The Shoshoniensis Boutique

Four ponies, three zebras, and one dragon were present to meet Twilight and Fluttershy as they entered the boutique.

The purple alicorn turned to the representative of loyalty and asked, “So, Rainbow Dash, where's Applejack?”

The zebras and the three ponies with them looked down at the floor as Rainbow Dash answered, “I don't know. She hasn't come back yet.”

Twilight continued, “Well, in the mean time, I've got some news. The zebras of Shoshoniensis won't take action until they have evidence that they can act on. And, that means we need to bring back witnesses that were in those ruins with Rarity.”

At this statement, the three ponies and three zebras looked up again at the representative of magic; and one of the zebras said, “Well, then, we have good news for you. Because of Applejack, we were able to escape from those ruins and make it back here.”

Focusing on the evident representative of the six, Twilight nodded, smiled, and said, “Excellent.” Her smile then morphed into a look of worry as she continued, “But, when I asked Rainbow Dash about Applejack, I noticed that the six of you looked down. Did something happen to Applejack?”

The three ponies and three zebras exchanged looks, then their apparent speaker turned to the representative of magic and answered, “Well, that's the bad news. There's only been three of us zebras and three ponies rescued. Since Applejack hasn't come back with any more ponies or zebras, well, that can only mean that Rarity took her prisoner for freeing those of us that she did.”

Hearing this, Rainbow Dash snorted a few times, each time with increasing anger, before saying, “This time, she's gone too far.”

Presently, Spike took a position between the azure pegasa and the door, saying, “No, Rainbow Dash, wait! You can't do this!”

Glaring at the dragon, the representative of loyalty snarled, “I can't allow Rarity to kill anypony else, especially not another one of my friends. I have to free Applejack.”

The purple alicorn flew between her assistant and her fellow element bearer and, focusing on the azure pegasa, said, “I know how you feel. But, there's another action we need to take first. We have the witnesses we need to get the zebras to fight with us, on our side. And, as long as we can get them to join with us early enough, we can ensure that Applejack comes out of this alive.”

Turning her glare on the representative of magic, Rainbow Dash growled, “And, what about Rarity? What's to say she won't go ahead and kill somepony else, or some zebra, instead of Applejack? We can't let this continue.”

Spike agreeed, “No, we can't.” Then, when he knew he had the azure pegasa's attention, he continued, “But, we won't be able to kill her, either. You remember what I read to you from that book? If you go after Rarity, ready to kill her, you won't succeed. That spirit of King Noah that possesses her won't let her go just like that. He'll use her knowledge of you against you. It won't be you, it won't be me, it won't be anypony of us here that kills her.”

Pointing to the dragon, the azure pegasa snarled, “You're so in love with Rarity you can't even see how much of a threat she's become.”

Calmly, Spike said, “I'll admit I'd be happy to see her come out of this alive, and back to the way she was.” Then, his voice, colored with grief, started to crack as he continued, “B-but, … but I can also see that's probably not gonna happen. I know that R-r-rarity killed Pinkie Pie. And, because of that, she … she's probably not going to live much longer. But, you heard me read that story to you. If you try to attack Rarity, you're gonna be Gideon; and you won't be able to kill her anyway!”

Rainbow Dash put under her the hoof she'd been pointing at the dragon, then took slow, deliberate steps toward him as she asked, “So, what do you expect me to do about it?”

Twilight turned her head enough to get a look out the window in the door, then said, “It's too late to do anything right now. We'll have to wait until tomorrow morning.” Then, turning to the azure pegasa, she said, “Let's have dinner, then we'll sleep for the rest of the night. Tomorrow, Fluttershy and I and these ponies and zebras will go to Shoshoniensis and talk with the leaders there. With these six and their testimonies, we should get the zebras on our side, ready to act.”

The representative of loyalty emitted a sharp, groaning sigh before saying, “Alright, we'll do it your way.”

Spike started making his way to the kitchen, until the purple alicorn asked him, “Oh, before you start preparing dinner, would you like to show me that book you mentioned?”

For a moment, the purple dragon was surprised. Then he remembered he had mentioned the book earlier. So, he turned his course from the kitchen to the white unicorn's room as he said, “I found this book under Rarity's bed one day about a month ago. I know it hadn't been there before, and I don't know who it belongs to. Anyway, when I opened the book, it turned right to a story about a bad king that made and sold wine to his people, taxed them of a lot of their stuff, and built a palace for himself and his priests. Then, when a man called Abinadi started warning him and his people about what they were doing, King Noah threw him in jail and later killed him.”

By this point, he and Twilight were at the door to Rarity's room. So, he opened the door and entered, followed by the purple alicorn and the yellow pegasa.

