Romance and the Fate of Equestria

So now, in a sense, by featuring the production of a movie about Snowdrop's life, I'm kind of writing a Snowdrop fanfic on the fringes of the actual story. With that in mind, be on the lookout for something of a "twist ending" to this chapter. Not at the end, but you'll know it when you see it.

My hope is that the folks at Silly Filly Studios eventually find out about this and then, God willing, that they don't hate me for it. Knock on wood, right?

Chapter Forty-Seven

Rarity examined some of the new dresses she had made. "Splendid," she muttered. "Gorgeous… doesn't make a difference…" She sighed and stared off into space.

"My pardons, sweet Rarity."

"Oh!"

Rarity jumped out of her skin and snapped her head toward the entrance of her boutique, where Princess Luna stood, her wings spread out oddly as if concealing something.

"Oh my goodness," Rarity said, wiping sweat off of her face and bowing down. "What brings you to Carousel Boutique, Princess Luna?"

"Art thou busy?" the princess said anxiously. "I've a job for a true artist, and I'd prefer it be one with whom I share a bond."

"You want me to create something for you?" Rarity bit her lip, her eyes wide in excitement. "I would be honored, lovely princess of the night. What is my task?"

"Thou hast the time, then?" she said uncertainly.

"Certainly," Rarity insisted. "What inspires you today, Princess?"

"I present to thee, thy canvases," Luna said, folding her wings to reveal the two pale-turquoise pegasi, one a young filly and the other a grown mare, who had been standing behind her. "Angel Aquamarine, and her big sister Angel O'Brien."

Both Angels were white-maned; the filly's hair was wavy and had purple streaks, the mare's straight and sleek, streaked with gray. The filly had blue-green eyes and a blank flank, and the mare was gray-eyed and marked with three strands of seaweed growing out of a rock.

"Beautiful gems, wouldst thou not agree?" Luna said, leaning over the filly. "I have chosen them to act as Snowdrop in my picture, as a filly and as an adult, respectively of course. What I want from thee, Rarity, is the design of full makeup to place the visage of Snowdrop upon the Angel sisters."

Luna's horn glowed, and she levitated in a huge painting of an adult Snowdrop standing upon a cloud bank against a backdrop of stars, and a sheet of black paper depicting the long-stemmed, six-pointed flower of Snowdrop's cutie mark.

"Footage of mine incandescent stars under thy genius cosmetic artistry shall serve as my pitch to the major film studios to begin production," Luna said proudly.

Rarity shifted uncomfortably. "Oh, I'm no genius, Princess…"

"Ay, surely thou art," Luna said with absolute sincerity.

Rarity pondered the painting, her mind abuzz. "Oh, okay, sure I am!" she said. "Snowdrop, eh? Lovely… very well, Princess! Leave the Angel sisters with me for an hour. When you come back, I think you'll be most pleased."

Luna danced in place. "Oh, thank thee, most generous and worthy Rarity!"

"Worthy?" Rarity said, frowning. "Who told you to say that?"

"I was told nothing," Luna said solemnly, "save that thou sufferest hatred of self. A most dreadful affliction. I know it well. Doth thine art perk thee up, perchance?"

Rarity bowed down. "It does. Thank you, Princess."

Luna beamed. "An hour, then?"

"At most."

"Splendid. I shall return."

Luna smiled at the Angel sisters, who grinned back nervously before Luna wandered elegantly out the door.

"So," Rarity said warmly, "you're the princess' leading ladies?"

"Guess so," the mare said shyly. She reached out to shake Rarity's hoof. "Angel O'Brien."

"Rarity," she said graciously. "You're an actress, then?"

Angel O'Brien frowned, chewed on her lip, and looked around nervously before glumly replying, "No."

"Sorry?" Rarity said, tilting her head.

"I work at the weather factory. Coastal rains, mostly. Never acted a day in my life."

Rarity was thrown off guard, but dauntless in her appointed task. "Hmm. Well, have a seat."

