Everypony is Celestia
Chapter Three: The Designer

"Now girl! What you showed up there on stage was something seeensational!!! And you can just forget that cop out score they gave your winter scarf. I personally know that somepony-, now I wont say who, but sooooomepony had a vested interest in the outcome of this little show here."

"Why thank you Ms. Shores! It's always high praise coming from you, but the judges criticisms were valid regarding my stitching choice."

This was not new to Celestia.

"In fact I agree that Starlight's work was slightly better than my own... though perhaps not as much as a five point difference..."

The slow growth, the anonymity, the meeting her little ponies, it was something she had done hundreds of times before.

"Well whatever the case, it has been a terribly long weekend, let us end this night on a high note! Have you heard of the restaurant that just opened in town?"

A baker, a farmer, a painter, a poet, a writer, she had been them all.

"Tête de chou? Oh yes! Why I heard all the reviews positively rave about their soup! The waiting list to make a reservation is apparently over a month! ...why do you ask?"

Yet whenever she caster her memory to all her other experiences, all her past works of art and nuanced lifestyles...

"Oh Rarity I simply do not believe this! You are quite something else!"

Celestia found this life to be the sweetest.

Rarity stood in the middle of her studio with nothing set out before her. Her workbench cleared of everything but six sheets of parchment and a quill. She took a quick glance at the clock, tool a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

A little lavender filly stares out her telescope, her face locked in an expression of endless wonder...

She smiles, and her horn lights up, pulling reams of different shades of blue from her shelves.

Green teary eyes are covered by a slightly large hat, as the young mare stumbles in the market place only a week after the accident.

Soft Greens and off-white laces come out of the drawers.

The golden chime of one of her ponies laughter echos and dances within the sweet smell of the bakery.

Several colors are pulled from the surrounding cabinets. All the materials coming to settle onto her desk.

And on it went.

Memories filled her mind and Rarity channeled each one through her horn, letting the quill move on its own. Slowly but surely she had five sets of supplies set out on her desk and five mental images ready to come to life.

Rarity released her magic with a slight sigh and turned towards the clock to see how much time it had taken. Normally one work would take over an hour to mentally plan, she must had wasted the entire afternoo-

She blinked and stared at the clock again.

It had only been five minutes.

She continued to stare at the clock, a small smile growing across her face. Her paintings had taken weeks to think up, her novels over many years, and the less said about the time spent on poems and the like the better. And yet here she was, her dresses fully planned out, rich detailed sketches with small piles of materials beneath each one.

Her horn lit up and she sprang into act, her eyes sparkling, a smile of pure joy illuminating the room. This was the first time she'd ever been that fast! As she turned on the sowing machine she began to sing eager to have her vision realized.

" And then I said to him dear, 'We'll of course I know you Mr. Digger! You introduced yourself just yesterday!'"

Rarity chuckled to herself as she removed one of the cucumber slices to see Fluttershy's reaction to her reply.

Fluttershy sat unresponsive, the avocado paste covering her face as she dozed in the tub, her face just above the mud. A small content smile visible beneath the cucumber and avocado.

Rarity smiled and leaned back into her mud bath, chewing thoughtfully on the one cucumber slice as she stared at the opposite wall.

When Celestia had first gone to the spa, it was a small break in her will, just something to ease her through the life of a designer. It had been over a couple decades since she had last done something like this and she was struggling to get back into regular pony life. Each time she came, she swore it would be the last time. It was even part of her decision to move out of the city, to try and limit her access to extravagant luxuries.

Rarity's smile faded slightly.

It didn't work. She still had the need to just be pampered for a period of time. She was so ashamed of herself in the beginning, giving in to such a shallow need to feel good, unable to go by a day without a massage or mud bath. Going in day in and day out constantly putting off any actual dress making up until...until...

Clear blue eyes stared out at her from behind a tangled dirty pink mane, a stammered apology for her appearance.

Rarity's eyes shot open and she began to choke on the cucumber, startling Fluttershy awake.

"Bwa? Wha-? Oh! Rarity!"

It wasn't until Fluttershy had begun to acompany her to the spa that she had begun spacing out her trips. It had resulted when Fluttershy had entered her shop to get a new raincoat, tracking in dirt in the process. Obviously she couldn't let one of her ponies remain like that. And with a quick gasp and a lot of stammering on Fluttershys part, what was once a mark of her continuous weakness was now a place of many cherished memories...

