Rockout With Your Mane Out!
Chapter 1: Extra Spicy Punk
Chapter 1:
Although it had been several months later after Rarity’s exceedingly bad hair day turned Punk style, She was only briefly in town for a short while that a few ponies didn’t really recognize her so really the only ponies who knew of Rarity’s new look were her best friends and anyone who read Vanity Mare. But as you might have guessed, not everyone reads that magazine. Including a certain dragon. Rarity couldn’t begin to imagine the embarrassment if her precious Spikey Wikey saw her new look. A secret she only shared with Twilight when she begged her not to tell him. Spike was absent during the whole thing and she was glad for it.
Twilight insisted that Spike probably would have loved it & really was not so dissimilar to Rainbow Dash’s look. Which Rarity agreed with but for her, Spike was someone special. And he always associated her with her fabulous mane of grace and feminine style, a true lady. So she couldn’t begin to imagine how such a radical change would affect him. Silly? Perhaps. Paranoid? Maybe. But why risk it?
Interestingly enough though, while her new look was to make her shine from the inside out, and relearning that what you feel as a person matters more than what you look like, Rarity herself had to admit the disguised look gave her some new found freedom and ideas. A whole new look could reinvent yourself as a new pony, a better you. One of the many compliments she was given was how she never brought someone down due to their looks. Always picturing the ideas how they can look even better. Example? While not for everyday wear, after taking her advice, Doughnut Joe did look rather dapper in a tuxedo as she suggestion, so now when it came to fancier events like visiting the princesses he wore one to make a good impression.
But with this idea of a new identity it actually gave her moments to think. And while she will always enjoy being a Lady, her taking on new looks gave her a chance to be something else for change. It was a breath of fresh air. In fact it almost gave her a new found appreciation of her parents. It was certainly no secrets that Rarity wanted to be something more and while she love them dearly she was often embarrassed that her parents were...how to put it gently...Basic. Her mother didn’t mind so much, but there were often times when her father had trouble connecting to her because she's such a girly girl and didn’t see too much of a point with looks. But all the same he was super proud of her accomplishments and would always support her.
Disguising herself though had given her a rather uncouth idea. To which Sweetie Belle over hearing her say that aloud asked, “Is anything just plain couth?” A question she didn’t have an answer to. The idea she hesitated in using was the idea of taking on a fake identity to listen to other ponies and see what other ponies had to say about her and her outfits honestly. The only person who always spoke their mind openly to her was Applejack naturally. But if she did that, she would be spying on them and that is something the Changelings used to do. It would be wrong for the fashionista pony to do such a thing.
But the more she thought about it the more she thought about those abominations of fabric her friends wanted when she wanted to make their gowns for their first time at the Grand Galloping Gala. It was like pulling teeth to get any kind of answer from Rainbow Dash, and was like trying to stop a flood gate when she asked for Fluttershy’s when she finally broke. Though after that incident Rarity would often go to Fluttershy for knitting advice. One wonders how she knew so much about it and not have it be her cutie mark talent. She tried to talking to Twilight about her ideas. And in a way her idea of pretend is not that much different from the concept of Nightmare Night costumes, the fun dressing up and pretending to do something spooky or strange, not to mention some ponies like to do cosplay. She remembered making replica costumes of the Power Ponies & Humdrum for Spike to go have fun at conventions.
Eventually Twilight agreed to let her try the idea as a social experiment. The idea was simple yet not without it’s dangers. After all Rarity is no stranger to someone being brutally honest about their opinions about her creations and that lead to her on her fainting couch gorging herself on her ice cream...again.
But this time would be different. This time Rarity would be mentally prepared to learn the possibly radical different opinions, and swore to take notes rather than take it personal. And also making sure she didn’t sing praises about herself for an ego trip like she had done once with the Mare Do Well incident. Modesty is a Lady’s quality after all.
That was the reason behind this new outfit she was working on. It was a work in progress, she was trying to find that right balance. She wanted the outfit to be something she wouldn’t wear, yet not so unlike her it would be obvious. The outfit was a vibrant red with some minor orange accents, it was similar to that very dated frock Twilight wanted to wear once upon a time, at least in terms of colors. However it also had some distinct swirls that also gave Rarity a reminder of her long distant friend Sunset Shimmer living in the alternate world. “Hm..if that is in mind than some aquamarines & some emeralds should finish it out of nicely.” She says to herself as she adds the last touches. With that and a matching yellow hat with some light green sunglasses, her new dress & disguise was finished. “I shall call you...Flare Blitz.” She names it.
