Finery and Firepower

by cosmicbiscuit

Afterparty

A yawn bubbled up in the back of her throat, and Rarity didn’t even bother to swallow it back before sleepily raising her head to find she’d gained a new boa during her nap. It seemed Discord had decided she was his new favorite perch, she noted with dry amusement before she unwound the sleeping draconequus and settled him on a pillow, where he immediately balled back up.

He’d regained regular size once during the week that he and Celestia had been recuperating, but after quite literally vomiting rainclouds and singing cheeses, and -he swore accidentally- causing all of the inkwells in the room to turn into exploding purple mushrooms, he’d promptly shrunk himself back down and announced he was going to stay that way until he was back at full strength.

The princess had yet to wake at all.

After stretching the kinks out of her back, Rarity passed a snoozing Twilight and went to go see if there was still any warm coffee left in their pot. She was disappointed to find only the last dregs, but poured it into a cup anyway and added some cream to cover any stale taste before trotting over to send the pot down the parlour’s dumbwaiter to the kitchen for more.

Both shifts of staff knew exactly what to send up now, especially since she’d gotten Twilight to start favoring both the sugar-brewed arabica and the brown sugar sweetcake tea.

She was pretty sure it was a running joke among the cooks by now, actually.

Sipping at her coffee, Rarity looked around the parlour at their books and paperwork and her sleeping friends, then decided to go check in with Luna.

It was nearing sundown, so she didn’t bother with the usual diplomatic places and went straight to Celestia’s room. Sure enough, the lunar princess was there, forelegs folded on the bed and her chin resting on them as she quietly kept vigil.

Rarity softly knocked on the doorframe to announce her arrival, then approached the bed when Luna raised her head and waved her in. “Do you need a shift change?

“I will be fine until morning yet,” Luna said, but there were some threads of tiredness evident in her voice, and she admitted them a moment later. “However, if the offer is still valid after sunrise, I may accept.”

“Of course.” Magically pulling over a chair, Rarity settled herself in, just in case Luna was a little over exhausted after switching the heavenly bodies, but politely averted her gaze while the princess did so, so as not to be accused of hovering. Celestia’s color-changed mane seemed to glow in the dimming light, and the vivid reds and oranges, so different from the usual greens and blues, caught her attention. “Do you think that will be permanent?”

“Hm?” Luna asked in an almost huff as she finished her task and shut off her magic, a little breathless. “Will what be permanent?”

“Her mane. The coloring’s rather pretty, but it’s a big difference.”

Luna made an amused noise and rested her head on her forelegs again. “Oh, that. No, it will go back eventually. Took about a month a last time.”

“Really? Did yours do anything?”

“I cannot really remember," she murmured with a shrug.

Silence settled back over the room, and Rarity found herself beginning to nod off again. Just as it was getting really hard to keep her eyes open, however, there was a rasping croak, so soft she almost missed it-

“She’s lying. Her mane and tail turned to steam clouds at first and stayed white all month.”

Starting fully awake, Rarity stared, and beside her, Luna was doing the same.

She looked like absolute death, normally deep and bright magenta eyes glassy and dull, and deep bags under them only making them look worse, but Princess Celestia was awake and smiling tiredly at them both.

Luna recovered first, wiping wet eyes. “You were not supposed to tell her that!” she said, laughter watery, then promptly flung herself at her sister to hug the air out of her.

As the two of them clung to each other, Rarity slipped out of her chair and snuck out of the room as silently as possible. There were a hundred things she wanted to ask, and Twilight would want to know, of course. But that could wait a little while. She knew all too well that sister hugs came first, after all.

===

“The storm was much worse than even I had been anticipating. Flares normally do not formulate in the same spot directly after another, but there was a second burst right after the first had already spent the shields I had built. I was in the process of getting a second one up, but if Discord hadn’t arrived when he did to shunt a good deal of the radiation around the planet, I doubt I would have succeeded in time.”

“Your redirection suggestion worked, it seems, Twilight,” Luna said after she’d swallowed her sip of tea. All of them, Discord included, though he was still mostly snoozing, had convened in Celestia’s room for breakfast after the sisters had taken the night to get some rest together. A spread of fruit-dotted oatmeal, sugared toast, blackberry and orange salad, cream cheese-stuffed strawberries, and tea had been brought so Celestia wouldn’t have to get out of bed.

