The Element of Empathy

Eleanor's POV.
I chased after Rainbow Dash, as she lost control with her new trick. She asked me to keep referee in case something goes wrong. Unfortunately, she was slingshot off the sound barrier and flew into Rarity's boutique.

I knocked on the door and opened it to see Twilight, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow. Rainbow was covered in fabric and had a bucket over her head.

I gasped, "Oh Luna's moon, are you guys okay?" Then I walked over and removed the bucket from Rainbow's head, "Rainbow, I told you to try six inches to the left. Not a whole foot."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head, "What's a foot?"

I sighed and simplified, "12 inches, Dash. Twice than what I suggested."

Rainbow nudged me with a smile, "Egghead."

Then Rarity gasped and smiled, "Idea!" She turned to Rainbow Dash, "I'll make you an outfit for the Gala too, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head, "Outfit for the what now?"

"The Grand Galloping Gala." I repeated.

Rarity's smile grew brighter, "I'll make one for you..." She pointed to Twilight, "And you..." To Applejack, "And all of you." She gasped in a spark of creativity, "Oh! And of course Pinkie and Fluttershy too." She walked over to her shelf of fabrics, "Oh, and when I'm done, we can hold our very own fashion show!"

Twilight smiled, "What a great idea! If you're sure you can handle it."

"Oh, it'll be a little bit of work, but it will be a wonderful boost for my business." Rarity assured, as she grabbed a few rolls of colorful fabric, "Plus, fun!"

Rainbow Dash smiled in excitement, "Oh, I love fun things!"

Rarity nodded and laid out a roll across her workstation, "Then it's settled. We'll have a fashion show starring us."

Applejack frowned in concern, "So all yah have to do is make a different, stunning, original, amazing outfit for one, two, three, four, five... plus yourself, six ponies and a human? And lickity split?"
Rarity giggled in humor, "Oh, Applejack. You make it sound as if it's going to be hard."

Rarity's POV
With that, Twilight, Eleanor, Applejack and Rainbow Dash left the boutique and left me to my work on the dresses.

(0:00 - 1:40)
Thread by thread, stitching it together,
Twilight's dress, cutting out the pattern snip by snip.
Making sure the fabric folds nicely,
It's the perfect color and so hip.
Always gotta keep in mind my pacing,
Making sure the clothes' correctly facing.
I'm stitching Twilight's dress.

Yard by yard, fussing on the details.
Jewel neckline, don't you know a stitch in time saves nine?
Make her something perfect to inspire,
Even though she hates formal attire.
Gotta mind those intimate details,
Even though she's more concerned with sales.
It's Applejack's new dress.

Dressmaking's easy, for Pinkie Pie something pink.
Fluttershy something breezy.
For Eleanor dark and form,
Do you think it looks cheesy?

Something brash, perhaps quite fetching,
Hook and eye, couldn't you just simply die?
Making sure it fits forelock and crest,
Don't forget some magic in the dress.
Even though it rides high on the flank,
Rainbow won't look like a tank.
I'm stitching Rainbow's dress.

Piece by piece, snip by snip.
Croup, dock, haunch, shoulders, hip.
Thread by thread, primmed and pressed.
Yard by yard, never stressed.
And that's the art of the dress!

Once all the dresses were finished, I invited everypony to the boutique to see my work.

"That's it. Keep them closed. Don't look." I told the girls, as I lead them, with their eyes closed.

I lead them to the center of my workspace and smiled, "Okay, you can look now!"

Eleanor's POV.
The girls and I opened our eyes and gasped at the dresses before us.

Each dress was suited to our personalities and interests.

"These are your new outfits." Rarity smiled.

Applejack's dress showed her workpony duds with a country flair, "What do you think of your old duds now, Applejack? Pretty swanky, are they not?"

Twilights was combined with stars and lovely pastel shades of blues and purples, "And Twilight! I made this dress for you and I designed each outfit theme to perfectly reflect each pony and human's unique personality."

Rainbow's resembled that of a Greek Goddess of the sky and rainbows. Absolutely beautiful. "Oh, it took me forever to get the colors right on this one, Rainbow Dash, but I did it. Oh, and it turned out beautiful, don't you think?"

Fluttershy's dress looked like a wise willow tree made hers. Light, breezy, and just breath taking, "Ooo, and I know you are going to love yours, Fluttershy. It just sings spring!"

Pinkie's looked like a cupcake come to life. Pink all around with candies and bright decorations, "And Pinkie Pie, look! Pink! Your favorite!"

