//------------------------------// // Rarity // Story: Costume Catastrophe // by PrincessEnchanteDream //------------------------------// Rarity was utterly and completely exhausted. She had dark bags under her eyes, her hair was a mess and the orders never seemed to finish. She wasn't even done with her recent one and had already gotten a huge order for an entire season! Needless to say, her friends were shocked when they took in her appearance. Fluttershy, God bless that kind soul, had offered to help her out and she did, except when a box full of baby critters arrived at the animal shelter, she was called and had to rush away, though very apologetic. Only when Rarity had assured her that she'll manage, then only Fluttershy went back home. Seeing Rarity's disheveled state, Sunset proposed that they go for a day trip around the city, and take her mind off things. Rarity hesitantly agreed, only after Applejack and Rainbow Dash convinced her that she'll be able to work better after a short break, and probably get some inspiration. So off the six friends went, in Pinkie's van and had lots of fun sightseeing, eating delicious food and just hanging around. Rarity had to admit, this certainly took her mind off things and reduced any stress she had. After their day had ended, they started back home, although earlier than planned because Rarity insisted she had a "totally fabulous idea" and wanted to start on it immediately. Pinkie dropped off Rainbow, Applejack, and Sunset at their respective houses and headed towards Rarity's. When she got there, however, she was most surprised to see that the front door was open and unlocked. Rarity frowned. "Um, Rarity?" Fluttershy asked nervously. " You seem kind of tensed. Are you alright?" "Just peachy, darling." "SEE YOU LATER, RARES," Pinkie yelled from the van. Rarity half-heartedly waved back and turned to go inside. She gingerly stepped into her house and then placed her purse on the coffee table. Her eyes swept around the very messy house. Then, her left eye twitched. This could be the work of only one person in the world, the oh-so-delightful, Sweetie Belle. Rarity breathed in deeply, trying to keep her fraying temper in check. But it all went crashing down, when she went to her room and saw the sorry state it was in, namely; her neatly ironed and folded clothes lying in a heap in front of the closet. "SWEETIEEEE BELLEEEEEEE!!!" She was shaking in anger so much that she barely noticed the things around her starting to tremble. Her magic went haywire and bursts of golden-blue light flew out of the house and around the surrounding Canterlot City. Rarity's eyes slowly adjusted to the sudden change in light, which began to fade as the seconds slowly ticked by. The blue and golden light hanging around in her room gradually cooled. However, she couldn't help but feel that something was somehow.... off. She took a quick look about, but noticed nothing especially odd. Her arms somehow felt different, though. Something certainly wasn't right, and as she glanced down Rarity swore she could see something pink snaking its way down her arms. She blinked, then quickly pinched herself to check she wasn't dreaming. She wasn't. Her dress had somehow gained full sleeves, as opposed to the straps over the shoulders it normally had, but the straps themselves were gone as the dress had dropped down to her chest area. White fabric emerged from the top of the bodice as the bracelet on her arm vanished. Rarity had no idea how to react. Yes, her clothes were changing before her very eyes, as the fabric that had once been near her shoulders finished dropping down to leave them now exposed. On the other hand, this was hardly the weirdest thing to have happened and could actually be of some use to her. She then decided that she should at least observe what was going on, but gasped as the dress got tighter around her waist. The entire dress suddenly turned pink, apart from the sleeves that already were, but the bodice was a noticeably darker shade than the other parts. The area over her hips, which had changed to a jagged pattern, was now light pink and ran all the way around from the front to the back. The fabric of the skirt merged together to produce a seamless, smooth texture, before suddenly beginning to grow longer. The skirt grew over her knees, down over her boots, and kept on dropping downwards, to the point that Rarity could no longer see her feet. Speaking of feet, she could feel her boots start to shrink before something began pushing her up. More and more of her skirt pooled across the floor, becoming quite dense if not especially large, and the outer fabric then darkened slightly to a shade similar to the sleeves. Following that, several underskirts and petticoats flowed down the inside, brushing past Rarity's legs and also reaching the floor, giving the skirt a bit of volume. A golden tiara then appeared on her head and a necklace followed, as if to signify that these strange events were over, and Rarity now had a good chance to react. "Well, I suppose I could have ended up with something worse to wear." She walked over to the window, to see that much of the street was lit up by intense light. Blue and yellow sparks snaked through the air, flying between objects and causing the street lamps to flicker. "Hmm. I wonder what that is?" The specks certainly seemed to be travelling at great speed, but not so fast that they were invisible to the human eye. Rarity then glanced down at her dress again, and realized something. "Of course! Shortly before the light appeared, there were blue and yellow flashes! They must be connected to this somehow!" She continued to look out of the window, puzzling in her mind as to precisely what had caused this to happen. She didn't notice the much larger light fragments that seemed to be heading towards specific places.