> Spot
>  by goddamnAnimal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sewing machine continued its job with a noisy, ugly sound. Rarity sat at her desk with her work glasses sitting at the tip of her nose and her lips tight against her jaw. She was applying a stitch to a white dress with pink and lavender laces. The dress was going to be beautiful. It had to be.
The aging boutique was quiet except for the sound of the sewing machine. The faint sound of crickets outside was drowned out by its noise along with whatever small creaks old houses make during this time of night. A few faint shadows were cast from the lamp that sat on Rarity’s desk, truly illuminating her work space, and only revealing a tiny amount clutter beyond that.
Rarity finished the last stitch she wanted to do on the dress. She stood up, held it up in the air with her magic and levitated some blue bows and sapphires. She began sewing them on with delicate precision. She brought the pattern in her mind’s eye to fruition with each movement of the needle. After she was finished, she continued to hold it up and eyed it for a long time with a small frown on her face. She let out a sigh, placed the dress on her desk and sat back down. She had always came back to those colors. The colors of her sister.
She sat there and stared down at it. She took off her work glasses and placed them quietly by sewing machine. She laid her head down on top of the dress and promptly burst into tears.
Rarity picked up the dress in her magic and wadded it up; she then threw the dress against the furthest window. There was a loud crash outside, near her trash cans. Rarity jumped in her seat when she heard it. She slowly got up, walked to the door and opened it exposing her to the frigid  of winter. The unicorn shivered slightly and walked forward into the snow as small white flakes drifted lazily down. Rarity turned a corner where her trash was and sure enough the trash cans were overturned and their contents spilled everywhere. She whipped her head around and scanned her dark surroundings that were engulfed by the night. When she examined the spilled refuse closely, Rarity found the tracks of some sort of animal leading away from the mess. 

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          “It was probably just a raccoon.” Twilight calmly took a sip of her tea.

           Rarity was pacing the crystalline study room. Large bookshelves lining each of the walls and artificial light kept the room well lit. The whole setup kept Rarity on edge. Unsurprisingly nothing much had changed since Rarity had last been there even after such a long time.

           “You think so? I wouldn’t put it past anypony coming around to see if they can steal some designs. Hmpf, like that would do them any good.” Rarity was looking a little rougher than usual since the last time Twilight saw her. Her hair was slightly frazzled in places and she had large bags under her eyes almost hidden by a heavy application of makeup.

            “Speaking of which, how is the business going?” said Twilight, giving Rarity a slightly strained smile as she changed the subject.
           Rarity stopped in her tracks. “The same as usual, profits have nearly tripled since last winter and they are opening three new locations in Baltimare, New Canterlot and Sugercube City.”
           “Is that why you were up so late that night? Were you working on a commission?”
Rarity scoffed at that. 
”I don’t do commissions anymore, Twilight. I’m retired. My dress-making is entirely for pleasure nowadays. I do keep up with the company I founded however.”
“Aren’t you worried about the decisions being made since you no longer run everything?” Twilight raised an eyebrow at her.
Rarity flipped her hair. “Oh please, I had a team of CEO’s running everything even before I left and it’s not like it isn’t making me any bits anymore. Even if they decide to run it into the ground it's not like it really matters. At least now I have more time do what I want instead of watching a bunch of riff raff waddle around,” She sneered.
           Twilight gave her friend a concerned look. “Rarity, are you sleeping well at night?”
Rarity stopped and narrowed her eyes a little at her old friend.
“I sleep just fine, Twilight. Better than ever, actually.” She resumed her pacing. “Anyway, going back to the topic at hoof, you are probably right about it being a small animal. I really wish the city would do something about all the vermin infesting the streets. It’s atrocious.”
           Twilight bit her lip and tried to hide her face. “They’re doing a lot better than before, but animals have been wandering into the city more often ever since… you know.” Twilight trailed off, not wanting the conversation to go down that road.
            Rarity stopped in her tracks “Oh right. She always did have such a way with animals...” Rarity tried to keep her voice straight. Even after these many years, her friend was still hard to talk about. There was an oppressive silence between the two. Rarity’s rigid expression fell ever so slightly. Twilight looked at her friend and decided to take the plunge.
           “Is everything okay, Rarity? You didn’t stop by after all these years to just talk about raccoons digging in your trash, did you?”
           Rarity turned away from Twilight and clenched her teeth. “Twilight, darling, I’m doing just fine. Now can you please stop with the incessant questioning about my wellbeing?” 
           Twilight flinched at that and turned her attention to her teacup, silently watching the brown liquid as she thought of something to say.
           “Hey, are you girls doing okay in there? Need some more tea?” rumbled the deep voice of Spike. He appeared in the doorway looking down at the two ponies in the room.
           Twilight let out a relieved sigh. “No. Thank you, Spike. You’re welcome to join us though.” She smiled at her former assistant.
           Spike gave his own toothy grin. “Heh, maybe later. Pan is telling me more about this new friend they met and I left right in the middle of one of their stories.”
           Twilight chuckled. “Alright then. Try not to have too much fun, okay?”
           “I’ll try.” Spike gave Twilight a little salute and them to their own devices.
           Twilight turned her attention back to Rarity. “Pan finally made a friend last month. I’m so proud of them. ”
           A cold chill ran down Rarity’s spine at the mention of that name. “Really,” said Rarity, keeping her tone pleasant.
           “Yep,” Twilight looked down at her cup with a small smile. “And I’m going to try to get him into a school soon so he’ll have the opportunity to have even more friends.” Twilight’s smile widened at the thought.
           Rarity looked twilight dead in the eyes. “Twilight, I mean no offense when I say this, but that is a terrible idea.”
           Twilight’s smile fell and there was glint of anger behind her eyes. “What do you mean, Rarity?”
           “Twilight, I’ve heard of what that child can do and I have seen the aftermath of such incidents in the past. All that power and you want to place it in a room full of terrified children and teachers? It’ll take more than your own hopes to keep something horrible from happening.”  Twilight had closed her eyes while Rarity spoke and took slow controlled breaths before matching Rarity’s gaze.
           “Rarity,” Twilight started off calmly, a neutral expression on her face. “While I understand your fears, I know Pan--who I have been raising as my own child, mind you-- far better than whatever gossip has told you. If you would actually take the time to come down and get to know him, you would feel the same way I do. “
           Rarity looked away from her friend with a bitter frown on her face. “You can think whatever you want to think, Twilight, But when those school children die and they send that little creature’s head to you in a box, don’t come crying to me.”
           Twilight’s façade broke for just a second and Rarity felt an unfathomable pressure in the air. Energy crackled off of Twilight’s form and Rarity, for a second, hoped she would unleash that power that has earned her the title of the world’s strongest alicorn.
           But as soon as it came it was gone with a loud sigh. Twilight sat there for a while saying nothing. Rarity watched her passively with an expression of someone who was watching grass grow. The silence was only broken when a familiar dragon stuck his head through the door. “What’s going on? I felt a magic surge coming from here.” There was something small peeking out behind one of his legs, shivering. Rarity did her very best not to look at it.
           Twilight closed her eyes for a second and composed herself before turning towards Spike. “Everything is fine, Spike.  I just got a little to passionate in our discussion. You know how I get,” Twilight let out a small chuckle that Rarity could tell was fake.  “You two go back to what you were doing. We will be fine, trust me.” Twilight offered Spike a kind smile and then gazed gently at the thing hiding behind his leg.
           Rarity heard it shift ever so slightly and felt her skin crawl. She felt a darkness well up inside her.
           Spike looked at Twilight skeptically before finally relenting. “Alright, but if anything is happening make sure you don’t keep me in the dark, okay?”
           “Of course, Spike, and remember there are some cookies if either of you get hungry, okay?” Twilight lowered her gaze from Spike and gave a big smile and a wink.
           Spike chuckled and slowly left the doorway looking back once. The thing followed him closely like a shade. Its shadow caught the corner of Rarity’s eye. Twilight watched the entrance until she could no longer hear their footsteps. She turned her attention back to Rarity with a stern glare.
           “Rarity, Pan is the sweetest, kindest child I have ever met,” Twilight said with the utmost conviction. “And I know there is a risk but if I don’t pony up and treat him like a living, thinking being…” Tears began to appear at the corner of her eyes. “If I don’t set that precedent, then no one will.”
           Rarity met her gaze with a stony face hardened by what the worst life can throw and spat, “You are a fool, Twilight.”
           Rarity could feel the malice radiating off her old friend. “Get out of my castle, Rarity, before I do something I regret.”
           Rarity turned away and slowly made her way out of the room, not sparing Twilight another glance or a goodbye. She silently moved through the castle, the sound of her hooves echoing off the crystal walls. The castle that usually looked magnificent now looked dark and lonesome. It gave a Rarity a bad taste in her mouth and she snorted in anger at everything. She went down some stairs and saw the exit in sight. The unicorn soon left the castle, finding the streets as empty as usual, but she could hear the city of Ponyville very much alive and awake in the distance. The city gave the castle wide berth in its daily goings on for a reason she knew all too well. Rarity grit her teeth and her eyes shrank to slits. Her horn glowed for a second and a massive crack appeared in the sidewalk.
           She stood there, her words ringing through her head and once again felt too dead to cry.

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    Rarity hobbled along in the black void. The longer she walked the older she became. Her hair became gray and her body began to shrivel. The unicorn felt her life drain away.
    Rarity looked down and saw she was a charred skeleton. There was pony obscured by shadows in front her. The pony became bigger with each second. 
    There was laughter.
    The pony smiled and looked right in her eyes.
    Wake up.
     Rarity awoke.
Rarity continued to lie in her bed. She had been there since yesterday after she came home from Twilight’s. She tried not to remember the demons in her dreams and have another episode. Her room was in complete disarray, clothes and smaller items were scattered across the room. Trashy romance novels piled into a small mound on the side of the bed she was laying on. The clock on her nightstand read 1:28 pm. The phone started to ring again, most likely somepony from her company making sure she didn’t fall in a lake. Rarity let it ring. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of a fridge that was nearly empty. She slowly got up, and made her way to the bathroom. Her hair was a mess and she had bags under her eyes. Her bathroom was just as much as a wreck as her room, white spots dotted the mirror and containers for makeup lay haphazardly in various places where they should not be. 
    Rarity looked in the mirror and saw a monster. She averted her eyes and grabbed a brush and some makeup to finally begin her day.
           A little while later,  Rarity made herself look halfway presentable and made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast. After eating, she walked out her door and locked it. She was wearing a large, fancy coat of ethically obtained fur. Before leaving her property, she checked the mailbox beside the door.It was stuffed with envelopes and a newspaper. Most of the letters were junk except a bright pink envelope, a letter from Pinkie. Rarity didn’t even open it to know what it was, a postcard with a picture of Pinkie Pie pushing her husband through some exotic jungle in his wheelchair. There would also be a few words written by Pinkie about her travels, how she misses Rarity, how she wishes Rarity would write to her more often, and blah blah blah. Rarity grimaced and crumpled the letter up in a ball with her magic. Somehow Pinkie always knew where to send the letter no matter where she moved.
    The next thing she looked at was the newspaper. The big headline on the front read: “MASKLESS PRINCESS CELESTIA MENTALLY SCARS FOALS ON CASTLE FIELD TRIP” in big bold letters that Rarity could not help but roll her eyes at. The front page also mentioned some smaller articles, such as a massive graveyard full of unidentifiable broken bones found in an old mine and that there was something being planned for the thirtieth anniversary of the...
