Honesty
Chapter five: Honesty
Sugarcube corner.
The atmosphere was quiet around the cheerful bakery, even though ponies were walking by the shop every two seconds, Rarity noted, chattering to themselves quietly. The chatter and chirping on the inside, however, was a different story altogether. It was happy, fun, and carefree, just like it always was. Rarity could also smell the sweet aroma of cupcakes and other baked goods drifting from the open window, and she could almost taste the sweet treats that were held within the building. Hardly daring to wait any longer, she took a few steps forward to open the door and –
“Pinkie Pie!”
Rarity let out an un-ladylike squawk as a loud crashing sound was heard, followed by more shouts, all coming from the same source.
“Stop ‘im!”
“Don’t you mean – Pumpkin Cake, no! Don’t chew on that!”
Without hesitation, Rarity rushed into the store. Looking around, she saw most the ponies inside looking up to the ceiling in curiosity, while some of them were muttering suspiciously to the ponies around them. She also saw Mr. Cake hurry upstairs with a worried look on his face.
“What’s going on?” Rarity asked, trotting up to Mrs. Cake, who was anxiously hopping in place.
“Oh, I don’t know. It just happened all of a sudden,” Mrs. Cake answered.
“Well that didn’t answer anything,” Rarity thought. But, if you want an answer, you’ve got to find it yourself, as they say. Not wasting another moment, she went up the stairs, following Mr. Cake.
“I’ll be back in a moment!” she called out over her shoulder. As she reached the top of the staircase, she barely had time to duck before a large stuffed monkey flew past her head and onto the step behind her.
“What in the world?” she wondered out loud as she held the monkey in her magic.
“Pound Cake! Stop that!” Mr. Cake’s voice called out worriedly from the room just across from where she stood. Judging by the sound of his voice, she could tell that if she didn’t get in there quickly, there would be a very large possibility that there would be a large hole where Sugarcube Corner once stood. Quickly, she opened the door and walked into the room. As she got in, and saw the scene with her own two eyes, she wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what was in front of her.
It was similar to a bar fight, Rarity noticed. (She had seen a few of those in her time, although she would never admit it and was incredibly hesitant to go in one of those uncouth buildings again) Stuffed animals were flying everywhere in no particular order and blankets, pillows, and the likes of which were strewn around the cluttered room haphazardly. The baby pegasus, Pound Cake, was flying in circles above the three earth ponies’ heads. His sister, Pumpkin Cake, joined him, except she was in the air by levitating herself. Honestly, Rarity had no idea how such a small, inexperienced foal was able to perform such a feat for her tender age. But, there were bigger matters at hoof.
Mr. Cake and Pinkie Pie were looking incredibly flustered, and Applejack looked like she was about ready to hit something. Figuring she should stop what was bound to happen, she lit up her horn and held everything where it was, effectively stopping the chaos.
The three ponies all turned bewildered eyes on the unicorn and a shocked silence settled itself into the room. Even the two foals were silent in shock. However, it came to no pony’s surprise that Pinkie Pie was the first one to break the silence.
“Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed happily.
Rarity acknowledged Pinkie with a small nod and, with a small flick of her head, neatly set everything back in its proper place. When the materials were all safely put away, she carefully moved the two surprised foals back to their cribs, much to their dismay.
“Well, that was easy,” Applejack said. “Thanks fer that.”
“Anytime,” Rarity answered. She walked further into the room and stood between Mr. Cake and Pinkie Pie. “Now, will some pony please tell me what happened?”
“Oh, oh, oh! Pick me!” Pinkie squealed, thrusting her hoof into the air.
“Errr…yes, Pinkie?” Rarity answered, smiling uncertainly.
“Well, me and Applejack were just here watching the twins, and they were taking a nap, but then they woke up! We were ready for that, of course, but Pumpkin started chewing on stuff and Pound started pounding. So we tried to stop them but Pound started flying and Pumpkin started using her magic and we couldn’t stop them. And then you two showed up!” Pinkie Pie said in one breath.
Rarity got lost at the first sentence, but she was generously estimating on that guess. Still, she gave a polite grin. “Yes, and then the…uhh…could you explain that again? A bit…slower this time?”
Applejack face hoofed. “What she means is that we were havin’ a bit of trouble until ya’ll showed up,” she said.
“Exactly!” Pinkie affirmed, nodding vigorously.
“…” Mr. Cake looked at each of the mares in turn, not quite sure what to do. “Uhmm…thank you, Rarity.”
“You’re quite welcome. And, since I’m here, may I speak to Applejack and Pinkie Pie for just a moment?” Rarity asked, looking at the stallion sweetly. “Mare stuff,” she added on.
