Learning Magic

by thesecret1

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Rarity
Length: 14163

Rarity decides to learn more about magic.

After nearly missing a deadline on one of her dresses, Rarity decides to learn more about magic in order to become a better dressmaker.

(This is my first fan-fiction)

Published 2012-11-01 07:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-09 16:25:20 UTC

Chapter 2: The Basics

Chapter 2: The Basics

There was a knock at the door. Twilight stood up from her book and went to see who knocks at the door of a public library.

“Oh, hello Rarity, what brings you here? If you want to take Spike gem hunting then you’ll have to wait, he’s grocery shopping.”

“Hello Twilight, no it doesn’t concern Spike. I’m here because I’m in need of your assistance.”

Twilight looked puzzled. It was usual for her to come by Carousel Boutique to have her clothes fixed, but never the other way around.

“Sure I’ll help you, but with what?”

“Magic.”

“Magic?” Twilight asked, suddenly looking much more interested.

“Yes Twilight, I would like you to teach me some spells about enchanting and to improve my levitation spell.”
Twilight looked surprised at first, but then her expression quickly changed to that of an excited filly.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! This is so exciting, I’ve always wanted to study magic with my friends! Of course I’ll help you, we can even have a study sleepover! This is going to be so great, I have all the books we need here, so we can start immediately!”

Twilight was now positively brimming with happiness. Rarity couldn’t remember the last time she saw her this excited.

Wow, I expected her to be happy, but this brings happiness to a whole new level. She looks like Pinkie after making a new friend!

“Immediately? I don’t want to bother you and disrupt your schedule...”

“Bother me? Now that’s just silly! How could a friend with such a beautiful request be any bother?” Twilight said, as she pushed Rarity to the nearby chair.

———

Rarity sat across the table from Twilight. Various books about magic were strewn across the table, their titles ranging from “Magic for little fillies” to “The possible use of magic in micro biology and quantum physics”.

“First of all, I’m going to revise the basics to you. I know that you’ve probably heard all that back in school, but I also know that it has been some time since you finished it and that you were never really interested in magic before.”

Twilight’s voice was almost devoid of emotion, like she was reading a textbook.

“There are three basic attributes of magic. It’s strength, stamina and range. Magical strength is the efficiency with which you cast the spells – in other words: just how much magical stamina do you need in order to perform a spell. Also, the strength is tied to each spell individually, although being proficient in a similar spell helps you considerably. Take levitation for example – for someone who just learned the spell, lifting even a little rock wears him down as if he just ran a marathon. However, someone who has already practiced the spell will lift the rock without a problem.”

Twilight’s eyes were now closed, as she repeated things she learned so many years ago.

“Magical stamina is simply the energy you have. Every spell drains a little of your stamina, the amount depending on your strength with that particular spell. If you by a chance run out of your magical stamina, the spell will instead drain your regular stamina, making you weaker and weaker until you pass out. While to improve your strength all you need is to practice, stamina is much harder to increase. The most usual way to raise it is to simply cast a spell, but that increases it by a completely negligible amount, so I have several exercises designed to improve it faster.”

“The third attribute, range, is quite self-explanatory. However, the further you aim your magic, the more stamina you use – though you can again reduce that by trining long range spells.”

Finally! I knew all these things, but I didn’t want to offend her, since she’s helping and all, but I don’t think I could stand another minute of this – does she think I’m five? Even Sweetie knows these things!

“Now about the different schools of magic...”

She does think I’m five!

“Erm... Twilight, I’m sorry to interrupt you dear, but I already know all these things and don’t really need to remind them.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to skip anything important.”

“Yes, I’m sure, darling. You can skip all these things.”

“Okay, now I need to test your attributes before we continue any further.”

“How?”

“Wait here, I’ll bring everything necessary.”

———

“All you have to do is to lift as many of those as you can.” Twilight said, as she pointed to a large stack of candles.

The candles were lying on the table; they have never been lit.

Either Twilight keeps a large stack of them, or she tests herself just as she tests me now.

“Since you levitate things every day, this should be your strongest spell. I need to know just how exactly strong are you in it in order to get a general idea about your magic.”

Well, I levitate several spools of thread of similar weight every day, so this shouldn’t be hard.

A candle started to hover about a meter over the table, soon followed by several others. Rarity levitated ten candles, before she started to feel the drain on her magic. At that point Twilight stopped her.

“Alright, that’s enough. You can levitate about ten candles without using up much of your stamina. It’s not that bad, but it could be better.”

She’s starting to sound like a teacher.

“Now try moving them, but as soon as you begin to feel them sipping out your energy, drop them.”

Alright then, I’m pretty sure I can move at least five of them at once.

And sure enough, six candles started to move in unison towards the ceiling.

“Now move them each into a different direction.”

Rarity did as she was told, but soon, three candles fell to the floor.

Having to concentrate on all these candles... Plan six separate movements at the same time... It’s just too confusing!

“Alright, you can drop the rest now.”

“How did I do?”

“Moving six candles at once was just about what I expected from you, and so was moving three candles in different directions.”

Rarity felt a bit sore after such harsh evaluation, so she replied perhaps a bit sharply.

“Well how many candles can you lift, if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Last time I did this I lifted 114 candles and moved 34 of them each in different direction. But I’m the bearer of Element of Magic after all, three candles is quite good, considering that you never really trained magic before.” Twilight said, realizing that she might have offended Rarity a bit.

Rarity decided to give up and changed the theme.

“So is that the end of those tests, or are there more?”

“Almost, I still need to test your range and stamina.”

“I don’t think we should test my stamina today, as I exhausted myself today before coming to you.”

“Oh that’s fine, we can test that tomorrow. But now come with me outside.”

———

Upon walking outside, Rarity realized just how much time had passed while she was in the library. Since the sun was directly above her head, it was safe to assume it was about noon. Also, a small purple dragon could be seen going towards the library, stopping as soon as he saw Rarity.

“Spike, come over here!” Twilight called out.

Spike started to move, this time he almost ran, thinking that Rarity might want to talk to him.

“H–he–hello R–Rarity, d–do you need help with anything?”

He’s so sweet...

“You are kind to offer Spike, but I’m afraid I don’t really need anything right now.”

“Aww... But why are you here then? Do you need a book? I can get it right away!”

Spike started to run towards the library door, trying to get the book as soon as possible, even though he didn’t yet know what book.

“Actually I came here to learn more about magic from Twilight, I might be here more often from now on.”

After hearing this, Spike stopped dead in his tracks, as if not believing his luck.

“Really?”

“Yes Spike, really. Now go and prepare some lunch for me and Rarity will you?”

“Sure Twilight, this will be the best lunch you ever ate.”

He’s adorable when he tries to impress me... And I must say he’s often successful.

“Now where were we? Oh yes, the range test. Try lifting that rock over there.” Twilight said, as she pointed to a rock roughly 20 meters away.

This should be easy.

The rock floated right away.

“Okay, now try lifting that one.”

Now, Twilight pointed to a rock 70 meters away.

She’s increasing the difficulty quite fast.

This time, the rock flew into the air after about 15 seconds, during which Rarity’s horn glow darkened as she amassed more and more magic into it.

“Good, good... Now lift that one.”

Twilight motioned towards a rock 100 meters away.

She has to be joking, I can’t lift that one!

Rarity tried anyway. Once again, her horn glow started to darken, becoming almost dark blue. She then started sweating profusely, as she ran out of her magical stamina. After about 30 seconds, during which Rarity looked more and more exhausted, the rock was finally lifted.

“I didn’t expect you to lift it, good job!”

“It was... It was... It was nothing.”

Twilight simply smiled when she looked at Rarity, who was now gasping for air.

“Do you want to come to lunch?”

“Sure, thank you Twilight.”

———

The lunch was delicious. Spike had really outdone himself this time – fresh leaves of lettuce and cabbage, carrots, tomatoes... even radishes! All covered with delicious salad dressing. This was, by far, the best lunch Rarity had this week.

“I must say you are a great cook, Spike.” Rarity said.

Spike blushed, obviously being flattered.

“Oh I’m sure you are used to eating better things that this.”

“No, really, this food tasted divine. I’m afraid, however, that I’ll have to beg your leave, as I have to go back to my boutique – Sweetie will be back from school soon and I won’t leave her running around my dresses without supervision.”

After exchanging their goodbyes, Rarity slowly walked back to her boutique to rest and to reflect on her today’s experiences.

