//------------------------------// // 13 Rarity: "Stitching it Together then Running Away From It" // Story: Mission to the Pony Planet // by ersmiller //------------------------------// ??:?? AM Rarity took a few steps back, smiling as she admired her work. A poneighquin stood by the window for lighting, fully decked out in a flowing gown of three colors across five layers, a headdress, and anklets. Colored gems were affixed in strategic locations to catch and refract the light. To her right was the easel from before, but now sporting a finished blueprint for that very dress. Beside it was another easel with a matching two-legged humane version of the same dress indicating shaped sequins, beads, and reflective tape to be used in place of gems. “I do love when a design comes together.” The large, satisfied smile on her face began to turn to confusion as she thought back to how she put the dress together, or even how she was able to hold and use the pencils to draw out the designs. She looked down at her hooves. “How did I …?” Then she noticed the light blue glow reflecting on the floor. “Now why are you lit again?” she asked her horn. Wondering if it was picking up any more “signals,” she turned around expecting to feel that buzzing again and froze at what she saw. Fabric, poneighquins, dresses, gems, pencils, sequins, appliques, thread, pins and needles. All of them hovering in the air surrounded by a light blue glow. Rarity backed up. Her entourage followed her. She stepped to the side. Her entourage followed her. She stepped to her other side. Her entourage followed her. She screamed, “Ghosts!” and galloped out of the room. Her entourage didn’t miss a beat. Rarity’s escape attempt led her up a set of stairs and down a hallway. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend, I just wanted to help!  The dress was calling to me!” “Rarity?” a young, and strangely familiar voice, called from a side room but Rarity was already past that part of the hall and finding herself at a dead end. With nowhere to go, and only a potted plant to hide behind, she ducked, hoping the dead end wouldn’t be literal. The poneighquin was the first to strike, crashing into the wall beside her. This was followed by dresses and stacks of fabric all landing on and around her in heaps. Next up were gems, and various supplies, some more solid than others. “Ow, ow, ow!” Pulling up the rear were assorted spools of thread, two pencils, and … the needles. Thankfully most of these bounced around her harmlessly, but one needle struck true. “Yipe!” Rarity leaped forward in surprise, bounding into the back wall with a thud. “Rarity? Are you alright?” came the voice again. Rarity just moaned. “Is it over?” “Is what ove—oh. Huh?” From under the now stationary dresses and supplies, Rarity shifted, noting that her horn’s glow had stopped. She turned and pushed the fabrics away to find her new companion. A small, white unicorn girl with mulberry and rose hair stood before her. Rarity paused as recognition hit her. “Sweetie? Sweetie Belle? My goodness, how adorable. Just look at you!” “Look at me?! Look at you!" Sweetie answered, her eyes wide. "What happened? What’s with all the fabrics? Are you wearing one of Twilight’s Gala dresses?” “I believe I may have angered some ghosts or a security system.” “We don’t have a security system or ghosts. The Cutie Mark Crusader Ghost Hunters and The Cutie Mark Crusader Home Protection Agency proved one and destroyed the other.  At the same time actually.” Sweetie blinked and shied back with a sheepish grin, "Sorry, again, for that second one." “But everything was floating in this eerie blue glow.” Rarity kept looking around for anything else that might be glowing blue, or on the warpath, or both. “Blue—? What kind of blue?” “Cornflower blue.” Sweetie Belle tilted her head and slightly squinted one eye. “Is Discord messing with our magic again?” “Our magic?” “Yeah. You know …,” Sweetie trailed off, lighting her own horn in a light green, almost matching her eyes, and lifted some of the scattered debris. “Hmm, mine’s fine. What did you do? Try to make him wear a suit with too few colors again?” “I, uh, possibly? I was just working in pony Ra—um, my inspiration room when I was chased by the supplies I was working with. I had just been wondering how I could have done it all so fast.” Rarity watched as Sweetie’s green glow shook out and folded the uncut fabrics in mid air, no hoof gestures or anything, Sweetie was just standing there following everything with her eyes, head only slightly bobbing along. Rarity then looked down at a stray diamond—was that Jerry?