My dress was a gothic formal dress with black leggings and an onyx broach on the collar. Well done, Rarity!

(https://derpibooru.org/1788748?q=fluttergoth)
(Fluttergoth's look.)

"Aren't they all amazing?" Rarity asked.

I was speechless in amazement and the beauty of the dresses. However, the others looked uncertain.

Twilight started with a fake smile, "Wow... They're..."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Yeah, they're..."

Applejack rubbed her chin, "They sure are... Sumth'n.

Twilight nodded, "Yes! Something."

Pinkie Pie smiled, "I love something! Something is my favorite!"

Fluttershy looked uncertain, "It's... nice.

Rarity's smile fell, "But what's the matter? Don't you like them?"

"They're very nice..." Twilight insisted.

Applejack nodded, "And we're plum grateful 'cause you worked so hard on them."

"Mine's just not as cool as I was imagining." Rainbow blurted, earning a glare from Twilight and Applejack, "She asked."

"I guess what we're all saying is that they're just not what we had in mind." Twilight finally spoke in honesty.

The other girls agreed with nods. I folded my arms.

Rarity looked at me, "Eleanor? You haven't said anything yet. What do you think?"

The girls looked at me in suspense. Rarity looked at me with hope, while the others weren't sure what I was gonna say.

I closed my eyes, took a breath and spoke up, "I..." A smile grew on my face, as I looked at the fashionista Unicorn, "Love them, Rarity. All of them just left me speechless in awe and amazement."

Rarity smiled at me, while the girls looked at me in shock, "Oh, thank you for your honesty, Ellie." Then she looked at the girls, "And there's nothing to worry about. These were only a first pass. You're my friends and I want you to be 110% satisfied. Not to worry, I'll redo them."

Fluttershy frowned, "Oh, Rarity. You don't have to do that. They're fine."

"I want them to be better that just fine." Rarity insisted, as she undressed the mannequins, "I want you to think they're absolutely perfect."

"Are you sure?" Applejack asked, "I mean, we wouldn't wanna impose."

Rarity shook her head, "Oh, it's no imposition. Really, I insist."

"Well, in that case..." Twilight regained her smile, "Thank you again, Rarity."

With that, the girls and I left the boutique to Rarity's work. Once we were out of the boutique and earshot of Rarity, I glared at the girls and shouted, "What the hell did you girls mean 'Not what you had in mind'?!! They were beautiful!"

"Ellie, you can drop the act now." Twilight told me, "We know you didn't like them either."

I glared at my study partner, "I'm not acting, Twilight. I thought those dressed were lovely."

Rainbow Dash looked at me with shock, "You liked them? But, they were so bland! Not cool!"

I gasped, "Bland? You can't be serious! Did you even picture yourself wearing those dresses?"

"But I'm not a cupcake." Pinkie Pie frowned. "I'm not Greek." Rainbow pointed out.

"That's not what I-" Suddenly, Rarity's cat, Opal, walked up from behind me and walked up to Fluttershy. She tapped her hoof and then walked back into the boutique. Fluttershy followed her.

I looked the other girls, growled in frustration, "You're all idiots!" Then made my way to Sweet Apple Acres, to go do some apple bucking, or something to calm me down.

I found a dead tree within the orchard and started beating the leaves off it. However, the more I hit the tree, the angrier and more frustrated I got with my friends and the dresses.

How can they say that they didn't like them?! Those dresses were beautiful. I could see them wearing the dresses and look absolutely stunning. Why couldn't they?

"Ellie? You feeling okay, hun?" I heard my mother's voice speak from behind me.

"I'm fine, Mum. Just let be deal with this on my own." I answered, kicking the tree with all my strength.

My foot landed on a rock and I slipped to fall on my butt in the grass. The frustration continued to build up and tears welled up in my eyes, fogging my vision.

"You're not fine, Ellie. Something's made you very upset and it's still bothering you." Mum sat beside me, "Come on, you can tell me."

I looked at my mother, as she gave me an assuring smile. I sighed and wiped the tears from my tired eyes, "It's Rarity. She made these wonderful dresses for us, for the Gala, and the dresses were wonderful." I looked at the grass, "But everyone else just gave her criticism and asked for her to make new ones."

"Well... That's not too bad, is it?" Mum asked me.

I looked at my mother, "Mum, imagine you offered to make your special spiced cider for a friend. Just out the goodness of your heart. You've made this cider for years and it's a favored drink across Equestria. She tells you it tastes awful, then request you to make it the way her mother used to make it. How would you feel?"

