//------------------------------// // Test Day! Part 2: Preparation // Story: Gazing at the Sky // by Fullmetal Pony //------------------------------//         Darn! I can’t poison him at dinner, not until I get his approval. Star fumed as he walked out of the bureau. How am I even going to find something to wear? “Argh!” This would be so much easier if Rarity was here! Star trotted down the steps and passed by the large statue in front of the bureau. It was quite a nice statue made of marble and silver. It was a globe with a group of ponies heading out from the point on the globe that symbolized Equestria. As Star passed it, he heard a small cry. He moved over to the other side of the statue and saw the unicorn who’d had the meltdown during the exam. Her coat was peach colored and her mane was blonde with green lines streaking through it. A crisscrossing tangle of green lines adorned her flank. She was curled up and sniffling. “You okay?” Star timidly asked. “Oh, just go away!” She cried. “I don’t want to talk to anypony... not after that... that...” She broke down in sobs. Star patted her with a wing. “Trust me, I wanted to slug that jerk too.” “He treated you horribly also?” The unicorn looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. “Horrible doesn’t even begin to describe it. First I lightly bumped into him and I had to bow in apology, then he threatens to cancel the entire exam because of his mistakes, and then that damn foal asked me to dinner!” “Wait, dinner?” The unicorn’s face turned from sadness to confusion. “Er, sorry, I just got a little caught up in what a pain Blueblood is,” Star partially lied. “I meant to say he had the nerve to ask my sister out to dinner, even after she told him how mad I was.” “Tch, Blueblood is thick about everything that doesn’t tick him off, there’s a very narrow line between the two.” The unicorn backed away, wiped away any remaining tears she had, and held out a hoof. “I’m Dream Weaver. Sorry, I must look like a mess right now.” Star grasped the hoof and shook it. “No problem, trust me, I’ve seen mares in much worse states.” I do own a mirror after all. “Nice to meet you Dream, I’m Star Gazer.” “Odd how ponies meet each other under the strangest circumstances, isn’t it?” Dream mused. “Oh, I definitely have experience in that department as well.” That had to have been the weirdest week of my life. Star thought as he recalled when his gender troubles first started. “Well, nice to know I’m not the only pony who wants to kick Blueblood’s flank.” She forced a small smile onto her face. “I think the entire kingdom wants to do that. Although...” Star furrowed his brow. “There’s that dinner thing.” “Your sister’s not really gonna go to dinner with him, is she?” “I- she doesn’t want to, nopony would want to. But it may be the only way to get that moron to pass our exams. If it means getting everypony to get past Blueblood, I’ll do it.” “Wow,” Dream let her mouth gape. “You and your sister would really be willing to do that for me? For all the applicants? Darn!” Dream slammed a hoof to the ground. “I really wish there was some way to help.” “Well...” Star awkwardly looked around. “My sister’s not the best on dates, even in the best circumstances... plus, she’s got nothing to wear.” “Hmm,” Dream brought a hoof to her face. “I’ve got it! I know a few ponies in town who could help. Plus, I could give her some pointers on how to manipulate the buck out of that slime.” “I...I like the sound of this.” The manipulating part’s a little scary, but oh, do I want to give Blueblood his comeuppance. “So where is your sister right now and what time is the dinner?” “The dinner’s at seven and my sister...” Star’s eyes nervously looked up at the sky for a second. “She, uh, had a little fit about the whole thing and went back to the the Mareiot, it’s where we’re staying right now.” “Okay,” Dream nodded as she spoke, “do you think you can meet again in a hour?” “Here?” Star asked. “I think this’ll work.” Dream tapped a hoof against the statute. “I just need to find the ponies who can help and then we can get started. Sound like a plan?” “Sounds good!” Star smiled a little. Star unfolded his wings as he was about to speed off. “Oh! What’s your sister’s name?” Dream stopped him just before he took off. “It’s, um, Cloudy Sky.” Star never liked using the alias. “We’re, uh, twins so we look a lot alike.” “Okay, I’ll see you in an hour.” Dream smiled at him before her horn was surrounded in an aura and she teleported away in a flash of light. “I hate reintroducing myself,” Star sighed before he took to the skies and flew back to his hotel. He quickly passed through the lobby and up to his room. He unlocked his room’s door and quickly shut it behind him. “Crud!” Star threw off his saddlebags and starting searching through his luggage bag. “Neither Blueblood nor