Chapter 48: Shoulders II - Fashion Boogaloo.
After breakfast, we - and by we, I mean Twilight's list - decide it's time to go visit Rarity and see how she's decided to mess with my wardrobe. Thankfully, my cloak is inside the Wooden Crate of Holding alongside the broken chest piece, so I can at least avoid looking like a giant wreck in public. It doesn't stop the ponies outside from giving me looks - and not the usual curious or confused looks, but sympathetic ones. It's not until I notice Trixie is getting similar looks that I piece it together - Twilight, her friends, and Shining Armor had dragged us not only out of that cave system, but all the way back to Ponyville. Not only must that have taken hours, but its not surprising that the other ponies noticed a ragtag mess like that coming back to town. I wonder what story they fed them? It seems good enough that they're not running up and asking questions, at least. Either that, or their desire to has worn off in the three days I was passed out.
Regardless, the walk there has more pressing issues than just the passers-by. More than once, I find myself leaning against houses or fences to ease the strain of the 'longer' walk to Rarity's Carousel Boutique. 'Longer', in this case, meaning a distance greater than that between the Golden Oak's guest bedroom and its main foyer. It feels like more than simple pain and strain of the wounded muscles, as well. Is whatever lovely infection Jenova's left me with spread enough that it's started sapping at my remaining strength? Dammit... if that's true, I gave it three days to do whatever the hell it wanted. Just... work through it, Cloud. No point griping. If I'm lucky, Luna will be able to do something about this. If she's dream-stalking me to send summons that soon after I wake up, she must have something.
Our pace is slow, almost painstakingly so, mainly due to myself. Trixie and Twilight chat lowly to themselves, but every so often sneak glances back in my direction. Spike is walking beside Twilight, whistling to himself, while Fluttershy's gone back to her animal shelter of a home. I have the broken remains of the chest plate I took from Princess Luna's storage under one arm beneath the cape, at Twilight's suggestion, along with the leather of my original SOLDIER armor, to see what we can get done about the whole shoulder pad issue. After a short walk that feels like miles, we finally arrive outside our destination, still bearing its disturbing ponnequin motif. Don't think I'm ever getting used to that. A knock and a few traded greetings later...
“Come in, come in, dears!” Rarity beckons us, shutting the door after I duck under it and hobble in. Ducking to get into pony doorways, that's another thing not helping my current state whatsoever. “It's good to see the two of you are doing better.” She states, nodding between myself and Trixie.
“In a sense.” I nod as she leads us away from the work area and into her kitchen, giving me another doorway to duck under in the process.
“Come now, everypony. Sit, sit!” She motions to the kitchen table. “I'll make us some tea.”
“Thank you, Rarity.” Trixie says as we take seats. It's still weird seeing her be... polite. I set the broken chest plate and other bits on the floor against the chair for now, leaning back to relax after the walk over taking so much out of me.
“So!” Rarity exclaims after setting a kettle to boil, turning on her hooves. “I take it you are all here to see how I've devised to exemplify Cloud's fashion and unique physique, now we've finally gotten a reprieve dealing with such dreadful creatures!”
“Um...” I cut in as she walks over to the table, raising an index finger questioningly. “Could I possibly just get my shirt back, as-is?”
“Not a chance, dear!” She replies, grinning. I fire a dirty look at Twilight, still convinced she's out for revenge for the whole shoulder pad incident in Canterlot. “Now get that cloak off, we need to see how these look on you.” She turns to Spike. “Spike, could you please get the box on my desk in the other room? I need to hunt down what Sweetie Belle did with my tea. I asked her to prepare some this morning and I haven't seen it since.”
“Sure thing, Rarity!” Spike hops down from his seat so soon after getting it, a spring in his step as he walks back into the other room.
“That's adorable.” Trixie comments as both her and Twilight break into a giggle the second Spike is out of earshot.
“He's such a helpful little gentledrake, really.” Rarity replies as she digs through a cabinet. “A-hah! Found them!” She turns, heading back to the stove, opening a nearby cabinet with her magic and floating out an assortment of tea cups. “So, Cloud, Trixie, how are you two doing? It's nice to see you both up and about at last.”
“Both?” I question as I drape my cloak over the back of the chair. “How long was Trixie out for?”
“Oh, she didn't say?” Rarity lets a playful grin escape. “She was the first one of you to wake up.” Rarity explains, arranging the cups on the table as she waits for the water to boil. “She was up before we even got back to Ponyville, actually. It was just that once we got there, we could not get her to leave that dingy old library. No matter what we did, she just refused to step out!”
