Chapter 102

Rarity didn’t wake until just before dawn. The experience threw the poor girl for a loop; apparently, the time lapse that went along with sleep had already become an alien concept to her, and it took several reassurances to finally convince her that it was in fact morning already.

She wasn’t overly forthright in regards to it, which left me unsure of how she truly felt about the remainder of the night passing by in an instant. I, however, very much enjoyed letting her slumber away the hours in my lap. Such a simple concept is the act of sleep, yet so elusive to us, therefore I didn’t dare move or disturb her to make sure she had as much of it as possible. All the while, I held her little porcelain doll-like body close to mine, enjoying the sound of her soft breathing as the warm water swirled around us while I memorized the colour sequence of the hot tub LEDs.

Before long, the ever-adaptable fashionista set herself to the morning routine. A quick shower, followed by the endless process of creating her signature hair styling and make-up, then her clothes —the light top and violet skirt, as always— were added, completing that classic ‘Rarity’ look.

All I did was dry myself and throw some clothes on. Using the time available, I prepared a simple breakfast for her, just like I’d been doing for Fluttershy each morning. Once Rarity was finished in the bathroom and saw the meal I had made, she swooned with delight and peppered my face with kisses. I offered to make some for her sister as well, and so she ventured down the steps to her bedroom to see if she could wake the young woman.

After hearing a series of hostile moans, I saw Rarity return to the kitchen shortly after—with rolling eyes and a shaking head. She resolved instead to leave Sweetie Belle a note, reminding her of her obligations for the day.

Not long after, we left for the boutique in separate vehicles; I had tools in my truck that I needed for the day, so I had to take it regardless, and for convenience, Rarity chose to drive her own car.

We arrived at the boutique at about 7:20am. Before Rarity started the opening routine, she handed me a prioritized list of repairs to be completed around the place.

“OK,” she began, pressing her hands together while I held the list in my hand and looked it over in silence. “There’s that leaky faucet in the staff washroom that needs attention first; ooh! And see if you can figure out why the toilet keeps running on its own. It’s been doing that for a few weeks now,” —she raised a finger and wagged it— “we don’t want to be paying an outrageous water bill now, do we?”

“No, Miss Rarity.”

She gripped my arm with one hand and covered her mouth with the other, giggling. “Oh! You are SO adorable! Ah-hahaha! Anyway,” she continued, looking back down at the paper. “There’s a light panel above the customer service counter that has been out for a few days. I think it may have the same type of ballast as that one you changed in the ‘chaos room,’ so that’s likely all it is.”

I glanced up at the panel above us, noting that it was not on. “Yeah, probably.”

“Might as well change that out. You remember where the new ones are, I presume?”

“Mm-hm.” I glanced up at her when she didn’t continue and found an expectant look on her face. “I mean…yes, Miss Rarity.”

“That’s better,” she giggled, while I rolled my eyes.

I said it the first time as a joke. Was she really going expect me to keep it up all day?

The answer...was probably yes.

“Well then, darling, you may as well start with that, and when you’re finished with these items, come see me and we’ll go over the rest of the list.”

“OK. Any leaks in the basement at all?” I asked, with a suggestive smirk.

She raised a brow, and then came closer. “Perhaps,” she replied softly as she ran her fingertip down my cheek. “if I happen to sense any…moisture down there, I shall certainly bring it to your attention.”

“Very good, Miss Rarity.”

She let out an amorous giggle. “Oh, darling…today is going to be so much fun with you around!”

“Hey, I’m just happy to be out doing something, you know? To feel useful for once.” I said. “But, hanging out with you all day is fun too.”

Rarity scowled. “Useful? Darling, I-“

The sound of a door opening came from the back room. A moment later, the blue-haired, ascot-wearing lady —Rarity’s sole employee— entered the showroom.

“Ah, good morning Coco!” Rarity greeted and then gestured to the service counter, where a lone coffee sat in wait. “I brought you your morning coffee: Americano; two sugars, as always.”

“Oh, thank you, Rarity. You’re the best—as always.” Coco replied with a smile. Her voice was tinier than I remembered—though I’d only met her once before, months ago. “And a swell morning to you, too.”

Rarity placed her hand on my shoulder and aimed a cordial smile at Coco. “You remember Golden Arrow? He will be spending the day with us, attending to some of the…*ahem*…issues around the building.”

“Oh, hey, that’s great!” Coco smiled. “That ladies washroom has been a disaster lately.” She turned to Rarity next, looking a tad more serious. “Um, Rarity? I was supposed to let you know that I have a doctor’s appointment today; I told you about it last week, and you asked me to remind you about it on the day of.”

Rarity paused for a moment, pensive; then her brows went up. ”Ah! Yes, I remember. What time is it again?”

“10:30. I should be back by about one. I hope that’s not a problem.”

Rarity waved dismissively. “Pish-posh, Coco. I’m sure I can ‘hold down the old fort,’ as they say. Now, there is still twenty-five minutes before we open; why don’t you have a seat and enjoy your coffee? I will continue preparing for the day.”

