Fall Obsessions

by mechafone

Chapter 3

The next day, after securing a play date for Dinky and Sweetie Belle, Rarity made her way to Twilight's library. This was it: This was the last clue she had. The incidents from the last week and a half and what Ditzy had told her the day before were all she had to go on, but it seemed a solid lead, and Rarity intended to follow it through.

Rarity knocked politely on the library door, then nearly yelled "Ah-hah!" when it opened. She was most glad she hadn't, because it was Spike who had opened the door, not Twilight.

"Oh hey, Rarity! It's always good to see you, come on in!" He said excitedly. He stepped inside for her, making a grand gesture with his arms. Rarity grinned and trotted inside. "Such a gentlecolt, thank you, Spike."

Rarity gave the library a good once-over and quickly noticed a lack of Twilight Sparkle. Rarity already had a bad feeling that she'd missed her friend. Turning to Spike, she said, "Spike, is Twilight here?"

He shrugged. "Nah, you just missed her. She said she was going to the book store to see if they had some books we're apparently "missing"." he punctuated his last word by making apostrophe marks with his claws. This gesture of course was completely lost on Rarity.

"A book store? We-Ponyville has a book store?" Rarity frowned. Ditzy's words came back and hit her like a sack of bricks. She really did ignore certain Ponies and places...well, she'd have to fix that. Right now.

"Spike, do you know where this book store is?" Spike seemed to deflate a bit upon Rarity's question. He'd really been hoping that she was here to see him, but that had been proven false. He sighed inwardly and gave her the directions.

Rarity thanked him and hurried to leave, but turned and gave the little Dragon a quick hug. "Oh thank you, Spike. You are a little dear, thank you!"

Spike sighed happily and hugged himself after Rarity left, imagining her hooves around him for a moment, before shaking his head clear and returned to the task of picking up around the library.

---

Rarity cantered through town on a mission. Find this book store, confront Twilight, obtain secret information. Even if she couldn't use it for gossip (It is a personal secret, after all), she needed to know!

Finally, she arrived at the bookstore. It was located back to back with Bon Bon's candy store. Had she really never seen this store before? Rarity chastised herself for not noticing it before now. Just before heading inside, she nearly collided with Twilight Sparkle as she was leaving.

"Oh! Hello again, Twilight!" Twilight had a shocked look on her face, then smiled warmly. "Oh hello, Rarity! I was just catching up with an old friend."

Rarity froze on the spot. Was Twilight really speaking of her secret so easily? She'd seemed so upset when she'd seen that sketch of Spark Storm.

Now that she was here, though, she could see him! Twilight's "secret" could wait until later, right? She wanted to see her old friend now!

"Oh, uh...I just came by to see if the bookstore had a, eh...pattern design book, yes. Pattern designs." She tittered and quickly maneuvered Twilight and herself so that they had switched positions. She began to back into the store carefully and gave Twilight a rushed but sincere smile. "I wanted to talk to you about something, but it can wait till later, hm? Ta ta, dear!"

Twilight blinked with confusion as Rarity disappeared into the store. She shrugged, then went on her way.

Once inside, Rarity took her time. The place was dimly lit, and it was a bit cramped, though the store itself went back aways. Tall bookshelves were lined neatly several feet apart, and there was a metal staircase that lead up to a loft area, where more books waited to be purchased.

Despite looking like an old store, it smelled relatively new. The air was pleasant, it reminded Rarity of peaches and cinnamon. Such odd scents for a bookstore, but very nice nonetheless. After a moment, a vaguely familiar voice called out, "Hello? Is someone there?"

This surprised the Unicorn, she had been so taken with the store's appearance and scents that she'd almost forgotten why she was here. "Ahah! I knew I would find you here!" She called.

"Oh, you did? Wonderful! I'm up here!" Rarity's heart began to speed up as she followed the voice up the metal stairs. This was so exciting! The very nature of Twilight's secret, and getting to see her old friend! This was just getting better and bett-

She stopped and looked in awe at the green Pegasus who was most certainly not Spark Storm, but Emerald Skies, who had been in Rarity's and Spark Storm's circle of friends in their youth. Several emotions began to run through Rarity at the same time: Excitement, disappointment, joy, joy at finding one of her old friends, but not the one she'd been looking for...

"Oh, Rarity! What a pleasure to see you!" Emerald smiled and took a few steps closer before adjusting his glasses. Rarity hadn't seen him since before going through their final years of school. He had grown into a fine looking stallion. Handsome, in a bookish kind of way. Now that she thought about it, he really did remind her of a male, green Twilight with wings.

"E-Emerald, hello! You've grown up well." She smiled and slipped back into professional mode. It wouldn't do to insult an old friend right after meeting him again after several years. Ditzy's words again hit her hard. Just how many ponies had she forgotten lived in this town? The guilt was slowly eating at her, making her more and more aware of her position on the social ladder.

Emerald blushed at her compliment. "What brings you by my humble abode today? Some cross-stitch pattern books? Perhaps, some advanced stitching techniques?" He flew over her head and began running through his vast collections, calling out books that Rarity would indeed be looking for, had she come for shopping. As the Unicorn watched her old friend look through books that just screamed 'fashionista', Rarity felt tears forming in her eyes. Emerald Skies hadn't seen her for so long, yet he knew exactly what she might want. And here she was, Unicorn of beauty, grace, "social butterfly", and she didn't even know that her old friend still lived here in Ponyville and owned a bookstore. How many others had she abandoned in her race to the top?

