The Shoshoniensis Boutique

Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had to wait until nighttime before they could collect Pinkie Pie's remains. And, in the mean time, they made arrangements for a funeral for the party pony. In the days that followed, Princess Celestia and Fluttershy came to join in on the ceremony, Princess Celestia specifically to withdraw from the pink earth mare the right to represent the element of laughter, before Twilight performed the burial ceremony on one of her friends.

After the former representative of laughter was buried, the azure pegasa started talking about killing Rarity, or at least punishing her for what she'd done to a fellow element bearer.

The purple unicorn did her best to placate the representative of loyalty, hoping to talk to the white unicorn before Rainbow Dash could carry out her threat.

In the mean time, Spike began to feel more and more responsible for what had happened so far. After all, he was the one that had released that ball of fire, that King Noah, that had attacked and was possessing his favorite unicorn. And Rarity, possessed by King Noah, had killed another creature, a fellow element bearer, and by fire. While he agreed with Rainbow Dash that the white unicorn had to be stopped, he didn't want to see her killed. If he could separate King Noah from Rarity, he would. And, even if he couldn't, he had to give it his best shot.

One morning, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack sat at the table, each on their own side, in silence as Spike finished preparing pancakes for them.

It wasn't until Spike placed a plate in front of each pony, each with a stack of pancakes, that the azure pegasa pounded her front hooves on the table and shouted, “I'm telling you, we've gotta do something to stop Rarity from killing anypony else! And, if it means killing her, then so be it!”

As calmly as she could, Twilight responded, “I know we can't let her kill anypony else. But, until we can be sure it's our only option, I can't allow you to do that.”

Fluttershy stared at the stack in front of her and, slowly shaking her head, said, “I just can't believe Pinkie Pie's really gone.”

Applejack turned to the representative of kindness and said, “Neither c'n Ah, Sugar Cube. 'N', Ah'm still havin' problems believin' Rarity's 'sponsible fer it.”

The representative of magic, dividing her attention among her fellow element bearers, asked, “So, what do we do? Risk more ponies, or even zebras, being killed by her? Should we kill her ourselves, as Rainbow Dash suggests?”

Presently, Spike ran to his adoptive mother and grabbed her closest forelimb before shouting, “No, you can't do that!”

Turning to her assistant, Twilight nuzzled him as she responded, “I know how you feel. None of us wants to be the one to kill Rarity.”

Shaking his head, the purple dragon continued, “No, you don't understand.” He stopped shaking his head, and tears streamed from his eyes as he continued, “Maybe, … maybe Rarity can't be saved anymore. Maybe, … m-maybe nothing can stop her from … from being k-killed. B-but, is it up to us to decide when it happens? When she … when she …?” Unable to say anymore, he buried his face in Twilight's shoulder and started sobbing.

Attempting to calm her assistant, Twilight rested her head over the back of his neck.

Applejack stared at her stack of pancakes for a few more seconds before rising to all fours and backing away from the table. Turning to the kitchen door, she said, “Ah's sorry. Ah ain't hungered. Ah's a-gonna head t' those ruins 'n' see what Ah c'n do. Maybe Ah c'n still talk some sense int' Rarity.”

Pointing at the earth mare with her free forelimb, Twilight turned to her and said, “I'm afraid … I'm afraid it's too late for that. We need a different plan. I don't know how, but we need to get as many ponies and zebras out of those ruins as possible before Rarity does to them … what she did to Pinkie.”

The representative of honesty paused for a moment before returning to her place at the table. Sighing, she said, “Yer right, Sugar Cube. Right now, them ponies 'n' zebras in them ruins is prily a-thinkin' 'bout how they's a-gonna 'scape.”

As soon as the orange earth mare was back at the table in a canine-style position, Fluttershy turned to the purple alicorn and asked, “So, do you have any ideas?”

Still focused on Applejack, Twilight asked, “Do you know of any alternative escape route from those ruins?”

The representative of honesty looked down as she started to answer, “Ah's thought Ah saw what used t' be one, but it's blocked off long time ago.” She then focused on the representative of magic again as she continued, “If'n Ah c'n wait 'til night, when them guards is a-sleppin', maybe Ah c'n free some o' th' pris'ners 'n' get 'em out through th' front gate.”

Twilight continued, “Do you think you could free at least one pony and one zebra?”

Applejack rubbed the bottom of her chin with a forelimb as she answered, slowly, “Maybe, if'n it's one 'v each a time.” Putting the front hoof down, she continued, “But, most o' th' ponies 'n' zebras is chain. If'n any o' those goes a-missin', Rarity'll 'spect somethin' wrong. Far's Ah know, Ah's th' only one that ain't chain 'r drunkt all th' time.”

Twilight nodded and said, “So, Applejack, I'm putting you in charge of freeing as many of those ponies and zebras as you can.” Turning to the two pegasae, she said, “Maybe I can enlist the help of the zebras in Shoshoniensis to help rescue their own kind, and maybe even the ponies.” Focusing on the representative of kindness, she asked, “Fluttershy, will you help me with that?”

