“Timberwolves?”
“That’s right,” Rarity chirped, snatching the scroll out of Rainbow’s hands. “Apparently a nasty pack of them has been terrorizing the nearby town of Ponyville, crawling out of the Everfree Forest to snatch livestock and even attacking farmers, or anyone who gets too close to the forest, so I’m going down there to take care of them.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Rainbow grumbled, resting her elbow on the marble bar of the vacant tavern the two were sharing drinks at. “Winter’s here again which means all kinds of monsters are gonna be crawlin’ outta the woodwork to make life harder for ponies-” Rainbow cackled “-which is great news for us Celestial Slayers!”
“Perhaps,” Rarity sighed, shooting her friend a bemused look that went unnoticed as Rainbow Dash buried herself in her mug of cider.
While the prospect of getting more work was a promising one, Rarity couldn’t take that much joy from the knowledge that the lives of Equestria’s citizens were going to become much more dangerous over the next three months, just like every winter season.
“I just wish I could go with,” Rainbow pouted and rubbed a hand across her shoulder.
“Well perhaps if you hadn’t been so reckless,” Rarity gently chided, absentmindedly swishing her glass of cider to and fro, “you wouldn’t have gotten injured and then you would be able to go with me!”
“Please,” Rainbow rolled her eyes and grinned at Rarity, “you call dragging a bugbear through a raging thunder cloud ‘reckless’? That’s barely even a workout! Just my bad luck the thing wouldn’t let go of my shoulder is all.”
“We could have taken it down from a distance-” Rarity chuckled, and she took a sip of her cider, letting a satisfied ‘ah’ escape her lips “-is all I’m saying.”
“Yeah?” Rainbow laughed and playfully punched Rarity in the arm. “And we could’ve taken out that Quarray Eel from the outside, you didn’t have to jump into its mouth! And you’re calling me reckless!”
“I’m not reckless!” Rarity gasped and dramatically placed a hand over her heart. “I’m confident!” Rarity smirked proudly and ran a hand through her elegant curls.
“Right,” Rainbow gave that obnoxiously smug smirk of hers and rolled her eyes as she moved to drink from her cider mug, though instead of putting the drink to her lips, she held it in front of her and stared into the cup, and Rarity was stricken by the sudden dourness marring Rainbow’s face.
“Something the matter, darling?”
“It’s funny,” Rainbow’s cold tone was anything but ‘funny’ as she slowly swished around her mug, “you’re usually so cautious and methodical, but that thing with the Quarray Eel-“ Rainbow shook her head and frowned deeply, and the hairs on Rarity’s neck stood on edge “-you’ve been pulling weird stunts like that a lot lately. It’s not like you.”
“Like I said,” Rarity limply batted a hand, “I’m just confident. I’ve been hunting monsters for a long time, Rainbow, I know it will take more than just some silly Quarray Eel to kill me.”
“I guess.”
An ugly pause.
Rainbow was clearly unconvinced, and her doubt was starting to affect Rarity as well.
Rarity reached her hand across the bar to place it over Rainbow’s. “I assure you, my dear,” Rainbow looked up to skeptically meet Rarity’s gaze, and Rarity offered an enchanting smile, “everything is fine with me. There’s no need to fret.”
Rainbow’s warm smile was almost enough to convince Rarity that she had said those words to convince Rainbow instead of to convince herself.
“Alright,” Rainbow placed her other hand atop Rarity’s,” if you say so.”
“I do!” Rarity giggled and stood to her hooves, taking one last sip of her cider before placing her hands gently on Rainbow’s shoulders, making sure to be cautious of her friend’s injury.
“Now,” Rarity said, “I have to go. I need to stop by the blacksmith to make sure all my equipment is in order, plus I need to pick up my travelling companion.”
“Yeah, alright,” Rainbow sighed and stretched her arms up, resting them atop her head. “I’ll buy you a drink if you come back uninjured, then on the next job we can go together, ya got it?”
“I’ll hold you to it!” Rarity clapped her hands. “We’ll drink to our health and to a safe winter.”
Rarity gave Rainbow a friendly kiss on the head and headed for the door, stopping just short to leave some parting advice. “Though you had better let that injury of yours recover! No sense in getting hurt again before you even get better!”
“Be careful,” Rainbow said flatly, looking at Rarity with a dreadful amount of concern, “okay, Rarity?”
“Darling,” Rarity offered a sympathetic smile, “it’s only timberwolves. Hardly anything to fret over.”
Rainbow frowned and bit her lip, but said nothing.
Rarity relented, rolling her head back and giving a theatric sigh. “I promise I’ll be careful. I want you to treat me to that drink, after all.”
That seemed to cheer Rainbow up, as she smiled and opened her mouth to speak, though she soon thought better of it. Rarity shrugged it off and turned to leave, but as she put her hand on the doorknob, Rainbow called out to her.
“Wait, hold on a sec!”
Rarity turned with a bemused look and arched an eyebrow.
“Uh, if you’re going to see the blacksmith,” Rainbow stuttered, her cheeks turning bright red like an apple and her eyes darting around at everything but Rarity, “could you tell her I said, uh… ummmm…”
“I’ll tell her you said ‘ummmm’,” Rarity said with a wink, spinning on her hooves and exiting the bar before the flustered Rainbow Dash could compose herself enough to offer a retort, though Rarity could hear Rainbow’s indignant protests even from outside, which made her giggle.
Rarity walked across the snowy stone streets of Canterlot on her way to the blacksmith, looking around at the small village around her— though calling the lonely and somber Moon District a ‘village’ was a tad generous.
The Moon District was more a ramshackle collection of stone huts practically buried at the foot of the mountains; basically an afterthought compared to Canterlot’s glorious Sun District that was nestled snugly into the mountainside.
Rarity was content to call the Moon District her home, however. She felt it suited her.
As she walked, Rarity went over the mental checklist of preparations for her trip.
I need to head to Applejack’s and grab my equipment, plus Pinkie Pie, then it’s a straight shot to the train station and we’ll be on our way. I have light rations in my bag already and enough money for decent food and lodging once we arrive.
Nothing I can’t handle. It’s just another mission. Just another winter.
Rarity hadn’t even realized that she had stopped in her tracks as her mind was suddenly seized by the sheer number of times that she had done this already. How many winters had she spent hunting monsters, how many times had that phrase, ‘just another winter’, crossed her mind?
She had been hunting monsters, or training to hunt, since she was big enough to hold a sword, just like her parents before her and their parents before them. As far back as her family’s history had been recorded, they had fought and slain monsters, with no beginning in sight.
And no end in sight either.
Rarity would likely continue to hunt monsters until she was too frail to hold a weapon anymore, just like her parents before her, and their parents before them, and—
A sharp inhale.
A shake of the head.
No time for those thoughts, no time for anything but to focus on the task at hand.
It’s just another mission, that was all.
Just another winter.