Chapter 5: Not Always Right
Though Winter Wrap-Up was scheduled to take place over the course of a pair of days during the official transition between winter and spring, the preparations for it actually began well in advance. The Weather Team were already lightening the cloud cover and reducing the overall snowfall, slowly reducing the amount of snow that accumulated on the ground as spring approached, making it much easier to clear the rest of it away when the big day finally arrived. The leaders of the different teams were already getting organized as they mapped out the routes the migrating birds would use, which burrows would be visited first, and what order which fields would be cleared for planting.
Fluttershy visited Twilight several times over the next few days, along with Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who represented the weather and planting teams respectively. Though Fluttershy wasn't in charge of the animal team (her newfound self-confidence sadly did not extend to taking charge of other ponies in such an important situation), she was still Ponyville's primary animal expert and the pony that everypony, including her team leader, consulted on all matters fauna-related. Over the course of several hours across a week, Fluttershy and her friends hashed out the division of labor and sequence of events required for Ponyville to make a smooth transition into spring.
For the rest of Ponyville, most everything progressed as normal, with everypony quietly awaiting their assignments for Winter Wrap-Up. Many of them had carried out the same tasks every year and had little expectation for things to change now, especially since Twilight had wisely adopted the old adage "if it ain't broken, don't fix it." The only changes required came when younger ponies grew old enough to help with more arduous tasks or other ponies had gotten sufficiently old that they needed to retire. Through all of this, Twilight's skill at organization saw everything through with a minimum of fuss.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Flaxseed nervously, shifting his weight from one side to the other as Rarity sat at the sewing machine in front of him in the workroom, "I don't want to be a bother."
"As I said, it's largely up to you dear," said Rarity without looking up from her work, "I fully understand if you feel that you aren't up to joining in to help with Winter Wrap-Up. Goodness knows, even with Twilight making everything run smoothly, things can still get quite confusing and hectic at times. Nearly everypony in town will be out and about doing some task or another..."
Flaxseed shivered at the thought of ponies moving frantically all around him, with only limited means to keep track of them at all. Even if he tried to stay with Rarity, there was still every chance that he might get separated and end up surrounded by a frantic, packed mass of ponies, a situation that would not do his nerves a lick of good.
"I have spoken with Twilight at length about your situation. We both agree that we shouldn't even entertain the notion of making you do something that you aren't ready for. However, Twilight did say that she had something that might be up your alley, as it were."
"What's that?"
Rarity lifted her head up and smiled over her glasses at Flaxseed. "If you feel up to it, she would like your help in handling the logistics of the affair, keeping track of our materials, our seed stores, tools, how much we use, how much we have leftover, that sort of thing. I think it would be the perfect job for a pony of your skills. A great deal of it would be preparatory work and you wouldn't need to interact with too many ponies at once to get the job done."
"Th-that doesn't sound too bad," said Flaxseed softly, his mind turning the idea over.
"Again, it's only if you feel up to it," said Rarity as she returned to her own labor.
Flaxseed thought Rarity's words over as he watched the dress take shape beneath her skilled hooves. His nerves told him to stay inside the Boutique, to not risk stepping out during such a hectic time, when countless ponies would be all around him, wandering about on their various jobs without a thought for anyone else. Nopony would probably notice if somepony started following him, or began to slip closer to him in the crowd. Already, Flaxseed could see it in his mind's eye, a gentle bump against his side, a chill in his chest as somepony used the confusion and ruckus to slip a knife between his ribs.
Somepony had tried that on him while he'd been living in Manehattan after all. At the time, Flaxseed had been lucky that the stab had missed, glancing off his ribs rather than going between them and leaving the stallion with a scar that ran along the length of his barrel. The scar had faded and was all but invisible beneath the fur of his coat, but it was still there all the same. More importantly, Flaxseed still remembered it, that moment where somepony had drawn a line of pain across his side. He'd been lucky to get away before his attacker had made a second try.
Flaxseed shuddered and forced the memory back down. From what Rarity had told him, he wouldn't be out in the middle of things, but tucked safely off to the side, maybe in the library or Town Hall, where he could work through the numbers and only have to deal with ponies singly or a few at a time. In that situation, it would be much easier for him to keep from panicking.
He also thought about the other concerns Rarity had for him. She'd told him about her desire to get him more comfortable with the thought of going out on his own and Flaxseed had to admit that it made a certain amount of sense. He'd had fewer problems in the previous places he'd stayed, most likely because his housing had never seemed all that much safer than the streets outside.
But here, in the Carousel Boutique, Flaxseed felt secure. The Boutique was a sanctuary to him now, an island of absolute safety in the midst of an unsafe world, a place where he could truly let down his guard and not worry about anypony trying to take advantage of him. The kindness and consideration Rarity and her sister had shown him had worn through the stubborn stallion's defenses and now Flaxseed was able to feel almost completely at ease here.
