Chapter XIV

The next few days went by like a blur. Rarity went to work, chatted with Applecrisp a bit, then returned to the Straw purchase. Even with only mornings and nights, she finished the menu and organized the tables and chairs. Rarity then spent a hectic few days trying to scrounge up a pair of chandeliers.

With the apparently “grand” reopening only a three days away, Rarity was exhausted and discouraged and ready to collapse from stress.

Despite her dismal work projections, she walked briskly toward Sweet Apple Acres, Audacity was after all waiting for her. Remembering her date had been like finding a few bits in her saddlebag. It had been a rough few weeks with Spike and the Straw Purchase and that whole rape scare with Applecrisp hadn’t helped at all. She really needed to relax and what better way to relax than picking apples with a stallion whose mere existence was justification for sexual gratification?

The cool breeze that hinted at fall felt wonderful against her body. The sun was beginning to descend toward the horizon and beams of sunlight filtered through the trees and onto the path. Rarity passed the familiar signs describing the farm’s various naturalistic practices. She nosed the intercom button.

“H’lo?” Came an unsure voice, it sounded like Apple Fritter.

“Hey there!” Rarity said cheerfully. “It’s Rarity. Could you let me in?”

“Uh, hang on a minute.” Rarity heard a bit of a scuffle.

“Gawd, ah give ya one assignment.” Applejack said in frustration. “H’lo?”

“Heyhey! Applejack, it’s Rarity. Mind letting me in?”

“Well wai the hell didn’t ya’ll tell me it was Rarity?” Applejack demanded. “Course y’kin come in.” The gate buzzed and Rarity walked into the yard. In a few seconds, Applejack exited the house and walked down to her.

“Hey there miss Rarity! Whut do ah owe this visit to?”

“A bit of a love quest. That stallion, he’s here, well I hope he’ll be here anyway. He wants to go on a date with me!” She said gleefully. “Can you believe it?” Applejack grinned and thumped her on the back.

“Course ah can! Rarity, ah said from the start, yer no different than before. Y’kin get any stallion y’want. He’s pro’bly just as excited to meet ya’ll as ya’ll are t’meet him.” Rarity blushed.

“Oh well I don’t know, I act pretty stupid around him sometimes. Oh! I almost forgot! Is it ok if we take a walk in the orchard? Maybe pick some apples? I know you don’t let ponies do that, but-”

“Is’ fahn, y’pick all the apples y’want.” Applejack said kindly.

“Oh thank you Applejack!” Rarity gave her a grateful hug. The orange farmer chuckled.

“Any tahm, any tahm.” She adjusted her hat. “’Sides most of the workers are off helpin’ put t’gether the bottlin’ facility.”

“Every time I see you your business is getting bigger and bigger.” The unicorn looked at the giant barn beside the house. “Seems like not that long ago that you were just selling a couple bottles”. AJ grinned self-consciously.

“Well, there’s a market for the cider, so ah figure, wha not? Ain’t no sense in not makin’ money. But hey, this ain’t a social call, this is business, when’s that colt s’pposed to arrive?”

“I don’t know.” Rarity said, looking about her. Applejack looked to the gate.

“Ah better go tell Apple Fritter she kin let him in.”

A streak of red shot into the middle of the yard, causing a massive puff of brown farm dust to rise from the ground. Audacity walked out of the cloud and shook his mane. He strode toward Rarity, dusting his wings a little. He gave her that irresistible smile. Less than five seconds in and Rarity knew she was already blushing.

“Phew! Y’know how t’make an entrance!” Applejack called appreciatively to the stallion. “We got a gate that works y’know!” She joked. He hopped up onto the porch and bowed a bit.

“Thanks! I would have knocked, but I just came from a workout and I figured this was faster.” He flicked his head to Applejack. “I’m Audacity by the way.”

“Applejack, ah own this here farm.” She said with a tip of her hat. “Heard ya’ll were wantin’ to pick some apples.”

“Haha yes!” He looked out over the orchards. “Impressive farm you have here.” Applejack shot Rarity a glace that showed she approved greatly of Audacity.

“Well, yer best bet is them honeycrisp trees raght over there.” She motioned to a row of trees off in the distance.

“Great!” Audacity looked to Rarity. “You want to head out there?” She giggled.

“Sure!” He looked off toward their destination.

“It looks like a pretty long walk, what if I carried you and we flew out there? We could probably get more ti-”

“Yes!”

The night was off to a perfect start, better than perfect actually. Already she was embracing him and they hadn’t taken a romantic walk. She hopped onto his back and they were off.

“Have a good time y’two!” Called Applejack from the porch.

Rarity hadn’t been flying in a long time and the experience of rushing through the sunset sky, coupled with her tight embrace on muscular Audacity made it an almost euphoric experience. They whipped through the air and over the long rows of apple trees. In a few moments they reached their destination and Audacity set her gently down in the soft grass.

“Thanks for the ride.” She breathed. Audacity laughed.

“Any time.” He looked around at the rows of apple trees surrounding them. “You hungry?” She nodded and he shot up into a tree and returned with a pair of apples. The red stallion crunched his apple and chewed it for a few moments. Wiping some juice from his mouth, he turned to her. “You know Rarity, I’ve seen a lot of you, but I feel like I don’t know you.”

“Oh?” She asked innocently.

“I see you going to that one restaurant a lot. You seem really focused whenever you’re walking there, so I haven’t said hi or anything.”

“Oh well, you see, I’m doing a bit of consulting for the owners, I’m sorry if I look too driven, you could talk to me if you wanted to.” She explained hastily.

“I think it’s great. I like seeing a mare with drive.” He looked down the long rows of apple trees. “You mind if we walk a bit?”

“Oh no of course!”

The pair walked through the orchard, the coming fall breeze rustled the trees and the golden sun dappled the grass beneath them. Rarity couldn’t have asked for a more romantic scene.

“I love Ponyville.” Audacity said as he beheld the scene. “I’m glad I moved here.” He spoke a little softer. “You know it was pretty hard on me, back when I was a bigshot in Fillydelphia. I wanted a bit of a new beginning here.” He looked around. “This has really been a good place to start again. I’m glad I met you, it’s been hard finding ponies who aren’t completely interested in my career. Ponies who just want to go out and pick apples.”

“I like you a lot too Audacity.” Rarity whispered.

“I want to get to know you more Rarity.” He said quietly. Her heart fluttered inside her chest. “Tell me about yourself.” Shit, she had no idea what to say. What about her life wouldn’t offend or disappoint him?

“W-well, I work at the bakery. And I’m doing that design consulting for the Straw Purchase, that’s that restaurant I’m always walking to. It’s been a lot of historical analysis and such. And.” She realized she had run out of things to say. “I like you.” He smiled.

“What about your Cutie Mark?” He nodded to her diamond emblazoned flank. “It’s pretty, I really like it.”

“Well, that’s from when I discovered that I have a bit of a knack for finding gems.” She was not going to mention her bizarre and lightly erotic encounter with an oversize boulder which she had misidentified as a diamond.

“Wow! So you could like find some gems right here, right now?” He asked in amazement. She blushed.

“I suppose I could.” She said self-consciously. She began to search the path around them; of course she had to give a demonstration. She felt the twinge of sapphire a ways away. “This way.” She started to walk. “I’m sorry, I just don’t feel any right around here.” She apologized.

“No no! This is cool! Like a treasure hunt!” Audacity said excitedly. She started to jog. “Bet I’ll find ‘em first!” He said playfully as he galloped ahead.

“Hey! Wait up!” She laughed as she chased after him. He was beside the tall barbed wire fence, digging a hole when she caught up with him. “It’s over here!” She called from beneath a tree. He dashed over to her.

“Let’s see it!” He said excitedly. It wasn’t buried very deeply; a few short paws at the ground revealed a brilliant blue cache of worthless sapphires. “Wow!” He marveled. Audacity lifted one of the stones out of the ground, the sunlight made the little sapphire into a deep blue kaleidoscope. “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” He said, eyeing the rock in awe. “How can you do that?” She blushed.

“Well, it sort of tires out after each cache, so it takes me a while to find a lot of them. And it’s not really a pinpoint sense either.” She said modestly.

“That’s still awesome.” He said in admiration. “You’re really cool Rarity. Did you know that?”

“Uh, thank you!” She replied, her cheeks reddening all the more.

“Hey can I keep these?” He asked, motioning to the semi exposed sapphires.

“Oh sure!” Rarity said. They spent the next few minutes uncovering the rest of the rocks. There were only three of them in total, but Audacity held each one as if it were a priceless treasure.

The sun had already sunk deeply into the forested horizon as they walked back down the path. They each ate another apple, and Audacity talked a bit about his career years. He had been accepted into the Wonderbolt academy, dropped out after learning that Wonderbolts spent their entire lives on the team. He had been moving around Equestria for the past year, trying to find his niche.

“And so I was doing the Tempest Run and I saw Ponyville. I saw the windmill and the little houses and I just thought to myself that it looked like the perfect little town.” He sighed. “Everypony here is so polite, all the store owners and even ponies on the street smile to you, they’re all so nice.” Rarity decided not to inform him of her less than favorable view of the “nice” ponies of the town. No sense in disagreeing on something so unimportant. “I’m still in the process of finding my whole identity here, but I think I’m starting to find the ponies I like to be around.” He said as he gave her a little nudge. Her heart started to beat faster.

“I like being around you a lot Audacity.” She whispered.

“I like being around you too Rarity.” He said in a louder voice than she would have expected. “Octavia was a bit nervous about me coming here tonight, but I knew it would be great.”

“Ocatavia?!” Rarity stopped. “Octavia from the music shop?!”

“Yeah, she’s my girlfriend.” Her heart melted and drained into her stomach. It was wrong, he had misspoken.

“W-what?” She stammered. He nodded innocently.

“We’ve been dating for about two weeks now, she offered to take me into her shop to get away from the crowds the day that you wanted to know my Cutie Mark. She told me she liked Katchapuri and that’s sort of how we met. ” It was impossible, it couldn’t be true, tonight was a date between her and Audacity the Pegasus.

