//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirteen - Needle and Thread // Story: The Mare of the Stars // by XYZDreadnought //------------------------------// It had been a slow day in court, so Celestia had closed it prematurely, any late arrivals would have to schedule tomorrow. Celestia currently paces in her sister's room, deep in thought. “I don’t know what's so complicated about this,” says Luna, watching from her bed. “I know Mare, if I start hovering around with no given reason she might suspect some deeper hidden motive, I need to think of some activity in advance,” says Celestia. “I think that says just as much about you as her,” says Luna. “She’s always been like that, although my sparse interactions probably haven’t helped,” sighs Celestia. “But is she really that paranoid? Isn’t ‘I want to spend some time with you’, a good enough reason?” asks Luna. “For Mare, hard to say, I’d like something a bit more substantial,” says Celestia, “Do you have any ideas?” Luna thinks for a moment. “Well… How about sewing?” Celestia cocks her head. “What makes you think I sew?” “You don’t, but Mare does. I remember her mentioning it several times. I believe the act holds some emotional significance to her. What better way to bond then enabling one of her favourite pursuits?” says Luna. Celestia considers this. “Yes… That could work, it would probably make her happy and occupied, and she probably won’t mind me taking an interest in her hobbies. Thank you, Luna.” “Glad to help,” says Luna. “I better go and get some things together, I’ll ask Tsumugu to run out for some supplies, Hopefully it's not too late for some fabric shopping,” says Celestia, walking to the door. There is a knock on the door. “Come in!” Luna calls from the bed. Shining Armour walks in. “Princess Luna... Oh Princess Celestia too. I hope I’m not intruding.” “I was just leaving, Captain, do not worry,” says Celestia, walking past him, “Forgive me for dashing, but I have business elsewhere.” “Of course, Princess,” says Shining, saluting Celestia as she leaves, before walking over to Luna, and giving a respectful nod. “I was hoping I might have a moment of your time.” “You need not ask, you have it already. What is on your mind?” says Luna. Shining levitates a large parchment over to Luna. “I was working on some warding, and considering your expertise, I considered it best to ask for your help in ironing out the details.” Luna looks over the parchment quizzically. “My warding expertise is limited to specific types, I’m not sure I can…” She stops and her eyes narrow as she examines it closer. “... Is this Constella’s ward?” “Not quite,” says Shining, “I’ve been attempting to modify the spell. I thought it might help to have you check it over, you are the only one I know who can cast it after all.” Luna’s eyes quickly scan the parchment. “It… should still work as intended, but you have completely altered the energy distribution of the barrier. It will be a larger projection area but will weaken significantly at sizes larger than a fifteen meter diameter, I must ask, what are you trying to accomplish?” Shining rubs the back of his neck. “Well… During supper… “Really?” says Mare, pausing mid-potato wedge. (Celestia had finally convinced her to eat something that wasn’t a dessert). “Yes, right now I am having the materials moved into your tower. Luna and I thought that you might like to try sewing again, It will give you something else to do other than reading and drawing at least.” Celestia. “How much material are we talking about?” asks Mare, leaning in, food forgotten. “I didn’t know what you would need, and if I had waited until you were with us, it would have been too late for shopping, so I had them get one roll of everything, plus some basic equipment.” Mares eyes gain the sparkling quality they usually gain when she is halfway through something sweet. “One of everything…” She started scarfing down the rest of her wedges, as if eager to get the meal over with. “Seems like someone is eager to get started,” says Luna. “It seems so, I’m actually pretty eager myself to see what she comes up with,” says Celestia. “Indeed, Maybe I might drop in too…” Luna trails off, her gaze drifting to the window. “Is there something wrong?” asks Celestia. “Maybe… I mean- No, nothing is the matter. But I must take my leave, something has… come up.” Without giving any time for questions, she gets up, runs to the window, and takes flight, and within a second she is out of sight. Celestia considers following her to find out exactly what the problem is, but remembers