Any other group of ponies might've seen Spike and thought him a normal, unassuming baby dragon, if slightly out of place in a town consisting of only ponies. Rarity and the other three mares however, saw this creature for what it truly was.

A stranger, an outsider, a being completely and horrifyingly alien despite all appearances. Though not as powerful as their Goddess, it was still far above what they could ever be, even with Her blessing, that much was for certain.

It wore the drakeling's form like a coat, and Rarity found herself wondering just what this thing had done with Twilight's adorable assistant. Was he still in there somewhere, or had this new entity completely taken over?

Its sudden appearance and unfiltered aura of superiority had robbed the mares of speech, and they could only quietly step aside as the thing moved forward. It didn't acknowledge the Awakened mares beyond the words it first spoke to announce its arrival.

It only had eyes for the monstrosity slaughtering and devouring the poor citizens of Ponyville. It stopped a few yards ahead, watching without comment as the tentacled beast passed through Ponyville like a violent tornado, destroying and consuming everything in its path.

The Spike-creature frowned slightly.

Before any of the mares could utter so much as a word of inquiry, the creature raised its head and spoke, the baby dragon's natural tone doing little to mask the unfathomable power of the command given.

"Belzot Magh, Faithful Pet of the Dead Goddess Skal-Gazaath!"

The voice boomed out over the town like thunder, the sound of the unnatural tongue pushing the already panicked townsponies into a maddened frenzy. The group of Awakened mares simply stood by in awe as the interloper called out to the much larger monster.

The rampaging beast seemed to freeze in its tracks, its star shaped pupil dilating. A moment later, it turned around to face the voice that had spoken, dropping a captured pony in the process. Its massive eye landed on the small baby dragon below and it gave another long sigh.

"By Her Grace's own command, you are to leave Her host and return to the Darkness. Now begone, Black Beast of the Abyss, so that our Goddess may return and reclaim what is Hers!"

Amidst the cries of the terrified citizens of Ponyville, the beast in question was silent. For what seemed like an eternity, it didn't move save for the constantly undulating limbs and the occasional blink of the gargantuan eye that focused on the small dragon.

Then, with one last earth shaking sigh, the abomination known as Belzot Magh began to shrink, its slimy black tentacles and snapping jaws receding, and its glossy ebony skin being replaced with pink flesh and soft lavender fur.

In the span of seconds, the horror was no more, and in its place was an unconscious lavender unicorn mare fallen on her side and breathing deeply. It was almost as though she was sleeping peacefully among the death and destruction the eldritch pet had wrought.

Upon seeing that the massive creature was nowhere to be seen, the ponies around town slowly but surely began to settle, though the odd screams and sobs could still be heard.

Rarity noted with some relief that the ponies had been so blinded by fear, panic, and madness, that they hadn't yet determined the source of their misery, but that could still change.

Ignoring the distraught ponies around it, the Spike-creature made its way over to where Twilight was. The four mares behind him looked at each other uncertainly before trotting after him.

None of them knew quite what to make of the situation, nor did they know what would come next. The only thing they knew for certain was that this being, who or whatever it was, had brought their Goddess back.

Once the creature reached Twilight he stopped and turned towards Rarity and the others, finally acknowledging their existence once more.

"Our Goddess has returned, but it seems She carried a bit of the host with Her when She withdrew from this realm," the creature explained, "I brought both back, but they will need to rest and recover. In the meantime—"

The world suddenly exploded in a flash of light so intense, it scorched the earth and burned the retinas of any unfortunate ponies caught looking directly into its brilliance. Princess Celestia had arrived, her grief bottomless, and her fury burning with the brightness of a dying star.

She didn't want to believe it was true, but the evidence was overwhelming. To the mere mortals who cried out in fear, confusion, and despair, the world as it was had ceased to make any sort of sense.

To the Princess however, none of that mattered. The instant she arrived in Ponyville, she knew she'd been far too late. She could sense the horrible aura that permeated the town like an unbearable stench. She could see the death and devastation with her own eyes, and it broke her heart.