She was deep in her own regrets when she heard a grumble. It sounded like a very empty stomach, and up there in the metal loft it echoed. It was undeniable proof that Rarity was not alone. Even Emerald Skies heard it. He paused in his browsing and looked up to Rarity with a look of panic on his face.

"Uhh...heh..must be more hungry that I thought!" He laughed nervously as he returned to his loft and coughed. "Sh-shouldn't have missed breakfast, I guess!" He then made a low guttural noise in his throat, trying to recreate the noise. It was not working. The fashionista looked at him flatly. "There is someone else here, Emerald, and I am beginning to think you're hiding her from me."

"I-I'm not hiding hi- uhhh her uh anyone..." Emerald Skies felt a trickle of sweat drip down his mane. He'd been caught.

"Ah-hah! I knew it." she said matter-of-factly. She looked around the dark corners of the loft. The walls were covered, mostly, with boxes and rolled-up materials, but she knew he was here somewhere. "Spark Storm! Come out here and say hello to me like a proper gentlecolt, or I will tear this place apart until I find you! Don't think I won't, you remember how determined I can be when I set my mind to something!"

Emerald looked horrified at this outburst, but he seemed to relax when they both heard some rustling in the back. Rolled up tarps and metal bars fell onto the floor with a loud clatter as the dark Pegasus emerged from the far right corner. As he did, Rarity's heart again began to beat with excitement.

From the corner emerged the very pony she'd been obsessing about for the past week and a half. Oh, how he'd changed. He was tall, so very tall, only half a head shorter than that red farmer pony that she had recently learned was Applejack's brother. She took him all in, as well as she could in the dim light. His wings appeared almost exactly as she had drawn them. When they weren't sticking out in all directions, making him look like a grand peacock, they were tapered straight down his back, edging about four inches behind his rear, which was actually quite shapely...

No, no! That's not why you're here! Focus, Rarity! Despite the fact that she wanted to run to him and hug him and maybe slap him for not coming to see her, something else was weighing much more heavily on her mind.

Spark Storm smiled cautiously as he took a step towards the two. He knew what he was getting himself into by revealing himself, so he prepared for the onslaught of anger and righteous indignation from his old friend.

Instead, what she said greatly surprised him.

"Spark Storm...how do you know Twilight Sparkle, and why is she so upset about you being in town?"

Spark blinked, then frowned. "Ugh...that's..." He glanced around, clearly uncomfortable with the topic.

Rarity stepped close, then reached down to take his hoof in hers and looked into his eyes. "Please, Spark Storm? I know I should just mind my own business, but this has been plaguing my mind ever since I saw you that night. I didn't recognize you at first, so I sketched you out and showed you to Twilight. She looked so upset, and I just wanted to know why. Please?"

The big Pegasus sighed as he looked down at their hooves. Rarity gingerly released his, but continued to give him a pleading look.

"...I met her in Canterlot." Rarity sat down in front of him to listen, while Emerald wandered on behind them to start up some coffee.

Spark Storm continued to tell his tale of meeting Twilight, how he had been taken in by Celestia's secret force called the Fighters. He told her how the Princess had introduced the two, how rough their first meeting had been. He told her of the trip that sailed to Neippon. Emerald Skies sighed blissfully as he remembered this part. It had truly been important for him.

Spark spoke of how he and Twilight grew closer once she learned that he had mapped the stars almost as well as she had. He told her of their fallout on the ship, concerning the tussle between himself and Twilight's brother, then forgiving her after he'd recovered from the lightning storm. He told her of his test, and of felling an assassin right beside Twilight. That must have been the nail in the coffin because that very night, Twilight had been torn on how she felt about him. She was very clearly freaking out, but when she heard Spark Storm telling his friend Lemon Pop that he had no special feelings for Twilight, it broke her heart, and led her to the decision to ask him never to talk to her again. Of course, to this day, nearly nine years later, he hadn't. He had left her alone and avoided her whenever he was around.

Rarity sniffled as he finished his story. Tears fell freely as she took in all this information. It was heartbreaking, but at least she had her answers.

Finally, she looked up at Spark Storm and smiled, then closed the distance between them for a tight hug. "Spark Storm, I've missed you terribly." She stepped back, giving him a stern stare. "But if you make me wait another ten years just to see you, I will make you pay for it, understand?"

Spark laughed and shook a hoof at her dismissively. "You won't have to worry about that. I have a feeling you and all our old friends will be seeing much more of me."

Rarity stepped out of the bookstore feeling conflicted. On the pros list of these feelings, she had found her old childhood friend, alive and well, after such a long time ago. Such bittersweet memories.

On the other hoof, Rarity was becoming more and more aware of how far up the social ladder she had come, and consequently, more aware of the friends that she had left behind to get there.

Now determined more than ever, Rarity set off through town with a new mission, and it started at Sugarcube Corner.

---

Stay tuned for the epilogue of this longer-than-usual One-Shot!

Comments

[mrmayortheiv]

I feel really bad for Emerald, he kind of gets the short end of the stick more often than he deserves.