Shying away from her stack, she answered, “I, uh, I guess.”

Again the purple alicorn nodded, then turned to the representative of loyalty and said, “Rainbow Dash, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Spike. Can you do that?”

With no apparent second thoughts, the azure pegasa answered, “Sure, no probs.”

One last time the representative of magic nodded, then turned to her stack of pancakes and said, “Well, in that case, let's eat. We'll get to our assignments when we're done.”

As silent afterwards as they were, they still took longer than usual to eat their pancakes. But, when they were done, Rainbow Dash and Spike were the only ones that stayed at the boutique.

The azure pegasa and the dragon watched as the other three exited the building, saluting them farewell and hoping for their safe return. Then, once the door was closed, the azure pegasa turned to the dragon and said, “Well, Spike, I guess it's just you and me. So, what do you wanna do?”

The purple dragon answered, stretching, “I think I'll head upstairs. I need to get some sleep.”

Under her breath, the azure pegasa said, “Yeah, sleep.” She then said, so that she knew Spike could hear, “Maybe I'll go outside.”

The dragon turned to the representative of loyalty and asked, “Shouldn't you stay in here, you know, keep an eye on me?”

Rainbow Dash sputtered dismissively and asked in response, “What trouble could you get into in your sleep?”

At this point, Spike folded his arms, a look of incredulity on his face, and said, “Ever since Pinkie's death, we know you've been wanting to get back at Rarity. You said so yourself. But, I also suspect that, while Twilight assigned you to take care of me, it's the other way around.”

Pointing with a front hoof, first at the dragon, then at herself, then setting the hoof down under her again, the azure pegasa asked, “So, if you're supposed to be taking care of me, why did you say you were going to take a nap?”

At this point, as much as he could, Spike covered his face with one of his clawed hands. Sighing, he removed the hand again and said, “Alright.” Then, turning to the steps and starting to ascend them, he gestured to the representative of loyalty to follow him as he said, “I have something I guess I need to show you now.”

Somewhat cautiously curious, Rainbow Dash started following the purple dragon up the stairs as she asked, “Yeah, and what would that be?”

At the top of the stairs, Spike proceeded to the room he and Rarity had once shared and opened the door as he answered, “Maybe a month or two ago, when I was in Rarity's bedroom, I saw something glowing under her bed. Curious to see what it was, I had a look. To my surprise, I found a book there. I got it out and opened it up, and it went right to a page of a lesser book, I guess, called Mosiah.” By this point, Spike was at the door to Rarity's room. Once inside, he waited for the representative of loyalty to enter with him before closing the door behind her, then, proceeding to his bed, continued, “I've been reading it since then. The story's about a human named Noah, who became king over a group of humans after his father died. But, he wasn't a good king like his father. He made a lot of wine and sold it to his people. He taxed his people, and used the taxes to build something of a palace for himself and his priests. Then, when a man called Abinadi—“

Immediately on hearing the name, Rainbow Dash repeated it, then continued, “Pinkie mentioned that name the first time when she came back from those ruins after warning Rarity to get out of there.”

The dragon nodded before continuing, “When he tried to warn this king Noah that he shouldn't be doing what he was doing, king Noah had him killed, burned by fire.”

The azure pegasa added, “Just like Rarity did to Pinkie Pie.” Then, seeing the purple dragon nod, she asked, “Do you think Rarity's been turning into this king Noah?”

Spike had a major struggle with his emotions before he was able to answer, “I, ... I w-wouldn't b-be s-surprised.” In another attempt to calm himself, he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before continuing, “Any way, that's as far as I've read. If you want, I can read more of the story to you.”

As the dragon reached under his pillow to get the book, Rainbow Dash looked back at the door, then back at him. Then she settled down into a sphinx-style position and said, “Yeah, why not.”

Spike sat in his own bed and smiled unsteadily at the azure pegasa before opening the book and reading, “And now behold, the forces of the king were small, having been reduced, and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people.

“And the lesser part began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them.

“And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.”

At this point, the representative of loyalty grunted with interest before saying, “I wonder if this Gideon was a friend of Abinadi.”

Spike shrugged before answering, “Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't.” Tapping one of the pages, he continued, “There's another human mentioned, Alma, who tried to talk king Noah out of killing Abinadi, and king Noah tried to kill him. But, he escaped and led a bunch of others out of the city, even formed a church. Gideon and Alma may or may not have been friends.” He then stopped tapping as he concluded, “It could also be that this Gideon just didn't like what king Noah was doing.” He then continued reading, “And it came to pass that he fought with the king, and when the king saw he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the temple.

“And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of Shemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land.

“And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, spare me, for the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us, yea, they will destroy my people.

“Now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his own life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.”

At this point, Rainbow Dash opened a wing and stretched it between Spike and the book. Then she said, “I'm guessing Twilight assigned me to take care of you because she was afraid that if I went to kill Rarity, she'd likely capture me and kill me instead, probably the way she killed Pinkie Pie. But, if events happen the way they happened in your book—“

Spike interrupted, “I don't know who's book this is, I just know it isn't mine.”

