The Challenges of Love--Part One: Rarity's Tale

by pmcollectorboy

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Romance, Original Character, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 20348

Rarity endures heartache through her element.

Rarity leaves on a trip for Baltimare to visit her family for the holiday season of Gift Giving Day. Problems with too many ponies needing her services and a disappointed sister are the least of her concerns. She stumbles on a world of lonely orphans and reconnects with an old friend from her middle school days, who seems to be in some trouble of his own. Although her heart of generosity urges her to try and help where she can, Rarity could find that being all things to all ponies might come with a cost to her well-being and happiness. Meanwhile, Rarity is troubled over her friend's suppressed anger towards her, and her own inability to sort out her feelings for two ponies and one dragon. And just who or what is the strange new pony that has entered Rarity's life? Twilight is fascinated, but Spike isn't so sure.

Edit: 07/06/12 Reboot 2.0 underway. It has a new plot, new location, and a few new characters. A brand new spin also needs a brand new cover art, so I chose one I felt better represented the story's overall sadness.

Published 2011-08-07 06:08:42 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-27 07:40:12 UTC

A Charming Stranger

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
The Challenges of Love
Part One: Rarity's Tale
Rated: PG
Themes: Implied adult conduct and other serious elements
by Mario Rodgers
aka pmcollectorboy
Author's note: Contains non-canon parents

A Charming Stranger

Quivering in an envelope of blue light, two tiny yellow stubs of paper floated in wavering, swirling patterns in front of a pair of icy blue eyes. A harried white unicorn galloped in a frenzy, struggling to maintain her breath and her concentration on the tickets that hovered alongside her as she weaved through dense crowds of ponies, all bustling about in different directions as they all went about their separate lives.

A train's whistle pierced the winter air from the distance, its high-pitched shriek rising above the din of city life. Rarity swallowed a lump as she felt her heart labor even harder in her chest. She pressed on, shoving ponies aside as she made her way towards the source of the noise, her hooves pounding the hard concrete surface of the Canterlot avenue which wound towards Platform Four. The snow-colored unicorn feared her mode of transportation would soon depart without her, and so she rushed along frantically to make her scheduled departure, not giving a second thought to the possible consequences of her mad dash.

A lime green mare went down to the pavement as Rarity muscled past, the mare's chapeau tumbling away like a leaf in the wind. As the mare lifted her head, she fixed a steely gaze on Rarity and wrinkled her nose.

"Terribly sorry!" Rarity exclaimed with a huff as her sprint took her away from the wronged mare.

She inhaled sharply and then released a harsh, ragged breath, a short wisp of icy condensation tumbling from her mouth as she focused her attention straight ahead once more. The unicorn felt a nagging dry spot in her mouth that she had difficulty getting rid of. Across her back lay a pair of saddle bags, with each laden with supplies and materials that would be crucial for her next project.

"One side, please! Out of the way! I have to catch that train!" she exclaimed as she weaved through the crowd and created a path through the chaotic masses.

With a forceful stomp of her left legs, Rarity flexed and surged to the right to sidestep a couple of lovers locked in an impassioned kiss. She then swerved back left and pushed her way through a particularly dense crowd of ponies. When she emerged on the other side, she spotted the boarding platform and the locomotive hissing steam, but before Rarity could celebrate her victory, a couple of swiftly moving stallions knocked her off balance, taking her by surprise from just outside her peripheral vision. Before she knew what had happened, she felt the harsh thud of the freshly plowed pavement slam her ribs. When she shook the dizziness from her head, she found herself on her left side and spotted her saddle bags arcing up in the air and then hitting the platform, sliding away from her and scattering her precious goods.

"Oh! Oh no!" Rarity said, dismay in her voice.

"Watch where you're going!" one of the stallions bellowed as he hurried along.

Rarity coughed out a snoutful of dust she had inhaled when she hit the pavement, and as she struggled to her feet, her left side throbbing, she gazed at the train station's circular analog clock mounted on a brass fixture high above the boarding platform. The large clock ticked past 11:00, and she gasped in realization that the train would pulling out and heading to Ponyville in just four minutes.

The blow had been rough, but Rarity eventually made it to her feet. She took a few seconds to steady herself, her calf muscles weakened and shaky. With a low, sorrowful sigh and a press of her lips into a pout, she glanced around for her items, hoping to find them close by and in easy reach. Instead, she spied her spool of Neighpon silk thread underneath a light post a good distance away, the luxurious item dangerously close to being kicked into the railroad tracks. Her ruffles and beads dangled from the deeper branches of a bush that lay third in a row of bushes. Her cuttings of satin and taffeta fabric gathered dust on the pavement as the crowd milled about them, trotting past a hair's breadth away from trampling the precious goods to shreds.

A gasp escaped her lips when she realized the precarious spots her items were in. Frantic, she reached out with a hoof, as if to indicate to the indifferent crowd to cease its chaotic motions.

"No! Be careful! Those items are expensive!"

She zipped her gaze from item to item, her nerves brought almost to the point of fraying as she struggled to decide upon which item to rescue first. The random passers-by trotting past here and there rendered keeping an eye on her items difficult, let alone rushing forward to snatch them. Seizing on a thought, she steeled herself enough to call upon her magic, and she tossed her head high in the air, the elegant, purple coils in her mane bouncing once as she closed her eyes.

However, her belongings being scattered as far and wide as they were, she found erecting levitation fields around them very difficult. Connecting with every single piece of her things proved almost impossible. A few beads wobbled in the air in one place. A piece of fabric hovered weakly in another place. Try as Rarity might, she couldn't find any cohesion in her magic.

The magical blue light around her white horn died as she allowed her connection to fizzle out with a sickly pop. Behind her, the Friendship Express belched smoke and hissed steam, looming like some noisy metal beast and occupying her mind with the pressures of her travel plans and the upcoming holiday with her family, which she had to make on time. Her holiday plans also called for her to finish her project, which required the materials so important to the gifted fashionista, the same materials that lay strewn about.

With a sigh, Rarity hung her head low, feeling decidedly weak and unglamorous. She spotted a gap in the crowd and with some effort, found her swath of taffeta fabric again. She primed her leg muscles to dart out and collect her things the mundane, magicless way. However, just as she was about to do so, her materials became wrapped in an aura of a different color and levitated over to her. She stopped and let her jaw hang slightly open as she wondered about her items floating before her, captured by a magic bubble of a new hue.

First came her saddle bags, which situated themselves across her back. Next came her materials, which settled into her bags. Finally, she saw her tickets float over to her, wrapped in an envelope of brown magic. A small smile came to her lips as she reached out and connected with her own magic, replacing the brown aura around the tickets with her own blue bubble of light.

As Rarity glanced around, trying to find her would-be rescuer, the crowd in front of her suddenly parted, with several ponies sporting slack jaws as they stepped away. She looked up the center of the parting in the crowd, and a strange creature slowly strolled up, giving her an amiable, toothy smile. Her own jaw dropped slightly as she watched the creature approach. She became filled with mild curiosity as she turned her thoughts over and over in her head on what to make of her new friend. Rarity had never seen such an animal before. It appeared to be much like a unicorn pony but with slightly different features. Its coat shimmered with an iridescent blue while its mane, although a simple brown color, flowed around the face and neck in a delightfully graceful way, much like the way Fluttershy's mane did, but somehow in a masculine fashion. As the creature got closer, she could tell that it was male. His mane bore a couple streaks of fire red, and this same streak pattern went down along the length of his neck. His face held features like a regular unicorn stallion, but his muzzle was slightly more elongated, and his eyes were a fascinating almond shape, with a vibrant, shifting array of colors for the irises. The horn, instead of spiraling in a conical shape like a regular unicorn, rose up from the center of the forehead in a single unbroken structure, which curved backwards slightly. His tail had slightly less hair than most ponies and had a longer base, reminding her more of the tail of a golden retriever than the tail of a pony.

When the strange creature approached within conversation distance, he bowed his head momentarily and then looked up again. The amiable smile came again, and Rarity found herself nearly at a swoon as her concentration became lost in the dazzling, multi-colored eyes. The mouth opened, and her friend spoke, the words gliding out like silk.

"Good morning. Are you okay there, Miss...?"

"Miss Rarity, please," Rarity said as she brought a hoof up to conceal a touch of blushing. "I, uh, I..."

"You have a train to catch. Yes. Don't allow me to delay you any further. I just wanted to ensure that you were fine."

Rarity nodded, her thoughts still stolen by her companion's exotic beauty. "Um... Yes. Yes I am fine, and all my things are here," she said when her presence of mind returned. "Thank you once again. If you'll excuse me?" Rarity gave her own bow before turning to head towards the train.

A small line had formed at the door of one of the train's cars, but it wasn't long before she made her way to the front. The conductor nodded and touched his hat as Rarity approached.

"Hello there, ma'am. May I see your tickets please?" the middle-aged brown unicorn said.

"Oh. Yes of course."

Rarity levitated the tickets held in her magic bubble closer to the conductor. The conductor squinted his eyes and leaned forward as he eyed the paper stubs. Then, raising an eyebrow, he turned back to Rarity.

"Ma'am? These don't seem to be the correct tickets."

Rarity's eyes widened and her jaw fell slack, and for a moment she couldn't be sure if she had heard the conductor correctly. "What?!"

After a quick glance at the tickets floating there, the mistake made itself evident, and Rarity's cheeks burned with embarrassment. She had accidentally brought out the train tickets for her trip from Ponyville to her family's hometown in Baltimare, tickets which she had bought in advance of coming to Canterlot. Upon realizing that she could've misplaced her proper tickets, Rarity started to grow frantic.

"No! I know my tickets are here! Just give me moment to look for them!"

The fashion pony stuffed the Ponyville tickets into her saddle bags and, in a frenzy, she sorted through her items, shoving them aside and rifling through side pockets as her fear grew.

"I know they're in here! Give me a moment!" she exclaimed, her voice shaking as her search became more sporadic.

In a burst of anger and frustration, Rarity intensified her magic's power, yanking the saddle bags closer to her neck to allow her a better view. She levitated the items out of her bags one by one, her eyes darting from one article to the next as they presented themselves.

"Ma'am? Ma'am!" the conductor exclaimed, waving a front hoof at Rarity to get her attention. "This train is almost boarded to capacity! I need to serve my other customers and get underway on time! Now if you'd like, there's another train bound for Ponyville leaving here from Platform Six in exactly two hours time. That should give you enough time to find your tickets."

Rarity shook her head as she placed her items back in her bags. As she situated her satchels across her back once more, she gazed up at the conductor with tears filling her eyes. "I need to catch this train so that I can make the final train ride from Ponyville to Baltimare and arrive by next morning. Please. My family is counting on me to be there."

The features on the conductor's face softened a little, his lips curling down into a frown and his eyes becoming sympathetic, but he still shook his head. "Please step out of the line," he muttered.

"Conductor. Please allow me to offer my tickets as a replacement for the lady's misplaced ones."

A set of tickets hovered over to the conductor's head from behind Rarity, the tickets wrapped in the same brown magical bubble of light she had seen when her strange friend came to her assistance. She glanced behind and saw her strange and exotic rescuer approach from across the boarding platform. The conductor gazed at the tickets, nodded in confirmation, and levitated his ticket puncher to snip holes into them.

"You're clear to board, ma'am," the conductor said with a touch of his hat.

Rarity glanced first at the conductor and then at her friend. She felt a flush come to her cheeks as embarrassment set in, embarrassment that somepony had to inconvenience himself just for her sake. While not adverse to seeking assistance like her farmer friend Applejack tended to be, Rarity often felt out of sorts with the idea of somepony doing something for her when she couldn't reciprocate in kind. The fact that his actions were the result of her mistakes made her embarrassment even worse.

With the heat of guilt filling her heart, Rarity shook her head. "I couldn't possibly take your tickets if it meant you had to miss your ride."

"Miss Rarity, please. I implore you to accept my offer. Please board the train," the stranger urged.

"But what about...?"

