Stone Hearts

by pmcollectorboy

First published 18th of October, 2011

After the battle with Discord, Rarity still has nightmares about the rock. Concerned, she goes to Twilight for help. Slowly, she delves into the maddening practice of golemology as she carves a statue out of the rock and brings it to life. But what price is there to pay for her creation, and who gets to pay it?

Red

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Stone Hearts

Rated: PG 13

Themes: Slightly adult and disturbing themes(and sauce)

by Mario Rodgers

Author's note: Some goofy, saucy(and somewhat disturbing) Rarity and Rock fanfic I threw together after bronies had been clamoring for a shipping story. This was actually started in between Return of Harmony Part One and Part Two, but now that I know the rock comes with a name, that makes it even better. As usual, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the characters are copyrighted by Hasbro.

Red

Rock. Stone. Simple granite. That was all it was. That was all it had ever been. And as Rarity, the white unicorn who was the proprietor of Ponyville's sole dress-maker shop, eyeballed the boulder up and down with a wet, sorrowful gaze, noting its gray color, its lack of anything resembling lustre, its lop-sided asymmetry, its sagging facets and occasional patches of moss and cracks caused by erosion, she realized what it wasn't. It wasn't a diamond. And it wasn't beautiful.

There was no shiny surface in which to admire her reflection.

There was no dazzling tapestry of fire and sparks of light to search for from deep within crystalline windows.

There was no value in keeping it whatsoever.

Only shame.

Rarity turned her head away from the rock in disgust, but this time the disgust stemmed not from displeasure over concepts of aesthetics but welled up from deep within. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment when she recalled the events that led up to her "inheriting" such an odd trophy. When she had discovered what she thought, at the time, was the largest diamond in all of Equestria, buried deep within a cliff of granite and coal, she felt something that had been completely foreign to her heart since she was very little.

Greed.

Rarity was selfish over many things. She knew it and admitted it to herself from time to time. After all, she had her desires, and there was nothing wrong with maintaining them on occasion. But the few days when Fluttershy became a huge fashion star while Rarity merely faded into obscurity marked the closest she had ever come to allowing her personal feelings hurt her friends.

Greed, however, disgusted Rarity. It symbolized a willful desire to not consider the happiness of others. It symbolized a need to acquire more than one could possibly utilize or enjoy. Greed was everything Rarity was not.

Whenever Rarity went out to search for gemstones, it was only out of a desire to make others happy, to make her work as splendid and dazzling as possible for the enjoyment of those who appreciated beauty as much as she. To see the eyes of a debutante or a new bride shimmer with unbridled joy upon spotting the right dress to compliment the perfect occasion brought Rarity more happiness than any day trip to the Lotus Sisters' spa. But when she saw the diamond that had tempted her, its exquisite size and its dazzling shine, a feeling bubbled up inside her. It had to be hers, all hers and nopony else's. She dared not share and she dared not cut it up to use on her fashion.

She didn't know whether her change was from Discord's corruption or whether Discord merely brought to light and amplified demons that were always there and merely buried. The shame she felt was real enough. Discord was now defeated, banished back to stone, but the thought that these undesirable feelings were a part of her and could come bubbling back terrified Rarity.

Rarity had dumped the offending boulder in her back yard. She couldn't be bothered to exert herself beyond that to carry it to a quarry or back to Canterlot's garden maze. Rarity wiped away her tears and brushed away her burdensome guilt, mentally giving herself a pep talk and reclaiming her ladylike poise and grace.

"What's done is done. I'll just head over to Applejack's tomorrow and borrow her brother to help me carry this absurd thing to a place less conspicuous and hide it. If anypony asks what such a garish thing is doing in my backyard and corrupting the beauty of my boutique in the meantime, I'll just simply say I'm starting a statue garden," Rarity muttered to herself. She then giggled slightly at the thought of her being a sculptor.

However, ejecting the boulder would have to wait until tomorrow. Rarity noticed that it was getting late, with the sun slinking its way to the deep western skies behind a layer of rumbling, dark clouds. Rarity squeaked in surprise when a drop of water hit her square in the forehead.

She hustled back over to her abode and threw open the door with her magic, hurrying inside as the sky opened up and the clouds set their raindrops free.

