Ponyville completely changes after Rarity's new fashion line, and the crusaders must save the day.
After a meteorite filled with gemstones crashes into Equestria, Rarity uses the jewels for her latest fashion line. These gems soon become incredibly popular in all of Ponyville, until eventually whole Equestria gets in on the newest craze.
Yet something seems amiss with the gemstones. For instance, why are all the ponies obsessed over the shiny stones? And why do they seem to change more of Ponyville than just the villagers' attire?
It's up to the Cutie Mark Crusaders to figure out what's going on, and save Equestria from the threatening power of the jewels.
It was a quiet evening at Saddle Lake. The Cutie Mark Crusaders have been begging Rarity for days to take them out camping, most likely hoping to get a cutie mark, and with the help of the rest of mane six, their pleas have finally been heard. It might have been a good idea for herself, Rarity gathered. For several weeks, she had to deal with a Designer’s Block, and it has been driven her nuts. A day out in the fresh air might do wonders, or so she thought. The crusaders were having a good time in the forest, while Rainbow Dash and Applejack were setting up camp, Pinkie Pie went out swimming in the lake, Fluttershy collected berries, Twilight made a list of berries safe to eat, and Spike puked in a bush for ignoring said warning. Rarity, however, walked towards the highest hill to take a look at the scenery the lake provided her. For hours she stood, gazing at the setting sun, hoping inspiration would come. After the camp had been set up, Twilight accompanied her fellow unicorn.
“Any inspiration or ideas for a new fashion item to fix that block of yours?”
Rarity looked back at Twilight.
“Only a revelation,” she responded.
Twilight gave a little smile. She was curious to what her good friend had to say as she stared back at the scenery.
“Seeing this lake, breathing this air, feeling the slight breeze through my mane, I’ve discovered something important.”
Twilight smile became wider. A friendship lesson was on the loose, and she‘s going to turn that lesson into one heck of a report.
“This whole camping trip has been… A BIG WASTE OF TIME!”
Rarity’s sudden burst of anger caught Twilight off guard.
“I spend the whole afternoon here, and not a single idea has sprung my mind! The only things that I managed to get are a headache and... ACHOO… a mild cold. The only solace I get is the fact that I know it can’t get any…”
She looked at her hooves and her face turned whiter than it already was.
“AAAH! GRASS STAINS! DIRT! And I had a hooficure just yesterday!”
Twilight patted Rarity on the shoulders, trying to find the right words to comfort Rarity as she was crying over the tragedy that had befallen her.
“Hey, cheer up, Rarity. So maybe this trip may not have given the inspiration you needed. But you got to look on the bright side. Sweetie Belle and her friends are having a great time.”
As Rarity wiped the tears from her eyes, she once more stared at Twilight.
“D-do they?”
“Applejack and Rainbow Dash are already done setting up camp. Let’s go back and have the fillies tell you all about how much they love it here.”
“We hate it here!” “We wanna go home! “We’ve been here all afternoon, and we still don’t have our cutie marks!”
Rarity only became more bummed out by the crusaders’ sweet words of optimism, to the annoyance of Applejack.
“Apple Bloom, the ponies and I have done the best we could to make this camping trip work. So you better show us some gratitude, ya hear?”
“But there’s nothin to do around here!” “If we knew camping would be so boring, we’d never have asked!” “Pinkie Pie took my snorkel!”
Applejack’s annoyance grew slightly by the fillies’ replies. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, somewhat agreed with them.
“They’re kinda right, you know.”
The response earned her a quick jab on the side by Applejack. It didn’t take long for Fluttershy to join the conversation and give her two bits.
“I’m having a wonderful time. The animals around here are so kind.”
“I’m enjoying myself as well,” Twilight added. “The hills around here give a beautiful view on Saddle Lake. And if you look even further, you can see Ponyville as well.”
“That… sounds great, Twi, I guess…”
Apple Bloom tried to sound excited, but it was clear she wasn’t doing a convincing job at it. None of the fillies looked thrilled either, all staring at the ground, looking down. Applejack sighed.
“Look, we’re just gonna spend the rest of the night here, and the next mornin’, we’re gonna go straight back home, okay?”
The crusaders nodded, little smiles appearing on their faces. As the group grabbed their sleeping bags to prepare for the night, Twilight looked around her, before asking: “Has anyone seen Pinkie Pie?”
At that moment, something slowly arose from the lake. It was bipedal and completely covered in seaweed, its size doubling that of the ponies. Two arms formed on the sides and two bright glowing eyes started to shine on its head. The being approached the frightened group, some shivering more than the others by the sights of the abominable monster. It then stopped, and opened its horrifying mouth.
“THIS LAKE!” it said.
Fluttershy was trembling in fear, stuttering before she finally shouted: “LAKE MONSTER! AAAH!” until she finally ran and hide into the nearest bush.
The being then swung around wildly, shedding off the seaweed, which flew around in every direction. At every swing, the being turned smaller and smaller, until it showed of its true form.
“This lake… connects to the ocean!”
SURPRISE! It was Pinkie Pie, grinning heavily, feeling proud of her newfound discovery. She was sporting several diving equipment, such as flippers, mask, two diving cylinder accompanied with the items needed to use them properly, and even a wetsuit, covering everything but her face. The group sighed in relief when they found out the seaweed monster was just Pinkie Pie, except for Fluttershy, as she was too busy hiding to notice. As Pinkie Pie was taking off the gear, Rarity noticed something missing.
“Pinkie, where’d you put Sweetie Belle’s snorkel?”
