Voice of the Machines - A Rarity at the Renaissance (unfini

>It is that time of year again.
>The Canterlot Hill’s annual Renaissance festival is coming around the corner.
>You manage to get two tickets into the fair.
>Having the other for a reason, you attempt to invite your girlfriend, Rarity.
>Walking towards her family’s home you are greeted outside by Sweetie Belle and her friends.
>All of them trying to tie a tire swing to the tree.

>”Hi, Anon! Are you here to see my sister?”

>You greet her and her friends.

“Hello, Sweetie Belle. I am here to see, Rarity. Is she available at the moment?”

>Sweetie Belle looks up at an open window on the top floor which leads into Rarity’s room.
>The sound of classical music comes out the window barely being heard by the outside.

>”Yah. I think she’s busy, but you can go check. We need to work on this swing.”

>Giving you permission to enter the marvelous house you make your way up the stairs to Rarity’s room.
>Right outside the door you can hear the music a little louder.
>You give a couple of knocks on the door.

>”Who is it?”

“It’s, Anon. May I come in?”

>She doesn’t reply.
>Instead she opens up the door and gives you a real big hug.

>”Oh, Anon! It’s so nice to see you again, darling.”

>She wraps her arms around you and gives off the biggest smile she can.
>Looks like she’s happy to see you.
>She looks like a mess a bit.
>Her hair is more curly than it usually is, her eye shadow is fading, her eyes look tired and blurry with her special glasses on. A string tape measure runs down from her neck.
>She looks like she hasn’t slept in days.
>Letting go she grabs your hand and leads her into your room.

>”Come in, Anon I want you to witness you latest work.”

>Closing the door on the way, you take in the smell of the room, it’s the smell of willpower, hard work, and creativity, which is sweat mixed with febreze.
>Over in the corner of her inspiration room she has fabrics laid across the table, needles and threads in a pincushion, and a sewing machine halfway done with the fabric it has fed into it.
>Right next to it are propped up mannequins with some of her latest designs being worn and fitted. Although another three are being covered by a thick sheet of cloth.
>You ask her what’s up to try to make sense out of this.

>”I may have hit a breakthrough, Anon. Prepare to feast your eyes on my latest creation.”

>With that she pulls off the cloth covering her mannequins.
>Her reputation precedes her, she truly has made some beautiful outfits.
>As you stare into them, Rarity pulls out a flyer from her mirror.
>Once you couldn’t take your eyes off the outfits until, Rarity shoved the piece of paper into them.
>Now you read across the writing on the loose paper.
>Mission: Fabulous Magazine proudly presents their annual designer contest.
>Winners will receive prize varied by place. All ages are able to join.

>”These are my outfits for the contest, Anon, I have been working a prototypes for the last few days and haven’t slept at all for the past couple of nights so as you can imagine I-”

>She passes out and falls to the floor.
>Moving like lightning, you are able to catch her just before she hits the ground.
>Looks like all her hard work was worth it and then again it wasn’t.
>You pick her unconscious body up from the floor.
>As you carry the poor girl in your arms you set her on bed.
>Her cat, Opal hisses at you trying to put the girl down, in his favorite spot.

“Fuck off, Opal!”

>The cat jumps off of the bed and go sits in her little cat house.
>Setting Rarity down on the bed, you go to the window.

>Outside you can see Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo trying out the tire swing.
>You call out to them, specifically her sister.

“Sweetie Belle! Get up here please, your sister is hurt.”

>Ignoring the fun on the tire swing all three girls rush off and head inside the house.
>Sweetie Belle speeds into her sister’s room looking at her on the bedside.

>”What happened to my sister, Anon?”

>You point over to the dresses she finished in the corner.

“Those happened. Looks like she worked herself to exhaustion, she said she wasn’t slept in days.”

>Sweetie Belle and her friends admire the dresses, Rarity made.
>They all gasp.

>”We’ll go make something warm, Anon keep her company.”

