Quiververse Bonus Reel

by EchoWing

Vignette Fourteen - How Rarity Got Her Groovy Back

Rarity was not in the best of moods, to put it politely. The last week or so hadn’t been at all pleasant, as several messes had all hit one after another, from one great and powerful pony turning Ponyville into their personal fiefdom whilst driven mad by an arcane artifact to Rarity herself being turned into the newest host of the force that had corrupted Princess Luna. And on top of all that, she had a fashion show in Canterlot to prepare for!

Applejack pointing her towards that health spa had sounded like the ideal means to unwind and ready herself for the coming show. Unfortunately, even that had lost its luster. While the staff was pleasant enough, Flax and Wheat’s New Age All-Natural Wellness Center was less a spa and more of a working farm. Instead of mud baths, hooficures and relaxation, she’d found her hooves caked in mud, manure and mush, been swarmed by bees and ended up laboring rather than relaxing. And that was ignoring the accommodations – Applejack’s barn was more comfortable to sleep in.

The nightly gifts of complimentary beauty products were fantastic, but not enough to entice her into staying any further. A lady had her limits, after all, and Rarity had reached hers.

“Flax Seed! Wheat Grass!” Rarity swept aside the beaded curtain that served as the front door to the pairs’ office/living quarters/whatever and entered. “Not that these last few days haven’t been… charming, but I simply cannot continue under these conditions! I am leaving, and would very much like a refund!”

The former of the pair, a lanky stallion with a small mustache and short beard, looked at her with a half-glazed but nonetheless worried expression. “A…a refund?”

The latter, a pretty mare with tiny glasses and a long, flowing mane, looked far more worried than her partner. “As in, you want your bits back?”

“Obviously, though I only expect half of them back. I did, after all, pay for a week at these facilities, and it’s only been three days.” At their worried expressions, she frowned. “I suspect those expressions don’t bode well for me, do they?”

Flax Seed held up a tray with what looked like an attempt at all-natural foods with a nervous grin. “Carrot-carrob-and-bean crunchy clusters?”

Wheat Grass gently pushed the tray away and approached. “Rarity, I’m so very sorry, but we’ve already sent your money off to our bank to help cover our debts.” She bowed her head shamefully and admitted, “We’ve made some…bad decisions with money, and the bank is close to foreclosing and taking our land from us.”

“Amazing Booksellers is already eyeing things up for another one of their warehouses, and we’re gonna get the boot.” The stallion bowed his head sadly. “Gonna have to go back on the road, instead of living our dream and having an all-natural life.”

“Bad decisions…” Rarity considered her surroundings and reasoned that yes, that could explain a great deal, but only so much. “But the complimentary beauty products are some of the best I’ve seen! Surely those have been helping with your income?”

“They aren’t beauty products, they’re spiritual enhancers.” Rarity eyed the stallion, who amended himself, “Y’know, for, like, enhancing the spirit. And stuff.”

“And we can only make so much of our goops. You’ve actually been helping to make them. We thought opening up the wellness center would help with the bills, but…”

“Yes, I understand. But how have you been selling them?”

“The stand on the side of the road.” Wheat Grass slumped slightly as she admitted, “We don’t really have heads for all this business stuff.”

Rarity considered that, then smiled. “Fortunately, however, I do. Gather your staff! Celestia as my witness, we’re going to save your business, clear your debts, and make certain you never have monetary issues again!”

-

“Whoa!” Flax Seed was in awe as he gazed about at the Canterlot skyline. “It’s all so, like, big and busy and stuff.”

“And so are we, dear, so are we!” Wheat Grass chided her partner as they and their staff worked to fulfill purchases. Their shipping boxes were rapidly emptying out, and odds were good that they’d have quite a few mail-orders to fill once they got back home.

Rarity stood back and watched with satisfaction as her new associates reaped the benefits of her instruction. They’d taken the lessons to heart, and certainly seemed pleased that they didn’t have to toss aside their own adherence to all-natural methods to do it. That her own show had been a smashing success certainly hadn’t hurt things.

“Somepony looks like they’ve had a very good night.” Twilight and Spike joined her, clearly pleased themselves. “I guess visiting that wellness center did work out for you.”

“Not quite in the way that I’d thought it would, but yes, it did.” Rarity sighed and admitted, “I admit, I was discomforted by the conditions at first, but seeing through them to help with their problem was the most important thing, and I’m glad that I did so. I helped them, and helped myself for good measure.” She shrugged. “Not the ideal friendship lesson, of course, but regardless, things are better for them now than they were before.”

“And I certainly look forward to trying a few of their products for myself.” The three looked up in surprise as Celestia grinned. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you three. And no, Twilight, I won’t be needing this recorded in a letter, but feel free to make a record of this anyway.”

Spike sighed. “That saves me a little trouble.” He eyed his claws and asked, “You think that hoof scrub of theirs will work for claws too?”

Author's Note:

My second Vignette adapting events from the comics, this time from the Rarity issue of the Micro Series. Small details are different here, rather than the whole story, and that's mostly to remove Flim and Flam's involvement, as well as that of Filthy Rich. For those wanting to view the original comic online, the Internet is your friend.

The original comic was written by Katie Cook, with art duties by Andy Price.

And for those of you who have lost track of my timeline, some clarification. I shuffled some events around, so within the Quiververse, the events of Magic Duel, Apple Family Reunion, and the Nightmare Rarity arc in the comics all took place within very swift order of one another. So yeah, Rarity needed herself a break.

Comments

[Comickook]

REALLY good job on this latest installment. Definitely appreciated the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations and general wrap-up in all the right places. And I also appreciated the mentioning of the slightly different details in the author's notes. Indeed, given all of that stuff happening in such a short amount of time, I could, indeed, see Rarity needing a break that badly. And glad to see Rarity going to that sort of reasonable effort to help out the spa staff.

VERY much looking forward to more of your work when you can get time to work on it. And I hope you and your family and friends have been having a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

[EchoWing]

11062093
Rarity's element is Generosity, and offering advice on running a business is well within her capability.

Thankfully, Thanksgiving is going pretty well for me, and I can assure you that something will be out over the next few months.

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

This was a nice update to come home to and read.

Good to see Rarity put her business sense to good use and help some folks in need. Element of Generosity at work right there.

Happy Thanksgiving, Echo. You take care now, all right?

[EchoWing]

11062296
Glad you liked. Happy Thanksgiving, and you do the same.