A dragon scale.
If Rarity were an alicorn like Twilight Sparkle, she supposed getting one would be a fairly easy task. A quickly cast barrier, a few dizzying spells, maybe some teleporting around for added confusion, and she’d be trotting out of the cave with a scale before one could say “advanced teleportation.”
Sadly though, Rarity wasn’t an all-mighty, powerful alicorn, and although she liked to consider herself quite the fighter, her brief lessons in self-defense as a filly could only do so much. Maybe she should have listened to Sweetie when she suggested an industrial-sized pepper spray can. If it worked on timberwolves, it should work on dragons, right?
“Miss Rarity, will you pay attention, please?”
Rarity blinked once, twice, thrice, and she realized she’d zoned out halfway through Professor Awe’s speech. They’d spent most of the past two hours debating the Spirit’s alleged involvement with Princess Denza, but this was hard to do when one pony had no real evidence, while the other side refused to come clean about her little alicorn secret.
“I’m terribly sorry, Professor. Please continue,” she said, clearing her throat and straightening herself up on the sofa, trying to force away her worries over acquiring the book and the scale.
The professor furrowed his brow. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I think it’s safe to assume you won’t believe my evidence until you see it for yourself, and since I cannot give you a free pass into Canterlot Castle…” He put his papers down on the nearby desk. “Maybe we should both retire for the night. Miss Pie rises at a ridiculous hour to make her pastries, so I’d suggest you get some sleep before she wakes you up at the crack of dawn.”
“I suppose so,” Rarity reluctantly agreed, putting away the quill she had borrowed and folding her sheet of paper. She’d made a few notes, mostly reminding herself to ask Twilight about Chaos Magic, but nothing terribly interesting beyond that.
The professor wasted no time saying good night, leaving Rarity alone in the messy living room with her thoughts. Her first concern was finding a scale, or at least something the salespony might want instead. With a theatrical sigh, she lay down on the couch, idly playing with her brightly glowing necklace, mulling over her situa—
Brightly glowing necklace?
“Oh! Oh, wait!” she blurted out, forgetting Twilight couldn’t actually hear her. She sat back up, closed her eyes, and cast the communication spell, excitement bubbling up in her chest.
She and Twilight had tested the range throughout Ponyville and it worked just fine, but this would be the first attempt over such a large distance.
Nothing happened at first, which was the norm. In the times they’d tested the spell, there was always a small moment where their minds needed to acclimate, or so Twilight had explained. Finally, a thought occurred to Rarity, an intense desire to… recite everything she’d learned on teleportation, and to write an entire dissertation on it.
If her eyes weren’t closed, she’d be rolling them.
It seemed she didn’t have to, though, for as soon as she felt the desire to do so, her thoughts immediately shifted into listing all the reasons why teleportation is nothing to roll your eyes at, Rarity!
That was another thing they’d achieved after several uses of the spell.
It had eventually become unnecessary to cast the spell in turns; rather, one simply needed to have more intensity in her thoughts to take control of the “conversation.” As such, Rarity focused completely and utterly on the idea that she had something vitally important to tell Twilight, and mere moments later, she could no longer feel any intruding thoughts.
Thank you, Twilight.
Taking a deep breath, she thought of the matter at hoof, which was her pressing concerns about Chaos Magic. As the concept began to materialize in her mind, new information flooded her. Chaos Magic could do a wide array of things, but it mostly had two purposes: creating chaos and creating disharmony.
Images of the moving library maze flooded Rarity’s mind; she could nearly hear Twilight’s voice, her thoughts showing the chaotic side of magic. However, rather than instill curiosity in Rarity about the magic, another question flowed into her mind, overpowering her completely.
What does the Spirit look like?
The images stopped, as if Twilight herself had been brought to a halt, and suddenly everything shifted, Twilight’s grip on the conversation coming back, but with an added sense of urgency and anxiety.
She—Rarity or Twilight, or perhaps both at the same time—was in the library, but she felt as if she didn’t want to be there. No, it wasn’t that she felt like that; it was more like she was certain she didn’t want to be there. She wanted to expel the memory and the bizarre anxiety it was instilling in her, but she couldn’t.
Though she was aware she was seeing into Twilight’s mind, Rarity felt very much like she forced it upon Twilight, like this was something the alicorn was showing her not because she wanted to, but because the memory had been dragged into the light.
An intense terror gripped Rarity, the feeling that she lost control of her body, like she’d been turned into a ghost, and just as she understood what she was witnessing, the memory shifted and a creature appeared in front of her.
A long, snake-like being floated in front of her, its lips twisted into a wicked smile. It was unlike anything Rarity had seen before, but Twilight had, and now so had Rarity. A draconequus: the Spirit of Disharmony, an amalgamation of all kinds of beasts.
“Listen well, my little pony. I’ve hidden a coded map somewhere in the bowels of your precious library and if you step out of here even once without it…” He laughed, a loud joyful laugh, before bending down and hissing, “It will vanish and you shall never see your friend again.”
Ping!
With a sudden jolt, the vision was cut off, and the magic spell stopped completely. Startled, Rarity opened her eyes, gasping and pressing her hoof against her thunderously beating heart, barely cognizant of her newly formed headache.
Whatever had happened, it hadn’t affected the baseline connection, judging by the necklace’s still-present pink glow. Thank goodness, she thought, letting go of the necklace and taking a deep breath, trying to steady her heart.
Twilight probably stopped the terrible memory herself, and Rarity couldn’t honestly blame her. She felt the impulse to call her again and make sure she was all right, but refrained, thinking the alicorn probably needed some time alone after that.
I’ll just have to call her tomorrow morning, she thought, lying back down on the couch, closing her eyes, and rubbing her hoof against her throbbing head.
In a way, it was frightening to think she now had an image of the Spirit. She wanted to feel relieved knowing what he looked like, but… but knowing what he looked like made him all the more real and threatening. Her only relief was that, as far as she could remember—and she was certain she’d remember such a beast—she hadn’t seen the Spirit in his true form, yet.
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. Maybe she ought to go back to the problem at hoof, but finding a dragon scale felt just as daunting as learning to teleport.
But I need it and sitting around here isn’t getting me anywhere close to one, is it?
Her mind went back to Twilight’s memory, and the fear she felt when she saw the Spirit. She hadn’t lost her body, but she certainly felt Twilight’s horror at losing hers, and… did Twilight still feel that way, even centuries after? Just the thought of it…
It’s just a dragon, Rarity. Twilight herself said they’re not all inherently vicious, a voice chimed in her head, prodding her on.
And yet she still refused. Just a dragon? What if she found herself at home inside the stomach of “just a dragon”? Who would be rescuing her then, hm? Hmmmmmm?
Why, Rarity! Why would we need rescuing? Why can’t we be the dashing rescuers for once? Oh, just imagine it…
And imagine she did, picturing herself trotting toward the salespony, batting her eyelashes and presenting him with a magnificent dragon scale—a scale that shone like a diamond, no less! Ah, his look of shock! She would revel in it, bask in it, mock it as she walked away with the book and a second dragon scale, because she’d show him she could get more than he ever could!
