//------------------------------// // Fine Crystal // Story: Chronicles of the Spectrum // by Blue_Thunder //------------------------------// With nothing to go on, as Rainbow didn't know the full extent of Rarity's gift, she was well and truly stumped. Until something during the week caught her eye... In the food line, the friends were getting their lunches. On their way back to the table, they laughed about one of the more recent comments to the video Rainbow made about Twilight's debut. When they sat down, Rarity slipped and knocked over her plasticware, sending it hurtling to the floor. No one noticed until it already hit. Surprised, Rarity looked at it, then at her food. "Hey girls..." she started. "I dropped my fork." "Want me to get you a new one?" Sunset offered. "No no, that's quite alright." Her hand lit a bright blue as a shiny object materialized in her grasp. It was a new fork made from Rarity's gift. "I have extra." "Hold up," Rainbow said. "What... What was that just there?" She pointed at the new utensil. "You can just... make things now?" "But of course. I've been making thimbles with my talent since I got back from Camp Everfree. Turns out, the creations are very durable. And they only go away if they somehow break, or I stop focusing. And having a lot on my plate at any given time means I can split my focus an impressive number of ways." Sunset looked at Rarity. "That is impressive." "Oh, but don't get me wrong. I do have limits." "Want to find out what they are?" Rainbow asked. "I think I just figured out what your debut's gonna be." The others looked at her in suspense. "Rarity's going to make as many things as she can, until she can't any more. All for a dinner date for Twilight and Timber." "We have plans to go out on sunday, since I'm not in a video this week," Twilight offered. "Then we'll just act like it's a set up for your dinner date. We won't even use names. Just "Our friend and her boyfriend". No one really needs to know the names of people off camera, anyway." Rainbow waved her hand before her. "Fine." Rarity accepted. "But where?" "That's... a good question. We can't rent a restaurant, can we?" Pinkie spoke up from her lunch. "I could see if the Cakes are willing to offer theirs sunday night. Maybe they'll call in a favor later?" "Excellent! Thank you, Pinkie! I'll even help clean up afterward. Won't take but a few seconds anyway." Rainbow nearly speed-ate her lunch. "Calm down there, speedster. Are ya even chewin'?" Aj asked. "At least a dozen times. Gotta go. Later!" She stood up and booked it out of the cafeteria. Sunset shook her head. "That girl needs more chill." ~~~~~~~~~ At her house... "Alright." Rainbow went and sat down in front of her camera on a tripod. "The day is wednesday, and it's after school. I'm at home. I think my friends don't trust in my plan. Despite me telling them it'll be fine. And..." She leaned in to the lens. "Stay out of my head, Sunset!" Rainbow reached up and turned off the camera. ~~~~~~~~~ The week progressed as normal as it could. They did a rehearsal dinner at Rarity's request. And they nailed it first try. On recording night... "-lready turning it on?" Sunset asked. "Because, I don't want to miss anything cool. Rarity gets to make things with her magic. Her power's the only one that allows for total creativity." "Thank you, darling," Rarity said. "Though... between the two plates, the 6 utensils, both cups, two bowls and the chandelier above, I'm just thankful it's only for a few minutes. That said, I could keep these going for hours, but I like to be conservative." "No prob, Rarity. It'll be completed soon." Rainbow thumbs upped her camera. "Still... All this effort for a few minutes' worth of footage. What is that really worth?" Sunset tried. "I told you plenty of times already. We get to show off. Is there an echo in here? We are doing this to show off and get away with it. Just wait until yours. You'll have fun with it. Promise." Sunset was quiet, and looked at the table. "Alright, Rarity. Rainbow. You two ready?" ~~~~~~~~~ Sunset was already at the table, in serious thought. It was an uncovered table, and rather plain, besides. "Sunset walked around the table, and the camera circled the other way, keeping an eye on her. She stopped at a chair and sat down. "I'm going to die of old age if she makes me wait any longer." The bell to the restaurant rang, and a familiar, "Sunset darling~" echoed into the