11 December 1008
For a second, the crowd was silent.
Then they began to cheer.
Rarity allowed it to wash over her; she had stood in front of massive crowds before, and this was no different. Was it?
‘’Thank you!’’ she said after a minute, and the noise started to die down. ‘’Thank you! But please, there is more I wish to say.’’
When the noise had reached a manageable level, she continued her speech. ‘’This tour will obviously be of great importance, but just once is not enough. Starting from the first Tuesday after Hearth's Warming Eve, I will hold an open court from one o’clock until three o’clock in the afternoon. Anyone with any concerns, requests or petitions can schedule an audience with my secretary via mail.’’
She still had to find a secretary, but she could probably find one before that time. Hopefully. ‘’I cannot promise I will be able to solve every problem or answer every question that you bring to me, but I will do utmost best to see them fulfilled, if possible.’’
‘’To finish,’’ she continued into the final part of his speech, ‘’I would like to thank all of you.’’ For what?
‘’For your patience,’’ she decided to say, ‘’and for your persistence. I have not been out much in the last months, but I have seen the fruits of your labour. Truly, it is an inspiring thing to witness, and something I hope to continue to witness for a long time. Thank you all for coming here, and have a good day.’’
She stepped back from the microphone and allowed the crowd to react to her statements.
And react they did. They began to cheer, slowly but surely, a chant that started somewhere Rarity couldn’t see and ended in what had to be over ten thousand, perhaps even twenty thousand or more, people shouting her name. ‘’Rarity! Rarity!’’
It’s… extraordinary.
She had never heard her name said by so many before. A warm feeling bloomed in her chest as she exhaled loudly. Fucking Tartarus!
‘’Rares!’’
Rainbow swept her up in a powerful hug. ‘’That was epic!’’ she shouted into Rarity’s ear.
Tonight, Rarity decided. I’ll ask her out for a date. A nice dinner for two in Rainbow Falls. Yes, that sounds just right.
She - admittedly, somewhat awkwardly - hugged Rainbow back. ‘’Thank you, darling.’’
‘’It was a really nice speech, auntie,’’ Flurry said as she wormed her way in between them and spread her wings to hug both older mares at the same time. ‘’I liked it.’’
‘’Thank you, Flurry.’’ Rarity managed to tear her head away from studying Rainbow to smile at the filly. ‘’It’s nice to hear that.’’
‘’Hmm…’’ Flurry brushed her cheek against Rarity’s leg. ‘’Can we go see if my friends are free now?’’
Rarity blinked at the sudden change of topic, but nodded anyway. ‘’I think we can,’’ she said. ‘’But I’m not sure.’’
‘’Why not?’’
Rarity walked off the podium before explaining, ‘’I think some ponies want to talk to me first. Like the mayor.’’ And indeed, the mare was already approaching them.
‘’That was a very good speech, Governess,’’ Mayor Winter said. ‘’Though I think you’ve already noticed that.’’
‘’I have,’’ Rarity agreed dryly. ‘’And I must thank you, darling, for managing to set this all up in such a short time-span. It is impressive.’’
Mayor Winter bowed her head a little in acknowledgment. ‘’It was a trial,’’ she admitted, ‘’but we made it work.’’
‘’Do give my compliments to the people that built this,’’ Rarity requested politely. ‘’Now, I must apologize for my briefness, but we have to move on.’’
‘’Of course,’’ Mayor Winter agreed. ‘’The work doesn’t wait, as I’m fond of saying.’’ She opened her mouth a little as if she wanted to say something more, but then closed it again.
Rainbow, apparently, couldn’t stop her curiosity. ‘’Something you want to say, mayor?’’
‘’Oh no, Commander, it’s nothing,’’ Mayor Winter dismissed smoothly. ‘’Although…’’ her expression turned pensive.
‘’Out with it,’’ Rainbow commanded.
Rarity shot her a cross look. Rainbow outranked the mayor, certainly, but that didn’t mean she should be impolite to her. ‘’Please, if you have something to say, say it, mayor.’’
‘’As you wish, Governess.’’ Not the response Rarity would have liked, but she took it anyway. Mayor Winter hesitated for a few more seconds, then said, ‘’I heard that you are in need of a secretary.’’
How did-
‘’Mr Ship told you, didn’t he.’’ It wasn’t a question.
Mayor Winter bowed her head in acknowledgement. ‘’We’re old colleagues, and we both wish the best for this city and this nation.’’
