The Princess and The Seamstress

Chapters

A Commission She Didn't Expect
A Little Sisterly Love
Twilight, I Need A Book!
Lesson The First
Checking In

A Commission She Didn't Expect

Chapter 1: A Commission She Didn't Expect

"Sassy, have you gotten the new designs out to the windows yet?"

"Oh bobbins and bodkins, I haven't. Shan't be more than a moment, Rarity!" Rarity watched as Sassy Saddles hopped away from the counter to make her way to the back room of Canterlot Carousel, where all the newest designs she had cooked up were stored.

"I must say, Sassy, you certainly have learned quite a bit in such a short amount of time with me," she called to the back as she went back to looking over the racks. "You have my shelving system down to a tee! It took me almost three months to get it just right, and you've picked it up in just a few weeks."

"Well, that's only because I have such a marvelous teacher, Rarity. Especially after the grief I caused you with the opening and that Princess Dress fiasco, I figured I owed it to you to learn how you do things rather than try and assert myself on your design."

Seeing Sassy so diligently set herself to work gave Rarity's heart a flutter. It was always a bit nerve-wracking when she took these trips to Canterlot, but her apprentice's work in the shop never failed to bring her fears to rest. The Princess Dress had been quite the kerfuffle, but the way Sassy was laying the dresses so that every stitch was in place and every gem gleamed in the window light told her that she had made the right choice.

"Ooh, nicely done, Sassy," said Rarity as she looked over her protégé's hoofwork, "Especially on making sure that the 'Sequintessence' design is at the right angle so that it always catches the light. I couldn't have done any better myself!"

"Thank you very much, Rarity. We still have about 45 minutes before we have to open up," she added, gesturing to the wall clock. "What say we catch a quick breakfast? I know an absolutely marvelous little patisserie with the best butterscotch scones in all of Canterlot!"

"I wish I could, but there are still a few things I need to check up on here before we open up. If you could bring me back a scone and some youthberry and orange blossom tea, I would be forever in your debt." A flick of the horn drew her change purse out of her saddlebags, and she floated out five bits out to give to Sassy. "Here, I think this should cover it."

"Oh Rarity, you don't have to, this is my treat," said Sassy as she gave her boss' coins back to her. "You just get your work done and I'll be back in a tick!"

With a tinkle of the bell she was out the door, cantering down the street on her errand and giving Rarity a few precious moments of peace and quiet.

"It sure does feel nice to have somepony being generous to me for a change," she mused as she pulled out the ledgers from behind the counter. As much as she trusted Sassy with the day-to-day running of the business, Rarity liked to come up at least once a week to go over the inventory and check the books to make sure everything was in order. With the amount of bits some of her designs went for, it always payed to be careful with where the money goes. She had even gotten Twilight to teach her a basic teleportation spell so she could get from Ponyville to Canterlot without having to schedule the train every week.

"Hmm... seven orders for the Entrancement design, totaling one hundred and forty bits; eight Radiant Starlights totaling eighty bits... Business simply is booming, isn't it? Rarity, you clever fox, you've really done it this time haven't you..."

So lost in her work was she that she looked up with a start when a hoof rapped against the front door. She quickly levitated her glasses to the counter and went to answer it, slightly perturbed that somepony hadn't bothered to read the sign showing the opening and closing times.

"I do apologize, but we aren't open for business right now. If you'd like, you can come back in a half-hou—"

Rarity's canned sentence died coming out of her throat as her gaze craned upward to show, standing at her doorstep and resplendent in solar glory, Princess Celestia. Flanked by Princess Luna and a pair of Royal Pegasus Guards, she was the picture of elegance and grace.

And she was standing outside Rarity's shop.

"Oh my, I'm sorry, Rarity," began the princess sheepishly. "I must have missed the sign. Luna and I will come back later when you are actually open, if that suits your schedule better."

"No, nonono! Please come in, Your Highnesses! I was just going over the numbers for sales and whatnot, it's not nearly as important as the two of you! Please come in," she reiterated, opening the door wide and leading them in with a forehoof.

"Well, if you insist," said Celestia as she stooped under the lintel. Luna and the guards followed suit, casting approving glances around the store and its stock. "I do apologize for coming so early, but with the way our schedules are this is really the only time Luna and I get to walk through Canterlot together and see the business ponies setting up their wares."

"And when we saw the sign for Canterlot Carousel," interjected Luna, "the pair of us decided on the spot that we had to take a look for ourselves. Celestia has heard quite a lot about your Ponyville storefront from Twilight Sparkle's letters, but we've never had an opportunity to take in some of your couture. It often seems that we only ever travel to Ponyville when there is some sort of calamity at hoof."

"Well please take a look," Rarity said, doing her best to keep her voice level and knees upright. "Let me know if you see anything you like and I'll be more than happy to see that it makes you happy!"

"I'm sure you will," Celestia added with a chuckle. "Thank you for your hospitality and generosity."

As the princesses perused the store, Rarity's brain was running a mile a minute. The Royal Sisters themselves were in her shop, possibly thinking of buying some of her clothing! A sale to them could be as big a boon to her business as the Princess Dress was, before it became an absolute nightmare.

Still, the wait for one of them to come to her with a question was absolutely agonizing. She kept stealing glances at the wall clock and praying the princesses were gone before her regular clientele arrived; the mob that would crowd inside would be absolutely horrendous, and the last thing she needed was a call from the Fire Marshal about occupancy restrictions.

"Rarity, if I might borrow you for a moment?" Celestia called from the upper floor after what seemed to be an eternity. "I do believe that I've found what I am looking for."

"As do I," replied Luna from over by the changing rooms, "although there are a few design decisions I would like to request, if it isn't too much trouble."

"Oh, absolutely no trouble at all! I love when my customers offer up a challenge; it gives me a good opportunity to flex those sewing muscles."

Together the Sisters brought their selections, and it seemed that their public personas fit their personalities. The pair were holding selections from "Rarity's Royal Regalia," the collection she had opened up shop with. Celestia had Tripping The Light, the piece inspired by her, and Luna was similarly carrying her namesake piece, Over The Moon.

"Oh, these dresses are simply perfect for you two! You know, these pieces were inspired by the pair of you," Rarity added with a knowing glance.

"Really now?" asked Luna. "... Hmm, you know, I think I can see it now," she added as she looked over her dress, "Especially in the sparkles on the skirt. They match my mane in a most exquisite way."

"Back when I first set up shop in the city, I knew I would have to do something to attract the higher-class clients that are found in Canterlot. I agonized over the decision for days while they were getting the shop ready before I hit upon an absolutely marvelous idea; if I wanted the ponies of Canterlot to come, why not give them a line inspired by their city? I stayed up for two days straight designing the dresses, getting the fabrics and making sure they all worked together, and then viola! Rarity's Royal Regalia was born!"

"Well, it is simply humbling to be the reason these lovely gowns were created," Celestia said with a head bow. "I'm sure you'll need our measurements since we don't necessarily have the typical build of your customers. Should we set up somewhere?"

"Certainly, up on the center stage there is where I do my measuring and fitting. You go and get your tiara and other regalia taken care of while I discuss Luna's design choices. Luna, if you'll follow me to my inspiration station," she added, gesturing to the back room. Together they walked into the whirlwind of projects that was the back room while Celestia made small talk with her guards.

"So, tell me what it was you had in mind?" Rarity asked. "I'm certain you know your tastes better than I, and I want to make sure you're happy with... Your Highness, are you listening?"

When Rarity turned to address the younger sister she noticed that she was peering out the door with an intense gaze. Rarity herself just barely got a peek out before Luna slammed it shut and gave Rarity a worried glance.

"Princess, is something the matter?" Rarity asked, unsettled by Luna's sudden change in demeanor.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. What I am about to tell only stays between you, me, and the fabrics," Luna said as she gestured to the shots of cloth scattered about the room.

