The Jester and the Thief
Rarity listened in the silence, perfectly still. The cell floor was cool beneath her hooves. A fly buzzed around the tray of featureless gruel next to the door. The guards were gone. “So, how do we get out of here?” Applejack said from a cell down the hall, shattering her concentration.
“Already in the process,” Rarity said, flicking free a dagger carefully hidden in the well-groomed hairs of her tail. She picked it up, handling it awkwardly in her hoof. The Flaming Wing mercenaries had fastened a suppressor around her horn to block her magic.
Rarity wedged her dagger beneath the suppressor on her horn. She gritted her teeth and, using the frame of a cot as a fulcrum, pressed on the hilt with her hoof. Pain shot down the length of her horn. Whimpering, she eased the pressure. Come on, Rarity. You’ve done this before, she told herself.
Her eyes clenched tight, she shoved her free foreleg into her mouth and pressed on the dagger as hard as she could. The suppressor popped off as a pin holding it shut shattered. The metal cylinder hit the wall of her dank cell with a ping and clattered to the floor. Gasping, she spat her foreleg out, a row of teeth marks etched into her fur and skin.
Her horn free, she reached out with her magic to the manacles binding her legs together. She probed the familiar structure of the locks holding them shut, found the pin, and popped them open. Good, she thought, everything is working.
As she stood and turned toward the door, Pinkie Pie pressed her face up against the bars of her cell across the hall. “You’re out!” she cried.
“Pinkie, shhh,” Rarity hissed. “The guards could hear.”
Rarity focused on the door and pictured the lock. She formed a key with her mind and turned it. Unsecured, her cell door slowly swung open, accompanied by the squeak of a rusty hinge. She crossed to Pinkie’s cell and unlocked the door.
“You’ve gotta help Twilight,” Pinkie whispered.
Rarity stepped into Pinkie’s cell. “It’s been hours,” she said in a hushed tone. “A few more seconds won’t hurt. I’ll need your help to get everypony out.” With a thought, she unlocked the manacles restraining Pinkie. “You and I are going to sneak out of here, then come for the others.”
“But—” Pinkie protested, a little too loud.
Rarity silenced Pinkie by shoving a hoof in her mouth. “Sit tight. I’m going to get the suppressor off Twilight.”
She turned, her hooves hardly making a sound on the stone floor as she gracefully slipped out of the cell and down the corridor. She passed the the cells containing Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. “Pinkie and I need to get out without them realizing we’re gone until they check the cells in the morning. Don’t worry, we’ll be back,” Rarity said. They nodded.
She paused in front of the cell with the unconscious lavender unicorn on a flimsy, flea-ridden cot. A metal cylinder on Twilight’s horn glinted in the soft silver glow filtering in through a miniscule barred window set high in the wall. No tray, she noticed. She thought back, counting the number of trays she’d heard the guards set down – five, one to few. Are they going to feed her? she wondered. She wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t; Twilight was in no condition to eat.
Twilight had reacted poorly to the suppressor. At first, she had twitched and squirmed in her sleep. Once, she even shattered her suppressor with a surge of magical power, sending metal fragments into the eye of the guard carrying her, and had been briefly conscious until the suppressor was replaced. Now, she lay still as the grave, the soft rise and fall of her chest as she breathed shallowly the only sign that she was alive. No time like the present, Rarity thought, clicking the locked door open.
She moved into the cell and stopped by the cot. Twilight looked at peace; Rarity had never seen her like this before. Twilight was unlike any unicorn she’d ever known. Every unicorn had some connection to magic, but Twilight lived in it, and when she was cut off from it, she slowly slipped away. Twilight wielded magic like another pony would wield a hammer; brutal and efficient. Spells that seemed to strain Twilight a week ago appeared simple for her now.
Rarity removed Twilight’s suppressor, unlocking it with her magic. She set the cylinder on the mattress. Twilight looked as still as she had been before. Her coat was mussed. Flecks of blood stained her cheek from when she’d put out the eye of the Flaming Wing soldier carrying her. Rarity gently caressed Twilight’s cheek with a hoof, wiping away the dried blood.
“Come on, Twilight, wake up,” she whispered.
Twilight’s eyes fluttered open. She looked up and murmured, “Rarity?”
Rarity nodded. “Quiet now, Twilight,” she whispered as she lowered her hoof. She floated up her free dagger and scored it through the runes lining the inside of the suppressor, deactivating it, and snapped the locking pin, ensuring that it could easily be removed.
“It shouldn’t work quite so well anymore. I’m going to need to put this back on you, or else they’ll put another one on. Are you ready?” Rarity said softly.