I leaned closer to Rarity and cleared my throat. “Uh, I’m just gonna get started on that washroom if it’s cool with you.”

She glanced at me with attentive eyes. “Absolutely, darling. Go!” she replied, waving me forth. “If you need me, I shall be out here or in the chaos room.”

It was fun seeing the fashionista shift into work mode. She was quite serious about what she did, but at the same time, she seemed like a great boss; very easy going, approachable, and highly respectful to those in her employ.

I nodded and headed outside to get my tools, then I went to work on the washroom. After figuring out what I needed, I jumped in my truck and headed to the hardware store. Fortunately, it was a nice day out; the temperature had risen since the previous week, so the light dusting of snow that had covered the town was now just a memory.

As it turned out, the flapper in the bottom of the toilet’s tank wasn’t sealing properly, which was the reason it kicked on periodically. Unfortunately, a new flapper was unavailable, so I had to replace the entire toilet.

The faucets were an easy fix; after some new tap seals, all was well in the washroom. By the time I brought the ladder into the showroom to work on the light above the counter, it was close to 11:00am and Coco had already left for her appointment, leaving Rarity to fend for herself.

It wasn’t long before a pair of talkative old ladies entered the store, prompting Rarity to emerge from the back room to greet them; her red glasses sat low on her nose and a yellow measuring tape was draped around her neck. Her look was almost something of a cliché: hard at work in the back room, creating some magnificent piece for a celebrity.

I kept my eyes on what I was doing, while the tittering of the fashionista and the old broads drifted to the back of my mind as I fastened the new ballast in place.

The door opened again, and a middle-aged woman entered. Rarity gave her a quick glance and a smile, followed by a cheerful ‘good morning.’ The woman smiled back and proceeded to make her way patiently around the store, studying the pieces on display.

Time passed, and the old ladies were still bantering with Rarity, oblivious to the fact that another customer had entered and Rarity was the only one working. The middle-aged woman had made several laps around the boutique by then; it was obvious to me and the fashionista that she needed advice, and was waiting to speak with someone who worked there.

The front door opened yet again, and a pair of young women entered.

“Good morning!” Rarity sang, facing them briefly. The two returned only a mild stink-eye and continued their gossip with one another as Rarity clenched her jaw and returned her attention to the old ladies. “Ah yes, the trends this fall have been quite striking; it has been a struggle for me to stay ahead of the curve this time around, what with how quickly the styles have been changing,” she continued with the old ladies.

I could tell that she wanted them to leave. It was obvious that they weren’t going to buy anything, and all they were doing was yakking her ear off, most likely because they were old and had nothing better to do. Rarity did, however; she had other potential clients waiting, clients who had been patient thus far, but it was impossible to tell how long that patience would last. Even so, she didn’t want to be rude to the elderly women, so unfortunately, her hands were tied.

That’s when the phone rang.

It was the last thing Rarity would have asked for, but there it was. She was wringing her hands together by then, turning her head to face the counter where the phone sat, blaring out its need for attention.

I looked down upon the scene from atop the ladder, noticing the fashionista’s normally pretty face marked with stress as she glanced at the phone, then I glanced around the store at the three other people who awaited service.

Rarity needed help. There were too many things going on at once, and she was unable to deal with it all on her own. Not wanting to see her in distress, the instinct to help kicked in and I set my screwdriver down on the top rung, then climbed down. At the bottom, I reached for the phone to pick it up, but then a sudden hesitation hit me, and I froze with my hand hovering above the receiver.

What the hell am I doing? Is this a good idea? What do I even say?

I glanced across the showroom at the fashionista, who was still entangled in meaningless drivel with the old ladies, nodding rapidly as they chuckled at their own jokes, arrogantly ignoring everything around them.

Emboldened by the sight, I looked at the phone when it rang once again. Come on, Golds! Rare needs you. You can do this. You’re just talking to a person on the phone. You’ve known tens of thousands of people; you know how to work ‘em. Answer that phone and show Rare what you’re made of! Work it, Golds…WORK IT!

Quick as lightning, I snatched the receiver from its cradle and placed it to my ear. “It’s a grrreat day here at Carousel Boutique! This is Golds speaking, how can I help you?”

”OH! Haha! What a delightful greeting!” said the voice on the other end.

“Well, we’re a delightful bunch here. What can I do for you today?”

By then, Rarity had picked up on my voice and turned to see who I was talking to, only to have a look of horror wash over her face when she saw me on the phone. With a sharp glare, she mouthed the words: ‘what are you doing!?’ in an over-exaggerated way.

With a quick smile, I gave her a thumbs up, after which she turned back to the old ladies, eyes wide, mouth open, completely flummoxed about what to do.

”Oh, right…yes. Um, let me see,” the lady on the phone replied. ”I was wondering if you sell any Versace or Chanel?”

I furrowed my brows and drew a breath as I thought. I was honestly unsure if Rarity ever carried anyone else’s brands. “I don’t believe we keep anything by those designers in stock,” I replied, “but we may be able to order them in for you, if you wish.”

