Rarity stirred in her bed as the morning sun shown on her face. She wasn’t ready to abandon sleep yet. Last night’s party (more specifically Pinkie Pie’s Eggnog) put her through the wringer and she just wanted at least another fifteen minutes or preferably a day or two of rest. As she continued to try and find another sweet spot on the bed that’d lull her back to sleep, she noticed something peculiar. Somepony was missing. Her hoof felt around her bed, but couldn’t find Spike. No scales, no warmth, nothing that would suggest Rarity shared a bed with anycreature.
Maybe this whole “glimpse” debacle Eris put her through was over? Maybe Rarity discovered some kind of truth or learned some kind of lesson and was sent back to where she came from. Was it finally telling Spike that she loved him? That had to be it. Whatever the case may be, Rarity breathed a content sigh as she snuggled back into her sheets. She couldn’t help but feel melancholic at the thought of leaving that world, leaving her “family.” But that would be a problem for well-rested, not hungover Rarity. And as soon as she’s able, she’ll find Spike, beg his forgiveness and then...
Rarity’s eyes shot open and all thoughts of sleep were thrown out the window as the sound of a crying foal rang throughout the house. Rarity rose up and winced, she rubbed her temples with her hooves. She had a splitting headache and the cries weren’t helping. She left her room and trotted downstairs. Something smelled delicious as she got closer to the ground floor and soon she found Spike in the kitchen, standing over the stove, frying pan in one claw, spatula in the other, humming a tune and moving about his workspace with the fluidity of a professional chef.
“Um, Spike?” Rarity meekly called out.
Spike jumped and turned around. “O-oh! Good morning Rarity!”
Rarity couldn’t help but notice the apron Spike was wearing. It was strange, it was just a simple white apron with a thin cloth strap around his neck and two separate straps tied behind his back. But for whatever reason, Rarity could feel herself swoon. She often heard about stallions enjoying seeing mares wear aprons and she was starting to see the appeal. The upper corners seemed to draw attention to the muscles in his arms and what was covering his torso left much to the imagination, with the exception of his chest. Rarity bit her lip as she drove out any and all… unsavory thoughts towards the dragon as she tried her best to compose herself.
Rarity coughed. “Spike, Cobalt’s crying.”
Spike stood there and gave Rarity a look like he was waiting on her for the punchline. “And?”
“W-well, can you go see what’s wrong with him?”
“Uh, Rarity, I’m kinda busy at the moment”- Spike motioned to the food on the stove –“can’t you go see what’s wrong with him? He probably just needs a change.”
Rarity paled. “Ch-change!? You mean, his diaper!?”
“Geez, you must’ve partied a little too hard last night Rares-“ Spike sniffed the air “-oh no, oh no!”- Spike turned back to the stove and quickly pulled his pan off the fire- “Go take care of Cobalt and I’ll have breakfast done in a jiffy!”
“Ok Rarity. You can do this,” Rarity psyched herself up as she stood over Cobalt and the changing table. “you’ve seen mother change Sweetie Belle’s diaper plenty of times before. This will surely be a trifle and you’ll be finished in two shakes of a pony’s tail.”
Rarity steeled her nerves and took out the first safety pin of Cobalt’s diaper and then the second. “OH SWEET MERCIFUL CELESTIA!!!” Rarity felt her stomach lurch as a foul smell assaulted her senses. Her face turned green and she did her best at swallowing back any bile. Her horn flared and she quickly removed Cobalt’s diaper, threw it into a small bin and shut the lid as tight as she could. Next she cleaned, powdered and placed a new diaper on his little rump.
“How in the world do earth ponies handle this!? Well it’s all done, now why don’t we go enjoy some breakfast Co-“
Cobalt’s wails filled the room once more. Rarity picked him up and rocked the little colt. “Oh dear! Cobalt? What’s wrong darling?”
“It’s too tight…” came a small voice.
Rarity turned to the doorway and was surprised to see Lolite standing there.
“W-what?”