           Rarity incinerated the newspaper in her magic and tossed the rest of the letters in her trash can. She headed down the road, there were ponies out and about despite the cold weather. She passed an obvious group of friends as they laughed about something or other. Rarity did her best to ignore them and anyone else on the streets. She stole a glance up at the barren and damaged Canterhorn Mountain. A blackened crater that disfigured the great spire was all that remained of the Canterlot of her youth.
A taxi drove by and Rarity flagged it down. It was one of those motorized horseless carriages that had become popular in recent years. Rarity was surprised that a place as small as Ponyville had a taxi service that implemented them, but the town had grown quite a bit since the last time she lived there and was the home city for princess of friendship herself so she guessed it was not completely unwarranted. She opened the back door when it stopped and climbed in.
           “Where to, miss?” said the thick accented yak that was driving it.
           “The marketplace.” Rarity didn’t look the yak in the face, instead opting to stare out the window at the ponies. The yak shrugged his shoulders and put his hoof on the gas. The automobile’s motor gave a purr similar to the furious repeated tapping of a typewriter and was off.
           She watched as the scenery moved quickly around her. They passed a few stores as they went on. Most of them were new except for The Barnyard Bargains standing where it had always been and Rarity’s own store line, Rare Beauty. The vehicle braked sharply and Rarity caught the sight of the yak cabbie glaring at some colt jaywalking.
           After that, it was a few more minutes of thoughtless gazing before the vehicle stopped at the busy outdoor market.
           “That will be eleven bits please,” said the driver.
           Rarity opened up the bag she had underneath her coat and hoofed him the fare before getting out, not paying him any more attention than needed.
           The market was a little crowded with ponies and a few non ponies. Chatter filled the air as ponies bartered and had conversation. Rarity went into the crowd and headed to where the produce vendors had gathered. They were all lined up on both sides, with each little section selling various goods, their stands brightly colored. Near the end towards Rarity was a bulletin board with the wanted pictures of various rogues such as Billy the Goat, Flu Achoo, Discord the Spirit of Chaos, and Water Malone, along with job listing and various other undersernable fliers.  A young, nerdy--looking stallion with glasses and zits all over his face was  browsing them.
           Rarity perused the selections, taking what she needed. When she had gathered what was wanted, she silently paid the vendor before moving to the next stall. She spied some of Applejack’s ilk near the end behind their apple stand, which Rarity made a point to avoid. After all, she was not in the mood for whatever optimistic hogwash would spew from their mouths.
           After a while she managed to find most of the things that she needed and waited in line at the last stall she was going to for today. There was a small line of grocery shoppers in front of her.  They were mostly chatting with each other or just remaining silent. Rarity tuned them out and everything else around her. She did spot a young colt staring at her before her attention completely waned. He stopped after the hard glare Rarity gave him. Her mind then finally wandered off and she failed to notice the ground shaking subtly behind her.
           Rarity didn’t notice until the ground shook more forcefully in a series of short earthquakes. The ponies in front of her stood in terror at whatever was behind her before they darted off as fast as they could when a shadow fell upon the white unicorn.
           Rarity turned around, looked up and saw the largest Minotaur she had ever seen. He was at least three times the size of Iron Will and was a pitch black color that blended into his furry bottom half. He was very well built and looked like he had the strength to crush a pony to dust with one hand. His eyes were a fiery red and he had a faint scowl as he stared on ahead. Rarity was not impressed.
           “Look, if you are here to take over Equestria or whatever, could you perhaps do it on another day? I’m really not in the mood to be throttling supervillains.”
           The big Minotaur looked down at the deadpan unicorn with the same unamused expression that was plastered on his face. He lifted up an overly muscular arm and held up a comparatively small grocery bag in between two fingers.
           “I’m shopping. I’m not a supervillain.”
Rarity narrowed her eyes at the behemoth, studying him for a bit before finally letting out a harrumph and turning around. She ignored the Minotaur behind her and walked up to the vendor who was currently hiding behind his vegetable stand.
           “Ahem,” she spoke, trying to get the lightly crying brown stallion’s attention. She began to scowl. “Oh, quit being so spineless and take my money already.”
           The stallion looked Rarity in the eye then at her grocery bags and blurted out, “Twenty-four bits, please!”
           Rarity pulled a small pouch from her fur coat and emptied the bits onto the counter before walking off, not giving the scene anymore thought. She walked to the edge of the market and thought about getting another taxi but decided against it. The unicorn began to walk slowly down the sidewalk, the occasional motorized carriage whizzing by, and headed towards her house with her grocery in tow.
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               Rarity walked down the street with her bags floating around her in a magical glow. Snowflakes were beginning to lazily drift down to the ground. The streets were properly populated with ponies going about their day with the occasional sight of foals playing in the snow.  An old vagrant pony was bundled up on a bench  staring at nothing. There was a tin can lying on the ground beside him.
               “Could you spare some change, Miss?” said the old vagrant, looking up as Rarity passed.
               Rarity gave him a sharp glare that caused him to turn away and scoot further away on the bench.
               She continued on, her mind drifted to the grand adventures she used to have with her friends, saving the world from some such disaster or evil and away from the dreary winter streets of the present.
               Rarity rounded a corner and her old boutique, now just a house, was in sight with only a block or so remaining. She walked along with the cool air brushing against her face and a faint frown forming on her lips. Her eyes began to unconsciously drift upward at the overcast sky and she daydreamed the rest of the way to her house. Rarity was so lost in thought she didn’t register a group of kids had ran past until one ran into her with a wet splat. The child mumbled something before disappearing out of Rarity’s field of vision. Rarity just stood there staring at all the mud on her nice fur coat. She watched as the mud slowly dropped small chunks into the snow.
               All the grocery bags dropped from her magic and a pillar of energy erupted from Rarity. Her eyes glowed, ready to bring down wrath on the thing that earned her scorn. Her mind quickly caught up with her emotions before she could bring annihilation upon the city of Ponyville. She took a deep breath and extinguished the energy around her. She used a spell to separate all the mud from her coat, making it look like what it was before. Her groceries were scattered around her in a circle. She once again used her magic to gather them up, looking more tired than angry. She walked slowly to the front door, only to find it wide open. She gave it a confused look; almost certain that she locked it before she left. She then noticed the hair pin in the door lock and her expression darkened considerably.  
               She checked the place for a ransacking but the boutique was just as messy as she left it, except for one little detail. The dress she was working on yesterday was lying against a chair in front of the old counter. This struck Rarity as most odd since she stuffed it in a garbage bag and threw it out with the rest of the trash when she could no longer stand the sight of it the other night. It was a little dirty and had an old wrapper stuck to it but it was otherwise in the same condition she last saw it. Rarity pondered why somepony would do such a thing. Someone must be trying to send her a message, perhaps an envious business rival or an up-and-comer. The world of fashion has continued to be a vicious place with many jealous of Rarity’s longstanding success and fame.
               Rarity felt a bitter taste form in her mouth and the fire she once had died yet again to her normal apathy. Such matters hadn’t been an interest for a long time. She took off her coat and placed it on a coat rack by the door. She closed the door behind and slowly turned her head back to the dress. She crumpled it into a ball with her magic and haphazardly flung it into the door behind the counter, landing somewhere in the clutter of the living room. She then began to make way to her kitchen. Before she could make it very far she felt something squeak loudly beneath her hooves. She looked down to see that she was stepping on a small rubber rolled up newspaper.
               She levitated it up to her eye level, giving it a look of confusion before continuing her trip to the kitchen. She set it on the counter and placed her groceries in the appropriate places. She noticed her peanut butter was left out on the counter despite Rarity remembering that she put up back in her cabinet that morning. It was licked clean. A vein popped in her temple and her eye twitched. She lifted the rubber newspaper and brought it into the living room where she then laid on her old fainting couch. The couch’s color was faded and its cushions were worn out with a few small holes revealing its fluffy insides. It was well past its prime and looked ready to finally give up the ghost someday soon. Rarity couldn’t bring herself to throw it away.
               Rarity examined the squeak toy more closely. In big letters it was named the “The Daily Growl” and it was lined with smudged paragraphs that Rarity could not make out except for a few dog related words. Perhaps the pony that broke in dropped it. She couldn’t really think of another plausible explanation for it. She couldn’t think of a reason why they would be carrying it. She also could not think of a reason on why she would care. She decided she would ask around tomorrow if anyone had seen anything. What kind of imbecile breaks into a house in the middle of the day? She rubbed one of her eyes with a hoof and set the squeaky toy on the arm of the couch, right above her head. Her eyelids were beginning to drift downward and she felt a momentary pang of guilt for wanting to sleep an hour before it officially became evening. She stared at the ceiling, not wanting to look at how messy the living room was. Rarity finally gave up on doing anything the rest of the day and slowly drifted off to sleep.
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           There was a crash and Rarity’s eyes shot open. She sat up on the couch and scanned the dark room. It was nearly pitch black and Rarity could tell that night fell long ago. The end table that sat next to her fainting couch was currently on its side. The squeaky toy was gone,as if to mock her. She scanned the room and saw there were boxes and clutter everywhere on chairs, tables, and simply just strewn about, creating too many hiding spaces to count. She listened to the oppressive silence around her for the smallest of noises that she could find. She was fruitless in her endeavor, but she could feel the presence of someone standing still in the dark, perhaps waiting to escape or to strike Rarity down at the right moment. Rarity rubbed her eye with a hoof and let out a big, unrestrained yawn and smacked her lips loudly.
She then levitated every single object in the living room and then lit up her horn in a illumination spell without breaking a sweat.
There was a high pitched yelp and the squeak of that rubber newspaper behind her. Rarity turned around towards the noise. What she had seen raised her eyebrows a little.
There underneath the fainting couch was a creature that Rarity had not seen in a long time.
The creature’s disproportionately large claw-like hands gripped the sides underneath the old couch. Fur the color of warm milk covered the little being from head to toe and light brown spots were spread graciously over its surface. One was on his head staining one of his eyes and a floppy ear. Another was on his hand like a big goofy wristwatch. A small one was on the furthest toe on his left foot going up a skinny leg. The last big one was off center from his chest, obscured by a ratty, loose-fitting vest that might have been a light pink if it weren’t marred by stains of every color of the rainbow and then some. Its pockets appeared to be stuffed with crumpled up pieces of paper with the caps of pins sticking out the top of the front pockets. His fur was also pot marked by little darker spots that Rarity could tell were bits of dirt. His droopy ears fell limply at each side of his head slightly touching the rubber news paper gripped firmly in his mouth.
In front of Rarity was a tiny Diamond Dog.
It took a little bit for Rarity to drop the look of surprise and fall into something more unamused. The interloper’s little fangs dug further into the squeaky lump of rubber. It had been a long time since Rarity had seen a Diamond Dog and never one this small. By the large, round eyes--the deep blue pupils of which shrunken and watching her every move--and the cute little nose, Rarity could tell it was most likely a little pup or whatever Diamond Dogs are called when they are young.
           “What are you doing in my house?” Rarity asked bluntly.
           The little pup narrowed his eyes at Rarity before mumbling something unintelligible before darting his eyes to the floor.
           Rarity stood there waiting before giving up with an annoyed sigh. She gently sat down everything she was levitating, turning the couch upside down in the process to simultaneously try to get the kid out from underneath it and to prevent any possibility of accidentally crushing him.
           The pup spat the toy into his hand then darted away from her and to the front door. Rarity got him in her magic before he could get too far.
           “Let go of me, lady!” he yelled, his voice was light and squeaky. It kind of reminded Rarity of her of someone she used to know a long time ago.
           But she wasn’t going to think of that.
    He squirmed in her magic while throwing her some dirty looks. Rarity scowled at the child. “Quit being such a ruffian and be still.”
