The Sparkling Reflection of Princess Rarity

by Gweat and Powaful Twixie

Chapters

• The Gem
• The Princess
• The Ship
• The Reflections
• The Beauty of it All
• Epilogue: The Sparkling Reflection of Princess Rarity

The Gem

The Gem

“So, I have come up with a few variations of the base tune and some changes to the lyrics," said Rarity, shuffling her hoof-scribbled sheet music in front of her sister. “I think you will like them.”

“O-okay...” stammered Sweetie Belle.

“I know I am not half the musician you are, but you have taken my song and made it into something else. I even found myself humming your version the other day. After having such a lovely song play through my head, I decided to make some choice changes.” Rarity smiled, beaming with pride. “Oh, isn’t this fun? Two sisters in the troughs of creation, the embrace of inspiration—standing atop a palette of colour,” she said, letting herself trail off in thought.

Sweetie Belle sniffled, wiping her eyes.

“Darling, is there something wrong? We don’t have to sing if you don’t want to.”

“N-no, I want to.” She broke down even further, despite efforts to stifle her sobs. “It’s just—I really love you sometimes. Like a whole lot.” Sweetie Belle surprised her sister with a sudden, loving embrace. “Thank you so much for singing with me...”

In the candlelight, the minotaur slammed the counter again. His iron palm cracked the glass casing and splintered the wooden supports.

He laughed, and beneath that laughter belied a menacing spite for his customer. All Rarity wanted to know was how much a little rock cost and this venerable, and admittedly terrifying, antique collector just laughed in spitefulness. If he wasn’t a combination of pure muscle, sharpened horns, and unrelenting malice, she would have been quite offended, put off even. However, he was all those things. And him being all those things had caused her to decide, quite lucidly, to forget her own birthday out of complete fear.

This was the last time she took Twilight Sparkle on a shopping trip.

When Rarity thought ‘shopping trip’, she imagined fashion boutiques aligned with dresses of bold patterns and colours. There would be trendy necklaces set upon glowing, white displays. Mirrors would be used to accent and expand the piece. There would be proper lighting and sanitation.

And agreeable sales representatives.

And sanitation.

But no, Rarity was not on that type of shopping trip. She was in some run-down, dusty, old antique store being belittled by a minotaur for making the horribly misinformed decision of trying to shop, and, while the decor and owner were troubling in themselves, it was mostly the dust that did her in.

There was something to be said about the magnitude of the dust in store; it was over-exaggerated. Rarity was not the kind of pony to use such a phrase lightly either. The term exaggerate meant ‘in excess’, and to overdo it was excessive excess. That made the entire statement, "over exaggerated", redundant, but when she saw that a caked-on layer of dust had become dusty itself, she gave up on reason. She was going to describe the dusty dust to be excessively excessive and nopony was going to stop her.

She liked to consider herself an agile, graceful pony that could sidestep any of these growing dust habitats with ease.

...in proper lighting.

She had noticed the dismal candlelight, which reached about chest high on her, the second she walked in. What she hadn’t noticed was that beneath the blanket of darkness was what could best described as ‘endless piles of useless junk’—this minotaur was a hoarder.

As she had walked through the store, Rarity was sure that each thing she unknowingly bumped into on the floor was some priceless artifact with a fascinating history, but at this point in time, she really didn’t care. They were leaving dust smears on her pristine coat.

Terrified, dirty, and more than a little peeved, Rarity watched as the monster store owner came down from his laughing fit.

“One does not simply buy a soul gem,” snarled the minotaur.

By this point in time Rarity had degenerated into a complete, shaking coward, mumbling one terrified, run-on babble after another. The minotaur growled at her and she jumped reflexively with a small squeal. He chuckled.

This was definitely the last shopping trip she’d ever take Twilight on.

Speaking of that unicorn, where was she? Rarity knew that she was off looking at the books he’d collected, but knowing where she was wasn’t the real issue. The issue was, why wasn’t she saving Rarity from this monster?

What was taking her so long? Twilight could read a dozen books in a day. How long could it take her to just browse a small shelf of them? Thinking again, Twilight probably got sucked into the first book she picked.

The minotaur half-growled, half-barked at Rarity again, reminding her that she should resume being terrified and cease contemplating her friend’s reading speed. She squeaked. Rarity looked in dread at the beast, her eyes becoming misty as though she were being sentenced to death.

“I’m guessing you want to trade me some arbitrary amount of bits for it?” he growled from his throat, ending the tense silence.

That was the general idea of selling something—currency for product, but Rarity saw a dilemma. A soul gem was obviously something special, and it could be the case that they aren’t usually traded for bits. Rarity couldn’t imagine what else it would be traded for, but then again, she didn’t know magic. Now, she could say ‘yes’ and admit to knowing nothing about soul gems. That would paint her as a vain, ignorant collector. Or she could say ‘no’ and indirectly waste the owner’s time. There was also the possibility that she was imagining this dilemma and that the minotaur could have anger management issues he was trying to get over, but that would have been far too reasonable.

The minotaur was silent as he awaited her answer. She wanted to look away, but his golden eyes locked her in place. She became lost in them, those two burning, amber pools with just a hint of red around the pupil. Rarity didn’t remember it later, but she had nodded, saying ‘yes’, and affirming that she wanted to buy the soul gem with bits. She also didn’t remember the teardrops that fell from her cheeks.

The two sparkling drops fell quickly to the floor, only catching a flash of the twinkling candlelight.

The owner grinned wickedly.

“Thirty bits—take it and never bring it back here.”

Immediately, Rarity scrambled to levitate her coin purse from her saddlebags, but fumbled the buckle a few times, flopping the straps around. Even after getting it open, she still struggled to finish her transaction.

The minotaur heard the curious clanking of metal against glass come from below. Peering over the counter he saw her coin purse tap lightly against the glass over and over again like a confused bird hitting a window. Rarity had become so incoherent that even basic levitation was beyond her. Eventually, she managed to fly the coins onto the table, spilling them out in front of him. The bag, still in her magical grasp, dragged across the counter and plunged into the darkness thereafter.

He glanced over the gold, mentally accounting for her debt. She had overpaid him by ten bits, but he didn’t mind. He retrieved the garnet soul gem from the case and waited for her to take it from him.

By this point Rarity’s mind had gone completely blank in fear. She saw her prize pinched between the minotaur’s pointed and index finger. The maroon stone twinkled in the light and all she had to do to leave was levitate it from his grip.

After waiting a bit too long, the minotaur decided to reach over the counter and place the rock in her bag himself. He gave her a few pseudo-affectionate pats on the head in appreciation of her business and terrified amusement.

Each time the monster touched her, her life flashed before her eyes. She saw all dresses she’d never get to make, all the high-society functions she’d never get to go to, her family, and other requisite meaningful stuff. She also had a box of chocolates at home, and she really, really wanted to eat those—all of them by the end of tomorrow if she could.

By the time Rarity was mentally writing her own eulogy, she was already outside and Twilight was talking at her about something. She was waving a musty old book at Rarity, which wasn’t unusual.

Rarity caught the word ‘diary’ among her friend's distantly perceived rants.

It was good that she was there though. Seeing and remembering that Twilight was a pony that existed had helped to pull Rarity out of her fearful reverie. Now in control of her senses again, she could compose herself.

“"T-Twi... Twilight... j-just stop talking. Give me a moment, please...?!”

Twilight tried to say something, but Rarity held her hoof up, shushing the unicorn. Of all her techniques to regain composure, she opted to use the cleverly named, ‘Take a deep breath and release it in a whiney squeal’ technique.

As she slowly released her breath, she felt her recent memories come back to her. She remembered walking in the store and not seeing the owner, Twilight pranced around making a ruckus, the minotaur stepping out of the shadows in an impossibly creepy way, and Twilight basically interrogating him in regards to his books. He had responded with anger, rudeness and intimidation. Rarity had started crying... something else had happened, and now she was outside with a unicorn who was completely oblivious to the concept of peril. It all made sense, oddly enough.

She turned to face Twilight, who had watched her intently as she exhaled her whiney squeal.

"I apologize for being terse with you, but I needed to compose myself," said Rarity, trotting forcefully back to the main street, chin held up high. "You know, darling. There is an extremely valuable lesson about the appropriate use of voice inflections, volume, and silence for various scenarios that I simply must share with you one day," she scolded.

Twilight blushed sheepishly and followed her friend. Back on the beaten path, Rarity found the heart to grace her friend with a response.

“So, you bought an old diary?”

“Mmmhmm! It’s over seven hundred years old!” Twilight chimed in.

Rarity sat at her kitchen table later that night with her sister, a single lamp’s light shining down on the two. In silence, they worked on their projects for the night. Rarity tentatively fiddled her dull, maroon souvenir, taking some cloth and jeweling wax to it. While the uncut, smooth surfaces could be brought to a shine, the inner prism remained forever cloudy and opaque.

Sweetie Belle sat across the table, quietly drawing with a few crayons. She set down the crayon from her mouth and lazily examined her work.

“So, what does it do? It’s a soul gem, it has to do something amazing, right?” she asked without looking up.

Rarity yet again scrubbed it rather vigorously without result. She lightly gritted her teeth.

“Twilight said she doesn’t know.”

“Yeah, right. Twilight knows everything.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes but remained focused on the gem. “Sweetie Belle, that is not very nice. Twilight wouldn’t lie to me. If she says she doesn’t know, then that means she doesn’t,” asserted Rarity half-heartedly.

“Okay, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s quite alright. I, myself, was surprised by Twilight’s unusual lack of knowledge. She said it was harmless, but to refrain from attempting any complex or unusual spells.”

Sweetie Belle didn’t respond, instead going back to her drawing. They sat in silence. Rarity enjoyed the company of her sister in these quieter moments. Usually, she liked talking and asking Sweetie Belle about her day, but right then the silence was comfortable. A subtle smile crept up her face as she thought to the future. Someday Sweetie Belle would grow up, move out, and never turn back. She’d leave poor Rarity behind, and Rarity would beg for her little sister to come back and spend time with her. She often took these moments for granted, but she knew she’d cherish them when they were gone.

“No matter how much I try, I cannot bring this gem’s sparkle out,” Rarity commented. “I was hoping Twilight may have been misinformed, but she told me that the only way to really get it back to luminosity is by collecting a soul in it. I think she’s right.”

“Maybe that’s all it does. You capture a soul and it gets really sparkly.”

“Perhaps... It is a brilliant gem in itself, but the inside is just so murky.”

“It sounds like you need a soul. Maybe you could go steal Diamond Tiara’s.”

“Sweetie Belle,” she warned. “It’s not very nice to suggest trapping your schoolmates’ souls—no matter how nasty or rude they are.” Rarity scratched her chin. “Yet, if I were to leave one day and come back to see it glimmering, I wouldn’t ask questions.”

Sweetie Belle giggled. “Maybe you can trap yourself in it! Didn’t I ask you one time if you’d trade your soul for the shiniest gem in the world? What did you say again?” She looked up at the corner in feigned thoughtfulness.

Rarity bit her lip and kept her eyes fixed on the rock. “I uh, can’t seem to recall. I couldn’t imagine ever agre—”

“Oh wait, I remember! You said only if it matched your mane or cutie mark.”

Sweetie Belle gave her sister a big toothy grin. Rarity glowered in return.

“Am I not the luckiest pony to have a sister with such a superb memory? Who else would remind me of all my questionable musings?”

“I dunno, Opal?”

“Didn’t one time—” started Rarity. She cut herself off as she saw a tiny glint of light come from the stone out of her peripheral vision.

A few moments later, a brilliant eruption of colour painted the entire room in technicolour. Light spewed like a fountain, arcing up and around them. In the center, Rarity saw the shapes of two ponies closely nuzzling each other. One of them looked at her, and then her stomach, the implied line of its vision piercing her gut. The effect was silent, but in the silence her breathing grew louder. Every deep, full breath she took expanded the line in her stomach into an enlarging circle. She felt the circle come to encompass all of her being.

And then it was over. The light was gone.

Rarity blinked and looked up at Sweetie Belle whose eyes were also glued to the gem.

Sweetie Belle blinked. “Did you see that?”

“I did...”

Rarity considered the many things she could have done at that moment. Screaming at the top of her lungs and tossing the rock out the window held immediate appeal, but something stopped her. It would have made sense for her to be afraid, but she wasn’t for some reason—at least not yet. No, she was curious and fatalistic. It wasn’t everyday that something so magical came into a pony’s possession.

It had a part to play in this world, and she wanted to know if that part involved her.

Also, it would do nothing for Sweetie Belle’s nerves for her to flip out because of a rock. She might develop a fear of rainbows or fountains if Rarity made too big of a deal about it.

“Well, it was probably nothing,” said Rarity with an unconvincing smile. “Probably just a quirk of a soul gem. If a pony’s soul used to reside in it, I’m sure it must have its own little personality. Nothing to worry about, Sweetie!”

Sweetie Belle nodded slowly before picking the crayon back up and returning to her drawing.

Rarity ripped open the drawer to her nightstand and chucked the rock in it before slamming it back shut. She kept her magical grip on the handle, pushing her back to the drawer. She stared off into space as she contemplated what to do next.

She had a very special protocol for handling situations she didn’t deal with on a daily basis. At some point in time, there would be a ‘flip out’ session consisting of general yelling, screaming, and running in circles. Whether that would be as the situation happened or some time later, that was always the first step. After which, she’d ask Twilight to fix it for her.

Rarity usually stopped after those two steps, because Twilight was a doll about things, most of the time.

Sometimes Twilight refused though, and Rarity would have to resort to step three, blackmailing Twilight with pictures from her Nightmare Night After Party. Somehow Twilight and Rainbow Dash had managed to fall asleep in the same bed, cuddling one another. When they woke up, Twilight blushed, Rainbow freaked out, and Rarity snapped a photo.

As Rarity’s eyes adjusted to the pitch blackness of her room, the sound of her own breathing became loud again. It was unnatural, deafening even. Her head spun and she slumped a little bit against the nightstand. Faint red light began to shine through the cracks of the drawer.

“Twilight said that it only sparkles when a soul is trapped inside it...” she said quietly to herself. There was something sinister about the way those words rolled off her tongue.

Only moments after disorienting her, the rock made its presence known again and Rarity fell into a deeper madness.

The humble nightstand began to grow in the darkness of the room, reaching at least seven feet tall. Long, spindly shadows sprouted up alongside it, surrounding and caging Rarity. She turned around and screamed at the glowing drawer. Rarity felt her heart beating louder and louder. A single bead of sweat ran down her forehead. She wiped it away, baffled.

A lady never breaks out in sweat.

Her vision became distorted. While the red light of the rock stayed the same, everything else turned black and white. It was grainy and speckly like the low quality cinematography from long ago. The effect was complete with screen tears and a dip in the frames-per-second of her natural vision. Keeping very much with the style, her room transformed into an old movie set, silently and instantly.

Twisted imitations replaced everything; her bed, her clothes, her decorations, everything. She let out a silent gasp as she laid her eyes on her cork board photo collage.

They were of someone else.

The ponies in the photos resembled her friends. They were loosely the same colour, and in the same positions, but she knew they weren’t the ponies she knew and loved. What was worse was that their eyes seemed to follow her about her room. Or at least, what used to be her room.

She was no longer in her own room or house. Instead, she was on a cheap movie set, a replica that would fool anyone besides her. The feeling of being lost crept into her heart. She wanted it to stop. The gem wouldn’t let it though. Behind the drawer sealed in red light, it taunted her. It told her that it knew she was there, and that she was afraid.

She was no one to argue either. In the alien room, uncertainty, if not complete paranoia, was the implicit precedent.

“It’s just a silly, diminutive, insignificant rock!” she shouted from beneath the covers of her bed some time later.

Almost as if taken aback by her harsh words, the gem returned the world to normal. She blinked and her room was just as she remembered it. The alien ponies in the pictures were gone. She shifted uncomfortably. Clammy, gross sweat rolled down across her chest and legs. She unwrapped herself from her many blankets. Only then did she realize she had inexplicably crawled into her bed.

“Dearest...” said Rarity. “How did I get up here?” Her uncertainty was compounded with this new positioning.

Ponies don’t just end up somewhere else. Naturally, her mind, like any pony else’s would, searched for an answer. She had either teleported, or forgotten something she shouldn’t have. The first and most reasonable explanation was the soul gem had done something, but she wasn’t willing to admit that yet. Twilight told her it was harmless as long as she didn’t do anything magical to it, and questioning her best friend was simply not an option.

“Rarity, you mustn’t let such silly ideas seed themselves in your mind. Self-fulfilling prophecies are self-fulfilling prophecies are self-fulfilling prophecies,” she repeated to herself. “You let one little glimmer get to you and the next thing you know, you’re making tea and throwing parties for all the voices in your head.” She chuckled nervously.

She probably had one good nerve left before she had a complete meltdown. A knock at her bedroom door nearly tore said nerve from her skull. Rarity screamed, pulling a mound of pillows over her head.

“Rarity?! Are you okay?! I heard you screaming!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle, opening the door.

Rarity peeked out of her small pillow bunker and saw her sister. “Oh, that? That was just uhh... some late-night singing practice!” she lied.

“Really? Can I join?! It’s been forever since we sang together!”

Rarity laughed and twirled her mane. “Oh, it’s far too late, and I think I’m all done for the night. My voice is shot and I’m exhausted from my outing with Twilight.” She feigned a stretch and yawned. “I apologize, but I’d like to sleep now.”

“Oh, okay. Maybe tomorrow then?”

“Singing tomorrow with my little sister? I think that sounds lovely.”

She smiled. “Awesome! Thanks, sis. Love you, good night!”

“Good night, little sister. I love you, too.”

Sweetie Belle closed the door and went back to her room. Rarity looked at the drawer. An unusual exhaustion hit her like a tidal wave. Now that she thought about it, she was probably just seeing things out of mild exhaustion. Her eyelids dropped like rocks, and she passed out.

It was a single, swift, and calculated motion. With over a decade of experience, every tiny muscle and fiber in her foreleg knew its place; a tweak of the hoof here, a leveraging there, and then the curl. After a dab of gel and a few clouds of hair spray, Rarity’s mane sat ready, awaiting her move.

She picked up her brush slowly with a glint in her eye.

In one seamless movement, she dramatically swept her brush upwards, downwards, and outwards. The tension in her mane built like a spring. She held it there for a half second and then let go, letting the upper section of her mane bounce into its trademark style. She then threw the brush to the other hoof and continued the elegance with another grand, sweeping motion and tug. Almost as if by magic, her lower mane bounced into its trademark flawless curl.

In the span of five seconds she accomplished a style that would have taken most mares hours to even attempt. Rarity ended with a stunning pose and caught the eye of the beautiful mare in the bathroom mirror.

“Fabulous.”

She opened the door and released a nauseating blend of a half-dozen body scents and hair sprays, nearly knocking out Sweetie Belle. The foal had been waiting there for almost an hour, towels slung over her back.

"Finally, you're done!" said Sweetie Belle, covering her nose.

Rarity posed. "Yes, I am finished, and looking utterly divine. Please, do not refrain from admiring me.”

"Oh, brothe—" She coughed and choked on the hair product vapours.

"Sister. Oh, sister," she corrected. “Hmm, the look of disgust riddled across your face is giving me inspiration, oddly enough. Sweetie Belle, allow me to indulge, I simply must style your mane today,” said Rarity with sisterly authority.

“Later. I’m doing some crusading today and I’d hate to ruin your hard work on that.” Sweetie Belle scratched at the carpet. “B-but we’re still singing today, right?!”

“Of course we are! And doing each other’s manes it seems. I myself have a few errands to take care of, but later, it’s a date. Perhaps around five today?”

“Okay. Yeah, we’re crusading to Zecora’s today. Scootaloo thinks we can try being sorceresses!”

“Well, that sounds like a smashing time!” Rarity said, heading out the door. “Tell Zecora I said hi!”

Sweetie Belle trailed after her. “Wait, I was hoping you could come with me! At least to Zecora’s hut. We could sing on the way!”

Rarity peered back through the doorway. “Aren’t you going with your friends?”

“They’re probably already there by now.”

Rarity scratched the back of her ear. The last time she went through that tangle, she scuffed her coat and chipped a hoof.

“I erhm—apologize, I can’t,” she lied.

Today, Rarity had many important things to do: she had a Twilight Sparkle to hassle mercilessly about a questionable magic artifact that she had freely let Rarity take home, a Fluttershy to gossip with at the spa, and a house in which to lounge about for a few hours. All of them were too important and enticing to be ruined by a trek through the woods. Also, there were chocolates she needed to eat.

Sweetie Belle looked down.

Rarity gave her a comforting laugh, and bat her hoof at the air. “Oh, don’t worry, the route to Zecora’s is traversed regularly now since she opened her business! There are signs and lanterns for heaven’s sake. You’ll be alright, I promise.”

“Are you sure you can’t come...?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m already running late. I’ll see you later tonight, love,” said Rarity with a warm wink before leaving through the door.

Sweetie Belle cracked a weak smile. “Yeah, okay.”

Rarity banged on the door to Twilight’s library. A few moments later, she met the face of the baby dragon.

“Whoa, hey there, Rarity! Uhh, what brings you around?” he asked, smoothing his scales back and blushing slightly.

“Good morning, Spike! Looking as dashing and scarlet as ever.” She patted him playfully on the head. “Tell me, is Twilight home? I desperately need to talk with her about something.”

“Oh... She’s still sleeping,” he replied, sulking a bit. His hopes to roleplay a pincushion had been clearly dashed.

“But—it’s almost eleven...” Rarity raised a brow. “She couldn’t still be asleep at this hour, could she?”

“Take it up with her.”

Rarity wasn’t the kind of pony to question her friends, but she did suspect something was out of the ordinary. It was late in the day, and Twilight was usually a morning pony. Maybe she had stayed up all night studying and was catching up on missed sleep. Rarity recalled her finding a seven hundred year-old diary, so maybe she had spent all night reading that.

Yet, Twilight always stayed up late to study and hadn't woken up any later.

Rarity heard loud snoring from the depths of the library—it was Twilight. Whatever her reason to sleep in so late, there was no arguing with that. Spike looked up at her, folding his arms.

“Indeed, well I may be around later today, Spike.”

“Fluttershy is also sleeping?” said Rarity in disbelief. It was almost noon now.

Angel nodded his head.

Rarity gave him a cross look. Angel was, most certainly, not her friend. He was an acquaintance if anything, and that meant she could interrogate him mercilessly for information.

“Did she have a particularly late night or something comparable? Fluttershy is almost always up at the crack of dawn caring for you woodland critters.”

He shrugged.

“But we have a spa date! Fluttershy wouldn’t just shrug that off in pursuit of leisure,” Rarity whined. “I demand to see her at once.”

Angel stood his ground, crossing his arms. Something about the way he presented himself was oddly daunting. He managed to block off the entire doorway with his small form.

“Angel, step aside. The poor thing will thank me for getting her up and about. I know it’s a lazy Sunday, but that is no excuse to spend all day sleeping your heart away.”

Rarity managed the courage to trot straight past Angel and into the cottage. He tried to stop her, pulling on her hooves and jumping on her back, but she was able to ignore him.

She walked up to the bedroom.

“Flutter, darling?” she cooed through the door.

No response. She knocked a few times. Angel continued to thump angrily on her back. Rarity didn’t mind it. On the contrary it was actually a little better than the massages at the spa.

His soft, but firm, feet were excellent at kneading the knotted muscles in her back. She’d have to make a note of that for future business prospects—angry bunny massages.

“It’s Rarity. May I come in?”

Still no response. Rarity sighed and opened the door.

Fluttershy was sleeping on her bed, yet Rarity could never say the pegasus ever did anything so simply. She was a work of art, an in-depth study into the form of grace and delicacy. Her buttery coat gleamed as the midday sun poured through the windows. It bloomed yellow light onto the surrounding bedding and furniture. Her mane accentuated every curve and contour of her body, never disturbing any distinct feature. Only a small dollop of hair sat across her forehead, eclipsing one eye. Her form rose and fell ever so slightly as she snored a light, harmonious note. Just seeing her inspired a dress idea for Rarity.

She sighed at the divine scene.

She also sighed as Angel thumped a knot out of her lower back.

“Oh, Fluttershy. You will never know how much I envy your subtlety, your delicacy, your grace,” whispered Rarity to herself with a blush. “Your—”

Fluttershy muttered something in her sleep.

“Lu... Luna.”

Rarity’s eyes grew wide.

Being the well-read pony she was, she knew of Princess Luna’s dream walking talent. It was wholly unlikely that Luna was communicating with Fluttershy by medium of a dream at that very moment, but there was certainly a romance to the idea that Rarity couldn’t resist. She liked to pretend her life was a fantasy novel for reasons that still weren't clear to her.

“Oh my goodness,” she whispered. “Please excuse me for intruding. I had no idea I was in the presence of a princess. Carry on.”

Rarity quickly trotted downstairs and vacated the cottage. Angel let a door slam audibly remind her of the rudeness of waltzing into someone's house uninvited.

Rarity considered what had caused everyone to sleep in so late. Either everyone had conspired against her to make her think that sleeping in was the new fad, or sleeping in had become the new fad. Rarity shuddered at the thought of being a ‘morning pony’ from then on.

"Well, everyone else is doing it... and I’d hate to be behind on the times.”

Rarity fluttered her eyes in the light of the late afternoon sun, awaking from a lovely nap. She took a deep breath of her clean, freshly fragranced pillows.

After assuring that her pillows still smelled wonderfully minty, she reached over to her nightstand and picked up her current novel, The Last Dream of the Concubine. It was about a mare who found love in a stallion who only lived in her dreams. It was suitable reading for what had turned out to be a very sleepy day.

Hours passed in minutes as she was drawn ever deeper into the fantasy of the story. Pages flew by, and before she knew it, the sun was almost setting.

Her stomach rumbled. That box of chocolates from an unknown admirer was as delicious as she had hoped for, but now she craved real food. Perhaps Sweetie Belle would have a request for dinner. If not, it would be quiche again.

She trotted to the balcony of the main gallery. “Sweetie Belle?!” she called out through her boutique. “Sweetie, love, what would you like me to cook you for dinner?!”

Silence.

“Sweetie Belle?! Are you here?!”

Rarity tentatively listened for even the slightest peep, but there wasn’t one. She slowly walked around the house, searching in each room. The kitchen, the showroom, and the filly’s own room were all empty. A tinge of worry overtook her, but she quickly dismissed it. Sweetie Belle had probably just gotten distracted.

Rarity let out a sharp sigh and frowned. The afternoon felt wasted now; she hadn’t done anything all day. Duets and singing lessons with Sweetie Belle were going to be her concession to such leisure, but she wouldn’t even get to do that now.

It was almost six. Sweetie Belle was an hour late. Maybe she could still go out and fetch her and make it up to her, but it wasn’t likely. It was a school night, and Sweetie needed to be in bed soon. A little sullen, she went for the door, but not before catching herself in the mirror on the way out.

“Still fabulous,” she said half-heartedly to herself. After bouncing her mane a few times she called out. “Opal, momma’s going out! She’ll be back soon!”

By the time she had reached Sweet Apple Acres, her pace had escalated to a racing gallop. It never took long for Rarity to start imagining the worst possible scenarios. Given the circumstances, those scenarios became dreadful, if not repulsive, rather quickly. Maybe it was her inclination to drama, but images of Sweetie Belle with a broken leg or a prank by Diamond Tiara gone horribly wrong kept surfacing.

Her sister was now two hours late coming home. That wasn’t completely unheard of, but Sweetie Belle was never, ever late for alone time with her big sister. Rarity knew she wasn’t just being conceited either. Sweetie Belle was known to lie impulsively to get days off from school just to spend time with Rarity. She had dropped her friends early upon hearing her big sister had some free time on multiple occasions. Sweetie Belle was borderline obsessed and it was almost becoming problematic.

More importantly, that sort of fanatical drive doesn’t just ‘get distracted.’

