//------------------------------// // A Pleasant Surprise // Story: Dark Souls 2: Rarity's Trials // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// Rarity walked through the darkness that was all around her for what seemed like an eternity, following the strange light that Shalquoir was giving off as she lead the way back to Equus, or rather that was where she assumed the omnipotent cat was taking her. She wasn't as well versed in portal based magic, going from one place to another, but she could have sworn that such an act was supposed to be instant, though since it was Shalquoir leading the way she decided that it was best not to argue and silently followed the cat. Besides, she did not fear the darkness anymore, not when she had conquered the Dark Chasm and claimed the power of the Darklurker, essentially linking herself to the same darkness that Sombra used to install fear into the Crystal Empire, but she had also done so to save the world and not for her own selfish desires. She had become even greater than Sombra had ever been, though she had no idea what sort of reaction she was going to get out of her friends and the Princesses when they learned what she had done. Despite the fact that many would be horrified of her taming the corruptive power of Dark Magic, and hadn't been turned into an evil tyrant or a slave to the powers she wielded, she felt that there were some that would greet her with open arms... or open hooves, since her world was still run by ponies and not creatures like her. "Soul for your thoughts?" Shalquoir asked, snapping Rarity back to reality for a moment, even though her body had been following the cat the entire time while her mind had been thinking about things, despite the fact that it appeared that they hadn't gone anywhere yet. "I've been thinking about my friends and the Princesses," Rarity said, to which Shalquoir nodded her head, as while she had told the cat some specifics about her homeworld she never told her everything, but at the same time she was sure that Shalquoir already knew more about Equus than even she did, "I'm curious as to what they'll say when I tell them about my adventures and the powers I mastered while I was traveling with Edric... and I'm still going to be mad at him for making that decision." "Like I said, Edric was following his heart," Shalquoir commented, though she knew that while Rarity might resent Edric a little for his choice, especially when she would have given herself to save the Age of Fire for some time, she couldn't bare the thought out outright hating her longtime friend and companion, "You know, a good friend of mine has told me a little bit about your homeworld and the creatures that live in it, so I'm a little interested in meeting these Princesses of yours for myself while I'm there. Besides, I felt the vibrations when a certain someone ascended and I've been meaning to see what's been going on, because it almost seems like I might have an actual job again." "Oh?" Rarity inquired, as she had figured that Shalquoir was a god of some sort, since she was omnipotent and could tell when a creature was defeated, could tell them what certain items were, and could whisper names to her while they were in different parts of the world, "And here I thought that you were a simple shopkeeper. Tell me, what sort of job does someone like you generally do?" "Oh, I used to watch over a section of our entire universe for a time," Shalquoir stated, though her tone said that she wasn't joking, despite the fact that she said that statement as if she was discussing the weather or something similar to that effect, "the Eastern section, actually. Though since I've been ignoring that I'm pretty sure that Red has been watching his section and my section since I went 'missing' all those years ago... pretty sure I'll have to make that up to him, if we cross paths again. I wonder if Eon's still watching the Southern section of the universe, or if he backed away like I did..." It was at that point that Rarity was lost, because while she could follow the fact that Shalquoir was a god, especially one that apparently watched over a good portion of their universe and came to Drangelic because she was bored of her existing life, she wasn't ready for the knowledge that there were others like her, three if she was counting correctly. That made her wonder what had caused the omnipotent cat to grow tired of her previous life and take up residence in Majula, of all places, but after a few moments she decided that it wasn't worth thinking about. Instead she turned her mind back to her home, her friends, and her family, because now that her adventure with Edric was over she realized how much she missed what she had left behind. She was going to be happy when she returned to Equus and took up dress making again, because while the life of an adventurer had been interesting, somewhat fun, and some times horrifying considering what she had seen, she longed to go back to what she knew... and a part of her would likely be longing for a good fight again, something that she would have to curve when she got back home. Despite all of her thoughts, however, she knew that life in Ponyville, much less the rest of Equus, was never going to be the same for her, not when she had a completely different form than the majority of their world and had powers that were unlike anything she had when she went through the mirror the first time. That also made her wonder where in Equus she was