Twilight prodded Spike with her hoof. "Wake-y wake-y!"

"Uuuuhg." Spike sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "What do you want, Twilight?"

"I want for you to get up! Today we are going Rarity hunting. Once we find where she is staying, and for how long, then we can begin to plot her demise." Twilight giggled to her self as she looked through the bag of weapons once again. She pulled out a few non-weaponry items like tooth brushes, mane combs, a scarf, and set them aside. "Let's see..." Twilight mumbled, staring at the needles and blades laid out on front of her. "We most likely will not get the chance to kill her today, so maybe bringing just two knives and the chloroform will be good, just in case. Okay!" she started putting the selected items into the bag, and flung it over onto her back. "Let's go."

Spike groggily followed Twilight out of the hotel and into the city. The city was very quiet; only the sound of a distant train could be heard. As the two followed the streets into downtown, Twilight stopped to inspect every shop or building they came across. They saw no hotels or bed-n-breakfasts, only small businesses or bakeries. When they reached downtown, they were surprised.

There were a lot of buildings, and all very close together. In the middle of the hoard of buildings was a wide open green space with a fountain and rose bushes. Twilight swung her head around, gaping at all the shapes and colors in the square. She plopped her behind down onto the sidewalk, and pouted. "We'll never find Rarity and Luna here!" she wailed like a young filly, stomping her hooves.

"Hey, calm down." Spike patted Twilight on the shoulder. "We'll just ask around, okay?" Spike knew that in times of great stress, Twilight got really whiny and frustrated. When he was younger, she used to get so upset she'd sometimes go into a fit and knock over all of the books on the huge shelves in their Canterlot castle. Over the years, Spike learned ways to calm her down before she got really upset.

Something deep in the back of his head squirmed. Hopefully, Twilight will never find Rarity. Spike thought. He instantly became guilty. How could he think like that? Twilight and the princess gave him an order to help murder all of the Elements, he could never go back on an order like that! Shaking his head to clear it, Spike led Twilight to the nearest store, a bakery. Twilight followed him gingerly, sniffling as if holding back tears. Spike wanted to sigh out loud at Twilight's baby-like attitude. I mean, I'm an actual baby, in dragons' terms, and I'm handling it better than her! Sometimes, Twilight really gets on my nerves.

Opening the door to the bakery, Spike was instantly flooded with a mixture of smells. Chocolate cookies were set out on counters, and cakes of all flavors were baking in the ovens. It smelled a lot like home should smell, from what Spike read in books. Twilight never baked.

A cheerful colt behind the counter waved at the two. "Well, howdy!" he said. "Would y'all care for a cookie or two? First customers of the day always get 'em free." Twilight smiled awkwardly. "No thanks," she said, stomping her hoof down on Spike's tail before he could go running off, arms extended, for the cookies. "We would just like to ask you something, if you don't mind."

The colt grinned. "Well, that's alright with me! Name's Chocolate Chip, Chip for short. What can ah do ya for?" he pulled open a small door and sat down at one of the booths, waving for Twilight and Spike to sit with him. Twilight was very uncomfortable as she sat down, but Spike was still hoping to snag a cookie while they were there, and didn't notice the awkward vibes emitting from Twilight.

"I seem to have lost my friend," Twilight said, never really making eye contact with Chip. "Her name's Rarity. She's a unicorn, about my age, with white fur and a purple curly mane."

Chip thought for a moment. "Ah think ah mighta seen a unicorn like that aroun'. Saw one that fitted yer description walkin' about with a real loud blue unicorn. Boy, was she a spectacle! She had a cape on an' was hollerin' 'bout magic and bein' great an' powerful. Sure did cause a riot."

Twilight brightened up and looked him in the eye. "Really?" she said. "Was she with anypony else?"

Chip looked around the room, trying to remember. "Uh... no, not that ah know of. Sorry, sugarcube."

Sugarcube. Spike looked up at Chip. Memories of Applejack flooded into his mind, and he almost broke into tears right there. Twilight opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out. The two weren't sure of how to react to the word, and simply sat there in shocked silence. Thoughts swam slowly through Spike's mind.

Why am I reacting like this to a simple word? I shouldn't be this upset. I mean, Applejack was just a pony. I was never really attached to her. But... why is it so painful to hear that word come form the mouth of somepony else?

Chip glanced back and forth at Twilight and Spike. "Uh... Somethin' wrong?" he asked.

Twilight shook her head. "N-no, we just knew somepony who would call us 'sugarcube' all the time. Her name was Applejack. She... she passed on."

