Crystals Grow on Rainbows

Rarity departed for Canterlot, just four days following the rather unexpected revelation to the others. Twilight had been very helpful, given her sickness, in helping her do a bit of research into the magic of the princesses. Fluttershy had been 'weirded out' as Pinkie Pie explained, but settled down in time to help look after the Carousel while she was away. This visit was more of a formality; Celestia had offered to provide her with a new set of magic. Rather more passive than the sort Twilight used often, the Princess had described them briefly as being of great benefit to Rarity in what would surely be a stressful time to come.

The train trip provided her with time enough to compare the previous ones, before she had been excited about the summons. Now, the Crystal Empire was far at the back of her mind, clouded by the mix of emotions brought on by the reality of the situation. Perhaps Celestia would provide her with a means of getting there quickly, as opposed to waiting for the train line to be completed. It did make some sense that she should become familiar with the ponies her possible future foal would be living with.

Lunch in the food car prompted Rarity to look at the situation from a different perspective. It wasn't so bad, there had to be a few pegasi who liked fashion, and were of the appropriate age. Having a foal of her own would be nice too, even if the timing was a little constrained. At least she'd be living in a beautiful city for her job, with Princess Celestia herself as a mentor.

It was raining when the train pulled into Canterlot Station; she was prepared for this of course. With the purple umbrella opened and positioned above her with magic, as opposed to a saddle, Rarity proceeded onward through the city. It did seem rather heavier than usual, probably because the pegasi had forgotten the week before again. Last time such a downpour occurred hadn't gone too well at all.

The palace looked rather eerie in the dim light, more like the ruins in the Everfree Forest, and less like the gleaming capital of Equestria. Inside was far more inviting, candles and chandeliers lit the halls very nicely, and the throne room itself had a warm and cozy feel to it. Celestia was alone this time; perhaps it was not as formal as Rarity had previously anticipated. "Come, my dear Rarity. I do not mean to keep you long." She proceeded on towards the room that Rarity had mixed feelings about; given it was where her life changed quite a bit.

Where the table and cushions used to be had become a wide open space, the furniture mentioned moved to the sides in turn. Quick deduction concluded that the space would be necessary for whatever spell Celestia would be performing. "So uh, what does this first preparation session involve? I guess I would feel a bit more comfortable knowing what to expect after all." The Princess nodded silently, closing the door but opening the window. Fortunately, the rain was falling away from it; otherwise, the room would have become cold and wet very quickly.

"This spell will imbue your horn with a little more magic, you'll need to avoid using it to let the energy settle into alignment." Celestia brought a simple, but pretty box out from one of the shelves, resting it down on the ground between them. It opened to reveal three perfect diamonds, each glowing in a slightly different shade of blue. Each slowly lifted out of the box, hovering in front of Rarity. Three diamonds, just like her cutie mark. "Touch them with your horn, one at a time." Celestia demonstrated first, the glow of each becoming far brighter as she did so. "Patience, Wisdom, and Love. Three skills, three keys to helping you accomplish what you set out to do."

Deep blue eyes flowed across the three diamonds again and again. It wasn't quite what she was expecting, but it made sense to her at that moment. Breathing in deeply, she brought her horn into contact with the hovering gems. A rush of magical energy flowed back down into her, causing a large fizzle of sparks in her horn. It was all over in a matter of seconds, Rarity finding herself on the floor from the flow of energy. It took a few wobbly attempts to stand up again, by then Celestia helped her up with a gentle nudge.

"That was, enlightening if I do say so myself..." The warning to avoid using her magic until it settled seemed very wise, all over her body the feeling of energy was strong, focusing around her horn in particular. It would hardly be becoming to do something silly in front of Celestia. "So, that was it? I didn't think it would be so fast, but thank you anyway." The diamonds were returned to the case, which itself was returned to the shelf. It drew her eye back to the open window; suddenly it occurred to her that she was a lot warmer than she would've been. The room had been allowed to cool so she would be more comfortable.

"That's it, I assure you. Now, I realize that the train trips are rather tiring, especially when returning home at this hour, so I have a far more convenient method of travel in mind." Celestia turned to face the clear wall of the room, using her magic on it to form a rather typical in appearance door. Finding it rather strange at first, Rarity slowly walked over and pushed it open. Her laundry in the Carousel lay beyond. An instant doorway from her home to the Canterlot Castle.

She was speechless at first that Celestia would do such a thing for her; powerful magic had to be the source of such a spell. "Thank you Celestia, I really do appreciate this." Celestia smiled again, motioning for the unicorn to return home. Rarity nodded her head once more before proceeding through. The sudden change in sound between the wind of Canterlot, and the heavier patter of rain on leaves took a bit of time to adjust to, but it demonstrated just how much time was saved now.

The urge to sleep overcame her at last, in the dim light and heavy storm outside; there wasn't much else she could do. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, it became easier to ascend the stairs to her room. Sweetie Belle was back home, leaving her alone for a nice sleep in. For once, she was ahead of schedule on her commissions, a relaxing day would be welcome. At last, the bed was before her, though in the light it looked rather messy and big. Deciding it was an illusion, she slid under the covers.

*

Technically, it wasn't Rainbow Dash's fault that half of Equestria's weather control team forgot the downpour for the week before, even though she did distract them with an awesome addition to her sonic rainboom routine. But it was for the best, now it would provide her with some much-needed camouflage later on. And she had to admit, it looked quite nice from her view above. Once her job was done, she quickly dove down into the leaves of Twilight's tree to plan her prank.

Rarity was at Canterlot by that point, she had hours to get in and leave without a trace. This in particular prank would be subtle, but definitely effective. Waiting for the rest of Ponyville to head inside out of the rain, Dash proceeded back out into the rain on her path towards the Carousel. Getting inside was no problem, shaking the window handle opened the way easily enough. Rarity really needed to take more precautions; after all, nopony could tell when a certain purple dragon would find his way up there and eat all her precious gems. A great prank for another day.

Closing the window to prevent the rain from getting in, Dash silently made her way over to the resting place of Rarity's sleep mask. A grin formed on her face as she sat down on the bed and turned the mask over. Grabbing two photographs she had obtained for this prank from under her wing, she looked at them again for a quick giggle. Rarity covered in mud, and a dress so awful that even the coolest of cool ponies had to admit was bad.

More giggles followed as she stuck them down on the inside of the mask. If all went well, Rarity wouldn't see them until she opened her eyes again after putting it on. Replacing the mask back down in its original position, she began to tiptoe back to the window when movement in the house made her freeze. Rarity couldn't be back this early surely. It didn't matter, she was now trapped in the house, and running out of time to hide!

There was nowhere large enough for her to hide, even in the dim light! No time to get out the window, Rarity was right outside the door at that point. It was pure desperation that drove her to dive under the covers of the bed and curl up tight. The door opened at last, Dash severely regretted her choice to hide in the bed of all places. Maybe Rarity would just go to the wardrobe for her nightgown, that'd give plenty of time to sneak out through the door instead.

Much to her horror, that wasn't the case at all. Of all the times for Rarity to go to bed, why did it have to be now! Her teeth were grinding down at that point, curling up tighter as the unicorn shuffled closer still. This couldn't be happening, especially after that stupid gag about having a foal.