Pinkie Pie searched among the gear, before she threw hoof in the air and said: “That’s strange. I could’ve sworn I had it on me five minutes ago… Or did I?”
Night fell, and most of the group was fast asleep in their snug sleeping bags. Pinkie Pie, unsurprisingly, was sleeping with her head on the hind hoof side, her tail visibly shaking through the blanket, while saying something about “twitchy twitches”. Rarity was the only pony unable to get some shut-eye. She left her bag and took a stroll along the lakesides, hoping she might get tired afterwards. While she quietly passed by the ponies, the noise of her hooves softly hitting the ground was enough to wake Twilight from her slumber. As her eyes were busy visualizing her surroundings, she eventually spotted Rarity wonder off in the distance. She followed her without making a sound as to not disturb the rest of the group. When she were further away, Twilight finally spoke up.
“Rarity, where are you going?”
Rarity looked behind her to notice Twilight. She stopped in order to let her friend catch up to her.
“Oh, hello there, Twilight. I just decided to take a stroll, that’s all. I couldn’t sleep, you see?”
“Are you still struggling to get over your designer’s block?” Rarity confirmed Twilight’s suspicions, as the two proceeded to walk forward. “You seem to be more concerned about making something new than usual? What’s wrong?”
“You remember Photo Finish, Twilight?”
“The famous fashion photographer?”
“The one and only. In two days, she’ll be coming to Ponyville to look for the newest fashion. And she’ll only stay for one day. Designers everywhere will be there to show off their finest work. If I can get something done by that stands out from the rest, she’ll be so impressed, she’ll naturally help me shine all over Equestria. But if I don’t have anything prepared that can even bedazzle her, my career will be over! Ruined! Finished!”
“Calm down. So you might not have something done in time for Photo Finish. It’s not that big of a deal, is it?”
“Not a big deal? Not a big deal?! Do you know how many times she visits Ponyville? If I don’t have anything ready now, who knows when my next chance at stardom will come? Why, it may very well be my last. And what if this designer’s block never passes? I’ll spend the rest of my days in exile, far away from Ponyville, wallowing in my own pity, unsure if I packed the right things!”
Rarity was working herself up again. Twilight had to say something to calm her down once more.
“Listen Rarity. Even if you miss this chance, that doesn’t mean you’ll never get a shot at fame again. Life’s full of opportunities, and I’m sure the next time one arises, you’ll be back on your game, show Equestria your best, and win that spot in stardom!”
“D-do you really believe that?” Twilight gave Rarity a reassuring nod. “Thank you Twilight, I needed that. I feel much better now.”
As the two unicorns continued their walk, Twilight began to gaze at the starry sky the night brought forth.
“Would you look at all those stars,” She told Rarity, who was now looking skyward as well.
“Yes, it is very beautiful. Why, this whole view is actually pretty amazing. The only thing off about it is that giant flaming boulder.”
Twilight was confused. She didn’t see a burning rock anywhere until Rarity adjusted her face towards its direction.
“Rarity, that “giant flaming boulder” is called a meteor,” Twilight responded in a dull tone. It didn’t take her long to realize that she was, for the very first time, about to witness a meteor about to impact the earth of Equestria, which shifted her tone towards high excitement.
“A meteor! And we’re about to witness it crashing into Equestria. Isn’t that exciting?”
“Wow, that… does sound pretty great.” Rarity did her best to sound enthusiastic for Twilight, despite being unable to care less about flying space rocks. “You don’t think it’ll crash into us, do you?”
“Who know? Maybe it will,” Twilight said jokingly.
The two unicorns laughed until they noticed the meteor coming closer, with the possibility of it crashing into them suddenly sounding very likely. The two looked at the meteor, then at each other, and shouted as hard as their pony lungs could.
“AAAAAAAAAAAH!”
As fast as they could, they ran towards the side in order to avoid the impact. They were already quite a bit away from its path when the meteoroid struck the ground.
*CRASH*
“What in tarnation?”
The crash had startled Applejack and the others wide awake. They stared at the lake, which was new several levels lower, due to it being evaporated by the heat the rock was giving off. The meteorite itself was slightly visible in the distance, resting in water filled crater cooling it down slightly. The ponies then noticed the empty sleeping bags.
“Where’s Rarity?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Where’s Twilight?” Spike continued. He felt a lot better after having to deal with his nasty case of the bad berries.
“Now don’t you two panic. I’m sure they’re just fine,” Applejack assured the young ones. “So come on. Maybe we find somethin’ at that giant meteor over there.”
“Meteorite.”
“Pardon?”
Rainbow Dash explained herself. “A meteor is the visible path of a meteoroid when it enters the atmosphere. When it survives its impact with Equestria, you then call it a meteorite.”
The mares were astounded by Rainbow Dash’s sudden knowledge of astronomy, glaring at the pony with wide open eyes, much to her unease.
“What? I read it in “Daring Do and the Dragon’s Comet”, when Daring had to enter Ancient Dragon Temple, and…”
“Forget I asked!” Applejack said to quickly end Rainbow Dash’s speech. “Can you and Fluttershy fly upward and see if ya can find Twilight and Rarity anywhere?”
The two Pegasus ponies nodded, then ascended to the skies, while the rest of the group made their way towards the meteorite. When they reached it, they were amazed at how big it is, sporting the size of Twilight’s library living room. The group looked around the meteorite in the hopes to spot any signs of the unicorns, but weren’t able to detect them anywhere.
“They’re gone! The meteorite has claimed their lives!”
Pinkie Pie leaned forward on the meteorite as she cried over the apparent loss of her friends.
“Dam rocks, why do you insist on making my life a living Tartarus? Why why why why why?” Smacking her hoof on the meteorite with every “why”.
