"You think this scarf is too much?" Rarity stood in front of full body mirror, turning to see the specific angles of the blue scarf she was trying on. Numerous scarfs had been thrown about the room, for the outfit had to be perfect. Perfect!
"Why you asking me? You're the fashion expert," Rainbow Dash questioned, leaning over the back of the couch. She had known her friend Rarity wanted help, but choosing an outfit? Why?
Rarity had to choose the right outfit for the occasion for her pen pal was visiting today. A visit from a pen pal from France was an important event for her, because the pen pal was a rich girly girl fellow fashionista named Chloe, and Rarity did not want to get judged on the matter of her wardrobe.
Rarity harrumphed, "I guess this one'll do."
Rainbow watched Rarity point to multiple boxes in the corner, "Rainbow darling! Be a dear and help carry these to the train station!"
Ah, that's why Rarity wanted Rainbow's help.
Rainbow grabbed the boxes and struggled to carry the stack. "Why do you need all this for a day out anyways?" Rainbow asked underneath the stack.
"Why you wouldn't understand darling," Rarity laughed, "Its fashion things that wouldn't interest you."
"You got that right."
At the train station, Rainbow Dash heaved and put down the boxes. Wiping the sweat from her brow, Rainbow sighed, at least that was the last of them.
The train arrived in the station, blowing a plume of smoke as the passengers disembarked. Suddenly, Rainbow's jaw dropped as she saw a trolley containing three times as many boxes as she had to carry was pushed out into the station by a handler. Trailing behind was a person with stylish clothes, ruby sunglasses, and curly pink hair. It was Chloe, Rarity's pen pal.
The pen pals squealed and embraced each other as they began to yammer about their plans for the day. Rainbow didn't pay attention of course, however her attention was instead focused on two large metallic cylinders on one side of the trolley. She took a step closer and-
"Don't touch those!"
Chloe had yelled out to Rainbow, who paused midway to the cylinders. "Those are extremely delicate! I don't want you to break them!"
"What? What's the big deal?" Rainbow asked.
"They were made by my mother," Chloe stated matter-of-factly, "She's a scientist you know. And those, machines, are not to be used by someone who could break them or dirty them up."
Rainbow laughed off the thinly veiled insult "Right, you two have fun on your day out or whatever. I got a nap calling my name!"
Rarity stopped Rainbow before she could dash off, "Wait a second darling! Could please help with one more teeny, little thing?"
Four hours later, Rainbow's back was still sore from all the lifting. She had done the task of course, leaving all of the clothes, makeup, hair supplies, jewelry and the two metallic things in Rarity's home. Right now, she was hanging out with Applejack, another of her friends. Applejack was much more of a rough-and-tumble kind of gal like Rainbow, so they had an easier time hanging out.
Walking around a corner, the pair saw a line of hundreds of people that stretched around the block.
"Woah nelly!" Applejack said with her southern twang, "What do you reckons going on there?"
"I know exactly what's going on there," Rainbow responded dryly, "It's the fashion show Rarity and her pen pal Chloe are going to. Trust me, she told me allabout it."
Applejack pointed to the middle of the line, "Say, isn't that Rarity right there?"
Rainbow looked up to see Rarity and Chloe, both of the girls were jumping up and down and waving at her, attempting to get her attention. Rainbow and Applejack walked up to the edge of the area roped off for the line to see that Rarity and Chloe both wore frantic expressions.
"This is awful!" Rarity cried, "The worst, possible, thing!"
"Woah woah, slow down," said Rainbow, "What's the matter?"
Rarity looked embarrassed, "I may or may not have left the tickets to the fashion show in my wallet, which I left at my house. And we can't just leave the line!" Both Rainbow and Applejack chuckled at the mistake when Rarity piped in, "Luckily you two were passing by! Could both be a darling and help out a friend?"
Rainbow stood proud, "No worries Rare! We'll be there and back in a flash!"
Applejack agreed, "Yep! We'll be back in a lickety-split!"
Following Rarity's cries of jubilation, the duo set out to Rarity's place, not knowing what they had gotten themselves into.
"You weren't kiddin' when ya said you carried everythin' here," said Applejack. Before her was the mass of Rarity and Chloe goods, all piled in one large pile in the center of the room.
Rainbow smugly smiled, "You know me! Fast and efficient!"
"Right," Applejack said unamused, "Let's goin' with the wallet."
The duo began to search through the pile. Rainbow had piled everything clustered together, which in turn made the search only more difficult. Several minutes of fruitless searching later, they had turned up nothing.
