Darklo had an assortment of fears he had to take care of at the moment. The foreboding thought on what Princess Luna would possibly do with the information she discovered was especially dangerous. But there was also an underlying fear he'd been attempting to suppress ever since he arrived in Equestria. If he hadn't been forced to come to terms with hiding his human secrets, he would have thought about how his world was doing. Was it safe now? Are people living better? Is the Bellican government still around? All questions he will never have an answer too, making it all the more nauseating to think about.
Strangely though, there was a 3rd fear. One he thought he'd never feel again since he departed from earth. And that...
Was a manic fashionista!
"Hmmm, that fabric certainly won't do! Lilac wouldn't go with your coat at all, white will look much better as a primary. Though perhaps we can add some sequence WITH lilac to make up for the dreadful lack of colour." Rarity mumbled, pacing around the Boutique with thunderous speeds, adding, measuring and taking off portions of fabric attached to Darklos body.
"Rarity, I'm really thankful that you wanted to make me a suit for the Gala. Really I do, but you don't need to put in all this effort. Just a plain old tux will suffice." The colt said calmly, though the suffocating feeling of hardened fabric pushing onto his skin was changing his mood by the minute.
"Oh nonsense darling! This will be your first ever debut to Canterlot and let me tell you, the nobles can be quite cruel despite their pristine lifestyle. I'd rather save you the trouble with a suit that'll leave them thinking, 'wow, now that's a colt with class!'"
Well, Darklo couldn't say she was wrong about that. If these Canterlot nobles were anything like the Bellican elites then he would make sure to avoid them as best as he could.
People and ponies like that love putting class and hierarchy into everything they say and do, making it their entire personality. Just thinking about them and their grins of self indulged superiority made his blood boil, which was pretty bad considering his body temperature was already rising under the suit. Tsk, keep those idiots out of your mind, man! Those bastards aren't here to screw you over anymore.
Thankfully, the snow coated blur of a mare finally stopped herself to take a gander at his attire. Though, her analytic gaze never left her, which kept the knowing colt on edge as memories of an equally manic women took headway into his mind.
-Flackback
It was supposed to be a typical day for good old Lux. Wake up, finish 5 hours worth of pursuing his academic prowess, kick his classmates' asses in the practical sessions, sleep, repeat. But tonight threw a wrench into his plans as he stood in the middle of Ira's room, dressed in a frilly crimson gown and highly visible makeup. In his opinion, he looked like a clown!
Lux was already familiar with the unhealthy obsession Zelus' sister had for fashion. But he only saw the small things that tipped him off, like the fact that she never styled her uniform the same way twice in a row or the outrageous ass whoopings Zelus relieved whenever he trash talked her accessories. He didn't expect he'd need to worry about being held against his will.
Eventually, the menace exited her jungle of a wardrobe after a long 10 minute adventure, skipping gleefully towards him while holding a cannonballs worth of make up products that he stared at with masculine horror. Beside her was a rabbit the height of her knee. It had sleek purple fur, groomed daily by its master and hollow black eyes whose pupils adorned the symbol of the power that brought it life. Antimony, or more commonly known as the summoning sign. Lux had to admit that the summon was pretty cute, if he disregarded that the little guy was carrying a mountainous pile of lady clothes.
"Ohhhh Lux, I gotta say. Thanks for agreeing to help me pick out an outfit for tommorrow evening! There were simply too many fabulous choices and I'am in DIRE need of a second opinion."
Lux gritted his teeth, attempting to smile for his friend. "Yeaaah. When you said you needed help picking something, this wasn't what I had in mind, but suuure I'm happy to be of use."
The responce must have been satisfactory to Ira's ears since she laughed giddily while hopping in circles around the stone-faced guy. "Eeee~ I KNEW I could count on you!" Ira said, setting down her equipment and grabbing some fancy branded lipstick, smothering it on his lips. "Cause I know Zelus would be useless. For a big brother, he sure does love to thrash about and run off when I want to cash in a favour..." She added, her peppy tone converting into a low growl at the mention of her brother. Typical sibling behaviour.
However, Lux could understand why Zelus would rather find excuses to take him around Bellica than play dress up with his sister. This is so embarrassing!
"Well, you know Zelus, he's got alot on his mind with his training and all. Besides, may I ask why you need to dress ME up when you're the one whose gonna wear it?"
As he asked that, Ira had stepped back to admire her work, giving his whole body the analytic stink eye before grinning maniacally at the poor guy. "Oh that's simple Lux. If it looks great on a guy, it'll look great on me! Now hold still, I just got another spark of insiratioooon~" She then, ventured back into her wardrobe.
