//------------------------------// // Summer Sun Celebration - Rarity // Story: Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary - Chapter 1 Part 3 “Beautiful…” Spike murmured. Twilight also looked around the elegantly decorated Town Hall. What other ponies would consider spacious, for her, the inside of the building was humongous; the ceiling was at least ten metres above the ground, nearly as large as her mentor’s throne room. At the distant end was a small balcony far above the ground, ready to accommodate her mighty mentor for tonight’s event. All around them, the symbols of the festival could be seen on the flower buckets, flags, and various other decorations, emphasizing both Celestia's sun and moon while also keeping the local symbols, like apple trees, visible. "You're right, Spike,” Twilight said approvingly. “This is beautiful indeed. Quite spacious too, if I might add." “Not the decor. Her,” Spike said dreamily, pointing his claw at a white unicorn with diamonds for a cutie mark. Twilight’s attention turned to the mare as Spike continued to gaze at her with hearts in his eyes. “No... no... no... oh goodness, no,” the white mare said as she levitated over lengths and lengths of differently colored ribbon, oblivious to the little, suddenly self-conscious, purple dragon. “How are my spines? Are they straight?” Spike asked, to which Twilight simply rolled her eyes. Without further ado, she began trotting swiftly towards the unicorn before her, Spike simply staying back near the door, immobilized in a half-dreaming state. “Good afternoon!” Twilight shouted, trying to catch her attention. “Just a moment, please,” the white unicorn responded, without even bothering to look back. “I am in the zone, as it were.” She levitated over the next ribbon, a large smile on her face as she tied it into a rather large, shimmering red bow onto a thin, supporting pole. “Oh yes! Sparkle always does the trick, does it not? Why Rarity, you are a talent. Now, um, how can I help you?” she said before she turned around, blinking confusedly as she noticed the only other occupant in the room was the baby dragon standing a few meters away from her. “Hmn…I was sure that I heard a female voice, but you look like a male… dragon to me. Voice mutation, perhaps?” “I... um...” Spike stammered, trying to say something vaguely resembling a greeting. Rarity made a few steps towards the baby dragon, but immediately halted when a tiny, purple creature jumped up to face-level in front of her. “Hey!” Twilight Sparkle said, waving a hoof in midair to catch the unicorn’s attention. “My name is—” “Aaaaaahhh!” Rarity shrieked as she stumbled backwards, staring wide-eyed at the tiny creature. The suddenness and loudness of the scream sent Twilight reeling backwards as well, crashing into a neatly organized stock of decorating materials and causing it to fall into a disorderly pile on top of her. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you," Twilight said as she struggled up out of the mess. When she finally freed herself, however, it quickly became obvious that she had either been ignored or had failed to properly communicate with the unicorn. The pile of materials she had landed in unexpectedly jerked up, dumping Twilight into the ground as they swiftly arranged themselves into a cloud above her head, wrapped in a light blue magical aura. “Rats! Rats in our Town Hall! Back, you beast! You're not going to ruin our celebration in front of the princess! Take that, you rodent!" The cascade of levitated items began to slam into the ground as Twilight ducked and darted away from the barrage of decorations. A roll of wallpaper crashed to one side of her just moments before a roll-up flag smashed to the other, forcing Twilight to leap out of the way before a third object crashed to the ground just behind her tail. "You think you can outrun magic, you filthy pest? I could hit a needle with a thread at that range! Take that!" A dozen steel pins thunked into the wooden stage as Twilight tumbled to one side, only to get a faceful of the roll of wallpaper swinging in the other direction. The inside of Town Hall seemed to ring like a bell as she flew through the air, stabilizing her flight with the self-levitation spell just in time to meet the roll of wallpaper coming back in a mighty blow that knocked her to the floor. As a final indignity, darkness covered her with a resounding thump as a bucket dropped over her, muffling the victory cry of the white unicorn. Forgetting about her magic in the heat of the moment, Twilight tried to free herself from under the bucket with her hooves, lifting the edge slightly. "S-Spike! Help!" screamed Twilight, peeking out from under the rim of her embarrassing prison, only to notice her dragon still stunned into stillness by her jailer. “Now allow me to show you the exit, you dirty animal,” the hostile unicorn said, levitating over a broom and dustpan. Twilight’s eye twitched. That’s it. The mare in front of her wanted to dispose of her as if she were a 'critter' or a simple piece of trash. Despite her humble nature, Twilight was still a proud unicorn, and she was not going to let others treat her like garbage. She poured power into her horn as if there was no tomorrow, the brilliant light shimmering from the bottom of the bucket. *** Rarity tossed back her violet mane proudly and sat one hoof on top of the bucket that trapped the horrid pest. A quick burst of her magic brought a broom and shovel over to dispose of the little troublemaker, but as they came