“His diaper,” Lolite said. “it’s too tight…”
Rarity looked at her handiwork and Lolite was right, the cloth was far too tight and was pinching at his skin. Rarity quickly removed the pins and tried again and as soon as she pinned up his diaper properly, Cobalt calmed down and eventually was smiling and giggling at his mother.
Rarity sighed in relief, “Thank you darling,” she said to Lolite. “I seemed to have had a lapse in judgement. I suppose I’m still fairly tired.”
The filly didn’t look Rarity in the eyes and she started to tremble.
“Lolite? What’s wrong sweetheart?”
Lolite fidgeted. “You’re… not my mommy… are you?”
Rarity felt her soul leave her body.
“You’re different,” Lolite continued. “mommy never forgets to tie her mane back when she burps Cobalt, she said she learned her lesson when I was a foal. And she never makes Cobalt’s diaper tight neither. And mommy knows my friend’s names and she knows I don’t like emeralds and we always have ‘mommy daughter time’ even if she just helps me with a drawing.” Lolite finally looked up, her eyes were holding back a torrent of tears. She sniffled, “So… are you my mommy?”
Rarity was torn. She couldn’t lie to the little filly, could she? But how would she handle the truth? That her real mother was gone and there was no telling when she’d return? If she would ever return at all? She might as well say that Lolite’s real mother had died. Rarity looked into Lolite’s eyes; they were begging the white mare for an answer.
Rarity caved. “No darling… I’m not…”
Lolite’s lips trembled. “Wh-where’s my-my real mommy?”
“I…I don’t know… B-but, she wanted me to let you know that she loves you very, very much and that she’ll be home as soon as she can.” Rarity hoped that last part wouldn’t turn into a lie. She prayed it wouldn’t.
Lolite’s muzzle scrunched up and she began to cry. She buried her face in her hooves and wailed, “Uaaahhhh! Mommy! I-I want my mommy! I want my mommy back! Waaaaahhhh!”
Rarity panicked as Lolite’s sobs grew louder, she tried to think of something, anything that might calm the filly down. “No, no! Don’t cry! Please don’t cry Lolite!” Rarity pleaded. “It’ll be ok! Your mother… just has some very important business to do and… she sent me to take care of her family till she got back.”
Lolite’s cries calmed as she peaked out from between her claws. “R-really?”
Rarity nodded. “Yes! I… can’t tell you what she’s doing. But it’s very important and it’s also important that nopony knows about this, alright? It’s top secret.”
Lolite perked up. “Y-you mean, mommy’s like a- a secret agent?”
“Yes! Yes exactly! So, can I count on you to be a good girl and not tell anypony about me or your mother’s secret mission?”
“Mmhmm!” Lolite nodded. “I promise wrong mommy!”
“Thank you darling, but perhaps you could refrain from calling me that when we’re around others.” Rarity was congratulating herself in her mind for actually pulling this ruse off. “Now, is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?”
Lolite tapped her claw tipped hoof to her chin. “Umm, are you any good at designing dresses?”
“And this,” Rarity stated as her pencil glided over the paper. “is called an ‘A-line shift,’ and I thought that the chevron pattern looks rather fetching.”
“Oooooh, you’re right! I like that!” Lolite said. “Think it’d look better if you wore a turtleneck underneath?”
Rarity wasn’t expecting such an astute statement. “Why, yes. Yes I think that’d be a smashing choice, darling.”
“Hey, wrong mommy?”
That “wrong” title felt like claws on a chalkboard. “Um, yes?”
“Do you like to sew too?”
“But of course,” Rarity said confidently. “I’ve been practicing my craft since I was your age. Why else do you think your mother asked me to take care of you and her business?”
Lolite put her crayons down and placed her hooves on Rarity’s cheeks and while surprised, Rarity didn’t pull away. “You really look like mommy. Sound like mommy and you like to sew like mommy. She was super smart to ask you to watch over us.”
Rarity smiled. “I couldn’t agree more darling.”
