The next few weeks went fairly well for Rarity. Nothing extraordinary happened, but she received a good amount of participation points in her classes. Of course, whenever she had trouble remembering a topic, the Symbiote secretly ducked inside her backpack, flipped the pages of her textbooks, sent the information to her brain.

Even though they have only been together for a week, Rarity had completely gotten used to the Symbiote's unusual appearance and methods; and he, in turn, had managed to adjust to both her fashion sense and obsession with details. They did disagree on a few topics here and there but overall, they treated each other with respect, understanding, and kindness. She was still sticking to a chocolate-based diet to sustain him and he continued to give her regeneration to prevent stomach ache. Also, the Symbiote's stories about the adventures he had in outer space provided Rarity with plenty of inspiration for new designs while her preference of colors helped him appreciate something other than black whenever he changed her clothes.

On top of that, their relationship had a dramatic impact on their respective characteristics. Rarity had become much more confident and ferocious, while the Symbiote had adopted better manners and anger management. It was as if their personalities had slightly reversed. However, they certainly didn't let this get in the way of their friendship and instead, enjoyed each other's company very much. They had truly become an inseparable couple and, despite the fact that the Symbiote had already upheld his end of their bargain by restoring Rarity's happiness, neither of them wanted to part ways with one another.

Despite all these seemingly positive developments, however, both of them were a bit uneasy in the last couple of days. They had this nagging feeling that someone was watching them and their nervousness was coupled by the fact that they hadn't seen any of the girls during both school and after school. Rarity's worst fear was that her friends were secretly plotting something that could break the bond between her and the Symbiote, who was getting prepared to do everything in his power to protect both Rarity and the bond she shared with him. Needless to say, both of them were afraid of what's to come.

It was Friday again, exactly one week after the Symbiote first arrived to Earth and bonded with Rarity. Another great day of school had just ended and the pair were on their way to Miss Hemline's store. Their overall mood that day was basically a mixed bag. While they were cheerful about nailing another test, the fact that they couldn't see a single one of the girls were causing them to get really irritated. They had begun to think that the girls either did find about the Symbiote's existence and were secretly observing Rarity to find his weakness and destroy it or that they all caught a sickness that Rarity managed to avoid thanks to her regeneration ability.

With those thoughts in mind, they made their way towards the store. However, when they were just about to enter it, something unbelievable caught their attention. Just a few feet away from the store, their old friend Suri Polomare was showing off her new line of clothing to a small crowd of people. What surprised them the most wasn't the fact that there were people interested in her designs, but rather the fact that she actually managed to come up with interesting designs on her own.

Becoming suspicious of this, they decided to investigate and joined the crowd of people. It wasn't long before Suri recognized Rarity and a frustrated expression appeared on her face,

"Well, well, well! Look who's here! The queen of backstabbers! If you're here to get a sample for inspiration, the answer is absolutely no! I simply refuse to deal with such duplicitous people like you."

"Oh, will you please spare me the drama? First of all, you got exactly what you deserved from the beginning. Secondly, how in the world did you manage to find the inspiration for these outfits, anyway?"

"Why should I tell you? After all, you have a fairly adequate sense of fashion. I think you can figure it out yourself."

Rarity did as she instructed and once she took a good look at the designs, she realized why they looked a bit familiar and a horrible thought crossed her mind.

"Don't tell me! You actually found Flanksy and forced her to create designs for you?!"

"Found? Forced? Pfft, don't make me laugh! She came to me by herself and offered me a few ideas I could use for future projects. I REALLY have to thank her for that. I mean, she practically saved my life with this gesture."

Rarity was taken aback by that statement.

"Uh, could you please describe her appearance? Just so I know that we're talking about the same person."

"Sure, whatever. She had a brilliant amaranth hair with light apple green stripes, cyan eyes, light amber skin, and was wearing a black-leather jacket, a dark cap, an orange jacket with a yellow-red sun at the center, and a purple skirt. Does that sound like the person you were talking about?"

Rarity was left completely speechless by the time Suri was finished with this description.

"You... You said she came to you herself and... and gave you advice about new designs??"

"Yep, exactly what happened. She said she was sorry about how you treated me and that she wanted to make up for it a little bit. You know, for such a deceptive diva, you have awfully nice friends."

As soon as she finished that sentence, Rarity broke off from the crowd and started running with great ferocity. In fact, she was running so fast that she failed to notice a hooded figure watching her from a distance with binoculars. The instant she went out of sight, the figure put away the binoculars and began talking to a walkie-talkie.

"Red alert, people! She's headed for the house at full speed! We need everyone, I repeat, EVERYONE for containment! Remember to bring all your instruments. I'll meet you there as soon as possible. TS, over and out."

Author's Note

Consider this a warm-up before the semi-finals!