Simple, Yet Complex

by Salnalus

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rarity
Length: 3231

When Rarity neeeds inspiration for a fabulous new dress idea, she finds it from an unlikely source.

Inspiration can be found anywhere. You just have to look hard enough. However, even the most complex of things can be found right in front of you. That is a lesson Rarity must learn when she can't seem to think of a good design to please her clients. All she needed was a small break from the norm to look deeper into what was already in front of her. The lesson she learns comes from a surreal source, one she did not expect.

Thanks to Soothing Stone for proofreading this for me.

Published 2013-09-03 11:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-03 11:40:02 UTC

Simple, Yet Complex

“Rarity, I'm home!”

The door of the Carousel Boutique opened, and none other than the proprietor's younger sibling made her entrance. She had just come back from a worthwhile day of crusading for cutie marks with her friends, as they always do. She untied her Cutie Mark Crusaders cape, slinging it off her back with her mouth as she turned toward the rest of the main room.

The first thing she noticed was her older sister standing before a mannequin, looking over its design and details. Rarity was making yet another dress, but perhaps taking a bit too much time with figuring out how to make the overall look work.

“You're still working on that thing?” Sweetie Belle walked over to the couch and set down her cape, deciding to take it up to her room later.

Rarity turned back toward her younger sister with a distressed look upon her face. “Huh? You're back so soon? I didn't expect you for about another two hours.”

“Two hours?” Sweetie tilted her head in confusion while raising a brow. “Rarity, I was out for at least four hours. It looks like you were working on this since then.”

“Four hours?!” the white mare spoke dramatically. “How could time slip by so fast? Was I really working that long?”

Sweetie walked a bit closer to her and the mannequin. It was dressed with a white fabric and adorned with yellow ruffles near the edges, and a bit of purple near the back as sort of a highlight. From what the filly could remember from before she left the boutique hours ago, the dress was purple with a few tiny sapphires decorating it.

“What happened to the other dress? I thought that one looked fine.” She looked around for it, but didn't see it anywhere.

“Oh, that? I couldn't do the design. It was so drab and unsatisfying. I made others, but they were also pretty awful. Trust me dearie, you wouldn't want to see them.”

She turned back to the dress, but Sweetie was getting a bit curious. “Where are they? I don't see them.”

“Look in the back, Sweetie.”

Sweetie turned her head to the left, looking through the doorway that led to the back room where Rarity had usually stored her materials used to make clothes. She made her way beside the door and peeked her head inside to only have her eyes widen. There in the middle of the room was a large pile of unfinished dresses sized up to about twice the size of Sweetie Belle herself.

“Exactly how many dresses are there here?”

“Only thirty-three, but who's counting? It would be a real mess to clean up, though. But not to worry. I won't have you clean them all up by yourself.”

The filly sighed in relief, knowing she didn't have to subject to working herself out. She would rather make time to play, and more importantly, try to earn her cutie mark. But Rarity wasn't finished speaking. “You'll clean up with me! It'll be easier if I help, and besides, it is my mess. I'd rather not have a dirty room, you know.”

Sweetie groaned. She thought she was going to have some free time to herself without having to do work. “But Rarity, I can't clean up this mess. I'm doing something tonight with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Twilight tonight!”

“Twilight?” Rarity asked with a bewildered expression. “What are you doing with her?”

“Well, when we were out trying to get our cutie marks earlier, we ran into Twilight and Applejack. Well, more like we passed by them when Twilight was talking about looking at the stars tonight. Apple Bloom suggested we try to get our cutie marks in star-watching or, something.”

“I believe it is called stargazing, or astronomy if you're talking about space in general.”

Sweetie rolled her eyes. “Oh, whatever! The point is, Twilight was fine with us joining her. You don't mind if I go too, do you?”

“Not really, no.” Rarity turned back to the back room. “But then again, the mess...”

Just then, an idea hatched in Sweetie's mind. “I know! What about you come with us? We can spend some time together, and it'll get your mind off this whole clothes thing.”

