Once Upon a December

Chapters

Last December
Hearts of Ice, Death by Fire
When Hell Froze Over
Deadly as a Snowflake
Cold Hearted Laughter
Snow Apples
Where the Loyalty Lies
How the Mighty Fall
The City of Isis
End of Nightmares
Frozen Roses

Last December

The entire right side of the castle was destroyed, crumbled in the fiery blaze that happened a year ago. The rest of the castle stood on shaky bricks, threatening to collapse at any time. The castle grounds were infested with weeds and overgrown vines and trees; the grounds keepers probably stopped tending to the gardens long ago. Not that it mattered; not a soul lived in the castle anymore. Not since the disaster one year ago…

*****

“Dear Twilight Sparkle; my most faithful studet,

As you are well aware, Hearth’s Warming Eve is approaching, and it is a time to celebrate our unity as a pony race and spend time with the ones that we care for. So I graciously invite you and your friends to the special 5000th anniversary of the Hearth’s Warming Eve’s Spectacular! It will be a special gala event that will take place the night before Hearth’s Warming. We hope that you and your friends will join Luna, Cadence, and I for a night we will all remember!

Your Royal Highness,

Princess Celestia.”

“WOWEEEEEEE!” screamed Pinkie Pie excitedly, clapping her hooves as Twilight finished the letter from the Princess. “That sounds like it’s going to be the best party ever!”

“Pinkie, y’all say that about every party,” chuckled Applejack.

“But, that’s because it’s always true!” the pink pony exclaimed. “And I really mean it this time!”

“Well, I think that it will be a lovely evening,” Rarity chimed in. “It’s not every day that the princess invites you to such a grand invent.”

Rainbow snorted in from the back of the room. “Pul-leeze! We all know why you want to go! You just want to see your little ‘Spiky-Wiky’ again.”

“Umm…actually Spike isn’t little anymore,” whispered Fluttershy, who had remained excited but quiet throughout the whole reading and conversation. “He’s actually gotten quite large… It’s a little scary.”

Twilight sighed. “Fluttershy, you know that Spike wouldn’t hurt a fly, let alone one of his best friends.”

“Oh I know that,” she said quietly, “but he stills scares me.”

“Silly Fluttershy!” laughed Pinkie, grabbing the pony in a headlock. “Spike’s just a big o’ softy, even if he is the new first lieutenant of the Canterlot Guard!”

Rarity sighed. “Yes, I remember that day quite fondly, a day filled with both happiness…” she paused as she attempted to force back her tears, but one still managed to slip past, “and heartbreak.”

“We all miss him, Rarity,” said Twilight, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “But hey, maybe we’ll meet see him at the ball?”

“You’re right, Twilight!” the white mare smiled. “I’ll bet he’ll be there. Oh, to see him again after all this time!” she hummed happily as she skipped through to the door. “I’ll see everypony later, I need to go pack! Oh, there simply isn’t much time!” The snow white unicorn pranced out of the door, leaving the rest of the mares in the library.

“Well, y’all think we should go?” Applejack asked, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’m not big on the whole dancing gala thing, plus I sort of planned to spend Hearth Warming with the family. We have the whole Apple family coming in this year.”

“Aww! C’mon AJ!” begged Pinkie, her eyes growing large and blue, cutting straight into the cowpony’s soul. “It wouldn’t be the same without you, Jacky.”

The orange mare bit her lip as she tried to look away from the pink pony’s eyes. “Dang it! It ain’t fair, using them puppy dog eyes. Twilight, make her stop.” She looked to her violet friend for support, but was met with a similar pouty face from the unicorn. “Ah, c’mon! This ain’t fair, there should be a law banning this sort of nonsense!” she complained, but the mares didn’t let up. “All right fine, y’all win! I’ll go. But the second the Gala’s over, I’m catching a one way trip back to Ponyville!”

“Yay!” screamed Pinkie, sucking Applejack into a giant bear hug. “This is going to be the best night ever!”

*****

How terribly wrong she had been.

The white mare shook out of her daydream and took her first few steps onto the old castle grounds. Making her way through the unkempt courtyard, she approached the rusted gates of Canterlot Castle. The doors hadn’t been opened since the disaster, so it was with great difficulty that Rarity was able to push the screeching gates open. With the entrance open just a crack, the slightly winded unicorn slipped through the doors, not bothering to close them back up.

It was a wreck inside the main entrance. It looked like the room had been ransacked by burglars and other thieves, with overturned, broken furniture and ripped, tattered drapes full of holes just like the rest of the hall. There was hardly a part in the room that wasn’t covered in a dark layer of ash.

The mare walked solemnly down the once great halls of Canterlot, doing her best to avoid the gaze of the haunting interior. She came across another door, and with a heavy heart, pushed the door open into the main gala hall…

*****

“Captain Armour, you wanted to see me?”

The white unicorn turned around to see who he was talking to. “Lt. Spike, please, I told you, it’s just Armour when we’re off duty,” he said with a smile as the large purple dragon walked next to him on the balcony that overlooked all of Canterlot.

It was around the end of December, and Canterlot had become a sparkling winter wonderland. The snow was falling quite nicely that evening, perfect fat snowflakes floating gently down from the clouds. The lights that shone from the city were a wonderful mixture of red and green, and laughter and good cheer could be heard from all the ponies down in the courtyard, the first of many guests that would be attending the Hearth’s Warming’s Eve event.

“So, Armour, what did you want to talk about?” asked Spike.

“The party that’s happening downstairs,” he said, still looking out at the court grounds. “It’s going to be the biggest event of the year; everypony that’s anypony is going to be attending.”

“I am aware, Captain,” Spike said, “and I’m sure that it will be a great evening, for everypony.”

“And maybe a dragon…” smiled Shining, reaching into one of the pockets of his winter armour.

“Sir?”

“I got you a little present, for all of your loyal service to the guard,” the guard pony said, pulling out a pair of golden tickets, and giving them to the dragon. “Consider yourself off duty for the rest of the holidays.”

“Are these….” The dragon paused, reading the label of the ticket, “tickets to the Hearth's Warming Eve Spectacular?”

The pony nodded. “Cadence and I got a few extra tickets, what with her being the niece of the princess, and after she invited her friends and family, we still had a leftover ticket and I thought... why not?”

“Thank you, Armour,” the dragon said gratefully, handing him back the ticket. “But I can’t accept this.”

“And why is that?” Shining asked, raising his brow. “I’d thought you’d be a little more excited; this is a very special event.”

“I was planning on going home for the holidays to see Twilight,” he blushed, “among other ponies…”

Shining Armour let a good hearted chuckle slip out as he slapped the dragon on the back. “And among these other ponies, would one of them be a beautiful white unicorn with a bouncy purple mane?”

“Perhaps,” grinned Spike, reaching into his own pockets, and pulling out a white train ticket. “And that’s why I can’t accept the ticket. I was planning on surprising Rarity with a visit.”

“Really, that’s the only reason you won’t attend the Gala?” wondered Shining. “You wanted to spend the holidays with your marefriend?”

“And to see everyone else as well!” Spike said defensively. “But I won’t say that I’m not looking forward for a little alone time with her.”

“Well, I wouldn’t get rid of that Gala ticket just yet,” laughed Armour, looking down from the balcony. “I have a surprise of my own.”

“What?” asked Spike, looking to where Shining was looking. Down in the courtyard, a large grand carriage pulled up. A greeting stallion walked up to it and opened the door. One by one, six mares walked out of the carriage, each one wearing a thick coat, and a hat. Among the coat-clad ponies was a familiar deep purple, curly mane.

“Rarity’s here?” the stunned dragon asked, turning to Armour, but he was already leaving.

“I’ll see you at the party,” he said. “Oh, and say hi to Twily for me?” he asked before closing the door behind him.

Spike tucked both tickets into his pocket before jumping off the ledge of the balcony. He free fell for a few seconds before opening up his wings, slowly down his decent as he swooped down from the skies, and landed behind the six mares. It was fairly dark, even with the golden light coming from the castle, so they didn’t see the dragon sneak up on them.

“Can you believe how beautiful the Palace looks on a winter’s night?” gasped Rarity as she pulled her luggage through the snow.

“It’s so pretty…” whispered Fluttershy, although it was whispered warmly. “I’ve never seen so many beautiful lights before.”

“This party is going to be so awesome!” screamed the hysterical pink party pony. “There’s going to be dancing, and there’s going to be music, and there’s going to be cake! Ooooo cake! I hope they have Manehattan styled strawberry cheesecake! That’s my favourite!”

“Really?” asked Rainbow. “I thought your favourite was seven coloured angel pound cake?”

“I thought my Granny Smith’s apple pie was your favorite,” chuckled Applejack, holding on to her hat to keep it from blowing in the winter breeze.

“I personally like sapphire fire cake,” the dragon smiled, alerting the mares of his presence.

Rarity was the first to turn around; the giant smile on her face was priceless. “Spike!” she cried, dropping her luggage and running into his strong arms. He caught her, spinning around as the two reunited lovers shared a kiss, a kiss that could melt the snow around them. When the two finally parted, as all kisses must, Rarity’s eyes hung heavy with lust, fitting her sultry smile. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered.

“I’ve missed you too,” Spike whispered back, as he went in for a quick peck on her cheek. “I’m surprised that you’re here. I was actually planning on surprising you by meeting you back in Ponyville, but it looks like you beat me to it!”

“And it would have been a wonderful surprise, darling,” cooed Rarity, wrapping her hooves around his neck. “To be perfectly honest, the second we received the invitation from the princess, well, let’s say that the gala was the second thing that I was excited for.”

“Ugh gag!” groaned Rainbow. “Get a room you two.”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea…”

“Spike!” blushed Rarity, giving the dragon a playful nudge. “Please, our friends are right here.”

“And we have to get going,” commented Twilight. “We still have to get changed into our Gala dresses. We’ll meet you in the main dance hall, okay?”

“All right then, I will see you ladies at the gala,” Spike said, spreading his wings as he soared off into the air. “Just look for the incredibly handsome dragon!” he shouted back at the girls, laughing as he twirled through the air and away from the ponies.
“See you there, my love,” whispered Rarity as she and the other mares continued to the castle, giggling and laughing in anticipation to what was sure to be the greatest night in their young lives.

*****

The gala hall was covered in white ash and snow, a shadow of its former glory. The south wall and ceiling had collapsed, leaving a pile of rocky rubble and broken shards of glass. The other standing walls were cracked, and covered with dark scorch marks.

That hall held so many bad memories, ones that she wished she could forget. Rarity carefully walked down the marble staircases. Imprinted in the steps were more black scorch marks, but they were in the shape of ponies, ponies that were afraid of something. Ponies that were afraid of dying.

The large dance floor was no better. Small sections of the roof had caved in, and pillars were knocked down, leaving debris in the room. A pony would have thought these ruins were more than a year old, perhaps hundreds, maybe thousands of years old. But those wounds were still fresh, the chaos still settling in.

She had to leave this room; it was too painful to stay here after everything that had happened. She crossed the room quickly, her eyes shut to avoid accidentally looking at the final resting places of these ponies. With closed eyes, she wasn’t able to see the stray brick on the floor, and tripped.

Her head hit the ground rather hard, but nothing too serious. Her eyes slowly cracked open in horror as she saw the one mark that she was trying to avoid. She quickly scrambled to her hooves, ran through the barren room, and out the massive hole in the south wall.

She had to get out of there; she needed to get away from that memory. That mark in the ground, the gala hall, everything. It was here that everything went wrong. It was here that everything went to hell.

Hearts of Ice, Death by Fire

The gala hall was full of cheerful ponies and great music at the peak of its glory. The white marble halls were decorated with many festive decorations, with banners of the three tribes hanging down from the ceiling.

Rarity stood-wide eyed at the hall. “By the goddess, look at this decor. It’s marvellous!”

“It’s incredible, I’ll say,” commented Twilight as she and the rest of the mares entered. “Hey, look! It’s the Princesses!”

Standing at the north end of the hall, at the top of the marble staircase, were the three alicorn princesses: Princess Celestia, proud and fair ruler of Equestria and goddess of the sun; Princess Luna, her younger sister and keeper of the night, and their niece Princess Mi Amore Cadenza; an alicorn of love, and devoted wife of Captain Armour.

The six of them crossed the dance floor and up the stairs to see the princesses, who greeted them warmly.

“Twilight!” cheered Cadence, running up to the purple mare as they exchanged hugs.

“Twilight Sparkle, I’m so glad you and your friends were able to come on such short notice,” the sun princess said, greeting the mares as they approached.

“Well shoot, Princess, we couldn’t very well miss a fancy event like this,” said Applejack. “Though I can’t stay too long; catching a three a.m. train back to Ponyville.”

“Well, we hope that you can you enjoy the night, little ponies!” said the strong voiced Luna. “And I must say your dresses are quite commendable!”

“Thanks,” perked Rainbow, “but they’re just the same dresses that we wore to the Grand Galloping Gala. They still fit perfectly.”

“I told you Rainbow, I would have been more than happy to make you all new dresses,” said Rarity. “This is a special occasion.”

“Oh, that’s okay Rarity,” whispered Fluttershy from the back of the group. “We didn’t want to overwork you…”

“Nonsense darling!” the white unicorn said, “When have I ever been overworked?”

“Well, there was that one time…”

“Never mind,” shushed Rarity. “At least I was able to whip something together, last minute of course.”

“And when do we get to see this ‘last minute’ dress?” asked Twilight, noting that Rarity still had her dress concealed in her puffy jacket.

“When Spike shows up,” teased Rarity, giving her friend a little wink. “Speaking of…where is he anyway?”

“Right behind you, my love.”

For the second time that night, Spike had managed to sneak up on them. This time he wasn’t adorned in winter armour, rather he wore a red dress coat with golden trim.

“So, can we see this dress now?” he asked, offering his love a claw.

The white mare smiled. “Of course darling, but could you get my jacket?” she asked as she stood on her hind legs and let her coat slide off her shoulders.

“My goddess…” gasped Spike as he gazed at the beautiful mare. Rarity had on a dress the colour of a clear midnight sky. The gown of the dress had large snowflakes patterned on the edges, the tips studded with diamonds that sparkled like her eyes. The corset was white as fresh snow, forming as the top half of a snowflake to cover up the bust, with a translucent lace scarf that wrapped around her shoulders and forelegs.

“So what do you think?” she asked, giving a few twirls. “Do you think it’s a bit too much? I felt like I was just adding gems for the sake of adding them. I was terribly rushed, you know.”

“I think you look beautiful,” the dragon sighed lovingly.

The mare blushed at the comment. Suddenly the music that was playing stopped, as the band started to play a different song.

“Oh Spike, I love this song!” Rarity moaned. “It’s so romantic, is it not?”

“It is. Would you care to dance?” asked the smiling dragon, holding a claw out for his mare.

“Nothing would make me happier,” she smiled, looking at her friends and the princesses. “Your highnesses, if you would excuse me.”

“Not at all!” Celestia smiled. “In fact, all of you go and have fun!”

The rest of the mares smiled as they went running and flying down the steps and onto the dance floor, grabbing random stallions for dance partners as they danced to the steady pace of the music, leaving Rarity and her dragon at the top steps.

Spike gave a little bow, his hand waiting for her hoof. She gently placed her hoof in it, giving a little curtsy. The two slowly made their way down the marble stairs, stepping in the tempo of the music.

They stepped onto the dance floor, claw in hoof, as she wrapped her free hoof around his side, and he around her waist. Their bodies pressed close together as they entered the dance floor together, easily entering the rhythm of the dance around them.

“Spike, when did you learn how to dance so well?” giggled the unicorn as the dragon span her around.

“I’ve found time to practice shamefully, with a broom stick I borrowed from Lyra and Bon-Bon. They seemed a little too eager to get rid of it. Said that it wasn’t getting the job done anymore. Wonder what they meant...”

“I’m sure it’s nothing dear,” she said as the music changed pace, going from slow and loving to loud and passionate. “I miss you so much. I feel so alone without you, Spike.”

“I know, milady, but I had duties to attend to here. You’re sure that you wouldn’t reconsider moving here to Canterlot?” he asked. “I thought you wanted to live here.”

“Believe me, I do,” she moaned, as they started to spin faster. “And you living here now only makes me desire it that much more. It’s just that I can’t afford to move here. And then there are all of our friends to consider.” She clung tighter to him. “But all I want is to just be with you. For you to hold me forever.”

“I know, which is why I have one more surprise for you,” he smiled, as he gave her a dip. “I’m moving back to Ponyville.”

“What? But Spike, what about your job? I can’t let you just abandon your responsibilities, just for me,” she gasped. “As romantic as that is, I won’t let you do that.”

“That’s the best part of it all!” he grinned. “I would still carry out my duties, as Ponyville’s new guard dragon!”

“Spike, that’s wonderful!” she cooed. “But where would you be staying? Will you move back in with Twilight?”

“I’m a little too old for that. Besides, I saved enough bits to buy a nice place close to the boutique,” he smiled.

“Well, I’ll make sure to come over often,” the sultry unicorn said, dragging a hoof down his chest.

“Actually….” he said as he parted away from the unicorn. “I had another idea in mind….”

“What do you mean?”

He reached into his suit’s pocket, pulling out a small black box, falling to one of his knees. “Rarity, you are the most remarkable, beautiful, and caring mare I’ve ever met. I can’t think of anypony else to spend the rest of my life with. I love you, Rarity.” He cracked open the box, revealing a stunningly beautiful diamond ring.

“Oh my…” the now exhilarated unicorn gasped. “Spike, a-a-are you asking me to-”

“Yes, my love,” he smiled as he slipped the ring over her horn. “Will you make me the happiest dragon in all of Equestria, and be my wife?”

The music had gone soft for this intimate moment, only a gentle harmony playing in the background. The white mare, beautiful as a fair snowflake, bent down to eye level with the dragon, staring into his enticing green eyes, the eyes she loved.

“I do,” she whispered. “I do I do I do I do!” she screamed, wrapping herself around her fiancé as the two shared their first kiss as an engaged couple.

The lights of the gala hall suddenly went out, leaving the entire room filled with darkness and shocked ponies.

“Spike, what happened?” trembled Rarity, being held in the safe embrace of her dragon.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, staying perfectly calm. “Probably just a magic surge with the lights is all.”

Suddenly, the whole room began to shake, the tiles of the floor started to crack, and pulsing a red light emanated from the middle. In the center of the room, the floor caved in, leaving a glowing red hole in the ground. From this new crater, a pony slowly emerged.

Its mane was like fire, covering his face, flickering and crackling like the flame it was, yet not burning its coat which burnt like the flames of a thousand embers. His legs were as muscularly thick as tree trunks and he was as big and as imposing as an alicorn. The stallion took a few steps forwards, each step leaving a smouldering hoof print that lit ablaze.

“Well, what do we have here?” he asked, his voice was like a whisper, slithering into the mind like a snake as every syllable he spoke sent an unholy shiver down their spines. “Throwing a party and not inviting me? That wasn’t very nice of you…”

Celestia teleported up to the fiery stallion, giving him a death gaze as she tried to see his face behind his fiery mane. “Who are you, demon, and why you terrorize my subjects?!” she demanded.

“Ah Celestia, proud ruler of Equestria, and princess to the ponies,” the stranger hissed. “Of course in your ignorance you would not know me, but you will soon.” He grumbled. “But out of common courtesy, you may call me Hellfire, not that most of you will live long enough for it to be useful.”

“This is a private event!” she scowled. “If you don’t leave immediately, I will personally dispose of you!”

“Trust me, Princess,” he mumbled. “If I could, I’d be shivering.”

“I’ll tell you one more time,” she growled, her horn glowing with golden energy, “leave now, or I will remove you.”

“You bore me,” he yawned, flicking his flaming mane out of his face, revealing a pair of fiery eyes that burned like lava. He opened his mouth, a rush of hot magma blasting out and scorching the princess, propelling her to the other side of the room.

“Princess!” cried Twilight, as she ran up to her burnt mentor, followed by Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Applejack. “Are you all right?! What is that thing?”

The princess tried to speak but couldn’t. The fire that had burnt her was still eating away at her skin, turning the once great white mare into a smouldering black heap of burnt flesh.

“My faithful student…” the princess said weakly. “Get the others to safety….” she said, right before closing her big, beautiful eyes.

“No!” cried the violet mare, trying to use her magic to heal the fallen princess, but it was to no avail. “Nononononononononononono! You can’t die! You’re Celestia, goddess of the sun!”

“And yet she burns,” hissed the crimson pony, everypony looked towards him, captivated by his glowing yellow eyes. “Now, listen to me ponies, you’re princess seemed to be no fun at all and I find that to be unacceptable. So I suppose it is my duty to liven things up, because what’s a party without a little… entertainment?”

Tendrils of heat and fire burst from the chest of the demon pony, whipping and lashing out in an uncontrolled chaos. The ponies around the hall started to run in terror away from the flames and the tendrils that reached out for them. Any pony that was unfortunate to come into contact with these hellish coils instantly burst into a screaming ball of flames before decaying into nothing but black ash.

Rarity watched in repulsion as one by one the party guests were whipped up into the air before being impaled with flaming stakes. The pegesus ponies tried to fly away, but they would be swatted down like flies and squashed like them too.

“Come on Twilight!” shouted Applejack, trying to pry the crying mare from the dead alicorn. “She’s dead! We have to get out of here!”