Lolite let go of Rarity’s face and went back to her crayons. “Do you have any kids?”
Rarity wasn’t sure how to answer. “Well… I… I don’t.”
Lolite tilted her head. “Do you want kids?”
“Well,” Rarity said sheepishly. “the thought has crossed my mind once or twice. Why do you ask?”
Lolite shrugged. “Just wonderin’.” Lolite set her crayons down and presented her drawing to Rarity. It was the dress she designed, but much cruder. However, Lolite colored in some patterns on the dress with orange and blue, and she added a cream-colored turtleneck underneath. “Do these colors work?”
Rarity was impressed. Very impressed. She looked at her “daughter’s” work and she couldn’t believe what Lolite had done. The spacing of colored patterns was near perfect, with a great balance of colored and empty space which complemented the cream turtleneck. “They’re wonderful darling! I had no idea somepony else in your family was so talented.”
Lolite beamed. “Thanks! I want to help mommy design dresses someday. Maybe design jewelry too. I don’t know, I just like drawing lots.”
“Well, I dare say you’ll be quite the skilled artist with enough practice. You’ll be a great help to me- um, to your mother someday.”
Lolite giggled, “Gosh, I hope so!”
Lolite’s hooves made soft crunching sounds with every step as her magic pushed an ever-growing snowball, angling it every so often to avoid running into Rarity or the oblivious Cobalt tumbling in the powder. She stacked her snowball on top of two other larger ones and set about for the finishing touches. She placed two pieces of coal for eyes and a carrot for the nose. Next she stuck two sticks on the side of the body and marveled at her snowy creature.
“Tadaa!” Lolite cried. “What do you think?”
Rarity wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking at. She nervously tugged on her scarf. “Uh, it’s certainly… unique. Where did you learn to make snowponies like this?”
“Mrs. Lyra showed me! It’s lots easier than a regular snowpony, but it sure is weird lookin’.”
Cobalt poked his little head out of the snow and gazed at the frozen effigy before him. He was confused as to what it was, but then quickly forgot about it and dove into another snowbank.
“I’ll say,” Rarity said as she tilted her head to look at every angle. “perhaps when next I see her; I’ll ask Mrs. Lyra what exactly this is.”
Just then a stream of light blue fire shot out from Lolite’s mouth and towards her snow creature, melting the top two snowballs and roasting his carrot nose.
“Lolite! What are you-?”
“Muwaha, ha, ha!” Lolite cackled. “Fear the mighty dragon pony! Tremble in terror at her fire breath! Bow to her super strength! Accept your defeat weaklings!” Lolite then leapt onto the bottom part of what was left of her sculpture and started to break it apart with her claws. Cobalt wondered what his sister was yelling about and then joined in on crushing whatever it was Lolite was “defeating.”
“HA, HA, HA!” Lolite cried in triumph as her “foe” laid “slain”. “Another pathetic fool falls to my power! Fear me, RAWR!”
Cobalt held up his little claws and tried his best to roar, but it sounded more like a meow.
Lolite shook her head. “No Cobalt, that’s not how you roar. You have to open your mouth like this and- RAWR!”
Cobalt giggled and clapped his hooves at his sister’s perfect (as far as he knew) roar.
Rarity’s smile grew as she watched her “kids” play. Lolite may have inherited her mother’s creative talent, but she was still most certainly Spike’s daughter. That playfulness Spike’s had for as long as Rarity’s known him was alive and well in Lolite. Rarity heard another round of laughter from the kids and her jaw dropped when she saw Lolite rolling another big snowball only this time, Cobalt was being rolled up along with it as his little head poked out of the side of the growing mass, but he didn’t seem to mind. Rarity on the other hoof…
Began to chase after the laughing pair with haste. “Lolite! Lolite get Cobalt out of there this instant!”
