Four
It was about an hour and a half into her shift when Rarity got the surprise. She finished ringing up her customers and stepped out from behind the counter. She went to one of the shoe displays and began straightening the pairs on the table, choosing the right angle for each pair to catch the light and hopefully the eye of other customers.
“Oh yes, very good,” Rarity murmured to herself, taking a step back to admire her handiwork. “I defy anyone to find a more fabulous display of shoes anywhere!”
“I dunno. I thought the all sneaker recreation of the Temple of Ahuizotl from 'Daring Do and the Eye of the Emerald Demon' Rainbow Dash made over at the mall sports store was pretty impressive.”
Rarity responded without turning around to see who had spoken. “Pfft-tsk-tch! An Aztec temple made from shoe boxes may be impressive, but what does it do to show off the style, the elegance, the sheer glory of a top class pair of boots or shoes?”
On a roll, Rarity whirled around, gesturing dramatically to the ceiling. eyes closed. “How could a mere pile of boxes inspire anyone to purchase such wondrous footwear as this? How, I ask you?!”
“Dropping the price by twenty percent?” answered the newcomer.
“Well, of course, there is that.” Rarity smiled and opened her eyes. “But if you're truly in the market for something to make your feet look divine, you simply cannot go wrong with – Firecracker Burst?”
The tall girl grinned. “Well, I've never gone wrong with me before.”
Rarity blinked, but quickly regained her composure. “And you would look absolutely stunning in these!”
She turned back to the display, grabbing a pair of deep blue pumps with a metallic sheen to them. Keep calm. Don't give her any reason to be suspicious. She's just another customer looking for a pair of fabulous shoes.
“Now these,” she said, turning around and presenting the shoes to her unexpected customer. “These would look divine with your skin tone and with your height, oooh, you have no idea how many heads you'd turn when you enter a room.”
Firecracker grinned and shook her head. “Honestly, I'm not actually here to shop.”
“Oh?” Rarity put the shoes back on the display. She swallowed and turned back to Firecracker. “Then what can I do for you?”
Firecracker ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “Why was Twilight following me and Moondancer earlier today?”
Now it was Rarity's turn to sigh. “I suppose we're past the point of subterfuge. She was following both of you because we think you both know more about what happened to Sunset than either of you are telling.”
Firecracker pursed her lips in thought and nodded. “Okay, I kinda figured that. And you're right. We should be honest with each other.”
She paced back and forth a few times, then looked back at Rarity. “I know you're working, and we don't have a lot of time here. But, how about this? You ask me anything you want to know and I'll answer them until your next customer comes in.”
Rarity quirked an eyebrow. “Truthfully?”
Firecracker nodded. “Truthfully. And I'll meet up with you and the other girls later tonight and answer any other questions you want. Fair?”
Rarity considered for a moment, then looked Firecracker in the eye. “Agreed. Question one: Twilight said it looked like you and Moondancer were having a very intense conversation. What was it about?”
Firecracker answered with a sigh. “Moondancer called me last night and asked me to meet her today. I don't know what you said to her after school, but she's started looking into what happened to Sunset too. She was asking me if I sent any of the emails Sunset got.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“I told her that I had sent some of them. But I also told her the same thing I told Pinkie. I was drunk and angry the night I did that.”
“Which brings me to my next question. Why were you so angry the night you sent those messages?” Rarity folded her arms and looked expectant.
Firecracker Burst rubbed her face then looked back at Rarity. “Do you remember Gardenia Glow?”
Rarity kept her expression neutral. “Yes. Terrible what happened to her.”
“Yeah.” The tall girl looked at her feet, sighed again, and then turned her attention back to Rarity. “I was friends with Gardenia when all that happened. So was Moondancer and Beachberry, but I was the one she came to the night her parents kicked her out. It took a few days to get her back on her feet.
“Anyway, for some reason, Moondancer thought all this might have something to do with her, so she asked me if I'd heard from her recently. I told her no.”
Rarity frowned. “Really? Then you didn't know she moved back to town recently?”
“Did she?” Firecracker blinked. “Honestly, we kind of lost touch with each other when she went to college. As far as I knew, she was still up at Baltimare University. When did she move back?”
“No idea. Pinkie Pie found out from her sister.”
“Huh,” Firecracker shrugged. “Weird. You'd think she would have let me know.”
“So that's all Moondancer wanted? To see if you'd been in contact with Gardenia?”
“Yeah. And I told her what I just told you. I haven't.”
“All right then,” Rarity took a breath. “I assume you heard about what happened over at the mall a couple of days ago?”
Firecracker nodded. “Yeah.”
“Where were you when all that was going on?”
“This isn't going to help me convince you I had nothing to do with all this, but I was there. I was over at the music store when all that happened. I evacuated with everyone else.”
“I don't suppose anyone can confirm that? Moondancer, perhaps?”
Firecracker shook her head. “With all the chaos, I'm surprised I even remember I was there.”
“What about the night Sunset was attacked?”
“Still not gonna help my case. I was home, doing some prop work for the show.”
Rarity nodded. “You have to admit, as alibis go, those are pretty useless.”
“I know. But I promised you the truth and that's what it is.”
Rarity opened her mouth to ask her next question, but was interrupted when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. The short double buzz that indicated a text had arrived.
Rarity frowned. Her friends and family knew that she wasn't to be disturbed at work unless it was an emergency. Which meant someone desperately wanted to get her attention.
“Excuse me for a moment, Firecracker,” she said, smiling. “Just need to check something.”
Rarity walked behind the counter and pulled out her phone. The text came from Rainbow Dash. The contents of the text changed everything.
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Oh, boy.
I just wonder what it is.
Guess we'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out.
Geez...
8526981
One of two:
"It's Firecracker" or "I found Gardenia and she's been attacked and held hostage."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CLIFF HANGERS!! MY ONE TRUE WEAKNESS HISSSSSSS HISSSS!
8527148 Probably.
They found Gardenia, didn't they?
Also, this countdown of chapter titles is spooky
9402599
Agreed. The countdown is quite spooky.