>The trio leave the room to go make her some soup.
>You pull up a stool and keep her company.
>Apparently she comes around pretty quickly.
>She moans of an awful sore from the exhaustion.
>Although she smiles as she’s that you are the first thing she wakes up too.

>”Oh, hey, Anon. What happened?”

“You passed out and I put you on the bed. Your sister is making you some soup right now downstairs.”

>”What is it that made you come by anyway, Anon?”

>You pull the extra ticket out of your pocket and show it to Rarity.
>She gives a sigh of displeasure and un-alluring.

“What’s wrong Rarity? Do you not want to go with me to the festival?”

>Sighing again she gives an explanation.

>”Usually those places are so filthy and dirty, and being in the crowd of peasants doesn’t seem that alluring.”

>>13405796
>You attempt to convince her otherwise.

“I was thinking you could enter the costume contest, maybe you could dress up as a peasant, or a maiden, or a princess.”

>The last word you just spoke enlightens her mood, as well as the costume contest part.
>Her illuminated eyes now facing at your, her jaw open with a huge grin.

>”You mean I could be a Princess for the day!”

>How could you say no after she looks so interested now.

“Yes, Rarity. You would get to be like a real Princess.”

>Feeling joy she gives you a big hug.
>Taking in as much as you can, you let go and put her body back on the bed.

“Just rest for now, Rarity. You need it.”

>For the next hour you comfort Rarity in her room, mostly while she was eating the soup that Sweetie Belle and her friends made for her.
>Luckily Applebloom was able to keep Sweetie Belle from starting a fire due to her poor cooking knowledge….again.
>As she falls back asleep you say your goodbyes to all of them.
>Leaving the ticket on Rarity’s night post you leave and return home.
>Then you get ready for the coming weekend.
>You get ready for the Canterlot Hill’s annual Renaissance festival.

A few days later.

>Now the day of the festival you wait at the entrance for Rarity to arrive.
>You are going as a knight.
>You start to worry about Rarity’s condition.
>You haven’t seen Rarity since she had her incident.
>Hopefully she has fully recovered by now.
>A recognizable car pulls up a half a block away from you.
>Looks like it’s Rarity’s father dropping her off.
>You give out a waving signal, which she is able to find from her distance.
>Approaching you she looks hardly recognizable if it weren’t for her long purple hair.
>She wears what appears to be her undertaking of a princess.
>She wears a violet gown and cape, with a fur outline of black and white.
>A top her head is a crown that shines with purple gems with the same outline of fur surrounding the base.
>She looks like a Princess to you, an absolute and natural beauty too.
>She walks up to you and gives you a hug and a little kiss.

”Where did you get the inspiration for this one, Rarity?”

>You wonder how she was able to come up with another design so quickly.
>She swings her body around letting the cape catch some of the breeze and flow elegantly.

>”Actually it wasn’t all mine this time.I got the idea from a very close person to me.”

>“I actually come from a royal family.”

>”I was told long ago by my parents that I had an ancestor that helped rule a kingdom in Europe with her father, her name was Princess Platinum.”

>”After doing some reading, and research I found this outfit in one of her royal paintings.”

>”So as a tribute to her, I happily choose to represent her here among many others for the festival.”

>You are intrigued, that is quite a history her family has.
>You show off your costume.

“I’m just a knight I guess.”

>You show her the plastic armor and other things your costume has.

“I got a sword, a shield, a helmet, gauntlets, boots, torso piece, chainmail kilt, a robe; pretty much everything.”

>Rarity shows a quizzical look on her face at your costume.

>”What is that, Anon?”

>She points to a mysterious symbol etched into the metal on your right gauntlet.

“I’m not sure exactly what it is to be honest, Rarity.”

>The gauntlet was almost entirely metal to probably protect the user. The mystery was the weird inscriptions etched in the metal. In the center was a giant V shaped letter with a rounded hood on the top of the V. You couldn’t tell which way it was supposed to be facing so you guessed outwards making the V look upside down. The symbol on top of it is pretty clear to be a giant bird.
>You answer as best as you can, not knowing much about the symbols in the first place.

