Chapter 23

Riyadh, Capital of Saddle Arabia

As Rarity and Nightwing disembarked from the Silver Chalice, they were greeted by the sights and sounds of a bustling metropolis. Vendors of all kinds hawked their wares, while ponies went about the business of their daily lives. The couple noticed that they seemed to attract quite a few stares, none that were hostile but more out of curiosity. This was especially the case concerning Rarity. Nightwing didn’t seem to attract much attention, but that was only because he had decided to wear a light brown cloak to hide his wings. It had been nearly three hours since they had breakfast so Rarity was feeling a bit peckish.

“Excuse me darling but could we possibly buy some food? I’m a bit hungry.”

Nightwing chuckled. “I’m not really surprised, considering how much exercise you got last night. That would make anypony hungry.”

Rarity blushed. “Nightwing don’t speak of such things in public! It is not proper for a lady.”

Nightwing adopted a falsetto tone. “My word you’re absolutely right! Where are my manners?”

Rarity giggled. “You don’t make a very convincing lady.”

“I sure hope not. Anyway, I’ll get you some food but let me do all the talking.”

“And why is that? I assure you that I am quite capable of bartering.”

Nightwing cocked his eyebrow. “Maybe but can you speak Arabic?”

“Oh well yes…that does present a bit of a problem.”

Nightwing trotted up to a fruit vendor and perused his wares. A lot of the fruit was native fare such as dried dates, pomegranates, and figs. Figuring that Rarity wouldn’t like dried stuff too much he picked out a nice plump pomegranate.

Nightwing cleared his throat. “Excuse me sir, but how much for this one?”

“It’s on special today for one bit.”

As Nightwing tossed him the money, the vendor stared at Rarity with a mixture of lust and embarrassment. “You certainly are bold for parading her around like that. And she looks expensive too, but the gold you make off of her would certainly make up for it.”

“Huh? I’m afraid I don’t understand…”

The vendor laughed. “Don’t worry my friend! Even the best of us do not truly understand the secret of a night-mare’s touch.”

Rarity nibbled on the pomegranate. “What was that all about?”

“I don’t know. I think that vendor thought you were my umm…working mare.”

“How rude! I am not some two-bit hussy just because I enjoy applying some cosmetics.”

Before Nightwing could respond, a black coated stallion dressed in a dark green uniform flagged them down. The stallion was escorted by two stern looking guards wielding long, curved swords. He spoke to Nightwing in clear, but accented Equestrian.

“Greetings friends, the general informed me that we getting some visitors. I am Captain Hussan of the city guard and I shall be escorting you to the palace.”

Nightwing shook his hoof. “Pleasure to meet you. I am Captain Nightwing of the Lunar Guard.”

Hussan turned around to greet Rarity and coughed. “Oh my…well it’s also an unexpected pleasure to meet you as well Miss…”

Rarity bowed. “Charmed Captain, my name is Rarity. I am a dressmaker with a passion for fashion. Umm excuse me but it seems that every stallion stares at me or gets embarrassed when I talk to them. Would you care to explain as to why?”

Hussan still managed to blush. “Well you see Miss Rarity here in Saddle Arabia, both stallions and mares typically wear clothing. Walking around in the nude basically advertises you as a harlot. I’m sorry if this has caused you any distress, it is simply one of our customs.”

Rarity blushed furiously. “WHAT!? You mean to tell me that all of those stallions were ogling me like some whorse? How could I commit such a cultural faux pas? I’M A TERRIBLE PONY!”

“Please calm down Ms. Rarity, you couldn’t have possibly known. All we have to do is get you some clothing.”

“Haha yes clothing, of course…how silly of me. I do adore your silk dresses. Nightwing could you be a dear and buy me a dress?”

Hassan held his hoof up. “There will be no need for that. The general shall take care of any expenses. I insist that you follow me to the palace.”

