How long Rainbow held her, Fluttershy didn’t know. But she clung all the while, shedding tears of frustration, fear, and sadness she hadn’t allowed herself to shed in days.
So much had happened—too much—and it wore on her. She felt torn in several directions, wanting to feel compassion for Luna, yet still suspicious of her, and angry at what her actions had nearly caused.
Yet the worst had not happened, and it was because Luna had done all she could to correct her error. The resulting mass of confusion and rage left Fluttershy exhausted, wanting to rail against the world, and having no other target but the short-sighted princess who may or may not have been attempting to steal what Fluttershy held most dear.
She didn’t like feeling this way. Anger was something she avoided at all costs; it was dangerous and scary, and it hurt the ponies she loved. But she’d allowed herself to feel so much of it recently, and it was that much harder to bottle it back up where it was safe.
It was easier to do when Rarity was around. She could tell herself she was being silly, and that everything was fine. But she’d woken up alone this morning, and had been feeling more and more insecure ever since. Maybe Rarity had decided she’d made a mistake, and wasn’t coming back. Maybe she’d gone to Luna to ask what had gone wrong. If so, she’d find out about Fluttershy’s omission very quickly, and might be upset that Fluttershy hadn’t told her about it.
And part of Fluttershy wouldn’t have blamed Rarity if she was. She was every bit as disappointed in herself as she imagined Rarity being. But despite knowing how much her suppressed anger was affecting her judgement, she couldn’t stop it entirely.
And that was at least partially Luna’s fault! Fluttershy had nearly gotten back into a safe and happy place, despite being anxious and worried and just a little upset. But then Luna had pried the lid off the djinn bottle and unleashed the whirlwind inside, leaving Fluttershy with the unenviable task of trying to catch wind in her hooves.
She’d managed to shut it out of the innermost parts of her mind, hoping it would blow itself out before it caught her up again. But caught her it had, well and truly, as Rainbow had demanded to know what was upsetting her. Her friend had flung open the carefully closed and locked shutters, and now, the storm was here.
So the wind raged, and Fluttershy cried, and clung to Rainbow like a stout tree. Rainbow did not bend or yield, offering neither recrimination nor forgiveness. She simply was there, and for Fluttershy, that was everything.
After a very long time, Fluttershy allowed her death grip to slacken, and simply lay up against Rainbow’s chest, occasionally hiccuping as the last of her tears streamed from her eyes.
“You... you okay, Shy?” Rainbow asked, breaking the dead silence that had grown in the room in the wake of the storm’s passing.
Fluttershy hiccuped again, slowly picking herself up from Rainbow and settling into her friend’s lap. “N-no,” she said, sniffling loudly. “Sorry.”
“Right, not okay. How about better?” Rainbow asked, attempting to look around the massive forelock currently protecting Fluttershy from the world at large. “Is better a thing?”
Fluttershy nodded silently. Better was a good word. ‘Not as horrible’ was closer, but that was probably too many words for now. “Better,” she agreed.
Rainbow let out a relieved sigh. “Okay, better is good.” She lifted Fluttershy’s forelock away from her eyes, smiling hopefully at her. “Right, we’ll work on ‘okay’ next. Baby steps.”
Fluttershy let out a choked-sounding laugh. More of a sad chuckle, really. “Baby steps,” she repeated.
“Now, could you run some of that by me again?” Rainbow said, peering into Fluttershy’s eyes with concern. “You went a little fast for me. I got kinda lost when we stopped talking about Rarity having some magic thing wrong with her and started talking about Luna being too princessy. Can you help me out?”
Fluttershy stared at her friend with a look of utter incomprehension. “Fast?” she repeated.
“Yeah, fast. Like you were three laps in and I was back at the starting line waiting for the flag to drop. S’ok if we just back it down a little? I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere, I’m cool hanging out a bit while we get you sorted.” Rainbow smiled encouragingly at Fluttershy, and Fluttershy allowed herself to smile back, albeit a little unsurely. “Izzat cool with you?”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said quietly.
“Cool. So... let’s start with how things went in Canterlot. Did Rare get to snob it up and get some big shot to give her bits?”
Fluttershy laughed just a little, as it wasn’t very far from the truth. She began with Rarity wanting to meet her parents, and how poorly that had gone. Rainbow seemed a little surprised, as she’d never actually gotten to meet Fluttershy’s mother herself, and while she had met Silver, she’d never seen him as the type to get upset.
“Whoa! Kinda harsh on Rare. Heh, I wonder what my old man would think of AJ... I guess I should track him down sometime...” Rainbow stared off into the distance for a moment. She turned back to Shy, who had been politely waiting for her to finish what she was saying. “Kay, so that went kinda bad. Still not seeing where Luna comes in.”
“She...” Fluttershy blushed heavily as she remembered the circumstances in which they’d encountered Luna while in Canterlot. “She came in later. First... Rarity did some silly things.”
“Silly?” Rainbow asked, scratching the back of her head while her face scrunched up in consternation. “Like what?”
