Five years later
Rarity awoke to the sound of her doorbell chiming downstairs. As music went, her doorbell could have been a worse way to wake up but it was pleasant for Rarity to wake up like that on most days. Still, her shop wasn't open for another hour so she expected that it was her parents or Sweetie Belle coming to visit her. She shuffled out of bed, stopping for a moment to style her mane and trotted down the stairs. She was annoyed to hear the doorbell ring again and she gave an irritated shout at the door "I'm coming; I'm coming, hold your horseshoes!" She opened the door and to her surprise, she saw the mayor of Ponyville standing in front of her. "Oh! Well, good afternoon Madam Mayor. What can I do for you?"
"Hello there Rarity! I hope that I didn't wake you. I'll be direct, our fair princess has chosen Ponyville as the location of this year's Summer Sun Celebration!" said The Mayor. Rarity's eyes widened in joy and a large smile spread across her face.
"Here! The Summer Sun celebration is going to be...HERE!?"
"Indeed it is," said The Mayor, smiling at Rarity's joy. "As such, everypony here needs to do their part in making sure out town looks the best that it can be for the celebration. I would like you to be the one who decorates town hall." If anypony watching thought that Rarity's eyes couldn't get any wider or that her smile couldn't get any bigger, they would be wrong. Rarity's levels of joy tripled and she grabbed The Mayor in a bear hug and began jumping up and down in happiness.
"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyouthankyou!" said Rarity. "You won't regret this, I promise! I'll make Town Hall look more beautiful than it has ever been in its entire existence!" The Mayor gave a weak chuckle at this display and eased her way out of the embrace.
"Oh, yes you're quite welcome Rarity. I know you'll do fine. You have a blank check for whatever you need. Just bill it to my office. I know you'll do just fine," said The Mayor.
"I'll do better than fine Madam Mayor, I'll do a spectacular job, and I'll be the best decorator Town Hall has ever had!" Rarity continued to rant to herself about how amazing of a decorator she would be. She didn't even notice that The Mayor had slipped away from the conversation.
Rarity surveyed her work on Town Hall with glee. She had decided early on that since this was the Summer Sun Celebration, she should make the theme of the decor something to do with the morning sky. Sher original designs had called for a lot of yellow, representing the sun but when she had put the idea into practice, she found that the color was rather overpowering and off-putting to the pony eye. She immediately decided to use sky blue from that point as it was much more aesthetically pleasing.
She surveyed her work with pride at how well she had done. The room was filled with sky blue streamers with a beautiful bouquet of flowers at every connecting point. It was here that she found out that she could use the color other than sky blue and she utilized a beautiful bouquet of white flowers at most of the connecting points. Around the edges of the room and on the ceiling were banners emblazoned with symbols representing different aspects of nature as well as others representing different moments in Equestrian history.
As she looked, she realized that a few pillars did not have ribbons on them. Rarity walked over to a box of ribbons that were currently resting on the balcony above her and began testing out individual colors to see which one she liked. She was so busy testing out different ribbons, that she hardly noticed when the door to the room opened. She was vaguely aware of two voices that she had never heard before talking about her work and something about a library, but she was too busy to care about that right now. As she tested different ribbons, she began giving them verbal denials. "No, no, no, oh, definitely no." She was vaguely worried that she would run out of colors before she actually landed on one she liked. She heard the first voice behind her address her.
"Good afternoon," she heard a female voice say. Rarity inwardly growled in frustration as this intruder might make her lose her train of thought on the matter. She hid her irritation and barely glanced at the new pony as she said in a false happy voice.
"Just a moment! I'm in 'the zone' as 'twere." Rarity continued checking ribbons until she held up a sparkling red ribbon. "Ah yes!" she said as she tied it into a neat not around the pillar. "Sparkle always does the trick does it not? Why Rarity you are a talent." She remembered her audience and turned back towards the pony. "Now, how can I help you-" Rarity gave a gasp of horror as she got a good look at the mane of the pony in front of her. She was vaguely aware that this new pony was standing next to a baby dragon but that hardly mattered to her right now. The monstrosity that was this new pony's mane was commanding her attention. It was so messy and curly and...horrid was the only word that came to Rarity's mind that adequately described the mess. it must be dealt with immediately. "Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?" The new pony looked up at her ghastly mane.
"Oh, you mean my mane? Well, it's a long story," said the new pony. She clearly did not understand just how horrible she looked. "I'm just here to check up on the decorations and then I'll be out of your hair."
