Twilight had stood motionless for hours after her long lost assistant had left, the white unicorn fast on his tail. The alicorn's stone legs were rigid, immovable, and guilt-racked, but also weak, lifeless, and as unstable as her thoughts. She could think of nothing but the harsh words she had exchanged with Spike, and how Rarity had come seemingly from nowhere to comfort him. Not only that, but her special somepony had ran after the dragon, and left her behind, the purple mare's heart in tatters. Everypony seemed so eager to run away from Twilight. 'Why?' she asked herself over and over again. 'Why? First Spike, and now Rarity. Why does everypony I love keep leaving me? Am I not good enough? Have I not been a good caretaker? Have I not been a good partner?'

Twilight's continued self ridicule was too much for her legs to bare. The mare collapsed into a heap of purple, lonely, defeated, and incomplete wreckage of her former self image, as if somepony had taken the one piece of the sculpture that made it stand tall and crushed it with the brute force of lost love, leaving the once beautiful statue to fall and crumble under its own weight. 'What is wrong with me? Instead of coming out of the woods to aid me with my pain, she comforted Spike. Instead of staying to rescue me from my regrets, she chased after Spike.' Twilight's demeanor turned from sadness and guilt to that of anger and blame. 'It's always been about Spike, hasn't it Rarity? You never loved me. It was always him.'

A voice of reason still lingered within Twilight, and responded in place of her marshmallow lover. 'Don't be silly, Twilight. Rarity knows how much Spike means to you; she's only trying to help.' The inner struggle had begun. Years of doubt, guilt, regret, angst, and fear were about to come face to face with the princess' love for her elegant white mare.

'She's only helping herself; generosity my flank! I bet she's known where Spike has been all along. If Celestia will keep secrets from me, why wouldn't little miss pure of heart Rarity?' Rage was the only emotion Twilight could feel anymore. Rage at herself, rage at her former assistant, rage at her lover, rage at her teacher, rage at her friends, rage at the universe itself. 'Was it so hard for anything to work out the way I wanted?'

The spark of rationality and love that was her former self had not died in the alicorn yet, and was prepared to fight until she could no longer, if the mare had to. 'Spike's intentions were in the right place. Spike wanted to give our love a chance, and he thought if he stuck around, he'd get in the way. He made Celestia promise not to tell us where he was so he could write her and keep up with how his friends were doing. Spike did all of this for us! He's just been waiting for the right time to come back, even if he never had to leave in the first place.'

Her furious indignation was not satisfied. 'That still doesn't answer why Rarity would care where he was, or why she'd leave me here in the middle of the forest to chase after her real love!'

Her love, of course, had an answer. 'She's not chasing her love, she's trying to bring my baby dragon back. We all miss him, but Rarity knows I miss him the most. She doesn't care about her own feelings; she cares about mine. She wants me to be happy, and if she has to go to the ends of Equestria to bring Spike back to me, she'll do it.'

Her fears were losing ground, and both versions of herself knew it. 'You don't really believe that, do you? Spike didn't come back, you found him by accident while he was trying to take Rarity away! Stop being so stubborn! If he really was writing to Celestia, why would he come to find you? He doesn't want you, and neither does Rarity.'

Clarity was beginning to come to Twilight. None of her worries were ever truly about Spike; she had always known they would one day part ways. Her true fear was in losing Rarity at this very moment. Her path to defeating the anger and woe within her now realized, the princess was ready to fight back her doubts with vigor and understanding.

'That's ridiculous! Spike would never do that! Even if he did, Rarity would never leave me, and she definitely would never leave Amethyst . We're just too important to her. She loves us. She adores us. She cares about us. She always will. Rarity would give up everything to keep us safe, if she had to.' Twilight stood slowly, tears of resentment becoming tears of joy. She was winning; her true self was winning, and now was the time to deliver the coup de grâce to all her fears, doubts, and worries. This time, Twilight spoke aloud.

"This isn't about me, or Spike; this is about Rarity. My Rarity. I don't care what stands in my way. I am going to find her. We've faced manticores, dragons, and changelings. We've faced a dark king, a rouge agent of chaos, and a princess who lost her way. Nothing can stop our love." Twilight stomped a firm hoof upon the cold, dark ground of the forest. "Absolutely nothing. Our love can never fail. We will always be together, and we will be happy, through all of our ups and downs, triumphs and victories, toils and troubles. And you know what? Everything is going to be fine." The mare paused. 'Fine' didn't seem quite good enough. "No; this time, everything is going to be amazing."

Twilight was once again the majestic manifestation of love and friendship she was destined to be. The purple princess galloped into the dusk, her new realization blazing a trail into the unknown. She may not know where to start, but one thing was certain; when Twilight found Rarity, they would never be apart again.