As soon as the three were in the room, and Fluttershy had closed the door, Spike approached his bed, reached under his pillow, and pulled out the book. Then, as Twilight took the book in her magic, the dragon let go of it, then approached one of the white unicorn's work stations as he said, “You know, I watched Rarity put her stuff away. I'm pretty sure the fire ruby I gave her is in one of these drawers. Maybe, if I can show it to her, maybe I can snap her out of this, and get her back without her having to die.”

In the mean time, the purple alicorn opened the book using her magic, then started looking at the words on the pages. After a minute or two she gasped, then said, “Spike, I think you may want to hear this.”

By this point, the purple dragon had found the necklace holding the red, valentine-shaped gem. Turning to his adoptive mother, he asked, “What's that?”

Twilight read, “And it came to pass that Gideon sent men into the wilderness secretly, to search for the king and those that were with him. And it came to pass that they met the people in the wilderness, all save the king and his priests.

“Now they had sworn in their hearts that they would return to the land of Nephi, and if their wives and their children were slain, and also those that had tarried with them, that they would seek revenge, and also perish with them.

“And the king commanded them that they should not return; and they were angry with the king, and caused that he should suffer, even unto death by fire.”

Spike swallowed hard and gripped the fire ruby closely to his chest. Without turning, he asked, “Is there anything else in that book about King Noah?”

He heard the purple alicorn answer, “That's all I can see. The paragraph immediately after that reads, 'And they were about to take the priests also and put them to death, and they fled before them.'”

The purple dragon squeezed his eyes closed as he slowly said, “I'm not hungry right now, and I don't feel like cooking anything. Twilight, could you make dinner tonight?”

The representative of magic focused on her assistant for a few seconds before saying, “Sure, Spike.” And, with that, she, followed by the yellow pegasa, exited the room.

When the door was closed, the purple dragon finally opened his eyes again, pulled the gem away from him, looked down at it, and pleaded, “Rarity, please be alive by the time I get to you.” And, with that, he waddled to his bed, collapsed into it, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

In the mean time, as the purple alicorn descended the stairs, still holding the book in her magic and followed by Fluttershy, she heard the spokes zebra say, “That's the book my leaders have been holding onto. Where did you get it?”

Twilight used her magic to maneuver the book to in front of her face before answering, “Spike said he found it in Rarity's room. Apparently, he's been reading it this whole time. He said he doesn't know who it belongs to. If it belongs to you zebras, then we should bring it back with us. I do seem to remember the zebras at the market saying something about a book that had disappeared mysteriously.”

The zebra said, “While that book has been in our possession for as long as we can remember, we can't say honestly that it belongs to us. It's the record of humans that lived here long before we did, and it's one of our ancestors that first found it in a structure that we think was built by humans when they existed. The book doesn't age, and only our chosen leaders have been able to understand what's written in it. In fact, since the book was found, we've been choosing our leaders based on who can read it.”

The representative of magic used her magic to move the book out of her field of view before saying, “Well, anyway, I'll be preparing dinner tonight. Spike's not feeling well.”

The other ponies and the zebras nodded in agreement, then proceeded to the kitchen.

After breakfast, that next morning, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy headed out with the three ponies and three zebras that had been prisoners in the ruins, leaving Rainbow Dash and Spike to tend the boutique.

The azure pegasa waited for a few minutes until she was sure that her friends and those going with them were far enough away. Then, she quietly made her way out of the building and flew off toward the ruins.

In the mean time, Spike watched the representative of loyalty disappear through the front door of the boutique. Seeing no further reason to stay, and still holding the fire ruby in his grasp, he made his own way to the front door of the building, opened it, and exited, closing the door before heading toward the ruins himself.

Again, the zebra stallion that had been there to greet Twilight and Fluttershy before was there to meet them. But, this time, along with the two element bearers were three more ponies, as well as three zebras.

After showing the group in, the stallion took his position among the rest of the zebras, opposite the two element bearers and six former prisoners, before saying, “I believe I recognize one of you zebras.” Pointing to the one who had been speaking for the six freed prisoners, he asked, “Didn't you move to those ruins around a month ago?”

The zebra nodded slowly before saying, “I'd heard that they were producing juice from grapes, and I wanted to have a taste of it.” He then looked down as he added, “But, because I had no money to pay for it, Rarity imprisoned me and forced me to work to pay for what I had drunk.”

The zebra, apparently chief of Shoshoniensis, looked at the other new arrivals and asked, “Is this the same thing that happened to the rest of you?”

