A boutique sits quietly, it's closed for the day. The closing of the boutique on this day is unusual, but it doesn't hinder the business much. Business has slowly sunk to a few customers a week, if that. A single pony, the owner of said boutique, sits alone upstairs. Sits at the edge of her bed, unable to bring herself to move any more than that. She knows that deep down, at the very least, she has to get up to eat. She knows this, but her body still doesn't feel like moving. She just wants to lie down and sleep through the whole day, just to avoid the harsh truth that this day holds. The day and it's connotations have ensnared her mind and trapped her in a cage of fear. She gathers enough strength to heave herself off of the bed and into the action of the day, at the very least to eat.
Looking into the mirror she almost doesn't recognize the face looking back, she brushes off the feeling. Were it a normal day and she were here old self, she would be fussing over her appearance. Now? She can barely even bring herself to look at the mare in the mirror, much less help her.
She hears the opening of a door downstairs, the front door to the boutique. `Sweetie Belle must be home` she thinks to herself. She pulls herself away from the mirror and down the stairs “Sweetie, is that you?” she calls out, but rounding the corner she finds her answer. The pony that just walked into the boutique isn't Sweetie Belle, but a mare that she doesn't recognize. “I'm sorry miss... we're not open...” she mutters darkly, she's just not ready to deal with any other ponies right now. Rarity starts towards the kitchen only to be stopped by the mare.
“Actually, I'm not a customer,” the mare calls out, Rarity turns her attention once more to the mare.
“Whatever are you here for?” Rarity ries to keep her composure, but her tone cracks through with sorrow.
“I'm here for you, I saw you needed some help. You look absolutely dreadful, dear. Let's get some breakfast, then we can get you fixed up,” the mare moves to help Rarity over to the kitchen.
“But-” Rarity starts, but she is quickly interrupted by her mysterious guest.
“Ah-ah-ah, no but’s. I’m helping you, and that’s final,” the mare guides rarity to a seat and begins preparing her breakfast.
“Who are you?” Rarity asks after a while. Rarity watches as the mare gets out a variety of foodstuffs, but Rarity isn’t focused at all on the meal she’s making. Rarity looks over the mare’s silvery coat, three hearts with a bandaid and a sparkle on two separate hearts adorn her flank. the mare has a fashionably messy mane and tail with red tips, there are additional streaks of red in her tail. Though the mane and tail could look slightly unkempt and haphazard to the untrained eye, rarity can notice certain elements of it that suggest that the messiness is just the style. Rarity was never one for the messy style, but that doesn’t mean she never studied it. Rarity watches as the mare’s horn glows the same red as her eyes, the magic encases a plate as Breakfast is floated down in front of Rarity.
“I’m no one in particular, I’m just here to help you Mrs. Belle,” the mare pours a glass of orange juice and sets it beside the plate in front of Rarity. The plate has buttered toast and an over-easy egg on it, a typical breakfast. “eat up,” the mare waltz’s over to the sink and starts on the dishes.
“Y-you don’t have to do that…” Rarity calls out weakly.
“Nonsense, I’d be more than happy to. You just eat,” the mare continues to clean, humming happily to herself the whole while. Rarity looks from the mysterious mare to her food and back, `why is she doing this for me?` she thinks to herself as she tentatively starts eating her breakfast. her mind drifts to why this is a bad day in the first place, she thinks back to why this day is forever embedded into her memory.
~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 months earlier ~~~~~~~~~~~
“Twilight are you quite sure this is safe?” Rarity speaks up from behind the purple unicorn.
“Yes, Rarity. I just need some herbs, they shouldn’t be too hard to find. the book I had didn’t say where to find them, but I’m sure that if we show Zecora the picture she’ll be able to tell us. it doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen before, it must be somewhere in the Everfree,” Twilight says, looking up from her book to make sure that she’s still on the correct path.
“I must say, they do look simply fabulous,” Rarity says, looking over twilight at picture in her book.
“They’re supposed to be a potent antidote to most poisons. the only poison it won’t cure is food poisoning, which isn’t deadly. though, they only grow once a year, so they aren’t exactly easy to find,” Twilight places the book into her saddlebag and focuses her attention on walking to Zecora’s.