The two sisters settled down side by side on the floor. Rarity examined their manes, glancing occasionally at the painting. "So, how did you come by the role, then?" she asked.

"Princess Luna happened upon us on the streets of Cloudsdale," O'Brien said softly. "I was just taking my little sister out for a night on the town, and there she was, grinning at us, saying we were perfect. She took us to a private place and had us read passages from the autobiography. You could see her slowly falling in love with us the more we spoke. It was kind of sweet, really."

"Okay," Rarity said, turning toward the sisters with her horn alight. Their manes and tails glowed pale blue, and in a flash of light they developed Snowdrop's hair—smooth, thick, and white like snowbanks, edged with blue.

"Beautiful," Rarity whispered to herself. "Lovely fillies given a lovely look." She inspected Angel O'Brien. "You seem… unenthused."

O'Brien shrugged. "It's Snowdrop. You'd have to have grown up in Cloudsdale and spent your childhood dreaming about working in the weather factory to really understand, but it's… Snowdrop. A Cloudsdale treasure. If there's going to be a biopic, there should be a real actress taking up the role. Not me. It'd just be disrespectful."

Rarity stood just to the rear of the two sisters, floating Snowdrop's cutie mark design in front of her face for reference. "Then… forgive me, but why are you even, erm… here?"

"The princess is so enthusiastic," O'Brien muttered. "I don't wanna turn her down. I'll let her figure out for herself that I'm not what she's looking for."

"No!" Angel Aquamarine squeaked, speaking for the first time, in a feathery, breathy voice. "Don't do that! Do the best you can do."

"Aqua…" O'Brien said in exasperation.

"Bree!" Aquamarine growled back. "Don't do this to me! I wanna be a movie star!"

"Look, you can still be—" O'Brien began.

"No I can't!" Aquamarine cried. "I wanna play 'young Snowdrop', and Princess Luna won't let me do it without you as 'regular Snowdrop'."

"How do you figure?"

Rarity looked nervously from one sister to the other as she started applying cutie-mark makeup to Aquamarine's flanks.

"Well, we're sisters," Aquamarine said patiently. "Ponies will believe we're the same character. Where else is she going to find a pony who looks exactly like me?"

"It can't be that hard," O'Brien said, seeming unconvinced.

"Bree, please?" Aquamarine begged. "Look at this, look at how good I look as Snowdrop…"

The cutie mark was complete, and Rarity had begun spraying O'Brien's own cutie mark with dye the same color as her fur, erasing it to replace it with the makeup effect.

"I'm not an actress," O'Brien said firmly.

"So?" Aquamarine scoffed. "Anypony can act."

"No they—"

"Uh-huh!" Aquamarine insisted. "You see it all the time. Athletes act, and singers act, and—"

"Yes, okay, they do act," O'Brien said, rolling her eyes. "That doesn't mean they can act, doesn't mean they should. Miss Rarity, back me up. The princess has the whole 'innocent idealist' thing going for her and it's really cute, but don't you think she's deluding herself just a little?"

Rarity came around to the front to examine their eyes. "Tell me something," she said. "Should I even bother finishing your makeup, or do you intend to tell Princess Luna you're dropping the project?"

O'Brien stared blankly, then scowled. "That's a teensy bit low, Miss Rarity."

Rarity beamed. "I'm working for the princess of the night, what did you expect?"

O'Brien sighed, her eyes downcast. She looked to her sister, then to her own flank, now emblazoned with Snowdrop's cutie mark. She breathed deeply and looked at the painting of Snowdrop, paying particular attention to the night sky behind her.

"Fine," she said, kicking at the floor sheepishly. "For my sister, for my princess, for the memory of Snowdrop, I'll stay on board if I can. I'll do my best… if I can."

"YAY!" Aquamarine sang, jumping up and wrapping her arms and legs around her sister's neck.

"Marvelous!" Rarity said, pulling out two cases. "Are either of you wearing contact lenses?"

"No," O'Brien replied.

"Have you ever?"

