Starlight couldn't explain why, but she had a nagging feeling that there was a huge magical disturbance somewhere.
It had begun only a short while later, and she had tried to ignore it the best she could, but somehow she knew, that something wasn't right.
She just had to find out what it was, her mind wouldn't rest until she figured what was going on.
Just to take a look, and confirm if things were alright, Starlight made her way towards the room in which the portal to the human world lay. She'll be back soon, and hopefully, no-one would miss her for too long.
Starlight used her magic to open the door and trotted inside the room. The portal was open, glittering and shimmering as usual. She took a deep breath and jumped inside.
In her haste, however, she forgot to leave a note to Princess Twilight on her whereabouts.
Rainbow Dash's face fell when she saw Starlight Glimmer come out of the portal from Equestria. She groaned.
"Not happy to see me?" Starlight joked.
Rainbow shook her head. "Now's not the time Starlight. Quick, we need to get a mess-WATCH OUT!"
Starlight Glimmer noticed- too late- the colored blob headed for her.
"Get out of the-" Rainbow Dash began, but it was too late. The golden blue orb of energy slammed into Starlight with the force of a comet, knocking her back towards the portal. Luckily, she didn't go into it, and staggered forwards to try and get her breath back.
"Well, that was weird." Starlight suddenly noticed Rainbow Dash backing up. "What?"
"Just giving you some room for the inevitable," the prismatic haired girl replied.
"What do you mean, the inevitable? And why is there suddenly a metal band around my waist?"
Starlight had no familiarity with this thing that had suddenly attached around her waist, a little way above her hips. She presumed it was some sort of support.
Suddenly, a series of metal bars burst out from the band in all directions, thundering towards the floor at incredible speed in a perfect curve. They roared past her knees and down to the floor. A large metal support band at the bottom formed to hold the shape in the correct place, and a series of further metal strips suddenly ran across the others, moving in a horizontal pattern compared to the earlier vertical pattern.
This left Starlight looking a bit awkward. "Why am I wearing a cage?"
Rainbow Dash sighed. "This is what I was trying to warn you about! Do you think I normally dress like this?"
Starlight Glimmer looked down inside the cage to see her boots begin to change. The heel was still there, and the laces faded to nothingness as the boots melted away like running wax. The fabric dissipated into the air, slowly getting thinner and thinner. The back dropped down to just below her heel, and the tops and sides melted away to reveal her socks, still in pristine condition.
This soon changed as the threads began to split apart and unwind, the cotton spilling over the sides of the shoes and falling to the floor like a puddle, before they faded away entirely.
"These feel really uncomfortable," Starlight admitted, as her heels suddenly glowed and changed to what looked like glass. However, Starlight knew that glass didn't glow like that.
The holes in her jeans stitched themselves together and turned into a completed garment, before the entire set turned white. The complete look was soon ruined, however, as the seams along the sides abruptly tore open from top to bottom, leaving Starlight feeling very awkward.
An odd stitching noise followed up as they were sewn back together, only this time as an incredibly tight ankle length skirt. This was soon corrected, and gained some width, reducing some of the pressure on Starlight's legs. To her surprise, the pockets sank into the skirt and vanished, and more fabric suddenly grew out of it and up the inside of her shirt, forming into a dress of sorts.
"O... Kay, then," Starlight noted. "I've fought crazy bug queens, seen off a crazed film star, and tried to direct a school. But this is easily the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me!"
Alas, it wasn't over. It wasn't even half done. As Starlight looked down, a skirt suddenly erupted from somewhere and flowed down the frame, effortlessly covering all of it with its vast expanse. The skirt was oddly lumpy as it moved against the metal, and was made entire of light blue ruffles.
Imagine her surprise when another skirt formed on top of that, and another, and then three more after that, all flowing downwards and to the floor to cover one another. They did, however, produce an extremely smooth texture that covered up the prior lumpiness.
Two more, flatter layers then emerged on top of that, also growing to the floor and seeming to glow in the light.
Starlight's beanie vanished, followed by her watch, and her shirt began to change. The sleeves shrank back into it, and the purple extensions to the sleeves retreated with them. Not long after this, the neckline dropped to her breasts, and the shoulders were covered by ruffled fabric that soon extended all the way round and down the back, which had opened up to create a backless shirt. The ruffles were blue, a shade soon shown by the entire shirt. The shirt stretched downwards and stopped.
Then as butterfly motifs appeared on the bodice, the final skirt grew out of the bottom in the final wave of expansion, flowing over the prior layers and stopping at the floor, with the process seemingly complete.
Rainbow Dash made her first comment in a while. "It seems everybody looks like a princess these days!"
Starlight looked in awe. "Wow, this feels amazing!" she said, doing a quick twirl and feeling the skirts flowing about.
"Wait, you like it?"
"Like it? I love it! Ever since I saw Rarity's book on period fashion and read about these, I've always wanted to wear one!"
"Yeah, well most of us don't." Rainbow Dash's bluntness rather spoiled the mood. "Can you ask Twilight for help, please? We may need her help to fix this."
Starlight Glimmer nodded. "Oh! Right!" She began whistling to herself as she turned around and tried to go back through the portal.
"Erm, Rainbow? I can't actually fit through the base of the statue. The skirt is too wide!"
There was a loud facepalm. "How big is that thing? Great, the only individual in the area who can go through the portal without causing confusion can't fit through because of a stupid dress!"
"About eight feet across, I estimate," Starlight admitted. "And I have no idea what would happen if I took it through. Do clothes from this world vanish when we get there? If not, I'd be barely able to move as a pony in this lot!"
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Let's go! Other people out here might need help, and we're pretty well qualified to give it!"
Both girls dashed off in the direction of town, one looking a bit annoyed, the other enjoying her newfound fashion tastes perhaps a little too much.