//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Pre-Launch pt 1 // Story: Days of Change // by Bellex //------------------------------// Pre-Launch It is the weekend, the Boutique didn't open up til 11, but Rarity awoke with a bang. Quite literally. She barely remembered the last time she woke up like this. It was when Sweetie Belle's friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo come over a few months ago to make a mess...of...her...shop. Now wide awake, Rarity bolts up out of her bed only to get caught on the corner of her red silk sheets, making her fall flat on her stomach, making a splendid belly flop to wake up with on any morning. Still on save the shop mode, she frees her leg, running out of her bedroom to the shopfront. A little winded, she prepares to give her sister the talking to of the week. The talks don't seem to last longer than that. However, there's nopony there. It's quiet. She knew the noise was the sound of something crashing into another but everything was where she left it the night before. Standing there, Rarity perks her up, swiveling them around at the slightest noise. Soon there was another crash, but it didn't come from the bottom floor. It came from upstairs. In Sweetie's room. Slightly relieved she makes her way up the stairs. Determined to find out what caused her early start, she enters her sister's room. Inside she sees Sweetie on her bed, looking to the left side where the destruction is most apparent. Next to the bed where the nightstand use to be, was now empty space. The nightstand in question was knocked over, moved a few feet away with its contents and lamp now scattered or broken on the floor. On the left wall the dresser wasn't flush, seeming to be pulled out with the side closest to Rarity angled towards her. Between the dresser and the bed were two fillies grunting and squeaking. "Why are you two wrestling so early in the morning!" Startling the fillies, they all look at Rarity with a nervous blush. It was like this for a few seconds til Sweetie spoke up. "They are having a disagreement." Apple Bloom looks over to Sweetie, moving her hoof closer to Scootaloo in the process. Scootaloo grunts, then glancing over to Rarity she quietly says "That's my wing." "What could those two be arguing over this early?" "Who's cutie mark idea we should try today." "Pardon?" If this is going where I thinks this is going, I am going to be a little angry. "Well Scootaloo wanted to go hang gliding, but Apple Bloom wanted to go try athletic swimming. Apple Bloom doesn't want to go into the air today while Scootaloo hates the feel of wet feathers. They decided on a little competition of who can pin the other for eight seconds." Sweetie beams a small innocent smile up at her sister. Yep, they are doing nothing but horsing around. Can't they just behave til I get my beauty sleep. Rarity gives her sister a forced smile. "Sweetie. I want you and your friends to stop playing so rough in here, then you should clean up before either of you has a chance of hurting yourselves on those broken shards of your lamp. Could you three do that?" With a practiced monotone, all three answer "Yes, Rarity." "Good. I'm going back to bed. I don't want to hear any more noise til lunchtime. Okay?" "Yes, Rarity" With that Rarity gives one final look around before leaving. Before leaving earshot, she hears Scootaloo say "That was a close one." I'm letting you three get away with this since there was little damage. Just clean up quietly. The bed is in disarray, but it looks so inviting right now. With a swish of her magic, she fixes her covers to their proper position. Shuffling in, she sighs in bliss of the renewed warmth, quickly falling back to sleep. Two and a half hours later, Rarity wakes up with a dainty yawn. It's nearly 10 in the morning. Much later than she would normally get up on the weekday. But could she be blamed, anypony would want a nap after dealing with the CMC that early. Speaking of the little fillies, there appear to be no noises except hers in the house. Getting up, Rarity shambles over to her door. When she gets to it, she looks down to see a piece of paper shoved underneath. Picking it off the floor she reads it. 'Went swimming. Be back in the afternoon. - Sweetie' Well at least she was considerate. Knowing what her sister was up to she went on routine, starting with a shower, then down for brunch. Just as Rarity was preparing herself a lilly sandwich and peppermint tea there was a loud bang at the door. Seeing the clock she gave a smile. Derpy is right on time. When going to the door she stopped at the mirror she lets customers use to see how their dresses fit to fix her mane, even though it didn't need it. She reached the door and opened it. Indeed, there was Derpy, laying down in front of her rubbing her head. She looks so cute when she rubs her head like a filly rubbing an owie. She looks down at her with concern. "Are you alright Derpy?" "Yea, I'm okay." She goes to look up at the mare in front of her, not realizing how close they are. Their lips meet. They both freeze, glancing into each others eyes. There was nothing but the others eyes, not realizing the blush on eithers faces or a traitorous set of wings. Rarity and Derpy stay like that for a moment before Derpy jumps back, both slightly out of breath. Rarity puts her hoof to her lips. She's soft, and was that cinnamon I tasted? It was...good. Derpy bites her bottom lip lightly, successfully getting her wings under control before Rarity notices. That felt nice. I hope she's not angry with me. An awkward silence follows. Ten seconds, twenty, thirty. Nervous, Derpy makes her way to Rarity. "I'm sorry Miss Rarity. I didn't mean to do that." She was still blushing, but trying not to look at the white unicorn. "It's alright darling, you didn't do anything wrong." Says Rarity after registering the apology. Truth be told, she didn't find the experience unwelcomed, just unexpected. "Well here's your mail. Sorry for flying into your door." Derpy hands the parcels over to Rarity but before she could turn around she was told that they were the neighbors mail. Now embarrassed over being nervous, she goes back to her saddlebags, bringing out the right mail while putting the wrong ones back