It was late one night in Ponyville, and nearly everypony was asleep. Six mares inside the library were still up and having a slumber party. While most slumber parties are all about having fun and enjoying yourself, this party had a less than cheerful atmosphere, and there was times where the ponies present just sat there quietly, or crying softly. There was the occasional laughter, but it never seemed to last long.
As the night went on, the six ponies inside the tree that served as the town library and home to the librarian, Twilight Sparkle, decided that it was time to get some rest. That is, except for one, a white unicorn who decided to go outside on the balcony and enjoy the night.
As she sat there and reminisced about years past, she couldn't help but cry softly to herself. Truly unbecoming of such a lady as herself, the dressmaker did not care. Nor did she hear the sounds of another pony walking up to her.
“I still can't believe he is gone, Rarity,” asked the intruder. “has it really been 3 years since he disappeared?”
“As hard as it is to fathom, it has.” the unicorn replied, not moving. “No matter how much time has past, I still can't accept the fact that he is gone, Twilight.” She finished, lowering her head to the railing and letting tears fall steadily down her face.
Twilight took a seat next to the mare, feeling just as downtrodden as her friend. “I can't, either.” she admitted. “I spend every night hoping that he will just come up to his basket. As much as I would tease him about it and the occasional complaint about it being loud, I would give anything to fall to sleep hearing it again. To wake up to the smell of his cooking.”
They both just sat there and stared off into the night, wondering if the little purple dragon that they missed so much was looking at the same sky. Twilight stood up and started to turn away when a figure in the distance caught her attention. She looked towards it and watched as the figure came closer, and noticed that it was a pony. Watching the pony slowly making its way to Ponyville, Twilight also noted that it was slightly limping.
“Rarity,” she said, turning her head to her friend, “I think there is a pony approaching town that could use a hoof.” Twilight pointed towards the pony in the distance.
Rarity turned her head to where Twilight pointed and said, “Well, I do suppose we should help a dear out, it would be quite rude for us not to.” She stood up and wiped the tears from her face. “Lets go, shall we?”
With that, the two unicorns left the library and headed towards the pony slowly making its way towards Ponyville in the middle of the night.
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Obsidian Heartfire walked towards a small village called Ponyville. He wasn't sure why, but he was unable to rest due to the constant nagging in his mind to go to that village. Come to think of it, Obsidian wasn't too sure of anything, really. The first thing he remembered was waking up in a large room in what he later discovered was a guest room at the Palace in Canterlot. How or why, he still didn't know, just that he had traveled across most of Equestria for the past three years, not knowing where to go or why. He didn't even know who he really was.
He had named himself Obsidian because of his coat, which was black enough to make most anything else seem light. Heartfire because of his cutie mark, a heart-shaped Fire Ruby surrounded by emerald flames. His mane, which was white enough to make even Celestia's coat seem like it had a touch of grey, covered up his horn. He was thankful for that, because he wasn't able to use magic.
Obsidian looked up as the village was slowly nearing the village he had been working to reach for the last week. He would be able to walk faster, if not for the sharp pains in his back occasionally and the fact that he had been walking non stop for a week.
Obsidian saw two ponies trotting towards him from Ponyville and wondered what anypony was doing up at this Celestia forbidden hour of the night. Walking as best as he could to the pair trotting towards, he noticed that they were both unicorn mares, one was snow white, while the other was lavender colored. As they got close, Obsidian began to feel like the back of his mind had a terrible itch.
“Hello there sir, what brings you to our humble town at this time? You look tired and it seems like you were limping?” the lavender one asked.
As Obsidian heard the voice and couldn't look away from the white unicorn, who seemed to be the definition of beauty, his entire mind was tingling. As he opened his mouth to speak, the world started spinning and he passed into the world of unconsciousness.
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“Well, that was a tad rude, don't you think, darling?” Rarity asked after the black stallion passed out.
“Can you really blame him, Rarity? He looks like he's been walking non-stop for days. Anyhow, I really think we should get him inside. Manners can wait until later.”
The two unicorns used their magic to carry the passed out stallion back to the library and laid him down on the guest bed. After tiring themselves out, they decided to head to bed, Twilight laying down in her soft bed under a constellation quilt.