going to come out, as she wondered if she was going to walk out of the crystal mirror and appear in Twilight's library, or if she was going to appear in her own bedroom, or maybe someplace different. Her thoughts were then interrupted when a light appeared at the end of the darkness, one that almost looked like sunshine, though at the same time Shalquoir turned back and smiled at her... but the look in her eyes told Rarity everything that she needed to know, as they had reached their destination. Rarity smiled as they reached the portal shaped doorway, identical to the one they had used to enter this dark tunnel, and watched as her companion walked through it, to which she braced herself and passed through the magical portal that stood in front of her. A few seconds later Rarity appeared in an area that wasn't the dark tunnel she had been walking through, rather, when she blinked her eyes and took in the familiar sights around her, she found herself standing on the worn out road that had taken her and the girls to the Castle of the Two Sisters, where they first found the Elements of Harmony. Directly in front of her, looking exactly like how she remembered it, was Ponyville, a sight that brought some tears to her eyes, as for a time she honestly thought she would never see her home again. At first she believed that this was the same place that she had departed from, and sure enough part of that observation was correct, but the major difference that she wasn't expecting was that the first person she spotted wasn't a pony, rather it was a pony girl much like herself. The girl in question happened to be standing off to the side, practicing in what appeared to be a practice area of sorts, but the coloration of her skin and hair, in addition to the fact that she was smaller than Rarity was, revealed that it had to be none other than Scootaloo... and she was flying through the air, without any wings to speak of. Rarity was immediately interested in this development, as when she headed through the mirror Scootaloo had been a pegasus and not a pony girl, and yet the evidence before her eyes suggested that something had happened during the time she had been gone, so she started walking over to the practice area so she could see what was going on. As she got closer to the practice area she noticed that Scootaloo was wearing a pair of shorts and a shirt, which made sense because of the change her body had gone through, though at the same time she appeared to be fighting someone that was the same height as her, someone that wasn't Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle. The girl in question, having the same body as Scootaloo, had teal colored skin, while at the same time her hair and tail were dark green colored and had some orange streaks added in. For some odd reason Scootaloo's new friend reminded her about Rainbow Dash and Applejack, just a tiny bit, but what caught her attention was the fact that the girl loosed a ball of energy at Scootaloo, who responded by calling upon the wind itself to cut the attack in half, before the two of them clashed in the middle of the area they were fighting in once more. While that happened she heard the sound of some girls cheering the duo on, where she found Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, both possessing an identical body to what Scootaloo had and were wearing proper clothing, standing nearby as they cheered both Scootaloo and a 'Gale Wind' on. Suffice to say that Rarity was interested in what was going on, and what happened since she had left Ponyville, to which she stepped out into the practice area and caused the fight to stop when all four of the girls noticed that she was standing there... and one of them was extremely happy to see her again. "RARITY!" Sweetie shouted in joy, to which she raced through the air, shocking Rarity with the fact that her younger sister was able to fly like Scootaloo and the other girl, before tackling her and wrapped her arms around her chest, though that only caused Rarity to smile as she embraced her sister. "I don't believe it, Rarity's back!" Scootaloo said, to which she turned towards Apple Bloom, once more surprising Rarity by the fact that Applejack's sister was now floating in the air as well, as that was something that hadn't been a thing when she was last here, "Gale and I are going to get Rainbow and the others. Apple Bloom, you go get Applejack." "Right." Apple Bloom replied, to which she turned in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres and started flying towards her destination, while at the same time Scootaloo and Gale, as that was the other girl's name apparently, headed for Twilight's castle, leaving Rarity with Sweetie Belle and Shalquoir. "What is the world happened? I was only gone for..." Rarity started to say, only for her to realize that she had absolutely no idea how long she had been missing, to which she turned towards Shalquoir for a moment, "Say, how long have I been missing from my homeworld?" "About a year," Shalquoir replied, though at the same time she shrugged, which was weird to see a cat do, indicating that it was best not to think about the time difference, "all I can say is that two to three weeks in Drangelic equals nearly a year here, and that's not giving you the exact number of days or anything." It was then that Rarity realized that she had never bothered to keep track of the days in Drangelic, as the sun and the moon never seemed to move and each area