Darkness.
I was completely blind.
Running.
Running where? Where was I? What was going on?
Pain…!
Burning pain!

“Come to Momma.” A feminine voice called out.

“No! Get away!” I cried back.
A warm, thick liquid was pouring down my chest.

“You’ll like it. Trust me. I’m your friend after all.” The voice coaxed.
Restrained.
I was strung up by my wrists, dangling like a piece of meat.
I looked down quickly to see the source of the warm liquid. In my chest, a valentine shape had been sliced and removed. My innards were hanging out of me…

“Am I fabulous yet?” I finally recognized the voice. Rarity…
I looked up, only to let out a scream so loud, I’m surprised my lungs hadn’t burst.
Her eyes… Her eyes had been gouged from their sockets. The blood streaming down her face was as black as midnight and thick as molasses. The smile on her face was soft, and kind. Loving, even… Had I not been so horror-stricken, I might have smiled back. A shock of pink caught my eye then. A hoof… My gaze locked on it. It was tugging at the sides of Rarity’s mouth… I looked up the arm of whom it belonged to until… Pinkamena… It was Pinkamena forcing Rarity to smile…

“I’m so sorry…” she said

I bolted upright in my bed, fists clenched, chest heaving, eyes darting and sweat slickening my entire body.

“It was just a dream.” I vainly tried to assure myself.

“Just a dream?” Alice asked from somewhere within the room. I sat up and looked about me. Sure enough, Alice was standing in the doorway, wide-eyed and seemingly panic stricken.

“Are you okay?” She asked.
It suddenly struck me how hot I was, and just how much sweat was pouring down my body… I was going to need to wash my sheets later…

“Yeah… Sorry…” I apologized, then finally unclenched my fists and looked down. I had drawn blood.

“Could you throw me the bandage gauze there on the dresser?”
Still overcome by panic, Alice merely stared at me for a while, the news paper in her hand quivering this way and that. Giving in, I simply stood and wrapped my hands myself. My attention turned to the paper in Alice’s hand.

“What’s the headline?” I inquired passively, adjusting my glasses with one hand, holding the other out expectantly.
The terrified lass surrendered the paper quickly, and I just as quickly understood her fright. Another strange series of disappearances and the discovery of a particular high-class mare skinned and dumped in Froggy Bottom Bottom Bog had the Ponyville Police Department baffled, staggered, and frightened all at once. Figures…. Just another psycho out there. From what I could tell, suspicions pointed to one of the Canterlot elite, but nothing could be brought up on the suspected stallion due to sheer lack of evidence.

“That’s depressing.” I commented aloud, tossing the paper aside.

“Seb, you don’t think-”
I cut her off quickly by using a technique I learned when I was her butler; I placed a hand on her cheek and drew in close, expelling a gentle breeze into her ear. This caused her to shudder in what I always assumed was simply a cold shiver, and her jaw to slacken in the slightest. All words were lost in the moment… An assuring mumble slithered forth from my throat to calm her nerves.

“No. Nothing is happening in Ponyville. I took care of it… Just like I always did, and always will.” The words were almost cooed in my attempt to stop her quivering. It worked much better than I expected. She dropped her bag -no doubt her carry-on for the flight home- and wrapped her arms about my neck. She whispered.

“Do that one more time…” she ordered.
This was something she had never done before… A new wave of some kind of weird…. Desire…? Something like that shot up my spine. I obliged her and blew into her ear once more. Her body rocked once more and she cooed.

Alright, something’s up, I thought. She’s never been this close to me before… And that sound… What did it mean..?

“I really miss you doing that, Sebastian… I… I miss you,” she managed with shaky words.
I could not help but smile at this. To be honest, I really didn’t want the moment to end… But we both had places to be. The cart was waiting outside and I needed to get to the boutique…
As I stood at the end of my walkway, watching the carriage shrink into the distance, a strange sensation hit me. There was a tugging in my chest… My eye began to well up for some reason… Once more, I clenched my fist to fight this strange feeling… Why was I so close to crying…? I had no reason to feel this way… And yet… Watching her disappear, I got the feeling I’d never see her again for some reason… Whatever…

“I don’t have time for tears…” I mumbled to myself.