BELLE ESTATE - DETROT, EQUESTRIA
DATE
MAY 12TH, 1438
TIME
PM 03:24:55
CHAPTER 0.2
FAMILY
Rarity bit her lip. She never liked staying outside for too long. It was a place where an inquisitive pony might blow her cover. Something which her owners and Rarity herself had crafted so meticulously over the years.
Discreet upgrades and illegal modifications to her chassis…
Violations of certain equdroid laws…
All to simply keep face for a certain pony. For her, she would cross entire continents.
She was going against her programming and undermining the stops placed on her system. Rarity was free-thinking and made her own decisions, given autonomy by her owners to allow her to properly take care of their assets.
That made her a deviant.
Or, that was what ViTAS called it. But to her? She was a pony. Her emotions were not some computational farce or an error. Her choices were not irrational conclusions drawn by glitching software.
She could hear the taxi car coming down the road. Backing up a little bit as the vehicle rolled up in front of the gate, she leaned forward. The tinted glass rolled back, revealing three fillies patiently waiting inside with their school bags.
“Hi, Rarity!”
“Hello to you too, Sweetie. May I ask how your day at school was?”
Scootaloo, one of Sweetie’s close friends, spoke up for her.
“It was really cool! So in our first period, we were assigned a project, and we were to choose an important historic event and present it any way we wanted to!”
Applebloom, another close friend, nodded. “We haven't decided yet, but we want ta’ be creative with ours.” She did a double take. “Miss Rarity, you're pretty creative, do ya’ have any suggestions!?”
“Oh, moi? I simply couldn't. This is your project, darlings, and I would hate to intrude.”
Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No, Rarity! We'd love to have an idea from you! You always make the prettiest dresses and… and you’re always brimming with good ideas!”
“Oh, Sweetie, always the flatterer. I suppose I could help you three out. But…! No more than simple direction, alright? I really do want to see what you three can accomplish of your own merit,” Rarity sternly stated. “Do we have an agreement?”
She received a chorus of, “Yes, Miss Rarity!” (and a “Thanks, big sis!” from Sweetie). Rarity chuckled and shook her head, taking all of their bags with her magic.
“‘Miss Rarity’ makes me sound like I'm old,” Rarity jokingly said as she corralled the foals into the house. “I'm not old, am I, Sweetie?”
The three foals quickly huddled together, whispering and plotting, while they giggled all the way.
“You're old as dirt!” she shot back, before bursting into laughter.
Rarity gasped and held a hoof over her chest. “Oh, woe is me! Betrayed by my own flesh and blood! Stabbed right in the heart!” she swooned, teetering around as if she were about to fall.
The trio giggled, talking amongst each other and praising Sweetie for having such a fun older sister. The equdroid-in-disguise could see the beaming expression the filly wore with pride.
“I wish mah sis’ was as cool as yours, Sweetie! She’s always so busy working and going to those fancy ‘haigh-class parties’, she nevah’ really has time for me anymore.”
Scootaloo nodded. “I always look forward to our meetings here. Your sister always makes very yummy snacks!”
Rarity smiled.
Mission accomplished.
She opened the door for the rambunctious bunch, and let their belongings down by the front door. As the walls of the home covered her, straightaway, she could feel better. Prying eyes would have trouble breaching the custom security installed here.
The fillies immediately raced off to the room cordoned for their cute little club. Rarity watched them laugh and joke about things as the door closed behind them. Grinning, she believed they would grow up to be headstrong mares and leaders in whatever field they chose.
She turned her attention to one of the places she spent the most time in: the kitchen. Grabbing her favorite frilly apron, she set to work on making something for them while they played.
She hummed to herself as she began preparing. She grabbed a hoofull of spinach from the fridge and tossed it into a bowl. Snipping off some parsley, she sprinkled it generously. Closing the fridge after grabbing two wedges of cheese; mozzarella and cheddar.
She spun around and nabbed the eggs and garlic salt. Cracking the shells and tossing them away with practiced breaths, she lobbed the three yolks into the bowl behind her. She tilted it with an array just a tad bit to prevent a splash.
She bobbed with her little song, each downwards movement equating to a push down the grater. Content with the number of ingredients in the dish, she quickly set out to balling them up. Pulling out a tray, she neatly laid the spinach balls out.
Setting the time and temperature, she slipped them in the oven and set a timer.
“Wow! See, your sister really is cool!” a voice shouted from behind the doorframe. She could see the three fillies crowded around the corner, peeking in.
Rarity shook her head in good fortune. “Did you three happen to need something?”
“We forgot our bags, so we came down to get ‘em. I heard some humming from the kitchen, so I suggested we check it out,” Applebloom sheepishly replied. “We didn't want tah’ bother your song and dance, so we stayed out here!”
“I… I see. I hope you three enjoyed it.”
“We did!”
She smiled and turned back to the kitchen. “You girls go on ahead, I need to clean up down here. I'll join you all later to help brainstorm something for your project, alright?”
They vigorously gave their affirmative and ran off once again. Rarity sighed and picked up the dirty dishes, giving a quick wash to the ones that had the most particulates on them. She loaded up the dishwasher and set the cycle. She always found doing the household chores… tedious, but fulfilling in a way.
Hanging the spotless apron back on the hook. She blankly stared at the suspended fabric. Perhaps after helping them, she would have some time to indulge in her hobby today.
Helping Sweetie Belle was the sole reason she continued to reactivate every day, but the longer she served as the estate caretaker and as her elder sister, she found herself easing into the role. To make sure Sweetie didn’t become suspicious of her simply working day and night with no breaks, she had made sure to pick up a side-job as a seamstress.
And how that beautifully that managed to work out, she could never figure out. Perhaps it was in the way of thinking and how she saw the world, that found its way into her work, but ponies ate up her dress designs like they were going to disappear any second.
In a way, they were going to disappear any second, since they bought her batches and sent her commissions at an astounding rate.
She read the articles about her work, and the “mysterious” persona she had made for herself. She could handle short excursions out in public, but being the center of attention? She may have a synthetic system in place of a real cardiovascular system, but that would give her a heart attack!
She trotted out of the kitchen, now standing in the main foyer, she dusted herself off. She fixed a part of her mane and tail that had gotten ruffled and patted down tousled fur.
She began to load up some—
The doorbell rang. Her head snapped directly to a blurry figure hidden behind the glass.
I wasn't expecting anypony else today.
She checked the front camera, only to frown in disapproval as she realized whoever was there was standing in the blind spot of the recording device. That usually never was a good sign, but it could simply be the way they had chosen to stand.
Guardedly, she approached the door and unlocked it. The equdroid peeked from the crack in the door. “Yes? Who is it~?”
“I’ve got a package for you.”
“Package?” She opened the door completely in surprise. “I never ordered a package.”
The pony chuckled. “Of course you didn’t.” She heard the clicking of metal and the telltale sign of cocked pistol. She gasped as the cold metal pressed against her head. “Now pretty lady, I don’t want to hurt you, so just give me what I want, and no pony gets hurt.”