“Lucky for us,” Twilight muttered dourly as she nibbled on a piece of toast. Rarity wasn’t feeling much better. She didn’t really want to begrudge Discord for his efforts, especially after how hard it had been for him to come to the side of good, but it was still frustrating. All the hard work she’d put into the armor, and in the end, it hadn’t-

A hoof gently touched her shoulder and Rarity raised her head from staring -not sulking, thank you very much- into her blackberry and orange salad to find Celestia giving her a warm, proud smile.

“I have to give you my thanks once again,” the princess said. “You as well, Twilight.”

Rarity felt her chest clench, and swallowed. “Us?”

“Had it not been for your armor and spells, I might not have survived when the second burst broke through. I might not have even had enough power to hold the shields long enough to weather the first.”

Rarity was sure her heart stopped. In her mind’s eye, she was seeing the nightmare’s Celestia, seared, roasted, vaporized before she even had a chance to scream. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out, her breath seeming to lock in her throat.

“Rarity?” Twilight asked, and the concerned expression on her friend’s face only made it even harder to get a small croak of sound past her lips. Before her shock could give way to tears, however, Celestia gently wrapped her in golden magic, lifting her safely over the food and into a warm hug after shifting the sleeping Discord to a pillow.

“It’s alright,” the princess soothed, holding her tight and nuzzling her ear gently, voice soft enough that no one else would hear. “Luna told me. But it didn’t happen. You know it didn’t happen. I’m still here because of all your efforts. The armor was perfect; you know that.”

Rarity clenched her jaw, then let out a slow, shaky breath and wiped the tears pricking at her eyes. “Right… right. Thank you. I’m okay now.”

Celestia gave her a little squeeze of reassurance, then let her go, and Rarity hopped off the bed to go back to her seat, smiling brightly at Twilight when the purple alicorn gave her a questioning look. ‘Later,’ she mouthed.

As breakfast eased back to its normal comfortable silence, Discord raised his head and yawned, jaw unhinging like a snake, then slid off the pillow to go wrap himself around a piece of sugared toast and munch sleepily. “Oh, we’re all here this time. Mornin’ Glowin’ Hind, it’s about time you woke your lazy self up,” he mumbled around a mouthful.

“That’s rich coming from you, Bite Size,” Celestia teased back before taking a sip of her tea. "I don't see you planning on changing back any time soon."

"And give up giant-sized sugar toast? Not on your life!"

Rarity glanced over to see Twilight gaping at the two old adversaries bickering like poker buddies, then grinned and elbowed her lightly. "Remember what I said when we left the archives?" she asked, low enough for the others not to hear.

Twilight scrunched her face in determination. "Now you're really going to have to tell me everything."

===

“Rarityrarityrarityrarity!”

She didn’t even get the chance to get fully turned around before she was bowled over by a small streak of lavender, pale pink, and white, the two of them rolling across the hall into the plush curtains. “Oof. Hello, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said dryly before returning the small filly’s enthusiastic hug.

“Land sakes, filly, it’s almost like you ain’t seen ‘er in a month or somethin’,” teased a familiar drawl, and Rarity managed to half-weasel herself out of her sister’s death grip enough to see an upside-down and grinning Applejack approaching with Apple Bloom at her heels. With much more effort, she managed to get herself and Sweetie upright and reached out to accept the offered hoof bump. “How you holdin’ up, Sugarcube? Twilight’s invite didn’t tell us much.”

“Tired, but accomplished, my dear. I hope everything went well in my absence?” Rarity asked, not failing to notice the nervous smiles and shuffling by the two small fillies.

“Nothin’ we couldn’t handle,” Applejack said with a casual left hoof flutter that was their code sign for an earful later. Rarity inwardly sighed and hoped that said tale would at least come with a mug of cider. Thankfully, other mare seemed to pick up on her dread, because Applejack patted her on the shoulder and leaned in close. “I snuck along some special vintage in our overnight bags.”

“You're a gem,” Rarity muttered back, then raised her voice back to normal level. “Princess Celestia has said she’ll be bringing the finished work to the party tonight when she makes the announcement about the sky lights.”

“Aw, can’t we see it now?” Sweetie Belle asked before Apple Bloom kicked her hind leg lightly in an apparent reminder that they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves just then. Rarity pretended not to have noticed, both to let them believe they were being clever and because she wanted to go just a little longer in recovery mode.