Fluttershy delved into Rarity’s attempts to prove her worth, and all the trouble they’d had while she had done so. Rainbow winced as Fluttershy recounted Rarity cracking her horn on Charmer’s breastplate, absently crossing her left hoof over her chest to touch her right wing.
Then Rainbow had stared at Fluttershy, dumbfounded, as Fluttershy recounted standing in for Rarity.
“What?!” she demanded, shaking her head. “You... huh?”
Fluttershy had just wilted in on herself. She wasn’t very happy thinking about it, even after the fact. She could still remember the horrible popping sound her mother’s wing had made, and the taste of dust and feathers in her teeth.
Rainbow was silent for a time, but eventually, she picked Fluttershy up, sitting her down on the chair across from the couch. That done, she took a deep breath, and said: “You mean to tell me, that Rarity broke her horn charging into some guy who kept trying to trick her with magic, and then you stepped up for her, and kicked your mom’s flank all over that training yard?”
“N-no!” Fluttershy protested, her eyes wide and fearful. “I just didn’t want Rarity to try, and my mom needed somepony to give a demonstration with. I didn’t mean to—”
Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively, her face unreadable to Fluttershy, and she felt her mouth snap shut in response. Now she was being rejected by Rainbow and Rarity. It was just as well; she really was a horrible pony. It was probably better for everyone if she just moved in with Harry in a cave somewhere. Maybe Zecora could find her a nice hollow tree?
“That’s... that’s awesome!” Rainbow said from somewhere far away from where Fluttershy was plotting out how to decorate a dark cave.
Fluttershy looked up in shock, torn between trying to figure out what was going on and deciding where to put the potted plants. “What do you mean ‘awesome’?!” she asked, thoroughly confused.
“I mean you did some sweet moves and you charged into your mom and flipped her flank over teakettle!” Rainbow said, taking light jabs at the air and grinning like a small foal at a circus. “That’s awesome!”
“But... but, I hurt her!” Fluttershy protested.
“Did she break anything?” Rainbow asked, her smile undiminished.
“Well... dislocated. But she popped it back in...” Fluttershy allowed.
“And lots of ponies saw you do it?”
“Erm... her recruits, and a few of her regular unit. And Rarity, and my dad...”
“So, you did something awesome, and lots of ponies plus a few you care about saw it, and nopony got hurt. That’s awesome!” Rainbow repeated, pumping a hoof in the air. “Now say it with me!”
“That’s... awesome?” Fluttershy ventured in a very small voice.
“No, say it like you mean it! Say ‘I did something awesome!’”
“I... did something awesome.” Fluttershy dutifully repeated.
“Yeah! So I bet Silver was all impressed afterwards, right?”
Fluttershy’s face, which had been developing the barest ghost of a smile, fell faster than a brick tied to a lump of lead.
Her reaction seemed to confuse Rainbow, who asked: “I mean, he was proud? He’d have to be...” At Fluttershy’s continued silence, Rainbow’s smile collapsed completely. “Oh, c’mon! What did he do?”
“He... he said Rarity was... a... milksop. So... I hit him.”
Rainbow blinked in surprise. “...Whoa.”
There was a long silence in the room, unbroken even by the animals who had been listening in all around them.
“Okay, yeah,” Rainbow said at last, her face firmly set in a scowl. “He had that coming. So... what happened next?”
Fluttershy slowly began anew, explaining that a spell had been cast on Rarity to help her horn heal, and about her parents coming by afterwards to apologize. Rainbow seemed a bit relieved to hear it, even if she did say that Silver had been a big jerk. Fluttershy then explained that Luna had come by to invite them to a party, at which point Dash interrupted her again.
“Wait, wait, wait. Luna just popped in to invite you? I mean, I know we’re Twi’s friends and all, but Luna’s never invited me to anything...”
“We... we’d talked with her the day before, while I was helping Rarity get clean after the obstacle course...”
“So... what, she just showed up in your bathroom? Sounds like a fun time.” Rainbow chuckled, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.
“Actually, it was her bathroom,” Fluttershy admitted, her eyes downcast. She was trying very very hard not to blush.
“Her bathroom?” Rainbow asked, curiously. “What were you doing in there?”
“Princess Celestia invited us to use it. It’s like a private spa. Rarity was... really, really excited.” Fluttershy snapped her mouth closed before she blurted out that she’d been excited too. “Princess Luna came in to soak for a while, and... she found us—” Fluttershy could feel the burning on her cheeks and quickly shifted her head down so her forelock would cover her face, “—on the massage table.”
Right after we had fallen asleep after making love. I didn’t even care that we’d been caught; it made me feel excited all over again.
“Huh. Okay, that’s cool, I guess. So... the three of you in the bathroom?”
Fluttershy nodded quickly. “Yep! Rarity was all tense, but I helped her relax, and then we all talked in the bathtub.”
And then I teased Rarity about whether we should have a threesome. I was so... stupid! Stupid sexy Princess…
“Shy? You’re getting weird. Are you okay?”
“She does it on purpose,” Fluttershy replied, scowling at nopony in particular. “She’s really, really good at it.”
“Uh...”
