It’s nice to get out of the big city once in a while and simply enjoy the nature.

At least that was how her mother had consoled Rarity while she’d been waiting for her carriage to get ready. She reminded herself of those words a couple of hours later, in a futile attempt to lift her mood.

What a waste, the mare thought, her hoof under her chin, watching the view outside the window. She grunted when the carriage stumbled on an especially deep pothole, correcting her mane. I could have been at the ball right now. Or, at the very worst, be doing some sewing…

But when her father, patriarch of House Belle, had suggested Rarity visit one of the numerous farm villages in their House’s possession, Rarity couldn’t refuse. She understood his reasoning, obviously — he wanted his daughter to see the life of the ponies under their care from up close — but still.

A month! I have to spend a month in some mudhole! Rarity pursed her lips and glanced over her snowy white coat with concern. I certainly hope they have a bath out there…

The unicorn put a great deal of effort into her grooming. Daily spa sessions, hoof polishing… Mud masks. Rarity couldn’t help but chuckle at the last bit, recognizing the irony. She’d had to pay some good bits to get the special mud to rejuvenate her coat, and now she was going to get all the mud for free.

I wonder how long until the village, the mare thought. The scenery outside looked promising — a cultivated field with rows upon rows of something growing. It certainly meant that a village was nearby. Hopefully, it was the one she needed to go to.

Rarity flickered her gaze at her sleeping maid. The poor dear had been up late, making sure Rarity’s luggage was packed with everything she could possibly need, so Rarity was reluctant to wake her up. On the other hoof, the maid would need to get up soon anyway and Rarity was tired of brooding in silence.

Making a decision, Rarity reached out and poked the mare at her side. The blue-coated earth pony stirred on the bench and cracked her eyes open. She rubbed them and looked around in sleepy confusion, which was quickly replaced by terror.

“Oh, Lady Rarity, I’m terribly sorry!” she blabbed rapidly, her thick accent making her words hard to understand. “I was supposed to keep you company.”

“Calm down, Lotus, dear,” Rarity smiled at the mare’s silly concern. “It’s absolutely fine. I needed some time to think anyway.”

That wasn’t strictly true — Rarity could use some company to save her from brooding — but poor Lotus was feeling bad as it was, and it wouldn’t be polite of Rarity to make her feel even worse.

Lotus had been serving as her maid for just a few months, but the unicorn had already gained a deep respect for that pony. She was a groomer worthy of the Goddess. Lotus had an equally good sister, Aloe, who watched over little Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s own sister, back at home.

Not that that silly filly appreciates that, Rarity thought grudgingly. It would be nice to have her maid for herself.

“Are we close to the village?” Lotus asked, slowing down her rapid breathing.

Rarity threw a glance outside. “We’re close to some village. Though I’d rather be nearing Birminghoof, to be honest.”

“Don’t worry, Lady Rarity, I’m sure the farm village is not that bad. I grew up in one myself.”

“Oh?” the mare raised her eyebrow.

Rarity couldn’t imagine an elegant mare doing farm work, though her cutie mark depicted some flower. To be honest, Rarity knew next to nothing about farming to be the judge of that.

“Exactly that,” Lotus answered, flashing an amused smile. “Me and my sister were born and raised in a small village on the border,—” her smile disappeared, “—our family had to flee when the griffons invaded.”

“Oh,” Rarity folded her ears. For all the time the mare had been working for her, she hadn’t once thought to ask about her old life and now Rarity felt bad. “I’m sorry to hear that, darling.”

“It’s okay, Lady Rarity,” Lotus sighed, forcing a smile back on her face. “It all took a turn for the better, thanks to your House.”

Rarity beamed back. “Thank you, darling. Our House prides itself on treating its servants fairly.”

The two spent the rest of the journey with Lotus telling her about her village life. As Rarity had expected, life in a village was hard, but she actually felt better knowing what was awaiting her. Besides, it wasn’t like she had to do any actual farm work herself.

