//------------------------------// // Chapter 14–Inspiration Manifestation // Story: The Little Pony Legend: Tales of Equestria // by MaggiesHeartLove //------------------------------// "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…….WHOA!!! Oh, uh, hey everybody! I didn't see you there. Wait, are you here for another story? Really? Well that was a short wait. Anywho, have I got a story for…wait, what? You wanted to ask why Bolin and Asami fell in love? Well haven't you read the rest of the story?! These tales are all things that happened before everybody tied the knot! Oooooh, you want to know if they had any feelings before hand. Well, in their case, it was complicated. You see, they weren't always "in love", but they did always love each other. It only took some time for it to grow is all. In their case, they needed to do A LOT of growing up before they could be in a relationship. Every couple develops differently after all. You know, there is one story that I believe will serve a much better explanation as to why they work. Interesting fact, it was on the same day that our dear old friend Spike had his own problems to deal with. I may not be much of a romantic love expert but, when it comes to love, the truth is always the most important element. Real love isn't all about the warm and fuzzies, it also requires honesty. That includes friendships as well. *(~)* Galatians 5:16-18~ "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." *(~)* Inspiration Manifestation Out of all the times Asami wished she was a firebender. The paperwork she had was pilling up like crazy. What was she thinking on handling all of this on her own? She had already gone through at least five to six cups of coffee just to keep her energy up. Not that it helped. A knock on the door of her office was heard, followed by a familiar happy-go-lucky voice. "Telegram for Miss Sato!" Amazingly, his voice was enough to make her smile. "Come in, Bo." The door opened and the earthbender walked in, wearing a brooding smile on his face holding some colorful balloons, some where shaped like hearts. "What's with the balloons?" she asked once he placed them on her desk. They were tied to a pretty pebble, painted pink. "Thought maybe you'd like to come with me to the Ponyville Foal and Filly Fair today. The guys and I haven't seen you much lately and I thought you could use a break from all of…" his eyes darted to the papers scattered across the room, "Well, this." "I don't know." Asami wiped the stray hair from her face, styling her long side bang back, "I'm pretty pilled up as it is. That's what I get for taking time off." "Well, who's to say you can't take some now? You are the boss, after all." "Well…" "Please? Look, I told Rarity that me and Spike would help her out with a puppet theater she's making for the kids. We could use another creative mind. Whatd'ya say?" Bitting her lips she pondered on the invitation. Maybe, it wouldn't be so bad to take one small break after all. Get her mind off of things. "Alright. I'm in!" (~) "Hear ye, hear ye!" Pinkie Pie called out as she happily trotted down the streets with balloons tied around her waist. "The Ponyville Foal and Filly Fair is almost ready to begin!" Yes, Ponyville was having another festival. This one was just for the little ones. A festival where they could play all sorts of game and fun activities. As always, Pinkie Pie was as happy as could be. She loved festivals, and parties and fillies and pretty much everything that brought joy and laughter for all. Meanwhile, inside Carousel Boutique, Asami inspected her pony friend's craftsmanship, but arched an eyebrow. "Uh, Rarity are you sure this isn't a bit…well, extravagant for a bunch of little fillies and foals?" Rarity was tasked with making a puppet stage for the young fillies. The stage, while stunning with gold trims, diamonds across the edges of the stage, and flower vases decorating the stage, along with pink silk curtains and a few feathered boas on the top. It certainly was something Rarity would make, but it didn't appear to be much of an actual puppet theater for a young audience. "Just because the attendees are young, doesn't mean they don't deserve my very best creative work." said the unicorn, adding her finishing touches to her creation. "Why, this puppet theater is going to be the talk of the Foal and Filly Fair!" As always, Spike was fawning all over the pony, blush evident on his cheeks. "How could it not be? You're the one making it…" he said dreamily. "Oh! But I couldn't have done it without the help of my dearest and most supportive friends! I'm glad you could help, Asami. With Korra off at the South Pole visiting her parents for her mother's birthday, it's nice to have another girl around to help." "Anytime, Rarity." the heiress replied, "Besides, I could use a distraction." "Work at Future Industries pilling up again?" "Yeah…that's one of the reasons." she said the last part under her breath to which Rarity did not hear. But Bolin did. He knew perfectly well what was really bothering her. Bolin had to admit, he strongly admired the way Asami was still trying to make an effort in not letting her work or the 'Mako and Korra' situation effect her from being with her friends, but there have been days where she was more upset than normal. She would often hide this in front of the couple to lead them off, but Bolin could read her well. She was probably one of the very few people he could read. Maybe not perfectly, but most of the time he could. Rarity levitated a boa and wrapped it around Spike's shoulders, petting his head. "And I especially should than you, Spike. You are my favorite dragon." "Your favorite dragon? Aw, gee…" Asami rolled her eyes at this. Last thing she needed was more love sick glances, especially with the way the Avatar and her ex parted ways in such a loving way before Korra left on a boat to visit her parents. She didn't hate Korra or Mako, and they did make any attempts they could at being her friend. Still, the feelings of bitterness and jealousy were still evident. She just had a hard time letting them go. However, she was still determined to handle the situation on her own. No matter how much it seemed Korra and Mako wanted to talk to her about this, she was not going to budge. This was her problem, not theirs or anybody else's. Thankfully, being with some of her new friends was enough to make her feel even just a little bit better. Little did she know, that the true purpose of her bitterness was not truly jealousy that Korra was with her ex boyfriend, but that she was subconsciously longing for a piece of her old life back. She missed her worry-free life even more than she wanted to admit. Of course, she denied any possibility of this, not wanting to see herself in a bad light, and kept on repeating it was leftover feelings for the firebender. Only in time, would she eventually realize the truth, but until then, there was only one person who could read her better than herself. Bolin examined the theater, inspecting it with his keen eye. It certainly was fancy, he would give her that, but he had to agree with Asami, it was a tad much. Still, he couldn't hurt her feelings. "What do you two think?" Rarity asked the two humans. Bolin started to sweat nervously, "It's…great! Definitely you." "Thank you, Boly. The