The Carousel Boutique was perhaps the only store in Canterlot that had three states: Open, Closed, and Inspired. Rarity kept the place stocked and profitable, but sometimes customers had to wait while she rode out the throes of her muse. Unless, of course, her friends were available to man the counter. Today, that meant Applejack and Sunset Shimmer. Meanwhile, Fluttershy served as the mannequin for the dress currently under construction, because "I know your coloration is all wrong, darling, but your proportions are simply perfect!" It wasn't their first choice for how to spend the second day of Spring Break, but Rarity always made sure they were well-compensated, and the company made up for the slog of retail work.
During the lunchtime lull, Rarity said, "Thunthet, 'm afraid 'e 'ave thomething to... a 'o'ent." She took the last pin from her mouth and into her creation's ankle-length skirt. "There we are. As I was saying, I'm afraid we have something to discuss with you."
Sunset looked about the room. All eyes were on her, but none of them seemed hostile. Still, she felt an anxious knot forming in her stomach. "You do?" She got a trio of nods.
"I assure you," said Rarity, "no one here thinks you're responsible."
Sunset scowled. "So either Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie does, if not both."
Rarity rose from her crouch. "Now, now. I never said that."
Sunset just turned to Applejack, who nodded. "Pinkie's sore 'cause you never told 'er you were ready for prankin'. Said she had a lot planned for yer first one."
"Rainbow Dash doesn't want to blame you," Fluttershy added, "but she doesn't know who else could have done it."
Sunset looked back and forth across the boutique. "I don't even know what I did!"
Her friends traded uneasy glances. After a few moments, Rarity sighed. "Oh, very well. We can get something to eat afterwards. Applejack, be a dear and put up the 'back soon' sign? Set it to half past noon."
Applejack nodded and made for the door. Fluttershy shook a little with the effort she put into keeping still. "Um..."
"Give me just a few moments more, and I'll have it stable enough to remove."
Sunset paced in front of the stage where Rarity was making sure her latest work wouldn't collapse. When Applejack got back from the door, Sunset turned to her. "Couldn't you just tell me?"
Applejack bit her lip. "It's easier to jus' show you. Well, it is for Rarity. Ah'm wearin' shorts under mah skirt."
Before Sunset could ask further, Rarity chirped, "All finished! Fluttershy, I trust you know what to do." Rarity stepped down from the stage and looked around furtively. "Well, may as well get this over with. Here's the issue, Sunset." She lifted the side of her skirt.
Sunset knelt and stared for a good minute, tilting her head, hand on her chin. Fluttershy finished setting the dress on a mannequin in the interim.
Finally, Rarity cleared her throat and shoved her skirt back down, her face almost incandescent. “Did you enjoy yourself?"
Sunset felt her own face heat up. “I didn’t mean…” She shook her head. “I don’t understand what the problem is.”
“Don’t under..." Rarity shook her head. "Sunset, how could you possibly not see the problem here?”
Sunset shrugged. “I didn’t see anything unusual.”
Rarity faintly quivered with rage. "This may be something of a cultural gap, but as far as I am concerned, blue diamond tattoos on my hips qualify as unusual!"
“Tattoos?” Sunset’s jaw dropped as the pieces came together. “You mean you didn’t have a cutie mark before?”
She was met with three looks of incomprehension. "The heck is a cutie mark?" asked Applejack.
Sunset lifted her own skirt, revealing the two-tone sun on her own hip. "This." She dropped the fabric under the weight of her friends' stares. "Wow, that is uncomfortable. Sorry, Rarity."
"It's alright, darling. I understand your confusion now." Rarity pursed her lips in thought. "How long have you had that?"
"Since before I went through the portal. Everypony has them in Equestria." Sunset shrugged. "I figured you did here as well. You just didn't talk about them because of the whole 'nudity taboo' thing."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You sayin' you ain't never seen anyone else’s hips before?”
Sunset matched her expression. “I picked up on that taboo pretty quickly.”
“Swimsuits? Changin' for gym?”