Trying on Flare Blitz she found that the outfit worked quite well. It was practical yet still had a decent touch. The colors also tended blend in her white coat while making her purple mane a decent pop of color. This was actually one of many disguises she created and eventually sold later with only a hoof full that she wanted to keep to herself. This one she decided would eventually go to Twilight & Starlight. Both would look good in it. In fact she was more geared towards Starlight since she hasn’t really thought about making her a new outfit a lot, being her more recent friend. Now came the tricky part, coming up with a decent hair style to go along with Flare Blitz. This was often a huge sacrifice on her part because Rarity adored her wavy and curled hair. So her biggest challenge to her was trying to think of both a simple hair style she could make and then quickly undo when she wishes to go back to her old self.
Eventually she decided a combination of Trixie’s mane style and Starlight Glimmer’s tail. Brushing her hair out to create the right style she looked in the mirror and thought, “Hmm, perhaps a tad chocolate brown eye shadow instead should work.” She gave the brown eye shadow a try and it seemed to match her very well. Now came the most difficult part of all, changing her voice. Twilight had offered a voice changing spell which she accepted but she still insisted on practicing her voice impressions, after all it would help her acting skills, and make her false identity more real if she was able to sound natural when she was angry or amused at something. She looked in the mirror for a moment try her best to think of something. For Flare Blitz it sounded like she needed something exciting and dangerous. “I need to look Seeeenational !” She tried to mimic Sapphire Shores. “Hmm...no. Not quite dangerous.” She admitted. Then she smirks, “I guess I need to be 20% cooler then?” She tried mimicking Rainbow Dash. She shook her head again, it need it’s own flavor twist. A hint of Pinkie Pie. “I so excited, but I mean I’m really excited this time. And then I fire of a party cannon.” She partly jokes.
She sat thinking about it a bit more trying think of how she could combine the 3 voices together. She needed a word, a catchphrase that would excite ponies. “Mare you are looking Sssmoking!” She grins, “Yes I think that should do.” She took one last look at herself, “Hmm...still missing something. But what could it be?” Looking at her hat she saw exactly what it was missing. Heading to a box she collected an eagle feather donated by one of Fluttershy’s feathered friends. However as she went back to her vanity mirror she looked at a particular trunk she had against her bed. Checking her door for a moment to see if was closed, she went to crimson trunk and opened it the lid. There inside was the Dark purple almost black denim jacket & two bands with silver studs on it. Plus the Vanity Mare, and the pictures take for the magazine that had her with her punk style. She sighs for a moment. She couldn’t help but remember Rainbow’s comment about how it would also match her passing interest in Rock Music. And it also brought back memories of Babs Seed.
Her look would no doubt pass for someone who was heavily interested in rollerderby like Babs’ hero Shadow Smack. She still giggles at the name Shining Harmor. The only thing she could think of for her new rocker look was the fact that it needed some piercings. She then huffs in frustration and puts the thing away. “It was nice for while but it has out lived it’s purpose.” She says firmly to herself.
Putting feather in her hat she got a good look at herself in the mirror. It was perfect, Flare Blitz was finished. “Oooh...sssomebody stop me!” She giggles. She then paused for a moment and turned to face the trunk again. “Oh don’t be silly. You hair was green! You don’t look good in green.” She reminded herself. Though then again she did admit that the ugly bush green that Trixie hexed her with way back when she first met her wasn’t exactly what you would call a decent hair style or a nice green hair for Rarity at all. Spike’s scales were green & he looked adorable. She remembered she had greatly upset Carrot Top who had, on that same day, dyed her hair green instead of her usual orange. But she insisted that the veggy green hair matched her colors of her coat and really complemented her interests in carrots. It worked for Carrot Top. Although she did admit combined with yellow, the sea green she had did go well with her natural dark purple hair, what was left of it at the time. “No. no. It’s so last season. Besides it took me forever to grow my hair back, not to mention that unsightly bald scalp part.” She says arguing with herself. But then her mind remembers the only reason it took so long to grow back was because a good chunk of it was gone. If she were to get cut that way it wouldn’t take as along to… “No! No. No! I will not dress in such a manner again.” She insisted. It was a firm standing and Rarity was determined to keep it that way. She scoffs, “Come on Flare Blitz let’s see what the world has to say about you!” She says getting herself into character.