“No! I won’t leave her!” sobbed the unicorn, refusing to let go. “She can’t be dead… she’s Celestia!”

“Misery loves company,” said Hellfire as his mouth started to drip with a fresh bask of lava. “Why not join her?”

He spat a glob of the glowing red magma on the crying Twilight and Applejack. There were no screams as their flesh was melted within the lava, leaving no trace that they have ever existed.

“Twilight! Applejack!” screamed Pinkie Pie, who was hiding under a table with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “Oh no, what are we going to do?”

“Hide!” squeaked Fluttershy, and pray he doesn’t find us!”

“A little late for that, girls,” droned Hellfire as he readied another blast of flames. “But you could prove to be entertaining.”

Within moments the two mares were trapped under the table in a fiery inferno and were soon consumed in the flames.

“Boring, uneventful, and disappointing,” yawned the fiery pony. “Isn’t there one of you who could prove to be entertaining?” he scanned the room, looking at what few survivors were left. “How about… you?” he said, pointing to the petrified Rarity. “My, my, my… don’t we think we’re lovely?” he asked, his face curled up into a smile as he exploded in a fit of flames.

“Rarity, look out!” Spike yelled, grabbing his mare and turning his back to flames, wrapping her in his extended wings as the fire broke around him. Rarity tucked tightly into the chest of the dragon, being spared the horrors of the flames.

“So, a dragon can withstand the fires of hell. Quite commendable,” commented Hellfire.

Rarity felt Spike’s grip loosen as she slipped out and saw the horrors that had befallen the room. The south wall had been destroyed, pillars had been knocked over, and the roof had collapsed. That wasn’t the worst thing that she saw. The explosion had killed everypony. They just disappeared into dust and ash. The party guests, the princesses, her friends…

“T-t-they’re all dead!” the horror-struck mare stammered, tears flowing from her eyes. “All my friends are dead….”

There was a demonic laugh that echoed through the shallow halls. She turned around to see the devil pony standing over her, his mouth drooling molten saliva, the expression on his face stripped of all emotions. No happiness, sadness, anger, boredom, or humour.

She shrieked as she tried to scramble away from the pony, which slowly followed her, each step he took leaving a fiery hoof print in the marble floor.

“Where do you think you’re going, love?” he asked, stepping on her tail, the flames of his hoof, burning the tip of it to ashes.

“Get off of her!” roared Spike, coming out of nowhere and tackling the pony off of the mare.

Spike on top, he began clawing at the demon pony, tearing it apart its flesh and skin. The dragon snarled and grunted as he tore way at Hellfire, who didn’t say a word. He didn’t even scream.

Soon there was a nothing left but a glowing yellow pile of steaming magma and a ripped up skin. Spike got up from the ground, panting heavily. He was covered in the burning liquid, and quickly wiped it all off.

He turned to Rarity, who was lying on the ground crying, her singed tail being stroked in her hooves. “Are you okay, love?”

“Oh Spike, look what that monster did to my tail!” she bawled, wiping her tears away.

“Hey, hey,” the dragon said, trying to comfort her, “it’ll grow back.”

“I’m not worried about the tail darling!” she sniffed, her crying staring to die down. “He was so close to me, he could have killed me and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything!” she cried. “I’m just a damsel, incapable to defending myself. If you hadn’t tackled him, I would be dead.”

“You’re not a damsel,” said Spike, pulling the mare into his arms. “You are the strongest and bravest mare I know, and just because I will always be here to protect you doesn’t make you weak.”

“I know Spike…” she sighed. “I know.”

“How very touching this all is…” a voice droned behind them. “This would make me hurl if I still had a stomach.”

“What?”

The two turned around to see that Hellfire was standing right behind them, his body perfectly intact, with all of his flaming and crimson features.

“How are you still alive?!” Spike snarled, pushing Rarity aside as he flexed his claws. “Am I going to have tear you up again?”

“A dragon of all creatures should know that you can’t dismantle a flame,” he moaned, standing up on his hind legs as he stretched his forelegs to his sides, “without getting burned.”

His stretched out hooves started to shift, mutating several small appendages at the tip, the hoof completely disappearing in place of five skeletal digits. The newly grown fingers then started to sprout long yellow claws, each of them growing to about three inches in length. The finished product was a new pair of new claws that could rend metal, flesh and bone with ease.

“You wish to play with fire?” the demon pony asked. “Then you will burn like the rest.”

“Hate to break it to you, but I’m completely fireproof!” he yelled as he charged the pony. Hellfire didn’t budge. He easily grabbed the dragon when he tried to slash at him, holding him by his neck and wrist, holding him as he tried to squirm out of his grip.

“Yes, you are fireproof dragon, but there are other ways to put you down,” Hellfire muttered, squeezing tightly around his neck. “I could gut you… Strangle you…. Eat you, if I desired…. But I prefer a simpler way, still just as effective….” He placed his other claw on the top of the drake’s head, his yellow claws digging into his skull as he spun Spike’s head around.

There was a brief snap, followed by a wave of hysterical screaming as the broken dragon fell lifelessly to the floor.

“No!” screamed the mare, running and dropping to her knees next to the fallen dragon, desperately shaking him to get him to move, speak, anything. But she received nothing from the dragon except a blank, dead stare.

The flaming pony walked up next to the crying mare, stroking her mane with his claws, his hands were as cold as ice. "It wouldn't have worked out anyway; do you really think ponies beyond your friends would have accepted your forbidden romance, your sin against nature?" he said. “And trust me, I know sin…”

“J-just make it quick,” she muttered. “Kill me so I can be with my loved ones.”

“No.”

“No?” she barked. “You kill all these ponies, the princesses, my friends, but killing me is crossing the line?! What kind of sick pony are you?”

“You could say I'm a bit of a rebel without a cause. Besides causing misery, of course.” he looked at the dragon, “Besides I have done what I came here to do, nothing more, nothing less. Unlike my siblings, I believe in self-control and standards.”

“Siblings?” she asked.

“Tell me, what is your name?”

“R-Rarity.”

“Are you mad, Rarity?” he asked, “Do you hate me for what I have done to you?”

The mare was cautious as she slowly nodded her head.

“Are you upset that I’ve taken everything you hold dear to you? Left you with nothing but the ashes of your friends and the body of a dragon?”

“Y-yes…”

Hellfire gave the mare a smile. A terrible, terrible smile. “What if I told you that you could save one?” The unicorn gasped at the statement, turning her head slowly towards Hellfire’s, staring into his fiery eyes. “I will give you a chance. A flip of the coin, a roll of the dice, but that’s it. One chance to save one of your friends’ souls.”

“Are…. Are you lying, is this some sort of cruel joke? A way to torture me with the idea that I could save them?”

“Not them, just one,” he said, holding up one bony finger. “The rest of the souls are mine. So what do you say? Will you play my little game?”

“I…I don’t know” she moaned.

“Well, I’ll give you a year to think about it,” Hellfire said, getting up from the ground to leave. “Come back here, in December with a single rose. Cut through the castle and into the southern courtyard. There you will find six tombstones, each marked with the symbol of one of your lost friends. Place the rose on the grave of the one you wish to save, further instructions will await you when this is all done,” he said, as he started to walk away. “Oh, and let me make this clear, this is a one-time offer. If you’re not here next December, then they will be gone forever, and it will be your fault.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asked. “Why spare me over my friends?”

The fiery stallion looked back at the mare. “Because you’re the only one I ever needed.”

The ground below him started to crack, and he fell through the floor, which quickly fixed itself, leaving Rarity alone with her thoughts.

Or rather a thought.

*****

It had been the only thought on her mind for the past year. It had consumed her to the point of near insanity. To save one but only one, even in his gift he had managed to cause her nothing but pain. She had weighed all the options of who she would choose, and it had been hell, but she finally decided who she was going to save.

She walked to the courtyard that Hellfire had told her to go to. Just like he promised, there were six graves sitting in the field. She walked up to them, looking them over, she saw that each one had a symbol on the tomb. A butterfly for Fluttershy, an apple for Applejack, balloons for Pinkie, a star for Twilight, a lightning bolt for Rainbow Dash, and a dragon’s head for Spike.

She examined all six graves and pulled out her rose, the one rose that would be able to save one friend. She had considered not doing it at all, but the thought of not saving any of them was selfish. Just as selfish as choosing to save only one.

This was it though, she had made her decision, and she hoped that the others would be able to forgive her for making this impossible choice, but it was what her heart thought was best. She looked at each tomb one more time, making sure she had her decision made.

Rarity let one tear drop fall from her face, the tear quickly freezing up in the cold weather. The snow blew harder, her cloak blowing in the wind, the very elements pressing her on to make her decision, and she did.

She let the rose drop from her hoof, and fall on Spike’s grave.

When Hell Froze Over

“So you picked the dragon? That’s hardly a surprise.”

The white mare turned around in shock. The flaming demon that had caused all of this was standing right behind her. Unlike Rarity, Hellfire hadn’t changed a bit. His mane was still a wildfire, his coat was still the devil’s red, and his eyes burned with a yellow inferno.

The unicorn did her best to be brave. “So I made my choice, you sick mule, now give me my Spiky back!”

“I thought I made this clear a year ago,” he hissed. “I am giving you the chance to save him. You have to play my game, remember?”

“Right, the game…” she groaned, looking back at the tombstone. “What do I have to do? Cut my eyes out? Take another life? Pleasure you?”

“All great ideas,” he muttered, “but not what I have in store for you, lovely.”

“Then what is it?” she asked, growing impatient. “All I want is for this nightmare to be over.”

“Then shut up and listen,” he shushed, as he brushed Rarity aside, and stood at the foot of the grave. “The game you will play is simple: find the dragon, and you can go home together.”

“That’s it?” she asked. “It can’t be that simple.”

“Nothing ever is,” he said. “Now, shall we begin?”

The mare nodded her head. Hellfire stepped on the rose, crushing the buds and petals into the snowy ground. The ground started to shake around them as Spike’s tombstone split in two. The rest of the ground tore apart as well, chunks of dirt falling down as the very earth was split in half. From the new hole formed a staircase that leads into nothing but darkness.

Rarity looked down into the abyss, unable to see the bottom. “You want me to go down there?”

“Indeed I do,” the fire stallion said. “When you go down these steps, you will enter a world very different from the one you know here. My world.”

“Your world?”

“Yes, my world. A world shaped after my own heart, a world of ice…”

“Ice?” the confused mare asked. “But, you seem to be a being that would prefer fire.”

“So would one have you believe,” he muttered. “Even I find it quite hellish.”

“It suits you well, I would think.”

“Like I care,” he muttered. “All I desire is for you to play the game. You are to enter my world. When you do, you will find the dragon with me in Isis, the city of ice. When you find the dragon, you two will be together again, and you can save him.”

“So, I enter your world, find Spike, and then we’re done with this filthy business?”

“That is correct.”

Rarity looked down the dark hole, letting out a deep breath. Harnessing the courage that was left in her heart, she took her first step into the darkness.

“Wait!” Hellfire barked, placing a hoof on the white mare’s shoulder her. “You’ll need this if you wish to survive down there.” He reached into the snow, pulling out a lone stick that was buried in the banks.

“A stick?” she groaned, “How will a stick help me?”

“Not just a stick,” he whispered, “rather a way to hold the one thing you will need down there.”

“I fear I don’t follow,” she admitted, scratching her mane.

Suddenly the tip of the stick burst into a light blue flame, making the mare jump a little in fright. He handed her the flaming stick. “This flame represents your hope, and as long as you have hope, you will be just fine down there. However, stray from the flame’s glow or let it be extinguished, and you will die.”

She took the stick, watching the sparks fly from it. “Why would you give me this?” she asked. “I would have thought you’d want me to lose.”

“I do,” he admitted. “Now, it’s time to stop stalling. You have a dragon to save.”

He vanished in a burst of fire, leaving nothing but a puddle of melted snow where he once stood.

“Such a murderous monster,” she grunted to herself. She looked down the dark abyss and the stairs that lead down them. The stench of misery and pain lingered in the air, as she took the first step down the stairs.

Step by step she descended, soon sinking into the darkness, the only light being from her blue flames of hope. It was difficult to see, and the staircase seemed to keep going. How long had she been walking down the steps, five minutes? Ten minutes? An hour? An eternity? This place had no concept of time and no way to keep it, yet the white mare continued down into the darkness.

“Oh, I forgot to mention something to you earlier,” a voice called from the darkness, echoing through the tunnel, “I have taken the liberty of making the game a little more, how can I put this…interesting.”

“What have you done?” asked Rarity, calling randomly into the shadows.

“I have alerted the dragon that you are coming to save him, he seems quite happy to see you again,” he said.“I have also alerted your friends, the pink, purple, blue, orange and yellow one that you have decided to forsaken them to my hell.”

“I didn’t forsake them! You’re only letting me save one! Did you tell them that?!”

“Must have slipped my mind… Regardless, they aren’t too happy to hear that, I would say that a few of them are quite angry of your choice. So I decided to make them an offer as well.”

“An offer? What offer?”

“I have given them a chance at salvation through the fires of morality. A quid pro quo as the saying goes…”

“An quid pro quo?”

“Indeed, little pony. Hellish creatures roam these plains; disfigured and tormented, but the worst of them all are the ones that you once knew. Now run along, some of your friends are dying to see you!”

The voice disappeared with a cackle.

“Cold hearted bastard,” she said. What did he mean by ‘quid pro quo’? It did not matter at the moment; she had a task at hoof and no time to solve riddles. She continued down the mind-numbing darkness.

When suddenly, there was a light. Or rather, not so much as a light but rather a glimpse of colour in the black. A faint glow of icy blue was being emitted from a statue, an icy statue of a dragon, sitting in the darkness. As Rarity approached the glowing statue, she noticed two things.

The first was that it wasn’t a statue of a dragon, it was a dragon! A dragon, frozen in place in a thin layer of ice, as if some cruel soul froze him on the spot. The second thing she noticed was a rusty brass gate behind the frozen drake. The ancient gate was similar to the barriers guarding a cemetery, or an old haunted manor. The thin metal bars were like a prison, either to keep the souls trapped within or unwanted guests out.

“And who would this pony be that approaches my presence?”

Rarity jumped at the sound of a new voice. It too came from nowhere, but it sounded closer, and unlike Hellfire’s voice, it sounded wise, old, and caring.

“Do not fear little one,” the voice echoed. “I wish you no harm.”

“Who said that?” called out Rarity, wielding her torch high, trying to find the speaker. “I’ve had enough of voices in the darkness. Show yourself!”

“Then you need to only look into my eyes,” he said softly. “Turn around, so I may see you, little one.”

Confused, she turned around. There was nopony or anything there, only the frozen dragon…

“Impossible,” she mumbled. “I must be going mad.”

“Not yet, but you must learn to accept the idea that very mad things exist,” the voice said. “And that a dragon can live in a frozen tomb for centuries.”

“Centuries?” the mare asked. “You poor thing, how did Hellfire trap you here?”

“It is because I have done no wrong, Mistress,” the frozen dragon said. “If anything, I have been punished for no other reason than to protect the one I love.”

“How so, frozen dragon?” she asked.

“Please, call me Frostbite, the Glacier dragon,” the drake said.

“Frostbite,” the unicorn corrected, “how did you meet this fate, and did the one you love survive?”

“They did,” Frostbite said, his tone becoming drearier. “There was a pony, a terrible demon that came to my settlement in the Southern Tundra of the Badlands. I’ll never forget him, coat of ebony, eye of red, teeth like a beast, and his laughter...” He gave a little sigh. “That terrible, terrible, laughter. I can still hear the evil and cruelty of his insane cackles.”

“That sounds awful,” consoled the white mare. “If it is too painful, you don’t have to continue.”

“If you wouldn’t mind,” he sighed. “So what brings you here? Have you been cursed, killed, or a fate much worse?”

“I fear it may be the latter,” she admitted. “Hellfire has given me the chance to save one of my friends, and I must enter his world to do so.”

“I see,” muttered the frozen dragon. “May I ask what that torch is that you carry? I find it most peculiar.”

“It is the flames of hope,” Rarity whispered. “It’s to keep me safe when I go down into his world.”

“The world of ice, I know it well.”

“You do?” she asked.

“Yes, and if I may be so bold to offer my assistance to you, milady?”

Rarity was baffled by the offer presented to her. “Umm, I fear that we have a problem. You are frozen solid, and I have neither the tools or the strength to free you.”

“That is okay, my body died long ago, only my spirit survives now. I am trapped in this icy prison, but if there were to be the smallest crack in the ice, I may be able to slip my soul through and offer you my assistance as your guide.”

The snow white mare thought about this offer. She did not know where she was going, or what she was to expect to face, and Frostbite seemed like a kind dragon, a lot like the one she loved. But she couldn’t shake the fact that something was up, something sinister. Still, she would have to take that chance, for Spike.

“Hold still,” she said, as she reared back with her torch, and took a swing at the dragon. The fires of hope clashed and chipped away at the ice as she took another swing, and another, and another…

“That’s enough!” he said, as the sweating and panting mare slumped down on her rump, physically exhausted.

“Can you get through?” Rarity panted.

“I already did.”

Turning around, the pony saw the ghost of a dragon, a spectre of pale blue. He had the same traits as Spikes but instead of spines and fins on his face, he had horns that stuck out at the back of his head. His face was also heavily aged, with deep inclines in the gaps of his scales.

“It is so good to be free, Mistress,” he said, stretching out in his new spirit body. “Even the form of a shade is bliss compared to that frozen corpse.”

“I am glad I could help. Now, for your part of the deal.”

“Of course,” he said as he floated right through her, giving Rarity chills. “I shall accompany you and give out my advice, but in this form, I will be less than useless should we find ourselves in a physical confrontation.”

“I hope that it won’t happen,” she said. “Now, shall we press on?”

“As you wish,” he said as he clapped his claws, his body starting to glow powerful with light. The gate was now more visible, visible enough to see that there was a message formed in the bars of the gate.

“Abandon hope, ye who enters here!” read Rarity, looking at her flame. “Never.”

The gates slowly opened, a draft blowing through and chilling the mare as the two unlikely companions walked through the gates and into the darkness.

“By the way, I never got your name, Mistress,” Frostbite said, looking down at the cloaked mare.

“It’s Rarity.”

“Well Miss Rarity” he said, as he started to light up the darkness around them. “Allow me to be the first to regrettably welcome you to Hell.”

Deadly as a Snowflake

11 months earilier…

“My little ponies, we gather here today to mourn the loss of our loved ones….”

Princess Luna stood at a podium in the north courtyard of what use to be Canterlot Castle. She, Cadence and a few other lucky ponies that were consulting with the Princesses were spared the horrors of the fires. The two princesses managed to create a force field to protect them and the ponies next to them. However, the heat of the fires, along with the pressure that it brought with it, rendering them all unconscious. When they awoke, all they saw were ashes, and a single crying mare.

A tear fell from the night mare’s eye. “It was just a few short weeks ago that the hellish demon only identified as ‘Hellfire’ appeared from the very earth itself, and took the lives of so many good ponies.”

And many ponies there were. Behind the podium and stage were more new graves, ranging in the hundreds. Several of the caskets were empty as there was nothing left of the pony. Some were filled with bits of burnt skin and tattered clothing that were recognized to belong to them, in fact, there was only one casket that had a corpse in it, and it wasn’t the body of a pony.

“Many great and caring mares and stallions were lost, ponies’ friends and family. Ponies’ brothers and…” she looked to a particularly large casket, one that was pure white as the snow, with the symbol of the sun on it. “… And sisters. Great, great sisters. Many loved ones, and they will all be missed. But we must remember not their passing, but the great memories that we have had with them, and I know we should all take comfort knowing that they are all in a better place now.”

Oh, the irony of that last bit. Rarity, who was standing within the crowd of mourners, knew all too well where they were, and it was definitely not a better place. It took all her strength to keep her tears at bay, but it was a losing battle. She collapsed to her knees as she let it all out. The loss of her love, the loss of everything and everypony she cared for. She cried until her eyes ran dry and red. She realised that other ponies were staring at her, that the whole ceremony had stopped to bask in her pity.

“What?” she growled as she got up to her hooves and fixing her black coat. “You’ve never seen a mare cry before?!” She pushed through the crowd of ponies. Where do they get the nerve? Staring at me in my moment of weakness? Am I not allowed to express emotion?

No pony followed her when she broke from the crowd. She made her way towards a large oak tree, where there was a small patch of grass that was shaded from the falling snow. Taking a seat down, she stayed there in silence, thinking of the only thing that could stop her from mourning.

The thought of saving a friend.

“To choose one friend over the other,” she mumbled. “What sort of cruel torture is this?”

“What torture?”

The white mare looked up, the princess of the night was standing over her, and the cheerful smile that graced her face during the Gala was long gone, replaced with a sorrowful frown like the unicorn.

“Princess Luna,” Rarity said bluntly.

“Rarity,” responded the princess. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

“I see no reason why not.”

The large blue mare took a seat next to the unicorn, her starry mane blowing unnaturally in the non-existent wind. “How are you?” she asked.

“Not very well, all things considered,” she groaned.

“I understand,” sighed Luna. “I wish you did not leave so early, but I understand if it was too much for you. What you’ve seen, that night must have been horrible for you.”

“Believe me princess,” the white mare muttered. “It was hell.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked the princess, putting a hoof on her shoulder.

“I’d rather not.”