who she is with, and turns back to Mare, who has just polished off the wedges. “Thank you for the food,” says Mare, also making a break for the window. “Excuse me Mare.” says Celestia, catching Mares attention on the windowsill, “Do you mind if I accompany you?” It runs a tendril along the invisible barrier, ripples spreading like rain on a pond. It tries gently pushing against it. The ripples increase in intensity, but the barrier remains resolutely solid. It withdraws its tendril back into the pool of shadows in which it hid as a group of ponies in armour walk past, oblivious to its presence. It is nervous, it cannot pass, yet it needs to, beyond is safety, beyond is her, yet it cannot go beyond, beyond is unreachable. It feels something familiar approach, it sinks deeper into its hiding place. The blue one lands just on the other side of the barrier, and looks around. She begins pacing along the inside of the barrier, scanning, looking. It knows that she seeks it. It stays still. She has enough, she calls out. “Show yourself, Dark! I felt your presence!” It does not respond, it knows that the blue one is dangerous, it dares not go nearer. It is frightened. What was the phrase? ‘A kid in a candy store?’ Yeah that’s me right now. Two new shelves and a desk had been added, rows upon rows of rolls of cloth, actual rolls of cloth! Before I always had to make do with salvaging old clothes no-one wanted anymore. Now I have two shelves full of material, so high that they even gave me a sliding ladder so I could reach the top rows. I pick up one of the rolls and feel it, is this silk? I put it back and step backwards to take it all in. “Is this to your liking? I admit I don’t know much about sewing, so I left it mainly to my maid Tsumugu to set this up,” says Celestia, sitting in the center of the room, watching me. My throat feels dry as I swallow. “Yeah, it will do,” I say. I run over to my other desk and pick up some of my drawing stuff, then run back to the other desk and sit down and start drawing frantically. What could I make first… Actually what can’t I make? Heaps of fabric, different coloured thread, buttons, zippers, fabric paints... You could say it's overboard but I don’t care, I’m gonna make the most of this. I feel Celestia looking over my shoulder. “Designing already? My, your mind works fast.” I don’t reply, I finish one concept sketch, and lay it aside. “What’s this one, do you have a name for it?” “It’s a heavily stylised Shrine Maiden dress, the signature outfit of Reimu Hakurei of the Touhou series,” I say absentmindedly as I rapidly sketch another one. “Oh… I see?” says Celestia, slightly confused. I lay another one to the side, I’m really on a roll. “And this one?” asks Celestia. “Marisa Kirisame, A magician, also from Touhou.” “Oh… and this one?” she says pointing to the one I’m working on. “A schoolgirl’s outfit from Lucky star, the winter variation.” … “This one?” “Another schoolgirl outfit, from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, plus hair ribbons worn by the main character. I always thought she looked super cute.” … “What about this?” “Hatsune Miku, maybe I should do the other vocaloids too.” … “...And this one?” “Cirno’s outfit, an ice fairy, Touhou again, that series has some great clothes.” “Excuse me, Mare,” says Celestia. “Hmm…?” I say looking up into Celestia’s confused face. “Not to be rude, but I thought you were designing outfits, you seem to be just drawing various characters from other places,” she says. I tilt my head. “Well, yeah, I would usually rip images off the internet, but I can’t do that here. But I can’t just do it from memory, so I have to draw my own reference images.” “Reference images…” Comprehension dawned on her face, “Oh, I see, you are a costumier. You are designing costumes.” “Well, yeah, I guess,” I say. “I’ve never really known how to design my own stuff, and cosplay always looks super fun, but it's always been hard to find the right materials.” “Cosplay?” “Yeah, it’s like dressing up as your favourite characters from games, comics or TV, we had competitions for that kinda thing, even roleplay as them and stuff.” “I see… Well, I can see why that might be enjoyable, but…” her gaze shifts to the not-insubstantial pile of paper I made. “I think you might have gone a bit overboard with the sketching.” “Ehh… maybe,” I concede. I pick a random picture from the pile. “I’ll start with this one.” I set it aside, and pick up a measuring tape. “Taking measurements?” she asks. “Duh,” I say taking the end in my teeth, and stretching it out to arm's