"Not So Vile a Sin"

Let’s start this the way it’s going to end: with melodrama.

Imagine a grand pegasus city, rich in culture and sophistication, and at least as obsessed with fashion as Canterlot. But these are pegasi, so they get extremely competitive about it. Larger than life personalities flourish here, and reputation, style and pizazz are currency!

Now, picture a diamond. A flawlessly symmetrical, hundred carat diamond, colorless save for the barest hint of baby blue in its depths. Ageless! Precious! A “girl’s best friend”!

But in this moment, that diamond was decidedly not Rarity’s friend. That diamond was the centerpiece of a dress, and that dress in turn was the centerpiece of the ensemble made by Rarity’s newest challenger. Though he was only the latest of many such rivals, he was the first one so far to make his grand entrance by bursting through the cloud layer in an airship. The ponies standing on the displaced clouds scattered or took to the skies, but Rarity stood unflinching save for a single glance to Twilight at her side, who nodded to confirm her cloudwalking enchantment would hold.

She barely had time to turn back to her assailant before a spotlight cut through the night sky like the sharpest of arrows and struck true to illuminate a tall unicorn stallion wearing a dazzling crown. Behind him, on the bust of an elegant gown worn by the haughtiest-looking mare Rarity had ever seen, sat that perfect diamond, reflecting the light in a way that meant business.

“Rarity!” the stallion shouted, pointing at her and gesturing up into the sky. Up above, a pegasus received the signal and shone a second spotlight down upon Rarity and Twilight. “I see you have finally left that backwater town, and joined the fashion elite here in Runway City! Even in this place of refinement and repute, your name has been on many lips. They say that the glamour of your dresses is only matched by your own allure, and what’s more, they say that you are ‘the most beautiful unicorn in Equestria’. But this cannot be true, and do you know why?”

A crowd had formed, which Twilight watched with a nervous smile. Yet Rarity still appeared completely unfazed, making a show of inspecting her hoof and only sparing the stallion the occasional withering glance. “Do tell, darling,” she replied, “why can that not be true?”

“Because the most beautiful unicorns wear dresses made by me, Prince Palladium of Unicornia!!!” Violinists descended from the sky, providing the soundtrack as he flourished aside. The mare behind him stepped forward and struck a pose, her dress all sashes and sequins that drew the eye back to that one perfect diamond that shone like a beacon!

The dress entranced the crowd, and its wearer clearly knew it. Her nose was turned up and her eyes were shut as she sashayed along the railing of the ship from end to end, periodically striking a pose before spinning around and strutting back the other way. The spotlight followed dutifully to show off every sway of her hips. Then a particularly extravagant spin left her facing the edge of the ship and she blindly stepped forward into empty air…

The audience’s screams died in their throats as they saw that a sparkling bridge of blue light had materialized beneath the model, who strutted across it without skipping a beat. Prince Palladium’s horn glowed the same shade of blue as he followed her onto the bridge, with that delicate platform the only thing between the two of them and a fatal fall.

Amidst the crowd’s “ooh”s and “aah”s, a group of giggling young fans launched fireworks that formed two “P”s side by side within a flashing, neon-pink heart. This did not go unnoticed by the prince, and he blew them a kiss as he walked past. Finally, as the music reached its swelling finale, they reached the cloud platform where Rarity still waited and stepped back onto relatively stable clouds before striking a final pose and soaking in the applause.

“Do you see now?” He leered at Rarity, panting slightly from magical exertion. “Let me work my magic on you, and I can lift you up to where all Unicornia’s children belong! My traditional Unicornian fashion, passed down from Princess Platinum herself, will outshine all others, for it was devised by the most glamorous of the three tribes!”

Rarity waited for the boos that his statements brought forth from the earth ponies and pegasi to die down before conjuring a cloud of sparkles from her horn. They drifted to form the outline of a megaphone and floated down to her mouth. She gave a dainty cough, listened to make sure that it was magically magnified as intended, then stuck a hoof into the sky and yelled: “Now, hit my music!”