Sneaking out of her boutique, Flare Blitz became her new self. And was thankful that her outfit not only hid her cutie mark when she stood but also when she would sit down later. This...spying for a lack of a better word has actually helped and really provided and interesting outside perspective on what other ponies think when they aren’t around. In away Rarity almost wish she asked Twilight for an Invisibility spell as that too might also have worked for her. But she admits she’d rather have the option to interact more to see how things work.
And her acting skills were something she was actually improving and also helped Sweetie Belle with her singing and theater plays. And rather inadvertently kind of helped Pinkie Pie learn to keep a secret better. She had to admit she felt bad for her silly friend as several of the costumes fools her into throwing one of her patented ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ parties several times for Rarity. Though she would welcome each one with a smile if only with some silent guilt about it. Lucky for “Flare Blitz” Pinkie Pie had a small preview of this outfit ahead of time. So should she go to Sugar Cube Corner Pinkie won’t throw an unneeded party for her.
She was getting quite the crowd of ponies admiring her new work. “Oh these threads? Canterlot Carousel, Totally makes you royally radical.” She explains to them. Cheep excuse to advertise? Yes, but hey if it works right? A few mares nod excitedly thinking they’ll have to check out the place later on. True to her word, one few rare moments she over heard ponies she took notes not offense if any negative comments were made. Though carefully as not to make it look like she was invading their space. There were also times she did get to bring up things in conversation. All the while staying in character.
“Personally I find Twilight’s Castle rather unnerving. For a place called Friendship Castle it looks uninviting.” One pony with an interlocking horse shoes cutiemark comments.
“I totally get that. Maybe what the princess needs is more golden accents. That would make it look Sssmoken!” Rarity suggested. As the day went on, Rarity soon felt her mission as Flare Blitz was almost over. Though she did happen to notice her sister & friends along the way to Sugar Cube Corner.
AppleBloom was telling Pipsqueak one of their many CMC mishaps, “And Scootaloo was like, ‘Fine get I'll get out chicken coop and help!’ so despite what anyone said, we tried that.”
Scootaloo blushed looking rather annoyed, “Yeah well Sweetie Belle was just sitting there in wool singing Beep Beep I’m a sheep.”
Sweetie Belle sighs, “And Yet we STILL got covered in tree sap!”
Rarity had to smile at the conversation. She wasn’t sure which story they were telling since a lot of them ended with them getting covered in sap. But this one sounded a little familiar, She partly recalled poor Scootaloo believing she had laid an egg. Part of the reason for this was because Rainbow Dash was trying to avoid telling her the truth and just said Pegasi come from eggs. The look on their faces were priceless though.
Rarity smiles at the thought and decides that maybe she’ll spoil Sweetie Belle with a treat with some tea today. She knew she would eventually have to return to her work. So already she was working out in her mind which outfit order was going to be the easiest to finish first. Which colors would look good with it, what finishing touches she could add and so on and so forth. Though despite her best attempts to get her work mentally done in her mind, the punk outfit kept popping up in her mind as a very annoying distraction. What was it that was compelling her to think about it? Yes it was fun to act so unlike herself for a change, and yes having her main short saved her hours of brushing, taming, curlers. Work she always never complained about. It was a labor of love for her to look her best.
But that was the past, true Rarity had more refine tastes in a lot of things. But she wasn’t afraid of other new looks and styles. And again she wasn’t against ponies’ tastes, Vinyl Scratch pulled off the punk main style very well. Perhaps she had grown a little too attached to her look? No, it was fun but that was it. If there was one thing Rarity was absolutely certain about was that she was never gonna wear that outfit again. No sir. She promises to take extra good care of her hair again. She was a lady with hair long and free, proud to be. There is no force on earth that would get her to wear it again. Princess Celestia & Luna themselves couldn’t convince her to do it.
She enters Sugar Cube Corner and waited patiently in line for her turn as there was a lot of ponies today. Typical for the weekend rush. Everyone wanted to celebrate their days off with some of the delicious baked goods Ponyville had to offer. The smell of all kinds of cakes, cookies and other various treats were making Rarity’s mouth water. She was trying to think of what she was going to get in addition to the usual cookies she get for her afternoon tea. Unlike other ponies, she wasn’t the kind of pony to buy a great deal of cake. Maybe loads ice cream whenever she had an emotional breakdown but that doesn’t count! Rarity often wonders where Pinkie puts it all...then she remembers it’s Pinkie Pie. No further questions needed.
