Rarity in the Sea of Stars

Chapters

1. Alarm!? The Monster Comes!
2. Home? One Big Mess!
3. Friend? S-Sure, Why Not?

1. Alarm!? The Monster Comes!

"Well! This is just great!” Rarity proclaimed to nopony but herself. “I wake up in the middle of the woods, with absolutely no idea where I am. My mane is a mess! There's plant bits in my coat! I have absolutely no provisions, or my emergency priming supplies! And to make matters even worse, I'm late for my appointment at the salon!!” She huffed as she pushed through the foliage, letting out a bemoaning cry as she felt her coat brush up against the ferns, leaving their mark upon her.

“Ohh~” She cried out, “This better not be the Everfree, or I'm going to be right cross with whoever sent me here!” She then paused as she reached a clearing, her eyes widening as she took in the sky.

“Well, that's certainly... strange.” Rarity appraised, her eyes taking in the night sky. It was radiating with countless beautiful stars, aimlessly not standing still, like all good stars should.

Strange seemed to be the word on Rarity's mind since she awoke, on her hooves no less. Okay, it was one of the words that's been on her mind. Despite it clearly being night, she could see everything as if it were day; however, she didn't cast a defined shadow.

“Okay, enough complaining, think Rarity. Let's see... I was heading to Applejack's home to pick up ------- ----- when-” She then frowned after her seeming failure to say ------- -----. Her eyes then widened at her inability to even think ------- -----'s name. “What is this!? Why can't I say ------- -----?? Has something happened to my ------!?” Her heartbeat started to quicken as she quickly started throwing out other names she knew, seeing if there were others she couldn't name.

“Ohhh, why ------- -----?” She whined, her heart aching as her brow furrowed. She then glared to the shifting heavens, as if it was at fault. “Just what is going on here!?” She asked as she stomped her hoof. She then blinked. As if to answer her, a star separated itself from the sky, plummeting towards Rarity.

It was on fire.

Rarity let out a shrill that would put a banshee to shame as she ducked for cover. She heard the fireball crash into the clearing behind her, with a very anticlimactic , reverberating a thrumming sound afterwards. Not even feeling a breeze from the impact, she looked out from behind the tree she had valiantly hid behind to see a twisted metal sign slightly embedded into the ground in the field.

She walked up to the sign, much bigger then herself, frowning as she took it in. The edges of the sign were smudged in dark guck, burned on from the fall. On the sign was the image of a car, crumpled from some unspecified collision, and in her expertise, it looked totaled-

“Wait.” She eyed the ruined car, her eyes widening as the strangocity of the situation climbed into the red. “How do I know what a car is!?” In her moment of bafflement, her eyes wandered to the slogan written under the car. She wasn't familiar with the language, but still understood it, regardless of what sense it lacked.

'Stuff happens. Will you be ready when it happens to you? Get insured today!'

She stared at the sign, wondering if she had asked for this when she shouted to the sky. Letting out a sigh, she looked to leave, when she thought she saw the black sludge quiver. Keeping her eyes locked on the guck, she slowly backed away from the sign.

The guck quivered again, and the sign was instantly enveloped in it, and the entire mass that was the large sign vanished in a puff, leaving only a small glob of black gunk, which unceremoniously fell to the dirt with a .

“Eh heh. Leaving now~” She said as the guck changed shape to something far less repulsive. Taking on the appearance of a black rabbit, it looked at Rarity with eyes that demanded her attention.

It was like looking into the abyss. The abyss of extreme cuteness.

A cornucopia of potential cuddling, cute squeaks, soft petting, and all around lovey-dovey cutsie-wootsieness washed over the mare. Rarity swallow back a childish squeal as her heart beat quickened. She wanted to scoop it up and hug it and feed it and call it Mr. Whiskers and have him play with Opalescence and before she even realized it she was hugging Mr. Whiskers.

“Aren't you cu~ute! Fluttershy would just adore you!” It was so cute that she had forgotten about the sign it had seemingly consumed.

She felt the lightest hint of a migraine as she held it close. “Oh, you'll just make a great playmate for -----------!” Rarity paused a moment as she looked blankly into the woods.

“Wait, who was I going to show you to?” She asked as she held it a hoofs length from her with her magic. The little rabbit cocked its head as it smiled at her.

“Opalescence happens,” The rabbit said in a deep, very un-rabbit like voice, making Rarity drop it in surprise, getting a small shrill from the mare, “will you be ready when Opalescence happens to you? Get Opalescence today!” The rabbit then grew slightly, turning into a fluffy cat with dark gray fur, wearing a small bow on its head.

Rarity now considered the creature to be even cuter. And yet, now she felt something terribly unsettling about it, and a red flag was flying in the back of her mind, insisting she run. The cat got on its paws and moved closer to Rarity, letting out a sweet meow. Rarity took a step back from it, and the cat's demeanor instantly changed.

Its fur stood on end as it hissed at Rarity, suddenly grown to Rarity's size. Rarity looked at the cat, and instantly felt reminded of the food chain, and a pony's place on it where it concerned pony sized cats.

“Stuff happens!” The cat bellowed out as it took a menacing step forward. “Get insured when today happens to you!” Rarity, having had more then enough of this, turned and bolted. Fortunately for her, the large cat seemed to be... terribly unfit for chasing ponies.

Not three paces after she started, she saw the cat plow shamefully into a tree. Rarity considered stopping, but only redoubled her efforts when the tree was seemly swallowed up by the cat- no, the monster.

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” She cried out as she ran through the woods with abandon, branches clawing at her coat and mane. Looking over her shoulder, she saw her pursuer seemingly getting larger with each tree it crashed into. “Celestia help me! I promise I'll never use synthetic cat-food again!” She then frowned at her own desperate plea, as she was certain she's never owned a cat.

Maybe Celestia was listening, because right as the monster caught up to Rarity, she ran right off a cliff, appearing suddenly from the other side of the underbrush she was passing through. Okay, maybe Celestia wasn't listening.

Thankfully, there were plenty of trees, branches, and bushes to break her fall. Separating herself from her broken fall, she almost fell off her hooves when the monster slammed into the ground behind her. Its cat-form melting away like a ball of mud, splashing Rarity, getting guck on her face and flank.

Rarity felt a major migraine assault her as she desperately rubbed the guck off. The guck itself separated from her, returning to the mass that was slowly reforming as Rarity began galloping again.

“Dumb rock!” She heard the monstrosity shout behind her, and her gallop faltered. It spoke in her voice. No, not quite. It was her voice, when she was younger. Not giving it a chance to get her again, she kept running. Her lungs were starting to cry out, her eyes getting teary from the unexpected exertion. She ignored them. The monster compelled her to move like the wind.

“Will you be ready when rock happens to you!? Get dumb today!”

She more than heard its words. She felt them reverberate through her core. She was now under the very strong impression that she couldn't hide from the monster. That it could follow her, effortlessly now. It didn't need to chase her, for it would never lose her. Still, she ran.

She ran, and ran, until, she reached the end. Her gallop came to a surprised halt as she reached the edge of the forest. Before her was a fall that had no bottom, but stars. Carefully looking over the edge, she saw dirt, with roots poking out, making the side, and underside of the mass of land she stood on.

The forest was on a clump of land, floating in the stars. The moving, shifting, alien stars, with guck monsters that can grow and change shape. Almost wanting to scream at everything that's troubled her since waking up, she instead tried to keep her balance. The ground trembled slightly as she looked back the way she came. Far, far into the woods, she saw darkness, and she had nowhere to run.