Meanwhile, the rabbit sorted through the clothes pile, probably ordering his torture in a neat separate cluster. "Pst, Lepus. You gotta get me outta here! Open the door or something." Lux hopelessly whispered, but to the dude's dismay, Lepus only turned to meet his pleading face for just a second before responding to him with an evil smirk and returning to his duties. Dammit, blasted rabbit is just as crazy... wait, maybe Zelus can help!
In one last desperate attempt, Lux pulled out his phone and messaged Zelus, or 'Bro-menace' (if he wanted to use the name he saved his number as) and typed frantically.
[Dude, your sister has me cornered in her room. She's tryna end me with dresses and feminine shit, send help!]
Lux waited for only a minute before the [...] showed up to indicate that his friend was answering. However, what was replied was not what he hoped for, forcing him to internally grimace, lie down and accept his fate.
[Idiot. You're on your own!]
-End Flashback
Darklo instinctual shuddered at the memory. So many dresses... But at least he was being forced into an outfit he could get behind, and it was much faster too as Rarity gave herself a nod of approval and unbuttoned the suit, levitating it behind the colt with a flick on the horn.
"Oh this will do nicely. Now, no peaking just yet. I want to see the looks on everypony's faces when they see their magnifique designs!"
Taking a sigh of relief, Darklo nodded. "Yeah, no problem." And although it took a moment, the mane 6 arrived and gathered around Rarity, who carried more optimism than usual. The colt could at least admire that about her. Not everyone or pony can have such a love for their work, so even though fashion will never be his thing, it wouldn't stop him from appreciating the effort it took to make them.
"Now then darlings, prepare yourselves for the suit and dresses of your lives. Voila!" Rarity sung as she sprung the curtains to the side to reveal everypony's dresses. Darklo had to admit that they all looked very nice. They all had their own charm and fit the pony who would be wearing them, plus he couldn't lie that his suit made even his awful fashion sense sparkle at the design.
The suit was pure white, which glistened like snow to make it pop with his dark coat. The bow tie both smelled and was coloured like lemons, though it came together with the pitch black pin of a thundercloud stuck on the center. The cuffs were laced in a lilac sequence with bright yellow gems adorned along the rim and the mid traces of the suit. Finally, the piece that brought it all together was the masquerade mask which he personally requested. It had a mystical pattern of lighting, fire and wind clashing together in a snowy and electric haze. Now I wont have to worry about any petty nobles identifying me at the party. The perfect disguise if I say so myself.
While the mane 6 stayed silent, their faces adorning more of hesitance than excitement (though the colt didn't understand why), Darklo smiled respectfully to Rarity. "Wow, I really dig the suit Rarity. I didn't think I'd be that impressed but damn is that thing cool! The other dresses look great too. Right girls?"
"...ehhh." They all erupted into many groans and hesitant noises.
"I-is something wrong with them?" Rarity asked nervously.
"Girls, I may not be clothes savvy but those dresses look just fine, what's with the hesitance?"
At last, Applejack dispelled the silence to answer the fashionista. "Well, Darklo's right. They ARE really nice Rarity, it's just... not what Ah expected." The rest nodded along in agreement.
"Then why the long faces? Just say what's on your mind. I can take a fair amount of constructive criticism, especially for an event so important to you all."
"Uhh alright then-" That sentence lead Applejack to make a lot more than fair criticism of her dress which gave way for a domino effect as the rest decided to voice their opinions.
The sight was baffling to the colt, since many of the criticisms just wouldn't work on clothing. I mean... balloons on a dress Pinkie? Think of the practicality.
But although Darklo was thinking on how to shut them up, Rarity had promised them all new designs by using their visions. It almost made Darklo shudder when he saw Rarity as they were about to leave. Chattering lower jaw, unnecessary blinking in one eye. Typical signs of gradual insanity. Jeez, Ira and her are more alike than I thought. Well, besides the malicious tendencies but still. I don't think leaving her like that will do any good, but Ill need a good excuse...
The colt took his time walking to the door as he surveyed the place carefully. Maybe there is some mess I can make and clean up. Or maybe, oh! A solution came before him on a silver platter as by the stairs, there was an equally concerned Sweetiebelle peeking around the corner. "Hey Twilight, could I stay around for a sleepover? I've never done one with Belle before."
Twilight, who was already tapping her hooves to get the colt to hurry up, raised an eyebrow at him. "Uhm, you mean Sweetiebelle? You sure have a nack for nicknaming your friends. Rarity, would that be okay?"
