//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Inspired by friends. 
// by bryonyTheWolf 
//------------------------------//

It was a very very rainy afternoon in the little town of Ponyville.
Rainbow dash and her crew had just brought a scheduled storm to help with crops, Sugarcube Corner had opened its doors to ponies looking to seek shelter from the storm.

Twilight’s castle had also allowed ponies to spend time on the ground floor to seek warmth from the storm for those who had been caught outside.

Rarity was sitting in the living room of her boutique, watching the rain roll down her windows.
She had also opened her doors to ponies who wanted to come inside from the sudden storm.
But no one had come in yet, it was just her, Sweetie Belle and Opal.
The white unicorn sat with her younger sister at her side, she normally enjoyed listening to the rain and watching it create unique patterns on the windowpane. 
But this time it wasn't as interesting to Rarity, as she had other things on her mind.

Her friends had all become so popular over the last couple of years with their unique ways of presenting themselves.
Obviously Twilight was the princess of Ponyville, so she would obviously become popular with her new reputation.
But everyone else had become really popular too, even applejack, and it was beginning to affect business.

Her friends were driving ponies away from her boutique and causing her to have a massive downgrade in sales.
It was frustrating admittedly, but she wasn't about to let jealousy get the better of her.
Her friends were having their moments in the spotlight, they deserved it.

  “Rarity? Are you thinking about your friends again?”   SweetieBelle spoke up, snapping rarity out of her thoughts.
  “If you’re that worked up about your friends taking your customers away, then why don't you do something with your fashion line, involving your friends? Like a shirt about nature to represent fluttershy and her animals, since they're so popular now, it would only make sense to capitalize on it all.”  

SweetieBelle pranced around the room as she did this, smiling wide, thinking her idea was the best idea she had ever come up with.
Rarity put a hoof to her chin in thought and smiled softly.

 “Sweetie, I think you may be onto something. I can keep my friends' popularity alive, while bringing customers in again, to help get the business back onto its hooves! Plus, given my schedule, i may have just enough time to design a new line of outfits ready for the fashion show coming up in manehatton in a few months! Sweetie Belle thankyou, this is an amazing idea!”  
Rarity gave an excited squeak, wrapping her front hooves around her sister in a tight embrace.

With that, Rarity set to work, making her way to her bedroom to draw out some designs, one outfit to represent her friends, while still having that classic rarity flair to it that ponies seemed to enjoy.
A few days went by, and she had already made the first 3 dresses.
They were made to represent Applejack, Twilight and Fluttershy.

Applejack’s dress was more of a corset with a long skirt. Allowing ponies to show off their front legs with the outfit, the whole outfit matching Applejack’s fur colour. The rim of the skirt had a fluffy boa stitched to it, with sparkly, red apple pins put into it. The outfit was topped off with some green apple earrings and short, leather boots that were a very very pastel green to match the earrings.

Twilight’s dress was a ball gown, with a veil that flowed behind the pony as they walked. The underside of the veil had a layer of resistant fabric to it, so nothing got caught on it or stained it.
The dress itself matched Twilight’s mane colour, with the seams being stitched with thread that matched twilight’s mane highlights.
Accessories were a star shaped necklace, with silver shoes that had white stars on them.

Finally, fluttershy’s dress was a pastel yellow to represent her fur colour.
With fake vines stitched along the torso seam, and going up the shoulders to make the straps.
This outfit was a shirt with a short skirt, fit with some shorts underneath, just in case it got too breezy. The shoes were a nice pink to represent Fluttershy’s mane that went up to the middle of a pony’s legs. These shoes were topped off with a faint, stitched pattern of butterflies to represent her cutie mark.

  “Perfect!! The first dresses are up and ready to be seen! What do you think Sweetie?”   Rarity asked excitedly, turning to her sister with a prideful smile on her face.

