Chapter 151

Rarity’s car pulled into its parking spot and stopped, its engine quietly cutting into silence a moment later. Inside, Fluttershy sat behind the wheel, a smoke-stained Rarity sitting in the passenger seat next to her, arms folded, eyes downcast.

Sighing, the shy girl glanced over at her girlfriend, her soft brow marked with concern. “Um… are you OK, Rare?” she asked quietly, folding her hands on her lap as she bowed her head slightly to get a better view of Rarity’s face.

The fashionista didn’t move. She simply sat staring at her knees.

After waiting a few seconds for a response, Fluttershy faced forward again, only to turn back when Rarity spoke.

“It’s gone… Fluttershy,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “All of it. My life’s work, my passion; destroyed… by petty vengeance.”

The shy girl reached over to pat Rarity’s forearm. “I know. It’s… I feel awful, Rare. It broke my heart to see it burning like that. But… on the bright side, you were smart --just like we all know you are-- and you had really good insurance on it, so… um, you’ll be able to build a new boutique--one that’s even better, cuz you’ll be able to build it in your own brilliant vision, right?

“There were things in that boutique.” Rarity shook her head. “Irreplaceable things. Heirlooms. Things that belonged to my customers. And most of all… memories.”

Disheartened, Fluttershy stared for a moment before sighing and looking down at her lap.

Outside, the loud clatter of a diesel engine approached, accompanied by a pair of headlight beams that swept across the front of Rarity’s townhouse.

Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder and then at Rarity. “Um, looks like my ride is here… I guess. Are you sure you don’t want us to stay with you?”

Rarity nodded slowly. “Yes. I’d much rather be alone.”

Fluttershy paused for a moment, rubbing her nose as she worried silently about her girlfriend. In the end, she decided not to worry and that she should trust Rarity; after all, it wasn’t like she could hurt herself. “OK, Rare. Just promise me one thing.”

Rarity looked over at her, her eyeliner washed down her cheeks by her weeping, mixing with the soot on her face.

“Make sure you have a shower,” Fluttershy said with a coy smile. “You smell like smoke.”

Rarity looked down at herself, sighed and then nodded. Then she opened her door to step out of the car.

After shutting my truck off and hopping out, I headed towards Rarity’s car. She emerged from the passenger door first, followed closely by Fluttershy from the opposite side. The fashionista glanced up at me as I approached with a comforting smile; her eyes were the only part of her that was left white.

Saying nothing, I put an arm around her and pulled her into my side, rubbing her shoulder.

She sighed, her eyes dropping to the sidewalk.

“I’m not sure how I feel about leaving you here alone, Rare,” I confessed. “You should have someone around to talk to.”

She shook her head. “I’ve already told you --multiple times-- that I wish to be alone. I do not wish to be bombarded with ‘it’s going to be OK’ and ‘we know how you feel’ all night long. I would much rather have the freedom to wallow in misery on my own.”

After a pause, I withdrew my arm, rubbing her between the shoulder blades before stepping in front of her to face her. Placing my index finger beneath her chin, I brought her face up until her eyes met mine. “Just promise me one thing, Rare…”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I‘ll have a shower.”

I hesitated for a moment, furrowing my brows. “No, that’s not-- … well, actually, yeah, you do need a shower, but that’s not what I was going to say.” I used a finger to sweep her frazzled hair out of her face. “I need your word that’ll you’ll stay home. Don’t go out looking for her. We’re getting close to finalizing a plan to go after the Ministry, and we can’t have you going out and getting yourself into trouble. I know this is bad, and I can’t imagine how you must feel right now, but we need to stay focused.”

Her brow creased slightly. “I don’t care about the Ministry right now.”

I closed my eyes and nodded. “I know, and I’m not saying you have to. I’m just saying don’t do anything stupid, OK?”

Her eyes dropped downward. “Fine.”

I took my finger from her chin and wrapped my arm around her back to pull her in for a kiss on the forehead. “Don’t worry, Rare. I know it seems like the end of the worked right now, but we’re all here for you. We got your back. Now go inside; relax; have some ice cream. Take a dip in the hot tub. If you need anything at all, just text me or Flutters and we’ll be here.” I faced the shy girl. ”Right?”

Fluttershy nodded and smiled warmly.

After glancing at the two of us, Rarity looked down at the sidewalk and nodded. “Thank you… my darlings,” she mumbled, giving me a squeeze and then releasing me to approach Fluttershy for a hug.

“I love you, Rare,” the shy girl said softly, her chin resting on the fashionista’s shoulder, eyes closed.

“I love you too, Fluttershy,” Rarity replied, backing out of the embrace and turning to face me. “Both of you.”

I gave her a smile. “Love you too.” Then I gestured to her front door. “Now go on inside, have a shower and take some time out for yourself. Message us if you need something. K?”

She nodded and then turned slowly. After one last look at Fluttershy, she headed up the sidewalk, her boots clopping softly along the concrete. Once the door was opened, she paused to look at back at us, and the shy girl and I each waved at her. She stared blankly for a moment, and then disappeared inside, closing the door behind her.

