//------------------------------// // Chapter 6.5: Make up // Story: Side story: Make up // by Zweiterversuch //------------------------------// MAKE UP Among the many of sounds that reached her ears at that moment there was one in particular that drew her attention, but it wasn't the clinking of the wine glasses of the ponies invited to tonight's party, nor was it their talks about their possessions or what they planned to do with them or how much they had spent to get them. No, this noise didn't belong to the well dressed ponies downstairs, in the wide halls of the new Carousel boutique, clopping anxious their hooves against the shiny white floor tiles decorated with golden designs showing grape vines and playful unicorns, earth ponies and Pegasi due to the anticipation of meeting their beautiful host. It wasn't the rustling sound of the purple sashes hanging from the walls in elegant bows either. And obviously it couldn't be the delicate sound of the lamps swung by the wind that managed to slip into the halls thanks to the tiny gap of one of the sliding doors left open by a careless guest, astonished by the enchanting white marble statues and, of course, the buffet. No, this sound had nothing to do with it. It was something less fancy, a timid knocking on wood, a modest request to enter her room. Something quite not fitting for her life long awaited fantasy come true, but nothing she couldn't get rid of easily enough. "Come in♪" She didn't care about who it was. It could only be one of her friends, after all not many knew how to reach her room through the labyrinthine corridors of the massive building but them. The door didn't open and no pony came in. Instead the knocking persisted. "Such a bother" Her expression reflected on the mirror was enough to understand the words she didn't say. The azure, magic glow around her horn vanished and her make up fell down slowly to the top of her little table. She approached the door, took a quick look around to check that mane and tail look good enough, and after giving them both a few light taps with her hooves to make them look puffy, she opened wide the door. "Yes? Oh! Spike. What are you doing here?" In front of her stood a little purple dragon, alone in the darkness of the corridor, only illuminated by the light emanating from her own room. Spike, was a little tubby dragon, his colors lime-green and purple and his eyes sparkled brightly like a couple of emeralds. Rarity didn't like much that color, green, but she admitted Spike made it look good enough. "Hi, Rarity...I was...I just wanted t..." While Spike stuttered his sentences, Rarity took a look around the darkness behind him, searching for Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy or any of the others, but they weren't there. "Spike, did you come here alone?" Spike wasn't finished saying what he wanted to say, but he left it like that in order to answer her question. "Yes. I came alone. Oh! But I saw the others downstairs. They were having fun by the punch bowl." The dragon quickly added a few foot notes to his comments, explaining what her friends did and trying to excuse his presence there now. "Is that so?" Rarity tried to speed up things with Spike. She still had a few preparations to go through before she could go downstairs to her guests, her boutique and her party. Spike on the other hoof didn't seem to think too much about it. Time was still running and yet all he did was remain in front of the threshold of the door mumbling a few sentences now and then and giving a few glances inside Rarity's room, looks he hoped she'd not notice. "Would you like to come in?" This question took him by surprise although he wished deep inside she'd invite him in at some point. "Sure. Thanks." Spike entered the room and the alabaster mare closed her door behind them. Both went towards her mirror and make up table. She sat on a purple seat and magically brought closer another seat for Spike. With nothing to say they both spent a few seconds in complete silence until Spike finally spoke. "Sorry." Rarity surely didn't expect that. "Sorry for what?" His green eyes moved here and there, as if looking for something on the floor. "Its just...well...I just forced my way in here without your permission." A faint smile appeared on Spike's face. "Oh dear, what are you talking about? I let you in didn't I?" Rarity paid close attention to the sound made by the crowd downstairs paying attention to anything that could be a possible threat to her dream come true. The mare looked towards the door concentrating only on the sounds coming through it, so when Spike called her name so suddenly, it took her by surprise. "Rarity!" "Y-y-yes, dear?" Spike hadn't noticed she had not paid attention to what he had said. He just looked at her with the scales around his cheeks turning of a different, pinker color while his expression was a mixture of resolve and embarrassment. For the