//------------------------------// // I Used To Wonder What Friendship Could Be // Story: The Path of Lore and Kings // by PassionQuill //------------------------------// Chapter 7: I Used To Wonder What Friendship Could Be “Come on, Loré. You have to admit she was really nice and helpful.” “I don’t have to admit anything,” grumbled Loré back at Namworth as they slowly walked through Ponyville. “She only did what was expected of somepony running a town library. Let’s not give her any more credit than she actually deserves,” skulked Loré with a bit more of a hesitant and soft tone which was followed by a sigh. The two eventually came to a stop in front of a rather strange looking building in contrast with the rest of the town. Loré glared intensely at the festive conglomerations of purple, pink, white, and blue as they made up and endless assortment of patterns and shapes on the tall building belonging to the recommended seamstress. “I don’t even know why I agreed to walk over here,” snarled Loré as she stood a few steps from the door. “Twilight said her friend would help us, and we do need warm clothes for when we get up north. Well, you need the clothes, my feathers are really warm.” Namworth smiled contently over the thought of his feathers being all he needed. “Maybe I should just make a coat out of you then,” Loré said while casting Namworth a quick glance. She sighed and reluctantly opened the door as she added, “But, you’re right. I just hope we’ll get a discount or something because of the royal twit sending us here.” A small bell above the door rang elegantly as Loré entered the house with Namworth. They both looked around at the different mannequins where some had full outfits while others had only scraps of fabric on them. A soft and sophisticated voice called out from a different room deeper within the boutique, “Just a minute! Please do make yourself comfortable while you wait.” “Okay!” answered Namworth while taking a seat on one of the stools near a workstation. Loré kept herself standing in the middle of the room, staring idly at the entrance where the sound of their host came from. “Just sit down, Loré,” Namworth said while patting a stool next to him. “I’m fine,” mumbled Loré. “We’ve had a tough day. Lots of running, dangers, walking, meeting new ponies and we–” “I said I’m fine!” growled Loré. “Good heavens! You look, magnificent!” beamed the white mare in the archway leading out of the room. Loré brimmed with a wide cocky smirk as their host looked her direction. “Well, I can’t deny that I’ve done a lot to take care of my good looks, bu–” was all she managed to say before the seamstress had trotted right past Loré and instead went to Namworth, leaving Loré with a dumbfounded expression. “Such beautiful feathers you have! Would it be too much if I were to ask for a dozen or so of them, dearie?” She smiled softly and batted her eyelids at Namworth while tracing a hoof along his feathery coat. The pure elegance and beauty of the mare was more than enough to cause a certain stir of emotions in Namworth as his heartbeat quickened and with a tad shaky voice he mumbled, “S-sure! You can have some of my feathers. I’m Namworth by the way, are you perhaps Rarity?” “Wonderful! I know just what to use them on. A new o’natural fashion line.” Her giddy excitement found a way to contain itself as she smiled apologetically, “Oh where are my manners. Yes, I’m Rarity, the owner of the Carousel Boutique. My sincerest apologies, I do get a bit caught up when a stroke of brilliance chooses to strike me.” A slightly flirtatious laugh rolled from her lips while tracing her hoof around some more to find loose feathers for her to take from Namworth, who barely noticed any being taken. A completely different stir of emotions were also brought out in Loré as she determinedly walked in between the two. She gave Namworth a rough push backwards so she could stand right in front of Rarity. “And my name is Loré Scroll. The pleasure is all yours.” Loré grabbed one of Rarity’s hooves to shake while glaring with a fiery inflection in her eyes as the right one twitched ever so slightly. “Yes, quite the pleasure…” said Rarity in a sheepish tone, quickly retracting her hoof once it was free. “It’s lovely meeting you both. But, what may I do for you?” she asked while looking at the strange duo, though mostly at Namworth and his coat of feathers. “Twilight said you could give us some clothes for our trip up north,” explained Namworth, with Loré adding, “Yes, it’ll get really cold once we reach the Crystal Empire. I don’t need a big winter coat for this, just a little extra protection from the cold will do. Though, I don’t really have