//------------------------------// // Ch 1 - Artisan or Artist? // Story: Friendship's Just the Start // by Casswolf //------------------------------// The kitchen of the Carousel Boutique could hardly be described as the most spacious of places. In fact more than three fully grown ponies would struggle to fit inside without things getting awkward. What it was, however, was a triumph of camouflaged efficiency, every possible space being put to its best use whilst still somehow making the room look far less cramped than it truly was. Honestly Rarity was rather proud of its current form. Her little sister Sweetie Belle had more or less destroyed the original kitchen at least twice trying to make breakfast - Celestia please donate a fraction of her singing ability towards her cooking! - and at some point the unicorn had snapped, asking for help in rebuilding from her friend Twilight Sparkle. The results had been unsurprisingly utilitarian, but the increase in storage and overall efficiency had been good enough for the designs to be basically kept after Sweetie Belle ignited the kitchen the next few times. So now here it was, a homely, meticulously clean area matching the rest of the building in fashionable pastels... and currently the background for an exhausted purple-maned unicorn slumped against a counter as her concerned pegasus friend passed over a cup of herbal tea. “Rarity…” Fluttershy began, not entirely sure how to approach this. Rarity was easily one of her closest friends, in a lot of ways her best friend, as much as that concept might have offended Rainbow Dash. But she was rather irrational, and sometimes it was hard for even Fluttershy, a pony gifted with more empathy than she knew what to do with, to figure out whether to expect an unthinking outburst, a surprising amount of understanding, or just for her friend to do what she usually would do, catch herself and jokingly overreact until the moment passed. Unsurprisingly it was the latter in this instance, as hard as the act was to watch. “Darling, I’m fine,” Rarity began in an unconvincing tone, so much so that it seemed to fail to convince herself. “There’s simply so much work, how ever shall I fit in grabbing some strawberries and cream at Whinniedon this year?” The unicorn looked hopeful, as if this obvious lie would just somehow maintain the status quo. “And?” There was a pointed tone in Fluttershy’s voice for once, a tone she only ever revealed to those closest to her. It was a tone that very obviously said ‘you’re not telling me everything, and you’d best fix that’. “And…” Rarity sighed into her cup with dissatistaction before taking a sip. Of course the tea was excellent, not only had this cup been brewed by her best friend but in fact the herbal blend had been created by her. Somehow this particular brew had fast overtaken all kinds of exotic and designer teas in terms of becoming Rarity’s favourite, but even it didn’t seem to be fully relieving what was bothering the snow-white unicorn. “And I’m being a big silly like always, Fluttershy, pay me no mind. You know how I get sometimes.” “You’ve been getting like this a lot, Rarity,” Fluttershy pointed out. “I know you’re doing well and all, especially after everyone learned you make all of Twilight’s formal outfits, but… m-maybe an hour or two Rarity time might help you a little? I… I can spare a little time if you want some company...” The pegasus shrank back slightly. “Only if it’s possible… oh, I’m sorry, you’re probably far too busy…” “No, no, darling,” Rarity reassured her friend, reaching a hoof over to tussle her pink mane slightly. That long, luxurious mane, hiding the most gentle blue eyes… stop that line of thought this instant! The unicorn withdrew with a barely detectable blush and took a long quaff of her tea. “I’m not quite at the ‘72 hours awake and surviving only on coffee’ stage yet! Although apparently I have been hitting the ‘not leaving the Boutique’ stage a little earlier than planned…” Here she frowned, wondering if maybe cutting back on commissions for her own health might not be for the best. As much as she would have loved to make a custom gown for every pony who wanted one, experience had taught her to be at least slightly pragmatic. Plus a little more… rarity in Rarity would likely only serve to make her creations more desirable in the future. Things to consider later, when she could properly allow her common sense to tussle with her generous nature. “Honestly I think you’re right, maybe a change of scenery would do me good,“ Rarity finally sighed. “I fear I’ve taken on too much again, unwinding a little may be nice.” “Neither of us are very good at saying no, are we?” Fluttershy giggled, much happier now that her gorgeous friend had finally admitted that she needed a break. “Okay, Rarity, let Nurse Fluttershy help you feel better. What would you like to do?” Rarity bit her lip, thinking hard. “Well… you know I always enjoy a good spa session, but I’d feel dreadful just dropping in, I’m sure the sisters would accommodate but… no, let’s save that for our scheduled days.” There was shopping, too, certainly she needed to replenish some threads, and there