The next two weeks practically flew by for both Rarity and Spike. At Spike’s suggestion following the showcase, Rarity had shown her parents some of the places Spike had shown her. As it turned out, this had let to more than a few amazed exclamations from her family. Admittedly, given that any noise Sweetie Belle made seemed to amount to some manner of delighted squealing, may have biased things in Rarity’s favor but the filly seemed no less deterred by it. On the days that Spike had been able to join them, the five of them would make tracks to some of Canterlot’s best sights and Spike’s commentary only served to make the trip all the more enjoyable for the visiting family as they got a native’s perspective about the opulent city.

Like all good things in the world, it was all about to come to an end. It was something ponies everywhere not so much feared as it was inevitable but was dreaded because of its inevitability. Of course, this refers to the final vacation day. Admittedly, Rarity hadn’t given the final day much thought in favor of playing things by ear. It had certainly been an effective method to having fun in Canterlot so far but now that the final day was upon her, Rarity found herself at a loss for what to do.

“I wish that I could just live here,” Rarity murmured, staring out at the vast cityscape from her hotel room’s window. “I could spend my time making more of my creations and selling them to ponies who would adore them. But more importantly…” she cast a wistful day toward the distant Canterlot Castle where she knew Spike would be hard at work helping his friend Twilight with her studies.

“I wouldn’t have to leave my friendship with Spike behind…” she murmured sadly as she continued staring wistfully at the castle and then it occurred to her. She still had a full day ahead of her to do as she pleased: her parents had opted for something more low-key and had decided to take Sweetie Belle to the park to spend time with some of the other foals there. They’d wanted Rarity to come along but the older filly had opted to stay behind, stating that she wanted to get all her dress designs down on paper before she forgot about them. What she didn’t tell them was that she also wanted to not only chronicle her impromptu adventures in Canterlot but she also wanted to see Spike at least one last time before she returned home from vacation.

She sighed as she sifted through the many pictures that they’d taken during their time here.

Oh what am I doing? Rarity shook her head to shake herself out of her funk. There’s nothing stopping me from spending time with him at the castle. He’s taken me all around Canterlot; it’s only fair that I meet him where he is at least once. She glanced out the window. If her timing was correct, it was still relatively early in the day from what Spike had told her of his schedule, there was little doubt in the filly’s mind that Twilight would more than likely be occupied with her advanced classes from her professors and from the princess herself, meaning that Spike would more than likely be lounging around the castle or, if he happened to be feeling charitable, volunteering with helping Princess Celestia with some of her work.

Decision made, Rarity stood up and headed for the door. There was a best friend just waiting for her at the castle and a lady shouldn’t keep her friends waiting now should she?

* * *

Spike was a happy young dragon. He’d just finished breakfast with Twilight and Princess Celestia. In an unusual shift in character, Twilight had taken to asking him about his time with Rarity. He could tell that she was genuinely curious about it as she knew full well that he enjoyed helping her with her studies and anything that took away from that was worth noting.

Princess Celestia for her part had been thrilled as she listened attentively to the young dragon’s animated renditions of his impromptu adventures with Rarity. Granted, she was already well aware of his adventures thanks to her guards. It also helped that Shining Armor and Cadance had spent a fair bit of their free time with them.

And that was to say nothing of the background checks alabaster alicorn had run on both the filly and her family. Excessive? Perhaps, but ever since she’d lost her little sister, the Princess of the sun had taken measures to make sure that nothing like this ever happened again. She didn’t want to lose anybody else important to her for easily avoidable reasons.

After all, being alone was never fun no matter how much Twilight might have insisted otherwise.

Getting back on track, Celestia first glanced out the window and then down at the young dragon sitting at her side with a stack of comic books he’d recently acquired just waiting to be read. She could safely say that Spike was a joy to have around. If nothing else, just having him give a running commentary on his day was definitely more interesting to listen to than the scratching of her quill against whatever documents needed her approval.

Celestia smiled down at Spike as he finished the last of his stories of his adventures of the previous day. It had helped that they’d had a few leftover doughnuts to give monarch the sugar needed to get through was sure to be another stressful day.

Another glance out the window told her that it was almost time for Twilight’s personal lessons with her.