hours have been long, the work taxing beyond compare, but it will all be worth it when we hear those three little words!" (~) "This is awful!" "Awful?!" Rarity was not expecting to hear those words from the male unicorn puppeteer. "And completely unusable." he said while inspecting the thing. He spun its golden wheels but they did not even touch the ground. The stage itself was stood on sticks with the wheels just as ornaments and nothing else. "Hmmm… Ugh! It doesn't travel!" he stuck his head onto the stage, which was crowded thanks to the vases of flowers that Rarity had placed, "Oh, there's no room for my puppets! It appears I won't have a traveling puppet theater to use after all." "But--but I--" The unicorn turned away, levitating his puppets with his magic. Even they gave Rarity the stink eye. The poor waterbending unicorn felt devastated. She was hardly criticized by her work before, and even if she was she never heard that dreadful word… Awful! It was like poison sinking into her insides, shattering her heart as tears began to roll down her eyes. Bolin and Asami crunched down beside her, in an attempt to ease her pain. "I don't know what that guy was talking about." Spike said, trying to encourage her, "This thing is perfect!" Sadly, that was not enough for Rarity to feel better. She had already galloped away, tears streaming down from her eyes. The poor pony was truly crushed. "Poor, Rarity." Bolin said with sympathy. "Rejection must really sting." his eyes widened once he remembered who was standing right beside him. He blushed in embarrassment before Asami walked away to find the depressed unicorn. (~) Back at her boutique, Rarity was sobbing in her infamous fainting couch of red silk fabric. "This is terrible, simply terrible!" she whined while Asami stroked her mane. "So that puppeteer didn't like your exquisitely crafted best puppet theater in the history of puppet theaters puppet theater." said Spike, "You can just contribute something else to the Foal and Filly Fair." "Yeah!" Bolin agreed, "I bet that creative, stylish whirlwind of yours you call a mind can come up with something even better that doesn't involve lame puppets." he shuttered at the thought of those things, "Those wooden abominations with their…soulless…empty…eyes." Asami shuddered in agreement, "Tell me about it. Even as a little girl I hatted those things." Rarity wiped away a few of her tears, "I suppose I could... Oh, forget it! I'd never have something finished in time! Asami, be dear and pass me that ice cream and spoon, will you?" Asami complied and handed the frosty sugary treat to the pony, who levitated it with her magic can began nomming on a large spoonful of the stuff. "I wanted to leave my creative mark on the fair, and I failed –" she took another spoonful and put it in her mouth, chewing and swallowing before speaking again, "miserably! And that makes me miserable!" she continued to cry and eat ice cream at the same time. Bolin noticed this and immediately felt sympathy for her. Spike, knew he wanted to do something to help her. And he had a good idea where he could find it. (~) The castle was just as creepy looking as it always was, only slightly less since it was still daylight. Both the dragon and earthbender searched the entire library with Twilight's pet owl, Owlowiscious, beside them. Pabu accompanied them too, resting on a shelf with the owl. "Argh, there's gotta be something in here somewhere." said Spike as he looked for the books. As they searched, Bolin couldn't help but think about the heiress. While he often had trouble reading other people, somehow he could read Asami a tad better than most. He couldn't pinpoint the exact reason for her hidden bitterness towards Korra and Mako (aside from the obvious) but he also could tell that there was more behind it than what even she thought. The poor girl had lost her father to pride and hatred, was an only child and on top of that she had a family business to keep afloat. She just couldn't seem to really have a friendship with Korra and Mako because she kept behaving as if they had done her wrong, even though they had attempted many, many times to showcase they wanted to make amends. But the heiress was still relentless. She was emotionally complex, but for Bolin that just meant she needed to open up more and he had this desire to want to be there for her. He had been taken cared of his entire life, he wanted to be there for somebody for once. No wonder she and Mako didn't last for so long, they were both far too reserved for their own good. "Hey, Spike." Bolin began, breaking the silence, "Did Asami seem a little…off, to you?" "What do you mean?" "Whenever she's with all of us together, she gets kind of, well, distant when it comes to Korra and Mako." "I don't see it. She talks to them all the time and she doesn't show any hard feelings. Why do you ask?" "It's just, I've always noticed that Asami was this independent and wicked smart person but, she's just really lonely." "If she's so lonely why does she keep spending so much time at work? I know things got crazy between her, Mako and Korra but at least they're both trying to make it up to her. Remember when they both got her that designer bag for her birthday last month?" "Yeah, she did look happy. But, also kind of hesitant. It's like, she's got this tug of war thing going on in her head or something." "Since when can you read people?" "I can't but with Asami it's…it's almost different. I say 'almost' because she's still a pretty hard rock to crack." "Well, while you're thinking why not help me find something that will help Rarity make something in time for the fair? She really, really, really wants to make a creative contribution." he said with the pounding of his fist, "She said I'm her favorite dragon, so it's up to me to come through for her in her time of need." Now it was Bolin's turn to roll his eyes. He was perfectly aware of the little dragon's crush on the unicorn. It wasn't really much of a secret, really. "There's gotta be some kind of spell that'll do the trick." Spike jumped onto the rolling latter to look for more books. Come on, help a dragon out!" he removed a single book and saw Owlowiscious hooting at him in the hole where he had taken the book out of. Annoyed, Spike placed the book back in its place, hiding the owl, before sliding off to another portion of the shelf, only to find the owl hooting at him once again, with an arch eyebrow. "Owlowiscious is right, Spike." said Bolin, "You sure this isn't all just to get her attention?" "Ugh! It's not for me! It's for Rarity! The one tailored your suit for the last festival? And who made you that bow tie you like so much?" he said to the owl, who hooted in response, while scowling. "Okay, I get it." Bolin began assisting by looking for more books. He puled one from its shelf, only to find that it was somehow connected to the wall by some kind of metallic arc. Suddenly, the room started to quake all the while Spike was still in his conversation with the owl, "You don't think we should use magic–" he stopped, noticing the movement of the room. "Bolin, what did you do?!" "I don't know!" The walls began to shift and slide to the side, revealing a dark and mysterious passageway. Within, there appeared to be some kind of stairway that led upwards to what appeared to be