"No," she admitted.

"Well, that's why I asked for an hour," Rarity said eagerly. "This should be an entertaining challenge. Take a look at this."

She produced one of the lenses and spun it around on the tip of her horn like a plate. As she concentrated on the lens, color soaked into it, the remarkably pale blue-green of Snowdrop's eyes.

"Ooh, cool," Aquamarine said.

Rarity repeated the process on the other lens. "Well, dearie," she said, "this is all that lies between you and stardom. Are you ready?"

"Yes!" the filly said eagerly, opening her eyes wide. Rarity helped her keep her eyes open and placed the lens over Aquamarine's iris.

"Blink, sweetheart."

She blinked quickly, her eyes mismatched. "Wow. Okay… weird."

"Feel okay? Good. And now the other."

The other lens was gently placed into her eye. After a bit of blinking, she was the spitting image of the iconic young Snowdrop.

"Dazzling," Rarity breathed.

"I can't see very well," Aquamarine muttered.

"Well, that should help you get into character," Rarity said wryly.

Aquamarine brightened. "Hey, yeah!"

Rarity chuckled and began coloring another lens. "Well, Miss O'Brien?"

"Lay it on me," she said.

Rarity attempted to place the lens into O'Brien's eye, but she flinched, slamming her eyes shut, and the lens fell to the floor.

"Agh, sorry," O'Brien muttered. "I can do this. Let me do it again."

"Very well," Rarity said, picking up the lens and dripping some saline into it. They attempted to place the lens into her eyes, to the same result.

"I won't take the whole hour, I swear," O'Brien said, grinning awkwardly.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Luna returned to the store, and found it suspiciously empty and silent.

"Rarity?" she called out quietly. "Art thou present?"

"Yes, your highness."

Luna whirled. Rarity was standing in front of an expanse of white cloth, held up as a curtain.

"Feast thine eyes upon… Snowdrop!" Rarity said grandly, pulling down the curtain.

Behind the curtain was a small nook, decorated with a blanket of fake snow and a backdrop of a gray winter sky. The Angel sisters stood firmly at attention, their eyes dull and their expressions stoic.

"Ooooooh!" Luna squealed.

"I know they don't look exactly like the painting," Rarity explained hastily, "but on film and under the proper lighting, you'll be quite impressed. And if their cutie marks aren't entirely convincing, well, you can't convincingly fake a cutie mark, and the real one will start asserting itself within the hour or sooner, but I did the best I—"

Luna cut her off with a wave of her hoof. "They're perfect," she said reverently. "Let us begin."

She heaved an enormously heavy and complex camera on a tripod through the door with her magic, placing it on the ground in front of the impromptu set with a heavy thud.

"Ooh, that's an interesting camera," Rarity said, wide-eyed.

"Is't not?" Luna said cheerfully. "I looked over modern-day film equipment and immediately saw how I could make some improvements."

"Really?"

"Ay. Films are so grainy, colors so saturated. But now…" She pulled a silvery strip of film out of the camera. "The film material I've invented is infused with stardust. The image clarity is flawless."

Rarity nodded, impressed. "It'll revolutionize the industry."

Luna's lip thinned. "Only if I can make my movie. Only then will I release it unto others. If I can't, well then—'tis all mine." She smirked at Rarity. "I'm the 'bitter and vengeful' sort of goddess."

"Indeed."

"Well then," Luna said, firing up the camera. "We will now have each of our Snowdrops say a single pre-selected line into the camera."

"Only one line apiece?" Rarity said, concerned.

"'Twill be all we need. Trust thy princess of the night. Angel Aquamarine, dost thou remember thy line?"

"I'm ready, Princess," Aquamarine said.

Luna beamed at both sisters, then looked into the camera lens. "Marry then—action!"

Aquamarine took a deep breath, her clouded eyes turned toward the heavens. "I wish," she said, her voice even higher and softer than usual. "I hope… I dream… I pray… by the princesses' rule, light my way… please…" She rose into the air, one hoof over her head triumphantly, and finished with a powerful bellow of "I JUST WANNA SHOW I CAN DO SOMETHING FOR ONCE!"