Thinking of some delicious chocolate cheese cake would be perfect for her & Sweetie she meets up with Pinkie finally. “Hello, and what would you like Ms...” Pinkie asks.
“Flare Blitz. Some chocolate cheese cake & a dozen chocolate chip cookies please Pinkie.” Rarity requested.
“Sure think...Flare.” Pinkie gave a knowing wink.
While she was getting said treats in the back, Rarity asked few questions to the other customers. About Pinkie and her silliness. Her & the Cakes’ skills as bakers. What was some of their favorite treats they like to get here and so on. All the while casually taking notes of their responses. Said notes would be later passed on to Pinkie as promised. Some restaurants have something like a comment card ponies can fill out, so what Rarity is doing is something similar to help them out. More feed back, more improvements, more tasty treats. Everyone is happy!
With a wave & wink good bye Rarity decided now was a good time to go home put her treats away and retire Flare Blitz from the day. Lots of positive feed back from this one so that made Rarity smile, and putting that on the 'for sell' list. Soon enough she went back into her routine and got work on her next set of orders.
Most recently, she came up with a new set of clothes that were actually inspired by some of the deserts Rarity saw on display when she was out earlier. In fact she was hoping to make Dessert Fashion show idea where she could display her new fashion & the Cakes could sells the deserts based on those outfits. It would be a nice joined business deal and the Cakes loved it.
However as she went back upstairs to her bedroom to get some stuff she left up there that she needed, her eyes once again were drawn to the red trunk. She quickly shakes her head again of the idea. “I need some fresh air.” She says to herself. Some fresh air would do her wonders to relax and help creativity flow. Or make a really good convenient excuse to be distracted when you're creatively stuck about what to do next.
But where to go? “Of course! The Spa! Exactly what I need.” She says excitedly. “Yes that’s exactly what the doctor ordered. A nice relaxation time at the spa, get some pampering done.” However just outside the place she happened to notice the twins Aloe & Lotus Blossom, and a couple of others running what looks like a table where ponies seem to be paying them for on the spot hair cuts. Yet unlike normal hair cuts some these were just short snips and rather than pitching the old hair the spa was collecting them. In fact when Rarity was close enough she notices several ponies were giving them either cash, hair or both. “Girls? What’s going on?” She asks rather curiously.
“Oh hello Rarity. We’re doing a Locks of Love Charity drive. Ponies are donating their mane & tail hair & bits if they wish to the organization. They are used to make wigs for foals who have medical conditions that caused them to permanently lose their hair.” Aloe explains.
“That’s a wonderful idea.” Rarity compliments.
“Yeah, ponies can either donate it from home or get a hair cut right here. You can donate as much you wish.” Lotus adds.
Rarity realizing she wasn’t gonna get her pampering today simply nods, “I might be back later, I’ll think about it.” Indeed she would think about it. All the way home she genuinely considers the idea herself. Looking into one of her modeling mirror, she gazes up at her mane stroking the curls on it. Then she looked down at her tail, giving it a small swish. She remembered the time she helped Steven the Serpent when she cut off her tail for him. And then she remembered what caused her to wear that punk look to begin with. She felt absolutely embarrassed and was miserable until she made it work for her. But these foals? They wouldn’t be so lucky. Even if their conditions were cured they’ll probably never grow their hair ever again. And despite what others think, magic can’t fix every problem. If it did medical problems wouldn’t be an issue to begin with.
Heading up back to her room, she opens the trunk and got the pictures out. She looked at her punk self for a moment, using her magic lifts up a pair of scissors. She was rather squeamish at first, she hesitates for a moment. Finally she shakes her head again, “It’s for the foals. I was in a similar place of theirs once. It won’t be like last time. It’ll grow back faster than before, unlike theirs. It’s what I would have wanted too.” She finally convinced herself to go through with it. Pulling up a changing shade she went to work. There were snips, a few sentimental tears, some hair gel & dye. Soon enough, on came the dark purple jacket and studded arm & tail bands. It wasn’t entirely like before, she didn’t have actual bald spots where her roots showed before. It was still cut to create the illusion of it, and it worked out fairly well. The white unicorn dared took in the mirror, it needed something more. What else do punks wear? Piercings, some crazy looking ones. Luckily for her she has quite few clip-ons some with magnets that don’t require her to puncture a hole in her delicate ears.
