Rainbow Dash walked into the Carousel Boutique to pick up her new costume Rarity had designed for her.
This year she couldn’t be a Wonderbolt or a Shadowbolt because the ponies in town would be expect that, she had to switch up her game if she wanted to keep the element of surprise on her side for tonight’s pranks.
Instead, she’d asked Rarity to tailor her outfit just like Daring Do’s with a dark olivine vest and a tan pith helmet with a dark olive band hanging off of one of her many marrequins she had standing around her shop.
“Uh, Rarity…you here?” Rainbow Dash called out, not seeing the fashionista anywhere in sight-which was surprising given her love for the spotlight and the great pride she took in her needlework.
“But of course, darling.” Her voice replied in her faux Canterlot accent, but there was something different about it.
Appearing atop the staircase of the boutique, she revealed herself and she looked quite different that Rainbow had last seen her a few days ago-she rarely had time for socializing with all of the orders placed for costumes in the weeks before Nightmare Night.
Her coat was nearly pitch black with a tint of violet as well as being slightly taller and having her horn slightly longer with her mane slightly lighter and adopting an almost ethereal glow.
She was also wearing a dark grey diadem and choker with dull blue diamonds attached to them.
“Rarity you’re dressed up?” Dash asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Rarity had usually avoided participating in Nightmare Night around the time they became teenagers, mostly to focus on her career and avoid the ‘ghastly make up and fashions’ as well as the calories that eating all of that candy would bring.
“I always dress for the occasion, darling.” Rarity replied, gesturing dramatically with a hoof. “You should know that by know.”
She then began descending the stairs.
“I suppose that before I was too absorbed in my work to appreciate beautiful nights such as this and the beautiful holiday that they’ve inspired.” She continued. “Besides, what kind of sister would I be if I didn’t spend at least one Nightmare Night with my little sister?”
“But, Sweetie Belle is already out with Scoots and Applebloom.” Dash pointed out, even more confused. “I ran into them on the way here.”
“Oh, well…I’ve just gotten used to my new costume; I find it has a certain ‘gothic elegance’ to it, no?”
“So you’re still going out?” Dash asked, skeptically.
“Why of course.”
The pieces of Dash’s Daring Do outfit were surrounded by a light blue magical aura as she levitated them towards Rainbow Dash before placing the hat on her head, lopsided.
Dash then stood on her hind-legs and stretched out her arms as Rarity slid the vest on over her shoulders before landing back on all four hooves.
“I’m afraid that I still don’t quite see the appeal of fattening, sugary sweets, however I would very much appreciate it if you could show me the ropes to this ‘pranking business’.”
“You…want to go pranking-with me?” Dash repeated slowly to make sure she was hearing this right.
“That is correct.” Rarity replied confidently.
“You do know that pulling pranks sometimes gets you a bit messy, right?” Dash pressed, uncertainly while adjusting her hat.
“I’m aware, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take and I’m confident that I can handle a little mud if it comes to that.” She replied, cantering towards the door as she pushed it open with her magic.
Dash reluctantly followed behind; while she was glad that Rarity was finally taking interest in fun things instead of just boring clothes, she couldn’t help but shake the feeling that something was up.
Rarity DIDN’T just ‘change her mind’ about things like this-especially at such short notice.
But, on the other hand she supposed as long as they had fun and managed to scare a few people it wouldn’t really matter.
As she exited the boutique’s threshold, her front hoof tripped and she fell flat on her face.
“What the-?” she began looking backwards, there was no object obstructing the doorway, nor were there any rocks or tree roots for her to trip on.
Rarity glanced back at her.
“Darling, I realize you’re excited to spend time with a being as wondrous and powerful as myself.” She chastised. “But do try to watch your step, hmm?”
“I didn’t trip on anything!” Dash protested.
“Well, then it must have been your own clumsiness because my stitch-work is perfect-so it couldn’t possibly have been your costume.” She retorted.
Now Dash was getting mad.
“I’m a world-class athlete!” she practically shouted. “So, I have almost perfect balance! You must have tripped me!”
“Moi?” she asked, placing a hoof to her chest and feigning offence. “How could I possibly trip you when I’ve been walking in front of you this whole time?”
“I dunno,” Dash shot back, irritated. “How do you use your magic to do that?”
“Well, I admit that adjusting to this costume may take some time and that my have adversely affected my magical ability for a slight moment.” She replied, slyly.
Dash was about to point out that she had no problem using it to levitate her costume towards her back in the boutique, but slammed her mouth shut as she decided to drop it-if she kept pushing it, they would be out here arguing all night-and then after everyone else went home they wouldn’t be able to get any pranking done.
Noting this, Rarity continued to lead the way as a satisfied smirk spread across her face.
“So do you even have any plans for a prank or an idea of who were going to pull it on?” Dash asked, changing the subject as they walked.
“Oh, yes…” she replied, catching sight of both Applejack and Apple Fritter as they were dunking their heads in a large tub of water to bob for apples.
AJ was wearing the same scarecrow getup she used everywhere…not very creative or imaginative, but then again Dash supposed she didn’t want to scare off any colts or filly’s who were new to the whole ‘Nightmare Night’ thing and were still anxious about it.