Rarity slowed down to a trot as she approached the front door of Sweet Apple Acres. She pounded away at the screen door. If any ponies knew where Sweetie Belle was, it’d be Applejack or her little sister. The clubhouse was close enough, and for some reason, the girls never went over to Scootaloo’s house.

She took a deep breath as she heard Applejack approach from inside. Applejack opened the door, looking genuinely happy, if not a little surprised to see the unicorn.

“Well, howdy, Rare. What brings you ‘round?”

“Good evening, Applejack. I just came by to see if Sweetie Belle is here.”

“Uhh, she ain’t here ‘less she’s hidin’ real good.” Applejack chuckled. “Why?”

“Well, she hasn’t come home yet.”

Immediately, Applejack’s eyes narrowed.

Rarity knew her friend was much more practical pony than herself, and that behind those emerald eyes, she was analyzing. When Applejack had a problem, she fixed it. She didn’t talk about it any more than she needed to, she just dealt with it.

“Hmm, that’s mighty strange, ‘cause Applebloom is here and all,” she said finally.

There was an awkward silence. Rarity saw her friend read the worry that must have been pouring off her face.

“Ya know what? Let me get my sis out here, she’ll know.” Applejack turned her head back inside. “Applebloom!”

Moments later, the foal came scampering in around Applejack’s hooves. “Yeah, sis?”

“Rarity here is lookin’ fer Sweetie Belle. Do ya know where she’s at?”

The moment of truth came all too quickly for Rarity. Somepony should have warned her, told her that she was about to have her life flipped upside down. Applebloom should have said it slower, or quieter—anything to blunt the shock.

“Ah din’t see her all day,” she said honestly.

Rarity gagged while her stomach rose. She felt bile sting the back of her throat, but suppressed the gag, and kept it in her mouth. Her face twisted up in discomfort for a second, but she maintained a smile—for the foal’s sake.

“Rare... where did Sweetie tell you she was goin’ today?” asked Applejack.

“She was supposed to meet us at Zecora’s hut, but she never showed,” interrupted Applebloom.

Applejack locked eyes with Rarity. She saw Applejack stare into her, looking for her reaction. Rarity was sure she found it, as subtlety was not her strong suit right now. Perhaps it was the trembling that gave it away, or her misty, teary eyes. Whatever it was, Applejack responded swiftly.

“Thanks, sis. Now go back inside—me and Rare hafta talk alone,” she said.

Applebloom only caught a hint of the severity of the situation and left them with a puzzled look on her face. Maybe later, they’d tell her, but not then.

Rarity was now on the verge of a mental breakdown, and Applejack could feel it. She led her to a bench on the porch.

“Rare, Ah know that look when Ah see it. Don’t you start gettin’ all crazy, ya hear?” she warned.

Rarity nodded, rocking back and forth, her face twisting up more and more with each passing second.

“Ah think y’all need ta take a couple of deep breaths.”

Rarity tried and expelled a few whimpers. All thoughts were now on her sister, alone and afraid in the Everfree Forest. Her mind gave her no rest as it conjured one horrible, gruesome scene after another. She clenched her eyes at one involving a pack of manticores.

“Swell. So, Sweetie Belle didn’t come home, right?” said Applejack, clarifying the information.

“Correct,” squeaked Rarity through her suppressed whimpers.

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“10:30. She was frolicking off to the Everfree Forest.”

Rarity figured that Applejack must have mistaken her sarcasm for something else, because the next thing she said was not comforting in the slightest.

“So, she’s been missin’ for almost ten hours in Everfree? That’s a mighty long time— but Ah’m sure she’s okay!” she corrected.

Hearing the words, ‘ten hours in Everfree,’ cut her last thread to sanity.

Rarity stopped rocking, her mouth slack and her eyes frozen on the ground. "Ten hours...?" she said, her voice low and cracked.

Applejack's eyes shifted back and forth, searching her friend's inert expression. "Rare?" She poked her with a hoof. "Hey, Rarity, are you oka—"

“Oh my goodness, Applejack! I’ve lost my baby sister!” she cried gutturally, clenching her eyes. “It’s all my fault! Applejack! My sister is alone in the Everfree Forest because of me!”

“Whoa there, partner,” she said, going to put her arm around Rarity. “Don’t get ahead of yerself. It ain’t yer fault she’s lost, just calm down.”

Rarity tossed Applejack’s arm off. “Calm down?! How would you feel if Applebloom was off prancing around with a swarm of manticores and bears?! Don’t tell me to calm down!”

“Heavens to Betsy... Rare, it ain’t doin’ no good panickin’ either! Sit back down, we need ta think of a plan so we don’t get any more ponies lost or hurt.”

“Plan?! What plan?! How difficult can it be to search for a lost pony?! As much as I love wasting precious time conversing with a pony on the intricacies of how to scream a name whilst walking through a forest, I have a sister to find!”

“As much as I love yellin’ at ya, we got a filly to find!”

“Yes, I do!”

Rarity stormed off, shouting in the direction of the forest. “Sweetie Belle, sweetums! Rarity’s coming for you!”

Applejack caught up with her and blocked her path.

“Now listen to yerself! Yer not gonna go sweep the forest all by yer lonesome. Last thing we need is somepony else to get lost.”

“Step aside, Applejack! I need to find my sister!”

“Okay, that’s the plan, but ya gotta calm down first. How ‘bout we go round up our friends and start a search party?”

“I don’t need help! It’s my fault, I’ll find her!” Rarity spat. “You’re wasting my time, so get out of my way!”

“Now yer just bein’ ridiculous. Look, I know yer scared, but we gotta get more ponies involved. If we’re gonna find Sweetie Belle, we hafta be organized.”

Rarity huffed and puffed, standing her ground. She didn’t budge, glowering at her friend.

“Rare, go home and see if she’s back. If she is, go tell Twilight. She’ll let the rest of us know,” said Applejack. “If not, stay there and wait fer her. I’m gonna go get the others and we’ll scan the forest lickity split.”

Rarity laughed harshly. “Yes, of course! I shall stay behind while you all search for my sister!”

“Ah’m bein’ serious. Y’all stay behind.”

“Why shouldn’t I be out searching?!” snapped Rarity.

“Somepony’s gotta stay behind in case she comes back. Outta the six of us, you make the most sense.”

Rarity shot daggers at Applejack. Applejack wasn’t the one who needed to find Sweetie Belle. She wasn’t the one who should scoop the helpless filly up and tell her everything was going to be alright, and neither was she the one who should find the body if it came to that. That errand should be Rarity’s and Rarity’s alone.

Applejack kept talking though. “Also, I don’t mean any offense in the slightest, but considerin’ we got Rainbow Dash, myself, and Pinkie, we’re gonna cover a lot of ground fast. Yer not an athlete and if ya can’t keep up, we need to put ya someplace where you’ll do the most good.”

Rarity seethed at the cruel practicality of the farmer. Never more than right now had she wished she’d spent her entire life working on a farm or running in races. Staying home was what prissy little ponies who cared about nothing besides themselves did. Upon realizing that, her breath caught in her throat and her gut lurched. She may have never described herself so perfectly in all her life.

“Applejack, you bring her back to me,” she said finally, defeated and ashamed. “I will never forgive myself if—if...” Her voice trailed off thoughtlessly as she slowly turned and trotted back to town. That trot worked up into a gallop as frustrated tears welled up in her eyes.

“Just make sure ya got some hot cocoa and an hour long hug ready fer her when she gets back!” Applejack called after her.

It had been all her fault. Rarity had the chance to go with Sweetie Belle, she had been asked to go with her, she had been begged to accompany her, and still she didn’t. The guilt felt like sludge sloshing about in her stomach.

As she was galloping home, nausea overcame her. She dashed to a nearby bush to let the guilt make her sick. As she was heaving, she swore to herself that she’d bring her sister back, no matter the cost. She wiped her lip and cursed to herself, her angry, self-loathing tears mixing with her brown, chocolatey bile.

Rarity paced the circular porch of her own house, lapping it endlessly. She tried to keep her eyes trained on every possible avenue Sweetie Belle could arrive from. Total, nauseous panic had gripped the unicorn. She had vomited twice more since she got home, and she still wasn’t done.

Her pace was fast and dizzying. At her speed, every approach could be checked in a few seconds. The spinning got to her and threw her into another dry heaving fit. After nearly passing out, she decided to get a glass of water and check the house for the thirteenth time.

None of the lights were on, leaving the house covered in darkness. It wasn’t that she intended to leave them off, but sanity had let her forget such simple things like lighting.

Her voice was hoarse from calling Sweetie Belle’s name as she scoured every room of the boutique in near complete darkness. Rarity didn’t call her name because she couldn’t find Sweetie Belle. She screamed her name, because she couldn’t stop finding her. In her guilt, she imagined things she wished she’d never thought of.

The dark had never been so cruel to her. In her gallery, she saw manticores, in her kitchen, spectres, and in the corner of her sister’s room, glints of steel. She was shaking sick as though she’d downed five pots of coffee and three full sized cakes. Her mind was racing senselessly, blending everything together. She was hyperventilating, and she face was pouring sweat. Her temperature had to of at least reached one-hundred.

Eventually she came to her own door and just stared at it. It only then occurred to her that she hadn’t checked her own room yet. Her instinct was to barge down the door, screaming her sister’s name, but fear held her.

There was something evil about her room. She imagined that behind that door was the villain that had taken her sister from her, and it would kill her just like it killed her sister.

Using the utmost caution and care, she used her magic to distantly open the dreaded door. It swung slowly. The shadows hitting it seemed to lag behind the actual movement, following the door a few seconds after. The subtle effect brought chills to her spine. It felt suicidal to go any closer, but was it worth living knowing she had caused her sister’s death? If anything, she would put a stop to the evil so it could never commit its horrors again.

She fatefully entered the room. Light was present from a lamp on the table, but colour was not. Once again, everything looked gritty, like an old noir film. Specks of black, as if from a film reel, played across her eyes.

Something rustled from under the covers of her bed. “Sweetie Belle?! Darling! Is that you?!” she cried reflexively, stepping towards it.

The rustling stopped. A drawer in the night stand snapped open. Rarity screamed, backing up to the bedroom door that had somehow shut itself.

It had been a mistake to enter her room. She clawed at her door, desperately pulling at the handle, but it was no use. The wood had magically fused to the wall. She turned around to look back at the nightstand.

The soul gem was now on the floor in front of her. It glowed brilliantly amidst the colourless world. In its light, colour and vibrancy seemed to return. In even greater colour, the world space around the rock was brought teeming to life. Never had she wanted so badly to get away from colour.

“What do you want with me?!”

Silence.

She dared not move nor take her eyes off the menacing gem. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, the soul gem was a few feet closer. She went back to clawing at the door furiously.

“Help! Help me! I’m going to die! Please! Somepony! Anypony!”

She began blasting magic at the door. Bolt after bolt connected and exploded, but to no effect. There wasn’t even a scratch. The new entrance was apparently indestructible. She watched colour approach from behind. Her heart rate picked up as panic gave way to pure adrenaline.

“Stupid rock! I have a little sister to save!” she shouted as she bucked, kicked, and blasted the door.

An excited, young voice resonated through the room. “I know! I’m going to help you!” it exclaimed.

Rarity tore her head around to see the soul gem at her hooves. “Who was that?!”

It spoke again, a tinge of worry in its pleasant voice. “It was me, the rock! Is something wrong? Besides the entire ‘my sister is lost’ thing? I ask because you keep yelling.”

Rarity gawked at the voice. With all reason and rationality already thrown out the window, she found herself mostly at odds with its tone, of all things. “Excuse me for being a little terrified and extraordinarily stressed! My sister is out lost in the forest, and now a magical garnet is talking to me! Just what the hay is going on?!”

“Really?! Is that what it looks like? A garnet?” it said, surprised.

“Yes, you’re a gar—Wait, no! Just shut up!” Rarity huffed a quick, thought-clearing breath. “I’m sorry for being short with you, but I’m really not feeling well at the moment!” She thought for a second. “Actually, no, I’m not sorry for being short with you! You are clearly an evil, malicious thing who has something to do with the disappearance of my sister!”

“Rarity, don’t be silly," it said with a laugh. “How do you even know any of that? You’re making baseless assumptions...”

“How do you know my name?!”

“I’m immobile, not deaf. Or blind for that matter,” it said matter-of-factly. “However, I am effectively a rock to you if that makes a difference. Very safe to be around. Watch me rolling menacingly.” It rolled forward, pushing Rarity even harder against the door.

Rarity didn’t know how to respond to its absurdly casual voice. “Very well then! What do you want with me?!”

“I know where your sister is. I’m assuming you want to find her, and I’m trying to tell you I can rescue her. Isn’t that great?”

“Why should I believe you?!”

“Rarity, it’s going to be difficult to converse if you keep yelling.”

“I think I will keep my voice elevated, thank you very much!”

“Really? Rude much? I’d expect somepony so pretty would be a bit nicer,” it said sardonically. “I base that expectation on absolutely nothing logical, but you are being annoying right now.”

“Now you insult me? I think I will take you to my unicorn friend tomorrow to have you disposed of. She’s a very capable magician! You won’t stand a chance!”

It sighed.

“Right... Since I can’t find a nonconfrontational way to put this, I’m just going to say it. If I die, your sister, and maybe you, will also die,” it said flatly.

“And why should I believe that? How do I know you’re not lying out your metaphorical teeth?!”

“Metaphorical? I have real teeth, you just can’t see them!” it protested. “But since we are being philosophical-ish all of a sudden, perhaps a better question: who do you think I am?” resonated the voice from deep inside the gem.

Rarity thought for a second. The soul gem had only recently began to sparkle, and her sister had only recently disappeared. “Wait, S-Sweetie Belle, is that you?” she whispered.

“Uhh, no. My name is Princess Illustrious, and thank you for lowering your voice,” it said sweetly.

“Oh, you’re welcome. Please inform me why I should care.”

“Well again, I know where your sister is. Secondly, and don’t take this the wrong way, but I could probably kill you.” There was a silence as those words sank in. Illustrious clicked her tongue and paused. “So... there is that circumstance.”

Rarity laughed, choking a bit as she did. “Oh, could you now?”

“Yep, see the darkness around us? Without colour, an artist’s soul will slowly die. Yes, that’s me, Princess Illustrious, prohibiting the colour from your world. Hey, how are you?”

Rarity was silent. She had to admit, while the white and blackness was novel right now, it was only because it felt so empty. Living chronically with it would undoubtedly lead to the death of a pony. It wasn’t just a lack of colour, but emotion and inspiration, things she absolutely needed to continue her artistic work and ultimately find happiness.

“Now Rarity, again, I’m not trying to be confrontational, but you’re making me a bit nervous. In all honesty, I’m really super desperate," admitted Illustrious. “I’ve been trying to get out of this rock for seven hundred years, and you’re the last pony in two-hundred of those years to talk to me. Right now, I’m quite literally trembling with excitement because I believe we can help each other out! Not that you can tell, but that’s besides the point.”

“I’m only listening if my sister is part of this.”

“She is, and that’s why I’m so excited. She gives us a reason to work together. We can both work towards the common goal of saving her!” she said excitedly. Rarity could sense a smile growing on Princess Illustrious’ phantom face. “Sorry for pointing out how great it is that your sister is in mortal danger. You may need to give me a second to stop shaking!”

She giggled inanely.

Rarity grit her teeth. Suddenly, it felt like she was dealing with a blushing school filly who’d just been asked to the dance. It clashed with her own dire mood. “Get to the point,” she snapped.

“Right, sorry. Well, first of all, she is alive and well, relatively speaking. I know this because I can feel the inspiration in her soul. She is destined to be an artist and her colour runs deep through me,” explained Illustrious. “I’ve listened to her sing, and I know what she’s going to sound like when she’s older. You won’t believe how much she sings about you. It’s beautiful, really.”

There was no way the stone could have known about Sweetie Belle’s special talent without some sort of magic. Rarity relaxed a little. Her heart still pounded, but it was slowly coming down.

“Where is she and what do you want from me?” said Rarity skeptically.

“She is somewhere very grey at the moment. Her colour holds, but she needs my help to stay alive. I’ll do what I can, but right now I am indisputably inside a rock. Being inside a rock has a way of diminishing a Princess of Expression’s power and influence.”

Rarity was lost in thought. “Correct me if I’m not reading into this right, but you are asking me to find a way to release you from your gem. Thereafter, you’ll do something fantastically magical that will return Sweetie Belle to me?”

“Simply put, yes. And if you don’t, Sweetie Belle will die from the absence of my supportive colour.”

“This is utter madness...” Rarity shook her head. “I’m having an existential impasse with a rock who is blackmailing me with colour blindness and my sister’s life to do something I think I need a license for.”

“Hear it from my perspective. This unicorn’s brilliant little sister somehow passes into my domain. Conveniently, I am able to talk to her older sister, unlike most incidents, offer to save said little sister, and am consequently threatened with death.”

“You’re still blackmailing me.”

“You started making threats and evoked such a response from me. I wanted to have a pleasant conversation. We could have talked about fashion and how to impress stallions,” she said.

Rarity burst out laughing. She nearly keeled over as she slid down the door to her rump. The dry heaving came again, but she continued laughing even though bile burned the back of her sore throat.

“Wh-what’s so funny?” stammered Illustrious.

“Pleasant conversation?! You have questionable ideas about what is or isn’t pleasant in conversation!”

Rarity coughed a bit as she swallowed her sickness.

“I fail to see what is so funny... Would you like to talk about philosophy or maybe cooking?”

Rarity wiped a tear from her eye, a massive smile peeling across her, cold, sweat soaked face. “My, my... I had no idea such intense stress could do this to a pony. I am having a convincingly real conversation with a rock. I’m going to sleep. I’m of no use to anypony right now.”

Illustrious' cheeriness was starting to break down. “I’d really rather be referred to as a pony. I’m not a rock...”

“Darling, you can be whatever your little heart desires, but I’m going to sleep. And then I’m going to head to the doctor as soon as I wake up. Perhaps the psychologist after that!”

“Please, Rarity!” she cried. “You’re the only chance I’ve had in so long!”

Rarity ignored her, getting up and walking past Illustrious to her bed. The rock rolled after her desperately.

“Fine, I don’t even care about me. At least help me save your sister. Even if I don’t get released, let’s save her!” she conceded.

Rarity ignored her again and the rock began sobbing loudly. Rarity laid down and pulled some covers over herself.

“How noble. Pray, for a rock, you create quite a commotion. Keep your voice down to a whisper, please. It’s rude to talk when somepony is trying to sleep.”

She nestled into her bed. Horrible thoughts still surged through her mind, but she could barely even register those anymore.

She was having a seizure and flailing violently on the bed, slipping in and out of consciousness. Her temperature skyrocketed and her heart pounded.

She did this for some time, until she finally came to rest, still and silent, only her shallow, ragged breath alluding to her diminishing vitality. The mercy of sleep was about to take her as she closed her eyes for the night. That’s when she heard a familiar voice.

It was Sweetie Belle, and she was singing.

Somewhere, over the rainbow

Way up high

There’s a land that I heard of

Once in a lullaby

Rarity’s eyes pried open. She cocked her head around, scanning for the source of the music. Her hopes fell as she realized it sounded from the depths of the soul gem.

One day I’ll wish upon a star

And wake up where the clouds are far

Behind me

Rarity stared deeply into the rock, her countless emotions finally realized into one—sadness. She was going to teach Sweetie Belle this exact song today, but never had the chance. It was a song she’d written and never told anypony else about.

When troubles melt like lemon drops

Away above the chimney tops

That’s where you’ll find me

The song healed Rarity. When it was over she was whole again, though crying comfortably. Her gentle sobs broke the bitter silence that followed. The song was cathartic and pure and it brought her back to sanity. She knew what she must do and never deviate from. Sweetie Belle was lost, and her big sister needed to find her.

Colour returned to the room in spurts with each of Rarity’s heaving wails.

“Oh... Sweetie...” she whispered.

“Rarity, as long as I know that song, I know she’s alive. Her colour is so vibrant, and I don’t want to lose it...” said Illustrious softly.

Rarity gave herself a few moments to gather her response.

“Wh-what do I need to do?” she said finally.

Princess Illustrious took a deep breath. “Thank you, Rarity. I promise to do everything in my power to save her. First thing’s first. Go get a mirror."

The Princess

The Princess

It was a strange feeling, like a single cell in her stomach had frozen solid. It didn’t hurt though. Uncomfortable maybe, but not painful.

As it grew, her heart tensed up, wary of this foreign feeling. She both wanted and didn’t want it to stop; it was just so curious. The sensation lasted for no more than a few seconds, but in that short time, the ice in her stomach had grown into a piercing, stabbing pressure.

Rarity knew what was coming.

“No, no, something large,” called the rock princess from her spot on the floor.

Rarity popped out from her closet, displaying a slightly larger hand mirror. To her, ‘go find a mirror’ wasn’t a simple task. There were many kinds of mirrors.

“No, no. Think something you could walk through.”

“Oh, you mean like a full vanity? Well, why didn’t you say so?” said Rarity, tossing the mirror back into the dark depths of what could only be described as a fashionista’s closet.

“Yes, that’s the term—vanity! You have an exceptionally expansive vocabulary.”

Rarity beamed from the complement.

“Thank you darling, but flattery is the unexamined approach to constructing relationships,” she lectured. “Perchance since death threats and sickness have worked so well thus far, we should constrict ourselves to those. Also, sarcasm—vile, unrelenting sarcasm.”

Rarity picked Illustrious up and made her way to her showroom.

“Uhh... if you insist,” replied Illustrious. She cleared her throat. “Ahem, the unicorn that holds me is the most beautiful, most stunning, most perfect creature, and it will pain so very much to have have her gutted and quartered,” she said a bit too happily.

The sudden suggestion of violence made Rarity purse her lips and raise her brows slightly. “Elementary. You speak with the eloquence I spoke with when I was an adolescent,” she replied.

Rarity trotted down her stairs and flipped the lights. Before her, the famous Carousel Boutique Showroom lit up section by section. It was predominantly a white room, with bold streaks of colour dashed precisely across the walls like a robot’s paint strokes. Light rained down from a series of complex railings, sitting invisible against a black ceiling. Cool, contemporary jazz began playing through the room.

To the left of the entrance were a half-dozen closed red curtains, spaced evenly down an arced wall. Behind each one sat one of Rarity’s finer designs draped across a mannequin.

On the opposite wall, the main stage sprawled across the room. It was a simple, but elegant, half circle of hard-crafted, white plastic. Backlights beneath the plastic gave the stage a sleek, modern glow.

“Wow, this is nice!” said Illustrious. “How successful did you say you were again?”

“Who me? Oh, not very much at all.” Rarity buffed her hoof on her chest and examined it. “I mean there was this one time I was commissioned to dress a royal wedding.” She tapped her chin. “And I do suppose there was this other time where I was tasked with creating the wardrobe for a world famous pop star. And they did both make me their personal fashion design—”

The rock’s squeal cut her off.

“Rarity—just—you have no idea how impossibly perfect you are for this.”

“Am I? I am disinclined to believe you as your statement lacked the requisite amount of death threats, and I have yet to sense any sarcasm.”

Illustrious was still lost in her own excitement. “Throw me at the wall. I need to make sure this isn’t a dream!”

“That’s more like it.”

“No, seriously, throw me at a wall.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I said, toss me lightly at a firm establishment,” she iterated. “Preferably at a velocity that would awake a pony should they be unconscious.”

“You—you want me to throw you at my nice, expertly decorated walls? What if I make a crack in one?” she whined.

“Sweetie Belle will die if you don’t throw me at the wall.”

Rarity cocked her head and looked deep into the gem. It was hard to tell if it was lying, because it had no facial expression. After growing frustrated with meeting the deadpan gaze of a rock, she burst out. “For some reason I don’t believe that! Also, it is ill-mannered to use a pony as leverage. My sister is not a bargaining chip for the destruction of property.”

“Stop being so stubborn and throw me at the freaking wall,” said Illustrious.

“Stubborn? I am a lady, and ladies do not throw rocks. T’is brutish and unbecoming. I apologize, but I will perform no such task.”

Rarity stuck her nose up away from the princess.

“Fine, whatever. If I wake up from this I will probably cry.”

“Well, I never! There is rude, and then there is childish,” she scolded.

“Or maybe I’ll cry if I don’t wake up from this. You know, you remind me of my mother—so proper it hurts.”

Rarity ignored her.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what makes me so perfect for this task? Wouldn’t a pony who’s more talented at magic be better suited at freeing you from your prison? Is it not a magical task?”

“Find a mirror and I’ll show you. And no, magicians are uhh—‘icky’, for a lack of better terminology, and not what I need. I need an artist.”

“Alright then...”

Rarity climbed a few short steps onto her stage.

She opened a hidden control panel behind stage left and pressed a few buttons. On the other side of the curtain, a veil of seven mirrors dropped down from the shadowy ceiling surrounding the stage. Rarity passed back through the curtains and came to lay eyes on every inch of her own physique. Each mirror was angled to capture a different aspect of a pony’s body with only the center one facing her head on. She posed dramatically like she always did when they came down.

“You know, one mirror would have been sufficient,” commented Illustrious.

“Obviously you’ve never done anything commercial before. One of anything is never enough.”

“Point taken.”

Rarity switched poses, and her eyes came to rest on themselves in the reflection.

“So, what’s up with you?” asked Illustrious. “You seem pretty normal for having just lost your sister.”

Rarity maintained her pose, looking up and down her sleek form in the mirror. “The shock has passed. Next I must do the work that is necessary, and during my downtime I will grieve.”

“How practical. Honestly, I never took you as somepony so stoic. You came off more as a—”

“A drama queen?”

“Well, I was going to say something nicer, but that’s an accurate description, among prima donna, diva and—”

“Yes, well, I certainly have my moments, but nopony is perfect. I think it a necessary outlet for a romantic artist’s soul.”

She gently transitioned to another pose, bouncing her mane up into place. “You know, for a princess, I expected a more graceful experience. The phrase ‘throw me at a wall’ doesn’t exactly ring my ear as regal. ”

Illustrious fell silent.

“I’m—I’m working on it, ’kay?” she mumbled.

“Very well, enough chit chat,” Rarity said sternly. “Before I do this, tell me how I know you’re capable of helping me. Even if I resent your imprisonment out of good will, I will not let you take priority over my sister. Maybe after we save her, but not before.”

“Right...” her voice trailed off. After a tense silence Rarity was about to speak, but Illustrious beat her to it. “I can show you her, bring her here even, but she’s very grey. What you see won’t make you happy.”

“Do it,” replied Rarity without hesitation.

“Place the gem on the floor, please, and pay very close attention. This isn’t going to last more than a minute.”

Rarity did as she asked and stepped back. She heard Illustrious take a deep breath before yelping in pain. Blood oozed from the gem as it began to glow. The gem expanded outward in a projection of red light, creating an enlarged, ghostly, blood-red prism around them. Inside the red lines, Sweetie Belle lay amidst grey smoke and fog. She was black and white as the princess had predicted. Rarity was by her side in a heartbeat. She wasn’t moving or breathing as far as Rarity could tell. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen anything more heartbreaking.

“Sweetie Belle, baby—” began Rarity, cradling her lifeless body.

“Rarity, she’s about to wake up!” Illustrious interjected in a strained, tense voice. “You’ll have about ten seconds to talk to her. So make it count!” She panted a series of short, preliminary huffs before crying out again in pain.

Faint colours returned to Sweetie Belle and she gasped. She looked up to Rarity and started crying. “R-Rarity, I’m cold. It was so dark...” she stammered, weakly grabbing onto her sister.

Rarity squeezed her sister tighter. “Sweetie, darling, big sister’s got you,” she whispered gently, stroking her mane. “You’re okay, I’m here.”

“Five seconds!’ Illustrious screamed.

“D-don’t leave me,” cried Sweetie Belle meekly.

“I’m coming to get you. I love you so much,” Rarity said, her own tears welling up. Sweetie Belle tried to say something, but Rarity only caught the beginning.

“Princ—” The prism closed back up and Sweetie Belle evaporated from her arms. Rarity was left clenching at air, breathing intensely. Illustrious panted alongside her, more worn out than exasperated.