“Pinkie Pie, we’re right here.”
Pinkie turned around to see Twilight and Rarity, alive and well, with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy standing next to them. While she embraced the two unicorns, her mood changed from very sad to incredibly happy. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“Glad that’s over with. So what are we gonna do with this meteorite?”
Rainbow rested her hoof on the same surface Pinkie Pie leaned, leaning sideways, but the still intense heat caused her to quickly remove it again.
“Argh, that’s scorching hot!” She waved her hoof in the air to cool it.
Applejack laughed. “Guess Daring Do forgot to mention that, did she?”
“Pinkie Pie, why didn’t you scream in pain?“ Rainbow Dash asked in a pretty angry tone.
“If I did that, the whole moment would’ve been ruined.”
Rainbow face hoofed at the answer given to her. As the mares continued talking, Spike and the crusaders kept staring at the meteorite. A faint light of different colors shun out the top of the meteorite. Scootaloo flapped her wings as hard as she could in order to fly high enough to see where exactly the lights are coming from.
“Hey, I think there’s something inside this meteorite!”
The mane six stopped talking and stared at the colored lights. Fluttershy even approached the meteorite to give it a closer look.
“She’s right. There’s a crack op top where several lights are shining out.”
The ponies were curious what might be hidden inside the meteorite, but were unable to open it without burning themselves on its surface. Suddenly, Twilight got an idea. With her magic, she lifted more of the lake’s water towards the meteorite. As she dropped the liquid on the rock, steam formed on top of the surface and eventually the meteorite has been completely cooled down.
“Any pony who wants to break this bad colt open?”
Applejack volunteered. “Allow me.” She climbed up the meteorite, facing the crack. She lifted her hoof, and brought it down with great force. The surface around the crack crumbled down into meteorite, making a big hole through which the source of the light could now be visibly seen.
“Hey ya’ll, check this out!”
Applejack sounded excited. Soon, she was joined by the remaining ponies as they all stared down the hole. Their enthusiasm varied from pony to pony to dragon, but Rarity was the most thrilled of them all. For the meteorite was filled with…
“Jewels! Gems! And all things glittery!”
Inside the meteorite was a huge quantity of gemstones, all in various shapes, sizes and colors. Next to the standard forms most gems are known for, a lot of jewels were also shaped as several objects found in Equestria, such as bells, flowers, steam trains and many more. Rarity had to press her hoofkerchief against Spike’s lips to stop him from drooling over the delicious shiny rocks. And as she continued to look at the gems, her mind became filled with all kind of ideas for dresses and all sorts of other fashion items.
“Why, with these gemstones, I might be able to make something so spectacular, it’ll knock Photo Finish off her hooves. Girls, can I ask for your help? If I can get these jewels home, I know I’ll be able to turn them into something fabulous.”
“I dunno, Rarity. There’s a lot of them pretty rocks in there. I’m not sure how long it’s gonna take to get them all to your place.”
Twilight, on the other hand, was more optimistic.
“Hold on, Applejack. I think I might have a solution.” She then spoke to Rarity. “Do you still have those carts we used to transport the diamonds lying around?”
“I do, actually. I wanted to return them to the Diamond Dogs, but they told me I could keep them. I can’t imagine why they’d say that.”
“Then the first time we’ll do tomorrow is retrieve the carts. We can use them to transport these gems. Is every pony okay with that?”
The mares nodded, followed by several of them yawning. It was getting late, and the ponies needed their sleep. The crusaders were almost dozing off while Spike was already snoozing. Twilight lifted the baby dragon on her back, and together, the group returned to their sleeping bags to catch some shut-eye. Soon, all the ponies were fast asleep, with the exception with Rarity once more. But this time it wasn’t worry keeping her up, but excitement. Tomorrow, she was going to work with the gemstones inside the meteorite, and she knew she was going to turn them into something out of this world.
Morning has already broken, and noon was starting to arrive. The ponies already collected the carts and were now carrying the jewels to Rarity’s boutique. The six carts were more than enough to transport all the gems hidden inside the meteorite. As they were walking, the ponies were chatting about the activities they’ll be doing once they get home, and about Photo Finish coming to Ponyville. In all, they were having good time, save for Spike, with his arms crossed and a disgruntled look on his face, who was being magically lifted by Twilight to prevent him from snacking on the yummy space rocks.
“Oh, come on! Why won’t you let me have some of these gems?”
“Spikey, if we let you feast on these jewels, I may not have enough anymore to make dresses when we return to Ponyville,” Rarity told him in a somewhat teasing manner.
“Besides, these are gemstones from outer space,” Twilight added. “We’re not even sure if you can digest them.” She then shifted her focus on Rarity. “Which reminds me, you don’t mind if take some of these gems with me, do you? I’m pretty interested in to taking a closer look at how they’re structured.”
“Why of course, Twilight. You can keep all the gems in the cart you’re carrying.”
“Oh no, no, no, no, no. I don’t need that many jewels. Just give me a pouchful, and I’ll be all set.”
“Sure, give Twilight a whole cart, but I don’t get a single pebble.” Spike mumbled, to which Twilight looked at him disapprovingly.
“Listen Spike, if I find out that the jewels are completely harmless, I’ll give them straight to you, so you can eat them. But in the meantime, you’re just going to have to be patient. Can you do that for me?”
Spike complied, but was slightly disappointed to have to wait for so long. With an agreement settled, the ponies proceeded towards Ponyville.