"Stay calm Rarity! I'll- oh! I'll do something!"

As Fluttershy jumped out of her bath to help Rarity, and as Aloe and Lottus burst into the room, exclaiming at the sight, Celestia's mind was racing. Not because of her dwindling supply of oxygen, but because of the sheer amount of memories that had been created in that spa. The gossip she could freely share and enjoy, without worry of somepony misunderstanding her, listening to her friends weekly troubles and plans, the simple joy of enjoying a friends company...as equals.

Rarity's eyes widened just as two yellow hooves reached around her middle section and squeezed.

Hard.

"Aww, but sis! What if we-"

"No."

"Aww come on Rarity, we could practice on Opal first if we-"

"Absolutely not."

"But Miss. Rarity! If we can't practice tattoo art then how can we get a-"

"There will be no tattoos under this house or anywhere else for tonight!"

"So tomorrow morning then?"

"..."

"Honestly," she continued as she finished setting out the sheets on the couch cushions, "Why on earth you would want to get or even try to get a cutie mark specialized in tattoo art?"

She turned around and looked down at the three fillies as they muttered into the carpet.

"What's that?" she asked leaning in as the three blushed and sank lower.

Further mutterings.

Rarity reared back, "So you could see how different cutiemarks would look on your coats?" she asked disbelievingly.

The fillies sunk down further.

Rarity sighed and began to lecture on the importance of taking care of ones body. However on the inside Celestia was fighting off a strong case of the giggles. She found the three fillies to be the most adorable and most cherished part of her life in Ponyville. The latest generation of her little ponies making their way into the world and wanting to seize their future. While Rarity had the obligation and duty to play the protective big sister role, Celestia inwardly cheered them on each time and left out easily accessible supplies, all with several safety spells cast on them of course.

"Now go on up stairs and tidy up before breakfast! Mother and Father are expected to stop in tonight before they head out to the culture festival in Appleloosa and I will not have them think we live in such a horrid mess! "

As Rarity shooed the Cutie Mark Crusaders upstairs, she watched them go with a smile. To think that such joy and happiness all came from one horrible trip...

Celestia stormed through Manehatten, fighting back tears as she carried her rejected designs on her back. Rejected! All of them.

She shoved her way through the crowed and headed in the general direction she thought her hotel room was in.

Five months of careful planning, three of perfecting the stitching, and another two revising and making minor adjustments to the dresses and what did she get?

Nothing.

She knew that success didn't always come immediately to a beginning artist but she never expected to be turned down so... so harshly...

The sound of thunder make Celestia jerk her head up for a moment before she letting out a frustrated groan, stomping through the now increasingly wet pavement.

Great, she thought bitterly as the rain began to soak through the stack of dresses on her back sending all the other pedestrians off of the streets in a hurry, leaving her alone. She had forgotten to check when the rain was suppose to start, so confident that they would at least be open to looking over her designs and spend the rest of the afternoon hashing out a role for her in the company and... maybe even seeing if they would take on one or two of her designs. But instead she was immediately rejected, by the secretary no less! And was now having her many colorful designs slowly transfer their vibrant colors to her coat. A passing carriage sprayed the white mare and her colorful designs with copious amounts of muddy water ensuring that Celestia fully understood the folly of her expectations. The white mare stood silently in the road, as the rain pushed more of the muddy water into her hard work and into her well kept coat.

She lost it. Screaming in anger she began tossing the dresses all over the street, shouting cures all the while. Velvet scarves, dresses with intricate tassels, hoof stitched in-seams, the hat with the cute round thing on the top, all littered the road, any remaining pedestrians now fully gone, driven off by the rain and and now the stark raving mad mare.

It just wasn't fair. She had done this dozens of times before and none had ever failed as spectacular right off the bat. Barring her initial attempt of fire swallowing that is... She gasped for air as she came off her temper tantrum. Looking around mournfully before sighing and slowly beginning the tedious task of picking up her works, one by one.

The one on the light pole, the one in the gutter, the one on the abandoned foal carriage, the one on the-

What?

Celestia's eyes blinked over to the unattended carriage on the other side of the road and a flash of magic later she had blinked over herself. Sitting inside the black carriage was a small bundle wrapped in a purple blanket. She raised her head and looked up and down the street, seeing if anyone was around to claim ownership.

She saw nothing until her eyes fell on the building in front of her, the darkened windows standing out from the others.