some kind of object on a pedestal with a glowing green light shinning over it. "What is that?" asked the dragon, astonished by the find. "I don't know." Bolin responded, equally amazed. As they got closer they noticed that the opening was locked by a metallic black cage with a lock on it. Bolin inspect it, "There's no key. How are we suppose to open it?" Using his fire, Spike melted the lock in only a matter of seconds. He smiled proudly at Bolin. "Like that." "Show off." Spike was the first to willingly walk in while Owlowiscious began to hoot nervously warning him it was a bad idea. Even Bolin agreed. Spike walked up higher and higher towards the pedestal, seeing that the object rested on it was actually a book made out of stone. He finally reached the top, the green light illuminating the room and shined over the stone book, which has spiked on its cover. He gently took it from where it stood, studying the object closely. "Spike, I'm not so sure this is a good idea!" Bolin shouted from the entrance. "What? If I wasn't supposed to have it, it wouldn't be so easy to get. And it's covered in spikes, like me." As he spoke, the walls around him began to crumble, making Bolin and Owlowiscious all the more nervous as the little dragon casually walked down the stairs, which began to crumbled one by one right after he stepped on them. For a moment, he fell down and Bolin gasped, until he landed onto the very edge of the entrance and walked safely out of danger, completely oblivious as he read the tittle of the book out loud. "Inspiration Manifestation: Instantly brings ideas to life." Once he was out of harms way, Bolin literally passed out and Owlowiscious fanned him with his wing. "I'm likin' the looks of this one. See Bolin, that wasn't so-- Bolin?" he saw his friend passed out and the doorway close. He simply shrugged. "Hmmm." (~) Asami continued to console the weeping Rarity, who couldn't stop crying. The pony had already eating her way through three tubes of ice cream. Asami, wanting to be the supportive friend, kept her silence and simply sat there, comforting her. She understood the sting of disappointment, probably not as over the top as Rarity did, but she sympathized with it none the less. The doors opened and Spike and Bolin walked into the boutique. "Where have you been?" Asami asked. "I brought something to help out Rarity." said Spike "Unless it's another carton of vanilla oat swirl or word that the festival has been cancelled, I don't think I'm interested." said the unicorn in distress. But the dragon kept on smiling, "It's magic!" Rarity adjusted her messed up mane, "Spike, precious scales, I already have magic." "But not the kind that can help you create something in time for the fair." he pulled the book out from his back and showed it to Rarity, "This can!" The girls studied this strange looking object, Asami felt the most suspicious of it. "Where did you find that?" "At the castle of the two sisters." Spike replied. Asami still wasn't too certain about it. The book was made out of stones and had spikes on it. Rarity read the tittle out loud, "Inspiration Manifestation. Hmmm, it does sound promising." "I don't know. You sure it's safe?" "Of course its safe!" Spike assured them with great confidence, "The name fits Rarity perfectly. If that's not a sign I don't know what is." Rarity was still a tad hesitant, especially with how the book was designed to look. Made up entirely out of stone and with spikes sticking out of the cover. Then again, she really wanted to feel better. And Asami wanted her to feel better too. "I suppose it's worth a try." said the unicorn before turning to the heiress, "What do you suggest, Asami?" "If you think it'll help then, I don't see why not. Besides, if it doesn't work you can always reverse the spell, right?" "That's right! Okay, let's do this." Rarity levitated the book and started to read the words out loud, "From in the head to out in the world, every thought to action. Hold close this book and through its spell, you'll start a chain reaction. Projecting forth whatever beauty you see. Only when true words are spoken will you finally be set free." As she read, a mysterious green mist began to grow from the book and sink itself into Rarity's horn, causing it to glow in an abnormally green color, contrasting with its natural blue. Once she was done, Rarity's eyes bilked rapidly as if trying to remove something from her lashes. "Did it work?" Bolin asked, almost unsurely. "Hm, there's only one way to find out." levitating the stone book before her, Rarity's horn glowed an even stronger and thicker aura of green, contrasting with her natal blue aura. Her eyes focus on the book, a smile of determination dawned on her face and her beautiful blue eyes glowed an abnormal green. Her gaze held onto the object, dead focus as if thinking hard on what she wanted to happen. In a bright brilliant flash, it did just that. The stone book was no longer made up of stone, but was now a completely normal book with plum colored covers, golden rims and a stunning, stylized cover with a golden star on a circle. Rarity's eyes returned to their blue form and she gasped with delight. "Oh, my! I thought about making this a much more beautiful spell book, and I have!" the pony closed her eyes briefly and opened them once more, revealing their glowing lime green color, almost identical to that of Asami's eye color, minus the aura around them. She focused on the couch she, Asami and Spike sat on and Bolin jerked backwards when the sofa transformed into a jewel encrusted golden silk masterpiece of furniture. Rarity could not believe her now blue eyes, "Dear, dear Spike! Here I was about to give up, but like a true friend, you've come through with flying colors!" the little dragon blushed at the thank you, "Come! We must find the puppeteer right away, so that I may provide him with the most fabulous theater he's ever imagined!" the unicorn jumped off of the new couch, levitating the glowing book and smiling confidently, "Or, should I say, that I've ever imagined." Bolin felt a shiver go down up his spine when Rarity's eyes glowed green again. Spike didn't waste a second to join his friend but the two humans still remained. The earthbender was still at a loss for words. "Uh, did Rarity seem…different to you?" he asked Asami. "She looks happy to me." she said, "Besides, after seeing how horribly upset she was before I think a little moment in the sunshine will do her some good." Bolin arched an eyebrow, "You sure it's such a good idea? Rarity does tend to overreact at times." "I'm sure it'll be fine. I'd rather have her happy than fattening herself with ice cream." he tapped one of the gallons with her finger and ate some of the frozen sugary substance, "Mm, not bad." "You know they have oats in them, right?" Hearing this, Asami automatically spit the ice cream out of her mouth. (~) Placing the book into her saddle bag, Rarity and Spike, with Bolin and Asami close behind, made their way towards the puppeteer, who had to result to using Sugar Cube Corner's front doors for his theater. He scoffed when the unicorn approached him, wearing a smug smile worthy by Korra's standards. "Ah, Miss Rarity, come to see the show, I presume? You'll notice I had to make do in light of your recent failure to produce a functioning