The instant I finished the sentence, Rarity’s head snapped in my direction again and with a clenched jaw, she shook her head rapidly.

Oh shit! My brows rose when I saw her reaction. “Whoop! My mistake!” I quickly corrected. “Allow me to apologise, ma’am. We, in fact, do not deal with designer brands; everything sold here is designed and created by our in-house seamstress.”

”Really? You have your own designer? Is he or she any good?”

“Ah!” I replied. “Is she good? Let’s put it this way: you’re never gonna find any brand name pieces that even come close to what you’ll find here; in terms of both style and quality. Why? Because she’s one of the BEST! She can make a Versace look like something you buy at Giant Tiger!”

“Oh come on! Really?” the woman replied, incredulous. “She’s that good?”

“Absolutely. She’s been serving Canterlot and surrounding area for several years now, and has become a local favourite—a pillar of the community, so to speak. Why, she’s even done work for the mayor and her family…” —I glanced around the showroom, scanning the pictures that lined the walls to see what other famous individuals she’d done work for— “she’s sold pieces to local celebrities like…Countess Coloratura, Sapphire Shores…”

”Ooh!”

“Diane Saddler…”

A gasp. ”From the news?”

“That’s right.”

”Very impressive!”

“Yeah? Well how about Jennifer Lawrence?” I continued, making my way across the wall by reading off the names below the photos.

There was a pause. “Uh…I’m not quite sure who that is, actually…but she sounds lovely.”

“Oh...yeah, she’s an actress or something. I don’t know,” I replied, clearing my throat.

“Um, so...does this prodigious designer have a name?”

“OHO!” I smacked my palm against my forehead. “Where are my manners? I must have left them in my other pants!” The stupid joke elicited a quiet chuckle from the woman on the other end. “She is known as Miss Rarity.”

”Miss Rarity, eh? Well, she certainly sounds impressive.”

“That she is,” I replied as I glanced down to inspect my fingernails, realising I hadn’t washed my hands after installing the toilet. “So, was there something specific you were looking for?”

”Well, I have a wedding coming up, and I was looking for a gown to wear; something that matches the colour theme of the occasion.”

“A wedding, eh? Someone close?” I asked, glancing across the showroom in time to see Rarity watching me closely before she turned back to the old ladies, who finally looked like they were postured to leave.

”My daughter, actually. My youngest.”

“Aww,” I smiled and tilted my head to the side. “How precious; congratulations!” I gushed, possibly a bit overdramatically.

”I KNOW! I know, they grow up SO fast, don’t they?”

“Yes, they certainly do…”

”So, if I give you my measurements, could you tell me if you have anything in stock that comes in red, silver and purple?”

“Uh…” I paused for a moment, watching as the time-wasting cunts finally made their way out the door. Rarity turned while giving them a final wave, and then approached the middle-aged woman. “So sorry for the delay, darling. Welcome to the Carousel Boutique. I am Rarity. Is there something I could help you with today?”

Watching her greet her customer made me smile. So poised and classy she was, with such a sweet voice and flawless enunciation; I loved witnessing every second of her in action.

”Um…are you still there?”

Shit! I quickly brought myself back to the conversation. “Yes...sorry ma’am. I was just answering a question for somebody.”

”Oh, OK. Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound impatient.”

“No-no, it’s me who owes you an apology. So…you wanted something in red, silver and purple? You said those are the wedding colours?”

”Yes. I wanted to know if there might be something there in my size with those colours, and if there is, maybe I could swing by and try it on to see if it needs alterations. That way, they can be done before the big day comes.”

“Mm-hm,” I replied in a perky tone. “Well, here at Carousel Boutique, we do things a little differently,” I explained as I searched the counter for a pen and paper. “You need to understand, we go out of our way to exceed our client’s expectations at every turn; this is how we’ve been able to garner a reputation as being the best and most generous spot in the city.

“So first,” I continued, “Miss Rarity will need to have you come in for measurements. Everyone is a little different, and her standard is to measure everyone who comes through that door to ensure that their piece fits perfectly, and with the utmost style and comfort. Next, she looks more closely at you: your hairstyle and colour, the tone of your skin, what kind of face you have, the colour of your eyes—et cetera, et cetera. From this, she will craft a gown that will not only fit perfectly, but will compliment your style, with a colour set that will compliment you as an individual, while still maintaining the colours used in the wedding.”

“Wow…she would do all that for me?”

“Absolutely. Miss Rarity is a stylistic genius; a connoisseur of colours; a craftsman of form and function. She will create a piece that fits and compliments you and only you, just like she does with every person who walks through that door, looking for the best.”

I noticed the fasionista glancing in my direction when I said this, a tiny smirk visible on her lips.

Hesitation from the other end. “Eh…I’ve gotta be honest, this is starting to sound a bit involved...and expensive,” the lady confessed, sounding a tad apprehensive.

