The Challenges of Love--Part One: Rarity's Tale

by pmcollectorboy

Miracles In Jars

Miracles In Jars

One dress. One cat. Two gifts. A coin purse. One pounding headache.

These were the things that burdened Rarity as she hurried to clear up her shop and close it for the holidays. Recent events had left her feeling stretched rather thin and pressed for time. Closing out her ledger took longer than she had anticipated, and she discovered she had been left with not as much disposable income as she would've liked, which had soured her mood somewhat. Her desires for Gift Giving Day, the things she longed to get her family and friends, and the kind of shopping experience she preferred tended to head into the realms of the the exorbitant.

With beads of sweat pooling on her temple, she gave the clock on her wall a glance as she hurriedly stuffed Prism Sketch's letter and a sketch pad inside one of her saddle bags. There was barely any time left for her to catch her evening train out of Ponyville and towards Baltimare.

On her back, propped up against the edge of one of the saddle bags for support, lay her pet carrier. Opalescence purred inside the small compartment, curled up inside the soft depths of her pet bed. The tiny creature had a date with Fluttershy.

With her heart beating loudly in her ears from her frazzled nerves, Rarity made a dash for the door, pausing momentarily to erect a sign at a window, a sign to indicate to her customers that she was no longer open for business. Upon doing that, she then threw open her front door in a bubble of magic and stepped out into brisk cold. She heard her boots crunching down into the soft snow as she turned around and closed the door. She then turned towards her rear again with the hope of making her way down her walkway, only to bump into another pony.

"Oof! Oh I'm so terribly sorry!" Rarity exclaimed as she steadied herself. As she looked up, she spotted who had bumped into her. "Prism Sketch!" She felt all her nerve and half of her will to keep her composure in front of him drain away. "I-I what are y-you doing here?" she stammered, not even sure where her words were going.

The stallion in front of her carefully looked himself over, brushing out any stray fibers on his carefully groomed jacket. Behind her, Opal let her owner know how indignant she was over being tossed about by reaching out with her claws through the pet carrier's window and soundly yanking on Rarity's hair.

"Ow! Opal!"

"I must apologize, Rarity," Prism Sketch began when he was satisfied with the state of his jacket. "I know I said I'd wait for you to reply in a letter, but the good princess is being absolutely stubborn, and I am simply at my wits end. I looked up the address on your business card and came to you discuss plans for outfitting the auction event."

Rarity trotted in place, her mind working at a feverish pace, and she glanced at the western sky, noting the sun sinking low into the horizon as Ponyville's lamps blazed to life. After a jumble of uncoordinated thoughts, she returned her gaze at Prism Sketch and shook her head.

"I am sorry, Prism Sketch, but as I was trying to tell you on the train, I have other engagements, one involving my family, and simply can not spare the time to take on a project. I am desperately short on time and hurrying to catch my train, which I must make to avoid disappointing my family." Rarity bowed, short and quickly. "Please excuse me. I HAVE to go!"

Prism Sketch shook his head and frowned. "How discouraging. Then why, pray tell, were you building up this magnificent sales pitch if you weren't available for your services?!"

The tone in his voice had been steadily increasing in volume and harshness as he spoke, signifying anger.

"I... But... You..." the fashionista stammered.

"I will simply look elsewhere, then, and will tell the princess and the auctioneer and all the attendees that you are disappointingly unreliable." He clicked his teeth. "It's a shame. I have already told the princess so much about you."

Rarity had her lower lip tucked deeply into her upper teeth, struggling to suppress it from quivering. She was slowly being reduced to tears from the terrible dressing down Prism Sketch was giving her. Fearing some vague repercussion to her status and losing a valuable opportunity, she stretched out her right front hoof. "Wait! No!" she cried.

Prism Sketch halted his departure, turned around, and raised an eyebrow.

"Please, Prism Sketch. We're both reasonable ponies." Rarity struggled to collect her nerves and return the smoothness in her voice but failing badly. "It is terribly important for me to catch my train, bu-but I've got sketches! Yes! Sketches! A-and I promise you I will work on the outfits while I'm away on my vacation!"

The stallion wrinkled his nose and looked Rarity up and down, his eyes partially narrowed into a glare of doubt. "Hmm," he said with a nod. "You have ten minutes to show me your plans."

Rarity's lower lip dropped slightly. "Show you my plans? But I..." She then regarded the serious expression and slumped, completely defeated. "Very well."

She turned around, head hung low, and magically turned the handle on her front door once more.

* * *

Spike busied himself with a broom, sweeping away the broken remains of the magical telescope, muttering to himself as he worked the handle from side to side, pushing the bits and pieces into a small dust pan. He then dumped the shards of glass, dented metal, and broken bits of the wooden casing into a small trash can in the kitchen.

Despite the memory of his misdeed still fresh in his mind, he couldn't quite puzzle out various apologies he could be saying, the different ways he could be broaching the situation and smoothing over Twilight, or even the different ways she could react, should his negotiation skills fail him.

In the young dragon's mind, the telescope had actually been placed on the back burner, and he had of late been preoccupied with another matter entirely. There was something he remembered as he thought back to when Rarity had visited the library.

"She thinks I didn't see that shiny diamond earring there?" the dragon fumed as he reached down and pulled out the trash can's inner lining. "It's not even Gift Giving Day, yet. I bet she got that diamond from that Dusk Seed or whatever his name is. Well I'll show him."

Spike dragged the trash bag out of the kitchen and into the living room. As he headed for the front door to dump the trash bag, and its incriminating evidence outside, the door quickly swung open as Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy stepped in from out of the cold.

