The Shoshoniensis Boutique

Gathered around the table were Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie, while Spike was at the stove, cooking pancakes.

The purple alicorn asked her fellow element bearer, “So, Rarity, how did things go last night?”

The representative of generosity answered, “Oh, Spikey-Wikey had a nightmare. The poor thing was so scared, he wet himself.”

From the stove, the purple dragon growled, “Rarity!”

Twilight turned to her assistant and asked, “Are you alright, Spike? What was the nightmare about?”

The dragon flipped over the pancake he was cooking, then sighed before turning to the purple alicorn and answering, “It was nothing.”

Twilight shook her head a couple times before saying, “I know you, Spike; and if the nightmare was so scary that you wet yourself, then it wasn't nothing. Please, tell me what happened.”

Spike turned back to the pancake and sighed again, then said, “Well, alright.” Checking first to see if the pancake in the pan was ready to join the stack on the plate next to him, he said, “I dreamed about the opening yesterday. It went perfectly, better than it had in reality.”

Rarity noted, “Well, it doesn't sound all that scary.”

The purple dragon continued, “Next thing I knew, I was floating through a forest of trees I'd never seen before. I floated through this really weird building, and there were these creatures that walked on their hind legs. Two were talking to their friends, I guess, while I floated past them.”

At this point, Pinkie said, “There's nothing scary about that.”

Spike continued, “Then, I got to this one place where there was one of those creatures in a pile of wood. The wood was burning, and he was burning too. I looked at his face, and, and, he turned into Pinkie.”

At this point, the pink party pony propped herself up on her hind legs so that she was upright on them. Turning to the left so that she was at a right angle to the table, she took a step or two before collapsing forward onto all fours. Turning to the purple dragon, she said, “I guess I could practice walking on my hind legs. But, I'm not very good at it right now.”

Spike continued, “Seeing Pinkie burning like that, I woke up screaming. Or, I thought I did.” At this point, he scooped the pancake up with the spatula he'd been holding, then put it on the top of the stack of ten or so others, before turning to the white unicorn and saying, “I was in the bed with you, and I started telling you about the dream. Then, you started floating over the bed and told me I'd just been dreaming, that everything was perfectly alright. Then you spit out fire, and it turned and started burning you!”

Alarmed for only a split second, Twilight rose to all fours away from the table, then trotted over to her assistant and started nuzzling him before saying, “If you'll remember back when I didn't believe in the Pinkie sense, when I thought all she was doing was twitching, she started trembling, then talked about a doozy that was going to happen in Froggy Bottom Bog. I followed along, thinking I was going to be there when it turned out to be nothing. But, then, we were chased by that hydra.”

Spike listened to the story, although he tried, unsuccessfully, to pull himself away from the purple alicorn's demonstration of affection. Once she mentioned the hydra, Spike interrupted, “I remember that. When we got across that broken bridge over the bog, and the hydra walked away, you thought the hydra was Pinkie's doozy. Then, when Pinkie trembled again, and said the hydra wasn't the doozy, you got so angry you burst into flames.”

Twilight backed away from her assistant and said, “That's right.”

Spike corrected, “But, this was different. Rarity didn't just burst into flames, ... she spat out fire. And, the fire she spat out ... t-turned and attacked h-her. And, it w-wasn't ... wasn't magical flames, l-like with you. I r-remember, b-b-before ... before I finally w-woke up for real, the f-f-flames that attacked her s-s-started b-b-burning away her f-f-fur, and her s-s-skin!” After that, he collapsed into Twilight's neck and started sobbing.

The purple alicorn continued to nuzzle her assistant until he stopped crying, then said, “Why don't you go sit at the table? I can finish making the pancakes.”

Spike didn't argue, didn't say anything. Still sniffling, he stepped off of the stool he was standing on, then sat next to Rarity, where a chair was provided for him, at the table.

The white unicorn nuzzled Spike under his chin for a second or two, then backed away again. Using her magic to levitate a nearby box, she said, “Oh, yes, I brought some things with me from Ponyville. I thought they could inspire me while I was here next to Shoshoniensis.”