Captain Hassan led them to a sprawling palace complex. It had high sandstone walls manned by somber looking guards along the turrets. Despite the militaristic looking outside it was breathtakingly beautiful inside the main courtyard. Inside were multiple three tiered fountains made of the finest alabaster, complimented by gardens of colorful flowers. Several mares in long, flowing dresses stared at Rarity as she passed them by. A few of them looked shocked and a few giggled. Rarity’s ears flattened as she hung her head. Never in her entire life had she felt so exposed. It was extremely discomforting to a mare that took pride in how her body looked.

Nightwing smiled and rubbed her back reassuringly. “Hey now I know you’re beautiful, so there’s no need to get so upset. The Arabians are just a bit more conservative than we are. I honestly think you should consider it compliment that so many stallions are eyeing you up.”

Rarity sighed. “I suppose so. The only problem is that I take pride in knowing the proper decorum for any situation…and I’ve failed horribly.”

“There’s no need to…”

Rarity quieted him with a kiss. “I know…and that was a reward for being such a gentlecolt. I’m lamenting darling, it shan’t happen again. Now, on to finding a dress!”

Captain Hassan lead Rarity into a colorfully decorated room filled with various fabrics and ponyquins. Inside was a sky blue stallion sporting a sparkly purple robe, adorned with gold trimming and various jewels. He wore a small pair of spectacles and had a few pins in his mouth.

Rarity gently tapped his shoulder. “Excuse me good sir, but I seem to be in need of some new clothes. I was told you could assist me with that.”

The stallion didn’t even flinch. “Yes yes, of course you do. Every mare in all of Saddle Arabia craves my designs. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a lot of…MY GOODNESS WHAT A SCRUMPTIOUS BODY YOU HAVE DEARIE!”

“Ermm…excuse me?”

“You are a goddess amongst mortals my dear. Such a graceful figure and…THAT COFFIURE! What is your secret?”

Rarity stroked her mane. “Why only the finest coconut oil based shampoos darling.”

The stallion gasped. “Of course. Well then I better start using some too. I find that this desert heat is absolute murder on my mane. So very many split ends.”

“You shouldn’t discredit yourself. I think that you have a lovely mane, why it’s shinier than a polished diamond.”

The stallion giggled. “Oh you! You’re going to make me blush. Aaaanyway I’m going to fit you into a fabulous dress in two shakes a of mare’s tail.”

Rarity squeaked as the stallion darted around her, using measuring tape with expert precision. He looked at her from a few different angles, mumbling to himself and finally clapped his hooves together.

“I think that purple shall suit you nicely. I’m going to make you a nice silk dress, complete with a shawl of course. Wool and cotton are far too heavy for this heat, silk breathes much better.”

“Pardon me darling, I really do appreciate your efforts but I would like to know the name of the stallion that helped me. That way I can thank him properly.”

“I am known throughout Saddle Arabia…and oh yeah you’re from Equestria. I am known as Fabulous Finish! The greatest tailor and dressmaker in all Saddle Arabia!”

Rarity rubbed her chin. “You remind me of somepony back home. She’s a famous photographer. Are you perhaps related to Photo Finish?”

Fab’s eyes sparkled. “YOU KNOW MY LITTLE SISTER!? Oooooh this is wonderful! But…oh dear I haven’t sent her a letter in ages. I hope she can forgive me.”

“Hmm we certainly live in a small world. Perhaps you have heard of me? I’m Rarity, the proprietor of Carousel Boutique, in Ponyville.”

“My sister mentioned using some of your dresses for some of her photo shoots. Although I’m afraid I haven’t sampled any of your work myself.”

“That really is a shame. Perhaps I shall send you a few samples as a thank you gift.”

Fab clicked his tongue. “Ah now that’s what I call très magnifique! You truly are a wonder to behold my dear. Come over to the mirror and look at your new ensemble.”

Rarity gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She was outfitted with a beautiful purple silk dress that hugged all of her curves in the right places. It even came with a thin veil to go over her head, to shield her from the unforgiving sun. The dress seemed to flow like currents of a gentle stream as she strode across the room.

