//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Carousel Boutique // Story: The Element of Hope // by Shootingstar212 //------------------------------// My eyes shot open from the loud noise that's echoing in my room. I turn my head over to the alarm clock that's currently going out of its mind. My eyes are following the little metal piece that's hitting the two bells to create the wake-up call. I stretch my arm out towards the clock, waving my hand slightly in an attempt to press the button to get it to stop ringing. My finger lands on the switch with a satisfying "click" of the mechanism. I sit up on my bed and begin to stretch my muscles and back; followed by cracking my knuckles. I look over at my clock, it's a little after 11:00 am. I rub my face with my hands as the thoughts of last night's encounter flow back into my head. There's just something about it that I can't get out of my mind. For all I know, it could've just been nothing more than a mare that drank a little too much during the party. That is if there was any alcohol there, to begin with. Maybe I'm just overthinking it... I get out of bed and begin to get changed into my regular clothing, "So what's the plan for today?" I ask to nopony in particular. I know that Rarity wants me to be by her boutique by noon, then I roped myself into volunteering at Applejack's farm for a while... That's definitely going to be a pain. I remember I wanted to ask Twilight something when we're together next, but I can't remember what it was off the top of my head. Once I'm dressed, I leave my room and go to the bathroom. I open the cupboard so I can grab my toothbrush and toothpaste. Maybe I should come up with a more concrete schedule for today while I'm brushing my teeth... I know that I need to go so Rarity and Applejack today for sure, as I did promise I would. I do want to go see Twilight for a bit for some magic training, but I'm not sure if I'll have the time or energy when I'm finished with Applejack to even think about going to the Library. I don't want to seem neglectful of Twilight, she really helped me out when I first came into town. We did make a deal about her teaching me if I gave the information she wanted. I don't want to let my first friend down. I spit into the sink and put my dental stuff away. I pull out a comb and start to fix my hair, staring deep into my own reflection. The problem of coming up with a schedule right now is that I have no idea what exactly I am doing at each location. I know for sure that going to the farm will equal doing hard work and will eat up a lot of time. Going to Rarity's might not take up any time at all if what we're doing will be easy, hopefully. At the same time, it could always be something that'll be slow and painful. The more I think about it, the more I realise that I might not have any time or energy to even see Twilight when I'm free... I should go tomorrow though and spend as much time as she wants taking notes or whatever. I let out a loud yawn and stretch my arms out while I'm walking down the dirt path. I have no idea why I'm so tired today, it might be because of my sleep schedule being messed up, but I can't say for sure. I pull out the slip of paper that Rarity gave me last night. I look at the directions that are written on the bottom of the paper and make the decision to follow those when I get into town. I'm not sure how long I've been walking around for, but I can safely say... I'm completely lost. I sigh in frustration, I'm supposed to be by some café at this point, yet I'm in the market area. Maybe I had to start at Sugarcube Corner and follow the directions from there? Now the problem with that is... I don't know where Sugarcube Corner is; I only followed Spike there last night, I wasn't paying much attention. I grip the paper tightly in my hands, almost to the point of crumpling it up, "I can't believe I'm going to be late on the first day she needs me!" I say aloud. "Who is it that you're talking about?" An unfamiliar voice asks. I turn around to the source and see that they are talking to me. It's a light seafom Unicorn, her eyes are a bright yellow, almost to the point of being gold. Her mane and tail are a very faded out cyan colour, with a pure white streak going through both of them. Her mane is actually almost as short as Rainbow Dash's, but it's styled differently enough for it to give the Unicorn her own identity. Her cutie mark is a golden harp. She walks up to me with a look of interest in her eyes, "So, you're the talk of the town, huh?" The Unicorn starts to circle me. Is she trying to get a good look or something? "Talk of the town?" I question. I'm not surprised as much as I made it sound. The only thing I hope is that it's more of a positive talk, rather than a negative one. "I can see why now. You kind of look like that little Dragon I see walking around sometimes," The mare refers to Spike, "I tried to look around at that party last night to see if I could get a glimpse of you," The mare finishes circling me and stops in front of me again, "And it was worth it. You look really cool!" The mare shouts excitedly. This catches the attention of some ponies walking by, they give us some awkward looks. "Uh... Thanks?" I scratch the back of my neck. I'm only really wasting time by just standing here, I need to go find the boutique. "I know it's a little awkward that I just came up to you out of nowhere," The mare looks down at the dirt, then looks up at me, "But I heard you say you were going to be late and you looked lost... So, where were you going? I can show you the way if you want?" Is that really why she came up? Something like that would never happen back home... "S-Seriously?" I ask dumbfounded. The mare nods her head in response, "Well... I'm looking for Carousel Boutique," I read the name off of the paper, "A friend of mine wanted me to help her with something." "Carousel Boutique, eh?" The mare walks past me. She takes a few steps forward before turning around, "Come on, follow me!" I start to walk beside her as she shows me the way around town, "You know how long it'll take to get there?" "Not long at all, I've been everywhere in this town. I know my stuff. In fact, Rarity's place is one of my favourites; I just love the way her dresses look." I place my hands in my pocket as we walk through the streets. Hopefully, I'll get there in time and she's not just leading me on... "And here we are!" The Unicorn points her hoof out to a unique looking building. It's not like the other shops I've seen here, but it's definitely not as strange as Sugarcube Corner. The overall design of the house is kind of like a cone-shaped tent with purple and pink walls. There are decorations all over the building that