Colors of the Heart: Specials

Walking up the stairs to the loft above, the fashionista moved quietly, as not to potentially wake her friend had her intuition been wrong. Reaching the top of the stairwell, she took a look around the empty guest-room.

It would seem she really did not come home last night.

A small smirk played across Rarity’s lips as she turned back and made her way down to the kitchen once again. She worried if her plan had worked or not, but judging by the fact she had received no word from Prism or Fluttershy yet, the fashionista had a pretty good idea as to where her housemate may be.

Fluttershy must have really made her move!

Rarity happily hummed to herself as she prepared her morning coffee. She had a lot of work to catch up on. Having placed much of her work aside for personal time with planning the Spa set-up and crafting Fluttershy’s dress, she had developed a bit of a backlog that demanded her attention.

“First things first: breakfast,” Rarity mused to herself before levitating ingredients for some eggs and toast from the many assorted storage areas in her kitchen.

However, before she could begin preparations to make her meal, a sudden loud pounding from the boutique below sounded throughout the building. Whoever was knocking was doing so hard.

Now who could that be so early?

Intrigued by the unfamiliar forceful knocking, Rarity set aside her plans for breakfast and made her way to the floor below, crossing the room and approaching the door. With her soft blue magic, the fashionista slowly opened the door.

“Yes?” she asked, peeking around outside.

Though, to her surprise, nopony was there.

She took a few steps outside and looked about the empty early morning streets before calling out once again.

“Is anypony there?”  Her call was once again met with silence.

Probably another silly little prank by Pinkie or Rainbow Dash, or both of them. Oh well, back to breakfast then.

Dismissing the knocking, she turned back to go inside; though before she could enter, she noticed something on her door.

“What’s this?” she mused, taking a closer look.

A large letter pinned up by a small dagger hung ominously on the upper half of her door.

Oh my... now how did I miss that dreadful thing?

Focusing her magic around the parchment, she pulled it down to her to read.

“We have your friends.  if you wish to ever see them alive again, bring untraced bonds for twenty-five thousand bits to Manehattan and deposit them in the recycling bin located on the corner of Mane and Third at sundown on Friday. Then wait in front of the Manehattan Grand Theater for forty-five minutes. Come alone and do not alert the authorities; we will know.

Should fail to meet these conditions, your friends will pay with their lives.”

Underneath the text, a locket of pure white hair and a large yellow plume were taped along with two large droplets of blood.

Gears in fashionista’s mind suddenly began turning as horrible realization struck her, causing her to cover a sharp gasp and drop the message from her magical grasp.

Prism and Fluttershy!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Rarity kicked the letter inside her doorway before quickly shutting her door, then immediately began galloping to her pegasus friend’s cottage.

Please don’t let this be true...

Normally the white unicorn took her time going to and fro. What would have been a short ten minute walk was quickly covered in what only felt like a few brief moments. Approaching the cottage in the distance, Rarity quickly ran up over the bridge and up the short path to Fluttershy’s home. She was met with a rather disturbing sight.

The normally sturdy wooden door had been knocked off its hinges in a rather forceful manner. Fearing the worst, Rarity reluctantly stepped inside and immediately noticed something was horribly wrong. The normally warm and comfy feel of the cottage had been greatly ransacked. Furniture was tipped over and many items that normally lined the walls and shelving now lay scattered and broken on the floor.

“Fluttershy!” Rarity called out in fear and she hastily made her way up stairs to her friend’s room.

The bedroom looked to be in far worse shape than the room below. Signs of an obvious struggle had occurred inside were evident, judging by the damage done to much of the caretaker’s property. The bedding had been tossed about the room and several decorative paintings now lay broken and torn on the floor. Rarity also took notice of a shattered pottery and dirt smeared on the wall by the staircase, as if the plants had been thrown at someone or something; but what disturbed the fashionista most, were several small droplets of what appeared to be dried blood were found in the corner next to the now tipped over bookcase.

At that moment, the gravity of the situation really sank in. Her friends were in grave danger.

I have to get that letter to Twilight immediately! She will know what to do!

A cold chill ran down her back as she quickly galloped back down the stairs and out the door of the cottage.

Please let them still be all right...