Lunch was a relatively quiet affair, it was simply Twilight and I in a small sitting room munching on a wide variety of flowers and hay. Hay was actually pretty damn tasty with my new taste buds, although Twilight informed me that what we were eating was pretty much top of the line quality. Makes sense, really, as we were in a castle. Speaking of, maybe sometime soon I'll get a chance to go outside and see some of the city of Canterlot, I'd heard a few things about it that left me very curious. Especially it's supposed nightlife scene, there's supposed to be one or two clubs that'll knock your socks off... well, metaphorically speaking now I suppose.
Still, after a chat with Luna the other day, she and Celestia thought it best that I at least be able to blend in, at least as well as an alicorn could in a country that only had six others besides myself, before being exposed to the public. It took a little bit of explaining, but once it became clear that royalty was associated with alicorns, and vice versa and that the two were basically inseparable, I could see the appeal for all parties involved in me avoiding random strangers that would think me the same. I'll admit, the political system was a bit odd, but that's for another day when I find the time to really dig in and study it.
"Aurora, I've got to go meet my friends at the train station soon, they're getting back from a trip to our old town. Canterlot is nice, but Ponyville really was something else..." Twilight wistfully sighed, a far-off expression in her eyes for a moment. "Anyways, since, well..." Twilight stumbled over her words slightly as she dug a hoof into the carpet.
I held up a hoof, understanding what she was saying. "I understand, Twilight. I'd like to get out at some point, though. What should I do while you go meet your friends?"
"Well, I was thinking that Rarity–"she began, before I cut her off.
"No way in hell. I'd like to avoid being violated by a measuring tape again, okay? Not to mention the fact that she kinda creeped me out..." I shuddered just a little bit as I recalled the events earlier in the day.
Twilight looked at me with puppy eyes, and I had to suppress the urge to fold right there and then. "Please?" she stretched it out, "It really is important to me that you get along with all of my friends, Aurora. I understand that Rarity can be a bit dramatic at times, and when she gets wrapped up in her fashion she takes it too far, but she really does mean well. She's the Element of Generosity, after all, it's hard for her not to want to do things for others; especially when the pony in question is my friend." Victim rolls a one on will save, critical failure!
"Alright..." I mumbled, standing no chance against those bloody adorable oversized eyes. I need to learn how to do that in the future, damn was that a potent weapon! "I suppose you know exactly where she is, too, don't you?" I followed Twilight out the door, gently kicking it closed with a rear hoof.
"Yup! Rarity and my friends have a suite reserved exclusively for their use, so she'll be there. Probably in the middle of a project would be my guess; while I'm gone maybe you two can get to know each other better." Twilight cheerily stated, clearly implying in her tone that she wanted me to get along with her friend.
Knowing from experience just how much of a pain in the ass having two friends who were at odds with each other was, and with how much Twilight had done for me so far since my arrival; I figured I owed her enough to at least get along with Rarity. "So long as she doesn't try using me as a guinea pig for something, I'll be fine. Also, she needs to drop that act of hers, didn't fool me one bit."
"Act?" Twilight asked in confusion, before clarity struck her. "Oh! Her 'high class' accent and mannerisms you mean?" I simply nodded my head once, and Twilight continued on. "She does that mainly because it's a dream, or was a dream of hers, to be able to climb the social ladder. Anything more than that is her story to tell though, not mine."
"Interesting... Does she know about, well, where I came from and stuff? She didn't seem to show anything one way or the other earlier." Yeah, that could lead to some awkward assumptions no doubt. The last thing I'd want to do is have her go on and on about some dream man of hers for example. Ugh, that thought left a bad taste in my mouth.
"No, again, that's something for you to tell. The only reason the guards and such are aware of it is because it was a matter of security. Even then, they're all sworn to not speak a word, else they could be thrown out of the service and then charged under the guard's rules and laws." I let out a whistle, that was some pretty hefty levels of privacy there. Good to know for future reference.