Chapter 3: The Magical Mishap

Chapter 3: The Magical Mishap

Rarity slowly got up from her bed. She felt great, actually, she felt better than great – she couldn’t remember the last time she got such a good rest. What was strange was that she didn’t feel like this because of her body, it was rather because of her mind.

For the past several years, she never really used her magic, except for her daily chores, which don’t really count. As a result, majority of her magical stamina waited in her horn unmoving, undisrupted, rotting; in a metaphorical sense, of course. This stillness caused a feeling in her horn – it could be compared to the feeling you get after being really bored for several hours. Of course, this feeling was intensifying gradually, so Rarity didn’t notice it until it was gone – yesterday’s test was like flexing a muscle.

I feel like I can tackle the world! Twilight, today I’ll show you what I’m made of!

———

“Alright Rarity, just stand over here and focus on that large boulder.” Twilight said, as she motioned towards a nearby rock.

The rock itself was quite big - it weighed 52,568 kg – Twilight measured it. The point of the test was to levitate the rock as long as possible.

“As soon as you begin to feel your natural energy being drained, drop it.”

“Of course darling, no need to remind me.”

Rarity lit up her horn. At first, the rock simply started to glow light blue, without actually rising. That soon changed, however, as Rarity began to channel her magic towards it, making the aura change colour to rich blue.

This... is really hard.

Rarity could feel her magic being exhausted and knew that at this rate, it will be completely depleted in under 10 seconds.

I have to keep it up longer! If I drop it after just 10 seconds, I’ll look pathetic! Twilight might even give up on me after such a feeble performance!

After 11 seconds, her magic was completely spent, but Rarity continued to levitate the rock nevertheless.

Just... A... Little... Longer!!!

Slowly, her vision began to darken, however, the boulder stayed afloat.

Why is it so dark? There must be a cloud passing overhead. The rock suddenly feels so light...

And with that, Rarity passed out.

———

“Ow, my head,” Rarity groaned as she woke up.

Her whole body felt like it was on fire. Every single muscle was sore and to top that, she had a splitting headache.

“About time you woke up, you were out for the whole day,” a familiar voice said.

“Sweetie? Why aren’t you at school? And what time is it?”

“It’s Saturday morning and it’s half ten. Oh and Spike is cooking breakfast downstairs.”

“Spike? What is he doing here? Shouldn’t he be helping Twilight? I’m sure she wants to eat just as much as I do.”

“Twilight is here too, she said she wants to speak with you. And Spike is cooking here because he thinks that I can’t take care of you alone. As if I can’t cook a breakfast!”

Unlike my parents, I need to eat something that isn’t burned to crisp. Good thinking Spike! I need to reward him somehow. But first – Twilight is going to scold me.

Rarity quickly got out of bed and followed Sweetie downstairs.

“Good morning everypony,” Rarity said, while trying to maintain a smile.

That smile soon faltered as she saw the state in which Twilight was. Her mane was all dishevelled, the front of her coat was stained by dried tears and she had large bags under her eyes. Despite all that, she still managed to give a weak smile as she saw Rarity.

“Good morning Rarity, I’m glad to see that you are alright.”

Oh my, she looks terrible! And it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry Twilight!

“Twilight, are you alright, dear?”

“Of course I’m alright, why wouldn’t I be? It’s not like thinking I might have killed or permanently injured my friend would make me feel bad or anything. And it’s not like I spent the entire night praying to Celestia that you were okay, not at all. WHAT THE HAY WERE YOU THINKING!?!"

Rarity was slightly startled at this sudden outburst.

Oh no, this is going to be bad...

“I–I–I’m terribly sorry Twilight, I didn’t know you’d be so worried, I thought the worst that could happen would be passing out...”

“Indeed that would be the case, IF YOU WEREN’T USING A CONTINUOUS SPELL!!! While you lost your consciousness, you sub consciousness continued to maintain the magic field, draining your energy even further! If I wasn’t there, you’d be dead! I was so afraid that I didn’t disrupt the field soon enough... Why did you do that Rarity? I told you to stop before draining your energy several times...”

I could have died!? Why didn’t she warn me!? Wait... This is not the time to try to shift the blame. I’m the one who’s responsible for this.

“I... I think I just wanted to impress you, since what I showed yesterday was so bad. When I couldn’t hold the rock for more than 10 seconds... I just felt so weak.”

After hearing this, Twilights expression started to soften, even a small compassionate smile began to appear.

“You are not weak Rarity; yesterday I simply compared you to myself, that’s why I was so... harsh. Today, I didn’t expect you to keep the rock up for more than seven seconds, you did great even without risking your life.”

“So... You forgive me?”

“I forgive you, Rarity. Just don’t scare me like this ever again.”

At this very moment, Spike walked in from the kitchen, interrupting their conversation.

“Breakfast is ready everypony. Rarity! I’m glad you are alright, I was worried.”

“Spike, you’re such a gentledragon, preparing breakfast for me.”

“It was nothing, really...”

“Well, I think you deserve a reward.” Rarity said as she levitated several gems from the nearby box.

“I love sapphires! I mean... Thank you for your gift Rarity, you are really generous.”

“Don’t be so modest Spike, you deserve it.”

And I mean it – you saved me from Sweetie’s cooking after all!

———

After eating, Twilight bid her farewell.

“I think you should rest today, we’ll continue our lessons tomorrow, only if you want of course. I can understand if you don’t want to have anything to do with magic anymore.”

“Don’t be ridiculous darling. One magical mishap can’t keep me away.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? I can stay and help if you want me to,” Spike said.

“While I still feel a bit sore, I don’t think there’s anything me and Sweetie couldn’t handle together.”

“Are you sure? I can sweep the floor or–or...”

“You heard the lady, Spike. And you can sweep the floor at the library,” Twilight said, grabbing Spike with her magic.

“Aww...”

Afterwards, Rarity went to fix her hair. If she was to relax, then she’ll do it in the spa, and she needs to look presentable in order to walk out of her house after all.

Chapter 4: First Spell

Chapter 4: First Spell

“Coming!” Twilight shouted, as she went to open the door.

“Hello darling, let me once again apologize for yesterday.” Rarity said, with a hint of humility in her voice.

“I already told you that I don’t blame you. Now come in, today you’re finally going to learn something new!”

Finally! No more boring tests.

Twilight motioned her towards the nearby table. This time there was only a single book on it, labelled “Pyromancy for beginners”.

“Twilight, I know that you want to teach me as much as possible, but of what use could fire spells be to me? I don’t plan on doing any fireworks.”

“Well Rarity, I can’t teach you any enhancing spells, since they belong to a secondary school of magic. I thought you said you know all about them and that I can skip that.”

Twilight looked at Rarity with an accusing scowl.

Oh no... Caught in the act...

“Eh... Um... I...”

“Maybe I should just tell you the difference, since you obviously simply suffer from a momentary amnesia.”

“Yes, that would be wonderful.”

And now I’ve failed her again. Well done Rarity, she’s sure to continue teaching you at this rate.

“Well, the difference between primary and secondary school is that you don’t need anything except a horn to learn spells from primary school, but you need to be proficient in a primary school in order to be able to perform any secondary school spell. The reason for that is simple: If you, for example, want to enchant a gem with a fire resistance spell, you first need to know that fire resistance spell and be quite good at it. That’s why I decided to teach you some basic spells from each school, so you can then decide which magic school you want to study in depth.”

Seems like there’s a long road ahead of me...

“Now, the first spell I want to teach you is easy and very practical. It is an ignition spell – you can use it to light up a candle without matches and even a fireplace if you get strong enough.”

This spell doesn’t sound as useless as I thought; it will certainly come in handy.

“Since this is a really easy spell, we won’t even need to use the spell book, I have it with me just in case you do it quickly and want to learn another, more difficult, spell.”

“Oh, I don’t think this will be the case, I never came in contact with pyromancy.”

“Alright, your goal for now will be to light this candle,” Twilight said, motioning towards a candle which suddenly appeared on the table.

“In order to do that, you’ll have to clear your mind as much as possible and imagine something with which to light the candle. While more experienced magi can simply imagine the candlewick ablaze without much concentration, you’ll have to do it this way. Don’t worry, it will be easier second time and even easier third time you cast it.”

Twilight cleared her throat and started to read her imaginary checklist.

“Step 1: Clear your mind from anything else other than my voice.”

Rarity closed her eyes and sat in silence for about 10 minutes.

“Done.”

“Step 2: imagine the candle.”

