Bringing the Magic Back

by Amaranthine Thought

Chapter 4

Sweetie found herself walking amidst clouds. They swirled in her wake, and billowed up as she moved forward, simply walking ahead with little purpose besides that it was better than standing still.

She kept going until she saw green ahead, and she found herself leaving the clouds out onto a circle of grass in them. Six flowers bloomed there, three pairs of kinds, six different colors; white, purple, blue, yellow, pink, and orange. They had no pattern as to their placement, beyond that each pair was nearer each other than to any other flower; white and purple, orange and pink, and blue and yellow.

Sweetie hesitated, seeing the clouds at the edges turn a dark black, and begin contracting in. She backed away from them, watching as the ring of grass grew smaller and smaller, until a small stair appeared in the center, step by step leading up.

Sweetie took it, seeing another patch of grass above her, and looked down, to see the clouds swallow the last of the green below, a sort of gaping hole there then. She frowned, and headed up, wanting to get to the top, and get away from the hole.

She reached it, and stepped onto it, hesitating as she suddenly found herself in its center.

The same set of flowers grew here, but they were arranged very close around her, almost as if huddling around her. As she saw that, again, she saw the clouds blacken, and watched worriedly as they again began contracting inwards. Her worry increased as no stair appeared as they kept nearing her, only for her to hesitate, seeing the flowers around her start to glow, each in their own shade at first, until the glow seemed to take on their combined colors.

Brighter and brighter, and when the dark clouds met the glow, they slowed, and then stopped, billowing almost violently against the glow. Sweetie watched as the glow pushed back, shoving the clouds back a little, and revealing grass underneath them. Then it suddenly radiated outwards, and Sweetie gaped as they not only destroyed the black clouds, but the outer white ones as well, the ring of grass soon reaching away to beyond where she could see.

She looked down, and found the flowers gone, and that she herself floated high above the ground. She yelped, wiggling in the air, until she saw Rarity far below, standing on a road; a dirt path split from the cobbles, both heading in different directions. The dirt path went into a woods which looked eerie and dark, but the other path, the cobble path, simply stopped. A great void yawned not feet from its start, and she saw Rarity look between the pair once before she happily trotted down the cobbled path.

“Rarity!” Sweetie yelled, trying to warn her sister as she reached the edge of the void, seeming as if she didn’t notice it at all.

Then she blinked, and abruptly found herself on that same path with Rarity. Confused, she looked, and found a signpost in the split, with two different signs upon it.

One was designed well and even colorful, declaring the cobbles to be Dawn’s Light. Sweetie looked, and to her confusion, didn’t see the void she had before, but instead saw Dawn’s Light sitting at the far end of the cobbles, high atop a hill, the sunlight shining behind it, just like she remembered how she had first seen it herself.

The other was just plain wood and looked ill-cared for, declaring that the dirt path led to Ponyville. It descending, wandering and meandering down a long slope to a tiny town bordering the dark and eerie wood she had seen before. But that time, a decrepit mansion shrouded in mist rose from the dark trees.

“Ponyville is a terrible, tiny place.” she heard Rarity say, and she looked to see her sister sneering at the tiny town below. “Home to no unicorn of culture or manners. My home is Dawn’s Light.” she added, looking up towards the city with a happy smile. “And it always shall be.”

She took a few steps along the path before she looked back at Sweetie. “Aren’t you coming, darling?” she asked.

Sweetie hesitated, recalling the void, and finding the cobble path almost untrustworthy. Yet, as Rarity smiled at her, it seemed stronger, larger, Dawn’s Light shining across the land like the sun itself. She looked back at Ponyville, and the woods seemed darker, the mansion smaller, the sight more fearful. She heard something growling in the woods, and she stared as dark eyes watched her from the darkness under the trees.

“Come on Sweetie.” Rarity called, Sweetie looking back to her, Sweetie worried and concerned, Rarity giving her a comforting smile. “Let’s go home.”

Sweetie spared a last glance back at Ponyville before she hurried after Rarity, following her sister closely, worried and a little fearful. Rarity hadn’t seen the void before… it didn’t look like it was there now, but was it really not?

The pair kept walking, and Sweetie slowly began to relax, thinking that everything was alright again. Only for her to see the land before them begin falling into nothing, Rarity stopping, giving a gasp of shock.

Sweetie stared, watching the destruction racing towards them, and saw Rarity stumble, and fall into the void. Sweetie leapt at her, just managed to grab her hoof, only for the land she was upon to fall as well, the two sisters screaming as they fell into the abyss below.

High above, she saw the moon watching them fall.

Sweetie woke with a frightened gasp, startling awake. She stared, blinking in the sunlight that streamed through the window, finding herself amongst the sheets Rarity had piled up, tucked into the same, lilacs scattered all around her. The rest of the room had been mostly straightened up, other than the scattered flowers and the sheets Sweetie laid within.

