//------------------------------//
// Episode 24: "Rarity and the Jewel Wizard" 
// Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 10 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
//------------------------------//

…
One morning, Rarity was hard at work in her boutique on her latest creation for Sapphire Shores, who often called on Rarity to do her costumes. But it wasn't just any creation. This particular creation called for a certain kind of diamond that Rarity had desired. "All right, that should just about do it," The fashionista whispered to herself as she stitched the diamond on. "Ta Da! Sapphire Shores is going to love this."

Admiring her work on the dark blue costume, Rarity could only wonder how her famous client would react to this specially ordered piece. "Especially the diamonds that came from the Diamond Dogs of course."

"The Diamond Dogs?" Spike questioned as he came in with a bucket of collected gems. "Even after they ponynapped you, you still want to associate with them?"

"Why not? I made them see that they had to respect me for who I am," Rarity insisted. "Now then," She grabbed hold of a list of clients that she had to do orders for. "We still have to do Coloratura's outfit for the rescheduled concert. And she also recommended the diamonds we used for Sapphire's costume, albeit of a different color."

Suddenly, Rarity felt her cutie mark glow and Spike felt his scales glow.

"They'll probably have to wait for now, Rarity. Twilight needs us." Spike protested.

"Oh drat!" Rarity scoffed. "I really could have used this time to get some much needed work done." Still, they had been summoned and were soon on their way to Twilight's castle of friendship.

…
…

Arriving at the Castle of Friendship, Rarity met Twilight and the others inside the throne room surrounding the map of Equestria in front of them.

"What's up, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Where's the map sending us?"

But Rarity quickly noticed something else about them. "Why are all your cutie marks glowing?" She asked them. "Are we all being summoned?"

"Not exactly." Twilight replied, much to Rarity's confusion.

"But, if we are not being summoned for a mission of friendship, then why are all our cutie marks glowing in the first place?" Rarity pondered. "It doesn't make sense."

"Because now that we're all princesses," Twilight explained. "Whenever something major happens, the map summons us together and we decide how to address the situation. At least that's what I' assume is the reason."

Activating her alicorn magic, Twilight pinpointed the map for a specific location that ultimately wound up being a specific cave.

"That can't be the problem!" Rarity said with a shocked expression! "That's where I get all my jewels from. Sapphire Shores' latest costume has jewels from there!"

"It's not the jewels, Rarity," Twilight said, regaining her friend's attention. "Apparently, we've been getting reports of suspicious behavior going on inside the cave where the jewels are collected."

"What kind of suspicious behavior?" Pinkie Pie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is there anypony who fakes smiles like the ones in Starlight's old village? Do they have equal cutie marks?"

"I don't think so, but there are some pretty bizarre stories coming out of this cave." Twilight explained.

"Discord level bizarre?" Fluttershy asked.

"Almost that kind of level, Fluttershy," Twilight replied. "The working conditions in that cave are very poor according to intelligence reports. Rarity, I need you to pay a visit to this cave and investigate what goes on in there."

Realizing that he needed to be on his guard to protect Rarity, Spike rose to his feet! "I'll go with her, Twilight," He firmly declared. "I don't want a repeat of what happened last time!"

It didn't take long for Twilight to agree with her advisor. "Very well, then," She needed "You'll go with her and give me a detailed report on what you find."

"Got it." Rarity and Spike both saluated and then they set off.

…

A little while later, Rarity and Spike arrived at the entrance to the jewel cave to begin their investigation. However, no sooner had they arrived when they noticed something out of the ordinary. They discovered a dark green coated unicorn pony with glass eyes, pulling a mine cart filled with jewels.

"Hey, Rarity," Spike whispered. "Look at that pony right there. Notice how her eyes are glassy?"

Rarity studied the pony for a moment and realized that Spike was indeed telling the truth. She nearly gasped. "She looks like she can't see what's in front of her!" Acting on her laurels, Rarity walked over towards the unicorn.