“Spike,” she started. “I wanted to let you know in advance that Twilight’s lesson with me will probably take up most of the day and probably stretch well into the evening. Why don’t you take advantage of the nice day?” She smiled brightly, winking at him.

Spike’s eyes lit up as a certain alabaster filly came to mind and was only too happy to agree as he snatched his comic books and rushed out of her study, yelling a ‘thank you!’ over his shoulder as he ran away. Celestia watched, a fond smile on her face before turning back to the final document, signing it with a flourish before standing up and following the small dragon’s lead

Spike had made it halfway to his and Twilight’s room when he heard a voice call out to him. Turning around, he found one of Celestia’s guards, Flash Step if he remembered correctly, and a familiar unicorn standing behind her.

“You have a visitor, Spike,” she said simply and with an incline of her head, Rarity rushed to Spike’s side and grabbed him in a tight but platonic hug.

“It’s so good to see you, Spike dear!” Rarity chirped brightly. “I was hoping to find you here!” She quieted down as the guardsmare cleared her throat before nodding and trotting away. Rarity let go but the broad smile still remained.

Spike blinked. “Where else would I go?”

Rarity shrugged. “Well you certainly have more experience with Canterlot than I do and you could be anywhere.”

Spike shook his head. “Well since you came all this way, wanna explore the castle with me? After all, last time you were here, we only got to check out the castle gardens.”

Rarity’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. It had been something of a dream to be able to explore the castle in its entirety and while she would have been perfectly satisfied with simply exploring the gardens, the offer to explore the entire castle was simply too good to pass up.

* * *

“And finally…” Spike huffed. All the walking around the castle had taken its toll on him and the cursory glance at Rarity told him that she was harboring similar sentiments. That in mind, Spike decided to make things quick. “This room features some of Equestria’s proudest moments.” He nodded to the stained glass windows.

Rarity for her part could only gaze in awe at how far Equestria had come and felt a swell of pride, knowing that some day, she could make just as significant contribution in her life to ultimately make Equestria even better. But that was for later; right now, Rarity had come to spend some time with Spike who then suggested that they play in the castle gardens; it would be just like old times.

If the old times wasn’t a callback to two weeks ago.

Nonetheless, Rarity and Spike still enjoyed the bright and sunny day. The former, who would later attribute this adventurous side of herself to Spike, eagerly suggested that they try to find each other in the maze.

“But wouldn’t it be more fun if more people were playing?” Spike asked, wishing not for the first time that Twilight take a break from reading those dusty old books and come outside and play with him.

It was then that they heard the clopping of hooves nearby from the other side of the neatly trimmed hedges. Curiously, both peered over said hedges to find Princess Celestia lecturing Twilight. It was already clear to Rarity that Twilight would be a brilliant scholar just from her posture. A skill she’d honed thanks her time spent with both Spike and Princess Cadance.

They didn’t know why but both couldn’t help but stay and listen as Princess Celestia explained the nuances and quirks of teleporting to Twilight who’d then been asked to provide an abridged version for a pony not well versed in magic. The sidelong smile she flashed at Rarity held that implicit meeting.

Since you decided come and listen to my lesson, you might as well learn it too.

Truth be told, Rarity wasn’t entirely clear on the instructions but felt no desire to ask their benevolent ruler to repeat the instructions, especially in front of her personal student. Besides, it was nothing short of a miracle that the princess hadn’t called them out for eavesdropping.

But on the other hoof, she had challenged Rarity to try teleporting and truth be told, it sounded really cool. And then Twilight made an almost off-hoof remark about how dangerous it could be and panicked at the prospect of messing it up and had unknowingly put Rarity on edge about trying this.

“You needn’t worry, my faithful student,” Celestia reassured, placing a golden clad hoof over her pupil back, rubbing it gently. “I have every confidence that you will succeed. And even if you don’t succeed, the only major side effect is passing out from magic overuse.”

That did a little to assuage Rarity’s fears. At least it wouldn’t be a lasting issue. Plus, teleporting would definitely save her time when she wanted to get home from school and start working on her designs. And that was to say nothing of how much easier it would be avoid bullies if she could teleport.

Suddenly, Rarity found herself encouraged by the prospect of learning how to teleport for herself as they slipped away to practice.

