//------------------------------//
// Torn 
// Story: Fur and Feathers 
// by Nexas 
//------------------------------//

	If the inside of the Boutique was messy before, than now it was now a war zone. Clothing and fabrics have been torn to shreds and string which draped over everything in the room. Mannequins were knocked over, tables were flipped and smashed, and scorch marks from Opal covered the floor and walls. The clothing Rarity had been working hard on were now in tatters, scattered across the store. 

All in all, it wasn't something that Rarity would just be able to sweep under the rug.

"Careful Angel." Fluttershy motioned the earth pony over to one of the remaining couches. Angel slowly followed her, balancing the unconscious Opalescence on his back.

"That's good." Fluttershy pointed to the couch when they were beside it. "Put her down gently."

Angel silently thought for a moment, looking from Fluttershy to the couch and back again. Slowly, and deliberately, he leaned away from the couch, unconscious Opal sliding off his back and flopping onto the floor in a mess of limbs and fur.

"There," He stated, grinning smugly.

This earned him a glare from his owner. "Angel," she said sternly.

"What? I tried to put her down gently, but she didn't want that." He looked down at the cat on the ground. "Isn't that right Opal?" He asked.

Opal, who was still unconscious, did not reply.

Angel nodded solemnly. "She agrees with me."

Fluttershy sighed, crouched downward, and started to pick Opal off the ground. "Just help me get her up, please."

"Why?" He asked, exasperatedly. "Just earlier she was trying to turn Winona into a stain in the dirt. Why should we help her?"

"Because Rarity needs it." Applejack said to Angel, joining the conversation. Beside her Winona had been placed on a pile of soft clothing, her erratically twitching leg symbolizing that she was now sleeping instead of unconscious.

"To be honest; Ah don't like helping her either," Applejack stated honestly, glumly. She reached down to pet Winona caringly. "And Ah especially don't like it that mah dog was caught in the crossfire. But Ah believe that no matter how bad Ahm feeling, Rarity's feeling twice as bad."

The three of them turned their heads as one to the front doors of the boutique where Twilight and Rarity were still standing in the doorway. Rarity was sitting on the ground, her eyes trained on the floor tiles as she talked to Twilight, who simply stood and listened quietly. None of them could hear what they were saying but knew better than to go and ask.

"Fine." Angel huffed begrudgingly and started to pick Opal back up off the floor. With Fluttershy's help, they moved her onto the couch and Fluttershy quickly got to work inspecting her wounds.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Angel asked Applejack in a brief moment of true concern.

The farmer simply shrugged. "Who knows." Both of them went silent as Twilight and Rarity walked over.

"..." Rarity looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't make herself say it. Twilight spoke up for her.

"How are they doing?" She asked.

"They're both doing well." Fluttershy responded quietly. She repeatedly shifted from Opal to Winona, checking both of them for cuts, scraps, bruises, etc. "Winona doesn't have a lot of bruises or cuts but she's been burned by Opal."

The others looked down at the dog, sleeping as if what had happened earlier had been just a dream, but the smell of burning fur and the shredded fabric she was lying on showed that it wasn't.

"Her thick fur must have protected her." Twilight noted. Applejack said nothing but sat at her pet's side, watching over her caringly. Rarity watched on quietly.

"And Opal?" She finally spoke up.

Their eyes fell of the unicorn, her fur messy with dirt and bruises clearly showed through the white hair. Winona had certainly done a number on her. Her slowly rising and falling chest brought a bit of relief to Rarity.

"I...I was astounded when it happened." Rarity said slowly, watching as Fluttershy bandaged Opal up. "Usually Opal would just growl, or swipe a bit, she'd only fight if it was for defense."

"It's different now." Angel stated simply. Everypony else nodded, the clarity of that statement sinking in for the first time. Yes, it was different now.

"Alright." Fluttershy stood back, wiping her brow with a hoof and pushing the hair out of her face. "That's all I can do. I hope it's enough."

"It's very good Fluttershy." Twilight said, regarding the expertly bandaged ponies. "Thanks a lot."

"Zzz-nrgh!" Winona suddenly jolted awake, her eyes wide open and teeth barred. "W-what's going on?! Why does mah head hurt?!"

