What Rarity Needs

by Ebon Mane


Chapter 1

Warnings and Disclaimers:

Characters in this work are property of their respective owners, I do not own any of them, and do not intend to make any sort of profit off of this work.

This My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfiction involves shipping. If you don't know what that means, please go read up on it at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Shipping before reading.

If you are made uncomfortable by ANY form of romance between ANY two intelligent beings, this fanfiction may not be to your liking. Continue only with caution.

And now, on with the show:





Spike opened the door to the library and stopped dead. When he'd left, the library had been as clean as he'd ever seen it; a spotless floor, the books in their place, Twilight had even convinced him to dust the shelves. She had said that she had important research to do, though she hadn't shared the details with Spike.

"Oh, there you are Spike," Twilight called to him, using her magic to slowly clean up what appeared to be the aftermath of a small tornado's passage through the room, "Please take a letter. Princess Celestia should know about the results of my research at once."

Spike grumbled to himself as he pulled out his writing supplies, "Welcome home Spike. I missed you, Spike. How was Canterlot, Spike? This letter had better be important." He dipped his quill in an inkwell and announced aloud, "Ready to go Twilight."

Twilight turned from her task and cleared her throat, "Dear Princess Celestia, recently I performed some research into divination spells. I didn't learn as much about magic as I'd hoped, but I did learn a very important lesson about friendship. Before I tell you what I learned, let me tell you what happened, since today I believe that the story will make you at least as happy as the lesson. It all started..."




***



Rarity didn't know why Twilight would need her help on any project having to do with magic. She was proud of her ability, but could never have done anything requiring as much power as getting rid of that Ursa Minor had; Twilight was simply much more magically inclined, even if she wasn't quite as elegant while using her power as one could hope. Still, Rarity was never one to ignore a friend in need, so when Twilight had come to her shop the week before and asked her to help with magic research, there had been no hesitation. Twilight had named the day and asked Rarity to come early, and she had agreed.

Rarity arrived the morning in question without unnecessary delay, having taken less than an hour to get her appearance and hair just right. When she knocked on the door to Twilight's home, she heard a muffled, "Just a moment!" from within the tree. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Twilight standing among an array of strangely placed objects and miscellaneous debris. "There, see, I just finished placing the last of the components. I'm so glad you could come and help me with this spell Rarity, come on in. And please don't disturb any of it." With that, she turned back to her book, set on a stand near the middle of the room.

To Rarity's eyes, 'it' seemed to include bits of trash, torn paper, various plant parts, an upended table with a lamp balanced on one leg, a marble statue of a pony with two legs missing, and a circle in the middle of the floor marked with what she hoped was red paint. "I… see. All of these, er, items? They're the components for the spell?" Rarity looked about the room, twitching with unease at the mess.

"Exactly," Twilight flipped the pages of her book, paying little attention to what she was saying, "It took forever to find all this stuff, and to lay it all out. But now, everything is exactly in its place. Perfectly right."

Rarity forced a smile and suppressed the urge to start cleaning, "Perfectly right, of course, dear. Say, what sort of spell needs these... components? And why do I have to be here for it?"

Twilight looked up from her reading, "I must have forgotten to tell you. It's a divination spell. This one is supposed to grant a vision that gives insight into some aspect of the future. I think. The text is vague on exactly what you're supposed to see and what it means. In any case, I need you because the spell calls for two unicorns, and at least one of them has to have skill in illusion or aesthetics," Twilight smiled at Rarity, "And you're my go-to pony when the issue is aesthetics, Rarity."

"See the future?" Rarity asked in wonderment, taking note, of course, of the compliment.

Twilight tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, "Well, that's not quite wha-"

"I could see if I'll end up with Celestia's Nephew! Can we have the spell show us that Twilight?" Rarity, fixated on the potential of the spell, had forgotten about her clutter-related misgivings.

Twilight nodded, "The spell doesn't work well with specific questions, but I guess you can be the one to decide what we ask. You are the one helping me out, so I'm glad to help you too. You just have to make sure to tell me whether it was right, however long that takes. Can you phrase what you want the spell to show in a less specific way?"

