Planescape: Equestria 17

>As you are all finishing your final cups of tea and making to get ready to go out, Rarity’s eyes suddenly go wide with a terrible realisation.
“Wait, wait, wait,” she exclaims in mounting horror. “We’re having a big party TONIGHT? But we none of us packed properly for this impromptu stay in Canterlot. I don’t know about you girls, but I only had my one emergency party dress with me. I have nothing – simply NOTHING – to wear! And Anonymous has only the one outfit which he wore last night. Ugh. What about you two? Be honest with me now, don’t hold back, let me know the full gravity of the situation.”
“Oh! Well I’ll be fine,” Twilight says meekly. “I brought that lovely dress you made me for my birthday, Rarity.”
“Oh nononono, Twilight, darling, that won’t do at all, not at all I say. That design was all the rage in Canterlot for a season, but by now a tacky purveyor of shoddy knock-offs is hawking those dresses to the unwashed masses on every street corner. You’re my friend, Twilight, and that makes you a shining champion in the very utmost vanguard of fashion’s progress – MERELY by association. I’ll be cold in my grave before I let you turn up to a major Canterlot social event in last season’s fashions.”
>Rarity has been leaning steadily over the table throughout this speech, a steely and purposeful gaze fixed on Twilight, halting her advance only when their muzzles are nearly touching as she finishes her speech in a fierce stage whisper.

>Twilight blinks and gives a sheepish smile.
“Err… okay.”
>Rarity relaxes, satisfied, and sits back down.
“And you, Pinkie? What are you planning to wear?”
“...I thought I might put a ribbon in my hair. Ribbons are nice!”
>Rarity presses her hoof to her forehead with a low groan of something close to despair, her voice sounding slightly unhinged when she speaks again.
“Okay. Okay. Good. Marvellous. I’ve taken stock of the situation and evaluated the dimensions of the problem. Wonderful. That’s always the first step in reaching a solution!”
“…Rarity,” Twilight says gently. “You can’t possibly expect to design and make three new dresses AND an outfit for Anonymous – which won’t even be CLOSE to anything you’ve designed before, and will probably entail a whole new set of radical challenges – between now and this evening.”
“What are you saying?” Rarity asks, fixing Twilight with a desperate look.
>The purple unicorn nearly withers beneath the intensity of that stare, but she rallies and manages to answer.
“Maybe we should consider… going shopping?”
“Hmph,” Rarity exhales with a haughty toss of her mane, her air of tragic gravitas only deepening. “And model somep0ny else’s fashions in front of all of Canterlot? I should certainly think not.”
>It’s interesting that she can go into such dramatic accesses of emotion about this whilst having remained cool as a particularly chilly cucumber all morning about what happened between the two of you last night.
>You honestly aren’t sure if she’s an incredible actor, or a crazy bitch, or both, or something in between; the only thing you’re sure of is that she’s pretty mesmerising even when she’s being a ridiculous drama queen.

>Twilight squirms uncomfortably for a moment before suddenly perking up.
“Wait! I know. We can just send another message to Spike through Princess Celestia – I mean, if she doesn’t mind too much – and have him ask Rainbow to bring some dresses from your boutique.”
>Rarity brightens immediately.
“Oh yes! Darling, what an absolute stroke of genius. Of course I’ll still need to make some tweaks, and of course I’ll still need to work from scratch on Anonymous’s garb – but it’ll give me such a leg up, so to speak, on the whole endeavour.”
“So you’re just gonna work all day while we’re showing Anon around Canterlot and having all kinds of fun?” Pinkie asks mournfully.
“Well, I’m afraid it looks that way,” Rarity says with a dignified expression. “Sacrifices must be made to one’s art, you know, if one aspires to be an artiste…”
>Pinkie pouts.
“But… but… FUN.”
>Rarity just gives an indulgent smile.
“Well, darling, it’s not all bad you know. I do love my work, after all. I shall be having some fun of my own, finding my hooves in a whole new fashion paradigm.”
>She looks you up and down.
“It should be fascinating to see what I can do with your body shape, Anonymous darling. You won’t object to me taking a few measurements before you leave?”
“Well of course not. And I certainly am grateful to you for doing this.”

