Mass Core 2: Crimson Horizon

Rarity rolled over beneath her ultra-high thread count silk sheets and stretched, yawning in the artificial morning light. She then lay back down and smiled, savoring the familiar feeling of feeling both very good and very, very sore. In this case, though, the soreness was much greater than she was used to. That, of course, was to be expected. Contrary to what she had told him, her diplomatic position did in fact give her access to the very best stallion in Equestria, and she was quite familiar with how to operate them- -but none had been quite as thorough with her as Garrus had been. That, and turian and pony anatomy were not one hundred percent compatible.

Rarity looked over at her vanity, where an unwilting silver flower was sitting in a matching base, and she smiled, enjoying the satisfaction of a choice well made. After several minutes, though, she forced herself to roll out of bed. When she hit the floor, her rear legs nearly collapsed.

“Oh my,” she said, giggling in surprise. “That certainly hasn’t happened before.”

She quickly regained her balance and walked stiffly to her mirror. She produced a silver hairbrush from one of the drawers and began brushing her hair. After one hundred strokes, she turned her attention toward her tail. It had been pulled quite hard, and needed far more brushing than normal.

Once she was done, she applied her makeup and, deeming herself acceptably exquisite, opened the door to her quarters. O17F was already waiting outside, dressed impeccably with her mane and wings perfectly prepared as Rarity required of her.

“Good morning, Lady Rarity,” she said.

“Good morning, O17F,” yawned Rarity. “I’m still trying to decide what theme I want today. Either ‘imposing warlord emissary’ or something dazzling with much more jewelry.” She paused, wondering what Garrus would like the best. “Or maybe something a bit sheer, but still professional. Hmm. Have them all set out for me, I’ll decide after breakfast.”

“As you wish, Lady Rarity. With regards to your morning meal, the salarian Councilor has sent a basket of what we believe to be fruit.”

“Oh, my, that was certainly generous of him!”

“Her,” corrected O17F. “Councilor Kalejen is female.”

“Oh. Well, I can’t be expected to know that. She should really wear something more flattering if she wants ponies to know.” Rarity paused. “Don’t I have a meeting scheduled with her today?”

“I have rescheduled it,” said O17F.

Rarity stopped in her tracks. “Might I ask why, exactly, you took the liberty to do that?”

“Because you have been asleep for over twenty hours.”

“Twenty- -TWENTY HOURS?! HOW? Why didn’t you try to wake me up?!”

“I did. You did not rise. I explained to the Councilors that you were having some difficulty adjusting to the gravity and air on this megastructure.”

Rarity took a step closer to the slightly taller Pegasus pony. O17F did not flinch, and her deep red eyes stayed trained on Rarity.

“Do you have any idea how important this mission is to Equestria? This could be the highlight of my career! And you let me be unpunctual?”

“My sincerest apologies, Lady Rarity.”

Rarity raised a hoof. “I should beat you for this, as you are certainly aware.”

“As is your prerogative, Lady Rarity. I am prepared to accept whatever pain you deem necessary to administer.”

Rarity lowered her hoof. “I should hit you, but I simply can’t be accompanied by a bruised breeder. What would they say? That I can’t afford proper stock? I really do wish you came in different colors. White just stains so easily…”

“I apologize for my genetic failures, Lady Rarity.”

Rarity accepted the apology, if only silently. She quickly made her way through her ship until she reached the charming miniature dining room. As she entered, she saw Sweetie Belle suddenly slam a closet door closed. Rarity also saw that her dress was not on straight, and that the sash bow was partially untied.

“Sweetie Belle! What are you doing here?” demanded Rarity. “And why are your clothes in such disarray?”

“I…uh…forgot something on the ship,” said Sweetie Belle. She looked back at the closet. “And…uh…it’s definitely NOT in this closet! Nope, not at all!”

“Oh,” said Rarity. “Are you sure? I have to meet the Councilors eventually, but I’m sure I can take a moment to help you look- -”

“NO! No,” said Sweetie Belle, leaning against the door. “Because it’s full of…off…space hamsters!”

“Space hamsters?” Rarity took a step back. “In- -in my pantry?!”

“Yeah,” said Sweetie Belle, nodding. “Si’y told me that the Citadel is infested with them. They must have gotten on the ship when we were out. But don’t worry, they’re all in the closet right now. Just like Scootaloo! Heh heh heh…”

“Oh, well, then, if you think you have it covered.” Rarity turned to O17F. “Be sure to have the others remove them. You know how I feel about rodents.”