Not quite ready to give up on an escape, she started following the edge of the floating island. Though she wanted to run, her body refused to tolerate such a ridiculous notion. Catching her breath as she followed the edge, time seem to slip by her, and before she noticed it, she had come upon a clearing that was loosely attached to the rest of the island. A small peninsula of grass and dirt no bigger than a carriage.

A dead end.

Truly, the only reason it caught her attention was because there was a stump in the dead center of it. A old woodcutter's axe planted into it. Looking closer, Rarity saw that the grass and soil looked different from the island she was standing on, and started to wonder if the small attachment was an unexpected addition, instead of being a natural part of the whole.

She felt the island tremble again, and looking back to the islands center, she saw on all the trees that she could see, a small black tendril attached to them. In a blink, all the trees disappeared, revealing that the monster had become quite sizable.

“Dumb stuff happens to you!” The mass cried out in Rarity's voice, and she saw the monsters tendrils start to dig into the soil. Recalling what just happened to the trees, Rarity turned around, on a hope, and leapt for the small peninsula. She landed into it, rolling in the dry grass as she looked back. The island was gone. All that remained was a large, floating black mass.

The mass contorted in the floating space, getting smaller, and moving closer to Rarity. She backed up from it as the shrinking mass slowly approached her little island. She stumbled as she walked into the trunk, falling past it in a very un-lady like fashion. As she got back on her hooves, she chanced a better look at the axe in the trunk.

If she wasn't completely afraid for her everything, she would have scoffed in disgust. The axe's handle was rotten, dried, and cracked. It just waiting for a good breeze to snap it in two. The head of the axe was covered in moss and bits of small mushrooms, making the condition of the head indeterminable. But if the handle was any indication, the head was likely nothing short of a rusty mess.

Avoiding giving the axe any more undue attention, Rarity saw that the monster had finished shrinking. It was standing on the island with her. It- She was now a small filly, black coat with a darker mane and tail. Her hair style resembled Rarity's, and on her flank was a set of three black diamonds, imposed over a crashed car. Seeing the monster's ----- ---- made Rarity look to her flank, seeing it bare.

The dark filly smiled at Rarity, a sweet, innocent, foal-like smile, and stepped closer, then stopped, frowning at the disgusting axe that rested between them. It started to rotate to the left, around the axe, making Rarity shift, keeping the axe between them. It glared at Rarity, and she looked to it wide-eyed. The two of them paced around the axe for several seconds, Rarity hearing her own heartbeat in her ears. The time spent circling, turned into time Rarity spent catching herself, composing herself, taking in the situation.

“Dumb stuff!” the filly shouted as it moved to push aside the axe. When it brought its hoof down to the axe, the filly yelped as she stepped back from it, cradling her hoof as smoke whisped off of it. It looked at the axe in fear, before its eyes met Rarity's. Rarity clearly understood what that meant, and swallowed her pride as she grasped the axe by the rotten handle with her magic.

Everything stopped.

Rarity was completely unable to move, and monster stood still, the look of fear in its eyes frozen, locked with Rarity's. Even though she couldn't move her eyes, she could see, from her eyes' corner, that the axe was glowing, from more than just her magic.

'Do you, recipient,' a sweet, yet androgynous voice asked of Rarity, 'accept the responsibilities tied to wielding this axe? Are you ready to be held accountable, as its master, for its actions, so help you?'

Oohh~! Why is today being to so, so strange! Yes! Now give me the axe so I don't get gobbled by whatever that thing is!

'Name?'

Rarity!

'Understood. Greetings Rarity. Please, be kind.' Rarity mentally faltered, caught off guard by the pleading tone in that last sentence. Before she could dwell on it, time continued, and the axe separated itself from the stump, being pulled out by Rarity's magic. The monster took a step back, its fear more evident as Rarity eyed the axe in her grasp.

'Master!'

Despite already talking to the strange voice while time was frozen, Rarity almost dropped the axe right then when it spoke to her.

'Swing! Before it flees with your fragments!'

When the axe said fragments, Rarity was suddenly instilled with understanding as her eyes fell back on the monster's ----- ----. She looked back into the monster's eyes, and hesitated. The monster looked just like her, as a filly, and she couldn't bring herself to swing at a filly. The monster seemed to catch her hesitation, as the fear in its eyes vanished, giving her a cute stare Rarity use to use on her parents.

'Master?'

The monster took a step forward. Rarity took a step back, the axe floating in the air, unmoving.

'Master... Do I have permission to protect you?'

“W-What? Yes!” She was confused that the axe had to ask for permission to-

Suddenly the axe freed itself from her grasp, falling down towards the filly. The monster jumped back, it's form shifting back into the large cat as it hissed at the axe. The axe moved with alarming speed, its head pivoting, its angle shifting mid-swing to connect with the monster. When the axe connected, it took a moment for Rarity to process what followed.

Memories of when she got her cutie-mark rushed back to her. Being yanked along to a rock she did indeed call dumb, which housed a great many fabulous gemstones inside. The rock split open, she used the gems for the play, and she got her cutie-mark. As the memories flashed before her minds eye, her actual eyes saw an entire island's worth of trees and foliage explode out of the monster, flying off and away from the axe and mare with startling speed, disappearing into the starry canvas with a twinkle.

The monster was still in front of her. It was as small as a cat, and it hissed as it jumped off the island, out of the axe's reach. As Rarity looked over the side, she saw the dark gray cat smile to her.

“Will you be ready when Opalescence happens to you?” It asked menacingly, as it vanished into the starry landscape.

Rarity let out a long and tired sigh as she slumped into the grass, letting her body and nerves calm down. As she lay there, she saw the axe float before her.

'Permission to speak my mind.'

Rarity eyed the talking axe, and dearly wished Twilight was here to explain what was going on. Letting out another sigh, she gave the axe a reluctant nod.

'You could do with some more exercising, master. Also, you're an utter mess.' The axe declared, both with concern, and annoying forwardness. Rarity looked at the old, decrepit, moss and fungal covered axe in complete and total shock.

“Well, you're one to talk!” She scoffed, getting on her hooves, glaring at the offending tool.

'Master, I'm an axe. I can't exercise. Silly!'

“I meant being an utter mess!” Did a floating, talking axe just call me silly!?

'Huh?' It sounded honestly confused, 'I can't really look at myself. Is it bad?' The axe asked as it floated in the air, turning around, as if trying to look at itself.

“Completely dreadful!” The axe stopped spinning before the blade looked to Rarity's mane, as if appraising it.

'...can I borrow your mane?' The axe asked as it started to float towards Rarity, 'I'd rather be clean.'

“Y-You keep your dirty self away from me you, you, overgrown tinder box!”

'Master, you could hurt some axe's feelings, calling them names like that.' It replied with a hurt tone, its head bobbing with each word, making its handle swing about unhinged, and it was really annoying the mare.

“Stop floating!” Rarity demanded in a moment of lost restraint. As if a puppet's strings had been cut, the axe dropped instantly. The handle fell square on the stump, the entire weight of the metal head coming down on it, breaking the handle into countless smaller pieces of tinder. Rarity stared wide-eyed as the head landed on the stump, lifeless.

“Are you... okay?” She asked timidly, approaching the axe.