Twilight gulped as she nodded and closed her eyes. Rarity clasped the broken suppressor around her horn. When it did nothing, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Rarity heard a hoofstep. Her ears perked. Glancing through the steel bars of the door, she raised a hoof to her lips. Voices echoed from outside the cell.
“Mind if I take the food?” the first, a mare, said.
So they are going to feed her, Rarity thought. She flicked her second dagger from her tail and levitated it beside her, preparing for the worse.
“Would you? You’re a godsend. My shift was about to end, this is the last tray, and I’d like to stay as far away from that purple unicorn as possible. Did you hear she broke a suppressor? Isn’t that supposed to be impossible?” a second voice, male, answered.
“She did it; I was there. How do you think I got this bandage?” the first speaker said.
Rarity moved to the cell door. She hid beside it and gently swung it shut. With her magic, she locked it. She considered the best way to incapacitate one of the guards. I don’t have many options, she realized.
“This whole thing is weird... she’s been in a coma since they brought her in. They’re not supposed to react like that,” the second speaker said. “Say... you sure you’re supposed to be on duty? That looks pretty bad...”
“I’m not... I’m gonna take her eye, just in case she makes it,” the mare said. Rarity could hear the spite rolling off her tongue.
“Ah, gotcha... well, take the tray, I didn’t hear nuthin’,” the stallion said. The clop of hooves ascended a stone staircase, but a second set of hooves moved down, drawing ever closer.
The mare whistled a soft tune as she closed in on the cell door. Keys jingled. Rarity lurked in the shadows, waiting, listening. The mare set down a tray and missed the lock with her key, ramming it against the metal beside the keyhole. “Dammit,” the mare muttered.
She got it on her second try, and the door swung open. Rarity waited, holding her breath. The mare’s hooves clicked as she stepped through the door, and Rarity saw the profile of her face.
‘Right below the ear, at the base of the skull is the sweet spot. You sever the spine from the skull, and they go out like a light.’
Rarity waited, weighing her options.
“You’re pretty... this is going to be a shame,” the mare said, eyeing Twilight. Steel glinted as she drew a dagger from a sheath at her shoulder. “I’m going to give you a sc—”
Rarity drove her dagger into the sweet spot. In the blink of an eye, it was over. She caught the body in her levitation, easing it to the floor, and slid her dagger free. She shoved the body under the cot.
“They shoulda put a suppressor on you too...” Twilight whispered, managing a small smile.
Rarity grinned. “Oh, they did. First thing I did once they were gone was pry it off,” she said. “Now, Twilight, you’ll have to work some wizardry to hide this body, when you’re feeling up to it. You have a few hours before another guard comes down here.” She eyed Twilight. Her friend still looked drained. Once she’s back in the game, this prison won’t hold her, Rarity thought.
“You’re probably in no condition for casting now, but when you’re recovered, don’t cast an Invisibility spell and try to escape,” Rarity said. “You need to sit tight while I arrange somewhere safe for us, or we’ll be running through the streets chased by the entire Flaming Wing.” She stepped back toward the open door. “Bide, Twilight... and remember, you’re in a coma. Pinkie and I will be back soon.”
She hoped Twilight would have the sense to listen.
The stairway leading up from the cells ended in a locked door. A voice filtered through a small barred window set into the thick wood at eye level. “She isn’t back yet?”
The legs of a chair scraped against the stone floor. “Maybe we should check on her,” a second voice said.
Rarity took a position beside the door and gave Pinkie a small nod. Pinkie touched her side, indicating she was ready. Rarity clicked the door open and slipped the room. One of the pegasus guards rising from his seat looked at her, his eyes widening. She closed her eyes and focused, her magic jumping to her. A nova of light flared on the tip of her horn.
The guards shouted in surprise. As Rarity opened her eyes, A pink blur moved past her. With her magic shoes, Pinkie ran up the wall. While the guards recovered from the Flare, Pinkie dropped on them from above and landed on the table. She grabbed both of their heads and slammed their faces into the table. They slumped to the floor, groaning, with blood trickling from their noses.
Rarity looked around the room. She found fabric tabards for protecting metal armor from the elements folded in a corner. One of them tried to rise, and Pinkie smashed her hoof into his jaw. His head snapped to the side and he fell back to the floor. Whimpering, he held his chin in his forehooves. Blood oozed from his split lip.
“Quiet, and stay down, or we won’t play nice,” Rarity said, brandishing her daggers.
