The Shoshoniensis Boutique

It had been a few weeks since Rarity had gone to the ruins to set up, well, whatever it was she was setting up; and it had become something of a tourist trap. Turns out, perhaps not surprisingly, that Applejack's agricultural talent extended well beyond apple orchards. In fact, the wine she made for the white unicorn became well known for its quality and flavor, which attracted ponies from various parts of Equestria, as well as zebras from around New Zebraland.

In the mean time, Twilight's visit to Shoshoniensis had proven far less fruitful, with zebras more than willing to offer advise and warnings, but no assistance. And Flim and Flam continued to claim ignorance about any supernatural influences relating to the land they'd sold to Rarity.

Pinkie continued to look for ways to warn the representative of generosity about her condition and where it would likely lead, and each time the white unicorn expelled her from the ruins.

Rainbow Dash continued to keep an eye on the ruins and their occupants from a cloud high above, making flights over the city and updating the purple alicorn on how things were going.

And Fluttershy, after returning to the boutique, continued to take care of injured animals, who would give her information on the ponies and zebras that were occupying the ruins.

Looking at those past few weeks, Spike decided it was time to go back to reading that book he'd found under Rarity's bed, to see if there was any more information on this king Noah that was possessing his favorite unicorn.

After finding the page where he'd last read, he resumed, “And it came to pass that the Lamanites began to come in upon his people, upon small numbers, and to slay them in their fields, and while they were tending their flocks.” Looking up from the book, he considered that the zebras from the town closest to the boutique hadn't seemed that interested in wanting to fight against Rarity and her new home in the ruins. Still, he had to wonder if they knew how zebras were being treated in there. After all, hadn't enough of them disappeared?

He continued reading, “And king Noah sent guards round about the land to keep them off; but he did not send a sufficient number, and the Lamanites came upon them and killed them, and drove many of their flocks out of the land; thus the Lamanites began to destroy them, and to exercise their hatred upon them.”

This started to worry the purple dragon. If information were to get out about how Rarity was treating the zebras in her new dwelling, it seemed likely that they would react, and with anger; and they'd attack her and at least try to drive her out.

He continued reading, “And it came to pass that king Noah sent his armies against them, and they were driven back or they drove them back for a time; therefore, they returned rejoicing in their spoil.

“And now, because of this great victory they were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did boast in their own strength, saying that their fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites; and thus they did boast, and did delight in blood, and the shedding of the blood of their brethren, and this because of the wickedness of their king and priests.

“And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi; and he went forth among them, and began to prophesy, …”

Immediately Spike stopped. Hearing that name, he began to remember that indeed Pinkie had said something about a human spirit named Abinadi having visited her to help her warn the white unicorn about where her actions were going to lead. At that point, he decided it was time to take action. After placing the book back under his pillow, Spike proceeded to leave Rarity's work room in search of the pink earth mare.

Spike wasn't sure whether he should be surprised or not when he left the work room only to meet the representative of laughter in the hallway. Seeing nopony else around, he said, “Oh, hi, Pinkie. I was going to go looking for you.”

Presently, the pink earth mare asked, “It's about Rarity, isn't it?”

Spike nodded and grunted affirmatively.

Pinkie then asked, “So, what did you read in that book?”

At first the purple dragon grunted in curious confusion. Then, when the representative of laughter settled into a sphinx-style position so that they were at equal eye level, the thought came back to him; and he said, “Something about a king named Noah who was attacked by Lamanites and beaten once before beating them back, then his army bragging about how they could beat large numbers of them with their small armies. There was also something about a man called Abinadi.” He then asked, “Didn't you say something about a human spirit called Abinadi talking to you when you were leaving the ruins that one time?”

Pinkie nodded as she answered, “That's right.” She then stopped nodding as she continued, “And, he's been with me ever since. He's a good human, and tried to warn king Noah that what he was doing wasn't a good thing.” She then rose to all fours again and, turning away from the purple dragon, said, “We need to go back to those ruins. If things are going to turn out now, in our world, the way they did in that book; we need to warn Rarity. We need to warn her about what could happen next. Are you with me?”

The purple dragon only nodded as he hopped onto the back of the representative of laughter, ready to join her in her quest to make one more attempt to warn their friend.

Perhaps ten or so minutes later, as the two entered through the gates, it became clear how things had deteriorated.

Anyone who saw the place, not knowing what was going on, might think it had already been attacked. Ponies were either lying here and there or trying to stand on shaky legs.

Two ponies, a mare and a stallion, conversed while their bladders emptied. They had either lost their civility, or didn't know that they were publicly urinating.