She slowly relaxed again, but found her dream vivid and easy to recall. Confusing, worrying, and a little frightening.

But it was just a dream, she told herself as she slowly got out of the makeshift bed. And dreams aren’t real. Just a dream.

She left the room, to hesitate as she smelled something. Something good. She wandered downstairs, following the scent, to find Rarity in the kitchen, happily cooking.

“…Rarity?” Sweetie asked, finding the sight a little weird; Rarity had never made breakfast before. She just grabbed some raw flowers to eat and was off in her workshop, normally before Sweetie woke up.

“Good morning Sweetie.” Rarity greeted cheerfully, looking back at her. “Did you sleep well?”

“…Sort of.” Sweetie said as Rarity took, to her surprise, hayburgers off the stove. A favorite of Sweetie’s, but Rarity had made it a point to not have any ‘unrefined’ food in her home. “Hayburgers? But I thought,”

“You did ask for them.” Rarity interrupted, setting them down and gesturing Sweetie over.

“But you said,”

“Sweetie, I said lots of things.” Rarity again interrupted, brushing at Sweetie’s mane. She smiled at the confused Sweetie, and told her, “Things are going to change. Eat your breakfast, Sweetie, and then come into the workshop with me.”

Sweetie nodded as Rarity nuzzled her and then left, Sweetie staring after her.

A short while later, she went to the workshop, and saw Rarity working again, and asked her, “What did you want?”

“Could you go stand on the platform for me Sweetie?” Rarity asked, not looking up just then. “I’m almost ready.”

Sweetie, wondering, did so, watching Rarity. Then she stared as Rarity turned around, holding a dress. Her surprise turned into something approaching awe as Rarity began holding it against her, its size a good fit for her.

“Is, is that?” Sweetie asked, staring, not quite ready to believe it.

“It’s your soon to be finished new dress.” Rarity told her, beaming at Sweetie. “Now, hold still so I can get this just right.”

---

Sweetie was happier than she’d been in a long time in the following days. Rarity made good on her determination, making her two new dresses in short order, and changing her life to better care for Sweetie. Being there to make her meals, spending time with her, struggling to find something Sweetie could do with her.

The first idea had been to simply take Sweetie along when she went out. Sweetie adored wearing the new outfits after all, though she never had a real chance to; Rarity was adamant that a mare had to have a reason before wearing something special. But going out was some reason, and Sweetie being overjoyed in her new outfits was something special.

Rarity had been happier than she’d been in a long time in turn, seeing her sister prancing around the art exhibit, uncaring of the paintings, but loving the attention she got, telling every unicorn that her sister had made it for her with some pride. At first, Rarity had thought she had finally figured out something she could do with Sweetie, though she was worrying how she was going to find a new income for them. That swiftly eased, however.

The day they had come back from the art exhibit, a unicorn had dropped by. To ask after Rarity’s service as a tailor, but not for him.

For his daughter.

And before Rarity could even say anything, he had added that he was willing to triple any price she cared to ask for.

Soon after, Rarity found out why. No reputable tailor in all of Dawn’s Light worked with children. If one wanted to have their children well dressed, one would have to literally ‘buy’ a tailor, and those rich enough to do so tended not to share.

However, Rarity was a reputable tailor, who now worked with children, and who didn’t ‘belong’ to any unicorn.

She found herself a little overworked, but overjoyed at the same time. Better than simply finding her a new income source, the new work wasn’t really taking time away from Sweetie, because Rarity had finally found something for her to help with.

Sweetie loved modeling the outfits, helping Rarity determine how they would look on actual ponies. And she loved showing off in front of new clients, and even if she clumsy, most found her cute.

A week passed, and Rarity had found a special client.

A duchess of Dawn’s Light came to her shop to ask her to make something special for her daughter’s birthday. An actual duchess, in her shop, a unicorn not normally even seen outside of either their mansions or the castle itself. Coming to Rarity’s shop, to acquire her services, for her daughter’s birthday.

Which was the crowning glory atop it all for Rarity, for such a thing had her rise ever higher in Dawn’s Light. Up into the nobility themselves she was nearing, and the duchess, Duchess Gold, had been more than willing to allow Rarity into her own social circle in exchange for her services after her daughter’s birthday had been such a sensation due to Rarity’s dress. Which in and of itself, rekindled the long dream Rarity had once had; and it wasn’t so absurd as it might otherwise appear.

It was long known that the lord of Dawn’s Light had not married. Unicorns had long since wondered why, and many an idea had been theorized, though none was certain why he had not done so, seeing as how he had his choice of any mare in the whole of the city, and likely beyond.