"Spike!" Twilight called.

The suddenness of Twilight's entry startled Spike suitably that he lost his grip on the trash bag and dropped it on the floor. He stiffened when he heard the harsh clinking of the broken telescope bits hitting the hardwood, a frantic fear growing inside him that the lavender unicorn might suspect his misdeed. Hastily, he gathered up the the ends of the trash bag and pulled them closer together.

"Yes, Twilight?" Spike answered back as both Twilight and Fluttershy took a few moments to stomp snow out of their boots.

After Twilight finished tapping the snow out of her boots onto the mat, she closed the door and looked up at the baby dragon. "It's the weirdest thing. The whole town is a buzz about a strange new unicorn that shimmers with blue fur. We get creatures from other races all the time passing through Ponyville. Minotaurs. Griffons. Even the odd phoenix. But this unicorn seems to have caused quite a stir. Anyway. Taking out the trash?"

Spike nodded his head, hoping he didn't seem too conspicuous as he tied up the edges of the trash bag. "Uh... Yeah. Oh you must be talking about Dusk Seed. He's a new... Well I wouldn't call him a unicorn. I actually don't know what he is." Spike looked up at the ceiling as he tapped his chin in thought. "Do you remember that one book? Uh... Something guide to rare creatures?"

"Hang on, Spike," Twilight said as she hung up her coat, put away her boots, and headed towards her book shelves.

Fluttershy looked up from where she was stepping out of her own boots. "Hmm. Well it's certainly very interesting about this new, uh, whatever he is," she whispered as she kept her head low. "But Spike... How do you know his name?"

Spike waved an arm dismissively. "Meh. He came around here a while ago. I think he's Rarity's new friend. Personally I think he's kinda odd looking, but I remember he had really bright, rainbow-colored eyes and fur that changed shades as he moved. I don't...uh..." He cut off the rest of his words with a cough.

"You don't what, Spike?" Twilight asked as she stood on the middle rung of the ladder, never taking her eyes off her row of books as she slowly panned around for the book she wanted.

"Nothing!" he hurriedly exclaimed, clutching the trash bag closer to himself. "He was pretty polite, though," he said in a whisper.

Fluttershy quietly blushed and hid next to the door frame, keeping her head pulled close to her shoulders and looking like she'd rather be somewhere else. "Um... Oh dear. Rarity has a new friend? And it's the one the whole town is talking about? Wow. That's... nice. I hope she doesn't introduce me." Fluttershy had been growing steadily quieter as she talked.

Twilight never heard Fluttershy, however, for she gave an exclamation of triumph from where she stood underneath one of her bookcases. "I found it!"

Both Spike and Fluttershy glanced over their shoulders, watching Twilight snatch a book in her levitation field and tow it over to her work desk. Spike dropped the trash bag and scampered over to where Twilight had situated herself.

"Extra-dimensional Creatures and Other Rare Races of Equestria," Spike said as he read the title of the book.

"Now tell me again what Rarity's friend looked like, and please be as specific as possible," Twilight said as she opened the book and flipped through the pages. "Oh wait. Nevermind." The studious bookworm tapped the surface of a page with her hoof. "Is that it?"

As Twilight withdrew her hoof, Spike glanced at the page. "A creature with a horn like a unicorn's. Faint mottled patterns on the coat resembling fish scales. And ir... ir..." Spike furrowed his brow ridge as he struggled to read the tricky word on the page.

"Iridescent," Twilight finished. "It means to change color slightly as your viewpoint changes. So..." Twilight glanced at the page as Fluttershy made her way over to look over Twilight's shoulder as well. "Rarity's new friend is a kirin."

"A what?" Spike asked, eyeballing the illustration.

"A kirin. It's a kind of eastern unicorn, traditionally from a small island out in the ocean somewhere. They are said to be somewhat gifted with magic but little else is known about them. Their attractive, multi-colored, shiny eyes are said to possess bewitching properties but this is so far just a rumor. Another legend goes that kirins are spirits of luck and can change the luck of those they let into their lives, although it isn't known whether a particular kirin is a spirit of bad luck or good luck. Once again, though, this is only a rumor." Twilight shifted out of her "reading" voice and adopted her normal speaking voice. "Hmm. Yeah I don't particularly buy into that luck nonsense, either, but I'd like to know more about this Dusk Seed character and about kirins. He sounds intriguing."

Spike crossed his arms and frowned. "Hmph! Well if you'll excuse me, I have some trash to take out!" he exclaimed in a sour tone.

As the young dragon headed back to his trash bag, the library's front door swung open again. In the doorway stood a white unicorn in a royal purple winter coat, a pet carrier balanced on the small of her back. Twilight looked up from her book and smiled.

"Hello there, Rarity? How are you do...?"

"Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed as she rushed forward and closed the door behind her with her magic. "I am so sorry to be short with you, but I am running really late!"

Twilight regarded Rarity's outward appearance, using it to judge her state of mind. Her fashion friend seemed haggard. Rarity's mane had a few hairs out of place, and her eyes were slightly bloodshot, but Twilight dared not ask if she had been crying. Twilight's smile shrank somewhat, but she still tried to give an optimistic grin.

"Is something wrong, Rarity?" Twilight asked.

Rarity shook her head and approached Twilight and Fluttershy, crossing the room with speed and seeming purpose in her step. "I need a couple favors so that I can get underway on my trip!" Rarity levitated her pet carrier off of her back and placed it on the floor. She then pulled out from her saddle bag a plain brown jerkin, lined with wool and sporting a cape and cowl by way of a clasp at the collar. "Twilight. This coat is for a friend of mine. His name is Dusk Seed. He's kind of shy, but I told him that you could show him around town, so he might come back." She turned towards Fluttershy. "Fluttershy. Could you please watch Opal while I'm gone?"

