//------------------------------//
// Inspiration 
// Story: Organized chaos 
// by Soya 
//------------------------------//

Humming to herself while sweeping the floor with a broom held in her magic, Rarity trotted around the boutique in search of any perticularily dirty spots. The late-afternoon sunlight poured in through the tall window of the cojointed lounge, bathing her darling Opal in warmth as she rested peacefully on the couch. 

Finishing off her closing-time routine, the unicorn considered how to spend the evening. An unusually busy work-day called for a glass of rich wine and richer romance novel. Giggling lightly over the thought of returning to the delicious angst of her most recent read, Rarity put the broom aside to fetch the book upstairs. Sudden knocks interrupted her bouncy steps. Turning toward the door, she wondered who it could possibly be, curiosity growing with every insistant knock.

Opening the door with her magic revealed a pink, oversized dart aiming straight for her. It tumbled into her and Rarity fell onto her back with an un-ladylike grunt. 

"Hi Rarity!"

She looked into a pair of wide, blue eyes for all of a second before the weight removed itself from her chest. Sitting up with a groan Rarity saw the rapidly bouncing pony repeatedly move in and out of view in a circular fashion.

"Pinkie Pie..."

"Since I worked SOOO hard this last week on making the new sugar-bomb cupcakes recipe, the Cakes' gave me the day off, and I thought to myself 'Hey, Pinkie Pie-' Hey, whats up?! 'Im spectacular, thanks for asking! So, what do you want to do for your day off?' You know what? I havent spent much time with my favorite, fancy fashionista lately!" 

Something told Rarity quite a few batches of those cupcakes that had of course been edible but not quite up to standard had been taste-tasted and "disposed of" by the pink pony.

"Pinkie dear..." Rarity began, smiling hesitantly.

"Oooh, pretty!" 

Pinkie raced around the boutique and the conjoined lounge area to satisfy her limited attention-span and hyperactivity which had become a dangerous combination under the influence of too much sugar.

Pearls of sweat started shining above Rarity's brows, smile twitching into a grimace. If Pinkie didnt calm down soon dresses would be knocked over and ruffled beyond repair in the pink whirlwind, Opal's delicate temper could easily flair from stress and cause the cat to tear furniture or god forbid the dresses, or Rarity might just pop a vein over the disorder brought onto her metacilously prepared boutique. Alarms went off in her mind, warning her to act quickly to avoid the kind of disaster Sweetie Belle had wrought in the past.

"PINKIE." 

Rarity's screech reached through the whirlwind and the pony could suddenly be seen by the pony eye. Pinkie bounced around the room, humming a tune and looking at this and that, occassionally giggling to herself over some internal joke. "Wow Rarity, I love what youve done with the place!"

The pillows had flown off the couch and laid spread out on the floor, along with some flowers from the big bouquet on the coffee table. The fashion magazines from the same table which had laid in a neat stack were spread out on it as Pinkie had flipped through them in a hurry. 

Rarity took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Walking over to the lounge she couldnt spot any tears in the couch nor the mags, and the bouquet was also intact, if ruffled. Nothing a little tidying couldnt fix. She levitated the pillows back onto the couch, the flowers into Pinkie's mouth to busy her, which elicited a delighted hum from the earth pony, and the mags into a stack.

"So, what do you wanna do today?" Pinkie asked through a mouthful of flowers.

Rarity bit her lip, unsure of how to proceed. Her eyes darted over the room, searching for inspiration on how to handle the situation. View sweeping by the entrance to the kitchen brought a good helping of wine to mind, and Pinkie's occupation of course. 

Her view suddenly froze on its' way to the next object. An idea came to mind as she remembered how the sisters had agreed to spend the days of familial bonding outside if Sweetie was feeling perticularily energetic or wanted to try creative ideas. Getting messy is important and okay in the right spaces, like in her own inspiration room. Also, if Rarity figured the two friends had anything in common it would be that the flow of enthusiastic creation envigorated the spirit but exhausted energy levels. If Pinkie were to get in the zone for creation she needed her very own inspiratiom room a la Rarity's kitchen. Hopefully Pinkie was even a third as good at cleaning up messes as she was causing them.