Rarity felt an ooze creep to her rump. She looked down and saw a large puddle of blood running from the soul gem.

“Do you believe me?” Illustrious choked out. “I really can’t do that again...”

Rarity made the connection easily enough. “You’re bleeding.”

“Yeah, some spells aren’t meant to be cast everyday. Now do you believe me or not?” said Illustrious, a touch of desperation in her voice. “I can wait. I’ve waited seven-hundred years. When you say Sweetie Belle takes priority over me, I agree with you. If she was anywhere else besides where I know she is, I’d tell you to go out and look for her and forget about me, but she’s not.”

Rarity listened intently. She could hear Illustrious’ voice cracking beneath her anxiety.

“She’s somewhere dark,” continued Illustrious, breaking down further as she ranted on. “And if we don’t do something, we’re going to lose her. If I knew she wasn’t in my domain, I could wait a few days while you go out and find her." She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "I-I’m not that th-that important! I c-can wait! Now are you inclined to believe my statements, or shall I iterate my points in a different fashion?!”

“I do,” interrupted Rarity quietly. “I believe you.”

She listened to the princess sob while she gathered herself. If anything else, her zeal convinced Rarity. It was a strong point that Illustrious could wait for her to find her sister. She didn’t think anypony would be so self-centered as to demand priority over a missing foal. After finding Sweetie Belle, of course Rarity would be able to revisit Illustrious’ imprisonment, but it was her fervent call to action that gave her a sense of urgency. This pony in the soul gem was absolutely necessary in the safe return of her sister and she knew it.

“Okay, great.” Illustrious took a deep breath to calm herself. “Well, times-a-wastin’! Take the stone in your hoof and push it against the mirror. Make sure not to let go!”

Rarity ceased her levitation and dropped the bloody rock onto her hoof as instructed. She pressed the gem against the glass of the center most mirror and it immediately sunk in. A wave of green washed through the smooth surface from where the rock touched it. From the way it splashed, the colour looked like a can of brilliant, luminescent paint had been spilled over the mirror. It repeated itself, and soon shade after shade of paint spilled rapidly until every colour was present in some form. The colour sunk into the mirror itself and began to move, forming shapes and scenes.

Rarity came to recognize every single image she saw as they played out in front of her. She was with her friends. She was singing with Sweetie Belle. She saw herself go through a typical day in only a few seconds. It was like watching a movie of her life. Everything she thought about on a daily basis flashed and swirled in the ever-changing, technicolour mirror.

As she pushed another inch further, a sudden jolt of burning intensity electrified her. Her breathing became ragged as the brief jolt returned and became a stream of raw emotion. She struggled to contain it, but it overtook her and a low moan escaped her.

Her deeper memories were surfacing on the mirror. The feeling became bliss as she sold her first design, knowing she’d be able to do what she loved for the rest of her life. It was sadness after that stallion rejected her. She wanted to go see the Dream Trees shed their leaves with him, but that night she went there alone. Bitterness filled her as she realized she hadn’t fallen in love since. Next was confusion, as a pony she loved struck his hard hoof across her cheek. She was sent spinning to the floor.

He struck her again.

The colour of the mirror infused her, shrouding her in a technicolour coat. The mirror itself was now shining with the light of a rainbow star. Rarity tried to close her eyes as it threatened to blind her, but it tore straight through her eyelids. There was no escaping the light.

“You’re almost there! Just get the gem through the mirror and I’ll pull you through!” said a distant voice.

Every centimeter was excruciating. Even the slightest push blared at her mind with a thousand different colours and feelings. It was too much and she tried to pull away, but couldn’t. Her mind could only comprehend moving forward. Tears streamed her face as she built the courage to make one last push.

The rock was completely through now, and part of her hoof had caught inside the mirror, stuck as if in cement. She couldn’t even feel that hoof anymore, the only sensation being that of burning hot nothingness. It was the impossible blend of feeling everything and nothing at once.

She panted heavily. “I don’t know if I can do it!”

“Brace yourself!” called the voice.

Rarity would never forget the sensation of being yanked through the mirror in less than a second. It had taken at least a minute to push the rock through and at that rate she could barely withstand it. Every fiber of her body already burned like the sun, and then somepony had grabbed her by the hoof and tore her through the threshold.

Put delicately, it was like being skinned alive in the icy waters of the frozen north and then put into a boiling hot caldron, every second, for a year. It exhilarated her to the point of transcendence if such a thing were possible.

Rarity laid on what must have been other side, back flat to the ground. She wasn’t moving when the blinding light subsided in her vision and the white ringing in her ears died down. Her heart beat gently in her chest and she was calm despite what had just happened.

That was when she noticed the pony standing over her, watching her every move.

She looked up and saw the smiling face of whom she assumed was Princess Illustrious. Illustrious was a pearly, opalescent white with a starry, baby blue mane and tail. Her bangs were cut jagged and her eyes held the perfect visage of an amethyst. She was young for a princess, barely taller than Rarity.

Her crown immediately stood out to Rarity. It was better described as an ornate tiara, a finely crafted platinum and gold piece. She had been lucky enough to gawk over the crowns of many royal figures in the past, but never one so brilliant as Illustrious’. It was custom designed with modern art in mind. The surfaces were smooth instead of gilded, its central jewels, a series of diamonds and amethysts, floated just above the ridge, and the patterns were uniform, but inspired. Her horseshoes and necklace were of similar design.

Illustrious’ eyes sparkled like the gem they paid homage to. They watched Rarity, and in them, she could see positive, blissful energy building. The princess’ smile grew large and toothy. Illustrious’ eye twitched, and she began giggling quietly under her breath. She looked like she was about to explode in pure excitement in a way that was definitely creepy.

Rarity finally regained control of her eye muscles and looked away.

“Ohmigosh, ohmigosh! It worked! My calculations were correct! Hi! How are you?! You’re a very pretty unicorn!” she squealed. “Have you ever been told that you hold a shocking resemblance to me?! Nope! Because you’ve never seen me before, and that would make the statement highly inaccurate!” She bit her lip and cocked her head, examining Rarity’s form. “How come you’re not moving? Oh wait, you’re probably still in shock, aren’t you? Severely dazed, can barely move your everything?”

Rarity laid there.

“I should have suspected as much,” Illustrious said, scratching her chin. “You’re probably very confused, aren’t you? Confusion follows from a lack of knowledge, so you must require information to relax!” she concluded. “Since I don’t know what you want to know, you have to tell me what you want to know! But in order to converse quickly, we should devise a system to communicate since it is the case that you can neither speak nor gesture.”

Illustrious pursed her lips, looking straight into her eyes. Rarity blinked, and inspiration hit the princess.

“Oh, wait, I know! One blink for ‘yes’, two blinks for ‘no’, got it?”

Rarity blinked once.

“Great, the system works! So, do you anticipate having full control of your body soon? Or at least some control? Wait, no, better question, is your motory functionality returning in a positive trend over time?” Illustrious sighed. “Words are so fun...”

Rarity looked to the corner of her eye in thoughtfulness before blinking once.

“I thought so. Well, I’m going to leave you here for just a moment and go fix us some tea! I love tea because of the caffeine content, and it’s very calming. Those appear to be contradictory premises, but they are not!”

She got up, still giggling, and skipped across to the door.

It only just occurred to Rarity that she was on a bedroom floor. Around her she saw the standard fare for an adolescent mare. There were posters of various artists, a corkboard filled with pictures, a desk with a vanity mirror, and a bed with girly pink sheets and covers. Cheap carpeting covered the floor, and it smelled sorely of even cheaper body spray.

It was basically her room seven years ago, if not a little cleaner.

“Oh, would you like some scones?” Illustrious called before leaving through the door.

Rarity blinked once.

Illustrious nodded and left through the door, ranting to herself about something.

By the time she returned, the numbness had subsided for the most part and Rarity was able to sit up and speak. She ran her hoof over the tingling needles under her coat, trying to get feeling back faster.

Illustrious walked back in, the same smile slapped across her face, and set down a surprisingly ornate tea tray followed by a plate of scones.

“Look who’s feeling better. You are! Your recovery rate was exceptional! I thought you’d have to blink at me for, like, hours,” gushed Illustrious, pouring Rarity a cup of tea.

“Yes... Thank you.” Rarity took exactly two sugars and one creamer, stirring them into her drink. “Pardon my manners, but just to make sure I’m not mistaken, you are Princess Illustrious, the mare from the soul gem, are you not?”

“Lily is fine, but yes! Hello! I’m Princess Illustrious, Crown Monarch of Asaralubat!”

“I’m sorry, what is it that you reign over again? Asa...?” Rarity stirred her tea a bit slower, her ears attentive to the mouthful of a word that just fell out of Illustrious’ mouth.

“A-sa-RAL-u-bat!” she replied slowly. “It’s where we are right now—well actually we’re technically in my bedroom, but my bedroom is inside Asaralubat, so yes. I reign over it, kind of.”

“Indeed... It’d be safe to say we’re not in Equestria anymore, correct?”

“You are correct! Most observational.”

“Charmed. I know you already know my name, but to be proper, I am Lady Rarity, and it’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Rarity dryly.

She thirstily eyed her cup and took a deep breath of the tea’s minty aroma before sipping it. It was pleasant. The hot liquid brought waves of feeling rolling across Rarity’s skin. She looked at it, a little surprised by how good it was. If she didn’t know better, she could have sworn it was magic.

“My, my... This is excellent tea, Princess,” commented Rarity politely. She took a large, unladylike gulp of the drink despite herself.

Illustrious blushed and stirred her own tea with upwards of four sugars and three creamers.

“Thank you, you’re really nice. Did I mention you’re pretty? Wait, yes I did, once actually, twice if you count the previous statement’s implications.”

Illustrious flitted eyes with Rarity as she drank. The nervous purple eyes soon turned passive as Rarity watched Illustrious zone out on her cup, falling deep in thought. She swayed back and forth, humming quietly, almost as if she’d forgotten Rarity was there. It was endearing in an odd way. Illustrious noticed Rarity watching her and snapped out of her reverie.

“Here, have a scone, they’re apple. I love apple scones. It’s the apple part that I like, but the scone form is a close second. Really, scones are an ingenious packaging system...”

Rarity waved them away.

“Heh, no thank you,” she said, still watching the curious creature in front of her.

“You wouldn’t like a scone? I could find you a bagel if you wish, or perhaps some corn. Maybe you’re a carnivore. You’re not a carnivore, are you? I’ve never been friends with one of those before. Would you like some meat?!”

“Oh, no, darling. It’s merely a poor coincidence. My friend Applejack owns an apple farm, so you can imagine how often I’m treated to the humble fruit.”

Rarity took a sip of tea and sighed in comfort. Illustrious’ eyes were glued to her as she drank. Rarity managed to ignore the obsessive attention.

“Such repetition wears thin on a mare,’ continued Rarity. “Nothing to eat though, I’ve decided my stomach isn’t quite ready yet.”

“Ok, no problem! More for me I suppose.” Illustrious gingerly nibbled off a corner of a scone. “So, I bet you’re ponderin’ in your noggin how we’re going to save Sweetie Belle.”

Now it was Rarity’s turn to be thoughtful, blanking out on her cup. “Only since the second I realized she was missing, and I am willing to do whatever it takes.”

“Right—well that’s good because I have a solution! We need to make the Sparkling Reflection!”

“I’m sorry, the what?”

“The Sparkling Reflection. It’s my special mirror, and we’re going to begin right now!”

“I’m not sure I understand,” said Rarity primly through closed eyes.

Illustrious stood up and trotted in place to get her blood flowing. She panted and did a few stretches to limber up.

“That’s okay! You don’t need to! All you have to do is stand around and pluck giant shards of glass from my reflections!” The princess unleashed a girlish, cackling laugh that sent shivers down Rarity’s spine. “Oh, Rarity! You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to show somepony this! I spent like thirty years compiling these six memories! It’s gonna be like a movie!”

“Darling, what are you talking about?” Rarity set her tea down to its saucer, her eyes locked on the enthusiastic princess. “You’re scaring me.”

“Really? Am I? I can’t even tell. Okay, are you ready? You must follow my instructions with less than ten-percent deviation. We’re going to run for our lives now. On three!”

“Princess, what are you talking about? Can’t I finish my tea?”

She flared her wings. “One!”

“Don’t you ignore me! Answer me right now!”

Her horn lit amethyst purple. “Two!”

Rarity grit her teeth and looked at the door. In the center of it, a wave of grey spread out, covering the brown wood with dullness. The effect came to the edge of the door and seeped into the threshold, the crack somehow slowing it down. Time slowed for a moment. Everything was still. Her chest locked up, leaving her unable to draw breath.

“Three!”

The door swung open to reveal a swirling, smoky darkness. The room depressurized, and the void immediately sucked the colour from the room. She gasped, filling her lungs with staleness. The doorway pulled her, beckoning her closer. She watched as her vibrancy began peeling off of her, flying in the unfelt wind that wanted to send her spiralling off into the void.

Furniture and papers stood no chance. They were pulled from the room by their colour, shades of blue acting like sails, reds turning into engines, and yellows running out, their hosts in tow. Without the ability to resist, the room was soon stripped clean. Everything that hit either of the ponies burst into dust, leaving not a scratch on them.

Illustrious’ giggling reached a fever pitch. She jumped up and hung in midair for a split-second before the pure purple of her eyes tore her through the door at dazzling speeds. Rarity cautiously inched her way to the edge of the threshold and watched Illustrious right herself in the distance.

“Princess!” shouted Rarity, completely baffled. “What are you doing?!”

“Quick! There’s no time to explain! Project yourself out the door!”

“Are you mad?!” jeered Rarity.

“No?! Why would I be upset with you?! I actually have grown attached to you! I’d actually suspect you’d be more upset with me on the contrary!”

Rarity glanced down and did a double take. Her mind didn’t immediately register what she was seeing, and even after gawking at it for a few seconds, it still didn’t make sense.

She was on a steep incline of what looked like a massive mountain of artwork. As far down as she could see, paintings, dresses, sculptures, and statues of every colour were fused together to create a gargantuan slope. It radiated a light golden, rainbow aura, giving it the feel of buried treasure mixed with a hint of madness. The art wasn’t just loosely attached to one another, but melted down and frozen in place like a welding accident gone horribly wrong.

She looked outward and saw more than one mountain of art amidst the darkness. They were shifting slowly throughout the skyline.

“Princess! You better have a good explanation for this!”

Illustrious just laughed. Rarity gritted her teeth and said a few quiet words before leaping out from the ledge. She wasn’t sure if she had just jumped to her death, but something about the complete surrealness of her situation was comforting. It was like a dream in that she didn’t really perceive consequence, physical or otherwise.

But it still didn’t stop her from following her requisite, ‘flipping out’ protocol.

She flailed through the air, screaming at the top of her lungs, and plummeted a few meters before Illustrious swung up below her and caught her on her back. Rarity latched onto her saviour, nearly choking her.

“Princess, I’m going to strangle you if you don’t—WAAAHHH!” she screamed as the enormous mountain of colour scurried away from them at breathtaking speeds.

In less a second, something that was probably the size of Ponyville at its base was now a half-kilometer away from her. Rarity didn’t think something so large could move so fast.

“Rarity! Stop it! You’re causing temporary damage to my hearing!” whined Illustrious.

“Where in the good name of the princess are we?!”

“I told you, this is Asaralubat, the World of Reflections!” she declared, the goofy grin returning, and her eyes becoming childishly large and innocent looking.

As they soared, Rarity looked down. Much to the contest of her original observation, the world wasn’t just a black, smoky void. Far below was what looked to be the husk of a derelict city. It was dark and hazy, and a thick fog of dust obscured most of the ground. Curiously, the city was alive, if only a husk. Faint lights shone through the windows of the infrastructure. She was too far away to be sure, but Rarity swore she could see the silhouettes of ponies in the windows. They moved and were lively, but never left their windows, giving her the unnerving feeling of being watched by shadow puppets.

To her, the city looked like a graveyard. The dusty fog rolled along the silhouettes of the mid-height buildings, rising up and down like that of fresh graves. The tallest skyscrapers clustered uniformly into the approximate shapes of headstones. There were even patrons among the graveyard. The scattered mountains of colour resembled spirit visitors, giving their respect for the deceased.

“The world of reflections? Please, I don’t know what that is! If you could speak plainly with me, I’d much appreciate it.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Illustrious clicked with a shake of her head. She pointed below. “Please, refer to the instructions!”

Rarity looked down again and saw that the lights of the city had changed. Some windows were glowing bright cyan and compiled to spell messages to her in a pixelated fashion. As they flew, the lights kept shifting from building to building to keep perspective and not skew the words.

Welcome to Asaralubat, the World of Reflections!

Population: 1

Illustrious cleared her throat.

Population: 2

“Wait, are you telling me we’re the only inhabitants in the world?”

Illustrious rolled her eyes and pointed back at the ground.

Yes.

“How do you keep doing that?”

With a flash of her horn, the sign and text changed. Next to it, a pixelated picture of a pony with a thought bubble appeared. Various things and thoughts passed through it. The message was longer and scrolled upward in an implied box next to the picture. Rarity watched on, equal parts amazed, enraptured, and terrified.

Have you ever dreamt of a world where all your wildest fantasies could come true before your very eyes? Have you ever wanted to find love, climb Equestria’s tallest mountain, and explore vast jungles all in a single day, and be back to enjoy your gourmet dinner?

You can in Asaralubat!

Under the rule of Princess Illustrious, Asaralubat is the place where your daily reflections come to life!

“When you say ‘reflections’, how do you mean?” asked Rarity. The wording had been vague at best.

“Erhm...” Illustrious squinted her eyes and pursed her lip as if trying to remember if she had a message to answer the question. She didn’t.

She sighed, as if disappointed in having to talk.

“Fantasies and memories are the best ways of describing it, but there are contentions to it!” she replied. Her cheer had only disappeared for a moment and was back in full force. “It’s all from your perspective with your own personal twist, so it won’t be exact to what actually happened, only as you remember. But watch, I have more instructions!”

Meet Princess Illustrious!

Next to the sign was a picture of the aforementioned. She held her hooves up to her open mouthed smile and was winking at the camera. It was adorable, if not terribly immature.

She’s a really nice pony who likes to have fun and go on long walks. She likes honest ponies who aren’t fake and don’t stab their friends in the backs. Sometimes she just wishes she could meet a nice stallion.

She’s the crown monarch and creator of Asaralubat. Stop by and say “hi”!

“How quaint...” muttered Rarity.

Meet Lady Rarity!

She’s not a carnivore and likes tea. She’s really super pretty. I’m totally jealous.

Rarity smiled and snorted out a one-breath laugh. “Darling, you have such a way with flattery. I see you have the unabated power of manipulating the entire world at will. Pray tell, how can somepony so regular as me assist in your errand?”

Learn about the Sparkling Reflection!

Long ago, Asaralubat was powered by the Sparkling Reflection, a magical mirror that could reflect the colour in a pony’s soul! Artistic ponies everywhere would merely look to the beacon atop the citadel and find as much inspiration as they needed for their art. It was pretty sweet.

Princess Illustrious took care of the Sparkling Reflection, constantly fueling it with her own unending colour. She kept it safe for centuries this way.

One day, the beloved princess was brutally trapped in a soul gem, shattering her colour along with the Sparkling Reflection. Its fragments were lost in her reflections and Asaralubat fell to darkness.

“Oddly enough, I still don’t understand. Are we going to find these shards or something?” Rarity ventured with what she thought would induce another scrolling message.

“You are correct!” said Illustrious. “The Sparkling Reflection is practically, and theoretically, my soul. The soul gem broke it and split it into six shards. We gather the shards, make the mirror, and I look into it; that should dismantle the soul gem. Once that happens, I go back to Equestria and rescue Sweetie Belle.”

“Well, there’s no arguing with that logic,” replied Rarity sheepishly. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“When I start going into my reflections, I need you to simply pick up the shards and carry them with you to the end. It’s hard to explain, but you’ll get it soon enough. Oh, and one last thing.”

“What’s that?”

Illustrious pointed back down to the dead city.

Beware of the Colour Eaters!

Next to the sign was what looked to be a picture of a spider with a couple of large paintings on its back.

They are really mean. If they see any colour at all, they’ll steal it. No colour means no reflections, and you know what that means! So watch out!

“What’s that mean?”

She sighed—and not because she didn’t have a scripted answer.

“Well, if they get me, I actually go free, but without colour or a soul. That is arguably worse than death, yet there is much evidence supporting either side,” she explained. “It’s actually quite an interesting argument! Very complex, lots of symbolism. Oh, also that means you get stuck here forever.”

They landed amidst plenty of dust. Rarity was sure there were other things to notice, but none of them were more obtrusive and pervasive than the dust. That, and the complete lack of colour everywhere besides herself and the princess. Like Rarity’s room from before, it held the quality of an old, black and white movie. Specks and screen tears played across her eyes.

“This may seem a bit too reasonable, but perhaps you could whip up a witty skyline message to make all this mucky dust go away?” Rarity coughed, fanning some of it away from her mouth. She was trying her hardest to not have a nervous breakdown as billions of dust particles assaulted her cleanliness. “I’m having a hard time breathing in this smog.”

“Nope! No-can-do! It’s serving an extremely important purpose—the smog that is,” she said, bouncing in place.

“And what’s that?”

“Ambiance.”

She inexplicably pulled down a pair of red sunglasses and maintained a cool expression. Their redness was torn from them, floating off in gale force, colour-stripping winds. After reaching a breaking point, the glasses and the redness fell, disintegrated to dust.

The silted fog swirled and tossed in the breeze, moderately vacating the area. It didn’t clear completely, but Rarity could finally make out her surroundings. She was in a sort-of central park. Old street lamps lined the premises and shone light down in cones outlined by the thick dust. There were several concrete walkways and plenty of benches strewn across them. To her surprise, the grass and trees were still alive, if not devoid of vibrancy. The two ponies were the only shimmering sources of colour against the bland, dead world.

“Right, so am I to assume that you brought me here because you like long walks in the park?” asked Rarity.

“You are correct! But I’m about to trigger a reflection, so get ready to follow instructions!”

“Darling, I really haven’t had the slightest clue what you’ve been talking about for the last hour or so,” she admitted openly. “But for Sweetie Belle, I will try.”

Illustrious’ horn lit up and everything flashed white.

When the glare subsided, Rarity found she had left the stark world behind. She was somewhere else entirely.

She was in a meadow. The city around them had vanished, leaving a rolling countryside filled with wild flora. The flowers were of every soft, pastel colour, gardens of them covering vast spaces and even entire hills with fragrance and freshness. What sat at the horizon of the greenery and flora was a perfect countryside sunset. Fluffy white clouds rolled lazily across a golden, purple, and maroon sky.

She smiled gently. The artist in her had just died and went to a romantic heaven. This was the place of dreams and fantasy. It wasn’t just the colours of the scenery, but the subtle effects of the space. She felt lighter, healthier, and comfortably relaxed, but still teeming with energy. The saturation of light was so unbelievably perfect in the way it accentuated each and every detail, that it almost looked staged.

Still, someone had to have dreamed up this world, this work of art.

Rarity picked up a sunflower and took a deep whiff.

“Do you like it?” piped a small voice at her side. “This is my reflection!”

Rarity looked down to the source of the noise. It was Princess Illustrious, but instead of the pubescent mare from before, she was just a foal. Her crown and regalia had been shrunk down and repurposed into a size more fitting for the little pony. She was looking up and smiling at Rarity.

“Oh my...”

“I like waffles!”

Rarity blinked. “What?”

“Don’t worry, I’m supposed to be this little. I’ll inform you when we pass the sparkling shard. Gently lift it into your possession and do not misplace it.”

“O-okay. I—will try,” stuttered Rarity. “This place is beautiful.”

Illustrious began walking down into a meadow. “Thank you! It’s based off one of my earliest memories with a few details of visual attractiveness added in.”

“You are quite the stellar artist.”

“I’m the Princess of Expression, it’s like my job,” she said with a giggle.

“Indeed. So, we’re going on a romp through your memories to get the shards, right?”

“You are correct! But there is going to be a storyline, so you’re going to get to learn stuff about me!”

Rarity rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway. It wasn't like she had any better ideas, and it might actually be interesting. “So where are we going? Is the shard somewhere in these fields?”

“Nope, it’s at Lala’s house.”

“Who’s that?”

“She’s my Lala.”

“And who is Lala, exactly?”

“Her real name is Stella, but everypony calls her Lala.”

Illustrious fell over and plopped on her stomach. She scampered to her hooves and circled around Rarity. The unicorn lifted her hooves as Illustrious weaved in and out of her legs, examining them with great scrutiny.

“You are of satisfactory condition!” she said finally. “Three! Two! One! Tag, you’re it! Follow me!” Illustrious slapped her knee and Rarity watched her bolt off down the meadow.

She blinked. “What? Tag?” whined Rarity.

“Yup! You have to follow me,” Illustrious called back.

Rarity worked her way up into a full gallop. Being larger and having longer legs, she easily caught up with the princess. Something about the tiny filly was vaguely adorable amidst all the mystery. Watching her run as hard as she could to maintain her artificial lead on Rarity was endearing to say the least.

Something felt odd about exactly how Illustrious was running. It didn’t remind Rarity of her sister, but it gave her an uncanny feeling of deja vu. She knew every single thing that happened a second before it did. A curious sensation pricked her stomach. It was the feeling of having some miniscule, insignificant portion of her gut freeze solid. It was uncomfortable, but only lasted for a second.

Rarity soon forgot it, and quickened her pace to catch up with the princess. Illustrious had somehow acquired water balloons and started throwing them at Rarity in an attempt to slow her down. One of them hit her mane, ruining it on contact, but she didn’t care. They both laughed as Rarity caught a water balloon and nailed Illustrious right in the flank with it, beginning a fierce water balloon war. For a few minutes they threw balloon after balloon, laughing constantly.

Rarity wasn’t even sure where they came from, but every time she needed one, it would be there in her levitation. She dodged and ducked across the princess’ furious barrage, only to swing around and unleash her own. The only thing better than a water balloon fight was one that never ended.

They played for hours, or even days, and by the end of it, something had clicked between her and Illustrious. It was the exact same mutual understanding she had with Sweetie Belle after the Sisterhooves Social.

And it didn’t bother her nearly as much as it should have.

Rarity knew she shouldn’t have been having this much fun with another filly. Not while her sister was missing. She should have felt guilt. Part of her did, but that part was lost beneath the surface—she couldn’t hear it crying.

“Tag, you’re it!” Rarity said.

In the distance a smokestack rose above the hills.

Illustrious knocked on the door to Stella’s simple, wooden cottage with her tiny hoof.

Rarity admired the idealistic simplicity of the stead. A fresh pie had been laid out to cool on one of its two cross frame windows. Smoke lightly puffed out the top of its cobblestone chimney. A sturdy, wooden fence surrounded the home, and it sat in the middle of an endless meadow, unbothered by neighbours.

A ‘welcome’ mat had been laid out before the door. Rarity would have bet bits that the key had probably been stashed under it in case of emergencies. It was the perfect vision of a countryside cottage.

It had taken them awhile to get there. The time was spent alternating between listening to Illustrious ramble in her overly technical jargon, and playing water balloon tag. Rarity was already enjoying her little adventure. After a shaky start, the excursion into the mirror was already turning out to be a wonderful experience. Maybe a little too wonderful considering her errand.

She couldn’t help but feel a tinge of guilt from her happiness. Sweetie Belle was still out there, cold and afraid.

The voice of a young mare sounded from the depths of the cottage alongside a young colt’s voice. She answered the door. The mare had a flat rose coat with a violet mane and tail, and matching violet eyes. Rarity almost gasped when she saw her. The mare appeared to be a pegasus at first, but upon closer inspection Rarity saw that she was actually an alicorn. Her horn had been cut cleanly off just above the base.

“Hey, Lala, can Dauntless come out to play?” Illustrious asked timidly, shuffling her hooves.