           She sat him on the ground and placed a force field around him. His eyes darted around the magic barrier before huffing, folding his arms, and planting his butt on the floor.
           Rarity rubbed her temples and turned toward the kitchen.
           “I need some tea.” She said to herself.
She lifted a couple of tea bags out of a cabinet and went to prepare the teapot.  She stood there and watched it until the pot began to whistle and poured two cups. She walked back to the living room where the young diamond dog was currently trying to dig through her floor. Rarity cleared her throat and he stopped. Rarity dropped the force field and sat the cup in front of him. She pulled her couch over in her magic and took a seat on it.
           She slowly took a sip while the pup in front of her was giving the cup in front of him a perplexed look,    
“It’s not poisonous,” said Rarity, rolling her eyes.
           The dog gave her the stink eye and put his hands on his hips, before looking away.
           Rarity gave an exasperated sigh and then took a sip of her cup and looked at him with a neutral expression.
           His eyes darted back and forth between Rarity and the cup of tea.  Rarity decided not to give the situation any more attention.
           She looked away to the far side of the room and took another sip of her tea, listening to the silence for just a second. She looked back at him to see him improperly holding the cup of tea. Rarity decided it would be a little much to correct him.
           “So, I presume that you have a name?” She asked.
           The Diamond Dog looked into the pool of light brown liquid in his hands and appeared to be thinking deeply, perhaps contemplating if he should tell her at all. He opted to stare at Rarity distrustfully.
           “Oh please, it’s not like I’m going to mistake you for some other little Diamond Dog roaming around. You are the first one I’ve seen in years.”
           The pup bit his cheek and his eyes drifted to a corner of the room. “The name’s Spot,” he said, finally relenting.
“Spot, hmm? Well, Spot, despite what you may have heard, there really isn’t anything worth breaking into here for, as you may have already found out. I would refrain from doing so again in the future as I might not be so accommodating next time.” Rarity said before he took a big swig of her tea as she wondered if she should get some wine for herself instead.
           “I wasn’t stealing,” Spot muttered.
           Rarity gave him a flat look. “I haven’t really checked to see if anything is out of place, but I did notice someone had pilfered my peanut butter.”
           She watched Spot as she said that. The Diamond Dog’s cheeks turned a little pink at the mention of peanut butter.  She spotted a small bulge in the diamond dog’s vest and guessed it was the squeaky newspaper she found earlier. “Is that little squeaky toy the reason you came back?” Rarity asked.
               Spot blushed deeper and tried to hide it by turning himself away completely. The reaction almost managed to bring a smile to Rarity’s lips. She once again caught specks of dirt hanging from the Diamond Dog’s coat and scowled. “I can see you are absolutely filthy from running around out there in the dark.”
               The pup didn’t say anything, but Rarity could see his ears flatten. “There is a rag in the kitchen that you can use to go wipe yourself off with so you don’t look so disgusting.” said Rarity, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “If you are worried about the police, forget it. I am far too tired to deal with any of their nonsense.”
                Spot turned and looked at the mare before him with a hint of shock on his face. Rarity drank the rest of her tea and left the tea set there, making a half hearted promise to pick it all up in the morning before turning back to Spot. “Don’t break into my house again or I won’t be so lenient next time. You are free to leave after you finish washing up.” She laid back down on the couch and did not bother to look back at the child again.
               She heard him finally patter off and then heard the faucet in the kitchen turn on.  A few moments later the sound of running water stopped  and she heard him walk out the front door. After a few more minutes of silence, Rarity decided to head to her room before she fell asleep on the couch again. She walked up the stairs and into her room. Rarity flopped down on her bed and laid there.   She waited for sleep to take her and ignored the quiet laughter in the back of her mind.
> Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rarity rushed  out of her bed in a cold sweat. She heard the laughter booming loudly in her head and her bedroom was now a hell she wished would leave and never return. There was blood pooling at her hooves and smell of burnt flesh in the air. Tendrils of powerful magic sparked from Rarity’s form, gathering like bad weather. Something fell against the ground and Rarity used the massive pool of her magical power to send nearly every piece of furniture hurtling toward where it landed. A couple of large dressers smashed through the floor followed by the night stands and everything else except her bed. They crashed down into the room below with such force it made the whole building shake.
Rarity’s heart was pounding in her chest as she tried to calm her breathing. She could feel the tears running down her chin.
She closed her eyes and collapsed to the ground. She covered her face with her forelegs and began to sob.  Rarity did not know how much time had passed before she was able to finally compose herself. She raised her head out of her hooves and looked around at the damage she caused. Her room was nearly empty besides a few clothes and a couple of books. She got up and slowly walked to the crater that was now in her room. She looked down to see her half broken furniture laying in a pile with everything else that was in her room on top of busted packed away boxes. Fortunately, the room below she used to mostly store old junk though that did nothing to raise her spirits.
“Perfect,” Rarity said in a dead tone. She didn’t have the energy to be angry and simply raised the pile back through her caved in floor.
Rarity checked herself to make sure she wasn’t actually covered in blood and then placed everything haphazardly around her room, only ensuring that it was out of her way. Her dressers were all busted up and her phone and alarm were both completely shattered. The wastebasket was bent and too warped to be of any use. Many of her clothes were torn and her books were wadded into tight paper balls. She noticed a yellowed piece of paper stuck to the face of one of her dressers, a probable hitchhiker from one of the boxes below. With an eyebrow raised she gently pulled the piece of paper off the broken furniture with her magic and floated towards herself. It was neatly folded as if it was inside an envelope. It had three words written on the front of it, To my Darling, written in neat cursive.
Rarity paled when she recognized the hoof writing.
She unfolded the paper and found a letter written to her inside:
    Rarity, the love of my life, due to the way things are, we will not be able to grow old together like we have always wanted and if you are reading this then I left you a lot sooner than I would have liked. I’m sorry, if you didn’t get to hear these words from my mouth before I left. It was never my intention to tell you like this, you mean much more to me than that.  You got a lot more life to live than I do and after everything is all said and done, I don’t want you to be living your life like some old widow. If there is one pony in this world who does not deserve to be alone it’s you. Please, let yourself be happy and don’t let some old loyalty to me or anyone else that has gone away stop you. If this is the last you hear from me in this life, then I hope we meet again and know that I will love you till the end of forever.

                Francis
    There was a deep urge inside her to crumple the letter and burn it into nothing, but she instead took a breath. After calming down, Rarity folded the paper back and gently set it down on the small table beside her bed.

 She finished gathering all her rubbish in a small pile and then left her bedroom to get ready for her day.
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
Rarity had just finished gathering all the trash and rubble in large black plastic bags. She had them stacked in a moderately sized pyramid at the foot of her stairs. Most of the mess had been dealt with besides the gaping hole in her bedroom. Luckily, it did not take too long with the help of magic.
           Rarity chewed on her cheek a bit before she heard her front door open.  She raised an eyebrow and walked towards the entrance.
           She saw the Diamond Dog she met last night hopping up on her counter.
           “Yo, what’s up?” said Spot. He nodded his head and got into a comfortable position on his side while propping his head up with a hand. His small tail was wagging slowly and he had a big smile on his face. He was a far cry from the cautious boy Rarity met last night.
           Rarity cocked her head at him and his nonchalant greeting, taking a moment to recall the incident from last night. She almost thought that was just a dream, at least she hoped it was. Such mundane dreams were in short supply.
           “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that it is impolite to just barge into other ponies houses?”
           The little pup scratched his arm and gave a nervous chuckle. “Eh, I figured it couldn’t hurt.  Plus, I really didn’t feel comfortable waiting out there, to be honest.”
           Rarity just stared at the pup with a small frown on her face. She narrowed her eyes a little at him  and caused Spot to fidget.   “Well, whatever. What do you want?” she finally said.
           Spot sat up and began inspecting his vest for lint. “To be honest, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for breaking into your house last night and to say thanks for not calling the fuzz on me.” He looked Rarity in the eye. “I was having a really bad day yesterday,” He finished.
           Rarity smiled, “Well consider it forgiven. Now leave.”
           Rarity quickly turned and left the room. She walked back to where she had her trash and gathered it all up in her magic.
           “Damn, did you skip trash day or what?”
           She turned around to see the Diamond Dog staring up at all the trash with wide eyes. Rarity narrowed her eyes at Spot. “You know where the door is, right? Or do you need me to lead you out?”
           Spot ignored her and went to examine her bags of garbage. “You didn’t throw it away again, did you?”
           Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Throw what away?”
           “You know what I mean, the dress.”
In truth, Rarity had completely forgotten about it and how she found it in that chair during the first break in. She looked around her living room and spotted it peeking behind a box near the far end of the room still crumpled in the wad she left it in.
           Spot put his paws on his hip and gave Rarity a stern look with those big blue eyes of his. “You really shouldn’t be throwing away perfectly good clothing like that. If don’t want it you can just donate it at one of the good will places in town. There are all sorts of folk that would kill to have something like that, I mean for real.”
           Rarity stared at the Diamond Dog in front of her as her blood began to boil. Her eyes drifted where the dress landed, its warm colors of white and lavender flashing into her vision. She calmed herself down and gave Spot a withering look. “Who do you think you are? It’s my property; I can do with it as I please.”
           Spot instantly backed off a little and raised his hands. “Whoa take it easy, I was just suggesting. I just figured that would be a better idea then letting it warm the rats.”
           Rarity eyed the Diamond Dog suspiciously. “Well, you thought wrong. What were you doing rooting through my refuse anyway?” she said.
           Spot gave her a confused look. “Your what?”
           Rarity rolled her eyes. “Refuse, it means trash.” She said evenly.
           “Oh! Uh,” Spot’s cheeks turned a slight pink and he began to rub his arm. “I saw you throw it out the other night and I figured I would take it and put it to a better use, ya know?”
           “That still doesn’t explain how it ended back it my house,” said Rarity giving spot a flat look.
           “I had a bit of heat on me and I needed a place to lay low and this was my only option. It really didn’t work out and I had to leave, real quick,” said Spot, frowning at the memory.
           “Yes, my stock of peanut butter can attest to that,” said Rarity in a huff.
           Spot look down at his feet and looked away. “Yeah, sorry about that. I got hungry,” he mumbled.
           “Hm, well as I said before, all is forgiven. Now if you do not mind I would be like left alone before my patience wears thin.” She turned back to what she was doing and began gathering up more of her garbage. She didn’t see his shoulders slump.
           “Yeah, I can tell when I’m not wanted, so I guess I will see you around,” said Spot before he turned towards the entrance. Rarity stopped what she was doing. Once again remembering that child she knew from long ago. “Thanks again for not calling the cops on me,” he said walking away.
           “Wait.”
           He stopped mid step and turned to her with an eyebrow raised.
           Her face was neutral but there was something in her eyes that he couldn’t place. 
“You can’t have that dress as I have grown attached to it now, but I can make you another one if you are willing to work for it. As you might have noticed my home as been looking rather atrocious lately and I fear I might need some help to get it back to its previous pristine condition. If you don’t mind getting your paws dirty, I don’t see why you can’t assist me until you can pay for it.”
           The Diamond Dog’s face brightened up instantly and he grew a big goofy grin as Rarity continued talking.
“Now if you take me on my offer, be warned, this would not be just for a couple of weekends. My dresses fetch a high price and it will take good amount of your ti-,” 
           “I’ll do it!” said Spot, startling Rarity with his volume.
           Rarity scowled at the excited puppy. “As I was trying to say, it will be no easy task and you would be working for me quite awhile. Oh Also, if this whole venture of yours is some sort of ruse then the police are a phone call away, is that clear?”