“I was looking through my attic for anything I could use and found these two gauntlets in one of the trunks.
“They looked extremely old, and maybe authentic. I remember getting that crate from my great grandfather.”

>Rarity closely examines the strange symbol. After awhile she makes an accusation.

>”Maybe it was the symbol used by a secret order that’s been around for thousands of years to protect all of us from another secret order trying to control us.”

“What a wild theory that was.”

>Rarity makes a follow up response.

>”Or it could not.”

>Awkward silence for a moment.

“Alright Rarity lets go in already.”

>Joining hands you go through the gates to enter the festival.
>You both flash your tickets to the gatekeepers that are actually employees dressed as big knights.
>You head through the gates into the festival for a day you will never forget.
>Upon entering you are just about to enter the sea of people.
>Overlooking the crowd you find some of them just tourists and people that examine.
>And the other group of people all wearing designs and suits of their own.


>You and Rarity manage to stay together, never letting go of each others hand to not lose the other.
>A funny looking figure approaches you two.
>Although mysterious and unknown behind the makeup, that pink poofy hair gives it away.

“Pinkie Pie? Is that you?”

>Her smile illuminates to the farthest corners of her face.
>Yep it’s Pinkie Pie.

>”Yeppy, fellow sir knight, and fellow Princess, welcome to Canterlot Hill’s Renaissance festival!”
>”I’m one of the staff jokers and have been ordered by my king to give you these.”

>”My dear, Pinkie Pie. I just love your choice for the outfit, and that makeup of balloons and colors is cute too.

>Pinkie hands you and Rarity your own pamphlets.

>”This will tell you all you need to knows about our little festival we have here, so have fun.”

>She runs off disappearing into the sea of people.
>Just as you and Rarity flip through the first page of the notebook.
>Pinkie Pie appears out of nowhere right behind you.
>She puts her head in between you and Rarity’s body with one last stand.

>”Also you guys should try the mutton chops here!”
>”They’re delish!”

>Poking her head away from your bodys she seems to have just behind your back now.
>You turn around to look only to find that she has disappeared now completely.
>Fuck it… Pinkie Pie logic.


>Flipping through a number of pages first, you then go back to the table of contents.
>Events catches your eye, and you flip to the page number you it says.
>A long schedule fills the entire page with nothing but events.
>You find one that might suit Rarity’s interest, a seminar about 16th century and arthurian fashion and dress crafting.
>Showing Rarity the time slot on her book, her eyes end up growing bigger.
>Suddenly she grabs your hand and walks you to wherever the seminar is being held.
>You consult the pamphlet and find a map of the whole festival.
>Pointing Rarity in the right direction she still unwittingly drags you by your feet.
>Arriving at your destination, she sits you and herself down in the front row seat where no one else is sitting.
>No one else is sitting there because the show hasn’t even started yet.
>An eager Rarity would rather wait now than later.
>Consulting the book the show doesn’t start for another 20 minutes.

“Do you have your phone, Rarity?”

>Rarity pulls out her phone.
>The case is covered in plastic gems and symbols.

>”Yes I do, Anon. Why?”

“It’s gonna be another 20 minutes till the show starts, I’m gonna go get a soda, do you want anything?”

>”Yes I would. I would like a Sprite please.”

>Acknowledging her order you leave the outdoor theater and head to the market place.
>Finding the stands that sell the drinks is pretty easy.
>However getting to them is a different story.
>A long line of people snake around going in line from dividers leading to the drink stand.
>You get in the back of the line and wait.

>After what seemed like an eternity, you finally exit the line.
>Now holding both yours and Rarity’s drinks you make your way back to the theater.
>Right outside the entrance you see it starting to flood with gatherers.
>Asserting yourself to the front of the crowd you manage to go through another that floods the halls of the theater.
>You’re not sure if you came back to the right theater.
>You move up to see the entire theater complex from a different angle and find that most of the seats on the incline are taken.
>Taking a quick look around the front you recognize Rarity’s jewel covered crown all the way up there.
>Hesitating to not spill the drinks you go through obstacles of people to get to Rarity.
>Eventually through all the crowd and close calls, you make it to the front of the stage.
>Finding Rarity you sit down in your seat.
>You hand Rarity her drink and a straw.
>She plucks the straw into the lid of the drink and takes a big slurp out of it.

