Omnifarious traveled a short ways through Ponyville to Rarity's shop. The night before he was asked for an extra set of hands for her at the boutique for the week. Once he got there he knocked on the door.
"Coming!" the white unicorn sang from the other side and opened the door. Rarity came out beaming a beaming smile, "Hello, Omnifarious."
"Hey, I came here for the job."
"Oh, yes. I was expecting you. Come on in," Omni was about to walk inside before the entrance was blocked, "But first, would you mind wiping your hooves before you do? I don't want any tracks inside."
Omni sighed and wiped his feet on the welcome mat before following Rarity inside, "So what am I supposed to do today?"
"There are several tasks I'd like to get out of the way before the day is done. But first, I'd like you to get something from down at the basement for me..."
Omni soon found himself standing around rolls of cloth, big and small. What Rarity wanted was for him to bring up whatever color she asked. But one problem's in the way, that simply he can't carry them up and down the stairs since he needed all four feet to walk...or maybe two if he's trying to carry one with his arms. So the best he can do was improvise. That's when he spotted a small strip of cloth nearby...
Soon he managed to bring up the colors Rarity asked for, just in time for Rarity herself to stop by for her fabric. Unfortunately...
"Ugh! No, that is not it at all!” she exclaimed, sticking out her tongue in disgust, “I didn’t ask for these colors!"
"Look, you asked for a ‘Rose Red’, ‘Royal Blue’ and a ‘Sunny Yellow’," Omni raised a brow, "This is it, isn't it?"
"No, it is not!” Rarity pointed to the fabric with a cautious foot, “What you brought was a Cranberry Red, Ocean Blue and Dandelion Yellow! These won't do at all! And… is that drool on my fabric?!"
Omni eyed the cloth sheet next to him, and he spotted several wet blotches on it. He shrugged, "I don't know how else I'm supposed to carry them up and down the stairs without them slipping off my back."
"Well, if you're going to use your teeth, can you please not get anymore on my possessions?” Rarity then muttered, “If you can, that is..."
Omni held back a growl, "Am I supposed to take offense to that...?"
"Of course not...” Rarity trotted back over to one of the mannequins she was working over, “Now enough chit-chat. I'd like the basement tidy so I won't have to stumble over anything."
Omni let out an audible sigh before going back downstairs…
"Omnifarious, where are the spools I asked for?" a small thud startled her as a white basket dropped right beside her with what she needed, "Oh. Thank you,” she then waved a hoof off, “You can go."
Omni was about to get back to work when he saw a few dresses on display, five of them to count. He thought they look familiar, but maybe he was wrong...
"I finished with the basement, Rarity." Omni called as he walked back to the workroom, but Rarity was nowhere in sight.
"That's it. Keep them closed..." But he can hear her, so he followed her voice to the showroom where Rarity was leading the five others inside with their eyes shut. "Don't look..."
"Hey, guys," Omni called, causing the white unicorn to yelp in surprise, as well as caused the others to open their eyes.
"Hi Omni!" Pinkie waved, then gasped as she spotted the dresses, "Are those the dresses meant for us?"
"Um, of course. Although I wanted it to be a surprise until the time was right!” the white unicorn shot a glare at Omnifarious, sneaking in a hiss in addition before turning back to the others, “But I suppose it's better late than never, as they say. So, what do you think?"
The five others eyed over the dresses, "Wow... They're..." Twilight sputtered.
"Yeah, they're..." Rainbow stammered.
"They sure are..." Applejack was searching for the right word, "...somethin'."
"Yes! Something." Twilight repeated.
"I love something!" Pinkie chirped, "Something is my favorite!"
"It's... nice." Fluttershy whispered.
Rarity's bright expression faltered by the girls' less-than-mundane feedback, "But what's the matter? Don't you like them?"
"They're very nice..." Twilight said.
"And we're plumb grateful 'cause you worked so hard on them." Applejack added.
"Mine's just not as cool as I was imagining," that earned Rainbow a glare from the others, "She asked."
"I guess what we're all saying is that they're just not what we had in mind." the others supported Twilight with a few collective agreements, but did nothing to cheer up Rarity.
"That's okay," Rarity groaned, "Not a problem. There's plenty more where that came from. They were only a first pass. You're my friends and I want you to be 110% satisfied. Not to worry, I'll redo them."
"Oh, Rarity. You don't have to do that," Fluttershy assured, "They're fine."
"I want them to be better than just fine," Rarity said, already in the process of dismantling the dresses, "I want you to think they're absolutely perfect."