Fluttershy and I stood outside on the sidewalk in the failing light, which was slowly being superseded by the lampposts. We looked at each other, sighing.

“Do you think she’ll be OK?” she asked.

I nodded slowly. “I think so. Maybe not tonight, but… I dunno. Sometime.”

“What do you wanna do?”

I rubbed the back of my neck, scanning the parking lot. “Uhh... not sure. We should stay in town though--in case she wants us.”

She nodded her agreement. “Um, where did everyone else go?”

“Sunny’s, I think.”

“You wanna got here?”

After a little glance at Fluttershy, I gave her a nod. “Sure.”

*****

Inside, Rarity closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She stared down the hallway into the dim front room, her mind’s eye overlaying the quiet scene with images of fire and smoke. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath, hoping to extinguish the memory, only to be reminded of it when the smell of smoke entered her nose.

After staring at the floor for a moment, she quietly slipped out of her boots and set them aside before heading down the hall, combing her fingers into her hair in a vain attempt to tame its disorderly tangles. As she reached the end of the hall, she withdrew one hand to reach over and flick the light switch, illuminating the front room.

Rarity was only a few steps into the room, however, when she realised she wasn’t alone; the movement of a figure standing from the couch caught her eye, causing her to look up and freeze in place, her eyes wide as saucers as they locked onto that faded lavender skin, green vest, violet studded jeans, and those twin purple ponytails, each one lined with a phosphorescent strip.

“YOU!” Rarity bellowed, marching toward the intruder.

“Wait, wait!” Aria shouted, raising her hands to dissuade the fashionista from approaching.

Without hesitation, Rarity outstretched a hand of her own, summoning a large block of diamond that appeared before the siren that encased her hands within its depths. The sudden weight of it pulled Aria down by the arms, making her grunt when she instinctively tried and failed to resist its draw.

The block thudded to the floor, and Aria’s chin collided with the hard, transparent surface, causing her to grit her teeth and wince, eyes squeezed shut. After sucking a bit of blood from her lip, having bitten it when her fall ended, the siren looked up to find Rarity standing over her, looking down with utter distain on her blackened face.

Rarity shook her head slowly. “The gall… the absolute GALL! Coming here, after what you’‘ve done! Did you inhale a bit too much smoke? Hm? What would possess you into thinking coming here was a good idea?”

Helpless, Aria switched between looking up at Rarity and down at the transparent cube, her trapped hands visible at its core.

“You do realise what you’ve done, right? “ Rarity continued. “You know who I am, or rather, my night time persona; is exacting your revenge on us really that important to you? Is it important enough to die for? You lucky I haven’t gutted you like a fish already!”

“I had no choice,” Aria muttered, keeping her eyes downcast.

“Oh, pshh!” Rarity scoffed, waving the siren off. “Such nonsense! You MADE a choice--a very stupid one, at that. How easy would it have been to choose a better, smarter path? That’s all it would have taken --your sister is evidence of that-- and now, your vindictiveness has finally caught up with you. Your arrogance has been your undoing and you’ve been caught in the act; my boutique wasn’t enough, was it? Hm? You felt the need to come here and destroy my home too?”

Aria’s eyes rose to meet Rarity’s when she said this. She stared anxiously with those dark, violet eyes, her face draining with colour when the fashionista’s arm extended to the side, followed by a flash of light that pierced the air. Seconds later, there was a long, sparkling blade in Rarity’s hand, its gleaming edges sharp enough to put a razor to shame.

“I’m afraid it’s the end of the road for you,” Rarity said, bringing the sword forward to point it at Aria’s nose. “You had a good run, you and your sisters, but this ridiculous vendetta of yours has run its course; I’ve had quite enough of this nonsense, and it is my duty to bring it to a close… right now.”

As the fashionista spoke, a series of flashes surrounded the two of them, making Aria look up at the spectacle, watching as four walls, a ceiling and a floor materialized under her feet. Bemused, the siren brought her attention back to Rarity, who was admiring her blade as it swished quietly through the air before being pointed at Aria once again.

“The enclosure, in case you were wondering, is for protection,” she explained. “I’m told that my methods tend to be… rather messy, so…” She gestured around at the sparkling walls with her free hand. “This little space is to keep your blood from staining my carpet, which is a delicate shade of macaroon cream--not cheap!”

Aria’s eyes began to dart around, and she fidgeted somewhat hastily, trying to pull her arms free of the diamond restraint block.

“It’s no use, darling,” Rarity said flatly, watching the siren struggle helplessly for a moment, before letting the tip of the blade rest on top of the block, just in front of her captive’s shin. “Now then… do you have anything to say before I excuse you?”

Aria paused suddenly, staring at her soon-to-be executioner. Her lips were parted, moving slightly as though she was trying to come up with something to say. Ultimately, though, she closed her mouth and exhaled through her nose, closing her eyes and slumping down, defeated.

“Very well,” Rarity said with a sneer. She then lifted the sword above her head, holding it with both hands. “And don’t worry; when I find your sister, I shall be sure to send her to meet you in oblivion--though I don’t suppose you’d be willing to make things easier by telling me where she is?”

