Rarity mumbled in her sleep, as she normally did. Most of it was thoroughly random, only tentatively related to the current dreams she found herself in. After a few moments, however, the mumbling would slow and cease as the pony formed a small frown, her forehead creasing in annoyance as she rolled away from the sudden light that came pouring through the window.
Her sleeping mask kept most of the light out, but there was still enough reaching her eyes to bother her into waking world. She gave a slightly over-dramatic sigh, pushing the mask up past her vision, squinting at the presence of yet more of the bright world.
Having given up any hope of further rest, Rarity got up, quickly trotting to the restroom to get herself prepared for the day. After her half hour shower came another half hour of checking over her looks, combing of her mane and tail, and run-over of her coat to make sure it was flawless.
Her final preparation done, Rarity grinned and trotted out of the room, humming to herself as she closed the door to her bedroom. As she reached the bottom floor, her horn lit up, floating over a small checklist of the current orders she was working on, glancing over them and nodding, placing the list back down where it was.
After a routine breakfast, eaten carefully to avoid dirtying herself, Rarity quickly got to work, waiting for a few minutes to let several designs flit through her head before finally sketching out a rough outline of her first order, soon bringing over a ponnequin for reference.
The design was finished a few minutes afterwards, and the pristine unicorn spun around, smiling to herself as she got the fabrics out, breifly testing them out against the fake pony before giving a cluck of disapproval before pulling out the next set. After a few tries, she finally decided on a silky blue, a bit too brightly colored for her tastes but a perfect fit for the customer's colors.
With a smile, Rarity was about to move away to her sewing room before a knock on the door halted her movements.
"Cooooomiiing!" Rarity blinked a few times, doing her best to appear her most professional before trotting to the door and opening it up, speaking the moment it stopped on its hinges, her eyes closed in her attempt at modest pride. "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where-" Rarity was cut off by a slightly impatient cough, a rather familiar one at that that, and she snapped open her eyes, blinking in surprise for a moment before her grin grew wide and lost its professional air. "Oh, Twilight! I wasn't expecting you to come by today. Do come in, dear, I wouldn't leave a friend standing outside."
The purple mare smiled in appreciation, trotting inside as Rarity stepped off to the side to let her in, and spoke up once through the threshold. "I know, Rarity, but I've run into a problem, actually."
"Oh, what kind of problem? Do tell, I'll do anything to help with it." Rarity lost her smile, listening intently to her friend, thoughts of previous times she had considered the other mare's problems trivial flitting through her mind.
"Again, thanks. It's about that dress you made me, the one for the Gala." Twilight would turn her head to face Rarity as she spoke, deciding not to comment on the thoughtful frown which was present on Rarity's face.
As soon as the mention of the dress came up, Rarity immediately perked further, knowing now not to overlook the issue. "Oh? What happened to it, darling? Did the hem come loose, or has the fabric faded on it? I can fix it right up for you if you need me to."
Twilight shook her head, causing Rarity's eye to twitch at the possibilities other than those she had listed, but spoke before the dramatic unicorn could come up with progressively worse situations than those in her head. "It's a bit worse than that, I'm afraid, but thankfully it can be fixed. I think." Twilight took a breath, before turning around completely and sitting down on her haunches. "I was practicing a spell I found in one of my books, it discharged badly. It went wild and, well, kinda messed up the dress." At the end of it, Twilight had a guilty look on her face, her head held slightly lower than it had been earlier, emphasizing her feelings about the event.
Rarity simply looked at the librarian, before chuckling and putting on a sympathetic look. "Oh, Twilight, don't worry about it. I know how you are when you find a new spell." She trotted over, giving her friend a pat on the back along with a reassuring smile, getting the other to look up and smile weakly. "Now, where exactly is the dress?"
"I'll just come back in a few minutes and bring it over for you. I just came over here to apologize and ask. Bringing the dress would have been assuming things." Twilight stood up, smiling at Rarity as she gave an understanding nod, and headed for the door. "I'll see you in a few, Rarity!" With that, the purple mare was gone.
