Chapter 69- Inner Darkness
Me: I don't want to give anything in this chapter away.
Rarity: I don't either.
Me: Er, right. I don't own the rights to Naruto Shippuden or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
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Rarity stood on the lonely hill-top, staring with her hoof outstretched at the place where Pinkie's spirit had vanished. As she stood there the moon became blocked by storm clouds that were as black as the night sky. They flashed thunder and began pouring rain on the land. Rarity's mane became wet and straightened and fell to her side, her dress also becoming soaked. Rarity stood with wide eyes that gave way to nothing but sadness. Her expression resembled that of someone who had tried but failed to save a dear loved one from an untimely demise, her breathing also resembling this as her breaths came in short, ragged bursts. Thunder flashed, illuminating the gravestone that Rarity could hardly bring herself to look at. She lowered her hoof after a good five minutes or so and began to sob heavily. The rain mingled with her tears and they dripped down her face in a seemingly constant stream of water. Her tears were warm while the rain was ice cold. It's because she had to choose, she died. She thought bitterly.
At that moment she felt a strange pressence, one she hadn't felt since this whole endeavor began. She opened her eyes and looked up at the sky, the familiar wisp of cloud spiraling down to meet her. It pooled just above Pinkie's earthen grave. "Well, it's certainly been a while, Rarity." Said the familiar voice of the first spirit. It manifested itself into the same shape it had taken previously. "What do you want, spirit?" She asked bitterly. "I know you're upset, Rarity. We all know you're upset. Clearly your friend was dear to you." It said. Rarity said nothing but stared at the spirit with unamused eyes. It gave a wry grin. "She wouldn't have died had your friends not made her choose between you and Equestria." It said. "I know that. What's your point?" Rarity asked impatiently. "Why was she forced to choose? Do you know?" It asked wisping about her casually. It stroked her cheek but she turned her face angrily away from it. "I don't." She replied. The spirit came up to the other side of her. "It's a curious thing indeed. Your friend seemed torn to choose, and yet she had to. In the end she made the choice not to choose. That's as good a choice as any, I suppose." "Shut up! I've had enough of your vile lies you wicked spirit!" Rarity shouted in anger. The spirit raised it's "hands" defensively. "Now, now, there's no reason to be angry with me. I'm only trying to help you." "Well it's because of your "help" that I've killed two of my friends." Rarity said turning away from the spirit. The spirit's face contorted with a scowel before changing back into a cunning grin. He disappeared and reappeared before Rarity. "But don't you remember why you wanted to kill them in the first place?" He asked. "I do." Rarity replied turning her nose up at the spirit. "Maybe we need him to remind you?" He asked. Rarity looked at him with her Mangekyou Rinnegan activated. She saw that the spirit had no Chakra at all. "No. There will be no need to get him involved." She said angrily. "Then perhaps you would like to see what your "friends" are up to at this very moment." He said forming a vortex before him that solidified and displayed an image.
The image was that of the inside of Inoichi's house. Her friends were gathered around a table in Inoichi's living room, a single lantern illuminating their faces from the center of the table. The all stared solemnly at Twilight, Twilight herself had her eyes closed, her hooves held before her face in a contemplative gesture. "What are we going to do, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked nervously. Rainbow Dash was leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. "I don't know." Twilight replied after a short pause. "Well we have to think of something. Rarity's getting more powerful and we're powerless to stop her." Rainbow Dash said agitatedly. "That's not true. We still have three Path powers left. We can come up with a strategy from that." Twilight said. They're still planning to fight me? Rarity thought angrily. "And just what good will three Path powers do us? She's got all of Tid's power within her! Not to mention she can level an entire city if she wanted to! We're powerless against that." Rainbow Dash said slamming her hooves on the table. "Well we also have some of Tid's power. Remember, Fluttershy can summon Ryujin." Twilight reminded her. "Rarity probably could too, since Ryujin was contracted with Tid." Fluttershy said. "No, she can't use hand signs. She won't be able to summon Ryujin without performing the Summoning Jutsu." Inoichi said. "Still, Ryujin's power can't beat Tid's." Rainbow Dash said. "Well then what do you suggest we do?" Twilight asked somewhat irritatedly. "Why don't we combine all of our power together? That could defeat Rarity, right?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I already told you that won't do you any good. She'll be able to sense you easily if you gathered together and tried to attack her all at once." Inoichi said. "Well at least it's something!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
None of them spoke for the longest time, the rain beating against the window making the only sounds that could be heard in the house. "Maybe we can convince her to stop." Fluttershy offered. The others looked at her as if she had gone mad. "We already tried that, remember?" Rainbow Dash said. "Actually, we never did. I mean, Rarity's only trying to avenge Tid's death, so-" "Fluttershy, stop. We promised never to talk about that, remember? Tid's death is over, so we never have to think about that again." Rainbow Dash interrupted. Fluttershy looked down at the table. Twilight looked up at them. When she spoke, she sounded slightly different than from when she had spoken only a moment ago, but that didn't bother Rrarity. "Tid was never meant to be here. He didn't belong in this world, and he had to go, one way or another." Fluttershy also sounded different when she spoke. "I know, it's just... She loved him." "Of course she did. Rarity's worthless, so she fell in love with the first thing to tell her otherwise." Rainbow Dash said. Worthless?! Rarity thought in anger. "Anyway, Tid's dead, and we completed our mission, so now we just have to stop Rarity." So they had planned to send Tid to his death! Rarity thought. Her anger forced her to turn away from the image, the spirit closing the vortex with a wicked smile on his face. "So, what do you plan to do, Rarity?" He asked. Rarity was seething with rage. Killing them had been the right path to choose after all. "My plan..." She said. "Is the same as it's always been; I plan to kill the ones who hurt my Tid!" She said opening her eyes wide, the Mangekyou Rinnegan glowing in the dark night. "Good choice. Well, I'll be taking my leave now. Goodbye, and good luck, Miss Rarity." With that the spirit cackled wickedly and disappeared in a puff of smoke, reascending into the clouds above.
