//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Rarity // Story: Fluorescence of a Tide // by Johnjohns //------------------------------// Fluorescence of a Tide By: Johnjohns2 Chapter 5: Rarity “Sweetie Belle!” called Rarity. “Sweetie Belle, please, your alarm went off ten minutes ago. You are going to be late for school!” “I know!” the little filly yelled back through the door. “I’m looking for something!” The ivory-colored unicorn stood outside of her sister’s bedroom. The upstairs hallway was lit up by ornate lights, fashioned ever five feet or so, along the opposite wall. The walls were painted a lavender color, and were garnished with a magenta trim. She was stressing over her little sister’s tardiness. Far too many times had Sweetie Belle come close to being late to school. It was seven o'clock in the morning, school started at seven-thirty. “What are you looking for?” asked Rarity. Instead of receiving a reply, the bedroom door suddenly opened. Rarity stepped back, to allow her little sister to come into the hallway. Sweetie belle held up a yellow ribbon, with a large, blue number two printed on the face. “What?” asked a confused Rarity. “I don’t get it.” “Don’t you remember, Rarity?” asked the filly. “It’s our second-place ribbon from the Sisterhooves Social competition.” Memories of that day seemed to flood into Rarity’s mind. It was the day where they both truly worked together for the first time. It was the day that the two sisters had reconciled their differences, and agreed to never fight again. Rarity did her best to keep that promise, however it wasn’t always easy. “Yes,” said Rarity. “I know what it is. Why were you looking for it?” “Because today is show-and-tell day!” exclaimed Sweetie Bell. The little unicorn jumped into the air with excitement. “Ok,” said Rarity, things beginning to make sense to her. “But what is so significant about coming in second place?” “Oh, Rarity,” the filly calmed down, but was still beaming with happiness towards her sister. “It’s not about coming in second place. This ribbon symbolized the day that we became sisters again.” Rarity’s heart skipped a beat. Of course! How could she have been so ignorant? Of course that’s why Sweetie Belle was bringing the ribbon to show-and-tell. Why else would she? She suddenly felt very guilty about nagging her little sister to get ready, just a moment ago. Then again, Sweetie bell had spent all of this time searching for that ribbon, which meant that she still didn’t hate Rarity’s guts. She felt her guilt quickly fade away. Sweetie Belle jumped up, and wrapped her forelegs around Rarity’s neck. “We are still sisters, right?” asked the filly, burying her face into Rarity’s purple mane. “Forever, and always,” replied Rarity. She felt a tear form in her eye, but she couldn’t allow herself to break down in front of her sister. That would be downright embarrassing. She suddenly snapped out of their happy little moment, and the reality of the real world hit her like an impossible deadline for a dress. “Alright then,” said Rarity. “We will have time to be sisters later, but right now I need to get ready for work, and so do you. Your job right now is to do well in school, and you can’t do your job well if you don’t show up. Now, let’s get moving!” “Alright, sis!” shouted the filly, quickly running down the stairs ahead of Rarity. “What’s for breakfast, sis?” asked Sweetie belle from the kitchen, when Rarity reached the ground floor of the Carousel Boutique. “Sorry, Sweetie,” apologized Rarity. “I have a client coming over this morning, so I need to get this place in ship-shape for his arrival. I didn’t have time to cook breakfast, sorry.” “Ugh,” Sweetie Belle groaned from the kitchen. “What am I supposed to eat then?” “There's some Aunt Faffy’s toaster waffles in the freezer,” replied the seamstress. “Just put them in the toaster oven. You can handle that, can’t you?” Instead of hearing a distinct reply, Rarity just heard a barely-audible garble of sounds, in which she assumed, was partnered with a roll of Sweetie Belle’s eyes. The unicorn hurried into her ‘inspiration’ room. While it was not extremely messy, it still needed to be tidy for when her guest arrived. There were scraps of fabric on the floor, and all kinds of items sat on her desk, including a sewing machine, and many spools of thread. There was a mannequin wearing a half-finished, turquoise dress in the middle of the office, much of which was being held together by pins. The windows allowed a huge bath of sunlight to illuminate the room. The golden rays reflected off of loose gems scattered throughout the room, refracting, and casting thousands of multicolored beams onto every surface in the room. As beautiful as it was, it wouldn’t be allowed to