Rarity passed the tabards to Pinkie, knotting them together as makeshift bindings. Together, they gagged and tied the guards. A single door led further into the Flaming Wing’s fortress. She’d been lead this way before, and caught peeks of her surroundings under her blindfold. Off to the side down the hall would be a storage room where they could stash the two bound guards.
Few ponies moved in the fortress at night. Rarity and Pinkie slipped between them, their hooffalls ghostly quiet even in the stillness. Rarity led them up a staircase. There, at the end of the hall, she spotted what she was looking for: an unbarred window. She paused at a corner, checking for movement, and finding none, moved to the window. She unlatched the shutters and opened it.
The street outside the fortress was three stories beneath them. Pinkie reached out a hoof and smiled. With a dramatic sigh, Rarity took Pinkie’s hoof, and together, they exited into the night.
In a dirty Manehattan alley, Rarity snatched a grey blanket off a clothesline. She set to work, converting the blanket into a pair of cloaks with her daggers, her magic, and a bit of thread scavenged from a quilt. “How’re we going to get them out?” Pinkie asked.
“I don’t know,” Rarity said.
“You said—” Pinkie protested.
Rarity held up a hoof. “I don’t know yet.” She smiled. “But I have a few ideas. The first thing we’ll need to do is steal some bits.”
Rarity held up the cloaks, whipping them through the air. Satisfied, she draped one of the garments over her shoulders and passed the other to Pinkie. The makeshift cloaks would make them look like beggars or urchins, but at least the hoods would help hide their faces.
“Steal?” Pinkie frowned. “Are you sure we should be doing that?”
Rarity sighed. “Look, Pinkie, it’s not like we have a choice. Besides, if we steal from the right ponies, it isn’t so bad.”
Pinkie pulled the cloak around her shoulders. “In Ponyville before we met, that was us. Who is it this time?”
Rarity closed her eyes and hung her head. “When we first met, I’d fallen back on old habits. I didn’t see any other choices.” She focused on Pinkie. “Now, I have a choice, and I plan to make the best of it.”
Pinkie nodded. “I think I understand.”
By dawn, Rarity had navigated to the docks district. In the early hours of the morning, she and Pinkie lurked on the outskirts of a crowd gathered below a wooden platform, their hoods pulled over their faces. A pony and a zebra in chains stood on the platform.
“Sold! To the Lady with the white rose on her hat!” an auctioneer in a suit barked. “Those two will make a fine pair of kitchen slaves!”
Rarity slipped through the crowd, Pinkie on her heels, making her way toward the back of the platform. The two individuals in chains were lead off the platform, their heads hung low, and their spirits broken. Rarity wondered if debt or war had forced them into bondage.
As Rarity edged around the side of the platform, the buyer met her two new slaves at the base. She wore a fashionable hat, unblemished except for a minor stain. A burly earth pony accompanied her to lead them home. As the auctioneer shouted, “Now, if that’s not your speed, we have a pair of slaves fresh off the boat from the faraway shores of Francia more suited to manual labor!” the buyer passed an assistant a pouch brimming with golden bits.
With a smile and a nod, the assistant unlocked a chest and poured the bits into it. Rarity eyed a second chest behind the platform. She hoped it was full.
Four ponies hauled a pair of huge, muscular diamond dogs in chains up onto the platform. One of the ponies fastened the manacles around their feet to the platform with a heavy metal stake. Their hands and feet were wrapped in thick fabric to prevent them from using their claws. The gathered buyers cooed in appreciation. “These dogs have been well broken by the griffons, I can assure you. Opening bid is five hundred bits each!” the auctioneer shouted.
One of the diamond dogs raised his head and growled. “If little pony try to control Rotgrub, Rotgrub break pony!” He gnashed his teeth.
The auctioneer chuckled nervously. Nopony raised their hoof to bid. “Two hundred bits?”
“Pinkie, distraction,” Rarity hissed.
Pinkie nodded and moved toward the stage. Rarity went for the chest behind the platform. As shouts of surprise filled her ears, she unlocked the chest. She opened a burlap sack and syphoned golden coins from the chest into it.
As she filled the sack, somepony shouted, “Stop her!” Rarity looked around, but nopony was looking at her. All eyes were on the stage. The auctioneer flew off the platform and landed on his nose beside her. Above, Pinkie ducked a pony trying to grab her and threw him over her shoulder. He landed in a pile with the auctioneer. With a powerful blow, Pinkie kicked the stake pinning the diamond dog’s chains to the stage free.
Rarity hurriedly scooped the last bit of coins into the sack and pulled it shut. Pinkie, that wasn’t the plan! she thought. The sack of golden bits was too heavy to carry easily in her levitation, so she picked it up in her mouth and swung it over her shoulder onto her back.
