Chapter 4: A Corner of a Memory.
“Stroll down memory lane? What the devil does he mean by that?” Rarity asked aloud as she fed another spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes into Cobalt’s mouth. He really seemed to like feeding time, but whether it was from the taste of yams or from having Rarity’s full and undivided attention was still up for debate.
“How can I have memories of a place I just woke up in? UGH! Discord can’t ever make things easy for me or anypony, can he? And if I ever get my hooves on that blasted Eris I swear I’ll-!”
“Mmmmm,” Cobalt hummed as he licked the orange goo from his lips.
Rarity took a calming breath. “I’m sorry darling, I shouldn’t get so worked up. It’s very unladylike and I wouldn’t want you to get upset because of me. What would your mother do if I made you cry? I’m sure she’d blast me to Tartarus without even a second thought, that’s just what mothers do. I know my own mother would do the same for Sweetie Belle and myself.”
Rarity fed the last bit of sweet potato to Cobalt before cleaning his face off with a napkin and with a mane tie (and a lot of courage) burped the foal. “Right. Now that you’re nice and fed, it’s time to get some work done.” Rarity placed Cobalt on her back and made her way to her workroom. If there was one thing she wanted to do now more than ever it was to throw herself into her work, if only for a little while and try her best at getting back even a fraction of her previous normalcy. She flicked the lights and was pleased to notice that her sanctum was left unchanged, the addition of a playpen notwithstanding. All her patterns, threads, fabric and ribbons were right where they should be, that is strewn about the place in a haphazard, organized chaos.
“At least this is still the same,” Rarity said in relief. She placed Cobalt in his playpen and inspected her order forms lying in a small, shallow box.
“Let’s see what’s on the agenda. A coat order for Fancy Pants? All right, seems simple enough.” Rarity trotted over to the ponnequins that dotted her room and found the coat in question, it was nearly finished. A lining, some buttonholes and some buttons and it’d be complete.
Rarity warmed up her sewing machine and went to work on the lining. But despite the familiar and calming hum of the machine, her mind was having trouble focusing on the task at hoof as her mind kept drifting back to Discord’s advice of ‘strolling down memory lane.’ It didn’t make sense to Rarity, then again, nothing was making sense lately, so why would Discord be any different? After a jam in her machine and a few muttered swears quiet enough so the baby couldn’t hear it (Celestia knows what would happen if those were his first words) the lining was done and the buttons were quick to follow. With a satisfied grin, Rarity moved Fancy Pants’ order form to the “finished” box.
“And that’s that. I’m sure Fancy Pants will be pleased with the results. Next up is a dress order for… Satin Sashay?”
“Sasa?” Cobalt seemed to ask.
“Satin Sashay was one of the judges from my most recent fashion show. She down right tore me to shreds in her review of my winter line. Why in the world would she want one of my dresses?” Just then a glint of light caught her eyes and attention was drawn to a small silver frame on her worktable. How had she not see this before? Rarity’s magic picked up the frame and drew it towards her and her mouth hung open in surprise.
It was a photo of her, Spike, Lolite and Cobalt in front of the boutique. Spike had Lolite up on his shoulders while Rarity was holding a smaller Cobalt wrapped in a blanket, he couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old, if not only a week. There was some writing in the corner that read, “Welcome home, Cobalt.”
Rarity placed a hoof on the family photo. “That’s… really me, isn’t it?” She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the Rarity in the photo. The way that Rarity held her foal close to her chest like she was holding onto her most precious treasure. And the look of pure joy that covered every inch of her face, Rarity couldn’t remember a time she felt that happy. Maybe when she fulfilled her dream of opening a boutique in Canterlot, but she wasn’t so happy that she cried. But this Rarity, posing with her husband and children was so happy that she couldn’t hide the small stream of tears on her cheeks.