Unfortunately, that meant that the world beyond the Boutique's walls seemed to become even more daunting by comparison. Now that he was able to relax, Flaxseed felt less comfortable leaving and going out into a world where he would have to put his guard back up and resume watching his surroundings for any kind of threat. Though Rarity and her friends, including Dawn, had told him that Ponyville was a safe haven, especially for ponies with his condition, Flaxseed couldn't bring himself to act upon their suggestions or take their reassurances to heart.
"There, all done," crowed Rarity, rising up from the sewing machine and draping her finished work across a ponyquin. It was a fine dress of red silk with decorations of golden thread laid around emerald chips along the hems. It was excellent work, though nothing particularly daring by Rarity's standards.
"That's the dress for your client, right?" asked Flaxseed, looking the dress over carefully.
Rarity nodded. "Yes. She should be arriving tomorrow to get it fitted and pick it up. I've been getting more orders from other towns lately. I believe my publicity is improving."
"That's good to hear," said Flaxseed. He remembered Rarity mentioning this client before. She'd been working on the design before Hearth's Warming, until she had been sidetracked by her desire to make her five closest friends special dresses for the Winter Gala. Now that she was back in Ponyville, Rarity had been working on the design on and off for the past couple of weeks, in between other more immediately demanding orders and looking after the needs of her new apprentice, who was out buying additional materials at the moment.
The sound of the front door closing echoed through the Boutique, along with Sweetie Belle's voice as she shouted an enthusiastic "I'm home!"
Folding her glasses and setting them aside, Rarity smiled as she went out into the showroom, Flaxseed in tow, to greet her younger sister. "Welcome home Sweetie," said Rarity, "I take it your latest lesson with Ms. Scratch went well."
Sweetie nodded eagerly, her head bobbing excitedly on top of her neck. "It's going amazingly. Vinyl's been teaching me all about producing infrasonic and ultrasonic tones."
Both Rarity and Flaxseed paused, blinking for a moment before shooting one another a confused glance. "Why are you learning about that?" asked Rarity.
Sweetie smiled. "Vinyl thinks that I could use my magic to make those tones and that I can do some really amazing things with them.”
“What sort of things?” asked Rarity.
“Um…” Sweetie tilted her head thoughtfully, “We’re not sure yet. But Vinyl says that it’s sure to be awesome!”
Rarity pressed her lips together into a thin line as she considered what counted as awesome in the mind of a Cutie Mark Crusader, as many of their favorite ideas seemed to have led, one way or another, into wanton (and, during one particular incident involving a takeout restaurant, wonton) destruction. She could only hope that, whatever Vinyl Scratch was teaching her, Sweetie’s efforts wouldn’t result in another bout of disaster that would have Rarity called to Town Hall to listen to one of Mayor Mare's lectures on keeping her sister from participating in the destruction of public property...or something like that.
Still, it was interesting to hear about Sweetie's lessons over dinner. The more Rarity heard, the more she had to admit that Sweetie's interests seemed to be advancing in an entirely different direction from what she had expected. Perhaps I should look into tuition fees and the like for the Academy. Ms. Scratch seems to think that Sweetie would do well there.
It wasn't an outrageous consideration. The Equestrian Academy of Arts and Sciences was a well-known institution in Trottingham. Rarity herself had left Ponyville in order to attend Trade School. Still, she worried that Sweetie might be reluctant to leave her friends behind, though it was probably inevitable. After all, it was highly likely that Rumble, if he didn't simply go straight into an apprenticeship on the Weather Team after graduation, would likely be heading to a dedicated pegasus institution on one of their cloud cities, as might Scootaloo, depending on what she wanted for her future career. Apple Bloom would likely remain in Ponyville to continue helping with the farm, possibly apprenticing with a local architect. Celestia only knew what Dawn Lightwing would be doing after he finished schooling. In any case, it was highly likely that the Crusaders would be going their separate ways eventually, for a time at least.
Still, that problem was still an issue for the future. For the time being, Rarity simply settled in to listen to Sweetie Belle as she related her latest exploits under Vinyl Scratch's tutelage.
The knot on the end of the cord hissed as it hurled through the air. Rumble swung the cord in tight circles before catching it on his shoulder and allowing it to wrap around his barrel. He caught the knot in his hoof, bringing the cord's motion to a stop for less than a second before launching it back into action with a sharp jerking motion of his body that sent the knot leaping out and away from him like a striking snake.
From there, Rumble guided the knotted cord through swings of varying speeds and directions, moving it in circles and figure-eight motions, often sending it snapping straight out again over the course of his practice. Finally, Rumble wrapped the cord around himself once again, this time eating up its entire length in the wraps and bringing the knot to rest in one of his hooves as he settled back onto the cloud, panting slightly from the exertion.
