Chapter 06
"You really didn't have to all slap your heads like that."
And making it so well-synced was just rubbing it in, no two ways around it. And also a little bit creepy.
Anyone would have made the same mistake, honestly. Rainbow hadn't been looking at herself, any pony with eyes would say as much. How was she supposed to twig it was a fourth mirror they'd lugged in from Rarity-knew-where?
The copy next to her waved away her totally called-for comment with... well, a wave of her hoof.
"Please focus on the moment, dear."
A few more steps through the streets, and she waved towards Ponyville at large this time.
"The world, discovering the beauty that you bring to it."
Yeeeaaah. Rarity drank that grape juice like a fish dragged out of the sea, alright. She hadn't even seen any of her copies drink a glass of water and they were still talking nonsense.
Rainbow kept walking. The other four Raritys were behind her. Their hoofsteps made it clear they were prancing, bouncing, or both. The one next to her cantered like she was on a runway instead.
That was probably fitting. She sure felt like she was on a runway, now that she was out and about.
Well, a runway with nopony watching, at any rate.
Runway-ity stopped walking and looked around. "Hm. This wasn't so empty last time." There was a little squeak when she pursed her lips. "Are they avoiding us?"
Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"Why would they do that?" one of the Raritys behind her asked. She sounded confused for real, too.
Rainbow rolled her eyes harder.
"Maybe there's an announcement somewhere," another said. "The town hall, perhaps? That'd be nice. Our lovely friend here could certainly save ponies from having to look at that tacky thing."
Heh. It was alright when some featherbrain didn't let the clouds kick her around rather than the other way round.
"Or the hospice." That was the third one. "If so, they could use such a gorgeous sight to cheer them up."
The last one out of them just gave a seriously uneasy and nervous laugh, weirdly enough.
"Lets... let's check the town hall first."
They all turned towards her.
Oh, right, they didn't actually know anything about this place.
Rainbow rolled her eyes again. She probably rolled that sigh too. "Let's go."
They fell in line behind her. They were a lot less prancy and bouncy and cantery now, but that still left them doing an awful lot of the stuff.
She found ponies much sooner than the town hall. Milling about in the market on the way there.
Rainbow gulped a little bit when she spotted the remains of that cart, tucked into a pile next to an empty stall.
Apparently, ponies had extra-sharp hearing when sick timing got involved, because almost all of them stopped what they were doing and turned their heads towards her.
And yeah. They really weren't interested in coming closer. A few even hid behind stalls or barrels or whatever they could get between them.
Made sense. Five Raritys was all kinds of scary. Save for the good kinds of scary. Not everypony could be so gutsy they laughed in the face of every schmuck from Nightmare Moon to Discord to Sombra and then threw a custard pie in that same face.
Nope. Not everypony could be Rainbow Danger Knockout Dash.
Time to strut her stuff.
She threw a cocky smirk Runway-ity's way. She nodded and stepped back with a huge smile, just like the others.
Rainbow pranced along the stalls. Yeah, prancing wasn't really her thing, but girly wasn't either, and she still rocked girly. Making prancing look cool was a piece of cake.
The flower trio hadn't homed their eyes in on her earlier, because they were too busy arguing. Again. That stopped when she strutted in front of their stall and they gaped instead.
Rainbow gave her best wink. Roseluck was looking good today! Even better than her reflection! Especially with that grin she got when she caught the wink.
The other two went back to arguing before she'd even reached her next stop. Roseluck was still looking at her though, bouldering that red dress like nopony's business. That called for another wink. And blowing a kiss.
Roseluck swooned out of sight behind the stall. What's-their-names stared down at her for a second, then doubled down on their squabbling.
Next stop couldn't handle her either. Mrs. Cake buried her head in Mr. Cake's chest and started sobbing as soon as she glanced her way.
Heh. She guessed there was a lot to be jealous of right now. Especially from her.
