Hands, Hooves, and Hourglasses

by Lifebinder

Rarity

Rarity had the sense that her friend Pinkie Pie was taking their transformation much more calmly than any of the other ponies. The previously pink pony had always hopped and skipped on her way around pony with a carefree grin plastered on her face. Now, in this new place, Pinkie Pie seemed no different. She was skipping gaily ahead of Rarity, stopping only to bend at the waist and peer at something on the ground. She didn’t care if there was a puddle on the ground, or a piece of trash, or mud. Her world couldn’t be anything other than a playground.

Rarity knew better. She daintily sidestepped the crumpled paper, the sticky foil bags fluttering around the alley. She tried in vain to avoid the brackish puddles left in the potholes. Frankly, Rarity felt absolutely distraught.

“Pinkie, dear, do you even know what you’re looking for?” she called ahead.

“It’s simple!” she said, not turning around. “I know it’s not any of these-” She promptly tossed a hair dryer, a horse shoe, a book, a jug of milk, a fork, a piñata, a bag of chips, a backpack, a pair of jeans, and a parrot over her shoulder – “So I have to keep looking! I’ll know it when it when I see it, I’m sure! OOH! Nope, not this, either.” A guitar whizzed past Rarity’s head.

“Pinkie where are you keeping all of that? You don’t have any pockets or saddlebags.”

Such a simple question was enough to stop Pinkie Pie dead in her track. She turned around slowly, and Rarity saw that her face was scrunched up in a most unseemly manner. Slowly, she said, “I don’t…know…” Then she turned back sharply, beginning to whistle and search once again. Rarity looked back down to the ground, and resumed searching, but she kept an eye on Pinkie, lest a hairbrush come flying at her face…although a brush wouldn’t be so horrible, all things considered.

“Pinkie?”

“Yeah Rarity?” Pinkie called back.

“How are you in such high spirits? I must admit, being in such a…questionable locale has me, well, nervous.”

“Oh it’s easy! Do you remember when we helped Twilight find the Elements of Harmony?”

Rarity remembered it quite clearly. It had taken 3 months for her tail to grow back to an acceptable length, and it never curled quite the same again. But the look on that sea dragon’s face when she restored his beautiful moustache was quite worth it. Not to mention the Elements had rewarded her with the Element of Generosity. Such a fabulous necklace – a pity Twilight had forced her to put it under lock and key in Canterlot.

She pushed a piece of trash out of the way with a dainty foot. “What’s your point?”

“Well, when we were in the forest, I just laughed at all the scary trees until they weren’t scary anymore. This isn’t NEARLY as scary, if you ask me.”

“Maybe not scary, but certainly somewhat abysmal. I mean, really. Look at these puddles!”

Pinkie Pie looked down. “Yeah! Don’t they look fun?” she hopped back to Rarity, landing squarely in a series of larger and larger puddles. Rarity took a splash of rainwater runoff to the face.

“Ahh!” she squealed. “My mane! And it’s only going to frizz later!”

For a moment, Pinkie looked genuinely apologetic. “I’m so sorry, Rarity! I didn’t mean to splash you.” Rarity saw her trying hard to hold back a snicker. “But at least you share my sense in hairstyle!” And with that she burst out laughing. Rarity was horrified to actually see Pinkie Pie rolling around on the ground in such filth. Then she saw her reflection in a puddle.

Rarity’s hair, while still sopping wet, had curled fiercely. Her bangs were now well-formed over her forehead, and the back of her hair was scrunched up to nearly her shoulders. Rarity tenderly pulled at a tendril, and when she let it go it rocketed back into the fuzz that was now Rarity’s hair. Rarity gaped at her reflection for a moment, before screaming.

“AHHH! PINKIE PIE!”

Pinkie stopped rolling around. “I didn’t know you’d take it this bad Rarity. I really am sorry.”

Rarity realized how far over the top she had reacted. A lady never loses her cool as much as I just did, she thought. “It’s…It’s quite alright, dear. At any rate, I know a spell to restyle my coiffure.”

Certain spells for unicorns come quite naturally. For a pony like Twilight, that list can be quite extensive, and takes a great deal of study and practice. But the longer a pony knows a spell, the more it becomes second nature. Rarity had learned this particular mane-styling spell when she was barely a filly – when she had first cast it, she hadn’t even found her cutie mark yet. After casting it so many times, she no longer needed to even focus on casting it, shaping the energy, willing it into existence.

“Well?” she asked Pinkie proudly.

“Well what?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Rarity had already forgiven her for splashing her, but Rarity was nonetheless in no mood for her games. “Is my mane back to its pristine self?” she insisted.

“Why would it be? You haven’t done anything to it yet!” Pinkie teased.

“Well of course I did! I-” Rarity looked back to the puddle. Sure enough, her mane was still as frazzled as ever.

Rarity was at a loss. The spell had never failed her in years. She concentrated on the spell once again, remembering every detail of the day she first learned the spell: The look on her face in the mirror when she saw the horrid cut the mane stylist gave her, the hours spent in her darkened bedroom pouring over an old book of beauty spells, the feel of the magic coursing around her horn, the hours of sleep lost trying to hide the burnt sheets when the spell went horribly wrong.

She put all the will she could muster behind the spell. A bead of sweat ran down her temple. Her concentration was so high, she felt it inch down her face and onto her cheek. Style the hair…style the hair! She thought. With an effort she released the spell and…

She looked back to the puddle. Nothing. She looked at Pinkie, who was still eyeing her quizzically. She didn’t understand. Her magic wasn’t working.

