“Rarity! Rarity, where are you!?”
Sweetie Belle burst into the boutique, gasping for breath from the long run. She glanced around the shop in a panic. No one was here!
“Rarity!” she called out, running up the stairs to Rarity’s room. “Are you here!?”
Nothing. It was empty.
Overcome with dread, Sweetie Belle paced around the boutique. Her mind was jumping to conclusions, postulating every terrible outcome. Maybe there's an evil spell going around… or maybe someone evil is trying to take over all of Ponyville… maybe everyone is possessed… What’s going on!?
Ding-Ding!
Sweetie Belle looked up, overjoyed to see her sister walking through the front door. “Rarity!” she gasped. “There you are!” She ran over but stopped just short of hugging. “Wait… Are you… are you like the others?”
“Sweetie Belle?” Rarity questioned, obviously confused. “I thought you went to Sweet Apple Acres for the Cute-ceañera… What’re you doing here?”
“Answer me this first: what color goes well with purple?”
“It depends, darling,” Rarity said as she gently unloaded Ebony and Obsidian into a playpen. “Is the hue closer to a red or a blue? Or is it more of a mauve?”
“Whew… You’re still you,” Sweetie Belle breathed a sigh of relief. Only Rarity would answer with such a technical response.
“Why did you want to know, Sweetie?”
“I just had to make sure. And, I have to tell you something… Rarity, ponies are acting really weird over at Sweet Apple Acres! They took Apple Bloom! It was terrible, we have to do something!”
“Slow down, slow down,” Rarity said with a nervously laugh. “Start from the beginning. What happened at Sweet Apple Acres?” While Sweetie Belle gathered herself, Rarity walked around the room gathering everything she would need in order to start working.
“Big Mac was acting really weird and took Apple Bloom away! And then I tried to tell Fluttershy but she was acting weird too!”
“Oh, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure everything is all right.”
“No, you don’t understand! Flutterfly swatted away bees!”
Rarity stopped what she was doing and turned to Sweetie Belle with a lifted eyebrow. “She did? That is somewhat suspicious…”
“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle sarcastically stated. “I think they’re possessed by evil or something! Or maybe their secret zombies! Or vampires!”
“Don’t be so overdramatic.”
Sweetie Belle glared. “That’s ironic coming from you.”
“Hey! I’ve been better lately…” Rarity went back to her work, but she was somewhat disturbed by Sweetie Belle’s statements. “I was just at Sweet Apple Acres… I didn’t notice anything out of place.”
“You have to trust me, Rarity! Please! You have to go check it out again!”
Rarity sighed. “Very well, Sweetie Belle. If it means so much to you I’ll go back and check it out. Maybe we can go back together that way you can still play with Babs.”
“No, I don’t want to go back. I got a bad feeling about that place. I’ll stay here and watch Ebony and Obsidian.” She ran over to the foal’s playpen and protectively hugged the side. “And you shouldn’t go alone! You should take Twilight!”
“I can handle myself,” Rarity immediately rebutted. After a second of thought she sighed. “But you’re right. If something is wrong I should have Twilight with me. All right, I’ll go back. Make sure nothing happens to the kids.”
“I’ll watch them. Don’t worry.”
Rarity slowly trotted out of the boutique and closed the door behind her. Once Sweetie Belle was sure Rarity was gone, she used her magic to lock the front door and close all the blinds. Something was wrong. She felt it in her gut. But… what?
Sweetie Belle turned back to the foals in their playpen and was instantly taken aback. The side of the pen was on fire! “Ebony!” she yelled. “Not again! No fires!” She ran over and put it out. Geez, what was with that baby? I never did anything like that when I was a little filly! I know unicorn foals sometimes can’t control their magic but this is ridiculous… And why is she always so destructive?
---
Rarity watched the party with a close eye but… nothing was out of the ordinary. The colts and fillies were having fun playing all the standard games, Apple Jack was overseeing things as usual, and Pinkie Pie was running the events…
“Have you seen anything wrong?” Twilight Sparkle asked, taking a drink out of her coconut cup.
“No, not that I can say.”
Sweetie Belle had been so sure, Rarity thought. She was trying to spot something suspicious but everyone was so happy it was hard to suspect a thing. Rarity did feel a certain sense of unease being at Sweet Apple Acres, but it was the same type of unease she had carried with her since the morning. It reminded her of her nightmares…
“I guess Big Mac and Apple Jack do seem a little stressed…”
“But who wouldn’t be? Have you seen the size of their family?”
“And I haven’t seen Fluttershy here…” Twilight looked around. “I haven’t seen her all day, actually.”
“She’s probably with Discord,” Rarity commented with little interest.
“Hm.” Twilight was deep in thought, slowly drinking the last of her coconut drink.
Rarity glanced to the sky. The sun was setting. It was time to get back home. “I’m going to go, Twilight. If you see anything you’ll tell me, won’t you?”
“Yeah, of course, Rarity.”
She nodded to the princess and left Sweet Apple Acres. The feeling of unease stayed with her the entire walk home. It was frustrating not knowing what was wrong, especially when it seemed as though the answer was so close.