* * *

“You sure about this?” Spike asked, careful to sound as though he didn’t believe Rarity could pull this off. They’d since found a couple of spellbooks that explained teleportations without all the technical jargon that Twilight often used. “I mean, I’d hate for you to pass out because you put too much magic into it…” he trailed off awkwardly.

“It’s so sweet of you to care Spike,” Rarity replied, giving him a one armed hug. “But the truth is that I’d like to be able to use my magic for more than just making my dresses.”

“But isn’t making awesome looking dresses,” Rarity swelled happily at the praise, “your special talent? How would teleporting help with that?”

“Saving time aside,” Rarity started, “It’d making things much easier if I could simply teleport all the heavy stuff that I’d need to me as opposed to trying to lift it up. I usually need to strain to be able to do that and it ends up hurting a lot afterward so I don’t even get to use it which just makes me so angry!”

Spike actually took a couple steps back as he watched Rarity breathe heavily not unlike some feral animal on a rampage.

“I’m terribly sorry, Spike. I didn’t mean to get so hostile just then. It’s just that back home, there are ponies there that like to make fun of me for wanting design and make dresses. I’d have thought that making the costumes for the Ponyville play would had made them stop… and some of them have stopped but there are still a few ponies who still feel the need to poke fun at it.”

Spike wasn’t sure how he felt. On the one hand, he felt a righteous anger boiling in his stomach from Rarity’s story. He would have loved nothing more than to sneak up behind one such pony and breathe a small amount of fire on them and just watch them scream in terror. He quickly squashed this idea. Burning this bully seemed a bit excessive in the ‘protecting friends’ department.

Plus there was no way in Tartarus that he’d ever get away with it. Celestia might lock him away. Or banish him. Or lock him away to the place where she banishes him to. Would Celestia even have any say in where he’d be locked away if he were banished from Equestria?

“Well, when you show everybody your designs at one of those showcases we went to see,” Spike started. “I’m sure that everybody will be really impressed with your designs and cheer your name!”

Rarity felt her face warm at Spike’s optimism.

“Well,” she said, recovering, “shall we get started?”

Before Spike could respond, there was a loud whip-like crack causing the two to jump in equal parts surprise and fright. However, instead of whatever frightful terror that their minds could produce, they found a filly of a similar size and build to Rarity but with three major differences: her mane, coat, and cutie mark. What immediately caught their attention was her singed mane and coat.

“Twilight! Are you okay?” Spike rushed to his surrogate sister’s side, checking to make sure she was at least breathing after what was clearly a disastrous teleport. Less than thirty seconds later, a second bang was heard and they found Princess Celestia in their midst. They watched in awe as her horn lit up in a golden aura and in an instant, the charred coat and mane were back to how they were before the disastrous teleportation attempt.

Twilight’s eyes lit up at the new spell and immediately insisted that she teach it to her.

“Not so fast my faithful student,” said Celestia gently. “Remember, we still need to practice teleporting.” She paused, surveying the singed grass around Twilight. “Although I will say that was definitely an impressive first attempt but it seemed like you were using too much magic… and your concentration may have slipped a little with all that magic circulating in your horn.”

“You’re right, Princess,” Twilight admitted. “I thought that it would require lots of magic in order to teleport and I lost control.”

“Well, now that we know where things went wrong, we can learn from those mistakes and try again,” she smiled down at the enthusiastic filly who was already charging her horn for her next attempt. She turned to Spike and Rarity. “Would you care to join us?”

Both nodded eagerly as they trailed behind the alabaster alicorn to watch Twilight teleport.

“Remember, Twilight. You’re only teleporting to that statue,” she gestured to the statue labeled as Discord: the spirit of chaos. Nothing else needed to be said as Twilight vanished from their small group before reappearing where Celestia had indicated. From what Spike and Rarity could see, she’d definitely had an easier time of it if the lack of singed fur or mane was any clue.

“Well done, Twilight,” Celestia praised quietly as Twilight danced around her teacher eagerly. The taller mare smiled down at her student before casting her benevolent gaze at Rarity. Twilight followed her teacher’s lead and caught sight of the other pony in the gardens.