‘’And now you’ve got a secretary from somewhere?’’ Rainbow’s sarcasm was impossible to miss. Rarity gave her another quick glare as she pulled Flurry a little closer to her.
‘’I… have a marefriend,’’ Mayor Winter admitted, blushing a little. ‘’She’s a dab hoof at administration. In fact she’s better at it than I am.’’
‘’Go on.’’
‘’Currently she’s working as my private secretary,’’ Mayor Winter continued, ‘’but I can miss her in that function. She’s doing great work, no doubt, but you need her more than I do.’’
Well…
‘’I have some free time,’’ Rarity thought aloud. ‘’Mayhaps she can come by at three?’’
‘’I’ll inform her as soon as I’m back at City Hall,’’ Mayor Winter said. ‘’Now then, I won’t keep you any longer.’’
‘’Of course.’’ Rarity nodded her head in agreement. ‘’Good day, mayor.’’
‘’Good day.’’
‘’Bye miss!’’
‘’Good day to you all, Princess, Governess, Commander.’’
11 December 1008
The last thing Sunset expected when she woke up was seeing Nightmare Moon watching her concernedly.
‘’Urgghhh…’’ she groaned. Her mouth was dry, she was still tired, and she wanted some food. ‘’What happened?’’
‘’You collapsed,’’ Nightmare Moon said simply. ‘’You’ve been dead to the world for nearly fourteen hours.’’
Well, that explains a lot.
Sunset managed to sit up in the bed. ‘’Is there any water-’’
Nightmare Moon’s horn lit up, and a glass floated over to her. Sunset grabbed it with her hooves and drank it all in one swig. ‘’Ahhh…’’ she breathed after swallowing the cold water. ‘’Thank you.’’
‘’No problem.’’ Nightmare Moon tilted her head. ‘’I must admit, it’s strange to see a unicorn use their hooves like that.’’
‘’I got used to it,’’ Sunset said dismissively as she put the glass on the nightstand.
Nightmare Moon hummed. ‘’Celestia never told Luna what happened to you.’’
‘’I never told Celestia either.’’ And I’m not planning on telling you.
Nightmare Moon must have gotten the message, because she inclined her head. ‘’Very well. Do you want something to eat?’’
‘’Yes please.’’
Nightmare Moon nodded and smoothly stood up. ‘’I will make certain you get some food.’’
Sunset managed a nod, then sank further back into the bed. It was, for all intents and purposes, a very nice bed, and as such she didn’t really mind.
Right. Almost fourteen hours have passed. That means it’s… almost nine, now? Sunset took a quick look around the room and spotted a clock hanging above the door, to her right. Alright, it’s nearly eight. I’m obviously not awake yet.
She tried to recall if she had any dreams while she was… had she been asleep or unconscious? It didn’t matter; she couldn’t recall anything, which was weird. Usually she could remember flashes or colours, at least.
Or more. But Sunset didn’t like to dwell on that. Only bad things lay that way.
‘’Here you go.’’ Nightmare Moon levitated a plate with a sandwich on it onto the bed.
‘’Thanks.’’ It was a good sandwich. Or maybe it wasn’t, and her hunger was making up for it. Sunset didn’t really know.
Nightmare Moon resumed her seat next to the bed. Why she did that, Sunset had no idea.
‘’Don’t you have anything better to do?’’ she asked between bites.
Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. ‘’Perhaps.’’
Sunset gave her the most distrustful look she could manage in her current state. ‘’There are definitely better things to do than wasting your time fussing over me.’’
Nightmare Moon seemed to consider that, but between Sunset’s sleepiness, the darkness of the room (she wanted those curtains too) and the alicorn’s perfectly serene expression, she could have been thinking about Discord on a unicycle and Sunset wouldn’t be able to tell. Probably.
‘’I was worried for you.’’
What.
Before Sunset could even think of a reply to that, Nightmare Moon continued, ‘’You were in a dreamless coma. There was nothing anyone, including me, could have done to safely pull you out of it. I kept watch for the night.’’
That explained why she couldn’t recall dreaming: she hadn’t. ‘’I see.’’
Nightmare Moon nodded her head a little. ‘’I will, however, take my leave soon. There are other things I must see to. You will stay here and recover from your coma.’’
Well, it’s not like I’m in any position to argue.
11 December 1008
As soon as the Mayor was out of earshot, Rainbow turned towards Rarity. ‘’You’re not actually going to hire them.’’
Rarity coughed pointedly.
