"And then, get this, they started begging to be saved from me."
All the nobles sitting around the table burst out laughing for what seemed to be the umpteenth time.
"I must say, Miss Rarity, I never would've guessed the life of a Ponyville citizen could be so fascinating."
Rarity smiled. "Well, when you bear one of the Elements of Harmony you do tend to be involved in critical events."
All the nobles chuckled in response before returning to their breakfasts to which Rarity did the same. One of the items on her agenda was to improve her upper class social skills by spending all her time with every noble she came across in Magicworld. With every visit Rarity made to Canterlot she always felt like a black sheep amongst the high class herd, due in no small part to her Ponyville residency. The problem, she knew, was the doubt that always lingered in the back of her mind about whether she had the potential to rise from her humble origins and truly embrace the noble lifestyle; that, and whether she'd find solace in such a lifestyle. Right now, however, Rarity felt more confident in herself than she'd ever been when conversing with nobility in Canterlot. Perhaps it was due to not being subjugated to the class system while at the DELOS resort, though Rarity scoffed at the notion that she couldn't use what she gained from her vacation back home.
A little after she had finished her plate of eggs and hash browns a voice whom she recognized as King H.D.'s resounded from the upper balcony of the feast hall.
"Greetings my subjects. For those of you who may not know, the time has come for me to choose one lucky mare to be my co-ruler and your queen for the day. Their belongings will be temporarily relocated to my own personal suite here at the castle and they will also partake in judging the Duel Tournament later today. This is an honor worth your entire stay here in Magicworld, so don't hesitate to embrace it wholeheartedly."
Rarity felt as if the robot's last words were intended specifically for her, and while every other mare in the feast hall roared with excitement she sulked to herself. She'd yet to overcome her depression from knowing that H.D. was a robot himself. The thought of getting intimate with a "cybercorn" felt weird and especially uncouth to her.
Still, she thought, perking back up, I simply cannot pass up the chance to be a queen for a day.
Once breakfast had fully concluded King H.D. had all the mares who wished to be judged come with him into a room located just beneath the upper balcony. As Rarity walked in, she noticed a staircase leading to the upper levels in the direction of the outdoor balcony. She realized at once where the newly appointed queen would be going once she was chosen. Once all the mares were lined up, King H.D. began his judgment.
-----
Walking protocol initiated . . . walking protocol cancelled.
Queen search protocol initiated.
Scanning for possible choices . . . scanning complete.
Choices available: 14
Queen judgement protocol initiated.
Scanning choice #1 . . . scanning complete.
Physical appeal of choice: 40.5%
Choice advancement: Denied
Initiate dismissal order: "I'm sorry, but you may now leave."
Scanning choice #2 . . . scanning complete.
Physical appeal of choice: 9.37%
Choice advancement: Denied
Initiate dismissal order: "I'm sorry, but you may now leave."
Scanning choice #3 . . . scanning complete.
Physical appeal of choice: 77.5%
Choice advancement: Granted
Initiate advancement order: "You may stay for now."
Scanning choice #4 . . .
-----
Rarity watched in mild bemusement as King H.D. walked along the line of hopeful mares, casting his verdict for each one as to whether or not they would advance in the selection process. Whenever he would tell one of them to leave the mare in question would trot back out the way they all came, their head hung low and sniffling in sorrow. Rarity didn't know what criteria H.D. was judging them all on, but she suspected it was physical attraction since all the rejected mares were, in her opinion, less than dazzling in their appearance. She was the last one to be judged and was told to stay, which Rarity gladly took as a compliment on her beauty.
In total, four mares out of fourteen were selected; all of them unicorns. One of them sported a bronze mane and blue coat with a lit candlestick Cutie Mark; another one had a magenta mane and pink coat with a wooden cross Cutie Mark; the last one was black-maned with an ashen gray coat and a more abstract Cutie Mark depicting three colored circles (one each of red, blue, and green) surrounding a fourth purple circle of greater size. Once all the rejects were ushered out of the room and the four chosen were lined up, King H.D. beckoned for the bronze-maned unicorn to follow him into another room opposite from the feast hall and balconies. Rarity and the other two mares just sat confusedly in place in response.
"Do you think she won?" Rarity whispered to the other two after a minute of silence.
"As if," magenta mane replied. "I outshine her in every way of queenship."
