The Manehattan Project

by TheAshenKnight

The Manehatten Project (Story)

“Rarity, the mail’s here!” called Sweetie Belle.

“Coming!” Rarity replied from her back room. Sure enough, the white unicorn bustled into the back room of Carousel Boutique after a few short seconds, and silently levitated the small stack of letters from the filly holding them, but not before nodding at Sweetie Belle in thanks. She then began to filter each letter before her eyes, while Sweetie Belle carried on with her business.

“Advertisement, bill, another bill, advertisement...” Rarity just sighed as each letter flickered before her. It only took a moment to identify each, but that was because they were all the same; either a bill, or yet another advertisement that she, quite frankly, didn’t care about. On the other hand, this wasn’t surprising. It was basically what comprised the contents of the mail (aside from a rare letter from a friend when they couldn’t meet in person, or a fashion magazine) as long as she could remember, and most likely before that. Nothing would change it. Rarity continued to sift through all of the mail, when, all at once, she stopped. A glint toward the bottom of the pile caught her eye, and, after clearing away more junk mail, she found a golden envelope.

Surprised at the sudden change of the normally monotonous event, she nearly ripped it open in excitement, but instead composed herself, then calmly slid the ornate letter from its place, her excitement growing even further, seeing the subtle details placed in the letter. This was obviously important, and most certainly not another bill.

Dear Miss Rarity,

By now, you are most likely wondering what this letter could possibly be about. Let me, therefore, introduce myself. My name is Fred R. Coltlin, and I am the leading producer of a new musical in Manehatten. Perhaps you have heard of me, perhaps not. Regardless, I have sent you this letter concerning my production. I am asking if you would wish to partake in the construction of this project, and become the lead Costume Designer for the musical. Of course, you would need to venture to Manehatten and stay for a while, but I would gladly pay for any and all expenses involved in your, and your friends’ and family’s travels, in order to gain your expertise in the matter. More details will be provided upon your arrival, should you choose to accept the proposal.

Sincerely,
Fred R. Coltlin

Rarity just stood like a statue for a few moments. Fred R. Coltlin was asking her, of all ponies, to become the Costume Designer for his musical? Hastily, while scarcely paying attention to anything else, she grabbed a quill, some paper, and some ink. She had to accept this offer. It was the chance of a lifetime!

“Alright, so what’s this about?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently. All of Rarity’s friends had gathered at Carousel Boutique at her request, and some were happier about it than others.

Rarity decided to shoot Rainbow Dash a glare, before returning to what she had initially gathered everypony together for. “I’m sure that at least one of you has heard of Fred R. Coltlin?”

There was a slight pause, as everypony gave her blank stares, before comprehension dawned on a certain lavender unicorn’s face. “You mean the Broadway producer?”

Rarity beamed. “Yes, the Broadway producer. Well, if you’ve heard of him, then you know that he is in the upper echelon of the business there. This is why I’m so excited, and why you all are here; I’ve been asked to become a Costume Designer in his latest production!” She paused momentarily for effect, before continuing. “Not only that, but he’s graciously offered to allow close friends and family to come with me to Manehatten for a few days while this is going on, all expenses paid, who would then see the premier of the play,” she said, “and I’d like you all to join me.”

All of her friends gave her their best smiles, as what she had just said sunk in. She was getting a big opportunity, and she wanted them to come along!

“That’s wonderful, Rarity!” exclaimed Twilight, not breaking her warm smile.

“Oh, yes, wonderful,” agreed Fluttershy.

“Wait, wait, hold on a sec’,” said Rainbow Dash as she held up a hoof. Her previous grin had swiftly transformed into a slight frown. “I’m happy for ya and all, but I need to get this straight. You’re going to Manehatten, and want us to come with you to see a stuffy old play?”

“Not tha’ we ain’t grateful or anything,” Applejack quickly interjected, “but I agree with Rainbow. I’m not really one fer the city.”

“Applejack, Rainbow Dash, honestly! This is the chance of a lifetime! Not only for me, but for you all as well. I really don’t know how you girls don’t see it! Going to the city, seeing a performance produced by none other than Fred R. Coltlin? You’ve got to at least consider coming! Besides,” Rarity added, giving the group of ponies before her the best pleading stare she could muster, “it would be nothing without my friends there with me.”

That last statement seemed to put to rest any of their reservations. They may not really want to go, but what choice did they have? Rarity was right, of course. This was a great opportunity. Plus, she wanted her friends to be there with her, and they couldn’t let her down.

“Alright, I get it, I’ll go,” Rainbow Dash muttered, not trying to hide the fact that she didn’t like the prospect of the trip whatsoever. She may not have wanted to hurt her friend in any way, but she also didn’t enjoy the sound of going to Manehatten, only to see a few more stuck up ponies than were needed in her lifetime.

Rarity, however, was just happy her friend had accepted in the end. “Wonderful! You all had best pack your bags then. We’re leaving tomorrow afternoon at 4:00. Meet up at the train station. I shall see you all again there.”

The other ponies, sensing that this was all Rarity had wanted to say, gave their variations of ‘okay’ and said their goodbyes to her, then proceeded to leave the Boutique.

“So, when is this play, exactly?” asked Rainbow Dash.

Rarity simply rolled her eyes in frustration. This same system had been going on for hours inside the train. As soon as Rainbow Dash had seen the plush, velvet interior of the first class train car Mr. Coltlin had provided them, she and Applejack had become cautiously optimistic about whole venture. The two had then started a now regular routine of asking Rarity questions (mostly regarding those about Manehatten, Mr. Coltlin’s financial status, and whether the rest of the trip would be in similar conditions to the train car or not.), before finally letting off when Rarity got a bit too aggravated with their constant questions, allowing her to sleep until she woke up. Then the questions started again.

“Two weeks, Rainbow Dash. I know it sounds like a lot of time, but it really isn’t.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened at the prospect of having to stay in Manehatten for two weeks, but she kept herself silent. Normally, she would have made sure that Rarity had spoken correctly, but she was holding on to a fragment of hope that the trip wouldn’t be too boring, or at the very least would be comfortable.

Applejack was harboring similar thoughts, except she disliked the city significantly more than her cyan friend. Not only would there be stuck up ponies, but there would be city air, crowded streets... She wasn’t sure she could handle it for that long.

Everypony else, however, seemed to be in good spirits. (Except Rarity, anyways, who was still annoyed about the barrage of questions.) Twilight was, of course, perched on one of the soft benches that lined the sides of the train car, reading a book about Broadway, musicals, and plays in general. Fluttershy was fast asleep, and had been for some time, as was Pinkie Pie, rather uncharacteristically. They both had smiles on their faces, suggesting that the trip wasn’t bothering them in the least.

All at once, a loud whistle blared out of nowhere, and all of the ponies in the cramped space shot up. Fluttershy had the most notable reaction, as she was shocked out of sleep by the noise, and had therefore curled into a tight ball, wrapping her wings around herself. Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, immediately shot up from her rest.

“Hey, we’re here Rarity!” she cheered, grinning from ear to ear. Upon hearing this, Fluttershy uncurled from her ball, though still looked rather frazzled after the event.

“Yes, we’re here,” said Rarity simply.

“Wow! This place is huge! I mean, I knew it was huge, ‘cause it’s Manehatten, but this place is super duper ginormously huge! It’s, like, Canterlot huge! But bigger!”

The group of new arrivals to the city had just exited the train station, and were now walking slowly through the seemingly tiny streets below the monstrous towers far above them. Large shadows seemed to cover most of the sidewalk, and carriages seemed to speed by them in the road, seemingly in a rush with whatever their business was. Not only that, but there were ponies. Lots of ponies. More than most of them had seen gathered in one place in their entire lifetimes. The whole sight was rather intimidating, but was also rather thrilling in a way, though none of them were sure exactly why they had the feeling.

They may have stood there in awe for a few more seconds, but Rarity coughed, and they were broken out of their stupor, and began on their way into the depths of Manehatten.

It took a while, as they had to stop to get their bearings in the seemingly endless pattern of blocks, and more than once they had to stop to let the oncoming carriage traffic continue on before them, but soon enough, they arrived at the hotel, slightly afraid and tired, but also excited, and in a fairly good mood. This was heightened once they saw the hotel.

Just like seemingly every other building in the city, it was enormous, and towered above them. Unlike the other buildings, however, it had a small courtyard in front of it, complete with a wrought iron fence, a few trees, and a fountain. Behind the courtyard, mounted just above the quadruple revolving doors of the hotel, was a sign with the name of the hotel on it, The Manehatten Elite Suite. Though the glass of the windows reflected most of the light away, the ponies could catch a few glimpses of the interior of the building, and saw expensive looking red carpet, silk furniture that was in peak condition, and other generally good omens.

The entire party stopped in their tracks once they saw the hotel, and this time, Rarity didn’t interrupt their stares.

“Wow, Rarity,” remarked Applejack, still staring at the building. “This must be somethin’ mighty important fer all of this.”

“... Yes, it does appear so, doesn’t it?” Rarity replied. She then turned to her friends, who seemed to sense the gesture. “Let’s go in, shall we?”

The group of ponies then proceeded to the building, and once inside, all of the things that they saw from the outside of the building seemed to be magnified tenfold in person. The building was even more pristine on the inside than it looked from the outside, and everything seemed to gleam. This amazed Rarity the most, seeing as it was her who was technically getting a room in the hotel in the first place.

Rarity casually trotted up to the counter where a gangly attendant was seated, constantly shifting in his seat, and cleared her throat. The attendant, still getting used to this behavior, jumped a little, but quickly responded. “Is, uh, there something I can do for you Miss?”

“Yes sir, there is. My name is Rarity, and Mr. Coltlin has invited me-”

The attendant gave a slight gasp as soon as he heard Mr. Coltlin’s name, which had caused a memory to come back to him. “Oh, yes Ma'am. Er, Miss Rarity. Mr. Coltlin told me that you’d be coming. You have the top room reserved for you and your friends; the penthouse, I might add.”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Did you just say penthouse?”

“Yes, Miss Rarity,” the attendant replied, giving her a slight smile, and nodding as if to signal that she could go. Suddenly, he rapped himself on the head, groaned, and then ducked down, fumbling with some drawers. A jingling noise was heard, but before long, the chestnut stallion poked his head up from underneath the desk, and dropped some keys on the counter, before blushing slightly. “Um, I almost forgot your keys. Sorry, Miss.”

Rarity gave the attendant a grin. “Of course. It’s not a problem. Thank you,” she said, before nodding to her friends behind her, and silently walking toward a shining, golden elevator door toward the back of the room.

She and her friends trotted into the elevator, restrained Pinkie Pie so she couldn’t press every single button, and pressed the single button to go to the top floor of the building.

After hearing that their room was going to be the penthouse, everypony was fairly excited, even the ones who had been apprehensive about the whole journey in the beginning. They eagerly awaited the end of the long ride up to the top of the building, occasionally tapping a hoof in anticipation.

