"Oh dear! This simply cannot do!"
Rarity ran across the shop, sewing many of the dresses. Many objects were lifted, all focused on their own detail, as Rarity searched through her cabinet of wonders. Sweetie Belle sat away from her sister as she knew that if she moved an inch, she could mess up anything Rarity was doing. Opal sat staring at each movement of the needles from the windowsill. Rarity seemed to be in more of a panic than before. After all, she had gotten the largest order that she has ever gotten and she was nearly finished. Soon, needles from other dresses finished with the scissors clip and the final placement of her dress onto the rack.
"Done! Finally, this took waay too long!" Rarity groaned as she slumped to the ground.
Sweetie Belle grinned and hopped from her chair. "Wow Rarity! That's more dresses than you make in a month!"
Rarity chuckled and looked around at her fabulous dresses. "I really hope this pleases my client. She really did put a huge placement for these dresses!" Rarity stood up slowly and went over to her couch. "Now, I need my beauty sleep." She stifled a yawn and fell into her couch, sleeping also instantly.
Sweetie Belle ran over to get a sheet from Rarity's dresser and placed it over Rarity. "Sweet dreams, Rarity!" She gave her sister one last hug before running off. Opal jumped from the windowsill and ran over to her own bed. After curling up, she also fell into a deep sleep.
Fluttershy walked over to her calender and looked over at what she had to do. The only things she had to do was feed her animals and take Opal for another appointment at the vet. The rest of her day was free; Open to do anything. Fluttershy wandered as she wondered what she would to for the rest of the day. She walked over to the kitchen and opened her food storage for her lovely animals. She gasped, seeing as her food storage was empty. "Oh dear..." she muttered.
She then opened her back-up food storage to feed the animals, but like the main storage, it was empty. She flew over to where the animals rested and explained, "Pardon me for a bit. I need to get some food for you, my friends! I'll be back soon!" Angel saluted as to say that he would take care of things. Fluttershy gave a wink to Angel and flew out. As she flew into town, she noticed it was also time for her to pick up Opal for the vet as the clock rang through town. 'I'm sure my animal friends can wait,' Fluttershy thought as she flew over to the Carousel Boutique.
Fluttershy landed near Rarity's shop and knocked on Rarity's door. To her surprise, the door creaked open as she lightly tapped the door. Carefully, she opened the door and crept into Rarity's shop. "U-Uh, hello? Anyone here?" Fluttershy questioned. No answer. Fluttershy became a little concerned and started walking through the silent and dark shop. "R-Rarity? Are you here? I-I'm here to pick up Opalescence." As she finished whispering, something brushed against her leg. She instantly squealed with a jump. After calming herself down, she looked closer to see Opal. Opal meowed at Fluttershy, in which Fluttershy felt pleased. "Oh, it's just you Opal," she spoke with relief. She then asked, "Ready to go?" Opal stared at Fluttershy before sprinting upstairs. Fluttershy called out, "Hey, wait! Don't run!" Fluttershy flew after Opal up the stairs. When finally reaching upstairs, Fluttershy saw Rarity asleep on her couch.
Fluttershy approached Rarity carefully in fear of waking her. Rarity seemed to be breathing heavier than usual and seemed to struggle in her sleep. Carefully, Fluttershy put her hoof to Rarity to calm her, but felt the burning on her forehead. Realizing Rarity had a fever, Fluttershy groan, "Oh my... Rarity, you bitten off more than you could chew." Fluttershy looked around and found a piece of cloth lying around. Quickly, she flew upwards to the clouds and dampened the cloth. Fluttershy then flew down and placed the cloth on Rarity's head. Fluttershy thought of what she could do next and the idea hit her to make some lunch for her.
Fluttershy flew to the kitchen in her house and started the stove. As she waited for the stove to heat up, she started chopping many of the vegetables; carrots, asparagus, lettuce, and many other varieties. She then threw the vegetables into the pot that she found in Rarity's cabinet. Fluttershy filled the pot with water and placed the vegetables into the pot. She placed the pot on the stove and waited for it to boil. Fluttershy heard some hoofsteps from upstairs coming down slowly. Fluttershy knew it was Rarity, so Fluttershy decided to wait for her to come down.
Rarity peered down as she saw a pony in her kitchen. As Rarity got closer, she saw that it was her friend Fluttershy. Rarity weakly asked, "Fluttershy, what are you doing here?"
Fluttershy smiled at Rarity. "Oh Rarity, I'm making you some breakfast."
"Why, thank you deary!" Rarity looked out the window and cried out. "It couldn't be that late! It-It... Ooh..."
Fluttershy flew over to Rarity. "Rarity, you should really get back to bed. You're burning up! It isn't healthy to walk around with your type of fever."
Rarity regained her composure and continued, "But I must run the shop! I must! I m-must..." Rarity balanced herself with the support of Fluttershy.
"I insist you stay in bed today." Fluttershy then remembered about her free day today. With confidence, Fluttershy added, "I'll run the shop for you."
