Over the next week, Rarity sat by her window throughout the nights, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pegasus that crept through the shadows. She still wasn't completely convinced that it was a Pegasus, but that's all she had to go on.
After just more than a week, she had to stop staying up so late. Her orders were falling behind, and this obsessive streak just wasn't good for business. After two more days of hard work, she had caught up. She was exhausted, but she felt confident that her business was no longer in danger of falling behind.
Later that week, around 4pm on an idle Tuesday, Rarity was helping one of her regulars, Allie Way, with some fancy new hair ties. The conversation was polite, and maybe even genuinely friendly at one point. The two of them had gone to school together as fillies, but had lost touch with one another over the years.
Allie Way admired herself in the mirror. While she wasn't the flirty type, she certainly was pretty. She was tall, taller than most Unicorns, and the way she always had her mane tied back was quite fetching.
"Oh, this new material is just great, Rarity!" She gushed as she freed her hair and slipped the tie back to Rarity. "I'll take five of them. Maybe the new mystery stallion in town'll come by the bowling alley and we'll have a game together..." She let slip an unusually girly giggle as she fiddled with her mane.
Rarity blinked in confusion. "A new stallion in town? Oh do tell!" She walked with a bounce in her step to collect four more ties for her customer. She paused, then, as the night a week and a half ago came back to her.
"Wait...This isn't about some stallion that's lurking about at night, is it?" The alabaster Unicorn winced as she heard herself. Who would get excited over something like that?
"Oh, it is!"
Rarity nearly dropped the hair ties she had been collecting in a little box. "O-oh?" She turned after she had rid herself of the perplexed look she was sure that had burned itself onto her face. "Has anyone seen this 'mystery stallion'?"
Allie Way smiled as she turned and lightly grabbed the box from Rarity with her own magic, while replacing it with ten bits. "Well, I don't know for sure, but talk is going around that Ditzy hangs out with him sometimes. But you know how it is with single moms, he probably wouldn't want to stick around for that."
Rarity felt her respect for her customer dip just slightly at that comment, but she kept her cool and simply murmured an unintelligible response. She smiled happy at Allie, and dipped her head graciously. "I see. Well, thank you ever so much for your business, Allie, but I must be getting along. I have an enormous task ahead of me, I simply must get to it, you understand."
"Oh, of course..." Allie returned the smile, but she felt like she was getting rushed. No matter, she had her own affairs to get to, as well. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, see you around, Rarity!" She waved and trotted on out and disappeared into town.
Now that that was out of the way, Rarity had a new goal: To find Ditzy, engage her in witty conversation, and cause her to talk about this mysterious stallion. She closed up shop an hour early with a message apologizing to her customers, then set out on the town. Her first order of business: Find Ditzy.
It wasn't hard around this time of day. Usually, the mailmare was finishing up her rounds for the day. After that, she usually went to the park where Dinky was often playing to pick her up. After some thought, Rarity decided a beeline for the park would be a good idea.
After arriving at the park, she settled in for a wait. She smiled almost wistfully as she watched all the little colts and fillies play. It reminded her of her own school days. Her own school days, when -
She was suddenly brought out of her memories when she saw Ditzy arrive. Little Dinky ran to meet her mother. Rarity got to her feet and was about to approach the two when a little white filly attached herself to Rarity from behind.
"Rarity!" A happy young voice squeaked. Startled, Rarity turned to look down at her sister, who had appeared from nowhere.
"Sweetie Belle! Wh-what are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be with..." She trailed off as her parents approached, both giving her big, hopeful smiles.
"Oh, hello, dearie!" Her mother called. Rarity turned to face the three completely unexpected Unicorns.
"Mother, Father, and Sweetie Belle!" Rarity forced a smile onto her face as she hugged her little sister. The affection wasn't insincere, but their appearance had frazzled her, as it always did whether or not she was expecting them to.
"So sorry to have ta do this unannounced, Rarity," her father said. Rarity's countenance tightened just slightly as she already knew what they were about to say. She didn't see her family all together at once unless they were going to leave Sweetie Belle with her for the weekend.
She sighed and held a hoof up. "Of course I'll watch Sweetie Belle. I'd love to spend some time with my sister." She smiled more naturally and embraced Sweetie Belle again, who melted into her sister's forelegs happily.
"Oh, Rarity, you're a life saver, ya know." Her mother leaned in and kissed her elder daughter's cheek, followed by her husband. The public display made Rarity blush with embarrassment.
"Yes, of course. Think nothing of it." Rarity smiled and dismissed that heavy sigh she so desperately needed to have. It looked like she'd have to get back to her mission at some other point. After a moment, she realized that her parents had said their goodbyes to Sweetie Belle. She hadn't even bothered to ask how long she'd need to watch Sweetie Belle.
Wait a second! She gasped and hopped in place excitedly. "Oh, oh, Sweetie Belle! You don't have many friends here in Ponyville yet, do you?" She stated more than asked. Sweetie Belle sat back on her haunches, indignity crossing her features.