Manehatten Orphanage

Her eyes traced the letters multiple times, her mind working at a sluggish pace, her dresses turned away, her time wasted, her coat ruined, and one of her ponies had abandoned a foal!

With a sigh, Celestia pulled the carriage along with her as she moved forward to knock. Delivering three quick raps, she stood back and closed her eyes to reflect on the situation. While it wasn't a common occurrence, abandoned foals were sadly not unheard of in the larger cities in Equestria and it had been a problem she had been struggling with for a few years now. Cities didn't have the tightly knit communities like small towns or the familiarity of family and friends to take over when a foal had been left on it's own due to unforeseen circumstances. Foals that were abandoned in the cities ended up having several issues with their development that became more pronounced the longer the foals went without love or a proper home.

"Goo..."

Celestia opened her eyes and stared down at the bundle in the carriage that had begun to move. She shifted nervously, knocking again on the door. It had been over two hundred years since she had done anything other thank kiss a baby at public ceremonies and if Celestia was honest, foals terrified her. She cared deeply for their well-being and education but to actually care for and interact with...

The bundle shifted again, a tiny horn peeking out the top.

Celestia knocked again, harder, her eyes widening in horror as the horn was followed by...followed by...

Celestia stared.

The filly stared back.

The foal stared up at the stranger covered in mud and watery colors and giggled, a sweet bell like sound cutting through the sound of the rain and city life.

Celestia continued to stare, her mind far away, her eyes unblinking.

"Say hello to your sister Luna!"

Wide eyes staring curiously up at her.

" Now Celly, your sister is a lot younger than you so you're going to need to be very careful with her, alright?"

A tiny hoof stretched out to reach for her face to boop her on the nose.

" You're a big sister now Celestia, and you'll need to look after and protect your little sister from now on, okay? This is very important Celestia, she's going to look up to you in the future.

Boop.

When the door was eventually answered, the caretaker of the orphanage found a carriage full of slightly wet clothes on his door step. The clothes were eventually dried and were deeply cherished by the children of the orphanage, starting an undercurrent of fashion in Manehatten known as 'tie dye'.

Meanwhile far away in a shoddy apartment, Celestia was looking over available houses near Canterlot that would be more suitable for a foal. And maybe one that didn't have such a wide variety of spas too...

"The night will last forever!"

Celestia would be a good sister this time.

Rarity was cleaning the last of the dishes as her 'parents' got the Cutie Mark Crusaders settled and tucked in for the night. It had been a long night full of activity as Sweetie Bell and her friends tried to get their parents completely caught up on events in Ponyville since they had last been in town. Rarity smiled as she remembered how animated her sister had been describing another of her friends wild exploits. She turned off the water and faced back to the dining table, her horn lighting up.

Several flashes conjured several stacks of papers, each one carefully organized and color coded as her 'parents' came down the stairs. Giving her a nod, the two sat at the table and began to look through their respective piled.

With a slight cough, Celestia began speaking, "I'll be able to attend six events this week but I have to keep the third Monday open this week for my sister's school talent show. Begin an inquisition into Mr. Digger in Manehatten, I have reason to suspect he might be accepting bribes, keep it discreet. With some luck he might be able to turn things arround without any hard legal action. Implement reform plan 2B for now. Any further details are in the one white article. The yellow coded articles need to go to Parliament and the Blue should be sent to the respective business ponies. Red ones are for the Secret Service and the Violet ones are to be sent to Luna's instructors. Don't forget that the orange ones must..."

And so it went.

"Ah, why if it isn't Rarity Bell! What on earth are you doing here?"

Rarity to broke off her conversation with Sapphire Shores and glanced back over her shoulder, "Oh, yes hello," she said stiffly, almost forcing herself to turn back to Sapphire, "Nice to see you."

The off colored stallion strutted up to their table a lopsided smirk adorning his face, " I must thank you for such an...interesting submission to this years fashion contest! It was very...quaint."

Celestia made to make a angry retort but was held back by a quick worried glance from Sapphire Shores, she took a deep breath and turned back to focus on her food.

"What a....surprise. To think that you would be at a place as luxurious and extaaaAAAaaavagant as this one Gold"

Bless Sapphire Shore's little heart, trying to avoid a confrontation after such an obvious show of favoritism and bias. However Celestia tried to stay quiet, to not let such an obviously corrupt and bias judge who turned down so many other mares to-

The stallion sauntered to their table, ignoring Sapphire Shore's comment, casting an eye over their meal, " What an....interesting choice for two mares of your...stature."

