Something was falling, crashing onto the ground, and is it did so, dirt and dust were thrown up into the air. She looked at what she once perceived to be her home, not knowing how to express her emotions at its destruction. The faint rumbling of the machines that tore the structure down sounded over her, tearing the structure down. Like many others, she watched, unlike them however, she wasn't mentally there at the spectacle. Few exciting things happened in Ponyville, and the deconstruction of some old house was probably the closest thing to entertainment that had happened over the past few days. Things like this made her remember why she preferred her own foalhood, with her father taking her fishing and her mother swooning over the tiny dresses she had made for her dollies.

    "Never thought I'd see that place gone," she heard somepony say, gripping her attention. She looked from whence the voice came. Caramel was standing there with some of his friends. His voice carried a certain melancholy. She knew why, too. The building had stood here long before the filly had even known Ponyville existed. Caramel, being born here, just watched some piece of his past being toppled. She also knew that that was the worst kind of feeling, like a hole opening in your chest. It was tiny, but it would probably stick around.

    "I heard the Apples wanted to extend their business and bought this land for a hefty price," she heard another say.

Rarity had to think for a moment, but if she remembered correctly, her name was Roseluck, one of three flower merchants in town. She was a gossip, and a part of Rarity wondered why she had even bothered telling her about the deal. Well, the right to brag had been hers, now that she thought about it. Even Applejack had congratulated her for it.

    "I didn't like the owner anyway," she heard the pony to her right speak.

She lifted an eyebrow at that, questioning who would even consider saying something as rude as that. She then turned her head, revealing some stranger she didn't know, probably a traveller from one of the great cities. Unlike those country bumpkins around him he wore attire aside from the collar. And with attire she meant a  brown sports coat and a grey-violet scarf.

    "Why?" the mare dared to ask, even though she didn't particularly care for the pony's opinion.

    "Her designs were terrible and so... so new."

There was venom in his voice as he uttered the last word, the most dreaded word of them all and the most terrible insult.

She looked at the stranger, a thousand angry responses running through her head. That one was a stallion, a bit handsome, his style didn't leave much to question, but still, what he wore had been in fashion when she had been a little filly, not even attending school. It was that thought that let the anger fade and she was left with a sigh before she managed a small giggle.

"Well... I guess the world just wasn't ready for real fashion." With that she picked up her tray of bags and turned away from the Carousel Boutique, not even waiting for his response. Carousel Boutique had only been a short chapter of her life and even though her dive into the fashion industry had been nothing but a complete failure, she'd still learn her lessons from it. For example, she had taken Applejack's advice and had haggled the orange pony into throwing a fit – not that that had hindered her from buying the space anyhow and then providing her friend with a glass of the finest apple cider.

    Rarity walked across town, her indigo mane moving slightly in the breeze, while the sun stood above, ever-vigilant. Judging from its position, it had to be about 3 AM, which meant she still had some time to catch the train to Canterlot. The thought of her 'countryside'-design work came back to her and she sighed once more. Rarity had loved fashion. She had even provided the costumes for her friends during stage plays back in school and hadn't thought that her dreams would end in such a bad shape. She had always thought that she had a talent for such things but in the end, it hadn't been at all like she had imagined. She thought it the saddest thing that she couldn't pursue her dream anymore.

    Ponyville looked the way it did any other sunny summer day, an idyllic town with seemingly no hold over the technology that was available to all ponykind. It had looked like this for a thousand years, if not more and the first changes were apparently both brought by Applejack's determination and ambition, as well as Rarity's failings at business. Really, she wished to be AJ at this moment. That pony made more money in a week than the rest of the town did combined in a month. Maybe her lot would've been better if she had been born part of the Apple family and not some fisherpony's daughter.

    A thought she immediately discarded, as she remembered what had driven Applejack to this point.

    Rarity took another deep breath and looked over her shoulder, her eyes fixed on her luggage. She had even less baggage than when she had arrived in the boutique. She had been young, idealistic and had still styled her hair in imitation of her mother. Now she just shuddered at the thought.

It seemed so long ago. Business had been terrible, since nopony had liked what she had done with the fabrics and how she'd done it. Now it was gone and Rarity would leave Ponyville. That was a sad thought in its own right, but most of the ponies she had known over the course of her life, though they had come here too, were now spread across the entire Dictatorship.