"Oh, ah'm sorry for yer loss. Y'all better go on lookin' for that friend of yours, ah gotta get 'ta cookin' anyway. Good luck!" Chip smiled gently at the two, and hurried into the kitchen and checked on the cooking food. Twilight called goodbye and walked slowly from the building.

"Spike." she said sharply, turning to him. "Both you and I know how we reacted in there to Chip saying 'sugarcube'. We both know that's not good at all. Applejack was the very first one to go, the least important of all of the Elements. Let's both make a promise now, to each other, to not let ourselves begin to feel any sort of feeling for the fallen Elements. They were weak, they had flaws. Okay, Spike? Do you promise to not let yourself or me feel sorrow for the Elements of Harmony?"

Spike's lip quivered. Deep down inside of his mind, a tiny voice screamed 'No!' His stomach turned and flipped, his brain doing cartwheels. Should he just say yes, or say how he really feels? I don't want to do this anymore! I want to sit down and cry for all of the ponies I've lost, I want to pay them the respect they deserve! Why can't I just tell her that?

"Spike? Spike, answer me. Spike!" Twilight stomped her hoof angrily. "Do you promise?"

"N...NO!" Squeezing his eyes shut, Spike screamed at the top of his lungs. He breathed heavily, a tiny flicker of fire escaping his nostril. "I won't do this anymore, Twilight! It's... It's just not right! The princess is wrong!" Heavy tears fell from hs face as he turned to run away, splattering the sidewalk.

Twilight reached out a hoof to stop him. "Spike, wait--"

"Don't touch me! I... I hate you! You're disgusting! Leave me alone!" Spike fled from Twilight, running blindly through the city. He had no idea where he was going, but anyway would be better than with her.

Twilight Sparkle stared after Spike. She was shocked beyond words. "He was so helpful," she murmured. "Why didn't he just say something?" Her little baby dragon, whom she'd hatched on her own, and raised him for his whole life. He had never known his true parents, who were slaves of Celestia's, and had always thought of Twilight as his own mother. He rarely questioned her, and had always seemed to love her with all his heart. "He... hates me?"

--

Gilda held out her paws, gaping at them. The sun was rising slowly behind her, and the dark golden light that spilled over the meadow below her filled her body with color. She'd soon figured out that she was ghostly and transparent, just like in the stories. She felt herself smiling at her honey colored fur. It looked really cool, she had to admit. Gilda imagined ponies and animals looking up to see a golden and regal griffon flying above them gracefully, sighing in awe. But, she knew that they couldn't see or hear her. She'd tried to ask a several different animals for directions, but they were all unresponsive.

Gilda had flown for almost 24 hours straight, but she realized she didn't feel tired or hungry. One of the side-effects of being a ghost, she guessed.

"Uhg," she groaned, flipping over on her back in mid air. "This is so boring. I mean, sunrise and sunset is cool, but i wanna find Manehatten already!" Staring up into the sky, Gilda watched as the lightness overcame the darkness. She wished she could paint of picture of this moment. The purple-black of the night and the golden caramel light of morning clashing together in the center of the sky, the moon and sun together in one moment of time. Gilda wondered why looking at the sky made her feel restless, and turned back over. She flapped her wings harder, wishing to see some sort of city sometime soon.

Suddenly, something deep in the back of Gilda's mind tugged sharply to the left. Eyes wide, she found herself turning to the South without really telling her body to do so. Frowning, Gilda tried to turn back to the West, but she couldn't. She simply could not make her body move in that direction.

"H-hey! What's gong on here?" She yelled, her body wriggling around as she tried to move it back to the direction she was flying. "Shi? Hey, tell me what you're doing to me?"

A loud sigh sounded in Gilda's ear after a few moments of silence. "Uhg, what do you want? I'm getting ready to go kill this old guy who's got the flu or whatever. "

Gilda tried to move again, her body staying rock hard, except for her wings, which flapped mechanically against her will. "I can't control myself!" she whined.

Shi's eye roll was practically audible as she sighed again. "Well, what did you call me for? I didn't do it. Probably that pony goddess trying to steer you in the right direction. Go with it, and quit calling me all the time. Gotta go, see ya."

Gilda roared in frustration. She hated how cool Shi was with everything. Frowning, she reluctantly let her wings take her in the direction that stupid pony goddess wanted them to go so bad, and let herself relax... sort of. Gilda still had no idea how she was going to stop Twilight from killing the last Element.

