Mine's Better

by Brass Polish

1 BYOM

The BYOM Special to Loch Azure left Ponyville in good weather, but the rail line ran through Coltchester, which was due to be drenched in rain. As the train approached, a pegasus dived out of the sky and flew alongside the locomotive.

“Heavy rain ahead, guys!” she called to the crew over the thundering of the pistons. “Better cover up!”

She took to the air again and the driver and firemare opened the tender cupboard. The firemare magiced a tarpaulin out of the cupboard and stretched it from the cab roof to the tender. And not a moment too soon. The locomotive and its carriages and brake van were suddenly buffeted by rain drops the size of pumpkin seeds. Both driver and firemare were bone dry, and the engine’s coal supply was, while hidden and difficult to shovel, safe from being flooded.

Three carriages away, Rarity woke with a start. She looked around and began to cough. She had fallen asleep with her mouth open and her throat was parched.

“Glass of water?” Pinkie Pie asked.

She opened the window. Water poured in and Pinkie held up a glass filling it right up. She closed the window and offered the glass to Rarity.

“Thank you,” said Rarity, taking a sip.

It wasn’t her dry throat that had woken her. Nor was it the banging of the rain on the coach exterior. Her horn had twinged in her sleep. She didn’t feel anything now, so she turned back to Pinkie Pie.

“Much better. I’m so glad you’re here, Pinkie.”

“Happy to be here with ya, Rarity,” smiled Pinkie. “Uh… where are we going again?”

Once she realised Pinkie Pie was serious, Rarity said “We’re going to Loch Azure. We shall be competing in a BYOM event.”

“Who’s BYOM?” asked Pinkie.

“Not a who, but a what, dear,” Rarity corrected. “BYOM means Bring Your Own Model.”

“Oh. I see. And who did you bring to be your model?”

Rarity didn’t respond, not because of Pinkie’s ludicrous question, but because she felt that twinge in her horn again for a moment.

“Ooh, guessing game! Um… Carrottop? No, uh… Silverspeed! Oh, oh, oh! Is it a stallion? Is it Neon Lights or Noteworthy or…?”

“It’s you, Pinkie Pie!” Rarity burst out.

“Oh! I knew there was a reason I turned down Cheerilee’s offer to teach a class about frogs!” Pinkie slapped her forehead.

That twinge returned again. Rarity massaged her horn. Could one of the other passengers have some jewellery in their luggage?

“Wait, how come you wanted me to be your model?” inquired Pinkie Pie. “Why not Carrottop or Silverspeed or…?”

“Because,” Rarity interrupted, “the fashion show is going to be held on the lake. As you know, Loch Azure’s safety marshal Professor Lactic has put a spell on the water that prevents ponies from going into the lake in a foolhardy attempt to find the Loch Azure Monster.”

“And he didn’t take it off after Azurey moved away?” Pinkie asked.

“No. It became something of a tourist trap.”

Another twinge.

“Um, so this BYOM show will be held on the water,” Rarity went on. “So I decided I wanted somepony whose coat, mane and tail could compliment the reflection of the lake.”

“And who’s that pony?” asked Pinkie. “Waitwaitwait! I remember! It’s me, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” Rarity said, more impatient with her horn than with Pinkie Pie’s cretinism. “Have you ever seen a gorgeous pink sky at sunrise reflected on a pond? Your coat and hair would be just as WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY HORN?!”

Rarity hopped off her bed and walked briskly along the carriage towards the locomotive. Her horn was trying to tell her that something was concealed on this train. It would not leave her alone until she discovered what it was. She pointed her horn at ponies’ bags, but there didn’t seem to be anything of interest in any of them. Not many of the passengers took a second look as Rarity glared at their luggage. She strolled along the corridor and entered the second coach from the engine. A pleasant surprise and a welcome distraction awaited her.

“I have met the Loch Azure weather captain, but he doesn’t seem interested in the weather whenever I see him.”

“I never knew the Manehattan weather captain. And if things go well in Loch Azure, maybe I never will.”

“Coco Pommel!”

“Who’s that?” asked Lightning Dust.

“That’s Rarity!” cried Coco. “She’s my friend from Ponyville. She got me a job with that Bridleway costume designer.”

Lightning suddenly recognised Rarity as she sauntered to their bed and she and Coco hugged.

“You’re one of Rainbow Dash’s pals, aren’t ya?” she asked.