was a fascinating sale on eye makeup at one of the stores Rarity used when she couldn’t get to Canterlot to purchase high end brands. But that would have robbed the ponies of a chance that the unicorn really needed, a chance to talk with her friend in relative privacy. So… aha! Idea! “Truthfully I may be getting to my ‘forgetting to eat’ stage as well, darling. It’s a glorious day from the looks of things, would you care to join me for a little picnic? You know the great outdoors far better than I ever will, I’ll let you choose the spot.” “Oh that would be lovely!” Fluttershy had expected her friend to suggest something a little… busier, but this was a very pleasant surprise. Picnics were nice. “Um, so what would we…” The pretty pegasus was shushed by a pale white hoof. “Already thought of, my dear,” Rarity grinned. “We shall prepare some sandwiches here. I personally feel like rocket and cucumber, how about yourself?” “I… I really don’t mind…” “Daisy and apple it is!” Expecting Fluttershy to make a decision in a timely manner was like expecting Rainbow Dash to put any thought at all into one of hers. So Rarity defaulted to a filling that she knew was one of her friend’s favourites, and was quickly mollified by the smile the yellow pegasus gave her upon that utterance. That adorable smile that should be on her face all the time, if only Rarity could… no, stop that, heart, we had that conversation a while ago and you lost! “Perhaps also a tub of salad to share, something to drink… I don’t know about you, darling, but I really do need to unwind a touch, would you join me in a glass of two of cherry wine?” “Um… okay.” Fluttershy wasn’t much of a drinker, she was as much of a lightweight there as she was in most aspects of her life, but she couldn’t refuse her friend. “Splendid! We can call into Sugarcube Corner and maybe pick up something sweet to end the meal with then!” Rarity was already using her magic to prepare the food, a soft blue glow surrounding half the kitchen as she pulled ingredients, sliced, diced and arranged in a similar fashion to how she treated her dressmaking. Seeing her friend in high spirits again at last eased Fluttershy’s heart. This clearly had been a long time coming. An hour or two later and the two ponies were lay on a taffeta picnic blanket staring up at a glorious late summer sky, a cooling wind taking the edge off what might have otherwise been rather stuffy conditions. It had shocked Rarity just how much she had needed this, but need it she had. The sheer sense of this plan had struck her the instant she first stepped out of the Boutique and into the sunlight - how had she not noticed just how warm today was? - and the visit to Sugarcube Corner had only reinforced that. They had only wanted to buy a slice of raspberry and vanilla cheesecake and a slice of iced carrot cake at the time, but were treated to bonus Pinkie Pie on top of their order. “Oh wow Rarity how have you been?” The crazed pink pony had all but glued herself to Rarity in a tight hug that made it difficult to breathe. “You normally come in and buy croissants for breakfast, and I’m normally like ‘well those are fun to make because you gotta throw more butter in there than anything else and butter’s always fun to bake with because sometimes it’s all squishy and sometimes it’s all hard and sometimes you drop it on the floor and skid on it’… hey, what was I talking about again? Right! So I guess I was a bit worried because you hadn’t bought any of the croissantly goodness for a few days, and part of me was scared because you might be doing that thing where you forget to do anything but make dresses, and part of me was scared you might have died, and then those parts of me had a big fight. Like a biiiiiig fight! And there were steel chairs and thumbtacks and one of the parts of me threw the other part off the top of a steel cage…” Unsurprisingly the two friends had giggled nervously and backed away at this point, slightly concerned with how Pinkie hadn't stopped to draw breath once throughout this speech. At least Rarity had her proof about having forgotten to eat for a while. And then it came to finding the right spot to settle down for the afternoon. To be honest Fluttershy had put far more thought into this than she was expecting herself to do. She knew every nook and cranny of the surrounding areas; she had to, for part of her task in life was to assist nature when it found itself wanting. There were so many places worthy of a semi-private picnic nearby, the pegasus had taken lunch with her animal friends in a lot of them, but one spot in particular seemed the most… well, Rarity. A small grove where a waterfall ended, thick lush grass, cool crystalline water, even Fluttershy could admit it was one of the more picturesque areas around, and she was normally satisfied by the outdoors existing at all. Upon being shown the location Rarity had audibly squealed and hugged her friend so tight that Pinkie Pie would have been proud. In the end there were just two ponies, bellies full and a slight blush on their faces from a surprisingly strong fruit wine, staring up at a beautiful blue sky. “S-sorry, darling,” Rarity