“Ugh!”
Rarity finally got back to Carousel Boutique much later than she expected after what seemed to be an endless day of shopping. It was spring in Equestria, the time of year when all of the hottest fashions were released just in time for the warm summer months. Rarity, as was her custom, had been preparing her most recent spring fashions. This involved an enormous amount of shopping and hunting around for all of the highest quality fabrics. This recent trip was intended to be her last.
Rarity was extremely tired as she walked into her 'design room', as she called it, and set her shopping bags down next to the mountainous pile of bags already stacked halfway to the ceiling, dominating the back corner of the room.
“There!” she said, satisfied with her ridiculous amount of designer fabrics she had purchased throughout the week at a couple of her favorite stores locally, as well as many that had been bought over the Ponynet from many prestigious retailers. But, she had a painful realization.
“Wait just a minute...did I remember that stunning new blue shade I found at Hoofington's?”
She began to dig furiously through all of her bags from the past week, not missing a single scrap of fabric.
“Come on, come on! I couldn't have forgotten it! Wait...nope...not there either. Come on, Rarity, that was the best deal! One day only!”
She suddenly stopped searching and looked back upon her design room. It was an absolute mess. She had been throwing fabrics all over the room in her haste to find what she thought of as the perfect fabric. The shade was called 'Deep Azure' and was the perfect match for Rarity's eye color, and she began to nearly burst into tears as she realized she'd forgotten to pick it up at Hoofington's during all of the day's hectic shopping. She slowly began to pick up all of the fabrics and hastily repack them into their respective bags. She refused to work in a dirty design space. But there was still the issue of the missing fabric. Rarity suddenly recollected herself and put on a determined expression.
“I will NOT let something as paltry as missing fabric get in MY way!
But her natural state of wanting everything to go her way got the better of her. She started to have a bit of a meltdown, which quickly escalated.
“But it was absolutely PERFECT! I MUST have it!”
This was followed by a long series of sobs which lasted for a solid 5 minutes. She only stopped crying when her cat, Opalescence, began to purr and rub against her leg. Opal wasn't usually very nice to her, but she knew when Rarity was unhappy or had been having a bad day, and always seemed to somehow make things better just by being there.
“Oh Opal,” Rarity sighed. “Some days I think you know me better than I do.”
“Meow,” Opal replied innocently.
“I know. I should just get over this and move on. I have more important things to worry about.” Rarity looked at the clock on her wall. 10:30 PM. “Like getting to bed.” She chuckled to herself. Sleep will help me out, she thought.
Rarity nuzzled Opal as she began to walk up to her bedroom with Opal following close behind. Rarity got up to her bedroom and walked into her much-larger-than-practical bathroom for her afternoon shower. She turned on the water as she admired herself in the massive mirror above her equally large vanity. Oh Rarity, why must you always be so fabulous? She thought, mentally mimicking the voice of one of the many stallions in Ponyville who constantly flirted with her as she ran her errands in town. This brought a smile to her face as she stepped into the steaming water of her shower. She let out a sigh of relief as the soothing water loosened up the muscles that were tense from the large amount of work she had done during her extensive shopping that day. She hummed to herself as she washed away all of her worries about the forgotten fabric.
After her usual 45 minute shower, she stepped out in front of her vanity and mirror and began to address her now very wet mane. This she took great pride in doing, as she treated her mane with the utmost care. After all, it was her second most stunning feature, as was made clear from the constant babble of compliments that poured out from the stallions that admired her. Her most stunning feature? Rarity giggled to herself. We need not get into that do we? Stallions would always have their opinions. Some more...refined than others. Rarity had always had a number of 'supporters' that didn't exactly like her for her personality and looks. Regardless, she appreciated the compliments and attention she received from all of the stallions—and some mares—on the topic of her beauty.