theater." he levitated his puppets in from of the unicorn, and even they showed disinterest in what the pony had to offer. "Oh, but I think you'll find the new one I've created will be much more to your liking!" Rarity pointed to behind the male pony, who's eyes widened and his hat comically flew upwards once he saw his new theater. Unlike the previous one, it wasn't coded with jewels and gold, but with simple designs and colors of purple, blue, yellow, red and green with a yellow and green flags on both sides on top, along with a long extended pole for the pony to place on his back in order to pull it. It was both simple, lovely and functional. Ah, well, it is gorgeous, but that was never the problem now, was it?" using his puppets, he pulled the wagon theater, showing it could move fluidly and perfectly, "Oh, well, this one does seem to travel. Plenty of room for my puppets... I say, Miss Rarity, I don't know how you managed to do so in such a short amount of time, but you seem to have redeemed yourself. How did you manage to do so in such a short time?" "As a matter of fact, she used a s–" before Spike could continue, Rarity covered his mouth with her hoof, silencing him. "A good designer never reveals her tricks." she replied with great confidence. "But you did use a–" Bolin tried to say, only to be silenced by Asami herself. The puppeteer smiled, "Well, none the less, good job Miss Rarity. A pleaded job." with that, he happily took the wagon, making the unicorn squeal with delight. "Oh, this is wonderful!" "Feeling better?" Asami asked. "Much, much better!" The heiress turned to the earthbender, "See? I told you there was nothing to worry about." The earthbender decided to comply and realize maybe he was exaggerating. He was probably too freaked out about the glowing green eyes and he assumed the worst. He scratched the back of his head, rather shyly. "Yeah, you're right. I was probably worrying about nothing." (~) "Thank you again, Spike, for being such a dear friend and finding this book for me!" the unicorn could not thank the little dragon enough, and he could not love the attention enough. "My pleasure." the dragon jerked up when Bolin cleared his throat, "Oh, and Bolin helped. A little." he said, the earthbender rolled his eyes. "Well, guess I we return it now that the fair's over, right?" Bolin asked. "Oh, yes, of course. I've made my creative contribution as I'd hoped to do, and all is well!" Rarity levitated the book from her saddle bag and handed it over to Bolin. The object was still surrounded by the green thick aura. But just when Bolin was about to get the book, Rarity yield it back to her, "Uh, then again, perhaps I should keep it just a skotch longer... You don't mind, do you?" "But, you said you didn't need it anymore." Asami stated. "True, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to use the spell for a few of my designs? I have such a huge to do list piled up, and this would help me greatly." "Well…" "Oh! I already have a marvelous idea!" (~) Back in the human world, Asami, Bolin, Spike and Rarity were at Future Industries factory, where people were hard at work manufacturing various satomobiles. "Our new line was suppose to be in this week." said Asami, "But due to the decrease in employers we've had to work overtime and we're still far behind." "Well, never fear Asami my dear!" Rarity stood in the center of her room, her green horn glowing brightly before emitting a ray all around the building. Workers shielded themselves as did her friends. Once the light disappeared Asami was at a loss for words. "No…way!" Before her eyes was an assortment of beautifully manufactured satomobiles, mopeds and motorcycles far as the eye could see. There was ever more than they originally had planed. "Rarity, this is incredible!" "Anything for one of my most supportive friends." The unicorn said happily before the heiress squatted down to give her a hug. After seeing the wondrous miracle before her, Asami had come to realize that this spell was wonderful. She got what she needed thanks to Rarity. She wouldn't have minded if the pony kept the book with her longer, so far it seemed to do wonders for everyone. Once they ended the hug, Rarity turned to the dragon, "So Spike, you still don't mind me keeping the book for a bit longer?" "Of course not! I mean, if you can do all of this who knows what else you can do." "Yes…what else can I do?…" (~) Inside the office, a much more happier and relaxed Asami was organizing, and throwing away, a few of the papers she needed and no longer needed. Bolin stood there, scratching the back of his neck, "I don't know, you guys sure Rarity should keep that book of hers? I don't know about you but that green glow is really creeping me out!" "What's the big deal?" Asami asked, "She'll keep it for a few more hours, no harm in that." "She's right." said Spike, "And so long as she's happy, we're happy, right?" "Besides, what's wrong with someone wanting a little bit of happiness?" Asami asked her fellow human friend, "Even if it's just for a short while, Rarity should be able to enjoy a little perk. Never know when it'll be taken from you." The words she spoke gave Bolin the sinking suspicion that she wasn't just talking about Rarity anymore. (~) The following day, Spike went to visit Rarity by himself at her boutique, to which he saw flashes of green light emitting from the windows and distant magical zap sounds from inside the building. Spike knocked on the door, expecting her to answer. "Rarity?" but instead of an answer, the doors suddenly just exploded open and a wave of new cloths just came crashing down around him. Rarity herself appeared, her horn and eyes still glowing that lime green. "Spike, I'm so glad you're here!" she levitated him inside to where he saw the largest assortment of cloths he ever thought he would ever seen in Rarity's boutique. "Whoa!" he was about to congratulate his friend until he took a good look at her. Her mane was a mess, her eye started to twitch and she didn't look as if she had slept all night but didn't seem to care in the slightest. "Are… you okay?" "Oh, I've never been better! This book you've given me is amazing!" she started levitating all of the outfits she had made in an instant, her eyes flashing back and forth between blue and green, "Why, I, I, I, I've been up all night just creating and creating and creating and creating! I've completed my fall line for the next fifteen seasons!" "Wow!" "But then I remembered yesterday when I made Asami all of this satomobiles, and then I started thinking, 'why stop there'? Oh, Spike, I've always thought this town of ours could use a few beautifying upgrades, and with this book, I can make that happen with such ease! You will support me in this endeavor by letting me keep the book just a little longer?" For a moment, Spike hesitated, but seeing how happy Rarity was and how excited she was, he wondered if he would be a good friend if he said to her 'no'. Last thing he wanted was for her to think he wasn't being supportive enough for her. "Of course I will!" he replied, and Owlowiscious observed from the window outside, hooting nervously. (~) Bolin whistled while he walked along the way to find Spike, in hopes Rarity had turned over the book. He got his answer when he spotted the pair walk right pass him and he followed suit. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where's the fire?" "No time, Bolin!" Rarity stated. Spike panted behind her, "What do you say we get a little breakfast before we get started?" "No time for breakfast! I want to get started right away!" "Technically, we do have time, because with that book held close, you can just make things– Rarity?" the dragon found that Rarity had already gone ahead towards two houses, and Bolin crossed his arms. "She didn't give back the book, did she?" Instead of answering, Spike dashed off towards his friend and Bolin followed. They spotted Rarity in a darkened alley, looking outwards to the sunshine, where Applejack and Granny Smith were trying to sell apples from their wooden cart. "Now, this is exactly what I'm talking about! Why, that cart hasn't an ounce of stylish flair!" with glowing eyes and horn, in a flash, the wooden cart had transformed into a golden, jewel encrusted cart in mere seconds. Applejack and Ganny Smith could not believe their own eyes. They knew magic was normal, but this was a tad too unexpected. The elder pony shook her head in disbelief, "My eyes playin' tricks on me again?" "What in rhubarb pie just happened?" Applejack asked. Rarity was incredibly satisfied with this new transformation, "Isn't it gorgeous?" "It's amazing!" Spike complimented, "You should ask Applejack if she wants you to give all the Apple family carts a makeover!" "Oh, I don't really think I need to ask permission, darling. Everyone loves surprises, especially when they're gorgeous ones!" "You're right! Everypony does love surprises." "Mako doesn't like surprises." Bolin said, "Unless it involves surprise kisses from Korra, then it's okay." Rarity spoke to the two in a hushed tone, "We shouldn't even tell anypony that it's me who's behind all the fabulous changes I'll be making!" she giggled, "Won't that be a fun little secret for the four of us to share?" Spike and Bolin shared skeptical looks, "The… four of us?" "You, me, Bolin, and the book, of course." she levitated the book and hugged it like her life depended on it, "My marvelous, marvelous book!" Spike was now beginning to see why Bolin was so concerned about Rarity's behavior and her closeness to the book previously. But still, maybe they were overreacting. "…Of course." "Promise me you won't say a word to anypony?" Spike 'zipped his mouth' and muffled, "You got it!" Rarity looked up at Bolin, who looked far more hesitant, but once he saw her icy cold glare he saluted nervously. "Uh, yeah, you got it! My lips are sealed!" "I knew I could count on you, boys. And I also know just what I want to do next!" Rarity could not contain her excitement any longer. (~) Rainbow Dash was hard at work, removing some of the unnecessary clouds from the sky with her powerful back leg kicks, "Take that! And that!" she giggled with delight. She loved doing kicked, wether it being bad guys or simple clouds. This was just too much fun for her. However, her fun was interrupted when all of a sudden a gorgeously designed ball down appeared on her, much to her shock and horror. As lovely as it was, it was just far too extravagant, not to mention heavy, for her to fly in. She grunted as she struggled to get it off of her. "What in the... Get... it... off... me!" Down bellow, Spike and Bolin winced at the sight of their dear friend in distress, while Rarity was only feeling more and more satisfied, "I've always thought Rainbow Dash could use a little more glamor, and now look at her! Cloud-busting with style! Moving on!" Rarity gave a short laugh before walking along. "She'll be fine, right?" Bolin asked Spike with worry. "Of course she will. It's just a dress." he ran ahead to follow Rarity, "Uh, wait for your favorite dragon!" Bolin saw Rainbow Dash fly directly onto the roof of a house and cringed at the sight. Poor Rainbow Dash. But sadly, she was only one of the first victims. (~) Fluttershy was as happy as could be as she placed the bird food onto the bird house for one of her robin friends. Singing all the while, "La la-la la-la la-la la la... There you go, Mr. Robin!" Mr. Robin chirped happily in gratitude before landing on his simple wooden house. "Don't you look so content in your little house–" a magical zap appeared right out of nowhere and before her very eyes, the simple bird house turned into, what appeared to be, a bird mansion. "Oh, my goodness!" Fluttershy gasped and the robin chirped in distress, peeking her eye into one of the many windows, "You're lost? No, not that way, that looks like it's the door to a... bedroom. Try that one over there. No, no, that leads to a...Shoe closet? Oh, dear. Maybe try the staircase? Oh, no-no-no, the other staircase." From afar, Rarity was basking in the wonderful new house for the winged creature. "Isn't it gorgeous?" "It's probably the most beautiful birdhouse ever created." Spike said honestly, though he was also concerned about the bird inside. "Go on." Rarity insisted, wanting to hear more praise. "Only, I'm not sure if the bird's a big fan of it." said Bolin. Rarity scoffed, "Pfft, what does a bird know about architectural design? What matters is what you boys think. And you love it. Don't you?" Rarity's smile was almost wicked in appearance, making Spike gulp before answering, "Of course we do. Right, Bolin?" Not wanting to get on the unicorn's bad side, he lies, "Uh, yeah! It's so... Rarity." "It is, isn't it?" the unicorn smiled in satisfaction before becoming distracted with the sound of foals laughing. "Ooh!" she galloped ahead and the boys hesitantly followed. Spike got hit on the head by an acorn, causing him to look upwards. He spotted Owlowisious, glaring down at him from a tree branch. "The owl's right." said Bolin, "Rarity's going off the deep end." "It's not that bad." Spike insisted, but even he himself wasn't fully believing this. Very close by, adorable little foals were having a birthday party, complete with cake, sweet candies, fun games, a mariachi band and an adorably funny clown. "Oh, adorable!" Rarity complimented, "But it could use a touch of class, don't you think?" "Oh yeah, definitely." Spike replied, while Bolin remained silent. Rarity's horn and eyes glowed once more, making the human male flinch at the sight. He didn't know if it was all in his mind's eye or not, but he could have sworn the aura had gotten stronger at this point. Rarity's irises were barely seen underneath the green glowing aura. In a flash, the gelatin which the ponies were eating transformed into a stunning swan shaped ice sculpture. One filly looked on in disappointment. The table of delicious candy and cakes was replaced by small tiny fancy party foods, mainly small veggie treats on toothpicks that couldn't even fill up an ant. The clown had transformed into a fancy waiter, holding a tray of sandwiches. The poor fillies were both confused and even disappointed, but Rarity was far too caught up in her own mindset to notice. "This party doesn't even seem to have a proper theme. Let's do something about that, shall we?" "You've already made things look really really great." said Spike, "Maybe you should stop while you're ahead?" "You're right, Spike! There's so much to do elsewhere!" "Right! Elsewhere…" "Just one more little thing before we go…" in a green flash, the mariachi band was transformed