Twilight... My dear, wonderful, stupidly gorgeous, Twilight. Have I ever told you you have an atrocious taste in clothing? I mean, look at that sweater. It is unbefitting of someone of your station, it drives me crazy. Can I burn it after this session? What do you mean, it was a present from Celestia?! Oh good gracious, please don’t tell me my sister has a fashion sense just as bad as yours.
I didn’t mean to get an answer for that, Twilight. Now I’ll have to burn down a wardrobe in Canterlot, thank you very much. Just kidding, you know I wouldn’t burn things where other things could catch fire... I’ll just do it somewhere else. Ouch! That was a joke! Learn to take a hint, damnit.
Anyway, where did we leave off last time? Oh... there. I... you know I love you and Rares beyond the moon, right? Do we have to continue? Can’t we just skip the rest and go back to being happy and all that crap?
Fine, if we have to continue, I’ll make fun of you while I recount the next tale. And I just know which one to talk about this time around. Perhaps we should look at your psyche this time around? Wouldn’t that be ironic?
After the whole debacle in Appleloosa with the bandits, we all needed some rest. Fortunately, Rainbow’s grand performance at the Best Young Fliers competition this year was the perfect occasion for a party to wind down for a while. Fluttershy was slowly coming to terms with what she did, and it helped that we had a rotation to keep her company for a while. I’m not saying she will ever be okay with it but seeing our support prevented... you know what.
Yes, maybe I’m understating the funk she was in, but it beats thinking about it, doesn’t it? I swear, if you make me say it, I’ll walk out that door and not return for a whole month.
Ahem, as I was saying. The celebration party was great, we had a lot of fun and I had the pleasure of seeing you do your drunken dance. I can’t say it enough, but holy mother of me, it was hilarious.
Speaking of Spectrum, we had a little talk concerning my morals and which part she plays in the grander scheme. It was a heartfelt discussion and we both said things we shouldn’t have. Suffice to say, we patched everything up between us. Very tearfully. She couldn’t stay mad at me, just as I couldn’t stay mad at her.
The fact that she was just a normal person deep down like you and me, just with the whole omnipotence thing packed into it, was a reassuring thought. In the end, it made our bond stronger than before.
That she actually praised me for brutally murdering the scum of the world was a bit disturbing, though. Who am I kidding, I relished the attention like the little mommy’s kid that I am. What? You get way worse with Celestia, don’t judge me. Or have we forgotten the ‘Want-it-Need-it’ incident, hm?
What else happened? Oh yeah, Fluttershy threw her modeling career away as soon as it started. That was interesting. All because of a little misunderstanding, what a shame. Those pics of hers were seriously something else. I mean, have you seen her perfectly shaped... okay, stop hitting me already! Jeez, can’t appreciate other women around you anymore, you always get super jealous. And here I thought I was the one with the problems.
Then there was the thing with the cockatrice. I’m glad nothing happened to you and the CMC. Needless to say, I tracked down the poor disguise for a chicken after you told me what happened. Have you ever tried cockatrice? It has no comparable taste to anything, I assure you. I had to purge my body of its venom after I was done with it, though. It was totally worth it.
That brings us to the crowning jewel just at the start of winter. Of course, after Rarity saw what you were originally trying to wear to the gala, she went out of her way and offered each one of us to make a dress for us. Well, and a tux for me, too.
Considering I wear stuff like this constantly, Rarity really outdid herself with it this time around. As you girls were so generous to spit a gift horse in the mouth, shall we analyze what all went wrong after that?
Rarity was working herself to the bone with all the dresses she made for all of us, so I have absolutely no fucking idea how you could convince her to make another, more horrid, version of the originals. Seriously, what was up with that? Did you all just love to make Rarity feel worthless? Don’t give me that, you know I’m right.