“Crystal,” said Spot, giving Rarity a salute. A smile still plastered to his face.
“Good.” Rarity dumped a large bag of trash into his paw with her magic. He nearly collapsed from the weight. “Take this to the dumpster outside and come back for another. Oh, and no more talking, your voice is irritating me.”
Spot gave her a thumbs up and headed towards the front door in a unsteady wobble.
…………………………………………
After he came back, the two of them cleaned and removed the trash in silence. The Boutique began to look halfway decent by the time it became dark and Rarity decided to dismiss her new employee.
“ I need you to come and finish the cleaning tomorrow.  We can then work out the details of your schedule once that has been completed,” said Rarity walking him to the door. Spot nodded silently while he listened to her words.
“You will also need to stay afterwards, so I can get your measurements for the dress you want so it will fit you properly.” Spot nodded again at that, but stopped a moment later as realization hit him.
“W-What? Whoa, you got it all wrong there, lady. The dress is for a friend of mine, n-not me. Honest!” His cheeks began to redden as he sputtered over his words.
“My Name is Rarity,” she said harshly. “If that is the case then have them come in or give me their measurement. I don’t care which.”
Spot wiped his forehead and felt like he just dodged a bullet. “Gotcha, Ms. Rarity, I’ll see you sometime tomorrow, sound good?” said Spot as Rarity began walking back to the depths of her boutique.
When he did not see a reply he felt it was as good as a time as any make his exit. “Alright, see ya,” he said, right before he was out the door.
When she was finally alone Rarity let out a breath she did not know she was holding in.
She all of a sudden felt exhausted and decided it would be best if she headed for her kitchen. She opened up a cabinet and floated out a bottle of wine she had hidden there. She then poured herself a glass.
    Rarity watched the red liquid become still in her glass and she thought about what happened that day. Deciding something, she left the kitchen and headed to the now ruined storage room, the only room she had not touched since her incident.
    Rarity had mostly avoided the storage room during her cleaning, opting to float any floor debris that she had initially missed through the gaping hole that was directly above the split open boxes. There were small photographs all over the floor, the probable contents of the ragged bits of cardboard that sat at the top of the ruined stack.
               Rarity floated up two a face down photographs that were stacked on top of each other up to her eye level.
    The first photograph was one of her sister lying in a hospital holding a swaddled, newborn foal in her hooves.  Rarity’s face began to sag as she looked at the picture, she took a large sip of her wine. The next photo was an old family photo. In the picture Rarity was standing next to her husband and child, whose cute face  was caught within mid sneeze. Rarity ran her hoof over the image of her husband’s face before traveling it down and lingering it on the child’s.
> Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the next day, the details of their agreement had been fleshed out. He would come on the weekends and help clean or assist Rarity in her attempts to get back into dressmaking for around five to six hours a day. Spot really did not mind how long he would be working for as long as he had a dress in the end and it was a “real head turner” in his own words. The deal really did work out for the both of them, Rarity got someone to help her get back into the swing of things and Spot could get a really nice dress for his “friend” or whatever.
Spot did not come with the measurements for the dress right away like Rarity had asked. He told her that it might take a few weeks to convince his friend to let him take their measurements and that they could not come in because they were too shy. This suited Rarity just fine, the less annoyances in her house the better. He did eventually bring them to her after a couple of weeks. The proportions were very strange and they brought questions. Spot explained that they weren’t  a pony and that they suffered from some deformities. He wouldn’t say anymore beyond that and Rarity did not push the topic as she did not want to think about some of Equestria’s darker days and what they did to some of its citizens.
After this, they both got into the swing of things. In a few weeks Rarity’s Boutique began to look like a home again instead of a den of madness. Designing a new dress helped to keep her mind off of things for the most part. She still had her moments but she tried to make sure Spot was not around for them. It was a little strange at first being around a Diamond Dog as Rarity had not interacted with one in a very long time and the few she did were not pleasant experiences. She hadn’t really heard about them much in the news either except when something happens with one of their long abandoned mines, or an occasional rumor about small groups of them being sighted in one of the nations that border Equestria. Still, Spot was never quite as uncouth as the ruffians Rarity had met in the past. Well,  besides his near insatiable appetite for peanut butter.
Rarity had always enjoyed the occasional PB&J but she could never eat one in front of him as he would usually stare her down while forming a drool puddle under him. Rarity found that the boy could down a large jar of the stuff in less than twenty minutes if he could get his hands on it and Rarity found it much harder to keep it around since he started coming by. On the plus side of it, a peanut butter sandwich always appeared to cheer him whenever he arrived in a less than stellar mood.
Soon a month had past and Rarity started to relax around him. She remembered when he asked if he could bring his easel to the boutique and paint there on Fridays. Rarity could not find any reason why he couldn’t as long as he was quiet, and she soon found him at her house every Friday painting up a storm. His tongue always stuck out of the corner of his mouth when he painted, and he was always in such a deep focus that she could never distract him. Every painting that she ever saw him finish was beautiful in some way or another and she told him as much which usually garnered a bashful expressions. She really began to enjoy his company after a while and even caught herself smiling more often. Even her nightmares seemed to lessen in frequency. She still had to be careful,  Spot reminded her of him so much sometimes and that was a frightening thought.
He sometimes came to the boutique a little worse for wear. Rarity did not think of it at much at first as he seemed to be a rough and tumble kind of kid, but when he started to show up with consistent scrapes and bruises she began to worry. He would usually brush it off and act tough, never letting himself be treated for his nastier looking cuts as he refused to be touched, but she did make sure he acquainted himself with her first aid kit. She tried to not let it bother her but on one Saturday it all came to a boiling point.
He walked into the boutique that day out breath and wearing a pair of big square sunglasses. He entered Rarity’s work room and found Rarity stitching up an article of clothing on her sewing machine.
He gave the busy mare a short nod. “…Sup, Rares.How’s it hangin?” he said.
She gave Spot a sidelong glance. “You’re late,” Rarity said simply.
“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. I had some chores I had to finish at the uh… house. It made me lose track of the time.” Spot scratched the back of his head nervously before leaning against a ponykin.
“Hmm, chores huh?” said Rarity, not really believing his excuse. She stopped her work on the sewing machine looked over at Spot who was currently leaning against a ponykin with his arms folded in an attempt to look cool.
“Don’t lean against that.”
           “Oop, my bad.” He stopped leaning against the ponykin and opted to just sit on the floor.
           “Isn’t it a little cloudy to be wearing sunglasses?” said Rarity, quirking an eyebrow.
           Spot gave a small shrug. “What’s wrong with trying to look a little stylish?” said Spot.
           “They look positively droll.”
           Spot waved her off. “Eh, you’re just being a hater. You know these glasses look dope.”
Rarity rolled her eyes at that. “Well could you take them off, please? I don’t want you tripping over everything because you can’t see anything,” she said.
Spot made a face. “Um if it’s alright with you, I would like to keep them on. I’ve got a bad migraine and the light ain’t doing me any favors,” he said. Spot began poking his pointing fingers together and looked away. “Sorry ‘bout not telling you.”
“Whatever.” Rarity’s flat look became a small smile before she continued. “Just don’t come crying to me if you trip and bump your head.”
Spot gave her a toothy smile and put his paws on his hips. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said confidently.
“Alright then, if you would kindly go get me the pink fabric and the velvet from the linen closet. I would most appreciate it.” Rarity turned back to her sewing machine and began finishing the stitch she was on.
“You got it, chief!” said Spot.
“Good. Now hurry before my inspiration leaves me.” said Rarity.  Spot gave her a small salute and ran off towards the closet.
Rarity continued her work stitching the proto dress together before Spot came rushing back with large bundles of both velvet and the pink fabric. Just like Rarity predicted, he tripped over the cord to the sewing machine, causing his sunglasses to fall off his head and him dropping the fabric on the floor.
Rarity turned to him to give a “I told you so” until she noticed one of his eyes was black and swollen shut.
 “Sweet Celestia, what happened to your eye?”  She got out of her seat and rushed towards him. She stood there with concern filling her eyes.
Spot flinched back at her sudden movement and fumbled over an explanation.
Before he could finish talking Rarity had already walked off mumbling something about getting an ice pack. She walked to the kitchen and got an ice pack out of the fridge. She walked back to Spot and floated the ice pack to him. “Here, press this to your eye,” she said.
Spot stared at the ice pack and then looked back at Rarity nervously. Rarity pursed his lips. “Quit staring at it and take it,” she said curtly.
Spot grabbed the ice pack and gently pressed it to his black eye.               
“How did this happen?” Rarity leveled a look on him.
“I fell and hit my head on a door knob?” he offered.
Rarity narrowed her eyes at him. “You must have been running at it pretty fast to get a blemish of that size.”
He scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes away. “Yeah it was really dumb of me. I guess I got to try to be more careful,” he said.
“It seems like you have been coming here with some sort of small injury on your person every other week.”
Spot gave her smile like everything was okay. “What can I say? I live an adventurous lifestyle. You would collect all sorts of scuffs and scrapes if you went exploring as much as I do,” he said in a matter of fact sort of way.  Rarity felt her head get cloudy with worry and her frustration begin to rise at the little yellow drake in front of her.
“Quit lying to me, Sulfur.” Rarity's words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and her eyes became wide. A hoof shot up to her mouth but it was already too late.
“What did you call me?” Spot looked at the mare in front of him in confusion.
Her breathing became heavier and tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall. She turned and left the room without saying anything and leaving a very bewildered Diamond Dog.
Spot stood there for a few minutes running what happened through his mind.  He thought about the name he called him and something clicked inside his head. He began heading into the direction that Rarity walked to and made his way for the living room.  He found her facing an empty wall dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.
He walked up to her and stood behind her for a few seconds wringing his hands.
“Are you okay?” he said finally.
Rarity turned slightly towards the boy but not enough for him to see the expression on her face.
“Yes…Yes I’m fine. Thank you for asking.” She went back to staring at the wall. There was a silence and then she began again. “I’m sorry I called you a different name. You… just reminded me of something is all.”
Spot moved to a up next to her and sat down. “Were you close?” Spot asked.
Rarity turned and looked at the child and saw the look on his face. It was full of understanding.
“Yes. Yes we were… He was very special to me,” she said softly.
“I guess you must miss him quite a bit, huh?” said Spot turning his head way and tried to find the right words.
“Every day.” Rarity scowled and stared at the creases in the hardwood floor, wishing that she could move on.
Spot watched her as he twiddled his thumbs. He bit his lip and took the plunge. 
“I lost someone too,” he finally said.
Rarity raised an eyebrow at him. “You did?”
“Yeah, he was like the grandpa I never had.” He stared down at his hands. “He was very old but he was always so full of energy that I kind of thought that he would outlive everyone, ya know?”
Rarity nodded at Spot and waited for him to continue.
“I really miss him and I don’t think I will stop be sad about him being gone,” he said. He looked up at Rarity. “But when I think of him I always remember how he was always there for me even if I wasn’t always the best and how he always pushed me to be better.  When I think about that it doesn’t hurt so much, and it makes me happy that he was in my life in the first place.” Spot smiled at the memories.
His smile was infectious and she soon found herself smiling herself. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a smart kid, Spot?” she said.
He giggled. “Once in a blue moon, I guess,” said Spot.
Rarity’s shoulders slumped and she gave an over exaggerated sigh. “I don’t know about you but I could use a break. Would you care for some lunch?”
“As long as you throw a peanut butter sandwich in the mix, I’m game.”
Rarity let out a chuckle that died on her lips when she remembered what started the whole situation. She glanced at his bruised face and made a silent note to herself.
"But of course." Rarity said with smile.