Rarity gasped. “This dress…it’s so elegant but ever so practical. Truly you are a master of your craft.”

Fab smiled. “Yet another satisfied customer. Off you go then, can’t keep your handsome stallion waiting.”

Rarity blushed. “Yes of course. Well ta-ta for now darling.”

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Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville

Discord sat at the table playing with a piece of carrot cake. It certainly looked delicious and on any other day he would have gobbled it up in a matter of seconds. However, having his chaos magic taken away had put a damper on his spirits. No to mention he was a blasted pony now. Before he had left with Pinkie, Celestia warned him that the only we he could regain his true form was to prove that he was reformed.

Discord snorted with contempt, they wanted him to reform? Bah! At the very least they could have let him retain his chaos magic, as a token of good will. But he still had unicorn magic. He just needed to be craftier with his tricks. This would present him with a very interesting challenge…perhaps this situation could prove to be amusing.

Pinkie grabbed the corners of Discord’s mouth. “C’mon Dissy, you need to smile more! I know the princess took away your magic but you don’t need to be so mopey about it.”

“Pinkie my dear, you don’t even have the ability to cast magic. How would you know what it feels like to live without it?”

Pinkie scrunched her mouth. “Hmm well is it anything like having itchy ears? ‘Cause sometimes I get itchy ears and it drives me crazy. My hooves can’t quite reach back there and well…hooves aren’t really all that great for scratching anything. Maybe I should get Spike to do it, he has claws after all.”

“Err well I suppose it’s similar to having an itch you can’t scratch. However, I would equate it to losing a limb.”

Pinkie’s hair deflated. “Oh no did somepony lose their legs? Wait…did you lose one of your legs? THAT’S AWEFUL!”

“No no no, it’s nothing like that. Nobody lost anything. I was trying to compare my situation to being physically disabled.”

Pinkie immediately perked up. “Good ‘cause I don’t like talking about sad things like that. Sooooo whatcha wanna do today?”

“I don’t really know, honestly. I haven’t given it too much thought.”

“Well duh that’s because you’ve been sitting here playing with your cake instead of thinking. But don’t worry! Your good ole Auntie Pinkie has been doing a lot of thinking.”

“Auntie Pinkie? I’m several thousand years your senior…why on earth would you say that?”

Pinkie puffed her cheeks. “Jeez everypony keeps saying that! I use the term ‘auntie’ to show that I’m willing to help you out, like your real aunt would. It isn’t meant to be taken literally.”

Discord laughed. “Ah I see, you take it upon yourself to look out for the well-being of others. An admirable trait, I suppose.”

“Maybe you should try doing it sometime Dissy. Helping ponies makes me feel all fuzzy inside.”

Discord gagged. “Seems like a lot of effort for so little reward. Besides you’re already fuzzy enough on the outside.”

“Reward? What are you talking about silly? There certainly is a reward. It’s seeing everypony happy!”

“Ughh what a disgustingly gooey sentiment. The only thing that makes me happy is when the world is thrown into chaos. It’s not my fault that ponies always handle chaos so poorly…”

Pinkie smushed his cheeks. “Some things are better than others when it comes to chaos. I liked the chocolate rain, but most ponies just want to live out their lives in peace. Stick to using your magic on things that ponies like and you’ll be fine.”

“You know, I find Equestrians unspeakably dull. All that peace and harmony makes life bland and boring. I’m not evil; I just want to spice things up a bit is all. But good ole Tia doesn’t seem to feel that way…a shame really.”

“Hey I’m not boring!”

Discord rolled his eyes. “I was generalizing my dear. You are a one pony hurricane.”

“Oh oh do you think I could make a PARTY HURRICANE!? If I could that would be super-duper fun and think of all the CONFETTI!”

“Hmm that would be interesting. I can see the look on Tia’s face when her precious Canterlot is covered in icing and confetti BWAHAHAHAH.”

