Part Six - Unnamed

> You take a moment to look around the boutique as Dash guides you towards the changing stall.
> It's pink.
> Very pink indeed.
> A pair of p0ny mannequins are near one of the windows, dresses adorning them.
> Or should that be mannequines?
> Whichever it is, one thing is sure.
> Her work does impress.
> One is a regal looking purple ensemble, an opera dress, that despite it's grandiose structure retains an aire of grace.
> The same can be said of the other, a light blue gown, decorated with a hem of darker blue and... sapphires? Hard to tell at this distance.
> Probably best to keep that distance, you're making enough of a mess as is.
> They're easily the match of anything you saw in Canterlot and in a fair few cases, arguably the better.
> "Over here, dude." Rainbow draws your attention to the stall near a small podium half surrounded by mirrors.
> She's leaning on one of the doors as her wings beat lazily, still grinning at your condition.
> You approach the stall as Rarity rejoins you, followed by the small, pink maned filly.
> Sweetie Belle is pushing a ragged cloth along your trail with both of her forehooves.
> Despite carrying a small bucket in her mouth, she still manages a little pout.
> Rarity fixes a pleasant smile on her face and approaches the stall.
> "You'll have to forgive my sister, Mr Anonymous. She allows her enthusiasm to overwhelm her common sense at times."
> She gives a polite little laugh, but the effort it took to regain her composure can be heard with the slightest of cracks in her voice.
"There's nothing to forgive, really. I was already a mess, it couldn't have made things worse."
> Rarity raises a hoof to pull closer and inspect a spot of your stained tunic that seems to have attracted her ire.
> "Now, let's get you out of these dreadful clo-" She stops mid sentence.

"What? What's wrong?"
> "The stitching... it's... so accurate. So fine!" There's awe in her voice, awe and incredulity.
> Rarity has the hem of your tunic pulled up and is scrutnising the inside with a look of ferocious concentration.
> You are turned around with a yanking motion to allow her further access, your tunic mostly over your head now.
> "The material... delicate to the touch, but strong." She tugs on the tunic to illustrate the point.
> She then pushes you away, but holds on to your arm which she stretches out to your full reach.
> "...and the lines...Perfect!" She sounds confused. "...But they're sooo dowdy. The colours so plain. Dull!... not 'you' in the slightest, dear."
> "Nop0ny capable of such work would make such a mistake. It's as if someone DESIGNED these to be... *ahem* plain."
> "Anonymous, where did you get these clothes? From whom?" She sounds genuinely pained by this fashion paradox
"I'm not sure. Really. Someone else arranged them for me. I don't know much about clothes, I wouldn't know where to go in Canter-." You say with an apologetic shrug
> Oh hell.
> Canterlot.
> Supposed to keep that quiet.
> Her eyes light up with fury at that.
> "You aquired these from Canterlot? Who. Did. This?" She's almost growling now through a clenched, forced smile.
> The idea that such a fashion crime could be committed in Canterlot of all places has clearly left her incensed.
"Look, I had nothing to do with it, ok? Some p0ny... I don't know him well. Hoy T Tighty or something like that. Nice feller, but a b-*Urk!"
> You are suddenly spun around by a mix of blue magical aura and Rarity's hooves which have balled up the front of your tunic to pull you down to her eye level.
> Her eyes are wide with shock and a hint of mania has crept into her features.
> "HOI-."
> "-TY."
> "TOITY!?" Each exclamation is accompanied by widening eyes and raising pitch.

> "Has the world of fashion gone mad?!" She's almost shrieking now.
> " Have the Canterlot glitterati approved of-of THIS? Is mud brown the new black? Is dowdy in? oh please don't let it be so."
"I-I-I duh-duh-don't-kno-kno..."
> She's shaking you in a desperate panic as you try to answer.
> "It just doesn't make sense... doesn't make sense..." She slows down, hanging off you now rather than holding you in place.
> Her head snaps up as realisation strikes her.
> "It's Discord, it has to be... He's come back and he's... he's... *sob* stolen all the fabulous!"
> Rarity swoons, though as she does so a light blue aura catches her and she exclaims "That's it!."
> "Dash, fetch the girls! We're going to need the Elements of Harmony too!"
> This is getting out of control.
> Fortunately Dash is just looking at Rarity with her forelegs folded and an exasperated look on her face.
> "Just let him finish, ok? If it turns out that big jerk is out of his statue again, we'll go cream him." Rainbow place a hoof on Rarity's shoulder.
> Rarity takes a moment and a deep breath to compose herself.
> "So? spill." Say's Dash.
> You're not going to be able to wiggle your way out of this one.
"Okay, Okay. Look, firstly, I'm not even supposed to mention Canterlot, right?"
> Time to come clean.

