That's right, yet another monster of mythic proportions is devastating the populace & buildings of our colorful equine heroines. But unlike most, this one seems to stand a chance of wiping everyone out!
* * *
Rarity, that most stylish of Ponyville ponies, groaned as she regained consciousness. What had happened? She remembered the ground shaking her boutique workroom, and a wall collapsing toward her. Luckily it broke apart, so it didn't pin her down.
"Are you alright, Rarity?" The voice of Twilight Sparkle quickly brought her hope in the midst of the chaos & aching.
But then Rarity looked up and saw her friend. Her shriek pierced even the chaos in the night, and would have pierced her friends' eardrums normally!
However, while she saw many of her closest friends, their eardrums were elsewhere (aside from Spike's)--elsewhere as in back in their bodies, wherever those were. For all that Rarity saw were misty spectral forms! "Begone, apparitions! What have I to do with you?!"
The Twilight Sparkle entity face-hoofed. "We're not ghosts! Well, not really; just before the... thing sliced through our meeting, which luckily a -certain- pony missed, at the library--"
"I still say it was a party!"
"Not now, Pinkie! Anyway, I was able to cast some protective magic, but barely enough to keep us from truly dying." She looked up. "Rainbow Dash, any word on medical assistance?"
"Sorry, Twi; the Doc's trapped, & Nurse Redheart's busy with first aid!"
"Rats!" the violet pony cursed. "Hmm... Rarity, if you have Spike's help, do you think you can repair our bodies while we go retrieve the Elements of Harmony? We can use the Elements to send the monster back to whatever plane of existence it's supposed to be, but they won't work without us in our bodies. I can find some magic to reconnect us to them & re-animate them enough for now, and later some healing magic & medical care will have us back to our old selves. But animation won't do much good when we're scattered all over, and if I have to use magic to hold our bodies together on top of all that, I'm afraid I won't have the energy to activate the Elements."
The prissy unicorn was horrified! "How ghastly! You want me to perform a mere patch-job?! Not to mention on corpses!"
Exasperated yet again, the disembodied Twilight growled, "Look, can you do it or not?"
"Oh, fine, but we are looking at several days work if you are to be presentable, and that's without even seeing how many tiny bits you were diced into."
The near-ghost unicorn loomed her face right into Rarity's. "Listen up. That horror is likely to make another pass through here, just before dawn by my calculations."
A familiar high-pitched voice added, "AAAND my Pinkie-Sense! Oh hey, being like this makes me sound spooky! This would be great for telling ghost stories! Oo-wooo-ooo!" She waved her hooves for emphasis. "Hey, when you're a ghost, wouldn't any story you tell automatically be a ghost story?"
Rolling her eyes, Twilight continued, "Yes, and by her Pinkie-Sense. If we don't stop it by sun-up, it could be here for good. Besides, if we don't stop it before it comes through here again, it will probably destroy you!"
Seeing Rarity was unconvinced, Applejack added, "And yer shop!"
Realizing she needed even more reason, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, & Pinkie Pie chimed in: "And your mirrors!" "And darling little Opalescence!" "And your dresses!"
"NOT MY FABULOUS DRESSES!" cried Rarity, possessively. Narrowing her eyes, she commanded, "Spike, bring me to the bodies."
* * *
"OH!" Rarity's disgust showed through her expression as well as her vocalization on seeing the carnage in what remained of the library. "This used to be them?!"
The dragon youngling heaved a trunk of textile supplies to rest in the wreckage. "I'm afraid so! It was weird luck I made it out in mostly a single piece because of where I was; anywhere else on the ground floor and even I'd be dragon kabobs!"
"I've never been more glad to know my sister & her friends are safely out of town with my parents!"
"I bet Applejack and Rainbow Dash feel that way too."
"Oh yes. I hope they're dealing with this well." After a sigh she gathered her courage, "We ought to get started. But how is this to work?"
Spike considered for a moment. "I remember there are a handful of necromancy books around here somewhere... But isn't it basically like making a tight body suit? You make plenty of outfits 'come alive', so this shouldn't be a problem for an artist of your talent!"
"Oh, aren't you sweet, my little Spikey-wikey! Hm, make them come alive, you say...
Stretch & tie, reconnecting sinews Must get them right, or we will surely DIE! Sew the withers so they thrive Tonight a stitch in time saves lives! Set the Cutie Mark on her hip Latex patch the missing bits Restoring all our friends...
"Um, Rarity? You might not want to sew those pieces together, unless you're going for an equine centipede kind of thing," "Oh? Oh, I see now! Thank you for catching that. That would've been horrific, sewing them all together, mouth to haunch!"
Hoof to hock, cannon, fetlock Lip to lip, poll & forelock Clear the mess, barrel-chest Give lungs room, to hold breath It's the art of un-death!
* * *
On returning, Twilight Sparkle inspected her hastily reassembled corpse. "Rarity, I don't remember my eyes being this shade of purple. With the cloth patches they make us look like rag dolls. Are... Are these amethysts? You replaced our eyes with gemstones?"
"Yes, don't they look gorgeous! It was quite the task finding sets matching you this well, without Spike eating them!"
The dragonling defended his honor, "You know very well I only ate the gem you gave me to snack on when I needed a break."
"Ooh! Whoooo! Hey, I can't see my reflection in my eyes. Ooh, if I don't have a reflection maybe I'm a vampire now!" commented Pinkie Pie.
"I think I look kinda cool with these, uh, what are mine called?" asked Rainbow Dash, flapping her wings more because she was used to it than she needed to in order to fly.
"That's rose quartz, sweetie. Couldn't you just die? --Oh, sorry!"
Applejack tried to steer the conversation back to what she figured was Twilight's original point, "So, why didja replace our eyes?"
"The books said the re-animation might use lightning, and one said that under intense shock, eyes are often damaged or at least cloud over. But gems can survive it, I'm sure!"
Taken aback at the logic of the pony's justification, Twilight blinked. "Wow, that really does make sense. Ok, lets get started!"
* *
Soon, as the bodies began to twitch & groan, Rarity laughed dramatically. "They're alive! Spike, they're alive!"
"Yeah, you're a regular Dr Rarinstein."
* *
Later with the conflict resolved and having settled in for a day's rest in a temporary shelter, Spike whispered to the pony in the next bedroll, "Um, Twilight? Thanks for not telling Rarity that the monster was partly my fault!"
"Well, Spike, you're welcome, but you owe me for getting to spend that much time with her. Tomorrow I'm sure I can come up with some way you can repay me for that & the damage to the library."
"Oh, that won't end well!"
* * *
And so the day is saved, thanks to the Magic of Friendship!
