//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Girl's Best Friend // by Bookpony579 //------------------------------// Nighttime in Canterlot was beautiful. The city lights against the dark sky gave the city an air of magic to it. Even on a boat just outside the city, two sailors couldn't help but admire the view. "City does sure look nice from here, don't ya think?" One of the fishermen asked his friend. "Yup! Just like a giant disco ball." They continued to look out at the city from the simple wooden boat. They had decided to do a little night fishing before heading home but found themselves entranced by the view of the city from their spot on the river. Their bait case shone brightly in the moonlight. The two men were so entranced by the sight they they almost didn't notice that the water was getting choppy until one of them almost lost their balance. "Woah! What the heck?!" While peaceful and steady mere moments ago, the river was now running rampant now as waves spilled huge amounts of water into the boat. Both fishermen were struggling to chug it out, keep their equipment from falling over, and keep themselves from falling in all at the same time. "What in the world is going on here!?" They were both so busy, they failed to notice a large dark shape forming below the surface. Suddenly a shadow fell over them and the two fishermen looked up to see a giant purple claw sticking up from the water. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" As they screamed like little girls, the hand reached over, plucked up the shiny bait box, and went back down below. The dark shape disappeared and after a few moments, the water settled down and all was as it was before....aside from the two freaked out men and their missing bait. "W-WHAT WAS THAT!?" "I don't know....but that thing stole all out bait!" The fisherman could only give his friend a flat look. "Really? We could have died and your worried about bait?" "What? It was quality bait! Now how are we supposed to catch something?" His friend could only facepalm before rowing them back to shore. They next day brought out a beautiful morning... almost as beautiful as Rarity herself. After a night of well-deserved beauty sleep, she shut off her alarm clock and stretched gracefully before starting her daily ritual of beautification to prepare her for the day. Hair perfectly styled? Check. Make-up properly applied? Check. Gorgeous outfit that she herself designed? Check. After a quick look over in the mirror, Rarity decided she was ready to grace the world with her presence. She grabbed her backpack and went right down to breakfast, where she found the rest of her family already waiting for her, as always. "Well look who's finally up! Good morning sunshine!" Her father, Hondo Flanks, greeted her cheerfully. He was a man of about average height with the same pale skin as his daughters. His brown hair was topped by his favorite straw hat. As always, his mustache had bits of food stuck in it. "Good morning father. Good morning mother. Good morning Sweetie." Rarity greeted each in turn as she sat down...only for her eyes to widen at the array of burnt food laid before her. "Err...what is this?" "Isn't it great? Your little sis got up early and made breakfast all by herself today! Those lessons I've been givin' her have really been paying off!" Her mother, Cookie Crumbles, beamed with pride for her younger daughter. She was a woman of plus size proportions along with pink skin and purple hair styled in a beehive. Like her husband, they shared Rarity's blue eyes. "Oh..really?" "Yup!" Sweetie Belle nodded, her pink and purple curls bouncing. "I decided to show you guys how good I've been getting. So..what do you think?" She looked at her sister, eagerly awaiting her answer. Rarity eyed the...food?...skeptically. "I didn't know you could burn applesauce." She said, eyeing a bowl of burned liquid. "That's toast!" Sweetie corrected her sister cheerfully, not seeing Rarity's disgust. "I see..." Rarity couldn't decide what made less sense: that someone could actually mange to burn every breakfast item on the table, or that her parents actually seemed to enjoy her sister's cooking. "Well...um...as much as I'd love to try this...delectable meal...I'm afraid I promised to...meet my friends before class!" Rarity grinned nervously. "But what about breakfast?" Cookie asked. "Oh I'll pick up something along the way. Come along Sweetie!" After bidding their parents farewell, the sister made their way to Rarity's car and were off to school. After picking up a bagel and some tea, Rarity and Sweetie Belle arrived at Canterlot High, ready to start the day. As Rarity walked to her locker, it was hard not to notice the stares of admiration she got from many students, boys and girls alike. When Rarity flipped her perfectly curled hair, a student fainted. Rarity took these stares in stride, as she was used to getting them from people. As she opened her locker, several notes fell out and onto the floor. "More love notes?" Rarity turned and smiled when she saw Sunset Shimmer. "Oh yes darling, this happens from time to time." Together they gathered up the various confessions of love and Rarity put them away to reply to later. "Must be nice always having people admire you." Sunset said in good nature. "Oh trust me darling, it's not all it's cracked up to be." Rarity sighed, remembering the various heartbroken expressions of people she had politely declined. Rarity closed her locker and was about to walk away when... *Wham! She and Applejack collided straight on and AJ's coffee was spilled all over Rarity's nice outfit. "Whoops! Sorry Rares!" AJ apologized. "My outfit is ruined!" Rarity despaired over her sullied clothes. "It ain't that bad! Here, let me help.." AJ began to go near her. "No thank you!" Rarity declined sharply and made the motion to push Applejack away when.... *Whoosh* "Whoooooaaaa!" ...A large diamond-like shield popped up from her hands and pushed AJ all the way down the hall before disappearing. AJ ended up slamming into some lockers and was fine aside from some dizziness from the impact. Rarity and Sunset just stood there, not believing what they just saw. "Rarity...did you..?" Rarity just blink and looked down at her perfectly manicured hands in wonder. "D-did I just do...whatever that was?"