    She remembered Pinkie Pie, who at one point had decided that becoming a host for a TV show was the best way to make everypony smile – from what Rarity heard, that plan had worked out. Then there had been Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, two local pegasi who had seemed nice enough, even though one was too brash and the other too shy for Rarity's taste – they had vanished without a trace one day. The only pony she still had contact with was Daisy, one of the so-called Flower Triad.

    The thoughts drifted, but she became focused once more as she approached the train station, the sole reminder of how advanced Equestria really was. Amidst the age-old architecture it stood out with its glass-roof and the minimalistic, yellow colored spires from some synthetic material Rarity didn't even know the name of. It was easier and more economic to get than rock and wood the pony had heard. Not that she cared, the designs were nice to look at and acted as a nice opposite to the countryside surrounding the station so it was fine.  She liked contrasts like that; they were nice.

    She walked through the front gate, grabbing a ticket from her baggage to check which platform her train would leave from.

    "Six, huh." She murmured and moved through the hall.

The Ponyville station was huge, sporting the room for 12 trains and the marketplace for the village was in here, too. Ever since it had been built 300 or so years ago it had acted as the town’s center and nopony was complaining. They were the direct line from Canterlot to the south and back again. Few ponies actually came to Ponyville but commuters had it easy to get to their respective jobs.

    She looked at the hall. It was almost empty but that had to be expected. Everypony was watching Carousel Boutique get demolished, and that only left a few travellers walking through the large hall, waiting for their method of transportation to arrive. Most of the shops were closed, too, so there was little chance of buying a book or something before she would get on her journey. She sighed, looking forward once more, wondering what the ponies were thinking to just abandon their posts, even though there was still a profit to be made. Country bumpkins they were called, for good reason. Almost all of them lacked any kind of business sense.  Her eyes went over the numbers of the platforms and then a stallion became the center of her attention... no, wait, not a stallion.

    An orange mare with blonde mane and tail, clad in a red vest, a black jacket, and a... top hat? Rarity had to lift an eyebrow. Was Applejack twirling a moustache while waving at her? She really had to miss Pinkie Pie; that was Rarity's first guess as she approached the mare that stood by the platform she had to get on.

    "Hello. . . Applejack," she said hesitantly.

    A smile was adorning the orange pony's face. She didn't ever not smile. Rarity thought that that had to be one of the perks of being an optimist. She returned the smile, awkward as it was, thinking it rude not to. Applejack simply laughed at her unsureness.

    "Caught ya off-guard, didn't I," she spoke, only a hint of her once so strong accent remaining.

    "Y-yeah," Rarity responded with a stutter. Catching herself, the mare quickly regained her posture, however. "What is up with that moustache, darling? That and the. . . hat. . ."

She found the entire garment quite funny actually, like one of the costumes Pinkie sometimes had worn when she had some particular pinkiesque scheme to do.

    "Workers had a strike. One of those ‘You're not giving us enough money’-types when it really was just ‘We want more money than we already get because we still can't bathe in it'. The leadership, nice as we are, decided to play along and help them in our own little way. So we all dressed up and played the moustache twirling evildoers who would only talk about firing ponies from their jobs and giving them less money."

    She explained the ordeal like that and got a healthy laugh out of it, too. Rarity thought that she seemed a bit too carefree.

"I doubt they felt like you helped," she said immediately and honestly.

    The thing was with Applejack, you were straight with her, she was straight with you. It was one of those principles she never intended to lose and it had gotten her as many friends as enemies in the business world. She smiled though and offered to carry Rarity's stuff. Rarity declined politely, Applejack had already done enough for her and a lady needed to carry her own luggage sometimes. They walked onto the platform.

    "I don't even know what they want, 's the thing. Me an' the others are all trying our hardest, yet they keep asking for more, like they don't got any food for their families or beds to sleep on. And really, they all got those. I checked it myself!" The earth pony took a deep breath. "Well, what it comes down to is that I'm thankful that we managed to solve the whole debacle with the Carousel Boutique at least."