We arrived at a smaller wing tucked away in the back of an open-air courtyard, a rather beautiful one at that. Opening the door for us, I followed Twilight in as Rarity began to greet us. "Twilight, Aurora, how nice to see you again. I take it that it's time?"
"Yup, although I have a slight favor to ask of you, Rarity. You see, well..." For whatever reason, she trailed off, as if embarrassed or afraid to ask Rarity to stay behind because of me.
"What she means, Rarity, is that because of what I am, and that not many ponies outside of Celestia, Luna, Twilight and the guards really know about me right now, that she'd like for you to stay here with me while she goes down to the station." Twilight glared at me for only a moment, before giving me a look of relief. Rarity went to ask me a question as her eyebrow arched in confusion and I held up a hoof. "There's a story behind it, and I'd be more than happy to tell you while Twilight is gone."
Rarity eyed some pieces of half put together fabric and her tools laying on a table, then looked at me and Twilight. "Very well, darlings, I'll stay and keep Aurora company while you go."
Twilight let out an audible sigh of relief. "Thanks a lot, Rarity. I'll make it up to you, promise." she turned to me, a small smile visible. "Aurora, take care, and I'll see you in awhile. It shouldn't take too long, as the train is scheduled to arrive in fifteen minutes."
"Twilight?" Rarity called out as Twilight was halfway out the door. "Do tell them I said hello for me, would you? Don't want them thinking anything, darling."
"I will, Rarity. Again, thanks!" Twilight waved a hoof before walking out the door, closing it behind her.
Rarity turned to me as I made my way to one of the many sofas in the room. "Aurora, I must apologize. I'll admit I got more than a little cross with you this morning over your... difficulties performing the exercises. I haven't seen anypony with such a poor showing since my sister, Sweetie Bell." she looked at me with shame in her eyes, which were slightly downcast.
"It's fine, Rarity, really. Don't beat yourself up over it. I also promise it wasn't me trying to pay you back for the measuring tape either, it's just that magic is completely new to me. I've only been a pony for a few days now, you see." I plopped myself down on the couch, chuckling slightly as she looked at me with her mouth open.
She recovered fairly quickly, completing ignoring her slip up. "Only a few days? That would explain a few things... I take it this is part of the story you mentioned?" She picked up a pale yellow fabric in her magic and began working with it while also giving me part of her attention.
I gave her a brief detail of my arrival here, leaving out some details. For example, I really doubt that she would want to hear about the activities I partook in with Twilight and Luna. She took it as quite a shock when I told her that I used to be male, and the look on her face when I mentioned my prank on Celestia... How I wished I had a camera handy. It was a priceless look, one that took her nearly a half minute to recover from.
"Well, I must say, that is quite the story. It seems like you're taking this all very well in stride, even if you have been stirring up some trouble at times." Rarity shook her head, muttering to herself, "I can't believe, doing that to a princess, and Celestia of all ponies..." She stopped and closely examined a stretch of fabric, which was coming together to start forming something which looked dangerously like a dress. I hadn't quite broached that topic yet; hopefully I wouldn't have to.
"Yeah, I don't quite get it either. I mean, you've got Celestia claiming the planet itself is using magic to help me conform; which I really don't like the idea of, but there's not much I can do about it. On the other hand, I've always been a very laid back person, taking punches from life and dealing with them as they come. So, who knows?" I let out a sigh, slumping in the sofa.
Rarity set down her fabrics and tools and walked over to my side, resting a hoof on my shoulder. "Aurora, if you'd like it, I'd be more than happy to call myself your friend. I know that the other girls will gladly do the same once they get the chance to meet you." She moved her hoof slightly, adding a bit of pressure behind it. "Oh my, you're really tense. Must be because you're so stressed."
I looked her in the eye, raising a brow. Rarity blushed, quickly removing her hoof. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you or anything with that, just... it's an odd remark to make. You know a thing or two about massages, by chance?" I crossed my fingers in my head, hoping that someone around here could do so. I'll openly admit I indulged in them frequently back on Earth; nothing beat a relaxing hour massage session. The Happy Ending was amazing too, oh man those Asian women at the parlour I frequented... that was also magic, if of a different kind.