After what seemed like forever and a day to the group of friends, they arrived at the top floor, and were greeted with the sight of a long and narrow hallway, lined with crystal clear windows that filled the space with a cheerful light, but were angled so that only the sky, and not the ugly top of the building (Which the penthouse sat on top of. It was more of an extension to the building.) could be seen, as to not ruin the impression left by the suite.

At the end of the stark white carpet that covered most of the shining tile floor of the hallway was a door, composed of a dark colored wood that glistened in the sunlight, and a golden doorknob. The plate tacked onto the door where the room number normally would have been simply read, “Penthouse.” Simple, of course, but it had a much deeper meaning than it implied, and Rarity, as well as her friends, knew it.

Though she knew the significance of the invitation, none of the ponies had truly understood it until they walked into the Penthouse. Everypony who entered the room immediately marveled at the sight. It was in pristine condition, just like the rest of the hotel. They had walked into a narrow entryway, but beyond it they could see a large, luxurious living room, complete with couches, recliners, and a large television set. To their right was a glistening kitchen, that seemed ideal for quick serving, given how open it was, as well as a hallway next to it that led into the unknown. Another hallway was off to the left, as well. However, this place, unlike the rest of the hotel, held something special to Rarity. This was her place to stay, and she was the one who it had been given to. Words couldn’t express how she was feeling at that very moment... until the moment was ruined by Pinkie Pie.

“Wow! Hey Rarity, this is amazing! It’s all shiny and velvety and beautiful! That Fred guy must be super duper rich to get you this place to stay in! It’s so amazing! Look at the view! Ooh, I can see everything from up here! Hey, is that an espresso maker?”

“Wha- Oh no, Pinkie, you don’t need any of that, dear,” Rarity said quickly, rushing over to a brand new espresso maker sitting on a marble countertop that Pinkie was hovering over, ripping open packages, spilling their contents everywhere, all in an attempt to find out how the machine worked. Already, a part of the once pristine room had been ruined, and they had only been in there for about thirty seconds.

“Aww, but Rarity,” Pinkie Pie pleaded.

“No buts! Honestly, you don’t need any more caffeine Pinkie!”

“Oh, fine,” Pinkie huffed, scowling at Rarity. Fortunately, the bad mood only lasted for a brief moment, as Pinkie perked up almost instantly afterwards. “Oh, itchy nose! Itchy nose! You’ve got a message Rarity!”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at Pinkie’s antics, as she over dramatized her nose itching, rolling around, batting at her snout with her hooves and constantly blinking. Regardless of whatever her actions were, however, Rarity knew better than to just ignore Pinkie. She had never been wrong before. Therefore, she carefully stepped around the pink earth pony and walked over to the door (and past her friends, who had been watching the whole scene, and were quite amused at it all.), and then opened it to find the attendant who they had met in the lobby just a few minutes earlier with his hoof raised, ready to strike the door and knock.

Needless to say, the attendant was taken aback, but decided not to question it. “Uh... Message for you, Miss Rarity. It’s from Mr. Coltlin. He wants you to meet him at the studio as soon as possible.”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Y-yes, of course. Thank you.”

The attendant nodded, turned away, and began walking down the hallway. He stepped into the elevator, pressed a button, and in a moment, he disappeared behind the golden doors.

Rarity closed the door halfway, rounded in spot, and gave everypony the news. “It appears that I’m needed as soon as possible at the studio, so I’ll see you girls later. I trust you’ll be alright?”

“Of course Rarity. Don’t worry about us,” replied Fluttershy, giving Rarity a small smile.

“Alright, if you say so. I’ll see you later then. Goodbye everypony,” she said, before turning around again, and walking out of the door, closing it behind her.

Yes, everything will be fine, she thought to herself. Why, then, am I so worried all of a sudden?

Rarity knocked on the plain wood door that led to Fred R. Coltlin’s makeshift office. Though it wasn’t shoddy in any respect, it still wasn’t the most neat thing ever. His normal office would have had his name printed on a frosted glass window pane, but this door simply had a window with the word ‘Producer’ printed on it. Granted, this was backstage to one of the most famous theaters in Manehatten, and often changed cast and crew. As much as many would have liked it, creating another window with each important pony’s name printed on it would have proved to be a pointless expense.

Behind the door, she heard a strong, yet cool voice call, “Come in!”

Rarity opened the door slowly, nervous at her meeting with the producer, but she managed to keep herself cool before Mr. Coltlin.

He was a handsome unicorn, with a trim, beige coat, an odd mix of a red and blue mane that was finely combed, and was wearing a sharp, black tuxedo. His cutie mark was rather apt, considering his occupation; two glistening masks, one with a delighted expression, and the other weeping; the comedy and tragedy masks commonly associated with the theatre.

“I assume you are Rarity?” he asked, examining the white mare before him.

“Yes I am, Mr. Coltlin,” confirmed Rarity, giving the stallion a huge, shining smile, clearly exhibiting her excitement to the other pony.

“Ah, then I’ve met you at last! It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Rarity!” he exclaimed, giving her a dazzling smile of his own, before standing and holding out his hoof over his neat, but completely full desk. Rarity did likewise, and shook it.

Mr. Coltlin examined her for a few more seconds, before finally looking around, and sitting once more. “Well... let’s get down to business then, shall we?” Mr. Coltlin said. Rarity merely nodded, still amazed at meeting yet another celebrity pony. Though this was most certainly not the first, they always seemed to stun her. “Please, sit,” offered Mr. Coltlin, reminding Rarity to do so.

“Well, as you know, I’ve hired you as the lead Costume Designer for this project. It’s something that we’ve been working on for some time now, and are nearly completed with. However, we were lacking in the costumes department.”

He continued, “We have already selected some costumes, and our actors have been rehearsing with them for a while now, but we have some issues. For one, we haven’t decided on any certain costumes. Also, they’re all incomplete. They’re more of templates than actual costumes. Normally they would have been completed by now, but the ponies who had offered to help with the issue before have unexpectedly quit, or weren’t up to the task. They did all have other jobs as different crew members, mind you. I don’t mean to offend you, thinking that you weren’t our first choice. Anyways, this is where you come in.”

“I’d like you to select and custom tailor the costumes for use, as well as create ones we don’t have but need, and we need them quickly; in about two weeks. I realize that it is extremely short notice, but you’ve been very highly recommended by some rather influential ponies. Therefore, I have no doubts that you can do it. Any questions?”

Rarity merely blinked, as she was still processing the huge amount of information given to her in the past few minutes. The sudden stop in the stream of it all proved oddly surprising. “Uh, um...” Rarity coughed, snapping herself back to reality. “No, Mr. Coltlin. I don’t have any questions.”

The beige pony grinned. “Excellent! Since I imagine that you are eager to get started, I have the script right here,” he said, motioning with a slight nod of his head to the mound of papers on his desk. Rarity gaped at the hundreds of pages, before Mr. Coltlin caught her expression, his eyes widening. “Oh, no no no. Not all of that is the script,” he clarified, before enveloping a significantly smaller portion of the papers in a magical grip, placing them before Rarity. The top cover read, “The Alicorn of Oz by Lypony Frank Baum” in small, black print, on an otherwise completely blank page.

“I imagine that you’d like to read through the script to get a better idea of what the costumes should look like. Oh, also, you may want to examine the... templates, that we have picked out. I would personally show you to them, but I’m a bit preoccupied,” he said, motioning to his desk once more. “Just ask one of the crew members to show you to them. Tell them I sent you,” he continued, before taking a deep breath, and chuckling. “Quite a mouthful. Anyways, that should be it. I’ll have the measurements for our actors sent with you on the way back. Let me know if you have any questions or requests. You may go.”

“Y-...” Rarity squeaked, before clearing her throat, visibly both excited and nervous, though she couldn’t exactly decide which of the two she felt more of. On one hoof, an immensely difficult task was just handed to her, but on the other, she was finally going to become known, and be important and vital to something grand.

“Yes sir,” she clarified with a nod.

Rarity’s jaw dropped as she entered the room.

She had been escorted to the back containing all of the costume templates she was to complete, and she had been completely shocked at the sheer number of them. There were what appeared to be hundreds, though she knew that to be impossible. Still, the total of all of the costumes was impressive.

At that point, a certain thought started gnawing at the back of her brain. I have to get all of these completed in two weeks?! It seemed to resonate and repeat in her brain. Two weeks to finish them all. Two weeks to perfect each and every one. Two weeks.
Was she up to this?

Rarity closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, calming down and reassuring herself. You’ve got to remember, she thought, that you were chosen for this job for a reason. If you can’t find a way to get these done, no one will. You can do it.

With renewed confidence, she took another deep breath, and began to inspect the costumes hung upon the six circular metal racks that filled the room. She needed to get to work.

“Oh, hi Rarity!” said Twilight Sparkle, beaming at the white mare who had just knocked on the door of the penthouse.

Rarity nodded. “Hello Twilight,” she said. “...I trust Pinkie Pie hasn’t destroyed the place yet?” she added with a smile.

Twilight returned the friendly gesture. “Not yet.” She pushed the door open fully and stepped to the side, allowing Rarity in. The unicorn stepped inside and nodded at her friend.

“So what were you all up t-”

BOOM!!!

Rarity jumped at the sudden noise that cut her off from her speech, and dashed into the room to investigate, not paying attention to much else, as fast as her hooves could carry her.

Unfortunately, the noise seemed to bother the other ponies in the room, provoking a loud “Shh!” Sitting on a long plush couch were Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. They were all perched comfortably, and occasionally, one of the trio would pass a bag of popcorn back and forth, shoveling in large amounts before passing it on. They were watching what appeared to be some sort of action movie, which explained the loud boom. On the screen, a steel car was zooming by, chased by some sort of bus, when the picture suddenly changed to show it somewhat comically crashing into a barn... Perhaps it wasn’t an action movie.

On one of the smaller of the three couches that were positioned in a semicircle around the giant television was Fluttershy, who Rarity had missed at first glance. That wasn’t surprising, really, considering that she was huddled into a ball when she galloped into the room, and was only now poking her head up after the crashing and screaming had stopped.

Twilight merely rolled her eyes, picked up a small black remote control with her magic that was sitting on a stand near Applejack, and pressed the pause button. Immediately, the picture on the screen froze, and silence reigned for approximately a second, before Rainbow Dash noticed the ‘Pause’ symbol in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.

“Hey, what was that for?!” she yelled, whirling around in her seat to glare at Twilight. However, her expression softened as soon as she got a glimpse of the unicorn standing next to her. Immediately, she looked slightly embarrassed. “... Oh,” she said, rubbing her head with her hoof.

The other ponies, however, were slower in their actions (Well, except Pinkie Pie.) than the hot-tempered pegasus, assessing the situation briefly before reacting.