"That's not even a word," black mane replied in turn. "Besides, I know I'd make a better queen than all three of you."
"I beg your pardon!?" Rarity exclaimed. "I happen to be the Bearer of Generosity; surely one who wields an Element of Harmony would be the best candidate for so called 'queenship', would they not?"
"Generosity, eh? Then why don't you forfeit this contest out of generosity to me?"
"Because it would be a greater crime to risk letting an uncouth barbarian such as yourself win than to go against my Element."
"What did you just call me?"
"An uncouth, and apparently deaf too, barbarian."
"You'll pay for saying that!"
Before Rarity and the other mare could grab each others' throats, however, a transparent magic aura surrounded the both of them and separated them from each other in a strong telekinetic grip. The two of them were turned around so they could see King H.D. staring at them with a frown on his face. The bronze maned mare stood beside him with a hoof to her mouth, doing her best to stifle her laughter.
"A proper queen won't stoop to petty violence," H.D. admonished, releasing the two mares from his telekinesis. He then motioned for black mane to follow him. "Come."
The mare in question proceeded to do as asked while the bronze maned mare rejoined Rarity and magenta mane.
"We leave for one measly minute and you two managed to make enemies of each other?" she asked.
Rarity blushed. "I think 'enemies' might be a little too strong of a word."
"Yeah . . . sure," bronze mane replied as she extended her hoof. "I'm Firewater by the way."
"And I'm Rarity," Rarity said, shaking Firewater's hoof.
"And I'm Morning Star," magenta mane said, breaking her silence. "And I'm sorry for boasting earlier."
"All is forgiven," Rarity assured her.
The three mares proceeded to chit chat until H.D. returned and swapped black mane for Morning Star. Black mane, whose name turned out to be Zacchino, and Rarity apologized to each other and affirmed that the best mare would win. H.D. and Morning Star returned and Rarity followed the cybercorn into the other room for the questions he would ask her; which she learned from asking the others.
"Now then," H.D. said as the two of them sat on their haunches onto a couple of cushions placed in the center of the room, "let's see if your worthy of becoming my queen."
"I shant disappoint," Rarity replied proudly.
King H.D. nodded. "First I must ask you this; off the top of your head why do you believe you're fit to be a queen?"
Rarity didn't need to think to answer. "That's quite easy my king. I am a bearer of one of the Elements of Harmony, specifically the Element of Generosity. I always strive to make everypony that I acquaint myself with happy by pouring my energy into crafting for them the most beautiful dresses they ever laid eyes on. Not only that, but I'm a far cry from the snobbish nobility that permeates Canterlot; I'm a proper lady through and through and I respect everypony equally even if they aren't truly equal."
King H.D. stood silent for a moment before nodding and proceeding with his next question. "Very good. Now then, what is your highest level of combat ability?"
Rarity blinked. "Pardon?"
"How skilled are you in combat? A queen, especially one who's to judge the upcoming Magic Duel Tournament, must be knowledgeable in the ways of fighting if she is to be respected by her subjects."
Rarity struggled to keep a dignified posture as she mentally panicked. She knew how to use telekinesis and beat opponents with her hooves as well as Rainbow Dash and Applejack, but when it came to proper fighting (i.e. martial arts and magic prowess) she was amateurish at best. She'd never bothered to learn offensive magic her whole life because, truthfully, she liked being seen as a damsel-in-distress type of mare. Her Element of Generosity shined through in more ways then her donation of self-made dresses to her friends.
Throughout her foalhood, Rarity would look at her colt peers with a sense of pitiful sorrow at their constant need to show off to satisfy their pride. While most fillies would be annoyed by such behavior, Rarity overcame her natural inclinations and saw colt pride in a different light altogether. With leadership positions in Equestria taken by mares most often, stallions' political opinions and talent recognition have/has waned over time to the point where they feel the need to show off their prestige and put down mare's accomplishments to feel useful. Rarity grew to sympathize with holders of such beliefs, feeling she could relate to them with her desire to be recognized as a top-of-the-line fashionista by everypony. Invoking her generous nature, she gradually became the damsel-in-distress, stallion-obsessed, flirty, ladylike mare she is today by letting colts/stallions take charge of happenstances in her stead.
The negative side to this, however, had shown itself as Rarity struggled to think up a believable lie to H.D.'s question.