Pinkie bounced up and down. “Everypony loves icing. I’ve also heard that the princess loves cake, so we could totally do it!”

“Perhaps I was wrong about you Miss Pie. Say, are you a fan of pranks?”

“You bet I am! Why? Do you have something in mind?”

Discord rubbed his hooves together. “Oh I might have a few ideas…”

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Market District, Ponyville

Pinkie and Discord were trotting down the street hauling a large bag of sugar. Discord volunteered to use his magic to haul the bag, since it would have been far too heavy for Pinkie to carry safely. To his surprise, Discord found that his magic was actually quite strong. The only issue was that the aura he emitted was blood red, which according to Pinkie, was not a common color. The party mare seemed a bit disturbed by it, in fact. Despite this she was intrigued as to why Discord would bother to haul a heavy bag of sugar around town. Discord finally set the bag onto the ground with a soft grunt.

Pinkie poked him on the shoulder. “Why do we need so much sugar?”

“Patience my dear, all we become clear in a matter of moments. All we need to do is wait for the right ponies to show up.”

Not being a fan of cryptic answers, Pinkie stomped her hooves on the ground. Before she could throw a temper tantrum, a certain speedy pegasus and her griffon friend showed up. Pinkie swore that they looked awfully more chummy than usual and that was saying something because those two were longtime friends. Discord took his place near the bag of sugar and pretended that his magic was too weak to lift it. After a few attempts he winked at Pinkie.

Rainbow landed near Pinkie. “Hey what’s up Pinks?”

“Hiya Dashie! I was just running some errands with my new buddy.”

“New buddy huh? Well what’s his name?”

Discord grunted. “Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you there miss. I’ve been a bit preoccupied with trying to lift this blasted bag of sugar. My name is Darius, by the way.”

Dash gave him a hoof-bump. “The name’s Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all Equestria! Umm not to be rude but what kind of name is Darius?”

“My parents grew up near the Griffonian border you see and as such they chose a more griffon sounding name.”

“Oh that’s cool. My buddy Gil over here grew up in Griffonia. He’s a scout in the army.”

“Ah what a strapping young lad he is. It is fortunate that the both of you arrived when you did.”

Dash cocked her eyebrow. “Yeah and why is that?”

Discord let out an exaggerated sigh. “Unfortunately, my magic is rather weak so I’ve been trying to move this stubborn bag of sugar but to no avail. It is simply too heavy for me to lift. Could I trouble you for some assistance?”

“I dunno it does look pretty heavy…”

Discord’s ears sagged. “I knew it was far too much to ask you. I just figured that the great Rainbow Dash: Element of Loyalty, Fastest Flier in all Equestria, and Hero of the Crystal Empire would be willing to help a citizen in need.”

Dash hovered over Discord. “Whoa easy there buddy. I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you. A little old bag of sugar won’t be stopping me. I can handle it no problem!”

“Oh thank you Rainbow Dash, you truly live up to your name!”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her mane. “Heh really it isn’t a big deal.”

Dash flew over to the sack of sugar and found that it was kind of heavy but not so bad that she couldn’t lift it. With a little bit of extra effort she managed to hover a few feet in the air, tilting her head so she could see Discord.

“Hey Darius where do you want this thing?”

Discord grinned. “Move it a little bit over to the left, near that water pump.”

“Ok so do you want me to just dump it here?”

“Good just hold on a second…”

Discord’s horn ignited, surrounding the bag of sugar in a blood red aura. He used a spell to disintegrate the bag so only a writhing mass of sugar remained. The cloud of sugar began to spin at high speed around Rainbow until Discord hit it with a heating spell. Almost immediately the pegasus was covered in a sticky mass of cotton candy. Not wanting to hurt her, Discord levitated her to the ground gently.

Pinkie rolled on the ground with laughing. “Hahaha Dissy totally got you!”

“Grrrraahhh PINKIE PIE!”