"Out of my hair? What about your hair?" said Rarity. This had to be fixed. If this pony wasn't open to Rarity's generous help, then Rarity supposed she had enough time to kill her and get rid of the body. Well, except that she had a dragon companion. Rarity had never killed a dragon before but she suspected that even a baby one would be immensely hard to kill. Maybe if she could slip him some hemlock cakes or something it would do the job. She knew that a knife for the dragon was certainly out of the question. However, despite the fact that this new pony was resistant to Rarity pushing her towards Carousel Boutique, she wasn't putting up any serious effort. At any rate, once she figured out that she couldn't talk Rarity out of this, she followed her willingly.
Within a few minutes they arrived at Carousel Boutique. The pony walked over to a mirror and used her magic to change it back to what appeared to be her usual style. it was a plain style, straightened hair with the end curving around her neck. Rarity decided that she could toy with her hair but if nothing else worked, then that would.
She eagerly grabbed the hoof of the new pony and began having her try on some dresses that she had recently made in the shop. This was a rare opportunity for her of late, having someone model dresses that she had been tinkering with. As each one was put on, Rarity realized that each one needed tinkering in some way or another. At the very least, none of them looked good on this pony. She briefly stopped her mini fashion show to ask the mane of the pony.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is my assistant Spike," she said pointing to the dragon. Rarity turned to greet the dragon but saw that he was looking at her with a dreamy look in his eyes. Clearly he had already formed a crush on her. She would ignore that for now and hopefully it wouldn't come up again.
As Rarity continued to have Twilight try on clothes, she remembered a corset that she had been saving for a special occasion and she decided that Twilight would look absolutely marvelous in it. After she nixed the latest design, a souped up aerobics instructor, Rarity grabbed the corset and slipped it over Twilight's head. It looked absolutely marvelous on her. Rarity realized that she needed to tighten the straps of the outfit but decided that she had done enough talking for the moment. "Now go on my dear, you were telling me where you're from." She grabbed the straps in the back with her teeth and put her hind hooves on Twilight's back for maximum strength and began pulling as hard as she could. Twilight could only get out one word at a time thanks to the corset constricting her breath.
"I've...been...sent...from...Canterlot...to..." Wait, Canterlot? Did this pony just say she was from CANTERLOT!?"
"Huh?" said Rarity as she let the straps go, sending both ponies flying in opposite directions. "Canterlot!? Oh I am so envious, the glamor, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it!" She leaned in next to the bemused pony. This was clearly the type of pony that she should get to know. Who knows? Maybe Twilight could get her business contacts in Canterlot! New town, new customers, new outfits, new victims, it was a dream situation for Rarity. "We are going to be the best of friends you and I!"
Rarity's eyes trailed down to the large gemstone at the front of the corset. Oh dear, it seemed this outfit did have a flaw after all. "Emeralds? What was thinking? Let me get you some rubies!" she said and trotted off to get the necessary stones.
When she returned while levitating a large ruby, she saw that Twilight was nowhere to be found. The corset that she had been wearing was lying on the back of a chair. Rarity gritted her teeth and examined the garment. she found a small hole in one of the sides and one of the gems had popped out in Twilight's hurry to leave. Rarity's face darkened with anger. "Twilight, when I see you next I am going to..."
"Welcome her to Ponyville at her welcome party!" said a high-pitched, excited vice behind her. Rarity jumped up into the air with a startled yelp. When she landed, she turned around to see a smiling pink pony behind her.
"Oh, Pinkie Pie, you startled me," said Rarity, trying to catch her breath.
"Well that's silly, I've been in here for five minutes. The new pony in town seemed uncomfortable when you were pulling on her clothes like that," said Pinkie.
"Yes, well, that's just part of the way that the outfit works, darling. Now, what were you saying about a welcome party?" asked Rarity.
"Well, I ran across the new pony today in the town square and I realized that I didn't know her name and if I didn't know her that means that she's not from around here and if she's not from around here then she must not have any friends and how sad is it to not have any friends am I right? So I decided that the best thing to do was to invite everypony in Ponyville for a great big party to welcome Twilight to Ponyville and I found out from The Mayor that Twilight was staying in the library and I've been on the move the whole day organizing this party for her and I've been inviting everypony in Ponyville to this party and since the Summer Sun Celebration is today nopony has anything really to do so they all said they'd be delighted to come to the party!" Rarity couldn't believe that anypony could talk for that long without taking a breath but she knew that Pinkie Pie wasn't your typical pony.
"I see, Pinkie Pie. Oh and by the way, her name is Twilight Sparkle and her dragon companion is named Spike I believe." Immediately, Pinkie started in on another long-winded rant about how awesome it was to have Twilight in Ponyville and how amazingly fun the party was going to be. Rarity managed to tune it out while nodding occasionally to whatever Pinkie was saying but she tuned back in just in time to her Pinkie say "And then I heard you say, 'when I see you next I am going to' and I said 'welcome her to Ponyville at her welcome party!'" Rarity mused that Pinkie's idea of the second half of her sentence was quite off. Rarity was thinking more along the lines of strapping her down and removing her internal organs while her poisoned dragon lay dead at her feet, not welcoming her to Ponyville. She wouldn't be in Ponyville for very long anyways. Mishandling her clothing was always a fatal offense to Rarity. It was good to know that Twilight was staying at the library though.
