Back at Carousel Boutique
Rarity and Sweetie Belle spent the night in the basement and the next morning they attentively went back upstairs but they never left the house. Luckily no costumers were scheduled today so it was easy to close the shop for the whole day. Instead, they just spent the day together having their own “Sisters Day”. Dress designing, braiding each other’s hair, baking treats, etc. They had such a lovely time together that Rarity had almost forgotten about Crimson if it were not for the wraps around her wrist.
“That vulgar man,” Rarity said in anger. “Is he not aware of just how important my wrists are. I’m a seamstress!
“Can’t you just move the things you need with your magic?” Sweetie asked. “You have been doing it all day.” Sweetie then took a bite of her cookie.
“That is not the point Sweetie.” Rarity argued. “It is the principles.”
A silence fell between the two.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” Sweetie asked.
“I don’t know but I know I can’t just hide forever and I know he won’t either.” Rarity said. “Sooner or later he may come back for revenge and I need to stop him from taking any other girls.”
“If he does come back we could use father’s gun on him,” Sweetie suggested pointed to the old hunting gun hanging on the wall in the kitchen.
“Let’s not speak of such violence. It’s not the thing a proper lady would do.” Rarity said. “Besides, that old thing hasn’t worked since father died.”
Sweetie looked downcast. Rarity noticed this and scooted her chair closer to give Sweetie a hug.
“I know...” Rarity said. “I miss them too.” This helped Sweetie somewhat.
Sweetie ate another cookie as Rarity left the kitchen table to open the curtains of the kitchen window. She looked up at the nighttime sky as the stars sparkled like jewels.
“You know...” Rarity said. “Should the opportunity arise where I might do that Crimson fiend some form of great disserves. I might not be able to resist.” Sweetie soon joined her by the window.
Suddenly they saw a bright light moving in the sky.
“Is that...?” Rarity said trying to get a better look at the sky.
“A shooting star!” Sweetie Belle said in excitement. “Quick! Close your eyes and make a wish.” She quickly did just that.
“Wait a moment darling.” Rarity said, still looking up. “I am not too sure that is a star.”
The bright light did get closer, as it did, Rarity shut the window and drew the currents back. She didn’t know what to expect once it was on the ground. They saw the light through the curtains, though it only shined like candle light now.
“Rarity?” A male voice called out from the window. “Rarity? Come outside and let me speak to you.”
Rarity immediately recognized that voice.
“Was that–?” Sweetie asked.
Rarity quickly shushed her sister.
“I know you’re in there Rarity,” Tirek said. “I saw you close the curtains. I have not come to harm you, I need you to do something for me.”
After silently urging Sweetie to remain quiet and stay behind her, Rarity tiptoed to the window and opened a small corner of the curtains to take a peek outside. Her eyes widen at the sight; He was dressed in the same clothes as he did yesterday and wearing the same cloak, but this man looked so much older now. Yesterday one might have assumed Crimson to be in his early twenties but now he looked like he was in his late seventies. She also noticed the dark bags under his eyes.
Rarity uses her magic to levitate her father’s gun into her hands and positions it for the window. She takes a deep breath and then uses her magic to open the curtains but not the window itself. When Tirek saw Rarity with a gun aimed for him, his eyes widen but he didn’t move.
“Go away or else I’ll shoot!” Rarity threatened. “I mean it.”
Tirek just gave an annoyed looked. “I told you I’m not here to harm you. I just need your... h...” he muttered the last of the sentence under his breath.
Rarity’s eyebrow rose at that. “My what?” She asked.
“Your he...–. *throat clearing* Your help, alright!” Tirek silently shouted.
“I would say you need a lot of help. But specifically speaking, what do you mean?” Rarity asked.
Tirek took the cloak off his back and showed the seam. It glowed faintly.
“The seam you sewed into the cloak with your hair. I need you to cut it out.” Tirek said.
Rarity and Sweetie Belle just looked at Tirek questioningly.
“Tell me why.” Rarity said.
At first, he was reluctant to do so but he complied, “When I went back to my castle last night, your hair in the cloak started glowing so brightly that I couldn’t sleep. At first, I tried to hide it away where I couldn’t see it but no matter where I hid it, the seam’s light shone through. I didn’t get any sleep at all last night because of it. Then I spent the day trying to cut it out myself but nothing worked. I finally figured out that the only person who could do it... was you, Rarity.” He looked at her almost pleadingly. “Cut out the hair, after you do I will leave you and your sister alone.”
