The mid-morning sun's rays penetrated the eastward-facing windows of Carousel Boutique, the pockets of light beams finishing their creep down the ornate walls to drag across the spotless floors. Ever since sunup that day, its owner worked tirelessly to provide Ponyville, Canterlot and the other cities and towns of Equestria with only the latest and greatest eye-catching fashions, accessories and apparel, never settling for anything less.
The unicorn took a few minutes of her coffee break to review her incoming orders for the day as she slowly sipped her favorite piping hot oat and hazelnut blend. She skimmed toward the view of her front lawn and let the last of the caffeinated delight slither down her throat. Putting her empty mug down with her magic, a few quick thoughts blossomed in her mind like a cherry tree's flowers in April. How she can address this uncouth issue she witnessed about to brew outside her window?
Rarity trotted to a corner of the inspiration room where her own personal mirror hanged. Stepping about a pony's length away, her reflection greeted her with the same neutral expression she
wore across her own lips. A forehoof on her chin and her eyes shifting nearly to the point of closing, the fashionista flicked her violet hairdo and her very own double mimicked the move. She had no clothes to try on by her side, her tip-top ribbon-like mane and tail bounced with dubious confidence and her makeup looked fine for somepony who spent a better part of the wee hours smearing it on her face. She could look at herself all day but she had a mission to accomplish and could strangely care less if she found a flaw on her precious face.
"Hmmm," Rarity enunciated slightly, barely escaping from her meditative state. She lightly took in the air around the room through her nostrils and blinked every so often, never allowing her pupils to move across her eyes. Pinkie Pie could have sneaked up like she normally would and fired the party cannon behind her dock yet the blast still would not have broken her delicate concentration. She opened her eyes to a more normal state, held out her hoof close to her reflection and cleared her throat before asking herself an ordinary question.
"What are you doing?" she queried out loud, her listless demeanor holding steady throughout her speech.
Just as she had suspected, the investigation she posed indeed sounded a little too simple and nowhere near as effective as she had wanted. She could have asked that to simply anypony if she wanted to start a light conversation though even Maud Pie would have sensed excitement in that. The forehoof went back on Rarity's chin and she shook her head in disappointment. She had to do something with her voice to add her own spin on such a commonplace phrase when applied to the appropriate situation. She widened her eyes a bit, lowered her brow and raised her hoof until it nearly touched the glass yet again.
"WHAT are you doing?" she asked again, her splitting image shooting the same stern expression.
Now, that was more like it, somewhat. Putting a little more emphasis on the first word ought to draw some attention to herself for sure. Her lips manipulated into a suppressed grin, flashing a few pearly whites for the first time since she entered the inspiration room. She knew she had left a lot of room for improvement for four little words but still, no sense in forgetting about the rest of the sentence. Her elocution coaching far from finished, she gently rest her forehoof back down on the floor again and took another deep breath.
"What ARE you doing?" Rarity sneered at her reflection, raising a hoof to her nose and flipping it in mid-sentence.
The change of inflection, not only in her voice but in her gesture as well, carried a whole new meaning. The analyzing smile widened marginally, her tweaking of the phrase now resembled more of her articulate style. Perhaps the third time was the charm she had longed for but why would she have to quit while she was ahead? She put her serious face back on, leaned in closer to her reflection and braced herself to ask the same, yet manipulated, question once more.
"What are YOU doing?" she spoke once more, forcing her hoof toward the mirror as if to nudge on the third word.
Rarity winced and a disapproving squeal seeped out of her larynx after she asked that question a fourth time. From such progress, such regression. She had just moved the emphasis of that phrase to the absolute. Worst. Possible. Place. It had to relocate again somewhere and she never had to provide herself with any clues. Why not at the very end so the attention can be drawn into her while she marched into the scene? She turned her attention back toward the mirror, her twin ready to accept yet another twist on her question.
"What are you DOING?" she raised her brow upon finishing the question, throwing up her forelegs in mock disgust.
The encouraging smile found its way back to Rarity's lips. Not having lost her edge, she could not help but feel that something was missing. She had molded this particular sentence in every way that she could. Was there anything else she had not tried yet? She rubbed her forehead until her eyes brightened once more. Why not apply weight to the whole thing all at once? Rising up on her hind legs, she widened her eye sockets and pressed both forelegs against her cheeks, making an expression one would find on an Edvard Munch painting.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Rarity screamed like a banshee at her also terror-stricken double.
She held the slasher victim pose for a quick few seconds to review what she saw staring back at her and the wording she shouted to the heavens. The fashionista even took a short series of concentrated breaths since it added so well to the mood. She left her jaws wide open, her teeth reshaping all the way into a calm smile. Rarity nodded and winked at herself as she dropped back on all fours. Her audition then called her from just outside the boutique in the form of three familiar forceful fillies.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER PLATFORM DIVERS! YAY!" their unison shout emanated through the walls and into the grown unicorn's eardrums.
With that, it was now time to make her move. Rarity turned away from the mirror in a semi-circle and walked a few steps before jerking back to look at herself one last time.
"I shall see you after the show, darling," she deadpanned to herself, twisting her head toward the exit of inspiration room as she trotted toward the exit.