"I was asked to leave Canterlot, there'd been an incident. It was for my own good."
"I needed to leave unseen so... Night travel, some dark, plain clothing with a hood. That's what was needed."
"I know I stand out, but in the dark, covered up properly? Then I'd be ok."
"The thing is, you can't get clothes for me here  all that easily. Everything I have had to be custom made."
"That's where that Hoity Toity p0ny came in. He'd arranged clothing for me before as a favour for Princess Celestia."
"So, at Celestia's request, some clothing was made for my journey."
> "Hold up, whoa. What has the Princess got to do with this?" Dash interjects.
> Rarity just silently observes, a measured and neutral expression on her face.
"She was helping me."
> She always helped you.
> This is going to get complicated.
"I'd better start at the beginning."
"I arrived in Canterlot about two months ago. I'm from somewhere..."
> How do you put this?
"...far away."
> Weakly, it seems.
"I guess you'd call me an Emissary. That's what the Princess called me, anyway. I've only got that to go on."
"The magic that brought me here. Some kind of teleport? It couldn't have worked properly. Maybe it was the distance. Maybe something else. I don't know."
"The Princess tried to explain it to me a few times, but I just don't understand magic."

> "Are you still in... good health?" Asks Rarity.
"Oh I came through fine, physically, but everything else?"
"...that was jumbled."
"My memories were still there. Just... all over the place. Mixed up. When I got here? I could barely remember how to do anything."
"Even had a problem with motor skills for a while, Y'know, moving around?"
> Dash nods
"Celestia... she used what magic she could to help, but there was only so much magic could do alone."
"So, my first month was taken up with relearning as much as I could."
> All in all, they were probably the best times you had.
> You spent time with Celestia.
> learned from her and relearned what you could about yourself.
> Despite the pressures of royal life, she would still find time to visit you.
> At first you thought it was just an attempt to rectify the error that had left you in such a condition, but even when magic had nothing to contribute to your healing, still she came.
> Simply to remind you that someone cared.
> It was that kindness which lent you the strength to carry on when your recovery was at it's hardest.
"Eventually I started the job I was meant to do. To be part of the court. Princess Celestia told me I was to represent my people."
"To meet with p0nykind and the dignitaries from the other folk of this world. To learn about them and let them learn about us."
"It didn't exactly go to plan"

> You pause, not sure how to broach the next part.
> "Anon... You didn't throw up in the fountain there too, did you?" Dash is giving you a sly grin as she asks.
> Rarity rolls her eyes and adds "Of course he didn't... isn't that right Anonymous?" She's hoping she's right.
> By this point, Sweetie Belle has stopped cleaning and is sitting nearby listening.
"I made mistakes. Like I said, Things were a bit jumbled up in here"
>You tap your head to emphasise.
"Couldn't even remember which name I knew was mine."
> You begin to list an edited series of your faux pas.
> Clumsiness, social and physical... Dining accidents... One small fire in the library... and then there was the 'dance'...
> Dash finds most of them funny, or inconsequential.
>Sweetie Belle can be heard giggling quietly too.
> Rarity, however, remains serious throughout.
> She seem's all too aware of the consequence of such events in certain social circles.
"They were forgiving and tolerant. To my face, or when Celestia was present."
"It was obvious after a while... as far as they were concerned I was Princess Celestia's pet. A necessary, but unwelcome feature of court life."
> The Princess asked if you wanted to take leave from court multiple times, even offered further tuition.
> The latter you accepted, but the former felt like failing her.
"So I tried harder. Focused on every move I made, tried to predict every response before I even opened my mouth... It was stressful, tiring and ultimately? it wasn't enough."
"They'd already decided what I was. My attempts to change? just another amusing anecdote to whisper about."

"There was always someone there. Watching, Judging my every move. That was the part that started to get to me"
> You began to withdraw then.
> Present, but only when cicumstance demanded it and then with as little interaction as possible.
> It was a retreat, but the worst part? You knew you'd let the Princess down.
> You'd been quiet for a moment, thinking back silently, but something breaks you from this dwelling.
> A hoof cradles your hand as another pats the top of it.
> The hoof is white.
> Rarity looks up at you with soft, sapphire blue eyes.
> "Being of a certain class doesn't entitle a p0ny to act without class. Some p0nies forget this all too easy and I'm sorry you had to meet them."
> In that instant you realise that you'd been guilty of the same deed.
> With her talk of Canterlot, accent and behaviours...
> You'd already damned her as 'just another one of them', without giving her the slightest chance.
> More than this, you think she knows.
> Evidently, you're not as good at hiding your true feelings as you thought.
> Some of the formality in her demenour has melted away as she listened to your tale, but with the lifting of this barrier built of your own predjudice?
> Now you see her clearly as the kind soul she truly is.
> As she withdraws her hooves you offer her a small smile of gratitude.