Rarity was still unable to find sleep and finally settled with her head laying in the basket formerly occupied by a young purple dragon that had practically given her his heart. Figuratively, and also literally, with the Fire Ruby in the shape of a heart that he had given her, despite it being meant for a snack on his birthday. Rarity let a tear fall onto the cushion as she pulled the blanket over her body, thinking about how she had broken, nay shattered, that same dragon's heart three years ago.
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She was stunned. Before her was a young dragon, professing his love for her in front of a large crowd of famous Canterlot ponies. Ponies which thought of the dragon as a mere pet. Ponies which, to gain their respect and admiration, she had to go along with it. And here that dragon was, asking her to be his mare. She didn't know what to do.
'A dragon? Loving a pony? Disgusting!' 'Yes, quite revolting.' 'Quite unfathomable.' said the surrounding ponies
“I'm sorry Spike, I can't,” she pleaded as best she could, “You understand, right darling?” It wasn't that she didn't like the drake, it was just that she wasn't entirely sure of her feelings yet, and she couldn't possibly agree to him in these circumstances.
Spike said nothing, his face showed nothing. But his eyes, his eyes showed everything, his love for the fashionista, the humility and pain from being treated like a pet, the drowning sadness of being rejected by the mare he longed for. But the strongest one of all was the dreadful sorrow of the ultimate betrayal of the pony he had held closest to his heart.
The mare who he had given his heart to. The mare that had been stabbing his heart all night, treating him like her pet for other ponies enjoyment. The mare who had just shattered his heart, denying his feelings while trying to be accepted by the Canterlot elite.
Something inside Spike's mind and soul broke in that moment. He went from being the most gentle, helpful, and kind soul in Equestria, to a rampaging beast, breathing fire everywhere. Rarity had stared in horror as she watched the young dragon change. The first thing was his eyes. They went from being a shining green, like emeralds, to the eyes of something you would only be able to find in a nightmare.
Shortly after it started, though it seemed like an eternity to those involved, especially Rarity, the now rampaging beast charged at the white unicorn and swiped a claw at her. She escaped with just her shoulder scratched, but looking at the face of the dragon, she wished it would have just gotten rid of her. The eyes of the dragon changed for a moment, looking almost like the shining green emeralds they were before, but now with a slight tint of purple in the center.
Rarity woke up with a gasp at the dream, the nightmare of the day Spike left. She had that nightmare before, but not for over two years. She had discovered that the dragon had made its way up to the highest tower in Canterlot, steadily growing larger as it went. Her sources also stated that the dragon had disappeared and minutes later, a purple body was seen falling off the tower, but no body was ever discovered.
She glanced over to Twilight and sighed, as it seemed her friend wasn't going to get a good nights sleep. The thrashing unicorn was still taking it hard, having basically lost her brother, her best and closest friend. Rarity was glad that the lavender mare wasn't haunted by the full details of what happened. 'Talk about bittersweet' She thought as she drifted back to sleep.
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Obsidian woke up to the smell of food. Stretching and opening his eyes, he observed the room he was in. It was nice and tidy, and smelled of old books. Curious of where he was, he made his way to the source of the lovely aroma. Upon entering the kitchen, Obsidian saw three mares at the table, the two unicorns from the previous night and an orange earth pony. The lavender unicorn noticed him first and stood up.
“Good morning, we didn't get the chance to properly introduce ourselves, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rarity and Applejack.” She said, pointing to the lovely white unicorn and orange earth farmpony, respectively, who both waved and said 'hello.'
“I'm, um, Obsidian Heartfire. I'm sorry for the events last night, I don't know why I passed out.”
“Do you mind me asking what you were doing out so late at night?”
“Yes dear, you looked like you were walking for awhile.”
“Well, I'm not exactly too sure. I was in Trottingham a week ago and had a feeling like I needed to be here and I've been walking since.”
“Not even tah rest? Ah reckon that'd do a number on anypony.”
“I guess it would. I'm still not even sure why I am here, to be honest.”
“Well, where are you from, Obsidian?”
“I don't know. Canterlot, I think. I woke up there three years ago, and can't recall anything that happened previous to that. I've been wandering Equestria ever since.”
“Sounds like amnesia, and I don't suppose you have any bits or a place to stay?” Obsidian shook his head. “Well, I guess I could offer the guest bedroom, is there anything you are good at?”
“I've spent the last three years trying to figure that out. I've been able to do everything I've tried, but I haven't been exceptionally well at anything. I can't even use magic.” Obsidian sighed, hanging his head and letting his mane uncover his horn.