Pinkie, back in her place, perked up as she asked, “Really? What are they?”

Setting the box on top of the table, Rarity used her magic to open it, then levitated a gold-colored necklace with a red, heart-shaped gem in it.

Seeing the gem, Spike smiled as he said, “That's the fire ruby I gave you! I was gonna eat it, but then you said you wanted it. So, I decided it was meant for you.”

The white unicorn nodded before setting it aside and saying, “I haven't decided where I shall put it just yet.”

Just then, Fluttershy entered the kitchen, carrying a basket. Setting it down next to the representative of generosity, she said, “Here's Opalescence, Rarity.”

Turning to the feline, Rarity asked, “Oh, Opal, did you enjoy your trip here?”

Presently, the white cat hopped out of the basket, growled at the white unicorn, and swatted at her with a paw of exposed claws.

The yellow pegasa said, “Cat's aren't good when it comes to traveling. I don't think it was such a good idea for you to bring her along.”

Defensively, Rarity stated, “Well, I couldn't very well leave the poor thing back in Ponyville now, could I? Not with nopony to take care of her.”

Fluttershy said, “I could've taken care of her.”

Rarity continued, “And besides, Opalescence just loves traveling.” Turning to her cat, she asked, “Isn't that right, Opal dear?”

This time, the Persian cat simply hissed before swatting at the white unicorn again.

Twilight and Spike chuckled before the purple alicorn asked, “So, Fluttershy, will you be staying for breakfast? We're having pancakes.”

The representative of kindness lowered her head before saying, “Um, no, I don't think so. I have my creatures to take care of back at my cottage.” And, she turned and ambled out of the kitchen.

Just a second or two later, Rainbow Dash's voice could be heard saying, “Fluttershy, leaving so soon?” Then, the door opened, revealing the azure pegasa.

Before she could say anything, the purple alicorn asked, “Rainbow Dash, have you seen Applejack?”

The rainbow-haired pegasa nodded her head before turning to Rarity and saying, “She said she saw some kind of garden out behind your clothing store. I think she went there to see what it was like.”

At that point, Spike volunteered, “You stay here and have breakfast. I'll go see what she found.” And, he jumped up, then headed out the door from the kitchen, then made his way out of the boutique.

Circling around the building, Spike found the orange earth mare probing some of the soil with a front hoof. Seeing her, he called out, “Hi, Applejack!”

The representative of honesty turned to see the purple dragon approaching her from behind, and called out to him, “Well, howdy, Spike!”

Continuing his approach until he was right next to her, he asked, “So, what're you doing back here, anyway?”

Applejack looked back at where she was probing, then turned to the dragon again and answered, “Ah don't rightly know. Ah's sure Ah saw somethin' a-flashin' in this spot. But, when Ah got here 'n' started a-searchin', Ah couldn't find nothin'.”

Spike pointed to the building and said, “Well, breakfast's ready inside whenever you are. If you want, I could keep searching for whatever it is you saw back here.”

The orange earth mare chuckled for a second before answering, “Nah, that's alright. Let's go back inside Rarity's boutique.” And, with that, she started heading toward the building.

The purple dragon didn't immediately follow the representative of honesty. For a moment, he stood there, looking at the spot where she'd been digging. He thought he saw something shining, something metal. But, when he went to have a closer look, the orange earth mare called to him, “Spike, come on! Yer the one said breakfast was ready!”

At that point, he decided the mystery could wait until later. And, he followed the orange earth mare back into the building.

Just into the front door, the purple dragon watched his white unicorn friend emerge from the kitchen. As he continued to watch her make her way to the nearby staircase and start climbing, he said, “I thought we were gonna have breakfast together, in the kitchen.”

The representative of generosity turned her head and nodded to the purple dragon, then said, “I've had two of the pancakes already. I'm just going upstairs to unpack. I can get started in my room. This new place, and the zebras living nearby, have inspired me to create a whole new line of clothing for them.”