Inside Rarity’s mind, all she could see was blackness. She didn’t have a body and simply floated. After hearing Twilight voice, she tried to imagine the candle. She had to open her eyes few times and look at the candle in order to imagine every detail correctly, but she managed to keep everything else isolated. After a few minutes, a candle appeared in front of her.

There you are.

“Done.”

“Step 3: imagine the object with which you want to light the candle.”

This step was much easier than the previous one. Rarity chose to imagine a match. She didn’t have to be too specific about the match itself – it didn’t really exist.

“Done.”

“Step 4: Light the candle.”

Okay, first, I have to light the match. I’ll simply imagine a matchbox and light it using that.

Imagining the matchbox was just as easy as imagining the match was. Rarity then proceeded to light the match, but suddenly some sort of heat formed in front of her face, causing her to break her concentration. There were several sparks flying in front of her, until after about 5 seconds they disappeared.

“What was that? It completely ruined my spell!”

Twilight giggled at the sight of pouting Rarity.

“Actually, that was you. Let me guess, you imagined a match and tried to use a matchbox to light it, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes, but how do you know that?”

“It’s quite a common mistake. When you stroke the match, you actually performed a different spell. You set an imaginary object on fire, thus performing the fireball spell. That is, however, an advanced pyromancy spell, so your result were just a few sparks.”

Fireball spell? As Rainbow Dash would say: That sounds awesome!

“But how am I supposed to light the candle without creating a small fireball?”

Twilight smiled condescendingly, happy that she can lecture her friend.

“You just have to imagine the match already lit. It will be slightly harder, since flame moves all the time, but you should be able to do it.”

I hate when she puts on this face. It’s like she was talking to a foal rather than to a full grown mare.

Rarity repeated all the afore mentioned steps, this time imagining the match already on fire.

Twilight was right, this is really harder than before, mainly because the flame keeps moving and even flickering...

“Now light the candle, Rarity.”

Slowly, the match crept closer to the candle, until finally igniting the candlewick. When Rarity opened her eyes, she could finally see the candle to be lit.

“I did it!”

“Yes, you did. But as I said before, it’s quite a simple spell, don’t you want to learn another one?”

“I thought I learned the fireball spell?”

“Heh, you did, but you aren’t strong enough to pull that one off yet.”

A determined expression formed on Rarity’s face.

“I think that I can, just give me enough time to practice it and you’ll see.”

“Is that so?” Twilight said, while a mischievous grin appeared on her face. “Let’s make a bet: If you can perform even a very small fireball by the end of the day, I’ll allow you to style my mane. If you don’t, then I’ll move the CMC sleepover I promised to Apple Bloom to your house.”

I would be, technically, doing her a favour even if I won, but her mane is almost a crime against fabulosity and as such must be corrected! I must win this bet! Besides, creating those sparks wasn’t that hard.

“It’s a deal.”

“Alright, let me just give you an advice – try training the ignition spell first, fireball will be easier afterwards.”

“Of course, Twilight, but prepare your mane for a major overhaul!” Rarity exclaimed and trotted towards her boutique.

———

Rarity was frustrated - she spent the last two hours trying to perform the fireball spell, but every time only a few sparks appeared. Even Sweetie Belle, who watched Rarity with anticipation, became bored and went to try getting her cutie mark in chess.

Why. Doesn’t. It. Work!? I have only 3 hours before sundown!

After conjuring another few sparks, she finally resigned.

Alright Twilight, have it your way. I’ll try the ignition spell first.

For about 30 minutes, Rarity performed the ignition spell again and again, each time it got easier and easier.

Okay, how about lighting more candles at once?

This time, Rarity took five candles. Imagining them took a little while longer than before, but it was still quite easy. Then she imagined the match and proceeded to light one candle after another. While it was more demanding than just one candle, it was easier than lighting one candle, dropping her concentration and doing it again.

This is easy! But how about lighting them all simultaneously? Now that’s a challenge!

Once again, Rarity imagined five candles.

Now how to light them all at once?

Rarity imagined five matches on fire. It took considerably more time than ever before, each match taking longer than the previous one. She then moved them all at once to light the candles. And indeed, right after that all the candles lit at once.

I did it, but it was just too demanding. There has to be an easier way!

Rarity continued to ponder about it for about a minute until an idea struck her.

IDEEEEEA! But it can’t be that simple, can it?

Rarity once again imagined five candles, but this time she didn’t put them in line. Instead, she ordered them in a circular pattern, their candlewicks in the centre. She then imagined just one match and moved it into the middle, igniting all the candles at once. This idea proved to be a success, because all the candles lit simultaneously, but this time it felt almost like lighting only one candle.

Success! Seems like geometry can be applied even on magic.

“Now to train the fireball spell...” Rarity said to nobody in particular.

———

Twilight let Rarity in quite confidently – she must have been sure that Rarity couldn’t possibly conjure a stable fireball. Rarity smiled.

“Alright Rarity, show me what you have learned.”

Rarity then lit several candles at once.

“You don’t seem tired, so I’m going to assume you learned to put them into a different order. Good job.”

“Yes Twilight, I did as you said and practiced the ignition spell.”

“It’s a job well done, don’t feel too bad about the fireball...”

“Oh but I can cast a fireball.”

“...What? That’s impossible, show me!”

Rarity then proceeded to cast the fireball spell, but only sparks appeared. However, one spark refused to go out and instead hovered in front of her.

“That’s just a spark, not a fireball.”

“Really? Look more closely.”

After closer inspection, Twilight could see that the spark wasn’t really a spark, but a very small, about half a millimetre in diameter, ball of fire.

All I had to do was to keep focused even after lighting the match. It was hard, but I managed to do it anyway!

“Well, what do you say?”

“It is technically a fireball, but it’s not really what I had in mind...”

“Nonsense, the bet was that I can make a fireball, which I did. You didn’t state just how big it has to be. As such, by the rules of the bet, I am the winner.”

Twilight groaned in annoyance; she knew Rarity was right.

“Alright, you win... You can style my mane.”

———

That night, a lot of groaning, complaining and arguing could be heard from inside the library, as Rarity – to her great delight – styled Twilight’s mane to what she deemed appropriate.

Chapter 5: The Ambition

I would like to give a big thanks to InquisitorM for editing this chapter, but mainly for teaching me how to write a story. Thanks to him, my next chapters will be of higher quality (like this one). That being said, I will have to rewrite the first four chapters after finishing this story.

Chapter 5: The Ambition

For Rarity, this morning was nothing like the previous ones. While she felt great physically - the sleep was just as refreshing as yesterday, she certainly didn’t feel that way mentally.

“...it’s not really what I had in mind...”

It wasn’t her magic what made her feel this way.

“...I thought you said you know all about them and that I can skip that...”

It was her emotions, specifically sadness and regret.

“...WHAT THE HAY WERE YOU THINKING!?!...”

While yesterday she was completely focused on the bet, today all that happened in the past few days loomed over her. As she walked into the bathroom, she looked into a mirror and noticed what a mess her mane was and that while she felt refreshed, her bloodshot eyes seemed to suggest otherwise.

I’m just a one big failure, aren’t I?

Rarity brushed her mane while staring into a mirror.

First I refuse an advice, thinking I’m just too smart for that...

The brushing started to get more intense, the strokes tugging hard on her mane.

...Then I try to show off and almost kill myself in the process...

She was destroying her mane at this point, rather than making it look better, as several threads of her fine purple mane were caught on the brush, being torn in the process.

...And finally, I win a stupid bet on a technicality, rubbing Twilight’s nose in it, thinking just how great I am!

She threw the brush against the nearest wall.

Alright Rarity, deep breaths, deep breaths. I’ll just make it up to Twilight by doing better than ever.

Rarity picked up the brush and started brushing her mane again, this time being gentle, careful not to damage it any further.

———

Today, there weren’t any books on the table. Instead, small pieces of metal were strewn across it in no particular order. Each of the pieces was slightly different – some of them were engraved with various runes, some were plain, but generally, they all were cylindrical in shape.

“These are the tools you need in order to increase your magical stamina,” Twilight said.

“Each of them is slightly different; it is your task to order them into a circle and send some of your magic through it. The magic sent will return to you, increasing your stamina. The best arrangement is different for each pony, so you’ll have to figure it out through trial and error. The better the arrangement, the more will your stamina increase.”

Rarity nodded and started to order the pieces into a circle, but then she noticed a small purple dragon, slowly going to the front door of the library.

“Spike? Where are you going?” Twilight asked.

“Did you forget already? We’re going to Canterlot tomorrow and I’m going to book us a chariot, so we don’t have to ride by train.”

