Rarity got on her hoofs, grabbed her saddlebag with her aura, and put it back on. A quick spell tweaked to locate garnet helped her find the ring amongst the debris. She couldn’t see Marigold, but Swift hadn’t gone anywhere and was waiting to be noticed. Once Rarity looked at her, Swift pointed in the direction Marigold had gone and took off in pursuit. Rarity galloped down the street, silently thanking the ponies who had noticed a scene was playing out and had gotten out of the way.
It didn’t take long for Rarity to catch up with Marigold, who had gotten slowed down by traffic. The scent of the sea and watermelons became more pronounced as she entered the harbor market. Stalls selling goods of all sorts were along the path leading to the docks. Merchants competed for the attention of customers by attempting to outdo the competition with colored banners and extravagant signs. A shadow covered the ground as an airship sailed through the sky. Strolling down the market without a care in the world was preferable to gazing intently at the rump of a unicorn foolish enough to consort with demons.
Swift flew in low directly above them. Her belly almost touched the top of Marigold’s head. Rarity was close enough to watch Swift attempt to drop a garnet ring over Marigold’s horn. Marigold cast a barrier spell. The ring bounced off it and fell behind her. She bucked it with her hind leg. The ring sailed through the air directly towards Rarity, who turned her head just in time for the ring to collide with her cheek instead of her horn.
Rarity noticed a vendor up ahead attempting to sell a variety of surf boards out of season at half-price. She sent her magic forward, seizing a board with a psychedelic tie-dye design. The board moved out of the shop on its side, much to the surprise of the owner and her patrons. Marigold jumped over the board at the last second. Rarity thought of a sentence with a series of words seldom uttered in Equestria and leapt over her own failed trap.
Swift dove from the sky, attempting to catch Marigold in a vicious tackle. Marigold teleported out of the way, letting Swift slam into the dirt with all her armor still on. Rarity came to an abrupt stop right in front of Swift’s mangled form.
TwiCord popped out of Rarity’s saddlebag and stood beside Marigold. “Keep going, Rarity. I’ll take care of this soldier and catch up with you in a minute.” She bowed her head to get a better look at Swift. “Now, on a scale of one to ten with ten being the worst pain imaginable---”
“Eight!” Swift screamed.
Rarity resumed her chase just as eight pegasus ponies appeared in the sky above her.
“Citizens, clear the streets!” said the voice of a stallion pegasus pony, amplified with the aid of a megaphone. “Do not attempt to apprehend the mare we are after! She is dangerous!”
Marigold had gotten way ahead of Rarity. Three pegasus stallions landed directly in front of Marigold and charged with their armor pointed forward. Marigold’s reflexes were too quick. She teleported again, evading them. The stallions recovered just as quickly and took to the air once again.
Three of the pegasus stallions hurled their sleep discs at her. Rarity watched the circular weapons sail towards Marigold. Even if a sleep disc struck a barrier, it would still knock out the caster. The discs also locked on to their targets, which made them almost impossible to dodge. Marigold glanced behind her. Three innocent bystanders were dragged into the fray against their will by Marigold’s aura and promptly put to sleep. After having struck something, the discs returned to the soldiers that had thrown them.
“Don’t use the discs!” one of the soldiers said. “This unicorn ain’t no slouch!”
“Marigold!” Rarity called. “You are only making this harder on yourself!”
Rarity’s charisma wasn’t high enough to persuade Marigold to stop. It didn’t matter. She was going to run out of steam soon. The soldiers in the sky were waiting for it. Marigold turned a corner. Rarity found herself running down a street between an area of lush vegetation. Trees had been planted along both sides of the path to provide ambiance for those using it. A single building was at the end of the road. It had a design so modern it could only be taken seriously as a theater.
Marigold showed no sign of surrendering. She intended to hide inside the theater. The pegasus soldiers would surround the building. Earth ponies would arrive alongside unicorns. Marigold’s ill-fated escape would end painfully for her if Rarity couldn’t convince her to go along willingly and save some of her dignity.
A quick look at the marquee revealed that the theater was showing a production of Sapphire and Blaze, an opera about two lovers from opposite clans set before ponies had stopped fighting with each other. Rarity had never seen it since she felt it sounded too much like Amber and Shade, which was a play she had read in high school about two lovers from opposing families that took place right after ponies had stopped fighting with each other. A winning formula was never retired early.
Three staff members of the theater were chatting with each other behind the lavish front desk when Marigold came bursting through the front door with Rarity right behind her. They called after them in vain. Marigold went into the theater. Music filled the air from an orchestra pit as a pegasus mare dressed in a white gown walked down the middle of a stage built to resemble the balcony of an ancient castle. A spotlight followed her.