Anyway, I was doing a little bit of modeling work for Rarity because apparently, I have the ‘perfect’ body size, and asked her how she was feeling with the workload and if she needed help with the sewing or whatnot. I’ll readily admit that I am not the best when it comes to such tasks (my patience, or rather, attention span was not made for those tasks), but Rarity assured me she would be able to handle it on her own.
“Whatever you say, Rares,” I said, giving her a doubtful look. She ‘tsked’ at me and said everything would work out fine. “I don’t doubt that, but what about your dress?”
“Darling, I’ll get it done, just you wait and see,” she said adamantly. I didn’t really hear what she said underneath her breath but it sounded suspiciously like a ‘hopefully’. “Besides, I already have the design down pat, as they say. As long as you all are satisfied with the end-product, there will be enough time to work on my own dress.”
“Rarity... you know how our friends are at times. Just look at that thing Twilight dragged in through your door. She has no fashion sense, and if it weren’t for you, what do you think she would wear all day long?” I deadpanned.
“Yes, well... I’m sure they will be pleased with them, though,” she answered back, albeit a bit reluctantly. That didn’t sound like she was so sure of it.
“Just... please don’t forget your own dress, Rarity,” I acquiesced. “I’d hate for you to not have a dress yourself.”
“Pshaw, as if I would ever forget about that,” Rarity laughed.
Of course, we all know how that turned out. A few days later, we were gathered before her and she presented us with the finished dresses tailored for us by her capable hands. Of course, that also meant that sadly, her own dress had been a bit... neglected. Her generosity knows no bounds, but sometimes I wish she would be a bit more selfish. There were the odd few times where she had it in her, but never when it really mattered for her own good.
We all went to her boutique expecting only the best from the most talented seamstress in this whole damn world (in my opinion) after she summoned us back to look at the (pretty much) finished works of art. It barely started snowing in the days that had passed and because of how you all acted around the dresses, made the timetable until the gala a bit too hectic for Rarity. I swear I was this close to strangling you all, despair didn’t even begin to describe how I felt at the time.
I mean, how could you not love those masterpieces? She even used cloud infused silk for Rainbows dress, what more could you want from her? I was left speechless by them, especially my own.
It was a magnificent piece of artwork. The gemstones on the dress for Lux were so finely integrated, you would have thought it was made from the very night sky itself. It was simple, yet extravagant. It didn’t need anything besides that, for it was already perfect just the way it was. The rest would be done with a decent application of make-up and a stylish haircut, as well as my necklace.
The tuxedo for Sol was equally as good, if not better. A perfectly pearlescent white color, seemingly pitch-black tie, and the most radiant cuffs to round out the picture of a suave man that knew what it meant to be at the top of the world.
Don’t even get me started on the shoes for both outfits, they were the most heavenly things to ever grace my feet. Shiny black couldn’t do it justice to describe their look.
I wanted to cry right there on the ground as I couldn’t tear away my eyes from them. The silence was suffocating Rarity, though. The critique coming from the girls was of the highest degree one could ever give, breaking the poor heart of the seamstress that just worked her ass off to provide each one of us with a dress for the gala.
“And you, Lux?” Rarity was disheartened, looking between all of us. “What do you think?”
“I love you,” I said, my mouth working without the input from my brain.
“I beg your pardon?” Rarity asked, a heavy blush forming on her face. Her question brought me out of my daydream of dancing around the whole night in that dress.
“Uhm... What did I say again?” I asked confusedly.
“I’m... uh, well... What do you think of your dress?” Rarity stuttered, unable to repeat what I said to her. Shrugging away the confusion, I went over to her and gave her the greatest hug to ever go down in the annals of hugs.
“I love them, Rares. You really outdid yourself with it. But what about your own dress? Where is it?” I told her and began to look around “You did work on it, right?”
“Ah, well, darling,” she began. “The thing is...”
“You didn’t, did you? Oh, Rarity, why do you do this to yourself?” I asked her sadly. She sighed and just left my embrace at that. It seemed she didn’t want to be pressured into giving an answer, totally understandable, really. I just wish she would at least stop for a moment, work on her own things, before getting back to the dresses she had made for all of us.