* * *

That night brought a feverish dream to Rarity's slumber. Or perhaps it was a nightmare. She awoke with a startled jerk to the sound of the rumblings of thunder and the tapping of rain beating out its rhythm on her roof and windows. The pegasi promised a modest soaking, and it seemed that was exactly what Ponyville got, as the symphony of the rainstorm played at a prodigious rate, with her heartbeat racing to match. Rarity blinked out the sparks of light playing hop scotch in her vision and reached with her unicorn magic to turn on her side table's lamp. As her eyes adjusted to the sudden appearance of light, she scanned her sleeping chambers. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Remnants of the dream trickled back from the fog of sleep, but most of the obscure details had long since disappeared from memory. What little she did remember concerned her. She remembered that it had seemed like a voice was calling her from inside the boulder. For what reason an inanimate object such as a boulder could possess a disembodied voice, she couldn't say. It only gave her a headache just thinking about the idea. But the most disturbing thing she remembered quite clearly from her dream was a vision of engravings, of characters almost like runes carved into stone. They seemed vaguely familiar to Rarity, but the memory of their meanings was slippery to her, and all she could pull from the dream was what they looked like.

Rarity daintily slid out of her bed and made her way over to her bedroom's back window, her hooves still clumsy and heavy from her just waking up. With an application of her magic, she raised her lavender blinds and stared out. Below her lay her back yard, with its neatly kept grass, save for what was surely a squashed patch of grass blades radiating out in an unorganized manner underneath the boulder in the middle.

Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at the boulder through the water which collected in spots, formed streams, and pooled again around the muntins of her iris window. In the darkness of evening, the boulder seemed to be little more than a lumpy shadow. The occasional flashes of lightning allowed the briefest of glimpses of the rock's full form.

"There it is. That rock. That silly, silly rock," Rarity muttered to herself.

Rarity felt an impression of her name inside her mind again, being sounded out by a voice that wasn't her own.

Rarity pressed her forehooves to her the sides of her head. "Get out of my brain, you naughty voice. You're not real!" She then stomped down her front hooves in a flash of anger.

With a toss of her mane, she closed the blinds and headed back over to her bed, her cheeks thoroughly flushed and her mind agitated. But instead of slipping back underneath her sheets to slumber, she undid her sleep wear, placed it on her mattress, and went over to her wardrobe to rummage for her rain coat and umbrella saddle. Upon finding these, she wore them and headed downstairs and out into the rain.

* * *

The visual tapestry of a pleasant dream was briskly swept away like so many lines of dust by the cruel intrusion of the waking world. When Twilight Sparkle, resident of Ponyville's only tree that was also a library, set about to the arduous task of lifting her eyelids, she felt drool on her left cheek, a rapid and pounding heartbeat in her chest, and a burning sensation in between her back legs, with a not-so-vague notion of what had brought about these changes in her physiology, the remembrance of which promptly embarrassed her.

"Ponyfeathers! I'll get you yet, Star Dust," Twilight whispered to herself.

Thinking her REM stage had simply just concluded itself naturally, she curled up underneath her covers once more with the intent of falling back to sleep, but an abrupt rapping on her bedroom window interrupted her efforts. The tapping continued as she felt about for a candle and ignited it with heat magic. Twilight levitated the candle and brought it with her, grumbling incoherent curses to herself on the short trip over to her bedroom window, but her aggravation promptly vanished when she spotted a visibly distraught white unicorn standing in front of her home in the rain. Twilight lifted up her right forehoof high above her forehead to keep the rain out of her face and squinted through the gloom of the evening. Another flash of lightning illuminated the face and cutie mark of the pony who was standing on the ground below her.

"Rarity!" Twilight gasped.

Rarity's body was slumped over, and she shivered despite the warm summer air. She panted every now and then and glanced around, all signs of agitation. Rarity glanced up with blood-shot eyes at Twilight standing on her balcony.

"I am so sorry to have to trouble you, Twilight darling. I would knock on your door, but I didn't want to wake Spike up, and so I chose to tap on your window," Rarity said.

"Oh that is so very sweet of you, Rarity. You seem troubled over something. Would you like to talk about it?"

Rarity chuckled mildly. "I wouldn't have come out here in the pouring rain if I didn't."

Twilight nodded. "Hold on a minute. I'm coming downstairs."

Twilight closed her window and made her way through her home, carefully guided by the dim light of her candle. Her pace was slowed by her decreased vision, but she managed her way around Spike's basket, where the baby dragon slumbered peacefully, and various furniture and odds and ends to make a successful trip to her front door. In a burst of purple light, the door opened, and Twilight was greeted by Rarity as she walked through the door, a small and shy but decidedly grateful smile on her lips. Rarity disconnected her elegant umbrella from her saddle and held it off to the side, shaking the raindrops from it before propping it up against the door frame as Twilight quickly closed her front door to keep the rain out.