“Pinkie, let’s go back and talk to Twilight,” she said decisively.

“But why? We haven’t found any clues yet.”

“Dear, my magic isn’t working. I’d call that a clue if I’d ever seen one.” Rarity said darkly.

“That’s funny. That’s not a clue you can see.”

The walk back took only a few short minutes, but during that time, the worry kept building in Rarity’s mind. What if I’ve damaged my ability to do magic? How will I ever sew again? My life’s work, ruined in a tragic accident…I wonder if I could sell my story to a director in Applewood…

“Twilight! We’ve got a problem!” Rarity called out.

Twilight Sparkle jogged over to meet them. “What kind of problem, girls?”

Pinkie Pie responded first. “I messed up Rarity’s mane and she tried to fix it but she couldn’t so she thinks it’s a clue.”

Twilight chuckled. “I’m sure we can find a brush around here somewhere, Rarity,” as she turned to walk back to Spike and Luna.

“Twilight! It’s not the brush that’s the problem,” said Rarity. Twilight paused, looking back over her shoulder. “I can’t cast magic anymore.” That certainly piqued Twilight’s interest. She turned on her heels, and walked slowly back to Rarity. She grabbed her hands, and Rarity saw in her eyes a look of concern and distress.

“What do you mean, you can’t use magic? You cast the bubble when we left.”

“If I could use magic, don’t you think I would have restyled my mane by now?” rarity said a little rudely, then immediately regretted it. Twilight didn't deserve such treatment. It wasn’t her fault Rarity couldn't maintain her outward appearance of composure, and it was certainly Rarity's fault for losing her inner composure. “Sorry, Twilight,” she said, her head drooping.

“It’s fine, Rarity, really! Look, Luna was just coming around when you called out. I'm not that skilled with fashion magic, but maybe her alicorn magic can suffice.”

Rarity and the others found Luna propped up against the crumbling facade of a building. Luna's ebon hair was tousled and partially covered her left eye. She was still applying pressure to the wound over her right eye, so the net result was Rarity couldn't see her eyes. When she sat down beside her, though she realized it didn't matter much – Luna's eyes were clenched shut. She must be in horrible pain, but that cut doesn't look bad enough for how she seems, Rarity thought. Rarity decided once she got her magic working again, she'd see to Luna's wound personally.

Twilight kneeled down in front of Luna, and gently took her free hand. “Luna, how's the pain?”

“Uhh...Twilight Sparkle...it-it is bearable,” Luna managed to say. She opened her eyes – at least her right eye, as far as Rarity could tell – and looked straight at Twilight. She heaved a forceful breath before struggling to her feet. “Now, What can we – what can I do for you?”

Twilight looked at Luna, and Rarity instantly knew she'd seen that face on Twilight before. It was that face she got when she already knew what the answer was, but she had to hear it.

“I need you – I humbly ask – that you perform some magic.”

“Twilight, you know that is a very wide and vague request. Did you have anything in mind?”

Rarity piped up. “Can you fix my hair?” she asked expectantly.

“Of course, Rarity.” Luna turned to face Rarity, and brushed her dark hair behind her shoulders, and Rarity finally saw both her eyes. She saw now the intensity in them, a fire burning behind them that she had not expected from her otherwise pleasant demeanor. Perhaps a thousand years will do that to you, Rarity decided. Either you give up, or you become intensely impassioned. Luna placed a hand on Rarity's shoulder, more out of a need to stabilize herself than any sense of mysticism, and shut her eyes tight once more. Tense moments passed by, Rarity and Twilight sharing concerned looks. Luna grunted, and opened her eyes.

Rarity ran a hand through her hair. It was still frazzled. Applejack and Rainbow took that opportunity to return.

“Recon, reporting in!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “We saw some large enclosed wagons, with ponies that look like we do in them. They go pretty fast.”

“All them other ponies were fancied up, too. They had lotsa cloth all over them. Rarity, you'll make a killing here.”

Rarity hadn't been listening. She'd been processing the results of Luna's test. If she couldn't do magic – and Rarity was quite sure Twilight had tried herself, but had been too embarrassed to say so – and Luna couldn't...then that meant...

Everyone except Rarity and Luna had by now circled around Twilight, looking for an answer.

Twilight sighed. “We have a problem.” A murmur went through the group, and Rarity was just praying what she had sussed out was just the wrong conclusion. “We – Luna, Rarity, and I- are unable to perform magic.” Lyra gasped, and then winced, obviously trying to cast a spell, but it too was in vain. “Without it, it seems unlikely we'll be able to return to Ponyville. Until we can figure out how to make that happen, I suggest we stay out of sight.”

“Oh, of all the things that could happen! This is. The. Worst. Possible. Thing!”

All the ponies were focused on her now. Spike finally spoke up. “Huh? What's going on?”

The sound of a metal door slamming shut behind her made Rarity turn around. There stood a girl, staring at the nine of them, blanked faced.

“Did I say worst possible? I meant second worst.”

Comments

[jordanwriter]

Yep, neked, and now exposed. i can see the hadlines.... 'On TMZ tonight! You know them as the rowdy bunch from the TV show, My Little Pony, but know you can know them as ponies gone wild! After discovering the nine mare's in an alley way, local woman (Insert Womans name here) took these photos you see see here. As you can tell, these ponies let it ALL HANG OUT!'

I'm gonna go sit in a corner for thinking of that....

[mrxeno]

yay update=

ending my reaction=

[Moon_Dew]

Doh! Crap! They've been made!