“So, no offense, But why are we all here Twi’?” Applejack calls up from behind Twilight. She motions to herself and the four other friends that are accompanying Twilight.
“I need your help in finding them,” Twilight replies, not once looking at them. Twilight seems to be warily looking around, like something has disturbed her. Not long after, a low growl is heard.
“Y’all heard that, right?” Applejack tenses up, she looks around for the source of the growl. Just as she seems to find the source, a Timberwolf jumps out of the dense foliage nearby. All six of the ponies scream and run in the direction opposite of the Timberwolf. Eventually the six are stopped by an immense drop off, the Timberwolf bursts out into the clearing right behind them. All six mares turn to the Timberwolf with the intent of fighting, neither side gets the chance to attack as the TImberwolf is crushed under the gigantic feet of a Hydra.
All the ponies are busy trying to find another route, except one. Rarity is looking up at the Hydra with wide fearful eyes, she dreads what is happening. she then takes the appropriate course of action for the confrontation of a Hydra, she faints.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Present ~~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity is snatched out of the memory by the small clinking sound of her spoon hitting the bottom of an empty bowl. In her absent mindedness, she had even managed to spoon out every last drop of milk.
“Oh, you’re done. I’ll clean this all up, you go clean yourself upstairs. I’ll be there in a second,” Rarity reluctantly up from her seat and heads to the shower. She’s hesitant about leaving a stranger in her house, but she’s too drained emotionally to care. At least if she gets robbed she’ll have something else to worry about.
“Why is that mare doing this for me? I haven’t done anything noteworthy and i don’t even know her…” Rarity ponders where she may have seen this mare as she cleans up. `I’ve certainly never seen her around Ponyville… could she be from Canterlot? I’ve never seen a mane quite like hers, and I don’t remember hearing an accent that could suggest that she’s from Canterlot… that doesn’t mean she’s not from there though,` Rarity finishes up her shower and dries herself off, she then heads out of the bathroom and back down to the kitchen. The mysterious mare from before isn’t anywhere in the kitchen, nor is she anywhere on the bottom floor.
`Maybe she went home…` Rarity thinks to herself sullenly as she heads back upstairs to her room, but she’s proven wrong as she see’s the mare in question waiting for her.
“Ah, there you are darling. I was waiting for you to finish up, come over here,” Rarity stares at the mare blankly. “Come on, I won’t bite,” Rarity hesitantly makes her way over and into the chair the mare is pointing towards. Her guest immediately starts to comb out the various tangles that she’s acquired from failing to maintain her perfect coiffure. Rarity had practically given up trying to look good, but she managed to look decent if she plans on going out. She finds no point in keeping up her appearance anymore, there’s no reason for her to. Her business is failing; she’s able to keep it barely running, but nothing more. The elements were taken by Celestia, without bearers there’s no need to have them just lying around.
That’s Rarity, the sole survivor. the only remaining element bearer, the bearer of the Element of Generosity. Former bearer, she hasn’t been able to bear the element the same way without the others. Nonetheless, she has that going for her. Being the element of generosity, she can’t stand the thought of not helping someone. She manages to do volunteer work and donate money when she can; not if, but when. Now her days are mostly spent lying around when she isn’t out volunteering, which isn’t very often. Weekends are spent with Sweetie Belle, that is, when she’s not out with her friends. Then there’s the instance of today, she would be spending the whole day loafing about like usual if it weren’t for this mysterious mare.
“You should be taking better care of yourself, this lazing about is unbecoming of a mare such as yourself,” the mare speaks up. This brings Rarity to her final concern, the mare herself. There are so many questions that Rarity wants to ask her; the foremost being, `why is she here helping me?`
Seeing no point in refraining from asking, Rarity decides to go ahead and ask it. “Why are you helping me?” Rarity asks questioningly.
“You’re always helping the community. I saw you needed a little push, so I’m here to help you,” the mare answers the question as if it’s obvious.
“A little push? is something happening?” Rarity murmurs more to herself than anything.
“You plan on going don’t you?” the mare finishes up her brushing and begins styling Rarity’s hair with care.
“Where?” Rarity tries to think of any important thing she might have missed.
