The Cleansing of Misconceptions
As Rarity extracted the gems she had placed in Vanish’s hat, Sweetie Belle watched in awe of her sister at work. During this time, Spitfire remained napping, curled up on an unfixed curtain rather comfortably; Rarity paid no expense in buying the best quality materials she could, even if it was just for a curtain that covered up a section of her shop that was used to display her various works. As for Vanish, his attention was strictly divided very slightly to his pained leg, but mostly to the glare of curiosity and frustration emanating from Twilight Sparkle, as she awaited an official response to her question.
“I don’t use my magic for anything other than my own abilities of stealth, and the occasional usage to make my life slightly easier, like grabbing a scroll for instance. For the record, I only used my magic because I didn’t want to disturb Fluttershy, seeing as how she had been through enough turmoil when my client attacked her earlier.” Vanish kept his eyes fixed on Twilight, letting her know that he wouldn’t divert his attention from her until he was truly finished speaking, as she had requested of him. “I’m not like the other unicorn, and especially not like you. I didn’t get to where I am because of entitlement due to some form of ‘blessing’ by royalty.”
Rarity looked up from her work, having extracted the last of the gems and in the midst of a compulsory check in order to confirm that she had not missed any, as she also used a small suction device in order to clean out the gem shavings that had littered the inside of the hat. “I’ll have you know that I earned my store and profits through hard work and dedication, thank you very much! Humph!” Sticking her nose up at Vanish, she noticed Sweetie Belle copying her, as a means of trying to be like her older sister.
Vanish didn’t turn around. “I cannot deny those words. However, your magic alone is what got you where you are. You earned your fortune and your livelihood through your magic.” Twilight cut in. “But you're the same!” Vanish’s eyes became stern. “I know that, and it is without question that I despise how similar I am to you mares, but I make an attempt to not use my horn consistently. Even ‘on the job’, I could easily obtain things with minimal hoofwork, but choose to utilize everything so as to allow none of my senses to become diluted through lack of use. I’ve been to a lot of places and seen a lot of things, but the solitary creed I follow is to respect the value and effort that comes with hard work and dedication.”
Vanish looked down his nose at Twilight, still frowning. “I’ll pay for my crimes; I don’t deny this. Several ponies have been victims of mine, but there have only been two instances where they knew I was behind things.” Vanish gave a coy smile towards Twilight. “The Pegasi of Cloudsdale, and in turn, the ponies of Ponyville, are the second to know of me.” Rarity had a theory, and she wanted to run with it. “Erm… Was this hat related to the first, by any chance?” Vanish finally broke eye contact with Twilight, turning to glare at Rarity, who nearly poked her hoof with the needle she was using to sew up the fedora, startled by the sudden, swift glare he had made towards her. “That, my dear, is none of your business.”
Twilight decided to temporarily shift the focus of her questions. “Rarity, if you don’t mind me asking, there’s something that’s been on my mind since I started gathering glass shards from outside your store.” Rarity turned her attention to Twilight, as she was going over a final compulsory check of her work. "Oh! Why, I'm sorry, Twilight, I never even noticed that the glass had been picked up! Do forgive me for my ignorance, and thank you for moving them before someone could get hurt." Bowing with respect, Rarity expressed her sincere gratitude as Twilight blushed slightly, not believing that she had done anything of major importance. “Y-You're welcome Rarity, but as I was saying, why are there some backpacks and a broom off to the side? I don’t recall them being there yesterday.”
Sweetie Belle knew it was rude to interrupt, but Rarity could see that her sister wanted to answer the question, so Rarity nodded her head, giving an approving smile in the process which prompted Sweetie Belle to speak in a cheerful manner. “Well, after I left, I spoke to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo at Sugarcube Corner, and we ran straight back here with their schoolbags! I mean, my sis told me that she had an idea for getting our cutie marks, and if it’s my sister’s idea, it has to be good! In fact, we saw you run past us when we opened the door to Sugarcube Corner, but Scootaloo pointed out that my sis wasn’t with you.”
Twilight had a feeling that she knew where this was going, but let Sweetie Belle have her moment, regardless. “When we came back, we saw my sis cleaning up this biiiiig mess, and me and the other Crusaders just walked in through a path she made!” Sweetie Belle was trying to think of what happened next, but seeing the backpacks jogged her memory. “Oh! Apple Bloom asked where her sister was running off to in such a hurry, and as soon as Scootaloo heard that Rainbow Dash was in trouble, she jumped on her scooter and took off!”