Rainbow Dash folded the wing again and continued, “But still, if I go to kill Rarity, I'll be so awesome that I won't have to worry about being killed myself.”

The dragon added, “But, you won't kill Rarity either. You'll just scare her, and she'll look for any excuse to escape.”

The azure pegasa rose to a canine-style position as she said, “Well, in that case, I'll just have to look out for that.”

Hearing this, Spike jumped over the book and, grabbing the representative of loyalty by her face, said, “This isn't the time for that.”

Presently Rainbow Dash reared back, surprised at the dragon's unexpectedly bold response. She opened and flapped her wings to stabilize herself, then closed them again and said, “Alright, Spike, I'll play it your way, for now.”

Spike nodded quickly, then let go of the azure pegasa's face. He then turned away and said, “We'll wait for everypony else to return before we make another move.”

As soon as they entered, Twilight and Fluttershy were greeted by a zebra stallion, who guided them to a room across from the store. There, they were surprised to see a large, elliptically-shaped table surrounded by stools, where more zebras were seated.

After the two ponies each took a seat on one side of the table, the purple alicorn said, “Uh, hi.”

The stallion who had escorted them took a seat among his fellow zebras and said, “After the death of your friend, we thought you'd want to have a conference with us."

Twilight took a moment to look down as she said, “Yeah.” She then looked up at the zebra opposite her, but she was surprised when Fluttershy asked, “So, does that mean you'll help us?”

The zebra mare opposite the two ponies took her turn looking down as she answered, “We wish we could.” Looking up at the representative of magic again, she continued, “But, we cannot act without sufficient evidence. Yes, we are aware that zebras and ponies have come up missing. But, without any witnesses to back up your claim, we just can't act. We hope you understand.”

At this point, Twilight smiled as she said, “I have a pony on the inside working on that right now. By tomorrow, we should have the witnesses you need.”

The zebra mare nodded and said, “Well, then, come back tomorrow with your witnesses, and we'll hear them out. If their testimony is sufficient, then we'll take action.”

The purple alicorn nodded in return and said, “To be honest, us ponies are the same way. At least most of us. We won't take violent action unless we have enough of a reason.” And, with that, she rose and made her way to the door to the room. And, after exiting through that door, she made her way to and out of the door to the center.

Applejack went back to the ruins, and resumed her job of growing and harvesting from the grape vines, until nighttime. Then, checking to see that the way was clear for her, she proceeded to free one pony and one zebra from their chains, then lead them to the front gate, keeping as quiet as she could.

Once outside the gate, she pointed the way to the boutique, quietly ordering the two freed equines to make their way there. Afterwards, she went back inside.

She followed this pattern twice more before being met by two guard ponies as she entered the front gate again.

One of them ordered, “Stop right there. You have no legal right to release her majesty's prisoners.”

Skeptically, the representative of honesty asked, “Seriously?” before continuing, “Rarity ain't got no rights t' 'prison nopony.”

The other guard said, “She's the queen, and that gives her the right.” He then grabbed the orange earth mare by the mane and tossed her ahead of him, away from the gate, before saying, “You are under arrest.” And, he nudged her ahead of him.

Back in the palace, the guards woke the sleeping unicorn mare, saying, “Queen Rarity, we caught this earth mare freeing some of your prisoners.”

Sleepily, the representative of generosity lifted her head and asked, “Huh, what?” Then, lighting her horn and turning to get a look at her fellow element bearer, she asked, “Applejack, is this true?”

As the white unicorn rose to all fours, albeit shakily, the orange earth mare answered, “Y'ain't got no right t' 'prison nopony, 'n' no zebra fer that matter.”

Rarity scoffed and said, "I'm the queen."

For emphasis, Applejack pointed to the representative of generosity with each word as she said, “No, yer not.” She then put the front hoof down again as she continued, “Yer th' element o' generosity. 'R, that's what yer s'pose t' be. This ain't yer home, it's just some ruins that no zebras don't even enter.” Her voice then started to crack with emotion as she continued, “Ah don't know what happened t' y'all, Rarity, but this place ain't no good fer yeh.”

Turning to the guards, the white unicorn asked, “Where are the prisoners? We must get them back.”

Applejack snorted derisively before answering, “Ain't gonna be no use. B' now, least one o' them's made it t' yer boutique, 'n's a-tellin' th' others 'bout what's been a-happenin' 'round here. By t'morrow, there's gonna be zebra's a-swarmin' this place, a-freein' ever' pony 'n' zebra you 'prisoned here.”

At this news, Rarity glared at the orange earth mare and growled out four or five breaths. She then turned to her guards and, pointing her nose in the air, ordered, “Take this filthy mud horse to the prison. We shall make an example of her as we did with Abinadi.” And, with that, she collapsed into unconsciousness.

Momentarily puzzled, the two guards looked at each other. Then they shrugged and proceeded to escort Applejack to a cell in the prison under the palace.