"Very well then; I pride myself on my discretion when it comes to my business," Rarity affirmed with a zip of a hoof over her mouth.

After a quick pause, Luna clutched at Rarity's shoulders with a look of absolute desperation on her face.

"I need your help!" pleaded the Princess. "Celestia and I are to be meeting with a series of dignitaries from all over the world for a political summit and I need help in making an appearance that will suit my station!"

"I-but you-WHAT!?" Rarity stammered. "Your highness, surely you of ALL ponies must be a veritable master of making appearances! You are one of the Royal Sisters of Equestria; this must be second nature to you."

"Normally, yes, I am as characteristically unflappable as my sister," Luna answered as she composed herself. "Unfortunately, there are a few certain guests that I would rather not have to run into but am being forced to."

"Oh, pish-posh! Surely you've had to deal with unpleasant ponies before? What makes these ones any different?"

"Oh, just the simple fact that they happen to be the Alicorns who reared Celestia and me and they see me as a failure to both them personally and our race as a whole because I turned into the living embodiment of darkness and disharmony over what was, at the end of the day, a jealous fit exacerbated by a bit of dark magic."

Rarity could feel her previous sense of dismissive self-confidence drain out of her as quickly as her jaw had dropped open. She tried to speak up but found that the words just wouldn't come out before Luna finished her statement.

"Does that properly elucidate the matter, Rarity?" Luna finished with a snort.

"It... does, Princess, and something tells me that this is going to be a much harder quandary to tackle than I thought. Why can't you go to Cadance or Twilight about this, maybe bring them with you to this summit?"

"It would do no good. They are both quite young Alicorns, still relatively new to their abilities and the burden that our race carries with it. Ursus and Gemini would see it as a sign of weakness if I were to use them to vouch for my good nature."

"I take it that they are your mother and father?" Rarity asked

"In a sense." Luna replied curtly. "Due to our long lives and the fact that Alicornhood can be conferred by magic as well as by birth, we tend to not have the same familial ties that the other pony races have. Celestia and I were more like their wards. They taught us, fed and clothed us, gave us a home; all the regular amenities you'd expect of parents, but there wasn't a strong bond like you may have with your parents or with Sweetie Belle."

"That sounds positively horrid," replied Rarity. "To not have anypony who really cares for you during your formative years must've been hard on the both of you."

"Well, that's why I'm thankful I had Celestia. She was such a firm bastion of kindness and friendship, I relied on her almost as much as I did on our caretakers." With a calming sigh, she continued, "But that is a story for another day. I need your help, Rarity. You are easily the most graceful and genteel pony I know of, and I doubt anypony could help me the way you could. Can you do this for me?"

Rarity mulled it over for a good while, taking in the pros and cons of what the Princess was asking. This would be a monumental undertaking to be sure; there was all the cultural and historical information on Alicorns she would have to learn, in addition to working out some sort of schedule with Luna to ensure that they could study in a clandestine manner.

But at the end of the day, what sort of bearer of the Element of Generosity would she be if she said no?

"... Alright Luna, I'll do everything I can to make sure you are prepared for this. No matter the challenge."

No sooner had the words left her lips was she swept up in a great big hug, one disproportionately strong compared to the size of the pony giving it.

"Thank you so much! This means the absolute world to me!" Rarity had never seen Luna so happy, and it made the burden she had just placed on herself a little bit easier to bear.

"It's no trouble at all, Your Highness," answered Rarity. "I'm going to need a few days to do some research on Alicorn customs, but please come by the shop next week and I'll be here ready and raring to go."

"Certainly," Luna answered. "I'll clear out my schedule for that evening so we can do our work in secret. How does nine o'clock at night sound?"

"Absolutely splendid, Your Highn—"

"Rarity," interjected Luna, "there's no need for such formality. You are my teacher and I your pupil, so you can just call me Luna. Now, about those dress alterations," she added.

"Yes, let's get back to that," Rarity said. She had a feeling she wouldn't be doing much sewing for a while, so it would be best to enjoy it while she could.

* * *

A Little Sisterly Love

The Princess and The Seamstress

Chapter 2: A Little Sisterly Love

That night's sleep was not coming easily to Rarity, and her fitfulness was not without good reason. The business day had been pleasant, the measuring for the Princess' dresses had gone without a hitch, and her trip back home to Ponyville had been pleasant enough despite the wobbles she normally got after teleporting, but her mind would not get off of her agreement with Luna. She had placed herself in a position that most ponies would give their hooves for, but all she was thinking of was how nerve-wracking the experience would be. Not only was Luna's relationship with the rest of her race hanging in the balance, but perhaps Equestria's reputation to boot.

Finally sick of just tossing and turning with no hope of sleep, she slipped on her slippers and robe and sat down at her drawing table to get some design work done for the Princess' dresses. Luna in particular had had a few design decisions she wanted implemented, such as longer and less poofy sleeves, and fewer pearls around the collar.

The clock on the wall said it was about two-thirty in the morning.

"Eh," she muttered with a shrug. "I've worked longer nights."

Her horn-rimmed glasses reflected the pale yellow glow of her candlelit room while the dull scratching of quill to paper echoed off the walls. As the quill traced its lines, her brain traced over and over what she had promised, looking for any means to make her vocation a little bit easier.

In no time at all it seemed that the sun was inching up over the horizon, and a soft patter of hooves on plywood told her that Sweetie Belle was awake. Their parents were taking a vacation to Seaddle, so she had to watch her for the week.

"Rarity, where's the cereal?" Sweetie called from downstairs.

"Top cupboard above the stove," answered Rarity. "If you promise not to burn it, could you pour me out a bowl?"

"That was one time!" the filly retorted. "Jeez, you make a bad breakfast once, and it haunts you for the rest of your life..."

As Rarity rubbed the grit from her eyes, she looked up and noticed that the sun was well and truly up, so she decided to call it a night and go downstairs.

"All work and no play makes Rarity a dull mare," she muttered to herself. With heavy hoof steps and a heavier weight on her mind she clomped down the stairs to the kitchen, blinking as the sunlight shone in through the window. While Sweetie poured out the cereal she busied herself by brewing a pot of strong black coffee to get some spring back in her step. She may be used to working long nights, but that was still no excuse to not take care of herself.

"Uh, Rarity?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie, I am very, very tired right now. I didn't sleep well last night, so unless this is of the utmost importance could it please wait until after I've had my coffee?"

"Well, I would if it weren't for the fact that you're pouring your coffee grounds into the pot and not the filter."

A quick flick of the eyes downward proved the precocious little filly right. With a huff of exasperation she moved the grounds and, after checking to make sure everything was in place, set it to brew. Her chin landed on the table with a dull thud while Sweetie munched away. The two of them shared a long uncomfortable silence as the coffee maker burbled behind them before Sweetie decided to let the other horseshoe drop.

"Something on your mind there, Sis?" she asked. "I haven't seen you this wasted since you opened up Canterlot Carousel."

"Is it really that bad?" That month and a half of getting the building set up and making her opening line had been absolutely torturous, which is half of the reason she hired Sassy Saddles; somepony needed to make sure the set-up was going smoothly so that Rarity could get some time off.

"Well, the bags under your eyes have bags under them, your mascara is half-gone and what's left is smudged so bad you look like a raccoon, your mane is a mess of curls that makes Twist's look downright tame, and your horn is sparking and it only ever does that when you're super stressed out. So, yeah, I'd say it's that bad."

"Thanks for that succinct assessment of my appearance, Sweetie," Rarity retorted with a huff.

"You're the one that asked. Do you wanna talk about this?"

