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Act I2,058 words
Act II2,045 words
Act III2,007 words
Act IV1,540 words
Act V1,007 words
Credits37 words

Act IV

Rumble opened another door and looked through, a shimmer of gold from his collar briefly visible in the door handle as he peeked through. "OK, this way is clear girls!" he called, and calmly pulled the door open as he did so, briefly revealing his three friends in the full stage of their current predicament of trying to navigate in such attire as they currently wore.

"Remember what mom said, right?" Scootaloo said to her friends, doing her best to turn with all the weight of fabric holding her down. Surprisingly, she was now finding it easier to move about in that blasted thing. Easier being the somewhat critical part. It wasn't easy at all to move about in, but it was easier than earlier, as she was not falling flat on her face as she had been earlier that evening. "One at a time, otherwise we'll just get stuck."

"Because that worked so well at the library, didn't it?" Apple Bloom drawled sarcastically, her voice full of sarcasm. "Ya got stuck, right?"

"Only because somebody didn't open the other door!" Scootaloo snapped back. "Now come on, the sooner we're out of these ridiculous things the better. God only knows what I did to deserve this."

"God only knows what I'd be without you," Rumble answered.

"You're such a gentleman, you know that?" Sweetie Belle smiled, her face blushing.

"Back. Off," Scootaloo retorted, through gritted teeth. "Now come on! Let's get moving before anything else bad happens!" With that, she heaved her skirt through the door, and Apple Bloom followed soon after, a wall of purple and blue filling up the corridor as they proceeded on their way. Rumble then released the door- and it slammed into Sweetie Belle's face.

"Oww," she moaned, and pushed it open as best she could. The diamater of her skirt made reaching for things like door handles and latches very difficult, and this was an obvious impediment to her getting through the door. The obstacle successfully overcome on her part, she headed onwards into the corridor after her friends, and then turned a corridor to suddenly see Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had stopped just up ahead, and seemed to be in conversation, with Rumble standing off to one side.

"Any idea what's going on?" Button Mash asked Rumble. "I noticed you had that one whilst we were performing. No wonder you sounded so strained whilst singing!"

"You're too kind," Rumble grunted. "Yeah. This all has to do with Rarity. Cheerilee mentioned something about her magic being able to mess about with the clothes that people are wearing, and I think she's gone on a Disney inspired design binge lately. That would explain why I look like Prince Charming, and my fine friends here look like Princesses. Just I have no idea which ones."

"Possibly Aurora and Belle, from Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast respectively?" Button suggested, his eyes full of wild emotion and ideas.

"How do you know that?" Pip asked, visibly confused.

"An almost encyclopedic knowledge of Disney movies," Button smiled. "That, and my brother starred in a production of the latter as the Beast."

"Who was Belle?" Sweetie Belle asked, now interested for some reason. She had always had a soft spot for those sorts of things, and now was clearly no exception.

"Rarity."

"Maybe," Apple Bloom suggested, "it's memories of those events an' other such thin's that is causin' her magic ta act in this way!"

"Like when her magic made mom look like a college student," Scootaloo added. "Speaking of which, you guys don't seem to be at all shocked at what you're seeing. This is way too girly for me!"

"Given the flying students, portals to other worlds, daemons, train robbers, and other weird things we've seen since last fall," Pip said, with finality, "wardrobe malfunctions are hardly the weirdest thing we've ever seen around here, and it could have been a lot worse. You could have ended up with no clothes at all!"

"That doesn't bare thinking about," Rumble said quickly. "The news would be all over it, not to mention the ride to the police station on a public indecency charge."

"Though we know Swift Order, so that helps," Button chimed in. "So, yeah, I don't really see the issue as long as we fix it, and I think Pip concurs with me on that." He then looked to Sweetie Belle, love in his eyes, and not in his face (a fact that Quick Quill will be relived to hear). "Besides, I think you look really beautiful."

Unable to think of anything to say in response, Sweetie Belle simply went bright red and threw her arms around Button Mash as best she could without squashing him with her dress.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Yuck," was her only comment. "How sappy."

"You can talk!" Rumble scoffed, before going into an impression of her voice. “'I love you Rumble, now let’s get it done on the dance floor!' That's what you said to me a year ago.”