She had had enough. Rarity's neck whipped around to stare down the pony who has weaved his way into the fashion industry and ended so many many Ponies careers and livelihoods all just so he could profit from a small investment. For bits! She had had enough of this stallion, inflicting pain on her ponies just so somepony could feel fancy and well dressed as they enjoyed luxuries she had fought for, lost friends for, and bleed for in years past. It was suppose to be for everypony, not even just ponies, but anyone who wanted happiness and friendship in Equestria.

All of this and more welled up in Celestia as she began to speak to Gold Digger, taking delight in his facial expressions.

She continued on for five minutes straight, the restaurant growing more and more silent as other patrons took notice of the scene taking place. She covered everything from his poor personal taste, to his revolting manners, to the obvious nativity of his judging, she heft no stone un-turned. Determined to make the pony realize a fraction of the pain he had inflicted on others. Soon it was dead silent as she came to a close, only the sound of her magic as she took a drink of water.

"I-I...Wha....D-do you even know who I am? I could end you!"

Sighing as the cool water quenched her dry mouth, she opened her eyes to take in Gold Digger, his shocked expression, out of season hat and....his engagement necklace, made with the last honest money he made...

Celestia sighed, these things were never easy. While he made had caused so much pain and suffering, he was still one of her little ponies...and he wanted the best for his soon to be wife and her children.

"We'll of course I know you Mr. Digger! You introduced yourself just yesterday."

And as the stallion spluttered and Sapphire and the other patrons let out a laugh, Celestia felt no joy as she sat back down and focused back on her food.

At least Fluttershy might enjoy the story, she thought sourly, as the the stallion fled the restaurant.

The sun shined Brightly into Celestia's eyes as she stared unwavering into it, her brow slightly furrowed as she took another sip of her coffee. She was close, she was sure of it. Maybe if she compensated for the humidity in the atmosphere? Her horn flared quickly, lighting her her kitchen before softening to a small glow, stopping altogether when she set down her coffee mug.

A groaning from upstairs rewarded her efforts and the mare grinned triumphantly at the sound. She had done it. She had shined the sun just enough send sunlight directly into Sweetie Bell's eyes waking her up.

Five minutes later had a very sleepy and bed mangled filly sitting unresponsive as Rarity continued to prepare breakfast. Humming a slight tune as she went. Previous methods of waking up Sweetie Bell had resulted in many temper tantrums and tense mornings as her sister would begin her morning routines perfecting dirty glances and long soliloquies about Rarity moral standing and role in the universe.

But one couldn't get mad at the sun.

Or at least not rationally.

"Now don't forget Sweetie Bell," Rarity stated in a sing song voice as she set down the plate of Pancakes and wheat, "Your math homework is still on the coffee table and you still need to clean your room before your friends come over to spend the night, alright?"

Sweetie gave a grunt of acknowledgement and began to devour her breakfast.

Her message delivered the fashionista burst into the business portion of her house and began tidying up from her late night work and ensuring everything was in its proper place for the day ahead of her.

She still had to unpack from her most recent trip to Manehatten, clean the house for the upcoming sleepover, and that wasn't even counting the work she had scheduled by appointment. She had three fittings that day and two outfits that needed to be finalized, she had been having some trouble with the proper stitching that's would best complement the colors of the thread and fabric...maybe black on blue? Or white on gold?

"Rarity? I'm ready to go."

She immediately spun around and dropped the three rolls of fabric she had in her magical grasp in order to devote her full attention to her little sister. While she may get caught up in her busy schedule at times and not be able to properly talk or give her enough attention during the work day, she always made sure that they would walk to school together and chat and bond. Having pleasant exchanges and planning for the day. Yet another pro of Sweetie Bell being annoyed with the sun and not Rarity herself.

"Goodness and at such an early time? Well then, let's head off! We both have busy schedules for today!"

And so they were off.

Celestia stared out the window with a troubled expression, watching the landscape of Equestria pass by under the moonlight as the train carriage gently swayed.

She had messed up. Again. Letting her pride and her honor get in the way of what was really important.

She sighed and closed her eyes, only for her mind to be swarmed with the mental image of the scared stallion and his engagement necklace shining brightly against his coat. He was doing this out of love. It all made sense. It fit with his profile that she researched before entering the competition, it fit with the attitude of the Manehatten culture, and it explained how one of her ponies could appear so cold and heartless. It was ignorance, not darkness that drove his actions.