“They took her.”

“Fine then. Brace yourself,” Rarity announced, closing her eyes as she wound up to strike. “I promise I will make this relatively painle--“

The fashionista’s eyes popped open, her body frozen in place. She’d been so caught up in the moment, it’d taken several seconds to process what was said, and now that it had sunk in, her curiosity had been piqued enough to keep the siren alive long enough to find out what she meant.

She lowered the sword to her side, looking down at her captive. “What did you say?”

Aria kept her head down, avoiding eye contact. “Dagi’s gone.”

Rarity cocked a brow. “What does that mean, gone?”

“They have her.”

After a brief pause, the fashionista lowered herself to one knee, letting the tip of her sword touch the floor so she could lean on it, using it to steady herself as she came down and leaned in close to Aria to ask the million dollar question.

“Who?”

Swallowing, Aria finally looked up at Rarity. “It’s a gang, but not really a gang; it’s a bunch of men in suits… calling themselves ‘The Ministry.’”

Rarity’s eyes widened when she heard this, and in a bright flash of light, the diamond enclosure, the sword, and the block that held Aria’s hands captive all vanished. Freed, the siren fell forward slightly, catching herself by ending up on her hands and knees.

“Why?” Rarity asked, leaning forward on one knee. “Why have they taken an interest in you?”

Aria took a moment to collect herself before taking a seat on the carpet, facing the fashionista. “After… after the thing at the theatre, Dagi and I went to the big city to hide; we needed time to regroup and figure out what we were going to do. About a week ago, we were at a bar, looking for prospects for… making money --rich men, basically… to rip off-- but anyway, we found this bunch of dudes in suits. Rich-looking dudes. Good prospects to make a bit of money off of… and we needed it.

“So Dagi and I, we approached them and made some small talk; did the whole flirting thing, arm touching and all that, and things were going pretty good until one of them noticed you on one of the TVs.”

“Me?” Rarity asked, brow raised.

Aria nodded. “As the Dark Mistress. One of the guys got kinda fired up about it; started bitching about how you’re a menace and a danger to the city. The other guys mocked him a about it, calling him a ‘comic book nerd’ n’ stuff, but her insisted it was real. He said that someone dressed like you attacked him in a hotel bar or something like that, and that there were others who witnessed it too.

“Dagi and I were surprised to hear this, obviously, and we looked at each other, kind of thinking the same thing: rather than going the seductress route, we could probably make some huge bank by showing them that we had valuable information. So Dagi, turned to them and flat-out said, ‘what if we told you we know who the Dark Mistress is?’”

Rarity gasped and covered her mouth. “Tell me you didn’t!”

Aria bit her lip and looked down at herself. Then she nodded.

The fashionista moved her hand from her mouth to her forehead, her eyes wide with horror. “Oh god… they know who I am!?”

“Uh… yeah.”

Rarity squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her brow firmly. “Oh my… this is a disaster. This is not good.” She looked up at Aria again, shaking her head. “You sirens… you have been a thorn in our sides for a long time. This, however… you’ve gone too far this time.”

Aria shrugged. “We didn’t know who these guys were. We needed money bad, and we thought this was our big shot.”

Rarity huffed, letting her hand drop to her lap as she stared at the floor shaking her head. “So what happened next?”

“I… well it obviously got their attention,” Aria continued. “They were all staring at us, and Dagi put on her little swagger, saying she could fill them in for the right price and all that; so they agreed and asked if we would come with them--which we did.”

“Where did they take you?” Rarity asked, listening intently.

“We went with them in a couple of big black cars, and they took us to this big building in the high-end district. The place was huge. I thought I’d seen it before, but never really knew what it was; there’s a lot of big buildings in that part of town, and I always figured they were all corporate offices or government buildings… but this place?” Aria paused to shake her head. “It was not what we expected at all. The place was like a fortress; steel doors, key carded locks, armed guards… it was like something out of a movie. I don’t know about Dagi, but I knew right away that it was a mistake going there.”

“Mistakes seem to be something of a specialty of yours,” Rarity jabbed, to which Aria gave a sour sneer. “So then what? Where did they take you?”

“We took an elevator to one of the upper floors, to a big room with weird curtains and pictures of churches n’ stuff, and there was this huge old guy sitting at a desk doing paperwork or something. The guys from the bar had us sit in front of the desk, and they told the old guy that we had some important things to tell h--”

Rarity raised a hand to cut her off. “Wait. This… rather large fellow, did he, by chance look like a man of the cloth?”

Aria nodded. “Yeah. That’s what they were calling him: the ‘Reverend. How do you know about him?”

“We’ve… garnered something of a history with him in recent times,” Rarity replied. “So what did he say to you?”

“He asked us what our business was there, and what was so important that he had to be interrupted from what he was doing, and… Dagi just came right out and told she knew who the Dark Mistress is. He changed his tune quite a bit after that.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Rarity sighed, rubbing her brow.