A small silver stud on the left side seemed like it would do the trick. Or would it? She looked in the mirror, “No no. If I’m gonna pull this look off more often I need to pull out a few more stops.” So she agreed, three studs on the left ear. Silver, dark purple, silver. On the right ear two golds, one slightly bigger below the other. & a golden horn band. Some daisy duke cut off shorts, fish net stockings & black boots with big silver buckles, the returning studded tail band. A black ‘choker’ band necklace with a golden diamond shape on it. And finally Dark purple eye shadow. Perfect. Punk Rarity had returned, now Extra Spicy. Rarity took one look at herself & slightly gasped. You could hardly recognize that this was the fashion loving, proper, soft, and lady like pony she truly was.
“Sis! I’m home!” Sweetie Belle called out.
Rarity eyes widen in fear for a moment but then quickly shook it off, “I’m up here. Can you come here for a moment. I need you to do something for me.”
She gathered up her fallen locks and bagged them together with some Bits inside. Sweetie Belle came up the stairs and entered her room, “It’s me.” She says.
“Good, um...Sweetie, I need you to do a simple run for me. After that we’ll have some Lunch. I got us a treat today.”
“Cool. Thanks Sis. What’cha need?” She ask curiously.
“I need you to deliver this.” She magical lifts the package over the shade and handed it her little sister.
The younger mare looked at the bag rather curiously, “Is this your hair?”
Rarity sighs, “Yes, Locks of Love are doing a donation drive down at the Spa. I would like you to give it to them for me.”
Sweetie Belle has heard of that before, she remembered Rainbow Dash had done it a few times of all ponies. She claimed foals deserved to look just as cool as her. Looking at the bag she was surprised at the contents. “It looks like a lot. Are you okay with that? I know how you get with your looks.”
Rarity sighs, “Yes, I’m fine. It’s for a good cause. And speaking of, I’m going with a new look, well...an slightly old look with a new twist.” Taking a deep breath she pulled back and revealed herself to her little sister. Sweetie Belle’s eyes widen. “Well, what do you think?”
Sweetie Belle didn’t know what to say. This was Rarity? Sweet, Prim & Proper Rarity? She looked like a cousin of Rainbow Dash, actually to be honest, “You kind of reminded me of when Apple Bloom, Scootaloo & I tried that rock song for the talent show when we first became Crusaders.”
Rarity smirks a bit thinking back to that, “Yes, I remember. I’ll take that as compliment.”
Author's Note
And so Raripunk returns! Her new added design was inspired by two DA artists
cheezedoodle96 & earthsong9405
I liked the idea & I can actually see the natural thought processes of Rarity being generous to make such a donation to the very real Locks of Love. And having seen what she's been though to create her sexy punk look, it was perfect.
Rockout With Your Mane Out!
Chapter 2: Radical Rhinestone
Sweetie Belle did as she was asked for her big sister and gave the donation to Locks of Love, even donated a small clip of her own. The new look took some time for her to get used to, though she was not uncomfortable with Rarity being punk. Rarity in the mean time was working on her new voice that would match her punk look. She also needed a name for it since she didn’t have one at the time. That was on the back burner for the time being.
There was a distinct bizarre irony going on as Rarity would teach her little sister or remind her of things that a Lady should do looking like she did. As she look very butch and masculine. In fact on the rare trip she actually went out of the house, no one recognized her but a few did complement her about being open of her...life style choices. A negative stereotype Rainbow has often been accused of herself. Rarity, while she did correct them that her butch punk look was not a statement of such, she had no problem of two mares who enjoying each other’s company. She was just more traditional.
Once when Rarity went to pick Sweetie Belle showed up for class, it was quite a shock. Cheerilee who recognized her as she read the magazine said it brought back memories of her younger days during the 80s. Though she swore to secrecy, it did cause a few of the foals’ jaws to drop, and some asked Sweetie about her ‘other’ sister. Sweetie Belle explains that yes it was her who gave her the costume ideas during the old talent show contest. Scootaloo was in awe and insisted that she meet up with Rainbow Dash some time.
