Chapter VII

The sun was just peeking over the clouds when Rarity and Spike quietly sneaked to Twilight’s door.

“Ready?” Spike whispered. Rarity nodded and the two burst into the room.

“Wakey wakey!” Rarity sang. Twilight turned over sleepily beneath her covers. They halted for second, unsure of what to do. They hadn’t assumed the queen would be sleeping heavily. “Hey Twiiiiiiilight! It’s time to get up!” Rarity said a little louder. The Alicorn mumbled something in her sleep and redistributed the blanket around her. Rarity walked to the side of the bed gently rocked the sleeping mare. “It’s your mornin-”

“God, stop it.” Twilight said grumpily. Rarity stepped back in embarrasment.

Rising groggily, Twilight opened her sleep crusted eyes.

“What time is it? What are you two doing?” She asked tiredly.

“We’re kidnapping you! We’re gonna spend the day hanging out and you aren’t going to do a thing! It’s your day off!” Spike declared confidently. Twilight smiled warmly at the earnest dragon.

“Oh Spike, thanks so much for planning this. But a queen-dom doesn’t stop for-” She stopped as she saw the light fade from his eyes. “But you know what? That meeting about cloud redistribution can go on without me!” She finished as the smile came back to his face. She turned to Rarity. “What do you have planned for this kidnapping?” She asked playfully.

“First is breakfast down at Fat Nat’s eggs. The rest you’ll find out as we go along!” Rarity informed her friend. Twilight brushed her sleep matted mane from her eyes.

“Well ok then! Surprises are great!” The queen picked up the phone by the bed. “Just a sec.” She dialed a number and waited for a moment. “Hello, Praetorian? Yes, I am calling to inform you that I am being kidna-er, I am taking a day of rest. You are relieved of duty for the day!” She hung up the phone decisively. “Let’s get going!”

Fat Nat’s eggs was crowded, but the crowd parted like a sea upon the arrival of the trio. Rarity had often visited the little breakfast diner during her college years. It was cheap, but had enough cuteness to it that she didn’t feel stingy taking the Queen of Equestria to the little diner. Fat Nat’s was the perfect place to start a kidnapping.

“I’ll take a spinach omelet, please don’t burn the toast, oh and I would like fresh orange juice, nothing from a bottle.” Rarity informed their server.

“Yeah, I’ll have a plate of your best breakfast gems.” Spike added. The burly waiter wrote the impossible order down and turned nervously to the queen.

“Just coffee thank you.” Twilight smiled.

“Y-y-yes your majesty!” He quavered as he hurried back the kitchen.

“Getting hooked on coffee eh?” Rarity joked. “Yeah, back when I was in school I started cheating sleep and just using coffee to get things done.” She laughed. “Finally collapsed from caffeine poisoning, had to spend two weeks in dialysis. Still though, graduated fourth in the class and managed to run a respectable jewelry at the same time.” Spike’s eyes widened, evidently her college years had escaped his knowledge.

“Whoa, you almost died, did it hurt really bad on dialysis?” Rarity nodded vigorously.

“Oh yeah, it was terrible, my parents came to see me, they thought I was dying.” Twilight cocked her head.

“You ran a jewelry? Is it still open? That sounds like something I’d like to see. If we have time, we should drop by, I want to see what kind of a store you ran.”

“Haha, pretty sure it’s closed or something.” New Rarity assured her.

“So anyway Twilight, after breakfast, we’re taking you on a tour of Cloudsdale. We’re gonna see the skyline and everything!” Spike said happily.

“Sorry, tight schedule, we’ve got a plan going.” Rarity agreed.

“Sounds like fun!” Twilight smiled.

Fun was a generous description of the tour. Admittedly, it was beautiful, the city was snow white and elegantly crafted, and the three marveled at the grandeur of the buildings as they lazily floated past the hotels and nightclubs of Cloudsdale. But after about a hundred different historical lessons on the various places and events of the city amongst the clouds, the only one of the three paying any attention to the tour guide was Twilight. Slipping quietly to the observation deck of the large dirigible, Rarity slumped over the railing in boredom. Spike joined her.

“Geez that tour guy knows every little thing about every little grocery store.” He said, rolling his eyes.

“Well, Twilight is having the time of her life learning about the paleo-pony age of Cloudsdale or whatever, that’s good.” Rarity offered.

“You think she’s having a good time?” Spike asked nervously.

“Psh, of course, it’s what she loves!” Rarity assured him. Twilight loved anything brainy and boring, and she probably hadn’t even noticed they had gone. Almost on cue, the young queen joined the two on the observation deck.

“Hey! Where’d you two go? I’m all alone up in a crowd of Pegasi up there.” She said with a laugh.

“Oh yeah, sorry.” Rarity looked at Spike. “We were starting to overflow with knowledge I guess. And I sorta thought you were enjoying yourself up there.” Twilight shrugged.