The creeping feeling that something was wrong had never truly gone away since the hospital, but she had tried her best to ignore it, to the peril of her own beloved subjects. Now she was paying the price—the entirety of Ponyville was paying the price for her negligence.

This was far worse than the inevitable return of her sister, and upon seeing what this Dead Goddess had wrought upon the citizens of Ponyville—upon realizing it had taken hold of the one pony she considered almost a daughter in many respects, she knew she'd been a fool.

Her mind reeling with the tragic scene before her, Celestia's blazing eyes fell upon the source of the foul energy, or rather, the sources, and was shocked to find not only the three mares she'd sealed away in the room back in the hospital, but one of the mares she'd been keeping an eye on, as well as a familiar looking baby dragon.

"No..."

It came out as a hoarse whisper, barely audible above the pandemonium around her. The four mares looked back at her, not with worry or fear, but with an almost casual curiosity—as if wondering just what she'd do next now that she was here.

The Princess's wide, teary eyes swept over the group until they met those of her student's assistant and long time friend. Where she expected to see terror and confusion, there was none.

There was no recognition whatsoever, in fact, Celestia saw nothing of the young drake she had known. The thing that was not Spike seemed to look through her, like he wasn't seeing a living breathing demi-goddess with the power of the very sun at her command, but another bland piece of the scenery.

All the rage and sorrow drained away from Celestia then, replaced by that same dread and outright fear she'd felt back at the hospital. Twice in the same day she felt a primal fear like she'd never felt before in her unfathomably long life, and it was made all the worse by this thing that had taken over Spike.

This monster... whatever it was, it was ancient beyond understanding and powerful beyond reason. She didn't believe even Discord could compare, powerful as the old draconequus was in his own right.

After what felt to Celestia like an age, the creature pulled its gaze away from her and towards a spot somewhere off to the side. Celestia couldn't help but follow, and what she saw was enough to drag her out of her shaken, horrified state. A few yards away, surrounded by the wreckage of a destroyed cottage, lay Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia's reaction was instant.

With an anguished cry, the Solar Monarch flared out her wings and made to rush to her protégé's side. The knowledge that she was no longer the Twilight Sparkle she knew was shoved aside.

Lost to emotion as she was, Celestia paid no heed to the almost toxic aura coming off of the lavender mare before her. It was enough to make the bile rise in her throat, but she pushed it down and continued to gallop towards her precious student.

Then everything stopped.

The Princess stood frozen mid gallop, mere inches away from Twilight's side. Her face was locked in a mask of pain, tears just beginning to fall from her eyes as they fell upon the fallen mare in front of her.

It wasn't just the despairing Princess either.

Every wounded, crying, screaming, fleeing citizen had halted in their tracks. The wind was still, the world was silent, all motion had been put to an end, time had effectively stopped in its entirety... save for a certain dragon and five mares.

"I think we've wasted enough time here," the Spike-creature explained as he calmly stepped past the frozen Princess, "Rarity, take the host, we're heading back to the library."

"The... the library?" Rarity asked, frowning at the false drake in confusion, "but... but the library... was... oh my..." she had turned back to the remains of the giant tree, only to find that against all reason, it stood as though it had never been smashed to bits by an eldritch horror, "well then... I suppose I can do that much for my Goddess..."

In a matter of moments, the group had reappeared in the library, Twilight still unconscious and draped across Rarity's back. Inside they found the main room, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy just as they were before the beast had attacked.

Like everything else, they'd been stopped in the middle of what they'd been doing. In Rainbow's case, she'd been trying to inconspicuously nab the last slice of cake off of Applejack's plate while the cowpony was facing the other way.

Applejack for her part, had been talking to Rarity and had been stopped mid-conversation as she looked over to where the white mare was standing originally. Fluttershy sat at a slight distance, watching the two from afar as she sipped her punch.

All four Awakened mare's had several questions regarding what they were seeing, and Minuette had even looked outside to see if anything else had changed. Pulling open the front door, the light blue unicorn could see no sign of the prior destruction of the town.

The citizens were much the same as Rainbow Dash and Applejack, halted in the middle of their daily routine, and Princess Celestia herself was nowhere to be seen. With a curious quirk of her brow, she closed the door and returned her attention to the others just as the creature addressed Rarity.