    Rarity looked to the side. The trains were transported via a complicated system involving gravity-manipulation magic and light-weight spells, cast onto wards, which stood in a straight line by the side of the platform, marking the way the trains moved. The railway, they called it, and it was a simple-looking, effective system, which had been in use for a thousand years, if not longer.

    "I just thought. . . that it'd work out," Rarity confessed, her voice empty. "I love this town, Applejack. I love how Roseluck always gossips about everything, I love how the weather patrol messes up winter wrap-up every year, like it's a tradition on it's own and I absolutely adore the idyllic peace. I really thought, maybe I was right with fashion. It's my talent isn't it? To find something of value and to create something even more valuable with it!"

    She let her head down while Applejack just walked beside her. "Which wagon are you in?"

    "Six."

    "Then we're here," the orange pony stopped and Rarity looked at her.

    "I got a letter from our leadership a year ago. I was of age, they said, and they would aid my tutorship in fishing. We've been fishers since forever. I thought I'd break through the cycle, but I didn't."

Her friend looked at her, her face unmoving.

Rarity couldn't help it, she had to ask. "You didn't ask where I'm going."

    "I thought you'd tell me eventually."

    If you were honest with Applejack, she'd be honest with you. Rarity really wanted to give her a hug for it, but she felt weak. Her whole life she had prepared for one moment and it had slipped right past her hooves. She would surely have liked fingers now.

    "I'm going to Canterlot, I'd rather have coin than live broken on the streets without anything left. Sweetie Belle still looks up to me and I guess fishing doesn't sound so bad."

    Applejack sat down, gesturing her to do the same beside her and they both stared at the walls and ceiling. It was made of glass and the sun stood above it, hardly moving, like every day. It had been that way for a thousand years, if not longer and it would never change.

    A few moments they spent in silence, but then Applejack spoke.

    "They call it the Age of Technology and Harmony, I call it the grip of stagnation. We've been kept in a blissful state for almost a thousand years, maybe longer. Everypony is born in a certain position, a position that has been decided by a pony that lived a long time ago, and everypony dies in exactly that position – I'm talkin' positions of society here, not whatever you're thinking, Rarity,” she said, looking at Rarity, while the unicorn rolled her eyes at the insinuation.

“The thing is,” AJ continued, “I was born the daughter of apple farmers. We lived on the apple farm for nine generations, ever since we were given the space as settlers. My ancestors wanted to travel farther south, with the rest of the family but they were stopped and told that here was their place.”

Rarity continued watching Applejack, how she gritted her teeth and spit came out of her mouth as she ranted on.

“And so they built their home, as decided by our great leader. Much like Carousel Boutique, everything remained pretty much the same in this town. While they fly around with jetcars in the big cities, here we live in some idyllic medieval stasis, with the added comfort of having just the technology to keep everything nice and safe. But we don't move, Rarity.” She gave a sigh.

    "You were born a fisher's kid and your kids as well as Sweetie Belle's kids are meant to be fisher's children as well. Mum, Dad, Big Macintosh, Me, we were born on the farm, we stayed on the farm and we were told that we would die on the farm. They thought that just because of the cozy standards we live with I'd grow stale, like everypony else, but Rarity, I see what I must do and staying in one place just doesn't do it. I'm a farmer's daughter, but I'm no farmer. We ponies weren't made to remain in one location, we were meant to advance. They all might tell you different but I have one question for you: Why would you stay on the ground if you had wings?”

Applejack’s voice had grown softer again, and she looked at the sky seconds before she posed the question, then she turned to her friend again, her expression hardening.

    "I spit at the ponies who told me I'd spend my days bucking apples. I worked my flank off to get to where I am now – I'm a tycoon, ponies know me. The apples from our trees are either sold or made into cider and that cider is the finest in the whole world and I'm richer than Filthy!” She laughed. “You hear me, I'm the richest pony in Ponyville, because I spat at them and their proclamations. Just because you fail once doesn't mean you're going to fail another time. You're Rarity and you are the best fashion designer this world has ever seen, don't you dare forget that once you reach Canterlot!"

    Applejack was looking at her and she seemed like another pony; the smile had faded from her face, and instead she looked so much like the pony who had raised herself above her station. Rarity couldn't help but feel a bit more confident.