closer, something felt wrong. The soft blue of her magical field surrounding them had changed to a rather fetching purple, and the two implements of pest disposal turned to fly at her instead. "Stand back, you traitorous, backstabbing cleaning devices! You were supposed to take out the rat, not me!" Dodging a blow from the broom, she rose up on her rear hooves into a fighting stance to block their attacks. Two swift blows sent both broom and dustpan skidding across the floor and against the wall, where they remained quite motionless. “Ha! That's what you get for assaulting a proper lady," Rarity declared before pausing and looking around with blush on her cheeks, though she found nopony in the vicinity besides the purple dragon. "Oh my, am I talking to inert objects now? Perhaps the stress of the festival is getting to me. I should go lie down, but then who would take care of the decorations?" “Had enough?” an angry voice called, causing Rarity to look around frantically for its source, her fear of going insane now stronger than ever. “Over here!” Rarity looked down at the purple rat from before, once again standing brazenly in front of her. “Oh, you came back for more? Well, if you want it so much, I will show you what an angry lady is capable of,” she said gallantly as she tried to kick the rat with her hind leg, only for a magical push to the back of her other hind leg to cause her to lose her balance, and she fell to the floor with a solid thump. Rarity let out a groan as she tried to stand back up, only for the little creature to teleport directly to her muzzle in a bright magenta flash. “Get off me, you ruffian!” she said, but her eyes quickly went wide when she recognized that what stood on her nose was not a rat, but a tiny, purple unicorn, who was now staring at her very crossly. "A rat? Garbage? Ruffian? Please do go on. I love it when ponies insult me all day," the little unicorn said, glaring up at Rarity as she tapped a hoof expectantly. “I... I... I...” Rarity tried to say something, but her words got stuck in her throat as she slowly began to realise that she had treated a possibly female unicorn as garbage, the worst possible insult one could give to a lady. “Speechless? Well then, may I suggest you start with an apology? ‘Sorry’ perhaps?” Twilight said. She had gotten over most of her irritation at being trapped under the bucket, and was rather enjoying teasing the pompous unicorn until Rarity's eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed in a dead faint. “Twilight! What have you done?” Spike asked as he ran over to them, shooting Twilight a glare. “Well, excuse me for defending myself against a pony who treated me like trash,” Twilight said, returning Spike’s glare with one of her own. “Well, yeah, but maybe you shouldn’t have—” “And what about you, Spike? You just stood there and did nothing while I was being assaulted. Even now, you rush to this mare’s rescue to try and make this somehow my fault. How could you leave me for a pony we just met?” Twilight said, her eyes watery and her bottom lip trembling. “I thought I was the most important to you… that you would never leave my side, and you just did.” Spike’s expression quickly fell, and he stammered out a few unintelligible words before he was overtaken by a wave of guilt and wrapped the tiny unicorn up in a hug. “I’m sorry Twilight. I am so sorry. Please, forgive me. It won't happen again.” Twilight let out a sigh, patting her assistant’s hand reassuringly. “All right Spike. I forgive you, but please, don’t replace me so easily.” Spike shook his head. “I would never replace you.” Their interaction was soon cut off when they heard murmuring from the unconscious mare behind them. “Oh, my. I’ve had the weirdest dream ever. And that mane-cut!” Twilight broke from Spike’s hug, and trotted over to the white mare. “Care to share?” Rarity hopped up quickly to her hooves in surprise, her attention turning to the tiny purple unicorn now sitting next to her and watching her with a raised eyebrow. “I’m still waiting for an apology.” The mare blinked a few times before she began to laugh awkwardly. “I uh… guess that wasn’t a dream.” “No, it was not.” “Have I really treated you like garbage and a wild animal?” “Yes, you did.” Rarity placed a hoof to her forehead, transitioning quickly into a dramatic pose as she cried out, “What have I done? I have committed such an unladylike deed and betrayed all my manners and good etiquette. I have threatened a guest in the worst way possible! This is the worst. Possible. Thing!” Rarity tilted over as if she was about to faint, but was caught in a levitation field before she could land on the sofa that had suddenly appeared right behind her for no apparent reason. “I think one faint is enough for a day, and I’m still waiting for my apology,” Twilight said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Her attention, however, quickly turned to the bright red sofa behind the white mare. "Wait, when did that get—" “Oh. Yes, of course. I am truly sorry for what have I done, Miss...” “Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s protégé and the pony responsible for overseeing the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration,” Twilight said proudly. After being treated like a rat, she wanted to make sure that the white unicorn knew exactly who she was dealing with. “Twilight Sparkle? What a charming name!” Rarity said, nodding earnestly. “I am so very sorry for my shameful actions, and—P-P-P-Princess’s Protégé?” Twilight immediately