“Well, howdy Rarity! How’d it go?” questioned Applejack, nodding to acknowledge and greet her friend.

Rarity dipped her head in kind. “Hello girls. I think it went well. Thank you for asking.”

“Ooh, what’d he say?” asked Pinkie Pie excitedly.

“Well, he simply explained what I was to do, my deadlines, and so on,” said Rarity before quickly adding, “Nothing you should be concerned about. You girls just enjoy yourselves, and I’ll enjoy the project, as well as being here with you.”

“Oh, um, okay. Well, thank you Rarity,” said Fluttershy, obviously pleased, though somewhat embarrassed, by the small compliment. “Good luck with your project.”

“And thank you Fluttershy,” returned Rarity. She stopped to allow anypony to ask her questions, but no one did. Applejack, Pinkie, Twilight, and Fluttershy all seemed content with her answers, and Rainbow Dash looked as though she just wanted to get back to watching her movie. “Well, I’d better get started. You girls finish your... whatever it is.”

As Rarity walked off, Rainbow Dash merely shrugged and turned around, looking for the remote to control the television. The others accepted her reaction as well, figuring that she wanted to be left to herself to get to work. Included in this realization was Twilight, who decided to take a seat next to Fluttershy, before turning on the movie again.

At the same time, Rarity had been walking down the hallway, before she realized that she had never actually been inside her room, let alone knew which was hers. Fortunately, her friends had the courtesy to label the room doors with small sticky notes with their initials on it. The door with the initial ‘R’ on it was at the end of the hallway, which led her to realize that her friends had given her the best bedroom in the penthouse. She silently thanked them for the kind gesture, and was just about to examine her room before yet another noise disturbed her; this time a loud ‘bang!’

Shaking her head, she continued to push open her bedroom door, closing her eyes in anticipation, knowing that the room was most likely going to be as grand, or better, than the rest of the hotel. She was not disappointed.

She was immediately met with the sight of a large, squishy looking bed with clean and crisp sheets draped over it, pushed against a flat part in the wall in front of her, which was curved toward her. However, it all seemed some distance away, as between her and the bed was a large open space, filled with dressmaking supplies, sewing machines, and other miscellaneous objects. To her left was a large, clear glass door that opened onto a balcony that gave her a look into the city and the streets below. To her right, along the wall, were several wardrobes, more supplies, and a doorway which led to what she assumed was a restroom.

She silently smiled to herself. Mr. Coltlin had certainly thought of most everything that she needed, and other things that were simply luxuries. She then examined the room again to determine the optimal way to set everything up that she would need to get to work. She almost did, too, before she realized how dark it was in her room. Looking out of her glass door, she couldn’t even see the sun past the dark shapes of the buildings outside. Realizing that it would do no good to push herself to work when it was this late, and she was most likely tired, even though she felt invigorated, Rarity decided to lie down to sleep.

For the next few days, Rarity decided to go over the script for the play, so she could get a better idea of what the costumes could look like, how the world influenced their design, and other such things. Unfortunately, her friends were not helping with the problem, and even seemed to be compounding it.

While in Manehatten, Rarity’s friends really had no idea what to do. Some expressed a desire to explore the city, so they did, but they only could explore so much before they found that the most the city had to offer were stores and restaurants, which they could only visit every so often, before the exotic feeling they had was lost and replaced by familiarity. Others felt as though this was an opportunity to relax and provide Rarity company, as she had brought them there to do just that. Unfortunately, the relaxing and keeping company mostly meant sitting and watching movies, many of which were loud action movies. When somepony else requested to watch something quieter (usually Fluttershy, who liked to pick romantic movies), Rainbow Dash would end up leaving in disgust, retreating to her room (That was unfortunately directly next to Rarity’s.), where she would blare loud rock music.

The constant noise annoyed Rarity, but she endured it, seeing as she was the one who wanted her friends to come in the first place. She enjoyed the company, which she normally didn’t have when working, and she wanted her friends to have a good time. She had really meant for this to be a vacation for them, but it seemed to be coming at the expense of her own patience. However, her friends seemed to be having a good time, so she put up with it.

But as much fun as her friends were having, they eventually all got cabin fever.

“Rarity! You in there?” called Pinkie, rapping her hoof on the door to Rarity’s room.

“Of course, Pinkie. What is it?” came the loud reply.

“Well, we were all kinda wanting to do something. We’ve been cooped up here for forever.”

“Do something? Something as in...?” asked Rarity, opening the door to look at Pinkie. In retrospect, that was somewhat of a mistake, as Pinkie used the opportunity to use her best pleading expression on Rarity.

“Well, we want to go out to eat, and we want you to come too. Please?”

“I-I’m not sure, Pinkie. I have a lot to do...”

“Pleeease? C’mon Rarity. You’ve been cooped up in there too. You can’t say you don’t want to do anything different.”

Rarity frowned, before speaking again. “... Alright. But quickly. I still have a lot of work to do, and I cannot afford to delay for too long.”

“Sure thing! C’mon, let’s go!” Pinkie excitedly ran down the corridor to the main room of the penthouse before yelling, “She’s coming!” and then continuing into the room, with Rarity calmly following her.

In truth, Rarity was slightly annoyed. She really did have quite a bit of work left to do, but she was also relieved. A chance for a break was somewhat of a welcome change for her. In any case, whether she wanted to or not, she probably needed it.

“This way, please,” said the waiter in a cool and calm voice.

The ponies had ended up on choosing what was considered more of a high-end restaurant. Rarity had recommended an upper class eatery, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack had vehemently refused to go to a place such as that. However, the other ponies had reminded them that they were here because of Rarity. As such, they felt that they should treat her with a higher amount of respect, and the two other ponies had grudgingly agreed to the prospect.

They were escorted through what seemed to be a maze of tables, chairs, and ponies, to their dining area, where they took their seats, and were handed their menus.

“When you are ready, I will take your orders for your beverages,” said the waiter as he looked over each of the ponies. He gave Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash all disdainful looks, before turning to Rarity respectfully.

“Yes, I would just like a water tonight, thank you,” she told the waiter eloquently. He acknowledged the request, wrote down the order on a small notepad that he drew from his pocket, before turning to the other ponies. However, Rarity wasn’t finished, as she had looked at her friends right after she had placed her order. Her companions were flipping through the pages wildly, trying to find the drinks section, while others were staring wide eyed at all the choices once they had found it.

“Actually, I think we’ll all have water, please,” she clarified.

The waiter merely grunted, as he was already staring at the other ponies, an eyebrow arched. He then sighed and shook his head, rewrote the order, and said, “I’ll be back shortly with your drinks, as well as to take your orders.”

Rainbow Dash waited until the waiter was gone before she spoke. “What was that for? What if we wanted something different?”

“You know as well as I do that you were all very confused. It would have taken forever for you to finish your order,” countered Rarity. “If you’re not satisfied, we can stop by someplace on the way back to the hotel and pick up some drinks for you.”

Rainbow said nothing in reply, but continued to frown at Rarity, before Pinkie Pie pat her on the back.

“Now don’t worry about that Dashie. It’s just dinner,” she encouraged. “Turn that frown upside-down.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry Rarity... So, uh, what’s good at this joint anyways?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been here before,” she said airily.

“Wait, what? You were th’ one who recommended this place!” exclaimed Applejack, clearly confused.

“That’s because it’s received excellent reviews. I’ve never actually been here myself,” stated Rarity.

“But, how are we supposed ta’ know what ta’ get?”

Rarity looked up from her menu to stare at Applejack. “You read the menu and pick what you want to eat.”

“I’ve tried, but I can’t make heads ‘er tails of this gosh durned thing. The first two words in this are ‘Horse dove-ree.’ What in the hay is that? It ain’t even spelled right.”

Rarity wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to slap her hoof against her forehead. “That’s an Hors d’œuvre, Applejack.”

The orange earth pony blinked. “Come again?”

“Hors d’œuvre; the first course of a meal,” clarified Twilight. “It’s basically an appetizer.”

The other ponies gave an ‘Oh...’ after Twilight had finished her definition, while Rarity gaped at her. “How did you know that?”

Twilight blushed. “Well, we had a few places like this in Canterlot, and I’ve been dragged along to a few. I needed to know about the terminology, or I’d just embarrass myself.”

Rarity just smiled knowingly, but said nothing.

At that point, their waiter came back, bearing six cups of crystal clear water in a shimmering gold magical field.

“Your drinks, ladies,” he announced as the drinks floated down in front of each of the ponies, before landing on the table with a soft thump. “Do you know what you would like for your first course?” he asked, looking expectantly at Rarity.

“Of course. I believe we would like your Cream Cheese Vol-au-vent Canapés; enough for us all,” she replied elegantly.

The waiter nodded. “Of course. Your first course will be here shortly,” he stated, before he disappeared again.

There was silence for a few seconds, before Applejack spoke up. “Uh... What’s a... what was it?”

“Canapés? You’ll see. It’s essentially just an appetizer dish. Nothing major, but it’s not the main course. I suggest you keep looking through the menu for whatever entrée you’d like.”

“...An in-tray is the main grub, righ’?”

“Indeed it is,” Rarity confirmed, before stopping and scowling. “Well, not in a traditional French dinner, but... Nevermind. Just pick something, please.”

Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Applejack nodded and turned back to her menu, flipping through the pages in an attempt to find the entrées section. Her eyes widened once she found it, but this time she kept her mouth shut. Rainbow Dash had much of the same reaction as Applejack did upon looking at her menu, Fluttershy and Twilight seemed to be examining their menu and weighing their options, but Pinkie Pie looked completely bored.

“When is that waiter guy gonna get back here? I’m hungry!” she complained.

As if on cue, the waiter appeared, this time laden with another tray, except on top were six circular objects, all placed gingerly atop polished white plates. He sent them floating in a similar direction as the glasses before did, and each landed lightly on the table with six more soft thumps. “Your canapés, ladies,” he said before continuing, “Have you selected your main course for this evening?”

“I believe I have,” answered Rarity, unsurprisingly. “May I have the Dried Tomato Risotto?”

“Of course,” confirmed the waiter, writing it down while simultaneously asking, “Anyone else?”

“Yeah, uh, can I get th’ daffodil sandwich?”

The waiter arched an eyebrow, but didn’t question the request. “... You may...”

“I’ll get that too,” stated Rainbow Dash, almost immediately after the waiter had finished speaking.

“Um, me too please...”

“I’d like that too, sir.”

Their waiter seemed taken aback by their nearly simultaneous requests for the exact same dish, but again said nothing. After writing down their orders, he finally turned to Pinkie Pie. “And you, miss?”

“Yeah, can I get a platter of alfredo covered tortellini, filled with spinach and cheese, with sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms in the sauce, with a sprinkling of parmesan on top, with a side of some garlic bread, and some marinara sauce in a itty bitty little bowl? Not on the plate. Thanks.”