“And you, Sol? What do you think of the tuxedo?” Rarity asked, smoothing out the fabric of said outfit.
“Fit for a king, my dear,” I smirked back at her, managing to make her smile.
“Thank you, darling. At least some of you are satisfied with what I made for you. I’ll have to redo the rest, then,” she said. The girls tried to assure her that it would be fine as it is, but Rarity insisted on making them be to the perfect satisfaction of everyone.
I knew then and there that that would mean she would never finish her own gown in time. This was way too much selflessness to be appropriate. With a heavy heart, I went home for that day. Praying, hoping, begging for her to not do this to herself, but my wishes went ignored.
As the week progressed and the gala threatened to arrive any day, I went to look at how Rarity was doing. Needless to say, she was completely exhausted and you see it from her posture alone. Slumped over the backrest of her chair, the glasses on her nose couldn’t hide the exhausted look in her eyes.
Her hair was even worse. It was the first time I had seen her so unkempt and it was giving me the shivers. This was not the woman I knew her to be, this was an exhausted wreck in need of some relaxation.
“You, my dear, are coming with me this instant,” I said, giving her my best disapproving look with Lux. I’m sure I could get Aloe and Lotus to open their spa for a few more hours today.
Dragging the irate fashion designer behind me, I was getting ready to bang on the doors of the spa when they opened on their own. A surprised Aloe greeted me and after a quick conversation, she looked Rarity up and down with a frown.
“This won’t do, no!” she said. “This is a disaster, Miss Rarity! You are in dire need of a massage, come with me!”
I paid for the whole expenses and was pleased to notice Rarity slowly unwinding. Hopefully, I would have her in working order before Celestia came over for her visit. It would be just my luck that Rarity might be totally overworked for her to not remember that Celestia is coming over tomorrow for our brunch date.
I might as well wake her up tomorrow and escort her.
The next day was for once one without any snow blanketing the ground. I made good on my own promise to go see Rarity out of her boutique for the rest of the day. One more day away from her work wouldn’t hurt her and it might even help let her breathe in some fresh air and sort her thoughts out. A creative mind sometimes needed pauses, too, after all.
While we had a wonderful time at Sugarcube Corner, it was sadly cut short by the mayor’s wishes for an audience with the princess. I was a bit miffed, especially since we were having a lot of fun and Celestia took after my own heart with her humor, I could understand that we couldn’t hog herself all to ourselves. Rarity returned to her work with fresh new vigor, while I stayed behind to help clean things up after Pinkie abandoned her bosses.
And you know what, I don’t think that cage was empty before. Panicking a bit, I tried to think of what could have happened to the pet of Celestia. A pet that was obviously ill.
There was only one place the friggin’ bird could be. Sighing, I told Mr. and Mrs. Cake goodbye and gave them my thanks for the great food before I started walking towards the house of a woman that may or may not have stolen a bird without saying anything. Well, it would defeat the purpose of stealing something if you said anything about it, but Fluttershy wasn’t the kind to have grubby sticky fingers. That was more like me when I was unable to resist my urges...
What was the first thing I saw when I arrived and looked through the window to see if she was home? The bird drowning in the soup Fluttershy made for it, while Brightpaw laughed his little fuzzy behind off.
“Fluttershy, I would appreciate an explanation,” I said, knocking on the window. Her eyes went wide when she saw me standing there and she went and tried to hide Philomena behind her back. I raised an eyebrow at that and she grinned sheepishly.
“It’s not what you think it looks like!” Fluttershy assured me, waving around her hands in a desperate attempt to convince me otherwise.
“You’re not drowning it in soup?” I asked skeptically, coming inside.
“Wait, what?” she asked back. Fluttershy turned around and gasped at the sight of bubbles floating to the surface of the liquid within the bowl. “Oh, no! Philomena!”
