//------------------------------// // 2:00PM - Royal Fashion with Elusive // Story: One of Those Days // by Taranth //------------------------------// The subject for the morning was thermals and air pressure, and the effects of the sun's heat as it built up in the air and ground, across the various roof styles, terrains, and proximities to the Everfree throughout Ponyville. Dusk smiled and turned to Rainbow as they reached the small cloud that he had set up, barely large enough for the two of them. "What now?" "Alright, spread your wings wide, over the edge of the cloud." “Like this?” Rainbow Dash watched as the alicorn prince before him concentrated for a split second, as if trying to remember which limbs to use, before unfurling the wings to their full expanse. Even as a mare, Twilight’s wings were enormous, larger than most stallions’; but this… the only ones even vaguely comparable to that expanse were the princesses’ themselves. Rainbow Dash stared – maybe it was an alicorn thing, or just being so close to him on the cloud, but those wings somehow seemed large enough to blot out half the world… “Rainbow?” She shook her head, trying to focus, bringing her eyes back to her stallion-ified friend’s face. “Um… yeah. Mostly like that. Tilt them a bit further down, though, we’re dealing with air from below…” She continued to explain, the words coming out almost on automatic, seeing Dusk changing his stance as she advised. “Like this?” Rainbow looked them over, and it seemed to take her a few long seconds to realise the problem – Dusk had not so much tilted them down as simply fanned them out further, curling them around slightly towards her. And somehow they seemed to be just getting larger… Wait, no, he was just getting closer. “Rainbow? Is something wrong?” He smiled at her. “Oh, um… you’re…” The wings were all around her, now, a wall of lavender feathers with only a slight sliver of blue sky behind, shrinking all the while. She felt somehow simultaneously claustrophobic and comforted, surrounded like that, and it was a struggle to get the words out. “You’re s-supposed to be near the edge if you’re going to f— feel the…” “No… I think I’m exactly where I should be, don’t you?” He was leaning forward with a smile, and she somehow couldn’t bring herself to look away from those deep purple eyes as his face grew closer… was it supposed to be this hot up on a cloud? She jumped slightly as her feathers brushed against his – When did her wings snap out like that? – and that little jolt was all it took to bring their muzzles together… ~-~-~-~ The inside of the barn had, as Applejack had stated, been completely altered. Instead of a mostly wide open space it was now tightly packed with shelving, floor to ceiling, well supported all the way down. The two of them got into a rhythm quickly, stacking up piles of barrels and equipment onto a trolley, shifting it into the centre of the barn, and then flying them up into the various compartments according to the sorting list they had put together. Repeat until complete. It wasn’t the most intellectually challenging work he had ever undertaken – especially with Applejack holding the diagram and directing him to the location of each item in turn – which gave her plenty of opportunity to chat with him while they worked. Their conversation meandered between the various minor differences in their worlds as Applejack carted in more and more of the supplies. However, this had a rather unexpected side effect, as, well… There weren’t too many pegasus stallions in Ponyville, and when they were working around the acres they tended to be a little further up than that; regardless, Applejack was fairly sure they didn’t, er, show quite as much as Dusk did. Still used to being ground-bound, most likely; although if he hadn’t explained his predicament quite as tersely as he had, she might have thought there was more equipment he wasn’t used to than just the wings... Regardless, she found herself trying to keep her eyes down, but even so the distraction got to her, leading to her scrambling up the instructions more and more; it seemed like every time she had to look up to see what he was doing, it was at exactly the wrong time. Surely he couldn’t be doing it on purpose… She couldn’t bring herself to comment, Element of Honesty or otherwise – it was just plain rude. Besides, he was clearly putting in the work, both magically and otherwise. When they were moving the trolley-loads in, he was beside her all the way, pushing it along with her – she could see and smell the perspiration on him, the good solid result of a hard day’s work. It was sometimes easy to forget that Twilight had the earth pony power along with her horn and wings, but it really showed when she – or he – was pushing the hard yards right beside the farmer… Was it getting more stuffy in here? She glanced up again and averted her gaze quickly, blushing, trying to focus on the plan in front of her, as well as keeping her breathing steady. This was supposed to be the bit where she was resting, yet it seemed to be making her heart race even more than when he was beside her, pulling together on the trolley, muscles rolling and straining under their coats, barrels brushing against each other… “Right! I think that’s the last of it!” Applejack grasped at the end of the task with relief… though a slight pang left her still feeling somehow disappointed. “Mmm, no, well, actually… there’s still one thing.” “Huh? Nope, I think tha…” She turned to her