"Rarity, take the host upstairs, then come back down," he commanded, "I need to speak with these two, but after that, we're going to make everything normal, just as She wished it."

"O-Okay then," Rarity replied, hesitantly. She turned to head up the stairs, but paused and looked back at the creature that had broken reality in order to fix it with no apparent effort, "um... what should I tell Twilight when She awakens? I'm not sure it'd be in Her best interest to know of this."

"I agree," it replied, turning its contemplative gaze towards the mare on Rarity's back, "but if She commands that we tell Her the truth, then there's nothing we can do but obey. For now, just let Her rest and we'll worry about it later."

Rarity made to say something else, but closed her mouth and nodded instead before vanishing out of sight. The mare still had so many questions, and not just about what had happened recently.

Because of what the Dead Goddess had done, Rarity had somehow transcended beyond equinity and become something else. She still looked like herself, she still acted like herself, but was all too aware that she wasn't herself. Not anymore.

The other three were the same, and no doubt had the same questions. The only thing they knew for certain was that they had changed in some way, they had abilities that somehow came naturally, and that the Dead Goddess was now more or less the center of their world.

They had also had the honor of hearing Her true name for themselves.

But what did it all mean? How was She able to do these things, who or what was Skal-Gazaath really? What else would change? What about Sweetie Belle? What was to become of her baby sister? Should she ask her Goddess if it was okay to tell her the truth?

All these questions and more piled on top of each other, and this creature—this... powerful interloper had the answers. Even had she not witnessed its power firsthoof, she would've known that this creature held the answers to the questions she so desperately wanted to ask.

Unfortunately, in the same way she knew everything would be restored to how it was in the end, she also knew now wasn't the time to ask such questions. Rarity had the distinct feeling this wouldn't be the last time she saw the interloper, and so she held her silence.

She'd get her answers eventually, all it took was a little patience, and a true lady had plenty of patience to spare. With that thought in mind, Rarity nodded once and vanished, reappearing in the upstairs bedroom an instant later.

It was there that Rarity found Pinkie Pie, staring at an empty spot on the ground with an unsure expression. no doubt looking on as Twilight had her breakdown. Rarity eyed her for a moment before moving towards the bed above the built-in wooden bookshelf below.

"Oh I do hope you can come to terms with who and what you really are, darling," Rarity said quietly as she carefully deposited Twilight onto the bed, "in truth, I'm just as lost as you are, but a lady shouldn't let something like a little crisis of identity keep her down."

She gave the unconscious mare one last reassuring smile before vanishing back downstairs. It was several minutes after that, that Pinkie Pie finally stirred. She blinked and furrowed her brow in confusion before looking around the room for the distraught mare she'd just been talking to.

She was about to call out Twilight's name when she spotted her lying in bed. She opened her mouth, closed it, and frowned again as something tickled the back of her mind. Something had happened, that much was clear, but what it was, she couldn't tell.

Then everything hit her at once and she reeled as though physically struck.

A terrible vision of monstrous eyes and a black horror the likes of which she'd never seen before assaulted her mind. A hideous transformation had overcome her Goddess and the rest of the memory was lost to madness and agony as her mind was broken and her flesh was rent asunder.

The sound of retching filled the otherwise quiet room as Pinkie emptied her stomach all over the wooden floor. A few moments later the pink earth pony sat back on her haunches, her body shaking violently, her breath coming in short ragged gasps, and tears pouring from her eyes.

The poor mare was so caught up in the horrendously vivid memory that she failed to notice the little dragon watching her from the chair beside the desk across the room. Deciding it had seen enough, the creature intervened, hopping off the chair and calmly making its way over to the sobbing, shivering mess that was Pinkie Pie.

"You are Skal-Gazaath's Gifted, one of Her children," the creature exclaimed suddenly, finally catching Pinkie's attention. She whipped around to face the false drake as it spoke again, its imperious tone at odds with Spike's small pudgy frame, "you, and to an extent, your family, are meant to serve Her to the utmost of your ability, but you haven't yet reached your potential."

