Friday Evening

Chapter Fifteen – Rarity

Normally a trip to Canterlot would have delighted and excited Rarity. This trip was not a normal trip though. She took her time in preparing to leave, the anxiety building a knot in her stomach. It took everypony else less than an hour to say their goodbyes and get ready to leave.

Applejack had gone to check up on Big Mac, recently out of surgery and doing quite well. After saying goodbye to him and the rest of the Apple family, she shed the wheelchair—much to the upset of the doctors—as well as stripping away the oppressive bandages. To the surprise of the doctors, the majority of the burns had healed, leaving only faded pink scars. AJ chalked it up to the fast healing genes of the Apple family, and declared herself ready for the trip. Her bandaged leg gave her a limp, but it was better than the cumbersome wheelchair, Rarity thought.

Fluttershy was the most reluctant to leave, but after Spike assured her he would watch after her animals, she accepted it. Pinkie Pie beat everyone to the station, with nothing to prepare other than saying goodbye to Gummy and the Cakes.

Twilight grabbed a few reference books from her library and she too was at the train station early. Rainbow Dash packed next to nothing, and determinedly paced around the train station waiting for the last arrival. Rarity herself.

Of course Rarity knew the importance of getting to Canterlot, but she still took her time packing. She needed a moment to think with the constant chatter of her friends. The whole Frostburn ordeal was making her head spin. It was obvious, a little too obvious, that Rainbow Dash liked this pegasus. Rarity noticed that Rainbow had been on the brink of sobbing when the ice-blue stallion fled Ponyville. Sure, Rarity felt abandoned too, but nowhere near what her friend was facing. Did that mean that Rainbow felt a greater attraction than her? Should she back down from pursuing Frostburn? The last thing she wanted was to hurt Rainbow, but what she felt for Frostburn was more than a crush to her.

Placing the last of her supplies in a saddlebag, Rarity viewed what she was bringing to Canterlot. She was traveling light for a fashionista, only bringing a saddle bag full of accessories to the capitol of Equestria. Rarity decided it would be enough, and strapped her bag on her back. Petting Opal goodbye, she trotted to the train station.

Rainbow, flying above the train, was the first to spot her. "Hurry up Rarity!" The pegasus said almost too anxiously. "We've got to go now!"

"I'm coming!" Rarity's high pitched voice rang out. Dash didn't seem appeased, and continued doing the equivalent of pacing in mid-air. She came down as Rarity approached the train, greeted by the rest of her friends.

"Okay girls," Twilight said. "Princess Celestia is already on her way back to Canterlot. We'll arrive hopefully around the time she does."

"Great, now let's get a move on." Rainbow said, rushing forward into the train.

"She's a might anxious to get to Canterlot, ain't she?" Applejack asked the group. Rarity bit her lip, not willing to spill the beans about Dash's, or her own, secret crush to the rest of the group.

"Oh she's just excited." Pinkie said. "I'm sure she'll be acting her old self once were in Canterlot." The pink mare and the farmer made their way to the train.

"Ah suppose you could be right." Applejack said. Twilight followed them, while Fluttershy slowed down to speak with Rarity.

"What do you suppose will happen when we get to Canterlot?" She asked as the two moved into the train.

"I don't know." Was all Rarity could say. The train whistled as it began chugging out of the station. The ponies of the Mane Six each felt nervous as they drew nearer to Canterlot. No pony knew exactly what was going to happen when they would see Celestia again. Pinkie Pie asked one question that seemed to have eluded everypony's mind.

"So, is the Princess going to like, arrest us for what happened?" She asked.

Twilight blinked a few times in surprise. "Uh, no I don't think so. I think she just wants us in Canterlot for something to do with Frostburn."

"Oh good" Pinkie said. "Because they don't serve dessert in prison, which is just terrible. Think about all the glorious snacks we wouldn't get!" The rest of the trip was Pinkie Pie listing off all of the sweet treats that they would miss should they have been arrested. For Rarity, the train couldn't pull into Canterlot soon enough. When it finally did, she was the first one off.

