//------------------------------// // Expectations // Story: Dressing in Style // by SugarPesticide //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash blinked, trying to process what Twilight had just told her. A demon? Demons didn’t exist. Then again, she hadn’t thought Nightmare Moon had existed either. It didn’t seem like Twilight to lie about this. But if it was true … “A demon?” Rainbow echoed in disbelief. “That’s so … so …” Twilight cringed, waiting for the pegasus to completely lose her cool. “So AWESOME!” “… What.” “Well it’s a demon, Twilight,” Rainbow said, as if it were painfully obvious. “Demons are fiery spirits of hatred and power that do all kinds of weird stuff. They’re awesome. And sometimes they possess ponies, yeah, but they’re not impossible to fight back against.” “Rainbow, I don’t think—” “Hush, Twilight. I haven’t been feeling any urges to set anything on fire all day, so clearly I have control over the demon. Which means that soon I’ll be able to use all their powers and stuff.” She grinned and stared unseeingly through her friend, eyes widening as she considered the possibilities. “And then … I’ll be … I’ll be the hero Ponyville needs.” Suddenly she unfurled her wings and rocketed upwards, smashing through the top of the library with unnatural force – she paused in midair, hovering over the massive hole in the tree, as she took in the sight of Ponyville unexpectedly being on fire. “Time to save some ponies,” she growled eagerly, and her head burst into flames itself as she soared into the catastrophe. Something metallic began to form underneath her, and she grasped at it eagerly with her claw-sprouting hooves. Somewhere in the far distance a guitar riff began to play, echoing epically across the clouded crimson sky. Catching sight of a figure in the wreckage of a shop, she dived through the clouds of smoke puffing upwards from the burning building. She parked neatly in the midst of the shattered remains of a display case, leaped from her new machine, and landed squarely in front of the purple-pink unicorn trapped beneath a pile of heavy wooden beams. Sparkler gazed up at the newcomer with streaming eyes, hardly believing what she was seeing. Looming above her was the impossible shape of a sky-blue, bat-winged, almost skeletal pegasus, with her head and tail swathed in multicolored fire; the tips of pointed ears were just barely visible above the flames, but two red pupil-less eyes glowed eerily in the dancing light. Behind the pegasus stood a spiky black motorcycle, also sporting rainbow fire. “Rainbow … Dash?” she asked weakly, breaking into a hacking cough. The pegasus smirked, and her unsettling eyes glinted as a sudden burst of fire erupted from her mane, lashing out and destroying the rubble on top of the victim without so much as brushing against her body. “Not quite,” she said in a rattling growl. “I am the pony sworn against evil! I am the spirit unbroken by civilization! I am the one who decides who lives and who dies, and whether the train arrives on time or not!” Behind her, the motorcycle suddenly revved to life and shot forward; without missing a beat she jumped up, caught the passing handlebars with one clawed hoof, swung herself back into the seat, and seized the terrified Sparkler with the other hoof all before the vehicle soared upwards. Sparkler clung to her as they cleared the gaping hole in the roof, and her ears were pressed flat against her head when they emerged back out into the apocalyptic ghost town. A sudden explosion beneath them roared outwards, tossing the motorcycle upwards with enough speed to make the wind shriek in their ears. The guitar riff rose to a crescendo as the pegasus threw back her fiery head and cackled triumphantly. “I’m Demon Dash now!” “Rainbow.” “No, I’m Demon!” she corrected, scowling down at Sparkler. “And stop screaming already, would ya? We’re just getting to the good part here, and you’re giving me a headache!” “Rainbow.” “Demon!” “Rainbow!” "Demon!" "Rainbow!" A loud popping noise accompanied the scene’s abrupt collapse. The pegasus’ vision snapped back into focus, and to her faint dismay she was still standing in the messy library, with her wings outstretched. As she sheepishly refolded them she glanced upward, vaguely hoping there was a gaping hole in the ceiling. When no such sight met her eyes, she looked back down to see a familiar purple dragon standing beside her, wielding a pin before him like a sword. She blinked at this sight. “You have the