One mare, as the dragon and the representative of laughter passed, started to rise to all fours, only to point her head down and empty the contents of her stomach from her mouth and nose before collapsing again.

Of the ponies in the streets that weren't on their hooves, most were snoring, evidently asleep.

Spike and Pinkie continued to make their way to the building at the end of the street where they were walking. Then, once inside the building, they made their way to the main room where they saw their white unicorn friend, asleep in a pile of black-and-white stripes and pony colors.

The representative of laughter approached her fellow element bearer and called out, “Rarity!”

Alarmed, the white unicorn struggled to rise to all fours as she screamed, then looked around and said, “What, who's there?” Then, seeing the pink earth mare, she groaned, “Oh, it's you again. What do you want?” And, she shook herself out.

At this point, it was Spike who stepped toward her and answered, “You've gotta get out of here, and you've gotta let every pony and zebra go back to their homes. If you don't, you're gonna be in real big trouble.”

Clearly inebriated, the white unicorn swayed back and forth as she cackled at the little dragon's warning. After a few seconds, she regained enough composure to ask, “Why, what in the world are you talking about, little dragon?”

Spike, collapsing onto his knees, whimpered, “I've been reading about a human king that did a lot of the same things you're doing. He grew a lot of grapes, made a lot of wine, and sold it to his people.”

Rarity attempted to settle into a canine-style sitting position with grace and dignity, only to end up slipping on one of the stallions nearby and collapsing into a les-dignified sphinx-style position. Trying to salvage what dignity she had left, she said, no slurred, “Sounds like a nice guy.” And, she concluded the statement with a loud belch.

Spike continued, “He was also attacked by Lamanites. The first time he tried to fight back, he didn't send enough and got beaten. The next army he sent drove off the Lamanites, and then returned bragging.”

Rarity pointed an unstable hoof at the dragon and earth mare as she said, “Well, it's a good thing there aren't any Lamanites here now, isn't it?” And she started laughing again.

At this point, Pinkie stepped forward and added, “It won't be humans, but zebras that come. And, in your condition, and in the condition of every pony and zebra living here, there's no way you'll be able to drive them off.”

The representative of generosity continued to laugh until a few seconds after the pink earth mare had stopped talking, after which she said, “Oh, you're kidding. Why, we're perfectly, perfectly, perfectly alright.” And, she prodded a nearby zebra stallion to get him to rise to all fours. When he did, she continued, “You see? This zebra's perfectly healthy. And, we're friends with the zebras. There's no way they'd want to attack us. Not unless you plan to turn them against me.”

The pink party pony took another step toward the white unicorn as she said, “I won't have to. What you've been doing to the zebras within these walls isn't as much of a secret as you like to think it is. These zebras have families and friends that are worried about them, and they want to see them again, in the same condition they were in when they got into these ruins. And, if they don't get them soon, they're going to do what they can to free them from your rule.”

Hearing this, Rarity started growling. Pointing to the two, she said, “How dare you spread such lies in my kingdom. Get out of here right now, or I shall send my guards to arrest you on the spot.”

Seeing the apparent determination on the white unicorn's face, Spike rose to his feet and turned to the representative of laughter. Moving toward her, he started to push her away as he said, “Let's get out of here. We're not getting through to Rarity. We need another plan.”

The pink earth mare, worry and sorrow in her face, stared at the white unicorn for a few more seconds before turning and ambling out of the building again.

But, before she could make her final exit, the representative of generosity threatened, “And, if I ever see you in here again, I shall arrest you for spreading your lies. And trust me, you will never leave here alive!”

Twilight decided the first place she should visit should be the office of the two unicorn brothers, Flim and Flam, to see if she could get more information on the property Rarity had purchased for her new boutique. That is, until she walked in on them being entertained by an earth mare dancing on her hind legs. And, she was sure she saw the poor mare being controlled by a green aura. Turning to the two unicorns, she saw that Flim's horn was glowing with a similar green aura.

Seeing their new visitor, Flam paused for a moment before asking, “Is there something we can help you with?”

The purple unicorn took a moment to turn to the earth mare, who bore a striking resemblance to Applebloom but was more physically mature; and grimaced before turning back to the two brothers and saying, “Uh, no, I don't think so. I'll, uh, just leave you two to go back to what you were doing.” And, she chuckled nervously before backing out of the office and closing the door behind her. As she ambled away, she wondered if she should do something to help that mare, who was apparently a prisoner of the two unicorn brothers. But, right now, she figured, she had another friend she needed to help.