Rarity promised Pinkie Pie that she would be at Twilight's party and the party loving pink pony bounced out of Rarity's home. Rarity rolled her eyes at the retreating figure. She liked Pinkie Pie. As hard as it was to be around her sometimes, she took a lot of energy to be around, she genuinely liked her. It was hard not to like somepony who made it her goal in life to make you as happy as possible. Rarity was often curious about whether or not Pinkie would get Rarity new victims if Rarity told Pinkie it would make her smile. She didn't want to press her luck on that though.
Rarity went into a storage room next to the main entrance to her boutique. Inside was nothing more than a small, worn down piano. Something unassuming to the casual looker, not that anypony came in here anyway. Rarity played the tune to the lullaby that she used to sing to Sweetie Belle when she was younger and a secret door opened up to her left revealing some stairs. Rarity had found this basement when she had moved in and with a few adjustments, it became her secret workroom. But it had nothing to do with fashion though. No, this room was for her kills.
Rarity reached the bottom of the stairs and flicked on a light switch to her left. An outside pony would be absolutely horrified at the sight before them: the walls and floors were caked in blood and entrails, some of it all too fresh. Every now and again, a stray bone could be found on the floor and maybe a piece of flesh as well. Rarity sighed as she put on her special horseshoes and walked over to her workbench. "You know Rarity; you really should clean this place up now and again. It is starting to smell a bit, even with the candles you put down here."
"Oh I know Rarity; we've had this conversation before. This is my personal space to shed the clean, sophisticated part of me. I can just let it all go here, you know that." Rarity sat at her workbench and pressed a button on the bottom. The top of the workbench opened up to reveal Rarity's toys. Knives, her rock, anesthesia needles, a vegetable peeler, a small hammer, oh she had everything she used for her murders in here. She picked up a large knife that she used to skin her victims alive. She had only done it a few times before and their pelts now hung on the wall to her left. Rarity had originally done it to keep trophies of her victims but had stopped doing it with any consistency as she didn't have that kind of space on her wall. The wall on her right side was dedicated to scalped manes. She had about half a dozen of them right now in contrast to the four pony hides that decorated the other wall. She had decided after her first disastrous attempt at flaying a corpse that she should only do it for hides and manes that she found particularly beautiful.
As she toyed with the knife, she considered for a moment whether or not Twilight's mane or hide deserved to be on her wall. She had already decided that Spike's scales would play some part in the decoration of her room. After all, how often does one get a chance to kill a dragon? Even the successful murder of a baby dragon was something to be proud of.
Rarity thought back to the moments, not half an hour ago when she was toying with Twilight's mane. It was rather silky and smooth. It was obvious that Twilight took good care of her hair. Rarity nodded and placed the skinning knife on a medical tray next to the table. Since Twilight was from Canterlot, she deserved a spot on Rarity's wall right? Plus, Rarity had certainly admired the beauty of her cutie mark, how unique and intricate it was. She made a mental note to remember the design for possible future outfits once the memory of Twilight had faded from the town. Maybe she could even try to find a way to make fake dragon scales too! The possibilities for that were endless.
Rarity scanned her collection of items,trying to find out what else she wanted to use when she killed Twilight. Spike would have to be poisoned unfortunately, she just couldn't risk it. However, she could have all of the fun she wanted with Twilight. She grabbed the hammer as well as a tourne knife and a paring knife. It should be enough for what she wanted to accomplish and she placed them on the tray as well. As she went to close the desk, she spotted her boning knife. She shrugged and figured 'why not?' and she placed it on the tray too.
Rarity went up the stairs happily, depositing her horseshoes at the bottom of the stairs and checked the clock. It read 6:33, which meant that Twilight's welcoming party would be starting soon. She looked around the room for a brief moment before she shrugged and walked out the door.
As she walked towards the library, she spotted Twilight talking to Fluttershy, a shy Pegasus pony that Rarity had a soft spot for. She seemed to be immensely uncomfortable around Twilight. At least Fluttershy wouldn't miss her.
