//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Time with mom (Rarity) // Story: rebuilding a crusade // by LavendarRegards //------------------------------// Rarity poked at the next page from her photo album. While she had initially opened it to help her muse over her next dress order, her mind had quickly derailed at all of the photos that had accumulated from the last three years. The first several pages were of Sweetie Belle in diapers and an exhausted looking Rarity, as well as a very frantic looking Spike. When she hadn’t been losing sleep, she’d been overwhelmed by how much she needed to do to raise a foal in diapers and keep her dress shop running. Spike’s help had been a Celestia-send during that time. That was for sure. The next several pages were of Sweetie Belle’s terrible twos. That had been quite the difficult period for Rarity. Thankfully, Sweetie Belle’s new found stubbornness had been counterbalanced by Spike’s diligent help, and her parents surprisingly finding the occasional day to come over and help raise Sweetie Belle. While Rarity might have had some beef with her parent’s lack of tact and etiquette, she had no complaints when it came to their advice. The two really had a lot of wisdom to impart… at least when they weren’t busy embarrassing her in front of Spike. Speaking of her parents being over… Rarity’s mind slowly returned to current events as she vaguely registered her mother animatedly describe some fanciful story from her current work week. “And, that’s when I discovered that I’d accidentally made the cake too big. You see, the cake was supposed to be 6 inches tall, but don’tcha know, I accidently made it six feet tall,” Cookie Crumbles eagerly recounted with a manic smile as she stood up, and raised one of her forelegs to approximately 6 feet off of the ground. “And, when I figured out what happened I was like:” Cookie Crumbles reported as she opened her eyes cartoonishly wide, and dropped her jaw practically to the ground. Sweetie Belle gave off a loud giggle as she imagined the ridiculous events that Cookie Crumbles was busy claiming was the events of the current week. “Well, it sounds like you had a busy week,” Rarity agreed as politely as she could. But, her mind wasn’t really focused on the conversation. It wasn’t that her mother’s story wasn’t interesting, but Rarity had found herself very distracted by her current upcoming dress order. “Oh yeah, but it get’s worse,” Cookie Crumbles added with wide eyes as she went back to describing the events of the last week. While Cookie Crumbles could be a bit clumsy at times, Rarity suspected that she was just trying to put up a good story to entertain Sweetie Belle. It made sense, really. It would have been much less interesting for Sweetie Belle to hear about how long Cookie Crumbles’ work week was, or how much overtime she did for it. Still, Rarity was thankful that Cookie Crumbles had found time to show up today. Her babysitting Sweetie Belle left Rarity time to work on her dresses, and then -- Celestia willing -- go out on another date with Spike. Rarity’s mind continued to wander as Cookie Crumbles finished her story, and started grilling Sweetie Belle for as much information about her day as she could get out of the filly’s short attention span. Meanwhile, Rarity’s mind returned to the risks of her current design idea. You see, she’d actually designed the dress line loosely off of Spike’s scales, and their coloration. There was a real risk that this design would prove too daring for the common pony. “Grandma, can I bake with you?’ Sweetie Belle’s voice chirped out, drawing Rarity’s attention away from her fretting. “I don’t see why not,” Cookie Crumbles quickly retorted, despite the vigorous, and frantic shaking of Rarity’s head and the waving of her hooves. “Now, what have you been up to, honey?” Cookie Crumbles asked Rarity as her attention was now drawn to the white mare. “Have you and that stallion -- Spike, I think it was -- been getting along well? I figured you two must be serious if you’ve been dating for as long as you have,” Cookie Crumbles proposed with a girlish giggle. Rarity took a deep breath, and decided to move on and answer the question… Silently she crossed her hooves and hoped that Sweetie Belle would quickly forget that baking was even mentioned. “Well, I’ll admit he’s quite responsible and can be charming when he gets serious. But, we have both decided to take things slowly -- particularly since he seems to be currently going through a growth spurt,” Rarity started to explain, only to be interrupted by Sweetie Belle. “I saw Mommy and Daddy kissing!” she eagerly shouted with a huge grin and wide eyes. “No, no, no…” Rarity sputtered through her wide open mouth, and flaming cheeks. “We’re still dating… We both agreed to wait until later to have a serious commitment,” Rarity insisted, despite the playful snicker her mother was having at her expense. “Mother, could we please just drop it,” Rarity finally pleaded as she managed to regain a bit of her self-control. “Well, I suppose so,” Cookie Crumbles admitted with a playful smile. “If you agree to let Sweetie Belle help me bake,” Cookie Crumbles added, earning a cheer from Sweetie Belle, and a shudder from