—and thought about getting a closer look. Suddenly, Sweetie backed up and unfolded one garment, holding it between them as if a shield. “Just making sure it’s safe,” she said. When Rarity looked back down she saw the diamond floating up to her in that light blue glow. Her eyes widened and she turned her head left and right watching Jerry follow. Elated, she focused on an opal, also lifting it in the air with the blue glow and naming it Toodles. “I did it! I must have figured it out when inspiration struck and never noticed.” She looked down at Sweetie. “Look, Sweetie! I did it!” Sweetie slowly peeked out from under her makeshift shield. “You’re okay now?” “ 'Okay'? Just look at this!” Rarity picked up more gems, sorting them by type; the fabrics, shaking and folding them out as Sweetie had before; the pins, sticking them safely into a pin cushion. She giggled, dancing her forelegs on the floor with happy little cloppy sounds. Moments later Rarity took stock. All the previously offending objects were in the air again, but under her control. “Look, Sweetie, look!” “Yeah, yeah. I see,” Sweetie replied with a dull tone. “Showoff,” she mumbled after. “I guess Discord got bored. You can always tell Fluttershy about it when she gets back from your other shop. That’ll get him in hot water.” Sweetie blinked and put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Wait, aren’t you supposed to be there too?” “What, dear?” asked Rarity, still focused on her newfound telekinesis. “You’re supposed to be in working in your other shop today. All of you got on a train first thing yesterday morning. You said you might be gone a while and asked me to watch the boutique.” “Oh." Rarity snapped her head back up toward Sweetie. "Oh, of course. She’s—I’m in, I mean I was in the other one. Since early yesterday? And Princess Twilight?” “ ‘Princess’ Twilight?” Sweetie stressed her sister's use of the royal title. “Yes, is she—I have more than one shop!?” Rarity gasped. “Are you okay, sis? You’ve had three shops for a while now.” “T-three?" Rarity stuttered and tried to show the count on her hoof but quickly found the error in such an attempt. "Not just one whole shop of my own, and not even just two, but I have three whole shops filled with designs of my own making?!” “Well … yeah? Though it’s not just your stuff. You have that showcase aisle in your Canterlot one for new designers and Coco Pommel has a department in your Manehattan shop.” “I have a shop in Manehattan? The Manehattan? The height of sophistication, elegance, culture, energy, beauty, majesty, the greatest city in our nation!? I have three shops and one is in that Manehattan?” Sweetie looked around nervously for a moment. “… yes?” “Oh!” Rarity pronked in place. “That’s marvelous, simply marvelous!” “O-kay?” Sweetie’s eyes followed Rarity up and down as she jumped in her giddiness. “Where’s the third one?” “Third one?” “Yes, dear. You said there’s three. Canterlot, Manehattan, and where’s the third one?” Sweetie’s mouth slowly opened and her brow crinkled up in confusion. “We’re standing in it?” “This isn’t Canterlot or Canterville?” Rarity turned to look out the nearest window. “This is Ponyville. Where we live?” “ 'Pony-ville'?  I live in a village but I have shops in the capital and greatest city in the nation?” “Actually, I’ve always liked Canterlot better.” “Oh, my," Rarity gasped, turning back from the window but looked up as if imagining words on a banner. "It’s like a rags to riches story. A fashion pioneer braving the harsh mainstays of the more wealthy, established brand names to strike out a name for herself and wins against all odds!” “Rags? We were never really that poor," Sweetie explained calmly. "Mom and Dad just like the simple life.” It was a few moments before enough stars left Rarity’s eyes for her to remember she had an audience and a mission. “Oh! And you said Princess Twilight is at one of my shops in one of those wonderful cities?” “Um, you were on the train with her. But if you’re back already, maybe she is too?” “Oh, no, dear,” Rarity scrambled for a plausible excuse her pony counterpart might use. “I just came back because I … uh. I misplaced … my … travel … hat?” Sweetie looked up at her for a quiet moment, seemingly processing the information. “I can help you find it. Which one do you want? You are just bringing one, right?” There were many such travel hats in her own closet back home, but what would a pony version of herself have? How much information could she give and not seem even more out of place in this magical world? “Um, yes, just the feather cap should suffice?” Sweetie blinked. “Which one?” Rarity blinked back.  