a lot of bits to spare for this.” “Oh darling, I could not only give you clothes, I could make them specifically for you. And, if Twilight sent you two here, it must have been because she wanted me to help you. Have no worries about the price, this one will be on me.” “Wait a minute. You’re going to give us free clothes just like that?” Loré asked skeptically. “And you are doing this for as silly a reason as us saying Twilight sent us?” Loré raised an eyebrow which gave away her opinion of their gracious host. “Why of course. I’m pretty sure everypony knows who Twilight is. I dare say It’d be quite foolish to say you were sent by her when you weren’t. The consequences with her kind of connections would be, dire!” she exclaimed with a dramatic twist on the very last word. “Besides, giving is just in my nature. I do find it wonderful to help a pony who’s down on their luck once in a while,” she noted with her eyes fixated on their poorly conditioned saddlebags. Loré seemed dumbfounded for a moment, not fully capable of processing the almost painful emotion that stirred up inside her being. Though, before she could recognize the emotion of gratitude, she was interrupted by Rarity excitingly saying. “ Now, let’s take some measurements. Let’s do you first, Namworth.” “Oh, no no, Rarity. I don’t need the clothes, my feathers keep me warm,” he said with a nervous smile. “But I insist!” beamed Rarity as she approached him. Though, Loré slapped Rarity’s right hoof before she could even lay a hoof on him to measure his waist. “He said no. Please respect his wishes,” growled Loré after having snapped out of her emotional trance, and then added with a grimace, “Besides, we don’t have time for you to whip up two completely new outfits. I want something finished so we can get on our way already.” Rarity couldn’t help herself from smiling a bit smugly at Loré and her ghastly attitude. “Listen, Loré. Masking your interest for this poor fella with hostility is least becoming of you. But, do not fret; I have a lot of beautiful ensembles for you to choose from.” Rarity stepped forward a few paces as her magic pulled out rows of hangers with a great deal of different attires for them to choose from. “Masking my what!?” Loré’s pupils burst into flames, “Are you insinuating that I… and he!?” Whether or not her face turned bright red from embarrassment or pure fury was uncertain. Though, the quivering in her body and foam frothing from her mouth gave way to the degree of aggravated she had reach. “Don’t worry about it, Loré,” said the quiet voice of her assistant as he placed a hoof on her shoulder. This was probably all that prevented the agitated Loré from actualizing her demented thoughts of assaulting Rarity for such an insulting statement. Namworth’s gentle voice snapped her out of the rage filled stare, giving her enough time to compose herself before Rarity turned around to look at them while presenting different outfits that seemed suitable for their adventure. “I believe this one would look exquisite on you,” said Rarity as she held up some dark purple winter boots and a scarf in front of Loré, who in turn shoved it away with her magic and approached the racks of clothes, glancing at one fanciful outfit after another. Her nose scrunched up as none of them fell within her taste of clothing. It was all too elegant and feminine for her. None of them seemed to do it for her, well, all but one. Behind the rows of outfits was a dusty looking mannequin with an almost completed outfit. Loré took a step closer to get a better look at the black coattails, the puffy open chest piece, and the small mantelet. “This, this is perfect!” she grinned widely. “Of all the things in my boutique, you had to go for, MY SHAME!” she exclaimed dramatically with an even more hyperbolized facial expression. “Your shame?” asked Namworth curiously as he did not see what was so bad about it. “It kinda looks like a fancier tailcoat to me.” “I never finished that thing… I started my idea for a bolder tailcoat, but the more I worked on it, the worse it seemed to get. I hoped that if I’d put it away for some time, inspiration would strike me again and I’d be able to fix the mess I’d made.” Rarity sniffled a sigh before asking Loré, “Are you sure you want THAT one? There’s plenty more outfits in the back, perhaps another could tempt you, hmm? I mean, you really want an outfit originally designed for a stallion?” As Rarity glanced up from the floor, she saw Loré had already put on the coat. She looked extremely happy with herself at that. “Nonsense, I love this thing. It’s sort of practical, but stylish. It should be enough to keep me warm in the climate up