“Would you like to try?” Celestia asked kindly. Rarity blinked before casting her gaze between Spike, Princess Celestia, and the spot she indicated. Said spot being the hedges where she and Spike had been watching the lesson progress. “Although I should warn you…”

“Um… Princess?” One look at her student told Celestia everything she needed to know as she conjured a simple metal bucket that she placed in front of her student, rubbing her back gently while they all pointedly looked away from said bucket as Twilight released that morning’s breakfast back into the bucket.

“The first time can be pretty nauseating,” she finished as Twilight pulled her head away and moaned pathetically.

“Um… okay,” Rarity replied uncertainly. She was equal parts excited and apprehensive about this whole experience. After all, there weren’t exactly a whole lot of unicorns in Ponyville.

Face forward. There’s no going back now. Especially not when Princess Celestia is right here. Rarity thought, stepping forward.

“Let me walk you through it once more,” she cast a brief gaze toward her recovering student who’d perked up at the mention of teleporting as Spike made sure she was okay. “First: close your eyes and visualize your destination. The more clearly you can visualize it, the less magic you’ll have to put in to be able teleport to that location.”

Rarity obeyed as she pictured the hedges where she and Spike watched the lesson in fascination. She could recall the smell of freshly cut grass, the crunch of that same grass on her hooves, the gentle breeze wafting through the air, and the voices of Spike, Twilight, and the Princess.

“Do you have the destination clear in your head?” Celestia asked quietly. Rarity gave only a short nod as not to risk breaking her concentration. “Good, now channel your magic into your horn and let it guide you.”

Rarity did just that as she felt her magic practically rushing toward her horn and she vanished with a loud bang. Spike winced as he rushed over to a downed Rarity who’d looked no worse for where aside from the fact that she’d missed her target… and she was green.

Lovely...

“Um… Twilight? I think we’re going to be needing that bucket really soon.” Twilight had been nice enough to banish the contents before passing it over to Spike who rushed back to Rarity’s side as she, in a perfect imitation of Twilight, emptied the contents of her stomach. Twilight watched as Spike patted the white filly’s back gently while wondering if this unicorn happened to attend the school for gifted unicorns.

“I don’t think I want to try that again just yet,” said Rarity once she’d managed to recover what was left of her composure after that. It didn’t help but that she could still feel her stomach churning in protest

“Understandable,” Celestia nodded. “Teleportation is not for everybody but I commend you on your performance.” With that, she gave her student a small smile and an incline of her head, prompting the filly to follow after her. Before she got left the gardens, she turned back to the pair.

“It was nice meeting you, Rarity,” Twilight started. “We should definitely do some magic together later…” Rarity blinked before smiling.

“It was nice to meet you too, Twilight,” Rarity responded. Twilight allowed a small smile to creep onto her face as she waved and then galloped away.

* * *

“Wow Rarity,” Spike remarked as he watched Rarity teleport a plastic ball between two points. “You got a lot better with object teleportation.”

“It certainly helps that you’ve been here, giving me advice, Spike,” Rarity replied enthusiastically. Spike, in turn, simply blushed in embarrassment.

“Shucks, it was nothing,” Spike replied sheepishly. "I just happened to remember some of the stuff Twilight read from her books."

“It most certainly is not!” Rarity protested. “Spike, I can’t even begin to describe how important your friendship is to me especially since it’s my first one!” Spike almost immediately remembered Rarity telling him how it had been tough for her to make friends on the account that no one in her class seemed remotely interested in fashion. Granted, he wasn’t anywhere near as interested in fashion as Rarity was (he was starting to think that that would be impossible for anybody to match).

“W-Well, the feeling’s mutual…” Spike stammered. Both had big fat tears just waiting to fall. A small part of Rarity’s brain couldn’t help but applaud her for deciding to go out sans makeup today. They both had to hold back a sniffle as they threw themselves at each other cried out the various woes that have plagued their lives: namely their struggles in making friends.

They’d intended for their crying session to be brief but crying about one thing had opened the floodgates for all the other struggles outside of their friendship struggles such as societal struggles and how they’d be able to survive in the outside world once they were old enough.

* * *

“Thanks for listening Spike,” Rarity smiled as they trotted out of the gardens after their cathartic crying session. “I feel a lot lighter now that I’ve gotten all that off my back.”

“I know what you mean,” Spike nodded. “I feel the same way now that I’ve gotten all that in the open.”