"Well done," said Storm Front with an approving smile. The pegasus stallion's coat, mane, and tail were dark gray, with dark-purple highlights that gave the impression of a heavy storm cloud. His dark-green eyes had been watching Rumble intently, carefully observing his actions and critiquing his motions as Rumble went through his practice. Storm Front's body was well-muscled, though nowhere near the level of somepony like Big Macintosh or Bulk Biceps, the particularly...bulky...pegasus flying with the Ponyville Weather Team. Rather, his musculature was slender and subtle, implying a great deal of flexibility in his motion. Most of those muscles were obscured by a long-sleeved shirt of red silk that Storm wore. Tucked inside of one of those sleeves was Storm Front's meteor hammer, his favored weapon and the one that he was currently training Rumble in.
"Thanks," said Rumble, taking a moment to unwind his practice weapon now that their training session was winding down. The dark coils of the cord stood out starkly against his light-gray coat, nearly perfectly matching his dark-gray, almost black, mane. Said mane was matted with sweat from the colt's exertions, flattening it down out of its normal smooth wave. When he was younger, Rumble's physique had been similar to that of a filly and he'd been mistaken for a filly on a couple of occasions. However, his body was now taking on a more coltish appearance, though his outline still seemed slightly effeminate.
It had been a few months since Rumble had started learning how to use the meteor hammer from Storm Front. He still remembered, a little less than fondly, smacking himself multiple times with the knotted end of the practice weapon that Storm had made for him. Presently, it had been a few weeks since the last time he’d smacked himself. It was a sign that his control over the exotic weapon was improving.
Like Dawn and Scootaloo, Rumble’s training consisted of a great many forms that practiced stringing together the individual techniques that he’d learned. He’d only recently started on the first few forms for the meteor hammer, a few of which had been devised by Storm Front himself. It was a complex weapon, tricky to master, even if it was little more than a weight on the end of a cord.
Most colts probably would have gotten frustrated with how slow their learning was progressing. However, Rumble actually enjoyed the fact that he had to work to learn to use the meteor hammer. Flying had come so naturally to him that he'd been flying as well as some adults when most foals were still learning how to take off and land without bungling it. He'd been called a prodigy by some ponies. It wasn't a designation that Rumble liked. He didn't feel all that special, even if he was a natural flyer and was afraid that being called a prodigy would split him apart from other ponies his age and make it less likely that he could maintain any friendships.
So it came as something of a relief that the meteor hammer was something that he wasn't immediately a natural at. Learning and practicing were difficult, painful even. But the experience was rewarding. Seeing that look of approval on Storm's face always made Rumble feel satisfied after a long training session, no matter how frustrating it might have been.
"Oh! Are you two finished?"
Rumble and Storm looked over and slightly down to see another pegasus fluttering up to join them on their cloud. The mare's grayish-purple coat was difficult to see in the fading light. However, her long, flowing, pale-green mane was easier to spot. Flitter alighted on the cloud, just as neatly as one of the trio of dragonflies that made up her cutie mark might land on a blade of grass.
"Yes," said Storm, turning to smile at Flitter, "We were just about to head back."
"Oh good," said Flitter, "It's nearly time for dinner and Cloud Chaser's making her special potato soup."
"Really!" exclaimed Rumble, his jaw dropping slightly as he fought to keep from drooling.
"We don't want to miss that," said Storm with a warm chuckle as he and Flitter exchanged an affectionate nuzzle. The two of them had been special someponies for a few months now. Rumble had noted that Flitter had been spending more and more time at Storm's house, rather than the house she shared with Rumble; his brother, Thunderlane; and Thunderlane's fillyfriend, Cloud Chaser, who was also Flitter's elder sister.
Although, thought Rumble, Maybe that's for the best. If she's spending more time with her coltfriend, then she won't have to deal with the rumors anymore.
Granted, Rumble hadn't heard those rumors in a long time, not even since before Flitter and Storm had started dating. However, Rumble still remembered them quite clearly. He and Thunderlane had both been born in Ponyville. Their parents had moved out to Cloudspire shortly after Thunderlane had finished his apprenticeship to the Weather Team. Thunderlane had opted to stay behind and had happily allowed Rumble to stay with him when Rumble stated he didn't want to leave Ponyville either, although convincing their parents to allow Rumble to stay had been more than a little challenging. Shortly afterwards, Thunderlane had started dating Cloud Chaser. Their relationship had been going strong for over a year when they decided to move in together. Cloud Chaser brought Flitter to join them and the four of them had shared a house ever since.