“Then do you mind if I tell you?” Luna asked. “I really need to talk to somepony.” Rarity nodded as the princess started to talk. “I feel so alone, to be honest. You think I would know loneliness, having spent a thousand years alone on the moon, but it was nothing like this. When I was on the moon, I at least knew that my sister was down there, and that she still cared for me….” She started to tear up. “Even after all the terrible things that I did, she still loved me, and now she’s gone!” There were full on water works now as the night mare dug her face into the unicorn’s shoulder. “She’s really gone, Rarity!”

“There, there, princess,” the white mare said in a calm, soothing voice. “We will all miss her. She was a great inspiration to everypony.”

“Do you ever wish you could bring someone back from the dead?”

“What?” gasped Rarity.

“To bring somepony back to life?” Luna sniffed. “I would give anything to have my sister back. I’d go back to the moon for eternity if I could just have the knowledge that Celestia was still with us.”

“Try not to think thoughts like that,” said Rarity as she gave the dark mare a hug around her long blue neck. “It’ll drive you mad, trust me.”

*****

Rarity clutched her coat around her. “Is it always this cold in Hell?”

What Rarity and Frostbite had walked into was a completely different world than the one above: a world of ice. There was no sun, but rather a blue light that illuminated the land. In the distance, she could make out what looked like a dense, temperate forest, filled with snowy evergreen trees. Beyond that was what looked like a frozen sea, but she couldn’t tell, and in the farthest distance, perhaps at the edge of this world, was a sparkling blue city.

“Isis, city in the frost,” said Frostbite, the shade hovering alongside the mare. “A jewel in the icy mist, and a haven that all souls doomed here try to reach.”

“Is it really a haven?” asked Rarity curiously as she took a few steps down the wintery stairs and onto the cold, hard ground.

“Compared to the rest of this world, it’s a paradise,” the dragon spectre said. “Though, the journey to Isis is quite hellish.” He looked to the unicorn beside him, he could see the fear in her eyes. “Oh, yes, your friends. I’m sure that they made it to the city,” he smiled. “We have hope, remember.” He dragged his claw through the blue flames of the fire, the flames bending and licking around his fingers. “Never lose hope Rarity, especially when facing him.”

“I won’t,” she whispered, walking down the small path and into the snow. “Where exactly are we?”

“The Boneyard,” Frostbite said. “The first of many plains that all souls must wander through. It is a pass that leads through frozen beasts, and not all of them are dead.”

“Monsters?”

“Worse,” he said, as they continued off the small mountain and to flat land. “Ponies.”

“Ponies?”

“Yes, poor little mares and colts that lost their way. Too weak to move on, some even begged Hellfire for help, trading their sanity for thicker coats and teeth, doomed to forever hunt in this tundra of bones” the dragon sighed. “It is a sad sight to see how such good souls turn into beasts. We are here.”

They approached the base of a canyon, but instead of walls of rocks that walled the path, it was a wall of bones, a hall of white ivory. Several million kinds of bones, ranging from small squirrel skeletons to hydra skulls, all packed together to form the inescapable walls of the boneyard. The ground itself was littered with carcasses of various dead animals, slowly rotting in the snow. And the smell...

“It’s so... Revolting” gasped Rarity, clenching her nose as she gazed into the abyss of death. “How in Equestria is this possible?”

“As I said before, Mistress,” the shade of the dragon said. “This world is driven by madness and hatred. Sculpted in the vision of a cruel and unforgiving mind, and we must venture through it if we ever have hope of seeing Isis.”

“Very well,” sighed the mare. “Let us proceed.”

The duo took their first steps onto the fleshy ground of the Boneyard and Rarity cringed as she felt her hoofs becoming wet with decaying walrus fat and gore. Frostbite simply hovered over the ground as they continued walking. The skulls of the dead stared at them with their hollow eyes, always watching, yet never actually looking. There was rattling in the walls of the canyon, as small little creatures started to peek out, staying just out of sight and in the shadows. The white mare looked worried as she saw the beady eyes of the unknown creatures stare at her and the spectre.

“Do not fear them Mistress,” reassured the dragon. “They are more afraid of you than you are of them.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“You have every reason to be afraid, Miss Rarity,” said Frostbite. “But remember, you have hope, and that will protect you as long as you maintain it.”

“So I’ve been told.”

They continued walking down the icy trail of flesh, snow and bones, passing over elephant skulls and through dragon ribs.

*****

11 months earlier…

Rarity slowly opened the room to her hotel suite, she had gone all out, and had gotten the honeymoon penthouse in one of the most well received hotels in Canterlot. She had planned to come back here with Spike after the ball, but now…

She stared at the empty bed. It was a princess size, she refused to sleep in anything other, especially if she were to share with an almost fully grown dragon. Shaking that thought out of her head, the white mare slowly walked on, and fell on the bed.

She laid there for what seemed like hours, just staring at the wall. It was an ugly shade of pink, looking horrid against the dark cherry wood dresser and other furniture that lofted around the room. She counted every knob on the drawers, every leg on the small table, and watched the same fly buzz around the room, ramming into the window seventeen times. It must have been an awful life to be a fly. Rarity rolled off the bed, purposely falling to the ground so she could just lie there on the fuzzy carpet.

She had asked it to be scented with lavender, the room, and she could still smell it linger within the fibers of the rug. It was his favourite, she would spray a puff on whenever they had a date, and she knew it drove him crazy with desire. Rarity pressed her nose against it, inhaling the bitter aroma of the perfume. She grew intoxicated on the fumes, her eyes getting red and teary as she grabbed the covers from off the bed and pulled them down to her, rolling and wrapping herself in a cocoon of the soft silk sheets.

But she still felt cold.

Squeezing tighter and tighter into the blankets, trying to feel warm again, doing everything she could to mimic her love’s caring and strong hold. But there were things that she could never replace, his strong arms around her body, his rugged scales that massaged her every muscle when she was scared or stressed, the steady beat of his loving heart that would lull her into a sleep and into a dream…

But that feeling felt like a dream away now.

Rarity finally gave in to her emotions, her tears now flowing freely onto the carpet and blankets, she missed Spike so much, more than anything in the world, but did she miss her more than her other friends? Fluttershy, who they had had several weekly spa dates, and the timid yellow mare would always listen to her gossip and the other first world problems in her life. The poor thing, she had no idea what would happen to her animal friends, or who would take care of Angel Bunny, or wake up all the woodland animals when this dreaded winter was finally over.

The snow was building up against the window, blocking out the white winter sun. Luna had taken up the duty of bearing the sun as well as the moon, just like her sister had done in her absence. The room was now shadowed, dark as it should have been, and it just reminded Rarity that she was alone.

And that she could only save one.

*****

“I can’t believe it…” gasped Rarity as she gazed at the obstacle that laid in her way. “How is this even possible?”

“Well, I assume it must be prehistoric,” said Frostbite, floating by Rarity’s side. “That is all I can think of.”

“It’s just so big,” said the white mare. “It can’t be real, there’s just no way this thing ever existed.”

“Miss Rarity, we are in a frozen underworld, you are traveling with a talking dead dragon and are trying to save a loved one, and the thing you find difficult to believe is that a rabbit could be the size of a house?”

She blushed as she looked over at the abnormally large rabbit skeleton, lying in the snow. Its bones were white, bleached from centuries of blizzards and hard falling snow. The skull itself was like a large boulder, and could probably house a couple of ponies from the cold. It was sad that such a large and seemingly sweet creature was doomed to lie in this frozen waste.

“We should continue, Mistress,” suggested Frostbite, as he started to continue down their path.

“Of course,” sighed Rarity, giving one last look at the rabbit, before heading down the snowy path.

It was a quiet walk down the slopes of the bone filled canyon. The snow was still falling down at its normal rate, not so fast like a blizzard or as calm as a gentle snowfall, a sort of middle ground between the two.

“How much longer must we walk?”

“Not much further I believe…” said the spectre, stopping mid step. “Wait, do you see that up ahead…”

“What is it?” asked the mare, as she looked past the ghostly dragon and to a lone figure standing away down the path. It resembled the shape of a pony, but seemed bigger and more beastly, the coat was much longer and thicker to brave the cold, and what use to be the mane was frayed and messy. It was hunched over something, maybe it was digging into the snow, or maybe it was doing something else… “It seems familiar… Like I know them.”

“Stay back, Mistress,” warned Frostbite. “These ponies tend to be territorial and hostile.”

“I’ll be quite fine,” she smiled, as she pressed her blue-flamed torch close to her chest. “I still have hope that there is some good down here.” She carefully walked down the snowy path to the strange creature. It was a lot bigger than she had originally though, possibly the size of a grizzly bear. Its yellow fur was stained with patches of reddish-brown, and was probably not dirt. But the most peculiar thing about this creature was its hair, the long and entangled pink hair… “O-oh my… F-f-f…”

The creature stopped what it was doing as it slowly turned around. The beast’s face was like a pony’s but much more rugged and grown, her mouth was dripping with red blood, a furry hunk of meat caught between her sharp, wolf like teeth. But it was her eyes that gave it away, those two big aqua green orbs that even now started at her timidly.

“Flu—Fluttershy?”

The yellow beast winced at the sound of here name, almost ashamed to hear it. Cold tears rolled down her face. They were frozen before they could even fall, stuck to her blood-matted fur.

“Fluttershy, is that really you?”

“Please…” the thing that was Fluttershy whispered, her voice was just as soft as it was when she was alive. “Please…”

“Fluttershy, darling!” the white mare panted, gently placing a hoof on her shoulder. Her body was bony and cold, the winters of this world had not been kind to her friend. “What in Equestria happened to you?” she asked. “You look positively ill.”

“I’m a monster…” Fluttershy whimpered, spitting out the hunk of meat from her mouth and onto the icy ground. “I was so cold… So hungry and alone…” More tears froze on her face.

“What are you saying dear?”

“They abandoned me…” the yellow beast cried. “They were my friends and they abandoned me…”

“The others?” thought Rarity. “Twilight and the rest of them, are they here as well?”

“They left…” sighed Fluttershy, slumping into the snow, as she started to lazily lick the blood from the now frozen meat. “There was a blizzard and we got separated, I got lost in the snow.” She took a bite of the meat. “I was so cold, so hungry. There was no bread, or flowers, not even grass to graze on…” She started to choke up a bit as she swallowed her meat. “There were just lost animals…”

“There, there Fluttershy,” sniffed the unicorn, as she started to stroke her mane. “No pony blames you, I’m sure.”

“I didn’t want to do it!” she bellowed, digging her face into the snow. “I love animals! I really do, but I was so hungry… And he said the flesh would keep me warm.”

“He?”

“The…” the yellow beast looked around the frozen tundra, before leaning into Rarity’s ear. “The demon pony, Hellfire,” she whispered.

The white mare gulped. “What did he do to you?”

“It’s so cold…” Fluttershy moaned. “Can we go to my cave?”

“Of course dear, let’s get you out of the cold…” said Rarity, helping her friend up.

“Umm, Mistress,” Frostbite piped up, “I do hate to ruin your reunion, but perhaps we should get on our way…”

“Frostbite! How can I just abandon my friend like this? I didn’t know you could be so uncouth.”

“Forgive me, but I must insist that we continue.”

“It’s okay…” whimpered Fluttershy, as she walked to one of the walls of bones. “I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Don’t listen to him, Fluttershy,” said Rarity, running up to her large friend. “He obviously left his manners back in his body.”

“Thank you…” she said quietly as the two mares walked into the mouth of a dead dragon and out of the snowfall outside. “It’s much better in here.”

Fluttershy’s cave was dark, damp and full of discarded skeletons of small animals that Rarity could only assume were the past meals of her friend. “Certainty less cold darling,” she finally muttered.

“He came by today…” whispered Fluttershy.

“I’m sorry dear, I didn’t quite catch that?”

“He came, Hellfire,” repeated the yellow creature, turning around, her eyes were no longer timid and scared, but had become morbid and cold as the frozen corpses that surrounded the cave. “He told me that you would be coming…” Her nostrils flared. “For Spike.”

“Oh dear,” gasped Rarity as she carefully pulled out her torch. “Fluttershy, you must know that I could only choose one, it was a hard decision for me!” She was starting to tear up now. “I could only choose one…”

“So where was I on your list of choices?” Fluttershy growled. “I clearly wasn’t the first, so what was I Rarity?” she started to advance on her friend. “Was I second? Third? I was probably the last pony you would save, wasn’t I? Just Fluttershy the doormat! Fluttershy the pushover!” she roared.

“No, darling it wasn’t like tha—“

“I would have chosen you!” the yellow beast cried.

“You… Would have chosen me?”

“You were my best friend!” Fluttershy squeaked, her words growing hysterical. “You were always my best friend. All those spa dates we had, how we always worked together on the Winter Wrap Ups, did those mean nothing to you?!”

“I-I didn’t know!” begged Rarity, wielding her torch like a sword against the large yellow beast that was slowly advancing on her. “Stay back Fluttershy! I don’t want to hurt you!”

“He gave me an offer when he came by,” Fluttershy snarled, her eyes growing wide as she stared at her friend. “He said that if I killed you, he would let me be free, away from the cold, away from this hell!”

“I-I…” Rarity could hardly talk. She was caught in Fluttershy’s infamous stare. Every single cell in her brain was screaming for her to run away, but her muscles wouldn’t respond to their calls.

“I didn’t want it to be this way,” growled the yellow beast, as she hovered over Rarity with her imposing figure. “But you made the wrong choice.”

“Stop!”

The spirit of Frostbite phased through the boney walls of the cave, passing right through the white mare and floating with between her and Fluttershy, obscuring their visions of each other.

Rarity felt her muscles relax again as she regained the feelings in her legs.

“Run!” he shouted to her.

She didn’t need to be told; the unicorn quickly turned tail and ran out of the cave. She had the idea to smack the top of the jaw with her torch, making the top part of the skull fall down, sealing the entrance of the cave. She started to sprint down the snowy path. The blizzard had picked up since they had entered Fluttershy’s cave. The thick heavy snow pelted her face, stinging like daggers with each contact to her fragile face.

Frostbite quickly flew up to her, “I told you we should have kept going!” he said.

“Is this really the time?” hissed Rarity, as she looked back to the cave. “Do you think that will hold her?”

A large yellow paw shattered through the thick skull of the dragon, a very angry Fluttershy crawling out of the large hole.

“I guess not…”

“Come back!” roared Fluttershy, snarling as she galloped after the white mare. “Come back so I can KILL YOU!”

Rarity ran faster than she had ever ran before, but Fluttershy was much larger and faster. Every stride that the hulking mare took was equal to eight of Rarity’s. Soon the yellow beast was upon the small mare, with one swipe of her massive claw, Fluttershy knocked Rarity into a heap of snow and bones. She lunged on top of her, snarling as drool dripped from her fangs, her eyes red and bloodshot. This wasn’t the sweet shy mare that took care of animals, or the timid little creature that was her friend. This was a monster, a monster she had had a hoof in making.

Rarity looked up into Fluttershy’s feral eyes, the once element was a shadow of her former self. All the kindness was gone, chipped away from a year in the cold, and the betrayal of her best friend…

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” whispered the white mare, tightening her grip on her torch. “But I have to save Spike!”

TH-WACK!!!

Rarity drove the head of the flames into her friend’s face, knocking the yellow beast off of her. Fluttershy hissed as she staggered back, her damp pink mane singed black from the blue fires of hope, something that she had lost.

The white mare scrambled back to her hooves as Fluttershy sneered at her. The left side of her face was burnt black and bubbling under the fresh burns. The hulking pony slowly circled the unicorn, keeping at bay from the torch that she wielded.

“Mistress, up here,” whispered Frostbite, who had flown up the bone wall. He was pointing at a large bone that was sticking out from the others, a femur from the looks of it. “It’s the key bone on the wall, see if you can knock it out!”

The mare looked at the bone next to the floating dragon, then back to the feral mare. She started waving her torch around, scaring the beast of her friend back against the wall. Fluttershy roared and growled at her, like a wild animal, until her flank bumped into the wall.

“Please forgive me…” Rarity sighed, her horn glowing with a faint blue glow. The bone that Frostbite had pointed out started to glow with the same coloured aura. It began to wiggle slowly, and it soon popped out. “...My friend.”

Fluttershy looked up and yelped as the wall of cold bones and carcasses fell down on the poor beast, burying her under ten feet of skulls, skeletons, and the other frozen remains of the dead. Rarity averted her eyes from the tremor of kicked up snow, and when it all floated back down, it there was no sign of the pink maned beast.

“That did it,” commented Frostbite, as he floated back next to Rarity. “Shall we press on?”

Rarity stared at the fallen pile. “What happened to her Frostbite?” cried the unicorn. “What happened to my friend?”

“The same thing that happens to everypony down here,” sighed the dragon spectre. “I know that it is hard to understand… But that thing,” he pointed to the bone heap, “is not your friend anymore. She’s just another lost soul corrupted by Hellfire.”

“Don’t talk about her like that!” scowled Rarity, tears still dripping down her reddened cheeks. “She’s still my friend!”

“No she isn’t, Mistress,” said Frostbite. “You can’t see them like that anymore… Would your friend try to kill you?”

“No…”

“Then that was not your friend…” the ghost drake sighed. “You must understand that he has changed them, shattered their minds and bodies in this icy underworld, and molded them into parodies of their past lives. You must promise me that you will survive, that you will see what they are, and not what they were.”

“It’s just… They’re…”

“Have hope, Miss Rarity,” said the dragon spectre. “Remember, you must keep believing that you will make it out of this, you must. Do you understand me?”

The white mare stared at the drake, his glassy and ghostly eyes spoke no lies, he would not hide the truth from her, he wanted to see her get out of this and would not sugar coat the situation. She sighed at this truth, over the past year she thought that she was the one that was tortured, that Hellfire had been cruel to her and her alone, ignorant of her friends face. It was selfish of her to think this way, she could have been here, she could have had Fluttershy’s fate, trapped in the cold, forced to eat flesh to survive.

These were not her friends anymore, and she would have to learn to accept this fact is she was to make it to Isis. Make it to Spike.

“Let us continue,” Rarity sighed, her head hung low as she and the ghost continued down the long narrow path of the Frozen Boneyard.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long to get out. :/ wasn't the plan. Was never the plan. But life can kick you in the nuts sometimes so yeah... must recover nuts.

Edited by Bunsen and LDSocrates

Cold Hearted Laughter

9 months earlier

“Now approaching Ponyville station!” shouted the conductor as the train slowly arrived at the snowy little town. Pulling up to the town, the ponies got off the train, barely any of them looked happy but one mare stood out from the rest, her misery outweighing all those around her.

Rarity had spent the entire month of January in Canterlot doing what little she could to help with the disaster Hellfire had caused. Eventually though, Luna had insisted that she should go home and spend some time with her love ones.

As she walked out onto the platforms of the train station she saw her parents and sister rushing up to her. She never thought she would be so happy to see their tacky shirts and out of date outfits. “Hello mother, father.”

“Oh my poor baby!” her mother cried, immediately grabbing her daughter in a bear hug. “It’s okay, mama’s here honey, everything is going to be alright.”

“Thank you mother,” said Rarity. “I glad to see you too.”

“Honey, if you need to cry no pony will blame you dear,” her mother said as she started to tear up. “I’ll cry with you if it makes you more comfortable.”

“I’m fine, mother,” she said. “I think I’m all cried out anyways.”

“Now there’s no need to be so strong around family,” Rarity’s father said. “You don’t have to pretend that you’re alright.”

“I am not all right,” Rarity said, “I’ve been crying all month, I think I ran out of tears to shed a few days ago.”

“My little girl’s so brave…” whimpered her father, joining in on the hug. “I have no idea what you could possibly be feeling, but if me or your mother can do anything for you, you just need to ask, angel.”

“Thank you father, but I think I’ll be okay, I just need to be around family.”

“Well, your father and I will stay as long as you want us to,” her mother said. “Magnum took a few weeks off work given the circumstances, and your mama’s not going anywhere.”

“Thank you, everypony, really,” smiled Rarity.

“Rarity…” asked Sweetie Belle. “Is it true that they’re all really dead?”

The white mare sighed. “Yes Sweetie Belle, they’re gone.”

“Do you miss them?” the little filly asked.

“Of course I do!” gasped Rarity. “I miss them every day.”

“You don’t look like you do.”

“Sweetie Belle!” barked her father. “Don’t be so insensitive, your sister is in a great deal of emotional pain and she needs the love and support of her family right now.”

“You’re right daddy,” sulked Sweetie Belle. “I’m sorry Rarity. At least you still have us! Right?”

“Of course Sweetie,” smiled Rarity, her sister joining the family hug. “And I’ll always will.”

The family stood there outside the train station, hugging their daughter that had lost so much so quickly. They could only hope that they could push past this as a family, and that maybe someday, Rarity would find peace again.

It was a pity that that could never happen, not as long as Rarity knew what she knew, and how one day, she would have to confront what she knew, and face the wrath of her own demons.

*****

“Is it just me or is it getting chillier?” muttered Rarity as she tightened up her cloak, the cold fabric clinging to her natural coat.

“Mistress, I cannot feel anything, but I assume you are cold?” Frostbite asked he floated up ahead a little. The blizzard had recently picked up within the tundra of bones and Rarity was having trouble fighting against the wind. “We should be nearing the Mirror Caves.”