“Yes, Lady Rarity. None shall survive. As always, Fluttershy shall not be informed.”

“Also, I just decided to wear the gold jewelry. Lots of it.” She gave one last look to Sweetie Belle. “And darling, do SOMETHING about your dress. It is simply unbecoming of a white unicorn to look that slovenly.”

“I don’t know what that means,” admitted Sweetie Belle.

Rarity sighed, but went along with her work. She had intended to eat breakfast, but she was already in a rush and had lost her appetite at the thought of whatever space hamsters actually were. That, and she very much wanted to see Garrus again. She knew that the political process would go so much more smoothly with their newly lubricated relationship.

Rarity trotted out of the room with O17F. Sweetie Belle waited until she could no longer hear their hoofsteps, then sighed. She then released the door and Jade Wing came tumbling out along with several cans of grass-flavored soup.

“Ow,” he said as he landed on the floor. He looked up at Sweetie Belle. “Why did you do that?”

“Do you know what they would do to you if they knew you were here?”

“Yes.” He looked up at the closet and pointed. “There aren’t really space hamsters in there, are there?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged, and then looked down at her dress. It certainly was messy. Instead of fixing it, though, she loosened the fastenings on the back and stepped out of it.

Jade Wing immediately blushed. “Should I be seeing this?”

“What’s the matter? You don’t like what you see?”

“Eh,” said Wing. “You’re not bad for an organic. Solid six.”

“Oh really?” Sweetie Belle threw back her long, bicolor hair and tried to look as seductive as possible. “How about now?”

“Six and a quarter? I don’t know. If you end up looking like your sister when you actually fill out, you might make an eight at least.”

Sweetie Belle frowned and kicked him. Not hard, but enough for it to make a sound. Being made of crystal, he largely did not seem to sense the blow.

As Wing stood up, Sweetie Belle continued to pout. After a minute or two, though, she turned to him. “So. Do you want to make out or what?”

Wing shrugged. “Sure. I don’t have much else to do today.”

With her mercenary in tow and her extensive gold harnesses and boots placed over her deep auburn dress, Rarity trotted toward the Council meeting place. The Citadel, as she quickly realized, was actually tremendously large. It was the size of a city- -or rather, five, each separated in space. Navigating it was time consuming, especially for a comparatively small organism like a pony. The fact that there were a surprising number of long elevator rides only made it more difficult.

On her way, Rarity found herself walking through a wide and secluded hallway with enormous curving windows on the left side. The hall windows provided an astonishing view of the city that lined the inner surface of the Citadel and of the hundreds if not thousands of starships coming and going as they moved through the space between. Had she not been in such a hurry, she would have liked to look out at that spectacular view.

She quickly realized, however, that she was not alone in the hall. A familiar blue-skinned figure was also walking down the hall, although more slowly.

“Councilor Falare!” called Rarity, galloping forward. Her jewelry jingled, and her mercenary fell back and out of earshot- -or what his earshot would have been if he were a pony. Rarity made a mental note to increase his tip, as he was an impeccably tactful bodyguard.

Falare turned to see who had called her. She looked down at Rarity, and then turned back to walking. Rarity fell in step beside her.

“Ambassador,” said the Councilor curtly.

“Do you mind if I walk with you?” asked Rarity.

“I have no right to stop you.” Falare’s voice had almost as much emotion as her drab, oversized robes had color. It made Rarity uncomfortable, but she assumed that Falare had simply slept wrong- -or perhaps was offended by Rarity’s unpunctuality. Rarity knew that the burden of making conversation fell to her, and that it was critical that she make a good impression like she already had with Garrus- -even if doing so with a woman would not be nearly as satisfying.

“It is good to see you are feeling better,” said Falare, her voice still incredibly cold.

“Ah, yes,” said Rarity, blushing slightly. “I am indeed feeling in much better spirits.”

“I can see how exerting yourself that greatly could have an effect.”

“Excuse me?”

Falare did not answer, allowing the conversation to trail off. Rarity followed her in silence for several awkward moments. Eventually, she looked around the hallway, trying to find a subject for conversation- -and realized that Falare was absolutely alone.

“Do you not have guards?” asked Rarity.

“The asari Councilor is traditionally attended by a group of elite commandos. But I am not a traditional asari Councilor.”

“So you don’t have any? Might I ask why?”

Falare looked down, her blue eyes steely and frigid. “Because they are afraid of me.”