Spike took a moment to close the door behind him before turning back to the purple-haired unicorn and asking, “Do you need any help?”

Rarity smiled at the dragon and answered, “Oh, isn't that thoughtful of my little Spikey-Wikey. No, you go have breakfast with everypony else. I shall get things set up.” And, she made her way to the second door from the staircase along the elevated hallway. There, she opened the door, entered through it, and closed the door behind her.

Dreamily, Spike sighed with adoration before floating to the kitchen, opening the door, entering, and closing the door behind him.

Taking a seat between the purple alicorn and the orange earth mare, Spike joined the element bearers, save for Rarity, to enjoy breakfast.

During the meal, Twilight spoke approvingly of Rarity wanting to get to work immediately on getting her shop set up.

Applejack mentioned having seen something in the boutique's backyard, and being called to breakfast before she could find out what it was.

Pinkie Pie talked about how successful the previous night's grand opening party had been.

Rainbow Dash mentioned a large building in ruins she'd noticed while flying overhead.

Spike ate silently, listening to the ponies around him, hoping for a chance to take another tour of Rarity's new boutique before visiting the nearby town.

After an hour, the ponies had eaten all the pancakes and helped in the cleanup before leaving the room to do some exploring on their own.

From the main floor, Spike could see most of the main room of the boutique. He took note of how it was possible to see both floors from the doorway of the kitchen, the unguarded hallway upstairs that connected four rooms, each with doors; as well as the four rooms on the main floor that each served a different purpose: the most distant from the staircase leading to a bathroom for stallions, the one next to it being a bathroom for mares, a storage room just before that, and a dressing room just next to the stairs. He knew the room Rarity had entered was her bedroom. After all, he'd spent the night there with her. Then, another of those rooms was going to be Rarity's inspiration room. Which one was it again?

One more of those rooms was going to be a bedroom for visitors, likely for Sweetie Belle if she ever came to visit. But, that last room was a mystery to him. It was that room over the stallions' bathroom. He'd never been in there, the first time he'd seen this place was after it's construction had been completed. Looking at the room, he had to wonder if he even dared go up and have a look.

While he spent that previous night in Rarity's bedroom with her, he'd only been in the rooms that Rarity had guided him and the other element bearers to. He'd never even gotten to see the plans for this boutique.

Then, the memory of his nightmare returned to him. The place had just been built. So, why was it already giving him nightmares, and especially nightmares like that? Did that mystery room have something to do with it?

Well, he decided he could wait to find out. At the moment, his bowels and bladder were telling him they needed to be emptied. So, he went to the stallions' room, to the nearest toilet, opened the lid, climbed up and sat down on the toilet, and allowed his bladder and bowels to empty. Then, after that, he flushed the toilet and cleaned himself, then proceeded to leave the bathroom. Seeing the way was clear, the purple dragon proceeded across the main room, to the entrance to the boutique.

Spike was still unsure why Rarity had chosen to build her newest boutique half an hour outside the nearest town. Something about New Zebraland's laws regarding businesses and keeping them separate from residents. But, if that was the case, he wondered as he finally entered the town, why did he see stores and other places of business mixed in with houses and huts in Shoshoniensis?

Well, that didn't matter too much to him right now. He decided the first place he should check out was a building that reminded him of Sugar Cube Corner.

It looked like a gingerbread house from the outside, but it was very different on the inside. With all the bottles on the shelves, it seemed more like a pharmacy than a place where Spike expected to buy pastries.

Then, there was the keeper of the shop. Spike recognized her as an authority figure, based on her clothing. But, there was also something about her that was different from figures he was used to, like the princesses or Mayor Mare.

On seeing him, the zebra said, “Oh, you must be one of Rarity's friends.”

Having had his back to the female zebra, Spike started when he heard her voice. Turning to her, he sighed with relief before saying, “Oh, hi there. Yeah, I'm one of Rarity's friends.”