“It’s tomorrow already? I thought it was next week.”

“Geez Twilight, for someone who schedules everything to the last detail, you sure forget a lot.”

At this point, Rarity couldn’t stay quiet any longer, they talked about Canterlot after all. That, plus Twilight didn’t mention anything about leaving before, and Rarity hated being kept in the dark.

“Canterlot?”

“Yeah, we are going to a magic competition, Twilight is sure to win!”

After hearing this, Twilight blushed and looked down at her hooves.

“Come on, Spike. There are many mages more talented than I am.”

“Wait, what magic competition in Canterlot?”

Twilight looked up, smiled and started to speak in a very proud and excited tone.

“It’s an annual competition; mages from all across Equestria go to Canterlot and compete between each other. There are several categories based on their skills and this year I’m going to be in the ‘master’ category instead of just ‘very advanced’.”

“Do you think I could join?”

Twilight’s eyes shot open in surprise at this sudden question. Rarity wondered if Twilight thought she was trying to compete against her, or maybe she just couldn’t believe the nerve Rarity had, thinking of challenging an accomplished mage after only a few days of training.

“W–why would you want to join?” Twilight asked.

“You said there are several categories, correct?”

“Yes, what are you aiming at?”

“I’ll just try my luck at the lowest category; don’t tell me I don’t stand a chance against even the weakest of magi.”

“But–but... Why?”

Twilight was sweating at this point. Maybe she noticed Rarity’s lack of confidence these past few days and thought that another failure would ruin her utterly. Or maybe she was just afraid Rarity was going to embarrass her in front of everyone.

Because if I win this, then I will finally feel less like an incompetent fool and more like someone you can be proud to be teaching. I won’t disappoint you again, Twilight.

“What better way is there to learn magic than to see all the mages of Equestria in one place, performing all their advanced magic, and even competing with some of them?” Rarity asked.

“But the beginner’s category is for mere students of magic, the oldest of them being around 14 years old. It would look strange and even inappropriate if you participated, not mentioning the humiliation if you were to lose.”

Rarity cringed after hearing this – her smile lost some of its vibrancy and her pupils slightly dilated as she imagined it. She quickly regained her composure, however.

“Nonsense, dear, while I might be quite inexperienced, I’m sure I can surpass few foals. What are the rules, by the way?”

Twilight sighed. She probably finally accepted that Rarity was going whether she liked it or not.

“The rules differ from category to category, however, beginners all just perform their most advanced spell and try to maintain it for as long as possible.”

Rarity’s eyes sparked when she heard this.

Twilight said that the fireball spell is quite an advanced spell and I learned how to maintain it yesterday. This is going to be easy!

Twilight frowned when she saw her change in demeanor.

“Don’t think your fireball will win this. That little spark will impress nobody and will make you look weak. If you want to stand a chance, your fireball must look like an actual fireball.”

Spike, who was just listening to the conversation up until now, decided to step in.

“So Rarity is going too?”

“Yes Spike, Rarity is going too,” Twilight replied.

“Sweet! That means I can cheer for two of my best friends instead of just one. I’ll book a chariot for three,” Spike said as he was leaving.

When the door closed, Twilight looked Rarity straight in the eyes and spoke in a very serious tone.

“Today, you will have to train like never before. You will train your stamina and your fireball spell, nothing else.”

Rarity was taken aback at this sudden change in mood of her friend, but then replied in the same manner.

“I will. I will train until I pass out if I have to and I will win the tomorrow’s competition.”

Twilight nodded and pointed towards the pieces of metal.

“Now, the thing about ordering them is...”

———

Rarity continued to train deep into the night, until she finally felt she was about to pass out. Afterwards, she said her goodbyes and went home. As she walked towards her boutique, she couldn’t help but wonder about what is she going to face tomorrow.

I hope I made the right choice.

Chapter 6: The Competition

Chapter 6: The Competition

“And the winner is... Miss Rarity!” the referee exclaimed.

Tears of joy streamed from Rarity’s eyes as she went to the podium.

“Thank you! Thank you all! I’d like to say that I wouldn’t have made it without your support! I thank especially to you, Twilight, my dearest friend, for without you this wouldn’t be possible."

“That’s great and all, but you are still a failure. You know that, right?” Twilight replied.

“W–what?”

“Oh, you know, that whole passing out thing, managing only a pathetic excuse for a fireball and, of course, being late for the competition.”

“Being late? I don– I’ m still asleep, aren’t I?“

———

How could I be so careless? Forgetting to set the alarm clock – I can’t believe it!

Rarity ran to the bathroom, her dishevelled tail flailing behind her.

“Sis? What’s happening? Why are you in such a hurry?” asked Sweetie Belle, still in her pyjamas and with “sleepy” plastered all over her face.

“In a hurry for the competition. No time to speak. Go back to bed.”

Rarity then slammed the bathroom door behind her and started to inspect herself in the mirror.

My mane and tail both look simply horrid. I also need to put on my mascara, but the coat looks good enough, I can’t waste my time brushing it.

While one week back, applying mascara would have taken several minutes, after her training with Twilight her magic was much more accurate, so she was done with it in just half a minute, without the fear of injuring her eye.

Done! Now for the main course. Where is the brush!?

After searching for a bit, she found the brush and started stroking her mane. Getting her mane to look perfect was always a slow and tedious process and this morning was no different. Every time she stroke a spot, a few strands of hair refused to go down. She was used to it, but today she was in a hurry.

Go down, go down, go down! Why won’t my own hair obey me? Why!?

———

Half an hour later, Rarity finally left her boutique and galloped towards the library. While she was trying to get to the library as fast she could, she still wasn’t fast enough – trying not to get dirty being the main cause.

Why, oh why aren’t the roads paved? All this awful mud and horrible puddles will cause me to be late!

The bell on the schoolhouse announced seven o’clock.

I am not going to be late, I am late!

Rarity bolted around the next corner and saw the library. As she got closer, she could see Twilight and Spike already sitting in the golden chariot, the former tapping her hoof impatiently.

“Hello Rarity!” Spike said.

“Hello Spike, hello Twilight.”

“You’re late.” Twilight stated.

Rarity was taken aback by this cold statement, but got inside the chariot anyway. The chariot then flew upwards, gaining speed as if trying to make up for the lost time.

“Don’t mind Twilight, she’s just terribly nervous about the competition. You were only five minutes late, but she already started to freak out that she’s not going to get there in time and that they won’t accept her registration.” Spike whispered, leaning close to her.

That sounds just like Twilight, like that time when– wait a minute, Spike is awfully close to me right now and has that dreamy face of his... Did he use this as an excuse to get near me?

Since Spike showed no intent of backing off, being only centimetres from her ear, Rarity decided to speak before he did anything he would regret later.

“Um, Spike?”

“Yes, my love?”

“I think Twilight wanted to tell you something.”

“I didn’t hea– oh...”

Spike quickly retracted and started blushing furiously, looking like he was trying to turn invisible.

If only all the stallions were like that...

———

The chariot finally arrived at a large open space outside of Canterlot. There were colourful tents everywhere and the air was filled with the voices of various salesmen praising their products. There were nametags on the tents, Twilight commenting on almost each one they passed.

“...Iceshade Earthdigger; quite ambitious but without enough strength to back it up. Then there’s Alpohonso Incrediblo the Magnificent; rather showy if you ask me, but he’s really good nevertheless...”

I’ve never heard any of these names before and I really don’t care about them. At least Spike looks as bored as I feel.

Rarity’s ears perked up when she heard Twilight’s next sentence.

“...and this will likely be your biggest opponent. Sunblaze Shadeseeker is just twelve years old, but has already been close to winning last year. His magic is significantly better every year I see him and his speciality are fire based spells.”

“Do you think he can beat me?”

“Yes.”

“How can I beat him then?”

“Pray to Celestia and hope for the best.”

Rarity abruptly stopped, shock written all across her face.

I can’t believe what I’m hearing! She’s supposed to boost my confidence, not discourage me!

“Come on, Twilight, there must be something I can do to defeat him.”

“I don’t know what! His stamina is greater than yours and fire spells are his special talent! I honestly thought he was already in the ‘slightly advanced’ category until I saw the ‘beginner’ on his nametag!”

“What should I do then!?”

“Try... Try to make your fireball big, it might impress the referees enough. But if he manages to maintain his spell for too long, then you will surely lose.”

What am I going to I do? What am I going to do!? Cheat? No, that would lower me in Twilight’s eyes even more. I think I’ll try the praying.