“Well, Ah suppose Ah could give you some work down at Sweet Apple Acres. Don't need magic tah buck trees. We could sure use the help, and you could use some bits.”
“And if you don't mind dear, I could occasionally use a hoof with gem hunting for my dresses. Speaking of which, I should probably get back to the Boutique and continue. Catch you later darlings!” Rarity said, getting up and heading to the door. “It was nice meeting you, Obsidian, welcome to Ponyville.”
“It was a pleasure, miss Rarity.”
“Ah reckon Ah better get back down to the farm and get to work. Stop by anytime, Obsidian, was nice to make yer acquaintance.” Applejack followed the white unicorn outside.
“Bye, Applejack, I will visit Sweet Apple Acres when I get a chance to lend a hoof.”
Twilight waved to her friends and sat down with a hoof to her chin.
“Miss Twilight? Something on your mind?” Obsidian inquired, looking at the mare.
“Huh? Oh, nothing. Well, I do, but it's not important right now. I guess I should give you a tour of Ponyville, shouldn't I?”
With that, the pair left the library and walked around town, with Twilight pointing out different shops and introducing Obsidian to the ponies walking the streets. They decided to have a snack at Sugarcube Corner, and as they entered, Obsidian noticed something.
“Um, Twilight? Why are all the mares looking at me like that?”
“Huh?” she wondered and looked at the mares staring at the black stallion. “Oh, um. I don't know how to say it, but, um. You are rather, handsome..” She said, looking away while blushing 'This is rather awkward' she thought.
“What? Really?” he looked at Twilight and then back at the ponies watching them. “And I suppose the looks they are giving you are because they are jealous?”
“Possibly.” Twilight meeped, bolting into the bakery. Obsidian laughed heartily and followed her. He looked around the colorful building when his vision was filled with bright pink.
“Ooh! Who's the new stallion in town? Is he staying here?” Pinkie Pie started talking super fast, bouncing around, ”I just gotta give him a party to welcome him to Ponyville. Oh, why are you so close to him Twilight? Is he your coltfriend? I didn't know you had a coltfriend, I didn't even think you could get one so handsome! Were you-” Twilight shoved a hoof into the bubbly party ponies' mouth.
“He is not my coltfriend, Pinkie. He just came to town last night.” Twilight removed her hoof from her pink friends mouth and continued, “His name is Obsidian Heartfire. Obsidian, this is Pinkie Pie. And no parties tonight, Pinkie, you can throw one tomorrow.”
“Aww, but I always throw a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party.” she said, then bounced back to the stranger.
“Hello Pinkie.” Obsidian said as the pink mare came back in front of him and looked at him with a huge smile on her face.
“Hello Obsidian, do you want to be my friend?”
“Um, I don't see any reason not to be, so sure, I'll be your friend, Pinkie.”
“Yay!” she exclaimed, giving Obsidian a bone crushing hug. The pink pony smelled like cotton candy and chocolate. “Now everypony in Ponyville is my friend again!” she said excitedly, bouncing into the kitchen and returning with a delicious looking cupcake. “Here's a cupcake to welcome you to Ponyville, and for being my friend!”
Obsidian thanked the excited pony and took the cupcake and followed Twilight to a table against the wall, sitting across from her. “What exactly was that all about?”
“Oh, that's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. You will learn to accept it after awhile. A long while for some of us.. Now, let's talk about living arrangements! As I said, you can stay in the guest bedroom at the library, as long as you help with chores and keep me some company, rent free. Is this alright for you?”
“That sounds awesome, but what about money?”
“Well, you won't get any bits from helping me at the library, but you should have enough free time to help out Applejack, I know she would pay you. We can work out a schedule later. Come on, let's show you the rest of the town.”
They visited Applejack at her farm and decided that Obsidian would help out Tuesday and Thursday, and AJ showed him how to buck apples, and he tried it a few times. Then, they went to Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy answered the door and immediately hid at the sight of the new stallion.
“Well, at least that's a different reaction than the rest of the town.” he said, “But me being scary isn't much better than catching every mares eye.”
“Don't take it too hard, it's just how she acts. Her name is Fluttershy for a reason, after all.” Twilight said, and then tried calling out to her friend to come out. After half an hour, they gave up and headed to the Carousel Boutique. On their way, they came across Rainbow Dash, lounging lazily on a cloud, as it was her favorite hobby when she wasn't working or training.