“Another pleasant landmark, I assume?” the mare said sarcastically, stopping as a gust of wind sent chills down her body. “Well, as long as it’s warmer than out here.”

“Warmer, yes…” sighed the shade, “To feel warm again, or even this hellish cold. I miss being able to feel Miss Rarity, what I would give or do to have my body back.”

“I’d gladly trade with you,” the unicorn shivered. “Anything to get out of this storm.”

The ghost-dragon laughed. “You don’t appreciate your fleshy form Mistress, I was the same way when I was alive. I thought my body was indestructible… we know now that was a lie.”

“Aren’t you an ice dragon?”

“Glacier dragon but essentially the same thing.”

“Then wouldn’t that make you immune to all the cold?”

“Miss Rarity, remember how you found me?” Frostbite asked.

“Point taken…” she mumbled. “Is that it up ahead?” In the middle of the bony canyon was a large wall that contrasted with the frozen corpses of the Boneyard. It was a cave made of finely cut ice and it seemed rather polished despite the current blizzard that was roaring. Staring into its walls was almost like looking into a mirror, and it hurt Rarity’s eyes as the pure white snow reflected of its walls.

“Here we are, the Mirror Caves,” said the frost dragon, drifting towards its entrance. “Shall we enter?”

“Not much of a choice is there?” asked Rarity, the two of them stepping out of the cold boneyard and into the reflective cavern. “We’ll at least it’s warmer in here…”

“I would not know, Miss Rarity,” said Frostbite.

The walls of the cave were similar to the ones outside. Every crystal surface was polished to perfection; it was like walking down a house of mirrors as the mare’s and the shade’s image were reflected upon the interior of the cave. Some were warped to make certain parts of their bodies look bigger or smaller and for the first time since they had entered this underworld, Rarity the slightest bit happy.

“It’s like a funhouse!” she smiled, her cheek pinched and cramp. It had been awhile since she had a reason to grin. “I’ve always loved looking in mirrors.”

“There is no ‘fun’ in this house I’m afraid,” said the spirit. “And these walls are not like that of a funhouse.”

“Still, I feel better,” she said. “Less afraid. I may as even go as far to say I am… happy.”

“Were you not happy before, Mistress?”

“Heavens no,” sighed Rarity, her smile dropping. “I was beyond miserable.”

“Then savour your happiness, for I fear that like everything in the Mirror Cave, it will be short lived.”

“You can be quite bleak sometimes, Frostbite,” said Rarity.

“I mean no offense, it is just that this world… and this cave. It reeks of something most… sweet?”

“Is… is that cupcakes?” asked the white mare.

“I… I believe so.”

“Why do we smell cup—oh dear…” gulped Rarity as they continued down the hall, the aroma of sweet smelling treats getting stronger and stronger. As they turned the corner, Rarity’s worse fears came true.

“Would you like more tea, Issac?”

There was a large long table set up in what looked like a dining hall within the cave. The cracked walls reflected into each other, giving the illusion never ending walls and passages. On the dining table, large platters of blue-frosted cupcakes were spread out on the table as well as blue-frosted cake, and blue-frosted donuts, and blue frosted scones. Everything was covered in the strange pale blue frosting. Sitting around the long dining table were about a dozen different ponies. They all looked like statues; the only sign that they were living was the small raise in their chest and the puff of chilled air that blew through their noses as they breathed. They all seemed pale and colourless, their colourful coats faded from the cold and snow.

The most peculiar thing was their eyes. Everypony’s eyes were a pale, light icy blue. Their irises had engulfed most of the eye and their pupils were gone, just a cold glassy stare as each pony at the table sat there, as if they were frozen.

At the very end of the table was the only moving figure, a pink-coated pony with a puffy pink mane. Pinkie Pie was pouring tea for a maroon red unicorn when she noticed her new guests.

“Rarity?” she asked.

“Pinkie Pie!”

“Rarity!” gasped the pink mare happily, springing up from her seat and flying over the long table, landing right next to her friend. “You made it! I’m so happy to see you!” she cried, pulling the white unicorn in for a bear hug.

Rarity panicked at first, thinking that Pinkie would attack her like Fluttershy had, but instead it was just a normal hug. The pink mare’s coat didn’t seem so cold, definitely warmer than hers was. Rarity had realized that she was in no real danger so she returned the hug. It was almost unreal, she had never thought she would ever hug any of her friends again, and a stray tear ran down her face.

“I missed you Pinkie Pie,” the unicorn sobbed, “I missed all of you! Your craziness, your randomness, your parties…”

“Aww, don’t be such a frownie brownie Rare,” Pinkie said. “We don’t have those here! All we have is what’s on the table! Want to try one?”

“Maybe later,” Rarity said.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll have one later, dear.”

“Pinkie promise?” the pink mare asked.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Rarity said, as she did the pinkie promise hoof gestures, crossing her heart and almost jabbing her eye out.

“Great!” beamed Pinkie, hopping back over to the table. “Oh! You have to meet my new friends! This pony’s name is Blemish! He’s really nice! And over there is Mr Cloud, be careful with him, he’s crazy. Bunsen is that purple pegasus at the end with the glasses. And sitting next me over there is Issac! Well his name isn’t actually Issac; it’s some really long and complicated name, so I call him Issac for short! He used to think it was annoying, but now he doesn’t seem to care anymore. Oh and over there is Chain Re—“

“I’m sure that they are all wonderful ponies darling,” interrupted Rarity. “But perhaps we can get acquainted later. I fear that I’m a little busy at the moment. You see I need to get to the other side of this cave. Do you know the way out?”

“Well duh!” laughed Pinkie. “I know every tunnel and passage in this cave! I could lead you out here easy peasy!”

“Really? Pinkie Pie that’s wonderful!” the white mare said enthusiastically. “Lead the way.”

“Ah-uh-uh!” teased Pinkie, “First we have to finish the party!”

“Oh… well I guess we could—“

“Ahem,” coughed Frostbite, “As much as we would enjoy this get together, Miss Rarity and I need to be off,” he looked at Rarity. “We’re in a hurry.”

“Whoa!” the wide-eyed Pinkie gasped. “I didn’t even see him there! Where did you get a ghost dragon? Can I walk through him? Is it weird if I do? Well is it? Is it? Is it?”

“I’m not sure how to answer that, but Frostbite is right, we need to get out of this cave,” said Rarity. “So if you would be so kind and show us the way out that would be just lovely.”

“Hold the phone!” yelled Pinkie, grabbing Rarity by the hoof. “First we have to have the party, then we’ll go out of the cave.”

“I thought we agreed to do this later.”

“No, you said you’d try a cupcake later. Speaking of, it’s later now!”

“A bit later, I umm… ate recently,” lied Rarity.

“Okie dokie loki!” the pink mare beamed, dragging Rarity to a free chair at the end of the table between a ghostly grey pegasus and a blonde earth pony. “Now let’s get this party started!”

Frostbite floated next to Rarity. “Miss Rarity, what are you doing?”

“Entertaining her,” she whispered. “We’ll play along until she gets bored, then she leads of out of the Mirror Caves.”

“And are you aware of the frozen ponies that attend this party?”

“Yes, I’ve been wondering about that,” Rarity said, looking at the blonde stallion sitting next to her. “Pinkie dear, are the rest of the guest alright? They look sort of… un-lively.”

“Oh they’re fine! Don’t worry about it! That will ruin all the fun!” laughed Pinkie Pie, as she grabbed a knife and cut herself a piece of cake. “Would you like another slice of cake Mr Foam?”

The yellow and blue unicorn sitting next to her slowly nodded his lifeless head. Pinkie placed the cake into his open mouth as he slowly chewed, his jaw movement was jerky and stiff, every chew sounding like breaking ice. Slivery saliva dripped down his mouth, freezing in the cold, not that he seemed to notice.

“Are you sure you don’t want a cupcake? They’re really good!”

“I’ll have one later, I pinkie promised, remember?” said Rarity. “So… this is a fun party.”

“Sure is! I almost as good as the one I had yesterday!” smiled Pinkie, cutting up more cake and handing them down the table. “But what about you Rarity? It’s been awhile since we talked last time, almost three hundred and sixty-five days!”

“It has, hasn’t it?” she said. “I’ve been better, to be honest. The year hasn’t been well for me.”

“That’s no fun!” mumbled Pinkie, grabbing a blue-frosted cupcake from the tray. “You should have a cupcake! They always cheer me up when I’m down.”

“Later, dear.”

“But it is later!”

“Then not right now.”

“Are you sure you’re going to eat one, because these are all starting to sound like… excuses!”

“I assure I am doing no such thing!” puffed Rarity. “A lady doesn’t lie.”

“Then eat the cupcake.”

“A lady also doesn’t force herself to eat when she’s not hungry.”

“Just a little nibble,” begged Pinkie. “Please?”

“Why do you want me to eat this cupcake so badly?”

“It’s just that they’re really good, and I want your opinion on them. C’mon, can’t you do this for a friend?”

“Tell you what Pinkie, take us out of the cave and I’ll try a dozen cupcakes,” suggested Rarity.

“Tell you what Rarity, eat that cupcake and I’ll take you out of the cave now.”

*cough-cough*

Both ponies turned to the sound of the coughing. A purple pegasus was the source of the noise as she kept hacking away. She started to cough up blue frosting, the goo drooling down her face as the colour started to return in her eyes.

As if she had just woken up from a nightmare, the violet pegesi screamed looking around where she was.

“W-w-w-where am I?” she asked. “What happened to me?!”

“Oh, great, a party-pooper…” sighed Pinkie, “Hold on, one second.”

“N-no! Stay away from me!” gasped the pegasus. “No more cake, no more cake!”

“Nonsense!” smiled the pink mare, stuffing a cupcake into the purple pony’s mouth. “What’s a party with cake...? Then it’s just dinner.”

The mouth of the pegasus was stuffed full of cake and she was forced to swallow. Soon her eyes became pale blue and haunting again and she resumed her zombified state, continuing to chew on the cake that was in her mouth.

“I hate it when that happens,” mumbled the pink mare. “So about that cupcake…”

“What did you do to her?!” demanded Rarity. “What’s in these cupcakes?”

“I don’t know,” shrugged Pinkie. “But the big scary fire pony gave me these cupcakes and said to keep feeding them all the ponies that passed through here.”

“And you listened to him?!”

“He did ask very nicely, he even said please, so he can’t be that bad.”

“But he killed you! He killed all of you!” screamed Rarity.

“So?”

“So?!” growled. “He’s a bad stallion—or whatever he is. He killed you Pinkie, took you away from everypony that cared about you.”

“But all my friends are here!” smiled Pinkie. “And that’s all I ever needed. Besides, Hellfire said that no pony was really that upset about me being gone.”

“That’s not true!” cried Rarity. “I missed you, I missed all of you!”

“Well…”

“And so do your parents, and the Cakes! Pinkie, life is miserable without you!”

“My parents?” asked Pinkie Pie. “You saw my parents?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes Pinkie, I did.”

“How are they? And the Cakes, are they okay?”

“They are… given the circumstances.”

“Do… do they miss me?”

“Of course they do.”

“How do you know?”

Rarity looked to the ground and sighed. “Because I was there...”

*****

8 months earlier…

Ring-ding!

“Hello there,” called Mrs Cakes from the back kitchen. “I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

“Take your time…”

“Wait, is that you Rarity?” she asked, rushing into the front of the store. “Oh my, it is you! Dear, I thought you were still in Canterlot.”

“Hello Mrs Cakes,” said Rarity, smiling weakly as she walked into the bakery. “I trust you are well?”

“As well as I can be,” the older mare sighed. “It’s been so quiet recently, nothing bad has happened to the shop, it’s been clean for almost three months… and I hate every second of it.”

“I miss her too,” said Rarity. “But you’ll move on, right?”

“I suppose with time, but we’ll always want things to be like they were before,” Mrs Cakes said. “I’d give anything to have my sweet Pinkie Pie back.”

Rarity cringed at that last sentence. “But she wasn’t even your real daughter; she just lived and worked at the bakery.”

“She was, but she was so much more than that. Sometimes I knock over a bag of sugar or spill a container of milk, just to pretend it was another mess Pinkie made. Not that she was messy, but it makes me feel better.”

“She had an impact on us all,” agreed Rarity. “How are the twins? They must be almost teenagers by now.”

“Ten years old,” sniffed, Mrs Cakes. “They still ask when their Aunt Pinkie is coming home.”

“You haven’t told them that she’s… you know, dead?”

“I couldn’t bear to see the look in their eyes!” cried the pony baker. “It was hard enough on me to tell her she was just leaving for a bit. I couldn’t make myself tell them the whole truth.”

“You know they will have to find out eventually, right?” asked Rarity.

“I know, I know… but let’s let them be children for a little longer. Anyways, look at me, talking away when you have been so patient and quiet. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yes, I was wondering if I could get a caramel chocolate fudge lava cake with extra dark chocolate and coconut sprinkles and cherries.”

“Of course dear, you give me a minute and I’ll have your treat ready in a moment.”

“Thank you,” smiled Rarity as she waited for her order to finish. It had been too long since she had left her home. Both of her parents had been living in her spare bedroom and had been taking care of her like she was a new born foal. At first she didn’t mind; it was nice to feel loved again, but it had been over a month and they treated her like she was mental patient, and that any little thing could set her off. If she were to even show the slightest change in emotions she would be bombarded with a million apologizes and lead to her room where her parents insisted that she took a nap. In fact she had been sleeping a lot more recently and the days have all started to mesh together in a meaningless web of lost time and motivation.

But she tried to be productive, doing anything to keep her mind off of December. She had attempted to make some new dresses even though business had started to go down. Everypony seemed to be afraid of her, like saying hello to her in the street would set her on a psychotic rampage over her traumatic experience. It was a little sad that Mrs Cake had been the first pony to talk to her in over a month.

“Here’s your cake dear, that will be three bits,” said Mrs Cakes, handing a small bag to the unicorn.

“Only three bits?” Rarity asked. “I remember it being more expensive. Did you change the prices?”

“For you we did,” said Mrs Cakes. “We can imagine what you’re going through right now and it’s the least we can do.”

Rarity frowned. “I insist that I pay full price.”

“There’s no need dear, three bits is all you need to pay.”

“Why does everypony treat me like this!” the white mare growled. “I’m not crazy! I’m not special, I just want life to go back to the way it was but everypony insist on treating me like I have a bomb strapped to my chest!”

“Rarity, please calm down!”

“Don’t tell me to be calm you fat old hag! How can you even pretend to know what I’m going through? Were you there Cup Cake? Did you have to watch them die?!” she reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a large bag of bits. “I will pay full price for this cake, and you will never offer me any sort of charity again because if you do I will lose it!”

Rarity grabbed the bag with the cake in it and ran through the door, a trail of fresh tears pouring down her face.

*****

“Oh my…” said Pinkie.

“Oh my is right, Pinkie,” said Rarity, wiping a tear off her face. “I regret what I said to her every day, but the worst thing was that I could never bring myself to apologize to her.”

“You never saw her again?” asked the pink mare.

The unicorn shook her head. “I never went back to Sugarcube Corner, though I heard that she eventually told Pound and Pumpkin about what really happened to you. They cried, of course.”

“They really do miss me...”

“We all do.”

“Oh Rarity!” cried Pinkie, digging her face in the shoulder of her friend. “What have I done?”

“There, there Pinkie Pie, everything will be alright,” said Rarity, comforting her friend.

“I’ve been so mean. Hellfire told me that if I killed you I could go back to the Cakes, but I don’t want to anymore!”

“And why’s that?”

“Because you need to apologize to her!” said Pinkie Pie. “Hellfire told me about your choice, and I was mad at first that you didn’t choose me, but now I realized that you had it just as bad as anyone of us. So as soon as you save Spike I want you to tell the Cakes that you’re sorry. Got that?”

“I… I don’t know what to say…”

“Say you will,” smiled Pinkie. “Say that you will get out of here and you and Spike will be happy.”

Water started to build up around the mare’s eyes as she hugged her friend. “Thank you Pinkie, thank you so much.”

“No problem, happy to help a friend,” said Pinkie Pie. “Now let’s get you out of here.”

Pinkie walked up to one of the mirrored walls of the cave, placing a hoof on the surface. She slowly started to draw circles on the wall, dragging her hoof until there was a click.

“There you go!” she smiled as she swung the wall open.

“That’s it?” asked Rarity. “That’s how we get out of here?”

“Yeppers!”

“Seems kind of… Oh, never mind,” shrugged Rarity as she started to walk towards the newly formed door. “Goodbye Pinkie Pie, I’m going to miss you.”

“Same here… oh and Rarity.”

“Yes Pinkie?”

“Can you tell the Cakes that I miss them? And that Aunt Pinkie loves her little Pound and Pumpkin Cake?”

Rarity smiled. “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.”

“That’s not a Pinkie promise.”

“No… it’s just a promise,” she said, before she and the dragon ghost stepped through the door, and out of the Mirror Cave.

Author's Note

Sorry this took awhile to get out, but that's how it goes sometimes. A big thanks to my awesome editors LDSocrates and Bunsen.

Snow Apples

6 months earlier…

“How long has it been snowing?” asked Sweetie Belle, as Scootaloo and she were pulling a sleigh up the hill.

“What do you mean? Like how long how it’s been snowing today?”

The little unicorn shook her head. “No, I mean how long it’s been snowing period. For Luna’s sake, it’s snowing in the middle of August!”

“Yeah…..” murmured the orange pegasus. “That is weird, when you really think about it.” She looked back behind her, where Applebloom was trailing behind sluggishly. “Hey Applebloom! What’s taking you so long? Hurry up!”

The yellow farm filly didn’t say anything. She didn’t even acknowledge her, all she did was keep trekking up the hill.

“She’s still upset, isn’t she?” wondered Scootaloo.

“Well, what did you except?” replied the filly unicorn. “Her sister been gone for over half a year and it’s only been a month since…” She peeked over her shoulder to make sure that Applebloom wasn’t within earshot. “The ‘incident’ and she’s just hasn’t been the same since.”

“Yeah I know… But that doesn’t mean that she still needs to be a big mope about it.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be saying that to her face,” hushed Sweetie Belle, looking back at the farm filly still trailing behind them. “She’s really sensitive right now and doesn’t need her best friends making things worse.”

“Well, she can’t keep feeling sorry for herself forever,” frowned Scootaloo. “And as her friends, don’t you think that we should try and help her move on?”

“I know that and we will, but right now we just need to keep her happy. If she’s still like this in a month then we’ll confront her with it.”

The orange filly looked at Sweetie Belle skeptically. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Alright then,” said Scootaloo. “I think we’re almost at the top anyways. Where’s Applebloom at?”

“I think she’s still trailing up. We did get really far ahead of her,” Sweetie Belle admitted. “We can always just wait for her.”

“Well I’m not waiting forever…”

*****

“That was rather clever of you, Mistress,” said Frostbite. “I would have assumed that your confrontation with your friend would have ended like the other one.”

“I try not to solve my problems with violence,” droned the mare. “It’s terrible for the soul… No puns intended of course.”

“Of course,” sighed the ghost drake. “But I do wish that you wouldn’t place yourself in those situations. It’s my job to escort you Isis, and I would rather avoid conflict rather than subvert it.”

“Wouldn’t we all,” smiled Rarity. “Wasn’t it a philosopher that said, ‘Don’t look for the fight, because the fight will find you?’”

The spectre chuckled. “I fear I’ve never heard of that one.”

“A friend of mine told me it…” sighed the unicorn. “She…always loved those sort of things, books and all that.”

“I’d advise against such memories,” suggested Frostbite. “The mind is its own brand of hell. There is no need to be in both when one is still avoidable. Regardless, we are approaching The Forest.”

“Ah yes… The Forest,” Rarity muttered. “I which what one of my friends resides here to kill me? Applejack? Rainbow? Maybe Twilight has a killer tree house.”

“I hope that’s sarcasm.”

“I hope so too…”

The duo stopped at the edge of a snowy, pine tree forest. The woods seemed thick and shadowy, with no sign of life within the wooden maze. It was such a peaceful setting that there was no doubt that it held untold terrors.

“So this is The Forest?” Rarity asked. “There isn’t anything really remarkable about it.”

“Then you do not see the forest for the trees,” said Frostbite.

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

“This is a forest in the depths of a frozen underworld. Nothing is as it seems and this forest is no exception. It is said that those who become lost in the thickets of leaves are doomed to wander forever in its dwells, their only companions the trees that mock them and their thoughts that slowly decay into madness.”

“So we shall not get lost,” said Rarity. “And be done with this forest sooner rather than later.”

“Then let us proceed,” smiled the drake. “Stay by my side and do not follow the screams of the forest. They only wish to mislead you.”

“I’ll take that to heart,” said the mare, readying her azure-flamed torch as the two took their first steps into the forest.

It was almost an instantaneous darkness with only the dim glow of the flames of hope to light their way. The shadows seemed to dance in the flicker of the fire’s light, like dancing ghouls stalking them behind their backs.

Every step they took seemed to lead to more and more darkness, and Rarity began to fear of losing her dragon guide. Even his faint glow seemed to start to disappear into nothingness before her very eyes.

“Frostbite,” she called. “Frostbite, are you still with me?”

He did not answer her, he just kept floating down the path ahead of them, fading ever more as if he was just an illusion.