"Rarity relaxed slightly, the blush rapidly fading. "Yes, while my main calling is being a designer of dresses, I did extensive research into beauty and fashion in general. Part of that was the spa, which also included massages. I'm actually fairly good at giving them myself, the two sisters who run the spa in Ponyville taught me." she paused, hesitating a few seconds before asking me, "Aurora, would you like to have firsthoof knowledge of it? I'll admit it's been awhile since I last tried my hoof at it; the practice would be welcome for us both I would think."
Oh my, a massage? I think Rarity just made herself a permanent spot as a friend for sure. Shallow? Just a bit, yes. However, it sounded like an amazing idea, and who was I to pass up such an opportunity? "Gods yes, Rarity. I'll love you forever if you give me a massage, it's been ages since I last had one."
She looked around the room, then plucked a few cushions from one of the other couches and directed me to lay on them. Clearing the immediate area, she checked the clearance by directing me to extend my wings, then nodded to herself. "Okay, here goes nothing, darling."
Her hooves sunk into my upper shoulders first, digging in just deep enough to burn at first as she loosened the tensed muscles. Everything relaxed in seconds, pain giving way to pure bliss as I felt myself turn into putty at her hooves. I let out a relaxed sigh, my head already settling into a cushion in front of me and sinking into it.
"Oh gods, that's the spot, Rarity. I'd say you've still got your skill." I muttered, barely wanting to talk already. Her hooves slowly moved from my shoulders down my back a little, and I slowly floated off into the sweet embrace of sleep as her hooves continued to practice their magic on my body.
Consciousness slowly greeted me as feelings returned piece by piece. I was still on the floor, my wings fully extended, limply dangling at my sides. I heard a gentle humming not too far away, and the occasional snip of scissors. I gently raised my head, shaking the hair out of my sight as I blinked the weariness from my eyes. I felt amazingly refreshed, and I definitely made a note of seeing if she would be able to give more in the future.
I slowly stood up, gently stretching each muscle, feeling like a million bucks. Rarity must've massages nearly every inch of my muscles, as everything felt amazingly loose, and I felt as if I were walking on clouds... which I really needed to see how that truly felt. Twilight mentioned the pegasus magic I had let me do so, but I hadn't had the chance to put that to use.
I noticed the tips of my mane were a little different, and my tail felt... odd as well. I raised some strands of my hair to my eyes as Rarity took notice of my awakening. "Darling, welcome back to the land of the living, you were out within minutes... how do you feel?"
I stared in shock at my now curled mane, and even though some part of me admitted it looked good, it just seemed so... wrong. I mutely turned and looked at my tail and saw the state it was in, and I couldn’t help but let out a small whine. My tail was braided, reminiscent of a Celtic style, from what little I knew of it. The tip of it had an actual golden loop securing the end of the tail; it looked like it was hooked into it or something.
"I'm sorry, darling, but I couldn't resist myself. Your mane and tail is a dream to work with, I've got to say." I simply looked at her in terror, unsure of how I felt about this. I'll admit it, just like her massage, she was divine with her ability to style. However, I wasn't very comfortable with this, no matter how amazing it was.
“Rarity. What on earth made you think it was a good idea to ‘pretty me up,’ given what I told you about me? I’m still coming to terms with this,” I waved a hoof over my body, “and I really don’t need stallions giving me catcalls or looking pretty.” I just sighed, noticing how she looked a little put off and dejected from my remark. These ponies really had a thin skin; Twilight first and now Rarity.
Rarity visibly perked up as if a thought had come to her mind. “How about this, Aurora. You leave your mane how it is, and wear this,” she levitated her work, now complete, which was a pale yellow sundress, “and I’ll offer some more massages in the future. Say, two more?”