'...that really hurt...' the axe weakly replied. Rarity picked up the axe's head, with her hooves, and the shattered remains of the handle weakly fell out, leaving just the metal head of the weapon intact.

“So, you wouldn't happen to know what's going on, would you?” The axe was quiet for several moments, prompting Rarity to look at it in concern.

'Well, I was sleeping, when suddenly I had a new master, and then I broke, and it hurt.' It summed up, matter-of-factly. Rarity muttered a small apology as she looked over the axe, then frowned.

“I meant that monster that was chasing me. Or, well,” she then motioned to the stars, which were still moving about in an unnatural way, “This!”

'Oh. That's the Fragmented Sea.'

“Huh?” Rarity flatly asked as she looked to the axe with a deadpan expression.

'Yea, I agree, stupid name. But I didn't name it. But whoever did, must have been a pretent- prentou- preterea-… a big stuffy smarty-pants!' Rarity let out a patient sigh as she started rubbing the axe against the trunk, scrapping off the moss and other gunk that had grown onto it. 'Oh~ That feels nice...' the axe sighed out, sounding quite happy with the treatment.

“Would you mind telling me what the Fragmented Sea is?”

'Ohhh. Sorry. It's everything, only, if you took everything, broke it into a whole lot of pieces, and mixed it together. Yep! That's Fragmented Sea! Just leave it to me to simplify something that's, like, a very big headache.'

“Everything?”

'Everything.'

“Like, everything, everything?” And she heard the axe sigh, though she couldn't tell if it was from annoyance, or from relief of being cleaned.

'Ughh, every single little thing. Real stars, worlds, people, places, memories, time. Yeeaa, anything you can think of, and everything you can't.' The axe explained, it's tone shifting to something slightly mournful as it reach the end of its description.

“So then Equestria-”

'In pieces.' Rarity faltered at the blunt reply.

“My, my friends-”

'I'm so sorry to say, in pieces.'

“H-How do you know!” She asked, not ready to accept the facts straight up.

'Because the rarest thing to find in the Fragmented Sea, is something whole. You're not complete, and neither am I.' Rarity took this in, still not buying the axe's explanation.

“You're not being completely honest with me, are you?”

'Master, I cannot lie unless you give me permission to. It's the cold, sad truth. I can only wonder how long you've slept in the sea, and I'm so, so sorry to be the bearer of bad news.' Rarity took the axe's words in, gently resting the now mostly clean blade on the trunk as she looked to the stars.

She looked into the all encompassing field before her. Countless stars shifting though the plain, some growing brighter, others dimming down. She recalled the clump of forest, and how it turned into one of these stars when it was sent flying away from them.

The field of stars, she could now see, were fragments. The billboard that crashed near her, it came from another world. The monster, it too, from another world. And now, looking at all the lights around her, she understood.

Somewhere out there, were pieces of Equestria. Were her friends. Her family, all that she treasured, lay scattered. ------- -----, my ------, ooh! Her brow furrowed in annoyance, I can't grasp the words! But I know her, she's so dear to me. And my parents, and friends. I have to find them! She then looked back to the axe, quietly resting on the trunk.

“You said that I was asleep?”

'Yea. Umm, when a person, like you, is fragmented, its like they're asleep. When enough is brought back together, you wake up! Oh. It's bad news when an actual star wakes up, but that never happens anymore! ...I think.' As the axe spoke, Rarity noticed a name etched onto the blade. Three little letters stylistically drawn onto the back of the head, far from the blade.

“Lin?” Rarity read out loud, and the axe seemed to flinch, and Rarity eyed it with concern.

'I... I don't like that name. It would make me happy if you didn't call me that.'

“Well, then, what shall I call you?”

'Moralin. But, don't speak it out loud, unless you have great need of me.' Rarity considered asking why, but instead focused her attention on the fact that they were sitting on a small mound of land, floating in the Fragmented Sea, with no place to go.

“So, are we, oh what's the expression, set adrift?”

'Hmm? Oh! We can leave whenever you want, master! Just trot off the island while thinking of a destination!'

“Really? It's that easy?”

'That's right! Oh! Make sure you bring me! It's very lonely, being unable to move while on a small fragment such as this.'

“Oh, hmm, look here, dear, I'm allowing you to float again.” Rarity stated, and sure enough, Moralin started floating again. So, she's completely bound by my orders? That's... kind of sad. Rarity thought as the axe-head bounced before her.

'Thank you, master! Okay, just walk off, it's like, easy!' Rarity looked at Moralin skeptically, but, after a couple false starts, did such, while thinking of home, and was surprised that she wasn't falling, but drifting, as they left the small island behind. Looking back, she saw the island disappear in the distance, becoming another twinkle in the sky, and the island's movement was the only indication that Rarity wasn't standing still.

'Now, whatever you do, don't think of falling.'

And just like that, Rarity and the axe were plummeting down into the sea of stars. Rarity let out a loud, drawn-out scream, that never seemed to end, as the axe started giggling heartily.

'This is kinda fun!!' Moralin admitted as they plummeted through empty space, on their way to their destination.

2. Home? One Big Mess!

Even though Rarity had lost track of time as they fell, she was fairly certain she had broken her personal record for her longest scream. As she let her throat recover, she found she was getting accustomed to seemingly falling forever without apparently getting anywhere. Despite Moralin's insistence, not thinking of falling did not stop her plummeting. So instead, she focused on looking forward to her destination.

'So, master, where we going?' Moralin asked, and Rarity appraised the axe, which had taken to orbiting around her in a very consistent pattern.

“Well, if this works like you claimed, my boutique.”

'You live on a boat? That sounds pretty neat!' Moralin declared excitedly. Rarity raised an eyebrow, wondering just how uncultured the axe was. She then mentally groaned, bringing her hoof to her face over the fact that she just wondered how cultured a woodcutting tool was.

“No, dear, my house is a-”

'Rock!!' Moralin cried out, making Rarity jump in surprise, in mid air, as Moralin whipped around her. The axe smashed right into a large boulder, twice as big as a pony, that Rarity was about to crash right into. The boulder disappeared in a flash of light, leaving a pair of small stars in its place, which Rarity quickly fell past.

'You should really look where you're falling, master.'

“I, I see!” Rarity said, suddenly finding herself very motivated to look down, and seeing nothing in her path besides small beads of light. “What did you do to it?”

'I used my power as a weapon, and broke it into fragments. It was just a rock, so no harm done!' As Rarity took this in, she noticed that she was falling towards a star, and wondered if that was her home. As if catching sight of it had triggered something, the star started to grow. When it appeared to be the the size of her hoof, the glow it gave off dissipated, revealing a floating island.

The floating mass quickly got bigger as Rarity descended towards it, and her eyes widened as she saw that it was a piece of Ponyville. Taking in the layout as she approached the ground with troubling speed, she made out that the island had her boutique, standing alone a small distance from the cluster of homes that made her neighbors.

'Think of a soft landing!' Moralin advised as Rarity eyed the quickly approaching ground.

Rarity suddenly pictured a very, very rough landing, and quickly shook her head of it. Closing her eyes, she pictured landing on a pile of soft, comfortable pillows that were also perfectly clean and-

She felt her hooves casually make contact with the ground, and cautiously opened her eyes to take in the surroundings. She had landed on a stretch of road that connected the homes together, and far ahead of her, she could make out her boutique.