“The graves; the dead still deserve respect,” Rarity freezes up. “Relax darling, I understand your nervous. But they are your friends,” Rarity releases her tension with a sigh, this mare is right. But she can’t help but feel responsible for the deaths; she should’ve helped them, but she didn’t do anything. She’s the element of generosity, but the all gave their lives to save her. She didn’t give them anything, she got to walk away with her life. How could she have been so selfish?!
“Rarity, do you know about generosity?” Rarity looks at the mare, `what could she mean?` Rarity thinks to herself.
“Yes…” Rarity finally says, her resolve wavering.
“Tell me what you know, tell me about generosity” is she serious?
“Well… generosity is giving. Generosity is the ability to give to others…” Rarity had never thought that generosity was a hard concept to grasp, it’s pretty straight forward.
“Do you believe that? That generosity is basic? Easy?” Rarity is having second thoughts, but she nods anyway. “Heh, I wish it was easy, simple…” Rarity looks into the mirror and directly into the mare’s eyes. Her eyes are soft, comforting. “Generosity isn’t so clean cut, there’s a difference between being generous and being foolish. If you give because you feel you have to, it’s not always generosity. If you give because you want to, it’s not always being generous either. if you give to someone who doesn’t need it, this has the same problem. it depends on the situation, certain things are generous and others are just giving. take your encounter with blueblood, was that generous or foolish?” Rarity is shocked that the mare knows about that, but she answers nonetheless.
“That was foolish,” the bitter memory brings a bad taste to her mouth, she feels stupid for ever being so foolish.
“Was it? Think. You donated your time in an attempt to gain his attention. In hopes of finding the true stallion inside, to try and help him be a better pony. You tried, but you failed. That doesn’t make it any less generous of you. You showed him the utmost kindness, even if he never noticed. You were better than him because you showed him your generosity, even if he didn’t deserve it,” Rarity thinks on this, could it be true? Yes, it is true. But she was so sure it had been foolish. Generosity does seem a bit more complicated than she’d imagined, how come she represented an element she doesn’t even know?
“You represent Generosity because you are generous, even if you don’t quite know what that entails. Pure generosity is not having to try or think about how or why you’re being generous, because in your heart you already know. You’re generous; not because some element tells you that you are, but because you are at heart. You don’t feel obliged to be generous, you just are. that’s pure generosity, that’s why you’re the element of generosity,” Rarity can only gawk as she has her own element explained to her. the mare’s eyes are soft, but firm. The look reminds her of only one other mare, the image of Applejack flashes in her eyes as she looks at the mare in the mirror.
It all seems so simple when this mare explains it, yet it’s very complex. she seems to just understand it, just like twilight. The image of her friends brings back her dreaded memory of that day, exactly one year ago…
~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 months earlier ~~~~~~~~~~~
“Rarity! we gotta go!” Applejacks voice can barely be heard in her half consciousness.
“We can’t wait! Pick her up! the others urgently need immediate medical attention!” the voices get clearer as her fogginess fades, her mind registers Twilight yelling about medical attention.
“Rarity’s eyes flicker open to see Applejack staring at her wide-eyed, “Oh… Applejack, what’s happened?” Rarity tries to remember what had happened. There was a run in with a Hydra, but what happened after that?
A scream is heard from off to the side, it sounds like Twilight. Rarity looks to her side to see twilight being attacked by a Timberwolf, it had her in it’s jaws.
“You let go of Twi’!” Applejack leaps at the Timberwolf, the attack works and it loosens it’s grip on Twilight. The attack works, but only so much. It isn’t enough and the Timberwolf is pushed over the edge, Rarity can only watch in horror as both Applejack and Twilight are dragged alongside it off the edge. Rarity gets up and walks over to the edge in shock, the drop is immense. There is no sign of Twilight or Applejack; she steps away from the edge in fear. She is still dumbstruck over what happened, she can’t believe that they were just taken away so easily. they’re gone, just like that. After all of the things they’ve been through, she can’t believe that it all ended here. It was like a cruel joke, after everything they’ve been through. Fighting against Changelings, Sombra, Ursa Minors, and the thing that kills them in the end is gravity.