“I would give up on that bird, if I were you, and return it back where you took it from,” I observed. “Celestia wasn’t all that concerned with its state of wellbeing, so I’d hazard a guess and say that is no normal bird.”
“Pah! This bird is so far removed from normal, you would have to be blind to not notice that, mortal,” Brightpaw commented. I gave him the stink-eye and he huffed with an upturned snout. “No one appreciates my services anymore, it seems.”
“You little piece of shit!” I shrieked back at him. “You corrupted our dear Fluttershy. If it weren’t for her, I would have already sent you back from whence you came!”
“Try it, mortal!” Brightpaw crooned. “We will see who will walk away from that fight! You stand no chance against my magnificence.”
I growled indignantly, hating that he was basically as strong as my sisters combined. How Fluttershy could have been so unfortunate to summon him of all things, I had no idea. Heavenly foxes were everything but heavenly. Quite the opposite, really.
Little monster... One day, I swear, one day.
“Enough! Both of you!” Fluttershy put a stop to our feud very fast with her patented stare. “I thought we were over this, already! No one corrupted anyone here, it was I that corrupted myself.”
“Shy, you can’t possibly be serious about that?” I asked aghast. “That only started after what he did to you!”
“Brightpaw did nothing. I... I did that of my own free will...” Fluttershy whispered, her voice going lower than I have ever heard from her.
“But...”
“No buts, missy!” Fluttershy scolded me. “Let it rest. You are the only one clinging onto this perfect little image you had of me.”
“Shy...” I cried, seeing what she was doing to herself. She was putting all the blame on herself again.
“I appreciate your concern, Lux,” she said. “But it is neither needed nor wanted.”
“How can you say that?!” I shot back, hiccuping. “Why do you want to be this monster so badly?!”
“I don’t,” Fluttershy muttered, her eyes becoming emotionless. “It is what is needed of me, though. This world is diseased, Lux. You better realize that now, do you understand me?”
She gripped me around the throat, slamming me against the doorframe. Her nose was dangerously close to my own, I could feel her breath on my lips. I gulped fearfully. This wasn’t her! There was no way I could have already failed one of my friends!
“Don’t think you’re above me, little Hope,” she snarled. My heart died a bit further with her words, so I shut it off completely before she could shatter it further. “We will see who is the greater monster among us.”
“Are you certain you want to subject yourself to this torture again, Kindness? I know what it did to you the first time around. Don’t come to me a crying mess when you rip out a heart with your bare hands again,” I snarled back, voice monotone. “We can play this game if you want. Are you ready to do what is necessary?”
“Girls!” the voice of Twilight caught our attention. Both Fluttershy and I turned our cold gazes on her. “Stop this, right now! You are friends, please...”
“Step out of this, Magic. The adults are talking,” I said. “She started this, I will finish it.”
“We will see about that,” Fluttershy responded in kind. “I can see your sins even now in this form, I know what darkness you try to hide. Even from yourself.”
“Is that so?” I asked. “And where will that lead us to? A fight between titans, perhaps?”
“Try me,” she shot back.
“Stop!” Twilight cried, her magic ripping us apart as we tried to claw each other’s faces off.
“Let me back at her!” Fluttershy said, struggling against her restraints just as I did the same. “She will see that I’m just as much of a monster as her!”
“Whatever happened to you, both of you, this needs to stop!” Twilight said. “This isn’t who you are. Neither of you. What made you this way, Lux? What happened to you, Fluttershy?”
“Hope is but an illusion, my dear. You will see the world burn before your eyes and it won’t be there to save you. I have learned this lesson once, can you learn it?”
“Kindness is but a cruelty to the people that deserve it. Where would it lead us if we gave it to the filth of this world, hmm? Can you look a family in the eye that has lost their unborn son to the hands of a psychopath if we let him live?”
Twilight stared at us, Brightpaw sitting in his little bed, grinning a self-satisfied smirk, not caring about what his caretaker was saying, and Philomena let out another cough. Her eyes wandered to the pet on the table, sitting there serenely like nothing was wrong.