Inoichi stood in front of the window that faced the tree where Applejack's dead body had been discovered. They had dug a grave for the pony and buried her, giving her a tombstone with a few words to remember her. Applejack's death had been hard on them all, even Inoichi, and digging the grave seemed like the most grueling task in the world at the time. The others had barely any time to mourn before they knew Pinkie Pie was joining Applejack in the grave. It had been a full day since Pinkie Pie disappeared, and still no body turned up. Did that mean that Pinkie Pie was still alive? Inoichi shook his head. The odds of Pinkie Pie still being alive after a full day's disappearance seemed highly unlikely. He looked down at his cup of coffee, the steam that rose from the pool of brown liquid warmed his face as he stood in front of the large cold window. The rain had started about an hour ago, and didn't seem like it would let up soon, so Inoichi decided he was going to take the first watch for Rarity. Unfortunately the only thing he had to look at was the grave where Applejack lay. "Pinkie Pie, we could've revived her if you had just stayed." He said, knowing she couldn't hear him. "It's not her fault." He heard someone say from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Twilight walking over to him. "What are you doing up? I thought everyone had already gone to bed?" He asked her. "I couldn't sleep." She replied simply. She walked over and stood next to him at the window, looking for a second at him before turning her attention to the outside world.
The two said nothing to each other for a while, neither of them knowing quite what to say. "You're right, it wasn't her fault." He said finally. She said nothing but kept looking out at the tree. "Whether she went to go fight Rarity or if she's simply mourning pirvately, I don't know, but I can't blame her either way." He continued. "I know what you mean. Pinkie Pie's choice was hers to make, and it was wrong for us to have forced her to do so." Twilight said quietly. Inoichi looked at her. "Twilight, I'll agree that you were wrong to force her to choose, but the choice had to be made. Who knows, maybe Pinkie Pie is still alive, hiding somewhere where Rarity won't be able to sense her. Or maybe she's joined Rarity, not wanting to lose her dear friend and instead choosing to abandon her home. We can never be sure, but what we can be sure of is that Rarity is growing more powerful. Soon we'll be powerless to stop her." Inoichi said. The two of them stood in silence for a while, Twilight's mind busy with thoughts. She couldn't seem to form a clear plan, no real path seemed right to her. "Fluttershy's right you know, we never did try and reason with Rarity." Inoichi said to the pony. Twilight looked at him, taken out of her daze. "You think we could try and reason with Rarity?" She asked somewhat surprised. "I don't know. She seems to have a lot of hate in her heart at the moment. She's no longer the Rarity you used to know, but that Rarity may still be in there somewhere." He replied taking a sip of his coffee. She contemplated this for a while. As she watched the rain drip down the window, she still couldn't find an answer. "What should we do?" She asked looking up at him. "I can't answer that for you. That's up for you to decide." He replied taking another sip of coffee and walking away, leaving her at the window. She looked back outside and up to the dark thundering sky. "What would you do, Tid?"
Rarity walked along the dark path as the sky began to brighten behind the still pouring clouds of the storm. The sadness she had felt after Pinkie's death was now supressed by the boiling anger that had been roiled within her. Her rage had caused her to combust, the fire surrounding her in an aura that left both her and her dress unharmed, steaming as the rain fell upon it. She stomped along in her fury, seeing nothing but the road ahead of her. My original thoughts were correct after all. She thought. She looked up after a while and saw that she had traveled outside of Ponyville. She looked around, her anger temporarily letting up as she began to grow more curious. As she looked around she spotted a cave that seemed to be relatively dry and made her way over to it, her flaming aura still blazing. As she walked she left burnt hoofprints in the grass. Finally she entered the mouth of the cave and looked around, seeing the cave empty save for a few stalactites. She walked forward a few steps and lay down on the cold ground that was only slightly heated by her flaming aura. As she lay she extinguished her flaming aura, her anger giving way to exhaustion. She watched the rain as it fell upon the land outside of her cave and slowly closed her eyes, letting her exhaustion take her into a deep sleep.