———

“Ladies and gentlecolts! Welcome to our annual competition, celebrating the birth of Starswirl the Bearded, greatest magician in history on ponykind,” the announcer shouted.

Rarity was inside a large improvised stadium, many young colts and fillies to her left and right. While the main focus of the audience was on the announcer, Rarity could still feel many of them looking at her, some were smirking, some were confused and quite a few were even arguing.

They must think I’m pathetic for participating at such a low level. I’ll show them!

The spectators weren’t the only ones who looked at her though. She seemed to attract attention of her competitors too, which was quite natural, her being the only grown-up mare competing.

They want to beat me; they want to show the world that they are superior no matter the age.

“...and so, without further ado, begin!”

Rarity focused and floated in the black abyss again. This time, however, she knew a simple match won’t do the trick, so she imagined a large torch, which she then proceeded to light. A large ball of fire immediately appeared in front of her.

All I have to do now is to hold it. This is much harder than the small one, though.

After fifteen seconds, the announcer could be heard again.

“Twenty participants remaining now.”

Rarity was sweating and looking directly at the fireball now, as if pleading it to hold together.

Please, please, please stay like this for the next minute!

“Five participants remaining, forty-five seconds have passed.”

Rarity had already exhausted all her magic reserves and was using her life energy instead.

I can’t maintain it any longer, I just can’t!

She continued to maintain it anyway.

“One minute has passed and we have only two participants remaining. Miss Rarity from Ponyville with her fireball spell and Mr. Sunblaze Shadeseeker with his fire column spell. While the fire column is a more advanced spell than the fireball, Mr. Shadeseeker has only managed a very thin one. Miss Rarity cast a very nice fireball, but she seems to be out of strength!”

That’s it, I give up!

“You can do it Rarity!” a faint, but familiar voice shouted.

Rarity smiled after hearing this and redoubled her effort, her horn glow turning dark blue.

Spike. He must have gone to see me participate instead of Twilight! I must be more important to him than I thought. A proper lady should always return the favour, and if seeing me win is what he wants, seeing me win is what he gets!

“One minute and seventeen seconds have passed and Miss Rarity has given up. Mr. Shadeseeker still continues to hold his fire column.”

Rarity was covered in sweat and gasped for air rapidly. Muscles she didn’t even know she had were sore and the mother of all headaches inhabited her head.

Had I continued any longer, I would have passed out.

She started to watch her opponent.

That arrogant smirk on his face, present at all times. That confident look in his eyes, screaming at me that he’s better. I can’t stand him!

Finally, the fire column bent in half and disappeared.

“That’s one minute and twenty-six seconds. The referees will now announce their ratings.”

My fireball was superior to his column, they said so! I have to win this, I have to!

“...Glazeheart 46 points, Rarity from Ponyville 74 points...”

Yes! That’s the highest score yet!

“...Sunblaze Shadeseeker 76 points...”

Rarity’s mouth dropped open when she heard this. It took her several moments to process it, but the information was clear.

I... lost.

Chapter 7: The Plan

Chapter 7: The Plan

Everyone was looking at her. No one was interested in the other competitors, not even in Sunblaze. Their gaze drilled into Rarity, their laughter, which started as a single mocking sneer, soon gained on strength as almost everyone in stadium realized that she was just defeated by someone half her age.

B–but... H–how? I trained so hard for this... If I wasn’t a failure before, then I definitely am now. And not only in Twilight’s eyes.

Rarity slowly stood up, still trembling from exhaustion.

I can’t stand this anymore. The humiliation, the yelling of the crowd, that self-righteous smile of his... I need to get out of here.

Rarity started to gallop towards the exit. Her throat hurt as she tried to suppress her sobs.

———

Two hours later, Rarity and Spike were standing in front of another stadium, her sobs long since gone, all tears wiped off.

“How long will she be in there?” Rarity asked.

“I’m not sure, but last year, it took five hours before she was defeated.”

Rarity sighed. It was bad enough that she had to wait here for two hours, hoping that nopony would recognise her, but three more hours?

Hurry up, Twilight! There is something we need to discuss!

As if to answer her silent begging, the door of the stadium swung open, with nopony else that the purple unicorn herself standing in them.

“How did it go? Did you win?” Spike asked excitedly.

“No, but I placed fifteenth!”

“And that’s a good thing?” Rarity asked.

“Of course it is! It means that I am the fifteenth most powerful unicorn in Equestria, not counting the princesses of course. But how did you fare?”

Rarity frowned, tears returning into her eyes.

“Oh Twilight, it was horrible! I–I couldn’t beat Sunblaze and placed second. I was laughed at, completely humiliated and had to leave before that little ruffian drove me to insanity! My reputation as a mage— no, as a unicorn, is ruined! I don’t deserve my horn!”

“Don’t say things like that! Second place isn’t that bad and you’d deserve your horn even if you were last.” Twilight said.

“Yeah Rarity, you’re amazing, no matter what those jerks think!”

Rarity stopped crying, but her frown remained in place.

“Do... Do you mean it?”

“I mean it!” Twilight and Spike both said in unison.

Rarity managed to give a faint smile, but the sadness in her eyes was still there.

“Perhaps we should leave.” Rarity said.

“Yes, there is nothing left for us now. Spike, where is the chariot supposed to pick us up?”

“Nowhere. I didn’t know when will we be leaving, so I couldn’t tell him when he was supposed to come. I booked another one instead.”

“Good work, now let’s go.”

———

During her trip back to Ponyville, Rarity was absorbed in thought.

This is not about the dresses anymore. This is about magic and honour. While in Ponyville, nopony will probably even hear about my defeat, in Canterlot, they certainly will. I need to prove I’m not some pathetic excuse for a unicorn, and to show them that, I need to be better in magic than they are. But how to achieve that? Surely there must be some easier way than to train and train for the years to come. Maybe... No, that’s simply ridiculous. But what if...

“Twilight, do you think you could teach me the teleportation spell?”

Twilight smiled, probably happy that her friend thought about something else than her failure and that she didn’t want to give up on magic because of it.

“Of course I can, but you won’t be able to teleport more than several meters with your current stamina.”

“That doesn’t matter, dear; I’d like to know it nevertheless.”

“Well alright, stop by the library tomorrow.”

“I will do that.”

This might actually work...

———

The next day, Rarity was running all around Ponyville. She went to Fluttershy to ask her if she could watch Sweetie Belle tomorrow, she visited Pinkie Pie and borrowed some of her things for pranking people, she went to Zecora’s hut to buy some medicine and finally, she went to the library.

“Hello Twilight.”

“Hello Rarity, I suppose that you’re here to learn the teleportation spell?”

“Yes, that and few other things.”

“Other things?”

“Yes, I’d like to borrow a book and to ask you a favour.”

Twilight’s brow went up at the latter part.

“A favour? What favour?”

“I’m really in need to meet with princess Celestia. It’s urgent and very personal. Do you think you could arrange it?”

“I don’t see why not. But what do you want to discuss? If you tell me then maybe I could help you.”

“I’m sorry Twilight, but it’s personal and believe me when I say that you can’t help me with it.”

“Very well, I’ll send her a letter. I’m sure she will hear you out.”

Rarity was beaming. For the first time in last two days, Twilight could finally see her genuinely smiling.

Everything goes according to the plan. This will work.

“Thank you, Twilight, you are very kind. Now, the book I’d like to borrow is called ‘Gems and magic’. I think I saw it here earlier this month.”

“I know the book you’re talking about, but you should really learn more spells before trying to enchant anything.”

“You worry too much Twilight. But if it will make you feel better, I promise I won’t enchant anything.”

Twilight gave her a confused look, as to why she would want a book about enchanting, if she didn’t want to enchant anything, but gave her the book anyway.

Only one thing remains now.

“So, tell me about the teleportation spell, Twilight.”

“It’s actually pretty easy. All you have to do is imagine the location you want to be in, and then imagine yourself there. The reason why almost nopony uses it is that it consumes a tremendous amount of magical energy.”

“Mind if I try?”

“Go ahead.”

Rarity concentrated and tried to imagine herself on the second floor of the library. It wasn’t really hard, it was just strange. To imagine every detail of yourself, to see yourself from outside without using a mirror... With a sudden blast of light, Rarity appeared on the second floor, exhausted and panting furiously. While she wasn’t close to passing out, she could feel that she had already used part of her life energy.

Twilight wasn’t joking; this spell really does take a lot from me. This is unfortunate, but the plan should work anyway.

Rarity walked down the stairs and saw Twilight grinning.

“So? How was your first teleport?”