“This isn’t right... Something must be influencing you,” Twilight whispered, shaking where she stood. “Celestia!”
With a flash, Twilight was gone. My uncaring eyes met emotionless ones.
“How are we going to do this then?” I asked and she cracked her neck.
“The old fashioned way.”
“You know how this will end in that case, Shy. Twilight is not here to reign us in, this time.”
“But I am,” the voice of the Celestia interrupted us. “I would have thought you would have put this behind yourselves.”
“Ah, the sun graces us with her presence. To what do we owe this pleasure?” I said, licking my lips in anticipation.
“Must you let yourself fall this far? Come back to us, Lux. Come back to me, please,” Celestia admonished me. I pouted and gave in to her demand, life returning to my eyes. God, this felt weird. “This is a dangerous state to be in, have I not told you this enough, Fluttershy?”
Said woman winced, as her eyes lost the emotionless mask it had previously. We both mumbled our apologies to each other, feeling sickened by what we almost did. It felt like the primal part in me wanted to assert herself as the alpha, even if it meant fighting against my friend.
“What is happening to us, Celestia?” I asked, feeling more afraid than ever before. Celestia sighed and embraced us in a tight hug.
“I wish you would not have to experience this, but what you went through just now requires a bit of a more detailed explanation,” she started to explain. “In the old times, that was a state that Moonlight and Sunfire discovered to better fulfill their duties. As the guardians of this land at the time, there were many threats that required ruthless efficiency to deal with. In your previous incarnation, you gave it the name of emotional suppression. In that state, it is nigh impossible for the foe to make you lose control of your own self during combat. And it prevents emotional attachment from clouding your judgment.
“Luna taught Fluttershy this in the hopes to make her a better fighter and I had to give her a severe talking to. I was aghast that she would teach it to anyone, but she had no idea that, by now, in this day and age, it isn’t a thing that should be used anymore. Luna convinced both Fluttershy and me it would probably save her life at some point, and reluctantly we agreed. Those weapons of yours are a sign for great peril to come in the near future, and I fear what it will cost you all. So, we taught Fluttershy how to enter such a state in a controlled environment. Brightpaw played an essential part in it. It’s a necessary evil if you will.”
Frowning, I thought about this. It made sense, I guess. In a very twisted way. Why would I have this ability then, if my previous incarnation came up with this? The answer came to me quickly: Moonlight and Sunfire were me, to begin with, I thought. It would make sense I would be able to discover it on my own again.
“How did I die, Tia?” I asked quietly. If this was an ability I had, something that prevented me from being taken advantage of in a fight, how come I still died? If I was as ruthless as I feared myself capable of, there was no way Grogar would have been able to kill me at my prime. There had to be a variable I wasn’t accounting for.
“Do you truly wish to know this?” she asked me. I nodded grimly. Better to know in case something similar happened again. “Grogar tricked you into activating your emotions. Grogar, Moonlight, and Sunfire were at a stalemate, so he tried to even the playing field. Grogar, in his endless cruelty, had forged look-alikes of Luna and myself as corpses and mentioned how he killed us, saying that we screamed in agony for you to save us, and it brought the full brunt of your rage out. With you unable to think clearly, it was simple for him to bring you down. We were helpless against him as he came to our doorstep next.”
Of course. Of fucking course did that monster do that. Why wouldn’t a monster like him resort to methods like that? I would have been an easy target after that.
“He threw your desecrated corpses before us, raised you into undeath while he taunted us with your failure, and ordered you to raze the world to the ground. He continued saying how easy it was for him to twist you into his perfect little puppets,” Celestia cried. “We had to kill you again because no matter what we tried, you were too deeply in his grasp. We only had one last lucid moment with you as you died again, and you thanked us for releasing you!”
