A.N: Because I can't do two Author's Notes, please be sure to read the note at the bottom. It has some info in regards to the story and a request for some help there too. Enjoy the chapter!
“Spike, could you please stop pacing around?” asked Twilight. “You’re going to wear a hole in the floor.” Spike ignored Twilight as he continued to walk back and forth in the hospital lobby, as he did all morning since he and the others arrived at the hospital. “Spike!” she yelled.
Spike jumped a bit and blabbered, “Was that an air horn?” He saw the stern expression of Twilight and felt a little embarrassed. “Sorry, Twilight. I’m just so nervous about Rarity.”
“We all are, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “It hasn’t been easy for any of us, especially since Apple Bloom and Scootaloo have been trying to cheer Sweetie Belle up.”
“I could always throw Sweetie a ‘Cheer up’ party,” said Pinkie.
“I don’t think a party is going to work out, Pinkie,” said Twilight. “Who we really need to worry about, though, is Rarity. I can’t imagine how distraught she is about what’s happened to her.”
“Isn’t there anything in your books to help?” wondered Fluttershy.
Twilight sighed and shook her head. “I’m afraid not. I have found spells pertaining to transformations like werewolves, bats, and other creatures, but nothing on a spirit turning another creature into their own form. I haven’t heard anything back from the princesses either.”
“Why don’t we go to the castle and help out?” inquired Rainbow, letting a yawn out. “We’ve been there before.”
“I don’t think I’m up for dealing with more of those crazy castle traps,” said Applejack. “You couldn’t walk down a hallway in that place without a trapdoor opening up beneath you. I’m just glad none of us found one that led to a bed of spikes.”
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of double doors opening caught everypony’s attention. They turned around to see Dr. Stable, who looked a bit bleary eyed. “Good morning to all of you,” he said, wearily. “Couldn’t wait to check on your friend I see.”
“Well, duh,” said Pinkie. “Rarity’s only one of my many super duper best friends! We really bonded together after the chimmy cherry talk we had. She totally agreed that chimmy cherry was the way to go.”
Dr Stable let out a small chuckle. “Well you’ll be happy to know that Miss Rarity is ready to go.” Everypony let out a sigh of relief. “However, we did have some trouble with her last night.”
“What do you mean?” asked Spike, sounding concerned. “Did something happen to Rarity?”
“We know that she transforms into her nightmare form when the sun goes down, but she was convulsing a lot during the process. While nothing severe happened to her after the transformation, she had an episode, so to say.”
“An episode? When did she have time to star for another episode?” pondered Pinkie. Everypony stared at her with perplexed expressions. “What?” she asked, innocently.
“Um . . . ignoring your friend’s ‘theory’, that’s not the case here,” said Dr. Stable. “It seemed she was going on about her career being over and what others would think of her.”
“But she knows that she isn’t really Nightmare Rarity,” said Twilight.
“She wasn’t panicking about that,” said the doctor. “However, judging from the way she acted, this does bring up a concern I have.”
“What is it?” inquired Fluttershy.
“Your friend is having some mood swings,” he stated. “I’m afraid this whole ordeal has caused some unforeseen stress for Miss Rarity. While she seemed content when we checked on her this morning, I’m not convinced that Miss Rarity is back to normal mentally.”
“No offense, doctor, but that ain’t no way to talk to our friend,” said Applejack, rather sternly.
“My apologies, but I’m just expressing my concern for your friend. She’s been through quite a lot as of late and this development is probably taking its toll on her.”
“So what’s going to happen now?” wondered Twilight.
“I’ll still allow Miss Rarity to go home, but if she continues to have these mood swings or if her mentality gets worse, I will have no choice but to have her be kept in an asylum until a solution is found.”
Everypony let out a gasp, but Spike stepped forward. “No! You can’t do this to her!” he cried out. He grabbed onto the doctor’s coat and brought his head down to Spike’s level. “I don’t care what you think! You’re not taking Rarity away from us!”
“Spike, that’s enough!” scolded Twilight. He was suddenly pulled away and was levitated by the use of Twilight’s magic. She shot him a scowl before looking at Dr. Stable again. “I’m sorry about that. Sometimes he overreacts a little.”
“Not as much as you,” muttered Spike.
Dr. Stable straightened himself and fixed his askew glasses. “That’s quite alright, Miss Twilight. Your friend is very concerned for Miss Rarity’s safety, which is very understandable. However, that doesn’t change how troublesome this is.”
“What can we do to help Rarity out?” asked Rainbow. “None of us are exactly psycho-whatchamacallits.”
“Psychologists, Rainbow,” sighed Twilight. “I have to admit, that even with some of my experience in counseling ponies, I don’t think I can handle what Rarity’s going through now. Any ideas, Dr. Stable?”
The doctor rubbed his chin and said, “Well, the only thing I can suggest is for you all to monitor her mood and make sure she doesn’t fall into a deep depression. I recommend one or more of you spend time around her to keep her company.”
“Anything else?” wondered Spike.
“Just have her come back if any issues come up and have her come back weekly for check ups. You can’t be too careful with what’s happening to her.” The group nodded in agreement. “Great!” He turned around and shouted, “Nurse Redheart, bring her out!”
The doors opened up again to reveal Nurse Redheart looking just as fatigued as Dr. Stable, but was also pushing a wheelchair. There, in the chair, was Rarity, who was back to her white unicorn self on the outside. She looked a bit tired, but she still had a small smile on her face and gave a wave.
“Rarity!” everypony cried out, joyfully. They ran over to the unicorn and embraced her in a group hug. Rarity smiled warmly and returned the hug.
“How are you holding up, sugarcube?” asked Applejack. “You’re look like you were up all night.”
“She was for the most part,” said Dr. Stable.
Applejack muttered, “Oh . . .”
“Don’t worry, Applejack,” said Rarity, sounding a bit weak. “I admit that I’m a bit fatigued, but I’m fine.” The group looked at each other, each pony looking unsure of themselves. “What’s wrong?”
“Well Rarity, we just want to know if you’re really okay,” said Twilight, hesitantly.
“What do you mean? I’m just tired is all.”
“That ain’t what the doctor told us,” said Applejack. “He said you weren’t feeling yourself last night.”
Rarity’s face drooped into a deadpanned expression. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m alright now. As for my being last night, I was just restless is all.”
“But Dr. Stable said you were talking about how your nightmare form could ruin your career,” replied Fluttershy.
“I don’t know what you’re all talking about,” said Rarity rather quickly.
“The doctor said you weren’t feeling well,” interjected Rainbow.
“I’m fine right now.”
Spike then stated, “What about your–”
“What part of ‘I’m okay’ do you all not understand?” snapped Rarity. Everypony stepped back and had shocked expressions on them. Rarity noticed the look of her friends and took a deep breath. “My apologies, Spikey,” she cooed. “These past few days haven’t been kind to me. All I want to do now is go home and get some rest.”
“Rarity, we’re just–” Spike felt somepony poke him on the shoulder. He turned his head to see Twilight shaking her head. He bit his lip and nodded before turning back to Rarity. “We’re just glad to know you’re okay,” he said, hesitantly.
“Thank you, Spike,” said Rarity, with a smile. “Now as much as I like seeing you all, I’d like to get out of this hospital and go home. Sweetie Belle is probably worried sick over me and I’d rather not let her cook breakfast.”
“Whoa there, partner,” said Applejack. “I know you want to go home, but we need to ask you something.”
Rarity nearly wanted to object, but she felt inclined to help her friend. “What is it, Applejack?”
“When the Nightmare Forces took control of you, they said something about a secret. Do you know anything about it?”
Rarity was thankful that she had white fur on her, for as soon as she heard those last words, she could feel her skin going pale. She gulped a little. “Um . . .I . . .”
“Applejack, I don’t think Rarity knows anything about that,” interjected Twilight. Rarity, silently, let out a sigh of relief.
“What about a weight scale?” asked Rainbow. Everypony looked at her in confusion. “What? Rarity could be afraid that she’ll get fat. Maybe she gained a half a pound last week and she’s freaking out about it.”
“Rainbow!” the group yelled, causing the pegasus to back away.
“Uh . . . yeah, sorry,” she whispered.
“Why don’t we go home and discuss this later?” inquired Rarity. “I am feeling quite tired after all.” She let out a yawn. The group looked at each other, each looking a bit distracted, but nodded to one another.
“Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy,” ordered Twilight. “Take Rarity back to the Boutique. Pinkie, Spike, and I will go back to the library and look through some more books. I only got a small section left to go, but maybe there’s something there.”
“Alright, Twilight,” said Rainbow. “What should we do afterwards?”
“Keep her company and make sure nothing happens to her,” she replied.
“Honestly, Twilight,” exasperated Rarity. “I’m not disabled or anything. All I need is a good nap.”
“I’d honestly recommend having somepony watch over her,” Dr. Stable interjected. “I want her to get some rest and have somepony monitor her behavior.”
“But–” Rarity argued.
“No buts, Miss Rarity,” stated Dr. Stable. “Now don’t do anything extra strenuous, keep the use of magic to a minimum for a week, and come back next week for a follow up appointment. If anything happens, don’t hesitate to get me.” The group nodded. “Good, now if you’ll excuse me, I still need to do some mid-morning runs with other patients.” He gave a small wave before going through the double doors.