The older pony scoffed at the idea. “Oh, Sweetie Belle, I appreciate the kind offer, but I am simply too busy to deal in the mindless watching of the night sky.”

She looked around the room, noticing how the main room itself was just as disorganized as the back room. “On the other hoof, a break every once in a while never hurt anypony... very well. I'll go, but expect a bit of hard work tomorrow when we clean up most of this mess.”

“Aww...” Sweetie whined. For the third time, she thought she was in the clear. “Fine. At least it's a chance to get a cutie mark. I'll go tell Twilight!”

Before Rarity could give a rebuttal, her younger sibling rushed out of Carousel Boutique to spread the good news. She sighed to herself at her sister's innocence before facing the whole main room. Out of everything that was in view, the one thing that stood out first to her was Sweetie Belle's cape laid out on the couch instead of hung up or put in her room like it was supposed to.

“Sweetie Belle!”

For a few hours, Sweetie Belle was hanging out with her two fellow crusaders having fun, and more importantly, doing crazy antics in order to earn their cutie marks. After many unsuccessful attempts, they decided to stay with Twilight the rest of the day until they went out to go stargazing.

Unfortunately for the trio of fillies, all there was to do there was read books. They all complained that how Twilight was such a boring pony. Well, at least Scootaloo did until the lavender unicorn mentioned how she thought somepony like Rainbow Dash never liked books until she tried it, which then got the orange pegasus to change her mind almost instantly. Twilight giggled at her cuteness while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle simply rolled their eyes. That was then when a knock was heard at the door. When Spike went to answer it, his eyes changed to hearts at the sight of Rarity.

“I am here everypony.” The elegant mare wore a blue fleece outfit that accentuated well with her eyes. Sweetie Belle squealed and trotted up to her.

“You're here! Now we can go stargazing together!”

“Is this going to be boring?” groaned a slightly displeased Scootaloo.

“Of course not,” replied an exuberant Twilight. “Stargazing is a lot of fun. Even from watching the simplest of stars, you can learn a lot about them.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow as she said that.

“Well...” Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought, but figured it would be best to speed things up. “You know what, I’ll just explain it when we get there. Is everypony ready?”

“Ready!” the Cutie Mark Crusaders exclaimed simultaneously, with the exception of Scootaloo.

“Well, if it'll get us our cutie marks, I guess I can't complain, she added in reassurance. “Besides, it won't hurt to try, right?”

“That's the spirit.” Twilight then faced Rarity with a smile. “This will be a fun experience. Tonight, we'll be able to see the constellation Orion, as well as a few less-known ones. I've been studying the movements of the stars for a few nights. I'm so amazed by the nights that Princess Luna creates.”

“Princess Luna?” Rarity inquired with a bit of confusion.

In an instant, one of the books on the shelves glowed a bright magenta as it flew from the shelf, and floated in front of the white mare. Its pages turned to something that showed a sizable depiction of a dark blue alicorn with text accompany the opposite page.

“You know, Princess Celestia's younger sister. The Princess of the Night. I don't think you were there last Nightmare Night, but she came here to Ponyville.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that!” Scootaloo stepped up to say. “That night was wicked awesome!”

“Of course,” Sweetie Belle stepped in, “I felt kind of sad when she said she was going to cancel Nightmare Night forever. We really had a lot of fun.”

“Well, yeah,” Apple Bloom added last. “But then at the end, she uncanceled it and even joined on the fun! Unfortunately, we didn't get our cutie marks that night, but it was pretty fun, and kinda interestin' to see her.”

“Well, I'm glad you all had fun. As for me, well...” the fashionista rubbed the back of her head. “I had more important matters to attend to. Not that indulging in nighttime activities, filling up on cavity-inducing sweets, watching everypony dress up in silly costumes and making a pointless offering to a statue in the dark Everfree Forest is uninteresting or anything...”

“Oh, come on Rarity. You were the one that made my Nightmare Night costume!” her younger sister interrupted.

