The Boutique was empty - an uncommon occurrence, but not one that Twilight hadn't seen before. She'd been planning this tea party for a week (it took a lot of effort to keep Pinkie from hijacking it), but now that the day had arrived, Rarity and Spike were nowhere to be seen? Thankfully, on the door was a note which explained:
Ran out of fabric, and went to buy more; will return shortly. Twilight, you know where the key is; please let yourself in and make yourself comfortable!
— Rarity & Spike
So here Twilight was, reading on the couch and waiting for the two to return. Opalescence was busying herself with her stuffed mouse toy, and Sweetie Belle was off at school. Twilight could already smell the tea brewing in the kitchen, but she was more than content with sitting there and reading.
But alas, things were not meant to be so simple. For as Opal scurried around with her toy, she accidentally rammed into a dresser, knocking some books off the top of it.
Twilight turned her head at the noise, sighing when she saw the mess. "This is why I never got a pet..." she muttered, before amending, "...other than Owlowiscious... and Peewee...."
Twilight marked her book and set it down, got up from her seat, and moved over to the scattered books. Shaking her head, she lit her horn and picked up all of the tomes, starting to organize them all.
Then one book caught her eye. "Rarity's diary?" She began to get that curious feeling, but instantly shut it down. "No, Rarity's a friend; I'd never go through her personal belongings!"
So she placed all the books back where they were, and sat back on the couch.
Five minutes later, Rarity returned with Spike and the fabric in tow. "Sorry I'm late, Twilight; Fluttershy was herding ducks through Ponyville again, and I didn't want to get in their way."
"There were so many, Twi!" Spike remarked. "You should've seen it; I could barely see the ground between them!"
Rarity chuckled. "That's a bit of an exaggeration, but there were, indeed, a lot of them."
"No worries," Twilight waved a hoof. "I wasn't too bored; Opal knocked over some books, so that kept me busy." She gestured over to the cat, who was still playing with the toy right next to the dresser that housed the books.
Spike chuckled at the bookworm's usual antics showing through; Rarity simply nodded, looking over the tomes.
Then she froze. "Twilight? My diary didn't happen to fall when that happened, did it?"
"I didn't read it, if that's what you're wondering."
Rarity breathed a sigh of relief, but her frown remained in place as she seemed lost in thought.
Then she lit her horn. "Actually, you know what? I think it's time somepony read it."
Twilight did a double take as Rarity lifted the book from its place. "Wha— are you sure about this? I mean, you don't have to if you—"
"No," Rarity shut her down. "It's about time that somepony knew what was kept in there, and I trust you — both of you."
Spike blinked, then blushed. "D'aww, you're just saying that."
"No, I am not simply saying that. Besides," she gave a lopsided smirk, "you know how much I like drama."
The coveted diary floated down to the coffee table, where it lay dormant. "I'll take care of the tea; you just get to reading." Rarity smiled, a hint of nerve showing through her eyes, before disappearing into the kitchen.
Twilight stared at the book for a moment. "Even with her permission, it still doesn't feel right."
Spike shrugged. "Yeah, but think about it this way: we'll get a new understanding of one of our best friends."
Twilight hummed a little in indeciciveness.
"And, as a bonus, your new level of friendship with her could even make a good report to the Princess—"
That settled it; Twilight lit her horn faster than Spike could blink, and the diary was opened.
September 7, 989
Hello! My name is Rarity, and you are my diary. My Daddy gave you to me as a gift to celebrate our big move, and I'm going to tell you my experiences in this strange new place.
Now that Belle's old enough, we've finally left home and moved to Ponyville. Mommy says that I shouldn't be afraid of the ponies here, but they're so weird; they treat us so kindly, for no reason other than to be friendly! Unlike home, where every interaction was a carefully thought out play for power, this place is just so... spontaneous!
And this house is just... It's indescribable, that's what it is! Belle and I get our own bedroom? Wow!
But I'm unsure what Mommy and Daddy have planned here. They said something about getting me to meet ponies my age. But I'm only six; what use could that possibly have for them?
Well, that's all I have right now. I'll write again once I have something else to talk about.
Twilight blinked. That seemed innocent enough, but something about the subtext was off. Rarity seemed just a tad too mature for a six-year-old. And why'd she keep referring to her sister as just "Belle"?