As Rarity's eyes hung on Sweetie Belle's concerned stare, she weighed her options. Yes, Sweetie had a good heart and was only trying to help in what was, admittedly, a very trying time for her older sister. But with what the Princess had told her and how she had sworn herself to secrecy at Luna's behest, she doubted that Sweetie could really process the full magnitude of what she was going through.

... Though it never hurt to at least ask for help, even if she had to omit a few of the details.

"Well, there is something that's been troubling me lately, but you have to swear not to tell anypony else. And this means Scootaloo and Apple Bloom as well; this only stays between you, me, and the coffee machine."

"Can do, Sis!" Quickly she shoved her finished bowl to the side and set her forehooves on the table in rapt attention.

"Okay, so Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came into my shop in Canterlot yesterday, an-"

An ear-piercing shriek of glee in an octave normally reserved for calling dogs cut her off before the first sentence finished, and Rarity shot her sister a glare that could curdle milk.

"Are you quite finished?" she said through gritted teeth and ringing ears.

"Mm-hm," Sweetie mumbled, eyes wide and mouth hidden behind her hooves.

"Anyway, as I was saying, the Royal Sisters came to visit my shop the other day, and they bought a couple of pieces from my Royal Regalia collection. Everything was going without a hitch, but Luna confided in me that she needed my help becoming a more well-mannered and modern mare before a very important political summit, and naturally I agreed to help her, but now I'm having a lot of second thoughts regarding this because fancy dinner parties and fashion shows are one thing; those I could walk a pony through with my eyes closed, but this could potentially have Equestria's reputation on the line! I failed Social Studies as a filly for pony's sake! I don't know how political summits work, and Luna is still getting used to modern times, and then there's just all that business wi-"

"Rarity, your horn!" interjected Sweetie.

So consumed was Rarity in her diatribe that she failed to notice the increasing blue glow above her forehead, but by the time it finally made her attention it was too late. With a resounding zap it shot off a powerful bolt, followed by a hard crashing and tinkling of glass on the table and floor.

"Aww, I really liked that lamp," moaned Sweetie Belle. "It had the little flowers on it and everything."

"Oh dear, terribly sorry about that," Rarity said as her face flushed beet red. "It was a very good lamp indeed."

"To all things there is a season I suppose. Anyway," continued Sweetie, getting the conversation back on track, "it sounds like you're having a problem wrapping your head around everything Luna wants you to do. You get this way whenever you have a really big deadline coming up or a super complicated piece you're working on; you start to focus on everything that could go wrong when you should be focusing on how to make it go right. You're really smart and hard-working Rarity, I'm sure you can figure this out if you put your mind to it!"

At first it had been Sweetie listening to Rarity, but soon the older sister found herself listening intently to her younger sister's advice. Sweetie certainly wasn't dumb, but she had always seemed a little slow when it came to interpersonal matters, so it caught Rarity by surprise to hear her give such a concise breakdown of what she was doing wrong and how to fix it.

"That is some very good advice, Sweetie," she said, giving her sister a playful noogie. "Did you read that somewhere, or...?"

"What, are you saying I couldn't have just come up with that on my own?" she asked incredulously, but with a smile.

"No, not at all! It's just that you've never really shown an acumen for counseling and advice giving, and it has me curi—"

"Rarity, calm down, I'm just pulling your leg. If you must know, I've been reading some books on how to help ponies with personal problems. I mean, the Princess of Friendship lives a couple of blocks over, so I thought it would be a good idea for me to understand how ponies think so I could help with friendship problems like you and Twilight and all of your friends do. You guys have the coolest job ever, and I want to be prepared in case you ever need me to go help you solve a problem."

"That... That is the absolute sweetest thing I've ever heard!" Rarity could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she swept her sister up in a tight hug. "I would absolutely love it if you went on one of my trips!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Sweetie said as she reciprocated Rarity's hug. "We may not always get along, but I do like some things about you Rarity. You're the type of pony I want to be when I get older... except maybe not as prissy."

"I am not prissy!" Rarity retorted with a mortified tone.

"Rarity, last week you complained about Opal walking through the yard 'cause you didn't want her getting fur on your new rose bushes."

"Hey, those were expensive to put in! I don't want clumps of cat hair clogging up their natural beauty."

With a shared glance, they both devolved into a fit of giggles. A little togetherness always did them some good, and Rarity felt more ready than ever to face the day. And she was going to start it with a visit to a pony that she knew could give her exactly the information she needed.

"Sweetie, I need to go visit Twilight. She may be able to help me with this, so you finish up breakfast while I go get ready. I'll probably be out for a while, so try not to wreck the house while I'm gone." With that she cantered upstairs to get herself ready for the day.

"I won't... Hey! Who's gonna clean up this broken lamp!?"

"I'm sure you'll manage!" Rarity replied before her bedroom door slammed shut.

* * *

Twilight, I Need A Book!

The Princess and The Seamstress

Chapter 3: Twilight, I Need A Book!

"Spike?... Spiiiiike?... SPIKE!?"

The longer and louder Twilight yelled, the more and more apparent it became that her voice just did not carry as well in the castle as it used to at Golden Oaks. She had been leaving notes for herself for weeks to try and beat it into her head to do something about that.

"Maybe I should put a spell on this place to make my voice carry better..." she mused to herself. Sullenly she got up from her desk and went to go fetch Spike. The early morning light was just starting to filter in through the castle's stained glass windows, which almost certainly meant that her loyal assistant was sound asleep.

The echo of her hoof steps through the crystalline halls only further hammered home just how big and empty this castle really was. Unless some of her friends were responding to a call from the map, it was pretty much herself, Spike, and the tapestries.

"Maybe I should throw a big party here," she pondered. "It'd be really nice for the townsponies, and it's such a shame letting all of this real estate in here go to waste. It'd be a logistical nightmare, though; I'd need to get Pinkie and the Cakes for catering and planning, Rainbow would need to call in a favor with the Wonderbolts for some entertainment... Maybe I can get Vinyl Scratch for the music? She doesn't talk all that much, but when you mention you have a gig for her she just lights up!"

Twilight's mind swirled with dozens of images; ponies from all over town dressed to the nines, lights and balloons and fancy hors d'oeuvres, a special address just from her to the rest of the town. Sure, the planning and preparation would be a hassle, but just the thoughts she was having would certainly make it all worth it! She was already visualizing where the streamers could go in the hall she was walking in...

Until a solid object slammed into her at a breakneck speed, sending her toppling head over hooves to the ground with a solid crack in the head at the end. Vision blurred and lights dancing in front of her, Twilight looked up to see a familiar and very worried face standing over her, one rimmed by a purple mane.

"Oh my goodness, Twilight! Are you alright, darling?"

"Hiiiii, Rarity..." she slurred in response. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Dear, are you alright? I am so sorry for running into you like that, but I'm in a bit of a hurry and just wasn't looking where I was going."

"Oh, it's fine," Twilight replied as Rarity offered her a helping hoof. "It'll take more than that to get rid of me."

"Are you sure? I could run and go get you some ice if you hit your head or something like that?" Her antsy expression told Twilight that Rarity really didn't have much time to waste, so she decided to just deal with her throbbing head later.

"Nah, it's fine, really," she replied while ignoring the developing knot on the back of her head. "What brings you 'round here this early? Shouldn't you be getting ready to open up shop for the day?"

"I'm taking a bit of a sabbatical from the fashion business here in Ponyville for a while. I have enough profits coming in from Canterlot that I can set some more flexible hours for myself when I'm here at home. One of the perks of being your own boss," she added with a wink.

"If that's the case, then I guess we can go talk in the map room. You probably want to take a load off as much as I do."

"I would very much enjoy that, actually," Rarity replied with an expression of relief. "I ran my rump off getting here, so I'm quite tuckered out. It doesn't help that I didn't sleep well last night."

"Why not?" asked Twilight as they made their way down the cavernous hallway.