In the lull of the conversation, Spike idly glanced at the window as they walked or in Rarity’s case, attempting to teleport every few steps with partial success. The young dragon blinked as he’d realized that they essentially spend the entire day practicing teleporting and cutting loose the metaphorical dark clouds that’d been hanging over their heads for the better part of their lives.

“Uh Rarity… not to be rude or anything but shouldn’t you get back to your family?” Rarity paused at this point before turning toward the window and subsequently gasping as she realized how much time she’d spent with Spike. Granted, she didn’t mind. In fact, all in all, Rarity would have considered this a day well spent: not only had she gotten a second chance at meeting Princess Celestia in the flesh, but she’d also learned how to teleport! Or at least a short range teleport. There was little doubt in Rarity’s mind that with enough practice she could teleport almost anywhere she wanted.

Shaking her head and refocusing on getting back to her family, Rarity replied in the affirmative. They had just reached the castle foyer when they spotted three familiar unicorns waiting for them.

“I told you we’d find them here,” they heard Rarity’s mother lightly chide her father who had the decency to look embarrassed. Spike watched with a smile as Rarity ran to her parents and hugged them tightly. She’d then apologized for not telling them where she was going as well as for being out for as long as she had. She’d intended to come back sooner so that she could pack up her things before returned to Ponyville the following morning.

The two friends faced each other, utterances of goodbye on the tips of their tongues.

… And then Princess Celestia stepped into the foyer with fatigued Twilight trailing behind her. It was here that their benevolent ruler invited them to stay for dinner. After all, the Princess of the Sun, in learning about Rarity, was more than a little curious about her family and wanted to get to know them better, background checks aside.

* * *

That evening dinner had started off as a relatively tense affair: the copious amount of silverware had caught them all off guard and more than a little bamboozled in figuring out which to use. Rarity’s father was tempted to disregard etiquette and simply stuff his face but the pointed look from his wife and elder daughter made him reconsider that course of action.

Thankfully, help came in the form of Twilight Sparkle who nodded to Rarity and levitated the necessary silverware for the meal with Rarity following her lead. Her parents had been quick enough to catch on and the awkwardness that was silverware usage was resolved.

Enter the awkwardness silence.

“So Rarity, why don’t you tell us what you did today,” Princess Cadance spoke up from her place between Princess Celestia and Shining Armor. As the up and coming Princess of Love, Cadance was something of an expert of breaking awkward situations and using them to her advantage.

Rarity didn’t even need to think as she rocketed off about all the wonderfully amazing things she got to do that day: the most impressive of which was definitely teleporting.

“You learned how to teleport?” Shining Armor remarked. “Gotta say that’s pretty impressive. I’m pretty sure at least half of members the royal guard couldn’t teleport.” He chuckled as Rarity’s smile widened as she turned to gush happily to her parents.

He thought it best not to mention the fact that the guards tended to lean to earth pony and pegasi on the account of their strength and endurance.

“Yeah, I’m still trying to get the hang of it but I’m sure I’ll get better with more practice,” Rarity nodded. Twilight shot her a smile, offering to trade a few tips she’d learned. The other filly nodded happily as Twilight almost immediately dove into a conversation about it. The others couldn’t quite fight the smiles that stretched across their faces as they watched Rarity, Twilight, and Spike talk animatedly and subsequently jumping from topic to topic when they started getting bored.

In fact, they’d since lost track of time as they talked and ate merrily.

“Oh my!” Rarity’s mother having noticed that darkness had since descended on Canterlot. “It’s gotten quite late hasn’t it.” She turned to a drowsy Rarity and remarking that it was time that they get back. Princess Celestia had offered to let them stay in the palace for the evening. Unfortunately, the parents had to refuse on the account that Rarity still needed to pack her numerous belongings.

Realizing that they were leaving, Rarity had quickly rummaged her saddlebags and let out a whoop of victory as she produced two garments and magically placed the top hat and blazer on Spike while simultaneously wrapping the scarf gently around Twilight’s neck.

“I wanted to give you both something to remember me by,” she explained at their bewildered expressions. “Twilight, I know we’ve just met but I’m glad that I got to meet you. Spike speaks very highly of you.”

Twilight flushed at the compliment. “W-Well, ever since he met you, Spike’s been telling me all about his ‘super awesome’ friend’.” She smiled down at Spike with a warmth that belied years of wisdom that a filly shouldn’t have had. “So in light of that, he and I wanted to make something for you.”

