//------------------------------//
// Patience 
// Story: Patience is a Virtue 
// by Linkinshire 
//------------------------------//

Patience

Rarity waits.
She's gotten awfully good at it in recent months. 
She's managed to perfect her sitting position on the familiar bench, one leg crossed over the other, her back straight and patience unshakable. It used to bother her, the waiting that is, but as time passed by she grew to realise that her frustrations were unwarranted. She cannot speed up time or change things, all she can do is sit on that bench, looking her best, and wait.

She could be back at her boutique, finding work to do but business had been rather slow as of late. So many ponies had left...
Her eyes lower for a moment, a gentle sigh escaping her before she smiles again. She's become such a patient mare. Her darling would be proud of her. 
It hadn't been a well known fact about Rarity that she had been impatient, she'd often disguised it through constant creativity but she had been and it had often pained her to stand around and do nothing, even if it meant not getting her hooves dirty.
She's done a little more of that in the past months as well. She's often walked places, imagining the comfort of her dearest companion by her side, humming a tune and smiling at her widely and in such a way as to warm her like the sun's rays. 
Was there a better feeling?
She opens her eyes, having only just noticed that she'd had them closed, so lost in memories she was for a moment. She looks up to the clouds above, shaking her head gently at the sight that greets her. The sky is blanketed in thick and heavy grey, the signs of an approaching storm are clear. Scattered showers was meant on the agenda today but the weather ponies couldn't quite do as good a job as one certain cyan mare could. They couldn't do the job in ten seconds flat. And they were so short staffed nowadays. 
Rarity might even consider herself rather lucky that Ponyville isn't in the same state as the Everfree with all that's going on.
But still. She does miss the streak of a rainbow across the sky... Perhaps not quite as much as her darling but powerfully all the same and she can't help but feel a pang at the lack of colour amongst the expanse of sky that was her friend's canvas. Rarity smiles, a tinge of sadness escaping. 
She might not be able to wait as long as usual today if a storm's brewing. It wouldn't do good to be sick if-... when her companions return.
She rises from her seat and straightens the collar on her coat before she takes her umbrella in her telekinetic grip and makes her way steadily back towards her home...