"Are you sure?" Applejack asked, "I mean, we wouldn't wanna impose."
"Oh, it's no imposition," Rarity slipped out a strained laugh, throwing the dress made for Twilight on the floor, "Really, I insist."
"Well, in that case... Thank you again, Rarity." the white unicorn laughed politely until Twilight and the others left the building. "What have I gotten myself into...?"
Having stood aside for the whole conversation, Omni approached Rarity, whose head was hanging around the discarded dresses she pulled off the now-empty mannequins. "That's a tad ungrateful, wasn't it?"
Rarity's ears twitched at his snide remark and jerked his head up to glare at him, "I would appreciate it if you did not insult them like you did!"
Omni backed away, "But that's what happened, right? You made those dresses for them and they didn't even like it?"
"For your information those were only...prototypes," Rarity huffed and walked passed him, "Their honest opinions just mean I needed to do better."
"And what's the special occasion that you're so determined to pull this off?" Omni watched as the unicorn froze in her tracks, her fur literally standing on end. "That has to be the whole reason, right?"
"Don't you have a basement to clean up?" she snapped back.
Omni shrugged, "Already finished."
"Then you're done for the day," Omni suddenly found himself dragged towards the door, "Now move along so I can get to work."
"What about my pay!"
"I'll have it sent over in a short while," Rarity grunted as she pushed Omni out, "I appreciate the help, dear. I'll call you when I need you." she said sweetly before slamming the door on him.
After that long morning, Omnifarious finally returned home to the treehouse, where he walked by New Moon on his way back downstairs.
"And where do you think you're going?" New Moon asked in a bored tone, not taking his eyes off his books.
"To bed."
"'To bed'?" New Moon glanced over at the blue pony, "It's the middle of the afternoon."
"It's night somewhere..." Omni was about to pass the basement door when he was suddenly pulled back out by the tail by magic.
"That can wait," New Moon said, "I just got you a new client; very urgent. And since it seems you have nothing else planned..."
Omni groaned, "Alright."
"Good. And just to make sure the job gets done..." New Moon looked over to the stairs, "SPIKE!"
"You don't have to yell! I'm coming!" someone called out from upstairs and the purple dragon came down.
"Can you do me a favor?" New Moon asked, "I'd like you to keep an eye on Omni while he's on his assignment. His client should be at the door."
Omni and Spike stepped out to see a fancy-looking carriage parked right in front of the tree, with a fancy-looking pony seen from the window. He looked like one of those big-wig people from that fancy city uphill, with his own fancy clothes and purple shades and his big, powdered wig.
"It's about time you decide to show up," he huffed. His tone sound sophisticated, and did a terrible job at hiding his snooty attitude, "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?"
"But..." Omni trained off, confused, "You just got here...?"
"Wrong, I was waiting here for thirty seconds. That's thirty whole seconds of my precious life I'll never get back. Where is your sense of punctuality!?"
Omni had to resist groaning in front of the stuffy-collared client, "So what exactly is my job?"
"See that over there?" the pony pointed out the window towards the front of the carriage, where the harness remained empty, "You're job is to fill in that empty space and do what you lower-class pony do best..." that snobbish tone was already getting annoying.
Omni was starting to like this client much less than a few seconds ago, "So what is it...?" he shrugged.
"Do I really have to say it?" the pony barked, "I want you to get in the harness and pull the wagon!"
Omni had to resist groaning in front of the stuffy-collared client, "Anywhere specific?" he offered through his clenched teeth.
"No. Just pull me around town until I say you can stop!" the client held his head like he was nursing a migraine, sighing, "Why must I be stuck with such small-minded help..."
It was getting much harder for Omni to keep from snarling, “And who exactly am I driving?” he asked casually, “I'd like to at least know who my employer is…”
“So you're one of those…” the stiff groaned; Omni could guess he was rolling his eyes, “It's just irritating how some ponies are too short-minded to keep up on even the basic of news. Well if you must know my name is—"
“Hoity-Toity!” the voice of Spike suddenly piped up as the dragon hopped beside Omnifarious, “One of Canterlot's best leading experts on fashion! You’re Hoity-Toity, right?”
The pony, apparently named Hoity-Toity, smirked and gazed back to Omni, waving towards the dragon, “See? Even the local lowborn clearly know who I am!”
“Uh, thanks I guess?” Spike blinked, “So anyway, you got my letter, right?”
Hoity-Toity rubbed his chin with good, “Oh right. So you’re the one who sent me that letter?” the dragon nodded quickly, “And I'm to understand that there's a clothing designer in this small town?”
