Even after a full day since it’d started the storm over Ponyville raged on; even growing worse as it continued despite its length thus far. While most rather appreciated hearing the pitter-pattering of the rain on their rooves as they slept along with the calming atmosphere that came with being hidden away from the weather indoors; Rarity found herself once again frustrated with the noise of the thunder, wind and water… and wide-awake in the middle of the night once again, too.
Reflection on yesterday’s events had left the unicorn ashamed; highly embarrassed that she’d let her elegant composure slip over such a petty matter… but she still felt her frustration was justified; she had checked herself over again at home in the evening’s darkness and found not a blemish on her perfect hide; as she always guaranteed before heading out on her way.
Maybe the others were right, though; it was likely a symptom of a passing illness or the like… but she’d been suffering from insomnia like this for four nights now; alongside her supposedly affected looks. She had to wonder if it couldn’t be something else at this point; perhaps something in her diet that had done it, or maybe it really was the atrocious weather. It was an awful shame, too; seeing as her unhealthy, or at least just awkward; condition had started after that wonderful evening at Canterlot.
Still, by the looks of things there wasn’t much Rarity could concede that she could do but accept her current state of mind and body; and simply look forward to the end or at least resolution of her physical problems. She certainly didn’t seem to be in much of a state to have any issues with her everyday life beyond some consistent tiredness; but even that seemed to melt away so long as she was in the safety of her own home. Maybe it was just some sort of anxiety...
But really, Rarity hadn’t the mind to deal with such psychological issues; let alone the care at the moment. It was the middle of the night; it was pouring with rain, and she wanted to sleep; whether her body did or not. While she did have a rather empty schedule for her next day apparent from taking care of her shop and her orders; she still would rather not be spending the day fast asleep. Not that she wouldn’t miss a chance for a little beauty sleep, of course; but her business and family were more important.
For now the unicorn simply attempted to will herself to sleep once again; trying to place her thoughts of tomorrow’s ambitions and plans aside. She had far bigger problems to deal with; and with her supposed illness on hand things would only become more difficult…
Upon finding her satin sheets showered with midday sunlight once again Rarity was far from surprised; knowing there really wasn’t anything she could do about her apparent insomnia’s affect on her wake-up time. She knew she couldn’t let her worries get out of control, though; she had things to do today; and she didn’t want any of her current concerns to get too much in the way of her everyday life; especially after yesterday’s hassle. Her life was beginning to burn out of control already; she didn’t want…
Burn. Burning. Smoke. She could smell it; coming from downstairs.
Sweetie Belle.
Lunging straight out of her bed without a second thought (and quickly regretting it given the cold beyond outside her little den of pillows and sheets) Rarity dashed downstairs in a practiced fashion; more used to this particular brand of chaos that she would like to admit. It took only seconds for her to enter the kitchen with her present haste; just about screeching to a stop within the room.
Thankfully it seemed that the situation was already under control; as there were no clear flames and Sweetie herself was only slightly singed; with a bit of a charred mane. Given the presence of the other Cutie Mark Crusaders Rarity assumed that they had managed to deal with the fire already; although it certainly had occurred given the bowl of burnt cereal still sitting on the counter (complete with a little circle of ashen soot around it). In all honesty even in a world of magic Rarity totally failed to understand how one could burn cereal; and the fact that it apparently had been pulled off by the application of milk as evidenced by the carton beside it just confused her further. She ought to have Twilight run tests to see if milk actually could combust.
‘I-It’s okay, Rarity! We’ve got it under control!’ chirped the unicorn’s younger sister; earning but a sigh of relief from her elder. ‘Um, I’m sorry; b-but we’ll clean up, I promise!’
With a chorus of nodding from the other fillies Rarity’s attempt to voice her opinion that perhaps her little sister’s special talent was simply an existent of ‘anti-cooking’ was submerged in a sea of puppy-dog eyes; leaving the mare to just give up before she ended up a mile-long guilt trip. After all, she was pretty experienced in dealing with catering disasters; particularly when they involved her own kitchen.
‘Apple Bloom was trying to cook us something for lunch; and Sweetie thought that maybe she could do something for you too; sort of a… midday breakfast.’ Explained Scootaloo; wisely dropping her attitude when it came to dealing with Rarity; ‘But Apple Bloom got her part done; so if you want some of the pancakes she finished to make up for it, then…’
While her nostrils were clogged with smoke Rarity had managed to pick up on the previously enigmatic scent of maple syrup; and despite being about to reject the offer seeing as the current condition of the kitchen wasn’t really confidence inspiring; but upon having her attention drawn to a rather enticing if now rather meagre stack of still-warm pancakes; lavishly lathered with maple syrup. As fanciful as Rarity’s tastes were; she certainly wasn’t about to pass up that sort of feast.