Mr. Cake nodded. “Oh course.” As he turned to leave he called out over his shoulder, “Thanks again, girls!” With that, he disappeared from sight.
Alone with her two friends, she began to speak. “How have you two been doing?” she asked, circling around Pinkie and standing in front of the crib which held Pumpkin Cake.
“I’ve been doing just great!” Pinkie said, perhaps a bit too quickly.
Rarity and Applejack looked unconvinced. “Uh-huh,” they said in unison.
“Well…” Applejack started after a slight pause. “I’ve been doin’…Ah honestly wish Ah could say Ah was fine,” she sighed, lowering her eyes and taking a sudden interest in the floor. “L-look, Ah’m really sorry, but I have ta go.” With that, she took off, running out of the room.
Rarity narrowed her eyes. She turned back to Pinkie Pie.
“Pinkie, I’m sorry. I -”
“You can go,” Pinkie said, smiling.
Rarity couldn’t be sure, but was her lower lip quivering? “Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes.”
The unicorn gave her friend a worried look. Knowing Pinkie, something was definitely wrong. She promised herself she would be back to check up on this matter later. Without another word, she let herself out of the brightly colored room. She made her way down the stairs and when she reached the bottom, she saw Mr. and Mrs. Cake huddled in a corner, whispering quietly to each other.
“Excuse me,” she interrupted, coming in between the couple. “Did you happen to see which way Applejack went?”
Mrs. Cake pointed a hoof toward the door. “She went out the door and to the right. Oh, she certainly looked upset,” she told her.
Rarity nodded, then looked cautiously in both directions, first the left, then the right. Finally, she leaned her head forward and whispered something in Mrs. Cake’s ear. After she was finished, she heard Mrs. Cake make a small gasping sound. She then turned her head away from Rarity and whispered something, most likely what Rarity had just told her, into her husband’s ear. Mr. Cake had the same reaction as his wife, a small exclamation escaping from his throat and his mouth forming into a small ‘o’.
On a single invisible signal shared by the three of them, Rarity took her leave. She walked out the door quickly and, once she was outside, she turned her head to her right. At first, she thought she had missed her, but out of the corner of her eye she saw the faintest glimpse of a blond tail turning into another street. Just as she thought the day couldn’t get any more exciting.
She took off after Applejack, speeding up her pace until she reached a delicate canter, closing the distance between herself and Applejack fairly quickly, and not to mention efficiently. Applejack, of course, spotted her easily. After all, it wasn’t like she was trying to hide herself anyway. When the earth pony saw Rarity chasing her, she did exactly what the unicorn was expecting, she ran faster. Rarity picked up her pace as well, but still carefully picked where she placed her hooves. Just because she was doing something that involved running on dirt didn’t mean that she couldn’t keep her hooves clean while doing so. However, it didn’t help to close the distance between the two.
The earth pony and the unicorn kept running, one being chased and the other doing the chasing. Figuring that she had had enough of this pointless, at least in her opinion, activity, she called out, “Applejack! Stop!”
“No!” came the stubborn reply. “You quit chasin’ me!”
“I will do no such thing!” she replied. “I need to talk to you about Rain-”
“Shut your trap and quit following me!” Applejack shouted, her voice on the verge of screaming. While doing this, she managed to run faster, and attract the attention of the ponies around them.
Rarity couldn’t care less about what ponies thought of the strange scene, but, she did wonder if her hair was presentable today. She was even tempted to stop by a nearby store that had a mirror and make sure her hair was up to par with her high standards. However, she shook those nasty temptations out of mind figuratively. This was for the greater good, she told herself. As much as it pained her to say it, her hair would just have to wait.
Suddenly, Applejack made a sharp turn to the left. Rarity made the turn as well, although a bit slower than Applejack, and then the chase continued. Even though she didn’t like getting her hooves dirty, she had no qualms with running after some pony to help a friend. However, she wondered how long it was going to last. Luckily for her, she didn’t have to run for as long as she had expected.
Once Applejack had led her to the very southern edge of Sweet Apple Acres, she stopped her stride abruptly, her hooves grinding to a halt. Since she was still a few paces behind Applejack, Rarity had less trouble stopping herself, but she still felt her hooves bounce along the gravel underneath them as she stopped her slow sprint.
“Well, thank you for stopping, A-” She stopped when she saw the venomous look on the earth pony’s face.
“There. Ya happy?” Applejack spat.
Rarity glared back at her.
“Why yes. I am, thank you very much,” she answered slowly. “Now, would you be so kind to explain why you were running?”