"This…this can't be the way to the Jewel Wizard's throne," The unicorn muttered to herself. "Guess I must have taken a wrong turn."

"Excuse me?" Rarity asked as she cleared her throat.

"W-who said that?!" The unicorn cried out as she nervously looked around. "Masquerade, is that you?!"

"Um, no. It's me, Rarity," The fashionista answered. "You must have trouble seeing. Is everything alright?"

But the mare didn't listen and instead bumped right into Rarity.

"I beg your pardon!" Rarity coughed as she picked herself up. "You must be blinded by something!"

"Masquerade, of course we are blinded by something!" The unicorn argued while paying Rarity no attention. "The Jewel Wizard said eventually we would lose our eyesight."

"Something tells me that this is no ordinary jewel cave, Rarity." Spike whispered as he and Rarity reacted with shock to the statement.

"Guess we'll have to dig deeper into this situation," Rarity whispered back. "Perhaps we can help this poor soul see again and she can be our guide in the cave."

As the blind unicorn continued to struggle with walking, Rarity fired a blast of magic at her eyes. "Hey, what's going on?" 

She cried, jumping up and down wildly. "Who fired on…oh, I can see! But how?!"

"Of course you can," Rarity smiled. "I'm Princess Rarity and this is Spike. I took the liberty of casting a spell on you to cure you of your blindness."

The unicorn walked up to Rarity in confusion, carefully looking at her up and down. "But aren't Celestia and Luna…"

"They've retired and now we're running Equestria," Rarity interrupted as she explained. "But that's beside the point. What are you doing out here?"

Without hesitation, the unicorn gave Rarity and Spike her undivided attention. "I'm Fizzy and I work for the Jewel Wizard." She answered.

"The Jewel Wizard?" Spike wondered, looking back at Rarity in a confused tone. "Sounds like someone who knows magic."

"Begging your pardon, Miss Fizzy," Rarity commented while walking over to the cart of jewels Fizzy was pulling. "But you were walking out of the cave with this whole collection of jewels."

"No!" Fizzy cried, suddenly thrusting herself over the cart in a panic! "I was supposed to bring them to the Jewel Wizard's throne room! Oh sugarcubes, he's going to kill me!" And then she dashed back into the cave, leaving Spike and Rarity in a state of confusion.

"Should we follow her?" Spike asked. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"I think we should, she's our only lead," Rarity declared and then cautioned. "But stay close to me this time, Spike. I have a feeling we might run into danger." And the two began to make their way into the cave in pursuit of Fizzy.

…
…

Meanwhile, Fizzy raced down into the cave, going past other ponies working the mines and trying to extract diamonds from the rock. Just as she made her way back, she was tripped by a dog's leg, causing the cart of collected jewels to fall over!

"Get up!" A voice angrily barked and Fizzy looked up to see two guard dogs on two legs looking down crossly at her. The rest of the ponies quivered upon hearing what Fizzy was going through. "Get back to work!"

Fizzy gulped nervously as the guard dogs led her into a throne room by her neck, where a shadowy figure sat on said throne, surrounded by a variety of collected jewels.

"We found this slave has regained her eyesight." One of the diamond dogs answered, dropping Fizzy down onto the ground.

"So, you must have lost your way," The figure remarked in a hissing tone of voice. "And yet, you have your eyesight back."

"Ye..ye…yes, your highness. Yes, your lordship." Fizzy struggled to maintain her composure.

"Quit your stuttering!" The figure cried, slamming a paw down on the throne! "How did you get your eyesight back, pony?! Tell me!"

"A-a princess gave it to me," Fizzy nervously answered as the shadowy figure then emerged from the darkness! Said figure revealed itself to be a cat-like creature with dark fur and wearing a long sky, blue robe and hat. "Honestly, sir."

