//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: The Quest Begins 
// Story: Rarity and Spike vs Fantasy RPG Tropes: The Sabre of Omens 
// by SS Nomad 
//------------------------------//

	Days passed, forgettable in their normalcy, and Rarity tried to settle back into normal life.  It was probably all nothing.  Twilight hadn’t found any leads on the map in the past four days, and Rarity almost hoped she wouldn’t.  Despite having a magical sword sitting on her workbench, life had more or less returned to its usual calm.
Struggling to keep her mind on task, Rarity had set to some basic design work, but always found her mind tracing back to the things Spike had been saying.  She really didn’t want to believe in his nonsense about prophecy, but she couldn’t deny that the sword chose her.  Setting down her pencil in a huff, she walked over to her workbench.
After her discussion with Twilight and Spike, the three of them had decided it would be best for Rarity to keep track of the sword, being the only one who could reasonably move it.  She’d brought it home with her, getting countless odd stares in the process, and just left it there in her workroom.  It unsettled her at first, just having an exposed blade there as she worked.  The next morning, she decided she couldn’t handle it anymore, and begged Applejack to make a sheath for the thing.
Now, days later, it sat in its makeshift sheath, barely more than two boards of the right size and shape held together with tightly wound twine.  She honestly hated to put such a work of art in such a shoddy frame, but it made her feel much better to not have the glint of its sharp edge reflected through the room.  She simply looked down at the sabre, not entirely sure how she’d grown accustomed to it so quickly.  Even if its being sheathed helped her forget, a sword was for… well nothing Rarity ever intended to do.
She cautiously lifted the blade, pulling the first few inches of it from the sheath.  It had surprised her the first time how little noise it made.  Every story, every movie, every radioplay had trained her to expect a metallic ‘shing’ as she pulled it open.  Instead, it was just a dull sliding noise, barely different than sliding a coin across a wooden table.  It sort of felt anticlimactic.
Rarity just stood there for a moment, looking at her warped reflection in the mirror-like sheen of the blade’s flat.  There was something she hadn’t noticed about the sword yet, she could tell.  It still had secrets.  She resheathed the blade with a thump and flipped it around, looking at the map on the guard.  The level of detail on the filigree was astonishing, the map drawn in the utmost precision.  Idly putting on her reading glasses to get a better look, Rarity inspected further.  At once, something stood out to her.  One of the mountains seemed distinct, slightly taller, and with a sharper point at the top.  It was subtle, but there.  As an artist herself, Rarity could tell.  Whoever made this shaped that mountain different on purpose.
“A notable peak?” Rarity mumbled to herself, gently tapping at the spot with her hoof.
A subtle play of the light drew her attention to the dark crimson gem of the pommel, a beautiful brilliant-cut set into the base of the sabre’s grip.  The longer she stared, the more it intrigued her.  In her many years dealing with gems, she hadn’t seen one of this quality in but a hoof-ful of times.  For a gem this size to have so few inclusions was impossibly rare, but the few that were present intrigued her.
A knocking at her door pulled her attention from the gem.  Setting the sword down on the workbench again, she turned her attention to see a small purple claw waving at the window.  With a smile, she trotted over to open the door and let Spike in.
“Heya, Rarity,” Spike greeted with a smile, “Just thought I’d stop by and check in, Twilight’s all wrapped up in looking at maps and I got bored.  How’s everything going?”
Rarity glanced back towards the sabre sitting on her table, “Going well, I suppose.  Hardly getting any proper work done, though.”
Spike followed her gaze and grinned, “Exciting, right?  The leadup to an adventure?”
“What?” Rarity replied in confusion before catching Spike’s train of thought, “No, not that, dear.  I just keep getting distracted by how amazing the sabre looks.  It’s so rare you see something of this quality, I find it utterly captivating.”
Spike seemed a bit confused by the response, asking, “Yeah, but like… what about the call to action?  An ancient map landed directly at your hooves, intended for you personally.  That doesn’t…”
“Well, I mean, yeah…” Rarity replied distantly, “I guess that’s interesting and all, but honestly I’m far more interested in who made such a masterpiece than I am in finding out where it leads.”
“I mean… you’ve still been trying to figure the map out, right?” Spike asked with a tone of confusion, quickly coming up with something that should get her attention, “I mean, who knows, maybe it leads to their workshop or something.”
Rarity thought about the idea for a moment before admitting, “Actually, I do want a second opinion about something.”
Spike sighed in relief, “So you have been looking at it. Good, good.  What you need help with?”
Guiding him into the workroom, she lifted the sabre from the table and showed Spike the gem at its base, “Tell me, what does that look like to you?”
“A rub-” Spike paused as he said it, “Wait, no.  What am I looking at?”
“I thought the same,” Rarity explained, “but the crystal structure described by the inclusions is wrong.  I’m thinking a red spinel.”