  “Rarity, you know that ponies will love your designs no matter what. But, personally, I really like Applejack’s dress you’ve made. Because it looks like you put a mix of applejack AND sweet apple acres into it.”   Sweetie pointed this out, and rarity gave a nod, her smile getting wider as she admired her work with her sister.

  “But, it's like you took your friends, and made them into clothes!"   Sweetie Belle joked.
Both unicorns chuckled at the remark as Rarity opened her boutique for ponies to come in and see her work in progress fashion line.

As the days went on, a few ponies came in, but it seemed like no one wanted to buy anything, saying it was “the same old dresses, different colours”.
The aggravated unicorn decided to give her undivided attention to one dress at a time, starting with twilight.

About 2 weeks passed, so many designs wasted, so many resources used on dresses that would never sell…
With no successful sales coming in, and money going down the drain, rarity began to get more and more frustrated at her friends, for driving customers away.
It was almost like she didn't exist anymore now that the others had become so popular with everyone, to the point that nopony was even coming in to browse anymore.
But Rarity had 1 more idea in mind.




Knock Knock Knock.
Knocking echoed throughout the crystal hallways of Twilight’s castle.
Spike answered the door, only to be greeted with a very angry rarity, dark bags under her eyes, no makeup on, and a couple of split ends in her mane.
It almost looked like she was in a rush to get ready for the day, and forgot to pretty herself up.

  “Uh, hey Rarity, are you feeling ok? You look a little tired.”   Spike asked, concern in his voice as he looked at his crush.

 “Yes I'm fine dear, just having a bit of a struggle lately at the boutique. Which is actually why I'm here.”   Rarity explained, giving the dragon a dismissive wave and a kind smile.
 “Anyways… Is twilight home? I need to speak with her about a rather pressing matter on one of my designs. I feel like she'll be perfect for it.”  


Spike tilted his head before shrugging with a nod, inviting the unicorn inside as he ran ahead to grab twilight. After a couple of minutes, the purple alicorn flew down to her friend, smiling wide.
  “Rarity! Good to see you, Spike said you needed me for something?”   Twilight exclaimed, landing elegantly in front of the white unicorn.

  “Its wonderful to see you too Twilight, and this matter is somewhat urgent. I need you to come to my boutique, I'm working on a design that has star constellations in it, and I need you to come and see how accurate they are.”  
Rarity explained through gritted teeth, Twilight had become one of the more popular ponies of the friend group, and for good reason of course, but that didnt stop Rarity from needing to hide her frustrations.

Twilight’s eyes lit up, her wings flapping excitedly as she nodded.
  “Of course!! Let me grab one of my books on constellations! I'll be right back!”  
With a squeak, she flew off into the castle library to grab the book in question.

Spike looked at Rarity after hearing her give a small sigh, seeing that she now had a rather annoyed, if not disgusted look on her face as she waited for the alicorn to return. 
He didn't question it, things weren't going so well for her, it's better to not pry her on it.
Twilight came back with a saddle bag with her book in it and smiled wide, rarity immediately snapped back to her welcoming face and turned to lead the way to the boutique.


Walking into the shop, rarity closed the door, locking it behind her and twilight, much to the princesses confusion.
  “Sooo where’s this dress rarity? I can't wait to see your amazing designs again!”   Twilight said with excitement, hopping on the spot as she turned to her friend.

  “It's in the basement darling, I wanted to keep it as a surprise from other ponies, since they all seem to be watching me work through my bedroom window with the assistance of pegasi or magic.”  Rarity explained, trying her best to sound convincing. Twilight gave an understanding nod and followed rarity down into the darkness of the basement.

  “Rarity? How am I meant to see the dress in this light? Is there a light switch anyw–!”   
Twilight was cut off with a sharp blow to the head with something. She fell to the ground unconscious, with a loud thud.
 “Sorry twilight… But I need to take a stand if it means I can get my business up and running again.”   Rarity said to herself in a monotone voice, as she put down the steel bat she had.

