//------------------------------// // S2 Ch 10: Talk of Canterlot // Story: The Story of Twilight Glow // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Rarity hummed happily, dashing around her little, second boutique. Now, she wasn’t sure that she NEEDED this second boutique yet, especially not in the heart of Canterlot. But it was turning out to be quite a delgihtful investment. Especially considering the amount of bits she was bringing in whenever she worked on a dress for one of the nobles or her highness for events such as these. Being able to do all the work and have all her available tools at hoof without having to go home was nice. It also helped that her new tenant was able to quickly move things from boutique to boutique and, if it really came to it, could help her teleport from boutique to boutique. Though she’d only used THAT particular feature once. She much preferred the train, it didn’t feel quite so like death. And she could work while on the train, so the extra time spent was worth it to not feel like THAT. She glanced to the three dresses she’d been working on. Nightmare Moon’s, Twilight Glow’s and Moondancer’s. Reds were the color theme this time, beautiful crimsons, with the ruler bearing the dark reds while her student and bard wore lighter colors. Now, while the two weren’t technically her highest ranking officials, almost everypony knew how close the three were and that they had the ear of her highness. It only made sense that they would dress in a similar manner. Her royal highness would, of course, have symbols of the moon across her, while the other two would bear marks of stars. Beautiful, graceful and refined. She would-- A light jingle from the main entrance made her glance back. Two unicorns trotted in, a stallion with a gray coat and dark gray mane, and a mare with a yellow coat and white and pink streaked mane. The two looked around before their eyes focused on Rarity. “Ah. Are you the owner of this establishment?” the stallion asked. “THE Rarity?” The fashionista grinned and nodded, stepping forward and nodding her head. She could easily recognize that, whoever these ponies were, they were important and refined. The very kind of ponies she was hoping her works would one day be the talk of the town of. “Yes, and welcome to my Canterlot Boutique. How can I help you today?” The stallion looked down on her with a look of petty annoyance. “I am Jet Set and this is my wife, Upper Crust.” “Charmed,” the mare said with a tone that said anything but. “We hear that YOU are the mare to speak to about having the perfect outfits for the upcoming Hearts and Hooves Ball,” he said. “We want the very best you have to offer.” “Of course!” she said with a nod. “Now, here at the Canterlot Boutique I only make the finest outfits, ones you can be proud to call your own.” “Mmm, quite,” he said, glancing around the boutique. “I can see you are quite talented. I particularly like that hat, I...” He trailed off when his eyes fell onto the dresses she was making for Nightmare Moon and her entourage. “Ah. So the rumors are true.” “Rumors?” “That you are the personal designer for… Nightmare Moon.” “Yes,” Rarity said firmly, grinding a hoof into the ground. “Is that a problem?” “Of course not,” he said with a shake of his head. “I would like our outfits to be unique, of course. Not just… knockoffs of whatever you put her in.” Rarity chuckled and shook her head. Oh, that she understood. “Worry not. I have absolutely NO intention of ever making knock offs or duplicates or anything like that. A Rarity original is just that. Original and unique. Designed to make a pony feel truly special.” She couldn’t help but shudder at the idea of just making knock offs. Sure, she could understand the reason for it, why a pony would make copies of their original works, mass produce them. Designing and creating was a long, arduous process and, at the end of the day, a pony needed bits to KEEP doing the work they loved. Fortunately, she was lucky enough to not be in the position where she NEEDED to do that, where she depended on sacrificing her creativeness for extra bits, so she could always flex her mental muscles to create something new and unique. “Now. If you two will step onto this platform and I will take your measurements?” Upper went first, gingerly stepping onto the platform and posing, her eyes closed. Rarity gripped her measuring tape in her magic and began her work. “Though, I can’t imagine how you can stomach making dresses for those… other two,” the mare said smoothly. “Other two?” Rarity asked, jotting down the measurements in her notebook. “Indeed. That… bard and student of hers. Dusk and Moonglow,” Upper said with a shudder. “Twilight and Moondancer,” Rarity corrected, a mild look of annoyance on her face. “And why ever not? They are very close to her highness.” Jet snorted, sharing a look with his wife. He answered in her place. “I suppose. But they’re both