Feeling a Little Hoarse

It was a pleasant day in Manhattan, the sun shining, the birds chirping, and an almost perfectly blue sky. There were oddly less cars than usual, making for a rather quiet day, but no-one minded the strange quiet. In fact it was welcomed by most. The rest were people used to the busy sounds of the city, people that hated the quiet, and craved opportunities.

One of those people was Sam, who was lying in the middle of the park near her house, laying in the grass and waiting for something interesting to happen. It seemed however, that Sam had found the most boring part of the city to be in, because the most interesting thing she had seen all day was some clouds that looked kind of like diamonds. She lay in the grass for a few moments more, before slowly rising to her feet and walking towards her apartment. There's no place like home after all.

Carousel Boutique was lively with movement, fabric and tools flying around slowly forming beautiful dresses. At the centre of this organised storm was a white pony, mane frizzled and glasses tilted. She had promised to make her friends dresses for the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala (Now that they were allowed back) and so she was working her hardest to make them look perfect.

After a few hours more of this, the fabric and tools settled into place on desktops and the pony in the centre of the room finally relaxed. She had planned to go out with her friends for a picnic, and then finish the Dresses tomorrow. A knocking came from the door of the Boutique, followed by a quiet voice:

"Hello? Rarity, are you coming to the picnic? I wouldn't want you to be late..."

The door was illuminated in a light blue glow, before opening.

"Of course I'm coming Fluttershy dear, just let me fix my mane and we'll be off!" She said, walking towards the stairs levitating a brush behind her.

"Make yourself at home of course darling, I'll only be a few moments."

Sam had returned to her apartment, and was sitting on the couch watching My Little Pony. She hadn't told anybody, but she actually loved the show, her favourite character being Pinkie Pie. She had a few figures sitting on her desk, and she had several tabs open on her laptop with unread fanfics waiting to be read. But that could wait. The latest episode was on, and the lack of cars outside made it just a bit more fun. She watched a few more episodes before moving onto her computer. She had been reading a lot of Human in Equestria stories, if not to just laugh at how little sense they made. How would a human even get to Equestria? And why would they live there, completely forgetting their friends and family? Sure, Sam didn't have many of either, but she would still miss them none the less.

After a while Sam figured she would go to bed. After watching that many episodes of My Little Pony, anyone would feel tired. AND she had walked all the way to the park and back, so she felt deserving of a break.

Just as she dozed off, a bright green flash came from under her bedroom door.

It hadn't taken long, but Rarity's mane had been restored to it's normal shape. She descended the stairs to her work room where Fluttershy was waiting. After returning her brush to the desk she slipped on her favourite scarf.

"Right then, off we go! Opalescence dear, Fluttershy will be back later, I'm sure."

Said cat scowled, before jumping to the floor and walking away, head held high. Fluttershy stood up and started towards the door, already ready for the picnic.

"I hope they haven't started without us, it would be terribly rude to show up when everyone is almost finished..."

Rarity placed a hoof on her friends shoulder.

"Darling, you know they wouldn't start without us, it would be even ruder of them to start without us. Now come along, we wouldn't want them to wait would we?"

Both ponies left the house and headed for the girls favourite picnic hill to catch up with each other and enjoy a nice lunch.

Soon, the day had grown old, and the sky had grown darker. Almost everypony had gone home, except Rarity, who had stayed a while to admire the stars, before heading home. Moments before entering her home however, she heard a thump from upstairs, followed by a disappointed sigh. Sweetie Belle was most likely practising her magic again. Rarity walked into the Boutique and called up the stairs.

"Sweetie Belle? Is everything ok up there?"

A light scuffle was heard, before the filly left her room.

"Yeah, everything's fine up here! How was the picnic?"

Rarity's eyes squinted slightly. She had a feeling Sweetie was hiding something, but she wasn't sure.

"The picnic was fun, thank you for asking. Are you sure everything is ok dear? I heard a bang from outside."

Sweetie's eyes flicked around the room for a moment, almost as if she was looking for an excuse.

"Um, yes, everything is fine, like I said! Just practising some levitation."

"Well then if you say so. But for now, it's getting late, so we should both go to bed, don't you think?"

The young filly yawned, but closed her mouth quickly.

"But Rarityyyyy, I'm not tired!"

The fashionista chuckled.

"If you say so Darling. Just remember to go to sleep before nine, I don't want you to ruin your little crusaders meeting tomorrow."

Sweetie smiled ear to ear.

"Thanks Rarity, you're the best!"

After Rarity had made sure her sister was safe in her room, she crawled into bed.

"Well Rarity, you've had a busy day, but tomorrow will be busier! The girls dresses must be finished soon, or they'll never be ready for the Gala."

As Rarity slipped into a deep sleep, a bright green light flashed through Sweetie's windows, followed by the same flash in Rarity's room.