Applejack stayed silent. All that Rarity received as an answer was a hateful glare. Maybe she didn’t hear her.
“I said, would you please-”
“Ah heard what you said!”
“Well, then why did you run?”
“Because!”
“Because why!?”
“Because I…! Because…” Applejack trailed off, her gaze faltering as she thought of something to say. “I was scared,” she said in a barely audible tone. It was unfortunate that Rarity didn’t hear her.
“What was that?”
“I said I was scared,” she mumbled, a bit louder this time.
“You’re going to have to speak louder, darling,” Rarity said.
“I. Was. Scared,” she said, finally audible to the unicorn’s ears.
Rarity blinked. Well that wasn’t what she had been expecting. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of, darling.”
“So, are ya saying you’re not?” Applejack said accusingly, her spiteful glare slowly and surely returning.
“I…I’m not quite sure I know what you mean,” Rarity said uncertainly.
“Nothing’s ever gonna be the same! Rainbow Dash is BLIND! She ain’t never gonna fly again and-”
“I hate to interrupt, but Rainbow Dash will still be able to fly.”
“But she’s never gonna fly the same as before! Everything’s changing, and it’s changing way too fast fer mah tastes,” Applejack said, starting to tear up, a rarity for the strong pony. “Don’t you see, Rarity? Ah’m…Ah just don’t want things to change…and Ah’m worried about ‘er.”
“I think I speak for all of us when I say I am worried about her as well, but you know how Rainbow Dash is, she’ll be back on her hooves in ten seconds flat,” Rarity said comfortingly, taking a few steps closer to Applejack and giving her an affectionate nuzzle.
“Maybe…but…it’s not gonna be easy. Not at all. It’s not gonna be easy ever again,” Applejack muttered, taking her stetson off her head and fidgeting with it.
Rarity gave her an empathetic look. She knew how the earth pony was feeling, and, like her, didn’t enjoy how things were changing so rapidly. As much as she liked organized chaos, this was much too chaotic for any pony to manageably deal with and still keep their sanity in the process. Still, she could make it work, she could keep it together. She had to, for every pony’s sake.
It was Applejack’s voice that brought her back to reality.
“Look…Ah’d love to stay and chat some more, but Ah really have to get some work done,” Applejack said, placing her hat back on her head.
Rarity nodded. “I understand. But, if you ever need some pony to talk to, please don’t hesitate to stop by,” she said kindly.
Applejack smiled in return. She quickly turned away from Rarity and headed into the field behind Rarity.
Rarity watched her go, internally patting herself on the back. After Applejack was out of sight, she made her own way back to Ponyville. She had done her job, but that conversation had put her mind into action, thoughts forming rapidly in her mind. Rainbow Dash still had her wings, and therefore she would still be able to fly. For some reason, every pony seemed to be forgetting that fact. Perhaps the part that stood out to every pony was that she just couldn’t do what she used to do, and her flying would be a fraction of what it normally was. Still, maybe there was a way she could fly without any help. Rarity had heard of a few ways blind pegasi could fly without any guidance from another pony, but it took a while to master. Come to think of it, Rarity had never really looked into the subject fully. Maybe this would be her excuse to research more on the subject, especially if it would do anything to help her ailing friend.
With this new goal firmly planted into her mind, she headed towards the town she was proud to call home. Now that book on pegasus wings and aerodynamics she had lying around in some corner of her closet would finally come in handy. But first, she had to get a snack.
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Ugh, I'm sorry this chapter is so short and it sucks so bad I was quite unproductive.
On an unrelated note, go see Wreck-It Ralph. Now. I COMMAND you to.
Sorry for the false notification!
Well, don't have any clue what I'm getting into seeing as I don't read descriptions, but here goes nothing.
A short chapter is better than none. Did you have the infamous writing block?
need moar Twilight and Rainbow
Prediction:
Rainbowdash... Or twilight...or rarity
Will inlist the help of lunas night gaurds (bat wings) to help with eco location.
Update of wonder.
If this ever stops updating, I will make fluttershy cry
Then I will hunt you down and go "Misery" on your ass
1639460 I agree, short is better than nothing. And writing block is not merely infamous, it's pure evil.
1639399
I followed you command master... in fact, I followed it so well I completed it 6 days before you asked it.
Ooh ooh will RD develope bat like senses? You know using up her hearing as a way to guide herself yada yada yada
1639399
It doesn't suck. I rather enjoyed it.
You made ponies cry which makes me feel really sad
. Keep up the great work love this story
.