Rarity let out another yawn and got out of the wheelchair. “Well, I don’t know about any of you, but I’m ready to leave this place.” She trotted over to the entrance, but something inside her made her stop immediately. What . . . what’s going on? Why am I suddenly paralyzed? she wondered. All I want to do is go out the door and get some fresh air, feel the sun, and go see. . . The feeling inside Rarity made her shake in intimidation and back away from the door.
“What’s wrong, Rarity?” asked a worried Spike. “You’re acting like you’re in a blizzard.”
“I don’t know,” muttered Rarity. “I. . . I just felt unable to move when I got to the door.”
“Should we get Dr. Stable again?” asked Spike.
Rarity was shaking violently, but she used all her willpower to trot closer to the door. She looked back at Spike, still shaking a bit, and shook her head. “That won’t be necessary, Spikey Poo. The medicine the doctor injected me with is probably wearing off on me is all and making me feel uneasy. Once I get home and sleep a little bit, I’ll be fine.”
Spike looked a little unsure, but he nodded in agreement. “Alright then.”
“Let’s get her home already,” stated Applejack. “She’s looking as tired as me when I tried to do Applebuck Season on my own.” Rainbow and Fluttershy nodded and helped escort Rarity out. Applejack turned her head. “Don’t you all worry. We’ll take care of Rarity and she’ll be fine in no time.”
Spike muttered to himself, “I hope so.” He forced a smile and waved goodbye as the others took Rarity outside. After the doors closed, the drake let out a sigh. “What are we going to do now?”
“I’m not sure, Spike,” said Twilight. “Rarity may’ve said she’s okay, but I’m not so sure.”
“Are we going to have to do a little investigating?” Pinkie asked as she pulled out a brown Deerstalker cap out of nowhere and put it on her. She pulled out a pipe and blew into it, causing bubble to come out. “Detective Pinkie and friends are on the case!”
“Not so fast, Pinkie,” said Twilight. “I doubt we’ll need to do something like that. Besides, I think I already know what’s wrong with Rarity.”
“She’s afraid, isn’t she?” asked Spike.
Twilight did a double take to her assistant. “How did you know?”
“It doesn’t take a detective to figure it out, Twilight,” he sighed. “Rarity’s scared about what happened to her, but she doesn’t want to tell us.”
“Well that was easy to solve,” said Pinkie. “Now what do we do?”
“I’m not sure, Pinkie,” said Twilight. “If Rarity is feeling down, then we should–”
“Turn that frown upside down!” interrupted Pinkie. “I know just the thing to do!”
Twilight held a hoof up. “Pinkie, I don’t think now is the time for a party. I don’t think Rarity would be in the mood to celebrate.”
“Well how about a small party between all of us showing Rarity how much we still love her, despite her new look?” wondered Pinkie.
“I still don’t think that it won’t work,” replied Twilight
Spike suddenly felt something click inside his head. “It will work.”
Twilight looked at the dragon. “Excuse me?”
“What Pinkie just said gave me an idea that we can do something for Rarity. We got to work fast though and spread word around town.”
“Leave that to me,” said Pinkie, confidently.
“We’ll also need to make sure Rarity doesn’t find out,” warned Spike.
“What’s going on anyway, Spike?” wondered Twilight.
He pulled both mares in closely. “Alright, here’s the plan.”
The door to Carousel Boutique slammed open, causing a loud racket to echo throughout the store.
“Rainbow, you didn’t need to do that,” scolded Rarity as she walked into her home. “If you were just a little more patient, I would’ve gotten the hidden key for the place.”
The pegasus, who looked a little irked, walked in along with Applejack and Fluttershy. “Well you certainly took your time. We waited for five minutes and you couldn’t find it. I’ll pay you back for a new door, if that helps.”
Rarity let out a sigh. “Well I would appreciate that. I can only hope we didn’t startle Sweetie Belle.”
Applejack looked around the place for the filly unicorn. “Uh. . . where is she anyway?”
“She’s probably sleeping in her room,” said Rarity. “I better check on her to let her know I’m okay.”
“We’ll go with you,” said Rainbow. She and Applejack followed Rarity to the stairs, but noticed Fluttershy wasn’t with them. She looked back and saw she was walking towards a alcove that was surrounded by mirrors. “Hey Flutters, we’re checking on Sweetie, not trying new dresses.”
The yellow pegasus ignored her and looked down at the ground.
Rainbow shook her head and flew over to her friend. She tapped Fluttershy on the shoulder. “Hello? Earth to Fluttershy,” she said. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”
The yellow pegasus looked up at Rainbow. “Oh, I did, but we don’t need to go upstairs to find her.”
“You did?” Fluttershy nodded and pointed down. Rainbow did and saw something that couldn’t help but make her smile. “Rarity. Applejack. I think you’ll want to see this.”
Rarity and Applejack looked at each other and shrugged. They walked over to where their friends were. “Honestly Rainbow, as much as I love designing dresses, now is not the time . . . for . . .” Rarity’s voice trailed off as she and Applejack looked down and saw something that made them both smile.
There, on the floor, was Sweetie Belle, sleeping peacefully and was covered in blue glitter. Surrounding the filly was an open bottle of the same glitter covering Sweetie, a bottle of glue that had fallen over, but thankfully didn’t spill its contents, several colorful gems, and a white poster nearby. Rarity looked at the poster and saw the gems were glued to form a large heart, with a crude drawing of Rarity’s face and the words, Get well, big sis! written on there in a purple crayon. The sight of it made Rarity tear up a little and smile.
“That’s so sweet of her,” said Applejack. “I hope you don’t mind she used your gems for this. I know you ain’t so keen on that.”
“That’s quite alright, Applejack,” said Rarity. “Her heart was in the right place and I appreciate how much she cares about me. Those gems are nothing compared to Sweetie. Besides, I can easily restock on more the next time I go gem hunting.”
A mumbling noise came out of Sweetie’s mouth and was moving a little bit.
“Oh, dear,” said Rarity. “I don’t want to wake her up. She’s probably been up all night worried about me.”
“I’ll put her to bed,” offered Fluttershy. She carefully picked up Sweetie into her hooves. She then looked at Applejack and Rainbow. “Why don’t you two cook up some breakfast? I didn’t have anything to eat before coming to the hospital.” The sound of stomachs burbling and groaning could be heard from everypony else, making them blush a little in embarrassment.
“That sounds like a good idea,” said Applejack. “I could cook us up a mean stack o’ pancakes.”
“I hope you have some syrup, Rarity,” replied Rainbow.
“Yes, I do have some imported syrup,” said Rarity. “Just don’t make too much of a mess, please.”
“No promises,” Applejack responded as she trotted into the kitchen.
Rarity let out a sigh of relief as she finished eating the last bit of pancakes. “Well, that could’ve been worse,” she said as she looked around her kitchen, which looked a little dusty and sticky, to say the least. “Nothing a little mopping here and there can’t fix though.”
Rainbow gave a salute. “I’m on it,” she said, smirking. She grabbed a nearby mop, ran it under some water, and flew around the kitchen.
“Rainbow, wait!” called out Rarity. The pegasus either ignored her, or she didn’t hear her. Rainbow flew around the room and hastily swabbed the mop, wiping up the pancake powder and syrup. The sound of cups, plates, and other things clattering around hammered Rarity’s ears, making her feel terrified. She covered her eyes and leaned against the table. “I can’t look,” she muttered.
The noise went on for what seemed to be an eternity before Rainbow shouted, in a triumphant tone. “Aaaaand done!” She looked over at Rarity, who had her head buried in her hooves. “Oh, quit being so dramatic, Rarity. You can look now.”
Rarity took a small deep breath and peaked her head up. She bolted up and had to do a double take from what she was seeing. The place was completely spotless, with no signs of broken glass, nor were there any puddles of water. Rarity even noticed how both the floor and counters were shining like they were brand new. She didn’t know what to say, or how to react to this.
Rainbow let out a breath and leaned on the table. “Not bad, huh?” she wondered. “I’ve cleaned up bigger messes in my house compared to this.”
“But. . . what? Huh?” blabbered Rarity. “You . . . I heard heard loud noises and you were going so fast.”
Rainbow scoffed playfully and said, “Don’t worry, I knew what I was doing the whole time.”
Applejack let out a loud whistling sound. “Well I’ll be, Rainbow. I didn’t know you could clean like that.”
The pegasus shrugged and smirked to herself. “What can I say? I have years of clearing the skies of clouds, so it’s only right I can clean up rooms in ten seconds flat too. Just because I’m not one of those Canterlot snobs doesn’t mean I don’t know how to clean up.”
Rarity cleared her throat and said, “Well, in any case, thank you, Rainbow. Perhaps I should’ve made you clean my Boutique instead of modeling those dresses as payback.”
Rainbow’s smirk quickly became a scowl. “Let’s not bring that up again.”
“Uh. . . maybe we should change topics,” suggested Fluttershy.
Rainbow crossed her hooves and muttered, “I agree.”
“So what are you going to do now, Rarity?” wondered Applejack. “Since this whole curse thing of yours isn’t probably going away anytime soon, how are you going to handle your customers’ orders?”
Rarity rubbed her hoof under her chin and hummed to herself. “Well, the good news is that I have no immediate orders to deal with right now. Nopony has requested new outfits, or any tailoring to be done. It couldn’t be a better time, especially since I’ve been running low on fabric and have been meaning to go get more.”
