16:04 pm

Carousel Boutique was a very… fancy place. Big Macintosh was not exactly a fancy stallion, so he was a bit uncomfortable. Just a bit, though. Miss Rarity was a friend of her sister, and Big Mac knew how to behave with mares like her. Or that was what he thought. He had never been alone with Miss Rarity, but nothing weird could happen.

And of course, he was in the shop because he wanted to. Little Apple had needed a little makeup in her eye, and nopony was better for that than Miss Rarity.

-Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique and magnifique! –said the feminine voice when Big Mac entered the house. –What can I do to help you? –With this phrase, Miss Rarity appeared in the room, and then she saw who was in there. –Oh, Big Macintosh! It’s strange to see you here! And specially in a day like today. I thought everypony was hiding in their houses! Not me, of course; my job is not something you can just close every time you want just because of the heat. I’m sure dealing with a farm is something similar, right? Even with our differences, Applejack and I are, after all, mares of business!

-Hum… Eyup. –Big Mac wasn’t so sure about the similarities between a fancy shop and Sweet Apple Acres, but he had never worked in Carousel Boutique, so maybe he was wrong.

-Well, my dear, what can I do for you? Maybe a hat? Applejack’s is very… original. Something like that (with a few changes, of course) would be perfect with this sun… Or maybe you want elegant clothes? For a party? I’ve always thought that you’ll look dazzling on a tuxedo…

-Hum… Nope. –Big Mac shook his head. –I’m here because of Little Apple. I hope you can help me with it.

-Oh! What a shame. Are you sure you don’t want anything of what I said? –Miss Rarity smiled and blinked. –The hat? The tuxedo? –Another four blinks, in a (at least for Big Macintosh) disturbing way. It’s a widely known fact that a mare can do a lot of things to control a stallion. The most elegant one is, of course, blinking. If the mare has eyelashes (and Rarity had eyelashes, very long eyelashes) and moves them the correct way, her eyes shine a little and makes a tingling noise (like tlingblingbling). It’s very difficult to resist a good pair of eyelashes.

And of course, Big Mac had nothing to do against Rarity’s eyelashes. The mare didn’t want to manipulate him, of course. Miss Rarity was too kind to do something like that. She was just… aware of her, let’s say, feminine weapons.

-Uhhh… -Big Macintosh gulped. –I’m not sure…

-Come on, dear, you know you want to! It would look great on you, and maybe, if you wore something a little more, let’s say classy, than you usually do, I would be able to finally convince Applejack to at least let me, uh, fix her hat! And of course, if Applejack accepted that, maybe even Rainbow Dash would accept help from me to be more ladylike. Oh, that would be just perfect, don’t you think?

Big Macintosh was sweating. It was hot inside that store, of course, but the red stallion had grown up in a farm, so the heat was not a big deal for him. No, the sweat had other reasons. First of all, Miss Rarity’s eyelashes were still moving, and her eyes were still glimmering a little, and the tlingblingbling was still sounding. Second, Miss Rarity talked… strange. Her accent was, uh, fancy, yes, but the mare said some words in a weird way. Like if she wanted to talk in italics. And third, Miss Rarity had thought first that AJ’s hat was original, and now she wanted to fix it, and not being able to understand how a mare thinks was something that made him nervous. And fourth and most important, Big Macintosh didn’t want a hat or a tuxedo, but he was not brave enough to say it. At least, to say it to Miss Rarity, because oh Celestia her eyelashes Big Macintosh was more nervous than ever.

-Uh… eh… Eyup?

-Oh, that’s marvelous, my dear! Now, did you have something in mid, or can I recommend something? Black would suit you perfectly. Now, what can I do for… Oh! Idea! –Miss Rarity smiled and, to Big Mac’s relief, stopped blinking that way. –A top hat! –said the mare. –A classic, black top hat with a red ribbon would look just amazing on your head! It suits your facial expression… something elegant! Oh, Big Macintosh, you and I are going to create art!

-Uh… -Big Mac frowned. –I don’t know…

-Oh, trust me, my dear. –Miss Rarity giggled and turned to the bottom of the store. Her horn started glimmering, and a couple of hats levitated from some hidden box to the center of the room. –No, these two are too informal. –As fast as they had appeared, the two hats returned to the box. -You need something more… charming. –The mare was not looking at Big Mac. At least she seemed happy, thought the stallion. -Yes, charming is the word, darling! Oh, I’m so excited! It’s always a pleasure to work with a handsome stallion like you. Usually male ponies never come into my boutique, I don’t know why.

It was easy to imagine, thought Big Mac. –Hum… -The earth pony pointed at his bags, worried. –Miss Rarity…

-Yes? –the mare was still looking for hats. In fact, a great amount of hats were floating in midair, glimmering with a blue light. –I’m listening!

-Well, I’m here… -the stallion gulped again. –I’m here because of…

-Oh! –The mare covered her mouth with a hoof and turned to him, with a worried frown on her face. –Oh, Celestia, sorry! You’re right; you came here because you wanted something, am I wrong? About… something named Little Apple, may I remember?