Once in Ponyville, the group noticed that the town was busier than usual. It was to no one’s surprise, really. Designers from all of Equestria showed up in order to meet Photo Finish on time, and the news of so many designers showing off their newest fashion line attracted a lot of ponies from and around Ponyville. Some were even working on their clothes in the open for others to behold. The mane six themselves were getting their share of attention too, as the crowd stared at the huge piles of gemstones inside the cart in amazement, several oh’s and ah’s being audible from the crowd. Eventually, the group arrived at the Carousel Boutique, where the ponies dropped off the carts. Rarity gave Twilight a pouch filled with gems, and soon they all went their separate ways, leaving Rarity and the crusaders behind, as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo wanted to hang with Sweetie Belle some more. Rarity immediately began working on a new dress, and naturally, Sweetie Belle wanted to help her sister out, an idea Rarity didn’t seem to be fond of.
“Come on, sis. There’s got to be something we can help you with.”
“Yeah. Maybe we can be Cutie Mark Crusader Fashion Assistants, or somethin.” Apple Bloom added.
Scootaloo objected. “Cutie Mark Crusader Fashion Assistants? Ewww, no thanks.”
“Now girls, maybe you can… make yourself useful in a different way.” Rarity needed to think of something fast in order to keep the fillies from intervening too much with her work, while still giving them the feeling they were helping her out. “You could… uh… judge my designs after I finished them. How does that sound?”
“So, we’re going to be… Cutie Mark Crusader Fashion Judges?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Y-yes, exactly.”
The fillies remained silent for several seconds until...
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER FASHION JUDGES! YAY!”
Rarity’s ears were not prepared for the sudden force of the fillies’ shouting. She shook the noise off, and gave out a small, nervous laughter, hoping she made the right choice.
And so, the crusaders watched as Rarity was working on her new fashion line. With precision and hard work, the first dress slowly came into place. Piece by piece, snip by snip, croup, dock, haunch, shoulders, hip, thread by thread, primmed and pressed, yard by yard, and not once was Rarity stressed. In fact, the more she was working on it, the better she felt, as the dress was pretty much turning out the way she envisioned it. Finally, it was time to implement the gemstones. Rarity had a certain plan to make the best use of the shiny colored stones. The basic shapes, like squares, circles and triangles, were the most common among the jewels, and as such were used on the dresses in larger amounts, all arranged in an orderly fashion, placed where they would look most appropriate. The more unique shapes were more rare among the bunch, and as such, only one were placed on each dress, being the centerpiece so they stood out more. After Rarity finished the dress, she put it in front of the fillies for them to judge. The dress seemed very similar to the one Twilight wore, as both had a celestial feel to them. This new dress however, was several inches smaller, had no collar popping out the back, was much darker toned, varying from dark blue to black, the saddle was completely black, and had a picture of the moon it, accompanied by two prints of stars, and the white stars were gems instead of prints, which were scattered rather than staying bundled at the sides. At the neck, a larger star shaped gem was placed, while a golden jewel shaped like a shooting star was put on the mannequin’s ear. After the fillies had stared at the dress for several seconds, Rarity asked for their opinion.
“And, how does it look?”
The crusaders had no idea what to say. The dress itself, they liked a lot, yet there was also something about it that just didn’t feel right. However, they weren’t sure if that was the fault of the dress or their own taste. Hiding what they truly felt, the fillies put on their best faces.
“Wow, that looks amazing! Great job, sis!”
“Yeah, I really like the starry look ya gave it.”
“It looks okay, I suppose.”
Scootaloo was the only one who answered Rarity’s question in nonchalance, to her friends’ surprise.
“What? I’m not a fashion expert like Hoity and Toity over here.”
Rarity chuckled. “It’s alright, girls. I think I know enough.” She left the girls alone as she began to work on her second dress. The girls huddled together to quietly discuss their opinions.
“So, did anyone else feel something was off about Rarity’s new dress?”
“Off? N-nah, my sister is the greatest fashion designer in all of Ponyville. There’s nothing wrong with her dress.”
“Sweetie Belle, I can clearly hear you doubting. You think something’s wrong too.”
“Okay, so maybe there is something about it that rubs me the wrong way. But what is it?”
“It’s the jewels,” Scootaloo answered.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle took another gander at the dress, this time focusing on the gemstones. She was right.
“You’re right.”
“See? And it’s not just the jewels on the dress either. All the gems still in the carts give off the same bad vibe. Yet all the other ponies we came across seem to be simply amazed by them. Yuck! I’ll never understand fashion.”
“Wait a minute, Scootaloo. Just because you don’t like the jewels on this dress, doesn’t mean that all the jewels are awful.”
“Oh really? Prove it!”
The fillies approached the carts, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle inspected the jewels. They couldn’t help but feel the bad vibes Scootaloo mentioned as they were searching through the pile.
“Sweetie Belle, I’m afraid Scootaloo might be right.”
Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, was determined to find a gemstone that would prove her point. As she dug through the rocks, she finally stumbled upon a specific jewel that caught her eye.
“What about this one?”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo watched as Sweetie Belle lifted the gem right in front of them with the little magic she had. It was silver of color and shaped like a bell. The two fillies continued staring until Scootaloo spoke out.
“Huh, that one’s actually not so bad.”
“Yeah, it actually looks pretty good,” Apple Bloom added.
Sweetie Belle then turned her attention to her older sister.
“Rarity, can I have this one?”
“Excuse me?” Rarity hasn’t been paying the fillies much attention after she went back to work on her next dress.
“This silver bell. Can I have it? Please please please?”
Rarity took a quick glance at the jewel and said: “If you really like it so much, then of course.”
