As a bump in the road made Rarity’s glass jingle, she couldn’t take the silence any longer.
As much as the car ride to her destination had been silent, this group of ponies just wasn’t the same as that winged nightmare of a mare. And with the fact that her nerves still hadn’t quite left her after her show, she needed something more. Some small talk would do wonders. Seeing as how the soldiers were taking glances at her as well, she couldn’t help but smile at the attention, however unwelcome the situation she was in accounted for them.
Pursing her lips, Rarity let her glass down. “It feels like I’m being driven to the Solar Court for a personal hearing with Princess Celestia! This is unnecessary. What did I do?” With no response, she continued. “It’s like you’re going to stop the car and do something drastic as would happen in one of my action-romance novels! Is there some sort of rule, are you not allowed to talk?”
Turning to the stallion on her left, Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Anypony in there, Darling?”
“We can talk, ma’am,” the soldier said with some awkwardness.
“So it’s personal?” Rarity pouted. “Was it something I said?”
“No, you intimidate them,” the driver of the car said. Surprised by the voice, Rarity continued in stride, happy that she was getting somewhere.
“Oh my goodness, you’re a mare, like me!” Rarity gasped, in no way trying to offend. “I really couldn’t tell with all the uniform and gear! I would say sorry but isn’t that what we’re going for here? Soldier first, questions later?”
Smiles were beginning to show all across the car, and Rarity couldn’t help but join in.
“I’m an airpony,” said the mare.
“Well, you most certainly have a strong build. Now that I see it, I really can’t stop looking! Isn’t that strange? Hm?”
Her company finally broke into laughter and she did too. Success! Rarity thought to herself. Now just to keep it going for the whole car ride!
She could then see their smiles faltering as she saw their thoughts of conduct begin to form. “Darlings, it’s okay to laugh! It’s such a serious air in here all the time, can’t we just liven it up a little?”
The soldier in the passenger’s seat turned to look at Rarity. “Miss Rarity, if it’s okay to ask,” he began. Frowning ever so slightly at the lack of names yet, she named them by their position.
“Anything,” Rarity welcomed.
“Is it true that you run your own business apart from your main one? One centered on design and fashion?”
So they do notice, Rarity mused. “But of course! I simply wanted to make a name for myself and I couldn’t do that if I already had one. Of course, it would take some time to get there legitimately but, you know how it goes, hard work pays off.”
“That’s pretty cool, I must admit. Is it hard to keep track of two companies?” Passenger Pony asked.
“Like you wouldn’t believe!” Rarity emphasized her point by putting a hoof on her forehead dramatically. More chuckles and smiles. “Anything else? I don’t want to fall back into that pit of dreary despair.”
The stallion, more like a colt now that she thought about it, raised a hoof.
Rarity looked at him quizzically. “My goodness, raising your hoof is not necessary at all. What is it?”
“Is it cool if I take a snapshot with you?” Close Pony asked, and Rarity smiled.
“Of course. It’s, erm, very ‘cool’,” Rarity nodded. As he took out a camera, she could see it was one she had supported the creation of, and smiled even more at the thought of it’s now widespread convenient use. Though cameras of sorts had existed much longer before-hoof, she had funded and helped commercialize it's visibly and remarkably innovative new features.
Hoofing it over to Passenger Pony, Passenger Pony smiled as he positioned himself beside Rarity for the photo.
“I would rather not see this in your local newspaper,” Rarity poked. As Close Pony threw up a peace sign, Rarity rolled her eyes dramatically. “Please, no ‘gang’ symbols.” As the peace sign was put down, Rarity was surprised by how serious they still took her. “No, darling, I’m kidding! Put it back up.”
The soldier promptly positioned his hooves for the sign once more with a smile.
“Peace! My friends and I all about peace. It’s why I do what I do. Don’t let anypony tell you otherwise.”
As the seconds ticked by, the colt sighed. “It’s okay, just take it. Shaky or not.”