>She waves a dismissive hoof.
“Oh, but it’s absolutely my pleasure. The publicity alone will be more than compensation enough.”
>The plan to get a message to Rainbow Dash is quickly put in motion through a footman (footcolt? hoofcolt? whatever).
>Meanwhile Rarity bustles you off to her room to take measurements.
>It’s a little odd being alone with her now; or perhaps it was odd being with her with other ponies around, and it’s only now that the oddness has fallen away that you notice it.
>Her room smells faintly of her – her perfume, her shampoo, her own scent.
>And then there’s her nearness as she magically manipulates her tape measure around your frame and leans in to take readings from it, having donned a pair of rather fetching red-framed spectacles.
>Images and impressions from last night keep flitting unbidden through your mind, and you have to concentrate a little to keep your breathing normal and stay relaxed.
>If she’s having any of the same difficulty, she’s doing at least as good a job as you are at hiding it.
>She’s all business, keeping up a stream of professional patter about her ideas for your outfit which you only half listen to, throwing in the occasional response where it seems appropriate or necessary.
>Having greedily drunk in all the fashions on display in her brief trip to Sigil, Rarity already seems to have a decent handle on the basics of designing clothing for humanoids and some of the current styles; you’re happy to let her do her thing without too much input from you.
>Instead your thoughts wander, speculating on her state of mind.
>It’s difficult to get a read on her – is she feeling regretful or ashamed of herself, or is she just scrupulously cautious about keeping her friends in the dark?

>You can’t see it as entirely coincidental that she just happens to have found some urgent work to throw herself into that will keep her from spending the day with you as planned.
>Things did, after all, proceed extremely fast last night from a pleasantly flirty first not-quite-date to a filthy sweat-soaked threesome. Within a couple of hours.
>Was Rarity the type to do something like that and then freak out about it after the fact?
>…well, maybe.
>Piking women.
>That is to say – mares.
>Females. Whatever.
>You wonder about saying something to force the issue, but it doesn’t seem worthwhile.
>Better to let her have some distance for now if that’s what she wants, rather than be seen as demanding or needy.
>You can be just as cool as she can.
>Juuuuust as co-
>Your breath catches momentarily as she presses her tape measure against your inner thigh and runs it down your inseam.
>Meanwhile she’s breezily chatting about her observations of the different cuts of human trousers and which one she feels is most appropriate for an event like Pinkie’s party tonight, casual but also high-profile and glamorous.

>It’s something of a relief when she’s finished with you and sent you packing.
“Go on now,” she says lightly, “don’t keep Twilight and Pinkie waiting! Have a nice time, just be sure to be back in good time to try your new clothes on before the party so I can make any adjustments. Toodle-oo!”
>You head out into the busy streets of Canterlot, with Twilight and Pinkie doing an interesting double duty as tour guides.
“There’s a statue of a pony in a silly hat!” Pinkie begins.
“…that’s Star Swirl the Bearded,” Twilight interjects, “and his hat was widely considered to look very distinguished, at the time.”
“Ehehehe… yeah, so, that’s Swirly the Breaded, he was a famous ice-cream pony who pioneered soft-scoop to the delight of all the ponies in Equestria.”
“…that’s not right at all-"
“Ponies would come from miles around to taste his frozen treats, and he’d put all kinds of tasty goodies on top like mini-marshmallows and fudge sauce and banana slices and chopped nuts and caramel and little candy balls.”
“Pinkie…”
“BUT! One day his bold experimentation in ice cream toppings went TOO FAR. Of all things, he piled… -breadcrumbs- on all the ice creams he served that day.”
>She looks down at her hooves for a moment, shaking her head mournfully.
>Twilight is either too horrified to interrupt, or else she wants to see where this goes.

“The ponies of Equestria were furious. They’d all come to expect the very tastiest of tasty ice cream treats from Swirly, so when he offered them this total DISASTER of an ice cream invention they rose up as one to take their horrible revenge. It was poetic justice. They covered poor Swirly from breadcrumbs in head to toe, and from that day on he was known to everyp0ny as Swirly the Breaded.”
>You burst into guffaws, Twilight giggling along with you after a moment.
>Pinkie just shakes her head disapprovingly at you both.
“Guys, this is serious. I can’t believe you would be so disrespectful of a great figure from Equestria’s history.”
>Twilight tells you the actual history of Star Swirl the Bearded, and at some point Pinkie takes her leave saying that she has to go see somep0ny about lights for this evening, but she’ll catch you up soon.
>To hear Twilight tell it, Star Swirl was one of the few true scholars of p0nykind, a great arcanist, sage and natural philosopher who advanced ponies’ understandings of their world more than whole generations had done before or since.
>He’d also had his theories about what lay beyond the world that the ponies inhabited, hypothesising a cosmology that bore some striking similarities to the true extent of the planes.
“If only he hadn’t disappeared so suddenly before finishing his life’s work, who knows what knowledge he could have passed on to future generations of ponies…” Twilight finishes mournfully.
>You think about the implications of that for a moment, but decide against pursuing it further with Twilight, at least right now.

