Rarity made room for the giant mandala she had to draw, pushing boxes aside and piling rolls of fabric into the corner.

The heaviest object was the paper guillotine that she had refashioned into a fabric cutter. It had worked fantastically, cutting the fabric fast and evenly with consistent sharpening and adding a second blade to the opposite side had allowed her to work on two rolls at once.

And then the Crusaders had decided that it made the most amusing toy ever and broke both blades off by playing with it too much. She pushed the heavy base into the corner and laid the blades over top.

With the book floating at her side, it took very little time to draw the magic circle, though the surrounding symbols took longer due to their intricacy. Each one abounded with geometric shapes that Rarity felt were needlessly complicated. But, not knowing if accuracy really counted, she took pains to make them exact.

“Oh, darn. I forgot the candles. Be right back, Twilight.”

She took the stairs up to her kitchen quickly and rifled through the junk drawer, rooting around for the elusive wax items.

About eight ought to-

Knock knock.

Rarity froze, her body stiffening in sudden shock. Should she answer it?

She glanced at her kitchen door, seeing a familiar brown hat sitting atop a familiar farmer. Applejack smiled and nodded, knocking again and pointing at the locked door so she could b let in.

She couldn't very well not answer it now. The clank of the door unlocking was followed by the scrip-scrip of Applejack wiping her hooves. Rarity was mighty particular about dirty floors.

“Applejack!”

She put extra surprise in her voice. Best to keep Applejack's attention on her while she scooted around and closed the door to her basement.

“My goodness, whatever brings you here at this hour?”

She smiled, that cute little country gal half-grin that Rarity liked.

“Well, Sweetie Belle is staying out at th' farm tonight with th' other crusaders an' she said she forgot her sleepin' bag. Ah jus' came by for it.”

Rarity nodded, opening her mouth in a small 'o'.

“Well, I'll just get that for you. Are the girls behaving?”

She kicked her basement door shut as she passed. Crisis averted.

It took a bit of searching, Sweetie Belle not being as intent on keeping things where they belonged as her sister. This led the two mares on an exhaustive search and Applejack to talk about the events of the day.

“So, you heard that some son-of-a-snake stole Twilight's body, dincha?”

Rarity nodded as she looked behind the curtained windows of her shop, near the door. Nope.

“Sweetie told me. What a horrid thing to have happen.”

Applejack was silent, waiting for further comment but the usual Queen of Melodrama was silent as she checked behind her couch and some mannequins.

“That's all you gotta say? Rarity, you've been actin' funny since...well, the accident.”

She stopped Rarity mid-search, putting a hoof on her shoulder and looking into her eyes.

“You really okay, sugarcube? It ain't like ya' ta' act so calm.”

Rarity frowned at the slight insult, brushing the hoof off her shoulder.

“I loved Twilight as much as anypony, Applejack. Her death simply helped me realize that I was wrong to be so easily overcome by the slightest provocation. Crying does not solve problems. Actions do. And the action I'm taking is...”

Rarity thought a moment,tapping a hoof to her chin and trying to come up with a good word.

“Horseapples!”

While it wasn't the word Rarity had wanted, she wasn't the one who had said it. Applejack glared at her friend, suddenly angry at what she was hearing.

“You ain't th' type to keep things all bottled up Rarity. It ain't like ya and it ain't healthy, specially for somepony as in touch with what they really feel as you.”

Rarity glared back, the tiredness she felt sapping her normally polite demeanor.

There. The sleeping bag was hung on the knob of the basement door. Rarity levitated it over and pushed Applejack towards the back door.

“I think we've talked enough tonight, Applejack. Please go, and the next time you come please leave your opinions outside.”

She planted her hooves, turning on her stylish friend.

“Rarity, this ain't somethin' you can just walk away from. Twilight is dead!”

Rarity grit her teeth, squeezing each word out in a hiss.

“I'm not walking away. I'm facing it head on. Whatever you think I'm doing, I'm not. And it's not like I went out and got absolutely skunk faced like you did. Those of us with class know better.”

