Author's Note

Gonna probably divie this into four parts overall. Maybe five. Pacing issues...oi. Nonetheless, it's a good start though, specially for something like this.

~Dragon

Chapter LIII, Part II- Fabric and Sketches

Rarity hummed, having just (politely) sent off a satisfied customer who was wearing her latest work. The unicorn sighed contently, recalling the customer thanking her for her services, and wishing her luck in future designs.

The pristine, elegant unicorn was just about to trot upstairs when she heard a series of knocks on her door. She turned around and quickly approached it, opening the door to find five ponies waiting beyond, and her eyes widened upon seeing that they were armed. Before she could scream, the purple pegasus rose a hoof and shook her head.

“We don’t mean harm. We only take out weapons in cases which we need to defend ourselves. It’s alright.” Yuuki stated quickly.

Rarity sighed in relief. She collected herself before looking at her guests. “I must ask: why did you come knocking on my door in this weather?”

“We’re heading to the Grand Galloping...something.” Tenmei answered.

“Gala.” Nagare corrected, poking the earth pony with his hoof. “We were told to pay you a visit first, though.”

“But you cannot go to the Gala as you are!” Rarity protested, eyes widening again.

“That’s kinda the point of us being here.” Koto replied with a sigh. “May as well look our best.”

“You have two ears, woman. Did you not hear me?” Nagare groaned, a hoof connecting with his face. Before he could react further, a tan foreleg wrapped around his neck, and as his hoof was removed from his face, he found himself eye to eye with Tenmei.

“Don’t talk to her like that! Alright!?” Tenmei hissed, eyes narrowing low. “We’re here to get suited up, not argue with her!”

Before both stallions could continue with the charade, an aura of blue yanked them apart.

“Can it, you two.” Koto sighed, shaking her head at the display. Her horn had been glowing, though it stopped after she pried them away from each other.

Rekka was still facing Rarity. “Don’t mind them. Nagare’s developed a quirk for starting fights. I think he’s just cranky this evening.” The red unicorn said with a sigh.

Rarity chuckled. “Oh, I understand completely. We all fight with even our best friends sometimes. I should know from experience.” She said, grinning. She turned round and trotted inside, allowing the five to follow suit.

Koto’s horn lit up, and her magic closed the door. Rarity then turned back to the five and trotted to each of them, eying them head to hoof.

“I have a shower and a tub you could use, since this is a great night to be had.” Rarity commented. “After that, I’ll take measurements and get to stitching the outfits.”

“Sounds like a plan, but I do have a question.” Yuuki started, wings shifting a bit.

“And what would that be, dear?” Rarity asked, brow arched.

“How many ponies can the shower and tub hold? Back home, we only have one tub that can fit two at most at a time--trust me, it’s a hassle getting everyone clean.” The pegasus answered with a sigh escaping her lips.

“My shower can hold up to three. As for the tub, it is big enough that it can hold four.” Rarity answered, smiling lightly. “The size of both is imperative should I have more guests than I usually get at once. Sorry for prying, but do you all bathe one after the other?”

“Oh, no. We usually bathe at different times as the schedule allows it. It’s a lot less...hectic that way.” Tenmei answered with a nod accompanying his words.

“I see. Whatever works best for the household.” Rarity replied, her smile fading. “But...why aren’t the fillies at your house outside most of the time?”

Yuuki rose a hoof, motioning for Rarity to come closer to her with it, and Rarity came closer. Once they were inches apart, the pegasus leaned in and cupped that same hoof outside the ear before whispering a hefty bit into it. As she did, the unicorn’s eyes widened and her pupils shrank to meager pinpricks.

The pegasus then broke from the unicorn, who was only able to utter “Oh my Celestia…” at what she’d been told. “That’s...dreadful. Why hadn’t Kaguya told me of these...ahem, events?” She added, eyes still wide.

“Considering we were still strangers at the time and we hardly knew the locals...yeah, I think you can make the connection.” Yuuki sighed, lowering her head and shaking it sadly afterwards.

“Oh, I can certainly understand avoiding the newspapers and all the shenanigans they tend to entail for...ponies who suffered as you did. I’ve been on the paper myself numerous times simply because I’m the Element of Generosity.” Rarity started, her face relaxing but with the frown still plastered on her muzzle. She shook her head sadly for a bit before continuing, “I look like I enjoy being the face of the article while it’s in the making, but deep down, I struggle to keep a professional appearance myself.”

Yuuki rose her head, a false smile on her face that quickly faded. “I’d...prefer it if we never spoke of...that series of incidents again.” She murmured, cringing at the very thought of it. “But...that’s just me.”

“Most certainly. I wouldn’t dream of telling any other what happened to you. I can fully understand Kaguya’s decision to keep the fillies where she can watch them and feel relatively safe about it most of the time, now that I have the knowledge of why. Poor dear must be growing increasingly paranoid, and I wouldn’t blame her for it.” Rarity sighed with a quick nod of her head.

“And it’s also why we’re armed most of the time. Just in case those...loons decide to drop by and screw everything up with their shenanigans. If they showed up right now, their horns would fly off in a heartbeat if they didn’t cast barriers or summon things that are slowly looking more and more like Lovecraftian horrors.” Nagare remarked, shaking his head.