Mrs. Cake kept mentioning Sugarcube Corner as she drowned Mr. Cake's apron in tears. That was a 'Good Enough to Eat' seal of approval right there!
Two swings and two critical hits. And that was only the start!
She'd lost track of time. But that always happened when she was at the spa; just a seemingly everlasting now in Aloe's and Lotus' expert care.
All good things eventually came to an end, though. A trite saying, really, worn out to the bones, but painfully true in this precise moment.
Rarity thanked Lotus once she'd helped her remove her bathrobe. A plush wonder, that little thing. Then she made her way back to the lobby.
Being a regular to Ponyville Day Spa was indeed all boons and no downsides, just like its charming owners; and the one dearest to her heart today was that missing so many sessions these last months meant she could afford the absolute height of what the darlings offered. With no extra charge.
The wonders of subscriptions and understanding entrepreneurs. Really, how did she survive Ponyville before they set up their spa? Oh, she shuddered just at the thought.
She waved them goodbye. "This was positively divine, dears! Thank you so much."
Lotus and Aloe waved in turn with vibrant smiles on their lips.
"Goodbye, Miss Rarity!"
"Please come back sooner!"
Rarity's shoulders shook as she laughed; not a single kink or tense spot left anywhere near her forelegs or her back, such a delight.
She opened the door with a flourish. Her memory was clear again now, and doubly clear indeed: she'd never ever felt so relaxed. So amazing. So ready to take on whatever the universe could throw at her.
She laughed again as she took her first step out. She wanted to sing and dance and—
—and her five copies pranced by in the distance, along with Rainbow Dash: Bombshell Edition.
Rarity turned back to Aloe and Lotus. "I'll take another Premium Full Service Extra very shortly, please."
Then, she ran off after them.
By the time she was a stone's throw away from them—and there was a lot of stones to cast, to be sure—she could already feel that blasted headache taunting her from the edges of her mind.
But it hadn't arrayed ten times its previous forces against her as it had promised, but closer to one hundred. At the least.
Rainbow Dash certainly made a sensation. There wasn't a single pony in sight left unaffected; their reactions ranged from haunted fascination to abject terror—or both, for a few of them.
Or perhaps there were reacting to the five Raritys following the new, improved and very much not-welcome-right-now Rainbow Dash instead. It was hard to tell. Although to be honest, chances were that the real question was which of these two spectacles did their audience react to more.
There was a distinct screech when she skidded to a stop behind the six mares.
"Rainbow Daaaaaaash!"
Rarity saw her wings seize up on the spot. She might have found the girlish, squeaky yelp that came with that amusing, but this wasn't the time for humor; regardless of how much she felt like a punchline to the universe at this time.
Rainbow Dash stayed there, frozen, staring right ahead of her. Rarity's copies stopped in their tracks, shared confused glances—as if they didn't grasp the gravity of the situation, the little brats—and turned to face her.
Rarity stomped towards them.
Stalking closer felt more relaxing that it had any right to be, such were the skills of Aloe and Lotus. It made this whole ordeal feel less dramatic than it should, true, but that was only appropriate because today had all the trappings of a tragedy instead.
The crowd around them stopped huddling away and closed in. Among them was a bear. For some reason.
Rainbow finally relaxed when Rarity was just one pace from her. She whirled around—no, she gracefully waltzed around—with what was likely the most forced grin in history on her face.
The corners of her smile cracked deep and deeper, reminding Rarity of water-starved earth during a drought. Appropriate once again, because she felt her body burn hotter by the second.
Rainbow Dash's eyes kept drifting towards her doubles, who watched them both from the side, before going back to trying to hold her glare.
Rarity knew a silent question when she saw one.
She sighed. A long breath out that cooled down her blazing lungs somewhat.
"It felt strange to yell my own name," she admitted.
Rarity turned to her copies. 'She' was at fault here, not Rainbow Dash, no matter how unusual and—frankly—depressing such a state of affairs sounded.