“My library's not dingy!” Twilight huffs.
“And I merely had no reason to leave!” Trixie follows suit.
“Ah, right.” Rarity nods, her grin widening slightly. “That's why you were pacing new grooves into Twilight's floor, too, yes?”
“Of course!” Trixie raises her head, and I suppress a laugh at her obvious attempt to protect her pride. “It's how I cope with boredom, is all.”
“If you were bored, there were books, Trixie.” Twilight decides to get in on the ribbing. “You know, books, in my dingy library.”
“Trixie, Trixie,” Rarity drapes a hoof around Trixie's shoulders, “it's okay to be worried about somepony. We wouldn't prod you so much if you weren't still so... prickly.”
Trixie shrugs. “It's a work in progress.”
The kettle whistles as the water hits its boiling point, Rarity freeing Trixie from her grasp as she turns away to dole out the tea.
“Sorry I took so long!” Spike calls out, upper half hidden behind a deep-looking cardboard box as he walks back into the kitchen. “Took me a minute to find the box Rarity meant. There's like seven of them out there.”
“Organized chaos, dear Spike.” Rarity nods as she pours one of the cups of tea. “I've made you well aware of that concept by now, yes?”
“I wasn't complaining, Rarity.” Spike quickly defends. “Just, you know, I didn't organize it, so to me, it's just chaos.”
“It's fine, Spike, just set the box next to my chair there.” Rarity instructs him as she finishes with the tea, setting a bowl of sugar in the center of the table. “Yes, there. Thank you, Spike.”
“No problem, Rarity!” Spike pulls himself back up into his seat, grinning stupidly as Rarity reclaims hers.
“So, Cloud, you never said,” Rarity's horn glows as she talks, levitating the box onto the table as she sifts through the contents, flashes of familiarly-hued fabric visible, “how are you feeling? You looked like quite the dreadful mess before we bandaged you up, but if you're walking so soon, it must be healing quite nicely.”
“Actually, that's why we're here, Rarity.” Twilight cuts in. “Cloud needs to head to Canterlot tonight, so we needed to see if you had his shirt ready since, well...” she trails off, motioning her head to my mess of bandages.
“Yeah.” I nod, picking up the conversation. “This mess here doesn't actually seem to be healing at all.” Rarity visibly winces at the thought as I continue. “Lovely infection from an angry space parasite, I know. However, Princess Luna claims there's something she can do for it, hence another field trip so soon.”
Rarity nods. “Well!” She pulls a shirt out from the box. It looks just like my usual, except with a golden, miniature representation of the Buster Sword emblazoned along the front.
“No.” I say quickly, before Rarity can enter any kind of spiel to sell that to me.
“What, dear?” She feigns an innocent smile. “It's the same old shirt. It just has your cutie mark stitched on.” I raise a finger to reply, but she continues. “I know, you don't technically have a cutie mark, so I hazarded a bit of a guess.”
Remembering what those are supposed to symbolize, I ask the one question I probably don't want the answer to. “...And what's my special talent supposed to be, in that case?”
Rarity's grin widens, and she shoots Twilight a knowing glance. “Why, heroing, of course.”
I turn my gaze to Twilight as well, sighing. “I thought you said you didn't put her up to anything?”
“I didn't!” Twilight raises her hoofs defensively. “She just... asked me for a recommendation... Heh...”
Trixie rolls her eyes at me, before giving me a knowing look of her own. “Besides, Dusk, it suits your personality, doesn't it?”
I lock eyes with her. “You say that, but if you had a shirt with the symbol best matching your personality on it... I don't think it's appropriate to mention in front of Spike.”
Spike chortles. “Oh, man! I bet it's a-”
A purple hoof plugs his mouth as Twilight glares at him. “Don't you even go near this, mister.”
“Ah, well.” Rarity folds the shirt up with her magic and sets it on the table, pulling the conversation back to the topic at hand. “I can't just give you plain blue, Cloud. Especially for somepony who wears clothing as much as you do, accessorizing is just a must!”
“Well, how about this?” I ask, deciding to head off whatever her second recommendation. I heft up the chest plate followed by the remaining armor pieces, laying them across the table and giving one of the shoulders on the plate a rap of my fist. “A hero's true accessories are their shoulder guards. I know leather and metal aren't exactly your usual but if you want to help me accessorize, I'd like to see what I can salvage from this old plate.”