Rarity’s mind darts to her other friends, they had been with them too. Whirling on her hooves she finds all three of her other friends, all on the floor. Pools of blood surround two and the other doesn’t look visibly harmed. Rarity puts her head to the chest of each, only the one who doesn’t look harmed is breathing. It happens to be Rainbow Dash, flier extraordinaire. Now Rarity’s only surviving friend.
“This is the worst… Possible… Thing…” Rarity mutters under her breath. It’s the only thing that she can think to say, but words do her situation no justice.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Present ~~~~~~~~~~~
“It’s alright dear, I’m here for you,” Rarity’s pulled out of the memory by her guest’s calming words. Rarity’s attention is caught by a drop of moisture hitting her hoof, she looks into the mirror to see lines of tears streaming down her face. The mare that had been helping her is now softly stroking her back in a calming way, similar to how fluttershy used to comfort her. Rarity attempts to wipe away the tears, but they keep flowing. A handkerchief is floated in front of Rarity’s face and she graciously accepts it, she manages to dry her face.
“I-I’m sorry… I don’t know what came over me-” she apologizes, but is hushed by the guest.
“I understand, you mustn’t apologize for what isn’t your fault,” the mare has an air of confidence reminiscent of Rainbow Dash. The image of her friend brings her back to the horrible memory of that dreaded day.
~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 months earlier ~~~~~~~~~~~
“Rainbow Dash! wake up!” Rarity screams to her unconscious friend, she’s scared for her safety. Rainbow Dash flickers to life in an instant, she leaps to her hooves.
“We need to go!” she screams, looking around frantically.
“Thank goodness you’re alright!” Rarity leaps at her friend in elation, here voice is cracking with sadness. “Dash, do you know what happened?” Her happiness for not being alone is replaced by concern over what happened.
“Rarity?! we have to go! where are Twilight and Applejack?” Rainbow completely ignores the question and starts looking around again. Finally, her gaze settles on Rarity. “Where did they go? Pinkie and Fluttershy are hurt!” the urgency in her voice betrayed her sadness.
“Rainbow… they’re dead. They’re all dead!” Rarity is growing frantic too.
“No! we just have to-” Rainbow Dash starts, but Rarity stops her.
“No, Rainbow Dash. They’re dead, there’s nothing we can do. But, please, tell me what happened!” Rarity can’t hold back her tears any longer, she lets her tears fall freely.
Rainbow Dash stares at her friend and the two dead ponies around her, she slumps to the ground in defeat. “It all happened so fast… we were trying to fight the hydra and it got Pinkie… Fluttershy used her stare and the hydra left, but the rest of the Timberwolf pack caught up to us. They killed her! I went for one, but I hit something and knocked myself out…” Rarity looks on as her pegasus friend recounts their other friends demise.
“We should go… before anything else shows up…” Rainbow Dash jumps into the air in an attempt to fly. She falls back to the floor in agony, Rarity immediately rushes to her side.
“My wing, it’s hurt…” Rainbow dash tucks her wing in gently to her side, it doesn’t appear to be broken. there’s a rustle behind the ponies and they look over to see two Timberwolves dragging the dead bodies of their friends. “You put them down!” Rainbow rushes over and bucks one of the Timberwolves, the other rushes of with it’s prey. Rainbow turns around to find her only surviving friend, Rarity, in danger. “Rarity! Watch out!” she leaps at the Timberwolf slowly making it’s way to Rarity. Rarity watches as her last friend slams into the Timberwolf, both Rainbow and the Timberwolf tumble right off the edge. Gravity besting another one of her
friends.
Rarity struggles to hold back a scream as she watches her savior plummet to her doom. It’s like some cruel force wanted her to lose every friend, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Rarity looks around as various piles of sticks around the clearing start shaking, the timberwolves are regrouping. While she was busy one of the Timberwolves had returned to drag the last body away, that leaves these Timberwolves to finish the job. Seeing no alternative, Rarity rushes past various shaky piles and back in the direction she had come. She ran out of fear, and out of confusion. She couldn’t accept that this had really happened, how could it all just end so suddenly?
Rarity ran the whole way back to her house and shop, she then locked the door and escaped to her room. “Sis?” Sweetie’s voice fell upon deaf ears as Rarity locked herself into her room and softly cried herself to sleep, all in an attempt to escape her harsh reality.