"Thank you most sincerely, Twilight."

"Gosh, Rarity," started Twilight, her jaw hanging open as she noted the unkempt appearance of her friend, the bloody capillaries which seemed ever large in Rarity's eyes and the stray stands of hair in Rarity's usually perfect and smooth coiffure. "You look..."

"Terrible. Yes, I know," Rarity finished.

Twilight invited Rarity to follow her upstairs to her bedroom, guiding the distraught unicorn by the small aura of light of her candle. The snore from the basket they passed made it clear to Twilight that they were successful in letting Spike keep his rest. When they had made it to Twilight's bedroom, Rarity sat on the guest bed, after Twilight had indicated to her that she do so. Rarity glanced around as a flash of lightning and rumble of thunder startled her, and she pressed her two front hooves together and wrung them around.

"Wow, Rarity. You really ARE upset. What's troubling you?" Twilight asked as she sat down on the guest bed next to Rarity and looked at her with concern.

Rarity gazed into the eyes of her thoughtful friend and smiled a little, hoping to ease Twilight's mind and her own nerves. "Oh well, Twilight," Rarity said as she began trying to laugh off her fears. And for a moment it worked. "It's really not anything too terribly... Oh Twilight!"

The flood gates had opened, and Twilight suddenly found herself in possession of a sobbing unicorn on her shoulder. A bead of sweat formed on a corner of Twilight's forehead, but she did her best to calm her upset friend, shushing her and rubbing her back. "Tell me all about it," said Twilight.

"I had a nightmare," Rarity said in between sobs. "Tom...that... that boulder! I can't get him... gah, IT out of my head! I keep imagining a voice inside my thoughts, calling my name, and that it sounds like it is coming from the rock." Rarity pulled away from Twilight's shoulder, grabbed her firmly by the cheeks, and stared wide-eyed into her friend's gaze, tears streaming from her eyes like waterfalls. "You... You believe me. Don't you, Twilight?" Rarity asked, her left eye twitching.

"I buwieve you, Wawity. Could you wet go obf my cheeks?"

Rarity promptly did so, backed away slightly from Twilight, blushed, and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry to be in this wreck of an emotional state in front of you, Twilight," she said after her sobbing slowed.

"I've seen worse," Twilight said with a shrug.

"Come again?"

"Nothing!" Twilight exclaimed, trying to cover up her mild indiscretion. Her tone then changed back to serious, and she gently touched one of Rarity's front hooves. "Now Rarity. I realize you're upset about what Discord had done to you. But you must know that rocks don't talk. It's a physical impossibility. It's all in your head."

Rarity's eyes became wide and frantic again. "I keep telling myself that, but..."

Rarity found herself with a hoof pressed up on her lips.

"Let me finish. I don't know if you need a vacation or if you need to seek counseling. I really can't recommend anypony, seeing as how I don't know any good shrinks, but I'm very worried about you. I really can't imagine the kind of emotional trauma you've..."

"There were runes in my dream," Rarity said, her voice subdued as she lowered her gaze.

Twilight blinked, her train of thought ruined by Rarity's slightly odd assertion. "What?"

Rarity nodded. "That was actually the most vivid part of my dream. I saw... carvings. Runes etched into stone blocks. They seemed somehow familiar to me, but I couldn't place what they all meant." She then lifted her gaze again and looked at Twilight. "Where have I seen runes before? Have I seen them in one of your books?"

Twilight seemed withdrawn, and she didn't make a sound. For a while, the only things that could be heard were the rhythmic beats of the rain and occasional rumblings of thunder. The focus in her eyes then seemed to return, and Twilight looked back at Rarity.

"What runes? Show me."

Rarity nodded. "If you'll be so kind as to loan me some paper and something to write with."

Twilight returned the nod and placed the candle on her side table. The drawer of her side table then opened, and out levitated a notepad and a pencil. "You may use that."

"Thank you, darling," said Rarity as she took possession of Twilight's writing tools.

Rarity's eyes narrowed in concentration as she struggled to remember the details of her dream and the shape of the runes. Then, pressing graphite to paper, she set about tracing out her memories. As she did so, she couldn't help but notice Twilight bouncing up and down and looking slightly agitated and almost ruining her concentration. Finally Rarity couldn't take Twilight's antics anymore, and she jerked her head up from the notepad and raised an eyebrow.