The cat looked down crossly and grabbed Fizzy by her back, lifting her into the air. "A princess, you say?" He remarked with a sly smile on his face. "Who?"

"I…I'm not sure, sir." Fizzy gulped anew.

"We have ways of making our workers talk," The Jewel Wizard snarled. "Perhaps some one on one time might do it, yes?
As the Jewel Wizard dismissed them, the guard dogs left the throne room and left Fizzy alone with the cat-like creature. 

"Now, which princess gave you your eyesight back?" He questioned, putting Fizzy down on her legs. "It must be a princess who has a horn, correct? Could it be Princess Twilight herself, I wonder?!"

Not wanting to put Rarity in any danger, Fizzy decided to tell a fib. "Yes... it was Princess Twilight, your l-lordship." She stammered.

But the Jewel Wizard wasn't buying Fizzy's story. "I don't believe you," He growled. "Princess Twilight doesn't do fashion, and I highly doubt she would want to spend all her time down here. Or do you think she would somehow manage boutiques in Equestria?"

Fizzy gulped nervously as the Jewel Wizard got off his throne and began pacing back and forth. "I think…I see a LIAR in front of me!" He snarled, flashing his robe in front of Fizzy. "And as a result of being a liar, that pony will have DOUBLE workloads!"

Clapping his paws, the guard dogs returned to the throne room and took Fizzy out. "Make sure she returns to work and doesn't get a break. Such is the penalty for lying!" He ordered and the dogs obliged, taking her away as the Jewel Wizard laughed sinisterly at the misery.

…

Unbeknownst to the other creatures, Rarity and Spike had managed to observe everything From a corner of the throne room.

"Something tells me that everything the others said about this place is true," Spike whispered. "What should we do, Rarity?"

"Let's go in further and see the operation firsthoof," Rarity suggested. "But incognito. Hold still, Spike."

Using her magic, Rarity cast a spell on herself and Spike, making them both invisible. Now unseen to the eyes of the guard dogs, they proceeded towards a large mine and were shocked to see what was happening before their eyes.

"Come on, move it!" A guard dog shouted, throwing a whip onto a pony struggling to pull a cart! "Put some muscle into it, pony!"

An earth pony collapsed from exhaustion as another guard dog kicked the pony in the stomach, causing her to howl in pain. "Get up, workhorse! Get up!" The dog commanded. "Get up before I rip your mark off!" The sounds of the threat made both Rarity and Spike gasp in horror.

Then they saw Fizzy being hitched to another mine cart, this time with so many jewels that it looked likely to overflow.
"Get moving, pony! Move your flank!" A guard dog roared!

"I…can't…" Fizzy weakly answered.

"The Jewel Wizard doesn't like liars and neither do us guard dogs!" Another guard dog remarked!

Rarity and Spike watched in horror as Fizzy once again fell and the guard dogs continued to show no mercy whatsoever.
"What do we do, Rarity?" Spike asked. "We can't let these ponies suffer."

But Rarity's eyes were drawn to another weakened pony who was picked up off the ground and carried away.

"This one refuses to work," A guard dog said to his comrade. "Shall we kill him?"

"Do it," The other dog nodded in encouragement. "You know the rules. Weak horses are to be put down."

"Bring pony to Jewel Wizard for judgment." The guard dog declared! And he and the other dog dragged the weakened pony away as Rarity and Spike heard a cry from Fizzy.

"Masquerade! No, stop!" Fizzy weakly shouted!

"I knew this was a questionable work environment, but this is on the level of barbaric!" Rarity remarked in an appalled tone to Spike. "Let's see what they're up to and if we can't put a stop to it!"

Moving quietly, Spike and Rarity followed the guard dogs as they approached a large door.

"Is this the throne room again?" Spike asked. "It sure looks like it."

"I think this is the Jewel Wizard's private quarters from before," Rarity answered. "Although from the looks of it, it looks like something that belongs in Canterlot, not in a cave. Something is definitely not right here."