But that would just be the beginning!
The real fun would be when she’d trot back into the library, the book floating behind her and a lovely scale complementing her necklace. “Oh, Rarity!” Twilight would say, her eyes sparkling. “Wherever did you get that?!” And oh, how surprised, how completely enamored she’d be upon finding out Rarity fought a dragon—no, two dragons! No, three! Full grown too! ─ for her sake! She’d be so taken, in fact, that she’d rush into Rarity’s forelegs and…
And rush through her, actually, but that was beside the point, because the point was that Rarity would get a dragon scale, and it would be…
Magnificent.
Invigorated by her own fantasies of grandeur, Rarity jumped to her hooves, feeling as if she had practically vanquished the dragon already. She made her way to the exit, took her saddlebag, flung open the door, and stepped out into the dark.
The night sky loomed over her, thanks to her very late adventuring. In the distance, she saw the main streets of Rainbow Falls, several houses still lit up and even more ponies trotting around despite the hour. Some late-night preparations for the second day of the Exchange?
But ponies weren’t what she was interested in, anyway.
Dragons were what she wanted, except she found no dragon gallivanting around the cave entrances. Well, no matter, she’d just have to find them herself!
Unfortunately, that was far easier said than done, and the closer she got to the caves, the more her bravery and enthusiasm waned. On second thought, convincing the shopkeeper to take the jewel in exchange for the book couldn’t be that ha─
“No! Twilight is counting on me!” Rarity chastised herself.
Filled with determination, she trotted toward the cave entrance she had seen the dragon disappear into, lighting up her horn as she stepped inside. The ceiling, or what she could see of it at least, was remarkably high up, and she reasoned that this meant her encounters might not be limited to just small drakes.
Making her way into the tunnels, the cave entrance disappeared behind her, and she was very aware of the eerie silence and the endless darkness that surrounded her. For all she knew, a dragon—or any beast for that matter—could be watching her from the shadows.
She trotted in a single direction for an eternity, prolonged even further by her mild fear, until she reached a fork in the road.
“Oh dear,” she murmured, the sound of her voice giving her some comfort as she stared at the three paths awaiting her. Now what? she thought, looking back in the direction she came from.
She obviously couldn’t be truly sure how long she’d been trotting, but she found herself equal parts relieved and annoyed that no dragon had made an appearance. The place should have been crawling with them, what with the dragon migration the next cave over. Frankly, it was actually rather rude of them! She was interrupting her beauty sleep schedule for this; the least they could do was be decent and show up.
Maybe they were deeper in the caves, deeper in the mountain? Would it have killed them to leave a path or trail or something for her to follow?
She briefly entertained calling Twilight for help, but while she toyed with her glowing necklace a better idea came to mind.
Gems were a dragon’s best friend, were they not?
She doused the light of her horn, and as darkness surrounded her, she cast a different spell. Her horn emitted a faint glow, and she felt her magic pulling her toward the left path and toward what she hoped might be a dragon’s hoard.
And yet…
And yet, the more she followed her horn, the more she felt as if the distant gem was moving away from her, and as far as she knew, gems didn’t move of their own free will. And suddenly, the gem stopped moving away—or whatever was carrying it, at least—and instead, it started moving toward her!
Part of her urged her to continue her path and meet it, but the other part was too paralyzed by fear, wondering just what was coming toward her along with the gem. And now, in the distance she could hear…
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cave shook beneath her hooves and the sound of footsteps echoed against the walls, louder and louder as the seconds passed. Frozen in place, Rarity illuminated her horn and levitated Twilight’s heavy book out of her bag.
If this was to be her last moment, then she’d be damn sure she went out like Twilight would have wanted.
By putting her book to good use.
Finally, when the steps grew loud enough, Rarity waited for the dragon to make its appearance. And she waited. And waited. And waited, and waited, until nothing appeared, so she lowered the book, relaxed her muscles… and a deep voice behind her said:
“Are you done following me?”
Well, if a can worked on a timberwolf…
Letting out a shrill scream, Rarity turned around and flung the book toward what awaited her.
To her horror, she felt her magic aura negated when the creature caught the book in its claw. She quickly stepped back, finding the shadowed figure of a dragon looming over her, its closed claw hovering in the air and the darkness preventing her from making out anything but its shape and eyes.
Without a word to the panicked mare, the dragon opened its claw and squinted its eyes to look at the offending object, “Huh. That’s one way of hitting the books.” He let out a chuckle, obviously pleased by his own joke, but blinked when the paralyzed Rarity failed to do the same. “What? It was funny.” When again Rarity failed to even smile, he frowned, dropped the book in front of her and then muttered: “Well, she would have found it funny.”
Immediately, Rarity grabbed the book, pressing it against her chest and backtracking. “J-just you try eating me, and I swear I’ll—”
The dragon observed Rarity for a moment when her voice faltered. “Eat you?” he asked, lowering his head and narrowing his eyes. “Is that what you think I want to do?”
Rarity took another step back, her rump colliding against the wall, trying hard to stare back into his large eyes. “I-I’m warning you! I am a select high-quality unicorn, and if you want to eat me, you’ll have a hard time doing so!”
The dragon got closer, its breath splashing over Rarity, frightening her into losing control of her lighting spell; her horn winked out. “Select pony? That does sound good, and you are a very pretty pony, lady,” he commented, and only then did Rarity realize her self-esteem was hindering her for once. “Too bad for me then. I don’t eat ponies.” Her brief relief ended as quickly as his eyes turned to slits. “But I don’t like it when ponies follow me. I know unicorn magic when I see it, and my gemstone reeked of it.”
Ah. So that’s why it was moving.
“I-I wasn’t interested in you,” Rarity harrumphed, trying to sound indignant despite the fear crowding her mind. “If you must know, I was seeking out gems, and my spell happened to pick up on your gemstone.”
The dragon drew back, allowing Rarity to let out the breath she’d been holding and relight her horn.
“Well, you aren’t getting my gemstone. I already ate it, so you better look somewhere else,” the dragon said. “And you shouldn’t use books to whack strangers. That’s no way to treat a book.”
Rarity blinked, unsure of how to proceed. Of all the possible conversations she had ever imagined having with a dragon, this certainly wasn’t it.
“It’s not mine,” she said without thinking. “It belongs to a friend.”
The dragon snorted, loudly. “That’s how you treat things belonging to your friends? Gee, lady, I wouldn’t want to be your friend,” he said. “I know somepony who’d whack you herself for treating books like that.”
“W-well, luckily for me she isn’t here, then,” Rarity said, having a hard time imagining a dragon interested in books. Then again, the shopkeeper stole books from a dragon, so maybe they weren’t as barbaric as she imagined? “Or… is she?”