One of the ponies, after shaking her head, stepped between the two element bearers and answered, “My friends and I, when we heard about Rarity being queen in the ruins, went there and talked about how she was the element of generosity, and that she might not be a bad queen because of that.” She then looked down and added, “I guess even saying something nice about her is illegal there. At least, we thought we were saying something nice about her.”

At this point, the chief rose again and said, “We're going to need to see evidence of mistreatment. Do you have any?”

The zebra that had been speaking for the group positioned himself, then lifted one of his hooves and placed it on the table, as he said, “We each had a metal band on this leg, and were chained together.”

The rest of the zebras took their position on one side of the element bearers and behind their representative, placing on the table the limb that had been shackled; and the three ponies took their positions on the other side of Twilight and Fluttershy, and followed the zebras' example.

The limbs shown demonstrated evidence of mistreatment, with a band, perhaps five or so centimeters, above the ankle, of dried blood and exposed skin and even muscle and bone where the metal had rubbed against it.

After the murmurs of shock rippled through the other zebras, the chief said, “I believe we've seen enough. But, I'm not sure we have enough zebras here to commit to a rescue of the zebras and ponies in those ruins. We shall contact Simplicidens, just beyond the ruins, and enlist their help as well.” Moving from his place among his fellow zebras and toward the former prisoners, he concluded, “In the mean time, these six need medical attention.”

Hearing this, the purple alicorn rose and said, “You're going to have to move quickly. A friend of mine, Rainbow Dash, is likely heading to the ruins right now to free another friend of ours, Applejack.”

Another of the three ponies, moving her leg off of the table, nodded and said, “I was the last one freed, along with one of the zebras. And, since Applejack didn't return with us or any more zebras or ponies, we can only assume she was taken prisoner.”

The zebra chief nodded and said, “Then I shall contact Simplicidens immediately. In the mean time, we have a medical facility in town.” Pointing a front hoof at each of the three zebras and three ponies, he concluded, “You are welcome to go there for medical treatment. If you don't know the way, please feel free to ask any zebra in town.” And, with that, he made his way out of the room.

But, as the chief zebra was opening the door, Twilight remembered something; and she said, “Oh, and by the way, I believe I have something of yours.”

Turning to the purple alicorn, the stallion asked, “You do?”

The representative of magic nodded, then used her magic to open the pouch of one of her saddle bags and produce the book inside. In the mean time, she said, “Spike, my dragon assistant, found it under Rarity's bed. Apparently, he's been reading from it this whole time.”

Focused on the volume, the chief zebra said, “Well, that explains why we haven't been able to find it.” Turning his attention to the purple alicorn, he continued, “There seems to be some kind of a blessing on that book. It seems that its inability to age is part of that blessing. It also disappears every now and then, only to be found in the possession of someone who evidently needed advice from it. And, it always finds its way back to us.”

Using her magic to move the book to the zebra stallion, Twilight said, “You can have it back now.”

The chief zebra smiled and nodded, then said, “You can leave it on the table, and I'll get it when I return.” And, with that, he turned again and headed out the door.

By this time, the half dozen former prisoners had gathered together again in a group.

Twilight asked them, “So, are you staying here?”

The spokes zebra nodded and said, “I know the way to the clinic from here. I can guide everyone else there.”

The representative of magic, after setting the book on the table, nodded back at the spokes zebra, then said, “In that case, Fluttershy and I will return to the boutique. If Rainbow Dash and Spike are still there, we'll talk to them and let them know we have the support of the zebras of Shoshoniensis.” And, with that, she, followed by the yellow pegasa, left the building.

Rainbow Dash took only a second to get to the ruins from the boutique, and even less than that to find her way to the prison cell where Applejack was being held. There, before the guards could react, the azure pegasa attacked them and knocked them unconscious before taking the key to the cells and unlocking the door, freeing the orange earth mare.

As she stepped through the open doorway, the representative of honesty asked, “Did yeh git the prisoners Ah freed?”

Rainbow Dash nodded as she answered, “We got the three ponies and three zebras. They're going with Twilight and Fluttershy right now to get the zebras to help free everypony here.”

Applejack nodded in return before saying, “Good. This ain't no place fer nopony. Ain't no place fer no zebra, neither.”

At this point, the representative of loyalty circled around her fellow element bearer and started pushing her from behind, saying, “We don't have much time. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Feeling herself losing balance, the orange earth mare moved her front and hind legs a step or two forward to keep from falling, then turned to the azure pegasa and said, “Ah agree.” She then looked ahead of herself again and started galloping for the stairs. Then, she suddenly stopped and started backpedaling away from them.

The azure pegasa only had to fly toward the stairs to see what her fellow element bearer was backing away from: Rarity. And, based on what Rainbow Dash could see of the white unicorn, unkempt would be an enormous understatement.