I reached out and enveloped her in a hug. This was my fault. I made her cry, all because of my damn curiosity. Because I failed her as she was forced to watch me become everything I stood against. I became the evil that I had tried to protect the world from and left both of them alone. Although those were the failures of a past version of me, it still felt like the me now has failed them.
“I promise you, that won’t ever happen again. I’ll learn how to control this even better than Moonlight was able to. I can’t, in good conscience, subject you to the same failures of my past again,” I swore to her. “I may have no memories of then, but if I’m just half the woman of what Moonlight was as a man, then I will do better than he ever could. I won’t leave you, not again. I can’t, you deserve that much.”
“Lux, I know you might think you have a lot to make up for, but you aren’t the same person that you were then. Don’t try to be another Moonlight, try to be you. Do that much and I’ll be just as happy as I was with Moonlight,” Celestia told me. “Everyone changes with time, even I. I don’t want you to think that I expect you to be the same person you were as Moonlight, just as I don’t expect Sol to be just like Sunfire. Both of you can be who you are, not who you were. Why wouldn’t I support that?”
“I guess I just want to give you back lost time with Moonlight and Sunfire,” I answered back. Celestia let go of me and smiled. She would totally flip her shit if I said I was her sister now, wouldn’t she? I don’t think I was ready for that, yet. Not only because she wouldn’t ever let go of me and my male half, but because I was mostly confused about how to feel about her now, too.
Did I see her as a sister, or would I see her as my surrogate daughter again? It was way too weird to think like that about her, what with her being so much older than I. Well, as my physical body, I’m sure my soul would count as older.
Gah, this was so confusing! I felt like eating a tub of ice-cream now. Fruit flavored, preferably. A talk with my mother about this couldn’t hurt, either. She might be able to help me sort this out.
“Now, then,” Celestia began. “I see Philomena has found her way to you? Have you been making fun of people again, my dear?”
Celestia went over to the almost fully molted bird and took her in her arms. She removed the feathers Fluttershy tried sticking back on it and gave it a once over. The bird seemed to look a bit sheepish, belying a greater intelligence.
“Almost there, Philo. Almost there,” Celestia said, giving it an affectionate rub on the head. “You might want to come and watch this spectacle when it is time, Fluttershy. You too, Lux.”
Fluttershy looked at me confused and I gave a shrug, so we just followed Celestia back into Ponyville. Twilight and the rest of the girls were already waiting for us. The personal student of the princess gave Fluttershy and me nervous glances, so we gave her a reassuring smile and she sighed in relief.
As the minutes passed, we saw the last feather of Philomena leave her body. The bird gave a last breath before a flame suddenly burst from it, turning it into ashes. The girls were crying out in shock, while I gave a small grin.
A phoenix, huh? I might want one for myself, but the chances of that happening are next to zero. It was said that the birds chose the person they wanted to stay with, not the other way around. To even be gifted one of their feathers was a great honor.
From the ashes, it arose, burning in magical flames. It flew a few rounds over our head and landed on the shoulders of Celestia, nuzzling the top of her head.
We all had our fill with questions regarding the bird, had a bit of fun with the stoic guards, and generally talked a bit more with Celestia before she had to go back to Canterlot.
Then, Rarity invited us back into her boutique. By that, I meant the other girls, but I just went along with them to see how much they screwed Rarity over.
I already mentioned you had a terrible fashion sense, did I not, Twilight? What you and the others managed to create was the most nightmare-inducing clothing I had ever laid my eyes upon. I had to wonder how much you must have pestered Rarity to even go along with your demands.
As I stood there, I had to suppress the urge to vomit, already tasting the bile entering my mouth. I whimpered looking at the literal nest for a hat that Fluttershy had come up with. And by everything that was holy, how could the blanket of a dress that Twilight designed be ever considered something anyone would wear?
I think you don’t truly understand what you made Rarity do with those. If you were to summon a demon from the deepest pits of Tartarus they would go crawling back where they came from to hide from those despicable things for the rest of eternity. That is how bad they were, Twi. I know you all made it up to her later but was it even necessary to go against the expert in fashion in the first place?
