Huntress of the night

"This... is not... how I saw... my day going..." Rarity pants, laying atop Midnight Rose, sweat ruining her her make-up.

"Hey... not like... I wanted to... fight... I just wanted... to drink some blood... and call it a... day..." Midnight pants, trying to will Blueblood closer.

Luna smiles "Rarity, from what I have observed, you need very little physical training except in acrobatics at the moment. Next we shall attempt Parkour and the one inch punch."

Blueblood's brow creases "Uhm... was that why you stole all of my kung-fu movies?"

Luna nods "I was afraid if I asked, then you would say 'No'."

Rarity groans "If you want Parkour... get Pinkie Pie..."

Luna rolls her eyes "Too unstable. Now get up, or I'll add learning 'The fist of the north star' and 'Hadouken' to your learning queue"

Rarity groans and sits up "Fine... what do you want me to try and climb?"

Luna smiles and with a flash of magic they are in the royal courtyard "First, to that window and retrieve the plate of cookies from within. Then return down here and we shall break for lunch."

Rarity shrugs "I've climbed mountains before, why should this be any harder?"

BY GREAT TO THE 5th POWER GRANDFATHER SOMBRA'S HORN!! Rarity shakily grabs a brick to pull herself up higher.

"You're doing great Rarity!" Midnight cheers, flying next to her.

"Thanks... darling... would you mind... helping?"

Midnight shakes her head "Sorry, I can't, Luna's orders."

Rarity sighs "It's just as well, I'm almost... there..."

Flipping onto the window sill, Rarity inspects her hooves "Augh... I'm going to need several hooficures to fix this..."

Midnight coughs "Later, get cookies and I can carry you down."

Rarity nods and scans the room, looking for the plate of cookies and spies something absurd "P-princess Celestia?"

Celestia looks up from her book "Rarity? Why in the name of the sun are you on my windowsill and... sweaty?"

Think fast! "I... I was admiring the view?"

Celestia smiles "Yes, I love the view from here, I can see the gardens, the town, and the sunset... perfect for my relaxation room."

Rarity smiles Is... is she really this gullible?! "Yes, but... would you perhaps have a plate of cookies?"

Celestia nods and levitates a plate the size of a table and cookies the size of hoofballs "The chefs always give me too much, want it?"

Rarity nods and takes the "Plate" in her own magic and then columbian blue hooves grabs her by the barrel and flies Rarity down "GOTCHA RARES!" Rainbow Dash? yells.

Rarity blinks and looks behind her at Midnight wearing tight blue socks "Thought you could hide from me in a window? That's preschool stuff!"

"Midnight, how on earth do you sound like-"

Midnight shushes her and glides to a stop in the shade of a tree where Luna sat speaking to a chipmunk "I know that they agreed to succession from new gopheria, but I'm afraid that only extends to the mustilidae, not rodentia... I'll see what I can do to get an addendum."

The chipmunk nods and scampers away, and Luna smiles approvingly at Rarity "I see that you completed the task and in record time!"

Rarity sets the "Plate" down and removes her mane tie "Yes... this is a 'Plate'?"

Luna nods "Yes, the cookies are made by a minotaur, so this is a platter to them... Why an omnivorous species sent a chef to act as a student in the culinary arts I haven't the slightest. And to specialize at a patisserie of all places. Nice fellow, all things considered."

Midnight pulls the socks off her hooves "I like dressing up."

Rarity turns to her "And how did you sound exactly like my friend Rainbow Dash?!"

"Mimicry is a trait usually unique to only seaponies, sirens, and changelings. But a certain interbreeding with thestrals lets us attain certain abilities, that's why my coat is this way, I'm half changeling."

Rarity snorts "I know for a fact that Changelings are myths."

Midnight grins "Really? Why can I do this?" Grunting, her forehoof is enveloped by green fire and turns blue before disappearing "Ow... I think I broke my brains..."

Luna laughs "I see that your skill hasn't changed."

Midnight glares "Shut up."

Rarity gasps, scooting away from her "How can you speak to a princess like that?!"

Luna rolls her eyes "I am not bound by social conventions and thus we are all equal. Now then, cookie?"

Rarity shakes her head "I have to watch my figure and sugar won't help in that department thank you."

Shrugging, Miudnight and Luna dig in like animals, pieces of cookie flying out of the massacre.