"Oh, just some business things on my mind. Running two storefronts has been more hectic than I had originally anticipated. Thankfully I have Sassy covering my bases in Canterlot, and your teleportation spell has done wonders with the commute, but it's still about twice the workload on the sewing front."

"Wow," Twilight answered, her voice a bit more pained than she had intended, "it makes me a little jealous to hear you say it that way, honestly."

"Oh, surely the life of royalty is far and away better than having to juggle two businesses, family matters, and being a savior of Equestria."

"Well, it is and it isn't, in some ways," Twilight said as her head drooped. "I really miss the library, for starters, and this castle is just... it's just so..."

"Austere?" interjected Rarity. "Utilitarian? Perhaps a tad stark?"

"It's empty, is what it is," answered Twilight. "You and the girls did a great job decorating it with the root ball from Golden Oaks, but unless you or one of the others are responding to a call from the map it's pretty much just me and Spike here by ourselves. I miss the hustle and bustle that my studies and the library offered."

"Don't some of the townsponies drop by every now and then with a friendship problem? You do have quite a few ponies aside from us that love and care about you here."

"Not as much as you'd think. I think they're all a little put off by the size of the place, and it makes it hard to invite ponies over. Back when we had Golden Oaks ponies would drop in and out all the time to chat or check out books, but they stopped coming around here even though we managed to get copies of most of the library's contents."

"It really is such a shame about the library," Rarity said with a sigh. "That old place had been there since I was filly. I checked out my first book from there when Mrs. Pennywhistle still ran it, you know. She was always so sweet; she'd make recommendations, would waive late fees if it was only a day over... Oh, you don't want to hear me prattling on about this, do you?"

"It's just nice to know that other ponies loved Golden Oaks as much as I did. We should probably be getting to the heart of the matter, though," Twilight added as the pair of them entered the map room. "What's on your mind?"

"Funny that we got on the topic of Golden Oaks," Rarity answered as she sat down on her throne, "because I wanted to borrow a book from you. I need a book on Alicorns: their customs, their history, anything you've got on them I want."

"Ooh, that's a new one!" Twilight replied, her old librarian's fervor reigniting in her chest. "Lucky for you, Princess Celestia gave me a lot more than a new set of wings and a couple inches height on all of you when she made me a princess. I think they're over in my room; I hope you don't mind that I have a bunch of research notes scribbled in the margins," she added with a sheepish smile.

"Not at all, darling, the more the merrier!" With a skip and a jump Twilight bounded out the opposite entrance, leaving her to her thoughts.

"Maybe I could get Rarity to help design a party dress for me," Twilight wondered as she made her way through the castle's hidden passages. "Her dress she made for the Grand Galloping Gala was stupendous, and her "Rarity's Royal Regalia" line was stunning. I guess I'll just have to wait until after her sabbatical."

In no time at all she had made it to her room, where she quickly swept up the three books Celestia had given her on Alicorns. She neatly stacked them onto her back and, rather than risk them toppling off while she trotted back to the map room, teleported her way back to the front side entrance.

"Okay, so I've got Alicorns: An Anthology, The Secrets of the Ancient Races, and A Comprehensive Guide to Alicornhood," Twilight declared. Rarity gave a sharp yelp as she spun around to face her, and nearly fell out of her chair doing so.

"Goodness gracious, that was quick!" she said through heaving breaths. "And didn't you exit through the other side? How did you loop back around like that?"

"Firstly, I can teleport." Twilight said matter-of-factly. "Secondly, when you live in a giant, empty castle you get bored really quick, so I took to making some alterations with my magic to the architecture. Since this place was basically magically spawned for us, it seems to respond to whatever I want it to do. There are secret chambers and passageways all throughout it that I've put in just to shorten trip times."

"Well, methinks the Princess of Friendship might have a little too much time on her hooves," Rarity replied as she took the books from Twilight and put them into her saddlebags. "Thank you so much for doing this for me, it's a big help."

"Not a problem, although if I could pry, what do you need these for? You don't strike me as the type that would use history books for light reading," Twilight added.

Immediately Twilight could see that there was a problem. Rarity, normally a very verbose and quick to respond pony, had clammed up like a filly giving an oral report to the class. Her eyes darted back and forth and Twilight could practically hear her brain grinding to a halt.
"Oh, um, well you see, it, uh..." Rarity sputtered, "I'm, um, starting up a new clothing line, and I want it to be a bit more... inclusive, you know. I mean, why limit my pieces to one type of pony when it would make better, uh, business sense to make them uni-racial?"

"And that's why you need a comprehensive guide to Alicorn history and culture? For uni-racial fashion design?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"Sure!" Rarity answered, her voice jumping up an octave or two. "What better inspiration for uni-racial fashion than the type of pony that best symbolizes the three main pony races? I'm certain that their couture was elegant and graceful while still having that certain practicality to it! Plus my best friend and her sister-in-law are both Alicorns, and what sort of friend would I be if I didn't bother to learn more about their race's history?"

"As flattered as I am that you'd do that for me and Cadance, didn't you say you were taking a 'sabbatical' from your business in Ponyville?" Twilight asked. Rarity's story wasn't adding up, and Twilight had the gnawing feeling that she was hiding something. "Planning for a groundbreaking new fashion line doesn't sound like much of a break period to me."

"Surely I can plan for what I want to do when I come off my sabbatical while I'm still on it?"

Twilight's brows furrowed, and she could tell from Rarity's body language that she was making all of this up on the fly. Still, as tempted as she was to dig further, she had been Rarity's friend for a long time and knew that if she was trying to hide something it was generally for a good reason. Twilight could feel that Rarity's intentions were good, and if worse came to worse she could always find out what was going on later.

"Well, I think that that's a wonderful idea!" Twilight said as all the tension vacated the room. "Speaking as an Alicorn, I think that uni-racial fashion could be a great boon for everypony that doesn't want to spend the extra bits for wing holes in clothes or horn coverings on hats! You really are a genius at this stuff, Rarity."

"Well, inspiration can come from the strangest of sources. I really ought to be off, unfortunately," Rarity added. "I'll let you know how progress comes on my new line, but it might be a while before I get it off the ground."

"Well, if you need somepony to model for you then feel free to drop by any time, 'cause I've got a whole lot of nothing to do otherwise," Twilight replied. With a hug and a wave goodbye, Rarity cantered down the way she had come. As she rounded the corner, Twilight's friendly smile shifted to a worried frown.

"Rarity, what are you planning..." Twilight murmured to herself before a twinge of pain on the back of her head motivated her to go look for a painkiller and something to deal with the swelling.

* * *

Lesson The First

The Princess and The Seamstress

Chapter 4: Lesson The First

"Sister, I'm going out tonight," called Luna from the door to the Throne Room. Celestia was taking care of some last minute business with her Royal Advisors before she turned in for the evening and Luna wanted to make sure she knew her plans for the night.

"Hm? Where to?" asked Celestia as she waved her advisors out. "There hasn't been any monster activity around the land for the past several weeks, and you and I both know that that's the only time you ever like to leave the castle during your duties."

"Well, that's just it; things have been so calm and boring that I'm getting a tad antsy just staying here all the time. Surely you understand, what with how busy your schedule keeps you. Sometimes a mare just needs to get away."

"I can certainly empathize," Celestia replied as she and Luna walked the long hallway out to the castle foyer. "Ruling and managing a nation can be quite the chore. Do you know what my advisors were just discussing with me?"

"Please, indulge my curiosity."

"Floral arrangements for the School for Gifted Unicorns," Celestia answered with a huff. "Apparently they want me to sign off on the change-over from blue tulips to red ones. Since my name happens to be on the building, they assume that I have to have the final say on all things relating to it."