Her beautiful song drifted down from the stage.
Oh, my hero, so far away now.
Will I ever see your smile?
Not if Marigold had anything to do with it. Confused attention centered on Rarity as she joined Marigold up on the stage. The music wobbled as the musicians became aware that the play had been compromised and the actress Rarity pinned as playing Sapphire had her mouth open, but no words were coming out. Marigold stopped in the middle of the stage and surrounded herself with a barrier. Rarity collided with it and was flung back a few hoofs.
“Enough!” Marigold shouted. “I’m through playing around.”
Rarity struggled to catch her breath. “The deal you were given earlier still stands. Surrender now and the princess will be lenient.”
“I had to go through a haunted mine to get what little lunatoite I have and I’m not giving it up for any price,” Marigold said. “Why couldn’t you have just taken the copy? It was practically flawless!”
“Say you have two swords,” Rarity said. “One is made with real lunatoite and the other is not.”
“I know how this example ends. The fake one breaks easier than the real one. But you know what? That fake sword still performs better than one made of any other material. Why is the original so important?”
“Because I am not in the habit of tricking my clients with fabricated materials.”
Marigold laughed at her. “You’re an idiot. It wouldn’t have mattered. They trust you. Even if they didn’t, you know how good my copy was. All of this could have been avoided.”
“I think you’re missing the point.”
The orchestra pit started playing a brooding tune to accompany the action of the stage. As they always said, the show must go on. The musicians were doing a fine job of carrying it.
“Unicorn spies!” Sapphire said. “I must go to my father.” She passed Rarity and went backstage.
“You’re just stalling for time until the guards are out in full force,” Marigold said. “They won’t be a problem. And neither will you, for that matter.” A sinister, black aura enveloped her. “I’m going to make you regret this. I wish you had your cheap necklace with you. That would make this fair.”
The glow surrounding Marigold emitted a malicious energy that seemed intent on tearing her apart. Goosebumps lined Rarity’s skin. She already had a plan. The oldest trick in the book. Down in the orchestra pit, the band changed its tune to accompany the impending battle. Rarity moved to the left, which got Marigold to move to the right. There was one chance to end her hissy fit, but it required another inch before it could be implemented. Rarity bit her quivering bottom lip, feigning helplessness. Marigold seemed none the wiser and continued circling her like prey.
Rarity sent her magic out towards the spotlight, which hadn’t moved since the interruption. Marigold reared back, ready to throw her dreadful spell at Rarity. The spotlight focused its beam right in her eyes. Marigold cried out in pain. A black bolt of energy shot out of her horn and headed for the ceiling. Rarity couldn’t see what it struck, but ash rained on the stage.
Marigold buried her eyes in a forearm, leaving her vulnerable. Her horn protruded from the top of her limb. It was now or never. Rarity took the ring from her saddlebag and sent it towards its target with the aid of telekinesis. A click emitted from the ring once it settled over Marigold’s horn. It was a perfect fit.
The reaction losing magic produced seldom changed. Marigold gasped, screamed at the top of her lungs, and tried desperately to get the ring off with a hoof. A victorious melody led by trumpets erupted from the orchestra. The audience cheered. It seemed like the right moment to take a bow. Since Rarity wasn’t sure when she would have another opportunity like this, she did so. A few roses found their way on stage, landing in front of her.
Five pegasus soldiers and three unicorn soldiers joined Rarity on stage. Sapphire and a pegasus pony dressed as a king also appeared accompanied by two soldiers dressed in armor from a different era.
“Father, the spy has been subdued by the. . .by the other spy,” Sapphire said, reaching for a proper narrative through desperate improvisation. “Tell us, fair mare with the elegant purple mane and pure white coat. Have you done this for our benefit?”
They started nodding. Rarity could take a hint. She gave them an elegant pose, drawing a holler of approval from one member of the audience. “I certainly have.”
Sapphire squealed. “Wonderful! You see, father? Not all unicorns are bad. You should allow me to marry Blaze instead of Quark.”
“Let’s not get carried away, Sapphire. How about we let the guards take care of the rest of this and you finish that lovely song you were trying to sing before you were so rudely interrupted?”
“Great idea, dad!”
The actors playing guards led everyone backstage, which prompted a final round of applause from the crowd. Marigold refused to move and had to be carried in the combined aura of the unicorn soldiers. Once they were behind the curtain, Marigold broke free of the aura and collapsed to the floor. A unicorn soldier retrieved her saddlebags and put them on while she tried with all her might to remove the ring. The guards let her have a tantrum in front of the bewildered cast and crew of the play as the song from earlier began playing.