~~~~~~~~~~~ 12 months earlier ~~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity had tried and succeeded in not thinking about that day, all the way until now. All the sadness and loss from that day came back at full force, she let loose the tears that had accumulated over the course of the year. She was normally very dramatic and sensitive to things, but becoming the only element bearer alive placed a lot of pressure on her. She had to be strong, she had an image to uphold. Ponies looked up to her as the sole image of harmony, if she broke down then ponies would begin to panic. This left her no time for mourning as she tried to continue on with her life, looking strong for the crowd.
No matter how great at glamourising things, making them seem better than they are, she’s not a great actor. She can make the situation not seem so bad, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she was taking it harshly. It showed in her appearance, as her glamour slowly faded. It showed in her speech, as her elegant tone and confidence depleted. It showed in how she held herself together, which is very poorly. Her posture gathered more of a slouch, her walk slowed to a crawl, her movements lost the grace they once possessed, her meticulous perfectionism slowly faded to where she could care less. She was only a shadow of who she once was, and this fact didn’t go completely unnoticed by the ponies around town.
“Now, now, Rarity. I know you’re more than a little distraught, but it’s most unbecoming of a lady of your stature,” the mare lifts Rarity’s face and Rarity looks into her eyes. She sees understanding, like she knows exactly what she’s been through. The understanding in her eyes brings calm and order to Rarity’s hectic emotions, the mare has a calming air around her. A presence that makes everything seem like it’s going to be alright, just because she’s there.
“Rarity straightens herself and wipes away more tears, “I-I’m sorry… I’m out of sorts today…” she’s once again hushed and starlet pulls her chair over to the wardrobe.
“I’m not blaming you for anything, but blaming yourself over what isn’t your fault isn’t fair. You had no control over those Timberwolves, or the Hydra. What you do have over is yourself, and that’s all you need to worry about. Each and every one of your friends would hate to see you like this, I know you would hate to see them like this too. Pinkie would want you to celebrate their life, not grieve endlessly over their deaths,” Rarity looks at the mare and sees happiness. Her smile and joy remind Rarity of her good friend Pinkie, and she finds that this mare’s right. All of her friends would be trying their hardest to cheer her up, especially Pinkie. this mare is doing just that, and Rarity doesn’t even know her name.
“It’s Starlet. Starlet Mint..” Rarity is taken aback by the response to the question se didn’t ask.
“How did you…?” Rarity looks for the right words, what exactly did she do?
“Guess your question? I could see it on your face,” Rarity only nods, but that wasn’t going to be her whole question. Thinking back, Rarity never told anypony about the Hydra and the Timberwolves. She had left it at them being attacked, nothing else. Starlet seems to tense up at this thought, but she relaxes after a second. Rarity just watches the mare curiously; Starlet seems suspicious to her, but she seems overall like a trustworthy pony. Rarity feels she can trust her, just like she trusted her friends.
`Funny, I keep thinking how she’s exactly like all my other friends. Does that mean she’s my friend too?` Rarity thinks to herself, it’s been so long since she’s had an actual friend.
“How about this?” Starlet pulls out an elegant black dress, Rarity had almost forgotten she was finding a dress.
“That ones wonderful,” Rarity takes the dress with a smile and goes to the dressing room. She returns wearing the dress proudly, it gave her a burst of confidence to wear her works. It helped that Starlet was there to help her, Rarity could feel her energy coming back. Like she is finally waking up for the day, she feels like her old self again.
“These too,” Rarity feels something land on her head, she turns to the mirror and looks at herself. There’s a black sunhat adorning her head, it matches the elegant dress she’s wearing perfectly. But that’s not what catches her eye, on her neck is a shimmering jewel. A jewel she’s very familiar with, the element of generosity.
“But, where did this come from?” Celestia took the elements and locked them away after she heard the news. Spike had explained that the elements only work together, but her element is working now. Rarity looks to starlet for an answer, but she just shakes her head. Rarity finally just ignores it and decides she’ll worry about it later, she has things to do right now. “What about you? Are you going to wear anything?” Rarity turns to her guest.