"No. You don't need to rub it in."
Rarity smiled happily down at Sweetie and cupped her cheeks with her hooves. "Oh, don't you worry about that, Sweetie, I'm about to make you a friend!" She reached down and tugged Sweetie Belle behind her. She was absolutely driven to make this happen.
Sweetie Belle wasn't sure how she felt about this. Rarity was acting awfully strange so suddenly, but she had wanted a friend, so...
"Ditzy, oh Ditzy!" Rarity called as she caught up with the mother-daughter pair. Rarity slowed down when she realized she was acting just a liiittle crazy. She collected herself as she approached her old school-mate.
"Oh, hello, Rarity!" Ditzy smiled and nudged little Dinky, who looked up at her mother until she remembered her manners. "Hello, Miss Rarity, how do you do?"
Rarity gave an adoring gasp at the little Unicorn. "Oh, she's so well-mannered! Sweetie Belle, say hello, dear."
Sweetie Belle smiled and gave her best impression of a curtsy. "Hello, I'm pleased to meet you." Rarity had never been prouder of her.
"Oh, well done, Sweetie Belle!" Rarity smiled and turned to Ditzy. "Oh Ditzy, I apologize for taking up your time, but...Sweetie Belle is in need of friends here in Ponyville, she may be here for a few days. Could I, perhaps, borrow your daughter sometime in the near future, to help keep Sweetie from being too lonely?" She looked down at Dinky, a kind smile on her face. "If that's all right with you, of course, Dinky."
Dinky and Ditzy glanced at each other, then nodded at the same time. Their movements were so in sync it might've been a bit unsettling, if it hadn't been so cute.
"I think that'd be great, Rarity!" Ditzy said with a grin. Rarity was beside herself. Her plan was working out perfectly!
"Oh, that's delightful, Ditzy, thank you ever so much, both of you. Now Sweetie Belle, why don't you go play with Dinky for a moment, I need to talk with her mother, please."
As soon as the two fillies ran back to the park, Rarity turned to face Ditzy. She was taken aback by the knowing grin on the grey mare's face. "Uh, s-so, Ditzy, I was hoping to -"
"He doesn't like ponies to spread it around."
"I...beg your pardon?"
Ditzy smiled and sat down on her haunches, a patient smile on her face. "Rarity, I know we're not anywhere near the same place on the social ladder, and I'm not the most popular mare around town. We talked when we were kids, I guess, but nowadays, with the talk going on around town, there's really only one reason you'd bother trying to make friends."
Rarity blanched. She would be offended if it wasn't true. A look of guilt stole over her face as she gazed at the ground. Before she could come up with a response, Ditzy continued.
"It's all right, Rarity. You're a kind pony, and everypony has friends that they don't talk to anymore. I'm not saying you're a bad pony. You're really one of the most generous ponies I've ever met, and you still are."
Rarity smiled up at the Pegasus while holding back a stray tear. "Oh, thank you, Ditzy. I do appreciate it..."
Ditzy smiled kindly once more. "Now...about that 'mysterious stallion' that I've been so unkindly rumored to be with? He's an old friend, but he's asked me not to spread it around that he's in town. It got around anyway, somehow. He wanted me to let you know, if I ever get the chance to talk to you, that he's sorry for scaring you the other night.
Rarity stared at Ditzy. It suddenly came to her. It hit her like a block of ice pressed to her belly. "Wait...Wait just a moment. Ditzy, are you...do you mean who I think you mean? Sp...Spark Storm?"
Ditzy broke out into a grin and nodded. Rarity's eyes widened, and she looked like she needed to sit down. Trouble was, she was already sitting down. "Oh. Oh my. This is...so exciting! This is...!"
She was cut off as Ditzy pressed a hoof over her mouth. "Sshh! It's already going around town, Rarity, he really doesn't want it spread out any more than it already is!"
Rarity pouted as Ditzy lowered her hoof. "Oh, but...but Ditzy, I haven't seen him since I was nine years old! Honestly..." She lowered her voice at the glare Ditzy was giving her. She stepped closer to whisper. "Aside from the old kooks who wanted him thrown out, what other reason could have for all this sneaking around?"
Ditzy sighed and shrugged with her wings. "I wish I knew, but he won't tell me. It's a secret. Look, I should get going." She paused, then smiled once more. "Sweetie Belle is still more than welcome to play with Dinky, you know. She needs more friends, too." She called for her daughter, and the two of them set off for home.
As Rarity waited for Sweetie Belle, she thought deeply on this new information. What in the world could he possibly have to be afraid of that he wouldn't even tell Ditzy, who had been his best friend for ten years? All these keeping secrets was...wait. Wait just a minute!
The cogs in Rarity's head turned at feverish paces, putting information together, taking it apart and putting it back together again in different pieces. Finally, it all clicked into place, and she was left with one conclusion. Twilight Sparkle had something to do with this. She seemed to recognize the sketch Rarity had drawn of Spark Storm. Twilight Sparkle was definitely keeping a secret from her, and it was time to find out why.