Chapter 2: This ink is a Rarity

Elsewhere, the gray mail-mare was delivering yet more flyers announcing the coming of the "Saddlebag Seven" acting troupe to Ponyville. One of those to receive a flyer, also quite by accident, was a pony visiting from Hollow Shades on a business trip.

Lucid Thought, a light blue coated unicorn stallion with a deeper blue and silver-streaked mane, a bookseller and restorer of both book and scroll, picked up the flyer with a levitation spell and scanned through it quickly.

"A Daring Do play?" he asked the retreating mailmare quizzically.

She didn’t seem to have heard him. She was already out of easy earshot but waved back at him anyway. Another flyer slipped out of her bulging-mail bag unnoticed as she did so. He smiled back at her and waved a friendly hoof, chuckling to himself.

He read through the flyer, feeling rather giddy at the prospect of seeing his imaginings brought to life by a skilled troupe of players. He noted with glee the presence of several well-known players and a skilled stage unicorn for the magic effects. Then he noticed the date that they would be arriving and his hopes fell. He would have to leave before then in order to catch the next roundabout train to Hollow Shades.

Still... Maybe they would come to his hometown someday soon. He smiled and nodded, convinced that they would eventually. His heart light and a smile across his face, he turned once again to the Carousel Boutique and knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," came a rich, cultured voice from inside. He pushed his way in and carefully knocked a little travel dust from his hooves on the mat. The same voice greeted him again: "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique!"

He stepped in to a whirlwind of color and ordered chaos. At its center was Rarity, busily wielding her magic deftly to craft what would eventually be, he was sure, a magnificent coiffure bedecked with feathers, beading and lace. It would make some lucky mare feel the as though she were the pride of some event or another, he supposed. It was too garish and, well, frilly for his taste.

"I'll be with you in just a minute, good stallion. I just need to... Ah! Perfection!" She said as the finishing touches fused themselves into the hat too magnificently over-bearing to be called such.

The familiar tingle of magic faded from Lucid's senses as the various implements that had been floating about found their places. He waited patiently by the counter near the front of the store for her to finish and let his eyes wander about the store and over various displays and dress forms in various states of completion and disarray.

He'd heard of Rarity's prowess with the dress even so far away in Hollow Shades, though mostly through the idle chatter that he picked up while out and about with his wife. The rumors and gossip did not do her skill justice. Even if he found some of the outfits garish and over-the-top, he could still admire the craftsmanship and passion that had gone into making them as an artist of sorts himself.

“A pleasure to meet you, ah…” The young mare said, offering a hoof in greeting.

“Lucid Thought, but Lucid is fine,” he said with a smile, lightly tapping her hoof with his, “I have been corresponding with you as regards the-“

“Illustrated Guidebook to Canterlot Fashion! Yes, I remember your name! Were you able to get the stains out? I simply could not let such beautiful illustrations molder under such a hideous… Color.” She tossed her hoof dismissively.

“I was, though it was more difficult than I thought it would be. If I may ask… how did such a, ahh,” he coughed, “vibrant shade of purple get so deeply soaked into the pages?”

With a simple spell he pulled the book, wrapped in fine linen and tied with a light blue ribbon, from his saddlebags. Rarity also pulled up a medium sized velvet bag that chimed with the sound of gemstones from behind the counter.

“Oh,” she paused, considering the question, and set the bag on the counter. “Grapple Juice mixed with Blackberries. I think. Some mishap or another.” He could have sworn that she muttered "Sweetie Belle" too, but it was so low that he may have been mistaken.

"I see."

Rarity undid the bindings and slid the book out of its protective wrap and flipped through it quickly before nodding approvingly. “A fine job, Mr. Thought, and well worth the price.” She pushed the bag towards him with a delicate hoof.

"You're quite welcome, and I appreciate your generosity." He opened the bag and teased out a few of the gems, eying them critically, "They're almost exactly the right shade. My sincerest thanks, Miss Rarity. I hadn't thought to get shades so close to my request, and I appreciate very much the extra effort it must have taken to find them."

“You’re quite welcome,” she said graciously. “To have such a rare book restored to,” she paused and looked critically at one of the more intricate drawings, “such pristine condition, almost any price would have sufficed.” He fairly glowed at her casual compliment.

She turned back to the beginning of the book and began flipping from page to page through the book more slowly, eyes shining at the pristinely restored imagery and immaculate descriptions below each.

“I am curious, however,” she mused, looking critically at each richly detailed and intricate drawing, “why ask for such a specific collection of gems? Some of them are hardly worth a thing.” She touched a drawing lightly and looked at her hoof, “Though, I suppose they could be used for decoration. But I had not thought book-binders, or whatever it is you do, would use such varied or specific colors in their decorations.”