Sunset looked away and rubbed an arm. “I spent my summers here planning my conquest of Equestria, and I was bribing or blackmailing most of the faculty, so gym class wasn’t really a concern. After the Fall Formal, I’ve just been trying not to attract attention.”
"Biology textbooks?" asked Fluttershy.
"Swimsuit catalogs?" added Rarity.
"Not even th' Internet?"
Sunset crossed her arms. "For a species so shy about your bodies, you sure do have a lot of ways of seeing them uncovered."
“What about Flash?” asked Rarity.
“What about…” Sunset shuddered. “Ugh! No! No, no, no, absolutely not!” She shook her head. It did nothing to clear out the mental images. “I told you guys, he was just another rung on the social ladder to me. I never felt anything for him. I certainly wouldn’t…” She shuddered and stuck out her tongue. “Look, I still think of myself as a unicorn, and xenophilia was never my thing. I wasn't looking for naked humans because I didn't want to see any. Besides, Flash is kind of a dork. He has no spacial awareness. He’s walked into people, walls, doors... I think I even saw him smack up against a patch of fog once.”
Fluttershy tilted her head. "But what about Twilight?"
Sunset shrugged. "Apparently, she's into balding apes. Good for her."
"We're gettin' off topic," said Applejack. "These marks may be normal for ponies, but we ain't ponies."
"No, but we do gain equine traits when playing music." Sunset cupped her chin in a hand. "When did your cutie marks appear?"
"Mine showed up after we kicked siren keister," said Applejack.
"Mine as well," said Rarity. Fluttershy nodded.
"As I thought." Sunset began to pace. "You all got a bit of harmony magic after the Fall Formal. It's possible that it grew stronger during the fight against the Dazzlings, strong enough to express itself through cutie marks."
Rarity's eyes widened. "Are you saying this is permanent?"
Sunset shrugged. "Maybe. Time will tell. Though I do have to wonder how you know what symbols to put on your clothes if you don't—"
A trilling sound interrupted her. Sunset pulled out her phone. "Huh." She took the call. "Everything okay, Pinkie?"
The answer lacked any of Pinkie's usual mirth. "Write to Twilight, Sunset. We may have a problem."
Sunset felt a chill run down her spine. "What kind of problem?"
"No time to explain. Where are you?"
"Carousel Boutique. But can't you just tell me now?" Silence. "Pinkie?" Sunset looked at her phone. "And she hung up. Wonderful."
"What was it?" asked Fluttershy.
"I don't know," Sunset huffed. "Apparently, there was no time to explain. But she wants me to write to Princess Twilight."
"Ah'll call Rainbow," said Applejack. "This sounds like it's gonna need all of us."
Sunset nodded and dug her journal and a pen out of her backpack. "I knew it was a good idea to keep this close." She flipped to a blank page.
Dear Princess Twilight,
My friends have developed cutie marks since the incident at the Battle of the Bands—apparently most humans don't have them—and Pinkie has alerted us to... something. She said to contact you. Knowing her, that means it's either a magical catastrophe or a sale on those eclairs you really like. I'll update you as soon as I get more information.
Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer
"Well, that's all I can tell her for now." Sunset sighed. "Now we just have to wai—"
Rainbow Dash pounded on the door. "C'mon, guys!" she shouted, a bit muffled through the glass. "I can see you in there!"
Rarity frowned and unlocked the door. "Is a little gentleness so very much to ask, Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah, hi to you too." Dash breezed in. "Pinkie here yet?"
Applejack shook her head. "Still waitin' on 'er."
"Makes sense. I was at CHS. Straight shot here."
Sunset quirked an eyebrow. "What were you doing at the school now?"
"Got in a fight with myself." Dash rubbed her abdomen. "I took a gut shot, but I got me back just as good. Walking it off now. Well, biking, but you know."
The other girls traded looks for a bit until Fluttershy spoke for the group. "What?"
"I was talking with the me from the pony world. I have wings all the time there." Dash's rapturous smile faded, and her head dipped down. "It's actually kinda, you know, humbling to know there's a me out there more awesome than I am."
Sunset's jaw dropped. "Wait, you got in a fight with your pony analogue? That could've—"
"Destabilized the whatsit, right. Twilight said something about that."