“I mean... maybe she doesn’t mean anything mean by it, but it’s really, really distracting. She’s this big shiny princessy...” Fluttershy trailed off, returning her gaze to Rainbow. “She has these friends that she visits, and she does things. But she has lots of friends, Rainbow! And she wanted Rarity to be her ‘friend’! I told her she couldn’t have her!”
“Okay, I feel like you’re pulling ahead on me again. Let’s back it up a little. Who does what and why?”
“Luna. She’s really flirty, and she was flirting with Rarity...” Fluttershy shook her head. “Well, with both of us. But with Rarity! Don’t you see? Rarity’s so pretty and she’s a unicorn and Luna’s kinda like a unicorn too only she has wings and Rarity really likes wings!”
“Uh... right. More than I was expecting, but... okay. So... Luna made you jealous?”
“Not... not then. Later. Then I was just really happy, and I felt safe, and I picked on Rarity a little. I... I liked that Rarity looked at her, but she didn’t... I wasn’t worried then.”
“Wait... you... you liked that Rarity was looking at Luna? Even though you were jealous of her?” Rainbow tilted her head to one side, her mouth open, apparently muttering to herself.
“I wasn’t jealous of her, then. Luna... she made me... She was really, really good at flirting. That was before I figured out what she was trying to do—” Fluttershy cut herself off, frowning. “Or... what I thought she was trying to do.”
Her eyes widened at a sudden, horrible thought. “Rainbow, if I was wrong, I must have really hurt her feelings! I mean, she said she wasn’t trying to, but that’s exactly the thing you say when somepony catches you doing something wrong!” Fluttershy found herself caught between anger and guilt, frustrated that she couldn’t be sure. “Then again, Rarity said she wasn’t ever, ever going to run off with her and be a princess, but then she lost her memory and maybe she’ll change her mind now—”
“Okay! Pulling ahead on me again, hold up,” Rainbow said quickly, a look of deep concentration on her face. “Kay, so... she talked to you, then she invited you to the party. But what was the deal with the magic stuff? AJ made it sound really serious.”
Fluttershy’s frown deepened as she thought about the argument she’d had with Luna over the very thing Rainbow was asking about. “Luna... wanted us to go to the party, and Rarity wanted to go shopping before we went. She got really excited and forgot she didn’t have magic while she was healing and walked right into the door—”
Fluttershy stopped as Rainbow let out a huge burst of laughter. This went on for several minutes, with Rainbow occasionally slowing down to light giggles, before breaking out into fresh gales of laughter. “S-sorry,” she gasped out. “I just... I saw it in my head and...”
Fluttershy nodded patiently. “I guess it might have been funny, if she hadn’t already hurt herself. She was just passed out on the floor.”
With that, Rainbow’s final giggles ended, and her eyes widened. “Whoa. Sorry,” she said quietly.
Fluttershy shook her head, allowing a very small smile to grace her lips. “No, it’s okay. I think, maybe, since she’s okay now... it might be just a little funny, now.”
“Lil’ bit,” Rainbow agreed, grinning as well. “Kay, so Rarity hit her head again. She had that healing spell cast on her, so she would have been fine, right?”
“She... she would have been, but I wanted to take her down to the infirmary again. But... Luna had an idea,” Fluttershy replied, frowning once more. “She wanted to give Rarity some of her magic, to make the spell work faster. I kept telling her it was a bad idea, but she asked really nicely. She’s hard to say ‘no’ to...” she trailed off, frowning a little more.
Maybe that’s how she finds new ‘friends’; by being really nice to them and giving them nice things and being really, really sexy, she thought, biting her lip in worry. It had worked very well. She’d almost fallen for it.
It was okay, though. Luna had gone home, and she had her other ‘friends’ to play with. “I let her do it, and it worked... really well. But... Rarity’s horn healed right away, and then... then it was like her magic was burning her up. She had all kinds of ideas and she was... she had all this energy. It was kind of scary.”
Fluttershy then told Rainbow about Luna’s sudden and inexplicable insistence that they go back to Ponyville, because they needed to find Celestia.
“She lied to me,” Fluttershy said, glaring intently at the floor as if it was to blame. “She said everything was okay, and she’d fix it. And... Luna knew something was wrong. She had to have known it was bad, because she was letting Rarity stay linked to her magic, even though it was making her weaker, so that Rarity... wouldn’t... d-die—” she broke off with a loud sob, taking a moment to collect herself before continuing. “I never ever should have listened to her. They both... they could have been...”
“Shy, it’s okay!” Rainbow said with what sounded like forced enthusiasm. “I mean, so things got a little dicey for a bit. They pulled through, right?”
“They did,” Fluttershy said quietly. “But.. I got mad at Luna and... that was why.”
There was a long moment in which the two friends simply contemplated what had been said. Rainbow seemed puzzled about something, and finally opened her mouth to ask the question on her mind. “So... I get the whole spell thing. I mean, I don’t get it, but I get it, she could have hurt Rarity. But... what’s this about her flirting and trying to steal Rarity? I mean... I think maybe you skipped something important.”
“Luna...” Fluttershy began, trailing off when she realized she wasn’t quite sure what to say. She tried again. “Luna... has friends. Lots of friends. She visits them, at night. She wanted Rarity to be... more than a friend.”