That had been when the rumors had started. Both Cloud and Flitter were attractive mares, while Thunderlane himself had been considered quite the eligible bachelor when he was still single. It was perhaps somewhat natural that some ponies would begin to conjecture that the two sisters were sharing Thunderlane's affections or, more disturbingly, that one or the other or even both of them might be forming some illicit relationship with Rumble. The rumors had amounted to nothing more than the irritated mumblings of gossipy old mares whispering about "immoral relationships" and "licentious behaviors" when they thought Rumble wasn't close enough to overhear them. Fortunately, nothing had come of it, but Rumble still shivered at the memory of the stares he'd received in those early days whenever Flitter or Cloud walked him to school or picked him up afterwards.
Not that there was much chance of that anymore. Flitter had a stallion of her own now and was spending more and more time with him. Cloud and Thunderlane were still going strong (though Thunderlane still had yet to pop the question, something that Cloud continued to grumble about to Rumble in private). It seemed that, for the time being, everything was going well. Even though Rumble had yet to get his cutie mark, he wasn't overly worried about it. He was all too happy to continue enjoying his life with his friends, working at the teashop with the other Cutie Mark Crusaders and training sessions with Storm Front. Once Winter Wrap-Up finished, school would start up again and life would continue.
All told, things were looking good.
The beads of the abacus clicked rhythmically as Flaxseed went through the Carousel Boutique's ledgers once again. Tax season was approaching after all and Rarity had made things a bit more complicated for herself this year by taking on a new hire and an apprentice in short order. Flaxseed chewed the inside of his lip as he frowned over the numbers, regretting the fact that he'd never managed to go to trade school in order to train to be a proper accountant. However, Twilight Sparkle had informed him that he could take a correspondence course. In the meantime, he would eventually have to go over to Town Hall to get the proper tax forms so that he could work out what Rarity actually owed the government.
At least they'd be able to save some money compared to the previous years, if Rarity's records were anything to go by. In fact, there was even the possibility that Rarity was eligible for a refund, given her lack of knowledge about certain factors she could take advantage of. For example, Flaxseed had noted that Sweetie Belle had spent the majority of the previous year living with Rarity rather than their parents, who were continuously traveling throughout Equestria, Rarity would be able to claim Sweetie as a dependent, which would make her eligible for a deduction at least.
There were other deductions as well; charitable commissions and donations, as well as special services to the royal family. Flaxseed was particularly proud of spotting that last one. After all, Rarity had made multiple dresses for Twilight Sparkle over the course of the previous year. Given that Twilight's brother was the husband of one Princess Cadance, Twilight technically counted as a member of the royal family as far as the government bureaucrats were concerned. The fact that Rarity had never taken a single bit for the dresses she'd made for Twilight meant that Rarity's work counted as a special service rather than a paid commission.
Flaxseed's ear twitched at faint sound of the bell echoing from the Boutique's showroom. It was barely audible over the sound of the sewing machine coming from the workroom and he wasn't sure that Rarity or Coco Pommel had heard it. Carefully, Flaxseed made his way out of his "office," which had originally been where Rarity kept her ledgers and other assorted financial documents. He stepped out into the workroom where Rarity was working furiously to sketch out another design on paper while Coco used the sewing machine work the fabric over on the other side of the room.
Stepping up behind Rarity, Flaxseed carefully tapped her on the shoulder. Rarity jumped slightly at the unexpected contact before turning to smile at the stallion. "Oh! I'm sorry. What is it?" she said with a warm smile.
Flaxseed jerked his head towards the showroom. "I heard somepony come in," he said.
"Oh!" exclaimed Rarity, jumping away from her work, "Goodness! Is it that time already? My client must be here."
Rarity immediately charged out door and into the showroom, leaving a nonplussed Flaxseed behind. Out of the corner of his eye, Flaxseed saw Coco look up from her work, then giggle slightly at his consternation. The stallion let out a sigh and returned to his office.
A few minutes later, Flaxseed heard the sound of hooves going past the door. Looking up, he saw a yellow tail flicking slightly as it went past. That must be her customer then, he thought, wondering just who Rarity was entertaining.
"I want to thank you for coming all this way to do business with me," he heard Rarity say from somewhere down the hall leading to the kitchen. Flaxseed knew that she sometimes liked to entertain her clients with tea, something she did to improve relationships with her customers.
"It was nothing," replied the other mare in a slightly grating, haughty tone, "Absolutely everypony who is anypony nowadays knows about your designs. It is very much worth my while."
Rarity said something back, but Flaxseed didn't hear it. His limbs had locked, his heart seizing within his chest at the sound of the customer's voice. A rush of terror slammed into him with all the force of a runaway freight train, causing Flaxseed to nearly topple over backwards from his seat. As it was, his chest refused to budge and he couldn't even bring himself to breathe, the sound of that voice ripping memories out of the back of his mind and bringing them directly to the forefront of his consciousness.
