//------------------------------//
// Rarity's Tale 
// Story: Lessons Learned 
// by RoyalBardofCanterlot 
//------------------------------//

Rarity followed her mommy into the market place. This was their first stop of the day. Mommy had told her they were going to spend the day shopping. Rarity was fine with that. Her eyes widened as they took in the stalls that towered over her. The simple brown stands had awnings over them with a picture of the particular product the merchant was selling stamped on to them. Fresh fruits and veggies crowded the stalls. They passed a stall with bright orange carrots nearly spilling out of the bin. Past that one was a stall with fresh, juicy apples. A little orange filly waved to her from atop her mommy's back. Rarity waved back. She didn't know the filly, but her mommy taught her it was always polite to greet someone when they greet you.

Cookie Crumble stopped and exchanged a few words with the yellow mare running the apple stand. Rarity's mouth nearly watered as Cookie picked up three juicy, delicious looking apples and put them in her saddle bag. Rarity hurried to keep up with her mommy's long stride as they journeyed further through the market place. Cookie bought some parsnips, then celery and then some broccoli. Rarity made a face at that last choice.

Then, Rarity stopped. A cream colored mare stood behind a stall filled to the brim with candy. There were lollipops and suckers and chocolates and bon-bons. Cookie ushered Rarity along with a gentle tug of magic. Rarity stood her ground and pointed to the stall with her horn. "I want candy!"

Cookie sighed. "It's too early for candy."

Rarity stomped her hoof. "Candy!"

"Rarity...do you want a timeout?"

Rarity pouted. She most certainly didn't want a timeout. Her lips jutted out in a sulk as she followed her mother along. The market place receded behind them and they came to the business center of town. The center of the town's businesses was Barnyard Bargains, a yellow wooden building with an angled roof made up of purple shingles. Rarity frowned. Purple and yellow were bright colors and pretty and she liked staring at them, but the wooden slats crisscrossing the front would go if she were in charge.

And Rarity was fairly certain that she should be in charge of most things. 

Cookie patted her mane. "If you're good, we can get a cookie later. Okay?"

Rarity smiled and nuzzled her. "Okay, Mommy."

The store was filled with merchandise, towers of shelves rising up all around the toddler. She darted away from her mother's side to a shelf teeming with dolls. She grabbed a pink, puppy doll and hugged it to her chest. "I want this! I want this! I want this!" She stomped her hooves with each recitation of her demand. That usually worked.

Cookie looked around. A few other shoppers had stopped what they were doing and were staring at her and the toddler. Rarity glared at her mother. "I want it!"

Cookie placed a hoof on her daughter's shoulder. "Remember how we talked about using our inside voices? And what do we say?"

Rarity paused. She looked up at her mommy with big, tearful eyes. "May I please have this?"

Cookie toussled her mane. "That's a good girl."

Rarity's horn lit up and she lifted up all the dolls. "I want all the dolls!"

Cookie shook her head. Filthy Rich gave her a glance from his place behind the register. Cookie lightly blushed. "Rarity please put all those down."

"No!"

"Rarity, come on now..."

Rarity blew a raspberry. Cookie closed her eyes and counted to three. "Rarity, you can't have all the dolls."

Rarity snuggled them to her chest. "But I love them, Mommy!" Her lips jutted out in an even more exaggerated sulk.

Cookie lit up her own horn and easily yanked all but one doll away from her daughter's field to return them to their proper places on the shelf. Rarity took in a big intake of breath and held it. Unfortunately, she couldn't hold her breath that long and it all came out as one choking gasp.

Cookie rubbed her back. "Rarity, Mommy doesn't have enough money to buy all the dolls. If Mommy could, she'd buy you all the dolls in the world, but she can't."

Rarity puzzled on this for a moment. Filthy decided to throw Cookie a life raft and trotted over to the pair. "Little Miss, if you had all the dolls in the world, that wouldn't leave any for any other little fillies. You wouldn't want that would you?"

Rarity looked down at the ground. "No."

Cookie mouthed "thank you" as Filthy went to attend to another customer. Rarity settled her new doll on her back and followed after her mother. Cookie browsed the pots and pans and finally settled on a stainless steel pot which would be just right for the vegetable stew she was planning on making. 

Rarity didn't make a fuss and waited patiently at her mommy's side as they went through the store. Cookie went towards the exit and they walked out into the sunshine. Cookie stopped. The bed and couch store would be next. There was nothing fun for Rarity to do in that store, which could be good or bad.