The guard dogs brought the weakened pony inside, throwing her down at the feet of the Jewel Wizard.

"I told you not to interrupt me when I'm talking with customers or buyers," The Jewel Wizard snapped. "What is it this time, you dogs?"

"This pony is useless," The guard dog said as the hidden Spike and Rarity listened from the other side. "Shall we dispose of her?"

"If she's not going to obey my demands," The Jewel Wizard sneered, placing his claw at the pony's face. "Then we'll just dispose of her."

"No, please!" The pony pleaded.

"Too late! You've sealed your fate!" The Jewel Wizard declared before turning to the guard dogs.

"Okay, this has gone on far enough!" Rarity cried. "This Jewel Wizard won't know what will hit him!"

Acting fast, Rarity used her magic to open the doors wide before the Jewel Wizard could strike a blow! With a loud yell, she charged into the room, revealing herself to him! She threw the Jewel Wizard against a wall as Spike charged in, firing his breath at the Guard Dogs!

But after a brief struggle, Rarity was pushed back onto the floor as the Jewel Wizard shook off the effects of his brief struggle. "Well, well, well," He laughed, looking down at Rarity. "What do we have here? The Princess of Generosity herself. How utterly utterly expected of you to try and sabotage my operations."

Spike immediately flew in front of Rarity to protect her from the Jewel Wizard. "Don't come any closer!" He ordered, his wings flapping forcefully! "If you lay one paw on her I'll make you regret it!"

"And just what are you going to do about it, hmm?" The Jewel Wizard remarked in an unconcerned tone. "Burn me to death? You saw your pony pal couldn't do a thing to me, and I don't take kindly to interlopers like her. But not to worry, there's always room for more workhorses, even a princess."

The Jewel Wizard then commanded his two guard dogs to place chains on Rarity, much to her chagrin.

"Princess Twilight will hear about this, you ruffian!" Rarity shrieked!

"I'm not a ruffian, I'm a cat! And now you are my property forever!"The Jewel Wizard cackled with glee! Laughing evilly, Rarity coiled in shock as Spike raced back to Ponyville before he too could be captured and imprisoned.

…
…

Right away, Rarity was brought to the mines and memories of her time as a captive of the Diamond Dogs came flooding back to her. Not even her charm and charisma would be able to get herself out of this situation. She had no time to whine or cry. She wasn't alone this time, and she needed to find out the truth.

"Work, ex-princess!" A guard dog snarled at her through his bad breath. "Work!"

"It's not like the first time I heard such a command." Rarity huffed as she saw another pony struggle to carry a load, only to be whipped on her back.

"Work or die, pony!" The guard dog barked.

"You shall do no such thing!" Rarity cried, using her magic to rip the rope out of the dog's paw. "I've seen how creatures like you behave and I will not accept it! This has gone far enough!"

Suddenly, much to Rarity's surprise, the guard dog didn't flinch in the way she was expecting him to. "Miss…Miss Rarity?" The dog remarked.

"That's Princess Rarity, to you," Rarity corrected. "And I trust you remember me from the last time I was here?"

With his fellow guard dogs focused on overseeing their own prisoners, the guard dog gestured Rarity to follow him to a quiet part of the mine. "I remember you from last time," He commented. "Diamond Dogs need help. Jewel Wizard topple leader of Diamond Dogs. Began ponynapping ponies against their will."

Hearing this made Rarity gasp in utter shock and disbelief! "You don't say! All these ponies were…kidnapped?"

"Yeah, Jewel Wizard threatens to kill us if we don't obey him." The dog answered.

It was then that Rarity began to get a flashback to when she and her friends met Capper in Klugetown during the Storm King's reign over Canterlot. In her mind, if the Jewel Wizard was a cat, then he must have come from there. "How long has this been happening?" She asked.

"Not very long." The dog nervously answered.