"Of course darling, he can stay." The snowy mare replied, reverting to her white blur of a form as she picked up numerous rolls of fabric to the sewing station. "Sweetiebelle dear, could you show him up to your room. And keep the door open, I won't tolerate from either of you, and Darklo will go home immediately if such a thing occurs, okay?"
"Alright sis." Sweetiebelle said, though her tone indicated a hint of annoyance to Darklos ears. And so, the colt made a u-turn back through the Boutique and up the stairs while following behind his friend. "Sisters am I right? Can't trust a colt and a filly to do things together."
Darklo just gave a nod and they continued along the upper floor. Eventually, they arrived in her room and to Darklos mild surprise, it wasn't outrageously jam packed as he expected the sister of a fashionistas room would be. Just a simple, normal room with a fancy looking bed and-
Man, her room is bigger than mine!
"Uhm, have you ever been in a fillys room before?" Sweetiebelle asked, who noticed his vacant gaze. At least before hand, as the question grabbed him out of it and lead the colt to look back at her.
"Well yeah, I've been in Appleblooms before. Hers was pretty cosy. It's just, yours puts both of our rooms to shame."
"You can thank my parents for it. Mom and dad gave my sister a pretty hefty pile of bits to fund her Boutique and she used it well." The sweet filly then hopped onto her bed and snuggled into it. "But let's get to the chase Darklo. I may not know you too well, but I DO know that your thousand yard stare normally means somethings on your mind. So what's up?"
"Wait, what gave you that idea?"
"You underestimate how much Applebloom knows about you."
... Well damn. Deciding to ignore the indirect call of flattery, he hopped onto the bed alongside her but he only chose to sit on the other end. "Well, I'm just concerned about Rarity. Her friends weren't too happy with their dresses," Darklo then proceeded to shimmy closer to Sweetiebelles ear and whispered, "and their suggestions were definitely not improvements. Like... balloons, are they serious?"
"Gee, and I thought YOU had poor fashion sense."
"Hey, using the same clothes isn't poor, it's efficient and cost effective."
Sweetiebelle shrugged while shaking her head in disbelief. "You have a lot to learn. But anyway, I don't think there is anything we can do for her."
"Why not?"
The snow filly proceeded to rise from her laying position and placed her front hooves on his shoulders. "Darklo, I'm her sister. Trust me. When she gets into that state, there is no stopping her," She said with confidence, "the best we can do is help her out when she needs it."
Darklo sighed in defeat. He could already foresee how upset she'll be with the new designs but if tagging in here and there would at least lose the load, then he'll do it. "Alright then, I'll be downstairs. Wanna tag along?"
"Sure thing. Hope you know about colour pallets cause I sure don't."
The hours following the trip downstairs were nothing but hectic. One of the mane 5 would come around from time to time to give their criticism and it was simply driving Rarity through a loop. It was like having to deal with annoying customers for a full shift of work. They are gonna snap eventually and Rarity will be no exception.
Darklo and Sweetiebelle attempted to at least lighten her stress but they came to realise that fashion was a tough work.
"Dears, this is maroon not ruby."
"No no, the stitching needs to be directed at 82° like Twilight wants."
"Why don't the two of you go and play? I'll handle this on my own."
Short story, their help was useless and both Rarity and her hair was getting worse. She is erupting into song for crying out loud!
But eventually, the dresses were finished and everypony was pleased... except for the literal designer and the foals who shocking have a better eye than the adults.
"Those dresses look like somepony just added anything that looked nice and called it a day." Sweetiebelle commented once she caught sight of the finished product.
"Agreed. But hey, the original dresses are still up in Rarity's room and we still have some months to convince them about their poor choice of outfit, so maybe we can salvage this." Darklo said hopefully.
But following their banter, Spike hurriedly barged through the front door.
"Hey everypony, you're NOT gonna believe this!" The eager dragon had to take a few moments to catch his breath. "Have you heard of Hoity Toity?"
"The big fashion hot shot in Canterlot?" Twilight responded.
And it must have been the answer since Sweetiebelle slivered near his ear to say, "For somepony who knows who Hoity Toity is, she sure don't know much about fashion designing."
"Correct, and he's heard of your fashion show, Rarity (more like I told him) and he's gonna be there to see your dresses!"
"T-these dresses?" The sisters asked in unison, delirium taken a hold of one more than the other. Meanwhile, Darklo glared nervously at his little brother, silently cursing him for the impromptu wrench in the works.
If I know one things for sure, its that good old Rarity wont survive the day if I dont try something. So once again, he surveyed the room with more desperation than his last look around until he noticed his suit; tucked away in a corner and fresh for use. It was then, a less than satisfactory idea rang in his head. No... no I'm not that kind of guy... but Rarity- but my pride! But Rarity- but my dignity!