‘I think that’ll work well enough as compensation for the damage you’ve wrought here…’ mused the unicorn; clearly more than a little distracted by the promise of decent food; especially seeing as her cooking skills weren’t exactly stellar either. ‘But please; could you head outside if you’ve had breakfast? I have a good number of dresses to get done today, among other things.’
‘We were heading out anyway, sis.’ Replied Sweetie Belle, with an enthusiastic nod; her energetic attitude rather enticing Rarity; although the unicorn soon shook herself out of her stare. ‘Cheerilee was going to let us act as Cutie Mark Crusader Assistant Teachers in the preschool!’
‘That’s right!’ chirped Scootaloo; the magenta-maned pegasus finally piping up; ‘And we’ve got this amazing plan to get the kids moving. We’re going to play the a sort of Duck-Duck-Griffon thing; but Applebloom got one of her big brother’s mallets this morning so it’ll ha-’
Before Scootaloo could finish she ended up with a white-furred hoof over her mouth and another pushing her and her Crusader comrades along towards the boutique’s entrance courtesy of an unsurprisingly hasty Rarity; albeit for more reasons than the obvious. ‘T-That’s nice, dears; but as I said I’m very busy right now and would like to have the house to myself, so be on your way now, hm?’ said the fashionista hurriedly; not really comfortable on having small foals with bludgeoning tools in her lavishly decorated emporium. ‘Now, ta-ta! I’m sure Cheerilee doesn’t want you to be late!’
And with that the CMCs were met with a door slamming behind them; leaving Rarity to sigh in relief within her home and fortress; not to mention finally deal with her schedule. In truth she had more reason than just the obvious preference of not having concussion against having concussion; in this case being that she’d gained a strange hunger around the foals; which centred itself on the fillies rather than the pancakes that had so tempted her in the first place; or at least which she had thought had so tempted her in the first place.
She soon shrugged off the temptation, however; wisely deciding not to dwell on the concept of finding her little sister and her similarly young friends appealing in any lust-based fashion; especially since she’d found her gaze dwelling on their bodies before she’d snapped herself out of it. She definitely didn’t see her sibling in such a way… although she got the feeling that she really shouldn’t have been all that worried about seeing her in a provocative way; given at the time she had far more feral desires in mind; beyond even that…
Eager to rid herself of her musings and her current sense of hunger Rarity soon bore down on the plate of cooling but still reasonably warm pancakes she’d been left with at her dining table; disappointed to find that their scent certainly wasn’t as delectable as she’d thought it would be now that the smoke had been reasonably cleared. Still, she certainly wasn’t going to complain about free, decent food… and for the moment she was going to ignore the fork that she had only just noticed jammed in the toaster; although thankfully it seemed that at least one of the fillies had taken the power out.
Upon finally beginning to try and work through her meal Rarity’s disappointment only grew; finding that along with the somewhat unimpressive scent despite the appearance of the foodstuff that the fashionably late breakfast had a rather tasteless flavour to it; with only a hint of the delectable nature she’d been expecting. Even though it seemed filling the unicorn certainly didn’t feel satisfied; although her bizarre but subtle hunger did seem ever so slightly dumbed down.
She really hadn’t the time to waste on sulking over her issue; as she had a schedule to stand by. She had spent far too long attempting to dig through her breakfast in the hopes that she might be able to satiate herself and thus was already somewhat overdue on meeting up with Applejack; for the sake of restocking some of her little sister’s favourite food. As much as the fashion designer rather disliked her farming friend due to her rather less dignified choice in career, not to mention overall hobbies and preferences; Rarity could certainly appreciate the company of someone less likely to chew her ear off with questions than Twilight and was still able to form more than one sentence at a time in a conversation unlike Fluttershy. But still, for the time-being she had quite the intimidating breakfast to deal with… and she certainly didn’t want the food going stale in her perfectly clean house, either; the smoke had been bad enough.