length, “‘ve g’t t’ si’ ith mi mesu’ments ‘ath chinged.” “Do you need help with that?” asks Celestia. “Nu I gottit,” I say, checking the length and making a note of it with my free hand. I feel the tape measure float out of my grip while Celestia looks at me expectantly. I cross my arms. “I can do it myself you know.” “Indulge me.” She says, “It will go faster this way, just tell me where to measure.” I grumble, and then undo the ribbon on my top, and pop the buttons. “What are you doing?” says Celestia. “You can’t get my body measurement when I’m wearing a dress. you know,” I say, shrugging off my top layer and wiggling out of my dress. “I see… Do me a favour and restrain yourself from the dirty comments,” says Celestia. “Care to give me an example?” I say innocently, as I drop my sleeves and pull off my boots. “Not on your life,” says Celestia flatly. “Tsk.” “Where should I start?” says Celestia. “Well, I guess the basic three would be a good start.” I say, “Then we can get to the more complicated stuff.” “The basic three?” says Celestia. “Oh right,” I say, “The basic measurements for women, bust,” I point at my bra, “waist,” I put my fingers on either side of my waist, “and hips. There are are other important ones, like waist to shoulder, but these are the easiest to explain.” “Alright, lift your arms then, I’ll get the top one first,” says Celestia. “Okay, be gentle.” I say, shyly. “I thought I said none of that.” she says. “Do I go right around?” “Yeah, from the highest point on the breast.” “By the way should you still be wearing that?” she says looking at my bra, “Won’t it affect measurements?” I give a coy look, but the flat look I receive shuts me down before I can get in a lewd comment. Instead I say. “Doesn’t matter, it's pretty thin fabric, and I’ll be wearing it under my clothes anyway.” “I’ve often wondered what that is for, actually,” Celestia mentions conversationally, getting the measurement for the bust and moving down to the waist. “Is this right?” “Yeah, just where the body bends,” I say, “It's a training bra.” “A training bra?” “Yeah, when human girls grow up, their breasts get bigger, and bras are for support. This is a training bra though, for girls who haven’t grown them yet, so they can get used to wearing them when they grow up…” I trail off. Then slump. “Mare? Are you alright? I didn’t touch anything sensitive did I?” asks Celestia in a worried tone. “I just reminded myself that I haven’t grown a damn centimeter anywhere.” My eyes water in frustration. “Do you know how depressing it was to check my height nearly every day for a hundred years, only to confirm that I’m still the same height? it got so unbearable that I had to stop myself from doing it.” “Eh, you mean your species actually gets bigger?” says Celestia, in her curiosity seemingly forgetting tact. “Yes!” I shriek, “I still had at least ten years of growth left in me if I was lucky! I hadn’t even hit puberty!” I squat down and start tracing circles in the carpet. “I mean it's not as if I was self conscious about it, but it would have been nice to see myself grow up, and maybe get to see what I was like as an adult, and do adult things,” I mope quietly to myself. Possibly sensing that she stepped on a landmine, Celestia quickly steps beside me. “Oh, my apologies, I had no idea… I mean to say...” But it also seems she has no idea how to mitigate the damage to my ego. “Let’s… let’s just get back to measuring, shall we? The sooner we are done with this the sooner you can start working,” says Celestia with forced cheerfulness. Smooth. This actually makes me smile a little, although Celestia can’t see it. It's always nice to see her without her ‘royal persona’, she's a lot more fun to talk to when she is less than perfect. Celestia sits on one of the sofas watching Mare work. Cherry had come back from organising her work room, she had requested some extra shelving for her manga, so it didn’t all have to clutter up Mare’s room, where wall real estate is precious, what with all the large windows. The two watch Mare with fascination. Mare doesn’t even seem to notice they are still there, so absorbed in her needle and thread, as she measures, cuts, stitches and trims. Celestia is amazed at the level of focus, as the needle dances in Mare’s fingers. There is almost a rhythmic quality to the way she moves. Indeed, her foot seems to be tapping to a beat that only she can hear. And then she starts to sing. It was a little rocky to start, her voice clearly was out of practice, but steadily gained confidence as she danced across her work