From the looks on their faces... no, they didn't have the faintest idea about why she was simmering with rage. Unlike their audience, quite evidently; they'd closed in but still gave them a wide berth.
Let's keep it simple, then.
"What else. Did you. Do."
They all perked up; in perfect synchrony, once more. This was getting old.
"I crafted a most magnificent suit for a gentlecentaur down on his luck!"
"And I made two gorgeous dresses, myself. A shame those three lovely mares got distracted before I could design the last one."
"The hospital is much easier on the eye, now. Properly color-coordinated, as well."
"Oh, you should have seen the wonder shining in these foals' eyes when I showed them the marvels they could bring to the world!"
"And I beautified that one gingerbread-style bakery!"
The questions had just kept piling up in her head as they answered—including whether she should hire bodyguards to keep Cheerilee away from her—but that last bit kicked them all by the wayside with extreme vehemence.
She could only gape at the last copy. "You managed to make that gaudy mess look good?"
Somepony started sobbing somewhere in the crowd.
Mayor Mare stepped out from that same crowd and tugged at this miserable excuse for a frilly necktie of hers. "I can't imagine a better use of Ponyville's budget this year."
The sobs grew louder.
"Well, not entirely, unfortunately," the copy said. "I was distracted by something—someone—that simply drove my inspiration wild!"
She motioned towards Rainbow Dash with a grin. Her face beamed, as per usual, but this time it didn't feel like the sun peeking out from behind rainclouds after a downpour; no, it was much closer to shining a flashlight right into her eyes.
The other four drove the nail in her patience's coffin with a dirge quartet. "Drove our inspiration wild!"
Rarity glanced back at Rainbow Dash. The forced smile hadn't budged, although it was more cracks than anything else by now; one of her cheeks even kept twitching.
She'd still found the time to take a few steps back. Smart girl.
Rarity settled her gaze—her so very, very unimpressed gaze—back on... well, Mayor Mare's latest contractor, apparently.
And she blew a raspberry.
There was a better term to describe her reaction, with a little less crudity and a little more gravitas, surely; the universe threw its darts at everypony from the most refined lady to the lowest ruffian, after all. But it could wait a long, long time before she cared to consult the local dictionary for it.
Hm. Where was Twilight, incidentally? Or the other girls? Had they finally learned to stay away from catastrophes rather than rush headlong towards them, as Spike kept urging them all to do?
Hm. She truly was the only one who hadn't played it smart lately. Yes, this was a state of affairs most depressing indeed.
Rarity clicked her tongue once she was done with the raspberry and then jerked her head towards Rainbow Dash. "Yes, yes, she doesn't look like she lost a fight with a bear ten times in a row anymore. Congratulations."
Somewhere else in the crowd, Fluttershy's pet crossed his arms and huffed.
Well, he'd have to get in line. She had a much better right to indignation at the moment.
She saw Rainbow Dash frown from the corner of her eye. "I could totally take him."
The bear threw up his paws and stormed off.
Rarity closed her eyes and breathed in.
The air in her lungs felt as thick and hot as magma. Her heart, for its part, reminded her of drums in the deep; heralding something dark and enraged bursting out and overwhelming all.
Clearly, appropriate things came in threes today.
She could feel it. Her body starting to shake. Her mind beginning to crack. Herself, as a whole, about to snap.
It all came out as a whimper instead.
She flopped down on the ground and covered her face with her forelegs. Her eyelids burned wet against her coat.
"I just wanted some help..."
She heard the copies flinch. Each one of them.
Then, one of them spoke; with a very small voice, not unlike Sweetie Belle's. Logical in a sense and, once again, very apropos. If the Mirror Pool had indeed created them to help her, Rarity's answer would amount to telling a foal they were in this world for one reason and one reason alone... and they'd failed it.
"We... we're not helping?"
Rarity shook her head. As slowly as the dampness on her coat grew around her eyes. "No. No, you're not."
She then let out a loud sob. So that she didn't hear the ones she knew just gripped her doubles' throats.