last, and Rarity began to clean up her mess. Scraps of fabric, if large enough, were saved for later use, while smaller pieces were thrown away behind her , and unused gems went into a large plastic bin, which she would sort out later. She cleared her desk of everything. The sewing machine was put away, the spools of thread went onto a rack, and the various diagrams, ideas, and designs were stored away in a filing cabinet. After about fifteen minutes, Sweetie Belle appeared in the doorway, wearing her school saddlebag. “Alright, I’m leaving now, sis,” she said. Rarity stopped what she was doing, and turned around. “Do you have everything that you need?” Rarity questioned in a motherly tone. “You’re not forgetting anything, are you?” “Nope,” said the filly, patting her saddlebag. “I’ve got everything I need, right here.” “Alright,” said the adult unicorn. “You have a good day at school then. Learn something new, ok?” “Don’t worry, I will!” shouted the filly, as she walked to the front door. “You have a good day sis!” “Thanks!” Rarity called in return. “You too!” She listened, and heard the door softly open, and then close, slightly louder. The unicorn finished cleaning her office about a half hour after her sister’s departure. Once this task was completed, she moved on to the main room. It was admittedly cleaner than the side room, but work still had to be done. Rarity put materials away into a storage closet, and moved all of her mannequins to the sides of the room. Once the floor space was cleared, she took her vacuum cleaner, and vacuumed the carpet. After about another hour, Carousel Boutique was in pristine condition, practically sparkling with cleanliness. With the boutique ready for her customer, Rarity had time to kill. It was only nine o'clock, and her client wasn’t supposed to arrive until around quarter to eleven. This meant that she had time to tinker around with fresh ideas in her mind. She used her magic to move different types of fabric onto a mannequin, forming a rough base for a new dress design. However, she discovered that she didn’t like the design, and quickly took it apart, scrapping the idea. She performed this operation countless times, seeing what worked, and what didn’t. What was practical, and what wasn’t. Which was fashionable, and what was not. Before she knew it, an hour and a half went by, along with all of her scrapped ideas. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud knocking at the door. She looked at the clock, it was ten-thirty. “He is quite early,” she said to herself. Many of her customers were usually late for appointments. Rarity strolled over to the front door, and opened it for her customer. Except it wasn't her customer. Instead of a pony, there was a small purple dragon on her doorstep. His hands were hidden behind his back, and Rarity knew that he had something for her. “Spike?” Rarity was quite surprised. “What are you doing here?” “Hi, Rarity!” Spike exclaimed with a huge smile. “I just stopped by, to see if you needed help with anything.” “Oh no, I’m perfectly... Oh where are my manners? Please come in!” she ushered. The little dragon walked into the main room, and Rarity closed the door. He quickly revealed what was hidden behind his back. “I...uh... I got these for you,” he said, his cheeks turning a slight red, barely visible through his purple scales. “Violets!” gasped Rarity. “I love violets. Thank you so much, Spikey-Wikey!” She planted a big kiss on his forehead. Spike suddenly looked very ill, and he staggered at little bit. “Spike?” asked the worried unicorn. “Are you alright?” “What?” asked Spike. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. So, did you need any help with anything?” “Well,” began Rarity. “I have a client who is supposed to be her in about ten minutes, or so. We will be discussing business in my office. If you want, you can help by sorting out this bin of gems into color-coordinated containers.” “Gems?” asked Spike. “Gladly!” “Just don’t eat all of them, I need some for my dresses, you know,” said Rarity, eyeing Spike nervously. “Don’t worry, Rarity,” said Spike. “I’m not going to eat any of your gems.” “Alright, would you like a drink or anything?” she asked. “No thank you,” replied Spike. When the clock struck 11:50, there was a second knock upon the front door. “He’s here!” called the dragon “Thanks, Spike,” said Rarity as she rushed over to the door. “Just keep working on that. I promise I won’t be too long.” “By all means, take your time,” said Spike, as he diligently sorted through the rainbow of gems. Rarity opened the door. Outside was a grey stallion, with a light-brown mane. He smiled upon seeing the white unicorn. “Hi, Ms. Rarity?” he said. “We’ve been exchanging letters in the mail, and