The room seemed to darken considerably as the interloper moved closer. Pinkie cried out and stumbled back as its eyes shifted to that same star shaped pattern that haunted her memories even now.

"You are chosen, yet you squander your Gift and have rejected the Goddess up until this point," it continued, "were Skal-Gazaath to remember herself, the tearing of your flesh from your bones would be a mercy compared to what she would do to you."

Then it blinked, and the eyes were gone, replaced with Spike's normal, predatory jade eyes. The encroaching darkness dissipated along with the choking aura and Pinkie let out more ragged gasps before coughing violently.

"As things stand however, that is not in line with what She wishes," the creature said, its voice now devoid of the menacing undertone. "to that end, I cannot have you remain as you are."

Before Pinkie could comprehend just what the thing meant, the creature spoke again. No words reached her ears, but somehow the message was understood just the same, and the overwhelming distress seemed to melt away in an instant.

The horrid memories however, remained as sharp as ever, and just knowing she died in such a horrible manner still sent shivers down her spine and caused a cold sweat to form across her brow.

"I'll leave you with the vision of your own death, something most mortals fear above all else," it disappeared before Pinkie's eyes and reappeared next to Twilight's bed before speaking again, "don't worry though. Once you've become an Awakened and reached your full potential as a servant to the Goddess, you will transcend, and live a life beyond death."

Pinkie Pie could only stare up at the creature in response, her mouth hanging slightly open and her mind grasping at something to hold onto. In the end, her eyes fell upon the mare in the bed.

"Is... is She... are they going to be okay?" she asked somewhat timidly, "Twilight and... and the Goddess, I mean."

"They will recover, but in the meantime you will find the rest of your... 'friends' downstairs, alive and well," the creature replied, "go to them if you must, but remember that the well being of your Goddess is of the utmost importance in her current condition."

The creature paused as he looked out the window. The distant forms of Minuette, Twinkleshine, and Lemon Hearts all stared back at where it was from outside. It nodded almost imperceptibly and the mares vanished on the spot.

"The one called Rarity will fill you in on what has transpired," it continued, turning around to look down at Pinkie, "you are, of course, to speak of none of this unless She wishes it."

"O-Okay," Pinkie replied before tilting her head slightly, "what about you? Did you... is Spike gone?"

"For the moment," the creature replied, looking down at itself with apparent distaste, "my entry into this realm was... less than smooth, and because of that, I will be... stuck in this body for quite some time, but it is ultimately a temporary thing," it shook its head and looked back at the pink mare, "it doesn't matter. Go, I have something I must take care of now."

And with that, the interloper vanished, leaving Pinkie alone with an unresponsive Twilight. For a long moment, she simply sat there, trying to soak in everything she'd experienced—something she regretted almost immediately as the memories resurfaced.

She shivered again and shook her head before raising it to stare at Twilight's unconscious form. She gave the other mare a sad frown before slowly turning on her heel and trotting out of the room and down the stairs.

Rainbow was the first to greet her return with an enthusiastic wave, followed by Rarity and Fluttershy's more subdued, yet no less warm greetings a moment later. Applejack paid her no mind as she looked out one of the windows with a deep frown of her own.

Pinkie gave what she hoped was a convincing façade of her usual bright and cheery smile. Though the creature that replaced Spike had somehow repaired the cracks in her sanity, Pinkie was still far from okay.

She locked eyes with Rarity for only a moment, but it was enough for Rarity to get the message, and both she and Pinkie excused themselves, offering to check on Twilight, who they claimed had fallen asleep from the stress of the day.

Fluttershy and Rainbow were sympathetic, but Applejack's frown only deepened into a grimace. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything against it. Neither Pinkie nor Rarity noticed Applejack's bright green eyes follow them as they made their way back upstairs.

Pinkie was more than willing to hear what Rarity had to say, but more than that, she desperately needed somepony to talk to. Not since she'd left the rock farm had she needed somepony else to cheer her up so badly. It was enough to remind her why she'd devoted so much of her energy towards making other ponies smile.

To Pinkie, a genuine smile was a gift far more precious than any otherworldly power, and despite what that thing had said, she believed that now more than ever.