Rarity was known as the fashionista of Ponyville, she was also one of the most confident, next to Rainbow Dash, pony in nearly all of Equestria. She always knew what to say and what to do, and when her fiance Princess Twilight Sparkle came into her life, everything just fell into place for her it seems. Unfortunately, things happen in life, and no life is perfect. One day while the unicorn was out hunting for gems with Spike, she was abducted by these creatures called the Diamond Dogs. From what her friends knew, no real harm, physical at least, came to her. However, she had lied that day. She had lied about being brave, about having them wrapped around her hoof. She figured they only let her go because they were actually tired of her "whining," and because her friends had shown up. If not for them, they would surely have found a way to get what they wanted. Rarity remembered the aftermath of her kidnapping all to well, Twilight, who was still just her marefriend back then had brought her home, given her a bath, as she was covered in dirt, fed her, and of course checked for cuts or bruises. Unfortunately, she hadn't looked well enough, and Rarity had managed to hide her scars for a few months, and the unicorn had managed to find a new topic to discuss, such as recent battles or Twilight's Coronation. However, she knew she wouldn't be able to hide her emotions, or marks, forever, but she didn't think her secrets would come out so soon.
Rarity awoke with a scream, her body yanking her upwards into a sitting position, she took several sharp glances around the room, her eyes not looking at one certain point for more than half a second. After another few deep breathes, she was able to calm down both her breaths and nerves. She had yet to have a peaceful night's sleep. Every night she had another dreadful nightmare about those dogs. Of course, she would never tell Twilight that, it would just add another thing to her list of things to worry about. However, she knew her fiance was still worried, for whenever she brought up the subject of Rarity being up so late at night, every night, insisting that she wasn't tired, the unicorn would always give the same response,"I'm fine dear, don't worry about it." Of course, that stopped working the twenty-third time the unicorn used it, but nonetheless, Twilight would drop the subject for a later date. The last time the subject had been brought up, Twilight had suggested that Rarity should start taking naps in the afternoon if she wasn't tired at night. This worked for a while, as Rarity could more easily see everything around her, this change didn't work forever. Not even a week after the new routine, the nightmares returned, but this time, Twilight didn't know she was having them, as the princess was always out busy with her royal duties throughout the day, leaving Rarity alone at her boutique or at the castle.
The unicorn looked at the small clock that dwelled atop the bedside table next to the queen size bed she was currently in,"3:48, I've been asleep for forty-eight minutes...how can such horrible dreams that feel so real and seem to last forever...only take forty-eight minutes!?" Tears left her eyes, rolling down her cheeks and dripping down to the lavender bedsheets, leaving a few wet drops on the bed. After giving herself a few moments to release her tears, and to take a few calming, deep breaths, she slowly drug herself from the bed and to the dresser that resided across the room. Once she got there, she gasped at the state of her mane. Unkempt and matted, Rarity knew she had to do something about her hair. She always felt better after making herself look presentable to both herself and Equestria, though she always had more fun with her personal spa days at home when Twilight was there too,"Oh well...I'm sure she'll be home soon..." The unicorn sighed as she ignited her horn, her magic gripping gently onto the hairbrush in front of her. Sitting on the stool in front of the dresser, she stared at her tired face that she could hardly recognize as herself anymore. Her eyes bloodshot, and cheeks paler than normal. After fifteen minutes of mindlessly brushing her mane and not having much progress in releasing the tight knots from her mane, she gave up. Dropping the brush from her magic, she let it land on the dresser as she trudged from the bedroom down to the kitchen. Her stomach growled, begging for food, but she wasn't hungry. She simply made herself a small glass of water and took it to the foyer, where she put the glass on the coffee table and sitting on the couch. Taking a deep breath she turned her eyes to her neck, using her magic to pick up her once curled mane that was now just jagged ends of hair to see the same thing she always saw. The thing that she wished wouldn't be there the next time she looked, only to be once again disappointed. It was a scar of a cut made by a knife, that same knife that had nearly killed her, all it had to have done was penetrate her skin a few more inches, and she would have been dead. She ran her hoof gently across the scar, it still held a small bump on it. She sighed, though she was grateful Twilight hadn't noticed it yet. She hoped so anyway.