weirdest imagination,” he said, lowering the pin somewhat uncertainly. “Thanks for that, Spike,” Twilight said, pulling her hooves back from her ears. “I’m not sure what you did exactly, but thanks. Did you need something?” “Probably, but I guess I forgot it on the way downstairs. What with the noise and everything.” He shrugged and glanced around sleepily. “What’s with all the books?” “Twilight says there’s a demon in me,” Rainbow said happily. “She’s tryin’ to see how it works or something.” Spike’s eyes lit up. “A demon? Whoa, like in Spirit Rider?” “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinkin’!” she said with a laugh. “Fire powers, motorcycle powers, other demonic powers too, I guess. It’s gonna be so awesome!” She extended a hoof, and the dragon tapped his knuckles against it with gusto. “Ugh.” Twilight rubbed her forehead, briefly closing her eyes in disbelief. “No, no, no! This isn’t Spirit Rider, Rainbow Dash, this is real life! Most demons don’t work that way at all in real life!” “Sure, most demons don’t,” Rainbow agreed. “But my demon … well, let’s just say it’s the most awesome demon in history. I mean, why else would it be hanging around me?” The unicorn sighed deeply and shook her head. “Rainbow, will you please listen to me when I tell you that you really don’t want to have this demon?” “Pfft, I guess,” Rainbow said dismissively, rolling her eyes. “See if you convince me that the demon isn’t cool enough for me.” “It made you call Rarity a darling,” Twilight stated bluntly. Rainbow froze. Her eyes widened, and her mouth slowly fell open as the meaning sank in. “Well, it might’ve done that, anyway,” the unicorn amended hastily. “I still can’t figure out if it did for sure, but it seems pretty obvious from the fact that you’d never call anypony a darling yourself. I mean, if it were Rarity or maybe even Applejack I could attribute it to just a hard knock on the head, but since it goes so sharply against your usual terms of affection I have to attach this hypothesis to the case instead. Anyway, it seems extremely likely that since we summoned the Downspiral Diamond from Tartarus we might have summoned a demon from there as well, even though it wasn’t supposed to be likely. I couldn’t remember seeing a case like this in any of my previous research, which is why I decided to look for a more specific answer … Rainbow? What are you doing?” “Where’s the cure?” Rainbow muttered anxiously, hoofing rapidly through a large book before tossing it to the side and replacing it with another one. “Where’s the cure? There’s gotta be something on exorcism, oh ponyfeathers, please let there be something in here …” “Uh, Rainbow? I already looked through those.” “But did you look hard enough, Twilight?” Rainbow demanded, suddenly right in the unicorn’s face. “Surely there’s something you missed in there, right?” “I’m positive I looked hard enough,” was the rather irritable reply. Noticing Rainbow’s ears flatten to her head, she quickly added, “But, uh, if it makes you feel better I can look through them again?” “Please do that, Twilight!” Rainbow begged, grabbing at her friend’s forelegs. “Read them all again for me, please, please, please! I can’t have some sissy girly demon lounging around in me!” “It’s not like it’s going to hurt you!” Twilight said with a nervous laugh. “At least, not immediately. But what I’ve been considering is, if we try to draw it out then it might be easier to … deal with … right?” “Sure,” the pegasus huffed, lying prostrate on the floor and clutching her head in anxiety. “That’s not going to hurt me or anything. It’s just going to turn me into the most uncool, weakling, pansy-ish pegasus in all of Equestria! Ugh, my life is utterly ruined!” Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she gulped as more horrible ideas flooded through her mind. “I’ll probably walk everywhere like Fluttershy does, if I don’t skip or bounce like Pinkie Pie! I won’t be able to do any moves or buck any clouds or compete in any flying races or do anything cool ever! And worst of all …” There was a moment of silence. Twilight stepped tentatively forward, but paused as she realized that she had no idea how to comfort her friend. Rainbow shivered, staring blankly into space. “I won’t be Rainbow Dash anymore.” Twilight and Spike exchanged a look. Shaking herself half-heartedly, Rainbow fluttered back onto her hooves. “I’ve … I’ve gotta go,” she said, turning to head back out the door. “Need to have one last flight as