"W-Well," she shakily began, "I . . . specialize in a unique type of fighting, one that involves the use of gemstones as projectiles and shield walls." She nervously grinned. "You see, my talent is in finding gemstones and carving them into desired shapes. Given enough gems, I can properly defend myself from attacks by condensing them into a wall, or sharpen them to a point for use as a knife or something similar. Nevertheless, I've seen plenty of fighting due to my status as a Bearer of Harmony and could for sure properly judge this Duel Tournament you speak of."
King H.D. stared in silence for longer than usual which unnerved Rarity. If he was programmed to associate nervousness with lying then she was doomed. Before long, however, King H.D. got up from his cushion and walked over to her. "Please turn around and don't look back."
To say Rarity was caught off guard was an understatement. Nevertheless, she did as instructed and waited for further instructions. Instead, she heard the sound of H.D.'s metallic hoofsteps fading behind her until they were out of earshot. Despite being confused, worried, and even a little fearful for her life, Rarity stayed right where she was, unmoving. About a minute later she heard his hoofsteps re-approaching her from behind and stop right behind her. She then felt something slide over her head, settling around the middle of her forehead. She instinctively reached up a hoof to feel the object; it had pointy spikes all around it, and was fitted with what she recognized as gems around the base. Rarity's eyes went wide as she recognized what was perched atop her head.
A crown.
She turned back to King H.D. who only smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder.
"Welcome to your temporary new home, my queen."
-----
Walking protocol initiated . . . . . . walking protocol cancelled.
Scanning for ideal opponents . . . scanning completed.
Ideal opponents located: 0
Search mode resumed.
Walking protocol initiated . . . . . . walking protocol cancelled.
Scanning for ideal opponents . . . scanning completed.
Ideal opponents located: 0
Search mode resumed.
Walking protocol initiated . . . . . . walking protocol cancelled.
Scanning for ideal opponents . . . scanning completed.
Ideal opponents located: 1
Duel mode activated.
As Rarity waved to her new (temporary) subjects from the upper balcony, she felt a telekinetic grip not unlike H.D.'s latch onto her head. Before she could make heads or tails of what was going on, she was forced to look down towards the unicorn using the telekinesis on her. Rarity could instantly tell the pony was a robot from noticing the various bolts embedded underneath the artificial white hair all along its body. The pony in question wore a simple brown poncho over its back that concealed its Cutie Mark and sported a long black mane and tail. She couldn't see what color eyes it had as the cybercorn wore a mask over its face that bore an unusual pattern that vaguely resembled a pony's face. Before Rarity bothered to get a good look at said pattern, however, she reminded herself that her free will was being violated.
"What is the meaning of this you ruffian!?" she shouted to the robot.
Everypony in the cheering crowd, as well as King H.D. behind her, were confused at first before realizing she was addressing one of her subjects. It didn't take long to figure out which one, as the robot responded to Rarity little more than one second later as it released its telekinetic hold on her.
"My queen," it said in a typical robotic monotone voice, "I challenge you to a magic duel."
Everypony in the crowd gasped. Rarity, on the other hoof, was stunned; she was far from expecting one of her subjects, robot or not, to have the guts to challenge her. Once the robot's words sunk in, however, Rarity began to panic yet again. She was ill-equipped for a serious magic duel, even one against a bucket of bolts. On that note, she decided to stall for time.
"And your name is?" she asked the robot.
The cybercorn stood still as it processed Rarity's words before answering. "I am the one called Sin. Does my queen accept my challenge, or is she an incompetent mule of a mare?"
Rarity's brow twitched.
"Did that thing just insult your majesty?" she asked her non-robot subjects.
When she got a couple dozen hesitant nods in response, Rarity shocked everypony present by leaping off the balcony towards the robot. Before she hit the ground, however, Rarity used her telekinesis to catch and gently lower herself the rest of the way to the floor a small distance from Sin.
"I will defeat you without casting so much as a single spell," she said, taking a battle stance, "I accept your challenge."
Sin took a battle stance itself. "You will fall by my hoof, upon which I shall relinquish rule over your subjects."
"Never you will," Rarity stated. She pointed a hoof towards the offending robot. "Your move."
The two locked their gaze on each other, Sin randomly selecting a pre-programmed set of attacks and protocols while Rarity worked to anticipate his attack. Hidden underneath her confident exterior, however, one thought kept distracting Rarity from her focus.
However am I going to pull this off?