“That's right, the best there is!” Spike replied, excited.
“Is that right…? Well, I'll be expected to see their designs while I’m here, like around, shall we say, first thing this evening.”
“I’ll make sure she gets the message right away! Don’t worry, you won’t regret coming here!” and just like that, Spike went sprinting down the street leaving a trail of dust for Omni to choke on.
“Well what are you waiting for?” Hoity-Toity exclaimed to Omni, who was coughing out the tiny dirt particles, “I’m sure there will be more dust for you to eat. In case you failed to realize, you're on the clock.”
Omni was starting to dislike more by the minute, but bits are bits and a job is a job, so he slipped into the harness and started pulling.
All the while Omni was pulling his client around town, Hoity-Toity was not making this ride easier on him, or anyone passing by or crossing his path. He complained about the many people walking past and how they never thought to buy horse shoes, giving unwanted criticism towards shop owners and their mediocre merchandise, and gave rude comments to children about their sub-par education. By the time he was done gagging over the produce stands someone’s stomach can be heard rumbling.
“Driver! I am famished!” Hoity-Toity ordered, “And in case you cannot translate that it means that ‘I am hungry'. I heard there is an apple orchard. Go there and fetch me an apple! Now!” Omni grumbled but decided to comply; not because his ‘boss’ demanded it...
A couple increments of ten minutes later, Omni carried his client to Sweet Apple Acres where, after with solace leaving him at the entrance, found Applejack harvesting apples from the orchard. He then explained to her (in a nice detail) about his client's ‘current needs'…
“So that’s the ‘Hoity-Toity’ I've been hearin' 'bout,” Applejack looked through the trunks at the carriage, “I gotta admit, guy's as fancy as his name.”
“So… can I have that apple now?” Omni asked.
“Shucks, take a whole bushel!” Applejack pointed to a basket full of newly-picked apples, “And don’t worry about payin' me, it’s on the house.”
Omni’s brow rose from the level of generosity, “Hm! Thank you,” he latched the bag onto his saddle and prepared to leave.
“Hey, another thing!” Applejack called out for Omni to stop, “Speakin' of Hoity-Toity, we're gonna have a fashion show at Rarity’s at nightfall. We’re gonna model the new dresses she made for us! He's gonna be the guest of honor, but you’ll be there too, won’t you?”
Omni had to sneak out a sigh before nodding, “I’ll do that…” he then walked on back to the entrance.
“And I'd like that saddle and basket back when you’re done!”
Omnifarious went back to the gate post where Hoity Toity was waiting impatiently, “Do you have any idea how long you took?” the fancy pony retorted.
“Lucky you, you've just got all the apples you can eat,” Omni begrudgingly settled the basket of apples down under the window Hoity-Toity was looking through. Hoity scooped up an apple and held it close to him, sniffing it with suspicion. Omni wondered what the problem was. It's just an apple, it's not like it's poison or anything. He was given his answer sooner that he thought in the form of an apple brought to his face at high speed.
In layman’s terms, it was thrown back at him by his crummy client, “I cannot eat those!”
“He couldn’t just said it instead of tossing it in my face…” Omni muttered, holding his hoof to the bruise between the eyes.
“I told you to pick fresh apples for me! But these have no doubt been sitting around on the ground!” Hoity complained like a spoiled child; it's hard to tell the difference between the two, come to think of it, “This is unacceptable!” the door in from of Hoity opened, causing the basket to crash against it and fall over, spilling the apples out onto the ground.
“You know… I’m sure someone had to work real hard to harvest these apples…” Omni stated, his words coming out in more of a hiss.
Hoity pulled back in disgust with a huff, “Then I guess someone doesn’t know how to harvest properly,” yes, he just said that. And if it were Applejack standing there instead of Omnifarious, someone could lose some teeth; though what's stopping Omni…? “I change my mind. I want pastries instead. There is a pastry shop in this tiny little town, is there?” Omni took deep breaths, in and out he inhaled before exhaling, reminding himself he doesn’t have to deal with him forever. Just give him some cake and the big baby will be happy…
After dragging Hoity-Toity's wagon back into town, he went straight to the place that’ll get his client to shut up for a while, Sugar Cube Corner, “That is a pastry shop?” Hoity eyed the store cynically, “I guess this is the best this dinky little town can do…” he then tossed a bag of gold coins at Omni, “Bring me the most expensive pastries they have. By the looks of that place I’m sure this should more than cover it.”