The dark blue unicorn raised up a front hoof, silencing her. "It'll be fine, Miss Rarity. I will find some way to reach my destination," he said softly.

A quivering smile came to her, a bittersweet mix of sadness and gratitude welling inside her, freeing tears that couldn't quite find the power to fall. She wondered about this strange, beautiful unicorn of shimmering dark blue fur, about what caused him to show such kindness to a pony he had met just a few minutes ago. Reaching out with her magic, and working around her hesitation, she latched onto the punched ticket and boarded the train.

Rarity wasted no time in finding a seat. She secured one several rows towards the rear from where she entered the train's car and threw her saddle bags next to her before tearing them open to search through them one more time. It still didn't sit right with her that her new friend had to sacrifice material goods and convenience on her account and would be out his train ride, possibly disrupting whatever plans he had. She wouldn't be able to look herself in the mirror knowing that even the slightest possibility existed he would miss something important. She felt the right thing to do would be to continue to search for her original tickets and offer it to her friend before the train got underway.

Her items levitated out of her saddle bags, just as before. She gave them all cursory glances, parting article from article and sifting through any nook and fold in her fabrics. The last item to float out was her stack of business cards, which flew apart in a shower of reinforced paper when a passenger shuffling down the aisle and carrying a large burden of travel bags brushed against the stack. Rarity reacted quickly and snared the cards in her magic field. As she brought her cards together and realigned them, she spotted a tiny slip of yellow paper peeking out from underneath one. Encouraged, she divided the stack and brought the yellow paper closer for a better examination. Her Ponyville tickets were already separated from the rest of her items in another bubble of magical light. She knew these had to be her proper tickets. A quick glance at the locations confirmed her hunch.

A rush of excitement forced a cry of triumph from her throat, and she threw open the window next to her seat in a flourish, sticking her head through the opening and into the cold winter air. Perhaps it was not too late. She spotted the conductor making his way towards the front cabin. Not sparing a moment, she stuck a hoof out and waved frantically, trying to attract his attention.

"Yoohoo! Mister conductor! Over here!"

The unicorn stopped in his tracks and glanced at Rarity. He looked exhausted, if his posture and slow steps were anything to go by, and Rarity wondered if he grew fatigued from his shift or if he started to get fed up with her. Nevertheless, he touched the tip of his hat.

"May I help you, miss?"

"Conductor! Where did my friend go? You remember that charming dark blue unicorn?"

"I believe he went to go stand in line to purchase a set of tickets for the other train out of Canterlot. This train is about ready to get underway, so he won't be able to catch it."

Rarity floated her tickets out the window and presented them to the conductor. "Oh but mister conductor... I've found my old tickets! See? Could you be a dear and find my strange friend and give these to him in place of him buying another set? He was so kind to me, and I would greatly appreciate it." She granted a pearly smile, hoping to disarm him enough with her charms to set him at ease.

The conductor glared at her for several tense seconds, but Rarity never dropped her smile. He then lowered his head, defeated, and plucked the tickets from Rarity's magic field, taking it along with him. It wasn't long before she saw the dark stallion approaching the train, following the conductor through the crowd from the rear of the boarding platform. He paused briefly around the middle and lifted his head, smiling when he met Rarity's gaze and giving her a vigorous wave. She pulled her head back through the window, closed it tight, and took a few moments to rearrange her things inside her saddle bags. She then placed them under her seat while her friend made his way towards the train car's entrance.

"All aboard!" came the shrill call of the conductor.

The train whistled its own shrill call, as if to answer back.

Satisfied, the white unicorn settle back in her seat, enjoying the plush, soft velour of the cushions. Outside, the Canterlot citizens trotted about in the cold, their breaths escaping as white wisps, their bodies embraced by cashmere sweaters or luxurious scarfs woven with llama wool. There was little doubt in Rarity's mind that many of them went about with their plans for the upcoming holiday, either completing their shopping or perhaps, like Rarity, traveling by train to visit family members in other lands. She didn't envy them for the cold they felt. She lost herself in the caress of central heating and comfort.

A loud, metallic thunk and her body lurching forward in her seat brought her attention to the forward motion of the train, and she opened her eyes to gaze back out of the window, the temporary daydream now over. A gentle, rhythmic noise reached her ears from outside the car, and as she enjoyed her view of the beauty of Canterlot and its citizens and culture, the buildings and ponies outside her window moved sideways along her field of vision. The train steamed towards Ponyville, her hometown.

The sound of stepping hooves behind her came to her ears, and Rarity turned her attention from the window to the aisle going down the middle of the train car. Standing before her was her strange friend.

"You made it!" Rarity squeaked in delight.

A friendly smile parted his lips, and she couldn't help but smile back. Her friend nodded politely.

"I certainly did, and now it is I who must thank YOU for your kindess." He then tilted his head toward the empty spot in the train seat. "May I join you, Miss Rarity? All the other chairs in this car seem to be nearly full."

The familiar, warm feeling of blushing came to her cheeks again, and she nodded meekly. "Yes. Yes you may join me. Oh! One moment. Please allow me to sit on the outside."

"Of course."

Her companion stepped backward as she reached under her seat and retrieved her bags, gripping the strap with her teeth before placing the bags across her back. Then, using small and ginger steps, she sidled out of her chair and into the aisle. At that moment, the train rounded a corner, Rarity lost her footing and found herself tumbling forward.

"Whoa. Careful there," her companion whispered as he stepped forward to catch her.

The blush on her cheeks burned even hotter than before, and she brought a hoof up to conceal her embarrassment as stepped away from her friend's strong embrace. When she had found her own footing again, she allowed her friend to step away from the aisle and take a seat. With her friend situated comfortably, she took her place on the outside seat.

Rarity slid her bags down to the floor once more and looked back at her companion. "Please forgive me. I would like to thank you properly, but I never did receive your name."

"Why certainly, Miss Rarity. Where are my manners? My name is Dusk Seed. I am very pleased to meet you."

There came another smile and a small bow as Rarity acknowledge the salutations of the pony sitting across from her. "I am very pleased to meet you as well, Dusk Seed. Thank you once again for being so kind to me and for assisting me back at the train station."

"Oh it was no trouble at all. It was entirely my pleasure."

Rarity grew more comfortable with her new friend, and as they conversed, she developed a desire to know a little bit more about him.

"I hope you don't think me rude, but I must say that I couldn't help but notice you don't have a cutie mark. I'm really curious to know what sort of a pony you are." After a pause where Dusk Seed gave her a look of discomfiture, Rarity hastily waved a hoof at him and added a quick and awkward amendment. "Not that I'm troubled by you or anything!"

She bit her lower lip and glanced away, fearful that she may have said something to upset him. There was a slight period of silence between them, and this did little to ease Rarity's anxiety. The bothersome pause was soon interrupted, however, not by Dusk Seed or even herself, but by a pair of passers-by entering the car from the rear door and complaining noisily as they went along.

"Can you beLIEVE it, Dandy Lion? We paid for a first class ticket, and the porter loaded our bags and boarded us all the way in the back in third class!"

"Yes. Such an inconvenience. I believe first class is towards the front."

The indignant interlopers were two earth pony Canterlot residents. The mare, the one called Dandy Lion, wore an ushanka and a thick winter coat with plush, oversized cuffs. Her fur had the color of lilacs and her mane, what little Rarity could see under the large hat, seemed to be canary yellow. The male, a silver colored stallion, bore both of the couple's saddlebags and sported a cashmere vest with a donegal jacket. The two spoke with the typical, nasal Canterlot accent, although Dandy Lion sounded like she was still working on the last notes of a Manechester dialect. The two passed Rarity and Dusk Seed swiftly, heading towards the front of the car. As they reached the center, the male stopped, turned around and backtracked, pausing just in front of her as he eyed her through his spectacles. It took a couple moments before Dandy Lion realized she had been walking alone. When the realization finally registered, she whirled around and stomped her right front hoof in anger. Rarity, however, could only continue to look up at the curious socialite.

"May I help...?" Rarity began.

"You're Rarity the unicorn!" the silver stallion exclaimed.

She blinked, slightly unnerved by his strange glaring and uncertain about whether she was supposed to know him. Canterlot socialites could be tricky to deal with. Many were just all flash and money, but a select few wielded enough power to elevate or ruin a pony such as Rarity. With their fickleness in mind, Rarity had to approach her words very carefully. Searching her brain for her many tools and tricks, she settled on flattering deference. The trick lay in not utilizing too much of it and upsetting the wife.

"Why I must thank you for noticing. It is quite obvious that a stallion with such an exquisite taste in winter wear should possess such a keen eye for quality, and I DO try to offer quality. I must say, however, that it appears your lovely companion has such a bold and varied attitude towards fashion that I'd wager she's seen it all, but I'm hoping that with her extraordinary grace and sense of sophistication that she could find something about about my work enticing."

As Rarity delivered flatteries and smiles to the Canterlot citizen, she used the distraction to spot his cutie mark and come up with some idea of his identity. Suddenly it clicked.

"Mister Prism Sketch. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. I hope you'll excuse me, but I am currently in the middle of..."

"Oh but Miss Rarity! Your reputation precedes you. I have heard so much of your work, and I am in a bit of a bind that requires your flourish. You see..."

Suitably miffed, Dandy Lion trotted noisily over to her husband, her frown becoming more pronounced. She leaned over and whispered in his ear but did a rather poor job of concealing her words or the bite of her intentions. "Come on, Prism. Why are we associating with these rustics? And just look at her companion! Let's be on our way, already."

Rarity parted her lips as a gasp escaped. Dandy Lion's eyes shifted first to Rarity and then slightly behind her to where Dusk Seed sat. Even though Rarity's gaze was still on Prism Sketch, she felt Dusk Seed pull away from where his coat made contact with hers, and she also heard the sounds of a pony shifting about uncomfortably behind her. After a few moments, Prism Sketch moved his head to the side and noticed his wife in her untoward state. He then turned back to Rarity.

"I'll be in touch with you. Do you have business card I can keep?"

"I... Well sure," Rarity sputtered.

She levitated her bag and pulled out her cards, peeling one off and handing it to Prism, who grabbed it and stuffed it one of his saddle bags.

"I will be contacting you," Prism said. "I look forward to doing business with you. I won't accept no for an answer!"

As the Canterlot stallion got dragged away by his ever suffering wife, Rarity tried to call after him, to little effect.

"But I...!" she exclaimed.

The sound of a closing door was her only response.

Rarity pulled her lips into a pout. It wasn't quite the meeting she had expected. While she knew that she should always be ready to promote herself and show off her skills to the upper crust of Canterlot, Rarity had other engagements, and she was disappointed she couldn't express this to Prism Sketch.

"Well that didn't go like I wanted." She then turned towards Dusk Seed. "I must apologize for the strange interruption. I hope it didn't make you feel upset. My career sometimes places me in the path of the well-to-do, but I fear Prism Sketch may ask me to undertake a project for him at a time when I simply can't offer my services to anypony."

"You don't have to apologize, Miss Rarity. I tend to attract the odd stare here and there. I'm slowly getting used to it, but you're the first pony who's ever shown me any kindness. For that, I am grateful to you."

She brought her right front hoof up to her mouth, coyly covering up her growing smile and doing her best to hide her embarrassment over being flattered and her reddening cheeks.

"If you don't mind my asking, why is it that you can not offer your services to that strange stallion?" Dusk Seed continued.

Rarity shook her head. "I don't mind at all. I have other engagements. I'm closing my store early so that I may honor these engagements, but I'm worried Prism Sketch may not be aware of this. If he commissions me for a project, it'll have to wait until after the holiday." She gave a quiet sigh.

Dusk Seed turned his head to watch the hills and the trees, all blanketed with snow, roll by the window for a moment or two. He kept his watch of the countryside as he continued his conversation with his friend. "You speak of, pardon me, a holiday?" he asked, throwing in a questioning inflection. "What is this holiday?" He reconnected eye contact with her.

Another jolt of surprise hit Rarity, and she jerked her neck back slightly as she furrowed her eyebrows. "I beg your pardon? You've never heard of Gift Giving Day?"