For fuck’s sake.
‘’We’ll see, darling,’’ Rarity dodged the issue instead of actually answering the question. ‘’For now, I think it’s best if we have a quick lunch, and then go and see if Flurry’s friends have time.’’
‘’Yay!’’ Flurry cheered, and that was adorable and would remain adorable forever.
Flurry honestly reminded Rainbow of Scootaloo. A younger Scootaloo that could fly and wasn’t a rabid fanfilly of Rainbow, but still.
Hopefully, Scootaloo was doing alright. She had a house and her friends, so she should be. Still, a letter would probably be a good idea. And Rainbow could ask about the others down in Ponyville while she was at it. Yes, that was a good idea.
‘’Rainbow, don’t fall behind!’’
Now that can’t happen.
In three seconds Rainbow had caught up to Rarity and Flurry. ‘’No sweat.’’
Rarity rolled her eyes. ‘’If you say so, darling.’’
They made small talk like that all the way into the dining room, which Rainbow didn’’t mind at all. During the war, she hadn’t been with any of her friends except for AJ and Pinkie, and those occasions had been rare. It hadn’t been the same with the other Wonderbolts, and she hadn’t spoken to any of them since the end of the war.
‘’Rainbow?’’
Rainbow blinked, and looked sideways into Rarity’s eyes. ‘’Yeah?’’
‘’Are you with us, darling?’’
‘’Always.’’
‘’Good.’’ Rarity smiled. ‘’Flurry’s friends are probably in the gardens. We’re going to visit them after we’re finished with this,’’ she gestured at the lunch, ‘’and then I was thinking you could stay with the children when it’s time for me to receive the Mayor’s marefriend.’’
Rainbow couldn’t help but snort. ‘’Have fun with that.’’
Rarity raised an eyebrow, before tittering a little. ‘’I’m sure everything will be fine.’’
Rainbow didn’t agree, but the chance that the secretary and marefriend of the city’s mayor wanted to harm Rarity was pretty low. Still, it didn’t sit right with her. ‘’I’d like it if you had a guard with you.’’
Rarity looked offended by the very idea. ‘’Darling, I need to be able to trust this mare. Having guards in the room isn’t very confidence-inspiring.’’
‘’True, but still.’’
‘’I’ll be fine,’’ Rarity stressed again, still sounding disbelieving. ‘’And I am perfectly capable of defending myself, darling.’’
Rainbow sighed. ‘’Very well.’’
I don’t like it, but Rarity can hold her own in a fight. She’s not weak, despite appearances.
11 December 1008
Rarity had taken the liberty of going back to her room half an hour before three, when her prospective secretary was scheduled to arrive. She’d refreshed her make-up and checked her mane and tail for any imperfections, and then slipped on a comfortable dark purple cloak with silver-blue details.
She’d also had two cups of tea prepared, kept warm by a spell she’d cast herself, and some cookies. Meetings with cookies were, of course, better than meetings without cookies.
And now, we wait.
The clock read 2:54. So, with nothing better to do, Rarity began to look at the ceiling.
It wasn’t, truth be told, a very interesting ceiling, at least not any more interesting than the other ceilings of the Crystal Palace were.
Am I doing this right?
By all rights, this is my job. I shouldn’t be passing it off to anyone else.
But I can’t do this all and care for Flurry too. In fact, I can’t even do this without caring for Flurry. The pile of documents on my desk is almost a mile high, for Luna’s sake!
Yes, I need someone to help me. Maybe even more than one person.
Let’s just hope that this mare is up for the task. Because otherwise, we have a problem.
‘’Milady, your 3 o’clock appointment is here!’’
‘’Send her in!’’ Rarity called out as she looked down.
The door opened, and a light turquoise mare with a two-toned faded red mane stepped in, dressed in a simple business suit.
‘’Good afternoon, darling,’’ Rarity called out immediately. ‘’Please, have a seat.’’
‘’Of course, Governess,’’ the mare replied. Rarity watched her move from the door to the seat; she looked nervous, but also guarded, like she expected an attack at any moment. A remnant from Sombra’s reign, perhaps?
Still, the mare sat down without any complaint. ‘’Good afternoon, milady. It’s an honour to be here.’’
‘’Thank you, darling,’’ Rarity replied. ‘’It’s a pleasure to have you here. Please, introduce yourself.’’
The mare’s red eyes, a similar shade as her mane, met Rarity’s. ‘’I’m Lily Merrimare.’’