With her breakfast set aside at last Rarity suppressed her ravenousness and finally found her chance to get herself properly dressed and made-up for her trip out into the rain once more; cringing a little upon leaving and seeing her shop’s sign still set to closed. Her insomnia had really driven her business to a halt due to her late awakenings; and all the dealings with her friends she’d been having as of late hadn’t done much to help her work either. But still, there was little she could do about the issue as far as she knew; and she had gotten fairly good business in the Summer anyway; courtesy of a number of customers hailing from the lofty social group in Canterlot she’d managed to join.
For now she simply addressed the issue at hand, though; propping up her umbrella once again and stepping to the rain; which thankfully seemed to have eased off a little as of the new day. No doubt the weather team’s best ponies had been on point for the first days of the storm; and were now just sleeping it off while the rookies took over. Besides, Rarity didn’t know that much about the weather and all but she at least figured that the clouds overhead were probably running a bit dry by now; even if they certainly didn’t look it from the ground.
Thankfully the unicorn’s path to Sweet Apple Acres was relatively uneventful if rather damp; although it was clear that the conditions of her visit weren’t going to change in a hurry as Rarity spotted her farming friend’s orange coat amidst the pouring rain. Rarity couldn’t believe that the earth pony was out on the job on a day like this; still insistent on hefting around hay bales outside despite the terrible weather. The fashionista certainly wouldn’t be caught dead outdoors without at least an umbrella on hand; let alone without and while doing manual labour.
Deciding it best not to even threaten her manicured sand cleaned hooves with the prospect of ending up in mud and sodden soil Rarity simply leaned against the fence line Applejack was working beyond; managing to attract the mare’s attention with her awkward attempt to act refined while in such a stereotypically farming-related position; with the weather not doing her dainty demeanour any favours either.
‘Howdy, Rares!’ called out Applejack in greeting; quickly trotting over to the unicorn with her usual well-meaning smile; splashing a bit of mud as she moved. Much to Rarity’s relief she was at least wearing some proper rubber boots to deal with the muddy field; although she seemed blissfully ignorant of the awful rain; her mane and coat sodden and dripping with water. As the mare moved closer Rarity took a step back; not keen on at all touching the drenched pony. ‘What bring you out here in this weather? I would’a reckoned you’d be all huddled up inside with the way you usually go whacko over getting wet.’
‘While I’m glad that you appreciate me coming out in the rain to chat to you;’ begun Rarity; far from pleased by the earth pony’s snarky remark and thus giving Applejack a scolding glare for the comment. ‘I do have business to attend to with you. I placed an order on a barrel of your apples last week, remember? Could you get it by my place tomorrow morning; hopefully when the rain eases up a little?’
‘Oh, yeah! No problem; I can get it all figured out now. Come on down with me to the barn; I’d like a chat and I oughta be finishing up here anyhow.’ Replied Applejack; nodding her head towards the red-painted farmhouse further down the fence line before taking the lead towards it with a gentle trot; leaving Rarity to keep up. ‘I’m sure you think I’m some sorta dirt-loving animal; but I do like to be out of the rain and slog myself.’
‘Hm, well; you certainly don’t act like it, then.’ Mumbled Rarity; clearly still far from pleased by the mare’s state of hygiene but tolerant enough to follow her lead; simply appreciating her umbrella’s presence. ‘Still, at least you’re actually somewhat more polite than the rest of my friends who I’ve spoken to lately.’
‘Oh, really? I always reckoned you got along well with most folks.’ Replied Applejack, a little surprised by the suggestion; arching an eyebrow in curiosity. ‘Well, most of the folks you hang about anyhow. All that jibber-jabber about fashion and gossip and whatever other nonsense you’re all about would go right over any of my folks’ heads. Heck, I thought you went along to all those Canterlot parties lately; woulda’ thought you’d be as happy as a pig in mud.’
‘They have been quite enjoyable occasions on the whole; although I certainly don’t really appreciate your metaphor regarding my enjoyment in being involved in them.’ Grumbled Rarity; far from pleased to be compared to swine; especially in her least favourite terrain. ‘But no, my main issues have been with Ponyville’s residents, actually. It seems like everyone I’ve chatted to lately has just been intent on insulting my looks.’
‘Huh, well; I never thought you as one somepony could really take offence to the look of. I mean, I’m here drenched in rain and caked with mud; I certainly can’t hold a candle to you; at least for the moment. I mean, sure; people have tastes; but you’re the fashion guru, right?’ Remarked Applejack; not really keen on complimenting the embittered unicorn but also anything if not honest. She might consider herself reasonably attractive; but when push came to shove she would Rarity was more conventionally good-looking; or at least put far more effort into her appearance. ‘Still, maybe you shoulda’ asked ‘em what was up.’