“Would you stop that?” Rarity asked, concerned for Marigold’s image. “You look like a fish out of water when you flop around on the floor like that.”
“Mind your own business, wench!” Marigold said.
With her face turning a worrying shade of purple, Marigold picked up a crowbar and tried hooking the chisel to the ring, prompting the soldiers to restrain her before she broke her own horn. A sudden influx of light made Rarity wince. Sapphire’s father had opened the backstage door for them. Marigold refused to cooperate and needed to be shoved outside.
TwiCord was there to greet everyone, signing a few autographs for the soldiers with her. The group with Rarity forced Marigold to stand in front of TwiCord, whose smug smile had returned. Too much of Discord was leaking through his disguise. Luckily, he didn’t need to pose as Twilight for much longer. Rarity heard a sudden sound that perplexed her until she realized it came from Marigold grinding her teeth as she waited for Twicord to say something.
Ignoring Marigold, TwiCord addressed the soldier carrying her booby-trapped saddlebags. “I’ll need to have a look at those.”
With safety in mind, TwiCord levitated the saddlebags a considerable distance away from the group. She kept it in the air and spun it around so that the contents would fall to the gravel road. The left pocket opened without much fanfare, but the right one set off some sort of explosion that covered the ground beneath the bags in poison ivy. It occurred to Rarity that TwiCord could have done this in the first place, saving them a lot of trouble. She had wanted Marigold to run and intended for Rarity to chase after her. There wasn’t a thing Rarity could do about it.
Successfully disarmed, TwiCord could now conjure what had been tucked away inside the voids the bags carried. Lunatoite spilled out of the right pocket. Rarity knew enchanted bags could hold quite a bit more than their traditional counterpart, but what she saw still struck her as comical. There was enough to make a few suits of armor.
Or a unique brooch for a wedding dress.
TwiCord turned to the guard closest to her, who wore the rank of captain. “Okay, all of that stuff is ours since we paid for it. Here are her bags. Be careful with them. There might be additional traps.” TwiCord faced Marigold and stomped her front hoof on the ground a few times. “Using my authority as a princess, I will now determine what measures should be taken to correct Marigold Wisp’s behavior.”
“I want a lawyer!” Marigold roared. “I have a right to a fair trial! This is a kangaroo court!”
Rarity couldn’t imagine how Marigold was still standing. If she ever got that angry, she would have passed out ten minutes ago. Most of the wrinkles Marigold would have on her face later in life were being made as her adrenal glands continued to pump out pure rage.
TwiCord wasn’t impressed. “Alright, how about this, then? Take a moment and consider what you are guilty of. Do you want a regular judge to determine what should happen to you, or are you more comfortable taking your chances with me?”
It was horrifying. And ironic. But mostly horrifying. Discord, banned in the city. Passing judgment. Granted, Marigold’s crimes were far more heinous than his. Rarity imagined Discord would need to steal Twilight’s mail for the next few days if gossip about the incident didn’t get to her first.
Marigold sneered. “Forget what I just said.”
“A wise choice. You were willingly selling counterfeit goods. That’s not so bad. Your real mistake was begging demons to make your life easier. I have a few questions for you. It would be a good idea for you to answer truthfully. How did you learn to summon demons?”
The smile Marigold gave was appropriate for the question she had been asked. “You can put together what you need to do using three common encyclopedias and a number of reference books. Would you like me to name them for you so you can get started on the reissued editions?”
“That won’t be necessary. You’re not capable of giving them what they require in exchange for personal favors. There will be some pony who is, but I’ll worry about that when it happens. Here’s my next question. Why do you want to become an alicorn? Be specific, I’m grading your answer.”
“Everyone should have access to that spell!” Marigold shouted. “Members of the guard should be able to earn it. Instead, you just have to be in good with the princesses. That’s utter nonsense! I’m a graduate of Celestia’s school of magic. I achieved the rank of intermediate before I got bored, joined the guard as a mage to see what the world is really like, and watched the unit I was in get trounced by the kraken we were attempting to get rid of during my first assignment. For the trauma I endured, I was granted an early discharge. I later found out that Luna came down and dealt with the monster herself. Alone. It sure would have been nice if it had occurred to someone up in the chain of command that you should definitely send an alicorn to deal with a kraken!”
TwiCord rolled her eyes. “Let’s say I make you an alicorn right now. What would you do?”
Marigold’s anger temporarily abated as she entertained the fantasy. “I’d get back into the guard and clear my ruined name.”
“That’s nice. You know, I happened to read the report about the kraken while all the other princesses and myself were deciding who should get sent out. It’s so funny. One of the survivors mentioned a unicorn mare who left the battle early after the attempt to negotiate with the beast failed. There were two mares in that unit and only one of them was a unicorn. That couldn’t have been you, right?”