He slowly shook his head. "I'm not from around here. Would you be so kind as to tell me what it's like?"

Rarity tapped a front hoof to her chin as she thought. "Well... It is what it sounds like, but ponies on Gift Giving Day typically hold parties and festivals and sing songs and go out shopping. It's a very lively holiday, and in the evening on Gift Giving Day itself, we all exchange gifts to show how much we care about each other."

He seemed to mull on his thoughts a bit as he considered her words. "That sounds wonderful. I would like to learn more."

"I would be happy to teach you more, but for now, I hope you'll excuse me. I'm going to retire to my cabin so that I can get started on my dress project for my sister. I've got a six hour train ride ahead of me, and I need to use that time wisely. Have a good day."

As Rarity got up, took her bags and headed towards the rear door of the train car, she heard Dusk Seed call after her. "Before you go, Miss Rarity, would you join me for lunch sometime?"

She stopped and smiled. The delicate mare thought she detected a hint of eagerness in her friend's voice. This charmed her, but she allowed herself a careful pause. She couldn't be sure if there were any deeper intentions in his request. After a few seconds, however, she decided that lunch was a perfectly reasonable expectation and that accepting his invitation was the polite thing to do. She turned her head over her shoulder and granted him a cheerful smile.

"Lunch would be just fine. Shall we meet at the dining car around three?"

Dusk Seed nodded. "I would like that just fine."

Rarity closed her eyes and lifted her head as joy welled in her heart. She then continued on her way towards her designated sleeping cabin.

* * *

A screech of metal grinding against metal sent an uncomfortable surge of tingling through Rarity's teeth, a surge all too familiar to any teacher who had scratched a piece of chalk against the board just so, and she steadied herself in her chair as several tons of train came to a slow but shuddering stop. The shriek of a whistle pierced the air, followed by the sound of steam being evacuated.

When Rarity finally disembarked the train, she took the time to stop and bid a good day to Dusk Seed. Before she went on her way, however, Dusk Seed pulled Rarity aside and draped a hoof around her shoulder, keeping her within whispering distance.

"Miss Rarity," Dusk Seed said, keeping his voice low. "This Gift Giving Day you mentioned... You said it was to exchange gifts between ponies who love each other?"

The mare nodded. "I did indeed."

"What about between friends? Or ponies who trust each other?"

A broad smile parted Rarity's lips and that familiar feeling of joy filled her heart once more. She became eager to know where Dusk Seed was headed with his words, and she gained reassurance and a sense of wonder at the feeling of his steady, strong hoofs wrapped around her shoulders.

"Absolutely!" she exclaimed.

"Well I trust you, Miss Rarity. In fact, I think... Yes! You ARE my friend!" The dark, iridescent unicorn took a step away from their embrace. "I want you to have this. It is yours now."

Rarity watched as Dusk Seed reached up with a hoof and brushed back several strands of hair. His whole left ear became revealed, and she gasped upon spotting the shimmering treasure that had been hidden by his mane. Fastened to his ear lay a diamond studded earring, the gem cut to a simple round brilliance, the pavillion hidden in the notch of the jewelry itself. She found herself dazzled by how perfect the facets seemed and at the polish which allowed the right amount of light to catch the diamond's inner mirrors, returning the illusion of a shiny, magnificent star to the eye. The fashion pony with the penchant for gemstones figured the diamond to be around two carats, the perfect size for an earring.

She found herself captivated in doe-eyed adoration by the gem's sheer beauty. As enamored as she was by it, though, her better nature eventually took over, and she found herself resisting once more.

"What a beautiful and generous gift," she breathed with a smile. "I... I couldn't take that, but..."

"It is my gift to give to you. Please take it."

Rarity swallowed hard, drawn to the diamond yet again. Dusk Seed must've seen the eagerness in her eyes, for he levitated the diamond earring off of his ear and moved it over to where Rarity stood, gently fixing the jewelry to her right ear. Rarity struggled to maintain her composure as a fine mist of tears came to her eyes, driven there by the sudden welling of joy and gratitude. She wiped her eyes for a bit and then brought her right front hoof up to her ear, feeling for her new present. A smile parted her lips, and she threw her front hooves around Dusk Seed's neck.

"Oh thank you! Thank you very much!" Rarity squealed with joy as she squeezed her friend's neck with an eager passion.

"You're very welcome," Dusk Seed said, returning the hug.

After the embrace ended, the white mare held out her friend at one leg length. "Where will you go from here in Ponyville? Are you here to visit or stay?" Rarity's voice took an eager rise in intonation when she asked her friend if he was staying.

"I will be walking from here and staying in a cabin at the edge of the woods. I'm actually not certain if I am staying here in Ponyville, but while I'm here, I assure you that I will not be far away."

Rarity's smile faded somewhat, but she kept her polite air, trying not seem disappointed. "I hope you will stay here in Ponyville. I think you will love it. What will you do while you're here?"

"For the moment, I am here to visit my family. I might also explore more of Ponyville and see some of its citizens."

The smile came back in full. "Oh you're visiting family too? I as well am visiting family!" Rarity then paused as she thought a bit. "I wish there was some way we could keep in contact with each other while I'm away with MY family." She clicked her teeth as she furrowed her brows in thought. "My parents would absolutely KILL me if they knew I gave away their address, but..."

In a flash of blue light, her right saddle bag worked itself open, and she levitated out a pencil and a small scrap of paper. A forgotten moment of inspiration had eased the resourceful fashionista into the habit of carrying around writing materials whenever she made outings, just in case an eye-catching configuration of color and curves gave her cause to jot down ideas or illustrations. She scribbled down two sets of numbers and letters. It didn't turn out to be her best cursive, but her excitement came close to ruining her concentration.

Stifling a small giggle, Rarity folded the paper in half and passed it over to her friend. "The top address is my parents' house. The bottom one is my own house. It is called Carousel Boutique, and I make dresses there. You can't miss it. It is probably one of the most unique buildings in all of Ponyville. However, for the duration of the holiday season until the eve of Gift Giving Day, I will be staying at my parents' place for vacation. Do write me, if it so pleases you."

Almost out of habit, Rarity coyly lifted her right front leg, keeping it bent in a ladylike manner, and batted her eyes. She had done this flirtatious move so many times that she often went unaware she was doing it. She caught herself in time, however, and upon seeing Dusk Seed's reddening cheeks, she lowered her hoof and backed away a single step. Her friend continued to smile, and when she saw his pearly whites, it set her heart back at ease.

Dusk Seed transferred the slip of paper to his own magic field and nodded. The dark blue unicorn didn't possess his own travel bags, but around his shoulders hung a coin purse. It seemed to be made of soft purple velvet, with a drawstring made of golden fibers. On one side of the pouch, stitched in shiny, silver threads, appeared an emblem or a regalia of some kind. A closer inspection revealed to Rarity that the emblem resembled two crossed unicorn horns, one red and one purple. She tilted her head in wonder at the emblem but then brushed the thought aside as Dusk Seed stuffed the note into his coin pouch before looking up with a smile.

"I thank you kindly, Miss Rarity. Will we be going our separate ways, now?"

"Oh don't be silly," Rarity said with a small hoof gesture. "I've still got a little time before I have to catch my other train. I should introduce you to my friends. Or at least one of them. If you're going to be seeing all Ponyville has to offer, you'll probably be needing a guide, and I can think of nopony better suited for the job than my good friend Twilight Sparkle." She turned to head away from the train but paused in midstep to glance back at Dusk Seed, coyly tilting her head in the direction of her travel as if offering an invitation. "Would you like to escort me while I tell you all about them?"

The dark blue unicorn bowed low. "It would be my pleasure."

* * *

The trip to Ponyville from the train station was pleasant but hardly uneventful. Rarity explained that they were headed towards the town's library, and Dusk Seed learned a great deal about her friends. As they walked through the snow covered streets, however, Dusk Seed couldn't help but notice that a few of the locals stared at him as they passed by. Dusk Seed, out of respect for Rarity, surmised that they were just curious about his unique features and weren't trying to be rude. His conjectures did little to relieve his unease, however.

"I seem to be attracting some attention," he remarked as he glanced around pensively.

Rarity gave her surroundings a scan, much as he did, and did indeed notice a few ponies here and there muttering amongst themselves and staring at her friend. With a look over her shoulder to where her friend followed her, she saw that he no longer possessed the vibrant smile he had when they stepped off the train. She did her best to diffuse his unhappiness with her own smile.

"They've probably just never seen a pony with such strikingly handsome features as yours," she crooned.

The corner of Dusk Seed's lips turned up slightly, and Rarity saw the briefest flash of teeth from a modest, reserved smile. There also came a blush on his cheeks, which against the deep, iridescent blue of his fur, came back as an intriguing purple.

Her friend pressed his lower lip into his teeth momentarily before looking back at her to speak. "Miss Rarity? Would I be too bold if I asked a favor of you?"

Rarity paused and turned around to face her friend. She felt rather surprised that he would seem so hesitant to ask something of her after all the kindness she had shown him. "That wouldn't be too bold at all. I would be glad to do something for you. Just name it."

He smiled and bowed. "I would greatly appreciate it if you made me some kind of coat with a cowl, please."

"I would be glad to make you a coat. I will make it very warm and oh so fashionable." She gasped, and her eyes widened in delight as her mind turned over ideas. "Ooh! I've got so many ideas! So many different fabrics and colors I can think of! I hope I have time to sketch out a couple designs."

"Please make it simple."

Rarity blinked and tilted her head. "I beg your pardon?"

Dusk Seed turned his head to the side, giving his fur a brief look. Then he returned his attention to Rarity. "All I seem to be doing is attracting attention."

"Well in MY opinion, that's not a bad thing."

"Plain is fine, please milady," he said with another bow.

Rarity couldn't resist such an act of courtesy. She drew great pleasure in knowing she had found such a delightfully charming friend and could only marvel at how lucky she was. With a smile, she nodded her approval and continued on her way towards the library.

After a quick jaunt through town, they came upon the library. As the two friends approached, Dusk Seed's jaw dropped slightly, caught by surprise at the sight of a library built into a large tree. He remarked to Rarity how he had never seen such a thing before, with its windows set into the trunk and the branches, to which she remarked that it was unique to Ponyville. Rarity approached the door, a simple wooden half oval with a picture of a lit candle stick and an old fashioned courting candle holder and drip.

Before she entered, she turned around and motioned towards Dusk Seed with a hoof. "Perhaps you should wait over there for a tiny bit while I go in," Rarity insisted.

The dark blue unicorn raised an eyebrow. Considering the few stares here and there that he had received, Dusk Seed figured that prudence was being asked for. While he trusted Rarity's judgment, he hoped her friends were as kind and understanding as she. Reluctantly, he backed away from the door a few steps.

Rarity nodded towards Dusk Seed and then turned back towards the library's door. Raising her hoof, she proceeded to knock a few times before slowly opening the door to stick her head in.

"Hello?" she called. "Are you home, Twilight?" As she walked inside, stepping through the threshold a few steps, all she saw was Spike the baby dragon, pacing around on the floor in the middle of the main study and looking decidedly upset. "Hello, Spike? Is Twilight home?"

"Wah!" Spike had nearly tripped over his own feet while in mid-pace. He whirled around to face Rarity, granting her an awkward, crooked smile. "Oh," he said with a small wave. "H-hey there, Rarity. You startled me. I didn't notice you coming in."

The unicorn trotted closer to the dragon and ran a hoof through the stubby green spines on his head. "My apologies, Spike. It was not my intention to startle you. Would you be so kind as to fetch Twilight for me?"

Spike paused and tapped an index claw against his chin as he looked up slightly. "Well I'm sorry, Rarity, but Twilight isn't here right now. I think she's out with Fluttershy collecting moonglow bugs for the upcoming festival."

She pulled her lips forward into a pout. "Oh well that's a shame. I really don't have the time to go track down my friends, either. I have to finish up this dress for Sweetie Belle and get going on my family visit."

"What do you need her for, Rarity?"