Twenty minutes later, the carriage finally pulled over. Rarity looked through the window in surprise — she didn’t even notice when they’d entered the village. The door opened a moment later and a powerfully built unicorn stallion wearing some light armor helped her and her maid climb out.
His name was Silver Armor. He and his partner, Blazing Shield, were the bodyguards who had been hired a week ago by her father to accompany Rarity, specifically for the upcoming trip. Their cutie marks, which were very similar to their names, suggested their prowess in fighting— at least that's what they had told her father. Both of them were stoic stallions who only dropped some words here and there out of pure necessity, despite Rarity’s unyielding efforts to warm them up. They were even immune to her charms!

“Thank you, dear,” Rarity granted the pony a smile, but the stallion kept a stoic expression, acknowledging her words only with a small nod.

The lady pursed her lips.

One thing about Rarity was that she loved having fun with stallions, especially ones as handsome as these two unicorns. When her father had introduced them to her, Rarity had been thrilled. However, when she had hinted at the possibility of it to them, she’d been flat out denied. “It’s against our contract,” they dared to claim.

The mare was livid. She’d put too much effort into her appearance and moves for it to fail so spectacularly with two simple guards. Rarity had some plans to get back at them and being here in the village would give her the perfect opportunity to do so.

They would regret not taking the chance when they could.

Rarity struggled to keep a frown off her face when her pristine white hoof stepped into dirt. It wasn’t as pristine afterward, which was exactly what she had been afraid of. However, by the looks of it the whole village had come to greet her, and she didn’t want a frown to be the first thing her subjects saw.

“Hello, everypony!” she smiled, waving to the villagers. “I’m Rarity of House Belle, as you probably know. I’m here to make sure your harvest goes as smoothly as possible.”

A small cheer erupted through the crowd, but it wasn’t very enthusiastic. Rarity understood their lack of excitement. Who would like an outsider to meddle in your own business? Rarity certainly wouldn’t, but she, just like the villagers, had no choice on the matter.

Only her father did.

Most of the villagers were earth ponies as Rarity noted, but there were a few rare unicorns among them. No pegasi, though. She would have been surprised to see one of them, as that tribe rarely visited the ground, living in their cloud cities in the sky.

“Howdy there, Lady Rarity,” a wrinkled old mare said, stepping forward from the crowd. “Name’s Apple Smith, but ev’rypony jus’ calls me Granny Smith. Anyway, it’s really nice seein’ ya down here…”

When the elder pony, the representative of the villagers as it turned out, had finished her little greeting speech, the crowd quickly dissolved as everypony returned to their own business. Everypony but that one — the old mare approached Rarity instead, giving her a clumsy curtsey.

Rarity appreciated the effort, if not the quality of the move. She gave the representative one of her own in return, the move practiced in countless social gatherings, and it was practically flawless.

The old mare flickered her eyebrows up in surprise, but quickly flattened her expression.

“Once agin, happy to see ya in our village, Lady Rarity,” the elder pony said. “We got a place bein’ set up for ya, but you’d hafta stay in the inn for a couple ‘a days, if that’s okay with ya that is. It woulda been done sooner, but we jus’ learned ‘bout yer arrival yesterday…”

“It’s perfectly fine, Granny Smith,” Rarity assured her, smiling politely.

“Well then, follow me ya’ll.”

Having said that, Granny Smith led the group to the inn she’d mentioned. It wasn’t far, since the village was rather small, but it took some time getting there because the elder pony moved at a snail’s pace. Even worse, she kept telling Rarity everything about her countless relatives the entire way.

“…Now there’s Apple Tart, the old crook, lives two villages south from here. She visits pretty often, Celly help us. I can’t find half of my things after her visits, dagnabbit…”

Rarity only pretended to listen out of pure politeness, observing the village around her instead. It was better than she’d expected. The houses were unlike anything Rarity had seen in Birminghoof. While the capital was mostly built out of stone, in this village the ponies used wood for their houses. It wasn’t nearly as fancy and large as her family’s manor, but at least they looked well cared for — the same couldn’t be said about poorer districts of her home city.

“And here we are, filly, eh, I mean, Lady Rarity,” Granny stumbled and nodded at the two-storey building. A large sign over the door said Gloomy Horse. "Them fancy travelers stay in here, so it should be to yer likin’, I reckon.”

Even though Rarity had doubts about the place living up to her standards, she gave Granny Smith a resolved smile and a thank-you nod.

