Morning has already broken, and noon was starting to arrive. The ponies already collected the carts and were now carrying the jewels to Rarity’s boutique. The six carts were more than enough to transport all the gems hidden inside the meteorite. As they were walking, the ponies were chatting about the activities they’ll be doing once they get home, and about Photo Finish coming to Ponyville. In all, they were having good time, save for Spike, with his arms crossed and a disgruntled look on his face, who was being magically lifted by Twilight to prevent him from snacking on the yummy space rocks.
“Oh, come on! Why won’t you let me have some of these gems?”
“Spikey, if we let you feast on these jewels, I may not have enough anymore to make dresses when we return to Ponyville,” Rarity told him in a somewhat teasing manner.
“Besides, these are gemstones from outer space,” Twilight added. “We’re not even sure if you can digest them.” She then shifted her focus on Rarity. “Which reminds me, you don’t mind if take some of these gems with me, do you? I’m pretty interested in to taking a closer look at how they’re structured.”
“Why of course, Twilight. You can keep all the gems in the cart you’re carrying.”
“Oh no, no, no, no, no. I don’t need that many jewels. Just give me a pouchful, and I’ll be all set.”
“Sure, give Twilight a whole cart, but I don’t get a single pebble.” Spike mumbled, to which Twilight looked at him disapprovingly.
“Listen Spike, if I find out that the jewels are completely harmless, I’ll give them straight to you, so you can eat them. But in the meantime, you’re just going to have to be patient. Can you do that for me?”
Spike complied, but was slightly disappointed to have to wait for so long. With an agreement settled, the ponies proceeded towards Ponyville.
Once in Ponyville, the group noticed that the town was busier than usual. It was to no one’s surprise, really. Designers from all of Equestria showed up in order to meet Photo Finish on time, and the news of so many designers showing off their newest fashion line attracted a lot of ponies from and around Ponyville. Some were even working on their clothes in the open for others to behold. The mane six themselves were getting their share of attention too, as the crowd stared at the huge piles of gemstones inside the cart in amazement, several oh’s and ah’s being audible from the crowd. Eventually, the group arrived at the Carousel Boutique, where the ponies dropped off the carts. Rarity gave Twilight a pouch filled with gems, and soon they all went their separate ways, leaving Rarity and the crusaders behind, as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo wanted to hang with Sweetie Belle some more. Rarity immediately began working on a new dress, and naturally, Sweetie Belle wanted to help her sister out, an idea Rarity didn’t seem to be fond of.
“Come on, sis. There’s got to be something we can help you with.”
“Yeah. Maybe we can be Cutie Mark Crusader Fashion Assistants, or somethin.” Apple Bloom added.
Scootaloo objected. “Cutie Mark Crusader Fashion Assistants? Ewww, no thanks.”
“Now girls, maybe you can… make yourself useful in a different way.” Rarity needed to think of something fast in order to keep the fillies from intervening too much with her work, while still giving them the feeling they were helping her out. “You could… uh… judge my designs after I finished them. How does that sound?”
“So, we’re going to be… Cutie Mark Crusader Fashion Judges?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Y-yes, exactly.”
The fillies remained silent for several seconds until...
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER FASHION JUDGES! YAY!”
Rarity’s ears were not prepared for the sudden force of the fillies’ shouting. She shook the noise off, and gave out a small, nervous laughter, hoping she made the right choice.
And so, the crusaders watched as Rarity was working on her new fashion line. With precision and hard work, the first dress slowly came into place. Piece by piece, snip by snip, croup, dock, haunch, shoulders, hip, thread by thread, primmed and pressed, yard by yard, and not once was Rarity stressed. In fact, the more she was working on it, the better she felt, as the dress was pretty much turning out the way she envisioned it. Finally, it was time to implement the gemstones. Rarity had a certain plan to make the best use of the shiny colored stones. The basic shapes, like squares, circles and triangles, were the most common among the jewels, and as such were used on the dresses in larger amounts, all arranged in an orderly fashion, placed where they would look most appropriate. The more unique shapes were more rare among the bunch, and as such, only one were placed on each dress, being the centerpiece so they stood out more. After Rarity finished the dress, she put it in front of the fillies for them to judge. The dress seemed very similar to the one Twilight wore, as both had a celestial feel to them. This new dress however, was several inches smaller, had no collar popping out the back, was much darker toned, varying from dark blue to black, the saddle was completely black, and had a picture of the moon it, accompanied by two prints of stars, and the white stars were gems instead of prints, which were scattered rather than staying bundled at the sides. At the neck, a larger star shaped gem was placed, while a golden jewel shaped like a shooting star was put on the mannequin’s ear. After the fillies had stared at the dress for several seconds, Rarity asked for their opinion.
