//------------------------------// // Rarity // Story: ...And Then Everypony was an Alicorn. // by Wanderling //------------------------------// Rarity snuggled in her bedsheets, luxuriating in the soft, silky feel. She gave a small sigh of pleasure and stretched her hooves out languorously. She reveled in the still quietness of the morning. It was so nice to wake up feeling refreshed for a change. She didn't have any looming deadlines at present, so she was able to catch up on her beauty sleep. Another sigh escaped her lips, less happy. Soon, her wonderful peace would be disturbed by the blaring of Sweetie Belle's alarm clock, and the thunder of her hooves along the hallway. Her sister would then fling herself into the room and bounce excitedly up and down on the bed until Rarity got up, or else she would attempt to make 'breakfast'. Rarity shuddered at the thought for a second, then banished it from her mind. She would enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasted thank-you very much! She regained her state of bliss at the precise moment Sweetie's shrill alarm went off. The mare restrained the urge to groan. Sure enough, the clattering of excited filly hoofsteps could be heard, along with more raucous shrieks than usual. Rarity had a brief moment of time in which she thought, I really have to teach that filly how to walk like a lady, before the door slammed open. She braced for the impact of a younger sibling to the stomach. "Rarityrarityrarity!" Rarity's gave a ladylike 'hwuff' as Sweetie landed on her. "Now...darling, what have I said about jumping on ponies when they are asleep?" the white mare began to pull off her eye-mask, accompanying her half-hearted question with a weary sigh. "Oh, sorry Rarity, but, but look! At me." Sweetie Belle's voice quavered with awe. Rarity did. She frowned. "Sweetie Belle, wherever did you find a filly-sized pegasus costume at this hour of the morning? And why are you...?" Her voice trailed off as Sweetie Belle gave the wings an experimental flap. They didn't do anything to lift her, but they had definitely moved. By themselves. "B-buh-buh-buh-bwhaaa?" Rarity spluttered, gulping at the air like a goldfish for 10 whole seconds. Sweetie just giggled. "I dunno where they came from Rarity! I just woke up with them." The filly gave Rarity a thoughtful look. Rarity stopped gaping and leapt forwards to grab her sister. She poked at the feathers. Her eyes were glinting with astonishment and disbelief. "Real? What? How did this happen? I need to-" "Hey, geddoff me! You have your own feathers to pull on." Sweetie Belle flailed her hooves and pulled away, plonking down roughly on the end of the bed. Rarity meanwhile had turned around to gaze at her own pair of snowy white wings. She wafted them up and down, transfixed. This was much, much better than those beautiful but delicate butterfly wings she had owned before. Why had she not felt them until Sweetie pointed them out? She let out a high-pitched, girlish giggle, that was on the borderline between hysterical and manic. Sweetie Belle was cautious of that giggle. I was the same one she heard when a celebrity came to the boutique; a mixture of euphoria and horror. The filly waited for her sister to notice her again. When it was apparent that Rarity was far too enthralled, she spoke. "Um, Rarity?" "Yes dear?" Rarity finally stopped looking at her wings. She was still in a slight daze. Sweetie Belle gave her sister an uncertain look. "Can we get some breakfast? Only I'm hungry and school starts in twenty minutes." "Twenty minutes! Sweet Celestia! Come on then Sweetie darling." Rarity was appalled. Had she really spent that long just staring at her new limbs. She made for the door at a trot, quickly grabbing her make-up and applying it as she went down the stairs to the kitchen. There was hardly any time to eat and get to the schoolhouse in time for the start of the day. Halfway to pouring out two bowls of cornflakes, the mare froze. She had gone from being enraptured by her wings to completely forgetting about them. She chided herself on her mental disorganisation. Come on Rarity, get it together. You've only mysteriously become an alicorn overnight. Rarity paced across the kitchen, suddenly flustered again. This is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING. Or was it? Rarity contemplated this. Did the addition of wings mean she was now royalty? This could put a spanner in the works for a number of ponies in high places, if they now had two new princesses to deal with. Surely there was a limit to the number of things one could be a princess of. She couldn't very well stay like this, no matter how pleasant it was at present. Too many horrible complications that came with such prestige. For all her dreams about Prince Blueblood, he had been quite awful. Who was to say being a princess wasn't a similarly terrible thing? Sweetie Belle sighed, seeing that Rarity had forgotten about breakfast, and poured out some of the cereal for herself. That at least she could do without causing a fire. Probably. One fire-extinguisher and foam-covered kitchen table later, and Rarity had composed herself to a less frantic state. She felt like Twilight must do before an exam, all worry and paranoia. Gears clicked in her head, jarring this thought to the surface. Twilight... "TWILIGHT! OF COURSE!" Sweetie Belle jumped, causing her slightly singed mane to bob up and down. "Come Sweetie Belle, we must visit Twilight Sparkle!" Rarity began to race around, out into her storeroom to look for something. "What about school? We'll be late." the filly trotted after her, a note of curiosity in her voice. "Nonono, no school today! Aha!" Rarity found a cloak under a pile of fabric scraps. "Can you imagine the stares, the scandal!" She wrapped herself in the cloak, making sure it covered her wings. Sweetie squealed with joy, having only heard the first half of what her sister had said. "No school!" "Why don't you wear this dear?" Rarity gave no option for protest as she bundled the filly into a cloak of her own size. Sweetie pulled a face but didn't try to remove the garment. "Come on the Sweetie Belle, the library awaits!" With a swish of a cloak, they were off, Rarity in the lead and Sweetie Belle hurrying after her.