Mum thought for a second, "I guess I would feel very hurt, but make it to make my friend happy."

"That's how Rarity feels." I told her, "Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are taking advantage of Rarity's generosity."

*The Next Week...*
I woke up to the sound of knocking in my bedroom door. I groggily got out of bed and walked over to the door. I opened the door with a yawn and on the other side was Twilight Sparkle.

"What do you want, Twilight?" I asked with a tired glare.

"We need your help, Ellie." Twilight told me, "Rarity hasn't left her house all week. We need your help with her dress."

I raised a brow, "Why should I help you? Everypony knows gemstones and regal is Rarity's style."

"I've also come to apologize." Twilight frowned, "We should have listened to you. The more we looked at the dresses, the more we realised that the mannequins didn't do them justice. Rarity's dresses were wonderful. Just like you said."

I sighed, "Fine. I'll help."

I closed the door, got myself dressed into my casual attire and arrived to Ponyville, making my way to Carousel Boutique. While walking down the path, I bumped into a tall Earth Pony stallion. His fur was light grey color. White, curly tail and mane and wore a fancy, but obvious upper-class tuxedo, and a pair of shades. His Cutie Mark was of a folded fan.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." I quickly apologised.

"It's quite alright, little lady." He answered, then he looked at my outfit and smiled, "My, my. Is that 'Drowned' by the infamous Inky Rose."

I looked at my outfit, "Y-Yes, it is. I love her designs. Really speak to me as a person." Then I looked at the stallion, "You wouldn't be Hoity Toity, would you?"

"I am." He nodded, then shook his head, "I'm on my way back to Canterlot. Last week's show was the most horrible show I've ever seen."

"Who hosted it?" I asked.

"Some Unicorn in a grey turtleneck." He answered.

"Rarity!" I gasped, then I extended my hand to him, "Mr. Toity, my name is Eleanor Carter. I'm a friend of the Unicorn you saw last week."

"You're not gonna up-show her, are you?" He asked me, shaking my hand firmly.

I shook my head, "No. I believe you deserve an explanation for the show."

I explained to Mr. Toity that Rarity's show was a disaster due to our friends being too demanding and asked for too much. So, to make up for it, The Girls, Rarity and I decided to give him a private show in Carousel Boutique.

"Take two." Mr. Toity waved his hand to me and Rarity.

I closed my eyes and started focusing my magic to create a stunning display of the night sky, as Twilight presented her dress.

Mr. Toity gasped in awe, "Hello... Oh, this can't be the same designer."

Next was Applejack's dress. I created a display of beautiful apple orchards.

Mr. Toity clapped his hands, "Simply magnificent!" He smiled, "And I suddenly have a fierce craving for some Dutch apple pie, candied apples on a stick, apple turnovers, apple cobbler..."

Next, I made a display of raining candy for Pinkie Pie's dress.

Mr. Toity smiled, "Brilliant!"

With some colorful display of thunder, lightning and the sky, it was Rainbow's turn to present her dress.

"Oh, spectacular!"

Next was Fluttershy's presentation. My magic created a scenery of spring and garden effects. Mr. Toity was speechless.

Then it was my turn to present my dress for the Gala. My presentation was a reflection of Canterlot during the dark of the night.

Mr. Toity clapped his hands, "Now this is a fashion show! All of these dresses are absolutely amazing." Then he asked, "Who is responsible? Step forward, show yourself!"

Next, it was Rarity's turn. Rarity used her own magic for her presentation.

Mr. Toity smiled and clapped his hands excitedly, as Rarity walked toward him, "Brava! Brava! Magnifico! Encore!"

Rarity smiled and bowed, "Oh, thank you. Thank you! Oh, thank you so much!"

"Dear Princess Celestia.
This week my very talented friend Rarity learned that if you try to please everypony, you often times end up pleasing nopony, especially yourself. And I learned this: when somepony offers to do you a favor, like making you a beautiful dress, you shouldn't be overly critical of something generously given to you. In other words, you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth." Twilight reported her lesson to Spike, as he wrote her words.

Once done, Spike used his fire breath to sent the letter to Princess Celestia.

Mr. Toity turned to Rarity, "Rarity, my congratulations to you on a most impressive fashion debut. Would you do me the great honor of allowing me to feature your couture in my best of the best boutique in Canterlot?

Rarity was speechless, but her expression told you her answer.

"Now, I'll need you to make a dozen of each dress for me by next Tuesday." Mr. Toity told her.

Rarity gasped, then her eye twitched.

I giggled, "I'll get the machine warmed up."