myself.” “What?” “You heard me, Twilight.” She spread her wings, looking from one to the other as if they might disappear suddenly. “I just need some time to be alone. You understand, right?” “Well, yes, but—” “See you later then.” She tensed slightly, ready to take off, but something made her pause. With a sigh, she glanced backward and hesitantly decided to voice the nagging thought that had been hanging at the back of her mind since she had walked into the library. “And Twilight?” “Yes, Rainbow Dash?” “You really need to fix your mane.” Her wings came down with a rush of air, and she zoomed through the door. She was gone before her friends outside could react. Rainbow stared up at the sky, wishing she could just lose herself in that vast blueness. Unfortunately she kept comparing it to her own fur and admiring it for its beauty, so even the sky itself failed to distract her from her horrible problem. She was currently lounging on her favorite sulking cloud: a small nimbus, black and gloomy like her thoughts. Laying on her back with her wings sprawled out to either side, resting her head on her forehooves, occasionally following the progress of a bird fluttering overhead … it was the perfect method of cooling down after some shocking event. Granted, it didn’t always work, but that wasn’t the point. It was the principle of the thing. It wasn’t fair. Why should she be the one to get a demon, out of all the ponies in Equestria? Not just that, why should she get the girliest demon out of all the ones in Tartarus? It was going to turn her into a sissy acrophobic pegasus, and then she’d turn into some demure gentle giggling pony like Rarity or Fluttershy. It just wasn’t fair! Why did her life have to be so weird? And now it wasn’t just weird, it was also utterly ruined and destroyed and a complete train wreck and … This really wasn’t working. With a grunt she sat up. Ponyville lay some half a mile or so before her, with Everfree Forest looming nearby. She was fairly sure she could see Fluttershy’s cottage at this distance, nestled on its tiny hill not far from the menacing shadows of the gnarled trees. Perfectly peaceful and ordinary, the same way she wasn’t. Now that she was housing a terrible monster … a fashion demon … She wondered what would happen if she flew away from this place. Maybe she could move to Canterlot, where all the fancy fashion ponies were. If she just gave up and embraced the evil growing inside her, she could start a new life where nopony knew her or could mock her for having turned into a girly pony. She might even become the top designer in the city. Even if she had to exchange flying for frolicking, danger for dresses, skies for sparkles. The cost might be too much to bear, but she supposed she could get used to it eventually, even if it meant she’d never have a shot at being in the Wonderbolts again … Was she seriously considering this? Come on. “This is stupid,” she said flatly, shaking her head to toss her mane out of the emo curtain that was obscuring her face. With a grunt she took off into the air, soaring back in the direction of Ponyville. I’m not gonna let some stupid demon mess me up, she assured herself. I’ll get rid of it if it’s the last thing I do. And if what Twilight said is right, and drawing it out might make it easier to deal with, I’d better go hang around some clothes-making pony or whatever. Let it think it’s winning in its own element, and then BAM! Back to Tartarus for the trendy troublemaker. And it’s pretty obvious where I need to go. Rainbow rapped at the door with a tentative hoof, then stepped back and waited for it to be answered. She glanced around nervously, hoping that nopony else was around. If somepony started rumors that Rainbow Danger Dash was taking sewing lessons, she didn’t think she’d be able to stand the humiliation. Hopefully that pony wouldn’t be her friend; she wasn’t ordinarily the type to do such an awful thing, but with a piece of gossip this juicy it wasn’t easy to say for sure. A light humming reached her ears from within, growing steadily louder as hoofsteps drew close. She swallowed and rustled her wings nervously. Just keep calm, Rainbow Dash, she told herself, doing her best to put on her most casual expression even as she fidgeted. Don’t lose your cool on me now. The door opened, and before her friend could greet her Rainbow plunged ahead with what she’d been practicing saying the whole flight over here. “Hey Fluttershy. I was, uh, wondering what you knew about sewing …”