“So, we talked for a bit… about our beef with the Dark Mistress, and how we were attacked one night for no reason…” Aria trailed off as she spoke, cringing slightly when she noticed Rarity’s expression when she heard this. “We… might have lied a little bit.”

“A little bit?” The fashionista raised a brow.

“Eh…” The siren rubbed the back of her neck, her eyes shifting to the side. “So anyway, he told us that you guys attacked his hotel unprovoked; said you messed up a bunch of rooms and killed his people, and that you were overdue for some payback--which Dagi liked the sound of.”

“Hm…” Rarity replied with a scowl. “It seems everyone was telling tall tales that night.”

“So… you didn’t attack his hotel?” Aria asked, brows furrowed.

“Oh, we did,” Rarity nodded. “But it was in retaliation.”

“To what?”

Rarity paused for a moment, drawing a breath. “They murdered Pinkie Pie’s family.”

Aria stared vacantly, clearly shocked to hear this. “Oh…”

“Yes. The good reverend is not as innocent as he plays himself off to be.” The fashionista cocked her head. “So what next? You regaled one another with tales of the dreaded Mistress, and then what?”

“He pretty much assumed that we wanted something in exchange for your identity, and he asked us to name our price. So Dagi did… and he looked kind of pissed about it, to be honest.”

“Ugh…” Rarity moaned softly, rubbing her temple. “How much did she ask for?”

“Half a million,” Aria replied, “which we thought seemed reasonable since they looked like they could easily afford it.”

“No.” Rarity shook her head bluntly. “Despite his net worth, Father Tirek is quite frugal with his wealth. It was rather foolish of Adagio to request such a figure.”

Aria shook her head. “We didn’t know what kind of people they were--obviously. We thought, with such a big place, that they at least operated with at least some honor; like, we have over the identity of their enemies, they reward us handsomely. Everyone wins. It would have been mutually beneficial.”

“Unfortunately, as we’ve learned, the Ministry’s M.O. is not to have things mutually beneficial; they only want what’s good for them.”

The siren paused, rubbing her chin as something appeared to have occurred to her. “Wait… did you say Father Tirek?” she asked, before facing Rarity again, who was nodding. She then shook her head. “I thought something seemed familiar about him.”

“Yes, apparently he is something of a ‘problem child’ in Equestria, according to Sunset Shimmer.”

“You could say that,” Aria agreed. “He would destroy everything if he was allowed to.”

Rarity nodded, and then gestured to the siren. “So he was incensed by the offer?”

“Uh, right,” Aria continued, getting back on track with her story. “I think Adagio knew she’d overstepped her bounds, so she tried a lower offer, and then an even smaller one, but the minister still looked pissed. Then, uh… he snapped his fingers and the bar guys grabbed us from behind; there were too many of them to fight off, so we couldn’t get away --not that we could have escaped that place on our own anyway-- and… then they tied our hands together and strung them above our heads to a couple hooks on the ceiling.”

The siren paused, breaking eye contact with Rarity. “Then… Father Tirek told us we were in no position to bargain, and that he had the means to get what he wanted for free. And… so, he ordered his thugs to start hitting us. It didn’t take long for Dagi to spill the beans--I mean, she cared more about protecting herself then you, so she told him who you are. She told him who ALL of you are.”

“Oh dear,” Rarity said, anxiously rubbing her cheek.

“But he didn’t stop there,” Aria continued. “One of the guys took a knife and slashed Dagi’s hip open, and she was bleeding all down her leg. I thought they were going to do the same thing to me, but they didn’t. He told me instead that he had a job for me.”

Rarity’s face went blank for a moment. Then she looked down at her smoke-stained clothes. “My boutique…” She brought her attention back to the siren, her face softening when the realisation hit her. “It wasn’t your idea, was it?”

Aria shook her head. “No. But it was me who did it. I had to.”

“Why? Why you?”

Aria licked the little split on her lower lip, wincing slightly when she tasted its sting. “These guys… they apparently have a habit of making other people do their dirty work if they can.”

“Well, they do have a reputation to uphold,” Rarity interjected, with a roll of her eyes.

“So they sent me back to Canterlot to burn your store down. And they told me that if I didn’t go through with it that they would cut Dagi’s stomach out and then come after me.”

Rarity drew a deep breath and released it noisily, rubbing her face with both hands. Then she let her hands drop to her lap, staring at the siren. “You haven’t come here to start another fire, have you? You came here to ask for help.”

Aria sighed. “I didn’t know what else to do,” she shrugged. “But I don’t have very much time; your boutique wasn’t the only target I was supposed to hit tonight.”

This caught Rarity’s interest. “I’m sorry, did you say there are more targets?”

Aria nodded.

“Where?”

“Your friend’s animal shelter.”

Rarity gave pause to this, turning her head slightly to look sideways at Aria, eyes narrowed. “Fluttershy’s shelter? You were meant to burn Fluttershy’s shelter? With the animals inside!?”

“Yeah,” the siren sighed.

The fashionista chortled incredulously as she looked away and shook her head. “My goodness,” she muttered, facing Aria again. “It is fortunate for you that you didn’t go through with that.”