“I’m glad to hear that, Granny. I’d like to take until tomorrow to recover from my journey, but I would appreciate a tour of the village in the morning.”

The old mare thought for a moment and then sighed. “I s’pose I can spare my granddaughter for that. Wait for her at sunrise.”

“I think at sunrise would be a tad early,” Rarity shook her head. “I won’t be ready until after breakfast.”

“We have breakfast at sunrise,” deadpanned Granny.

Rarity blinked a couple of times and then corrected herself: “Well, then let’s make it after 10 o’clock.”

“Gotcha,” the old mare spit at her hoof and reached out to the frozen Rarity but stopped midway, putting it back to the ground. “I’ll be goin’ then. Enjoy your stay.”

Rarity nodded and the old mare slowly walked away. The next moment Rarity and her entourage entered the inn.

She’d been heartedly assured by the innkeeper that this room was the best one available, but Rarity opened the door with a shaking hoof, half-expecting the place to be a total pigpen.

The mare gingerly took the first step inside and regarded it with her critical eye. She sighed in relief. Although the room was pretty simple, the limited furniture had been kept in a good condition. A firm wooden bed with fresh linens, a nightstand and a writing table with a chair to sit on didn’t compare to her own room back at the manor, but it was tolerable for spending a few nights in. It was still positively drab, but it wasn’t the dirthole she’d imagined it to be.

In fact, not having hoped to find even something like that here, Rarity’s expectations had even been exceeded.

“Shall I order dinner, Lady Rarity?” Lotus’s voice sounded from behind.

“If you please, darling,” answered Rarity, giving her a grateful nod.

After the maid had left, Rarity closed the door and approached the bed. She carefully climbed on it, laying her soft belly on its surface. Glancing down, Rarity widened her eyes in horror. Her hooves were dirty! Getting off the bed so fast that she almost landed on her muzzle, Rarity faced the bed and looked at the muddied sheet with raised eyebrows.

I need a bath, she realized a bit too late, If there is one, anyway…

A quick look around confirmed the lack of any doors but the one leading into the corridor, so definitely no bathroom here. Sadly, she hadn’t inquired about such basic accommodations.

Leaving the room, Rarity headed downstairs with Silver Armor accompanying her. A buzz of voices greeted her there, as a few ponies were chatting with each other in the dining hall. Their horns and garments were a telltale sign that they weren’t locals. Since the village was near the main road, travelers often stopped at the inn for the night.

After Rarity had found out what she needed from the innkeeper – a pleasant peachy-coated stallion – she was disheartened to learn about the lack of a proper bath at the inn, but at least he promised her a decent shower. Returning upstairs, Rarity slowly walked to the opposite end of the corridor, swaying her hips more than usual.

That caused the mare’s tail to swish widely. She knew perfectly well what view she was revealing to Silver Armor behind her, but that had been exactly Rarity’s intention. Once she had reached the bathroom, she stopped and turned around quickly.

The stallion snapped his eyes upward, but there was no doubt where his attention had been a mere moment ago. While his expression remained flat, Rarity noticed that his face had reddened. She smirked — the guard was into mares after all.

“I’m going to take a shower, darling,” Rarity said. “Make sure nopony disturbs me… unless you want to join yourself.”

Rarity winked.

“I will guard the door, milady,” Silver Armor assured her, turning around to the opposite side.

“Suit yourself.”

While her guard was struggling with his arousal outside, Rarity did her best to remove the dirt off her coat. It took her some time to get used to the shower head, but when she did the whole procedure went smoothly.

By the time she was almost done, Lotus announced through the door that dinner was ready. With her coat and mane still wet, Rarity hurried downstairs — she was starving. Silver Armor followed her, relieved that the mare had stopped her teasing for the time being.

“My visit may not be as bad as I feared,” Rarity told Lotus as they sat down at one of the tables. The maid grinned.

“I knew you would like it, Lady Rarity!”

“Well, perhaps liking it would be a bit of a stretch,” Rarity sighed, glancing at the rough design — or a lack thereof — of the hall, “But under these circumstances, I find the place acceptable. It may even be fun.”

Having said that, she flickered her gaze at the poor guard standing by the table. The stallion gulped.