    "You're right. I shouldn't care about what they say. In the end, I'm me."

    Applejack still looked at her, a bit confused, "So. . . you don't think, that our positions are engraved?"

    "Engraved?" Rarity asked, "That's how they called in school, right? Well, you've made quite an impression over the year, I have to admit and I never quite believed it but now? Well, yeah, you really made an impression. So, I guess, no, I don't think so."

    This was dangerous material, the kind of stuff that was better left unsaid. Stagnation was the way to go. Equestria didn't grow, Equestria didn't shrink. Equestria remained the healthiest country in the world through the power of standing still. The sun stood up in the horizon, unmoving, a sign of their power. Equestria always stood at its highest and it would remain there forever.

    "Rarity..."

    She turned her head towards her friend. "Yes, Applejack?"

    "This is going to sound very sudden, but. . . what do you think about the night?"

    Rarity blinked. "What?"

    Applejack didn't say anything as they stood on the platform, staring at each other and just now, what Applejack had said, that was beyond 'dangerous' and Applejack's expression told her roughly how her own must've looked at this point. Shock mixed with disbelief could do the funniest things to someone's face. The sun was staring down on them and outside the world remained in it's eternal summer.

    Rarity looked at her friend.

"I- I don't know," she said.

    That was seemingly enough for Applejack, who moved one of her hooves and took something from her pocket, a card of sorts. "That's the address where you wanna go, if you make up your mind. The password is 'The horror, the horror'. If not, well, you can always throw it away or go to the police. I want you to think about it, though. Is that okay?"

    Rarity nodded and took the card, she didn't look at it, though, and also, the train was coming.

    The railway went from the north down to the far south, connecting one edge of the Equestrian Dictatorship with the other. It made traveling easy, especially since all the major lines went through Canterlot and it was comfortable, too. The train itself was a streamlined thing, round in shape and with a very aerodynamic design, small rods extending from the side that faced the wards, lightning erupting every time they passed one such. The rooms in it were simplistic and the ponies could seat themselves on cushioned benches.

    Rarity had done so and now gazed out of the window, watching the landscape pass them by, all while completely ignoring the six or seven other ponies who were on the train. Her thoughts drifted, but her mind was at least somewhat focused and in her hoof the card Applejack had given her remained.

    The sun always drew a circle right above them, moving clockwise from the north, and nighttime was nothing but a fable, a story that remained of the old days. She led one of her hooves across her neck, where the collar was placed. A bit of technology that kept exhaustion away and enabled her to stay awake until the day she died. With that, sleep was a fable too. Of course she had wondered about the stars and such, but it had never occurred to her that it was something that was truly needed.

    Some ponies, however did.

    Ponies who don't sleep don't dream.

    Ponies who don't dream don't imagine.

    Ponies who don't imagine don't advance.

    Such was one of their calls, she thought as her eyes went towards the paper in her hoof. They called themselves the Nightguard, she knew – an ancient society that fought for the return of slumber and dreams. And Applejack was apparently associated with them. She blinked, retreading the alliteration in her mind before grumbling. It was a pet peeve of hers, much like accidental rhyming, for some reason she had never quite understood. Well, the train would stop soon. The towers of Canterlot could already be seen, going higher than the mountains beside them and piercing through the clouds. In a few more minutes, they'd be there and Rarity was lost in thought.

    She would've liked rain on a day like this. She liked the sun but one really cherished the sight of the land beneath grey clouds after seeing nothing but a bright blue sky with that golden ball of light for most of their life. Maybe it was even due to her being unable to sleep. She never thought much about it, but when, she asked herself if a zebra saw a different world just because they could close their eyes and hide beneath sheets?

    She pondered for the rest of her journey but as the train stopped, so did she. She had to go to the jobcentre, they'd give her a place with good fishing grounds and then, well. . . fishing.

    For the rest of her life.

    She trotted out of her wagon with the rest of them, overhearing the other passengers talk. One stallion had come all the way from the Badlands, talking about how he had been nearly roasted by dragons. A daughter whined to a mare, presumably her mother, about the weight of the metal ring around her neck. She'd get used to it, everypony would eventually, the mare replied, annoyance plain in her voice. Another stallion, much younger than the other, about Rarity's age, was talking about how he was going to meet with the glorious Leader herself.