Hearing a groan, Rarity saw the weakened pony struggle to get back up, only to collapse. "She needs help."

"Jewel Wizard wants weak ponies destroyed. He doesn't care for their wellbeing." The dog protested.

Still shocked and dismayed, Rarity made her way over to the pony and bent down to her weakened level. Looking into her glassed eyes, Rarity made it a point at that moment to free these ponies, no matter what it took.

"Who is…?" The pony whispered.

"Shh, don't talk. You're weak," Rarity instructed. "But don't worry, we're going to get you out of here….I hope."

…

Meanwhile, Spike had gathered Twilight and the other princesses, leading them towards the cave.

"So you're saying that this Jewel Wizard threatened to kill a pony?" Twilight asked as she and Spike flew with Tempest Shadow and several guardsponies right behind.

"Yeah, they took Rarity prisoner and who knows what they'll do to her?!" Spike added, giving Twilight enough information as she looked down to her friends and fellow princesses.

Soon they approached the entrance to the cave, stopping about five hundred feet from the cave's entrance.

"All right, what do we do?" Applejack asked.

"We split up into two sectors," Twilight instructed. "Spike, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, you will lead one sector to free Rarity and the other captives inside. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, you will come with me to find the Jewel Wizard."

"Shall I keep the reserves?" Tempest asked Twilight.

"Yes, Commander Tempest," Twilight answered. "If those dogs in there are like the last time, we can't take any chances." 

Getting her orders across, Twilight then directed each sector to proceed towards their assignment.

Leading her sector into the cave, Twilight carefully made her way through the caves long dark tunnels. Soon, they came across a guard dog who immediately jumped back! But Twilight wasn't going to back down easily.

"Rainbow Dash," Twilight whispered. "Subdue that guard dog."

"You got it!" Rainbow Dash cried and the Princess of Loyalty flew quickly towards the guard dog, who attempted to use his spear to defend himself. But Rainbow Dash snatched the spear out of his paws. "It's going to take more than a spear to stop me!"

Surrounded, the guard dog was immediately captured and soon other guard dogs heard what was happening. Eventually, word came to the Jewel Wizard.

"Sire," A guard dog panted as he dashed into the throne room. "They're here!"

"Who's here?" The Jewel Wizard asked.

"The Princesses of Equestria!" The guard dog answered.

"They must have come for their fellow princess," The Jewel Wizard laughed, as he went behind his throne and pulled out a jeweled sword. "No matter. There's always room for more work horses!"

…

Meanwhile, Spike led Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and their squadron towards the jewel mines and eventually they approached the entrances, where more guard dogs were anticipating their arrival.

"Time for a little surprise!" Pinkie Pie laughed as she randomly placed herself into a cake box, much to the surprise of the guard dog. "No, time for a little double surprise!" 

And she began to fling cake after cake at the guard dog, knocking him out of commission! The loud yells were heard throughout the mines and very soon, the guard dogs running the mines were completely overpowered.

"Rarity, you okay?!" Spike cried, as he shot some of his fire breath at the behinds of the dogs.

"Yes, but let's get these ponies out of here!" Rarity cried as several guardsponies began to help the wounded workponies out of the mine.

However, several more guard dogs charged at them. But before they could lay a paw on them, Spike breathed a large spew of fire right in front of them! With the dogs out of commission, they continued their evacuation.

"I'll fly on ahead to clear the way!" Spike urgently called as more and more guard dogs charged at them, trying to prevent them from leaving the cave. "Stay close behind me!"

…
At the same time, Twilight and her group raced up through the corridors of the cave, searching for the Jewel Wizard. But they didn't have to look far to find him.

"That must be his quarters!" A female guardspony realized! "Shall we break it down, your highnesses?"

At that moment, the doors to his quarters opened and out stepped the Jewel Wizard, brandishing his jeweled sword. "Don't worry," He laughed. "You won't have to break it down. Welcome, Princesses. I've been expecting you."

