Chapter XII

Her first few days were awful. Rarity spent most of her time gathering her list of to-dos. In order, she had to: Refinish five tables, and purchase three similar ones, find a new chair set (the current set did not match the tables), repaint the whole board in the font of Comic Sans (she dreaded this), find suppressed secant boat-tailed lights with a candela rating of less than five thousand, replace the chandeliers with something less garish, and lastly, take up the carpet.

Pish and Posh didn’t help either. For her entire career, Rarity had only known two kinds of employers, those who demanded perfection out of cramped deadlines and those who actually tried to force her to fail. In both cases, Rarity found that her greatest strength came from the unfriendly demands placed on her, from heat of the pressure. If she failed, she didn’t even feel bad since she hated most of her employers anyway. But the two stallions of the Straw Purchase were worse than even the cocky bastard Hoity-Toity; they were kind, accommodating, and worst of all, forgiving. They were at her disposal, and never made so much as a rude comment about her progress.

Rarity could only work at night and she was usually tired from her day at the Lone Star, Posh noticed this and started making her tea and coffee to help her stay focused. Never had she seen such kindness from a stallion that wasn’t trying to bed her or gain a discount on her clothing. It was bizarre. They were accepting of her and had complete trust in her ability. She had never known bosses like Pish and Posh.

It was Monday, and Rarity tried to pry her crates open. But no amount of force was going open the sunken doors. It was soon time to go to work and Rarity still hadn’t thought of a way to get at her address book. As she neared the Lone Star, she saw that it was unusually busy, a small line of ponies extended out the door. As she pushed her way inside, she saw Mr. Salukas busily serving customers.

“Rarity, get into the oven room and help Applecrisp, priority is sweets.” He called to her. Great, now there was no chance of getting any planning done. Applecrisp was bustling to and fro, mixing various doughs and batters.

“Hey, need ya’ll on cinnamon rolls.” Was all Applecrisp said. It was probably the busiest the Lone Star had ever been and it was of course the one time that Rarity needed some quiet to think. The desire for sweets was apparently infectious, because the crowd didn’t slack off even around lunch. Caramel pretzels, sweet buns, even raisin Bobka emptied from the shelves. Rarity and Applecrisp churned out scores of any and all breadstuffs with a remotely sweet taste. Rarity grew sweaty and tired, the accumulated sugar caked her body and she continually brushed the crusty substance off of herself. Applecrisp and she had actually managed to deplete the sugar reserves to just a few small bags. Finally, Mr. Salukas closed the shop. He greeted the two as they exited the oven room.

“Well.” He said in astonishment. “I guess we have become popular.” The front end was a mess of hoofprints and scuffs from the crowd.

“Yeah, no kiddin’.” Applecrisp replied in irritation.

“Haha, well, it is past quitting time.” Sonny said. Rarity looked up at the clock. Shit, it was 8:12, she should have been at the Straw Purchase an hour ago. “But if either of you would like to stay and help replenish the inventory, I will pay you overtime.” He offered.

“Sorry, I have to be somewhere.” Rarity called as she bolted out the door.

Fuck, just fuck, she was late and she couldn’t be, not on the deadline she was facing. Rarity raced down the street. The sun was setting behind her, which made her more aware of the lateness of the hour. Why couldn’t Sonny close at the right time? Well, actually, it wasn’t his fault, it would have been unreasonable to up and close at normal time, that wouldn’t have been a good business move. Really, it was Ponyville that deserved the blame, why the hell had everypony suddenly decided to swarm the Lone Star?

Rarity reached the Straw Purchase, it was closed. She peeked inside, the lights were off, Pish and Posh must have gone home. She struck the glass angrily. It wasn’t fair, she couldn’t afford to miss a day of work. She was already behind, why did they have to be closed? She walked back down the street, fucking Ponyville was still screwing her over. It was like the stupid town was out to get her. She went home, cut herself in a nail trying to open her crates and fell into an enraged sleep.

Tomorrow was a little less shitty. The crowds had died down some and they were able to close on time. Grabbing her bag, Rarity dashed over to the Lone Star.

Tonight she was going to scrape a third of the dishes off of the menu, jot down the serial numbers of the tables, then start on reorganizing the menu. She dropped her saddlebags by the door, it was around seven and the sun was setting. Pish was on a ladder, sealing a crack on the ceiling. She greeted him.

“Getting the ceiling finished?” He nodded and pointed to the caulking.

“We were blessed to only get a few cracks and torn shingles, a lot of other businesses got hit pretty badly.” He said sadly.

She started on the wooden boards, the paint was thick and she struggled to scrape the white lettering away. After a period of silence, Pish started a conversation.

“So Rarity, what are you up to most days?” He asked casually.

“Well, I work, for most of the day, then I come here.” She answered, scraping at a stubborn “A”. Pish chuckled.

“Ok, I’ll make that a better question, how about where do you work?” What should she say? No way would she lie to them, but how could she tell them she spent her days at a job usually done by uneducated stallions?

“I, work, down at the Lone Star, by the town square.” She said with reservation.

“What do you do?” He climbed down from the ladder and shifted it to another crack.

“Well, I, bake bread, also I help with some administration (she sometimes counted money), and work the front end as a manager.” Pish nodded and climbed up the ladder, Rarity desperately hoped he wouldn’t ask any more questions. He was quiet for a bit and they went back to listening to the scrape of her chisel.

“Do you like it?” He asked.