The whole group let out a sigh of relief and then Fluttershy said, “Well that’s good to know. So what are you going to do in the mean time?”
“I guess I could–”
Dong-ding
Rarity saw all her friends look at her with confusion and bewilderment on their expressions. “What?” she asked.
“Dong-ding?” asked Rainbow. “Is your doorbell broken?”
Rarity let out a sigh and shook her head. “No, I know who that is. Please excuse me.” She got up and trotted out the kitchen and towards the front door.
The fashionista opened the door to reveal a gray pegasus with askewe yellow eyes. “Ah, good morning, Derpy,” said Rarity.
“Hi there,” she said, sounding a bit disappointed. “Did I break your doorbell?”
“Of course not deary,” assured Rarity. She pressed the doorbell again, which sounded like a regular one. “See? Now what seems to be the problem? Does the Doctor need another bow tie?”
Derpy shook her head and her expression changed to one of happiness. “Nope! I brought you a package!” She pulled out of her mailbag two rather large, flat brown packages and handed it to Rarity.
“My word! Where is this from?” inquired Rarity.
“One’s from the Wonderbolts,” said Derpy.
“And the other?”
“Canterlot, I think.”
The unicorn’s eyes went wide and couldn’t help but squeal in delight. “Canterlot? Oh, the honor of rendering my services to one of the nobles there! I could be mentioned at the next Grand Galloping Gala for my efforts! Why, I could be. . . um . . . erm . . .” Rarity then noticed Derpy’s perplexed expression and felt heat rising up to her face. She cleared her throat and said, calmly, “Thank you, Derpy. Please tell the Doctor to be safe the next time he leaves.”
“I will!” Derpy waved and flew off, albeit she was flying erratically.
Rarity closed the door and put the one addressed from the Wonderbolts down first. She then looked at the other package. “Now I wonder who from Canterlot would want with me?”
She noticed a large white envelope with her address written in elegant blue ink. Not wanting to keep the suspense going any longer, Rarity opened the envelope with her magic and pulled out a letter. She unfolded it and started to read it, but let out a gasp.
Dearest Rarity,
I apologize that I can’t come personally to your shop to see you, but certain events have left me tied up. I just recently proposed to my longtime marefriend, Fleur De Lis, and we are planning to get married in two weeks.
Enclosed in this package is the suit I was going to wear for the wedding, but it was unfortunately ripped. If you could, please have it sewn and sent back to my address I have also included by this week’s end. I’d truly appreciate it.
Your friend,
Fancy Pants
P.S. Inside are also some invitations for you and your friends to come.
Rarity pulled out an elegant navy blue coat that felt like silk. The entire coat was sewed to perfection, with no noticeable loose threads or strings anywhere. There were a few black buttons on it and a white handkerchief left in the left pocket.
“Yo, Rares!” shouted Rainbow. “What’s the holdup?”
The fashionista turned around to see her friends standing at the kitchen entrance. “Oh, it’s wonderful, Rainbow!” she gleefully exclaimed. “Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis are getting married and I’m the one fixing his suit!”
“Well I’ll be!” stated Applejack, with a smile. “Are you invited to it?”
“Not just me, darling.” Rarity looked in the package and pulled out some white pieces of paper. “We’re all invited!” The whole group let out loud cheer.
“Hey, do you think that Fancy will let me do a Sonic Rain–” Rainbow noticed the other package and gasped when she saw the logo on the letter at the top. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” She grabbed the package and looked like a filly that got something she wanted on Hearth’s Warming Day. “Rarity, why didn’t you say anything about getting something from the Wonderbolts?”
“The Wonderbolts?” asked Applejack, sounding a bit surprised.
“Well let’s see what’s in it!” Rainbow ripped the package opened and as soon as she saw the contents inside, her smile changed to a confused expression. She was holding up a torn up dark blue suit, with jagged yellow stripes to resemble lightning. “A Wonderbolts uniform? Why would they send you a uniform? And why are there a lot of rips in it.”
The suit was suddenly snatched out of Rainbow’s hooves and the pegasus saw it was glowing a magical aura. “Rainbow, it’s not nice to go through another’s mail,” scolded Rarity. “Now as to why this is here, let’s read the letter shall we?”
Rarity shifted through the cardboard and frowned when she came across something. “Well, we won’t know why this was sent to me now.” She held up little torn white pieces of paper, some of them falling off Rarity’s hoof.
Applejack shot a glare over at Rainbow. “Nice job there, shredder,” she said, sternly.
Rainbow smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. “Alright, I guess I went a bit overboard. Just piece it back together with your magic.”
“That would take me all day,” groaned Rarity. She looked at the pieces again and picked up two pieces of it that caught her eye. “Well, I did find two words that weren’t ripped apart.”
“What do they say?” asked Fluttershy.
Rarity squinted her eyes and muttered, “Repair and suit.” A realization then hit Rarity on the head. “Of course! They want me to fix this suit for one of their members.”
“Did they say who?” wondered Rainbow.
The unicorn shook her head. “I’m afraid the letter is too torn up to find out who it is,” she sighed. “All I know is that I better fix this and Fancy’s suit up as soon as possible.” Rarity levitated the clothes and marched off with them to her sewing machine.
“Um, didn’t you say you were low on supplies?” inquired Fluttershy.
Rarity stopped dead in her tracks and nearly dropped the suits in complete shock. She maintained a smile on her face, but her eye twitched wildly. “. . . So it would seem,” she whispered.
“Don’t worry, Rarity,” said Applejack. “Just tell us where to get this fabric and we’ll–”
Ding-dong
The sound of the doorbell, once again, caught everypony off guard.
“Now what?” asked Rainbow.
Rarity trotted over to the door and opened it. She raised an eyebrow at who was at the entrance. “Spike? Whatever are you doing here?” she wondered. “I thought you were with Pinkie and Twilight at the library?”
“About that,” stated Spike. “Twilight said she and Pinkie had things covered and sent me to help you with anything you need.”
Everypony looked at themselves with confused expressions. Applejack stepped forward and said, “We appreciate the offer, sugarcube, but we got things covered here.”
“Ah, it’s no sweat,” said Spike, waving a claw. “I can take over things from here. Besides, Twilight said she would need to see you, Rainbow, and Fluttershy in an hour.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “What about me?” she wondered.
Spike shook his head. “Sorry, Rarity, but you’ll have to wait until later to see Twilight.” He looked at the others. “Why don’t you all go take care of what you all need to do before going to see Twilight?”
“But what does she want with us?” asked Applejack.
“Twilight will tell you when you meet her,” said Spike.
Everypony looked at themselves and shrugged indifferently.
“Well, I guess I could see which Wonderbolt this suit belongs to,” said Applejack. “I heard they’re still hanging around town for the time being.”
Rainbow got in front of Applejack’s face, looking annoyed. “Hey! If anypony is going to see them, it’s me!” she interjected. “I’m the one who’s going to become a Wonderbolt in the future! When did you even become a fan of them?”
The farmer pony narrowed her eyes. “Is it suddenly a crime for somepony to like the Wonderbolts? Besides, don’t you have to go make sure the weather schedule is being followed?” she inquired. “Aren’t you worried your assistant manager is going to–” The sudden sound of thunder rumbling caught everypony off guard, and made Fluttershy yelp in terror. “–Get the schedule wrong, again?”
Rainbow let out an irritated grown and barked, “Thunderlane, you feather brained moron! That thunderstorm is supposed to be tomorrow, not today!”
“Sometimes, I wonder why you let him stay around, Rainbow,” said Applejack.
“He said he was so good in Cloudsdale, but ever since he came here to work with me, it’s like he’s more nervous than Spike was at the Equestria Games.” She looked over at him. “No offense.”
“None taken,” he said nonchalantly.
Rainbow sighed and said, “Fine, you can go find the Wonderbolts, Applejack. I guess you can tell Soarin and Spitfire ‘hi,’ if you see them.”
“I–I’ll be sure to,” Applejack stuttered, blushing a little. “Y’all take care now.” Applejack and Rainbow both waved and went out of the boutique.
Fluttershy muttered, “I’ll watch over Sweetie Belle while you two are out. If she isn’t up by the time I have to see Twilight, I think I can convince Bulk to watch over her.” Rarity and Spike looked at her with bewilderment. “What? He’s actually pretty gentle underneath all those muscles of his.”
Rarity bit her lip, but nodded, reluctantly. “I’ll take your word for it, Fluttershy. Don’t hesitate to find me if you need me.” She looked over at Spike. “Alright, Spikey, we need to just get some fabric and then you can help me with my orders.”
He nodded and ran over to the door. “Ready to leave whenever you are, m’lady,” he said.
Rarity trotted over to the door, but a sudden cold feeling paralyzed her. That feeling again. It’s just like the hospital. She started shaking again as fear gripped her.
“Rarity?”
Rarity broke out of her trance and looked down at a concerned Spike.
“Are you okay? You’re acting like you’re about to be executed.”
Rarity gulped a little and took a deep breath. “I . . . I’m fine, Spikey,” she said, wearily.
“You acted like that at the hospital,” stated Fluttershy.
“I was just collecting my thoughts is all,” said Rarity. “There’s so much stuff to do in so little time.” She open the door and, slowly, walked outside. “Come along, Spike.”
Fluttershy and Spike looked at each other with concerned looks, but reluctantly shrugged it off.
“If you say so,” he said.
