Chapter 3:
"Fashion disaster"
“Okay”. Prim said after examining the dresses, displayed in her store. “I like what I see”.
“Really?!”. Rarity exclaimed excited. “I mean...of course. Exactly as I expected”. She then added, trying to regain her usual composure. “I've put all of my effort into this to live up to your expectations, Miss. Hemline”.
“You sure did”. Prim said, while staring at a marvelous purple dress, covered in sequins.
“I see this one catches your eye, Miss. Hemline?” Rarity questioned, using her sweetest tone of voice.
“It definitely does”. The older woman commented, smirking.
“I like to call it: the magic of a thousand stars”.
“Ingenious name”
“You really think so?! Oh... I mean...of course you do!”.
“Rarity you deserve my congratulations. Though I must say I am pretty curious to know how you pulled this off in such a short time. It's only your first day here after all”.
“Well...”. The young girl replied, blushing. “I started working on this new collection as soon as you hired me, which may have brought to a few sleepless nights. But, judging by your reaction, it was worth it”.
“Indeed”. Prim exclaimed, clearly proud of her new fashion designer. “I daresay you've really outdone yourself”.
“Thank you”. The young woman went on, showing a rather anxious behavior. “So, can I count on you keeping that promise you made the last time we met?”.
“What promise...Oh, that one!”. The older woman said, suddenly realizing what her employee was talking about. “Listen Rarity...”. Prim uttered, after a few moments of anxious silence. “You are undoubtedly a talented designer. But creativity and sewing skills aren't all, when you work in a professional boutique”.
“What do you mean?”. The youngster questioned, fearing that Prim had decided to take her word back.
“I mean that you should also be a talented saleswoman, which means that I'll need to see how much money you can raise in one day before I make my final decision.” At the sound of those words a loud gulping noise was heard: Rarity had cleared her throat, while heavy drops of sweat began to line her forehead. Two clear signs that she was worried.
“You are right, Miss Hemline.” The young fashion designer uttered, after taking a deep relaxing breath. “I guarantee I won't disappoint you. In fact...”. Rarity went on saying, smirking maliciously. “I think I've already come up with the perfect plan to bring the whole mall right here!”.
“Oh, really?!”. The older woman questioned, visibly intrigued by Rarity's response. “May I ask how you intend to do that?”
“Just wait and see”. The girl answered with a sudden confident look on her face. “ Soon your shop will become the most popular of all!”.
“Well then!”. Prim exclaimed, interrupting the youngster's burst of euphoria. “If you can make that happen, you can count on my total support for the opening of your new boutique. No, better. I'll make you the permanent fashion designer in chief in my shop in the very heart of the city. What do you say, sound good to you?”.
There were no words to describe the expression the young girl put on her face, when she heard the sound of those things. Rarity found herself suddenly unable to answer, nonetheless that did not seem to surprise Prim at all.
“I'll take that as a yes”. Prim finally said, breaking that awful silence. “I'll leave you to your job now, Rarity. There's some important businesses I need to attend to. See you later: I'm looking forward to seeing what you've come up with". Having spoken these words, the older pink haired woman, turned around and left the boutique.
Rarity needed a few more minutes to come up to her senses again: all those exciting news had really done a number on her. The prospective of working for a famous star like Prim Hemline seemed to the young girl like a dream, coming true. It meant all to her at that moment and she was determined to do everything in her power to fulfil that dream. She had already done the hard part anyway: designing and creating all those new dresses in a week had not been easy, so now she thought that she had proved herself more than worthy of the position Prim had offered her. Things are in order to reach her object her secret plan had to go absolutely smoothly.
“Oh, Rats!”. The young woman exclaimed, pulling her hair, while staring at the clock on the wall.
“Why is she taking so long?”. Rarity checked her phone multiple times to verify if DJ Pon-3 had sent her any messages. The problem was she had not.
“Oh, come on!”. The anxious fashion designer went on complaining.
“Why isn't she here already? What's wrong? Did she forget about coming here? Maybe something bad happened, something that prevented her from coming here on time! Maybe...”. Rarity suddenly stopped taking, finally realizing that she was overreacting.
“Okay”. She said, after another deep breath.
“You are exaggerating, Rarity! Of course, she isn't here yet. It's not the time we agreed to meet. Maybe you should go take a walk around the mall and have a look at some of the other shops' window displays. Yeah that ought to calm you...And make you stop talking to yourself”.