Although Hoity would do without beaning Omni on the head, the blue pony kept his mouth shut and brought it into the store, where he's met with Pinkie Pie at the counter, “Hi, Omni! What can I getcha?”
Omni dumped the bag of gold on the counter in front of the pink pony, “What can I get for this much?”
Pinkie opened the bag and stuck her nose inside to count off the gold, “Wow! I didn’t think I’d be able to sell these!” she ducked under the counter and popped back up with a small wooden chest, “You’re in luck! I was just gonna eat them myself!”
“What’s in it?” With a flick of his hoof Omni opened the box. But a sharp, blinding light soon made him regret it.
“A specially-unnamed dessert, made in and exported all the way from Nowhere!” Pinkie chirped as she closed the box, “And you just became it’s first customer!”
Omni rubbed his eyes until he got his sight back, “That’s nice. Thank you,” he then took the chest off the counter.
“You’re welcome! Hey, are you going to Rarity's fashion show tonight? We're gonna show everyone the new dresses she made us!”
“Sure, I'll be there.”
With the food in tow Omni left the shop and returned to the carriage where Hoity-Toity was waiting, “About time to came back.”
Taking a small, deep breath, Omni kept his composure, “You going to like what I got for you,” he presented the chest to his client, which Hoity snatched away.
“Somehow I doubt it. What somepony of your taste, or lack—“ opening the box caused a bright ray of light to spring out into Hoity's eyes, causing him to fumble with the box and drop it on the ground, it’s turned-over contents falling out in an unceremonious splat, “Ahh! My eyes! What have you done to my eyes!” Hoity busied himself with rubbing his eyes (over his shades) and pointing the blame at his driver. Thinking it over, Omni wonders how you could get blinded while wearing shades… Hoity was finished rubbing but not finished blaming, “Now look what you done! All those bits down the drain thanks to you!” he went on and on how Omni was to blame and how he should never have been trusted to deliver his client's food, to how he's unfit to pull anyone’s carriage to making sure Omni never works in this town again, all without giving Omni the chance to defend himself.
You know what, screw it. Omnifarious had just about had it with this client's mistreatment. It’s time it became someone else’s problem. After a short while looking around for a sucker, he spotted a tan-colored pony with a darker-brown hair color, just coming out of a phonebooth. Leaving his ‘former’ client to continue his tantrum (not even paying attention to the one he’s yelling at), Omnifarious managed to stop the pony in the middle of the street, “Wanna make an easy ten bucks…?”
The sun was beginning to set behind the town and Omni was left with nothing short of going back to the treehouse. And since he’s rather do anything else than listen to New Moon's rantings on responsibility, he decided to check on those ‘new dresses' he heard Rarity’s made.
So he went to her tailor shop. However it was a bit hard to notice due to curtains draped over the front, not to mention a small bridge sticking from the entrance like a tongue. Seeing the overgrown carousel like that reminded him of one of those fashion shows he unintentionally saw on TV. Stepping on the bridge he knocked on the door.
“Coming!” a call came from the other side following a few footsteps before the top half opened to reveal the owner of this shop. Rarity sucked in a small gasp as her baggy eyes met Omni. Omnifarious didn’t show it, but it surprised him that Rarity looked like something the cat dragged in, her being so conscious of her appearance and others', “Omnifarious! Fancy meeting you here...” Rarity greeted, though there was a bit of strain behind it.
“Well, the others told me about this show you’re putting on and decided to come,” Omni said, looking back to see a small group of ponies walking around and gradually growing, “I'm not late, am I?”
“No, but, Uh…” Rarity trailed of, her eyes darting which ever way to avoid contact with Omni. Her foot tapped on the edge of the door's bottom half before eventually she flashed Omni a huge, forced-out smile, “I'm so sorry, Omnifarious; I know you came all this way to see my new designs, but…how do I put this delicately…this show is for invites only, and I don’t recall you ever being given a—“
“I wasn’t told anything about ‘invites’,” Omnifarious scowled, “Not by Applejack or Pinkie or anyone.”
“I know, and I’m afraid it’s my fault,” Rarity pouted, pulling her gaze away, “I may have forgotten to tell the girls about this. It’s more of a last-minute situation. But unfortunately I can’t allow you to watch my show; invites and all that. I’m sure you understand, right.”
“Nope, can’t say that I do,” Omni scoffed, “Where’re the girls? I’d like to talk to them,” he looked over Rarity’s shoulder into the house, but she managed to obscure his view by closing in towards Omni.