Twilight withered underneath Rarity's glare. "Sorry," Twilight whispered. "Please continue."

Rarity turned her attention back to the notepad and finished drawing the rune she had been working on. Up and down and a curve there. Two dots and a second line. As Rarity drew, Twilight marveled at her skill with curves and the steadiness of the pencil in the levitation field. Twilight mused that Rarity should've gone into calligraphy instead of dress-making.

The notepad and pencil then broke away from Rarity's levitation field and landed on the covers of the guest bed. Rarity turned away, a tear falling from her right eye, as Twilight studied what Rarity had drawn on the notepad as well as she could by the dim light of the candle. Twilight's eyes moved up and down and back and forth across the front page of the note pad, one lower corner of her mouth twitching ever so slightly, her mind turning information and pages of knowledge over and over but not having much luck. But finally, with a triumphant click, Twilight seized upon something, and her eyes widened.

"Golemology," Twilight breathed out, almost seemingly drained of energy.

Rarity turned back around to face her friend. "I beg your pardon?"

Twilight shook her head and spoke a little louder. "These are golemology runes, runes that are carved that, once energized, are used to bring to life a golem." She pointed to one. "This is the movement rune." Then another. "This is the logic rune." Then a third. "This is an optional one called a transmutation rune, which is used to turn the golem's base material into flesh and bone but still allowing the golem to keep the material's natural properties." Twilight then pointed to the final rune. "And this is the life rune, possibly the hardest one to energize. It makes the golem live." Twilight then looked into Rarity's still wet eyes, and the tone of concern found its way back into Twilight's voice. "Rarity, why did you have dreams of these runes?"

Rarity bit her lips, trying to find the words to say. "I think I remember borrowing some of your books, but I only used them to keep Sweetie Belle locked in her room, may Celestia thank the inventor of the encyclopedia, the last time she visited while I was working on a particularly delicate project that I didn't want her ruining." Then, after a pause, she added, "Do you HAVE a book on golemology?"

It was Twilight's turn to bite her lips and look away. "I do, but..."

"May I please borrow it?"

Twilight fidgeted. "I don't know, Rarity."

"Oh please!" Rarity got extremely close, pressing her two front hooves together in a begging gesture and pleading with puppy dog eyes.

Twilight swallowed hard and inched away from her suddenly intruding friend. "But, Rarity..."

"Please please please please please!" Rarity begged some more and she puffed her cheeks in a pout.

Twilight frowned. "Keep it down. Spike is still sleeping. Rarity, golemology is a very dangerous practice. It's magic, but it's also... Look, golems are unpredictable. I'm uncomfortable enough just talking about the subject."

"But if I keep having dreams about these runes, how will I ever sleep soundly unless I find out what makes them so terrifying? May I please borrow it? I only want it for informational purposes."

"I said no," Twilight said with finality. She then started shoving Rarity to get off her bed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have my sleep to catch up on."

"Oh. Oof. There's no need to be so rude, Twilight," Rarity said as she felt Twilight prod her from behind. Then, in the dark, Rarity tripped on something. "Ouch," she exclaimed, muffling herself just in time to avoid waking up Spike.

"Oh I'm so very sorry, Rarity," Twilight said, suddenly sorrowful as she watched Rarity hop up and down while holding out her left foreleg. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," said Rarity as she gently placed her hurting leg back on the floor.

Twilight glanced at the ground and saw a rectangular shadow near where Rarity had tripped. "Let me get that out of the way."

Rarity held up a hoof again. "No no. I've got it."

A purple light pierced the darkness and spread into the shape of the form on the ground, and Rarity levitated the object to her eye level. It seemed she had tripped on a book. But something about this book seemed intriguing to her. She squinted in the darkness as she tried to read the title.

"The Studly Adventures of Star Dust the..." Rarity read.

"Oh horse apples!" Twilight exclaimed.

Rarity whinnied in shock upon realizing what kind of book she was looking at. Then a sly grin parted her lips. "Twilight," Rarity purred. "This is a..."

"Yes I know what it is!" Twilight said with a snatch of the novel. She promptly put it on her nightstand.

Rarity's eyes were then drawn to a spot on Twilight's wrinkled and upturned sheets. Rarity tried her best to banish her ever widening grin, but to no avail. "What have you been doing?"

Twilight turned deeper than the color of beets, and she hopped off the guest bed to squash the incriminating spot on her own bed. "I haven't been doing anything! It was just a dream! A dream YOU interrupted!"