1639399 I had to watch it online, I can't wait till the 15th February in the UK... It's crazy, even Brazil and Thailand get it before us...
u18chan.com/uploads/data/13325/Areyoufuckingkiddingme_u18chan.png
1639586
ECHOLOCATION SPELL! GET TWILIGHT!
1639399 ...Mission Accepted
1639399 Heh heh. Duty.
1639399 I saw it opening weekend.
1639460 Actually, I had...typists block. I wrote it down quite quickly actually, i just lost all the motivation to type it up. I actually pulled an all-nighter just to finish it.
1639489 I agree.
1639499 Perhaps...
1639502 Woo-hoo!
1639530 Your wish is my command.
1639564 That is good! I am pleased with this!
1639586 Perhaps, perhaps...
1639605 Aww, thank you!
1639695 Thank you!
1639703 Aww man, that totally sucks, dude.
1639806...I see what you did there.
1639866 Wow, was it busy?
1639918 yeah, Technically I saw it on Monday... but it was still swamped
Yes!
Rehabilitation rules! Now excuse me while I do a happy dance.
4.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Dance.gif
By the way, I know the feel of writer's block. It's evil, and I feel sorry for you.
1639918
Will we get more details on the skirmish with the dragon at some point? Because I don't get the impression that this story is moving forward at all...
I want to see more of RD's inner turmoil, more background to the accident, more musing on the past and future... The Cakes are having trouble with their foals. Half a chapter. I don't care about the Cakes!
1639399 Execute order 66
1639530 Was that a Ruby Gloom reference?
1640957
What? No.
Misery, a classic film from the 80's. Author car crashes, is found by a fan. Fan reads his latest and yet unpublished novel. Fan didn't like it so she tourterd him 'til he fixed it.
1639399 I would normally have posted a well thought out, interesting, and loving review, but hey, I was playing minecraft. It takes a something big to tear me away from that. Which is a testimate to how much I love this story, seeing as I dropped everything to read this.
FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME UNIVERSE. IT'S A FUCKING FEDORA. A CUSTOM FEDORA. STETSONS LOOK NOTHING LIKE THAT.
ANDIAMO!!!
I'm guessing improving wing sensitivity to become more aware of slight air pressure changes and recognizing the cause of such changes (something you wouldn't really train if you have sight) and reacting accordingly because wings are very sensitive... and because it's very technical Twi will help, of course.
1641915 'She is almost always seen wearing a light brown stetson hat,'
It's on Wiki man.
Another well written chapter
Keep up the good work
1639399 just keep it up, even if it comes out slower, the point is that it won't stop. This story is just to good to stop it
1642202 Because Wikipedia and the rest of the internet always tell the truth.
ANDIAMO!!!
1639703 I know it was killing me waiting for it to be up
I see no problem with this chapter. It takes the focus off RD, but reveals how her close friends are taking the situation as well, Which in my opinion is interesting. Good work sir.
1639399 ~Yeah it's been fun but now I've got to go...
Life is way too short to take it slow.
But before I go and hit the road...
I got to know...
'Til then, when can we do this again?
When can I see you again?
When can we do this again?
I got to know, when can I see you again?~
AWESOME movie! Got to see it, like, a week ago or so! LOVED that Owl City got to do the song for it! XD
1643972 never said that. I was just tryin' to be funny.
I'm never funny anyway 
Meh... it was a good chapter. Sure, I'd like moar, but I understand when life gets in the way. Today when I logged on fimfiction, I saw 18 notifications and 113 thing on the star. Sometimes life just keeps ya busy. I will say that i'm really anxious to hear more of this story in twilight's perspective, Rainbow's perspective, and i'm anxious to start to see them coming together.
1647501 50 notifications, 51 starred unread, and 1,103 read later on mine. I hear ya.
Glad to see somepony is thinking straight. Dash can still fly, just not quite like before. Thing is, once she's in the air, everything is relative. She just needs a spotter who can relay altitude information and warn her if she's getting off track. If she gets good enough, she could probably still be able to make it into the Wonderbolts. Just a theory.
1639931 I can imagine. Last week when my dad and I tried to go, it was sold out.
1639951
Also, I didn't get writers block. In fact, I haven't really had any problems with writing this. Sure there were those off times where I replaced a line with something more fitting, but I haven't had that horrible feeling of, "Crap. What do I write next?' But, I do agree. Writer's block is the epitome of all things evil.
1640158 Whoa, someone wants to see my crappy attempt at psychological turmoil? Well, ain't that a
.
But, I agree with you on the subject of things are progressing REALLY slowly. However, things will pick up (hopefully) in the next couple of chapters. No guarantee, but let's see how this goes anyway, shall we?
1640983...
I like the Ruby Gloom thing better.
