//-------------------------------------------------------// Rarest of Them All -by MinervaHoot- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Nightmares //-------------------------------------------------------// Nightmares Rainbow Dash's body was found in the Sugarcube Corner's basement by the Cakes. Most of the organs were missing, the wings had been torn off, and the face and cutiemark had been cut off. The Royal Guards were alerted and Pinkie was caught and imprisoned. Even though Pinkie said she was sorry, her expression said a different story. A week after the discovery, a funeral was held in honor of the dead pegasus. She was buried alongside her parents, who had died of plague. That was the day when all of Ponyville and Cloudsdale mourned. It was also the day that Rarity's nightmares began. The white unicorn had gone home after the procession, just like everypony else. By the time she was at the boutique, it was already late, so she just cantered to her bed. As soon as she closed her eyes, she began to dream. She saw herself sitting in the middle of her boutique, shrouded by fog. The fog slowly began to clear, revealing a mirror right in front of her. What am I doing here? she thought. Rarity's reflection began to move, which was quite odd, because the mare herself hadn't moved a muscle. "Bonjour, madamemoiselle. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you." The reflection spoke in a reptilic voice, like a snake. The voice hypnotized Rarity, made her feel lightheaded. "I brought you here for a motivational speech. Listen, darling, do you not miss your colorful friend?" "Why yes, I do." "Well, darling, everypony in Equestria adores your dresses. You can sew the stars into fabric. You can weave a jewel into a gown. Don't you think it is time to go one step further?" Rarity was baffled. "What do you mean?" The reflection shone a smirk. "You can weave fabric into clothes. Do you not think you can weave the very fabric of life?" The unicorn once more repeated her question. Upon hearing this, the reflection seemed to become irrate. "You can bring Rainbow Dash back to life. You just need to collect bits and pieces of other ponies. Eyes, wings, lungs, blah, blah. Then, you just sew her together and blast her with magic, and voila!" Rarity blinked and was about to reply when suddenly, the fog darkened and thickened. "She must've heard me. I must go, but we will meet again. " The snow coloured unicorn was still stuck in place. "What do I do? How do I begin?" The reflection's eyes glowed in a shade of draconic green. "To meet your fate, to the graves you must head, talk to hate, and unveil the dead." As soon as the last letter was spoken, the mist thickened even more, swallowing Rarity. The unicorn woke up with a yelp. Her sapphire eyes were blinded by the warm Autumn sunlight. It was all just a dream Rarity had decided to call her reflection Marrity. She stood shakily on her hooves as she recalled Marrity's message. She sighed and decided to work on the instructions after Rarity levitated her shovel as she passed in front of old and weathered tombs. Her purple mane bounced with every step she took. Her eyes glowed under the full moon. Once she had reached Rainbow Dash's grave, she began to dig, being careful to avoid the filthy earth. Suddenly, she heard a deep BANG! Rarity's sapphire eyes lit up as she peered into the newly dug hole. There you are, my little gem. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Cardsharks //-------------------------------------------------------// The Cardsharks Roulette awoke with a start. The unicorn looked around nervously. As she tugged her limbs, it dawned on her that she was chained to a mannequin. "Ah, what a pleasant surprise! I thought you'd never wake up." Roulette searched for the source of the voice, which was difficult to do, given the position she was in. Just as the unicorn brightened her horn to release herself, an object levitated out of the darkness and swiped at her horn. The hacks, however, weren't at random. They seemed to be aimed at strategic places. Roulette looked around nervously, and was surprised to see a pale figure step from the shadows. Her surprise was even greater when she saw who the figure was. "R-Rarity?" the captive unicorn inquired, half hoping it was all an illusion, or better yet, a horrible nightmare. "How grand! You are now fully awake, the process can now be carried out succesfully!" Roulette stared as the white mare levitated the object, a knife, and flung it at another mannequin, where it stuck. "What process? What are you talking about?" The usually calm unicorn was now beginning to panic. Rarity shot her a trademark bedazzling smile. "I'm going to test your loyalty. If you pass, you'll be part of my newest creation!" "What if I lose?" Rarity smiled at her gently. "You won't be as useful as I'd hoped you'd be, but don't worry, you'll still be helpful!" The white unicorn approched Roulette and patted her mane gently, as one would comfort a frightened foal. "Don't worry," she cooed, "this will be over soon." Rarity then levitated a cleaver over Roulette's uncovered abdomen. Roulette was now in full panic. In a desperate attempt to flee, she called forth a powerful beam of magic from her horn. She saw as the magic arched from the base of her horn towards the tip. The unicorn was frazzled as the magic returned towards the sender. The magic arched through her   body as she released a glass-shattering scream. Rarity looked at her thoughtfully. "I forgot to mention that.  Due to the cuts that your horn recieved, your magic will reflect back to you." Roulette panted heavily. For the first time in her life, her optimisim had vanished. She had no hopes of getting out alive. The mare's eyes widened when she saw Rarity unveil a mannequin nearby. Chained to the stuffed model was none other than her best friend, Poker. "Okay, here's the deal," the mare levitated a scalpel and held it in front of a frightened Poker, "I will carve you, but when you think you've suffered enough, just call my name." Roulette was about to reply when suddenly, Rarity dug the cleaver into Roulette's left leg. The unicorn once more broke into screams and yelled the word that caused Rarity to stop. Surely enough, the purple maned mare stopped. Just as Roulette was beginning to calm down, she heard  screams towards her left. She turned her head as much as she could and saw the scalpel sticking out of Poker's right eye. The other mare shrieked and sobbed as the surgical tool twisted around in her eye socket, revealing nerves she'd never even known had existed. Seeing her friend suffer in such brutal manner was too much for Roulette. "Rarity, please leave her alone. Do whatever you want with me, just don't injure her anymore." Rarity grinned sadistically as she pulled the scalpel out of Poker's eye with a loud pop and stuck it into Roulette's eye instead. Poker sobbed silently as both regular and bloody tears streamed down her face. Roulette screamed in pain as her four extremities were hacked off with the cleaver. Once this had been done, Rarity placed the scalpel on the floor. "Congratulations, you've passed your exam with high honors!" With a single slice, the mare brought down the cleaver straight through Roulette's neck, and with a sickening thud fell to the floor. Poker's single good eye went wide in horror as she saw her friend get decapitated. Rarity then beheaded Poker. "Roulette's loyalty proved accurate," she mumbled to herself, "I guess this will be useful." The mare dropped the cleaver and levitated Roulette's blood covered head. "I'm not sure I'll have some use for this one, however." The unicorn glared disdainfully at Poker's corpse. "Just look at the mess you've made of my basement rug! I'll never get the blood out of it!" The mare then examined herself. "As for moi, I need a bath. Rainbow Dash can wait." The unicorn placed the head inside a shelf that was previously used to store fabrics. Rarity then trudged upstairs to bathe, and to think how she would carry out the next step.