She felt a hoof on her shoulder. A familiar touch; so Rainbow Dash rather than one of her copies.
Rarity's first sob had been on purpose, but she couldn't stop the next one from spilling out. Or the one after that. Or any of them.
Rainbow Dash sat down next to her. She rubbed her hoof gently against her shoulder and started stroking her back with the tip of her wing as well.
She heard the copies whisper to each other. Soon enough, they found their spokespony. The one Rarity had dubbed the main copy, perhaps. She always seemed to speak for them.
"I..."
The double swallowed.
"I don't know when you needed these dresses and suits done, but there are only four orders left to complete. And only one from scratch."
Rarity gulped down the limp in her own throat. She knew where she was going with this.
"It was nice knowing you, Rarity."
With that, they walked away.
For one brief moment, Rarity was infinitely glad, endlessly relieved that she hadn't called her 'sister' or 'mom' instead. And for one, even more fleeting moment, she thought that, maybe, it might not have been so bad if she had.
If she—and only she—hadn't messed up so much in so little time, at any rate.
"It was nice knowing all of you, too," she said softly.
Rainbow Dash gave a long stroke this time, starting from the nape of her neck. Rarity felt her tail twitch when her feathers reached her dock.
"I can bring them back to the Mirror Pool if you want," Rainbow Dash said, much more gently than she'd ever heard her sound.
"You never even went there."
And she knew the copies would get back there on their own; willingly. Entirely willingly. She could now boast that she shattered the dreams—the lives—of five ponies; she truly was in this world to make it shine brighter.
The sobs came back in full force. Rainbow Dash just kept going.
"...I can go with them and make sure they get back in there, then."
Her sobbing mercifully quieted down as she mused on this.
It would be nice if her doubles had somepony along to tell them goodbye. They simply couldn't leave this world all alone. And doing this herself would only be rubbing salt in the wound.
In six wounds.
"...You go do that." Please.
Rainbow Dash stood back up. She stayed there, next to her, for a few seconds; and then Rarity felt her wrap a foreleg around her withers in an awkward half-hug.
She was gone for good after that.
Rarity sighed and opened her eyes. The return of the light made them sting even more.
She looked around. There was nopony left in the streets. One point for Ponyville at least, against all odds: the townsponies didn't enjoy the sight of someone suffering. So they'd gone back to attending their business of the day.
And if Rainbow Dash hadn't been there for her, one of them would have stepped up to the task. Simple as that.
So, she was left alone. Alone with her mistakes, her guilt and the beat of her heart. It ticked the seconds by; like a faithful little clock to that wretched deadline that started it all.
...Or perhaps, like gears grinding as something clicked into place.
Rainbow Dash.
Mirror Pool.
Rainbow Dash.
Mirror Pool.
More than one Rainbow Dash.
Mirror Pool.
So many Rainbow Dashes.
Mirror pool.
All of the Rainbow Dashes.
Her eye twitched. She heard a familiar, obnoxious, so very smug spoing as one single hair stuck out of her mane.
She sprung back to her hooves and, once more, she ran off after them.
Rarity watched the last copy step into the pond. The first double, she was still sure of it.
She gave Rarity a sad smile. The whole cave shone brighter one last time, before she took her next steps and vanished beneath the surface. A little bit like the last sliver of light before the sun finally set.
Rarity sighed.
Rainbow Dash stood by her side, one wing wrapped around her barrel. Hugging her a little tighter every time she shook. Every time a copy left for good.
She was the mare of the day, no doubt.
Ah, no, perhaps some doubt was allowed, because it was rather she, Rarity, who'd been the stark opposite of just that. Her copies had been the mares of the day in some ways as well, no doubt; or at least they'd made someone's day today.
Unlike she.
She'd thought—genuinely believed—that Rainbow Dash would drag a copy of her own back to Ponyville. Yes, she'd been most enamored with how she looked in that dress, that had been as plain as day. But that didn't remotely excuse the utter lack of faith she'd put in her.