Sweetiebelle had bought it when she and the other crusaders were trying out playing baseball to find their talent. Sometimes that little filly could really come in handy.



Twilight awoke with a groan, she tried to sit up, but realized that she was unable to. A light suddenly flickered to life above the alicorn, causing her to squint heavily. Once her eyes adjusted, she looked down at herself, and realized that she was strapped down to a table of some kind.
There were straps holding down all 4 of her legs, 2 others holding her wings open and another strap rested over her belly, keeping her completely still. Her head was the only thing free to move around. 
After a moment, her breathing became shaky, as she called out into the mysterious room.   “Hello? Rarity? Where am i?!”  

  “Ah you’re awake darling! Good to know…”  Rarity responded, but her tone was cold, careless, and malicious. She walked over to twilight, standing over her.

  “Rarity, what's going on? Why am I tied to this table? Where’s spike?”   Twilight had so many questions and rarity cut her off with a groan.

  “Twilight you talk way too much. Don't you ever learn to shut up? Or was it your voice that caused you to become so popular with everypony all of a sudden?” 
Rarity spoke through gritted teeth, her ears folded back as she paced a little bit in front of Twilight.
The purple alicorn looked around, trying to figure out where she was.
It was a storage area that was cleared out to make room for what looked like a tool set, with more fashion equipment, such as sewing machines, unused thread, spare fabric, you name it. Along with 4 mannequins lined up in a row, each one having a letter scribbled on the flank.
R was first, then D, then F, and finally, T.

  “Look, I'll keep this short, so listen up and try to understand… See, I am sick of you all getting ganged up on. You have caused my business to go downhill. You have driven customers away, and I am beginning to run out of money to keep my business alive, as well as keep a roof over Sweetie Belle's head. Plus, that little filly gave me a little idea!! Why not make clothes, inspired by my friends?”  ]
Rarity spoke with a smile, and a rather excited tone. She then picked up a needle with her magic, letting it fly through the air.

Twilight let out a confused whimper, before trying to ignite her horn to teleport away. But let out a blood curdling scream as pain shot through her head where her horn should be.
  “Missing something?”  
Rarity asked, as her magic picked up something on the wooden table beside her, it was Twilight’s severed horn.

Twilight looked down at herself, noticing dried blood had run down her chest from the wound and had now clotted into her fur.
  “Rarity this is crazy! You can't do this! I'm your friend! I thought you were happy for us!?”   Twilight protested, her ears folding back as tears began to cloud her vision.

 “Oh I was, I was so very happy that you were all beginning to get recognized for your talents, as well as  becoming so well known for saving Equestria. I was extremely happy for all of you. In fact, i couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, that my closest friends were having their moments in the spotlight... Until it began to affect business. Now I need to be a bit more selfish in order to keep myself stable financially. I'm sure a smart pony like yourself can understand.”  

Rarity explained. Her eyes filled with annoyance, as she slowly walked toward the purple alicorn, her magic putting the severed horn back on the table.
 “Now, how about we fix a little something first? That consistent talking of yours”  

Rarity held up the needle from earlier, beginning to thread a thick white thread into Twilight's face, beginning to swiftly sew Twilight’s lips together.

The basement was filled with blood curdling screams, but the needle worked quickly to cross-stitch the purple alicorn’s lips together, silencing her.
Twilight’s whimpers became muffled as more tears flowed, staining her cheeks.
Rarity simply smirked as she put the bloody needle down and took a step back to admire her work. Small rivers crimson flowed from twilight’s punctured lips and down her neck.

  “Muuuch better. See Twilight? Doesn't that feel so much better to give your voice a bit of a rest?”  Rarity asked with a wicked smile. 
Rarity then turned her back to twilight, walking over to her tool box and taking out a black marker.

Taking the cap off, she walked back over to Twilight and began drawing small lines over Twilight's body, she was making a design plan… out of her skin.