The mare operating the spotlight looked around in confusion when the sound of electric guitar blared from beside her. She had been so intently focused on Rarity that she did not notice a rainbow-maned pegasus setting up loudspeakers on her cloud, through which she now played a blood-pumping solo on her guitar. Even closer sat a figure wearing a cloak that hid all their features, save for the hoof with which they made a shushing motion to the spotlight mare. There was no time to question their presence before Rarity began to speak:

“Prince Palladium! You stand there and brag about how ancient Unicornians were the most glamorous in all Equestria, how they were the most fabulous, but that doesn’t mean a thing to this mare! When Rarity makes art it doesn’t matter what era, what tribe or what style, she will rise above all the competition! And to demonstrate, I will meet your challenge with a design based on Pegasopolian sensibilities, modeled by a specimen of pegasus beauty!”

With a flourish Rarity pointed her horn to the sky and shot a thin pink beam of light heavenward, where it exploded into three enormous butterflies. Murmurs of confusion, then recognition, then disbelief could be heard from the crowd. All around, statements of “isn’t that the famous Fluttershy’s cutie mark?” were met with “no, that’s impossible! She retired from modeling!”

Up above, Fluttershy threw off her cloak to reveal a sea of white silk and gold embroidery. The shimmering fabric trailed behind her like the tail of a phoenix when she dived off the cloud, through the illusory butterflies, and into view of the crowd below! The sudden movement also caused the cloud’s other inhabitant to slip and fall down into a nearby rainbow waterfall, but nopony noticed the suddenly unattended spotlight. They were too preoccupied with the vast butterfly illusion that illuminated the entire area. The pink light perfectly accentuated every elegant ruffle on Fluttershy’s dress as the adoring public went wild over her, and it was immediately clear who had won the day.

When the unfortunate pegasus had climbed out of the rainbow puddle, she had a much closer view of the action. The defeated Prince now bowed low before his rival and spoke: “I was a fool to underestimate you, Rarity,” he said as he reached out and grasped her hoof in his. “It is clear you are just as skilled and beautiful as they say. I have never met a mare who could best me at my own game. Now that I have, I find I have fallen hopelessly in love! Would you do me the great honor of—”

“Let me just cut you off right there, Darling.” Rarity batted his hooves away and turned her back to him. “If everything you have said is true, then how would it benefit me to be with you? Don’t I deserve somepony who shines just as brightly as me? Yes, my heart will only belong to one who can match my artistic skill! And as we have all seen today that would not be you, ‘Prince’ Palladium.”

With that, Rarity and her group trotted away amidst the crowd’s jubilant chant of, “Rarity! Rarity the untouchable! Rarity, the Heartbreaker!”

***

“So, that seemed kinda harsh,” Rainbow Dash said when she reunited with Rarity and the others. “I mean, the guy was a total pain, but you tore into him pretty hard at the end there.” The four friends walked along a particularly fancy skybridge on their way to get a late dinner.

“First of all, darling, aren’t you going to congratulate Fluttershy on confronting her fears?” Rarity turned to Fluttershy. “We’re all very proud of you, dear. You’re so much braver now than you were last time you modeled for me.”

Despite having shed her dress, Fluttershy still displayed in her gait a bit of that steel and confidence that she had shown in front of the crowd. “Thank you, Rarity, and thank you for giving me the chance to prove to myself how much I’ve grown! But, um, I kind of agree with Rainbow Dash. The way you treated Mr. Palladium was… not nice.”

“Normally those would be fair concerns, darling, but this is all a part of the industry around here. It isn’t just about the fashion, it’s about the reputation of the fashionista! Ponies will hear about these silly games that ‘Prince’ Palladium and Rarity ‘the Heartbreaker’ played with each other, with all the pageantry and the drama, and then suddenly wearing our clothing is not just about appearance, it’s about making a statement! It’s all—this way, darling, along the Cumulus Canal. Don’t worry, we’re almost there! Anyway yes, it’s all in good fun.”

“It really didn’t look like he was having fun at the end there, Rarity,” Twilight said. “It looked like you really hurt his feelings.” They entered a small, intimate cafe set atop a wispy cirrus cloud. The waiter immediately recognized Rarity and led them to a table.