The dragon frowned. “No. I haven’t seen her in a real long time,” he replied, looking back toward the caves. Then, without another word, he began to walk away, his massive tail nearly knocking Rarity down as he passed her.
“Wait! Where are you going?” she called out, putting the book back in her saddlebag and trotting after him. She still needed a scale, and that dragon was the only shot she had at getting one.
“I need to go check on some things,” the dragon replied, not bothering to wait for Rarity. Or so she thought, until he looked over his shoulder to see if she was still there. “Actually, you can help me. Come on.”
“Help you?” Rarity asked, gulping. Oh dear, did she really want to find out what that entailed? What if he meant helping himself to her? Or what if he—
The dragon turned left, tail once more nearly throwing Rarity to the ground. “You’ll see when we get there. Besides, you don’t really have a choice. There’re other dragons here who would love to eat select pretty ponies like you, so you’re safer with me.”
“That’s quite nice of you,” Rarity said carefully, wishing she knew if his kindness was genuine or fake. Was she being led toward the exit or toward a trap? “I was under the impression that dragons loathed ponies.”
“Well, this dragon doesn’t,” he replied. “Just because ponies hate us doesn’t mean we all hate you back.”
They made their way through the caves in silence, only interrupted whenever the dragon looked back, checking to make sure Rarity was still following and warning her to keep close. As he’d said earlier, it wasn’t as though she had a choice, especially when she had absolutely no idea how to get back outside.
“Here we are.”
Finally, Rarity saw a dim flickering light in the distance, and they stepped into a large cavern decorated with several torches and campfires. After a moment, she realized her initial assumption—that they belonged to the dragon—couldn’t be right: they were pony-sized.
“You live here?”
“For now, yeah,” the dragon replied, moving deeper into the cavern toward a dark area in the distance. “I move around, but this is where I keep my stuff.”
“I see.”
Rarity wandered around, unsure of what, exactly, was happening. She approached the largest campfire and found several saddlebags no bigger than her very own. That, the torchlight, and the campfires only served to confirm her suspicion that some pony was roommates with Mister Dragon there.
“So, what’s your name?”
Rarity looked back toward the dragon, and before she replied, he made the most uncouth gargling noise before spitting out a fireball. The fireball shot toward a dark corner of the cavern, set alight a series of torches, and illuminated a very large hoard of gemstones which Rarity could only gawk at.
She trotted toward it in a daze, her mind reeling, his question forgotten. Sapphires, rubies, pearls, amethysts, emeralds, and dozens of other gemstones in all shapes and sizes, that could decorate more dresses she’d ever dreamed of, buy more fabrics than she’d ever been able to afford, buy Twilight more books than the alicorn ever owned.
“Oh my…” she said, taking a large ruby in her hoof, her eyes sparkling nearly as much as the gem itself.
The dragon snorted. “That’s a funny name for a pony,” he remarked, moving toward the hoard. “Don’t get excited, Oh My. Those belong in my stomach.”
Rarity was too mesmerized by the gems to bother correcting the dragon, and instead she continued looking over the hoard, trying to find the largest one. Instead of the largest, though, she felt drawn toward one gemstone in particular: a heart-shaped ruby, nearly identical in shape to the emerald Twilight had given her.
She trotted to it and noticed a perfectly round hole carved on the tip from where a small, broken chain hung. She lifted her hoof toward it, and—
“Don’t touch that,” the dragon spoke up immediately, now next to Rarity. All the warmth was gone from his voice, and for the first time, he sounded how Rarity expected terrifying dragons to sound.
She quickly backtracked, her heart thumping in her chest. “O-oh, I apologize, I…” she said, watching as his large claw reached into the hoard and took the gem. “I saw your chain was broken and I…” she faltered, unable to keep up with her excuse.
“I’m getting a new one,” the dragon replied, his voice still cold, still distant as he placed the gemstone far away from Rarity. Without giving her time to reply, he moved past her and continued to speak. “Look. I need your help with these.”
Rarity trotted to him, right next to a small hoard separated from the rest. It was much, much, much smaller than the gem hoard, and more than that, the gems were mixed up with all kinds of assorted objects, amongst them several familiar dragon-shaped objects.
“Wait a moment, these…” She took one of the dragon dolls in her hoof. “Where did…”
“Some dragons from the northern tribe,” the dragon explained. “You ponies never take good care of your stuff, so they went looting. I stopped them and managed to get some of it back, so now you can go and give it to the owners.”
Rarity blinked, looking back and forth between the items and the dragon. “I see.”
“Great! You’ll do it, then?” the dragon asked.
“Before I answer, let me get my facts in order.” She cleared her throat and said, “Dragons stole these things from the ponies, and you, a dragon, stole them back from the other dragons and now you want to return them to the ponies?”
The dragon nodded.
“I see,” Rarity repeated, looking back to the hoard. “And what, may I ask, is the catch?”
“The catch?” he asked, blinking. “What do you— Oh. Oh, come on! It can’t be that hard to believe I want to give them back!”
“Well, a dragon not eating a pony I’ll buy, but a dragon stealing from other dragons and returning gems to ponies is frankly a bit of a stretch.”
“No, it’s not! I mean, look at them! They’re tiny! They’re not even big enough to be a snack! And have you looked at my hoard?!” He sighed and rubbed his claw against his eyes. “Look, I’d ask somepony else, but she isn’t coming back until tomorrow, and I’d go and do it myself, but—” He gestured to himself and his large body, giving Rarity a pointed stare.
Rarity bit down a giggle. “Yes, I can imagine you wouldn’t be well received. You’re quite the odd dragon, aren’t you?” she asked, now that she had confirmation another pony was friends with him.
“So, you’ll do it?” he asked again.
“I suppose I will,” Rarity said, finally. As ridiculous as it sounded, the dragon seemed trustworthy, and actually… if she returned all these stolen things to the dragon merchant… he’d no doubt be so immensely grateful, he’d give Rarity the book for free!
Though, from what I gather, I wouldn’t be surprised if he still demands the scale in return.
“I’ll take them back,” Rarity repeated, turning to the dragon and smiling, “in exchange for one of your scales.”
The dragon blinked. “A scale? Why’d you want one of my scales?”
Rarity coughed. “I… I want a book from somepony at the exchange, but they asked for a scale in exchange, and I saw a dragon in these caves yesterday so…”
The dragon leaned down, his face a few feet away from Rarity, eyes inquisitive. “You came into the caves looking for a dragon’s scale? And if you hadn’t run into me, were you going to fight them for it, or what? Smack them with the book until they gave in?”
Rarity cleared her throat, cheeks heating up. “If you must know! …That was my plan, yes.”
“Heh. I like you.” He leaned back, smiling widely. “But, what do I get from giving you a scale?”
“I’m already taking these things back for you! Isn’t that enough?”
“Oh. I guess so.” He shrugged. “But I could also just leave them here. Their return doesn’t really affect me anyway.”
“Hrmmm. Fine! Fine. Hold on.” She opened her saddlebag and took out Twilight’s gemstone, levitating it toward the dragon. “I have this to offer in exchange for it.”