friend, before trailing off and staring, her face going as red as her brother’s. Dusk grinned, though Applejack wouldn’t have been able to tell from her angle of vision. “Can you let me know where you’d like me to put this?” ~-~-~-~ Fluttershy squeaked as she was suddenly drawn out of the bush she’d been hiding inside, the magic wrapped around her leaving her completely out of control as she was dumped out in the open. She curled up in a ball as best she could, covering her eyes, desperately praying that this was all a dream… She heard a voice, felt hooves trying to bring her out, but she wouldn’t be moved. She’d just play dead, and the scary stallion would go away, wouldn’t keep trying to… And then feathers brushed against her underwing, sending a rush of sensation all the way through her body, sending her leaping in the air and back onto her hooves before she knew what had happened. She blinked, trying to recover from the chills racing down every feather… “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” said the stallion… so much like her friend, and yet so different, looming over her… larger than most of the stallions around, and looking her over with an appraising expression that made her shiver almost more than the touch of the wing had. She felt locked in place by that gaze, as surely paralysed as if she had been caught in her own Stare, and could do nothing more than duck her head slightly, the pink locks offering only the slightest protection… “Why are you scared of me, Fluttershy? I’m your friend. I just look a little different today.” He moved forward, brushing her hair aside with a wing, taking that last barrier away and making her jaw clench as the tickling sensation ran down her neck. “……………” She tried to say something – even she wasn’t sure what – but her throat clenched, and not a peep emerged. He moved further forward. “I’m not a changeling or anything. They wouldn’t mess this up. Come on, please?” The last word was spoken right up against her ear, his lips brushing against it, before he nuzzled gently at her neck. Her legs went from rigid to jelly, standing upright simply because that was the position she was in – if she was so much as nudged, she’d collapse… “Alright, this isn’t going to work.” He pulled back a bit, and she nearly fell forward after him as he went. He gave her another appraising look, before it turned into a strangely compelling smile as he started to walk around beside her, sidling up. He bumped against her, and as she feared, she started to fall… only to be caught as a huge wing wrapped around her, holding her tightly against his warm, strong form... “I think you just need to relax a little.” He whispered into her ear again, a slightly predatory tone to his voice that reverberated through her. “I think I can help you with that. Any time you want me to stop… you just say the word.” “...........!” ~-~-~-~ “No! No no no no no no…” Twilight rapped on her head with a hoof, desperately trying to dislodge the images of her friends being seduced one after another by her counterpart. “Right. First order of business when I get home – I am donating the library’s entire romance novel collection to Rarity and finding myself some references with a far more realistic depiction of strong mare characters... “Hey, maybe I could even do it before I leave. That way, I should— “Wait, what would the romance novels even be like here?” She blinked. “Would all the roles be reversed? Maybe I should—” She hoofed herself mildly in the head again before she could continue further down that train of thought. “Romance novels got us into this quandary in the first place! The books have betrayed us!” she condemned in her full princessly glory. “Further studies can wait until we’re not concerned about our friends. Friends over books, we learnt that lesson when we moved to Ponyville.” She nodded to herself, then froze. “...And now we… I sound like Luna. Proclamations and personal plurals.” She sighed, looking around at the couple of ponies nearby as she approached the town proper, who seemed to be ignoring the rambling gender-switched alicorn with a somewhat suspicious intensity.. “Wandering down the street talking to myself… at least I haven’t started going third-person yet...” She blinked, pausing. “I swear, if I run into male Trixie…” She covered her muzzle and looked around, making sure that idle comment hadn’t summoned the showm— err, showstallion. She doubted she’d have to deal with unexpected magic for a while yet, but given her luck right now she wouldn’t have been surprised to see him wandering down the street… but for now, it seemed, she was safe – just the usual Ponyville citizenry going about their day. Nonetheless, she refused to give a sigh of relief. Just because books had betrayed her, didn’t mean she was willing to ignore their lessons of narrative causality. Instead, she banished the thought and moved on as if she had never had it. “Alright, Twilight. If you’re going to talk to yourself like a crazy pony in the middle of town, you can do it productively.” Singular second person was clearly more sane than plural first. “Verbal checklist. First priority is finding a way to determine that your friends are safe and well. Second priority is continuing to follow the day’s checklist.” She had to suppress a quiet shiver at pushing the daily checklist down to priority two, but this wasn’t about to become another Friendship Report incident ; she could handle it. “Third priority is not terrorising Ponyville. Not