make it look like a carousel from an amusement park; that's probably where Rarity got the name from. "Thank you very much, ma'am," I say to the unicorn. She got me here incredibly fast, even faster than Spike would. "No need to be so formal," The mare giggles, "My name is Lyra Heartstrings, but you can just call me Lyra if you like." "Thank you, Lyra. My name is Travis," I hold out my hand. Lyra stares at it for a second and blinks. She sticks out her hoof slowly, I grasp and shake it. "Wow, that feels... strange..." "You'll get used to it," I release her hand and begin to walk towards to Carousel Boutique, "It was nice to meet you. I'll see you around," I wave back at Lyra while I walk away. "See you later, Travis. If you're ever looking for something to do, you can find me and my friend at the café, usually." The café huh? I'll be sure to keep that in mind if I'm ever free. I walk towards the door and knock on it. I wait there for a few seconds, only to not be answered. Maybe I should just go in? I grasp the handle and push the door open, a little bell is chimed at my arrival. I hear the hoofsteps of a pony upstairs move rapidly. "Hello!" Rarity calls out from upstairs, her word elongated at the last syllable, "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, how may I be of assistance to you," Rarity walks downstairs, not noticing that I'm the one who showed up. Rarity looks towards me, "Oh good afternoon, Travis. Glad you could show up." "Yeah, sorry for being a little late... I got a bit lost on the way..." I try to avoid eye contact with Rarity. "Don't be silly," Rarity begins to trot up to me, "You're only late by just a few minutes. If you were to be here earlier, you would've caught me fixing my mane," Rarity flips her mane with her hoof. The beautiful purple curls almost sparkle in the light. Rarity definitely is one of those mares that spend a lot of time on her looks; not that I'm complaining, it really does pay off, "So, shall we begin." Rarity begins to trot over to her workstation. "I guess I am... If I'm being honest, I still have no idea what you want me to do," I walk towards Rarity, while at the same time getting a good look around the room. Plenty of fabrics and supplies are neatly organized, there are a few machines also around the room. I can't begin to imagine how tough a job like this would be, especially if you're doing it by yourself. Rarity begins to levitate some supplies with her magic. Blue aura covers different measuring tapes, a notepad, and a pen, "Today will be pretty simple, but a little tedious for the both of us. I need you to stand on that platform with the mirrors surrounding it," I look over at the platform she's talking about. There's a pony manikin standing on it; there are three mirrors surrounding the manikin, "Feel free to move anything that could be there," Rarity hasn't looked away from her table yet. She's probably still getting ready. I crouch down and grasp the manikin by the metal pole, standing up to raise it off of the floor, "Where should I put this?" I ask. Rarity turns around for a second to see what I'm holding, "Just put that by the changing rooms," Her head turns towards the purple curtains. Those are changing rooms? It seems like they would lack the privacy a simple locked room would... I wobble my way over to the destination Rarity wanted me to go and place the manikin down, gently. I return to the platform and notice that there is a floral pattern on it. "You really put a lot of effort into making this place look appealing, huh?" I look around the room from the platform. Rarity giggles, "It's really nothing, Darling. I was always told that Ponies love places that make them feel comfortable, especially if they're going to be standing there for upwards of hours." "From what I've seen of the shops in this town, they all have their own atmosphere that was lacking back home. The ones from Manehatten felt so... mechanical?" I think that's the right way to describe it. Rarity walks over with all her measuring tools in her magic grasp, "What do you mean by that?" Rarity uses her magic to remove my jacket, probably because it would get in the way. "No passion really went into anything there, it felt like ponies where there just so they could get their payment and come back the next day," Rarity's tape wraps around my waist tightly. She then trots over to another side of my body and records the information. "Hmmm, I see. Not everypony where you're from is contempt with sticking to what they're cutie mark says is their special talent," Rarity unwraps the tape from my waist, "May you please raise your hoof up?" I think she might mean my arm,"Yeah, no problem," I follow her demand and she measures from my leg all the way up to my arm. "So, what was it like in Manehatten? I've never been there and I must know what it's like," Rarity asks politely. Should I sugarcoat it or no... "Well... The ponies there aren't really that nice to... outsiders or anypony that would be considered 'strange' like me. I'm not sure if it's because of the stress of working almost all the time or what, but they aren't really ponies you should bother about anything." "So you're saying that they're grouchy?" Rarity tries to confirm with me while she scribbles down some numbers. "I guess so. I didn't really go out too much because of it. It's probably why I'm so pale... I heard you last night say that you wanted to expand your business there. Is that your dream?" Rarity giggles to herself, she's momentarily stopped taking my measurements, "That's correct, Travis. I've heard that Manehatten's fashion scene is lacking... and by judging by the plainness of your outfit, it's done nothing but confirms it," Talk about a low blow... "My dream is to have my fashion be all over Equestria! The name Rarity to become a household name for everypony to know!" Rarity pulls my face close to hers, "You will be the greatest challenge, the one that will help my dreams become a reality. If I'm able to make a successful fashion line based off of you, we'll be able to do great things in the future, you and I!" Rarity is getting ahead of herself... "Are you sure something my face attached to it would even sell... Especially in Manehattan..." My lack of confidence is showing. "Trust me, Darling. I can make anything sell. Now I need you to hold still for the next little while..." Rarity sticks her tongue out as she moves the measuring tape around my body. Rarity seems like the type of mare that is only satisfied with the very best. She'll never settle for anything less. Success seems to be her motivator to do better than her last attempt, which I can commend her for. I only hope that I don't get stiff muscles from staying still for a few hours...