The yellow pegasus nodded. "Certainly. I would be glad to do..."

Rarity then turned back towards Twilight, her words coming quicker than her friends' ability to give their own. "Oh! A couple more things, Twilight, before I go. Um... I'm not sure how to put this."

"What is it, Rarity?"

Rarity bit her lower lip as she glanced back and forth between the ground and the saddle bags on Twilight's back. A faint blue-ish glimmer could be seen underneath the flaps.

"I...need..." She inhaled sharply and delivered her words all at once, remembering how pressed for time she was. "I need your moonglow bugs!"

Twilight balked. "What? Our moonglow bugs?" She turned her head towards her saddle bag. "How many?"

"How many do you have?" Rarity asked, rubbing the back of her neck to ease her embarrassment.

"About a dozen or so." Twilight looked back up at Rarity, who couldn't quite look her straight in the eyes.

Rarity's eyes started to wander again, first to the ceiling and then to the bookshelf. "Um... All of them." She then noted the time on a cuckoo clock next to the bookshelf and wrinkled her nose, growing increasingly anxious.

Twilight's eyes widened. "All of them?! But Rarity! These bugs are going to be used for the festival, and they're pretty rare and hard to catch! I can't spare these!"

"Oh but Twilight..."

"I said no!"

Rarity immediately fell quiet as she pulled her lips into a sorrowful purse. She crossed her two front legs as she glanced at the floor, the beginnings of tears heading towards the brim of her eyes. Spike frowned and approached Twilight, which only Rarity could see, but she shook her head, as slowly and as small as possible to avoid attracting either Twilight's or Fluttershy's notice. Spike saw it, grumbled and walked away to head back to his trash bag.

"So..." Rarity began as she tried to put some cheer in her voice. "What's so special about these moonglow bugs, anyway?" she asked as she moved her muzzle closer to Twilight's saddle bags.

Twilight levitated the flap of a saddle bag upwards. A small glass container then floated out of the bag and hovered closer to Rarity's eyes. The container was spherical on the bottom and possessed a short glass neck, which ended in a cork stopper at the lip. Cradling the round portion was a mesh of rope, which ended a kind of handle, also made of rope. Rarity squinted as she looked inside the container.

"They're so tiny," Rarity said.

Rarity knew that the bugs glowed and that they were attractive, which was why she wanted to use them in her upcoming projects. However, as she stared at them, it dawned on her just how inadequate any word used to describe them were. They resembled small butterflies, but more than that, Rarity felt like she was watching tiny stars, a small, portable galaxy in a jar. They radiated light, some red, some blue, and some yellow. The tiny bugs stayed still at the bottom of the glass container, their auras of light slowly pulsating like heartbeats. The more she watched them, the more captivated by their beauty she became, and the more she wanted them.

"They're sleeping," Twilight said.

Rarity lifted her head away from the container to look back at Twilight. "Sleeping?"

"When they transform from glowworms, they spend a month or so being awake for only three hours a day, usually right around midnight, and three hours more during the full moon. Then after that month is up, they come alive, and for a whole week they never sleep, blazing a blinding white light, no matter which color they were born with. During the whole week, they mate, and on the final day the female fixes herself to a tree. The male spends the entire twenty four hours of the final day keeping the female alive and fed, not caring for his own health, while the female lays her eggs. Then..."

"Then?" Rarity urged.

"They die."

Rarity gasped at these words.

"It is said that couples extinguish their lights at the same time. There's a link between the moonglow bugs and Gift Giving Day, but it's a bit long and complicated to explain. The answer will be there in the pageant."

The white unicorn remained silent as she reflected on the words and the story of the moonglow bugs. "That sounds... So romantic," she said with a melancholy sigh. "Um..." She went back to glancing around the room.

"Was there something else you needed?"

"Romanea..." Rarity whispered.

"I beg your pardon?"

Rarity snapped to attention, banishing whatever thoughts had preoccupied her and coming back to the realization that she had to leave on her trip in a hurry. "Oh! Nothing, Twilight. I'll just head on my trip." She turned around and headed towards the door, placing one hoof in front of the other in a slow, sad beat. "Alone." She lowered her head as she neared the door. "And empty-hoofed."

Unseen to Rarity, Spike had been watching Rarity's march towards the front door from the back door where the outdoor trash can was situated. Spike had asked Twilight to relocate it after the baby dragon had had an embarrassing run in with a citizen whose curiosity over a box of magazines was all too short-lived. Twilight could only agree, if the experiment on the twentieth of August had anything to say about it, which considering the amount of mouths it had sprouted, it probably could've, in several different languages.

The dragon still clutched the trash bag close to his chest, but upon watching the fashion unicorn slink away, he felt compelled to sniffle. He reached up and wiped his eyes, which proved to be an unwise move, as his index claw had touched something with hot sauce on it.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaugh!" the tiny dragon bellowed.

"Spike?" Rarity stopped in her tracks and snapped her head backwards, just in time to see the poor thing doubled over and clutching at his eyes as he hopped up and down. Thinking quickly, she dropped her saddle bags and doffed her coat before rushing forward, snatching up Spike and placing him on her back. "Oh my Spikey Wikey! Don't you worry. Rarity will get you cleaned up."

She headed upstairs to the bathroom, darted in, and promptly locked the door.