“Oh. Yes,” Rarity replied. “You were once in the Wonderbolt Academy with her until you produced that tornado that destroyed our balloon, weren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“And you were the one who spread that rumour that foals were crossing Loch Azure to the Sepia Forest, right?” asked Rarity.

“Yeah.”

“Well, lovely to see you,” Rarity said, shaking hooves with Lightning Dust.

Coco Pommel was looking forward to chatting with her old friend, but Rarity’s horn was bugging her again.

“Listen, darling, I have a problem with my horn and I must discover what’s causing it to tingle,” she said apologetically to Coco. “I promise I’ll come back once I’ve finished and we can catch up.”

“Sure,” Coco smiled.

Lightning Dust pulled her bag off the coach floor and opened it. “Anything interesting in here?”

All Rarity could see was some Wonderbolts paraphernalia and a box of nougaty chocolates; none of which stopped her horn from twinging.

“I’m afraid not,” she replied. “I must press on.”

Coco Pommel and Lightning Dust watched Rarity stagger along the carriage pointing her horn at ponies’ bags.

“What was that about, Rarity?” came a voice. “Have you gone loco in the coco?”

Pinkie had caught up to Rarity and entered the second coach. She spotted Coco Pommel and Lightning Dust.”

“Hey Rarity, look!” she cried. “It’s Coco in the loco!”

Rarity didn’t find what she was looking for in the second carriage, and nothing in the first carriage stopped her horn from twinging either.

“Surely it couldn’t be somewhere on the engine,” she groaned as she made her way to the front of the coach.

She decided she’d have to get her mane drenched if she wanted to put an end to this annoying search. She went through the compartment door and poked her head out into the rain.

“Coal!” she cried.

Her horn stopped twinging and she receded back into the carriage.

“Coal and jewels are both made up of carbon atoms,” she explained to Pinkie, Coco and Lightning two carriages later. “It seems my gem finding spell can give me a minute signal if there is coal covered up nearby as well as diamonds and rubies.”

“Bonus!” Pinkie Pie grinned.

“You could tell us if there’s any coal left in the Feldgrau Mine,” said Lightning Dust. “Ever heard of that?”

“Another of Loch Azure’s supposedly haunted landmarks,” Rarity answered. “It has two entrances that meet in the middle after about fifty yards. Myth would have us believe that if one pony goes into one entrance and another pony goes into the other, they shall never meet in the middle.”

“So no BYOM partners will be trying it,” smirked Lightning Dust. “Too bad. There’d be no competition. We’d be all set.”

“What? Are you two taking part in the fashion show?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Neato!”

Coco gulped. “You too?”

“Why, yes,” Rarity smiled. “How wonderful. The perfect opportunity for you and I to see how we’ve progressed since Fashion Week in Manehattan.”

Lightning Dust had left her bag open and had opened her box of nougaty chocolates. The four contestants were snacking on them when Pinkie spotted the Wonderbolts paraphernalia.

“There was a Wonderbolts Derby in Manehattan two days ago, wasn’t there?” she asked.

“Yeah. That’s where me and her met,” Lightning replied, hugging Coco with one hoof. “Our tickets were for seats that were next to each other, and we both happened to be routing for Misty Fly; who won by the way.”

Coco smiled again. “Uh, huh. We bonded a bit and when I told her I was a seamstress, she told me about the BYOM event. She convinced me to sign up. She offered to put me up for a few days in her home town.”

“Why not?” said Lightning Dust. “Never had a roommate before. And she came up with this wicked cool idea for an outfit that would help me with my training.”

“Training?” repeated Rarity.

“You’ll see what it’s all about at the show,” Lightning Dust grinned. “But I could show ya what I’ve been up to since Spitfire chucked me outta the academy.”

A van had been added to the rear of the passenger train to accommodate the BYOM contestants’ clothing racks. These racks were draped with translucent black material to keep the entrants’ creations secret. When the special train arrived at Loch Azure station, Professor Lactic met the contestants on the platform. He instructed everypony to take their racks from the van and follow a trail of pylons to a shed close to the lake. As the contestants made their way to the van, one of the passengers who wasn’t taking part in the BYOM event stubbed her hoof on one of the pylons.

“I’m sure I’d made an announcement that I’d put a spell on those pylons to prevent them being moved and causing somepony to lose their way,” Prof Lactic grumbled.

A wailing sound surrounded the van, making more noise than the rain in Coltchester had.

“Thieves!” cried Prof Lactic, looking frantically around. “Who was it?! Who took someone else’s rack?! Out with it!”

No one came forward. No one appeared to be making a run for it with a stolen rack.

