//------------------------------// // 01 The first signs // Story: Changes of a unicorn // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// Everypony in Ponyville and its surrounding area had the time of their life as per usual. They played happily with each other, enjoyed a good talk or just took a nap in a tree. Times were good in the quiet town and every soul that lived or entered it knew it immediately. Yet there was one mare, an ivory coated, purple haired unicorn mare to be exact was busy with everything, too busy to do anything else. Somewhere in Ponyville’s very own Carousel Boutique was Rarity working with all her might in the working area of the always so wonderful building.         “No, no, no, this needs to be done by tomorrow, that needs to be done in a week... Oh dear goodness, Fluttershy’s tea party!” the mare exclaimed. Her sapphire blue eyes widened themselves after they had gone through the orders of many dresses.         From the shock she turned herself around and just looked over the area with near twitching eyes. The space in which she had to work was a mess beyond her imagination. Mannequins were knocked over and laid everywhere, pieces of fabric stretched as far as the eye could reach in the room, unfinished dresses that had taken their rest on the still standing mannequins. It was a surprise that there were no rests of food to be found.         “I clean this up after the party, right now she expects me to come... Something to wear, something to wear... Ah! This will do,” the mare mumbled in herself. She then levitated a rather simple dress towards her. It was a black colored dress that covered most of her body nice and tidy. A couple moans left her when the materials were placed comfortable around her body, much to her own surprise even.         With one last look in the mirror, a faint smile appeared from the mare as she spoke the only word she could think of. "Smashing." It was still a marvel that her makeup was still in the right places and actually presentable to those willing to see it. Something that was a good thing in her eyes.         Then the unicorn walked over to the front door of the building and opened it. Rarity was then greeted by the wonderful afternoon sun that shone not all too brightly over the land and in her ears she caught the fillies and colts playing with one another a bit further down the street. The mare took a deep inhale of the fresh air outside before her eyes closed a little. Everything was just taken into her before she set the pace of her travel. But as she wandered through the streets, Rarity began to question if things were all worth it, her boutique, her job, her friends, her earned title. ---                      One might have declared the mare crazy for the thoughts that had racing through her mind but they were haunting her for months by then. Thoughts that spoke to her to raise up to the unicorn she could be. They said to her that she was tired. Life-tired of everything around her. Disturbing thoughts from a monster that was the complete opposing side of what she truly was had surfaced.         The unicorn changed her pace all of the sudden over to a small gallop. The mare would have made her way swiftly through the streets of Ponyville. She passed hordes of ponies with the greatest of grace and ease while she had one goal in her mind.         When she reached the outskirts of the sleepy town, her pace was held on for just a bit longer. But then there was the all too familiar cottage that came into her sight. The pace got lowered into a light trot. Rarity caught up with her breath and arrived just when a familiar orange coated and blond haired cowgirl wanted to enter the cottage as well.         “Howdy Rarity, how are ya doing today?” she asked with a smile just before tapping her signature hat. It was to be expected from the other mare. Rarity didn’t even look up from it anymore.         “I am doing great, Applejack, everything is just going perfect,” Rarity replied to her. All the while she tried to lie herself out of the situation as it was.         “Great to hear sugarcube, come on in, everypony is waiting for ya,” spoke the cowgirl. Her smile stayed when she gestured Rarity to come in.         “Thank you darling,” the unicorn returned to her. She entered the cottage while setting up a fake smile. "Though do tell me, you didn't just arrive, did you?"         "Nah, arrived her 'bout half an hour ago. Was just getting a fresh nose and looking for ya," the cowgirl added. She laid a well-meant hoof on the back of Rarity.         Calmly did the unicorn enter the lovely cottage and passed through the hallway before going towards the created sounds of many other ponies. Three different voices could be clearly heard. “Afternoon everypony. How are you all doing today?” Rarity spoke up after she walked into the living room and took place on an empty pillow.         Yet it was her fellow unicorn Twilight who smiled towards the other mare. Who was also the first to answer the question. “We are doing great, Rarity. You just missed that part, Fluttershy is grabbing the tea as we speak. But how about you if I may ask?”         The purple maned mare kept on the fake smile and changed her tone into a little manipulating one. “Oh I am great, Twilight, everything is walking good, most of the orders are done and the shop is all cleaned up,” returned Rarity.         “Now that is great to hear,” the mulberry mare replied calmly.         Pinkie Pie on the other end had been inspecting the black dress for a bit while the talking was going on and could only come to one conclusion in her mind. “You look very pretty in that dress Rarity!” she boldly interrupted then. In any normal case, Rarity would be angry but she knew Pinkie.         It was that mindset which made the unicorn chuckle deeply to herself. Though she did it in a polite manner. After her sounds had died down, the mare gave a nod to the words and looked into the blue eyes of the pink coated and haired earth pony. “Why thank you, Pinkie. It is rather simple, but still perfect in my eyes,” she replied in a calm and thankful tone.         