“Kay...” Rainbow replied after a moment. “Friends are cool. I mean, she’s a night pony, so it makes sense that she’d visit at night. But Rarity stays up late too! That should work pretty well, right?”
“No it doesn’t!” Fluttershy hissed. “She wanted Rarity to be more than friends, but I’m more than friends with her already and she can’t have her. She’s mine!” She found herself breathing very heavily, her wings extended, muscles tensed and ready to strike at a foe that was far away.
“More than...” Rainbow’s eyes opened wide, her jaw dropping slightly before she gathered it up. “Luna... wanted to date Rarity?”
“Yes.” Fluttershy felt the word come out in what nearly sounded like a snarl. “She... she offered Rarity lots of money to make her dresses, and then she said she wanted to court her. Like... like they do in stories. The ones Rarity reads all the time. Just like the ones that made her want to marry him. Only Luna isn’t a great big jerk with no taste in perfume, she’s a real princess and Rarity likes wings!”
Rainbow was visibly having trouble keeping her wings in place, her face flush with a ruddy purple hue. “O-kay! So... Um...” she coughed violently, then tried again. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, on the one hoof... Sweet Celestia, that’s really really hot... I mean, Luna? But if you think she’s trying to steal Rarity from you, that’s... I mean, are you sure? You said she was flirting with you and Rares...”
“It was some kind of trick,” Fluttershy said firmly. “Nopony just... does that. You don’t walk up to a newly dating couple and say ‘Could I take you both out to dinner?’ That’s... that’s not how things work!”
“I dunno, never had somepony try,” Rainbow admitted. “But then, AJ and me didn’t exactly tell anypony else, really. I gotta say, though, if Luna asked me...” she trailed off, frowning. “But I might get in trouble with AJ.” She shook her head, sighing heavily. “I don’t need that. Too bad. Can you imagine?” Rainbow’s wings sprang up as her face split in a salacious grin. “I bet you’d need some kind of spell or she’d make the whole town deaf!“
“It’s not about how sexy she is!” Fluttershy protested. “It’s about her trying to just get what she wants.”
Rainbow just gave her a sidelong look, not saying anything for a long while. Eventually, she seemed to come to a conclusion. “Right... that’s the other thing. You keep saying she’s sexy. You sure you’re not thinking about maybe climbing Mount Luna yourself?”
Fluttershy’s wings shot up in alarm. It was definitely alarm. A very simple fear reflex. Or maybe anger. Anger was probably right. No, anger was definitely right. She was mad at Luna. “No!” she said at a volume that was maybe a little louder than what she’d wanted to use. “I mean... That’s not the point at all!”
“So...” Rainbow replied, leaning just a little closer, “You’re saying Rarity is the only one who might like to nibble on a wing shank?”
“That’s... that’s...” Fluttershy was feeling very very intense anger. She could feel her wings straining and her cheeks burning with all the rage. Luna was a bad pony, and she should be punished for even thinking about trying to do what she did.
Yes! Rarity can spank her!
She shook herself violently, trying to expel the feelings of wanting to see Luna spanked. They weren’t nice feelings at all, even if they felt a little nice. With effort, she closed her wings, glaring at Rainbow Dash. “I don’t think she wants to nibble Luna’s wing. She likes mine just fine.”
“That’s not what I asked, Shy.” Rainbow replied with a great big grin. “I asked if maybe you wondered what it would sound like to hear your name screamed out in the Royal Canterlot Bedroom Voice.”
“That’s not the point!” Fluttershy stomped a hoof angrily on the cottage floor. “Yes, she’s pretty, and she’s tall, and she tried to protect us from a hungry manticore when she was weaker than normal which was very brave. But she kind of almost killed Rarity even if she helped fix it. And she’s been evil before, so—”
“Pretty sure the rainbow beam took care of that, Shy,” Rainbow interrupted. “Besides, the naughty ones can be fun to hang with. I mean, AJ can get up to some stuff, lemme tell you—” she stopped, looking around nervously, and continued in a lower tone of voice. “Don’t tell her I said that.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to hang out with her!” Fluttershy said vehemently. “She’s... she’s confusing! I love Rarity. She makes me feel nice every time I see her. Then Luna comes along all flashy and sexy and she helps Rarity fix her house and wants to buy lots of dresses and I wanted Rarity to live with me!”
She took a moment to catch her breath, feeling like she’d strained her vocal cords with all of the loudness. “I finally did it, Rainbow. I finally did it. I told Rarity, and I kissed her, and everything was supposed to be perfect. Now it’s all muddled up and there’s Luna just giving me a smile and asking if she can come by to stargaze with my Rarity!”
“Whoa. Jeez, Shy, I get it,” Rainbow said, scooching backwards on the couch, her smile gone in an instant. “Sorry. I guess it’s complicated, huh?”
Fluttershy nodded unhappily. “I hate this. I hate that I feel this way, I hate Luna for being so cute even though she’s doing mean things and I hate even more that she just does them not even acting like she knows she’s doing them! I mean, maybe she’s still evil and really good at hiding it—”
“Well, maybe she just likes to have fun? I mean, sometimes ponies screw up, and hurt other ponies without meaning to...” Rainbow said, looking uncomfortable. “It doesn’t make them bad ponies, does it? I mean, you never did anything meant to hurt anypony, did you?”