“Well… like I said, I don’t have much time,” Aria reiterated. “There gonna be expecting a fire before the night is up.”

Rarity furrowed her brows at this. “Alright, just… forgive me for not understanding; could you please explain to me how they know that you’re doing what you’re meant to be doing?”

“They have guys out in cars… watching from a distance to make sure I’m doing it.”

Confused, the fashionista raised a brow. “But… how can you be certain they haven’t followed you here?”

“It’s kind of confusing to explain,” Aria said, bringing her hands together in front of her chest. “First off, they know you guys have access to the city’s surveillance cameras; they saw how you were able to manipulate the security cameras before, and because of this, they told me specifically that after I start the fire, make sure that I’m seen on camera when I run out, that way you guys know it was me.”

“Hence why they had you do it, so we wouldn’t retaliate on them,” Rarity said. “Devils!”

“Exactly,” Aria replied. “And that’s what I did, but before I left the store I grabbed one of those long coats and a gaudy hat” --Rarity gasped when she said this-- “to use as a disguise once I was out of sight. With the disguise I was able to lose them, and so I snuck across town to come here, while staying away from the cameras as best I could. I figured this was the best place to cuz it was the last place they’d look. Plus… I thought that… there might be a small chance you might actually help us--if you didn’t kill me first.”

“Mm, yes…” Rarity thoughtfully tapped her bottom lip. “You do appear to be somewhat in over your heads.”

“Also… Sonata is with you guys. I figured, if anything, she’d be my best chance at convincing you guys to give me a hand.”

“Perhaps,” Rarity said, rubbing her chin. “But unfortunately, Sonata is not here; she lives with Pinkie Pie now.”

After a brief pause, Aria brought her eyes up to meet Rarity’s. “How is Sonata, anyway?”

Rarity folded her arms and stuck her nose up. “She’s doing well--though I find it amusing that you would care, since it was you who put her in that condition to begin with.”

For once in a rare occasion, the purple siren’s tough exterior cracked; not by any significant margin, but it was enough for Rarity to take notice and immediately feel remorseful about it. Perhaps she was too quick to judge. There was no way to know how she’d been affected by what she did to her sister.

“I… suppose that was… a bit uncalled for,” the fashionista admitted. “My apologies. I shouldn’t have said it.”

Aria shrugged. “Meh. I did burn down your store. You’re being a lot nicer than I would.”

“Still,” Rarity replied. “And yes, Sonata is healing wonderfully, and, as I said, she is quite happy living with Pinkie Pie. My apologies if you were expecting to find her here. I, however, AM here, and if there’s one thing Sonata has taught me, it’s that I shouldn’t write you girls off without giving you a chance. So yes, I will help you; unlike the Ministry, I can see when a situation can be mutually beneficial, and we can help one another to take them down. Their arrogance will be their undoing.”

“Good,” Aria nodded before freezing suddenly. “I mean… thank you.”

Rarity paused briefly and then stood, raising finger at the siren. “You are welcome,” she said, drawing her phone with her other hand. “Perhaps this situation will be the means through which we can finally… ahem… settle our differences?”

“Maybe.”

Rarity looked down at her phone screen, somewhat let down that she didn’t get more of a reaction. “Right…” She tapped at the screen with her thumb.

“Um…” Aria stood and rubbed the back of her neck. “Look… the thing with Sonata: I just want you to know that I didn’t mean to do what I did.”

This caught Rarity’s attention, and she looked up from her phone to face the siren.

“It was a mistake. I was just… I did it because I panicked; she was just… going nuts on us, and I didn’t know what else to do. But… as soon as I did it, I knew I shouldn’t have.” Aria laced her fingers together and fidgeted, looking rather uncomfortable to talk about that which obviously bothered her immensely. “I think that’s probably the only reason I felt like I could come here: because of Sonata. Not just because she’s with you guys, but… because of how she stood up to us. I’ve never seen her fight for anything like that before, and… it was kind of an eye-opener for me. I don’t know about Dagi, but ever since it happened, I’ve been thinking more and more about it and I started to wonder: if she sided with you guys, then… maybe it’s not really you who are the problem.”

Rarity, after taking a moment to reflect, sighed and lowered the phone to her side. “With us, Sonata has been allowed to… be herself; to express herself freely, and to share her talents without fear of judgement. And as such, she has flourished. She has found a new friend who she can relate to and has come to love like a sister, and who she has had to support through a very difficult time. She has learned the importance of true friendship, and she has found contentment that she hasn’t had in a very long time--if ever. She knows what she values now, and she will defend it to the bitter end--fiercely, if necessary.”

“Tssh!” Aria looked down at the floor, brows raised. “You’re tellin me.”

“I know she seems a bit dense,” Rarity continued, raising her phone to continue what she was doing. “But you’d be surprised what you could learn from her… if you just watch what she does, rather than listen to what she says.”

Aria nodded and looked down at her feet as she scuffed them on the carpet.

A short silence followed as Rarity tapped away at her screen, while Aria stood awkwardly, twiddling her fingers together.