Applejack tensed her hooves, her face flashing from shock at such a low blow to anger at Rarity bringing it up.

“At least I cared about Twilight! You're just pretending like nothing happened. Sure, ya' cried at th' funeral and all but it's only a few days later and you're ready to forget Twilight. You don't even care!”

Rarity certainly didn't intend to harm Applejack, her close, if slightly earthy friend. But as angry as she was, she never realized she'd grabbed the pan off the stove overhang or that she'd slammed it into Applejack's face hard enough to send her reeling backwards. Her body almost flew into the basement door, the wood breaking under her weight and force.

Rarity realized only a moment too late what was happening. The pan fell from her grasp as she screamed, racing forward to grasp at the orange hooves that fell too quickly to be caught. Applejack fell down the stairs, an orange, end over end tumble that crashed down the wooden steps and landed hard at the bottom, crumpled against the wall. Blood dripped from her nose and face and streamed down her chest.

Rarity stood at the top of the stairs, whispering over and over as she took short, panicky breaths

“no no no no no no...”

A groan and shift brought Rarity's heart into her throat as she quickly trotted down the stairs. It was the piercing scream of Applejack's first look at what lay next to her that stopped Rarity dead in her tracks. Applejack leapt to her hooves, backing away from the silently waiting purple form, specks of blood spattering the ground as she pressed against the basement wall.

“Wh-what the fuck!? Rarity....wh-what in the hell is-?”

The pan made the clear, trilling sound as Rarity held it with her magic again, gracing Applejack's skull once more. The farm pony crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Rarity looked down on the bloody pair, surprisingly calm considering her previous momentary panic.

“Better get some rope...”

The splitting pain in Applejack's head was the first thing she noticed. Her eyes were slow to open as she groaned, panning her head over the scene she'd hoped was just a nightmare. An ice pack fell from her head as she looked at Rarity, making last minute scribbles on the floor and laying Twilight in the center.

Being tied to the stairs was the second thing she noticed, and she jerked against the cut fabric straps, the creaking alerting Rarity to her companion. She didn't bother to turn, still laying Twilight out and wrapping a sheet around her body, from chest down. It had to be perfect. A holy resurrection was supposed to be beautiful, wasn't it?

“Glad to see you're awake, dear. I didn't know how hard to hit you so it may have been a bit too much. Are you alright?”

She smoothed the wrinkles in the sheet and turned back to the farm pony, speckles of blood dotting her white chest. The ice pack levitated up and back onto AJ's head, Rarity gently patting the orange cheek.

She jerked from the touch, a tense glare making Rarity flinch.

“Why are ya' doin' this? What's wrong with ya, Rarity?”

She double checked the bandages, making sure they were tight and that the bleeding from Applejack's head had stopped. She levitated some matches and struck one, floating the bright dot of light around to each wick in the circle.

“It's because I do care about Twilight. I love her so much that I'm willing to do anything, even cast these allegedly 'unforgivable spells'. I'd do it for any of you girls, Celestia be damned. Because I love each and every one of you.”

Applejack couldn't argue. What could you say to someone that loved you so much that they'd break moon-banishing laws for you? But...it still felt so very unnatural.

“Rarity...it ain't right. Coming back ain't right. There's gotta be a reason Celestia don't allow these kinds 'a spells.”

She turned from the apple pony and clicked off the lights with a cast of her horn. Rarity had been alone in this up to now and had had no voice save her own to argue with. The fear in Applejack's voice worried Rarity. Was this all so terrible?

She quelled that thought and took a breath. No, she'd come this far. She couldn't stop at the brink just because of a few doubts.

“You'll see Applejack. You'll be the first to greet her.”

Rarity looked over her shoulder at the apple pony and AJ could see tears in her eyes.

“Put on a smile, darling. We want Twilight's first vision to be of friends, ready to welcome her.”

Rarity lifted the book into the air, her notes levitating beside it. The candles cast a shadowed, under-lit appearance over her normally beautiful face, the sharp angles of shadow turning her into something otherworldly.

