Pinkie approached the opened skull in the center of the dark, concrete room, yawning. She was pretty annoyed with how the Cakes woke her up this early today. They had said the breakfast rush would start earlier because it was Hearth's Warming Eve. Her regularly puffy mane was even more messy due to her rough night of sleep.

She reached one pink hoof into the 'bowl', swirled around, and selected a slip of paper.
She carefully unfolded the slip. It read: #310.

She opened and flipped through the pony hide journal next to her and scanned the pages, humming a soft, upbeat melody to herself. She spotted the number, an eager grin slowly spreading across her face.

310 - Rarity

The day began like any other for Pinkie. She woke up, realized she needed more supplies, drew a number, and ponynapped the unlucky winner.

Before the ponynapping part, though, she was really excited for this day because she got to add another stuffed friend to her collection. Rarity would stand, posh and posed, right next to Dash. She was so excited, she found herself sharing her giddiness with Dashie as she prepped the room for Rarity’s arrival.
“Oh Dash, aren’t you exited?” She poured, bouncing around the room, her curls bright and happy as she made sure to clean up the leftover blood from a fortnight ago. She knew Rarity would be disappointed, and Pinkie hated disappointing her friends.

“Rarity’s going to join us! Yay! A party is still a party, even with only two friends!”

She stopped and turned, her expression unreadable, to face Rainbow Dash. She cocked her head in curiosity. Dash’s fake eyes glittered in the light of the ‘party room’. The feathers on her remaining wing shuddered and shook as she let out a short breath of air towards them, giggling. One crudely reattached wing remained, as the other was on the dress on the other side of the room. “Not to sound selfish Dashie, but I really do miss the sound of your voice,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. She perked right up. “But, at least you’re with me. I do love the company!” She turned and bounced to the door, ready to bring her guest home.

“Rarity!” Pinkie chimed, knocking on the lavender door to Carousel Boutique before walking in. Rarity appeared as she walked around the large fuchsia curtain that held her new designs. Her long, violet mane wrapping itself around her neck as she pulled to a stop. Her blue eye shadow was perfect as ever, generously applied, accenting her royal eyes. “Welcome to Ca-" she began before she spotted the cotton candy mare. "-oh hi, Pinkie!”

“Hi Rares! Do you think you could take a break off of work and help me at Sugar Cube Corner?” Rarity looked around. “Well,” she began. “I do have several orders that need to be completed. And with ponies coming here for last minute Hearth's shopping...” Pinkie looked at her with huge puppy-dog eyes that only she could pull off. Rarity looked around.

"Are you sure there isn't anypony else who can help you today, Pinkie? I really do have a lot of work to do."

"Oh, come on Rarity! Taking a break shouldn't be too bad! You can relax by tasting some scrumptious-dumptious sweets and laugh and play and help take some of the stressies out of you!"

Pinkie looked at her again, hopeful.

"Plus, it's what the bestest of friends do!"

“Oh, of course I’ll help darling.” Rarity said, smiling coyly. She looked over her shoulder to the stairs and called out, “Sweetie! I’ll be at Pinkie’s for a bit. Mind the shop for me!” A high pitched “Okay, sis!” was heard in response.

Rarity followed Pinkie out, closing the shop door behind her. They trotted down the path through Ponyville, soft powdered snow flying up around them. Rarity looked around, enjoying the sun that poked it's shy face through a break in the clouds. “Oh my, what a beautiful day.” She sighed. “Isn’t it?” Pinkie chirped. “Too bad we’ll be working inside.”

“That’s alright, Pinkie dear. Maybe after we’re done we could head down to the lake for some skating.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!”

They trotted in silence for a minute, enjoying the festive view of until they reached the market place.

Crisp apples were held in big barrels at one stand. Kumquats, oranges, and tangerines all glittered cheerfully, beckoning onlookers to scoop them up and taste the ice-cold juice they held within. Lemons also glittered. They were sour bars of gold, asking somepony to take them home to add flavor to any dish. Yams, pumpkins, and other squash, still good from the fall harvest, shined with bright colors that looked just like the sun from the season they were born. All the goods at the Apple family stall begged to be taken.

There were other things at the market too. Painters painted the winter scene with swift brushstrokes, woven hats and scarves were being sold to cold ponies, foals danced in the snow, last minute shoppers buzzed noisily but warmly, and musicians braved the wet with their instruments to play Hearth's Warming carols.

They walked up the steps of the gingerbread-looking bakery. A blue aura surrounded the magenta door, pulling it open. “Thankie-lankie Rarity!” Pinkie said, bounding inside. Rarity followed, her hooves clopping on the grey tiles.

“So, dear, what are you up to today?” she asked. “Well,” Pinkie said, bouncing to the counter, pinking up an éclair. “I know you have very refined tastes and all so I was wondering if you could give me advice on this éclair because I’m catering for a big party in Canterlot and need a sophisticated pony’s opinion and would like to know if I should make changes or not and if it isn't very good you could use your skills to tell me exactly what I-" Pinkie inhaled a gasp of air and continued her run-on sentence. "-need to do to fix it and if the fudge on top is chocolate-y enough or if I need to add less sugar and maybe you could help my with ideas for that party and that reminds me I need to throw another party because my last one was last week and last week was like, forever ago and we need another party, duh, and we should think about decor and-" Rarity put a hoof to her mouth. “Just let me taste the éclair.”

She picked up the éclair with he magic, carefully nibbling an edge. It was actually pretty good. It just left a bit of a metallic aftertaste, she noted. She ate the rest while Pinkie watched, attentively.

“It was delicious Pinkie. Only, you should add less chocolate next time.”

“Okie dokie!”

“What now, Pinkie?” Rarity asked, wiping her lips with a napkin. “Now,” Pinkie began. “I suggest we take a nap. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

As if right on cue, Rarity began to feel sleepy. It was a warm feeling at first, but Rarity began to feel uncomfortable as she struggled with her eyes. “Wh-whu?” she tried before she stumbled to the floor. She gave one last confused look before slumping over, her mane falling messily about her head. Pinkie smiled.

“Don’t worry, Rarity,” she said softly, hauling the limp mare up with her earth pony strength, positioning her securely to her back. She turned to head to the trap door that lead to Sugarcube Corner's basement.

“You’ll be wide awake soon.”

Author's Note

Yay! Raripie! Well, this is the first chapter. Enjoy!