“Well, not really, I know most of that stuff and at any rate he got the date on the construction of the God Ray Bridge wrong.” She hunched over the railing beside Rarity. “You lived here for a few years. Why don’t you give us a drive-by tour? Show us the city from Rarity’s view.” The Alicorn suggested.

This was it, Rarity was now the center of attention. It was up to her to entertain and she was going to make them laugh and cry and not swear once.

“Well,” Began the new and improving Rarity. “The Academy is deeper in the city, you can’t really see it through all these buildings. I spent a lot of time there, I lived on campus. But I did go to a lot of dances in some of the ballrooms across the metro area. You can see a couple of them from here.”

Rarity walked them through her college life. As they passed clouds and rainbows, the white unicorn told the story of her education. The stories were boring and trite to say the least. Yet new Rarity could make any story fun it seemed. The hours passed by, and both listeners were fixed on her stories of cramming for studies, having her heart broken, and her battles with her nemesis, the dean of advisory.

“Oh, then he comes back, I’ve been awake for two days already, so I’m about to pass out. He sits down, and says ‘We really need to talk about what you want to be for the rest of your life’, and I’m honestly just trying to keep awake.” Rarity related in animation. She pretended to slip from a chair. “I’m seriously trying everything I can to not lose consciousness and he’s just laying into me about my future. So I feel under the chair, there’s this sharp metal edge thing on the bottom.” Spike’s mouth opened a little.

“No, you didn’t.” He said in preemptive awe.

“Yup.” She pantomimed slicing her hoof on the edge. “I jump up and scream that I need to clean this off in my room, but he ends up calling 911 and I go to the hospital for three stitches.” Spike yelped with pain.

“Owwwww, did he find out about the pool table?” He asked hurriedly. Rarity nodded sadly.

“Yeah, woulda made a great graduation prank. But, still graduated fourth in my class and things were pretty good past then, so I guess all that talk about my future came to naught.” She said in satisfaction.

“Pretty wild college life is kind of the general theme I’m getting.” Twilight said teasingly. Rarity shrugged.

“Yeah, it took me a lot of years in design to find my rhythm. But I got it, and frankly I loved my work, it was right for me. I loved the fancy details and the pure creativity. It was a maturity to develop culture and refinement, but it really came naturally.” She smiled to herself. “It was just the most fun I’ve ever had.” Her sentence ended awkwardly, as all three recalled what had become of her after that perfect life had ended. She couldn’t act like old Rarity didn’t exist. She needed to be honest.

“Yeah.” She said a little softer. “It was really hard on me losing all that, especially in the way I did.” She looked to Twilight. “I really want to show you on this trip, and every day after, that I’m going to get that maturity back. That I’m going to stop fighting and getting mad over stupid stuff. I guess I’m kinda saying I’m sorry for all of the immature and stupid things I do.” She said quietly. Twilight nodded appreciatively.

“Spike has been saying that. I want to say that I’m really proud of what you’ve been doing on this trip, I like what I see. I know it was really hard on you when you lost your business and I understand why you might be pretty mad at Ponyville.” The purple Alicorn thought momentarily. “I guess, great job is what I’m trying to say.” She said proudly. Rarity bit her lip, Twilight said that to her, Twilight had. She sniffed.

“Thanks for putting up with me, I know it hasn’t been easy.” Rarity knew she was going to cry now.

“Well, anypony can make mistakes.” Twilight hugged the tearing unicorn. “And it hasn’t been the easiest past few months for anypony.” Spike also put his arms around the emotional pony. It was a hug that Rarity hadn’t felt for a long time, it was a hug among friends.

They finished the tour and arrived at the Crystal Café.

The Crystal Café sat on the top floor of a 13 story apartment high rise. The restaurant sat fifty ponies and had no lines since reservations were required. It was the perfect place to take a queen for an outing Rarity thought triumphantly as they approached the ivory carved doors. A vibrant blue and green pony stood waiting for them. Apparently Trance was maître de’ tonight. Spike approached the stallion.

“Hello good sir, I believe we have reservations for the top floor.” He said in a poor attempt at fancy talk. Trance bowed low to the dragon.

“But of course, allow me to escort you to your table personally.” He saw Rarity and that shine came to his eyes. She didn’t even know him, not with her friends around.

“All I had to do was mention that Twilight was going to be with us and he gave us the best table in the house!” Spike related as they followed Trance to their seats. They passed the table Rarity had reserved. It sat waiting for a party that wasn’t going to come. She didn’t say anything, it was better that way.

Their table sat before a massive picture window. It looked out above the clouds and over the land of Equestria. Vast green acres stretched for miles and mountains and hills rose up in the distance. The distant coast of Yanhooyer was visible over the thick forests. Pressing her nose to the glass, Rarity could just make out the brilliant cliffs of the Crystal Kingdom far in the distance. All three gazed spellbound out of the window for a few moments.