“You.” She took a deep breath. “You’re dating her?” He seemed surprised.

“Yeah, didn’t I tell you that?” He saw her devastation. “Oh God, did you think this was a date? Rarity I am so sorry! I thought you knew about us.”

She held strong. No stallion, no matter how perfect, would ever make her cry.

“I thought you liked me.” She said quietly.

“I do! You’re a great friend, I want to know you more.” He consoled. “Can we be friends?” She wanted to get away from him, to forget all about Audacity.

“Yeah, yeah we can.” She started toward the farmhouse. “I have to speak with Applejack, thanks for coming out here with me tonight.” She said briskly, her throat starting to swell. “I appreciate the gesture.” Audacity sighed.

“I’m sorry Rarity, if this hurt you. I wish I could have told you that I just wanted to be your friend.” She shook her head.

“It’s fine, I’m glad I can know you.” She reached the door of the farmhouse and walked inside, there wasn’t even a goodnight. She sniffled, no, she was not crying. There was a moment of stillness outside, then the thump of a Pegasus taking flight. She wiped away a tear, Goddammit, she had fallen for him, only to be heartbroken by him. She shook her head, she was pathetic, falling for a pony because of his beauty. It hit her, this was just how Spike felt. How very fucking ironic.

Rarity became aware that she was standing in the front room of the house. She looked up, Applejack and Apple Fritter and Big Macintosh were seated around the dinner table. They stared at her.

“Uh, y’want sumthin’ t’eat Rarity?” Asked Applejack slowly. The unicorn shook her head.

“No, thank you, sorry for interrupting. Applejack, if you could just come out and meet me on the porch once you have a chance.” Applejack understood her meaning.

“Yea, be raght out.” She replied with a nod.

Rarity took a seat on the porch, the sun had almost completely set. The last rays of the golden light were receding into the trees and darkness was coming. She waited for about five minutes, then the screen door banged shut and Applejack sat down next to her.

“Where’s Audacity?” Asked the farmer.

“Gone.” Rarity said bitterly. “He’s dating Octavia, he said he thought I knew that tonight was just a friends activity.”

“Hell of a friendly get together, whut with ya’ll ridin’ him.” Applejack snorted. Rarity looked out at the sunset.

“Octavia is a bitch. He said they started talking after she said she liked the same bread as he did. She hadn’t fucking tried it in her life. She’s such a bitch.” Rarity spat.

“Bread?” Applejack asked in confusion.

“Never mind.” Rarity sniffed. “Tonight was so romantic, I thought-”

“Y’thought he thought that too. Well, guess he didn’t, guess he was fahn with playin’ around with ya, ‘as friends.’ That ain’t the mark of a gentl’man, tha’s for sure. Nao sure, he was grade A steak, but ah’ll be honest, he probably isn’t all that hot.” She paused, they both knew that was a lie. “And if he is, then who the hell cares? Y’deserve somepony who’ll appreciate you, somepony who’ll love ya and treat ya right. Mister Audacity seems like the kahnda pony who’s fulla himself and thinks the world runs for him. Y’deserve better.” Applejack consoled. “Y’deserve someone who loves Rarity.”

The image of Spike walking home alone came into Rarity’s mind. Fucking hell, WHY COULDN’T SHE LOVE HIM? It was so right, he was kind, a gentleman, caring, everything she could ever want. It made so much sense.

“Y’did the honorable thing Rarity, not getting’ all tore up ‘bout this.” Applejack commended.

“I don’t fucking care. Love is so fucking screwed up, it takes five minutes for an asshole like Audacity to win me over, but fucking Spike can be my slave for years and I don’t care about him.” Rarity said bitterly.

“Whoa nao, yer’ in dangerous waters there. Don’t go thinkin’ that cause someone loves ya that ya’ll gotta love ‘em back. Yer nice t’Spike, y’put up with his dotin’ for years when mosta the rest of us woulda told him to piss off. Y’were his friend, y’showed him love, the rahght kind, the kahnd ya felt. Jus’ cause y’got the hots fer some asshole Pegasus don’t mean ya gotta marry a dragon y’don’t love, ain’t no logic in that.” Rarity sighed. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the steps.

“You’re right.” She said tiredly. “You’re always right.” Applejack patted her shoulder.

“Nao ah don’t tell ya nuthin’ y’don’t already know.” Rarity let out a long breath.

“God, I was so taken with him. Besides that stupid prince back at Cantorlot, I’ve never gotten so caught up over a stallion.” Applejack chuckled.

“Nao, ah will say that there was sumthin’ t’get hot over. Goodness, he’s got a body. Whatd’y’think he’s lahk in the hay?” Rarity laughed aloud.

“Don’t know, although if everything had gone to plan tonight, I could have told you.” Applejack snorted.

“Nao ah know whut y’look for in a stallion.” She said as she gave Rarity a playful thump on the shoulder.

“Well what do you look for in a stallion?” Rarity asked jokingly. Applejack whistled.

“Gawd, ah dunno, it’s been s’long since ah looked fer mister rahght. The farm jus’ gets busier and busier. First it was the apples, then it was the workers, then it was the cider.” She took a deep breath. “Nao it’s the bottlin’ and then it’ll be distribution. It ain’t easy running Sweet Apple Acres no moar, it’s a rahght business nao.” She pondered.

“Hey, you’re amazing with this farm. You kept it going, hell, you made it into an enterprise. Are you even sure you need a stallion?” Rarity asked the farmer.

Applejack snorted.

“Well it’d be nice to have some help with everythin’. Macintosh jus’ got his surg’ry an’ half mah tahm is spent jus’ chasin’ him ‘round makin’ sure he don’t pop a stitch. Then ah got Apple Fritter on the phone and gate mos’ days.” She frowned. “Nao she’s a good pony, and bless her little heart if she don’t trah. But Rarity, that filly is more squeeze than juice. She’s more of a hoof-full than Applebloom was. An’ Paco wants me t’get on them pint containers.” Applejack rubbed her eyes. “Lord if ah don’t need a break. How ‘bout ya’ll an’ me hit Hennessy’s some tahm?” She suggested. Rarity chuckled.

“I’m about done with social drinking. Don’t know if I just look like a good target, but I got drugged last time I was there.”

“Whoa! Ya’ll serious? Whut happened?” Applejack asked in astonishment. Rarity shrugged.

“Nothing, just passed out in the bathroom. I was with Applecrisp, I got really worried about her since she left with the guy who drugged me.” Rarity chuckled. “But she came out fine, not sure how. It was really awkward though, she was just starting to open up and then that happened.” Rarity realized she had just spoken about Applecrisp.

“Oh, tha’s too bad. Ah’m glad nopony got hurt.” Applejack said casually. Fucking hell, enough was enough.

“Applejack?” Rarity had to know. “Why don’t you like Applecrisp? Why doesn’t she like you? It’s really fucking weird, I can’t ever bring either of you up when I’m talking with one of you. Can you just tell me what the hell is up with you guys?” Applejack scraped at the worn steps under her hooves. She seemed to weigh her options.

“Well, s’ppose ya’ll deserve a good explanation.” She kicked at a little nail that stuck up in the boards. “Best ah can give, most ah’ll give, is that her family and our family don’t much care for one another. We settled on apple orchards, they didn’t, there’s a lotta judgement goin’ round.” She scraped off a bit of yellowed paint. “S’ppose lot of that’s mine, ah know ah should let it go, but hell if she don’t piss me off sometimes…”

“She’s a good pony Applejack.” Rarity said softly. Applejack looked up.

“Y’don’t know her well enough then.” She said gravely.

The two sat in silence as the darkness settled in around them. Finally, Apple Fritter informed Applejack that Granny was asking for her and Rarity bade her friend goodnight.

As she walked home, Rarity felt the wind pass through her body, a few leaves rustled underhoof. She was tired, it would feel good to go to bed.

She was over Audacity, she knew she would forget about him in a few days. That was how it was with crushes, they hurt like hell but died off quickly. He hadn’t really stolen her heart in the first place, it had just been infatuation.

The next morning was the first morning that Rarity realized that she needed to move. Her body felt stiff and cold. She rolled off of the crate and the grass crackled a bit as she landed. An early frost, not severe by any means, but enough to chill her. She swung her saddlebag over her back and trotted robotically to work. The fields around her were greyed with the crystalized dew. Were there any houses for sale? She pondered her options as she strolled through the icy town.

She reached the Straw Purchase. Posh was reclining on a table, reading from a leather-bound and thinly paged book.

“Hey there Rarity, bit of a cold snap we had last night.” He said pleasantly.

“Yeah.” She tossed her bag in her usual corner.

“So, what do you have besides the chandeliers?” Rarity realized she didn’t have anything besides the chandeliers. She remembered the grand opening. Her heart began to race with the thought of her incomplete work. This was it though, the final hurdle. She was going to finish, she was going to get her life back on track.

“They’re all I have left, I’m finishing them up.” She said decisively.

Rarity didn’t finish them, at least, not that morning. She called Brilliance again and came up with nothing. None of her other contacts could help her; she had exhausted all of her options and had no ideas.

Rarity left the Straw Purchase and went to the Lone Star. Applecrisp looked up when she entered the oven room.

“Kahnda cold out there innit?” She said in a friendly manner.

“Yeah.” Rarity replied.

“Ah was thinkin’ maybe y’kin come over t’mah place. Whut days work fer ya’ll?”

“I don’t know, Sunday.” Applecrisp noticed Rarity’s reservation.

“Oh.” She said softly. “Y’don’t have t’come if y’don’t feel like it.”

“God, no, it’s just that I’m really getting fucked over by my other job, come Wednesday morning I’m screwed. I’m sorry, we can hang out whenever you want.” Applecrisp dropped her concern immediately.

“Mmkay, how ‘bout Sunday?” Rarity nodded.