“Well, yes, but that was different. I wasn't busy at the time.”

Sweetie Belle huffed. “You're always busy! That's exactly why I said you should come with us tonight. So you could take a break.”

Spike had heard enough, and this was cutting into his free time. “Could everypony just go already?!” He interrupted, which got everypony's attention.

“Yeah, I'm with Spike on this one. We're wasting time here, so let's go!” Scootaloo agreed, and before anypony could say more, she ran past Rarity out of the library followed by Apple Bloom.

During the rush, Rarity had to sidestep to avoid a collision with the ecstatic fillies. “Well, they could learn to say 'excuse me' before dashing out the door. We still have plenty of time before the stars arrive, don't we?”

“Yes we do,” Twilight answered. “But it doesn't hurt to go now while the night is approaching.”

Rarity nodded in agreement, and let the purple mare walk through. Her magic was holding a picnic basket as well as a box containing what Rarity guessed to be some sort of portable telescope. She and Sweetie Belle trotted close behind as Spike waved to them from behind before closing the door.

Several hours later, the group of five were sitting comfortably on the plaid blanket. Sweetie Belle was laying next to her sister Rarity while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were standing on either side of Twilight, who was peering through the telescope.

“Ok, so where's the picture?” Apple Bloom asked, the Earth pony filly squinting her eyes at the night sky. “I can't see a darn thing anywhere but stars!”

“You have to connect the stars, you dodo.” Scootaloo pointed at the various stars that glistened above them. “See those three up there next to each other? They're part of the picture.”

“That's right, Scootaloo!” Twilight said enthusiastically while giving her a smile. “That's part of Orion, specifically the middle part. If you look around it, there's more. You just have to connect them in your mind.”

Twilight spent the next few minutes showing the two fillies how to create the image of the constellation in their heads. It took a while to explain a few things, but they eventually got it. Apple Bloom was confused as heck.

“I still don't get it...”

“Oh, it's just a silly picture in the sky,” Sweetie Belle said from behind as she waved a hoof. “Nothing really special.”

The statement earned a hardly audible groan from the studious mare before Rarity chimed in. “Well, it's getting pretty late. We should head back now, right?”

The rest of the group looked up at the pale moon above them. It was pretty late in the night, and the fillies were feeling a bit tired.

“Good point. Let's pack up and head back.” Twilight stepped back from the telescope and used her magic to fold it up. Luckily for her, it was a retractable telescope, which made it all the more portable and easier to carry. Rarity proceeded to fold up the blanket and neatly place it in the blanket.

“Alright, that's everything. Let's go everypony.” Twilight started to walk forward with the three fillies behind her. Sweetie Belle looked back to notice her older sister looking away from them up into the night sky. Sweetie looked up as well to see the brightly lit moon.

“Rarity, it's time to go. What are you doing?”

She waved a hoof over to the side. “Go on without me. I have some things to think about. Give me about five minutes, and I'll catch up.”

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow before shrugging and moving forward to catch up to the others. There sat Rarity, looking up at the moon as if she saw something sparkle in it. The dresses she had been working on were still fresh in her mind. She just couldn't ignore them.

“What am I to do? I have somepony coming in two days to look at the designs for Canterlot ponies to admire and wear, and I cannot come up with one thing that shall work! I need inspiration of some sort. Somewhere, there must be ideas. Or maybe I just need to calm myself.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the cool, night air before exhaling deeply. Her blue eyes gazed into the moon for a few seconds before she saw what she thought was the small twinkle of a nearby star. Then she heard hoofsteps approaching her from the side. But she thought the others left behind her. When she turned her head, she gasped as she saw the tall figure standing before her.

“Princess Luna?”

The midnight blue alicorn smiled while Rarity bowed in her presence. Afterward, the fashionista scrambled to make herself look presentable in front of royalty, which earned an awkward stare from the Princess. “Rarity, there is no need for preparations. This is no formal invitation. It is simply a visit.”