“They are busy getting dressed for the show. And I’m sure they would rather not be disturbed,” Rarity said, her twitching nose inches away from Omni's, “Don’t worry, I’ll tell them you said hello. So bye-bye now!” Rarity pulled back into the house and slammed the door shut just as quickly.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out something’s wrong, and it’s all centered around Rarity. Why doesn’t she want him around tonight? And why doesn’t she want him seeing her new dresses? Omni fells like he needs to find out so, against Rarity’s wishes, stuck around behind the crowd waiting for the show to start.
The lights suddenly dimmed and we’re replaced by spotlights above the runway. Then a booming voice echoed over everyones' heads, “Since the beginning of time, the elite of Equestria have longed for pony fashions that truly expressed the essence of their very souls. Patiently waiting decades -- no, centuries -- for the perfect pony gown. Today, at long last, Equestria, your wait is over! Let's hear it for the breathtaking designs of Ponyville's own Rarity!”
The curtains pulled open to show Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow, all shown in the spotlight. The audience gasped and murmured at the sight of their new dresses; but they weren’t awestruck, it sounded more like they were struck in the face. And here’s why:
Twilight's dressed like a walking solar system complete with stars on a pair of antennae on her head, making her look more like a space alien than a pony in a dress. Pinkie was dresses like a ballerina rented for a birthday party. She wore a large cupcake on her head and balloons floating off her tail. Applejack looked like she made her dress herself back at the farm with the denim ov.eralls and burlap saddlebage, not to mention those rubber rainboots and that ten-gallon hat. Fluttershy looked like a tree the birds would come home to roost on with that bird's nest on her head. And Rainbow looked like a giant lightning bolt in more colors than it was meant to.
To make it simple, those they make those dresses look absolutely ridiculous and vice-versa; but you wouldn’t hear Omni say that, which was why it was typed down for him. It’s become clear why Rarity wanted him to stay away from the show; she didn’t want him, as opposed to everyone else looking on, to see this happening. And it took him no time at all to realize how it could all get worse…
“Oh, those amateurish designs look like a piled-on mishmash of everything but the kitchen sink!” he could hear the pompous whining of Hoity a ways over, a laugh track followed by the audience, “It's a travesty is what it is. Those outfits are the ugliest things I've ever seen, oh for shame. Who is responsible for subjecting our eyes to these horrors? Not to mention wasting my valuable time!”
That sounds like a cue for trouble to start boiling over. Omnifarious was having difficulty thinking of the worst-case situation of that that canterlot windbag would do to Rarity and her store, but it didn’t take much thinking to know that she won’t do without a job.
And it could come that much closer to that as Spike came hopping onto the catwalk, “Come on out and take a bow, Rarity. You worked really hard for this,” eventually Rarity came brooding out through the curtains. Spike couldn’t be any more oblivious as he was the only one applauding for her, “Yes! All right, woo-hoo! Go, Rarity!”
Omni watched on as Rarity kept sulking down the runway like a dead girl walking, feeling the eyes of the judgmental audience burning into her. This has become too hard to watch. It’s time to step in as Omni squeezed through the crowd with a few ‘excuse me's and ‘coming through's until he reached the edge of the catwalk.
“Ah! Omnifarious!” the unicorn shrieked seeing the blue pony's face. She darted her eyes between him and her models.
“I thought you were home sick!” Twilight said.
“I was? Really?” Omni asked sarcastically, climbing onto the runway with the others.
“Of course you was!” Rarity said, “I told you, you'll see the designs after you recover,” she forced out a small laugh before giving Omni a subtle hiss, “So you can leave. Now.”
Omni ignored Rarity and surveyed the people in the audience until he spotted Hoity Toity among them. He could notice a smug face anywhere, “So how’d you like my new costumes, Hoity?” he called out to the fancy pony.
“Your costumes?!” exclaimed Rarity and her models.
“Uh, yeah; my costumes. Remember asked you to show them the costumes I made for your show? You know, ‘cause we're friends and all?”
“Did I hear correctly?!” Hoity gasped, “You're actually associated with this scoundrel, actually approved these horrific designs?!”
“Um… Just kidding, everypony!” Rarity let out a strained, nervous laugh, “You all didn’t honestly think I would introduce these ridiculous attires and take them seriously, did you? Um, this was merely a display of…fashion don’ts! Something to show you what not to put onto dresses!”