space. It was a strangely upbeat song about the hardships of being a foster child. Celestia hopes it is just that, a song, and not based on some sort of personal experience. Still it is a nice song, Celestia can almost imagine the musical accompaniment, full of drums and brass. Mare is surprisingly not a bad singer, despite Celestia having never seen her use her voice like that. From the corner of her eye, she even sees Cherry bobbing her head to the imaginary beat. After the song was finished, Cherry speaks up. “I didn’t know you sing, Mare.” Mare jumps and whirls around, her expression says it all, she had completely forgotten they were here. She blushes, looking at the floor, and starts shuffling her foot in a surprising display of bashfulness. “Well yeah, I do. I do it while working, it helps pass the time when I’m doing something tedious.” It’s also clear it is something she did mostly in private, if her display is anything to go by. “I’ve never heard that song before, where did you come by it?” asks Celestia. “I heard it... when I was little,” says Mare as she returns to her work, her expression changing to her slightly distant one that Celestia now associates with returning memories, “It was a movie musical we watched once, I can’t really remember what it was about, but that was one of the first songs. I sung it for weeks after watching it. Big sis offered to teach me how to sing properly so I would stop annoying everyone with my off key vocals.” She gives a half hearted chuckle. “I became a musical sponge after that, singing nearly everything and anything I heard, driving everyone up the wall.” “You have a sister?” Cherry asks. “Had. When I lived in Miss Evans’ foster home, we were all sisters. None of us were related, but that didn’t matter. Big sis was the oldest, and I looked up to her a lot, we all did. She was confident, caring, and an amazing singer. Next to Miss Evans, she meant everything to me.” “What happened?” says Celestia, picking up the past tense. Mare stops working for a moment, holding the silence for a moment, before returning to her needlework, “...I can’t remember.” Celestia has a feeling that this time she is withholding something, but also has the sense to know that Mare doesn’t want to talk about it, so she lets it slide. Instead Celestia gets up and walks up behind Mare to get a better look at her work. Mare is currently in the process of stitching to large pieces together, probably for a skirt. “That looks rather time consuming,” says Celestia. “No one said it was going to be quick,” says Mare without breaking her flow. “Not to tell you your hobbies, but…” Celestia points to the sewing machine on one side of the desk, “Isn’t it what that is for?” Mare spares it a glance before snapping her gaze back. “Don’t use them,” she mumbles. “Oh, any reason?” asks Celestia. “I just don’t.” Celestia can see Mare blushing again. Celestia doesn’t say anything, she just stares unblinkingly at Mare, who in turn begins to fidget and try and look anywhere but Celestia's expectant gaze. Mare eventually caves. “Fine! I’m scared of sewing machines! Happy?” Celestia’s eyebrow raises. “You are scared… of sewing machines?” Mare shuffles her feet again. “When I was five, I got my hair caught in a sewing machine… Stop smiling! It was really traumatic!” Celestia covers her mouth to hide her smile. “Forgive me, but you are very cute when you are embarrassed.” Mare huffs and turns back to her sewing. And then, Celestia has an idea. “Mare how would you feel if I learnt to use the machine for you?” “Come again?” asks Mare. “Oh, I just thought if I could do that for you, it might help you finish your outfits faster and cut out some of the tedious work. What do you say?” Mare looks up and blinks at Celestia for about ten seconds, as if this is the first time she has seen her. But before Celestia can start really worrying, Mare snaps out of it. “Um, Sure I guess if you want to, I mean I’ve got a lot of outfits to make, I suppose a little help would be nice.” Celestia smiles, and goes to examine the sewing machine. Thankfully an instruction manual had been left out, and even a book on on the subject was placed next to it, Tsumugu proving her worth once again. But before Celestia could get to reading, Mare spoke quietly. “You remind me of her sometimes.” “I’m sorry?” says Celestia, not sure what she heard. “You remind me of her sometimes... Miss Evans, I mean.” says Mare, still almost a whisper, “So much that it hurts.” Celestia doesn’t say anything, she simply sits down beside her and drapes a wing over her shoulder.