"Jewel Wizard!" Twilight barked, standing defiantly at him. "You are under arrest for false imprisonment and slavery!"

"Oh really?" He snickered, seemingly unfazed by Twilight's order as he held up his sword. "Well then, come and get me!"

Taking the sword in his paws, the Jewel Wizard swung it at Twilight and the others! Several of the guardsponies tried to fight back, but the cat was too quick for them.

"Twilight, we've got to stop him before somepony gets hurt!" Applejack cried!

"See if you can try and tie his legs down!" Twilight suggested, charging her horn and firing a blast of magic at the Jewel Wizard's back before he could strike at a downed guardspony, causing him to yell in pain!

"I don't think so, your highnesses!" Angered, the Jewel Wizard swung his sword at Twilight, but the young alicorn and her fellow princesses remained determined to beat him by any means necessary.

Acting together, Rainbow Dash and Applejack took some rope and attempted to tie the Wizard's legs down, but to no avail.
Using whatever spells she could muster, Twilight did everything she could to gain the advantage, including using shield spells to deflect the Jewel Wizard's sword's blows.

"Stand down, Princess Twilight!" The Jewel Wizard declared. "You can't win."

But Twilight wasn't giving up. Using her forelegs, Twilight pushed the Jewel Wizard back into his quarters, knocking off his wizard's hat.

Snarling, the cat got up and charged at her, this time using his claws, eventually scratching the left side of her face.

Twilight angrily glared at the cat, her horn glowing wildly. Chanting an old ponish spell, Twilight engulfed the Jewel Wizard in a sickly green magic bind, causing him to drop his sword.

"Let…let me go!" The Jewel Wizard snarled at Twilight tightened her magical bonds on him. "I'm the Jewel Wizard!"

"No," Twilight quietly replied. "You aren't the Jewel Wizard. You are Tapper, the brother of Capper…from Klugetown."

The captured cat kept his eyes locked on Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash as the three mares looked down sharply at him as guardsponies took him into custody.

Later, outside the cave, the six princesses of Equestria regrouped while Tempest and her forces secured the cave.

"I don't…I don't get it, Twilight," Rarity remarked as they watched chains being placed on the guard dogs that were taken prisoner. "Capper has a brother? How did you know?"

"Because don't you all remember when we first met Capper?" Twilight asked them all. "How he would do anything to make a living? Even selling all of us into slavery? That's what Tapper did."

"He's gonna have a lot of questions to answer for what he did," Applejack answered. "Who knows how long he had these ponies held captive."

But Rarity instead kept her eyes focused on Fizzy as she was helped into a medical wagon by a pair of guardsponies.

…

Meanwhile, from his palace on the moon, Grogar and Sombra were once again watching through the viewing globe the events that had transpired in Equestria.

"Well, he kind of reminds me of well…me," Sombra remarked to Grogar, looking over at his master. "I kept slaves to do my bidding too."

Grogar couldn't help but smile as he began to get ideas from watching the events that happened. "And so did you. You kept slaves, my emperor?"

"Of course I kept slaves, Sombra," Grogar answered, walking back up to his throne. "And I will do so once again when Equestria is mine. Besides, there 's always room for another member of our legion."

"If I may question your motive, my emperor," Sombra suggested, much to Grogar's dismay as he glared back at the former ruler of the Crystal Empire. "What is it that you plan to do with him?"

"My army will need weapons and those weapons will need to be forged together," Grogar explained, looking down at his bewitching bell. "After all, my bell can do more than absorb magic, Sombra. It can force anycreature to obey my every command. You shall see it for yourself in due time."

Being dismissed, Sombra couldn't help but wonder what Grogar was planning. But, for the time being, he kept his feelings about bringing a cat that enslaved ponies to a minimum. Grogar had plans to build for his invasion of Equestria and with time, Capper's brother would be brought in…as a specialist.

…

END OF EPISODE

…