“No, I’m fine. Besides, I have nothing to wear-” Rarity cuts of Starlet.
“Well then, I’ll just have to make you something!” Rarity starts pulling out fabrics for the dress.
“Thats not necessary, you really don’t have too…” Starlet trails off.
“Nonsense! I insist. Besides, after all you’ve done for me, it’s the very least I could do!” Rarity continues pulling out fabrics and various sewing tools.
Starlet smiles, “okay then,” she allows Rarity to take measurements and everything else needed for the dress. After a while, Rarity finishes the dress and she makes sure that it’s perfect.
“It’s finished, do you like it?” Rarity looks eagerly at Starlet.
Starlet frowns, “I don’t like it…” Rarity’s heart drops. Starlet looks over to Rarity with a wide smile, “I love it. you truly have lots of skill,” Rarity lets out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Well, are you ready to go?” Rarity nods and heads with Starlet to the door. the mare’s head outside and immediately run into Sweetie Belle.
“Rarity?” Sweetie questions as she sees her sister; she hadn’t expected to see Rarity out, much less looking so beautiful.
“Hello Sweetie, how are you?” Rarity ruffles her sisters’ mane with her hoof playfully.
“I’m… good. How are you?” Sweetie is really taken aback by her sisters’ cheerful demeanor, she expected her to be sulking around still.
“Oh, I’m wonderful,” It’s at this point that Sweetie Belle notices the other mare.
“Who’s she?” Sweetie sees that their both dressed quite extravagantly, almost like one would dress on a date…
“Oh, this is Starlet. we’re going to see the tombstones,” Sweetie is now very confused, she knows Rarity had avoided the graveyard purposefully this whole time.
“Nice to meet you Sweetie Belle; you too Applebloom, and Scootaloo,” Starlet nods to each in turn.
Sweetie belle nods slowly, “You too… Could I talk to you for a second?” Starlet nods and walks a bit away from the group with Sweetie Belle. Once they’re out of earshot Sweetie Belle speaks up, “What did you do? I couldn’t get her to cheer up no matter what I did,” Sweetie motions with her hoof to emphasize.
“I just gave her what she needed,” Sweetie looks at Starlet curiously.
“Well thanks, but I have to know. Are you… my sisters’ special somepony?” Starlet goes wide-eyed and then bursts out in laughter.
Once she calms down a little she gives a proper answer, “No, but I can see where you could get that idea. your sister insisted on making me this dress,” Sweetie Belle looks at the dress, it’s definitely one of Rarity’s best.
“Oh, alright. Thanks again for… whatever it is you did,” Sweetie heads back to Scootaloo and Applebloom with Starlet close behind.
“Do you need anything Sweetie?” Sweetie shakes her head no. “Well then we’ll be back soon,” Rarity and Starlet head for the graveyard once more.
“She’s a cute filly,” Starlet says once they’re a good way away.
“What did she say to cause that laugh?” Rarity turns her head to see a smile spreading across Starlet’s face. She looks as if she could burst with laughter at any moment.
“She thought we were dating,” as soon as the words leave her mouth, Starlet bursts into a laughing fit. Rarity’s eyes go wide and she stares at Starlet incredulously.
“Did she really?” Starlet nods her head, “Does it really seem like that?” Rarity had faced the question more at herself than anything.
“I guess, We are both dressed for it,” Rarity thinks on how she sees Starlet for a moment.
`Could i fall for her?` Rarity had never considered falling in love with a mare, she had always been caught up in trying to find the perfect stallion. Now that she thinks about it, she realizes she could fall for her. She feels safe and happy with Starlet, isn’t that what you’re supposed to feel when you’re in love? But Rarity dismisses the thought, she had felt safe and happy with her friends. `that must be what we are, friends,` Rarity conclude, though her doubts haven’t quite left her.
The mares enter the graveyard, Rarity looks around. Starlet starts walking in one direction, Rarity just follows her. Rarity has no idea where the tombs are, `Starlet probably knows,` she thinks as she follows the mare through the rows and rows of headstones. Sure enough, they end up at the graves. Five graves, right next to each other, she knows that they are all empty. Nobody had ever recovered any of the bodies, but they still put up the headstones in their honor.