"Pinkie darling?"

"Yes bestie?"

"Would you like to loan my kitchen for your day off?"

Pinkie tilted her head as she bounced.

"You could make something for us to snack on for tonight."

"Are we having a party of two?" 

"Uhm well, Im free to spend the evening in such lovely company as yours. Though Id like for this party to be a calm and simple affair, after the stressful day Ive been having." She looked hopefully at the vibrating pony, a silent plea in her eyes.

"Oh, oh! We could have a sleepover!"

Pinkie's movements once again sped up in her excitement. Opal wheezed from the couch, getting up and swiping with her paw, sharp claws glinting in the sunlight. 

With a high-pitched squeak of panic Rarity ran over to where Pinkie was  bouncing up and down, about to implode.

"Yes! Sleepover! But first-" She shoved her friend into the modest kitchen. "Bake!"

Pinkie imploded.



▪︎▪︎▪︎

Seated on a pillow, Rarity attempted to tame the black hole that was Pinkie's mane. Whenever one tangle came undone three seemed to take its place, not to mention the little knick-knacks she'd found in there. Pinkie didnt seem to mind Rarity's increasingly rough tugs on her hair, occasionally picking out a sweet from the varied selection in front of her.

"How many batches did you make again?" Rarity guessed there would be enough left-overs to offer Sweetie and her friends afternoon snacks for a couple months. 

An assortment of cupcakes, muffins, and pies laid before them in a pile. She didn't think she had the ingredients for quite so much, but then again, Pinkie might have pulled more out of an emergency baking spot right by Rarity's kitchen window.

"Eight, but three of them disappeared in the process. I wonder where they went off to?" The second black hole of Pinkie's stomach the unicorn presumed.

Rarity sighed and levitated the comb away. "I give up, you foul beast. At least you're now less foul than before."

Pinkie's mane maintained its' messy quality, yet had an added volume from the unicorn's fancy hair-products and best untangling efforts. Rarity felt as satisfied by this victory as when Applejack dressed up for the gala, or Rainbow went to the spa after losing a bet with the aformentioned farmpony.

"Ooh! Where'd you buy that?" Pinkie pointed at a pink pillow on the monroe covers of the bed next to them.

"I stitched it myself in fact," Rarity said, bouncing the pink curls with a hoof. "I used excess fabric and stuffing from an old pillow. Im not a one trick-pony of dresses, you know."

Pinkie looked thoughtful, grabbing a strawberry-cupcake from the pile and holding it out to Rarity, who took it in her hooves and nibbled on it. She normally didn't eat sweets for the sake of her figure, but since Pinkie had figured out her weakness for strawberries Rarity allowed the occasional indulgement. That every party had a strawberry-themed sweet had not escaped her notice. Pinkie could be a sly mare. 

"Could you make my gala-dress into a costume?" 

"A dress already is a costume. You'll have to be more specific dear." 

"Like, a mysterious get-up, that hides the pony." 

Rarity tapped her chin and hummed. "Like the mare do well-costume?" 

"Kinda!" Pinkie ate through the middles of two muffins and framed them with candy drops, holding them in front of her eyes to peek through them. "But less about getting stuff done in it, and more about looking good." 

"Oh! Are you planning a masquerade-ball?" 

"Sure!" 

"Thats quite stylish of you dear. But are you sure it would fit Ponyville's definition of 'fun'?" Anything resembling a party held by high society would in their town surely devolve into another Pinkie-party in a matter of minutes.

"Maybe we could mix stylish and fun into something new? A cupcake doesnt taste like flour and butter, after all."

Rarity wasn't going to question that logic. By Pinkie-standards it was outright reasonable. "Did you want help throwing this event?"

"That would be super, thanks for asking!" Rarity opened her mouth to clear the misunderstanding, then shut it closed. Throwing a masquerade-ball in little Ponyville might actually be fun after all, and if it failed the worst that would happen is that they would get to enjoy another Pinkie-party and every citizen in town would own a costume of hers, free of charge. 