“Yeah, that’s great.” Rarity baked bread, answered Applecrisp during their conversation and left at six. She went back to the Straw Purchase, she really wasn’t sure why. As she reentered the little restaurant, Pish and Posh walked out of the office to greet her. She knew instantly that they were going to ask about the chandeliers. She began to regret having returned.

“Hey Rarity, dad and I were just wondering exactly when you were planning on installing the chandeliers.” Posh spoke politely, though Rarity knew he was pissed.

“It’s only that it’s getting a bit close to the deadline, we realize that you might be used to taking things down to the wire.” Pish said graciously. “You have to forgive us if we come off as impatient.” Rarity said nothing, she wanted to run away, she wanted to do anything but talk. She could only say what shouldn’t be said, what she didn’t want to believe but was true anyway. She had to tell them that she wasn’t capable.

“I am sorry, for everything. I tried to work like I used to.” She bit her lip. “And I got this far, and, and-” Her throat closed. Rarity stood, her mouth trembling, trying to force herself to admit her ineptitude.

“Rarity, I’m sorry.” Posh said unexpectedly. “This was very wrong of me. I can see that you’re nervous about everything.” He shook his head. “It was very selfish and discouraging for me to doubt you. I shouldn’t have asked you so many times about how you were going to do things, even then I could tell that that was making it hard for you.” He looked around at the diner. “You’ve turned this place into something that we couldn’t, I look around this place and I see what I dreamed it would be. This whole time I haven’t had any faith in you and that’s not fair at all. So please forgive me for my lack of faith, I know you’re going to get it done.” He concluded.

“I, I.” she squeaked. “I don’t know that I can get it done. P-please, you don’t have to be sorry.” Pish shook his head.

“No, it was a generous deadline you gave and after that it isn’t right to worry over your process. Everything else is done and it follows that you’ll be done when you said you would. My son and I know how difficult it has been for you, we hope that we’ve bolstered your confidence during this time.”

“Please, I have to tell you, I don’t know that I can do it.” She pleaded.

“No Rarity, we know you will.” Pish disagreed.

“Don’t listen to me Rarity, I didn’t mean to doubt your abilities, I was just nervous for my business, I wasn’t nervous about you, you’ve been perfect in everything you’ve done.” Posh said apologetically.

“I don’t know that I can get the chandeliers by the deadline, there’s just nothing I can do, I just don’t have enough time.” Pish reached into the pocket of his coat and tossed her ring of keys.

“Here, now you can get into the Straw Purchase whenever, to get done what you need.”

“No, I mean that I don’t even have the chandeliers.” She said loudly. Rarity blurted it out, she couldn’t take any more of their tolerance.

“Rarity, it’s ok.” Pish said calmly. “Go home, there’s nothing for you to do tonight, take it off.” The stallions didn’t seem to hear her. Posh nodded in agreement.

“Go home Rarity, come back tomorrow, you’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”

“But please, I don’t want to let you down, you have to listen, I don’t know that I can do it.” She implored.

“You will.” Said the stallions simultaneously.

Pish and Posh were insane. Any other boss, even a reasonably personable one would have flipped shit over being lied to. Was this all just a ploy to get her to feel better about herself? She reached her crates in a few minutes. If it was, it sure wasn’t working.

She looked out at the dark sky. The air was still and a few stars appeared overhead. She couldn’t do it, no matter what they told her. But no, she was Rarity, she had to remember that. She had done great things before and pressure was her element. The sadness fell on her, but she hadn’t done anything like this, and she had lost her touch after spending so long without practice. Sure she was still Rarity, she still had her reputation, the only thing she didn’t have was her ability. She held back an angry sob, it was certain she would never make her deadline, and she would go back to baking bread and getting drunk. It was certain that she had lost her ability to design entirely after so many months of neglect. She looked back at Ponyville, that fucking town had ruined her career and her life. Suddenly the hate came rushing forth, they had broken her. They had fucked her over without a second thought. Rarity started to cry, she hadn’t even done anything wrong.

She didn’t sleep that night; Rarity just looked out at the sky and waited for dawn.

Morning came and she was tired and sick. She walked to the bakery early and sat outside the door. Her sadness had resided some and she regretted staying up all night. With nothing else to do, the unicorn simply lay outside the door and watched the sun rise. Sonny was along in an hour, he strolled up to the bakery and noticed her by the door.

“Is something wrong Rarity?” He asked as he looked over the disheveled unicorn.

“No sir.” Replied the miserable pony. He shrugged and opened the door. She walked into the bakery, it was quiet and still; the smell of flour passed into her nose. Her resolve broke and she slumped to her knees and began to cry uncontrollably. Sonny nearly jumped at her first sudden sob.

“Rarity! What is the matter?!” He asked incredulously. She didn’t reply, but merely continued to wail helplessly. The stallion, completely unsure of the proper course of action, waited awkwardly for her to finish. In a few minutes, Rarity had reduced herself to sniffles and Sonny sat down next to her. “Can you speak?” He asked cautiously. She sniffed and nodded. “Well, what is the matter?” A fresh stream of tears ran down her face and she wiped them away.

“I hate my fucking life.” She cried. “I hate living, I just want to die.” The bulky stallion processed this for a few moments.

“Why?”

“Because I can’t do anything right!”

“Why is that?”

“Because this Goddamn town ruined my life. Because this fucking cruel town ruined everything I had! And I can’t even work like I used to, I can’t do it! ALL BECAUSE OF THESE FUCKING PONIES IN THIS FUCKING TOWN!!!” She screamed. Her voice was raw and jagged and the hate burned inside her. She hated them, she hated all of them for what they had done to her. She wanted them to pay, to rot in hell for fucking her over. Sonny didn’t reply immediately, and the pair sat listening to Rarity pant for breath.

“I do not know the history of your town, tell me what they have done to you.” He said slowly. She swallowed. She had never told Sonny her story.

“A month before the Blast, a royal guard came to me to make him a uniform. He had an ID, he was a real royal guard, I had no reason to suspect him at all.” She swallowed again. “He went.” She started to cry. “He was the one who planted the bomb that killed the Princess.” She sobbed. “And my friend Fluttershy.” Sonny put an arm around her and she clutched his thick wooly hoof. “I, I didn’t know, I never knew, I had no reason to know. I just did my job.” She pleaded helplessly. The salty tears ran into her mouth. “But nopony understood that, they all stopped buying from me and I lost everything I had. I lost everything cause nopony wanted my business.” She cried. “Because they thought I had a part in the Blast.”

Sonny took a deep breath and released it slowly.

“I am sorry. I know that ponies often follow their emotions before they follow reason.” Rarity sniffed and gripped his hoof tightly. “I am sorry that you were branded a traitor.”

“I got a job, after all of that, after taking this shitty job, I got a real job from some nice ponies who believe in me, who respect my reputation. They.” She started to sob again. “Want me to help their business.” She looked up into Mr. Salukas’ green eyes. “I can’t even do that! I can’t even do anything I like anymore! I’m broken I guess. I made an impossible deadline, I thought I could do it, but I can’t, I can’t, I just can’t do it!” She cried.

Sonny looked to the oven room. For a minute or so they simply sat on the floor. The only sound was the whimpering of the unicorn and the tick of the clock.

“I am proud of you Rarity.” She sniffed and looked up at him in confusion. Sonny smiled at her. “The day you came into my bakery I knew you were special. You have experienced something that almost no pony ever has. Neschast’ya, that means adversity. This adversity did not destroy you, it did not kill you. It made you stronger. Even though you feel weak now, you are a strong pony. For the few months I have known you, I have seen the strongest pony in all of Ponyville come to work every day in a job she did not want. The difference between you and the other ponies in this town is a matter of strength. Fate held that you would survive the loss of everything, because you are strong. Knowing that, I am not worried that you will have any trouble finding work that you like to do.”

“I…was really happy about doing this other job, I really thought I was getting back to what I loved, like what I had before. But there’s no way I can make it happen.” She explained softly. “I can’t do it and it hurts to know I can’t.”

“Why can you not make it work?” He asked gently.

“The deadline is tomorrow and I have to find and install some chandeliers today.”

“You saved the queen from a terrorist, are you sure you cannot make this happen?” He asked with a little laugh.

“There’s nothing I can do. I don’t have any contacts or leads or anything. I have no idea where to find two chandeliers in less than a day. There’s nothing I can do.” She said hopelessly.

“Rarity.” Sonny’s voice was calm and reassuring. “Your expertise is still within you, all you need do is dust it off. You are feeling stress from a job, you are not feeling the lack of knowledge; we both know a dumber and weaker pony would have broken beneath your struggles. Tell me, do you really think you cannot complete your work?”

“I just don’t know what to do. It seems so impossible.” She answered dismally.

“So would have living without your career, but you managed that. So would have protecting your Queen from a dangerous dog. You did both of those things without hesitating from the opposition, do that now. You will doubt yourself if you think of how hard it will be.”

She sat silently for a time.

“You believe in me, they believe in me, I guess I’m the only pony holding out.” She ruminated. Sonny chuckled.

“We are often the first to doubt ourselves, it usually takes a few friends to give us a shove back to truth.” The two sat for a couple minutes and the sun rose behind them.

“Thank you Sonny.” She said softly. “I didn’t mean to call this job shitty, I’m sorry for that. You’ve been the best boss I have ever had. I don’t like baking, but I do like you.” She gave the workhorse a hug. Sonny swallowed and his thick jaw trembled a little. He stood up and cleared his throat.

“Thank you.” He said formally. “I am glad I could help you.” Rarity stood up and instinctively started for the oven room. “No, Applecrisp has called in sick, take today off to finish your other work.” Mr. Salukas stated.

“Are you sure?” Rarity asked. The workhorse nodded.

“Yes, I will clean the building up today. Go, finish your work.”

“Thank you so much Sonny, I really appreciate it.” She sniffled. He waved her out briskly.

“Go, your work awaits.” Rarity left the bakery in a gallop.

Sonny watched her depart; he was glad she had not seen the tears in his eyes.

