Crystal Massacre

Part 2

Rarity never woke up in the middle of the night. Spike was confused but decided to wait a bit, in case she came back. There was no point making a fuss over one tiny detail. But five minutes passed, then fifteen, then thirty. Panic started to set in so Spike decided to get up and try to find her. He assured himself that everything was fine, maybe she got lost on the way back from the bathroom, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

Spike left the room in search of his love. "Rarity!" Spike called. "Rarity!"

He was suddenly pushed up against the wall, a hoof over his mouth. He was worried for a moment until he saw Cadance's face. "Sh!" she hissed. "Do you want to wake up the whole castle?" Spike shook his head and Cadance removed her hoof. "Sorry, Spike. What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"Rarity's missing," the small dragon explained, "I can't find her anywhere."

Cadance's face was blank for a moment, thinking rapidly, as if debating something. "Shining Armor's missing too."

Suddenly, Spike was terrified. Not only was Rarity missing, but Shining Armor was now missing too. He stayed rational. They both probably couldn't sleep and were just having a snack together, maybe some tea. Spike had woken up in the middle of the night a few times to find Rarity hunched over her sewing machine with a glass of tea, stressing out about getting her designs done in time. Maybe Rarity was just stressed about something that was all.

"Have you checked the kitchen? Maybe they're just having some tea?"

Cadance thought for a moment. "Yeah. Maybe. We'll have to be quiet though."

The two of them snuck through the long, seemingly endless halls to the kitchen but nopony was in sight. Even the guards were nowhere to be seen. Spike was getting sceptical. "Are the guards usually this stealthy?"

Cadance shook her head. "No. Shining Armor gave them the night off. They've been working so hard recently with the threats that the Crystal Empire have been receiving this week."

"That's nice of him," Spike commented. "Where else can we look for Rarity and Shining Armor?"

"They could be anywhere. We'll have to search the whole castle."

"What if they aren't even together?" the purple dragon asked.

"Trust me," Cadance said, irritation clear in her tone. "They're together."

Spike was confused by the sudden change in Cadance's tone. What had she meant by that? "What do you mean―"

"Maybe they're in the library!" the alicorn chipped in, cutting Spike off. He quickly forgot about his previous thought and nodded his head, hopeful.

As they headed to the library, a rather disturbing silence fell over them. Spike didn't know what to say, he was so worried that something awful had happened to Rarity that he could hardly bring himself to speak and he'd assumed the same was happening for Cadance. I mean, they had a baby together! He and Rarity had only gotten married a mere year and a half ago and weren't even considering children together, and not only could Cadance not find her husband but also her best friend, who she'd cared about more than princess-hood. This must have been terrible for her.

It wasn't long before they entered the library, which was so dark, they could barely see their own hooves in front of their faces. Their only source of light was the moonlight shining in through the beautiful stained glass sunroof, barely lighting up the perfectly hoof-stitched tapestries. It was a marvellous sight to see, which, unfortunately, Spike could not.

"Rarity?" he called as quietly as he could, while still being loud enough for somepony to hear. There was no response and Spike's hope started to fade. Cadance didn't seem at all surprised that they weren't there but Spike wasn't concerned about it. Shining Armor wasn't one to read, he preferred action instead of sitting around and concentrating on somepony else's life.

Slightly disappointed, the two of them proceeded to search the castle for their partners, checking every room and every nook and cranny. After several minutes of wandering around the castle, they went down to the kitchen and sat down at the table with a glass of crystal water each.

A long silence wove over them as they took a moment to relax and clear their heads. It had been a stressful few hours, not to mention they'd each only gotten a blink of sleep before waking up in the middle of the night. They looked like trash, dark circles under their eyes and slumped over in their chairs like the walking dead. It was obvious they were both tired and wanted nothing more than to lay down in bed with their loved ones and call it a night, but with Shining Armor and Rarity still missing, it was going to be a while before they could get back to sleep.

The small dragon groaned, his frustration finally getting the better of him. "They're nowhere!"

"I don't understand where they could have gone," the pink pony questioned. "Maybe they went back to their rooms?"

Spike was delighted to hear such an idea. "Of course! That makes perfect sense! We've been searching for so long that they've probably already gone back to the rooms." They quickly finished their glasses then raced off to find Shining Armor and Rarity.

The two of them travelled back to Spike's room first. "I'll go check my room, you check here," Cadance suggested.

Spike nodded along and entered the room. "Rarity?" he called. No response. "Rarity?" He checked the bed; she wasn't there. He checked the closet; she wasn't there. He checked the bathroom; but she wasn't there. Clearly, she hadn't come back. Spike sighed. His paranoia had developed significantly since when he had first woken up. He was unsure of what he needed to do next. Rarity was gone and he didn't know at what point he was supposed to start taking it very seriously. Rarity could be in serious danger, but on the other hand, she may just be somewhere in the castle, possibly looking for him and wondering where he went after she got back from wherever. Just as well.

Spike took a moment to breathe, relaxing. She was okay, surely. How often is Rarity in serious danger? He thought back to the time she was foalnapped by the diamond dogs, how traumatising that was for him to helplessly watch and how even more traumatising that must have been for her. But she dealt with it just fine. She was okay. She's strong. She can get herself out of almost any mess. But that word kept bugging him.

Almost.

He thought about how much worse this must be for Cadance. Sure, there were times he or Rarity had been in serious situations like this but it always worked out. Spike can't even begin to imagine how hard it was for Cadance to have been trapped in the crystal caves for nearly two weeks, alone. How terrified Shining Armor must have been when he found out what happened and how much worse it would have been the second time when he failed to protect her again. Spike couldn't let anything like that happen to Rarity. She had his heart and if something happened to her, his heart would die with her.

Spike got up, tired of being alone and went out to look for Cadance. He went to her room but she wasn't there. That's odd, he thought. He hadn't seen her on the way to her room so she must have gone somewhere else.

As he was leaving the room, something caught his eye. The closet was open slightly. There was a little bit of hair sticking out of it. It was blue. Almost like...no.

He got closer, opened the door and screamed. There Shining Armor was, lying on the ground, a knife buried deep in his chest, blood exuding from the wound. But that wasn't the horrifying part.

Next to him lied Rarity, eyes open, glassy and staring off into the distance with a wooden stake protruding from her head. Blood was dripping down her face and she had a bruise across her jawline. He quickly grabbed her hoof in his claw but it was ice cold.

She was dead.