“Can I ask you something?” the siren finally asked.

Rarity looked up at her, saying nothing.

“If you know who this minister guy is, why don’t you take him out?”

The fashionista lowered the phone slightly, drawing a deep breath as she stared thoughtfully into the distance. “We are working on it, as a matter of fact,” she replied, bringing her eyes back to Aria. “It’s rather complicated, I’m afraid. You see, that building is, as you’ve already seen, is quite secure; we’ve been studying it for weeks now, trying to formulate a plan. We were getting close to having a half-decent strategy, but there were still a few question marks remaining.” She brought one hand up to point at the siren. “But! You, having been inside the place, will be very invaluable to us indeed.”

Aria furrowed her brows. “Why do you have to attack him while he’s in the building? Can’t you just get him when he goes out?”

“Because he doesn’t go out.”

“What, never?” the siren sneered.

“The only time he goes out in public is to do his sermon on Sundays,” Rarity explained. “It would be easy to take him out then, but the problem with that is we’re trying to show the public that the Dark Mistress is a force for good; waltzing into a church and butchering a minister in front of his congregation, which would certainly appear to be unprovoked, presents some issues with optics, wouldn’t you say?”

Aria folded her arms at this. “Hm.”

“Regardless, if Adagio is in that building, we need to get inside,” Rarity said, going back to her phone. “You must give me a moment; I must call in some help.”

The siren arched a brow. “Who?”

“The best strategist I know.”

Another pause, which didn’t last long. Aria coughed quietly, scratching her cheek and fidgeting as though something was on her mind.

“Uh… about the church thing,” she finally said. “I think I might have a solution for getting the people to turn on Father Tirek…”

Rarity turned to Aria once again, brow cocked. “And that would be?”

Sighing, Aria reached inside the neck of her shirt and pulled a necklace out, revealing a large pendant with a sparkling, red ruby at the center.

Rarity’s eyes widened. “What is that?” she asked, suddenly looking very guarded. “Some sort of magic?”

“You could say that,” Aria said, looking down at the jewel as she cradled it in her palm.

*****

I sat alone in the dark, in the cab of my truck. It was parked on the street, just across the road from the townhouse complex that Rarity lived in, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious or, for the fashionista herself if she decided to sneak out in search of revenge.

Granted, I didn’t need to be doing this, nor was I guaranteed to see her if she actually did go out. The issue was that everyone had gone to Sunset’s, which is where Fluttershy and I went after dropped Rarity off at home, and it wasn’t long before the issue of Sunset’s magic arose. Given the circumstances of what’d happened that day --as well as Sunset’s small living space-- I decided to simply leave so she could have some relief.

With nothing else to do, and at the girls’ suggestion, I decided to come back here and watch over the fashionista alone, having left Fluttershy with the others. It wasn’t a bad idea, and a little quiet was a welcome change; plus, there was no harm in keeping tabs on Rarity. It wasn’t like she would know anyway.

My pocked buzzed, prompting me to shift in my seat to produce my phone.

RARITY: Come inside, darling

I recoiled at the message.

ME: What do you mean?

RARITY: You’re outside, watching me from your truck.

Brows furrowed, I switched to the settings folder to make sure my locator was turned off--which it was.

ME: How did you know that?

RARITY: Oh please, give me some credit! Don’t think I wouldn’t have expected you to keep an eye on me. Now come in here, I want you

I looked ahead through the windshield. Wow… This was unexpected.

ME: Are you sure?

RARITY: Yes. I’m afraid it is an issue of some urgency. Please hurry.I shook my head, chuckling.

ME: OK, but your ass better be dressed up as Snow White or something

Ready for some unexpected good times, I slipped my phone away and opened the door to step out onto the street.

*****

“Where did you get this?” I asked, looking up from the bright red gem in my hand to face the siren with wide eyes while she shrugged, about to answer when Rarity cut in.

“It’s doesn’t matter, darling, this is our chance! We can use it against Father Tirek to make everyone turn on him; then we move in!”

I raised a hand to wave her down, keeping my eyes on the pendant. “Just… hang on. Don’t get ahead of yourself, Rare; I need to think for a minute.”

“But… b-but don’t you think it’ll work!?” Rarity cried, balling her fists at her sides and tapping her foot rapidly.

“Hey! Settle down!” I barked, putting my hand up at her again. “Of course it’ll work, but the problem is…” I paused for a moment to rub my chin. “It’s too slow. You can expect retaliation before the effect sets in--and you can be damn sure that it’ll be a retaliation that we can’t afford.”

“Oohhh!” Rarity shook her fists in frustration. “It’s not fair! How much more do you want, darling? It’s the perfect weapon!”

“I know, Rare, but the cost of using it is too high,” I replied, lowering the necklace to my side.

“He’s got a point,” Aria agreed. “It’s just too big of a sacrifice.”

Defeated, Rarity sighed after a moment of desperate staring and then let her arms drop to her sides. “Fine.”