She closed her eyes and began chanting, words whose meanings she barely understood rising in a song like verse. Her horn glowed, the blue light barely penetrating the suddenly oblivion like darkness of the basement.

The temperature dropped, Applejack's breath coming out in white clouds, her chest shivering from the malevolent cold. She watched, a feeling of horror eeping out of the air as she tried to struggle against the tight bonds.

Rarity's voice rose higher and higher and something gathered in the air around them, seeming to pull to a single spot and coalesce into an inky form above the purple mare and the mandala.

Rarity let her eyelids rise, the shine missing from them as though her mind were gone completely from her earthly shell. Her horn glowed, brighter and brighter until her voice reached a crescendo in the chant and a black fog descended from the ceiling. It soaked into Twilight, the chest rising, though from breath or mere expansion was impossible to tell.

The candles waned in the freezing room and snuffed out.

A minute passed and, slowly, Rarity came back to herself. She could feel the freezing cold air and the deathly silence of the room. It took her back to the grave where Twilight had lain and brought the large basement to a mere coffin size.

“R-rarity? You there? I'd feel a whole lot better if you turned on the lights.”

Rarity shook her head, trying to clear the fogginess that had overtaken it.

“Rarity? Rarity, turn on the lights.”

Had it worked? She couldn't hear anything. No movement from Twilight or breathing.

“Damnit, Rarity, turn on a light! Are you even there!? RARITY!?”

Unable to grab the matches with levitation if she couldn't see them, she fumbled for the box and pulled one out in her teeth, striking it.

Twilight's grinning face barely inches from her own sent her reeling back in a scream, the match dropping from her mouth.

She careened back on her hooves, pushing herself as Applejack screamed.

“Rarity! RARITY, TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!?”

Rarity's heart pounded in her chest. Twilight had moved, appeared right in front of her without a sound. Her frantic crawling brought her to Applejack, who she clung to.

“I think...I think I made a mistake.”

She could hear it now. A soft shuffle of crawling skin on stone. She held tight to the apple pony, those tears she hadn't shed at the funeral gushing from her eyes, no doubt running black mascara onto AJ's chest.

“Rarity, listen to me. Get me out of this.”

Rarity choked, listening to that subtle noise. Was it getting closer? What was it? It wasn't her beautiful Twilight-

“Rarity!”

AJ hissed into her ear, forcing her to listen.

“Whatever that was, it ain't Twilight and we need to get out of here right now. Listen to ma' voice. Take. Off. These. Ties.”

Rarity sucked back the tears and mucus of her blubbering and nodded, fumbling and tearing at the straps, her hooves shaking wildly as her teeth chattered in the freezing room.

Shrrr-ksh.

A chill slithered up Rarity's spine. Whatever that sound was, it spurred her hooves faster, ripping at the frayed edges of the torn fabric.

Applejack thrashed, pulling and twisting at the bonds, feeling them rip under her adrenaline fueled struggling. The fabric popped and she jumped to her hooves, pulling Rarity to her side and stepping back, her head twisting back and forth in the dark.

Shrrr-ksh.

Rarity tried to stand despite her exhaustion, her horn barely glowing as she concentrated. They needed that light. More than anything in the world, they needed a light!

It gradually reached across the room, building a pool of luminance until it touched the edge of a stitched up hoof stump.

Rarity flinched as it moved and Applejack grit her teeth hard at the sight.

In a flash of magical movement, Twilight's aura lifted and crushed two objects into the ground, stabbing through the concrete. The blades of the broken fabric cutter stood straight and horrible in the small blue light.

The body, lifted by it's own magic, was swept up into the air like a ragdoll and landed with a muscle ripping squish on top of the blade handles, driving them past the stitched stumps and up into the haunches, creating unnatural lumps that poked through the skin under the cutie mark.

Rarity's scream could have been heard in all of Ponyville as it took a step, the bladed hooves clinking on the stone floor as it tottered back and forth.

This was not her beautiful Twilight. This was...there were no words for what a perversion it was!

It stopped, standing tall on it's back 'legs', looking at them with Twilight's blank, dead eyes that never blinked. Tears dripped from the edges, spilling down it's cheeks even as it grinned.