Rarity frowned to herself as she and Spike walked into town. “Spikey Poo, where is everypony? The whole town is almost deserted, but it’s the middle of the day.”
Spike shrugged and said, “They’re probably still doing a bit of cleanup. That fight against those shadow creatures and you really–” Spike slapped a claw over his mouth and his face turned red. “I–I’m sorry, Rarity,” he stuttered. “I didn’t mean to bring that up again.”
Rarity waved her hoof and said, “That’s quite alright, Spikey Poo. You and everypony else did what you had to do to stop those shadow creatures.”
Spike looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed still, but his eyes caught something that raised his hopes. “Look, Rarity!” he pointed out. “There’s Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Maybe we can get you something to cheer you up.”
Rarity smiled at that thought and looked over at the couple, expecting a warm smile from them, but was met by something that caught her off guard. “What’s wrong?” she wondered.
The couple backed away a bit, with Mr. Cake whispered into his wife's ear.
“Is there a problem?” asked Rarity, walking towards the Cakes.
“Um. . . we just forgot that we uh . . .” Mr. Cake stuttered.
“We left the oven on at home!” interjected Mrs. Cake. She pushed her husband away and shouted, “Sorry! We’ll talk to you later!”
Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but the Cakes rounded the corner before she spoke a word. She couldn’t help but feel hurt from what just happened, and looked down. “Was it something I said?” she inquired.
Spike ran up to Rarity, looking deeply concerned. “Don’t worry about them, Rarity,” he stated. “I’m sure they really did leave their oven on. Besides, these past few days have been stressful on most ponies here.”
Rarity still felt a bit irked by the Cake’s reaction, but she took a deep breath and breathed out several times. She nodded and smiled a little. “You’re right, Spike. I’m probably just taking things a little too serious.”
“Yeah, that’s Twilight’s job,” joked Spike. The two of them laughed a little before calming down. “Come on, we gotta get that stuff for your orders.”
Rarity nodded and they both walked off towards the shopping district of town. Once again, both she and Spike were silent along the way. In her head though, Rarity’s mind was buzzing with questions.
I’ve never seen the Cakes act like that around me before, she thought to herself. All I did was say hello to them. Was my mane unkept? Was there something on me that turned them away?
Maybe it’s what you’ve become, another voice whispered.
Rarity gasped and looked around. “What?”
“Rarity!”
Rarity looked down to see Spike, tapping his foot patiently. “I said we’re here now,” he stated. He pointed to a large, yellow building, with a large window showing different types of fabric and a big needle on a display stand. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She took a look around her, taking several deep breaths as she did. “I’m . . .fine, Spikey,” she said, hesitantly. “I just thought I heard somepony else.”
“There’s nopony else around here,” assured Spike. “Maybe we should go back to the Boutique.”
“No!” exclaimed Rarity. She saw her friend give a perplexed expression. She took another deep breath and said, “No, I’m really fine. I’m just overthinking things again.” She trotted past him and looked at him with a smile. “Come along, Spikey Poo. We haven’t a moment to spare for these important orders.”
Spike bit his lip, but gulped and nodded in agreement. “If you say so.”
The two of them walked into the shop, where Spike did a double take to make sure his vision wasn’t playing tricks on him. It was large and had polished white marble walls and columns. The store, despite selling fabric and sewing materials, had a very rich perfume smell that made Spike feel a little dizzy. The shelves were free of dust and dirt and seemed polished too, with them having various sewing machines, needles, thread, and rolls of fabric so well organized, it could make Twilight jealous.
Spike looked at Rarity, stunned by what he was seeing. “This is where you go and get your fabric?” he wondered, awestrucked. “I didn’t even think a place like this existed in Ponyville. This place looks like it could fit in Canterlot.”
Rarity giggled a little and rubbed the drake’s head. “I can assure you that this is where I get my materials. While this place does seem rather exquisite, the pony here is actually quite–”
“Ah, welcome, Madame Rarity!” a jubilant Prench voice boomed. Spike and Rarity turned to see a rather chubby white pegasus stallion, with a black goatee and combed back mane, blue eyes, and had a wide smile on his face. He trotted over to her and hugged her. “It’s so good to see you again, Madame! I heard zere was some dreadful being in town while I was gone!”
“Uh, I hate to interupt, but who are you?” wondered Spike.
The white pegasus looked at Spike for a second before letting out a loud laugh that startled the latter. “Oh, so zis is ze dragon assistant you told me about, Madame Rarity? He is quite a cute little one.”
Rarity flushed red and chuckled weakly. She looked at Spike and said, “That is Silver Needle. He’s one of the first customers I had when I opened up my Boutique. He liked my work so much, he’s been giving me discounts on fabric and other materials I need when I’m in ‘The Zone’.”
“I see,” said a hesitant Spike. “It doesn’t explain why he’s here and not in Canterlot though.”
“I never like ze big city life,” stated Silver. “It’s always so noisy and so many ponies zere are rude.” He looked over at Rarity, still smiling. “But enough about me. What can I do for you?”
“I’m just picking up some fabric I’ve run out of,” she said. “I normally need the usual order of fabric I get, but I also need some black silk and some blue and yellow latex for a Wonderbolts uniform I’m working on.”
“Ooo! Ze Wonderbolts, eh?” asked Silver. “You certainly are moving up in the world, aren’t you?”
“Well it’s just some rips in the suit,” said a bashful Rarity.
Silver was walking around, picking out various rolls of fabric and placing them on the counter. “So it is true zen,” he said, while going around the shop. “Ze Wonderbolts got involved wiss zis being and defended zis town.” Spike and Rarity looked at each other, both looking a little concerned.
“So how much do you know about what happened?” inquired Spike. “You said you weren’t here when this happened.”
“Zat is correct,” answered Silver. “As to how much I know, nopony has said much to me. Zey’ve been awfully silent lately and zey told me zat zey swore not to say anysing about it.”
Rarity, silently, let out a sigh of relief.
“But I have heard talk about who it was,” said Silver. “Some ponies have whispered a dreadful name zat sends shivers down everypony’s spine. Some have said it was Nightmare Moon who returned!”
Spike looked at Rarity, who looked frightened and was trying not to shiver in fear. “Um . . . don’t worry! She’s not here anymore!” Spike exclaimed, hoping to ease the tension.
Silver placed the last roll of fabric down and looked at the two customers. His expression changed to one of anger and hate. “Zat may be true, but I’ve heard she also took over ze body of some innocent pony,” he said, with his tone changing to a venomous one. “Some say zat pony willingly accepted her into zeir body!”
Spike and Rarity gulped loudly, but Silver didn’t hear them as he continued his rant.
“Why, if zat’s true, zen I hope zat pony would be prosecuted to ze fullest extent of ze law!”
Spike looked at Rarity again, who was shivering in terror and heard her teeth chattering. “Well it’s not true,” Spike stated. “Whoever told you that stuff is lying to you.”
Silver Needle took a deep breath and said, calmly, “Even if it isn’t true, I will say zis.” Spike and Rarity leaned in with anticipation. “If it does end up being true, who knows what ozzer ponies across Equestria would do? Ziz pony could become an outcast and possibly never show zeir face around town, or all of Equestria ever again. Zat pony would lose zeir reputation and been seen as a blight across the land,” he said, grimly.
Spike opened his mouth to speak, but he was suddenly pulled by his tail. He looked to see Rarity using her magic to pull him and levitate the materials to the door.
“Y–yes, well th–this has been exciting and all, b–but we must leave now,” stuttered Rarity, sounding terrified. She threw a bag of bits on the counter and turned and ran out the door with her purchases and Spike. “Keep the change!” she shouted back, leaving a dumbfounded Silver Needle in her wake.
Rarity ran as fast as she could. She didn’t dare look back in fear that Silver was probably right behind her. She kept running as far as she could from the shop, taking several turns through town. All the while, Spike was desperately trying to keep up.
“Slow down, Rarity!” he bellowed. “You need to stop and listen to me!” His words fell on deaf ears though as Rarity galloped through town. Sighing to himself, Spike desperately tried to keep up with her.
Eventually, both of them took cover against the side of a house on the edge of town. Rarity took several deep breaths, her heart pounding so loud that she could hear it. She poked her head out to see nopony was around them and let out a sigh of relief.
“Rarity!”
She flinched and turned and saw Spike glaring at her. “Oh, I’m sorry, Spikey,” she said, still sounding shaken up. “Silver was just making me feel a bit uncomfortable.”
“I know he was, but he doesn’t know what really happened,” said Spike. “I don’t know why anypony would say stuff like you accepted Nightmare Moon into your body, but almost everypony knows about what happened that night.”
“But the way Silver was going on about what would happen to me–”
“–Is not going to happen to you, Rarity,” interrupted Spike. “I know Silver doesn’t know the full story, but I promise you that things will be set straight for him and that I will make sure that nothing happens to you.”
“But I–” Rarity was interrupted by Spike placing a claw on her mouth. For a second, she could’ve sworn she saw his cheeks turn red.
“Rarity, you need to trust me,” he said, sounding a little flustered. “I promise you that nopony will try to hurt you, or do anything bad to you. I know you’re scared about what’s happened to you, but you got me and the others for support. Whatever anypony tries to do to you, you can count on us to help you along the way.”
Rarity sniffed a little and asked, “You mean it?”
“I do.”