“It’s beautiful all right. On clear days you can see the side of Cantorlot on the mountain.” Trance explained.

Dinner was five stars, the Crystal Café never changed. Even Twilight, who had eaten nothing but excellence since she came to power, admitted that there was nothing like the Neihagaran salad they were served. Rarity ordered her usual hemp and clover salad and approved of the dressing. And of course there was something for Spike, the cooks had sent away for Tanzanite fragments and the dragon relished the superheated gems.

“I propose a toast.” Rarity stood with her water glass. “To Queen Twilight, may her reign be the best Equestria has ever known.”

“Here here!” Spike clinked his glass to hers. Twilight blushed and smiled. Rarity nodded to her queen.

“You were a great pony, and an even better Alicorn Twilight. I-” Twilight put up a hoof.

“It’s ok Rarity, I know you think well of me. But being an improved you doesn’t mean you have to sound like the ponies I spend my time with.” She giggled. “Can the new you still be fun?” Rarity sat down.

“Of course she can.” She replied happily. They finished with dessert (free) and sat for a time, watching the sun set over Equestria. The golden orb slowly fell toward the ground and darkness crept over the land. Spike leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his back. He smacked his lips thoughtfully.

“Don’t even think about burping.” Twilight warned good-naturedly. Spike’s mouth opened wide as he heaved a deep yawn. Rarity gave the adolescent dragon a caring pat on the arm.

“Aw, Spike here is probably tired.” She said sweetly.

“I am not!” He protested. “Well, I mean, yeah I could go to bed now if that’s what you’re wondering.” Twilight stood and stretched her back.

“You’ve had a long day, probably time to call it a night.” Twilight left a generous tip and they walked to the exit. Rarity saw Trance standing by the door to the kitchen.

“You guys go on ahead, I’ll be right behind you.” She shooed them out the door and walked to the Pegasus. “Hey, thanks for the reservations, even if I didn’t use them. I really appreciate it.” She said awkwardly to Trance. He smiled and tossed his hoof.

“Never an issue.” He said breezily. Rarity pawed the ground. He was still smiling.

“I just didn’t want to be a user, so I wanted to make sure I thanked you properly.” She said with a nod. He chuckled.

“Rarity, you could never use me.”

“It was great having you make those reservations, it was last minute and-”

“Rarity, it’s fine, and I want you to know, I-” Rarity started for the door, she had said what she needed to say and wasn’t going to listen to any lustful pleading. “Rarity.” Trance called from behind her, she slowed to a halt. “You know what I would like, and I know you don’t want to give it to me. What is it you want? To the best of my ability I will give it to you, I want this to be an equitable exchange.”

Rarity laughed, a genuine laugh. She laughed because she was being completely honest and not even trying to hurt the lusting stallion.

“I have everything I could want.” Rarity started for the door, and for her friends.

The reactors were massive buildings. The pair of stadium sized bulbs were each independently supported by their clouds. Entirely concrete and surrounded by guards, the reactors were strangely quiet. Their hoofsteps echoed through the cavernous hallway and the clop of horseshoes mingled with the scrape of dragon claws upon the glassy concrete. Cirrus (Rarity had discovered that he was the mayor of Cloudsdale and not a hotel clerk) led them toward the core of the reactor.

“Thirty six thousand gallons of color go into a rainbow, well, the standard size one.” He explained. “Reactor 1 fuses rainbows for Equestria. This one is still being set up, but in about a month or so, we’ll be exporting rainbows to the neighboring countries.” A drop of violet landed on Rarity’s nose, it was icy cold and dripped onto the grey concrete. Wiping the liquid from her snout, she looked up to spot the origin of the leak. Tens of pipes ran above them, each pipe was color coded and the entire rainbow was represented on the ceiling. It reminded the unicorn of the streak of rainbow that Rainbow Dash left as she blazed through the sky. Rarity wondered what Dash would think of the reactors. Probably say they were big, and complicated and absolutely respect them, in that very un-Rainbow Dash way.

Twilight was listening intently to Cirrus’ explanation of the fusion process.

“You say it’s cold fusion? That’s a novel idea.” Twilight said thoughtfully. Cirrus nodded.

“Oh yes, something that seemed to work out perfectly. In fact, when we enter the observation ridge, we’ll have to change into protective gear on account of the temperature.” They had been touring the liquid plants and refineries and were just now getting to the actual reactor core. The entire tour had been under the thick web of militaristic security. Guards seemed to stand at every conceivable location, almost to the point of redundancy.

After a few minutes of walking they reached a door that resembled that of an elevator, only this looked like it would withstand a lot of force. Cirrus pushed a hoof into what looked like an oversized power outlet and the door hissed open.