Just then Rarity had an epiphany. “Take a stroll down memory lane! Discord wasn’t talking about my memories, well not my memories per se, but hers!” Rarity spun on her hooves and dashed out of the room. Cobalt just shrugged his shoulders and tossed a small ball against the walls of his playpen. Rarity ran back in and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Just making sure you’re safe darling. Stay put, I won’t be long I swear.”
After a bit of searching and the periodic check ins to make sure Cobalt wasn’t in any danger, Rarity finally returned with a number of binders in her magic and sat next to Cobalt’s playpen.
“Well it took some time, but I found some albums. Hopefully this will give me some kind of hint or clue I need to get back home.”
“Hmmm?” Cobalt tapped his clawed tips against the playpen bars.
“Not that I haven’t enjoyed your company darling, but the sooner I go back to where I belong, the sooner your real mother will come back… at least I hope she will.”
That was something Rarity hadn’t considered. What would happen to this world if she went back to her own? Would the other Rarity just reappear? And if she didn’t, what would happen to Lolite and Cobalt? Would they grow up without a mother? And what about Spike? What would happen to him if he were to discover his wife, the love of his life, just up and vanished into thin air? Rarity shook her head.
“Everything will be fine. As soon as I return to my world everything will go back to normal, for me and for Lolite, Cobalt and… Spike.”
Rarity pushed through her building guilt and flipped open one of the albums. The first page was filled from top to bottom of pictures of her and Spike. One of them was of her and Spike at Neighagra Falls, one was of her and Spike in fancy clothes at one of the venues for Manehattan Fashion Week with Rarity proudly presenting an award for winning the competition, that might explain Satin Sashay’s change in tune, Rarity thought. And then there was a line of pictures that they must’ve taken at a photo booth, they did different poses in each shot and Rarity even saw herself doing one of the most unladylike things she could ever imagine; sticking her tongue out at Spike, with the last shot being the two of them sharing a kiss.
“Do you think this is when your parents started dating?” Rarity asked Cobalt, who responded by blowing a small raspberry. Rarity giggled, “Dating may sound icky now, but just wait till you’re older.”
Rarity turned the page and began laughing, “What in the world?”
The photo was of herself, Spike, Discord, Big Mac, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. They were all in strange costumes on a colorful battlefield and Rarity was being carried off by a weird squid cutout in a wizard hat, with Spike chasing after her and the rest of the group either laughing at Rarity’s predicament or battling skeleton warrior cutouts. The small text under the picture read, “Rarity’s first game night.”
“I’m sure your mother was chewing Spike’s ear off for the whole week after that.”
Cobalt just smiled and made little gurgling sounds.
Rarity turned over the next few pages and her jaw slowly dropped when she came across one particular photo. It was of her and Spike at the Grand Galloping Gala, Spike looked rather handsome in his suit and Rarity was wearing a lovely indigo gown, but what caught Rarity’s eyes was the deep, deep kiss she was sharing with Spike and the ring hanging from her neck with the words “She said yes!” written on the bottom of the picture.
Rarity’s heart began to thump wildly in her chest. Spike asked her to marry him at the gala? She always fantasized about finding her prince at the biggest party in Equestria and from the look of it, her fantasy finally came true.
“Lacking inspiration, love?”
Rarity jumped and made a little “eep” noise as Spike entered the room and sat close to her.
Rarity tried to keep the warmth out of her cheeks, but he was sitting right next to her and she was enjoying the feeling of his scales on her fur. “Oh, hello Spike. Um, what makes you say that?”
Spike chuckled, “You always get nostalgic when you hit a wall. Hmm, this one is one of my favorites. Geez, I was so nervous that night.”
“You were?”
“Well yeah, don’t you remember? I could barely eat anything and I was dancing almost as bad as Twilight. I dang near almost lost the ring in the punch bowl and accidentally wiped my sweat on Princess Celestia’s shawl. And when I stepped out for fresh air and you followed me, I figured it was now or never. Do you remember what I said that night?”