“Frostbite! Frostbite! Please say something!” the mare begged as the dragon finally disappeared. “Frostbite! Where are you going? Don’t leave me!”

But it was useless. He was gone, and she was left in the darkness.

“Okay, Rarity, no need to panic. Just stay calm and nothing in here can hurt you.”

“Rarity…”

The cold voice cut through the icy air, causing the unicorn to slowly turn her head. Far in the distance, she could make out a figure crying. It was a pony, perhaps stuck under something. Part of her wanted to rush in and help, but she knew that it was probably just a trick of the forest. Even though he had disappeared, Frostbite’s words of wisdom were still clear in her head. But now she had to go and traverse the forest without his guidance.

It was difficult though. The forest seemed to cry out at her, flashing images of ponies in distressed, withered and scarred from a year’s life in this forest. She wanted so desperately to help them, to try and ease their burden if even a little. But she kept heading away from the ponies and in the direction she hoped was the right one.

“This is getting ridiculous,” she said. “It’s like a never ending darkness. And where is Frostbite? I do hope he’s okay.”

“Rarity…”

“Will you please stop calling my name?!” the mare growled, shouting into the darkness. “I’m sorry that this happened to you! But I really need to be on my way.”

“You’re not sorry…”

“Yes I am! If I could help you then I would! But you have no idea what I have had to endure to get this far and I’m not about to let you lure me into some sort of trap!”

“Typical Rarity… Always thinking about herself…”

“How dare you!” Rarity huffed. “What gives you the right to accuse me of something like that?”

“Because I know you… And it’s the honest truth.”

There was a flash of blinding light and the darkness was obliterated. When she opened her eyes, Rarity found herself standing in the middle of the forest, surrounded by grey, withered and dead trees. It was like she had stepped into an old movie without the bad sound quality. Where was she?

“Hello?” Rarity called out. “What’s going on now? I swear, this place gets more confusing every second.”

“Mistress?”

“Frostbite!” chimed the pony happily, seeing her ghost friend gliding through the trees. “I’m so happy to see you! I’d hug you if that weren’t impossible.”

“It’s good to see that you’re alright as well,” said the spectre. “I was afraid that I had lost you there for a moment.”

“I was about to say the exact same thing for you as well,” smiled the mare. “Do you have any idea where we are?”

“The very heart of the forest I’d imagine,” suggested Frostbite. “Although I can’t say for certain.”

“So… we’re lost?”

“Not necessarily,” said the dragon. “While I’m not sure we are, I do know where we need to go, and that is more direction than your average lost soul will have.”

“Then what way do we need to go?”

“I…cannot say for certain.”

“So we are lost?!”

“I suppose so…”

“Wonderful,” grumbled Rarity. “Just wonderful. Now what’s going to happen? Do we just wander around aimlessly like stray sheep until we die, go mad, or escape?”

“Perhaps,” sighed Frostbite. “I am truly sorry about this, I wasn’t aware that the forest would be this confusing. It seems different since last time I was here.”

“That’s right, you’ve travelled this world before…” said Rarity. “In fact, that’s actually quite peculiar. How did you travel these plains only to end up frozen at the gates of this world?”

“That…” the dragon paused, “...is something that I would rather not talk about, if that’s alright with you?”

“Of course, dear. Sorry if I was prying.”

“Not at all,” he said. “It’s just better if we don’t talk about it.”

“Very well,” said Rarity, looking around the forest. “But it still doesn’t solve our predicament. You know this is usually the time I would ask for direction. I guess that isn’t really an option out here.”

“Afraid so… Shall we venture forth and hope for the best?”

“It sure beats sitting here in the cold.”

*****

7 months earlier

The snow continued to fall over the farm of Sweet Apple Acres and the snow piles surrounding the fields seemed to grow more and more each day. It had been a harsh year for the Apple family. They, more than anypony relied on good weather to grow their orchards of apples and their fields of other crops, and with Applejack no longer with them, the situation seemed all the more dire.

Big Mac had taken it upon himself to try and do all the chores since then been worked to the bone. Too tired to pursue other things in life or a marefriend, he had to give up everything. Applebloom seemed to just slouch around all day, hardly ever leaving her room or helping out anymore, she was just too depressed to do anything. Granny Smith felt helpless, her back had finally given out a few months earlier and she had been stuck in her bed ever since.

It had been so long since Rarity had visited, but she had told her parents that she wanted to pick up Sweetie Belle for Applebloom, even though both fillies had grown into their adolescence. However, she looked for any excuse to leave her home and stretch her legs in the snow.

“Oh my…” gasped Rarity as she gazed upon the dead orchard of trees. As a result of the seemingly endless winter and loss of an important family member, the Apple family had to forsake over half of their land, preserving only a small handful of trees. Even then it didn’t seem nearly enough to support all their wasted land and utilities.

She did her best to push past the gates of the ranch, but the snow had built up and jammed the gate. So she hesitantly climbed over the fence, careful for her cloak to not get caught on one of the poles. When she was finally over, she trekked through the snow and towards the tired old farmhouse. It proved quite difficult, the nearly three feet of snow making a short walk into a small journey to the door.

When she did finally make it to the door, she heard voices coming from inside, familiar voices. Rarity went to the frost-ridden windows and saw two red and white-mane ponies talking to Granny Smith and Big Mac.

“You see here, Miss Smith, my brother and I are willing to make you a very generous offer,” Flim said, sliding some papers onto the table in front of the crippled Granny Smith. It looked like it took a small crane to get her out of bed and even then she laid flat on the moth-eaten sofa.

“We understand that you’re granddaughter is recently deceased,” Flam said. “And with this hellish weather, we can only understand that you aren’t capable of paying your taxes to the crown.”

“Ah told you two buffoons before!” Granny grumbled from the couch. “Ah ain’t selling the farm for no reason! My father built this farm with his bare hooves and ah ain’t about to sell it to some fancy, city slicking, con ponies!”

“Granny, be reasonable,” sighed Flim. “We’re willing to take on all of your debt and even give you enough financial support to retire. Your grandson would have to work for us of course but our wages would allow your family to move to a new home. I hear that they’ve open some new condos in downtown Ponyville.”

“Ah ain’t living in some little box!” Granny muttered. “And you ain’t going to put me in no home, either! I’d rather kick the bucket than be jammed in some sardine can of an old folks home.”

Big Mac started to look over the papers. His slow and cautious eyes studied every single word on the contract. “It’s a lot of money, Granny… I don’t think it’d be smart for us to pass this offer up.”

“Macintosh! Ah hope my hearing is going, cause Ah have better not of heard you actually considering the home you’re ma and pa grew up in, that you and your sisters were born and raised in, that Ah was hoping to see you raise your own family in.”

“How can I have a family if I spend all day working?!” the stallion barked back. “I can’t do this anymore! Not alone… Not without Applejack. I don’t know how she used to do it but I can’t do this without her!” He pushed the bundle of papers towards the sale ponies. “Mr. Flim, Mr. Flam, we all accept your offer.”

“You’re making the right choice,” smiled Flam. “My brother and I already have the plans for what we’re going to do with the land. I recall that you have a history with construction?”

“A bit.”

“Then won’t you join us in the kitchen?” Flim asked. “We think that’d you could use your knowledge of this land to help better plan our building placements. Are the east fields flat? We were thinking of placing the main shedders there for the apples.”

“I would recommened using the south fields…” Macintosh said as he led the two brothers into the kitchen.

Rarity stepped aside from the window, her back hitting the wall of the house in a panic. She knew that she probably shouldn’t have been eavesdropping on their conversation. Maybe she should just leave, Sweetie Belle knew that her parents wanted her back before dinner and would come in a few minutes.

“Rarity?”

She looked to her side to see Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all walking through the snow and towards the house.

“Oh, hello girls,” Rarity smiled weakly. “I was actually looking for you. Sweetie Belle, mother wants us home for dinner.”

“Okay,” said Sweetie Belle, turning to her friends. “I’ll see you girls tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah,” grinned Scootaloo. “We still have plans to go egg Diamond Tiara’s house in the morning.”

“Hush you,” grumbled Applebloom. “Y’all are going to get us in trouble… Hello Miss Rarity.”

“Hello to you too, Applebloom. It’s so nice to see you again.”

“I guess…” she muttered. “Are Granny and Big Mac still in the house talking to those FlimFlam Brothers?”

“I think they’re just about done with their business,” Rarity said. “Why? Do you not like them?”

“They’re alright, I guess,” the farm filly mumbled. “But it’s Granny Smith that I’m more worried about.”

“Why so?”

“Ever since Flim and Flam started coming over here, she’s been getting angrier and angrier with my brother. I’m worried about what’s going to happen. I mean Mr. Flim and Flam are just trying to help but Granny’s being stubborn as a mule! She’s too proud to sell the farm even if it kills her!”

“APPLEBLOOM!”

“Big Mac…”

“APPLEBLOOM! GET IN THE HOUSE! THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH GRANNY! HER HEART…”

“G-g-granny?”

*****

“Trees… Trees… There really is no end to this, is there?” Rarity asked Frostbite. “I want to say like a never ending forest…but that’s a little too literal.”

“Literal… Such a proper choice of words to be said in a place like this,” said the dragon ghost. “But a clearing approaches.”

Pushing past the last of the trees, Rarity and the spectre finally managed to get into a grey, snowy meadow in the forest, barren and striped of all life, the dormant trees hung sorrowfully down with their leafless branches, like demonic claws swooping down for the kill.

“Well this is rather unsettling,” Rarity muttered to herself.

“Ain’t that the truth…”

“There’s that voice again,” the mare frowned. “Look, leave me alone, whoever you are!”

“You really don’t recognize my voice, do you?” it said from beyond the trees. “That’s a mighty shame… Cause y’all are all I’ve been thinking about…”

“Wait a minute… ‘y’all’? Applejack?”

“Well, it’s about time I jogged your memory,” the southern drawl of Applejack snickered as the earth pony drifted from beyond the trees. “Boy, have I missed you.”

Applejack was standing on her hind hooves, strapped and bound by barb wires, the metal spurs digging into her skin and scabbing over the cuts. Her front hooves were cracked and callused from the wind, and her blonde mane was dirtied to a soggy brown. She continued to walk forward, dragging her hooves menacingly in the snow.

“Did y’all miss me?” She asked.

“A-applejack! What happened to you?”

“Well that’s actually quite the story!” Applejack hollered. “You see, after I was killed at a party I didn’t even want to go to, me and the girls all got trapped in this hellhole! And one by one that demonic bastard picked us off! Drove Fluttershy feral, Pinkie Pie went all cupcakes, and me? Well… It should be so obvious.”

“I’m sorr-“

“Hush! I ain’t finished!” she roared. “Now what was I going to say… Oh right! So I was busy being strapped with barbed wires to a tree when all of a sudden, wouldn’t you know? HE comes walking by like some Canterlot bigshot! And he tells me that my good friend Rarity was coming to save one of us, and sugar cube, I dared to hope that you’d save me…”

“It was a hard choice!” Rarity cried. “I could only save one!”

“So you saved the dragon? What about me?!” Applejack sneered, her eyes pulsing with an unhinged fury. “Did you even think about my family!? That I had loved ones to go home to? That I had a little sister and a brother and a grandma? But y’all are just selfish! You didn’t give the rest of us a second glance! It was just your slimy little boy toy!”

“I did think about it! I thought about it every day! It was the hardest thing to deny any of my friends life again but I had to choose… I had to choose.”

“Well, ain’t that just precious,” the cowpony mumbled. “Those tears paint a pretty picture, sugar cube. But do yourself a favour and shut up. It’s time for me to go home…”

The wires on her flesh suddenly ripped off her skin in a spray of blood, dangling around like tentacles of an octopus.

“I’m going to rip your soul out and see my family again!” she roared, the razor wires whipping towards Rarity. One of metal wires wrapped around her stomach and squeezed into her fur, the spikes digging into her flesh as she screamed. The barbs kept digging into her skin as she was dragged towards the crazy Applejack.

“Gah! Please Applejack! Stop!” Rarity begged. “This isn’t going to solve anything!”

“SHUT UP!” she scowled, dragging the screaming white mare closer to her. “You’re mine now! I’m going to enjoy wringing that pretty little ne—“

Her sentence was cut short as a wooden spear was thrown from the forest and straight into her neck. The barb wires around Rarity’s waist went limp and Applejack collapsed to the ground. Rarity slowly got up from the ground, clutching her bleeding stomach and inspecting the motionless mare.

She inspected the spear that had slain Applejack, her blood slowly leaking on the snow. What had happened? And who had saved her?

“Mistress!” Frostbite shouted. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine dear…” Rarity said, doing her best to put on a strong smile. “It’s just a little scratch, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive, darling,” she said. “Although I can’t say the same thing for poor Applejack… You didn’t happen to see who threw this spear, did you?”

“I was too busy being terrified for your safety to notice,” the drake said, floating over to the unicorn. “It’s a shame about your friend… I imagine that she wasn’t always like this, just like Fluttershy?”

“Not at all!” Rarity huffed. “She was a wonderful friend and now she’s dead. I’m afraid to admit but my pity for her isn’t as high as I wish it was.”

“That is to be expected,” nodded Frostbite. “I know I would hold no love to the friend that tries to kill me, no matter our relationship beforehand.”

“Yes… But I do see what could have driven her to her madness. I fear that I would do the same to see my family again.”

“Best to not dwell on it too much when there are other things worth dwelling on… Like the mysterious spear thrower.”

“It’s mine…”

The drake and mare turned around to the sudden whisper from behind them. Rarity gasped when she saw who it was.

The blue pegasus’s feathers were worn and shedding, unlikely to be able to lift her more than a few feet off the ground. Her multi coloured mane was faded and wet from the fallen snow, and her cracked magenta eyes reeked with the faint glimmer of exhaustion and paranoia. Rainbow Dash looked like death as she retrieved the spear from Applejack’s neck.

“We need to get out of here,” Rainbow muttered solemnly. “We only have a few minutes before she comes back to life.”

Author's Note

Edits by Bunsen.

Well... that took three months...

I suppose that 'I'm sorry this took so long to write would be overly pointless and meaningless... but I'm going to say it anyways.

"I am really freaking sorry that this took me this long to get back to."

Now let's wait three more months for the next chapter to be written!

"I hope that's sarcasm..."

"I hope so too..."

Where the Loyalty Lies

Rainbow looked back at the shocked Rarity, giving her a tired and annoyed look. “Well, didn’t you hear what I said? She’s going to regenerate in about five minutes and when she does she’s going to be really ticked off.”

“I… Rainbow…” gasped Rarity, still surprised to see her friend still alive and for the most part sane. “Is it really you?”

“Know anyone else… who is this awesome?” She gave a weak smile, more likely trying to convince herself than Rarity. “C’mon, I can get you out of here but we need to leave now. Like, now, now.”

“Oh, yes of course, darling,” nodded Rarity, taking a few cautious steps towards her pegasus friend. “Wait… how do I know I can trust you?”

Rainbow turned around and started to walk away. “Because if I wanted you dead Rarity I would have drove that spear into your skull and not Applejack’s, but if you want to sit here and wait for AJ to come back to life then be my guess.”

The unicorn looked at the seemly dead Applejack, already she could hear the growling and twisting of metal and the screeching of gears coming from her body. She started to twitch slightly, jerking unexpectedly as the hissing increased in volume.

“Lead the way dear,” she gulped.

“Mistress, are you sure we can trust her?” Frostbite asked. “I do not wish to see you betrayed again.”

“Well it’s not like we have much of a choice,” Rarity said, running after Rainbow and away from the resurrecting Applejack. “We’ll just have to be careful.”

“I hope you’re right,” sighed Frostbite, floating alongside the unicorn as they followed the pegasus into the thicket of snowy trees and bushes. “I really do…”

*****

3 months earlier

It had been possibly the worst storm since winter.

With over nine months of snow, everything natural had all but been diminished. Trees that once stood strong and green were now hunched and shrivelled, barren of any and all leaves like old ponies limping to their graves. A wildflower hadn’t been seen since the previous spring, so there was no hope in sprinkling the landscape with any colour that wasn’t the eyesore of white snow. Vegetation was all but a myth, expect in specially built habitats where ponies had managed to grow food to survive the endless winter. It had been a balancing act against the elements until now. Now it seemed that Mother Nature was determined to knock them off the scale.

Winds blew, hail and ice fell, the world outside was just half a step to becoming a frozen wasteland. Rarity watched from her cracked window in her room. She was busy putting up the last few boards to cover her window so she wouldn’t have to look at that horrid landscape anymore, or the world fall into chaos.

How many days has she been locked in her room? Ever since Granny Smith’s funeral, Rarity could no longer take the sight or thought of death, even though it was the only thought that dwelled in her mind, tearing at her soul with the impossible choice that she had to make. Countless times she had fallen ill to that thought, and her parents would come rushing up to nurse her back to health. She felt so selfish, reverting back to a child that her mother and father had to come running to her aid every time she had a tummy ache. But that’s just the way things were now. Much like the weather outside, she had changed for the worse.

“I think I need a few more nails,” she muttered to herself. She never was very handy with things like tools… she used to have friends for these sort of things. Even the weight of the hammer seemed to strain against her magical grip. When did she get so weak and pathetic? She supposed that it was due to lack of nourishment. It had never been a problem before, but she couldn’t seem to keep meals down anymore. Her body rejected the taste of food like a poison, perhaps her stomach didn’t think she deserved to eat. Perhaps she agreed with it.

The box of nails were on her dresser, so she abandoned her project to fetch the nails, leaving the boards hanging and the wind free to course into her room. It gave her a rather nasty chill and had her changing direction from her dresser to her coatrack where she quickly threw on her coat.

“Much better,” she thought. “Now to those nails—“

She didn’t get to finish her sentence as a pegasus was slammed into her window, his body almost breaking past the panes and rendering them cracked. He had not hit it nearly as hard as it sounded but it was enough to give the poor mare a scare. The pegasus wing seemed a little limp and was whisked away in the storm. He was probably part of the weather patrol, there was no other logical reason why somepony would be out in this mess. He was probably trying to do something about the weather, keep it tamed and under control. It’d be a pleasant change, ever since last December the weather has had a mind of its own, and the pegesi had troubles dealing with even the smallest flurries now.

And all Rarity could do was sigh and fix her window, and pray that in a few months this nightmare would be over.

*****

“Watch your steps from here on out, okay?” Rainbow mumbled. The three had finally outran the snarling and hissing of Applejack and were once again wandering blindly in the bleak and numbingly white forest. Rainbow was making sure to take a certain pattern of steps in the snow and Rarity did her best to mimic. She hadn’t the slightest idea why, though.

“Is there a reason why you’re walking so… funny, Rainbow Dash?” She asked.

“Traps,” Rainbow said. “They’re the only reason why I’m still sane. It keeps my hooves busy, nose clean and mind off bad thoughts. Adapt and burn, adapt and burn… clear and clean the traps, get lucky and snag some freak… adapt and burn… adapt and burn…”

“Adapt and burn?”

“That’s what I do now…” said the pegasus. “Call it my job, hobby and life’s work now. Watch your left, there’s a pit with some nubs in it. In fact that reminds me…” She started to drift aside to the left, dipping her hoof in the shallow snow until she knocked up a small rope. Rainbow picked it up with her teeth and pulled on it and a few feet away a plop of snow fell into the earth itself. “Give me a second. I need to deal with this.”

“Deal with what, dear?” Rarity asked, a little concerned for her friend.

“A few nubs,” smiled Rainbow, as she pulled out a few things from her cloak, a couple of sticks and a small thread. Intertwining the thread between one of the sticks she managed to make a sort of small bow and curled it around the other stick. She then pulled out a few tufts of dried wicker and started to make a fire. It was remarkable how she lit the stuff in only a few strokes before throwing the now flaming tuft of wicker into the hole, followed by a few terribly painful screams. “Like music to my ears,” Rainbow said in a dry joking voice, trying to make herself laugh.

Rarity was really concerned now. “What was in that hole?”

“I already told you, it was some nubs.”

“Yes, but what exactly is a nub?”

“You know… it’s just everything that’s wrong in here. Ponies that have gone bad and crazy, like Applejack. She’s one bad nub I’ve been trying to put down for a while but she’s like me… adapts and burns."

Painfully satirical, even in death those two were still trying to see which one was better than the other.

“So what you’re saying is… that there was ponies in that hole?”

“They’re not ponies!” Barked the pegasus. “They’ve given up! They don’t get to be called that anymore, they’re nubs! Everyone down here is a nub but me, taking the easy way out and kneeling to that… that monster! But not me… I’m not a quitter, I’ll keep adapting and burning until I get out of here, and I’m not going to take that bastard’s easy way out and kill you. Even though I could have done that countless of times and you wouldn’t have been able to do a thing about it.”

Rarity was stunned, she found even moving difficult and just stood in the snow and the silence. “If you could kill me… then why not just do it? I’m right here… and you clearly outmatch me, and you want to get out of here just as much as anypony, then why withhold my death?”

“Didn’t you listen to me?” Rainbow grumbled. “I’m not going to take the easy way out. To do that is to admit defeat and play by his rules, and I’m not going to sink to his level.” She turned up and glared at the sky. “Do you hear that, you maniac?! I’m not like these others! You can’t break me like them!” She started to break into tears. “You won’t make me into a monster like you… adapt and burn… adapt…” Rainbow fell to her knees. “… and burn.”