The next morning Rarity got up without much enthusiasm.

The inn’s bed wasn’t what she had been used to in her manor and she had hardly been able to sleep through the night. It was so rough! Her body felt stiff and aching, and her mind didn’t fare any better.

Father, what have I done to you? Rarity sighed as she trotted around the room to get the blood pumping.

After that little exercise was over, Rarity made the bed and left her room. Another guard, Blazing Shield, had been guarding her door while she’d been sleeping. Rarity ignored him for the moment, though. She wasn’t in the mood to play with him.

The mare was hoping to have a refreshing shower and she got her wish because for some reason the water turned out to be as cold as ice. The mare pushed through it anyway because it did wonders to truly wake her up.

Lotus was already downstairs when Rarity was finished, having a chat with an unfamiliar earth pony. They stopped when the maid noticed Rarity, with Lotus hurrying to meet her, while the other mare stayed at her table.

“Good morning, Lady Rarity,” smiled Lotus. “Have you slept well?”

“I haven’t, sadly,” she answered, drooping her ears. “The bed was simply terrible!”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Lady Rarity,” Lotus frowned. “Perhaps a nice breakfast would lift your mood.”

“Perhaps,” Rarity shrugged. “Who is the pony you were speaking with, by the way?”

“Ah, I was just about to introduce you. Lady Rarity, meet Applejack! She’s the pony Granny Smith had promised to send here to show you around. Well, you two talk while I make sure breakfast is ready.”

Rarity approached the table with a polite smile while examining the pony in front of her; an orange-coated earth pony regarded her in turn. She didn’t bother with a smile, however, as a hard expression was set on her face instead. Rarity didn’t let it affect her own — she’d faced worse mannered ponies without showing her true feelings.

“Glad to meet you, Applejack,” Rarity said. “I presume you already know who I am.”

“I do.”

Rarity waited her to continue, but the mare stared down on the table without saying another word. Unperturbed, Rarity took a seat opposite of her and both waited in heavy silence for Lotus to return.

“Breakfast should be ready soon,” she announced, joining the table. “Now, Applejack, tell us where you would take us first for your tour.”

“The barn, I guess,” the earth pony shrugged. “If that’s fine with the lady here.”

“And what’s so interesting about the barn?” Rarity asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Well, I dunno if you’d find it to yer likin’,” Applejack answered. “We do actual work in there.”

Rarity kept her face set on the same pleasant expression, though she didn’t like Applejack’s implications. Lotus felt the increasing tension, so she took the initiative. Rarity simply listened to the other mares talk, while consuming the simple breakfast that had been served for them.

“...my sister and I didn’t actually work in the field,” Lotus explained to Applejack. “We used to gather rare plants in the forest nearby and sell it in the town. The mages paid quite a lot of bits for them.”

“My sister loves collectin’ plants,” Applejack said, flickering her first smile. “Silly filly wants to be an alchemist when she grows up.”

“Oh, I have a little sister too,” Rarity pinched in and Applejack frowned immediately.

“Good for you.”

After that the conversation died down.

The rest of the breakfast was finished in silence.

The day had just begun.

Rarity was already tired and they’d only covered the barn.

Her poor legs simply weren’t used to prolonged walks. She fought back the desire to order her guards to pull a carriage for her. She was going to show Applejack that she wasn’t just some whiny noble — she was Rarity of House Belle!

Rarity forced herself to trot behind the farm pony with an easy smile, ignoring her aching hooves.

“Here’s the field where we grow our crops,” Applejack said. “Everypony is gettin’ ready for harvest week startin’ tomorrow. I’d be doin’ that too if I didn’t have the honor of showin’ ya ‘round.”

Rarity accepted the “compliment” with a graceful nod and a pleasant fake smile, but she was on the verge of losing her patience.

I swear, if she utters another word like that...

Applejack didn’t, however. Maybe it was the constant, silent presence of the two guards behind Rarity, but Applejack had finally realized it was unwise to provoke somepony whose House owned your whole village, restraining herself from making any more questionable remarks.

After they passed the fields, Applejack led the procession into the forest. At least that was what Rarity had initially thought, until she realized that it was in fact an orchard with rows upon rows of apple trees as far as the eye could see.