“Rarity, would you like to say something?” Starlet asks without looking away from the headstones.
“About them? Now?” Rarity looks around at the empty graveyard. Starlet turns to her, rarity just shakes her head. “I have nothing to say, nothing they don’t already know,” Starlet nods in acknowledgement. Rarity turns to the tombs, she looks at each one in turn. Finally, she turns to Starlet. She once again sees all of her friends, then she looks a little closer. This mare had a an air of refinement, of grace. Rarity looks at this mare and sees herself, along with all of her friends. almost like this mare is happiness, because being with all of her friends were the happiest moments in Rarity’s life. It seems that that’s what friendship is, happiness. And the magic of friendship must be fueled by happiness, because that’s what friendship is.
“You know Rarity, the elements of harmony are a complicated thing. Most ponies don’t know how they work because they don’t know friendship, but some ponies don’t know how they work because they know friendship. Celestia hid those elements to keep them from getting lost again, because losing harmony isn’t good. Friendship is a bond that produces happiness, it is a very strong bond. Friendship is one of the purest forms of harmony, that’s why the elements of harmony worked with your friendship. But harmony exists in other bonds, such as family, or love. Harmony is what holds this world together, millions of bonds everywhere. Magic is just the energy from Harmony; that’s what the elements do, they direct the magic of harmony and amplify it. Unicorn magic is harmony directed and modified to be used differently. There’s a lot of complicated sub-systems to harmony and how it’s magic works, and that’s why ponies don’t understand it. I’m sure you’ve heard Twilight going on about how the science of magic is an underdeveloped field of study…” Starlet looks at Rarity, she just looks at the graves.
“You know, Twilight always understood that stuff. She was so smart, so helpful. Applejack too, she was always willing to help everyone. She was such a hard worker, also very competitive. Just like Rainbow Dash, they competed a lot. But Rainbow was always trying to be strong for us; we always knew when she was trying not to be scared, but she still tried to be brave. She always tried to keep our spirits up, just like Pinkie. She would always throw parties to raise the mood, and she would always invite everyone. Even if they couldn’t come, just to be polite. Fluttershy was always polite to every pony as well, always kind and caring. Her house was always open to all her critter friends… they were all so different, yet they were still alike,” Rarity pauses and looks at Starlet. “Are we friends?” she finally asks.
Starlet pauses a moment, “I’d be proud to call us friends,” Starlet gives Rarity a small smile and they both turn back to the tombstones. They sit for several minutes before Starlet gets up, “I’m sorry, but i have to go,” Starlet turns to Rarity.
“Where are you going?” Rarity asks.
“To the next pony that needs me,” Starlet Answers.
“When will you be back?” Starlet thinks hard for a while.
“I don’t know,” she finally says. She pulls out a beautiful flower and floats it in Rarity’s sight. Rarity recognizes the flower, it’s the one Twilight had been looking for the day of the accident.
“Where did you get that?” Rarity asks in amazement, she’s entranced by the mesmerizing and vibrant flower.
“Rainbow Falls, the flower grows at soil enriched by rainbows. You guys were looking in the wrong spot… here, take it,” Starlet tucks the flower into Rarity’s hat. “I have plenty of them, and I want you to have that one,” Starlet turns to take her leave.
“You’re welcome back any time,” Rarity calls out before Starlet gets too far.
Starlet pauses and looks back, “Thanks,” with that Starlet is gone. She doesn’t walk away, but she’s just gone. There was no flash or light up of the horn to suggest that she had used magic, she was just gone. Rarity gets up from the tombs and walks over to the last spot she had seen Starlet, she finds no trace of the mysterious mare. Rarity feels a tug at the back of her mind, after a second everything fades into nothingness as quickly as starlet had. Rarity looks in every direction and finds nothing except for the grass beneath her feet. Everything else seems to be just darkness, lots of darkness.
“Welcome to void space,” Rarity spins at the sound of her new friends voice. She sees Starlet, but she also sees more familiar faces. She sees Starlet being assaulted with a hug by a familiar rainbow maned pegasus. Looking around, Rarity also notices a Pink mare clutching her head in her hooves. In fact, it would seem everypony is taking this differently.
“What is this?” Rarity finally asks.