Rarity hummed over the drone of the sewing machine. Her moderate azure eyes were fixed on the fabric as she fed it to the needle with both forehooves.
The unicorn stopped suddenly. A light cornflower blue glow gripped the fabric as she pulled it off the worktop and floated it over to a ponnequin. A bright sphere of pure white light rapidly grew in size which emitted bedazzling rays that danced from surface to surface. With a flash, it vanished out of existence as quickly as it had materialized, and the fabric clad the ponnequin in the form of a dress.
"A-a-and..." Rarity turned to Opalescence, pointing to her creation with a forehoof. "Done! Ta-da!"
Idly, the cat gradually opened her eyes and glanced at Rarity with a half-lidded, quizzical expression. She gave her a feeble "Meow!", before returning to her nap.
A smug smile presented itself on Rarity's features and pride glinted in her eyes. "You are right, Opal, darling - it is simply divine!" Exhilaration bubbled in her veins until bursting point. She began to bounce up and down with a little squeal of excitement. "Ahem!'' Comprehending that the nature of her outburst was unladylike, Rarity petered out her jig and heat flushed onto her cheeks as she flicked her royal purple mane back into perfection. "Princess Celestia will be pleased with the results. I'm sure of it.''
Opalescence glowered at Rarity, irritation registrable on her face.
Rarity took no notice. Instead, she levitated up a quill and scroll and brought both items closer. "Since I have completed that task, it seems only fitting to contact her.'' She proclaimed, while she unfurled the scroll and began to write the letter in her immaculate, cursive penmanship. She would have to visit Twilight and request for Spike to send it via his fire breath.
Bang!
Rarity jolted up, her forelegs aimlessly flailing about in surprise as her chest collided with the desk. "What in Equestria was that?!'' She rhetorically whispered, tenderly rubbing the throb of pain in her chest. Her body went rigid and her pupils shrunk to pinpricks when realization hit her like a brick to the face. Panic erupted in her system and she frantically hyperventilated. Everything Rarity held in her magical grasp dropped to the floor. The bedroom door was almost torn off its hinges when she pulled it open with a burst of magic and bolted past.
Like lightning, Rarity quickly flew down the hallway. She skidded to a halt when she reached a certain door, her muzzle practically pressing against its mahogany surface. Her hoof extended in the direction of the handle, but froze midway. Her lungs were the firebox of a steam engine. With every intoxicating breath, the firepony would shovel more and more fuel into the burning inferno. The hammering thump of her heart was the melodic beat of the pistons of the adrenaline engine as they drove it along the track of veins. What would she find behind the door? Was it protectively shielding her from something so horrific? She wasn't sure, but she wanted - no!
She needed to know!
Hesitantly, Rarity's hoof inched closer to the handle. She s-l-o-w-l-y twisted, her muscles begrudgingly complying. Charging her horn with as much magical energy as she could muster, she forcefully thrusted at the door. With a foul, ear-splitting shriek, it gradually swung open. Rarity screwed her eyes shut and bobbed her head around the door. On the count of one, she would look. Three; she took a deep breath. Two; she clenched her jaw. One; her eyelids shot open.
Nothing.
Rarity was staring at an unoccupied room. Everything was neat and tidy with nothing out of place. It was perfect. Too perfect. Perhaps her eyes were play tricks on her? Yes, that had to be it. It just had to be. After all, they should have been in there. She furiously rubbed her eyes and looked again. No, it was still the same empty room.
Bang!
It came from downstairs!
A royal purple and porcelain white trail of colour dashed down the hallway and down the stairs, only leaving in its wake a cloud of dust that billowed before dissipating into nothing. It abruptly stopped to reveal an expeditiously panting Rarity. She scanned the room. All that she could do was gawk as her left eye twitched.
Under a pile of glitter, Sweetie Belle was gathering various coloured beads with her chartreuse green magic while Applebloom and Scootaloo rummaged through a mountain of different fabric rolls. A turquoise dress with jagged, golden stars and a pure white crescent moon wonkily pinned in place was worn by the one and only Princess Luna. Travelling over her tail and forelegs, the fabric became translucent. Across her waist was a pure white ribbon, that divided the dress in two, and wrapped around her neck was a pitch black beaded necklace with a pure white crescent moon dangling from the centre. She was watching the three fillies with a warm smile on her lips.
Luna's eyes flickered over to the flabbergasted unicorn and her smile grew. Instantaneously, without thinking, Rarity bowed. "Rise, Rarity, thither is no needeth for formal behaviour." She chuckled in amusement when Rarity hastily stood upright, with her cheeks being lit with a faint crimson. "Telleth us, what doth thee bethink of the dress the Crusaders of the Cutie Mark madeth us?"