"What the hay is up with you? Where do you get off acting so sulky?"
"Come on now, are things really so bad?"
"You need to open up to other ponies more. If you just keep hanging around under your black little raincloud, you're just gonna end up alone."
"Oh! You want to be an accountant! That's nice. I hear that you can earn a lot of money doing that."
"Me? I'm training to be an actress. I'm gonna get my big break on Bridleway and I'll become famous Equestria-wide! Maybe I'll let you handle my finances when I make it big."
"You know, you're pretty handsome when you clean yourself up. If you keep that look, I might even let you take me out."
"Thanks for the wonderful evening. You certainly know how to make a mare feel special."
...
...
...
"Wha-what happened? Why did those muggers run? What d-did you do? F-Flax-...!"
"What's wrong with your eyes!? What are you? STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU FREAK!"
...
...
...
"Of course not! There's no way I'd have ever started a relationship with that stallion if I'd known what he was really like. Don't you know he's some kind of monster!"
"I could barely believe my own eyes. I mean, it was hideous! Anyway, I did some digging and learned there's some kind of religious order looking to exterminate freaks like that."
"Of course I told them where they could find him! I actually went out with that scumbag. I'm trying to make it big. I can't have a disgusting relationship like that drag me down. It's best to pull things like that up by the roots."
Rarity's ears twitched as she heard a muffled thump come from Flaxseed's office. Is something wrong? she wondered.
"Excuse me Ms. Camellia," she said quickly to her customer, "I have to check up on something."
The dark-pink earth pony smiled at Rarity over the cup of tea she was drinking. "Please go ahead, Ms. Rarity," replied Camellia with a wink of her leaf-green eyes, "It sounds like somepony had an accident. It's so hard to find reliable help these days."
Rarity hid her frown as she turned around and headed for the office. Slowly, she pushed open the door and carefully looked in. The place looked empty. There wasn't much to it just yet. The naked bulb shined down over the room with a harsh, white light that cast shadows across the shelves and the single, mostly bare desk. I really need to get a proper lamp installed. There were a few sheets of paper scattered across it, along with a binder containing her financial records. However, the pony who should have been sitting behind that desk was absent from view.
"Flaxseed?" asked Rarity, taking a single step further in, "Flaxseed, darling? Are you alright?" She knew he had to be in the room. He'd been going over the accounts when Camellia had come calling. He'd returned to the office and resumed working. She knew he hadn't left, as Flaxseed never left without tidying his workspace up first. It was one of the things Rarity really appreciated about him.
At the sound of her voice, the desk suddenly jumped, coming back down with a thud that made Rarity jump in turn. He's...hiding. Why?
"Flaxseed, I'm coming over," she said as clearly as she could, cautiously stepping all the way into the room. Walking slowly and carefully, she made her way around the side of the desk and slowly peered behind it, trying not to make any sudden or startling moves.
Flaxseed was underneath the desk, hiding behind the panel that covered the front. He was curled up into a quivering ball, from which Rarity could hear faint, strangled whimpers, as though he were trying to completely silence himself, but was unable to do so.
"Flaxseed," said Rarity in a soft tone, "Flaxseed...Can you hear me?"
Slowly, almost reluctantly, the stallion's muscles loosened and Flaxseed uncurled enough to lift his head and look at Rarity. His eyes were a vivid, crimson color, with distinct vertical slit-shaped pupils. Their strange appearance did nothing to hide the absolute terror that burned behind them as Flaxseed stared up at Rarity as though she were some hideous beast.
What on earth? wondered Rarity, What could possibly have him so terrified?
"Flaxseed, dear," said Rarity, moving a little closer, "It's alright. It's me, Rarity."
She slowly lifted a hoof to reach out to him. But it had barely risen an inch off the floor before Flaxseed yelped and thrust himself away from her, slamming into the pedestal behind him and making the whole desk rattle. The impact jolted the binder and abacus off the top and sent them clattering to the floor, the sounds only seeming to worsen Flaxseed's panic.
Oh no! thought Rarity, a strong feeling of distress rising in her stomach, He's having another panic attack. This one's the worst I've ever seen. I don't know if I can help him through it. If I try to touch him, he'll probably break that desk over my head. It was clear that Flaxseed couldn't even tell it was her. His senses were addled by his fear, causing him to direct his agitation at anypony and everypony around him. Right now, she was only a threatening figure looming over him. He couldn't even see that it was her. This was worse than the first time she'd met him, and that time Flaxseed had tried to crack her skull with a tree branch. What do I do? What can I do to possibly calm him down? What even caused this in the first place?
As though in answer to her unverbalized query, Rarity saw Camellia step through the door. "Did I hear right?" asked Camellia, looking slowly around the office, the light gleaming off her flowing, blonde-mane, "Did you just say Flaxseed?"