“Now this here’s the pride of our Apple family,” Applejack announced with a grin. “The biggest and finest orchard in this country, with the best quality apples too!”

Having said that, the mare turned her back to one of the trees and gave it a careful buck with a single hoof. The tree shook slightly and an apple landed on Applejack’s outstretched hoof. Rarity blinked in surprise at her precision and even more so when the earth pony offered her the fruit.

“Try this and say it isn’t the best darn apple you’ve ever tasted.”

Reluctantly, Rarity picked up the green apple in her magic. Never before had she simply eaten an apple just like that. It would be used as one of the ingredients in some dish, of course, but never as the main course.

Well, no harm in taking a ladylike bite...

She did so and delicious taste filled her mouth. The apple was very juicy and some of it dripped down her muzzle, but she was enjoying it too much to care for the moment. Closing her eyes in delight, Rarity took another bite and then another.

“This is divine!” Rarity exclaimed, gazing at the fruit in wonder.

Who knew a simple apple could be that good? She’d always considered it a commoner’s food — and maybe it was — but Rarity loved it anyway. She made a mental note to get a batch of those apples for herself to enjoy, once she got back to her manor.

“Can’t argue with that,” Applejack said, quickly devouring her own apple.

Applejack warmed up to the city mare a bit after showing her the orchard. Rarity wasn’t quite the spoiled brat that she’d expected. In fact, Applejack felt rotten now for giving her a hard time in the beginning.

It was well past midday when the tour was finally finished. The evening was looming close and Rarity was starving, despite having had a few more apples along the way. She was looking forward to the shower awaiting her at the inn; hopefully, it would be warm this time.

“I’ve shown you all there is, Lady Rarity,” Applejack said as they approached the inn. “Hope you liked it.”

Rarity nodded. “I did. It was quite lovely, in its own rustic way.”

Applejack chuckled at that.

“Would you join us for supper?” Rarity asked. “I’d like to learn more about life in the village.”

“I would if I could,” Applejack drooped her ears. “But we’re having our own meal with the whole family, so...”

“I wouldn’t dare keep you then, darling, don’t worry,” Rarity smiled at the mare. “Farewell then.”

Applejack nodded and trotted in the direction she had come from as Rarity and her entourage continued to the inn. The unicorn was silent, reflecting on the events of the day. Overall, it had been successful, despite a rough start with Applejack.

“She’s a lovely pony, isn’t she, Lady Rarity?” Lotus broke the silence when they were approaching the inn.

“I believe she is,” Rarity answered absently, opening the door and trotting inside.

She stopped and regarded the scene before her in surprise.

For some reason the dining hall was brimming with ponies. At first Rarity thought it was because of her, but soon she realized that she wasn’t the reason for the commotion. Instead, it was a couple of traveler ponies that had grabbed everypony’s attention.

Rarity walked through the crowd — the two bulky guards in front of her clearing the way — and stopped before the travelers.

“...the city is on a lockdown; nopony gets in and out!”

“Excuse me, sir. What’s going on?” Rarity inquired.

The stallion gave her a lustful stare, but toned it down upon noticing her guards.

“King Hearth was poisoned yesterday,” he simply answered.

“W-what?” Rarity asked, dropping her jaw. “Is he alright?”

The pony looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course not. He was poisoned, for Moon’s sake. By his own assistant, no less. The bitch has managed to escape, unfortunately. Last I heard she was hiding somewhere in the city. My friend and I were lucky to leave before the roads were blocked. They’re searching everything.”

“I see,” Rarity nodded, collecting herself. “Thank you, sir.”

Without listening to his response, Rarity went upstairs, forgetting all her earlier desires for supper. It didn’t look like she would be getting one right now in any case, with all the tables being stuffed by curious ponies listening to the news.

“Lady Rarity, are you okay?” Lotus asked, trotting right behind.

“No,” the unicorn answered flatly.

Rarity didn’t care much about politics, but she was the heir to her House, so her father had made sure she knew at least the basics and met some important ponies. Rarity had met the king himself on a couple occasions and he had left her the impression of being a good pony.