"Rares, dear, what is that?" A sudden voice that was normally familiar and sweet to hear, now terrified her, as she quickly removed her hoof from her neck and stopped levitating her mane, causing it to cover her scar once again.
"What...is....what darling?" Rarity muttered nervously, her eyes darting back and forth as her breath quickened and hoofsteps approach her from behind.
"Your neck," Twilight continued, as she reached out and placed a hoof on the unicorn's shoulder, causing her to scream and jump up, before falling to the floor,"Oh Sweetheart are you okay?! I didn't mean to scare you!" The princess rushed to the couch and knelt beside her fiance.
"It's...o...okay..." Rarity managed to get out, before looking back at the floor. Twilight sighed, she knew that she had to find out the secrets and burdens that her mare was holding in. She had been grasping her emotions long enough, and she wanted her to release them.
"Alright baby...we gotta talk, and I don't want you to say that you're fine. I've let this go long enough." Twilight said, sternness in her voice, her eyes boring deep into Rarity's. The unicorn's lip quivered and fresh tears began streaming down from her bloodshot eyes and to the crystal floors of the large castle.
"I...uh...I...Twilight I, I really am-..." Rarity was cut off by a lavender hoof that pressed itself gently against her lips.
"Come on sweetie, look at yourself...do you really want to keep living like this? I've already made the mistake of letting hold these problems this long, now let me help you, help yourself. Okay?" Rarity released a sigh, before gently pushing the hoof from her mouth. Her breath quickened and she tackled Twilight in a hug, emitting loud sobs into Twilight's chest. Surprised, Twilight instinctively wrapped her wings around the pale unicorn, quietly shushing her and rhythmically stroking the ragged mane that she could barely tell belonged to Rarity anymore. After letting her get out all her tears before speaking again,"How about we get you a nice, long warm bath, get you something to eat, and then we'll talk. Give you time to prepare yourself. M'Kay?" Twilight flashed both a caring and loving smile. Rarity looked up, letting herself stare into the deep purple eyes that she loved so much. Letting herself process what she had just heard for a moment, she finally answered with a small nod,"Great. Come on then." As the two headed toward the bathroom," Spike, make some vegetable soup, please," Twilight said with a smile as she saw the young dragon pass by. Giving a smile and short nod, the dragon ran off to the kitchen. Ever since Rarity came into the picture, the two mares were worried about how the little dragon would react to his crush dating another. Fortunately, he was perfectly okay with the choice Rarity had made, and was just happy that she was apart of his family.
Water glazed over the unicorn as she stared blankly at her light reflection in the water that surrounded the mare, she released a sigh,"I feel like a child." She whispered as she used her magic to bring a rag to her, using it to wash her body while the princess worked on her mane, which was already less tangly. Apparently, soap, water, and a little bit of magic could do wonders for a mane. Twilight gingerly worked her hooves through the purple waves of hair, and one by one she was able to release the hair from even the smallest and tightest knots.
"What would ever make you think that Rarity?" Twilight asked, giving her fiance an empathetically sad and concerned smile.
"Because...well just look at me! My fiance is bathing me like a child! Taking care of me like I can't take care of myself. All this because I'm too scared to tell you about-" Rarity was cut off by a gasp from Twilight, whose hooves were still in Rarity's mane, but her eyes were glued to the unicorn's neck.
"How long has this been here...?" Twilight asked, her voice quiet, solemn, and serious, as fear coursed through the alicorn's veins. She very gently ran a hoof over the mark that was on Rarity's neck.
"Uhm...Few months..." Rarity muttered in response before more water was poured over her, getting most of the soap from her mane and body. Twilight was beginning to piece things together, thinking back a few months, and only coming to one event that Rarity could have gained such a mark. Though Twilight said nothing more until they got Rarity dried off, nothing more but,
"I love you Rarity, no matter what, I'm here for you. Know that."
Twilight sighed as she placed her spoon back into her now empty soup bowl, "Honey, you need to talk about this." She said, putting the bowl on the coffee table. Rarity barely acknowledged that Twilight had said anything, as she too placed her empty soup bowl on the coffee table, before turning her attention to the fireplace ahead of her. Her mind was focused only on the crackling of the small flame. Twilight sighed, and knew that she had to say something to get Rarity to talk,"You've been thinking about the Diamond Dogs this whole time...haven't you?" Twilight stared at her fiance sadly, though her sentence finally got Rarity to look at her, as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Yes...h..how..?" She could no longer find her voice.
