With little to keep her occupied, Twilight quickly reorganized her things and decided to go out.  The day was still young and she figured that she could quell some rumors before they started just by being about the town.  Before leaving, she churned the earth beneath the foundation of the library one last time, pulling a tendril in through the floor and haphazardly wrapping it around Trixie's secret bookcase to fix it where it was.  Can't be too careful, right?  

Twilight expected Spike to fail in his quest, or to at least bring someone back that would be missed whether he knew it or not, so she took it upon herself to pick a few subjects of her own, just in case she needed to send someone away.  Iago had stayed completely quiet since Spike showed his face, but Twilight didn't particularly care.  She trotted confidently up her stairs and entered the living room, glancing around for anything casual to carry around.  She felt like she would look too naked without a cloak or a bag or something, but for the life of her couldn't recall many times where she actually brought anything along.  The time away from civilized action was starting to get to her.  

After having decided to bring absolutely nothing (save a few coins and gems for potential necessary trade) Twilight set off into Ponyville once more.  This was a mild morning, with the sun softly hidden behind puffy white clouds and the various commerce of the day bustling on around her.  The sheer presence of life and high spirits was nearly sickening to Twilight; she wanted so desperately to yell out to them and show them just how short and miserable their existences really were, but kept silent to brood a little longer.  Twilight felt like she was in a bubble, stepping through town with a secluded area all to herself; something that separated her from the other ponies around.  Twilight looked to the ground, letting her eyes scan along her hooves.  So elegant a creature she was, and so gracefully gliding along the poorly laid cobblestone ground.  Flawed, all of them.  Every.  Single.  One.  Like the stones on the ground: they weren't placed right.  Just a single spike here, a single twitch or tremor under the ground and it turns into a difficult to traverse field of sharp stones and old, broken mortar.  

Twilight stopped walking, lifting her gaze and looking around as she approached town square.  She had been walking absentmindedly, giving only enough attention to her own thoughts.  The cornerstones of the surrounding buildings were exposed: she could crack them and send them crumbling down.  Sugar Cube Corner on a busy morning; ten, maybe fifteen dead in a collapse.  Several more wounded.  The Carousel Boutique the day before Hearts and Hooves day; between one and two dozen killed in a collapse.  Maybe an explosion in the middle of town, maybe a conflagration of every building she could see.  Something spectacular, or perhaps something subtle.  She could shatter the dam that precariously kept a wall of water away from Ponyville's skyline or she could split the ground and swallow Ponyville into the center of the planet.  She could create a storm that would rip these flimsy buildings apart and toss the bodies of the weak around like the dolls they were.  

"Hi there!"  Twilight halted her absent-minded walk and stood straight up, nearly jumping at the enthusiastic shriek from the creature in front of her.  She turned to look it in the face and tilted her head to the side, quizzically examining the pony but not quite sure how to respond.  

"Uhm...  Hello?"  Twilight certainly didn't know this one, but she had definitely seen it before.

"I get that look a lot.  You don't know me, but my name's Sea Swirl, it's nice to meet you!"  The obnoxious pony just insisted on getting in Twilight's face.  Her colors were a little bit lighter than Twilight's, leaving a solid pale pink coat with a very deep blue mane.  She did have pretty eyes, Twilight could admit that, but she really didn't feel comfortable with them staring at her just then.

"Yeah, good to meet you too..."  Twilight's greeting trailed off as she continued forward, pushing past this new addition and continuing on her macabre meandering.  To her chagrin, however, Sea Swirl kept pace.

"You don't seem like you're having a very good day."  

"What gave you that idea?"  Twilight was getting very annoyed and tried to make it perfectly clear through a sarcastic tone, but that one wasn't about to give up without making a scene.

"Well, to be honest it's the way you're walking.  Either you had a little too much to drink last night or you're just feeling down about something.  You know the best cure for the blues is to just have a friendly conversation, right?"

And the best cure for a pest problem is extermination.  Twilight thought to herself before giving a semi-agreeable comment.  "Yeah, I know.  Listen I'm heading over to visit a friend right now as a matter of fact.  So if you could just...  Y'know...  Get back to whatever the hay it was that you were doing before pestering me?"

"Oh I wasn't doing anything!  It's my day off and I just love to sit around and chat with other ponies.  Make new friends, catch up with old ones, that sort of thing.  You wouldn't need any new friends would you?"  Sea Swirl just added the straw that broke the camel's back.  Twilight stopped and turned to look at her with a soft grin.