Rarity looked down at Spike and smiled. "Well, Spike, I needed her to show my new friend around Ponyville. And by the way, Spike, I couldn't help but notice you pacing around, looking like you got caught with your claws in the cookie jar, so to speak."

Upon hearing this, Spike gasped, took a couple steps away from Rarity, clasped his arms behind his back and traced circles in the floor with a toe. "Well... You see, Rarity..."

The two of them heard a creak, and Rarity glanced over her shoulder to see the door slowly being pushed open. In the door frame stood Dusk Seed.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Rarity, but I'm afraid I couldn't wait that much longer. I don't mean to seem impatient, but it was rather cold out there."

She brought a hoof up to her mouth, which hung open as embarrassment took hold again. "Oh goodness me. I am so terribly sorry. I did not mean to be so discourteous to you. Please come in."

With Rarity's apology and upon receiving her permission to enter, Dusk Seed walked through the library door and closed it. He immediately became grateful for the warmth.

Spike weaved his head to the left and right. With the way Rarity had been standing while she talked to him, he couldn't see who had just walked through the door. However, just on the outside of Rarity's flank, he caught glimpses of a dazzling, almost shimmering deep blue. The little dragon was just about to get it into his head to walk around Rarity when, almost as if she knew to satisfy his curiosity, she stepped to the side to let whomever was behind her pass through.

"Who's your new friend, Rari--WHOA NELLY!"

Spike wheeled backward, almost tripping over himself. After he had regained his balance, he gazed at the newcomer with a slack-jawed look. Spike was half in awe at the stranger's dazzling color and shimmering quality and half in bewilderment at his exotic and unusual features. The dragon shifted his eyes left and right, working his field of vision from the top of the stranger's form to his very feet. Spike noted to himself that at least the stranger had hooves, but upon going back to his fur coat and his almond eyes, which almost seemed to have its own rainbow trapped inside, he couldn't help but become mesmerized. It almost seemed to Spike like he was staring at the deepest part of the ocean just by looking at the stranger's fur.

Upon seeing the baby dragon's reaction, Dusk Seed shuffled slightly and took a couple steps back towards the door. He tried his best to keep up a smile but found difficulty in maintaining eye contact with the dragon.

Rarity didn't seem angry or upset, however. Indeed, she seemed calm, granting the dragon a considerate, caring smile. She slowly trotted over and bent down to place her mouth near one of the dragon's ears. "Spike," she whispered. "Now that's not polite." She then lifted her head and stepped to the side, pointing backwards at Dusk Seed. "This is Dusk Seed, Spike. Please do not stare because he's a little self-conscious about his image. Now if Twilight isn't here, would YOU like to show my new friend around town?"

Spike shied away from Rarity and went back to floor gazing. "I'm sorry, Rarity." Then as he looked up again, he continued, "And I'm afraid not. I promised Twilight that I'd stay here so that I can help out when she comes back."

"Oh what a shame."

Dusk Seed trotted closer and held out a hoof. "It's okay, Miss Rarity. Some other time, perhaps. Spike, is it? I am very pleased to meet you, and I must say that I'm charmed to have met my first baby dragon ever." With his delivery in place, he bowed low once more.

The handful of years Spike remembered of Canterlot took hold like a training regimen of etiquette, and he gave his own bow, a short, shaky bow but a bow all the same.

"Isn't he a gentlecolt?" Rarity whispered as she leaned in close towards Spike.

Spike could only gaze up at her, a tiny hint of suspicion growing in him.

"Miss Rarity? If you'll excuse me, I think I'll take my leave now."

Rarity turned her attention back towards Dusk Seed and nodded. "Yes of course. I should get started for home, as well. I need to put the finishing touches on this dress and then catch my next train towards my family's home town."

She saw her friend out of Twilight's house. She stood in the doorway for a bit, watching him walk away before turning left and disappearing down the road. She felt her cheeks becoming warm again, and she brought a hoof up to her face, rubbing her right cheek as if to tell it to cease. After a few moments, she turned her head and looked back over her shoulder, giving Spike a nod.

"Tell Twilight I stopped by. Would you, darling?" she said with a chipper squeak in her voice.

As she raised a leg to step out of the door and make her way home, she heard Spike rush forward and call her name, a sense of urgency evident in his voice.

"Wait! Rarity!"

She stopped and lowered leg, staying where she was at the threshold and closing the door with her magic. She then slowly turned around and tilted her head at the young dragon. He had stopped just a few paces away from her and now had his two index claws pressed together end to end, twisting and fidgeting them around each other.

"Please don't go yet, Rarity."

Rarity considered Spike's expression. The dragon seemed to be on the verge of tears, and he had his lower lip quivering underneath his teeth. Despite keeping up the appearance of cordial indifference, Rarity had grown rather fond of Spike, and it broke her heart to see him upset. Judging by how hard he tried to keep his emotions in check, Rarity surmised that something had been deeply troubling him.

"You're leaving for your holiday. Aren't you, Rarity?"

To this, she nodded. "Indeed I am. Is something troubling you, Spike?"

"I broke it," came a tiny, scratchy squeak of a response.

Rarity's jaw dropped. Out of all the words in the Equestrian language, "broken" was Rarity's least favorite. However, just to be absolutely sure of Spike's words, she decided to press the issue some more.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked.

Spike reached up and wiped away a tear that had threatened to bring more of its companions along. "Th-the special jewel encrusted, mithril inlaid, magic catadioptric telescope you helped make for Twilight. Sh-she was so fond of it and she was going to use it for the upcoming festival about how Gift Giving Day came about. I-I was messing around with it a bit and I knew I shouldn't have but I did anyway and... and..." He sat down on the ground and drew his knees close to his face, hiding his eyes as he sniffled.

Rarity found she had to bite her lips as well to keep her composure, and she ran a hoof through his spines once more. Carefully she tucked the hoof behind his knees to gently lift his face out of its hiding spot. He tried to resist at first but eventually yielded to her touch. His eyes glistened with big, moist tears. These tears she gently brushed away as they came.

"Let's see the damage," she said, as softly as possible to ease the repentant dragon.

Spike nodded and wiped away the last of his tears. He led her towards the back of the library where Twilight's laundry room was situated. He made his way over to a small basket that had been conspicuously inverted. Removing the basket revealed a pile of sheets. Spike tossed the basket to the side, and it gave a hollow, plastic clatter as it wobbled in a clockwise motion on the floor. He then carefully pulled up the linens on the floor, and Rarity's ears detected the sounds of clinking, both of a metallic and glass nature. Bits and pieces of a small telescope landed unceremoniously on the tile.

Rarity furrowed her eyebrows. "Spike. This is a terrible hiding spot to cover up your indiscretion."

"You've got to help me, Rarity!" Spike exclaimed, rather loudly.

Before Rarity knew it, Spike was on his knees in front of her, clasping his hands together in a pleading way. The unicorn was immediately put off by Spike's unbecoming display of groveling. She wrapped the dragon in a levitation field, lifted a hoof up and gently eased him away. She then glanced down at the scene of the crime. Twilight had to help Rarity with the more technical aspects of the telescope, but Rarity knew a wreck when she saw one. The telescope was just as much an objet d'art to her as it was an item of scientific endeavors to Twilight. The reflective mirrors were pulverized to bits. The same could be said about the lens. The casing had been bent in several spots, rendering it unsalvagable. However, Rarity's heart lifted when she saw that all the gems had survived, as well as the eyepiece with the single enhancing gem that had given the telescope a slight magical property. She also wondered if she could peel the mithril inlays away from the polished mahogany casing. She knew it would definitely save a lot of time, effort and money if she could salvage the second rarest metal in the entire world.

"So would it be correct of me to assume that you would like to me to craft another one just like this without Twilight's knowledge?" Rarity asked as she turned her attention back towards Spike.

The dragon only found the strength to nod once.

"Spike. You DO realize that the first one required my seeking Twilight's advice and knowledge of telescope parts, gear ratios, and precision instrumentation. Don't forget the amount of time and cost of materials I had to invest in creating the original. There's ALSO the simple fact that I have a holiday engagement that I must attend to after I finish this dress for Sweetie Belle. I simply can't spare the time."

Rarity heard sniffling again, and as she stared into the young dragon's eyes again, she saw streams of tears falling from them and off the sides of his tiny snout.

"I understand, Rarity," Spike said through his sobs.

Rarity's heart seemed to rage at her as she continued to watch Spike in his current state. It was something in his words, in the way he said "I understand" that hurt her, and she started to regret to her actions.

"Oh Spikey-Wikey," Rarity said, her voice low and shaky.

These intimate moments between herself and her favorite dragon sometimes gave Rarity pause to consider the nature of their relationship. Life was a big charade for Rarity, a series of masks that she wore well. Around Spike, she often acted amusingly patronizing, putting on acts of treacly sentimentality but trying to be inconspicuous about her feelings for him. She couldn't decide half the time if she saw herself more like a mother or the doting older sister when she delivered her pink tinted words. The increasing frequency of these intimate moments, however, alarmed Rarity. She felt protective of Spike, in a way that was different from Twilight's protectiveness of him. Platonicity was the barrier she erected, time and again, to quell a seed of something in her heart that she feared was really there, ready to grow if given the chance. Even as she lifted her hoof to massage Spike's head spines again, she willed herself not to cry in front of him.

"I'll you what, Spike. You have to promise me that you'll tell Twilight the truth of what happened because I need her help in crafting the telescope again. In return for your promise, I will try to carve out a new casing for the telescope while I'm away on vacation and see about shopping around for telescope parts. I won't make any guarantees, but with any luck, I'll have something I can put together when I come back."

Slowly, Spike calmed down, and as he looked up at Rarity, the edges of his lips crept up ever so slightly into the meekest flash of a smile. He then dried his eyes and wrapped his short arms around her neck. Rarity returned the hug and then instructed him on what he should do.

Spike searched throughout the library and brought over a small sack and some cloth pieces for Rarity. She recovered the gems that studded the shell of the ruined telescope and placed them inside the sack. With the cloth pieces, she wrapped up the telescope's eyepiece after she undid the screw keeping it attached to the gear mechanism. Then, peering into the ruined, hollow tube, she squealed with delight upon discovering the gearwork could be saved. Licking her lips, she carefully focused her magic, pushing and prodding around the inside of the telescope to find a connection with the intricate structure. She eventually latched on and withdrew the gears from the telescope. She placed the gears in their own separate cloth piece. The final task for Rarity was in peeling the mithril inlays from the outside. She had laced the outside of the telescope with a network of long threads of the beautiful metal. Peeling it away would prove tricky, as the metal tended to be inflexible unless it was heated.

Rarity tried tugging on the inlays with her magic, but the precious metal wouldn't budge. After a few rounds of tugging, she gave up on retrieving the metal.

"Well that's a shame," she said as she lowered the telescope back to the floor. She then shifted the focus of her magic and gathered up the small sack and the cloth pieces, placing these inside her saddle bags. "But other than the mithril, I've got everything I need. Thank you, Spike. I'll be taking my leave, now. I'd advise you to clean up this mess and tell Twilight the truth."

Rarity closed the flaps of her saddle bags and turned to exit the laundry room. Spike scampered closely after her, bounding along like a puppy dog.

"I can find more mithril for you, Rarity!" he exclaimed, his intonation lifted up a few notes by his eagerness.

Rarity smiled and stopped. She turned around to face him and found herself having to struggle against becoming enamored by his face, with his eager doe eyes and toothy smile. Reaching down, she gave him another hug.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Spike, and I'm very grateful. But mithril is kind of hard to find, and monsters tend to be attracted to it in many of the caves that have it. I am fine, Spike. I'll just try something else. Brass is very fashionable."

"Oh but Rarity!" the dragon pleaded.

The white unicorn held up a hoof, and Spike fell silent.

"Spike. Just wait here and help out Twilight and the others with the upcoming festival. Now I must take my leave. Please be a good dragon while I'm gone."

"Okay, Rarity," Spike said softly, his eyes downcast. Then, looking up as she passed by him, he said, "May I escort you out of the door?"