Their waiter blinked and stopped, before he seemingly realized that he was the one taking their orders, writing all of Pinkie’s order down before he forgot it. “I’ll be back shortly with your meals.”

Pinkie’s friends, meanwhile, gaped at her. She pretended not to notice at first, but that only lasted for about two seconds. “What?”

“Oh, um, nothing, Pinkie,” assured Fluttershy. Pinkie narrowed her eyes for a few seconds, causing everyone at the table to get uneasy before bursting back into a smile.

“Okay, whatever.”

At that point, with the stress of choosing their meal taken away, the ponies began to develop a little small talk. Most of it consisted of talking about the multitude of movies that the group of ponies had been watching for the past few days while Rarity was working on her project. Though she couldn’t follow along too well, she did pay attention, chiming in occasionally, especially when they mentioned watching a movie that she had seen before. They also talked about Rarity’s project; how it was going, what she had left to do, how she thought she was doing, the difficulty of the task, questions about Mr. Coltlin and the play, etc. She insisted on remaining silent when the questions about the play came up, however. She thought that they would be a spoiler for the play itself, which they would all go to see in the near future.

Eventually, the small talk abruptly ceased, as their meals had arrived, along with their waiter. He placed their dishes in front of them all, before simply saying, “Bon Appetit,” before leaving the ponies to their meal.

Pinkie immediately began voraciously digging into her food, before stopping suddenly. “Hey, I told them I wanted a sprinkling of cheese on top!” she cried, groaning at the realization. “I don’t see it, or taste it... Oh well.” Pinkie Pie shrugged and continued eating.

Meanwhile, Rarity began gingerly lifting a fork and scooping up some of her food with it. She took a bite, and beamed, chewing slowly as to keep the flavor going as long as she could. It was then that she noticed her other friends all staring at their sandwiches.

“What’s wrong?” she questioned.

“Well, uh... I thought I ordered a daffodil sandwich,” answered Rainbow Dash, eying the sandwich.

“...It is a daffodil sandwich,” stated Rarity, puzzled.

“Are you sure?” asked Applejack.

“Of course,” insisted Rarity. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Well, nothin’ I guess... I jus’ don’t remember daffodil sandwiches bein’ so... fru-fru. Or tiny.”

The sandwiches in question were, in fact, daffodil sandwiches, no matter how much the ponies questioned it. However, it was a more fancy take on the sandwich than what most of them were used to. It had not only daffodils on it, but also tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and what appeared to be some sort of sauce. The bread slices were also an oddity to the four ponies who had ordered the dish, as they appeared to be baked with spices and herbs in the dough. It was also much smaller than what it ordinarily would have been, by a few inches. While not the weirdest or fanciest dish ever, it was certainly a departure from the normal components that usually created the daffodil sandwich.

“Oh, come now girls. You’ll like it.”

“Well, if you say so...” said Rainbow Dash, cautiously picking it up and taking a bite. Her eyes lit up at once, and she quickly took another four bites... and then the sandwich was gone.

Rainbow Dash paused to think about it for a moment, before finally concluding her thoughts. “Well, it was good,” confirmed Rainbow Dash between the mouthfuls of food, which she was still chewing, “but it was so small...”

“Of course! This is a gourmet dining experience. It’s not a simple café serving large portions of food that lack flavor.”

“Well, it had flavor alright, but there wasn’t enough of it.”

Rarity huffed. “We each have our own opinions.”

Rainbow Dash remained silent, but rolled her eyes.

The rest of their main course proceeded with only the clinking of forks tapping against plates and chewing sound in the general hush of the restaurant. The ponies with the sandwiches finished a short while before Pinkie and Rarity, but they quickly caught up, and before long, all of their plates were devoured. At that point, the small talk began to start once more, but before it could get into full motion, their waiter appeared once more.

“I see that you all are finished,” he said bluntly. “May I interest any of you in desert?”

Nopony spoke for a moment, as they considered whether to eat or not. Rarity initially did not want dessert, as there was still the fact that she had a project to work on, but before she could decline the offer, the decision was made for her as Rainbow Dash yelled, “Sure!... Uh, what do you have?”

This time the waiter had a reaction to their ineptitude, which he was most likely getting sick of, and he rolled his eyes. “It’s on your menu.”

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash immediately opened her menu to look for the desserts section, as did the other ponies. Rarity did so as well, figuring that if they all got dessert, she might as well. It certainly wouldn’t tack on any measurable amount of extra time to their meal, and she was admittedly still hungry.

“Have you selected your final course?” their server asked, somewhat impatiently.

“Yeah, I want the cheesecake,” Rainbow Dash requested, grinning smugly to herself, pleased that she had managed to pick out an item so quickly.

“Can I get that too?”

“An’ me too, please.”

“I’d like that too, if you don’t mind...”

“Ooh, and I want the tiramisu!”

“May I have the créme brûlée?” finished Rarity.

Used to ordering being much slower at the table, it was a few seconds before the server replied, as he was still writing down their orders. “... Of course,” he finally confirmed. “I’ll be back shortly with your bill and the desserts.”

Applejack looked confused, but she waited until their waiter was gone before speaking once more. “Cream brew-lay? Tier-uh-me-sue? More of them fancy dishes?”

Pinkie giggled, “Not really, you silly pony. It’s just custard and cake. And it’s good... maybe I should’ve gotten the créme brûlée...”

“Well, alrigh’. We’ll take your word for it,” said Applejack, obviously still not entirely sure what either of the dishes were. Still, she opted to wait and see for herself, which didn’t take long.

The sweets arrived to their table swiftly. One last time, plates glided through the air, as well as an almost unnoticed ominous black folder, landing in front of each of the ponies. Every pony who got the daffodil sandwich eyed their plates hungrily, before looking up to examine the two oddball plates.

Rarity’s dish, as it turned out, wasn’t really a plate, and was more of a shallow bowl. Inside it was some sort of yellowish substance; the custard. The top of the custard had a crusty shell on it, that appeared to be cooked on somehow.

Pinkie’s, on the other hand, appeared to be more traditional, but still different. It looked like a cake (as Pinkie promised it would be) with several different layers, sort of like an onion. The top layer was a rich dark brown color, probably signifying that it was chocolate.

Suddenly, upon seeing those desserts, the cheesecake almost seemed boring. Still, the four ponies who had ordered it were a bit wary about what the other dishes could taste like, and they already had their own plates, so it was too late to turn back then. Upon coming to this conclusion, they each shrugged to themselves, physically or mentally, and began to consume their cheesecake.

At last, their meal was completed, and Rarity began to levitate the bill to her, before Twilight intervened with her own magical field.

“Oh no you don’t. We’re here because of you, and you’re the one working for it. The least we can do it pay the bill,” she pushed.

Rarity began to protest, but looking at Twilight’s face, she knew that no matter how much she argued, she would never sway her from her position. “Alright, if you insist...”

Satisfied with her answer, Twilight opened the bill, and immediately after looking at the price, the color drained from her face. She gulped nervously, before she apparently strengthened her resolve, crossing her utensils to signal the waiter. She didn’t have to wait long, as he appeared just under a minute afterwards.

“Ah, I see that you are finished with your meal. If you’re ready, I’ll take your pay,” he suggested. Twilight immediately complied, and silently caused several bits to fly from her saddlebags to the table, the sight of which caused several of the onlookers at the table to widen their eyes, now seeing just how expensive their meal had been.

Their waiter seemed to notice none of this, however, as he simply scooped up the bits in his own magical field and saying, “Thank you, miss. Have a magnificent evening,” before swiftly trotting off.

The next day started off as a much less eventful day. With their desire to go somewhere now dried up, the ponies remained at home once more, but now were given something to talk about, rather than watch a movie. Therefore, for a while at least, the ponies simply sat and talked to each other while Rarity worked.

The white mare was extremely grateful for the lapse in noise, and used the time to as best of an effect as she could. However, the inevitable knock at her door soon came. Opening the door, she saw Pinkie Pie once again, and stifled a groan. Anything involving Pinkie couldn’t be good.

“Hey Rarity! Y’know, we’re kinda bored-”

“No, I don’t want to go out to eat again, thank you.”

“Nonono, it’s not that. We were wondering if you wanted to do something with us!”

Rarity frowned, not liking what she was hearing. “Such as...?”

“Well, I brought some board games, like Monopony, and Ticket to Ride, and Settlers of Equestria, and Smallworld, and Shadows Over Canterlot, and Chess, and Checkers, and card games, and-”

“Yes, I get the point Pinkie.”

“Great! So you’ll play!”

“What? I never said-”

“C’mon, let’s go!” yelled Pinkie, wrapping her foreleg around Rarity’s, then immediately dashing off, dragging Rarity along with her.

Rarity, of course, was completely stunned for a second or two, before she eventually realized what was going on. By the time she started to protest, however, she was already in the living room of the penthouse, where her friends had all gathered around a dining table, which was most likely meant to just sit and talk at, or to eat an informal dinner at, if any of the past residents who could afford the room actually had them.

“Hello Rarity!” exclaimed Fluttershy; at least at a volume that was loud for her.

“Oh, yeah, hi,” Rainbow said dismissively. She was reading the rule book for the game called Ticket to Ride, and appeared to be completely preoccupied with her task to acknowledge anything else. Next to her on the table, what looked like a countless stack of books were lying askew, as if tossed aside. Twilight and Fluttershy also seemed to be partaking in this, although they would neatly stack a book once finished with it. They were much slower than Rainbow Dash was, judging by the considerably smaller pile between the two of them, but they seemed to be reading the whole thing, whereas Rainbow seemed to be skimming through the books. Applejack, the only other pony in the room, was just looking at Rarity expectantly, though she had a grin on her face.

Rarity, on the other hand, wasn’t entirely sure what to do. She wanted to go back and finish her project, and her hooves seemed to creep that way when she wasn’t paying attention, but her friends seemed to want her there. She couldn’t leave. At least, not yet...

Coming to this conclusion, Rarity spoke up. “So, I heard you all wanted to play a game?”

“Eeyup,” confirmed Applejack, somehow maintaining her smile while speaking. She tilted her head toward a seat next to her, which Rarity took without a complaint.

Just as she got comfortable, Rainbow Dash suddenly tossed aside what was apparently the last instruction manual, then jumped up. “Alright! Let’s go! What’cha wanna play first?”

“Monopony!” shouted Pinkie excitedly.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “But that’s so boring, and it takes forever. Let’s do something with a little more action. How about... Shadows Over Canterlot?”

“Okie dokie! Whatever you say Dashie.”

“Right.” Rainbow Dash turned around in her chair as best as she could to a stack of board games next to her. “Nope,” she said, pushing the top one down with a crash, (causing the ponies with OCD tendencies, especially Twilight, to wince), making a new pile. She repeated this until she found the correct game, when she let out an, “Gotcha!”