    Rarity was happy to move into the city, with its clean pavement and the sun obscured by high towers, jetcars and pegasi who soared through the sky. Rarity had been here often enough to not be in awe at the sight and even if she had been, she knew how unsightly the presence of just another country-bumpkin must've been for those around her, so she kept her posture.

    The city of Canterlot was as ancient as Equestria itself. It had been the first city and also the biggest, with a population of about 8 million ponies, even more if one counted every creature with a citizen-pass. They were all living in the giant towers, each practically a small city on it's own. In between one could travel either on the ground by hooves, claws or whatever they would walk on, or by jetbus or -car.

    "Why would I come here?" she asked, looking at the many ponies before her and the life bustling above.

All in all, it reminded her why she had gone to Ponyville, why she had opened a fashion store. The ponies here were all wearing the same clothing styles they had since the Founding. Lack of style, for a pony like Rarity it was the most frustrating thing in the world.

    Once more she looked at the piece of paper. The Nightguard counted as terrorist-organization but the state went over the top with a lot of things and Applejack was far too honest to be involved in anything shady.

Well, considering how she's a CEO, Rarity corrected herself, She wouldn’t be involved in anything dangerous.

    She sighed, looking up from the paper, deciding to put it away. Maybe there was still some hope, maybe she could still get a job as a fashion designer.

    "A fashion designer?" the mare on the other side of the table asked suspiciously. "Why would you want to be something like that?"

    Rarity smiled. "Oh, I've always had a talent for making dresses and-"

    "You come from a family of fishers."

    "Yes, but as I was saying, I found, from a young age, sewing was one of those things that provided me with great pleasure. Also-"

    "You should return to your parents, Miss Rarity. It's where you belong. It's where the state needs you." It sounded almost like a mother scolding her child for doing something wrong and Rarity saw it in the eyes of her 'social worker', how completely baffled she was that somepony would just try to break out and then come and whine when it didn't work out.

    "Well, the thing is-"

    The mare frowned. "Let me guess, you spent all your money on the last train ticket? Listen, young lady-"

    Rarity looked at the mare as she started some rant about responsibilities, the state and how glorious life would be if we all would just accept our roles. The unicorn watched but didn't listen. She saw how the mare's lips would move and how her teeth would show, perfectly white, like any teeth. She wore a gray blazer atop her purple coat, Rarity deemed it not fitting at all and her mane, though touched with gray, was pretty much pink and green for it's most parts. If it hadn't been for the towerlike hairstyle, Rarity might've found it pretty.

    She disliked ugly things; she disliked this pony, who just rambled on how her parents might understand her, but she shouldn't waste the time of honest, working citizens. In the end she had come here just to get scolded about life by some social worker who seemed to greatly enjoy her own speech, it was almost like watching her just eating parts of the scenery.

    The white unicorn simply decided to nod in agreement, beg her pardon and walk out without another word. Then, she opened the door.

    The offices of the job center were as simple as they could be. Some greyish white ground from the same synthetic material as the walls with an ugly brown carpet upon it that mainly served to keep ponies from playing ice-hockey on the floor. The walls were white and some somewhat comfortable chairs stood by the side of the wall. Ponies could wait there in an atmosphere that didn't seem unlike awaiting your own execution. The only other occupant had been a pony that had entered a few seconds before her, she hadn't been able to see anything but now, as she walked out, she exited through another door.

    Her coat was the color of light raspberries, her mane a pale golden stream of hair strands with a lone lily adorning it and her eyes shone like the sun itself. Rarity could do nothing but gasp, for what she saw was the leader of the Flower Triad, trotting and waving her hair in glorious slow motion.

    "L-Lily?" she stuttered and the pony everypony in Ponyville was pining after (Rarity cursed herself yet again) turned her gaze towards her.

    "Rarity, what are you doing here?", she asked with a voice that was like honey for the ears.

    "W-Well," she really wanted to speak something but in the sight of Lily Valley her mind just turned to jelly. Who could remain completely sane in the sight of such a wondrous beauty, who was like a lone pearl found amongst a thousand rocks on a beach that spread across the world and-

    Lily seemed to notice how Rarity stared at her and frowned. "You're not talking purple prose in the back of your head, are you?" She seemed greatly annoyed. Well, of course she did, everypony reacted that way towards her.

