The God Particle

Chapter 6: A Fashionista's Welcome

Coauthored by Omnicron25

James and Twilight were starting their way into Ponyville proper now, and as Rainbow Dash had promised, there was no overabundance of young ponies jockeying for a chance to ogle him or ask him questions. Like back in Canterlot, however, many ponies would simply politely greet him at his arrival—to which he responded likewise. Some seemed to bare more curiosity and stared at the passing chariot and its passengers, while others appeared nervous, and some paid almost no attention to James's arrival whatsoever.

The buildings were what James would expect the structures of an older European settlement would have looked like. Almost all of the construction was made with pre-industrial era materials with the wooden beams clearly shown in the sides of the buildings. He even noted there was thatch roofing on many of the buildings which he could not help but be surprised at after seeing the architecture of Canterlot.

It was certainly nothing like the buildings he was used to back in Chicago. Even the oldest buildings looked nothing like this, and he could not help but feel that fanciful notion he was in some dream again. It was like he really was dropped into some type of fantasy world, or even back in time. He was having a hard time still believing this was all real, but his doubt was starting to fade faster the longer he was in this realm.

Twilight was right about one thing: if this is just all in my head, then there appears to be no way I can get out of it. The physicist thought with a sigh as he watched the crowd of pastel-colored ponies and archaic looking buildings pass by. I might as well play along, just in case.

That thought aside, he noticed they were now passing through what appeared to be the square in the center of town. An official looking building seemed to dominate the center of the area, and to James, the structure seemed to almost resemble a cross between a courthouse and a meeting hall.

"That would be Town Hall, James. Mayor Mare's office is located in it as well as most of the few political offices that Ponyville has. It and the square are also used in most public events, such as the various festivals, in a large majority of cases. We'll be meeting the mayor at some point."

"Er … Thanks," he said automatically. While slightly startled by Twilight's sudden explanation, it was not enough to cause James to jump, only merely turn his head toward her. He nodded at her explanation, but decided to keep any thoughts to himself for a bit longer. He really did not have much to say on the matter in any case since he had been trying his hardest to concentrate on the layout of the town as they went through it. He was sure that the meeting with the mayor of the town would probably only be in passing on his part anyway.

After a short trip through a few more of the town streets and into what seem to be part of the higher class district, the chariot neared an elaborate looking building that reminded James of a carousel one would find at a fair back on Earth. It seemed like this place was their final destination, and this made James assume that it was the 'Carousel Boutique' that Twilight had mentioned earlier.

"That's Carousel Boutique," said the lavender unicorn with a slight tilt of her horn toward it, reaffirming his thoughts. "It's owned by one of my close friends; her name is Rarity. So, we can hopefully expand your social network now as well as get you some new clothes."

"Delightful," he murmured. Despite himself, James found it hard to not roll his eyes at Twilight's choice of words, but kept his opinion to himself as the chariot slowed to a halt and the duo disembarked in front of the fashion shop.

"Thank you, kind sirs," appreciated Twilight to the stallions, which they returned with a respectful nod, before turning and making their way back to Canterlot.

Then, she turned to the door saying, "Welcome to Ponyville, James," as she approached it and knocked gently with one of her hooves. A few seconds passed, and a white unicorn with delicately styled, royal purple mane and tail and sapphire blue eyes answered the door.

"Oh, welcome back, Twilight. How was your …" She cut herself short though as she noticed James—or rather his appearance—then gave a loud gasp of horror before looking back at Twilight indignantly. "You let him walk around Canterlot looking like that?! Dressed like that?! Even worse, you actually let him see Princess Celestia dressed like THAT?! Oh! My stars! It's a crime against fashion!"

The other unicorn could not help but roll her eyes at her friend's dramatics. "It's not as if they had any clothes in Canterlot that would fit his body type."

Rarity turned her eyes back to James and continued almost as if she had not heard Twilight. "And your mane! It's such a mess! You simply must come inside before anypony sees you looking like that!"

"It's a little late for that," James mumbled, but then started to turn around as Rarity stepped around him and started to herd him into the boutique.

"Hey! Wait a moment. What are you doing?" he demanded in indignation.

"Why helping you with your fashion disaster, of course!"