Applejack was certainly not exaggerating, when she had said that the mall was a total chaos.
The entire shopping center was in fact crawling with people some of whom Rarity recognized.
“It looks like the whole town of Canterlot has decided to come here for shopping”. The young fashion designer exclaimed, barely able to believe what she was seeing with her own eyes.
Every single shop was full of people of all ages, fighting with each other over the various items they wished to buy. There was only one store left empty and unluckily it was hers.
The girl gave another quick look at her phone and noticed that it indicated it was only 4:10 pm, meaning there was still hope for her that DJ PON-3 would show up in time.
“Maybe a drink will cheer me up”. Rarity finally said, leaving the seat she had taken on a bench she had come across, while walking.
“It can't be far now”. The youngster thought, after several minutes, spent looking for Applejack's fruit stage. “When she said it was distant from my boutique, she didn't specify it was at the opposite edge of the mall!”.
Rarity had all the right to be nervous: a long walk through an enormous crowded mall, was certainly not the best way to spend the afternoon. But right when the youngster started to regret having come all that way, she finally spotted the fruit stage. Truth to be told, it was more of a cart than a stage, colored in yellow and green.
“Eww!”” Rarity exclaimed, laying her eyes on the fruit cart. “ I cannot believe Applejack would ever agree to work in a place like this. It completely lacks taste and...”.
While she was commenting the horrendous way that cart had been designed, the youngster heard a shouting noise coming from behind a wall.
“I wonder who that is or whatever for they decided to shout so loudly.”
Although some people, Rarity included, may consider things like spying and eavesdropping not exactly polite, the young designer was such a curious lady that she could not resist the temptation that chance represented and decided to get closer, so she would be able to listen to the conversation.
Once she had found herself in front of the wall that unpleasant shouting noise was coming from, the girl laid her right ear on the wall. She did not manage to follow the whole conversation, but she did hear a man, speaking to a girl. He was apparently complaining about the lack of effort his new employee had shown, while working.
“ Oh, dear!”. Rarity thought, once the conversation was finally over. “It seems like someone is now in deep trouble”.
A few minutes after the shouting noises had stopped, Rarity saw her dear cowgirl friend, coming out of a dark room and heading toward the fruit stage... Or rather cart.
“Applejack!”. The young fashion designer shouted, after seeing the blonde girl, appearing out of nowhere.
“Hey Rare...” Applejack replied, in an unusually depressed tone.
“Oh...something's not right, is it?”.
“What do you mean?”. The cowgirl asked, not knowing what her friend was talking about.
“You were the one that horrible man was shouting at, were you not?”.
“How do you...”. At the sound of that question, Rarity's cheeks began to blush.
“Don't tell me you overheard the entire thing?!”. The young designer nodded in response. “Oh great, just what I needed!”.
“Forgive me for being impolite, Applejack...”. Rarity said, interrupting her friend. “...But might I ask you what you and that man were discussing so loudly?”. The cowgirl sighed deeply.
“I suppose you deserve to know. That man you heard talking is my new boss and he thinks I am not putting enough effort into this job, because I don't smile enough”. Before answering, Rarity took a closer look at her friend's working uniform and noticed its look was not exactly better than the one of the fruit cart.
“Well...”. The young designer began to speak. “In your defense I'll say than both this cart and your uniform look horrible”.
“Oh, finally someone who sees that!”. Applejack shouted furiously. “Mind telling that to my boss, because he doesn't seem to care about my opinion at all. How am I suppose to smile, when I look like a clown, kicked out of a circus? Not even Pinkie Pie could do that!”.
“I don't know about that...”. Rarity giggled, trying to cheer her friend up.
“You're right: she would and she did. She passed by some twenty minutes ago and said that my uniform looks pretty”. At the sound of those words, Rarity almost passed out, shocked by what Pinkie Pie had said to Applejack. “Are you okay Rare?”. The cowgirl exclaimed, seeing her friend's reaction.
“Well...”. The other girl answered. “...I am, yes, but I think I might need to sit down down a bit”.
“It's okay, I gotta ya covered”.
Applejack led her friend to a nearby bench on which Rarity sat to recover from the earlier shock. “Feeling better now?”. Applejack asked, still visibly worried. Rarity nodded in response. “Is there anything else I can do for you, before I get back to my incredibly fun job?”. AJ asked with irony.
“Actually...”. The young fashion designer said. “I would like to try out one of your smoothies”.