“It may as well be a display of how not to steal one's precious spare time, which you are most definitely doing to mine! If you actually think it’s worth wasting exposing me to your friend's eyesore, then you clearly have no eye for fashion; a fact I’ll make sure all of Equestria will know!” Hoity jumped up form his cushy little seat, turned around and trotted off down the path parted for him by the audience, “Now good night to you!” with the ‘guest of honor' no longer sticking around, the rest of the audience seemed to disintegrate by the pony until it was near-nonexistent. Seeing that appeared that final punch in the face for her…
“Rarity? You okay in there? You haven’t come out for days,” it’s been a couple of days after the show-gone-wrong and Rarity has isolated herself in her room. Her other six friends have been standing outside the door trying to get her to come out.
“I’m never coming out! I can’t show my face in Ponyville ever again!” Rarity's mewling can be heard in drama from the other side of the door, “I used to be somepony. I used to be respected. I made dresses—beautiful, beautiful dresses. But now everypony is laughing at me. I’m nothing but a laughingstock!”
“You’re not a laughingstock, Rarity,” Twilight called through the door over Rarity’s sobbing.
“She kind of is!”
Twilight hissed back to Rainbow before continuing, “Come on out and talk to us.”
“Leave me alone! I vant to be alone!” that last part made her sound like that swedish movies star from the 1900s; Omni forgot who it was, though… “I want to wallow in…whatever it is that ponies are supposed to wallow in! Do ponies wallow in pity? Oh, listen to me! I don’t even know what I’m supposed to wallow in! I’m so pathetic!”
Omnifarious held his head with a hoof, becoming aggravated by the increased bass of sobbing and released a delay groaned, “How about we bait Rarity out of that room. We can use that cat of her as ransom.”
Rainbow shook her head with a sigh, “Omni, what are you even doing here?”
“Excuse me…?”
“I mean, don’t you think you've caused enough trouble already?”
Omni flared through his nostrils as his temper rose a notch, “For your information I’m only trying to help. Besides, I was the one who took the bullet for Rarity when things went south on her show!” the blue pony hissed and winched as he held and old wound wrapped in gauge.
“Yeah, and it went just as well as when you tried holding down Hoity-Toity when he tried to leave.”
“Not that I'm takin' sides but Rainbow's got a point,” Applejack said, “I know you mean well but thanks to your horseplay Hoity's gonna be givin' Rarity as hard a time as you gave him.”
“Well, I would love to hear a better idea,” Omni huffed lowly, turning to the others, “Well? Anyone got any ideas?”
“Uh, panic?”
“That’s your answer for everything!” Rainbow frowned towards Fluttershy.
“Well, we can’t just leave Rarity like this,” Applejack said.
“She’ll become a crazy cat lady!” Pinkie gasped.
“With just the one cat?” Omni asked, confused.
“Give her time…”
Omni’s sight wander back to Twilight, who was peering through the keyhole. What could she be thinking with that determined look she's giving off…?
“…I got it!” Twilight shot back from the door and gained everyone’s attention, “I have an idea I'm sure will work! And I think we need our secret weapon…” Omni shied against the fluttering eyes of the unicorn, having a faint idea what she meant…
The good news was, Twilight actually went along with his idea. But the bad news, he was left to deal with Rarity himself. As for the others' part, they wouldn’t even tell him except to worry about his part. So here he was with the best bait to draw Rarity out in the open: her very cat in a kennel. From what he's told, Rarity’s cat is more important to her than keeping her hair dolled up. That should be reason enough for her to come on out and finally get this problem solved.
“OMNIFARIOUS!!!” his name echoed through the streets like thunder. The sight of a cloud of dust caught his sight and was getting larger the closer it got, which was right towards him! And the source of this incoming storm was…Rarity?! “Return my Opal to me at once, thief!!” the pristine white unicorn charged headlong through the street with Omnifarious right in her path. This would be the part where he and her would smooth things over. But the way he sees it, he might as well be standing in a railroad. Because Rarity doesn’t seem to be stopping for anyone, especially him. So the most sensible thing to do, was to run!
He took the next right at the intersection and sprinted for his life, but the one-woman stampede followed his path and kept chasing after him! She was catching up fast and he knew he could never outrun her speed forever. He had to go into overdrive just to keep at least 10 feet away from the raging unicorn chasing him all over town, and could run out of gas anytime now. And the moment he does… Suddenly he felt weightlessness under his scrambling feet.
“Need a lift?” Omni looked overhead to see the wagging brows of Mach Faiz, the ruby-red Pegasus carrying the blue pony over the town. Omni looked back down to earth to see Rarity with her feet planted screaming:
“I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, OMNIFARIOUS!!!”
“Sheesh, I didn’t think you had much luck with mares but, what did you do to tick her off so bad?”
Omni spat the kennel out into his free arms, “Can you just take me back to the treehouse? I'll explain when we get there!”