Twilight attempted to reason with the white unicorn, but her muffles fell upon deaf ears as Rarity continued to work. 
  “Now I have something to work with.”   Rarity said, mostly to herself.
Before walking back and taking out a large pair of fabric scissors from the toolbox and walked back toward her friend slowly, speaking up again.

  “You know Twilight, you can use pretty much anything to make clothes, but I've never used an actual pony before, this will be an interesting experience for me. I'm so glad you decided to be so generous with helping me, especially with your busy schedule.”   
Rarity spoke in a soft, friendly tone, smiling wide as she placed her front hooves either side of Twilight’s torso, just below her wings.
Before the purple alicorn could try to protest, she let out a soft yelp as a slight sting ran through her left wing. She looked over to see that rarity was aligning the scissors blades with the base of her wing.
Twilight’s eyes opened as wide as they would go, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks as she tried to scream, plead, beg rarity to spare her. But once again, they fell upon deaf ears.

 “Did you know twilight, that fabric scissors need to be sharpened often? It's a good thing I sharpened these before you arrived, or we'd be here for a lot longer. Now hold still, i don't want to make a messy cut...”  
Rarity commanded, she was getting a kick out of this, as the scissor’s blades closed over the base of twilight’s wing, beginning to saw through the skin, muscle and bone.

Blood splattered over the joint, as well as some landing on rarity’s face. Twilight’s silenced screams rang through the basement, sounds of squelching and ripping of flesh could be heard, as the blades swiftly made their way to the wing bone. But that is where the scissors began to struggle.
Rarity spent a good minuet trying to saw through the bone with her scissor blades, all the while, Twilight’s crying and whimpering persisted, as a river of blood ran down the slanted table, making a small puddle on the floor under Rarity’s hooves.

After a while, Rarity gave up, putting the scissors down and taking the wing in her teeth. With a sharp pull, a snapping sound could be heard, followed by another scream. The wing was quickly broken off of twilight’s body.
Rarity took a small breather and put the severed wing down next to Twilight's horn. After a moment, Rarity gave a small sigh, and turned back to Twilight, her wicked grin returning to her face, her ear giving a small twitch as she slowly approached the crying alicorn.

  “I won't lie.. I'm not too sure how easy it is to clean blood off of things, but I'm sure a nice cocktail of stain removers should do the trick, what do you think?”   Rarity spoke up, as she watched the blood drip down from the wing, to the floor.
She couldn't help but stare, she seemed almost, entranced by it. Watching the beautiful shade of red fall to the floor.
Shaking her head out of her trance for a moment, she had an idea, and went back upstairs to the main shop.

Rarity then went toward her kitchen, grabbing a bucket that was used in emergencies in case of any leaks.
Pausing for a moment, she looked out of the window, seeing ponies walk past.
With her magic, she closed all of the curtains in the building, just to be sure no one saw what she was doing, and went back to work.
  “I'm baaack!”   Rarity called into the basement, and Twilight once again, gave a whimper and tried to reason with Rarity.

Rarity once again ignored her silenced friend and placed the bucket at the end of the table, letting the blood flow into it. With a chuckle, she grabbed her scissors and mounted the table again, getting ready to saw through her remaining wing.
Working quickly this time, she broke the other wing off with relative ease.

Placing the second wing on the table, she looked back at her friend, putting a hoof to her chin in thought.
Before having a small Eureka moment and running back upstairs.
While Rarity was gone, twilight looked down at herself. Covered in blood from her own wings and horn, tears continued to fall down her face, and she laid her head back on the table, staring up at the ceiling.
Her ears folded back as she began to openly sob, thinking about Spike and how he would need to fend for himself now. 
She began to think of Celestia and Luna… and her friends. 
One of which has now turned against her, and was going to take her own life for her own personal gain.

