Rose Luckless

Twilight Sparkle

The five of them blocked her path, looming large and screaming obscenities. They taunted her with her greatest fears, her most sensitive moments, as if they could peer into her soul.

Well, in a manner of speaking, they could.

The smallest one, though it stood four times as high as an alicorn and weighed probably ten, lunged towards her with its arm outstretched. There were strange tensile limbs attached to the end of the gargantuan's hoof which clearly made the gripping of objects much more efficient. Opening and closing that thing (apparently it was called a hand) it was trying to grasp at her; perhaps it wanted to squeeze the life out of her or hurl her down the terrible gaping maw that passed for its mouth, slashing across that crooked face.

She dodged aside with a quick hop. A glow appeared around her horn and its arm as she used her magic to pull the thing forward in the direction that it had lurched. Though it was huge and heavy, it stood on only two legs, causing it to have less than impeccable balance. With the combined force of her magic and its own momentum, the thing toppled forward, crashing to the ground, bursting into a thousand shards.

So, they're made of stone! The unicorn grinned at her first success, delighted that she had guessed the weakness of the thing.

The dust from the impact settled and she saw that two more of the original five were lurching towards her, taller and heavier than the first. However, they had seen their comrade fall, so the same trick probably would not work again. Brutish though they might look, assuming that they were incapable of adapting was a certain death sentence.

They came at her from two directions, attempting to flank their small opponent. These ones were noticeably quicker than the first despite their size, and soon they were upon her, though she hadn't yet figured out how to fight the pair.

Focusing, she teleported backwards to gain a few more moments to ponder. The stone monsters paused as they tried to track her movement but the sudden disappearance of their target did not fool them for long. Fixing on her once more, they came from opposite directions again.

This time, she was ready. She knew that she couldn't face them head on— these were beasts of brute strength, whose only tool was force. In a contest of raw power, they would almost certainly win, so she planned a similar stunt as with the first. Surrounding herself in an aura of purple magic, Twilight slowly rose into the air until she was at their eye level. Showing no discernible reaction to a now-flying pony, the two closed in, outstretching their fingers, rushing to catch their foe.

Her stomach lurched as she plummeted at the last second and an explosion of dust and stone erupted above her as her enemies missed their target and clawed each others heads off.

Hopping a few feet away, she watched them topple and gave a small shout of glee at her further success. That was when she didn't realize where the final two were— larger, stronger, and presumably faster than their predecessors.

A rush of air warned her of attack from above, but she didn't have time for more than a quick glance upwards, when the mighty hand slammed down atop her.

The only thing she could do was tighten her eyes and brace for the impact.

"Arghh!" She screamed.

DING DING DING DING

A bell chimed loudly, announcing the conclusion of the session. Twilight Sparkle cracked an eyelid and saw that the hand had landed- fingers pointed downwards, stuck in the ground, and holding the palm above her head- a roof and bars, forming a jail cell of sorts.

At the top of her lungs, she shouted, "SHINING ARMOR, THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

With a burst of magic, the head of the Canterlot Guard appeared in front of her, laughing at her reaction. "Well done Twiley," he said earnestly, "three out of five on your first try! Most of the Guard only make it that far against the Golems after years of training and multiple failures! You're a natural, sis."

Her eyes unfocused, slightly crossing as she fumed, "How do you propose that I'm supposed to help protect Canterlot at the Gala if I can't even pass a training run? Let me do it again!"

At his sister's outburst, Shining Armor just threw his head back and laughed, guffaws echoing around the Ponyville countryside. "Sis, you just obliterated three of our advanced training dummies and they take awhile to put back together, even with a professional team in Canterlot. Just be patient. Even if you aren't the top combat pony around, your presence during the ball adds plenty. Besides, your duty lies in escorting that flower pony who Celestia personally commissioned. Bad guys probably aren't going to target an art display, after all- and we aren't expecting any trouble."

Twilight squeezed out of the enclosing hand and turned to study the Golem which had defeated her. It was a behemoth of a thing, kneeling down as if in respect, though it could have just crushed her to a pulp. The skin was rough, with deep grooves in the clay like the topography of some great canyon, a network of dried riverbeds.

Shining Armor swelled with pride as he watched his little sister. His mind’s eye raced past the memory of her birth, her foalhood days of innocent obliviousness, playing with Cadance in the Canterlot parks. He couldn't believe what a mare she had grown into, full of talent and wisdom, though she hardly knew it, or at least acknowledged it. And now she was tearing apart some of the most dangerous training tools that he had under his command, better at adapting and fighting than at least 80% of the current trainees in Canterlot, who had been preparing for such action their whole lives, rather than being buried nose deep in textbooks. Well, she was part of the family, after all.

Twilight noticed the contemplative look on his face and her own softened, frustration at defeat leaving her mind. "So when are you heading back?"

"Well, just about now, I think," He smiled down at his sister, "I only came out to brief you on your assignment and only stayed this long because you insisted on seeing how tough you are. Which, I might add, is pretty tough. Remember, Celestia is coming by later to check on the display, so you should be with— what's her name when that happens. See you tomorrow!"

The purple pony smiled farewell at her brother and he vanished with a sparkling flash.

So... The unicorn started trotting back towards Ponyville, contemplating how the next day would turn out. I do hope that this isn't as uptight as last year's Gala... I won't have the girls to liven things up, and I don't think it would be good to end in 'catastrophe' like last time. Oh! I still need to pick up my and Rose’s dresses... Maybe I should surprise her with them? That should do, I think.

The purple unicorn trotted in the direction of Ponyville, towards a boutique shaped as a carousel.

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Rarity

A creamy yellow, almost buttery in color, dominated the design which lay before her. Around the neck sat a deep pink ribbon, just enough to frame the face and shoulders of a smallish lavender unicorn: sufficiently bold yet not overbearing or too flamboyant. Of course, Flamboyance was certainly not the muse for this dress, appreciated though she was in other places.

For the most part, it was just that simple yellowish color— no elaborate stitchings, no supplemental lace or frill. Just a plain, longish dress with some excellent hemwork.

She knew from that past that such a style fit her bookish friend perfectly, yet a sigh of lament escaped her that she could not bedeck the attire with gems and luxury. Perhaps for next year’s Gala, or some event between now and then, Rarity could truly go all out on a masterpiece of modern fashion.

At least she could have solace with Roseluck’s dress. A hovering needle sank slowly to the tabletop as the light around Rarity’s horn started to fade. A glance to the corner of the room had distracted her from finishing the final stitches of Twilight’s outfit as she admired her own work, another artful dress, to clothe the Gala’s featured artist.

This one at least comes close to looking luxurious.

Even just a mannequin looked splendid in the costume. Almost a wedding dress, the white robe came equipped with a mesh-like veil, dripping with rubies like tears of blood. Ruffles flared from the end of the piece, elongating the outfit and creating a short train when worn; elegant with it's trail but not overly long as to stumble a pony.

Several hoof taps resonated off the wooden door to her home, interrupting her reverie and startling her back into the moment.

"Just a minute!" The white unicorn hollered in balanced tones, her sophisticated lilt lending an air of importance to her words, a justified need for patience. She moved from her inspiration room towards the front door, maintaining an elegant poise despite the lack of an audience.

After swinging open the door, Rarity exclaimed, "Why hello Twilight! How are you?"

"Well I'm pretty good, thanks for asking! I was stopping by to ask about the dresses for tomorrow."

"Yes well, do come in."

The two unicorns entered into Rarity's living room, seating themselves across a small table from each other.

A few hours later, two unmarked packages could be seen floating along behind Twilight as she trotted happily out of Carousel Boutique and Ponyville Square.