“You’re quite right, of course. I did not ask for them because of their value, but for their decorative purposes. Normally,” he began as he tucked the jewels back into their bag, “we don’t use gems for decoration, only the rarest and richest of books get actual gems. However, with the re-emergence of the Crystal Empire, I have been seeing some business inquiries from crystal ponies looking to restore personal books that were damaged during the reign of King Sombra.”

Rarity nodded a little absently, still going from page to page slowly. She didn’t seem to be paying him much mind, but her question was still prescient and thoughtful. It gave him a chance to talk about his art to another artist; an occasion that occurred rather rarely since most ponies, even other artists, viewed his occupation as boring and tedious.

“Well, as it turns out, the Crystal Ponies more elaborate drawings used inks mixed with powdered gemstones of all colors and hues. You should see some of the really elaborate books they have in their main library. To look upon a rainbow in those books is to see it as it would appear in the sky.

“Unfortunately that type of radiance and sparkle is not something readily restored with a simple spell and, besides, any spell of glimmer or radiance must be renewed frequently." He tossed his head dismissively, "Which is hardly a practical solution. So, to properly restore them, I must incorporate more ink into the drawings to make them truly shine as they did once.”

“Powdered… what?” Her attention came away from the book, an eager look in her eye. “Powdered gemstone ink? What a fabulous idea!” She closed the book gingerly, then rushed back into the backroom of her boutique.

“Placards!” She shouted, “No… Invitations! Yes!” The sound of a truly horrendous rampage was followed by a hiss and a white, pristinely groomed cat sauntered out of the boutique, looking startled. It hissed at him and threatened him with a very sharp looking set of claws.

“Er… Nice kitty?” He offered. It, well she he hoped, hissed again and jumped up onto the counter to lay atop the book, glaring at him all the while.

For nearly five minutes he heard Rarity tearing through what sounded like a dungeon of chests and hearing her reject this or that item between intermittently cursing Sweetie Belle, whom he was able to eventually identify as Rarity’s younger sister from various bits of flying clues, and wondering about a long lost item. He got tired of just listening and stood up to poke his head around the corner, only to almost be brained by a flying dress form.

Catching it with a swift bit of magic, he set down the dress form and stepped back around the corner, lest any more flying debris come his way. He was curious to see what she had in mind, he forced himself to settle and wait patiently.

Perhaps she might even have more business for him. He suppressed a smile at the thought. It would get him closer to his ultimate goal of setting himself up financially to work on his own projects rather than just those of others. A daydream of finally publishing something that would be well regarded floated through his mind as he waited for her.

He did not have to wait much longer. Rarity came back with a stack of folded, elaborately decorated, though blank, invitation cards, each of them unadorned except for a stylized 'R' in the upper right corner.

"I want these invitations to stand out above all the rest and I have been trying to come up with ideas to add that extra pomp and sparkle, but drawing a blank." She lifted one off the top and unfolded it to lie down before him, "But I have never seen an invitation penned with gemstone infused ink before! I would be ever so grateful if I could employ your services in making some inks before you go. I will, of course, provide the gems and base ink and a generous fee besides for your time."

The offer was certainly tempting, and he could use the business and the recognition, but he hadn't really planned on staying in Ponyville for longer than a few days to pick up some of the rarer supplies necessary for his trade and meet with another client. Aside from considering his wife’s feelings regarding him being gone for so long, crafting the ink was a delicate process that he hadn’t yet mastered to the point where he could do so swift and sure as he could with normal inks.

"I certainly could," he offered after some consideration, "but I hadn't planned on spending the time here it would take to blend the inks and I have another client that I need to meet before I can even consider it." He saw her face fall, disappointed, and added, "though, if you are amenable, I could make them once I get home and then send them to you from Hollow Shades. But,” he held up a cautioning hoof, ”it may be a matter of a week or two, depending on how much you want made."

"That may do," she said thoughtfully, "though I was hoping that I might get these done before the next week,” she lifted the invitation card briefly. ”There's this... thing in Canterlot, you see, that I wish to invite some friends to and I really do need to get the invitations out sooner rather than later."

She smiled brightly, "I could offer you a stipend if you were to stay longer than your planned time, and I'm certain that I could find accommodations for you for the time it would take, as well as a suitable work area."

She was making it harder for him to resist, but... "I would need to get a message to my wife and let her know that I'm going to be away longer than planned."

"I'll pay for a message by pegasus," she countered.

"I also need some other reagents, some of them quite rare," he counter-countered.

"Give me a list and I'll make sure you get them." She rebutted his rebuttal with a smile.

"Well..." He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully with a fetlock. I suppose it would also give me a chance to see the Saddleback Seven performing a Daring Do play or two, he mused. "Alright. You have a deal."