Rarity looked into Spike’s eyes and could sense a genuine concern and kindness in them. She couldn’t help but smile softly as she looked at him and felt her panic ebb. She pulled him in for a hug, which surprised him at first, but he quickly returned it, blushing a little.
“You certainly know how to make a pony feel better, Spikey,” she whispered.
Spike pulled out of the hug and softly kicked the ground and was grinning. “Well, you know me,” he said. “You’re one of my friends after all and I am always ready to help out.”
Rarity couldn’t help but giggle. “I’m serious though. I was panicking when I should’ve remained calm and maybe even told Silver the truth about what happened that night. I do thank you for helping me come to my senses. Even with what’s become of me, you still stand by my side. I must say Spike, you’ve really impressed me with your formalities.”
Spike kicked his foot and said, “As I said before, I’m your friend.” He looked away and muttered, “I want to be something else though.”
“Excuse me? I didn’t catch that last part.”
Spike’s heart nearly stopped. Oh, shoot, he thought. This isn’t good. I don’t think I’m ready to say anything to her about ‘that’ yet. On the other hoof, who knows when I’ll get another chance like this again? What to do? Do I dare say those words I’ve been wanting to say since the birthday incident? Or do I wait for another chance?
He looked at Rarity, who was staring at him with a puzzled expression.
He gulped and stomped his foot on the ground. If I don’t say anything now, I could be blowing my one chance for Rarity. Who knows if I try to confess to her and suddenly, I see her with another stallion, or even a mare!? He stomped his foot again. No, I won’t let that happen!
“Is there something wrong, Spike?” inquired Rarity, sounding a bit concerned. “You’re looking a bit upset about something.”
Come on, Spike! Pull yourself together!
Spike took a deep breath and said, doing his best not to stutter, “Rarity. . . I need to tell you something.” He took a deep breath. “You see, what I was trying to say was I wanted to be . . . be . . .” He mentally cursed himself as the courage inside him dwindled.
Oh, please, Rarity, a sinister mare’s voice whispered. Don’t tell me those words are all the comfort you need. You’re more pathetic and desperate than I thought.
Rarity could feel the hairs along her back stand up as a cold feeling washed over her.
Over here, the voice said.
She, hesitantly, turned her head and nearly jumped out of her skin. There, right in plain sight, was Nightmare Rarity, smirking at her. “No. . .” she whispered, hoarsely. “You can’t be here. . .”
Yet here I am, said Nightmare. And why shouldn’t I be here? You are a part of me anyway.
“But I was told that the last bit of you died out after you controlled me in the hospital. How is this possible? What are you even doing here anyway?”
Details, my little pony. What I’m doing here though is to make you see that you’re only delaying the inevitable.
“The inevitable?” wondered Rarity.
“Um . . . Rarity? Who are you talking to?” pondered Spike.
She nearly jumped, having forgotten Spike was near her. She looked at her friend, who was staring at her with a quirked eyebrow. “Spike, can’t you see who’s standing there?” she inquired as she pointed towards Nightmare Moon.
He stared at her, dumbfounded. He looked over at where she was pointing and then back to her. “What are you talking about? All I see is Cheerilee and Big Mac going off for a picnic.” He pointed over to the two ponies, who were walking close to one another, Big Mac carrying a basket.
Rarity was taken aback by this. “But . . . but . . .”
Don’t bother trying to reason with him, chastised Nightmare. He can’t see me, nor can he hear me. Now, where was I? Oh yes, I was going to tell you that that cute speech that dragon gave you isn’t going to help you.
“What do you mean?” demanded Rarity, sounding a little intimidated.
Your friends always being there for you? You can count on them? Pfft! How cliche and boring can you get?
“M–my friends would do anything to help me!” shouted Rarity. “If this is your idea of scaring me, then it’s not working.”
Yes, I know all that friendship is magic and all that, but what I’m telling you is how would others react once they see what you’ve become. While its apparent this town is aware of your curse and accepts it, how would others take it? You saw what happened with that Prench pony.
Rarity said nothing and looked away.
Nightmare smiled smugly to herself. You see what I mean? While that Prance pony will, probably, be told the truth about what happened by your friends, what about the other ponies across Equestria? Will they be as forgiving as these citizens?
Again, no response came from Rarity. She backed away slowly.
You do realize that if anypony should ever find out what has become of you, they won’t be so easy to persuade them that you mean no harm. Even with this whole town and both Princesses supporting you, the other ponies will think you controlled them and try to kill you.
Rarity was shaking wildly and her breathing became heavy. “That . . . th–that won’t h–happen,” she stammered. “My f–friends will–”
Oh, please stop deluding yourself with those thoughts, groaned Nightmare. You’re only fooling yourself and you know it. This whole town and those Princesses can’t protect you from what will soon happen to you. The ponies will see you as a blight and they’ll want to hunt you down.
Rarity’s eyes shot wide open and a sudden mixture of rage and sorrow coursed through her body.
“Rarity?” asked Spike, cautiously approaching her.
“Never!” screamed Rarity. “You’re wrong!”
He stumbled backwards and felt his heart racing. “Rarity, calm down!” he ordered. “What’s wrong with you?”
Instead of getting a response, Spike watched as Rarity galloped past him, making him lose his balance, and saw her head back into town. He watched her run off for a few seconds, confused as to what was happening, but quickly realized she was obviously distraught and needed help and ran off after her.
The things I do for love, he thought to himself.
Rarity galloped as fast as she could, panting heavily and without any direction on where to go. Her mind was racing with fear and sorrow as she raced through the town. She lies . . . she lies . . . Rarity kept repeating in her mind. Nightmare’s only trying to make me weak and helpless. I’ll prove to her that she’s– “OOF!”
The unicorn’s train of thought was cut off by her colliding with somepony, causing her to fall over and groan in pain. She opened her eyes to see Lyra lying on her back, with Bon Bon under her. Rarity got up and helped Lyra get back on her hooves.
“I’m dreadfully sorry about that, Lyra,” she said. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.” After helping Lyra back up, Rarity noticed a rather large red bag near Bon Bon. “Oh, dear, I hope I didn’t ruin what was in there. Perhaps I should take a look.” She reached her hoof out to grab the bag.
Lyra, however, quickly levitated the bag away from Rarity’s grasp. “No! You can’t look in there!” she shouted, panicky.
Rarity was taken aback by this and stepped back. “Well, I’m sorry that I may have broken whatever was in there, but there’s no reason to be so snippy with me. Why are you so concerned about me looking in the bag?”
Lyra looked at Bon Bon, both looking worried. The latter broke the silence after a few seconds. “Sorry, Rarity,” she said, nervously. “We must really get going.”
Rarity took a step forward, looking distraught. “But I–”
“Just stay away from us!” cried out Lyra. She and Bon Bon took off down the street, leaving Rarity, more or less, shocked.
The unicorn could feel her heart racing with panic again and took several deep breathes. Easy now, Rarity, she told herself. Perhaps they were in a hurry and wanted to get to wherever they needed to be. Just calm down and things will be okay.
An unsettling presence sent shivers down Rarity’s spine. She looked up to see a group of ponies staring at her. Some of them looked at her with a blank expression while other ponies whispered to one another.
“Please don’t mind me,” said Rarity. “I was just uh . . . thinking about where I needed to go.” She smiled to everypony, but sweat was building up onto her forehead from the intense staring. She couldn’t help but shake a little in intimidation.
The ponies around her started to whisper to one another, silently. Rarity, at first, took several deep breaths to calm her nerves, but the deeper her breaths, the faster her heart beated. “Please. . . I’m still me,” she whispered.
A buzzing noise slowly built up in Rarity’s ears. She covered her head, but the noise only got louder with each passing second. The buzzing soon gave way to whispering noises that sounded like a thousand ponies. She looked around, frantically, seeing more and more ponies around her. Some of them looking at her with disgust, while others seemed almost sympathetic with her.
Rarity covered her head, unable to stand all the staring. “Please . . . I’m not a. . . not a. . .” she blubbered, her voice broken.
“. . . Monster . . .” a voice whispered.
The unicorn winced and felt tears building up in her eyes.
“Freak!”
“She’s got to be fooling us to think she isn’t Nightmare Moon.”
“I’ll never do business with her again.”
“No mare in her condition should be allowed to walk freely.”
“She’s got to be faking this whole thing.”
“She’ll probably control all of us to be her servants.”
The insults rang out around Rarity. She put her hooves over her ears, but the voices got louder and louder with each second. She wanted to scream out in agony, but her voice faltered and felt tied up. The unicorn expected rocks or other objects to be thrown at her, but, to her surprise, nopony tried to do anything. She began crying to herself, softly, as the ponies around her blasted her with insults.
All of a sudden, the voice stopped, much to Rarity’s relief and a little bit of fear. She slowly removed one of her hooves over her eyes and peeked. There crowd of ponies were still circled around her, but a large shadow covering her body caught her attention. Rarity gulped a little and, slowly, looked up, only to feel her heart sink at the sight before her.
Nightmare Rarity was standing before her, looking triumphant and proud.
You see? I told you this would happen, she mocked. All these ponies you see around you are what wait for you in the future. If you can’t handle what they are saying to you now, just think about what will happen once your secret is out. And your so called friends won’t be able to do anything to help you.
Rarity whimpered, “You’re wrong.”
Nightmare Rarity laughed coldly. Once again, you’re deluding yourself from the truth. Do you really think that others will accept you for what you’ve become. Face it. You’re just telling yourself this to make yourself feel better. But there is a good thing that could come out of this.