began, “Perhaps alcohol on an emptier stomach than I’d assumed was a bad idea.” “Maybe, but it made you relax a little, wasn’t that the point?” The wine seemed to have corrected Fluttershy’s usual stammer, but apparently hadn’t impaired her memory. The yellow pegasus fixed her friend with a stern look, emboldened by her drink and a good hour of the sort of conversation the two normally saved for the spa. “Rarity, you’re still tense, and not in the way I could massage away. Please, will you just talk to me?” “I…” Rarity blinked, trying hard down to swallow down the implied suggestion. “I don’t know any more, Fluttershy!” she finally bawled, a true, frustrated cry as opposed to the many, many times the purple-maned unicorn had deliberately brought tears to her eyes. It caught her friend off guard. “I thought this was all I wanted, to ascend the ranks, to become influential, to make my mark! But now I’m there it’s all business, Rarity isn’t a pony, she’s a brand now. I wanted to be an artist but… but… I wind up having to pass up so many things in favour of what pays the bills. You saw that pony I talked to this morning, Fluttershy, I can’t even remember the design that made me invite her back!!!” “Um… Rarity?” Fluttershy had rather suspected this was the case. Her friend hadn’t quite been the same since opening her retail stores, almost as if the worries of business were wiping out a part of the unicorn that she needed in order to thrive. Frowning for a second, Fluttershy considered what may have gone wrong. Rarity… started off trying to impress with her art, now she impresses because she’s Rarity, not because of her… Oh my goodness! “This is going to sound silly, but I might have a bit of an idea, if you’ll hear it.” “It can hardly be a worse idea than my dying of a heart attack, darling, and there was me always assuming that would be Twilight’s fate before mine,” Rarity responded wearily. “Please, go ahead.” “Um...well I was thinking how to help and…. Oh! I’m so sorry Rarity, I was going to ask if you needed a massage earlier, I’d be okay with that if you wanted, you seem so stressed and… and...and…. Never mind.” Fluttershy’s ears drooped. “I’d be lying if I said that didn’t sound fabulous, although I still would like to hear your first idea.” Rarity took a breath so as to parcel up an awful lot of feelings that she still had to work out. “J… just maybe a lot around the shoulders and be sure to be firm if you were planning on a hoof massage. I have a bit of a reputation on that score and would never forgive myself if I hurt you flinching.” “I think I saw that a time or two myself,” Fluttershy giggled. “You nearly gave Aloe a black eye the first time she went near your hooves, didn’t you? Just… trust me, and try to listen, okay?” Rarity had little choice. Her warning had resulted in the kind of hoof massage that didn’t tickle but instead sent electric shudders up her spine. As her friend worked up her legs and torso all she could think was how do you manage to make me want to scream for you to go back and repeat it all over again??? Just start at the sensitive spots on her hooves, move up and towards her inner thighs, and then… This was a simple fantasy, however, and the only progression in reality was a much needed back rub. Rarity found herself both relieved and disappointed, but at least it made her mind clear enough to carry on a conversation.“Darling I had no idea how amazing you could be as a masseuse!” It wasn’t a lie, technically. “But you did say you had an idea, and it surely wasn’t this, glorious though it may be.” “No. I… I like to think we know each other a lot by now.” “And?” “And… and I think maybe artist Rarity has been overwhelmed by business Rarity a smidgen?” Fluttershy winced, assuming that being so bold would result in pain of some kind. Since this didn't happen, she carried on. “The Gala season is hard on you, and I can’t imagine what it must be like for your talents to cause you stress so often! I… I… oh, this is silly.” “Please tell me, Fluttershy.” Rarity rolled over to look her friend in the eye, backrubs be damned. “You’re right, I’m getting so tired. What were you thinking?” “Umm… if you want to create but it feels too much like work right now, maybe you might like to try some other types of art, just as a hobby?” Later that night Rarity found herself staring hard at a blank piece of canvas. The majority of her body was shielded by a smock she had whipped up in all of half an hour out of leftover fabric, her mane was tied back and her spare reading glasses rested snugly on her muzzle. Work had been done for the day, of course other ponies came first, but… something Fluttershy said earlier had prickled at her. Maybe artist Rarity has been overwhelmed by business Rarity a smidgen? Curse that gorgeous pony for managing to cut through to the heart of the problem once again! All work and no play was making Rarity a dull pony, it seemed. We’ll see about that! A brush surrounded by magical light dipped into one colour of paint, two hooves dipped into two others, and within moments the blank canvas was covered in the warmest, most inspired colour scheme Rarity had ever created.