"You'd think a wallet be easier to find," said Rainbow exasperatedly.
"Hey Rainbow!" Applejack called out, "What're these here doohickeys?" She pointed to the two metal containers.
Rainbow shrugged, "I dunno, Chloe just said not to touch them, but maybe." She paused and began to edge closer to the mysterious containers, creeping over the messy floor to them. She reached out and one finger pressed against one of the containers.
HUMAN DETECTED
Applejack jumped back as one by one, both of the containers split apart and fell with a hiss. Steam hissed and poured out as the two machines began to hum. Applejack and Rainbow could only watch as the larger of the two machines stood up on two skinny metallic legs.
It was cylinder shaped with no arms and a wide head at the top. The head had a red visor with pulsing lines, like an eye of some kind. The whole body of the machine began to rapidly rotate back and forth, as if it was testing itself.
"Greetings User Chloe!" It suddenly exclaimed in a chipper metallic tone, waving to Rainbow Dash, "Thank you for activating PAU-F and my compatriot, PADE!" It pointed to the other machine, a half dome, with a circular screen, slowly rose up into the air.
Of course, both of the girls were confused "Pauf? Pad?"
"Personal Altercation Unit Fashion Model, and Personal Altercation Drone Express Model! We are both robotic models created for the sole purpose of fulfilling your personal fashion-related needs!"
"Wait, your robots? Awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed excitedly.
"Awesome indeed User Chloe!" PAUF exclaimed in return, its claw on its side in an attempt to mimic human emotion.
"And you must be User Rarity," chirped PADE in a robotic voice, floating around and examining Applejack, "Don't you worry user, User Chloe has the whole schedule set up, leave everything to us."
"Wait wait wait, we ain't Chloe or Rarity," Applejack stated to the two robots, who stared blankly in return, "In fact, we're here for somethin' else, right Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow paused and thought for a second, "Right right! We're here for Rarity's-"
"Wallet detected," PADE interrupted, extending a claw to grab the wallet out of the clutter. The drone proceeded to use little metal pincers to dig through the wallet, pulling out the tickets. "Delivering tickets," PADE said, before emitting a loud burst, blasting through the window at a supersonic speed.
Rainbow stared at the shattered window in horror, "What! You can't just do that! Rarity's gonna kill me!"
PAUF made a tinny burping sound in an attempt to mimic a laugh, "But how could User Rarity kill you User Chloe? She has displayed zero levels of aggression towards you since my activation!"
Rainbow was beginning to get angry at these robots, "Because she's not-"
"Return," PADE interrupted again from behind, startling Rainbow. The drone turned to PAUF, "Proceed?".
"Hmmm, yes," PAUF muttered in response, "I would have expected better fashion from both of them." It didn't turn or express any emotion giving the impression it was deep in thought. Rainbow and Applejack took the opportunity to begin silently creeping towards the exit.
The pair looked away for a second only to turn and face PADE directly in the face, it's singular blue dot of an eye staring into them.
"Makeover time."
Rainbow and Applejack were sitting next to each other, each restrained to a chair in front of a dresserboard. They both had their mouths sealed shut by some kind of robot glue.
"It's time to begin the makeover session!" PAUF exclaimed as it walked up from behind. Its torso began to rapidly swivel as multiple little doors opened, revealing a spider-like array of mechanical arms that began to extend out. Some had claws, others had scissors, and one had what looked spray bottle. Both of the girls became to frantically wiggle in their seats, their shouts muffled. PADE flew in from overhead. A compartment extended from its side, revealing a make-up kit. Like PAUF, multiple smaller mechanical arms extended from PADE, topped with brushes and lipstick.
"Hold still," PADE said, as the two robots got to work.
PAUF brought a hair dryer upon the girls' heads and the scissored arms got to work. "Chloe" got her rainbow-colored hair styled in a wavy fashion. PAUF spun like it was dancing and began its work on "Rarity", giving her blonde hair curly extensions.
"Makeup!" PADE said enthusiastically as it worked on "Chloe". Metallic digits smoothened out the skin, plucking errant hairs and applying a light tinge of pink as blush. Pink lipstick was then applied to her lips, making them a vivid shade of fuscia. A brush gently applied dark pink eyeshadow. This was followed by mascara, elegantly darkening and curling her eyelashes.
"You look gorgeous!" PAUF said absentmindingly. Mechanical claws took Rainbow's fingertips and inserted them into mechanical boxes. These fingers emerged with brand-new pink nails that glistened in the light. As the final touch for the makeover, PAUF held out a nozzle which shot out a perfume that had a fancy, bubbly scent.