"Then maybe you should change it to 'Luna's School for Gifted Unicorns.' It has a certain ring to it, don't you think?"
"Sister, I would love nothing more than for you to take over that particular bit of bureaucracy for me, but the Headmistress will have none of it. Abacus Cinch is a tight-hooved mare and absolutely loathes change. Also, and this stays between you, me, and the rug," Celestia continued, "she is still wary of your presence in royal and domestic affairs due to your... history."

"Then you can add her to the ever-growing list of ponies that still mistrust me," Luna said. As hard as she tried to keep her voice even when discussing her past, she could always feel her throat catch a little. She sunk her head a tad lower and focused on her horseshoes.

"Luna," Celestia began, "you and I both know that you're trying your best to make amends. Frankly, I think you've done marvelous work in adjusting to the modern era, but some ponies aren't so quick to forgive and forget. It'll take time and work, but the ponies of Equestria will come around."

She had heard Celestia give this little speech seemingly every day since she had been cleansed, and every time it sounded less and less true. It had been nearly five years since she had returned, and yet even at formal events she could feel the cold glares and the hushed whispers as she passed by. The clinical judgement from ponies that couldn't possibly know how she felt had been wearing on her soul, and before she could stop herself a question slipped out.

"Celestia," Luna asked, "why did you do it?"

As if she had flipped a switch, Celestia stopped dead at the foot of the staircase leading to the castle foyer. Slowly she plopped down onto her hindquarters and let her wings unfurl and rest on the ground. Without so much as turning her head, she spoke.

"Luna, come sit down. There are a few things that I've been meaning to tell you about that day and the aftermath thereof and that I haven't... haven't had the strength to say."

Heeding her elder sister's request, she sat down next to her. Slowly Celestia wrapped one of her wings around Luna's shoulders and drew her close. Such a simple gesture, and yet Luna felt like she was a filly again.

"You know," Celestia began, "there wasn't a day that you were gone where I didn't ask myself that same question. 'Why did you do it, Celestia?' 'Why did you banish her?' 'How could you not have seen it coming?' All of these questions bounced around my skull for years and years, and every time I had to raise the moon for you I felt the old pain get re-opened. I drove myself nearly to the brink of madness trying to figure out some way to get you back, to have my darling sister back again so all the ponies of Equestria could see her for the fun, smart, and determined mare she was and not as the monster you became."

Luna glanced up at her sister and could see tears leaking down the corners of her eyes and causing her mascara to run. Gingerly she wrapped one of her own wings around Celestia's leg. Surely some gesture of affection is better than none

"But then," Celestia continued, choking back a sob, "just as I was reaching my lowest point, I left the palace grounds. I had spent many moons cooped up in our old castle, and my advisors and staff demanded that I get out and see the country. So I left and did as they had bade me; for the first time in years I traveled the entire country, from Manehatten to The Badlands and everywhere in between. I saw all the ponies going about their business, living happily, and I was incensed. 'How can they be so happy when their regent is so miserable?' I asked my advisors."

Slowly Celestia looked up towards the banner that hung above the massive front door. It showed the Seal of Equestria, with Celestia and Luna's images encircling a conjoined sun and moon.

"When I questioned my advisors," Celestia continued, "they told me that the ponies of the land weren't happy. Far from it, in fact, they were in the middle of a great economic depression and the beginnings of a famine. Apparently my self-centeredness and focus on getting you back was having an impact on the nation, and my advisors could no longer sit idly by as they watched Equestria collapse into ruin. They showed me what was happening to Equestria, and how the ponies were persevering despite my grief. They had their own troubles to be sure, but they had to struggle and sacrifice and endure through it for the sake of those they loved."

"Well, that certainly sounds familiar," Luna said. Celestia let out a soft chuckle at her sister's attempt to lighten the mood.

"It should, and it was your little tantrum that taught me a powerful lesson," Celestia answered. "I learned that sometimes the needs of the many have to outweigh the needs of the few. It's those times when a mare needs to learn to swallow her pride, her grief, and let herself become a pony others can depend on again."

"... And you're saying that I've hit that point?"

"I'm certain of it," Celestia answered. "You've been through things that no pony should have to go through, particularly at the hooves of a loved one, and I am not going to tell you that your hurt isn't justified. You have every right to feel the way you do about how ponies mistreat you based on actions nopony in living memory aside from the two of us remembers, but the time has come to swallow your pride and accept the fact that this is your lot in life, at least for now."
The two of them sat in silence for a time, taking in each other's company while Luna thought. It had been a long while since the pair of them had had an honest heart-to-heart; the last she could remember took place as the two of them fought through the skies of Equestria a thousand years prior. This was the first time that Luna had heard her sister's account of her time alone, and surely if Celestia could spend a millennia isolated with the knowledge that she could have saved her sister if she had only tried harder, then Luna could endeavor to put on a happy mask for the sake of her people and herself.

"You always have something new to teach me, don't you Celie?" Luna asked as she lay her head against Celestia's side.

"Only as much as you have taught me, Lulu."

Together they sat for a few more minutes that Luna endeavored to make stretch into infinity as they enjoyed a rare and fleeting moment of privacy. Unfortunately, if Luna knew one thing, it was that all good things must inevitably come to their end. Slowly she pulled away from her sister's warm embrace and made for the door to the courtyard; after all, she had a very important appointment and it would not do at all to be late for it.

"Have a good night Luna," Celestia called after her. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Sleep tight, Celie," Luna replied. With a thundering thud the castle door closed behind her and she walked through the courtyard to the drawbridge separating Canterlot Castle from the city proper.

* * *
 Chewing her lip and gaze flitting between the clock, the door, and her stage, Rarity paced back and forth across the floor of Canterlot Carousel. Nine-fifteen, the hands read, and still Luna hadn't shown up for her first lesson. Sassy was already on her way home for the evening and it had been a slow business day to boot, so there was little chance of the pair of them being found out.

"Surely she hasn't forgotten," Rarity muttered. "She seemed quite enamored with the idea, I doubt she would have gotten cold hooves at a time like this. This summit is very important for her and the country, and it wouldn't at all be like her to renege on something this crucial!"

A sharp three knocks on the door pulled her out of her own head, and let a sharp shriek of nerves and excitement escape with her. Heart pounding, she went over to the front door and swung it open.

Clad in a heavy cloak and swiftly shuffling over the threshold, Luna made her way inside. Quickly Rarity shut and dead-bolted the door behind her before drawing all the windows shut with a flick of her horn.

"I can't thank you enough for doing this for me, Rarity," Luna began as she tidied up and took her cloak off. "This is quite the service you are rendering, both for myself and your country."

"Well, let's wait until we get started before tossing the compliments around," Rarity replied. "Now, I've spent the better part of last week going over some books I borrowed from Twilight that your sister loaned her regarding Alicornhood, so I should say I have a fair assessment of modern Alicorn culture. We'll work off of that and my own knowledge of social cues and mores."

"You borrowed them from Twilight?" Luna asked with a slightly worried tone. "She didn't suspect anything about your sudden interest, did she?"

"Slightly, but I was able to set her at ease. I told her that I wanted to design a uni-racial fashion line inspired by Alicorn culture and couture, as well as learn a bit more about the race that my best friend and her sister-in-law share, and she seemed to buy it."

"That is quite the relief," Luna answered with a sigh. "The last thing we need is Twilight investigating into this; she is far too smart and inquisitive for any half-baked explanations to hold water for long. Has anypony else asked?"

Just as her heart had eased back to a normal pace, Rarity found her pulse inching back up. She had completely spilled the beans to Sweetie Belle, and while she trusted her sister to not tell she had a feeling that Luna would not feel the same way.

"Yes," she answered sheepishly. She had already lied to Twilight, it wouldn't do at all to make a habit of it.

"Who?" Luna asked, voice cracking ever so slightly, "and did you tell them anything?"