"Oh Spike, you sweetheart. Of course you may!"

A broad, cheery smile came to Spike, and he bounded ahead of Rarity as she walked, opening the front door for her and bowing low as he did so. A great feeling of joy, driven by the unicorn's love of chivalry, propelled her past the open door with a spring in her step, and she had to stifle a squeak of delight as she trotted past the young dragon. She took two steps into the crisp snow before she heard her name being called again, the quake of anxiety jittering the words of the young dragon saying them.

"R-Rarity?"

The white unicorn smiled and turned around to face the young dragon. "Yes Spike?"

"Will you be joining us for the festival on Gift Giving Day?"

Rarity closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. "I will try my level best, but I can't make any guarantees." She then reopened her eyes. "Was there something else?"

"Well..." Spike kicked at a spot on the floor. "After Gift Giving Day, I mean if you're not b-busy and anything, do you think we c-could... c-can we...?" Spike closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stood with his arms held stiff by his side as his words came tumbling out. "I've been studying a little dragon magic and I've been practicing and getting really good at it and there's this trick I wanted to show you. Could you join me in the park sometime?"

Rarity smiled and nodded. "Day after Gift Giving Day in the park it is, then. Shall we say three in the afternoon?"

A shy smile crept up into Spike's lips, reflecting the glimmer of some kind of hidden victory rising up within him. "I-I'd like that, Rarity."

She closed her eyes with a smile, confident in her act of charity, and then continued on her way.

* * *

After the crunch of snow and the squeak of the door's hinges had passed from her hearing and into the cold air, complete silence greeted Rarity as she stared through the threshold into the showroom before her. The Carousel Boutique was almost somber in its organization. She remembered yesterday's mess, with streamers and balloons tossed about her house and hanging upon various catching points like vines in a garden, all reminiscent of a good time. Pinkie Pie had thrown Rarity a special "Congratulations On Selling Your Tenth Dress In A Week" party.

Ten dresses. Rarity had to chuckle at the thought. That was more than a dress and a half a day, and all of them had been hoof-crafted originals. The number of dresses itself wasn't special. A busy week for Rarity would've seen her selling close to thirty. The dresses she had been crafting throughout the week were all extremely elaborate projects that had eaten up a lot of her time and money. They were most of the reasons she had been so stressed out over her schedule as of late. She also dreaded closing out her ledger and locking up her store.

A sigh, visible in the cold air as a white wisp, escaped Rarity's lips.

"Ten dresses. Plus one more, I'd wager."

On the floor across the threshold, Rarity spotted a tiny slip of paper. It bore the seal of Prism Sketch, the Canterlot citizen she had bumped into on the train. She levitated it into the air and brought it with her as she got out of the cold and closed the front door behind her. Finding her letter opener located on her work desk, she extracted the letter from the envelope and began reading.

Dear Rarity,

I have come to you so that I can commission your expertise for a project that is of some importance to me and my colleagues. You are probably aware of the businesses I deal with. I own several large and powerful companies all across Equestria, but my main skill is owning and financing several venues that I use for public and private functions. I have offered up one of my venues for use to an auction house. It seems the princess of Romanea, Princess Edelweiss Glimmervale, is set to be married any time soon. She has commissioned the auction house to sell most of her dress collections, for which she is famous throughout Equestria, in preparation for her new life, as is the custom of her country. The proceeds will go to charity. Unfortunately, the good princess has seen fit to go through a preliminary examination of the auction plans and has expressed great displeasure over it and the decor. On top of all these troubles, the main fashion designer in charge of creating outfits for all those attending the auction seems to have quit in a fit of disgust. To cut straight to the point, I am absolutely certain that you will fit the bill. The auctioneer is a good friend of mine and is almost close to tears over this whole mess, and I myself am worried that my venue may never be used again. I implore you to use your skills to assist me. The auction requires ten suits and ten dresses. Three mares and one stallion want custom outfits, and I have included the details of what they want on the next part of this letter. You will be doing a great service if you agree to do this for me, and not the least of which is saving an auction event that would be for a worthy cause. The auction takes place two days after Gift Giving Day. Please respond with a letter as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Prism Sketch

The letter fell to the floor, released from the levitation field as Rarity suddenly felt defeated.

"Well. Ten suits and ten dresses, with four of them being custom projects." The unicorn then looked at the saddle bags on her back. "I still have to do some trimmming and adjusting for Sweetie Belle's dress. And Dusk Seed wants me to make him a coat. Spike wants me to help create a new telescope for Twilight. I also still have to close out my ledger. Oh dear." Rarity's voice went up an octave as she bemoaned her current affairs. "How did I ever find myself in this predicament?!"

Twenty feet in front of her stood a dress form, a ponyquin as Sweetie Belle sometimes called it. It possessed the proportions of a filly and was much smaller than her regular dress forms. She stared at it intently, as if expecting it to answer. All she heard was a tiny "mew".

"Opal!" Rarity exclaimed as she looked to the ground and spotted her white Persian. "Well, Opal. What should I do?"

The cat said nothing. She only sat there on the floor, paws pulled close together, looking up at her owner.

Rarity looked back up at the dress form. "Too many ponies want me. But I guess I should do first things first. Time to get to work."

A flash of blue enveloped Rarity's horn. The dress that had been stuffed in her saddle bag levitated out and wrapped itself around the dress form. She then extracted pins, scissors, seam rippers, and other assorted tools from her tool box. Licking her lips, she got to work.

Miracles In Jars

Miracles In Jars

One dress. One cat. Two gifts. A coin purse. One pounding headache.

These were the things that burdened Rarity as she hurried to clear up her shop and close it for the holidays. Recent events had left her feeling stretched rather thin and pressed for time. Closing out her ledger took longer than she had anticipated, and she discovered she had been left with not as much disposable income as she would've liked, which had soured her mood somewhat. Her desires for Gift Giving Day, the things she longed to get her family and friends, and the kind of shopping experience she preferred tended to head into the realms of the the exorbitant.

With beads of sweat pooling on her temple, she gave the clock on her wall a glance as she hurriedly stuffed Prism Sketch's letter and a sketch pad inside one of her saddle bags. There was barely any time left for her to catch her evening train out of Ponyville and towards Baltimare.

On her back, propped up against the edge of one of the saddle bags for support, lay her pet carrier. Opalescence purred inside the small compartment, curled up inside the soft depths of her pet bed. The tiny creature had a date with Fluttershy.

With her heart beating loudly in her ears from her frazzled nerves, Rarity made a dash for the door, pausing momentarily to erect a sign at a window, a sign to indicate to her customers that she was no longer open for business. Upon doing that, she then threw open her front door in a bubble of magic and stepped out into brisk cold. She heard her boots crunching down into the soft snow as she turned around and closed the door. She then turned towards her rear again with the hope of making her way down her walkway, only to bump into another pony.

"Oof! Oh I'm so terribly sorry!" Rarity exclaimed as she steadied herself. As she looked up, she spotted who had bumped into her. "Prism Sketch!" She felt all her nerve and half of her will to keep her composure in front of him drain away. "I-I what are y-you doing here?" she stammered, not even sure where her words were going.

The stallion in front of her carefully looked himself over, brushing out any stray fibers on his carefully groomed jacket. Behind her, Opal let her owner know how indignant she was over being tossed about by reaching out with her claws through the pet carrier's window and soundly yanking on Rarity's hair.

"Ow! Opal!"

"I must apologize, Rarity," Prism Sketch began when he was satisfied with the state of his jacket. "I know I said I'd wait for you to reply in a letter, but the good princess is being absolutely stubborn, and I am simply at my wits end. I looked up the address on your business card and came to you discuss plans for outfitting the auction event."

Rarity trotted in place, her mind working at a feverish pace, and she glanced at the western sky, noting the sun sinking low into the horizon as Ponyville's lamps blazed to life. After a jumble of uncoordinated thoughts, she returned her gaze at Prism Sketch and shook her head.

"I am sorry, Prism Sketch, but as I was trying to tell you on the train, I have other engagements, one involving my family, and simply can not spare the time to take on a project. I am desperately short on time and hurrying to catch my train, which I must make to avoid disappointing my family." Rarity bowed, short and quickly. "Please excuse me. I HAVE to go!"

Prism Sketch shook his head and frowned. "How discouraging. Then why, pray tell, were you building up this magnificent sales pitch if you weren't available for your services?!"

The tone in his voice had been steadily increasing in volume and harshness as he spoke, signifying anger.

"I... But... You..." the fashionista stammered.

"I will simply look elsewhere, then, and will tell the princess and the auctioneer and all the attendees that you are disappointingly unreliable." He clicked his teeth. "It's a shame. I have already told the princess so much about you."

Rarity had her lower lip tucked deeply into her upper teeth, struggling to suppress it from quivering. She was slowly being reduced to tears from the terrible dressing down Prism Sketch was giving her. Fearing some vague repercussion to her status and losing a valuable opportunity, she stretched out her right front hoof. "Wait! No!" she cried.

Prism Sketch halted his departure, turned around, and raised an eyebrow.

"Please, Prism Sketch. We're both reasonable ponies." Rarity struggled to collect her nerves and return the smoothness in her voice but failing badly. "It is terribly important for me to catch my train, bu-but I've got sketches! Yes! Sketches! A-and I promise you I will work on the outfits while I'm away on my vacation!"

The stallion wrinkled his nose and looked Rarity up and down, his eyes partially narrowed into a glare of doubt. "Hmm," he said with a nod. "You have ten minutes to show me your plans."

Rarity's lower lip dropped slightly. "Show you my plans? But I..." She then regarded the serious expression and slumped, completely defeated. "Very well."

She turned around, head hung low, and magically turned the handle on her front door once more.

* * *

Spike busied himself with a broom, sweeping away the broken remains of the magical telescope, muttering to himself as he worked the handle from side to side, pushing the bits and pieces into a small dust pan. He then dumped the shards of glass, dented metal, and broken bits of the wooden casing into a small trash can in the kitchen.

Despite the memory of his misdeed still fresh in his mind, he couldn't quite puzzle out various apologies he could be saying, the different ways he could be broaching the situation and smoothing over Twilight, or even the different ways she could react, should his negotiation skills fail him.

In the young dragon's mind, the telescope had actually been placed on the back burner, and he had of late been preoccupied with another matter entirely. There was something he remembered as he thought back to when Rarity had visited the library.

"She thinks I didn't see that shiny diamond earring there?" the dragon fumed as he reached down and pulled out the trash can's inner lining. "It's not even Gift Giving Day, yet. I bet she got that diamond from that Dusk Seed or whatever his name is. Well I'll show him."

Spike dragged the trash bag out of the kitchen and into the living room. As he headed for the front door to dump the trash bag, and its incriminating evidence outside, the door quickly swung open as Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy stepped in from out of the cold.

"Spike!" Twilight called.

The suddenness of Twilight's entry startled Spike suitably that he lost his grip on the trash bag and dropped it on the floor. He stiffened when he heard the harsh clinking of the broken telescope bits hitting the hardwood, a frantic fear growing inside him that the lavender unicorn might suspect his misdeed. Hastily, he gathered up the the ends of the trash bag and pulled them closer together.

"Yes, Twilight?" Spike answered back as both Twilight and Fluttershy took a few moments to stomp snow out of their boots.

After Twilight finished tapping the snow out of her boots onto the mat, she closed the door and looked up at the baby dragon. "It's the weirdest thing. The whole town is a buzz about a strange new unicorn that shimmers with blue fur. We get creatures from other races all the time passing through Ponyville. Minotaurs. Griffons. Even the odd phoenix. But this unicorn seems to have caused quite a stir. Anyway. Taking out the trash?"

Spike nodded his head, hoping he didn't seem too conspicuous as he tied up the edges of the trash bag. "Uh... Yeah. Oh you must be talking about Dusk Seed. He's a new... Well I wouldn't call him a unicorn. I actually don't know what he is." Spike looked up at the ceiling as he tapped his chin in thought. "Do you remember that one book? Uh... Something guide to rare creatures?"