‘There’s absolutely no excuse for such blunt rudeness!’ whined the unicorn; picking up her pace a little as her temper took over yet again; leaving Applejack to have to step up her own pace in order to keep up with the haughty mare. ‘Aloe…well, Aloe or maybe Lotus and Fluttershy of all people should know how sensitive I feel about my looks!’
‘Hey now, cool down; would ya?’ grumbled Applejack; somewhat irritated by her friend’s sudden temper tantrum; ‘I’m sure they didn’t mean anything by it; they were just trying to look out for you. I mean, heck; Flutters wouldn’t harm a fly without being seriously ticked off.’
‘But I’m looking perfect; even in this weather! I checked at home and all as well! I think it’s just some awful prank; seeing as even Twilight and Spike said the same thing.’ Whinged Rarity; unsurprisingly still refusing to back down from her complaints despite how much they were obviously irking Applejack. ‘It’s simply insulti-’
‘Hold your horses already, Rarity!’ interrupted Applejack; rounding on the unicorn and blocking her way to the now nearby barn; halting Rarity’s little march. ‘Enough of your whining, alright? I get that you’re bugged about what they might’ve said but land sakes, Rares; calm down. Besides, I reckon they have a point. You’re lookin’ a little pale anyhow; so maybe you should’ve listened and asked a little more in the first place instead of goin’ ballistic and closing yourself off behind your vanity!’
Left unsurprisingly furious by the slander of both her looks and attitude Rarity was in no state to be playing nice even with her friendly rival of sorts being the target of her attention; returning Applejack’s aggression in similar strains despite her far from violent approach; as her recent stress had done her temper no favours. ‘You haven’t the slightest clue what I’ve been going through as of late, Applejack; so still your tongue before you say anything more that you might regret!’ snapped the fashionista; shooting the mare before her a harsh glare; ‘As if everyone else wasn’t giving me a hard enough time it seems you’re intent on jumping aboard the harassment wagon as well! And I thought you farmers were meant to at least have some sense of honour; out of all the staples of simple eloquence you so sorely lack; you filthy sandraker!’
Rarity’s infamously obnoxious complaints earned her a brisk shove from her supposed compatriot; who was now well and truly fed up with the unicorn’s lip. ‘It’s your own damn fault if you’re stressed, Rarity; since it seems to be mainly coming from you not giving a hoot about the rest of us girls’ opinions! Didn’t you learn anything from all those times you’ve freaked out over little things in the past?’ growled Applejack; quite comfortable with taking on Rarity physically and admittedly somewhat eager too; having always had a bit of a score to settle with the fashionista; ‘If you’re not going to listen then I am gonna make my point heard via other means; and I reckon you know what I’m talkin’ about here. I won’t beat around the bush about beating you around the bush.’
While far from a fighter Rarity would not back down now that the challenge had been made; attempting to shove Applejack out of her way with a rather blunt application of her magic; and having about as much success as one would expect given her target’s race and strength; not to mention that Rarity certainly hadn’t studied the use of magic as a weapon. Still, the unicorn’s temper made sure that the hit was enough to force Applejack to stumble.
‘…You and me, hoss.’ Snarled the earth pony; pouncing upon Rarity with practiced fury; her endless tussles with her older brother in her youth giving her a definite one-up over her demure foe; swiftly pinning the unicorn on her back against the drenched grass; only to earn herself a quick whack on her back from the umbrella Rarity had rather slyly kept a hold of.
Using the admittedly rather sharp umbrella as a wedge to push Applejack off of her Rarity clumsily regained her footing; staring the earth pony down once again; now furious given her dirtied state. All that work in the… well, she’d call it a morning, anyway; all for nothing now. Refusing to give the farmer the benefit of being the aggressor Rarity simply full-on tackled the mare; attempting to force her onto the ground and having unsurprisingly little success given the steadfast nature and tough built of her intended victim.
Rarity’s attempted strike only earned her a buck to her chest from her infuriated opponent; the unicorn’s light frame making the blow send her through the barn’s presently loosened doors; left ajar in preparation for the end of the storm and the subsequent need to put out the feed for the animal once the rain cleared up. Rarity was sent tumbling into the darkness within the barn and straight into a pile of the spare hay that littered the barn’s floor; less than appreciative of the soft landing it offered given the further dirtied state of her pelt; the pieces of straw sticking to her already muddy fur.