She needed something more specific, but not too specific. "The Shadow Spade replica from volume two?" "Which one?" “Oh pff," Rarity waved her off, "you know, it doesn’t matter. I got caught up in a project and—I should just be getting back to the train station to get back to, er, which shop was it I’m supposed to be in right now?” “You didn’t say. Both maybe?” “Um, well, no matter. We shall sort things out. And thank you for agreeing to watch this boutique while she—I’m gone off to the other two boutiques. What a helpful and adorable little sister you are!” Unable to help herself, Rarity sat on her haunches to hold out her forelegs and lifted Sweetie into the air with her magic. “Eek, Rarity!” Sweetie protested until she was brought into a hug. “Awe, I love you too, sis.” A few moments passed with Rarity enjoying the cozy hug, petting pony Sweetie’s mane. After the third set of giggles from her older sister, Sweetie cleared her throat. “Um, Rarity? If you still want me to run the shop, I’ll need to get it ready.” “Whatever for, dear? The sign said ten.” “Yeah. It’s almost nine.” “Nine?!” Rarity gasped. “But it was only seven when I got here. Oh, no! I was supposed to check in every half hour!” “Check in? With whaa—?!” Sweetie’s question was cut off when Rarity let go of her and rushed back toward the boutique entrance. “RARITY! Put me down first!” “But I did!” Rarity stopped and turned to see everything she had picked up in her magic, including Sweetie Belle, following behind her in the air. “Oh. Dreadfully sorry about that.” With a thought, all the items, and filly, were neatly lowered to the floor and Rarity turned back toward the staircase. “RARITY!” “What, dear?” Turning back to her counterpart’s sister revealed everything to still be in the now familiar blue glow and lazily drifting just above the floor. “Um, hrmm. I seem to still be having difficulties,” she sheepishly explained. Sweetie gave her a half-lidded stare and, used an odd sort of doggy—pony?—paddle to swim higher up within Rarity’s glow until they were nearly the same height. She then reached out and quickly flicked Rarity’s horn with her hoof making it twang and vibrate. Instantly Sweetie and all the objects stopped glowing blue and dropped to the floor. “Oh!” Rarity’s hoof went to her horn to stop its motions, a dull throbbing beginning to form in her skull behind it. “Um, thank you.” With a groan, Sweetie picked herself up off the floor. “Don’t mention it.” “Now I must be going, uh, back to, um, my other shops!” Rarity called back as she continued on. Upon crossing the main show floor she realized she had been correctly galloping without thinking about it and she had already unlocked and opened the door with magic easily. She stopped, looked back toward the inspiration room, and smiled. *** *** *** 09:10 AM Rarity burst into the palace of friendship’s main lobby wearing saddlebags, a clean set of stockings and shoes, along with the new dress and matching headdress she had just finished. Floating behind her in a blue glow matching her horn’s was a sketchbook and pencil. “Girls?!” she called. “Girls! I’m so sorry I missed our earlier meetup times, but I know where Twi is!” With no reply she quickly proceeded up the stairs, counting the landings to be sure she got the right floor. Upon arriving, she recalled that counting was unnecessary as the floor she needed was the only one with various debris strewn about from an overexcited pegasus. “Girls?” she kept calling, trotting toward the room with the mirror portal. “Girls? Is there anybody here?” She found herself looking at her reflection in the portal and quaffed her mane and tail. She was getting used to this pony thing. But where were the others? She located Sunset’s correspondence journal and used her magic to open to the last page with writing on it. Still nothing new since Twily’s breakdown. With nothing else to do, she levitated the journal into her saddlebags and began heading back to the main lobby, cleaning up the worst offending messes along the way. “I suppose I wait. Shouldn't be that long till someone shows up.”