“Of course”. The other girl sighed, sounding very annoyed.
“Is there a problem, darling?”.
“No, no. Of course not!”. The cowgirl replied, blushing, fearing she had offended her friend. “I'll gladly make one for you, Rarity. But, as I said, it's not really the job I was hoping for”.
After having said these things, AJ headed to her fruit cart. “What type of smoothie would you like?”. She asked, turning back to Rarity.
“Whatever you think is best, darling. Surprise me”.
Applejack was a natural in the kitchen, even when it came to the most basic of things. Nobody in the whole school could match her especially at combining different flavors. The cowgirl picked up a banana and some blueberries and mixed them with milk. In a few seconds the refreshing drink was ready.
“Here you go, Rare”. Applejack exclaimed, handing the smoothie to her friend. As soon as Rarity took a few sips, a pleasant smile appeared on her face.
“It's delicious!”. The young fashion designer exclaimed, gazing upon her friend with admiration. “How did you make it?”.
“Shucks, Rarity...”. AJ answered, blushing. “...It ain't nothing special. Just a mix of bananas, blueberries and some milk”.
“But it certainly tastes delicious. You've got talent, darling”.
“Thanks, Rarity, really. But, as I have already mentioned, I am not too keen on making smoothies the entire summer. Maybe I should just quit”.
As she was listening to her friend speaking, a frown appeared on Rarity's face: she hadn't seen the cowgirl so sad in a very long time. It was clear that she needed to do something, say something that would cheer her up. Yet she was not exactly sure what.
“Listen Applejack...”. The young fashion designer began to speak, looking deep into her friend's eyes. “...I know it's not easy, but we all need to endure a bit. I mean my job isn't going well either and, while you could just quit and go home anytime you want, I can't.
As I said before, this is the perfect chance for me to prove Prim Hemline what I am capable of. I need her to support me. She's even decided to offer me a job as a permanent fashion designer in one of her boutiques, if the sales go well.
But the truth is that, despite all the effort I put into creating my new collection and prepare the window displays, I haven't been able to attract one single client to my shop, yet”.
“You mean that DJ Pon-3 was not able to do it in your stead?! How can that be?! That girl would be able to attract a crowd even to the worst of places with her music!”. Applejack exclaimed, surprised to hear that her brilliant idea had not helped poor Rarity.
“She hasn't shown up, yet”. The young fashion designer sighed in response.
“She sure likes to take her time, then!”. The cowgirl went on saying. “But you said you had made a deal though”.
“Yes, we had. A deal that she still needs to fulfill”. After she said those words, Rarity remained silent: she needed to clear her mind of all the negative thoughts that clouded it; Applejack did not disturb her.
“She's awfully late, Applejack”. Rarity finally said, when she began to speak again.
“And you're afraid she won't show up at all?”. The cowgirl questioned, sighing. Her friend nodded in response. “Listen, Sugar cube. I know that girl like the back of my hand and I can say that she has not failed to live up to anybody's expectations. Especially after making a promise”.
“If you say so, Applejack...”.
“If she really does not show up...” .AJ went on, seeing that her words had not been able to cheer her friend up. “I'll just quit this darn job and come help you myself!”.
“Oh, c'mon Applejack. Don't be silly!”. Rarity exclaimed, thinking that the cowgirl was simply joking.
“I am not being silly, Rare! If she doesn't lend you a hand, I will...somehow”.
“Somehow?”.
“Yeah, I am not too good at drawing attention, but for you, Rarity, I'm sure I can come up with an idea or two”. Hearing those words, the young fashion designer felt her heart, being filled with joy and gratitude. Without uttering a word, she pulled her friend into a tight hug.
“Thanks, Applejack!”. She whispered in the cowgirl's ears. “You really are a friend”.
“Shucks, Rare...”.AJ exclaimed once more, while her cheeks blushed, as if she were an embarrassed child “...I know you're always kind, but today you're being extra sweet!”.
“That's because I remembered how amazing one of my best friends is”. After a few more minutes, AJ slowly pulled her friend away.
“Okay, then...”.She finally sighed, gazing once more upon her dreadful fruit cart. “I guess I'd better get back to work. I wouldn't want Mr. Grumpiness to catch us like this”.
“And I should head back to my boutique”. Rarity said, still taking sips of the sweet drink Applejack had made for her.
“So...I guess we will catch up later with the others?”.
“Of course”. The young fashionista replied, smiling. “How much time do you still need to spend making smoothies?”.