> Part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Winter was nearing its end with only a few weeks left for snow. The sky was a cloudless blue and the sidewalks were clear of snow and ice. Rarity was currently walking through the business part of town to do something she had not done in quite a while. She could not quite remember the last time she had a hooficure. They were something she used to really enjoy but after while, they stopped making her happy along with everything else. Since she was in better spirits as of late, Rarity figure she it something long overdue.
Things have been going well since she had her little incident with Spot a few months back. He hadn’t been coming to her shop all beat up as often anymore.  When Rarity brought this up, He told her that his friend had been coming with him to go “adventuring” as he put it. Rarity did not care much as long as he did not end up hurt.
Rarity was nearly completed with the dress she was making for him. Since he had no true specifications, she was able to run wild with it. Her inspiration had made a huge comeback and she was even thinking about showing some of her designs to her old company. No sense in making a dress if it wasn’t going to be worn, after all.
The unicorn continued on her way with a small smile on her lips.The shops and stores stood in long identically shaped buildings along the street with the only break being a few alleyways. The only difference between them all being the colorful signs and advertisements plastered out out on their fronts. They were all different shapes and sizes and looked like they were trying to outdo one another. There was a building at the end of the street with a modest sign that said “Vera’s Spa”. Of course, her own business also dealt with spa treatments as they dealt with all thing beauty nowadays, but Rarity did not want to be made a big deal of among other reasons. Making up her mind, she walked to the spa at a slow trot.
Rarity had almost made it to the end of the street when she heard a faint yelp of pain coming from a nearby alleyway. The voice sounded very familiar and it made Rarity instantly worried. She made her way into the darkened alley. The alleyway was lined with graffiti of varying quality and size.  There was a couple of overturned trash and a dumpster cans but not much else. Rarity was beginning to think she imagined the whole thing when she heard the voice again.
“Give it back!”
“If you want your little chew toy back you got to do a trick for me. C’mon, boy. Roll over!”
The voice was young but rough and a little gravely and it was coming by the dumpster further down the alley. There was an angry yell and a crash. Rarity heard the sound of the voice laughing and she grinded her teeth as she moved closer.
She crept up to the dumpster silently. In front of her, there were two young earth pony colts with their backs turned to Rarity. One was small and frail looking, standing on four skinny legs. He had a dark yellow coat and a light yellow mane that matched his tail. His cutie mark looked like a trail of small black ants. He was standing off to the side snickering into a hoof.  The other one was much bigger and bulkier and Rarity guessed he was the older of the two. His coat was a light brown and he had a sickly green mane and didn’t have his cutie mark yet. The larger one was standing on top of a familiar Diamond Dog with a hoof pressed against his head and another holding up a little rubber newspaper.
“I guess what they say about Diamond Dogs are true. They are dumb! Now how about you take your lumps like real mutt and quit squirming,”  the bigger colt mocked and Spot began to shake underneath him.
“Ahem.” Rarity tapped her hoof.
           The two colts turned towards the voice to see a rather prim white unicorn that was staring hot fire into them. They both immediately wilted under her glare.
“I suggest you both leave before I get half the mind to do something about your behavior,” Rarity seethed.
The scared expression lifted from the bigger colt and he suddenly grew a backbone. “I ain’t scared of you, bitch, how about you leave before we get rough with you too.
Rarity’s horn glowed and her eyes became white as the whole alley way shook. Cracks formed in the ground and the two colts backed up towards the wall.
“That.” Rarity’s horn stopped glowing. “Is your cue to leave.” 
The scrawny yellow colt sprinted away before the other one had time to react. Once his brain finally caught up with him, the larger chased after him. Unlike his yellow friend, he stopped at the end of the alleyway and turned to glare at Spot with the rubber newspaper sitting in his hoof.
“Don’t think this is over, mutt. I’ll be waiting for you when you get back!” the colt screamed. He then bit into the squeak toy and tried to tear it in half. Rarity grabbed a hold of it in her magic but when she tugged it tore apart. The colt then spat the other half out and ran off.
Rarity snorted in anger before her face softened and she turned towards Spot, who was still lying on the ground. “Are you okay?” she asked.
The pup finally began to stir and he looked up at Rarity. his nose was all bloody and one of his eyes was swelling into a precursor of a black eye. There was turmoil all over his face and there were streaks from shed tears. Before Rarity could say anything else he walked away towards the now ripped in half rubber newspaper. He picked it up and stared at the pieces sadly.
Rarity watched the small Diamond Dog stare at his broken toy. She cursed herself silently and felt the guilt rise up inside of her. She walked up to Spot and put a hoof on his shoulder causing him to flinch.
“Let’s go. I’ll get you cleaned up at my house.” She motioned for Spot to follow her and he slowly shuffled behind her without saying a word.
Rarity stopped by the street and waited for Spot to catch up with her. Once he appeared beside her, Rarity flagged down a taxi which stopped by the curb.  The stallion taxi driver looked on boredly as Rarity stepped into the automobile, his eyes widening once Spot joined her.
“Whoa there. He ain’t gonna be a problem there is he?”  The driver eyed Spot cautiously.
Rarity raised an eyebrow at the driver before her eyes narrowed into a dangerous squint.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“He’s one of them Diamond Dog’s, right? I read about them in a magazine once. He ain’t gonna ruin my upholstery is he? I heard how they can get.” 
Rarity’s jaw dropped at the nerve of the driver’s words. Spot curled up into a ball, not looking at anything but the floor.
Energy crackled off of Rarity’s horn and her form visibly darkened. Her eyes became slitted like that of a cat.
“How about you get driving or your car seats will be the least of your worries.”  The driver could feel the hate in her words.
“N-No problem, Ma’am, where to?”
Rarity gave her address and the drive wiped the sweat off his brow. The automobile began moving and there was not another word spoken in the vehicle as it moved.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
After Rarity begrudgingly paid for the cab fare, the two of them made their way into the boutique. Spot walked in silently to the living room, and Rarity went to the kitchen for a wet rag and an ice pack. Spot made his way to the fainting couch. When Rarity came back to the living room. He was staring blankly at one of photos she had hung up. The one in particular was a picture of a golden mare standing behind a podium gesticulating wildly with her forehooves in front of a crowd of ponies. She had a rather ornate bell as a cutie mark. The whole living room had made a complete 180 from the squalor that it was before and the place actually looked livable. Rarity handed Spot the ice pack and attempted to wipe his nose with the rag. When he shied away, she handed it to him.
“Are those two the reason why you showed up to my house all injured those times?” Rarity asked and hoped she could pester him into spilling the beans.
Spot stopped wiping his nose and looked away from her. “Sometimes,” he finally said. “They’re usually not that mean, but my friend kind of humiliated them the last couple of times they were around.”
Rarity wondered if his friend was the reason why he hadn’t been coming around all roughed up as often.
“What are their names?” Rarity asked with slight edge in her voice.
Spot looked at her nervously.
“You’re not gonna go hunt them down or anything, are ya?”
Rarity smirked at his answer.
“No, unless they cross me again that is,” said Rarity, causing the Diamond Dog to smile.
“Their names are Piss and Vinegar. Piss was the skinny, yellow colt and Vinnie was the big, dumb one.” said Spot.
Rarity scrunched her nose up when she heard their names.
“What kind of parent names their child Piss?”
Spot frowned. “Probably not a very good one. I didn’t pry but I kind of guess that’s why he ended up at the orphanage with me.”
Rarity swallowed.  “You mean—”
Spot met her in the eye bitterly which made her freeze..
“You said it yourself when we first met. I’m the only Diamond Dog you met in a long time, right? Well I’m the only Diamond Dog I’ve ever met.” Tears formed in the corner of his eyes but they never fell. “I’m not sure if they’re all dead, hiding or what, but there is none in Equestria and I don’t think anyone misses them either.”
Rarity thought back to the taxi driver and the cruel bullying she witnessed and bit her lip.
“Spot, I know ponies can be cruel sometimes just like every other being, and I can’t tell you that my own experiences with other Diamond Dogs have been all that pleasant, but you are a good kid. Others might not see it when they first look at you but that’s why you have to show them their expectations are wrong and you are your own person.”
Spot sat there in silence after hearing those words, but then he smiled and said something she did not expect him to.
“That’s kind of funny but when you said that, I thought of you,” said Spot.
Rarity turned her head sideways and gave him a confused look.
“How so?” she asked.
“A little while after you moved here, the kids at the orphanage began talking about you. They said you moved in to an old dress shop and that you were the meanest, nastiest mare in town, but when we finally met; you weren’t really as nasty as they have been saying. You were a little grumpy, yeah, but you just seemed like you were lonely and had nothing to be happy about.”
Rarity just stared at the pup silently, not denying his clam. He gave her a warm smile.
“You’re a not like that as much anymore now though. I must be having a positive influence on ya or something.” Spot said, rather boastfully, causing Rarity to chuckle.
“What can I say; I have grown a little fond of you I guess.  A little,” she teased. Rarity began thinking about the children told Spot and then got curious. “What else have your peers said about me?”
Spot drummed his fingers on his leg and he began to sweat.
“Are you sure you want to hear about it. It’s not very nice, ya know?” said Spot. Rarity waved him off with a hoof.
“Oh please, like a bunch of foals can say something that would hurt my feelings.”
“Um, they also said you were a shriveled, old witch who stole the skin of a beautiful mare to make yourself younger.”
Rarity puffed her cheeks out and huffed.
“Why I never!” she turned away and stuck her nose in the air over dramatically, hoping to get another laugh out of Spot.
Rarity indeed heard him chuckle a little but then he became oddly silent. She turned back to him only to find him staring at his now ruined squeak toy and going over it with his fingers.
“That little newspaper means a lot to you, doesn’t it? Did someone special give it to you?” Rarity asked, figuring it was a gift from that grandfatherly figure he mentioned a while back, but to her surprise he made a face and shook his head.
“No, no one like that or anything, at least not in way you think.” Spot’s eyebrows furrowed together as he spoke. He then turned his head to Rarity and spoke again.
“Do you know what a puppy mill is?”
Rarity blinked at the question.
“Isn’t that where they mass breed puppies? I heard they are illegal in Equestria.”
Spot put the ice pack down from his eye and placed it in front of him. He lifted up the broken chew toy and began staring at it again.
“They aren’t very nice places.  When I was a baby, a pony conned one into buying me. Apparently, they were lookin to expand their breeds of dogs and thought I was something exotic. I was definitely exotic alright.” His eyes became all watery but gave short laugh nonetheless.
Rarity’s face morphed into a look of horror the longer she thought about the implications of what he just told her.
“Sweet Celestia…” Rarity said quietly, her eyes going wide.
“They kept me there until I started saying my first words,” Spot said, cradling his arms. “I was just kinda repeating what the pony was feeding us was saying, really. After the owners found out I wasn’t the kind of dog that should be a part of their stock, they pawned me off to some stallion using the same spiel that con pony used, at least they said as much.” Spot’s ears flattened to his head.
Rarity nodded, silently listening.
“Before they sold me off they went out of their way to make sure I did not blab anything and that stallion bought me none the wiser. Living with him was a lot better than being at that the mill but even with my refusal to talk, he realized he shouldn’t be keeping me as a pet.  Right before he dumped me off in some alley he gave me this little rubber newspaper, I think to comfort me.” Tears finally began falling from his eyes.
“You poor child.” Rarity said to him, almost automatically, before joining him in his tears.