"You know what, I wanna show you a magic trick."

"Oohh I love magic!  I can't do much myself, but I really love it when other ponies do it well."

"Look me in the eyes and think of your very favorite family member."

"Oh that's an easy one, that's my--"

"Ah, ah, ah.  Don't tell me, just shut up and think."  Though I know that could be difficult for you.  Twilight stretched her neck out and stood up tall, looking deep into Sea Swirl's raspberry colored eyes.  It didn't take very long for her to feel the same out-of-body effect as she did with Thunderhead, so she swam forward and plunged into the deep black pool before her.  Sea Swirl's brain was much larger than her first impression made it seem, but Twilight easily located the areas that were firing back in her grey-matter.  Twilight viciously targeted these memory centers and tore at them telekinetically, completely shredding the links and nervous tissue that went off as Sea Swirl brought to light her fondest memories.  With her work done, Twilight went back and emerged into her own body, looking forward into the still grinning but now much more confused unicorn before her.

"There.  Now describe that pony for me."  Twilight stood back in cruel anticipation, knowing exactly what she did but wanting to see it play out.  A crowd had started to gather round the two of them due to the oddness of their situation.

"I--"  Sea Swirl started and slowly changed the expression on her face from gleeful to horrified.  "I-I-I can't..."

Twilight winked and turned around, continuing to walk on her way and leaving her victim to plop down onto the cobblestone and stare at her hooves.  The minimal crowd that had gathered started to murmur and glance around, paying close attention to Sea Swirl as she shivered and started to well up with sadness.  "I can't remember..."  

The last things Twilight remembered of Sea Swirl were the tears of a deep and intimate sadness streaming down her cheeks.  What she didn't see, however, was the eventual drop of blood that made its way out of her nose.  Within three days of the encounter, Sea Swirl died from a cerebral hemorrhage in a hospital bed with her sister (who then was a total stranger) sobbing by her side.  The well-being of that insignificant pony meant nothing to Twilight, however, so she didn't dwell on what would happen.  What mattered to her was that the trauma she inflicted got the obnoxious creature to leave her alone, and that's exactly what happened.  

The split-second evasion of Sea Swirl reminded Twilight to actually check up on Rarity.  She originally had planned on just walking through town and saying hello to any of her acquaintances if they should so happen to show up, but taking the initiative to check on her saplings wasn't a bad plan.  

Her walk slowed to a simple trudge forward, though she didn't seem encumbered by any burden mental or physical.  Twilight simply slowed down and gazed around, taking in the life and beauty of the world.  It didn't stay beautiful for long, mind you, but instead got filtered through the mind of a true psychopath.  The gorgeous blue sky became a suffocating blanket of perceived limits, the sun a symbol of the Princess's reign over the entire land.  The trees were just the earth extending into civilization and wishing to destroy it, while the buildings were the ones upsetting the balance of nature and begging to be destroyed.  The ponies?  Well they were special.  Twilight looked at them as she had once looked at a cart; examining every little piece that made them go: she could cut off a leg and apply just the right electrical stimulus to make it move, she could cut off their head and stare into their eyes as their still-living brain suffocated and drained of blood, she could disembowel one and watch it flop about in blinding agony for hours, but she refused to accept them as beings that were truly living.  The closest they came to an actual existence in her mind was akin to cockroaches... ants... things to be crushed, kicked, exterminated, or burned with a magnifying glass just for the sheer pleasure of it.  They couldn't speak to her, not on her level, and they certainly couldn't take action against her, so she wondered to herself why she continued to beat around the bush and apply an element of subtlety to her growing superiority.  All she had to do was say the word, nay, think the thought, and the entire world would bend before her rule.

Twilight's walk down the main roads stretched onward, not oblivious to the growing anxiety that many of the ponies she crossed paths with exhibited, but otherwise apathetic on the subject.  They were right to fear her, though in truth they were just worried about what they saw.  Twilight's frequent over-excitement was starting to have some physiological effects on her body, and Twilight was totally unaware of them.  As energy flows through a medium, that medium will generally tend to decay regardless of how well attuned it is.  Thus was Twilight's fate: having her body put back together beautifully only to slowly begin to degrade piece-by-piece again, though this time was far less violent.  Nevertheless, Twilight approached the walkway to Rarity's semi-famous boutique with all the gusto that she could force.