doing so great on that so far. Fourth priority is fixing this and getting back where everypony is the right gender again. Last priority, study.” That came with a slightly larger shiver, but she pushed on. “Prime methods of dealing with first priority: Complete spell and return home. Pros: Fixes everything, completes priorities one and four, and probably three. Cons: Wipes out priorities two and five. Not sure how long it will take. Not fair to friends. Not sure if it’ll be possible if Dusk isn’t casting the spell as well.” She scratched her chin with a wing. “And if I did make it back when he wasn’t coming back, then we have two Twili— err, alicorns of magic in the same place at the same time. That could have all sorts of weird effects. Could be interesting to study too, though. If we didn’t explode. Exploding makes studying difficult, as interesting as studying explosions can be. Studying has to be done from the outside, otherwise you can’t get a proper read. Also, dangerous... “No! Stop getting distracted. “No, more likely we just both need to be casting the spell to get over. Which means… wait. If Dusk doesn’t cast the spell, he’ll stay there. What if he doesn’t want to come back? What if he’s distracted chasing my friends? Or they’ve beaten him and tied him up? Or he’s been arrested? What if he dies there, and I can never get home?! Oh no, oh no no no no... “Hahhh... Panicking. Panicking solves none of my problems and probably violates priority three.” Twilight stopped. Or at least stopped walking and talking, the lack of forward motion allowing her to feel all the other movement in her body – her legs shaking, her wings twitching, her horn sparking; her fur standing on end, her heart racing, her breathing coming hard and fast. With long-practised discipline, she took back control of her body little by little – starting with her legs, then her breath. Under control. In…… a foreleg to her barrel, a long breath, hold… Out…… foreleg out, concentrating, bringing down the shaking.... In…… foreleg in, forcing her fight-or-flight instincts back down, letting her heartbeat settle… Out…… foreleg out, smoothing out her coat, smothering her magic… oh, right, don’t forget the wings… It took a minute or so of this meditation, focusing on her body to keep from thinking on what occupied her mind. Though the fight was hard, finally it was done, pushed back down. Twilight was under control. “Alright. Calm. No panicking. Even if something goes wrong, it’s not beyond hope. Other methods. Need to find out what’s going on there. Scrying! Scrying spell. Sympathetic connection is easy, I belong there, I’m trying to scry myself. Just need to edit a scrying spell to look into a parallel dimension, shouldn’t be too hard…” “Really?!” An excited voice exclaimed, right behind her. Twilight’s hard-won control popped like a cloud beneath a vengeful pegasus as she shrieked, spinning around in a flurry of limbs that had no business ending in the stable standing position it did. Her breathing and heartbeat soared straight back up, her wings spread wide, her horn glowing with likely more magic than the rest of Ponyville’s unicorns could summon together, as she took in this new threat. And the mint-green unicorn standing before her seemed completely oblivious to her reaction or the threat of imminent orbital banishment/incineration as he pulled out magazines and books from his saddlebags. “I know you said you were busy but I didn’t think you were seriously trying something like that! I mean, if you’re looking into parallel dimensions – ha ha, I mean, looking into, that works like two different ways – I have so many possibilities! I can totally help out, I have done so much study into this stuff, and I have a few good places to start—” This much can be said for Twilight Sparkle. Though she was stressed, confused, interrupted, scared for her friends, and frustrated possibly beyond mortal pony comprehension – and powerful beyond it as well – she had learnt from her error earlier in the day, and thus the Royal Canterlot Voice was not her first instinct. This was a good thing for the general structural stability of Ponyville in general, and that of its inhabitants’ eardrums in specific. A couple of decades of being an unconscionably powerful unicorn, and a bit longer of being an even more powerful alicorn, had also drilled out magical blasts as a technique for dealing with strictly non-hostile problems, regardless of their effectiveness. So Twilight fell back on a third option, one that did not strictly rely on her incredibly powerful heritage, but was perhaps supported by her experience in lecturing. “No! No no no no, this is NOT your business, Lyra! I am not interested in your books, or your theories, or your so-called studies, or your monsters, or your other parallel dimensions! I am having a really bad day right now, and I am busy trying to deal with serious friendship problems, and I do not need to deal with whatever you want me to turn you into or summon or peek in on today! “My magic is not a toy! It is not here for you to play with! So unless you have a serious issue, or have something for me that isn’t just something to get me curious enough to sleep-cast somepony into a, a seapony or a minotaur or something, I really do have important things to deal with today, and I am in no mood for you! So just go away!” And as she yelled those last words, there was a flash of light, and a lurching sensation as something grabbed her and the world spun around her