I turned to the siren, looking her up and down once more. It’d been a long time since my last encounter with her, and she was just as hot as I remembered--but twice as bitchy looking. I can’t believe I had my dick in that… I thought as I raised a finger at her. “So… the boutique wasn’t your idea? You were forced to do it?”

She nodded.

I faced Rarity. “How do you know this is all true?”

“She described the building, darling,” she shrugged. “And she knew the leader was a minister.”

I looked at Aria again. “OK, fair enough.” Then I faced Rarity again. “We gotta get her over to Sunny’s; make sure her story checks out.”

“Ooh!” Anxious, Rarity clutched her fists to her chest. “There isn’t time! She is set to burn down another location, and if they suspect she’s skipping out then they’re going to kill Adagio.”

I furrowed my brows, facing Aria again. “They wanted you to hit two targets!?” I asked, to which she nodded. “Where?”

The siren shrugged innocently. “Your friend’s animal shelter.”

“With the animals inside!” Rarity added.

After a quick glance at the fashioinista, I faced Aria once again. “Are you fucking crazy!?”

“Why do you guys keep saying that? Isn’t she the super timid one?” Aria asked with a confused sneer.

“She is timid, and you DEFINITELY wanna keep it that way,” I said, hand raised. “OK, we’ll look after this first, then we go to Sunny’s. So first off, how are they monitoring you?”

“They have people watching the locations,” Aria answered. “They’d be the ones reporting to the minister whether or not I set the fire--which, if I don’t, they kill Dagi.”

“They’re gonna kill you both once they’re done with you, you know that, right?” I said, putting my hands on my hips.

The siren sighed and folded her arms. “I figured. That’s why I’m here. I wouldn’t be here, mingling with Rainbooms and their fuck-buddies if I didn’t absolutely have to.”

“Touché,” Rarity snipped while I rolled my eyes and tossed the necklace to Aria so I could pull my phone out. The fashionista turned to me next. “So how are we supposed to stop them from killing Adagio in the meantime? Obviously we can’t just kill the men watching the shelter; their absence will alert Father Tirek.”

“No, we can’t,” I agreed, looking down at my phone as I tapped my way through the app. “But if he’s got people out there, we can work with that…”

*****

Perched on the roof of a strip mall in Canterlot’s lower end, two men in suits looked out across the street, keeping an eye on the local animal shelter as it sat peacefully amongst a cluster of trees. The place was quiet and dark, illuminated by a single lamp post that stood near the parking lot entrance. Blackness filled the building’s windows, its furry tenants either asleep or restless, depending on the length of their residency or how badly they missed their pink-haired, custard-skinned master.

Sighing, the man on the left sighed, raising his phone to his mouth like a two-way radio. “OK, here it goes,” he said, somewhat nervously as he tapped the contact icon to dial out.

The phone rang, its electronic buzzing echoing across the rooftop, followed by an abrupt click.

“Yup?”

The man on the left drew a breath to speak. “Uh, yeah… Ab here. Just checking in from Canterlot, me and Tobias are staked-out across from the second target.”

“Oh, hey. Any activity there yet?”

“Uh, yeah, actually… and not the kind we were hoping for,” Abner said.

”Oh?”

“Yeah, we got a bunch of people there, mingling inside and out. There’s some music going on and it’s all lit up; they’ve got those paper lanterns going across the lot n’ stuff,” Abner explained as he glanced across the road at the building, which remained in dark silence. “There’s definitely a party going on, and they’ve got a table set up with a box on it--maybe a findraiser of some sort, I can’t really tell from here.”

”Huh. How long’s that been going on for?”

“Quite a while now. Probably close to an hour now, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down,” Abner replied.

”Shit. That’s gonna make it a tough target then.”

Ab nodded subconsciously. “Yeah… yeah, I say so. It’s gonna be tough for our little arsonist to sneak in there and start a fire, if ya know what I mean.”

”Yeah... Where is the girl? Have you seen her yet?”

“Not yet,” Abner replied, glancing around the general area. “And we’ve got a pretty good vantage point from here; there’s a fence just behind the shelter with some trees around it, so she would have to come in from the street. I don’t think there’s any way we would miss her.”

”well, she’s probably gonna be keeping her distance, by the sound of things.”

“Probably,” Ab said, scratching his head. “Look, I uh… I was thinking: me and Toby have been hanging here for quite a while already, and like I said, this party looks like it’s gonna be going on for a while. We’ve been kinda bored to tears waiting around here…”

As he said this, Abner glanced over at his partner, who was gazing across the road at the building with his mouth agape, his eyes glazed over and staring wide.

“…I was thinking,” he continued, “maybe we should call this off for tonight.”

”Call it off?”

“Yeah, I mean… we don’t know how long their little soiree is gonna go on for,” Ab reasoned. “Not only that, I was kinda thinking about starting torching two places in one night; it might seem a bit suspicious, do you think? Especially when the authorities realise the victims know each other.”

”Hm… that’s a good point, actually. I mean, it doesn’t implicate us at all, but we wouldn’t want the dumbass Canterlot cops catching our girl before she’s done her job, do we?”