Rarity sat on a bench for about an hour, the sun warmed her back and the cool air breezed through her mane. Where the hell were some chandeliers? She had a tour map from City Hall and had leafed through it about a hundred times in search of any Ponyville business that had the expensive lights. She tossed it into the street. Where the fuck could she find them? No, not Sweet Apple Acres. Octavia’s music shop might have one, but probably not for sale. Not Bonbon’s chair store. Rarity picked up the map again, were there any businesses that she had missed? She unfolded the map and began to look it over again. A head shaped shadow stood out from the other side of the paper. Rarity knew who it was even before she heard Pinkie’s squeaky voice.

“Hay Rarity! Are you gonna keep looking through that map? Don’t you already know everything about Ponyville?” Rarity crumpled the glossy paper up and lobbed it into a nearby trashcan.

“Haha of course not Pinkie Pie! I was just out here on this fine day and I wanted to read and reread something a lot, that map was the first thing that I found.” Rarity said with a derisive laugh. Pinkie giggled.

“My turn!” She dashed over to the trashcan and recovered the map. The pink pony took a seat next to Rarity and began reading over the page.

“Is there anything in particular you want from me?” Rarity asked in dismay. Pinkie looked up from her reading.

“Huh? Oh yeah, she wanted to ask you a question!” Pinkie replied. She turned back to the map. There was nopony else near them.

“Who?!” Rarity demanded angrily. Pinkie looked around.

“Oh shoot! Where did she go?” Pinkie dropped the map and searched around for (presumably) Sugarcube. “Hang on, she wants to ask you a question.” Pinkie said, sprinting off in search of her cousin. Rarity watched Pinkie zip off. The pink pony flew down the street and out of sight.

“Mmmmyeah.” Rarity rose to her hooves and started away from the park bench. Where the fuck could she look? She looked over the town, she had covered all the usual places. She shouldn’t have fucking destroyed the old chandeliers, she could have at least used them for the grand opening. She walked mindlessly past shops, hoping one would give her an idea. None of them elicited any plans.

“Rarity?” Called Pinkie’s voice. She looked back, Pinkie and Sugarcube were looking for her by the park bench. She quickly darted between the nearest two buildings and hid. It felt a little absurd hiding like this but she couldn’t deal with Pinkie now. She had too much on her mind to put up with Pinkie Pie and Sugarcube. Nevertheless, the alley smelled horribly of shit, and she poked her head out of the rank chasm to gasp for air. She glanced to the bench, the two had apparently gotten bored and left. She started back into the street. Where could she go to find chandeliers? Suddenly somepony grabbed her and pulled her back into the alleyway. She tried to scream, but they clamped a hoof over her mouth. Rarity clawed at the ground as they pulled her back into the gap between the buildings. Her captor pulled a burlap sack over her head and yanked it tight. She frantically fought to escape, but whoever it was secured her solidly and the unicorn was dragged backward into the darkness. She heard a door open, whoever they were threw Rarity roughly onto a wooden floor. Rarity’s heart raced with terror, what was happening?

“I only have one question.” Asked her squeaky voiced kidnapper. Rarity tore the bag off of her head.

“Pinkie?!! What the fuck?!!” Pinkie Pie was pretending to be some tough thug, she wore an exaggerated frown and gave Rarity the stink eye.

“You gunna answer my question Rarity?!” Pinkie giggled a bit as she spoke. Tough characters weren’t her strong suit; no characters were her strong suit really.

“Why the hell did you drag me in here?!” Demanded Rarity in outrage.

“We saw you sneaking away, we thought we’d play along. If you’d just answer our question then you could be on your way!” Pinkie giggled.

“WHAT QUE-” Rarity was interrupted by somepony breaking a chair across her back. The force of the blow threw her to the floor again. “AGH! FUCK!” She cried in pain.

“Don’t play dumb!!!” Shouted Sugarcube, who had been hiding in the shadows. The yellow pony brandished a blackjack and hovered over the fallen unicorn.

“Sugarcube!!! Don’t do that! That’s not fun!” Pinkie cried as she rushed over to Rarity.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought we were playing rough up.” Apologized Sugarcube. Rarity got to her hooves, the wood had been rotten and weak, but she had still been hit by a chair.

“You want to play rough you little fuck?” She asked, getting ready to choke the yellow filly to death.

“Rarity I’m sorry! This was a joke, please, she didn’t know what she was doing!” Pinkie pleaded quickly.

“Yeah I did, I hit her with a chair.” Sugarcube said stupidly.

“Sugarcube! It’s not fun to hit ponies with chairs!”

Rarity had had enough of them.

“Whatever, I’m leaving, go to hell both of you.” She threw open the door and walked out into the alley.

“Rarity wait!” Pinkie and Sugarcube shot out in front of her. “I need to know. Where did you used to work?” Sugarcube asked breathlessly.

“Are you fucking serious? That’s your Goddamn question?” She looked from one to another. They were actually serious. “Carisol Boutique, don’t know why the hell Pinkie didn’t tell you that.” She said in irritation.

“Ooooh! That sounds fun!” Sugarcube said eagerly.

“Yeah, a real blast, now get lost.” The yellow pony hopped in front of her again and Rarity nearly kicked her chipper little face in.

“What didja do?” Rarity sighed.

“Clothing, fashion design. Now please, go to hell.” Pinkie Pie giggled nervously.

“Hehe, well, I think that about answers your question Sugar.” She shuffled Sugarcube out of Rarity’s path. “Sorry about hitting you with a chair.” She apologized. Pinkie Pie pulled Sugarcube down the alleyway behind Rarity. She heard party pony begin to explain to the Sugarcube why it wasn’t nice to hit ponies with chairs.

Rarity shook her head and started for the street. Her back hurt from her assault but she paid it no mind, she had too much to worry about. Those chandeliers were going to kill her.

“Rarity?” GOD. FUCKING. DAMMIT. Rarity whirled around, that fucking yellow pony was right behind her. “Is baking more fun than fashion design?” Sugarcube asked innocently. Rarity stood for a second.

Words, lots of them, but which ones to use?

“No. It is not more fun than fashion design. The idea of leaving a beautiful profession in a beautiful workshop where I make beautiful clothes for rich beautiful people, to go to work in a field so brainless that even Pinkie Pie finds it appealing is not fun.” Rarity began. It was shaping up to be a long speech, filled with explecatives and pontification.

That’s when it happened. It sort of flashed into Rarity’s mind during the part about beauty. She stopped speaking and simply stared forward, over Sugarcube who was waiting for the rest of her lambasting and over Pinkie, who was running back up the alley to retrieve Sugarcube. What had she been thinking? Rarity turned, she didn’t give a fuck about Sugarcube or Pinkie anymore. She began to sprint out of the alleyway. She knew where she was going and Rarity bolted down the street, leaping over obstacles in a perfectly straight course that led through the town that had screwed her life over.

Somehow, probably through repression, she had forgotten it. As implausible as it was, it had taken a pony as dumb as Sugarcube to make her remember. She felt herself panting for breath as she flew over the stone fence and into the field. Even as her stamina flagged, Rarity kept running. Toward the Carisol Boutique and the pair of Yanhooyer chandeliers that hung in her kitchen and workshop.

She hadn’t been to the Carisol since she had finally locked the doors and given the bank the key. The round building looked lonely. She stopped before the rotund building and caught her breath. The windows were all intact, there was no graffiti or litter. Apparently the place was too frilly for the partying youngsters.

Rarity reached the door and tugged at the lock, she had forgotten that she had no way inside. That giant oak tree extended a branch that hung over her balcony of fret. She shimmied up the tree (making sure not to focus on the bugs that were of course covering the bark) and climbed carefully out on the branch. It swayed a little and she jumped quickly. Her hooves landed safely on the white wood of the deck. She knew she hadn’t locked the door of the balcony, she had left it open as some symbolic gesture, perhaps about the freedom of the soul or something. She didn’t remember, she had gotten a lot less symbolic as of late.

Rarity pushed the door open, the bedroom was exactly as she had left it. She stepped into the dark building. The entire room was empty and tomblike, there was no dust, no accumulated stains. Rarity walked quietly through the room, her hoof caught on something that scraped loudly. She jumped back in fright, Opal’s litter box lay upset and some of the sand had spilled out. She sighed and righted it.

“Opal.” She muttered to herself. She stepped over the litter box and crossed the empty room. The unicorn opened the door and walked down the stairs to her workroom. The house was dead and nothing beyond her hoofsteps uttered a sound. Rarity reached the bottom of the stairs. The shades were drawn and the room was overcast. It looked so different now. Now everything was gone it was just an empty building. She walked to the kitchen, the giant chandelier hung above counter. Rarity knew it wasn’t perfect, but it would work. She entered her workroom. The chandelier still hung in the center of the ceiling. It too looked adequate; she had what she needed for the Straw Purchase. Rarity then realized she would have to get both chandeliers safely uninstalled and lowered to the ground.

Many words describe Rarity that morning and afternoon, but the best is tenacious. For eight long hours, Rarity shuttled tools and a stepladder in and out of her old business. She worked tirelessly, what Sonny had said was true, she was strong. Rarity fell off of the stepladder many times, yet she rose as quickly as she fell. She was strong, stronger than anypony in fucking Ponyville. She was strong and she had a job she was going to complete.

After an hour of unbolting the fixture, Rarity lowered the first chandelier with her horn. The drywall cracked and tore a bit, but she lowered it safely to the floor. The unicorn stood catching her breath for a few seconds.

“Yeah.” She looked over the crystal glass laying before her. “That’s fuckin’ right. I’m doing my job.” A cancerous grin grew over her face. She hadn’t lost any ability in the Blast.