"Hang on, Spike," Twilight said as she hung up her coat, put away her boots, and headed towards her book shelves.

Fluttershy looked up from where she was stepping out of her own boots. "Hmm. Well it's certainly very interesting about this new, uh, whatever he is," she whispered as she kept her head low. "But Spike... How do you know his name?"

Spike waved an arm dismissively. "Meh. He came around here a while ago. I think he's Rarity's new friend. Personally I think he's kinda odd looking, but I remember he had really bright, rainbow-colored eyes and fur that changed shades as he moved. I don't...uh..." He cut off the rest of his words with a cough.

"You don't what, Spike?" Twilight asked as she stood on the middle rung of the ladder, never taking her eyes off her row of books as she slowly panned around for the book she wanted.

"Nothing!" he hurriedly exclaimed, clutching the trash bag closer to himself. "He was pretty polite, though," he said in a whisper.

Fluttershy quietly blushed and hid next to the door frame, keeping her head pulled close to her shoulders and looking like she'd rather be somewhere else. "Um... Oh dear. Rarity has a new friend? And it's the one the whole town is talking about? Wow. That's... nice. I hope she doesn't introduce me." Fluttershy had been growing steadily quieter as she talked.

Twilight never heard Fluttershy, however, for she gave an exclamation of triumph from where she stood underneath one of her bookcases. "I found it!"

Both Spike and Fluttershy glanced over their shoulders, watching Twilight snatch a book in her levitation field and tow it over to her work desk. Spike dropped the trash bag and scampered over to where Twilight had situated herself.

"Extra-dimensional Creatures and Other Rare Races of Equestria," Spike said as he read the title of the book.

"Now tell me again what Rarity's friend looked like, and please be as specific as possible," Twilight said as she opened the book and flipped through the pages. "Oh wait. Nevermind." The studious bookworm tapped the surface of a page with her hoof. "Is that it?"

As Twilight withdrew her hoof, Spike glanced at the page. "A creature with a horn like a unicorn's. Faint mottled patterns on the coat resembling fish scales. And ir... ir..." Spike furrowed his brow ridge as he struggled to read the tricky word on the page.

"Iridescent," Twilight finished. "It means to change color slightly as your viewpoint changes. So..." Twilight glanced at the page as Fluttershy made her way over to look over Twilight's shoulder as well. "Rarity's new friend is a kirin."

"A what?" Spike asked, eyeballing the illustration.

"A kirin. It's a kind of eastern unicorn, traditionally from a small island out in the ocean somewhere. They are said to be somewhat gifted with magic but little else is known about them. Their attractive, multi-colored, shiny eyes are said to possess bewitching properties but this is so far just a rumor. Another legend goes that kirins are spirits of luck and can change the luck of those they let into their lives, although it isn't known whether a particular kirin is a spirit of bad luck or good luck. Once again, though, this is only a rumor." Twilight shifted out of her "reading" voice and adopted her normal speaking voice. "Hmm. Yeah I don't particularly buy into that luck nonsense, either, but I'd like to know more about this Dusk Seed character and about kirins. He sounds intriguing."

Spike crossed his arms and frowned. "Hmph! Well if you'll excuse me, I have some trash to take out!" he exclaimed in a sour tone.

As the young dragon headed back to his trash bag, the library's front door swung open again. In the doorway stood a white unicorn in a royal purple winter coat, a pet carrier balanced on the small of her back. Twilight looked up from her book and smiled.

"Hello there, Rarity? How are you do...?"

"Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed as she rushed forward and closed the door behind her with her magic. "I am so sorry to be short with you, but I am running really late!"

Twilight regarded Rarity's outward appearance, using it to judge her state of mind. Her fashion friend seemed haggard. Rarity's mane had a few hairs out of place, and her eyes were slightly bloodshot, but Twilight dared not ask if she had been crying. Twilight's smile shrank somewhat, but she still tried to give an optimistic grin.

"Is something wrong, Rarity?" Twilight asked.

Rarity shook her head and approached Twilight and Fluttershy, crossing the room with speed and seeming purpose in her step. "I need a couple favors so that I can get underway on my trip!" Rarity levitated her pet carrier off of her back and placed it on the floor. She then pulled out from her saddle bag a plain brown jerkin, lined with wool and sporting a cape and cowl by way of a clasp at the collar. "Twilight. This coat is for a friend of mine. His name is Dusk Seed. He's kind of shy, but I told him that you could show him around town, so he might come back." She turned towards Fluttershy. "Fluttershy. Could you please watch Opal while I'm gone?"

The yellow pegasus nodded. "Certainly. I would be glad to do..."

Rarity then turned back towards Twilight, her words coming quicker than her friends' ability to give their own. "Oh! A couple more things, Twilight, before I go. Um... I'm not sure how to put this."

"What is it, Rarity?"

Rarity bit her lower lip as she glanced back and forth between the ground and the saddle bags on Twilight's back. A faint blue-ish glimmer could be seen underneath the flaps.

"I...need..." She inhaled sharply and delivered her words all at once, remembering how pressed for time she was. "I need your moonglow bugs!"

Twilight balked. "What? Our moonglow bugs?" She turned her head towards her saddle bag. "How many?"

"How many do you have?" Rarity asked, rubbing the back of her neck to ease her embarrassment.

"About a dozen or so." Twilight looked back up at Rarity, who couldn't quite look her straight in the eyes.

Rarity's eyes started to wander again, first to the ceiling and then to the bookshelf. "Um... All of them." She then noted the time on a cuckoo clock next to the bookshelf and wrinkled her nose, growing increasingly anxious.

Twilight's eyes widened. "All of them?! But Rarity! These bugs are going to be used for the festival, and they're pretty rare and hard to catch! I can't spare these!"

"Oh but Twilight..."

"I said no!"

Rarity immediately fell quiet as she pulled her lips into a sorrowful purse. She crossed her two front legs as she glanced at the floor, the beginnings of tears heading towards the brim of her eyes. Spike frowned and approached Twilight, which only Rarity could see, but she shook her head, as slowly and as small as possible to avoid attracting either Twilight's or Fluttershy's notice. Spike saw it, grumbled and walked away to head back to his trash bag.

"So..." Rarity began as she tried to put some cheer in her voice. "What's so special about these moonglow bugs, anyway?" she asked as she moved her muzzle closer to Twilight's saddle bags.

Twilight levitated the flap of a saddle bag upwards. A small glass container then floated out of the bag and hovered closer to Rarity's eyes. The container was spherical on the bottom and possessed a short glass neck, which ended in a cork stopper at the lip. Cradling the round portion was a mesh of rope, which ended a kind of handle, also made of rope. Rarity squinted as she looked inside the container.

"They're so tiny," Rarity said.

Rarity knew that the bugs glowed and that they were attractive, which was why she wanted to use them in her upcoming projects. However, as she stared at them, it dawned on her just how inadequate any word used to describe them were. They resembled small butterflies, but more than that, Rarity felt like she was watching tiny stars, a small, portable galaxy in a jar. They radiated light, some red, some blue, and some yellow. The tiny bugs stayed still at the bottom of the glass container, their auras of light slowly pulsating like heartbeats. The more she watched them, the more captivated by their beauty she became, and the more she wanted them.

"They're sleeping," Twilight said.

Rarity lifted her head away from the container to look back at Twilight. "Sleeping?"

"When they transform from glowworms, they spend a month or so being awake for only three hours a day, usually right around midnight, and three hours more during the full moon. Then after that month is up, they come alive, and for a whole week they never sleep, blazing a blinding white light, no matter which color they were born with. During the whole week, they mate, and on the final day the female fixes herself to a tree. The male spends the entire twenty four hours of the final day keeping the female alive and fed, not caring for his own health, while the female lays her eggs. Then..."

"Then?" Rarity urged.

"They die."

Rarity gasped at these words.

"It is said that couples extinguish their lights at the same time. There's a link between the moonglow bugs and Gift Giving Day, but it's a bit long and complicated to explain. The answer will be there in the pageant."

The white unicorn remained silent as she reflected on the words and the story of the moonglow bugs. "That sounds... So romantic," she said with a melancholy sigh. "Um..." She went back to glancing around the room.

"Was there something else you needed?"

"Romanea..." Rarity whispered.

"I beg your pardon?"

Rarity snapped to attention, banishing whatever thoughts had preoccupied her and coming back to the realization that she had to leave on her trip in a hurry. "Oh! Nothing, Twilight. I'll just head on my trip." She turned around and headed towards the door, placing one hoof in front of the other in a slow, sad beat. "Alone." She lowered her head as she neared the door. "And empty-hoofed."

Unseen to Rarity, Spike had been watching Rarity's march towards the front door from the back door where the outdoor trash can was situated. Spike had asked Twilight to relocate it after the baby dragon had had an embarrassing run in with a citizen whose curiosity over a box of magazines was all too short-lived. Twilight could only agree, if the experiment on the twentieth of August had anything to say about it, which considering the amount of mouths it had sprouted, it probably could've, in several different languages.

The dragon still clutched the trash bag close to his chest, but upon watching the fashion unicorn slink away, he felt compelled to sniffle. He reached up and wiped his eyes, which proved to be an unwise move, as his index claw had touched something with hot sauce on it.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaugh!" the tiny dragon bellowed.

"Spike?" Rarity stopped in her tracks and snapped her head backwards, just in time to see the poor thing doubled over and clutching at his eyes as he hopped up and down. Thinking quickly, she dropped her saddle bags and doffed her coat before rushing forward, snatching up Spike and placing him on her back. "Oh my Spikey Wikey! Don't you worry. Rarity will get you cleaned up."

She headed upstairs to the bathroom, darted in, and promptly locked the door.

"Hey!" Twilight called up towards the top of the stairs. She then turned towards Fluttershy. "How does she know where my bathroom is?"

* * *

Baby blue and light pink candles lit up a sea of vanilla frosting. Sweetie Belle inhaled briefly and could smell the sweet aroma. Underneath the candles on the first cake layer, similarly colored icing formed words and symbols that should've made her happy. One symbol was an eighth note with a pink heart in place of the note head. Above the notes were the words "Happy Birthday, Sweetie Belle".

Sweetie Belle was anything but; the gesture of the cake felt somewhat empty to her. The fact that the symbols reminded her of her absent cutie mark didn't do much to improve her mood.

She counted the candles. They numbered ten.

Sweetie Belle was now ten years old. Earlier her mother had told her she was officially a "big filly". While Sweetie Belle didn't have her two best friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo over at her party, she was surrounded by a loving family, and she was ten years old.

The atmosphere came alive with festivities, from the colors and patterns on the gift-wrapped boxes, from the curly ribbons on the end of white balloons, and from the cheerful songs being sung by loving family members. Her mother was there. Her father was there. A couple aunts were there. Her big sister's favorite cousin, a young stallion named Thoughtful Gift, was there. Her family members were all there for her, celebrating this event because she knew they cared. By all rights, it was as a picture perfect scene of a lively birthday party as any other.

"Happy birthday to you!" came the last notes of the song.

A middle-aged mare unicorn with a coat the color of peach stared at Sweetie Belle with shimmery, expectant eyes, a smile on her face. The young white filly merely stared at the cake in front of her in the center of the dinner table. Then she glanced over her shoulder back at the doorway.

"Come on, sweetheart. Make a wish," said the mare, her mother.

"Yeah, pumpkin. Blow out the candles. I hope it's a good wish," said an orange stallion earth pony on Sweetie Belle's other side.

Sweetie Belle turned her head from her mother to her father and than back to her mother again. Their smiles were broad. Their pride was sincere. They all seemed so happy.

However, her heart wasn't into smiling. Somepony was missing from the party.

"Where's Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked, her voice almost a whisper.

The smiles on her mother's and father's face faded away, and they gave each other glances. The mother then looked back at Sweetie Belle and reached out to gently touch her on the shoulder.

"Sweetie Belle. I... Maybe Rarity is running late."

Sweetie Belle gave the door another look, almost expecting it to open any time now. "She promised she'd be here on time for my birthday. I can't start without her."