Passenger Pony shook his head with a smirk. “Nah, it’s not good enough just yet.”
“Come on!” Close Pony insisted. “Just take it. All you have to do is push the button and-”
KRABOOOM!
All thoughts of mirth disappeared in an instant as the camera was dropped and the car abruptly stopped.
“WHOA!” Passenger Pony cried as everypony involuntarily ducked.
Rarity dropped her glass and it was quickly forgotten on the floor of the car. Having only seen it for a split second, she knew that the car in front of them had been blown up and flipped over. They were under attack. As indeterminable commands and military jargon were suddenly being thrown around, Rarity could only stare around her in shock. Beams of magic and the sounds of spells filled the air.
“What’s going on?!” Rarity cried. She watched as the soldiers hastily prepared their energy weapons. “What have we got!?”
Driver Pony kicked her door open and began to step out only to be shot twice and fell to the ground. Rarity could only stare open-mouthed at the sudden death of a pony she was beginning to like.
“Shielder!” Passenger Pony shouted. “Stay with Rarity!” He then opened his door and took aim behind the safety of the front engines, and shot a couple rounds. The window shattered, a loud boom, and she heard the thump of him as well. Rarity still couldn’t believe what was happening. She quickly glanced between the two corpses of her company and could feel tears begin to well.
“Buck it all!” ‘Shielder’ growled as his cartridge wouldn’t go in. Shielder’s gun finally clicked, and he opened his own door, ready to fight alongside his comrades.
“No, please, wait!” Rarity begged. “Don’t-!”
Shielder closed the door and faced her through the window. “STAY HERE!” he ordered. Just as he turned around, the entire left side was suddenly riddled with holes accompanied with a loud bang. Shielder dropped.
Rarity’s ears rang, but she didn’t care. Putting a hoof to her mouth, she could feel the world begin to spin around her and she shook her head to get the stars out. Looking around, dazed and with blurry eyes, she saw inferno and magic.
Beginning to hyperventilate, Rarity looked around before she saw her car door and opened it. Stumbling out, she saw the gun of Passenger Pony lying beside her, but all she could focus on was him. Shaking her head again, she fell against the car to stabilize herself.
“Rarity!” she could hear Fury’s voice call to her. “Take cover! Don’t move!”
But Rarity couldn’t. She needed to keep moving. There was danger all around her! If she kept moving, she might be safe. Running to a large rock jutting out of the sand, she stumbled around it and fell to the ground, ducking behind it. She would be safe here.
Shakily taking out a parchment and quill, she shakily began to write. To Twilight and friends, she began, until something impacted in front of her, sending sand in her direction. Lowering her paper, Rarity widened her eyes to see a mini-missile with one prominent name plastered on it.
Belle Industries
Widening her eyes, Rarity dropped everything and used her magic to heave it away while simultaneously crawling backwards over the rock. It wasn’t enough. Two metres away in the air and with Rarity just over, it exploded.
The shockwave sent Rarity flying back, knocking the wind out of her. As she impacted the ground her vision blacked out for a split second and she blinked herself into consciousness. Coughing, but coming short for air, she felt pressure everywhere around her barrel. Gasping, Rarity uncontrollably looked down her body.
Only to see blood begin to soak her mid-barrel area.
A pain behind her eyes suddenly took over, and bliss soon after. The darkness was taking her. Her vision began to fade, and the silence rang.
Silence.
Darkness.
Fear.
Pain.
Uncertainty.
Regret.
Darkness.
Darkness.
Darkness…
Several hours earlier...
Rarity sighed as she put her hoof on her designs. She straightened a few crumples and grimaced. If Twilight knew what was happening down here...
The pit of her stomach told her this was wrong. That she should’ve stuck to fashion. Abandoned her other life. That this wasn’t necessary.
For the designs she had before her were not dresses or hats. They were not textile-related at all. They were of crystals. Weaponized crystals. And thanks to her ingenuity and knack for detail as well as her knowledge of gems and rocks, she knew exactly what was needed and how it worked.
