It was nighttime, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, a purple alicorn with the dark blue mane and an intelligent disposition, had slumped onto her bed. She was tired. Very tired. She had spent all day running errands with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, Twilight's brother and Cadence's husband. Now that she was home, the alicorn can finally get some rest. "Twilight?" a voice downstairs had asked, "Are you home? Because if you are, I need your help-" "Do it later, Spike! I'm too tired to do anything right now!" Twilight screamed. "Oh, okay," Spike, Twilight's beloved baby dragon assistant, responded. Twilight sighed as she pulled the covers over her shoulder. She didn't bother to take the dress and shoes off. She was way too tired, and as soon as her head hit the pillow she fell asleep almost instantly.

Downstairs, Spike put away the giant mess of glitter and Popsicle sticks and started towards the staircase. He had been working diligently on that project. But every time he stuck a piece, two more fell off. Maybe he needed more glue. Spike went upstairs and opened the door to Twilight's room. The Princess of Friendship was fast asleep, a deep sleep. Spike wondered what made her like his. Sure there were times where she grew tired of what happened, but she never did this. He decided to test a little question: how deep in slumber was Twilight? He pushed her off the bed, which resulted in a loud thud. He waited for something to happen. A yelp. A scream. A moan. But there was nothing but the gentle breathing and a few light snores as she turned. She must be really tired, Spike thought. He managed to push and drag her back to bed, making sure the blanket snuggled her tightly and her pillow was cool and comfortable. Then, Spike went back downstairs, subconsciously leaving the door cracked. He sat on a chair and watched the clock. It was 10:59 p.m. He watched the second-hand turn past the other two hands before finally passing the 12. Now the time was 10:59 p.m., a minute 'til 11:00. Spike thought this was funny, like the clock was broken. He jumped out of the chair and glanced out the window. There was a new clock tower-part of it, resting on top of the main structure in Ponyville. The clock read 10:59 p.m. He glanced back at the clock he'd been watching. It still said 10:59. He pinched himself, making sure he was awake. It hurt. He was awake. And it's still a minute 'til.

"Twilight!" Spike shouted, "I know you can hear me!" He waited for a response. None came. Spike started to get more and more worried. Then nervous. Then terrified. As if time had stopped altogether and he was stuck in this loop, which seemed to be the only explanation of what was happening at this moment. Was it even a moment? "No. No no no no no no," the purple dragon muttered. It felt as if an hour past by. He glanced at the clock. 10:59 p.m. "Oh come on!" Spike shouted, ready to snap. He banged his head against the wall with a loud thud. He looked back. 11:00 p.m. The minute hand had moved. The clock still gleamed a purplish hue, signifying night, which in Spike's mind, should've glowed sky blue for day, but it was finally passed that crooked "hour". The assistant sighed with relief. "THANK YOU!" shouted Spike, followed by Twilight's angered shout that made his little dragon heart skip a beat or two, "Spike!" "Oops." His hand was behind his neck nervously. He still couldn't wrap his head around what had happened. Was it all in his head? Was it just a hallucination? Did it happen at all? He shook it off after a couple of pleasured minutes went by, and decided to go to bed. "At least the whole day wouldn't be messed up like that," Spike whispered to himself as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom.

That morning, the baby dragon sat outside in the chilly breeze. It was day out, and the clock tower had recently struck 9:00. Spike had put on a green scarf that he took from Fluttershy. She didn't mind. So, as Spike started to walk from Twilight's castle, he wondered what he should do. Twilight could be asleep for a little longer. She had been cranky before going to bed, and she would probably be even more cranky when she would wake up. He really didn't want to start off the day with her screaming for him to shut up. He decided to go see Applejack. He wasn't sure why, but it sounded good. He can be far away with a horde of edibles from Twilight the Grouch. Spike shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to journey to Sweet Apple Acres. When he finally arrived, he went up to a neat, little tree-house, where three inspired foals could be coming up with a grand scheme to try and help other "blank flanks" get their cutie marks. They had already earned theirs. It seemed odd to Spike that Apple Bloom's, Scootaloo's, and Sweetie Bell's cutie marks were almost identical, besides the mini symbol on their shields: an apple with a heart for A.B., a wing with a lightning bolt for Scoots, and a star with a music note for Sweetie. Besides that, they were practically clones.