“W–what is it?” wondered Rarity.
You won’t have to die alone once you’re exposed. Your friends, who try so valiantly to help you, will die along with you, as other ponies will think you corrupted them.
Anger and sorrow suddenly coursed through Rarity’s body. Whatever weakness in her body was left quickly gave way. She got up and bellowed, in a broken voice, “I won’t believe you!”
“Rarity!” a voice cried out.
She turned around and saw Spike, carrying some fabric in his claws, running up to her. She backed away. “Get away from me!” she barked.
Spike was at a loss of how Rarity was acting. “What are you talking about? It’s me, your Spikey Wikey.”
Rarity flailed around, looking panic stricken. “You all stay away from me! Don’t come near me!” She turned around and galloped down the road.
Spike watched in both awe and concern as she disappeared from sight. He looked around, only to see a few ponies standing around.
“Is the dear alright?” an elegant mare’s voice wondered.
“She’s acting like she’s seen a ghost,” a stallion said.
“Maybe something worse than that,” whispered Spike. He dropped whatever fabric he was holding in his claws and ran after the distraught mare.
The door to Rarity’s room busted open and the fashionista ran over and collapsed onto her bed. Rarity took a pillow and buried her face into it, letting out a loud, but muffled, scream. She kept screaming until her breath ran out and then just lied motionless on the bed. As time passed on, seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours.
Any minute now, thought Rarity. There’s no use in delaying the inevitable anymore. Those ponies are probably well on their way to find me now. She slowly raised her head up and saw on her end table a picture of Sweetie Belle smiling. Forgive me, Sweetie. I think it’s for the best that you aren’t here for what will probably happen to me. Hopefully, mother and father will raise you into a fine mare.
The sound of a door creaking caused Rarity’s ears to perk up and her fur to stand on all ends.
Here it comes…
“Rarity?” a concerned voice asked.
Rarity’s heart nearly stopped as she recognized the voice. She rolled over and opened her eyes to see Spike standing at the doorway, looking worried and a bit fearful. She rolled back over and muttered, “Please leave me alone, darling.”
“What’s with you, Rarity?” wondered Spike. “One moment you’re feeling fine, the next you’re acting like Twilight freaking out over a friendship report, only worse.”
“It’s really none of your concern, Spike.”
“Well I’m making it my concern,” Spike shot back. “Come on, Rarity. You don’t need to hide your feelings from me.”
He walked over to her, but Spike was levitated and pushed away from Rarity. “Spikey, I appreciate your concern for me, but I’d rather you leave me alone.”
“No.”
Rarity looked up at her friend, shocked by what she heard. “What did you say?” she asked.
“I said no,” stated Spike, looking determined. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s wrong.”
Rarity felt a tinge of anger building up in her, but she scoffed and buried her face back into the pillow.
Spike leaned against the wall and frowned. “Please, Rarity, for your sake, let me help you,” he said.
Rarity didn’t budge.
“You can’t stay silent forever, Rarity. Just tell me what’s wrong and I’ll do my best to help you.”
Again, Rarity remained motionless.
Spike let out a sigh and crossed his arms. “I’ll just wait here then. If I have to stay here all day until you tell me what’s wrong, then I will.”
We’ll see about that, thought Rarity.
The sound of a clock ticking echoed throughout Rarity’s room for what seemed to be an eternity. Seconds passed, minutes passed, and, possibly, hours passed, but Rarity remained as motionless as before. She didn’t dare to look over at Spike, who was probably still waiting for her. She opened her eyes every once in a while, seeing the daylight through her window fade. She closed her eyes and dug herself into her pillow again.
He’s got to go away, she thought. He means well, but Spikey’s got to understand that he doesn’t understand what I’m going through. If I wait long enough, he’ll probably fall asleep or just leave. But. . . what will I do then? Do I try to flee before anypony comes to get me, or do I stay here and await the inevitable? Or. . . do I. . .
A drowsy feeling suddenly overcame Rarity. So sleepy. . . must rest. . . Her eyes went wide. No, I need to stay awake. Spike is probably waiting for me to fall asleep, so he can go get somepony and tell them about my condition. Almost instantly after opening her eyes, her drowsiness only got stronger and everything became a blur. No . . . must . . . Everything then went black for Rarity.
A blinding light hit Rarity’s eyelids, causing her to squirm a bit and open them slowly. As she looked around, the fashionista let out a gasp. “What? Where am I?”
Around her was a small chamber. The walls were lined with tall marble pillars that seemed to go on for miles. The coloring of the chamber made Rarity a bit confused. One half of the chamber was white and the other side was pitch black.
“What kind of place is this?” she wondered.
“Your mind,” a sinister voice whispered.
Rarity felt like a bucket of ice was dropped into her stomach. She looked over to the dark side of the chamber and saw, out of the shadows, Nightmare Rarity appear.
“You!” cried out Rarity. “I thought you were–”
“Don’t worry,” interrupted Nightmare Rarity. “I’m not here to harm you. I’m here to help you.”
Rarity didn’t know whether to laugh at such a thing, or to be terrified.
“Before you say anything, let me get what I need to say out of the way.”
“Whatever it is you’re trying to tell me, I–”
“Silence, whelp,” ordered Nightmare in an icy tone. Rarity gulped a little from the intimidating voice and nodded. “Now then, I’m here to help you make a choice.”
The fashionista wanted to say something, but one look at Nightmare’s glare instantly put rest to that thought.
“You have come to the conclusion that eventually other ponies from across Equestria will find out what’s become of you. So now, you must make a choice on what to do? Will you stay here in Ponyville and hope for the best? Or will you go into exile and vanish from Equestria all together?”
Rarity gathered the courage to speak, albeit in a shaky tone, “W–What happens i–if I m–make no choice?”
Nightmare smiled and her horn glowed. From both sides of the chamber, an orb appeared on both sides. The spirit levitated both orbs close to Rarity, allowing her to get a closer look. Both of them were small, but had swirling clouds on the inside, almost like a crystal ball.
“Um. . . are you going to tell me my fortune now?”
“You could say that,” said Nightmare. “Let’s say you decide to stay in town and hope your friends will help you.”
The crystal ball on the white side glowed for a bit, clearing out the clouds. Rarity looked intently at the ball, but as the clouds cleared, her heart sank. The images of towering flames, collapsed buildings, and ponies lying on the ground nearly stopped Rarity’s heart. She stumbled back a bit into Nightmare Rarity.
“Ah, your ‘good choice’ will result in your precious town being destroyed as ponies come to kill you. Such a shame all to see the blood of hundreds of ponies will be on your hooves.”
Rarity said nothing as fear raced through her mind.
“Now for the other choice.”
The crystal ball on the black side too shined a bit and the clouds around it cleared out. Rarity dared to look into it, but it didn’t do much to alleviate her fears. There was a large, dense forest, with little sunlight penetrating the foliage. What caught Rarity’s eyes though was the sight of a pony that looked just like her stumbling through the forest. Her mane and coat were unkempt and covered in mud, and her body looked almost nonexistent.
“Your ‘bad choice’ seems to have saved your friends, but at what price for you? You’re not capable of surviving in the outdoors and you’ll have nopony to count on you for help. So it comes to this. Do you sacrifice yourself to save your friends? Or would you rather let the town you love so much pay the price for trying to protect you?”
Rarity said nothing and was shaking.
“You’ve got to make a choice,” warned Nightmare.
“And if I don’t?” squeaked Rarity.
“You have no choice. You either let a town die protecting you, or leave behind everything and possibly die. Either choice you make will cost you something.”
The blinding light returned again, causing Rarity to shield herself from it, but, suddenly, the floor gave way and she was sent falling down. As she fell, the sound of Nightmare laughing echoed.
“No!”
Rarity shot up and gasped for air. She could feel her heart racing and a little sweat around her body. She took several deep breaths to steady her heartbeat and stop her shaking. As she calmed herself down, Rarity noticed something: the sun had set and the moon had risen, casting its light through her windows. She looked at herself and saw that she was back to her Nightmare Rarity form.
“My goodness, I must’ve been out longer than I thought,” she said. “I hope my friends weren’t too worried about me. Maybe when Fluttershy brings Sweetie home, I can finally tell her what happened to me.”
A sudden realization then hit her. “Spike! I forgot he was here watching me!” She looked over to the door, but was shocked to see he wasn’t there. Rarity couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness in her.
I guess it can’t be helped, she thought. He probably knew that I was doomed to be this way forever. But . . . I wish he actually stayed with me. He’s pretty much been as good of an assistant and friend to me as he has been to Twilight. He may be a bit childish, but I did enjoy his company, his eagerness to help me, and his devo– Rarity stopped herself from speaking as she felt her stomach churn a bit. He’s a good friend though and that’s all that matters. He’s grown up quite a bit and is no longer a child.
With a sigh, Rarity got up and muttered, “I guess I better go see if Sweetie is ready to come home.”
“She’s actually at the library,” a mare’s voice said.
Rarity gasped and looked to her door to see Twilight and Spike standing there. “What are you two doing here?” she wondered.
“Helping you, of course,” stated Spike.
“But I’m feeling fine.”
“Not from what Spike told me,” said Twilight. “He said you were panicking around town, then you refused to talk to him, and then he said you were shaking wildly in bed.”