The dragon took Twilight’s emerald, moving it right up to his face, his eyebrow furrowing. “This… This…” he said, Rarity watching him with bated breath. “It…” His inscrutable expression turned into a smirk. “Eh, it’s baby dragon’s food,” he declared, throwing the gem back at Rarity.
“Oh, come on! You’re covered in scales! Can’t you part with one?!” Rarity whined. “Pleeeeeeease?”
The dragon frowned, mulling it over. “Fine. Just take these things back, and I’ll ask my friend to bring you a scale,” he offered instead. “She’ll be back early in the morning.”
“…And that’s all you want?” Rarity asked, and upon receiving confirmation with a nod, she smiled. “Very well, I shall!” she exclaimed, levitating the hoard into the air. “Tell your friend to look for Rarity. I’ll be waiting for her near the dragon merchant stand.”
“Rarity,” he repeated. “Thanks for helping me.”
Rarity fluttered her eyelashes. “Thank you for not eating me,” she replied, earning a chuckle from the dragon. She turned around, took several steps, then stopped and realized… “Er, how do I get out of here…?”
The dragon snorted.
“Come on.”
Some time later, Professor Awe’s front door opened and in trotted Rarity, a large bundle of objects floating behind her. Once she’d fit them all inside the hallway, she closed the door and covered a yawn with her hoof.
“I’m back!” she announced, belatedly realizing that shouting her return was hardly a clever thing to do at… two? three? in the morning. “Er, I’m back…” she whispered with a giggle, more to herself than anypony else.
She made her way toward the living room, and after clearing some space on one of the tables, carefully placed the stolen items on it. The entire dragon ordeal had tired her out, and she decided to rest a moment before heading toward the local police station. The owners could deal without their belongings for an hour, couldn’t they? They must be asleep now anyway.
She reached the couch, lying down and closing her eyes, idly toying with her necklace. She thought back to her “conversation” with Twilight, and decided to check up on her crush. It wouldn’t take long, and it would just be to make sure she was doing okay after the… memory of her past.
The magic spell shot out from her horn, and she watched the glowing necklace, waiting for the link to open. She waited quite a while, too, until it became increasingly clear that Twilight wasn’t going to answer, so she ended the spell and furrowed her brow. Perhaps Twilight didn’t want to talk?
Don’t be silly, Rarity. Twilight can’t carry the necklace around, so she must have left it somewhere in the library. You can’t expect her to always be waiting for you to call.
She let go of the necklace and sighed.
I wish Twilight were he—
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the front door slamming open, followed by an anxious and familiar voice.
“She was here! But then I came down and she wasn’t, so the dragons must have taken her!” Pinkie was saying as she barged into the living room, followed by a mare in a Wonderbolts uniform. “And if the dragon took her, then maybe he ate her, and if he ate—” Her eyes landed on Rarity, and she cut herself off for an instant, before tearing up and throwing herself at the unicorn. “RARITY! YOU’RE ALIIIIIVE!”
“Darling, why wouldn’t I be?” Rarity asked, awkwardly patting Pinkie’s back. “I apologize for leaving without telling you, but—”
“There’s been a dragon attack, ma’am,” the Wonderbolt explained, lifting her goggles up onto her head. “They looted the Exchange’s warehouse, and your friend here thought they might have attacked you.”
“I was SO worried, Rarity!” Pinkie continued, still holding onto Rarity. “I thought you tried fighting them for the scale, but they won, and then they took you to their cave, and I’d never see you again, and if I never saw you again, then I’d be super sad, and then—” She threw the Wonderbolt a cautious glance before continuing in a loud whisper, “And then you-know-who would never see you again, and she’d be so sad she’d use all of her books as tissue to wipe her tears and—”
“D-darling, I’m fine, really,” Rarity said, trying to hush her friend. Now that a Wonderbolt was there, it was the perfect opportunity to return the stolen objects and be done with it. “Now if you don’t mind terribly, I need to ta—”
“And then your sister would cry too, and I wouldn’t even be able to help her and Princess Twilight because I don’t KNOW where the library is, and then Luna would be sad and—”
“Pinkie, please! Enough! You’re stain—”
“What are these?”
The two mares fell silent, and turned their gazes toward the Wonderbolt, busy inspecting the collection of stolen items.
Rarity sat up, toppling Pinkie down to the floor in the process. “O-oh! Those are—”
“These things—” The Wonderbolt reached into a small pouch on her uniform and took out a piece of paper, which she unfolded and skimmed. “I knew it! These match the description of the stolen objects!” She turned to Rarity and waved the list in the air. “These are all here on my list! The items that ‘dragons’ were accused of taking!”
“Rarity! You’re a dragon?!” Pinkie gasped, hooves flying to her mouth. She paused and lowered them. “Wait, that’s not right.”
“Wait, it’s not how it looks!” Rarity blurted out, looking past Pinkie’s remark and jumping onto her hooves.
“Oh no? Then why do you have these things, and why were you gone from your house at the same time the warehouse was being looted?” she asked. “Miss, how long did you say your friend here was missing? An hour or two?”
Pinkie, apparently having realized what was going on, quickly jumped to her feet. “Ye-yeah, but she was doing super fun and not-stealy stuff!” she exclaimed, standing between Rarity and the Wonderbolt. “Right, Rarity?!”
“Then how’d you get all these things?”
“I can tell you for a fact I didn’t steal them,” Rarity replied, trying to keep calm and collected. “It was a…” And Rarity faltered, only just realizing that the absurd truth was more likely to get her incriminated than absolved. A dragon returning stolen items? “I-I f… found… I found them!”
“Where?”
“I… I don’t know! There!” Rarity said, gesturing with her hoof. “I was trotting through town, and I found them on the way, so I brought them home!”
“The reserves scanned the perimeter an hour ago, and they warned everypony of what happened.” The Wonderbolt took a step toward Rarity. “Why didn’t you tell them immediately what you found? Why didn’t you get official help?”
The answer, of course, was that she’d missed the warning because she was deep inside Yaket Range, but she couldn’t confess to that, could she?
“I was taking a stroll outside of town! I found them out there, and since I knew they were stolen from the exchange, I was planning on returning them! I just came home for a minute beforehoof, and then you came in, and now I’m being accused of theft!” Rarity exclaimed, indignant.
This is what she got for trying to assist others!
Somewhere she was sure the Spirit was reveling in this, wasn’t he? It was all his fault for locking Twilight away in the first place! “And besides, do I look like I’m enough of a half-wit to leave all the evidence lying around in plain sight?! I mean, honestly!”
“And you didn’t talk to anypony after you found these?”
Rarity felt uneasy, but nodded her head. “Yes, that is correct.”
“Then the only way you could have known they were stolen is because you stole them yourself,” she replied, stashing the paper into her bag and putting her goggles back on. “Come on. You and these stolen goods are coming back with me to the Captain.”