The next chandelier went faster, Rarity unbolted the struts, (she had named all of the various parts of the mount) with the wrench of medieval design, and released the thingy plate. She reached back and tossed the wrench to the ground. As she did, the stepladder tilted backward and she reached out for the chandelier to catch herself. Her hoof missed the candleholder and she fell suddenly. Turning once in the air, Rarity slammed face first into the hard wooden floor. The impact stunned her, and she lay motionless for a moment. She rolled over, her nose bled and she felt dizzy. Above her, the chandelier swung wildly. She heard the ceiling crack and knew it was going to fall. Leaping to her hooves, she took hold of the giant glass fixture with her horn. In a moment, the final bolt tore loose and the full weight of the chandelier fell onto her horn. It nearly broke through her grip, but Rarity supported it with all of her might. It was not going to fall, it was not. The massive glass fixture crushed her and she became lightheaded from the exertion. Rarity gently lowered the chandelier downward, it was about three inches from the boards of the floor when she collapsed. It landed with a concerning tinkle, but nothing shattered outright. Rarity lay on the floor beside the heavy chandelier. Her head pounded and the blood from her nose choked her, but she had done it.

“That’s right.” She whispered to the fallen decoration. “You can’t stop me.”

Once her headache had subsided and nose had stopped bleeding, Rarity rose and walked to the door. She threw it open, it was about six, and the wind blew through the doorway around her.

“Now to install you.” She said aloud. She realized that the Straw Purchase was across town, and she couldn’t carry the chandeliers to their destination. Her mouth went dry, she couldn’t move them. She threw a punch into the door frame, sending spears of pain through her arm, she couldn’t move them! “No no no!” She ran back and tried to lift one. It was anchored to the floor. “Fuck, no, please.” She pulled with all of her might. “Come on.” Her grip slipped and she stumbled backward. “God damn it!” She cried. Rarity felt the depression returning. No, there had to be a way. She thought frantically, how did anypony move these damned things? She recalled the conversation Pish and Posh had had about the same subject. A giant vehicle of course! But there was no such vehicle in all of Ponyville. She slumped to the floor, once again, Ponyville had screwed her over. Of course the stupid town wouldn’t have any such vehicle, that might make it easy for her.

The idea was bad, bad in every sense of the word, but it was an idea. This was a desperate idea and ill-advised to the furthest degree, however Rarity was far beyond the stage of desperation and no amount of fear could keep her from attempting it. She walked out of the door, then started to run. She had a long way to go and time was slipping by. The chariot was royal property, and owned by an Alicorn who might or might not hate her, yet Rarity kept running. It was a bad idea and Rarity knew it, but it she wasn’t going to stop until something stopped her.

Rarity reached the tree, even in desperation, she realized the magnitude of her request and the audacity of it given her ambiguous standing with Twilight. She knew she would cower away if she waited too long. Before catching her breath, Rarity knocked loudly on the door. She waited for a couple seconds, steadying her heart. The door opened and one of the royal guards frowned down at her.

“Business?” He asked sternly.

“Yes, well, um, I’m looking for Twilight Sparkle. I’m a friend and I needed to ask a favor.” That was about the most euphemistic statement she had ever made.

“You can’t see her.” He answered.

“Please, let me just talk to her. If I could explain-” He shut the door. Rarity knocked again. The door opened instantly.

“Listen pony, you are leaving. Right now.” He said imposingly.

“Please, I only need a minute with her. She knows me.”

“Yeah, you and every other bum who comes by looking for a handout.” He growled as he started to shut the door.

“Wait!” She cried.

“Brutus, who is it?” Rarity heard Spike ask from inside.

“Some unicorn, says she wants to see Twilight.” Spike sighed.

“Let me talk to her.” In a moment the door reopened. “Oh.” Spike seemed startled. “Hello Rarity.”

“Hi Spike. Is Twilight here?” She asked anxiously. He shook his head.

“She’s back in Cantorlot.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say and stood wordlessly before the dragon.

“Well, why don’t you come in?” He invited after a moment.

“Sure, thank you.” Rarity stepped inside. The little tree looked normal once again, the papers were gone and the room was tidy. “It looks like you’ve gotten all of your filing done.” She observed politely.

“Rarity.” Spike sounded tired. “What are you here for?” She swallowed.

“Well, I, er, needed to ask a favor of Twilight.”

“What?”

Rarity played with her hooves.

“Well you see, I, have some things I need moving. And her chariot.” She paused, it really sounded like a demanding and unreasonable favor. “Is the only thing that I know that can carry them.” Spike stared at her for a moment and she became intensely self-conscious. “I’m sorry Spike. This didn’t sound so bad in my head, it’s just that I am pretty much at the end of my chain of ideas. I wouldn’t have come here if I knew there was any other way.” She admitted.

“Twilight’s in Cantorlot.” He repeated. Rarity realized that if Twilight were in Cantorlot, then her chariot was as well. Her last ditch effort to save her job died in that moment. She nodded, she had known that it had been an impossible idea.

“Ok.” She said quietly and walked out of the tree.

A part of her wondered if he’d chase after her, with some odd idea to help her out. Rarity wondered if he would rush out and say he could make it work, if only because he loved her. She passed out of the door and into the street. No, those days were gone. She knew by his voice that he had finally realized that she would never love him. He couldn’t and wouldn’t help her.

It was starting to get dark and Rarity was tired now. She had run out of ideas and couldn’t conjure any more. Sore from her fall and exhausted from dismantling the grounded chandeliers, a resigned Rarity returned to her crates. She climbed atop her bed and looked up at the evening sky. She knew she had failed. She took in a deep breath and held it.

In a way it was relaxing, she had been worrying and rushing around for so long that it would feel good to be done. She knew it would be worse in the morning. She let her breath out.

Pish and Posh would be so disappointed. She avoided thinking on that, there was plenty of time for that tomorrow. At least Applecrisp wouldn’t care at all, the Lone Star would be business as usual after her failure. She remembered Sonny. She remembered the speech about strength. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, she hadn’t been strong enough. She had tried as hard as she could, but she still wasn’t strong enough. Rarity began to whimper, it wasn’t her fault, she just couldn’t get it done. She had tried and tried and tried, but she just couldn’t do it. She began to cry softly, her nose began to bleed again, and she didn’t even bother to wipe the bloody mucus that ran down her face. She sat on her crate, the world around her swimming under the lens of tears. She was done with it all, she wouldn’t go back to the Lone Star, not to face Sonny and tell him that she wasn’t strong enough. She wouldn’t go tomorrow and tell Pish and Posh that she had failed her deadline. She was leaving. Just leaving.

Rarity slid off of her crate. She didn’t take anything with her, she just walked out into the prairie. The sun was starting to set, she knew it would be dark soon. The grass rustled under her hooves, and she stared straight out into the distance. She had no plan, no idea as to where she was going. She just knew she was leaving.

“Rarity?!” Called Spike. She looked back, the purple dragon was at her crates, he was searching for her. She swallowed some accumulated mucus.

“Yeah?” She called back. He looked up.

“I was looking for you.” He jogged up to her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, you can go home.” She replied.

“You’re bleeding you know.” He said sarcastically. She wiped the blood from her nose and face.

“I’m fine Spike, you don’t need to come out here to cheer me up.” She said. He shrugged and looked out over the prairie.

“I wasn’t. I just came out here to see if I could help you with whatever you need moved.” She snorted, which stung her injured snout sharply.

“You can’t, Twilight’s chariot is the only thing that can lift what I need moved.”

“Yeah? Do you want me to get that?” He asked casually.

“You’re walking to Cantorlot?” She asked cynically.

“No, it’s still here. After we left Cloudsdale, Twilight dropped herself off at Cantorlot and I came back here in the chariot. She hasn’t used it since.”

“Wait, you’ve been alone in that tree since we got back?” He nodded. Rarity suddenly felt terribly sorry for Spike. Her depression receded and she looked at her hooves. “Oh, I’m sorry about that.” She said softly.

“Rarity, what’s wrong?” He asked. She shook her head.

“Nothing. I shouldn’t have come to you to ask for a favor.”

“Why not?”

“Because I broke your heart. How am I supposed to casually tell you I don’t love you, then ask for a huge fucking favor?! That’s terrible.” Spike sighed.

“Look, Rarity. You said what needed to be said. Now, yeah, I did spend a few nights pretty torn up over that. But it’s not your fault, it was my issue to work over.”

“You’re not mad?” Asked the unicorn. Spike laughed.

“Mad? At you? Didn’t we go over that? Rarity I have a problem with you, with letting you get away with anything. No, I’m not mad. I was hurt, but while I can’t make my feelings go away, I can be more mature about them.” He frowned. “I’m really sorry for saying what I did.”

“Spike, don’t be sorry, you were following your heart. That’s something I wish I’d see you do more often.” Rarity said, putting a hoof on his shoulder.

“I basically said ‘love me or break my heart’, you weren’t going to say anything productive to that.” He replied.

“Don’t think I say many productive things anyway.” She muttered.

“Rarity, what’s wrong? Come on, I walked out here to see if I could help.” She sighed.

“Some chandeliers, I need them moved, I’m doing a job for this business and I’m out of time. I’ve got nopony to turn to.”

“Well, I can fly the chariot pretty well. Do you think you could hang them from the bottom maybe?”

“I don’t know, yeah, probably could do that. Look Spike-” The dragon shook his head.

“Rarity, the answer is yes, I always want to help you. I’m not going to stop wanting to help you and I’m just glad you don’t need my help in a bank robbery or something. And before you ask, yes, Twilight would probably get mad about this. So if you don’t want my help, then just say so, but don’t think I won’t help you or that I don’t want to.” Rarity didn’t want Spike to help, if Twilight found out, he could get in a shit ton of trouble. Yet at the same time, it was the only way to finish her job.

“Ok. But if Twilight finds out, I stole the chariot and you were asleep the whole time.” She said after a moment of deliberation.

The two walked back to the library. The golden vehicle sat behind the tree, inside the giant concrete enclosure that now surrounded the backyard. Spike hopped aboard.

“How do you turn this on?” Rarity asked. Spike knelt and perused the ancient symbols embossed in the metal.

