//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Heart's Warming Fantasies 
// by Donraj 
//------------------------------//

	The building was on fire, and it wasn’t my fault.
I looked around as I galloped through the smoke. The bat ponies were shrieking in mad terror at the sight of the flames racing up the walls of the corridor. As I watched one of them backpedaled a shade too slowly to prevent its coat from catching the spark that set its oily body ablaze. I saw my chance. With an effort of will I charged my horn with magic and reached out with a glowing telekinetic grip to seize the boards beneath the plaster on the wall. I bit down a hiss of pain as my horn flickered from blue to orange due to the exchange of energies. It began to smolder and smoke, and I cringed, trying to focus on the pain to distract me from the damage it was likely doing to my coiffure. Fortunately there was plenty of pain to focus on. I’m lucky that way.
My name is Rarity Sweetheart Marshmallow Belle. Conjure by it at your own risk. I’m a professional snoop.
It’s a tough job, but I’m a tough gal. You’d have to be to make it this line of work. What I was being paid wasn’t likely to be enough, but I comforted myself by thinking of the billable hours. Especially Bill, my masseuse and Billie, my mane stylist. 
It had all started innocently enough. I’d been dozing at my desk when the sound of the door opening jolted me awake. I took off my sleeping mask just in time to see it slam shut. The room looked empty. I raised an immaculately groomed eyebrow and was about to resume my catnap when I heard a coughing sound from in front of the desk. I rose to see just the cutest little thing standing on the fashionably used rug I kept there. A baby dragon all purple with adorable green spines looked back up at me in annoyance, arms crossed. I put on a professional smile in reply.
“Welcome to Belle Investigations, where we know that every case is is unique. Please, have a seat.”
The baby dragon stammered for a moment as his scaly little cheeks darkened. I realized that he was blushing. I carefully resisted the urge to giggle as he struggled to regain control of himself and hopped up onto the indicated chair. Mustn’t laugh, I told myself. Whoever this gentledrake was he clearly wanted to be taken seriously. I sat back into my own desk chair and waited.
After several more seconds of stammering the dragon managed to start putting together coherent sentences. 
“Are you Miss Rarity?”
“Of course darling,” I replied. “And you are?”
He stared at me with a dreamy expression for a bit longer before realizing what he was doing. He shook his head and said, “I’m Spike. My sister is missing and I need help.”
The smile froze brittle on my face. My eyes automatically flickered toward the framed picture sitting on my desk before I forced my attention back to my guest. 
“Do go on,” I said, nodding for him to continue.
"She's a librarian at Canterlot University. She's been working on a new project lately that she wouldn't talk about, and now nopony has heard from her for nearly week! I checked the library and all of the bookstores like the other times she's vanished, and if it was like the time she was obsessed with caterpillars somepony would have heard her muttering about whatever she was obsessed with. I just know something's wrong, but nopony will listen to me!"
I steepled my hooves, feeling remarkably Hex Luther as I did. "What can you tell me about this project?"
"It was really hush hush," he said immediately. "All she would tell me was that it involved archeological work done at the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters. Apparently they'd made some kind of big find and she was part of the team examining it."
I thought about that. Anytime an excavation like that had to be hushed up it meant one of two things. Either they'd found something that only a handful of academics would care about but would all sell their cutie marks to steal credit for or they had found something so valuable that a great many ponies would sell their cutie marks to steal it in the literal sense.
"Do you have a picture of your sister?" I asked.
The little fellow nodded and rummaged through the satchel at his side. He produced a framed picture of himself atop a unicorn with a coat the same color as his scales. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Your sister?"
He flushed. I wasn't sure how blushing worked on a dragon but that wasn't important right now. "It's a long story."
"Quite," I said. "She's certainly a cute filly. I can see where you get it from." I followed that with a wink. 
Literal smoke started to waft up from his scales. He hemmed and hawed and reached up with one clawed hand to smooth his spines self-consciously. "We're not, I mean...she hatched me from an egg she found on a dig."
"Well now," I said proddingly. "She must be quite the talent to pull off something like that."
Spike nodded enthusiastically. "She's the best at all kinds of magic! I think that's part of why she ended up on this project."
"Oh?" I said. "Who made that decision?"
"Dean Luna at the university invited her personally!" he said proudly. He puffed his chest out in an utterly adorable manner. I hid another smile.
"And where was the last time you saw your sister?"
"About three days so," he said. "She seemed really upset but she wouldn't tell me why. I think it had something to do with a letter she got, but she wouldn't let me see it and she took it with her."
I pursed my lips. "And you're sure it has something to do with this excavation?"
"It has to be! You don't know what she's like when she's caught up in her research. Nothing else even registers with her!" Moisture gathered in his eyes. "You've gotta help me! I've got nowhere else to turn!"
I rose and walked around my desk to lay a comforting hoof on his shoulder. When he looked up at me I raised it to his face and brushed the tears away.
"I'll find her. You have my word."
He threw his arms around me in a tight hug and buried his face in my chest. I patted the back of his head reassuringly. "One last question. What is your sister's name?"
He looked up at me, blinking and trying to pretend he hadn't been crying. 
"Twilight Sparkle."


†


Long story short, yes she had stumbled onto something big and yes powerful ponies had intervened. I burst into the amphitheatre loaded for bear. I thought I was ready for anything. Turns out I was wrong.
A purple pony with leathery wings that were a rather garish darker shade of purple stood before the altar. A horn shone atop her brow and a shimmering nimbus of the same color surrounded her. Smoke rose from the altar and I could make out indigo blue feathers laying amid ash and bone.
The pony turned, and I knew I'd found my objective. She smiled to reveal long, gleaming fangs. 


†


There was a sudden knock at the door. Rarity's head jerked up in surprise. 
"Rarity, we need to talk."
Rarity had never expected to not want to hear Twilight's voice. She hurriedly levitated some other papers onto her desk and took a moment to compose herself. 
"Come in."
There was a muffled bampf sound and suddenly Rarity felt another presence in the room. Had she left the door locked? Didn't really matter. She stayed silent as Twilight walked across to stand behind her. Neither of them spoke for awhile.
"Spike said you haven't been doing so well," Twilight did finally. 
"Not well," Rarity said dully. "Yes, you could say that."
Twilight nodded at the edge of her vision. "He's worried about you."
Rarity shook her head. "Such a dear little drake. You should be proud of him."
"I am."
Another long silence. Then, "He deserves better than having Sweetie Belle turn him away at the door. Is he alright?"
"He's fine. I think he's a little hurt that you used him to get those books on golem creation, but he understands. I think he knows he would have done the same for you if he could."
Rarity couldn't help but laugh at that. "He would. And Rainbow Dash?"
"She'll get over it. Though the 'Come at me, sis!' bit was taking it a bit far."
Rarity winced. "And the others?"
"You're not the first pony to nearly level the entire town because you were obsessed with something," Twilight assured her. "Pinkie Pie insisted that we ship Tom to her family's rock farm. She said that with proper guidance he would make an excellent role model for the little rocks."
They both sat processing that statement for a while. Finally Rarity spoke again.
"Twilight, if I had asked sooner do you think..."
"Let's not go down that route," Twilight said firmly. Rarity flinched.
"A—Are we still friends, Twilight?"
Rarity felt a pair of warm forelimbs wrap around her. She finally turned and buried her face in the other mare's neck. Twilight patted her comfortingly.
"Of course. Friends forever."