She raises her eyebrow, taking up the broken armor in her magical grasp to get a better look at it. “Hmm... maybe. It's certainly an interesting material. Very light. There's traces of an old enchantment on it, but it seems to have left now that the plate is broken.”
“Yeah, that's fine.” I give her a nod and lean back in my chair. “It's not like I can expect to be fighting any time soon like this. Right now, you could say its all about the fashion.”
A smirk spreads across her face as a glint enters her eyes. “It'll be a bit of a challenge, but I think I can work with that.” Her horn glows and she experimentally bends part of the chest plate. “Surprisingly pliable under magic...” She pulls it closer and attempts the same bend with her hooves, furrowing her brow as it refuses to give the same yield. “Quite a bit more resistant to more brutish shaping methods, though. Interesting material, indeed!”
“You almost sound excited.” I can't help but smirk. “I figured shaping metals would be a bit out of your comfort zone.”
She sweeps up the chestplate and armor in her magical grasp, stepping away from the table with a smirk of her own. “You'd think, but I have experience with the unorthodox!” She heads off into her workshop, calling behind her. “This shouldn't take long at all, dears! Make yourselves at home and relax a bit. I've already got something in mind!”
I blink and turn to the remaining table occupants as the telltale sounds of Rarity performing what I've come to dub The Sounds of Fashion after my last trip here start to ring out from her work area. “Huh.” I mutter after a moment. “That went a lot better than expected.”
“Then you should be worried.” Trixie says as she leans back in her own chair, rocking it on two hind legs, front hooves gripping the table. “It's quite clear Rarity and Twilight are in cahoots, after all.”
“Oh, not you, too!” Twilight protests. "All I did was recommend the cutie mark thing as a joke!"
"I don't believe you." I say, causing her glance to go from Trixie to myself.
"And why not?" She pouts. "What makes you think I'd actually want to make you look ridiculous?"
I shrug. “Precedent.”
“Well, I don't!”
Trixie leans forward, eyeing Twilight smugly. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”
Twilight blinks then returns her smug look with one of her own. “Or maybe placing all the blame on me is a cover, and you're the guilty one all along, Trixie!”
Trixie gasps theatrically, placing a hoof to her mouth in mock-shock. “Trixie would never do such a thing!” She turns to me, eyes pleading. “Would she, Dusk?”
“Yes.” I answer flatly, crossing my arms over my chest.
Trixie pouts as Rarity's voice resounds from the work room. "Spike, dear, could you come here a moment, please?" She pauses a moment, and then continues. "I could really use a bit of assistance, if you don't mind!"
"Coming, Rarity!" Spike jumps out of his seat, with an obedience and snappiness far above what he normally exhibits for Twilight as he saunters confidently into the other room.
Trixie giggles again, this time more audibly now that its just the three of us in the room. "I just can't get over that!"
"Yeah." The laughter's contagiousness makes its way to Twilight. "Plus, with Spike's love of comic books, I bet he can give Rarity plenty of suggestions on how to make her work look more hero."
I groan and meet her eyes again. "I thought you said weren't up to anything."
“I guess everypony's out to get you, eh, Dusk?” Trixie prods, giving me a mischievous look.
“Yeah.” I reply, darting my eyes between the remaining pair. “With friends like you, who needs enemies?”
“It's not like we'd ever actually do anything that bad, is it?” Twilight asks in a mix of playfulness and skepticism.
“Harlequin. Cannon.” I reply flatly.
“You're still on about that?” She pauses for a minute as we hold each other's gazes, then rolls her eyes. “Oh, fine, I'll go keep an eye on them to be sure you don't end up with Spike's face on your chest this time, alright?” Her question drips with mock-annoyance as she slips out of her chair and makes to leave. “I'm kind of curious what Rarity's up to anyway.”
Silence hangs over the table for a moment as Twilight's hoofsteps fade into the other room, before Trixie finally breaks it. “And then there were two.”
“Don't sound so disappointed about it.” I quip back, prodding her verbally.
“What?” She shrugs. “You're only the most boring pony to be around in the history of ever.”
“Then why do you insist on hanging around me so much?”
She leans back, pressing her front hooves against the table and rocking her chair on its back legs again. “Oh, you know. Figured it'd be a good way to slow down my otherwise hectic life of showmareship.”
“And how'd that turn out for you?”
“Backfired terribly, of course.” She punctuates her statement by resting her front hooves on the table now, essentially mimicking my posture as the front legs of her chair thud against the ground.