Any responses were interrupted by the door flying open. A panting Pinkie Pie stumbled into the boutique with the rattle of a falling bike, her hair sticking out straight behind her for two feet. "Got here... as fast... as I could." Her hair reasserted its usual shape with an audible "foomp."
"So," said Sunset, "what's so important that you couldn't just tell us over the phone?"
Pinkie held up a hand as she caught her breath. After a few moments, she said, "Maud has pony magic."
Sunset blinked. "As in your sister who feeds her pet rock?"
Pinkie nodded. "It was just before I called you...
The Pie family residence was almost aggressively dull, its palette largely greys with the occasional daring dip into beige. It made Pinkie stand out like burning lithium. “You really have to go?” she asked.
Maud nodded with a frown only Pinkie could perceive. “Our spring breaks don’t line up. I have classes tomorrow.”
Pinkie all but tackled her sister. It was a bit like running into a lamppost, but one that could hug back.
“I’ll e-mail you when I get back,” said Maud, a bit muffled from her face being buried in a mass of pink curls.
“I love you, Maud.”
“I love you too, Pinkie. Thank you for staying home to see me off.”
Pinkie giggled. “Yeah, because it was such a big sacrifice not going to a rock museum.”
“Oh. I almost forgot.” Maud pried Pinkie’s arms off of her, then dug into a pocket.
“Goodbye, Boulder.”
“He appreciates the thought, but he’s not what I remembered.” Maud produced a fist-sized stone. It was the color of a dying coal on the outside, but numerous cracks revealed the ruby-like interior.
Pinkie leaned in closer, eyes sparkling. “Wow! That’s really pretty! Where’d you find it?”
“I made it.”
“Huh?” Pinkie looked up at her sister.
“The night of your concert, with the giant rainbow energy horse. After it shattered the rocks around the other singers’ necks, I gathered up the scraps." Maud looked at the stone. "They were shouting. I told them to be quiet. They did. Then I told them to come together. They did.”
“Whuh?”
Maud’s eyelids drifted shut. Ruddy light radiated out of the rock. The ground shook beneath their feet. Pinkie fell onto her rear.
Maud took her hand and pulled her back up as easily as lifting a newspaper. She had pony ears and a length of hair stretching down to her ankles, threaded through a slice of agate midway through. The rest was still in her usual style though. “I think there may have been some side effects.”
Pinkie spread out her arms to take in the changes. “You think?”
Maud’s answer was a microscopic smile. “Talk to you soon, Pinkie.” With that, she ran for the train station. Pinkie watched her pass at least one car.
Pinkie dug into her hair until she found her phone, extracted it, and dialed, all without moving anything above her shoulders.
"Everything okay, Pinkie?"
“Write to Twilight, Sunset. We may have a problem.”
"And then you said, 'What kind of problem?' And I said—"
"I know, Pinkie," said Sunset. "I was there."
"What does this mean?" asked Fluttershy.
Rarity put her hands over her mouth. "Oh dear. If this happened to Pinkie's sister because she was at the concert, then any number of people could have been affected!"
"N-not necessarily." Sunset gave an uneasy smile. "I mean, maybe someone has to be related to one of us to be affected."
Rarity and Applejack both glared at her. "That ain't exactly reassurin'," said Applejack.
"As if Sweetie Belle weren't destructive enough..." Rarity shuddered.
"Well, it could still be a one-in-a-million chance," Sunset said. "An isolated incident."
"OF COURSE!"
Everyone jumped at the sudden outburst. Rainbow Dash then laughed. "Really? F. Buncher from the Alley Brawler movie?"
Sunset flushed. "I keep meaning to change that alert, but I haven't exactly gotten a lot of texts since the Fall Formal." Her journal started flashing and buzzing. "Well, that was quick." She opened the book. A few moments later, it fell from her nerveless fingers, revealing a thousand-yard stare.
"Uh, Sunset?" Applejack edged closer. "Everything okay?"
"What did Twilight say?" asked Pinkie.
