Entry 26, by Scootscoot
Entry 27, by Dr White
Youth is beauty, and unfortunately, Rarity saw herself running out of both. When she looked in the mirror, she could only see the flaws that age had slowly worn onto her: a few wrinkles beginning to appear, a lack of former luster in her coat, her hair starting to loose its support. Cosmetics could obviously hide these flaws, but she could still feel them. Their persistence made her feel dirty and inferior. It was starting to affect her business; opportunities she missed out because she felt her confidence had slipped away with her age. That was something she refused to accept, it was time to take a more aggressive approach.
Knocking upon the wooden door to the arboreal library, she took several deep breaths as she waited for a response, drawing up the courage to ask her friend for help with such a personal problem. Opening the door with a welcoming expression was Twilight Sparkle, with her knowledge of the arcane arts, surely she would have a solution.
“Twilight, my darling, I'm not getting any younger. Every day I can feel my precious youth slipping away like sands in a cruel hourglass!” Rarity enunciated with wide gestures and bold stances.
“But Rarity, we're the same age...”
“Shush shush dear! It can't be easy for you to understand being so young. You must know that it's difficult to be so old but so well immersed in the world of fashion such as I am. This industry is not a job for the elderly.”
“But aren't most of the high fashion designers almost twice your...”
“You're right, Twilight!” Rarity interrupted again. “When they look at me, soon they'll see nothing but an old hag, past her prime, washed up, done for! Oh please Twilight, you must help me, you must!”
Twilight answered with much hesitation “It sounds like you're asking for an age spell. Those are really difficult and don’t always turn out right.”
“Oh please Twilight, I'm begging you. I have an important client coming in from Trottingham this afternoon, and if he sees me like this, he'll just walk all over me!”
“Maybe that's because you're crying right now.” Rarity didn't respond, but just stared back with wide, pleading eyes. The kind of eyes that in the wrong head could topple empires. “Oh all right. Help me get down some books. This is going to take some work.”
After pulling down numerous references, precautions and procedures, Twilight had collected enough notes to begin the spell. With books scattered across the floor, Rarity stood right in front of her friend. She squinted as Twilight's horn began to glow, the mystic energy concentrating at a point. Bright streams of indigo and cyan filled the room. Rarity found it difficult to concentrate on the changes that were happening to her, as if she was loosing awareness of her body.
When the atmosphere of the room returned to normal, and Rarity regained sense of her surroundings, she noticed everything was a little bigger. She even needed to crane her neck up to look at Twilight, who had the most alarming look of dissatisfaction on her face. “Well, it worked” Twilight managed to squeak out. Feeling panic rush through her body, Rarity galloped over to the neared mirror. Looking back at her through the mirror was a young filly who hadn't even earned her cutie mark yet.
“Change me back!” She finally exploded “Change me back!” Rarity rushed over and leaped upon a pile of books, trying to regain some stature. “Change me back! Change me back! Change me back!” It was all she could get out. As frantic as ever, Twilight began flipping through her books and notes trying to find an answer.
“I can fix this!” Twilight responded, with just as much panic as Rarity was screaming at her with.
A few minutes after both of them had calmed, Twilight found a worrying solution. “I...I think the best solution will be to just wait it out.”
“You mean I'll have to grow up all over again?”
“No, no. But the spell isn't permanent. It will wear out in a few hours.”
“Can't you just find a counterspell?” Rarity pleaded.
“There is none. And if I tried anything, it could risk making you even younger!”
“A few hours, what am I supposed to do until then? I can't let anyone see me like this!”
“Well, if you stay here, Spike, or some library patron might see you.”
Unwilling to accept that happening, Rarity thought for a second before standing up straight and commanded “Twilight, get your saddlebag, you are taking me home!”
It wasn't too difficult to smuggle one tiny filly in a saddlebag across town. And now, alone in her house, all Rarity wanted to do was just lay down and die, at least until the spell wore off. Dying would have to wait as Rarity heard a knocking at her door. Dread washed over her as she realized it must have been the client she was expecting. If she sent him away, she could lose his business. Then again, if she showed up to him, her reputation could be ruined. She had to think quickly. Resolved with a plan in mind, she opened the door. She looked up to the stallion who spoke plainly. “I'm looking for Miss Rarity.”
“Oh yes of course. Do come in. My sister has been expecting you.” She lead him into the boutique where her dresses were ready and on display. “Unfortunately, she's feeling under the weather and has entrusted me to deal with our business.”
“This is absurd!” He protested. “Young lady, this business is matters for adults. Now, if I can't speak with Miss Rarity, I'm afraid I'll have to leave.”
“No please wait!” She squeaked out. “I assure you, my sister trusts me completely! She fully trusts me to carry out her business in her absence.”
The stallion gave a skeptical eyebrow. “You mean to say she will honor any deal I make with you?”
Reluctantly, she agrees and this seemed to satisfy the business pony. The two sat down at a table and began negotiations. Rarity thought it would be just a simple matter of establishing prices, but she soon found that she held a severely weakened position. All he saw was an inexperienced child and tried to play on the naivete he thought would come with, wanting more dresses for less money. Rarity found it hard to argue with as idea of a little child arguing with an adult might be embarrassing enough to convince him to leave.
“I should also like to purchase twenty sets of evening wear. I believe thirty bits a piece will do.”
“Thirty is far too low! I, I mean my sister, would barely break even on these. I must insist on seventy at least.” She countered
“Now child, we would all love to be paid grand amounts of money for our work, but that's not the way the world works. These dresses would never sell on the discount rack at those prices. I would be willing to give you thirty five a piece for these.”
Rarity was now fed up with being pushed around like this. She employed her final tactic, one she reserves for these stingy customers, and for dates who didn't want to pay the bill. She narrowed her eyes, gave a devilish grin and spoke slowly and deliberately. “Now, I think you will find seventy is a fair price for these dresses.” She continued her stare. No one she's meet has been able to resist her demands under the weight of such a crushing gaze.
That is what she thought until he started laughing. Simply the sight of this tiny filly speaking with such authority was positively delightful. “Little girl, you are just so precious.” He chuckled. “I think our business is done here. Tell your sister that the next time she picks a proxy, she should find someone with more years under their saddle.”
The next morning, the spell had worn off and the wrinkles had returned. Every defect was once again visible on her face. All the years showing on her face. It was then that she decided to see these flaws not as years fleeted by, but as years of experience and respect commanded.