1641614 Thank you very much! It means a lot to me to know that someone loves my story that much.
1641915 Mmmm...i like the sound of that.
1642070 You may be right...
1642154 Quite right.
1642330 Thank you!
1642647 Will do!
1646382
But I'm a ma'am...OR AM IThanks much!1646547 S-U-G-A-R
Jump into your racing car!
Say SUGAR RUSH
SUGAR RUSH!
I listened to that song for the better part
all ofof yesterday1647501 Wow, usually I get about 50 notifications and 1 favorite.
Anyway, thank you! I'll try my best with it!
1648620 Indeed, indeed. I'm glad some pony is thinking straight as well. About time I got off that depressing stuff, right?
1648760
cdn.derpiboo.ru/media/BAhbBlsHOgZmSSJLMjAxMi8xMS8xOS8wNF8xNl80MF8xNDlfMTU2OTIzX19VTk9QVF9fc2FmZV9zcGlrZV9hbmltYXRlZF9pbWFnZV9tYWNybwY6BkVU/156923__safe_spike_animated_image-macro_reaction-image_too-many-pinkie-pies.gif
1647454 Its okay, I'm only funny when I'm wearing my James Bond undies
ANDIAMO!!!
Well, I enjoyed it immensely, and am very happy for the update. Rarity seemed a little OOC near the end though. Why would she have a book on pegasi and wing aerodynamics?
In general, those last two paragraphs just felt more Twilight than Rarity. Rarity seems more like she would ask Twilight.
1649955
...I don't have funny undies. 
It's a sign of the apocalypse.
I'm being watched?...
Not a bad chapter, however there were a few errors that I picked up on:
-Several places where you wrote "some pony" instead of somepony.
(Sorry, pet peeve of mine.)
-AJ loses her accent at one point in the conversation with Rarity.
-It's "y'all" not "ya'll". It's a contraction of "you" and "all"
1639399
Is it me or Rarity acts kinda like Twilight with all the book think?
Watching Ralph now...
1651284 i see. Thank you for pointing that out. But, I assure you, it's intentional, even if it is a bit OOC for Rarity.
1658216 Both things intentional, except for the "y'all" part. Thanks for telling me that. I had no idea up til now.
1659069 I see. Thank you.
1662007 Everybody seems to be saying that. While i agree with you on some level, it is intentional.
Hope you enjoyed it! I sure as hell did.
1672508
I was wondering if the lack of accent in that part was intentional. I'm fairly sure, however, that people's accents tend to get stronger when they are under heavy emotional stress, rather than weaker. Even the strong enunciation of the words would be a strong enunciation of the accented word. Not 100% on that, however.
Any reason that you are using "some pony"? As a replacement for the somebody, it is about as grammatically correct to use "some pony" as it would be to use "some body".
1672612 Eh, me neither. I don't have an accent so i'm not all that knowledgeable on the subject.
My proofreader is a butt and thinks somepony is two words, so I just follow along with that, and I also think it's easy to type. However, this is just my way of doing it, so yeah. That's why.
I'm horrible at explaining things.
Unicorn magic OP.
Kinda surprised how Rarity´s the one who gets the idea about researching blind pegasi flying and not Twilight.
I always found Rarity´s strength to know about her friends feelings/emotions and react to it/say the right thing (or what she believes is the right thing to say) while it´s more Twi´s strength to find the intellectual details for every problem, the problem beign Dash´s blindness and how to cope with it.
We get to see AJ taking it hard with the sudden and cruel change for RD and PP acting like PP though we can feel that theres more to it. I expect a break-down of Pinkie after seeing RD trying to live as a blind pony and, most likely failing at it first and becoming more and more depressed/angry about it.
What makes me really wonder is Rarity: Outta the five she acts the least shocked/shaken/afraid being of RD´s new condition. Twi, AJ, PP and ofc Shy took it all way harder than her. Maybe it would be good to know what AJ fears of the changes like not being able to do races with RD and such or their banter between each other or why PP does her best to act like nothing´s wrong or like how being blind won´t actually be a horrible thing for RD (yes, it will).
Twi and Shy were got covered, yer AJ/PP and especially Rarity with her obvious different reaction than the rest are still just fundamental covered. Maybe we´ll get to see more of their viewpoints/reasonings/fears explained later, i hope so.
And i hope we get back to Twi and RD next chapter.
oh god why did this chapter have the line "10 seconds flat"? I know we made it a meme, but Rainbow has only ever said it once, and that was to Twilight. "Before you know it" would fit so much better, and not be continuing a stupid joke that has run it's course and should never have made it's way into fics.