Rarity's smile shrank somewhat but took on a somewhat mischievous attitude. "I see what's going on. You're frustrated."

Twilight pouted. "Am not."

"Well..." Rarity edged closer to Twilight. "Allow me to borrow your golemology book, and I won't tell Pinkie Pie you have a dirty rag. You know how much of a blabbermouth she is."

Twilight swallowed hard as she leaned back from Rarity's encroachment. "You... you're blackmailing me?"

Rarity leaned in even closer, her eyes narrowed in a sultry manner, and before Twilight knew it, she was completely flat on her back with the white unicorn over her and completely in her personal space.

Rarity squeaked, touched Twilight on the nose with a forehoof, and crooned, "No. I'm going to do YOU a favor for being so nice to me."

The candle snuffed itself out just as Twilight felt pressure.

"Oh dear."

Orange

Orange

The warm and inviting beams of the sun, Celestia's life-giving orb, streamed through the windows of the Carousel Boutique, bathing the show room inside its blue and white walls in a cascade of light. It was early morning and about the time for Rarity to open up her shop for business. However, instead of busying herself with the affairs of her shop, unlocking the doors, and turning over her open sign, Rarity was in her bedroom, eyeballing the odd book she had just recently placed on the plush comforter of her bed. Earlier she had just come from Twilight's home in the library and from persuading her friend to lend her the book. She marveled at just how little pressure it took to convince Twilight to agree to her terms, but after both getting the most gorgeous sleep either could remember, Twilight didn't seem to be complaining anytime soon, which was a switch from last night when Twilight insisted the golemology book was too dangerous to give to Rarity. Rarity didn't know if Twilight made it a point not to loan the book to just unicorns. She honestly never got around to asking because in the morning, the purple unicorn's mood had improved so much she was actually making breakfast in bed for Rarity and whistling a tune. Rarity departed Twilight's home a short while ago, after gratefully accepting her meal and thanking Twilight, but leaving Twilight with the sticky situation of explaining to Spike what Rarity was doing there and why the studious one insisted on doing her own laundry so early in the morning.

Rarity felt a twinge of guilt for manipulating Twilight's friendship for something so trivial as a book, but she felt their relationship had come far enough along that the occasional coercive expression of bedroom prowess wasn't that too far-fetched of an idea. As of that moment, Rarity concentrated too much on determining what to do with the book's contents, whether to open it or leave it for another day, to entertain thoughts of doubt and guilt trips.

The book was a dusty gray and easily three inches thick. The binding and front cover were trimmed with brown edges and three leather ridges, two horizontal and one vertical on the front cover, divided the binding into sections. A gruesome image of a pony made of twisted branches, gracing the front cover and bearing a twisted countenance, its eyes burning embers of dark and red, seemed to represent a golem of wood and the rituals that lay within. As Rarity studied the characters on the back and front, she suddenly remembered where she had seen runes before. A couple weeks ago, she had borrowed a couple encyclopedias on dead alphabets from Twilight after a customer had made a strange request for a custom designed stage outfit. None of the runes on the cover of the book before her matched what she remembered, however.

Rarity shook her head, turned around, and left the book unopened. "Okay, Rarity. Get a grip. You're not going crazy," she said as she lightly pounded her forehead with her right front hoof. "You don't need a shrink. But maybe an itsy bitsy vacation wouldn't hurt. You'll just take a small peak at the book, satisfy your curiosity, convince yourself that they don't have any power over you, and be done with it. Then it is pleasant dreams from now on. Especially when I have Big MacIntosh help me carry Tom, I mean, the boulder to toss it off a cliff." Then, after a small beat of silence, Rarity added, musing to herself, "Yeah... You don't need a shrink, but then why am I talking to myself?"

With a huff, Rarity headed downstairs and into her show room. But instead of opening up her store as was customary, she erected a sign with a clock face in her store window, with the hands of the clock completely removed. This was her usual way of telling the customers "closed until further notice." She was expecting an off day anyway.

As Rarity stepped out into the warmth of daylight, she once again smiled at the cloudless sky and gentle embrace of the rays of the sun as it climbed its way towards ten o'clock. The rainstorm that Ponyville had received last night trickled out early in the morning, squeezing out the last bit of moisture by the dawn. She turned down a road and headed towards Sweet Apple Acres just as the town hall bell sounded out ten times.