“Yes, it’s rewarding, and I get quite a bit of mental stimulation.” She answered quickly. Pish nodded as he inspected a fissure in the drywall.

“I’m very glad to hear that, it’s good to hear you’re still doing something you like.” Rarity turned back to her work.

“Yeah, a lot of ponies have trouble with that.” She muttered.

She went home that night with a cough from the paint. Her hooves were sore from steadying herself on the counter and her eyes hurt from staring at the words for so long. The paint had gotten into her cut and it throbbed with every movement. She still needed to get those furniture contacts. As she neared her camp, she remembered that the chair catalogues were in the crate with the address book. With a sigh, she dumped her bags down beside the wooden boxes and popped up onto her bed. Tomorrow would be better.

It wasn’t. She removed the bulbs from the light fixtures, the lighting store in town thankfully had bulbs that would work. She had finished the next third of the menu when Posh stepped out of his office to survey her progress.

“So, are you planning on getting to the chandeliers last?” He asked. Rarity had forgotten entirely about the chandeliers. Discouragement washed over her as she looked up at the two giant glass willows above them.

“You know, it might be a good idea to do those before you do the carpet. That way if either breaks and gets into the carpet, you won’t have to worry since it’s getting replaced.” Rarity nearly collapsed upon hearing of the carpet, which had been left out of her plan entirely. “Gosh, I better stop disturbing you. Sorry ‘bout that, looks good at any rate.”

“Yeah.” She answered quietly. “I’ll figure something out.” She stood alone in the dining room. The chandeliers weighed probably a hundred pounds each, there sat before her 1600 square feet of carpet needing to be pulled up and then replaced. She fell to a chair, the impossibility of the task setting in.

Rarity found some tables that would work in the worn furniture catalogue she had thankfully borrowed from the mayoral library. As long as these tables were in stock, she would not even need those contacts, which would be good since she still hadn’t found a way inside her sealed crates.

It was about nine, the room had become extremely dark, on account of her removing the lights. She studied the menu layout by the light of the moon, which had placed a patch of grey light where she sat. She heard the kitchen door open.

“Whoa.” Said Pish as he surveyed the darkness. “Rarity? Are you still around?”

“Yes, just, um, heh, took out the lights and I guess I forgot how dark it would get.” He chuckled.

“Let me get you a flashlight.” He brought her a tiny LED keychain light. “Sorry about not having anything larger. I should have asked you when you were going to take out the lights, I woulda come prepared. Do you have like some industrial floodlights that you typically use?” Rarity had never used an industrial light in her life.

“Y-yes, I should have remembered to bring those.” The office door opened.

“Hey dad, do you-” Posh began. There came a metallic thunk. “Ouch!” Cried the well styled waiter. Rarity shined the flashlight back to the office, the black stallion had tripped over one of the upturned chairs.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” Rarity rushed over to him. “I’m so sorry!” Posh picked himself up.

“It’s ok.” He said graciously. “But, well, if I could ask you to move these out of here sooner than later, I’d really appreciate it. Or at least get some lights, what’s your plan for those?”

“On it tomorrow!” She had no plan whatsoever. “I’ll get them installed and we’ll have light tomorrow night.” He rubbed at a bruise.

“Great great! I’m glad to see you’re on this. Say, I don’t know if dad told you, but we’re going with new paint, from the 16th on we’ll have some guys in here on working on the walls. Would it be possible for you to get the carpet and if possible the chandeliers, done before that?” Rarity just said yes, that was all she could say.

“Great great! You know, I think we should call it a night.” Posh said, looking around at the darkened diner. “Let’s come back tomorrow when it’s lighter.”

She was on the edge of tears, she had no plan whatsoever, her job was impossible, and she was missing another night of work. She studied the catalogues for chairs as she walked home, there were some that might work, they 40’s-esque at least. She struggled against the hopelessness creeping up on her. She was Rarity, this was her element, she could do this. Eight months after the Blast and she could still finish a job.

It wasn’t until she reached her camp that she saw that her copy of the catalogue was four years out of date. She threw the worn magazine into the mud, ground it in with her hoof and cried herself to sleep.

Work at the Straw Purchase was a fight. There was too much work and not enough time. Rarity discovered she could effectively double her work hours if she came in early to the Straw Purchase. For the next week, she arose at five and worked until eight, then returned eight hours later. With more time, she began to make progress. The lights had actually fit, Rarity expected them to be too large, or maybe to explode out of spite upon installation. But the curved glass bulbs fit perfectly into the fixtures and the warm light splashed perfectly across the room.

The designer surveyed the room, with the soft cream glow of the new lights, the room had the beginnings of a good 40s setup. The tables and chairs were stacked neatly in a corner, with only a bar to the side, the room was perfectly bare. She had procured a few swatches of carpet from the Carpet Bagger, Ponyville’s finest and only carpet store. She compared each to the current pattern. Her memory of proper carpeting was foggy at best, thread count was unimportant if she remembered right, but what did Berber mean? Posh tapped her shoulder.

“Coffee is here on the counter.” He related to her. She nodded and continued to peruse her options. “Say, these lights look good, really like the atmosphere they give. Are you going to go with those for the chandeliers?” Rarity still didn’t have a plan for those.

“Yeah, I’m going to review what we can do with those tonight.” She replied, comparing two off grey samples.

“You know, I’m really impressed with how you’re handling this whole project, I was a little afraid it was going to be too much, but you really got going fast.” Posh said appreciatively. Rarity couldn’t help but smile a little at this, maybe the insurmountable task was doable after all.