"I started piecing things together when you said that scar had been there for a few months, and that incident happened three months ago...did you really...how did you say..." wrapped around your hoof the whole time,"? Or was everything you said to us a lie?" At first, the unicorn was hesitate, silent,"Please...I want, no, I need the truth! What did they do to you?" The last sentence was whispered, though it was the only thing that Rarity heard clearly.
Her breath quickened, as the painful memories, flashed before her eyes, though she was the only one who could see them. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she released sobs of pain and sadness. Seeing this, Twilight instinctively wrapped her wings around her mare comfortingly,"Shhh...It's okay Rares...just tell me, they won't get you as long as I'm around. I promise." After a few minutes, Rarity nodded, finally acknowledging her fiance, before wiping her eyes with a hoof, and sitting up to face her.
"Well...when I first got there, they told me that I had to hunt those gems for them, and I used my gem finding spell, marking all the places that the stones were at. They then told me to dig them up...and if I wasn't fast enough...they would use a...w..wh....ip...on me...." She stuttered, her eyes squeezing shut as she could once again hear the loud crack of the weapon that was used on her, it was never hard enough to make her bleed, but just enough to send a stinging sensation through her body. Twilight's eyes widened at this news, though she decided to let Rarity finish before replying,"After I got them their gems, they made me transport them all to a special part of the cave that was like their safe or something...they made me do that on my own...Not to mention they taunted me...made fun of me and called me names I would never like to repeat..." Twilight sighed, quickly wiping away a few tears of her own that were full of anger and sadness.
"I'm so sorry I let that happen...is that why you can't sleep? Why you have so many nightmares?"
"How did you know I had nightmares?"
"It wasn't that hard to figure that part out," Twilight said, rolling her eyes.
"Right...well, yes, that is why. I just...I'm so afraid to fall asleep...I'm afraid I'll wake up back in their arms...and even if I do get to sleep...they won't leave my mind! It's driving me insane!" The unicorn sobbed. Twilight only smiled.
"I wish you have told me before, that part I can fix easily."
"How?"
Rarity shakily climbed into bed, Twilight had said she knew of a way to help calm her fears and perhaps stop the nightmares, but she still wondered how that could be possible. Though she didn't have to wait long, as the alicorn soon entered the room, and plugged in a small nightlight across the room. Is was dim enough not to hurt their eyes but bright enough to illuminate the floor and the lower wall of the room. The darkness of the room that Rarity used to find terrifying, now seemed a bit more normal," Twilight...I...I appreciate that, but I don't want to disturb your sleep...not to mention that this is embarrassing..."
"Oh, honey..." Twilight giggled as she hovered over to the bed and laid beside her fiance, dropping the blanket, and her wings over both of them,"It doesn't bother me, the only thing that bothers me is your distress." Rarity smiled at this, her cheeks coloring,"I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too." And soon, the two were fast asleep.
The sun pierced through the castle window, a rooster crowing somewhere just outside. Once the sunlight ran over Twilight's face, she soon woke up, releasing a long yawn as she stretched her muscles, it took her a moment before her mind when to Rarity. Once it did, her eyes quickly changed its gaze.
The alicorn smiled. There her fiance was, sleeping soundly, a smile on her face. Twilight watched her chest rise and fall at a steady pace. Suddenly, the unicorn moved, stretching and yawning before looking at Twilight while rubbing her eyes,"How did you sleep?" Twilight asked, hopeful.
"Wonderful." That one word made Twilight laugh, before enveloping her mare in a hug, followed by a passionate kiss, they both swallowed the moment of bliss, happy that they finally had a perfect night. They both knew that the nightmares probably weren't completely gone, but now that Rarity was open and sharing her feelings more often, they were both ready for any memories of that dreadful day to come back. Twilight was ready to protect Rarity if those dirty dogs decided to try and take her fiance again. Most importantly, Rarity was ready to face any challenge that life threw at her. But most of all, she was glad to have a mare like Twilight Sparkle to take care of her whenever she needed her.