Well. She had been right about one thing in this whole debacle, at least. That dress was indeed her best work, light blue was indeed the right hue for the lucky mare's coat and only one color indeed didn't do it for the mane.
The accessories and makeup added by her... sisters, perhaps? At any rate, they worked like a charm. She'd always known that Rainbow Dash could become nothing less than sublime with the proper care, but the actual result left her imagination miles behind in the dust.
She wasn't really looking forward to discovering exactly what the mares had done to her home, though. The front door, her closet, her jewelry box... they'd all been locked tight; and that last one was very well hidden to boot.
They'd picked the perfect choices to bring out the best of Rainbow Dash, in any case. Funny. She'd never have pegged her as a pearl or diamond mare.
She sighed again. Rainbow Dash drew her a little closer.
She watched her reflection ripple in the water. Her copies were gone. All five of them.
Steven Magnet emerged back from beneath the quiet stream. He gently ran his thumb along the worn amphora in his hands, something like fond nostalgia in his eyes.
"Coltinthian wine from the last vintage before the city fell." He stabbed his forefinger through the cork. "The bottom of this river has simply the best temperature for ancient pegasus wines."
He opened the amphora with a wet pop and then flicked his fingers. The cork landed near the table and bounced out of sight.
"I was saving it for a special occasion." He filled the two glasses. "And what could possibly be a more special occasion than a dinner with you, Miss Rarity?"
Rarity the Fabulous giggled.
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This was an enjoyable jaunt through the what ifs. Thank you, miles ahead of my ability to express, for not making the copies of Rarity an obviously lobotomized version of the real thing. Less tactful, perhaps, but still entirely in character.
10159186
10159452
Thank you for your comments and for using spoiler tags.
I'm curious, are you referring only to the descriptive writing in chapter five, since you commented on that one, or in the story as a whole? I'm also wondering what you mean by "the what ifs;" the concept itself of Rarity using the Mirror Pool?
My inspiration left no room for barely sapient copies; the 'chaos scenes' from their points of view were possibly the first thing I came up with and that wouldn't have worked at all with what the show gave us.
And for the record, Rainbow was genuinely crushing on her reflection while believing it was another mare altogether. But I've always liked leaving interpretation up to the readers, so you can pick and choose yours here.
Thanks again for commenting!
10303398
Good point, I can't believe that wasn't my first thought. You'd think I'd be used to these two infalted egos by now.
Well, now! Let’s have a look at this final chapter of yours.
The running gag of Rainbow giving the Rarities temporary names based on whatever they are doing at the time never seems to get old. I wonder whether ‘Runway-ity’ was prancing where RD could see her with the intention of hinting at RD to do the same or perhaps giving her an example to imitate. It seems to have worked, as RD does later do just that.
It was an amusing ride to see Rainbow Dash strut her stuff and Ponyville’s general confusion with whether they should be afraid, affronted, affectionate, or all of the above.
Personally, I wasn’t expecting to ship Rainbow Dash and Roseluck today, but I am willing to try! ^^
Proof positive that Ponyville only became a hub of wacky adventures after Twilight got there.
“Oh no, she’s hot.” - Rarity, probably.
This seemed strange, but…
Yeah, that’s reasonable. xD
Ya know, I actually feel a lot worse for Rainbow Dash than I do Rarity. She was having a great time finally indulging in some girly prancing and she has to stop all of that to deal with Rarity’s drama and she doesn’t seem to get back into the spirit of it.
She didn’t even really do anything wrong that would warrant her being as uncomfortable as she clearly is in the scene. Granted, she’s wearing Rarity’s stuff, but five other Rarity’s said it was okay. xD
I got to thinking, Rarity’s reaction to this whole thing is strange at first glance.
She certainly feels she has a right to be angry, but at what? She is aware that her copies don’t feel they’ve done anything wrong and when she asks them what they’ve done all the responses are essentially positive and she doesn’t react negatively to any of them. More on that later.