It took her all morning to decide on a carpet and she double checked at the Carpet Bagger to make sure 1600 feet of it was in stock. She exited the shop and walked down Mane Street toward the Lone Star.

She yawned, the lack of sleep was getting to her and she hoped there wouldn’t be another big line for sweets today. It had been an entire week of on and off frenzies for sweets and she had no idea why. She approached the Lone Star, Sonny and Applecrisp, along with Ana, were standing outside of the red brick building. They caught sight of her and wordlessly watched her approach. She started to run a little, what were they all doing?

“Rarity, come along, we need you to carry the nails.” Sonny called cryptically to Rarity.

“Um, where are we going?” She asked.

“To Sugarcube Corner.”

Fuck.

They walked down the street toward the accursed little bakeshop. It all made sense, the storm had damaged the cliché little confectionary and all of the sweet toothed ponies had gone to the Lone Star for their sugar fixes.

They neared Sugarcube Corner. Spending a workday of hard labor with Pinkie Pie was a lot worse than banging out doughnuts and pastries for a lot of impatient ponies and Rarity wished she could be back in the humid oven room with silent and bitter Applecrisp. A crowd of ponies were already swarming around the eyesore of a candy shop. Sonny led them toward Mr. Cake, who was attempting to direct the benevolent citizens milling outside his damaged store.

“Mr. Cake, I run the Lone Star. I am sorry I did not associate our newfound popularity with any kind of misfortune on your part!” Mr. Salukas laughed as he strode up to the stressed little stallion. Mr. Cake looked up and beheld the muscular horse. His eyes widened and he took a few steps back, Rarity smirked a little, her boss could beat up Pinkie’s boss.

“Oh geez, no problem! I’m just glad somepony could get them served!” He saw the rest of the Lone Star staff. “Oh geez, you brought the whole crew! Thanks a million Mr…?”

“Salukas, call me Sonny if you prefer.”

“Sunny, there’s an offbeat name, did you get that from-.” Mr. Cake realized he was on a tangent. “Oh geez, what am I doing? Well Sunny, if you could, I need some stallions to help with the front end. Most of the damage happened when the main support beam collapsed. We’ve gotten most of the debris cleared, but we’ve still got a few more days before we have the windows up.” Sonny grinned.

“We’ll see if we can’t speed that up.” Mr. Cake grinned back, though Rarity could tell he was still a little scared of the massive workhorse. The confectioner turned to Ana.

“Well, um, Mrs. Salukas, if you are indeed Mrs. Salukas. If not I’m truly sorry-”

“Da, I am.” She said coldly. Rarity saw that Ana did not like helping the Cakes either. Maybe Ana wasn’t so bad after all.

“Hehe, well, um the Mrs. and the other mares are working on sorting out the wood that’s been donated.” He trailed off, obviously intimidated by her stone-faced silence. “But…it’s…up…to you where you would want to go…” She walked past him.

“I will sort wood.” She stated emotionlessly. He laughed nervously as she passed him.

“Haha great, thanks so much.” He turned to Rarity and Applecrisp. “Well girls, Pinkie Pie is up in her room, why don’t you give her a hoof with cleaning up? I’m sure she’d love to see you two!” He offered.

“Ah’ll go with Sonny.” Applecrisp stated coldly.

“H-, ok, that’s ok.” Mr. Cake looked to the unicorn. “Rarity, do you know where Pinkie’s room is?” She forced a smile.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Haha great! Well, if you two want to follow me.” He gestured for “Sunny” and Applecrisp to follow him inside toward where the thick wooden support beam had crashed through the front window and wall. Rarity looked over to the stairs, why the fuck did they have to come here? She started up the steps, she was pissed with Sonny, the Cakes were his competitors, he should have been happy that they were out of the action for a bit. He shouldn’t have brought his entire workforce to aid the enemy.

As she climbed the cherry red stairs, Rarity realized that Pinkie’s loft would have been directly in the path of the falling beam. Given the size of the beam, it had probably annihilated the pink mare’s bedroom. She felt a little sorry for party pony. Yet her pity vanished as she heard Pinkie’s helium voice wafting through the door.

“No! You can’t use the hammer, just.” Pinkie sighed. “Put Gummy over in his bucket.” Rarity chuckled, it sounded like Derpy was the only pony who wanted to help Pinkie Pie clean her room up. Rarity pushed the door open. Pinkie and her yellow clone were standing in the midst of probably the greatest mess Rarity had ever seen. Bed sheets, candy wrappers, an assortment of party tools and a schizophrenic mishmash of Pinkie-esque items were scattered all about. Pinkie’s eyes lit up when she saw Rarity. “RARITY! OHMIGOSH!” She ran into Rarity and hugged her tightly. “Thanks so much! I thought I was going to have to clean this mess up myself!”

“Hey, what about me?” Sugarcube said in indignation. Pinkie rolled her eyes and laughed.

“Ok, I thought I was going to have to clean this mess up and have to look after you.” She turned to Rarity. “But now that you’re here! It’ll be a real-”

Rarity knew what came next, but at least this party wouldn’t have shitty games.

Pinkie Pie’s room was an explosion of candy, splintered wood, and of course, party implements. The beam had torn a good sized chunk out of the wall, which left a precarious ledge overlooking the street. Somepony (Pinkie) had taped up some streamers as a sort of warning tape signifying the drop. Rarity began to gather some of the fallen banners and lollipops.