"You'll run the shop?" Rarity tried to stand on her own, in which she successfully did with small wobbles. "I know you are a dear, but I couldn't allow you to do such a thing alone!"
"Come on, Rarity." Fluttershy continued to stand next to her friend. "I did help out before. And I have a lot of experience from watching you. And anyways, you really need the rest. What would poor Opal think if you fell during the job?" Fluttershy picked up Opal, who sat on the table before.
Rarity pondered for a while. Finally, she agreed, "Alright then. I shall go rest then. But I must warn you, this isn't like foal-sitting the girls. This will be much more difficult."
Fluttershy didn't seem phased. "No problem! I expected nothing less." Fluttershy then helped Rarity up to her room and into her bed.
After giving Rarity the vegetable soup she made, she finally relaxed at the counter. Rarity created a card of things to say to costumers, so Fluttershy read over the card. "Welcome to Rarity's Carousel Boutique." She shook her head a bit. "No, that won't do..." Fluttershy then tried again. "Welcome to Rarity's Carousel Boutique!" She smiled and agreed to herself that it sounded more enthusiastic that time.
A bell rang from the front door and a purple-unicorn came through the door. "Hey Rarit-" She stopped, seeing it wasn't who she expected and asked, "Fluttershy? Where's Rarity?"
As Twilight walked towards the counter, Fluttershy answered, "Rarity's sick for the day, so I'm going to fill in for her as her assistant."
"Rarity's sick? How is she?"
Fluttershy said, "She'll be fine. She just overdid the order that she received."
Twilight concern grew. "And you're running the shop for her?" Fluttershy nodded. With more concern, Twilight asked, "Are you sure you can handle it?" Trying not to hurt Fluttershy's feelings, she quickly corrected herself, saying, "I mean, if you need any help, you can always ask us."
Fluttershy smiled her usual warm smile. "There's nothing to worry about. I'm sure I'll be fine." Fluttershy then added, "But if I need help, I'll make sure to get my friends first before trying to correct it myself."
Twilight nodded. "I hope so. I don't want you ending up like Applejack. I'm sure you remembered what happened with all your animals when she tried to round them up."
Fluttershy shuddered at the thought of Applejack making her bunnies rampage. "Y-Yeah, I'll make sure of that."
Twilight then said her goodbyes with a final "good luck" before leaving the shop. Fluttershy then returned to reading her lines. Then she read the fifth line: "When someone familiar comes, make sure you ask if they want something." She read the line over and over again before she muttered a small "opps".
After Twilight left, Fluttershy scanned all the dresses Rarity made. She sent most of the dresses to her client already, but some were still folded neatly in the box. Fluttershy then her the bell ring and she closed the box and walked over to the counter. Carrot Top walked over to Fluttershy and Carrot Top seemed confused. "Uh..." She looked over her card. "Oh! Uh, welcome to Rarity's Carousel Boutique! Uh, how may I help... you?" Carrot Top just glared at Fluttershy, which made her feel uncomfortable.
After an awkward silence, Carrot Top remarked, "You're new, aren't you?"
Fluttershy tried relaxing while saying, "Oh, uh, well... I'm just well... Filling in for the day?"
"Uh-huh." Carrot Top then spoke, "Well, I'm just make this simple and quick. Red and blue dress. Plaid with no stripes. Got it?"
Fluttershy scribbled down the name of her costumer and the dress she asked. Fluttershy put down the quill and sheet and nodded. Carrot Top then left the shop. Fluttershy then let out a big sigh. "That was frightening," she muttered to herself.
Costumers came in one by one, Fluttershy's list of dresses to make growing steadily. Each costumer either requested a dress to be made or bought a dress Rarity already made. When there was a breaking point from costumers, Fluttershy read the list of requests that other ponies made. She never knew so many ponies would need so many dresses. Fluttershy started her first dress. The first request she scribbled stated, "Red and blue dress. Plaid with no stripes."
"No stripes, huh?" She thought to herself. Fluttershy then was about to get started on the dress before the front bell rang again. "Oh dear." She flew over to the counter and said in her peppiest tone, "Welcome to Rarity's Carousel Boutique!"
"Hey there Fluttershy!" Ditzy exclaimed. "I didn't see you today at your house, so I came to look for you."
Fluttershy smiled. Ditzy had always came to deliver letters each day. She and Fluttershy became great friends after one incident Ditzy had with the pond. "So, what do you want?" She scrolled through her list to the bottom and noticed that her list was completely filled. "Oh dear! Uh, give me a second." She searched through her counter and after a while of digging, she finally found an empty list. Fluttershy lifted her head and couldn't see Ditzy. She started muttering to herself, "Oh, if you didn't take so-"
"Hey, look what I found!" Ditzy pulled a muffin from the cabinets of one of Rarity's drawers. "I wondered where I placed my extra muffin!" She then flew back over to the counter, nearly knocking over many of Rarity's dress racks.
Fluttershy twitched as Ditzy flew over the racks. Seeing that none were completely tumbled over, Fluttershy continued with business. "So, what dress would you like Ditzy?"