“Please don’t give me that. I got enough of that kind of talk from the orphanage workers to last a lifetime. Besides, I’m doing a lot better than I was when I was real little.  I’m no longer scared of talking, for one.”  He held up the torn little rubber toy and smiled at it sadly. “I kept this thing from back then to remind myself that no matter how nasty and cruel other people can be… Everyone is capable of kindness even if they don’t think they are. Heck, even those shitty puppy mill ponies could have just killed me and hid the body, but they didn’t.  I always have this dumb squeak toy on me to keep me anchored and it helps me remember that the world isn’t as awful as it appears to be.” Spot began to squeeze the bits of rubber in his hands and his tears began falling again. “But it’s so hard to keep going sometimes and I feel like it’s just me against the world.”
Rarity came closer and sat down next to him.
“I know it all can be tough and sometimes it feels like the world is crashing down on you but don’t forgot you are not alone. You are in my life now and I do not plan on going anywhere for long time.” As Rarity spoke she thought about all the old friends that are still with her that she has neglected: A pink mare,whom she couldn’t stop feeling jealous of, a steadfast farm pony who she irrevocably hurt with her words, a rainbow haired  Pegasus long gone looking for answers she will never find, and a purple alicorn princess whose friendship she might have lost.  Their faces flashed through Rarity’s mind as spoke to the child in front of her. “And you also still have that friend of yours that you always talk about, correct?”
Spot began to smile a little at that.
“Yeah, he’s actually the first friend ever made.”
“And if he is a true friend he will stick with you. No matter how scary things can get, you will always have others that will face it with you.”
Spot wiped his eyes clean.
“Thanks for listening, I think I needed that. Sorry for all the waterworks.”
Rarity gave him a smile and a wave of her hoof.
“Please, there is no apology needed. We all have our bad days.”
“Hehe, that’s for sure.” Spot swung his legs back and forth on the couch. “Hey, is it okay if I hang here for a bit? It’s probably gonna be a little nutso at the home for a while.”
Rarity nodded and then looked over to her closet an idea popping in her head. “Wait here a minute.”
She walked over to her linen closet where she had stashed away her latest creation. Rarity pulled out a formal, yellow dress with red checkered ribbons. Spot’s eyes sparkled and his ears perked up as it came into view.
“You think your friend will like it?” Rarity asked.
“He’ll love it!” Spot said as he bounced a little in the air.
Rarity raised her eyebrow at Spot as he again used that pronoun. “He? Your friend is a boy?”
Spot scrunched his face up at the question.
“I’m not sure. My friend is pretty different.” Spot rubbed his head. “And complicated.” he added.
           “It definitely sounds like it.” Rarity’s grin became much larger. “You should tell them that they are more welcome to come down and see my creation tomorrow.  I would love to meet him.
           Spot’s ears flattened a little and he gave her an apologetic smile. “I’ll try. They’re really shy and they’ll probably be scared that you’ll hate them or something.”
           “Oh pish posh, if they are a friend of yours then they are a friend of mine. Tell them that they have nothing to fear.”
           Spot gave her a nod and then got more comfortable on the couch.
           “I’ll see what I can do,” he said. Spot got more comfortable on the couch. “So what do you want to do now?”
           “Have you ever played Ogres and Oubliettes?”
           Spot shook his head.
           “A friend of mine got me in the game some years ago. I haven’t played it in a long time but I’m sure it will pass the time.”
           After Spot agreed to try the game out the two of them spent the next couple of hours trying to play. The game was a lot more complicated than what Rarity remembered and she had a hard time explaining it. After a couple of hours it began to get dark and Spot decided it was time to head home. Rarity was walking him to the door when a dark thought ran through her mind.
           “Despite paying off the dress with your work last week, you do know you are more than welcome to come by anytime you like, correct?”
           Spot turned to her right before he opened the door. Despite his roughed up appearance his smile was light and carefree. It was a smile she hoped he would never lose.
           “Of course, you got the chilliest crib in town. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow, Ms. R.” Spot waved to her and he walked out the door.
           “Tell those two ruffians that if they lay a hoof on you I will make a coat out of them!” Rarity called out. Spot smiled and waved her as he made his way down the street with a spring in his step. She felt a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. At that moment, Rarity realized she never wanted him out of her life.
           Rarity made the decision then and there.
> Part 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She stood outside The Sitting Bull orphanage with her favorite faux fur coat and a matching hat. She smelled of her best and most expensive perfume and her mane shone from using only the best shampoo money can buy
            Rarity didn’t move for a little while. Of all the horrible things that she has faced in her life, this was the one thing that was made her tense. She removed her wallet from her coat and opened it. She had placed several important pictures in the little clear sleeves attached to its insides. They were the faces of her husband, her son, her sister and her niece. Some of them together, some of them not. Rarity remembered a time she was scared to look at them, but at that moment, they gave her strength.
            She gulped and began to walk to the entrance. The building was rather plain and had a sterile feel about it. Rarity walked through the push door and was met with white walls and a pale linoleum floor.  There was a hint of bleach and other cleaning agents in the air. All of it would have made Rarity shudder slightly if it weren’t for what was in front of her. It was another wall much like the others, except this one was covered in foals’ drawings. The pictures varied in quality and skill level. Some looked happy, others looked rather melancholic. In front of them was a desk with little cat figurines lined up front with cutesy exaggerated features. A very elderly pink earth pony mare with a white and grey mane and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses that sat at the tip of her nose stared at Rarity with a patient smile.
            There was the faint sound of a child’s laughter. Rarity’s ear twitched.
            “May I help you, young lady?”
            Rarity focused back on the mare in front of her, her words caught in her throat. She fought back the urge to bite her tongue and finally spoke with less conviction than she intended.
            “Yes, I was wondering if I could speak to someone about adoption.”
            The aged mare in front of her nodded and spoke, “Do you have an appointment?”
            Rarity bit her lip. “I do not. I was hoping I could see someone today, if that wouldn’t be too much trouble.”
            The older mare nodded slowly and looked at a few papers before looking back up to Rarity. “You are in luck; Mr. Glen will be free in about fifteen minutes. He can speak to you and answer your questions if you do not mind waiting.”
            “No, that’s perfectly fine,” said Rarity.
            The older mare retrieved a few papers and gave them to Rarity.
“Sign these and bring them back when you are done. If you get antsy there are some magazines on the table over there.” The mare pointed to a stack of magazines sitting neatly in the middle of an end table. Next to the end table was a row of identical looking seats/
            Rarity nodded and sat down at one of the seats. There were a few pens in a cup on the end table with the magazines. She floated one to her and filled out each paper. The papers asked the standard questions, some looked familiar since the last time she did this. Others were completely new to her.
            Rarity then got up and hoofed the forms to the pink mare who thanked her kindly. She quietly sat back down in the seat she had chosen and kept her breathing easy. She did not think about the faint talking that the foals were making nor did she think about how close the exit was. The front desk mare looked through the papers and walked through the double doors on the side before returning. Rarity caught a glance of her cutie mark. It was a paint brush ending in a swirl. The old mare busied herself for a little while longer before she got Rarity’s attention.
             “Excuse me, miss? Mr. Glen can see you now. His office is the first door on the left once you enter the hallway.”
            Rarity nodded to the mare and walked through the big plain double doors beside the front desk. She was greeted with white walls lined with colorful pictures. On the left there was a door with a plaque next to it that read: DIRECTOR P. GLEN. Rarity slowly opened the door and stood still, taken aback by whom was sitting in the room.
            Squeezed into the tiny space at a too small desk was a minotaur, a very large and familiar Minotaur. She remembered running into the market and almost picking a fight with him. He looked as massive as when she had first seen him .The desk he sat behind looked like it could almost fit in his hands. There was a small comfortable looking chair in front of the desk and the walls were white like the rest of the building. Nothing was decorating the walls except a large picture of an elderly-looking Minotaur surrounded by children. The Minotaur in the picture had a friendly, gentle grin right smack dab in the middle of a fluffy white beard and was leaning on a cane while children crowded around him. Some of the children were of races she could identify such as ponies, griffons, a changeling,  and a hippogriff. Others in the photo, she had no idea, though one looked like a small gargoyle she saw in a book one time. Most of them looked healthy but a few of them held deformities both minor or debilitatingly bizarre. 
Rarity looked away from the picture and towards the ceiling of the room. It had two holes in it and it did not take her long to figure how they could have gotten there especially with those long, sharp minotaur horns of his. He honestly looked a little stuck in the room and Rarity wondered how he even managed to fit in there. His deep red eyes were cold and steely and stood out from his pitch black body. He had a soft smile that looked out of place and did not make him any less threatening, but looked very similar to the one Minotaur in the picture gave. 
 “Hello, Ms. Rarity. Please come in and take a seat.” His voice was just as deep the first time she heard it.
            Rarity took a breath and sat in the chair in front of her and matched the Minotaur’s gaze.
            The Minotaur began to speak again, “My name is Peaceful Glen and I am the director and main case worker for this establishment. How can I help you today?” His voice rumbled as he brought his large hands together in front of him.
            “Greetings, Mr. Glen, my name is Rarity. As I told the mare out front, I’m looking to adopt and it’s been a while since I went through this process so anything you could tell me would be appreciated. “
            The big Minotaur opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He then turned his head slightly and gave her a strange look. “You’ve adopted before?”
            Rarity sat up a little straighter. “Yes, when my husband and I were younger we decided to adopt after I found out I was… unable to have them on my own. It was a long time ago though and I’m sure things have changed at least a little, especially in these times.”  Rarity frowned.
            Peaceful Glen did not say anything for a while and just stared at her, his eyes just as unreadable and steely as before. “Are you still with your husband?”
            Rarity’s eyes became cold for a moment. “He brain dead from an incident thirty years ago. I had the hospital to pull the plug on him a couple of years later.”
            “I’m sorry for your loss.” Rarity could have sworn she saw the Minotaur’s eyes soften for a split second.
            “It’s okay. I have had time to heal,” Rarity said, trying to keep the rhythm of heart monitors out of her head.
            Peaceful Glen nodded absently at that before looking down at a few papers. He cocked his head slightly at whatever he was reading. One of his horns began to dig again in the ceiling. When he looked back up to Rarity he began to speak.
            “I believe there has been a mistake on one of the forms you gave us.”
            Rarity raised an eyebrow at Glen.
“Mistake?”
            “According to the date of birth you provided us, you would be one hundred and two and you put several Equestrian royalty as a reference. It strikes me as a little odd since you look barely twenty.” He looked Rarity dead in the eye and his face was somehow stonier than it was before.
            “I’m guessing you are not from around here, are you?” Rarity asked.
            “I took over here from my grandfather last year, and I have lived in Equestria my whole life, but I am fairly new to Ponyville. ” Rarity gave an exasperated sigh at that.
            “I’m sure you have heard of me. I was once an Element of Harmony after all.”
            Peaceful Glen nodded his head.
            “Yes, some of the foals here have been learning about the elements of harmony in school although I don’t remember hearing about the elements granting immortality. I have met many ponies named after the various elements however.”
            Rarity smiled sadly at the Minotaur.
            “It all sounds rather unbelievable, doesn’t it?  The truth is I haven’t aged a day since I met Twilight Sparkle over eighty years ago.”
Rarity got a far-off wistful look in her eyes that were wizened beyond what her face could show. “There is some powerful magic in friendship it turns out. Maybe someday, I will look in the mirror and finally see myself fading, but that has not happened yet.”
A small smile graced Rarity’s lips. “When I was younger I was always a little terrified of getting older and now I wonder how long I will endure.”  Rarity felt dark thoughts begin to cloud her mind before she brushed them away. “Sorry about that, I know it is a lot to take in.”