Spike leaned towards it, giving the gem a lick and earning him a disgusted stare from Rarity, “Yeah… that seems right.  Wow, I’ve never seen a spinel that nice.”
Doing her best to ignore Spike’s obvious look of hunger, Rarity replied, “I have a feeling this is a hint to where it came from.  I was thinking of telling Twilight.”
Clearly agreeing, Spike motioned his thumb toward the door.





“...so I’d suggest looking for somewhere with a high mountain and surface deposits of either marble or limestone,” Rarity concluded her explanation.
Twilight seemed impressed, “You know, I often forget you’re so studied in gems.”
“Ponies often do,” Rarity dismissed, glancing down to her cutie mark, “Although I’m not exactly sure how.”
The entire castle library was a mess, dozens of maps and reference books scattered about the large work table in the center of the room.  Casually levitating over a few more maps, Twilight added the new information to her search, adding more and more notes to her stack.  Not really sure what they could add, Rarity and Spike simply watched her work.
As the moment grew long, Rarity grew bored, “So… what exactly have you been doing?”
Not looking up from her work, Twilight responded, “I’d made a shortlist of sites that had similar properties to the map.  Now that I have it narrowed, I can just check for any sites that fit the new parameters.”
Realizing she’d be a bother if she kept asking Twilight questions, Rarity turned to Spike instead, “I must ask, you keep making assumptions about this whole affair with the utmost certainty.  What… Well, why?”
Spike just shrugged, “I mean, that’s just how adventures go.  Everything fits so far, and I haven’t been wrong yet, so…”
“You act as if adventures follow a script,” Rarity pointed out in confusion.
Spike just shrugged again, “I mean, they kinda do.  Do you have a counter-example?”
Rarity raised a hoof, as if about to protest, but her thoughts filled with memories of all of her ‘adventures’ with her friends.  They didn’t feel like they were scripted, at least.  Still, something in her had the oddest feeling that Spike wasn’t wrong.  Something about going out on a quest to get something done felt so different to everyday life.  She shook her head, convinced it was just a strange feeling.
“I’ve got you down to three possibilities,” Twilight announced, “I’m honestly amazed with how well that lead narrowed it down.”
Twilight slid her map across the table, the three locations circled distinctly.  Rarity lifted the hilt of the blade, looking at the locations next to the map.  Any of them could easily have been this place, so she stood there, carefully comparing the details.
“Why’s that one’s mountain look different?” Spike pointed out, dropping a finger on one of the locations.
“Dormant volcano,” Twilight replied curtly.
Spike nodded firmly, “It’s that one.”
Twilight and Rarity both slowly turned to face him, looks of confusion on their faces.  Spike just kept nodding, like it was obvious.  The thing was, it fit.  Compared to the other two options, the region with the volcano seemed to match the sword’s map far better.
Spike prodded, “Lemme guess.  It looks right?”
Rarity wanted to object, but didn’t have the words to, instead replying, “Y- How did you know?”
“Perfect set piece for the final conflict,” Spike explained, tapping on the volcano’s mark once more.
“‘Final conflict,’” Rarity groaned, setting the sabre back on the table, “What in Equestria are you talking about, Spike?”
Spike waved her off, “You’ll see when we get there.”
“Wait, get there?” Twilight interjected, looking between Rarity and Spike, “You’re planning to actually go to the place on the map?”
Rarity thought it over for a moment, saying, “Well… I’m rather interested to find out who made it, honestly.  I suspect whatever the map leads to would give me a clue.”
Spike shrugged, accepting the argument and nodding along.
Confused, Twilight studied Rarity’s expression to try and get some read on her, “Why are you so interested in this?”
“Could you imagine if I could get this level of craftsmanship…” Rarity tapped the ornate filigree on the hilt, “and use it to accessorize my pieces?  Look at how gorgeous this is.”
Twilight pulled back in shock as Rarity practically shoved the handle into her face, “I… what?  That’s why you want to go?”
There was a resounding smack as Spike dropped his face into his palm, “I really should have seen that coming.  I knew she wasn’t in it for the adventure.”
Twilight pushed the sword out of her face, sparking Rarity to set it back on the table, before continuing, “Look, I really don’t think it’s responsible to run off chasing down the maker of a couple hundred year old blade like this.  It just doesn’t make any sense, any record you might find is so out of date as to be useless.”
Spike rolled his eyes, lifting the blade to point at the map, “Twilight, an ancient map literally fell out of the sky at Rarity’s hooves and you’re tell-”
All three of them paused, staring at the sword in Spike’s claws.  Holding it by the sheath, Spike waved it around in the air, confused and experimenting.  He quietly set it back on the table, as if nervous.
Twilight reached across the table to poke the sheathed end of the sabre with her hoof, unable to budge it, “How’d you do that?”
His only response was to buzz his lips and exaggeratedly shrug.