Rarity. “Mother, she’s only three. I don’t think she’s old enough to...” Rarity started, only to feel her heart sink as she watched both Sweetie Belle, and Cookie Crumbles shoot her their best pleading puppy dog stares. “But… But… Burnt… Juice...” was all Rarity managed to stutter out until her fortitude gave out completely to the onslaught of cuteness. “I suppose one can never start too soon with the learning process,” Rarity reluctantly conceded with a concerned look and a worried sigh. “But, I expect her to follow my directions to the letter,” Rarity ordered sternly, earning a nod of acceptance from both Cookie Crumbles and Sweetie Belle. *** “Now then Sweetie Belle,” Rarity lectured in her most elegant tone of voice. “The important thing to remember when preparing any kind of food is order, purpose, and cleanliness,” Rarity added as she marched back and front in front of the kitchen’s sink and prep area. To a fly on the wall, it might look like Rarity was guarding her kitchen fixtures, utensils, and pots and pans from unwarranted interactions. “So, we start by lining all of our ingredients neatly in a nice line, based upon when we need them,” Rarity calmly explained as she lit up her horn. Carefully she arranged the butter, the bag of sugar, the carton of eggs, the bottle of vanilla extract, the bag of flour, the box of baking soda, the salt shaker, a couple of mixing bowls, and several cooking utensils in a neat, and even line along the kitchen table. “The prench unicorn’s called this mise en place,” Rarity explained despite the uninterested look on her mother and daughter’s faces. “See, Sweetie Belle, we are now ready to begin working on the cookies,” Rarity pointed out to Sweetie Belle, who seemed to impatiently squirm while she waited for Rarity to give her a task to do. “Now, we must check the recipe book to see what steps we need to perform to make this recipe correctly. Be sure to memorize each one of them before we start,” Rarity concluded as she gracefully trotted over to the kitchen table, and placed her hoof on the first page of the book. “Now, let’s see: first you need to melt the butter,” Rarity read out loud before she moved her hoof down to the next instruction. Intently she began to stare at the page, and memorize its contents. “Then, we shall mix the melted butter in a bowl with sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla,” Rarity continued, her focus never wavering from the page, even as her mother carelessly melted some butter with her horn, and threw the butter into a mixing bowl with the other ingredients. She then handed Sweetie Belle a large wooden spoon. “Remember to let the butter cool,” Rarity continued to command, despite the fact that no pony was paying her a lot of attention at the moment. Instead, Sweetie Belle had gotten up from the table, and taken the bowl with her, so that she could get a better leverage with the spoon and bowl. “In a different bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then --” Rarity added only to noticeably flinch when she was interrupted by the loud crash of a bowl slamming into her pristine tiled kitchen floor. “What was that?” Rarity asked with a hint of concern as she turned her head so that she could look at the cooking bowl sitting on the floor, surrounded by a small circle of splattered egg, butter, and vanilla slurry. Next to the bowl sat Sweetie Belle, who was covered in batter and looked up at Rarity with some tears in her eyes, and a look of guilt written in the despair on her face. “Mommy, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drop the cookie mix,” Sweetie Belle apologized profusely between sniffles, even as Cookie Crumbles was already helping her clean up the mess. “Sweetie Belle,” Rarity moaned. “Why didn’t you wait for me to help you?” Rarity chided, albeit with a soft tone. It looked like Sweetie Belle was already regretting her brash decision, but she needed to understand that Rarity’s instructions were law. “That would be my fault,” Cookie Crumbles admitted with a guilty look on her face. “But, your lecture was really boring… And, I figured Sweetie Belle would rather learn hooves on,” Cookie Crumbles explained as she looked down at the floor with a look of shame… Rarity breathed a long sullen sigh. “Well, I suppose I can forgive you two this time. But, Sweetie Belle I expect you to follow my instructions. Am I clear?” Rarity softly, but sternly asked again. “Yes mommy,” Sweetie Belle conceded as she looked at Rarity with her sullen doughy eyes moistening with tears. “You are forgiven,” Rarity stated calmly with a warm smile and a happy nod. “I suppose it would not hurt to do some hands on learning,” Rarity conceded as she trotted over to Sweetie Belle with the cooking book levitating a couple of feet in front of her. Sweetie Belle breathed a noticeable sigh of relief. Her muzzle slowly curled up into a cute smile as her regret slowly ebbed away. Finally, she intently watched Rarity assumed her position next to her. “Now then, I have the bowl. And here is the spoon. Let’s try stirring this again,” Rarity proposed to Sweetie Belle as she levitated the spoon into Sweetie Belle’s waiting hooves, and levitated the bowl over to float in front of the two. “That’s