After a short walk across town and over the small bridge straddling a gentle creek, the scent of apples of various kinds, reds and golds and even galas, let Rarity know she was nearing her destination, and she took a big breath to enjoy the tantalizing aroma. Applejack's big red barn came into view first as she rounded a grove of trees, and then the fields where the crops less important to Applejack's business were planted. Out in the middle of one of the fields, which had been stripped of its grass and turned to sod, was Big MacIntosh, pulling a plow down the field's length to carve grooves for planting. With a smile, Rarity headed over to where the workhorse was furiously laboring.

Upon spotting the fashionista trotting over to him, Big MacIntosh stopped his plowing, unhitched his plow from his yoke, and politely nodded. Rarity returned the nod but kept all her hooves outside the dirt patch.

"Good mornin', Miss Rarity," Big MacIntosh greeted in his well known slow drawl. "Applejack's out on an errand tah buy tools and other hardware things from th' hardware store. She's better at pickin' things for th' raht job than me."

"Actually, Big MacIntosh, I'm here about possibly utilizing your big and strong muscles for some purpose I'm in need of fulfilling," Rarity crooned, laying extra sugary emphasis on the words 'big and strong.'

For a moment, Big MacIntosh was silent, which wasn't all that unusual for Big MacIntosh, except that this time he bore a look that suggested he had been rendered completely devoid of all mental capacity and sensory functions. But the short pause finally gave way to speech.

"Ah don't usually see yew too far from your booteek, an' certainly not around here on th' farm too often unless it's tah see Applejack. An' you're sayin' you're here tah see ME instead?" queried Big Mac.

Rarity nodded.

Big Mac balked. "Ah don't know, Miss Rarity. Ah imagine it would upset Applejack a might if she came back an' found me gone or not doin' mah work. Kin ah ask Applejack when she gets back?"

Rarity scraped the ground with a front hoof. "It's rather urgent. It involves moving a certain large and heavy rock from my property. The sooner it gets, uh, evicted the better."

"Oh. Well couldn't yew ask Twilight tah...?"

"I'm afraid that after all I've put her through with the whole Discord and chaos thing, Twilight is sick unto death about anything to do with moving the boulder around. It has to be you, and it has to be now. So..." Rarity turned around and goosed Big Mac's chin with her tail. "What do you say?"

Rarity had never worked on Big MacIntosh's hair before, so she never got a good grasp for the manageableness of the stallion's mane, but she had never seen a cowlick develop on his head, until now, and the tallest, stiffest cowlick she had ever seen had just sprung up like a baby pine tree in the middle of the poor stallion's hair. She walked away as fast as she could manage without looking conspicuous about it, to avoid Big Mac seeing Rarity break into an attack of giggling. But Big Mac was suddenly following her without question.

The two were certain an unusual sight for the average Ponyvillean. A dusty working farm stallion with no love for looks or hair care, and a unicorn famed in the town for her grace, charm, and attention to details of aesthetics and fashion, walking through town like they were in the Haycy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, with the unicorn leading. They made their way through town and arrived at Carousel Boutique, where Rarity pointed out the offending boulder.

Big MacIntosh leaned down and flexed his powerful muscles, remembering the proper techniques of lifting. Before too long, he had Tom on his back. "And where would yew like me tah take this here rock?"

"Oh I don't really care," Rarity sniffed. "We can take it to a quarry or just toss it off a cliff. As long as it's out of sight and not ruining the beauty of my decor, it's all the same to me."

Big MacIntosh nodded. "Ah think ah know of a cliff that overlooks an old quarry."

"That'll do just fine. Thank you, Big MacIntosh."

The pair left Carousel Boutique, with Big Mac lugging the boulder on his back and seemingly not even breaking a sweat. Rarity followed Big Mac as he headed towards the other side of town and some rocky outcroppings in the wilderness beyond. However, as they walked along, Rarity felt a calling inside her mind again. She shook her head, like she was clearing out the fuzz from just waking up, but the voice came back stronger than ever. She looked beyond Big MacIntosh, past the forest line, and saw the rocky outcroppings and the cliff beyond looming ever closer.

"Don't get rid of me, Rarity," the voice said. "The Tom that you knew is still in here. Don't let him toss me off a cliff."

"No," Rarity whispered, unheard by Big Mac. "You were an illusion by Discord."

"Tom is all yours, Rarity. All yours. You and Tom could do great things together."

"All... mine? Yes." Rarity became glassy-eyed as Discord's old illusion temporarily took a hold on her.

Big Mac neared the cliffside, and Rarity, panicking, increased her pace to catch up to him.