"Winona!" Applejack held her pet down before she could cause any damage. "It's okay, you're safe now."

"Apple... jack?" Winona squinted at the farmer pony, temporarily forgetting who she was. She once again tried to get up but the sharp pain in her head forced her to lie back down. "What happened?"

"You got into a fight with Rarity's cat Opal and destroyed the shop." Applejack answered. Winona just laid back, a blank expression on her face as she looked around her at the room.

"Oh yeah." She breathed quietly. "What happened to that cat anyways?" Winona asked before noticing her unconscious adversary on the couch next to her. She glared at the unconscious unicorn, a deep growling sound emanating from her throat.

"It's okay, Winona." Applejack quickly understood her pet's intentions and moved to hold her down again. "You don't need tah fight Opal right now, you need to rest."

"But..." Winona's eyes darted back and forth, from the annoying unicorn on the couch that she had chased around multiple times in the past and had shot her out of a window earlier, to her owner's commanding but kind face. Winona sighed, defeated by a caring attitude. "Alright fine, Ah'll rest."

Applejack smiled and nodded. "Good."

Right after Applejack said that she was unexpectedly licked upside the head by Winona, her freckled cheek now covered in pony drool.

"Thanks fer helping me out." Winona smiled gratefully at her owner. Applejack blushed slightly at the sign of affection and smiled. "Sure thing."

"Twilight!" The non-destroyed door chime rung out and the sound of a voice signaled somepony new on the scene. Spike stood in the doorway. He quickly crossed the room towards the ponies, treading carefully across the splinters and glass. 

Twilight stared confusedly at her assistant. "Spike, what are you doing here? I thought we left you at Fluttershy's place."

Spike smiled sheepishly at that. "Yeah...about that-"

"Twilight!" Another voice interrupted Spike, also calling Twilight's name. Owlowiscious suddenly appeared through the doors, followed shortly by Rainbow Dash and Tank.

Owlowiscious spoke "Twilight, are you okay? When we came back and couldn't find you, Spike filled us in and we raced over here as fast as we could."

Dash let out a long, low whistle as she looked over the boutique. "Wow Rarity, your cat tore the shop apart!" She said, sounding almost impressed.

"Hmnn." Tank cleared his throat loudly, lightly elbowing his owner in the side to bring her attention to Rarity's saddened expression. "Oh!" Dash waved her arms frantically, realizing what she had said. "I didn't-I...I mean-" Another elbowing from Tank stopped her stuttering. "...Sorry."

Rarity didn't respond, only looking down at a shred of the dress she had been working on before the fight broke out. Nopony could really tell what was going on in her mind at the moment.

Owlowiscious walked up to the unicorn, nearly tripping over a mannequin's head that was shot right off its shoulder by some wayward magic. "Rarity?" His eyes drifted down to the same scrap of fabric on the floor that she was looking at. Realization flashed across his eyes. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Heh..." A small laugh of deep cynicism escaped Rarity. "It's alright, Owlowiscious." The scrap of fabric glowed with a light blue aura and floated up to Rarity's face. It did a little, jerky dance in her magical grip. She didn't seem to be focusing on it much, or anything else for that matter. "I mean, it's only all of my dresses, that I had worked incredibly hard on for weeks for this occasion." She went silent, her body shaking slightly from too many emotions.

Nopony knew what to do. More than that, they didn't know what to say. Clearly some kind of cheering up was in order but nopony knew exactly how to do it. At that moment Spike decided that now was the time to speak up and bravely stepped up towards the designer to try and comfort her.

He stepped up beside her, opened his mouth to console her, and burped, a cloud of smoke with green flame swirling out in front of him and Rarity. It suddenly transformed into a rolled up scroll and fell to the ground at Rarity's hooves. They both stared at it for a moment before Rarity levitated up to her face and unsealed it.

"Mhmm...Twilight?" She called after a minute of scanning. "I believe it's for you."

She quietly floated the slightly burned parchment over to Twilight, who took it in her own magical grip. Her friends crowded around her as she read it aloud.

"My dearest student, Twilight Sparkle

I regret to inform you that once again, due to some complications, we will have to postpone our arrival to the celebration. Progress moves faster and faster though, the weather ponies have informed me that it will only be another day before we are able to take off without worry so we will arrive sometime during the night, just in time to raise the sun.