An unoccupied Rarity could be a very problematic Rarity. Cookie stepped onto the trail and turned towards the direction of the couch store. She looked back. Rarity wasn't following. Instead, Rarity was standing in the middle of the street with a quasi-murderous glare on her face.

Cookie gave her a quizzical look. "Come along, Darling."

Rarity stomped her hoof. "No. Want cookie! I was good!"

Actually, she hadn't been that good. Cookie sighed and lit up her horn. A long wail erupted from Rarity as she was dragged to her mother's side. To cut off the impending tantrum, Cookie wrapped a foreleg around her. "We'll get you a cookie if-and only if-you're good in this store. Understand?"

Rarity drummed her hooves on the ground. "Why can't I have a cookie now?"

Cookie struggled to explain the concept in a way which the three year old would understand. "It's still too early. Also, you weren't good in the store. You wouldn't listen to Mommy when she asked you to put the dolls down."

Rarity hung her head. "Oh."

"Come along."

Rarity obeyed, trailing after her mom as they walked into the store. Couches and beds of all shapes and sizes littered the floor. Rarity gasped and rushed onto one of the beds, jumping up and down. Cookie caught her in her field. "No jumping on the bed-any bed."

Rarity bawled and kicked her legs as she helplessly floated in midair. Cookie set her down. Immediately, she jumped back onto the bed and lept into the air.

Cookie's mouth dropped at the blatant act of disobedience. Once more, Cookie pulled her from the bed with her field. The piercing cry that ripped from her throat was long and loud. Cookie ignored it as she began to wander among the beds. "Rarity, you're in time-out. So, get used to it."

Little purple sparks of magic came off her horn as the wailing got louder. Cookie pressed her hoof onto a particular mattress that had a simple, wooden frame. The bed next to it had an intricately carved headboard. Rarity's wailing turned into a long, sustained squeak that made several neighborhood dogs begin to bark.

The headboard was decorated in leaves and flowers. Cookie took a few minutes to appreciate the craftsponyship, trailing her hoof along the carvings. She flipped over the price tag and promptly walked away from it. Rarity quieted down into little sniffles.

Cookie didn't let her down. Instead, she began to examine another bed. This one was quite a bit plainer than the other one, made of a light mahogany. There was no designs on this one. She absently let her daughter down to the floor. Rarity rushed onto the mattress and jumped.

Cookie caught her in her field and ignored the assault upon her ears. She called a sales associate over, a slight little green earth pony mare. Her name tag announced her as Shady Daze. "Um, hi ma'am. How may I help you?"

Cookie patted the bed. "I would like to order this bed."

The wailing was now flat out ear splitting. Shady Daze gave the filly a look. "Can you quiet her down?"

Cookie shrugged. "She'll tire herself out."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"I'll go in the back and get you some paperwork. These are only for display."

"Of course."

Shady Daze scampered away, as if fleeing from the sobbing unicorn filly. Cookie set her down. Rarity sniffled, but didn't make a move for the bed. Cookie patted her head. Rarity glared at her. Shady came back with the paperwork and Cookie quickly filled it out.

Cookie scooped Rarity back into her field and they went to the other section of the store which was filled with couches. This section was actually owned by the bed store owner's brother. These couches were for sale rather than being for display. Rarity galloped onto a purple couch and bounced up and down.

Cookie scooped her up in her field. "Rarity, what did Mommy say about doing that?"

"But you didn't say I couldn't jump on couches!"

Cookie brought a hoof up to her forehead and massaged her aching head. She was starting to feel an oncoming migraine. "You're in time-out for the rest of the trip to this store. And just forget about that cookie."

Rarity's bottom lip trembled. Her eyes filled with tears. Cookie turned her back and didn't even flinch at the sustained, and rather theatrical, bawling.

Instead, she began to browse through the couches. A brown stallion wearing a blue uniform frowned at her. "Ma'am, could you please control your daughter?"

Cookie's glare at him deeply resembled that of her daughter. "Do you have kids?"

"No ma'am."

Cookie turned her attention to a green couch. It was a shade of green that resembled vomit. However, there was a couch with a nice floral theme right next to it. She sat down on it to test its softness and it yielded to her. She even sat Rarity down on it.

Rarity stopped her bawling and felt the springy material. It was soft and warm, enveloping her hooves. "Ooh, want! I want this!"

Cookie bit her lip. She almost wanted it too. Then, she glanced at the price tag. "Oh, c'mon..." She softly murmured. She picked Rarity back up. The filly didn't resist as her mother floated her through the store. 

Rarity pointed back to the flowery couch with her hoof. "We get that one?"

"No, Sweetie, I'm sorry. I wanted it too, but it costs too much."