Rainbow spun back around, this time carefully balancing a box in her hooves. It had a cover of a large castle in the distance. In the foreground were two sections of knights, wizards, and what appeared to be barbarians, all standing on opposite sides of the box, as if opposing each other. The title at the top of the box read ‘Shadows Over Canterlot’ in ornate looking letters.

The rainbow-maned mare seemed to pay little to no attention to this detail, however, as she flung off the top part of the box, exposing large laminated cards with the names and small drawings of knights on them. Underneath that was a stack of boards with many images and pictures that sometimes made sense, and other times made absolutely no sense at all. Rainbow casually tossed those onto the table, and pulled out other contents of the box, including multicolored dice, two plastic containers with figurines of knights, barbarians, and catapults in them, a mound of cardboard cutout swords, and two stacks of cards, black and white.

Ignoring all else, she began sorting through the pile and grabbing all of the boards with pictures and arranging them in a shape that as closely resembled a rectangle at it could possibly get. Once she appeared satisfied with her work, she went ahead and dealt the laminated cards to each of her friends, five of the white cards, and one green card.

“Flip those big shiny cards over to the side with the knight on it, and slide those green ones underneath, but don’t tell each other what’s on any of those cards, except the shiny one. It’s a secret,” she said, just as Pinkie opened her mouth, most likely about to rattle out what each of her cards said and did to every other player. Given this knowledge, she began to complain.

“Aw, but why?”

“‘Cause it’s a secret. Duh.”

Apparently happy with her answer, Pinkie leaned back in her chair and somehow grabbed a hold of her cards with her hooves. For the ponies who could not defy the laws of physics, however, Rainbow Dash passed out a few card holders, and the ponies began to pick them up and slide them into the holder, all while reading them.

“So, uh, what do we do?” asked Applejack, who was still reading her cards, then rereading them, trying to make sense of what they did.

“Well, we fight stuff. I think,” Rainbow Dash told her, attempting to recall the information in the booklet that she skimmed through.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “What Rainbow’s trying to say is that we’re protecting the castle.”

“Castle? So tha’ thing’s Canterlot?”

“Well, ancient and mythological Canterlot, but yes.”

“No it’s not. It’s only a model,” piped up Pinkie.

“It’s more of a picture,” corrected Twilight. “Anyways, we’re trying to defend the castle from Nightmare Moon’s forces. Well, them, and other evil factions. That’s what the game is about.”

“... Uh, okay. So what do we do?” Applejack asked once more. The others at the table nodded too, also confused.

“Oh, right! Well, The first thing we have to do is advance evil by doing one of those things listed on your ‘coat of arms’ in the Progression of Evil ”

Applejack stared at her as if she were insane. “Ain’t that the thing we’re tryin’ ta stop?”

“Well, yes, but that’s part of the game. We’re supposed to do this. Otherwise we wouldn’t have a challenge at all, since nothing bad would happen.”

“Hmm, alrigh’ then,” said Applejack, who was obviously still confused. “In that case, who goes firs’?”

“Well, in the rulebook, it said whoever got King Arthur.”

“Ooh, ooh, that’s me, pick me!” said Pinkie, waving her hoof in the air. “I’m gonna... Place a siege engine.” She leaned forward over the table and picked up one of the plastic catapults, and placed it on the largest board.

“And for your heroic action?”

“My what?”

“The good thing you’re going to do. They’re on your ‘coat of arms’ as well; the big shiny cards. You’re trying to complete those quests on the boards with your cards.”

“Right! I’m gonna go to that place with the cups on it.”

“The Holy Grail quest.”

“Yeah, that,” Pinkie confirmed as she picked up another plastic figurine, this time depicting a knight standing on some sort of red rock. She moved it over to a long rectangular board next to the large main one and put it on a picture of an insignia that looked like engraved glass.

“Alright Rarity, it’s your turn. You basically just do what Pinkie Pie did; select something from those lists on your card.”

“Oh, yes, of course. I’ll lose a life point,” Rarity decided, turning over her die to show a three rather than a four.

“Uh, okay. And your heroic action? Oh, and it’s not on your card, but you can stay in Canterlot to draw cards, or you can fight that siege engine to destroy it.”

“Really? Well, I’ll do that... Well, how do I, exactly?”

“Well, you have to have a few fight cards, the ones that say ‘Fight’ on them with a little number in the corner, and then you put them on the table, roll this die,” Twilight said as she lifted a small 8-sided red die, “and if the number you roll is less than the sum of the action cards, you destroy it, but if it’s greater than or equal to the sum, you lose a life point.”

Rarity nodded, and drew one fight card from her hand; a four. Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, but Rarity caught the look and answered it. “It should be enough. I don’t want to waste all of my cards, now do I?”

Twilight shrugged, and Rarity proceeded to lift the die with her own magical field and tossed it. It tumbled across the table and landed on a five.

“Oh, bother. Well, better luck next time I suppose.”

Play continued like this for a few more rounds while the ponies got used to the game. By that point, Rarity had a strategy; get out as soon as possible while making it look like an accident so she could get back to work. The first ploy she had got her down to two life points, but she figured that would be suspicious if she tried again. Therefore, she started using her special power as Sir Percival to peek at the top black cards, and drawing cards that advanced the failure of a quest, but were still seen as lesser evil cards than others. Luckily, this worked, and she managed to go to the tournament against the black knight a round before it failed (with a hooffull of cards she had drawn as well, making it appear that she had enough to finish off the quest.), killing her player, upon which point she said that she no longer wanted to be there, as she was of no use to the game dead, and should work.

She was interrupted a few more times afterwards, either for a rematch of Shadows Over Canterlot (The first game of which resulted in a miserable failure by the ponies, orchestrated by none other than the quiet Fluttershy, who had somehow been dealt the traitor card.) or some other game to play. Each time, Rarity got out as quickly as possible (Or for the games where she couldn’t get out, like Ticket to Ride, she sped up her turns to as fast as she possibly could.) , and then immediately excused herself back to her work.

Eventually, however, all of the ponies called it quits, as it was getting late, and they had been playing for hours.

“Um, did you notice anything... odd last night?” asked Fluttershy. Something had been eating at her throughout the night, but she hadn’t voiced her concerns until then. The two were sitting around the same table they had been playing the board games at, eating a breakfast consisting of leftover snacks from the night before. Well, it was more of a brunch, since she normally didn’t stay up that late, and Twilight felt as though she could take the opportunity of the semi-vacation to sleep in. When they woke up, they were the only two in the penthouse, aside from Rarity, who was still working, and decided to eat a ‘home cooked’ breakfast.. (Especially since the breakfast provided by the hotel was now closed.)

“...Such as?” replied Twilight.

“Well, I don’t really want to judge anypony, but did Rarity seem sort of... impatient? Like she didn’t want to play?”

Twilight paused for a moment to think, “...Maybe a little. She was probably just getting bored. Some of those games just seemed to drag on sometimes.”

“I... I guess so...” Despite Twilight’s reassurances and logical reasoning, she still wasn’t convinced. “Well, thanks Twilight.”

“Well, uh, you’re welcome.”

The rest of their breakfast proceeded in silence, aside from the clinking of utensils. One pony’s thoughts were on where the other three of the group could be, but she didn’t worry about it too much. The other pony was still contemplating what she had observed the night before about Rarity... and wondering if she was correct in her assumptions.

Soon enough, they each parted ways, neither being much of a socialite, and the bright yellow pony decided to check on Rarity. Fluttershy swiftly trotted down the hallway, and proceeded to knock on Rarity’s door... sort of. She pulled back, second guessing herself for a few seconds, before finding the deciding factor and actually knocking; Rarity may need consolation or help with her work, even if she won’t admit it.

“The door’s open!” called Rarity.

Fluttershy pushed open the door nervously, and walked in, before being stunned by what she saw. The once extremely clean room was now an organized mess, as Rarity would have called it. Papers, presumably the script, notes, and sketches of her costumes, were strewn everywhere. However, the costumes she had made were seemingly excluded from the mess. A silver clothes rack had been completely filled with a plethora of Rarity’s designs, and another already had a few costumes on it. In the midst of it all was Rarity herself, her mane frizzled, wearing a pair of glasses that she squinted through. Hovering beside her were a few of her tools, such as scissors, and a tape measurer. She had her back turned to Fluttershy, and seemed to be fine tuning her latest piece of clothing.

Upon hearing the door softly creak open, she quickly finished with her current work and turned around. “Hello Fluttershy! I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

“Oh, um, hi Rarity.”

“... Did you want to talk to me?”

“Oh, right. I... I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

“...Pardon? Whatever for?”

“Well, I really don’t want to judge... If you’re okay, that’s fine...”

“Oh, come now Fluttershy. I’m not angry. I’m just curious as to why you think that I’m not alright.”

“Oh, no, that’s not what-”

“Fluttershy,” Rarity said commandingly, halting Fluttershy’s speech. “Would you please tell me what’s going on?”

“Well, okay... You just seemed sort of... distant last night. Like you didn’t want to be there. And you took every chance just to get back in here and work.”

Rarity didn’t say a word for a moment, because Fluttershy was right. She had been extremely eager to get back to work, rather than have fun with her friends, and didn’t expect anyone to notice, since she had pulled off her plans so well. Of course, she was forgetting that she had smart and caring friends. Still, she had a lot of work to complete...

“Yes, I suppose I was. I’ve just been a little preoccupied with my work the past few days, seeing as there’s so much of it to be done.”

“Oh Rarity, why didn’t you tell us? We could help you,” Fluttershy told her sympathetically.

“No no no. This is my responsibility, and I won’t have my friends taking it for me.”

“But-”

“No buts! I invited you girls here to enjoy yourselves. Don’t worry about it,” Rarity commanded. Fluttershy began to open her mouth again in protest, but Rarity cut her off. “I insist.”

Fluttershy didn’t seem to be very happy with Rarity’s position on the matter, but seeing that arguing would get her no further, combined with the fact that she didn’t like to argue at all, she did nothing more. “Well, if you say so Rarity. I just wanted to help.”

“I know, I know. But honestly, I’m fine.”

“Okay...” An awkward silence developed between the two, as neither pony seemed willing to speak.

“Well, I had better get back to work.”

“Oh, right... Well, I’ll see you later. Just let me know if you need anything.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Fluttershy.”

Getting the impression that the conversation was over and Rarity wanted her to leave, Fluttershy nodded at Rarity, both to say that she understood and goodbye, and quietly exited the room. Upon doing so, however, she pondered what had occurred in the conversation. Rarity had admitted that something was wrong, but brushed it aside, as if it didn’t matter. But she was clearly exhausted, and most likely stressed as well... What was her deadline for her costumes anyways? Was it soon? She had said they would only be there for two weeks... Was that what was wrong?