Dragging chains, the two diamond dogs jumped off the platform and landed beside her, their powerful hind legs coiling. “Get their chains off!” Pinkie shouted.
Rarity hesitated a moment. To either side, ponies tasked with facilitating the slave auction closed in on the diamond dogs. It didn’t look like anypony had even noticed her theft. She could disappear in the chaos.
‘A good thief never has to run, because they’re gone before anypony realizes something is missing.’
Snorting, Rarity lit her horn and unlocked the diamond dog’s chains. “Run!” she shouted around the sack in her mouth.
She aimed for an alley between two warehouses and tried to launch into a gallop. With the coins on her back, she barely managed a fast trot. She glanced over her shoulder.
Pinkie jumped off the platform, landing lightly. She slipped under another pony trying to catch her, tripped her assailant, and galloped after Rarity. As their chains fell away, the two diamond dogs ripped off the fabric covering their claws and held them threateningly. The ponies closing in on them hesitated.
As Pinkie caught up to her, Rarity cleared the alley. The street on the far side ran along the waterfront, past a row of warehouses. She focused forward, and ran as fast as she could down the street. She knew at this pace they weren’t going to escape. I have to drop it, she thought. She scowled, the bitter taste of the dirty sack on her tongue. Because she couldn’t stick to the plan, we’ll have no coin and nothing to get the Thieves Guild’s attention!
She heard heavy steps behind her, getting closer. She opened her mouth, releasing the sack. Something caught it before it could tumble off her back and land in the street. Rarity shrieked as a limb wrapped around her midriff.
After a twist and a whirl through the air, Rarity found herself on the back of a hulking beast tearing down the street on all fours. “Horn pony too slow,” the diamond dog grunted. Rarity wrapped her hooves around his neck and clung for dear life. She noticed the other diamond dog beside them, carrying the sack of coin.
Down an alley to their left, a side door to a bland warehouse opened. Rarity glimpsed a pony in a black cloak standing in the entrance. She pointed down the alley. “There!”
Pinkie and the two diamond dogs turned sharply, gouging at the street for traction. They ducked down the alley through the door into the darkness inside the warehouse. The door slammed shut behind them.
Rarity’s heart raced as the diamond dog gently set her down. She blinked, her eyes adjusting the dim light inside. She made out shapes around them. “I never expected to see the White Widow here in Manehattan,” a stallion said with a chuckle. “I also never expected to see her get caught.”
In the center of the warehouse, under the light of a warm oil lamp, Rarity dipped a chunk of bread into a bowl of watery soup. She ate ravenously, chewing down the bread and slurping at the soup. Her empty stomach demanded she abandon her dignity for the moment. Pinkie tore into her own food beside her.
A dark grey pegasus with a two-toned silver mane sat across from her, watching her patiently. A ropey scar ran down the left side of his face, passing under a firmly secured eyepatch. He wore a pair of worn wingblades with a jagged, notched edge.
“You know you can’t steal without giving the guild a cut,” the pegasus said as Rarity finished off her chunk of bread. “Besides, I heard rumors the White Widow was playing shopkeeper somewhere. Why come here? Why not go back to Canterlot? What are you doing here?”
Rarity looked up from her soup. “I’ll give you half of what I stole, and I’ll keep my secrets.”
“I would like to work with you, but the problem is, those slave traders were paying protection,” the pegasus said. “A younger White Widow built a reputation for stirring up trouble with slave traders, and I can’t have a rogue element running around causing us problems. I know you’re in a tough spot, with the arrest and all, but surely you can understand my position.”
Rarity swallowed slowly, glancing at the cloaked figures around them. At least four guild members sat on crates of stolen goods, each with a weapon. Rarity wondered how many Pinkie could handle. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I’m not interested in causing you trouble.”
“Fair enough. We’ll take half your coin,” the pegasus said, gesturing at the two diamond dogs behind Rarity, “and the two slaves.”
‘You have to show that you’re not weak, that you’re prepared to kill. Don’t let yourself get pushed around.’
The diamond dogs growled. Rarity lunged, pulling a dagger. In an instant, her blade was at the pegasus’s throat. She twisted his ear in her levitation and hissed, “They aren’t slaves! You’ll take half the coin, and I won’t take your other eye.”
The pegasus chuckled. “I see the Widow hasn’t lost her edge. Come on, relax, we’re friends here.” He smiled. “As it turns out, the traders missed a payment. We can call this their punishment.”
Rarity slowly pulled her dagger back. “I hear you have a tunnel in Manehattan, Smuggler’s Way; I want access.”