“Hey Dash! Come down here and say hello to my new friend, Obsidian Heartfire.” she called. Rainbow Dash yawned and looked down below her cloud and then floated down to them. “Hey there, I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest pegasus ever! So, you're Obsidian Heartfire? Where are you staying?”
“I'm going to be staying in the library with Twilight, in the guest bedroom. She is being very kind to me and only making me do some chores instead of having to pay rent, and it is a very nice place.”
“Aw man, how did Twilight get a guy like you?” Rainbow exclaimed and then looked at her friend. “Oh, um. It's not like that, is it, Twi?” The lavender unicorn shook her head vigorously, eyes wide. “Well, I guess your cool enough, maybe we could hang out some time if you're not busy?”
“Sure, I think I would like that, Raibow Dash! Was nice meeting you.” Obsidian smiled and waved as she took off and flew away. “What is it with everyone thinking me and you are, you know?”
Twilight blushed. “Well, they never imagine that I would be with anypony, especially not one so, um, good looking as you..” she started trotting away “Now come on.” Obsidian jumped and followed after her.
When they got to the dress shop, there was a little filly sitting outside pouting.
Twilight approached the young filly, “Hi Sweetie Belle, is something wrong?”
The filly looked up at her and she smiled, “Oh hey Twilight! Nothings really wrong, its just that my sister is fretting about some 'marvelous new stallion in town' that she is designing herself a new dress and...” she trailed off, just now noticing Obsidian standing there. “That's who she was talking about, right Twilight? Hinicetomeetyoubye!” she finished and ran off fast enough to rival Pinkie Pie.
“Well, that was strange. That was Sweetie Belle, Rarity's younger sister. I have no idea why she ran off.”
“That was Rarity's sister? I guess beauty must run in her family. Some colt will be lucky to have someone like that later in life.” Obsidian realized he was voicing his thoughts, “I just said that out loud, didn't I?” Twilight nodded, trying not to smile. “Let's just pretend that never happened?” The unicorn responded by making a zipping motion across her mouth.
“Not a word. Ready to see Rarity, Casanova?” she teased, knocking on the door.
“Hey, that's not even cool, Twiley.”
The door to the Boutique opened, revealing a very surprised Rarity, “Well hello dears, what are you doing here?”
“We decided to come visit you on our tour of Ponyville, and I was also wondering when it would be good to come help you out.” Obsidian said, maybe a little too excitedly.
“I see. Well, Saturdays would probably be best for me for gems, but feel free to come by anytime you like, darling. How are you liking Ponyville?”
“It's amazing, all the ponies are really nice, even if some are a little odd. It's much better than Las Pegasus, that's for sure.”
“Well, I am glad you like it here. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a big order I have to finish.” Rarity said, turning to go back inside.
“I would love to sta-”
“That's fine Rarity.” Twilight interrupted the black stallion. “Me and Obsidian have a bit to talk about and a schedule to work out, anyways.” she finished, giving a small glare to the stallion before starting towards the library.
“Um, yea. Bye miss Rarity.” he said, reluctantly turning to follow his roommate.
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Rarity sat down on her couch after Twilight and Obsidian left and stared at the door after them. He was stunning in his own rights, but there was something about his eyes that just drew her in. She unconsciously made her way to the closet, pulled out a box, and began making a dress with the items inside. Rarity's mind was elsewhere. 'Those eyes. Shining bright green eyes, almost like emeralds, surrounding a hint of purple. I could just stare at them for hours. No, Rarity!' She shook her head and continued, still not paying attention to the dress. 'That would be most un-ladylike indeed. Can't be behaving like that in front of such a nice stallion. What would he think?' She frowned slightly 'I do hope he stays in Ponyville. He has been wandering around Equestria for years, after all. But then again, he did seem to feel somewhat comfortable around here. But why is he staying with Twilight? Surely he would be up to stay-'
She shook her head vigorously, interrupting that thought. 'Now now, Rarity, don't be going and thinking like that, you silly mare. Such a lady does not think such things.' She looked at the clock and gasped. It had already been 4 hours since Twilight and Obsidian had visited. 'Well, it seems time really flies when you are lost in thought, daydreaming about a stallion...' She then looked at the dress her subconscious had made and her mouth opened slightly.