Apple Fritter was dressed up like a traditional cowgirl with a Stetson, vest, and spurred boots.
Rarity shot her a glance with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
“Watch this.” She instructed.
Her horn lit up the same light blue aura as she aimed it towards the two mares.
At first it seemed like nothing was happening, but after a few moments steam began to rise up from the water’s surface as it began bubbling.
Immediately, the duo’s heads shot back up to the surface as they gasped for air with their ears, faces, and the top part of their necks slightly red.
Dash was completely shocked by what had just happened, but the moment Rarity burst into a fit of laughter was what got her angry and while she would never have admitted it…a little scared.
“WHAT WERE YOU DOING!?” Dash demanded, pushing Rarity to the ground and pinning her there with her wings spread out aggressively.
“YOU COULD HAVE REALLY HURT SOMEONE!” she shouted, seething with rage.
“That’s what made it funny.” Rarity replied with a malicious grin.
Dash wasn’t sure who this mare was, but one thing was for certain-this WASN’T her friend.
‘Rarity’ then pushed Dash off her with a hoof before rolling over onto her side.
“Fine,” she sighed. “Maybe I did go a little too far…but, can we try to do another one if I promise not to do anything like it again?”
Dash had to think about that for a moment; despite her actions, this unicorn shared a lot of similarities with Rarity.
That ‘Alicorn Amulet’ Trixie had made her into a total jerk and that was supposed to only affect Unicorns…
Rainbow shook her head, she’d hidden that somewhere she knew nobody would ever find it.
But, what if there were more than one?
What if those things on her head and neck were both like the other amulet and they were making Rarity crazy?
She’d need to watch her again to be sure…but, what if she hurt someone?
Eventually, she decided that was just a risk she would have to be willing to take and hoped she’s be able to stop ‘Rarity’ before she did too much damage.
It didn’t seem like the best course of action, but it was all she could think of.
“I really want to pay a visit to our dear friend; Fluttershy.” Rarity continued.
At this point all sorts of alarms and warning bells were going off in Dash’s head-nobody messed with Fluttershy-no matter who they were.
But, how could she stop Rarity without hurting her?
What would Daring Do have done?
That was when she was hit by an idea; in the Daring Do books all evil cursed artifacts usually lost their power on whoever they were controlling when they were taken away from them-which meant all Dash had to do was those things away from her.
Glancing back at the center of town, she was relieved to see that Princess Luna was using her magic to heal the burns that Applejack and Apple Fritter had suffered from due to Rarity’s ‘prank’.
“Uh, hey Rarity?” she asked, turning back to face her and seeing that she had brought herself back up to her hooves.
“What is it?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow in a manner that indicated she believed that she was some higher form of royalty and that Dash was just an insignificant commoner wasting her precious time.
“You mind if I take a look at your necklace and headband…things?” she asked, feeling stupid for not knowing the proper names of the accessories.
“Why?” Rarity asked suspiciously.
“I-I just wanna look a them, y’know because they look so cool…” she ventured, fearing that with her newfound mystical prowess she could see through the lie and turn her into a cockroach before squishing her under her hoof.
“I suppose…” Rarity muttered before magically unlatching the choker from behind her neck as well as removing the diadem from her head and levitating them to Dash’s waiting hoof.
As soon as they were off, the darkness from Rarity’s coat vanished as it returned to its normal shade of white.
Gasping for breath, she fell to the ground as a triumphant grin spread across Dash’s face before the dull blue stone from the diadem gleamed dangerously as she felt and heard a large thud behind her.
Looking back, she could see that it had materialized a large boulder behind her which began perpetually rolling towards her.
Dash held onto her hat with one hoof, while keeping a death grip on the accursed artifacts with the other before frantically flapping her wings.
However, once in the air she was dismayed to see that the boulder was still following her, desperately scanning the area she caught sight of the lake.
It was perfect.
She could dump that junk into the lake and the boulder would land on top of it, so no one would ever have to worry about it again!
Quickly flying towards her destination, she was careful to maneuver her flight pattern so the boulder wouldn’t hurt anyone or destroy anything below.
Once she was confident that she was in throwing distance, Dash chucked it as hard as she could down into the lake before she could make out a dull splash and a slight ripple as both the diadem and choker began sinking to the bottom.
As she had predicted, the boulder continued to follow its conjurer as Dash felt a huge wave of relief wash over her before flying back towards Ponyville to check on Rarity.
“Rarity, are you alright?” she panted.
“Yes, I think so…” she sighed. “I knew I shouldn’t have bought those trinket from that drab old shop, but they just went with my eyes so well!”
“Yeah,” Dash replied while lying on the grass, exhausted. “Well, maybe next year you just stick to making dresses and costumes and we agree to never speak of this again?”
“Deal.” Rarity replied almost immediately as they both chuckled with relief.
Author's Note
My Sixth Story for 'One-Shotober' with Rarity/(Alternate Universe) Nightmare Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
Plus, it's actually a Nightmare Night/Halloween fic!
