//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Beautiful // Story: The Cheval Glass // by Wintergreen Diaries //------------------------------// When the last thing one can recall prior to passing out is collapsing amidst the dust of the barren plains, waking to find oneself sweltering under the soothing warmth of cotton sheets and double comforters could understandably breed no small measure of confusion. Disoriented and haggard, Rarity made no immediate effort to move upon regaining consciousness. Even if she had the desire, she doubted that she would have the strength to follow through; her extremities felt as though they were wrought of iron, and even though she may have the physical ability even to gallop, her will had been thoroughly shattered, and she had nopony to blame but herself. Unaware the she had been unconscious for several hours in the windswept plains between Dodge City and the rock farm, the resulting hunger and guilt-induced nausea both flared of one accord as her memories began to trickle back, and it was only because her stomach was empty that she refrained from vomiting on the spot. “That look in her eyes…” Weakly shaking her head as if to ward away the memory, Rarity forced herself upright with undue exertion, and there sat staring at her hooves. They had walked away when she knew she needed to stay, and to press forward, but when the time had come for her mettle to be tested, her heart had shown itself to be weaker than her intentions. “What… what kind of pony am I, truly?” she wondered, shutting out the world behind closed eyes. “I thought that I was better than this, that my friends meant more to me than all the fame of Canterlot, but if that were true, then… why?” Her eyes opened, mere slits as she she glared seething at the hooves that had betrayed her. “Don’t you know what you’ve done?” she growled at them, her voice sounding to her as little more than a hoarse whisper. Her rational side hadn’t actually expected an answer, but in the absence of any sign of remorse from that which had ruined one of her long-standing friendships with somepony that was an undeniable pillar in the Ponyville community, Rarity began to tremble as the weight of her ill-fated decision boiled over into pain-laden rage. “Well, do you?” she barked, the sharp tone carrying with it the sting of accusation. “All you had to do was step forward! Just one little step, was that so much to ask?!” Slowly did she raise her hooves, peering at them expectantly as she waited for an explanation that she knew wouldn’t be found in the dusty limbs held before her face, but she wanted somepony to blame, and her hooves, dirty and unbeautiful, had been the instrument of her betrayal. “Answer me!” she bellowed, bearing her teeth in feral rage. “Why the hell wouldn’t you listen to me?! You’ve gone and ruined everything- EVERYTHING! You’re worthless, you useless, unsightly pieces of-” The remainder of what she had intentioned to say caught in her throat as she peered between her hooves at something on the other side. Parting them slowly, she found herself staring into a cheval glass across the way, and the reflection that she was shown was anything but pretty. One by one, her eyes roamed from one imperfection to the next, from her unkempt mane to her soil-encrusted coat, and for a moment, her gaze dropped and her tone fell to a deathly hush. “Don’t… don’t you lie to me…” Her eyes open, but the sight remained the same. “Don’t you bucking lie to me!” she howled, leaping from the bed and immediately crumpling to the floor as her body found itself unprepared for her erratic actions. Ignoring the myriad of aches and pains that lanced through her as she struggled to her hooves, Rarity dragged herself over to the mirror and lifted her head high in aberrant pride. “You tell me I’m beautiful,” she growled, her psyche seeming to fray with every word that tore from her throat. “You tell me I’m beautiful, damn you! Tell me the truth!” “Oh, but I am, Rarity...” A seamstress couldn’t be expected to know just how powerful the mind can be. Overcome with emotion in her exhausted delirium with her mind and heart torn by what had transpired mere hours prior, Rarity choked back her tirade as the form being reflected began to distort until it was no longer herself that was reflected; it was Pinkie. “P-Pinkie?” Rarity stammered out. “What’re you-” “Hmph!” the apparition interrupted, “Isn’t that just like you! Getting upset when things don’t go exactly your way.” “N-Now see here-” “Nonono, -you- see here!” Pinkie’s image snapped back, taking a menacing step forward. “You asked me to show you the truth, which I totally already was, and all you did was ask for more, so you know what? Fine! I won’t just show you the truth, I’ll tell it to you! Isn’t that just sooo -nice- of me?” “Quite,” Rarity said curtly. “It’s about time you had something pleasant to say. Well, don’t dilly dally! I’m waiting.” There was nothing pleasant about the mocking sneer that twisted the reflection’s features. “You’re hideous.” Slowly did one ivory jaw reach for the floor, weighed down by the sheer cruelty of what she had heard. “Take a look at yourself!” Pinkie’s image commanded, motioning towards the mare. “Tell me one thing about yourself that’s anywhere even -close- to pretty! I dare you.” “I am simply in need of a shower!” Rarity snapped back. “You and I both know that when it comes to fashion, I am the queen! None of our friends couldn’t even come close to having as refined taste as I have! Why-” “That’s because they don’t -care- about stupid stuff that doesn’t matter!” the apparition snapped back, taking another step forward. “Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and even Fluttershy, have all found something that’s more important to them than a few rare books or another medal.” There was a lull as Rarity just stared back, unmoved and clearly waiting for her reflection to say something that carried the slightest hint of meaning. “...well, it looks like -somepony- just isn’t going to budge! Alright then, you asked for it! If you won’t show me anything beautiful, then I’ll just have to dig for it!” For the first time during her conversation with her reflection, something happened that was enough to pierce through the rage, through the delirium, and into the mare’s heart. Rarity stood transfixed as the rosen hoof of the pony in the mirror shot out, plunging into her chest. After a few moments of sorting around, the apparition’s hoof withdrew, and it was most assuredly not empty-hooved. Thick black slime not unlike tar coated whatever it was that had been drawn from Rarity’s chest, and the mare couldn’t help but shudder at how overtly disgusting the sight was. “What in Celestia’s