Oh man, after that first massage I had, this could be big for me. However, I wasn’t going to wear such things for only two more massages, I required more than that. “I think we can work something out, Rarity, however… I won’t dare dress up for anything less than seven, even if it is to meet the rest of your group.”
A gleam came to her eyes at my remarks, and something told me I was in for some massive haggling, as well as the fact she had a lot of experience with it. Hopefully I could come out the better of this deal. “Aurora, darling… seven massages is highly time consuming, and not worth the small reward of you simply looking good for meeting my friends; something you should desire yourself, honestly. As such, I cannot offer any more than two massages as well as one preening.”
Yup, she’s good. Twilight had barely taught me how to preen, and I had only tried it once myself. It seemed to be a pain in the ass, and as far as Twilight told me, having others do it for you wasn’t taboo. It could save me some hassle early on, but it still wasn’t enough. “I like the preening, but still too low on the massages. How about, say… four and three?”
“Three and three, it’s easy enough to combine them together after all.” Rarity shot back in an instant, and I suddenly realized that I’d been had by her. God damn, is she good. I simply sighed and nodded my head in response; for some reason I had a feeling that she wouldn’t let me leave the room regardless until I’d acquiesced to her demand. I suppose that, at the worst, I still came away with something from it.
“Fine…” I sighed, and she immediately levitated the garment over to me. I looked at it with confusion, not having a single clue about where to even begin putting it on. “You’re gonna have to help, Rarity. I have no idea how this is supposed to work.”
She spent the next three or four minutes pointing out everything about it before finally getting around to putting it on. She was especially careful of my mane while doing so, although with how it felt, there was probably more than enough products in it to keep the ends from getting mussed. Rarity finished adjusting it, and then walked me over to a full-length mirror.
Well, I know part of it was my new pony brain at play, but god damn. I looked pretty damn good, and the pale yellow seemed to compliment my colors very well. It wasn’t anything too frilly, just a simple dress that covered my barrel and the base of my neck, and split around my tail in the back. It hung down about halfway down my legs, and I had to admit that she definitely knew her stuff. Add to that my mane now having the tips curled, an almost unnatural bounce instilled in them, as well as my tail being braided with the blue stripe running down in the center of it, and wow did I look good.
"I'm not that comfortable with it, Rarity, but it does look good." I turned away from the mirror, noting how little the fabric moved even though it wasn't really secured in any manner. "Now, when is Twilight due back? I'd like to get out of this as soon as I can." Maybe in time I wouldn't care about it, but for now... just think about those massages. Totally worth it.
"Actually, Aurora, she recently returned. She noticed that you were asleep and left you to your rest. Now that you're up, it's time to go ahead and meet up with them, if you're ready of course." Rarity quickly added at the end, as if I truthfully had a say in whether or not I'd meet the rest of Twilight's friends. I silently prayed that nothing too crazy would happen as I slowly walked to the door.
"Fine, let's go ahead and leave now, then. I suppose you know where they are?" I stepped aside as Rarity took the lead, although she paused just in front of me and turned to look directly at me.
"Of course, they're set up in one of the private courtyards for dinner. It's such a beautiful day outside, don't you think?" she looked me up and down again, her eyes slowly roving over my form. "You know, I would absolutely love for you to be a model for me in the future. You have the perfect form, and I can never get Twilight to help out, at least not for long enough."
I vehemently shook my head back and forth. "Nope. No chance in hell, Rarity. Just lead me to Twilight and your friends, please?"
Rarity laughed, turning around and walking out the door. "Not even if I paid you in massages?" she called over her shoulders, causing me to groan and gently shake my head.
"Rarity, I don't think there's enough massages in the world for me to... model," I let out a body-wracking shudder, "for anybody, not even a friend of Twilight's." I noticed how she walked with an almost unnatural grace, making me wonder just how much time she wasted on trying to put on that front of hers.
"We'll see about that later. I have a feeling you'll be open to... negotiations over it at some point. Your form truly would be divine to work with." she hastened her pace, all without losing an iota of her poise. "Now come, hurry on along, they're waiting on us."
