Applejack grunts as she sees the ponies gathering around her apple stand, an apologetic glance to Doug. “Sorry, partner. But it looks like Ah’ll be stuck here for a little longer.” Many of the ponies in line are restlessly shifting, their own jobs and businesses waiting for them to open.

“You aren’t the only one,” Filthy Rich remarks with a suave smile from first in line at Applejack’s stand. Spoiled Rich stands next to him while Fluffy Clouds hovers behind. Filthy Rich flicks his slick mane towards Fluffy Clouds. “It seems like some of us can’t wait to return to Cloudsdale.” He places half a dozen bits on the counter, a friendly nod as Applejack hefts up a small basket of apple fritters.

“Hey, I thought I’d give Canterlot a try this time,” Fluffy Clouds retorts as he purchases two apples. “At least get a couple years of easy living before I head back home.” He flicks his fluffy mane at Doug as he exits the line; this catches Rarity and Rainbow Dash’s attention, the two turning around and making their way back. “Before creatures like him mess it up.”

Doug folds his arms across his chest, exhaling through his nose, his teeth clenching.

“At least he has the good sense to know when to keep his mouth shut,” Spoiled Rich remarks in that utterly pretentious voice of hers. She holds a hoof out expectantly; Filthy Rich reaches behind his tie and pulls out a utility knife. He cleanly slices off chunks of fritter, hoofing them to his mare. Her gaze travels up and down Doug’s body, her disapproving glare never fading even as she pops the fritter in her mouth.

“Hey, it’s not his fault Mayor Mare called on him.” Filthy Rich shrugs as he cuts off another piece. “Or used his presence to push this through. You know she would have shunted any blame on him if it didn’t go over well.” He pops it in his own mouth, even as Spoiled Rich holds her hoof out again.

“Of course there would have been backlash!” Fluffy Clouds says through his apple. “That’s why she put it off for so long. Doesn’t mean Ponyville won’t be unrecognizable ten years from now.”

“Maybe it’s good you’re leaving, then,” Doug snaps, his hands balling into fists against the crook of his arms. “Here comes the neighborhood.”

“Look, pal,” Fluffy Clouds spits out. He swoops over, menacingly pointing a hoof at Doug.

“I’m not your pal, buddy.” Doug doesn’t flinch, even as Fluffy Clouds gets close.

“I’m not your buddy, guy,” Fluffy Clouds echoes.

“Look, friends,” Filthy Rich says quickly, stepping in between the two, despite being shorter by two heads, “let’s not get too hasty, yes?”

“I don’t know, it’s like you said. Some-pony looks like he’s in a rush to leave.” Doug shrugs, his nonchalance getting to Fluffy Clouds. “Why even call it Ponyville if the newcomer is more willing to stick it out than the pony?”

Somewhere in the background Rainbow Dash quietly chants, “Cock fight! Cock fight!” It draws a quickly suppressed giggle from Rarity and a bemused eye roll from Applejack, even as she keeps serving the customers in line.

“I don’t need some big lug like you telling me what to do!” Fluffy Clouds shouts, just out of arm’s reach. He snorts as he shakes his head. “Too bad you aren’t worth it.” He flicks his mane, about to fly off, his tail tauntingly waving back and forth.

“Way I see it?” Doug says, glancing around. Ponies ring about them, cautiously looking at each other. They don’t seem like they’re itching to see a fight, instead worried about the two. “You’re just worried I’ll do a better job than you.”

Fluffy Clouds snorts as he shakes his head with a loud and derisive, “Hah! That I’d like to see. Too bad it’s never going to happen.” He turns his back on Doug and flies off.

Doug opens his mouth to retort again, only for Rarity to bump into his side.

“Don’t push it,” the unicorn cautions, especially as many of the nearby ponies disperse. “He was only trying to goad you into doing something unwise, just to prove his point.” Rarity sighs heavily, even as Doug scratches at her ear.

“A bold statement as well,” Spoiled Rich adds, raising an eyebrow at the contact. She saves her glares for her stallion, since he keeps taking bites from the fritter whenever she isn’t looking. “In what occupation would you be more qualified than him?”

“Plenty.” Doug shrugs, glancing around. “I was speaking more about doing a better job of being a pony, more than anything else. It doesn’t seem particularly loyal, you know? Abandoning your fellow ponies in Ponyville when things get difficult.” His face scrunches up a little, though it fades as Rainbow Dash hovers nearby. “Why did they call it Ponyville in the first place? Seems like an odd name.”

“Most places are named for something a pony does,” Spoiled Rich explains somewhat loftily to Doug as Filthy Rich finishes off the fritter. “Canterlot, obviously, as is Cloudsdale. Baltimare, big house town, known for, if you would guess? Manehattan, the hills and woods from which the timbers were gathered.”

“Oh, I always thought Manehattan was named after manes and hats,” Rainbow Dash chips in.