Applejack just snorted. “I think we’ll take that as our cue to go clean up for tonight’s shindig. C’mon, girls, time to get fancy."

===

Rarity softly hummed along with the quartet’s music as she meandered through the party crowd. She’d checked in with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie- ah, had taken control of the hors d’oeurves table. Sweeping neatly around some chatting elites, Rarity made her way over and accepted a glass of wine from a beaming pink pony, her own mouth quirking into a smile at the tiny gaudy umbrella in the glass. “Found a way to enjoy yourself with the fancy food, I see.”

“Uh-huh! And look at this! The kitchen staff are letting me have unlimited party favors to give out as long as I don’t load the punch with sugar this time! Discord went to get the next box since this one’s almost out.”

“As long as that doesn’t mean umbrellas raining from the ceiling, I’m fine with that,” Rarity said, smile widening as she twirled the little umbrella with her magic, then tucked it behind her ear.

“Cute! That shade of blue looks really good on you- ooooh.”

At the awed expression on Pinkie’s face and the sudden hush of the party music, Rarity turned to the dais and felt her breathing hitch.

The Princess Sisters had made their entrance, but rather than bringing the armor along on a ponyform as Rarity had expected she would do, Celestia had chosen to wear it, color-changed mane and tail ember-glowing in the ballroom’s lighting and reflecting off the gem chips and stones in little glitters. Beside her, Luna was dressed in formal gown and regalia, faintly smug expression conveying to Rarity that choice to put the armor on had been her idea.

And whatever effect Luna had been expecting, it seemed to have worked. Glancing in either direction, Rarity saw so many faces reflecting Pinkie’s starstruck stare that it made her heart flutter a little. She took another sip of wine and subtly edged around the table to stick close to her friend, the motion nudging Pinkie out of her trance.

“Is that what you spent all this time making?!” Pinkie asked in an excited whisper, then squeezed her fiercely with a squeal muffled in her mane when Rarity managed a nod over her glass. Before either of them could say anything else, however, Celestia cleared her throat above the crowd and smiled.

“My dear ponies. I’m sure all of you have heard the rumors by now of the apocalyptic cataclysm of my doing that is coming to doom us all from space. You will all be happy to know that it has already been handled and is no longer a threat.”

Rarity prided herself on reading a crowd. Purple robes or no purple robes, there seemed to be quite a few guilty faces and muttering among the applause, and not all of the shadows were from earth ponies. While Pinkie continued to lean on her and smothered giggles in her hair as the princess’s clever insult, she hid a snort by finishing off the wine and setting her glass down.

Celestia gently motioned for silence, then continued. “However, the effort to protect Equestria and our fellow nations was a joint one, and I must recognize the work put in by those who aided me. Not the least of which, for her vision and toil in designing and constructing this very armor, is our own Rarity, Element of Generosity.”

All heads turned in her direction, and Pinkie quickly let go with a squeak of embarrassment. Rarity flashed her a quick grin of no hard feelings, then walked out from behind the table to nod politely to the acknowledgment and applause. She would have been a liar if she hadn’t admitted that she felt a little smug about a few particular jealous faces in the crowd, but nothing warmed her like the affectionate pride on the faces of her friends and the princesses, and the delighted squeal from her little sister.

Before she could bask in them too long, however, a loud whistling noise made her jump, and she whipped around to find a wide-eyed Pinkie pointing at Discord, who was holding a box under one arm and a noisemaker in the other. Grinning unapologetically, he spun it again, and along with the piercing whistle, it made a little ‘CONGRATULATIONS’ in sparkly rainbow fireworks and spat flower-shaped confetti. Rarity rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help her smile coming back as she turned to hear the rest of Celestia’s speech.

===

The party was still in full swing, the music and chatter both lively, but Rarity found she was getting quite tired. Mostly of being crowded by ponies demanding to know the secrets of how the armor had been built and how it worked. The latter, at least, had easily been pawned off on Twilight, who was more than happy to spout the magical processes of the rune wards until they no longer wanted to hear about them and probably wouldn’t ever again.

For her own part, she had taken her fifth glass of wine and escaped to one of the platform balconies, doing her best to radiate a ‘bother me and I will end you’ aura as she sipped at the sparkling liquid and settled deeper into her seat.