“I can’t hold that against you either. You’re just being safe, not harming anypony with your weapons of choice--bit odd if I do say so myself, but whatever floats your boat--and being cautious overall.” Rarity replied quickly, sighing again afterwards. “Now, let’s push that aside. We’ve chatted long enough, and you five are in a bit of a hurry, so go ahead and take the showers or baths however you see fit, then see me when you’re done so I can take all the measurements.”

The group of five nodded and trotted in unison up the stairs, though they did take the time to remove their weapons and saddlebags and place them on the nearby coffee table beforehand.

“The bathroom is the second door to the right.” Rarity said, before the last of the group ascended fully onto the second floor. Being a bit slower than the others, Koto nodded back before her voice was heard informing her friends of the location of the needed cleaning station.

The sounds of running water resounded from upstairs soon after that, and Rarity’s horn lit up in magic, grasping papers and quills. She needed something to take her mind off of what Yuuki had relayed, and she decided to pass the time by sketching each of the individual weapons in question. She got each drawing down to the last miniscule detail, an almost exact replica of the deadly objects, as well as some little side-drawings of how those objects worked based on how they looked.

Already, the unicorn’s gears were turning. She was developing ideas for the outfits; all she’d needed were the measurements and everything was a cakewalk from there...before a bit of a problem quickly made itself apparent.

All five clients involved were literally one color scheme each, as monochrome as each individual color of the rainbow as they could come (the only one who came close to breaking that pattern was Tenmei). She had no problem with Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie; but these ponies were a very different deck of cards, and three were stallions to boot.

Another issue made itself known as she dwelled on it: Rekka’s tied mane and tail. True, she liked them being tied, but her mind was fussing over how he let his hair flow freely after the ribbon’s margins. Her brain had been crying for something more exotic, more dashing for him. Another piece of paper was grasped in her magic, and she quickly made a list of the problems she’d encountered, though only the monochrome and mane-tail issues had been listed so far.

Rarity set the list and quill to one side, and she sighed. She let her magic open a closet door before it grabbed five mannequins in the shape and pose of jumping ponies about to land and pulled them out of that closet, making sure to dust them off a bit afterwards. She set those to one side as well, putting on red-framed and thick glasses and wrapping a simple blue measuring tape around her neck.

Just as she was about to look at the sketches she had done, all five clients came trotting down the stairs looking a bit cleaner than they did when they arrived. They had also brushed and washed their manes and tails thoroughly as evidenced by a straighter appearance and more of a shine in the colors.

“I assume you’re all prepared?” Rarity asked, quickly donning a small smile as she saw the ponies.

“About as ready as can be.” Tenmei answered, glancing at his friends. “But who gets measured first?” He asked, brow arched.

“I have no pecking order when it comes to measurements, except making sure it always matches to the corresponding client.” Rarity answered, still smiling as she took measurements of each pony, right down to hoof width and mane-tail length (without ribbons getting in the way, of course).

Afterwards, she listed each pony and their individual measurements with a swift quill. “Well, I’ve encountered a bit of a slight problem for the dresses, but I think I know how to fix it.” Rarity said, the gears in her head once more churning.

“That being?” The two mares of the group asked in unison, both of whom had arched brows.

“I was thinking of doing colors that could compliment your manes and eyes.” Rarity answered quickly. This caused Yuuki and Koto to exchange a quick glance before they both turned to her whilst nodding.

The unicorn turned to the stallions. “But, we still have the boys to deal with. Pray tell, what do the three of you want? I can make any outfit you’d like.” She said.

“Kimono. Where we’re from, stallions tend to have dull colors in their outfits, usually for formal attire.” Nagare stated quickly. “Though, bright colors could also suffice, if they are complimentary of our pelts and whatnot.” He added, smiling faintly.

“Could one of you draw it out for me? It’d help greatly to have a reference.” Rarity replied with a nod.

“I’ll do it, but...I’m not very good at drawing.” Koto said, grinning rather sheepishly.

“It’s alright. Just draw as best you can.” Rarity stated, trotting to her fellow unicorn and patting her on the shoulder with a hoof. Koto nodded, still grinning sheepishly, and she quickly obliged by the request.

For a first effort with memory alone, she pulled it off pretty good. Rarity nodded and kept the sketch on hoof as she took notes on it while Koto explained the individual parts to the best of her ability.

Rarity now had an idea of how to start. She then sent the clients upstairs to begin work, pulling out quite a hefty bit of rolled-up fabrics and spools of thread. A white, fluffy, and rather short-legged Persian cat sat by, looking at Rarity with big green eyes. The cat had a purple bow on her head, and an opal-studded purple collar adorning her neck. She meowed once, catching the unicorn’s attention.

“Oh, Opalescence, you want to help me with dressmaking?” Rarity asked, smiling at the cat.

Opalescence, as if to respond, meowed once. She seemed to smile back as best she could.

Rarity did quick rough sketches of her clients after that, but before she started, she glanced back to her earlier sketches of the weaponry.

And then the fabrics and spools of thread were put to use, gears once more a-churning in the unicorn’s brain as she set to work making the outfits at last.