“Well,” an inhale hissed through my teeth, “it is true that Miss Rarity’s services aren’t the cheapest around, but when you factor-in the level of service combined with the quality of style and workmanship you receive, I can assure you there is no one that comes even remotely close to matching what you get for your dollar here.”

The woman on the other end sighed, considering her options.

I listened for a moment, licking my bottom lip. “Would you like to book a time to see Miss Rarity? The measurements and consultation are complimentary,” I explained, hoping to sway her decision.

“OK. Sure, I…I’ll give it a try. It’s a bit more involved than I was expecting, but I have to admit: I’m pretty intrigued by this Miss Rarity. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

“You will not be disappointed, ma’am. Miss Rarity is an amazingly talented young woman—truly a one-in-a-million. You’ll find no one else in this business quite like her, and the end product you’ll walk away with will reflect that. That is my promise to you.”

I glanced up again as I held the pen over the notepad, ready to write. Rarity was gazing my way with sparkling eyes, visibly flattered.

“OK, could I get your name and phone number please?”

I wrote the information down, nodding as she replied. “Mm-hm. Got it, thank you. And what time are you free to come in?”

”Well…I’m actually from out of town, so I’ll have to check my schedule. One sec…”

“Sure,” I replied, looking up see how Rarity was handling things.

“Very well then,” she was saying to the woman, clasping her hands on front of her chest. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you.”

“Oh! No, it’s alright,” the woman replied, shaking her head as she gave the fashionista a gentle pat on the forearm. “You’ve been an absolute sweetheart, Rarity; thank you so much for your help.”

“Oh, well I thank you for the kind words, darling,” Rarity replied, with a small giggle. She then waved as the woman made her way to the door. “Have a pleasant day! Enjoy that weather!”

“I will. Bye-bye.”

One more down, two left. Rarity turned to approach the pair of young girls, giving me a quick glance on the way; her hair had become slightly frazzled by then, so I gave her a reassuring smile to lessen her stress.

”OK, hello?”

“Yup.” I looked down at the paper again.

”How does two weeks from today sound? I think that’ll be December first, right?”

“That’s right, and what’ll be a good time for you to come in?”

”Can you do one o’clock?”

“One is perfect. Consider yourself booked.”

“Great. Well, I gotta run. Heh, things to do, you know?”

“Absolutely.”

The woman chuckled. ”Well thanks very much for your time-...I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Golds.”

”Ah, right. Golds. It was an absolute pleasure talking to you.”

I let out a phony chuckle. “You as well. I’ll be honest; having the opportunity to chat with wonderful people such as yourself is the reason I love this job.”

”Aww..."

“Anyhoo…we’ll see you on Thursday, December the first. One pm.”

”I’ll see you then. Can’t wait!”

“Neither can we. Buh-bye!”

”Bye!”

And with that, I hung the phone up and rested my chin on my hand.

Pppfft! ...Bitch.

In the meantime, Rarity was in the midst of greeting the pair of young women. “Good morning, ladies. Welcome to Carousel Boutique. I am Ra-“

“Does this one come in pink?” one of them cut in with a very nasal voice, pointing at a blue display dress, making Rarity cringe—despite trying not to.

“Well…er, that design is more suited for a…cool colour motif. If you’d like, I could show you a-“

“Nah, it’s OK. We’re just looking.” The girl turned away, chewing her gum like a cow chews its cud, and she and her friend continued traipsing around the store.

“Oh…v-very well then.” Rarity turned away from them with her hands clasped; when she faced me, her jaw was clenched and her eyes glared with annoyance.

I raised my hand swung it downwards like I was wielding and invisible sword, mouthing the words: ‘slice ’em up!’

She snickered silently and covered her mouth.

A few minutes later, the young women headed for the exit, gossiping back and forth quietly.

Rarity spun around when she heard the door opening. “Uh, h-have a nice day!”

They paid no mind and walked out the door, ignoring her farewell.

“Cunts.” The fashionista sighed and then turned to face the counter. Her eyes lit up when they landed on me, and she headed towards the counter, clapping her hands with a proud smile on her face. “Bravo, darling!”

I leaned on the counter with my arms folded, raising a brow. “Who, me?”

“Why, yes! What you just did on the phone there, that was quite good! I didn’t know you could be such a charmer!”

“Oh…well…” I shook my head and swept my hands across the desktop. “It was nothing. It looked like you needed help, so…”

“Oh pish-posh. Don’t be so modest, darling!” she replied, reaching across the counter to place her hand on mine. “You were amazing, although, if I could offer a single pointer: you should never bash other brands to the customers.”

“Oh...you mean that Giant Tiger thing?”

She nodded and raised a finger. “Precisely. We do not do that sort of thing here. It makes us appear catty and disrespectful.”

“Fair enough. Sorry.”

“It’s perfectly alright, darling. You did an absolutely splendid job otherwise—and I certainly hope I can live up to all your touting.”

I met eyes with her, smiling. “You’ll do fine. And I’ll tell you this: if there’s three things I know about people: it’s how to kill ‘em, how to fuck ‘em, and how to bullshit ‘em,” I explained, raising a finger as each point was made.