“Rainbow, dear…” sighed Rarity, comforting Rainbow by lifting her chin up and giving her something she probably hadn’t seen in a while; a friendly smile. “It’s okay, just let it all out.”

“I… I… I’ve died three times since I’ve been down here.”

“Excuse me?”

“Died, Rarity,” wept Rainbow. “I’ve died three times and each time I’ve died I’ve adapted to what I did wrong. First time was when I got lost and froze… I felt my heart stop beating for a solid week and my throat had gone tight… I walked around breathless and shivering… like a zombie. So when I finally came back I started leaving marks. Small things like cuts in trees or broken branches. That kept me alive for a while but then I ran into a nub and learned my second lesson, that it’s killed or be killed… and I was killed, torn to shreds and feasted on by a damn lost soul. So I adapted more and made my traps: Spike traps, snares, holes, even bombs. I learned the plants and made my weapons. I was able to defend myself… for a time. That’s when the most important lesson came, that I needed to do more than adapt and I needed to—“

“Burn,” Rarity said, cutting off Rainbow.

“Exactly,” nodded Rainbow. “It keeps them from reviving right away, otherwise they’ll be out no more than a week. Burning them keeps them down for months. Some of these suckers haven’t even resurrected from the first time I’ve burned them.”

“I’m terribly sorry for that, dear,” sobbed Rarity. “I wish there was something that I could do for you.”

“Well… there is one thing,” whispered Rainbow Dash.

“Anything.”

“I want you to go to Isis, save Spike from this hellhole and I want you to live,” she said. “I want you to live and start a family, and forget all about me and Applejack and everypony else down here. I want you to have the life we can’t and be happy for us.”

“Rainbow, I could never forget about you.”

“You will!” Rainbow barked. “You have to promise that you’ll marry that S.O.B dragon and have kids and be normal! You have to do this for me! Promise me!”

“I—“

“Promise me!” She roared, pulling Rarity into a headlock. “Promise me or I swear I’ll break you neck right now and no pony will leave here!”

“Rainbow,” the unicorn coughed. “You’re hurting me—“

“Promise me!”

“I can’t just forget about—“

“Promise me, damn it!”

“Rainbow please!”

“PROMISE ME!” She screeched, squeezing tighter on Rarity’s neck. There was no other option for the poor mare.

“Alright!” Rarity cried. “I promise…”

The pegasus loosened her grip on her friend. “Good… trust me, this is for the best.”

“Ehm,” Frostbite coughed. “Not to be rude or anything… but I think that we should be continuing. I don’t think it’s safe to bicker out here in the open. Rainbow, how far are we to the end of the forest?”

“About five minutes. Most of the nubs don’t venture this far out… they can’t leave the forest.”

“Good, then let us proceed, mistresses, and leave this forsaken forest.”

Author's Note

Edits by the always fabulous Miss Pia-Chan!

We're getting down to the wire now, and only several months behind schedule! ^_^

How the Mighty Fall

Rainbow, Rarity and Frostbite trekked through the last few yards of trees before they were once again exposed to the ravishing blizzard of the world under the world. It had been a rather quiet walk, with the tension between Rarity and Rainbow Dash still quite high, as it would be with anypony that had not five minutes ago tried to kill the other one. Still, things seemed to have calmed down, even the storm wasn’t as bad, but there was still a blistering chill.

And Rarity still found herself clenching to the walls of her jacket and the warmth of the flickering blue flame more than ever. “I think… I think the first thing I’m going to do when I get out of here is take a nice warm bath,” she muttered to herself. “Rainbow Dash, how much farther until we get to Isis?”

“Don’t know, never been,” she said. “I’ve never tried to make it over the lake before… since I can’t fly in this world and I’m not the best swimmer.”

“I never knew you couldn’t swim?” The white mare said, puzzled at Rainbow’s comment. “I always assumed you could, considering the amount of time you’ve spent at Ponyville Lake.”

“I didn’t say that,” she snapped back. “I said I’m not the best swimmer. But that doesn’t really matter now, does it? You can’t even touch the waters of the frozen lake without being dragged to the bottom. So why would you even bring something like that up, huh?” She started to ruffle her feathers a little. “Let’s just get this over with. I don’t like being away from the traps for very long, they pile up with nubs and then I got to start from square one.”

Rarity wanted to say something to her friend, but thought it would be better if she just kept quiet, there would be time for talking later. She looked over to Frostbite, who was floating next to her. “Have you ever been to this frozen lake?”

The spectre nodded. “Only once, and that was when I was first condemned here so many years ago. It is by far the worst fate that a pony trapped here can face.”

“Why is it so bad?”

Rainbow looked behind her, interrupting their conversation. “You can see for yourself if you want, but you aren’t going to like what you see.”

Rarity climbed the last snow bank to rush up to her friend. She had little faith that this lake could hold any significance over the rest of this world. The tundra, the cave, the forest, these were all terrible faiths that trapped the souls here. When she looked at the dark frozen waters beneath the ice of the lake she was still puzzled. It looked like any frozen over body of water she had seen in the world above. But she hadn’t even laid a hoof on the ice before Rainbow pulled her back.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Rainbow bellowed. “Do you want to die?”

“Of course not!” Rarity said back to her. “But you didn’t have to be so crass with your behaviour. A simple stop would have sufficed.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she started digging into her sack. Pulling out a rock with a long string attached to it. “Just stay behind me and move fast, there’s a lot of lake to cover and whatever you do, do not stray from the pass I make. Do you understand me? You step in my exact hoof steps the entire time.”

“Alright,” Rarity nodded. “Dare I ask why?”

“You’ll fall into the lake…” she said with a pause. “… and you’ll never escape.” With that she tossed the rock onto the water, where it crashed through the ice immediately. Rainbow fished the rock back from the water and tossed it again with the same results. The third time however the rock bounced on the surface and Rainbow motioned to Rarity to follow her.

The white mare was much more cautious this time around, and did her best to follow Rainbow’s orders. They would only ever move in short and slow trots before Rainbow would toss the stone again, and again. After what seemed like an eternity Rarity could no longer see the other shoreline, and they were caught in a dense fog. It was so thick, they could hardly see in front of themselves and Rarity feared that have make have gotten lost.

“Umm Rainbow, are you sure that we’re going in the right direction?”

“Yeah,” she said, tossing the rock again. “Your eyes ain’t used to it, but I can see the tower of Isis just up ahead. Shouldn’t be any more than another half hour or so.”

“Good, because I’m freezing,” the unicorn muttered, taking another look down at the water’s surface. She still didn’t fully understand why this lake was so dangerous. She would regret that the moment she thought that thought. She saw something move in the darkness. Her heart jolt a bit as she pressed closer to the ice.

And a face forced itself against the frozen surface, screaming and pounding against the glass as it desperately tried to break the surface. Rarity leapt back, letting out a little squeak as the pony sank back into the water.

“What in good Celestia’s name was that?!”

“Told you not to look, Rare,” Rainbow sighed. “That’s what happens when you fall through the ice. You sink to the bottom gasping for air and die, only to wake up to try and swim to the surface to discover you can’t escape, and no matter how hard you pound against the ice you can’t break free… and you have to relive that over and over again. Never escaping from your prison… at least with the forest you can hide, eat and fight back. Here in the frozen lake it’s never ending drowning.”

“I see… that’s terrible,” Rarity whispered to herself, turning to Frostbite. “You said you were here once before, is that correct?”

“That it is,” the ghost said. “I was one of those souls that fell through the ice…”

“Y-you fell through the ice?” The unicorn gasped. “That’s terrible.

“You couldn’t even imagine,” Frostbite sighed. “What your friend said is true about the ice lake and its tortures. Why Hellfire omitted my punishment is beyond my knowledge… and it makes me curious.”

“Well whatever it was, I’m glad that he allowed you to help me. You’re a good friend, Frostbite,” Rarity said, smiling.

“Thank you… you’re a good friend too,” the spectre back to her. “Regardless as to how this turns out, I’m glad that I got to meet you.” He started to look away from Rarity and into the distance, frowning as something caught his attention. “Did you see that?”

“See what?”

“I could have sworn that I saw something move in the distance, a faded shadow of something…”

Rainbow’s ears perked up. “We need to get moving now!” She said, throwing the rock against the path. “This way is safe, let’s hurry!”

“Why, what was that things? Is it dangerous?” Rarity asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Whatever the thing was, it moved fast and agilely on the ice, able to glide even on the fragile spots. It seemed to be about the size of a normal pony, but it was skating on something much larger. The thing in the fog began to encircle the trio, with an up kick of icy flush as two purple eyes pierced through the fog, and a white purple grin.

“Hi girls…” Twilight said with insane enthusiasm. She marched casually up to Rainbow and Rarity. With the fog cleared from their vision they could see that Twilight had obtained a pair of large white wings that she was using to walk on the ice, and had a familiar gold crown dawned above her head. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“T-Twilight,” gulped Rarity, doing her best to force a smile as Twilight grew nearer. The purple mare was blocking their path, and something told her that she wasn’t going to let them just waltz by. “You’re looking… well. Are those wings new?”

“Yeah they are!” Twilight cackled giving the fashionista a few twirls. “Do you like them? I figured that Celestia didn’t need them anymore… or even deserves them! I mean, you can’t do much when you’re stuck in that forest of madness!”

“She’s stuck… in the forest?”

“Of course she is,” Twilight smiled. “Didn’t Rainbow tell you that?” They both looked at Rainbow, who was doing her best to avoid everyone’s gaze. “Oh, you didn’t tell her that? Rainbow, I’m appalled! I’d expected you to be better than that… then again I thought I’d never horse stitch a princess’s wings to my back, so I guess we’re all terrible in our own way… and speaking of terrible ponies…” Twilight’s gaze fell upon Rarity. “So what, my pet’s the only thing that’s good enough for you? You’d take some slimy little hatchling over me?!”

“Twilight please! I could only choose one! Surely you understand that!”

“Oh I understand,” the purple pony grinned. “I understand that even an idiot could pass a multiple choice question like that. You choose the one that’s most likely to kill you! That’d be ME!”

A blast of magic erupted from Twilight’s horn, nearly blasting Rarity’s head off. Thankfully, she was able to duck out of the way, and the blast instead blew a hole in the ice, not their skulls. Twilight laughed again as she blasted them again, this time hitting at the ice under their hooves. It began to crack under their wait so they immediately jumped off into different directions, sliding on the ice. Thankfully, they didn’t fall through.

“Oh, what’s the matter Rare? Can’t take the heat? You know I never really liked you, you stuck up little pretty girl!” Twilight glared, charging another blast of magic. “I’m going to send you to the bottom of this lake and get the hell out of here!”

“She’s going to kill us all,” Rarity gulped, crawling back to her hooves. “She’s gone completely insane. We need to get to Isis now, Rainbow!”

“Speak for yourself, china doll,” Rainbow growled, staring down Twilight, her wooden spear clutched in her teeth. “This nightmare is over for me.”

“Rainbow, what do you mean?”

The pegasus kicked the stone and string over to Rarity, the rock sliding and stopping at her hooves. “Do you remember your promise, Rarity?”

“…Yes.”

“Give my regards to the big guy,” Rainbow smiled. Rarity didn’t know what she was smiling about, but it worried her. The white mare picked up the rock in confusion and started finding a safe path across the ice.

Once she did, she turned back and called for Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash! Let’s go!”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Twilight roared, readying another blast aimed in Rarity’s direction. “You’re going to die like the rest of us!”

“Like hell she is!” Rainbow bellowed, flinging her spear into the heart of Twilight Sparkle. The purple mare was dumbstruck as she staggered on the ice, not realizing that she had just been pierced through the chest. “This ends now you crazy son of a bitch!”

The pegasus ran across the ice tackling her former friend into the ground. Looking up at Rarity, the loyal friend shed a tear as she and Twilight fell through the ice. She made no attempt to flee or to escape. It was if the second the water touched her, she became paralyzed and sank from view.

Rarity wanted to go after her, and her own eyes were watery as her friends disappeared into the cold waters. But there was little she could do for them now. All Rarity could do was remember her promise to Rainbow. To escape this hell and live for them with Spike.

“Goodbye my friend…” she sniffed, tossing the stone again onto the ice. “I’ll never forget your sacrifice…”

Frostbite sighed. “It is for the best,” he said. “But I will admire her bravery and her loyalty. In the end this world couldn’t even take that away from her. And that is something that must be noticed and remembered.”

“Yes…” moaned Rarity, wiping away her last few tears. “Rainbow Dash would never give up… and neither will I, I will fulfil my promise to her. I will escape this world, and me and my Spikey will be together again and forever.”

“And I am happy to say that it’s a soon to be reality,” Frostbite smiled, as they took their last steps off the lake. “We’re back on dry land, and the gates of Isis awaits us.”

The City of Isis

The strange sensation of a journey’s end, something that seemed so far was now just a few hoof steps away. For Rarity it seemed like a weight had been lifted from her shoulder, only for several new ones to take its place. Not even the large blue walls of her final destination were enough to calm her shaky nerves.

It was only a short walk from the frozen shoreline of the lake to the massive gates of the city. But it was still a path of dread. The open wound in her mind of Rainbow’s sacrifice still lingered freshly, and scenarios of how it could have been different rummaged her conscious. Maybe there was a way she could have saved her. If she had been a little faster, a little braver, but it all happened so fast, and Rarity knew that there was little that could be done about it now.

She would just have to press forward into the heart of the city. She needed to find Spike.

The question was, where? “Dear Frostbite, you wouldn’t happen to know where Spike is being held in the city?” She asked.

“Afraid not,” Frostbite replied. “However, as far as cities go, it is rather vacant with very few occupants. I’m positive that if we ask around, somepony will be able to point us in the right direction.”

“I hope you’re right, I really do,” Rarity said, walking towards the barred city gates. Like everything else, it was made of ice, like icicles on the rim of a house. Cold to the touch, they slowly creaked open as they approached. Rather strange, considering that there was no pony in sight. It gave the white mare a very uneasy feeling as she started walking into the city.

And a strange city it was, if it could be called such a thing. Rickety buildings, large unkempt snow banks and a veil of misery washed all over the frail ponies that lay in the streets. These sickly looking ponies…barely a ghost of what they once were in their tattered formal attire, frostbitten lips and faded and soaking manes.

“These are the lucky ones?” Rarity found herself asking. “They look just as miserable as everypony else in this hellhole. I thought you said this place was some sort of paradise.”

“I said that in comparison to the rest of this world, it is like a paradise,” Frostbite said. “Here there trials are over, they have nothing else to fight but the endless bounds of time. Here they have food, shelter, and even I heard a sense of entertainment, although I hear the actors are quite grim with their themes.”

“I don’t care about plays, I just want my Spike back,” Rarity huffed. She walked over to a mopey looking stallion. “Excuse me sir.”

“Hmm?” The downtrodden horse mumbled, not even meeting her gaze. “I don’t have any food or firewood to spare, so leave me alone.”

“Oh, I have no need for that,” Rarity smiled, trying to warm up to him. “All I desire is a little information. You see, I’m looking for somepony very special to me, and I’d very much appreciate it if you could help me on his little quest of mine.”

“Depends on what you’re looking for…and if you’re able to pay the price for said information.”

“I’m afraid I have nothing to offer you,” said Rarity.

The stallion looked at the levitating torch. “That is a very strange fire there…perhaps I could warm myself next to it?”

Rarity was a little cautious about this, her trust with ponies couldn’t be lowered too much, not now when she was so close to her goal, but she did get another idea. “How about my cloak? She bartered. “If you can show me where my friend is I’ll give you my cloak.”

“…Fair trade,” the stallion said. “Who’s this friend of yours anyways? He must be real special if you’re willing to give something up like a cloak for him.”

“More than you can imagine,” Rarity nodded. “So tell me, have you ever seen a dragon in this world?”

“You mean besides the one floating next to you? Just the purple one that’s in the old theatre.”

Purple dragon, it must be her Spike! “Please, could you take me to this theatre?”

“Yeah…sure. Not like I had anything better going on today,” the stallion sighed as he struggled to his feet, shaking the snow off his back. “It’s not that far away.”

“Thank you,” Rarity smiled, following the pony down the snowy streets. Her heart was beating rapidly in excitement, a feeling that she had almost forgotten about since the old days. It was a warm, fluffy feeling that she missed so dearly, but never as dearly as her Spike. The pace they were traveling at was far too slow for her, and she found herself having to restrain from going out into a full sprint.

When they finally got to an old, worn looking theatre hall, Rarity knew they had finally arrived. She walked up to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“You need a ticket, ma’am.”

Rarity turned around the oval ticket booth that had been unnoticed by her light up. Inside was a thinly looking mare with large spectacles. She adjusted them as she gave a loud yawn.

“If you want to go inside, you need to have a ticket,” she said again. “Otherwise the doors won’t open.”

“Very well then” the white mare huffed, frustrated that of all things a door and a ticket taker would be her downfall. “One ticket please.”

“We’re sold out,” she mumbled. “Either that or we never got any in, I can’t really recall. Regardless, I can’t sell you a ticket so bugger off and let me get back to my nap.”

“No, please! You don’t understand, I need to get in there! My fiancé’s in there! You can’t do this to me!”

“There’s nothing I can do,” the ticket taker said. “Come back with a ticket or don’t come back at all.” The booth went dark.

Rarity fell to her knees in a fit of tears. Denied when she was so close… she couldn’t take it and started screaming, “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” She continued to sulk. “This isn’t fair…I was so close!” She got back up from the ground and charged at the door, trying her best to break it down. But it was to no avail. It refused to budge and she slunk down, defeated. “It’s not fair…it’s not fair…”

“Umm, excuse me, ma’am,” the stallion that had escorted her here said. “I don’t mean to kick a poor girl when she’s down, but there is still your end of the bargain to hold up. So if I could just…”

“Just take the damn thing,” Rarity hissed, taking the cloak off and throwing it at the stallion. “Just leave me alone to freeze to death.”

He said nothing, greedily taking the slightly damp cloak and throwing it over his other wears. He seemed quite happy with their transaction as he trotted off. Rarity watched him with a scowl and a shiver. How could she have been so stupid? She was going to be trapped here with the rest of these cursed souls…and she didn’t even have a cloak anymore. At least that stallion would be a little warmer in her cloak.

A gust of wind started to pick up, whirling around the stallion that had taken her coat. He shivered a little, clutching the jacket closer to his body. But something strange happened. Unaware to its wearer, a small slip of paper managed to wiggle out of the clock’s pocket, and fall into the snow. The stallion continued down the path, but the winter breeze didn’t let up on the paper. It picked it up and whirled it in the air, like a child dancing until the wind blew it to Rarity’s hooves.

“What’s this…?” she whimpered, picking up the piece of paper. It was a ticket, to a play called ‘Once Upon a December’, the same ticket that pony had given her on the train ride to Canterlot…curious.

Surely it was a long shot, but she had nothing left to lose. Rarity walked back to the ticket taker’s booth, knocking on the dark glass as the lights went back on and the mare appeared once again. “You again…listen, I’d say I’m sorry we’re out of tickets but then I’d be lying to you. So please just leave me alone and go harass somepony else?”

“I have a ticket now,” Rarity said, sliding her ticket into the little hole under the glass. Hooves were crossed that she would accept it.

The mare with spectacles examined the ticket, eyeing it and even giving it a few nibbles before finally hitting a small button on her desk. “Enjoy the show or whatever.”

The door of the theatre swung open. Rarity wasted no time entering the building and into the much warmer theatre’s lobby. She gave a little sigh of delight as the warm air washed over her freezing body. She felt so cozy standing in the heat after such a long time outside, but she didn’t have the luxury to loiter. Snapping out of her daze she started searching around the lobby. “Spike! Spike! Spike, where are you?!”

There was no answer.

“Spike! Please! Can you hear me?” She called out again. “Please, somepony answer me!”

“Maybe we should try the actual theatre, mistress,” Frostbite said, pointing to the large doors labelled ‘Theatre Three’. “What we’re looking for may be there.”

Rarity immediately dashed into the theatre. It looked like any standard theatre, with rows and rows of seats all faced towards the stage. However, it was still barren from any signs of life. The white mare turned around to leave but the doors slammed shut behind her. “What’s going on?” She asked.

Frostbite said nothing, his head aimed to the ground as he floated to one of the seats in the center of the house. “Please take a seat, Miss Rarity.”

“Frostbite? Is everything alright?” Rarity wondered.

“Please take a seat, Miss Rarity,” Frostbite repeated, a ghostly tear falling from his face. “The show is about to start.”

“What’s going on, here?” she asked. “Why are you acting so strange?”

“My…my part in this play is done,” Frostbite whispered, his form becoming more and more transparent. “Goodbye, my friend. I pray that we never meet again.”

“Frostbite? Frostbite! Where are you going?!” Rarity called, trying to catch the shade, but it was no use. Her ice drake friend had vanished into thin air. What was going on here?

The lights in the theatre began to dim. Rarity looked around, expecting an ambush but nothing happened until the curtains began to rise. Still on her guard the mare took a seat and started to watch what was happening on stage. A little brown colt waddled onto the center, looking confused and perhaps lost. Then there was a little screech as somepony unseen began to narrate.

“This is the story of a little colt that had no name. He wasn’t very special, and he wasn’t very popular. It seemed like no pony in the world knew that he existed. However, our nameless little hero did his best not to let those things get to him, for he had a passion. He had a passion to make those around him happy, to entertain and to amaze, despite not being remarkable in any way imaginable.”