"Oh, that wasn't Twilight." Sunset's lips curled up, though her gaze remained horrified. "That was Spike. Twilight's new castle grew some kind of magical map of Equestria, and now she and your pony counterparts have all left to investigate some remote point near Neighagra Falls. So, you know, she'll be unavailable for a few days. Heh. Heh heh."
"Hey now." Pinkie wrapped her arms around Sunset from behind. "None of that."
"Yeah," said Dash, "we can totally handle this on our own."
Rarity nodded. "With your magical expertise, of course."
Sunset took a deep breath. "You're right. Thanks." A beat. "You can let go now, Pinkie."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Fiiiine."
"Thanks, though." Sunset pulled out her phone. "Now, what's this about..." Her expression quickly returned to horror. "Oh, horseapples." Pinkie latched back on to her.
Fluttershy gulped. "What is it?"
Sunset just set her phone down on the front counter.
From: Vinyl Scratch
collab w/ tavi. we grew horse ears. sup w/ that?
Rarity cleared her throat. "It would appear that this is not, in fact, an isolated incident."
"So, what now?" asked Dash.
Sunset bit her lip. "I have no idea."
Oh, I am going to enjoy this.
So…people are developing magic. Is this really a bad thing, other than possibly having to deal with way too much hair? (What's with that, anyway? Couldn't they just grow tails or something?)
Also, yeah, that sounds like Maud. She rocks. (Ugh.)
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I certainly hope so!
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Why too much magic is a bad thing will be addressed in the next chapter.
Well, I see you took my "This is Act 1 of a larger story" advice to heart. Eagerly awaiting where you're taking it.
Oh, my. This might almost require the help of a planeswalker or two........
6333357 Yes, I'm sure there are lots of possible negative consequences--MythrilMoth's story addresses some of them--I kind of like the idea of The Magic Comes Back. Or Comes For the First Time.
You know, when you posted the first draft of this, I have to admit I wasn't all that interested. As much as I'm sure it would have been interesting worldbuilding, stories centered around religion and the like rarely interest me.
That said, with the new direction you've taken it in, I have to admit I'm intrigued. Carry on.
Never read the original draft, but you've certainly turned the current version into a compelling hook. Time to track it!
One note about that author's note: it very nearly scared me off. I don't recall whether I've read the source stories or not, but this chapter at least seemed to hold together well enough as an independent thing. What's the context that the other stories provides, and does it become crucial later? Unless there's something in those stories we'll really need to know that can't be lampshaded/exposited in, taking out the continuity warnings will probably get you a better reader response.
Well, this looks interesting so far. Looking forward to more. (Also you made the right choice waiting until you could couch your human cutie mark headcanon into an actual story rather than building a oneshot around it).
Interesting premise here.
The think I noted is that your story's timing seems a bit off: Sunset wrote to Twilight less that an hour after RD punching her counterpart with Twilight present so I'd expect Twlight still being more or less close by.
Still, I'm looking forward to see what will the Rainbooms do here.
6333965 FoME is being overcautious: he basically already exposited the key events from the linked stories.
Speaking of, FoME, what about Is Ditz Your Card? ? Yes, no, canon uncertainty and doubt?
An interesting beginning! Let's see where you're taking this...
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This is not a crossover. No Ditzy ex machina for this one.
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Adjustment made. Thanks for the advice.
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"Aftershock" happened just before the six Thrones of Harmony (and Rumps of Harmony) created the Cutie Map. The reply came just after the Bearers left for the train station. Spike didn't think a human Pinkie freakout was quite as important as the mysterious magical map, or his scheduled male bonding time.
6335480 Ah. So the most we're going to get out of her is her trying to keep at least one Dazzling from doing something stupid.
Huh. I'd kinda forgotten about the blogpost that led to this fic until now. Glad to see it's part of a larger story, too, even if it's in a different branch of the multiverse from our favorite wall-eyed planeswalker.
What is waifu theft?
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A tongue-in-cheek reference to a common fan reaction to Flash Sentry.
6335480 I would've been surprised and disappointed if you had our favourite walleyed Planeswalker swoop in to fix everything, but I'm a little sad that we won't get a scene with the local Ditzy in the background, going into ears-and-wings mode from winning a game.