I was forced to focus more on my motions as Rarity forced us into a quick canter, the faster speed more than a tad uncomfortable to me. However, I managed to keep from having my face meet the floor, and within a few minutes she slowed down, giving me a chance to actually look around.
We were in an open courtyard, the afternoon sun just barely over one of the walls. Beds of flowers and the occasional tree spotted the place, and a lush, green grass covered the remaining ground, with the sole exception of a path made of marble winding its way through it. I wrenched my eyes from the multitudes of colors and followed Rarity to the back, where I was met with a surprise.
With a mighty bang, a cannon fired off a load of confetti which rained down upon me as I jumped, thoroughly startled. A pink pony with an impossibly poofy mane was the culprit behind the blast, and as I landed roughly on my hooves from my jump, she rushed in front of me.
"Welcome, Aurora! This is your 'Welcome to Equestria, sorry you lost your dick but at least you're an alicorn princess now!' party! Do you like it?" she asked as I simply looked to Twilight for help. Luckily, she was already on it.
"Pinkie! What did I tell you about getting too close?" Twilight chided the pink one, aptly named Pinkie, as she was lifted in Twilight's magic. While she was busy scolding her friend, three other ponies approached me.
I exchanged greetings with them as Twilight was berating her friend, and at least these three seemed normal enough. Well, not counting how the buttery yellow one aptly named Fluttershy seemed nervous around me and the massive ego on Rainbow Dash that grated my nerves a little. Still, it wasn't as bad as the pink menace I'd come face to face with.
The four of us were joined shortly after by Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie. Twilight looked at me closer and smiled widely, my appearance making it obvious that Rarity and I had indeed gotten along in her absence. "Well, Aurora, these are my friends," Twilight went on to list them all by name, "and I decided to get their help in throwing you a small.. get-together. You really look good, by the way."
I subconsciously blushed, tugging at neck of the dress. "Well, that's... thoughtful? Of you all, so... thanks, I suppose." I noticed Pinkie eyeing me with an odd gleam in her eyes, making me instantly cautious of her. I leaned over to Twilight, whispering quietly. "I assume you didn't tell them either, right?" I paused, realizing exactly what it was Pinkie had said, even as Twilight answered.
"No, like I already said, it's not my place to mention everything about you. That's your job. Fair warning, Applejack can basically detect if you're lying, so I wouldn't suggest doing that." she replied in a whisper, although afterwards a chuckle sounded out from Applejack.
"Sugarcube, neither of y'all were really all that quiet." she turned to address me, that distinct Southern twang deep in her voice. "Twilight hasn't said a peep about where you came from, only said it was an interesting story."
"Well, I suppose pass out the refreshments and gather round then, it takes a little bit of time to tell." Rarity nodded, since she'd already heard the tale once. I launched into my story after everyone was settled, making a point to ignore Pinkie's continued looks.
"Wait a moment!" Rainbow interjected when I came to the bit with Celestia. "That was you?" she began slapping the ground with a hoof, laughter pouring from her mouth. It took nearly a minute for her to calm down to a point where she could talk again. "Aurora, I gotta say, Pinkie and I have pulled some pranks, but that one takes the cake!"
"Well, I'm glad you think so, but now I'm kinda just waiting for her to get her payback." I shuddered slightly, thinking about what an all-powerful alicorn such as Celestia might be able to think of. "I'm definitely not looking forward to it, she's already told me it's coming; just didn't say when or how."
Rainbow finally stopped laughing, a last chuckle escaping from her lips. "Well, either way, that makes you totally awesome in my books. Takes a lot of guts to prank a princess... except Twilight, of course. She's easy to prank. You just gotta mess with her bo–" Dash was cut off as Twilight lunged at her, attempting to shove a hoof into her mouth. I just laughed at the sight of Twilight accidentally shoving her hoof deep into Dash’s mouth, and then moments later pulling it back out and flailing it around a little, now drenched in Dash’s spit.
