Chapter Eleven – Rarity

"Well now what?" Pinkie asked. No pony answered for a moment. Rarity was in the right mood to panic. They couldn't turn over Frostburn to the Princess, but they'd get in trouble for harboring a wanted criminal. The stallion himself looked like he was about ready to jump out the window. Everypony turned to Twilight for answers.

The purple unicorn was at a loss for words. Rarity could only imagine the panic Twilight must be feeling. Would she choose to defy her teacher, the ruler of Equestria, for a pegasus who'd torched the town and told them his life story afterwards?

Twilight's eyes darted back and forth. She was clearly thinking fast given the pressure. "Okay," She told the doctor waiting at the door. "Tell her I'll be right out." The doctor pony nodded and left.

"Twi, what's the plan?" AJ asked.

Twilight looked around at her friends. "Applejack, Fluttershy, you two come with me. We've got to stall Princess Celestia as long as possible." The two ponies nodded. "Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, you three need to take Frostburn out another way and hide him. I wish we didn't have to, but there isn't enough time to think of something else."

"There must be a better solution." Frostburn said. "I don't want you getting in trouble because of me."

"This isn't up for debate." Twilight responded. "We're helping you." He smiled a little, and Rarity thought to herself that this must be the first time anypony had ever helped him.

Twilight's idea had already been excepted by most of the Mane Six. Dash was nodding in approval, and Pinkie bounced up and down, happy a plan was in motion. Rarity wasn't as happy. Just as she was about to tell Twilight that she'd prefer to stall the Princess and not escape with the pyromaniac pony, the purple unicorn was already running out. Fluttershy followed, wheeling out Applejack with her.

"Alright, let's move out." Rainbow Dash said.

"Umm, to where?" Rarity asked. "The entire town knows Frostburn now, and what he's done." The icy blue pegasus cringed at the mention of his dark deed.

"We'll keep a low profile." Rainbow said, flying to the door. "Besides, everypony's a little distracted between the fire and Celestia right now. I'm sure they won't notice us."

Pinkie and Frostburn walked behind Rainbow as she left. Rarity was still unsure about Dash's plan. Trotting after them, she said. "Well we still need a place to lay low." She said. "And who exactly will take us in with him?" She said pointing at Frostburn. The stallion frowned as Rarity spoke. She knew that she was being unfair to him. It wasn't his fault overall, but the fashionista simply couldn't bring herself to condone what had happened.

"Well… uh." Rainbow thought for a moment. Then Pinkie interjected.

"We could go to Zecorah's!" She said.

"That's actually not a bad idea." Rainbow Dash said. "Alright guys, let's go to Zecorah's."

The three ponies began to pick up their pace, spurred by the destination in mind. Rarity once again was skeptical. She held her tongue this time, sensing Rainbow was getting tired of her constant derision. She began to trot to catch up.

Outside, the sun was already shining brightly. The town of Ponyville did not have quite a happy glow to it though. The smell of charred wood still hung in the air. Buildings around the hospital, where the battle took place, wore black scorch marks. Anything else was piles of debris.

Not many ponies were around, but the ones that were seemed to be shifting through the rubble, probably looking for possessions that may have survived. It seemed to Rarity that Rainbow's theory had been right. Even so, the four moved carefully, without wanting to attract attention. As she looked around at the devastation, Rarity saw Frostburn also taking in the destruction. He looked guilty, and uncomfortable.

Rarity also looked beyond his expression. For the first time, she really looked at him. He had rugged features, and his eyes were soft despite everything they had seen. His hair was long and shaggy, likely to cover his mutilated horn, but Rarity was sure with some proper styling it would serve its purpose and work towards his appearance. His body was muscular, and his wings... Well, to him they may be a curse, but Rarity found their unique coloring very appealing.

The unicorn blushed as she realized she was thinking about Frostburn in "that way". She hastily looked away, desperate to find something else to focus on. At that time, the group reached the corner of some less burnt buildings. Rainbow peered over the edge, then motioned for the rest to move.

"We're still pretty far from the Everfree forest." Rainbow said. "At this rate, somepony will see us."

"What we need is a disguise." Pinkie said, pulling out the fake mustache that she carried everywhere. She nudged it towards Frostburn, who turned to Dash for assistance.

Dash groaned. "Put it away, Pinkie. No pony in their right mind would buy that disguise." Pinkie grudgingly put the mustache away. Frostburn looked relieved.

Rarity suddenly formed an idea in her head. "Well, the mustache may not work." She said. "But I know a place where there is something better."

-\-

"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, bowing respectfully. "Thank you for arriving so quickly." Fluttershy bowed in a similar fashion to Twilight. Applejack, in her current state, managed an awkward half-bow.

"It was no problem, Twilight." The Princess said. "This matter is very important on the level of national security." The large contingent of guards that Celestia brought with her bolstered the claim. It seemed as if the Princess had brought the entire Royal Guard.

"I see," Twilight said, getting back up. "I trust your trip here was pleasant?" Applejack gave her an is-that's-the-best-you-can-do kind of look. Hoping to sell it further, Twilight smiled. Judging by the Princess's reaction, it looked more awkward than casual.