Sweetie Belle was overcome with joy. “Thank you thank you thank you!” She gave her sister the biggest hug her tiny body could make, then ran off to the guest room in the Boutique with her friends right behind her. In front of the guest room door, Sweetie Belle halted the other two.
“Stay right here,” she said. “I’m going to turn this jewel into a real gem!”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other in confusion, as Sweetie Belle proceeded through the door. What could she possibly be up to? After a small amount of time, she opened the door again.
“TA-DAH! How does it look?”
Sweetie Belle had neatly attached the little bell to a small figaro chain, turning it into a simple necklace which she was now wearing around her neck, like how a necklace should be worn. The fillies showed their approval on Sweetie Belle’s newest creation, and it was she needed to know from her friends. She then returned to her older sister to show off her own creation.
“Rarity! Rarity! Look what I made!” She said, jumping up and down.
“That’s very nice, Sweetie Belle,” she told her sister. Sweetie Belle would’ve believed her too if she wasn’t too busy with her new dress to even turn around.
“Oh come on! You’re not even looking!”
“Sorry Sweetie Belle, but I'm ‘in the zone’, as it were,” Rarity answered, as she continued working.
Soon, she did halt her work, but only because Applejack had entered the boutique. She came to pick up Apple Bloom when she saw the finished dress.
“Fancy dress, Rarity. The gems you put really make it shine. Is it already done?”
“I’ve put the finishing touches on it several minutes ago.”
“Why, if you showed off this dress to that Photo Finish pony, I’m sure you’d be guaranteed to win first place.”
Soon, another pony came through the door. Or actually, she partially came through the door. To be more precise, her head got through the door, but now she’s stuck like that. She did manage to slam the door wide open, meaning that all the ponies could see was a grey-colored Pegasus who was struggling to get her head free, as she was pressing her front hooves against the panel in order to more successfully pull her head out. When she eventually managed to release herself, her head revealed her bright yellow manes and googly-eyed face.
“Howdy Derpy, what brings you here?”
“Darling, you’re wrecking my front door.”
Derpy shook the splinters out of her mane and hoofed the ponies a notice.
“Message from Cloudsdale,” she said. “We’re making a storm in Ponyville, starting in five minutes, which will last until after midnight!”
“Five minutes? Isn’t that a bit too short of time to get ourselves home?”
Derpy shrugged, and continued her message. “This has been special weather announcement, brought directly to you!”
“Directly before the storm,” Scootaloo remarked sarcastically.
Derpy was ready to fly off, until Rarity called her.
“Wait, before you leave, do you mind giving me your opinion on my latest creation?”
She scratched her head. “I don’t know, Rarity. The world of fashion confuses me. I’ve been to one of their shows, and they had this model, and while her dress was nice, all she seemed to do on stage was pick her nose and bark like a dog.”
“I assure you there is no need to worry. You only have to give your opinion.”
Rarity led Derpy to her finished dress. As she focused her eyes, she took in the details, and her expression changed from fascinated to slightly pained.
“Uh… Wow… nice work, Rarity,” she said, forcing a smile on her face.
“Are you alright?” Applejack asked. It was obvious something was bugging the grey Pegasus.
“Huh? Oh… sure, why wouldn’t I be?” But all Derpy wanted was out. “But, uh… I think I hear Time Turner calling. Gotta go!”
And with that, Derpy left the boutique, leaving the Applejack and Rarity to wonder about her strange reaction, before they shrugged it off and continued their business.
“Come on, Apple Bloom,” Applejack told her sister. “We better get home for dinner before the storm beats us to it. Do you need a lift home too, Scootaloo?”
“That would be great.”
“What about you, Sweetie Belle?”
“Sweetie Belle will be staying here for the night,” Rarity answered. “Our parents are still on vacation.”
“Again? How many vacations are your parents taking?”
“They go to Baltimare once every three months. They enjoy that city so much, it’s almost surprising they haven’t moved there yet.”
“Why won’t they? They seem to like Baltimare enough to live there.”
“Oh no, they may love Baltimare, but they’ll remain Ponyville ponies at heart. Besides, they couldn’t do that to Sweetie Belle. She loves it way too much here to move away, don’t you, Sweetie Belle?”
“You bet,” she replied.
Applejack smiled. “You should be very happy to have parents who care that much about ya.”
Sweetie Belle smiled back. Applejack now turned her attention to the other two fillies.
“Now come on. We better get you two home before the rain starts.”
And with that, the three ponies left the boutique in order to get home before the downpour began. Applejack managed to get Scootaloo home before the rain got really bad, but she and Apple Bloom were completely soaked by the time they got to the farm. It was only a minor inconvenience for the two ponies, and a few minutes close to the heater was all it took for their coats to dry.
It was raining the entire evening, just like Derpy said, and it would continue for a bit longer after midnight. Rarity managed to finish several more dresses at that time, but she and Sweetie Belle were slowly getting ready to hit the hay. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, and Rarity wanted to look her best when it arrives.
Night came, and most of the ponies in Ponyville were already asleep. Two exceptions were Twilight Sparkle and her number one assistant, who were busy completing their targets on the checklists. The whole day, they were busy with their reports to the princess, making reports about their reports to the princess, making schedules, making reschedules on the schedules, making schedules in order to reschedule, making reschedules on the schedules for rescheduling, making a checklist for tomorrow, making a checklist for things needed for the checklist the day after tomorrow, and the list goes on. Eventually, they managed to complete and triple check everything on their checklist, and the two were tuckered out. Spike went to bed earlier than Twilight, who was still busy cleaning up the mess in the library. As she neatly stacked some of the papers, she noticed the pouch full of gems that Rarity gave her. She really wanted to closely study the rocks, but today’s tasks prevented her from doing so, and now she was too tired. She finished up her cleaning duty, and made her way to bed, hoping she could make some time tomorrow in her schedules to take a closer look at the jewels. It was still storming when the two were sleeping. Their peaceful rest was soon disturbed by nearby thunder.