Applejack took a single step forward, her breathing erratic as she put herself between it and Rarity. She stared at the vile once-friend and whispered to Rarity without taking her eyes away from the thing.

“Sugarcube...stay right with me. We're gonna get out of here.”

Rarity gave no response. What she had made...what she had done to Twilight...was beyond monstrous. The foundation of her stable mind crumbled at the sight and only these simple words fell from her lips in a devastated whisper.

“...I'm a monster...”

“This ain't th' time to crack on me, Rarity. Focus!”

It took another step forward and shivered, hunched over slightly as it's forehooves gripped it's belly. A lump poked from its chest, the muffled popping of stretched bone preceding the growing bump sliding up the throat, distending it until the jaw popped and it's mouth hung open.

Neither pony made a sound as they stared at the slightly glowing purple orb in her mouth. Nor did they make a sound at what they heard, shock rendering them speechless.

“Rarity? Applejack? Are you there!? I-I heard some weird chanting and...and I can't see...it's so cold...are you there!?”

Applejack raised a hoof, reaching towards the voice and the monster that cringed as it spoke. Rarity choked out through her sobs.

“Y-yes darling...it's us...”

Twilight's voice panicked, cracking in sudden fear.

“I'm...I'm scared...why can't I see? What's happening!?”

Applejack snarled, dragging her stunned companion towards the stairs.

“Let's go!”

Twilight's jaw snapped shut, cracking the orb as it was swallowed back inside. Her eyes glowed faintly as her grin grew wider, her power shining out of those stolen orbs. Rarity glanced back once, seeing her former friend tearing after them, her hoof-blades screeching over the floor.

“But Twilight-!”

“That ain't Twilight! Not no more!”

Their hooves pounded on the stairs, the chipping of wood just instants behind Rarity's steps as they burst into the kitchen. Applejack slammed the door with a resounding bang. Savage thumps pounded on it and AJ threw her weight against the door, finding no lock to keep it closed instead. Her yell barely rose over the volume of the noise coming from the basement.

“Rarity, go get the guards! Get somepony, fast!”

Rarity's nod turned scream of horror as one of the blades shot through the door, lancing through Applejack's cheek and tearing the skin away. She fell back to the floor, blood dripping in a torrent from the flap of flesh.

Rarity dropped to her knees, holding the wound, trying to keep AJ's face together as the farmer hissed and cried, the salty tears running into the wound. Needle and thread flashed through her mind repeatedly as she pressed the orange skin back together, feeling it slide and slip as AJ tried to push her off.

The door slowly creaked open and two thumps drew Rarity's eyes up the long bladed legs to the hideous grinning face.

“Rarity...”

Applejack pushed the broken white pony away and got to her hooves, trembling like a foal. Air whistled through the gaping cut in her face as she sucked in lungfuls of air, trying to calm herself and failing.

Rarity held AJ tight, waiting for it all to end. An appropriate finish for the selfishness of one who sought to subvert what nature had deemed 'right'.

Twilight's voice made her hair stand on end.

“Thank you so much...Rarity.”

The swing of blade through air was met with primal scream as Applejack burst forward, meeting the stab with her own body. Blood slid down her back, dying her blonde tail red as she stood tall on her own back legs.

She pressed forward, the blade sliding deeper into her chest as she pushed the suddenly surprised looking monster back until it teetered on the edge of the stairs. Twilight screeched to a halt, her free leg buried in the floor and that grinning monster face turned to anger.

“Rarity, push us!”

Her eyes went wide at the command. Being trapped like that in the basement with this thing-

“Do IT!”

Her horn lit up, little power left as she felt her concentration slipping. Applejack slipped in her own pooling blood, falling to her knees.

“NOW!”

With the last bit of strength she had in her mind, a levitation turned forceful push shot from her horn and sent the two over the edge into the long, dark tumble to the basement floor.

Crash after crash made Rarity wince, the screams and whines of pain continuous up to the final crash of bodies on the stone wall at the bottom of her stairs.