“There’s a spell.” He found the one he wanted and gave it a tap. The symbol, which looked like an arrow of sorts, glowed lightly. “There we go.” He took ahold of the reins that draped off the front of the chariot. “It’s weird, it doesn’t use Pegasi to fly, it’s magic.” He explained as the giant golden vehicle rose off of the ground noiselessly. He turned to her. “Where to?”

“Carisol Boutique.” Spike knit his brow and gave the reins a testing shake. They lurched forward.

“I haven’t done a lot of driving with this thing, so just bear with me.” He admitted. Rarity laughed.

“If we crash and die, I’m blaming it all on you.” Spike chuckled.

“I was planning on jumping out, so it looks like a murder/suicide.” He replied. Rarity slapped him on the back.

“I’ve been a bad influence on you.”

They reached the Boutique in a few minutes. They entered the building and Rarity gave the fallen chandeliers a testing shake.

“Shit, I don’t know how we’re going to get those out of here and hooked onto the-”

“Hang on.” Spike took a small backpack from the chariot and emptied it by the chandelier in the workroom. He arranged a few dried leaves and what looked like gnarled piece of jerky around the chandelier. He lit each small item on fire with a lighter. In a second, the great glass willow rose into the air and he carefully guided it outside. Rarity quickly helped him hang it from the axel of the chariot. Once it was secure, they stepped back and surveyed the installation.

“When did you learn magic?” Rarity asked in astonishment. He shrugged.

“There were some books in Celestia’s study that Twilight let me read, most of the stuff is pretty basic like this. Anything complex needs an Alicorn or at least a unicorn.” Rarity looked at the suspended chandelier.

“That’s still pretty impressive Spike.” He shrugged.

“I guess so, although you should see what Twilight can do, it’s incredible what she’s learned from Celestia’s study.” Rarity laughed.

“I’m going to just try and finish this job before I go see Twilight again. If I get this done, maybe I’ll have something to show her.” Spike nodded.

“That reminds me, do you own these?” Rarity hadn’t realized that since the chandeliers were on the property, they weren’t actually hers anymore.

“Well, not technically.” She said with a frown. Spike shook his head.

“There’s that enabling habit again.”

It took the two a few minutes to get into the levitating chariot. Eventually they climbed out onto the tree branch and into the vehicle. They started to fly carefully toward the Straw Purchase with the first fixture.

“So, how have you been Rarity? How is the new you?” Spike asked after a bit.

“Well, I don’t know. The new me is on hold I guess, maybe I’m just one pony trying to be different things.” She answered honestly.

“Well, taking this job sounds very mature.” He affirmed.

The two reached the Straw Purchase. Rarity unlocked the door, and Spike helped her guide the levitating chandelier into the dining area.

“How long will the spell last?” Rarity asked as she hurriedly mounted the step ladder and began to bolt the fixture into the mount.

“About half an hour.” Spike replied.

“Geez, you really know some good spells.” Rarity said appreciatively. Spike laughed as he steadied the ladder.

“You really need to see what Twilight can do.”

“Yeah, maybe when I have an example of how I’m getting better to show her.” She said, tightening the first bolt.

It took Rarity about twenty minutes to affix the chandelier. When it was done, she stepped back and looked it over.

“Yeah, that looks good.” She said approvingly.

The flight back to the Boutique was quiet. The sun had set and night was upon them. A peaceful breeze ran over the chariot and the lights in the sleeping town were shutting off one by one. A few stars started to pop out in the darkness of the sky. Spike yawned.

“How are you doing Spike?” Rarity asked after a bit. The dragon didn’t answer immediately.

“All right I guess.” He said tiredly. Rarity put her arm around him.

“Thanks so much for doing this, it really means a lot to me. I’m sorry to drag you out here.”

“It’s not that.” He let his breath out. “I’ve just been kinda lonely. Twilight’s never around, that diamond dog thing made it worse. After you told me you didn’t love me, I, well I confronted how alone I really am.” He gave the reigns a shake. “I don’t mean to be all sad over myself, it’s just that Brutus never wants to talk about anything, so it’s like living alone. And, as much sense as it makes, I’m still really hurt over you not loving me. It’s not your fault, it just hurts to see that you don’t feel the same way as I do.” Rarity thought of Audacity.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I started to like this guy, he was this hot stallion.” She laughed. “Probably to me as I am to you. But he didn’t love me, he’s got the hots for Octavia.” Spike giggled, that baby dragon giggle.

“He’s dating Octavia? He’s definitely crazier than you.”

“Not sure that’s true, I’m breaking into my old business to steal some chandeliers for a new business so I can somehow make myself feel like I’m not a failure at life.” She pointed out.

“And I’m enabling you.” Spike said humorously. Rarity laughed.

Silence fell. For a few minutes, she gazed out of the chariot at the vast fields below them.

“You know, we’d make a pretty good couple.” She mused.

“Yeah.” Spike said quietly.

They returned to the Boutique. The interior was pitch black and Spike lit a torch from the storage compartment of the chariot. He arranged another set of spell constituents around the second chandelier and set them ablaze. They floated the glass fixture out to the waiting chariot and set off on the final leg of their work. It took them longer on this trip, as Spike had to maneuver over and around the buildings in the darkness. The chariot moved slowly and the adolescent dragon scanned their surroundings meticulously. The air was growing cold and after a few minutes Rarity noticed that Spike was shivering.

“Can’t you blow some fire? Warm us up?” She asked with a smile.

“Nope, that’s something bigger dragons do. All I can do is file and shorthand.” He answered.

“And magic.” She giggled as she put an arm around him.

“Yeah, that too.” He said with a little laugh.

They reached the Straw Purchase. Spike steadied the ladder beneath Rarity as she bolted the final piece of her work to the ceiling. One by one she tightened the bolts and attached the wires. Rarity was supremely tired and her horn was sore as she jumped from the stepladder.

She looked up at the chandelier. It looked perfect.

She was done. She looked around the room at the tables and chairs. Above them was the board, on it all forty dishes and desserts. It was all finished. On time.

“Spike, I, I did it.” She said in disbelief. “I, actually did it.” He smiled.

“Of course you did Rarity.” She turned and hugged the purple dragon.

“I DID IT SPIKE!” She cried.

“Of course! You could always do it!” She squeezed him.

“I don’t know if this is old Rarity or new Rarity or whatever but I DID IT! God, I never thought I could!” She said in rapt amazement.

“It looks wonderful Rarity!” The dragon said appreciatively.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.” She said quietly. “I mean, really Spike. All of this, all of your encouragement. Back in Cloudsdale, you, kept me going. I got down a lot, but you, what you said, it kept me going. And helping me now…” Her voice trailed off.

“What are friends for?” He asked with a warm smile.

“Friends.” She repeated.

It happened in an instant. Honestly, Rarity hadn’t meant for it to happen. But as she opened her eyes and looked into Spike’s, she knew she had meant it. He was speechless, a blood red blush stood out on his face like a bruise. His eyes were wide and his breath was shallow.

“You.” He said blankly. She stared back at him. “Don’t know how long I’ve waited for that.” He finished. He kissed her back. The dragon clutched her tightly. Rarity felt his heart pounding against her skin. What he lacked in experience, Spike made up for in passion. Rarity had never actually kissed anyone before, but she knew the moment was definitely on the passionate side. The purple dragon pressed his lips to hers and gripped her white body. The restaurant was silent save for Spike’s heavy dragon breath. In a couple of seconds he released her. Both were blushing deeply.

“I should go.” He said mechanically. He started stiffly toward the door.

“T-thank you Spike.” Rarity called softly after him.

“Any time.” He answered.

Rarity stood for a few minutes. She had kissed Spike, why? It had been unplanned, but she had sort of known it was coming. Did she love him? She blushed, he kissed like a lover. Maybe she was just high on the accomplishment. Maybe she did love him, maybe it had taken her a long time to realize that. Rarity didn’t know why they had kissed, all she knew is that she had kissed him first.

She basked in the wonderful glow of the chandeliers for some time. The unicorn reveled in her achievement and simply stood amidst her finished masterpiece. Everything from the new carpet to the antique tables flowed in a perfect 40s theme. She had done her job well.

Presently, the room became uncomfortably warm from the light of the massive chandeliers and she knew she ought to get home to sleep. Rarity flipped the lights off and started for the door. She turned back and surveyed the dining room. It looked wonderful. She smiled and gave the room an approving flick of her head. She noticed that the tables still had to be set, that was technically outside of her work criteria. Oh what the hell, Pish and Posh had done so much for her and she could at least give them something back.

Rarity awoke, somepony was gently shaking her. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked up.

“Rarity.” Pish was standing over her. She was propped up against the bar. Her neck was stiff and sore; she must have fallen asleep after setting the tables. Rarity groaned and rubbed her aching back. Pish grinned. “Last overnight push?” She nodded and rose painfully to her hooves.

“Eyeah.” She said sleepily.

“It looks superb.” The stallion said. Posh exited the kitchen behind them. Rarity saw that he was wearing his waiter’s outfit, the entirety of the suit had been starched and pressed. He was also ecstatic.

“This looks amazing! I’ve never seen anything like these chandeliers, where in the world did you find them?” He asked in astonishment.

“A lady never tells!” She replied playfully. He hopped the bar and stood beside the two.

“And you set the tables. Geez, you really took this home.”

“Just doing my job.” She said bashfully.

“That was what we were meaning to talk to you about actually.” Pish said. Oh no, what had she done? Rarity’s heart started to pound.

“Rarity, back when we first brought you on, we were just going on your reputation.” Posh explained. She began to sweat, what had they found out about her? “But then we asked a couple people. We found out you’d been going through some troubles. And dad and I talked.”

“We’re paying you double.” Pish said abruptly.

“What?!” She asked in disbelief. Posh smiled.

“Rarity, we’re really thankful we got to meet you. You’re a really special pony. Every time you came in to work, you were a blessing. After we you told us that you lived out in the fields, we talked it over and decided to help you get a place in town, somewhere you can spend the winter.” Pish nodded.