Celestia was waiting for them at the station. "It's good that you are finally here." She told the ponies as they left the train. "Now quickly, we must get to the Canterlot library."

"Princess, please you have to explain everything." Twilight said.

"Soon enough" The Princess replied. "But not now."

"Why not?" Rainbow shouted angrily, forgetting herself. Rarity held her breath, fearing Celestia would become irate with her friend.

"The explanation is in the library." Celestia responded, warmly. "Or rather, underneath it."

-\-

It was very cold out, but he did not feel it. The cursed pegasus wandered aimlessly in the woods he landed in, unsure whether he would ever make it out.

Probably for the best. Frostburn thought. At least here I can't hurt anypony. His wings had not yet been tucked in, so his icy spell still lingered around his body. He did not feel the cold though. The mist did not blind him.

The former unicorn wondered why it was, that this time, he was conscious while casting the spell. That never happened before. Normally it was another part of him that wrestled away control forcing him to hurt ponies. That never alleviated his guilt, but it was true. So what was different this time?

Rainbow Dash.

The name had come up several times already. He dismissed the thought every time, but now was different. Frostburn had played over the scenario dozens of times already, and so far it was the only thing that made sense. The memories of what happened were still hazy, but this one was very clear. It had been her. The cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane— the beautiful rainbow mane, he amended—had jumped in front of his attack. It had been her screams of pain that snapped him out of it.

The reason he had rejected the idea so many times before was that it wasn't rational. Plenty of ponies screamed in terror and pain when he lost control. So what was different about Rainbow Dash?

Could he... like her?

Emotions like this were pretty foreign to Frostburn. Spending most of his years of puberty alone and isolated, he never had a marefriend before. Years ago when he was fourteen, in Hoofston, he saw a really pretty unicorn. It had caused his wing to pop out upon seeing her. Of course, that led to an early winter for Hoofston.

But Rainbow was different. Beautiful without a doubt, but it wasn't just that. She was brave, and fierce. His memories from the previous night were returning as well, and all they seemed to be was of Rainbow Dash. He really felt that he liked her.

Then the look on her face when he told her he was leaving. That hurt him, on the inside. And she definitely was hurt as well. Was it possible that she liked him too?

"Ridiculous." He said aloud. "Even if she did, they way you just left her there? She'll never like you now. I doubt you could even be friends with her after that. Or any of those ponies. Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, or…"

Rarity.

The thought of her name made him grasp the cloak she made him. He couldn't shake a weird feeling about the white unicorn. She had been a little too nice to him. Frostburn wasn't sure what that meant. At least the others had been more distant at first, but she had just jumped right into friendship with him. Making him a cloak, walking close beside him, and that compliment she almost gave him. Rarity was the only one besides Rainbow Dash who seemed like she really wanted him to stay. It was all so confusing.

He continued his walking his steps forming a layer of ice on the ground. His mist shrouded nearby trees, coating their leaves with dew. Flowers retracted as he passed, warned off by the cold. The worst part was that the dense forest showed no signs of letting up. Then all of a sudden, it did.

The trees gave way to a glittering city. It was massive, maybe as big as Manehatten. Or bigger. Either way it was glittering, quite literally. The material of the buildings was reflecting the setting sun's rays in a dazzling display. For the first time, he tucked his wings into his body in awe. The spelled faded instantly. He looked more closely at the materials.

Are those, crystals?

-\-

"The Starswirled the Bearded section?" Twilight asked. "Why did you take us here?"

"For answers." Celestia said. With no warning she charged up her horn rapidly with the familiar emerald glow. She fired a small ray of sunshine at the nearest window. The beam magnified and reflected across the room. The Mane six stared in awe. The beam then bounced of a mirror, and polished silver globe, and a violet crystal in strategic locations around the room. The ray grew more powerful with each bounce, and changed its color to purple after contacting the crystal.