briefly, followed by the slam of something wooden, and the sound of a jangling bell… ~-~-~-~ As everypony blinked away the flash from their eyes, the scene finally resolved itself once more, showing the street almost exactly as it was, only minus one alicorn mare. Harpsy stood just where he had, magazines and notebooks floating around in his field, various expressions battling for dominance on his face – concern, consternation, and curiosity chief among them. Finally, with a sigh, he packed away his precious tomes carefully once more, he walked away, muttering to himself, “Something that isn’t just… hmmmm...” The general populace of Ponyville, meanwhile, returned to gossiping, starting with why Dusk had called the crazy unicorn “Lyra”. Maybe it was some kind of nickname? Or something more? ~-~-~-~ Phenomenal cosmic power, while incredibly useful in a wide variety of situations, still has its blind spots occasionally. For instance, when panicked, in the dark, and your limbs are entangled, the world’s strongest unicorn has little more capacity to escape than the average pony; being an alicorn only meant adding another couple of limbs to the mix. Admittedly, that wasn’t entirely true – that power could be used to blast the offending bindings to their component thaums, but after the first couple of extensive bedroom renovations, that habit dies out faster than wetting the bed. So Twilight was left still well out of control and flailing in both mind and body, completely confused as to what in Equestria was going on. Did Lyra just kidnap me or something? Or is it worse? Is it some villain? Oh no, did I just summon one of Lyra’s weird monsters? She fought all the harder to escape the horrible monstrosity that was surely even now plotting to attack Equestria, determined to find out what it was and how to defeat it. And then her foul and monstrous captor spoke unto the captured Twilight, in a voice… strained, cultured, and distinctly familiar? “Oh, do calm down, Du— er, Twilight, rather. You’re going to break something.” She blinked, ceasing her struggle, as a gentle blue field illuminated the tentacled thing that had her in its clutches, which quickly resolved into a tangled sheet of heavily-sequined cloth that shimmered purple in the low light of the room as it was carefully extracted from around her body. Now that her panic subsided and her eyes adjusted from the sunlight and flash, the room around her came into clearer view, along with the pony who shared it with her. “Oh… Elusive?” Twilight rolled the name around her tongue as she gazed upon her fashionista friend’s double. The unicorn was using his magic to clear up the cloth of dust and kinks, tsking single-mindedly as he examined the damage. “You really should be more careful. I’m going to have to wash this now before I can start working with it. It is good to know it can make an impact, though!” Twilight took the opportunity of her friend’s distraction to look over this latest addition to her friends-as-stallions. And, much like the rest of them, there was really no mistaking Elusive for anything but Rarity’s counterpart. The greatest difference was his mane, cut far shorter than Rarity’s flowing sweep. However, it was easy to see that just as much effort had gone into ensuring the placement of every last lock of purple, curling around his ears, horn and neck, the effect being difficult to discern as being curly, wavy or straight-but-brushed depending on which angle you looked at it. The tail, on the other hoof, was practically unchanged, matching Rarity’s long, fascinating twist closely enough that Twilight doubted she could tell them apart. His build was lithe and tall, though in both cases not quite as much as Butterscotch’s physique.. His muzzle was quite long and thin, giving a refined look that was emphasised all the more by careful care and preparation – just like Rarity, he had an undeniable beauty that spoke of effort, grooming, poise and skill, in contrast to Butterscotch or Fluttershy’s natural (and somehow apologetic) charm. Having finished folding and putting aside the sparkling sheet, Elusive gathered himself and turned to his guest, flashing a winning smile. “Now! Now that we’re done with that little mess…” “Your horn!” Twilight gasped. Elusive went cross-eyed, staring up at the appendage, and the slight burnt spot visible on its tip. Looking closer, Twilight could tell now that her friend was also breathing a little heavily, though concealing it well. “Oh, this is nothing, don’t you worry.” Elusive smiled, with barely a twitch under one eye to betray the lie. “It’ll be fine in a couple of minutes, I’ve had much worse.” “Did you… did you try to teleport me in here?” “Oh, nothing of the sort! No, I was simply getting ready when I heard your little… fracas with Harpsy out there – I say, that stallion really must learn when his attentions are unwanted – and took the opportunity to… well, scoop you up with some fabric.” He nodded towards the folded stack. “It reflects sunlight marvelously. The suit I have planned will likely be the talk of the town… but no. I merely… overestimated my capacity, slightly. Not that I am saying you are overweight, dear! Far from it, simply that I specialise in—” Twilight put a hoof to his muzzle, cutting him off with a smile. “I understand. And... thank you – I was getting a little frustrated out there…” “Indeed you were! And while I prefer more subtle methods for keeping decorum, never let it be said that I will not take action when