She needed a name for this new look & identity. Something that was close to her name but fitting that punk look. Looking in her vanity mirror she took a bit to readjust herself. She added necklace with a micro padlock on it feeling it would add to the look. She turned to side, getting a good look at her cutie mark through the fishnets for an idea. Taking her time to remember some of the roller derby names she had heard when spending the day with Babs Seed. Hmm...and then inspiration hit, “Rhinestone. Perfect. Now about a voice, should make it something more simple since it’s me. But I need a bit of that tough flare. Bit more Gilda.” She paused for a moment, “Back off dweebs.” She tried to mimic a bit. “Eh...close. I guess to be 20% cooler, I need dash of Rainbow.” She giggles a bit at her little pun. “Aww yeah, Radical Rhinestone is totally awesome.” She tries to mimic. “Hmm...” She needed to sound tough yet like herself. Her mind turned to Spike. She couldn’t imagine his reaction her new Rhinestone look. She remembered how proud she was of him when he refused to smash little Peewee’s egg. He’s certainly grown defending himself against that bully Garbbel. Then she remember what she said, “I’ll rip you to pieces if you touch one little scale on his cute little head!” Hmm...much too angry, “I need to be firm yet with a graceful tone.” She tried yet again. She paused for a moment, “Huh...you know when I tried that I sound just like Princess Luna. How odd.” Then a following thought occurs to her, “You know now that I think about it Pinkie & Fluttershy can sometimes sound the same too. Weird.”
Shrugging she’ll have to work on that. The good news is that she wasn’t expecting any pony to visit for the rest of day so she could work on the voice later tonight and tomorrow. But of course there is one pony who is the sole definition of the phrase: Expect the unexpected. “HI RARITY!” Pinkie shouts with a blast of her party cannon.
“Ahh!… Pinkie! I know you love your party canon but please! You're getting confetti everywhere and I just swept this place!” Rarity whined.
“Oops, sorry. I’ll help clean up promise! But I need your help. I was talking to Mayor Mare and She said she saw you at the school with Cheerilee & they got to talking about your cool punk style look and they started talking me and I liked the idea & we were wanting to a retro-punk style Time Capsule party!” Pinkie says excitedly bouncing up and down all the while pulling her vacuum from out of nowhere and cleaning her mess and speaking so fast it was a wonder Rarity managed to hear her out.
“A Time Capsule Party?” Rarity asks making sure she heard her right.
“Yeah! It’s party where lots of people are dressing up from different styles of fashion! And since they were super busy with stuff they asked me if I could ask you to help make and sell a whole bunch of retro style costumes! And Twilight said she heard this thing called retro punk fashion you might like, they have like these really neat styles of what the future would be like if we use one certain style of technology. Like Stone Punk is if we were all still prehistoric and used things like rocks & volcano and dinosaurs and leopard print outfits! It’ll be so much fun! We’ll have cake, candy, balloons, streamers, punch and all kinds of games and it be super huge! Cause we’ll have all kinds of stuff to play with before we born and never seen before!” Pinkie explains barely able to contain her excitement.
Rarity thought for a moment. She had to admit the idea of her Punk outfit being the inspiration of an entire themed party for whole town to enjoy was rather flattering. Though she had to admit to pull off such an ordeal to help fill the copious about amount orders of costumes, plus her usual work load, she’s gonna need a lot of help. Especially because she’s barely heard of the retro punk fashion style. She seemed to remember one person in Manehattan talking about Steampunk and use of steam power for a movie at one point but that was about it. Then again a chance to reinvent older fashions and possibly put a modern spin of them would give her and over flowing amount of inspiration & ideas to work with. “Alright Pinkie I’m in. However I’m gonna need some help. I’ll need to see if Twilight has any history books I can filter through.” She finally agrees.
“Oki Doki Loki!” She claps her hooves together.
“I’ll also need a starting spot. So have you and other girls come over with your ideas on what you want to wear.” She requested.
Pinkie gave a salute, “You got it Rar. You’re really lucky, it’s not even the party and already you’re in costume. Which is kind of silly now that I think about it. But it’s looks really good, I hardly recognized you.”
“Oh and Pinkie!” Rarity caught her just time before she bounced out her window.
“Yes?”
Rarity blushed a bit, “I um...would rather you don’t say anything about my look to Spike. Please? Promise?”
“Okay Rarity. I Pinkie Pie promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She did the whole gestures of the promise before giggling and bound out of the boutique.