Spike nodded. “I was about to doze off from waiting for so long, but then I noticed you were shivering and muttered something. I couldn’t make it out, but I knew I needed to get Twilight to help you.”
Rarity smiled softly. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You can say what’s bothering you,” advised Twilight.
Rarity flinched a bit. “I have no idea what you’re–”
“Don’t bother telling us that,” warned Spike. “Since I told Twilight everything, she wants to know more about it. Once she gets started on something, you can’t stop her.”
Rarity looked at Twilight, who seemed a bit too eager to know the truth. Then, to Spike, who looked concerned and a bit guilty. She looked down in defeat and took a deep breath.
“Fine. . . I’ll tell you everything.”
Rarity went into detail about everything leading to this point. From how some of the citizens ran from her, to Silver Needle’s warning about what could happen if she was found out, to seeing Nightmare Rarity mocking her, and then the dream she just had. By the time Rarity was done, she was shaking violently and a few tears ran down her face.
Twilight and Spike looked at each other with worry. The former then turned to Rarity and said, “I don’t know how the Nightmare Forces managed to convince you those things, but, real or not, they are wrong.”
Rarity looked up at her friend. “. . .What?” she asked, sounding shocked.
Spike nodded. “She’s right, you know? The forces controlling you are no longer in you. What you saw was probably all in your mind.”
Rarity’s heart inflated with hope. “All in my mind?” she wondered. “Could it be?”
“I think it’s best we show you that it is, indeed, nothing more than your imagination running wild,” said Twilight.
“What do you mean?” inquired Rarity.
Twilight only responded by lighting her horn. and Rarity saw a flash of light and her room disappeared.
The next thing Rarity knew, she found herself outside, but was feeling dizzy from the sudden teleportation. She staggered around a bit, almost ready to fall to the ground, but was suddenly tugged by a magic force and placed upright.
“Easy there, Rarity,” said Twilight. “Sorry for the sudden teleportation, but I thought it’d be much faster to take you this way than drag you all the way here.”
Spike, who groaned a little and stumbled, muttered, “I’ll never get used to that.”
Rarity looked at Twilight and asked, “Where are we anyway?”
Twilight pointed behind her back, to which Rarity looked up and saw the Ponyville Library, but there were no lights on from the look of things.
“I don’t understand though,” said Rarity.
Spike, after steadying himself, walked over and open the door, showing nothing but darkness. He motioned with is hand to enter. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Rarity was a bit hesitant at first, but she looked to Twilight, who gave her a reassuring smile and nod. She took a deep breath and trotted inside, careful not to trip over anything in the darkness. She looked around, feeling a bit nervous about her surroundings.
“Twilight, I’ve heard of reading by moonlight, but it’s a tad too dark for that.”
“Now!” ordered Spike.
The whole room was suddenly encased in light, blinding Rarity for a moment. The sound of party favors going off and a chorus of ponies yelling, “Surprise!” echoed throughout the room. Rarity took a look around the room to see purple and white banners, balloons, and streamers around the place. One the left side of the room was a large buffet table, complete with various cakes, pies, a large bowl of punch, and a tray of nachos. Around the rest of the room was a large crowd of ponies smiling at Rarity, some even holding presents. In the center of the room were all of her friends, who were also smiling.
Rarity stood in shock for a minute before asking, softly, “What is this?”
“A party, of course,” said Rainbow.
“A surprise party,” Pinkie put in. “Those are the best kind of parties!”
“Uh. . . what she said,” stated Applejack. “We’ve all been busy putting it together for you. We got it done just in the nick of time thanks to Pinkie and Spike’s quick cooking.”
Rarity looked down at him, who blushed a little and kicke his foot. She then looked up at her friends. “But I don’t understand. Everypony seemed to avoid me like I was some sort of plague.”
Everypony looked at one another for a few seconds, each looking a bit amused. They all burst out laughing, causing Rarity to quirk an eyebrow at them and feel a bit lost.
The laughter soon died out and Applejack said, “Now that’s just silly, Rarity. You know for a fact that we all love you.”
Rarity’s jaw nearly dropped. “But . . . but what about how everypony was acting?” She looked around and noticed Lyra and Bon Bon. She pointed a hoof out to them. “What about them? Bon Bon told me to stay away from her and Lyra.”
“Um. . . we can explain,” said Twilight.
Rarity rambled on though, unaware of what her friend said. “Then the Cakes acted suspicious around me and ran off after I said hello to them! Then Silver Needle went on about how I could be an outcast for being like this!”
“Slow down there, Rarity,” said Applejack.
Again, Rarity didn’t hear her friend. “Now I’m not sure if I should stay in town or leave! I’m at a loss of what to do now. I only wish that–” She was suddenly cut off by somepony covering her mouth. She looked down and saw Spike, who looked concerned, was the culprit.
He slowly pulled his claw back and said, “Rarity, I need you to calm down and listen. You’re acting more insane than Twilight over a misplaced book.”
“Hey!” Twilight barked.
Rarity looked around the room and noticed how worried everypony else looked, some even looking a little afraid. She turned back to Spike and nodded, hesitantly. “Please. . . go on,” she mumbled.
“You see, this was all Spike’s idea,” said Twilight. “Pinkie and I talked with him about planning it out for tonight.”
“But why?” asked Rarity.
“Spike said you were still probably depressed about what’s happened to you, so he proposed this idea. Thanks to Pinkie’s uncanny ability to get around town, she let everypony know about the party.”
Pinkie nodded frantically and pulled out of her mane several pink envelopes. “I always keep emergency party invitations on me!” she exclaimed with a smile. “You never know when you’ll need them!”
Rarity chuckled in an awkward manner. “Eh. . . thank you, Pinkie.” She looked back at the crowd of ponies and something else hit her. “What about the ponies who acted so strange to me? Lyra and Bon Bon wanted me to stay away from me.”
“Ahem!”
Rarity looked over to who cleared their throat and saw Lyra staring at her. “We can explain that. Right Bonny?” She asked as she was nudging her partner.
Bon Bon slapped Lyra’s hoof away and nodded. “It’s not that we were avoiding you because of your ‘condition’, but because we were both trying to get home before you saw this.” She extended her hoof out, revealing a small red bag. “We figured now was the best time to give you this.”
Rarity took a look at the bag for a moment before, reluctantly, taking it and removing the white tissue paper inside it. After removing the last piece of paper, Rarity noticed at the bottom of the bag was a small black box. She took it out of the bag and opened it, letting out a gasp to the contents inside.
She levitated a pair of golden earrings out of the box that had a unique design to them. Each earring had the shape of three diamonds connecting together, with each diamond having either a purple or white gem pattern going. Rarity couldn’t help but smile and teared up a little.
“My goodness, it’s beautiful,” she said in awe. “Where did you get this?”
“Oh, it’s something me and Bonny have been saving up for,” said Lyra. “It’s our thank you gift to you for designing the dresses for our wedding.”
Rarity blushed a little and said, “Oh, it was nothing really.”
“That’s not all though,” a stallion’s voice called out.
Rarity turned around to see the Cake family approaching her, with Mr. Cake carrying a large white bag in his mouth. He set it down pushed it towards her.
“Sorry we had to run off so quickly earlier, but we got you something too, but it wasn’t wrapped up,” he said, remorsefully. “Hopefully, this gift makes up for what we did.”
Rarity took the bag and removed all the tissue inside. She let out a gasp as she pulled out a purple covered book, with an image of a pink silhouette of Photo Finish in a pose. She read the title, which said, Work the Camera! Photo Finish’s Tips and Tricks to Modeling Dresses! Rarity couldn’t contain her excitement as she let out a squeal of delight.
“Oh, thank you so much!” she cried out. “I’ll be sure to use this the next time I go to a fashion competition!”
“Oh, you’re quite welcome, dear,” said Mrs. Cake. “We thought it was–”
“Wait! Please hold on!” a panicked voice screamed. A group of ponies were pushed out of the way to reveal a chubby, white stallion pegasus, panting and looking flustered, carrying a large saddlebag that was ready to burst with all the stuff inside it.
Rarity’s insides churned a bit as she recognized the pegasus. “Silver Needle? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, Madame Rarity, I’m so sorry about what I did before!” he cried out in anguish. “I had no idea about what truly happened and I understand now why you left in such a hurry!” He took off the saddlebag and pushed it towards her. “Here! Take all zis stuff from my shop! Your pink friend explained to me what really happened, so I quickly put all of this together. It has enough materials for your shop to last you for a few months! Consider it my apology for being so horrible to you earlier!”
Rarity took the bag and opened it, revealing crammed rolls of various fabric, sewing needles and pins, and other things she couldn’t see because of how stuffed the bag was. She looked up to the distraught shopkeeper and said, “I appreciate it, darling, but I really can’t take all of this.”
“No, please take it,” Silver insisted. “I want no hard feelings to come between ze friendship we’ve had. In fact, next time you need somesing from my shop, consider it on ze house.”
Rarity, realizing the tone of determination in Silver’s voice, took the bag and nodded. “Thank you, Silver. Don’t worry though, it was all an honest mistake that I took too far.”
Somepony tapped on Rarity’s side, making her turn to see Sweetie looking a bit forlorn. “What’s wrong, Sweetie?”
The filly tapped her foot and looked down. “Um . . . I had a present prepared for you, but I fell asleep and never finished it,” she said. “I’m sorry, Rarity.”