into a classy musical orchestra with a violin, a hard and a cello. Rarity smiled in satisfaction, "Why, this party is certain to make the society page now. Won't Pinkie Pie be pleased?" Just as the words left her mouth, Pinkie Pie herself came along, holding a birthday cake with four candles on top. "Happy, happy day to– huh?!" for once, she was completely speechless. Was this the right party? Seeing Pinkie's reaction and the little foals so disappointed with the party was enough to make Bolin put his foot down. He grabbed Spike by the tail and held him upwards, "Okay, Spike. Time to face facts: Rarity's completely out of control!" "Oh, come on, it's not that bad. And the party is pretty nice." "Yeah, but does anypony look happy?!" he extended his hand, showcasing what their friend had done, while several foals began crying sadly. "That unicorn's got to cut down on the green mumbo jumbo, pronto!" "Okay, okay! I'll figure something out." Bolin inmediatly dropped Spike when Rarity suddenly gasped, "Wait! Why must I stop here in Ponyville? Why, I could probably reinvent all of Republic City!" Bolin gulped in fear, "Oh, boy…" (~) Asami could not be happier to have had half of her work done in such a short amount of time, and it was all thanks to Rarity. But, her happiness was about to take a drastic turn. She suddenly heard what sounded like magical zaps coming from downstairs. Curious, she rushed down to see what the commotion was about until she was suddenly blinded by a bright brilliant light. She closed her eyes shut, trying desperately to find the staircase so she could walk down, but even the stairs felt slippery and she tripped…only to be caught by Bolin. The heiress blushed in embarrassment before standing up straight and noticed what had happened to her house. The walls were literally made out of solid gold, the stairs and staircase had turned into solid crystal and jewels adorned the walls in the most over the top way imaginable. Asami felt like she had stepped into a jewelry box…that exploded. "What…is…this?!" "It's Rarity! That spell of hers has gone haywire! She's completely changing everything in Ponyville! And the city is next!" "Bolin, I know Rarity can be a bit over the top, but there's no way she could ever…" she stopped when Bolin arched an eyebrow and extended his hands, showcasing the state her house was currently in. The heiress was convinced now, "Yeah, she's gone crazy. Where is she now?" "With Spike, he's trying to get her to stop but she won't budge." the poor earthbender face palmed himself, groaning in despair, "Oh, this never would have happened is Spike never found that book!" Asami then got an idea, "That's it! The book! Just get the book away form Rarity." "That's a great idea!" he instinctively grabbed Asami's wrist, "Come on, there's not another minute to lose!" (~) The unicorn was literally giddy with excitement as she and Spike strolled down downtown Republic City, "I am simply buzzing with ideas. Simply buzzing!" Spike looked up to see the owl, who had followed them, still glaring down at the little dragon. He knew he needed to come up with something and fast before Rarity did something even crazier. "That's great! But, uh, you've been at this for a while now. How 'bout you take a break? Give that brilliant mind of yours a rest?" "Don't be silly! I'm not going to stop now! Why, I won't stop until every inch of Republic City and Ponyville has benefited from my creative vision!" suddenly, the poor dragon felt the undeniable sensation of fear when Rarity's glowing green eyes aimed directly at him, "Starting with you, Spike!" In a flash, Spike was now dressed in a jewel encrusted armor, consisting of blue and violet gemstones. It was so heavy he couldn't move in it at all. But regardless of how he felt, Rarity was delighted with joy. "You look fabulous!" "All because of you, heh…" he replied uncertainly, the armor was just too much for him. "Anything for my favorite dragon and most supportive friend. Come, there's so much more to do!" Rarity galloped ahead, causing Spike to tumble and fall. Asami and Bolin arrived on her moped, seeing their little friend on the floor. Asami was rather disgusted by the gaudy sparkly armor Spike had on. "I'm guessing operating; 'get the book from the crazy unicorn' didn't go as planed." Bolin said as he helped the dragon up, but even the stones were heavy for him as well. "I don't understand." said Asami, "She seemed so happy before." "Oh, she is happy…happily obsessed!" The group heard the sound of a motorcycle engine running and turned their heads to see a familiar bike ridding up and stopping. The bike had two riders, one driving and the other on the back. The driver removed his helmet and goggles while the one behind him, a female, removed her helmet to reveal her long brown hair tried into three parts and an alicorn flew beside them. "Korra!" Bolin exclaimed with fear upon seeing the Avatar. If she knew what happened to Rarity, she would be angrier than a dragon when you wake it from its sleep. "Mako!" Asami exclaimed, no doubt Mako was asked to investigate the weird things going on in the city, and feared what he would think of her involvement with this. "Twilight!" Spike exclaimed right before Bolin dropped him. If Twilight found out he would be in so much trouble. "Oh no, not you too!" the alicorn exclaimed as she helped the dragon up. Bolin and Asami smiled nervously, "Korra! You're back!…yay." Bolin said, doing a fake cheer. He was more nervous than Pabu on bath day. The Avatar's attention turned to the dragon, "Spike, are you okay?" "Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" "Oh. Well, judging by that outfit, I thought for sure you'd–" "What? This? I just wanted to try out a new look." he said before loosing hi balance and stumbled backwards, now laying on his back, "You like?" Korra and Twilight arched their eyebrows and Mako began asking questions, "Well, in that case, have you guys seen anybody suspicious around?" "We've been getting reports about these strange magical occurrences for the past half hour." Korra said, "Trees in the park are now silver, the streets turning into gold, stands getting bejeweled and it shocks me I even have to use that term in a negative light!" "Plus, she's been acting moodier than usual." Twilight said, placing a hoof on Korra's shoulder. The Avatar rubbed her temples, already feeling another migraine coming on. "I can't help it! It feels like there's some kind of imbalance or something and I have no idea what it is or what it's doing. It's almost as if something is blocking me from figuring it out." "You sure you guys have no clue what's going on?" Mako asked. The three shared worried looks before responding in unison, "Uh, nope." Korra took in a deep breath before speaking to the three, "Guys, the last thing I want to do is yell at you for no reason, but if any of you are hiding something from me, so help me, I will smack you so hard it'll make your ancestors dizzy!!" she quickly recollected herself, "Sorry, I'm really not feeling like myself today." The radio on Mako's bike sounded off and a familiar voice was heard, "Mako, Korra, we've got another strange occurrence downtown. The buildings have been turned into solid crystal, and folks are trapped inside its walls!" "We're on it, Beifong!" Mako quickly