I'm just waiting for CNN to do a report on the Ponebola epidemic.
6337575 That I can understand. Why this is commonly expressed as "waffling a waifu" confuses me deeply, but at least it means I can make jokes about how Flash cooks a mean breakfast.
. . . This pegasus approves.
This is fun so far, love the confusion in this first scene.
I like that as a bit of character for Flash, it fits.
Dangit, Dash, that's how you explode everything. Well, on the positive side I guess now they know it isn't.
The magic, it's contagious!
Nice.
This is great, too. The abbreviations and lack of capital letters kind of sort of feels like Vinyl's movie silence expressed in the text. Also, horse ears for everyone! It's gonna be dangerous once Flash grows his and starts flying into things in addition to walking into them.
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Flash walking into things is basically canon. Aside from the running gag with Twilight, there's also smacking into the school entrance during the Fall Formal and backing into a wall at the opening of Rainbow Rocks. I actually suspect that walking into things is his special talent. His pony instance combines that with pegasus crash resistance to be an incredibly effective guard, at least when it comes to keeping ponies from going where they shouldn't. With spiked armor, he'd probably be terrifying on the battlefield.
And I've just given myself another idea. Great.
Also, yeah, Vinyl seems to be the type of person who thinks that the Shift key is for lesser beings.
She uses the M. Bison OF COURSE as a text tone.
Well, she did want to take over the world...
Besides too much skin, I think this story is off to an excellent start.
It's certainly some kind of fallout effect from the Elements of Harmony plus the Rainbow Power firing off at the Battle of the Bands. That level of radiation would have chaotic effects on genetics and add to that Magic's tendency to be at least partially sentient, then it becomes inevitable that certain consistent changes would appear in all affected persons.
I'm not surprised that Vinyl was seriously affected, FWIW. She was working with the Rainbooms and was effectively at ground zero when the Seven Elements triggered for the first time. If anyone was likely to be 'irradiated' it is her. That level of magic energy integrated into her body may have exacerbated any changes that Octy suffered.
If the Carousel Boutique has three states, does that mean it has a triple point? I wonder what combination of
temperature and pressuretime and caffeine would bring it about.Not only do I like that as a character trait for Flash (he's like a lost puppy XD) it seems as if his pegasus magic is kicking in too.
(Disclaimer: I haven't read any of what this is a sequel to, but will eventually. I'm just going to assume anything that doesn't make sense right away is a reference to that other story.)
Okay, you definitely did this way better than I did.
It's funny (and sad) because it's so true.
That's gonna be awkward if you decide to make a life for yourself in the human world, Shimmykins.
*snrk*
The world MUST be about to end if Rainbow Dash is admitting that someone is more awesome than her. ESPECIALLY if it's another Rainbow Dash.
That rocks.
This is gonna be fun, I can tell.
Sunset has a point. In contrast, the Ponies have very little problem with nudity (though the mares in particular flirt with their tails) and would find the Humanoid attitudes toward nudity rather strange.
The question would occur to Rarity. Pony Rarity is probably the most realistic of all of the Mane Six in terms of understanding actual romantic conduct, and Humanoid Rarity's personality is similar. I suspect Humanoid Rarity is also the most cynical of the Humane Six as well. And remember: she doesn't have a Spike.
It's quite likely, given how young, arrogant and standoffish she was when she first entered the portal, that Sunset is still a virgin, despite the fact that by now she has to be in her mid-twenties in terms of years lived on both sides of the portal combined. It's not as if she would have had many opportunities to meet eligible stallions in the Humanoidverse, and she doesn't seem to have crossed back into Equestria very often -- possibly just that single raid to steal Twilight's crown.
Some writers assume that Pony Sunset in Humanoid form was promiscuous. I've never thought so. Nothing she does either as villain or hero implies lecherousness as a character flaw, and I don't like just piling character flaws on villains ("because they're villains"). That's poor characterization. What Sunset is is passionate. She's determined, fiery, and if she fell in love would fall hard. And Hell would have no fury like a Sunset scorned!