“Hoofpad identification is the best lock, very difficult to crack.” He explained. “And diamond dogs don’t even have hooves to begin with.” He said, nudging the queen. Twilight seemed to ignore the more or less racist comment and followed the Pegasus into the locker room before them. Surrounding them were walls of lockers, a table piled with white body suits that looked horribly uncomfortable to Rarity sat in the middle of the room. A miniscule black and yellow door waited ominously at the opposite side of the room. The door hissed closed behind them, which spooked Rarity more than it should have.

“So here is where we’ll need to change into cryogenic gear, please don any of these suits.” Cirrus pointed to the table. “Master Spike, we had a suit tailored for your body type.” Cirrus lifted a dragon shaped suit. “We had to generalize a bit on the dimensions, but dragons don’t vary much in size.” He finished with a friendly chuckle.

The suit was fucking uncomfortable Rarity thought as she pulled the insulating fabric up body. The back rode up like an absolute nightmare, the legs were about four inches too long and flopped like flaccid tube socks. Rarity struggled to orient the facemask in a manner that didn’t suffocate her, which appeared to be a fictional proposition. It took some doing just to stand in the damn thing. Twilight looked like a ghost in her suit, with just her purple face peering out of the milky visor. Spike resembled a plump marshmallow, one with a short, stem-like tail.

“Alright! Now through this door is the observation deck, temperatures will freeze skin in half a second, do NOT take off any part of your gear.” Cirrus sounded like he was talking through a cinderblock which spooked Rarity that much more. They crowded around the tiny door, Cirrus flicked his head to the three and hit the glossy red button next to the door. A gust of wind rushed around Rarity and even through the fabric, she felt the soulless cold seep into her body. Her heart began to pound as they crowded through the doorway.

The center of the reactor stretched out for about a hundred yards in every direction and formed a giant concrete dome around them. They walked out onto a metal deck of sorts and peered over the edge.

It was a disappointment, an absolute disappointment. Instead of a brilliant light blazing from a giant caldron of rainbow liquid, the only thing Rarity could make out was a plain concrete bulb with rainbow pipes leading into it sitting about fifty feet below them. The room was literally motionless, it was the epitome of a letdown and Rarity felt cheated out of some well-earned terror. Craning her neck in the uncomfortable outfit, Rarity looked to gauge the queen’s reaction to the disappointment. From under the haze of the grey visor, Rarity saw Twilight staring at the bulb in pure amazement.

“Amazing, all those reactions, no noise. Just, silent.” She breathed. Spike too was studying the plain bump with fascination.

“How does it not just burn out of there?” He asked in wonder. It occurred to Rarity that this might be more impressive to a pony with a better knowledge of science. She tried to appreciate the massive understatement, but nowhere in her heart could she find awe for a stupid bump of concrete.

“It’s pretty cool alright. Very cold.” She offered. Cirrus looked to her with a smile.

“Think about this Rarity, in a matter of thirty seconds, that bulb can produce a rainbow that would take two and half hours with a team of techs.” That was kind of interesting. “If you want to know what’s going on down there, just think of all of those colors getting pushed together at extreme pressures. Sort of like pressed sand art.” Sort of cool, but not really anything worth taking a picture of.

“God it’s cold in here!” The marshmallow resembling Spike was rubbing his arms.

“Most cold fusion was supposed to take place at room temperature.” Twilight didn’t take her eyes off of the bump. “But this reaction is endothermic.” She trailed off, that bulb mesmerized her. She tilted her head and Rarity saw that look of fascination glaze over the Alicorn’s face. Cirrus pointed to a crane sitting on the floor.

“It’s much colder on the floor, in fact, we need to use that for any maintenance we perform on the Hub itself, that’s what we call the reactor core.” Spike peered upward at the thick concrete walls surrounding them.

“How stable is it. I mean, could this blow up?” He asked as he inspected the reinforced walls.

“Thirty percent more stable than a rainbow factory, and less susceptible to rainbow corrosion on account of the nonmetal construction.” Twilight recited. She nodded to Cirrus. “This is a good demonstration of the modernized future of Equestria, thank you for taking the initiative.” Cirrus bowed respectfully.

“Thank you for your generous approval. Most ponies only think about R-bombs when they hear Rainbow Fusion.” Rarity’s heart stopped and her gaze slid back to the bump. Now she was terrified.

They left the wintery observation deck after a few minutes and returned the way they had come. Twilight and Cirrus chatted about the feasibility of a third reactor and Spike was checking all the security measures they passed, but now, Rarity couldn’t get the image of the Hub out of her mind.