Rarity swallowed around a lump in her throat and ran her tongue over her lips. For some reason, they felt eminently dry. "It's..." She trailed off, bringing a forehoof to her chin and pondering about her answer. "Nice."
Luna pursed her lips, appearing as if she were on the verge of tears. "Nice? So thee doth not think that 'it is simply divine'?'' She snuffled.
Rarity tried to stay calm as her eyes met with Luna's slumped form. She was shaking profusely as tears started to spill out from behind her eyes. She looked at the disappointed faces of the three fillies. She fell to her haunches and slapped both of her forehooves to her face. She screamed. It was the only thing she could do. Why did everything have to be against her? It was so irritating!
Four resounding noises pulled Rarity out of her self pitying. She looked up, to see three fillies and an alicorn keeling over with laughter. Her brow knitted in confusion. She watched the scene play out in front of her, her bewilderment only growing with time.
Luna pointed a hoof at Rarity and spluttered out, between cackles, "Rarity, thee should of seen thy visage! Because of thy reaction, the hilarity hath been doubled!" She looked at the three fillies. "Doth thee not bethink?"
"Sure as sugar." Applebloom responded.
"T-totally!" Scootaloo sniggered.
"Yep!" Sweetie Belle chirped.
For the third time that day, crimson heat flushed onto Rarity's cheeks. She had never been embarrassed so many times in - wait, what time was it? Focusing her attention onto the clock, her jaw immediately dropped. How could she have been so ignorant and forget about something like that? "Girls?" She called with what was barely an audible whisper, but the three fillies did not pay any attention to her. They simply chatted amongst themselves and Luna. "Girls." She called again, slightly louder. Nothing. Rarity grit her teeth and shrieked, "Girls!"
All eyes in the room locked onto Rarity.
Sweetie Belle innocently fluttered her eyelashes, "Yes, Rarity?"
"Upstairs please, it's bedtime." Rarity commanded.
All three fillies faces' fell. "A-a-w-w-w-h!" They whined in chorus. "But Rarity-"
"No buts." Rarity's tone was firm. She examined each of their faces. Although they were giving her immense puppy-dog eyes, she said, "Now, off you go. All of you." How could she resist? She did not know. But it did not matter. Her top priority was to get the three fillies into bed so that the next day, after the sleepover, they would not be grouchy little pests.
"Lighten up, Rarity." Whilst shepherding the three fillies, Rarity swivelled her ears in the direction of Luna's voice. "The night is still young.”
Choking back a laugh at Luna's attempt to quote modern colloquial speech, Rarity deadpanned, "It's half-past eleven."
Luna opened her mouth and closed it again. "Oh."
"If you will be so kind as to excuse me, Princess," Rarity said. "I'll be back momentarily."
"Is this what you want?" Lifting her gaze from a piece of parchment paper, Rarity looked over the rim of her glasses and at Luna. In mid-air, she flipped it over and pushed it closer to her, letting her magic quell when Luna's cobalt magic took over. For a long while, they both sat in silence while Luna carefully studied the quick sketch that Rarity had drawn from descriptions of what she wanted. Luna looked at Rarity, a smile slowly growing on her lips. She placed the paper onto the desk and, with her hoof, slid it back over to Rarity.
"Aye, tis exactly what we imagined." Luna praised.
Pulling off the measuring tape from around her neck, Rarity asked after returning the smile, "If that is the case, then can I please get your measurements?"
Luna nodded before slipping off the chair. She tipped her head backwards, rolled her shoulders and stretched her wings until she was given either satisfying crick or pop.
Wrapping the tape measure around Luna's slim waist, Rarity asked, "So, what is the dress for?"
Luna giggled when the tape measure wrapped around her left wing and tickled a sensitive area. "Tis for a gala that me and Celestia has't been invited to in Saddle Arabia. The dress code is formal wear."
Rarity jotted down the measurements on parchment. "Who has your sister employed to create her dress?"
Luna playfully rolled her eyes, "The Royal Seamstress. I doth not recall their name."
Rarity set down the parchment paper, quill and measuring tape onto the desk. "Would it have not been more simple if you used them as well?" She questioned, her curiosity piqued.
"Aye, it would." Luna sighed. "She is a fair lady. Careful and considerate. Definitely worthy of her post. But she is not for me because she doest not has't the right spark of creativity. The only mare that doest poses it, of which I knoweth, is thee." She smiled warmly at Rarity.
Once again, Rarity flushed crimson. "I... I-I'll take that as a compliment, should I not?"
"As thee should." Luna glanced at the clock. "I'd better be going."
"Very well." Rarity paused. "I will show you out."
Rarity watched Luna fly into the night sky, her form was only a blued silhouette in the darkness. Once she could no longer see her, she kicked the door shut and locked it with magic. She trotted towards the stairs with a content sigh - a long soak in a bubble bath before clambering into bed sounded like the most perfect idea.