“But—! I promise I didn’t!”
“Ma’am…” the mare said, looking ill-at-ease. “Don’t make this harder on yourself.”
Resisting the urge to shriek herself into frustrated oblivion, Rarity took a deep breath. Rise above it, darling, rise above it.
“Very well, then. This isn’t the first time I’ve been unfairly sent to jail, but if that’s what it takes to prove my innocence, so be it.”
“Rarity?! You’ve been to jail before?! What’s it like?!”
“My dearest Twilight. I find myself writing this letter to you on account of a terrible tragedy. Though I know this will pain you in ways you did not know were possible, I regret to tell you that I, Rarity, have been jailed—again.”
Rarity’s voice wafted into the air, one more added to the multitude of sounds permeating the now-active Traders Exchange, dozens of ponies showing up to see what the fuss was all about.
“You’ll be glad to know, however, that this time, my jail is not a dungeon filled with dirt, dust, and goodness knows what other centuries-old diseases. Can you imagine the irreparable damage to my coat had I stayed there for another night?” she asked, admiring her hoof. She then lifted her gaze toward her “jail,” which in fact consisted of four Wonderbolt reserves posted around her in a square formation. “No. This time, I can at least gaze into the night sky and its eternal starry blanket.
“As I write this letter, Twilight, I truly must ponder the absurdity of the situation. What did they expect me to do? Waltz into the dark streets of this unfamiliar town, where I know nothing of where anything is, and then start screaming at three in the morning? Perhaps an ‘Oh Missus Wonderboooolt! Yoohooo! Where are youuuu?’ would have sufficed?” she continued, ignoring the uncomfortable glances her jailers were giving her. “But alas, darling, it seems that the innocent continue to be”—she glared at the pegasi—“FALSELY IMPRISONED, though you know me: I have risen far above the petty act of holding grudges, as I’m sure you would have wanted. The key to that, of course, is patience. Extraordinary amounts of it, too.
“Sadly, I must end this letter with a hope to see you soon, and if not, a request to start training the owls as carrier birds. Yours sincerely, Rarity.”
“Oh! Oh! Add me, too!”
“P.S.—Pinkie Pie sends her regards as well,” Rarity finished, using her hoof to sign her name in the air, and then turning around to look at her companion, also stuck in the makeshift jail. “Thoughts?”
“I liked it!” Pinkie said with a giggle. “Now we just have to find a way to write it!”
“Pinkie, darling,” Rarity said, stifling a yawn, “It’s late. Why don’t you go home?”
Pinkie frowned. “And leave you here? Don’t be silly! If you’re going to jail, then I’m going to jail with you!”
Rarity smiled, grateful for Pinkie’s presence. A full hour had gone by since she’d been accused of theft, and she could feel the weight of the evening pulling her down. Though she tried to hide it, sleep was clawing its way up her skin, and she was worried she might fall asleep then and there if things didn’t move along soon.
Which, to her relief, might be sooner than expected, if Spitfire trotting toward her was any indication.
“Here we go,” she whispered, straightening herself and taking a deep breath.
“Okay, newbies! Move out!” Spitfire commanded, and at once the four ponies moved to the side, giving Rarity and Pinkie some room to move. “Rarity? Come with me.”
Rarity and Pinkie followed Spitfire across the market and past the bunches of nosy ponies, their eyes fixed on Rarity as she trotted by, their barely concealed gossiping whispers permeating the air. As was expected, Rarity didn’t let them bother her, because she was completely, utterly, and fabulously innocent.
Let them gossip! she thought, because she didn’t care. In fact, she held her head higher up, walked slower, smiled sweetly, because she wasn’t bothered at all by the completely unfounded and mistaken gossip no doubt rushing through the place like fire in a forest.
And yet, she could feel the stares, the judgment, so much so she wasn’t able to distinguish if she was perhaps seeing things that weren’t there. It was getting under her skin, and the more she tried convincing herself that she didn’t care, the more she did, and the more she realized how she hated that stare. She hated it because it was so familiar, narrowed eyes filled with skepticism and disbelief.
“There is no such thing as lost princesses.”
“There is no such thing as the lost library.”
“It’s okay, Rarity,” Pinkie whispered, and only then did Rarity realize she’d been frowning as she trotted by. “Everypony here knows you’re innocent!”
Rarity offered a pained smile. “Thank you, darling.”
They finally reached the end of the line: a small opening in the middle of the marketplace, where several angry ponies argued with some Wonderbolts. Judging by the fact that the dragon merchant was among them, Rarity decided they were the victims of the raid.
Their arguing stopped, however, the moment Rarity made her appearance. One by one, the victims threw her all sorts of glances, but none was warier than that of the dragon merchant himself.
There was a table placed in the middle, all the stolen items neatly stacked on it. Spitfire led Rarity right up to it. She then gestured to the other ponies, and they all trotted up to the table.
“This is Rarity,” Spitfire said, pointing to the unicorn before addressing her. “Is this everything you found?”
Rarity nodded, relieved by Spitfire’s approach. Finally, somepony not jumping to conclusions.
“Where’d you find them?!” a mare asked. “Are you sure that’s everything?! Why don’t you go back and look again?!”
“Yes, maybe you missed something,” an older stallion continued.
“Or maybe the rest is at your house,” a stallion accused.
“Rarity didn’t take your dumb stuff!” Pinkie protested.
“It’s all right, Pinkie,” Rarity quickly said, offering the earth pony a grateful smile before turning to the others. “I can assure you that the rest of your items are not at my home, and there is no point in going back to look where I found them because that’s all there was.”
“Bah!” the dragon merchant said, eyes narrowed. “If you didn’t take anything, then why do you care if we go look? If you’re innocent, we won’t find anything at your house, will we?” His words stung Rarity’s pride, and though she would have delighted in putting him in his place, he said something that shut her up quite quickly. “And it’s convenient, ain’t it?”
“What is, pray tell?”
“Hey! Stop that!” Spitfire said, stamping her hoof against the floor. “We’re not here to get in a fight, got it?”
The merchant looked toward Spitfire. “Bah! I’m not getting in a fight! I just think it’s pretty funny how this mare came to my stand yesterday wanting to trade for a book!”
How funny! I thought that was the purpose of the Traders Exchange! Silly me!
Spitfire frowned. “And? What’s your point?”
The merchant looked back to Rarity. “I’m just saying that it’s mighty funny that she says this here is all there is, and funny enough, the book she wanted isn’t here.”
Time came to a screeching halt.
“You… What do you mean the book isn’t there?!” Rarity all but gasped, looking down at the table and starting to rummage through the objects. “Where is it?!”
“Why are you asking me?!” he shot back, using his hooves to gather up all his things, pulling them away from Rarity. “You should know! You stole them!”
Rarity stepped back, the accusation flying unnoticed right over her head.
