Rain hammered down outside of the Carousel Boutique, as Rarity worked viciously at a dress for a important customer which lived over in Manehatten, so if she got this right, she would probably gain more fame which was her biggest dream. Her normally stylist curled mane was ragged though as she continued to work despite her clear tiredness.
A banging could be heard at the door, at first Rarity thought it was Sweetie Belle with her friends, Applebloom and Scootaloo coming to get a few cookies. But further knocking drove her into wondering, Sweetie would know that if Rarity didn't come that the door would be open in case of this.
She frowned, moved from the stroll she was stood on and walked towards the main part of the Boutique. More knocks could be heard, rattling through the door and partly shaking the ground, but the shakes were shrill and quiet hinting that whatever was knocking was pretty small, maybe filly sized.
Rarity opened the door, expecting to see a muddy puppy or something on the lines of that. But instead, right there in front of her wasn't what she was expecting.
A filly! A real, life filly sat on the doormat, crying her little eyes out. She couldn't see what the young child's appearance was due to the dreaded about of mud that covered the filly's body.
''Come on, filly. Just at least wipe your hooves please,''
The filly nodded and wiped her small hooves on the mat, revealing a beautiful coat color that gleamed, real golden that gleamed under the sunlight.
She walked inside, slowly with caution, hinting that she didn't know if she could fully trust Rarity.
''Come on, lets have you have a bath.'' said Rarity kindly, leading the young filly to the bathroom which was spacious to say and full of detail.
The filly just blinked her eyes which were invisible due to the amount of mud coating her golden colored coat.
Rarity begin running the bath using her magic. She eyed the filly curiously but didn't say anything. She only ran it to half the bathtub, perfect for the young filly.
She gently helped the filly into the bath, using her magic instead of her hooves in fear of getting her beautiful coat wrecked with the mud.
The run of water, splashed against the filly's coat, removing the mud which soaked the water brown. Soon Rarity saw the filly for what she truly was. She was a light golden colored pegasus with a beautiful mane of ragged purple that needed a good brush or two. But the perplexing thing was the filly's eyes. They reminded Rarity of Derpy Hooves' eyes but instead of golden they were a prefect combo of blue and pink.
She, however, smiled at the young filly and finished washing the rest of the mud off. She gently helped the filly out of the bath and carefully dried her, but as she dried her, she noticed a few cuts scattering over the young filly's beautiful coat, some leaking blood when Rarity saw them.
She grabbed a couple of plasters and carefully stuck them over the cuts. Then she wrapped a bandage around one of the filly's wings, having seen it bent in a rather awkward place.
''Little one, may I ask for your name?''
''R-raspberry.....S-shine....Miss....''
It was the first thing, the young filly had spoken and it sounded like a bell, almost like her younger sister, Sweetie Belle's voice when she sang.
''Well, Raspberry. Let's get you wrapped in a fleece or blanket.''
Raspberry nodded. Rarity smiled, walked into her design room and looked for a cute blanket. The best, she picked up with magic was a adorable one that Sweetie Belle had when she was younger. It was pink and purple with bells in the purple checkers and a heart in the pink. She smiled and with a flick of her magic, she had it wrapped around the now sitting filly.
Raspberry was looking at her new dress that she still had to finish. Rarity went back to it as little Raspberry watched her, every stitch and thread that went into it, Raspberry was curious to know about it.
Rarity soon finished the dress and took a glance at Raspberry. Raspberry's mane was still messy so Rarity decided to give it a good brush to get it at-least out of the messy state it was in.
Each stroke happened to frighten the filly but with a few calm words each time, she would calm down. After about 10 minutes, the mane had been transformed from a mess to a beautiful pair of pigtails. She did the same to the tail but made it look a bit like her sister's just instead of two colors, only one color.
She then did a light brush over the coat itself, just to add to the glamourous effect that it already had.
''Now let's see. How about we get you a nice vest, it would look dashing on your coat-tone.''
''Um...O-okay...''
Rarity made a quick sketch, it was like the ones she had made for Winter Wrap Up, and similar to the one that she had made for Twilight's adoptive daughter, Nyx.
When it was finished, the vest was fitted on Raspberry. It was a shimmering sliver, to fit with the gold in Raspberry's coat. But bits and pieces were a similar purple to the young filly's mane. She had also done a bit of styling on Raspberry's tiny wings, she had added a firm pink piece of fabric to them, mainly to keep them warm, but also for style.
''RARITY!''
The yell rang through the Boutique, and scared little Raspberry, who bolted underneath the sofa which she had formerly sat on. Busting into the room was Sweetie Belle.
''I'm back, me and the Crusaders already finished our work. However, Nyx told us that we should ask our sisters about what they think our talents are. What is my talent, big sis?''
Before, Rarity could answer. Raspberry had creeped out from under the sofa to see the energetic unicorn filly.
''Wait, who's this. Rarity?''
''Oh um. Her name is Raspberry, she's gonna be staying the night. Raspberry, this is my little sister, Sweetie Belle.''
Raspberry nodded, shyly. Sweetie Belle smiled.
''Wanna join the crusaders?''
''Um...What...are the crusaders?''
''Oh, we're fillies searching for our cutie marks, even though two of our 6 members have their marks.''
''Oh, um....I guess so then....''
The pair smiled which caused Rarity to smile gently. But a thought lingered in her mind, who was Raspberry Shine?