“What happened Rarity? Where did all these people come from?”

>Rarity takes a gasp of air after taking another sip of her drink.

>”A lot of others started piling into the theater while you were gone, good thing I saved you a seat, Anon.”

>You pluck your straw into your lid and take a small slurp of your soda.

“Thank you Rarity, I appreciate your concern about being here early too.

>Just as Rarity is about to reply a ‘You’re Welcome’ and band of people come out on stage.
>They all wear medieval clothes and carry giant horns with them.
>Raising the horns up they play a tune in synchronization, telling the audience the show is about to begin.
>If Rarity gets more excited than she already is she might break down and faint like before.
>With the show starting you expect the best for Rarity, but you have mixed feeling about your what this might mean for you.
>Regardless you sit back and enjoy the show.

>Making your way out was tough since the exit was crowded with people trying to leave at the same time.
>Turns out being first in front has it’s disadvantages too.
>You and Rarity hold each other close to not lose one another.
>Finally making it out of the theater, you can’t decide where to go next.
>Looking through the pamphlet you find the area where Rarity want’s to sign up for the costume contest.
>You both decide to do the registration now.
>While walking along you both notice a few other faces here, most of them from your school.
>Twilight Sparkle is walking around dressed as some kind of wizard.
>Fluttershy dressed as a maiden and has sort of a snow white thing going on, because she has birds flying all around her, being fed bird seed and whistling tunes.
>Applejack has dressed up as a peasant, along with her brother, Big Mac, and is selling deluxe apple related snacks in Round Table Food Court.
>Even you principal and vice principal are here dressed up.
>Both of them dresses up as princesses as well. Each representing the cycle of day and night.
>Principal Celestia dresses as some sort of sun goddess of more likely a princess, representing the sun and light.
>Vice Principal Luna dresses up as the Princess of the Night, associating with the night sky, the stars, and the moon.
>Together they represent harmony.
>No doubt they will enter the costume contest, although only one or the other will win.
>The festival has a no team policy for some of it’s major events like the costume contest or jousting.
>And Rarity can get really competitive when it comes to fashion.

>Arriving at the registration both, you assist Rarity with her entry.
>She is required to fill out a survey to explain what she is wearing, why she chose it, what it stands for/ what has it done in history.
>The thing about Rarity’s entry is that she files under the unique category.
>While she may be in between historical figure and concept, she is an ancestor of who she represents so bonus points for that.
>Rarity fills out the form to the best of her ability, then turns it in.
>The booth operators give her a number on what her turn is.
>The number is 117.
>Now that Rarity is entered into the contest you both decide to look around a little bit more and enjoy the festivals other opportunities.

>”Where should we go to next, Anon?”

>No longer looking at the map you see a place that’s just about half a block of the path.
>You put the pamphlet away and point towards the large structure.

>“Lets go on that big one.”

”Alright, then lets go.”

>You two make your way over to the large structure, eager to discover what it is.
>The structure is large, and covers half of a block for sure.
>Seems like this is one of the biggest attractions in the park.
>Although not a lot of people are lined up to get in.
>Check that; zero people are in the line at all, it’s just you and Rarity.
>Staring at the entrance you wonder what lies on beyond it.
>You read the sign right next to the door that explains what leads into the unknown.
>It reads…..