plugged her ears with her hooves, irked at the auditory assault on her sensitive hearing. “Please, not so loud! Now about those apologies—” she began, but she was soon cut off when Rarity scooped her up between her two giant hooves. “Apology? Apology? I could say a hundred times how sorry I am for threatening you, the Princess’s Protégé, or for treating you as if you were trash, perhaps even beg for your forgiveness, but it would still not be enough,” Rarity said, lifting her head determinedly as she trotted out of Town Hall, hauling Twilight after her in her light blue levitation field. “No, I must make up for the stain on my honor by repaying you personally.” “I keep telling you, Rarity, this is really not necessary,” Twilight said as Rarity finished sewing up yet another tiny garment made from the most expensive materials she could find. After the initial fuss over Twilight’s puffy and tangled mane, courtesy of Rainbow Dash, the tiny unicorn had ended up as a model for the crazy fashion mare’s endless imagination. Twilight tapped her hoof nervously on the stage-like platform she stood on. Since it was surrounded by three large oval mirrors clearly intended for a pony of a much more normal size, Rarity had levitated over three hoof mirrors so that Twilight could admire the outfits she was being forced to wear, even as the fashionista herself worked quickly behind them. Twilight had tried to say she was willing to forgive Rarity after just a simple apology, but the elegant mare was unwavering in her commitment to make up for the ‘stain on her honor,’ showering Twilight with gifts of clothing and miniature makeovers. Spike had earlier seemed to fall under Rarity’s unintentional charm once again, though after what had happened not long ago, a single glare from Twilight was able to bring him back to his senses. “Too yellow...” “Too poofy...” ”Not poofy enough…” While Twilight could have simply teleported away to avoid such suffocating adoration, the way Rarity handled her magic was astonishing. While her raw power was rather unimpressive—the mare could probably lift more weight with her own dainty hooves than with her magic—her ability to simultaneously levitate as many as fifty or sixty different objects at the same time was an incredible display of her strong focus and perception. It wasn’t long before she finished the next outfit, taking little more than a minute to finish this one. “Perfect! Clothes to suit a mare of your position,” Rarity said, levitating over four sharp needles to touch up a few details on Twilight’s dress. To Twilight’s slight displeasure, she was currently wearing said dress. Not eager to sport any new puncture wounds in her body, she set up a barrier around herself, making it impossible for the needles to penetrate. “Oh, don’t be shy about your beauty. Just one or two small details and it will look just perfect,” Rarity said as she levitated over an odd-looking gem towards her outfit and consequently against the barrier as well. Twilight’s shield easily gave way under the pressure from the gem, bending inwards at the point of contact before simply popping like a bubble. “W-what?” Twilight exclaimed, staring wide-eyed at the little rock that had just completely disregarded the fact that there had been a shield in its way. “How? Wait, is this an enchanted gem?” “Of course it is, darling! This special little thing can cut through any magically enhanced object, perfect for shaping those especially stubborn, magically imbued gems. Great against magical barriers too, it seems,” Rarity said proudly as her needles finally moved in to finish up the last, few details on Twilight’s clothing, weaving in and out swiftly and leaving not even a single mark on the little unicorn herself. A bead of sweat trailed down Twilight’s forehead as she stood as motionless as possible, all the while attempting to consolidate both her excitement in finding out that some gems could be used that way and her dread in discovering that this crazy white mare could break her barrier as if it hadn't existed at all. “Now, with this, you’ll be a gem among the Canterlot mares,” Rarity said, grabbing Twilight with one hoof from the little dress-up stage as she gave a grandiose sweep with her other foreleg across the room. “Every noble will look at you with jealousy and admiration as you trot proudly through the ballroom in a dress worthy of the Princess’s Protégé.” Twilight gave a grimace at the thought. “I’m not particularly interested in that kind of stuff. Nobles in Canterlot are so hard to deal with sometimes.” Rarity’s eyes widened in shock. “How can you say that, Twilight? You have no idea how much I envy you. I’ve always dreamed of living in Canterlot! The sophistication, the beauty, the etiquette and grace of all the nobility. I cannot wait to hear all about your life there,” she said before nuzzling the little unicorn in her hooves. “We’ll be the best of friends, you and I.” Twilight pushed away Rarity’s nose as she broke free from her grip and jumped back onto the stage, taking a step away from the fashionista. This situation was starting to seem very uncomfortably familiar. ”Prince Blueblood, may I ask you a question?” Twilight asked as the quiet, subdued sounds of the Grand Galloping Gala lingered on in the background. Blueblood lowered his cup of tea and turned to his little friend. “Of course, Lady Sparkle. Ask away.” Twilight’s smile vanished, and she leaned towards Blueblood. “Why are all the nobles so... weird? One moment, they’re praising you and kissing your