Rarity pursed her lips, unsure how to answer. At least she knew the cause of Flaxseed's panic now. The sound of Camellia's voice caused Flaxseed to let out a much louder whimper and curl back up. Rarity glanced back and forth between her client and her accountant, simply uncertain how to react. One wrong move could switch Flaxseed from quivering indecision to mad violence in an instant. In the closed confines of the office, there was no telling how much damage he could do to the two mares.
The decision was taken out of her hooves when Camellia casually waltzed up too the desk and stepped around it, barely even noticing Rarity as she shouldered the alabaster mare aside. Her expression was one of idle curiosity as she peered around the desk. But when her gaze alit upon the gold-colored stallion staring up at her with bright-red eyes, Camellia's eyes narrowed and her face twisted into a sneer of contempt.
"Ugh! It is you," she growled, turning around and stomping towards the door, "I knew this would happen! Geez! These things always come up at the worst possible time!"
"Ms. Camellia, what in Equestria is this about?" asked Rarity, still glancing back and forth between the two of them.
Camellia turned to look back at Rarity, now wearing an expression of nauseated disgust. Shaking her head, Camellia managed to force the expression off her face as she regarded Rarity. "I'm sorry I caused such a ruckus. I had no idea that this dirtbag was still alive. I'd thought those Order ponies would have gotten him by now."
"What?" gasped Rarity, mortified by the utter contempt in Camellia's tone.
Camellia sighed. "I really inconvenienced you," she said in an apologetic tone, "But at least you know what that stallion really is now. Once we're done here, you should drop him like the sack of manure that he is and find somepony else. It's bad enough that you already have to share the town with one of those freaks. You shouldn't have to have another one hanging around your home and business too."
"Excuse me!" said Rarity, horrified by what she was hearing.
"Come on," said Camellia, once again heading for the door, "You need to finish my fittings right. Maybe the freak will see himself out in the meantime."
Rarity looked down again at Flaxseed. She flicked her ear as she heard a faint trickling sound. Then her nose twitched as a certain odor wafted up to from the floor.
"Eww," whined Camellia, apparently smelling Flaxseed's urine as well, "He's disgusting and a coward. How filthy can you get?"
That last comment made something snap inside Rarity's head. Camellia was already out of the office and heading to the workroom. Once in the workroom, she automatically stepped on the pedestal that Rarity used for her fittings, clearly eager to get things over with so she could get away from Flaxseed as soon as possible.
She looked over and spotted Coco, who had stopped working with the sewing machine and was now staring at her in confusion. "You should get a mop," said Camellia, "Cleaning up a mess like that is an apprentice's work. Ms. Rarity shouldn't have to soil her hooves by touching that freak's-"
"That. Is. Quite. Enough!" snapped Rarity as she stalked into the showroom, her eyes blazing with anger as she fixed Camellia with a withering glare.
"What the...?" gasped Camellia, staring at Rarity in clear confusion, "What are you angry about? Do you have any idea what a freak like that hanging around your boutique could do to your reputation? Ponies like him are better off dead."
Coco gasped, her hooves flying to her mouth, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"I said...That. Is. Enough!" snarled Rarity, her tail lashing behind her as she stalked forward, "I have had enough of your attitude, Ms. Camellia. You will see yourself from my Boutique this instant."
"What?" gasped Camellia, shocked by Rarity's words, "You can't be serious! You'd take the side of that freak over me! How dare you treat one of your customers like this after I paid you for that dress?"
Rarity's response wasn't verbal. Instead, there was a loud crack as something slammed into Camellia's muzzle, causing her head to snap to the side. The object hit the floor of the pedestal with the jingle of coins. Looking down, Camellia saw a bag of bits sitting in front of her. She reached a hoof up to the painful throbbing on her muzzle. It came away bloody. Her nose and lip were bleeding. "How dare you..."
"There's your money," said Rarity, her voice an angry hiss, "Take it and get out! Your bits are not welcome here."
"You..." snarled Camellia, baring her teeth at Rarity, "You think you can get away treating a paying customer like this? I'll see you ruined! You'll never sell that dress to anypony after this!"
"This dress?" asked Rarity, her magic stripping the crimson gown off its ponyquin. It hovered between Rarity and Camellia.
What happened next made Coco shriek.
Flaxseed was slowly inching his way out of the office, carefully peering around to look for the two mares that had been in the room with him. His fear had reduced their conversation to simple, furious tones in his ears that he hadn't been able to make heads or tails of. He could hear those tones again, coming from the workroom. Both mares sounded angry and their voices were going back and forth.
Then came Coco's shriek. It had been a sharp, abrupt shriek of surprise, rather than a drawn-out scream of horror. It took a few seconds for Flaxseed to process why, as his ears picked up another, softer sound under Coco's cry...the sound of tearing fabric, like a dress being torn up. Leaning so he could glance into the workroom, Flaxseed's eyes widened as he saw what was happening.