The stress she was under previously was very much due to her workload, which has been reduced and she was feeling much better after a good night’s rest and a deluxe spa day, yet she still comes to pieces here.
So then, I think we might be able to tell what drives her in this scene with what she says a little later as she breaks down.
First of all, it’s heartbreaking how hard this hits the copies.
Second, it seems like Rarity is revealing her hand here.
“I just wanted some help...” Might be very telling. She wanted some extra hooves till the deadline was sorted, and nothing more. Not individuals willing to help her that might have some desires of their own besides that. And certainly not ‘sisters’ or equals. JUST ‘some help’, then back into the pool.
They cared about her and her wellbeing, but here we see that was always one-sided and the copies might have realized it too, which might be what drives them to react so viscerally, even as Rarity assumes it is only because they failed HER.
There were some hints toward that one-sidedness in the story before, like the thoughtlessness Rarity displayed in not providing enough sewing machines or even getting food for them, but a lot of that could be excused as her being tired, until now.
I’d like to give her more credit than that but… well, Rarity is kind of an exploitative witch sometimes even in the show. So it’s in character. ^^;
In Rarity’s defense, nopony else seems to regard the copies as being individuals either. (Which again is fair enough as that is the exact level of care given to the Pinkie clones. Atleast Rarity felt guilty.)
The five of them are so dispirited that they’re planning to return to the pool, essentially ending their existence as we’re given no indication their consciousness persists,and noone is trying to stop them. Not the flower mares they designed for, not the class of foals they delighted, not even Rainbow Dash who they spent the better part of the day with and expended so much effort to make her shine. Nobody. It’s tragic, really.
I feel as though we’ve come full circle to the drama of the first chapter. Where we started out on a depressing tone. What’s a little ironic though is how in the first chapter the problem was that the world wanted Rarity so much she couldn’t keep going. And now the issue is that the world doesn’t want the Rarities so much they can't keep going.
On that first chapter, I noted that there hadn’t been much comedy and you mused that perhaps a drama tag would suit the story instead. Now that we’ve come to the end, on the whole, I think I may agree.
Well... At least somepony is having a great time. Good for them.
Thus concludes the tale.
I think you did an excellent job on this. I hope you'll feel inspired to write another story in the near future.
I also hope you had fun being on the other side of Celestia Plot sized comment chains. Now you know how it feels. Take that! You deserve it!
10311991
The similarities in and out of universe are uncanny.
In the story, the copies were conceived as means to achieve Rarity's ends before she even stepped out of her home, just as they were vehicles for the premise and plot of Raremageddon before I even started writing any of them. On my side, they needed to go once they'd fulfilled their purpose in the name of the original prompt, the status quo and closure... in the grim sense of closing five caskets for good here, specifically.
I feel that giving the copies their due and doing them justice wouldn't have worked in a self-contained 'comedy' with Rarity and Rainbow Dash as the actual character focuses. There were likely enough distractions and tangents as it is, with the rampant world- and character-building. And then there's Tirek and RoseDash...
Really, you could work an entire series with that premise. Even with only one copy stepping out of the Mirror Pool.
Of course, the ponies in universe don't have the excuse of 'this is a story—no one is real here...' But as you said, that's entirely in line with their depiction in canon.
I've always had a hard time with genre tags, but in hindsight, this story probably does count as a dramedy rather than just a comedy. Slice of Life is likely still good, though.
Good call on the irony. I hadn't noticed it. This story was clearly 'feel, don't think' from start to finish.
And I wasn't expecting that ship to happen either. It evolved on its own from Rainbow's dress being red, to Roseluck having red hair and therefore probably looking best out of the three flower mares in the same dress, to Rainbow finding her reflection absolutely gorgeous...
Thanks very much for all the comments! And for keeping them in line with the rating as well as using spoiler tags.
Different, & I liked it quite a bit. The bear was great.
You can has review!