> "Pfft, that can't be all of it." Rainbow Dash states with a dismissive way of her forehoof.
> "Come on, If you had to run away, there's got to be something worse than that."
> Ok, it's time for the 'greatest hits'
> You think back... it was the first banquet you attended...Some noblep0ny asked you what you thought of their radiant Princess.
"One of the first times I attended a public event, I accidently said Celestia was *gulp* the most 'beautiful horse' I'd ever seen."
> Rarity is aghast, Dash? she looks ready to slug you. Sweetie Belle just makes the 'oooo, you're in trouble now' noise common to children of any species.
"Look, I know, I know. It was the wrong word to use... I apologised, and she laughed it off. It was awkward, but I was... still confused."
> A reluctant acknowledgment is earned from the trio.
"Then at a garden party I managed to spill Raspberry wine on Prince Blueblood. It stained. It wouldn't come out. He ended up looking like he had a squashed tomato for a cutiemark for a week."
> You'd swear Rarity smiled a little then.
"The last straw was the run in with the griffon."
> "A griffon?" Asks Dash, her interest perked.
"Yup. Big feller too. Part of a small group visiting Canterlot. Not sure why, by that point I was just avoiding... well, everything I could."
> Even the Princess.
> You still didn't forgive yourself for that.

"Well, he picked me out. A snipe here, a barbed comment there. I think he was scoring points with the p0nies he was trying to impress."
"One day he decided to push, and I'd had enough."
"He prodded me in the chest and outright called me a 'pasty, gangly, hairless freak'."
> You imitate the gruff, cruel voice of the Griffon, jabbing the air with your finger as punctuation for each insult.
> The trio of p0nies look on, waiting.
" I shrugged and told him 'it's better than looking like an eagle trying to shit-*cough*-" you glance at the innocent smiling Sweetie Belle
" erm, 'an eagle trying to poop out a cat.'"
> Dash laughs.
> Sweetie Bell tries to stifle a giggle with her hooves.
> Rarity? well, she just shakes her head sadly, dismayed at your uncouth response.
"Sorry. Anyway, he'd probably have just hurled a few more insults, but a p0ny somewhere chuckled."
"That, he didn't like. Griffon honour, I guess. Took a swipe at me, I swung back. Somep0nies pulled us apart."
"Brawling infront of the Princess? that you can't get away with. He was expelled from Canterlot."
"As to me, well, that was it. Celestia can't send me back so she's sent me somewhere else. Perhaps one day I'll be called back. Maybe to be sent home, maybe somewhere else."
"My time at court, though? That's over."
> "You seem glad about that last part..." Rarity adds quietly.
> You nod a silent agreement.

> "Well, it's been fun Rarity, but I've got to go and find Anon's luggage" Dash stands, stretching out her wings and legs.
> You begin to take off the tunic.
> Rarity coughs politely and gestures towards the changing stall.
> "oh, come on, you had it half off him before! What are you going to see?" Dash pleads
> "Standards, darling. One has to maintain them." Rarity responds with a smile.
> You head into the stall and remove the stained garment, offering it over the doorway only for it to be grasped by a blue aura and float away.
> You begin to open the door but find it blocked by Rarity.
> "Oh, this is going to take some time... tsk. Such a mess." You're not sure if she's scolding you or the tunic.
> "We'll have to find you something to wear in the meantime... aha!"
> A flurry of movement shrouded in blue is seen over the door, soon accompanied by the snipping of scissors.
> "...It'll do for the moment, but you MUST let me make something more befitting later."
> With a blue glow guiding it, a folded green cloth passes over the door and plops into your hands.
> You unfold it to see a simple green poncho, long hanging enough to tuck into your belt.
> You put it on and step out.
> "I thought green would suit you well." Rarity adds.
> Glancing at the mirror, you find yourself in agreement.
> You turn and offer her a small bow.
"You have my gratitude Miss Rarity. I sincerely hope for the opportunity to visit you again."
> Formal speech, yes, but this time?
> Not an automatic platitude, but respect for somep0ny you hope one day to earn the right to call 'friend'.