replied before turning back to the others, "If you see anything suspicious, anything at all, let us know as fast as you can." both he and Korra got back on his bike and drove off, with Twilight flying close behind. Once they were gone, Bolin turned to Asami, "Why didn't you say anything?!" "Why didn't you?!" "You're the honest one!" "So are you!" "I got scared!" "So did I!" "I didn't want to get blamed!" "Neither did I!" The two became silent for a moment before realizing what they both confessed. "Wow…" was all Bolin could say. "What?" Asami asked. "It's just…I've never seen you react like this before. You're usually so calm and cool. Except when you have cider." Asami gave a light chuckle, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose it like I did." "No, it's fine." he assured her with a kind smile. The moment was ruined when Owlowiscious swooped down and hooted at the earthbender, "You're right, Owlowiscious. We've got to tell them the truth. Even if it does mean Korra will break our limbs." "No!" Spike protested, "I made a promise to Rarity to keep this to myself!" the two teens, plus owl, only narrowed their eyes at him. Spike sighed in defeat, "But you are right, Owlowiscious. We have to tell. And once we do, I can forget Rarity thinking of me as her most supportive friend... I can forget Rarity thinking of me as a friend at all…" Asami and Bolin shared the same sympathetic looks for the poor little dragon. "Spike, if you really want to help Rarity, you'll tell her the truth." he said, "When Korra first said she only liked me as a friend I was upset too, but then I realized she did it because she cared. Even though the truth was hard to take, she did it because she's my friend. And you need to do the same for Rarity now." Asami, my all means, was astonished by Bolin's words of wisdom and honesty. It really moved her deep inside, even at the moment she didn't entirely understand why. Spike sighed, "You're right, Bolin. But she won't listen while she still has that book. If I can get it away from her, I bet she won't be able to use its magic anymore!" Owlowisious rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on, it's the perfect plan! We… just have to figure out which way she went." "I can't see!" A loud scream was heard by various bystanders, who were instantly blinded by the now shimmering golden sidewalks that caused them to slip and fall, and various cars to screech to a startling halt. "I'm thinking she's headed this way." Asami said, pointing in the direction of where the road was heading. (~) Rarity was giggling like a hysterical maniac, her eyes twitching while continuously glowing green along with her horn. She stood on the roof of a tall building, overlooking all of her 'brilliant' work. She was so enwrapped in her own mindset that she was completely blindsided to the people suffering down bellow. Even her ears were deff to their cries. Following the green glow, Bolin, Asami and Spike made their way up to the roof. The dragon held onto Bolin's back and leaped down once they reached the top. The two teens kept silent while Spike tiptoed towards the unicorn to take the book from her bag. So far…so good... "What do you think you're doing?!" Spike jerked back once Rarity noticed his attempts, "Uh, me? I was just, uh... basking in your creative radiance." Bolin and Asami face palmed themselves at his response, which was enough to calm Rarity down. "Oh, Spike, you do say the nicest things." Asami stepped forward to the pony, "Um, Rarity? Can we talk for a minute?" "What is it, darling? No wait! Don't tell me. You want your satomobiles to have more flair am I right?!" "What?! No, no, no! The cars are fine the way they are, trust me!" "Nonsense! It won't be a problem at all. In fact, why don't I give them gold-plated rooftops, diamond wheels! They will be the talk of the city!" her eyes and horn glowed once more, stronger than ever. Asami had to act quick, this has gone on long enough. "I'm sorry, Rarity." in a flash, Asami used her quick reflexes to summersault and take the book from Rarity's saddle bag, landing on the other side with it in hand. "What?! Give me back that book!!" Spotting Owlowiscious, Asami tossed the book towards the owl, who in turn tossed it to Spike. Rarity galloped towards him, her eyes fuming with anger. He reacted and…swallowed the whole thing in one gulp. The three, even the bird, all dropped their jaws at what Spike had just done. "You know, you could have just burned the dang thing!" Bolin stated. "I paniked!" "My book!!" Rarity's screamed practically reached the heavens. She leaped froward and tackled the little dragon, "I need my book, Spike! What have you done with my book?!" she growled like an angry lion. "I…I…I…" "Rarity, get off of him!" Asami demanded and the unicorn turned towards her. "You. I go out of my way to make your job easier and this is the thanks I get?!" in a green flash Asami suddenly found herself stuck to the floor by a pair of diamond encrusted shackles. "Hey!" she shouted upon seeing the shackles around her wrists, which were far too heavy for her to lift up. She tried to lift them up to no avail before realizing what had just happened. "How did you do that? The book is gone!" Rarity was just as surprised as she was. "But, wait... I don't seem to need it anymore, do I?" the revelation of it all was bringing her ego up once more, "Yes… yes...! I can feel its magic flowing within me now! I'm so excited! I'm so excited!" "I'm so scared." Spike said quietly, shaking in fear. "My work here in nearly complete. And soon, the rest of the world--nay--both here and Equestria will be touched by my creative brilliance! Ooh, I'm thinking we go by chariot! Or, as everyone will soon be calling them, "Rariot"!" she laughed hysterically while her magic created golden jeweled encrusted chariots one by one in the blink of an eye. "Oh, the places we'll go! Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Canterlot! The Fire Nation, Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom! And there you'll be by my side, just as you've always been, your constant praise and adoration driving me to even greater heights, until there isn't an inch of both worlds that hasn't been utterly transformed by my creative genius!" Her eyes and horn transformed the roof to solid gold and Asami suddenly gained a bejeweled ball gown that began to weigh her down even more. Bolin gained a jeweled tuxedo of emeralds and gold, which prevented him from even moving. Now, it was all up to Spike. Seeing his friends like this was just too much. Enough was enough. "…No." "What did you say?" Rarity asked with venom in her voice. "I said 'no'." Spike repeated, taking the two teens, and owl, by surprise, "You've been changing things, but you haven't been making them better. I should have told you the truth at the very beginning, but I didn't because I was trying to be a supportive friend." "You're not alone, Spike." Asami confessed, "I encouraged you to let Rarity keep using the book. I didn't know it go this far, I guess I was blindsided by the new fancy cars I didn't think of the consequences." "I'm sorry too." said Bolin, "We all should have said the truth." "Yeah." Spike agreed, "But instead, we let you become something awful." "Awful?" Rarity's expression softened once the words reached her ears