Rarity gulped.
This was truly wrong.
And yet here she was.
In front of her was one large diagram that covered all the designs underneath it. A missile that would fall appropriately under the title “weapon of mass destruction”. One she had been commissioned to do by the government. Almost forced to do. She knew something like this wasn’t Princess Celestia’s way of doing things, but with the way things had been happening in the past 9 months, it made sense.
It made sense for Equestria to turn to the most innovative family in Equestria to help them manufacture a means of defense against outside sources. Though her parents didn’t look the part, they were smart. Very smart. Enough to know that putting on a dumb face was all it took for threats to overlook them. And with the wealth that her family had garnered, Rarity had absolutely hated it.
She stuck to her first name. Rarity. For adding a Belle meant she was part of the family, and to be a part of the family meant to be rich, and to be rich meant you didn’t have to work hard at all to make a name for yourself. Was it a question to think that she wanted to go her own path and make her own name in the business aspect of Equestria? No.
Belle Industries meant Belle Technology. Belle Technology meant money. Money meant recognition, and Rarity wanted to earn it. She didn’t want her name attached to the building of electronics, she wanted to be a designer and learned in fashion. To work in the textile industry and become well-known in that regard. Maybe that was why she loved her childhood in Ponyville. To even be able to claim she was born there and not... Manehatten.
She didn’t blame Sweetie Belle for keeping the last name. She wasn’t pressured to know everything about the family business like she was. Rarity did her best to shield Sweetie from her world, from their world of rich upbringing, but she was happy Sweetie knew humility through her.
The fact that nopony had connected dots with her even being a relative billionaire, however, troubled her to an extent.
But with Rainbow Dash missing and her parents off on vacation-disguised business trips every other day…
It fell to her to run the business on a regular basis; separate from her Boutiques. It fell to her to manage and design new tech. It fell to her to finish the commissions. And she hated every minute of it. She had the knowledge to create. If she wasn’t so keen on focusing on her own business and separating herself from the name her family had created, she could rival Twilight’s knowledgeability. The fact that she was still seen as the pompous fashion designer and not the head of a multi-billion bit corporation attested to her ability in evading the obvious.
That was the other reason for her generosity. Her wealth. What’s the point in keeping so much to yourself? You already have all this money, and what do you do? Bathe in expensive pools and have servants do your work for you? No no no, that wasn’t right at all. Rarity prided herself in the fact that she did not flaunt her wealth, but she instead helped with little things. The building of schools and the hospital in Ponyville. The upkeep of beautiful parks all around Equestria. The seemingly miraculous funding of small projects that she would see become successful businesses and ideas. It joyed her to no end.
But this was war. And war never changes. Lives are lost, and more destructive weapons are created. This was no exception.
And now she had to present her creation to the leaders of the military in a remote neutral zone outside Equestria. Leaving for her train in approximately 10 minutes.
“Rarity?” Sweetie’s voice called from within the Boutique. The welcome high-pitched squeal broke her out of her ever increasing inward shell and made her flinch.
“S-Sweetie Belle?” asked Rarity. “Is that you?”
“Big sis, where are you?”
Quickly realizing all her designs and blueprints were out in the open, she made quick work in folding them, rolling them up, and otherwise tucking them away into her saddlebags. Bringing one of her ponyquinns and a sewing kit close, she pretended to be working on a dress.
Sweetie Belle walked in just as she finished a stitch. “There you are!” Sweetie squeaked happily.
“Hello, Sweetie.” Rarity smiled, genuinely happy to see Sweetie Belle. A welcome distraction. As Sweetie jumped up, Rarity received the hug with open hooves. “How have you been?”
“Oh, Mom and Dad are on vacation!” Sweetie Belle said. She then pouted as her ears folded back a little. “...again…”
“Oh, don’t worry about them, Sweetie,” Rarity cooed, stroking Sweetie’s mane, “They’re busy doing their thing, and we can be busy doing ours.” If only you knew… Rarity added ruefully as a thought.