needed.” “Of course not!” Twilight smiled. “But still, I’m sorry you had to hurt yourself on my account…” “Oh, it was nothing!” Elusive smiled, a slightly dangerous glint in his eye. “Besides, it’s more than worth it to see you like this…” Twilight blinked, and took a step back, the concerns of earlier today flooding over her. “Err… anyway, I know we were going to be discussing upcoming fashion in the noble courts, but I really don’t think that’s something that’s going to transfer over... between…” Now that she had a proper moment to look around the room instead of just checking ou— er, observing the differences in her friend, some very significant differences became apparent. As she expected, the majority of the ponyquins in the shop were stallions, with only a few mares scattered throughout. However, what was surprising was the outfits draped across them. The stallion models wore suits, but those suits… the closest one was a flowing pink piece, edged in light yellow and with darker strips along the sleeves, combined with long boots; one further back was a layered work of green and turquoise that covered the whole barrel, leaving the legs free but with a high collar at the back that put her in mind of wings. They were brilliant pieces without a doubt, but nothing like any of the suits that Rarity had on display in her boutique – the detailing and designs reminded her far more of elaborate dresses. Meanwhile, the few mare-shaped ponyquins were dressed in far simpler (though of course no less well-made) pieces, dresses in form but with the sharp lines and colour of suits in function. “Do you like what you see?” “It’s… different. Very different.” Twilight blinked. It looked strange, very strange – the fashion sense that Rarity had drilled into her over the years didn’t mesh with these dresses at all, but they still looked amazing. She had a bit of trouble trying to imagine them on anypony she knew… “Yes, they are different.” Elusive grinned. “And so are you.” Twilight spun around, realising that while she had been distracted, Elusive – apparently quite recovered from his little magical strain – had scooped up a measuring tape, sketch pad and pencils in his field, and no small number of bolts of cloth – not to mention the look of divine inspiration and determination that Twilight recognised the consequences of in a heartbeat – after all, one of his closest friends had effectively just walked into the store with a completely new body shape. She slumped slightly. “I’m not leaving this shop without at least three new dresses, am I?” The combined gleeful laugh and squeal she received was more than answer enough. ~-~-~-~ Twilight soon found herself hustled onto the podium in the centre of the store. To say she was tense would be an understatement – for a moment she had allowed herself to relax before, but now she was being put into a position to attract comment or perversion from the stallion, with ample opportunity for looking or touching inappropriately, and she was ready to use the slightest excuse to escape. Elusive, however, was nothing but gentlemanly and professional, if anything taking greater care than Rarity would to avoid making her feel exposed or uncomfortable, and providing a steady stream of conversation to boot as he worked. “A world where the fashions are entirely reversed!” Elusive gushed, measuring a long piece of deep purple cloth against Twilight’s side before pulling it away and cutting expertly. “I must say, I would very much like to see that. The inspiration I could gather… oh, just imagine…” Twilight nodded as much as she dared, knowing to keep her body as still as possible under the fashionista’s gaze as more cloth was applied, and pinned in place. “I guess it does make sense… I mean, given some of the adventures we’ve had with Rarity… there wouldn’t be much call for the argument we had with the gala dresses if— ow!” “We don’t speak of those… things in this boutique, you know that, dear.” Elusive tutted. “Still, the final products you made were amazing… and I’d love to see how they turned out on this side.” “I still have the sketches! I’ll be happy to show you them once we’re done.” “I’d like that!” Cloth wrapped around her barrel, Elusive’s magic gently taking her wing and maneuvering it through the slit designed for it. She tensed briefly at the touch, but it lasted only long enough to guide the piece on before fading. She was beginning to feel more relaxed than she had all day. “And do be sure to show… err, me?” “Rarity.” Twilight smiled. “Indeed. I do hope that she… er, I… oh, this is difficult, isn’t it? Well, I hope she can gain some inspiration from this.” Elusive twisted Twilight to look in the mirrors. The dress she wore was like nothing Rarity had ever designed for her. Mainly a dark purple close to the shade of her mane, but highlighted with silver and a deep blue bordering on black; even the comparatively simple pieces Twilight had requested from her friend had a certain softness and frill to them; this was a piece that hugged her curves, though not in a way that screamed ‘sexy’, but instead ‘powerful’ – the lines of it seemed to emphasise her height and larger wings. The darker colour trailed down her forelegs but cut off at an angle around her knees; the back of the dress hem split just above her tail, and was cut to tapering points on either side of her hind legs almost like coattails. It was simple, but sharp; something she would never have imagined herself wearing, but she couldn’t deny it