//------------------------------//
// Showtime 
// Story: Rainbow Dash: Beauty Unleashed 
// by Chrome Masquerade 
//------------------------------//

The party was warming up, buzzing with excitement. Everywhere around the room there were elitist ponies chatting about frivolous things. Rarity was chatting with the host of the party himself, Fancy Pants. They were discussing aboout their respective businesses, the rest of the party guests tuned out. Then suddenly...

The pony at the entrance announced, "Lady Prisma Glow!"

Into the room strode a blue mare wearing a blue dress. She and it were covered with decorative pearlescent rainbows. She walked down the hall with her eyes shut, as if she owned the place. And judging by the reactions of the other high-class ponies, it was working. She stopped to wink at a few gawking stallions, who promptly fainted.

"Who is THAT?!" Fancy Pants queried in awe.

Rarity shook her head. "I-I-I'm not sure. Whoever she is, she looks  marvelous!"

The mare strutted over to the duo. "Good evening, darlings. Prisma Glow. Delighted to make your acquaintance." she said in a smooth Mid-Atlantic accent. "Your friend Rainbow Dash (turns out I'm a distant cousin) found me in Cloudsdale and gave me this." She brandished the pass in her right wing. "She so wanted to come, but said that you thought her too... how you say? Unrefined? Rough? Not fit for the part?" she continued, pretty much shoving Rarity's earlier words in her face. 

She then moved past them to the table that was set out. Taking a glass of the available drink, she sipped at it gingerly. Then she said, "Hmm. Blueberry and currant. With a hint of mint as well. Aged... ten or twelve years, at least. Divine. Quite strong, too."

Fancy Pants said, "You're quite the connoisseusse, madam."

"Why, of course. It's something natural to Pegasi, considering our typically more diverse diet."

Rarity nodded. 'Say what you will about dear Rainbow, she can be an excellent judge of character.' Then she said, "Well, I'm Rarity, I work as a tailor in various locations. Miss Glow-"

"Prisma, if you please."

"Prisma," Rarity amended, "What do you do for a living?"

Not missing a beat, Prisma replied, "Why, I work as a model for madam Soft Touch. You may know of her."

Rarity's smile dropped by a fraction, but she otherwise gave no sign of being perturbed. "Indeed? Judging by that marvelous dress you're wearing, she's quite an artiste."

"Believe me, this is nothing compared to some of her works." Prisma said, nibbling daintily at a few of the foodstuffs that she'd gathered on a plate, balanced on an outstretched wing.

The three began chatting back and forth for a while, trying to learn more about this mysterious mare. Not once did she slip up. The mare was unflappable.

At length, the two nobles walked off to further enjoy the party, bidding the newcomer a civil adieu.

Prisma smiled. Cadence's work was fantastic. Her mind was made up about becoming a model. Of course, she'd have to balance it with her career as a Wonderbolt and her home life, but she was used to juggling personae. She could handle it.

Suddenly, a stallion stepped over to her. "G'dEvEnin' mA'am." he said, clearly having had a bit too much. 

Prisma recoiled from the stench of alcohol on his breath. She fanned in front of her face with one wing to clear the air. "Phew! Darling, you clearly need to be cut off." she said.

"D'ya Wa- *hic!* Nna daNsh?" he continued.

"I think not. Why don't you take a short nap first?" Prisma said. Electricity crackled along one wing. When she touched it to the stallion's chest, his eyes widened for a moment, then he slumped to the floor, out cold.

"Oh, dear!" Prisma said, as if his sudden unconsciousness was no fault of hers. "Usher!" she called out.

A tall stallion with a cutie mark of a pair of boxing gloves stepped over.

"This poor stallion seems to have had a bit too much. Would you please?"

As the cold cocked stallion was escorted from the premises, Prisma took another sip of her own drink.

Suddenly, a group of gryphons (a couple dozen or so) burst through the door. "Alright! Hand over your bits and valuables and no ponies get killed!" 

Prisma rolled her eyes. Brigands. Just... of course.

"Really." she said, loud enough to be heard, "Can't a mare have a good time without having to worry about deplorable rapscallions? Just for one night?"

One of the gryphons said, glaring "What was that?!"

Prisma glared right back. "I said that your presences are not welcome, birdbrain. Hear me now?"