"Hey!" Twilight called up towards the top of the stairs. She then turned towards Fluttershy. "How does she know where my bathroom is?"

* * *

Baby blue and light pink candles lit up a sea of vanilla frosting. Sweetie Belle inhaled briefly and could smell the sweet aroma. Underneath the candles on the first cake layer, similarly colored icing formed words and symbols that should've made her happy. One symbol was an eighth note with a pink heart in place of the note head. Above the notes were the words "Happy Birthday, Sweetie Belle".

Sweetie Belle was anything but; the gesture of the cake felt somewhat empty to her. The fact that the symbols reminded her of her absent cutie mark didn't do much to improve her mood.

She counted the candles. They numbered ten.

Sweetie Belle was now ten years old. Earlier her mother had told her she was officially a "big filly". While Sweetie Belle didn't have her two best friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo over at her party, she was surrounded by a loving family, and she was ten years old.

The atmosphere came alive with festivities, from the colors and patterns on the gift-wrapped boxes, from the curly ribbons on the end of white balloons, and from the cheerful songs being sung by loving family members. Her mother was there. Her father was there. A couple aunts were there. Her big sister's favorite cousin, a young stallion named Thoughtful Gift, was there. Her family members were all there for her, celebrating this event because she knew they cared. By all rights, it was as a picture perfect scene of a lively birthday party as any other.

"Happy birthday to you!" came the last notes of the song.

A middle-aged mare unicorn with a coat the color of peach stared at Sweetie Belle with shimmery, expectant eyes, a smile on her face. The young white filly merely stared at the cake in front of her in the center of the dinner table. Then she glanced over her shoulder back at the doorway.

"Come on, sweetheart. Make a wish," said the mare, her mother.

"Yeah, pumpkin. Blow out the candles. I hope it's a good wish," said an orange stallion earth pony on Sweetie Belle's other side.

Sweetie Belle turned her head from her mother to her father and than back to her mother again. Their smiles were broad. Their pride was sincere. They all seemed so happy.

However, her heart wasn't into smiling. Somepony was missing from the party.

"Where's Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked, her voice almost a whisper.

The smiles on her mother's and father's face faded away, and they gave each other glances. The mother then looked back at Sweetie Belle and reached out to gently touch her on the shoulder.

"Sweetie Belle. I... Maybe Rarity is running late."

Sweetie Belle gave the door another look, almost expecting it to open any time now. "She promised she'd be here on time for my birthday. I can't start without her."

"Sweetie Belle, please. Try to have a good birthday. Gift Giving Day is coming up soo..."

"I want Rarity!"

Sweetie Belle furiously pounded the table, causing her paper plate to flip upside-down and fall to the floor.

Sweetie Belle's mother frowned and wrinkled her nose. "Sweetie Belle! You're acting like a..."

The father frantically waved a hoof at his wife. "Halo Gem? Don't go there."

Halo Gem pulled her lips into a tight, angry line. She then drew closer to Sweetie Belle's ear and whispered a few stern words into it. When her mother had pulled away, Sweetie Belle looked around at the party guests. Her family looked at her expectantly, some with faces of unbridled happiness, and some who looked like their nerves were on the verge of fracturing. She regarded her aunt Lacey Belle, who pasted on a smile so forced in its breadth as to look like it was made of the bottom half of a clown mask. Sweetie Belle then considered her mother's words, and even though she didn't feel her birthday party was complete without her sister Rarity, she also felt she should be considerate of the rest of her family and ease the emotional strain on some of them.

Sweetie Belle looked back at her mother and nodded. "Okay, mommy. I'll try to have a good birthday."

Halo Gem ran a hoof through Sweetie Belle's mane and placed another paper plate in front of her. "There's a good girl."

The young filly gazed at the candles once more. Ten tiny points of flame danced and flickered before her, as if to wave to her and join in the celebration. She pondered the significance of blowing them out. She could wish for Rarity to show up on time, or she could wish for her cutie mark. However, the more she thought about the candles, and the simple idea of snuffing something into non-existence to fulfill one's own desires, the more she didn't expect either of these wishes to come true. Did candle flames appreciate being blown out for wants so improbable, or did they prefer giving themselves up for the usual material gifts? She even wondered if the thing to do at the moment was just to let the candles burn themselves out to the wick. That was sure to leave a sticky mess on the surface of the frosting, however.

Then, hoping against hope, she finally latched onto a wish and inhaled deeply.

'My wish is for my big sister Rarity to have more time so that she wouldn't be stressed all the time and so that she can have more time for me and... for her to find a nice boyfriend who makes her happy!'

Sweetie Belle secretly hoped that whatever or whoever was listening didn't punish her for making her wish complex.

A puff of air escaped her lips, and the flames vanished, replaced by ten rising wisps of smoke.

"Hooray!" her mother exclaimed as she levitated the cutting knife.

Sweetie Belle didn't feel pride upon completing her mother's request, and she also wondered how she would know if her wish came true. As the cake was carved up and served, however, she did her best to disguise her sadness and accepted her offering. She cheerlessly picked up the paper plate with her cake on top, excused herself from the table, and sauntered over to a closet in the living room, locking herself in it before wolfing down the cake slice. After she had devoured the treat, she felt like a good belch would cheer her up, which was a philosophy Apple Bloom had told her always worked after a good snack. It wasn't a belch that escaped her lips, though, but a sob. As tears escaped her eyes and fell off her cheeks to ruin her favorite bunny slippers, the sobbing turned into a case of the hiccups, which caused Sweetie Belle to grow flustered and flush at her cheeks. Frantic to get her hiccups under control, she darted out of the closet and back into the kitchen to discover her mother levitating a glass of punch over to her, as if her mother had already foreseen her predicament and prepared the drink early.