Sweetie Belle brightened at Rarity’s statement, however, and she looked up at Rarity with excitement. “Ooo! Does that mean we can hang out and do sister things again like last week when we ate at my favourite ice-cream place?”*
Rarity winced, glancing at the clock. 12 minutes until she had to leave the Boutique, 20 minutes until she made it to the train station. Sweetie noticed this, and her expression deflated. “I’m so sorry, Sweetie Belle, it’s just that right now, I’m really busy. I have to catch the train and-”
“It’s okay, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle sighed. “I’ll go see if the Crusaders are free today.” Hopping out of Rarity’s hug, head hung low, she began to walk away. Rarity’s demeanor sagged as she thought of how last week had been their only outing in ages, and…
“Sweetie Belle.” Sweetie’s ears perked as her head turned to face Rarity. A new glimmer of hope shone in her eyes and Rarity could feel her heart wrench. “When I come back, we can do whatever it is you want to do. How does that sound, hm?”
The light died a little, but was rekindled as Sweetie Belle nodded resignedly but eagerly. “Yeah, that sounds great!” As Sweetie was just about to leave the room, Rarity called once more to her, and Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow.
“I love you, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity murmured, readjusting her glasses so she could get a better look of her sister.
Sweetie smiled. “Love you too, big sis!” And with that, she was off.
Rarity glanced at the clock. 5 minutes.
“How the time flies…” Rarity whispered as she packed her saddlebags. “Time to go.”
Locking up shop, she took a good look at the building she had been calling home for over 4 years and sighed. Would she be worthy of it when all was finally said and done? Would she let the business she had so desperately tried to escape all her life take her now in its big open jaws?
As she began to walk, her mind turned to Rainbow. Where could she be? It had been 9 months already since she disappeared, and if Rainbow were in Equestria she would have contacted them by now. Or at least, Daring Do would’ve found something to report back to them. Twilight and Applejack were doing their hardest in the local and otherwise blatant searchings for Rainbow, and Pinkie was keeping up morale. Fluttershy continued to use her connection to animals in seeing if they had any clue where Rainbow was and as for Rarity…
She was doing all she could with the technology she had in the Belle Industries Baltimare centre. Since the main hub was in Manehatten, a much longer trot away than Baltimare, she made do with what she could.
She didn’t want to waste time going back and forth, only to eventually be unable to maintain and watch over her businesses. Yes, she went to the Manehatten hub whenever she went to check on her Boutique, but only ever to see how things were going. She let Coco take care of her boutique there, and in compensation, Coco received a mysterious funding that kickstarted her own line of work. Rarity smiled at that. Coco Pommel, ever the kind mare. With a huge favour like that, there was no mistaking the lengths Rarity would go to mirror that dedication.
“Hiya, Rarity!” Somepony cried. Rarity’s ears flicked as she snapped out of her thoughts. Looking over to the entrance of Sugarcube Corner which she now stood parallel to, she found Pinkie waving at her. As Pinkie bounced up to her, Rarity smiled.
“Hello, Pinkie,” Rarity greeted. “How are you today?”
“Oh I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Pinkie smiled. “So, where’re you going?”
“Hm?” Rarity asked.
“You know, with the saddlebags and the secret plans sticking out of them and your obvious path to the train station. What’s the sitch?” Taken aback, Rarity stood flabbergasted.
Rarity stuttered. “B-but, w-what are you, uh, wha?”
“Oh, and you still have your glasses on your muzzle,” Pinkie pointed out. Looking down the bridge of her nose, Rarity found that her work glasses were indeed still helping her see. With a defeated sigh, she put them above her horn and addressed Pinkie properly.
“Look, Pinkie, I can’t and I won’t tell you where I’m going, but I’ll let you know that it’s very important. For Equestria, and for everypony.”