The area was littered. There were small beads of light floating about, not dissimilar to the stars in the sky. There were so many beads that Rarity had to pay attention as she moved, to avoid them. Most of the beads were white, but there were a few that gave off either a red or green glow.

There was also stuff. Everywhere. She looked to the things, and her brow furrowed as she started placing the names of things she's never seen before.

In one building, an abandoned warp nacelle stuck out of it, looking to have fallen onto it, destroying the roof and causing the building to lean under the weight of the device. There were clusters of all kinds of rocks and scrap metal haphazardly strewn about. Scattered paper with inane things written upon them in a wide variety of tongues. A rusty basketball stand resting on a door step. A whole lot of random things, mixed and scattered about in a big mess.

“Huh.” Rarity began as she took it all in, almost bemused. “It's strange to think that I've seen Ponyville look worse than this.” She admitted as Moralin spun around her, brimming with excitement.

'Wow! Master! Are you like, super lucky? This place is a gold mine!' The axe heartily exclaimed as it flew around the area, touching and seemingly absorbing certain beads of light.

“What, all this, this, junk!?” Rarity asked as she motioned to, well, just about everything.

'You bet! It looks like no one's ever scavenged through it! It's like nobody's been here in an age! Oh! This thing right here,' the axe said as it indicated the warp nacelle, 'could be worth a bit to someone!' Moralin then flew in front of Rarity, and the axe summoned a stream of beads, lining them up in front of the mare. 'This place just has so many useful fragments!' It then absorb the beads back into itself as Rarity started moving towards her home.

“You collect fragments?” The axe quickly nodded.

'Only certain kinds. I'm a woodcutting axe, so I have a high affinity for wood fragments. It's a relatively common thing to find in untouched places like this! So I'm collecting all that's here, in case I'll need them later.' The axe then stopped in the air, as if considering something. 'Master, do you know what your affinity is?'

“Affinity?” Rarity asked as she tilted her head in thought. “I'm guessing you mean something I'm good at working with?” The axe nodded, seeming happy that she understood. “Well, I'm not one to brag,” she admitted as she gave the axe a proud smile, “but I do fancy myself quite capable with fabric and gems!”

'Oh, oh! In that case, master, do any of the fragments here give off a color?' Rarity nodded as she trotted up to the nearest one, giving off a green light. 'Well, try waking it!' Rarity gave the axe a confused look before looking back to the fragment. Considering using her hoof, she instead grabbed the fragment with her magic, and as her magical grip tightened around it, she suddenly understood what the fragment was.

It was the shadow of an emerald statue of some creature with many limbs. The shadow had green lines of reflected light in it. And that's all the fragment was. A shadow.

“It's, just a shadow?”

'A shadow huh? Yea, that happens. Though, you should hold onto it! Even a shadow has value.' Rarity nodded as she looked to another fragment a couple paces from her. This one giving off a red light as she grasped it with-

The fragment gave off a flash, and a large, a wolf-like creature made of red and black stone appeared in its place, a kraggon. It was three times the size of a pony, salivated what Rarity presumed to be lava, and was missing the back half of its body. Despite missing its back legs, it still stood tall, as if the legs were still there, only invisible.

The kraggon stood there, confused, before looking to Rarity and the axe. Taking them in, the creature gave off a loud roar. Rarity stood there in a moment of confusion. She found the creature failing to be completely intimidating to her, which struck the mare as odd, considering how she's taken to timberwolves in the past.

'Leave this to me, master!' Moralin cried out as it flew in front of the kraggon. 'A monster made of stone is no match against-' the axe was instantly caught by the monster, in its mouth, surprising the mare as the monster shook its head. 'H-hey! Lemme go!' the axe cried out indignantly.

Something caught Rarity's eye, her brow furrowing as she quickly grasped it with her magic, turning towards the kraggon, which eyed her with indifferent eyes. That changed when Rarity pelted it on the nose with a old metal pipe. The kraggon glared at Rarity and growled. Rarity took a step forward, throwing her hoof down as she pelted the kraggon's nose again.

“Drop it!” She ordered, and it growled at her again, and she pelted it again. The kraggon then let out a sad whine as it spat out the axe head, which fell unceremoniously to the ground. Rarity smiled, and gently pat the kraggon on the head, with the metal pipe. Considering it was drooling lava, Rarity had good reason to keep her distance.

“Good boy~!” Rarity exclaimed with a proud smile as she looked to Moralin, who seemed to be fine, if covered in lava. “So, how do I turn him back?” Despite having the monster under her hoof, it's drool could cause an ... incident if she let it stay nearby. Moralin started hovering again, looking to Rarity.

'Wow, master! Your affinity must be high!' The axe them seemed to notice that Rarity had asked a question. 'Oh, uh. Try telling it to go to sleep?' Rarity nodded and looked to her new pet, giving the kraggon a sweet smile.

“Oh my, you simply look dreadful! Ah! I know! What you need, is some beauty rest~!” Rarity gave a stern nod, as if that would suffice. The kraggon nodded in turn and lay down, slowly closing its stony eyes as the kraggon faded back into a red floating fragment. Rarity dropped the metal pipe, which was quite heavy for her, and let out a sigh. She turned to the axe, which was busy trying to scrape cooling bits of lava off of itself.

“So, I was kind of like that?” She asked as she brought the red fragment closer, gently this time, appraising it before her.

'A big drooling rock monster?' Moralin asked, not missing a beat, 'You don't come across as being made of stone, master.'

“I meant being asleep, Mr. Chew toy!”

'That's Ms. Chew toy.' Moralin replied, sounding fairly insulted.

“O-oh.” Rarity gave the axe a very sheepish smile, “Eh heh heh. My mistake, sorry.” The axe let out a sigh as it turned to the mare.

'But yes, being a fragment is like being asleep, for the most part.'

“Then, how did I wake up?” Moralin considered that for a moment before making a small bounce in the air, which Rarity presumed was the axe shrugging.

'Hmm. Dunno! Maybe you woke yourself up, or maybe someone put you back together.' Being completely unsatisfied with that answer, Rarity let out a sigh as she appraised the red and green fragments in her possession. Eyeing a metal box laying in the pile she got the pipe from, she levitated it over and put the fragments in it. She smiled as she saw the fragments stay put inside the box.

Who knows when half of a twelve foot tall rock wolf will come in handy~! Rarity thought, with her head held high, as she continued to her boutique.

As she approached, she took note of, and gathered any other fragments giving off color, placing them in the small box levitating at her side. Hmm, I wonder if red is bad, and green is good. Rarity wondered, deciding not to look too deep into the fragments until she's appraised her livelihood. Seeing Moralin still flying around gathering fragments, Rarity noted that the ones the axe absorbed were all white, and assumed the colors were seen differently between the two of them.

With Moralin occupied with gathering beads, Rarity's attention was drawn to how quiet it was. With all the junk and fragments floating around, it reaffirmed several things the axe said to her, the most prominent being that no one's been here for a long time. Thinking that, she found it odd that the buildings didn't show any sign of decay. There was some damage from things falling on the buildings, but the wood wasn't rotten, no loose shingles. It was as if time had forgotten to show its mark upon this chunk of Ponyville.

“Why doesn't anything look ... old?”

'Hmm?' The axe stopped, turning to Rarity, tilting its head in confusion for a moment. 'Oh! I almost forgot about that. Old. Master, ever since everything became fragmented, everything's stopped aging.' That axe nodded to itself as Rarity looked at it, wide-eyed. 'Yea ... let's see, what else was there before it all happened? It's been so long ... oh! You don't need to eat food anymore, and illness and disease aren't a thing now.'