suited her, even as she stood taller, trying to match the figure in the mirror. Elusive smiled as he watched the speechless princess. “Normally I’d add your cutie mark on the flanks there as well…” He put the cloth-of-silver against the point in question, giving it a thoughtful consideration a moment. “But we are on a bit of a schedule here, yes? I’m sure Rarity could handle that.” The dress came apart suddenly in a rush of fabric under Elusive’s magic, leaving just the regular Twilight Sparkle behind staring at her bare reflection and suddenly feeling a little small and silly, falling out of the proud pose. “I’ll sew that up properly and deliver it to the library once we’re done.” “...Thanks…” Still a little stunned, Twilight tried to recover. “Now, for this one I’m going to try doing things your way. Oh, this feels so strange!” He chuckled lightly. “Almost a little naughty, really. A suit for a mare!” “It is somewhat strange....” Twilight thought aloud as another rush of fabric surrounded her. “I mean, there are obviously some stereotypes that carry over on both sides. I mean, stallions are still larger than mares… so Rainbow Blitz has a somewhat mare-like figure here, but she’s still pretty small on my side as well; just the opposite for Applejack. But fashion is clearly swapped over…” “I imagine you’ve seen more than a couple of differences.” Elusive nodded. Twilight’s mood dropped again. “Yeah… you could say that.” “Oh? I would have thought you would be excited at the opportunity to learn all about it! I mean, I would be… oh dear, we already went through that, didn’t we?” He chuckled, cutting through pink cloth with easy precision. “Well, yes, I’ll admit that it’s been interesting, but…” Twilight sighed, then stopped suddenly as a thought occurred to her. “Hang on a minute. I never told you about the situation in the first place. How do you know so much about what’s going on?” “Dear, I do keep my ear to the ground. The whole town has been talking about little else.” Twilight rolled her eyes – not quite sure whether she felt more embarrassed, or relieved that things like this were not simply just another day in Ponyville. “Yeah, but they don’t all know about the other Ponyville. You called me Twilight when you first pulled me in.” “Ah, you caught me,” he chuckled, pinning another layer across her back. “That you are somewhat more… fair, has been quite the talk of the town today, but Applejack came by earlier and explained your situation in greater detail.” Twilight blinked, her expression falling quickly as she tried to read Elusive’s tone, but there was no hint of accusation in either direction as he continued. “He also asked me to pass on his apologies. He said he had no intent to make you feel so uncomfortable – and he provided no further details on that interesting tidbit, despite my best efforts. I don’t suppose you could fill in the gaps, hmm?” Twilight felt her heart sink slightly, but shook her head. “No. I… I need to apologise to him too, a bit.” “Mmmm?” Elusive looked at her for a long moment, but Twilight couldn’t meet his eyes. The fashionista nodded, and continued working, thankfully not prompting her for any further details, leaving her to gather her thoughts. She really did need to apologise to Applejack. He really had no place doing what he did – she was still a little miffed about that – but he hadn’t really done anything to hurt her, and she had responded with somewhat excessive force. She really should know better than that, especially now that she was a princess. And Butterscotch… really hadn’t done much to deserve her ire either. Really, the poor pegasus was never good at handling new or unexpected situations at the best of times, at least when animals weren’t involved, and he certainly hadn’t intended to make her uncomfortable either. Rainbow Blitz… well, there was no real excuse for his actions, but Rainbow was hardly a paragon of proper behaviour on any day of the week. Out of all of them, she – or he – was the one she’d most expect to pull this kind of thing – if she saw something she wanted, she didn’t hesitate to go for it… although Twilight certainly never would have expected that sort of thing... And Elusive had gone out of his way to treat her with the respect deserving of a princess… and without making her feel like she was anything other than a friend, a seemingly effortless balancing act she knew few other ponies could even attempt. Twilight sighed heavily, earning herself a brief tsk from Elusive and a nudge to return to position. Now that she’d had a chance to calm down, it was beginning to become obvious that maybe she was overreacting a little. Dusk’s friends were perhaps a bit… single-minded at points, but they were nowhere near as bad as she had been working herself up to believe. So… “How does that look, dear?” “Eh?” Twilight blinked. “The dress!” “Oh! Right.” Twilight looked in the mirror, and… It was clearly inspired by her coronation dress – or suit, she supposed – judging by the colour scheme of pink, yellow and white; and it was certainly designed for formal wear, the layers, ruffs and lacework far too bulky for most everyday tasks. It was more front-heavy than Rarity’s usual fare, including a high collar and sleeves for her forelegs, as well as draping strips of cloth starting from her chest which swept back along to where her wings sat at rest. It was designed well, undoubtedly, and with every bit of attention to detail – indeed, Twilight was amazed at how fast it had been