Without too much preparation Twilight simply knocked on the door three times, letting anyone inside know that she was coming, and then opened the door to let herself in.  The windows had been opened up and let the gentle glow of the day in, which on top of the fact that the door was unlocked let Twilight know that the boutique was certainly open for business, but Rarity was nowhere to be found.

"Rarity?"  Twilight, annoyed by her friend's absence, took her first few steps into the boutique.  The bell above the entryway jangled as the door shut (though curiously hadn't done so on opening), punctuating Twilight's entrance and leaving her to stand there in silence.  There weren't any customers around, nor were there too many new dresses out.  It seemed almost like Rarity had completely abandoned the place, save a single cracked door off in the corner.  Twilight had given up any previous notions of modesty or respect for other ponies' private lives, so she moved deliberately over toward the doorway and pushed it all the way open.  Inside was Rarity's kitchen, with the ivory unicorn humming along as she read the morning paper.  She didn't hear Twilight come in, call, or even open the door, so Twilight stepped over alongside her and made her presence known.

"Whah!"  Rarity nearly jumped out of her chair, jerking her head around to see Twilight as she approached.  For a brief second, she didn't recognize the lavender unicorn.  Perhaps 'lavender' isn't the right color anymore, though, as her coat had turned a full shade darker (seemingly the result of flame or exposure to smoke) and seemed to tighten against her muscle and accent every single strand of sinew that she had in her.  Twilight still retained her beauty, but had an almost menacing look about her face and body.  "Forgive me, Twilight.  I didn't hear you come in..."  Rarity set her paper down and moved one hoof to her chest, feeling her heartbeat slowly return to its normal pace.

"Sorry to startle you like that.  I just stopped by to check in and see how you were doing."  Twilight forced a smile and sat down in the chair opposite Rarity.  Though she couldn't help herself from asking, "How come every time I come in here you're never out front?"

"Oh...  Well honestly I don't get that many customers.  The odd birthday will spring up, or somepony will get a bonus or have saved up enough money for some special occasion...  The bottom line is that ponies don't spend too much time in here.  Not in droves anyhow, and I can usually hear the bell so I don't really feel like torturing myself and standing behind that counter all day.  There's no point in looking pretty and stressing my hooves if there's no one around to appreciate it."

"Fair enough.  Though maybe you need to get a louder bell, or at least have your hearing checked."  The slightly darker-purple unicorn flashed a friendly smile, receiving an indignant scoff and snarky reply from her friend.

"Oh and what about you?  Dying your coat, are we?"  Rarity pointed out the slight change in color, not making too big a deal out of it but still curious enough to hope for an explanation.  Twilight, however, could hear the echo of her thoughts on this curiosity.

"What, this?  Oh it's nothing...  Just a stain is all."

"A stain?  On your whole body?"

"Yeah, there's these, ehm...  These tar pits out in the Everfree Forest."

Rarity was having a little trouble believing all of this, but she had no reason not to trust her friend.  "T-tar pits?  You were exploring tar pits in the Everfree Forest?"

"Not exploring, exactly.  I was trying to get a sample so that I could study it when...  Well you know how there's those cartoons about tar pits where there's that huge stereotype bubble that pops and sprays tar every which way?"

"I suppose..."  Rarity had actually been able to recall a comic strip in the paper from a few days ago where just such a thing happened, but she didn't particularly want to reinforce Twilight's dangerous behavior.

"Well they're not as fictitious as I thought.  I got splashed with tar and spend all day yesterday trying to get it out...  Apparently to no avail."  Twilight was getting much better at lying to her friends.  This, unlike most of the other changes she was experiencing, was something she noticed and indeed took pride in.

"Well I can't say I've ever had to get tar out of fur before...  have you tried baking soda?"

"No, but I certainly will next time I take a shower.  Thank you."  Twilight had nervous thoughts racing through her conscious mind, but her body was absolutely still and cool; relaxed to the point where she might as well have been at the spa.  She resolved on a subject change.  "So...  Any news about Big Macintosh?"  

Rarity huffed out a little laugh and folded up her newspaper.  She had been casually glancing over it the whole time, but still allotting plenty of attention to Twilight's explanations.  "Something like that, yes."

"Care to elaborate for me?"

"I sent him a letter like you said, and he came out here to speak to me face to face.  He... expressed interest in spending a day where we could casually chat and get to know each other better, but he didn't want to do it at Sugar Cube Corner."

"Can't say I blame him for that...  What with Pinkie Pie and all."