R-bombs were literally the most fantastic weapons imaginable, so fantastic that they weren’t even real. Yet their awesome reputation had immortalized them and made them as real as swords and fighting spells. R-bombs were only mentioned by Princess Celestia once, during a speech to Best Young Flyer competition many years ago. Rarity had read the speech after ponies started to ask about the strange bomb. In describing the talent and dedication of the Pegasi, Celestia had said. “Farther than the reaches of the broadest rainbow and stronger than the R-bomb.” And of course everypony had wanted to know just what an R-bomb was. The following day, a panel of Cloudsdale rainbow researchers informed the nation that through an impossible reaction known as cold fusion, there was about a fifty percent chance that there could be a way to generate a massive rainbow reaction. Massive on an apocalyptic scale; such a reaction could theoretically be utilized as an endgame weapon of massive destruction. But cold fusion was impossible, and there had been no war in Equestria for a hundred years. Rarity thought anxiously of the warring diamond dogs, they could try and steal the formula or whatever.

“So uh, is this the same fusion as the R-bomb kind?” She asked Cirrus during a pause in the conversation. He looked back at her.

“Ohhh, yes, we should have explained that. Twilight can probably tell you, but I’m used to ponies asking so I can make this concise.” He began to walk backward as he explained the science to her. “Yes this is the same cold fusion, no you cannot turn the Hub into an R-bomb. The reaction of an R-bomb requires a certain chemical makeup of each color, such color makeups are very rare and need heavy refining. Should those isotopes be mixed into the Hub, then there would still be the problem of dropping the temperature of the mixture to about 2 Kelvin, which is nearly impossible in and of itself. Then the whole thing has to be violently detonated by a rainbomb, which loses volatility at 253 Kelvin. So no, it’s impossible to make an R-bomb out of the Hub. And there are two ponies in existence who even know the makeup of a cold fusion reaction, so it’s not like you can just build another Hub anyway, and if you did you would still have the same problems. Does that make you feel better?” Rarity was still terrified of the reactor, but she felt somewhat assuaged.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“You could actually detonate about five to ten rainbombs on top of the Hub without even cracking it, and even if you did, all that would happen is a rainbow would shoot out and burn the inside of the dome a little. We have round the clock security and multiple hoof identification airlocks; this is the safest place in all of Equestria.” He bowed his head to Twilight. “Besides your castle of course.”

It was seven when they left the reactor. Cirrus stayed behind to check the progress of Reactor 2. They boarded the royal chariot and rose into the air. The reactors were situated below the city, not so far that the police couldn’t come to assist in the highly unlikely event of a security breach, but distant enough to sooth the irrational fears of the populace.

“Gosh, those things were scary.” Spike piped up. “I guess they’re really safe, but they still scare the heck out of me.” Twilight nudged him.

“Anything a little ice cream wouldn’t cure?”

“Oh, I’m sure that would make me feel better!” Spike agreed vigorously. Rarity laughed.

“Ice cream and rainbow reactors, this is why I hang out with you guys.”

They stopped at a whitewashed little corner parlor called The Big Lick. The owner leaned over the counter and tipped his head to them as they entered.

“Hey how you doin’?” He asked pleasantly. Twilight seemed surprised that he didn’t treat her with utter awe for being Queen of Equestria.

“Oh, great, just dropping by for some cones.” She answered politely.

“What can I get for you tonight?” He treated her like a customer, the Alicorn seemed to like that.

They took their cones outside and sat down on a bench. The sun was just setting, sending rays of golden light across the clouds. Rarity had forgotten how beautiful it was just to sit on the clouds and watch them change colors in the setting sun.

“It’s been fun, I love spending time with you guys, I feel like I haven’t had any time to spend with my friends since I became queen.” Twilight said in sudden thoughtfulness. “I really just wish ponies would treat me like that guy at the counter did, like a normal pony. Like how you guys treat me.” She tousled Spike’s head strip. “You’re a great secretary, and I want you to know that you haven’t made any mistakes thus far in your transcriptions, so technically speaking, you’re everything I could want from an assistant.” The dragon blushed deeply, that was the best compliment he could receive. Twilight turned to Rarity. “I know I said it before, but, well, I just want you to know that you’re pretty much my closest friend. I know you’re always worrying about your maturity, and it’s fine if you want to act your age.” She grinned. “But Rarity, don’t ever stop being fun. I am around ponies who can’t take jokes and who think everything has to be proper all the time. Strange as it sounds, I like the new you, the one who doesn’t care about getting her mane wet, or working in a blue collar job.” She sighed. “I still miss Fluttershy and Celestia and not seeing anypony from Ponyville anymore.” Twilight wiped a tear from her face. “But with friends like you two, I know we’ll all be fine.” Rarity couldn’t taste her hay flavored ice cream, she was too busy basking in the warmth of Twilight’s friendship.

“We figured you deserved a break, we figured we’d get you out here and really help you relax. You’re a great Alicorn, you deserve to have some time off.” Rarity said, putting an arm around her friend. Twilight heaved a contented sigh and leaned back.

“It’s been just that and we still have all of tomorrow free from meetings and work to hang out and enjoy the city.” For a time, they sat in silence, watching the final rays of the sunset drop from the sky. The air was warm, and no one wanted to get up to leave, even as darkness fell around them. The mares heard soft snoring, Spike was slumped forward on the bench, soundly asleep.

