//------------------------------// // 136 Gemcutter's Promise // Story: Continuity Disrupted // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// “Come on, Rarity!” Applejack yells, her green-booted hoof banging on the ornate door of one of Canterlot Castle’s finer suites. “Ah didn’t get dressed in this fancy get-up of yours just for you to skip out on attending! They might take off without us!” “NO!” comes the deranged call from inside, accompanied by the sounds of what might be a dresser falling over and scattering its contents to the corners of the room. “I’m not ready! More importantly, Twilight’s dress isn’t ready!” Applejack grits her teeth as her hoof resumes its futile pounding. “You’ve been working on that dress since we got here this morning! It ain’t gonna get any better!” “Oh, dear…” Rarity’s muttering is barely intelligible through the door. Though it probably wouldn’t make a difference if they were standing next to her. “I knew I should have been working on Twilight’s dress instead of going to that ridiculous charity auction, even if I did help sell a good number of those items for far more than they were worth… it was for charity, right? And then the party, and the other party, and the sporting events, and the...” Applejack huffs as she glances back at Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Each is dressed in a Rarity designed winter ensemble, crafted to keep a pony warm and yet still show off as many curves as possible. On top of that they each have on a thick jacket, hat, and scarf. Just in case, of course. But, rumor has it that the Prince is a bit of a masochist, and his airship, the Lunaris Priestess - despite being quite adaptable and easily modifiable - will not be outfitted with equipment capable of warming the entire outdoor garden party, and snuggle distance around the Royal Space Heater herself will be hotly contested. Applejack bangs on the door again, “Rarity! This is your last warning! Don’t make me drag you out of there myself!” The wood splinters under her assault, the creak and groan of the metal barely audible over the heavy reverberations. “Because Ah will!” “Applejack,” Fluttershy whispers, “I don’t know if you should keep doing that. I think the door is open.” “So help me,” Applejack shouts, heedless of the warning, “Ah’ll-” The hinges give way, Applejack’s eyes going wide as the entire door collapses inwards. She half stumbles, half walks forwards, ending with her standing on top as dust settles around her. Three other ponies crowd into the room, eager to help their herdmate get a move on. Pieces of fabric are scattered every which way next to the toppled dresser, a soaking Opalescence sits shivering on the bed, and Rarity is crouching protectively in front of a ponnequinn upon which rests a very plain yellow dress with a single pink ribbon tied along the neck. “No!” Rarity hisses, swiping a hoof at the four ponies entering the room. “Don’t come any closer!” “Opal!” Fluttershy cries, charging forward to the bed. She scoops up the vengeful kitty, bracing herself against the chill of the cold cat as she slips her inside the jacket. She whirls, eyes narrowing as she advances on the white unicorn. “Rarity!” she admonishes, “I thought you were taking care of Opal! She’s going to catch a cold if you leave her like this!” “Oh... I know,” Rarity admits, though she doesn’t leave her spot in front of the dress. “But I was invited to this really fancy dinner party, and-” “Hey!” interjects Pinkie Pie, “I invited you to a really fancy dinner party! But you said you were too busy to go, because you were invited to come host a charity auction!” She squats down, pouting as she crosses her forelegs in front of her. “You can’t tell me you actually went to that dinner party as well!” “Well, yes,” Rarity reluctantly nods, “But-” “Hey!” Applejack interrupts, “Ah wanted to go to one of them charity auctions with you, but you turned me down! So Ah went by myself, but everypony else kept bidding up the prices to exorbitant levels! Was that you up there, making everypony so interested in every dusty little knick-knack and keepsake?” “Well, I don’t mean to boast, but I can be quite convincing if there is the need.” Rarity wipes off a piece of imaginary dust from her coat. “Such as at the Wonderbolts Derby, where everypony thought that Rapidfire would win, but I-” “Hey!” shouts Rainbow Dash, “I invited you to the Wonderbolts Derby!” She flaps higher, folding her forelegs across her chest and glaring down. “I couldn’t even bet on Fleetfoot to win because we left all our bits in here! ” “You would have bet all our bits on a race?” Applejack says, turning her glare on Rainbow Dash. “It’s not a bet if it’s for sure,” Rainbow Dash retorts. “After sprinting against each of them I knew who was the fastest! Well, I never got to race against Fleetfoot, or Rapidfire for that matter, but I know their times like the back of my hoof!” “Excuse me,” Pinkie Pie says, pronking in between the earth pony and pegasus, “It’s Rarity we should be united against, not each other!” “...Yeah!” Applejack shouts, glaring at Rarity again. “Yeah!” echoes Rainbow Dash, spinning in midair. “How come you didn’t want to go to the Wonderbolts Derby with me?” Rarity shakes her head, stammering a little, “Well, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to go with you, Rainbow Dash, because I did, it’s just that I got invited to go to the Wonderbolts Derby with a very prestigious group of ponies, and I could hardly have said no to them, now could I?” “It’s easy!” Pinkie Pie says, pronking up and down. “All you have to do is look the pony in the eye-” she reaches over, grabbing Rarity and forcing her head next to the white unicorn’s, her eyes bugging out “-and tell them N-... Nnn…” Pinkie Pie rapidly breathes in and out, covering Rarity with condensing water vapor. “Nnnn-ot aproblem I’dlovetocometoyourparty