A Surprise for Rarity, Chapter 1
~O~
Her eyes opened, blinking as the sapphire blue pupils narrowed and adjusted to the bright glow of morning sunlight. Rarity's slumber had ended to the odd strains of another voice in the room, strange because she lived alone above her dress shop Carousel Boutique.
"Wake up, Rarity, the morning is wasting away," came the voice which was inexplicably familiar.
She rolled over and stared into the energetically grinning visage of her friend Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville librarian and student to Princess Celestia. "What are you doing in my bedroom?" the white unicorn asked. "Twilight, we may be acquaintances but it is quite rude to enter somepony else's domicile without permission, especially when that somepony is still sleeping. Didn't they teach you anything about manners while you were living in Canterlot?"
Rarity wasn't intentionally condescending. It was just who she was. Twilight understood that and let the comment roll of her flank. Instead, she just chuckled. "This isn't your place, Rarity, it's mine."
The dressmaker glanced around taking in her surroundings. Nothing was in its place. Instead of bolts of fabric, spools of thread and half-dressed mannequins there were shelves with books and books on shelves. She was in the library of Ponyville. "What am I doing here? Where is my home? And what is going on?"
"You slept here last night," Twilight informed her.
"Yes, darling, that much is quite obvious," Rarity answered, stepping out of the bed and to the mirror where she began to comb her elegant, bluish mane back to its perfectly curled self. "But how did I get here and why can't I remember?"
"Pinkie Pie threw one of her elaborate parties last night in my library," Twilight explained. "It was a real blow out, but when the party ended you were so exhausted I let you sleep here instead."
"Oh dear, did Pinkie Pie spike the punch again? Or Applejack's spiced apple cider?"
"Not unless you count Gummie swimming around in the punchbowl again."
"Oh, yes, she does allow that alligator a bit too much freedom for my tastes, don't you think?" Rarity sniffed.
"Says the dressmaker with a fluffy, white cat."
"It's hardly the same thing, Twilight. Why you never see a single loose cat hair on any of my fine garments. That's because I keep Opal away from my workspace and I brush his fur one hundred times every evening. There is no excuse for improper pet care."
"I kind of have to agree with you there."
"Well, then, now that everything about last night is cleared up I thank you for your thoughtfulness and hospitality, but I must be going, work waits for no pony."
"If you say so, Mrs. Rarity." Twilight put extra emphasis on the Missus in her statement.
"Oh, no, darling, it's Miss Rarity," the prim and proper unicorn replied.
"Uh… you might want to check your hoof," Twilight stated, pointing to Rarity's left foreleg.
Rarity had spotted a gold band wrapped around her left hoof. "What's this?"
Twilight, trying to stifle a silly grin, explained, "You got married last night."
The white colored mare, dressmaker and drama queen fashionista screamed at the top of her lungs, letting out a shriek so loud that it could curdle milk into butter, split buds open into full blooming flowers and cause delicate quiches to collapse into themselves clear across the town.
It left a shrill ringing in Twilight's ears for a moment. The purple unicorn's eyes seemed to rattle in her head as she recovered. Rarity, getting a grip on herself, remarked, "Twilight, please tell me this some kind of silly joke."
"Nope, it's no joke," Twilight Sparkle told her, offering a Pinkie Promise to ensure Rarity of her authenticity.
"Oh no, I was married last night? And you didn't stop me?" Rarity shrieked in anger, letting her cultured veneer peel away for the moment.
"We tried but you were determined to go through with it," Twilight informed her friend.
"I did? I was?" Rarity squeaked in terror. "Please tell me it wasn't that snob Prince Blueblood. I couldn't live with myself married to that insufferable fop. Well, his wealth and power could make it bearable. No. No. Not after what he did to me last time. Oh please tell me it's someone I can at least tolerate."
"Actually, you tolerate him very well," Twilight answered. She pointed to a shadow coming up the stairs and introduced Rarity's new husband. "This is who you married."
Rarity looked over to where Twilight was pointing with her hoof. Into the room came a short, wingless lavender dragon with green scales on his back and wearing a similar gold band on his left claw. Spike, the baby dragon who acted as Twilight's assistant and who had an impetuous crush on the fashion conscious pony, pitter pattered over to the white mare, gave her smoldering grin and said, "Morning, gorgeous. Now that we're married I guess this means I'll be moving in with you. So, where does my delicate flower want to go on our honeymoon?"
Honeymoon?
Rarity screamed, curdling butter from milk, splitting buds into flowers and collapsing quiches a full mile away.
"Hey, that's the second quiche this morning," Pinkie Pie yelled from her kitchen, "who keeps spoiling my breakfast?"
~O~