“Really? How is that possible?” Everything was so different, it was simply beyond belief. “Just what happened to cause all this!?”

'Hmm ... I was once told that it was simply the universe coming to an end, it was just going to take a while. Like, thousands of years. Personally, I think that someone cast one spell to many, causing the universe to get fed up with making sense.' Moralin shrugged as it turned to her. 'I don't know for certain why. Sorry.'

Rarity considered her words for several seconds before shaking her head, looking to her home. They had reached the boutique, and it looked exactly as she had left it. She let out a sigh of relief as she reached the door.

'Wow! This is your home! It's so big!' Rarity gave the axe a grateful smile as she opened the door with her magic, walking inside-

Right into a very big rock.

Rarity stepped back, cradling her horn in pain as she looked through the open door. It appeared as though a large boulder had taken up residence inside her boutique. Before she could show her surprise, Moralin took notice of the stone, and the axe started to traverse around the building. A terrible thought came to Rarity, and she quickly followed the axe around her home.

She didn't have to go far to see that the boulder had crushed half of the building, leaving nothing but the front half intact. The rock was almost as wide as the boutique, shimmered with an reflective obsidian shell, and was perfectly round.

The boutique itself looked completely fine, as long as you were looking at it from the road.

'Huh, that's a big rock.' The axe admitted as it flew closer. Rarity stood looking on in complete shock, and suddenly felt lightheaded as she fainted, crashing into the ground in graceful practice. However, she didn't stay out long, the axe saw to that.

'Come on master! It's not that bad...' Rarity opened one eye, looking to the axe before getting on her hooves, marching towards the tool.

“Not that bad? Not that bad!? My, my everything was here! My work, my inspiration room! My lovely, comfortable bed! My beauty supplies! And now. It's! All! Ruuiined!” She then started crying, in a very unlady-like fashion.

'Ohhh, master, please, stop crying...' the axe pleaded, 'I mean, maybe you can live inside the rock, instead?' The suggestion made the mare's crying redouble, which only made the axe more worried for her. Indeed, Moralin was on the edge of panic. Her master was a crying mess, and the axe couldn't help but feel at fault. 'I, I can make this better!' And not wasting a second, the axe flew around to the front of the boutique, outside of Rarity's teary-eyed view.

Several seconds later, with a startling crunch, the large boulder was sent rolling away from the boutique with amazing speed, rolling past Rarity to the trees and bushes behind her home. Rarity's tears were halted by looking to the axe in shock.

'See! All better!' The axe declared proudly as it floated in the doorway.

Then the rest of the boutique collapsed, right on the axe.

Rarity let out some squeakish coughs as smoke from the rubble dusted her. After the dust settled, she looked to the rubble in worry, and started to approach when the rubble shifted, and the axe wriggled its way out of the mess. The axe turned and appraised the mess, then looked back to Rarity, who promptly fainted again.

'Master, wake up, please...' Rarity heard as she stirred, really not wanting to open her eyes, knowing what she would see. Still, she opened them to see the axe floating a foot from her, looking quite down. 'Master! Don't faint! I. Can. Fix. This!' Rarity, avoiding looking at the rubble, gave Moralin a very skeptical look. 'I can! I just need you to let me, and trust me.' Rarity looked back to her pile of rubble, and took in a deep breath.

“Fine. Show me what you can do, Mora-”

'No!' the axe proclaimed in alarm, surprising Rarity. Moralin then eased up, and Rarity could swear that the axe was blushing. 'Master, please, save my name for emergencies only.' Moralin nodded to herself before moving close to Rarity, facing her blade away from the mare. 'Master, rest me on your head, and close your eyes.' Rarity hesitated for only a moment, and did such. 'Now, master, think of your home. The smell, the memories, the things within. Just ... think of it.'

Well, that's easy enough, I suppose. Rarity thought as she started to recall all the supplies she had, which shifted to the project she had been working on before she left the boutique, which shifted to all the pieces she's completed. Before she realized it, she found herself walking through all the memories she'd made in her home.

Though, something was off. A small voice that called her ------, they shared the same ----, same -------, and all she could grasp of that -----, was her voice. Grasping that voice, Rarity recalled the fights they had, the moments they shared. Even though her features, her name, her smile were beyond Rarity's grasp, she knew of her, and while reflecting on her home, Rarity found direction. She knew where she was going next. Who she was going to look for first.

Her intentions affirmed, her memories continued to past her. Countless memories, shared in a single building. The memories pouring over her, she felt as though some magic was at work, that a great power was at play in front of her.

'Now, master, open your eyes!' Moralin ordered happily. And Rarity opened her eyes, taking in her majestic boutique. The place she had worked for, live in, cried, smiled, and made countless memories was before her. Still in rubble.

Rarity started wailing again, much to Moralin's surprise.

'Oh, uhm. Wait, master, I haven't finished yet!' The axe nodded, and moved in close to brush Rarity's tears, which surprised the mare. The axe felt warm. 'Now, let me show you what I can do, as a tool!'

Moralin turned around, moving close to the large pile of broken wood. The axe's head started to glow as it got closer, bobbing as it moved closer to the ground. Rarity thought she could see the outline of someone holding the axe, grasping an invisible handle connected to the axe's head. The humanoid form's outline became more apparent as the axe stopped at the pile. The figure swung the axe into the rubble at it's feet, and the remains of the boutique was washed in light.

Smashed glass, broken wood, scattered paint, cloths, clothes. everything that once made up the boutique and its possessions came to life, slowly levitating from the ground into the air.

Smashed glass melded back together, floating in place where the windows had originally been, waiting patiently for the rest to catch up.

Broken wood formed into solid pieces. As if reforming a giant puzzle, every piece returning to where it had originally been.

Flecks of paint scattered from everything breaking gathered from the dust resting around the home, bringing color back to the boutique.

All the possessions waited patiently for the structure to be reformed, before returning to their place within Rarity's home.

Now, the boutique was whole again. And yet, it still glowed, as did Moralin. The vague humanoid form vanished as the axe rose in the air. The head of the axe shimmered blue, before giving off a flash, making Rarity blink. And she saw as her vision readjusted, that the axe now had a new handle.

It was etched in stylistic markings, the wood being light blue and white, matching Rarity's coat and eyes. The wood of the handle extended over the axe's head, covering the three letters written on it, 'Lin'. The glow of magic then died down, and the axe wobbled in the air for a moment, before falling on the ground.

The boutique was whole again, and Rarity took it in, mouth hanging open. Her boutique now looked even better then she remembered. It gave off a smell of fresh wood, and a sense of welcome. Her eyes not leaving her home, she strode forward to the axe's side, which was still resting on the ground.

'How's that, master? Better then you remember, right?' She asked after a pause.

“That, that was incredible Mora- erm, axe! Why didn't you do that first?”

'There was a pebble in the way...' The axe replied weakly, getting Rarity's attention as she appraised the tool. She was momentarily distracted with how it looked with the new handle, as if the addition was made specifically to appeal to the mare.

“You okay, dear?”

'I, must have been asleep for a very long time. That isn't usually so taxing...' The axe fell silent, before standing up and hovering to the boutique, Rarity following after it. Reaching the front door, Moralin stopped and rested her head on the ground, leaning her handle on the side of the boutique, near the door.