In fact, the king and her father had been longtime allies. The old monarch’s poisoning was quite worrisome for her House. Rarity shuddered at the thought of that oaf Blueblood assuming the throne. She’d had a personal encounter with the heir when her father and the king had arranged a date between them on one dreadful occasion.

If the prince were to rule the country as badly as he had behaved at the date — Equestria was doomed.

Rarity dismissed Lotus to her room and went to the shower. As luck had it, the door to the bathroom was locked. Rarity sighed in frustration. She hoped that pony inside wouldn’t take long because she wasn’t in the mood to wait.

Unfortunately, after five minutes of mulling by the door, Rarity had to assume the worst. With her patience on the brink of collapse, she rapped at the door. Somepony yelped and she heard a thud. Rarity felt bad — she didn’t wish for somepony to be hurt just because she was too impatient to wait a few more minutes.

The next moment the door opened, hitting her muzzle. Rarity stumbled back, almost falling on her haunches. Her bodyguards stepped forward, glaring at the startled purple unicorn, but Rarity stopped them with a gesture.

“It was my own fault, darling,” Rarity said to the mare, rubbing her aching nose. “I shouldn’t have hurried you. It’s just... I didn’t have the best day.”

“Tell me about it,” the unicorn in front of her chuckled nervously, turning off her glowing horn. “I’m simply exhausted. I almost fell asleep in the shower.”

“Once again, I apologize for startling you,” Rarity said, examining the unicorn. She didn’t look like she was a local and her Canterlot accent only confirmed it. “But where are my manners? My name is Rarity of House Belle. What is yours?”

The mare drooped her ears, flickering a panicked stare at Rarity and the two of her guards. Rarity looked at her in bemusement. It certainly wasn’t the reaction she’d expected from her introduction

“My name is Twilight—” the mare halted, her eyes going wide. “Twilight Blossom,” she finished with a strained grin.

“Well, Twilight Blossom, it is a pleasure making your acquaintance,” Rarity smiled back, wondering why the pony in front of her looked familiar. “Well, if you’re finished with the shower, I would like to take one myself.”

“Of course,” Twilight nodded curtly and walked past Rarity.

The guards parted to let her pass, following her with their eyes as she walked past. As soon as she had disappeared into her room, Rarity snorted.

“Can’t miss a tail, can you?”

Both stallions snapped their attention back to Rarity, only to see her turn her back on them. She flickered her own tail, brushing it against her guards’ muzzles. Their senses were hit with the sweet aroma of her perfume, which still lingered even after spending most of the day on the fields.

“Not that I mind, of course.”

Having said that, Rarity entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Rarity spent the evening pondering on whether to stay in the village or return to the city. The events there were much more important than overseeing the harvest. A lot of political shuffling would be happening in the city once the new king assumed the throne; her father might want to keep his daughter close.

In the end, Rarity decided to stay. Her father didn’t take well to disobeying orders. Since the capital was half a day away, he would have no trouble sending a message to Rarity, but until then she would do what she had been told. Having finally come to a decision, the mare got to sleep.

It seemed like no time had passed when she was abruptly awoken by a loud banging on her door.

“Lady Rarity, you need to wake up!” Lotus’ scared voice called from the other side.

Slipping off the bed and landing on all fours, Rarity grudgingly approached the door and opened it. Lotus was waiting there with two of the bodyguards; the maid was wearing a frown, while the stallions remained impassive.

“What?” Rarity asked, cranky from her harsh awakening.

“There are some soldiers in the village; they’re gathering everypony outside,” Lotus babbled. Her accent was hard to understand at the moment, but Rarity got the gist of it.

She was about to walk past her, but Silver Armor stopped her.

“It may be wise to stay inside, Lady Rarity.”

“Don’t be silly,” she dismissed his concerns with a wave of her hoof, “I need to see what’s going on.”

“Spoiled brat,” Silver Armor muttered under his muzzle, but Rarity was already trotting down the corridor, so thankfully she’d missed that.

Nopony was minding the store downstairs — the whole place looked abandoned. Rarity and her escort exited the inn and quickly discovered where everypony was — a big crowd had gathered at the edge of the village.

Rarity walked there determinedly, furrowing her eyebrows. The village belonged to her House, so it was her direct responsibility to handle any serious issues. Her father would have approved of that line of thinking.

