Tired Work Daze

“Oh yes, darling. I’ll be right with you.” Must. Stay. Awake.

Rarity retreated to the back end of Carousel Boutique, hoping to keep her eyes open for just another hour. Grabbing a few scrolls of fabric and a pair of sewing needles, she made her attempt at stitching one of the skirts that had been ordered previously. The mare waiting at the entrance would have to wait for the time being. “My girlfriend said you were fast at this kind of thing.”

“Well… as you know, true magnificence can only come with proper time and extreme care.” Rarity groaned, just out of the sight of her latest customer. Doing the best with what she could muster, her shaky hooves finished the final stitches on the skirt, and set it on a pile, with her other finished products. All that’s left is this one last order. Then I can finally return to my chambers, for my much-needed beauty sleep.

Rarity traipsed back to the front entrance of the boutique to meet with the pony who requested her services. The mint mare spoke with a condescending tone “Yeah. I know that making clothes or whatever must be so hard, but I have a deadline to meet. I just need this dress hemmed. That’s it.”

Ugh. Rarity gritted her teeth for a short moment, before assuming her usual overly proper smile. “That will not be a problem. I will have this dress ready for you before you know it, Miss Heartstrings.” 3 days. 3 days. You can make it another few minutes, Rarity. Lyra floated the dress over to Rarity and sat it on her back.

Lyra sat back on her haunches, crossing her hooves in front of her. “I’ll bet you will.” she scoffed, hoping that by some miracle, her impudence would make the fashionista work faster.

Rarity, once again, headed back to her usual work station. Doing her best to keep from falling asleep, or exploding with righteous fury on Lyra. Both were incredibly enticing.

“How long is this gonna take, exactly?” Lyra slouched into the doorframe, frowning.

Why must I deal with this insolence? At a time like this, no less? Rarity’s inner flames were stoked. Most likely, her customer's tone was the only thing keeping her awake. Despite the condescension, she had a job to do, and she was determined to do it well before drifting into unconsciousness.

Lyra stood back up, getting fairly aggressive this time. “Hey! I don’t have all day. I have an important date to get to!”

It took all Rarity had to stay composed. Her teeth were grinding to the point that she was afraid they would spark and ignite the pieces she had worked so hard on. Her face contorted into all sorts of positions until coming back to her normal expression. “You will get your dress. When. It. Is.” Rarity whipped her head around and shrieked. “DONE!”

Lyra’s eyes widened. She sat back down, with a horrified look on her face. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t me-”

“Quiet! I need to work.” Rarity’s tone was noticeably lighter this time. After another few seconds, she was able to regain enough composure to continue her stitching. “A true master's work needn’t be interrupted by senseless chit-chat.”

It may not have been as loud or as angry as the last statement, but it did seem to have struck a chord with Lyra. She sunk down with a frown that could only express complete and utter embarrassment.

Rarity began humming, trying to put herself into more of a zen state. She did always seem to do her best work when she cleared her mind.

Now in a state of unease, Lyra rubbed both her hooves together. “So uh… Rarity. I’m just kinda wondering. How much longer do you think this will take? I don’t mean to be a bother, but... this is kinda really important.”

“Just a moment, darling. You mustn’t rush me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As sewing needles danced to and fro, Rarity neared the end of her last work before she could get her well-deserved rest. Just a little bit longer and this 3-day marathon will meet its end. I have won! Me! Rarity! She giggled, with a semi-maniacal inflection.

Lyra remained silent. Despite her concern and curiosity, she felt the last thing she should do at this point was to interrupt the seamstress any further.

“Ahah! Done!” Rarity finished the final stitches on the dress and marveled at her work. Ah. Another masterpiece. I’m almost hesitant to bring this back. It may be some of my best work.

Gaining an ear-to-ear grin, Lyra squeaked of excitement that her dress was finally ready.

Rarity trotted back over to the entrance to meet Lyra with her newly-hemmed dress. “Here you are!” she said, telekinetically sending the box over to Lyra.

Picking up the box in her own magic, Lyra danced on her hooves in anticipation. “Thank you so much! I can’t wait to show her!”

“Not a problem. You’ll have to tell me the look on her face when she sees it. Hmm?”

“Lyra!” A certain cream-coloured mare yelled out.

“Sweetie!” Lyra said as the two trotted towards one another.

“Did you get your dress fixed?”

“Sure did, Bon!” letting out a small Eeek! Of excitement, Lyra floated the box in between the two of them.

“Well let’s see it.”

Lyra opened the cover of the box to reveal her dress. Once the light hit it, they were both struck with confused, mortified expressions. Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other, at the dress, and back. A million things raced through their heads as to what could’ve happened to this dress.

“It’s a completely different shape. I thought you only needed slight alterations?”

“I did. I don’t know what happened. I especially have no idea how she managed to change the colour just by hemming the dress.”

Bon Bon spoke up. “So, what are you go-”

Lyra stared at her blankly. “I’m not going back there.”