The dragon walked up the ladder and opened the trapdoor. All three fillies were there, sound asleep. "Guys? Guys?" Spike whispered, trying his best not to startle them, but to at least get their attention away from Dream Land for a while. But, to his worry, they didn't even lift an eye to him. Soft, almost silent snores were made here and there, causing Spike to moan. He needed some misadventure to pass the time, since he was probably up all night, even though the "all night" part was part of a minute. Not even that shifted them. That's when he saw it. Tears had been previously made from them, as if they bawled themselves to sleep. Now Spike was worried. Really worried. Spike climbed down the tree and ran to the farmhouse, where the bright red stallion, Big Macintosh, was staring out into the apple orchard from the porch. "Ah! Big Mack!" Spike gasped as he stopped at the staircase of the porch. "Macintosh...eh...where's...whew..." the poor purple lizard almost collapsed there, but managed to stay up. Before Spike collected himself, Big Mac answered him, "Applejack didn't come home last night. She spent it with Rarity." "Oh...great..." Spike gasped. He cleared his throat and hurriedly walked towards the Carousel Boutique, thanking the stallion for the info. Big Macintosh just sighed and went back to his gazing.

Spike managed to reach the round building and walked inside. The bell rung, catching Spike's attention for a bit. He needed to ask Applejack what had happened to the fillies. He needed to see Rarity more, for at first sight he fell in love with her. Sparkles had flown from her vision and it felt like sparks flew inside his little lizard heart. But somewhere deep in his mind, a thought was telling him that he wouldn't be able to actually get Rarity to do the same, but every time it entered he ignored it. He ran up the stairs and opened Rarity's bedroom door wide open. "Hey Rarity, I-" Spike paused. His eyes grew wide, then started to water. Rarity was in bed, her front hooves stained with red, her mane tattered and mangled, and her room a complete wreck. Spike shakily walked towards her sleeping body, only to realize her body wasn't sleeping. It was dead. Rarity's eyes were gone, replaced with empty, bloody sockets. Her mouth was sewn shut with red thread, her neck...slit. Spike turned around, ready to bolt out the door and scream for help. He didn't care if he woke Twilight up.She would understand. But...how can she possibly know? How can anypony know about the poor alabaster mare's premature death when the door of her bedroom's gone?

Spike tried to rush up against the wall, hoping there would be a weak spot for him to break. There wasn't. As Spike pounded himself against the wall it made him fall back and hit his head against the foot of the bed. The wall. It felt...bouncy. "No no no NO NOO!" Spike screamed, tears starting to pour out of his eyes. That's when he heard it. Not at first, but he heard it. A faint, yet maniacal laugh. It kept ringing in Spike's ears. He turned around, and saw something he wished he never had seen. Rarity-or her corpse-floated up into the air. Not only was her throat slit, but her stomach was cut with a long, vertical slash. The wound opened, revealing thick, red tentacles that seeped out and wrapped themselves around Spike's body. To his horror he noticed that they weren't tentacles, but intestines. The laugh was louder now, as if it came from the gash in the white mare's belly. Then, a glowing, yellow eye opened inside. It seemed that it was the one responsible for the crazed cackles. That's when the cold, dead Rarity suddenly sprung to life, growing huge sets of fangs and sharp teeth. She-or it-howled and lunged towards Spike, causing him to scream in terror and bolt out the door. Rarity and Applejack woke up with a start as they saw Spike rush out the room. "What was that about?" Applejack shouted. Rarity just shook her head, "Just leave him be. I'm too tired to go chase after him."

And with that, the white unicorn laid down and drifted off to sleep once again.