Someone apparently didn’t get the message, however, and sat down beside her. Scowling, she turned her head to give them a piece of her mind, then started in mild surprise when she found it was Celestia. “Oh! Ce- Your Highness,” she corrected herself, remembering they were still at a public function. “I wouldn't have thought you could still sneak up on me in that.”

“Another testament to your talent, I think,” the princess said with a smile, stretching out the wing facing away from her. “Light as a ballgown, silent as a whisper. Now that I’ve worn it three times, it’s more comfortable than my normal regalia.”

“Oh, now you’re just teasing,” Rarity said with a smile of her own that she really didn’t feel, then looked down into her glass as she swirled her wine.

“Only a little. You really did do a remarkable job of making it comfortable to wear.” After a few moments’ silence, the princess leaned just a little bit closer. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“Mmnh.” Rarity toyed with her glass some more, then sighed and set it aside. “It should be nothing, really. Just… I thought I would enjoy going public with it more than this. And yet listening to everypony talk about it is just giving me a headache. They don’t understand. They don’t care. It’s just a shiny bauble to them. And it feels so wrong, because this isn’t just fashion, this is-”

A wing gently covered her shoulders, and Rarity leaned into the comforting warmth, not caring what it would look like in the gossip rags in the morning. “I know,” Celestia murmured gently, and it was all she needed to say. Rarity closed her eyes for a moment, then inhaled deeply and let the air out slowly, feeling some of the tension in her head ebb with it.

“Some of the nobles are discussing the name,” Celestia said after giving her a few moments to just relax. “Black Sun is a favorite.” She chuckled at Rarity’s noise of derision and nose wrinkle. “I told them that as the creator of the armor, you had proper first rights.”

Without opening her eyes, Rarity considered that. In her mind, she let her thoughts sift through words, rolling over the things she had seen while she had worked, the materials she had used, the purpose she had made the armor for. She made a soft hum as she thought, then her eyelids fluttered open. “Auroral Flame.”

“The Auroral Flame Set.” Removing her wing, Celestia tapped the tip of a feather to her mouth, then smiled. “I like it. Very poetic. I’ll make it official before the night’s out.”

“Thank you, your highness.”

“Now, there is one more thing. My offer from the beginning of last month still stands.” When Rarity blinked up at the alicorn in confusion, Celestia tapped her hoof with her own in reminder. “I offered you payment of your choice, remember? I know you said this was a free commission, but I still feel rather terrible about taking you away from your actual career from an entire month.”

“Oh. Well, there’s really no need. I’m happy to have done it. I may be taking another week or so until I go back to the fashion world, however; I think I’d like a little de-stressing time first.”

“Well… If you aren’t entirely sick of this place by now, why not take your vacation here in the castle? I’m sure Toffee Chip would be happy to spoil you silly, and you could take advantage of guest privileges in the gardens and some of the city sights. That could be your payment.”

Rarity stared up at the princess, surprised. “You… you wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not. And I’m sure Luna would be thrilled for the company," the princess added, an unspoken 'and so would I' not going amiss between them.

Rarity looked over to where the three Crusaders had pulled the Night Princess out onto the floor and were doing their best to figure out some kind of swing dance to the slow quartet music. “Sweetie Belle does have spring vacation coming up next week, and they do seem to get on like a house on fire… I… Yes. Yes! I accept!”

“Excellent. We can start planning the arrangements later this week. For now, should we rejoin the party?” Celestia asked as she stood, offering the wing that had covered her.

Applejack was waving to her from the refreshments table, where Pinkie and Discord were building a giant ‘house’ of party favors while Fluttershy tried to catch any that fell off. Rarity brightened and got up, accepting the gesture by leaning against the princess. “We should,” she said, and they walked down into the crowd together.

Comments

[Korusso]

liked and faved
nice job!

[PaintedPony]

This was a very good read. I liked everything about it. I'm giving you a thumbs up and a favorite.

[B_Munro]

I read the original years back, and to my embarrassment I can't really recall how different it was from this: but I did enjoy it, and have greatly enjoyed this new version. Thanks for your hard work.

[Pram the Oracle]

Ah one of my absolute favorite story on the site is back. I can’t recall what was changed though.

Still, excellent piece on Rarity and Celestia.