Enjoy

Rarity didn't want to be out in the middle of the night in the everfree forest. The cold earth below her pristine, white hooves chilled her on the already cold night. The trees loomed above her, their shadows casting over her and everything around her. She wasn't scared. She never had been scared of this place, though sometimes she had to act like she was. Her past had put her up against more frightening things than this.

To her right, there was a rustle of leaves. She turned to it quickly, knocking back her black hood.

"Show yourself," she ordered, illuminating the tip of her horn. A red stallion with white splotches emerged from the shadows with an amused smirk. He was quite small for an earth pony stallion though he still had large hooves topped with white fur. His mane was long and white but his tail was cropped short. His eyes were a disturbing shade of green and flashed every so often with a strange yellow. His cutie mark was even more disturbing than his eyes though. It was a heart, dripping with green.

"Nice to see you again, Pearl," greeted the stallion. Rarity snorted and glared at him.

"I changed my name to Rarity when I left. You should do well to remember it, Acid Heart," she spat his name like a curse. The stallion called Acid Heart gave a fake look of hurt.

"Really? I always loved your name, Pearl. It suited you so well. A beautiful mistake," he hissed. She glared some more.

"Enough of this. We're both here for a reason." She was growing impatient. Acid Heart smiled, showing his teeth.

"Straight to the point, as always. That's what I like most about you, you know." His words slithered into Rarity's ears like a snake, making her shudder. Acid laughed, a deep and crazed sound that shook the trees around them. "Do you have what we asked for?" he asked, serious now. Rarity levitated an ornate, golden music box from her saddle bag and set it down gently in the stallions awaiting hoof.

"I can get the scroll tomorrow," she informed, watching as Acid inspected the box. He flipped the lid open with his nose and smiled a wicked smile at the contents.

"Lovely," he crooned, snapping the lid shut. He tucked the box into his own saddle bag and turned his wicked smile to Rarity. "Sterling can meet you in three days behind the saloon in Appaloosa," he said. "Be there with the scroll or you know what happens." Rarity nodded, not bothering to argue with what she knew she couldn't change.

"Until the next time, Pearl," he said, departing.

"I told you, my name is Rarity!" Rarity protested.

"You'll always be Pearl to me," he called. There was no use in saying anything back, he was already gone.