hooves, and the next, they’re slinging mud at you. Is fame and attention all they care about? Why can’t all nobles be more like Princess Celestia? Or Cadence? Or even you?” Twilight whispered as she looked between the various groups of the chatting nobility. Blueblood cleared his throat. He felt honored Twilight thought so highly of him, especially considering she’d had very few good experiences of interacting with the Canterlot upper crust. For most of his life, he'd been no better than those attention seekers, and it wasn’t long after he became Twilight’s friend that he understood how foolish his original, bigoted attitude was. “Well, Lady Sparkle, politics has always been a very complicated matter, and often, dealing with the nobility means you must also deal with politics. You can’t really think of them like your average, middle class pony. They desire power and respect, and they will show respect and obedience if they feel that it will benefit them. As long as you are an important pony, they will attempt to ally themselves to you to advance their own standing. It goes without saying that if they think that they can raise themselves above you, to beat you in prestige and influence, they will do everything they can to belittle you.” Twilight let out a sigh, hanging her head low in disappointment. “I would like to warn you for your own good,” Blueblood continued, raising his teacup again to his lips, “if you ever spot a pony who showers you with favors and compliments the moment they find out you’re important, they’re often speaking nothing but empty lies.” Twilight glared at Rarity with renewed anger. “Friends?” the little unicorn said, her voice becoming sharper and louder. “Friends? Why would you want to be friends with me? You know nothing about me.” “Of course, I’ve only just met you! But I am a Canterlot pony at heart, and we Canterlot ponies should stick together,” Rarity said with a firm nod of her head. “May I ask you a question?” “Of course, dear. Ask me anything.” “Which ponies are better: those who live in Canterlot, or those who live here in Ponyville?” Twilight asked, her expression stony and impassive. “Why, the Canterlot ponies, of course,” Rarity said, with a dreamy smile. “They all have class and elegance, dressed in such wonderful clothing. There’s indeed a reason they are the elite of Eques—” Twilight stopped Rarity from continuing any further, sealing the mare’s mouth with her telekinesis who looked back with wide eyes while only mumbling with hint of annoyance escapted her closed mouth. “How much time have you spent in Canterlot?” “Well, I was there four or five times on a trip when I was younger.” “So let me get this straight. You think that the nobles in Canterlot, who you’ve probably never met in your life, are better than the ponies you’ve lived alongside your entire life just because they’re the ‘upper-class’?” Rarity rubbed her hoof, “Well, when you put it that way—” “Now listen carefully! I’ve met more nobles than I would ever want to, and the experiences I had with them were terrible. The first time I met them, they called me the princess’s plaything, the princess’s pet, or just a pony with the horrible misfortune of living with a genetic disease or a curse," Twilight said, stomping her hoof against the stage. "They were mean and arrogant, yet the moment they learned that I actually was the princess’s personal student, they invited me everywhere, showering me with gifts and praise, something that you are doing right now!” Rarity took a few startled steps back. “But, but, Ponyville is full of ruffians who spend more time playing in the dirt than bothering with fashion and elegance,” she said desperately as Twilight threw the tiny clothes that the fashionista made for her in her face. “Today I visited the Apple family, and despite a small misunderstanding, they were the most open, kind, and understanding ponies I have ever met. They were proud, hard-working, and generous, and if you ask me, the Apple family should be the elite of Equestria,” Twilight said with a huff before levitating over her saddlebags and hopping off the stage. “I left my bits with one of my guards, so I cannot pay for the clothes you’ve made me,” she continued, elbowing Spike to follow her out the door. “Don’t get me wrong, your work is fantastic, and the craftsmanship is impeccable, but I refuse to take a single gift from you until I can be sure that you aren’t using it as an incentive to garner favor with me. The decorations looked perfect, but I still have to check with the other so-called ruffians to see if the rest of the celebration’s preparations are coming along, so we really must be off.” And with that, the door to the boutique slammed shut, leaving Rarity alone with her thoughts in the room. Rarity’s lip trembled as she looked back at the gifts she wanted to give Twilight. Were they meant as an apology for threatening her? Or were they exactly what Twilight said they were, petty gifts meant to bribe the little unicorn into using her position as the student of Princess Celestia for the fashionista’s own benefit? All this time in Ponyville, the only friendship Rarity had made was with Fluttershy, but other than her, she had always held Ponyville folk in low regards. And here, she wanted to become friends with a pony she had never met before, showering her with gifts and praise. “A-am I really so selfish? Did I offer friendship only because Twilight was an important Canterlot pony?” Rarity laid down on her sofa. This was going to take a lot of thought.