put together – she hadn’t been lost in thought that long! – but… There was no single point that she could criticise, and if she had not known Rarity as long as she had she probably would have thought it stunning; as it was, it was as if a tiny Rarity were going over it with a fine-toothed comb and criticising it at length, though she could not make out the words. Like so many other things she had encountered today, it was close to being right, but somehow just far enough off that it made her more aware of how wrong it was, without being about to explain exactly why. Which was an awfully difficult thing to explain to the stallion beside her, waiting for her judgement. “It’s… very nice!” managed Twilight, who was as hopeless at lying to her friends as ever. “That bad?” Elusive looked crestfallen. “N-no! It really is very good. But… I really don’t know enough to explain it. Maybe if I took it to Rarity?” “No… no, if it’s no good, it’s no good, and I would not dream of leaving her with a dress of anything but the highest quality!” “Maybe just draw the design then?” “Ah! Perfect. Perhaps some inspiration could come of this after all! And then she could make what changes she found necessary – and, if I understand correctly, I shall do the same for herself and Dusk… ahhh, this handling things at one step removed is frustrating, but I am sure it will make the result all the more rewarding.” Elusive busied himself taking the partially constructed dress apart once more, but even so he could not help but notice Twilight’s ears droop once more at the mention of her counterpart. “One more dress, then – and maybe you’ll consider telling me what’s on your mind?” Twilight sighed again, stretching her wings and shifting her legs in the few seconds of freedom before she would be forced to remain still as a living dressform once more. “I’m just... “ How can you tell somepony you’re worried about one of his friends hurting your friends? ...Maybe... “...Elusive?” Twilight almost whispered, then cleared her throat, speaking louder. “Could you… could you please tell me about Dusk?” Elusive paused, looking up from the dress he was reconstructing. “That’s a rather unusual question, isn’t it? I would think you’d know more about him than I would.” Twilight smiled weakly. “I’d like to think I do, but… please just humour me?” “Oh, very well.” Elusive walked back over, his magic nudging Twilight back into position as he considered, rubbing his chin with his hoof. There was a long, increasingly awkward pause that seemed to stretch on for minutes. Finally, Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but Elusive finally cut her off before she could get out a word. “Dusk was… a rather awkward colt when he first arrived. I’ll admit my first impression was not particularly good – he seemed to embody much of the worst of Canterlot culture. At first he appeared to be disdainful and dismissive of Ponyville, its ponies, and its quirks... while not even having the dignity and style of a true Canterlot noble to make up for it. “But obviously we didn’t know the full story at the time, and he had far more important things on his mind… once we got that nasty business out of the way, we got to see him more in his element, as it were… ha! His Element, I didn’t even mean it that way!” Elusive chuckled, levitating around various cloth pieces around Twilight, but not yet cutting any of them to shape. Twilight could only smile nervously at the unintended pun, but Elusive continued regardless. “Personally, I consider Dusk to be one of my closest friends – although that should come as no surprise to you – and it would be no lie to suggest that he is what truly holds the six of us together. Oh, sure, certainly we had our individual friendships and connections among each other before he arrived, but there’s something about Dusk that keeps the whole group strong as a whole.” He seemed to come to a decision on the cloth, beginning to cut it into shape now. “Among the group… I suppose the most important thing about him is that he’s always going to be there for us. All of us have our… interesting days, where even our family probably don’t want to deal with us – but no matter how bad we get, we can always trust that Dusk is going to be there, ready to fix things for us. “Even if the solutions he provides aren’t always the most straightforward… or sane… it’s just the energy and enthusiasm he puts into them that makes us break out of our funk, to realise that we’re being fools and be sensible. I mean, some ponies might have thought it was just about his studies and reports at first... but he puts his heart and soul into making sure that we’re all happy. If someone as amazing as Dusk is willing to put so much effort into our ridiculous little tantrums and fights…” Elusive smiled wistfully as he pinned together the cut cloth around the alicorn. “It makes us all want to be better ponies, to try harder to be worthy of that sort of attention. Ah!” His magic pinned her jaw shut before she could protest. “Don’t say a word. I know what you want to say, but it’s true. “Do you remember… right back near the beginning, shortly after we met, how I was mooning over Blueblood? Or… whatever he’d be called there.” Twilight blinked, nodding, not willing to break the narrative as Elusive built himself up. “I was so sure that she’d be everything I could hope for, everything I could desire! Somepony of such nobility and rank, surely she would be the pinnacle of grace and harmony!” He broke out of