Herself, Rarity had always imagined that he was waiting for the right mare. And she had never had so great a dream than to discover herself that mare:

To live a fairytale romance, marry the Lord, and thus become the princess of Dawn’s Light.

A dream still far and away, but a great step had been taken with Duchess Gold. She had spent years trying to enter the highest circles in Dawn’s Light, and now, at long last, she finally had. She was close enough to see her once silly dream become something possible. High enough to just maybe finagle her way into Duchess Gold’s good graces and the nobility’s approval, and make her way into the castle proper.

And that she did. She made friends with Duchess Gold, and though she found the nobility at odds with one another, she was a veteran at handling such delicate social interaction. As Sweetie was watched by Soft Petal, a filly watcher introduced by Duchess Gold herself, Rarity would spend days and nights working her way into the highest circles of Dawn’s Light, and step by step have them accept her as a part of them.

A month later, and not even in her wildest dreams could Rarity have anticipated what happened.

Duchess Gold chose to invite her to the Grand Remembrance. The Grand Remembrance happened alongside the Great Remembrance, a time when unicorns would remember their ancestors, the ones who had tamed the land and more or less made the unicorns’ home: Arcanum. A time of self-reflection and pride in those that came before you, the unicorns who had built it all. Lots of unicorns held special celebrations, and quite a few were quite picky about who could come.

But the Grand Remembrance was special. The most prestigious and greatest event in Dawn’s Light, it was the celebration held by the Lord himself, and those invited had never been any unicorn save the nobility themselves, and so rarely that it was nigh unheard of, a unicorn not nobility. That Duchess Gold had chosen to invite Rarity not only proved that she had successfully made friends, but also implied that Duchess Gold felt that she, Rarity, should be one of them. That the Duchess felt that the Lord himself would approve of her.

No greater compliment could exist in Rarity’s mind. But even more important, she finally had her chance. There, at the Grand Remembrance, she’d meet the Lord of Dawn’s Light himself, Prince Blueblood.

And there, she’d get a chance to have him take note of her. Rarity had no illusions that she might somehow gain his love, or even his real attention, in a single night. But if she could just make enough of an impression that he recalled her would be a great first step.

The first step up the long stairs to him taking her hoof, and taking her to the highest heights a unicorn could possibly hope to attain.

It was nigh dizzying how swift she had risen, almost like she was just dreaming the whole thing, but Rarity knew it was somehow real. She spent an entire week preparing for the event, doing her very all to ensure she would be prepared for the party, and be as perfect as she could possibly make herself be.

When at last the day came, and the hour grew close, she prepared with care and diligence. As she did so, she checked her preparations with Sweetie.

“There’s food in the fridge, just in case?”

“Yes.”

“Opal’s fed and alright?”

“Yes.”

“You know I’ll be gone all night?”

“Yes.”

“You know where the keys are, and where to go if anything happens?”

“Under the satin in the workshop and just down the street to Clever Clover’s bookshop.”

“How many knocks before you answer the door?”

“Three then two.”

“Does my mane look alright?”

“Yes.”

“What about the outfit?” Rarity asked, turning around, wondering, a little self-doubt entering her mind as she tried to find some flaw.

“It looks beautiful Rarity.” Sweetie told her, having already done so some dozen odd times. Her older sister’s nerves were a little weird, but Sweetie was determined to help her sister, even if she didn’t really know how. “You look beautiful.”

“Alright, alright.” Rarity breathed, taking a calming breath. “Broach, on, necklace, have it, tasteful bracelet, on, enchantments, done, am I missing anything?”

“Your purse.”

“Right.” Rarity said, grabbing it. “Alright… that’s everything then.” she sighed, trying to gain some peace. She was ready, Sweetie was prepared, Duchess Gold would send the carriage soon, Sweetie’s foal-watcher should have shown up by now, but Bright Bloom, Soft Petal’s sister, had said she’d be late. Hence the rhythmic knocks thing; Sweetie didn’t know Bright Bloom, but no unicorn would knock like that, alerting Sweetie that it wasn't her foal-sitter.

The sound of a carriage outside disrupted her wondering if she had told Sweetie who her foal-sitter actually was, before she decided that Sweetie knew and she hurried that way, telling Sweetie, “Be good!”

“I will! Good luck!”

Rarity left, shutting the door behind her, and looking at the carriage, here to pick her up. As she had swiftly learned by watching the duchess, she said nothing to the unicorns driving it, nor the one who held the door open, and simply got inside. There, she sat, feeling nervous and giddy as the carriage left, rattling away on the cobbles, and carrying Rarity towards the Duchess’ home, to first meet with the duchess, and then leave with her to the castle itself.

Comments

[Frazikar]

Hmm, wonder what Sweetie has to do to aid Harmony here ... considering her dream ...