first time she saw him look at her directly in the eyes. "...that's why I want to ask you something..." While Spike had turned a little bit pinker in a matter of seconds, for Rarity, on the contrary, those seconds were to turn pale. If Spike was going to ask "that", it then was something she could consider a threat for the evening. "But its kind of hard to do so..." She didn't want to deal with those kind of questions right now. It was a perfect night. Her success, the rich ponies waiting below to praise her and her creations, the stallions standing line just to cross a few words with her while the other mares bit their hooves in envy of her. She didn't want to deal with the feelings of a little dragon right now. She'd do so another time, but right now she didn't want to be bothered by the guilt of breaking a young heart. "D-don't force yourself. We can talk about it later, dear?" Her lips formed a nervous smile that could barely even be considered one. She tried to make it look natural, but even Spike could notice her true feelings behind it. ".... ...Yeah...sure. It...it wasn't really that important anyway. I'm sure I'll forget it myself after just a good night of sleep. Sorry if I made it look otherwise." Now it was Spike's turn to smile awkwardly. He stopped looking at her in the eyes and began to look down to his scaly purple knees and his swinging feet, hanging a few centimeters above the floor. "Well...I've to go...I've things to do too." He jumped from the chair and went to the door. "Is that so, dear? In that case I'll see you later." "Yeah...later." Spike told a lie he didn't believe himself. Rarity watched him go, believing she was now out of the danger. But as soon as Spike touched the door knob, without turning around, he spoke once more. "Rarity...I know this might sound weird, but can I help you comb your mane?" Rarity kept quiet while thinking about her answer. Before she could say anything though, Spike changed his petition. "or maybe could I help you with your make up?" She looked down with her dark blue eyes. Spike's feelings for her had not gone unnoticed, but this didn't mean she corresponded them. The guilt caused by this feeling forced her make a decision: mane or make up? To avoid a emotional disaster it would be enough to just let him help her with one of those, but which one? At the time both were really important, she had been already long enough upstairs, enough to be elegantly late. It was time to go down and mingle with the Crème de la crème of pony society. If she had to let Spike experiment with her face or mane, she'd spend even longer there and after correcting any mistake he could have made and she would no longer be "elegantly late" but plain late and this could have catastrophic consequences in her social life. Still it's hard to fight against guilt. "Sure, Spike, you can help me with my make up." Her voice sounded like always but under her warm melodic tone, there was a hint of worry. She turned around facing her mirror and waited for the little dragon to come to her side. Spike walked towards her and took a few of her products choosing a couple of brushes from the ones lying on her table. "It's ok." Spike spoke calmly. "I'd never make you look bad." At least that was right. Rarity could count on that fact. Spike would never do that. "Ah!" The touch of the soft brush on her cheeks startled her. Her thoughts were somewhere else at the moment. The sensation of the concealer being applied on her fur felt like a caress. Usually applying her make up its more systematic. Her movements are faster and more precise, nothing special about it. Spike made it feel different. And although she didn't want to think to much about it, he made it feel good, like a pampering. Here and there he used her make up with such a self-confidence and security, she couldn't help herself but wonder if he had ever helped Twilight or some other mare with it. "Spike, you should have told me you've done this before." Rarity moved her head from side whenever he delicately, with just a push of his thumb and index finger, let her know that she needed to change her position. "I've never done it. But I've seen how you do it very often." He put the concealer down and picked up the next one, the foundation. "What? But I've never done my make up in front of you, how come?" Spike took a puffy brush this time. He pressed it against the fine dust and carefully spreaded it across her face skillfully. "Well, not you "You", it was...." He switched sides to have a better sight of her left cheek. "Do you remember that time when Twilight's crown was stolen? When I ran after Twilight and went inside that weird dimension we told you about?" The puffy brown brush kept moving over the sensitive, thin hairs of her face tickling her in a very pleasant way. "Sure." Rarity close her eyes from time to time, making sure the foundation wouldn't get inside of them. "In that place there