"Sweetie Belle, please. Try to have a good birthday. Gift Giving Day is coming up soo..."

"I want Rarity!"

Sweetie Belle furiously pounded the table, causing her paper plate to flip upside-down and fall to the floor.

Sweetie Belle's mother frowned and wrinkled her nose. "Sweetie Belle! You're acting like a..."

The father frantically waved a hoof at his wife. "Halo Gem? Don't go there."

Halo Gem pulled her lips into a tight, angry line. She then drew closer to Sweetie Belle's ear and whispered a few stern words into it. When her mother had pulled away, Sweetie Belle looked around at the party guests. Her family looked at her expectantly, some with faces of unbridled happiness, and some who looked like their nerves were on the verge of fracturing. She regarded her aunt Lacey Belle, who pasted on a smile so forced in its breadth as to look like it was made of the bottom half of a clown mask. Sweetie Belle then considered her mother's words, and even though she didn't feel her birthday party was complete without her sister Rarity, she also felt she should be considerate of the rest of her family and ease the emotional strain on some of them.

Sweetie Belle looked back at her mother and nodded. "Okay, mommy. I'll try to have a good birthday."

Halo Gem ran a hoof through Sweetie Belle's mane and placed another paper plate in front of her. "There's a good girl."

The young filly gazed at the candles once more. Ten tiny points of flame danced and flickered before her, as if to wave to her and join in the celebration. She pondered the significance of blowing them out. She could wish for Rarity to show up on time, or she could wish for her cutie mark. However, the more she thought about the candles, and the simple idea of snuffing something into non-existence to fulfill one's own desires, the more she didn't expect either of these wishes to come true. Did candle flames appreciate being blown out for wants so improbable, or did they prefer giving themselves up for the usual material gifts? She even wondered if the thing to do at the moment was just to let the candles burn themselves out to the wick. That was sure to leave a sticky mess on the surface of the frosting, however.

Then, hoping against hope, she finally latched onto a wish and inhaled deeply.

'My wish is for my big sister Rarity to have more time so that she wouldn't be stressed all the time and so that she can have more time for me and... for her to find a nice boyfriend who makes her happy!'

Sweetie Belle secretly hoped that whatever or whoever was listening didn't punish her for making her wish complex.

A puff of air escaped her lips, and the flames vanished, replaced by ten rising wisps of smoke.

"Hooray!" her mother exclaimed as she levitated the cutting knife.

Sweetie Belle didn't feel pride upon completing her mother's request, and she also wondered how she would know if her wish came true. As the cake was carved up and served, however, she did her best to disguise her sadness and accepted her offering. She cheerlessly picked up the paper plate with her cake on top, excused herself from the table, and sauntered over to a closet in the living room, locking herself in it before wolfing down the cake slice. After she had devoured the treat, she felt like a good belch would cheer her up, which was a philosophy Apple Bloom had told her always worked after a good snack. It wasn't a belch that escaped her lips, though, but a sob. As tears escaped her eyes and fell off her cheeks to ruin her favorite bunny slippers, the sobbing turned into a case of the hiccups, which caused Sweetie Belle to grow flustered and flush at her cheeks. Frantic to get her hiccups under control, she darted out of the closet and back into the kitchen to discover her mother levitating a glass of punch over to her, as if her mother had already foreseen her predicament and prepared the drink early.

Sweetie Belle eagerly grasped the crystalline demitasse with her two front hooves and slugged back the purple liquid. When she had finished and was certain her hiccups had ceased, she hugged her mother across the chest. Halo Gem rubbed the top of Sweetie Belle's head.

"My you're getting so big. I remember when your hugs only came up to my knees."

Sweetie Belle groaned into her mother's fur.

"Are you not having fun?"

The filly gazed up to look into her mother's eyes and slowly shook her head. Her mother then moved her hoof from the top of Sweetie Belle's head to her right cheek, stroking it gently. Sweetie Belle closed her eyes, a thrilling wave of tingling rush over her from the snout to her hooves, and she breathed in as she enjoyed the tender moment.

"They're starting the games and the music in the living room. Why don't you go join them and have some fun?"

"I don't really feel like it, mommy," Sweetie Belle replied.

"Would you like to open presents?" her mom asked, a hint of eagerness in her voice.

The filly pulled away from her mother's embrace and thought for a bit before she replied, "Um... I think I want to wait for Rarity before I open presents."

Her mother brought a hoof up to her chin. "Hmm. I'll tell you what. You seem really stressed out, and I can't force for you to enjoy your own birthday if you're not up to it. Why don't you go out and unwind a bit in the snow?"

"But Rarity promised she'd... I mean..." Sweetie Belle clamped her mouth shut when she caught her mother's glare. "That sounds like a good idea. Thank you, mommy."

Halo Gem hugged her daughter once more. "Go put on your coat. And bring Thoughtful Gift along with you. You'll need adult supervision."

Sweetie Belle furrowed her eyebrows as she glared at her mother, discouraged by the suggestion. "How is that unwinding? And Thoughtful Gift is only seventeen. He isn't an adult."

"Neither are you. Now don't argue."

"Yes, mother," she groaned.

Sweetie Belle headed towards the parlor as her mother made her way in the direction of the living room to fetch Thoughtful Gift, a young unicorn stallion who was related by way of one of her father's sisters and who was also unusual in being one of the few males in all of Equestria colored pink. She opened up the coat room and retrieved her coat, jumping up and yanking it off the hanger. Plopping her flank on the floor, she draped the coat across her back as two pairs of pink, fetlocked hooves appeared next to her. Slipping one front leg into its respective coat sleeve, and then the other, she fidgeted and struggled and eventually secured the apparel, a bright purple outer wear bedecked in Rarity's gems, around her body. As zipped up the front nice and snug and all the way to the top, she looked up and spotted Thoughtful Gift giving her a broad smile.

"Ready to go, kiddo?" he exclaimed.

Thoughtful Gift's voice rang like wind chimes inside Sweetie Belle's head. It often seemed to the young filly like a cross between an early puberty colt and a mezzo soprano.

"Just a moment." Halo Gem approached from the hallway. The mother levitated a bright red scarf over to Sweetie Belle, wrapping it around her daughter's neck as she ran another loving stroke through Sweetie's mulberry, cloud-shaped mane. "Now you're ready."

Over by the door frame, Sweetie Belle's snow boots lay in the perfect formation for her to leap in, providing a swift way to secure them to her hooves. Her mother opened the door for the both of them, and Sweetie Belle and Thoughtful Gift made their way out into the cold.

"Don't wander too far. And watch out for strangers. Just stay near the park. And don't be too late. One hour. No more."

"Yes, mommy," Sweetie Belle said with a sigh.

The door closed behind them, and Sweetie Belle shuffled through snow deep enough to cover her ankles, with Thoughtful Gift following closely behind. She then made her way to the sidewalk just in front of her house, which had been plowed, and as such made her walking easier. She still shuffled along slowly. Even though she enjoyed the snow, she couldn't bring herself to lift up her spirits and run along and play in nature's white blanket. Rarity's broken promise of being there for Sweetie Belle still ravaged her mind, tying her heart in knots and weighing down her legs through a loss of will. Merely thinking about how her big sister failed to show up for such an important event in Sweetie Belle's life, especially after the elder swore to the younger that she wouldn't miss the celebration for anything, was enough to sour her mood on doing anything fun in the snow. Even as she walked towards the park, hearing the laughter of fillies and colts her age and carols sung in anticipation of the upcoming holiday, she grumbled to herself, nursing her bruised pride.

"So I hear you're not enjoying your own birthday," came a voice behind her, pulling her from her mental chewing out.

"Huh?" She glanced back as she walked along and spotted Thoughtful Gift.

"I wish I had a better tenth birthday. Know what I got for MY tenth birthday?" He paused for a response but was only treated to a blank stare from his cousin. "I got a needlework set, a rag doll, and a flank-kicking from some of my classmates."

"No offense, Thoughtful Gift, but I'm not in the mood to hear your colthood drama. I didn't even want anypony to tag along."

"Um... No worries. You won't even know I'm there. Let's just head to the park, and I'll sit quietly and do some needlework."

Sweetie Belle shrugged and continued on her way down the sidewalk.

Winter Lake Park was situated close by. Her parents had carefully chosen the location of their house because it was practically within a stone's throw of the park. It provided a picturesque and convenient place to play for Sweetie Belle and her few cousins and was located in a safe neighborhood. The park was readily in view down the main cross street near her home, the wrought iron fence marking the borders as she got near. The tall iron bars of the fence, electric lamps that lined the avenue, and barren ash trees were already decked out in holiday flair. Tinsel and streamers of red and green and vines of light bulbs had been strung up here and there. She imagined that the trees had been dressed up by her sister, with the electric lights as the parts of the dress and the patches of snow in the branches as the shoulder pads.

Sweetie Belle had to chuckle at that thought.

The two approached the park's opening and entered. No gate provided the way in. The park merely had a place where one end of the wrought iron fence stopped and then continued on fifteen or so feet from the other side. Thoughtful Gift sought out a bench to sit down on and work on his needlework creation while Sweetie Belle looked around.

The park was a mix of serenity and joyful activity. The trees here were a mix of ash and elms, and many were dressed up in holiday lights, same as the trees near the street. Several fillies and colts were here, either running around each other and throwing snow balls or playing catch with a ball or glide disk. Sweetie Belle regarded the happily playing children and the festive scene as she considered her recent behavior. Suddenly, something occurred to her. She had been born a week before Gift Giving Day and had been blessed to experience not one but two holidays where she received gifts, with each day being roughly within the same time frame. This happened to her every year, year after year. Her mother also could've easily banished her to her room for this morning's outburst. Instead, she had given Sweetie Belle a stern warning and offered her a chance to wind down outside.

With that revelation, Sweetie Belle's anger melted. Perhaps it was the holiday charm or the amusing, slightly off key warblings of school fillies and colts singing holiday songs, but she eventually came to recognize that she had been ungrateful. Her birthday wasn't the same without Rarity, but she couldn't remember a time when she had had one that was terrible.

As she looked around the park, she spotted a three level, circular stone fountain, its water since banished by the cold. Nearby, a colt with athletic legs playfully ran around an older stallion, kicking snow at him before running away, both all smiles and laughter. Sweetie Belle guessed that they were an older and younger brother, getting exercise and having fun. Watching the two made her pine for Rarity even more, but she no longer felt sad. Instead, she smiled bittersweetly and headed towards the fountain.

The filly stopped briefly when she got halfway to the fountain and glanced back at Thoughtful Gift. He still sat on the bench, curiously only half aware as he glanced up to wave before going back to his arts and crafts. She shrugged and continued on her way towards the granite structure. The fountain had been arranged as a series of three, flat and shallow, circular disks, with the smallest on top and the largest on the bottom. The central hub going up through each of the disks terminated in a small sphere, where the water would've tumbled out through a groove circling near the sphere's bottom. On top of the sphere, three different stone ponies posed playfully, one for each of the three pony types.

As she made her way towards the fountain, she passed by a blue earth pony colt curiously looking through a garbage can underneath one of the park's trees. At first she kept walking, if rather cautiously, occasionally stopping only briefly to eyeball the strange boy rummaging through the trash can. However, the more she walked and watched the colt out of the corner of her eyes, the more the boy and his activities bothered her. She whirled to face him.

"Hey! What are you doing there?!"

The young pony became startled and backed away from the garbage can, staring at Sweetie Belle with wild, fearful eyes. He slowly took a couple steps rearward, still looking at her with cursory glances. After a moment, though, he turned around and proceeded to run.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, reaching out with a hoof.

Despite her best efforts, the boy continued running towards the far side of the park, away from her. Sweetie Belle made a grunt of disapproval, looked over to where Thoughtful Gift sat and then back over to the running boy. She shook her head and made the choice to give chase, realizing the consequences of ditching her appointed guardian.