Rarity considered this for a moment, and then replied, "I want to know what the future of my love life is."

Twilight beamed, "That's a good one, Rarity. Okay, now, let me explain how we'll cast it. It's a tough one, so pay attention."




* * *




The explanation took a long time, and the casting took longer. The two stood in the red circle in the center of the room, arcs of light cascading among the strange array of items Twilight had gathered. Neither Rarity nor Twilight had ever cast a spell so demanding, but eventually a flash lit the room, and the two felt something intangible click into place. The room became quiet and still.

Twilight cheered, "Alright! I think it worked. We should see the vision in just a few..." her voice faded as she trailed off.

The sudden silence confused Rarity for a moment, but then she felt it too. The midday sunlight streaming in through the windows became glaring and oppressive, overwhelming Rarity's senses. Sweat began to bead on her brow. The world became glassy and unfocused, and Rarity felt as though something had grasped the fabric of creation and was pulling it, stretching it up and to the left. The warping of her sense of space unbalanced Rarity, and she fell to her knees, and then rolled over onto her side. Her hooves kicked sluggishly, pushing at empty air as her body fought to make sense of the perceptual shift, and her eyes could no longer maintain even a semblance of focus; the world became fuzzy in her vision, entities lost their edges and blended together into a sea of color. Rarity shut her eyes, unable to withstand the glare of sunlight any longer.

In the darkness behind Rarity's eyelids, shapes moved. At first she could discern nothing in their subtle movements, but then a scene sprung forth from the chaos. A huge eye with a bright green iris filled Rarity's field of vision. She felt herself moving forward quickly, and the eye's size began to increase as she was drawn toward the green expanse of the iris. Soon, the details of the iris became clearer, and resolved themselves into hills, rolling green hills covered in trees, and Rarity was falling right toward them. As she dropped closer, more details became clear to her eyes.

The trees were apple trees, endless expanses of apple trees filled with bright red apples. The tree Rarity was falling toward loomed suddenly in her vision; an apple was headed straight for her, or she for it, and she felt as though a collision with the shiny red orb was inevitable. Instead, the apple loomed in her vision, as its surface expanded toward the horizons. What had seemed to be the unmarred skin of the apple was revealed to be an ocean of apples, stretching as far as Rarity could see. Then, she hit it. Rarity landed lightly, for all of her speed, seeming to go from barreling toward the expanse to standing serenely on a field of apples in an instant.

Her movement at an end, Rarity felt a calm come over her. She lay down on the apples, the fruit feeling softer than her bed at home, and a wave of apples rolled over her, covering her like a blanket. Rarity had never felt so at home, so at peace, so loved. Words seemed to appear in her head, placed there by no means at all.

Rarity, the future of your love life is apples.

And then Rarity was an apple.




* * *




The two ponies stood up cautiously, still not quite trusting the world around them. There was silence for a time, as each considered what they had seen. Rarity spoke first, "Did you see...?"

Twilight nodded, "Apples. I saw it from your perspective. I was you. Sort of. I think. I mean, I knew I was me, but I knew you were you and I was you."

Rarity coughed.

"Apples," added Twilight, ever insightful.

"What did that all mean, Twilight? Did the spell work right?" Rarity asked, filled with concern.

"I think it means that your future love life will involve apples. Somehow. Hmm. Maybe the Apple family?" Twilight looked down, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Could it be Big Mac? Was that what the vision was trying to tell me? Should I give up on the prince and try to love Big Mac?" Rarity thought the idea was a strange one. She hadn't talked to Applejack's brother much before; it had just never occurred to her to try.

"Well," Said Twilight, considering, "It would be much more useful for research if we could find out if the visions are true. Or even useful. You should ask him about it."

Rarity looked at the other pony in shock, "Oh Twilight, dear, that's just not how it's done. One can't simply ask about that sort of thing. It's much more complicated than that. I need to know whether he's right for me. Please help me with this."

Twilight looked dubious, "I guess you know more about this sort of thing than me, and it will help my research. What do you need me to do?"

As Rarity explained phases of her plan and complex contingencies, Twilight grew more and more distraught. Why couldn't this sort of thing be as simple as magic?