was alternate version of every one of you. There was an alternate Pinkie, an alternate Applejack, Rainbow dash, Fluttershy, and an alternate you. It was all so different and yet so familiar at the same. Contrary to Twilight I was a dog at the time, but that was actually to my advantage. The alternate you took me everywhere with her and one of the places she spent most time in was in the bathroom. She did her make up in front of the mirror several times in a day." Spike finished the second step of her make up with a last "puff" on her muzzle, which made Rarity sneeze in a cute way. "Achoo! I see." Rarity's muzzle moved in unusual ways trying to get out that funny sensation the brush had left on it. "So that's where you learned about my sensitive muzzle." She saw him pick up the next product while he giggled mischievously. "Oh you!" She laughed to. A little bit louder that she'd have hoped to. As her laugh continued the sounds of the crowd downstairs seemed to die down, as if losing relevance. Even the voices of her friends, the ones having fun at the punch bowl became less and less audible. It was time for the blush, but Rarity's face was already a slight pink after all that laughing. "What should I do? If I apply any more blush people will think you're flirting with them." Rarity pushed him jokingly with her hooves. "Oh, stop it already!" She became even redder and after a couple of laughs more, she again let Spike work on her face. Spike applied the blush over her cheeks, drawing circles over them until the had a nice slight pink shade. "I must say Spike, you really paid attention when that other me was applying her make up." Was that jealousy? "Jealous?" Done with the blush, Spike took a black thin box filled with powder of many different colors, and a small brush with two tiny puffs on both ends. This part of the procedure was silent. He had screwed up with that last comment. Rarity didn't know what to say. Whatever she said could be used against her so she chose to keep quiet. "We're almost done. I'm just going to add some eye shadow. Close your eyes." She did as told without replying. It still wasn't the right time to talk again. It still felt kind of awkward. The silence hurt. She wanted it to go away and little by little the sound of the crowd that had ceased a few moments ago, began to echo again from downstairs. She had to start thinking about something else. "Are you thinking about the party?" Spike spoke again and caught her off guard. "Y-yes." A pressure slid subtly across one her eyelids covering a wide area and afterwards it did the same across the other one. "I see." Spike's voice sounded different, and he felt different too. While she had her eyes closed his usually childish voice sounded deeper and somehow made her feel small. It was as if his head were towering above her height, letting his voice flow down to her ears. And that was not the only change she noticed in the darkness. He felt bigger, wider and definitively taller. For a second the image of him a few months ago crossed her mind again, that time when he became a full grown dragon and destroyed half of Ponyville. "Open your eyes." She did as told, she was a little bit frightened of what she'd see, but in front of her she found nothing more than a chubby dragon with purple scales and green spines holding a black box in one of his claws like an artist holds his color palette. "How do you feel?" He sported such an innocent smile on his face that Rarity felt ashamed by her thoughts and the fear she just felt. "Oh, I'm doing great, dear. I'm actually thinking of asking you to make me up every now and then." Her white hoof placed itself on top of his head and rubbed it lovingly like one does so often to younger ponies when they've done a good work. Spike smiled, but it looked forced. "Ok, all we're missing now is some eye liner. Are you ready, Rarity?" The black bottle appeared in his claw as if by magic. Reluctantly Rarity closed her eyes again. "Don't worry. I told you I would never make you look bad." Spike tried to reassure her, but it didn't seem to work. With her eyes closed Spike felt different. "It's ok. Rarity." He was done with her right upper eye lid in just a couple of seconds. But he was taking his time for the other one. "Spike?" The reply took him a while. In those seconds of silence a thought began to nag at the back of Rarity's head. What makes a thief is the chance to steal and this was the perfect chance to do so. But would he do it? Would he steal a kiss from her? The idea started to take more and more place inside her mind. So much she thought about it, that she swore she could feel him getting closer. She felt how the blood rushed to her cheeks. Rarity tried to convince herself he wouldn't do it, but the idea of an approaching warm breath made her heart beat faster and faster. Would she give him a kiss out of guilt? "Spike!" She was about to open her eyes, but before