“And don’t try to refuse, you have no idea how stubborn we get.” Added the elder stallion with a chuckle. Rarity was at a loss for words.

“Thank you!” She squeaked as the emotion closed her throat. She embraced Posh. “You guys are the best employers ever, I couldn’t have done it without you. I don’t know how you kept so patient with me!” She cried.

“There’s a lot to say, a lot we want to tell you someday.” Posh said kindly. “But hey, we have a grand reopening! Would you stay for a bit, so we can show you off?” The waiter asked.

“Oh, I couldn’t, I forgot my dress, my mane is all out of place, I look terrible.” She said quickly.

“Well it’s up to you, but I think the ponies out there really want to see the decorator.” Pish said, pointing to the shuttered windows. Rarity made out the silhouettes of a small crowd of ponies. “After all, most of them RSVP’d once they heard you were in charge of the renovations.” She looked toward the tiny crowd. There were about ten or so ponies milling outside of the door.

“They, came for me?” She asked in disbelief.

“Yep. More’ll be along in a bit, we’ve still got a few minutes.” Posh said. It was impossible, Ponyville hated her, why would they come to see her success? Rarity was dumbfounded. “I know you think this town doesn’t like you, but I hope that today they can prove you wrong.” Posh said warmly.

“Well, hey, I have to get into my getup. My speech is in four minutes.” Pish said checking the clock.

“Whoa, you’re right, I gotta fire up the ovens!” Posh said, vaulting the bar once again. Posh entered the kitchen and Pish went to change in the back office, leaving Rarity standing in the giant room alone.

She felt numb, she had done it. She was Rarity, not new Rarity, not old Rarity, just Rarity. She flicked the lights on. She was Rarity the unicorn, design consultant, fashion consultant, back after a summer hiatus. She was in business once more.

The sharp white light, scattered by the crystals, shot across the room. She adjusted the dimmer of the wall lights. All around her, the warm creamy glow of the soft wall lights softened and eased the features of the tables and chairs. Posh poked his head out of the kitchen.

“Dad, you better be ready, you’ve got sixty seconds! Punctuality-”

“Is the key to any successful business.” Pish finished as he strode from the office. He wore a slate grey suit, one that a 40s manager would have worn and Rarity realized that it was vintage. He was furiously buttoning up the remainder of his jacket. Posh was laughing and arranging mugs for cocoa behind the counter. Rarity glanced upwards to the menu board to see how much a mug of cocoa was.

Of all of the classes Rarity had taken while at the academy of Advanced Arts in Cloudsdale, only two had dealt with interior design. She had slept through both. They were, after all, just required credits graded on a pass fail basis. She was going to be going into fashion, so of course she hadn’t cared to retain anything. And most of the interior decorating jobs she had accepted had only required basic applications of simple decorating knowledge. She hadn’t used anything she had learned in those classes. Yet as she stared at the menu board, a single five word rule appeared in her mind.

“Never use cream with crystal.” She had learned the rule in her class “Gross misdemeanors of decorating” taught by Kitsch the Pegasus. But she had forgotten about it. Until today.

The menu board, painted in a delicate shade of earth green and bathed in both cream and crystal light, was now a horrid neon explosion of pastel, vomit-like green. She had forgotten all about the rule, she hadn’t even known why not to mix those two particular lighting forms, until now. The words of the menu, written in a tasteful off-blue, were now brilliantly contrasted eyesores, robed in the monstrosity of Comic Sans. She had forgotten that rule. She had mixed cream with crystal. Her mind didn’t process this realization and she almost thought she was just imagining the unbelievable error.

“Fifteen seconds, pop. Are you ready?”

“Yep! Wait, my bowtie, is it straight?” Rarity looked down at the two restraunters, who were fumbling with Pish’s tie. They hadn’t seen the sign.

“Ok there! You’re good, get out there and let ‘em know we mean business!” Posh said as he gave the tie a final tweak. Rarity watched Pish moving toward the door. Those ponies out there were there for her, they were waiting to see her work. Work that had just barely been completed on time. Work that showed that she still knew what she was doing.

“STOP!” She shouted.

“Rarity?! What is it?!” Posh asked in surprise. She swallowed.

“The, the board, it’s not, it’s not.” She stammered. Both looked up at the sign. Pish whistled and Posh gasped.

“Rarity! What happened?! You didn’t paint it like that!” Posh said in shock.

“No, I forgot that crystal lighting can’t be used with any kind of cream lighting. I, didn’t see what happened until just now.” She said numbly.

Posh kept staring at the leprous board. Voices of the eager crowd waiting outside became audible in the silence.

“What can you do?” Pish asked after a moment.

“I, I don’t know, I can repaint the board, but that takes at least twelve hours.” She had failed, there was no way they were opening today. Posh looked over at her.

“Twelve hours?” He asked gravely. “You can’t do it any faster?”

“No!” She cried despondently. “I can’t! I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry!”

“What are we going to do?” Posh asked his father.

“Open later. Tomorrow.” Pish replied calmly. “Will that work Rarity?”

“Y-yes, I can do that.” She said, the tears beginning to run down her face.

“All right, I’ll go tell them.” The grey stallion walked to the door. “Folks I’m sorry but-”

Rarity couldn’t bear to hear him, she galloped into the office and clamped her hooves over her ears.

The walk home was the worst walk Rarity had ever known. Posh had let her out the back door and she had walked the perimeter of the town to avoid seeing the dispersing crowd before the Straw Purchase. She didn’t cry, she was done crying. Her body felt charged and tense. Her failure had finally reached an ultimatum. The deadline had been missed, she had failed her task. She was incapable. She was finishing the board tonight, then leaving Ponyville forever. Rarity wasn’t sad, she was confirmed. The Blast had won, Ponyville had won, and she was done. She reached her crates and lay there for the rest of the day.

At around eight she realized she still had to redo the menu board, Rarity rose and started back to the town. She didn’t have a plan for where she was going after she finished. Probably out straight into the forest. She wasn’t coming back, that was certain. Rarity crossed the bridge, a true fall wind, cold and unexpected, whipped around her. Ahead, she saw Apple Fritter and Applejack at their stand, they were selling hot cider. She took a detour to avoid them and ducked down a side street. Applejack would probably have some nice words to make her feel better, but she wasn’t goint to listen. She had put everything on this job and she wasn’t rationalizing her failure. She passed between two buildings and started out onto the street. Somepony collided with her.

“Oof! Sorry about that!” Rainbow Dash was wearing a brown cloak and she was almost lost in the dark fabric.

“No problem.” Rarity replied and kept on her way.

“Hey! Rarity!” Dash noticed it was her and followed her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m finishing up my job at the Straw Purchase.” Replied the unicorn.

“Oh! How did that go?”

“Fine.” Rainbow Dash smiled.

“See? I knew you could do it.” She said warmly. Rarity sighed.

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash kept following her.

“What do you have to do tonight?”

“Just the finishing touches on a menu board.”

“Paint?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I help?” Rarity turned.

“What?” The Pegasus looked at her hooves.

“Well, I’ve been painting my model and I’ve gotten pretty good. Can I give you a hoof?” Rarity thought for a moment, she didn’t want to be around Dash, or anypony for that matter. But then, six hours of work was better than twelve. She nodded reluctantly.

“Sure, grab your stuff and meet me at the Straw Purchase.”

“Ok!” Rainbow Dash galloped off. Rarity sighed and continued to the restaurant.

Pish and Posh weren’t around, she was glad for that, very glad. Rarity unlocked the door and walked inside. The room hadn’t been changed since morning, the tables were all still set, and the glasses behind the bar were flipped up in anticipation of customers. She dropped her saddlebag on the counter and got to work. She had scraped off the first half of the beverages when Rainbow Dash arrived. The little Pegasus surveyed the room in awe.

“Wow! You did all of this?” She asked. Rarity nodded. “That’s awesome.” The light blue pony climbed up beside Rarity. “Why are you redoing this part?” She asked innocently. Since the only the wall lights were on, the board looked normal.

“The color is off when both the chandeliers and wall lights are on. You can start scraping off the other side and we’ll meet in the middle.” Rarity answered shortly. Dash nodded and started on the other side of the board.

“I’m glad you did so well. I know this is just one job, but it’s a start.” Dash said kindly. Rarity didn’t answer, but focused on her work. “What are your plans after this? Have you gotten any referrals?”

“I don’t know and no.”

“Oh.” Dash said softly. There was a pause. “Did it all go ok?”

“Yes. Fine.” Rarity replied shortly. Another pause. Things were getting awkward.

“Is something wrong Rarity?” Fucking hell, it was no use. Rarity dropped her chisel and leaned against the paint flecked board.

“Yeah, there is Dash. I fucked this job up, we only figured out that the board needed to be changed this morning. That meant we had to delay the grand opening, which I set the date for. That means I failed my deadline, and that also means I’m a failure. I tried as hard as I could on this job, and if I can’t succeed at this, then I guess I’ll just keep baking bread forever. Now I know there’s a lot you want to tell me about how I should cheer up and how I really can do it, but I don’t want to hear it ok? I fuckin’ failed, so don’t tell me I didn’t.” Rarity began to scrape at the board.

Dash didn’t say anything. After a bit, she hopped down from the counter and picked up her saddlebag.

“Make sure you close the door.” Rarity called to her.

“I’m not leaving, I’m just getting a drink.” Dash nosed a water bottle out of the bag and took a few sips. She returned to her place in a second. “How long do you think this’ll take?” She asked, starting to scrape again. Rarity laughed.

“With two ponies, six hours. You can leave whenever you want.”

“I can do six hours.” Rainbow Dash said. “So, uh, what did your bosses say?” She asked after a minute.

“Dash, I don’t want to fucking talk about it ok?”

“Ok.” The Pegasus answered softly.