"Sweetie Belle asked me about it the morning after we made our arrangement. I hadn't slept well that night and needed somepony to lean on, so I told her about the agreement. I let slip everything you told me, except for the part about your caretakers."

"Hmm..." Luna sighed, lost in thought. Rarity could feel her face get hot with a wash of embarrassment, like a school filly who got caught cheating on a test. The only difference is that the reputation of a Princess didn't depend on a Social Studies test.

"Rarity, I'm not angry," Luna began, "but this absolutely cannot happen again. You have to be more tactful regarding this matter, especially around your friends. Thankfully Sweetie Belle is relatively harmless and shouldn't cause much of a fuss."

The tension now cut and tossed to the side, Rarity allowed herself a moment to compose herself before drawing the curtains of her stage apart. She had had to close a half-hour earlier than usual to set all of this up, and seeing her own hoofwork helped set her at ease. Up on the stage was her prized chaise lounge chair at one end, with a medium-sized whiteboard that she used for sketching at the other.

"Well, with that out of the way," she said, "let's get down to business. Luna, if you could kindly take a seat."

"It would be my pleasure," Luna answered as the two made their way up to the stage. "I can see that you've put a bit of thought into all of this."

"Maybe a moment or two, but this is just the place setting; the entree is yet to come. Now Luna," Rarity continued as the two got settled, "I'd like to ask you a few questions, to get a good feel for what your social knowledge is and how your personality works. History texts about a mare a thousand years removed from a writer with a massive bias against their subject can only teach so much."

"Then perhaps I should track down these 'writers' and get them up to date," Luna replied with a wry grin.

"Maybe we should concern ourselves with this lesson before enacting petty revenge, hm?"

"Oh, if you insist," Luna said with an exasperated sigh. "Ask away, oh wise and merciful one."

"There, that's better. Now to get the ball rolling, what was the last major formal event you attended?"

"I believe it was the premiere of the new exhibit at the Canterlot Museum of Art, which was about three months ago."

"Mm-hmm, and what would you say your overall enjoyment of the event was like, taking into account the dining, guests and your interactions with them, and the content of the event itself?"

"The event itself was lovely, but I didn't personally partake of the buffet and aside from standard pleasantries I didn't do much socializing. I spent most of my time admiring the artwork and promptly left after the end of the event. Nopony seemed put off by my demeanor, if that is what you're wondering," Luna tacked on.

"Ah, I see..." Rarity answered curtly before putting on her red glasses and picking up a marker in her magic. She jotted down a few notes on the whiteboard in swift and sloppy cursive. "What would you say your sister thought of your performance?"

"Celestia? We didn't really have much time to chat on the way back to the castle, what with taking separate chariots and all. As far as I could tell she seemed happy, at least in the sense that I was getting out and interacting with the commoners."

"Commoners? Luna, Don't you think that term is rather... rude?" Rarity could feel the knot of worry start to form; if Luna didn't know better than to not refer to her constituents as 'commoners'...

"Sorry, I meant to say citizens," she replied with a slap upside the head. "Kibitz, Celestia's scheduling advisor, gets onto me about that as well. Please remember that, aside from the last five years, I have primarily lived in a time when such terms were both commonplace and downright expected to be used by ponies of my stature."

"Well, that's why you came to me, isn't it? So that we could iron out some of those little social wrinkles," Rarity added with a mimed ironing gesture.

"Verily I would say that it is. Shall we carry on with the questioning?"

Their lesson continued this way for a solid hour, with her asking a question and the princess answering. By the end Rarity noticed Luna getting fidgety, and decided that she had enough to work with.

"I think that should just about do it for the Q&A part of this, don't you think?" she asked.

"I should hope so," Luna answered with a huff of exasperation. "As plush and luxurious as this lounging chair is, my back is starting to cramp up and I've lost all feeling in my left forehoof."

"You do realize you could've stood up at any time, right Luna? It's not like I was forcing you to stay seated, and given your standing and magical prowess I doubt that I could."

"Rarity, I may not be up to date on most modern cultural mores, but I do have enough home-training to accept a seat that is offered." Luna's wry smile started to melt away the knot of worry that had formed in Rarity's throat, only for it to re-solidify when she looked back at all her notes on the whiteboard and the extra ones on a pad of paper she had had to pull out.

"So, what is the diagnosis? Is it terminal social degradation, or is there some slight hope of recovery?"

"You joke Luna, but in all honesty I've seen ponies with worse social problems than you have," Rarity answered as she set herself down on the stage.

"Really?" Luna asked with a ray of hope in her voice.

"However," Rarity continued, "I only say that because I am a close personal friend of Fluttershy, a pony who I'm convinced would never leave her cottage unless the world were ending outside her door. Even then, I'd put money down on her just staying holed up inside until a meteor breaks her roof open."

"Is it really that bad?" Luna asked, all the joy in her voice replaced with a dreary drone of dread.

"Well, let's go over the list I've compiled of your various social failings; you are introverted, prone to seeing ponies more as playthings than as sentient beings, you're needlessly sarcastic, you have next to no patience for the tedium that your job requires, your overly bombastic personality is off-putting to the common pony, you're quite prideful and loathe to accept help from other ponies, and that's not even getting into the problems that arise from formerly being one of the most potent evils that the country has ever seen. In addition, your current pet and self-professed "BFF" is an opossum named Tiberius and you only ever travel at night in a frankly evil-looking chariot when you can help it."

"And... these are problems because?" Luna asked with a quizzical tilt of the head. "Aside from being a former force of darkness, these traits and perceived failings are all just my personality. Also, I do not appreciate my precious Tiberius being treated as a faux pas; he's the only pet I can keep that has my schedule, and I love him dearly."

"Be that as it may," Rarity answered as she swallowed the verbal torrent she wanted to unleash on why these traits were problems, "these are portions of your personality that have to be fixed if you are to succeed at this summit and in future endeavors as a Princess of Equestria."

"Is there anything good on that indicting scrap of paper?"

"Yes, there actually is, and I was just about to get to that. Despite your numerous flaws, there are several redeeming traits you have; you wish to do well by your constituents and be a 'good' ruler, your penance over the Nightmare Moon Incident has had a humbling effect on your demeanor in general, and as I've witnessed firsthand during your first Nightmare Night you seem to be very good with children. Wish I could say the same myself, but this isn't about me."

"Indeed it is not. This little seminar has been... enlightening," Luna continued as she stood from the couch, "But unfortunately, I must be off."

"Already?! But we've barely even gotten started!" All of the plans Rarity had had running through her mind were slowly going out the window, and she couldn't help but feel slightly used.

"I'm afraid so, Rarity. While you may have a surplus of free time by being a sole proprietor and entrepreneur that can set her own schedule, I have my nightly duties to attend to; the dreamscape isn't going to maintain itself, and I have to do my nightly patrols over some of the more problematic areas of the country. There haven't been any incidences over the last several weeks, but it never hurts to be vigilant."

"I... I..." Rarity stuttered. "Oh, very well, if you must. I do have a few things I'd like to send you on your way with, though. I was hoping to use these as part of our lesson tonight, but if hopes were carriages then all dreamers would ride."

With a quick flick of the horn Rarity levitated three books from behind her whiteboard, as well as a blank notebook.

"And these would be?" Luna asked, stretching her legs out as she did so.

"Etiquette books, your majesty; when I was a filly I had such a fascination with high society that my parents sent me to a finishing school in Fillydelphia for two semesters, and these were our assigned workbooks."

"Really? And how did you like it there?"

"Oh, the school was absolutely horrid! The headmistress was a witch, the teachers were all either tired with their jobs or so strict that you cowered in their presence, and my classmates all looked down on me for being from Ponyville."