Rarity caught TwiCord’s slip. Discord had evidently been a part of that conversation. She didn’t have time to dwell on it. The trial went silent. Rarity heard the ocean in the background and the wind blowing across her ears. Nothing else.
Regret smothered Marigold’s anger. “I did the best I could. If I had more power, I wouldn’t be so weak.”
“I’d be more inclined to have sympathy for you if I didn’t know Princess Luna used many of the spells at the immediate disposal of unicorns bearing your rank to subdue the kraken. I guess she just knew how to use them better than you did.”
The criticism directed towards her only served to darken Marigold’s mood. “I did read that report. It’s nonsense. She’s lying. We should never have been sent out to deal with that thing in the first place.”
TwiCord couldn’t have cared less. “Your villainy earns a D plus, Marigold, and that’s only because I’m being generous. Here is your sentence. Magic will not be given back to Marigold Wisp until four months have passed. During that time, she must receive counseling and produce a heartfelt five-thousand-word essay on why Luna did not lie about her encounter with the kraken. This essay is to be addressed to me and written well enough to receive a passing grade.”
A few of the guards groaned.
One of them spoke up. “Princess, with all due respect, what if she starts a cult, or something?”
Another was encouraged by the first. “Yeah, what if she shares her knowledge with the type of character capable of making deals with demons?”
TwiCord addressed both of her dissenters. “That would be fantastic. It would make life a little more interesting, wouldn’t it?”
Some guards squinted. A few heads reared back, lips curling upwards in disgust. Rarity cleared her throat and shook her head. A correction was needed.
TwiCord rushed to redact her brazen comments. “Excuse me, I misspoke. Without the direct aid of magic, it will be a lot more difficult for Marigold to conjure demons. I’m sure she will realize the error of her ways by the time she can use magic again. If she doesn’t, perhaps she will after an entire year without it.”
All the guards nodded in agreement. Twilight’s image had been partially restored.
TwiCord touched the guard who held Marigold’s saddlebags on the shoulder. “I’ll head down to the station and help with processing Marigold once I’ve finished gathering my lunatoite.”
Salutes were given and the guards led Marigold away from the theater. She seemed like the type to opt for revenge. Rarity had to wonder how Twilight would react to learning that she had gained a new foe through Discord’s impersonation of her. A look of genuine surprise followed by a sigh and a slight shake of the head. The same reaction most would give to a foal who had been caught drawing on a wall. Rarity filed the worry away and focused on the silver lining of the cloud hanging over her head. Her quest was nearly complete. One final ingredient remained.
Bagging the lunatoite presented no challenge. Rarity made sure to verify the authenticity of each stone her aura touched. She arranged the pieces she intended to bag into a small pile. A quick spell revealed that she took more than she paid for. Rarity discarded a larger sample for a smaller one. The amount weighed just slightly over three pounds. Her conscience allowed her to accept it. There were plenty of leftovers. She’d be stealing if she took any more. Rarity turned to find TwiCord looking right at her, which she found unnerving.
“Give the rest back to Marigold,” Rarity said. “It belongs to her. Do be sure to thaw Talbot out before you head down to the jail. You’ll need his testimony. Grab two dozen of his candles for me so I can sell them like I promised I would once all this is over with. Are we going to use every bit of the lunatoite I purchased, or will there still be some left for me to work with?”
“How much were you hoping to keep?” TwiCord asked.
“Enough to fashion an accessory for a wedding dress.”
TwiCord considered the recipe. “Yeah, that will be fine. It will cut down how sweet our nugget will taste, but that might be for the best. I’ll send you home now, if you would like.”
“Yes, that would be kind of you.”
“You can expect Discord to arrive at the usual time. What was the last ingredient again? Enchanted moonstone. He saved the best for last, didn’t he?” TwiCord confirmed they were alone before continuing. “Don’t move.”
Before Rarity could protest, she became acutely aware that she had just been transformed into a golf ball with a tiny horn protruding from the top of her form. An even tinier orange saddlebag was secured to her horn. She landed perfectly on a tee. Rarity attempted to speak, but found that she had been robbed of her ability to do so.
TwiCord stood up on her hind legs. A pelican landed next to her, carrying an iron golf club with a large head. TwiCord accepted the gift and placed the head of the club on what Rarity understood to be her rump.
Giggling, TwiCord prepared to swing. “This won’t hurt one bit, I promise.”