Rarity had the dress in the grip of her magic and was methodically shredding it, tearing apart into a heap of red and gold scraps right in front of Camellia, who was staring at the dress in stunned shock. Rarity's tearing apart her dress! The thought abruptly snapped Flaxseed back to reality, surprise and amazement rushing through his veins and shattering the hold that mind-numbing fear had been exerting over him.
It was an inconceivable course of action for Rarity. She invested hours in the design and creation of her dresses. She took a great deal of care in selecting the materials and paid close attention to each and every minute detail. She could have panic attacks that rivaled Flaxseed's own (though her's tended towards the dramatic, rather than violent) if an accident resulted in a single tear. She'd fret over every single snarl and misplaced stitch. Even if she were to consider unmaking one of her dresses, Flaxseed would have expected her to to carefully and precisely dismantle it so she could reuse the fabric in other works, rather than simply tearing it apart.
Thus, the sight of Rarity shredding one of her precious creations into pieces knocked him for a loop and allowed her voice to punch through the fog of fear that had been surrounding him. His eyes took it all in with a crystal clarity that he'd never thought they possessed, as though the room were brighter than before. Flaxseed seemed able to follow the faint fluttering motions of the cloth pieces as they fell to the floor. "There you go," snapped Rarity, tossing the scraps into a pile at Camellia's hooves, "If you want that dress so badly, you're welcome to it. Now get lost before I summon the Guard and have you escorted out!"
Camellia took a step back from the boiling rage in Rarity's voice. Flaxseed realized that she was bleeding, blood trickling from her nose and mouth. Did Rarity hit her?
"Why are you doing this?" demanded Camellia.
"I have two very good reasons," declared Rarity firmly with an unladylike snort, "First, you insulted, terrified, and threatened a very dear friend of mine; and, if his behavior is anything to go by, you did something extremely traumatic to him in the past. Secondly..." Her eyes narrowed sharply. "...you insulted my best friend's precious son. This affront is something that I will not abide. You will see yourself out of this place, this instant. If you have any sense in that head of yours, you'll see yourself out of the town next."
Camellia's lips pulled back in an angry snarl as she bared her teeth at Rarity. However, Rarity did not waver, merely returning the full force of Camellia's glare with one of her own. The two mares looked as though they were about to lunge at each other. However, finally, Camellia gave in, her anger not fading, but at least falling more under control.
With an angry huff, Camellia turned to the door, flicking her tail dismissively at Rarity. "You'll regret this," she snarled.
"No," said Rarity with firm resolution, "I won't."
Camellia could only snort in response before she marched out of the workroom, through the storeroom, and out the boutique's front door. Only when the sound of it slamming shut echoed through the Boutique, did Rarity let out a quiet sigh and slump to her haunches.
"M-miss Rarity...?" stammered Coco, her eyes darting about the room, from Rarity to the shredded dress, to the figure of Flaxseed lurking nervously in the doorway. Her eyes widened when they met Flaxseed's and he realized that his own Eyes must still be showing. Flaxseed shied away, shrinking back a little further behind the door. Coco's startled expression melted into one of quiet confusion. "Ms. Rarity," she said a bit more firmly, getting Rarity's attention.
Rarity looked up at Coco to see Coco slowly raise a hoof to point past her. Rarity looked over her shoulder, seeing Flaxseed still lurking at the doorway, shrinking back a little more as Rarity's eyes found him.
Right, thought Rarity a little morosely, It's not over yet. Flaxseed looked worse than she'd ever seen him. He was trembling from head to hoof, his body seeming almost on the verge of going into convulsions. His eyes were fixed on her, his gaze reminding her of the time she'd once stepped on Opal's tail when the cat was but a kitten. Opal had immediately tucked herself into a corner and had stared at Rarity with the same frightened eyes. Opal was much more jaded nowadays. However, it seemed that Flaxseed's condition was much worse than Opal's had been.
She wasn't surprised. Flaxseed had been feeling very safe and secure in the Boutique. Though she had no idea of the details, Rarity imagined that whatever had happened between Flaxseed and Camellia must have been extremely bad. Experiencing the source of such trauma in a place that he'd thought was safe must have made it feel as though the world itself had been pulled out from under him. Flaxseed was adrift in an abyss of fear and uncertainty. What he needed was a fixed point, something he could orient on, rely on, and trust in.
With a nervous swallow, Rarity realized that she had to be that point. Flaxseed had placed his trust in her by agreeing to stay in her home. She had to show him, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that his trust had not been misplaced.