What do you mean, you weren’t thinking about that at the time? You’re Twilight friggin’ Sparkle, admittedly one of the sexiest women alive if you were to ask me, but you should have known better! Don’t take this personally, but sometimes I wonder if you have an EQ of a toddler. We seriously need to work on your social skills, my dear.
Anyway, as I was wondering how I would be able to look you guys in the eyes while wearing those and not claw my eyes out in the process, Spike came in mentioning that some big-wig from the capital was coming to the fashion show that would be held later this evening.
My eyelid started twitching as the girls said how that would promote Rarity’s business like nothing else would. No, I said to myself, this was not happening. I would not allow these atrocities to be shown to someone that could ruin the entirety of Rarity’s reputation.
“Girls, if you wear those things, I’m going out of this door and never return,” I whispered, my voice sending shivers through the group. “I can’t allow you to show these abominations of a fashion crime to the masses. There is no way anyone of you could do this to dear Rarity.”
“What’s the matter with you? Ain’t you happy with your dress?” Applejack shot back indignantly. “Ah seem to remember you saying that you loved it.”
“My dress isn’t the problem, my dear Applejack,” I said. “Your dresses are.”
“Hey, we are happy with them, they are perfect!” she said, not even seeing anything wrong with how they looked. “Rarity should be proud of these, they are true masterpieces!”
“Proud?” I asked, anger beginning to boil within me. “Proud?! You will ruin her business with these! How could she ever be proud of... of those things!”
“Not everyone has the same taste as you, Lux,” Fluttershy began, but I interrupted her.
“No, but my taste is way better than this!” I shouted and pointed at the nest atop the mannequin. “I have standards, Fluttershy. And this? This belongs in the trash, dear. How can no one see that?! What is wrong with you people?!”
“Lux, dear,” Rarity touched my shoulder. “You don’t need to do this. If they are happy with them as they are now, I’ll be glad to take the fall.”
“Rarity...” my voice was hoarse and tears dripped down my cheeks. “Why?”
“It’s okay,” she embraced me in a hug, patting my backside. “I’ll be okay with what I have here in Ponyville. Who cares what some of the people in the upper crust will think of me...”
“I do,” I said. “I don’t want to see you get hurt by this.”
“Oh, Lux, dear,” Rarity laughed. “I have a thicker hide than you give me credit for. It would take more than a little loss in reputation for me to give up entirely.”
The other girls were staring awkwardly at my female body while I stood stoically at the edge of the room with Sol. If they won’t learn from this, then I would make good on my promise. I’ll ask Celestia for a room in the castle or something if it came down to it. Maybe then they will change their minds.
Evening arrived in no time and rather than participate in the show, I went out and searched for this guy that was supposedly a big name in the fashion industry. If I could convince him that the dresses weren’t actually designed by Rarity herself but the women that meddled into the business that their noses didn’t belong in, then I could perhaps salvage this situation.
Imagine my surprise as I looked at the guy and he was (pretty much) an exact replica of Karl Lagerfeld.
“Hoity Toity, if I may have a word with you before the show begins?” I said, taking a seat at his table. He looked at me, put his glasses down a bit, and regarded my female body with a look that I’d rather not want to know what went through his mind at the same time while he did so. I gave him a glare with Sol, feeling uneasy.
“My, what a marvelous dress, my dear,” he said. “Who designed it?”
“The lady that is hosting this show, dear,” I answered with Sol. “And I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t look at my sister like that.”
“Terribly sorry, but who are you?” he asked, his gaze turning to my other body. Well, either he was incredibly stupid or deaf. I did just tell him that Lux was my ‘sister’, right?
“Sol, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Hoity Toity,” I said, offering him my hand. Never let it be said I wasn’t polite. “Anyway, the thing we wanted to talk with you about?”