Sweetie Belle eagerly grasped the crystalline demitasse with her two front hooves and slugged back the purple liquid. When she had finished and was certain her hiccups had ceased, she hugged her mother across the chest. Halo Gem rubbed the top of Sweetie Belle's head.

"My you're getting so big. I remember when your hugs only came up to my knees."

Sweetie Belle groaned into her mother's fur.

"Are you not having fun?"

The filly gazed up to look into her mother's eyes and slowly shook her head. Her mother then moved her hoof from the top of Sweetie Belle's head to her right cheek, stroking it gently. Sweetie Belle closed her eyes, a thrilling wave of tingling rush over her from the snout to her hooves, and she breathed in as she enjoyed the tender moment.

"They're starting the games and the music in the living room. Why don't you go join them and have some fun?"

"I don't really feel like it, mommy," Sweetie Belle replied.

"Would you like to open presents?" her mom asked, a hint of eagerness in her voice.

The filly pulled away from her mother's embrace and thought for a bit before she replied, "Um... I think I want to wait for Rarity before I open presents."

Her mother brought a hoof up to her chin. "Hmm. I'll tell you what. You seem really stressed out, and I can't force for you to enjoy your own birthday if you're not up to it. Why don't you go out and unwind a bit in the snow?"

"But Rarity promised she'd... I mean..." Sweetie Belle clamped her mouth shut when she caught her mother's glare. "That sounds like a good idea. Thank you, mommy."

Halo Gem hugged her daughter once more. "Go put on your coat. And bring Thoughtful Gift along with you. You'll need adult supervision."

Sweetie Belle furrowed her eyebrows as she glared at her mother, discouraged by the suggestion. "How is that unwinding? And Thoughtful Gift is only seventeen. He isn't an adult."

"Neither are you. Now don't argue."

"Yes, mother," she groaned.

Sweetie Belle headed towards the parlor as her mother made her way in the direction of the living room to fetch Thoughtful Gift, a young unicorn stallion who was related by way of one of her father's sisters and who was also unusual in being one of the few males in all of Equestria colored pink. She opened up the coat room and retrieved her coat, jumping up and yanking it off the hanger. Plopping her flank on the floor, she draped the coat across her back as two pairs of pink, fetlocked hooves appeared next to her. Slipping one front leg into its respective coat sleeve, and then the other, she fidgeted and struggled and eventually secured the apparel, a bright purple outer wear bedecked in Rarity's gems, around her body. As zipped up the front nice and snug and all the way to the top, she looked up and spotted Thoughtful Gift giving her a broad smile.

"Ready to go, kiddo?" he exclaimed.

Thoughtful Gift's voice rang like wind chimes inside Sweetie Belle's head. It often seemed to the young filly like a cross between an early puberty colt and a mezzo soprano.

"Just a moment." Halo Gem approached from the hallway. The mother levitated a bright red scarf over to Sweetie Belle, wrapping it around her daughter's neck as she ran another loving stroke through Sweetie's mulberry, cloud-shaped mane. "Now you're ready."

Over by the door frame, Sweetie Belle's snow boots lay in the perfect formation for her to leap in, providing a swift way to secure them to her hooves. Her mother opened the door for the both of them, and Sweetie Belle and Thoughtful Gift made their way out into the cold.

"Don't wander too far. And watch out for strangers. Just stay near the park. And don't be too late. One hour. No more."

"Yes, mommy," Sweetie Belle said with a sigh.

The door closed behind them, and Sweetie Belle shuffled through snow deep enough to cover her ankles, with Thoughtful Gift following closely behind. She then made her way to the sidewalk just in front of her house, which had been plowed, and as such made her walking easier. She still shuffled along slowly. Even though she enjoyed the snow, she couldn't bring herself to lift up her spirits and run along and play in nature's white blanket. Rarity's broken promise of being there for Sweetie Belle still ravaged her mind, tying her heart in knots and weighing down her legs through a loss of will. Merely thinking about how her big sister failed to show up for such an important event in Sweetie Belle's life, especially after the elder swore to the younger that she wouldn't miss the celebration for anything, was enough to sour her mood on doing anything fun in the snow. Even as she walked towards the park, hearing the laughter of fillies and colts her age and carols sung in anticipation of the upcoming holiday, she grumbled to herself, nursing her bruised pride.

"So I hear you're not enjoying your own birthday," came a voice behind her, pulling her from her mental chewing out.

"Huh?" She glanced back as she walked along and spotted Thoughtful Gift.

"I wish I had a better tenth birthday. Know what I got for MY tenth birthday?" He paused for a response but was only treated to a blank stare from his cousin. "I got a needlework set, a rag doll, and a flank-kicking from some of my classmates."

"No offense, Thoughtful Gift, but I'm not in the mood to hear your colthood drama. I didn't even want anypony to tag along."

"Um... No worries. You won't even know I'm there. Let's just head to the park, and I'll sit quietly and do some needlework."

Sweetie Belle shrugged and continued on her way down the sidewalk.

Winter Lake Park was situated close by. Her parents had carefully chosen the location of their house because it was practically within a stone's throw of the park. It provided a picturesque and convenient place to play for Sweetie Belle and her few cousins and was located in a safe neighborhood. The park was readily in view down the main cross street near her home, the wrought iron fence marking the borders as she got near. The tall iron bars of the fence, electric lamps that lined the avenue, and barren ash trees were already decked out in holiday flair. Tinsel and streamers of red and green and vines of light bulbs had been strung up here and there. She imagined that the trees had been dressed up by her sister, with the electric lights as the parts of the dress and the patches of snow in the branches as the shoulder pads.