The zebra continued, “I must give you a warning. Behind the boutique are ruins of an ancient civilization. Terrible things happened there, and they could happen again if those ruins are disturbed. Stay away from the ruins.”

The purple dragon swallowed hard before saying, “Uh, yeah, I'll remember that.”

The zebra nodded before asking, “Now, is there anything in particular you're looking for?”

Spike, not taking his eyes off of the zebra, answered, “Uh, no.”

The zebra took a position near the front door, where he'd entered, and, settling into a canine-style position, said, “If you need anything, please feel free to come here. I'll be waiting.” And, as she stopped moving, somehow, she managed to disappear into the wall behind her.

After making a remark about how troubling the encounter had been, Spike took a brief tour of the small shop before leaving. Maybe there was a building, a store of some sort, that didn't have such a creepy owner.

Another building, one that looked like a really comfortable house on the outside, turned out to have more rooms than Spike would've expected to see in such a building on the inside. And, how could a building that looked so small on the outside be so spacious on the inside?

As Spike looked up at each door, on either side of him, he saw that each had a label. But, the labels had writing on them that he couldn't read. Looking at those characters, he thought to himself he was going to have to do some research, some study of those symbols, before he could find his way around. In the mean time, he'd just have to try his luck, and hope he didn't enter a mare's bathroom by mistake.

The first door he tried, the first on his left, put him in what appeared to be a shop where lots of fruits and vegetables were sold. Well, now he knew that, if he needed to find ingredients for Twilight's favorite foods, this was the first place he could look for them, as long as he could afford it.

To his surprise, there was a pony, a stallion, at the counter near the door.

Approaching the stallion, Spike said, “Uh, hi, sir.”

The stallion smiled down at him and said, “Oh, hi. You're new around here, I'm guessing?”

The purple dragon nodded, then asked, looking around, “So, do you grow all these yourself?”

The stallion shook his head before answering, “Actually, the locals sell their crops to me, and I sell them to anypony who wants them, locals or outsiders. Do you need anything?”

Spike took a seat near one of the shelves and, nodding, answered, “I just met one of the zebras that lives around here, I guess. She said I shouldn't go near some ruins behind Rarity's new boutique. Do you know why?”

The stallion pony turned away and sighed for a second before looking back at his dragon visitor and answering, “According to local legends, those ruins were the residence of creatures that walked on their hind legs, were built to walk that way. It seems that the ruler of those creatures was evil. According to local legend, the ruler killed one of the other creatures because that other creature tried to warn him that what he was doing was not good, and that he needed to change. After that, the group of creatures was attacked by another group, and the ruler told the males to abandon their females and young and leave so they wouldn't be weighed down. Some obeyed him, while others refused to leave. Some of those that followed him, feeling betrayed, killed him the way he'd killed that creature that'd tried to warn him.”

As he heard the stallion tell the story, Spike began to feel more and more frightened. When the stallion was done, the purple dragon said, “That's terrible.”

The keeper of the store said, “Well, it's the story they tell. Still I've never been to those ruins. Not much of a point tempting fate.”

Spike rose to his feet again and asked, “So, you're familiar with Rarity's new boutique?”

The stallion answered, “I am. I was there to see it open.”

Spike continued, “Do you know who sold her that land?”

The stallion nodded, then pointed to the door as he answered, “Their place of business is just across from here.”

As the purple dragon walked to the door, he said, “Thanks for the information.” Then, he opened the door and exited, then made his way across the hallway to the next door. Still unable to read the sign above the door, he simply opened it and entered. And, looking toward the desk, while he was surprised to see two light-yellow unicorn stallions in red-and-white-striped vests and hats, he immediately wondered to himself if he should be. Glaring at the two, he growled, “Flim and Flam.”

The mustachioed stallion smiled as he pointed to the purple dragon and asked, “Spike, right?” Not waiting for an answer, he asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

In response, Spike asked, “You're the ones that sold that property to Rarity?”