“They were pissed ok? The whole Goddamn job all they did was act nice and help me out.” Rarity stabbed the menu with her chisel. “They kept telling me how I could do it, and well, Goddamn it if I didn’t believe them.” She shook her head. “But it was all a bunch of bullshit.” Rainbow Dash said nothing. “I’m leaving. I chickened out before, but I mean it this time; there’s really nothing for me here. Just fucking bad memories and reminders. I’m going to finish this damn job and just leave Ponyville. Don’t know where I’m going, but I’m just going.”

“Can I come with you?” Dash asked. Rarity stopped.

“What? No! I mean, I don’t know. Why do you want to leave Ponyville?” She asked in perplexion. Dash shrugged.

“Well, there’s nothing for me here, just like you. I can cut manes somewhere else.” The Pegasus explained. Rarity had no idea what to say.

“Well, fuck, sure, fine I guess.” She said simply.

“Promise you’ll tell me when you leave?” Asked the blue pony. Rarity nodded. “Promise?” Dash pressed.

“God, yes, yes I promise to tell you when I leave Ponyville ok?” Rarity said in exhasparation. Dash seemed satisfied.

“Ok then.” She agreed. Rarity shook her head, Rainbow Dash never made any sense. Thankfully, there were no more questions, and the two worked in perfect peace. After they finished scraping off the old paint, Rarity informed Dash of the font, size, and new hue, a neutral white that wouldn’t appear quite so lurid.

Rainbow Dash worked with surprising tenacity and quality. At first Rarity was afraid that the Pegasus words would be crude or misshapen, but the winged pony’s work actually rivaled that of her own. For another hour or so, they gradually added the dishes and entrees. Eventually, Rarity’s eyes became tired, and she decided to take a break. She hopped down from the counter and poured herself some water from the sink and took a seat at a table. Rainbow Dash was still painting.

“Hey, you can take a break if you want.” Rarity said to her.

“Oh, sure.” The Pegasus joined her at the table.

Rarity looked at the clock, it was midnight.

“Hey, you can leave now, it’s going to go late and it’ll get to be a huge strain on your eyes.”

“I’m fine.”

“It’ll be like three when we finish.” Rarity informed her. Rainbow Dash nodded.

“That’s fine.” Rarity shrugged. They finished their break and got back to work.

As the next hour wore on, Rarity became extremely tired. She hadn’t slept much the night before and the words became blurry and she felt her brush weighing heavily on her horn. Twice she caught herself writing a letter backward, on the third instance she set her brush down.

“I’m going to go make some coffee.” She said drowsily to Rainbow Dash. The Pegasus nodded and Rarity entered the kitchen. The coffee maker was old and she waited for the red light to indicate the brewed beverage. The white unicorn had a seat on the white tile and stretched out her legs. She yawned, Rainbow Dash was crazy to stay up this late with her. And why the hell was Dash so worried about her leaving town? Was she just trying to make her stay? Rarity closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment.

“Rarity. Rarity wake up.” Pish was standing above her. She blinked some sleep from her eyes and a sense of déjà vu came over her. She was laying on the tile, a large dishrag had been folded up and placed beneath her head. She rose quickly.

“I must have fallen asleep!” She said in surprise. Pish chuckled.

“You must have, is this going to be a regular thing?” He asked humorously.

“No sir.” She remembered the menu. Rarity dashed out of the kitchen and looked up at the board. It was completely finished. She studied the characters, flawless Comic Sans; it was incredible, Rainbow Dash had done it all on her own.

“I know, it looks good.” Pish said as he exited the kitchen. “And it blends well with both lights. You really did a great job on it.”

“Well I, had some help.” She quietly clarified. He nodded.

“Well tell them thanks from the Straw Purchase. When we open again, bring them by for a meal on the house.”

“Yeah, sure.” She replied softly. Pish looked up at the board again.

“Rarity-” He began.

“Sir, I’m not taking the money, I don’t care what you say. This isn’t about you, I took the job, I chose the deadline and I failed that deadline. It might not matter to you, but it does to me. I want to thank you very much for the opportunity and all of the time you invested in this.” Rarity said formally.

“Rarity, I wanted to thank you. It’s your choice to be paid, so do with your check as you like. I don’t normally say this, but, there is something you lack in your life, and you have no idea what it is.”

“What?”

“Grace. You lack grace. Part of the speech you don’t want to hear talks about how recovery, part of recovery, is grace. You have a problem with not giving yourself grace. I didn’t want to say this during your work hours, but there is an all or nothing idea you seem to have regarding yourself. That unless you perform perfectly, you are incapable of performing at all. It’s terribly presumptuous to say this, Posh wouldn’t be furious if he found out I had said this to you, but it’s nonetheless true. Rarity, this restaurant means nothing to either of us. Seeing you become a whole person, that matters to us. We would have sold the Straw Purchase if it would have helped you to become who you want to be.”

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked abruptly. The grey stallion chuckled.

“A good deal of things, but I think what you find strange about me, or rather, Posh and me, is how we see life. Of all of the things we believe, there is one rule we try, try mind you, to uphold: That we should love others as family. Rarity, for the three weeks we’ve known you, we’ve spent every minute trying to love you. Most of that love came in the form of giving you all the grace possible. We were hoping that you would gain some confidence in your abilities. That you would realize that you can do anything you want. But you seem bound and determined to push yourself to perfection. As a stallion who spent twenty years doing the same thing, I feel obliged to tell you that you can’t push yourself to perfection. You need grace, you need to allow yourself mistakes.” She shook her head.

“I’ve been doing that for a long time. This was supposed to be my test of ability, I thought, I hoped, I had confidence. I didn’t get the job done.” She started for the door. “Thank you Pish, I get that you’re trying to help me, but you can’t. There was only one result I could accept.”

“You should probably take the money, travel will get costly.” She stopped.

“How did you-”? He continued.

“You will need a new profession, something you’ve never done before; also something easy, something you can win at.” She turned around.

“Excuse me?” She asked in rising anger.

“Head north, when you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can head west and make a circle around Equestria. If you’re on the road and it storms, you can make a shelter out of cardboard and newspaper. Always try to stay near cities, about half of restaurants give free meals, or you can at least dine and dash. Don’t turn to prostitution, hunger beats shame.” She started toward him, rage coursing through her veins.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” She demanded. Pish wore an expression of distant apathy.

“I’m giving you advice for the future you’re taking, I know you’re planning on leaving Ponyville. You don’t have a plan, but given your drive, you’ll search for a new purpose, in a new place, and find a new reason to hate yourself.” He said calmly.

“What the fuck are you saying?!” She shouted furiously.

“Something nopony else will!” He shouted back. His sudden ferocity startled her and she stopped short. “You keep alternating between happy and depressed, you probably sit at your crates wondering why you can’t do anything right. Well Rarity, you can’t.” She was stunned, never had anypony spoken to her like this. “Not the way you define right. You want to have a future doing what you used to do? Then you get a job, you do the work, you look for some resources. And you did, but you keep getting stuck, you keep failing and you don’t know why.” He paused. “You need grace dammit! Tell me, does it sound reasonable to consider a three thousand bit job that runs a day past due anything but a success? Notice I didn’t say perfect success, you aren’t perfect, and somepony needs to tell you that. You are successful, as an employer I can say that, all of your work has been more than satisfactory. You can’t be perfect, you are successful, but you don’t know it, since you think you have to be both to be either.” He took a breath. The old grey stallion’s voice was quieter and gentler now. “Rarity you can walk out that door and go on a journey that will cost you the rest of your life, and the only thing you’ll learn is that you can’t be perfect and you make a lot of mistakes. Or you can accept grace, and understand that you aren’t perfect, and you don’t need to be. I don’t know what happened to you after the Blast, but I can see you think you aren’t the pony you were. And you need to realize-” The door behind them tinkled and Posh entered.

“Hey! The board looks great!” He thumped Rarity on the back. “Guess that makes us all done then!” The younger stallion looked from one to another. “Did I interrupt something?” He asked after a pause.

“We were just talking about yesterday.” Pish answered.

“Oh, yeah.” Posh said in a low voice. He turned to Rarity. “Rarity, will you forgive me, for getting upset yesterday? That was unbelievably selfish. I know you did everything in your power to get done on time, and I feel terrible for losing it over a silly board. Please forgive me.”

“That’s fine. Please forgive me for not finishing on time.” She replied quietly.

“Well, actually, since we didn’t let you in on Sundays and we had the painters in here for a while, I’m thinking we could call it even, you know, for the overtime we technically owe you.”

“Overtime?” He nodded.

“Yep overtime, the total might be a bit low, but we’d still be doubling the original sum, is that ok?”

“Y-yeah, that’s fine.” He smiled.

“Great, let me cut you the check!” He drew a leather checkbook from his pocket and laid it on the counter. “Let’s see, three thousand, minus the chandelier installation and ceiling repairs, plus the incidentals and labor fees, makes…thirty three hundred and sixty two.” He scribbled on the check for a few seconds. Rarity watched him, she knew Pish was still looking at her. “Aaaaand, done!” Posh tore the check from the pad and held it out to her. Rarity looked at Pish, then at Posh, she took the check unsteadily. “Well, that makes us all paid up!” Posh concluded.

“I guess it does.” She said quietly, looking at the check.

“You wouldn’t mind coming to the real grand opening would you? It’s tomorrow, we’d love to show you off along with the place.”

“Y-yes, I suppose I could do that.”

“Awesome!” He nodded to her. “Well, thank you Rarity! Your work was fantastic, I really hope you gained some confidance from this. And, um, we’ll let you know if we need any more help.” He turned to Pish. “You want to add something dad?” Pish shook his head.

“I think we’ve covered everything.” Rarity nodded.

“Thank you both, I really appreciate all of your support.” She said mechanically.

“Glad to help!” Posh called she walked outside. “You were a real blessing.”

Rarity stepped outside. The morning sun was rising and ponies were beginning to walk to work. A wind passed around her and threatened to pull the check from her grip. She looked down at the little piece of paper. Three thousand three hundred and sixty two bits paid to the order of Rarity the unicorn, for interior design and consulting. The little check flapped in the breeze and she held it tighter. Rarity accepted grace.