Rarity had very mixed feelings about Tirek’s story; slight joy from his suffering, amazement at what a single lock of her own hair could do, and overall offended that he seriously thought she would help him. Though she knew it was risky, Rarity gave him her answer.
“No, I will not help you and if you get violent about it, you will be caught and tried for your crimes.” Rarity then closes the curtains with her magic, dosed any light in the house, took Sweetie by the hand, and headed back down to the basement again.
Tirek’s eyes widen as Rarity disappeared and then his anger rose. He was tempted to burn down the house and kill both girls then and there, but he knew Rarity was right. If he got caught now he wouldn’t stand a chance. Not wanting to draw any more attention to himself then he probably already has, Tirek flew away back to his castle. When Tirek was home again he tried to think of a to do to get Rarity to cut out the seam in the most discreet way possible. Then he had an idea. Tirek went to his garden, plucked all fruits from the trees and put them all in a magic sack. When it was too late at night for anyone to be awake, Tirek flew back to Rarity’s home and began his task. He worked until dawn then he flew back to his castle without anyone noticing him.
Strangely, when he got back to his castle, the light emitting from the purple hair shone fainter than usual and when he went to his bedchambers, he found that he could actually sleep again. The light was still there but it wasn’t as blinding.
When morning came, Rarity and Sweetie emerged out of the basement once more, but now they were cautious. Make-shift helmets on their heads for protection and Rarity had a cane in her hands.
“Okay, Sweetie just stay behind me and watch my back, understand?” Rarity said.
“Got it, sis,” Sweetie answered.
They checked the boutique from top to bottom but found nothing amiss. Finally, they went to the kitchen.
“It doesn’t seem like he’s come in, thank goodness, but I can’t shake the feeling that’s something feels... different.” Rarity said warily.
Sweetie was about to agree but then her stomach growled. “I’m hungry.” She said.
“Oh, yes I think we’ve searched enough for now. Let’s have some breakfast.”
They searched through the pantry and picked out some bread, eggs, and orange juice.
“Have we got any fruit?” Sweetie asked.
“Do we have any fruit, Sweetie. We might have had the last of them yesterday but let us see.” Rarity said.
They looked around but all they had left was a handful of grapes in a little bowl.
“This will have to do until we can go to the store.” Rarity said.
Sweetie whined but accepted the fact. Just then there was a knock at the door. At first, the girls were hesitant to answer but the knocks kept coming. It soon became clear the person wasn’t going away so Rarity slowly walked to the door.
“Rarity and Sweetie Belle, this is Zecora. I know you are there and I need to talk to ya’.” Came Zecora’s voice from behind the door.
Rarity’s eyes widen at this and she looks through the peephole. It was Zecora; the strange woman who lived in the Everfree Forest. First thought to be an evil enchantress but she turned out to be nice and she was a friend to Rarity and her other friends. Zecora had dark toned skin, a white and black mohawk, and strong cyan eyes. She wore traditional dashaki clothes and gold jewelry.
“Oh, Zecora!” Rarity exasperated. She opened the door, pulled Zecora quickly inside and hugged her tightly. “You don’t know how good it is to see a friendly face right now.”
Though she was surprised by this, Zecora returned the hug after she placed her travel cauldron down.
“There there my friend, I have come with help to extend,” Zecora said.
“You have?” Sweetie asked.
“I have sensed a great evil that has passed by here, and I can tell that it has caused you much to fear.”
“You have no idea, darling.” Rarity said.
“To the contrary my dear, I do, and I know what or who has pledged you.”
“You know about him? About Crimson?” Rarity asked fearfully.
“I’d have a better chance to explain this troubling situation, if I can put this over an open flame and proper foundation,” Zecora said as she held out her small cauldron and bag of herbs.
Since they could just start a fire in the middle of the room, they went to the kitchen and put the small cauldron on a stove top. After the water boiled inside, Zecora mixed in different ingredients that Rarity didn’t question but she could guess that it wasn’t soup. But as Zecora worked with her cauldron Rarity went ahead and told her about happened yesterday and the day before.
“It is as I have feared even when I had hoped it was untrue, and I am most surprised that he has reappeared before you.”
“And to ask for my help. He was just so... so.”
Zecora raised her hand to Rarity. “I know that you, my friend, have a very giving and generous soul, but you were right to rebuff the man who would have taken you whole. The man who you know as Crimson Quartz actually goes by a name of other sorts. Lord Tirek.”
“Lord Tirek?” Rarity repeated. “Has he taken people before?”