"Goodness me!" Luna gasped. "Did you at least learn anything while you were there?"

"Nothing that my parents hadn't already taught me, but I did get these three books out of it and they proved to be infinitely more useful than any of the actual classes. Proper enunciation, how to hold a conversation, even a few things about dealing with politicians; I'm sure you'll find far better use for them than I did."

"I shall cherish them, mark my words," Luna said as she took them from Rarity. "These tomes will certainly be of great use to me."

"I'm sure they will," Rarity answered with a warm smile. "Also, I've included a blank notebook for you to do practice problems in; just be sure to pace yourself or else you'll get a horrendous headache from all the writing."

"Another horror story from your time at finishing school, I take it?"

"Was it that obvious?" Rarity answered sheepishly.

"A little bit. Anyway, I've intruded upon your hospitality for long enough, Rarity. I will be sure to go through these books as much as I am able over the next week. Until we meet again!"

With her final goodbye Luna disappeared into a flash of indigo light, leaving Rarity alone in the boutique with her thoughts. She was going to have to re-arrange her lesson plans for their next few lessons if an hour was all Luna had to spare, but she felt confident that they had made some good progress that evening.

With a sigh of relief, Rarity started putting away her teaching supplies so that Sassy wouldn't have to next morning.

Checking In

The Princess and The Seamstress

Chapter 5: Checking In

"Spike, I'm going out for groceries!" Twilight called out to the cavernous hallways of her home. "Don't wait up for me, and don't forget that the Chemistry section needs to be re-organized!"

"Can do," came back an echoing call from her ever-capable assistant. Twilight had placed magical bugs all throughout the halls and rooms so that way she and Spike could call back and forth like they did in the library without having to trek all the way through the castle.

Efficiency at its finest, Twilight mused to herself as the doors slammed shut behind her. With a quick inhale she sucked in the cool fall air, savoring the brisk scent of freshly fallen leaves before making her way into town.

The market was a flurry of activity as usual, with ponies beckoning to her to try out their wares or enticing her with discounts and special deals. On a day as nice as this she could afford to linger a little.

"Princess, Princess!" called Carrot Top from her stand. "Come here, we just got a fresh batch of carrots in and they've all got your name on them."

"Ooh, they look absolutely delicious," she said. The Carrots, as the name would imply, were some of the best carrot farmers in Equestria, although they also specialized in quite a few other types of produce.

"So, how about you pick up a few, and maybe I can throw in some juicy tomatoes at a discount, huh? Special Princess Pricing, just for you!"

"I have been running pretty low on produce, so why not?" Twilight answered as she levitated her bit purse out of her saddlebags. "How much?"

"Five bits for a bushel of carrots, and three for a a bushel of tomatoes."

"What a bargain!" Quickly she laid out her money as Carrot Top bagged up her produce. "Always happy to help out the local business pony, after all."

"Oh please, the pleasure is all mine! This is just between you, me, and the carrots, but your coming by here drums up more business in a day than I normally see all week. I'm not sure if you're aware, but you're pretty popular around here," she added with a glance and nod behind her. Twilight turned to see a massive queue of ponies lining up, most of whom were smiling and waving at her.

"You don't say?" Twilight answered with a knowing smile. With a giggle she trotted away to her next destination.

"Feel free to drop by any time, Twilight!" Carrot Top called after her.

Five years she'd been living in Ponyville, and yet she still loved going to the market as much as when she first moved in. They didn't have a big bustling market like this back in Canterlot; it was mostly specialized shops and boutiques meant to cater to higher society ponies with little regard for practical day-to-day use. Ponyville was much more pragmatic and functional, which was just one of the numerous things she enjoyed about it.

"Hey Twilight, over here!" called a very familiar twangy voice.

"Oh, hi Applejack!" she called back. "Fancy seeing you here."

"I don't see why you wouldn't, considerin' that I run the largest apple farm this side of the Everfree. Somepony's gotta push the produce, and what with Granny Smith bein' a bit long in the tooth for it nowadays, Apple Bloom still too young for ponies to take her seriously, and Big Mac havin' the conversational skills of a brick, the face side of things falls to me."

"Oh, right," Twilight said meekly. Sometimes she had to be reminded that her friends actually had lives outside of just being her friends. Also, Applejack was standing by her apple cart, which should have been a dead giveaway if Twilight had bothered to notice.

"So, are you just out and about, or do you have some errands that I'm keepin' you from?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, a little from column A, a little from column B. I do have a grocery list, but I can take my time. I spent all last night going through my friendship problem backlog and answering a question from Sunset Shimmer, so I decided to spend today getting away from it all."

"Well ain't that just delightful to hear. Wish I could get away from the work for a while myself, but if I don't work then Ponyville doesn't eat. That's the kind of weight on your shoulders that'll put some spring in your step, if ya catch my drift."

"Winter is just around the corner though, so at least you'll have the holidays off, right?" Twilight asked.

"Right you are, and this year it's up to Mac and Apple Bloom to do the holiday planning so that Granny Smith and I can take a year off."

"It must be great having family that can fill in for you. Back in Canterlot I was something of a feral child; Mom and Dad kind of let me do my own thing most of the time and Shining was only around to keep an eye on me until I was about nine when he went off to join the guard. It taught me that if I wanted something to get done I had to do it myself."

"I'll tell ya one pony who could do with a break is Rarity," Applejack cut in. "I haven't seen hide nor hoof of her for a few days. Normally she stops by to chat on her way to pick up some fancy fabrics or if she's hittin' up the train to Canterlot, but I don't think she's left Carousel Boutique since at least last week."

Twilight's brain sparked to attention at Applejack's interjection; a few days? Rarity wasn't antisocial in the slightest, so to hear that she was sequestering herself in her home was highly unusual.

"Are you sure about this?" Twilight asked, trying not to betray the worry in her heart. "Maybe you just keep missing each other."

"I'd be inclined to agree with ya, if it weren't for the fact that she makes a point to stop by and say hi. If I haven't seen her out and about, then she just hasn't been out or about."

Twilight couldn't help but chew on her lip a bit. Yes, Rarity was an adult and could make her own decisions, but this sort of behavior was weird for her. Normally she'd make some big announcement if she had a new project or was taking a trip, but for her to drop off the radar unannounced...

"Have you heard anything from Sweetie Belle about this?" Twilight asked, grasping at any thread she could.

"Well, now that you mention it, Apple Bloom told me that Sweetie said Rarity was doing some big project for her store up in Canterlot."

"Yeah, she mentioned that to me a while ago, something about a 'uni-racial fashion line' that she wanted to design. She even borrowed some books on Alicorn culture from me so she could draw inspiration from it."

"Yeah, that's it!" Applejack replied. "Although, the way Apple Bloom was tellin' the story, it sounded like Sweetie Belle wasn't being completely on the level with her."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, perplexed. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were best friends; what could she possibly want to keep hidden from her?

"I don't rightly know, for certain; A.B. said she just got a weird vibe from her. You can go ask her yourself if you want, the three of them are at the barn buildin' some sort of thingamajig for their new lives as Cutie Mark Crusader Talent Finders or some such."

"I think I just might do that. Thanks for the tip, Applejack," Twilight added as she walked off, a bit more purpose in her step than before.

* * *

The walk over to Sweet Apple Acres wasn't too long, and Twilight had long since gotten used to the winding path through the orchard to get to the farmhouse itself. As she rounded the last bend she spied Big Mac, back to her and hard at work preparing another cart of apples to be taken out to the market.

"Big Mac!" Twilight called as she cantered over to him. "Can I have a word?"

"Eeyup," he answered, as taciturn as ever. He finished loading up the last basket and turned to face Twilight.

"Thanks, I'll try not to keep you for long. You're a busy stallion after all, and I'm sure the last thing you need is me nattering away and keeping you from your cho—"

"Twilight, you're nattering," he interrupted with a wry smile.