Her eye peeked open, looking at the black abyss that had swallowed both of her friends. Her head pounded with seizures of pain from pushing her magic too far.

And that niggling little thought at the back of her mind forced her to her hooves.

There was still a chance to save the brave orange pony.

Wobbling and trembling in exhaustion, she tried to run out the back door. Her neighbors were near in the brick and mortar shopping area but it might as well have been a million miles. The smallest mercy was granted her as she saw a group of late shoppers passing by in the night.

The world seemed so muffled as she limped forward. There were screams, calls for guards. But it was all as if her head were underwater.

The ground rose to meet her face and she felt herself losing consciousness, even as a guard shook her, asking her...something. What was he saying?

She tried to form the words, though she couldn't hear them. Her arm barely rose as she tried to point at the Carousel Boutique. All she could get out, all that was discernible from her mouth was,

“Applejack...”

And she collapsed.

“Five minutes.”

The orderly had snuck up on the conversation, startling the nervous dragon and his white companion. He was already walking away before either could respond, though Rarity shot a dirty look at his back.

“I-I guess I have to go.”

Spike hopped down from the small cushioned seat. His weekly visit to Rarity was always a single hour, though he often petitioned the doctor for more time. Her caretaker at the “Canterlot Hospital for the Magically Insane” felt that an hour was all the stimulation the white mare could take.

Rarity nodded at him, sipping from her plastic cup and dabbing her lips with a napkin. It had been a hard enough battle just to get napkins for these visits, though she still intended to fight for her right to a scone.

“I'm sorry you can't stay. These doctors think too much unsupervised contact is somehow a bad thing even after I tell them I never feel better than after I've had a talk with my little Spikey.”

His heart fairly fluttered at the words, though a flash of sadness passed over his eyes. He'd asked the doctor at one point, of course. Whether she would ever be well enough to leave. The response had been a sad shake of the head.

“It's okay.”

He hesitated a moment, waiting for the persistent question Rarity always asked at the end. It had become a ritual for them.

“Did they...find them?”

After Rarity had awoken, she'd confessed everything to the guards, begging them to rush to Applejack's aid. In her home and business, there had been every bit of evidence of the fight and evil rituals she'd so readily told them about. But no bodies. No book. Nothing beyond all of the blood.

He patted a claw over her hoof, shaking his head. It was never an easy thing to say and as time went on, it seemed like the answer would never change.

“No.”

Her eyes fell to the cup in front of her. Same as every week.

“Oh.”

A quick glance around to confirm the orderlies weren't looking revealed them to be surprisingly alone in the courtyard. He reached back into his mouth, pulling the tiny mirror he'd stuffed into his cheek. Rarity had often begged him for a proper mirror, though the small one was all he could get into his mouth.

She gasped at it, quickly placing a hoof over the shiny gift. He tensed when she kissed him. Not the usual forehead or cheek kiss, but full on the lips. As thrilling as it was for Spike to receive such a thank you, it seemed as though something were wrong. The kiss went on and on, as though she were hanging on to something she might never see again.

Their lips finally parted and Spike knew he was as red as a beet.

“Now you get along, Spikey, before that rude orderly comes by for you again.”

As she spoke, she pushed a rolled scroll into his hands.

“And please Spike, send this friendship report to Celestia.”

He nodded, putting it under his arm.

“I'll be back next week Rarity.”

She smiled and turned her neck up to the bright sunshine.

Spike followed the path, never stopping to look back. It always made him sad to watch her get smaller the further away he got.

An orderly let him into the main building and he briefly considered sending the letter along in a puff of flame, just to get it out of the way. But the niggling of worry wouldn't leave his mind.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Your world is overflowing with beauty and I've always appreciated every tiny bit of it. And I've realized there are things in the world that shouldn't be. That taint creation with a corruption that is beyond blasphemy. Corruption that I brought into the world.

There's little I can do to apologize. But that little I will do.

Goodbye.”

He clasped a claw to his mouth and ran, screaming her name as he plowed past patients and orderlies and out into the courtyard. Worried nurses followed and the several ponies and dragon arrived at the small patio...too late.