seemed to be different from the last, to which she decided to ignore that fact and focused on her sister. One thing she noticed, save for the fact that there were more like her than she originally thought, was that she could detect the power inside her sister, indicating that something must have awoken her inner potential while she was gone, which is what happened to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. She wasn't sure who Gale Wind was, as she didn't remember meeting someone like that, but she could sense that the girl was already powerful for her age and wondered what she had missed in the year she had been gone... and hoped that someone could explain to her all the changes that she had seen so far. "R... Rarity?" Sweetie asked, causing Rarity to look at her sister, who was crying tears of joy at the moment, meaning that she had missed Rarity since she walked through that mirror and likely had to live somewhere else to make sure that she got to school and had something to eat. "It's okay Sweetie Belle, I'm here," Rarity said, though that was when she made sure that Sweetie Belle was fine and wiped the tears from her eyes, while at the same time being overjoyed to be back home, "I'm sorry for any pain and suffering I caused you. I only meant to be gone a few days, and yet it turns out that it's been almost a year..." "There she is!" a familiar voice said, to which Rarity and Sweetie looked up and noticed that Rainbow Dash, wearing some clothing that reminded Rarity of that monk type fighter that the Looking Glass Knight summoned to fight her and possessed what was apparently the new form they were all wearing, landed nearby... only she wasn't alone. Rarity watched as familiar faces arrived in the area that Sweetie and the girls had been training in, where she noticed that all of them had the same body type she did, though while Applejack was wearing the same clothing as Rainbow, just colored differently, she still wore her hat on her head. Pinkie Pie landed nearby, where she appeared to possess wings of light that folded up into a robe as the light went away, revealing that she wore some ancient suit of armor that looked practical and somewhat stylish. Scootaloo, Gale, and Apple Bloom were the next ones to arrive, though they were all smiling as they looked at the sight that was in front of them, because they knew that Sweetie had been devastated when Rarity disappeared and was overjoyed to have her back. That was before Twilight landed near the group, allowing Rarity to take in the unique godly like attire she was wearing and the earrings that were attached to her ears, along with the fact that her energy seemed stronger than ever. Before she could actually say anything two more figures appeared near Twilight, though despite the fact that both of them were wearing something different, and their energies were on a whole new level than when she had last seen them, Rarity knew that they were none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Princess Celestia happened to be wearing some sort of black cuirass with some golden yellow clothing under it, and she happened to be carrying a staff of some kind, which confused Rarity a little bit. Princess Luna, on the other hand, was wearing a royal dress, modeled after the night itself, that made her look more like the princess that she was, while the metallic pieces of her attire, which was all she had worn when she was a pony, had been modified to fit her new body. Rarity thought that someone was going to say something at that point, but then she quickly understood why they were being silent, as the last member of the group had arrived and had landed beside Princess Celestia. Rarity remembered hearing, from Discord of course, that Sunset Shimmer was the first pony to have been 'blessed' with this new form that they were all sporting, though as she walked forward Rarity noticed that her attire looked more like what a god would wear... and her energy was off the charts, revealing that Discord hadn't been lying when he said that Sunset was a god, as Rarity could confirm that for herself. "Rarity... it's good to have you back." Twilight said, to which she and the other girls moved forward and embraced Rarity, though before that happened Sweetie moved out of the way so her sister could be embraced by her friends, "I was worried that something terrible might have happened to you while you were 'exploring' whatever world you ended up being sent to." "I'm sorry for worrying all of you," Rarity replied, though at the same time the girls backed away so they didn't crush her, but she smiled at them as she reached into her pack and withdrew the spellbook that Shalquoir had helped her put together over her journey, "Twillight, this is for you. It's a tome that contains every known spell from the land of Drangelic, which is where my adventure took place, and I know that you might find something in there of interest." Sure enough Twilight's eyes widened at the prospect of learning more spells, especially those from a different world that she might be able to learn on her own, though the look on her friend's face was exactly what she was hoping for, as she had missed seeing that look in Twilight's eyes. Even as that happened, however, there was one thing that Rarity knew that she needed to tell her friends, especially since they occasionally visited the Crystal Empire and no doubt recalled a certain someone that was supposedly destroyed. "However, that book