As Rarity continued walking, she considered briefly how she would get Twilight to her boutique in the morning. Obviously she couldn't incapacitate them at the library. Somepony would see her moving an unconscious pony and a dead dragon into her home. She decided that the best course of action would be to ask Twilight to come to her house so she could give her a welcoming gift. She would Pinkie Promise that Twilight would love it and that she had better come over to the boutique as soon as possible and to bring Spike as well. If his looks at her were any indication, Spike would come if she asked anyway. She would feed them cakes, one to knock out Twilight and one to kill Spike and then she could do what she liked with Twilight once she woke up. Twilight had yet to understand the importance of Pinkie Promises...although; if everything went according to plan then she would never understand them. It was considered the highest offense to Pinkie Pie to break a Pinkie Promise. Rarity knew that Pinkie Pie would never actually hurt anypony who broke one, no matter how mad she was (and seeing Pinkie mad actually scared Rarity). So, Rarity had taken it upon herself to do the job for her, as evidenced by the light green pelt on her wall.
Rarity knocked on the door of the library and was met by an excited Pinkie Pie. "Ooh good, you're here! We're just waiting for Fluttershy now. Everypony else is here!"
"How delightful!" said Rarity, walking into the library. "But Pinkie, why is it so dark in here?"
"Well we've got to make it dark so we can surprise her when we turn the lights on silly!" said Pinkie.
"Have the pony be shrouded in darkness then have them be surprised by their surroundings when you turn the light on...Pinkie that's genius! I have to remember that one," said Rarity.
The party had been a decent success, Twilight had unfortunately drunk a fair amount of hot sauce and for whatever reason, and she used that as an excuse to stay up in her room the entire night. Oh well, the party was still fun without her. Rarity had found out that it was indeed fun when you turned on the light to surprise a confused pony. She would certainly have to begin Twilight's session in that manner as the mare's reaction was even better than she had imagined.
After the party had ended, all of the ponies in the library went directly to Town Hall to meet the princess and watch her raise the sun. Rarity felt a great rush of pride as the ponies of the town admired her work. Rarity began to get close to Twilight when The Mayor approached her. "Rarity, would you like the honor of pulling back the curtains to introduce Princess Celestia on my mark?" Rarity smiled happily again, causing The Mayor to take a few steps back, lest she be pulled into another giant hug. Thankfully, this time Rarity merely nodded and rushed towards the balcony.
As she got into position, she scanned the crowd for Twilight. She found her in the middle of the room with Spike on her back, talking to Pinkie Pie...or at least, Pinkie Pie was ranting to Twilight about something or other. The crowd fell silent as The Mayor began talking about the ceremony. Rarity decided that she had better focus on what The Mayor was saying as opposed to Twilight and it was a good thing too as she was just beginning to introduce Celestia.
"And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land. The very pony who gives us the sun and moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony throughout Equestria: Princess Celestia!" At the last two words, Rarity pulled the cord, opening the curtain behind her. Rarity heard a gasp emerge from the crowd and she looked overt where she thought Celestia would be. She let out a small gasp of her own when she saw the balcony was empty. She decided to investigate. She looked through the back rooms of the Town Hall and any other rooms that she came across during her quick search. Princess Celestia definitely wasn't in Town Hall.
Rarity trotted back up to the balcony and addressed the crowd. "She's gone!" she said. The crowd gasped again. Rarity was wondering what this all meant but stopped for a moment when she heard Pinkie Pie yelp in shock. She turned around to see not Princess Celestia, but a pony who seemed to be her very opposite. If Celestia was the sun incarnate, this pony was the night made flesh.
"Ah, my beloved subjects. It has been so long since I have seen your precious little sun-loving faces!" said the evil looking Alicorn, looking around the room. Rarity was beginning to wonder what to do now. She half considered attacking but she didn't know if she had the ability to kill her before she stopped Rarity. Rarity didn't even have a knife on her right now. Of course, she could just crush her throat with a punch. It was something that she had done on occasion. This new mare flew over to Fluttershy and said something to her that Rarity couldn't quite make out. Right after she turned her attention from Fluttershy, she appeared next to Rarity, grabbing her face with her other-worldly mane. "Did you not see the signs?" she said evilly.
'Do it now Rarity' she thought to herself. 'All it's going to take is one quick punch to the throat and she's dead in minutes and this whole thing can be over.' However, before she actually worked up the nerve, the mare gave her a quick slap with her mane and moved on. Rarity growled at her missed chance. The mare turned her attention to Twilight now who was talking with her. Twilight was doing her best to keep a brave face through this ordeal but she seemed to be losing her nerve.
"You're the Mare in the Moon; Nightmare Moon!" said Twilight. As Nightmare Moon exchanged a few more words with Twilight, Rarity desperately wished that she had a knife on her, just something simple that she could use to sever Nightmare Moon's spine at the neck, but alas, she had nothing. A chill ran down Rarity's spine at the next words Nightmare Moon said.
"Remember this day little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last FOREVER!"