ohIcan’tdoit!” Pinkie Pie breaks down, sobbing as she hugs Rarity for dear life. “There, there,” Rarity reassures the despondent mare, trying to keep her composure as the tears gush over her. “See? It can be very hard to tell somepony no.” She sighs heavily. "And I suppose I shouldn't have avoided going to each of those functions with all of you. I thought that I would be looked down upon and shunned because I'm just a common pony from Ponyville and that by distancing myself from you I might be able to keep that illusion going." "Ah hate to break it to ya," Applejack says with a snort, jabbing Rarity in the side, "but you are a common pony from Ponyville. Sooner you learn to not let that bother you, the better." “Th-that’s right,” Pinkie Pie says, slowly recovering. “Okay, Rarity. I totally forgive you for going to a party with a whole bunch of fancy schmancy ponies just so that you could increase your social standing with them in the kinda sorta vain but also kinda sorta ‘doing it for the business’ mindset so that you could increase your sales and popularity and have your Gala dresses and all your other dresses featured and worn by everypony not because you helped save Equestria and Princess Luna by defeating Nightmare Moon but because you’re a really good fashion designer and you deserve that kind of recognition!” Pinkie Pie takes a huge breath in, just as large a breath out, then breaks into a beaming smile at a gaping, head-cocked-to-the-side Rarity. “Right,” Rainbow Dash adds, vaguely motioning at Pinkie Pie. “What she said. Can we go now?” She groans as Rarity pulls out a thin yellow dress and a giant floppy hat, spending several long seconds staring at herself in the mirror and making token adjustments. “We need to move, lickety-split!” Applejack glances over at Fluttershy and the white ball of fluff in her hooves. “You too, Fluttershy!” “Aww,” Fluttershy coos, trying to appear far more interested in Opal than she is. “But Opal needs me to stay with her. She doesn’t want me to go up on that big scary airship, meeting all those ridiculously pompous and arrogant nobles, just paraded around like a peacock.” Her eyes light up. “Actually, do you know if there are any peacocks going?” “Ah’m sure they’ll be more puffed up personas than you can shake a stick at.” Applejack glances back as Rarity and Fluttershy move to the door. “Sure you ain’t forgetting something, Rares?” “Oh, this?” Rarity says with a nervous chuckle, levitating Twilight's yellow dress over. “I was just, erm, well…” She skips forward, laying the dress across her back, “Off we go!” “Ah hope Trixie’s doing okay with the foals,” Applejack remarks, glancing towards Ponyville. “Ah can only imagine the kind of trouble they’re all getting into, with us responsible mares not there to keep a lid on things.” In Ponyville, on top of the Carrot House, lays one mare, one dragon, four young mares, two fillies and a colt. The blankets they each have wrapped around them have morphed to a mound of sorts, the ponies underneath cuddling together in one large pile, oblivious to the world. “Without me?” Pinkie Pie challenges, “Pssh! They’re probably all asleep.” “Ah knew it!” exclaims Applejack, pointing an accusatory hoof at Pinkie Pie. “You’re the reason Ah can never have a nice, quiet, low key party where we can just relax!” Pinkie Pie smiles, standing up on two legs and splaying her forelegs off to the sides, shrugging. The five head towards the Sky Docks, located a bit of a hike away from the city center. Applejack chances a look off the edge, immediately regretting her decision as the dizzying drop down the mountainside threatens to send her teetering off the edge. At least there are guardrails that she can steady herself on. Miles of guardrails, actually, many intricately crafted to blend in to their surroundings if viewed from outside. Completely contrary to Cloudsdale, where the underlying, if unspoken, assumption is that everypony can fly and everypony that can't doesn't really belong. Similar to Cloudsdale, though, are the pegasi guards stationed to watch for any ponies that might miss their step, as well as pegasi patrolling the skies, the unicorns along the ground watching for any ponies getting their salt on a little too early. Dozens of lights illuminate the Priestess, the grand balloon blending into the night sky. A series of extensions along the bottom have been added to support a large platform, upon which dozens of extremely well dressed ponies are already congregating. At the helm rests Prince Blueblood, eyes searching the ponies walking towards the airship. His gaze rests on each of them in turn before moving on. He occasionally responds to the blue alicorn standing next to him, though both seem content to merely observe the crowd and the occasional newcomer. The concierge standing at the gangway offers to take their coats, everypony declining. He then offers one to Rarity; the unicorn, in her haste, seems to have forgotten to wear anything besides her floral hat and light - though heavily embroidered and fancifully patterned - dress. After a few seconds of introspection she accepts, managing to keep her tongue in check when the brown overcoat clashes with both her purple mane and yellow dress. The herd breaks up almost as soon as they get on board, each pony gravitating towards a different section. Pinkie Pie makes a beeline towards the refreshment table, immediately striking up a conversation with one of the well dressed mares serving herself. Fluttershy goes belowdecks, finding a nice, quiet, out-of-the-way porthole where she can observe Canterlot once the airship departs. Rainbow Dash’s eyes light up as she spots Fleetfoot, two gold and one bronze ribbon decorating her flight suit. Rarity, spotting Applejack’s hesitation, pulls the orange mare to introduce to Fancy Pants and a few of the other high society ponies she recognizes from before.