Rarity shivered. “Well, that seems an unfair judgement on their part,” she lied, “with regards to that, though, did you and Councilor Vakarian receive my gift package?”

“Councilor Vakarian certainly did receive your gift, ambassador. And if you are referring to the box of child slaves, yes. Yes I did.”

“Marvelous! Aren’t they just precious at that age? Simply adorable!” She frowned. “You didn’t eat any of them, perhaps?”

Falare stopped walking. Her voice took a harsher tone. “And why do you think I would do that, ambassador?”

“Oh, pardon me. I didn’t mean any offense by it! It’s just that, well, you are an alien. I assumed that was something that you do.”

“It isn’t. And slavery is outlawed in Council space, just so you know.”

“Oh, surely. It is outlawed in Equestria as well. It has been for millennia. Such a vile institution. That’s the reason we created the breeders, after all. And I can see I’ve offended you with the ‘eating the pony’ idea. In all honesty, though, they taste delicious.”

Falare’s eyes widened. “What did you just say?”

“What I mean is, their flavor is simply divine! I know it can be an acquired taste, of course, but one of my absolute closest friends is a Tartaran, and breeders are considered the epitome of quality meat on her homeworld. She introduced me to them, and I have to say, it is the sweetest meat you will ever taste.”

“You have to be joking.”

“Oh no! In fact, I’ve already begun preparing O17F. There’s a special diet, you see. Keeps the flesh exquisitely marbled and tender.”

“Is she aware of this?”

“Of course! I’ve already purchased a replacement, and she will be training the new mare soon enough. It simply wouldn’t do to keep them around when they start to age. It’s…depressing. Not to worry, though, I don’t intend to eat her all by myself. I intend to share pieces of her with starving Tartaran orphans. I can save you some prime cuts as well, if you like.”

“I think I’m going to be sick…”

“Oh, my,” said Rarity. She reached forward. “I don’t know if I can help, but- -”

“DON’T touch me!” said Falare, pulling away. Rarity looked up at her, shocked and not understanding. Falare looked absolutely terrifying, and Rarity suddenly found herself wondering if the asari Councilor had ever killed someone before.

Falare took a deep breath, however, and appeared to superficially regain her composure. “It will pass,” she said, her voice once again devoid of emotion. She started walking again. “The hour is growing late. I’m sure the other Councilors are anxious to speak to you. Especially Vakarian.”

“Garrus is waiting for me?”

“I’m sure he will barely be able to contain himself until the meeting is over.” She pointed at herself, and then at Rarity. “But you and myself? We are not friends. We will not be. Ever. This relationship is purely professional, and I would prefer if you do not speak to me without the other Councilors present. Such interactions would give the impression of impropriety. Something I’m sure you understand very, very well.”

Rarity stopped walking, but Falare continued.

“Oh,” she said. “Okay…”

The situation did not improve at the Council meeting, and Rarity could not understand why. She had attempted to sit as close as possible to Garrus, which he tolerated. Even though Rarity was covered in jewelry and finery, no matter how she tried she could not get him to look at her for even a few moments. Even then, he never made eye contact and only spoke in the simplest of business-like phrases when it came to speaking to her.

The response from Falare was cold, but in a different way. She already spoke little, and in most of the negotiations, she seemed to say nothing at all and instead watched the events unfold before her, never addressing Rarity except when it was absolutely necessary. Rarity had assumed that Falare was quiet, but she had not expected her to be like this. Something was wrong, but Rarity had no idea what.

This greatly affected her ability to concentrate. The salarian Councilor- -who was apparently oblivious to any of this- -continued to drone on and on about tremendously boring topics. Every single thing she said had so much political weight and posturing that it was almost impossible to discern her actual meaning. The fact that she seemed to talk at an impossible rate without any pauses or breathes only made listening to her even more difficult.

For her part, Rarity at least managed to produce an adequate performance as an ambassador. It was much more difficult than it should have been. The Council’s place in this situation was already evident: the various alien races had only the most limited knowledge of magic, despite having somehow managed to venture into space despite that limitation. They were technologically inferior to Equestria- -and yet they continued to drag out the negotiations based on the leverage that Rarity herself had accidentally given them: the fact that Equestria itself was embroiled in numerous minor incidents of civil unrest and could not afford another galactic-scale ware, especially if the currently neutral Council decided to instead side with Cadence.