Pinkie cocked her head to the side and hummed. “Hm, are you sure you can’t tell me? Because it sounds more to me like you’re just really guilty and don’t want to admit that you’re actually part of some sort of multi-billion bit corporation that was once all about innovation but is now all about weapons.”
Rarity laughed nervously and felt several drops of sweat form on her forehead.
Pinkie suddenly grinned toothily and hugged Rarity with one foreleg. “But who am I to judge, eh? So whaddya say, some cupcakes for the go? On the house.”
Rarity visibly relaxed and shook her head with a light chuckle. “No, it’s okay, Pinkie. I really have to get going-”
“Nonsense!” Pinkie announced, shoving an already prepared doggie bag into Rarity’s saddlebags. “With somepony as efficient as me, everypony has time. Have safe travels and don’t be abducted!” With that, Pinkie disappeared into the sweet shop, leaving a somewhat confused Rarity standing alone in the street. Looking up at the clocktower in the distance, she saw she was two minutes behind.
Smiling wryly, Rarity shrugged. “Thanks, Pinkie,” she whispered. Now at a brisk trot, she could see the train station and she broke into a canter.
“All aboard!”
Rarity made it just in time.
The train conductor nodded at Rarity as she was one of the last to walk onto the train and she sat herself in an empty seat. Setting her bags down beside her and scooching to the window, she watched as the train conductor pulled the last few strays onto the train. Soon, she could feel the wheels click and begin to chug, and the whistle blew.
As the train station began to move and quickly disappeared, Rarity sighed. For her, this was going to be a long ride.
Rarity watched as the train slowly became just another dot on the horizon.
Turning around, she found herself in front of an envoy, complete with guards and an actualcar. You don’t see those everyday, even though my family helped invent them, Rarity thought. Cars were expensive. Only used for events that were absolutely important for safety and speed, or, way back in the day, for military use. To see one this far out from mainland Equestria was not very reassuring, to say the least.
At least she had comfort in knowing it had evolved from a rickety wagon powered by an inefficient mana battery to a proper locomotive.
“Miss Belle?” the guard closest to her asked as he walked up to her..
“Just Rarity, if you would,” Rarity winced. “Miss Belle** is my mother.”
The guard nodded. “Okay, Miss Rarity. Could we see some identification?”
Taking out her business license, the guard inspected it and checked with his colleagues. Rarity waited nervously, not because of fear of being unrecognized but of what she was soon going to have to do.
“Looks like everything checks out, Miss Rarity,” the guard said, finishing his talks with his fellow guardsponies and handing the license back. “If you would please step inside the car, we will be at the presentation in half an hour.”
Rarity nodded, and she boarded the car to find a familiar face staring back at her. One she was not expecting.
“Fury?” Rarity whispered.
“You look surprised, Rarity,” Fury said with a small smirk. “I wouldn’t miss this demonstration if it meant it could help protect Equestria. I’m all about that stuff you know.”
Rarity sat down in the seat adjacent to her and the car roared to life. “Yes, well, just know that I fully disapprove of all of this. I’ve told you time and time again how-”
“Yeah, I know,” Fury said. “You don’t like the violence. You don’t like the weapons.” Turning to look at Rarity with her one available eye, Rarity couldn’t help but make eye contact. “But having seen what I’ve seen and knowing what I know would most likely change your mind in the blink of an eye.”
Rarity gulped as the car had begun its journey. “Okay.” For a time, they sat in silence, until Rarity felt like the car would explode from sheer tension.
“How’s your sister’s group of misfits?” Fury asked out of nowhere.
“W-wha?” Rarity stammered before realizing what she had been asked. “Oh, you mean the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
“Yes, the Crusaders,” Fury smiled. “What kind of trouble have they been getting up to lately?”
“Well, they’ve helped a few ponies out with their cutie marks. Just recently, they helped a fellow filly reconnect with her dog. It was very sweet. Sweetie Belle and I just reconnected at about that time and Apple Bloom has been starting to help Applejack at the farm. Scootaloo, though… we’re all still holding out hope that Rainbow Dash is out there somewhere.”