“Help me carry him back to the chariot.” Twilight whispered. They gently lifted the sleeping dragon and set him into the chariot. The flight back to the hotel was peaceful, Rarity looked down at the quiet streets below them. Cloudsdale sat in a thick peace, with hardly a pony outside. The moon had risen and streets were illuminated by the pale white light. A breeze rustled through the chariot. Rarity missed the peace that accompanied living so far above the ground.

In a few minutes they landed atop the hotel and made another careful trip down the stairs whilst carrying the dozing dragon.

“Just set him on his bed.” Twilight said softly, Rarity nodded and carried her half of the secretary into his room. Spike was light, probably weighed about as much as she did. After months of lifting bags of flour and sacks of spices, Rarity wasn’t even fatigued by the weight of the adolescent dragon. She laid Spike’s legs down gently on the bed. Twilight dropped his arms gracelessly and the corpselike form of the dragon thumped onto his bed. Twilight took a moment to catch her breath, evidently queenship didn’t require much manual labor. She flicked her head to inform Rarity that they should exit the room to avoid waking him.

Twilight dropped exhaustedly onto the couch.

“I am going to be glad when he’s an adult and doesn’t sleep so much.” Twilight said in exhaustion. Rarity chuckled.

“Come on, don’t you like the sporadic narcolepsy?” Twilight laughed cynically.

“Yeah, and the lack of clothing knowledge is good too. I have to ask Maximus what to wear to formal dinners.” Rarity shrugged.

“Guess you have to concede something when you employ dragons.” She looked to the door to Spike’s room. “Although there aren’t many creatures that are so loyal.” Twilight stretched her legs out.

“Yeah. Hey Rarity?” Rarity looked back to her. “Do you know if anything happened to the crown? There are some burrs near the tip.” Rarity’s blood turned to ice.

“N-no, did something happen?” She asked, trying not to blush in sudden fear. Twilight shrugged.

“I don’t know, I just noticed it last night.” Rarity bit her lip to simulate thinking.

“That’s weird, last night you say? Did you set it down somewhere?” She asked curiously. Holding her arms at length, Twilight stretched her back out.

“No, I don’t believe I did.”

“Weird, you might want to see if the humidity did something to it, my jeweler friend-”

“Brilliance.” Twilight interrupted. Rarity’s heart missed a couple of beats. “Yeah, I looked him up and took it over to him last night, I assumed he might he able to tell me something.” Twilight related. The room seemed to shake beneath Rarity’s hooves and she felt dizzy from fright. “He said that it’s normal for gilded ornaments to gain burrs from humidity, he said if I’d brought it over sooner he could have smoothed it out.” She sighed. “You should have told me about him sooner, he seemed like a knowledgeable jeweler. Now I have a crown with burrs.” What should she say? Was Twilight calling her out? Rarity decided to wait and see.

“Yeah, s-sorry, I shoulda thought of that.” Rarity said with uncertainty. Twilight shook her head.

“It wasn’t your fault, you had no reason to assume that the humidity would pose any problem to my crown.” She stated casually. Rarity blinked, what was going on? Twilight stood and walked to the door to her room. She opened it partially, then paused. “Sorry for acting all suspicious, it’s just that I was really surprised over damage to Celestia’s crown, wasn’t something I was expecting.” Rarity swallowed, how could Twilight not connect the dots?

“Yeah, I would be too. Sorry I didn’t tell you about him, it’s just sort of awkward with me and him on account of my leaving the business, I didn’t want have things get weird around you and Spike. I’m sorry.” She explained. Twilight frowned thoughtfully.

“He seemed to remember you fondly, maybe you should pay him a visit.” Twilight still stood in the doorway.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll give him a call.” Rarity said uneasily. “Maybe we could drop by-” Twilight whirled around.

“When are you going to stop? How long before you can’t lie anymore?” She asked in sudden anger.

“I, I, please Twilight. Let me explain.” Rarity stammered. Twilight jerked Rarity’s jaw closed with her horn. Feeling the powerful grip of magic, Rarity was suddenly seriously afraid of the Alicorn.

“Come into my room, I won’t let you wake up Spike.” The queen hissed. Rarity bowed her head in petrified submission and shuffled quickly into the doorway. Releasing Rarity’s mouth, Twilight quietly closed the door behind her. She stared at Rarity in disgust.

“How long Rarity?” She asked fiercely. “How long would you have kept it all up? Just making things up as you go?” Rarity looked to her hooves.

“I-I just wanted to spend some time with you guys, and-”

“Stop it Rarity, stop it. I am sick of you saying that, you make Spike feel terrible, do you know how long he cried after you told him off that night he asked you to behave?” She asked angrily. “No, you could only think about you. You could only think of Rarity. This whole time I listen to you talk about reinventing yourself, and yet, you still don’t own up to what happened to the crown. You don’t give a damn about reinventing yourself.” She finished contemptuously. Rarity looked up.