            Peaceful Glen gave another nod. “Thank you for explaining yourself to me. My heart goes out to you for your troubles,” he said in the same monotonous tone. Rarity contained the eyebrow she wanted to raise at that. “If what you say is true, then the major differences in the adoption process from before Discord’s Rampage and today is the much more thorough background checks.”
      Rarity paused for a little bit after hearing that name. Bad memories threatened to bubble up and her body urged her to flee. The mare took a deep breath and forced the emotions down. They could not control her today. Not now.
Glen continued, “ If you are who you say you are, you should not have a problem. If you are still sure about wanting to adopt, I can set up an appointment for you in two weeks’ time after the background checks are finalized. Then we can see about finding a child a home, hopefully.”
          “Actually sir, I have already met one of the children here that I want to adopt,” said Rarity.
            “And who might that be?” the Minotaur asked.
            “A Diamond Dog named Spot.”
            The Minotaur stared at her, unblinking. It was the most surprising he looked during the entire time Rarity had been there. “How did you meet him?” he asked.
            “He  started coming around a little after the beginning of winter,” said Rarity, leaving their first meeting vague as to not get the pup in trouble.  “He helped me around the house in exchange for a gift for one of his friends.”
            Peaceful Glen’s face scrunched up and for once looked as if his emotions were having a small battle. It quickly passed and he began to speak, “As much as I would love to see him go to a good home, I have learned many years ago that ponies are just as capable of cruelty as anyone else. I’m guessing Mr. Spot has a lot of faith in you, but that faith isn’t misplaced, is it?”
            There was very little that actually scared Rarity anymore and she had faced opponents far more intimidating than Peaceful Glen could ever hope to be, but at that moment she had to suppress a shiver. She thought about why she was there and she began to speak.
            “When I first met Spot he reminded me of my own son. He was such an energetic boy.” Rarity let out of a small chuckle. “It’s funny, of all the things I have done, the proudest I have ever felt was watching Sulfur grow. I will never forget the day he graduated top of his class or when he flew for the first time.  The more time I spent around that little Diamond Dog the more I remembered him and…” A pained expression crossed Rarity’s face. “Sorry about that, give me a minute.”
            “It’s okay. Take your time,” Peaceful Glen said and waited for her to continue.
 Rarity wiped her eyes. “I don’t have a family anymore. Besides from my friends who have their own lives to worry about, I don’t have anyone. They all left this world, some much sooner than I would have liked. When Spot began coming around, he made me realize how much I missed having a family and when I look at him I see that same emptiness. I want what I had back then and I want to be able to give Spot the same, if he wants it at least.”
            Peaceful Glen sat there silently with his hands folded as he listened to her. After she finished, his expression became much softer which looked utterly foreign on his face.
 “I can’t make any promises in this stage in the adoption process but I will see what I can do. If you are serious about this, then we will start your probationary period after your background check is finalized. I will make sure to give you a call after everything has been processed,”  the Minotaur said softly.
            Rarity let out a sigh of relief and smiled brightly at the Minotaur. “Thank you, Mr. Glen. I hope our meetings in the future are most amiable.”
            “Indeed, have a wonderful day, Mrs. Rarity.”
            Rarity bid the orphanage owner goodbye and walked out of the establishment feeling much lighter than she had in a very long time. She stood outside and looked at the clear blue sky above with a feeling in her heart that things were about to get better.
            She smiled and felt the air enter her lungs, ideas buzzing inside her mind. Rarity would make Ponyville a home again, a true home. She could clean up one of the spare rooms, have all the holes she made in the place properly fixed and maybe have the boutique repainted. She was once again glad she had kept the boutique around. Now it could be more than just an escape from the dreary New Manehattan skyline and be a true place of belonging.
            There were some birds singing above her. It sounded like music to her ears. A familiar homeless stallion was asleep of the sidewalk next to a tin can that had ‘change’ sloppily scrawled on it. Rarity lifted a large bag of bits out of her coat and dropped it next to the stallion like it was second nature. She continued past him, not breaking her stride.
            Rarity turned a corner. There was not much on the street but a few homes and a post office at the end. The homes were small and well kept with little white picket fences with each a different color that all looked good brightly lit in the sunshine with a hint of stillness from the cool air.  The post office was one of those small neighborhood government building almost unnoticed in its drabbness in its brown brick color. There was a small bench and a newspaper dispenser next to it with obvious purpose. The building and it’s accessories was so nondescript that could fade into the grass and nothing would change except the loss of people’s mail.
She had almost made it halfway down the street when the post office doors opened and a mare with an orange coat, a blonde mane and three apples for a cutie mark stepped out. Despite missing her hat and her mane no longer in her old ponytail style she was instantly recognizable. It was her old friend Applejack, a mare she had not spoken too in nearly twenty-nine years.
            The orange mare was staring down at a complicated watch that was wrapped around her fetlock. Applejack eyed the device like it was an overly convoluted riddle and she began to poke at its buttons with her free hoof, completely unaware of who was just a little down the street.
            Rarity bit her lip as she watched her old friend. She had not seen her since she moved back to Ponyville and had avoided the Apple family farm like the plague. Before Rarity could think about ducking out and hiding somewhere, Applejack turned her head in her direction, her green eyes lighting up when she caught sight of the white unicorn.
“Do my eyes deceive me, Rarity, is that you?”said Applejack as she walked towards the unicorn.
            Rarity froze and began to sweat. The seconds rolled by and she finally had to push the words out of her mouth.
 “H-Hello, Applejack.”
            Not noticing how nervous Rarity was, Applejack walked up to her and gave her a big hug. A hug Rarity did not feel like she deserved. After breaking apart and a gentle look on her face, Applejack began to speak.
            “How have you been, sugarcube?”
            “I have had my days, but I have been doing much better lately. Thank you for asking.” Rarity gave her orange friend a shaky grin. Applejack’s face morphed into one of sympathy.
“That’s good to hear, Rarity. I’m sorry I haven’t stopped by to visit you. Twilight said  you moved back here around nine months ago, but I’ve been away on business.” said Applejack, a look of aggravation briefly crossing her face.
            Rarity chuckled.
            “Don’t worry about it, Applejack. It’s not like I was making a good attempt to visit you myself if I were to be honest.”
        “Aw shucks, Rarity. I guess we are both going to have to make up for lost time, aren’t we? Are you still running your clothing business?” 
    “No, I retired. The whole enterprise lost its sparkle after a while.”
    “It’s about time, I reckon. Eighty years is a long time to be running something like that. I’m glad you did that for yourself.”
“Me too,” said Rarity softly. 
The old cowpony gave Rarity a warm look. It was hard to think that she screamed in that comforting face all those years ago.  Applejack began to frown as her friend remained silent.
            Rarity took a deep breath and began to speak, “Applejack… I’m really sorry that it has been so long and how I acted last time I saw you. I don’t deserve your friendship.”
            Applejack continued to frown for a moment before putting a hoof of Rarity’s shoulder.
            “Rarity we were all hurting from what happened thirty years ago. I don’t think there is anypony alive that hadn’t lost anyone from that day. I lost family and I lost a best friend…” A look of anguish crossed Applejack’s face. “We’ve all been trying to get past that hurt and we’ve all have said or did things that have been driving us apart. We’ve thrown ourselves into our work or ran as far away from Equestria as possible. Shoot, none of us have heard from Rainbow since she went on that revenge mission of hers, Pinkie hasn’t been back from exploring the world in years and it took a long time for me and Twilight to stop throwing ourselves into our work and ignoring everything else.”
Applejack’s face hardened with determination and she stomped her hoof. “But I’m tired of not being friends anymore with you and the rest of the girls. Equestria ain’t the same like when we were young, but that doesn’t mean I want to live in it without you. I have forgiven you a long time ago and I hope you do the same for me not being there when you needed it.”
            Rarity stood there, a little shocked until her words caught up with her. She enveloped Applejack in a hug and buried her head into the crook of the cowpony’s neck.  The orange mare wrapped her hooves around her in kind.
            “I’m glad you think I’m worth it, Applejack. We should really find some time and talk like old times.”
            “We definitely should, sugarcube.” Applejack broke the hug. “I’m meeting with Twilight for coffee tomorrow. You should come and join us.” Rarity’s face fell at the thought, the wounds still fresh in her mind.
            “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, darling. My last chat with Twilight... did not go so well.” Rarity flinched at her own words.
            Applejack nodded and gave her a look of sympathy. “I heard. It would probably be a good time to apologize to her, I reckon.”
            Rarity bit her lip. “I’m not sure that would go over well.”
            “Rarity, you’ve been friends with Twilight for over eighty years. If you give her a chance, she’ll give you a chance.”
            Rarity looked down at the cracks in the sidewalk. Thoughts about her purple friend came up in her mind, along with thoughts of her young ward. “What if I don’t deserve a chance?”
            Applejack stood there for a second before making way towards the bench. She sat down and gestured with a hoof for Rarity to come join her. The bench was simple with a couple pieces of wood on rod iron legs.  Rarity came down and sat down next to her, still staring at the ground.
            “I’m not sure what you mean, hun, but I bet my bits it has to do with that youngin’ that Twilight is raising. Am I right?” said Applejack.   
Rarity looked up at her but said nothing.
 Applejack began again, “I know it ain’t easy, it’s hard not to think of that kiddo’s father when you look at him.”  The cowpony’s lips turned downward and she adopted a solemn look. “But I’m glad that kid is around. As long as he’s around, I feel like a part of Fluttershy will always be here with us.” She began to smile again. “That sprout is a lot like their mother and I’m glad for that.”
            Rarity sat there with her old friend for a moment. She looked back over at the blue sky and the neat-looking buildings. Her friend’s words created a warm feeling inside her.
            “Okay, Applejack, I will try. Where and what time would you like to meet for this coffee date of yours?” said Rarity, giving her friend a teasing smirk at the end.
            The orange mare gave out a low hum. “How about I meet you at that old boutique you’ve been living at around eight tomorrow and we can catch up as we walk there, sound good?”
            Rarity let out a deep breath she did not know she was holding in. “It sounds perfect.”
            Applejack’s smile once again radiated, giving her a kind of glow that Rarity was not used to.
            “I’m glad,” said Applejack simply.
            Applejack looked back down at the digital watch strapped to her foreleg before turning her attention back to Rarity.
            “I best be going, sugarcube. I have some youngsters who’re waiting for me at the farm. I bet they’re going to have themselves a cow when they see their favorite granny walking through the door.” Applejack chuckled. She gave Rarity a nod and spoke. “I’ll see you around, Rarity, you have yourself a good rest of the day, you hear?”
            “I will try my best, Applejack. I will be seeing you.”
            The two of them got up and said their goodbyes. Rarity felt more hope bubbling inside of her for the future.
……………………………………………………………….
 
 
The walk back to the boutique was a quiet one for the most part. The streets weren’t crowded and it truly was a beautiful day. It was times like that that made Rarity glad she never got an automobile despite all of their conveniences. She did not need one when she was younger and she definitely did not need one now.
 The traffic did start to get more backed up the closer she got to her boutique. When she finally saw her home in line of sight, she saw what was stopping up the cars.
            There was a crowd of ponies gathered in the road, blocking the traffic. She saw a couple of them run off. A bad feeling began to rise in Rarity’s stomach and she walked faster toward the crowd until she was almost running.
            As Rarity got closer she saw their terrified faces and worried mumbling. A few of the voices were angry but indistinguishable. She made it to the crowd and pushed through them. She heard someone crying loudly. 
            “I swear he just jumped out in front of me! Somebody go get help! Oh Celestia, forgive me…” cried the voice again.