“Say Pinkie, how come you haven’t made a lot of progress on cleaning your room in the week since the storm?” Rarity was annoyed at the apparently laziness of her former friend.

“Oh! Well, we were out mailing letters for most of the week, then we came riiiiiiiiiiiight back here and got back to work!” Sugarcube piped up.

“Hey Rarity! How was Cloudsdale?” Pinkie Pie asked suddenly. Rarity hated their duality of conversation.

“Uh, it was fine, thanks for the party by the way.” She answered, shoveling wood chips into a wastebasket.

“Noooooo problem, we spent a lot of time on that big cupcake.” Sugarcube boasted.

“We sure did! It was the biggest cake we’ve made in a long time!” Pinkie added.

“Yeah it was nice.” Rarity replied in disinterest. She just needed to clean up the room, that was it.

Gummy had slipped out of his temporary bucket home and had slithered silently up to the white unicorn. She dropped an armful of debris into the trashcan and turned around just in time to watch as Gummy’s mouth closed tightly around her foreleg. She instinctively screamed and leaped away, the little green reptile detached itself and immediately crawled into a corner. Pinkie dropped her bedspread which she was folding and rushed over to the shocked unicorn.

“Rarity! Are you ok?!!” Asked party pony. Rarity’s heart was pounding in her chest.

“Y-yeah I think so.” She said, gasping for breath. She looked at her leg amidst trembles, the white skin was spotless. Pinkie laughed and slapped her on the back.

“Oh you’re funny, you thought he had teeth!” Pinkie giggled. No shit she thought an alligator had teeth.

“Here he is Pinkie!” Sugarcube held up the baby alligator, which sat limply in the yellow pony’s arms.

“He’s not scary, wanna hold him?” Pinkie offered kindly. Rarity glowered at the blank-eyed lizard, she really wanted to wring its malevolent neck for scaring her.

“No.” She went back to picking up wood chips, her heart still racing within her chest.

The three of them cleaned up Pinkie’s room quickly. Well, Rarity did at least. She shoveled all of the trash into the grey can in the middle of the room and placed all of the edible candy in a neat pile on a shelf. She dropped the last piece of gum onto the pile and turned to the pair.

“Well, looks like we’re about-”

“Oh good you’re done! Can you help us get something from the ledge?” Pinkie asked in a tone that suggested she had been waiting for Rarity to finish. Rarity sighed and walked over to the pair, who were craning their necks forward from the precipice. Of course there was a dangerous task involved, why hadn’t she guessed that?

“It’s that box of alligator food, we can’t reach it.” A blue box of leaking alligator food was sitting on a board jutting from the side of the building. It was standing perfectly upright and Rarity honestly suspected they had put it there. She looked at Pinkie Pie; party pony could not expect her to do this. Pinkie’s countenance was completely earnest; she actually expected Rarity to risk her life over a box of pet food.

“Pleeeease Rarity? Your horn could grab it really easily!” Pinkie’s voice became exponentially more grating when she whined.

“Yeah, sure, see what I can do.” Rarity said with a sigh. The unicorn grabbed at the food with her horn, but the cardboard box was solidly out of reach.

“You gotta lean waaaaaaaaaaay out!” Sugarcube unsafely advised. Rarity tested the board with a tentative hoof and the wooden plank wobbled ominously. Fucking hell, if she slipped, both of those fillies would hit the ground before her. Rarity knelt down and edged out on the board a little. The box was still out of reach. She looked down and saw ponies bustling to and fro on the street corner two stories below her. That was cobblestone below her, rock solid cobblestone. She swallowed and inched out further, the board wobbling a bit more. She caught the edge of the box, just a little further. The box slowly entered the grip of her horn and she tossed it back to Pinkie.

“Oh thanks Rarity!” She said cheerfully. Rarity edged back a little bit, the board creaked. She edged back a little further, the board disliked this and creaked louder in response. Just a little farther. The board bent downward suddenly and she slipped forward a bit. She needed to get off right now. Rarity felt the side of the building against her rear hoof as the board started to crack. In one swift movement she turned and leaped toward the building. For a terrifying instant, the white unicorn sailed through the air and into the room. She landed safely inside and took a deep breath, never fucking again. She let her breath out slowly and wiped some sweat from her brow. Pinkie clapped for her.

“Yay! You made it! I was a little afraid for a second since my Pinkie sense went crazy while you were out there!”

“Yeah, great. I’m not getting anything else just so you know.” Rarity walked for the door, she was done with Pinkie Pie for the day.

What happened next was more her fault than anypony’s. Rarity knew that Pinkie sense was never wrong about something falling and a smarter Rarity would have thrown one of the two idiots around her off of the ledge to appease the almighty twitchy tail. But really, a smarter Rarity wouldn’t have been there at all, a smarter Rarity would be in jail before she was with Pinkie Pie.

The gap on the floor, apparently in line with the malicious board, caved outward suddenly. Rarity stumbled back and the floor left her hooves. The room spun and she felt herself falling. She flailed out wildly and caught a 2x4 sticking out of the floor, the interior of the bakery lay thirty feet below her. She saw the countertop below her, boards and nails were scattered across the granite surface. The blood throbbed in her ears and her vision dimmed from pure terror as she dangled from the board. Pinkie was reaching for her.