Big Mac sighed in relief. –Eyup. –Miss Rarity was, after all, a very kind mare. Luckily for him, she had stopped searching for top hats and was now listening. The stallion opened his bag with his mouth, and took Little Apple…

And then, a noise interrupted them. It sounded like a window breaking and then the pieces of glass falling to the floor, like a CRASH! Tingtingting.

There is another widely known fact, and ponies like Big Mac and Rarity knew it very well.

Little fillies, and even more the ones at the age of Sweetie Belle or Applebloom, love the glass. If you have something fragile and refulgent, like a window, or a bottle, or a cap, or a jar, they will be near them. It’s because they shine, thought Big Mac. And then, they will break it. Always. They may not want to, but if you put a little filly and something made of glass in the same room, and then you leave them alone, you can expect a sound like CRASH! Tingtingting. If you live with a little filly, you usually develop a supernatural hearing for broken glass. If somepony breaks glass near you house, you know it. And of course, you feel the urge to pick up the pieces, because little fillies think they’re invincible and always walk through the glass, and then they’ll hurt their legs. It’s what children do. Maybe colts were different, but they didn’t know that.

So, having a little sister both of them, Rarity and Big Mac looked at the point where the sound had come from. They were waiting for Applebloom or Sweetie Belle with a sad frown, or trying to run from the broken window with a guilty face (something very usual in their houses, of course. Little fillies like them love breaking things. And let’s admit it: that’s because breaking things is funny). But what they saw was very different.

On the floor, looking at them with a worried face was a white bunny. The window was broken, of course. The floor was covered in glass.

Big Mac raised an eyebrow. That bunny seemed familiar. The animal approached them and started to jump and move her tiny legs and make weird faces. It was also making funny noises, like iiiic, iiiic or something like that.

-Oh, my! –Miss Rarity opened her eyes wide, frowning. –My window! Angel, what have you done!

Angel? –Angel? –repeated Big Mac. –This bunny is…

-It’s Fluttershy’s pet, yes. –Miss Rarity sighed. –Oh, Angel, you’ve broken that window! Now I have to clean everything again, or Sweetie Belle may cut herself with the glass…

-It’s trying to tell us something –said Big Mac. –Do you understand it?

-Hmmm? –The mare raised an eyebrow and approached the bunny, who was still doing weird things. –No, I’m afraid not. Angel, what do you want?

Iiiiic, iiiiic!

-Well, that didn’t help. Maybe you could…?

MEEEEEEEEOW! FSHHHHHHHH! MEEEEEEEEEEOW! MEOW, MEOOOOOW!

Feline psychology is pretty easy: hunt, eat, sleep, repeat until death. That’s what they do. When cats are domestic, they can’t hunt the same thing they eat (because hunting a can of tuna is, at least, boring) but they still hunt things. Like balls, or toys, or practically everything that moves. But still, even the most domestic of cats likes to hunt things that are, you know, alive. Like mice. Cats love hunting mice.

Opalescence was not the most domestic of all cats. In fact, she was pretty wild. She had been sleeping until that exact moment, when the sound of breaking glass had woken her up. And, well, the psychology is “hunt, eat, sleep, repeat” so… it was time for hunting.

And then Opal saw Angel.

Well, he was bigger than a mouse, yes. But he was fluffy, and white, and had long ears. And mind you, nobody’s perfect. Opal was not a sybarite.

It’s amazing how insanely fast cats can run when they’re hunting something. And bunnies are also very fast, even more when they are being hunted.

-Opal! No! Stop chasing Angel! He’s not food!

Miss Rarity tried to stop the cat, but it was impossible. The two animals were moving everything in the room, and soon things like ribbons, needles and hats started to fly. A pretty long top hat landed on Big Mac’s head, but the stallion was too busy dodging the bunny and the cat (and Miss Rarity, who was also chasing them) to notice.

Finally, Angel jumped off the boutique from the same window it had entered. Opalescence seemed to calm down, and Rarity took the cat with magic and started to talk to her in an angry voice.

-Bad cat, Opal! Bad Cat! Mommy’s angry with you, little girl! Look at this mess! It’s going to take me years to put everything in order again!

Big Mac looked at the room. It was a mess, that was right. Everything was on the floor, even some clothes that the stallion tried not to look directly. He was a polite pony, after all, and ladies need some privacy with her clothes.

-And now we don’t know if Angel was trying to tell us something important!

-Hum… -Big Mac’s deep voice interrupted Rarity’s soliloquy with the cat. –I can help you, if you want.

-Oh? –Rarity blinked twice (tlingblingbling) and smiled. –Oh, you’re too kind, Big Macintosh. There is no way I would ask you to clean this, dear. You’re a client after all.

-Hum… It’s not so…

And then, out of nowhere, another noise interrupted them. The town was so quiet that the lowest sound seemed ten times louder than usual. And of course, the sound was something easy to worry about: somepony was screaming.

Rarity recognized the voice. So did Big Mac.

-Pinkie Pie!

And a few seconds later, something white and red came from Sugarcube Corner. It ignored Carousel Boutique and went in Twilight’s library’s direction.