in. Apologizing for that she prepares to fly to next house. "It's alight. Oh, do you think you can come over tomorrow? We'll need to do a fitting for your dress. I would love to see you in it." Thinking a moment she looks back at Rarity, "Yea, I can come over in the afternoon. Would that be good?" "Yes it would. I'll see you then." "Okay, I'll see you later." Turning, she flies off with a small smile on her face. Rarity looks on after Derpy left. She couldn't get the taste of cinnamon or the image of Derpy out of her mind. She didn't realize somepony was calling to her. ************************* Applejack was having a good morning. Apple Bloom left early to play with her friends, breakfast was delicious and overall it was a beautiful fall morning. Autumn was her favorite season. Not just because of the harvests, but because of the cooling mornings with warm breezes. It always felt good to her. But her peaceful world ended abruptly when Apple Bloom and her friends came back wet. After a little interrogation, she discovered they went to take a dip in the spring out back. The spring was cold year round, being deep and covered by a maple canopy. So of course all three of them caught a cold. Applejack ushered them into her home, drying then wrapping them in warm blankets. She then went to make some hot soup for them. After that debunkel was over, Big Mac came in grumbling. When asked what happened, he tossed over the strap from their new small corn harvester. Snapped in two. Then he went to fetch some water before telling her he needed her to get a replacement while she was out while he goes and digs out the demon rock he snagged the plow on. Agreeing she listened to him grumble as he left for the shed containing the shovel. "Dang rock wasn't there last year. It's a bit to smooth to be a natural formation." More grumbling she couldn't hear. Well it's a bit late, but no time like the present to get to the farmers market with the goods she baked yesterday. Making sure the fillies would be alright she left with her cart and headed into town. On the way into Ponyville, Applejack was coming up to Carousel Boutique. The home and workplace of her best friend Rarity. On any other day she would stop by to say hello, but she had to get to the farmers market, as well as the errands she needed to run afterwards. Looking back over the road, she notices the mail pony, Derpy. Hmm, she's going a little fast today. Continuing to walk, Applejack watches as Derpy comes flying right into Rarity's door. Ouch, hope she ain't hurt. Suddenly Rarity is at her door, looking down at the mail pony. She asks her something and Derpy answers, but Applejack is to far to hear. Still she continues her walk on the road. Derpy kisses Rarity. Applejack stops, wide eyed at the scene. She doesn't move. She can't. Not after seeing that. She watches as Rarity and Derpy stare at each other. She snaps out of it as Derpy's wings start to rise. Unhitching herself from the cart, Applejack goes to the side of the road, making her way over to the buildings side just as Derpy hops back. Now close enough, Applejack listens in on what is said, only seeing Derpy's tail from the angle she is at. Neither notice her. After everything is said and Derpy flies off, Applejack heads back to her cart and harnesses herself again. Once the harness is set, she makes her way in front of the Boutique as if nothing just happened. "Hey Rarity. How ya doin' this mornin'?" She give a welcoming smile to the white unicorn. It doesn't take her long to see that Rarity is staring off into space. She calls again, louder this time. "Rarity, ya there?" ************************* "Rarity, ya there?" Rarity snaps out of her thoughts. She looks to the street and sees Applejack looking at her. "I'm sorry darling. I've been distracted all morning." Rarity gives a little sigh at remembering the mornings events. "Oh? What happened if ya don't mind my asking?" "Well my morning started a bit abruptly when I heard a loud crash in my home. I remembered the last time that happened with the crusaders." Applejack gave Rarity a sympathetic look, knowing just what kind of damages the crusaders can cause. Rarity sees this and assures Applejack that it came from Sweetie's room and that nothing of importance was damaged. Then tells Applejack that they went to get some swimming cutie marks. "Well that would explain why they were swimming in the spring. By the way, was that Derpy that just flew away." Rarity gives Applejack a nod. "How is she doing?" "She's doing as well as ever. Though I do hope she's alright. She did slam into my door pretty hard." Rarity looks back to her door blushing, pretending to check for damages. Applejack gives a slight frown but gets rid of it before the unicorn notices. It's not as easy to be rid of the sting in her chest. "Well I should get goin' to the market. Got lots to sell today." "Don't let me keep you. Have a good day Applejack." Applejack nods then heads to the marketplace. Rarity watches her a moment before looking back over the roof where Derpy flew out of sight. Seeing nothing of interest, she re-enters her shop. There is still a lunch to prepare. ************************* Ditzy was flying to her next destination, which happened to be the last person on her route. She didn't care. She'll work her way backwards from her down to Rarity's neighbor. Ditzy was feeling quite happy. She wasn't told off because she handed out the wrong mail, and Rarity invited her back tomorrow, even after the embarrassing kiss she had with her. Still she had to get through her route before attending to grocery shopping today. The best foods were sold today, and like all the other ponies in Ponyville, she attended the farmers market. Since leaving Rarity's, she got through the day in the blink of an eye. Not once having today's mail returned to her. Not once flying into anything or anypony else, until Rainbow Dash somehow managed to crash into her while flying between stops. After her route was over, she headed home to begin the rest of her day. Dropping off the mailbags, she sees Dinky finishing up her homework. Thinking of what a good filly she has, she picks up her saddlebags, gathers up her bits and gives her daughter a small hug before leaving to the market.