a dramatic swoon, into a straight-faced monotone. “Of course, we all know how that ended. I’ll admit I became a little jaded about the nobility after that… well, truth be told it took at least a couple more bits of interaction, but… I really began to understand why you moved out here. I’d more or less given up on my dreams of nobility, because nobility is something they all seemed to lack entirely. Everything I’d ever dreamed of seeing in them, I had right around me, and it was Dusk who helped me see that. “The coronation, in my eyes, was never about him having wings. It was about giving him the title that he already held, as far as I was concerned. Regardless of crown, or suit, or title – Dusk is everything that I’d ever imagined a prince to be. He was our prince – somepony who was always there to support us, our leader and our friend. “Because pony or prince, unicorn or alicorn, Dusk is our friend, and he’d give up that title without hesitation if he thought it would make us happy, and there’s not a one of us who would ask him to. He’s always going to be there for us – for the five of us, and Spines, and all of Ponyville and Equestria – and we know that he’s always going to take care of us – even if we happen to be mares today.” Twilight’s head snapped around in shock, only to see Elusive smile impishly and give a wink. She ducked her head slightly, ashamed to have been seen through, but Elusive just gave a slight shake of his head, still smiling. “He’s also a little naive sometimes, and perhaps worries about himself being a good pony and friend sometimes, too. I still stand by everything I have said.” “...Thank you, Elusive.” Twilight couldn’t help but smile herself, fidgeting as she struggled to keep from raising a hoof to clear the moisture blurring her vision. “Honesty may not be my element, dear, but you hardly need to thank me for telling you the truth.” Twilight nodded, turning back to dress-form position. “I know, but… I really haven’t been happy today, and I was worried… I know it’s silly, but after everything that’s happened it’s nice to know that not all stallions are always thinking… about...” Twilight blinked and trailed off, staring at the dress currently nearing completion in the mirror. Like the first, it was simple and sharp, but favoured pure white and squarer lines where the previous had been curves and angles, with a low collar and simpler sleeves. It was designed to clearly not impede her movement in any way, and was obviously inspired by a formal military dress uniform. It had formal epaulettes and crossed sashes across the chest in purple, and another strip of the same in a belt around her barrel. Although, she noted, not a purple that appeared on her natural colour scheme at all – but was a perfect match for the mane of the stallion who was making the final fittings. She glanced at Elusive but he didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong so she continued examining the dress. The jacket was over a delicate and simple white skirt that hugged her flanks and had a short train at the end, with several loops that appeared to be handles. The design wasn’t a perfect match, given the gender disparity, of course – but the similarities were rather obvious once she made the connection. Her smile dropped, along with the feeling of elation that had grown during Elusive’s speech. “...Elusive, this dress looks very familiar.” The stallion and his hovering implements of fashion froze for a moment. “Really?” He blinked, as if looking over the dress for the first time. “Oh yes.” She raised a hoof to where the purple sashes crossed. “Just imagine a badge around here, say, with my cutie mark?” “Ah… yes, I do believe that would… rather work…” Elusive’s white coat did absolutely nothing to hide his blush. Twilight’s mood dropped entirely. She stamped her hoof back down, hard enough to almost crack the stage. “A wedding dress, Elusive? Really? Did you think I wouldn’t notice the similarity to my brother’s suit? Or the colour scheme?!” “Oh, Twilight, I am sorry, I let my muse run free and…” “I was so happy you were keeping professional… but no, it wouldn’t be about that with you…” “I was just talking about Dusk, you, effectively, being a worthy princess—” “Just like you’ve always dreamed of, yes.” Twilight rolled her eyes, her wings taking her off the podium in one solid leap, coming down hard and stomping towards the door. “I’m done.” “Twilight, wait…” “No, I’m just… I was relaxed, and now… I’ve just got one stop left, and then I can go home, and then I can go home. I’m sorry, Elusive, and I do thank you for putting my mind at ease about Dusk... I’m just… just not in the mood to deal with this right now.” She pulled the door… only to find it locked, fiddling with the catch... “No, stop, Twilight, you’ve…” But she would not be stopped. The door opened, she moved through, and slammed behind her as she strode into the street. Twilight blinked in the sudden afternoon sunlight, taking a couple of deep breaths and waiting for her eyes to adjust. She knew she couldn’t stay there long, Elusive would surely gather himself and be after her, but she needed a moment… Once she could see again, she looked around, taking in the crowd around her, all of them stopped in the street, staring. Wonderful. I’ve finally done something enough to actually make Ponyville stop and take notice. What is everyone… staring… at…? She blinked, looking down at herself, still wearing the wedding dress in Elusive’s colours. Oh, buck it all…