"Um. I beg your pardon, Big Mac dear, but I've changed my mind. I'd actually like Tom back," Rarity asked, her voice quivering with anxiety and sweat dripping from her forehead.

Big Mac stopped twenty feet from the edge of the cliff and stared at Rarity, his jaw slack, looking like he was slow to process Rarity's unusual request. "Uh... Tom? Beggin' your pardon, Miss Rarity, but are you...?"

'Good HEAVENS, he talks so slow,' Rarity thought to herself, the adrenaline and anxiety flooding her blood stream and mental state respectively, distorting her sense of time. Finally, she couldn't stand seeing Tom still on the farm pony's back and hearing him, at least according to her stretched out senses, yammering on for an intolerable amount. "Mine! Hooves off!" Rarity exclaimed in an extraordinary loss of composure she hadn't felt since The Gala.

Whump!

"Ow!"

Rarity had actually body checked the stallion, which proved to be more painful for her than possibly to him, as Big Mac just lay on the ground and stared up at her blankly, while she gritted her teeth as every muscle in her left side smarted. Nevertheless, she had succeed in relieving Applejack's brother of the boulder, and it had landed squarely on her back. Rarity flashed Big Mac an apologetic smile and then, heaving her shoulders to adjust the position of Tom on her back, strained her muscles against gravity to start the arduous trek back to her home.

* * *

Back at Ponyville Library, Spike busied himself with various chores, mostly re-alphabetizing the library's books by title, undoing Twilight's handiwork of organizing them by author even though she couldn't recall the names of most of them. He had just settled into swallowing Twilight's explanation for what Rarity had been doing there spending the night when he didn't remember a sleepover being planned. He still viewed Twilight's suddenly chipper attitude with mild suspicion, though. All morning she had been bounding around, a cheerful joy in her step, humming a strangely familiar tune as she went about doing the one thing she usually hated the most--laundry. Then, as if on cue, the door threw itself open, and Twilight waltzed through from outside, singing the same said tune. Outdoors, illuminated by the morning light, several linen sheets waved like flags in the summer breeze on clotheslines, visible to Spike through the open door.

"La la la la laaaaa. La la la la luuuuuuuh," Twilight sang. She gave a little twirl and then scooped up Spike, placing him on her back. "Lovely morning to you, Spike. You know Fluttershy taught me that song."

"You don't say? Ulp," Spike uttered, suddenly airsick from the sudden velocity with which he was lifted and Twilight's skipping around.

"No more chores for you today, Spike. It's such a great morning outside that I've planned a picnic. Just you and me. I've actually already got the basket all prepared."

Twilight put Spike down and allowed him to catch his breath. When his stomach had settled, he looked up at his oldest and closest friend. Joy filled his heart and his eyes shimmered with a sudden onset of emotion.

"You...You mean it? Really?" Spike squeaked, almost half blubbering.

Twilight levitated a wicker basket stuffed with goodies over from the kitchen table and handed it to Spike. Then, with a motion of her head towards the small of her back, she said, "Come on, friend."

Spike, clutching the basket's handle tightly, hopped on, and the two of them headed out the door. Twilight made her way towards Ponyville Park and scouted out a verdant, plush patch of grass underneath a sturdy oak tree, enjoying the comfort of the shade when the two friends sat down beneath its reaching branches. Spike hopped off Twilight's back and placed the picnic basket on the ground while Twilight folded her legs underneath herself and smiled as the breeze embraced her and the serenading melodies of song birds came to her ears. As she heard the clicks and clacks and shuffles of Spike unpacking the basket, she slowly turned her head, panning her vision across the scenery, spotting the wooden bench where many a couple shared their first dates, smiling as she viewed the pristine lake it overlooked and the patchwork pointillism of the wild flowers on the shore, and enjoying the flowers' aromatic greeting.

Twilight allowed herself to be lulled into a daydream by the droning of the bees and hummingbirds. Next to her, Spike busied himself with rolling out the blanket and laying out the goodies--daisy and sunflower sandwiches, hay fries, cookies, and of course, bits of gemstones for Spike.

But just as the full effect of Twilight's reverie took hold with the addition of the new aroma of edible treats, out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted a white blur move itself into her vision. She banished her daydream reluctantly, and as her eyes adjusted once more, she saw Rarity making her way towards her. Twilight stood up and stretched and shyly waved at her friend approaching her.

"Hello there, Rarity. Are you still working on the book I loaned you?"