Rarity had stopped brushing her mane, satisfied that it was completely knot-free. Assisted by her telekinesis, she dried of her body with a towel, and moved into her bedroom. Her bedroom was far from modest, with an oversized four-poster bed dominating most of her room, and an assortment of dressers and various other places to put her extensive collection of accessories and various beauty items. She looked at her clock on her bedside nightstand. 12:30 AM. She sighed as she thought of the day ahead of her. I'll have to leave early to get that special fabric. Rarity magically pushed the covers of her bed back as she slid under them. She immediately began to feel the brunt of the fatigue from the day pass over her, and she was asleep seconds after she lay down her head. She had only one last thought before she fell asleep: Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
* * *
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Rarity was woken instantly by her alarm clock. She almost knocked her alarm clock off of her nightstand trying to find the “Alarm Off” button.
“Uh...8:00 already?” Rarity said to herself groggily. She was not much of a morning mare.
Rarity yawned and managed to pull herself out of bed. She walked downstairs to begin her usual morning routine: Brew coffee, feed Opal, feed herself, take a shower. This routine almost never changed, which for Rarity was a good thing. Rarity was known to most of Ponyville not just for her high position in the fashion world, but also for her lack of organization, which was apparent from the look of her 'design room'. The back of Carousel Boutique was almost a complete mess, but Rarity liked it that way. The miscellaneous fabrics lying around the room would usually give her great ideas for her very popular fashion lines. One such case happened last spring, when she was invited to one of the largest fashion shows in Canterlot, Equestria's capital city, to show off a few of her newest dresses. Rarity would always remember that fashion show when she would design her clothing lines, in hopes that she would be invited back at some future time. This hadn't happened yet, but Rarity would never give up.
This brought Rarity's mind back into reality, reminding her of her task at hand. I've got to go get that fabric. Hope it's still there! Rarity's mind was on overdrive as she got ready to go back to Hoofington's She was going to get that beautiful fabric, no matter what the cost to her wallet or to herself. From experience, Rarity knew that certain fabrics could become expensive directly after the day of a sale, but that would not deter her from buying the fabric. Rarity finally got to finishing her coffee and gathering the final item that she needed: her purse. Rarity was a mare that never forgot to leave her house without her purse. Ever. It had everything that she needed, from makeup items. to her wallet, to miscellaneous items that Rarity hadn't touched practically ever. Rarity is ready! She thought as she made her way toward the door of Carousel Boutique. Time for yet another day of shopping.
Rarity stepped out the door of her luxurious home and started on her way toward Ponyville to visit Hoofington's. She began to talk to herself as she walked to pass the time.
“I'm just going to walk in, purchase the fabric, and leave. Nothing more, nothing less. Then I'll go home, and finish my work for the upcoming fashion line.”
This talking continued all the way to Hoofington's in a similar manner. Rarity had a tendency to talk to herself often to keep her mind on track. She frequently got sidetracked, and had to try hard to keep herself on-track with whatever she was doing.
10 minutes or so later, Rarity arrived at the front door of Hoofington's, after fighting through a very large crowd of other shopping ponies fighting to get at deals not unlike she wanted. It's as if this is the holiday season! Rarity thought to herself as she pulled the door open to enter Hoofington's. The store was quiet as usual, with a few ponies looking at the few discounted fabrics left from the fashion line sales. Rarity browsed the store for a couple minutes while she mulled over the idea of buying additional fabrics. A lot of these are really pretty...maybe just a few extra yards...but I'm already over my budget...oh well...
“Can I help you?”
Rarity was caught slightly off-guard by a handsome stallion. She turned toward him, realized she'd been staring at the same piece of fabric for the past five minutes, and blushed slightly at the thought of how weird she must have looked.
“Yes,” Rarity replied, recollecting herself. “I had my eye on a very pretty blue fabric yesterday, I believe it was called 'Deep Azure' or something fancy like that. Do you know if any is left in stock?”
“You have good taste,” the stallion said. Rarity blushed at the comment. “I believe we don't have any on display at the moment, but we might have some left in the back. Follow me.”