Rarity gulped as her mind raced to find an answer of some kind. “O-of course I do. But… I… I love to hear you tell me in your own words.” Rarity patted herself on the back for that recovery. Much to her surprise, Spike wrapped an arm around her and with his other claw cupped her cheek, and turned Rarity’s head so that she was looking right into his eyes. His shimmering, emerald eyes.
“I said, ‘Rarity, you’re the most incredible, beautiful, talented mare in all of Equestria. You’ve made me the happiest dragon in the whole wide world. This entire night I’ve been trying to find the right words to say and the right time to say them, but in the end, I couldn’t find any words more pure and truer than this, I love you Rarity, with all my heart and I can’t imagine my life without you. There isn’t a moment in the day that I’m not thinking about you and when we’re apart I can’t help but feel sad that I’m not by your side. I want to be by your side for the rest of my life. So Rarity, will you marry me?”
Rarity’s heart was melting as Spike recited his proposal to her. It was the sweetest, most romantic proposal she’s ever heard. Not even her romance novels held such heartfelt words within its pages.
Spike slowly leaned forward. “And then,” he said in a low tone. “I slipped on the ring, you leapt into my arms and we…”
Rarity’s chest felt fit to burst as her face became as red as a sunburnt tomato. But as Spike’s lips came closer and closer to hers, Rarity’s mind began to slow down to a crawl and she found herself leaning towards him. Closer and closer still, Rarity could feel Spike’s breath. She closed her eyes and-
“PBTHTHTHTHTHTHTHTH!” came a very loud raspberry from a very perturbed foal.
Spike and Rarity pulled back with blushes. Cobalt stuck his tongue out like he ate a bunch of sour grapes and blew another raspberry.
Spike rolled his eyes and reached into the playpen to hold his son. “Yeah, yeah, I know you don’t like it when mommy and I get all mushy. But when you find yourself a special somepony, you won’t think it’s so gross.” Spike gave Cobalt a kiss on the forehead before placing him back in his pen.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to work, just wanted to stop by and make sure you’re doing ok.”
“Oh, well, no need to worry Spikey Wikey. I’m fine, dandy even.”
Spike stood up and stretched his wings. “I’ll pick up Lolite after school and start on dinner. I’m feelin’ stir-fry. How about you?”
Rarity nodded. “I think that sounds simply divine."
Spike gave Rarity a hug. “Great! I’ll see you later Rarity. I gotta get back to the castle now, I love you.” Spike then gave Rarity a peck on the lips before departing.
“I…uh, love…” Rarity murmured as she brushed a hoof against her lips. Spike kissed her. On the lips! It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but to Rarity it felt like her whole body was struck by lightning. And what was she about to say? Did she really love…? Rarity shook her head. She was just caught off guard is all and it’s not like her Spike was the one that said he loved her.
Wait. What am I thinking?
Get ahold of yourself Rarity. So you had a lapse of judgement and almost told Spike that you love him. There’s no need to panic. But do I love Spike? True I’ve enjoyed his company, more so than anypony else’s, but it’s because he’s such a good friend and I like to have him around and it’s nice to have him help me at the shop, and to hear his voice and because I feel happier just being near him…
“I hope everypony’s hungry!” Spike announced as he stepped away from the stove. “Because this might be one of my best stir-fry yet!”
Perhaps… I do love him. But what of it? As long as I’m stuck here I can never go back to my Spike. And it would be wrong of me to steal the Spike of this world away; he’s a happily married drake. But he’s married to me. No, he’s married to another Rarity and I will not be a homewrecker! But is it really being a homewrecker if it’s me? Or is the other-? Ugh, this “which Spike and Rarity is which” gag is getting old rather fast!
Lolite giggled, “You say that every time you cook daddy! It’s always your best one.”
But what if that Rarity never comes back? Lolite and Cobalt will need a mother and Spike a wife. Would it really be so bad if that Rarity doesn’t return? What a horrid thing to think of, you should be ashamed of yourself!