Twilight snorted. “Yeah, surprise surprise, it wasn’t the humidity that got blood on the rim. And there isn’t an iron in this entire suite, and you still never explained that cut on your forehead. All of those happenstance lies you just put together to avoid explaining what?”

“I, the crown got lost, stolen. I went to get it back, and I-”

“Got into a fight or an accident. Without even telling Spike what happened.” Twilight finished. “And Rarity, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but then you had to lie to us.” She pointed to the crown, which sat on the bed. “I could get angry that you don’t respect the queen enough to tell her the truth about her property, but really, it’s clear you don’t even respect your friends.” Her eyes began to shine with tears and the Alicorn swallowed. “I sat there tonight thinking of how you were really somepony I liked. That after everything, all of your fights and cruelty and your bitterness, you were really going to change. I was going to make it fairly obvious that I knew about the lies, so you’d just come out and apologize, so we could move on. Because after all, you’re my best friend.” She stopped for a single, bitter laugh. “Guess not! Guess you really would have been fine with deceiving me and then moving on! It really hurts me to think I was being honest tonight, that I really thought you were putting effort into bettering yourself.”

Rarity was crying, the tears were running down her face and she made no effort to wipe them away. Without a word to Twilight, she threw open the door and galloped out of the room.

“Give me another doughnut, something that tastes like a firework.” The baker pony looked up from his dishes. Rarity glared at him and he handed her the tissue wrapped pastry. It was 1 A.M., she had stopped crying a long time ago. She took a bite of the doughnut and chewed it thoughtlessly.

Half an hour of aimless walking had brought her to the only all-night doughnut shop in all of Cloudsdale. A fan circled lazily above her and she sat alone on a stool before the counter. The attendant, obviously not used to customers at this hour, tried to start a conversation.

“You, just visiting?” He asked in a friendly tone. Rarity didn’t reply at first. She took a few more bites of the tasteless pastry.

“Something like that.” The unicorn muttered.

“Any special occasion?”

“Nope, just trying to block some stuff out of my memory.” She answered. The Pegasus played with the dishcloth in his hooves, then turned back to the sink. Rarity finished the doughnut, it tasted like shit, just like the last three. She crumpled the paper up and threw it at the trash can, it bounced off of the rim and lay with the other three wads on the floor.

She had stopped thinking, that was the only way she could carry on. She thought about catching a flight back to Ponyville and just avoid seeing Twilight altogether. She would have to go back to their room later tonight for her bag, Twilight would be waiting for her no doubt.

“Hey, I want another one.” She called to the attendant. He turned again.

“You’ve had four, should you-” Rarity narrowed her eyes.

“Get me the damn doughnut.” He wisely gave her the Bismarck.

She didn’t think, she wasn’t going to think, thinking would be about the worst thing for her. Twilight had actually meant what she said on that bench, but now she regretted it. Rarity had made Twilight Sparkle regret honesty, honesty about her friendship. Rarity had lied and lied and lied and Twilight had been trying to get her to own up to it all along, just so they could be friends again. The tears were coming back and Rarity squished the cream filled pasty in her hooves. Fuck Twilight, just fuck it all.

She was cleaning the mess from herself when the bell above the door jingled and she heard somepony enter. Rarity looked back, two rough looking stallions wearing hardhats strolled up to the counter and took seats.

“Hey, Jersey Wonder, can we get some service?” One called jokingly to the attendant, who was washing dishes a few feet away. He looked up and chuckled.

“What can I get you boys? Something rainbow colored?” He asked with a hint of mirth. The first pony, a green Pegasus squinted at the board.

“Hmmmmm, how ‘bout some long johns? And coffee, fuckin’ nightshifts kill me.” He related. The second pony, a purple Pegasus, nudged his partner and cocked his head toward Rarity. The green pony stood in embarrassment.

“Sorry ma’am, pardon the language, didn’t see you there.” The first stallion apologized.

“Not a problem.” Rarity replied, staring forward and keeping the tears back with sheer will. The green pony, evidently interested in finding out what kind of unicorn frequented doughnut shops in the early morning hours, took a seat closer to her.

“So, come here often?” He asked humorously.

“No, just out tonight.” She replied flatly. He shrugged and walked back to his friend.

“So Jersey, we were at the locker tonight, then Lightning tells that same joke you did. I’m like, ‘bout two months too late on that one!” The purple Pegasus said to the baker. Jersey Wonder slid them a pair of steaming cups of coffee.

“Ha, should guessed it would be Lightning to pull something like that. He still running the south side security?” The green pony took a sip of his coffee and nodded.

“Yep, for a geeky little guy he at least runs a tight ship.”