“Sure thing. It’s open to anyone in our little family.” The pegasus tapped his hoof on the floor. “Rat!”
A scrawny earth pony barely into her adolescence hopped down off a crate. She stepped up to the pegasus with the eyepatch. The pegasus whispered something in her ear, and she nodded. She turned to Rarity. “I’ll show you the way,” she said.
Smuggler’s Way was precisely what Rarity expected, a broad tunnel that cut through central Manehattan functioning as a causeway for illicit trade. She’d heard about the place from her Manehattan contacts. She kept her sack of coins tightly shut, and a wary eye out for pickpockets, but with the two diamond dogs at her side, they stayed clear.
The two hulking dogs barely said a word, but they stayed with them. With the diggers as allies, and access to the tunnels, a plan came to mind. She hoped one of the passages that wasn’t collapsed or flooded ran near the Flaming Wing’s fortress.
They stopped at a widening of the tunnel, where two platforms spread out to either side of the main passage. Rat didn’t seem to know the original purpose of the platforms, but now vendors occupied them, fencing illicit goods, or simply offering a bite to eat.
When they had a moment, Rarity snached Rat’s foreleg and glared. “I know the Fox up there sent you to keep an eye on us, not to guide us,” Rarity said, using the name for guild masters. The young pony cringed. “But I’m not going to hurt you. I need your help. Do you have a coinpurse?”
Rat nodded, holding up a small bag.
“I need you to get me a map of the underground and information on the Duchesses. Can you do that?” Rarity said.
Rat nodded again.
Rarity passed her ten golden bits, far more than would be needed. “Keep the change.” Rat stuffed the bits into her coinpurse, and disappeared into the throng of ponies. I hope I haven’t made a mistake by trusting her, Rarity thought.
Almost as soon as Rat was gone, Pinkie asked, “What’s going on, Rarity? What’s this about you being the White Widow?”
Rarity sighed. She turned to the diamond dogs. “Could you give us a moment?” she asked politely. They nodded.
Rarity grabbed Pinkie by the foreleg and guided her into a spot between two support columns. The sounds echoing within the confined space around them would mask their conversation. She dropped onto her haunches and glared at Pinkie. “You should have followed the plan,” Rarity said.
“I distracted them, didn’t I?!” Pinkie protested. “And now we’ve got two new friends. Freeing them was the right thing to do!”
Rarity opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn’t think of a sensible rebuttal. “You know what, you’re right. And it all worked out, in the end,” she finally said. “I think they can help us.”
“You haven’t answered my question,” Pinkie said.
“I spent a while working with the Thieves Guild in Canterlot. You could say I built up a bit of a reputation.” Rarity frowned. “It’s not a time I like to talk about.”
Pinkie smiled. “That’s fine. So, how do we free the others?”
Rarity blinked, not expecting Pinkie to be satisfied with her answer. “We have the diamond dogs tunnel in at night; that’s what the map was for. I’m hoping we can find a good spot,” Rarity said. “But, before we get them out, I need to talk to some old friends. We’re going to need somewhere to lie low once we’re all free.”
“Why’d you ask for information on the Duchesses?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m hoping one of them will listen to us and help us clear our name,” Rarity said.
Somepony tapped her on the shoulder. Rarity turned to see Rat holding a booklet and a folded map. “That was quick,” Rarity said.
Rat pointed at a stall on the far platform with a collection of written materials on display. “Information broker.”
Rarity leaned down until she was eye level with Rat. “You know how else you can earn some bits?”
Rat looked at her expectantly.
Rarity passed Rat another five golden bits. “Pretend you lost us.”
“Hold on,” Pinkie said with a smile as Rat took the money. “What’s your name? It’s not really Rat, is it?”
Rat stopped mid step. “My parents called me Lily. They aren’t around anymore.” She disappeared into the crowd a moment later.
Rarity smiled softly. I wasn’t very different from her, once, she thought. She wished she could have given Rat more, but she didn’t have enough bits to throw around.
Rarity tapped the wall of a deserted side passage. She floated the map in front of her, checking it. The sketch of the tunnels was overlaid with the streets and landmarks above, including the Flaming Wing fortress. “This is the spot,” Rarity announced.
One of the diamond dogs set down a sack of provisions in the tunnel: fresh water and food. “Which way do we dig?”
Rarity sighed. “That’s... something I don’t know yet.” There was no way of knowing exactly what angle would lead them to the cell block her friends were in. “But, I know how to figure it out.” She turned to the two diamond dogs with a smile. “Thank you, again, for agreeing to help us.”