and progressed the meaning in her mind. Her eyes closed shut only to reopen once more. Her irises disappeared, turning her eyes entirely green. Her body rose up from the ground and the green glow emitted from her eyes, leaving behind a glowing pure white before the green spell vaporized into thin air, never to be seen again. She gently lowered down, opening her now normal eyes, feeling slightly woody. "Ugh… what happened?" "Rarity! You're okay?" Spike asked hopefully. Was his friend truly back for good? "I… I think so…" the pony then gasped once she saw what happened to her friends, and then all over the city, "though by the looks of it, something quite terrifying has happened to Republic City." "You happened." Bolin stated, still frozen in place due to his new outfit. "Me?" Spike gasped once he remembered, "The last part of the spell! Only when true words are spoken will you finally be set free." "The spell took over you, and you wanted to change everything in Equestria." Asami explained, "And everything here too." Spike fiddled with his claws nervously, "I was afraid to tell you how I really felt about it, but then I... I told you the truth." "We all were." Bolin said sadly. "Oh, Spike, Bolin, Asami, you should never be afraid to tell me the truth. We're friends, remember?" Rarity embraced Spike in a warm hug. Asami and Bolin smiled happily, knowing their best friend was back to normal. "So, when you get the chance, can you help me and Asami out of these get ups?" (~) Once Twilight got word of what happened she, along with Princess Luna and Princess Cadance and Rarity herself cleaned up Ponyville of the dark magic while Korra, as well as the police force, assisted in cleaning up the city along with the alicorns. Spike, having learned his lesson, wrote down on the friendship journal. "Today I learned how important it is to be honest with your friends when they're doing something that you don't think is right. A true friend knows that you're speaking up because you care about them." He sat on the floor of Asami's office, who she herself was looking out the window. Today was quite the exhilarating day for her. She had been on crazy adventures before, but today was somehow different. She didn't fully understand why, but while she was with Bolin, she had opened up in ways she never thought she would. Normally, she was always calm and collected and poised, that's just how she naturally was, even when on the race track. But today, it was kind of different. She never had to analyze her feelings like this before. If she was happy she was happy, if she was sad she was sad, if she was angry she was angry, if she liked something she liked it, if she hatted something she hatted it. Only now, things weren't as simple as they used to be, and it wasn't always easy for her to adapt. However, while these thoughts swarmed in her head, she was almost afraid to dig deeper into them. Could it be she could figure out just why she still held onto her and Mako's past relationship even though, deep down, she knew it would never happen again? Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and Bolin walked in. "Good news, all the gold, silver and jewels have been cleaned up. Although, I'm probably still going to keep finding emeralds where no man should ever have emeralds." he hit his left ear with his palm, and a few tiny emeralds came out of the other end. Spike got up, holding the journal, "I'm gonna go and check on everybody else down stairs." he said, though in reality, he knew these two needed to talk alone. Bolin scratched the back of his head nervously when Asami turned around to face him, her longer avenue hair sweeping elegantly as she moved. "You wanted to say something?" "Yeah. I know, for a while now…well, you see…" this was hard but, much like Spike, he needed to tell her the truth. "You upset me." Asami blinked in surprise, "Excuse me?" "I mean, I notice how hard it is for you to see Mako everyday and all, and I can see your effort to try and make friends but, I don't know, I still feels like you're hiding from something and I may not be the best at giving advice but, I just want you to know, whatever it is that's bugging you, and if you ever want to talk to or at least have somebody to listen well…I'm here for you." Touched by his words, Asami placed a hand over her heart, a gesture showing her thanks. She suddenly felt compelled to tell him at least a bit of how she felt. "It's just…before the Equalist thing my life used to be so simple and noncomplex but now…things are changing. I feel like I'm strapped into a ride I'm not ready for." "Change can be scary, I know. I've have to face change almost every day of my life. But, you don't have to go through it alone." "Thanks. You're actually the first and only person I've told this to. I don't know if I'm ready to tell the others just yet." "Well, when you're ready, you can always come to me." The heiress smiled in gratitude. "Thanks, Bolin." things might be chaining, but it wasn't all that bad. This was a process she would have to struggle with for a while until the day arrives where she can finally be free from it, and fully…let it go. (~) The two arrived downstairs, where they saw Twilight, Mako and Korra, all with messed up hair and exhausted expressions on their faces. The alicorn glared at the three, "Never, ever, ever, ever take another book out of the library at the castle without asking! Princess Cadance and Princess Luna have much better things to do than help me clean up Ponyville! Do you have any idea how hard it was to reverse that much dark magic?!" "Very hard." Korra said while still getting some gems out of her hair, "Especially when you don't have magic." Mako shivered a bit, "I don't think I've ever been so sick of looking at flashy jewels in my life." "My apologies." Rarity said, her mane also a mess, "That spell packed a real nasty punch." "No wonder Korra didn't know it was Rarity causing all of this." said Twilight, "That spell warped her personality so much she was almost unrecognizable." Rarity then smiled once Korra took her into her arms, wrapping her in a warm hug. "I'm just glad my sweet and only slightly over the top Rarity is back." the two girls giggled while they hugged, happy to have things back the way they were. "So, all's well that ends well, right?" Bolin asked while clapping his hands together. Korra, while still carrying Rarity, laughed. "Ah, ha, ha, ha! Are you kidding me?!" "Oh, come on! We learned out lesson, can't you cut us some slack?" Korra took in a deep breath, "You're right, I'm being too harsh. Of course, I'll let it slide." Bolin, Asami and Spike sighed in relief…right before a bucket full of water dumped all over their heads, curtesy of Twilight Sparkle, who wanted payback as much as Korra did. "Starting now." The three only stood there, dripping wet. Asami simply shrugged, "Eh, could have been worse." "You guys look terrible." Spike said, making the two teens glare at him, "What? I'm just being honest! It's what good friends do!" (~) "Oh, Spike! You silly little dragon. So, there you have it. While Asami does eventually realize the mistakes of holding onto the past too much, it was still early on when she and Bolin's romance started to take root. Even if they couldn't see it at first. Tune in next time for another, Tales of Equestria!"