Rarity heaved herself to her hooves, moving with deliberate slowness as she turned her whole body to face Flaxseed. She allowed her lips to curl up with a warm smile, a smile she conjured up from the fond memories of the time she'd spent with the stallion; memories of that sarcastic wit that broke out every once and a while when he felt safe enough; memories of that runny, sludgy, but still palatable casserole he'd made for Hearth's Warming; memories of his happy expression when he'd gotten to experience the Apples' cider for the first time. Flaxseed was more than just the sum of his fears, traumas and neuroses. Rarity had to reach past all those things to call the true Flaxseed, her Flaxseed, back out.
Still moving slowly, Rarity started to walk towards Flaxseed. As she lifted a single hoof up off the floor, the stallion let out a whimper and cringed. Rarity lowered the hoof, not moving forward an inch. I need to get past his reflexive reactions somehow, she thought. She realized that what she was doing could be considered rather dangerous. Flaxseed was whimpering and trembling now, but he could just as easily break out into screaming madness and start using his magic to try and beat her into a pulp. If it was her alone, Rarity might have been willing to take that risk. But Coco was here and Rarity didn't dare risk letting the young mare get caught in the crossfire.
"Coco," said Rarity, taking her eyes off Flaxseed for a moment and looking back at her apprentice. It was a calculated risk. Maintaining eye contact with Flaxseed while she was speaking with someone else might give Flaxseed the impression that she regarded him as too dangerous to look away from...which might have been true under the circumstances. But Rarity felt that it was better to show the stallion that she was placing a certain amount of trust in him by taking her eyes off him for a brief moment.
"Y-yes," stuttered Coco, feeling as though she were standing on a sheet of thin ice.
"Coco, I need you to go to the teahouse over by the library. Please tell Arkenstone that I need him here. I believe he'll understand."
"A-are you sure?" asked Coco, looking nervously back and forth between Rarity and Flaxseed.
Rarity nodded. "Yes," she said, "Please hurry."
"Okay," said Coco, her voice nearly a whisper as she cantered out the door.
Rarity let out a soft breath. Alright, Coco's out of the danger zone at least. Now it's time to try something risky. She turned back to Flaxseed, relieved to see that the stallion had neither retreated nor advanced, but remained exactly where he had been, still watching her with wide, crimson eyes.
Rarity lifted a hoof again. Flaxseed's eyes immediately fixed upon the motion, but he made no sound. Rarity allowed herself to smile as she moved forward and set the hoof back down. She lifted another hoof and repeated the process, slowly moving in Flaxseed's direction, one single, deliberate step at a time.
As she approached, Rarity began to speak. "Flaxseed, darling, it's alright. You're safe here. She's gone now. She can't hurt you anymore. I won't let her."
"A-a-a-" Flaxseed worked his mouth as though he'd forgotten how to speak. For a moment, Rarity was afraid that he might have regressed or even lost his capacity for conscious thought. However, the gold-colored stallion was eventually able to start formulating words. "A-are y-y-you sssure?"
Rarity nodded, keeping the motion as smooth and deliberate as everything else she had done. She continued to close the gap between them until they were within reach of each other. Only then did Rarity speak. "I promise that you're safe," she said in a soft tone, her smile widening again, "I will never hurt you if I can help it. You're safe here. You're safe and welcome."
"I-I need to stay?"
It seemed an odd question, but Rarity knew what he meant. She swallowed again and took what seemed an even greater risk than the one she was already taking. "Only if you want to," she said.
She wanted him to stay. She was afraid of what might happen to him if he left, what Flaxseed might do in his addled state, what somepony might do to him. But she had to show trust in him and she had to allow him his freedom to choose for himself. Trying to keep him here would give Flaxseed the impression that she was trying to restrain or incarcerate him, which he might regard as just as threatening an an active effort to drive him out.
Rarity lifted a single hoof and began to extend it towards Flaxseed. He watched her intently, but did not shrink away from her as she closed the last of the gap between them. She felt his muscles stiffen at the contact. However, he didn't flinch away. Rarity held her hoof there for a moment.
Finally, Rarity felt him relax under her touch and she moved in closer, raising her other foreleg and slowly wrapping both limbs around Flaxseed's withers, drawing him into a light embrace that he could easily pull out of if he wanted. Flaxseed bent like a stalk of wheat in the wind, leaning in towards her and allowing Rarity to press his face into her shoulder.
"It's okay," she whispered, "This is your home now. I'm here for you."
It was like a dam breaking. "Rarity!" Flaxseed's cry was heart-wrenching, to hear. He threw his weight against her and it took all of Rarity's strength to keep from being knocked over. But she managed to hold firm as Flaxseed threw his arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder, weeping like a foal. Rarity smiled in relief and tightened her hold of the stallion, gently nuzzling into his mane as he cried, taking a quiet solace in the feeling of his tears as they soaked into her coat.