//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: Beautiful Scales 
// by Obsidian Ink 
//------------------------------//

     It was a long walk back through the Everfree forest to Ponyville, with or without giant, tangled, grabbing black, spiky vines everywhere.  This gave a pony plenty of time for thought.

Well, some ponies anyway.  Pinkie pie hadn't stopped talking at the princesses -all three of them- since they left the tree of harmony, and she occasionally asked the others to pitch in with their bits of the story, but the one unicorn in the group, Rarity, hadn't really contributed that much to the tale, so she'd been left largely to her own devices.  This left the fashionista to muse on what, she soon realized, was a travesty.

The necklace she wore... was now devoid of the utterly flawless amethystine gemstone that had once been its centerpiece.  The same with all her friend's pendants, and Twilight's tiara.

That was a travesty.  A beautiful thing... six beautiful, treasured objects that had saved them and their country, were now less than whole.  Despite what Twilight had said to Applejack, Rarity couldn't help but feel that somehow, they were less than whole now that the things hanging around their necks were as such.  Rarity simply could not stand feeling that way.

“Princess?”  she asked.

“Yes?”  all three alicorns said, turning to face her...  then glancing at each other and blushing.

A brief chuckle by the other ponies, Rarity continued.  “I was just wondering... what's to be done with these?” she said, nudging her empty necklace with a hoof.

Princess Celestia looked thoughtful for a moment.  “I'm not sure.   They aren't magic, really.   I sense no latent power from your jewelry, now that the elements are no longer within them.

“That's strange, they came with the elements when we defeated nightmare moon.  I'd think there would be some magical activity within them.”  Twilight Sparkle said.

“Conjuring a few lumps of Aurum and shaping them into jewelery for the convenience of their carriers, not all of whom can levitate them with telekinetic magic?  'Tis something easily within their power.”  Princess Luna said.  “Think not too deeply upon it.”

“Aurum?”  Rarity asked, the others all looked at their jewelery briefly.

“They are not normal gold, Rarity.  They are comprised of an incredibly pure material called out of the ether itself, I think they call it 'Alchemical gold' now rather than Aurum though, sister.”  Celestia said.  “But they're not magically active by themselves.  It just means they're a perfect conduit for the magic of what is placed inside them.”

“Still, what is to be done with them?”  Rarity asked.

“I don't know...  alchemical gold, or 'Aurum' if you really want to call it that, is easily worked with.  I suppose it could be recast into common magic charms.”  Celestia said.

“Oh, well, if that's all....  I was just wondering if, perhaps, I could see about doing something with them?”  Rarity offered.

Luna raised an eyebrow.  “Oh?   You're interested in them?”

“Oh, very much!  That is... if every other pony is willing, of course...”  Rarity giggled.

“What'cha gonna do to 'em rarity?”  Pinkie asked.

“Well... it's a surprise!”  she said, stalling, as she wasn't quite sure yet WHAT she was going to do.

“Well, if'n it's one of Rarity's projects, ya'll gotta know it'll be good.”  Applejack said, unhooking her necklace and holding it out to the unicorn.  A moment later, every one of the other five former element bearers handed their now empty jewelery over to the unicorn.

Beaming, Rarity looked around at her friends.  “I promise, you'll all love the result!”