He really did not have any other option except walk backwards into the building, glancing behind himself a few times to make sure he was not about to run into something or trip. James looked to Twilight for help, but she seemed to be only following him.

He thought that maybe Rarity would just shove him in front of a mirror and give him something to comb his hair with, but the way the other unicorn was staring so intensely at him started to make him think otherwise. Eventually, he was backed into a chair and could not go any further. Upon which, Rarity stood up onto her hind legs and placed her front hooves on his shoulders, pushing him down into the chair.

"Now, stay right there. I simply must do something with your mane." She requested before studying him again. "Actually, you really need a complete makeover along with new clothes!" She moved over to her rack of shampoos, conditioners, gels, and other products and started scanning over them.

"… We call it hair, and it was fine until we hit that heavy rain on the way here," James protested in vain before casting another get-me-out-of-here glance at Twilight. But this time, she only shrugged and gave him a sympathetic look as her ears tilted back some. Once it became obvious that she was not going to help him out of this one, he decided to take matters into his own hands. James simply stood up and was about to start walking toward the door.

Rarity suddenly turned from her hair supplies as he was about to take his first step. "SIT!" she commanded in a very firm tone and glared at him with ears turned back and tail swishing in annoyance. In this time, he noticed she had also donned a pair of stylized, pink rimmed glasses when he was not looking.

The man winced at both the loud rebuke and the spectacled glare, quickly sitting back down and sighing in resignation. White unicorn then turned back to her hair care products before using her horn to magically move a few of the bottles off the shelf—much like Twilight had done with the water glass.

"Oh! I have just the thing that will give you nice, glowing, radiant hair!" she said confidently as she glanced at him with her eyes shining in a similar manner of how Twilight's did when she was eager to learn something new.

"Uh … I don't think I want glowing, radiant hair," he protested weakly. That shining in her eyes was unnerving him more than even Twilight's did.

As if on cue, Twilight finally spoke up again. "I'll … uh … come back to get him in a little bit. Just remember, Rarity, the clothing doesn't have to be too formal. It's just for wearing around Ponyville."

James's eyes pleaded to Twilight in one last ditch effort so she would not leave him here with this insane fashionista. But once again, it seemed she was not going to aid him in this one.

"Yes, of course, darling. Informal. Simple, yet elegant looking," Rarity responded with an acknowledging flick of her tail.

Satisfied with the fashionista's response, Twilight left, making James sigh as he watched Rarity return with several bottles of hair care products and a pair of scissors.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" James started to object, "A pair of scissors? How do you … I mean you don't have hands … How are you gonna …" However, she cut him off with a questioning brow.

"Are you questioning my skills with scissors? Trust me, you will be very pleased with the results."

James sighed again in resignation, letting her get to work as she moved behind him. Then, he raised his eyes to see the scissors above him with a light blue aura surrounding them as Rarity manipulated them expertly in trimming his hair. Then, a comb was surrounded by the same aura on the nearby table, joining the scissors in combing his hair in conjunction with the trimming.

"Okay," he admitted, "I'm officially impressed. I mean, I knew unicorns could move objects around with telekinesis, because I saw Twilight do it … but I didn't know you could control them so expertly … especially not two objects at once."

"It comes with years of practice, darling," she said as she continued working. "Unicorns actually write letters this way. With practice, we can achieve extremely high dexterity over small objects."

"Amazing. Do you always have to have line-of-sight with whatever you are manipulating?"

"It helps, but it's not always necessary as long as you don't need fine tune control," Rarity explained as she started trimming the hair around his right ear. "You sound as if you've never heard of magic before."

"Not real magic," James said as he felt her switch to trimming around the left ear. "In my world, there is no magic whatsoever … only hard science, sight of hand and parlor tricks, and fantasy novels."

"Oh my stars! How dreadful!" Rarity exclaimed dramatically. She was working on the back of his head now. "I can't imagine how much of a shock this must be to you then! I apologize for not noticing earlier, but I was simply so caught up in my work I …"

James gave her a dismissive wave as he said, "It's fine. You couldn't have known. I'm as new to this world as this world is to me."

"I still cannot imagine what it would be like without magic," commented Rarity as she looked over her work and started fixing minor imperfections. "Even earth ponies have integral magic that helps them with the crops and the like … Ah, much better," she said as she finished with his hair, putting down the comb and scissors.

