Agent of Chaos

by Li_Time

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Rarity

I slept like a princess. It felt good to relax and the dream I had was so splendid. I couldn't remember all the details, but I did remember that I was dancing in a ballroom with a gentlecolt with lots of others all around. Only they weren't ponies. They were all humans. I was human and we were all dressed in elegant attire.

As I laid there staring at the back of the sleeping mask, I tried to remember as much as I could. I wanted to remember who it was I was dancing with. Maybe he was my prince. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

I finally pushed myself up and out of bed, pulling the mask off. I cleaned up in the bathroom before I got dressed in a gown I made the previous night. It was lovely, all red and glittery. It was perfect. Now to show it off.

After getting dressed, I went out to explore the mansion and perhaps find John. I found him in the dining room, talking with Miss Gard. I couldn't help but stand just outside and listen in.

"No word from him?" he was asking.

"No, sir,” she replied. “But in his current living situation, I doubt we'll hear from him. However, there was a report that he visited the island last night."

"If he went there, it must be serious,” John said.

"There's more. He had a group with him, including the Winter Lady and that White Court Vampire,” she told him. Were they serious? Vampires? I hope it wasn't anything like when Fluttershy became a vampire fruit bat. That was scary.

"Who else was with him?" he asked.

"Three young ladies,” she told him. “And he seemed to returned with a fourth."

"I see,” he said. “It seems he's been hard at work." It sounded like someone was searching for my friends. Then again, that could be me jumping to conclusions.

"Good morning, Miss Rarity," said a voice from behind me. I jumped at the voice and looked around to see Mr. Hendricks standing there.

"Oh dear," I said. "Mr. Hendricks, you startled me."

"My apologies," he said. "Come, they're waiting for you." I nodded and followed him into the room.

"Good morning, Rarity," John said, looking up at me. "You look lovely this morning."

"Thank you, John," I said, giving him a smile.

"I'm sure you heard us from the hallway?" he asked.

I felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to listen in on your conversation."

"That's quite alright," he said, giving me a smile. "It pertains to you and your friends. A local wizard is looking for them."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked him.

"A good thing," he said. "I personally may clash heads with him, but he's a good man who will help."

"He's the one you called last night,” I said.

"You are correct,” he said. “I think there's no reason for us to go searching. Mr. Dresden will come to us, I'm sure."

"Splendid, that will give me plenty of time to make us all new outfits. And practice my magic, of course." He gave me a curious look. "I made you a suit also. And Miss Gard. And Mr. Hendricks."

"You did this last night?" he asked.

"Well, I didn't have measurements, so I'll have to tailor them to fit,” I admitted. “But other than that, they are ready. Then I started on my friends, but I'll have to fix them up once we meet up." He looked impressed. "I own a boutique where I live and a branch in Canterlot. I work on half a dozen or more outfits at once all the time."

"Ever considered staying and opening a shop here?" he asked. "You could make it big here."

"I don't know about staying for good, but I wouldn't mind expanding out here,” I said. “I would have to work out traveling between realms though. Doesn't seem like I can come and go as I please."

"I'm sure we can figure something out,” he said.

"I'll have to keep it in mind." I sat down and started to make a plate of fruits, buttered toast, and a glass of milk.

The rest of breakfast went by quickly. I talked to John about the dream I had and shared my wish to stay longer. Once we had ate, we went to the room I had acquired as my own. It was a mess with fabrics thrown everywhere, but what I had done was hanging up by the closet. I went over to them and grabbed them.

“Sorry for the mess, dears,” I said. “I get a little messy when I work.” I walked over to them and offered them their clothes. “Go try them on and I can fix up what needs to be adjusted.”

I watched as Miss Gard and Mr. Hendricks looked a little puzzled. John, however, smiled as he looked at the suit. “You are talented, Rarity,” he said. He headed out as the others went to change also.

After they were in the clothes, I did some measurements and touch ups. John and Mr. Hendricks looked quite dashing in their suits. Miss Gard was a little trickier. I wanted to give her a skirt, but I felt that it would take away from her character. She was a tough woman who looked like she could kick tail. A skirt would make it difficult to do that. I don’t think she would be against it, but I thought it would be better to have mobility and function.

Overall, the three of them looked great, and they were thankful. At least, John was very appreciative. Miss Gard thanked me and said she like it, but Mr. Hendricks didn’t really give much emotion. I guess that was just him.

Most of the day I worked on outfits for my friends, making dresses and suits. I even started to make something for this wizard who was looking for my friends. The problem was that I never seen him, so I didn’t know how large to make his suit. So I asked John.