Twitching her neck erratically, the white unicorn stumbled down the stairs toward the orange earth mare and asked, “Now, darling, where do you think you're going?”

The representative of loyalty answered, “She's leavin'.” Then, seeing that she had Rarity's attention, she added, “You had no right to throw her in jail. And, you had no right to kill Pinkie Pie.”

The representative of generosity retorted, “She kept coming here, spreading lies about me and my kingdom, ever since she arrived. Do you think I was going to let her live to continue to menace me and my people?”

Rainbow Dash flew toward the white unicorn until she was inches from her face before saying, “This isn't your kingdom. This is just a bunch of ruins. Nopony's been living here for thousands of years.”

Rarity smiled and cackled, then said, “That's where you're wrong.” Her voice then faded, replaced by an oddly masculine voice, as she continued, “I'm free now, and I shall rule over the Nephites, all the Lamanites, and every other people that lives here.” The masculine voice faded and Rarity's voice returned as she cackled, and her horn started to glow and sparkle.

But, that's all that happened.

Puzzled, Rarity tried again to use her magic, but with the same result.

Seeing the glow and sparks fade away, the azure pegasa said, “Well, it looks like you don't have your magic anymore. Now, if you'll just come with me, we can leave this place and—“

Presently, the white unicorn shouted, “Never!” and turned and galloped back up the stairs.

Before following the representative of generosity, the azure pegasa turned to the representative of honesty and said, “You get out of here. I'll take care of Rarity.”

The orange earth mare nodded, then followed her fellow element bearer up the stairs again, then turned and galloped toward the gate, making her way out of the ruins as fast as she could.

In the mean time, Rainbow Dash followed the white unicorn out of the building, further into the ruins, and toward the remains of what, she guessed, had once been a remarkably tall tower. If what she could see of the remnant was any indication, it wouldn't have been able to reach Cloudsdale even if the cloud city had been floating nearby. But, it probably could've come close.

The representative of loyalty pursued the representative of generosity along the pathway spiraling up the height of the tower, until she stopped where the trail, and for that matter the tower, ended.

Frantically, Rarity looked around her, hoping to see some evidence of some kind of an attack. Then, seeing a small town off in the distance, one with zebras evidently going about their business, she pointed to the town and said, “Wait, look! The zebras are going to attack me, uh, my kingdom! You have to let me defend my people!”

Rainbow Dash scoffed and said, “You don't have a people. You're a pony, remember?” Then, looking at where the white unicorn was pointing, and seeing the evidently peaceful zebras there, she continued, “And, those zebras don't look like they're ready to attack anything or anypony.”

Pulling the hoof she was pointing with back to herself, Rarity said, “Well, you know as well as I do how unpredictable and violent zebras can be.”

Incredulously, the azure pegasa deadpanned, “Yeah, like Zecorah.” More seriously, she continued, “All I want is for you to leave this place with me. Can't you just do that?” And, she started flying closer to her fellow element bearer.

Rarity scoffed, “Yeah, leave with you so you can burn me to death, just like I did with Abinadi.”

For a moment Rainbow Dash was puzzled by the statement. Rarity had killed Pinkie Pie. Who was this Abinadi? Then she shook herself of her confusion, remembering something about Pinkie mentioning a human spirit called Abinadi, who said he was going to try to help her get Rarity out of the ruins, and free of Noah's spirit and influence. Settling on the pathway, and separating the white unicorn from her chance to escape, the azure pegasa said, “I'm not here to kill you. I just want you to leave this place. Maybe we can still separate you from King Noah.”

For a split second the representative of generosity smiled. Then, she leaped at her fellow element bearer and pushed her aside, galloping past as she said, “Not today, Gideon.” And, she cackled one last time as she galloped down the pathway again.

Fighting to maintain her balance, Rainbow Dash stumbled and fell backward off the side of the pathway. But, she managed to avoid falling all the way down by catching the side with her closest wing. There she hung until she stopped swinging, then grabbed the other side with her other wing. Then, she swung, not unlike a child on monkey bars, toward the end of the pathway until she could swing herself up and onto it again. Then, realizing she'd allowed the white unicorn to escape, Rainbow Dash groaned with frustration before galloping back down the pathway.

In the mean time, Rarity made her way back to the palace, where she woke her guards and told them that they needed to leave as soon as they could. She then lead the group to an underground pathway behind the palace, then used her magic to move the stones out of the way. It wouldn't be until the path had been cleared and the group was on their way to safety that Rarity would have time to wonder why she could use her magic then, and not when she had tried to apprehend Rainbow Dash or Applejack.