Discord trotted over and took a taste of the cotton candy. “Hmm Rainbow flavored. I’ m afraid Pinkie can’t take all the credit for this one. It was my idea after all.”

Rainbow growled. “What the hay? Is that…Discord?”

“The one and only, at your service. Although I am currently in my pony form.”

“I have no idea what the hell is going on, but one of you better start talking.”

Discord giggled. “Or what? You’ll get me all sticky? OH I’M SO SCARED!”

Pinkie patted her on the head. “Aww no need to be such a sour puss Dashie. It was all just a practical joke. Princess Celestia wants to reform Discord so she let me take care of him! But…he doesn’t have all of his super chaos powers.”

Discord snorted. “I’m not some pet you know.”

“Nopi dopi, you’re a pony silly!”

Rainbow dumped some water on herself. “So I noticed. Hey how’s come this cotton candy won’t wash off?”

“My dear, it’s a special type of cotton candy. It only comes off with saliva.”

Dash tried licking some off of her wing but found it had no effect. “What gives? You said it came off with spit!”

“Ah but I didn’t say it was your saliva. It only comes off with mine or Gillian’s.”

Dash’s eyes bulged. “WHAT? You undo this right now!”

“What fun is there in that? I’m certainly not going to give you a spit bath. If only there was somebody who was willing to…”

Gillian gulped. “Hey umm Dash I’d totally be cool with helping you out.”

“I guess I really don’t have much of a choice. Alright Gil go ahead…but don’t get weird about it.”

Gillian started licking off the tufts of cotton candy from Dash’s midsection, eliciting a few high pitched giggles from the speedster. Once she was clean, he moved onto her wings. This is where things started to get a bit dicey. Gillian had to be gentle since pegasus wings were so sensitive. He grabbed her right wing and lifted it so that it was fully extended. After a few experimental licks he began gobbling up the candy in earnest, dragging his tongue along the outer edge of her wing.

Dash quivered and let out a surprisingly throaty moan. “Oh my goddess that’s awesome.”

Gil felt his own wings stirring. “Heh you must have really sensitive wings.”

Dash blushed. “Oh shit! I didn’t mean to say that aloud. But yeah they are.”

Gillian continued to lick the remaining fluff from her wing and moved on to the other one. This time he was purposely flicking his tongue around a bit to elicit more of a reaction from Dash. He was rewarded when she had a full on wing boner, which nearly smacked him in the face. Her wings began to twitch as she blushed even harder.

“T-there’s still one spot left to clean.”

Gillian scrunched his eyebrows. “I could’ve sworn I got everything.”

Dash pointed to her crotch. “You forgot to clean…here.”

“Dash are you sure you’re comfortable with me ermm…cleaning that?”

“Look Gil I don’t normally let anypony get near that…area, but I will not have some damn puff of cotton candy stuck to my crotch! Besides, I trust you and it’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”

Gil blushed. “Sure I’ve seen it before, but that was at flight camp and we were a lot younger then. It’s not like we really did anything.”

“I know but it’s either you or Discord. And I don’t want that creep anywhere near…it.”

“Alright h-here I go.”

Gil gently moved his tongue along the outside of Dash’s lips, trying to get off as much candy as he could in one lick. He could already tell Dash was wet because he could taste a hint of spiciness mixed with the sweetness of the cotton candy. It was a rather pleasant combination in his opinion. He licked her once more to clean any remaining residue, flicking her clit with the tip of his tongue. She let out a high pitched squeak in response, and then kicked him in the chest with her legs. Since her wings were stiff, there was no way she could fly so she settled for galloping. Gillian punched the ground and flew after her.

“Dash I’m sorry I couldn’t help myself! Please wait up!”

Discord shook his head. “Everything was going so well too. That mare seriously needs to be more comfortable with physical contact. Pinkie I think we should…umm Pinkie did you hear me?”

Pinkie’s mouth watered. “That was…sooo hot.”

Discord face-hoofed. “Oh great she has a candy fetish. I should have guessed.”