Interestingly, for somepony who is so obsessed with social display, Pony Rarity is rather body-shy for a Pony (AJ actually comments on this in one episode). In the SWSV, this is a clue to the emotional breakdown she suffered at 13 in Fillydelphia. The fact that she does not seem to be body-shy around Spike is one of the reasons why I've decided she actually does love and trust him, more than she does any other male of any sapient species.
Humanoid Rarity would probably be similar, with the added complexity that what one reveals is a major component of Humanoid flirting. I don't know yet if my Humanoid Rarity has suffered anything similar to what my Pony Rarity endured in YOH 1495, but it's certainly possible. I don't have enough data points of Humanoid Rarity to tell if she's brittle and cynical in the same way as her Pony analogue. In point of fact, Humanoid Rarity so far seems happier and better-adjusted, so she may have dodged the fate of an early seduction.
I have this happen through special dreams in my Humanoidverse. The Mark-Dream is lucid, powerful and unmistakable to the recipient, to the point that he or she hereafter adopts it as his or her own special sigil, and it is acknowledged as such by others. The fact that I've had something similar happen to me in real life, and it's why I use the white wolf as my symbol, lets me believe in it even more in fiction. Mark-Dreams occur in prepubesence to mid-adolescence, just as do Cutie Marks to the Ponies. It's a sign of the mystical correspondence between the Humanoids and the Ponies -- one not shared by our particular Human species.
Humanoid Maud probably isn't as tough as Pony Maud (or at least wasn't as tough, she might be getting tougher now with Equestrian magic leaking into the Humanoidverse) but I'm guessing she's still probably incredibly muscular and hard-bodied for a woman, much stronger than most men. Even if she can't punch her way through solid rock.
And the effect is spreading ...
I like the understated reaction from Humanoid Vinyl. I see her as a brave and ultimately rather calm person, quite unflappable even in the face of cosmic horror and real danger. Notice that her reaction to learning that the Dazzlings were actually demons from another dimension was essentially, "Oh cool, I get to be in a magical battle!"
I'm just sitting here appreciating that Sunset's text alert is M. Bison's "OF COURSE!"
Both options are extremely possible considering Pinkie...
Giant crab pincer?
Apparently not.
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Less that, more...
I can't help but read the third state with a Rarity tri-tone drag-out.
"Horse ears" made me chuckle.
My first question since the first movie
Neighagra Falls!
Slowly, we turned.
Step by step...
Inch by inch...
Ah. She means M. Bison from the Street Fighter movie.
Well shit, that was exciting!
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Oh shit, you're reading thi—
Iiiiii mean welcome! Enjoy the story! Hopefully.
And thus, we embark on a story of
Earth VitisEr... Earth Horsegirl (I'll come up with a better name later, watch me!) getting familiar with Equestrian magic. I find myself curious if we'll see any native Earth magic, or get a government agency, or just have a big magic KABLOOEY.Also, I find myself fearing what Sweetie Belle will turn into, just like Rarity. We should run.
Anyway, good stuff as always, Fanofmosteverything... FOME? You are now Fome. I'm great with names. Good story, has me interested, let's see if it gets really good later.
-GM, master of Earth Oversaturation - no wait that's just a meta name, can't do that!
Rereading this for tropes. Still good!
Nice bit with Pinkie not doing a mysterious appearance trick, as that's Party Pony only?
----
Typo:
“What about Flash?” asked Rarity(.)
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More a matter of "only when it's funny" working against her.
I am finally catching up on my reading. Finally...
Love where it’s going, I’ll try and not talk through the next few chapters.
Huh, no one posted the obvious.
2.bp.blogspot.com/-27xVELuRpbE/V04IU4npOwI/AAAAAAAACa4/mojqFWdA9PYCgg_4x0wXziNrubxB8v72wCKgB/s1600/Of%2BCourse.jpg
HOW?!
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Flash Sentry is a pegasus.
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Pegasi are not stupid and they certainly don't crash into everything.
Sooner or later time will tell.
So......... would that mean she kind of like a Toa of Stone?