Garrus was not doing what he was supposed to. He seemed to be equally distracted when Rarity was sure that she would have secured him as an ally. That was not the only reason she had done what she had done, of course, but it was the expected result.

Eventually, after several hours, the hearing concluded without a single substantive thing being said. Rarity felt frustrated and drained. She slid of the uncomfortable alien chair and started toward the door.

As she exited into the main atrium, she saw Garrus passing by. That made her happy, and somehow nervous. She had never felt quite that way before. Still, she ignored the unpleasant half of her feelings and approached he turian.

“Hello, Garrus,” she said, brushing against his leg.

Garrus looked down and then stepped away slightly. “Hello, ambassador.”

“Ambassador?” said Rarity, playfully- -but secretly vastly disappointed by his tone. “You know we can’t go back to that, now, don’t you, darling?”

“Yes,” admitted Garrus. “I know.”

Rarity continued to be disappointed. He was not acting the way he had before. He was not being rude, precisely- -that would have been entirely intolerable- -but rather he just seemed to want to leave.

“You know,” said Rarity. “I barely ate breakfast today, and I’m simply famished. I really would like to try some of those donuts you speak so highly of. Shall we perhaps get lunch togather?”

“I would love to, but my schedule is packed. I have a meeting with the Primarch tomorrow, and I need to get…um…prepared. So if you will excuse me- -”

“No I will not excuse you!” said Rarity. Her response was so sudden and vehement that she surprised even herself. She looked around and saw that no one had heard her outburst; they were all out of earshot, although Falare- -despite talking to the salarian Councilor- -was glaring at Rarity from across the room. Rarity ignored her, and instead focused on Garrus. “Garrus,” she hissed, making sure that no one could hear her. “Why are you acting like this? Is it because we made love?”

“Rarity, I don’t think this is the appropriate place- -”

“NO. This IS the appropriate place, because I’m not going to tolerate this treatment. I don’t do that with just anypony, you know. I’m not some cheap whore.”

“I know, I know, it’s just that…” Garrus sighed. “I…I think we made a mistake…”

Rarity gasped. “A mistake?! How dare you! I give you my body, and you have the gall to call me a MISTAKE?!” Rarity checked her volume, returning to a whisper. “Am I not good enough for you? Is that it?”

“No. It was just…” Garrus sighed. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Yes you do,” said Rarity, using her magic to keep him from leaving.

“Fine,” said Garrus. “It wasn’t your mistake. It was mine. What I did wasn’t professional.” He looked up at Falare, who immediately looked away and pretended to actually be listening to the droning of the salarian Councilor. “I may have screwed myself over in the process…” He paused again, and then looked Rarity in the eye. “You know, I have been meaning to retire. I might as well start preparing my resignation letter- -”

“You will do no such thing! You set up these negotiations, and you are going to finish them! If you leave the Council, I pull negotiations. That is virtually a declaration of war.”

“War? Rarity, you can’t be serious!”

“Deadly serious, darling. I was hoping to have a positive relationship with you, but the way you’re treating me…” she let herself trail off, and then shrugged. “It is not exactly conducive to a diplomatic process that favors both parties equally.”

Garrus frowned. “I get it,” he said after a moment. “I understand now. It was just for blackmail, wasn’t it?”

Rarity’s eyes widened, and she realized that she had misspoke. Badly. “No, no, I- -”

“Councilor Vakarian,” said a female voice from behind Rarity. She jumped and squeaked from surprise, only to turn around and discover that Falare had somehow managed to approach her without making a single sound.

“Falare,” said Garrus. “You didn’t hear what we were just talking about, did you?”

“I don’t have to,” said Falare, darkly. “Surely professional business. Trade deals and such. Perhaps negotiations of cost?”

“Falare, don’t be like that.”

“DON’T tell me what to do,” she said sharply. She looked down at Rarity, and then back to Garrus. “The extended meeting with the nonchaired representatives is in three hours. We need to prepare the address. And I need to check on our ponies.”

“Yes. Of course,” said Garrus. Then, to Rarity: “Ambassador, it was nice speaking to you. I will take what you have told me into consideration. At this point, my only wish is that the negotiations go well.”

He nodded, but did not wait for Rarity to say goodbye. He just walked off with Falare. This had not gone how Rarity had planned; she had expected them to go to lunch together, to laugh and tell each other stories like they had at dinner before, to eat donuts, and to have Garrus show her the scenic views of the Citadel.

Rarity looked around, knowing that she needed to find a mirror to fix her makeup. The tears were causing it to run.