Sure enough about an hour later, giving Rarity a chance to at least finish at least 3 more outfits, the other girls came in each carrying a clipboard of some of their ideas. Twilight & Starlight themselves brought in a large stack of books that hopefully will give Rarity all the help she can get. Starlight even talked to some artist ponies and managed to get a copy of some pictures that would help better convey what she was going to try and recreate. Skimming through some of them already she was actually rather excited at the new prospects. All the while the girls happened to notice her punk style choice and wanted to ask about her new look but were rather hesitant to do so to avoid being rude. Rainbow Dash herself was actually trying to not laugh. Rarity raised eyebrow and noticed the muffled snickering.
“Ugh...I donated some hair to Locks of Love. After what happened to me that created this outfit in the first place I thought it would nice to give up my long beautiful mane for some who aren’t as lucky.” She finally explains.
“I’m sorry Rarity, it’s just...I’m not used to seeing you look so...butch.” Starlight apologizes trying to pick her words carefully.
Rarity flips her her hoof, “Oh posh, after that rotten day, I’ve learned that I can make any style look good. In fact if I may boast, I make this look better than Rainbow Dash & Vinyl Scratch.”
“Yeah right. You wish.” Rainbow scoffs.
“Well you certainly pulled off more so than when you tried to impersonate me.” Aj admitted. She of course was referring to the time she tried to mimic her in order to get Trenderhoof’s attention.
Rarity shutters herself a bit, “Ugh don’t remind me. I was desperate & grasping at straws. I’m sure if I were to try again with a clear head I could do a much better job. Though I do it admit you pulled out a few stops yourself. Now Ms. Dash trying to look fancy that would be something to see.”
Dash merely gagged at the idea. The only time she came close to doing that was when she tried to do a fairly decent impression her trying to make the Wonderbolts like her and change her nickname. “I’ll pass thanks.”
In terms of their actual outfits for the party, the ideas they had were solid enough. Rainbow Dash actually was interested in going as a vintage Wonderbolt. Twilight liked the idea of going as an exotic temple guard she got inspired by her Daring Do books. Applejack was gonna try and recreate some of the old fashions that Granny Smith wore, hopefully with out looking like a grand mother herself. Starlight’s design would be much more challenging in that hers was more Cyberpunk, a future style that was rather dark and heavy on the use of technology with things like robots & virtual reality. Pinkie Pie like Cheerilee and wanted to do something of a more 80s flare. Twilight’s was the previously mentioned Steam Punk, though she was hoping to make it more related to Tesla coils. Fluttershy’s however was probably the most interesting of the bunch. Hers was a new style called Solar Punk. Almost like an inverse of Cyber Punk, it’s suppose to be a future where technology is more eco-friendly, the world isn’t dominated by robots & while not a paradise it’s more of a promise to trying make the world a much nicer & cleaner place to live. This maybe Rarity’s hardest or the easiest base on one fact: It’s so new that there isn’t much to solidify the idea. So one hoof there are very few limits but on the other there also few templates to work with. Despite this, Rarity just sees it as an opportunity to leave her mark on the idea.
However as they were discussing details, there was another knock on the door and a certain voice called out, “Rarity? Hey is anyone home?”
Rarity eyes widen in fear and began to panic, “Spike? Oh not now! I can’t let him see me like this.
“Rarity relax. It’ll be fine.” Twilight assures her. She goes to reach for the door.
“Twilight Dear, please I’m begging you don’t open the door.” Rarity pleads. But it was too late, Twilight opened the door and Spike was let inside.
“Hey Twi, hey girls.” Spike turned to Rarity. His eyes widen at the new mare, “Whoa, Who are you?” This was interesting, he actually didn’t recognize her. Was her disguise that good?
“Spike, it’s Ra-” Twilight started to answer.
Rarity cuts her off by shoving her hoof in her mouth and started speaking with a more tomboyish tone that seemed to be the kind of voice she wanted earlier, “Rarity’s cousin. Name’s Rhinestone. We got similar talents, I like to bedazzle threads like her you know?”
Spike nods, “Cool. Well I actually came to see her, so..if she’s not here I’ll go. I’ll guess I’ll see you later.” The little dragon sounded a bit disappointed Rarity wasn’t here but he didn’t appear to dislike Rhinestone’s look.
Rarity coughed bit and rubbed her nose with her hoof, “Uh hey short & scaly that’s a no go on the visit there dude.”
“Huh? Why not?” The little dragon gave a confused look.
“Rarity took like a radical va-ca for some R&R so she asked me to watch her pad while she's gone.” She explains. Inside she was secretly feeling horrible lying to him like this. Especially it was only now did she forget that he was originally gonna help her with some of her projects.