“Strange, exhausting and I don’t feel so well.”

“That’s quite normal; it should be okay in just a few minutes.”

I think I might throw up in just a few minutes.

“Do you think you could write to the princess now? I’d really like to know when I am supposed to arrive beforehand, so I can prepare.”

“Sure Rarity. Spike! Spike!!! Where is that dragon? Wait here for a moment, will you? Spike!”

Twilight left the library, giving Rarity the opportunity to inspect whether or not was there the spell she needed in her book. She was pretty sure it was, but it never hurts to check.

Enchanting, advanced enchanting, gem finding, disenchanting... Ah, here it is!

Satisfied, Rarity sat there and waited for Twilight. After about 10 minutes, Twilight walked in, dragging Spike behind her with her magic.

“Come on, Twilight! What could be more important than an emerald cupcake Pinkie made for me? It’s not like you can’t send the letter la– Oh hi there, Rarity! Is there anything I can help you with?”

Yes, there indeed is! But I don’t want to drag you into my plan; it could end up badly for you.

Rarity put on her puppy eyes. She knew full well that Spike would do it even without them, but old habits die hard.

“I just need you to write a letter. Will you do that for me?”

“Of–of course Rarity! You can count on me!”

Spike ran to get the quill and parchment with more enthusiasm than ever before.

“Now, what do you want me to write?”

“Twilight will tell you.”

Spike looked a bit down for a moment, but quickly shrugged that off as Twilight started to dictate.

“Dear princess Celestia...”

———

Rarity walked into her boutique tired, but happy. She was meeting the princess at 10 o’clock tomorrow.

The dice are cast.

Chapter 8: The Tragedy

Chapter 8: The Tragedy

It was five minutes before ten and Rarity had just walked into the guest room. In the middle of the room, there was a small table with tea on it, various cushions surrounding it. Due to the private nature of the meeting, there were no guards. Rarity quickly stepped closer to the table and pulled out her flask with medicine from Zecora.

I’m terribly sorry, princess, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

She then poured the content of the vial into Celestia’s tea. Shortly afterwards, Celestia herself walked into the room, her mane blowing in an invisible breeze.

“Good morning, Miss Rarity, what did you wish to discuss?”

“Good morning, Your Highness, it is simply horrible. Words can’t even begin to conceive it.”

Celestia sipped her tea as she listened to her.

“It started last week. I was simply minding my own business, when suddenly...”

Rarity needed to speak no more, for Celestia collapsed in front of her and started to snore lightly. Rarity then waited for five more minutes, until an explosion could be heard from the other side of the castle.

Right on time.

Hoofsteps of guards were heard outside of the room. Rarity could only pray to... well, Celestia, that they wouldn’t remember to check here. Fortunately for her, they didn’t.

Good. Now careful, careful...

Rarity started to levitate the limp body out of the room and through the next few corridors.

All the guards are gone, this is almost too easy.

Soon, she stood in front of the vault with the Elements of Harmony. It looked just like the last time she saw it – old, dusty, massive door with a single hole in it. She slowly inserted the still-sleeping-Celestia’s horn into the lock and gave it a light magical push. There was a click and the door opened. In front of her was a casket with the Elements, which she slowly opened, and then focused on the Element of Generosity.

This better work.

She focused and imagined the golden necklace down to every last detail, then she simply went directly inside of it. There were many different rays of colour as the elements started to give their energy to Rarity.

What?! This is wrong! I only wanted my element, not all of them!

She, however, couldn’t stop the spell anymore. Soon, she passed out from the pain that started to focus in her horn.

———

Rarity woke up about five minutes later. Everything was silent, except for Celestia’s snoring.

Ugh... What happened?

Rarity stood up and looked at the Elements.

This... This can’t be true!

Her movements got more rapid and her heartbeat got faster. In front of her were lying all the Elements, but the gemstones were dim and lifeless, looking not unlike the gems she used for her dresses.

This is horrible! I have destroyed the Elements! But... What is this?

As she was looking at one of the necklaces, she saw her reflection on the golden part. While she looked stressed and a bit messy from lying on the dusty floor, it was nothing compared to how her horn looked like. While the shape remained the same, there were now light blue veins coursing through it, giving off a faint glow.

This is bad. This is terrible! This is the worst possible thing! I need to get some help and quickly!

With a blinding blast of light, Rarity disappeared from the castle.

———

“You did what?!” Twilight screamed.

Rarity teleported into the library mere seconds ago and this was, considering that she just told Twilight that she drugged Celestia and destroyed the Elements, quite a calm and collected response.

“Let me explain please.”

“I’m listening.”

Twilight looked puzzled. Her eyes inspected Rarity from head to hooves and her face kept a sceptical expression, but she didn’t look angry, just surprised that her friend teleported in front of her and told her such, in Twilight’s opinion at least, nonsense.

Does she think this is some kind of prank? Oh dear Twilight, you are in for one big unpleasant surprise.

“Well, first of all I set several ‘Big-bangs’, as Pinkie calls them, to explode ten minutes after ten and placed them as far from the guest room as possible.”

“Explode? They could have hurt somebody!”

“Don’t worry, while they make a lot of noise, they don’t really do any damage. Pinkie used them to prank you several times after all.”

“Yeah, I remember them. But why would you do that?”

“To draw the guards away, of course. I then went to the guest room. I know from my previous visits that the princess leaves her guest waiting for a few minutes and that there is always some tea. So I simply poured the ‘Sleeping drops’ Zecora gave me into her cup. I knew that someone as powerful as a princess won’t be put to sleep by a regular dosage, so I gave her twenty times more.”

Twilight had finally realized that Rarity wasn’t joking. Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated, while she looked at Rarity like she just found her burning a book. Surprisingly, her voice wasn’t filled with anger; it was very quiet, as if she feared to speak loudly.

“Twenty times the regular dosage... What if she’s hurt?”

“Don’t worry about that, Twilight. I asked Zecora about what would happen if I accidentally took too much of it and she assured me that I’d just have a headache.”

“Why?”

“I’m getting to that. I then waited for the explosion and went to the vault with Elements of Harmony. I inserted Celestia’s horn into them and pushed a little with my magic. The lock recognised the horn and unlocked. I have only wanted to sap a little magic from them! They had enough of it to free princess Luna and imprison Discord – what harm could there be if I took some of the magic for myself? Nopony would even notice!”

“Rarity, how could you?! The Elements are our most powerful artefact that had protected Equestria for millennia! To steal even a little for yourself... How could you be so selfish?!”

Tears started to form in Rarity’s eyes and her lips began to quiver. It’s one thing to know something, but it’s a whole different thing when your friend yells it at you accusingly.

She’s right. Some bearer of Elements I turned out to be. Generosity being my element? What irony.

“Twilight, I– I– I’m so sorry! I failed at every step of your training and wanted to impress you by going to that horrid competition! After I lost even that, I just wanted to show them all that I’m not some pathetic fool. Can you ever forgive me?”

Twilight seemed unmoved by Rarity’s speech. If anything, she seemed to get impatient.

“What happened after you opened the lock?”

“I... I wanted to take some of the magic from my necklace and then, with my newfound power, teleport both me and the princess back into the guest room and pretend she passed out minutes before the explosion. She wouldn’t suspect anything and everything would be fine again. However, after I started to leech the magic, all the Elements connected and gave me all their magic. I couldn’t stop it! And when I woke up, they all looked like ordinary gemstones and my horn was like this. So I teleported here.”

Twilight took a step back, her eyes filled with disbelief.

“You... You teleported here all the way from Canterlot? That’s impossible!”

“Is it? But I’m not even tired.”

“You must be as powerful as princess Celestia, maybe even more! But that doesn’t matter now. We have to go back into the castle and ask the princesses to fix this mess.”

“But I can’t! They’ll banish me for what I’ve done!”

For the first time that day, Twilight smiled.

“Don’t worry Rarity. I’m sure that if you explain yourself and apologize, the princesses will forgive you. Nobody was even hurt after all.”

“I hope so, Twilight, I certainly hope so.”

And so, they vanished in a beam of light.

Chapter 9: Self Defence

Chapter 9: Self Defence

They teleported to the throne chamber, in hopes of resolving the whole thing quickly. What they didn’t expect was Princess Luna, looking at them like they, well, drugged her sister and destroyed the Elements.

“Traitor! We already wit what thou hath wrought! Dost thou trow that thou canst be left unpunished? Defend yourself!”