The pair dipped their heads in a respectful bow. “You set us free. We are in your debt, pony,” one of them said.
Rarity shook her head. “That was Pinkie Pie, not me. You should be thanking her.”
“You could have slipped away, Rotgrub noticed it, but you freed us from our chains. You gave us the chance to fight. You have courage, pony, and we will repay that in any way we can,” the other said.
Rarity smiled again, extending her hoof. “I’m Rarity, and this is—”
“Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie said loudly before Rarity could finish.
The first took her hoof gently in his paw, careful not to cut her with his claws, and shook it. “Rotgrub.” He gestured at the other diamond dog. “Tenderfoot, my brother.”
Rarity placed her hoof back on the ground. “We need to go up to the surface for a while. I’m sorry we can’t bring you; you’d draw too much attention.”
Rotgrub nodded. “We understand. We’ll wait here, rest.”
A bell rang as Rarity passed through the front door of a small establishment in an upscale district on a hill overlooking the bay, Pinkie a step behind her. Lush carpet compressed beneath her worn, chipped hooves. She breathed in the scent of soap. It’s been too long since I’ve been to a place like this, she thought.
A few seconds later, a pony walked out from the back rooms and stood behind the counter. “‘Scuse me, misses. We do not accept vagabonds in this establishment.”
Rarity tipped back her hood. “Lotus, it’s Rarity.”
Lotus stared at her. “Rarity! I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you! You look, well...”
Rarity smiled. “I understand.”
Lotus stepped out from behind the counter. “It’s been so long. Since Canterlot, right?”
Rarity nodded. “Yes, just letters since then.”
“What’re you doing in Manehattan?” Lotus asked.
“Long story,” Rarity said. “I need a few things, and I’m hoping you can help me out. First, we both need to look presentable.”
Lotus awkwardly shuffled. “You um... can pay? Right?”
‘Friendship valued in gold is worth nothing but dust.’
Rarity gave Lotus a warm smile, past a twinge of annoyance. “Of course.” She opened her sack, giving Lotus a peek inside.
Lotus returned her smile with a friendly grin. “We’re just finishing up an appointment. We’ll be with you in a few minutes. Have a seat.” She disappeared through a satin curtain into the back rooms.
“What is this place? What are we doing here? We should be getting our friends out of prison!” Pinkie hissed as soon as Lotus was out of sight.
Rarity eased herself into a cushioned seat along the wall, glad to be off her feet. “This is a spa. We’re here because we need to find a shop that sells magic scrolls and it’s a lot easier for a pony that looks like a merchant to move around the streets than one that looks like a tramp. It was hard enough dodging the Flaming Wing between here and the tunnels. They’re out in force. If we get a good bath, a nice hat, and wear something that hides our marks, they won’t look twice at us,” Rarity quietly answered. “That, and this is the place we’re going to rest up and lie low once we get the others out.”
“Here?” Pinkie asked.
“Last I heard, they had some rooms upstairs. Twilight needs a place like this. Do you see how tightly wound that filly is? If she goes much longer without a break, she’s going to snap.”
Pinkie’s ears flattened back, and she glared at Rarity. “Twilight isn’t going to snap! She’s got it under control.”
Rarity frowned. “Sometimes I think she was better off when she had a wall between her and the world. A wizard like her...”
“So you’d just leave her in a cage?” Pinkie asked.
Rarity shook her head. “You know that’s not what I meant. We’re getting her out.”
“That’s not what I meant either,” Pinkie said. “You’re afraid of her.”
Rarity sighed. “I’m afraid for her.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “You have to understand, Pinkie, wizards are a special breed to begin with. Most unicorns use magic on instinct, with a limited repertoire of spells. For me, casting magic is like flexing a muscle. I know a bit of arcana, enough to know a few tricks like how to cast spells from scrolls, but nothing like Twilight.”
Pinkie nodded. “Twilight’s different.”
“A long time ago, I worked with a wizard. Everything he knew about magic he learned through rote memorization. He carried around a book as thick as my leg and referenced it every morning to prepare spells. Twilight just... does it. She wakes up in the morning, eats breakfast, gets a distant look in her eyes, and she’s throwing around Fireballs that afternoon. Twilight knows magic.” Rarity stamped her hoof on the couch for emphasis. “She understands every element of the spells she uses so thoroughly that she can form them on the fly.”
“She was taught by Star Swirl the Bearded.”