"Wow..." Spike breathed, "the place Rarity came from sounds awful..."
"I agree," Twilight said carefully. "But I don't know of anywhere in Equestria that that'd be the case; even Canterlot isn't that harsh to where a filly would start acting like that."
He shrugged, "You know Rarity; always striving for perfection."
Twilight sighed. Perhaps her assistant was right; maybe she was overthinking things. She turned to the next entry, which was just past a ripped-out page.
September 10, 989
Diary, you'll never guess what!
So apparently, Mommy and Daddy aren't planning anything, and they just wanted me to have a fresh new start here in Equestria.
So they brought me to the local schoolhouse — which has a working bell tower, by the way! — and got me enrolled in the class. Today was my first day, and the most unexpected thing happened:
I made a friend!
Her name is Strawberry Sunrise, and she's a yellow pegasus. She sat behind me in class and offered me one of her family's home-grown strawberries during lunch. Of course, I couldn't accept, but I still appreciated her willingness to share. We got to talking, and she seems like a nice pony — although she sometimes reminds me of home with how blunt she is. I pray to Amaryllis that this lasts.
Uh-oh, Belle's awake now. If I don't get her back to sleep, I'll be climbing up the walls all afternoon trying to get her back down. Gotta go!
"Strawberry Sunrise?" Spike repeated. "I think I remember her from one of my trips to the marketplace. I agree with Rarity; she was REALLY blunt."
Twilight didn't reply; she was busy mulling over what she'd just read.
'A fresh new start here in Equestria'? Unless Rarity was from outside of Equestria, that wouldn't make a lot of sense. The fact that it seemed like she'd never seen a bell tower before confirmed at least that she wasn't from Canterlot (as there was at least two scattered throughout the city), but outside of Equestria entirely?
She also seemed rather excited to make a friend, as if she'd never had any back home (wherever that was). But what was with that 'of course, I couldn't accept' when offered a strawberry? And who was this 'Amaryllis' that she prayed to?
Then there was that last paragraph. She'd heard of the phrase "driven up the wall", but the way Rarity phrased it made it sound literal. But there was only one species Twilight knew of that could climb walls, and Rarity certainly wasn't one of them... was she?
She kept this in the back of her mind as she skipped ahead to another, later entry:
December 25, 989
Hearth's Warming is the best! I can't believe I've gone my whole life without experiencing it!
"Wait, what?" Spike blurted. "That can't be right; everypony celebrates Hearth's Warming!"
"I've got a feeling that Rarity isn't like other ponies," Twilight voiced, before continuing.
This morning, when I woke up, I found so many presents under the tree! I had to wait for Mommy and Daddy and Belle to get up, but it was so worth it.
A new case of polish! New leggings and a scarf! A hat with an actual hole for my horn, instead of that old one that never quite fit.
And tickets to an ice skating show! Strawberry even got to come with us!
Hearth's Warming is my new favorite holiday! I just wish I could've been myself the whole day through — I never even got to show off my new polish to Strawberry.
What followed was a child's drawing of Rarity, her family, and Strawberry Sunrise at the ice skating show.
Except Rarity's family was entirely black. And had blue wings. And horns. And blue eyes. And holes.
"Changelings!" Twilight hissed under her breath. "Spike, we need to—"
"Hold on a second, Twi," Spike interrupted. "Didn't Rarity insist we read this?"
Twilight paused. "You're right, she did! If that's the case... if Rarity's been... this whole time... oh gosh, I nearly just..."
Suddenly, almost everything in the diary clicked. Her harsh previous home was the Hive, Amaryllis likely being their queen at the time; she'd never had friends because she'd never been around ponies; her strangely serious tone came from being a drone; the 'up the walls' comment WAS literal — really, the only things that weren't explained were why Rarity simply called her sister 'Belle', and why they moved to Equestria in the first place.
But could it really be true? Had Rarity REALLY been a Changeling this entire time, and they'd never known?
When Twilight didn't speak for a little while, Spike took the book and flipped to another page.
June 27, 990
I'm so excited right now!
Today was the day of the Summer play, but I was struggling to finish the costumes. Just as I was about to give up, though, my horn started acting up, dragging me far out of town to a rock quarry. I thought my horn was on the fritz, when this fabulous rainbow explosion happened a ways to the west. The shockwave split open a nearby rock, revealing so many gems! I was able to finish the costumes, and you won't believe what happened during the performance:
I got a Cutie Mark!