The next morning Rarity awoke to see the rain had stopped. The ground outside was still damp and muddy. She stood up and stretched, her body not used to the unusual sleeping position she had taken last night. She walked outside and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around. The sun was shining brightly, warming the ground and her as well. "Shame, I preferred the rain." She said. She began walking in the direction that she thought Ponyville was in. Then she stopped. Why would I go back there? She wondered. She was furious with her so-called friends. They had sent Tid, the only man she loved, to die. She gritted her teeth as she recalled their wretched voices uttering the words she had found so much rage in hearing. Rarity looked down and noticed she had changed back into her nightmare form some time during the night. "My magic has probably run out." She said to herself. Magic didn't take long to regenerate, which she was glad of. "Hello, miss." She heard a voice say from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and her eyes widened at what she saw. She turned around to face a little white filly with a royal purple mane, brilliantly blue eyes, and a blank flank. "Wh-who are you?" Rarity asked. "My name's Rarity." The filly replied. Am I hallucinating? She wondered. She shook her head but the filly continued to exist. "What's your name?" "M-my name is also Rarity." Rarity replied. "Really? That's wonderful! It's like I have an older sister!" The filly said jumping in joy. "Er, may I ask you where you came from?" Rarity asked. The filly walked up to Rarity and pointed to Rarity's head. "There." She said. "You came from my mind?" Rarity asked. The filly shrugged. "I don't really know, but that seems like a familiar place." She replied. "What are you doing here?" Rarity asked. "I'm not sure. I thought you were sad, so I came here to cheer you up." The filly replied with a smile. Rarity forced a smile on her face. "That's sweet, but I'm not sad anymore." Rarity said. "Really? That's great! I guess I'll be going now. Bye!" The filly waved. Rarity waved back just as something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. She glanced at it then glanced back and saw the filly was gone. That was strange. She thought.
Rarity turned around again and another voice spoke to her. "Hello dear." This one sounded much more familiar. She turned around and sure enough, there was another Rarity standing before her. This one looked exactly as Rarity had before she took on her nightmare form. "Where did you come from?" Rarity asked. The other Rarity walked forward and placed her hoof to Rarity's chest. "Here." She said. "What? You came from-" "Your heart, yes. You have supressed me. Now I live deep within your heart, buried underneath your hatred, anger, and sadness." Rarity turned away. "What do you want?" She asked bitterly. "I know how you are feeling, I've seen it with my own eyes. I can see your anger and hatred boiling past their limits as I watch your emotions." The other Rarity replied. Rarity remained silent. The other Rarity walked over and wrapped her arm around Rarity's shoulder. "They just don't understand your pain, darling." She said. "You think I don't know that?" Rarity asked bitterly. "Do you really understand what that means, dear?" Rarity hesitated. What that means? She thought in confusion. "Let me put it in perspective for you, dear. Your friends care about you, but they don't want to see you hurt. They don't understand the pain you're in, and the truth is, they probably never will." "What does that mean?" Rarity asked. "It means that since they can't understand your pain, they're trying the best the can to deal with it. Do you understand now?" The other Rarity asked. Rarity contemplated this. "You're saying, if they understood, then I wouldn't have to feel pain anymore?" Rarity asked. "Essentially. That is one way to look at it." She replied. "I see. I know what I must do now." Rarity said. "Good, then return to your friends-" "Return to my friends? Why in Equestria would I do that?" Rarity asked. "I thought you said-" "Yes, I know what to do, but I'm not going back to them." Rarity interrupted. The other Rarity took her arm from around Rarity's shoulder and looked down at the ground. "So you're going to continue on your path of darkness?" She asked. "I'll take my own path. You're not me." Rarity replied. "No, I'm not... At least, not anymore. I was you." The other Rarity replied. "Hm, now why don't you leave? I've got some things I need to take care of." Rarity said turning away from the mare. "Let me ask you one thing, before I go." The other Rarity asked. "What's that?" Rarity asked glancing over her shoulder. "When did you decide to forsake Tid?" She asked. Rarity's eyes widened with surprise and anger. "What the hell do you mean forsake Tid? I would never forsake him! Just leave! You've overstayed your welcome!" Rarity shouted in fury, her body igniting once more. "Fine. The choice is yours, I suppose." The other Rarity said. She then dissolved into light-blue crystals and flowed into Rarity's chest. Rarity turned around, extinguishing the flames that surrounded her. "Good, at least she's gone. Now, if this plan is going to succeed, I need one more sacrifice." She grinned wickedly. "Fluttershy." She laughed wildly and disappeared in a gale of purple wind.
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Me: Well, that was... Interesting.
Rarity: How dare she accuse me of forsaking Tid!
Me: Just calm down, Rarity.
Rarity: Calm down? How do you propose I do that?
Me: I don't know, meditate or something. Anyway, stay tuned for more! I'm sure you'll love the rest of this Arc! See ya next time!