“I know,” Rarity said. “But, there’s more to it than that. Have you ever noticed each fight we get into she’s using stronger spells than the last? If she were actually formally tested, she’d be declared an Archmage by the time she cast her third spell, and it’s only been a few weeks since she left Candlekeep. It almost wouldn’t surprise me if she read and understood every book on magic in Candlekeep.”
Pinkie shrugged. “I think she did.”
Rarity shook her head. “That was hyperbole, Pinkie. It’s absurd. There’s so many books in Candlekeep there’s no way—”
“I’m pretty sure she did,” Pinkie interrupted. “Almost all of them, anyway.”
Rarity blinked. “Well... that explains a lot.”
For a moment, neither of them said anything. I wonder how much longer it’s going to be, Rarity thought, twisting her neck to try and peek past the curtain.
“I’m worried about what will happen if we don’t get her out soon,” Pinkie said.
“She should sit tight until tomorrow, at least,” Rarity replied. “If she tries to get out on her own, it’ll be a bloodbath. She knows that.”
“That’s what worries me,” Pinkie murmured, almost inaudible.
Before Rarity could say anything else, a pair of ponies walked through the curtains. They sneered down at Rarity and Pinkie on their way out. “We’re ready for you now, Rarity,” Lotus said, poking her head out.
They probably made us wait so that those two wouldn’t have to associate with dirty ponies like us, Rarity thought. She stood up and walked toward the doorway. “Lotus, you still have the guest rooms upstairs, right?”
Lotus nodded. “Of course.”
“How much would it cost to reserve the whole place for a few days, full service?” Rarity asked.
Rarity languished on a couch while Lotus filed away the rough edges of her hind hooves, her coat feeling cleaner than it had in a very long time. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the pillow. She had caught a few minutes of sleep in the bath, but her eyelids still felt heavy.
“Rarity?” Pinkie said.
Rarity blinked her eyes open and turned her head to look at Pinkie. “Yeah?”
“How much do Lotus and Aloe know about you?” Pinkie asked.
“We’ve known ‘er for a long time,” Aloe said around a brush she was running through Pinkie’s curly mane. “Since we were all fillies in the streets of Canterlot.”
Rarity slumped her head back down onto the pillow. “Why does it mat—”
Pinkie interrupted, saying, “You ran away from home, didn’t you?”
Rarity blinked. How did she know? she wondered.
“Your sister said you were gone for years last time you went away. You’re not that old, or you don’t look it. To build a reputation, you would have had to start young,” Pinkie said. “So, you ran away from home, and you ended up working with the Thieves Guild.”
Rarity sighed. “Yes, that’s right.”
Pinkie shifted on her couch; Rarity heard the frame creak. “Didn’t your parents worry about you?”
Rarity swallowed. She tilted her head, facing away from Pinkie. “Of course... when I got back, they were so surprised to see me. They thought I was dead.”
“Why leave?” Pinkie asked.
Rarity scowled. “I was a stupid little filly. After I earned my Mark, I thought my destiny was to shine. I thought the only place I could do that was in a big city of art and magic, Canterlot. I traveled there with the carnival. Two weeks later, I wanted to go home so badly, but I didn’t have the bits to make it back.”
“But, eventually, you earned enough money to move back and start a business. To do that, you had to do bad things, didn’t you? You killed ponies,” Pinkie said.
Rarity nodded. She wrapped her forelegs around her pillow, pulling it close. A hoof gently touched her on the back.
“You’re not alone, Rarity. We’re here, now,” Pinkie said, directly behind her.
Rarity blinked back the moisture in her eyes. “I know.” She turned to face Pinkie and smiled up at her. “Thanks.”
Pinkie shook her head. “No, thank you.”
“For what?” Rarity asked.
“The smile.”
Wearing a borrowed dress, Rarity paused in the front door on the way out of the spa. She looked over her shoulder at Aloe. “When we come back for the reserved stay, there’ll be a lavender unicorn with us. I’ll pay extra if she gets extra special treatment.”
Aloe nodded. “We’ll be sure to make her relaxed, then.”
With a small smile on her lips, Rarity exited the spa and trotted a few steps to catch up with Pinkie. “Remember,” Rarity whispered, “we’re a pair of young ladies out for a stroll, not escaped prisoners.”
“Of course,” Pinkie grinned, tipping back her flowery hat. “I love playing pretend.”
By the time Rarity took three more steps, two pegasi in Flaming Wing uniforms swooped in low over their heads and landed behind them. Her hat fluttered off in the gust of wind spilling off their wings. Catching her hat in her levitation, Rarity took a deep breath and felt for her daggers in her tail.
“Excuse me, ladies,” one of the Flaming Wing soldiers said.