Her next stop was the herb store, where she met up with the owner. Nodding to the zebra, she asked, “Is there anything you can tell me about the ruins behind Rarity's boutique?”

The zebra sighed before answering, “Not much, as we zebras will go nowhere near that place. But, there is a record of an ancient group of humans that once lived there. Perhaps you can find it in the possession of our town's record keeper.”

Just then, a masculine voice behind the purple unicorn said, “I'm sorry, but I cannot give you that record.”

With a start, Twilight turned to the source of the voice. Seeing the zebra stallion, she took a second to regain her composure before asking, “Why not?”

The new zebra turned away from the unicorn visitor and, sighing, answered, “Because it has disappeared. I don't know how or why, but it's just gone.”

Twilight also looked down for a moment. She then looked up again and, pointing at the zebra stallion, asked, “You knew I was going to need it?”

The evident record keeper answered, “Well, someone knew.” Focusing on Twilight again, he continued, “There is one thing I can tell you. If what is happening to your friend is what I think is happening, then she can be saved as long as she doesn't kill another pony. And, if she does, how she kills that pony will determine how she dies.”

The representative of magic swallowed hard, then asked, “Wh-what do you think is happening to Rarity?”

The stallion sat canine-style in front of the purple unicorn and, pointing to her, asked, “First, tell me, how is she behaving?”

Twilight fought to keep her emotions in check as she also sat canine-style. After inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, she answered, “All I can tell you is she's moved into those ruins. But, before that, not long after the opening of her boutique, she suddenly collapsed, like something had attacked her. When she woke up again, she became very aggressive, very combative. She's normally very generous, but she's turned selfish. I can't tell you anymore than that.”

The zebra stallion sighed, then said, “In the record that I kept is mentioned an evil king, the son of a good king, who took over rule of his father's kingdom. He lead his people to do things that they shouldn't do, and got himself destroyed when he had a prophet, another human, burned to death for the things he'd said about a coming Christ. If the spirit of that king is possessing your friend, then there may yet be time to rescue her. Like I said, as long as she doesn't kill another of her own kind, she can be saved.”

Twilight emitted a sigh of relief before saying, “Well, as far as I know, she hasn't killed anypony. So, I guess she's still salvageable.” She then asked, “So, what do I do?”

The zebra stallion nodded and answered, “She represents an element of harmony, from what I understand, the element of generosity. If you can remind her of the type of mare she's supposed to be, that she's a friend of yours, and get her to turn her life around and leave the ruins, that will give you, will give all of us, the best chance of separating her from the spirit of that evil king. But, she has to leave of her own accord. If she's forced to leave, then the spirit possessing her will only get a stronger hold on her.

“If you can convince her that leaving the ruins is her best choice, and if she agrees to do so and follows you out on her own, then you can lead her here; and we will perform a ceremony that will separate her from the evil king's spirit.”

The purple unicorn began to smile as she said, “I'm sure I can convince her. This isn't the first time she's become the opposite of the element she bares. I helped her then, and I can help her now. Thank you. I'll come back with Rarity as soon as possible.” And, with that, she rose to all fours again and galloped out of the town and back to the boutique.

Back at the boutique, she entered to find three of her other friends, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, there in the front room ahead of her.

Noting the absence of the orange earth mare, Twilight turned to the representative of laughter and asked, “Pinkie, what happened to Applejack?”

The pink earth mare tried for a minute to answer, but so overcome was she by her emotions that all she said that the others could clearly understand was “Rarity” and “vineyard.”

Tilting her head in confusion and incredulity, the azure pegasa asked, “Wait, Rarity has Applejack working in a vineyard?”

The pink party pony slowly nodded as she stammered, “S-something l-like th-that.”

Concerned, the representative of magic approached the pink earth mare and asked, “Pinkie, are you alright? Did Rarity do something to you?”

Trembling, the representative of laughter wiped a tear from one of her eyes with a forelimb as she answered, “Sh-she, she used h-her m-m-magic to th-throw m-me out of the r-r-ruins. She s-s-sent g-guards t-to t-t-try to arrest m-me.”

Twilight approached and nuzzled the pink earth mare in an attempt to calm her down as she said, “This is getting out of hoof.”

Fluttershy sighed as she said, “None of the creatures here were any help. They don't even dare go near the ruins.”

Sensing that Pinkie was calmer now, the purple unicorn backed away from her and, turning to each of the other remaining element bearers, said, “I got some information from the record keeper in Shoshoniensis, including a plan that we can use to get Rarity, our Rarity, back. This is what he said to me.”