>”Canterlot High School Proudly presents Canterlot Hill’s Renaissance fairs newest attraction, The Holy Grail Experience: A live simulation of the Quest for the The Holy Grail starring you.”
>”Come see your adventure through those doors if you dare.”
>You turn to Rarity who looks interested in what lies beyond those doors.
>You feel interested to see what the school students have put some effort into.
>Rarity again drags your hand, into the facility.
>You open the doors for Rarity, since you are a gentleman and a knight, you follow in after her.
>Both of you turn up in a big empty room, with nothing but a small stage, and some logs on the ground, which are probably default chairs.
>Sitting down in the front again.
>Waiting for quite some time, you both think that maybe the ride is closed down.
>This is pretty fucking boring, so you decide to make it better
>You decide to get a little frisky.

“Hey, Rarity there’s no one around. Wanna mess around?”

>Rarity turns to you, dazed and surprised.

>”We can’t do anything serious here, Anon. Someone could pop in at any moment.”

“I meant we could just practice kissing each other.”

>Rarity glows an arousing look and a simple smile.

>”What do you mean practice, Anon?”

>Just then she pulls your body closer to her and kiss.
>This kind of thing is like something out of a fairy tale.
>You a brave heroic and handsome knight Sir Anon, get to lock lips with the fair princess whom you have been sent to rescue the lovely Princess Platinum from a tower or some bullshit.
>You embrace each other for quite a bit until you hear the sound of the door cracking open.
>At that moment you two split and look back at the door to see who enters.
>It’s another knight, who you presume to be just another guest.
>The knight heads up through the crowd and makes his way to the stage.
>He carries an easel and what appears to be a presentation.
>On the stage he sets up his things and overlooks the small crowd of only you and Rarity.
>Clearing his throat he starts his seminar.

>”Good afternoon fellow travelers!”

>”My name is Sir Bedevere, knight of the round table, and your instructor for the lesson I have planned to teach all of you.”

>Crickets chirp.

>”I will be instructing you on how the 16th century people were able to identify who and who wasn’t a witch.”

>”And the proper actions to take if you suspect someone to be a witch, or have engaged in witchcraft.”

>For the next 15 minutes, the knight tells you the simple guide lines and even an equation to who would be a witch.
>This is one of the most ridiculous examples he shares.
> If the person accused of witchcraft = the weight of a duck = she is made of would, means that she is a witch, and you are permitted to burn her.
>Only with a scale large enough to make a proper measurement and the town’s legal leader or head of office must be witness to scale to confirm it, then will allow the public to burn her as they please.
>For one it’s good to know about history, any kind of history.
>But this might be a little over the top, even for accusation of heresy or witchcraft in those times.

>Then you remember that you could get killed for not following a certain group in those times, so you keep your questions to yourself.
>After that display the knight tells you to go through the doors next to the stage to the next adventure.
>Having no choice to turn back, you and Rarity go forward.
>Throughout the rest of the ride you are presented with 3 more situations and lessons, giving you knowledge and an adventure at the same time.
>The second course you did was get taunting lessons from a french guard.
>His lessons engaged Rarity’s interest since she wanted to go to France one day, so she needed classes on whatever she could get.
>However the thing that displeased you both about the lessons was the well being and history of using live animals as weapons for people to physically wield or throw.
>They even showed us a demonstration of a catapult launching a stuffed cow across the area, landing on a net.
>The 3rd activity was shrubbery advice from some things that call themselves, The Knights who say Ni.
>All they gave was advice on shopping and caring for a shrubbery.
>Rarity took a few notes to share with her mother when she returned home.
>You only admired the layout and organization of their example shrubberies.
>After their work had been completed they pointed where to go for the last part of the adventure.
>Through the doors you enter the fourth and final event.
>You both must cross the Bridge of Death to get to the exit.
>Or be thrown into a pit of death.
>Until the placemats on the bottom break your fall.
>The Knights who say Ni said to only answer the three question’s the bridge keeper had to tell you and if you get them all correct you may cross safety.
>Only if you get all three right may you cross safely.
>You take caution by offering Rarity the first chance to go ask the bridge keeper.
>Giving her a slight nudge forward you act like a gentleman in risk of not getting pushed off the cliff.

“Ladies, first, Rarity. Good luck.”