Brushing aside stray thoughts, she just decided to ignore it for the time being. Fluttershy didn’t want to leave Rarity to her own devices and do nothing, but she had insisted that she didn’t need, nor want, any assistance. Perhaps she was just tired this morning, and has been fine the rest of the time. They did stay up fairly late, after all...

Applejack had left the suite that morning on a hunch. She was the first one up, and by the time she had gotten ready for the day, both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had disappeared. Therefore, the search for the duo had begun early that morning.

It turned out, as she had expected, that her hunch was correct. The moment she had exited the elevator to the lobby, then trotted into the kitchen to get some complimentary breakfast, she noticed a swift pink hoof slide out from under one of the tables where a couple had just been served their breakfast. At the same time, Rainbow Dash bumped into the couple’s waiter on the way back, spilling dirty dishes everywhere.

“Oh, whoops! Heh, sorry ‘bout that,” she apologized quickly. The waiter said nothing in reply, but narrowed his eyebrows, rolled his eyes, and ‘hmph!’ed.

“Here, lemme help you with that,” Rainbow offered, quickly swooping down and picking up all of the dishes that had clattered on the floor only moments ago. She dropped them on the waiter’s back, which dipped slightly for a moment, and then stepped back, giving the waiter an awkward smile. At this point, everypony’s eyes were on her. She began to edge away from the guests, before zipping away in a rainbow colored blur.

Applejack at this point knew something was going on, and was not at all surprised when she heard a shrill scream coming from the table at which the couple she had been watching before were sitting.

The mare at the table was covered in head to neck in what appeared to be raspberry jelly, propelled from a jelly-filled doughnut. The offending doughnut came from the other side of the table, which the stallion of the couple had bitten into. It was stuck on his jaw by the lower teeth, which were nearly resting on the table. Oddly enough, however, it appeared that it was not the filling that had squirted from the doughnut, but instead jelly from a now rather obvious packet that had been shoved into the end of the doughnut.

Applejack narrowed her eyes, and left the scene, as the ponies began to clean up the mess. Looking down some hallways, she eventually heard the sound of laughter coming from a nearly closed door to a janitor’s closet. Pushing it open, she revealed the two culprits behind the entire escapade. Neither of them seemed particularly surprised when it was Applejack who opened the door, but they both paused for a moment before they saw who it was, then continued laughing.

“What in tarnation do ya think you two were doin’ back there?” Applejack demanded angrily.

Pinkie attempted to stifle her giggles for a moment to reply. “Covering a hoity toity pony in jelly!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Why thank ya miss obvious.”

“Oh come on AJ, you’ve gotta admit that was funny,” said Rainbow Dash.

“No, I don’t. But it was jus’ plain rude.”

“Lighten up! It was just a harmless prank.”

“Hah, yeah, jus’ like that one time when ya’ll-”

“Hey, that was an accident. This was just awesome.”

“She’s just sore since she didn’t get in on it,” remarked Pinkie.

“Wha-”

“Hmm, maybe you’re right...” agreed Rainbow, a sly look coming on her face.

Pinkie returned the same look. “Yeah, I guess we need to let her do a prank with us. Otherwise we’ll feel sooo bad about making her mad.”

“Yeah, we really don’t wanna letcha down AJ. I think we’ve got another prank in mind, so you come along with us so you won’t be so touchy about it.”

“Now hold for jus’ a cotton-pickin’ minute-”

“Come on Applejack. Just this once? It’ll be great! And you’ll see that it’s just in harmless fun!”

“I ain’t agreein’ to nothin’.”

“Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeee?” Pinkie pleaded, giving her best puppy -dog eyes to Applejack.

“No.”

“Pllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeeeee?” she repeated. She looked even more pitiful than before, and closely resembled Applebloom when she wanted something.

“Pinkie, I jus’ ain’t into that kinda stuff. It’s jus’ plumb rude ta do that to somepony.”

“No it’s not! It’s just hilarious!”

“Except fer that time-”

“Okay, okay, okay, we get it,” interrupted Rainbow Dash. “You’re just too chicken to pull something like that.

“... ‘Scuse me?”

“Oh, no, it’s alright. Don’t worry about it. You’re scared and that’s alright.”

Applejack said nothing for a moment, but scowled at Rainbow instead. “Ya know what Pinkie, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll do it.”

“YIPPEE!!!” squealed the bright earth pony. “Alright, I’ve got an idea...”

“Ya’ll absolutely sure this is a good idea? Couldn’t we do somethin’ else?”

Applejack was sitting in the living room of the suite along with her co-conspirators. They had come back to find Twilight and Fluttershy finally awake. The duo had just eaten breakfast, and were then on their way to a library that Twilight wanted to see. Fluttershy had agreed to come along, so the two groups exchanged goodbyes, leaving the entire penthouse to the pranksters and their victim.

“Of course I’m sure. We did this to Twilight once, and it worked great! And no, we can’t!”

“... That still don’t mean it’s a good idea, jus’ that nothin’s gone wrong with it yet.”

“Touché... Ah, whatever. C’mon Applejack, it’ll be fun! We’re soooo ready! Just do this one thing and you’ll be done!”

“I dunno....”

“Hey, it’s just a prank. If you aren’t cool enough to handle it then I’ll head out there and show ya how it’s done. You can take my place.”

“... Alrigh’, fine, but only if I get to rub it in Rainbow’s face when I pull it off.”

“Dealio!”

“Eh, beg yer pardon?”

“Nevermind.”

“Okay... I’ll jus’ get this over with.”

Applejack got up and sighed, letting her shoulders relax, before taking a deep breath and walking toward Rarity’s room. Both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash rose from their seats as well, taking hiding places in different rooms along the hallway Applejack was heading down.

Applejack paused for a moment before knocking. She was second guessing herself again, just like she had been when Pinkie had explained her plan. Her gut told her that for some reason, this was a very bad idea, even though it shouldn’t be; it was one of their most harmless pranks, one on the moderately sized list of pranks she didn’t mind. This one shouldn’t cause any damage or harm, so why was she so apprehensive? On the other hand, Rainbow Dash would never cease taunting her about it if she didn’t go through with this, let alone Pinkie Pie, who just wanted to get Applejack in on one of their pranks. If it wasn’t this one, she could be rest assured it would be another. The sooner she got Pinkie Pie to stop breathing down her neck, the better.

Thus reassuring herself, she knocked. Now, time for the hard part.

“Come in!” Rarity called from behind the door.

Applejack opened it just enough to poke her head in. “Do ya think you could come to th’ kitchen fer a minute?”

Rarity paused and turned from her work, obviously confused. “I suppose so. What’s the matter?”

“Pinkie’s been cookin’.”

It was a simple excuse, which would have been a simple lie for anypony to pull off, and make a quick excuse about how the kitchen ‘had just been dirty a few minutes ago’, and how ‘she must have cleaned it up when I wasn’t looking.' When it came to Pinkie Pie, those things could make for a believable lie for anypony to tell. Well, anypony except for Applejack. However, part of Pinkie’s plan was to make up for that. She really had been cooking, rather recently in fact, and had created a fresh batch of assorted desserts. Therefore, the ‘lie’ was actually a truth, making it much easier for Applejack to use it as the excuse to get Rarity to leave the room.

It appeared to be working too. Rarity’s eyes widened in understanding. While Pinkie wasn’t Applebloom or Sweetie Belle level in kitchen disasters, she could still level any cooking area in about ten seconds flat.

Applejack continued with added incentive. “I’m sorry fer botherin’ ya. I was gonna clean it up, but it’s pretty bad this time, and I figured you’d be able ta clean it up lickety split.”

“Oh, no no, it’s no trouble at all. If it’s as bad as you say, I’d call on me too. I’ll be there in just a minute.”

Applejack nodded and closed the door as Rarity quickly put down whatever she was doing. She walked casually to the kitchen, when she heard the door open behind her, and Rarity rush to her side. As they entered the kitchen, her friend gasped.

“Oh my...”

The kitchen was demolished.

Pots and pans laid strewn about on the floor, on the countertop, and a few in the sink, half filled with water and an occasional bubble. Batter was splattered all over the counter next to a cake mixer, along with an empty carton of milk, which was toppled over, and dripping its remains everywhere, what seemed to be hundreds of cracked eggs, and several large bags of sugar, most of which were now empty. The only area in the room which appeared to be unaffected was a small corner of the countertop, on which mountains of fluffy, warm baked goods were stacked; the product of the chaos.

Rarity seemed stunned at it all, for several seconds, absorbing all that Pinkie had done in the process of baking. While it looked delicious, the cleanup required was horrendous. Luckily, Rarity was Rarity.

Shaking her head quickly, she set to work cleaning it up, levitating multiple rags, pots, and trash items at once, flinging them all over the room. It appeared to be making even more of a mess than what Pinkie had done, but within what felt like seconds, the entire kitchen looked pristine. Rarity gave a slight smile, acknowledging her work, and nodded.

“I’m glad you called me Applejack. I don’t blame you at all; that mess was awful! I know she makes the best baked goods in Ponyville, and beyond that in my opinion, but she makes a horrific mess to do so. No offense to her.”

“Thanks fer doin’ that. Ya didn’t have to.”

“I know, but it saved one of my friends a lot of work that could easily be avoided. Just try to keep her away from any kitchens she isn’t responsible for.”

Applejack laughed. “I’ll try, but you know Pinkie Pie.”

Rarity smiled broadly. “Yes... Well, I had best get back to work.”

“Alrigh’. Let me know if I can do anything ta help ya out.”

“Of course.”

And with that, they simply parted ways. Rarity exited the kitchen and went to her room, while Applejack merely waited and sighed in relief. Her part in the prank was over. She looked back down the hall in anticipation, but what she saw immediately worried her; Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were both standing at the end of the hallway, talking to Rarity, and they both had very apologetic expressions on their faces. Then, all at once, Rarity dashed between them and into her room and let out a shriek. She ran back out of her room and to the prankster ponies. She appeared to be fairly angry, or at least as angry as she ever got. Rarity was used to dealing with her sister, and was therefore, gentler than most when they got angry, but she didn’t appear to be pleased at all.

“What did you do!?!”

“That’s what we were trying to tell you! We were gonna prank you-” Rarity groaned at this point, slightly interrupting Pinkie’s ongoing train of speech, already knowing what bad news was coming. She was just resigning to her fate. “-and I accidentally bumped into the table which knocked over the bottle of the disappearing ink, and we tried to mop it up, but it disappeared, but it spilled all over the papers, and when it disappeared, all the ink was gone, and I was like, ‘Oh no!’ and Dash didn’t say anything, but tried to clean it up real quick with some blank paper, but it didn’t do anything and we both kinda looked at each other with the ‘what are we going to do’ look and-” Pinkie’s talking abruptly stopped from Rainbow Dash’s hoof being shoved into her mouth. Pinkie was still trying to talk around it, and was starting to get teary eyed, presumably because she saw the hopeless look in Rarity’s eyes, and knew it was partially because of her.