“RARITY! GRAB MY HOOF!” She screamed. Rarity looked down, she was going to fall. She felt Pinkie reaching out toward her. Her blood turned to ice, she stopped thinking and stared blankly at the drop below her. Her grip slowly expired as the sweat from her hooves slicked the wood.

“RARITY! HANG ON!” Pinkie leaned further toward her. The next second she was falling, Rarity saw the next floor flash by. She turned in the air and fell headfirst toward the ground. The stone countertop rushed upward toward her. She closed her eyes and it hit her. It slammed into her with the force of a missile and her upper body bent up swiftly. Yet strangely, the impact didn’t feel like a counter, it felt soft and warm. It felt like air was rushing past her. She peeked her eyes open, a rich red chest was pressed directly against her snout. She looked up, the adrenaline in her blood made Audacity’s eyes even bluer.

He smiled.

“Hey there! Glad you could drop in!” He said audaciously. She realized he was holding her in his arms. Rarity looked around, there were clouds around them, Audacity was treading air a few hundred feet above the ground. “Heh, sorry, guess flying up this far was overkill.” The stallion said bashfully. He started to descend. She stared at him, what had just happened?

“Are you ok? I saw you falling and I figured I owed you one for the tour.” He joked. The world felt dreamlike and Rarity wasn’t even sure that she wasn’t dead. She reached a lucid hoof up and felt his chest, Audacity was warm and muscular. “Hehe, um, so that’s my chest. Are you ok?” He asked awkwardly. She didn’t reply. She had nearly fallen to her death when Audacity the Pegasus had heroically leaped into flight and saved her at the last possible instant; Rarity fainted like a proper mare.

When she awoke, it was about sunset. Sonny and Ana were sitting at one of the tables in the front of the Lone Star, Rarity herself lay on a brown cot before the counter.

“Ah Rarity, how are you?” Mr. Salukas asked, noticing her consciousness. She rubbed her eyes.

“Uhh, good.” She looked around. “What happened?” Ana snorted.

“You had a fall, no doubt playing with that mischievous pink pony.” Sonny laughed.

“Audacity, he is a good athlete, he heard you falling before any of us and he caught you. From there you swooned and we brought you back here. Are you feeling alright? No broken bones or double vision?” Rarity shook her head, it all seemed like a dream. She recalled getting the box of food, then slipping, then falling. Audacity! He had caught her!

“Did he leave already?” Rarity asked quickly. Ana snorted again.

“Of course he did, it is past closing time, you have kept us here late.” Mr. Salukas rose and walked over to her.

“Miss Pie did leave this.” Sonny held out a sheet of bubblegum-pink stationary.

“Dear Rarity, I am soooooooooooooooo-” She didn’t read the rest.

“Do you have a pen?” She asked Sonny. He produced one and Rarity turned the page over.

“Dear Pinkie Pie,

Fuck You.

Rarity.”

“Thanks for staying late.” She hopped off of the cot and stood unsteadily. “Are we going to be at Sugarcube Corner tomorrow?” She asked in apprehension. Ana shook her head.

“We have helped them enough.”

“And they have gotten most of the work done today.” Mr. Salukas explained.

“Ok good. Thanks for staying here for me.” Rarity said wearily as she exited the bakery.

“Have a good night Rarity.” Sonny called.

Rarity went back to Sugarcube Corner. She dropped the letter into the newly repaired mailbox. The entire building was nearly finished, they must have gotten a lot done while she was unconscious. She turned and walked back toward her crates. Life was neither boring nor safe with Pinkie Pie around.

Audacity. The very thought of his arms around her made her ALMOST glad to have nearly fallen to her demise. She tried to picture his pose, had he been holding her like a damsel in distress? Or a meaty package that he was just saving from death? He had made a joke. He had made a joke! Of course he liked her! He had loved holding her, it had been a pleasure to rescue her. He didn’t even care that she had spoiled his anonymity. She remembered touching his chest, a smile slid across her face, she liked how he had felt. Today had been redeemed by being held by Audacity.

It wasn’t until the next morning that she remembered the Straw Purchase. She was behind, well, more behind. Posh was just opening as she galloped up to the store, evidently he had not learned of her near death the day prior. Rarity didn’t want to spend any time on anything that wasn’t work and so she did not disclose her incredible rescue. He smiled as she reached him.

“Good morning.” She nodded tiredly.

“Morning.”

“What’s the plan for today?” Rarity’s thinking was sleepy and disoriented.

“Uh, probably the chandeliers.” She said without thinking.

“Haha alright then!” Posh opened the door and they entered the restaurant. “I’ll go get you some coffee, you probably want to be alert for taking those huge things down.” Rarity grasped that she actually had to take them down today. She looked up at the massive glass fixtures, she had literally no idea how to take them down.

With two hooves on a rusted stepladder, Rarity felt a level of fear rising in her as she reached out to unscrew the first bolt. The bolt was unsurprisingly stuck, she balanced herself on the scintillating glass and shoved at the lodged little octagon. It creaked a little and she pushed harder, the chandelier began to sway.

“You know.” Pish said softly, in an attempt to not startle her. She looked down, the older pony was steadying the ladder. “It might be a good idea to turn off the power before messing with those things.”

“Uh, yeah. Can you show me where the power switch is?” She asked.

As it turned out, the power to buildings was not controlled by a giant switch as Rarity had imagined. Instead, the power was controlled by a series of tiny tubes and levers housed in a cabinet on the side of the building. Pish pointed to it.