Meanwhile, PADE was working its magic on "Rarity". The mechanical digits cleaned her face, brushing off the spots and cleansing the pores dirtied by the country girl's lifestyle. The floating robots claw dabbed its brush with blue coloring and applied the light blue eyeshadow to Applejack's face. This was soon met with mascara much like Rainbow's, give Applejack's green eyes an air of elegance. Bright red lipstick was dappled onto her lips, making them stand out from her tanned face.
PAUF came next, following a similar procedure with Applejack. The nail machines gave her new nails that were in a dark shade of violet. The perfume was applied similarly, giving Applejack an elegant, refined scent.
"Oo-la-la!" PAUF exclaimed with its claw doing an approximation of a chef's kiss, "Now that's what I call magnifique!"
As both of the robots finished their makeovers, they spun both the girls in unison until they faced a dual set of mirrors held out by one of PAUF's mechanical arms. As the seals on both of their mouths was removed by robotic claws simultaneously, Rainbow and Applejack gasped.
"You look fabulous!" PAUF said with a flair. Both girls looked in shock at their marvelously styled hair and make-up. They both nearly looked like different people, with the facial stylings being unlike what either had ever done before. Of course, the coloring was bit mismatched as it meant for other people entirely, but PAUF thought that they were the correct users, and knew that they had to love their makeovers.
"Now users, it's time to do something about your fashion," it paused, "choices."
Before Rainbow had the chance to react, she was lifted by the robot and placed in the middle of the room, where the robots had somehow set up an impromptu dressing area. PADE pushed Applejack over, who was simply too confused by the situation to react.
"Acquiring outfit do overs," said PADE bluntly as it began to dig through the suitcases. With expert efficiency, the drone collected and shot out folded clothes from the pile, which PAUF caught with rods extending from its body.
With Rainbow covered by the dressing area, PADE flew behind into the area as well. Angry yells from Rainbow could be heard, "What are you doing? Get off me!"
Despite her shouts of anger, her original outfit flew out from behind dressing area, which were summarily caught by PAUF and disposed of in a pile. In a flash, PADE flew over and collected various pieces from PAUF. "Outfit retrieval successful, beginning redressing for User Chloe," it said. Like a spider, PADE extended its many arms and flew into the dressing area, creating even more audible cries of distress from Rainbow.
"What are ya doin' to her?" Applejack asked angrily to the robot standing beside. PAUF simply ignored the question, instead watching and tapping its feet to some unheard song.
After a minute of muffled struggling, the sound stopped. PADE quickly flew in front of covering and ripped it aside, revealing the embarrassed Rainbow standing in a whole new outfit. Rather than her usual rattier getup, she had an outfit only fit for a fashionista like Chloe. She had on a sparkly pink v-neck knee dress with a belt with a white fur blouse and gold bracelets on her wrists. Her usual dirty sneakers were replaced golden high heels. Her blushing head had extra accessories including heart shaped earrings that matched the makeup, a pink shoulder purse on her arm, and a necklace with a gleaming diamond. The entire look was topped off with a pink beret accompanied with dark pink sunglasses like those Chloe wore at the train station.
PAUF clapped with three pairs of arms at once, "Bravo! Bravo! Absolutely gorgeous!" This praise only made Rainbow's face turn a deeper shade of red. The robotic drone pushed her away from the dressing area as PAUF turned and lifted up Applejack. "My turn!"
The process repeated like before, with "Rarity" getting a new outfit. Rainbow tried to take off the new clothes several times with each attempt being foiled by PADE floating nearby like a vulture.
Eventually, PAUF stepped out in front of the dressing area. With a flourish, one of its claws ripped away the covering, revealing the newly embarrassed Applejack standing in a very Rarity-like outfit. The country clothes were gone, being replaced with an outfit that screamed fashionista. She had a light blue long sleeve crop top with a complementary white skirt with a belt. The muddy boots were gone, being exchanged for blue high heeled boots. Her neck was wrapped in a fluffy, white scarf. Her wrists, though hidden behind her back, had golden bracelets. Similar accessories to Rainbow were further additions, with diamond shaped earrings a blue shoulder purse matching Rainbow's. On top of it all, Applejacks recently made curls were decorated a white hair band with a flower attached to it.
With robots making the two newly refashioned girls stand next to each other, their shame for the situation increased greatly. In spite of both of the robot's praises for their "style" and "beauty", Rainbow and Applejack were each not happy in the slightest.