"I dare say that you two have even more horrendous table manners than Pinkie Pie!"

Ignoring Rarity, both mares continue to devour cookie after cookie.

Sighing, Rarity walks away, and to the statue garden to relax "What a day... I do hope it gets easier..."

"What gets easier?"

Jumping, Rarity charges her horn before lowering it "Grüss Kalt!"

The stallion nods, grinning "Hello Rarity. What's the matter?"

"Well, I've been given a job that at first seemed out there and now I know it is. My... employer rejects courtesy and manners in exchange for utilitarian logic... It's just not how I pictured one of the pillars of society to act."

Kalt nods "I can relate, I've had ponies whom I work under act like they haven't the slightest clue how to run a business. Of course, I can't tell them their business, I'd lose my job. But there is one good thing about these situations."

"And what might that be?"

"That even if you are unfamiliar with how to deal with them, you can adapt and keep your pride and job safe."

Rarity grins "I suppose you're right..."

Kalt sighs "Another thing that being observant means always being right, even when you hope that you aren't. Sometimes being the best is the worst..."

Rarity snorts "I can safely say that's wrong. I may not be the best, but so long as you have someplace higher to get to, the thrill is never gone."

Kalt laughs, bent over "You- you are absolutely correct Rarity. But... remember the saying, 'It's lonely at the top'. Nothing but the fear of falling keeping you company once the feeling of success fades."

Rarity blinks "Are you a philosopher? Or just well read?"

Kalt smiles "You tell me."

Rarity ponders "The way you spout philosophical sayings indicates that you are either well-read or a part of a community of thinkers, judging by your attire and manner of speaking, I'll guess the former. But what your cutie mark represents eludes me... so whatever you do, you have great education and live in a cold environment."

Kalt smiles "Maybe next time we meet then." he walks away and back into the castle.

Rarity rolls her eyes "I wish stallions were as nice as Spike... I wonder what he's doing?"

Midnight flies over to her "Time for the next part!"

Rarity groans "I haven't eaten since breakfast... can't I go and get a salad? Maybe some tea?"

She shrugs "I dunno, wanna ask Luna?"

Rarity sighs and nods, following her comrade.

Luna groans, closing her book "We've been waiting for half an hour now! How long does it take to make a dainty daisy salad?"

Rarity sighs "They have to serve the other customers first."

Midnight looks up from the table "We were the first customers, we came just as they opened. I asked for a bowl of fruit and I said all they needed to do was throw some fruit into a bowl!"

Rarity rubs her forehead "I... I have no excuses for that..."

Luna crosses her forehooves and groans again "If I had known it would take so long I would've brought another book..."

A mustached pony walks up to them "Sorry for the delay, but unfortunately some of the freeze melons froze the entire kitchen, staff included."

Midnight gags "Eugh... I hate those. They taste like rotten wood and dirt."

Rarity nods "Yes, and aren't you supposed to have a certified chef for those?"

Luna shakes her head "I'll take care of it. Do you have a metal mallet or something?"

The mustached pony produces a comically oversized mallet from his pocket "Will this suffice?"

Luna nods and takes the mallet, running towards the kitchen doors with a primal battle cry "PREPARE FOR THY END, NEFARIOUS FRUIT!!!"

Rarity blinks "Should... we be concerned?"

Midnight nods "Yeah, why in Luna's name do you have a comically oversized mallet in your pocket?"

The mustached stallion shrugs "'Always be prepared with a comically oversized mallet.' A unique pink mare I met a few years ago suggested it after some fire waffles went mad."

"'Fire... waffles'?" Rarity asks

"Yes, a resurfacing species of edible fire breathers. Well, not a species in the dictionary sense. A mad pony named Screwball created a viral enchantment that turns waffles into fire breathing monsters that when they touch another waffle they turn into a new one. They taste like regular waffles when you jab them with a fork or something. They only appear wherever Screwball eats and last only about a day before the enchantment wears off."

Rarity blinks "And... you don't seem all that scared of them..."

"Well I personally find them to be entertaining but several customers have lost their tails or manes or something when they're loose. So if you're eating at a diner that serves waffles, keep an eye out for a waiter with a hammer or something. I have mine comically oversized for the sheer shock value."

"And... the melons? I've heard of them, but I'm not familiar with them." Rarity asks.