The clear leader of the flock pointed. "Oh, a smart-ass, eh? Men! Shut this pint-sized priss up!"

At once, the gryphons rushed forward, knocking away anypony who was in their path.

"I suppose we'll have to do this the hard way, then." Prisma sighed. "Code 6-1-5-9! Initiate combat mode!"

In an instant, Prisma's dress began to change. the back portion slimmed down, then adjusted to fit over her legs entirely. That done, the dress itself hardened into armour, losing any floofiness that it previously had, though still retaining its colour naturally. The enchantments on the  dress activated fully, granting Prisma increased stats(1) and new abilities.

Transformation sequence done, Prisma said, "It's showtime!" Now THIS was the kind of modelling her previous self could get behind!

As the first assailant swiped at her, she ducked and countered with an uppercut, sending the gryphon flying into a nearby column. The next attempted a diving kick, but that was just as easily countered. The gryphon was slammed into the hard floor. The next two came from opposite sides. A simple jump caused a comical collision between them. Using her elevated ground, Prisma slammed into the next gryphon with her hind hooves, blocking two more and using her enhanced strength to slam them together in midair.

"She's just one pony, you fools!"

Five more gryphons tried to surround her.  A midair sideways cartwheel(2) left the five of them on the floor, groaning in pain.

"Give up, colts?" Prisma taunted, "Or are you hungry enough for another helping?"

From the sidelines, Rarity was watching in awe. Was her competition truly this good with her design?! Was she this badly outmatched?

A gryphon that was guarding the lot of the gathered nobles stepped up. "Hey! Get back in-"

Rarity slapped him aside into a nearby wall. "You're blocking my view!" she exclaimed as she did so.

Once all of his minions were given the smackdown, the leader faceclawed and muttered, "Yare yare daze." then more loudly, "FINE. I'll take matters into my own claws." He walked swiftly toward Prisma, who was ready for him.

The two clashed, matching each other move for move, only occasionally slipping up. As the fight went on, some banter started going. 

"You're pretty good." the gryphon complimented.

"You aren't bad yourself." Prisma replied.

"Name's Greyclaw. So what's your skill level?"

"Name's Prisma Glow. 9th dan, Kung Fu." Prisma replied tersely. "You?"

"10th dan. Leaping Tiger." Greyclaw answered smugly

Prisma switched her stance. finally managing to get a clean hit on the avian assailant.

"I should also mention that I'm trained in Tai Chi, Karate, Judo, Kempone and Origami, just for kicks." Prisma boasted.

Greyclaw chuckled, wiping a bit of blood from his beak. "Not bad." he said, before rushing back into the fight.

The fight raged on for several minutes, the two combatants mixing up their combat styles over time, but eventually Prisma was victorious.

Greyclaw raised his claws in defeat. "I... yield. You... you win." he said, breathing heavily.

He was clocked in the face once more, sending him to the floor. "That was for putting so many tears in my dress." Prisma said gruffly. "Show's over. Code 3-9-1-6."

Her dress returned to normal, actually slowly repairing itself.  "GUARDS!" Prisma called out.

The Canterlot Guard swiftly entered, gathered the beaten bird-boys and took off with them.

Prisma tsked. "The cavalry. Late as always."

With that, she went back to munching on her well-earned snack like nothing had happened at all.





Back at Cadence's cloud studio, Rainbow Dash was regaling Cadence with her tale of last night's proceedings.

"Ya should've seen it!" she exclaimed. "That Greyclaw guy was pretty good. Really good. But the armour mode really gave me the advantage. I wouldn't have been able to take him down without it."

Cadence smiled. "I'm glad. You're welcome."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

When the door was opened, Rarity stepped through.

"RARITY?!" Rainbow exclaimed. "What are YOU doing here?!"

Rarity tut-tutted. "Darling, after that fracas, I thought about it and those moves were definitely yours. So today I tracked your direction and one cloud walking spell later, here I am. Oh. That reminds me."

She turned to Cadence. "Soft Touch, I presume?"

Cadence smiled and shrugged. "Guilty."

Rarity gave a smile of her own. "Would you, perchance, consider.... a merger? With my designs and your enchantments, why, we could create a new wave in the fashion industry! What say you?"

Cadence grinned. "You know? Sounds good to me."