“And, how does it look?”
The crusaders had no idea what to say. The dress itself, they liked a lot, yet there was also something about it that just didn’t feel right. However, they weren’t sure if that was the fault of the dress or their own taste. Hiding what they truly felt, the fillies put on their best faces.
“Wow, that looks amazing! Great job, sis!”
“Yeah, I really like the starry look ya gave it.”
“It looks okay, I suppose.”
Scootaloo was the only one who answered Rarity’s question in nonchalance, to her friends’ surprise.
“What? I’m not a fashion expert like Hoity and Toity over here.”
Rarity chuckled. “It’s alright, girls. I think I know enough.” She left the girls alone as she began to work on her second dress. The girls huddled together to quietly discuss their opinions.
“So, did anyone else feel something was off about Rarity’s new dress?”
“Off? N-nah, my sister is the greatest fashion designer in all of Ponyville. There’s nothing wrong with her dress.”
“Sweetie Belle, I can clearly hear you doubting. You think something’s wrong too.”
“Okay, so maybe there is something about it that rubs me the wrong way. But what is it?”
“It’s the jewels,” Scootaloo answered.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle took another gander at the dress, this time focusing on the gemstones. She was right.
“You’re right.”
“See? And it’s not just the jewels on the dress either. All the gems still in the carts give off the same bad vibe. Yet all the other ponies we came across seem to be simply amazed by them. Yuck! I’ll never understand fashion.”
“Wait a minute, Scootaloo. Just because you don’t like the jewels on this dress, doesn’t mean that all the jewels are awful.”
“Oh really? Prove it!”
The fillies approached the carts, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle inspected the jewels. They couldn’t help but feel the bad vibes Scootaloo mentioned as they were searching through the pile.
“Sweetie Belle, I’m afraid Scootaloo might be right.”
Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, was determined to find a gemstone that would prove her point. As she dug through the rocks, she finally stumbled upon a specific jewel that caught her eye.
“What about this one?”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo watched as Sweetie Belle lifted the gem right in front of them with the little magic she had. It was silver of color and shaped like a bell. The two fillies continued staring until Scootaloo spoke out.
“Huh, that one’s actually not so bad.”
“Yeah, it actually looks pretty good,” Apple Bloom added.
Sweetie Belle then turned her attention to her older sister.
“Rarity, can I have this one?”
“Excuse me?” Rarity hasn’t been paying the fillies much attention after she went back to work on her next dress.
“This silver bell. Can I have it? Please please please?”
Rarity took a quick glance at the jewel and said: “If you really like it so much, then of course.”
Sweetie Belle was overcome with joy. “Thank you thank you thank you!” She gave her sister the biggest hug her tiny body could make, then ran off to the guest room in the Boutique with her friends right behind her. In front of the guest room door, Sweetie Belle halted the other two.
“Stay right here,” she said. “I’m going to turn this jewel into a real gem!”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked at each other in confusion, as Sweetie Belle proceeded through the door. What could she possibly be up to? After a small amount of time, she opened the door again.
“TA-DAH! How does it look?”
Sweetie Belle had neatly attached the little bell to a small figaro chain, turning it into a simple necklace which she was now wearing around her neck, like how a necklace should be worn. The fillies showed their approval on Sweetie Belle’s newest creation, and it was she needed to know from her friends. She then returned to her older sister to show off her own creation.
“Rarity! Rarity! Look what I made!” She said, jumping up and down.