"Believe it or not, darling, it's not Pinkie he's worried about.  He uhm."  Rarity's voice trailed off a little.  Twilight noticed a slight red tinge around her cheeks and a quick batting-away of the eyes.

"He... what?"  Twilight took pleasure in exploiting this clear realm of shame from her friend, pressuring her to finish the sentence that she started.

"He didn't want Applejack to see us together."  Twilight was honestly a little surprised that Rarity admitted this so freely, but she simply sat back in her chair and smirked, crossing her hooves under the table and spreading her forelegs out across the top.  

"Awwh,  well try not to think of it as him being embarrassed about you...  You know how Applejack can get sometimes, he just wants to be sure there's no drama in public is all."

"I guess so.  It still just hurts to think about, you know?"

Twilight couldn't relate in any way.  The few times she had thought about dating were either completely influenced by peer pressure or were more involved in scientific curiosity than love.  She never had any public dating drama, nor private for that matter, and the furthest she'd ever gotten with a colt was the product of rumor-quelling and hedonistic curiosity.  Not to mention the fact that it resulted in his permanent mental scarring.  "I know exactly how you feel, Rarity."

Rarity smiled and relaxed a little herself, though her obvious nervous ticks and twitches still played about along her cheeks.  "Thank you, Twilight.  I knew you'd understand."

"If it's any help, you're welcome to come over to the library and have your little date."  The idea struck Twilight like lightning; if she could get the two of them together literally inside her home, she'd have the easiest time getting them 'prepared' for her little experiment.

"Do you mean it?"

"Of course.  Applejack wouldn't think to look there, if she even went looking in the first place.  I've got plenty of room and... well, the place just hasn't exactly been very lively lately, if you know what I mean."  Twilight got much more satisfaction out of that dark little joke than she should have.

Rarity sat and thought for a minute, flipping her newspaper over and glancing at the front to remind herself of the current date.  It was saturday, so she expected that tomorrow Big Macintosh wouldn't be working.  Twilight realized this as well and knew that she'd need to go home and make a few preparations.  "Would tomorrow work?"  Rarity seemed a little hesitant to ask, but she certainly did need the excuse to get closer to the big stallion.

Twilight answered almost instantly, barely giving Rarity time to finish her sentence.  "Tomorrow's perfect!  I'll see you two then...  What time were you considering?"

"I was thinking somewhere around lunch time...  That way he's got an excuse to go out and be gone for a while."

"Lunch time works perfectly for me.  Just come on over whenever you feel like it.  I'll make sure everything's ready."

"You keep talking like I'm about to propose to him or something, Twilight...  A little over eager aren't you?"  Rarity chuckled as she spoke, batting her eyelashes at Twilight's bizarre behavior.  She'd been noticing quite a bit of strange behavior in Twilight lately, as a matter of fact.

"Sorry.  I just mean I'll be set up to be relaxing and all.  I'm not trying to insinuate anything..."

"Relax, Twilight.  We'll be there probably around noon, don't give yourself any more stress than you already do.  Goodness knows you don't need anymore, and I already feel like I'm imposing just being there."

"Nonsense, Rarity!  My home is yours.  Make yourselves totally comfortable while you're there.  And if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask; I'd be happy to aid you in any way I can."  As disconnected from involuntary actions as her body had gotten in these past few weeks, Twilight still couldn't help but crack a mischievous smile at the very notion of having those two subjects so easily accessible.  This thought started to eclipse her memories of Rarity as a close friend, changing her from equal to object in her eyes and permanently staining her as such in Twilight's eyes.

The door bell jangled, breaking Twilight away from her world of fantasy and thought with a somewhat violent jerk of her neck.  Rarity's ear twitched at the sound, so Twilight knew that she heard it too.  "Saved by the bell" certainly lived up to its general meaning at that point in time.  

"Well, I guess I've got a customer to deal with.  Thank you for stopping by, Twilight, it's been a pleasure as always."

"The pleasure's all mine, Rarity.  You know I enjoy your company."  Twilight felt she needed to say something nice, but was a little surprised at how it came out.  Even more so at the casual giggle that it prompted from Rarity in response.

"The same to you."  Rarity stood up and flicked her mane into a respectable position and started toward the door.  Twilight followed along and waved herself off, parting ways with Rarity as soon as they entered the foyer and heading directly for the door.  

She decided to fly home and quickly made for a back alley where she was out of sight.  She figured that flying high enough would hide the fact that she didn't have any wings and help her take the guise of a pegasus.  She just needed to make sure she could get home as quickly as possible: there was much to do.