"Hmm? Oh yes. It is quite informative. In fact, I think I might take your advice and bring the book up in discussion with a... ah... shrink, as you put it. Perhaps I might shed some light on the meanings of my nightmare."

As Rarity made a sudden glance back over her shoulder, Twilight tipped her head to the side. "How did you find us here, anyway?"

Rarity jerked her head back towards Twilight and swallowed hard. Twilight eyeballed Rarity and noted the stiff posture, occasional hoof shuffling, and twitchy facial muscles of her friend. She may have been a social recluse for much of her life, but as Twilight's relationship with Rarity grew, she had come to recognize the signs that the white unicorn was on edge, and Rarity indeed seemed fidgety again.

"I... um... I'm actually on my way to the hardware store from... somewhere when I spotted you two enjoying the outdoors," Rarity managed to squeak out.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "From home? At the Carousel Boutique?"

Rarity nodded. "And I've actually come to ask a favor of the two of you. From you, Twilight, I'd actually like to borrow a second book. I'm in need of knowledge of basic home improvement."

Twilight blinked, slightly confused at Rarity's sudden interest in a set of skills that was more Applejack's speed than that of a pony who would rather lift a pumice stone than a hammer. "Uh, okay? Sure. I've got a couple books on that subject."

Rarity then turned towards Spike, who was busy inhaling, in the figurative sense, a bag full of cookies. "And from Spike, I'd actually greatly appreciate it if he allowed me to use his red wagon one more time."

Spike stopped mid-swallow and smiled, an act which promptly caused Rarity to avert her gaze when a cascade of cookie crumbs tumbled from his toothy grin.

"Gross, Spike," Twilight chastised. "Where are your manners?"

"Sormf..." Spike raised a claw for a pause, swallowed completely, and wiped his mouth. "Sorry." Spike instantly looked at Rarity again with lovesickness in his eyes, and his alter ego that Twilight had come to dub the "Iambic Pendragon" came out. "Oh my sweet Rarity. If I had all the red wagons in Equestria, I would gladly loan their services to you."

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Would you like to help me pull the wagon to the hardware store, Spike?" Rarity asked.

Spike leapt to his feet and started jumping up and down excitedly at the opportunity to assist Rarity once more. Twilight, however, felt insulted and grew crestfallen, her hopes for a pleasant picnic with her number one assistant suddenly dashed. She leaned up against the tree and drew her legs close to her body, propping her head between her front hooves.

The baby dragon stopped his jubilant hopping long enough to turn around and notice how upset Twilight seemed to be. His smile then vanished in a flash, and he turned back to Rarity. "Oh. That's right. I can't, Rarity. I'm here on a picnic with Twilight. Would you like to join us?"

Rarity shook her head and gave another glance back over her shoulder. "Much too busy. It's such a shame that you can't assist me. But I do have your permission to borrow your wagon?"

Twilight glanced up at Spike and adjusted her bangs. "You go," she muttered, her voice dry and subdued. "I know how much it means to you, and you have to find that book for Rarity. I'll just have this picnic alone and wait for you to come back. Or not."

Spike swallowed and stared at Twilight for a few heartbeats. Then he exchanged a look with Rarity. Finally, he said, "Okay, Twilight. If you're really going to be fine with it."

Twilight suddenly found herself alone with nothing but her sorrow and her thoughts bouncing around inside the halls of her mind. She withdrew and hung her head again, eyeballing the ruined cookie crumbs that lay scattered about on the woolen picnic blanket. After half a smirk and a wrinkling of her nose, she looked up again and spotted the dwindling views of her two friends. Spike happily bounded around in merry skips and shuffles, looking five months younger. Rarity walked with more deliberate grace and poise. Twilight gave another tilt of the head to the side as she watched her friend's ribbon-like tail sway to and fro in time to the rhythmic wiggling of hips. High above Twilight, one of the oak tree's flowers suddenly expanded to five times its normal size and promptly burst into flames. Her thoughts then turned to the words of a certain writer who lived centuries ago.

"I wonder what the Bard would do in a situation like this?" she mused to herself.

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt, however, when an echo with a southern drawl ripped throughout what was probably all of Ponyville, assaulting her eardrums.

"Big MacIntosh! Where in the name of Ponyville's green hills are yuh?! Yuh're still on the clock!"

Twilight shook the stars from her head and lightly dug into her right ear canal, tapping it occasionally in an effort to bring her hearing back. "I don't think I want to know," Twilight breathed. "All the ponies in this town are crazy."