Princess Luna didn’t even give Rarity enough room to speak and attacked her, dark blue projectiles firing off her horn. Rarity had no other way left other than to avoid them by teleporting.

“Princess– wait– stop– I can— explain— please–!” Rarity said.

It didn’t help that Twilight kept quiet, seemingly afraid to draw attention of the trigger happy princess. Luna also seemed to fire more and more rapidly, Rarity was almost unable to dodge the last few.

I’m not going to die in here! If I can’t reason with her, then I will truly have to defend myself.

Rarity conjured a fireball, this time much bigger and stronger than any of her previous ones. It was almost white and heat emanating from it could be felt all across the room. Twilight shuddered at mere sight of it. Then Rarity fired it in Luna’s direction, but the Princess of the Night dodged it easily.

Oh no, you don’t!

Rarity teleported the fireball directly behind the princess. Without enough time to react, Luna could only scream as it hit her into her side.

“...”

“Princess? Princess, are you alright?” Twilight asked.

When the princess didn’t respond, Rarity stepped closer to inspect her. While Luna was still breathing, she was also unconscious and probably dying from blood loss, judging from a large gaping wound in her side with her coat completely burned around it.

“Oh no... What have I done? I can’t stay here any longer!”

“No Rarity, wait! She needs our help!”

But Rarity was already gone.

———

“No Rarity, wait! She needs our help!”

“...”

Well this is just great. Now I’m here alone with a half dead princess – I don’t need much imagination to know what will happen if the guards see me.

Twilight started to inspect the wound; it wasn’t as bad as it seemed to be on first glance. While it was quite deep, most of the wound was already cauterised by the fireball. Twilight tried to heal the wound with her magic.

Ugh! Her magical defences prevent me from healing it! I should be glad she has them though, that fireball would have killed her if not for them.

Suddenly, the door to the throne room swung open.

“Princess Luna? We heard an explosion and came as soon as– Twily? What– what happened?!”

“Shining Armor! This– this isn’t how it looks like! Let me explain!”

“Call the medical team. And... and take my sister in for interrogation.”

“What!?”

Two strong guards grabbed her and forced a strange metallic ring on her horn.

A magic dimmer?!

“But I’m innocent!”

“We’ll see about that,” one of the guards said.

———

Three hours later, Twilight was still in the interrogation room, telling her story for the fiftieth time.

“...and then you guys came in and grabbed me.”

“This is very interesting, Miss Sparkle, but we have already searched the whole Canterlot and found no trace of Rarity,” the interrogator said.

“That’s because she teleported farther away! She could be anywhere in Equestria by now!”

“I’m sorry, but that is impossible. Nopony except the princesses has the power to teleport so far away.”

Twilight was visibly irritated now.

I told you this exact same thing several times already!

“Are you deaf?! I already said that she has the power of Elements of Harmony!”

“Yes, you also said that they are now destroyed, correct?”

“Yes.”

“But we found them in perfect shape. You say that the gems are supposed to be ‘full of life’, but since almost no one except you, the bearers and the princesses had seen them, much less taken a good look at them, we can’t be sure if you are telling the truth. The princesses are both... indisposed at the moment and the bearers are in Ponyville, which is several hours of travel away from Canterlot.”

“I guess you’ll have to take my word for it then.”

A devilish smile appeared on the interrogators face.

“Yes, but we might also find... other ways to make sure.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in fear when she realised what the interrogator meant.

Surely the princesses wouldn’t allow him to torture me, right? But... the princesses aren’t here now, are they?

“I think I should prepare my ‘tools’ and–“

“That will not be necessary.” a familiar voice said.

Twilight had never felt so relieved in her whole life.

“Princess Celestia? Thank goodness you are alright! And thank goodness you stopped him! He wanted to torture me!”

“I would do no such thing. I just wanted to scare her into giving me the information I needed.”

“I’m alright, my faithful student, and I know what happened to the elements. But tell me, what happened to my sister? The guards accused you and your brother was found in the nearest bar, sleeping under the table in a pool of alcohol.”

That sounds just like Shining. When he can’t fix a problem himself, he’ll just start to drink until it resolves itself.

“I and Rarity came into the throne room, hoping that she could apologize and undo whatever she had done to the Elements. But then Princess Luna started to shout something and attacked Rarity, leaving her no other option other than to defend herself.”

“I see. Rarity’s ‘self defence’ left my sister half dead. She’ll pull through, but won’t be able to fulfil her duties for the next month. We can’t have someone so powerful running around unchecked; Twilight, do you have any idea where your friend might be? I promise I won’t hurt her unless I have to.”

Twilight frowned and gave Celestia an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, Princess, but I have no idea where she could be. She teleported right after injuring Princess Luna, but didn’t say anything about where she is teleporting.”

“It’s alright. I’m sure I can find her on my own, even though it will take me a little longer than I’d like to.”

———

Meanwhile

Rarity looked around herself. There were cobwebs and dust everywhere, the majestic ruins around her creating a nice shade. Rarity wasn’t sure why she teleported to the old castle in Everfree Forest. Perhaps it was because her first encounter with Elements happened here, or maybe because she knew nobody would search for her here.

Why did I have to mess up this badly? I’m now exiled forever... No, I’m not in exile, you need to be banished in order to be in exile, I am in hiding. I am in hiding like some common criminal!

Rarity started to pace around furiously, her hooves stomping on the ancient dusty floor. However, her expression soon softened.

But what am I if not a criminal? I did assault a princess. I’m just like Nightmare Moon was... This time, however, the Elements won’t work, since I destroyed them... I’m even worse than Nightmare Moon – she tried to destroy them, but they only shattered into pieces of crystal, and then reformed again, while I succeeded in taking all their magic for myself.

Then, her head suddenly swung up, excited expression forming on her face.

That’s it! That’s what I need to do in order to fix this whole mess! I just hope that at least this plan will work.

Chapter 10: The Trial

Chapter 10: The Trial

Rarity teleported into a dark cold place. She couldn’t see or hear anything, except for the occasional dripping sound, as the drops of water fell on the old stone ground.

Time to liven this place a bit.

Rarity lit her horn and looked around. She was in an old crystal mine beneath Canterlot. She knew about it because of the whole Canterlot wedding incident; Twilight shown it to her afterwards, in hopes that Rarity could use the crystals for something. Of course, Rarity would never use something as common as crystal for her dresses – it was better than glass, but only slightly. Now, however, her knowledge of this place proved invaluable.

I hope there are some high-quality crystals still left.

Rarity went further into the mine, but all the crystals she saw were somehow imperfect.

This one would shatter after even a light touch, this one is impure, that one is cracked...

She continued her musings, until she finally found what she was looking for.

Yes! These ones are perfect! And there are several of them I can use. Now what did the book say? Hmm...

The book she was thinking about was the one she borrowed from Twilight. It was also the thing that led her here; while she was searching for the spell to drain the Elements, she also stumbled upon a part which said, that the Elements were made out of crystals and that, theoretically, somepony with enough power could even create one. It was a long shot, of course, as the book stated that even the princesses, while possessing enough power, were unable to create one. The likely cause was, as they said, that they “didn’t have their essence”.

I certainly have the power and I really hope that I have consumed their essence too...

Rarity focused on one of the crystals. It was light pink, smooth and perfect in every possible way. She didn’t know how to enchant something, but hoped that it will come naturally; the spells she learned so far weren’t really complicated, they were just demanding.

Maybe if I try to channel my magic into it? Whatever else could it be?

Rarity tried to infuse the crystal with her magic and succeeded. It was quite easy actually – as soon as she started, the spell seemed to become alive. Just like when she drained the Elements, she couldn’t stop the process now even if she wanted to. Simultaneously, her mind was being flooded by images of ponies sharing, helping each other and giving presents. When the flood was over she felt weaker, but there was a blue crystal in her hooves now.

The Element of Generosity... Now to make the rest of them.

———

Half an hour later, she was finally finished. Six beautiful crystals levitated around her as she inspected them.

Beautiful, marvellous, such finesse...

While she was quite weak now, the experience she got from casting those incredibly powerful spells remained, so she was able to teleport across the large abyss between her and the exit. It left her exhausted, but she was finally outside of the mine.

The thing about the Canterlot mines was, that they were literally under Canterlot. The entrance to them was in the castle basement, and it was also because of this fact, that Twilight managed to stop the wedding ceremony in time.

I should probably find Twilight, where did she say she was staying? In the library, I bet.