After a deep contemplation, he exhaled anxiously and steeled himself. "Alright... for Rarity."
In about a few hours, the moon had shown its face, reflecting its light down at the fashion show in an attempt to lighten the mood.
It proved ineffective to the audience however, as they looked on at the models and their unorthodox dresses with confusion and bafflement.
"Ugh, those dresses are simply hideous!" The famous Hoity Toity exclaimed, the professional venom oozing from his voice while he watched the mane 5 walk down the stage. "It's like the designer randomly added on anything in their garden. This is a mockery to fashion! Whoever made these should consider a change in profession."
While the mane 5 were slowly realising how ridiculous they look, Darklo was peeking behind the curtains of the stage as he fiddled with his suit. Sweetiebelle had other things to consider over what her friend was going to do as her sister was close to becoming a heap of tears and broken dreams. "It's over Sweetie, I tell you. OVER!" She resigned to hiding her face in her hooves while Sweetiebelle rubbed her back. "I should've told them no... now my career is going to be in mud!"
"I don't know Rarity, maybe Hoity will really like the suit you made for Darklo."
"Darling, only 1 good suit isn't going to impress him enough! And with so many repulsive designs, who knows if he'd even believe I made that one..." she continued to hide into herself while Sweetiebelle turned to look at Darklo who was sweating and breathing irregularly as he looked at the dissapointed crowd.
"I...I can't do this, I can see some faces I recognise. Dammit, I'm never gonna live this down!" He whispered frantically, though it was interrupted when Sweetiebelle disengaged from Rarity and went over to pat the colts back.
"Darklo, you've gone up against some dangerous stuff in Ponyville, and with an audience too. Surely, you can do this."
"Belle, this is different! Battle excites me, it helps me disassociate from spectating eyes. Plus, those spectators normally are cheering me on. With this, I could be a laughing stock!"
"But, what about Rarity? I know that this is uncomfortable for you, but is a little bit of embarrasment worth it?" She pleaded him, blasting the colt with a mean set of puppy dog eyes and although their power didn't hold a candle to crippling might of Appleblooms, it was enough to reconsider his standing.
"..." And so, Darklo took a deep breath and on the que of the mane 5 returning backstage, he exited the curtains where the crowd eagerly awaited something better. "For Rarity..."
But before he strayed down that runway, he glowed his horn and generated a small sign on the wood using sparklers as the source. It was shaped like a circle, but had a horizonal line that cut through the center which would allow it to create ice. And although that alone wouldn't do anything good at the moment, by stomping his hooves through it while adding a bit of fire and air into the mix, a common alchemical reaction occurred.
Glacio
Once spoken in his mind, the sign erupted into a haze of fog that invaded the whole stage, leaving the audience amazed at the new chance of pace and gifting Hoity Toity the chance to readjust his shades in intruigue. "Oh?" Was all he let out, but he was about to say more than that once Darklo finished things.
The colt walked to the end of the stage, albeit with some hesitance in his steps, while charging lightning through his horn which gave the fog an electrifying look. Eventually, he paused once the crowd could he him in shadows and lifted the fog aside with telekinesis, revealing himself and his suit.
The sight of it had the crowd oo'ing in awe while the hot shot fashion designer finally retracted from sniffing the air, smiling for the first time in the show. "Now that's much easier on the eyes. It's obvious an electrifying radiance and passion was put into this piece."
Now the hard part... Darklo thought as he pulled the fog back onto the stage, covering him once more.
In the eyes of the crowd, they only saw a shadowy figure of the colt once again, but this time he levitated into the air while his horn glowed brightly.
"What the- he's floating? How is he doing that!?" A crowd member shouted in awe.
"Were you not at that Magic show before? The little guy had done that there aswell." The pony beside them questioned while they still kept one eye on the spectacle.
And eventually, the light stopped and the fog dispersed from the colt to reveal...
Darklo in a rainbow coloured dress.
The crowd cheered as he gently flew around the confines of the stage, making sure to add in some loops and a trail of lightning behind himself to liven up the routine. Darklo however, kept his eyes focused on anything but the crowd; the notion of showing himself off to a crowd kitted in feminine clothing reddening his cheeks. Dammit, I gotta quicken up the pace before I explode!
And so the colt tried to using the teleportation spell to swap each dress onto him while they were still under the effects of a size lowering spell. He counted both his lucky and unlucky stars that the show required a few hours of set up, as the amount of spells he'd have to use wouldn't have been worth the attempt.
But shrugging off that thought, Darklo showed the audience each dress while adding a small routine into it. Like bouncing around the stage in hops and summersaults with Pinkie's dress or shooting a mini firework spell into the sky for Twilight's dress.