Ditzy smiled at Fluttershy with one eye as the other faced away. Fluttershy kept a grin as she recalled Rarity's quote, "Never stop smiling." After a few moments of awkwardness, Fluttershy then broke the silence, "Uh... Ditzy?"
"Yes?" replied Ditzy enthusiastically.
"Did you want a dress?" Fluttershy questioned.
"Oh! Uh, no. I just came to say hi, Fluttershy. Later!" And with that, Ditzy flew out of the shop, nearly crashing into some dress forms. Fluttershy heaved a sigh as she looked at the list of all her dresses. She knew she couldn't finish this by tomorrow. In fact, it might take her many days before she even got half-way through the list. She had to get help, and she knew exactly where to get the help she needed. She put up the sign, "Out for Lunch" before heading back to her home.
She walked back into the Carousel Boutique with many of her animal friends. "If you need help, get help from your friends," she repeated. Angel Bunny jumped from Fluttershy's back and hopped over to the dress forms. Fluttershy grabbed the list as the animals gathered around the dress forms. She handed the list to Angel, and he started directing orders to other animals. As they worked, Fluttershy sat at the counter waiting for other orders to come in.
The bell rang to the front door and a familiar pink pony hopped in. "Hey Fluttershy! What ya doing?"
Fluttershy smiled at this familiar pink pony. "Oh, hi Pinkie Pie. I'm filling in for Rarity."
"That's great news! I heard that Rarity got really sick, so I thought I should come over and see how she was doing, but then I find you here and now I get to see how you're doing instead of Rarity! Oh, I should throw Rarity a "Get-Well-Soon" party and then throw you a "Your-The-Bestest-Friend-A-Friend-Could-Ask-For" party! Oh! Or make it a Get-Well-Soon-Rarity-and-Fluttershy-Is-The-Bestest-Friend-A-Friend-Could-Ask-For party! It's going to be so exciting!" Pinkie Pie continued hopping throughout speaking. Fluttershy watched as Pinkie Pie hopped around. Pinkie Pie then stopped bouncing and looked over to where her animal friends were working. Fluttershy then looked over to where her animal friends were and gasped.
Opal watched wide-eyed from the top of the cabinet as the animals teared through the fabric. Fluttershy's animals were trashing the fabric on the ground as well as the dresses. Fluttershy's eyes widened as she remembered the one thing she forgot to do: feed the animals. Fluttershy flew over quickly and tried to get her animal friends to stop. She begged, "Wait! Please, stop! That's not food!" She looked over to Angel, who seemed to be trying to separate some of the animals from fighting. When in actuality, Angel was feasting as well. Fluttershy looked back and forth wildly and tried to think of something quickly. She whimpered as she was frozen in place. 'Get help from your friends' repeated in her head again. She then flew over to Pinkie Pie and begged, "Pinkie, you need to help me! Please!"
Pinkie Pie smiled. "Oki-doky-loky!" Pinkie Pie ran over to where the animals were. "Hey! Over here!" She pulled out a cupcake from nowhere and waved it in front of herself. Pinkie Pie cooed, "Who wants the cupcake?" The animals focused on the cupcake and started charging. Pinkie Pie then ran with the cupcake, shouting, "Later Fluttershy!"
Soon enough, all the animals fled from the shop. Fluttershy found herself in the empty room. Opal jumped down and took a look at the fabric that was torn. She looked at the tattered pieces of cloth on the ground then looked at the dresses for the big order. Luckily, none of those dresses were harmed, but all of the material and Rarity's other dresses were scattered throughout. There was a ring at the front door and Fluttershy yelped and hid behind a dress form. Hoofsteps came closer before Fluttershy saw it was Twilight. "Fluttershy, you okay?" Twilight asked with concern.
Fluttershy stood up and nodded slowly. She couldn't peel her eyes from the torn fabric on the ground. Twilight seemed to notice this and said, "If you needed help so badly, you could have came for us at any time."
Fluttershy whimpered. "I'm sorry."
Twilight gave a little smirk. "Don't apologize. Let me help you out Fluttershy. Us and our friends."
Fluttershy smiled and nodded. "But what about the dresses? The fabric?"
"You don't have to worry about that." Rainbow Dash flew in from nowhere with new fabric and materials in a box. After Rainbow Dash placed the box down and flew over to Fluttershy. "Heard about your problem. So I quickly got some of the fabric thanks to one of the other ponies in Ponyville."
"B-But... How?"
Applejack then walked in. "Twiligh' told us the whole thing 'bout Rarity gettin' sick and ya helpin' out. So Ah said, why the hay not? I should come to help out too."
Fluttershy was speechless. Her friends knew about the trouble that she was having and came in helping her out. Fluttershy smiled and said, "Thanks."
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today, I learned that your friends will always be there to help you. Even if your friends may do it in a strange way. Also, I learned that if you want help, you should find the right friends to help; not some friends that want to do something else. Also, never forget what you have to do, or else it might be really terrible not only for you, but for others as well. [strike]But what's most important is that you should never forget to help a friend in need. Because if you do[/strike] Nevermind.