*KRAKOOM*
The noise woke up the sleeping duo.
“Whoa… That was a bit too loud for comfort,” Twilight said, her voice not fully awake itself yet.
“Tell me about it. Not even Rainbow Dash could kick a cloud hard enough to produce a louder thunder,” Spike added.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“That may have startled me, but I’m not afraid of a thunderstorm. Never was, never will be. I’m going to be just fine.”
Twilight giggled as Spike boasted about his fearlessness.
“What? What is it?”
“It’s just that, hearing you talk about how you were never afraid of thunderstorms. It’s just kind of funny, you know?”
“W-what are you talking about?”
“Well, there actually was a time when you were very afraid of them.”
“No, there wasn’t!” Spike sounded pretty confident about his earlier statement, yet a slight doubt inside him caused him to follow up with: “Was there?”
“I’m not surprised you can’t remember. You were only a few months old. One night, it was storming just as heavy as it is now. It took me hours to get you to sleep, when a loud thunder woke you up and made you cry. You then held on tight me and wouldn’t let me go, because you didn’t want to be alone.”
“S-seriously?”
“Yeah, I had to sing you a lullaby, just to calm you down again.”
“You mean something like the Hush Now Lullaby?”
“No, that stopped working when I got to the diva part. Now that I think about it, most of Equestria’s lullabies didn’t seem to calm you. I had to make my own song to get you to sleep.”
“Wait, you made a lullaby for me?” Spike was curious, yet slightly cautious. “Do you still know how it goes?”
It took Twilight little time to recall the lyrics. She then got into proper position, cleared her throat, and put on the most soothing singing voice she could muster.
♪ My little dragon, dry your tears ♪ ♫ There is no need for you to cry ♫ ♪ As long as you have me, you have nothing to fear ♪ ♫ Just listen to me as I tell you why ♫
♪ The frightful things you’re hearing as you’re lying in your bed ♪ ♫ Are really nothing more than just a sound ♫ ♪ And all the other scary things that you may not get ♪ ♫ Won’t hurt you as long as I’m around ♫
♪ So please go back to sleep, and dream without a care ♪ ♫ I promise that you will see ♫ ♪ That no matter what happens, I will always be there ♪ ♫ To protect from any dangers there may be ♫ ♪ As you’ll always be my little dragon to me ♪
After she was done singing, Twilight noticed how Spike was resettling himself comfortably inside his own bed. Listening to the song made him feel sleepy, yet content.
“Wow, I understand why I would fall asleep to this. That was amazing, Twilight.”
“Awww, thank you, Spike.”
Knowing that Spike still liked the song filled Twilight’s heart with joy. The unicorn also laid down, and soon, the duo were all set once again to return to dreamland. By that time, the storm had already ended.
“Say Twilight,” Spike requested, before falling asleep. “You won’t mention anything we talked about tonight to the other ponies, right?”
“It’ll be our little secret.”
“Do you promise?”
“Of course. After all, losing a friend’s trust is the quickest way to lose a friend.”
“Fooooooreverrrrrrrr…”
The soft whisper was just audible enough for the duo to widely open their eyes and sit up straight their beds again. Twilight turned on the lights, and both checked around the room to see if they could discover where exactly the sound came from, but couldn’t find a thing. After switching of the lights, the duo lay down and tried to fall asleep once more, but it was to no use. The thunder had stopped, but that whisper was going to keep them up for the rest of the night.
The day of Photo Finish’s arrival had finally come. Twilight was unable to catch some sleep all night long, as such she was still tired when she woke up. She took a look at Spike, who managed to fall asleep at some point during the night. Twilight decided to let him sleep, so he could get some good earned rest, and silently walked downstairs as to not wake the baby dragon up. After firing herself a quick pick-me-up spell, she left her library and made her way towards the designer’s fair. Rarity had requested for her appearance, and she had promised to attend for when Photo Finish would come.
The fair was even more crowded than usual. More designers have shown up during the last time she was here, which in turn attracted even more ponies. The designers that were now putting their finishing touches on their work were more tense than usual, due to wanting it to be complete before Photo Finish shows up. Twilight looked around the fair to see if she could find Rarity anywhere, but the crowd was too dense for her to identify any pony. Luckily, she got the sudden help from a certain blue Pegasus.
“Twilight!”
She looked up in the sky to see Rainbow Dash speeding towards her.
“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?”
She landed right in front of the unicorn.
“Rarity asked me to come here. All our friends are now with her.”
“Even Applejack?”
“Yeah. Come on, I’ll take you there.”
She grabbed Twilight by the armpits and lifted her up into the sky. Twilight wasn’t sure she was going to like this.
“Um, Rainbow Dash? Perhaps it would be better if you’d just let me waAAAAAAH!”
Before she could even finish her sentence, Rainbow Dash was already dashing off towards Rarity’s stand, with Twilight dangling below her, shouting her lungs out during the whole trip.
It didn’t take long for the duo to reach their destination. Like Rainbow Dash said, all their friends were there, waiting for Twilight to show up. Also present were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, with Sweetie Belle still wearing her self-made necklace. Rainbow Dash gently put Twilight back on the ground, and Rarity greeted her purple friend.
“Twilight, glad you finally made it!”