Fluttershy was silent for a time, the question having shaken her badly. A brief image of Rarity and Pinkie, tears streaming down their faces as they fled from her, flashed through her mind. “I... I...” She trailed off, having no good response. Was it worse to hurt without meaning to, or to hurt intentionally? “It doesn’t matter,” she said, as much to herself as to answer Rainbow. “Either she’s evil or very, very inconsiderate and either way that makes me so mad at her!”
“Okay, okay, fine,” Rainbow replied with a huff. “So you’re mad. She did some stuff to make you mad. That doesn’t make you a bad pony. So, what are you worried about?”
Fluttershy was still feeling very wound up and upset, but try as she might, she had no reason to say that it was Luna that worried her at that moment. She deflated into herself, her anger internalizing, because what she feared was a situation she’d caused. “I’m worried because I lied to Rarity, because I didn’t want to remind her of what happened between Luna and me. And... that does make me a bad pony, because I told her I would try not to do that anymore.”
“You... you didn’t Pinkie Promise, did you?” Rainbow asked in a very small voice.
“No. We just... talked about not trying to hide things from each other. And then... I went and hid something from her,” Fluttershy replied with a sad little sigh. “I was just happy she was okay, and I didn’t want to fight again. I hate fighting.”
Rainbow dragged the back of her hoof across her brow. “Whew! At least we don’t need to worry about an angry Pinkie, then.” Her expression shifted from worry to something a bit more happy, as she attempted to smile encouragingly. “Okay, the stuff with Luna is... kinda weird. I mean, I wouldn’t know what to do either. I’m still feeling out AJ after the Pinkie incident. But Luna went home, right? I mean, after they did their big magic thing?”
“Yes,” Fluttershy replied, not looking up from the floor. There was a nice knot that looked very comfortable in a single wood panel. It fit right in, despite not looking quite right with the rest of the panels. The rings were nice.
“Right, so... maybe that’s okay, for now. Like... you’re probably gonna wanna figure her out, sometime. But um...” Rainbow paused, making Fluttershy look up at her, only to see her friend was merely looking terribly uncertain. “Look, Rares is pretty cool. I mean, you said she forgave you for some stuff, right?”
Fluttershy nodded silently.
“Well, good! So... just tell her you goofed? I mean, it could be worse. At least you know what you did. Heh...” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, stretching it around a few places until it popped again. “Just saying, I get why you’re muddled up, but just talk to Rares. Then... I dunno, get your Luna stuff settled later. I still got stuff I gotta settle with Twi and Pinkie, myself.”
Dash frowned, giving a little huff of frustration. “I mean, I didn’t even know that was still a problem, but AJ thinks it is. I dunno, it’s all weird right now.” She paused, deep in thought for a moment. “Luna... maybe... Maybe Luna is just like me? Maybe she just... did things, and she screwed it all up?”
Fluttershy offered no opinion on that, but her expression when Luna’s name was mentioned was telling enough.
“I dunno.” Dash’s shoulders hunched down, almost as if she was expecting to be scolded. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe she’s an evil marefriend-stealing princess. And hey, if she is, tell me! I’ll be right there with you to kick her flank. Or, you know, shoot her with the rainbows again. We’ll figure something out.”
With that, she stood, crossing the room to Fluttershy’s chair and giving her a tight hug. “You okay, now?” she whispered.
Fluttershy returned the hug, feeling a little of her tension ease as she did so. “Good,” she replied. At least now, she knew what she needed to do. She just hoped Rarity wouldn’t be too upset.
To say Rarity was upset was a huge understatement. Livid was closer; enraged closer still.
“Miss Rarity, while I would love to accomodate you, I’m afraid this document is not recognized by our institution.”
Rarity regarded the bank president cooly, pointing at the signature on the document. “Sir, this is signed by Princess Luna herself. Princess Celestia attuned it to me, for goodness sake! What else could we possibly need?”
“We need a check, to be frank. While the crown does maintain a central account, it’s not something we can draw from without proper documentation. And this—” he tapped the Avocata meaningfully, “—is not proper documentation.”
“Sir, I have it on good authority that this very document was used for centuries in other countries. How is it that it’s not valid in our own?” Rarity demanded.
He regarded her with a look of long-suffering patience, laying both hooves on his desk. “Miss Rarity, allow me to level with you. While you’ve been a good customer over the years, your income has been... shall we say... inconsistent. If we were a little more certain of your ability to repay, I’d gladly extend you a loan for the amount you’re requesting and have done with this thing you’re showing me.”
“Inconsistent—”
“Please understand. If I were able to extend credit on personal merit alone, I’d be happy to accommodate you. But I am beholden to the other customers to ensure their funds are secure. The document you’re holding might be recognized in the capital, but here, it’s a simple curiosity piece. And sadly, I cannot take it at face value.” He gently pushed the parchment back towards her. “If there’s nothing else, I’m afraid I have work to do.”