Faiz shrugged and flew faster towards the library, passing over the buildings to make extraordinary time. But as they landed in front of the treehouse, Omni got the nagging feeling that Rarity will catch up to him with her speed and stamina. So he raced to the entrance and pummeled on the door, “Hey, open the door! Hurry up! I know you’re in there so open up the door!” the door swung in abruptly causing Omni to fall on his stomach.
Looking up he could see Now Moon looking down at him with his usual scowl, “Is there supposed to be some logical reason you’re acting like an idiot like you usually do?” Omnifarious didn’t want to waste time trying to explain the whole situation so he scampered back up and sprinted into the library, “Whoa, where are you going?!” with a magical Aura from his horn New Moon grabbed Omni by the tail and proceeded to pull him back, “We’re not done talking!” but a tap on his shoulder made him turn his attention towards Mach Faiz.
“I think you got bigger problems to worry about…”
“What?” Faiz answered his confused, wrinkling brow by pointing outside across town, where a large stampede cloud was heading straight towards them. With his keen eyesight he was able to make out the one and only cause of it to be the very furious Rarity, “What the--?!” he wasn’t able to finish his curse as Faiz pushed him into the house before jumping inside and shutting the door behind them, “Someone better tell what’s going on here, right now!”
“Sure thing; when we're not in mortal danger!” Fair said, pushing a couch against the door just in time for a loud ‘slam’ to echo through the room, “We could also use a safe room if you got it!”
“Basement! Now!” Omni gestured to the door on the other side of the room and led the others into the basement before slamming the door behind them.
With something finally between them and the madwoman, New Moon decided to get a word in, “Now will somepony explain to me what the—“ he was interrupted by a small growl and spotted the kennel on Omni’s teeth, with the cat locked up inside, “%$#damn, you didn’t. You did not just get between her and Opalescence!”
“Talk to Twilight about it! It’s her idea!” Omni had to spit out the kennel to speak, causing Opal to drop unceremoniously on the floor with a frightened yowl.
A loud crash was heard from the other side of the door and set of heavy footsteps heading their way, “Look, I don’t care what excuse you got, you need to give Opal back!”
“I will. There’s just something I gotta take care of first.”
“Take care of?!”
Then there was a polite knock on the door, strangely contrast to the tantrum he threw a short while ago, “Pardon my intrusion, but there’s something in my possession I've…recently misplace,” the tone that came from outside didn’t sound hostile either, “If you would be so kind as to return it, I would not want to do anything we both might regret later.”
“You better let me handle this…” Omni stepped towards the door and called out to the other side, “Rarity we need to talk!”
“Yes, we indeed do,” Rarity replied sweetly, “And I would like to start with why, out of everyone in Ponyville, would take a sweet, innocent feline like my poor Opalescence.”
“For the record, I was never involved!” New Moon called through the other side.
“This is pretty much the only way I can get you out here,” Omni explained through the door, “Rarity, you need to get out of this funk you’re in. It’s just not a good look for you!”
An audible gasp can be heard from the other side, “Do not tell me how I should live my life! Or what remains of it, anyway! How could you tell me this after all that has happened recently?!”
“Hey, I know things look bad but we can just try again! Let’s put on another show, without the last-minute preps and stuff.”
“Put on another show?! Hoity-Toity would never want to set hoof within ten meters of my boutique ever again! Not after that terrible fiasco during the first time!”
“Hoity-Toity’s pompous a windbag! It’s not your fault he didn’t want to see your real dresses, not some hand-me-downs you scraped together!”
That crude statement was meant was a loud slam causing the three ponies on this end to recoil, “How could you be so callous?! Those designs I presented were made in mind of my friends! I had put every bit of effort, blood, sweat and tears to make them, to their specifications! I will not have my friends’ wishes squandered by some pony who runs waltz around in a mares' skirt!!”
Omnifarious felt crushed hearing that crude remark that came from the unicorn on the other side of the door. When she just said was completely uncalled for... It really wasn’t worth all that...
“You wanna know what I think went wrong? I think you paid so much attention to the wants of others that you forgot which one of you really knows about fashion. Your first designs you showed them were much better than what you showed at that show, but it seems the people you made them for were the only ones who couldn’t tell the difference. They didn’t appreciate what you did for them and expected more than you can handle. And things got out of hand only because you was too scared to give them your critical input. So instead of trying to criticize me maybe you should go back to your little clothing store and get ready for another fashion show; one that shows what Rarity made, not what others expect them to make.”