‘The trick to not being guilty is not acting guilty. Appearances are everything.’
Rarity turned with a broad grin and waved at the soldiers. “You two are a godsend. Do you by any chance know where Sorcerous Sundries is?” She knew perfectly well where the shop was located. Aloe had given her directions less than two minutes ago.
The lead pony stared at her for a moment, taken aback. “‘Friad not, ma’am,” he finally said. “We’re looking for a unicorn and a—”
“Oh, that’s a shame. I hear they have this wonderful magical hoof polish that can make them actually glow!” Rarity gushed. “I’ve simply been dying to try it! I guess I’ll have to ask somepony a little closer.”
“That might be a good idea, ma’am. Now, we heard a report that there was a unicorn and an earth pony in the establishment you just stepped out of matching the description of some ponies we’re looking for. They’d be dirty. Both mares. The unicorn was white, and the earth pony was pink. Ring any bells?” the Flaming Wing soldier said, staring at her pointedly.
Rarity gasped, glancing at Pinkie. “Could that have been us?” She gracefully tittered behind her hoof. “I guess we looked absolutely dreadful after traveling back from Aunt Opal’s estate; all that dust from the farmers carts on the road was simply unimaginable.”
Pinkie blinked at the pegasus with wide, expressive eyes. “What in Equestria do you need us for?”
Rarity winced internally at Pinkie’s dramatic tone, but the soldier shook his head. “Not you. I apologize for any confusion. Thank you for your time.” He turned sharply and took to the air, his wingpony following.
“I told you they wouldn’t be here,” Rarity overheard one of them say as they flew away. Pinkie giggled.
Rarity smirked.
Rarity stood at the counter in Sorcerous Sundries. The shopkeeper passed two furled scrolls across it to her. “Here you are,” she said. “Silence, and Stone Gaze.”
Rarity floated over the required amount of bits. After paying Aloe and Lotus, she barely had enough for the scrolls. Fortunately, what she had left over would cover the cost of a few simple weapons in case something went wrong.
“Thank you,” Rarity said. She unfurled the scrolls, checking that they were authentic, as she turned away from the counter.
Across the room, Pinkie peered at a gnarled staff on the shelf. Rarity walked over to her. “Everything okay?” she asked.
Pinkie turned toward the door. “Nothing. Just reminded me of the one Star Swirl had is all.” She headed out of the shop.
Rarity followed her out onto the street. She leaned in close to Pinkie and asked, “Did he teach you how to do what you do too?” while they moved around another pair of pedestrians.
Pinkie shook her head. “I learned what I know from an old pony in Candlekeep. He taught me to find my center in joy, and use that.”
Rarity quirked an eyebrow at Pinkie. “What does that even mean?”
Pinkie shrugged. “Life has a resonance. If you learn to find the good things, even when they seem bad, you can resonate faster.”
Rarity smiled. “That sounds nice. How do you do it?”
“Some days are harder than others.” Pinkie dodged around a cart as it clattered past. “But I always remember that I have friends, and my friends need me to smile.”
After dropping their borrowed dresses off at the spa and stopping by the docks to arrange a spot for the diamond dogs in a merchant captain’s crew, they returned to the the tunnel.
In the passage with the diamond dogs, Rarity unfurled the Stone Gaze scroll, cast the spell, and stared at the wall. Her eyes cut through the masoned stone, dirt, and rock in her path, leaving them shadowed outlines. Above, she made out a block of six cells on the edge of the fortress. The middle one on the outer wall had a narrow window at street level. The spell didn’t reveal anything beyond the stone, only the stones themselves, but she knew from her memory of the fortress that she was looking at Twilight’s cell.
“There,” Rarity said before the spell faded, pointing with her hoof. “Straight in that direction.”
The two dogs nodded, and began the task of cutting aside the stone. Rarity turned away from the wall, her vision returning to normal. “Well, Pinkie,” she said, “we should catch some sleep while we can.”
Pinkie smiled at her. “You do that. I’ll keep an eye out.”
“We’ve both been up all night,” Rarity said.
Pinkie laughed, waving a hoof. “I’ve been up waaay longer than this. I’ll be fine. You get some rest.”
Rarity nodded. She settled against the hard wall of the passage, shifting to get comfortable. She closed her eyes. The weight of her exhaustion overcame the noise of digging.
In her dreams, a rat wandered the winding streets of Canterlot, hungry and alone, until a fox took her in. The fox demanded more and more of the rat, and the rat had a fire in her heart; she wanted to outshine the stars. The rat persevered, and eventually she became a white spider, elegant and deadly, with fangs that whispered sweet words.