The two stallions exchanged glances before the mustachioed one answered, “That's correct. Why, is there something wrong with it?”

The other stallion added, “Whatever it is, we'll see what we can do to correct it.”

The purple dragon folded his arms in front of him and asked, “Did you happen to know any of the stories about that piece of land?”

The mustachioed unicorn said, “Ah, stories.”

His brother added, “Legends.”

The first unicorn to speak added, “Superstitions.”

Spike closed his eyes and planted a clawed hand between them, over his snout, and groaned. Letting the forelimb drop to his side, he opened his eyes again, then asked, “Does that mean you're familiar with the stories, or that you've just heard they exist?”

The two stallions exchanged glances again and laughed for a second or two before the one without a mustache said, “Stories are just that, stories. They have no basis in reality, so they can't harm anypony.”

The purple dragon pointed to the two unicorn stallions and said, “You two better be right. Because, I know where to find you now.” And, he turned and walked out the door before slamming it behind him. Emitting a sighing groan, he exited the building and made his way back to the new boutique.

As soon as he walked through the door and closed it behind him, he turned around to find himself nose-to-nose with Rarity.

The white unicorn asked him, “Why Spike, where have you been?”

Again the dragon sighed before answering, “I was just visiting Shoshoniensis to see what things were like there.” He then looked up at the representative of generosity and asked, “Did you know anything about this land, any stories connected to it, before you bought it from two stallions?”

Rarity laughed for a second before answering, “I studied this land before I bought it. There's a layer of rock underneath that's perfect for the foundation. Frankly, I'm surprised that nopony, or for that matter no zebra, has built any homes on this land before.”

Spike reached out each of his forelimbs and rested one each on the white unicorn's front legs as he looked into her eyes and said, “Rarity, I heard a story about this land, something about an evil king that killed one of his own, and was later killed.”

At this point, Rarity laughed harder before using a forelimb to massage the little dragon's head and saying, “Oh, Spike, you needn't pay attention to old superstitions like that. They can't have any basis on what we're doing here.”

The purple dragon pushed the forelimb away and said, “Rarity, you've got to listen to me. I had a nightmare last night, remember? And, you saw how scared I got. And, that's before I heard about that king. I'm telling you, something's not right about this land. You shouldn't have built your boutique here. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't think you should stay here.”

The white unicorn sighed, then nuzzled Spike as she said, “Now, you know I can't just abandon a boutique once I've gotten it set up. Not without a good reason.”

At this point, Spike grabbed the face of the representative of generosity and, forcing her to look at his face, asked, “Rarity, doesn't it seem strange to you that this is the only building here?”

Rarity smiled as she answered, “Oh, I am so fortunate to have such a brave dragon to defend me. But, you know, or you should know, that I only had to build my boutique here because of the laws that don't allow me to build it in the town. I couldn't even find a suitable building in the town to set up a boutique.”

The purple dragon started to protest, “But, I've been to Shoshoniensis, and …” Then, he decided he'd argued enough. Releasing the white unicorn's face, he sighed one last time as he turned away and said, “Yeah, whatever. I'm going on a walk outside.” And, he turned and walked to the door, opened it, stepped outside, then closed the door again.

Not paying attention to where he went, the purple dragon made his way around the new building and headed across the back yard. Then, seeing something shining in the soil, he walked over to it and dug around it until he saw that it was some kind of piece of metal. The shape indicated it served some kind of purpose, perhaps as a key or something. Keeping it in one clawed hand, he finished crossing the yard, then started walking into the forest behind the boutique.

All he knew was that he was being drawn to something either in or on the other side of the forest. And, not having anything else to do, he just kept walking.

After a few minutes, he found himself at the walls of … something. As he walked along this one wall, it took only a few minutes before he was at what he could only figure was a door. And, there was a hole in it.