“Can I, Lala?” squeaked a young unicorn from beneath the mare. He was a glowing amber, with a silverish-blue mane and matching eyes.

The mare flitted her eyes suspiciously with Rarity. The unicorn realized she had been rudely staring at her forehead, and quickly looked down to meet her gaze.

“Of course you can,” Stella said. “Illustrious, who’s your friend?”

“You may address her only as Lady Rarity!”

“Charmed," said Rarity with a friendly smile. “Illustrious has been talking about you so much, it’s nice to finally make your acquaintance.”

“Has she?” she said. “Oh, I hope she hasn’t been boring you with old stories of an old mare. Please, come in.”

Rarity entered the small, humble cottage. It was a single room. In the center of the left wall was the hearth and fire pit, kindling brightly into the chimney. There were several pots and pans for cooking hung up around it. Flanked on both sides were beds, neatly made and tucked. The right wall had a few small bookcases. The back wall had dressers and trunks full of worldly possessions, and in the center was a long table. On it were stacks of paper, small playthings, dinnerware, and everything else expected in a simple homestead.

“So whataya wanna do?” asked Dauntless.

“I’d like to engage in house with you!” replied Illustrious. “Go on and mow the yard, Honey. I’ll be fixing dinner!”

“Woo! Make me ten cakes!”

“Ten cakes coming right up!”

Rarity continued to watch the two banter as they pantomimed their loudly announced tasks. She smiled. Part of her wanted to join in on their fun, but it looked like they had everything covered. Illustrious was busy flipping cakes on her frying pan and Dauntless was mowing the ‘yard’ with a book. The two seemed to communicate and flow well in their playtime. She didn’t want to interrupt them, but she felt a little left out.

“I haven’t seen you before,” said Stella quietly to Rarity. “Pardon my asking, but where exactly did you meet Illustrious?”

Rarity looked over to see the suspicious eyes of the alicorn, Stella.

Stella looked innocent and genuine enough, but something about the subtle uncertainty in her eyes made her uneasy. It was how she looked like she was just as unsure of being in the house as Rarity was. Despite what Illustrious said, Stella looked like she wasn’t really supposed to be there either.

“Oh, she came into my shop looking for artistic help,” said Rarity.

Stella narrowed her eyes before looking down to the parchment and quill in front of her. She began writing. “How very odd. Illustrious is quite the creative little filly.”

Rarity found herself staring at the stub of a horn on Stella’s forehead again. It glowed faintly as she levitated the quill. She turned away and locked her eyes on the playing foals.

“Yes, she said she needed some help with a creative block,” lied Rarity.

“I see. Pardon my manners, I just like to make sure my little ones are safe.” Stella looked up and together they watched them. “I wouldn’t know what I’d do without them.”

“I understand completely. Trust me, I mean them no harm,” said Rarity.

Stella sighed. It was a tired gesture.

“Milady?” said Stella finally.

“Yes?”

“Are you ever going to leave this world?”

Rarity was silent. It was a strange question with an answer that should have been obvious. Maybe it was obvious to Stella. To her, it was the sort of question with one right answer, and she was sure Stella knew that.

“Yes, that is my ambition. Why?” said Rarity.

“When you go back to wherever you came from, if you ever meet a little filly by the name of Rosetta, can you tell her that her Lala is looking for her and misses her very much?”

Stella eyes held the sparkle of a parent despite the youthfulness of her appearance. Rarity wanted to inquire further, but in doing so, she thought she may induce an unnecessary storm of emotion.

“I will,” she replied simply.

The foals’ play had somehow transitioned into Dauntless and Illustrious flailing wildly at the air. They punched and kicked invisible attackers, calling out the names of their grandiose attacks as they did.

“Shining Wave!” shouted Dauntless before jumping up and doing a clumsy spin kick.

“Dauntless! We can’t sustain this level of energy exertion forever! We need a castle!” said Illustrious.

“I’ll make you a big, strong castle!” exclaimed Dauntless.

“Will it have a butterfly atrium?”

Dauntless ceased all his flailing and suddenly they were no longer under attack.

“I—I don’t even have any idea what that means...” he said, a blank look on his face.

“A butterfly atrium! It’s a housing environment for butterflies!”

“But that’s so girly!”

She stuck her nose up away from the colt in a manner of surprising resemblance to how Rarity might.

“No butterfly atrium, no castle.”

“’Kay, fine. It’ll have a butterfly actingum.”

“Atrium,” she corrected.

“Actingum.”

“Atrium.”

“Actingum.”

Illustrious gave him a deadpan glare. “If it doesn’t have a butterfly atrium, I will cry.”

“Okay, let’s go get some stuff to make the butterfly attium out of!”

Together, they scampered off to the trunks in the back of the room. Rarity followed them, shadowing them passively, more as a supervisor than a participant. Each of them opened a different trunk and stuck their face in it.

“There’s nothing in here!” Dauntless complained.

“I am of similar circumstance!”

Rarity peeked up over their heads and saw for herself two empty chests.

“Oh, wait, what’s this?” said Illustrious. She pulled out a small box with her mouth. “It’ssh a deckth of cards!”

A few hours later, the two had made an impressive castle of cards. It was complete with a central keep, several towers, and an outer wall. It didn’t stop growing despite there being way more than fifty-two cards used in its construction.

Rarity looked up from a book she’d been reading and saw their magnificent structure. Wasn’t it only a few minutes ago that they had started with just one little stack of cards? Now it was truly a work of art. Instinctively, Rarity’s creative mind went to work. She began imagining what sorts of things would be inside and around their little creation. Maybe there should be more towers, or balconies with parapets.

The unusual sensation from before seeded itself in Rarity’s stomach as she continued to observe the two. Right where the ponies from the soul gem’s light had pierced her, the ice formed again. Now it felt large, twice as large as before.

She blinked, and just like that, the cards became the object of her mind, a real castle. The very model of the ideal fantasy stronghold was now sprawled out across the floor of the cottage. It rested atop a rocky cliff, its towers rising almost a foot taller than the foals. Stone walls and ramparts surrounded the main keep, and a wooden village lay amidst grassy hills at its feet.

She blinked again in disbelief.

Dauntless continued to stack row after row of cards onto the unfinished castle, each card completing a greater picture. The cards had lost all depth and became a flat window, letting Rarity see the world that the castle sat in. Beyond it were mountains and blue skies.

When Illustrious looked up, a card in each hoof, her eyes grew wide and her jaw, slack. She stumbled back, horrified and amazed by what she saw. She turned to Rarity, her large amethyst eyes growing even larger. Her lips didn’t move, despite Rarity hearing her voice.

Rarity went into tunnel vision, unable to see or focus on anything but what she heard.

“It was a perfect castle, in a perfect land,” Illustrious would have said, her voice cracking with unapparent sobs. She sounded older than before and like she was about to cry, but something else was off about her voice.

Dauntless would have turned his back to her.

“T-together, we c-can live there—It’ll be so easy! Please, Dauntless!” she would have pleaded.

“It all fell down,” said the voice of an older Dauntless. “We built our dream, and it all fell down.”

Despite the two foals sitting just in front of her, the voices came from other sources around the room. She could feel the older versions of the two ponies, pacing and moving about the room, like they were actually there.

“Please, our time doesn’t have to be over,” said Illustrious, trying to embrace her love. “We learned what it was all about, what it meant to be with somepony, and it doesn’t have to end. We’ll just build more.”

Dauntless would have backed away from her.

“That’s all you want to do—play pretend—dream dreams!” he chided with a pained harshness. “You know what happens when you make your dreams out of cards? The wind blows them away!”

Illustrious would have sniffled loudly, taking a deep breath to prevent the floodgates from bursting. “What does it matter? Shouldn’t we go as long as we can?! Even if we have to keep making things up!”

“It’ll end eventually, everything does. When it does, what are you going to do? What happens when I have to leave knowing I’ll never see you again, and it’s our last day together?”

“I’ll certainly cry.”

“No. I can’t handle that. The train’s here, and I’m going. I love you, Lily.”

Dauntless would have left for the door.

“No! Can’t we build just one more? I-I’ll go get the cards! No sand, just cards, like when we were young!”

Then Rarity heard a door slam.

Rarity could hear Illustrious trying her hardest to suppress her sobs, but it was no use. The unicorn felt her heart sink as soon as she heard the heartbreaking cries of the princess. She had no idea what she had just experienced, but it felt real, and she was positive it had happened sometime, somewhere.

“I love you too, Dauntless,” Illustrious would have said.

Rarity’s eyes came back to her. As fate would have it, that was when the little Dauntless fell on top of the castle and brought the whole thing crashing down in an explosion of cards. He had been standing on the tip of his hooves, trying to place the last stack atop their creation, but he never finished it.

All three of them watched him fall through it in slow motion, crushing layer after layer. The force of his fall shot hundreds of cards into a sphere around them.

As the last cards fluttered to the ground, Dauntless laid amidst the devastated fruits of an afternoon’s labour. What had once been an impressive, romantic construction was now a papery pile of rubble. He looked upon the crushed cards, his lip trembling and his eyes growing watery.

“I-I broke it!” he whimpered. He grabbed a few cards and tried to stack them again, but it was no use. He just fumbled the cards more and more in his growing frustration. His movements quickly became abrupt and jerky, bordering violent.

          “Dauntless...” said Illustrious, kneeling down next to him.

He ignored her, a few tears streaming his face. Illustrious hugged him lovingly to keep him still and calm. Her tight grasp kept him from flailing and upsetting himself more.

She began to cry.

“Dauntless, it’s okay!”

“Nuh uh! It broke!”

“No, it didn’t! We can make a brand new castle, and it’ll never get destroyed! I know what it’s going to look like now!” she exclaimed. Illustrious lifted him to his hooves and quickly pulled him in tow towards the door. A massive smile grew across her face beside the tears. “Come on! I have a super secret spot to show you.”

Rarity felt the cottage surge with warmth as the two foals neared the door. There was a slight raise in temperature to just the perfect summertime day, but what truly grew warm was the home itself. Old pictures and portraits of Rarity’s friends faded into existence across the walls. Stella grew older, becoming a sweet, welcoming looking grandmother. She smiled at Rarity, the twinkle in her eye restored to that of a happy mother. The air was filled with the aroma of Rarity’s favourite peanut butter cookies. Outside, the sunset became brilliant morning sunlight.

When they reached the door, Rarity was certain she had fallen into a dream. Illustrious turned her back to the door, blocking Dauntless’ path.

“Alright, do you promise not to tell anypony?” she exclaimed, almost laughing and certainly shaking with excitement.  “Not even Lala?!”

“Mmhmm!” He beamed in reflected enthusiasm.

Illustrious gave him a small peck on the cheek, swung open the door, and stepped out into a white light.

Curious, Rarity stepped outside after them. It was bright, and the glare never really subsided, but she more or less became used to it. She listened to the laughter of the foals while her eyes adjusted, but when she could see, she was amazed by what she saw.

It was a heavenly beach. The sand was a brilliant pearly white. The sun on the distant horizon made no shadows except against the holes their hoofsteps made in the sand. It was warming, almost fuzzy, like the warmth of a blanket and hot chocolate in winter. Rarity reached out and touched the sand. It was silky smooth as it ran through her hooves. The sky was a wispy blue, just deep enough to contrast the white sand and sun. The water was the same colour and rippled gently in the current.

Illustrious and Dauntless had acquired a plastic pail and shovel. They made sandcastle after sandcastle, laughing and giggling. Illustrious couldn’t stop crying, but her smile looked anything but sad.

“Dauntless, this is special sand...”

A tear left her eye and fell to the sand. It infused into the sand, transforming that tiny slice of the beach into a carving of wood. It read Dauntless + Illustrious.

“It can turn into whatever you want...” she said.

A voice whispered quietly in Rarity’s ear. It was that of the older Princess Illustrious. “Here, behind your ear. Take the first shard of the Sparkling Reflection.”

Rarity felt something itch across the back of her mane. She reached for it and found a card, the Two of Hearts.

She smiled.

The world faded back to the darkness of the city from before. The beach remained, but its sand had become ash. The sun was only a dull grey circle on the horizon. Princess Illustrious laid out on the sand, but now she was of her regular size and age. She half-heartedly continued to play with the pail in the ash.

“Auntie Rary...” she said in a low voice. “I-I—I require an embrace. Please, do not delay any further than need be. My heart—it’s being emotionally jeopardized...”

Rarity closed the gap and immediately Illustrious latched onto her and pulled her in, whispering in her ear.

“Thank you so much...”

The Ship

The Ship

“What ever happened to him?” said Rarity. “How come I feel this story doesn’t end happily?”

Illustrious continued to look down at the small castle in the sand. “That depends on your definition of ‘happily’,” she said with a weak smile. “Come now, Auntie, you must be more specific...”

“Your definition. Are you happy?”

She met Rarity’s eyes, still forcing that same smile.

“I’m here and he’s not. Even when I leave, I still won’t see him. But none of that matters. What matters is that we save Sweetie Belle and nothing else.” Illustrious got up and walked towards the door. “End of story.”

The two of them sat alone on the infinite, lonely beach. The water didn’t move, instead remaining still and flat. The city sat opposite, the rigid shapes of the skyline standing stark to the dull, but soft appearance of the ocean. And between the two great forms was the thin strip of ashy sand, only discernable by the slight change in colour. Distant mountains of colour shifted slowly among the skyscrapers. Back in Asaralubat, Rarity was left to gather her thoughts, the crying princess still in her arms.

A lot could be said about what she just saw. Terrifying, baffling, mystifying—any of those words could be used to describe the last hour. Things were happening faster than she could process. Strange memories, castles made, and voices from somewhere else—it confused and inspired her, but something stood above them. It wasn’t obvious at first, but the moment it crossed her mind, she saw no more accurate a description.

She had seen something truly romantic.

Not romantic, in the sense of an undying devotion or passionate intimacy. No, what took place before her was fanciful, idealistic even. Things like that could only be described in so many words, but didn’t need to be.

“Thank you so much...” whispered Illustrious as she tightened her grip.

“For what? What did I do?” asked Rarity.

“You altered it, the castle. You gave me something novel to look at. It was really beautiful...”

“I-I don’t understand.”

She rubbed her cheek against Rarity’s chest. The silence that followed was strange. There was no look of thoughtfulness on Illustrious’ face. Had she not heard her, or was she just ignoring her?

“Auntie Rarity, did I look happy before? When I was with Dauntless?” she asked.

“Yes, very much so. You were crying, in fact,” answered Rarity quickly. “Why? Didn’t you feel happy?”

The puzzled face became sweet and happy again. “Fantastic,” she whispered. “I’m exceptionally relieved to hear your report.”

“Darling, you’re being cryptic. Did you think you would be sad? I’ve gathered that you’re in love with the gentlecolt, so why would you be anything but happy?”

Illustrious began to sway as Rarity held her. Rarity followed her movement, but was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“I like you a lot, Auntie,” said Illustrious. “You’re very pretty. I’ve already said this twice before, but sometimes I think that an upkeep of flattery is necessary to all relationships. Only sometimes, though.”

“Please, Illustrious, you’re confusing me.”

“What would you do if you were alone and trapped, but had all the time in the world to live out your memories?” she said with a sudden seriousness, stopping her swaying. “How do you spend infinite time with only finite entertainment material?”

Rarity choked. Of all the things she expected Illustrious to ask, that was among the last things she foresaw. The question hit her like a cloud of poison.

“What happens when you spend your heart feeling his touch over and over again until you can’t feel anymore? These memories... There’s nothing left in them, no feeling, no happiness, only a script to follow,” she continued sadly.

Rarity could feel her shaking out ragged breaths in her arms. They reminded her of what a pony was like before they broke down into a sobbing fit. “Illustrious, is this—is this you commenting on yourself?”

Her voice escalated and cracked constantly. “Auntie, what happens when the only reflection you want to live out is the fantasy where you’re a coward? It makes you happy because there’s the hope that it can all end, but then you wake up and realize you’re just not lucky enough?”

Rarity understood what she was talking about for once. She was familiar with ‘being a coward’. When she was younger and subject to the throes of hormones, she favoured ‘being a coward’ over suicide. She held the shaking princess at arms length and saw her crying. While she only had a faint clue as to why, it was clear that Illustrious was in pain. Even if she had only barely met her, Rarity had to say something to comfort her. Unfortunately, she managed the least comforting phrase in the world.

“I-I—I’m so sorry—I don’t know what you should do in that situation,” she admitted. “But it’s going to be okay, darling. I’ve got the shard and you’re that much closer to leaving it all behind.”

Illustrious either didn’t hear her, or ignored her.

“You find a really pretty unicorn who makes really pretty castles,” she said, answering her own question. “She’ll make things interesting, if only for a little while.” She looked down and let her tears fall. “Magicians are icky. They have no imagination, no colour. You thought that the castle needed to be real, so it became that. It was your reflection upon mine.” Illustrious looked up at her with a warm, bittersweet smile. She looked so innocent, childish even. Seeing her cry sank Rarity’s stomach like lead. “Wasn’t it so pretty?”

Rarity grasped at anything she could say to make her feel better.

“Darling, is that all you want from me? To go into your memories and cast my thoughts upon yours?”

Her sharp, sparkling eyes stared back at Rarity.

“I have no idea!” she said with a girlish tone that made Rarity cringe. Given the topic matter, there shouldn’t have been so much lightness in her voice.

“Wh-what do you mean? Excuse me for not understanding, but didn’t you just say how much it hurts to not feel anything?”

“More questions!” she announced. “Now, what do you do when you can fall in love every day of your life?” Her eyes became dreamy, and the weirdest, reflective expression came over her. “I can see things as they were. I can be with him whenever I want, but if finish this, I can’t come back. Asaralubat is the only place I can do this.”

“Illustrious... You ought to give a girl some time to think. These are some deep questions.”

“It’s okay, I’ll wait. Unlike the first set of questions, I don’t have an answer to this one. Tell me when you’re done calculating.”

Rarity thought. The sheer volume of information she’d received in a short period was mind-numbing. After some time she gathered her statements and arguments. Illustrious had confessed to somehow being able to live out memories over and over again. Considering how they were just in one, and it hadn’t appeared that it took too much effort to enter it, she saw the draw of living them out. It was a double-sided edge, though.

There wasn’t a single pony alive who wouldn’t want to relive a cherished memory. But live it out too much and that cherished memory loses its meaning. Considering Illustrious was alone, the dangerous spiral was obvious.

The princess had taken to humming a light, haunting tune while she waited. It was peculiar and dark, but so strangely fitting. It was Rarity’s song, Over the Rainbow.

“Well, first and foremost, we’re not staying here,” said Rarity finally, breaking Illustrious’ fantastic reverie. “You promised to leave to save my sister, and as much as I sympathize with your predicament, Sweetie Belle takes priority.” Rarity gave Illustrious a moment to respond, but she didn’t. Rarity took a deep breath and continued. “But you’re in pain. Dauntless means a lot to you and so do your memories. I’m an outsider to all this, so I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like living them out repetitively, but here is what I think; you need to let go.”

Illustrious heaved a heavy and sudden sob as Rarity said that last phrase. She knew that nothing would negate the impact of that sort of statement, but also hadn't realized how seriously Illustrious would take it.

Illustrious clenched around her stomach as she began to slump down. Rarity paused to consider something that only just occurred to her. This was probably the only direct contact Illustrious had had with another pony in the centuries she’d been trapped. Illustrious was professing deep, foundational feelings to a near complete stranger, and Rarity was playing a consoling role. Even stranger was how seamless it was. Everything came to her, perfectly, idealistically even. It was almost unnerving.

Still, she spoke again after the perfect length pause.

“Your memories belong in your memories. You’re going to miss being with him everyday, but that’s what makes it so special. By missing him, you know that you loved him. Your time together is infinitely more meaningful when it’s only lived once.”

Illustrious sniffled. “I’ve already lived them more than once... Is there still hope for me?”

“Of course, and we’re going to start now. Take me to your next memory, and I promise to make you a new one.”

Illustrious smiled, still crying. “I greatly enjoy hugging you, Auntie! As long as you have the shard, we can start anytime you want!”

“Are you talking about this?” Rarity held up the Two of Hearts.

Illustrious lit up as she saw it and nodded in earnest. “Mhmmm!”

“Now, if I may ask you a question, why do you keep calling me auntie? I’m not terribly opposed to it, but it just seems sudden.”

“You’re my Auntie Rary. You played with me in the fields, and we had a water-balloon fight. Don’t you remember?”

“Yes, I suppose I do remember that. It was a long time ago, wasn’t it?” said Rarity, her jaw going slack as she lost herself in a memory from long ago.

“Yup!” Illustrious finally released her and stood up. “We should be efficient with our time, Auntie. I would very much like to treat you to dinner in Equestria, so let’s move on, shall we?”

“I—Yes, let’s go.”

Illustrious took a wide, overly dramatic step to the left.

“We’re here!” She gestured grandly to the bland beach. The unabashed, dull greys were anticlimactic to say the least. “In order to decrease the amount of time we spend in Asaralubat, I’ve chained my memories to have starting and ending points in close proximity!”

“Fantastic. Go ahead and begin, I’m ready.”

“Wait, I have to give you the introduction into the next one.”

Illustrious held up a piece of paper that shimmered white for a moment before slowly turning to grey ash. After clearing her throat, she read from it in a flat voice with forced inflection.

“And after the two of us played at the beach for what felt like too short a time, Dauntless had to go back home. I remained at Stella’s, heartbroken and yearning for what I’d soon find out would be the stallion that stole my heart! Before he left, he promised to come back and go sailing with me.”

She gestured and read with all the grace of an actor in a middle school play. “I waited and waited, building a world of sandcastles on the beach. Until the day came that we’d finally go sailing...”

The paper blew away in the wind.

Rarity blinked.

In a single instant, the bland, grey world once again exploded into colour. The assault on her senses was staggering. The salty, tangy air of the beach forced its way into her lungs. She squinted and fluttered her eyes as a myriad of colours pounded her retinas. Birds of paradise flew across the bay, their squawks bringing the previously dead world shouting to life. The sand wasn’t pearly like before, instead holding the more natural looking combination of fine and peppered salt. The ocean was a deep blue and perfect as it could ever be. Clouds streaked the sky, and the shining sun was far above in its midday position.

They stood on the sandy banks of a small bay. Rocky hills covered in tropical trees shot up around the far ends of the cove. Behind them, a trail led up to a gently smoking volcano. Even in its picturesque stillness, she could feel the fiery beast breathing like a slumbering giant. On the shore before them was a simple log raft held together by rope with a single sail. It was loosely pushed into the sand to keep it from floating away.

Rarity looked at it like it just asked her weight in an extraordinarily offensive way. “That? We’re going to go sailing on that?”

“Indeed! Once Dauntless gets here, we’re off to exerting ourselves in the name of entertainment!” she replied.

“You have got to be joking!” she sneered, raising a single brow. “I will not put up with sailing the oceans aboard a makeshift dinghy. We are just going to have to do something else!”

“So what activity do you plan for us to partake in?”

“I’d tell you, but that’d ruin the surprise.”

Dauntless approached, head ducked with a goofy, awkward smile on his face. “Hey, Lily, what’s up? It’s been a while.”

“Dauntless!” she exclaimed. “It has been a while! Do you know how long?”

“Heh, too long?”

“Wrong. You know how much I hate a lack of precise definition when it is clear that you know. You should know that from all my letters. All seventeen-hundred and nine of them.” With feigned disinterest she looked down at her hoof and polished it against her coat. “You only sent five-hundred and eighty-six, by the way...”

“Yeah—you uhh—you write fast.” He laughed weakly, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s been ten years to the day.”

“Exactly. And yes, it has been far too long. I wish to embrace you now, Dauntless.”

“Embrace—that means holding close. Just looked that one up—”

She didn’t wait for him to finish, rushing and toppling him over. She rubbed her cheek against his. “Yes, it does! As does hug, cuddle, envelop, grab, snuggle, cling, and entwine!”

He blushed bright scarlet, laughing with an awkwardness that made Rarity’s skin crawl. “Did you know you know like a thousand different words? I had to look up half your letters. Sort of why it took so long to get back to you.”

“Pre-adventure. Your chagrin traumatizes me. I differentiate scarcely twenty-four thousand, eight-hundred and twenty-two words,” said Illustrious. “What is your dissertation to that?”

He laughed. “Now you’re just messing with me.”

“Chagrin, Illustrious?” interjected Rarity. “Are you sure that is the best term? I think befuddlement would be stronger and equally confusing to the stallion.”

“Oh, I almost forgot, this is my Auntie Rarity.” Illustrious climbed off the stallion, letting him get to his hooves.

“Milady, Dauntless,” he said, introducing himself with a small bow.

“My, my, a gentlecolt, classically trained in etiquette,” said Rarity. “My name is Lady Rarity.”

“Wh-what?” he said, perplexed and blushing a bit.

“My name is Lady Rarity,” she repeated.

“I mean the part about the gentlecolt, classically trained?” he asked further.

“Yes, you addressed me by milady...”

“Yeah, my mom just always told me to address older mares by ‘milady’.”

“Your mother taught you well then.”

Dauntless began to look uncomfortable, avoiding eye contact with Rarity and shuffling in the sand. He wore a goofy smile, not completely unlike Illustrious’. They were an oddly mismatched couple. Seeing them stand next to each other gave Rarity the uncanny image of two bashful, shy teenagers trying their hoof at romance with a connection that was immediate and fitting. Both of them stole glances at the other, their eyes meeting momentarily before becoming self-aware and breaking only to do it again.

Rarity had the weird feeling of being a chaperone. “Shall we be off then? Don’t we have a boat to catch? Adventure awaits!” she exclaimed, leading the way to the raft. “Illustrious, what is our destination?”

“Oh, coordinates are to a small island just beyond the cove, the same one I always go to.” Rarity forced a long laugh. “Oh, Illustrious! We’re not going to that small, dismal, dreary island! We’re going to a castle!”

“Right!” agreed Illustrious hesitantly. “Change of plans, Dauntless, we’re gonna—” She sounded uncertain, maybe even uneasy, but her cheeriness still forced its way through. “We’re gonna do whatever she says!”

“Hmm, whatever I say?” Rarity nudged the raft, pushing it off the shore a little. “Tell me, Illustrious, did you ever get married in your lifetime?”

Illustrious was silent, her jaw slowly hanging open. She blushed, but not of embarrassment or warm feelings. There was concerning pensiveness on her face, and when Rarity turned around she instantly regretted asking the question.

“Y-you don’t have to answer that,” said Rarity. “That was far too prying.”

“No.”

“It was, really.”

“No... I’ve never been married before. We—were never able to get that far...” Illustrious’ tone was quiet and reserved. She sounded as if she was either being dealt punishment or patiently awaiting a reward. Oddly, Rarity had a difficult time deciphering which one it was. “Is that what you want to do for me?” Illustrious added. “Is that part of your artistic vision? To marry me and my Dauntless?”

“Darling, you don’t have to be subjected to anything you don’t want to. It was merely a fleeting thought. I suppo—”

“Will you be giving me away to my betrothed since Stella isn’t here?” A small smile formed on her face. Her eyes were still glued to the ground. “I’ve always found that strange ceremony of weddings to be warming. It implies an endearing level of ownership.”

“I erhm—Princess, if you’re not comfortable with it, we can do something else.”

Illustrious ignored her. “Dauntless, you better go ask Auntie Rary for her blessing!” she exclaimed. “Since I wish to have a resilient legal bond now, you’d better make haste with yourself!”

Dauntless had been busy air-boxing and karate-kicking. He turned to meet both of their concerned, expectant looks. “I—What?”

“Dauntless, sweetie. You know how we’ve talked about getting married?”

“Yeah,” he replied simply.

“Auntie Rary wants to marry us, but you have to ask her permission first!”

“Wh-why?”

Rarity slowly brought her hoof to her face. Illustrious pursed her lips and furrowed her brow.

“Because I want you to!” whined Illustrious.

“I thought—”

Illustrious began batting his face with her tail. “Go! Do it! Ask her!”