north.” There was a mean look in Loré’s eyes as she saw Rarity’s reluctance in parting with her minor fashion disaster. “Aawww, cheer up, Rarity. I think it looks great!” Namworth smiled warmly as he offered his compliments to her tailoring. “You really think so?” asked Rarity “Definitely,” assured Namworth. “Well, I do believe they say that ‘the customer’s always right’ and I should just be content with helping out some friends of Twilight’s.” She nodded once to her own statement and then turned to Namworth, “But I do believe it would be an even worse crime to let you leave empty hoofed than it would be letting my little… disaster leave this store. Hmmm, iideeaaa! Give me just a moment, darling.” Rarity trotted over to one of her work stations, grabbing some fabrics and utensils with her magic as she went to work. Namworth and Loré ended up just watching their host do the thing she was best at, Namworth sharing a look of excitement, and Loré with one of annoyance as her little attempt at upsetting Rarity didn’t seem to pay off as much as she’d hoped. “Voila!” she exclaimed while turning around to showcase a rather large and bright red bow. She leaned in close to Namworth to put it on him in a proper fashion. “Yes, this looks positively beautiful on a stallion like you,” she complimented Namworth before added, “and the color seems to match your face, dear.” “It does?” Namworth first realized now that his cheeks displayed a red hue as bright as the bow itself. Although he felt embarrassed, he was far too happy from receiving a gift from such a beautiful mare that he couldn’t help himself from smiling widely with joy. “You look more like a mare than I do,” grumbled Loré while walking up to Namworth’s side, eyeing the bow with an above usual amount of disdain. “But, I can see you’re already in love with that thing by the way you are grinning like a moron. I guess I’ll let you keep it.” She rolled her eyes and walked towards the door. “We’ll be leaving now. Thank you for your kindness, Rarity. Namworth, come,” grumbled Loré in a reluctant tone. “You can’t seriously be leaving right now? You do know there’s a storm scheduled for tonight, right?” Rarity smiled softly as she continued, “And judging from your worn down saddlebags, and stingy behavior towards buying clothes, I can assume you’re bit on the light side of having bits. Am I correct?” “Really?” asked Namworth before turning to Loré, “We can’t sleep outside if there’s a storm coming, we don’t even have a tent as it is.” “I already know that!” growled Loré as she had come to a stop right before the door leading outside the house. “But I find the notion of an upcoming storm being preposterous. There was barely a cloud in the sky when we walked in here. There isn’t a team of weather ponies that could work that fast, and postpone the job till the very last second.” Loré opened the door confidently, to then only be met by the sight of a gray sky with clouds covering almost every spot for as far as they eye could see. “How is this even possible?!” exclaimed Loré in utter confusion. “Rainbow Dash has a tendency to put off her duties till the very last minute. But, she is very capable as you can see. The fastest pegasus around if I dare say so,” Rarity explained. Loré slammed the door shut and turned around to groan, “But what do you suggest we do now, hmm? Do you want us to stay in her store?” asked Loré while rubbing her forehead exhaustedly. “Well, I, I don’t believe I have the necessary lodging to properly shelter two guests,” Rarity fumbled with her words, not seeming too eager over the chance of having Loré stay under her roof for an entire night. She had to think fast, so her mind came up with the one place she knew they could stay, and that would be at a friend’s place, one which had more room than she’d know what to do with. A slightly devious smile emerged on her lips as she suggested, “Why, I think you’ll be able to get across Ponyville to Sweet Apple Acres just in time to avoid the storm. My dear friend Applejack would be more than happy to shelter you for the night. She owns a very large farm with plenty of room for the two of you to stay at.” “I bet that was the place we passed on our way here! Remember all the apple trees, Loré?” asked Namworth with some extra cheer in his voice. “If we run there it’ll only take a dozen minutes at most.” “Yes, it’s not very far if you sprint.” Rarity further encouraged them to go there rather than stay the night at her place. “But you best be off now if you want to make it before the rain falls.” The door handle glowed with a light blue magic before swinging open, and Rarity eagerly escorted Loré outside, with Namworth