Once her friend had left, Rarity turned back to her work, her previous train of thought returning to her quickly as she resumed her trot to the sewing room, fabric in hoof and a hum on her lips. She set everything up, and ran over the design in her head once more to make sure she would get the stitching and cutting correct, and began to get to work once more.
After a few minutes, a knock at the door came once more, prompting Rarity to respond by sighing gently, shutting down her sewing machine, and getting up, smiling softy as she opened the door, the expected librarian in view with the dress in tow.
Rarity's attention, however, was drawn to the dress almost as soon as the door opened, and she gasped at what she saw. What had once been a beautiful dress was now covered in soot, black in places. Rarity gave a sigh of relief once she realized that the black was ash on the dress, and wasn't part of the frayed garment itself.
"Well, do come in, Twilight. I'd better see what the extent of the damage is." Rarity brought her smile back up, not as irked as she would normally be by something like this, mainly due to it being a close friend bringing the problem to her. Twilight nodded in response, trotting in and gently laying the dress on the back of a ponnequin, Rarity immediately moving over to attend to it.
She gave it a more professional once over, and smiled. It wasn't as badly damaged as Twilight must have thought it was, and she turned her attention to the mare beside her. "Oh, it isn't so bad, dear. I'll have it fixed right back up by the end of the day. It'll make today a bit more hectic, but it's for a friend." The last statement made it clear that Twilight wouldn't be changing Rarity's mind on her priorities, and so instead the purple mare simply smiled.
"I really appreciate this, Rarity. I know you worked a lot on it, even after the rest of us... well, I don't think we need to relive that again." That got a laugh from both mares, before Twilight's smile grew to fit the entirety of her face. "I won't be bothering you any longer. Thanks again!"
Rarity waved a hoof in response, her horn already lighting up as she levitated over the items she needed to return the dress to its former glory. "Think nothing of it, dear. Just come by tomorrow and I'll have it ready and waiting for you." With that, she began work on garment, scarcely hearing Twilight leave the building.
The last piece of the set settled onto the ponnequin, Rarity gave a satisfied sigh. Not only had she been able to fix the dress, she had even improved upon it. As an added bonus, she had gotten two of the three dresses she needed to design ready as well.
The day had been a productive one despite the delays, and Rarity checked over her work and yawning before looking out the window to check on the time, blinking as the setting sun caught in her gaze. Productivity did have its downsides, after all, as the unicorn had missed dinner without even realizing it.
She quickly rushed to get something prepared before she put herself to bed, managing to come up with a simple salad, which she deemed enough to suffice for the night. The mare quickly trotted up the stairs, crunching on her prepared food as she ascended, the emptied plate being set down on a nearby surface as Rarity hurried.
It took her only fifteen or so minutes to prepare herself for bed, the removal of her eyelashes and make-up easier than putting it on. She trotted to the bed, sighing in relief, glad that Opalescence hadn't decided the empty bed was suitable enough for her nap, which would have barred the white unicorn from sleeping in it comfortably.
She worked her way under the covers, taking care not to mess them up, and she floated over her sleeping mask, sliding it over her eyes and smiling gently, letting the day's events roll through her mind as she took the opportunity to reflect on her previous actions.
Satisfied, she let her thoughts settle, gently easing herself into a relaxed state far different from that of her working day, her eyes closing beneath the mask, the only disturbance before she fell asleep the slight shaking of the bed when Opal jumped up to join the mare in slumber.
Author's Notes
This one's on Rarity! I've never been the best at writing her, but she is definitely one of the most fun to write! Again, this is primarily practice for the multi-chapter story I'll be writing in the future, since, like the rest of the main six, she'll be playing a role in the storyline, even if it is a minor one. As well, much like before, any and all constructive criticism/comments/tips will be highly appreciated!