Rarity smiled as she watched them bicker. Dauntless was now shielding himself from her relentless swatting, pulling his hooves up around his head. She kept on badgering him with each hit.

“Do you remember what Mom and Dad said?” said an all-too-familiar voice to Rarity from behind.

Rarity quickly turned her head to the source of the voice and was met with olive green eyes.

“S-Sweetie Belle?” Rarity stammered. What was only slightly less surprising was that she wasn’t a filly anymore, but a full-grown mare.

“Yeah...?” Sweetie Belle gave her a smirk coupled with an eyeroll. “Why are you looking at me all funny? All I did was ask a question.”

Her confident, casual tone put Rarity into an uncomfortable complacency. She couldn’t tell how surprising it was to see her little sister all grown up in such a strange world. It was surreal, and Rarity wanted to flip out, but something held her heart from bursting out her chest.

“I—I’m just—happy to see you.”

“Okay?” said Sweetie Belle, raising a brow. “I’m happy to see you too?”

“Sorry, I’ve just been having a weird day. Go on, you were saying?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if you remembered what Mom and Dad told you.”

“They said a lot of things, Sweetie, you must be a bit more specific,” said Rarity.

“Really? With the two of them fighting over needing to ask for a marriage blessing, doesn’t that ring a bell?”

Rarity was still too entranced by the sudden appearance of her sister to think clearly. She had grown up into such a stunning young mare. Rarity didn’t like to openly admit it, but she always considered herself one of the most beautiful unicorns in Equestria. Now, Sweetie Belle was making her second guess her original opinion. Maybe it was the swirling emotions inside her or a personal bias, but Sweetie Belle was the most beautiful pony she’d ever seen.

Sweetie Belle sighed. “They said that if they weren’t around when I got engaged, whatever stallion I did find was supposed to ask you for permission. I don’t think they ever trusted my taste in boys. Always thought you’d make sure he was a gentlecolt.”

“Did they? I don’t remember when they said this,” she said honestly.

“You don’t? It was right after you got back. When you—left—we all took it hard...” She paused. “I mean, they’re okay now, but can’t you see the age in their eyes? Parents don’t handle that sort of twist of fate lightly.”

“Wait, what? What do you mean, ‘when I left’?”

“Uhm, Auntie Rary?” said the voice of Dauntless.

Rarity glanced over to see the colt standing before her. Behind him was Illustrious, nervously chewing her lip as he made his bid for her hoof in marriage. It was superfluous, more ceremonial than anything, but it was all in good spirit. Rarity glanced back to where Sweetie Belle had just been and saw that she was gone. She looked around more, perking her head about to see if she had ran off, but she’d vanished into air.

Rarity sighed, crestfallen. “Yes, darling?” she said dryly, turning back to Dauntless.

He winced at her tone, but maintained wobbly eye contact. He was nervous, but hid it well enough. “Can I marry Illustrious?”

“I think, that ‘May I have her hoof in marriage’ would have been more appropriate, but of course you may. I would be honoured to have you marry her.” Her flat delivery didn’t pick up, but she did manage a smile. “Now we must get going, we have a wedding to sail to.”

The ice in Rarity’s stomach grew and the world around them began to change. Giant mounds of sand rose up from the earth, hanging in midair.

The princess was watching the sands rise in awe, her mouth agape. She looked so genuinely amazed by Rarity’s simple display that it almost seemed daft. Either Illustrious had the mind of innocent child, or a mastermind with superb acting skills. Was she really this impressed, or was there an agenda beyond this?

As if invisible ponies had held up small piles to their lips and blown the sand in a steady stream of air, it sprayed out into the air, turning pearly white. The resulting reflective glare from the sun on the sandwas blinding, encasing the three in a void.

Rarity tried to put Sweetie Belle in the back of her mind, but it just occurred to her the price of failure. If she didn’t do whatever it was that Illustrious wanted her to do, she’d never get to see Sweetie Belle get married. She wouldn’t get to design the most stellar, fabulous dress in all of existence for the one pony who deserved it the most. Even worse was that despite the high price of the failure, she didn’t even know what failure was.

Their task was to go into Illustrious’ memories and pluck random items out of them. It may not be possible to fail, but it also wasn’t clear how it was all truly connected; the world, Sweetie Belle, the talk of reflections and such. Additionally, Illustrious wanted her to put her own thoughts into the memories for entertainment purposes. She was, more or less, an unstoppable force of creative power that could manipulate the world at will, at least as she understood it. None of it mattered though, as they were just memories.

That was what Rarity found to be odd. There was no reason not to make a journey more enjoyable, but it just felt weird, tacked-on almost. Why was it so important that she be an artist? What wasn’t Illustrious telling her about the nature of her reflections?

If Rarity remembered correctly there were six memories they needed to attend. Each one was something Illustrious had already seen before, but with all the new memories she’d inevitably make after freedom, why draw these old ones out?

She got the loneliness piece. Illustrious hadn’t had any friends or new things to do in so long, but the term ‘smoke and mirrors’ began surfacing in her mind. After seeing Sweetie Belle, she was sure there was plenty of intrigue to this place, Illustrious, and her situation.

When the dust settled, they were standing on the deck of a ship, an old sailing galleon in the middle of the bay. It looked just like what Rarity imagined in all the literature she read about pirates; wood planks and flooring, ropes all surrounding a large center mast, cannons on both sides. It creaked and moaned in the ocean, shifting calmly beneath her hooves.

“Auntie! We’re on a real ship now! I’ve never been sailing on a real ship before!” exclaimed lllustrious. She raced to the edge of the railing.

“Lily, look! Cannons! Oh, this is so awesome!” said Dauntless, going to check out the weapons.

Rarity raised a brow, trying to contain a growing smile. She had to admit, there was some novelty to being able to create whatever she wanted. Part of her didn’t believe what Illustrious had said about making all her fantasies come true, but so far it hadn’t lied. She wanted a pirate ship, and she got a pirate ship.

“Oh my stars...” said Rarity, as the strange power of seeming godhood tingled beneath her skin. “It worked. This place... is amazing.”

“Oh, Auntie! This brings back so many memories from when I used to be able create so freely!” said Illustrious, the wind blowing in her mane.

“Used to?”

“Indeed! Before my colour was shattered by the soul gem, I used to be able to do things like this. It takes colour to create and your art is bringing my colour back!”

“So, you need an artist to remind you how to create?”

“Fantasize is a better term, but you are mostly correct. It isn’t absolutely necessary for the completion of our task, but it would be advantageous for both of us to have the inspiration needed to change the reflections if need be!”

Hearing that made Rarity feel a little better. At least in a tenuous way, this was still about saving Sweetie Belle. She didn’t know what she’d be up against in later reflections, but having Illustrious have the same potential she had held obvious value.

To test her power, Rarity brought forth a cinnamon bun. It simply dropped into her hoof from thin air. She took one bite of it and threw the rest into the ocean.

“Prepare yourself, Darling, for you’re about to see wonders unlike any other!”

Rarity unleashed her mind upon the world, laughing wildly as she did. The wind picked up and the ship raced forward, heading out of the bay at full speed. The wind blowing in her mane, she jumped up to the helm and began navigating.

The sun plummeted from the sky, leaving them at the center of a calm ocean in the middle of the night. It was a perfect mirror to reflect the grandiosity of the sky. In the sheer scope of the scene, it was hard to see where exactly the ocean ended and the galaxy above them began.

The stars shone with colours unlike those in reality. Auras of red, blue, green, and purple faintly twinkled around the white light. They gathered heavily in some places, gravitating around something, or maybe even each other. The larger clusters were focused on top of one nebula or another. Each nebula was a different starry, cool colour. In the sky and on the ocean, they shone with perfect clarity.

Misty purples and blues laid reflected before them as they crossed a star-filled ocean in silver moonlight. Rarity stepped down from the wheel as the ship slowed to a comfortable speed.

Illustrious was left in awe, a smile growing across her face. “Auntie, this... this is something...”

Rarity laughed. “It most certainly is. Isn’t this a tad bit better than a sunny day on a raft?”

“Dauntless, come here, I want you to stand by me,” she beckoned.

The aforementioned stallion had become engrossed in the cannons. “These are real, operational flintlock cannons! They’re even loaded!” he said, peering down the barrel of one. “Oh, this is so cool.”

“Dauntless!” cried Illustrious. “Your Lily is currently alone! Remand your negligence! She requires constant, obsessive attention!”

“But the cannons...” he whined.

“I wouldn’t get too cozy yet, Princess,” warned Rarity. “There’s still more. We have a castle in the stars to go to.” The ice in her stomach grew larger. A series of lanterns, each of a different colour, flickered to life around the railing. Rarity levitated a red one from a large pile sitting inconspicuously in the center of the ship shoved it into one of the cannons. “Dauntless, darling, could you fire this one at the sky? Try to hit one of those big space clouds,” she said pointing from the cannon to one of the larger green nebula.

“Heh, sure,” he replied. For the first time Rarity saw the confidence of his namesake. He effortlessly swung the cannon around and aimed it with expert precision. “This is going to be loud.” He lit the wick and ducked down, pulling his ears down against his temples.

Rarity followed his example. Thanks to Pinkie Pie, she knew how loud cannons could be and took the proper safety precautions. Illustrious, however, looked dumbly at the wick as it burnt down. There was a deafening bang that rang all their ears and nearly knocked Illustrious over. She stumbled about to regain her balance. A bright, scarlet star shot out into the distance followed by a trail of dripping orange and yellow liquid, disappearing in a flash.

“Aiiee! Why is that so loud?!” bellowed Illustrious in an effort to hear herself over the ringing.

The star hit the nebula. At the point of impact there was a red eruption that soon spread like a wave across the space cloud. The crimson light spread across it, saturating it from its previous cool colour into a brilliant, bold red that tore apart the sky. Moreover, the way the star hit right at the horizon gave it a dual effect. Before long, the streak reflected between the ocean and sky in perfect symmetry.

By this point in time, Rarity had already gathered all the lanterns on the ship and shoved them into cannons on both sides.

“Dauntless, on my mark!” shouted Rarity, holding her hoof up. He stood ready with a match in his mouth, all the wicks tied together into a single knot at the center of the deck.

“Oh, that’s going to be excessively loud,” said Illustrious.

“Fire!” Rarity bellowed.

After waiting fifty agonizing, anticlimactic seconds for the flames to reach the cannons, the entire ship exploded with colour. Streaks of colour shot up from the cannons at varied angles, loop de looping in mid-air and striking each and every major nebula in the sky.

The force of twenty cannons firing in perfect synchronization dazed and disoriented her. She thought she had fallen down the stairs to the deck, but didn’t remember as she was too busy knocking into the cross-eyed Princess Illustrious. The three of them stumbled about, running into each other and falling over. They got back up, only to fall back over again.

When they finally recovered from the concussive blow and decided that staying still and not getting up was the best course of action, the sky had painted itself over. It was a complete spectrum of the warm colours; lemony yellow, orange, and strawberry red. They laid flat on their backs and took a moment to take in the sight of distant nebulae and bold colour sitting against the backdrop of space and stars.

“Wow...” said Dauntless, awestruck.

“I second that,” agreed Illustrious, slowly taking Dauntless’ hoof in her own.

Rarity got up and dusted herself off. “Not too shabby, but now that we’re here, it’ll be nice to actually get this adventure started.”

“Agreed! Maintain course to marriage!” said Illustrious, looking up to her love.

Rarity turned around, the passions of inspiration burning in her eyes. “Dauntless, your fiance has spoken—are you ready to work this ship until the bitter end?!” she exclaimed with big sweeping gestures. Rarity was having way too much fun for her own good.

His eyes sparkled at Rarity’s offer. “Only if Lily can stand by my side the entire time,” he said, nuzzling her.

“Ah, a smitten heart whose courage stems from his love, no doubt! Aye, nothing shall separate you now or ever as long as you stay true!”

Illustrious choked a bit, but neither of them noticed. Her eyes grew huge and her lips pursed. A heavy emotion came over her face. Be it sadness or joy, Rarity didn’t notice, nor could she have figured it out if she did.

“We set off to the stars!” Rarity exclaimed.

Dauntless rolled off his back and stood up, looking heaven bound. Illustrious followed his lead closely, but looked down at the wooden deck, the only part of the world that remained plain.

The entire ship left the water, sailing through the air. It rose, gaining altitude. Once it was high enough, between the perfectly smooth water reflecting the stars, and the stars themselves, the three became lost in space. Dauntless went to the balcony to watch, but Illustrious didn’t follow.. Rarity approached the princess with a great, merry smile on her face.

“My goodness, you really must stop me before I get out of hoof.” She chuckled. “This place has a way inspiring the romance to just roll off the tongue. I’ll soon fall into delusions of grandeur if I don’t pace myself.” She noticed how quiet Illustrious was and softened her tone. “Darling, are you alright?”

“Yes...” she replied quietly, eyes glued to the stallion.

“You don’t sound alright. What’s the matter?”

“Nothing...”

“Now I know something is wrong. You have ten seconds before I reflect something ghastly upon you,” said Rarity with a devilish smile.

Illustrious was quiet.

“I jest, darlin—” started Rarity.

“I know. It’s just hard knowing that these are the last fews days I’ll be able to see him, and if it keeps going like this, they’re going to be so wonderful. Thank you...”

“You’re very welcome.”

Illustrious’ face scrunched up and she went to hug Rarity. It wasn’t wholly unexpected, but it still caught Rarity off guard. “You’re doing this because you want to make me happy. I can tell because you could remain idle and it’d have the same effect. You’re really nice and you make me wanna—wanna—” Illustrious’ own attempts to stifle a sniffle interrupted her.

“Want to what?” asked Rarity.

“C-colour...”

“Colour?”

“Mmhmm, in my colouring books...”

“Why don’t you?”

“I can feel Asaralubat coming back to life,” she whispered into Rarity’s ear. “It’s talking to me. It doesn’t want me to leave.”

Rarity squeezed her tighter. “Don’t listen to it. You have a full and meaningful life ahead of you. When we get out and you save my sister, I’m going to introduce you to all my friends and find you somewhere to live. Don’t you dare think about turning back now.”

She took a deep, calm breath to steady herself. “I’m not going to. It’s just difficult...”

“I know it is.”

Illustrious closed her eyes. “I still like hugging you.”

“I know.”

Her sadness passed and when she opened her eyes they seared like burning hot amethysts. A smile curled across her face. The wind that blew her starry, baby blue mane picked up, and for the first time Rarity felt it. It didn’t lap her coat or skin, but the harder it blew, the brighter life around it became. Colours were more vibrant, shapes more cartoony, and expressions brighter and livelier. Illustrious broke away from the hug and looked up at the starry ocean above them as they fell through the sky.

“You’re bringing me back to life as well, Auntie,” she said, a playful fire in her tone. “That’s not surprising considering the state of things right now. I’m going to break out of the gem and save your sister, but first we have an adventure to go on! So, what’s next, Milady?!”

Rarity beamed. “Are you thirsty?” There was a euphoria in seeing her new friend lively and happy again.

“Thirsty?” Illustrious cocked her head . “Why of course I’m thirsty! Who wouldn’t be thirsty right now?”

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Or course I would! I do think that I would love something to drink!”

Dauntless shouted from the edge. “Incoming! We’re about to land! Brace yourselves!”

The entire ship splashed in a sea of red, creating massive waves and a column of of splashing water. The three of them stumbled from the force of the impact and bounced back up as the ship bobbed in the water a few times. The mist of the sea splashed everywhere.

Illustrious tasted the liquid by sheer fortune of it being everywhere. “This—this is fruit punch. We’re in a sea of fruit punch.”

“Actually, Illustrious, we’re in a nebula of fruit punch.”

Illustrious looked out across the horizon. They were sailing through the stars on a cloud of fruity red punch. It was curious, how the nebula looked wispy and light, but held an invisible weight to it, acting very much like the sea. Rarity could hear the waves splashing against the hull, but couldn’t see the source.Illustrious stuck her face out to lick the cloud and smiled with an ‘Mmmmm’.

Small rivers connected each of the great nebula bodies, all leading up to a majestic structure. The castle from Illustrious’ last memory sat at the end of the sea, the moon sitting behind it. Its details were hard to make out as it was just a silhouette, but it was indisputably that perfect castle from before.

Around them, a thick field of tiny stars raced by, glowing brightly and illuminating their journey. Illustrious deftly stuck her hoof out and caught one of the stars. After looking at it, she burst into rollicking laughter.

“It’s a pear! The star is a pear!” She took a huge bite out of it. “We’re sailing through a fruit punch nebula amidst a pear starfield!” exclaimed Illustrious, catching another star and eating it. “I just ate a star—that was also a pear. This is brilliant!”

They passed by a truly gargantuan, orange planet on their left. It was immovable, something so large that it never looked any different no matter how fast they moved. Yet it was alive, teeming with citrus and orange juice.

A single blazing strawberry shot across the great sky above them. It streaked and burned like a comet, tearing the void in two. It was soon followed by apples, pears, lemons, grapes, and fruit of every colour. They fell in a cosmic meteor shower that subtly lit the castle as each one passed before it.

Rarity wore a smug smirk. “You like it?”

“Like it? I adore it!” Illustrious exclaimed. “So much colour, so much wonder. So much...” Illustrious trailed off. Her eyes remained glued to the orange planet.

Its outer peel began to rupture from the inside, something puncturing its way out. In a shimmering haze of zest, a thin, black, spidery leg burst out. It clawed at the opening, tearing it wider and wider until it got another leg out.

Illustrious’ eyes grew wide. “Dauntless, ready the cannons!” she said with sudden fierceness. “Shoot them all of the cannons on the left side simultaneously on my imperative! Aim for the anomaly in the big orange!”

Dauntless turned around. He had been looking over the side of the ship. “What was that?”

Rarity caught on quickly enough to know that whatever was trying to get out of the orange was a bad thing. She walked up to the stallion and calmly gave a polite order. “Dauntless, darling, prepare the port guns for broadside. Be ready to fire on Illustrious’ command.”

“Aye.”

He went to work quickly and efficiently, loading and arming all the cannons. Illustrious was trotting anxiously in place, biting her lip as two more legs burst out from the orange.

“So, I’m curious, what exactly are we shooting at?” said Rarity.

“Colour Eaters. Actually, precisely one Colour Eater, but where there is one, more are sure to follow! Auntie, would you mind making the ship go approximately nineteen-hundred percent faster? We need to velocitate in—!” She made a grand sweeping gesture, pointing to the castle. “That direction!”

The legs ripping the orange open finally burst through, and an enormous spider crawled up through the hole. On its back was a familiar mountain of fused, colourful artwork. It shuffled around on the orange with breathtaking speeds. It was small in the distance, but in relative size to the orange itself, it was truly gargantuan.

“Wait, those—those big, moving, colourful piles of junk from the city are Colour Eaters?”

“You are correct.”

The Colour Eater stuck its eight black legs in the orange and sucked it dry of its colour. The entire thing lost a shade of saturation in one throbbing wave, and brought the Colour Eater one shade closer to an orange hue. Every few seconds a booming black shock wave that stole the orange’s colour rippled out. Soon it was drained completely. The orange became a dull sight amidst the otherwise picturesque scene, and the Colour Eater, a shimmering silhouette of pure orange.

“Dauntless! Commence firing all the cannons simultaneously! Aim for the big glowing orange spot!”

In the silence before their own barrage, a series of distant explosions sounded from the Colour Eater. A dozen beams of light shot off the creature, arcing wildly in their direction. Because of the distance, it’d take almost ten seconds for them to reach the surface of the nebula.

Seconds later, their own barrage exploded in a deafening burst. Streaks of every colour shot out from the cannons, arcing in much the same way as the Colour Eater’s. The shots collided in mid-air, creating fantastic explosions of colour that consumed all the stars in the space they inhabited. After the initial salvo, shots passed through in both directions. Huge splashes of glowing fruit punch erupted on all sides of them as the shots missed their mark. Each one created a shock wave across the sea and sent the liquid towering high above them in an enormous column. In a mist of delicious fruit drink, the small crew raced to reload the cannons.

Another set of shots were traded, a few more of the spider's shots getting through. So far the Colour Eater wasn’t accurate, but it was able to shoot much faster than the small group. Within the next two barrages, it’d have a free, uncontested shot.

“Auntie! Make the ship go faster! We must make it to the castle! The shard is there!” Illustrious called out.

Rarity reflected a great wind to surge up behind them, sending them soaring across the cloud. The curious, unyielding scent of fruit medley accompanied the wind, so thick with sweetness Rarity’s eyes began to water. At the helm, she steered clear of explosion after explosion as Illustrious’ and Dauntless’ efforts stood futile against the Colour Eater’s never-ending barrage. Despite moving four times faster than before, the castle never drew closer, remaining an unchanging picture against the night sky.

“Illustrious! We aren’t going to make it!” bellowed Rarity over the sound of three more stray shots missing by only a few dozen meters.

“I know, we’re not supposed to,” she replied. She struggled to get another lantern into the barrel as mist continue to spray across them.

Rarity looked back up at the Colour Eater as a new wave of missiles shot out. These ones were green, and for some reason, Rarity knew they’d hit. Time slowed down as they approached. The ghost voices from before spoke. Every other noise in world silenced as they began their dialogue.

“You told them?! You told them about Asaralubat?!” Illustrious would have cried.

“It’s the only place that they can go...” he would have replied firmly.

“How could you? I made this place for us, not somepony and her sister!”

“Do you have any better ideas?! Tell me of another place Stella could do that sort of spell. She’s dealing with the souls of ponies, and you want to risk that going wrong?” There would have been silence as Illustrious dealt with the truth. “Think about them for a moment. Think about how you would feel if you were separated from me like that.”

“Be careful in your assumption that I don’t understand what it’s like to be betrayed by somepony I love, because right now, I'm starting to feel that!” she would have hissed with pure venom. “So, it’s between me and them, and you picked them?”

He would have became frustrated. “No! That isn’t it at all! Can’t you get it through your thick skull that there are bigger things than us?!”

“Oh, so now I’m thick? Maybe you’re right, because I told you about the one thing sacred to me. Yeah, that does seem a little daft, doesn’t it? Maybe I’m also daft for letting you hit me so much.”

He would have choked. “Lily... don’t use that card. I want so badly to forget about that. I was in—”

“In the darkness? Where have I heard that one before?”

“I l-love you,” he would have sobbed.

“Heard that one too.”

“Please, Lily... You know I-I’ll never forgive myself...”

The voices left and the sound returned. Things still moved in slow motion. Rarity hadn't known it, but the real Dauntless had been barking orders at her. “Hard-a-starboard!”

“Rarity, I need to end this reflection, now!” yelled Illustrious over the chaos. “Marry us and aim for the castle!”

Rarity flung the wheel and brought the cannons to bear against the distant fortress. The entire ship moaned and creaked in protest of the turn. The green missiles were nearly on top of them, but that was when the cannons broadsided. Streaks of rainbow soared out in wide arcs, hitting and illuminating the castle to its complete brilliance. They splashed and exploded, each burst bouncing a cluster of fireworks high into the sky.

“Dauntless, will you take Princess Illustrious to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.”

“Illustrious, will you take Prince Dauntless to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“Most certainly.”

Explosions and beams of green light surrounded them. The entire galaxy sat as a background to the two. There were millions of stars filled with infinite possibilities. The castle was in full celebration, a spectacular rainbow firework display in bloom. Nebulae, giant fruit planets, and a rainbow meteor storm, the entire galaxy  watched them, both oblivious and knowing of the romantic impasse.

Illustrious looked to Dauntless and kissed him.

Rarity smiled.

Somewhere, ice grew in the gut of a pony. A flock of doves showered two others in their feathers. Three ponies bittersweetly observed the pointless ceremony, two had an euphoria that only a day like this could bring, and one was absent.

By the power vested in me by the State of Princesses, I now declare you husband and wife.

Rarity blinked and saw the young couple standing on a bright, sunny, and bustling boardwalk. Ponies laughing and celebrating in the carnival atmosphere replaced the galaxy. Shops and booths had been set up. There were games and food for everypony. Ponies were enjoying themselves; dancing, singing and generally being merry. It was an important occasion too. A new ship was leaving for its first tour of duty, and the entire town had come by to see it off. At the center of the scene were the adolescent Illustrious and Dauntless. The latter wore a dapper, white sailor’s uniform.

Illustrious giggled and blushed bright red as her lips left Dauntless’. “Our first kiss!” she exclaimed.

“How was it?” he asked, blushing himself.

“How was a first kiss from an absolutely gorgeous stallion?” She tapped her chin. “Electrifying is far too cliche. Wonderful is dull and flat. How about, cosmic?”

“Yeah, I think that describes it. Cosmic,” he parroted. His smile slowly faded. “I should probably get going.”

“Agreed! I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to come sailing with you! I brought my favourite colouring books and games!”

He bit his lip. His friends were undoubtedly watching him talk to his ‘young’ girlfriend. “Yeah, I don’t think you can come...”

“But you told me I’d get to come,” said Illustrious, her eyes widening.

He threw out a pained smile, and scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I know. It’s the guards though. Can’t have everyone’s girlfriend come along, there’s just not enough room on the ship!” He could hear his friends snickering from the ship.

“But we were supposed to go sailing today. You promised.”

“I—I know,” he choked. His lie had been shameless and he knew it. “When I get my leave, I’m coming straight back, and I’ll take you sailing on our own boat, just the two of us.”

“O-okay. I’ll be waiting.”

The ramp began to pull away and he ran up, not wanting to get left behind. He waved to her and she waved back, watching him leave. After the ship was far beyond the horizon, she left with her luggage. Dolls, toys, colouring books, and sweets filled her saddlebags. What was absent from them was anything useful on a long voyage.

Head slumped, she slowly began her long walk home with little spirit left.. A stallion bumped into her, knocking her over. She looked up to him, hurt, but he ignored her and walked on. A small, plastic shovel used for digging up sand on the beach fell out of her bags, left behind. She didn’t notice it though. Her eyes became misty as someone else accidentally tripped over her bag and knocked the rest of its contents out.

Rarity trotted over to help her pick up her things, but she was too late. Illustrious left it behind and ran off into the crowd, tears streaming her face.

Rarity walked over and picked up the plastic shovel. It shimmered faintly as she picked it up, and the next thing she knew, she was back in the dead city of Asaralubat. The boardwalk was the same, if not just stripped of its colour and covered with seven-hundred years of dust. The festival was still there. The booths and games were still set up and a ferris wheel was a little ways down.

Yet, no one was playing. It had all been forgotten.

The sudden shift from colour to complete dullness hurt her eyes. She rubbed them, then looked around. Illustrious was standing behind her, her face twisting with anger.

“He lied to me...” she hissed.

The Reflections

The Reflections

“It hurt... It hurt so bad...” Luna cried.

Rarity crept forward, unsure of how to approach such a regal figure in the throes of sadness. Luna continued to weep despite the tension of her timid company. Rarity felt like she needed to say something, anything to break the deteriorating monologue of the princess. Yet she stood there, eyes wide and wanting to understand, but not knowing where to start.

Just as the silence grew unbearable, Luna spoke.

“The first thing she said to me... It was a name. I didn’t know what to think. I wept with happiness, but then I realized she didn’t mean it, not like I did.”

Rarity could almost feel the heat of Illustrious’ boiling blood as she stood next to her.

“Did you see that?! He lied to me!” Illustrious said in a low voice. “Confirm my suspicions, Auntie! Dauntless was lying to me! I am emotionally jeopardized, so provide rationalized insight!”

Rarity swallowed with a dry tongue that stuck in her throat. Illustrious’ anger was a surprisingly frightening thing. The goofy smile was gone, her sparkling eyes were lavender infernos. The girlish voice was still there, but it held a sharp maturity now. Rarity kept her head down and her eyes averted. After a few moments, Illustrious turned to glare at Rarity, reminding her that she’d just been asked a question.

“Well—” Rarity said. “He did fib a little.”

“How come that hurt so much to watch? How come I feel like such a immature little filly? Why did he lie to me? I’d never lie to him! Rarity, say things to make me feel better!”