Rarity opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to quell the anger she felt at being denied. The stallion was right, after all. It was not his fault that she’d been given a document instead of bits. Sadly, it left her without other means to get her repairs started, and the longer it took, the harder it would be to recover financially. Luna’s offer of backing was well and good, but she couldn’t just continue to take funds without producing goods in kind.
“Forgive me, sir. You are quite right. I had hoped you would help me with the problem, as I am normally paid in bits and my contractors expect the same.” She exhaled a heavy sigh as she stood, rolling up the Avocata to place back in her saddlebags. “Forgive me for wasting your time.”
He shook his head, escorting her to the door. “No customer is ever a waste of time, miss. In all honesty, if it weren’t for the mass withdrawals everypony has been making for repairs since the storm, I’d overlook any qualms I have with your income. But I’m afraid we’re actually somewhat short on bits ourselves, and what remains must be kept at hoof to ensure that if somepony else manages to burn their house down or some other such disaster they can get access to those funds.” He flashed her a smile that Rarity was sure he meant encouragingly as he opened the door to his office to let her out. “Please, feel free to inquire again under better circumstances.”
Rarity smiled back, mostly because having a bank president tell you he would gladly help you in the future can be a useful thing. In retrospect, it should have been obvious. As he said, ponies needed their bits in times of troubles, and with so many homes damaged, it was only natural they’d drawn on their rainy day funds.
Rarity’s own savings had unfortunately dwindled during the months between winter and spring. The stallion was... perhaps correct in that respect. She did not tend to have a regular income so much as she had large amounts come in for shipments, along with smaller amounts for individual sales. What Luna proposed was largely unprecedented for her, and might help her revitalize her business, for as long as she could stand it, in any case.
The very idea of making uniforms was anathema, as they were, by design, the same. Though the idea of sprucing up stale old designs did appeal. She hadn’t gotten into fashion to make the same outfit over and over again, after all. The Starlight order was a bit of an anomaly, as she normally would sell such a large order to a shop in Manehatten or Canterlot, to be sold individually.
Perhaps, if she hired a few helpers... It was something to think about.
As she left the bank, her stomach growled menacingly, and she realized it was well into the afternoon and she hadn’t eaten anything of note. There had been the salad for lunch, but she’d only picked at it before she and Applejack had gone to the spa. The lettuce had been less than fresh, and the dressing had smelled a little off. At least the cherry tomatoes had been nice, but they weren’t exactly enough to keep going throughout the day. So, a meal would need to happen in the near future, but she really wanted to accomplish something of note before going back home.
No bits for her repairs, no means to get said bits without possibly making a day trip to Canterlot... she should at least meet with Hard Hat and explain the situation, possibly get a more solid estimate. Then perhaps a trip to Sugarcube Corner. She had promised Angel a treat, after all.
A brisk walk found her back at the Boutique, where the heavy-set stallion was waiting patiently on her doorstep, enjoying a steaming cup of coffee.
“Hey, was just about to give up. How’d things go on your end?” he asked, standing up and brushing what appeared to be donut crumbs from his work vest.
“Not as well as I’d hoped,” Rarity admitted. She pulled out the scroll, unrolling it for him. “Princess Luna sent this along, but I just found out the bank won’t honor it. I’m probably going to need to take a trip to Canterlot to see her in the flesh. Did you get a chance to look around?”
He nodded, pulling out a notepad. “Gonna need to demolish the top story. Damage is too bad to do much else. Good news is, you got no major structural damage on the bottom story, ’cept for the kitchen, no idea how the fire bypassed whole rooms to get there—”
“It didn’t,” she interrupted, “That was my sister trying to cook.”
“That’d do it,” he replied, nodding brusquely. “Basically, I wanna get the boys to knock it all flat up there, rebuild the top story from scratch. Your floor didn’t take much damage; figure we can sand it down, revarnish, easy. But to get ya going, I figure after we tear the structure down, we’ll tarp it all off good an’ tight, then once I can free some guys up, we’ll rebuild.”
“Sounds reasonable.” Rarity paused as a thought hit her. “Be a dear and make sure they save me the closet door in the bedroom. Do we have a more concrete idea of cost?”
He made a note for himself, presumably about the door. “Well, that depends on if you want to do the kitchen while we’re at it—”
“We might as well. I’m going to have to repair it eventually anyway.”
“Right. Then here’s what we’re looking at,” he replied, pointing a hoof tip at the higher of two numbers written on his pad.
Rarity looked it over, her eyes widening with every line item. It was simultaneously larger than her hoped-for figure while being just a tad lower than what she’d feared. Towards the bottom she found out why. While there were numerous and sundries expenses for things like ‘dinner delivery’ and ‘triple golden overtime’, there was a small line at the bottom, simply marked ‘Spike’, which took roughly twenty five percent from the total.
“I went ahead and waived my commision on this job,” he said by way of explanation. “Like I said, I owe the kid one. More than one, actually. The rest is for my boys, and I can’t do much there. I told ‘em about the job and the ones that bit said they’d need this much to make it worth their time.”