The ponies at the back of the crowd had noticed Rarity approaching, letting her pass through.

A group of soldiers were standing there. There weren’t a lot of them — about a dozen — and only three of them were unicorns. The green-coated unicorn with sergeant stripes on his armored foreleg was the highest ranked one, so Rarity assumed he was in charge.

“Who in Tartarus are you?” the pony barked instead of a proper greeting.

“My name is Rarity of House Belle,” the mare introduced herself, ignoring the sergeant’s rude tone. “Actually, it is I who should be asking that question.”

“Eh... I’m Sergeant Sharp,” the pony said. “Are you in charge of this village?”

Rarity nodded curtly.

“Well, lucky me then,” the sergeant grinned. “I’m here to conscript for the army and I could use some help.”

“Excuse me, what?” Rarity asked in shock. “You have no right to conscript ponies in our villages. Our House has already delivered our share of new recruits for this year.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, lady,” Sergeant Sharp said, levitating a scroll out of his saddlebag. “Here’s a conscription permit, signed by the head of House Belle. Every noble house in Equestria is required to provide a number of additional conscripts, by decree of the regent.”

Rarity blinked, trying to digest this new piece of information. Why hadn’t her father warned her about additional conscription? It was a mystery, but examining the sergeant’s papers, Rarity discovered that she actually had no reason to interfere.

She still felt that it was unfair.

House Belle had already conscripted this year and doing it for a second time, especially right before harvest, seemed like a bad move. The villagers would be angered, and for good reason.

Who is that regent, by the way? I thought Blueblood was the rightful heir.

Rarity didn’t ask that question to the sergeant, however. Instead, she sighed heavily and returned the scroll to him. She braced herself, turning to address the crowd.

“Everypony, I’m afraid Sergeant Sharp is allowed to conscript here,” she said, cringing from the outraged cries of the villagers. “I’m sorry, but this is out of my hooves!”

The ponies didn’t hear her now, yelling insults to the soldiers, House Belle and even Rarity herself. Her guards stepped in front of her in case an angry villager decided to take a more direct approach.

“You can’t avoid it, so let’s get it over with!” the sergeant yelled back at them, his voice carrying above the noise of the crowd.

“Buck you!” was the response he got.

Sergeant Sharp scowled and lit up his horn, aiming it at the pony who’d yelled that. A spell shot from its tip, striking the stallion on his chest. He flew backwards as if bucked by a giant pony and landed on his back, gasping for air.

Silence hung over the crowd, interrupted only by the poor stallion coughing and cursing as he tried to stand up.

“What in Equestria are you doing, you brute?” Rarity glared at the sergeant, flattening her ears.

“They need some discipline,” the pony answered flatly. “Now, you! I want everypony to line up here right now. You can hate me however much you want, but I won’t tolerate any disobedience. Is that clear?”

The crowd mumbled incomprehensibly and a few heads bobbed up and down.

“Then move up!”

Everypony began to comply, hanging their heads low. Rarity watched them with her heart clenching, feeling guilty for some reason. How could her House do that? It was a point of pride for her father to treat the ponies under their care fairly, and this decision had gone completely against that.

Rarity noticed Applejack and her big brother among the crowd. The farm mare met her eyes and Rarity gave her a nod, but Applejack broke eye contact without acknowledging seeing her at all. Rarity felt her heart sink. She had grown to like the candid mare after spending the day with her.

Shaking her head in frustration, Rarity dragged herself back to the inn. Once inside, she sat at the closest table and weighed her options. She couldn’t prevent this unfair conscription, but she could damn well tell her father what she thought of his decision to allow it. At the back of her mind, she knew that he likely had his own reasons, but Rarity was too upset to care.

“Get the carriage ready,” she snapped at her bodyguards, who had been shadowing her all the time. “I’m returning to Birminghoof. I need to have a serious talk with my father.”

Another Sunday, another chapter.
This chapter introduces Rarity that lives in this strange Equestria. She's not perfect, but I hope she made a good first impression.
Applejack has made her entrance as well.
How would they be involved in Twilight's adventure? Just wait and see.

As always, thanks Purple Smart2 for his great editing work.