“No no, this simply will not do,” Rarity swooned as her hoof rubbed the cleaning cloth across the Pip-Boy’s metallic frame. After the rush of discovery and curiosity had warned off, Rarity’ natural fashionista mindset had kicked in. The drab brown metal and gaudy leather straps were clashing horribly with her coat. This, of course, could not stand as she rubbed at it with some cleaning alcohol to try and make it shiny. However, due to how long it had been sitting in that dusty cave, the metal natural shine was lost. Dropping the rag, she tapped her chin trying to figure out how to bedazzle her new toy. She’d need more than just gem dust to make this work and she was far more used to fabric then dealing with metal.
Taking a short break, she moved over to the pile of mail on her work table floating up a few to start organizing it. “Let’s see, bill, bill, oh Fashion Canterlot Monthly, and,” she paused, her eyes scanning the colourful advent. “Oh! Idea!” Grabbing the Pip-boy, Rarity quickly hurried out with a smile. “I know just the place.”
After a quick stop by a local metal workshop, Rarity re-entered the establishment a few hours later smiling as a charcoal black stallion at the counter smiled. “Heya Miss Rarity, right on time she just finished drying.”
“That’s good to hear, Metal Press. I’m sure you did a fine job with it.”
Metal Press went into the back of his workshop soon returning with the device. “Did the paint job you wanted, this sure looks like some fancy new radio thingy. Never seen something quite like it. But metal is metal.” He said carefully peeling off the protective film he put over the components.
Rarity set her bits down and took a look at his handy work. The old faded paint had been removed and replaced with a soft white shine similar to her coat with the knobs coloured with purple. As per request, a light sprinkle of gem dust had been applied to it too. Floating it up in her magic, Rarity took out the brand new black faux leather buckle and reattached it to the bottom of the Pip-Boy. Once she finished she turned it around admiring the three diamond pattern on the top of the device. She suddenly heard a soft jingle of a bell coming from the screen as words appeared.
“Quest complete: Pimp my Ride”
Rarity blinked confused, having not expected that, although the little art that accompanied it was nice. Casually slipping the machine back on her foreleg, lifting it to eye level to admire it some more. It was still surprising how light this device was despite its apparent bulk; her fine eye admired the craftsmanship that had gone into the pip-boy every function clear and concise. Her foreleg reached up to feel the flat top where her mark sat soon finding a small panel she could press down. With a soft click the top slide up like a trunk revealing a small chamber with something inside.
“ I didn’t know that thing had one of them, fancy cassette players.” Metal Press remarked as Rarity carefully slid out the orange cassette.
“Oh is that what it is?” Rarity asked, unfamiliar to the relatively new technology. She had only ever seen records up to this point. “How does it work?” She flipped the small cartridge in her magic noticing the small print labelling it as Alien invaders.
Metal leaned over the counter. “Not too sure myself. I think you insert it right side up and lock the top back into place.”
“Very well, let’s give it a try.“ With the same careful care she’d give to a delicate stitch, she slipped the cassette back into its holster and gently shut the lid with another soft click. After a brief moment, sounds of somethings spinning within the machine was hurt before the screen flickered and changed to a screen with the site of a cartoonish pixel spaceship hovering overhead with the text alien invasion on the screen as well. On the bottom was another text with Start printed and blinking. “What is this?” She asked, turning her leg so the stallion could see it.
“Well, what do you know. It looks like one of those arcade games but on your leg.” Metal Press remarked. “Heard the colts and fillies talk about them but only I've only seen them briefly when I was passing by the arcade.”
“A game you say?” Rarity tilted her head as she used the controls to push the Start button. The screen blinked before showing the screen with several green triangles like objects in neat rows moving slowly back and forth on the top of the screen while an inverted V was on the bottom. The fashionista was too surprised to act in time to avoid the first ship to fire down at the player object and watched as it got destroyed. The mare blushed slightly as she wiggled the controls finding out how to move the object around and fire back. After a few more failures, Rarity managed to get a hang of it simply wanting to try to win this game, or at least try too.
After another attempt, she managed to win and smile. “Well, that was interesting. Although, it’s really not my thing.” she shrugged finding out how to close the game before heading back to her shop. Once home, she moved to her workroom and took a seat to look at the screen some more. Scrolling through the menu she stopped at “ Inventory” and saw it was still blank. She peered up and looked around at all her stock. “How odd. I’m clearly within reach of my inventory but it’s still blank.” While attempting to use some of the detective skills she’d learned from the novels she’d read, the mare idly floated out the red hat she had made to match Shadow Spade’s costume, setting it upon her head. As she did so, the screen blinked before something appeared on the list along with a small hat icon flashing on top of a pony model. “Hmm, detective hat?” She reached up taking off her hat watching the item disappear from the list.