'Master. I'm, very sleepy... I'm gonna take a small nap. If ... you need me ... just give me ... a ... swing...' Rarity looked on in concern as the axe fell silent. Watching it for a moment, the handle started to slide, the axe aiming to fall over. Rarity caught it with her magic, and felt what she could only assume was snoring coming from the axe, making her smile.

“Alright then, sleep well.” Rarity said with a sweet smile as she propped Moralin against her home. Looking to the door, she opened it again, and after affirming that there was no giant boulder inside, entered.

Taking several steps in, she stopped. She felt as though she hadn't been home in a very, very long time, and yet, to her, she also felt as if she had just been here several hours ago. Feeling as if her boutique was welcoming her back, Rarity smiled, unexpected tears born from her happiness falling down her cheeks as she took it all in.

“Well, I'm home!” She declared, to no one in particular. And it was probably just her imagination, but she could have sworn she heard someone say, 'Welcome home, we've missed you!'

A smile on her face, she did what she considered the most important, most appropriate thing to do in this situation. She took a bath. A nice, long, hot, relaxing bath.

3. Friend? S-Sure, Why Not?

Okay, maybe she took two baths. Running from the whatever-it-was through the woods, as well as falling through said woods, had done a number on the white mare's coat. She truly was a mess. Since Moralin was asleep, she chose to do what most do when sitting in a tub of hot bubbly water, she let her mind wander.

“Let's see. No aging, so, that means I'll never need to worry about wrinkles! Which is always a good thing!” Her brow then furrowed, meshing the beauty creme on her face. “Wait, if that's the case, why was Moralin all rotten and covered in ... natural remedies...” She let out a sigh as she levitated out paper and quill close to the tub, and started jotting down a list of questions to ask a certain axe when it 'woke-up'.

“Oh! Another convenient thing. The water and heat still work~! Hmm, I suppose it works in the same way as how the kraggon was able to walk without her back legs.” She then frowned to herself. “Oooh! I really wish Twilight was here to help me with these kinds of questions!” Sighing again, she jotted more questions down as she looked to the box of fragments she had collected.

Bringing it over, she brought out a red fragment, and peered closely within, seeing a conflagration held within with her minds eye, labeled as a 'fire ruby'. Only, without the ruby, which Rarity could tell was the missing piece, which made this a fragment. It seemed to be some sort of fire spell contained within a gemstone, only now the gemstone was gone, leaving just the fire.

Looking into another fragment, this one green, she saw within half of a very large gemstone figurine of a human warrior. Comparing the fragments to the one she saw earlier, she deduced that red was dangerous, while green was harmless.

Putting the box away, she let out a regretful sigh as she finished her second bath. She was completely for spending the rest of time in that tub, but she wasn't going to let that desire get in the way of looking for her ------, and there were questions she could answer without Moralin's aid. Going through her possessions, she grabbed her saddlebags and started packing the essentials.

Her brow furrowed, as she appraised a pile of essentials that proved to be far too large to fit in her saddlebags, so she started over again. Now, with the purely essential essentials packed away, she headed outside of her boutique-

Before leaving her home, something caught her eye. In the corner, nestled out of sight, was a pile of cat-related items. Toys, bed, food, scratching post. The earlier chase through the woods played in her mind again as her eyes widened.

“I had a cat!!” and it was now clear that the monster had stolen that from her. Putting down her saddlebags, she went to her bedroom and pulled out her photo album, almost in a state of panic, as she flipped through it, trying to spot any unfamiliar faces.

Some time later, she let out a sigh of relief. Besides pictures with her ------ in them, everything else appeared normal. All of her friends and family were still with her memories. She didn't know if she was lucky it was just her cat, or unlucky to have lost anything at all to the monster, but she was happy it seemed to be the only thing missing. Though, it did take her cutie-mark for a short time. The memory of the encounter made her shiver. Shaking her head of it, adopting a lady's composure, she put her album away and proceeded back outside.

Rarity circled her boutique, heading towards the large obsidian rock that had crushed her home. Now that it wasn't offending her livelihood with its presence, she intended to investigate said rock, as she cast her gem finding spell.

Her suspicions proved true as the rock lit up like a Hearth's Warming Tree, making her adopt a small grin. Getting close to it, she found the geode was cracked around an axe-shaped crater near the bottom of the rock. Her eyes following the cracks, she spotted something out of place. Writing, a message, written in white chalk.

The message was written near the top of the rock, and Rarity had to stand on her back hooves, forward hooves leaning on the large unyielding rock as she tried to get a better look at the message, then frowned. The message was barely readable from where she stood, and it was upside down.

I wonder if I can roll it... She wondered as she gathered her magic. She encased the rock, urging it to move with her telekinesis, and as if listening to her order, the rock rolled back, slowly, towards the boutique. Rarity stared, wide-eyed, as its roll brought the words around, now right side up.

Rarity felt as though the rock was as heavy as it should be, it simply felt light to her magic. She then recalled how heavy the metal pipe earlier felt, and was quite certain a rock big enough to crush her boutique was heavier. But, it didn't feel any heavier than the pipe. On a thought, she tried lifting the stone in the air, and after lifting it off the ground with little effort, put it back down, looking quite perplexed.

“Does this have something to do with my 'affinity'?” Rarity ask out loud as she glared at nothing in particular. “Why does everything have to be so, so strange! All the rules have changed! How is a lady such as myself suppose to handle all this!?” She asked as she stomped the grass. She then let out another sigh, frowning at herself. She doubted all this sighing was doing anything good for her complexion.

Moving to the rock, she took in the message. She blinked, then took in the message again, her mouth hanging open, her heart aching as she felt both a sense of relief, annoyance, and confusion assault her at the same time.

'Sorry about the rock, sugarcube. It was an accident! I swear!'

Rarity took the message in, almost without belief, and read it again, running her hoof over it, seeing the chalk smudge onto her coat. The message was real.

“Applejack was here!?” Rarity's surprised was briefly stunted by wondering how one accidentally gets a rock stuck in a friend's home, before adopting a smile. “So, Applejack was here! That means she's awake, right?” Rarity cast her eyes to the shifting heavens, a new hope beating in her breast. If Applejack is out there, then the others, everypony, is out there, somewhere!

She then looked back to the message, holding her hoof under her mouth in thought. “So, she probably came here to find me. Wouldn't surprise me if she was out there somewhere, right now, searching.” She then nodded to herself, certain that if any of the others were awake, they would be searching too.

“May I ask to whom you are speaking to?” An unexpected, respectful voice politely asked of her, making Rarity whip around to its source. A man, a human, stood several paces from her, the trees and bushes of her back yard behind him.

He had silver hair, going down to his shoulders. His skin and eyes were gray, as if all the color had been drained from them. She noticed that his eyes were different shades of gray, the left being darker. He had a handsome face, and was giving Rarity a pleasant smile, and he radiated a sense of nobility. He also wore the most interesting clothing, which Rarity's eyes crawled all over.

A dark purple vest, so dark it was almost black. The shoulders and edges of the sleeves were filled with diamond shaped squares of blue, surrounded by a pink outline, and the vest had a cape attached at the shoulders which flowed behind the man. Rarity could see that the backside of the cape matched the vest, but the underside was a regal purple. As she started taking in his just as intricate white shirt, blue pants, and black boots, he cleared his throat.