>Rarity takes your comment as generous instead of suspicious and gladly goes first.
>She approaches the bridge keeper.

>“STOP!”

>Rarity stops her locomotion, she looks up to the old bridge keeper.
>She awaits her questions.

>”She who would cross the Bridge of Death.”
>”Must answer me.”
>”These questions three.”
>”Ere the other side you see.”

>”Ask me your questions, bridgekeeper. I am not afraid.”

>”What is your name?”

>”Princess Platinum of the Unicron Kingdom.”

>”What is your quest?”

>Rarity makes one up for this playing along with the game.

>”I seek new lands for my people to build upon.”

>”What is the name of most populated city in the United States?”

>”New York City.”

>”Alright. Off you go.”

>The Bridge Keeper moves aside to let Rarity through.
>Looks pretty easy.
>Now it’s your turn to try to get over on the other side.
>Rarity makes it to the other side, and starts waving for your attention.

>”Yoohoo! Anon! Good luck!”

>Supported by her encouragement you walk to the Bridge Keeper.
>Eager to answer your own questions and reunite with Rarity.

“STOP!”

>The Bridge Keeper tells you.
>You stand waiting for him to fire away his questions.

>”He who would cross the Bridge of Death.”
>”Must answer me.”
>”These questions three.”
>”Ere the other side you see.”

“Ask me your questions, bridgekeeper. I am not afraid.”

>”What is your name?”

“Sir Anon of the Unicron Kingdom.”

>You play along with Rarity’s part to feel a little more closer to the princess she really is.

>”What is your quest?”

>”I am to assist Princess Platinum helping her find new lands.”

>”What is the climate coconuts are commonly found in?”

>Uh Oh!

“Uhhh….Desert….”

>Because an oasis….right.
>Wrong.
>Without warning you are mysteriously pushed by what you assume is magic.
>Pushed over you fall into the abyss below the bridge.
>You fall into what seems like death.
>When you think its over you find yourself only on a large fluffy mat at the bottom.
>Looking up you find yourself only a few meters from where you had been pushed.
>The Bridge Keeper has vanished and you can’t see Rarity from the bottom either.

>”Anon! Are you alright?”

>You answer the sweet feeling sound of her voice.

“Yes, Princess I’m fine.”

>Jumping off the mat you find a sign.
>Next to it is a flight of stairs.

>”After you have been pushed into the abyss please take this flight of stairs back up. Thank you.”

>Ascending up the stairs you manage to get to the other side of the cliff without crossing the Bridge of Death.
>Reaching the top of the stairs you are relieved to see Rarity still waiting for you.
>You walk over to her glad to see her.
>She gives you a remark though.

>”Did it really take you that long to recover from a small fall like that.”

“Well excuse me, Princess.”

>”Doesn’t matter, Anon we should keep going I wanna look at some other stuff around this place.”

>She grabs your hand again and drags you along eager to do what is next.

>At this point she is like a child begging you to take her around, with your supervision however.
>Perhaps she really thinks you’re her knight in shining armor after all, and her protector.
>Not like you would give anything to be with her, it’s just that maybe she thinks this is all too real.
>You ignore those thoughts remembering you’re both here to have fun and this is practically a different kind of date from the ones you have had before.
>Rarity drags you over to the door that will lead you to god knows what’s next on this ride.
>Maybe it will never end.
>However the door Rarity opens leads to daylight and the fresh smell of the outside and the festival smell.

>”Aww. Is it over?”

>A small sign appears right in front of you.

>Thank you for participating in Canterlot Highs school funded project. We hope to be doing this next year.

>”That was so much fun, Anon. Can we do it again later?”

>Inside you feel obligated to not step back on the what you thought was a never ending ride, but you don’t want to disappoint, Rarity.
>Then you remember the important thing you have to do.

“We can’t right now, Rarity, but I have something important to do, and it would give me the honor if you watched.”

>You grab her hand and start dragging her towards your destination.
>This is now what she was doing only a minute ago.

>”Where are we going, Anon?”

“To the Jousting tournament.”