The book was gone. The book had been stolen, and if it wasn’t with the objects the dragon recovered, then it meant that Twilight’s book was now in possession of…
Rarity laughed. A small, choked laugh because of course the book was gone. Of course it would have been one of the objects the dragon didn’t recover, because of course nothing could be easy and simple and—
“How did you know they were stolen?” Spitfire asked, suddenly. “Swift Sketch said that’s why she took you in.”
For a moment, Rarity intended on keeping up with her tangled web of lies, but at this point, now that the forsaken book was with dragons, there was nothing to lose, was there? She might as well come out with the truth.
“I know that because I didn’t find them. I lied. Somepony asked me to return them,” she confessed, trying hard to ignore the immediately suspicious looks everypony threw her way—which she admittedly deserved.
“See?!” the merchant exclaimed. “She did it!”
“Lying about something like this is very serious,” Spitfire said, harshly.
“Don’t you think I know that?! But I didn’t have a choice!” Rarity protested. “Had I told you the truth, you wouldn’t have believed me!”
Spitfire frowned. “Try me.”
“You know, you should have kept lying, ma’am,” was the captain’s reply once Rarity finished telling the absolute truth.
“A dragon?! Returning stolen objects?! Who does she take us for?!” the dragon merchant spat, slamming his hoof against the desk. “Bah!”
“It’s the truth!” Rarity helplessly replied. “Why would I make that up?! Even I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous, which is why I lied in the first place!”
“Lied about what?”
Rarity turned around to find that another Wonderbolt had joined the scene, specifically the mare who’d chased away those dragons during the Exchange.
Rainbow blinked at Rarity. “Are you the pony Swift was talking about? Aw man, I thought you’d look more like the bad guys from Daring Do.” She looked to Spitfire. “Did I miss the fun stuff?”
Spitfire frowned, looking at Rarity. “I don’t know if what she’s saying is fun. She says that ‘a dragon’ took these back from ‘other dragons’ and asked her to return them.”
“Ha-ha! That’s a lau…” The mirth faded from her face, and her eyes widened, fixed on Rarity. “Wait, what? Are you for real?”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Yes, I am ‘for real.’ As I told them, I went into the mountains because”—she gestured to the merchant—“he asked for a dragon scale in exchange for the book, and I ran into a dragon who asked me to return these things for him!”
“What did he look like?” Rainbow asked, her eyes still fixed on her.
“I don’t know! He was large? Those caves are pitch black! I could barely see even with my hornlight!”
“And his name?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about wings? Did he have wings?”
“I don’t know!”
Rainbow groaned. “Don’t you know anything?”
“What did you expect me to do?! Conduct an interview?” Rarity shot back, throwing her hooves in the air. “I was terrified, and excuse me if I didn’t want to sit down for tea and crumpets!” When Rainbow recoiled, Rarity took a deep breath. Raising her voice was going to get her nowhere fast. “If I could bring him here, I would, but…”
And suddenly, she remembered the dragon wasn’t alone.
“Wait! He has a friend!” she blurted out. “A pony lives with him! She was supposed to bring me one of his scales if I returned the things! We just have to find her, and she’ll clear my name!”
And just like that, Rainbow smirked. “Oh?”
“That’s ridiculous!” the dragon merchant spoke up, harrumphing. “A dragon?! Friends with a pony?! Dragons are filthy creatures, good-for-nothing animals! They—”
“Hey! Don’t talk about them like that!” Rainbow interrupted, the smirk gone from her face, replaced instead by an angry scowl. “I owe my life to a dragon!” She then stepped closer to Rarity. “I believe her!”
Rarity blinked. “You do?” she asked, finding herself unable to stop a smile when the pegasus firmly nodded. If an ex-Wonderbolt captain believes me, then maybe the rest—
“Well, that’s good and all, but our things are still missing!” one of the ponies said, his statement met with nods from the other victims. “You’re the Wonderbolts! You should protect us! If she doesn’t have them, then those dragons do! Why can’t you go get our things?!”
“The Northern dragon tribe is one of the most vicious tribes in Equestria,” Spitfire said. “Even if your things got stolen, I can’t risk the safety of my team members by sending them to get them back, because you might not get them back, and the Wonderbolts might lose a member—permanently.”
“What, so we’re just supposed to let them keep our things?” the merchant asked. “That’s my life’s work!”
“I’ll go.”
Silence fell, and all ponies present turned their stare toward Rarity.
She wasn’t quite sure what possessed her to speak up, whether it was her burgeoning offense at everything she’d just gone through, or the knowledge that she needed that book no matter what.
“That place is incredibly dangerous,” Spitfire said, taking off her sunglasses. “I can’t allow you to go there alone.”
“She’s not alone!” Pinkie chimed in, standing up tall. “I’m going with her!”
“I told you, I can’t allow it,” Spitfire repeated, stern and imposing. “I can’t let civilians risk their lives like that. I’m sorry, but you don’t have what it takes.”
“Sure they do!” Rainbow exclaimed, flying up into the air and putting her goggles on. “’Cause I’m going with them!”
“You are?” Rarity and Spitfire asked in unison.
“Yep! It’s gonna be a cinch!” the pegasus continued. She turned to the mares and stallions, waving them off. “There you go! You’re gonna have all your stuff back tomorrow!”
“You’re crazy, Dash,” Spitfire said, rubbing her forehead with a hoof and shaking her head. She then looked back to the ponies and shooed them off. “Come on, get moving! Nothing to see here anymore!”
Once they were alone, Rainbow turned back to Rarity. “Let’s meet back here in fifteen minutes! I’m gonna go get my stuff, and you can get whatever you need,” she instructed before speeding off.
Rarity watched her go, in complete and utter silence, and didn’t get up until everypony save for a few Wonderbolts had finally left. Without a word to Pinkie Pie, she trotted off toward a nearby building, turning the corner, making sure nopony save for Pinkie was there and…
“WHAT HAVE I DONE?!” she wailed theatrically, placing a hoof on her head and leaning against the wall. “I’m doomed! Doomed, I tell you! Dead!”
Pinkie, startled, stepped back. “Wh-what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! Pinkie! I can’t face off against dragons! Look at me, for pony’s sake! I could barely hold my own against a timberwolf, and you expect me to trot up to Denza knows how many vicious dragons?! What if they love to eat mares?! What if they already ate the book?!” She paused. “Do dragons eat books? WHAT IF THEY ATE THE BOOK?!”
“Don’t be silly, Rarity! Only goats like to eat books!”
Rarity buried her face in her hooves and moaned. “And you’re going too! And if something happens to you, then I’ll—!” She looked back up. “I can’t do this, Pinkie!”
Pinkie nodded. “Yes, you can! Think of Twilight!”
Rarity pointed an accusing hoof at her. “No! Don’t use the Twilight card on me, Pinkie Pie! That is emotional manipulation! That is cheating!”
Pinkie furrowed her brow and shook her head. “It isn’t cheating, Rarity. It’s doing the right thing!” She stepped up and patted Rarity on the head. “Come on! Maybe Professor Awe has something we can use!”