Spike lowers his eyes giving a disappointed look, “Oh...”
“But hey don’t sweat it bro. Tell you what why don’t you lend me a claw? I’m sure she's got a ton of stuff that needs done & I need someone to help me get like in the groove of things. You in?” She offered her studded hoof for hoof bump.
“Uh...sure. Okay.” He bumped it with his fist.
“Cool catch you later bro.” Rarity smiles and slicked her mane back with her other hoof.
With that Spike left and Rarity could finally take a sigh of relief that he was gone. That was embarrassing. Everyone else gives her a surprised look on their faces. Rarity turns to face them with a puzzled look of her, “What?”
“Since when you are 20% cooler?” Rainbow Dash exclaims.
Rarity giggles a bit, “Heheh I like to think of myself 30% more Radical.”
“It will never catch on.” Pinkie whispers to the readers.
Twilight had a more serious question, “Rarity, why did you lie to him?”
Rarity blushed turning a bit pink, “I-I didn’t want him to see me like this. It’s embarrassing. Besides it’s only until my hair grows back out. He’s my Spikey-Wikey, he adores me as a lady of grace.”
“Rarity, he likes you for you are. I though we were through this?” Starlight reasons.
“Look, there are some lines I just can’t cross okay? Spike is special. Sometimes a lady has to keep up with appearances. I know I shouldn’t let other people judge me by my appearance but I also hold other ponies opinions in high regard, Spike’s more so. I would be so embarrassed if he knew. It would simply be, THE, WORST, POSSIBLE, THING!” She says frantically.
AJ smirked a bit, “Worse than the Raricown incident?”
Rarity’s face turned beat red, “I thought we agreed to never speak of that again?!” She says with a scowl.
The girls just started busting up. All except a confused Starlight. “Come on! It was really funny!” Rainbow chuckles.
Starlight asks,“The What cow?”
Twilight giggles with a roll of her eyes, “Well, see it all started with me trying to see, if only temporarily, if I could turn myself back into a unicorn.”
“STOP! SHE’S ALREADY HEARD TOO MUCH!” Rarity yells still blushing like mad. She then finally looked down her hoof, “Can somebody please get me some tissues! Ugh who wipes their nose like that? That’s disgusting!” She yells in disgust and runs off to wash her hooves.
Rarity couldn’t believe she did that. Not just the nose wipe thing but that whole Rhinestone act. Right on the spot to with no practice. She couldn’t believe it worked too. Spike didn’t recognize her at all. With her other outfits, she at least made them to hide as much of herself as she could so ponies wouldn’t recognize her. But Rhinestone was different. She wasn’t wearing sun glasses, or contacts, and her improvised voice she admitted was not nearly as good as her other impressions. It just seemed like she was using more baritone voice that was not quite Luna’s voice but not quite a stallions either.
She was also regretting her offer that she made. She really could use Spike’s help, especially now with this huge order of specialized costumes for all of Ponyville she would have to make. She felt guilty over the fact she was not only lying to him about not spending time with him but also who she was. She didn’t think she could keep up her act for long it would take time for her mane & tail to grow back but that might not before the Retro Party is over. She placed her hoof to her forehead sighing, “Oh what I have gotten myself into.”
The girls had left Rarity her things and decided now was a good time to leave. And despite her desire to tell Spike the truth, Starlight & Pinkie both convinced Twilight not to spare her feelings & hopefully she’ll come around and tell him herself.
When they were sure they were far way from the boutique Starlight got a grin, “So anyway Twilight you were trying to become a Unicorn and the what happened?”
“Well Rarity stopped by and...” Twilight continues.
Author's Note
Sorry for the long wait. I know it's shorter than I'd like. But I think got everything that I wanted to in this chapter. We now are introduce to Rari-punk's new name Rhinestone. Which I think fits perfectly. & Heheh Raricow oh what fun. Here's hoping Chapter 3 doesn't take me as long. Oh yes, those retropunks styles including Solar Punk are really. I highly recommend the new Solar Punk stuff, because not only is a nice idea of the future, it's a possible one if we try.
Oh yes, if you want more of a tough Rarity voice, look up the anime Black Lagoon, (warning it's a mature anime lots of violence) both Rarity/Luna, Spike & Twilight's VA star in it. With Roberta (aka Rarity) is protecting a boy (who's voiced Spike).