"I do NOT sound like that!" Scootaloo protested, her face going even redder than Sweetie Belle's or Button Mash's. In fact, if you lined them up, you would get an even progression in gradient of colour from light peach to incredibly red.

"You so do," Rumble teased.

"Ah hate ta interrupt all the mushy stuff an' all-"

"MUSHY STUFF?" Scootaloo, Rumble, Sweetie Belle and Button Mash all chorused together.

"Yeah," Apple Bloom went on, "Ah hate ta interrupt all the mushy stuff an' all, but shouldn't we focus on gettin' turned back ta normal? This thin's squishin' mah lungs, and fancy frocks never were mah thin' anyways!"

"Well then," Pip said, taking control of the conversation with efficiency. "Shall we head in there and get this over with? I can sense that the party is heating up, and the presentation is soon to start for Fall Formal Princess!"

"Let's go!" Button Mash called, pulling Sweetie Belle along with him, the others following soon behind.

"Go easy Button!" Sweetie Belle called. "I'd prefer for my arm to remain in its socket!"

The music began to die down as the six of them entered, Cheerilee entering a moment later with the door closing behind her. It took a moment, but the rustling of fabric and frames bumping into things soon attracted the attention of the party goers, who looked over in confusion and bemusement.

"Who invited the princesses?" one person asked, looking on at the bizarre sight before him.

"Is that Scootaloo?" asked another. "No wonder she's been hiding the entire time; she looks ridiculous!"

"Ignore them," Rumble hissed, as they went along. Unfortunately, things rapidly went wrong as somebody trod on the hem of Apple Bloom's skirt. They slipped, and their foot slammed into the back of the skirt frame, causing Apple Bloom to fly through the air, do multiple cartwheels, and crash into the drink stand, getting absolutely covered in fruit punch in the process. This turned her previously red dress a rather odd shade of orange.

Rainbow Dash glanced over from where she was dancing with Soarin'. "Squirt?" she asked. "Is that you?"

"Err, yes?" Scootaloo replied, utterly embarrassed her idol... no, her sister, was seeing her in this state.

"Magic?" Rainbow asked again.

"Yeah," Scootaloo nodded.

Nearby, Applejack was helping clear up the mess from the demolished fruit punch stand, and suddenly recognised a certain pink bow in amongst the mess. "Apple Bloom?" she asked. "What on Earth are ya wearin'? Ya weren't dressed like this when we got here!"

"Ah know," Apple Bloom nodded. "Somethin' ta do with crazy magic or somethin'."

"Wearin' one of those thin's at the Spring Fling was enough of a reason ta never want ta wear one again," her big sister replied, before suddenly chortling. "But this ain't the first time you've crashed inta somethin' wet before!"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "Very funny, sis," she replied.

Rarity suddenly saw the commotion, and saw not only Scootaloo's, Apple Bloom's and Sweetie Belle's huge skirts, but Rumble's formal attire. "You're not dressed how you were earlier," she said.

"Well observed, Sherlock!" Rumble snapped at her. "Thanks to you, we're all stuck in these ridiculous outfits!"

"Whatever do you mean?" Rarity retorted, the fashionista somewhat hurt and confused at the accusation.

"I'm sure they don't mean harm," Twilight said, interjecting into the conversation. "But you may have been overusing your geode again. Remember when Rainbow Dash overused hers and she ended up being able to run multiple times the speed of sound?"

"Well yes, so my geode being overused is causing their clothing to change to such dramatic degrees," Rarity mused, her face the vision of horror. "But this has happened before, when in town in November last year!" She gathered her friends together, the other members of the Rainbooms coming together into a huddle. "We must fix this, and now, before my sister and her friends become the laughing stock of the entire town!"

"We kinda already have," Sweetie Belle said sadly.

"All the more reason to fix it then!" Rarity replied. The seven friends focused their energy, and four blasts of light shot through the air, and into the Crusaders and Rumble.

Author's Note:

Apple Bloom falling into water and mud is something of a running joke in my stories. See 'An Apple a Day' and 'The Perils of Parties' for more examples.

Will it work? Find out tomorrow!

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