With a pained groan, Twilight collapsed to the bed, clutching her head. Spike trailed close behind, laying a hot towel across her forehead. It felt like years ago that Rarity and Spike had rented this inn room for the weekend, but it hadn’t even been used since they left.
Trailing after the two of them, Rarity closed the door behind herself, “You sure you’re going to be alright, Twilight?”
With a defeated groan, Twilight grumbled out, “I shouldn’t have wasted so much magic… I could have gotten that done with half as much…”
Chuckling, Rarity sat at her bedside, “Well, either way about it, it’s over.”
Cracking an eye open, Twilight peered with irritation, “How did you even let yourselves get in that situation? I thought I told you to keep Spike safe.”
Rarity and Spike slowly turned to face each other, each chuckling awkwardly. Things… had gotten away from either of them. This weekend trip to a small town, trying to find-
“Oh for f-” Rarity started, cutting herself off as she realized, “I never even figured out who made the sabre.”
Spike offered a shrug, “Fortune should know, she seemed to know her family history pretty well, we could always head to the jail and shake her until she tells us.”
Twilight whistled to grab both of their attention again, “Oh, no. You’re not dodging my question like that.’
Rarity turned back to look at her and chuckled nervously, “The more we found… darling, things just got out of hoof. We-”
“Out of hoof?” Twilight shouted, quickly regretting it as her migraine panged. With a groan, she persisted, “If that unicorn had slipped up with her magic, you two would both have died. What were you thinking?”
Guilt flooded Rarity. She… couldn’t deny a word of it, but…
“Twilight,” Spike interrupted her thoughts. He reached forward, resting his palm on the purple mare’s cheek, “If we hadn’t done it, no one would have. Everypony in that temple would be dead right now and that psycho would still be out there.”
Twilight pouted back at him, “You could have just… let the guard know. Anything. You didn’t have to do it yourselves… all alone…”
Taking a deep breath, Spike spoke with determination, “Sometimes… what you’re doing is more important than yourself.”
Both of the mares were more than shocked by the statement, but Rarity was the first to speak, “This wasn’t some dalliance that we did just for the fun of it. We saw something… that only we could do. I don’t think we could have waited for backup. Twi-”
Her words were cut short by Twilight lunging forward to hug the both of them, holding a head to each of her shoulders, “I was so worried about you two. When I got that letter that you were going north to investigate…”
With a deep sigh, Rarity returned the embrace, “I’m sorry for putting you through all of this.”
Twilight held the hug for a long while before loosening her grip, sitting back to look at them both again, “I’m just happy you two are safe now.”
“Anything you survive is a good learning experience,” Spike joked.
Twilight shot him a disapproving look before sighing and shaking her head, “I guess you’re not too wrong there… Just be more careful where you go learning from now on.”
“Says the mare who tried to solo Nightmare Moon,” Spike retorted.
Twilight sought a reply, but was just left holding a hoof up like she was about to say something. As the moment lingered, Rarity began to giggle, and soon after Twilight and Spike followed her lead. This time, it was Rarity’s turn to start the hug.
“I should have had more faith in you two, I guess,” Twilight admitted quietly, “It’s not like either of you are strangers to this sort of thing.”
“Whether or not we’d admit it,” Rarity added.
With a deep sigh, Twilight nodded, “Just let me rest for a bit, I’ll make sure to take care of the legal end of things when I wake up.”
With a quiet chuckle, Rarity took a step towards the door, “I’ll leave you be. Spike?”
“I’ll stay here and look after her,” he replied, giving a thumbs up.
With that, Rarity left her friends be. She… needed to take a walk.
Surlin was fairly quiet as the sun set. Sure, there were ponies milling about, going through their business after work hours, but the streets were empty by comparison to Ponyville at the same time of day. Perhaps because of all the families that had already left. Rarity moved without any conscious direction, wandering wherever her hooves took her.
She found herself on a bridge, staring down into the river’s waters. There… was a lot she wasn’t quite over. Life or death… she reached up to trace the narrow streak of torn skin across her cheek, held together by butterfly bandages. How many times had she almost…
She felt woozy. She… was no adventurer. This wasn’t her life. She just… wanted to go back to her studio. No prophecies, no swords, no…
A sound nearby hit her and she snapped to face it, ready for conflict. Nearby, slowly approaching, was the High Sage. He bowed his head lightly.
“Scroll,” Rarity acknowledged, “What brings you down from the temple?”
“When word reached us of what happened at the summit…” he tooks a deep breath, “I’m glad to have heard you made it out alright.”
Glancing down at the little trace of blood on her hoof, she laughed nervously, a slight twinge of pain in her cheek, “Well… not too worse for the wear.”
Scroll looked the injury over and smiled, “Would you like me to heal that up for you? I’d hate for it to scar badly.”
“Oh, thank-” Rarity started to accept. There was just a brief pause before she decided, “Thank you for the offer, but… it shouldn’t scar too badly.”
“Are you sure?” he asked calmly, “It wouldn’t be a bother for me.”
Reaching up to touch her cheek again, Rarity smiled, “This… is a part of me now. I might not be an adventurer… but I suppose I’m a hero, yes?”
The sage chuckled, a smile forming, “Fair enough. It’s a clean cut, you should heal well enough.”
Rarity bowed in thanks and turned back to watch the waters. She meant it. This adventure… was a part of her now. She didn’t want to deny that.
“Not to talk business while you’re still recovering,” Scroll quietly began, “But what of the Sword?”
Rarity turned back to look at him, “Hm? Oh, it’s fine. I was worried she’d dropped it into the magma, but then we just found it hovering in the tubes. I have it back in my room if you’re here to pick it up.”
Scroll paused, musing, “Usually it returns to the Temple when it is done. Peculiar.”
“You don’t think there’s more to do, do you?” Rarity asked nervously.
Taking a deep breath, Scroll replied, “Perhaps, but… I feel like it would make it known if there was more to be done. As it stands… perhaps it just wants to stay with you.”
Cocking an eyebrow, Rarity asked, “Are you… sure? I feel like it belongs here with you all, not with some dressmaker.”
Grinning softly, he explained, “We don’t decide where it goes. It does. If it has chosen to stay with you, that is its will. We’ll just have to apply our skills to something else in the meantime. After all, there’s quite a lot of cleanup here, and it’s in some ways our fault as well.”
Rarity turned back to the river, noticing the water level seemed lower than the dampness on the walls of the channel, “True enough. I guess the hero doesn’t usually stick around for the cleanup, hm?”
With a shrug, Scroll noted, “Adventurers usually wander on to their next quest, true.”
Turning to Scroll with a wide smile, Rarity nearly sang, “Well good thing I’m not an adventurer then. Where am I needed?”