Darklo, although greatly disturbed, had slowly noticed that the crowd wasn't laughing at him as he expected. They were genuinely enjoying the show. It kind of baffled him since he knew fairly well that if a person saw him in something like this, they'd be laughing their asses of at the absurdity, Zelus most especially. He had even noticed Hoity Toity remove his shades to catch the entire showcase with his undivided attention.
Thankfully, once he had gone through every dress, he switched Applejack's dress with his own and released the size alteration spell. Ah, much better!
Though he was definitely tired, the fuzzy pain he was feeling near his horn was evident of that, he dissipated the Glacio sign, allowing the fog to clear up, giving everypony a bow.
"Ah bravo! Bravo! Now those are the kind of dazzling designs to be expected." Hoity Toity cheered, climing onto the stage to meet the colt. "Are you the designer? I've never met a fashion prodigy so young, but if your parents allow it, I could make you a star little one!"
Darklo immediately shook his head. "Oh no sir, these aren't mine. Those are Rarity's work. Infact, I regret to inform you that the dresses you saw first were mine. You see, I thought of an idea to boost the awe and cheeriness of the crowd where I'd make something bad which would lower their expectations only for Rarity's work to blow them out of the water." The colt lowered his head. "Please forgive my deception, I only wanted to help my sister's friend succeed."
As Rarity and the others, who had taken off their horrid dresses, the fashion hot shot furrowed his brow before re-equipping his glasses and combing his mane. "I see, so those were merely a ploy... you have cunning little one, style even, but I highly suggest you keep the designing to the professionals." Finally, he went over to Rarity who had recovered from her crying fit moments ago. "Miss Rarity, Il admit that my expectations for you were very low after that first act, but now that the context has been revealed, I must say your expertise is purely divine. If it isn't much trouble, I'd love to sponsor your Boutique, and whatever your answer, Il be watching your career with great interest."
It looked as if the stallion had broken the poor mare from how she stuttered with her words. "Y-ye-yes of course sir I'd be honoured!" But fortunately, the nervousness subsided once they got backstage as she began squeeling and hugging the poor colt to death. "Oh I can't believe it! Seriously darling, you saved my career from an inevitable end. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
Darklo was helpless against her grateful grip and he could only look to Twilight and Sweetiebelle for help while his cheek was being nuzzled savagely. "Really Rarity, it's not a big deal. I just didn't want to put you through more stress than you were feeling."
"Well you surely made a big deal about wearing those dresses. Didn't matter though, you rocked those outfits." Sweetiebelle chimed.
"Thanks for reminding me..." Darklo responded through gritted teeth and flushed cheeks. "But I believe someponies owe this cuddle menace an apology."
At last, Rarity release her hood on the colt as Twilight and her friends look to the snowy mare apologetically. "Yeah, Darklos right, we should've been more considerate of what you made for us." Twilight said
"Fashion means alot to you, so we shouldn't have acted like we knew better..." Fluttershy added.
"Though if we didn't act like that, we wouldn't have seen little Darklo in all our cute dresses! Totally worth it~" Pinkie giddily sung, making everypony chuckle except for Darklo, whose coat was shining red at this point.
"PINKIE, shut it!"
Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,
Today, my great and talented friend, Rarity had learned a special lesson. To know when to put your hoof down as when you try to please everypony, you please nopony. Meanwhile, her friends have learned to let the professionals do their job as they know how to make something special out of their work. Basically, the customer is always right is utter bollocks.
From your faithful student and fearless colt,
Twilight Sparkle and Darklo Sparkle
"Oh, you added your last name this time?" Twilight rhetorically questioned as she saw the wording on the fine print while resting on a pillow in the Carosel Boutique.
"Yeah, I feel like I've gotten comfortable enough with it. Besides, I gotta admit that my full name sounds rather cool."
As they talked, Rarity steadily approached Darklo and gave him a smile. "Again darling, thank you for helping me snag such an opportunity. With Hoity Toity in my corner, marketing my Boutique will be so much easier." She cooed gratefully as she stroked his mane. "Please, if you ever need anything made, just ask alright?"
Darklo pondered it for a minute until he came up with something. "Actually, I've got something in mind." He whispered his idea into Rarity's ear and both smiled once he retracted and went back upstairs where Sweetiebelle was waiting.
"Always the selfless little foal, his father certantly raised him right."
"What did he ask for Rarity?" Twilight asked along with Spike who was resting beside her.
"Yeah, what was it?"
Rarity giggled softly and merely replied. "A mare never spoils her clients orders!"