so… common. And despicable. Imagine being such a… passable author and then being so greedy as to betray your fellow pony kind for a hoofful of bits.” “W-what?” Rarity asked, almost dropping the measuring tape. “Oh, you haven’t heard?” he asked with a snort. “Everypony who reads her book can just tell you, how greedy and self serving she is. Imagine using the loss of our… once great ruler as a means to further your career. She was a barely recognized name and now, by tricking our new Ruler of the Night into giving her a role as… ugh… bard, she’s become quite a household name.” Rarity felt anger growing inside her, the measuring tape shaking in her grip. “Twilight was hardly a ‘passable’ author, her books were--” “And then, on top of it, that ‘student’ of hers. Betraying Celestia the very moment she’s gone? It’s obvious the mare is only interested in power and prestige she can gain by being close to a princess.” “Now, I don’t think either of them--” Upper shook her head and interrupted her. “Frankly, they’re both disgraces to pony kinds everywhere. Selfish and self serving. Why, if Celestia herself were here, she’d likely have banished the pair of them just for all the harm they’ve done to our fair and beautiful kingdom.” The unicorn glanced around the boutique. “Getting themselves close to the ruler and manipulating her for their own gain? Imagine how much better it would be for all of us if a proper pony was in their place.” Rarity couldn’t stop herself from letting out a low growl in the back of her throat. These ponies thought they could walk into her boutique and insult HER friends? “And not to mention that absolutely tacky dragon. I mean, dragons ARE such filthy creatures, but to abandon his--” “ENOUGH!” Rarity roared, the measuring tape snapping in her magic. “Oh?” Jet asked. “Are you finish measuring already? Do you need mine, next?” “NO!” she snapped, stomping a hoof down and glaring at him. “Both of you are hereby BANISHED from the Canterlot Boutique!” “W-what?” he asked, staring at her. “But we--” “You know literally NOTHING about what Twilight OR Moondancer are going through. On top of that, you seem to have no issue with bad mouthing or… dragging their names through the mud. And I will NOT have that in MY shop,” she snapped. “Not to mention Spike. He is an absolutely DELIGHTFUL dragon and I will NOT stand for such words of my friends!” The stallion’s eyes bulged. “I-I didn’t mean that--” “Oh, I think you know EXACTLY what you meant. Both of you, OUT! Before I call the guard and have you escorted from my establishment! I wouldn’t design a tea cozy for you, let alone garments worthy of this ball! Now get! OUT!” The stallion stared at her while his wife trotted to his side. “I… see. Hmph. I suppose you did seem a bit--” “Finish that sentence and you will regret it,” Rarity said dangerously, her eyes narrowed to slits. “Get. Out.” The stallion gulped and turned, his wife following besides him. “Ugh, these creative types. So… common,” he muttered. “Indeed. I guess we’ll have to go to a proper dress maker for our ballroom attire,” Upper said with a shake of her head. Rarity sighed once the door closed, sitting down. Her horn glowed for a moment and a few of the lights turned off. Standing across the room, out of the way, was the shade. The creature had gotten far better at not terrifying her. Her pulse was high and she felt nothing but anger, now. She glanced to the three dresses she needed to finish, before sighing. She needed something to calm down with, and she had lots of time. “You know… perhaps it’s time that I take a little break and work on my other project,” she said, giving the creature a small smile. She didn’t know how aware it truly was of its surroundings, but she knew it seemed to enjoy being around her and, more importantly, around her garments. Her horn glowed before she locked the door with her magic and three ponyquins floated out from the back room, each wearing thin, whispy garments that seemed to mold and flicker in the very limited lighting. The shade-inspired dresses were especially unique, she knew. Inspired by the creature that now… haunted her boutique, for lack of a better term. Crafted in the dim light, they were made only for dark events, swirling around the pony in a way similar to how the darkness seemed to swirl around the shades. In a way, it was beautiful. A haunting, sorrowful design, full of longing and hope to escape ones shackles. Rarity glanced back to her houseguest and sighed. She didn’t know who that pony was, or what they had done to deserve such a fate. But she truly hoped that, one day, she could get to truly meet the pony behind those empty eyes and show them what they had inspired. Ask how they truly felt about it. She had a feeling they’d like that. Though, with a sad ache in her heart, she wondered if the pony would ever be able to enjoy it. From what she had read about them in Twilight’s book, she found it unlikely.