she did so, she heard his deep voice. "Sorry. I was was thinking on something else." No longer did she feel his breathe blow delicately over the fine hairs of her fur. Instead with a quick and skillful stroke he finished her left eye lid. Rarity was relieved. She could open her eyes again. "Huh, I must say I didn't think I could pull it off, but I guess I did. I managed to make you look even prettier." That last comment made her smile once more. "Oh really?" She opened her eyes to her mirror and took a look at herself. Spike did a great job, her make up was flawless. "Oh, Spike! It's looks amazing!" "Do you like it?" "A lot." Her reflection on the mirror beamed with happiness. "I'm glad to hear that. I didn't want to mess up the night of your dreams. .... I'm sure you'll do great, Rarity." "What are you talking about, Spike? We're not done yet, we're still missing the..." She turned around to meet his gaze, but she found nopony. Just an empty room and her eyeliner spilling black liquid over the floor. "Spike?" Spike didn't retort. It was as if he had never been there. But how could that be? He was there not to long ago, he couldn't have just vanished into nothing, dragon's don't do that. "Spike, where did you go?" She tried to look for him, but the skirt of her dress tangled itself between her legs and made it difficult to move. "Spike, if this is your idea of a joke, let me tell you it isn't the tiniest bit funny." Rarity gave a few steps forward but her skirt was so caught up between her hooves that it was almost impossible. She could still hear the chatter of the crowd. "Stupid dress! Spike? Come out already!" Suddenly the thought of being alone scared her. She tried to think about the ponies downstairs, the crowd waiting for her, her friends, her success. In response to her intentions, the sounds of the crowd grew louder and louder, so loud that now they even made her suspicious about their words. Was that the kind of sound ponies made when talking? It somehow resembled water crashing against glass. Glass? "Spike!?" Her skirt had her completely under its control, trapped in its silky and soft touch. It didn't look as if it were to stop anytime soon. As if it were alive it began to swallow her. In vain she tried to shake it off, to regain her freedom. But before she noticed her whole body was a prisoner of her magnificent night dress. It wasn't long before she had disappeared in it; leaving behind nothing more to look at than a marvelous sparkling cloth lying on the floor. Suddenly thunder roared. Rarity woke up under her bed sheets, her limbs tangled in them due to all that twisting in her sleep, just a few centimeters away from the border of her bed. The darkness of her room on the second floor of carousel boutique was absolute. The halls and the party were gone, the warm light up room was no longer, but still she called a name in the void. "Spike!" Rarity jumped out of her bed, her ability to difference between dream and reality numbed. It was obvious her boutique was real, her bed, her room, the storm outside. But that talk between her and Spike was also real too, her halls, her party, her friends, the make up on her face was proof of that, wasn't it? She ran downstairs so fast she almost fell. The darkness in which the house was submerged unsettled her. The strange feeling in her chest, that unknown fear she had when she woke up, drove her towards the door which she opened with a tackle. The cracking sound of the door was loud enough to wake everypony up in the house. The icy rain flew down her coat to the now muddy ground of Ponyville, yet it wasn't enough to wash her delusion away. "Sister? What are you doing?" A white filly with a double-colored mane appeared inside the house. She rubbed her eyes trying to get rid of her tiredness without much success. "Sweetie Belle? I thought you'd be at the party." "Party?" The little sister yawned and after rubbing her eyes again asked her big sister once more. "What party are you talking about? There's no party. It's 3:00 am and we have a storm. Not even Pinkie would plan a party now." Rarity turned around, reality starting to kick in. "What are you saying? The party in my honor in carousel boutique." Sweetie Belle looked around inside the building trying her best to keep herself awake. "There's no party in here." Rarity stomped furiously on the ground, she didn't have any time to lose refreshing her sister's memory. "Not here, in the big carousel boutique, you know, the central." The filly gave her sister a look that under other circumstances would have got her into deep trouble. "Sister, this is carousel boutique, you know, the only one." Sweetie trotted forwards and stood behind the door's threshold far enough from the cold droplets of water. "You must have been dreaming." A dream? "A dream? That...no. What? That can't be. We...we were all there. Pinkie and the others, you, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Spike