looking much better,” Cookie Crumbles stated matter of factly as she watched Sweetie Belle and Rarity work together to get the wet ingredients mixed. While she didn’t say she was doing it, Cookie Crumbles carefully mixed the flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Thankfully there were no more hiccups in the cookie making. However, Rarity’s plans to waltz off and start work on her dress order had been delayed as Sweetie Belle had spent the next twelve minutes asking Rarity if the cookies were ready. Rarity couldn’t say why Sweetie Belle had decided to bother her, and not Cookie Crumbles. But whatever the reason was, it was just another mystery. By the time the cookies were ready to come out of the oven, Rarity had reached the end of her patience. “Sweetie Belle, perhaps a nice song will help the cookies cool faster?” Rarity suggested with a long sigh. “Sing?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously. “Of course,” Rarity assured her. “Nothing eats time faster than a nice quiet song,” Rarity added as she patiently waited to see what Sweetie Belle would choose. If Rarity were to guess, it was probably going to be a botched rendition of “the wheels on the cart go round and round.” Sweetie Belle sat there for several moments as her young mind tried to come up with something. What finally did come out of her mouth was more a lyricless song or a sung hum. But whatever it was, those “dees,” “dos,” and “dums” seemed to form a vaguely familiar song. Unfortunately, Rarity just couldn’t place the lyrics either. But, it was definitely something she knew she’d heard. And, she was sure it had been popular at some point. But, she just wasn’t sure where she’d heard it last. However before she could place the tune, the oven dinged. This told the two ponies that the cookies were ready. Which, of course, meant that Sweetie Belle dropped the song like a hot potato so that she could gallop over to the cookie racks, and grab a cookie. “Whoa, careful!” Rarity commanded hastily. “Those might still be hot,” she warned. *** Spike hummed a merry tone as he skipped up to Rarity’s front door. Upon arriving at the door, the purple dragon made a quick point of licking his palm and using it to straighten the scales on his head. He then re-arranged the flowers in the bouquet he was holding for the fifth time, and fluffed some wrinkles out of the suit coat he was wearing. Finally, he knocked on the door. Casually, he continued to hum as he waited for Rarity to come greet him at the door. When they had first started dating, Spike had been very apprehensive. He’d spent a fair deal of time worrying about whether his lady love would reject him. Now, though, he’d grown comfortable with their relationship, and didn’t spent nearly as much time walking on eggshells. Gracefully the doors to the Carousel Boutique outwards to reveal Rarity in all of her glory, complete with her pink Galah dress and golden tiara. Even now, Spike could still feel his heart stop for a moment or two. Rarity was still the epitome of beauty to his eyes, even after three years of dating. “Hello Spike, darling,” Rarity greeted the purple drake with a large smile. Rarity then looked Spike up and down, before she gave an approving nod. “And might I add, I love the tux you chose. It compliments your colors exquisitely,” Rarity complimented the teenage dragon, who now stood nearly as tall as Rarity herself. If Rarity were to guess, it wouldn’t be too much longer until the previously small drake stood about as tall as other teenage dragons, such as Garble. While Spike could hardly be seen as an adult dragon, but he was tall enough and muscular enough to look like an adult pony to Rarity. And while it was almost impossible to see Spike as anything but a foal earlier, now it was hard for her not to see him as an adult. “Thank you, Rarity,” Spike admitted with a slight blush and a small smile. “But, I really need to thank Fluttershy, she was really helpful with selecting the outfit,” Spike conceded with a slightly bigger blush. His blush coming, partly because he had never expected the shy Pegasus to have an eye for fashion, and partly because the outfit she had chosen for him had been a tad bit dated -- with its long coat, scarf, and tall top hat, it kind of reminded Spike of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “But, your outfit looks perfect,” Spike asserts as he took a moment to admire Rarity’s dress. His tongue was sagging a bit out of his head as he gave Rarity that smitten look that she had grown to understand was his deep affection for her… Rarity gave the drake a good poke with her hoof to wake him up. “Sorry,” Spike admitted with a deep blush and regretful look. “I didn’t mean to go all loopy on you again,” he conceded, earning a forgiving nod from Rarity, “Hey Rarity, are you ready to go to dinner?” Spike asked the white mare as he shot her his best smile, and tried to set the last embarrassing moments behind him. “Of course,” Rarity agreed with a polite smile and a nod. “We should probably hurry, or the restaurant will get busy,” Rarity added, earning a panicked look from Spike as he realized the time. Hastily, he and Rarity half galloped -- or sprinted in Spike's case -- and half walked to