you said that I should stop by today and...” “Yes, yes, of course!” exclaimed Rarity. “Please, please, come in!” “Oh, well thank you!” he said, stepping into the boutique. “This here is my assistant, Spike,” Rarity introduced the dragon. “Hello,” said Spike. “Please to meet you, Spike,” greeted the stallion. “May I get you a glass of water, or something?” asked Rarity. “No no, I really can’t stay that long,” he explained. “I’m supposed to be somewhere in a few minutes.” “Oh, ok,” said Rarity. “Well, let’s get right down to business then. Follow me.” She led the stallion into her office. He followed quickly behind her, and she closed the door, separating themselves from the rest of the building. “I apologize that I must be very brief,” he said. “Not at all,” she said, pushing away his apology. “There comes a time when all of us need to step up and get things done. Some of us more than others.” He laughed, and so did she, however she wasn’t sure what was funny. “So,” began the seamstress. “You said you needed a dress. Is she a special somepony, may I ask?” “Something like that,” he said. “It needs to be elegant.” “Oh, well,” she gave him an arrogant look. “Trust me, I can do elegant.” “And pink,” he continued. “She likes... it needs to be pink, it just... it needs to have some pink on it. You know, because she is a nurse and all” “Okay...” she started. “Do you know her size, perhaps?” “No, not really... no,” he said. “She is about the same size as you.” “So she’s thin?” asked Rarity. “Yes,” he said. “Yes of course.” “Alright,” she continued. This was by far the strangest meeting that had ever taken place in her boutique. “Did she say anything else?” “No,” he explained. “She didn’t really say anything at all. This is kind of a surprise gift.” There was suddenly a loud sound that came from the main room. It sounded as if someone had thrown the front door open. She could her Spike talking to someone in the other room, however she couldn’t tell who it was. The stallion had glanced towards the door, looking slightly worried. “Don’t worry about that,” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment. “Is there anything else that you needed to tell me?” “Uh, no,” he replied. “That’s it.” “When will you need the dress by?” “Uh,” he muttered, nervously kicking the floor. “I kind of need it by tomorrow.” “Tomorrow?” she asked, dumbstruck. “As in the day after today?” “Yes,” he replied. “Well actually I need it by around seven at night, tomorrow. Can it be done?” “Uh, yes... yes of course it can be done,” she said. She felt like she was going to pass out. “It’s no problem; I totally understand the last minute thing.” “You do?” he asked. “Great, because I actually have to go, like right now.” “Oh, ok,” she said. Her mind felt like it was floating. “I’m sorry, did I hold you up too long?” “No,” he said. “It’s just that... ok… I’ll explain.” He took a deep breath. “You see, I'm actually supposed to be at work right now. I work down at the bookstore, and I kind of snuck out the back, while I was taking inventory. It’s my first day, and I’m not sure what the boss would do if he found out.” “Oh my goodness,” she said. “Ok... ok... I can fix this. You work at the bookstore by Quills and Sofas, right?” “Yeah, that’s the one,” he said. “But, how can you help me?” “You see,” she began. “My friend, Twilight sparkle has been pushing me to learn more ‘practical spells’. So, recently I have been practicing translocation spells, and...” “Wait a second,” he said. “Are you saying that you can teleport me back to work?” “I... I,” she took another deep breath. “Yes, I can.” “Alright,” he said. His face shone with pure joy. “That’s what I’m talking about!” “Here goes,” she said. She concentrated hard on the bookstore. The image of its interior suddenly came into focus in her mind. She could see it clearly. She could see... Rainbow Dash? It was unmistakable; in her mind she could clearly see the cyan pegasus standing awkwardly in front of the register. Rarity decided that she should probably put the stallion right behind the counter. The thought of startling the athletic pegasus made her smile. “Thanks again,” the stallion said suddenly. “Oh and by the way, I believe that your friend Spike out there has something to tell you.” “Wait what?” she asked. But it was too late. The stallion suddenly disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. All traces of him ever being in the room, were gone. She stood there for a moment, not sure what had just happened, but she shook herself out of it, and opened up the door. “Rarity!” Spike shouted when he saw her. “Rainbow Dash just stopped by and... wait. What happened to the guy?” “He... uh... he went out another way,” she tried to explain. “Wait, what did you just say?”