There was a flicker on stage as a book burst onto the set.

“Then one day, the little colt found a very mysterious book. A book of dark tales and wonders, forbidden magic, and shadowy secrets. What little colt could resist? He took the book home and began to read it, and read it he did. Every single page over and over again until the book was so well read it had to be held together with paste and scotch tape. Soon the colt had memorized every single word of its wonderful tales and formulas. But there was one part of the book that captivated him more than any other…the spell of self-transfiguration.”

The colt on stage began to make a small circle in the ground.

“The boy thought ‘how wonderful! How entertaining! I could make everypony like me if I could change my form!’” the narrator gave a chuckle. “Such a naïve little lad, isn’t he? He began making preparations for the spell, and since he lacked magic, he had to create a magic circle. Thankfully, one such circle had been described in the book; it was a circled known as ‘The Hellfire Circle’.

On stage, the colt had finished the circle he had made, and was now standing in a red glowing sphere. Dark ambers started to fly around the boy, and soon he was pelted with flames and shadows. The little colt didn’t even have a chance to scream as he was incinerated into ash.

“But something went terribly wrong, or terribly right, depending on your point of view, and the little colt died…burnt to a crisp in his own desire to make others happy. But when one life ends…”

From the pile on stage began to tremble, as a large fiery hoof poked out of it.

“… Another life begins.”

From the ashes grew a dark and terrible being, one that Rarity had prayed she’d never had to see again. Red, crimson body, mane of a wildfire, glowing yellow eyes of magma, Hellfire rose from the ashes.

“Yes, what had been somepony so unremarkable,” the narrator continued. “Birthed the most unique of beings. The little colt relished in both awe and fear of his new complexion, but soon realized that he now possessed the powers necessary to cast the self-transfiguration spell. And when he mastered that, he thought, ‘Well, why stop here?’ there’s plenty of spells and tricks that he could learn now that he had this unholy power. He found ways to create and to destroy, to help and to toy, to stop and make go, to wither and to grow. Years went by as he hid himself among us, the mundane pony not able to tell him from anypony else in his disguise. Then one day, perhaps out of sheer boredom, he decided to audition for a play. He had long since forgotten his old goals to make others happy, and thought that perhaps he’d give it another whirl.”

There was a scene change as the lights went dark onstage, only to turn back on and for Hellfire to disappear. In his place was a large, black alicorn with glowing red eyes, misty grey mane and a killer’s smile.

“He was given the great role of Dark Conquest in a little play called…‘Once Upon a December.’ A play that was held highly by the nobles of Canterlot. He felt honoured to step on stage and act his bit, and it would have been a perfect performance…if he had not been distracted.”

“By you,” the dark alicorn smiled, pointing a hoof at Rarity. “For it was this fair beauty’s beauty that melted my cold heart, I fell in love the second I laid my glowing red eyes on you. I wanted you all for myself, but alas even with all my powers, I was still unable to control free will. So I ran after you, my precious. But you had disappeared…” the dark skin of the alicorn began to shed, falling off by the ribbons as a chocolate brown pony waltzed out of the shredded mess, brushing off the scrapes of skin out of his dirty blonde mane. He smiled, saying, “I know what you’re thinking…that’s Plot Twist, right?”

“You’re the pony from the train…” Rarity whispered.

“That I am,” Plot Twist said. “I applaud you for making it this far. Very few ever do make it to my city. Now I bet you’re wondering where your dragon is, is that correct?”

“Yes…please, I just want to see my Spikey again and be done with all this.”

“I see…” sighed Plot Twist. “Very disappointing, this whole day really, I’d have hoped you’d change your mind. I really do find you riveting.”

“You’re disgusting,” Rarity spat with a frown. “You’re nothing but a heartless monster. Now stop stalling and show me Spike!”

With an eye roll, Plot Twist fluttered his left hoof, and a large cage fell from the ceiling. Cowering inside was a sparsely and frail looking dragon curled up in a ball. He had faded purple scales and pale green spines, and was wearing what remained of a ballroom suit. Spike eyes widened as he saw Rarity, rubbing them to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things. But this wasn’t an illusion.

“R-Rarity?” He squeaked, crawling up from the steel floor of his cage and pressed up against its bars. “Rarity!”

“Spike!” She cried, running down the steps of the theatre, almost tripping on the last few steps but still embracing her dragon through the bars of his cage. Even a few bars of metal couldn’t stop them from finally being together after all this time. She was hysterical, crying into his chest, feeling the warmth of his heart and the steady beating against her ear. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” Spike moped, squeezing her tightly against him. “I’m so sorry that this all happened to you.”

“I…I…I…”

“Shh… hey it’s going to be okay, Rarity,” Spike whispered into her ear. “It’s all over now; you don’t have to fight anymore. It’s all over Rare…”

Rarity nodded weakly, doing her best to smile, but happiness seemed like a foreign emotion to her, even though she was feeling all the things she forgot she could feel. Gladness, happiness, excitement, and a warm sense that everything was going to be okay.

But of course, nothing was ever that simple. And the slow, monotonous clap of Plot Twist would prove to show that happiness could never exist in this world. “Well, isn’t that wonderful? The long lost lovers finally finding one another in my little hellhole? It’d bring a tear to my eye if it wasn’t so revolting. I do despise happy endings they’re not…dramatic enough.” A large smile stretched across his face. “I do have one last twist to throw you, Miss Rarity…one final deal that I don’t think you can refuse.”

“YOU SHUT UP!” Roared Spike, turning to Rarity. “Don’t listen to anything he says. Just tell him you want to go home and we’ll be done with all this!”

“Yes, you could do that,” Plot Twist chuckled. “Or…well, you are the generous type, aren’t you Rarity?”

“Stop talking!” Rarity cried. “Please just leave us alone!”

“Not until I finish!” The stallion snapped, his mane sparking into flames for a brief moment. “Hear my offer and then see if you can decide…Rarity.”

“Stop—“

“Your friends…you dear, dear friends…”

“Stop talking you monster!”

“And all those poor souls taken that night…what would you give to perhaps…undo all that tragedy?” Plot Twist asked with a grin. “A girl of your generous nature should know the meaning of sacrifice, and the value of quid pro quo. What if I told you I could do all of that? Omit every death in that ballroom that night in December? Wouldn’t that be nice? Payment for this act of charity however…would require you to take all of their places. You would have to live here with me and never leave. You and I would be married and I would make you my lovely queen. Now I will give you a few seconds to think about it, as I imagine this is a big decision for you. All I will say is this, what is one life compared to hundreds? I trust you’ll make the right decision.”

Rarity gulped at the offer. The idea of saving everypony that night was far too appealing for its own good, and it was just one in the needs of the many as the old expression goes. But one look at this…thing, and the idea of spending the rest of her life here with Plot Twist made her want to puke, not out of fear of torture; he did after all…love her. No it was a fear of never seeing her friends again…or her Spike again, her love that she fought so hard to save. Plus, she could save her friends from their torments.

On the other hoof, the idea of just throwing it all away frightened her. To render all this sweat and effort useless, and to never see any of her friends again… All she ever wanted to do for the last year was finally be able to crawl into bed with her dragon, to get married, to start their life together. Was it selfish to want happiness? Then there was the promises she had to keep. Rainbow wanted her to forget about them and move on, and she had to forgive Mrs Cakes for Pinkie’s sake. She would never be able to do that if she took their places, and would they ever forgive her if she did?

The choice was impossible.

Should she keep her promise and live?

Or stay and let other live in her place?

Author's Note

Pia-chan editorial note

damn.

next chapter is the last.

End of Nightmares

Keep her promise and live…stay and save her friends…the choice seemed far too obvious as to what she should do, as much as it pained her to think such a thing. It was in her nature to be sacrificial, to put others in front of her own needs, to make sure that her friends were happy even if it meant her own misery or stress. The very thought of life down here in this world was revolting, but it was the option she would have to choose.

She would miss her friends, and of course her dragon, but maybe they’ll be happy with her decision, and perhaps one day they’ll forgive her for what she had to do…and the promises that she had to break.

But then, another thought occurred to her. If she were to do this, would it really be the best option? Plot Twist was just that; twisted. What would resurrecting her friends accomplish? They would never forget their time here, and some of her friends were perhaps too far gone to ever truly recover. What would happen when Princess Celestia and Twilight were to meet once again? Would Fluttershy ever be able to look at her animal friends again after consuming so much of their flesh to survive? A simple second chance meant nothing if they still had to remember all of this. In fact…it was starting to look like the worse option the more she thought about it.

It all seemed so hopeless; she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. A chill washed through her as the temperature of the room dropped suddenly. Shivering, she pulled her torch closer to her freezing body. The blue flame flickered but hardly gave off any heat, much to Rarity’s displeasure.

Plot Twist started tapping his hoof impatiently. “If you’re going to make up your mind, I’d do it quickly. This anticipation is killing me.”

Rarity frowned at his imperiousness. He seemed awfully eager to get this over with, but that puzzled her…If he wanted her so bad, why not just kill her from the start? Why did he spare her life and not the life of others? Then she had thought was simple, that he simply enjoyed her suffering…but now that she took a moment to think about it, there was something very fishy going on here. Perhaps if she had a few more moments to think about it, then she could figure out what.

“Mr. Plot Twist, I don’t suppose I could get a slight extension on my decision?” She asked.

“No,” shook the stallion. “You have to make it now, I’ve waited all year for this, and you’re going to be my hearth’s warming present.”

“Strange…You say that as if I’ve already made up my mind...” Rarity mumbled to herself. This stallion wanted her, and he had the means to keep her here. It didn’t make sense that he would ever allow her to leave with something as simple as a choice. It didn’t make sense for him to leave something like this to chance. “…as if you’ve already decided that I’m never going to leave this place regardless of what I choose.”

“What?!” Plot Twist said with fake enthusiasm as he started to grin. “That’s appalling! But true, so I guess you staying willingly will be the best option, so if that’s what—“

“Wait a moment,” Rarity said. “You said that you would resurrect them, and the fact that that’s what you said and that alone concerns me.”

“As it should, it’s not like I want to or will allow them to forget their stay in my paradise,” Plot Twist chuckled. “I do love the utter hopelessness I’ve caused them, showing them that life is about as purposeful as a dung beetle’s knee. However, I must applaud you for your analogy. You’ve successfully figured out that there is no possible way that this is going to turn out great for anypony, so just make your meaningless choice so I can make you my queen and continue my little rain of misery.”

Rarity supposed that this was what it was all leading up to…a meaningless, hopeless choice. Her cards had already been dealt, now she could only choose which cards she played first against her opponent's superior hand. Another shiver rattled her. Her fire was getting smaller and smaller…her fire of hope.

Hope.

“This flame represents your hope, and as long as you have hope, you will be just fine down there. However, stray from the flame’s glow or let it be extinguished, and you will die.”

That was it…that was his game the whole time…

“You…you can’t actually kill me, can you?” Rarity asked.

Plot Twist gave her a strange look. “Umm…have you seen the world that I’ve created? The misery I’ve spread. I’m fairly confident that I could kill you if I wanted to, keep pressing my buttons and I just may.”

“You can’t actually kill me,” Rarity said, her smile returning to her and the fire of her hope growling ever slightly. “Or at least not now…you need me to be utterly hopeless to do that. That’s why you gave me this torch, so you could see when the best time was to strike. Not to protect me, but that’s not all now, is it? I think that you’re a very good actor that’s made the very foolish mistake of breaking character. This world is your stage and it’s meant to do one thing, to break the wills of ponies and leave them utterly hopeless and that they’ll never escape. I have no idea why you would do this, but I have a few theories.”

“What good are theories down here? The end results are all the same,” Plot Twist frowned. “And I think you’re just stalling the inevitable. But for argument’s sake, humour me.”

The fire in Rarity’s grasp engorged even more. “I think it’s where you get your power perhaps? Why else would you cause so much misery? If you wanted us all to die you would have killed us all, but then you’d be cutting off your power source. It explains why you’ve never attacked us before and why you were so blunt. In fact, I don’t even think that that little story you told me was true. I think that you’re just a sad, angry little boy that’s miserable and wants to make the rest of the world the exact same way!” Her fire was almost now a blaze. “Well I have some news for you, Plot Twist or Hellfire or whatever it is you want to be remembered by, I’m sick of feeling sorry for myself! I’m sick of being miserable and hopeless! So there’s my answer to you!”

In her fit of passion, she swung her torch with all her might, the blue flame cracking against the stallion’s face. He went spiralling towards the back of the theatre, slamming against the back wall with a thud before falling to the floor. He seemed out for the moment but that wouldn’t last. Rarity took this opportunity to get Spike out of the cage, looking for any sort of lock that she could bash or a latch she could open.

“Rarity…” Spike wondered. “That was amazing.”

“Thank you darling,” Rarity beamed, still looking for a way to open the cage. “But for so long it was me keeping myself from saving everypony. I spent the year thinking that I could only save one of us, but now I know I can save us all…I just had to be brave enough to see past Hellfire’s darkness.”

“Darkness…my darkness…” a rumbling moan muttered from across the room. Plot Twist shambled back to his feet. His neck seemed to be snapped the wrong way and there was a large blue burn on his face. “That was very stupid of you, my dear. Now you’re going to DIE!”

His body started to pulse, thumping like an arrhythmic heart as he grew larger, lava started bursting through his skin that was fading from a dark brown to a crimson red and his eyes were reverting back to a glowing yellow. Rarity readied herself and her torch, she wasn’t going to go down without putting up a scrap.

“Abandon your hope! Accept the inevitable and be mine, Rarity!” Hellfire roared, upchucking a glob of steaming magma at her and the dragon. Rarity barely had a chance to dodge it, and even a few hairs on her tail were singed. “This isn’t your fight to win! This is my world, and here I hold all the power! You cannot defeat a Child of Tragedy, so just give up!”

“Never!” The mare screamed, collecting herself and charging at the fiery being. “I’ll never submit to a monster like you! You can’t feed off my misery anymore!” She leapt off the one of the chairs in the theatre and smashed into Hellfire’s head with her flaming stick. Taking the offensive, she continued to barrage him with strikes of her torch, each hit leaving a strange blue mark on him. “This nightmare ends now!”

Hellfire snarled, whipping out and wrapping Rarity with his lava-like tongue. “Nightmare, you want to see the real nightmare?” He leaned up on his high legs and buck kicked her across the room. Rarity went crashing through it and found herself back outside in the frozen city. The blizzard seemed to have gotten worse, she could barely see the blue-scarred face of the pony of fire. “You think you’re something special? That you’re going to be the one that finally does me in? You’d make my brother chuckle if he was still alive with that pig-headedness of yours. But it does humour me that you think that a little confidence will be my undoing. You need to remember that you’re nothing but garbage, a coward that can’t fight her own battles!” The storm seemed to increase around him, and the glow he admitted grew brighter and brighter. “You couldn’t even protect yourself at the ball! What makes you think that tonight will be any different? I’m done toying with you, my dear. Your frozen burnt carcass will look great on my mantle!”

The ground around her started to shake. It seemed the wind started to pick up around her, and the snowflakes started to engulf her in a twister of ice. Hellfire gave a mighty yell and threw up more fire towards Rarity, the magma mixing in with the snow and entrapping the mare in a vortex of the two elements. She tried to look for an opening but there was none and the walls were starting to close in on her. She could feel the intense heat and chill burning and freezing her fur. It seemed so hopeless, that she was going to die here…

“No…” she shook. “Not here…not now…not in this place!” She closed her eyes as the tornado of fire and ice engulfed her. “I won’t give up!”

She felt the burn…but then there was warmth, not too hot but a comforting heat, like she had just crawled into bed after a long winter day. When she opened her eyes, the fire and the snow were gone…she was in a land of light, perhaps she had died and if she had, did she care? All she knew was that she didn’t feel scared anymore, and that everything was going to be okay.

“Rarity...”

Her ears perked up as she turned around. Standing behind her were all her friends. They looked happy and normal, not like they were in Hellfire’s underworld. Twilight walked up to her and spoke. “Hi…” she said. “How’s it going?”

“Twilight? You’re looking fine,” Rarity said, looking around the light world. “Where are we exactly?”

“Not really sure, sugarcube,” Applejack chuckled. “Some sort of weird place between life and death. Uh what did you call it again, Twi?”

“Limbo, but I don’t think—“

“Limbo?!” Pinkie laughed. “I thought that was that game with the stick and the bongo music?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anyways, we’re not in limbo, we’re in some sort of strange realm where we’re all able to communicate on a telepathic level. I guess Rarity needed some happy thoughts to deal with the fact that she’s moments away from being frozen and set on fire.”

Rarity sighed. “Yes…I’d imagine anypony would find that rather enduring. But why this then? And why now?”

“You’re scared Rarity…” Fluttershy whispered. “And we have something really important to tell you.”

“We wanted to say that we’re sorry, sugarcube,” Applejack moped, staring at her hooves. “We acted like a bunch of monsters.”

“We were so scared that we would never leave…” Fluttershy squeaked. “That we lost hope…”

“But then you took the fight to Hellfire,” Rainbow said. “And made us realize that maybe things aren’t so hopeless after all.”

Rarity looked puzzled. “How could you know that?”

“We’re your friends, silly!” Pinkie Pie pepped. “Oh, and the world is starting to change! Hellfire wouldn’t want you to know this but you’re beating him! The ice is starting to crack, the snow is dying down, and ponies are gathering! You’ve given us hope Rarity, and it’s super awesome!”

“So don’t you dare give up,” grinned Rainbow Dash. “Get your head back on and kick his ass!”

“We believe in you, Rarity!”

“Don’t give up!”

“Go get him, Rare!”

Rarity nodded. “I will…I will, and then we’ll all get out of here. I promise,” she said, her friends fading away as the snow and the fire took their place. The warmth grew back into a burning and the mare found herself in the midst of being cooked alive. But she felt no pain, strange as it was. These wicked flames couldn’t scold her fur, or singe her hair any more than water. She could defeat him; she only had to have faith.

The torch she wielded grew ten times in ferocity, the blue fire overtaking Rarity in a sphere of fire. It blew away the lava and ice and even the air. The more she believed she could defeat this monster the more the fire grew until it exploded, propelling everything and all things back. Hellfire flinched away from the fire, shielding himself was a wall of hardened ice. When he peaked back to see if Rarity was still there he saw a new being in her place.

A tall mare descended to the ground with a pair of large fiery wings that didn’t seem to connect to her body, yet still allowed her to fly. She had a coat so white it ashamed the snow she landed on. Her mane and tail were like a gentle flowing river of fire, curving smoothly down her face and only ever flickering into a curl at the end. Her eyes glowed the same tint of blue as her hair, and her horn glowed of a magical aura. Hellfire almost looked worried as the mare spoke. “This is it, Hellfire. Let everypony free and I’ll spare your annihilation. Your world is crumbling at its core. It is now time for you to give up.”

“What witchcraft is this?” The devilish pony asked himself. “This isn’t right! You’re nothing! You can’t possibly possess this power, it’s hopeless!”

“Nothing is ever hopeless,” Rarity said, marching up to Hellfire. “No matter how bleak you try to make the world look, there’s still hope! It may not come right away but it’s still there! Pushing you to try to chase your dreams or face your feels, and with its power I can finally put you to rest!”

She shifted speeds and charged at him, impaling him with her flaming horn and pushing the hellish pony through a few buildings. Rarity continued her assault on Hellfire by blasting him with a barrage of blue flame. However, Hellfire quickly curled up into a ball and vanished in a pool of fiery liquid. Rarity looked around the room, trying to anticipate his next move. She didn’t expect an attack from the floor, as Hellfire burst through the floorboards and head-butted the mare, and then blasted her again with an upchuck of fire.

“Die, you wench!” He shouted, slathering the mare with flames.

Rarity flinched as she blocked the flames, pushing back against them with all her might. When she finally broke free from the fire, she tackled the beast to the ground, slamming against his skull with azure hooves of fire. She pounded his head until fleshy chunks of lava started chipping off of his face and leaking out of his ears. The more she stomped the angrier she got and the harder she stepped down. After a minute of stomping, there was nothing left of his head but a small yellow puddle.

But she knew he wasn’t done yet. Injured perhaps, but not dead. The rest of Hellfire’s body liquidated and sifted away. He reformed on the other side of the house they were on but he was shaky, like he hadn’t healed something quite right. He was even leaning against the wall for support, coughing up liquid fire.

“I…I…” His voice started to return to normal. “I was abused…and hated as a child…” he croaked, falling to his knees. “My father wasn’t a nice stallion…and my mother…my mother didn’t see that my father wasn’t a nice stallion…”

Rarity looked puzzled at him. Was this a confession? Perhaps but it was still best to be on her guard. “Let me guess, you thought the situation was hopeless?”

“Clever…” the fiery pony wheezed. “I ran away from home and deep into the woods. I just wanted to get away from it all…the bad, and the terrible. But when your life is hopeless, bad and terrible are always making cameos. I had a little run in with some very bad ponies…a cult if you will…and they thought I was some sort of vessel for their crazy god or something…and they sacrificed me to become what I am today…don’t know if they did it right though, I killed them all anyways.”

“Is this even true?”