"Very much so," Celestia said slowly while moving toward the hospital with a few guards. "Now, if we could get to…"

"Oh, right, the uhh, erhem, the prisoner." Twilight said, moving in front of her teacher. "Maybe you should send some guards ahead to get him for you."

Celestia gave her pupil an odd look. Applejack jumped in to help. "Ah would be happy to show them the room we're holding him in." She said, motioning for the nearest guards to follow her.

"Alright then. Grey Spear, take five soldiers with you to get the prisoner." Celestia told her nearest guard. He nodded, bringing five soldiers with him to follow Applejack. The orange pony winked at Twilight and began wheeling her chair back inside. If all went as planned then AJ would be leading those guards in circles for at least an hour or so.

"Well," Twilight said, turning back to the Princess. "Is there anything else you needed while in Ponyville?"

Celestia frowned, curious as to why her star student was asking such an odd question. Realizing that her friend was out of ideas, Fluttershy meekly added, "Perhaps, umm, we should get a full report on the damage that was caused."

"Right," Twilight agreed hastily, "For evidence purposes?" she suggested.

Still not convinced her student was acting normal, The Princess took a moment to confer with some of her guards. "I suppose it would be appropriate." She replied.

"Great, then uh, let me direct your attention to the gruesome destruction over here." Twilight said, leading the Princess and company away from the hospital.

"Umm, it's also very extensive on the other side of town." Fluttershy said.

"Right, yeah, we'll go there next." Twilight said, praying they wouldn't run into Rainbow's group down there.

-\-

"Geese Rarity, are you sure this is going to work?" Rainbow said. The unicorn smiled at her friend, knowingly.

"Oh course it is, Rainbow Dash. Do you doubt me?" It had only taken a few minutes to make it to Carousel Boutique. They'd nearly been spotted, twice. Once by Berry Punch who was running around town searching for her friend Daisy who'd been separated from her at the start of the fire. The purple pony hadn't stopped as she ran right passed their group. The other time, Derpy had actually seen them, but luckily had not seen Frostburn yet. After declaring that she "did not know what went wrong last night" the grey pegasus wandered off to find some banana nut muffins, which she claimed were the best to eat when rebuilding towns.

As for Carousel Boutique itself, the building had miraculously been untouched by the wild fire. Though Rarity had been in a massive panic last night, the flames had long died down before getting close to her shop and home.

Now the four ponies where hiding out in the dress shop as Rarity tried to piece together something to blend Frostburn into a crowd. "Here," She said, tossing a cloak at the pegasus while avoiding meeting his eyes. "Try this one." He nodded, and began to awkwardly put on the cloak.

"What if somepony recognizes him?" Rainbow persisted.

Rarity tsked. "I know I usually make clothes to help ponies stand out, but I am just as capable at hiding them too."

"Well, what do you think?" Frostburn said, the cloak donned. It fit him awkwardly, too short on his front legs, yet far too long in the back. It seemed loose around his neck, but the hood was so tight it couldn't move passed the back of his head. Just before Rainbow could make a snide comment, Rarity jumped in.

"Marvelous, but you should go see what Pinkie Pie thinks." The Earth pony was set up near the top of Carousel Boutique, on the lookout for Celestia, the guards, or any random pony that may be wandering by. Frostburn nodded, and went to find the pink mare.

When he was out of the room, Rainbow turned to Rarity. "Okay, even I could tell that it looked bad. What's going on Rarity?"

"I needed a moment to think." Rarity responded. "This whole thing has been going so fast, and I'm not sure if we're really doing the right thing. Just last night you were fighting him above Ponyville, and now were disobeying Celestia to help him?"

Rainbow rubbed her shoulder, still sore from her bad landing. "I know. I mean… I saw him last night. I know what he's capable of. But the stallion wearing that ridiculously fitting cloak is not the pegasus I fought last night. I can't explain it Rarity."

The white unicorn was not convinced. "How do we know he didn't lie? He could have done this in the other towns he mentioned. Just fool some innocent ponies into helping him escape the law. Wouldn't be too hard with the story he told."

"He couldn't be lying." Rainbow said, but she herself didn't sound as sure as she wanted to.

Rarity felt a little guilty swaying trust away from Frostburn. She wanted to believe his story, and the struggle he was going through, but admitting that would mean she would have to open up to Frostburn as a friend. Only, she didn't think that she would ever be satisfied being just friends with a stallion like that…

Then again, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

Just then Frostburn came into the room looking embarrassed. "She took one look at me and wouldn't stop laughing." He said.

"Don't feel too bad, it is her element after all." Rainbow said.

"Yes, and now that I get a better look at you I realize how handso… uh, er, horrid it appears." Rarity said, blushing at her slip. "Let me just see if I have something better suited for you." She turned away, hoping that neither of them would realize what she almost had said, but also to hide her now slightly red face.

As Rarity turned away, and Frostburn distracted himself with removing the cloak, Rainbow allowed herself a frown. Because she had realized what Rarity had nearly said. And she did not like it. Next Chapter: Inconvenient Tirade Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 30 Minutes