Spike looked at the piece of metal in his hand, then up at the hole in the door, then back down at that piece of metal. Thinking he had nothing to lose, he shrugged before taking the piece of metal and pushing it into the hole. And, somehow it didn't surprise the purple dragon that the piece of metal fit. Thinking that the piece of metal might have been what he thought it was, a key, he tried turning it clockwise, only to find that it didn't budge. But, when he tried turning it the other way, it worked, making a clanking sound when it stopped; and the door drifted open.

As the purple dragon walked inside, he saw walls that were part of a structure that, even though he was sure he'd never seen it before, he recognized. No ceiling over the walls, but there seemed to be buildings within them.

As the purple dragon walked through the door, then past it just a few paces, he heard creaking behind him. Quickly turning to the door, he found himself frozen in place as he watched the door close, leaving him trapped inside. Finally finding himself able to move again, he ran to the door and pounded on it, shouting for help. But, when he remembered he'd come to this structure alone, he decided to turn around again and do some exploring. After all, he thought, what did he have to lose?

The long pathway ahead of him lead to an elevated building, with stairs leading to a doorway. But, before that building was what he could only guess was a main front yard completely paved over. It was wide and empty, with a large, circular hole that, he supposed, from overhead, could've looked like a dinner plate of sorts. Not very deep, but it evidently had a purpose. And, as Spike walked through it, he began to feel that the purpose the shallow hole had served had been a very bad one. In fact, it felt as though some living creature had died there, and not by natural causes. The purple dragon ran out of the hole and toward the building.

Inside, Spike stopped and looked left, then right, to have a better view at the walls.

The patterns, while worn with age, were still very elaborate. Whatever this building was for, it had clearly been a place for someone with a lot of money, based on all the designs carved into the walls and pillars. And, Spike found himself wondering if there was something to those designs, aside from showing off its owner's wealth.

In the middle of the next room was a staircase leading up to another level.

Spike approached and climbed the stairs, wondering what he'd find when he reached the top. And, once he did so, he found, immediately in front of him, what appeared to be a sofa made of stone, again worn by age and the elements, but still with an evident purpose. He looked around, and found more of those stone sofas, seven in all. He approached and jumped up into one, the one that was closest to the front of the building, then turned to have a look at the view. And, as he did so, suddenly he was aware of a large group of creatures that, once again, seemed familiar to him.

The creatures stood on their hind legs, much like he did, except they were better designed for that purpose. And, none of them had any tail. He could tell because there was one of those bizarre creatures in front of him, holding his arms out over the creatures in the yard in front of the building. And, while the creature was speaking in a language he'd never heard before, somehow he understood what this creature was saying, and that this was a male that was speaking.

The creature was saying something about how this city was so well protected that nothing, not even a deity, could destroy it. And, there were other males that joined him there, repeating what he'd said and adding details about how the history and design of the city proved that it couldn't be destroyed, and that they were free to do whatever they wanted within its walls. Then the first to stand there turned and took a step or two toward the sofa that Spike was standing on. And, the vision ended with Spike getting a good look at the creature's expression, which seemed happy and angry at the same time.

The thought occurred to Spike that the creature was going to sit down, so he hopped over the back of the stone sofa. Panting, he turned to the structure, then to where he'd seen the creature. But, the creature had disappeared, along with the others he'd seen.

Circling around the stone sofa, the purple dragon wandered to where he'd seen the creature standing, and found the yard empty. Stepping back from there, he wondered to himself if he'd been dreaming. Whatever had happened, Spike was more and more sure he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

He headed back down the stairs, then turned to a nearby room. And, walking inside, he looked up to see something he knew Twilight would envy: shelves lined with scrolls. Each wall he saw had perhaps five or six shelves, and each had several scrolls stacked on them.

Spike wasn't sure he wanted to stay any longer in this place than he needed to. But, still, there was a platform of sorts, in the middle of the room, that had a partly unraveled scroll on it. And, it was making him curious. So curious, in fact, that he found himself unable to resist approaching the scroll to have a look. But, when he got to the scroll, he noticed that it had very little writing on it. Oddly enough, he found himself able to read the message, which he did aloud: “Ye who read this, let it be known that there is a blessing on this scroll. And, as such, it is imperative that it be moved.”