"Natural, native to the southern badlands. Actually a fungoid animal, but because of their striped skin and moist bodies they're called that. They feed off weeds and plants while also decomposing other things. They have a natural internal temperature of 30 degrees below freezing due to a 'bladder' filled with liquid and gaseous nitrogen. When they're cut wrong, they release a cloud of nitrogen that freezes everything in a small radius. Luckily it just freezes things larger than a dog harmlessly, most end up with a chill or something." Midnight explains "I lived near a farm where they grew and harvested them before I moved to Canterlot."

Rarity nods slowly "So... she's in there-"

"Smashing the ponies out of the ice with a comically oversized mallet? Yes." both Midnight and the mustached pony reply.

"Strangely enough, that isn't the oddest thing I've heard about food."

Luna returns soaked and grinning "Thank you for your mallet. They should just need to dry off, maybe take the day off after this."

The stallion nods "As you wish Luna."

Rarity sets down her salad fork, Midnight groaning in relief "FINALLY!!"

"Now Midnight, I'll have you know that measured eating is good for the body. Scarfing it down like you've been starved for days is just rude."

Luna looks up from her bowl of soup, her muzzle dripping "What?"

Rarity sighs "I suppose the rumors about the princesses and nobles being polite and composed were wrong."

Luna shrugs "No, they're polite because they want to feel like they're better than the pony next to them. They have their noses so high so that they don't drown in their own stupidity. Manners are a thing I've never understood. Both in the past and in the present."

Midnight grins "Yeah, are the legends about your drinking true?"

"They call it 'Moonshine' for a reason. I got so impatient with watery, disgusting wines and lagers took took too long to properly ferment so I asked a few alchemist friends to help me find a way to distill alcohol quickly. Although I hadn't foreseen the flammability of the alcohol and when I went to rip the jars open, my lieutenant dropped her cigar in it and next thing I know, my entire body is covered in blue flames, half my friend's fur is burnt off and unconscious. I tried to grab her in my magic but I miscalculated from the heat and she bumped into the large case that held at least 100 jars of pure alcohol. It fell over and the flames that were burning me caught the smashed jars on fire that spread as I ran away, the contents exploding like white hot napalm.

"We barely got out of there before the whole distillery went up in a brilliant indigo blaze that lit up the night sky like a distant nova had occurred between the planet and the moon, casting brilliant shadows from my stone distillery with near-invisible flames. It was breathtaking.

"I passed out after that, most of my fur burnt off." Luna finishes, a nostalgic glitter in her eyes.

Rarity, however, shivers "Did- did your friend survive?"

"Of course, and it was after she recovered that we figured out a way to fend off gryphons with magic-proof armor. The Molotov cocktail."

Midnight rolls her eyes "Everypony knows that story, why are you even surprised?"

Rarity stares at her "I have never heard of it until now. I thought that the Molotov cocktail originated in Moscow."

Luna nods and leaves her seat "It did, Moscow was an old territory of Equestria until the end of the third griffon war. After that they peacefully seceded. Much of the land was frozen due to windigo magic from the wars and it's still frozen to this day. Possibly because there are two coexisting species there. The mammoth/bovine hybrids and windigos themselves."

Rarity shivers "So... windigos still exist? I thought that the first hearth's warming wiped them out!"

Leaving the restaurant, Luna shakes her head "It drove them out of Equestria, but that was before the wars. There's a treaty made in the middle of their war against the gryphons that stated that in exchange for coexistence, the windigos would fight on our side. My sister was hesitant, but I was and still am the armed forces' head and the best dignitary for hostile and non-allied nations because my sister lacks..." Luna taps her chin in thought "...Cunning, let's go with that."

Midnight grins "And from then on, every time the gryphons pushed to invade or attack, the windgos froze the ground around them in a wall of solid permafrost! They had to surrender because permafrost does not melt at all or yield easily. The domes still exist you know, windigos and some hybrids make their homes there. It's cheap, free, and they've lasted for centuries."

Rarity blinks several times "I... I've never heard of any of that. In fact, I never even knew that Moscow was part of Equestria at all!"

Luna cocks her head "Where did you receive schooling?"

"Manehatten U and a semester in Hoofston."

Luna mulls this over "Well... Hoofston is supposed to be decent for history and Manehatten is to be considered the best cosmological and chemistry driven universitie... what were your majors?"