She choked. “Darling, you have a wonderful, youthful exuberance about you on top of being very well-spoken. I think Dauntless is the one at fault for lying to you,” Rarity said. The more she talked, the more she found herself agreeing with the viewpoint. “It takes a heartless pony to lie to an innocent young mare. If he loved you, he would have been honest and found a way to make a concession.” The ice in Rarity’s stomach grew. She felt a chilly breeze waft in from the wind moving Illustrious’ mane.

“Is that really the case? Is he heartless? Is he at fault?” She looked straight at Rarity. For the first time since meeting her, she noticed Illustrious’ eyes twinkling with the uncanny reflection of a crystal pony.

“Certainly, I don’t blame you for falling in love, but I blame him for disrespecting your innocence. He is no loss to you.”

Illustrious was quiet. Her face was tense as she subtly searched the air in front of her for an answer. She crinkled her nose. “But I love him... and he hurt me... He hurt me so much. Centuries of falling in love only to have him push me away every time... Auntie, am I unintelligent for loving something that hurts me?” she asked in a tone of diminishing emotion and rising rationality.

“Of course not, but maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Rarity admitted. “He lied to you, that much is certain, but if he’s willing to make it up to you I don’t think you should throw it all away.”

“No...” Illustrious said quietly, her eyes falling upon Rarity’s chest and then to the ground just to her left. “I think you were right before. If I don’t change it now, centuries of pain under the guise of love will follow, only to be effaced in an instant.”

There was a pause, and then her brilliant eyes snapped up from their pensiveness, piercing Rarity. “You haven’t seen it, but he hurts me. And I relive it like the stupid pony I am. Everyday I’m hurt and beaten. And I couldn’t stop myself before, but now I can.”

Rarity’s lungs froze to ice at the confession. “I—I apologize sincerely for my presumption... I just know so little. Was there physical violence? Is he really so horrible?”

“Yes, he is. Maybe you haven’t seen it, but he becomes worse. His untruthfulness is the most redeemable of his traits, as you’ll see soon enough.” The charming, goofy smile curled up her face. It was the exact same expression Rarity had grown accustomed to over her adventure, but now it looked troubled to her , maniacal even. “Did you know that you were never supposed to see that, the boardwalk?” she blurted suddenly with her usual cheer.

Rarity scratched at the ash on the ground. “I sort of figured, but it’s been hard to tell.”

“Well, that was the memory I must have buried away under all the reflections, the real one,” she explained. “It happens sometimes. You forget how it really happened, and then you start making things up and—kablooey! You have something that in no way resembles the original memory!”

“The original memory?”

“Yup, and that particular memory reminded me of another memory. We’re taking a detour from our original path. There is a memory that needs changing, and once I change it, I’ll finally be free.” She trotted off down the boardwalk. “Please follow me! We have an inconsiderate stallion to address and demoralize!”

“Wait, isn’t changing your memory how you ended up losing it in the first place?!” Rarity called after her. She was met with joyful humming.

Rarity was uncertain at best. The princess didn’t seem as concerned with escaping anymore as she did with her personal vendetta against what was effectively a ghost. How could she change a memory and what good would it do? What purpose did it serve to refute a memory?

He finally found her on the balcony. She was alone and looking out over the dark world. His clothes were tattered, bruises covered him from head to hoof, and he sported a black eye to top it off. So far, he hadn’t had a very good night.

“What was that?! How come I just got my flank beaten by a group of guys I didn’t even know? Why did they say ‘That’s for Illustrious’? What’s going?!” he said.

“Oh, I just told them you hit me. Why?” She looked at him with huge, innocent eyes, a lollipop in her mouth.

“Who? What’d you tell them?!”

“I told Stella... Rosetta... Anyone who wanted to know, really... I told them you hit me.” She popped the lollipop out of her mouth and looked at it, more interested in the confection than the stallion.

His stomach dropped. “S-sweetheart...” he stuttered. “W-why did you do that?”

“You hit me. That’s why,” she sneered.

His mouth hung open. “Is this some sort of joke?!” he shouted. He hadn’t meant to be so loud. Those stallions were still searching for him.

“No, why would I joke about something so serious as spousal abuse?” She gave him a sheepish look of concern. “Now, Dauntless, just because you beat and degrade me doesn’t give you the right to shout and be uncivil.”

“What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?! I’ve never hit you! Where did this even come from?! Just yesterday you told me you’d finally forgiven me for being late!”

She rolled her eyes. “Well maybe I haven’t.”

Those words hung heavily in the air. He just looked at her bland, bored expression, trying to find any trace of maybe a joke gone too far. He would have been angry with a joke in such poor taste, but given what it meant to him, he could forgive it. After a heated minute of tension, he finally spoke.

“What’s gotten into you?” he said finally. “I know I messed up, but the Lily I know wouldn’t have been so cruel. She’d be forgiving, and caring, and not the heartless thing you turned into.”

She popped the lollipop back in her mouth. “Are you going to continue talking at me, or will I need to ask you to leave?”

A gang of stallions burst through the balcony door, one of them pointing at Dauntless.

“There he is! Ready for round two, scum?” the thug said.

“Oh, looks like I don’t need to. My friends are here to show you out,” she said with pure venom. She walked up to the thug and whispered in his ear before leaving through the door. “Don’t go too easy on him.”

The two mares entered a fine dining restaurant. It was a mansion made entirely of glass. Despite the delicacy of its construction, there was a certain thickness and solidness to it. The structure didn’t come to any high-rising point. Had it been turned on its top and dropped upside by a sudden change of reality, it would have retained its shape and probably survived the fall. Stained glass in abstract shapes and colours along the walls decorated the restaurant.

Rarity wore an outfit she’d designed a few months ago. It was a simple, baby blue dress with sparkling gold shoes, gold lace, and a matching bow across her haunches. Illustrious only wore her royal regalia. It was magnificent enough in itself, but it took much convincing for Rarity to not design a dress for her on the spot. The two approached the hostess.

“We have a reservation for two,” Illustrious said.

“Certainly,” replied the hostess politely. “Right this way, Princess.”

She led them through a dining area filled with floating candles and ponies talking quietly among their own tables. Rarity was glad she decided to wear a formal dress. The restaurant was clearly an upscale establishment. Every other pony wore either a tuxedo or premier, fashionable outfit.

For the first time, Illustrious’ royal title felt like more than just a self-proclaimed formality. As they walked by table after table, Rarity could hear hushed whispers of Illustrious’ name under the breath of the patrons. It occurred to Rarity that Illustrious must have lived in Equestria at some point in time. If she was an alicorn, that meant she was of royal title and should have known Celestia.

Rarity blinked.

She did so again, feeling slightly stupider the second time. That should have clicked earlier. Here she was with royalty and it never occurred to ask about her relationship with ponies she knew personally. Connections should have been the first thing she solidified. If she did know the sister monarchs, perhaps they could ask for help.

“I don’t think I ever had the opportunity to thank you for what you did,” Illustrious said as they were seated. “Sometimes I forget that happened...”

“May I serve your drinks?” said the waiter..

“Lemonade,” replied Illustrious.

“Water with lemon, please,”  said.

He gave a small bow and scurried off.

“What do you mean ‘you forget’?” Rarity asked. As much as she wanted to ask her questions, she wouldn’t rudely ignore her friend’s choice of topic. There would be time.

Illustrious put her two forehooves together in the cushion she was sitting on, rubbing them against each other. “Reflections are silly things,” she said pensively. “When something happens, you get a memory. When you think about a memory long enough, you get a reflection. Time and your personal viewpoints can warp a memory into a reflection, and a reflection into a memory.”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. As much she wanted to ask Illustrious about Equestria, she had enough questions on the topic of reflections to warrant hours of conversation. “Illustrious, is it normal for a pony to hear voices and see things—unusual things—in Asaralubat?”

Rarity seemed to have garnered her intrigue. There was a curious sparkle in her eye and a slight twitch in her ear. So far, Illustrious had been the all-knowing expert, leading Rarity by a carrot on a stick, but now she seemed interested enough to approach the conversation seriously.

“Unusual things? This is a world of reflections, so you will see the world change constantly around you, such as the periodic fruit punch nebula, but for the sake of conversation I’d like to hear your personal experiences.”

Rarity smiled at the mention of her own artistic work. “Well, I saw my sister back on the beach. And every so often I hear you and Dauntless talking when I shouldn’t,” she explained, averting her eyes from the princess and down to her hooves. “I’ve chosen to take this all lightly since you asked me if I was 'ponderin in my noggin' our methodology for saving Sweetie Belle, but honestly, I’m becoming a little worried.”

“Expand,” said Illustrious simply.

“Well—first there’s my sister. This entire venture is in her interest, and for some reason it doesn’t seem to be going as planned. You seem surprised by the transpiring of events, despite having claimed to have had it all planned out in advance.”

Illustrious took a sip of her lemonade. “No offense, but that’s your fault! You’ve changed me as a pony, so my reflections must change accordingly.”

She took another sip of her lemonade.

“Exactly how much has changed? We’re still going to save my sist—Wait, where did you get that?” Rarity said, eyes glued to the glass.

“This?” Illustrious gestured to the sparkling yellow juice. “The waiter brought it by. Don’t you remember?”

Rarity’s complete confusion compounded as she recalled the memory. Only seconds before, the waiter had brought their drinks. Yet at the same time, she had a clear remembrance of the waiter never coming by again. Her heart rate picked up. Malice and darkness filled the establishment. The glass construction of the building became reflective of smoke that wasn’t there.

“I was thirsty,” Illustrious whispered, “and I didn’t feel like waiting.” She smiled and took a sip of her drink. “You gave me colour, and now I’m using it. Just a little reflection of convenience.” She took another sip of her drink. “Do you remember what we were talking about?”

She took another sip of her drink. Rarity could hear the fluids moving inside the plastic straw. They screeched against each other, numbing her focus. She furrowed her brow in discomfort and the princess stopped.

“I—You were telling me about how upset you are...” Rarity said mindlessly. “About something...”

Illustrious had been crying.

She had broken down a few minutes ago. She had been so upset Rarity had to order her drink for her. Illustrious had told Rarity her favourite drink was lemonade, so she got her that. Even sipping her favourite drink didn’t dry her tears. She was upset because of Dauntless—he’d probably done something. It was a reasonable conclusion. Illustrious was always complaining about something he’d done one time or another, but she didn’t remember what caused this crying fit in particular. The ice grew in her stomach. Illustrious took a sip of her drink. Now she remembered; it was Dauntless. Dauntless had been tormenting her with fake memories. An eternity of reflections upon reflections had made her forget who she was.

Maybe that’s all Illustrious was; the pony who’d forgotten who she was in her reflections.

Rarity looked down and saw that Illustrious’ glass was filled with a red liquid. It was fruit punch. One time long ago, they had a wonderful adventure whose details were lost to time. The only thing they remembered was sailing and sipping fruit punch. After that, they had decided that fruit punch was their favourite drink.

Illustrious was crying now.

“I-I don’t remember what’s real and what’s not,” she stammered. “I-I’ve lived out so many memories and had so many reflections, that I can’t tell which ones happened and which ones I made up...”

Rarity’s tongue caught in her throat. She looked for something to say, anything to comfort Illustrious, but nothing came. She was in a situation unlike any other and experience brought her no insight. Rarity was the type of pony who learned from experience, and in order to help her she’d need to relate it to something she knew.

“Do you still love Dauntless?” she asked.

“I-I shouldn’t. He lied to me and made fun of me, but whenever I feel like forgetting him forever, it hurts really bad...”

“You still love him, don’t you?” Rarity looked her straight in the eye. She needed to know somepony was there for her.

Illustrious’ face scrunched up as she nodded. “Mhmm...” she whined.

Rarity gave her a reassuring smile. “Have no fear, Lily. No matter what you think, what you feel inside your heart always remains the same. If you loved him, you can know without a doubt that the memories that brought you to those feelings are the true ones.”

Illustrious didn’t look any more secure. “Auntie, I know that,” she said quietly. “I have thousands of reflections of certain events, each one holding the requisite level of love. Not to mention my fantasies.” The pain on Illustrious’ face intensified. Rarity wished she could somehow take Illustrious’ pain away, but part of her thought it was silly. Illustrious was just a filly having a tantrum. “I’ve fallen in love with him more times than days I’ve known him. I’ve been searching for the memory where I went wrong, so I can fix it.”

Each and every word that rolled off her tongue made Rarity sink in her seat. It may have been foolish to think, but Rarity actually thought she was beginning to understand the world. It was as simple as saving the princess from miserably living out the same memories over and over again. Yet, Illustrious was on a different level entirely and Rarity had been put in her place. She was an outsider trying to look in on a timeless entity’s innermost thoughts and feelings, trying to decipher centuries of intrapersonal turmoil.

“I’m not sure if I understand. What is there to fix?”

“I’ve hurt for so long,” she sobbed. “I’ve thought about him everyday, and even time doesn’t dull an edge that sharpens itself. My mind is relentless. I keep falling in love with him, and I want to stop.”

The entire room silenced. They both turned, the sound of shifting in their cushions meeting their ears. Rarity saw a familiar face being brought in by the hostess. It was Dauntless. He looked nervous, biting his lip. He snuck up behind Illustrious, took a deep breath, and threw on a warm smile. Illustrious’ face was the complete opposite, one of tears, pain, and hatred.

“Hey,” he said to her like an airy, lovestruck schoolcolt. “You look beautiful.”

“You’re an hour late,” she sneered. Illustrious took a sip of her drink, but she was talking too. Her eyes looked in two places at once. One pair at Rarity, and the other pair turned around at Dauntless. Rarity felt light headed—something was wrong. It was getting colder and colder.

His mouth hung open, devastated. Rarity could see complete, genuine shock on his face. He gathered himself and swung to her side. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry. I thought you said seven. Sergeant Ironside just kept talking up a storm, and I felt bad about being five minutes late, but an hour?”

“Yeah, an hour.”

“Lily...” His eyes were so true and sincere that Rarity couldn’t help but hang on every word he said. “I-I—I gotta tell you I feel like a piece of garbage right now. First day back, first time I get to see you, and I already botched it. Can I make it up to you?.”

Tears were streaming her face, but her voice didn’t waiver nor did her resolve. “No, you can’t.”

“Wh-what?” he stammered.

“You’re going to leave me alone.”

The glass mansion shattered around them silently. Millions of shards of glass exploded outward, raining down in black sparkles amidst the smoke. Illustrious’ colour left her, fading her to a dull grey. Only her burning amethyst eyes remained coloured. “I don’t want to see you again. You laughed at me before you left, and then you stood me up.”

“I-I didn’t laugh at you. I don’t even know what you’re talking about! You told me seven, and it’s seven!” he protested. He began getting teary. “Okay, whatever, maybe I need to get my ears checked. I’ll admit to being late, but you don’t mean that. Come on, Lily, I thought about you every day...”

“I said get out of my face!”

Dauntless pursed his lips and crinkled up his nose, nodding for loss of anything else to do. Maybe he was agreeing with his fate, or maybe he was thinking about how much he should be hurting right now.

“Lily,” he said, holding his tears in. “I know you’re upset. I’d be upset too, but I love you. We’re not really gonna let it end because I was an hour late, are we? Come on, I got the boat all set up. You said you wanted sailing! Out on the ocea—”

“What part of ‘get out of my face’ don’t you understand, you stupid pony?!” she shouted, shoving him away half-heartedly.

Rarity spoke out. “Illustrious! That is enough!”

She ignored Rarity. Dauntless either did the same or was unable to hear nor see her. It was at that time that the waiter came back with their drinks. He was either oblivious of or ignoring the situation. Rarity watched him place down drinks where drinks already were and weren’t.

“Lemonade, water with lemon. I shall be back in a moment to take your orders,” said the waiter.

“Fruit punch, one more fruit punch. I shall be back in a moment to take your orders,” said the waiter.

Dauntless just stared at his as he left. His eyes watered more and more with each passing second. A single tear streamed his cheek. He was a sharp pony, and it didn’t take him but a second to figure out how long she’d really been there for.

“An hour late?” He nodded sarcastially. “Yeah? Best place in town takes an hour to get your drinks out? How come I don’t believe that?!”

Illustrious took a long, screeching sip of her drink that muted the world. They began shouting ferociously at each other, but Rarity couldn’t hear them. Spit was flying as they degenerated into animals. She was going to finish her entire drink. Dauntless struck Illustrious, and she struck him back. It became gruesome quickly. Rarity watched on in horror, tears welling up in her own confused eyes. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was supposed to be a loving encounter that would set a precedent of happiness for the rest of their lives. Illustrious was halfway done with her drink, and for a moment Rarity was afraid that this would become their fate.

She heard the ghost voices again. They saved all three of them.

Illustrious would have sat there, anxiously looking about for her date. Already almost five minutes had passed. It was nothing alarming, but she’d told him seven sharp, and military ponies lived by the clock. Oh well, as long as she got to see him sometime tonight, all would be forgiven.

He would have arrived only a few minutes late. He snuck up behind the mare with the utmost stealthiness and whispered in her ear.

“Hey,” he said like an airy, lovestruck schoolcolt.

She would have squeaked in surprise and turned around to see a bouquet of flowers. He silenced her outburst by catching her lips with his own. She lit up like a fireworks display. Her body and senses melted away, If only held up by his lips. All other feeling washed away and for a moment it was just her and Dauntless. After the short kiss, he pulled away, letting her chase him a little.

“I missed you,” he would have said before kissing her again.

“Mmm,” she cooed. “I missed you too, Sweetheart. My lips feel strange. They are both quite numb and exploding with sensation. However, they are trending tinglingness negatively from the short burst only seconds ago. Care to reverse it?” she said through closed eyes.

He would have rolled his eyes and kissed her again. That one did her in. Everything was lost in the light touch; her mind, her manners, everything. They might have been shamelessly kissing in a public restaurant, but she didn’t care. This was her moment to have. She may say something stupid in a few seconds, but she didn’t care.

This had been her moment to have.

“You’re getting all silly again, aren’t you?” he said.

She would have giggled girlishly. “I can only think of one argument for why we shouldn't get married, and it's of a petty nature!”

He smiled. “Oh yeah, and what’s that?”

“It would too easy. Life would be too easy.”

Illustrious looked directly at Rarity and finished her drink.

The shouting and bickering of the two ponies in front of her replaced the ghost voices. Rarity hadn’t noticed before, but Dauntless had changed. He was now a crude metal sculpture. His body was rusty old copper, his mane was nickel painted blue, and his eyes were two small disks of copper, oxidized to a light olive colour.

“You’re completely devoid of any sort of feeling or empathy!” Illustrious cried. “Do you know how much it hurts to love a pony who can’t even love you back?!”

“See if I care. I’m leaving,” it replied metallically.

The metal Dauntless fell to dust. Soon the rest of the world followed and they were left back in the city of Asaralubat. In the pile of dust that was once Dauntless, Rarity saw a bloom of red shimmering in the grey world. It was a rose. She picked it up.

Illustrious was still crying, laid out across Dauntless’ dusty pile.

“Why did you do that? Why did you lie to him?” Rarity said quietly.

“’Cause...”

“’Cause? ’Cause isn’t good enough. Why did you do that?” she repeated.

“Because!”

“Because isn’t good enough either. He loved you. And you loved him. Why did you do that?” said Rarity. “You wanted to remember what really happened only to change it! You’re making things up and all it’s doing is hurting you. I refuse to believe you’re doing all this blindly. Now give me a good reason for why you did that!”

“Because, Auntie, he’s hurt me so much that maybe the pain needs to be reciprocated!”

“Reciprocated on who?!” she spat in disbelief. “It’s not really him! He’s an illusion; smoke in mirrors. The voices I hear, those are the real memories!” she exclaimed. “I hear love and respect in your life, and all these stupid reflections are your own bitterness!”

“You don’t know that...”

Rarity wanted to scream at her, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good. “I know when I see a hurt mare. I know it may feel like there is nothing else besides the pain, but darling, you need to let go. Once we’re back in Equestria, you can have a new life beyond this madness.”

“A new life? What else is there beyond this?! I don’t care about Equestria!”

The world melted away and they were left standing on an invisible floor among a smokey, dark void. Illustrious huffed out a small breeze through pursed lips, clearing a space and a figure. Before them, they saw Dauntless strapped to a rack, his back exposed. Dark, black gashes covered him. He let out an exhausted groan.

Illustrious snapped out a flail. Each length a different, sparkling colour. She cracked it, and in a long rainbow arc, she brought it against the stallion’s back. Rarity screamed as it connected. His cry was guttural and immediately shook Rarity’s nerves. It was savage and primal.

“Illustrious, you’re hurting him!” Rarity cried. “Have you lost your mind?! Stop it this instant!” Rarity moved against Illustrious, trying to struggling away the flail with her magic, but she was nowhere near as powerful as the princess. Illustrious ignored her, unleashing herself upon the stallion. She growled and grunted, her entire form seething with hatred and rage. Her assault was relentless, each lash erasing one part of him or another. Illustrious was crying, though. Her eyes poured amethyst stars of light across the space, covering every inch of darkness.

Each passing second of pain drained her eyes of their brilliant colour. With no end in sight, it wouldn’t be long before they lost their light too.

“Give it back! Give me back my colour! You took it from me and left me stranded in this forsaken place!” she screamed. “I gave you everything, and I want it back!”

“Illustrious!” Rarity screamed. “Stop it! You’re only hurting yourself!”

The ghost voices returned.

Illustrious would have giggled and blushed bright red as her lips left Dauntless’. “Our first kiss!” she exclaimed.

“How was it?” he asked, blushing himself.

“How was a first kiss from an absolutely gorgeous stallion?” She would have tapped her chin. “Electrifying is far too cliche. Wonderful is dull and flat. How about, cosmic?”

“Yeah, I think that describes it. Cosmic,” he parroted. His smile would have slowly faded. “I should probably get going.”

“Agreed! I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to come sailing with you! I brought my favourite colouring books and games!”

He would have bit his lip. His friends were undoubtedly watching him talk to his ‘young’ girlfriend. “Yeah, I don’t think you should come...”

“But you told me I’d get to come,” Illustrious said, her eyes wide.

“I know, but I was thinking about it. I don’t want to go sailing with you on a ship filled a bunch of other ponies. I want it to be just us.” He smiled and nuzzled her. “I think we’ll have the best time when we can just be ourselves with no one around to judge us.”

“Like when we colour our colouring books... and make sandcastles modeled after the home we’ll live in, in the future?”

He would have chuckled with a growing blush on his face. There was a warmness in his smile that came from finding the only pony in his small port town that he could still be a little kid around. “Mmhmm. I don’t want to have to deal with anymore guys who thinks it’s funny to pick onfillies who like to do little foal stuff. So, when I get back we’re going to go sailing all by ourselves, got it?”

“Most certainly!”

Then they vanished.

Dauntless continued screaming and Illustrious continued crying. The darkness was becoming pure purple. One final strike erased Dauntless completely, leaving a floating black silhouette in a world of purple. Tiny sparkle of purple left in Illustrious’ eyes finally left her. It was the last colour left in her.

She collapsed to the ground, heaving out pained sobs. She curled up into a ball as the last of her purple left her. Her tears became normal again and soon her face was a slightly soggy mess of fur.

“H-he’s gone,” she said finally. “I-I’m free.”

Rarity shook her head. “No, Princess. You’re so miserably wrong,” she said. “He’s not gone and you’re not free.” She pointed to the black silhouette who huffed out ragged breaths. “He’s right there, wondering why the love of his life beat him senseless. And you’re still trapped in your gem.”

“You don’t understand! It hurts, Auntie! You would never know! I hate sailing! I’m going to go freeze to death!” She stumbled to her hooves and ran off beyond the purple light, wailing at the top of her lungs.

Rarity considered chasing her, but she didn’t want anything to do with the princess. Not anymore, at least. Given Rarity could catch her, what would she even do? She had no idea where she was or what she was doing. Trying to talk some sense into a heartbroken girl had never worked in Equestria, let alone Asaralubat. She sighed. What had begun as an adventure to save her sister had fallen into the madness of a deranged, broken mare.

The black stallion was still choking out ragged breaths, probably struggling to stay alive if he was so in the first place. He hung by his hooves spreadeagle, probably bruised and beaten. Rarity looked off in the direction Illustrious fled and chewed her lip. The wails were growing quieter. Illustrious was creating distance. Now would be her last, and probably only, chance to follow her. She furrowed her brow and instead turned to Dauntless.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “Here, let me get you down from there.”

“P-Princess?” he stuttered blindly, still out of it.

“No, it’s just me, Lady Rarity.” She began unraveling his bindings. “I don’t know how much pain you’re in, but I’ll try and do this as quickly as possible.”

There was some silence as he gathered his strength to speak again. “Auntie Rarity...?”

“Indeed, the one and only.” He grimaced as she tugged and attempted to loosen the bindings. The ropes were tied tightly, and she didn’t know how to undo such complex knots. She resolved to use a few spells and just blast him free. Beneath the cuffs and chains were shimmering bands of his natural amber coat. The flail hadn’t stolen all his colour.

“I know she doesn’t seem like it right now, but Lily really looks up to you...” he said. For just been flogged of his colour, he seemed to have a strange calmness about him.

“Does she now?” she scoffed, gallons of sarcasm poured into her voice.

He winced as the last binding was undone and he dropped to the ground. Dauntless made no attempt to get up immediately, groaning instead. Rarity wasn’t sure if she pitied him or not as he writhed. Her trust for any sort of emotional display had plummeted, to say the least. Her most recent impasse with Illustrious had made sure of that.

Illustrious had made a mockery of all the love in her life. Everything was a lie, even the truthfulness of raw feeling. Still, she was alone, and this pony was apparently the only sentient being around. She chuckled lightly as she considered asking him if he could help her save Sweetie Belle.

“Can you stand, dear?”

“Yeah, just hurts is all.” He gathered himself and took a deep breath before standing to his full height.

It was strange talking to the stallion directly, especially when he was just a shadow. So far, Dauntless had been enigmatic to her. She never felt like she truly shared existence with him, instead being more of an ethereal visitor who he could vaguely recognize. Yet, now they spoke plainly.

“She certainly has issues, doesn’t she?” Rarity commented as the wails faded off in the distance.

“She’s just really sensitive,” he said with a smile. Rarity wasn’t sure how she knew, but from the way he talked, he sounded happy, almost endeared. “She’s been through a lot. I guess it’s all my fault for selling out Asaralubat. That really upset her. Imagine your one sanctuary being used by someone else.”

“Yes... About that.... What happened exactly? Illustrious never told me what happened between you two.”

He sighed. “It’s not really my place to say. Illustrious told me she wants to be the one to tell you. She’s kind of like that. Don’t worry, you’ll find out in a reflection.”

“I’d say I don’t understand, but I already feel like a broken record, so I won’t bother. This entire experience has been a little unorthodox.”

“Has it?” he chuckled. “I guess when you live your life in a city of cloudy mirrors, you sort of forget what’s normal and what’s not.”

“Indeed.”

There was another silence. Rarity looked around. Dauntless was looking at her as if he enjoyed nothing more than the conversation they shared. He wasn’t disturbed or seemingly aware of the fact that they stood in a featureless purple space. Rarity had tried to take that with a grain of salt, but a dead weight was forming in her gut. Where else could she go from here?

Dauntless picked up on her discomfort. She could sense him frown. The atmosphere became pensive. There was something he needed to say.

“Auntie?” he said finally.

“Yes?” she replied.

“There isn’t a lot of time. You’re entering the final hours of your stay here, while I’m entering my final minutes.”

Rarity closed her eyes, turned her head away, and sighed. “I feel the same way,” she agreed.

She wasn’t sure what compelled her to say that. She didn’t know that. It was technically new information to her, but somehow it felt right. Her stay in Asaralubat was entering its final act.

“It was great seeing Lily again, but before I go, I have to tell you something.”

“And what is that?”

He took a deep breath. “I’m the one who took Sweetie Belle...”