“A couple of hours”.
“See you later then, darling”.
“See ya later, Sugar cube”.
After leaving Applejack's fruit cart behind, Rarity started walking quickly toward her shop. She knew her little diversion with the cowgirl had taken quite a lot of time during which she was supposed to be working at the boutique.
“Oh dear...”. The youngster kept thinking on her way. “...I truly hope I didn't leave any client waiting for me all this time”.
Although Rarity may have been worrying too much, we can easily understand her.
Imagine yourself, walking in her shoes: you put all of your effort into designing a whole new collection, get a job that gives you the chance to fulfill the dream of a lifetime, but in order to achieve that objective you first need to sell your merchandise to as many people as possible.
So you just stand there in your shop, waiting for somebody, anybody to show up, but in the end you're left deeply disappointed.
Now how would you react if you found out that during the time you were away, a client had shown up but had then left, not finding anybody in the shop? That would certainly be a very nasty thing to happen, would it not?
And what if Prim had come to the boutique to check how things were going, but had not found Rarity where she was supposed to? If that had happened, then poor Rarity could have just kissed goodbye to both her job and her big dream of success.
“C'mon Rarity...”. The young fashion designer kept saying to herself, while running to her store. “...It's not been that long, maybe you can still fix this, right?”.
Little did Rarity know that something would slow down her pace very soon.
Suddenly the young girl heard a loud joyful shriek, then saw her little sister, Sweetie Belle and her friends, running out of a store, while carrying a giant canoe.
“What on Earth are those three up to now?”. Rarity thought, still watching them from behind their backs. “Maybe I should follow them and make sure they don't get hurt with that thing”.
At the exact same moment the girl decided to follow the youngsters, she heard an unbearable cry, even louder than the previous one. It sounded like somebody was shouting. “No!” for some reason.
Being curious, Rarity turned her head and saw a high pile of black boxes that was about to fall.
Instinctively the fashion designer reached for her magical gem with one hand, while with the other created one of her bright diamonds and threw it towards the pile of boxes, before they touched the ground. Soon after she heard a heavy breath of relief and from inside the shop came Rainbow Dash.
She was wearing a pair of red and white trainers, black trousers and a short sleeved t-shirt of the same color of her shoes. On her head there was a simple hat.
“Thank you so much, Rarity!”. The rainbow haired girl exclaimed joyfully. “You've just saved me and my job”.
“I see you have really taken yours in a sport retail store...”. Rarity sighed, sounding not surprised and disappointed at the same time.
“Yeah”. Dash replied. “What's wrong with that?”.
“Nothing, nothing...it's just that I can't imagine somebody with as much energy as you, stuck in a shop the whole afternoon”.
“Tell me about it!”. Rainbow Dash, went on complaining. “My first day here has been just awful. Wanna stop for a couple of minutes and listen to my story?”.
“I would love to but, darling, I simply must...”.
“I could really use a friend now”.
Hearing those words Rarity sighed desperately: on one hand she needed to get back to her boutique, but on the other one she could not possibly leave her friend down, could she? So she stayed with Rainbow Dash and listened.
Where her friend had finished telling her story and was feeling much better than before, she thanked Rarity and got back to working.
The young fashion designer sighed in her loneliness. She had spent all of her time that day with two of her best friends, but she had failed at the one thing she was supposed to do in the first place.
Slowly she headed back to the boutique, where she found nobody, waiting for her: DJ Pon-3 had not come. Rarity felt a slow acting poison, turning in her gut. For the first time she felt abandoned and forgotten, so she sat on a chair all alone in a small corner of the store room.
After a few minutes Rarity heard a heavy painting and saw the familiar face of a girl, wearing a pair of unique sunglasses. The young fashion designer smiled at DJ Pon-3, then left her to work her magic.
The DJ shortly turned that boutique into a disco dancing floor. Everyone in the mall came and saw Rarity's fabulous dresses; even Prim herself, coming back to the shop, was unable to resist the temptation of having a round on the dancing floor.
When everything was over, after two hours, the young fashionista hugged DJ Pon-3. “Applejack wasn't certainly kidding, when she said you knew how to work your magic!”. She exclaimed, still thrilled by what had happened.
The other girl answered, raising her thumb.
“However, there is still something I need to ask you...”.
DJ Pon-3 looked confused.
“...What took you so long?”.
The poor DJ blushed embarrassed, as she began to speak.