Rarity smiled and lift Sweetie’s chin with one of her hooves. “I believe you mean that get well card for me?”
Sweetie gasped. “You saw it?” she wondered. “It was supposed to be a surprise though.”
She was pulled in for a hug by Rarity, who looked down at her and said, “And it was a very good surprise, darling.” She looked down at her black coat and grimaced. “I just hope you don’t mind the way I look now.”
Sweetie returned the hug and nuzzled against her sister. “Rarity, you’re my sister. I don’t care what you look like. You’re still the same sister I love, even if we do have our disagreements. Nothing is going to change that. Besides, you’ll at least have a costume every Nightmare Night now.”
Rarity looked down at her sister’s smile and content settled in her as she hugged her again. She looked around the rest of the room to see everypony was smiling gleefully and felt a sense of relief wash over her. She then felt somepony else tapping her on the side and looked over to see Spike.
“You see? None of these ponies want you to go away,” he said. “We all appreciate everything you’ve done in Ponyville. It doesn’t matter if you are in your Nightmare form or yourself, we still love you.”
“But I–”
“But nothing. I don’t care what the Nightmare Forces told you, but it’s all in your head. They don’t have any control over you anymore. You’re important to all of us and we would never want to call you stuff like a monster. We’d never chase you out of town. We’d never do any of that kind of stuff. We’re your friends and nothing in Equestria is going to change that.”
Rarity saw Spike smiling warmly and then looked around the room to see everypony nodding in agreement. Her lips quivered violently and a few tears ran down her eyes as her legs were shaking.
Spike looked at the others, who seemed a bit concern, and then back to Rarity. “Are you okay?”
Rarity raised her head, smiling softly and letting a few tears run down her face. “Of course I am, Spikey Wikey,” she said. “I’m just so grateful to know I have friends such as all of you to be here for me. I just wish there was a way to repay you all for this.”
“No need to, Rarity,” said Twilight. “I think it’s time we repaid you for all the kind things you’ve done for all of us.”
Rarity nodded and asked, “Well, what are we waiting for then?”
“This!” Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and a shower of confetti rained down upon everypony. “Now we can get this party started.”
Everypony let out a cheer as music started playing. Spike was about to join the crowd, but was pulled back into the hooves of Rarity. She looked at him with a warm smile, making him blush a little.
“I just wanted to say thank you, Spikey,” she said. “I owe you for what you’ve done for me.”
He looked down and rubbed the back of his head. “Ah, it was nothing,” he said.
Rarity rubbed her chin and let out a gasp as something clicked in her head. “I know. Why don’t you be my escort for the remainder of this party? It’s the least I can offer you after helping me out so much today.” She put her hoof on his hand. “Come now, we mustn't keep the others waiting.”
Spike, who was standing shocked and blushing wildly, nodded after a moment. “Yeah . . . let’s go.”
As they made their way in, Rarity accidentally bumped into somepony, causing both of them to groan and throw them off balance. Spike quickly helped Rarity regain her bearings and rubbed her head. She looked at the pony, who was a gray unicorn with green eyes and a combed back black mane. He gazed into her eyes with a rather stern expression, making Rarity uncomfortable.
“My apologies,” she said. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“It’s quite alright,” he said. “Just be careful, Miss Rarity. You never know who’s watching you.” He trotted past her and disappeared into the crowd.
Spike stood there, dumbfounded. “What was that about?”
“I’m not sure,” said an apprehensive Rarity. “Let’s just get to the party.”
“Right,” Spike agreed.
The sound of music blaring could be heard even outside the library. The inside was only louder, as it was buzzing with excitement. Some ponies were talking to each other, while others ate, and some danced to the music. Rarity was one of those ponies eating a cupcake and watching other ponies dance. She could see Sweetie, blushing wildly, taking Button Mash’s hoof, who too was blushing, and taking him to the dance floor, making Rarity giggle. She could also see in the corner of her eye Sweetie’s friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, dancing with each, with both of them looking a bit flustered as well.
As the party went on, Rarity received other various gifts from other citizens from Aloe and Lotus giving her a book of coupons for their spa, to Cheerilee giving her a journal to write in. Shortly after the presents were given, Rarity and her friends sat at a table together, talking with one another. The sound of her friends laughing, Rainbow and Pinkie telling jokes, and just simple small talk amongst them made Rarity feel relaxed.
The calmness was interrupted by the sound of a hoof banging against the table, startling the group. Rarity looked over to see Rainbow was responsible, and almost looked beside herself.
“You have to be joking me!” she barked.
Applejack let out a hearty laugh and said, “I ain’t lying to you, sugarcube.”
Rainbow grinded her teeth. “You mean to tell me that Spitfire knows your cousin, Braeburn!?” she demanded. “Why the hay didn’t he say anything about it when we visited him?”
“One, we were dealing with the Chief Thunderhooves’ tribe,” said Applejack. “Two, you never asked.”
After crossing her arms and letting out an irritated sigh, Rainbow asked, “So what did she say about Braeburn?”
The farmer shrugged. “She just went on about how much of a good friend he was when she was growing up with him. She also seemed to blush a little whenever she talked about him. I’ll have to talk to Braeburn next time he’s in town.”
“Did you find out which Wonderbolt’s uniform was ripped up?” asked Twilight.
Applejack nodded and said, “Yup, it belonged to that nice fellow, Soarin. We actually did a lot of talking together and he’s quite a nice guy. One thing that hasn’t changed since I first saw him at the Gala was his love for pie. In fact, he said he would love to come to the farm and buy more of my pies and talk to me.” As heat built up in her cheeks, Applejack turned away.
Rainbow, unaware of her friend, let out a groan. “Well I’m glad to know somepony had a good time,” she whined. “I had to spend nearly an hour cleaning up that thunderstorm mess Thunderlane made.”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean to,” said Fluttershy. “He seems quite nice.”
“Yeah, but nice isn’t going to fly with me if he keeps this up,” said Rainbow. “I swear, he acts all flustered whenever I talk to him or something. If it wasn’t for the fact that nopony has better skills in putting together a storm like Thunderlane, I’d get rid of him.” She crossed her arms and muttered, “He’s also pretty cute.”
Rarity slowly inched away from Rainbow and said, “Well, I think we better change topics then.” She looked over at Twilight. “Did you find anything in your library to help, darling?”
Twilight looked down in defeat and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but no,” she said. “Even before putting together the party, I had pretty much looked in every book.”
“And Princess Celestia?” asked Rainbow.
“I would’ve let you all know by now,” said Spike. “Remember, message via dragon?”
Twilight let out a small sigh. “Well, I don’t know where to go from here then. Perhaps tomorrow we can talk to Princess Cadance and see if we can explore the Crystal Empire archives.”
Rarity said, “Well I think–”
“Special delivery!” a mare yelled.
From out of the blue, a gray hoof, holding a yellow envelope, extended in front of Rarity’s face. Everypony looked at the mare in confusion.
“Lost another letter, Derpy?” asked Rainbow, nonchalantly.
The mailmare shook her head. “Nope! This was something I accidentally forgot to deliver to Rarity.”
After taking the letter, Rarity turned to Derpy and said, “Thank you.”
“Just doing my job!” Derpy gave a salute and flew off, nearly colliding with a crowd of ponies. The group just shook their heads and laughed to themselves.
“Well, what’s in the letter?” asked Twilight.
“Now hold on.” Rarity ripped the letter open with her magic and pulled out folded piece of paper. As she began reading it, her expression changed to one of shock and awe. She sat there motionless, unaware of her friends around her.
“Uh... hello? Earth to Rarity,” said Rainbow. She got no response. “What’s so important?” She squeezed in and tried to read the letter. The rest followed suit and crowded around Rarity to, reading the letter.
Dear Miss Rarity,
On behalf of Photo and Hoity Studios, we cordially invite you to the first annual Fashion and Modelling competition in Manehatten. We expect you to create your own new line of dresses for the upcoming fall lineup.
All competitors are asked to please arrive in Manehatten in a week and head for the Photo and Hoity Studio headquarters. Enclosed in this letter is the hotel all competitors will stay in, directions to P&H Studios, and tickets for the Saturday train to Manehatten. We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Photo Finish and Hoity Toity
As soon as everypony finished reading the letter, they all looked at each other, all of them looking shocked, and then at Rarity, who looked equally shocked.
“Uh. . . Rarity?” asked Applejack. “Are you okay?”
No response.
“Rarity?” wondered Spike.
The only response from her was her groaning and then fainting to the ground, the letter floating to the ground. All her friends quickly checked on her, each looking worried.
Pinkie laughed a little and said, “Well. . . at least she’ll get to try that new book out.”
Everypony looked at her with stern expressions.
“Too soon?” she asked.
The group groaned and went back to tending to Rarity.
As more ponies took notice of what happened to Rarity and crowded around her, another pony took this chance to grab the letter that dropped to the ground. The pony quickly, but carefully, slid out of the crowd and made his way to the entrance to the library. After looking to make sure nopony was watching, the pony opened the door and left, quickly shutting the door, and galloped away.
After running far enough that the library was out of sight, the pony took a look at the letter and said, “Hopefully, this will make Prince Blueblood happy,” he said in a rather stern tone. “Though, I do hope he doesn’t do anything too drastic to Miss Rarity.”
He looked around again, only to see the streets deserted. “I’d better get back to the castle and relay this information.” His horn glowed a green aura and, in a flash, the pony was gone.