The businessmare in her was enthusiastic about the prospect of everyone essentially wearing a sample of her work if only for one night. Even those who normally wouldn't be interested in buying anything from her might just come to appreciate her generously gifted piece of legendary fashion. And want another piece. Generosity and advertising went hoof in hoof, luckily for Rarity.

"Hmm. The opposing elements would have to be purposefully intermingled," Rarity said seriously. "If it is to be a success, we must work closely together every step of the way. No fun must be allowed to outweight the style. Or vice versa of course." 

Pinkie clopped her hooves and giggled. "Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!"

"But Pinkie Pie?"

"Yuppers!" 

"Whatever are you doing this for?"

Pinkie suddenly looked her square in the eye. "At my third party last week I saw something terrifying! It scared me out of my little pink mind!" 

"And that was?" Rarity asked hesitantly.

"Boredom!" 

Pinkie-party-fatigue was a common infliction in the quaint town; the recommended course of action was to at a party stay in the background, but not so much that it catches Pinkie's eye and she tries to excite one's actually overexcited spirit, and leave early, but not so early that Pinkie took it to be a rejection of her best fun-efforts. The ponies had learned this delicate dance shortly after Pinkie had arrived in the town. Twilight had gotten some advice and after a couple misshaps gotten it down as well.

"After I made sure I hadnt had a heart attack I asked myself why Cloudkicker was bored. Then I asked Cloudkicker why she was bored, and she said 'I gotta be honest with you Pinkie Pie. The first couple hundred of these from those first few years were cool and all, but since the town has grown and there are more birthdays and other celebrations than ever, well...'" Tears started to build in the corner of her eyes. "sh-she said... 'Im getting bored of them.' There! Thats my shameful secret!"

"Oh dear... Well, an artist musnt settle for good enough and stop developing. Inspiration to try new things for their art is simply a must!" 

"Wait a mini-minute." The sheen in Pinkie's eyes took on a sort of glow. "Im an artist?" 

"Well..." Pinkie followed the recipies of Sugarcube corner's specialties when she had kitchen duty at work, like Applejack stuck to the Apple-family recipies when baking, but left to her own devices Pinkie would experiment and create new goods. So she wasn't lacking in creativity and in a way her creations were art for the mouth the way Rarity's were art for the eyes.  "Metaphorically speaking." 

Pinkie gasped, and took Rarity's hooves in her own. "I'm a metaphorical artist! I'm gonna throw the most fun-stylish, inspired, Pinkie-tastic, Rari-licious party ever!" 

Rarity laughed in equal surprise and merth, draping her hooves over pink shoulders.

"Rarity?"

The blissfully embracing mares turned to the doorway where a bleary Sweetie Belle yawned into her fetlock. Rarity untangled from the hug and hastily trotted over.

"Sweetie Belle? Whatever are you doing here at this hour?" 

Sweetie gave her sister an incredulous look. "Its 9 in the morning. You were supposed to help me with schoolwork today, remember?" 

"Oh! My goodness, taming Pinkie's mane took longer than expected. Why dont you stay here while I walk Pinkie to the door?" 

Sweetie watched them leave and muttered to herself. "'Taming Pinkie's mane.' Sure you did..." Turning to the inside of the room her eyes widened.

The two ponies trotted and bounced to the boutique's front-door, smiles on their faces.

"I will make brand new costumes for everypony. I trust you will take care of the food and refreshments?"

"Of course! Should we make the decorations and invitations together?" 

"That sounds lovely dear. I will get to work on designing the costumes right away!" The hoof she'd raised at the proclimation lowered hesitantly. "Although... I don't know how many that would be. Not to mention that I lack measurements for most ponies in town."

"I think I can help you with that. We can work that out at Sugarcube corner tonight! Bye Rares!" Only a cloud of smoke was left in the wake of Pinkie speeding off.

"See you tonight dearie!" 

Trotting back up-stairs Rarity found Sweetie Belle lying on the pile of baked goods, her cheeks stuffed full. 

"Sweetie, homework first, sweets after." 

"Fine," Sweetie sighed, moving away from the pile and out the door. "I don't like strawberries that much anyway." 

Rarity glanced at the pile and found that all the goods indeed had a red tint to them. Sly mare, Rarity thought, levitating the goods with her down the stairs.