The relaxed, casual mood dropped like lead. Rarity turned up to glare at the stallion. No amount of pleasantry would keep her docile in the face of such a crime. At first she didn’t believe him, but could detect no dishonesty. He was sincere and apologetic, yet spoke in a tone as if it was a healed wound far in the past. He talked as if they both somehow knew of his crime, and it was forgiven.

“You what?” she seethed.

He winced at her outburst. “Little foal in the forest? Yeah, I may have had something to do with that...”

Rarity’s blood began to boil. She knew all of this was connected; her sister, these stupid ghost ponies, the soul gem—everything. She should have just thrown it out when she had the chance. It was a soul gem. How was she even okay with that in the first place?

“I’m not perfect, but look. I’ve spent my entire life trying to be a good pony. It was only last year that I decided to try something so desperate.”

“What? What do you mean, last year? That happened within the last few days! Have I been gone for a year?!”

“No, probably not, but that’s not the point, the reflection has—”

“Start making sense! I’m tired of you and your mysteries, and—” Her face scrunched like a bright red cherry. “Your talk of twinkling mirrors and such! I hope you’re aware that you should be condemned to only the worst of punishments for what you did!”

“I’m a good pony, honest!” he shouted, stomping and imposing his height over her. “I’ve saved lives before. Can’t I make a mistake?”

“I don’t care if you’ve saved the entire world! Return my sister before I tear you to pieces!” Rarity screamed, taking up an aggressive stance.

“I—I can’t. Only Illustrious can.”

“Is that so?!” she said. “Well, I don’t remember the last time I spared a foalnapper some sort of justice!”

Rarity struck him hard across the cheek, her hoof cutting deep into what she supposed was his flesh. He let his head turn with the force of the blow. He spat black.

“I deserved that.”

“Yes, yes you did!” She struck him again, this time with the other hoof. Again, it cut into him, and his face turned the other way. Black ink covered both her hooves now. “Did you deserve that one too?”

“I... don’t know.”

Once more she connected her hoof angrily to his cheek, and one last time, he simply took it. Rarity had to stand on her hind legs to reach him, barely having enough stability to cause any damage. He didn’t resist. She admired that at least he had the character to take his punishment.

He spat again. “Has anyone ever told you that you hold a striking resemblance to Illustrious?”

Rarity was about to strike him again, but stopped mid swing. She hesitated. “No—yes. Illustrious told me that when we first met. Then she told me it wasn’t true,” Rarity said, going back to all fours. She looked down and saw his black ink spattered across the floor. It was clear that her justice wasn’t doing anything but cause more pain. “Why?” she said calmly.

“She’s a terrible liar. You look just like her. Just as beautiful...” he said sincerely.

Normally she would have beamed at such a compliment, but instead it just buried the guilt deeper. She refused to look up at him. Why did she feel so guilty? He’d taken her sister, and for some reason she felt like the bad guy. “Do I now? Isn’t her mane blue while mine is purple?” she replied sheepishly.

“Sometimes it’s not always about appearances that defines beauty and if two things look the same. It’s kind of hard to explain, but when I look in the mirror, I see both myself, and someone else. We look the same, and different, at the same time.”

“How thoughtful.”

“When Illustrious looks in the mirror, she see someone else too. Now, we need you to be that someone else. I’ve cast my vote and so has Lily. You’re now the Princess of Expression.” He bowed, his muzzle nearly touching the floor.

“What are you talking about? Actually, don’t tell me, because it will be a cryptic riddle, and I think I’ve had enough headaches for ten lifetimes.”

The ice in Rarity’s stomach grew larger.

“Didn’t Illustrious tell you? Asaralubat is a democracy.”

Rarity noticed out of the corner of her eye a royal purple mane flowing in an unseen wind. She turned her head to see where it came from, but it pulled as she did. It was her own mane. When she turned around to look at Dauntless, he was gone. All that was left was a tall vanity mirror and in it, her reflection.

She was astounded when she saw her mane and tail had lengthened and been cut much in the same fashion as Illustrious’. She wore matching regalia set in onyx and sapphires instead of platinum and amethysts. Her eyes sparkled a blueish-white, much like the diamonds on her cutie mark.

She had no words, nothing to say at all. She was frustrated, but what was she going to do? She was standing in the center of what could most accurately be described as ‘simply purple’, she was being hauled about some psychotic mare’s innermost workings, and her sister’s life was still in jeopardy. To top it all off, she was the princess now, whatever that meant.

There was nothing that she could do. Considering her options were running out into the purple and getting lost, kicking the mirror, or sitting there and wondering if she’d die of starvation, nothing seemed to appeal. Maybe there was something more creative she could do, but that seemed to hold contingencies as well. In a weird way, she felt responsible for derailing Illustrious’ planned set of memories. Maybe if she hadn’t changed them, things would have gone smoother. It seemed that Illustrious had quite the stable system of memory-reliving going before Rarity showed up.

Out of wild conjectures to make, Rarity decided to take in her surroundings. It didn’t take long to find the only other thing occupying her space. Laying right in front of her was the soul gem from before, as innocent as ever. She eyed it warily. It was too obvious, too displayed to just pick up. Illustrious had probably set this up somehow in her horribly misdirected revenge of something that never happened. By picking it up, she would be playing into her hooves.

She glanced across the empty space around her and sighed. There seemed to be no other option. She picked up the gem in her hoof and looked between it and the mirror.

“Sweetie Belle, if I ever make my way out of this mess, it will be my royal decree that you may never leave my sight,” she said to herself. “The forest will be off limits forever.”

Gem in hoof, she pushed it into the surface of the mirror and the display from before repeated. Colour filled the mirror, and Rarity stepped through it, disappearing beyond its smooth glass. Where it’d take her, she didn’t know, but she knew one thing. Her first course of action would be to hunt Illustrious down and make her finish her task. They’d spent enough time playing around in their sandbox. Now it was time to get serious.

She would save her sister, no matter the cost.

Princess Luna sat alone on a cushion in Stella’s wooden cottage, watching the fire. She sipped her tea quietly. It was dark outside and would remain that way forever. This was her sanctuary, and if she didn’t want the sun to rise, it wouldn’t. It had been a long time since it last rose in earnest. Maybe recent events would change that and maybe they wouldn’t, she didn’t know. Yet, with how much had been sacrificed so far, she couldn’t rightfully give up.

There was a knock at the door.

She sighed and got up, placing her tea on the table. Who would be visiting at this hour? No pony came by so late. Not anymore, at least. A little more than a millennia ago, this place was a home, somewhere that a foal could feel safe in. Now, it was a place of darkness, ghosts, and subtlety. It was made that way by evil words that ruined lives. Luna was its protector and resident. When she felt lonely in Canterlot, she liked to go to Stella’s cottage and feel lonely there. At least there had once been love in this house, unlike that castle.

She swung the door open to meet a grey Illustrious. It was troubling to see, but her happy-go-lucky expression somehow made up for it.

“Hi! Miss me?” Illustrious said cheerfully.

Luna’s jaw dropped, her lip trembling. She took a staggered step back.

“It’s uhh—it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” Illustrious added. “You okay? You don’t look okay...”

Luna remained speechless, horrified by the pony who stood in front of her. Illustrious’ smile cracked. She scratched the back of her neck. As the awkward silence went on, Luna’s eyes grew in size, appalled. She swallowed hard, trembled, and shook her head. “Seven-hundred years... and this is all thou sayest?”

“Actually, it isn’t! There is an exceptionally long story to all this. Basically I got trapped in a soul gem, and then I brought this unicorn into it to help make the Sparkling Reflection, but then she started messing with my reflections and I went totally psycho-crazy on Dauntless,” she said quickly without pause.

“Now I’ve lost my colour, the unicorn is romping around Asaralubat without me, and apparently I’m free.” She chewed her lip for a second. “I really need to get back and finish the mirror before our little mistake happens all over again. It gets really hard to keep tabs on all the changes she makes, and without colour, her little sister is going to die.”

Luna only registered the end of her rant. “Little sister?”

“Yeah, she’s fallen into the grey. Remember that void that Celestia left? That place. I have no idea how she got there, but she’s there. Now, I promise I’ll come back and hang out with you, but I really, really need to get going.” She trotted anxiously in place. “I need my colour back. Do you have any photographs? Something to help me remember who I am? Just a tiny bit.”

“I—erhm...” Luna looked down to the corner of her eye. “This is very sudden,” she said flustered, but trying to remain composed. “Hundreds of years and you show up on my doorstep like it was just yesterday—Can I take a moment?”

“I really want to take a good five years. We have so much to talk about, but I’m really pressed for time at the moment,” Illustrious interjected. “And this isn’t your doorstep, it’s all of ours!”

“I haven’t felt that way in a long time. And please, like you weren’t always getting into one predicament or another. I can’t count how many times you told me you needed something so urgently.”

“I blame Dauntless.”

Luna smiled, but it quickly faded. “I don’t have anything for you. All of our things were lost hundreds of years ago.”

Illustrious frowned. “Have any good stories or jokes? Really, I just need anything to remind me who I am.”

“I—” Luna paused. “Are you sure you want to go back? You’re free now. You can come home and see Celestia again. I don’t know what she’ll say, but I know I’ve missed you.”

“Absolutely certain. That unicorn’s little sister is lost and I won’t let her die. Don’t worry, once I get the Sparkling Reflection operational again, I’ll be back. And what would life be like without colour?”

They both smiled.

“I won’t answer that,” said Luna.

Illustrious giggled. “Yeah, I don’t think we need reminding.”

Then they laughed. They laughed about things that they shouldn’t have laughed about. The last time that happened, ponies had been separated from their friends and their lives had been ruined. Maybe it was the tension, or maybe it was the surreality of the situation, but they laughed.

Luna saw a twinkle of colour in Illustrious’ eyes that had not previously been there. “Okay, I do have one thing to tell you... It’s kind of big. Much along the lines of what happened.”

Illustrious smiled. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

Luna blushed. “I’ve—I’ve found somepony. I’ve been able to move on. It still hurts, but everyday it gets better. We’re... in love. I think.”

Illustrious’ smile grew larger and larger. She literally lit up, colour returning over her in a wave. Their happiness reflected between them until the cottage felt warm again. Had there been better news in all the world, Illustrious couldn’t imagine it. Energy surged inside her. She wanted to explode with happiness.

“I calculate that you are very much in love! Selena, I’m so happy for you!” she gushed. The shape of the gem appeared around her in a display of red light. She began to disappear as the translucent gem took her back to her prison.

One last time Princess Selena saw Illustrious’ smile just before a bright flash blinded her. Everything was white for a moment. She heard a small object hit the floor, and when the glare subsided, she saw the soul gem laying on the doormat.

Selena picked it up and closed the door.

Rarity woke up amidst golden twilight in her own bed, her own room. Outside the sun was setting as Celestia’s daily goodbye to the world painted the sky amber. It bathed Rarity in soft, but vibrant colours. Dust hung apparent in the air, shimmering and glowing, an unseen wind stirring it gently. Rarity fluttered her lashes to see unstill air drift through space.

She looked at her hoof and turned it over. She focused beyond it, to the mirror at the far side of her room and saw her reflection. It wasn’t that of a princess, just her usual self. Her chest tightened with bated breath as she watched it, waiting for something to happen.

“Is this...” she whispered. “Was that a dream?”

Her first instinct was to say ‘no’. Asaralubat was a tricky place and this could be another one of its illusions. Still, she had hope. Maybe there was a way to tell if it was real or not. She racked her mind for everything she remembered about how the world worked. This would be a reflection if anything, so she should have the ability to change anything at will. She had to test it.

“I want a cinnamon bun...” Rarity said nervously, shaking a bit. She held her hoof out and waited for the dessert to drop into it. Nothing happened for a minute, and a smile curled across her face.

She heard a knock at the bedroom door. “Hey, Rarity?” said a familiar voice. “C-can I come in?”

Rarity’s heart leaped at the utterance. Her chest tightened up. If that was who she thought it was, this terrible nightmare would finally be over. She closed her eyes and prayed to the princess for such good fortune.

“Sw-Sweetie B-Belle?” she coughed out, an unstoppable smile growing wider and wider. “Sweetie Belle, come in here! Your big sister needs to see you right now!”

The Beauty of it All

The Beauty of it All

”What is it?” the unicorn asked.

“It’s my favourite bedtime story,” the foal replied. “It’s about two ponies that tried to be happy. I like it a lot, but it’s really sad.”

“Why? What happens?”

The unicorn flipped to the end of the simple picture book and read the last page.

One was sent to Paradise and the other to the cold darkness. In the end, their broken love sundered the world.

Sweetie Belle pushed the door further. There she stood, her sister, like nothing was wrong. It was just another day. Rarity could scarcely believe what she was seeing. This could be a reflection, but she kept telling herself it wasn’t. She didn’t want it to be. Anyway, if it was, she’d have been able to tear the entire room into two and turn it into a fashionable cape.

Yet, she had no such cape.

Sweetie Belle scratched at the carpet. “I was wondering if you still wanted to hang out today. Do you think we can try singing? Or if you don’t want to do that, you can style my mane.”

“Wh-what day is it?” asked Rarity, still completely entranced.

“It’s uhm, Sunday?”

That was the same day that Rarity left through the mirror. It also was about the same time she woke up from her nap prior to realizing her sister’s disappearance.

“O-oh... Sweetie Belle.”

Rarity eyes grew misty. She crawled out of her bed in silence, walked over to her sister, and embraced her. Sweetie Belle looked awkwardly from side to side.

“I love you, Sweetie,” she whispered.

Sweetie Belle let herself be hugged, but the uncomfortable surprise was apparent in her voice. “Rarity? You feeling okay?”

“Yes—absolutely—never better.”

That hug was more comforting than any massage, warmer than any spa hot tub, and a stronger relief than venting. Rarity could wipe her mind clean of Illustrious and reflections with her sister in her arms. She had grown somewhat attached to the princess, but knowing she was just a dream, Illustrious was estranged to a fleeting thought.

Rarity stroked Sweetie Belle’s mane and rubbed her back.

Sweetie Belle blushed. It wasn’t often she got such tender attention from her sister. She nuzzled up to her. They held that moment for a short time. Eventually, Sweetie Belle broke the embrace. Rarity’s warm, almost euphoric smile flashed a hurt look, but it passed.

“O-kay—so, are we singing or doing our manes?” she said quietly.

Rarity stuck her nose up at the filly. She had a better idea.

“Well, that’s a silly question,” she said with sudden harshness. “Do you think I really have a choice?”

“W-what? I don’t know,” she said as more of a question.

Rarity smiled. “We’re going to do something extra special tonight. Maybe it will involve both of those, but how does camping in the great outdoors sound?”

Sweetie Belle leaned away, her eyes large and bewildered. “Who are you?” she asked sharply. “What happened to Rarity?”

“She is right here in front of you, and she would like to know if Sweetie Belle would like to go camping!”

“I have school tomorrow.”

“You won’t if you’re out spending the entire day with your big sister!”

Sweetie Belle rubbed her right arm and looked to the floor from the corner of her eye, frowning. Rarity didn’t expect to be met with such a long face. In all honesty, she thought Sweetie Belle would be jumping for joy or knocked unconscious by rampant enthusiasm. Of all the things she always begged Rarity to do, camping was the fantasy pipe dream. A ‘someday’ or ‘eventually’ type of promise.

“Darling, is something wrong? If you don’t want to miss school, you don’t have to! You’ve always talked about how much you wanted to camp, and I thought an entire day together would be even more fun!”

“No, it’s not that—”

“Or if you don’t want to sing or do manes, we don’t have to! I just want to do whatever you want to do!”

“Are you sure? You hate the outdoors.”

That particular statement cut Rarity deep. It was the reason why she lost Sweetie Belle to begin with, and she would never let that happen again.

“No, I’m positive. I’ve been meaning to take you out camping, and if it means getting a little dirty as well—that’s what baths were made for! Look, I even prepared us saddlebags!”

Rarity opened her closet and revealed two primed and ready bags filled with camping supplies. She threw on her most convincing, enthusiastic smile, and even hopped with a happy giggle.

Sweetie Belle lit up.

“Wow!” She scurried over to the bags and stuck her head under the flaps. “Look! There are nets for catching bugs, and canned beans, and a telescope!”

“Won’t this be a smashing time?!”

Later that night, the sisters sat before a roaring campfire. Rarity didn’t think they’d make it to her special spot in time, but the late afternoon sun seemed to stay in the sky forever. For hours they hiked until finally they reached the forest clearing.

Rarity gently placed the toasted marshmallow on the graham cracker and chocolate. It smashed the gooey, sugary cream perfectly.

“Now, it is merely my own preference, but the next step is to simply shove the whole thing in your mouth,” Rarity said. She proceeded to take the entire treat and do that. It took some maneuvering, but eventually it fit. She chewed it messily.

“How uncouth! A real lady would take small, polite nibbles,” replied Sweetie Belle playfully.

“Darling!” Rarity swallowed her mouthful. Sticky marshmallow and chocolate cracker crumbs littered the corners of her mouth. She took a napkin and patted herself. “S’mores are the only exception to the rule.”

“Oh yeah? Why is that?” Sweetie Belle followed her sister’s example and shoved the whole thing in her mouth.

“S’mores are the stuff of our foalhood. To preserve the sanctity of our of innocence, one must take special care to always treat at least one memory like a foal,” explained Rarity. “I used to always eat s’mores this way as a child, so I do now, and always will. If I’m not careful, I may one day forget what it was like to be so young.”

Sweetie Belle watched her sister with wide, confused eyes, her mouth full of sugar.

“Also, a finely made s’more is nearly impossible to eat without making a mess...” she conceded.

Sweetie Belle struggled to chew her mouthful and ended up just forcing it down in one big lump.

“Are you sure you’re Rarity? You’re acting nothing like the Rarity I know,” she said. “You even got dirt on your hooves and didn’t scream or squeal or anything.”

Rarity was definitely aware of the dirt. It was on her hoof right now—taunting her—begging her to be washed up.

Earlier that day, they’d been chasing down a butterfly. It had taken nearly ten minutes to catch up to the brilliant blue creature, but Sweetie Belle had finally crept her way up on it. The entire time, Rarity had agilely avoided any sorts of grime or dirt, much to her pleasant surprise.

As fate would have it, the second Sweetie Belle got close to the butterfly, Rarity had rubbed up against an anthill. She stifled her scream though. A yelp of dirt induced trauma would have startled the butterfly away and made their effort vain.

To make sure that her valiant sacrifice was worth it, Rarity had hit the creature with a brilliance spell, turning it from a regular insect to a flapping spectrum of dazzling colours. Sweetie had sat there for some time, lost in its beauty.

“Me? Scream at dirt? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Rarity stuck her dirty hoof out, admiring it.

“Yeah huh! You’re just being weird right now!”

“Don’t you just adore how this particular piece of filth perfectly accents my extremities?”

Rarity’s eye twitched. She had to constantly remind herself how much she more she loved Sweetie Belle over being clean.

Sweetie Belle shook her head and went back to looking at the fire. “Like I said, weird.”

“If you find this odd, you will absolutely floored by what sorts of activities I have planned for tomorrow!”

“Like what?!”

“Patience, little sister. Since I’m spoiling you so much, you must be patient!” Rarity tapped her chin a few times apprehensively. “My, my... I am spoiling you, aren’t I? No school, a camping trip, a whole day of roughing it in outdoors...”

Sweetie Belle hugged her sister.

“Love you, sis!”

She chuckled. “Of course. Anything for you, darling.”

Close in her arms, Sweetie Belle nestled up to her big sister. Rarity could not imagine anywhere else she’d rather be than exactly where she was; in a tent, cuddling her baby sister next to a kindling fire. The clear night air was quiet, but Rarity’s song broke that silence.

If happy little bluebirds fly above the rainbow

Why, oh, why can’t I?

She let the last note ring in the air.

Silence.

“I love you too, sister,” whispered Rarity finally.

Rarity awoke the next day, still in her tent. She could smell the fresh pine air and feel the retreating nippiness of the night as Celestia brought warmth back to their world. Her sister was peacefully sleeping and still in her arms. She released a deep sigh of relief. She had been skeptical of her return to Equestria, but she still couldn’t create anything at will like she’d done in the previous reflections.

Rarity dug her nose into Sweetie Belle’s coat, gently nudging her awake.

“Sweetie, love, time to wake up,” she said softly. “We have a big day ahead of us.”

She didn’t stir. Rarity placed her cheek against her and spoke on top of her.

“Sweetie Belle, ‘tis unbecoming of a lady to sleep so late,” she cooed. “Don’t you want to go and sing to nature? Maybe to a rainbow? Oh, I know an absolutely perfect song for singing to a rainbow!” Rarity pressed her face a little closer to the foal. “Sweetie...?”

Worry began to seed itself in Rarity’s heart. Something was wrong. A tiny detail was present that shouldn’t have been. Even worse, she still couldn’t figure it out. It was something vital, critical, and staring her straight in the face. Her legs went cold and numb in an unnatural chilliness. She began checking around for signs of the princess, reflections, or anything else out of the ordinary.

Then the ice in her stomach began to grow. Her heart nearly stopped. It only lasted a second, but it was the undeniable sign that she was exactly where she didn’t want to be. While there was little point in denying the truth, there was even less point in accepting it anymore.

Truth was a far-gone thing.

She began trembling, holding her breath. She wanted to scream, but didn’t want to wake her sister. She let her panic build inside her as she frantically searched for the oddity. She became frantic.

Then she learned what was wrong. It was almost anti-climatic. She expected something dramatic to give it away, but it was the lack of something that should have been there. It crushed her nonetheless.

Sweetie Belle wasn’t breathing, and her heart wasn’t beating.

Rarity lifted her ear from her sister’s chest and looked down at her. Tears welled up in her eyes immediately. Her first instinct was to call her name, but she bit her tongue. On top of that, she felt a wave of nausea overcome her. She choked it back down.

Her lungs burned as she realized she hadn’t taken a breath for almost a minute. She drew into her lungs the fresh scent of death that now hung apparent in the air. Rarity’s urge to scream rose up again, but instead she bit her tongue hard, tasting blood. She wouldn’t be like Illustrious, who howled and wailed over loss. No, dignity had always been a close companion. So she was quiet as she cried.

She cried for some time. It was only when Rarity finally managed to pry herself from her sister that she found a glass shard between them, a piece of the Sparkling Reflection. It was one-half of a hand mirror, cut cleanly down the center. It was gilded and decorated; a fine piece.

She stepped outside the tent to see Illustrious sitting thoughtfully besides the entrance. Rarity glared at her with a mixed look of sorrow and crazed anger. She shook slightly, new tears forming. Illustrious glanced at her, but looked away shamefully.

“I’m sor—” began Illustrious.

“No. No, you’re not...” replied Rarity.

“I really am...”

“No, you’re not!” she shouted. “I’m sure your eavesdropping has made you so wonderfully aware of what happened in that tent. Or maybe you watched somehow?!”

Illustrious laughed nervously, avoiding eye contact. “It was the second one... I just wanted to check on you. Funny thing about invisibility spells...”

Rarity was left breathless. There were no words for Illustrious’ shameless voyeurism. It had been a black joke, something she could never have expected to happen, but apparently she had underestimated even Illustrious.

“You are truly a heartless pony...” said Rarity

“Yeah, okay. I can live with that.”

It felt like Rarity’s innards were tearing themselves apart. She wanted to thrash Illustrious, but maintained her poise. She wanted to berate her, but she kept her thoughts civil. The pain of her self hatred and of losing Sweetie Bell had already incensed her, but the anger remained within the realm of semi-self-control.

“How dare you!” she screamed.

“Wh-what did I do?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?! I thought I was home! I thought that Asaralubat was a dream! Instead I’m back in this wretched world, and I woke up with my sister dead in my arms!”

“You were happy when you were with her. Was there something wrong with letting you be happy?”

“My sister died in my arms last night! Do I look happy?!”

“It’s not my fault. I didn’t hurt you, you hurt you,” she said stoically.

“So, it’s my fault that you didn’t tell me this was a reflection?! Or is it my fault that I even had this reflection?!”

Illustrious bit her lip and rubbed the back of her neck. Never once was she able to look Rarity in the eye.

“Err, no, but technically your attachment to your sister is what hurts. Since you are deeply connected to her, her death, real or fake, will cause you pain.”

“Oh, really?” chided Rarity with pure venom. “Thank you for enlightening me to your most brilliant philosophy. If you love a pony, you may be sad when they die. Pray, I wouldn’t know what I’d do without you, Princess.”

Illustrious furrowed her brow. “You could always stop loving her!” She covered her mouth immediately. Rarity glared at her, a fiery rage burning in her eyes.

“W-wait, t-that came out wrong...”

Rarity nodded and let out a few short, exasperated laughs.

“Yeah, it really did,” she jeered. A wicked, malicious grin came over her face. “Is that what you did? After Dauntless beat you, did you think the pain would go away if you pretended you never loved him?”

A look of pure horror came over Illustrious’ face. Her mouth went agape and her eyes widened.

“But, it didn’t go away, did it?” Rarity pushed further. “Love doesn’t just go away like that, and neither does pain.

“I—It didn’t... ”

Rarity didn’t even grace her with a response. Satisfied with making her cry, she turned her back on Illustrious and walked back to the tent.

“Rarity! I’m sorry! For everything!”

Illustrious’ words fell on deaf, bitter ears. Rarity slipped into the tent and emerged a few moments later levitating a small bundle of blankets. The princess continued to call out after Rarity, but was ultimately ignored as the unicorn walked off towards the meadow.

Rarity sat before the small mound of dirt reflectively. The tears had dried up a while ago, but her eyes were still bloodshot and puffy. She was calm now. The grave was bare. There wouldn’t be a gravestone, but maybe she wouldn’t need one. The act of burying her sister felt like it had been enough.

It felt real, despite being a reflection. She was always one for doing things formally, but she found herself satisfied without the common rituals of a funeral. She didn’t want any words said. She didn’t want any stories told about Sweetie Bell’s life. She didn’t even want any other pony to be there. Rarity just wanted it to be between her and her baby sister. It was the last memory she’d ever have with her, and it was special.

The tiny grave sat against as stark contrast to the beauty of everything around her.

The day was perfect. The wind blew her mane lightly and lapped the meadow, sending waves down the greenery. Wild flora bloomed in the brightness of the spring sun. The sky was mellow and the clouds, lazy. Rarity should have been doing anything else with her sister besides burying her.

A spinning sunflower passed in front of her face, gently carried in the wind. Another one chased it, playfully following the first’s path. In them, Rarity saw two sisters. They were herself and Sweetie Belle as they should be, playing in the wind together. Together they came to fall on Sweetie Belle’s grave. It was so ideal and bittersweet that Rarity couldn’t help but smile.

A powerful gust brought a new wave of sunflowers that whirled up around her, not a single one touching her. The swarm danced around the unicorn. Rarity ignored them, her eyes fixed on the dirt. She felt one last tear well up. It was a needlessly poetic gesture, but Rarity positioned herself so that the tear would fall on Sweetie Belle.

“I love you, little sister. Be good, and I promise to join you soon.”

Rarity opened her eyes and saw a glass shard on resting on top of the grave. It was the other half of the hand mirror from before. She levitated it and drove it into the ground. Rarity decided Sweetie Belle’s grave looked much better with a tombstone.

The sunflowers left her and moved on, flying far into the distance.

Illustrious approached slowly from behind. Rarity heard her, but didn’t turn around. The anger from before had been buried with Sweetie Belle. All that was left was solace and somber love. Illustrious noticed the grave. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

“Me too,” Rarity replied. “I... said some things I shouldn’t have.”

There was a comfortable silence.

“Is that a shard?”

Rarity’s heart hardened a bit. “No. That’s the memory of Sweetie Belle. It stays with her.”

“Oh, I see...”

More silence. Rarity didn’t want to say anything, but Illustrious did, and broke the silence. “This is probably a bad time, but we have a situation.”

“Can’t it wait? Please, I need a day.” Rarity never tore her eyes from her sister’s grave. She knew that they’d need to get back to work soon, but some things needed time.