“Well I certainly wouldn’t want that, dear Twilight. You really think he took it personally? Why don’t we ask him?”

Rarity smiled pointedly at their table, where the unmistakable figure of Prince Palladium, sans crown, was having an animated conversation with two pegasi and an earth pony. When he noticed Rarity and her friends’ arrival, he practically bounced out of his chair to greet them.

“That show was amazing! And that bit at the end? The crowd ate it up! Tonight, Rarity, you and I will be the talk of the town!” He levitated a glass of something that was definitely not grape juice to her before raising his own glass and proclaiming, “To Rarity the Heartbreaker!” This was echoed by everypony at the table before they all drained their glasses. “Oh, but I need to introduce you to my friends! This is my assistant Bright Feather, Green Hoof over there is my makeup artist, and—”

“OK, what gives?” Rainbow Dash punctuated her interruption by flying over to flare her wings at Palladium. “You’re a totally different guy than the one who ambushed us in the street just now!”

He chuckled and made an appeasing gesture with his hooves. “You’re talking about the ‘Ooh, I’m a long lost prince of the unicorn master race’ routine that I do, right? Well, sometimes ponies want to root for the bad guy, and so I’ve made a name for myself providing that for them!"

He leaned in close with a conspiratorial wink. "At least according to my sales numbers, ‘giving the people what they want’ is a good way to go, even if sometimes the crowd wants a villain!”

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow looked at each other, then back at Rarity and Palladium drinking together. Rainbow shrugged and took a seat. “With all this weird fashion stuff going on, I’m actually glad AJ didn’t come here with us.”

***

“Yeeehaw! Looks like I finally found the right address!” Applejack had been wandering around Runway City for so long, she worried she’d wear out the fancy new cloudwalking horseshoes she’d bought. She’d walked past this cloudhouse three times without even noticing it, since it was so small compared to some of the extravagant feats of cloud architecture that surrounded it. But the address on the mailbox matched the one she’d scrawled on her leg, and so she knocked on the door.

“I wonder why cousin Ginger doesn’t just go grab some of them public clouds floating around and make herself a second floor?” As she pondered this, the door swung open and Applejack was greeted by the sight of Ginger Gold Apple covered head to hoof in liquid rainbow.

Applejack struggled to suppress her laughter, an act that was not made any easier when her cousin rushed forward and grabbed her by the hoof, yelling “Thank Celestia you’re here, AJ, I need your help!”

Applejack took a final calming breath before replying in a voice that was thankfully steady. “This, uh, wouldn’t happen to be about your new polychromatic lifestyle? I know I promised I’d stop making fun of your ‘avant garde” fashion, but this is a bit much, ain’t it, Ginger?”

It took a moment, but Ginger’s eyes widened in recognition as she looked down at the riot of colors that was her body. “Oh, this? No no, this is just from an accident at work. What I need is for you to model some dresses for me!”

Applejack frowned. Ginger smiled. Applejack frowned some more. “Nnnnnope. Why do you think I’d agree to this, cuz? What's this about?”

“Well, there’s this mare… no, wait! Come back! C’mon, AJ! I think I really have a shot with her! See, she’s a fashionista like me, or well at least like I want to be, and she’s so talented and gorgeous and she said… please, AJ, let me tell you what she said! She said that she’d only fall in love with somepony who’s as good an artist as she is! That could be me, AJ!”

As Ginger talked, Applejack marched doggedly away, muttering “nope nope nope” under her breath, but Ginger kept up with her.

Finally with a flap of her wings she flew over the earth pony and landed in her path, looking her dead in the eyes. “AJ, I’m telling you she’s the one! It’s my destiny to win her heart. With my love and my art I can get her to care for me!

Applejack looked hurt. “Your family cares about you, Ginger! You left home to live on this daggun cloud chasing your dreams of fame and… look, don’t get me wrong, we’re all rootin’ for you, but damn it, girl, I just don’t want to see you hurt again.”

They exchanged a significant look. AJ was the first to turn away. “This won’t be like last time,” Ginger said. “I can feel it.” When AJ turned back to her she saw fire in her cousin’s eyes.

“Alright, alright, fine. What's her name?”