Twilight’s horn lit up in its traditional magenta hue as she produced the gold-plated necklace that she and Spike had acquired courtesy of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Rarity’s eyes widened at the sight of it and threatened to burst out of her head when she spotted the ruby placed in the center.

Tears threatening to lead to another crying session, Rarity grabbed Twilight and Spike in a hug and in that moment they made a silent vow to never let their friendship die.

With all three wiping unshed tears from their eyes and none wishing to cry any more than they already had (Spike’s pride had since died when he and Rarity had their crying session).

“Well, we should get going,” Rarity’s father smiled at Twilight and Spike before bowing to Cadance and Celestia who nodded before the four visitors set off for their hotel to pack

“Princess?” Twilight spoke up once the four unicorns were out the door. “Would it be alright if my lessons started a little later tomorrow?”

Celestia didn't even need to think before she gave her answer.

* * *

Rarity sighed as she stared up at the hotel where the family had spent the past few weeks. It had definitely been an incredible experience. Much more invigorating than she would have anticipated and even more so in light of the two friends she’d made since she’d come to Canterlot.

I just wish I didn’t have to say goodbye… Rarity thought sadly as she stared down at the necklace Twilight and Spike gifted unto her. In the few hours that it had been in her possession, Rarity had refused to take it off even when she’d gone to sleep. She wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d been told that she’d snuggled up to it in her sleep. Spike is such a wonderful friend and I hate the fact that I won’t be able to see him anywhere near as much as I like. Nonetheless, she shook her head as the last of their luggage was loaded onto the carriage and she hopped aboard, opting to sit next to her mother who held her in her forehooves in silent support.

What Rarity and her family hadn’t expected when they reached the train station was a whole entourage waiting for them. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance had deigned to appear at the station.

She could see Twilight and her family had decided to come see her off and then she spotted the eyes she wanted to see the most. Spike’s eyes were equal parts happy and sad: she could tell that he was happy that he got to meet her and become such good friends with her in the mere weeks that they’d spent together. Conversely, he was also sad because he had to say goodbye to his friend.

If Rarity was going to be completely honest with herself, she was almost certain that similar sentiments were reflected in her own eyes.

“Normally,” Princess Celestia started in that motherly voice that could somehow break even the most dour of moods with but a single word. “I would give a long winded speech about friendship being magic. However,” she allowed a small smile to cross her face as she gazed down at the two ponies and the lone dragon. “I can tell that this time, I’m spared that inconvenience and in light of that…” Her horn glowed in that golden aura of hers as she conjured two books: one with a picture of Rarity’s cutie mark on the cover and the other with a picture of Spike’s head inside of Twilight’s cutie mark.

“Beautiful friendships such as these shouldn’t have to end just because we have to go our separate ways,” Celestia stated, “so I’m entrusting you with these. They will allow you to talk to each other.”

Their eyes were as wide as the sun in the sky at the thought as Twilight magically produced a quill and inkpot before silently passing it to Spike to write the first message.

‘Best Wishes!’ - Spike and Twilight. There.

Almost immediately, Rarity’s began to vibrate as the alabaster filly flipped the book open and gasped as the message appeared in her own book. Rarity was about to say something but was cut off when they heard trail whistling loudly.

“Last call for the train to Ponyville!” the conductor called as her parents quickly ushered her onto the train.

“Thank you so much!” Rarity cried, waving frantically at the entourage. “Thank you all for everything! I’ll never forget you!” The train had started moving and her frantic waving had only increased as the train picked up speed. She could clearly see that Twilight and Spike were chasing after her with Shining Armor in hot pursuit as they continued to wave with the manic energy that only youth could bestow and it was not long before the train had left the station, leaving the family with only the site of Mt Canterhorn as their companion.

Rarity for her part leaned back against her seat before remembering the journal that Princess Celestia gave her. Her parents seemed to confirm her suspicions of being mind readers as they silently passed her a quill and an inkwell.

Just because she wasn’t home yet didn’t mean she couldn’t keep in touch with her friends.

Author's Note

A short epilogue of sorts is on its way. I'll write a few story notes and link to them once the this story is complete.