The sunbeam finally came to rest on a rune, carved upon one of the few bare walls in the library. The room shook as the brick structure of the wall parted to reveal a staircase. Twilight inhaled loudly.

"Amazing." Rarity breathed.

"Well Ah'll be darned." Applejack said with a low whistle. The Princess of the Sun stepped forward, motioning for the ponies to follow. They did. As they descended, Celestia spoke.

"As you are aware Twilight," the white alicorn said. "Starswirled the Bearded had one student with a unique ability to predict the future."

"Yes, that's right. Amethyst the Seer." Twilight said, recalling her books.

"Was it anything like my Pinkie Sense?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"No, Amethyst did not predict immediate occurrences. She could see years into the future."

"Well okay, but what does that have to do with this secret tunnel?" Rarity asked.

Celestia returned to her story. "A few short years before his passing, Starswirled realized that Amethyst was seeing future events far beyond any of their years. So he compiled as many of her prophecies as he could, and locked them away in this vault, fearing what they could mean. Over the years, several of these prophecies have come to pass. But now I fear a new one is unfolding before us."

"Frostburn…" Rainbow whispered. Celestia nodded as they came out from the stairs into a room barely able to hold the seven of them. The room had boxes and shelves overflowing with old parchment scrolls. Rarity assumed each held its own prophecy, and the ponies marveled at the amount. The Princess used her magic to brush some scrolls aside, and levitate one in particular to the Mane Six. It wasn't brown parchment like the rest. It was painted swirls of red and blue.

"This one, I believe has something to do with Frostburn." Twilight used her magic to take the scroll and unravel it so they could all read it. Rarity's eyes widened at the words.

A soul trapped by its owner.

A curse making the pony a loaner.

Magic where it does not belong.

Resulting in power far too strong.

Fire rages on the inside

Ice will cover those who hide

A dark one speaks out among other things

While the well of light has two springs.

A war ignites, ravaging the land.

Life to ash, water to sand.

A choice to make, by a twice moon's peak,

To save or condemn his voice must speak.

"What does that mean?" Fluttershy asked when everypony finished reading.

"The first part is definitely about Frostburn." Twilight said. "Magic where it doesn't belong is pretty accurate."

"It's the part about war that's confusing me." AJ said. "Equestria doesn't have any enemies. Right?" Nopony responded. Rarity thought about the changelings they had vanquished at the royal wedding. They could easily return. Or Sombra. And the truce with the Griffons was shaky enough at the moment.

"Life to ash, water to sand?" The white unicorn asked. "That doesn't sound good at all."

"But what about the twice moon's peak?" Pinkie asked, genuinely confused. "What the hay is a twice moon?"

Celestia listened to the ponies comments on the prophecy silently. Then she spoke, "I have read every prophecy in this room at least ten times over. Most do not predict apocalypses or doomsday. I believe that this one does. And worse yet, as Twilight said, it is already coming true."

"This is crazy." Pinkie stated. "Can Frostburn really turn water into sand?" Rarity considered that possibility, reflecting on everything he was capable of.

"Life to ash." Twilight whispered. "That can't be good. If Frostburn's power manifests itself to greater levels, could he end up burning all of Equestria?"

"It also talked about a choice." Rarity said hopeful. "Perhaps Frostburn will just choose not to destroy Equestria?"

"A prophecy can never be that simple." Twilight said. "What do you think Rain… Ah!" Twilight had turned to head to see Rainbow Dash, and noticed that she wasn't there. The ponies looked around the room frantically but didn't see her.

"Where did she go?" Fluttershy asked.

"She must have gone after Frostburn alone!" Rarity realized, silently kicking herself for not doing the same.

"We have to find her, it's too dangerous for her to go by herself!" Twilight said. Everypony, including Princess Celestia, rushed up the stairs to find Rainbow Dash.

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