“That’s very nice, Sweetie Belle,” she told her sister. Sweetie Belle would’ve believed her too if she wasn’t too busy with her new dress to even turn around.
“Oh come on! You’re not even looking!”
“Sorry Sweetie Belle, but I'm ‘in the zone’, as it were,” Rarity answered, as she continued working.
Soon, she did halt her work, but only because Applejack had entered the boutique. She came to pick up Apple Bloom when she saw the finished dress.
“Fancy dress, Rarity. The gems you put really make it shine. Is it already done?”
“I’ve put the finishing touches on it several minutes ago.”
“Why, if you showed off this dress to that Photo Finish pony, I’m sure you’d be guaranteed to win first place.”
Soon, another pony came through the door. Or actually, she partially came through the door. To be more precise, her head got through the door, but now she’s stuck like that. She did manage to slam the door wide open, meaning that all the ponies could see was a grey-colored Pegasus who was struggling to get her head free, as she was pressing her front hooves against the panel in order to more successfully pull her head out. When she eventually managed to release herself, her head revealed her bright yellow manes and googly-eyed face.
“Howdy Derpy, what brings you here?”
“Darling, you’re wrecking my front door.”
Derpy shook the splinters out of her mane and hoofed the ponies a notice.
“Message from Cloudsdale,” she said. “We’re making a storm in Ponyville, starting in five minutes, which will last until after midnight!”
“Five minutes? Isn’t that a bit too short of time to get ourselves home?”
Derpy shrugged, and continued her message. “This has been special weather announcement, brought directly to you!”
“Directly before the storm,” Scootaloo remarked sarcastically.
Derpy was ready to fly off, until Rarity called her.
“Wait, before you leave, do you mind giving me your opinion on my latest creation?”
She scratched her head. “I don’t know, Rarity. The world of fashion confuses me. I’ve been to one of their shows, and they had this model, and while her dress was nice, all she seemed to do on stage was pick her nose and bark like a dog.”
“I assure you there is no need to worry. You only have to give your opinion.”
Rarity led Derpy to her finished dress. As she focused her eyes, she took in the details, and her expression changed from fascinated to slightly pained.
“Uh… Wow… nice work, Rarity,” she said, forcing a smile on her face.
“Are you alright?” Applejack asked. It was obvious something was bugging the grey Pegasus.
“Huh? Oh… sure, why wouldn’t I be?” But all Derpy wanted was out. “But, uh… I think I hear Time Turner calling. Gotta go!”
And with that, Derpy left the boutique, leaving the Applejack and Rarity to wonder about her strange reaction, before they shrugged it off and continued their business.
“Come on, Apple Bloom,” Applejack told her sister. “We better get home for dinner before the storm beats us to it. Do you need a lift home too, Scootaloo?”
“That would be great.”
“What about you, Sweetie Belle?”
“Sweetie Belle will be staying here for the night,” Rarity answered. “Our parents are still on vacation.”
“Again? How many vacations are your parents taking?”
“They go to Baltimare once every three months. They enjoy that city so much, it’s almost surprising they haven’t moved there yet.”
“Why won’t they? They seem to like Baltimare enough to live there.”
“Oh no, they may love Baltimare, but they’ll remain Ponyville ponies at heart. Besides, they couldn’t do that to Sweetie Belle. She loves it way too much here to move away, don’t you, Sweetie Belle?”
“You bet,” she replied.
Applejack smiled. “You should be very happy to have parents who care that much about ya.”
Sweetie Belle smiled back. Applejack now turned her attention to the other two fillies.
“Now come on. We better get you two home before the rain starts.”
And with that, the three ponies left the boutique in order to get home before the downpour began. Applejack managed to get Scootaloo home before the rain got really bad, but she and Apple Bloom were completely soaked by the time they got to the farm. It was only a minor inconvenience for the two ponies, and a few minutes close to the heater was all it took for their coats to dry.
It was raining the entire evening, just like Derpy said, and it would continue for a bit longer after midnight. Rarity managed to finish several more dresses at that time, but she and Sweetie Belle were slowly getting ready to hit the hay. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, and Rarity wanted to look her best when it arrives.