Twilight seemed stunned at first, and the look of nervousness on Rarity’s face clearly showcased her own embarrassment, having taken the time that Sweetie Belle took to finish talking, in order for to finish repairing the fedora. “N-Now Twilight, I didn’t mention Rainbow Dash intentionally! I had said that you girls just went to check on Rainbow Dash and, well, Scootaloo started asking me question after question about what I meant by that!” Sweetie Belle mumbled to herself, but her squeaky voice made it easy to hear her. “Well she never would’ve run off if you didn’t answer ‘maybe’ when she asked if Rainbow Dash was in trouble.”
“Sweetie Belle, watch your tone! I wasn’t going to lie to you or your friends about me or my own friends; I just didn’t expect you all to run off so quickly! Why, I didn’t even have time to clean up the rest of the store!” A mutter could be heard nearby. “… ry.” The unicorn ponies turned their attention to the mumbling caused by the stallion who had moved from being next to Twilight, to sitting near Spitfire, making sure the curtain barely covered her up, given how Spitfire kept pulling it back over herself, despite her body still having a flight suit covering it. Vanish noticed that the ponies in the boutique were looking at him, so he repeated himself. “… About the mess. I said ‘I’m sorry’, and for deceiving you all yesterday. I just wanted to be sure what kind of mares you were.”
Nopony expected to hear Vanish apologize, but he seemed to be thinking things over with a look of anxiety. He had been wrong quite often as of late, and it seemed to be weighing deeply on his conscience. Twilight recalled a ‘job policy’ that Vanish had mentioned previously: ‘Never to make friends on the job’. “Vanish doesn’t really have anyone to discuss his problems with aside from himself. But… Does he like it that way?”
Rarity recalled a question that she wanted to ask Vanish, regarding his stance on being a business-oriented stallion, but was hesitant in asking it, given the nature of the question. “V-Vanish, let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that somepony wanted to request your services, and let’s also say that they wanted a deal that was equal to that which Gather is getting.”
The unicorn filly turned to her sister, awestruck at such a question being asked. “Rarity? What are you talking abo-MMPH?!” Twilight ran over to Sweetie Belle and put her hoof over the filly’s mouth, keeping her quiet so that Rarity could finish. “We’re both businessponies, Vanish, so solely for the sake of argument, how much would that cost?” The fashionista gave a nervous smile, knowing that there was no way Vanish would discuss it, but that it couldn’t possibly hurt her stance with him any further.
Vanish could see right through Rarity’s idea, chuckling to himself at the sight of the nervous twitch she was displaying. “In case you haven't noticed, you’re sweating an awful lot; it’s not good for your complexion, my dear.” Rarity swallowed reflexively in paralyzed fear as Vanish looked straight at her, continuing to speak. “I’ll be honest: My client specifically requested…” He paused dramatically, as Rarity knew what was coming. “… for me to divulge the information of our contract negotiations and payment, without hesitation, to anyone bold enough to inquire about such details.” Rarity’s eye twitched in disbelief at the fact that she was about to recieve such crucial information, though she let the stallion continue his means of verbal disclosure. “Our original contract was for my obtainment of the Wings of the Pegasi, up to and including those of the Alicorns of Canterlot. For this, my client is to pay me one hundred-thousand bits.”
“And, erm… w-what if I wanted to buy out his contra-!“ The sound of the bell tower ran through the open entrance to the boutique, interrupting Rarity’s message, much to her chagrin, as the stallion overtook her chance at getting information. “I’m sorry my dear, but the time for questions is over.” Vanish stood up, and nudged Spitfire to wake her up from her nap. “You’ve got a kingdom to protect, and I’ve got wings to collect.”
Vanish began to walk out of the Boutique, stopping to turn his attention back to the fedora, using his magic to bring it over to him. He felt the inner layer of it with a part of his hoof, taking note of how smooth it had become. Stopping the use of his magic, he used his hoof to toss it in the air and onto his horn, before turning back around to the mares in Carousel Boutique. Smiling with unknown intentions in mind, he left one final offer hanging in the air: “Let’s take the train, together.”