“Uh, Rares?”
Rarity snapped out of her trance. “Hm? What is it darling?”
“Are you ok? You looked like you were a thousand miles away.”
“Oh, I… I guess I was just distracted for a moment. I must be hungrier than I thought.”
Spike grinned. “Well I made plenty; eat as much as you want. You must’ve worked right through lunch.”
“Y-yes, I did. I just wanted to get as much done as I could before the holidays.”
Spike served Rarity a plateful of noodles, veggies and tofu. It smelled absolutely wonderous. The gentle scent of the bell peppers complimented the soy sauce perfectly with the tofu dotted throughout to complete Spike’s artful dish.
“You know how I feel about you skipping meals Rarity. But as long as you get your orders done by Hearth's Warming, I guess it’s fine. Just don’t burn yourself out, ok?”
Rarity felt her chest tighten. The way Spike was worried for her sake was touching, but she still felt guilty for worrying him. “I’m sorry Spike. I promise I won’t get carried away, so no need to be concerned.”
Spike kissed Rarity’s cheek. “Thank you dear. Now let’s eat!”
Cobalt seemed to agree as he patted his little tray table.
“Uh, Rarity. I think that’s your que.”
“Oh, right,” Rarity dipped a little spoon into the green mush on Cobalt’s little plate. “Open wide darling!” Rarity chimed.
Cobalt happily and eagerly ate his mush.
“So how was school today, Lolite?” Rarity asked.
Lolite swallowed her food and smiled. “It was fun! Mrs. Cheerliee let us play in the snow for a while. We were supposed to make snowponies and work together as a team, but then Sky Splitter and Cherry decided to have a snowball fight instead. You should’ve seen the look on Mrs. Cheerliee’s face, she was so peeved!”
“Lolite! Language!” Spike chided.
“Sorry daddy. Um, then Mrs. Cheerliee sent Sky and Cherry inside to write an essay on ‘following instructions’ or something, so Dusky, Fuji and I got to make snowponies together. But Fuji was actin’ kinda weird. He kept looking at me and stuttering when I asked him stuff. Is that a normal boy thing, daddy?”
Spike looked up at his daughter as his noodles hit his plate with a soft splat. “Uh, well Lolite you see… when a boy…. sometimes when a boy… um… Rarity?”
Rarity finished wiping Cobalt’s muzzle. “Well darling, if you ask me, I think Fiji-“
“Fuji,” Lolite corrected.
“Pardon?”
“I’m talking about Fuji. Who’s Fiji?”
“Oh, apologies darling, I must have misheard you. Well I think this Fuji boy rather fancies you. Boys can be difficult with expressing themselves sometimes.”
Lolite gave Rarity an odd look before spinning her fork into her noodles. “Boys are weird.”
Rarity was exhausted. Both physically and psychologically. Today was by far one of the most draining days of her life. Far too much was hurled at her in the span of only a few hours and now she wanted nothing more than to sleep and, with any luck, wake up in her own world. After finishing the dishes (she felt it only fair since Spike cooked) Rarity dragged her hooves up the stairs and down the hall. Her bed was calling her name.
“Mommy!” Lolite called out. She rushed to Rarity with a sketch pad, crayons and a book in her magic. “Are you ready?”
“Ready? For what Lolite?”
Lolite giggled, “You know! Our Mommy daughter time! It’s Friday and I finished my homework, so we can design dresses together!” Lolite levitated the book to Rarity and flipped through the pages, each one had a crude drawing of a dress, a professional design, and a snap shot of Rarity and Lolite in the same dresses as the design. “I really liked this dress and I wanted to make something like it again, but with a different collar. Ooh! And maybe sleeves!”
Rarity was intrigued by Lolite’s enthusiasm. She clearly had a deep desire to create, she certainly inherited that from her mother (no offense to Spike of course). Rarity felt a strange sense of pride well up inside her, but that feeling was quashed with the arrival of a headache.