Rarity watched her go. “But… But…”
She took a deep breath. You made your bed, Rarity, and now you must lie in it.
She lifted her hoof, taking hold of her necklace.
You’re going to be the death of me, Twilight Sparkle, and I care too much about you to do something about it.
Oh, Rarity. You just can't stay out of jail.
Dat letter tho.
So Spike and Dash...
We might gather the full set eventually...
I wonder who this "pony friend" of his is...
Sometimes it seems like 90% of Rarity's problems stem from making up flimsy lies.
That took me a bit. Very clever. It took me quite a bit of...
Perseverance.
You might even say, "extraordinary amounts of it."
(Hint: Read the letter.)
(Bigger Hint: Think literally.)
Oh dear.
EDIT: W elp.
7241905
That letter is the only important part of all of Enchanted Library.
7241912
AJ would be proud, though.
Twilight would probably give her a book on "THE ART OF LYING: MYTHOMANIA EXTENDED"
7241919
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh that *letter* was just absolutely wonderful! This whole chapter was great!
And can't wait to see more of Spike! *SQUEE*
So, one missing element bearer knew Luna and the other knows Spike? How convenient
Also, I see what you did there, building expectations up for Spike to recognize part of his old hoard, only to completely subvert them
The wait is killing me, but you cannot rush perfection. Can't wait until the next chapter. ????
Hello, Spike. Good to see you coming into the story ;3
Fluttershy = 42
But ... who told the dragons?
Another amazing chapter once.more good sir. I am.so looking g forward to more.
Can't wait to see what happens next!
C'mon Rarity! Think it through a bit! The book was originally stolen from a dragon, then not returned with things that a dragon wanted given back to their rightful owners. She might save herself a dragon raid entirely if she just asked Spike about the book first.
But no... Rarity plays things too closely to the vest. Ah well... The thieving dragons likely do have it still, if other items are indeed missing. Either way, a raid on aggressive dragons sounds more entertaining than reasonable discourse anyway!
7241907 Rainbow Dash.
Ok, I know the KEY word now.
...
7242093
Can you blame her? She was terrified. Chemically speaking she was incapable of using her best wits. Plus if she's not secretive most of the time there lies the chance of the Spirit finding out. People not believing her, or worse, suspecting her of treason somehow. Or trying to have her committed to a sanitarium of some sort. This isn't an ask-for-help sort of situation.
7242434 I'm not saying that it is unrealistic that she keeps these things to herself. Either way, it's the nature of the story born from the audience knowing more than the lead characters possibly could thanks to our knowledge of the show and cast. Half the fun is playing with the reader's desire for these characters to come together and make a connection... Drawing it out some builds a tension that keeps things engaging (as long as it isn't stretched to a breaking point, but the author here has been doing a fine job.)
Also, I'm not talking about her original conversation with Spike where she was truly terrified... I'm saying that when a guy who stole a book from a dragon complains that the book is not among the things being returned by a dragon, then perhaps the most logical answer is that Spike still has the book... No need to immediately pledge a raid on thieving, aggressive dragons necessary. But of course then we wouldn't get a nice adventure with bonding opportunities and she'd likely miss the chance of getting to know Rainbow Dash. In any event, I'll be curious to see if Spike is a partner in their dragon raid (In which case Rarity might ask him if he still has the book) or if he stays out of sight so that Dash can get the feel of this crazy unicorn and what she's really up to.
Wait, what?
That's it?
That chapter didn't last nearly long enough.
I call shenanigans.
Where's the rest of the 9,000 words I was promised?
More, darn it .MOAR!!!
Wow I wont lie that cipher took me a long time to figure out and then actually find the bonus. It's cool that Rainbow is finally getting some time in the story now. Seems like Spike is keeping the book for himself.
7242093
I was face palming so hard, it wasn't just Rarity that was playing things close to the chest. Spike could have said something as well since he recognized the gem
7243084
He didn't recognize the jewel, though o:
I had to read the letter through about three times before I got it.
7243112
Guess I was reading too much subtext I there
...after much thought... and with all the hints...
I still don't know what the cipher is. Being literal is hard.
7243216
Got it, and the revelation is superb!
The key is not *hidden* in the letter. The letter literally *tells you* the key! :) Devious, and I love it!
7241907
AJ is already in Ponyville just "out of the loop". Not much is needed to recruit her.
Aarrgh, Spike is so close to Twilight right now, it's painful. x-x Rainbow is totally Spike's friend slash roommate, isn't she?
7243216
It takes patience to use it
Waaait. That mare who lives with Spike... would that be Celestia??
7243112
Did you just accidentally implicitly confirm that it is indeed Spike she was talking to?
Geeze. It's almost a little frustrating how many connections to potentially helpful allies Rarity misses on account of this insistence about keeping everything secret. Complete strangers, sure, but I think she's known Awe long enough to bring him into the circle. And once she has him convinced, who knows how many other doors that might open. He may be on the outs with Denza, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know people.
It might not even be that hard to convince him now that she has this very convenient mental link to Twilight, she doesn't actually have to make the arguments on her own.
Speaking of the mental link, perfection.
Ooo. Spike?
So. Kind of a dork, had a friend who would appreciate his bad jokes, and has an appropriate appreciation for books? Yeah, it's gotta be Spike.
And he has a present day pony roommate? Wild guess, Rainbow?
Uh oh.
Well, always seize the opportunity for marshmallowdrama.
Uh oh. Maybe
Spikekept them since they were originally his anyway? No real reason to return property that was stolen from you in the first place.Heh.
Yeah, Rainbow is the roommate, and given that question about wings, it's probably a still wingless Spike that she is living with. He would potentially be a useful ally if the theories about her being Celestia's agent are accurate.
Now this seems like a bad idea.
Pinkie too? Probably about as bad.
And Dash? Eh, getting better, assuming she is as competent as I suspect she is.
My real question would be how much
Spikegets involved in this new dragon quest. If he stole the stolen goods back once already, I could see him getting involved again, especially if he has also been working with Rainbow as a part of the larger quest.so the book that the shopkeeper stole from a dragon was stolen by dragons yea I can totally see where this is going
... Dammit the secret revelation makes me want MOAR
I'm beginning to wonder if the Spirit is the only one manipulating events here. Curious.
I can't find the key. Someone give me more hints.
Arrrrrgggghhh! So close! *cries* so close to meeting Spike, learning that Spike is Twilight's companion, getting the book (which is probably in the possession of Spike), seeing the connection between Spike and Rainbow (and possibly Celestia)...... Urgh, the suspense is killing meeeee, you're killing me Mono whyyyyyy!?
I praise you and curse you for writing such a cliffhanger of a chapter. It's awesome story telling that is also torturous in the fact that the next chapter isn't up yet. Looking forward to it!
I hate story circumstances like these, and this story has had several so far. If the stories have some kind of reason for the missed communication (like two people on the run from the law refusing to give out their names to others missing each other because they're worried about being caught), then fine, but I especially loath it when it happens due to low-probability random events, especially if the contact isn't very brief.