“Yes, yes, do go on,” Hoity Toity said.
“What you are about to see is in no way created by Rarity,” I said, and before he could ask what I meant, I went on. “They may have been made by her, but the people you will see walking out of there wearing them? Those girls have no sense for fashion and pressured Miss Rarity into making those abominations.”
“Oh?” his voice seemed a bit skeptical. “Why would Miss Rarity comply with their demands, then?”
“Those are our friends and Miss Rarity has too big of a heart to say no to them,” I explained. “What you see me and my sister wearing were the first creations she had done for us for the Gala. The first designs of the ‘dresses’ you will see in a moment are nowhere near as hideous as what the girls turned them into. If you were to stick around after the show, I might convince them to show the originals to you.”
“Why would they not show them instead of those things you mentioned?”
“Pride, my dear. Pride for their own ‘genius’ and what they perceive as beautiful. Don’t ask me how they could look at those and say ‘These dresses are truly the best to ever have been created’,” I explained. I grimaced as the light began to dim and our attention was diverted to the stage.
Of course, the girls went against my wishes and went out with... I can’t even call them clothes. Nothing needed to be said to say how the crowd reacted to them standing there on the rotating platform. It was a disaster and as Twilight’s and Applejack’s gaze found mine in the crowd, they winced.
At least you were able to finally understand what I meant at that time, Twilight. I really would have gone to Canterlot if you hadn’t made things right after the show. I probably wouldn’t have stayed there forever, because even if it might seem that way, I can’t ever stay mad with you girls for long.
Hoity Toity glanced again towards me, contemplating if I had said the truth, but all he saw of me was me trying to hide my face in shame while glaring at the girls between my fingers. The man sighed, said how atrocious those things truly were, and then demanded for the seamstress to come out of hiding.
And Rarity came out, hanging her head low.
Please, please, please, give her a chance. Don’t disregard my words, you have to see that there was no way Rarity could ever come up with these on her own. You have to see the guilt in the eyes of my friends, it was so obvious!
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Hoity Toity demanded.
“I’m sorry for having wasted your time, Mister Hoity Toity,” Rarity answered and walked back into her home glumly.
“Mister Hoity Toity, wait! Please,” Twilight called out. The man in question looked to her next, giving me a sideways glance. “Those dresses... no, whatever we turned these into, they weren’t the original designs Rarity came up with. Please, you have to believe me.”
“It seems your friend was right, after all,” he said and the girls looked over to me. “Very well, I will see those dresses in a week, I still have other places to be in. My time is a precious commodity, next time you decide to waste my time, I won’t be so lenient with you.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said, saying what I felt in my heart.
“Now then, I have an appointment in Fillydelphia in a few hours, if you will excuse me,” Hoity said, getting into the limousine he arrived in. “For your sake and mine, make sure to not displease me when we meet again.”
Then the car was on its way, leaving us alone. In a week he would be back, and in a week and a half, the night of the Gala would be upon us. And judging by the state Rarity must be in, she would never get to finish her own dress without help.
So I explained to the girls what we were going to do. We would complete the dress for her, all the same time I would keep Rarity emotional company with Lux and make sure she didn’t notice her design ‘going missing’ for a little while. Twilight was all too ready to follow my lead on this, constantly apologizing for not having taken my words seriously.
I told her we had a chance to fix this, and if we were successful, everything would be forgiven. Fluttershy actually had the necessary skills to work with needle and thread, so it was a relatively easy task for them.
A week later, Rarity saw what we did and thanked us for what we did for her. The big surprise we had for her as the limousine arrived? It made her day, being able to show off the original designs and earning the credit she so justly deserved.
I taught her some quick illusions and together with Twilight, we put on a show that the man wouldn’t be so quick to forget. He was absolutely ecstatic about what Rarity had to offer as a designer.
Thus ends this tale. We all learned a thing or two, especially you, Twilight. And the best of all? Rarity truly created a dress to succeed.