“Hm,” she giggled. “Well you certainly are an expert at each one of those, I must say.”

“That’s very sweet of you to say, Rare. Thank-you,” I quipped.

“No, thank-you, Golds.” She gave my hand a squeeze. “Now, I must ask: how exactly did you know what to say?”

“Oh,” I shrugged. “Just…from listening to you.”

“Me?” She looked surprised.

“Uhh…yeah…?” I raised a brow at her. “You talk about this place all the time.”

“Well, of course, but…I didn’t think you actually listened to me about it.”

I let out a chuckle. “Then why talk about it?”

Rarity shrugged. “I don’t know. Because I like to?” She sighed and looked down at my hand, stroking my knuckles with her little white thumb. “To be honest, I’m used to people not listening to me about it, so, I mean…I just assumed that you…”

My eyes drifted downward, watching her caress the back of my hand. “Well…I’m sorry if I came across like I wasn’t paying attention to you, but I was. To be honest…I’m too hung-up on you not to pay attention; the way you talk, the sound of your voice…” —I gave my head a shake— “it’s like I’m hopelessly addicted to you, Rare.”

She paused and locked eyes with me, her mouth drifting open slightly. Then she turned away for a moment, before looking back with a trembling smile and sparkling eyes. “Ohh…you mustn’t say such things to me here; you may cause my make-up to run. But…thank you, darling. And I love you too.”

We shared a quick moment in silence, staring at her each other over the counter; I could tell she wanted a kiss, but was holding back in the name of professionalism. I cleared my throat finally, deciding I’d better get back to fixing the light before she and I got ourselves into trouble.

“Uh…so I’m just about done with this light here; I just gotta connect the leads and put the bulbs back in.”

“Ah. Very good…darling.” She cleared her throat quietly, watching me ascend the ladder. “I suppose I should…return to the chaos room and resume my work.”

“OK.”

Neither of us had reached our spots when we heard the door open again. We both stopped to look, and were greeted by a rather pleasant surprise.

“Fluttershy!” Rarity gasped happily as the smiling shy girl made her way towards the counter, donning her new blue-and-gold aviators and carrying a bag filled with delicious-smelling packages.

“Hey Rare,” she replied. “Is, um…anyone else here?” she asked quietly, scanning the store for customers as Rarity made her way around the counter to meet her.

“No-no, darling. It’s just us here for now,” Rarity replied. “Although you just missed the little mini-rush we had, but we handled it just fine, didn’t we, Golds?”

“Sure did,” I said, glancing down from the ceiling.

Fluttershy slid the glasses to the top of her head. When she wore them like this, they held her hair back instead of letting it drape in front of her face, allowing us to see her with a clarity that wasn’t often witnessed.

“You, Goldie?” She looked up at me, surprised.

“He certainly did, darling.” Rarity brushed her fingertips down Fluttershy’s arm. “I had five people in here, and the phone started ringing, so Golds —being the sweetheart that he is— jumped down and answered it for me.”

“I didn’t jump down.”

“You know what I mean!”

Fluttershy giggled. “Oh my, you two. Good for you, though, Goldie; you’re such a good boy.”

“I know, I know,” I replied as I tightened the final screw and then set the screwdriver down. “Hey Rare, can you hand me those bulbs?”

“Certainly,” Rarity answered cheerfully as she picked one of the glass tubes up and passed it to me. “What do you have in the bag, Fluttershy?”

“Oh!” She raised her arm and set the bag on the countertop, then began removing a bunch of styrofoam containers from it. “I brought us some lunch,” she explained as she distributed the items around the countertop.

“Ooh! How lovely,” Rarity replied excitedly as she passed me the second bulb. “It smells absolutely divine; what is it?”

“Just soup and sandwiches from that deli around the corner.” Fluttershy paused as she took yet another package from the bag and looked around the store. “Um…where’s Coco?”

“Doctor’s appointment,” Rarity replied, glancing at the shy girl with the light cover in hand, ready to pass it up to me.

Fluttershy’s brows rose. “Oh, because I brought her some lunch, too. I-I didn’t realise she wasn’t gonna be here.”

“Not to worry,” Rarity replied. “I’ll put it in the fridge for her to have when she returns. And thank-you for being so thoughtful, darling.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Um...so is that why Goldie had to answer the phone?”

“Well…he didn’t have to, darling, but yes.” Rarity held the honeycombed panel up for me.

I took it and went about popping it back into place. “Thanks, Rare.”

“You’re quite welcome,” she replied with a giggle, folding her hands in front of her chest.

Once the cover was in place, I stepped off the side of the ladder and dropped to the floor with a loud thump.

“Ah! Goodness me, darling!” Rarity scolded. “My boutique is not a gymnasium!”

Fluttershy giggled softly as I flicked the light switch and looked upwards, then furrowed my brows when nothing happened.

“Hmm…”

“It’s not working?” Rarity asked, looking up at the dead panel.