I can't help but let out a small laugh, though its quickly cut off from a wince at the pain in my chest. “Good to see you're doing better.”
“Why wouldn't I be?” She asks, eyes glancing over and meeting mine. “I'm not the one with a hole in her chest. Again.”
“Exactly.” It's my turn to shrug my shoulders this time. “I'm used to it, but everyone keeps making such a big fuss over it I've barely gotten a chance to ask how you've been doing.”
“Well, I'm fine.” She replies, but quickly breaks into a large yawn, covering her mouth with a hoof. “Just drained. And restless. Odd mix, really.”
“Restless?” I ask. I can already imagine where the drained part comes from.
“Oh, come on. You're probably already feeling it too, which is the real reason you brought that chestplate with you.” She nods, giving a moment for me to reply that I let pass before continuing. “I feel like we should be out there, traveling Equestria, on some grand adventure to hunt down any missing bits of Jenova now that the main conscience is severed, wipe out any bits of its presence that are left. I mentioned it a bit this morning, but... it just feels wrong, you know? One day we fight the giant space monster from Tartarus and the next we're eating breakfast and having tea.”
I lean back in my chair, stretching my legs out under the table and my hands against its side, taking up Trixie's old position of rocking in it. “Now who's the one with the hero complex?”
“Oh, shut up.” She sighs, tracing her hoof along the rim of her teacup. “I suppose its the natural progression from being a showmare to whatever I am now, but still. It feels useless to just sit around like this and wait.”
“Well, by tonight we'll be carting off to Canterlot and hopefully getting somewhere.” I assure her. “Speaking of, got any idea what Nosy has up her crown yet?”
Trixie sits up, raising an eyebrow. “Why are you asking me?”
“Because, you're supposed to be the smart one while I just swing a big, dumb sword around.” I reply, returning to a more standard sitting position myself. “That's how this whole dynamic is supposed to work, right?”
“I suppose so...” Trixie trails off. “Wait a minute.”
“Think of something?”
“I think so.” She nods. “I was just thinking about the peculiar way Princess Luna talked before leaving again, and had a bit of a realization.”
“Told you that's how the dynamic works.”
“Shut it.” Trixie huffs. “I'm being serious here. She said 'resources', right? Well, do you remember the first few times we met her first-hoof?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “Discounting her mental trespassing, we met her first after the incident on the train, and then in Ponyville, before we went to Canterlot and everything started going nuts.”
She nods in confirmation. “Well, the first time we met her – the train – she ended up taking the infected chupacabra with her back to Canterlot, right?”
“Yeah... she also mentioned having a place to store them.” I add, the gears in my own brain starting to turn. “Oh, boy. What sort of unethical acts of science do you think she's committing up there?” I ask, half-joking, though the use of the word 'resources' is starting to align itself in my mind in a new, slightly dreadful way.
“She did say she was looking for a way to kill Jenova back then, right?” Trixie's brow furrows. “Maybe she found something that lets her push the cells out of hosts.”
I smirk. “Either that, or I'm the next one in line to be put on the dissection table for the sake of scientific advancement. Wouldn't be the first time, after all.”
“That is so unbelievably unfunny in this situation, Dusk.” She shoots me a glower, leaning forward for a moment before backing off. “Though, it is Princess Luna. I doubt she has some sinister shop of horrors going on up there, assuming this is even what she's talking about.”
We fall silent, both stewing in our own thoughts for a minute or two before Rarity's voice calls out from the other room. “Oh, Cloud, dear, I've got a sample for you to try if you'd like to come see!”
I pull myself from my seat, grunting slightly as I use the table to steady myself. “Time to face the fashion.”
Trixie slips herself from her own chair with a grin and leads as we move from the kitchen to the workspace. We're not in the room long before a piece of blue fabric finds itself hurling through the air and landing on my face.
“Put that on, Cloud, would you?” Rarity asks, her glasses set on her face and horn aglow as she leans over a table. “Just doing some finishing touches here.”
I pull the fabric off my face to find, unsurprisingly, a shirt. My shirt, though the golden emblazoning is still present on the chest. “Rarity-”
“Just trust me and do it, Cloud.” She cuts me off sternly, not leaving room for negotiation. I shrug and pull it over my head for now, deciding it to be a battle better fought later. The mass of bandages mess with it slightly, leaving it fitting a bit tighter than I'm used to, but I'll get used to it. I still take a moment to adjust it in that regard, though, doing my best to try and minimize that feeling.
“Happy?” I ask once I'm settled with it, causing her to turn her head.