“Well?  No insane theory based on fantasy novels this time?” Rarity replied, her tone far more honest and curious than the wording suggested.
“I mean, I couldn’t move it before.  It’s not like anything ch-” Spike stopped, staring at the makeshift boards serving as a sheath.  An idea flashed in his mind and he reached forward, lifting the sword by its handle.  Placing his other claw on the sheath, he strained to draw the blade.  Nothing.
“What’s the point of it letting you hold it when sheathed?” Twilight mused, apparently slowly accepting the situation.
Before Spike could reply, Rarity blurted out, “A squire.”
They both looked to her.
“A squire,” she repeated, “He could go along with me and carry it, but it’s not for him to use.”
Spike grinned, “So you’re saying the sword chose me, too?”
Rarity smiled back, deciding to humor him, “I suppose you could say that, yes.”
Spike pumped his fist in success, silently smiling
“This is still ridiculous, there’s no reason to come to any of the conclusions you have,” Twilight complained.
“Twilight...” Spike nervously reached forward and dropped a claw on her shoulder, “This could be the fate of Equestria in our hooves.  We might be the only ones who could stop… well, something.  We can’t back down from this, there’s too much to lose.”
In Spike’s eyes was a level of sincerity and genuine worry that Twilight hadn’t seen from the dragon before.  As ridiculous as this all sounded to her, he believed it.  There was a little pang in her heart as she realized Spike wasn’t going to just get over this.  There had to be some way to get him to realize he was being ridiculous without risking getting him hurt.
With a defeated sigh, Twilight stepped over to the map to look at it, “How would you even get there?”
Rarity dropped a hoof on the map, “Well, there’s a train station in Surlin, this town here, but…”
Spike perked back up, drifting over to compare the distance between town and destination to the map’s rule, “...but that’s three hundred miles on hoof.”
There was a single, simple fact that all three of them knew.  Rarity was not walking that far.  They each took a moment to struggle with that fact in their own ways.  Spike deflated, realizing Rarity was sure to change her mind.  Twilight seemed content that they wouldn’t go as well, but still wanted to find some way to calm spike down.
Hesitantly, Rarity suggested, “I mean, there’s no harm in just taking the train to the region and seeing what happens next.”
Spike lit up like a foal on Hearth’s Warming, “Really?”
Rarity nervously smiled over to Twilight, “Sure.  We’ll see what it looks like when we get there.  If there are no leads, we can just make a weekend of it and come back after.”
With a little smile of surprise, Twilight realized that it was a decent compromise, “Alright, fine.  When you get there and find nothing, you come right back, okay?  No point in wasting time out there if there’s nothing, right?”
“Oh man, I have so much to pack,” Spike announced, bounding off toward his room.
Once Spike was out of earshot, Twilight turned to Rarity with a look of concern, “Look… Spike is really worried about all this.  Can you do what you can to make him realize the world’s not ending while you’re out there?”
Rarity nodded curtly, “Naturally, dear.  I know he’s being ridiculous, but at least he’s having fun with it, no?  I’ll just ask around Surlin for anything about local smithing tradition, maybe find some local attractions, and that’ll be the trip.  We’ll be back before you know it.”
Twilight sighed deeply in relief and took the few steps closer to give Rarity a short hug, “Well, I hope you have a good trip. I know Spike will really appreciate this.”
Rarity’s breath caught for a moment, “You’re not coming?”
Twilight froze, “I mean, I’m busy.  I have princess stuff to do.  There’s an envoy fro-”
“Oh, don’t worry, dear.  I understand completely,” Rarity interrupted the explanation, “You don’t have the time to run down every strange happening in Equestria.”
“Just take care of Spike for me,” Twilight replied with a concerned smile.
In the distance, there was a dull clatter like countless large, metal objects scattering to the floor, followed by an echoing shout from Spike, “Sorry!  I’m fine!”
With a wince, Rarity replied, “I’ll… see what I can do.”





The station platform was busy as always, ponies moving about in a flurry as they boarded and left the train.  Standing on the platform, staring at the engine with some hesitation in her heart, Rarity fidgeted with the sabre, holding it by her side with her magic.  Beside her, Spike stood smiling, an overstuffed bookbag on his back.
Rarity reached behind her to pull their itinerary from one of her bags, “The only train that goes out to Surlin leaves from Canterlot, so we’ll be transferring there.  Not much of a layover, so at least there’s that.”
“You’re really bringing all that?” Spike complained, gesturing back at Rarity’s bags.
Looking over her shoulder at the three large pieces of luggage behind her, “Well, yes.  I only packed lightly, since I don’t expect to be gone for more than a few days.”
Spike gestured at the bags, “That’s lightly?”
With a shrug, Rarity waved over a porter to collect her bags and turned to trot off, “Come along, let’s not miss the train.”
Spike just wiped his face with a claw, “This… is going to be a long adventure.”