Fun fact: it’s common practice among pony kind to have at least one secret room hidden somewhere in their homes. Many construction companies and architects would build hidden chambers inside houses for no other reason than because it would be fun. They wouldn’t tell the home owners the location as finding them would be half the fun. A switch opening the room would be given to the home owner and it was their responsibility to find it. Once found, these chambers had two primary uses. They could be used to hide a shameful secret or passion like Fluttershy had with her Chamber of Extreme Knitting or like Rainbow Dash’s opera room. Alternatively they were used for storage like the Apples had done for generations or the many secret compartments designed to hide certain reading materials within Ponyville’s library. For Rarity, her secret room was used as a combination of both uses.
Rarity walked around the showroom of her boutique at a casual pace with her sister following close behind. The two were carefully inspecting each of the mannequins in the room.
“Now where did I put it?” Rarity mused. “I’m sure it’s blending in with the rest of the mannequins.”
“All of your mannequins look the same,” Sweetie Belle said. “How can you tell the difference between them?”
“The one we’re looking for has a carving on its left foreleg,” Rarity said looking over a mannequin.
“Is the carving of your cutie mark underneath a hyper stylized crescent moon with seraphim wings?”
“Something like that yes. Though I’m not sure if there’s supposed to be seraphim wings.”
“How do you activate the switch?” Sweetie Belle climbed up on the back of the mannequin.
Rarity tapped her chin. “I believe you’re supposed to jerk the mannequin’s head to the right so its chin is facing left.” Sweetie Belle grabbed onto the chin and head of the mannequin. “Why do you ask?” She lifted the chin while pushing the head down. A bone shattering crack came from the mannequin as well as a soft click. Rarity cringed. “I see you found it. That sound always disturbs me.”
“I dunno,” Sweetie Belle said jumping off the mannequin. “It felt pretty satisfying to essentially snap its neck like that. That sound only made it sweeter.”
“Remind me to be extra careful from now on when you give me a hug.”
Rarity and Sweetie Belle headed towards the mirrors in the boutique. The center mirror had swung open revealing a spiral staircase.
“A spiral staircase? Really?” Sweetie Belle asked as they descended down. “Of all the ways to get to a secret room, you chose spiral staircase?”
“You can’t go wrong with the classics, Sweetie.”
“That being the case, why don’t you recycle your designs? You’d save a lot of time if you did.”
“Because ART must never be replicated for every replication will pale in comparison to the original.”
They entered a large stone chamber with a chandelier lighting the room. All along the walls were bladed weapons ranging from all sizes and shapes. All of them were in pristine condition and at their sharpest. At the end of the room were six mannequins, each wearing a long faux leather overcoat, two white, three black, and one midnight blue. Each overcoat had a distinct style to it and each had the same symbol on its back as the switch to the room.
Rarity put on the midnight blue overcoat. The coat was styled like a tuxedo jacket with long coat tails. At the left breast pocket was a circular emblem with five chains hanging from it. She lit up her horn and pulled a bow with two blades on the end of it towards her. “What do you think?” she asked as she put on a pair of rectangular glasses. “Too much?”
“That depends on the job doesn’t it?” Sweetie Belle tilted her head. “If you’re going to take somepony out from far away, the bow would work.”
“You have a point there.” Rarity put the bow back. “Plus, I don’t think I’d be able to walk around with it without being noticed.”
“Can’t you put it in one of the bottomless pockets you’ve sewn into the coats?”
“It’s not big enough to fit the bow, only the arrows.” Rarity replaced her overcoat for one of the black overcoats. The sleeves for the coat were velvet red while the rest of it was black. She slid a glove onto her right hoof. “What about this?” Rarity asked as she pulled a thick sheathed scimitar off the wall. “There’s space in the pocket for the sheath and the scimitar.”
“Isn’t that scimitar heavy?” Sweetie Belle asked. “You’d probably have a hard time fighting for long durations.
“True.” Rarity unsheathed the scimitar. At the base of the blade was her cutie mark engraved into it. “I haven’t used this yet though. It’d be nice to try it out.”
“So do it.”
“But red is out of style. At least, darker reds, and I can’t match this scimitar with any of my other coats.” Rarity put the scimitar back on the wall. “A pity though, I really wanted to use it.”
“What’s that have to do with anything?”
Rarity tsk’d. “Sweetie Belle, if you’re going to be hunting monsters for the Lunar Knights, you must know that it’s all about style,” she said as she pulled the overcoat off. “Style is essential in our battle. Style allows us to blend in as we search for our targets. And even when we fight, to an observer the fight would look very stylish.”
“If that’s true, why not wear your Night Guard armour?” Sweetie Belle pointed to the other end of the room. Sitting there were two sets of armour, one on a mannequin and one standing up right on its own. The one on the mannequin reflected the style of a traditional Night Guard’s armour. The standing armour was similar to a knight’s, only a glistening white with emerald accents and sharper angles around the shoulders and knee joints. The helmet looked like a snarling beast with glowing emerald eyes. “That’s always looked good on you.”
“Yes, because nothing says inconspicuous like a Royal Guard’s attire,” Rarity deadpanned.
“You’re going to be wearing clothing, that’s kinda suspicious in pony society,” Sweetie Belle retorted. “Besides, it’s not going to matter since you’re going to magically put on your Lunar Knight armour over your clothing when you find your target.”
“Well played, little sister, well played,” Rarity giggled. She put on a white overcoat while pulling a straight sword off the wall. The coat had a lion holding a ring on both sides of the coat. “How about this one?”
“That’s always suited you,” Sweetie Belle said. “And that sword seems practical and pretty easy to hide.”
“Then I’ll go with this then.” Rarity slid the sword into a pocket in the coat’s tails. “Now, I’ll be gone for at least a week, so behave. If anypony comes by asking for an order, tell them I’m away and write down their name and address.”
“Do you want me to give the standard excuse for why you’re not around?”
“Please do.” Rarity headed towards the exit. As she ascended up the stairs, she noticed Sweetie Belle staring at the wall of blades. “I know what you’re thinking!” she called down. “And you’re forbidden from doing it!”
“I wasn’t going to!” Sweetie Belle yelled. She turned her head back to the wall as Rarity’s footsteps disappeared. She took one last look at the walls before hurrying up the stairs. She never actually said anything about trying to get a cutie mark in Lunar Knighthood. Sweetie Belle giggled to herself as she hopped back up to the boutique.