“Darling, I’d love to design dresses, but perhaps some other time.”
Lolite’s smile fell instantly. “But… we always do this…”
Guilt slowly pierced Rarity’s heart. “I-I know dear, but I’m completely exhausted tonight. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
Lolite’s ears wilted as she looked up to her mother. “Did… did I do something wrong?”
Rarity quickly shook her head. “No, no, no Lolite! Of course not! It’s just… mommy worked very hard today and I could use an early respite. We’ll design dresses another day, is that alright?”
Lolite sighed and started to walk back to her room. “Ok… goodnight mommy…”
“Goodnight darling.”
Lolite closed her door with a soft click. Rarity bit her lip and turned her gaze away from the filly’s room and continued her trek to her own. In Rarity’s heart, she felt like this was the wrong decision. She wasn’t sure why, but it felt like she was making a huge mistake by not spending time with Lolite. Those sad eyes and diminished smile were sure to haunt Rarity’s dreams. But it’s fine. By tomorrow morning, she’ll be back in her world and Lolite will have her real mother again.
“Please. Please bring her back…” Rarity whispered.
Sorry for the delay, I was all set on posting this, but then some things started bothering me and like Lt. Columbo, when something starts bothering me, I can't do anything else until I figure it out. So I did some HEAVY tweeks in this chapter, mainly because in my first draft I didn't have any moments early on of Rarity interacting with Lolite, which is a very important relationship for the story, and it kinda slipped my mind so I had to overhaul this chapter which was originally chapter 3, and now has a smidge of chapter 5 in it. So yeah, been working hard on this one.
Thought I'd give you all a teaser of Lolite's friends. You've already met Jinx, and now there are four other characters. Hmm... I wonder who their parents are? I guess that's another chapter for another time, but most likely next chapter since we'll be seeing LOTS of familiar faces at the faculty party.
P.S. Anyone know what this chapter's title is a reference to? 
Let me know what you guys think of this chapter, I love reading the comments.
As always, thanks for reading. See you next time 
Silver Wit
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Oooooof. Those feels.
Predicting now... Rarity eventually goes back and immediately gets with Spike so this future can happen. I think there was a similar story in a movie starring someone famous, but I'm at a loss at the moment.
Loving how this has gone so far! Keep it up!
Great chapter, worth the wait
I loved the little family moments in this chapter & I got to say it was cool how Rarity keeps coming back to the hole, do I love spike & talking to her self, its very well done. Looking through old photo's & hearing How Spike asked Rarity to marry him was Great, Spike's a smooth talker alright lol. I'm a bit of a greedy Dragon & can't wait for the next chapter 
Thanks for the read
As for the title reference, I'm sorry to say I can't think atm lol (Late night early morning, so yeah brain not working lol)
I feel bad when she turned her daughter down... I've done that so many times... It feels terrible but we are good to keep doing the same things wrong... Thankfully we found s time together with my daughter nowedays reading her favorite book together at night. I've never been good with kids... Trying to catch up all the time I didn't have her all those other times... Because always you're tired or have work to do... Oh well.
I'm always waiting for the sparity teehee
Can't wait for another chapter! Also very interested in what will happen when she goes to bed... With spike on it
Getting good keep up the pace.
Rarity goes back and they have 4 draconies in that Spikes future.
and I'm all alone in a giant castle full of books 
I love it
Discord has extra little chaosi
and Pinkie is a twitchy wiggly springy futtery mess.
Dude, I’m loving everything that you’re doing here with this story, starting to get me in the feels a bit
Keep up the good work my good man
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Well I do like that movie and the concept sounded pretty fun for a pony story, so here we are. Glad your liking it so far
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I'll do my best
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I shall! I'm glad to hear that people are getting emotionally invested. Feels good
10770753
Well if Sparity is what you're looking for, you've certainly come to the right place
Are you still working on this?
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I am