The colt's mad flight took her past park benches, the lake underneath a grove of elms, and out the entrance on the other side from where she came in. Snow and bushes whirled by her in a blur of white. She didn't stop to notice where she ran or the signs of the streets she passed. Her focus was completely on the boy.

As the chase continued, she saw him falter and trip a bit as the roads became less maintained and lumpier with piled snow. He turned down a side alley and tripped over a battered wooden crate. The colt hit the ground on his backside hard and tumbled backwards on the snow before coming to rest up against a wall. Sweetie Belle skidded to a halt to avoid a collision, kicking up some of the snow.

The boy quickly got up and frantically looked around. When he saw that he had nowhere to go, as the alley provided no exit, he shot a gaze back over at Sweetie Belle. The whites of his eyes were blood shot. His baby blue fur coat held smudges of dirt in places. He seemed jittery to Sweetie Belle and couldn't keep his body from fidgeting as he looked her up and down with rabbitlike motions in his head, his eyes wide and telling of the fear within him.

Sweetie Belle kept her distance when she saw his emotional state. She took one step backwards as she held up a hoof between herself and him, hoping to put him a little at ease.

"Why were you chasing me?" the boy squeaked.

"I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought it was kind of weird for a kid to be looking through a trash can. I thought you were up to no good."

"So you weren't after me to take me back to my brother?"

She cocked her head to the side, puzzled by his question. "Um... No?" As she looked at the strange earth pony boy some more, she slowly grew sorrowful and empathetic for him, mostly from how scared and dirty he looked. She braved one step closer towards him but kept her posture as low and non-threatening as possible. "Are you a runaway?"

The boy remained silent for a while, shrinking back a bit and looking at the snow around his hooves. He gave a small patch of snow a kick. He then lifted his gaze back towards Sweetie Belle and nodded. "Yeah."

The filly bit her lower lip and fidgeted herself. She glanced around a bit, an unease growing inside her. She realized that she had placed herself in an unfamiliar area. Not wanting to make an emotionally tense situation worse, she swallowed her fear to the best of her ability and turned her attention back to the young boy before her. "What's your name?"

"What's yours?"

"Sweetie Belle," she replied.

The boy still remained silent, but Sweetie Belle saw that at least he no longer fidgeted around.

"Well I told you my name. You're still not going to give me yours?"

The boy bit his lower lip. "Well... It's..."

Sweetie Belle suddenly heard a noise behind her, like the sound of the wooden crate being kicked over. It made a lot of noise, like it had been kicked with tremendous force. A glass bottle shattered, and the sound of a wooden plank cracking in two reached her ears. The colt suddenly sprang at her, catching her by surprise and knocking her off her feet, as a piece of wood flew by both of their heads. They landed in a heap, with him on top of her.

"Are you okay?" the colt asked as he rolled off her.

Sweetie Belle rubbed her head and then looked at the colt. "Um... Yeah. Why did you do that?"

"You almost got hit in the head with that piece of wood."

She shook the dizziness from her and got up to her feet, giving the small, eight inch plank a glare. "Where did THAT come from?"

The two children suddenly heard laughter behind them. However, it wasn't playful laughter. What they heard sounded more like mischievous laughter. They both turned their heads and spotted a couple well groomed unicorn colts having fun by kicking crates and garbage cans and aiming the odd snowball or soda bottle at the neighbors' mailboxes. One colt was short and stocky and sported a lopsided hairstyle that placed the entire bangs over his left eye. The other was tall and lanky but possessed long, muscular back legs. His hair style was slick with styling gel and swept back cleanly. The short one used his unicorn magic to hurt snow balls at mailboxes, putting huge dents in them. The tall one seemed to prefer using his back legs to kick over crates. He caused his mischief by raising his back legs as high as possible and launching them out at the same time, almost like Applejack during her applebucking.

Sweetie Belle and her new friend heard that same annoying, "trouble is my middle name" kind of laughter once more. Her friend gave her a worried look. She bit her lip when she saw his jaw tremble, and his legs started shaking with such terrible force that she half wondered if he was going to wet himself right in front of her.

"These aren't friends of yours?" she asked.

He released a low, quivering groan before swallowing hard and forcing the words out. "Far from it. These two are from uptown. But it looks like they haven't seen us yet. Get behind me."

Sweetie Belle obliged him and ducked behind his body as he turned around and faced the trouble-makers. She peeked out from around his bright yellow tail every now and then, trying hard to stifle her curiosity. It seemed odd to her that her new friend suddenly now decided to play knight, especially since he seemed to be more terrified than she was.

"Sapphire Dreams."

Sweetie Belle lifted up her head and blinked in surprise. "What?"

"That's my name."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

His head turned around, and he gave a small flash of a smile on one corner of his mouth. "Just in case we don't survive this?"

Sweetie Belle groaned and hid her face in her front hooves. "I'm already overdue for returning back home to my birthday party, and on top of that, I left my cousin back at the park, completely and utterly clueless. Ugh! I'm going to get grounded for a week!"

Sapphire Dreams waved a hoof backwards, motioning to her while still keeping his eye on the bullies. "Well keep it down so they don't hear us. That's the only way out of this alley. We'll just have to wait for them to go..."

"Hey look who it is!" shouted the tall unicorn.

"Away," Sapphire Dreams finished.

The shorter one looked up from his activities and turned around, making eye contact with Sapphire Dreams. The unicorn bully took one step forward. "Oh yeah! It's that Main Street baby who thinks he's part of that gang of other babies!"

The two then proceeded to snort and chuckle.

"Hey Grasshopper," said the short one.

"Yeah, Rhubarb?" the tall one replied.

"Let's have some fun with this little baby."

The one called Grasshopper curled his lips up into a terrible smile, and this sent a wave of chills throughout Sapphire's small body. He gave a small peep of fright when he saw the two bullies start to amble over slowly. He could see the intent in their eyes, the glint of the love of trouble and violence flashing in their orbs. Their legs lifted up side by side, the bullies acting in unison, before stomping down into the snow, each step being deliberately placed for the greatest menace as they drew the bullies closer.

Sapphire Dreams backed up as far as he could, fearing the moment they decided to drop the swagger and simply rush him. His nerves firing at full flight mode, he jumped a couple inches when he felt something tug on his tail. He turned around and spotted Sweetie Belle peeking her head from behind a plank in the wooden fence that had been pried sideways.

"Hey Sapphire!" she whispered. "Get down here. I found this hole in the fence that we can squeeze through. Hurry before they catch you!"

Sapphire didn't have to be told twice. Not wasting a single moment, he crouched down closer to the ground and crammed his head through the hole. The other side of the hole was up against the brick of the neighboring house, so it proved to be a tight fit. He wriggled his shoulders this way and that as he slowly squeezed through. Panicking over the fear that his back legs would be grabbed by the bullies who would then yank him back through, he reached out with a hoof at Sweetie Belle. She took the hint and grabbed his front legs, yanking backwards to assist his transit of the hole. His backside cleared the hole with a messy scraping sound, and just in the nick of time, as Grasshopper appeared on the opposite side and reached out to grab only air.

Sapphire Dreams stumbled forward a couple steps but found his balance again and turned the stumble into a run. He glanced sideways at Sweetie Belle as she ran too, giving her a triumphant smile.

"Yahoo!" he exclaimed as they ran along, placing much needed distance between themselves and the bullies.

"Yahoo!" Sweetie Belle echoed, leaping up as far as her short legs could jump.

Running with this strange boy in the snow and barely escaping a pummeling at the hooves of bullies gave Sweetie Belle a thrill of exhilaration. She felt wonderful and alive, and most of all, she was sharing a sensation with somepony else, a pony she could call a friend. It was the same kind of thrill she got whenever she would go on another crusade for cutie marks with her friends, except with them, she didn't care much for putting her body in harm's way doing many of Scootaloo's suggested schemes that often seemed more fit for stunt ponies. However, running along with this boy by her side and humiliating a group of stronger ponies by leaving them in the dust somehow felt strangely wonderful.

After a few minutes of galloping at a brisk pace, Sapphire Dreams glanced backwards and eventually slowed to a gentle walk. Sweetie Belle followed his example when she saw that she had overshot him. The two made their way over to a picket fence and collapsed against it as they struggled to catch their breath.

"Whew. That was... a wild ride, but I'm glad we're safe now," Sweetie Belle said as she huffed, trying hard not to prop herself up by leaning against the shoulders of her newfound friend. "I haven't... been that scared since the time my friends and I almost got turned to stone."

"Huh?" Sapphire Dreams asked, fixing a playful gaze on her before giving himself one last sharp inhale to steady his lungs.

"Um. Nothing. So now that everything's back to normal, shall we introduce ourselves to each other the proper way?" She held out a hoof. "My name is Sweetie Belle."

Her friend eyed her hoof briefly before slowly taking it in both his front hooves and shaking it up and down. "I'm Sapphire Dreams. I'm please to meet yo-ouch." His normal speaking voice had suddenly turned into an exclamation of pain.

"What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle asked.

The boy looked at his right flank and winced at the sight of what was there. A nasty but shallow gash, two inches long, had appeared on the surface. The bleeding wasn't profuse or messy but still flowed easily and stained his coat a purple-red.

"It kinda stings."

Sweetie Belle wrinkled her nose when she spotted the blood. "Well we need to get that patched up. Where's home for you?"

Sapphire Dreams balked and pulled away from her, his eyes flashing nervousness once more. "I... It's... Far."

"Hmm. Well then you'll have to come home with me, and I'll patch you up there."

"Would your mama allow that?"

She smiled and waved a dismissive gesture at him. "Oh it'll be fine. Come on!" She got up from the fence and her smile diminished as she looked around. She realized that she didn't recognize her surroundings. "Oh. Wait. Um..."

The neighborhood appeared to be much like the the one her parents' home was located, upper scale middle class with adequately spaced, two story houses painted with bright colors. She glanced up at a sign to get the name of the street. When getting recognition of a familiar street failed, she looked around for landmarks or a grove of trees with unique features she might have remembered. She darted up a road and then back down towards another, working up her nerves more and more as she ran around. Her heart started beating loudly in her ears when she gave up her made dash, arriving at the conclusion that the neighborhood looked too much like hers but with none of the streets she recognized.

"I think I'm lost," she muttered as she looked at Sapphire Dreams.

"Well, uh..." The colt looked around briefly. "Maybe if we walk around, we might see something that'll help jog your memory of where we are."

"Don't you know where the park is from here at least?"

"Well... Not really."

Sweetie Belle groaned and shook her head. "Nevermind. It's fine. Let's just start walking, then."

However, trying to find their way around proved to be unnecessary, as Sweetie Belle heard a voice call her name from behind.

"Sweetie Belle!" the voice exclaimed.

Sweetie Belle snapped her head back over her shoulder and looked around. She eventually spotted a pink form amongst the expanse of white down the street behind her.

"Sweetie Belle!" the voice called again.

"Thoughtful Gift?" the filly said, squinting into the distance in the hopes of getting more detail of the approaching form.

"Who is she? Your cousin?"

Sweetie Belle turned her head back towards Sapphire Dreams and wrinkled her nose. "HE is my cousin. That's Thoughtful Gift."

The pink stallion approached within conversation distance. Sweetie Belle could only stare in disbelief, her jaw slightly dropped.

"How did you find us?"

Thoughtful Gift roughly tousled Sweetie Belle's mane, smiling as he did so. "You forgot my special talent. I'm empathic, remember? I just followed your stress lines. Now if you promise not to tell your mother I accidentally let you out of my sight, I won't tell her you ran away from me."

"Deal. But can Sapphire Dreams come with us? He needs a bandage on his flank. I just hope mommy doesn't pry into how he got cut."

Her cousin raised a hoof and pointed at her attire. "Or how you ripped a hole in your scarf and knocked out several of the gems Rarity embedded in your winter coat."

Despairing, Sweetie Belle sat down in the snow, dragging her front hooves across her face as she groaned loudly. "I am so busted."

Thoughtful Gift shook his head. "Your anxiety is giving me a headache. We'll think of excuses later. Let's just get out of the snow and get back to your birthday party."