Twilight Sparkle had never cared about whether or not she was pretty before.
It just wasn't something that came up in her mind. Throughout her entire life, she'd been too busy to pay much attention to that kind of thing. From as soon as she could read, she was always studying and learning. Then the whole Element of Harmony thing came along, and she was far too concerned with saving Equestria and settling into her new royal duties to worry about how her mane looked. Sure, she wasn't frumpy. She showered and brushed her mane every day. She had no problem taking care of the most basic essentials of personal physical upkeep. It was just the extras that didn't find their way into her packed schedule. Things like makeup, expensive shampoos, and the like were too frivolous to worry about.
It was very important that these things were stated in the past tense, because things had very recently changed. The changes had first arisen back when Twilight and Rarity had first started going out a few months ago. Rarity was beautiful. Absolutely, undeniably beautiful. Even her profession was based around beauty. She took ponies and she enhanced their beauty by making them dresses and other clothing that perfectly accentuated their best features. Everything about Rarity was beautiful.
Well, almost everything.
Twilight did not think of herself as anywhere near beautiful. In her mind, she was a pony of simple appearance. She did not think herself to be ugly by any means, but she was certainly not on the level of a pony like Rarity as far as physical appearance went. She was plain-looking. Her mane didn't have the flair that Rarity's had. Her complexion lacked the perfection of her marefriend's. Her face and belly had the tiniest bit of pudge; a far cry from Rarity's slim physique. There was no other way of saying it; she was plain. Actually, there were many other ways of saying it. Simple, average, ordinary, unassuming, milquetoast...plain.
Twilight sat there, staring at herself in the mirror. She couldn't be plain tonight; there was no chance. Rarity had planned a big night for them in Canterlot, and there was no doubt that Rarity would look her best. Rarity had learned long ago that it was important to be proud of where one came from, but the fact remained that it was important, both personally and financially, for her to keep up appearances in Canterlot. Tonight's big date would place them in one of the fanciest restaurants in Canterlot, one which was frequented by some of the city's most elite celebrities. If she was seen next to a pony as ordinary-looking as Twilight, she would surely be embarrassed.
She sighed heavily. She was Princess Celesta's number one student. She had helped save Equestria multiple times. She was a princess herself, for pony's sake. And despite all of that, she felt that she was not worthy of Rarity. Rarity was a wonderful pony who was gorgeous enough to get anypony she wanted. Granted, she had chosen Twilight, and had never said a word to indicate that she could think of anypony better, but that was under normal circumstances. Under normal circumstances, Rarity didn't have to worry about who she was seen with. Dates in Ponyville were acceptable. This, however...she was not worthy of being with Rarity in such a place.
Twilight shook her head. Changes needed to be made if she wanted to be seen as worthy of being with such a wonderful pony. She eyed the makeup kit that she'd purchased yesterday in anticipation of this event. She opened the case and looked over its contents. Makeup was rather alien to her, but she'd read up on how to apply it. She started with the base, as she believed she was supposed to. This was followed up by blush, lipstick, eye shadow, and mascara. By the time Twilight was done with the makeup, she looked very much like one of the typical Canterlot mares, a fact which she would have found ironic due to her own Canterlot heritage. Such irony was lost on her, though, as she was too busy moving onto the next step of her beautification. The princess paged through all the fashion magazines she'd picked up, trying to pick out the perfect manestyle. She liked her usual style; it was simple and easy to keep up. Simple was not what she wanted, though. She wanted extravagance befitting of a pony who was going on a date in Canterlot with Rarity. Magazine after magazine was tossed aside in her search; a search made all the more difficult by the fact that she had no idea at all what she was looking for. She finally settled on a manestyle with a number of intricate curls to it. The princess worked for a good half hour to get it looking just right, but in the end, she figured it was all worth it.
Twilight stared in her mirror. She barely recognized the pony that stared back. That was what she wanted, anyway. She wanted to make herself worthy of her marefriend, and that was what she had done. Or at least that was what she told herself.
A knock at the door pulled her out of her thought pattern. She made her way to the door and opened it up, eager for her marefriend to see what she had done with herself.
"Hello, Rarity!" Twilight said, beaming.
"Erm...hello, Twilight," Rarity responded, taken aback. "Erm...what is the meaning of this change in appearance?"
"Do you like it?" Twilight asked excitedly.
"It's...nice, Kitten," Rarity answered. "But why?"
"I wanted to look perfect for tonight!" Twilight said. "I figured that since we were going to such a fancy place, I should really get myself to look proper, so I'd be worthy of being seen with you." Twilight frowned a little as she finished that sentence, having said just a bit more than she'd intended. Rarity looked at Twilight, surprised.
"Well..." Rarity said, tilting her head. "...Would you like me to lend a hoof with it?" Twilight's heart sank slightly; she didn't like it. It wasn't good enough.
"I suppose," Twilight said, keeping her disappointment in check. Rarity nodded and led Twilight to the bathroom.
"Voila!" Rarity exclaimed, after 15 or 20 minutes of work. She pointed Twilight to the mirror, and Twilight eagerly opened her eyes.
"Um...Rarity?" Twilight said. "You undid all the work I did...I just look like I normally do now."
"I am aware," Rarity said, beaming. "And now, you look worthy of being seen with me."
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but a warm look from Rarity silenced her. In truth, nothing needed to be said.