following behind the two. She pointed in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres and gave a few short descriptions of the route there, in case they’d get lost on their way. “Do give my best regards to dear Applejack when you get there.” There was a bit of a self-satisfactory smirk on her lips before the door was closed, and a few drops of rain started trickling down on the two ponies. The road to Sweet Apple Acres was easy enough for the two to follow, and a quick sprint got them as far as the dirt road in the middle of the Apple family’s property before the rain began falling down in thicker streams than the light drips they’d felt on their way over. It was easy enough to figure out which house to go to for the two of them, as the largest building on the property was also the only one that carried resemblance to a home. Loré and Namworth both panted some from the brisk pace they’d kept up for the entire travel between the Boutique and the farm. “Let’s just get this over with so I can retire to whatever forsaken corner of their farm they’ll assign me to,” grumbled Loré as she gave the red wooden two-parted door a stern knocking. The upper portion of the door was opened and from within it stood an orange mare with a Stetson hat on her golden mane, which leaned onto the lower part of the door as she eyed the two intruders. A warm smile and a bright voice rang through as she greeted them with a, “Howdy you two!” which was quickly followed by the question, “What brings y’all to Sweet Apple Acres with a storm brewin’?” Loré cleared her throat and put on a façade of elegance as she spoke, “My name is Loré Scroll. I’m the best historical researcher of Las Pegasus, and I’m on a journey to collect some vital information about the Crystal Empire. It’s why I, and my companion, Namworth,” she paused, gesturing towards her slightly drenched assistant. “Came to Ponyville to retrieve a spell from Twilight, which we’ve already done. It was your friend Rarity who recommended we go stay here for the evening, as we’re in a slight pinch financially. I do presume that you’re her friend Applejack. Am I correct about this assumption?” “Rarity sent ya? Why didn’t you just say so.” The lower door was swung wide open and the mare stepped aside. “That’s right. Ah’m Applejack, and this is mah’ farm. If yer a friend of Twilight and Rarity, than yer welcome here. Now, get yerself out of the rain so ya can dry up.” “Thank you,” chirped Namworth, being more than eager to get out of the rain. Loré on the other hoof stepped inside with a bit of confusion written on her face. The same kind of behavior that she had displayed at the boutique seemed to repeat itself once more. “You’re really just going to let us into your home because we know the name of your friends?” Loré asked in disbelief, “I find this to be highly dangerous and, sorry for the lack of a better word, stupid.” Applejack seemed to come to grips with what had happened rather quickly as she sported a warm smile on her lips while mumbling softly under her breath, “Ah’ guess we’re even now, Rarity.” She then continued with wrapping a hoof around the slightly drenched Loré as she once again spoke up. Listen here, sugercube. Ah’ can tell from them fancy clothes yer wearing that they’re the work of Rarity. Ah’ve seen enough of her dresses to spot out her work anywhere. Now pardon me when ah’ say that y’all ain’t got a bit ta yer name.” She pointed a hoof at Loré’s worn out saddlebags, along with Namworth’s pathetic excuses for makeshift saddlebags. “So either ya stole it or she gave it ta ya. It would be mighty stupid of yer to come here if ya stole it, so ah’ think the second thing went down.” Loré grimaced some at Applejack and her deductive reasoning. She was about to give her a snarky retort but was stopped by her host before she could even utter a syllable. “And ah’ can tell yer a bit of a chore, no offense, miss Loré. Rarity must have sent ya here because of our last kafuffle. Ah’ll consider us even now.” She nodded once before giving Loré an awfully familiar smile as Applejack leaned her face intimately close to Loré’s. “Now, if yer gonna give me any more lip than that one nasty comment ya made, then ah’ll have no problem sending ya outside to sleep. Now, are we clear?” Loré gulped audibly before nodding slowly at Applejack’s question. “Great! Get yerself comfy, we only got one guest room. So y’all have to share a bed. Let me show ya where it’s at so y’all can get out of them wet clothes.” The thought of arguing why Namworth couldn’t just sleep on their living room couch came to Loré’s mind, but she had no intentions of sleeping outside in the rain and howling wind