“Hey, you want to get me another Bismarck?” Rarity called to the attendant. He gave her a new one and returned to the pair of workers. Rarity downed the sugary breadstuff in two bites, that stupid sugar high was apparently a myth. She threw the paper at the trash, missed again, and sat in silence.

The three stallions talked for a time. The two worker ponies were on a nightshift at the reactor. Their conversation hinged on inside jokes and boisterous laughter. Rarity didn’t give a shit and focused on her misery.

“Hey, watch things for me, k? I gotta piss.” The attendant took off his apron and disappeared into the kitchen. The room was silent except for the squeak of the fan above them. Rarity sat looking ahead to the coffee maker. The green Pegasus looked over to her.

“Something wrong?” He asked.

“That a question for me? Or just a general statement with shit grammar?” She answered, not taking her eyes off of the coffee maker. He thought for a moment.

“Can be whatever you want it to be. You just seem sorta upset, I wanted to make sure you were ok.”

“Glad I can rely on the benevolence of strangers in a doughnut shop at one in the morning.” She said coldly. He laughed to this and walked over to her.

“You’re funny. I’m Catcall and that’s my buddy Bronx, we work down at the reactor. We work nightshifts mostly, so we drop by Jersey’s place a lot for coffee on our breaks.”

“Congrats, that was informative.” He chuckled and looked back to Bronx.

“You’re a funny pony, what are you doing here at one in the morning?”

“Just trying to avoid thinking, seems like you got that down.” She replied, still watching the coffee maker gurgle. The insult amused him more than it angered him.

“Heh, doughnuts really aren’t the best way to forget.”

“Couldn’t find a bar, guess that makes me lazy.” Catcall sat down beside her, he smelled like sweat and rust.

“You drink?” He asked, apparently impressed. Rarity sighed.

“Yes I would.” She turned to him. “Is there anything outside of fucking me that you’re here for?” She asked tiredly. Both he and Bronx laughed roughly to this.

“God, who are you? I like you.” Catcall asked with a grin.

“Somepony ought to.” She muttered. Catcall paused for a second.

“You ever try yellow? That seems like something you’d be interested in.” Jersey returned and started to wash some dishes. Catcall turned to him.

“This mare says she wants to not think, I’m saying yellow is her best bet.” Jersey shook his head.

“Not going to advocate that, it’s bad enough with you two.” He said, taking their empty cups and dropping them into the sink. He looked at Rarity. “Look miss, with all due respect, you need to get going.” He pointed at the two reactor workers. “These two clowns are pretty harmless, but that don’t mean they aren’t looking for trouble a lot of the time. It’s a bad idea to listen to them during a card game.” The three stallions shared a laugh here. “But when yellow starts getting tossed around is about when I draw the line.”

“But Jersey, she’s funny, promise we won’t do nothin’.” Bronx whined. “She’ll be as safe as we always are.”

“What’s yellow?” Rarity asked. Jersey cut off Catcall.

“Nothing a pony without a deathwish has a need for.” He said seriously.

“Ain’t nopony died from it if I remember right. I also remember it being labeled food-grade.” Catcall said in indignation. “Just ‘cause you don’t like the stuff doesn’t mean you can go around badmouthing it. You don’t see me makin’ fun of your apple fritters.” Jersey tossed his dishrag into the sink.

“No, Cat.” He said firmly.

“It’s her choice.” Pressed the worker pony.

“God, what is yellow?” Rarity asked in exasperation.

“It’s sorta like booze, if you’ve ever been kinda sorta drunk than that’s just like yellow.” Bronx explained. Rarity looked at the pile of crumpled tissue paper.

“Like booze?” She asked. Jersey Wonder leaned over the counter.

“Listen lady. It isn’t beer.” It almost sounded like he was pleading. “That stuff was the cause of three guys beatin’ the crap out of one another, I don’t know what’s on your mind, but I can guarantee you that it isn’t gonna get any better on yellow.” Catcall slid off of his chair.

“Come on Bronx, we best leave.” He tossed a twenty onto the counter. “Keep the change, JW, good coffee this time.”

“Were we going-?”

“Come on Bronx.” Catcall scolded. Rarity watched them leave. The attendant turned back to his dishes.

“Smart move. Yellow is for troublemakers, not civilized ponies.” He muttered. He shook his head and picked up a saucer. Rarity looked down at the pile of wrappers again.

“Hey, how much is it?” Catcall and Bronx were already fifty feet into the air when the question came. They turned in midflight. Rarity stood in the empty street looking up at them. “I got twenty bits on me, that’s it.” Catcall dropped down beside her.

“That’s the great part about it, it’s free. Actually, let me rephrase that, the city pays for it, we get it for free.” He explained. Rarity cocked her head.

“What? Where is it served?” She asked in confusion. Catcall grinned dubiously.

“The reactor.”