My sister and myself are quite looking forward to the party, and seeing all of you again.

With warm regards, Princess Celestia."

Just as she finished reading, Twilight let out a small sigh. "Well, looks like we'll have to wait another day for the princesses to get here."

"It's okay, sugarcube." Applejack reassured her. "That just means that we'll get some more time to finish our work before the princesses get here." She glanced downward at Winona who had rolled onto her back after a failed attempt to stand up. "Ah'll certainly need more time tah finish the work."

Winona chuckled embarrassedly as Applejack looked down at her with a stern expression on her face. She could tell that she was really in the dog house now.

"And it'll give me more flying time with Tank!" Dash exclaimed happily and hoofbumped Tank, who grinned in kind and nodded. "Maybe I'll even teach ya the sonic rainboom."

"Well, Angel and I will probably spend the day helping my poor other animals." Fluttershy stated, to which Angel let out a loud groan of displeasure.

"Really? You expect me to spend the whole day helping you take care of a herd of ponies?!"

Fluttershy looked up to him, the most honest, calmest look on her face. She nodded slowly and said only two word. "Yes, please."

The two stared silently at each other in a sort of staring contest/mental battle, neither of them making a sound or even blinking. Twilight had thought that they had froze up again and was about to try that 'pressure point' thing again before Angel finally relented.

"Fine! I'll do it." He grumbled irritably, breaking away from his owner's stare to rub his dry eyes. "It was so much easier to say no when I was a bunny and couldn't talk." 

Rarity stayed wordless, silently listening to the others excitedly planning out their last day with their pets, her eyes moving every so often to Opal, sleeping on the couch.

"Well look at the time." Applejack looked out the window, time had passed since they got here and the sun hung low in the sky, painting the buildings outside golden. "Ah suppose it's time Winona an Ah get going."

"Someone should probably go tell Pinkie and Gummy about the letter." Dash noted.

"Ah'll tell her on our way out. C'mon Winona, easy does it."

Applejack helped Winona to her hooves and after saying a few quick goodbyes, they were out the door and off, Winona following slowly beside the farmer, occasionally leaning against her for support. Rainbow Dash and Tank were the next to leave, saying goodnight to the others and giving Rarity their condolences, even Tank said a little apology before they flew out the door. Fluttershy and Angel left shortly after, Fluttershy hopping beside Angel, talking excitedly about all the things they need to do with the other animals while Angel just remained mute, trying to ignore his owner's rambling. Twilight, Owlowiscious, Rarity and Spike were the only ones left.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, I'll be fine." Rarity replied calmly, even giving her a bit of a smile. "I'll just take Opal back to my parent's home. They have a few guest rooms."

"Do you want any help cleaning this up?" Spike gestured to the destroyed room. Rarity just shook her head, letting out a dark chuckle. "No, it's alright. Heh, I'll probably need to rebuild the store after that fight."

Owlowiscious watched the conversation concernedly. "Are you sure?"

Rarity nodded. "Yes, yes. Now get going, tomorrow is the big day, and you probably don't want to oversleep. Besides, don't you still need to find somepony?"

"But-" Spike was about to object before he was interrupted by a gasping Twilight. "She's right." Twilight gasped. "We'd better go and find Peewee before it gets dark." She lifted Spike onto her back and rushed out the door, shouting goodbyes as she left. Owlowiscious was left to apologize. "Sincerest apologies, Twilight can be a tad distracted at times." He turned to leave but stopped as he saw Rarity looking down sadly at Opal. 

"I'm sorry for what happened." He said.

She nodded thank you. "It's alright. I'm the one who invited them in."

And Owlowiscious left, taking off in flight after his owner, leaving Rarity. Rarity watched as he left, the rapidly descending sun's rays shining through what was left of the windows, creating tiny rainbows. She might as well do some sweeping before she leaves, make sure nopony get hurt. As she goes for a broom she looks down one more time at Opal and a sigh escaped her lips.

"Sometimes..." She took in a shaky breath. "Sometimes I wonder if I should have gotten you."

And she walks off, unaware that the other unicorn has been secretly watching her.