even helped me with my make..." Rarity rubbed her cheek with her hoof and took a look at it. On her hoof was nothing, not the remainders of her blush, nor the stain left by a ruined eye line. Her face was clean without a trace of anything more than the water running down her factions. "It's ok." Sweetie spoke and dared to step into the storm, approaching her sister, convincing her of coming back with her into the house. "It was just a dream. A very real one apparently, but still a dream. Look." With her tiny hoof Sweetie Belle pointed to a shadow in the distance, the huge construction that was the never sleeping city of Canterlot, the home of the princesses and the purple unicorn that just a couple years ago in Ponyville was just known as Twilight Sparkle. "Twilight...I mean, princess Twilight and Spike went back to Canterlot a few weeks ago, remember?" The memories of their farewell began to appear in Rarity's head, the argument of her little sister started to become more and more solid with each of her words. "I know, it must be hard. You and the other guys went through so much together with Spike and Twilight. I think I'd feel the same if suddenly Applebloom and Scootaloo weren't around anymore." Despite the logic behind her argument, Rarity still had her doubts. She still had a strange feeling lingering in her chest after that dream, but after a few more words of her sister, she came back to the house. Both mare and filly were soaked to the bone, shivering due to the cold. "I'm going to prepare us a hot bath. Tomorrow Applebloom, Scootaloo and I are going to help around the farm to see if we get our cutie marks and I don't want to miss it just because of a cold." The filly dashed upstairs into the bath room, leaving the white unicorn behind, alone with her thoughts. "A dream, huh?" It was kind of obvious now. Labyrinthine corridors? Marble statues and wide halls in her yet humble carousel boutique? Ha! How laughable. A smile appeared for less than a second on the mare's face, but disappeared quickly afterwards. There was something she couldn't remember anymore. What was it though? The more she thought about it, the less she could put her hoof on it. As if trying to grab water with her hooves, that indescribable thing inside her avoided her. "Sister. The bath is ready." Rarity trotted towards the bathroom were her little sister was waiting for her to bath together. Small puddles of water and mud were left by her hooves like a trail on the usually white floor. It didn't matter though, she'd clean up later. When she opened the door of the bathroom the sweet aroma of herbs and bath salts slapped her in the face. Sweetie Belle had obviously used too much of both when preparing the bath. The white filly sat in the middle of the bath tub, submerged partially in a pinkish water and clear foam caused by the soap. "Come sister, it feels great." Rarity carefully submerged herself in the water as her sister did. It felt great indeed, but she didn't say anything about it. It was truly rare that both sisters shared a bath together. Sweetie never actually thought Rarity would ever bath with her, but despite how unusual this moment was and how much it meant for the filly, Rarity just kept staring at the foam. "Don't you think you should give them a visit?" "Huh?" The azure eyes of the alabaster unicorn stopped focusing on the random shapes of the froth to meet the green eyes of her sister. "Spike and Twilight. Maybe you should give them a visit. It has been so long after you saw each other for the last time. You can even invite rainbow dash and the others. I'm sure they'll all go with you." After her statement Sweetie submerged her head into the water reemerging seconds afterwards with her wet mane over her face. "I'm sure, Twilight and Spike will be glad to see you." Rarity kept looking at her little sister without even blinking. "Spike..." Her face showed no expression or reaction for so long that Sweetie felt worried about her. But then a smile appeared on the unicorn's face and her eyes sparkled beautifully. "You're right. Maybe I ought to visit them." She giggled sweetly and submerged her head in the water just to reappear behind the filly with her wet purple silky mane over her head. "But before doing that, I better enjoy this moment. We don't bath together every day after all." Rarity took her sister in an embrace only big sisters know how to deliver properly. "Ah!" "Thanks for the idea Sweetie Belle." The hug lasted longer than any other the filly had received from her sister, but despite this when Rarity let go it didn't feel long enough for her. "I-it's ok. I'm glad you're feeling better, sister." Both mares laughed bemusedly and enjoyed the rest of their bath. That's right. I just need to go visit. They might be far, but still we can be together. Rarity thought those words to herself ignoring roar of the ominous storm going outside.