            When she reached the inner circle, she stopped in her tracks. There was an elderly stallion with grey fur currently weeping into his hooves. He was leaning against an automobile with a sizeable dent in the side of its bumper, near the wheel. There was a bit of blood on him and the car.  Around him, his cries had gone unheeded by the circling crowd and their attention was on what was sitting in a pool of blood beside him.
    Their faces was a sea of shocked, scared expressions. A muted mumbling was spread through the whole group. Rarity could hear people quietly saying that someone should do something, that someone should get help, get the princesses or anyone as they all just stood there.
In the middle of the circle was the bloody, mangled form of a familiar Diamond Dog pup.  His head was turned the other direction and she could see some of his bones sticking out of him. His eyes were glassy and dull. His head lulled limply as he was cradled.
“Please no. Anything but this…” she thought she heard herself say.
He was being clutched in the stained, misshapen hands of a monster. A mismatch of clashing parts and colors that belonged only in dreams and the imaginations of unwell children. Despite its appearance it was a species Rarity knew too well and it was the second one she knew of. It was the thing that lived with Twilight, the thing that she selfishly wished would disappear. It was a draconequus that was caked in Spot’s blood.
“Oh no...Please no… I can’t…I can’t…” Her vision blurred and her ears became dull to sound. Rarity felt like she was underwater. Things began to melt and fade back to an older memory.
…………………………………..
 “My word, you look as beautiful as a sunset on the water,” said a silky smooth voice of someone Rarity had once known.
There was a maple-colored mule looking Rarity in the eye with his hoof over hers. His eyes were relaxed, and spread a soothing calm within her that no one else had ever given her. Just looking into them made Rarity feel like everything was going to be alright. He was smartly dressed in a fine black tuxedo adorned with a rose and he was sitting next to her at a table with all the fancy dressings. His slicked back mane had aged to a fine gray and his face had been weathered with time, but he still looked just as handsome as the day she met him.
“Oh please, Francis. You don’t need to be charming all the time; we’ve been married for how long?” Rarity heard herself say.
The mule in front of her gave Rarity that signature warm smile of his and then spoke in his soft southern drawl, “It’ll be our forty-second year this May.” He picked up a wine glass in front of him and gave Rarity a wink. “And you know I’ve never been able to turn off my machismo.”
Rarity felt herself rest her chin in her hooves. “Well, luckily for you, I know the cure for too much charm.”
“Ew.” Rarity heard another voice that sounded like it was muffled by cotton.
Rarity turned to find a largish yellow dragon holding a half eaten watermelon. His cheeks were puffed up with food.
“Don’t chew with your mouth full, dear,” Rarity spoke again.
The dragon stopped mid-chew and swallowed, giving her a sheepish grin. “Sorry,” he said.
“Oh leave him alone, you’re the one who was making love to your hubby with your eyes over there.” Rarity felt her head turn towards the obnoxious voice and found a gold unicorn mare with a curly white mane. She was sitting next to an older mare with a white coat. Despite her age, Sweetie Belle was as beautiful as ever. Even the stink eye she was giving her daughter did little to mar that beauty.
The golden mare scoffed at her mother’s look. “Oh don’t give me that look, mom. I get enough uptightness at work to last a lifetime.” Rarity’s niece punctuated her statement by stuffing her mouth with the daffodil sandwich in front of her. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes at her daughter.
Francis finished taking a small sip of his wine before giving Rarity’s niece a raised eyebrow. “Speaking of husbands, Liberty, I’m guessing yours couldn’t quite make it to our dinner?”
The golden mare’s face scrunched up into a sour look. “The Princesses called him back to Canterlot. It’s what I get for marrying a soldier, I guess.”
“He’s coming back before the baby is born, isn’t he?” Rarity heard herself say.
Liberty’s eyes drifted to her enlarged stomach for a second before her face rested into a scowl. “He better if he knows what’s good for him!” she said.
Everyone at the dinner table began to laugh, unaware of what was about to befall them.
There was a rumble and the restaurant began to shake and a thunderous boom could be heard in the distance. Everyone in the restaurant turned their heads toward the sound.
“What was that?” Rarity heard her sister say.
Right outside the front window of the establishment, in the middle of a slightly busy Manehattan street, stood Discord. His long thin body fizzed like he was inside of a worn out VHS tape.The color was drained from his usually multicolored body, his torsowhite like paper. His eyes had no pupils and his mouth was completely slack.
Rarity was about to call out to him before Discord exploded.
It was first a flash of white that began to flicker rapidly into a chaotic rainbow.  Hues both familiar and unfamiliar. Rarity threw her hooves over her eyes when the colors became too intense. Pain racked her body as she felt her skin being peeled off by the chaos magic. When it finally ended, Rarity lowered her hooves and found that they had been charred black by whatever had happened.  The first thing Rarity saw was the open sky, darkened by a rainbow colored miasma. Her gaze drifted downward and she saw she was standing in a crater. The building she was in before was gone. Any buildings she could see poked out at the edge of the crater like broken teeth. They were melting like candles.
Rarity looked at the ground and saw blood pooling at her hooves. The smell of burnt flesh was strong in the air. Her sister was lying in front of her with a piece of rebar sticking out of her chest and half her head crumpled inward. She looked like her body was made of wadded up tinfoil. Next to Sweetie’s body was a couple of smoldering pony skeletons, a large one and a much, much smaller one underneath it.
Wake up.
Rarity tried to move her body, to hold her sister, to cry, to scream, but she felt like she was encased in sludge. Her head turned left to see Francis on the floor, twitching, eyes blank, and foaming at the mouth.
Rarity then felt her head move involuntarily over to where her son was sitting. There wasn’t much left of him. There was a tree made of crystal sticking out of what remained. The tree looked like it had burst out of his back and tore the rest of him to shreds. Its trunk and branches were permanently bent, blown into a swept shape by a great eldritch wind, and was colored red and yellow by blood and scales.
Then there was laughter.
Rarity looked over and saw Discord himself doubled over, twisting on the floor like an earthworm, with tears flooding down his face and a large crooked grin gracing his features.  
Wake up.
The laughter got louder and Discord was looking like he had seen the funniest thing in his entire life. Chaos magic radiated off of him, wild arcs horribly twisting everything they touched or annihilating them completely.
Rarity moved slowly towards him, her mind was on a cloud. Her screams never touched her lips. She had uprooted the crystal tree that killed her son. When Rarity stood over Discord, she saw every emotion but fear in his eyes. The laughs just kept right on coming.
No matter how hard she dropped the tree on him, the laughter did not stop. She kept it raining down on his head harder and faster with each impact. His wild magic kept sparking off him with each blow bringing more power but missing her completely and instead melting the world around her into an even more ugly form. Yet still she kept the crystal tree coming down on him. It wasn’t until his face was nothing more than a stain in the crater and his body began to crumble away like dust that she realized the laughter was not coming from him.
The laughter was coming from her.
Rarity then felt her head turn once again. This time toward a piece of  a broken mirror that lay on the ground beside them. She saw a tall, black mare with a long flowing purple mane and cat like eyes. A Nightmare.
            Their voices spoke as one.
                “Wake up.”
Rarity opened her eyes and looked down at all the ponies backing away from her in fear. She smiled and showcased her razor sharp teeth. She started laughing again, the white mare was now tall and dark.
The black mare’s horn began to crackle with death and a large ball of wicked magic formed at the very tip. The group watched in horror. Those who were not frozen in fear ran as fast as their hooves could carry them as soon as they felt magic being gathered. The Nightmare laughed at their futility.
She controlled her mirth into a sadistic grin.
“Au Revoir,” said the improper caricature of once good mare.
Her smile disappeared completely when her spell exploded bubblegum in her mane.
The dark mare howled in rage, her eyes becoming wild and psychotic. Whoever was left standing ran while they had the chance from her distraction, leaving only the Nightmare and the small misshapen child currently shaking like a leaf in front of her. The draconequus had multiple eyes that were currently split between her and a twisted dead body of a young Diamond Dog. She met the small draconequus in the eyes that weren’t trained on the corpse. The creature held a shivering hand that dripped with sweat and bullets to the dark mare, the creature’s little chest of shifting colors heaved rapidly as it tried to get more oxygen in their lungs. The little monster’s other disproportioned hand was resting on the corpse below them, glowing with an eldritch magic. The dog’s form morphed and twisted, growing and losing limbs, and shifted from a pool of broken flesh into other strange shapes the longer the Nightmare made eye contact.The creature’s face became more anguished as the body continued to morph and their rapid breath became more broken.
“Trying to bring back your friend? Pathetic. Time to die, little worm,” the Nightmare spat as she slowly approached the shivering draconequus. Her hooves began to slowly sink into the ground as it began to melt into fudge without her noticing. 
“I waited thirty long years to have my day and it shall not be ruined by a disgusting whelp such as you.” The Nightmare’s horn began to gather magic once again and the creature’s other hand began to glow.
When the Nightmare attempted to unleash her spell, a silly string shot out of her horn instead of what she was intending.
The Nightmare’s eyes began to glow with magic and murderous intent. “My power has become ultimate with suffering, your efforts are pointless.”
With that, the Nightmare’s horn glowed brighter with black sorcery and she began to shoot small candies and confetti along with the silly string. She aimed her horn at the magic child, pelting them with candy and string.
The draconequus began to jerk and twitch under the assault, his eyes began to leak fresh tears. The morphing body of their fallen friend began to change into other creatures and geometric shapes. The creature’s three hearts looked like they were attempting to escape their chest. The draconequus began to claw at their neck with his two free hands as they failed to get more oxygen into their lungs.
The Nightmare began to laugh once again as she upped her magic and began to drench the area in destruction. Whole buildings began to fall apart and disintegrate. Stop signs began to fall from the sky along with several deformed princesses and spotted Diamond Dogs. They splattered across the ground in a colorful mess.
The draconequus removed their hands from the twisting body before them and away from the tall, black mare and began to cradle his face with his other two arms hugging his body. His form began to shimmer and their colors began to change more rapidly. He fell to the ground and he curled up into a ball.
The sky began to crack and split in two, and its solid blue turned into a technicolor swirl. A mare, fleeing a nearby collapsing house fell to the ground, her flesh squirming as her blood vessels turned into snakes.
Elsewhere, the forms of ponies and other denizens began to smear like wet paint being hit with water. Everything began to blend together as basic outlines became nonexistent. Others seeing this began to run, only to trip over themselves as their limbs began to spagettify and their heads rolled into a spiral shape. Eyeballs began to float out of some of their skulls, and pop once they reached the upper atmosphere.  Buildings began to collapse into tetrahedrons or simply turn into giant household appliances. The streets became the color of many shades of plaid or simply began to not exist entirely. Gravity joined the realm of imagination.
The Nightmare’s smile began to die on her lips and her laughter was now long gone as she looked upon the madness, her body floating upward. She felt an unfamiliar feeling grip her heart and for the first time in the parasite’s short life, she felt something other than hate and malevolence. Her jaw dropped and her face twisted in pure terror as she gazed into her own insignificance.
Her body then disintegrated into colorful butterflies. They fluttered away silently into the drooling kaleidoscope sky and became one with the universe.
A purple pony princess teleported to the scene, the name of her young ward died on her lips as she flattened into a lump of flesh, her skeleton not making the journey. 
Mountains began to peel like bananas and clouds began to fall from the sky and splatter egg yolks on the ground. All the grass became fields of glasses and the water on the planet turned into different types of orange juice. Everything began to mix together into a mismatch of swirling color. Finally the whole planet turned into the shape of a pancake.
Pan the draconequus fell to the ground convulsing in the middle of a chaotic maelstrom. The little being began to sink into the ground and all of existence followed him, leaving nothing behind. He did not reach the bottom before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and darkness finally overtook him and everything else.