Nopony said anything for a moment. Rarity looked as if she were going to burst from being stuffed with too many emotions at once, a combination of anger, sorrow, resignation, and others. Instead, she just deflated and slumped to the floor, closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath.

Rainbow Dash decided to say something as if she could erase everything that happened with a few words. “We’re sorry. We tried to stop it, but... yeah. There was nothing important in that stack of papers, was there?”

Rarity’s head snapped up, and her eyes were bloodshot. “Nothing important? NOTHING IMPORTANT?!” Her voice grew from nearly a whisper to an enormous yell in a split second. “Nothing important except ALL THE NOTES I HAD FOR THE COSTUMES!” All the onlookers flinched at the raw rage Rarity was emitting. Fortunately for them, it seemed to tone down once again immediately. “I’m sorry for yelling... I just don’t know what I’m going to do... I know you didn’t mean to do it, but those were all the notes I had for the costumes. It’s going to take me days to recover!”

She took another deep breath and released it. “I... It’s alright. I’m not angry at you girls. I just need some time to sort this mess out. Maybe to catch up if I can.”

Rarity turned and entered her room slowly, but none of the ponies stopped her. They had just ruined her work, and possibly the greatest opportunity in her lifetime.

“Hold on, what happened?” asked Twilight, trying to confirm what she just heard from the three ponies that had been left in the apartment with Rarity.

When she and Fluttershy came back, they found all three of them, sitting in the living room, each with a depressed and guilty look on their faces. Naturally, as soon as they noticed, their first questions were along the lines of ‘What’s wrong?’ and ‘What happened?’ Naturally, they were shocked.

“Our prank went wrong, and messed up Rarity’s work,” stated Rainbow Dash. “Believe me, we didn’t want to do that to her. It just kinda happened.”

“That’s terrible! What did it ruin?” Fluttershy, who was very close to Rarity, was especially concerned.

“Just some designs, but no costumes. She was pretty upset about it, though.”

“Oh my... What did she say?”

“Not a lot,” answered Applejack. “Jus’ that she needed some time to fix it up.”

“And she’s been in there since?” questioned Twilight, wanting as much information as she could get. If one of her friends had been wronged, whether accidentally or not, she wanted to help.

“Eeyup,” confirmed Applejack, but she seemed to sense Twilight’s urge. “I honestly think it’s probably better to leave her alone righ’ now. She said she wanted to be let to herself fer a while.”

“Are you sure? How do you know she meant it?”

“Well, fer one, she told us. Why else would she say it? Two, I’ve jus’ got a gut feelin’... Somethin’ I shoulda listened to earlier,” she said, casting a glance toward Pinkie Pie, who noticed it, and half smiled tentatively at Applejack. “Besides,” she continued, “you know how Rarity is. She said she wasn’t mad, an’ probably wouldn’t accept any help even if we offered it.”

“Maybe she doesn’t know that she needs it. I know somepony else who had that problem.”

Applejack almost grinned. “True, ‘cept she ain’t nearly as stubborn as me. I should know.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, and even Fluttershy gave her a similar look.

“Well, maybe she’s not,” amended Applejack. “I still think she ain’t got the stubbornness... but it could be pride. Anyhow, it don’t matter. It’s prob’ly best to let her cool off a bit.”

Suddenly, Pinkie gave a slight jump. Her eyes lit up, she started grinning ear to ear, and began waving her hoof rapidly back and forth in the air, as though she were an overeager student.

Twilight nearly groaned, and Applejack did the same. Rainbow Dash, however, just rolled her eyes. “What’s up Pinkie?”

If Rainbow Dash hadn’t spoken when she did Pinkie may have burst. As it was, her reaction to being let loose was similar. “Ooh, I just got this super duper idea to help Rarity out from Applejack, ‘cause she was just all like, ‘Maybe we should let her cool off’ and I was like, ‘Wait, what do I know that does that, plus cheers them up?’ and then I realized that it was a party!” She practically yelled the last word, bouncing with anticipation.

Rainbow Dash, once again, was the first to reply. “Uh, I dunno. I’m not sure this is exactly the best time for a party...”

“But why not?”

“We just ruined a ton of her work, she’s got to catch up, she’s probably a little mad at us, even though she said she wasn’t, she might be so sad that it wouldn't work, and it may annoy her instead of cheer her up.”

“Oh, come on Dashie. You don’t know any of that. It may be just the thing she needs!”

Pinkie seemed to raise a legitimate point there. True, it could have a negative effect, but it was better than nothing. Still, not all of them were convinced. Everypony except Pinkie had their own doubts, seemingly voiced by Rainbow Dash, of all ponies. Still, Pinkie Pie tended to be best at cheering ponies up. Her ideas might actually work.

“Are you sure about this, Pinkie Pie?” asked Twilight, wanting to verify it with her. In reply, Pinkie nodded quickly.

Twilight still wasn’t entirely certain, however. “How about we wait a day? Maybe try to talk about it to her, and if that doesn’t work, we can try that.”

“Aw, but Twilight! I-”

“Pinkie,” she cut off sternly.

“Fine, but it’s still the best idea. You’ll see.”

“Please go away! I know you mean well, but... Just...”

“Well, um, okay. If you say so... Goodbye Rarity...”

Fluttershy returned to the the group of waiting ponies. She gave a sad shake of her head, and the hope that they all possessed deflated in an instant. All of it, that is, except for that of Pinkie Pie. She was lounging in one of the couches, a bag of popcorn in her lap, occasionally tossing a little into her gaping mouth.

“Tolj ooo,” she stated smugly between mouthfuls of it all.

It was the day after the incident, and all of the ponies had successively tried to console their unicorn friend, but each time she sent them away. What made it even worse was that she hadn’t even come out to eat since the day before, and no matter what anypony said, that wasn’t a good sign.

Pinkie Pie, however, munched on the last few pieces of popcorn, before swallowing, and tossing the bag into the trash can from across the room for a three pointer. She smiled, as she had been waiting for this moment for an entire day.

“So,” she began, “nothing worked, did it?”

“Just set it up already,” commanded Applejack irritatedly. They had already failed in cheering Rarity up, and now Pinkie was taking the opportunity for an ‘I told you so!’ moment.

“Okie dokie!” responded Pinkie, rolling out her neck and shoulders, before pausing, “I was just messin’ with ya. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know. I jus’ don’t think this is the right thing to do.”

“Oh, don’t you worry your pretty little head over it. Auntie Pinkie Pie’s got it all under control.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of...” mumbled Applejack.

“What was that?” inquired her friend, putting a hoof to her ear.

“Nothin’. Jus’ start already.”

“Righto!”

And then the room was transformed.

It seemed to only take a few minutes. In that time, the entire room seemed to be swapped for another. Streamers, balloons, confetti, various baked goods, popular party games, a record player with a set of speakers attached to it, and a large sign that read ‘We’re Sorry!’, all seemingly appeared out of nowhere and were placed about the room by the party pony. The others watched in awe as this all happened, and before they knew it, her work was complete. The room looked little like the luxury suite it had been before, and now looked as though it was the best party room in all of Equestria.

“Like it?” Pinkie asked, turning around to find all of her friends slack jawed at the sight. They didn’t look as if they had seen a Sonic Rainboom, but it was the next best thing, and since Pinkie knew nothing could top that, she was satisfied. “Good,” she told them, before waiting for a response. Since none came, she continued. “Alright, you girls need to hide in here, it doesn’t matter where, as long as Rarity can’t see you as soon as she walks in. I’ll lead her in here, and-”

“Wait, wait, how are you going to do that?” Rainbow Dash interposed rudely.

Pinkie Pie mischievously grinned in response. “My way.”

Rainbow Dash seemed a bit concerned with that answer, but said nothing else. Taking this as the signal to go on, Pinkie continued. “Anyways, I’ll lead her in here, and then when I say ‘Marco!’, you all jump out and say...” at this point, Pinkie made a motion to go on with her hoof.

“... Polo?” answered Rainbow Dash uncertainly.

Pinkie Pie blinked. “What? No, you say ‘Surprise!’ Why would you say ‘Polo?’”

“Uh, nevermind.”

Pinkie shook her head. “Anyways, I’ll say ‘Marco!’ and you all jump out and yell ‘Surprise!’ and then the party will start!”

“... Jus’ like that?” asked Applejack.

“Yep!” Pinkie confirmed.

“Nothin’ else? At all?”

“Nope!”

Pinkie looked around for a moment at all of her friends. She was in her normal, cheerful mode, but then uncharacteristically frowned at them. “Well?”

A chorus of ‘Oh, right’s and ‘Sorry!’s rang out from the other four ponies. Pinkie just smiled and rolled her eyes, waiting for everypony to get into cover. As soon as she did so, she turned around and lightly bounced down the hall to Rarity’s room.

She must have heard the thumping of hooves, because just before Pinkie knocked, Rarity called out, “Pinkie, I know you mean well, but I’m just not in the mood. Please leave.”

“But Raaarittyyyyy!” Pinkie whined.

“Honestly, Pinkie Pie, I just need some time alone.”

“But Raaaarrrittyyyyyyyy!” Pinkie repeated. She heard a hopeless moan on the other side of the door. This was definitely Pinkie’s way.

“Alright, alright. But do make it quick, I beg you.” A few moments later, the door opened, and Pinkie was face to face with Rarity for the first time in a day.

She had drastically changed. Her mane, while still frizzled, somehow looked even worse than before, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She looked exhausted, and greatly depressed. Nothing Pinkie Pie couldn’t help.

“Yes?” she got out quickly. Pinkie Pie was a good friend, but usually not one you wanted to have to deal with for any length of time when all of her focus was on you.

“C’mon! I’ve got something to cheer you up!”

Rarity closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t think anything can help right now.”

“Oh, please? Just come here for a little while.”

“... Alright. Quickly, though. I need to make up for lost time.”

The party pony led the unicorn down the hallway to the living room, but just before they got in sight of anything, Pinkie called out, “Marco!”

In response, she got all of the ponies jumping out from their various hiding spots, two yelling ‘Surprise!’, one starting to yell ‘Polo!’, and then correcting herself, and another who was too quiet for anypony to tell.

Rarity was taken aback, and therefore, it was a moment before she said anything. “Oh... Well, thank you everypony.”

A void in all sound developed, and you could practically hear crickets. Rarity’s friends were all holding nervous smiles on their faces, still in their poses from jumping out of hiding. Pinkie, however, beamed at her.

“You’re welcome!” she exclaimed, hugging Rarity, who didn’t seem pleased with it at all, but didn’t resist. “Were ya surprised? Were ya?”

“Yes, very surprised.”

“Great! I just figured that a party would be just to thing to cheer you up, especially a ‘We’re sorry!’ party, but they didn’t think it was a good idea to-”

“Pinkie.”