Rarity laughed nervously, still thinking Luna should have deserved to see her when she was actually prepared. She just chuckled at the mare's act, to which Rarity stood up again.

“It's just such a rare occurrence to see you like this. I mean... why are you here?” She looked up at the Princess, who turned her head to the large, white object in the sky which was her namesake.

“You seem troubled. As Princess, it is my duty to watch over the citizens of Equestria. This includes those that seem to have something that bothers them. I understand you run a fashion home?”

Rarity nodded. “Well, it's called a boutique, and yes. I am the owner of it.”

Luna turned back to the white mare and stepped next to her. “You needn't be nervous about whether or not a design lacks inspirational efforts. Sometimes, even simple designs work well. Have you ever made anything simple that received the admiration it deserved?”

“Well, once.” Rarity looked down at the ground, a memory of her giving Twilight a simple, yellow dress with no detail anywhere. “It was Twilight's birthday, and I gave her a simple yellow dress as a gift. She loved it.”

“So she was satisfied? Then I would not worry. You have made many a wonderful dress, and I believe the inspirations for them were either within you, or around you. Even the most extravagant of pieces can derive from unexpected sources. Look around and tell me what you see.”

Following Luna's words, Rarity looked around the area. There was nothing but the empty fields and trees. The only other things in her view were the night sky, the stars and the moon.

“I see the calmness of the night,” she answered the Princess' earlier statement.

“It does calm you, does it not?”

“Yes it does, to be honest.” Rarity allowed herself to relax her muscles, giving herself a sense of peace and serenity for a moment.

“Now let me be so bold as to ask this: can you take inspiration from it? You are a simple mare with simple desires. You can see that as a simple color such as white. Now, when you see this night sky...”

Luna raised her hoof to the sky, gesturing the white mare to follow it. “You see something simple, yet complex. What you view as simple can actually withhold a deeper meaning, such as the color blue. For example, we have the night sky, which is a rather calming blue. There is my coat, which is rather dark.” She put a hoof to her chest to give an example of herself.

“And then there's the color of your eyes, a beautiful blue, like a sapphire. There are many different forms of a simple subject. You must, however, look deeper to gather the inspiration you desire. When you combine simple and complex, you receive something extraordinary. Is there any way you see how to accomplish that?”

Rarity closed her eyes and thought hard. As soon as the answer was clear to her, she squealed in delight. “Of course! What if I lay out something plain, like a white dress, and outline it with different shades of blue? Perhaps a bit of light blue there, and a highlight of aquamarine there...”

The fashionista was busy in her own little world thinking up of a working design that would wow the buyers of her design. She turned back to Princess Luna with excitement. “Oh thank you, Princess! How can I...”

Before she could say more, she noticed she was talking to nopony in particular. The Princess of the Night had suddenly disappeared from sight, and Rarity had wondered where she had went. After looking around for about five seconds, she just stood there staring into space.

“Was that all of my imagination? Was Princess Luna actually here?” She gave herself a few more seconds to comprehend everything that just occurred before shaking her head at the conclusion.

“Of course not! The Princess is obviously busy at this time, and doesn't have the time to help out silly little mares like myself out of pity. But then again, she did say it was her duty... or was that my mind making her say it?”

She looked back out into the distance. Afterward, she just shrugged and started to trot back to Ponyville. “Either way, I finally got my new idea for that dress! But it'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'm tired.”

As she walked home, a cloud loomed overhead, and on top of it stood Princess Luna with her wings opened up to its fullness. If somepony looked closer, they would see her smile.

“You are welcome, my little pony.”

Author's Note

This is to be the first story in my new Rarity & Princess Luna series. I will have a name for that later, but for now, here is what you get.

This story is to test out my writing with the pairing of Rarity and Princess Luna. Obviously, this has no romance or any hint of it, but that may soon change in the future. What I want now is honest opinions on how this was. Is there anything you'd like to see more of when I write future stuff? Any suggestions? Feel free to leave your comments!