Since Rarity was staring out the window, she didn’t notice the involuntary flinch Fury had when Rainbow’s name was mentioned. “That sounds… very interesting indeed,” she said. “And the search for Rainbow? I’ve been helping out with my own contacts and forces so I have an idea, but I would like to hear from you.”
Silence. “...Daring Do has recently found some sort of code that was hidden in a few books. Looks like there are more signs saying that Rainbow Dash was in the past now than there were before.”
Fury nodded, squinting her one eye slightly as she thought of the... small part she played in it. “Well, good luck then.”
“...Thank you…”
The remainder of the car ride was met with silence. Seeing her creations of destruction begin to loom closer and closer, Rarity closed her eyes and said a prayer to anypony who was listening that she hoped she had the mindset to help deliver her presentation properly. After all, she was pretty much the figurehead of the company without actually being so, and she needed to represent it as such.
“Looks like we’re here,” Fury said. “Time to show us what you’ve got.”
“Yes, looks like,” Rarity muttered. As the leaders and guards, whom she now realized were also soldiers of Equestria, lined up to watch, Rarity checked and rechecked all the equipment currently stationed at the site. Her magic worked to make sure each gem was aligned perfectly and each repulsor was functioning properly.
As her preliminary checks finished, Rarity stood apart from the group of army ponies and faced them.
“Hello, fellow Equestrians,” Rarity began, having memorized what she was going to say a long time ago. “We stand here today because we share a common interest. The protection of Equestria, and all those who live in it. With recent events that have led to several troubling confrontations and matters in and around Equestria, I was tasked with the creation of a weapon that could potentially help us with any confrontation, without being overly destructive of nature and to minimize the collateral damage.
“My great grandmother believed in an Equestria that didn’t… that didn’t need to fight to solve wars. And yet, with how she helped shape Equestria during the Crystal War, we were able to have nearly a thousand years of peace. Peace with other nations that has since begun to falter. And with the peace, our defence has become second to our happiness. We must fix this mistake.”
Rarity paused, letting some of it sink in. “Now, as you all know, I am the Acting-CEO of Belle Industries and my name is attached to it in more ways than one, but that does not make me any less capable of doing what’s necessary. As the designer I am, I have crafted what you see before you today. Outfitted with the latest repulsor technology, powered with state-of-art patented crystals. As the name would suggest, it can bring any wall down in one blow, and as it is fired, all material is used, effectively making it unsalvageable
“It can lock onto multiple targets at once…” Rarity trailed off. She could see her clients, the army, beginning to grow restless. With a drop of sweat, Rarity smiled sweetly. “...and what better way to show it’s functionality than with a demonstration?”
Waving her hoof, Rarity, glanced over to the helpers she had been provided with. Smile quivering, Rarity said “Mares and gentlecolts, I humbly present to you, The Mareicho.” As her smile faltered into a nervous wreck, she was glad to see all their attention was now on the missile launcher. She could see the missile positioning upwards into the sky, the sudden onset of hushed conversation concerning the missiles, and Fury’s questioning sidelong gaze at her, but all she could focus on was her own breathing and her thoughts.
Breathe, Rarity, she thought to herself. She could feel the nerves catching up to her and her body begin to shake. You’re a proper lady, Rarity! You should be able to handle this! You’ve presented your works to others before. What’s so different now? At this point, Rarity had begun to calm down, but her last thought had her lips curl downward. What’s different? I’m presenting the art of war, not the art of fashion.
Rarity could feel her heart weigh heavily before the missile’s booster activated and it shot from it’s perch.
Rarity quickly composed herself to a slight smile, and watched silently as the soldiers and generals slowly followed the path of the missile to a hill far off in the distance. It’s ascent was quiet, and it’s decent was just so. Knowing what came next, Rarity nearly closed her eyes as she heard the payload of the rocket disperse and fan out before the explosions came.
BOOM!
FZASH!
KRAKOW!
CRISH!