“Main breaker gets finicky, sometimes you have to swap it a bit.” He advised. She reached an unsure hoof out, which one was the “main breaker”? She poked one of the tubes, were those the breakers? “Have you ever seen a fusebox before?” He asked.

“Er, well, no.”

He chuckled.

“Let me show you the basics.” Pish explained the details of the circuitry to her. Rarity hoped he didn’t think less of her for her ignorance. She was a fashion designer by trade, they couldn’t possibly expect her to know such complicated mechanisms as fuseboxes could they?

Back inside the lights were out, Rarity assumed the fusebox was responsible. She climbed back up the stepladder and returned to the bolt. Pish steadied her ladder. He watched as she unscrewed each bolt supporting the fixture. “Only have four left.” He said presently. “What’s your POA for getting it down?”

“Um, well, I was thinking we could just let it drop you know?” We’re taking up the carpet, and you’d said-”

“Hey, it’s your plan, I’m not about to question it. However you think is best is best. I just didn’t know if you wanted to get it down safely and then sell it.” No way in hell was she going to complicate matters by trying to sell anything.

It was soon time to go to work and she still had two bolts left. As she walked to work, she realized that the only merchant of chandeliers she knew of was based out of Cloudsdale. The depression was crushing her as she entered the bakery, at least the line for sweets was gone. She rested and pondered her options as she baked.

At lunchtime, Sonny informed her that she had a visitor. Rarity walked out into the front end. Pinkie Pie carried a basket and she ran over to Rarity.

“Oh Rarity! I’m so sorry!” She hugged the unicorn.

“Yeah, I got your note. It’s really no big deal for me, I don’t know why you think I would be upset.” Rarity said sarcastically. The barb seemed to bounce off of party pony and Pinkie smiled sweetly.

“Awh thanks, I’m glad you understand.” She produced the letter Rarity had written. “Say Rarity, what’s fuck mean?”

“It’s another word for thank.” The white unicorn said sardonically.

“Awww, you didn’t have to thank me. I was just really glad you didn’t get hurt is all! I wanted to thank you for being such a trooper!” Rarity shrugged.

“No problem, any time is a good time to risk my life for alligator food.”

Applecrisp looked out of the door to the oven room and Pinkie dashed over to her.

“Oooh! Applecrisp! Fucks so much for helping us saw those boards up yesterday! Here’s a little fuck you!” She produced a small cupcake from her basket and gave it to the confused Applecrisp. The obscene party pony gave one to Rarity.

“Hehe, thank you Pinkie.” Rarity said over stifled laughter.

“No no Rarity. Fuck you!” Pinkie Pie rushed over and gave one to Mr. Salukas, who was just exiting the store room. “You helped us so much Mister Sonny, we couldn’t have done it without you. I want to fuck you so much!” She bubbled. The stallion received his cupcake with bewilderment. Sugarcube poked her head in the door.

“Come oooooooooooooon Pinkie! We have like thirty more thank yous to deliver.” Pinkie dashed to the door.

“Shoot, wish I could stay, but duty calls! Fuck you all!” She called cheerfully. Sonny placed his cupcake on the counter and scratched his head.

“I do not understand that little pony.” He said in befuddlement.

Rarity and Applecrisp returned to the oven room. Rarity had started back on her work when Applecrisp threw down her egg beater and started to laugh uncontrollably. It was the first time Rarity had ever heard Applecrisp laugh. The expressionless blue mare was seized with cackling, and for a few stunned seconds, Rarity stared at her.

“Gawd, how’d y’get her t’say that?” Applecrisp asked, wiping a tear from her eye. Applecrisp was laughing, it was impossible. A smile had opened across Applecrisp’s stone cold face, she was really laughing. Rarity started to laugh as well.

“It’s not too hard, trust me.” She said with a grin.

Applecrisp soon controlled her laughter and returned to her typical quiet, yet the image stuck with Rarity. Maybe Applecrisp wasn’t so different from her after all.

It was a good day, Rarity and Applecrisp finished a light load of work, Sonny paid them, and everypony was in a good mood. It wasn’t until Rarity reached halfway to the Straw Purchase that the weight of her work set in on her. She still had the menu to get to tonight. And she needed her address book and the catalogues; she had to get inside her crates somehow.

Rarity knew instantly that something was wrong as she pushed open the door to the diner. Her gaze drifted upward, there was a gaping hole in the ceiling and a few wires dangled down like spider legs from the yawning hole. The chandelier she had been working to remove lay smashed into millions of glass shards which were splashed across the carpet. Pish and Posh heard her and walked out of the office. She ran toward them. The usually relaxed stallions looked grave and reserved.

“I am so sorry! I’m sorry-”

“Rarity! Stop!” Posh yelled. She halted instantly, her mouth was dry and her heart pounded in her chest. Posh wasn’t smiling. “Put on a pair of boots.” He motioned to a pair of rubber rain boots on the counter. “There’s glass everywhere.” She pulled on the boots and ran over to them.

“What happened?” She asked in horror.

“It looks like the weight of the chandelier sheared off the last two bolts and then tore out the mount.” Pish explained. She had left it hanging with just those two bolts, because she had to get to work. She was responsible.

“I am sorry, I am so sorry. I will pay for all of it.” She said quickly. Posh twisted his mouth.

“That would probably be best. We can just pay for the other one to be professionally uninstalled.”

“I am so sorry, it won’t happen again, believe me.” They could easily fire her right now and she couldn’t blame them. Rarity desperately searched for some explanation or admonition of guilt and full assumption of responsibility. “I know it was stupid, I’m really sorry!” She ran out of things to say.