"She can't hear me, or see me, then how the fuck am I supposed to influence her to do anything?" Gilda's eyes furrowed in thought. "Maybe I can write stuff in dirt. Oh, what if I can like, slip into her dreams like that one horror movie? that would be so sweet!

Off in a different dimension, Shi smiled down at Gilda though a hole in space and time as she slowly sucked the life from another griffon. "She could have been a really great leader someday," she glanced down at he elderly male. He tried to tell her that he wasn't ready for the Goddess of death to take him, he had to say goodbye to his daughter. Shi wasn't one for sympathy. "Too bad she went and killed herself. Maybe I could make her my student? I am immortal, but I'd like to take a few thousand year vacation in the Horse Head Nebula sometime. Maybe she could take over. What do you think?"

"P-please, She Who Should Not Be Named, spare me just one more hour..."

Shi frowned. "That doesn't really answer my question."

"Please... I'll do anything..."

"Nah, a goddess of death's gotta do what a goddess of death's gotta do." She sucked the last bit of life from the griffon. Life, in Shi's dimension, is tangible once separated from a body. The old griffon's life was a dark red lump that felt sort of like jello. Shi gulped it down in one huge bite, his life filling her body with new energy. She left the body in the hospital bed and dissolved into the air as the griffon's relatives entered the room. She was comforted by their sobs and gasps that leaked through the portal as she settled down in her own home. "I have such a lovely job, don't I?" she said aloud.

--

Rarity sat on the edge of the plushy bed, the Great and Powerful Trixie sobbing heavily, her face planted in Rarity's lap. "I get that you want to be famous, Trixie, but you can't force Luna to teach you magic. As much as I dislike your rudeness to my friend Twilight Sparkle... or, my former friend Twilight Sparkle, you really do have a lovely magic act. Just don't be so rude, and you'll go very far." Rarity patted Trixie on the head, trying to comfort her.

Trixie sniffled. "I-I'm sorry, Rarity" she sat up, rubbing her puffy eyes. "You must think I'm such a cry baby."

"No," Rarity smiled. "Everypony get's in these types of moods every now and then. You just have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off."

Trixie smiled. "Thanks."

"Anytime, de--"

"RARITY? HELLO?"

Trixie and Rarity nearly jumped out of their skin.

knocknockknockknockknock. "RARITY! Are you in here?" a very familiar voice sobbed from the hotel door, tiny fists banging heavily.

Using her magic to open the door, the two unicorns watched, shocked, as Spike fell through the doorway and onto the carpet, tears streaming heavily from his face. Wary, Rarity stood up and held her self in a defensive stance. "Spike?"

Spike stood up. "R-rarity! Oh, Celestia, you're okay!" he ran to the object of his affection, hugging her front leg tightly.

"Spike? What's going on?"

Spike glanced at Rarity and Trixie. He remembered her, and all of her rudeness. Frowning, Spike looked back at Rarity. "It's a long story."

Rarity glanced at Trixie and then back and Spike, then back at Trixie. Trixie shrugged. "Luna's out buying us supplies. We got an hour or so."

"Fine," the white unicorn sat back down on the bed, still wary of Spike. She knew that he was working for Twilight, but she had a feeling that at the moment he wasn't looking for trouble.

Spike went on to hastily explain to Rarity and Trixie about Twilight's plans for the Elements. Rarity already knew, of course, but it was news to Trixie, so she stayed silent. Spike began to choke up as he neared the end, explaining how he simply could not kill anymore ponies, or hold the guilt of the ponies he's already killed on his shoulders.

"I t-tried to act strong, for Twilight, but I found myself crying myself to sleep every night. I'm such a baby... but... but... I just can't do it anymore, you know?"

Trixie gaped at the baby dragon, completely taken a-back from his story. Rarity oozed with sympathy for him, and hugged him tightly. "oh, Spike," she sighed. "I'll keep you safe, I promise. I won't let Celestia or Twilight make you do such horrid things ever again."

Spike hugged Rarity back tightly, wetting her fur with his tears. "Thank you, Rarity," he sniffled. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I won't let her hurt you, I swear."

As Rarity held Spike in a tight and tearful embrace, Rarity wondered what she'd gotten herself into. How could she defend herself against Twilight Sparkle, student of the princess, defeater of an Ursa Minor? And, how could she deal with two admirers hanging on her every word? Rarity stiffed a sigh. She'd always thought things like this happened in soap operas and novels, not to her, in the real world.