John told me I was wasting my time making Mr. Dresden a suit. He said that he would probably forgo the suit so he could wear his duster. It reminded me of Hero and how he rather wear his coat than the suit I made it. Despite that, I still made Mr. Dresden a suit, with John’s insight.

John came and went a lot throughout the day. He seemed to be a very busy man. That was fine. I was able to work on the clothes. I just wished I had brought my glasses that I used when I worked.

In the late afternoon, I was pretty much finished other than some touch ups here and there, but I needed the girls to do that. Since I had done what I wanted, I changed into a blue dress I made. Actually, it was more of a modification of the dress I wore yesterday.

I was starting to wonder when I would see my friends. So when John came to check up on me, I decided to ask him.

"How soon will this wizard be here?" I asked.

"In due time, Rarity," he said, admiring the clothes. "I've never seen a finer job."

"Oh stop, it's not that good, dear," I said.

"I'm serious,” he said. “This is better than most shops here. You have a real talent for this."

"Well, it is what makes me me," I said with a soft giggle.

"Well, I've had a lot of compliments on this suit,” he said. “Everyone wants to know who my tailor is. You can make big bucks here, if you ever wanted to open up a shop."

"I will certainly consider it,” I said with pride. If my work was so popular here, I may want to open a shop here. “I've enjoyed this place so far."

He gave me a smile as I looked at the racks of clothes I made. "How about we move them to another room and out of the way?" John suggested.

"Yes, I think that'll be great." He called for some workers to come move the racks and we followed.

We entered a ballroom and I looked around in amazement while the workers pushed the racks into a side room. "Mr. Marcone, I never would have guessed you had your own ballroom."

"I have been known to have a few gatherings from time to time," he said. I saw Mr. Hendricks walk up behind him and whisper in his ear. John smiled softly. "Bring them here." He walked away. "Miss Rarity. Shall we have a dance?"

"I would love to," I said with excitement. He gave me a smile as he started an old style record player in the corner. The music sounded classical, though it wasn't anything I've heard before.

"Miss Rarity," John said, offering me his hand.

"Mr. Marcone," I said with a smile. I took his hand and he pulled me in close, dancing with me. I blushed a bit as I realized why he wanted to dance with me. "This was because of my dream."

"I thought you would like to enjoy a dance before you go,” he said.

"Oh, darling, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon,” I said.

"Well, when Mr. Dresden gets here with your friends, they'll want you to rejoin them,” he pointed out. “After all, you did come here with a purpose."

I frowned a bit. "I suppose you are right," I said. "And I suppose once we're done here, we'll have to return to ponyville. Oh, I do have to make a trip back here to visit."

"Of course, Miss Rarity,” he said.

I gave him a smile as he continued to dance. It was when the music ended and we finished the dance that I realized we had an audience. I looked at the group that were clapping and realized that it was my friends. I ran to them and hugged them.

“Oh, John, you were right. They would come,” I said, excited.

“John,” a man said. I looked up at the other three who were there. The man who spoke was a tall man, tallest one there. He wore a black shirt that had a triangle in the center and a white line that I presumed to represent light focus in from the left of the triangle and a rainbow that spread out from the right of it. In the center of the triangle was a hole and I could just make out something black underneath. Over his attire was a long black leather duster. From what John had told me before, I had to guess that this was Mr. Dresden.

The other man was very handsome. The sight of him made me want to take him. Oh my, he was a fine man. Even the simple clothes he wore were...hot. I know it’s not how a lady should talk, but there was no other way to describe him.

“I was right to assume Mr. Dresden was looking for them,” John said. “Rarity, this is Harry Dresden. And it seems he brought Molly Carpenter and Thomas Raith with him too."

The mention of the woman made me look at her. I was so focused on the man that I presume was Thomas that I didn’t notice her. The moment I saw her, I started to get ideas for an outfit that would go wonderful with her hair. It was inspirational. In fact, looking at my friends in their current forms gave me plenty of inspirations to last a lifetime, even for when we return to ponyville.

“John,” I heard Mr. Dresden say again. “Where’s Discord?”

My eyes snapped to Mr. Dresden at once, widening in surprise. Did he mean to say that John knew something about Discord’s whereabouts? “Discord? You mean to say Discord was here the whole time?” I asked, looking over at John.

“That Outsider was not welcomed in my home,” he said.

“But he is our friend,” I protested. How could John keep something like this from me?

“Marcone,” Mr. Dresden said. “You’ve must have noticed the strange things happening around the city. There’s a dragonequus on the loose just like Discord. And I think we’ll need his help to stop this thing.”