“Quite!” Her horn's glow intensifies slightly, and a mass of leather I recognize as my original armor levitates its way over to me. “Now this, please.”
I look at it awkwardly for a moment before following instruction, first with the belt piece and then with the shoulders. As I'm settling it on my shoulders, I notice the straps that go over them appear to be evened out and reinforced with leather taken from the straps that used to sheath my sword across my back. Those latter straps aren't particularly useful to me anymore, anyway, due to the size of my current weapon, especially factoring in the cloak, so its not a meaningful loss. The reasoning for the change, however, eludes me until I fix everything the best I can get it and turn to her again.
“And, the finishing touch!” I take a good, honestly stunned look at what she's offering me before finally taking it.
The chestplate is no longer recognizable. Firstly, the color – what was once midnight blue is now a glistening silver, a striking attempt to recreate the color of the Buster Sword's Starmetal, the midnight blue now being born on the armor's ridges and borders in a manner similar to said weapon's hilt. The prominent shoulders are still there... though they've been redone, decidedly larger than before, artistically curved and pointed in a way clearly meant to emphasize style before form. They use other bits of salvaged leather to connect to the remainder of the armor, now a single piece of metal only large enough to cover my breast at best, now flat with only a minimal bit of curvature in contrast to the original piece. This time, thankfully, no cutie mark is plastered to the front.
I turn the piece over in my hands and examine it more closely, seeing further leather harnesses wrapping around to an unguarded back. I orient it and slip it over my head, finding the reinforced pieces of leather from my old armor are working as padding to hold the weight of the new shoulder pieces and potentially protect my shoulders from them if they take an impact. The breast piece neatly covers the emblem that Rarity's emblazoned on my shirt, and some flexing of my arms find my mobility be better than it was in the old plate, if anything. It's still light, which thankfully means it's not irritating my chest as long as I leave a small bit of give in how its secured.
“Hero-y enough for you?” Twilight ribs as I look the final ensemble over.
“Maybe.” I nod, deciding not to bite back this time. Spike gives me a grin and a thumbs up for his part, clearly proud of whatever part he played in the work.
“Here, take a better look.” Rarity says as her horn glows again, this time pulling over a pony-sized full-body mirror from one of the walls. It cuts off my head but its far enough away that I'm still able to get a good look at my shoulders and chest – and I'm thinking this acceptably passes the coolness requirements.
“This is a lot more than I was expecting honestly, Rarity.” I commend her as I give a rap on the chest plate, wincing slightly as I realize the mistake of doing that while wearing it in my condition. The good news is that it at least feels as sturdy as the previous one.
“I've actually got a bit more.” She says, hovering over two more pieces of armor that are styled similarly to the shoulders. “I had dear Spike run back to the library and grab the arm pieces since they'd no longer match the set anyway and had a bit of fun with them.” She takes a moment, fastening them one at a time to either side of my belt, leaving the metal guards resting against my hip and outer thigh on each side. “A bit much?”
“I think I'll keep them.” I reply after looking them over for a minute. “Never really sported something like these before.”
“Excellent!” Rarity beams proudly. “I really did quite outdo myself, after finding just what I could do with the right spells. Twilight's already put some basic magic-retardants on it so you shouldn't need to worry about someone else trying to reshape it while you're wearing it.”
“Shouldn't you have waited to see if I liked it before doing that?”
Rarity's beaming transitions into a knowing grin at my question. “Cloud, dear, I'm a professional. I knew you'd like it on the first go.” She then shrugs, and throws a glance over at Twilight. “And, unlike my other friends, you're decidedly less picky.”
“Here.” Trixie's voice cuts in before Twilight can reply to Rarity's barb, and a familiar red cloak finds itself to be the fabric draped across my face this time. I pull it off to see Trixie walking back into the room, a mischievous grin on her face. “I bet with shoulder guards that large you look super intimidating with that now.”
Good point. I nod and toss the cloak over me, pulling the hood up the way I would wear it while walking through Ponyville. “I think you're right, Trixie.” I need to have Rarity move the mirror further back to get a proper look at it, but the width of the shoulders with the cloak draping over them does indeed make me look strikingly more massive, though now my boots and some of my pants are noticeably exposed through the bottom. Not a big deal, though.
“Don't let being all intimidating get to your head, Sir Broods-a-Lot.” Twilight quips and nudges a hoof against my leg. “We're only just getting used to you not being a giant sourpuss.”
“I'll think about it.”