The sun is shining today. She can't help but marvel at the willpower of the weather ponies, even as their numbers continue to lessen. More and more are sent away towards the unknown each week yet they continue to clear the skies. She sees movement above and her eyes widen as they focus upon a familiar mare.
“Oh, Fluttershy... You may not be a weather pony but you'll try anyway,” She murmurs fondly. Her friend looks determined, far more resilient. It is of no doubt that being in close contact with those sent to collapse exhaustion can impact a mare. Rarity doesn't doubt that Fluttershy is replacing somepony, allowing them the rest they desperately deserve. She wishes she could help but... her magic isn't quite what it used to be.
She watches her friend for a while, deciding that it's likely Cloudkicker that she's working in the stead of. The poor mare had looked so drawn yesterday...
“Rarity!” 
She is pulled out her thoughts by a chipper voice and a smile forms as she looks to her pink coated friend.
“Pinkie Pie, it's been too long, my dear!” She greets warmly.
“Well, we've all been super duper busy!” Pinkie replies as she skips over daintily and takes a seat beside Rarity on her most favourite of benches. It allows her to catch the morning rays is she comes early and the vast tree canopy above provides shelter from the midday sun which tends to be somewhat uncomfortable on odd days when the Princess is distracted. Nothing drastic, of course, she wouldn't risk her ponies health but it doesn't quite line up like it used to.
“That we have, Pinkie. I heard you've been working with Twilight on something?” Rarity says and Pinkie beams at her.
“It's a special something for Luna. The Princess thinks it could help fix everything and then ponies can come home again,” She replies.
“That sounds wonderful, darling. May I ask what this 'special something for Luna' is?” Rarity quips, her curiosity peaked and Pinkie giggles.
“I don't think I could explain it properly and if I tried, Twilight might tell me off for mixing up things like quantum mechanics and the regular kind that the stallion around the corner does with broken carts,” She explains and Rarity laughs lightly.
They are interrupted by a piercing whistle and they both look towards the source, ears perking for a moment. The train unloads it's passengers, bellowing out steam. Only a small few step out of the carriages.
Pinkie Pie sighs and Rarity looks back to her as the train chugs away steadily down the track.
“Something wrong, dear?” Rarity asks caringly. She knows something is already, Pinkie Pie doesn't sigh for no good reason and she also has a rather good indication as to what is bothering her friend. The look on her face is quite startlingly familiar. She sees it every morning in her mirror after she wakes up alone.
“I miss them...” Pinkie murmurs and her ears droop. Her mane isn't limp around her shoulders but it is unpleasantly close. Rarity reaches out a hoof and rests it over Pinkie's gently.
“They'll be back, Pinkie Pie.”
“But when?” Pinkie questions and Rarity smiles at her slightly.
“Soon... They won't be gone forever, darling,” She soothes and Pinkie smiles again, perking.
“I know. It's just sometimes, I think about them and I get this achy feeling in my chest like there's something missing and it gets a little hard to breath and my throat gets all tight...” She says and Rarity smiles gently and knowingly.
“I'm sure that Rainbow Dash misses you dearly too, Pinkie.”
Pinkie pouts.
“I try not to pick favourites, even if I love Dashie in a different way, because I don't want it to seem like I miss some of my friends more than others when they're gone,” She says and Rarity pats her hoof softly before glancing around and leaning close.
“I must admit, I'm a little prone to picking favourites too,” She whispers in a conspirators tone and Pinkie laughs heartily then wraps Rarity in a brief but tight hug.
“Thanks, Rarity! I feel a lot better now!” She chirps.
“I'm very glad,” The alabaster unicorn replies sincerely.
“I'd better get back to Twilight now. She mentioned something about condensing and liquefying Pinkie sense and she had that ear twitch so I probably shouldn't keep her waiting long,” Pinkie says quite seriously, looking off towards the Book and Branches library.
“Quite right too. Twilight is a dear but she does get rather...”
“Crazy?”
“I was going to say focussed,” Rarity protests and Pinkie giggles as she hops back to her hooves, her entire form bubbling with energy.
“Surrrreeee you were.”
“Don't go breaking the laws of Physics now, Pinkie. She's likely rather delicate,” Rarity advises with a smile.
“Okie dokie, Rarity! I'll see you later!” Pinkie says cheerfully and she bounces off down the street. Rarity watches her skid to a halt and pause a moment before bright blue eyes look back to her. “I bet she misses you too!” She calls and only for a moment is Rarity puzzled before it clicks and her smile widens as her friend vanishes.
She almost hopes that she isn't missed too much. The last thing she wants is for her darling to be distracted. 
She waits a while longer, lost in thought, then she makes her way down the street towards her boutique, after all, those influx of orders she got this morning aren't going to fill themselves...

She is considerably more tired than she is used to feeling this early in the morning but then again, her talent isn't metalwork, no matter what kind of garments she's making and metalwork is far more labour intensive than she's used to. It's made especially difficult by the problems with her magic, ones that Twilight, despite her best efforts, can't fix.
She has made sure she looks as well as she can though before she sets off for her most regular of destinations. The air is rather bitterly cold now. Autumn has come and gone and winter is intent upon leaving it's mark. 
She has wrapped up securely in a scarf, hat, boots and her warmest faux-fur lined coat.
She can still feel the chill. 
She arrives at her bench then dusts it clear of the snow before sitting down. The oak tree behind her shields her from the worst of the wind and she's almost warm. That tree is swiftly becoming rather special to her. It's like silent company, a stranger stood nearby to occupy the emptiness yet not being at all invasive.
Rarity takes a deep breath of the crisp air, her eyes closing as her breath condenses on her exhale. It's refreshing and cleansing. Her darling does so love winter.
Rarity sits and basks in the calm and silence and she waits.
She waits like she has done for precisely a year now.
She'll keeping waiting as long as she must. After all, her darling asked her to...