“No.” Abner shrugged a bit. “And, like, I know it’s not the best cuz now we gotta go find her, but I don’t think there’s much point in waiting around here all night when we can tackle it tomorrow. Plus, we took out the boutique today, so that’s a pretty good start.”

”Yeah, I’ll bet that Dark bitch is reeling tonight, eh? Heh! What was it you said about that place? It looked like a hole in the wall filled with gaudy shit that only out-of-touch old ladies who don’t understand modern styles would buy? HAHAHAHA!”

Abner squeezed his eyes shut, letting a long, silent grunt escape through his nose.

”But anyway… yeah, might as well call it a night. Find the girl and bring her back--you said she hasn’t shown up yet?”

“Not that I’ve seen,” Ab replied. “She is running a bit behind, now that I think about it.”

”Is it possible those vigilante bitches already got her?”

“Uhh… yeah. Possible. But… that’s what she’s here for, right?”

”Exactly. Let HER take the heat. We can’t have a repeat of what happened at the hotel now, can we?”

“No…” Abner replied, glancing out over the parking lot once again.

”But… anyway, yeah. Bring her in and we’ll let them stew for the night and then we’ll hit ‘em again tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Ab nodded. “We’ll probably just stay in town though; it’s a long drive back to base just to come back here again. We’ll just get a motel room and keep her there for the day.”

”Alright. Thanks, Ab. And hey… if you guys are keeping her in a room all day, with a bed, try to go easy on her--gotta leave her with enough energy for tomorrow. HAHAHA!”

Abner cleared his throat. “Heh… yeah. Will do. Alright, catch you later.”

“Perfect. I’m out.”

“Bye,” Ab said, before raising the phone over his shoulder.

I took the phone from him and checked the screen to make sure he’d ended the call, then I lowered it and looked down at him. “Perfect. Just like we rehearsed--right, Rare?” I said, turning to face the figure that stood in the shadows behind Ab’s partner, her fist resting on the top of his head.

With a sound that sounded like a blend of scraping and a moist schlop, she raised her hand to withdraw a long blade from the top of his head, after which he folded like a wet noodle and flopped to the rooftop.

Then she glared at Abner, jaw clenched. “Gaudy, is it?” she asked, before stepping forward and pointing the sword in AB’s face, shaking it angrily. “I’ll have you know that the Canterlot Weekly had my spring lineup slated as this season’s hottest new style!”

“Rare… hey,” I said, placing my hand on her shoulder. “Just relax. Your designs were awesome. Really.”

The fashionista stared a moment longer, her soot-stained nose crinkled with distain as she stood there, still wearing the same smoke-damaged outfit. At last, she sighed and lowered the blade to her side. “I… suppose I shouldn’t be offended; judging by that suit, you wouldn’t know a properly coordinated ensemble if it bit you in the arse.”

“There, see?” I said, turning to my left to find Aria, standing with her arms crossed, not looking very impressed by Abner’s conversation. “You got something you wanna say before we go?”

Ab turned on his knees to face the siren, clearly unnerved by how she leaned forward to put her face in his.

“So… you and you cronies like to think you can lock me up in a motel room and rape me all day?” she growled.

“W-well… I… technically, I didn’t say tha--OOF!”

His answer was cut short when Aria drove a right hook directly into his nose, breaking it. Abner hunched over cupping his nose in both hands while Aria gritted her teeth wagged her hand. “Shit,” she grunted, hold her hand still to inspect her knuckles.

Abner straightened up again, blood seeping between his knuckles.

“Hm! It serves you right, darling,” Rarity said, sticking her nose up. “I appears this pig has outlived his usefulness, wouldn’t you say, my love?”

After a quick glance at him, I raised the phone once more to check the screen. “Yeah… I’d say so.” Then I wound up and swung my arm, ramming the phone through Abner’s forehead and burying in his skull so only the very end showed.

Stunned, Ab stared off into space with wide, glassy eyes, then his body hunched down and he toppled to the ground in a dead heap.

“There,” I said, dusting my hands off. “Now he’s got a direct line.”

Rarity stared at me, deadpanned, making me freeze in place.

“Cuz… the phone’s in his head,” I explained.

Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes. “Ugh… let’s go, darling,” she said as she stepped past me to leave.

I turned to follow her, but ended up facing Aria as a consequence. “That was a good joke, wasn’t it?”

“Pfft! No.”

“Fine!” I sulked, stepping past her. “We gotta get over to Sunny’s anyway.”

Rarity stopped and spun around to face me when she heard this. “But why, darling? We know her story checks out; those men were here just like she said.”

“I know, but she’s also been inside their headquarters. She’s seen it on the inside, and Sunny needs to see it too so you guys can have a better idea of what you’re walking into,” I explained. “Everyone’s there anyway, so it’s the perfect time to bring them all up to speed, and then we’ll figure out a plan. We have to act tonight; this little trick we just pulled will only work ‘til tomorrow, after that they’re gonna get suspicious, which’ll put the hostage in danger.”

Rarity paused, sighed, and then nodded. “Right. Then, let’s get a move on, shall we?”