"Oh, right sorry," she replied sheepishly. "Are Apple Bloom and her friends around?"

"Out at their clubhouse, last I saw of 'em," he answered. "Tell Apple Bloom that she needs to give me back my good spade."

"Can do! Thanks a lot Mac," Twilight said as she made her way deeper into the property. She'd been out to the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse a few times and could find her way to it well enough. As she walked out to the clearing of the clubhouse she could hear some mechanical contraption being set off.

"GANGWAY!!" yelled Scootaloo as she came careening through the sky. Twilight barely had time to throw up a magic shield, which Scootaloo splattered into with a sickening thud.

"Ooooohh..." Twilight muttered, sucking in air through her teeth as Scootaloo slid down the barrier to the ground. At least, Twilight noted with some relief, she was wearing a helmet.

"Scootaloo, you okay?" Apple Bloom called from over from their latest hodge-podged together quasi-death trap.

"Fine and dandy," Scootaloo answered blearily, holding a hoof in the air before letting it flop back into the dirt. "I'm just gonna... lay here for a while."

With a roll of the eyes Twilight lowered her shield, stepped over the near-comatose filly, and walked over to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as they feverishly re-calibrated their device.

"I thought you girls would be done with all of this sort of stuff? Didn't you already get your Cutie Marks?"

"Yeah, but this one isn't for us," Sweetie Belle answered. "There's a new colt in class who doesn't have his Cutie Mark yet, and since our talent is helping other ponies find theirs—"

"You're going to fling him across the sky at Mach 2?" Twilight interrupted.

"No, silly!" Apple Bloom cut in. "We're building a device that can assess a pony's physical attributes to help us narrow down what their potential talents could be! I figured it'd help take some of the legwork off of us, since we're gonna be doin' this for the rest of our lives."

"Oh," Twilight answered with a little impressed noise. While their craftsmanship could use a lot of work, judging by the mess of wood, springs, and wires that was sitting in front her, it was still a sound idea. She would have to look into that someday...

"Well, as interesting as that is," she continued, "I'm not here to have fillies hurled at me. If it's okay with you, I'd like to talk to Sweetie Belle in private."

"Oh, uh, sure," Sweetie replied. "We were about to go on break anyway."

"Thanks a lot. Also," Twilight called as Apple Bloom started walking off, "Apple Bloom, could you go take Scootaloo back up to the barn? I think she might be concussed."

"Rodger-Dodger!" she answered back with a quick salute before picking her friend off the ground, slinging her on her back, and walking into the orchard.

"And give Big Mac his good spade back!" Twilight called just as they went through the tree-line. Satisfied, she turned back to the filly she trekked all the way out here to see.

"So, what's up Twilight?" Sweetie asked as she cleaned up some of the detritus from the morning's activities.

"It's... Well, it's about Rarity. Applejack was saying that she hadn't seen your sister in a few days, and I'm a little worried for her. Do you know anything about how she's doing?" Twilight added, being careful to hide what Applejack had told her about Apple Bloom's conversation with her.

Not a moment after Twilight stopped talking did Sweetie Belle's back muscles tense up. She seemed to be a bit stiffer in her movements, like she was carrying something around that was weighing her down.

"Sweetie Belle, are you okay?"

"Fine and dandy!" she answered with just a hint of nervousness in her voice. "And you pretty much know what's going on with Rarity, right? She borrowed those books for her new fashion line from you, after all."

"Yes she did," Twilight answered back, "but this isn't like her to just shut herself up in her home like this. The last time this happened was when her first fashion show for Hoity Toity went pear-shaped, so it would have to be something very serious for her to be acting this way."

"It's not serious! She's just focused on her work, that's all, and she doesn't need ponies snooping around and asking questions! I need to go check on Scootaloo."

Before Twilight could even utter a response Sweetie darted off into the orchard.

This sort of defiance and demeanor was not at all like her, and Twilight's original concern was starting to fester and grow into the seeds of panic. If whatever Rarity was doing could affect Sweetie Belle this much, then it was almost certainly far more serious than she thought.

A renewed drive fueled by worry filling her chest, she made her way as quick as she could to Carousel Boutique. If she wanted answers, she'd have to go to the source.

* * *

Rarity jumped at the sound of a sharp rap on her front door. She had specifically set the "Closed For Business" sign on the front door so that ponies wouldn't come calling, but apparently some of them simply couldn't take the hint. With an irritated huff she set down her needle and thread and turned to answer the door."

"I'm terribly sorry, but we aren't open today, so if you could plea— oh!"

"Sorry to bug you Rarity," Twilight began while Rarity's brain cranked away, "but it's just that we haven't talked in a while and I wanted to see how you were doing. Applejack said she hadn't seen you in a few days so I hope you don't mind if I check in for a bit."

"Oh, um, sure, please come in darling!" Rarity sputtered as Twilight made her way over the threshold. Aside from this unexpected visit causing her heart to nearly explode from her chest, she hadn't been keeping up with the general tidiness as much as she'd like. The studio looked like a twister had hit it, in her estimation.

"So, what brings you out to my neck of the woods?" Rarity asked. "Looking for a specific something or is this a purely social call?"

"I'd say social," Twilight answered as she perused the store, "but I'm afraid it's a little more urgent than that."

"Urgent... how?" Rarity asked, trying her level best to mask the nervousness in her voice.

"Urgent as in 'nopony's seen hide nor hoof of you in nearly a fortnight and Sweetie Belle is clearly hiding something from us about what you're up to.' Rarity, are you alright? You are anything but anti-social, and the last time this happened we were all convinced that you were going to go hiding away in the mountains. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Try though she might, Rarity simply couldn't stop herself from shifting her weight side to side. It was an old nervous tic that she hadn't been able to quite get rid of, and now would be the perfect time for it to spring back up.

"You spoke with Sweetie Belle about me?" she asked, trying to deflect the conversation.

"Yeah, she was over at Sweet Apple Acres with her friends," Twilight answered, "and the minute I spoke to her about you she clammed up and ran off. Like I said, is there something you're not telling me?"

"No, not at all!" Rarity replied hastily. "It's just that this whole 'uni-racial fashion' idea has taken a lot longer to get off the ground than I anticipated, and you know how I get when things don't go my way. I promise this isn't that special."

"And what about Sweetie Belle? You being behind on your schedule doesn't sound like the sort of thing you swear a filly to secrecy over."

"Her? Oh, she's just a little overzealous!" Rarity replied. "You see, I told her not to tell anypony about my idea since she has rather loose lips regarding these sorts of things, and I guess she's just taking things rather too seriously. I'll let her know that you already know about it if it'll ease your mind."

"It would," Twilight said. She still seemed tense to Rarity, but it was a tension of worry and not of suspicion, which is what she wanted. "Just please try to stay in touch; we're your friends after all, and friends need to stick together and be there for each other."

"Absolutely they do!" Rarity answered as she slowly started to lead the conversation to the door. "I promise I'll get out some this week; it would do me some good to go and clear my head. Also, please be a dear and let Applejack know that I'll be around tomorrow for our daily chat."

"Sure thing Rarity," Twilight answered as she walked back out the door. "You take care, okay?"

"Don't you worry about a thing darling!"

With a wave goodbye Rarity closed the door to her home and promptly collapsed to the ground in a nervous heap. Her breathing was deep and irregular, and she could still feel her heart pounding against her ribs like they were a set of xylophones.

"Oh sweet Celestia, no!" Rarity exclaimed to nopony in particular. "This isn't good, this isn't good at all!"

Without a moment's hesitation she pulled out a quill and a sheet of parchment. She had to get a letter out to Princess Luna, and fast. Twilight was starting to catch on, which meant that they had to bump up their schedule.

* * *