The moment Dash saw the state of Twilight’s hoof, she too joined in the laughter, completely forgetting about what Twilight was trying to say. I figured I could just ask her later, although I was fairly certain it was a reference to messing with her books; after all Twilight was the definition of a bibliophile. If it wasn’t for Luna, Twilight would probably end up married to books. I’d bet money on it, if I had any.
After that little interlude, I quickly wrapped up retelling my story. Besides Dash’s outburst, they let me get through it without too many interruptions; Fluttershy for whatever reason tried to dote on me when I’d mentioned the whole ‘new world, new body’ bit; apparently she had a bit of a creepy motherly thing going on.
Once I finished my story, Applejack brought out some alcoholic cider she claimed to be home-made. From what I’d learned, she apparently ran an apple orchard at the base of the mountain, something about expanding and a new venture. After that first sip, I knew that it was some top quality stuff, and smooth as hell too. I was pleasantly surprised by the alcohol in it too; overall it was one hell of a drink.
Each one of them gave me a little bit of detail about their life, most of it covered how they had ended up in Ponyville together. It was a rather interesting tale, all six of them ended up in this small town, just in time to go tromping through some supposed scary and dark forest to stop Luna, apparently. I’d have to ask her about the whole ‘eternal night’ thing later on, it sounded pretty retarded honestly. I did find the whole Elements of Harmony thing rather intriguing. Mostly because, well… Rainbows. It made a fucking rainbow that they apparently used to defeat two of the four villains they’d come up against. Not that it was much more believable than using love or some heart o’ crystal to vanquish two others.
A few ciders later, I was being told how they’d all made their way to Canterlot after Twilight became a princess. I found it commendable that they’d all followed their friend to the big city, each and every one of them found something to do. For Rarity, she apparently had most of her client base in Canterlot already, so it was easy enough to just up and move. Applejack’s family had been looking to expand their apple farming business, and already had a large export to Canterlot, so they got ahold of some land at the bottom of the mountain and set up there. Fluttershy was, not surprisingly, a vet for the city. Animal enthusiasts, ugh. I could do without them, honestly. Dash was apparently a member of some group called the Wonderbolts, whatever the hell that was. Lastly, you had Pinkie Pie. What kind of name is that, seriously? She’d opened up some sort of bakery in town that was apparently responsible for ninety-nine percent of the diabeetus in the city.
“Hey, hey! Hey, you all!” I slurred out, quite a few containers of cider later. “You know what’d be totally fuckin’ awesome? A seventh element! I could totally be the Element of Fucking Awesomeness!”
“That’s nonsense!” Twilight snorted out as Dash rolled on the ground, laughing her ass off. “There’s no such thing as a seventh element, trust me if there were I’d know!”
I waved a hoof, dismissing her words. “Nonsense, just picture this, Twilight!” I let out a small cough, trying to do my best impression of the narrator’s voice for those movie trailers.
“Rainbow Dash has a massive ego! Rarity over-dramatizes everything! Applejack… makes some good cider! Fluttershy is an animal lover! Twilight is a nerdish bibliophile! Pinkie Pie is schizophrenic! Aurora is fuckin’ awesome! Together, they fight villains!” I started uncontrollably laughing, too wrapped up in it to notice their reactions.
Some time later, I finally stopped pounding the ground with my hoof, and my vision cleared up again. I found three somewhat irate mares standing over me. “What? It’s totally awesome sounding, isn’t it?”
Of the three, those being Twilight, Rarity and Dash, Rarity was the one who spoke, getting in very close to my face. “Aurora, darling… beyond just how silly a seventh element even sounds, that was rather rude of you, don’t you think? I do not over dramatize things!” I simply snorted, a chuckle escaping my lips. “Did I forget to mention that, not only do I know how to massage a pony, but I know how to knock them out with just a simple pressure point?” she asked slyly, a smug grin on her face.
“Pft, yeah right, that sounds like total bulls–” My voice cut off as my vision swam, and then darkness engulfed everything.