Spoiled Rich manages to haughtily stare down her nose as she looks up, regarding the hovering pegasus like a clueless rube. “Indeed. Ponyville, however, is unique in that while it still cleaves to convention, in that it names the ville, the town ponies have built, the accomplishment is in where the town is located. Noplace else is located as near, or even close to as near, as Ponyville is to the Everfree Forest.”

“Dodge City is located fairly close to the Badlands,” Rarity says, “with Kludgetown on the opposite side.”

Rainbow Dash nods. “And the Frozen North to the, um, north is pretty inhospitable. Same with Griffonstone.”

“And yet Dodge City is half a day’s walk to the desert, and nopony has settled to the north in centuries.” Spoiled Rich pauses for a moment, then scowls. “And I am not about to see Ponyville devolve into the kind of... shantytown that passes for dwellings as Kludgetown, much less Griffonstone.”

“We could go for skyscrapers instead?” Doug says with a smirk, glancing at Ponyville General, the three story brick hospital looking quite out of place compared to the more rustic wooden buildings. “Or a castle. Could we build a castle?”

Spoiled Rich’s muzzle curls to a thin line. “Perhaps we could tame the Everfree Forest and clear a path to the old Castle of the Two Sisters.” Her eyes sparkle like the diamond ring on her flank. “That is a job I certainly expect you to be better at than Clouds.”

“That’s a lot of clearing,” Rainbow Dash says, her eyes a bit wide at the prospect. She’s seen the castle from the air, yet shares none of the desire to see it from any closer. “Besides, who would want to go there?” She chuckles to herself, a poor and obvious attempt to mask her trepidation. “It’d take, like, generations of ponies to get there.”

“Indeed. And speaking of generations.” Spoiled Rich turns to Rarity, a sidelong glance at Applejack confirming the earth pony is paying attention. “Do be a dear and check.”

“Certainly.” Rarity’s horn lights, bathing the pink earth pony in a light blue light. Clear light, the same as the diamond on Spoiled Rich’s flank, courses through her body. Nestled in her belly is a cluster of dark blue, pulsing with its own rhythm. “Congratulations, you two.” Rarity’s horn winks out, the happy smile on her muzzle nothing compared to the radiant grin of Filthy Rich.

Spoiled Rich can’t help but match his grin, though hers is more calculated. She meets Applejack’s jealous gaze; the orange earth pony restlessly shifts even as she continues helping customers, her eyes straying towards Filthy Rich’s tail.

“Filly or colt?” Filthy Rich eagerly asks, drawing next to his lead mare and resting his head across her mane, nuzzling her from the opposite side.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell just yet,” Rarity says apologetically.

“I shall have to inform Silver Set of the news. If you didn’t know, and now you do, her heat has ended as well.” Spoiled Rich nods to each pony in turn, though she hesitates before nodding to Doug. “Good day.” She turns, walking north to her mansion while Filthy Rich heads west towards Barnyard Bargains.

“Hey, Doug!” Rainbow Dash exclaims as she lands next to him. “I got the morning off. If you don’t have anything to do, you wanna go out? I missed, um, running with you yesterday!” She forces a smile to her muzzle. “You could watch my Wonderbolts routine! It could use an outside point of view!”

Doug raises an eyebrow as he slows, first stretching his right leg behind him as he adjusts the pack on his back. “Um, sure.” He waves at Rarity and Applejack, taking off to the west. Rarity waves back before returning to her home to the south.

As Rarity nears the Crumble house she notices her sire somberly watching through the window. A smile cracks his stony muzzle as he spots her, but it quickly fades as he looks past her. Rarity can’t help but frown as she reaches the door. Her horn opens it and she steps inside, seeing nopony else.

“Hey, sport!” Her sire’s greeting, normally as exuberant as the boisterous stallion, is hobbled and broken. He nuzzles her almost as soon as she walks in the room, but it’s forced and cold. His eyes are mournful, almost staring past her, and his hefty foreleg somehow hangs limp even as it wraps all the way around Rarity’s barrel for a half-hearted hug.

Oh, Daddy. What could have brought them to do this to you? It pains me to see you reduced such; you never backed down from mares on the hoofball field, or stallions, even when they had half again your weight on you.

“Hi, Daddy,” Rarity returns chipperly, trying to hide her distress by keeping the happiness in her voice. Except her heart isn’t in it, even as she returns his nuzzle. “Is everything all right?”

“With me?” Hondo Flanks chuckles, a deep rumbling from his belly, but Rarity can tell it’s forced. “I’m doing just fine, sport.” His breath comes out in a long sigh, the foreleg wrapped around Rarity tugging her close for another hug. “It’s just tough, you know, seeing my eldest filly growing up. It seems like just yesterday you were negotiating with Stinkin’ Rich about starting up your Boutique!”

“That was years ago, Daddy, but I won’t ever forget what you did. I don’t think I can ever be thankful enough for you and dam helping out.” Rarity smiles fondly, her hoof almost able to wrap halfway around her sire’s barrel to squeeze back. “I remember you looking over the business plans. And it was way over your head! But there was the way you looked at dam, and you trusted her decision, and she trusted me. And look where we are now!”