doesn't contain everything I learned," Rarity continued, causing the group to look at her, where she noticed that everyone was actually in front of her now and that there was no one behind her, before she glanced towards the Princesses and braced herself, "Here, allow me to demonstrate what I mean." Rarity closed her eyes for a moment and focused her mind, accessing the other power that rested inside her body, where she felt the wisps of Dark Magic flow out of her eyes as her connection to the darkness was brought to the surface, though at the same time she heard some gasps... but when she opened her eyes she was pleased to find that no one was actually horrified of what she had done. "No way..." Twilight said, to which she stepped forward and walked around Rarity, taking in the fact that, while her eyes took on the same appearance that Sombra's had when he channeled Dark Magic, her aura didn't give off an evil or dark vibe like the tyrant's did, "Rarity... I'm at a loss for words... did you master Dark Magic during your adventure?" "No darling, I didn't master the art of using Dark Magic," Rarity replied, as she knew that there was so much more to learn about this type of magic and she had barely scratched the surface, though the only one that could potentially teach her any additional spells had been destroyed by the Crystal Heart, "rather, it's more like I have a connection to the darkness. I first awoke this power when my friend, Edric, and I faced off against a knight called the Pursuer, who ended up killing us a few times before our final battle, and my hatred towards the powerful foe eventually sparked a reaction inside me, one that resulted in my first taste of Dark Magic. Since that moment I used Dark Magic only for the safety of the land I had found myself in and never one did I even consider trying to take over Drangelic, and my control over the darkness has only improved since then... and it's had some rather interesting effects, something that I'll have to show you later." "Still, you have to show me how you did this." Twilight stated, to which Rarity smiled as she saw the old part of Twilight that never went away, the part of her that was always interested in studying new things and learning more about the various types of magic that their word possessed. "I, too, am interested in how you tamed the Dark Magic you have unlocked," Luna added, as it wasn't every day that a new Dark Magic user, in the form of one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, suddenly appeared, much less one that commanded that type of magic without being consumed by it, "Perhaps we should discuss it in the future... after you have told all of us about your adventure in this Drangelic." Rarity nodded, as she was sure that everyone was interested in hearing about her adventure, but at the same time she turned towards Princess Celestia and waited to hear what she had to say, because she could easily criticize her or punish her for unlocking the power to control Dark Magic. After all, the only other pony that had access to Dark Magic was Sombra and he had been destroyed, freeing the Crystal Empire from him and his reign of terror, but she guessed she was going to have to wait and see what the Princess did to her. "I knew one day I would meet a pony that used Dark Magic for good, rather than for evil," Celestia said, to which she chuckled for a moment, as she found something to be humorous about this whole situation, causing Rarity to raise an eyebrow as she worried for her safety, "imagine my surprise when that pony happens to be one of the Elements of Harmony, who used it to save someplace from a threat. Rarity, I congratulate you on being the first pony to actively use Dark Magic for good and not become corrupted in the process... and you can continue your studies of the subject, if you so desire." Rarity was not expecting Princess Celestia to say something like that, especially since Twilight had only used Dark magic the one time in the Crystal Empire and that was the end of that type of magic for her, but she nodded her head and wondered if it was possible for her to even teach someone about Dark Magic. At the same time Sweetie Belle and her friends started pulling her towards Twilight's castle, as they wanted to hear the adventure she had been on, while at the same time Rainbow clearly wanted to see what she could do now that she had returned. Pinkie, of course, was already planning a party for her return, which she was eagerly looking forward to, while Applejack simply smiled and walked beside them. Fluttershy, she soon discovered, was off visiting her parents and wouldn't return for a few days, though when she got back Pinkie intended on throwing the party then, so that way they could all enjoy it together. Sunset stayed behind for a few seconds, staring up at the sky for a moment, before she joined the group, where they all listened to Sweetie and her friends talking about the surprises they wanted to show Rarity now that she was back. When Rarity glanced back towards where she had been standing earlier, however, she discovered that Shalquoir had already disappeared, heading off to whatever world or reality she was supposed to be in after Drangelic, to which she silently thanked the omnipotent cat and turned towards the castle... as she had a story to tell and she was sure that her friends were interested in hearing all about what she had to do to survive, and what sort of powers she discovered along the way.