Rarity blinked, looking over the notes once more, and saw that he had in fact marked a commision for the same amount as the one at the bottom. “Sir, while I appreciate it, I’m not certain I’m comfortable with you not taking a commision. This is your livelihood, after all.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m makin’ more money than I know what ta do with right now, and besides, I’m hirin’ one o’ the boys to supervise the job anyway.” He pointed to another line marked ‘supervisor’. “Good kid. He’s one o’ the ones I brought on from Appleloosa.”
“Ah, you’re delegating.”
“Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, you’re gettin’ the best I can get you. But like I said, I got more work than I can oversee by myself as is.” He looked at her expectantly. “So, I got a few willin’ to start soon as you can get the bits. Just come see me down at my office and we’ll get ‘em goin’.”
“Very well. I’ll see you tomorrow, once I have secured the funds. Thank you very much, Mr. Hat.”
He plucked the sheet from his notepad, presenting it to her. “No prob. Spike did for me, I do for you. Maybe someday, you do for me. A fella likes to look nice, sometimes. Take the wife out, you know? Might stop in, get fitted for somethin’.”
“See that you do,” Rarity replied with a warm smile. “I think you’ll find my prices quite reasonable.”
After having said goodbye to Hard Hat, Rarity trotted over to Sugarcube Corner in hopes of a quick snack for herself and the treat she’d promised Angel. But upon arriving, she found a hastily written sign announcing that they were, in fact, closed for the moment.
Despite the sign, the door was not locked, so she took a chance and entered, hoping that if she could not enter as a customer, at the very least she might be welcome as a friend. “Hello? Did I come at a bad time?” Rarity called into the empty dining room of Sugarcube Corner.
A loud bang followed by a cloud of flour preceded the head of Pinkie Pie poking out of the kitchen double-doors, the flour making her look as white as a ghost. “Rarity?” A clatter and a pair of giggling voices behind Pinkie announced that the twins had gotten into something. “Wait right there!” Her head ducked back inside.
What followed was a series of various crashes, bangs, shouts of alarm, and copious amounts of giggling, after which Pinkie emerged, triumphant, with the twins secured one under each arm. “Okay, little guys, I think playtime is over for now.”
Mr. Cake stumbled downstairs from the second story, looking very alarmed and extremely tired. “Pinkie, is everything okay? Cup heard—” he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his children smiling and happily squirming in Pinkie’s embrace. “Oh, thank Celestia.”
“Oh, did she come to visit?” Pinkie asked, looking around excitedly. “Is she behind you, Rarity?” A few moments of scanning left her frowning in disappointment. “Awww.”
Carrot blinked for a moment, then shook his head at Pinkie. “No... I meant—” He stopped, smiling just a little. “Haha, very funny.” Carrot yawned, then apparently finally noticed there was another pony in the room. “Oh, hello there, Rarity. Sorry, you caught us closing a little early today. Cup really needed some sleep, you see—”
“So I heard,” Rarity replied, waving a hoof dismissively. “Twilight mentioned that Pinkie would be covering for you, since you hadn’t had a day off in some time.”
“Well, yes, but we don’t mind, of course,” Mr. Cake replied quickly. “We were more worried about Pinkie. But since she came back in better spirits—” his eyes flashed to Pinkie, who was juggling his two laughing foals, “—we decided today would be a good day to catch up on some much-needed rest. But it looks like the twins have other plans.”
“They’re doing great!” Pinkie said quickly, nearly missing Pumpkin in her urgency before quickly gathering her back up to fling her after her brother.
“It’s okay, Pinkie, I know they can be a hoofful. Let me take them from you for a while. Cup wants to feed them.”
Pinkie’s ears wilted back, but she dutifully caught both of the foals, loading them both on their father’s back so they could be carried upstairs.
“There we go,” Carrot said with a smile. “It’s okay, Pinkie, really. Cup was going to need to feed them eventually.”
“I know,” she replied quietly. “I was just hoping I could keep them quiet long enough for you to sleep some more. But Pound flew out of the playpen and then Pumpkin started teleporting and I think the cake I was making became an eldritch abomination and—”
“We understand. Why don’t you visit with your friend? I’ll bring them back once Cup is ready to lie down again.”
“Okie dokie,” Pinkie replied in a worrisomely subdued voice.
The room was filled with the sound of foals laughing, slowly fading as they were taken upstairs.
Rarity looked Pinkie over for a moment, trying to gauge her mood. She seemed somewhat melancholy, but her mane was still relatively bouncy, though it seemed a little wilted, which was more worrisome still. “Hello, Pinkie—” was all she managed to get out before she was tackle-hugged.
“Rarity, I’m so happy you stopped by! I mean, I got all excited when Mr. Cake said Celly was here, but seeing you is even better!” Pinkie clung to her just a little tighter, grinning all the while. “So, how you doing?”
Rarity would have loved to answer; she was dying to do so, in fact. Or rather, she felt like she would die soon if Pinkie didn’t loosen her grip, and after said grip was released, she really would have loved to answer.
“Hey! Eyeshadow is only for under the eyes, silly! You shouldn’t make your whole face blue!”