The room remained silent for a few moments, Omnifarious standing by to wait for a response, “Rarity!”
“Omnifarious…” Rarity finally replied, “I will consider what you said; but all I’m concerned about is my Opal. Will you please return her…”
Omni couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he managed to wore her out. The hard part's over so it’s only fair to hold up his end of the bargain, “New Moon, open the door,” he stepped aside as the door was magically opened revealing the pristine white unicorn, her head hanging low and her gaze focused on her feet, “Hey, I’m glad you managed to cool down a bit. So we can go back over and—“ but he seemed to be ignored as Rarity suddenly spin around and…
The next thing he could know was waking up in a new room; white ceiling white walls, white sheets, and white bandages wrapped around him. The only other thing welcoming him was the world of hurt he was in, but he didn’t know where it came from.
The door in front of him then suddenly opened and the nurse peeked in, “It looks like he’s finally awake,” she spoke quietly to the outside and stood aside for another.
“Thank you. I can take it from here,” the nurse nodded and closed the door, leaving Twilight Sparkle alone with Omni as she came up to his bedside, “So how are you feeling?” Omni tried getting up, only for a new wave of pain to keep him in bed groaning, “I guess than answers my question…”
“What happened?” Omni muttered, tossing a hoof over his forehead to try to nurse the small migraine bothering him.
“Well, we got a bit worried after hearing Rarity’s outburst, so we followed her trail to the library.”
“Uh-huh…”
“…Where we you…unconscious on the floor.” Twilight's tone turned to one of slight embarrassment.
“Mmhm…”
“And, when we finally managed to pull her off from stomping on you…”
Omni winched as he felt an intense sting on his side, “That explains the ribs…”
“Then we were able to settle down and explain everything; Faiz and Moon, in the meantime, hurried you off to the hospital.”
“So that’s where I’m at…” Omni grumbled, “So, you’re gonna do that do-over?”
Twilight raised a brow, “I’m sorry, ‘do-over’…?”
“Redo that fashion show.”
Twilight’s eyes widened, “You really don’t know how long it is?”
“No, but I got a feeling you’re gonna tell me…”
“It’s been three days since you were taken here. You were in a coma since then!” Omni groaned as that latest piece connected, to think someone like Rarity was capable of knocking someone out was hard enough to believe… “Also, the second show turned out better; much better than the last time,” she gave a small smile at that last part.
“Alright, that’s one problem down…” Omni huffed before glaring at the ceiling, “Is Rarity sorry for putting me in the hospital?”
“Well, we did tell her it was part of the plan, and my idea, but…she still stood by her decision.”
Omni pushed his hoof back over his eyes, “You gotta be kidding me…”
“But she understood the situation, and decided to let bygones be bygones by, as she puts it, compensating you for your troubles. She said it’s supposed to be a surprise.”
“I still can’t believe she did that to me,” Omni hissed.
“Well, I guess it’s my fault. I had no idea it would turn out like that otherwise—“
“It’s not your fault, Twilight,” Omni groaned, “I mean, the execution really bit but I know you'd never put me in danger on purpose. No sense overthinking it…”
Twilight gave another small smile, “Thank you, Omnifarious. I guess I'll leave you, then. You still have awhile to heal,” the lavender unicorn trotted to the door before taking a look back, “Oh, I almost forgot. I thought I want you to know, Rarity told me what went on before… we came along, specifically what you said about us…”
Omni removed his hoof to look at her, “What about it…?”
“Well, based on what she told me, you were…brutal.”
“I only told her what I meant. And I meant what I said,” Omni pulled his gaze back up to the ceiling, “I won’t blame you if that upsets you, but don’t judge me for being honest when I had to.”
“No, what we did was a bit uncalled for; I get that. It’s not exactly the first time you've been straightforward. But still, the truth hurts, it seems.”
“Sometimes you just can’t sugarcoat it.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Well, I'll leave you to get your rest,” Twilight opened he door and went through it, before sneaking her head back in, “I do appreciate what you did for us; we all do. And I’m sure Rarity does, as well.”
“Sure…” Omni gave a small not to Twilight who then closed the door, leaving him to peace and quiet.
Over the time Omni was at the hospital, a new passage in the Book of Virtues was already made:
Dear Princess Celestia,
This week, my very talented friend Rarity learned that if you try to please everypony, you oftentimes end up pleasing nopony, especially yourself. And I learned this: When somepony offers to do you a favor, like making you a beautiful dress, you shouldn’t be overly critical of something generously given to you. In other words, you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
And the headline above reading: Respect.