“Perhaps it is, perhaps it’s not. Perhaps it’s just a scapegoat I’ve created to justify my actions,” Hellfire moaned as he fell to the ground. His body was starting to melt again, but it looked like it wasn’t his doing. Was he finally dying? “It looks like the curtains about to fall for me…but I promised you a tragic ending, didn’t I?” He continued to dissolve into sludge. “With the last…bit of my power…I promise that you’ll never be with your…beloved…”

A barrage of flames blasted from Rarity’s horn, destroying what was left of the fallen devil and evaporating it into nothingness. She waited for him to reform, but deep down inside she knew that she had finally defeated him. That Hellfire, the Killer of Hope, was dead.

With that dealt with, Rarity immediately walked out of the room and outside. Already the world was beginning to calm down, and the blizzard was starting to die out. She noticed that ponies were starting to leave their ragtag homes to peak at the climate change. They noticed her and winced in Rarity’s bright flaming mane. It had been so long since they had seen hope, it was nearly blinding to them. These ponies started to gather around her, following her like a prophet. She didn’t mind at all, it saved her the trouble of gathering them all later.

She headed back into the theatre, where Spike was still sitting in his cage. He almost didn’t recognize her since her change but after a small explanation he was soon hugging his love, and was overjoyed with the idea that him and all of his friends would be able to escape with them, and that Hellfire was finally dead.

Rarity liberated the city of Isis, melted the frozen lake, cleared the forest, vacated the cave, and emptied the tundra of all its victims. Soon Rarity was leading a mob of hundreds of ponies towards the exit to the world. It looked like it was finally over.

“I…I can’t believe you did it, Rarity,” Fluttershy smiled sombrely. “And…I wanted to say that I’m sorry for trying to eat you.”

“Fluttershy darling, I told you. I forgive you. I forgive everypony for what they may have done down here, and Princess Celestia even agreed to omit all crimes and misdeeds done down here for the sake of recovery. She even forgave Twilight, I can most certainly forgive you.”

“Oh…thank you,” the shy pony said. “You’re a good friend.”

They continued up the icy mountain and into the dark cage. The walk seemed much less spooky this time around with so many ponies with her, and those dark metal gates were a sight for sore eyes, marking the end of her and all the other ponies journey. Several of them were overjoyed and ran through the gate and back up to the surface and outside, back to their world.

Rarity waited for every other pony to cross the gate, making sure that they got across. Spike was the last one to cross. The dragon turned around, smiling as he stretched out a hand for his beloved. “Come on, Rarity…let’s go.”

And she did. She walked towards the gates. It was time to put all this nasty business behind them, and finally move on. But of course as a pony said: there wasn’t going to be a happy ending to this story. She was a mere two feet away from the gate before they slammed shut. Rarity stepped back, startled at this strange occurrence as Spike tried to open the gates, but to no avail.

“No…no, no, no!” Rarity screamed, pressing her hooves against the metal bars and trying to push them open, but to no success. Suddenly she was pulled back into the darkness, screaming as the site of the gate and Spike disappeared.

She was left alone in the dark, confused.

“I told you… I wouldn’t let you be with your beloved…”

“HELLFIRE!” Rarity shrieked angrily. “What did you do!?”

From the shadows, a small, frail stallion crawled in. Hellfire looked more like a skeleton then a pony, all flesh had been ripped from his body and his skin clenched to his skin. Even the glow in his eyes was gone, they were just two empty sockets. He coughed a few times, before falling down to his knees.

“If it makes you feel any better…I’m all burnt out now. That was the last of my tricks, although I’ll admit though…it’s one hell of an ending. I’ll wither away soon, but at least we’ll spend our final moments together. How…romantic.” He finally fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Whatever life was left in him was beginning to fade away. “So I guess that’s it more me… it’s a pity you couldn’t meet my family. They’re a bunch of characters—”

Rarity stomped his head in, cutting him off for last time. She didn’t have time to be angry with him, it didn’t matter anymore. All her rage and sadness was gone, her fears vanquished and her determination stronger than ever. She would find a way to be with Spike again, somehow she would find a way…

*****

One year later…in December

It was another cold, winter night, and a dragon sat next to the window. Spike stared out of the window and watched the snow fall…what was once a time of joy and festivities for him was now a time of grief and misery. He sighed, leaning against the glass. All he wanted now was to get this damn day over with and back to his normal life so he could try and forget about December.

It was sort of funny though, sometimes when he stared out at the winter night he liked to pretend that he could see Rarity out there in the cold, dancing with the snowflakes, calling for him like a siren in the snow. But that was all just fantasy. The reality was that after the gates closed up Hellfire’s world disappeared without a trace, it was like it never even existed. The princesses were still looking for her, and yesterday they had a memorial service in honour of her bravery and sacrifice, but it looked hopeless that they would ever find her. He wanted to finally accept that she was gone, but it was too painful. He’d do anything to see her…one last time.

Then, there was a strange whisper in his ear. He slowly shook out of his little daze, giving a stretch and a yawn. Perhaps it was getting late, and his mind was playing tricks on his misery, so much that he was hearing things…

“Spike…”

The dragon shook his head. Now he was sure that he heard that one, but this was all because of stress, right? There was no way it was her…it couldn’t be her.

“Spike…come outside…”

“R-rarity?” He whispered, looking around the room. “If this is some joke it’s not funny!”

“Spike…please come outside…”

The dragon checked around the corners, under the bed, and in the closet. There was no sign of anypony, he was completely alone. But if that was true, then why was he still hearing the voice in the room, and why was it telling him to go outside? He supposed there was only one way to find out. Spike grabbed his coat from the rack and headed out the door into the cold. “Alright, I’m outside,” he said with a shiver. “Now what?”

The wind started to pick up, whirling around him a bit, if as if it were trying to push him. He followed the direction of the wind, walking in whichever direction the wind would take him. It seemed ludicrous to follow the wind, but he was curious.

His curiosity eventually led him to the edge of Ponyville Lake. The wind had finally stopped once he got there. Strange, since there still was no pony there. The dragon shook his head, throwing his hands in the air. It was crazy that he was out here in the middle of the night. He should just turn around and head home…

“Spike, don’t leave…”

That wasn’t in his head. “Who said that?!” Spike gasped, spinning around to try and find the pony that spoke but there was nothing but snow. “Must be out of my mind…”

“Now dear, you’re not just going to leave after all the work I did to get you here. I’d thought you’d be happy to see me.”

“Rarity? That’s…that’s you isn’t it? Where are you?” He asked. “Where are you hiding?”

“Look at the lake.”

Spike dashed to the edge of the lake, and he nearly fainted. By some profound miracle, she was there in the reflection of the surface. Rarity’s image was glowing on the icy surface, looking up at him, smiling warmly. She looked just as beautiful as she did the last time. The dragon pressed up against the ice, trying to meld through it and join her on the other side. He could even feel the warmth of her touch on the icy surface as he wept, “Rarity…I…I…how?”

“I never gave up, Spike,” she said. “I’m…still trapped in this world, but there are windows that I can look through. Through the ice and the stars have always watched over you and the girls, I wanted to talk to you but my voice was muted from this world. Although I’ve finally found a way to talk to you, my beloved dragon.”

“This-this is great!” Spike laughed joyfully as he shed a tear. “We can break this ice and you and I can—“

Rarity shook her head. “I’m afraid not, dear. If the ice breaks then I won’t be able to see or talk to you. Like I said, it’s just a window between our worlds, not a door. But I am ever thankful for it, seeing you again is just as good as being with you.”

“But Rarity…”

“Please Spike, no tears,” she sniffed. “This is a happy moment, I don’t want to waste what little time I have with tears and sorrows. We have until the sun comes up, so let’s make the most of it. Would you please close your eyes, my dearest?”

“O-okay,” Spike said, sighing in defeat as he got back to his feet and closed his eyes. “Now what?”

“Keep your eyes closed, and no peeking, dear,” Rarity hummed. “Now, hold out your hand…and remember to keep your eyes closed.”

He did just that, clenching his eyes shut as he held out his hand. He was a little confused as to what Rarity was planning, but it soon became clear when he felt a furry hoof in his hand. He nearly opened his eyes there but kept them closed. He was feeling Rarity, but that was impossible…

“Spike, would you give me the honour of this dance?” The mare in the lake asked. “We never did get to finish our dance last time.”

“I…it would be my pleasure,” he trembled, trying to hold it together as he placed his other hand on what felt like her lower back and they started to sway. Oh how he wished that he could sneak just one peek to see who he was dancing with, but Rarity had said to keep his eyes shut, so that’s what he did, even if it was its own brand of hell. It would have to be satisfying enough to be able to feel her again.

And as they danced however, he heard a strange and haunting melody in his mind…

Dancing bears, pegasi wings,

Things I want to remember,

And a song, somepony sings,

Once upon a December.

Will you hold me safe and warm?

Protecting from this the icy storms?

As we dance so gracefully, across my memories…

They danced into the night, never speaking, never looking into each other’s eyes. He would never understand why Rarity made him do this, but he didn’t care. After what seemed like forever though, he felt a burning in his closed eyes which could only mean one thing.

The sun was coming up.

“My time’s up, my dear…” Rarity finally said.

“Can’t you stay a little longer?”

“I wish that I could, Spike,” she wept. “But don’t worry…This isn’t goodbye.”

“It’s…it’s not?”

“Of course not, Spike…after all…”

You will hold me safe and warm,

Keep me safe in this silver storm,

As we dance so gracefully, across my memories…

Far away, I must go…

Fading away like an ember,

Still something, you must know,

Things you have to remember…

He felt her lips against his cheek.

I’ll return after spring…once again in December.

When the sun rose, so did Spike’s eyelids. She was gone, his reflection in the ice standing along on the icy surface. Rarity may have been gone, but his smile had return. His hope had been reinstated and perhaps this was just the beginning. He had faith that she would return to him one day in the flesh, and he would wait a thousand years if he had too. The dragon slowly walked away from the lake, hands in his pockets. He took one last look at the lake, considering that he wouldn’t be visiting it for a while…

At least, not until next year.

Author's Note

there you go! all done, don't like it? deal with it, I'm moving on with life

thank you to pia sama for the awesome picture and edits.

Frozen Roses

It was the dead of winter, the day she was waiting for all year. It wasn’t because it was a happy time; rather it was the exact opposite. It was the anniversary of the disaster that had struck Canterlot, and it was time for her to go.

Rarity slowly removed herself from her giant bed, her eyes trying to adjust to the faint light of the clouded sun that peeked through her window, emitting a soft white light. She walked to her make-up table and looked into the giant, cracked mirror. Much like the mirror, the rest of the room was a mess and poorly kept. Clothes laid across the floor, discarded and unwashed. One of the windows had a rock thrown through it from a few months ago, and had been boarded up ever since. She never did get around to fixing it. In fact, she never got around to anything anymore.

After forcing the drawers open, she opened up a small makeup kit. It had been so long since she bothered to put her face on, so to speak. She hadn’t left her home since last February and had stopped applying make-up long before then. She just didn’t feel pretty anymore. A year ago, she would have been the talk of the town, her beauty unmatched by any. Now? Well, let’s say that there were cracks in the mirror.

She slowly applied the mascara, then her eyelashes, a little blush for good measure. She ran her comb through her incredibly tangled mane exactly one hundred times; it too hadn’t seen care for the better part of the year. When she was finished, she looked into the large portion of the mirror that was still intact. She smiled as she gazed into her reflection. Despite popular belief, her looks were not completely cosmetic, there was a good sense of natural beauty there. She just liked to touch it up, or at least she used to.

Rarity opened up her bedroom to door, slowly descended the stairs to what used to be her boutique. The large room had slowly fallen apart over the course of that year. All of her mannequins had gathered dust, some adorned with half-finished dresses that would never be perfected. She had tried to make dresses, but like everything else in her life, that part of her died one day in December.

Grabbing an old brown cloak and boots and kicking over a large pile of unopened bills, she picked up a small bag of bits--the last of her money--and opened up the door to the winter weather.

The cold breeze of the outside air took her by surprise, sending shivers down her spine. She looked around town. It was mostly deserted, aside from a few fillies playing in the snow. They seemed so happy, an emotion that she dearly missed.

She walked into town, having a few errands to run, the first being a trip to the local florist. She walked up to The Three Flowers, pushing out of the cold and into the warm shop.

A red maned earth pony was attending to some daffodils when she heard the door open up. “Hello, and welcome to The Three Flowers, I’m Rose!” the pony said, turning to see who it was. She almost gasped when Rarity pulled off her hood. “Oh my goddess! Rarity, I haven’t seen you in almost a year! When the Boutique closed down, I thought you had moved away.”

“It’s all right, dear,” the unicorn said, giving a weak smile. “I know I’ve been less than social, but you must understand, I haven’t been in the best state of mind.”

“I heard,” Rose said sadly, bowing her head down. “I know it means nothing to you, and you’re probably sick of hearing it, but I am sorry.”

“It’s all right, darling,” the white mare said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s just nice to see that ponies still care.”

“If there is anything that I can do for you, just ask,” the mare said.

“Then I suppose I could trouble you for a rose?” Rarity asked.

“Of course!” the red-headed pony said, quickly trotting over to the display of roses, picking up a dozen of them and wrapping them up in a bouquet. “Is this enough? Or would you like more?”

“Actually darling,” Rarity said, walking over to the earth pony, “I just require one.”

“Oh, okay then!” Rose said, removing a single rose from the rest, and passing it to Rarity.

“So how much do I owe you?”

Rose shook her head. “It’s just one rose Rarity, take it. It’s the least I can do.”

“Are you sure dear?” asked the unicorn. “It wouldn’t feel right making you provide me charity.”

“Please,” the caring mare said, giving her a heart-warming smile. “I insist.”

Rarity nodded as she carefully placed the rose safely in her cloak. “Thank you,” she whispered, turning to the door and heading back out to the snow covered streets.

“Come back soon!” Rose yelled through the closing door.

Rarity gave a deep sigh as she trekked through the sheet of white powder to her next destination: the train station. Making her way to the ticket booth, she passed by three little fillies making a snowmare. They were laughing as one of them accidentally pushed of the head, and it fell to the ground in a mush of broken pieces.

The stallion at the booth was a big brown fellow, with a thick grey moustache and a conductor hat. He seemed to be drifting in and out of asleep.

“Excuse me sir,” she asked. The stallion didn’t respond. “Excuse me?” Still no response. “Hello? Are you even awake?”

She gave the booth a few harsh taps before he finally stirred awake. “Huh-what? Oh, sorry!” he apologized, his voice still very groggy. “I must have dozed off there for a spell. What can I get you this fine winter’s morning?”

“I was hoping to get a ticket to Canterlot. The train hasn’t left yet, has it?”

“No, of course not, but why would a pretty little thing like you want to go to Canterlot?” the stallion asked. “It’s not like it was a year ago.”

Rarity couldn’t help but blush. It had been so long since she had been complemented by a stallion, and a little bit of the old Rarity peeked up a bit. “I am certainly aware of the situation there, dear. But I have something very important to attend to there.”

The stallion sighed. “Very well, here’s a ticket. That’ll be twenty bits.” The mare handed him the bag of bits and he counted out the right amount. He tore of a ticket from the roll and handed it to the white mare, along with the rest of her coin purse, which had gotten quite light. “Enjoy your trip, Miss.”

“Thank you, kind sir,” Rarity said as she walked past the ticket booth and to the train terminal.

The landings were actually quite packed, mostly ponies waiting for family members and relatives. It was Hearth’s Warming Eve after all, a day that brought ponies closer together, a day that was to celebrate the three pony tribes uniting in this land. It was a day that only brought dread to the poor white mare.

Her train to Canterlot was almost completely empty; few ponies would actually go to the capital nowadays. She found herself a nice, quiet booth to sit at as she looked out the window. The snow was starting to fall down over the dying trees of the surrounding forests. It was almost hauntingly beautiful, like the mare she had become.

“Mind if I sit here?”

Rarity looked away from the window to see a rather handsome earth pony. His short dirty blonde mane complemented his dark brown coat nicely, and really made his dark blue eyes stick out.

She nodded as the pony took a seat across from her as she continued to look out the window.

“So what takes you to Canterlot?” he asked. “Business or pleasure?”

“Neither,” she said, not breaking contact with the mirror.

“So you just decided to go to Equestria’s new hell hole?” he chuckled. “Just for laughs?”

“Why do you care?” she asked.

“Just trying to make friendly banter, it’s a long trip to Canterlot.”

“Well, I’m sorry, Mister….”

“Plot Twist,” the brown stallion smiled. “Just Plot Twist, no need for that Mister nonsense.”

“Well,” said Rarity gravely, “Plot Twist, I fear you will find that I will make for rather bad company.”

“That seems unlikely,” he said, stretching out on the booth chair. “If I have learned anything in life, it’s that the quiet ones have the best stories to tell.” He leaned in to the white mare, who couldn’t help but turn her head towards his. “So what is your story?”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” she said, turning back to the window. “It’s too painful to remember.”

“Fair enough,” Plot Twist admitted, “but since you insist on being silent, would you do a stallion a favour and at least listen to mine?”

“I suppose,” she sighed. “It’s not too appalling is it? I rather like to avoid those stories as of late.”

“Appalling no, though it is a bit sad,” he said, raising one of his eyebrows. “Would that be okay with you?”

“Not really,” she mumbled. “But I guess you will tell me it regardless?”

“That’s a smart lass,” he smiled. “Now when I was younger, which is funny considering that I’m not even in my twenties, I was working at a small theatre company in Canterlot. This, of course, being years before the incident. I was just a simple stage hand, working backstage as the actors performed a lovely little play. Have you ever seen a play called ‘Once Upon a December’?”

“Actually, yes. I have, though it was so long ago,” Rarity said, now looking at the stallion, rather than out the window, “I don’t remember most of the details.”

“A terrific play, by any standards!” he exclaimed excitedly. “And one of the greatest love stories of our times. The main character, a mare by the name of Solar Rise has the love of her life, Night Sky, taken away from him by the demon alicorn Dark Conquest, dastardly fellow if I do say so myself.”

“How so?”

“Well, he had this way of making you like him, regardless to what he did, and he does lots of terrible things.”

“Like what?”

“Won’t spoil it for you, but let’s say that he isn’t a nice pony,” he chuckled, looking at the shocked face of the mare before him. “Sorry, I don’t know why I find that funny.”

“It’s all right, it is just a play after all,” Rarity smiled, relieving some of the tension.

“Of course, but I keep getting distracted,” the play pony said, trying to get his story back on track. “Anyways, in the play, Conquest captures Night Sky, and forces Solar Rise to go through these challenges to get a chance to save the one she loves.”

“Why would he do that? Conquest seems like an evil pony. Why give her the chance?”

“He doesn’t believe in love,” replied Plot Twist. “And he wishes to prove his point to everypony in the world.”

“That’s awful!” Rarity exclaimed. “Does she save him?”

“Who, Solar Rise?” he asked. The mare nodding her head. “Well, why would I tell you the ending?” he smiled. “Anyways, I keep getting off course; this is my story, not his. So I was just doing some organizing behind stage when all of a sudden, the actor playing Dark Conquest, I believe his name was Curator, had received an urgent letter regarding a love one.”

“What was it?”

“Didn’t know at the time, but the point was he left halfway through the performance, and I was his understudy.”

Rarity’s eyebrows arched up, “I guess this was good news for you then?”

“Well, I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t thrilled for a chance in the spot light, and to play a character as great as Conquest. It was a dream come true, though I’d wished it were under different circumstances.”

“I would hope,” she sighed. “But regardless, how did you perform?”

“Magnificently! If I do say so myself,” Plot Twist smiled, standing up and adjusting his voice. “‘There is no point in love, for a point is meaningless, and therefore love has no meaning.’ Scene six, page sixty-three!”

“Bravo,” grinned Rarity, giving the pony a little clap as Plot Twist took an exaggerated bow.

“Thank you, thank you!” he joked. “You’re too kind, really.” He took his seat, sinking into the cushions. “Really though, I was okay. I was the understudy, after all. But again, sidetracked. So during the play, I notice the most beautiful mare in the audience, a very precious thing, like you.”

“I see. And did she notice you?”

“Not likely,” mumbled Plot. “After the bows, I tried to find her, but she had vanished, disappeared like she wasn’t there at all.”

“Well, I’m sure you will find her,” the white mare said reassuringly.

“I’m sure I will,” the play pony sighed, looking out the window. “Well, would you look at that.”

Rarity looked out the window. They had arrived at Canterlot. It looked exactly the same as it did last December.

“Well, that was fast,” she thought out loud, “I guess we talked longer than I-” she turned to see that her companion had disappeared, gone without a making a single sound. “-thought.”

Lying in his place, was a piece of paper, it was a ticket, for a play called ‘Once upon a December’, the play they had spent the trip talking about.

She took the ticket, stuffed it in the pocket of her jacket, and left the train. She stepped into the cold air of Canterlot, the bitter snow gently falling down from the sky.

Wrapping her jacket tightly around her body, she pressed on down the snowy streets of the once great city. Homes that use to be fancy and prim were now boarded up like dilapidated shacks. The few ponies that walked the streets were sorrowful, hardened, and bitter souls, a great contrast to the regal ponies that once lived there. Rarity did her best not to make eye contact as she walked down the icy road.

Finally, she reached her destination. The grand and magnificent Canterlot castle, home to their royal highnesses Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and a wonderful source of pony culture and architecture.

Or, at least, what was left of it.

Edits by Bunsen and LDSocrates