"Well, I had received my cosmology license, a bachelor's in business and fashion from Manehatten and I received a bachelor's in geology/mineralogy from Hoofston."

"Hmmm... I'll have to look over their curriculums. but I suppose that your teaching lacks in the historical department... Midnight, take note!"

Midnight pulls a notepad from... somewhere and pulls a pen from it, holding it in her wing "'Add historical assessment and teaching'?"

Luna nods and Midnight scribbles it down before putting the notepad... someplace.

Rarity cocks her head "Is history really that important?"

"Who disappeared from 'Haute Couture & Revolution' magazine after leaving a large number of dress designs in the eight hundred and thirty fourth year of my sister's rule?"

"Rare Fairy Indigo. Every fashion conscious pony knows about the ingenious stallion savant who revolutionized the idea of form and function working in harmony, each of those sketches are worth thousands of bits alone! I own at least twelve of the legendary two hundred and fifty left after his disappearance. Well, they were numbered one through two hundred and fifty, but number fourteen is missing. Everypony has called it the missing piece because Rare Indigo said that they were all a set and something impressive would happen when all were together. Nopony has been able to decipher the notes on each one so they can't be made. It's the biggest mystery in artistry and design!"

Midnight stares at her "How did you spit all of that off the top of your head, yet you had no idea that Moscow was once a part of Equestria?"

Luna nods "And is that not fashion history?"

Rarity shrugs "I think it's more like cultural history, but that's my opinion."

Midnight rolls her eyes "I never understood fashion. I only wear armor, lightweight chain mail, and a helmet. That's good enough for me, and I like it as uncomplicated as I can get it."

Rarity shrugs "To each their own tastes. But why bring that particular fact up?"

"To prove that you require history in order to know what is what and how it came to be and how it affects the present." Luna turns "I can teach you, but that also means you must be willing to learn."

Well, when she puts it so plainly like that, I suppose I should agree and it might be nice to know a bit of history... and you're reading my mind, aren't you? Rarity thinks to herself.

Luna stares at her in surprise "You could sense me?"

Rarity shakes her head "No, I just knew that you would. And I'm quite sure reading the minds of friends is not what friends do?"

Midnight laughs heartily "She's got you there princess!"

"I agree, you also seem to have a quick wit, a sharp, stealthy tongue, and you can read others like a book quickly. I suppose 'Superior breeding' does have some use in our dark endeavor. Interesting..." Luna mutters under her breath.

Rarity reclines in Twilight's old room, exhausted "I... hate... this..."

Weakly, she opens her suitcase and levitates a book over "Let's see... where was I?"

Just as she relaxes into her book, somepony knocks on the door "... Yes?"

The door opens slowly and Blueblood walks in "Hello Rarity."

She groans "Blueblood. How may I help you?"

He sighs "I'm going to wager I'll never be in your good graces?"

Rarity shakes her head "Not in the foreseeable future, no."

He levitates a scroll to her "To answer your question, I received a very eloquent and... visceral letter from your friend the drakeling."

Rarity unfurls the scroll and smirks "Oh my dear Spike... I do so love your eloquence and tact." she blushes "Oh my. I'll have to... that's very descriptive and... vague. Okay, here's his message to me..."

Rarity's brow furrows "This is odd. It just says that he wishes to be with me but is busy taking care of the... boutique... I left the boutique unlocked!!"

Blueblood blinks "Well, he's there, yes?"

Rarity nods, still reading "He... he has some questions about which color goes best with saffron red, cobalt or storming sea. Well... that's incredibly specific, why would he need-" the color drains from her face "H-Hoity Toity was coming to drop off some designs for me to tweak! He said that one of them was dyed with actual saffron! I... I completely forgot!"

Blueblood frowns "I'm sure your friend can handle it, and I'm also sure that Luna can explain that she needed you for something important and you had to go to Canterlot."

Rarity nods "That should work but... why would Spike take it upon himself to do that?"

Blueblood grins "A deep friendship, perhaps? An attempt to impress you?"

Rarity cocks her head "What are you getting at?"

He shakes his head "Nevermind. Send him a reply. I know the dragon fire spell."

Rarity levitates a quill and scribbles down a reply before giving it to Blueblood.

His horn glows and the letter burns with green fire, ashes carried out the window "There, that's all I wanted to say Ms. Rarity"

Rarity nods and he leaves, allowing Rarity to silently contemplate his words.