The delicate scent of roasted vegetables permeated the air as Rarity sat down for dinner. She was grateful that there was plenty of food to go around and after a long day of chasing Lolite and digging Cobalt out of the snow (more times then she can remember) she was ready to eat her fill. As per usual, everything looked exquisite and yet again, Spike effortlessly flexed his cooking skills, much to Rarity’s excitement. Soon the sound of clanking and scraping of silverware were softly carrying over the table, along with the various bits of small talk amongst the unique family.
“Daddy, can I have more steamed carrots?” Lolite asked.
“Sweetie, you hardly touched your emeralds,” Spike responded as he loaded up his plate with another serving of stuffed mushrooms.
“But I don’t like emeralds!” Lolite whined. “They taste weird!”
Spike laughed at his daughter’s dramatics, “I know they’re not as tasty as sapphires, but you need to eat them. They’ll help you grow big and strong.”
“Mommy!” Lolite turned to Rarity for help. “I don’t wanna eat emeralds, can’t I have another gem instead?”
Rarity swallowed her bite of sauteed spinach and broccoli. "No darling. It’s good for you, so listen to your father and eat your emeralds.”
“Ugh, why should I? You’re not even-“ Rarity shot Lolite a panicked look as a last desperate attempt to keep her from spilling the beans. “-uh… you’re not even eating any.”
Rarity felt her breath return and thanked Celestia that Lolite was able to recover from what would be a disastrous blunder so quickly. She was far cleverer than Rarity thought. “Lolite, ponies don’t eat gems.”
“But I’m half pony! I shouldn’t eat gems if they’re icky! They’ll make me sick!”
“Lolite!” Spike’s voice was stern. “Don’t talk back to your mother and I don’t want to hear any more excuses, now eat your emeralds or it’s no dessert for you.”
“Fiiiine!” Lolite pouted. She picked up an emerald and grimaced as the light of the kitchen cast a sheen over the green gem. She opened her mouth and bit into it! “Bleh! It’s sooooo gross!”
Rarity couldn’t help but chuckle. She remembered when she was a filly and her parents made her eat kale. It was so bitter and Rarity recalls being just as stubborn about eating it as Lolite, if not more so. Like mother like daughter I suppose, she reasoned as she fed Cobalt another spoonful of mashed peas and ground gems.
“Did you brush your teeth?” Rarity asked as she tucked Lolite into bed.
“Yep,” Lolite said as she snuggled into her covers.
“And your mane?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Do you need a glass of water?”
“No, I’m okay.”
“Very well then. Goodnight Lolite, pleasant dreams.” Rarity’s magic wrapped around the chain of Lolite’s lamp.
“Um, wrong mommy?”
“Yes darling?”
“Can I… have a bedtime story?”
Rarity was taken aback by her request, but nodded with a warm smile. “Of course you may sweetheart. What would you like me to read?”
“A Hearth’s Warming Tale. No, The Legend of Mistmane! Actually, Poppy in Wonderland!”
Rarity cocked a brow. “Poppy in Wonderland, you say?”
Lolite nodded. “Mmhmm! I know it’s long, but maybe you can read me a chapter?”
“I don’t see why not. Let’s see here-“ Rarity trotted over to Lolite’s bookcase and scanned the spines on display from row to row. “-No, no, not this one. Not this one either. Aha! Here we go, Poppy in Wonderland!” Rarity’s magic enveloped the book and carried it with her as she pulled up a comfortable chair by Lolite’s bedside. She had fond memories of this story, ever since she was a foal it’s been near and dear to her heart. The story how a daydreaming filly follows a rabbit to a strange and bizarre world, where everything is nonsense and fantastical.
How apt Rarity mused. She flipped the book open and something caught her eye. On the inside of the cover, the words “This book belongs to” appeared in bold print and underneath that on a line was the name “Rarity” in near perfect script. And under that was the name “Lolite” written in not so perfect script.
Rarity’s curiosity peaked. “Lolite? Did your mother give this to you?”
Lolite smiled. “Yep! She gave it to me when I was little. It’s my favorite story.”
Rarity giggled, “What a coincidence. It’s one of my favorites too.”