Sweetie Belle had to chuckle at that thought.

The two approached the park's opening and entered. No gate provided the way in. The park merely had a place where one end of the wrought iron fence stopped and then continued on fifteen or so feet from the other side. Thoughtful Gift sought out a bench to sit down on and work on his needlework creation while Sweetie Belle looked around.

The park was a mix of serenity and joyful activity. The trees here were a mix of ash and elms, and many were dressed up in holiday lights, same as the trees near the street. Several fillies and colts were here, either running around each other and throwing snow balls or playing catch with a ball or glide disk. Sweetie Belle regarded the happily playing children and the festive scene as she considered her recent behavior. Suddenly, something occurred to her. She had been born a week before Gift Giving Day and had been blessed to experience not one but two holidays where she received gifts, with each day being roughly within the same time frame. This happened to her every year, year after year. Her mother also could've easily banished her to her room for this morning's outburst. Instead, she had given Sweetie Belle a stern warning and offered her a chance to wind down outside.

With that revelation, Sweetie Belle's anger melted. Perhaps it was the holiday charm or the amusing, slightly off key warblings of school fillies and colts singing holiday songs, but she eventually came to recognize that she had been ungrateful. Her birthday wasn't the same without Rarity, but she couldn't remember a time when she had had one that was terrible.

As she looked around the park, she spotted a three level, circular stone fountain, its water since banished by the cold. Nearby, a colt with athletic legs playfully ran around an older stallion, kicking snow at him before running away, both all smiles and laughter. Sweetie Belle guessed that they were an older and younger brother, getting exercise and having fun. Watching the two made her pine for Rarity even more, but she no longer felt sad. Instead, she smiled bittersweetly and headed towards the fountain.

The filly stopped briefly when she got halfway to the fountain and glanced back at Thoughtful Gift. He still sat on the bench, curiously only half aware as he glanced up to wave before going back to his arts and crafts. She shrugged and continued on her way towards the granite structure. The fountain had been arranged as a series of three, flat and shallow, circular disks, with the smallest on top and the largest on the bottom. The central hub going up through each of the disks terminated in a small sphere, where the water would've tumbled out through a groove circling near the sphere's bottom. On top of the sphere, three different stone ponies posed playfully, one for each of the three pony types.

As she made her way towards the fountain, she passed by a blue earth pony colt curiously looking through a garbage can underneath one of the park's trees. At first she kept walking, if rather cautiously, occasionally stopping only briefly to eyeball the strange boy rummaging through the trash can. However, the more she walked and watched the colt out of the corner of her eyes, the more the boy and his activities bothered her. She whirled to face him.

"Hey! What are you doing there?!"

The young pony became startled and backed away from the garbage can, staring at Sweetie Belle with wild, fearful eyes. He slowly took a couple steps rearward, still looking at her with cursory glances. After a moment, though, he turned around and proceeded to run.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, reaching out with a hoof.

Despite her best efforts, the boy continued running towards the far side of the park, away from her. Sweetie Belle made a grunt of disapproval, looked over to where Thoughtful Gift sat and then back over to the running boy. She shook her head and made the choice to give chase, realizing the consequences of ditching her appointed guardian.

The colt's mad flight took her past park benches, the lake underneath a grove of elms, and out the entrance on the other side from where she came in. Snow and bushes whirled by her in a blur of white. She didn't stop to notice where she ran or the signs of the streets she passed. Her focus was completely on the boy.

As the chase continued, she saw him falter and trip a bit as the roads became less maintained and lumpier with piled snow. He turned down a side alley and tripped over a battered wooden crate. The colt hit the ground on his backside hard and tumbled backwards on the snow before coming to rest up against a wall. Sweetie Belle skidded to a halt to avoid a collision, kicking up some of the snow.

The boy quickly got up and frantically looked around. When he saw that he had nowhere to go, as the alley provided no exit, he shot a gaze back over at Sweetie Belle. The whites of his eyes were blood shot. His baby blue fur coat held smudges of dirt in places. He seemed jittery to Sweetie Belle and couldn't keep his body from fidgeting as he looked her up and down with rabbitlike motions in his head, his eyes wide and telling of the fear within him.

Sweetie Belle kept her distance when she saw his emotional state. She took one step backwards as she held up a hoof between herself and him, hoping to put him a little at ease.

"Why were you chasing me?" the boy squeaked.

"I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought it was kind of weird for a kid to be looking through a trash can. I thought you were up to no good."

"So you weren't after me to take me back to my brother?"

She cocked her head to the side, puzzled by his question. "Um... No?" As she looked at the strange earth pony boy some more, she slowly grew sorrowful and empathetic for him, mostly from how scared and dirty he looked. She braved one step closer towards him but kept her posture as low and non-threatening as possible. "Are you a runaway?"

The boy remained silent for a while, shrinking back a bit and looking at the snow around his hooves. He gave a small patch of snow a kick. He then lifted his gaze back towards Sweetie Belle and nodded. "Yeah."

The filly bit her lower lip and fidgeted herself. She glanced around a bit, an unease growing inside her. She realized that she had placed herself in an unfamiliar area. Not wanting to make an emotionally tense situation worse, she swallowed her fear to the best of her ability and turned her attention back to the young boy before her. "What's your name?"

"What's yours?"

"Sweetie Belle," she replied.

The boy still remained silent, but Sweetie Belle saw that at least he no longer fidgeted around.