“It is rude to stare, at least before introductions are presented.” He said with an amused smile, Rarity then noticed the sword sheathed at his belt, and looked to him, masking her alarm at the appearance of this handsome stranger. “I'm Richard, King of Windor. Or, well, I use to be.” He admitted with a slightly bemused shrug, “But well, I think you can guess to why that's not the case now.” He added with a small bow.

He's a king!? Rarity thought, completely flustered as she bowed in turn.

“I-I'm Rarity, of uh, Ponyville!” Her eyes widened at her stammered response, and she took in a deep breath as she tried to compose herself. “And what, if I may ask, brings a king to my backyard?” He folded his arms, holding a hand under his chin in a contemplative gesture.

“I see, so your home is in this fragment.” He then nodded as he started to pace side to side. “This fragment hasn't had visitors in so long, I didn't think anypony that lived here would ever come to claim it.” He then looked to the rock, then the boutique past it. “I see you repaired the building. I'm guessing that you've recently awakened?” He asked as he motioned to her. Rarity nodded, hoping this Richard could give her some answers. She also didn't mind the fact that he was handsome, and royalty.

“Ah, that explains a lot. Well then, I'm guessing you have a lot of questions.” He then swept his arm to the side, and in a poof a black smoke, a table, a cushion for a pony to sit on, and chair appeared on a patch of yard next to him. He then snapped his finger, and a teapot and two cups appeared at the table. “Care to share a drink?” She eyed the table, wondering what magic this man wielded. She didn't immediately answer, the encounter with the monster earlier flashing through her mind.

That encounter had started off as something cute, then became something horrible. She looked to his gray complexion, and wondered if he was like the monster, or if that was simply how he naturally was. Seeing her hesitate, he took the teapot in hand, and filled both teacups with brown tea, its lovely fragrance reaching Rarity from where she stood as he took a seat.

“Come now, I know royalty can be intimidating, but as long as you aren't out to stab me in the back, I'm quite friendly.” He then took a drink of the tea, looking to Rarity, his eyes appraising her. “Oh, I get it.” He then let out a small sigh, “It's because I'm male, isn't it?” He asked, making Rarity blink in confusion. “Oh yes, I've heard all about the legends. How unicorns fear men for their lack of purity. Well, just great. I was hoping to have a conversation with a beautiful creature such as yourself, only to be thwarted by the circumstances of my creation!” He seemed honestly put off, as if he had been born male purely to spite this encounter.

He then got up, “Well, it's clear I've come here for nothing. I bid you a good day, Lady Rarity-”

“Now wait just a second dear- I, I mean, Your Highness.” Rarity got out, motioning him to not leave, “I don't know where you heard such a silly story. I'm just, wary, of strangers that appear suddenly from out of nowhere.”

“I can assure you, Lady Rarity, that I didn't simply appear out of nowhere.” He then took his seat again, giving her a beaming smile as he motioned to the other cup. Rarity approached the table, sitting on the cushion, and appraised her cup before taking a sip. The tea was very good, so good, that it helped calm Rarity's nerves. Richard waited quietly while looking to Rarity, as if expecting her to say something.

Oh, right! Questions! Rarity thought as she felt her cheeks flush.

“Well, Your Highness, if I may be so bold as to ask, why are you here?”

“Well, even though Windor is no more, I am still a King." He stated, quite proudly, "When I sensed someone enter my domain, I felt the need to look into it.” He then caught Rarity's confused look as he nodded, “This section of Ponyville, as well as many neighboring fragments, make up my realm. I don't tolerate outsiders, which is why your place has become … overrun, with junk.” He then quickly added, “Not that I consider a beauty such as yourself an outsider, or junk for that matter. After all, this is your home, and I like to think myself fair.”

“Since, you seem to have recently woken up, I must ask, are you aware of the dangers of the Fragmented Sea?” Rarity shook her head. “Well then, let's address the major one. Wandering the sea are monsters known as lamar, shape changers that absorb fragments into themselves. They don't just stop at fragments, mind you, they try to absorb anything, as they have quite an insatiable hunger.” He then nodded to himself. “Interesting trivia, many believe that hunger itself didn't disappear, it was simply tossed upon the lamar.” Rarity nodded at his information, her brow furrowing in reflection.

“I've actually run into one of those before.” She stated, getting a wide-eyed reaction from Richard.

“And you got away? You must either be powerful, or quite lucky.” He then re-adopted his smile, “Or maybe it simply thought you too beautiful to absorb.” Rarity felt herself blush again as she returned his smile.

Oh dear, flattery will get you everywhere! She thought as she tried to compose herself.

“Just lucky, I assure you.” He nodded as he continued.

“Well, lamar come in two varieties. The typical kind, which get stronger as they absorb more powerful entities, but can be brought down with weapons and magic. And behemoths.” His brow then furrowed as he looked Rarity in the eyes, demanding her attention. “There is no fighting behemoths. If you see one, you run. No hiding, no fighting, no silly notion that you can buy time for others against it. You. Run. Only the greatest of entities can oppose a behemoth. And it always ends in tragedy.” Rarity took his warning to heart, before returning his gaze.

“Is the difference between the two obvious?” She then pictured the cat lamar from earlier being crushed under a mountain-tall lion lamar.

“Well, along with the regular distinction, a behemoth is also covered in lines of a single, set color. Behemoths are also fairly thoughtless, they don't converse, they simply rampage.”

“Regular distinction?” She asked, prompting Richard to appraise her again as he nodded.

“A common attribute to all lamar is their complexion. They lack color.” As comprehension dawned on Rarity's face, he started to fiddle with his teacup as he added, “Indeed, they can't help it, so the smarter ones try to hide it, covering it up with clothing or magic.” He then gave Rarity a bemused look.

“You're … a lamar?” She asked as she slowly backed away from the table, prompting a sad sigh from Richard.

“It would seem I've been thwarted by my circumstances of creation, yet again.” He said, not caring that Rarity was backing away from him. “To be honest, this domain, this part of the Fragmented Sea, is considered a danger zone to all who know if it. Because it is my 'nest'.” He then gave her a sincere smile, “Still, you're quite lucky, Lady Rarity.”

“I fail to see how!” Rarity proclaimed, now several paces from Richard. Something about the way he was letting her leave made her hesitate, so she looked to him, now curious as to why he would tell her anything, or reveal himself to her.

“Your home, was in my domain, and you sought it out first. Of all the lamar in the sea, I am probably one of the most negotiable. I will admit, I came here with the intention of absorbing the fool who dared enter my kingdom. But when I arrived, where I expected to find a feast, lay a beautiful gemstone in its place.”

He then nodded to himself, getting out of his chair, prompting Rarity to take another step back. “I have been around since the end of the first age. I admit, it's quite dull, sitting around, walking through the countless memories I've absorbed over the centuries. I wouldn't mind something new. Lady Rarity, would you accept my hand, in friendship?” He turned to her, offering his hand, then blinked, looking at her in surprise.

“Wait,” he said, his words directed more to himself then the mare, “friendship, between a lamar and, well, anyone?” Richard seemed lost in thought for a moment, surprised by the very notion he proposed. He closed his eyes, then nodded to himself, adopting a small, almost thankful smile. “Very well, Lambda,” he said to himself. He then looked back to Rarity. “I must ask of you, can you fight?”

“W-What?”