“No,” I replied, flipping the switch off and on again. “Not sure why; it should be working.”

“It’s fine, darling; let’s break for lunch and we’ll come back to it with a fresh mind.”

“Sure.” I leaned against the counter next to Rarity —straight across from Fluttershy— and we began our feast.

“Mmm...delicious! Thank-you for this, Fluttershy!”

“You’re welcome.”

More time passed. The only sounds heard were the slurping the soup and the odd clearing of a throat.

“So Rare,” I said when I was reminded of something. “How did it go that one day...with the hair?”

She looked at me, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “I’m sorry?”

“That day you had to come to work with corn-rows.”

Her eyes widened briefly, then she rolled them and shook her head. “Ugh...never again, darling.”

“That bad, eh?” I asked, cringing.

She simply shook her head and went back for another spoonful of soup.

knowing when to leave it be, I looked up at the light as I chewed a bite of sandwich, wondering what I’d missed. I figured I would have to go up and take the panel back off to take a closer look, however my planning was interrupted by the shy girl.

“So, um…did you guys do it last night?”

“Uhh, yeah,” I replied, followed by a snort.

“Ooh! Was it good?”

“Er, how about we share these details later, hm darlings?” Rarity requested. “This is neither the time nor the place.”

“Hey!” I said, slapping the countertop before pointing at the fashionista. “Rare fell asleep!”

Fluttershy gasped, turning to Rarity. “You did?”

“Oh, well…as a matter of fact, I-“

BLING!

BUZZ!

Fluttershy glanced down at her pocket and Rarity let out a small yelp when her phone vibrated under the counter.

I knew the chime on the shy girl’s phone meant she’d gotten an email, but I wasn’t sure about Rarity’s. I had little time to think about it though; my own phone suddenly buzzed once in my pocket, which meant I had received an email as well.

“That was weird,” Fluttershy said, scowling as she pulled her phone out. “What are the odds of all three of us getting an email at the same time?”

“Could just be a coincidence, darling,” Rarity replied before taking another spoonful of soup.

Fluttershy unlocked her phone and tapped the screen a few times. After a moment, she shook her head. “Definitely not a coincidence. It’s from Twilight.”

Rarity and I stopped eating and looked at our girlfriend for a moment, then we set our food down to take our phones out. I didn’t get far with mine, however; it started to ring in my hand, so I looked at the screen to see how it was:

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t ‘Little Miss Too-Busy-To-Talk-To-Me,’” I mumbled as I hit the answer button. “Ehh…what’s uhh, goin on there, Sunny Buns?” I answered in a deep, sleazy voice.

”Fuck you. Did you get the email?” Sunset replied.

“Yeah, but you didn’t give me a chance to look at it. Flutters and Rare got it too, though; they’re just looking now.”

“You’re with them right now? Aren’t they at work?”

“We’re at the boutique having lunch.”

”Oh...OK well that’s good anyway; now we only have to explain this once.”

“We?”

“Yeah, I’m with Twi. Could you put us on speaker?”

“Sure, but if a customer comes in, we’ll have to stop, and we can’t leave the showroom cuz the other girl that works here is at the doctor’s.”

“K. Fine.”

I took the phone from my ear and hit the speaker button. Then I set it on the counter. “OK, Sunny.”

“Hey guys, it’s Sunset,” the red-head’s voice rang throughout the showroom.

The girls acknowledged her in unison.

”And me, Twilight!”

“Hey, Twi,” I replied, folding my arms on the countertop.

“To what do we owe the pleasure, darlings?” Rarity asked, picking up the styrofoam bowl to scrape out the last bit of soup with her spoon.

“OK,” Sunset said, followed by an exhale. “So, uh...Mr. Ingram and Agents Daniels and Shadow have been spending some time with Twi and me, and we...kind of told them everything.”

“Um…e-everything?” Fluttershy asked, staring intently at my phone.

“Er…define everything, darling.”

”Like...EVERYTHING. The immortality, how Golds spread it, the Equestrian magic —and therefore all of our powers— and...the suits.”

Rarity gasped. “You told them about my suits?”

“Is that wise, Sunny? How can we trust them with that kind of information?” I asked. It made me a bit apprehensive knowing that CIA members knew this much about us, especially after what had happened between me and them in the past.

”Yeah, it’s fine guys. Relax,” Sunset’s voice returned. ”Trust me; our secret is safe with them. They were actually on board with the vigilante thing. When we told them that we want to help people and do good things, they thought it was a great idea, and...they’re kind of...on board with us. Especially Ingram.”

I glanced at my girlfriends, raising a brow when they each returned a look to me. “What does that mean, ‘on board?’”

”Like...they wanna help.”

“How?”

”Information, tech gear, surveillance, however they can. Obviously, Daniels isn’t gonna be handing us classified info or taking stuff from the CIA without them knowing, but he said maybe one day we might be able to reveal ourselves to them—then we’d REALLY be set.”

I lowered my head to rub my face. “OK, so…what are they planning on doing right now then?” Then I looked at the phone again. “Wait...are they still there?”