Spike puzzled over the message on the scroll. If it was so important that the scroll be moved, why was it here on the pedestal, and not somewhere else? And, why was there a space between the last “it” and “be”? Wanting to get a closer look at the writing, the purple dragon picked up the scroll so he could study that odd space.

What he didn't notice, at least not at first, was, once the scroll was moved, it revealed a small hole in the center of the pedestal. And, from that hole a small fiery sphere slowly rose up.

Spike only took notice when he became aware of an odd change in temperature, evidently radiating from a point over the pedestal. Looking at it, he dropped the scroll when he saw what appeared to be a miniature, dim sun hovering just above the platform.

The sphere of fire approached the purple dragon, circled around him as if to study him, then settled on the scroll for a second or two. From there, it rose again, then shot out of the building.

Spike, suddenly fearful of what he'd just seen, knelt down and picked up the scroll again, getting a closer look at the writing. To his surprise, and growing worry, he noticed a new word appeared between those words “it” and “be.” Looking up, he realized he'd just been fooled. The scroll was meant to stay where it was. He read aloud, “And, as such, it is imperative that it not be moved.” Thinking about what had just happened, he swallowed, hard. Not knowing what else to do, he put the scroll back where he'd found it. No longer curious about that scroll, but somehow concerned for his friends, the purple dragon walked at first, then ran, out of the building, down the stairs, and back to the closed door. Except, it was no longer closed.

Even more frightened, Spike ran through the opening and back to the boutique.

As Spike entered through the front door, he was greeted by a sight he could never have expected: Pinkie Pie, Twilight and Applejack looking down at something, keeping whatever they were looking at hidden from anyone who might see from the door, while Rainbow Dash was hovering over them.

Evidently having heard the sound from the door, Twilight turned and, seeing the purple dragon, approached him and said, “Oh, Spike, I'm glad you're here. Something really strange and terrible just happened to Rarity. She needs medical attention.”

Spike, having stopped when he heard about something happening to Rarity, ran past the purple unicorn and pushed his way past the two earth mares to get a look at the white unicorn. And, while he saw no marks that might indicate anything bad had happened to her, and she was still breathing, he saw that she was still unconscious.

Circling around to her head, Spike knelt down between the tip of her head and her nose and, gently patting her available cheek, urgently said, “Rarity, wake up. Rarity, are you alright?”

immediately groaning, the representative of generosity raised her head and blinked several times before managing to keep her eyelids open. Focusing on the purple dragon, she asked, “Spike?”

Presently, the purple dragon jumped at and grasped the white unicorn around the neck, squeezing as he cried, “Oh, Rarity, I'm glad you're alright. I was so worried.”

Before the little dragon could finish what he was saying, the object of his affection said, in a somewhat comically distorted voice, “Oh, Spike, you're choking me.”

Hearing this, the purple dragon immediately let go and backed away, chuckling nervously and apologetically.

Then, as the white unicorn started rising to all fours, Twilight approached her and asked, “Rarity, do you know what happened?”

Once she was on her hooves, the representative of generosity took a moment to shake herself out before turning to her fellow unicorn and answering, “I'm not sure, darling. All I know is I was going to one of the storage rooms to sort out the clothes I wanted to hang up out here, and I suddenly passed out. Next thing I knew, Spike was patting me on the face, and everypony else was just standing there.”

Twilight took a moment to vocally sigh before saying, “Well, you seem to be alright now. So, do you need anything?”

In an unexpectedly angry tone, Rarity answered, “Just some breathing room while I get my boutique ready for business.” And, she stomped off toward a storage room.

Rainbow Dash settled on her hooves between Pinkie Pie and Applejack, and the two other element bearers watched as the white unicorn made her way to one doorway, opened it, then turned to them and said, “Well, let's get to work,” before going through the door and slamming it closed behind her. After that, all they and Spike could do was stare that the closed door, wondering what had just happened.