‘Aaaah!’ screeched the unicorn; briefly assessing her previously pristine looking coat’s now utterly ruined condition; totally horrified by her condition. Upon regaining some of her composure (not to mention her footing) the mare shot the now advancing Applejack a powerful glare. If looks could kill; well; Rarity was guilty of second-degree murder… assuming she wasn’t in the inevitable fight between her and her ‘friend’.
While not really loathing Rarity Applejack did allow herself a bit of smugness over the vain unicorn’s horror; proud to have taken her down a notch for once. However, the earth pony was satisfied to end the fight there, not really interesting in getting in a hoof-fight with Rarity. It wasn’t really friendly behaviour; especially not acceptable for an element of harmony… and besides, compared to her usual opponent of Rainbow Dash, the unicorn was really barely a challenge.
‘You’re as good as dead!’ snarled Rarity; quick to turn Applejack’s internal complaint straight back on her as the earth pony got a solid punch to her muzzle as soon as she entered the barn; finding her dainty friend packing quite enormous power for her demure frame; managing to send the mare off of her feet with the blow. Left lying on her side in a small tuft of hay from the impact Applejack quickly got back on her hooves; finding her newfound foe already heading her way; the unicorn’s temper tantrum leaving her far from on the defensive despite Applejack’s good hit on her.
Rarity pounced onto the earth pony with feral fury; easily pinning her with unnatural strength; although the unicorn’s blurred state of mind made her miss the factor while Applejack was simply stunned by the demure mare’s sudden power. She soon found something else getting her attention, though; as the darkness of the barn certainly made her eyes pronounced… and the way they were very slightly glowing; the black pupils of the unicorn having expanded beyond natural proportions to cover her blue irises completely. While not exactly monstrous Rarity’s gaze was chilling to Applejack; a long-repressed instinct trying to warn her in some way as she felt her fight-or-flight instincts kicking in; a wave of terror overcoming her mind.
Applejack’s hesitation (not that there was a lot that she could do but struggle) earned her another solid punch to her muzzle from Rarity; although luckily for the earth pony the unicorn didn’t follow it up with another blow; despite her attitude seriously threatening such punishment. Instead the unicorn finally relented; seeming about as confused as Applejack as she finally regained some control over her fury. Only then did both mares fully cease their tussle, as they just about simultaneously noticed the blood trickling off of Applejack’s snout and thus Rarity’s left hoof.
With a yelp of shock Rarity immediately backed off of Applejack; darting out of the barn without a second thought; and leaving the earth pony she’d abandoned utterly bamboozled by the entire display. Applejack was hardly hurt despite the blood, as it’d only come from a rather minor nosebleed rather than anything serious; and given her lifestyle such little injuries were fairly common anyway. Still, she certainly wasn’t comfortable seeing Rarity lash out like that; although admittedly she was far more concerned and perplexed by the unicorn’s mysterious strength… had she been underestimating her this whole time, or was something much more suspect involved?
Vastly thankful to have escaped from the violent grip of her previous adrenaline and frustration Rarity finally made it home to Carousel Boutique; utterly ashamed and admittedly more than a little scared by her outburst. For now, though; she was just absolutely exhausted… albeit emotionally, rather than physically. She was still a little strained from the little tussle; but in all honestly she was fairly good to go, considering how her day had been thus far.
Pushing open the door with a sigh of both relief and simply exhaustion Rarity once again saw the blood on her hoof, idly licking the liquid… before realising exactly what she’d done and double-taking in disgust; attempting to spit out the iron-tasting fluid. She couldn’t manage to force her body, too; though; the blood tasted delectable and such refreshment was a godsend given Rarity’s recent nagging starvation and thirst.
Despite the relief that her apparently rather sufficient drink offered her Rarity reeled in disgust at her own actions; only to end up faced with something rather more distracting than her current predicament standing in her house.
‘Oh, Spike!’ blurted out the unicorn, partially surprised and admittedly partially relieved; albeit more that it wasn’t something worse than any particular appreciation for the dragon’s presence. Sure, it was nice to have him around to help with things and his compliments were always welcome; but given her current exhaustion she wasn’t really in the mood for his flirtations.
