//------------------------------// // Some Ponies // Story: Timed Ramblings // by Midnight herald //------------------------------// With a final, petulant roar, the Chimaera of the Hayseed Swamp turned and sauntered away, crashing through mangrove thickets and strings of spanish moss as it turned tail and fled as casually and suavely as it could while being glared down by an angry Princess. Twilight landed heavily on the peaty outcrop where her friends sat wide-eyed, huffing out another grateful sigh. She was anything but graceful and refined, right now, Rarity thought. Before today, Rarity hadn’t known swamp sludge could even catch fire in the first place, and yet a glob of it still smoldered in Twilight’s ruffled, filthy mane. Her face was scorched and grimy, her wings were still flexing agressively, and her knees still shook with leftover adrenaline. But that didn’t truly matter, because Twilight looked powerful and stunning, striking, and absolutely beautiful. Rarity ran up to her lovely Princess and pulled her into a passionate kiss, the kind she normally reserved for the bedroom. Smoke and sludge assaulted her nose, and the taste of fear and sweat and silt lay heavy on Twilight’s lips. All the same, as their friends looked on with a mixture of disgust, fascination and bewilderment, Rarity had to say this was one of the better kisses she’d ever really had. Finally, as the sloppy, unrestrained and undeniably unladylike kis stretched on towards a minute in length, she pulled away with a sly grin and soft caress of Twilight’s slack-jawed face. Their friends looked just as if not more confused than when she threw herself at her girlfriend, staring at her little smile with concern and horror. Twilight shook herself, a dopey grin spreading slow across her beautiful, kissable lips, and tilted her head to the side in the adorable way she did when something confused her. “Not that I minded that at all, Rarity, but... I’m a little dirty, y’know?” Twilight said, gesturing vaguely at her filthy body with a quivering hoof. Rarity laughed and nuzzled Twilight’s cheek again, not caring in the least at the swamp goo she could feel soaking into her coat. “Oh, nonsense, dear,” she chuckled. “It’s just a bit of dirt.” A steam-roller tackle sent Rarity tumbling into the peat, skidding and rolling and bouncing and finally staring up into the blazing crimson eyes of Rainbow Dash. “Who are you and what have you done with Rarity?” she snarled, leaning in near Rarity’s face. Dash’s hot breaths reeked of hayfries and beet juice as they misted across Rarity’s nose. “Whatever do you mean, Rainbow?” Rarity asked. “For that matter, why on earth did you think tackling me would --” “Save it, changeling,” Rainbow spat. “You’ve done a good job so far, but you forgot one important detail - Rarity can’t stand getting dirty! Now where is she?” Rarity sighed and tried to push Rainbow away. Rainbow caught her hooves in an effective hold and snarled again. Rarity’s fraying patience finally snapped as Rainbow shoved her face so close into her face that their noses touched. “Rainbow Dash, if you don’t get off me this instant, I will begin telling all sorts of stories about various adventures in lipstick and accesories,” Rarity snapped. Rainbow jumped back with a yelp, as if she had been burnt, and backed away sheepishly, her head hanging low. “Geeze, Rare, there’s no reason to go that far,” she muttered. Rarity smiled and clambered to her feet with as much grace and dignity as she could muster. “Honestly, do you girls think I have quite such a problem with messes that I wouldn’t kiss the mare I love?” Suddenly, nopony was quite meeting her eye. Pinkie and Applejack had something caught in their throats, Fluttershy was hiding behind her mane, and Rainbow and Twilight both had miserable hangdog expressions. Rarity rolled her eyes and sighed. “Some ponies,” she groused, as she led the way back to the train station. ------------------------------- Finally back in Ponyville, Rarity grinned. She could get back to the boutique and clear out the rest of the gunk from her mane and tail. The hotel showers just didn’t do her justice, and she could still smell saltwater and ash whenever she turned her head sharply. She opened the door and trotted inside... to a warzone. Scraps of fabric and muddy hoofprints lay all across her hardwood floors, spilled milkshake splashes somehow made it onto the windowpanes. It was clearly the work of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or perhaps Discord. Rarity could feel her nice good mood dripping away with each second she stared at the Tartarus-damned mess. Her eye twitched, and her blood boiled. “I’LL DESTROY THEM!!”