    Rarity shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "I- Well. . . Sorry."

    Lily sighed, "Honestly, I don't get what's up with everypony. . . Well, at least you're not like one of the office workers. Heavens know, they chew on every piece of scenery they can find."

    Rarity lifted an eyebrow, really glad with how Lily had changed the topic so smoothly, she truly was such a wonderful mare, as brilliant as a sapphire underneath the bluest sky. "Are they all like that?"

    "As far as I know and they seem to have a lecture for every situation, too. Well, anyway, what's your boutique doing?"

    Rarity grimaced. "Not. . . So. . . Well," she tried carefully. Lily sighed.

    "Another poor soul gotten by the system, then. I really liked your dresses and the prices seemed fair, too. I wear the one I bought every chance I get." And there it was, the mental image of Lily prancing about in one of Rarity's dresses, a wonderful sight, as she danced through a field of flowers and-

    Rarity stopped herself, trying to remain focused. "Well, nopony but you and Applejack came to buy so. . ."

    "It's almost like they're told not to, right?" Lily laughed.

    Rarity didn't.

    "What do you mean?"

    Lily just smiled. "Nothing in particular. How about I treat you some food. You don't find many ponyvillians up here in the big city."

    Rarity smiled, gladly accepting the proposal and they both walked out of the offices, Lily talking about how her life had gone ever since she had left Ponyville. She had been the heir to one of the biggest business chains in the flower market. Two years ago, her father had mysteriously vanished and she had taken over, leading them into a prosperous time. She was one of the bigger voices in Equestria, Rarity had known but the way she talked about other ponies of import seemed unreal to the mare. The glorious Leader was mentioned. The second time in one day, this city really was different.

    However, as they walked through the streets, Lily began to wonder. "You know, about what I said earlier, the thing with them telling ponies to not buy stuff at certain places?"

    Rarity could still hardly focus on what Lily was saying, it was like the pony's charisma was just oozing out. It had been that way ever since someday four or five years ago, she had been told by Applejack, the day she had fully grown into a mare and everypony began to notice her beauty. Still, she absentmindedly answered, "Yeah?"

    Lily looked at her, "I actually believe that's what happened with you."

    They were in the middle of the street, some other ponies looked at them, or rather at Lily. Flying cars were soaring about and some Pegasus was yelling something at somepony else. Rarity's eyes perked up, her eyes remained on Lily. They walked in the middle of a huge crowd, yet nopony was paying attention to what they were saying.

    "Applejack contacted me today, she told had happened and. . . Well, I wanted to hear it from you. What happened to you happened to other ponies as well, you know. They tried to escape the system and failed, they were broken and returned into the line deemed appropriate for them. That's what they want to do with you."

    The words rung heavy enough and if it hadn't been for the fact that it was Lily, the most beautiful mare, who told her that, she would've at least looked away.

    Lily opened her mouth yet again, "I helped Applejack to get where she is, I can help you get where you want to go. I can help you cheat the system. In return however, I need something."

    The unicorn looked at the blonde pony with a lily in her hair. "Like what?"

    "I. . . We, need hooves. AJ told you about us, didn't she. I help you, if you join us."

    If one thing was true at this moment, it was that Rarity was completely dazzled by the pony on the other side, who stopped to look at her intently. The moment seemed to last forever, it almost felt like she had just been asked if she wanted to marry Lily. Almost strange, she wasn't even into mares to begin with. Not that she really cared. She could help Lily, this wonderful mare and in return she would maybe get a second chance.

    They stood beneath the towers of Canterlot, lights were flashing, advertisements were playing on huge screens, ponies were walking past them and cars were flying above. It was the feeling of a thousand butterflies in her stomach, weird to describe, not unlike a first love confession.

    "I-. . ." she started but immediately rethought, "Yes, I would gladly help you."

    "Twilight is not far away, Rarity. Welcome to the Nightguard," Lily then spoke and her white teeth flashed in a smile that, for a split second, made the white unicorn with the indigo mane shiver and think that something was horribly wrong.