“For many years in many villages, a number of fair maidens and or of great treasure diminishes.”
“He has stolen other girls and treasures?” Sweetie asked.
Zecora nodded.
“That horrid beast!” Rarity chided.
Zecora then stopped stirring her pot and led Rarity and Sweetie outside, “And unless I am mistaken he has yet given up on your assist or else Sweetie Belle has gotten her cutie mark for agronomist.”
The sisters didn’t know what Zecora was talking about until they saw the outside of their house and gasped in amazement. Many different, delicious looking fruits were decorated all around the kitchen window. Among the display, Sweetie saw a ripe pear and was reaching out for it but Zecora grabbed the girl by the wrist.
“Zecora?!” Rarity said.
“Forgive me for my act, but all of this you must not contact,” Zecora explained. “For all this is meant as bait, so Rarity will have no choice but to compensate.”
“He’s trying to bribe me with fruit?”
“It does look good,” Sweetie commented sheepishly.
“Well, what do I do then? If we touch it I’ll have to take my hair out of his cape, but if we don’t touch it the fruit will rot and create an unattractive smell.”
“Excuse me,” came an old woman’s voice.
Rarity, Sweetie, and Zecora turned their attention to see an old woman with a cloak, a walking stick, and long green hair. She had a red apple in her hand.
“I believe this apple fell from your window, may I have it. Any ripe fruit that falls on the road belongs to the people.” The old woman said.
It was then that the same idea seemed to strike both Rarity and Zecora.
“Please take as much as you like.” They chorused together.
The rest of that day, Rarity and Sweetie Belle offered all the fruit around their window to everyone who happened to pass by. A little later that day, she paid a visit to Twilight’s Library.
By evening, the wall was bare of any fruit... and later, Tirek returned again, but this time Rarity was prepared. Tirek was getting close but as his foot touches the ground, it began to burn. He recoiled from the pain but he dare not scream, for fear of giving himself away. Tirek backed up and that when he noticed the dirt circle surrounding the house. He realized that with this barrier he could not get close to the house without burning. However, this did little to stop him from trying again. Tirek left more fruit for a few nights but each time Rarity just gave it away to the people.
Something strange happened though, the light from Rarity’s hair in his cloak shined less and less every time Tirek gave away his treasures. Much to his dismay, Tirek realized he would have to try harder so one night he did something drastic; he gave Rarity actual treasures.
A chest of gold and jewels was left behind at the boutique and when Rarity saw it the following morning she didn’t know whether to gasp in alarm or in delight. Luckily, Zecora came just in time to stop her.
“No!” Zecora said, standing between Rarity and the chest. “Do not be tempted by gold and gem or else you’ll have to remove your hair from the cloak’s hem.”
“Y-You’re right,” Rarity said shakily. “I must not succumb to such fabulousness.”
Night after night Lord Tirek came back to bribe the young maiden but no matter how rich the treasure, Rarity refused. The treasure was given to the people less Rarity would be forced to comply to Tirek’s demands.
Finally, after five nights of Tirek’s tricks, Rarity awoke one early morning with her heart pounding loudly and her hands trembling. She rose from her bed and walked up to her window. When Rarity looked out the window, she saw the reddish old man kneeling before the stone circle. Tirek lifted his head, looked up and saw Rarity looking back at him. Rarity eye’s caught the light of the rising sun and she had to blink away. Tirek peaked at the sunrise over his shoulder before looking back at Rarity.
Not taking his eyes off the maiden, Tirek, weary and broken, stepped into the circle as the sunlight reached him and his body slowly turned to ash. Rarity gasped at the sight and then she quickly ran downstairs. She practically broke down the door to the boutique and she stared at the cape lying there on the pile of ash for what felt like hours. She barely heard the footsteps of her younger sister behind her.
“Rarity?” Sweetie said sleepily. “What happened?”
Rarity slowly stepped away and continued to look down at the cape.
Zecora came from the forest and saw the cape herself. “It seems Tirek’s energy and time had reached its peak and so ends his stealing streak.” She picked up the cape attentively.
The ash that was once Lord Tirek was blown away with the wind. Tirek’s castle was discovered a week later and his remaining servants, after being freed from his trance-inducing cuffs, were returned to their families with little memory of their enslavement. Zecora took Tirek’s cape to be kept hidden somewhere safe. Rarity and Sweetie were finally safe from the evil lord and when asked why Tirek ‘left’ Rarity would say.
“Tirek simply had nothing left. The more you take from others the less you have left of yourself.”
THE END