Look at all the failure points, any of which have an excellent chance of leading to one of them figuring out Twilight's connection to the other, and that don't even require Rarity to give up her attempts at secrecy or to guess anything about Spike:
1: Rarity could have asked for Spikes name (which is odd that she didn't, considering she introduced herself, and having his name would make it a lot easier to find him after giving the stuff back to their owners)
2: Rarity could have inquired about the gem that Spike was so protective of
3: Rarity could have asked Spike about his friend that likes books and is referred to as "somepony"
4: Rarity could have asked why Spike didn't hate ponies and even keeps them as friends
5: Spike could have looked at the author of the book Rarity chucked at him or noticed what library it came from
The situation was a lot easier to swallow with Pinkie Pie, since the only real failure point was a lot more natural.
Ugh.
7252106
Oh where, oh where to even begin...
Okay firstly, Rarity was not in a situation where she was clam, collected and relaxed. She was in the lair of dragons. Dangerous dragons. She was in a very dangerous place from where she wanted to leave as soon as possible. That is really not a place where you just want to start random in-depth conversations about someone's life.
Next, when Spike asked her name, Rarity was being pretty damn busy being mesmerized by the huge pile of diamonds and not really paying attention. She only mentioned her name when she was about to leave as a way to be found by Spike's friend. Seeing how she would probably never return there and there was no need for her to know Spike's name why would she inquire it?
Secondly, Spike was the one that quickly changed the subject and seeing how a huge dragon would completely change his tone from a somewhat friendly one to a cold and distant one while being protective about the gem would make anyone not inquire more. And again, she had no reason to inquire. She wasn't there to sightsee, she wasn't there to visit, she was there with a clear objective.
Which also applies to the next part. Again, Rarity isn't there to interview dragons. If that wasn't Spike but just a random dragon, would you have complained that Rarity didn't ask about his life story?
Also, that book was just a book about unicorn magic. There was no reason for Spike to open it. And libraries don't mutilate book covers to write from what library it is. Also there's the entire fact that it was a dark cave. So dark that Spike had to squint to even see that Rarity tried to hit him with a book. A book that to him wold look normal in every possible way.
You are the one that has outside knowledge that that is Spike and not just a random dragon. Why aren't you complaining that Rarity didn't ask the Dragon merchant's name? Or about his life? Or why he hates dragons so much? Is it because you know that he is not an important character in the story thus it's unneeded?
7252210
Yes she was. While at first she was terrified and panicky, she calmed down significantly after being assured that he was not going to eat her (barring a few seconds after Spike told her to keep her hands off that gem). She was completely cheerful, talking normally, etc, when they were talking about other things, and none of her actions or thoughts showed any signs of fear or panic (outside of the two specific parts I mentioned).
Because the Rarity in this story has been shown to be extremely curious, and she just met a nice dragon who is friendly with ponies, something she didn't even think existed, that's why, unlike with the merchant pony.
The gem is specifically noted to look practically identical to Twilight's, and I find it somewhat unlikely that the thought that they could be related didn't cross her mind whatsoever.
Yes, I would have, since this Rarity is extremely curious, and a dragon such as this one is obviously very strange. You could say the same thing about her asking where the dragon's pony stuff came from (which she did do, despite her "having a clear objective"), but since that doesn't break the communication problem, that's just fine, isn't it?
No, there was no reason to, but there was also no reason not to; he could have easily opened it up on a whim and seen it. I had forgotten that it was extremely dark in that part of the scene, though, so scratch this one off.
Note that I'm not saying that any of these actions are individually especially likely, only that every single one of them failing to happen is unlikely to the point that it strains incredulity.
7252432
She didn't think friendly dragons didn't exist. Twilight already told her that they do.
The only thing it had in common with Twilight's gem was it being heart shaped, something that is incredibly common in the pony world, just like gems. The fact that it's not just a random gem but a gem that was already processed and transformed into jewelry really makes them being almost identical a moot point. Honestly a more obvious question is how did a dragon get it's claws on a gem that was already made into jewelry. But again, Spike was so cold regarding the gem that it frightened Rarity, and seeing how she thought she most likely will never have to deal with the dragon, she probably didn't have second thoughts about it.
She asked about the pony stuff, because Spike showed them to her. Spike brought them up. Spike took her to them for the specific purpose of asking Rarity to return them.
Most of those things have no reason to ever happening.
7252548 Actually most of them are perfectly reasonable. In reverse order 5 is unlikely because of his size Spike doesn't do anything beyond look at the cover, and unless that book is particularly rare he's unlikely to ask anything further. 4 she could have, and would have got around to it eventually, but left before she did. 3 Lots of ponies like books, and she was focused on other goals, mostly worrying about the dragon and once he mentioned it getting the book back. 2 she did, and he shut that line of questioning down. Not verbally, but still it would have been rude and possibly dangerous to continue. 1 this isn't even a failure point because Spike's name has never actually been mentioned in the whole story. It's in one interlude, and maybe somewhere else in a vague and/or brief way, but it's utterly meaningless to Rarity. There are plenty of obvious references to Spike, but none use his name. Also even if I'm confused, it's certainly possible, that might not be what he introduces himself as these days anyway. And Twilight clearly finds it painful to talk about Spike so it's no surprise she doesn't.
Oh? Oh. Oh! We will be finding out soon then, or are you gonna still keep it hidden?
Also, yay, Rainbow Dash joins the Rariteam!
7252733
No, Twilight has explicitly mentioned Spike's name twice to Rarity. She might not know that he's a dragon, but Twilight has talked about him enough for her to know that he was a dear friend of Twilight's, and she should be plenty smart enough to figure out that this dragon being the same Spike is a real possibility upon hearing the name and his other comments.
As for the others, I still disagree.
I solved it, but I admit that I cheated. Google is your friend. This will indeed be interesting.
Oooh, how you spoil the diligent, persistent, and patient readers, Monochromatic. Thank you, for being you and doing what you do.
I don't know where everyone is getting the name Spike from. Clearly the dragon's name is Solar.
I'm sure by the time Rarity returns home, some important... history will be revealed.
You know what would have made dealing with those dragons super-easy?
A doomsday device!
I keep saying this, and no one ever listens to me. I'm not crazy!
That was a pretty clever little variation on the code scheme, there. It took me quite a bit of...
Perseve--
...Wait no that's taken already. Dammit.
I thought I was clever :|
...Anywho, how's it going, Mono? Haven't spoken in a while. Beautiful work, this.
7252106
Sorry, gotta back that qt3something person on this one. Sure, any of those things could have happened, but it's not at all unrealistic that none of them did happen. I can say that because I know that in her situation, I wouldn't have had the presence of mind to do any of those things (or that last thing, in his position). I would have been too caught up in the moment, as they were. Also, a couple of the items on your list are things only a genre-savvy character would be likely to think of.
7279298 ) : k yeah it is pretty stupid