“-throw a party, especially at a time like this, but-”

“Pinkie...”

“-nothing anypony else said could cheer you up so they let me go ahead with-”

“Pinkie!” Rarity called.

Luckily for her, the earth pony stopped talking almost immediately. “Yes?”

Rarity gave a slight roll of her eyes. “I just assumed that there was a party.”

“Oh! Right!” Pinkie backed up into the main room, and then struck a pose. “Let’s party!”

Right away, the regular lights turned off, and other, colored, moving spotlights switched on, hanging everywhere. The record player turned on as well, but as if it had appeared from nowhere, it was hooked up to a large speaker. It began thumping rhythmically and loudly. Thus, the party began.

At first, Rarity tried to mingle. Naturally, many questions were asked. No, she wasn’t angry. Yes, it did set her back. Yes, she did have a lot of work to do. No, she wasn’t upset... They piled up, and all the while, the speaker kept thumping.

While it did help Rarity get into a better mood at first, soon, the party began to wear on her, for three main reasons. The first was the work she still had to do. It was even more than before, and the deadline hadn’t gotten any farther away. The longer she stayed at the party, the longer she wasn’t working on her work, and the longer it would take to eventually complete it. The next reason was that she felt absolutely terrible. She had spent the night in despair at the lost work, constantly wondering how she was going to get it all done, postponing her sleep. She was already extremely tired, and was at this point utterly exhausted. The last reason was her headache. She had the workings of one before the party ever started, but it was nearly silent in her bedroom, and it was more of a dull throbbing than an actual pain. But here, there was so much noise, and the constant thud of the drum over the speaker. It constantly was pounding at her head, attempting to drive into her skull and eventually make her even more miserable than she was the night before, if it were possible. And it was constantly getting worse.

Eventually, while everypony else was chatting, finally starting to believe that she was okay, Rarity quietly slipped off back to her room.

Unfortunately, the change didn’t help much. Though she couldn’t actually hear the music, nor the loud chatter of her friends, there was still the pulsing thump. Thump. Thump. Over and over. It seemed relentless. She tried stuffing cotton in her ears, and even putting in the earplugs she wore for better sleep, but it seemed relentless. No matter what she did, it never stopped. It kept pounding... If only she could turn it off.

Wait. She could turn it off.

Creeping out of her bedroom, Rarity attempted to sneak back into the party without being seen, so as to not get pulled into something she didn’t want to mess with. Of course, this was nearly impossible in a room as open as their penthouse, but Rarity still got to the record player undisturbed.

Now to unplug it...

“Oh, there you are Rarity! Whatcha doin’?” Pinkie asked over the noise.

Rarity still had her earplugs in, and that combined with the music, she could hear very little. “What?”

“I said, ‘Oh, there you are Rarity! Whatcha doin’?’” Pinkie repeated, much louder this time. It still did no good, however.

“What?”

“I said, ‘OH, THERE YOU ARE RARITY! WHATCHA DOIN’?’”

“Okay,” she said wincing, confirming that she heard it. “Pinkie, I need to turn this off. Right now. It’s driving me crazy!”

“What?” The music had just changed to something even louder, if it were possible, and now nopony could hear each other.”

“I must turn this off! Immediately!”

“What?” inquired Pinkie once more, turning down the volume on the speakers to hear Rarity better.

The white unicorn, however, could not tell this. The thumping was still there through her earplugs, and that’s all she needed to know. Letting out a frustrated scream, she finally yelled, “I’m turning this thing off! I need peace and quiet to work, and I can’t do that with this... thing, turned on! Or you all talking, or... or... Augh!” She howled in near rage, using magic to rip the plug of the speaker from the wall, and then dashing back to her nice and quiet workplace.

“Wow, all you had to do was ask,” Pinkie said incredulously.

After that, there was complete silence. The lively party, which had been going on without Rarity for a few minutes (whom they all assumed needed a quick break) suddenly came to a complete and screeching halt.

At first, there were no questions at all. Everypony was in complete shock, especially since the pony that the party was in honor of had just shouted at the host. Loudly. It seemed to bring everypony down, but it was also confusing. What had just happened?

“What in tarnation was that all about?” blurted out Applejack, voicing the questions that the four ponies not involved in the conversation had.

“She said she wanted the speakers turned off. Something about it being too loud. I think...”

Applejack scowled at her, and just shook her head.

“What?” asked Pinkie, clearly confused.

“What happened to, ‘Trust me, this’ll work fine n’ dandy?’”

“I didn’t know she didn’t like loud music! She’s never had a problem with it before.”

“Pinkie...” Applejack was searching for what to say. It was clear the idea hadn’t worked, and now the mood was ruined. Rarity seemed to be in an even worse mood than before. “... I don’t think anypony should mess with Rarity righ’ now. ‘Specially you Pinkie. Now I know it ain’t entirely yer fault, but who knows what happened? Let’s jus’ give her some quiet.”

“But we don’t even know what happened!” protested Pinkie. “We should at least apologize!”

“I dunno if-”

“Oh, c’mon Applejack. I’ll feel sooo bad if I can’t at least apologize! Plus, ‘it’s just plumb rude to not apologize to somepony!’” she pleaded, switching to an eerie imitation of Applejack’s voice for the last few words of her sentence.

“... Alrigh’, if you really think so.” Applejack took a few glances at her friends when she said this. They all seemed to have no objections to Pinkie’s demands. “In fact, I think it’s pro’lly a pretty good idea if we all go.”

Reluctantly, everpony agreed with this. Rarity was feeling absolutely terrible, that much was obvious, and it was all because of everypony constantly bothering her. Time and time again, throughout the whole trip, that had been happening. Now, face to face with that fact, they had come to the realization that they were all at fault, and Rarity was the one who had been tolerating them and all of their demands, rowdiness, and other such things. They had unknowingly been putting more and more stress on her to get her work done as soon as possible by giving her less and less time to do it, and now the full effects had taken place. Rarity had snapped. They didn’t realize this at first, but the more they thought about it, the more they realized that it was true. Therefore, to try and make up for it, they had agreed. Everypony assembled in a discombobulated group, and began to move slowly toward Rarity’s bedroom door. Pinkie Pie, who had wanted to apologize first, and arguably had the most to apologize for, headed the group, and knocked the door with a painfully delaying unwillingness to. What if she didn’t accept the beg for forgiveness?

Seconds later, the door opened to a Rarity who they hardly recognized. She appeared about the same, but her expression was that of mixed relief, weariness, anger, but most of all, sheer annoyance.

“What!?” she bellowed. The word clashed against the walls, and came back, multiple times, stabbing them with guilt.

Fortunately, Rarity didn’t stay this way for long. Both annoyance and anger melted away, leaving only a distraught pony in its wake. She seemed to fall against the doorframe. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell...” The low volume of Rarity’s voice rivaled that of Fluttershy’s.

This volume seemed to set the mood for the rest of the conversation, as from that point onward, everypony spoke in a whisper. Everypony, that is, except for Fluttershy, who could have yelled and it wouldn’t have made a difference.

“Oh, don’t be. We’re the ones who should be sorry,” sadly assured the pony responsible for the party.

Rarity gave her a sad smile. “No, I should be. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that, Pinkie. For anything. I just have the worst possible headache. I think it’s put me in a bad mood, which is probably why I was so angry. I hope you know I didn’t mean those terrible things I said. Any of them.”

“Well, duh,” stated Pinkie loudly, rolling her eyes. Rarity winced, and Pinkie gave a nervous giggle. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“Like Pinkie Pie said, we’re the ones who should be sorry.” This time it was Twilight that spoke. “We’ve ruined quite a bit of your work, distracted you when trying to make up for it, and other things we probably didn’t even know we were doing.” Rarity said nothing, and Twilight decided to take another step forward. “I know you probably don’t want us to, but at least let us help you get caught up in your work.”

Rarity looked, relieved for a moment, and then looked concerned. “But there’s a lot more to costume making than just stitching a few pieces of cloth together. I’m not sure you could help even if you wanted to.”

“Hey, that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything. We did finish that dress you designed once,” insisted Rainbow Dash. “Well, mostly Fluttershy did, but still.”

Rarity perked up slightly immediately, realizing she was right. “You know... I think that would be very helpful,” she said, giving everypony a soft smile. Then she stopped for a moment, and seemed to be struggling with something, before throwing herself toward the middle of the group, grabbing them all in a hug. “I’m so sorry! Thank you so much!” she wailed.

“Are you... crying?” asked Rainbow Dash, noticing streaks running down from Rarity’s eyes.

“Yes, but it’s tears of joy! I don’t know what I’d do without you all as friends.”

This was it. This was the evening of the play.

With the little help from her friends, Rarity managed to meet the deadline, and even create gorgeous formal wear for both herself and her friends, specifically for the opening of the play with the time to spare. As soon as they had entered the theatre, they drew looks from ponies all around the room. They quickly found their seats (provided courtesy of Mr. Coltlin himself) in the balcony, and sat down. Soon enough, a few minutes before the play was scheduled to begin, the producer himself, who had a seat nearby, sat down. He didn’t appear to notice the ponies at first, but as soon as he did, he gave Rarity a broad grin.

“Why, Miss Rarity! How are you? And may I say that you all look stunning!”

Rarity blushed. “Thank you, Mr. Coltlin.”

The stallion nodded. “I assume you’re looking forward to this. A display of your work to the masses. It’s exhilarating. I know the feeling, though I’m not in the same line of work as you. All artists have it, I suppose. The feeling, as well as the grand reveal that it precedes.”

“Of course, but it’d be wrong to give all the credit to me. My friends helped me with many of the costumes,” she said humbly, motioning toward her right where they sat, who all returned the gesture with happy faces.

“Did they? Well, marvelous job then, everypony! I’ve seen the costumes in the dress rehearsals already, but I’m willing to bet that it will all pale in comparison to being shown like this.”

All at once, the lights dimmed. Mr. Coltlin immediately stopped all form of speech and sat back in his seat. The motion seemed universal... or at least as universal as ‘everypony in one enormous room’ could get. Rarity took a sharp breath as the curtain was pulled back for the first time, to reveal the scene of a rural farmhouse and a few farmers working in the fields. Rarity recognized each costume they had on, tailored for each of the actors and extras, and how much work she, as well as her friends, put into each one. They were wonderfully appropriate for the feel that the play immediately gave the audience. Turning her head slightly, Rarity looked at both Mr. Coltlin and all of her friends, to find them enthralled already, and not a single line had been delivered yet. She smiled to herself satisfied.

Though the costumes were but one of the pieces of the puzzle that finally created the show, she still felt as though she had an immensely important part in it all. Though she knew that the enjoyment the play gave anypony wouldn’t be solely as a result of the costumes, and it would in fact hardly contribute to it, she felt the best she had in a while. And all because her friends had helped her. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

This was turning out to be a wonderful trip.