Twilight was still shaking on her hooves, while trying to catch her breath due to all the screaming she did on her way. When she finally regained her composure, she answered back.
“Not a problem, it’s the least I could do for a good friend. Today’s a big day for you, after all. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Thank you, Twilight,” Rarity continued. “Actually, I have a special request for you.” She then turned to the rest of her friends. “For all of you, to be exact.”
The ponies looked at each other before Fluttershy asked: “What is it?”
“Would you girls be interested in being my models for today? I’ve made several outfits which I’m sure would suit you perfectly.”
She showed off the five dresses she managed to get done yesterday, each showing off the ponies’ unique traits. They were also all equipped with several of the jewels from the meteorite.
Twilight was the first to respond. “But of course we will, right girls?”
“Absolutely,” Applejack replied. “You can count on us.”
“You bet! This is gonna be so much fun!”
“I don’t know. You remember what happened last time I posed for Photo Finish?”
“Fluttershy, darling, don’t worry. I’m sure that this time, Photo Finish will love my dresses for my style, rather than your attitude and pizzazz.”
Fluttershy felt relieved to hear that. The ponies made their way to the dressing rooms to get changed into their new outfits.
The fair only became even more crowded as more ponies joined the event. They all made a lot of sound as they were talking about the outfits they saw, and trivial stuff that only concerned those involved in their respective conversations. The noise was abruptly ended when the crowd noticed another pony heading their way, accompanied by a crew. With her blue coat, white manes, pink glasses, and black, white and pink attire, it didn’t take long for her to be recognized.
“I, Photo Finish, have arrived!”
The public stepped aside to make way for the photographer and her staff, as they made their way towards the designers. Once there, Photo Finish approaches one of her staff, a dark gray Earth stallion with spiky light blue manes and a suitcase strapped on his back. She pushed the buttons on the case to reveal a photo camera, which was facing the stallion’s left side.
“We begin… now!”
The first designer they approached made an outfit of more futuristic influences; A silver chrome suit where the shoulders stuck out, accompanied with matching boots, glasses that consisted of a single wide red tinted lens and a silver frame surrounding it, resembling a visor that looks like you could should laser beams out of, and several thin round golden bracelets that seemed to orbit around the hooves. Photo Finish gave the outfit a quick glance before she loudly exclaimed:
“No!”
The designer didn’t understand. “No? What do you…”
“Next!”
Before he could even complete his sentence, Photo Finish and her crew already made their way to the next candidate, leaving the designer to himself to imagine what he might’ve done wrong.
The second designer made a dress inspired by ancient Egypt; White linen with a zigzag pattern, golden bow necklace with several jewels encrusted on it as well as a golden headband with the head of a pony on it, which in turn had two rubies for eyes. As she looked at the dress, Photo Finish scratched herself underneath her chin, then she spoke.
“Yes!”
She made several hoof gestures towards her crew, and soon they were making several snapshots of the Egyptian dress. When they were done, they quickly made their way towards the third candidate, once more without saying a word. This seemed to be the routine. She would look at the designs the candidates put up for her, and depending on what she would say afterwards, either snap a few pictures of the outfit, or just go on towards the next. It wouldn’t take long for Photo Finish to get reach Rarity’s stand, and she was starting to get nervous. She quickly stopped by the dressing rooms to check up on her models.
“Girls, are you almost done in there?”
“I’m almost ready!” Twilight told her.
“Me too!” Pinkie Pie added. “And I can already say that this dress looks super-duper terrific on me! Although I’m not quite sure on the nature theme you got going for me.”
“Um, Pinkie? I think we may have possibly accidently switched dresses by mistake,” Fluttershy told her in her common, quiet tone.
While the ponies were still busy getting dressed, Rarity looked around the competition. Those who were already judged, were either jumping for joy as their work seemed to have gained Photo Finish’s approval, or were sitting on the ground, moping because their outfits were rejected. One of the green unicorns even had to be consoled by her blue pink maned friend, who told her that Equestria was not ready for newly invented jeans, yet that they were going to eventually be popular one day. The ponies who were yet to be judged were now making several final adjustments, feeling that their work would not pass Photo Finish’s judgment in their current state. Some final adjustments, maybe that was something Rarity should be doing as well, she thought as the famous fashion photographer slowly approached her stand. Rarity was started to feel a bit panicky. What if her creations weren’t good enough for Photo Finish?
“We’re ready!”
Rarity immediately centered her attention towards her friends, who were now all garbed in their corresponding dresses; Twilight in her celestial dress, Applejack in stylish cowboy clothing, Fluttershy in her nature themed dress, Rainbow Dash in all the colors of the rainbow, and Pinkie Pie in all pink. Naturally, all the outfits were accompanied with the appropriate jewels.
“Rarity, are you okay?” Twilight asked.
As Rarity gave her dresses another look, she sighed with relief. She was confident her creations would be amaze the famous photographer.
“Yes, I’m quite alright.”
It now was time for Rarity’s dresses to be put up for judgment. Photo Finish and her crew had finally reached her stand, and Rarity had prepared a special stage to show off her work. She greeted the crew, and invited them to take a look at her upcoming show. She then lifted the curtains aside, and there were her friends, striking a pose. Their costumes had the intended effect on the audience, who were all audibly in awe by the sparkling gemstones that the dresses carried. But while Rarity took satisfaction in knowing that the audience was impressed by her work, the one who she really wanted to see pleased was Photo Finish, and she retained to hold a stoic face as she continued to stare at the show the designer had put on display. She seemed to be staring for a longer period of time than usual, and it made the white unicorn uncomfortable. Was she going to approve of her new dresses, or was she was going to reject them? The thought was unnerving her. Eventually, she seemed to be able to put her mind at ease.