Rarity motions outside, her Carousel Boutique perhaps not the most successful new enterprise in Ponyville - that would be the Day Spa - but certainly keeping afloat beyond her expectations.

“You’ve done a great job with that, sport, just like we knew you would.” Hondo Flanks nuzzles her again, and it’s lost much of the earlier chill. And yet he sighs again, choking up a little.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” Rarity pulls away slightly to look into her sire’s light blue eyes. She’s never known him to cry, even when he chipped his horn after a particularly hard tackle, yet she can see the tears hidden behind his dry eyes. “You can tell me.”

“Well, you know how hard it’s been on everypony with me taking the train.” Hondo Flanks glances towards his hoofball gear, still resting against the wall in its customary spot. “We’ve been talking about it for a while now, but it never seemed like the right time: taking Namby away from her new friends, or Juno having Firelock, or you with your business just starting out. But after seeing you getting friendly with that Doug fellow…”

“We’ve gotten to be more than ‘friendly’,” Rarity says matter-of-factly; there is no venom in her words, more like she’s informing her sire of a wedding invitation that got lost in the mail.

Hondo Flanks nods, like he knew in the back of his mind this was the case, but still dreaded hearing it. “I get that, sport. Hay, Celestia knows I’ve fancied more pegasi and earth ponies than the rest of the Castles put together. Probably where you got it from.” He good-naturedly slugs Rarity in the withers, and she grins even as she rubs the sore spot. “But, your dam and I got to talking last night.” He fixes her with a steady gaze. “You haven’t herded up with him, right?”

“Not as of yet,” Rarity concedes.

“Well, Cookie was asking about what sort of stallions might be available.” Hondo Flanks rolls his eyes as Rarity scoffs indignantly. “I know, I know, you aren’t thinking about a foal yet. But you know the Lights, right?”

“I vaguely remember meeting them at one of your games.” Rarity taps her hoof against her chin. “DeGree and her filly; hmm, Minute? Minuette?”

“That’s them. Well, DeGree’s second mare has a colt, second lieutenant in the guard right now.” Hondo Flanks takes a deep breath. “Now, I know it would be a big change if you moved there-”

“Daddy, I couldn’t possibly move to Canterlot and start over!” Rarity furtively glances over at her Boutique. “I need to make a name for myself, probably in Manehattan first, after I’m better known here! Otherwise I would be nearly destined to fail!”

“I know, sport, but your dam insisted! You know how she gets caught up in the negatives, and she can’t help but think about what might happen with this Doug fellow.” Hondo Flanks closes his eyes, his voice getting quite stern. “Now, we were talking about selling the house and moving to Canterlot. Piminy still wants to stay here with Namby, but you know how everything is quite a bit more expensive up there, and there was talk about where else we might get the money.”

Rarity’s eyes go even wider as she stammers. “Y-you can’t possibly be thinking about selling the Boutique! No!” She stamps her hoof against the floor, even as her sire motions with his foreleg to calm down. “I won’t let you! I’ll… Even if I never make it in the gold again, I’ll go to the Rich’s; they love equity! I’m sure they won’t mind putting up a little, well, a lot more!”

She finally notices her sire’s chuckling smile and the way he’s nodding his head. “I get that, sport. So does your dam. And we don’t want to force you into anything you aren’t comfortable with.”

“Ahem.” Rarity runs her hoof along her coat, smoothing out a few rough spots. “I feel like I’m being nightmailed, yet I have little choice. Who is this ‘colt’?”

“I know he’s no prince,” Hondo Flanks says, smirking as Rarity rolls her eyes, “but he’s a very powerful unicorn. In his field, Laughter, one of the strongest! Good breeding; both parents are fairly high up, sometimes working directly with Princess Celestia on weighty matters. And his sister is Princess Celestia’s personal student!”

“I must confess, I am a little intrigued by such a pedigree, but what makes you think he’s right for me?” Rarity sighs, her head dropping. “Unless you think it would be an unacknowledged studding.”

“No, I heard his dam was quite worried about him.” Hondo Flanks frowns, considering whether or not what was said to him before was said in confidence. “Apparently he’s rebuffed every mare that’s made an advance on him.”

“And you think I would fare any differently?” Rarity smiles as she shakes her head. “I suppose the confidence is welcomed. Is this purely a ploy to keep me from herding up with Applejack and Doug?”

Hondo Flank closes his eyes as he takes a deep breath. “I’d be lying if I said otherwise,” he says quietly. “But please, don’t take it out on her. She means well.” He opens his eyes to gaze into Rarity’s. “Just one date.”

Rarity hoof rests against her forehead. “And just whom is this mystery stallion?”

“Shining Armor.”

Next Chapter: Ch. 54 - The Stormwall Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 42 Minutes