Already, Rarity could see the wind shifting away towards her and towards the crowd of military. Then came the gust. It blew Rarity a few centimetres off her hooves but she quickly grounded herself. Her mane and tail flapped in the wind and Rarity wished she didn’t have to do this. The dust cloud came and she closed her eyes knowingly.
A few coughs came from her audience, but when she opened their eyes, she could see a few hats had been flown off of the soldiers and a look of surprised amazement on most of them. Glancing towards Fury, however, all Rarity could see was an inscrutable expression of judgement and analysis.
“Thank you.”
Almost immediately, they began to talk amongst themselves. Sighing, Rarity put a hoof to her chest and started to head for the refreshments. A nice taste of home, Applejack’s cider, would definitely help calm her nerves.
As she opened up a rather expensive and flashy looking cooler, one she preferred to use only to maintain appearance, she poured a glass of cider and lifted it in her magic.
“Quite a show you put on, Rarity,” Fury said beside her. “Colour me interested.”
The sudden appearance made Rarity’s grip on the glass slip ever so slightly. “Interested?” Rarity huffed, “That’s it?”
Fury didn’t answer. “You looked nervous up there.”
“Yes, well, you would be too if you had to present weapons of mass destruction for the first time in over a millenia. I’m just hoping Rainbow Dash… that she comes back one day soon so that we never have to use these missiles… ever.”
Another flinch from Fury, once more unnoticed as Rarity filled her glass up once more. Turning to address those present, she said “Here are the order forms and the price sheets for these missiles. You may send them by mail or dragon fire to one of Belle Industries’ hubs.”
Fury took one in her hooves and studied it. “Quite pricey, hm?”
Rarity eyed Fury wearily. “I’d rather this money went to the bettering of Equestria than weapons of war, and that is exactly what I intend to do.” Rarity then walked away as a scroll of parchment burned into being in front of her.
Rarity unrolled it and perused its contents, recognizing the seal.
Rarity!
I know you’re having you’re presentation sometime soon, and I wanted to know how it went. Keep me updated!
Your friend in Baltimare,
Red
Rarity pouted, unsure how to answer. Writing something on the other side with a spare quill as not to be wasteful, she wrote back:
Hi Red,
It could’ve been better. Much better. For me at least. Sales are not out of the question. They’re impressed from what I can tell. More later.
Your sincere friend,
Rarity
With drink still in hoof, Rarity concentrated on sending the scroll back in a display of white flames. Now able to concentrate on one thing again, she levitated the cider with her to the car. Thanking a soldier that involuntarily opened it for her, Rarity smiled graciously before stepping in, and the door was closed.
Just as she was settling down, Fury walked up to the van. “Rarity, wait.”
Rarity narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. “This is the funvee. The humdrumvee is over there.”
Fury raised an eyebrow. “Hm. Words I never thought you’d use.”
Rarity giggled sarcastically. “It’s better than this dreadful place. Now if you’ll excuse the both of us, we’ve got to go.”
Fury pursed her lips. “Well, let me just say again that it was a good performance. I’m sure we can count on you to help protect Equestria.”
“Haven’t my best friends and I been doing that since we got the Elements of Harmony?” Rarity questioned. To say Rarity was surprised when Fury smiled darkly would be an understatement.
“There have been threats lurking in the shadows far longer than you’ve been active, Rarity,” Fury murmured. “Be careful what you wish for.” With those words, Fury left for the other car and Rarity was left alone to interpret her words.
Her hold on her glass now a little shaky, she ceased her magic and held it with both hooves, bringing it to her mouth. It’s sweet sting helped her focus.
As a soldier entered the car to sit beside her, the van was almost full. Rarity nodded to them and they nodded back before the car was started and it began to follow the second car in the convoy of vehicles she was now in. The feeling of tension and dreary awkwardness filling the air. Maybe she could lighten up the mood. In the meantime…
Soon… soon, she would be able to get back home and remove all of her troubles from mind for a time.
At least, for a little while.