“Yes!”
With one word, the crew got started taking pictures of every single outfit. They moved from left to right, forward and backward, making a snapshot out every single angle. When they were finally done, they quickly moved on the next candidate. The models stopped posing, and looked as Photo Finish made her way towards the next designers. They remained silent for a while until Rainbow Dash spoke up.
“Hold on a second. Was that all?”
“Why, she didn’t even say a dam thing,” Applejack added.
“She just took some pictures and left,” Fluttershy followed up.
Twilight approached her unicorn friend. “So, how’d we do?” She sounded a bit confused. “What did Photo Finish think of the dresses?”
Rarity remained calm. “Twilight, darling, no need to fret. I’m sure she absolutely loved it.” She then stopped and thought about it for a second. “Then again, it’s always hard to tell about her if she loves something at first.” She tried to regain her composure. “But of course, she took the time to make the pictures. She wouldn’t have done that if she hated them, would she?” Her calmness suddenly made way of anxiety. “But what if she does?” Her anxiety was rising. “Maybe she took those photos to show others how it’s not done, or perhaps she needed something to laugh at on Monday mornings!” She was pretty much losing it at this point. “I’ll be the laughingstock of all Equestria, and I’ll never be able to show me face ever again!”
Rarity was visibly stressing out. Her lip was trembling, her eye was twitching, and her manes were messy and hanging due to sweat and stress. She tried to talk, but being unable to construct proper sentences at this point, all that came out her mouth was unintelligible. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, stating she had enough of Rarity’s scene, and smacked the filly straight on the cheek. It took some time for the hit to register in her mind, but soon she was able to properly talk again.
“Darling, watch the makeup.”
She seemed to have snapped out of it.
“Listen up! You have no reason to act like your manes in a twist, you hear me? Because I’m one hundred and twenty percent sure Photo found your dresses to be awesome!”
“But how can you be so certain?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie Pie intervened. “Oh! Oh! I know!”
She then squished Twilight’s head between her pink hooves, and turned it towards the audience. Even though Photo Finish was long gone to check out the other designers, most of the crowd remained to observe the dresses in amazement
“Just look at how they’re reacting! Those shiny eyes! Those wide open mouths. She’d have to be loco in the coco to be the only pony not impressed!”
“Exactly,” Rainbow Dash concurred. “So stop worrying! You’re going to be fine.”
The other ponies agreed, even encouraging her unicorn friend to, as Pinkie Pie puts it, turn her frown upside down, but they only did little to regain Rarity’s optimism.
It didn’t take long for Photo Finish to judge the remaining entrees, even less to decide on a winner. Her crew had swiftly set up a stage in the center of the stage, and soon, every pony attending came crawling towards it. A microphone stood in front of Photo Finish, and after a large enough audience was gathered, she began her speech. Naturally, the mane six and the crusaders were there to hear the announcement. Of course, Rarity was among the crowd as well, her manes still messy and her coat greasy due to the sweating. She stopped freaking out, but her face was hanging down and she was still looking a bit gloomy, she didn’t even look at Photo Finish as she began her announcement.
“I, Photo Finish, have seen all the works you’ve presented to me. Some of it was good. Some of it was so awful, that those who made it should’ve been ashamed of themselves to even display it during broad daylight. Some of it was so atrocious, it was actually charming.” She took the mic of the stand and began walking across the stage. She held the mic in her left hoof as she continued to address her audience. “But there was one unicorn with dresses so magnificent, so wunderbar, so magical, that I, Photo Finish, will help her shine across Equestria!”
Dresses, as in multiple? A unicorn? And did she imply of the female gender? Those details have caught Rarity’s attention as she started to look up on the stage, pupils widening. Could she be talking about…
“Yes! The one I am talking about clearly has a wonderful gift that, with my assistance, she’ll be able to share with every pony from Fillydelphia to Las Pegasus. And that pony is...” She paused for dramatic effect, then stood on her hind hooves and pointed to… “Rarity!”
As soon as she said her name, it was like Rarity was never concerned in the first place. With a magical poof, her mane turned back to stylish and orderly, and her coat to healthy and shiny, leaving behind no traces of sweat. Her once slouch stance was quickly changed to show off a confident and proud unicorn. Her friends seemed surprised by her sudden metamorphosis, Pinkie Pie even sporting a look of: “How’d she do that?”
“Come Rarity, show Ponyville your greatness! Join me on stage!” Photo Finish requested her.
Rarity could hardly contain her excitement. If it was up to her, she would bounce her way up the stage, wrap her hooves around Photo, and repeatedly thank her for choosing her, like a little school filly. But she had to keep her cool, not embarrass herself in front of the audience. She retained her ladylike demeanor as she walked up on stage.
“Of all the outfits showcased in Ponyville, yours were the best of the best. Your hoofwork is simply marvelous, and you clearly know how to bring out the best out of your models. But what has truly captivated me are the jewels. The jewels truly finish your work, and make it stand out even more than that I ever could’ve possibly imagined. Not only do you have talent, you clearly possess a special gift that could very well change Equestria as we know it. And together, I know we can turn your newest fashion line into Equestria biggest hit. What do you say? Will you join me as together, we will make your work known all across the lands?”
Rarity gave a quick look at her friends. They were all supporting the idea, some nodding, while others made gestures suggesting that, yes, she should go for it. She then turned back to Photo Finish.
“I would be honored to.”
She knew that from this day onward, she would no longer be some ordinary fashion pony from Ponyville. Today, she was finally going to be...