Those last few comments made James even more curious on what all magic influenced here. At first, he thought it was only unicorns and the winged unicorns that could use magic, but now … He broke his train of thought as he noticed Rarity canter back in front of him. His eyes widened as he saw a straight razor hovering in front of her horn.

"Uh … I'm sorry, but I don't think so. I don't care how skilled you are at magically manipulating small objects. There is no way I'm letting you get near me with that thing.," he said firmly, crossing his arms.

"Well, you simply must shave. Lets be honest here, facial hair does not suit you. Would you rather do it yourself?" the white unicorn responded—a bit over-dramatically—then offered it to him handle first.

James eyed the straight razor for a moment. He had never tried shaving with a straight razor and was honestly more worried he would end up getting cut if he did so himself, rather than let her do it.

"But, how will I know you won't cut me with that?" he asked weakly. She gave him a reassuring smile in turn, turning the razor back around.

"As long as you hold still, I assure you I won't. Trust me, darling, I've been doing this for a very long time."

He still looked a bit nervous, but finally, he nodded his head a bit and let her move the straight razor closer to his face and neck, doing his best to hold still. It was not as uncomfortable as he feared it would be as she expertly started to shave three days worth of unchecked hair growth off his face. James usually kept himself shaved, so he had to admit it felt good to get rid of the hair.

After a bit longer, Rarity stood back to admire her work on his hair and face. "Oh, that is definitely a significant improvement. Now, to get you measured for some clothes … I've never made attire for a biped before. This is going to be an excellent challenge." She smiled almost like Twilight had smiled when the lavender unicorn found out he was a physicist.

Yep, Rarity definitely loves her job, he thought as he observed her.

"I need to get my tape measures. I'll meet you by the platform with all the mirrors," she said as she gestured a hoof in the general direction of the platform and cantered off excitedly to gather her things.

He nodded as she cantered off and got up from the chair before heading over to where she indicated. A few moments later, Rarity had returned—a tape measure, chart, and some writing utensils floating over her horn.

"Arms up please," she requested as she started to magically move the tape measure around him, taking measurements at various places—arm length, chest and shoulder broadness, barrel length, pant length, waist size, and neck circumference among the various measurements taken.

James thought the process was taking a bit to long, and that she was taking more measurements than necessary. However, he wrote it off as her being a perfectionist, and she was the expert after all, so he let her work.

The door opened again as Twilight Sparkle came back in, looking at James and his freshly styled hair and shaven face. "Oh … Looking sharp, James." She grinned, to which James rolled his eyes in response.

"Hold still, please," Rarity scolded as he had moved a little when rolling his eyes.

"Oh … Right … Sorry." He did his best to hold perfectly still again as she finished up her measurements.

"Alright, I should have the clothes ready by tomorrow morning. You can stop by then and pick them up," she stated as she finished writing down notes about her measurements.

"Rarity …" James began, feeling guilty, "I can't pay you for any of this, and I doubt you accept credit cards from my world."

"Credit cards? No. Credit? Yes. Don't worry about it, darling. Consider this a gift, as I do like a challenge," she said with a smile as she looked up from her notes. Then, she started off towards a few rolls of differentiating fabric against one side of the room.

He frowned, as he was not satisfied with simply giving her nothing in return. He would think of someway to repay her. For now though, James turned to look at his hair and freshly shaven face in the mirror. She did a really good job, he admitted to himself in thought before turning to fashionista again.

"Thank you, Rarity. It does look really nice. I appreciate it and can't wait to see what you come up with for the clothes."

She turned to him with a proud smile. "You are very welcome, James." Then, she turned back to the fabrics and started pulling on a few of the rolls. "Well, I should get to work on them, and I should let you and Twilight get home and get started on … whatever it is you have planned to get started on." She gave a nonchalant wave of a hoof.

James nodded again, wanting to give the fashion designer her space, and went over to Twilight. "Ready to go?"

Twilight nodded to him before turning to her friend. "Thank you, Rarity. We'll be back to see you in the morning."

"Ta, ta, you two," Rarity said and merely nodded in response as the alabaster fashionista was already absorbed in her task.

Then, with a mutual nod to each other, the two of them left the boutique, and James followed Twilight as she lead the way to the place that would be his new home for the next several months.