Dream saw my cutie mark so at least I don’t need to change that part. Hmm, I better switch glasses though.” Star rifled through his suitcase and pulled out the girliest thing he owned; a pink glasses case that held a pair of rounded glasses. He liked his square glasses, but almost no mare wore square glasses. Star sighed some more. “I’m gonna need a drink after this.” He replaced his square glasses with the rounded ones. He started walking over to the bathroom. “Come on Star.” He brought a wing to his nose and sneezed. “It’s just gonna be a dinner,” Star said as she passed into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She picked up her brush and started trying to straighten her mane. “Oh, who am I kidding? I’m not gonna need a drink after this, I’m gonna need every drink in Canterlot!” A knock at the door brought Star out of her lamentations. “Oh buck! He didn’t figure out where I was staying, did he?” Star nervously trotted over to her door and looked in the peephole. To her relief, Star saw that the unruly prince wasn’t on the other side. Rather it was... “Dream Weaver?” Star asked as she opened the door. Why is she here? It hasn’t even been thirty minutes. “Oh,” Dream held out a hoof, “you must be Cloudy. Wow,” she looked Cloudy up and down, “your brother wasn’t kidding about the twin thing. Is he here?” “Um no,” Star nervously replied as she shook Dream’s hoof. “He got so flustered that he, uh, just flew off as soon as he told me the plan... I hope he doesn’t do something stupid.” “Eh, stallions’ll be stallions.” Dream shrugged. “Ah, a good scrap never hurt anypony,” came a voice. “I remember how I used to be quite the rapscallious colt.” Star peaked out of her room to see where the voice was coming from. When she saw the voice’s source, her mouth nearly hit the floor in surprise. A white unicorn stallion with a blue mane, an accompanying blue mustache,  three crowns for a cutie mark, and a suit was standing in the hall. “Y-you’re...” Star quivered. “Facnypants.” The stallion walked forward and a small bow to Star. “It’s a honor to meet you madam.” “I...” Holy crap! He’s Fancypants! Everypony knows him! What’s he doing here?! “The, uh, honor is all mine. It’s not every day that you meet such a well known pony.” “I assure you, what you’ve heard of me is just a vast exaggeration. You and your brother sound like much more chivalrous ponies anyway.” Fancypants’s tone alone could have made mares swoon and made stallions jealous. “I... I’m just trying to do what I want to do. But I never thought I’d be getting help from you.” Star looked over at Dream. “Why didn’t you say the pony you were looking for was Fancypants?!” “He’s an old friend of my family,” Dream replied. “When I mentioned our predicament, he was...” “More than happy to help,” Fancypants finished Dream’s sentence. “I have also had more than my fair share of run-ins with that ruffian of a prince. I’m still quite displeased with him for the way he treated my lover at the last social we attended.” “Oh,” Dream frowned, “not Liz! She’s such a kind mare. He didn’t insult her weight did he? Everypony knows how emotional she is about that.” “I wish he had only been that uncouth.” Fancy looked away from Dream and back at Star. “But we have more pressing issues to deal with.” “I was actually kind of wondering about that.” Star turned to Dream. “I thought we were going to meet at the statue.” “We were,” Dream replied. “But when I was looking for Fancypants, I found out he was at the Mareriot.” “I do own the chain after all,” Fancypants interjected. “Anyway,” Dream continued, “after I found him, I thought it would be faster to just check if you were here. We’ve only got five hours until dinner. Between finding a dress and giving you pointers, we should just barely make it.” “Well then,” Fancypants said as his horn started to glow. “It’s a bit of a trip, but I know the best dressmaker in Equestria.” “Wait!” Star cried out. “I’m not good with telepo-” The trio was gone in a flash. ~~~ “Hmm,” Rarity mused as she looked over the designs for her new fashions. “Should I go with amber or crystal for this dress?” She flipped through her sketchbook as she floated different types of gems next to each one of her drawings. “Perhaps a combination will...” A loud crackle and a flash of light interrupted her thought process. “Don’t tell me Sweetie and her friends tried something again,” Rarity pouted as she trotted away from her dressmaking area and made her way to the hall. She nearly collided with a brown pegasus. “Star?!” “Bathroom!” Star zoomed past her and into one of her house’s bathrooms. She emerged a few minutes later. “Ugh! Screw magic!”   “Star, what in Equestria are you doing here?” Rarity asked as she trotted over to the mare to help steady her. “I thought you were in Canterlot with that exam thing.” “I was, but then...” Star’s face turned into a scowl. “Blueblood!” “That whelp?!” Rarity’s face blanched. “Oh good, you know him!” Star said as Rarity helped her downstairs. “‘Cause I kind of need your help.” “I’m not sure how much I can help you with Blueblood. Did I ever tell you the time at the Gala when he- Fancypants?!” Rarity’s eyes went wide in surprise when she saw the stallion and an unfamiliar unicorn standing in the middle of her shop. “Ah, Rarity, jolly good to see you again,” Fancypants said with a smile. “Although, I wish our meeting had been on a better terms. But it is good to see you already know this young lady. You see, we are in need of your assistance.” “St- Cloudy,” Rarity looked back at Star, “could you update me a bit on the situation?”         Star sighed a little. “Yes, I might get sick again though.” ~~~         “That brute!” Rarity stomped a hoof to the ground. “No offense Cloudy, but to act like an uncaring jerk to me and and a deviant pervert to you is just too much! You can’t honestly be thinking of doing this, right?!”         “If it was just my exam, I’d have beaten the everloving mercy out of Blueblood.” Star’s eyes softened as she turned and looked over at Dream. “But that’s not the case, everypony’s exam is on the line.”         “You really are a gentleco- mare! A gentle caring mare,” Rarity corrected herself, as Fancypants and Dream raised the eyebrows at her. “Um, anyway what do you need? A mallet? An ugly stick? Some blunt weapon I’d usually never suggest?”         “I...” Star’s face turned red. “I need a dress, not too frilly, please?”         “Oh...” It was Rarity’s turn to blush. “Yes, certainly. I can see where problems would arise there. I’ll, uh, get you something very basic. I think a simple black gown will do.” Rarity’s horn lit up and a black dress flew over towards the group. “I also have a few shoes and earrings you could wear.”         “I guess the shoes are unavoidable.” Star brought a hoof up to her ear. “You’re not touching the ears though. I want as few marks left by this as possible.”         “Right,” Rarity replied. She bit her lip a little. “There’s one other thing. I’m going to need to measure you again.”         Star timidly stepped over to the raised platform that was partially enclosed by three mirrors. “I’m gonna go through much worse tonight anyway.” ~~~ “Wow!” Dream exclaimed as she looked over Star. Star was currently in the black dress, with a beautifully styled mane, and shoes that matched the dress perfectly and accentuated her figure. Star was naturally redder than Big Mac’s coat. “Cloudy, you really look amazing, shame it’s being wasted on such a pig.” “I...” Star looked at herself in the mirror and her eyes went crooked for second. “I know.”  Her eyes fell and she looked away from the mirrors. “Hey,” Dream patted her on the back, “I know it’s hard to go through this, but don’t worry.” Dream gave Star a wink. “I’ll give you some pointers on how make this night Blueblood’s worst.” Dream I just wish you could know the whole story behind this. Star kept her thoughts to herself and just uttered a meak, “Thanks.” “I’m willing to help too,” Rarity spoke up. “Trust me, if you somehow managed to court Blueblood’s interests, then he must be more lovey-dovey over you than I can even imagine.” “That really doesn’t help, Rarity,” Star said with a frown. “What I think she means,” Dream interjected, “is that he’s head over hooves for you. He may have the exams, but you have his heart. Let’s put it on a skewers, make him squirm on his own accord.” Dream started rifling through her saddle bag and pulled out a camera. “Who know, if you get him to do something really bad, I could get a picture of it and use it as blackmail.” Star giggled a little. “Remind me not to get on your bad side, Dream.” “Anyway,” Fancypants looked over at Rarity, “how much will this all be?” “Oh don’t worry about it, Cloudy is a good friend and I’d be willing to pay you to see that swine get his just desserts,” Rarity replied. “Although, if you get any photos that’ll be a good enough payment as well.” “I see.” Fancypants looked out one of the Boutique’s windows and saw that the sun was beginning to set. “Well, as a personal payment, feel free to stop by my abode any time for a spot of tea.” “I...” Rarity looked like she was about to faint out of amazement. “I don’t know what to say.” “It’s just tea, dear,” Fancypants replied as his horn started to glow and he looked over at the Star and Dream. “Well, I think we all want to get this over with as fast as possible. Shall we be off?” “Okay,” Dream said with a determined look. “Let’s give that prince a dinner he’ll never forget!” “Right,” said Star in a weak tone. In a flash, all three of them were gone, leaving one very concerned unicorn. “I should probably ask Twilight if there’s a memory erasing spell,” Rarity quivered.