"Well I told you my name. You're still not going to give me yours?"

The boy bit his lower lip. "Well... It's..."

Sweetie Belle suddenly heard a noise behind her, like the sound of the wooden crate being kicked over. It made a lot of noise, like it had been kicked with tremendous force. A glass bottle shattered, and the sound of a wooden plank cracking in two reached her ears. The colt suddenly sprang at her, catching her by surprise and knocking her off her feet, as a piece of wood flew by both of their heads. They landed in a heap, with him on top of her.

"Are you okay?" the colt asked as he rolled off her.

Sweetie Belle rubbed her head and then looked at the colt. "Um... Yeah. Why did you do that?"

"You almost got hit in the head with that piece of wood."

She shook the dizziness from her and got up to her feet, giving the small, eight inch plank a glare. "Where did THAT come from?"

The two children suddenly heard laughter behind them. However, it wasn't playful laughter. What they heard sounded more like mischievous laughter. They both turned their heads and spotted a couple well groomed unicorn colts having fun by kicking crates and garbage cans and aiming the odd snowball or soda bottle at the neighbors' mailboxes. One colt was short and stocky and sported a lopsided hairstyle that placed the entire bangs over his left eye. The other was tall and lanky but possessed long, muscular back legs. His hair style was slick with styling gel and swept back cleanly. The short one used his unicorn magic to hurt snow balls at mailboxes, putting huge dents in them. The tall one seemed to prefer using his back legs to kick over crates. He caused his mischief by raising his back legs as high as possible and launching them out at the same time, almost like Applejack during her applebucking.

Sweetie Belle and her new friend heard that same annoying, "trouble is my middle name" kind of laughter once more. Her friend gave her a worried look. She bit her lip when she saw his jaw tremble, and his legs started shaking with such terrible force that she half wondered if he was going to wet himself right in front of her.

"These aren't friends of yours?" she asked.

He released a low, quivering groan before swallowing hard and forcing the words out. "Far from it. These two are from uptown. But it looks like they haven't seen us yet. Get behind me."

Sweetie Belle obliged him and ducked behind his body as he turned around and faced the trouble-makers. She peeked out from around his bright yellow tail every now and then, trying hard to stifle her curiosity. It seemed odd to her that her new friend suddenly now decided to play knight, especially since he seemed to be more terrified than she was.

"Sapphire Dreams."

Sweetie Belle lifted up her head and blinked in surprise. "What?"

"That's my name."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

His head turned around, and he gave a small flash of a smile on one corner of his mouth. "Just in case we don't survive this?"

Sweetie Belle groaned and hid her face in her front hooves. "I'm already overdue for returning back home to my birthday party, and on top of that, I left my cousin back at the park, completely and utterly clueless. Ugh! I'm going to get grounded for a week!"

Sapphire Dreams waved a hoof backwards, motioning to her while still keeping his eye on the bullies. "Well keep it down so they don't hear us. That's the only way out of this alley. We'll just have to wait for them to go..."

"Hey look who it is!" shouted the tall unicorn.

"Away," Sapphire Dreams finished.

The shorter one looked up from his activities and turned around, making eye contact with Sapphire Dreams. The unicorn bully took one step forward. "Oh yeah! It's that Main Street baby who thinks he's part of that gang of other babies!"

The two then proceeded to snort and chuckle.

"Hey Grasshopper," said the short one.

"Yeah, Rhubarb?" the tall one replied.

"Let's have some fun with this little baby."

The one called Grasshopper curled his lips up into a terrible smile, and this sent a wave of chills throughout Sapphire's small body. He gave a small peep of fright when he saw the two bullies start to amble over slowly. He could see the intent in their eyes, the glint of the love of trouble and violence flashing in their orbs. Their legs lifted up side by side, the bullies acting in unison, before stomping down into the snow, each step being deliberately placed for the greatest menace as they drew the bullies closer.

Sapphire Dreams backed up as far as he could, fearing the moment they decided to drop the swagger and simply rush him. His nerves firing at full flight mode, he jumped a couple inches when he felt something tug on his tail. He turned around and spotted Sweetie Belle peeking her head from behind a plank in the wooden fence that had been pried sideways.

"Hey Sapphire!" she whispered. "Get down here. I found this hole in the fence that we can squeeze through. Hurry before they catch you!"

Sapphire didn't have to be told twice. Not wasting a single moment, he crouched down closer to the ground and crammed his head through the hole. The other side of the hole was up against the brick of the neighboring house, so it proved to be a tight fit. He wriggled his shoulders this way and that as he slowly squeezed through. Panicking over the fear that his back legs would be grabbed by the bullies who would then yank him back through, he reached out with a hoof at Sweetie Belle. She took the hint and grabbed his front legs, yanking backwards to assist his transit of the hole. His backside cleared the hole with a messy scraping sound, and just in the nick of time, as Grasshopper appeared on the opposite side and reached out to grab only air.

Sapphire Dreams stumbled forward a couple steps but found his balance again and turned the stumble into a run. He glanced sideways at Sweetie Belle as she ran too, giving her a triumphant smile.

"Yahoo!" he exclaimed as they ran along, placing much needed distance between themselves and the bullies.

"Yahoo!" Sweetie Belle echoed, leaping up as far as her short legs could jump.

Running with this strange boy in the snow and barely escaping a pummeling at the hooves of bullies gave Sweetie Belle a thrill of exhilaration. She felt wonderful and alive, and most of all, she was sharing a sensation with somepony else, a pony she could call a friend. It was the same kind of thrill she got whenever she would go on another crusade for cutie marks with her friends, except with them, she didn't care much for putting her body in harm's way doing many of Scootaloo's suggested schemes that often seemed more fit for stunt ponies. However, running along with this boy by her side and humiliating a group of stronger ponies by leaving them in the dust somehow felt strangely wonderful.