"Hey, I remember this story!" Spike exclaimed. "Though I thought you said non-ponies couldn't get Cutie Marks?"
Twilight was just as flabbergasted as him. "That's not possible... At least, I thought it wasn't possible. But right now, I'm having a lot of my worldview reshaped, so I suppose we're in unknown territory. Maybe it was her connection to the Elements?"
The entry went on to explain what she was thinking when she got her Cutie Mark, as well as provide a drawing of it.
Now, I finally understand what my purpose here is: to spread beauty wherever I go. After all, fashion is changing your appearance to showcase yourself, and who better to provide that than a shapeshifter?
Oops, Belle's up now, and she's
Wait a second, she just said her first word! And it was my name! That's so sweet of her!
Still, I have to go. Au revoir (that's Prench for 'goodbye' — I learned it from the play)!
"I'm going to guess that's where the 'Sweetie' name came from," Spike ventured, and Twilight nodded in agreement.
They looked through the rest of the book, but it was more of the same — Rarity learning about how to be a good friend, and experiencing the things that made her who she was. And apparently, at some point in her teens, she went through something she called 'reformation', and her base form turned white with purple highlights.
"So," Spike began as he closed the book, "now what?"
Twilight pondered over everything she'd just experienced. Rarity, and her entire family, were Changelings. Did that really change anything?
Eventually, Twilight picked up the book in her magic and placed it back in its spot. "We're done, Rarity!" she called out.
The fashionista poked her head around the door frame. "So... What'd you think?" Her voice was trying hard to stay firm, but it was clear that she was incredibly nervous.
Twilight shrugged. "I thought it was pretty interesting."
Rarity blinked. "That's it? That's all you have to say about it?"
She nodded, smiling knowingly. "It was just a book written by one of my best friends; nothing more, nothing less."
It took a moment for Rarity to fully process what had been said. When she did, she looked at them both, tears forming in her eyes. "R-really?"
Twilight simply smiled back.
Spike couldn't help himself. "Well, yeah! I mean, all this really does is make you cooler!"
Rarity finally decided to move, lunging forward and grabbing both of them in a hug. "Thank you both, so much. I don't know what I did to deserve such great friends...."
As soon as the hug ended, Twilight looked Rarity in the eye, suddenly serious. "But you're still going to come clean to the rest of our friends, okay?"
Rarity nodded, "But of course."
Twilight's smile returned. "Good."
Spike tapped on Rarity's shoulder. "Hey, uh, I do have a question, though."
"What is it?" she asked.
"What made your family come here in the first place?"
Rarity thought about how to answer. "Long story short? Love famine. Queen Amaryllis set a lot of us free so we wouldn't be dragged down with her."
Spike's look became far-off. "Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."
Rarity shook her head, "Don't be. If we hadn't left, I never would've met my wittle Spikey-Wikey."
She punctuated the sentence by nuzzling his cheek, causing him to blush. "Aw, you're too kind."
Twilight smiled at the interaction. Then her face fell as she thought of a question. "What was Amaryllis like?"
Rarity sighed wistfully. "Absolutely amazing, Twilight. You should've seen her — in her heyday, she rivalled Princess Celestia in terms of sheer beauty and empathy. She may have been quite harsh in her methods, but everything she did, she did for her subjects."
Rarity turned, lighting her horn, and peeled back the end paper on the inside of the book's cover. Between it and the board was a folded up piece of paper, yellowed slightly by age. As Rarity unfolded it, Twilight saw that it had been ripped out of the journal, and realized that it was the page in between the first two entries that'd been ripped out.
On the page was a child's illustration of Rarity's family, all in their natural forms, gathered around a taller Changeling. The taller changeling had deep blue eyes, purple hair, and less holes than Chrysalis — although that could've just been a result of young Rarity misremembering. She had a smile on her face that, even through the lens of a child's drawing, conveyed so much more love than words could describe.
"I drew this after the Hive Mind went down," Rarity recalled. "That was when we knew."
Twilight reeled. "I'm sorry to hear that, Rarity."
The fashionista wiped away a tear that was trying to form in her eye. "It's in the past, darling. Now, do you want one sugar or two?"
With that, the tea party began in earnest.