‘Hi Rarity; I was wondering where you were.’ Greeted Spike; darting off for but a moment to snag the mare a towel; having unsurprisingly noticed her less than pristine condition. Rarity took the towel gratefully with her levitation; hastily doing her best to clean herself up with rather poor results given how much the mud had managed to cake on her fur. Spike was tempted to raise the point of her late appearance compared to when she’d organised for his visit previously, but he knew he’d just get the usual excuse of her need to be ‘fashionably late’.
‘Hey, are you okay? You look a little roughed up.’ Asked Spike as the unicorn walked on in; leaving wet patches as she trotted on; quite a bit too concerned about her current state to be handing her draconic admirer in a rush. ‘Here, pass me the towel and I’ll wash you up properly.’
With a sigh Rarity just dropped the towel she’d been levitating into Spike’s claws; leaving him to rush off and dampen it while the unicorn took a well-deserved seat on her fainting couch; careful to avoid accidentally staining her furniture in any way with her less than pristinely clean coat. The mare didn’t even bother to complain as Spike tended to her coat; as while she would typically never leave her appearance in the hooves of anyone but a professional given her present state she hadn’t the motivation to complain about the dragon’s efforts to clean her up a bit.
And, to Spike’s credit; he didn’t do a bad job in the end. Rarity lost track of time as she was pampered by the dragon; still refusing to speak throughout her improvised grooming session; although by the end of it that was more due to not wanting to ruin her relaxation than due to her previous shell-shock of sorts. Regardless, with a sigh the unicorn decided to face up to the fact that she owed Spike an explanation as he finished carefully combing through her mane.
‘I’m sorry about my attitude, Spike; but as you could probably guess I’ve had quite the day thus far.’ Remarked Rarity demurely; dropping her earlier stress from her tone entirely; a practiced and perfected skill of hers. ‘Essentially, Applejack and I had a… professional disagreement. Nothing more.’
Spike nodded along respectfully with the unicorn’s explanation; although even Rarity knew that he had no doubt figured out that one doesn’t get that dirty and bruised from a ‘professional disagreement’. But that was certainly the most he was going to get out of her; and far more than most ponies would get her to say anyway. ‘But I digress, Spike; right now I just really want to cool off and have a rest.’
‘So, uh… no working on dresses or anything today?’ asked Spike, looking a little crestfallen; unsurprisingly more than a little let down to be watching his possible day with his crush slipping straight through his claws.
‘Not quite, Spikey; I’d just like to have a nap before we do anything.’ Replied Rarity; giving the dragon a little affectionate if condescending pat on his head; finally standing up again after her rather selfish grooming session. ‘…but, actually; could you do me a very, very big favour; Spikey-Wikey?’
Naturally Spike was unable to refuse a demand from Rarity; especially with his pet name involved; nodding his head vigorously; much to Rarity’s amusement… and slight guilt. ‘Well, it would be absolutely exemplary if you could please just take care of the shop for an hour or two while I sleep?’
‘Um, well; I guess I can. Twilight’s already rushed off to Canterlot, so I’m certainly free for tonight.’ Replied Spike a little awkwardly; more than a little nervous to find such a responsibility on him. Rarity just chuckled a little; she’d left the shop in his claws before and he’d done alright; so she hadn’t any major concerns… she did feel rather guilty now that she’d seen his nervousness, though. She really did hate ending up toying with the dragon’s affections for him, but… well, at the moment she felt she had little choice. She really did need to keep her shop running despite her recent misfortune, after all… and besides, it was an awful day out; Spike would probably have very few customers to deal with anyway.
‘Thank you so much, Spikey!’ chirped Rarity; giving the dragon a light but enthusiastic hug; certainly appreciative that she’d could have her rest in peace with him on the case. ‘For being such an outstanding assistant I’ll let you have your pick of what’s left of our last gem haul when I wake up…’
‘But here’s a little in advance, hm?’ teased the unicorn, giving Spike a tiny peck on his cheek; smirking a little in satisfaction upon seeing the dragon turn bright red as always. Still head over heels for her… not that Rarity had any doubts of that to begin with.
‘I’ll be up again in no time, darling.’ Purred Rarity before leaving Spike to take care of the showroom; a noticeable skip in his step following the unicorn’s little kiss; an all too familiar sight for her. With that out of the way Rarity pretty much collapsed on her bed, feeling far better now that she had an afternoon to herself after all the chaos that had occurred earlier. Regardless of illnesses, fights, and awful weather; Rarity was not going to allow her perfect composure be tarnished…