Finally managing to expand her lungs enough to make sounds come out of her mouth, Rarity squeaked out: “Air—”
“Huh?” Pinkie let go for a moment, looking confused. “What about my hair?”
“One. Moment.” Rarity managed before she took great heaving gulps of wonderful air into her lungs. Breathing was quite possibly the greatest thing to have ever existed, and Rarity intended to do as much of it as possible. When she’d regained her composure enough to stop hyperventilating, she threw her own arms around Pinkie, managing a respectable rib-cracking squeeze which prompted a squeak from her friend. “That’s... that’s better. And your hair is lovely as always. Can we sit down? I’m feeling a bit dizzy.”
“Sure!” Pinkie said, bouncing over to a table and pulling back one of the chairs. “Are you okay? You look a little green, now.”
“It’s nothing a little time sitting down won’t cure, followed by a little food if you’re able. I only picked at lunch,” Rarity replied after stumbling across the room and falling back into the chair.
“Oh! That’s easy!” Pinkie said, galloping for the kitchen door, then poking her head back into the dining room a second later. “Okay, I have donuts, cupcakes, muffins, croissants...” There was a loud noise coming from the kitchen. “Hold on!” Pinkie ducked her head back in, and there followed a series of crashes and bangs, after which Pinkie was back, wiping sweat and dough off of her brow. “Sorry, the cake woke up.”
“Erm... croissants, please. And maybe a little slice of carrot cake for Angel?” Rarity replied, unsure whether to take what Pinkie had said at face value. She eventually decided that even if Pinkie wasn’t joking, her friend clearly had whatever was going on under control, so it was likely safe to ignore it for now.
Though she did make a mental note to be prepared for a possible attack on the town by a sentient cake. She wasn’t sure if she should be worried that the idea didn’t particularly alarm her compared to some of the other things that had attempted to destroy her home. Being alarmed about not being worried sounded counterproductive and frankly she didn’t have the energy for it.
“Oh, sure! Just a minute!” Pinkie replied, pulling her head back through the door with a grin. She returned moments later with a plate of croissants and a little white box on a plate with a glass of juice for them both. “Eat up!” she said, plopping the plate down on the table with a clatter.
After taking a moment to eat (during which Pinkie simply watched her while sipping her juice, humming a song only she could hear) Rarity regarded her mercurial friend once more, uncertain if she had just misread her earlier. “Pinkie,” she finally said, “are you all right?”
The question seemed to surprise Pinkie, who looked down at her left side in confusion. “No... should I be? I mean, I’ve heard of having two left feet, which is weird because of course I have two left feet; I’m a pony! But I heard it from a griffon who didn’t want to dance and I think maybe he was talking about how griffons only have two feet and those two claws up in front. So I guess for a griffon that would be weird? But anyway, I’m just enough right and left, I guess?”
Rarity waded through the torrent of words from Pinkie, and emerged on the other side no wiser for it. “No, I mean are you well?”
“No, silly. I just said I was a pony! I mean, it might be fun to be a well, but I’d need a bucket, and I guess I’d need to bury myself in the ground? That might be nice; mud is cool to lay in,” Pinkie looked at Rarity in surprise. “Hey! Is that why you lay in the mud? Does it make you feel like a well?”
“Um...” Rarity blinked, wondering how understanding Pinkie had been so easy in her earlier memory. They were speaking the same language, but somehow this conversation was not going as intended. “Right. That is... you seemed a little down, or... sad,” she amended quickly, to avoid further confusion.
“Oh.” Pinkie replied, her smile falling a few inches before she visibly strained to raise it right back up again. “Sorry. I won’t let it happen again!”
“What do you mean?” Rarity asked, thoroughly nonplussed. “I didn’t mean you should hide it!”
Pinkie waved a hoof dismissively. “Don’t worry! I’m good. Celly’s happy, Twi’s happy, so Pinkie Pie is okie-dokie-lokie!” She pushed the plate of croissants closer to Rarity, looking at her expectantly. “So, how’s Rarity?”
“Rarity is doing just fine, and don’t change the subject!” Rarity replied, shaking her head and pushing the plate away. “Did Celestia or Twilight upset you? I told her I would never forgive her if she caused you difficulty—”
Pinkie reached across the table, pressing a hoof to Rarity’s lips and making shushing motions with the other. “No! Celly is great! Twi’s great too! You saw them, right? They’re so cute together!”
Both of Rarity’s eyes focused on the hoof over her lips crossly, but when it was removed she did maintain enough presence of mind to keep her voice low and even. “Be that as it may, if it’s not them upsetting you, then why were you down?”
Pinkie only smiled harder, as if willing her friend to believe everything was just fine. But after an impromptu staring contest between them went on for several long moments, the smile began to crack at the seams. “It’s... it’s a Pinkie Pie problem,” she said at last, the smile dropping from her face as she looked away, placing both hooves back on the table.
Rarity extended a hoof, placing it gently over Pinkie’s own, which prompted her friend to look first at the hoof, then back at her. Only then could Rarity finally see the troubled look her friend had been carefully obfuscating from her. “I’m listening,” she said quietly, not breaking eye contact.