While not being as curious as Twilight might have been, Rarity still loved a good mystery. “As Twilight would say, this requires some testing.” Getting up from her seat, she quickly made her way over to her closet and brought out her embroidered white saddlebag and slipped it on. Glancing back at the Pip-Boy, it was easy to see the new small number that had appeared on the readout.
1/200
The fashionista raised a hoof to her chin. “Hmm, I wonder what this could mean?” Further testing out her thoughts, she grabbed another one of her hats and was surprised to see other numbers but this time it was floating in her peripheral vision. “Oh, are those weight measurements?” She proceeded to place the hat into her bag watching as the screen was updated. Continuing, she placed a few sunglasses inside and carefully folded up a dress before putting it inside as well. The curious thing of course was that the dress fit inside her saddlebag without causing the outside to flex.
“Interesting,” Rarity said, loading a few more dresses into her bag always seeming to find space for them. The screen now consisted of a list of about 30 odd items. It even kept track of the bits she’d put into her saddlebag. Each dress has a unique name many of which matched what Rarity labelled them as in her catalogue. She waves off the coincidence as simply being something to do with magic. Muttering yo herald she looked at the screen closer. “Now let’s see what this equip button does.”
Upon selecting a dress, she pushed the little knob inwards feeling a tingle surround her body. She felt the familiar feeling of clothes and turned her head to look letting out a faint gasp. The dress was now on her as if she put in on herself with her saddlebag still on top. Pushing the knob once more made it disappear, and upon checking she found it was back in her bag.
Seeing how instant the costume change was, Rarity rolled an idea around in her head. Well not being a prankster herself, she did on occasion like to pull a little trick here or there. “Oh I can just imagine the look on their faces,” she remarked with a slight giggle. Even more convenient to her plan, she found that she could group some items together requiring only one press of the button to put them on.
Wearing a yellow sun hat and glasses, Rarity made her way along down the street humming happily. On occasion, she’d pause and swap items when nopony was looking. Many would blink and tilt their heads confused, questioning if they had seen what they had seen. Others just shrugged while Rarity let out small chuckles. After a short time, she spotted Rainbow Dash flying along idly. “Oh yoo hoo, Rainbow,” Rarity called upwards quickly attracted the pegasus’s attention.
Rainbow flew down landing with a soft puff of dust. “Hey Rarity, what’s up?” she asked with her eyes slowly focusing on the Pip-Boy rather than what Rarity was wearing. She pointed towards the device. “Hey what’s that?”
Rarity held up her hoof. “Oh, this? I just found it while I was out collecting gems. It’s very useful.” She explained preparing herself for if Rainbow looked away.
“Really huh, so like treasure hunting like Daring Do does.”
Rarity rubbed her neck. “Well, I wouldn’t ball it that exactly. Spike and I found it on a corpse.“ she said mentally reminding herself to let Mayor Mare know about the body. It deserved a proper burial.
Rainbow wings flapped. “Wow, that’s exactly what happens in the last Daring Do book. So what’s it do anyway.” She glanced away for a moment to check her surroundings and looked back just as Rarity had picked a new outfit. The pegasus blinked. “Huh wait you weren’t wearing a red jacket a second ago.”
“Wasn’t I?” Rarity said slyly.
Rainbow shook her head. “No, I’m pretty sure it was a yellow hat when I first spotted you.”
Rarity bit her lip a bit, having momentarily forgotten about Rainbow’s ability for taking in detail when flying. “Well, you know me, darling, always one for fashion.”
Rainbow opened her mouth to retort but at that moment some dust caused her to have a short sneezing fit. When it subsided she looked back at Rarity seeing she changed again. “Huh, how did you do that so fast?”
“Do what Rainbow? I was always wearing this sundress. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light?” She said, almost slipping into a giggle when Rainbow's face scrunched. “Well.anyway given the fact I just got it. I’m still figuring out all its bells and whistles.”
Rainbow shook her head before looking at the metal device. “Yeah just don’t let Twilight take it apart. Hehe, you might not get it back.” With that, the mare took to the air once more “Catch You later Rarity”
Rarity waved goodbye as her friend darted away and waited till she out of sight before letting out a soft giggle. “Oh, that was some good fun.”
As she trotted further along in her walk, she failed to notice another message on the screen.
Quest Complete: Master Of Disguise