Rarity sneaked through the castle, hiding in the shadows every time she heard as much as a sound. Luckily for her, most of the guard was searching for her all over Equestria, so there weren’t that many left to guard the castle halls. Soon, she saw the door leading to the library. She opened them a little, peeking in to see if her unicorn friend was in there. She was.

“Twilight?”

Twilight’s eyes filled with disbelief when she heard the familiar voice.

“Rarity?! What are you doing here? Everyone’s searching for you!”

“I’m here to apologize to the Princess...”

“It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think? You’ve almost killed Princess Luna!”

“I know, but... I managed to repair the Elements, at least.”

“And is that supposed to– wait, what?”

“I repaired the Elements, Twilight.”

“But that’s amazing! How did you do that?”

Same old Twilight. One minute she’s shouting in anger, the next she’s excited like a little filly, wanting to know how the magician did his trick.

“I’d love to tell you, darling, but all I can think about now is meeting the Princess and fixing this whole mess.”

“It seems that you have found me then,” Celestia said, standing right behind her.

———

Rarity was sitting in an uncomfortable wooden chair, attending a trial that Princess Celestia held right after finding her. She spent the last hour telling her story to every last detail. It almost made Twilight cry, when Rarity described how she felt like a failure.

“And that’s how it all happened, Your Highness.”

Celestia kept silent for several minutes, evaluating her options.

I didn’t mean any harm! Please don’t execute me! And don’t banish me, I want to stay with my friends!

“Guilty.”

Rarity could feel a cold grip forming around her heart and Twilight started to cry.

This... This is the end, isn’t it?

“Your punishment shall be...”

Don’t say death, don’t say death, don’t say death!

“...forbiddance of studying magic under Twilight Sparkle.”

Rarity squealed when she heard this.

Not only will I stay alive, but I can also stay with my friends! Princess Celestia is truly merciful.

“Thank you, Princess, for your mercy.” Rarity said.

“It is not my mercy that left you alive, Rarity. It is pragmatism.”

Both Rarity and Twilight were confused.

What does the Princess mean? What benefit could my survival bring?

“You possessed strength superior to both me and my sister, for a time. You then willingly gave that up without a fight. If I execute you now, as the law demands, then next time a similar situation arises, that being a situation when someone is more powerful than us, things wouldn’t go so well. That person would know that we’ll execute him if he gives that power up, and so he’ll fight to the bitter end. This way, he’ll know that he will be free and alive afterwards and might choose the path of peace, like you did.”

“But won’t Princess Luna be angry, when she learns that you gave me such a light sentence for injuring her?”

“Unlike Luna, I punish ponies not for the sake of punishing them, but to make sure they won’t commit that crime again. I believe that now, when Twilight can’t teach you anymore, you won’t be compelled to try anything like this ever again.”

“Thank you, Princess. You are indeed very wise.”

———

Several days later, Rarity was stitching one of her dresses once again.

Another terrible order from that noble! And again, I can’t change anything on the design. Why would he even want to wear something as terrible as this?!

Once again, Rarity’s mind started to drift off topic.

...free like that time when Twilight gave me wings! It felt magnificent! I wonder how it would be like to race everypony like Rainbow Dash does. Such speed... I should ask Twilight to give me wings again and try it out!

THE END

Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter 1: Prologue

Rarity was tired. More precisely, she was tired and bored. She spent the whole week fulfilling various orders, but kept putting this one off as long as she could. She couldn’t delay any longer, since the dress was due tomorrow – she silently cursed herself for not making it earlier, when she had the time.

It wasn’t because she was lazy, she just didn’t like this particular dress and could do nothing about it – it came as a request from some wealthy noble, about whom she never heard about before, who had the dress already designed on paper and wanted her to simply sew it all together. Worse yet, he specifically forbid her to make any changes to the design or alter the dress in any other way.

This was the kind of order Rarity hated. She wanted to be original and innovative, not just some kind of stupid machine that does what it’s told without thinking. However, what irritated her the most, were the flaws in design she discovered at first glance.

...this seam is wrong and it will scratch the wearer, the material used will be a nightmare to clean, this ornament will look good from profile, but will look plain silly from the front...

Yet, even in spite of that, she accepted the order, since the pay was simply too good to refuse. She could even take a week off with the bits she’ll earn for this.

While she was just annoyed when she started, she quickly became furious when she had to intentionally ruin the dress in order to follow that damned design. After that, she just resigned and continued to make the dress as she was told. While her magic continued to sew the dress, her bored mind started to wander – Rarity had to think about something interesting in order not to fall asleep, but it seemed like all she could think about was boring.

In the end, she decided to think about the first thing she saw, which was her needle levitated by her light blue magic.

Applejack once asked me how does it feel to use magic – what was I supposed to reply to that? It was like describing walking to somepony without legs, or colors to a blind person. Actually, walking is quite a good example: I don´t think about levitating something, I just do it, similarly to how one does not think about using his muscles, he simply walks.

I, however, understand why Applejack asked me. It must seem so unreal to somepony without magic, that when I want something to fly towards me, I can just imagine it flying and it will actually start flying.

I wonder whether Twilight teleports just as casually as I levitate things. Sure, after training, all spells feel natural, but to suddenly appear in a completely different location... Can you actually get used to that? I should ask Twilight about it someday...

———

Rarity awoke with a start. There were needles and spools of thread scattered all around her and certain unfinished dress right in front of her. While she was getting up on her hooves, she noticed the sun shining through the windows of the boutique.

Oh no, how could I have fallen asleep when I was already behind schedule!? What’s the time!?

The clock read 7:43.

“Oh, you have to be kidding me!”

The customer is going to pick up the dress at 8 o’clock, how am I supposed to finish the dress in just 17 minutes!?

When the realization hit her, she almost screamed. She levitated two needles and started sewing with them, while levitating two spools of thread and several other objects at once. Normally, this would make her exhausted in just a few minutes, but since a few minutes were all she had, she didn’t care.

After 10 minutes she made a remarkable progress on the dress, but her magic started to wane; the needles started to move jerkily and the blue aura around the spools began to pulsate. She, however, decided to continue at this mad pace, since she could see that the dress was nearing its completion.

Maybe I can still make it!

Precisely at 7:56, Rarity couldn’t maintain this insane tempo anymore, so everything other than a needle and a thread dropped to the floor.

Whatever am I supposed to do now? I’m doomed!

Sewing with just one needle considerably slowed her progress, so she was finished at 8:12.

While I consider keeping a lady waiting impolite, I think won’t hold it against him this time.

The customer arrived around half nine, giving Rarity enough time to clean up the mess she made.

“I’m terribly sorry for keeping you waiting Miss Rarity, but the chariot flew into a storm cloud, forcing me to get my clothes dried,” the still slightly wet noble said.

“Oh it’s quite alright Sir, I’m just glad you arrived. Come now, I’ll show you your dress. It’s precisely like you wanted it.”

Rarity led him in front of a mannequin, silently wishing he took that ugly... thing away from here as soon as possible.

It’s a fashion disaster.

“Thank you Miss Rarity, it is just as I imagined it. Here’s the payment, I’ll be sure to recommend you to my friends.” he said as he gave Rarity a big pouch full of bits.

If your friends have the same style as you do, then I’d rather you didn’t.

“Oh how kind of you, thank you!”

“It’s nothing, really.”

I have to agree with you on that...

———

After her customer had left, Rarity could feel just how tired she was. She had clearly overexerted herself and now was paying for it.

I have just woken up, and I already feel like sleeping again.

She then proceeded to make herself breakfast and noticed, by the dirty dishes, that somepony else had already eaten here this morning.

Sweetie must have woken up for school and made herself a breakfast. I guess she didn’t want to wake me up after she saw me working late into the night for the past week.

Rarity smiled; while waking her would have prevented all the stress she had to endure this dreadful morning, she couldn’t really blame her. If there was anyone to blame, it would be herself.

If I hadn´t put it off for so long, I would have finished it long before the deadline and if I hadn’t fallen asleep then I’d have been finished long before sunrise. I was lucky the noble was late, or I wouldn’t have managed it.

A new thought had, however, pushed itself in front, probably due to her inner monologue from last night being still fresh in her memory.

If I was better with magic, I’d have managed to finish it long before 8 o’clock, I wouldn’t even have to work late into the night, since I could finish everything much sooner. I could even incorporate some magic into my dresses, making them sparkle, change colours according to weather or even enchant them with some protective magic, making them beautiful and practical...

Rarity continued in her thoughts for several more minutes and was more and more convinced that she should indeed learn more about magic.

...the most important and beautiful mare in all of Equestria! And I know just who to visit in order to learn all about magic.