name is that… that atrocity?” “Oh, this little thing?” it said dismissively, holding it aloft. “I don’t know, it was inside you, so why don’t you tell me, Rarity?” “I wouldn’t be anywhere near something so filthy! Ugh, the very thought makes me faint.” “Well, -that- sure explains a lot…” Just as Pinkie had unexpectedly shifted from angry to sullen, so too did the apparition as it cradled the oozing mass to its chest. “You’d wash your mane, and spend an hour cleaning your hooves, but you wouldn’t take the time to spare even a drop of water... for your heart.” Reaching outside what the mirror could reflect, Pinkie’s image grabbed a pitcher of water and began pouring it over what she held. Slow to respond at first, the gunk continued clinging tightly to whatever it had coated, but under a steady stream it slowly began melt away until Pinkie was left holding a shimmering diamond in the shape of a heart. “You were beautiful once,” the reflection explained, letting the diamond catch the light. “You could be again, you know, if you tried. But as of right now,” it paused, its expression growing dire once more as it thrust the jewel back where it had come from. When the pink hoof drew away, it was again coated in muck. “...you’re filthy.” “No…” The reflection cast its defeated gaze towards the ground as it watched Rarity shake her head in denial of what she had seen. “There’s no way that something so filthy could be inside me! I… I’m beautiful! Tell me I’m beautiful!” “We were, once…” the apparition remarked as it turned away, “but not anymore. Not anymore…” “No, wait, come back!” Rarity called after Pinkie’s visage as it began to fade, continuing to plod away. “You… you can’t just leave!” Her words fell upon deaf ears as her reflection continued to diminish, and Rarity once again found herself overcome with wrath. “I said… come… back!” she shouted, driving her hoof through the glass. Pain shot through her hoof as the cheval glass shattered under the force of the blow, the frame cracking and falling against the wall as fragments of glass rained down around her hooves. Withdrawing her injured limb she held it up to her eyes and choked back a sob as the same black tar that had coated her heart seeped from the open wound. A sickly sensation around the rest of her caused her to look down, where a growing puddle was pooling as each step she took left her with glass biting into her flesh. “No, this isn’t right!” she exclaimed, frantically trying to rub the muck away but only succeeding in tainting more of her coat. “I’m a strong, beautiful pony that… that…” Her hooves began to shake as she watched the white of her coat disappear. Her vision began to cloud as her eyes filled with tears as black as that which now covered her entire body, and with one last cry of denial, she lifted her head and shouted, “I’m supposed to be beautiful!” After having laid prone for some time, the Princess of the Night stirred into wakefulness. Urgency prompted her to movement, and she rose with all haste, sweeping from her chambers and making straight for those of her sister. Dismissing the guards with a swift flick of her snout, the mare took a few breaths to steady herself and knocked thrice upon the door. “Do come in, Luna,” came Celestia’s soothingly calm greeting, beckoning her sister inside as she nudged open the door. “It sounds as though you bring urgent news.” “Does my knock really convey so much?” Luna asked, managing a half-hearted smile as she entered. “If not your knock, then surely your furrowed brow would give it away,” Celestia replied with an encouraging chuckle. “Sister, this… really is no laughing matter.” Growing solemn at her sister’s chiding, Celestia stowed her mirth as her eyes fell to the floor. “I had hope that they might all avoid this,” she murmured with a heavy heart. “So, the Elements have been split even further apart?” “I am afraid so,” Luna confirmed, shaking her head. “I would not say that their chances of reparation being made are impossible, nor that the growing chasm between Generosity and Laughter cannot be bridged, but that it will take a small miracle to reach either of them. Their hearts have grown quite distant, and they from their hearts.” “Confronting what one has allowed into their heart can be one of the hardest things a pony may ever have to face.” “I, of all ponies, know of what you speak,” came Luna’s somber agreement. “Hardness of heart isn’t always softened with time, and I fear that the strength of spirit that Rarity has always possessed will be her undoing. I visited her just a few minutes ago as she slept, and she proved that even for Pinkie, one of her dear friends, she is unwilling to accept that she has ceased to be herself. Her alignment with her Element is fading, and I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done by her friends...” “If not her friend, then perhaps a stranger…” Luna perked her ears, looking attentively at Celestia whose expression conveyed both her calm and her concern. “Sometimes, it is more meaningful to hear something from the mouth of a stranger rather than that of your friends. If the rest of the Elements cannot reach them, then it will fall on the shoulders of those that they meet to show them the way.” “I won’t pretend I’m not skeptical,” Luna said, vaguely agitated. “It does not sit right with me to entrust the fate of Equestria into the hooves of chance.” “Have a little faith, Luna,” Celestia exhorted her sibling, drawing her close with a wing. “Though the Elements made their choices for a reason, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ponies around that aren’t equally special. I do not believe that Rarity has become so lost that she cannot be found.” “And what of the laughing one with the scary costumes?” Luna asked, not entirely convinced. “She has all but forsaken any kind of mirth. Do you really believe that the efforts of some random pony that happens to cross their path will somehow restore her to harmony?” “You make it sound as if that would be the strangest thing to happen here in Equestria,” Celestia chuckled, nuzzling Luna between the ears. “Those that have fallen the farthest from Harmony are the very same in whom it may shine the brightest. It is a harrowing road for some to find the light, but they suffer the trials that they may keep others from having to do the same. Rarity and Pinkie are both very different ponies, but their heart are not so different from one another. I cannot say how, but I do believe that they will find their light again, and that the struggles they face, and the rest of the Elements as well, will lead to a brighter future for all of Equestria.” “I only hope that you are right, dear sister…” “I hope so too, Luna… I truly do.”