”No. They left this morning. ALL of them; Daniels and Shadow took Ingram with them. Ingram applied to the CIA online the other day, and Daniels is gonna handle his investigation and push him through the hiring process as quick as he can. After seeing the stuff Ingram can do, Daniels was REALLY impressed, and he knows he’ll do well at the agency.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Good for Mr. Ingram. I think he’ll be happy there.”

I nodded, then looked down at the phone again with another question. “What about you, Sunny? Wasn’t Daniels here to find you? How is he supposed to go back empty handed?”

”Oh, Daniels and Shadow have that covered,” Sunset said dismissively, to my surprise. “Since only they knew about the passport, they can keep my being a double of the other girl a secret from the rest of the agency, so that’s not a big deal. For the rest of it, they came up with the idea of making an anonymous ‘confession video,’ where we acted out a mock interview and I talked about being attacked in the bathroom by his ex-wife and all that, and to cover up who I am, he’s gonna treat it like a ‘witness protection’ type of thing—in case whoever ‘might have been in cahoots with his ex-wife comes after me for exposing her, and possibly him, by extension.’ That way, anyone outside of Daniels’ investigation can’t have access to my identity.”

I frowned, scratching my forehead. “And…they think that’s gonna work?”

”They’re positive it’ll work. Even Ingram gave it the thumbs up. Don’t worry, Golds; I think we can trust them.”

“Alright, fine.” I sighed as I glanced at Fluttershy first, and then Rarity. “Daniels better be careful doing this shit or he’s gonna end up like his wife.”

“Yeah. He seemed pretty casual about it though, so I dunno. Anyway, we’re getting off topic here: back to those emails.” Sunset replied. ”For that, I’m gonna let Twi do the talking.”

A short silence, followed by Twilight’s voice. “OK, hi again, everyone.”

“Hey,” we replied in unison.

”OK, so...as you all know, our friend Mr. Ingram is something of a techie, and quite an impressive one at that,” —she paused to let out a chuckle— ”it’s not very often I get intimidated by another person’s intellect, but I think in this case, it is absolutely warranted. I mean, he is BRILLIANT.”

”Well, to be fair, Twi, he pretty much said the same thing about you,” Sunset cut in.

”Oh...yeah, well...I mean, heh! Yeah...”

I glanced at Rarity as we listened to Twilight trip over her own modesty. She responded with a smirk and a roll of her eyes.

Twilight stopped herself and cleared her throat. “Um, anyway...excuse me everyone. Where was I? Oh! So...as Sunset mentioned, we told them about Rarity’s adventures during the nights, as well as the time I went with her on Thanksgiving weekend. When I was telling them about it, I happened to mention that Rarity was using a police scanner app to track the activity in the city, which seemed to rouse Mr. Ingram’s attention, and he said he MAY have something a little more...far reaching, I guess you could say? Anyway, that brings me to the email we just sent you guys. Go ahead and open it.”

Rarity and Fluttershy picked their phones up and did as requested while Twilight continued.

“It’s an app, but not like any app you've ever had, I can assure you. This one is tied to the police scanner, like what Rarity was already doing, PLUS, it is tied into every traffic, street and security camera in Canterlot, as well as here in the big city. That way, we can listen for activity, and do a visual search to find out what is happening almost instantly.”

“Wait, wait, how did you get access to the city’s camera system?” I asked, surprised by this.

”Oh...well,” Twilight hesitated slightly, “Accomplishing that was a bit more... hands-on.”

“Ohh boy…”

“So darling,” Rarity cut in, looking down at her phone. “I’ve got the email open; what do I do now?”

“Just click on the icon. It should install like a normal app.”

“Ahh…” Rarity replied, tapping her phone.

”Now...we know that Fluttershy and Golds aren’t interested in coming out with us, but we sent them the app anyway because...I mean, why not? The rest of us will have it, so you might as well have it too,” Twilight continued. ”So like I was saying: Ingram has the schematics to build a small antenna that, when spliced into the city’s data lines —or ANY system, really— it broadcasts all camera footage directly to the app on our phones. Obviously, to accomplish this, Ingram, Agent Shadow and I had to physically go and...do a little break-and-entering, in both Canterlot AND here in this city, to install the devices.”

“Wait…you guys were in Canterlot?” I asked.

”Correct.” Twilight replied. “So anyway, with this app, you now have access to every camera in the city, as well as the ability to control them to a certain extent. Say, for example, you wanted to do something that will be in view of a camera that you don’t want anyone on the other end to see, you can simply freeze the image before hand, and to whoever else is watching, it just looks like nothing is going on. AND, the antenna is untraceable by their system; they’ll never know we’re using it.”

“But, um…what if it’s raining or windy or something like that?” Fluttershy asked as she watched the progress bar creep across her screen.

“Well, in a case like that, you could just turn the camera off, or simply loop a short length of footage. Hehe! Having the rain stuck in the air because it’s been paused wouldn’t be very inconspicuous at all, would it?”

