Surface Deep

by Thunderbug80

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

---

"Come on Rarity, let's get this taken care of," the unicorn filly's father said. "We're usually done by now."

Rarity picked her way carefully among the plants, but it was no use. Her hooves and snout were covered in dirt again. She angrily pulled a carrot from the ground with her mouth and tossed it into a basket.

"Couldn't I just use my horn to harvest the veggies? It'd be a lot faster and cleaner," the filly asked.

"Of course you could, but then I wouldn't get to spend all this time working with my favorite daughter!" the stallion grinned.

"I'm your only daughter," Rarity said with annoyance.

"Well, maybe someday you won't be. What matters now is that you're my precious little girl and I want to see you happy. You usually love harvest time. What's wrong, Sweetie?"

The filly tossed another carrot into the basket. "My name's Rarity, daddy, not Sweetie. I do enjoy harvesting, I just wish we could do it in a cleanlier fashion."

"Sorry Rarity, I just like using the name Sweetie," her father stated. "As for being dirty, that's a side-effect of having fun! Just take a bath when we're done."

The little pony sighed. "My coat is white, daddy. You know how hard it is to keep a white coat clean!"

The stallion eyed his own white coat and shrugged. "It's just a little dirt; it never hurt anyone."

If he only knew.

Rarity quietly continued her work. Her father was right, she had always enjoyed working on the farm. Until recently, that is. She would take extra care to make certain she was completely clean when she took her bath. Anything less would be unacceptable.

---

Stitch by stitch, Rarity's vision came together as a beautiful summer dress. Just the right fabric, the correct spacing between stitches, the perfect amount of gemstones. Many who met her thought she simply had a natural talent at designing fashions, but she knew that to be only partly true. She possessed some talent, but it was her determination and dedication that resulted in the gorgeous outfits she created.

Rarity stepped back and admired her handiwork. After several moments of intense scrutiny, she nodded to herself and magicked the dress over to where two others were displayed. Sighing, she trotted into her bedroom to stand before her mirror. Several hairs from her mane were out of place. A quick brushing corrected the imperfection and allowed the unicorn a moment's respite from her work. Dressmaking wasn't nearly as easy as she made it look to her friends. It required socialization with the fashionable elite to gain an idea as to what will be in and what will be out this season. It required a discerning eye for fashion and detail. It required patience and perseverance.

Most of all, it required practice.

---

Stitch by stitch, the unicorn filly's vision looked further from what she had actually accomplished to create. Little Rarity gritted her teeth, frustrated. She silently eyed the monstrosity she had stitched together for nearly ten minutes, examining every inch of the fabric. It looked nothing at all like what she had imagined.

Scarity. The Southern Hilly Filly.

The nicknames her classmates had given her came unbidden. There were others, but those two stood out the most. They cut the deepest, brought forth the most tears. What was wrong with working on a farm, anyway? It was fun, or at least it had been fun.

Scarity.

She thought about how her braids had been tugged on by some of the more cruel young colts; both from her mane and her tail. The physical pain was temporary. The memories though, those would continue to damage her over time. Her mother had always braided her mane and tail for her, as it kept the hairs from interfering with her work on the farm.

She glanced back at her mane, which was now flowing loose over her shoulders. Her tail had been meticulously brushed, and was now long, straight, and beautiful. Well, she hoped it was beautiful. Her coat was completely clean, and almost seemed to shimmer. Her father had agreed that she could stop working in the fields when she had gained such an enthusiastic interest in tailoring.

The filly smiled sadly as she thought of how her father had always been supportive of what she wanted to try to accomplish.

Her eyes returned to the failed dress. Examining it for several more minutes, her gaze fell upon a particular stitch that was off. That was it. That was the point where she had gone wrong.

With a look of determination forming on the little filly's face, she bent down and got to work on making corrections. She would work through the entire night, the entire weekend even, if she had to. She would not stop until it was perfect.