Her sister jumped back in surprise, and Luna barely stifled her hysterical laughter. "I didn't expect that," the princess chuckled. "A bit over-the-top, sweetling… but who am I to say such things? Effective, regardless." She turned to O'Brien. "Now for thee…"

Rarity turned her head rapidly from Luna to O'Brien. The princess' tone had been of genuine fear, and the expression on her face as she looked at the mare was admiration and a silent, impassioned plea.

"Don't blow this for me, O'Brien," Aquamarine growled under her breath.

"I won't, I promise," O'Brien breathed.

Aquamarine nodded and walked out of the set, colliding with Rarity's sewing table and overturning it with a thunderous crash.

"Whoa, I bet that never happened to the real Snowdrop," Aquamarine said sheepishly. "It's the, uh, contacts."

O'Brien snorted in amusement. "Just tell me when to say the line, Princess."

"Whenever it striketh thee as the proper time," Luna said gently.

"Okay," O'Brien said. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, in and out, in and out, in and out… finally, she opened her eyes, which quivered and glistened.

"Oh my," Rarity said silently.

"Eternal… night?" O'Brien said in a shaky voice. "Forever in the dark and the cold and… and under the twinkling stars?"

She grinned broadly, and the entire room seemed to go dark under the force of that sinister smile. "Why, no, Princess, I honestly don't see any problem with that plan," she said confidently. "I suggest you go through with it." There was a brief, heavy silence, and O'Brien began chuckling darkly. "Heh heh heh heh heh…"

Rarity backed away in fear.

Luna turned off the camera, her eyes brimming with tears. "Wondrous," she said. "Simply wondrous. 'Tis as if I have my Snowdrop back from the grave, standing in front of me once again. Well-performed, sisters Angel. Truly. Oh Rarity, get our leading ladies cleaned up that they may return to their current lives." She slipped Rarity a wallet full of coins. "Thy fee, fair one."

"Oh, you don't have to pay me," Rarity muttered, blushing.

"Ay, but I do. I look forward to thine innovations upon the image of other figures in the story."

Rarity stumbled and stared up at the princess in shock. "Are… are you saying you want to put me in charge of makeup and costuming for the actual movie?"

"Ay," the princess said, frowning. She cringed, hunching over nervously. "Is… is that a problem? I… I apologize…"

"Well, it's a lot of pressure on me to be excellent," Rarity muttered.

"Forgive me," Luna said softly. "I want thee on board so dearly, though—"

"Oh, I'm on board!" Rarity said hastily. "I am so very on board. I love pressure. I live for pressure. It's the only way to succeed in business. 'If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen' and all that. If, er, you're familiar with the expression, that is."

"I am," Luna said. "My thanks."

They shared a prolonged smile.

"So, erm, Princess," Rarity said conspiratorially. "O'Brien's line… did Snowdrop really say that?"

Luna turned her steely gaze away, staring off into space harshly. "Ay, she did," she whispered.

"To you?" Rarity ventured.

"Ay." Luna looked down at the ground. "I never said she was perfect. We all have our moments of weakness. Hers was to enable mine."

"You don't say," Rarity breathed. She brushed a hoof up against Luna's. "This is going to be the best movie ever!" she said in all sincerity.

Luna gave a small smile, and thunder crackled and lightning flashed in the space of the dress shop. "Oh, most glorious of films," she proclaimed in a whisper.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Endnotes

You know, I just remembered a plan I had for this story waaaay back. It was my intent that Rarity occasionally pepper her speech with Yiddish words and phrases. Forty-seven chapters and she's done it all of once.

I forget stuff like that all the time. Sometimes there's not enough time to write everything down, know what I mean? Usually I manage to work forgotten things into future chapters, but this, this was supposed to be a major character tic. Probably too late to start doing it now. No sense in kvetching about it, I guess.