//------------------------------// // Day Five: Rarity // Story: Nightmare Moon's Mask // by yoshiXII //------------------------------// Get up. New day. Why? Why did I have the same nightmares again? Was it because the rational part disappeared? Was my routine back to “normal” now? I think this was the final nail in the coffin to tell me that I was going to be stuck with the irrational side of the mask from now on. To me, the rational part might as well have been gone. I was scared. Scared of what would happen to me now. Scared of this incoming crisis. And also scared for the ponies. I had been since the first day, but I can’t describe to you how nervous I was. I trotted outside and this time the mask chose an element I never saw before. A purple diamond. Like on the first day, the mask looked through a bunch of ponies to look at their cutie marks. This one was a white unicorn with stylized purple hair. I was teleported to an intricately designed boutique shop. It looked as if it belonged in a proper city instead of a town, which was peculiar. Perhaps the mare inside wanted to express her individuality. Yet again, I trotted without my will to the door of the shop. Peering at the sign, I checked to see if it was open. Nope. Too bad for this mare, I guess. I pushed the door open and saw the mare in question working on a variety of dresses. She looked frantic, as if she had to fill out twenty orders in the space of this morning. I watched for a second as she ran around the mannequins levitating scissors, string, rulers, and other materials. “Hello, Rarity.” Rarity stopped in place to see me for the first time. She gasped. “Darling, do you have any sense of fashion at all? That mask is so passé; you simply have to let me design a better outfit for you.” “Element of Generosity. Loves beauty and also loves being popular. Manners and behavior is proper. Interested in being a fashion designer. Typically loves her friend, but can get caught between wanting to fulfill dreams and pleasing friends.” “Dear, you really have to stop mumbling,” Rarity said while dragging me over to on my right. She propped me up onto the stage and started measuring me. “Rarity, you are a weird pony. So many different details in your personality. You are interesting. Ever feel like you shouldn’t please your friends or the audience that much? It’s become your life, just helping people. Yet, sometimes they don’t appreciate the personal dilemma you go through.” “Mmhmm,” Rarity muttered, not paying attention. She started looking at the various fabrics that littered the shop. “Even your own element contradicts with a normal pony’s nature. Generosity is simply a derived version of selfishness since ponies will never give unless it helps them in some way. So technically, you’re element should be greed. Greed is the ultimate source of every action that you make.” I could tell that Rarity actually started listening. “But isn’t greed a bad thing to be proud of? Wouldn’t that be a bad representative of my personality?” “Not necessarily. It’s what helped ponies survive during the primitive ages. In present-day circumstances, it’s shunned for making ponies apathetic. Why be scared of it though? It should be something to be proud of, something that will help you live with yourself.” “So you’re suggesting that I become cut off from my friends, my family, and my audience just to fulfill my needs?” By this point, Rarity stood still right in front of me. “Yes, it’s an honorable ideal. Rather than constantly being afraid on how society will judge you, you should loosen up and realize that you can be so much more without the limits that hold you back. Create your own style of clothes that you want and ignore your friends. Start doing what you want to do.” Rarity’s enthusiasm disappeared as she turned gray as well. She looked around and ignored all of the dresses she was working on. All she did was go through some doors to what I assumed was her bedroom. I regained myself and looked around. Everything seemed so creative in this room and lively. How would this be affected by Rarity’s new attitude? Only time could tell. I realized that there was only one other pony left. That meant that right after this unfortunate soul, the mask would start bringing down the moon. What could I do? I was too numb to figure out any devious plan. I just wanted it to be over. I peered outside of the window just in time to see an orange blur darting into the bushes.