---

Six beautiful summer dresses were displayed proudly in the front room of the Carousel Boutique. Rarity felt that they represented some of her best work to date. They were a culmination of years of studying the fashion industry, thousands of hours of practice and experience, and an early desire to become the very best at what she did. Everything she had worked for in her life had led to these creations, and they would be given to the best friends she had ever known.

More than a simple generous gift, these dresses were a thank you for their friendship. A heart-felt expression of gratitude for looking past her many faults and loving her for who she was. For giving the Southern Hilly Filly a chance to prove her worth.

Rarity wasn't in the front room of the boutique, however. She was sitting in her walk-in wardrobe once more, staring at a gorgeous wedding dress that was stored away in much the same way her emotions were. Hidden, alone, but never forgotten. She thought back to the day she had finally perfected the dress as another tear made its lonely way down her face to fall to the floor.

---

Little Rarity walked through the front door and headed straight upstairs, ignoring the calls from her parents that dinner would be ready soon. Her horn glowed and caused her bedroom door to open as she approached her room, then caused it to slam shut behind her as she hopped onto the bed and buried her face in a pillow. It was soon wet with tears.

Blank flank.

Her newest nickname had struck her like a physical blow. She had changed her mane. She had stopped going to school unless her coat was pristine. She had even begun to flirt with some of the colts in an effort to become popular, though she wasn't interested in any of them. Just as she had begun to turn things around in her life, that accursed Trendy Star had to point out her lack of a cutie mark. Rarity could remember the filly's scathing remarks.

"Oh look at that, little Rarity thinks she can become as popular as I am," Trendy had sneered. "Good luck with that, you little blank flank. As you can see, being popular is my special talent," she finished, nodding towards her flank. The image of a large star surrounded by smaller, less shiny stars represented her cutie mark. A rude chorus of derisive taunts had assaulted little Rarity's ears as ponies who she had just begun to consider to be friendly had begun to laugh at her.

The filly shook her head, clearing away the awful memories. She magicked open her closet door, then dragged her failed experiment out and set it on the bed. Kicking the door shut with a hind leg, she studied what was beginning to resemble a dress. There, that was the spot she had messed up this time. She bent down and began to make corrections.

She worked through the night and into the next morning, taking a break long enough to eat a quick breakfast. She then trotted right back up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door behind her. She worked through lunch, and came downstairs briefly for dinner before wolfing it down and rushing back upstairs. Her parents exchanged glances once again, but decided to let her be. They knew she had gained a sudden interest in tailoring. If it made her happy, then they would support it.

At around the stroke of midnight, the unicorn filly stood back and admired her work. The wedding dress was beautiful. It featured stunning hoof-beaded detail on the bodice in the front and back, and a gorgeous, full gathered skirt. Gold accents complimented the white fabric and made the entire dress look...

"Perfect", the unicorn filly said quietly.

She magicked the dress back into her closet, then walked over to her window and gazed out at the stars.

"By Celestia, one day my prince will come and carry me away from all of this. One day, we will be married and I can finally be happy. One day, all of Equestria will know my name," she whispered.

One day.

Comments

[Thunderbug80]

330442 You've talked me into finishing this. Working on the 3rd and final chapter right now.

[Impossible Numbers]

332186

Hey, no problem. I'm glad I did; this chapter was fascinating. Rarity was getting picked on at school for her farm origins, so she becomes a perfectionist as a reaction to it. This is nicely realistic, I could see the idea fitting into canon, and it's easy to empathize with her in this situation. I really like how you weave the flashback in between the present day scenes. I could learn one or two things about setting the mood from this passage.

This story is like a mirror image of Applejack - AJ prefers country living to sophisticated socialite living, Rarity the opposite. I don't know if you were aiming for that, but the irony of Rarity coming from a farm is a good one to explore, and it's nice to see she enjoyed it once. And it can work if Rarity's father is an earth pony, as many have speculated (notice you never see his horn in that scene?).

Great work! I'll be back to read the next chapter for sure. I can't give feedback on par with that of the Equestria Daily pre-readers, but I wish you luck if you do submit.

[Keairan]

Trendy Star seems like she would love being in a Representative Republic. Popularity certainly makes elections easier.