“Who’s missing their rack?!” demanded Lactic.

No one spoke up for a moment, but then somepony said “Oh, sorry. I grabbed the wrong one.”

Two contestants had grabbed the other’s rack by mistake. They exchanged racks and apologized.

“So, it seems you have all had the benefit of a demonstration of one of my security precautions,” Prof Lactic said to the crowd. “If a rack is taken by anypony other than its owner, everypony within this town will hear that siren. No one will be getting away with any theft or vandalism. Now, on to the shed, please.”

After all nine racks were stored away, Lightning Dust beckoned Rarity to a bank several yards away from the shed.

“Just a moment,” Rarity said. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?”

She and Coco Pommel looked around. Coco spotted Pinkie standing on the surface of the lake looking down at her reflection.

“Pinkie, Rarity’s looking for you,” said Coco, trotting over to the edge of the bank.

Pinkie hadn’t heard. She was admiring her pink reflection against the blue water.

“Rarity was right. Pink and blue go great together. I can’t wait to get on the outfit she made for me again. It’ll be a knockout.”

Coco gulped. “Um, Pinkie?”

“What’s up, Coco?”

“Rarity’s gonna watch Lightning Dust perform a few flying tricks,” Coco said. “Do you want to see?”

“I can see her from here,” Pinkie replied. “Tell her she can go ahead.”

Coco made her way back to Rarity and Lightning Dust, and told them that Pinkie would be staying put for this demonstration.

Lightning Dust gave her bag of Wonderbolts paraphernalia to Rarity.

“OK. While I’m up in the air, throw something up in different directions at random intervals,” she instructed.

“Very well,” Rarity nodded as Lightning Dust took off.

Rarity watched Lightning Dust zoom around the sky for a few moments before tossing a baseball cap up to her left. Lightning Dust shot towards it and caught it before it hit the ground. Instantly, Rarity threw a scarf in the opposite direction. Lightning caught it effortlessly. A flag with Misty Fly’s face on it was next to be flung into the air, and it almost hit the water before Lightning Dust scooped it up. The same went for a second scarf and a Spitfire plushy. Rarity soon realized that Lightning wasn’t dropping anything she caught. She had done this activity with Rainbow Dash once before, but Rainbow had always thrown everything back to her soon after she caught it. Lightning Dust didn’t drop a single item and after about four minutes, she at last failed to grab something. Pinkie Pie ended up catching the headband Lightning missed.

When Lightning Dust returned to the ground to join Rarity and Coco Pommel, she looked like the craziest Wonderbolts fanatic anypony could imagine.

“Bravo, Lightning Dust,” Rarity applauded. “Twelve out of thirteen items.”

She didn’t mention that Rainbow Dash’s record was fourteen.

“One question, though,” she continued. “Are you training for anything in particular?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Lightning Dust.

Rarity scratched her chin.

“How can you not get it?” Lightning impatiently indicated the paraphernalia which was making her nearly invisible.

“Just a moment!” Rarity exclaimed. “You’ve already been expelled from the Wonderbolts Academy.”

“Yeah, but the academy ain’t the only way to become a member,” Lightning Dust said confidently. “There’ve been other admission rules since General Firefly’s time.”

“Darling, those stipulations were only relevant in General Firefly’s time,” Rarity said. “Rainbow Dash used to try breaking areal acrobatic records to get the Wonderbolts’ attention, but nothing panned out. Firefly’s initiation methods have been out-dated for hundreds of years.”

Lightning Dust wasn’t discouraged.

“They’ll be scrambling to bring back those old rules once they see my accomplishments,” she insisted.

“That is exactly what Rainbow Dash used to say,” Rarity shook her head. “She’s long since abandoned trying to become a mere record breaker.”

“She racked up dozens of records at the academy and Spitfire wouldn’t shut up about her,” Lightning Dust retorted. “After she catches wind of my records outside of the academy…”

“I’m sorry, Lightning Dust,” said Rarity bluntly, “but I’m afraid this is utterly fruitless. Surely you know that it’s futile to think you can go anywhere with your efforts, no matter how hard you work. If you know it’s a lost cause, you ought not to go through with it.”

Coco Pommel’s legs began to shake. She’d been feeling intimidated ever since she discovered that Rarity was taking part in the BYOM event along with her.

Author's Note:

I'm not sure what inspired this one. All I can remember was bits of it coming to me while riding the bus to school.

Comments

[Winston]

“Hey Rarity, look!” she cried. “It’s Coco in the loco!”

Made me laugh.