And how did she come to this conclusion? By looking at him then in the restaurant, after spending two days talking with him and strategically trying to win some silly fashion competition and not once did she look at him. Not once did she see him...

Again and again she had once again blinded herself in favor of her own issues instead of the ponies that needed her most.

"Have I really changed?" She whispered to the moon, her eyes distant and unfocused, "Have I really become sensitive or am I still the selfish vein mare from a thousand years ago?"

Memories seemed to seep out of the darkened landscape, moments of weakness and selfishness danced in her mind.

A dark blue mare, watching wish shock as Celestia dismissed her concerns to focus on a gaggle of nobles.

A small tearful filly, her voice cracking as she demands to know why heir parents haven't come home, dark theories born from many lonely nights as to why spewing into the silence.

A violet haired white mare, sitting among nobles and the upper class, feeling relaxed for the first time in years at being presented with something fimiliar again.

Celesria remained caught in memories for the remainder of the journey jntil the train finally came to a stop, arriving in Ponyville.

Shaking her head slightly, she gathered her belongings and exited the train to head back to the boutique for some much needed rest.Or at least that was what she planned to do. What instead happen was surprising. And loud. Three seconds after she had stepped on the platform she was overcome with confetti and noise, a weight barreled into her her legs, knocking her down. She blinked bemusedly up at what appeared to be Sweetie Bell in an adorable winter hat before pink filled her vision and Pinkie Pie filled her ear.

"WELCOME BAAAAACK!!! Were you surprise? Were you, were you, were you? Did you like the banner the Crusaders made? Oh it took-"

As Pinkie Pie continued to talk at an unintelligible rate, Celestia couldn't help but laugh as her friends and family gathered around.

Rarity sighed in content as the door to the boutique fell shut behind her. Aside from the cucumber incident, the spa trip was exactly what she needed after the trip to Manehatten. She walked further into the building taking care to straighten a few Hearth Warming Eve decorations that had been strewn about the house, four oust of Sweetie Bell and her friends.

She paused at the small tree that sat by the fitting room observing the small collections of Ornaments she and Sweetie Bell had set out to represent this past year. A fire of friendship for when Twilight joined her life in Ponyville, another from when the Crusaders got their capes uniting for the first time, each and every ointment represented precious memories Celestia and Sweetie Bell had drawn on to decorate each. Except one.

A dark blue one with a pattern of white stars and snow flakes. A silver moon in it's center.

Celestia stared at it, as the ball turned slowly on it's hook.When she had set it out to dry, Sweetie Bell had asked nonstop what the it was a memory of to no success. She suspected that if she hadn't left to attend the Hearth Warming Eve fashion show in Manehatten, she would have been pushing off giving Sweetie Bell an answer for several more days.

"Maybe it's time.." Celestia muttered as she turned the ornament slightly with her magic, the slight glow making the painted stars seem to glow with their own light. She stood there in silence as she briefly toyed with the idea of introducing Sweetie Bell to Luna. Luna had been recovering white remarkably since her return and she just knew Sweetie Bell would love to have a more playful and relaxed sister like Luna... and they could all spend Hearth Warming Eve togeth-

Ching Ching!

Her thoughts were cut off by the door chiming softly, alerting her to potential customer on the cups of the holiday season.

She quickly placed the ornament back on the small tree and headed out into the main area of the boutique, passing all of her many garments along the way.

A hat that she wore at Sweetie Bell's talent show.

A sweater she lent to Fluttershy when she needed to check on her hibernating animal friends after a large storm came in from the Everfree.

The tiara she wore to the Grand Galloping Gala.

Celestia allowed a warm grin as she walked into the front of the room, it was time for her favorite part of being a designer.

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique..."

The part where she makes a choice and heads in a direction that she's never explored before.

"...where every garment is chic, unique..."

She couldn't wait for Hearth Warming Day.

" and magnifique!"

The beginning.

Author's Note

Man.... It's sure been a while. Undertale, thanksgiving, finals, midterms, Halloween, Christmas, Star Wars, New Years, College classes and family have cause so much delay! I'm really sorry about that. So have a larger chapter than last time... yeah...

I feel like this one reaches a good medium between the last two chapters, and I hope to keep this kind of vibe with the rest. Be sure to let me know what you think in the comments below! Or don't....that's fine too...

Until Next Time! (Which will hopefully be a lot sooner...)