“What’s in it for me?” he asked.

“You don’t get killed by this thing,” Mr. Dresden said. “Seriously, John, this isn’t a game. It’s a damn Outsider who is gaining strength. Not to mention, there’s a necromancer in town too.” Necromancer? I racked my brain trying to think what a necromancer was. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of that before.

“Necromancer?” Miss Gard questioned. “How do you know that?”

“Mac told me that Cowl is here too.” I heard Miss Gard take a deep breath when Mr. Dresden told her that. Whatever a necromancer was, it was serious business. I watched her as her eyes looked at each of my friends.

“Dresden, I assure you that I would much rather keep this Discord on ice for now,” John said. “He is, afterall, an Outsider also.”

“He’s our friend, John," I pleaded with him. “He came here to help you.”

“That’s a little hard to believe,” he said. I stared at him in disbelieve. Was he really going to keep my friend captive?

“Am I going to have to summon him?” I heard Mr. Dresden ask. What did he mean by that?

“That won’t be necessary,” Miss Gard said.

“Miss Gard?” John said.

“Mr. Marcone,” she replied. “I think we can trust them.”

“And why is that?” he asked.

She looked at each of us, even at me, before her eyes settled on Applejack. “You,” she said.

“Me?” Applejack questioned.

“I can see it in your eyes,” Miss Gard said. “You are an honest person.”

“Pony,” she corrected her.

“Yes, pony,” Gard said. “If we release this Outsider-”

“Discord,” Applejack said.

“If we release Discord to you, will you be able to stop whatever is happening in this city?” Miss Gard asked, though I was sure she sounded a little irritated at Applejack for correcting her.

“You have my word,” Applejack said. Miss gard seemed to study her for a moment before she nodded at us.

“Are you sure about this, Miss Gard?” John asked. I saw her nod to him and he looked at Mr. Dresden. “Very well. We’ll release the Outsider to you. Mr. Hendricks, would you mind retrieving him?”

I watched Mr. Hendricks leave as I felt relief. I was glad that John saw reason to let Discord go. “Something’s bothering me,” Mr. Dresden said. “How did you come across Rarity and how did you know to call me?”

“She mentioned Hero,” he said.

"Of course she did,” Mr. Dresden replied. “Hero is the knot that ties this all together. But you never answered my first question."

"She appeared in front of my car,” John told him. “Miss Gard checked her out and found she had magic so we brought her back here. After she woke up, she explained what was going on and I had Miss. Gard call Murphy."

Mr. Hendricks returned with one of John’s worker. They were pushing a cart with the statue of the man shielding his eyes. It was the piece I saw yesterday. "I remember seeing this piece," I said. "You mean to say this is Discord?"

"Miss Gard, if you would be so kind," John said. I watched Miss Gard pull out a small box and opened it. She searched through it before she pulled out a little wooden tile and walked over to the statue with it. The moment she placed it on the statue, a symbol started to glow. The statue started to glow also and slowly color started to fill it.

The man started to sag and fall forward. I rushed forward with my friends and caught him. "Oh, my head," he said. "That was much worst than the last time I was turned to stone."

"Discord? Is that really you?" Fluttershy asked.

He looked at her, smiling weakly. "Oh, my dear Fluttershy," he said. "I was hoping to keep you all out of this."

I watched Fluttershy smile before she hugged him tightly. "Hello, Harry Dresden," he said as they broke apart.

"Hello, Sam Singer," Mr. Dresden said. Sam Singer?

"Thank you for taking care of my friends," Discord said, smiling at Mr. Dresden. He started to fall and Fluttershy had to hold him up. "Thank you, Fluttershy."

"Mr. Dresden," John said. "I suggest you get him some place to rest and regain his strength."

I watched Mr. Dresden nod and look at us. "Come on, group. Time to go."

"Oh, wait," I said, remembering the clothes. "I made new clothes for everypony."

"We don't have time for this, Rarity," Rainbow said.

"It'll just be a moment," I replied as I pulled out the wand Miss Gard gave me. I focused my power through it and the rack of clothes came out from the side room.

"We'll take them with us," Mr. Dresden said. "No time for that now."

"Oh, I guess that'll be fine," I said and turned to John. "Thank you, John. Hope to see you again soon."

He smiled as he bowed to me. "It was a pleasure, Rarity," he said. I held out my hand and he took it, kissing it softly. I blushed a bit. "Until next time."

I gave him a smile and turned to face the others. "Shall we, Mr. Dresden?"

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[Fionn]

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