“The Fragmented Sea is a dangerous place to wander alone, as you can clearly tell. If I am to offer you my friendship, I must be certain you can defend yourself. If not, I would be most disappointed to learn that you were consumed by a lesser lamar.”

“You're serious about this!?” Rarity once again found herself in another unbelievable position. I'm in its nest, and it wants to be friends with me!?

“I take my personal relationships very seriously.” He declared, very seriously. The table, chairs and tea set then disappeared as Richard took up a stance, facing Rarity. “Come at me, Rarity. Give me everything you have. If you can make me draw my sword, then I shall call you my friend. Otherwise, I will spare you from being devoured by a lesser Lamar, by taking care of you myself. Understand?” Rarity stared at him for a moment in disbelief, then, against her better judgment, closed her eyes, taking in several breaths as she tried to mentally adjust to her new life.

Well, Rarity, dear, nothing makes sense anymore. It's a monster, and it wants to be my friend. I think it best, if we just started accepting things at face value. But, let's not lose our way. She then nodded to herself, affirming her stance as she looked back to Richard.

“So, to get this straight. You're saying we can be friends, as long as I try my best to hurt you. And if I fail, you're going to, well, do that thing a lamar does to some poor pony like me?” He looked at her, blinking in surprise, before letting out a hearty laugh.

“Oh goodness, when put like that, it truly does sound terrible.” He laughed a little more, holding his hand over his mouth, as he looked to her, and Rarity couldn't help but feel embarrassed by his mirth. “Fair enough, good lady. If you fail to impress me, I shall simply escort you to the nearest city. But, I won't allow you here ever again. I think that's more than fair, coming from a monster such as myself.”

Rarity appraised the handsome lamar. After dealing with the first one, she wasn't certain she could trust him. She then came to realize that if he wanted to absorb her, he could have done so already, when she accepted the tea he offered. Considering, for now, his offer to be legitimate, she looked back to her home.

She could choose not to fight him, and leave him, and her home, behind, but he had a point. She intended to go out and find everyone dear to her, and what good would she be if she fell to the next lamar she encountered. She had Moralin, who managed the first lamar soundly, but she could see that the monsters were quite tricky. Besides, what good was a weapon, if its owner wasn't capable of fighting?

She looked back to Richard. She could fight. She's done it before. Even if it wasn't lady-like, even if it got her hooves dirty, she could fight. Her father saw to that.

“So, I just need to make you draw your sword?” He gave her a smug grin as he nodded. How hard could that be? “Just so you know, I don't really like fighting, but I don't want to lose my home. So, I apologize if I end up hurting you.” Her words made him give her a more serious look, as she got on her hind legs, taking up a practiced stance, one foreleg forward, the other behind her. Richard then raised an eyebrow, as Rarity gave him a smug grin of her own.

There was only one thing her father had ever asked of her. He enabled her, let her live her dream, helped her in any way he could, and supported her. So, when he asked this one thing of her, she had put her everything into giving him what he asked. He wanted to ensure his daughter could defend herself, he ensured the she learned karate.

She leapt towards Richard with a flying kick. If he was surprised, he hid it well, as he took a step to the side, avoiding her flight, her kick landing in the ground. Twisting around, she spun towards the lamar, swing her foreleg towards his handsome face. He blocked, flinching back from the blow as he gave Rarity an amused, and slightly respectful look, before readopting his smile.

“You truly fit your namesake.” He said, he then swept down to knock her off her hooves. She hopped over his kick, hopping away from him as she appraised him. “Just a pointer,” he began during the pause in her attack, “Hoof combat isn't the best approach to handle a lamar, unless your hooves are coated in magic, you risk being absorbed when your blows connect. Not that I would ruin our fight by doing such a thing.” He assured as he motioned for Rarity to come at him again. After considering his words a moment, she obliged.

Getting back into melee, she assaulted him with a barrage of slaps, chops, punches, and kicks. She was terribly out of practice. At least, that's how she felt, seeing how he managed to block and dodge every blow. While this fighting style proved useful in the past, it just wasn't cutting it here, and it was starting to wear her down. After less than a minute of fighting, she was winded. Fatigue born from running through the forest caught up to her, and she could feel her attacks slowing down, and Richard took note of it. He moved back from her, letting her catch her breath as he appraised her.

“You have skill, but lack stamina. Dare I say that you're out of shape?” He asked as he gave her a smug grin. Her brow furrowed momentarily as an idea flashed across his face, and he cast his hand forward. “Another pointer, expect to encounter unexpected developments during a fight.”

A sudden gust of wind, born from his hand, surged forth, sending Rarity flying back in surprise. She kept her balance, now several paces from him, as she looked to her foe, wide-eyed. He gave her a look, as if to say she was capable of more. His hand then glowed with a golden aura, and the earth beneath Rarity cracked. Sensing the coming attack, she leapt forward again. As she moved through the air, she heard the sound of stone exploding behind her, and felt pebbles strike her back, as Richard ducked below her flying kick.

Seeing that he was using magic, she felt that if she wanted to win, she'd have to do the same. No, she thought, At this point, it's my only chance to win! I am not losing my home! She then mentally winced as she felt sweat bead down her head, Oh, for the love of Celestia! I'm going to have to clean up again!

Though this was her first time using magic in a fight, years of multitasking with her telekinesis for sewing showed their reward, as Rarity's horn glowed. Landing, she started to circle around Richard, his eyes on her. She saw a fireball gathering in his hand, and Rarity's eyes met his as she distanced herself from him. Richard caught the look of victory in her eyes, and faltered for a moment in confusion.

Rarity smiled, and after briefly hoping her attack wouldn't harm him too much, she tightened her grip on the red fragment she had left when she landed from her kick. The fragment was nestled in the grass a pace behind Richard, outside his notice.

The fragment changed into a small ball of fire, its conflagration encased in an unseen container of stone. Even from several paces away, Rarity could feel the heat radiating from it, and stepped back further, as Richard shielded himself from the heat of the burning fragment. The grass directly under the fire lit up into beads of light, which Rarity noted. Then, to her surprise, Richard moved to the gem, and grasped it. Rarity's grasp on the fire dissipated as the fire ruby disappeared. Richard gave Rarity a sly grin, as he tossed the red fragment back to her, which she gingerly caught with her hooves.

“Pretty good, just keep in mind that a lamar can take a fragment as their own. Also, I still have my sword sheathed...” his words died as he noticed Rarity's horn was still glowing, that she was still smiling, her eyes on something above him.

He didn't even look, he rolled, but he wasn't fast enough, as the geode crashed down on him. Rarity blinked, not having expected him to fail to get out from under it.

“R-Richard?” She asked, a slight mix of concern, and confusion that she was concerned for the lamar. Rarity then stepped back in surprise as the entire geode split into two pieces, which shimmered and shrunk into two green beads of light, revealing Richard. Giving Rarity a smile, sword in hand, he sheathed his blade as he bowed to her.

“That was pretty clever, using the fire to distract me. I think I have little to fear. So, Lady Rarity, anything I can help you with?”

That's it? Just like that? Rarity thought in disbelief as she gathered herself, letting her breathing ease up as she looked to him.

“Well,” she began as she gave him a sheepish grin, “I wouldn't mind continuing our earlier conversation.” He nodded, and with a wave of his hand, the table, chair, cushion, and tea set reappeared, and after they both shared a moment to catch their breath and drink some tea, Rarity looked to him.

“So, I have a lot of questions...”