“Fair to say he’s a personal hero of yours, then?” you ask conversationally instead.
“Oh, yes! He’s like a second mentor to me, really, even if he’s been dead for centuries. I just hope I can prove myself worthy to take up his legacy after all this time. But of course, my studies under the princess come first,” she finishes with a slight blush as if embarrassed to have gotten carried away and forgotten, even for a moment, her primary duty and calling.
“Well, it sounds like an ambition worthy of the Bearer of the Element of Magic,” you say with a casual smile that widens as Twilight’s blush deepens.
“Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to brag or anything…”
>You keep your face blank as you scent weakness and hone in.
 “Not at all. You might be the humblest pony I’ve met. Oh, and pleasant and well-spoken and pretty on top of all that. The whole package.”
>She starts to squirm and stutter a little, her face deep crimson.
>You let her hang for a few moments before finally bursting into laughter.
“Heh… sorry...”
>She glares at you as her blush slowly fades; you just grin back.
>Finally she ‘hmphs’ and looks away with an exhalation that sounds suspiciously like a laugh in spite of herself.
“Tell me about that building with the big spire over there,” you say after a moment, still smiling.
“Oh! That’s the Springsong Tower, built around twelve hundred years ago in honour of the pegasi of the Springsong flight, formed in response to a crisis on Equestria’s eastern border when…”

>Twilight’s embarrassment forgotten, the tour recommences as she recounts all the history, lore and mythology she knows in connection with the many sights you pass by.
>By a meandering path through the streets you come eventually to a grand building with constant pony traffic up and down the steps that lead up to the majestic portico framing the entranceway.
>Rarity and Twilight had agreed on Canterlot’s biggest art gallery as your first destination (Rarity stressing the cultural and aesthetic value, Twilight focusing more on the historical subjects of many of the paintings).
>You guess this must be it, and Twilight soon confirms your guess as you mount the steps together.
>Pinkie rejoins you shortly after you enter and is soon spicing up the experience by explaining the paintings to you in her inimitable fashion.
“…and THIS one shows a classic example of the great unicorn ritual contest of eyebrow wrestling, where two powerful unicorns attempt to project all their magical power and force of will at each other through their fearsomely big and bushy eyebrows without the use of their horns. Some particularly closely-fought battles have been known to go on for days at a time…”
>Sadly she has to dash off again before long to run off on another errand for the evening’s plans, something about refreshments this time.
>The rest of the day proceeds in a similar vein with a grand tour of Canterlot’s highlights, discussing pony culture and history with Twilight whilst Pinkie drops in and out, running all over town on her planning missions but still managing to hold up her end of the tourguide duties.

>The three of you break for a pleasant lunch at a bistro on the boulevard in the mid afternoon.
>It’s mostly salad-based, but you have to admit that these ponies know how to make a pretty impressive salad.
>Yours comes with a bunch of different colourful leaves – almost all of which seem thankfully edible – as well as alfalfa, chopped walnuts, toasted croutons, some kind of pale, mild, slightly tangy cheese and a deliciously sharp and sweet dressing.
>There are also some daisies that you have to pick out, but overall it’s a very tolerable meal, and the company is good too.
>Twilight and Pinkie are utterly different enough that you can’t quite understand how they ever got to be such good friends – you can’t help thinking of them in terms of Factions, pegging Twilight as a natural Guvner and Pinkie as a Chaosman – but they’re a fun duo to be around, each one providing a good antidote when the other’s foibles get too much.
>The interplay between them is entertaining as well, with Pinkie winding Twilight up constantly but never (well, at least not today) crossing the line into being an actual annoyance.
>With lunch over you resume your leisurely sightseeing tour as Pinkie dashes off to procure, in her own words, ‘more balloons than anyp0ny has ever seen in one place before EVER.’

>The rest of the afternoon passes in much the same enjoyable fashion as before, and you complete your tour much better-informed about pony society and history than before – although Twilight wasn’t kidding, there really are a whole lot of tremendous gaps in her knowledge of Equestria’s past, and you doubt anyp0ny except the two ruling princesses knows more about it than she does.
>You’ve also promised that you’ll return the favour with interest by giving her information on your own people and the planes at large once you’re settled back in P0nyville.
>That promises to be a much larger undertaking than today’s crash course on p0nydom, but you’re okay with the idea.
>It should be quite enjoyable to discuss cosmic truths with Twilight, and maybe she’ll have an interesting perspective on some things.
>You eventually wend your way back towards the palace with Twilight and Pinkie in the late afternoon, ready to catch up with Rarity and see how her day’s work has gone.
>You’d succeeded in putting Rarity out of your mind for most of the day, but now with your return at hand you feel a twist in your guts.
>…what the fuck was that?
>Are you some hapless cuntstruck kid, or what, to have that kind of physical response to the mere prospect of seeing her?
>You push it down, steeling yourself.
>You’re tougher than that; your skin is thicker than that.
>The fluttering in your stomach is going nowhere, and you give an inward sigh.
>This might not be so easy.