“We were blessed that nopony was hurt.” Pish observed. Posh nodded in agreement. The younger stallion turned to her.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” He asked casually. Rarity’s mind went blank, what had he just said?

“Y-you want me to still work tonight?” She asked in disbelief. He nodded.

“I wouldn’t imagine why not, do you have somewhere you need to be?”

“N-mo, it’s just that.” She studied them, they were either pissed to the point of flat affect, or if it were actually possible, not pissed at all. “I, guess I’ll clean this up?” She said slowly. Posh smiled.

“Great!”

“Just be careful of the glass!” Warned Pish. She nodded stiffly.

Over the course of the next few hours, Rarity cleaned up the obliterated remnants of the chandelier. Posh joined her halfway through and she quickly began to think of apologies.

“Look, it was very irresponsible of me. I won’t make any excuses.” She said feverishly. “It won’t delay the deadline. I will still get it done on time, I’m going to make sure.”

“Haha, Rarity.” Posh’s voice was relaxed and calm. “You don’t need to sell me. I get it, you made an honest mistake. I’m very impressed that you agreed to pay for it. Don’t beat yourself up, just make sure that you get professional help if you need it. I don’t want anypony getting hurt, it’s just a business after all.”

“Well, it was very irresponsible of me, I want you to know that I know that.” She explained.

“I realize that.” Posh saw her fear. “Hey, accidents happen, I’m glad nopony was hurt, that’s it. You’re still our consultant right?” Rarity nodded vigorously. “Haha great, I’m really looking forward to seeing what you do with the place!”

In all of her years, Rarity had never known a boss like Posh.

It had been a week and a half, Rarity had burned through half of her time, but she had made some progress on the Straw Purchase. The carpet was laid, the menu was about ten percent done. The plants and piano she had simply discarded, they were cliché and more importantly, more time consumption. It was incredible, despite everything, she was making progress.

It was midafternoon on a Wednesday. She and Applecrisp were folding a batch of dinner rolls.

“Y’ever been t’Manehatten?” Applecrisp asked unexpectedly.

“Uh, yeah, a few times.” Was Applecrisp starting a conversation? “Why?”

“Nuthin’.” Applecrisp brushed the pasty white dough with melted butter. The quiet returned. “D’they have thee’ters out there?” Asked Applecrisp after a minute.

“Uh, yeah, they do.” Rarity replied. Applecrisp considered this.

“Does it cost much, to see them shows?”

“Uh, not really, usually just a few bits.” Applecrisp scooped another roll onto the papered tray.

“Good entertainment?” Rarity was unsure of how to answer this.

“Um, yeah usually. I mean, depends on what you’re looking for, there’s a lot of good thespian troupes that have some great seasonal productions.” Applecrisp nodded and walked a tray to the oven.

“S’pposing, a pony wanted t’go to onea them thespian productions. There have t’be some sorta ID or maybe dress code?” Applecrisp asked. Rarity chuckled.

“Not really.”

Applecrisp asked more questions about Manehatten and about thee’ters. She only asked a few questions and stopped talking when she wanted to. But she had started a conversation, and that was surprising enough.

Lunchtime came and Rarity took her meal outside. She was sitting on the stoop of the bakery, lost in thought about the chandeliers. How in the hell would she get some by the 21st? Maybe if she called Trance, but would he still do her a favor? She could see if Brilliance knew, or perhaps- someone tapped her shoulder. Her concentration broke and she turned angrily.

“What?” She asked in annoyance. Spike had a book bag slung over his shoulder, he looked like he hadn’t slept in a while. Rarity rose to her hooves immediately. “Oh, God, sorry!” She apologized.

“No problem. Sorry I didn’t make it to your party, I haven’t been in Ponyville for a while.” He said with a shy smile. “The business with the diamond dog, it’s now a pretty big government production, what with the interrogations and recordings.” He explained.

A pause ensued and the night of her negotiation returned to her.

“I, look, Spike, I’m really sorry for what I did up there.” Rarity began. “I want you to know I didn’t have anything to do with getting into the paper, or being a hero or anything. I know what I did was wrong, and I’m really sorry for nearly-” She stopped. It was horrible to think of what might have happened. Spike shifted his book bag.

“How was the party?” He asked.

“Pretty good, didn’t like having Pinkie there haha.” She replied in a forced carefreeness. The dragon nodded.

“Good, good, Twilight said she had a good time...” He trailed off.

“Spike, I’m really sorry, please, don’t be upset.”

“Rarity I-” He started. He looked up at her, then down at the ground. The dragon frowned and cracked his knuckles thoughtfully. He looked up at her again.

“I was about to come up here and tell you how I had forgiven you for what you did.” He frowned again. “But I can’t even convince myself that there’s anything to forgive.” He shook his head. “You, well, God, you make it hard to talk.” He halted momentarily.