Before long, Rarity arrived at her boutique. It was dusk and the nearby buildings cast looming shadows over the area. It felt like the citizens of Ponyville were watching her enter her shop but every time she turned to face them they looked away.
Once she was inside, Rarity laughed to herself. Sweetie Belle was sleeping next to the playpen, her mane a mess and the boutique in shambles. Normally this would irritate Rarity but it was a different story when one had foals, especially unicorn foals.
“Sweetie Belle, wake up. I’m back now. You should go home.”
Sweetie Belle slowly blinked herself awake. With a yawn, she stood up and stretched. “Rarity? Did you find anything out?”
“I’m sorry, Sweetie. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.” Rarity began cleaning the boutique. “I even saw Apple Bloom. She was asking for you.”
“She was?” Sweetie Belle shuffled her feet together and stared at the floor. “Maybe I was overacting.”
“It’s all right. Babs said she would be in town for the next few days so you’ll be able to spend time with all your friends soon enough.”
Sweetie Belle suddenly looked up with tears welling in her eyes. “Rarity… I… Do you think I’ll ever get my cutie mark?”
Rarity turned to her with a frown. “Are you okay, Sweetie Belle? Where did that question come from?”
“I was having a nightmare and it was about me never getting my cutie mark.”
“I’m sure you’ll get your cutie mark,” Rarity said with a laugh. “All ponies get their mark eventually.”
“What about Sombra? He didn’t have his mark!”
Rarity practically flinched at the name. Just thinking about him brought her to a point of grief. She wished he was here… if there really was something terrible happening, he would have protected her. “Sweetie Belle… That was different.”
“But he was full grown! A stallion! What if I’m like that?”
“You won’t be… Let’s just… stop talking about it, okay? Why don’t you try getting your cutie mark in magic or something.” Rarity gathered up her two children and wrapped them in blankets for the night. They were the closest thing to Sombra she had right now.
“I’m not going to get my cutie mark in magic… I’m not even that good at it.”
“Well, just use your magic on things you are good at,” Rarity practically yelled, waking the two foals. “S-sorry,” she weakly stammered after looking at Sweetie Belle’s hurt expression. “I’m just tired and I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Sweetie Belle slowly nodded and walked out of the boutique with her head hung. Rarity sighed. She rocked her two children as she took them upstairs to go to bed. By the time she placed them in the cradle they were already dreaming. Exhausted from all the work and effort she was putting into everything, she turned to her bed with a longing glance.
“Oh, I forgot about Fluttershy’s dress!” Rarity said to herself. Debating on whether or not to work on it now, Rarity instead opted to work on it early in the morning when she was feeling inspired. Lying down in her bed, Rarity fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
---
Rarity ran through the shadows without purpose or direction. She was just running. Where was she going? What was she doing? She couldn’t remember. It was something important. Something she thought she had to do…
Suddenly, her shadow rose up in front of her. She slid to a stop and watched as it coalesced into a solid form in front of her. Rarity cowered in fear as it rose above her, finally coming together to create an imposing stallion. King Sombra.
Seeing him caused Rarity to relax. She moved closer and nuzzled his neck, smiling. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered.
“Where have you been?” he asked in a dark and slow tone.
“Been? I’ve been in Ponyville.” She looked up at him in confusion. “I’ve always been there.”
“You left me,” he growled.
“L-left you?”
Sombra shoved her down, his red eyes glowing in the phantom darkness. “You left me when I needed you most. You left me to die.”
“No,” Rarity tried to explain. “No, I would never leave you! There was nothing I could do!” She tried to stand but the shadows wrapped around her body and kept her down.
“You promised you would stay,” he said, flashing his fanged teeth. “That you would help me… but clearly I was wrong. You left me to the nightmares… just like the princesses left me to the snow… wasting away in my own fear and torment.”
Rarity shook her head, unable to think of what to say. She would never leave him! She wanted to help him!
“You’re a monster, just like the rest,” Sombra stated, closing the distance between them. Before Rarity could say anything, he lashed out and bit her with his sharp and razor-like fangs.
“Ah!”
Rarity sat up in her bed breathing deeply and looking around her room. She was awake now… everything had been a dream. Just a dream. I was dreaming, she tried to reassure herself. That didn’t happen… It was a dream. After a few breaths she felt better.
At a certain level Rarity blamed herself for Sombra dying. Maybe she could have done something to save him… Maybe she should have been the one to lead the Ruin Worms to their doom… What if it had been all her fault?
Tap. Tap.
“Hm?”
Rarity glanced up at the window and was startled to see the silhouette of a Pegasus. Lightning flashed and Rarity could clearly see an outline, but wasn't entirely who it was. The moment the Pegasus realized Rarity was looking, it flew away.
“What in the name of Celestia?”
Rarity ran down the stairs of the boutique and then out into the streets of Ponyville. It was lightly raining and thunder was cracking in the distance but otherwise Rarity saw nothing. Had some pony been watching her sleep? What was the meaning of that?
Shaken, not only from her disturbing nightmare, but from the fact there was some Pegasus watching her sleep, Rarity slowly trotted back into her shop and rested her head against the door. She was wet and cold, but nothing chilled her more than the feeling she had forgotten something terribly important…