Rarity flailed her hooves. "But I want it! It's pretty!"

"Sweetie, it's too much."

Rarity bursts into tears once again, making a rather miserable sight that tore at Cookie's heart strings. She felt the charging up of another unicorn's magic and whirled around. As Rarity screamed and kicked her hooves in the air, her horn was taking on a soft glow.

"Rarity, calm down. Calm down, Honey."

Rarity did the opposite of calming down. If anything, her crying got more intense. Her entire toddler body was thrown into the tantrum. She shook her head back and forth, she swung her forelegs and backlegs and all the while her horn had taken on an alarming blue glow.

Cookie tried to cut off her daughter's magic with her own, but it was too late. The build-up of magic was irreversible. Cookie could only hold on for it for a short time and while there was a way to cut it off completely that way was fraught with peril.

Rarity now looked like she was possessed as her eyes took on the same blue of her horn. "Rarity! Please stop!" Cooke cried in alarm.

The charging reached its peak and a bolt of blue struck the wall leading to a crater where part of a wall used to be. The crying didn't abate. Cookie let her go and Rarity fell to the floor while wildly pounding her limbs.

Cookie pulled her up with her own magic and marched to a red couch with a sweeping, curved back and lovely golden trim. Only one side had an armrest, making it resemble a cross between a couch and a bed. She sat on it and yanked her daughter across her lap, securing her with a foreleg over her back.

Rarity struggled across her mommy's lap and suddenly stopped as Cookie's hoof connected with her bottom with a firm tap. Rarity stopped, going completely still. Had Mommy just struck her derriere? How dare Mommy strike her delicate derriere! Mommy had never done that before! She wailed and drummed her backlegs. This earned two more firm taps to her rump. They were just hard enough to sting. She pounded her forelegs onto the red fabric. Mommy delivered three firm whacks to her backside.

The tempo of the tantrum increased as did the tempo of the slaps Mommy delivered to her bottom. Rarity yelled out in sheer rage, turning red in the face. Mommy delivered a flurry of whacks to her rump. A wave of exhaustion overcame Rarity and she slowed the kicking of her forelegs.

Mommy went back to tapping her bottom. Rarity realized the rump roasting's tempo was related to the tempo of her tantrum. She stopped altogether, laying still across her mother's lap. 

Mommy gently patted her bottom. "Alright, Rarity. There's a good girl, but since I had to spank you, you're not getting a cookie."

No cookie? Rarity's eyes widened and she screamed. Cookie slapped her bottom. Rarity immediately stopped. "I...I wanna cookie."

"If you want a cookie you have to be good. Understand?"

Rarity sniffled. "Yes. I'll be good."

"There's a good girl."

Cookie lifted her up in her lap and hugged her, even gently rubbing her bottom to get the sting of the spanking out. Rarity hugged Cookie while resting her head on her chest. 

Cookie leaned into the back of the couch. It was very comfortable. A glance at the price tag confirmed it was within her price range. "Listen, Sweetie. When you were a baby, it was okay to have tantrums every now and then. But you're a big girl. You could hurt somepony with your magic. I'm going to buy this couch and when you feel like having a tantrum or crying you can use it and scream and cry all you like. Okay?"

Rarity cuddled deeper into her mom's chest. "Okay."

"I'm giving you one more chance to get that cookie."

Rarity's ears perked up. "Really?"

"Yep. We're going to go back to the market. If you can be good while we walk through the market you get a cookie."

Cookie purchased the couch which would be delivered to her home the next day.

Rarity followed her mom as they exited the store and headed back towards the market. They crossed it without incident until they got to the candy stall where Rarity stopped. Cookie continued walking. Rarity shook her head and hurried to catch up with her.

The noon sun found her sitting in her mommy's lap, devouring a cookie.
...
Rarity levitated a marshmallow over the fire. "And that's the origin of the fainting couch. I love that couch. I actually let Sweetie use it sometimes. We both used it at the same time occasionally." She blinked. "Is that healthy, Twilight? Keeping onto something like that from foalhood?"

Twilight shrugged. "I still sleep with Smarty Pants. As long as it's not causing you distress it's fine."

Shining sipped a mug of cider. "So, uh, what about the hole in the wall? Your mom pay for it?"

Rarity swallowed a piece of marshmallow. "Oh! I forgot to mention that. No, no, no. She offered to pay for it, but the store refused. Magic surges happen, the owner was a dad, he understood."

Shining chuckled. "When I vandalized a building, it wasn't a surge. But I did get a sore butt for my troubles."

Twilight snorted. "Are you really going to tell this story?"

"Yep. It all started when..."