  “Aww no need to cry Twilight!”   Rarity spoke up suddenly, causing Twilight's attention to snap back to Rarity, a look of hopelessness in her eyes.
 “Think about it like this... You aren't going to die in vain. You will be helping me of course, and that’s what I thought the princess of friendship did, help her friends.”  

Rarity’s face twisted into a psychotic grin, as she pulled out a pair of electric razors, turning them on.
She began to shave twilight’s head, making quick work of her mane and tail, leaving her as just a purple pony.
Putting the discarded hair in a small box for later, she then picked up a scalpel and walked back to her friend.
Before noticing that the blood splattering from her wing breakages had obscured the plan she had made previously, she went back to grab the marker, a small groan sounded from the white unicorn as she tried to remember where she had put it.

This was twilight’s chance, with a deep breath, she began to try and part her lips. Opening her jaw as wide as she would go, and cutting her lips to ribbons in the process. Small grunts and whimpers escaped the purple pony, and more tears ran down her face, but she bared with the pain as she tried to take back her ability to speak.

But soon enough, the stitching fell to the ground.
Blood began to fill twilight’s mouth, so she leaned her head down to avoid choking on it, before speaking up.
It was slightly gurgled thanks to the pools of blood filling her cheeks, as well as the fact that her lips were now somewhat useless.
  “Rarity!!!!”  

Rarity turned around with a surprised look on her face. Seeing the stitching now on the ground, and Twilight's lips now shredded. She couldnt help but feel a it impressed.

  “Rarity please!! Don't do this! I need to take care of Spike!! And the princesses will notice I'm missing, as well as our other friends!
You’re setting yourself up for failure, just let me go, I can just say I was in a freak accident or something! My mane and tail will grow back, my face will heal, and i'm sure celestia and luna can find a healing spell for me, it'll be like nothing ever happ–!!”   
Twilight was cut off once more, as rarity's horn lit up and pulled twilight’s tongue out of her mouth, holding it there.

  “Twilight i must say im surprised, but i dont think i gave permission to speak did i?”  
Rarity spoke with a slight chuckle, as she made quick work of cutting twilight’s tongue out with her scalpel.
Twilight’s screams rang through the room, and blood flooded down her body and down the table, landing in the bucket below.
  "Scalpels make such quick work of flesh and skin dont they? I'm glad i was able to grab one from Ponyville hospital. They let me have it and told me its great for finer details in fabric. And it really does the trick! Not just on clothes!"  
Rarity exclaimed, smiling wide at the stainless steel tool she held with her magic. 

Rarity then gave a sigh, looking at the mess on Twilight's body, and how much blood covered up the plan she had drawn earlier. Now she couldn't even see where she was supposed to cut.. Looks like she’ll just have to make do with winging it.
In 1 fluid motion, the scalpel was plunged into twilight’s chest, making a hollow cut out of the blood covered hide, prying the skin away from the muscle.
Twilight continued to scream and cry and splutter.
Coughing up blood over rarity’s head and shoulders, but she ignored it for now, as she began to make quick work of skinning her friend for the final material she needed.

This process took a while, and twilight didn't bother protesting. Instead, her eyes began to roll back, and her head fell limp on the table, as she slowly began to bleed out.

Once she was done, the entirety of twilight’s front was void of skin, and at this point, all life had faded from the princess.
Rarity took this as an opportunity to flip twilight over, and get the remaining skin from her. Before taking all her gathered materials and making her way to her work room.


Ponies were beginning to gather around the carousel boutique as they saw a brand new design in the window of the display.
It was a purple body warmer with a nice folded collar. With a pink star cutie mark on each side.
It had a set of wings stitched to the shoulders and a dark blue seam stitched into the front.
The mannequin wearing this design also had a set of socks, some dark blue wool socks. With pink and purple highlights in it, topped off with a purple spiked earring and a set of yellow, shining shoes.

The perfect design to represent Twilight Sparkle…
And the perfect way to start her new line…