After a few minutes of galloping at a brisk pace, Sapphire Dreams glanced backwards and eventually slowed to a gentle walk. Sweetie Belle followed his example when she saw that she had overshot him. The two made their way over to a picket fence and collapsed against it as they struggled to catch their breath.

"Whew. That was... a wild ride, but I'm glad we're safe now," Sweetie Belle said as she huffed, trying hard not to prop herself up by leaning against the shoulders of her newfound friend. "I haven't... been that scared since the time my friends and I almost got turned to stone."

"Huh?" Sapphire Dreams asked, fixing a playful gaze on her before giving himself one last sharp inhale to steady his lungs.

"Um. Nothing. So now that everything's back to normal, shall we introduce ourselves to each other the proper way?" She held out a hoof. "My name is Sweetie Belle."

Her friend eyed her hoof briefly before slowly taking it in both his front hooves and shaking it up and down. "I'm Sapphire Dreams. I'm please to meet yo-ouch." His normal speaking voice had suddenly turned into an exclamation of pain.

"What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle asked.

The boy looked at his right flank and winced at the sight of what was there. A nasty but shallow gash, two inches long, had appeared on the surface. The bleeding wasn't profuse or messy but still flowed easily and stained his coat a purple-red.

"It kinda stings."

Sweetie Belle wrinkled her nose when she spotted the blood. "Well we need to get that patched up. Where's home for you?"

Sapphire Dreams balked and pulled away from her, his eyes flashing nervousness once more. "I... It's... Far."

"Hmm. Well then you'll have to come home with me, and I'll patch you up there."

"Would your mama allow that?"

She smiled and waved a dismissive gesture at him. "Oh it'll be fine. Come on!" She got up from the fence and her smile diminished as she looked around. She realized that she didn't recognize her surroundings. "Oh. Wait. Um..."

The neighborhood appeared to be much like the the one her parents' home was located, upper scale middle class with adequately spaced, two story houses painted with bright colors. She glanced up at a sign to get the name of the street. When getting recognition of a familiar street failed, she looked around for landmarks or a grove of trees with unique features she might have remembered. She darted up a road and then back down towards another, working up her nerves more and more as she ran around. Her heart started beating loudly in her ears when she gave up her made dash, arriving at the conclusion that the neighborhood looked too much like hers but with none of the streets she recognized.

"I think I'm lost," she muttered as she looked at Sapphire Dreams.

"Well, uh..." The colt looked around briefly. "Maybe if we walk around, we might see something that'll help jog your memory of where we are."

"Don't you know where the park is from here at least?"

"Well... Not really."

Sweetie Belle groaned and shook her head. "Nevermind. It's fine. Let's just start walking, then."

However, trying to find their way around proved to be unnecessary, as Sweetie Belle heard a voice call her name from behind.

"Sweetie Belle!" the voice exclaimed.

Sweetie Belle snapped her head back over her shoulder and looked around. She eventually spotted a pink form amongst the expanse of white down the street behind her.

"Sweetie Belle!" the voice called again.

"Thoughtful Gift?" the filly said, squinting into the distance in the hopes of getting more detail of the approaching form.

"Who is she? Your cousin?"

Sweetie Belle turned her head back towards Sapphire Dreams and wrinkled her nose. "HE is my cousin. That's Thoughtful Gift."

The pink stallion approached within conversation distance. Sweetie Belle could only stare in disbelief, her jaw slightly dropped.

"How did you find us?"

Thoughtful Gift roughly tousled Sweetie Belle's mane, smiling as he did so. "You forgot my special talent. I'm empathic, remember? I just followed your stress lines. Now if you promise not to tell your mother I accidentally let you out of my sight, I won't tell her you ran away from me."

"Deal. But can Sapphire Dreams come with us? He needs a bandage on his flank. I just hope mommy doesn't pry into how he got cut."

Her cousin raised a hoof and pointed at her attire. "Or how you ripped a hole in your scarf and knocked out several of the gems Rarity embedded in your winter coat."

Despairing, Sweetie Belle sat down in the snow, dragging her front hooves across her face as she groaned loudly. "I am so busted."

Thoughtful Gift shook his head. "Your anxiety is giving me a headache. We'll think of excuses later. Let's just get out of the snow and get back to your birthday party."

Comments

[pmcollectorboy]

882135 Oh well thank you. But if you've noticed, it's on hiatus again. I'm actually not sure what kind of a story I want to tell at this point, but I'm pretty sure I've locked down the side characters I want and some of the side plots. I'm trying to come up with one really cool idea to tie together the whole series. It might go through one more sort of revision and become a somewhat different story yet again, but as of right now, I'm working on another romance. Then I might finish Stone Hearts. THEN go back to this.

[pmcollectorboy]

882135 Oops. I just noticed your comment was kind of old. LOL.

[pmcollectorboy]

3961152
Ah! Many apologies! I didn't even think people were still reading my stuff.
Don't think I have given up on my work. Rarity's Tale, and indeed the ideas for the whole series, is going through a bit of a reboot. About the umpteenth reboot. I'm still searching for that one smashing idea to tie the series together. I think I'm almost onto it. Anyway. I'm currently working on a romantic clopfic, but when I get a decent way into that story, I WILL come back to this one and retool it.

[Sapphire Note]

nice :3
I cant wait for ur other story :D