"Okay just stop!" Rainbow yelled to the robots suddenly, "We took your dumb 'makeovers'," she put "makeovers' in finger quotes, "can you just leave us alone?"
Both of the robots turned to Rainbow at the same time.
"Alone? Now," mused PADE.
PAUF made a mechanical chuckle, "Now don't be pulling our legs User Chloe! You programmed a whole day's worth of activities that were supposed to precisely follow your makeovers." An arm extending, holding a checklist of items. "Next up on the list, a trip to the café!"
"Café time," chirped PADE is response.
Applejack shook her head, "No! Ain't no way or no how we goin' outside lookin' like this!"
"Yeah," agreed Rainbow, "Like, I can't even walk in these!" She held up her feet adorned in the new gold-colored high heels.
"Oh, that won't be a problem User Chloe," PAUF answered, waving away the question with multiple arms, "We can teach you."
The high heel "lessons" amounted to little more than the robots trying to make the girls practice walking down a catwalk like fashion models, and that went about as well as one would expect.
So, there was Rainbow and Applejack, slowly making their way to the café with the robots trailing closely behind. They lacked any real instructions, PAUF had taken their phones away so they could have more time for "bonding", whatever that meant. Instead, PADE provided its own instructions. Both girls suspected that the robots were giving them the wrong routes on purpose, taking the longer "scenic" route. And it was all the more embarrassing for them.
The girls' new looks had attracted lots of stares from passerby. They could both hear the whispers, "Is that AJ?", "Woah, Dash got a new look!", "Dang, they look nice!". On the plus side, aside from occasional directions, the robots were mostly quiet, silently shadowing the girls as they went to the café.
The experience at the café was just as awkward. Both girls sat in silence, refusing to maintain eye contact with each other. Applejack stared down into her drink while Rainbow looked down and played with her food. PAUF ignored all of this, did it's best to cosplay a waiter, gallantly carrying in multiple covered trays of food at a time. PADE orbited overhead, refilling the drinks whenever a single sip was taken. The robots continued interference annoyed their fellow diners, their statements being completely ignored by the dutiful robots.
By the time they finished eating, the sun was beginning to set. After leaving the café, Rainbow cleared her throat, "Okay, let's get this over with just go to the fashion show, that's on the list, right?"
PAUF straightened itself out, "Indeed it is User Chloe! And my internal clock indicates that you are late by several hours!"
Before Rainbow could respond, PADE slowly hovered into view.
"Camera."
Before either girl could take in the statement, PAUF extended its many arms and maneuvered the girls into model worthy positions in front the setting sun.
PADE's "eye" flashed, and it printed a picture out.
PAUF ripped out the picture and looked it over, "You two look, so, spectacular," it said with an almost teary inflection upon its voices.
"Uh, the fashion show?" Applejack questioned.
PADE snapped into attention, quickly wrapping the stylish pair and flying off.
The sunset bathed the exterior with an orange light. The fashion show had ended, and various people were out and about, socializing and such outside. Among them were Rarity and Chloe.
"Those outfits were simply gorgeous!" Rarity cried with stars in her eyes.
Chloe nodded in agreement, "They were stylish yet subtle."
A voice rang out from above, "Touchdown."
Two familiar faces came down from above, being carried by the robotic drone that had dropped the tickets off earlier.
Rarity looked at them in shock, "Rainbow? Applejack?"
"Yeah yeah, it's us," groaned Rainbow, resigned to her fate at this point. She looked at Chloe, "Now can you please tell your robots to get off our backs?"
Chloe, who was just as confused as Rarity, said nothing. Just then, PAUF rolled up wearing roller skates. With a hop, the robot retracted the wheels. "Ah! User Chloe, there you are-" The robot did a doubletake as it glanced between Rainbow Dash and Chloe, the real Chloe. "Two User Chloes?"
Chloe facepalmed, "Did the robots mistake you for us?"
Rainbow and Applejack both nodded.
"Never mind that," PAUF said, "Don't they look fabulous?"
Rarity nodded, "Yes darling, they do look fabulous," she pointed to Applejack, "Especially her, that style suits you perfectly!"
Applejack merely grunted, "Only thing this done is reaffirm my opinions on fashion."
"Ditto," Rainbow agreed. Rarity and Chloe began to gush over Rainbow and Applejack's do overs while the robots stood by with an air of self-confidence.
Rarity pulled out her phone, "We must simply take a selfie to remember occasion!" Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack shrugged, both being too tired to argue against the suggestion.
"Fine," Rainbow sighed, "but only if you agree to never talk about this again."
Author's Note
Thanks to JBlaser for the original story request and additional details.