“Hm.” Fluttershy nodded.

“So…when you say we have access to every camera in the city, are we talking about literally every single camera?” Rarity asked. “On every street? In every building?”

”No, not quite. We do have access to nearly every outdoor camera and a number of indoor ones, but any security system that runs a closed circuit will not be accessible to us. Now, I DID ask Ingram about this, and he said that we could easily install an antenna in each of those systems, but the issue with that is the sheer number of closed circuit systems that exist in the city—it would be a massive undertaking to install an antenna on every single one of them. He suggested instead to leave them for now, and only tap into the ones that we need to, WHEN we need to; whether it happens to be a business or something that we suspect may be involved in criminal activity, OR maybe even a potential victim. And when the time comes to do that, I can sneak in and install it myself. Mr. Ingram showed me how to do it specifically for this reason, since he has chosen to return to the United States and won’t be here to do it for us. And since the app is tied into the city’s mainframe system, I have access to blueprints for pretty much every building in the city and surrounding area, so figuring out where to tap into any system should be a snap. Now...granted, not every single blueprint is a-hundred percent up to date, but still...”

“Yeah, no, that’s…pretty amazing, actually,” I said, with an impressed nod. “It sounds like this little setup is gonna work well for you guys.”

”Well...I haven’t even gotten to the comms link yet,” Twilight continued, prompting Rarity, Fluttershy and me to glance at one another in surprise.

“Er, pardon me; comms link?” Rarity asked, watching her screen as the app made itself at home on her menu screen.

”The app also has a voice link feature, meaning we can talk to each other, whether it’s through text —which will even allow us to send messages to Daniels, Shadow or Ingram at any time— or though the headsets that we picked up this week, as long as the person you’re talking to is wearing a headset as well; sort of like Skype, only...better.”

“Er…did you say headsets, darling?”

Twilight chuckled. ”Don’t worry, Rarity. We know how particular you are about the appearance of your suits, so we took special care to find a headset to retrofit to them that won’t alter the appearance of the outfit in any way. It consists of a simple set of Bluetooth earbuds —black of course, very similar to what you were already using— and a microphone that’s small enough to be attached to the bottom of the mask without being overly visible, while being close enough to your mouth that the person on the other end can hear you clearly. Trust me; we’ve tested it. It is top notch.”

Sunset cut in next. “Yeah, seriously guys, like...this stuff is awesome. You’re gonna love it.”

”And the best part,” Twilight continued, ”The comms line is completely secure; because of the transmission type Ingram has implemented, no one can tap into it and listen in on what we’re saying to each other. Not unless they also happen to have the app.”

I was rubbing my forehead by now, wondering how all this was possible. ”OK…I have a question. How in the name of my sweaty ball-sack did Ingram design and write this whole program in less than a week?”

”Well...the simple answer is: he didn’t. Mr. Ingram is very clever; he keeps a number of these types of programs hidden away on a secret website, where only he can find them.”

“A website?”

”That was MY initial reaction, too,” Twilight replied. ”But the way he did it was very clever, actually: the website itself is a very boring-looking gardening blog that gets very few hits. Hidden within the text, however, there are links to downloadable files, maybe hidden inside a quotation mark or something like that, which, when downloaded, look like gibberish to most people. They are, in fact, encrypted sections of the app coding, which was divided into separate parts and had to be downloaded separately and put together on my computer. There are other programs hidden on the site as well, which, if mixed with the wrong sections of other apps, will simply not work. Only Ingram knew which ones to download, where to find them, how to open them and how to put them together.

“Once that was done, he did a few updates to take advantage of the latest smartphone technology and we installed it on mine and Sunset’s phones, which, after some light testing, seem to be working perfectly—after a few last minute tweaks, of course.”

I shook my head incredulously, chuckling. “Wow…am I the only one who’s glad we have Ingram on our side?”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed as she explored the app, which had since finished installing. “This is...astonishing.” She scrolled through the camera selections, searching for one view in particular as she walked to the front door. “Ooh!” she gasped suddenly, “there I am!” She peered out of the front window of the store, waving at something up in the air, outside.

“Um…you can see yourself, Rare?” Fluttershy asked, turning to watch the fashionista wave at herself while looking down at her phone.

“Why, yes! Through that camera on the street light.” She turned back to us, furrowing her brows as she slunk back to the counter. “Twilight, this is simply...amazing; I...cannot wait to try it! But, er...when shall I receive the new headpiece?”

Sunset replied. “I’m coming back to Canterlot tonight, so I can give you your headset then.”

“Excellent, darling! I cannot wait to see it.”

”You won’t just be seeing it, Rare. You’re gonna be putting it to the test, cuz you and I are gonna have a little date tonight.”

Rarity froze, staring at my phone with wide eyes. “I’m sorry…did you say…a-a date?”

“Mm-hm. Just you and me.”

“I see…” Rarity replied softly. “And…just what shall I wear on our…date?”

Sunset gave a knowing chuckle. “Well...I’ll be wearing black; I was gonna suggest you do the same.”