tonight. The risk was not worth the reward of bringing up the topic that she’d most likely say something less than positively about. The two followed their host through the spacious living room with old wooden furniture and up the stairs. On the top floor were several rooms for the other members of the family. They caught a glimpse of a big red stallion in one of them, and a fragile old mare in another. A third room they looked into housed a trio of fillies seeming overly excited about something they were shouting in unison, where all that Loré picked up of it was ‘cutie mark crusaders something something’. They were taken down to the end of the hallway to a small room with a homely feel to it. The decorations were akin to the living room as it also had old wooden furniture, along with the floor being lined with soft warm homemade carpets. Some cozy looking quilts lazily laid on a chair in the room, and every wall had a painting or two on it of ponies from the Apple family. “There ya go, this’ll be yer room for the night,” said Applejack while gesturing with a hoof. Namworth entered the room first, diving onto the large bed which sunk in even from his light weight. “This bed is amazingly soft!” he exclaimed with great joy as he nuzzled firmly into the sheets. “Glad ya enjoy it,” Applejack grinned and chuckled. “It’s a bit late for supper, but ah’ can cook somethin’ up in a moment if y’all hungry. If not, well, there’ll be breakfast in the early mornin’ that ya can eat.” “Sounds great to me, I could definitely eat some food right now.” Namworth said while turning around on the bed so he would face the two mares in the hallway. Loré remained quiet and still in her posture. She seemed to be deep in thought for the moment that led up to her talking again. “Why are you doing this for us?” “Pardon me?” asked Applejack with a confused look. “Why are you letting us stay here? You’ve offered us food and shelter and wanted nothing in return. I know your friend sent us here, but it doesn’t add up to me. First we’ve gotten new clothes, and now this. What is it you really want from us?” There was no other way that Loré could comprehend the situation than there being some kind of hidden clause to it. A slight chuckle escaped Applejacks lips, and a forehoof ended up on Loré’s shoulder as Applejack did her best to explain the gaps in Loré’s logic. “Ah’ love mah’ friends. They’ve been there for me whenever ah’ve needed them. This is what friends do for each other, Loré. We help one another when there’s need for it, and right now one of mah friends felt there was a need for y’all to stay here for the night. The least ah’ can do for mah’ friends is ta grant that request.” The gears were turning and grinding at full speed behind the Lore’s confused eyes, none of it really seemed to make complete sense to her. Though, even her cynical nature couldn’t avoid acknowledging the kindness shown towards her despite all she’d said and done to the three mares. The thoughts and emotions eventually culminated in a soft, quiet, and completely sincere, “Thank you, I really appreciate it.” “Yer welcome,” was all Applejack responded with. She gave Loré’s shoulder a slight squeeze before letting go to leave them alone. Loré watched her disappear down the hallway and into her own room. “Are you okay, Loré?” Namworth asked concernedly, never having seen her react so nicely to anypony before. “I’m fine!” She growled back at him, returning to her usual grumpy demeanor. “She merely deserved some recognition for her good deed, that’s all. I can’t say I’m cold hearted enough to ignore it completely, yet.” Loré walked into the room and plopped herself down onto the bed, lying next to Namworth as she further grumbled into the sheets, “Can we please not make anything more of this?” She could feel Namworth’s eyes piercing her soul. She further added in an attempt to change the subject, “We’ll stay here for the night, eat breakfast and I’ll uncover all the mysteries of the book. We’ll leave the second I’ve extracted the knowledge I need from this book.” A sense of relief went through Loré as Namworth just quietly whispered an “okay” to her, as she was expecting him to drill her for clarification on the gratitude she’d shown Applejack. A faint smile spread on her lips as he was nice enough to show her that kind of curtsey. Nothing else was really exchanged verbally between the two ponies. They each went on with first getting undressed, followed by eating the lovely meal Applejack had prepared for her two guests, and then they proceeded with crawling into bed with as much room between each other as physically possible, and, eventually, sleep overtook the both of them.