//------------------------------// // Go Big or Go Home // Story: Rarity and Tom's Magical Adventure // by OneWingedDevil //------------------------------// The party had completely dispersed minutes before Celestia rose the sun to start a new day, yet Rarity was still too giddy to head directly to bed. Events such as this always energized her, and the wine had been enough to push aside her worries surrounding Tom aside in favor of the possible thrill of someone asking her to explain what she was doing with a giant rock. No one had asked - every pony in high society is expected to be a little eccentric, and it’s impolite to call attention to it - but she had hoped to play a little coy about it. After all, she had finally figured out her ingenious plan to ge- Rarity bumped into an armored guard, forcing her rump onto the ground and making her pay attention to what she’d been doing the whole time. Apparently, she’d been wandering through the castle before bumping into a pony at a three-way intersection, too lost in her own thoughts to realize she’d left the ballroom where the event had been held after getting somepony to bring Tom back up to her room. She looked towards the guard to apologize for her rather unbecoming behavior, but the apology caught in her throat when she saw just who she had bumped into. It was none other than the newest Prince himself, Shining Armor. Despite the surprise, Rarity was able to recover before Shining did. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Prince Armor, I should have been paying attention to where I was going. Did my horn nick your helmet at at, because it seems like a finely crafted set and it’d be terr-” Shining waved a hoof to try as he interrupted her. “Don’t worry about it. Anything that could do that would also be strong enough to take out some of the walls here in the castle. I’m good at making this sort of stuff.” He gave a weak chuckle to try and diffuse the awkwardness of the situation. “Anyway, I figured I’d track you down since the girls were wondering where you were. Would you mind following me to the royal dining area?” Rarity gave a nod, and fell in step next to the Prince as he led her through the castle corridors. “That’s very kind of you, Prince Ar-” “Just Shining, please. As one of Twily’s best friends, you shouldn’t be using titles with either Cadence or I. Besides,” Shining gave a roll of his eyes, “the only Prince I’ve dealt with before was Blueblood, and I’m still really uncomfortable with us being related.” Rarity gave a long shudder. “I understand perfectly, Pri- er, ‘Just’ Shining.” After his short laugh, she continued. “I was just about to say that you hadn’t needed to track me down yourself. I’m sure anypony here could have taken care of this.” Shining gave a shake of his head. “No, I wanted to do this myself. Twilight and I haven’t been as close as we’d like for a while, and I think part of that needs to be that I take time to learn about the friends that are looking after her while her big brother is away.” He gave Rarity a smile and puffed out his chest. “After all, I set the bar pretty high, and all her friends need to measure up!” Deciding to mess with him, Rarity offered up a quick response. “Well, I can assure you that when the time comes I’ll be sure to ask for your permission to wed her.” She didn’t hide her mirth as the stallion tripped over his legs and hit the floor while sputtering, and she kept laughing as he managed to get up and eventually join her in the joke at his expense. After a minute or so, they were composed enough to keep moving towards their destination, with Shining noticeably more relaxed and casual in his demeanor as they chatted amiably about about Twilight’s adventures in both Ponyville and Canterlot, as well as a little about the duties of the Prince of the Crystal Kingdom. As the conversation turned towards Rarity’s work, Shining asked the question everyone else had avoided without any hesitation. “So why did you bring that rock to the party? I have to say, from what I’ve heard from Twilight, you don’t seem like the type of pony to do that spontaneously.” Rarity tittered, though hearing that Twilight had told her brother about her sent a few alarms off in her head. “Well, you’re right about that. See, Twilight and I had a bit of a plan initially about it…” Rarity shared with him a shortened account of the girls’ lunch at the Ponyville Café, ‘...but since then I’ve decided on something a bit more, dare I say, grand for Tom.” Shining looked towards Rarity with a cocked eyebrow. “The rock’s name is Tom?” Rarity blushed, and after clearing her throat, steered the conversation away from that tangent as elegantly as she could. “W-well, that’s another s-story, and it’s not as important as this one since I’ll need your help for my plan. Anyway, I’d like you and Cadence to make an announcement that I’ve gifted the rock to the Crystal Kingdom, and it’ll be put on display next to the Crystal Heart. Simple enough, really.” When no further details seemed forthcoming, Shining looked around to make sure no one was in earshot