Then there was a slight shiver that went over the spine of the daring, cyan pegasus. “As long as I do not have to play for mannequin again, I am happy.” In response to that did everypony let go a friendly chuckle. Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around her for a tight hug. A hug that was returned as the pegasus herself released an awkward chuckle of her own.         It wasn't all that much later that Fluttershy finally revealed herself into the living room with the tea and snacks. “Take as much as you want, there is more than enough,” she said in her usual shy voice after it was placed on the table. But her pinkish colored mane fell before her face and she tried to get it out by lying the flock behind her ear.         “Shy, there is no need to be shy when your friends are around!” Pinkie giggled after she had let go of Rainbow and took a cup of tea. Something the rainbow maned pegasus was happy about it because of the fact that she could breathe again.         “Ah don’t say this often, but Pinkie here, has a point,” replied Applejack with a smile from her pillow. The cowgirl then reached forward in order to take a cup for herself and placed two sugar cubes into it before she picked a small biscuit.         They all giggled and Fluttershy was pulled in the group and placed next to Applejack who wrapped a hoof around the shy mare. Each of the mares had a wonderful time during the party for they shared countless stories of happened events and teased each other like they always could with their words. And to top it all off, Fluttershy really pulled everything out for the event, because there really was enough for everypony. ---   But when one is having fun, time flies and the saying was never more true as the hours passed by, sadly marking the time for everypony to go home. The sun was setting itself as the moon slowly took its dark hold of the land. Night had come once more.         In the end had they all left Fluttershy’s cottage and said their goodbyes to the grayish yellow pegasus, who waved at them as they all parted their way. Rainbow took off and flew away to her cloud palace whereas Applejack went to the Acres under a slow and steady trot. Pinkie, Twilight and Rarity walked back together to Ponyville.         It was during the way that the pink coated mare remembered the many pranks and jokes she pulled off to almost everypony, but particularly went into detail about the ones pulled on Rarity. “And remember that one time we did that prank on you, Rarity? With the flowers? Priceless!” she said in between her unstoppable snickering.         “I remember that, Pinkie, I must admit it was a nice joke, but never again please, I sneezed for hours after it,” replied Rarity in an annoyed tone. The joke was something that went into her memories as one of the most unpleasant memory she had.         “Come on Rarity, it was only a joke,” added Twilight. She tried to calm the white mare down.         “I know it was, but I am not fond of those jokes. And she knows it all too well, yet she keeps doing it,” responded Rarity even more annoyed. Her mind was truly working to just not go over her and tell her the truth as it was. The two of them could speak of luck that the pink mare didn't hear them due to her laughter about the memories of the pranks she had done in the past week alone.         Twilight chuckled a little as she made her reply. “It is Pinkie Pie remember?”         “Yes, that is very true, a fact I rather saw otherwise but what are you going to do against it?” Rarity said with a deep sigh. The thoughts and words only added more to the frustration that her mind her been torturing her with before. The thoughts of what was the value of it all.         While the three of them entered Ponyville in their calm pacing, they all went another direction after saying their goodbyes and goodnights. Pinkie went to Sugercube Corner, Twilight to the Golden Oak library and Rarity slowly walked over to her boutique.         While the white unicorn walked through the calm streets of Ponyville, she allowed her head to hang itself a little as a deep sigh left her nose every now and then. “I just don’t know it anymore... Why do I keep going like this? Why don’t I just drop my job and do something else? But what do I have to do then? Dressmaking is my life for goodness sake.” Rarity thought what was on her mind aloud until she reached her boutique.         With a simple charge of her horn had she unlocked the door. The mare went in and as she stood in the shop, her eyes fell upon the work area which was still an utter mess. Mannequins, fabric, tools, concept drawing all lying around everywhere. With the door that fell back in its lock, there was another deep sigh left the nose holes upon the sight. The unicorn didn't even bother cleaning it up. Instead she headed straight for the staircase to venture up them and into her bedroom on the top floor of the famous Carousel Boutique. ---   Rarity’s head was placed down on the pillow. She tried to get some sleep for the night. But was it not granted. Her mind kept grinding itself over a lot of matters. Yet as she laid in her bed with the blankets over herself and the forelegs placed on her belly, she kept thinking about everything. Though there even was something that came back up in her, something she had locked away for a long time and for good reasons.         Rarity remembered that long ago she was both a great manipulator. Being able to let ponies do her bidding by just speaking and looking at them. And the fact that she indulged herself in pleasure with many stallions due to her seducing nature and slender body. That side of her got both locked away and suppressed after seeing in how wrong it was for her to do, the sheer consequences it would have on her life. For years she tried to hold herself off of it, until that fatal night.         A smiling smirk began to form itself on the face of the mare as she spoke ever so softly into herself. “Tomorrow, there is going to be a new Rarity that shall wake up.” While those words softly echoed through the room, they calmed her mind from a flood of thoughts. All the way down to a near nothingness, which caused her to fall deeply asleep for what was left of the night.