Rarity followed the stallion toward the back of the store. She tried to maintain focus as she stole glances at the other stallions in the store with her famous flirtatious smile. This almost always caused stallions to stop whatever they were doing to stare at her. Rarity messed around with stallions in this manner nearly every day. It sort of became a game for her. She winked at them and entered the back room of Hoofington's.
“You might want to wait here while I look around out back. It's pretty messy back there,” the sales stallion said with a nervous smile.
“No problem. Take your time,” Rarity replied.
A couple of minutes passed while the sales stallion rummaged around in the back storage. He came back with a not-too-hopeful look on his face. “We appear to be out of that particular shade of blue, I'm afraid. I'm very sorry.
Rarity let out an exaggerated sigh and put on her saddest look she could, again messing with the sales stallion's mind. Messing with stallions is way too easy these days! Rarity thought. “That's alright, I guess. Thank you for looking.”
The sales stallion looked back at her with a sad look in his eyes. “Again, I'm terribly sorry.”
Rarity had already began to walk out of the backroom, and had begun to look at the other fabrics on display yet again, as was her custom. She eventually grew tired of this, after many minutes of looking. She decided that she should go home to get a head start on her newest dress and accessory designs. She walked out the door of Hoofington's, and immediately noticed a ragged-looking stallion sitting on the ground in an alley across the street. The stallion looked up at her and made brief eye contact, but then lowered his head back to look at the ground in front of him. He looks awfully thin, Rarity thought. He could use my help.
Rarity walked up to the ragged stallion and handed him a few bits. His face lit up at the sight of such charitable behavior.
“T-thank you...” The stallion barely managed to say.
“It's the least I could do,” Rarity answered.
Rarity began to make her way home, but her mind was racing the whole time. It's supposed to rain all week. He'll be left out in the rain, he could get sick! Rarity made up her mind. She immediately turned around and trotted back towards the alley. I'll take him home, clean him up a bit, help him get back on his feet... Rarity turned all these thoughts over in her mind. I am the Spirit of Generosity after all.
She got back to where the stallion was sitting. He looked up at her and made a sort of half-smile. Rarity walked up to him and offered him a hoof.
“I simply cannot let you stay outside in the sort of weather we've been having! Come with me, darling.”
The stallion took Rarity's hoof, and with some difficulty, he stood up and dusted himself off.
“I...I don't know what to say...” The stallion just stared into Rarity's eyes with a look of longing.
Rarity looked back at him. “You don't have to say anything dear. Everypony deserves a new start in life once in a while, and I'm here to help you with yours. Just follow me.”
Rarity walked with the stallion towards Carousel Boutique. On the way there, Rarity managed to learn a bit about him. His name was Boulder, given after being born a large colt, and because of his large amount of strength. He had been living in Canterlot with a beautiful wife and two fillies, but his wife had gotten a divorce with him not even two months ago due to an unknown cause (Boulder refused to talk about it). His ex-wife, Star Lily, through numerous court trials, was able to take the house and the fillies. He was left with nothing. Boulder then took to the streets, and managed to end up in Ponyville, with nearly nothing except for his memories and his past.
When the two reached Rarity's home, she opened the door, and ushered Boulder inside. He just stood in the entryway for a second and looked around the boutique. He had never been inside of a house as sophisticated as Rarity's. Boulder felt slightly out of place inside Carousel Boutique. Rarity broke his train of thought.
“Why don't you head upstairs and clean yourself up a bit? Head up the stairs, take a left into my bedroom, bathroom's on the right.” Rarity gestured toward the stairs.
Boulder just nodded quickly and made his way upstairs.
He doesn't talk much does he? Rarity thought to herself. Well, better to say nothing than to say something negative. Most stallions would kill to be in his position right now. But those stallions aren't homeless and looking for a job. Those other stallions are only looking for a one-night stand. Rarity shuddered a bit at a particularly 'aggressive' stallion that tried to get with her a couple of weeks ago. Yuck!
Rarity walked out to her kitchen to prepare tea for her and Boulder.