“I love you Rarity.” He blushed deeply with this, the red standing out vividly against his purple scales. “I have always and will always; probably some sexual deviance, but I love you more than anything. I keep trying to get mad at you, but all I can see is the good in you. How you never told Twilight that I knew about the crown, I mean, how you fixed the crown and got it back in the first place for goodness sake.” He shook his head. “That night, you were so out of it, and I should be so mad at you for just handing me over to that guy.” He struggled against himself. “But…I can’t be mad at you. I can only think of how it all came out perfectly and how sorry you were and are for putting me in harm’s way. You just stood up right then, you were so sorry for snapping at me. You felt so bad about it, that’s what gets me. When I see you do stuff like that, stuff where you get so ashamed for acting badly, I just lose it, I can’t even think. I forget why I’m mad and I fall even more in love with you.” He paused. “Twilight says I have an enabling habit with you, that I keep letting you do stuff and encouraging it, cause I’m so infatuated with you.” He smiled hopelessly at her. “Well if it’s a habit then I can’t break it. I love you Rarity, and no number of drunken rampages will ever change that.” He looked up to her for a few moments, his clear dragon eyes peering wonderingly at her. In a second he looked back down at the ground and cleared his throat.

“Sorry I have had sixteen hours of sleep in the past five days and am not making the best of choices. Did not even know I was going to say that.” He said with a little laugh. “Guess I shouldn’t have repressed it for so long.” Rarity embraced him.

“Spike, I, don’t even know what to say.” He held her back, she could feel his heart pound against her skin.

“Heh, me neither, this was kinda unexpected. I shoulda figured you do that to me though.”

“You are so mature for a dragon, for a pony even. I want you to know that you are a really awesome dragon, for so many reasons.”

“You’re an awesome pony, for a lot more reasons.” He whispered.

“I hope we can always be friends.” It slipped out and the second it did, Rarity wanted more than anything to take it back. She had been so used to simply shrugging off his affections, thinking he was just a baby dragon. Before the Blast it would have just been another joke between them. But Spike was grown now, he was an adult and his feelings had become relevant. Rarity hadn’t realized that this had been an impromptu ultimatum. She hadn’t been ready for this, and he paid for that.

She felt him swallow.

“Hehe, me too Rarity, me too.” He released her. He was still smiling, but even an airhead like Pinkie could tell how hollow he had become. “I am really glad you had a good party, drop by and see me sometime at the Library.” He started down the street.

“Spike, I am glad I know you! You’ve been really kind to me!” She called in attempt to soften his pain. Rarity bit her tongue, she was just making this worse. He laughed, a forced laugh.

“Yeah.” His adolescent voice cracked. “I’m glad to know you too!” He turned and walked toward home.

Rarity stood and watched him. Eight months ago he had been a baby dragon obsessed with a fashion designer who doted on him and played with him. Now he was a heartbroken secretary to the queen, spurned by a unicorn who was trying to get her life together. What happened?

That night, the Straw Purchase was quiet, Rarity was painting the dessert section of the menu. She was exhausted and discouraged and the paint fumes tired her more. Pish and Posh were in the kitchen working on something she didn’t care about.

She thought of the poor little dragon sitting alone in the giant library, she felt herself tear up. Dammit Spike, why couldn’t he plan his shit out? She brushed a tear away from her face and clutched the brush tightly. It wasn’t her fault, it wasn’t, she couldn’t lie to him. She would have to have told him at some point, he couldn’t go on living the lie that she loved him back. She brushed another tear away, why did it have to hurt so bad hurting someone like Spike? Why couldn’t it be easy like hurting Snips? Why did he have to love her so much? Why did he have to be so fucking sensitive?

“Rarity?” She looked down. Posh was standing next to the counter. “Is everything all right?” She swallowed and brushed at a tear.

“Yeah.” The lump in her throat stifled the words. She cleared her throat. “Yeah, everything’s cool.” Posh nodded slowly.

“Well, I’m here if you feel like talking.” He started back toward the office.

She heard the door open.

“Posh?” He stopped. Rarity swallowed. “Is it ok if I take a break to talk to you?” He chuckled.

“It’s fine, it’s your work.” He walked back over to her. “What’s on your heart?” She climbed down from the counter.

“My friend, well, he, told me he loved me today.” She started. “I” She sniffed. “Hurt him bad by telling him that I don’t love him. And now I feel awful about it.”

“Oh.” The short black stallion lowered his gaze.

“Yeah.” She said sadly. Posh thought for a moment.

“I’m thankful you told him the truth. That’s really what he was asking for, and you respected him by telling him that.”

“I know that, but it was horrible seeing him hurt like that. He is so nice to me, and I wish more than anything that I could tell him I love him, just so I wouldn’t have to hurt him. He doesn’t deserve to be hurt like that.”

“Sometimes.” Posh thought for a second. “Sometimes things just have to hurt. You can’t control what happens and the best you can do is let everything play out. Hurt happens, and the only thing we can do is move on.”

“I don’t know if he can take the hurt from this.” She sniffed.

“If he was strong enough to tell you he loved you, then he is strong enough to hear that you don’t love him.”

But was Spike strong enough? He was a young dragon, he was still vulnerable, how could he possibly be that strong? He had loved for as long as he had known her, in a manner that bordered on a mental disorder. Rarity swallowed and stood ruminating for a second. She became aware that she was crying about a personal problem during work hours.

“I’m sorry, this was terribly unprofessional of me.” She said quickly, drying her eyes and returning to the counter. Posh chuckled.

“Look Rarity, this is your job. It’s always been your job and of course you’re probably used to being very formal. And if that’s the best way for you to operate then by all means go for it.” He smiled sheepishly. “But life happens, and I want you to know that if you’ve ever got something troubling you, you can come to me or my dad. I am really hoping that this job has a positive effect on your life, we’ve been praying for you since the beginning.”

Rarity stared at the stallion beneath her, Posh was different, really different.