room. "Sorry I'm late, I had a lot of last minute stitching to do on the drama club's new outfits." "Oh, that's alright, really. I'm just glad you came." Sunset stood and walked to Rarity. She took some pieces of cloth from Rarity's armload and set them on the counter. "I didn't explain why, so thanks again." "Of course, my dear. If you need a table cloth, you need only ask." She looked at the empty table. "Why are we here again?" "Timber asked us to set up a secret dinner for him and Twilight. He wants to make it special. But, since literally everyone else is busy with their own lives, it's just you and me." "Glad to help where I can." She tossed the pair of cloths in her arms to the table beside her. "This one is lightly decorated with red sequins with a white base, but I imagine they want green and purple." Rarity dug through the pile and pulled out one that matched her requirements. "And oh look. It even has little stars on it. Perfect." "Perfect is right." Sunset helped to dress the table. "Oh, almost forgot." She went to the counter and got a box of various effects. Then, she placed it on the table. "What... is that?" "A box of plates and cups and such. What, you expect them to eat with their fingers?" "Well, no. But... plasticware?" "They don't have metal here. Even the plates are made of hard paper." Sunset set some stuff on the tablecloth. "It's all they had." "Well, I'm sorry. But it's not good enough." Rarity grabbed the cloth and gave it a solid pull. Easily... she knocked everything off, including the red solo cups. "That... went differently in my mind... All the same, I won't have my friend and her... other friend, have dinner with plasticware." She reset the cloth after Sunset cleared it off. Sunset looked dead at the camera and gave a smile. "Pay attention. This is important." With her hand raised, she created crystal plates and cups. 2 of each. "Much better." "How'd you do that?" Sunset asked, dropping the box of stuff to the floor. She examined the plate and tested it. "It's a solid piece. No cracks, divots or dips. Perfectly balanced, too. Good thickness for a plate. That's incredible, Rarity!" "Oh, please. I'm just getting started. Instead of eating with their fingers, they will eat with these." Another wave of her hand created crystal forks, spoons, and knives beside the plates. "Eating with fine crystal is far better than eating with breakable plasticware. It just looks tacky, too." Sunset set the plate down and looked close at the utensils. "Each one's got a gem in the handle." "Still crystal though. I can make them whatever color I please. Just, light blue is the easiest to make." Rarity held up the knife. "The knife has a red crystal." She pointed to the spoon. "Deep blue for the spoon," then the fork, "and wild green for the fork." "That's ama-" "Oh, but I'm not done. Let's set the mood, shall we?" Rarity held up both hands and created a crystal chandelier with dozens of individual crystals over the hanging light fixture. She wiped her brow and placed her hands on her hips. "Now that's a setting worthy." Sunset stood there with an open maw. "That's fantastic! How did you- where did you- How are you doing that?" "Is that why your face is like that?" Rarity chuckled. "Magic, my dear. Magic." Sunset tossed up both hands. "Alright, you don't have to tell me. I'm just glad that however you did it, you did it." ~~~~~~~~~ The next day... "You told me you weren't using names!" Twilight said. "I know! I forgot, alright?" Rainbow tried to apologize. "On the brighter side, clean up took less time than I expected. Didn't even need to do the dishes because Rarity just... made them disappear." Rainbow put her phone to sleep and placed it in her jacket pocket. "A wave of the hand is a simple task." Rarity ate with her new crystal fork. "And you felt no strain at all?" Sunset asked. Rarity shook her head. "That's good to hear." She turned to Rainbow. "You said I'd have fun with my video. What's it about?" "You. Your power. And a doubting farmer." Rainbow looked at Aj. "Ah'm up then, huh?" Rainbow nodded. "Hope y'all can get to the farm lickety split, 'cause Ah got little time otherwise." "Not a problem. I'm the fastest girl alive. And tons of energy to spare." Pinkie looked at Rainbow. "That means that I'm after Aj, right? And that you get to help me with my talent, right?" "That's right. But, we're a couple weeks before you get your turn. Sorry Pinkie." "Not a problem."