of them. Seeing that the hallway they were in was a long, straight one with no nearby doors or ponies, he put a leg up to stop Rarity so she could explain more. “That’s a pretty strange request, Rarity. I mean, we could do it, but you’ll need to offer more on why we should do this if you want Cadence and I to agree to this.” Rarity smiled, fighting the urge to shift about nervously as she outlined her plan to somepony for the first time. “It certainly is a strange request, Shining, but after speaking with you for a while I’m certain you’ll enjoy the intent behind it.” Ignoring the fact that a frown was slowly appearing on his face, she pressed onward. “Tom the rock is nothing special. He is literally a rock that you could find anywhere. No gems inside, no magical properties that help wounds heal or pacify feral creatures, although it is heavier than you’d think, so you could always throw it at things you wanted to break. Like a rock.” The frown on Shining’s face had disappeared, to be replaced by furrowed brows and a slightly glazed look in the eyes as he tried to puzzle out where she was going with this. Since he was unwilling to interrupt while he was thinking, Rarity continued. “No, Tom the rock is nothing special. Most things in life aren’t. That’s why we’re going to make him special by treating him as a rare and precious gift to the Crystal Kingdom.” Shining had puzzled long enough. “You still haven’t said why you want us to do this. What is this actually going to do after we put him next to the Crystal Heart?” This was the hard part, Rarity thought. She had to hope she’d learned enough about Shining from Twilight and her talks with him recently to her pitch would appeal to him. It all came down to this first part. “Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but I suppose you think that a lot of upper class ponies make a big deal about things that aren’t really all that important, right?” To her relief, Shining nodded briefly, but he still hadn’t relaxed at all. “Sometimes. How is that related to what you’ve been talking about?” She had it! She was excited enough now that she could barely control the sweeping gestures she was making as she spoke. “You see, we’re going to make Tom something that is a much bigger deal than he really is. Think of it as a neverending joke on the nobility! If you and Cadence say that Tom the rock is an important artifact that must be treasured and protected by everyone, they’ll believe it. Not only that, you can grow the legend at your leisure. Want to bring him on trips you make as a good luck charm. Go ahead! Want to commemorate a day in his honor. Everyone will eat it up! Tom is a rock, but with the right nudges he can be so much more to the right ponies. And the entire time, you and Cadence can laugh about the fact that you’re getting everyone to treat a rock like a national treasure. How does that sound for a plan?” To her credit, Rarity had read Shining Armor correctly, and could see he was considering the idea. Still, he wasn’t quite sold on it. “Alright, I can see why I’d like this plan. I could talk Cadence into it too, I guess, but I’ll need to hear what you’re getting out of this. This is way too elaborate to just be a joke.” “Well…” Rarity looked towards the ground for a moment and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, “I’d get a bit of a boost in my business. After all, if I’m gifting members of the royal family and they make a big deal out of it, then I’m clearly someone important to know. I admit, it’s a bit weak, but I may as well do something with this rock after dragging it up here. Bringing it back will be such a bother.” Shining stared at Rarity for several moments, his expression and stance unchanging as he let his guard training help him discern the truth in Rarity’s motivations. Seeming content with what he heard, he relaxed his posure and turned to continue down the hallway. “Alright. I won’t make any promises, but I’ll see what Cadence thinks of this. If she agrees, I’ll help you carry it out.” It seems Twilight didn’t tell him enough about her for him to know how wildly out of character this was for her. Glad to have avoided that possible hurdle, Rarity flashed him a smile as they continued on their way. “Thank you so much, darling. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of fun building up a rock’s importance and listening to what everypony thinks is so important about it. Although…” Rarity paused for a moment for continuing, “I don’t suppose you could pull a few strings to make sure Twilight and I still get to take the train back, could you dear?” Shining gave a chuckle. “It will tax the limits of my genius and political capital, ma’am, but I can assure you I will see your request carried out if I must mobilize the entirety of the Kingdom to do so.” Both of the ponies dissolved into a fit of giggles before turning their conversation back towards lighter topics, as they spent the next few minutes wandering through the halls before joining the Princesses in the dining area mid-food fight and starting the party anew.