the restaurant. *** “Well, my mother, and father are still extremely busy. But thankfully, they’ve been finding some time to foalsit Sweetie Belle on occasion,” Rarity casually explained as she took a dainty sip from the fluted glass of sparkling cider that previously sat in front of her, and now was levitated into the air. “Speaking of Sweetie Belle,” Rarity continued as she gently lowered the fluted glass back down to the table. “I didn’t think it was possible, but she actually made something without burning it,” Rarity admitted with an awed look on her face. “I know mother, and I didn’t let her touch the stove or oven… But still, she actually managed to cook something without burning it. I don’t think she’s ever been able to do that before,” Rarity added with a proud smile before a small look of loss wrinkled the corners of her lips. Spike nodded his agreement before he grabbed his glass of water, and began to swallow it quickly. When he first started these dates, he had simply let Rarity talk, because it gave him time to oogle. But as more and more time passed, he found a better reason to let her talk about her day, her job, and her life. When she had time to talk about everything that was on her mind, it tended to put her in a better, and more relaxed frame of mind. And from that frame of mind, she was more open to hearing what Spike wanted to talk about or do something else with Spike, like see a movie, take a moonlight stroll, or even do something really fun -- like go karts, sledging, or even light tag. “But what about you Spike? Here I’ve been talking all about my week, and I haven’t heard you say a thing about yourself,” Rarity asked with a tinge of guilt prevalent in the soft remorseful words coming from her mouth. “I don’t really have too much to add, really. When I’m not helping you, I’m busy helping Twilight around the castle” Spike glumly admitted as he looked down at his glass of water. He didn’t want to admit it, but he still felt it… That bitter taste of self-doubt. Every time he thought he was over it or had buried it alive with whatever confidence he could build… it would find a way to dig its way back out of 40 feet of soil. Nervously Spike rubbed his sore back, where wing bones had burst their way out of his shoulder blades. If it weren’t so painful, he would be ecstatic to brag about how he was growing those wings that every other dragon had. “Oh dear. Spike, are those new wings still hurting you,” Rarity asked with a definite worried expression on her face as she raised a foreleg out to reach for Spike’s shoulders. “A little...” Spike admitted as he quickly dropped his claw away from the sore spot. “But, I wish I was more help to you,” Spike admitted as he absentmindedly poked at his food with the fork in his other claw. “Nonsense. You have been a great help,” Rarity insisted as she lowered her raised foreleg so that she could place a consoling hoof on Spike’s claw. “While you can be a bit childish at times. You’re a caring dragon, who’s shown himself able to be, and willing to be responsible when others need your help. And, you’ve already been so helpful to me that you could practically be confused for my hus...” but before she finished her sentence, Rarity stopped abruptly and pulled her hoof away. Thankfully, her Freudian slip went unnoticed by the purple dragon who was still playing with his food. After regaining her composure, she nervously rubbed her other hoof across her head, just behind her horn. “It’s funny really...” Rarity added with a nervous and slightly hollow laugh that was tinged with a touch of embarrassment. “A few years back I was in a hurry to get a husband. But now, it’s been three years of dating, and it’s me that just keeps dragging my hooves...” Rarity added as she looked down at her food, hoping to hide a tinge of red that was starting to appear on her cheeks. “Do you think …” Spike suddenly turned to look at Rarity. His feelings of self-doubt melting away as he listened carefully to every word she had to say. And, although he didn't mean to stare, but he couldn't help it. She just looked so beautiful. His emerald eyes gazed upon her, causing Rarity to blush harder as she struggled to admit her feelings as an internal battle of logic and love raged inside her heart. She had been preparing for this moment but was only recently able to grip what her heart truly longed for. For whom her heart had longed for. She swallowed, gathering the courage to ask what had plagued her mind from the beginning of tonight's date. “Do you think we’d make a good couple? Maybe that husband I’ve been looking for has been waiting right here for me patiently for years?” Rarity said shyly as she raised her head a bit to look at Spike. “Are you suggesting we get married?” Spike stuttered as he felt his heart flutter, and a smile growing on his face. Quickly Spike fought to suppress the goofy heart smitten grin on his face. He didn’t want to give Rarity too much emotion… Not if it meant embarrassing her. “Well… I might be interested if you’re…” Rarity admitted with a growing blush as she made a point to pretend to blot her face with a napkin. Rarity’s statement was quickly followed by two long, strong scaly arms wrapping around her in a snug hug.