The dress was mostly black, with green accents. Such colors were odd for her to use, but that isn't what stood out. Instead of the usual gems adorning the garment, there was scales. Purple dragon scales, to be exact. At the front of the dress, there was the perfect spot for a necklace that she owned to go. The heart-shaped fire ruby necklace, given to her by the same little dragon that had given her some of his scales to make a dress.
With a barely audible whimper, she made sure the sign for the shop said 'Closed' before heading upstairs to her bedroom and laying down, her face buried in her pillow. She laid there for awhile before hearing a soft knock at the door.
“Rarity, can I come in?” a young filly asked, to which Rarity didn't respond. A few minutes later, another knock came, followed shortly by her door opening. Light hoofsteps were heard making their way to her bed before the owner of them talked again. “You really do miss him, don't you sis?” the filly asked, before climbing up onto the bed and laid next to her sister.
“Yes, Sweetie Belle, I do.” she said, looking at her younger sister. “I wish I could go back and tell him what I really wanted to, and not what I did say. All of it could have been prevented..” Rarity looked down, tears coming to her eyes.
“You couldn't have known that he would react like that, Rarity.” the little filly responded, nuzzling the side of her sister, trying to comfort her.
“That is true, but I should have realized how much I did mean to him. Instead, I just tried to impress the so called 'upper-class' in Canterlot. Turned out the only reason they were being friendly to me at all was because of my friendship with Celestia.” she sniffled, nuzzling Sweetie Belle back. “I just feel like such a foal for that. Not only did I not get anywhere at the show, but I also lost the one guy who truly did care for me. All because I was selfish, wanting to be part of the 'elite' and dreamed of having a true gentlestallion, when I had the perfect gentledrake right next to me the entire time.”
Sweetie Belle wasn't able to find words for her sister, so she just sat there pressed against her crying sister. 'This just feels so backwards, normally she would be the one to be comforting me...' she thought to herself. After a few moments, she decided to talk again. “I miss Spike too, Rarity. Maybe not as much as you, or Twilight, but he was still there for us all. Even after we humiliated him during our crusading, he still helped us feel better after Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon really got us down. He even danced with me during Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's wedding.” The little filly let out a few tears of her own, wrapping a hoof around her big sister. “But I guess we all have to accept that he is gone, even if we wish he wasn't. And what about what you were saying earlier today about that new stallion?”
“Huh? You mean Obsidian? Well, I had wanted to impress him. Again, me being a selfish foal. But I just felt wrong about it after looking at his eyes. They reminded me so much of Spike that I felt guilty for wanting it, and then created that dress without even stopping and looking or thinking about it.”
“Well, maybe you should move on. I'm sure Spike would hate to see you like this, Rarity.” she hugged the older mare. “It might even be a sign to move on, even if part of you will always belong to him.”
“You're right, Sweetie. I guess I should try again. Besides, I can't hurt somepony else like I did Spike. Thank you Sweetie Belle.” she hugged the little unicorn and nuzzled her mane, still sniffling, but feeling a little better than earlier.
The two unicorn sisters eventually fell asleep in each others embrace, glad for the comfort the other brought.
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Obsidian woke up the next morning and groggily walked down the hall to the bathroom, but found it locked. He started to continue walking when his ears perked up and he heard some singing from the other side. Smiling a little at what he heard, he just sat there and waited. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal a clean and somewhat still wet Twilight Sparkle, who hadn't noticed the stallion in the hallway yet.
Obsidian smiled to himself and spoke up, “Twilightlicious, huh?” Twilight instantly screamed and bucked him in the head without thinking, knocking him unconscious.
After Twilight calmed down, she looked at who the “intruder” was, only to facehoof. “Oops. I guess I forgot that I wasn't the only one here now.” Twilight lifted the unconscious stallion with her magic and carried him downstairs and laid him on the couch, then to the kitchen to start breakfast.
Obsidian woke up with a groan and a splitting headache. He opened his eyes to see a concerned but upset Twilight Sparkle. “Not a word about what you heard. Got a headache?”
Obsidian was strangely frightened by the mare, who seemed worried and demonic at the same time. “Uh, yea. I guess I fell down the stairs and landed on my head.” he replied tentatively, rubbing his head.
“I got some asprin waiting with breakfast for you. Go eat.” she said, pointing to the kitchen. “I got to get started on studying. Oh, and Obsidian? Take care not to fall anymore.” she grinned, walking to her desk and levitating a few books towards the surface. Obsidian grunted and went to go take the asprin and eat breakfast.
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