“I’m so sorry... but this can’t wait. If I’m reading into this right, we may not have a day...”

Rarity closed her eyes and shook her head. “What? What could be so important?”

Illustrious gulped hard. “I... I saw you hanging from a tree on the way here.”

“What?” replied Rarity, only half-listening.

“I actually saw exactly four of you hanging from various trees on the way here,” corrected Illustrious to herself.

“What? What do you mean, you saw me hanging from a tree?”

“You had committed suicide,” she said. “Four times. I am under the impression that you are becoming suicidal. The real you, that is.”

Rarity turned around and let her eyes wander from her sister’s grave to meet Illustrious’. She had heard what she said, but it hadn’t sunk in yet. “You—you saw me hanging from a tree? And what do you mean ‘the real me’?”

“Yeah, it was unsettling the first time, but after seeing it a few more times, I knew it was a reflection.” Illustrious dug at the dirt. “Well, you haven’t exactly left Equestria. The real you is still there doing exactly what you would be doing.”

Rarity nodded her head. That was yet another question that had been on her mind for awhile, but she had never gotten around to asking.

How long had she been gone?

“So, there is a doppelganger masquerading as me running around Equestria?”

“It’s still you. She’s actually more you than you are. And right now, I think she’s very sad... this is all a reflection and if I’m reading this right, you haven’t taken Sweetie Belle’s disappearance very well.”

Rarity closed her eyes and took a sweet breath of floral air. “She’s... she’s dead to me. That’s what this means.” Both of their eyes fell to the small grave. “I blame myself.”

“We can still save her.”

Rarity nodded her head sadly. “That is no longer my motivation. She’s dead and I’ll do my best to save you and myself,” said Rarity solemnly. “If she is alive I will be happier than I’ve ever been, but I can’t bring myself to believe that anymore.”

“Auntie, you’re behaving negatively—more so than usual. Are you sure you’re alright to continue?”

She burst out suddenly. “What else am I going to do?! My sister’s dead, I’m trapped in here alone with a pony who can’t get her life together after Celestia knows how long, and to top it all off I have this unerring desire to kill myself! Now, if you can tell me the positive side to all this, please do not restrain yourself!”

Illustrious narrowed her eyes at the petty insult. “Take us back to Asaralubat, Princess. We have two more reflections to live out.”

Rarity’s mane and tail extended once again, blowing in the breeze. Her regalia materialized in a subtle translucent effect. All the while, the world shifted away from the meadow back into the city. She didn’t know what she had done, but Rarity had somehow returned them to Asaralubat.

Except this Asaralubat was neither dead nor grey.

The streets were paved with bold looking blue and purple tiles. The buildings were made of pure sapphire, diamond, gold and platinum. Around them, everything gleamed and sparkled in the sunlight and clearness of daylight. They stood in the park from before. The grass was made of a soft, organic material with the depth and reflectiveness of a perfect emerald. In the trees of similar visage, Red jays of ruby chirped and sang. High above them, the blue sky held a thematically similar sheen, but it was softer.

“Is this some sort of bribe? That girl loves gems, so if I turn everything into precious stones, she’ll come along easier?” Rarity sneered.

“Not at all. Princess, this is your Asaralubat,” exclaimed Illustrious with cheer. “Mine is so dark because my reflections are old and tired. I’ve let myself become bitter over the years and the city reflects that. Yours on the other hoof... It’s quite beautiful.”

Rarity snuffed out the urge to smile. “So, what’s next? Aren’t you going to whisk us off to someplace new? And equally confusing?”

“Nope! We’re going to go for a nice walk through this lovely city!” “Because in about ninety seconds it’s not going to matter!”

She trotted off humming Rarity’s song.

Rarity laughed. “Oh yes, that’s right. Something large and terrifying is about to happen. How could I forget that irrefutable mechanic of this silly world?” Rarity said, dripping with sarcasm. She began to harmonize Illustrious’ song.

For ninety seconds they sang together. When they finished Rarity afforded a genuine smile. “Okay, let me guess! We are going to go sailing!” Rarity said. She was done taking anything seriously. She’d cracked and fallen into a spiral of cynicism. Her sister was dead, she was about to kill herself, and the last pony who could help her just wanted to sing. Admittedly, it was all her fault, but why despair when she could feign cheeriness?

“Nope! Guess again!”

Rarity was starting to understand how Illustrious looked so happy all the time. It wasn’t that she truly was, but when one felt dead on the inside, happiness could be a choice—a morbid choice. She could pretend to be happy, or pretend to be sad.

“We’re going to—jump off a cliff! Oh, that sounds wonderful!”

“Nope! You’re getting closer though!”

“We’re going to run for our lives?!”

“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!”

Illustrious trotted in place and limbered up. Rarity quickly followed her example. They spent a few goofy moments doing the most ridiculous stretches they could think of. Illustrious even made faces while she did, stretching her mouth and sticking her tongue out. Rarity was not that far gone yet—but she did laugh.

“We’re running down that street?” Rarity pointed to the one just to the left of where they were facing. It reminded Rarity a little of Manehattan, though it was more colourful. There were skyscrapers flanking the street, modern construction, and utilities like lamps and public trash cans.

“What other street would we run down?!”

Rarity looked around and behind her. All the other outlets surrounding the park had become dark and grimy. Even as they spoke, the gem world was starting to lose vibrancy. High above her in the distance she saw the Colour Eaters approach from behind.

“There is not another street in the world I’d prefer to run on!” exclaimed Rarity.

“So, on three?!”

“One,” started Rarity.

“Two!” replied Illustrious.

“Three!” they said together.

They ran. It was a sprint to escape the Colour Eaters and the greyness they brought. They left everything behind; their worries, their colour, everything that made them who they were. They laughed as they ran, because their choice to pretend to be happy meant they had to laugh. Golden memories passed by them in a stream of colour. It all blurred together; the buildings, roads, and signs.

She thought of Sweetie Belle, and as she did, the foal was running next to her. She cried out to Rarity, but Rarity didn’t have the heart to say anything. Sweetie Belle told her that she was getting tired and needed help, but Rarity ignored her like the horrible sister she was.

Sweetie Belle told her that she was scared.

And Rarity stayed home and ate chocolates.

The foal hit the end of her line and fell behind. She screamed and cried, and in a sickening crunch, the greyness consumed her.

She thought of her friends. Soon they were running alongside her, begging her to help them. Rarity left behind a trail of tears as she ran. Each one of her friends just wanted her help. They were running for their lives, and Rarity could save them with the utmost of ease. But she didn’t. She left them behind.

One by one, the sickening crunches behind her. She listened to her failures, but didn’t stop.

Her parents, her peers, ponies of distant memories—they appeared next to her as she ran, but were all too slow. The grey caught them and Rarity forgot who they were. Yet they were still there, in her memories; not as who they were, but as reflections upon reflections.

They blamed her for so many things, yet she was only one pony. They demanded her time and affection, and did they return it? Maybe, but it felt better to say ‘No, they didn’t.’ She was the victim and had been taken advantage of.

Her whole life she had been taken advantage of. She was always such a good pony, and no one appreciated her.

Twilight always thought she was smarter than Rarity. She talked down her nose to Rarity like she was an imbecile. Fluttershy was far prettier, but her humility kept her from ever flaunting off the truth. It was infuriating and pretentious. Rainbow Dash was more popular and all she did was fly fast. Rarity needed to put hundreds of hours of work into dresses to be only half as popular. Everyone loved Applejack. She was the hero and had even won an award for her helpfulness despite Rarity generously giving them everything they wanted. And as for Pinkie Pie, she was just silly and everyone adored her. She did nothing besides whatever her little heart desired, and everything worked out perfectly for her.

All her friends were better than her, each being her friend only out of pity. Yet, when she needed them most, they found excuses to ignore her. She would die alone. Her only companion was the pony in the mirror of her showroom stage. Yet, even her reflection was an uncaring stranger. She brought the ice closer to her stomach.

“I don’t need to live anymore, Illustrious! I’m a worthless pony no one would ever miss!” cried Rarity. She’d die alone, and not even a stranger would be there for her.

The darkness had almost caught up to them. She didn’t even know where she was running anymore. All that was in front of her was colour and all that was behind her was the lack of it. Memories surrounded her on all sides by ponies she cared about, or used to care about. She couldn’t tell which was which anymore. She didn’t care about what was what anymore. Colour, grey—they were all the same.

“It’ll all be over momentarily! Soon you’ll be able to see what I see,” Illustrious cried back. “This is our city! Maybe we never knew each other in life, but in our reflections we’re going to be sisters! We look too much alike!”

“This isn’t real!”

The ice grew in her stomach.

It hit her like a freight train. A sudden wall of water that flooded the streets. She remembered being thrashed around, violently colliding with the structures around her. The ice grew again. The buildings were no longer there. Her flailing madness subsided and she became still. Soon she was calm. Instead of a city, she was in an infinite ocean. It was warm and, after the initial shock, comforting. Far below her was an ocean floor of pearly white sand, and far above was the light of day and the blue sky above that.

She let herself relax, drifting aimlessly in the sea. The current was her master, but she didn’t mind it. She felt a wiggling body in her embrace.

Sweetie Belle was cuddling in her arms as they drifted. They didn’t need to breathe. They couldn’t speak, but words would have been meaningless. For hours they let the current move and massage them. It rolled them about, sometimes quickly, sometimes slower. They fell up and down through the bright, whitish-blue ocean, smiling with glee as the current rushed them. There was nothing on Rarity’s mind but them together, her and her sister.

The shard of glass from before was in her hoof. It reflected light as a technicolour rainbow. It was beautiful, but it made her uncomfortable. Something about it reminded her of something she knew wasn’t true. Deciding she didn’t need it, she dropped it. The sparkling shard fell toward the ocean floor. It was a single tear that fell in slow motion from the two sisters.

Sweetie Belle also had a shard of glass. Following her sister’s example, she dropped it too. Two sparkling tears fell. Relieved, they closed their eyes and went to sleep. In a few hours they’d wake up wherever the current took them.

Rarity was happy.

“Are we gonna live in a castle like this when we get older?” said the voice of a young Dauntless.

Illustrious put up another pair of cards. “Only if you live in it with me. Also, I get to be princess.”

“Yeah, but I get to be king!”

“No,” she whined. “You have to be my prince!”

“B-but... you’re a girl and stuff.”

“I don’t care, I want you to be my prince, so you have to.”

He blushed. “Alright, fine... You’re really pretty, so you’d make a good princess,” he said, placing his own arc of cards on the castle. “’Cause princesses have to be pretty.”

Now it was her turn to blush.

“Really? You think so?” dreamed Rarity.

Rarity coughed up a gulp of water as she stumbled into wakefulness. Her head spun. She thought she saw rainbow fire and coughed up another bucketful of water.

“Oh good, you’re awake!” said Illustrious with a smile.

Through squinted eyes, Rarity tried to find the source of the voice. The ground she laid on moved. She looked around and saw the raft from before.

“What the...?”

Even more shocking was the ocean they drifted on. Far beneath the surface of the water, the dusty city was washing and eroding away. Massive skyscrapers were falling and crashing to the ground in huge piles of dust. The entire city was being wrecked and destroyed in a grand display. Around her, the giant colour eaters floated just below the surface, dead. Only a fraction of their mass poked up through the water, but they were still a few stories tall. She couldn’t help but stare as they floated between two of them.

“We have one last reflection to live out...” Illustrious said. “It’s at the citadel. We’ll be there soon, and then we can go home!”

Rarity groaned. “I feel unwell... and sad.”

“Hold on, Auntie.” She took Rarity’s hoof in her own. “Think happy thoughts until we get there. Life is worth living, and I don’t want you to forget that.”

A few hours passed and soon the grand structure came into view. The Citadel of Asaralubat was everything that Rarity imagined it’d be. In fact, it was her own imagining—the fantasy castle from before. It sat atop a rocky cliff with a small wooden village before it. It was strange, out of place amidst the the rest of the modern city. At the very top rose a tower and balcony that peaked just above the water.

Eventually their raft came to bump up against the balcony of the tower. Illustrious picked her friend up and flew her over the railing. Rarity turned around to see a breathtaking sight.

The sun was rising between two derelict Colour Eaters. Its light shined down upon the decaying city, wiping all of it away. Its rays dissolved each building on contact, effacing them like a shadow. What was left below the ocean was a pearly white, sandy floor.

“Ready, Princess Rarity?” asked Illustrious with a smile. “This is it.”

Rarity felt an icy tingling in her gut again. It grew larger. It felt huge now.

“Just do it, darling.”

The world around her began to shift.

Illustrious walked out to the end of a grand, marble courtyard, high atop a mountain cliff. It overlooked an equally grand marble city that stretched on forever. Vast monuments of heroic ponies towered up from the skyline, breaking the fuzzy glow of the gleaming city.

Around her were statues of six ponies cast in silver, three of which she recognized. One was of Princess Celestia sitting, warmly holding a foal in her embrace. Another was of Princess Luna standing proudly, a look of determination on her face. The last one she recognized was Illustrious. Her statue was rather plain though, merely displaying the princess sitting atop a cushion.

Illustrious walked towards the end of the balcony. Dauntless stood there, looking thoughtfully out over the city. The wind whipped his mane wildly about his face. As Illustrious approached, the wind was suppressed by an unseen force.

He exhaled a sigh without turning around. “Illustrious,” he said.

“Dauntless,” she replied.

In the distance, a blanket of clouds broke from beneath the horizon and blanketed the sky. One half of the clouds were storming, bringing lighting and rain across the land. The other half was pure and white, basking everything else in a glowing, glaring white light. Whether it be in darkness or light, the city was shrouded and forgotten.

She walked up close to him, nuzzling her cheek against his neck. His eyes remained on the distant horizon. He looked grim but collected. Worry riddled his face.

“They’re about to tear the world apart,” he said. There was a pause as he cherished Illustrious’ touch one last time and looked to the clouds. “They’re already tearing the world in two... Isn’t the last day of anything always the worst? You spend so much time trying to do something meaningful, and when it ends, it just doesn’t feel right.”

Illustrious had the soul gem gripped tightly in her wing behind her back. He hadn’t seen it, and Rarity was sure that was intentional.

“That’s because it isn’t right. You know it doesn’t have to be this way. I’m going to need you in Asaralubat,” she said.

“Do you really need to keep on saying that?” he said with sudden anger. Illustrious didn’t back away though. “I’m going to think about you every single day, alone and afraid, and you know what? I don’t care. This is the price of immortality; to be alone.”

“Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean we have to.”

“Somepony has to stay here. Rosetta has to go to Paradisium. You have to go to Asaralubat. That’s the way it is.”

“No... it isn’t.” Two sparkling tears streamed down her face and fell to the ground. “You said we could be together... forever...”

The soul gem began glowing intensely as Illustrious flourished it. She drew it back as if to strike him. Dauntless noticed it and immediately his soldier’s training kicked in. He countered, blocking her hoof. She screamed as she tried to push through his bulk, but he was too strong. He tried to push her away, but she changed her tactic and latched onto him, getting as close as possible.

The soul gem projected its prisms and walls outwards, creating a cage of light. It was roughly large enough to contain the two of them. As they struggled, the projected surfaces began to materialize, solidifying their fate. Panicked, Dauntless struck Illustrious’ stomach hard, causing her to keel over. He stood there, appalled with himself. He stayed out of her gem’s damning area, but fell to his knees.

“I don’t want to live without you!” she cried.

“I-I’m so sorry—I’m so, so sorry!” he whimpered.

“Come with me! We can share an eternity together in this gem! Just come into the light.”

He tried to reason with her. “I—I can’t! I have a duty here.”

She desperately reached out for him, but he kept his distance. They were clawing, little bids for one last touch of his hoof. They were equal parts pathetic and heartbreaking to Rarity.

And then it was clear to both mares.

Dauntless had hit Illustrious to save himself. She had wanted to spend her life beside him. Like the ending to all relationships that should have been good and enduring, it was a misunderstanding. And like the bitterness that follows, everyone involved leaves without the truth. The true feelings had been hidden beneath daily reflections brought on by the pain of loving someone and having them ripped from one’s arms.

Yet, as much as it hurt to be away from them, as easy as it was to be angry, remembering love with pain only brought more pain.

Were there a better time to have an epiphany, Rarity could not imagine it. As if preordained, a thought came to her mind. It was not preceded by any relevant thoughts, and left only blank thoughtfulness in it’s wake. It was odd, but from what she saw, nothing was clearer.

The thought was this:

Remember the love of your life, with all the love in your life, thought Rarity. Don’t let them hurt you when all they did was love you.

And that was the beauty of it all.

Illustrious broke down further in her helplessness and curled up. The gem was growing brighter, and soon it would seal her in.

“Please... we’ll be happy...” she said.

“I know... it would be too easy, but I can’t. I promise to come back to you when all this is over!” he consoled. “Wait—Just wait for me.”

“I’d rather die!”

She took the small gem and jabbed it in her stomach, drawing blood. She jabbed again, cutting deeper into her gut. She screamed in pain, but continued stabbing herself to death.

The ice in Rarity’s stomach grew larger, and now it was painful. The princess drew back the gem to stab herself again. Dauntless and Rarity looked on in horror. He tried to scream something, and despite his reservations, he ran to her side and ripped the knife from her grip.

The ice grew larger and the gem turned into a knife.

Rarity would have brought it back against herself one last time before falling to the ground.

Rarity would have been on her showroom stage, a knife solidly in her hooves. It was buried deep inside her. The ice became warm. It was her warm blood, oozing out from the wound. She buried it further inside her gut. She took it out and jabbed again. She wanted to scream, but didn’t.

She had been a terrible sister. She’d let Sweetie Belle die on her watch. Her parents trusted her, and she let them down. Two other little fillies would ask her why she didn’t go with her through the forest, and she wouldn’t have an answer. She’d lounged about all day and ate chocolates.

All she would have felt was guilt for leaving behind Sweetie Belle. With every inch deeper the knife sank, so did the guilt. It was crushing her and she wasn’t strong enough to hold herself up. Soon she’d be free of it. Her vision went fuzzy. She wanted to jab again, but now she was cold.

She would have dropped the knife and fallen to the floor.

Illustrious picked up the knife from Rarity’s corpse, sobbing profusely. She’d been too slow. Rarity couldn’t forgive herself for Sweetie Belle’s death, so she took the easy way out. Illustrious had never felt such profound guilt in her life.

She was alone on the beach outside Asaralubat, her entire city reduced to sand. It was pure and undisturbed, perfect in every way. She gathered the rest of her things. Before her were the six pieces of the Sparkling Reflection, the six pieces that would remind her of herself.

A deck of cards from which she made her dreams. The shovel and pail that she tried to make the real thing with, but were ultimately washed away in the tide. A rose, the promise of love should she succeed. Two shards of the same mirror, her delusion broken, and finally the knife that she used when she was too afraid to stop pretending.

That was who she was.

Selena was sitting in her cottage and contemplating the future when a small rock she’d only recently acquired burst into life. From a distance it was a brilliant maroon. She rushed over to inspect it and saw that the inside was not simply maroon anymore. She saw in its depths a myriad of colours, and not just the colours themselves. Living in it were the spirits of the colours as well; verdant greens, fiery reds, and oceanic blues. There were more colours and feelings in the rock than she knew existed.

Then, without warning, it fell dull. But it wasn’t even red anymore. Now it was grey. At first she was perplexed. A soul gem would sparkle if there was a soul inside of it. Had a soul just been recently acquired and freed in a few seconds? Did the soul die?

If Illustrious was free, then she’d be here any second. Selena watched the door in anticipation. After a few minutes passed, she was starting to lose hope.

Then a knock came.

Rarity awoke on the beach, whole and alive. She grasped at her stomach as she remembered how she got there.

Upon realizing she was indeed whole and alive, she took in her surroundings.

The beach was nothing but a featureless, white scape. The only other thing there was a mirror. She looked in it and saw her reflection. She forgot everything she knew, enchanted by the mare in the mirror.

She wore a smashing set of hoof ornaments, a tiara, and a necklace. They were crafted of slick onyx and sapphires. She smiled. They were really pretty. Her mane was cut jagged, but stylishly, the long locks flowing in an invisible wind. Her tail was the same. Her eyes sparkled whitish-blue. She even had large, opalescent wings.

After admiring herself in the mirror for some time, she frowned. Something was wrong. This wasn’t her.

Suddenly she felt alone. She needed somepony to talk to. Out of the sand she crafted a pony, a companion. It was a monstrosity. Its nose and ears were in the wrong places and its eyes were uneven. It barely provided a decent conversation, instead degenerating into petty gossip. She nixed it and tried again. The second one was better, but still not good enough.

She went on to create another, and then another.

Her labours didn’t go unnoticed. So much creation attracted a tall, black figure. It approached her from behind. It was a floating, dirty white masquerade mask with pink feathers around its edge. It hovered just above a long flowing, black cloak. It stared at her with indeterminable intention.

When Rarity saw it, she was afraid at first, but then it told her who it was and her tension eased. They chatted for a long while, sharing stories and experiences. By the end of it, Rarity felt much better. She said goodbye to her old friend and promised to come visit her in the future as friends should.

Before it left, it gave her a piece of paper and a quill. It told her that it would be some time before she would be able to see her friends. It told her to write them a letter telling them she was okay. She thanked her friend for the gift and it left her.

After spending an indescribable amount of time drawing out and editing her letter in the sand, Rarity was satisfied. She wouldn’t this precious message on a spur-of-the-moment dictation.

No, it would be perfect. It had to be perfect.

She reviewed it one last time before beginning to write the only letter she’d get to send.

Dear Sweetie Belle,

There is so much to say and not enough words in this world to say it with. This may be the last time you ever hear from me. I’ll try my best to get back to you, but until then, this letter will have to count for a lifetime if need be. An angel told me that I can send one letter back to Equestria, and I dedicate it to you. Tell the girls, Mother, and Father that I love them and miss them.

There are many things I never told you, Sweetie Belle. I never told you how greatly opposed I was to having you stay with me for that week. When mother and father first brought you over and reminded me of my sisterly duty of babysitting, I thought it would be a nightmare. I never told you how I thought our first day was a complete nightmare. You wrecked the kitchen, ruined my sweater, and, heaven forbid, organized my room. I tried to maintain composure, but throughout the day your help bore down on me to the last nerve. After which, I said the most hurtful things I will ever say. That was when the real nightmare began.

I never told you how, as the day went on, I found that every single thing you did ended up working out for the better. The shrunken sweater? It fit Opal perfectly. The only reason you don’t see it is because I was so embarrassed that I gave it to Fluttershy. My entire summer fashion line? Inspired by your orderliness. Where I was stuck for months in my organized chaos with deadlines bearing down on me, you removed my block with a simple courtesy that I failed to see as anything but an annoyance. You may think I’m forgetting to mention one last piece, but I’m avoiding it on purpose.

Nothing needs to be said about that picture. Of all the things I didn’t tell you, I think this should continue to go unsaid. Go into my room and enter your birthdate into that safe I have in my closet. I keep only my most precious things locked away in there.

There is one last thing I never told you, and this one I regret the most. When we made our peace after our little fight, I didn’t know what to think. I know I speak for both of us when I say there was tension while we figured out what the other was all about. It was so unfounded, because what I found was a little filly who would become my best friend. I regret so much not finding out about you sooner, but what I regret more was never telling you how I truly felt.

A week later, you asked mother and father if you could live with me indefinitely. I remembered how they thought you were joking, as did I for a few moments. But then you refused to leave, and pouted, and cried, and begged until they let you stay with me out of sheer exhaustion. I was appalled in more than one way, but I had never felt more honored and humbled in all my life.

What I never told you was how the day you decided to move in with me was one of the happiest days of my life. I can’t describe with words the way I feel. Right now I’m so afraid of never seeing you again, but I know that this fear will never come to pass. Even if we aren’t reunited in this world or lifetime I know someday we will be.

I love you, little sister. Be good, and I promise to join you soon.

Love,

Rarity.

Rarity buried the letter in the sand as instructed by the Angel. After that, she looked out into the blank slate of Asaralubat. This was her world to create in, and in her creative work, she’d need to remember who she was. There was one way back home, and that was The Sparkling Reflection.

Brimming with colour, Rarity began her fantastic journey of self-discovery.

Epilogue: The Sparkling Reflection of Princess Rarity

Epilogue: The Sparkling Reflection of Princess Rarity

Sweetie Belle sat in her dressing room twiddling with an old gem stone, staring blankly into space. She chewed her lips and glanced in the mirror. Her mane was perfect and so was her makeup. She still bumped up her mane as part of her ceremony of anxiousness. Another dollop of blush to her cheeks, and another ironing of an invisible crinkle in her dress. She still wasn’t any less nervous. Different shows brought different kinds of anxiety, but this one seemed to be insurmountable. She wore her lucky socks and hairpin, but still her blood ran cold. At least she had her sparkling sapphire.

A stallion popped his head into the room.

“You’re on in five, Miss Sweetie Belle,” said the pony. “We need you backstage.”

She simply looked at him and nodded. He left. She took a deep breath and put the stone on the table. Tonight was the night she’d make her sister proud.

She left through the door and went to her scheduled placement.

Among her were about two dozen other ponies, all skilled, all talented, all vying for the same spot she was: headliner of Sapphire Shores’ last great tour. Whoever landed that gig would be sure to take the passing mantle of the Pony of Pop. Each pony there was worthy of the spot, but she was going in a top competitor and crowd favourite. Because of that, she was met with faces ranging from disinterested to downright envious.

“Born and raised in Ponyville,” said the announcer, “Sweetie Belle made her debut in the Canterlot club scene with her electro-pop hit single, ‘Illustrious’, topping charts across Equestria. Taking that name to heart, Sweetie Belle gained fame with a series of songs ranging from club music to contemporary classical, making her one of the most diverse upcoming artists. Today she debuts an entirely new song. Put your hooves together for the illustrious, Sweetie Belle!”

There was a grand applause and cheer as Sweetie Belle made her way to center stage.

“Thank you,” said Sweetie Belle. “Before I start, I have a tiny confession to make. I know you guys think I’m so original, but I’m really not,” she joked.

She liked to play with the audience a little bit before getting into her singing. It helped calm her down.

“Really, I didn’t even write this next song. My sister did.”

There was an communal “aww” from the audience. They all knew the story.

“Wherever she is... I hope I can sing this as well as she did.”

Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and thought back to happier memories.

Somewhere, over the rainbow

Way up high

There’s a land that I heard of

Once in a lullaby

Somewhere, over the rainbow

Skies are blue

And the dreams that you dare to

Dream really do come true.

One day I’ll wish upon a star

And wake up where the clouds are

Far behind me

When troubles melt like lemon drops

Up high above the chimney tops

That’s where you’ll find me.

Sweetie Belle wanted to cry as she sang, but held it in. She’d been practicing the piece Over the Rainbow, and it never felt right to sing it. Even now, she wanted to beat herself up for ruining the last great memory of her sister. She didn’t care that they were applauding or that Sapphire Shores was giving her a standing ovation. She was going to make money off of her sister’s legacy. She’d hear other ponies singing it, and they’d never know what it meant to her. A few tears escaped her and she shook visibly on stage. The audience saw that and let out another “aww”. Sweetie Belle walked off stage and ran the rest of the way to her dressing room.

In the back, Rarity had been mouthing the words to the song as Sweetie Belle sang it. She had never been prouder. Her sister was a wonderful singer, beautiful and illustrious.

“Bravo! Bravo!”

Rarity quietly slipped into Sweetie Belle’s dressing room. The younger sister was alerted by an intrusive knock, but quickly realized it was anything but an intrusion.

There were no petty words as Sweetie Belle turned to see Rarity, only disbelief. Her tired face cracked and less than a second later, the foal was a sobbing mess in Rarity’s arms. Years of heartache were released in one night, in one moment. Long hours of singing and crying alone, wondering if it was her fault, and finally the healing could begin.

The gem on Sweetie’s dresser lost its colour and Rarity held her sister tighter. She loved her sister. All this had been for her.

And it was worth it.

That was who she was.