True to her word, the impact produced no pain. Rarity could do nothing but sit back and enjoy the ride. The world became a blur as she traveled through it at a speed that would make Dash jealous. She nearly collided with several birds and pegasus ponies along her ascent to the apex of the arc she was following. Squawks, screams, and harsh language filtered through the sound of the wind rushing through her ears. Or whatever passed for her ears.
She reached the top of the arc at what she assumed was the halfway point to Ponyville, flying over an airship transporting supplies. The bewildered crew on deck stopped working to watch her glide forward for a few seconds until she fell over their starboard side.
A storm system failed to slow her descent. She passed right through a lightning bolt without acquiring an injury. The terrain beneath her started to become familiar. By her estimation, a mere minute remained until she would be home. As much as she hated to admit it, she found the roller coaster she was on preferable to teleportation. It was much less disorienting since the destination was physically observable.
The Castle of Friendship became visible. Rarity braced for impact. Knowing Discord, she expected something extravagant. She was heading right for Carousel Boutique. Rarity tried to move herself to the left, but her effort accomplished nothing. She crashed through the window behind the front desk, knocking Applejack’s hat off in the process. Rarity bounced off the floor, grazed the muzzle of a customer who was just browsing, ricocheted off two walls, and landed inside of an empty waste bucket. She spun around the bottom ring a dozen times before coming to a complete stop.
“What in tarnation is goin’ on?” Applejack asked. “Holy moly, is that you, Rarity?”
At some point in time she had morphed out of her golf ball form and was lying on her back with the waste bucket over her head. Her saddlebag was wrapped around her face, making it a little difficult to breath. Rarity pulled the bucket off her head with the help of her aura and yanked the saddlebag hugging her face with her hoofs. Her mane and tail were an absolute mess. She placed the blame on the bolt of electricity she had passed through.
The front door opened and slammed against the wall. Rainbow Dash had arrived. “Applejack, did you see how fast that meteorite was going? Where did it land? I wanna see it!”
“There ain’t no space rock, Dash,” Applejack said. She turned her attention to Rarity. “How bad was it?”
Elegance was required. The fun was over for the day. There was no need to be stressed. Discord would take care of the hard part when it came time to break the news to Twilight.
Rarity got back on her hoofs. “I’m not quite sure yet. I think I’ll lean towards worse than yesterday, but not in a way either of us could have predicted. I got off easy. I did a lot of running and I had to outwit a maniac who summoned two demons in hopes of learning what spell transforms the caster into an alicorn. There might be some diplomatic repercussions to Discord’s actions, but nobody is going to lose their throne over them.”
Dash chimed in. “You went on an adventure? With Discord? And there were demons? That’s rich. What for?”
There was no harm in telling her. “Spike’s birthday present.”
“Whoa!” Dash nodded in approval. “Looks like I’m going to get shown up at his party, then. It must be something really cool.”
“Yes, I hope he enjoys it.” Otherwise, Rarity would be devastated. “How were things at the shop, Applejack?”
“There was a rush on socks earlier,” Applejack replied. “Everyone who bought a pair said that their old pair had worn out. That’s kind of a waste of money, if you ask me. Unless there’s a hole big enough to shove your whole hoof through, they ain’t worn out.”
“Some ponies can’t stand having to constantly pull their socks up, dear.”
Dash thumped her chest. “I’m one of them.”
Rarity equipped her saddlebag. “Applejack, give me a chance to make myself presentable. Once I’m done, you can go home early.”
Applejack smirked. “Gee, that might take until this afternoon. I guess I won’t be goin’ home early after all.”
Dash pointed at the new hole the side of the building had. “What are you going to do about the window?”
The final word in Dash’s sentence triggered a spell. Broken fragments of glass floated back to the hole in the wall and joined to rebuild the window. Rarity gave it a tap to test its strength and nodded to herself.
“Window!” Dash said again, hoping for something more. Nothing happened.
“I’ll make this quick, Applejack,” Rarity said as she headed for the stairs.
“Wait,” Dash said. “So, what was that thing that flew in here?”
“You can’t figure it out?” Applejack asked. “That was Rarity. Discord turned her into something and threw her here from wherever they were at.”
Rarity could still hear Dash laughing when she entered her bedroom. While her trip had been humiliating, it was also something she could easily pretend didn’t happen if it ever popped up in a conversation later down the line since there weren’t many witnesses. Bigger problems required her immediate attention. Getting away from Discord and returning home meant trading one project for the one she had made a career of. She would design the brooch and take it easy for the rest of the day since she had a feeling tomorrow would be as intense as the last scary story in an anthology. Nothing could prepare her for it. She could only focus on keeping her stress low and reacting appropriately to the beating she was sure to receive. A warm cup of tea and a novel would help get the clock moving.