With almost no effort at all, one dress after another hovered off their shared rack and went up into the air, guided by a magical aura covering them. Each dress was filled with diamonds and gems, sparkling with any sign of light that shone on them
A half dozen cardboard boxes were placed underneath them with a few slides on the floor, with their lids opened for anything to fit inside them. The closest to the pony present had a few dresses go inside it, carefully so that none of them would get tangled up. This continued until the whole box was full of dresses, in which the lids would shut.
This continued with each box until they were full of valuable dresses and tuxedos for mares and stallions alike. When all the lids were shut, a roller of clear tape came by, going from one end to another of a seam, until they were all secure with it.
With that part out of the way, the next step was to tape on a piece of paper that was cut into rectangular shapes. They were placed on a corner away from the taped seam, all with the same mailing address on them: Sapphire Shores, 157 Starswirl Street, Canterlot, Equestria.
"Perfect!" Rarity exclaimed. "How dreadful it was to design these beauties, but now she can finally see all the hard work I put into them!"
Satisfied with the result, she levitated all of the units into the air and pushed the door leading outside with her own hoof. A mailpony was waiting for her, with a yoke attaching him to a shipping carriage with hay to cushion the luggage. His hooves were bouncing off the ground, anxious to begin a delivery that was meant to leave yesterday.
He was even more ready to begin when she came outside with the shipment, as she placed them carefully into his cart. As soon as the last box was inside, he reared his body back and ran full speed ahead to the path for Canterlot. The cart kicked up a cloud of dust in its wake, and Rarity covered her mane with her hooves to prevent them from that hideous dirt.
"Please be careful with them!" she shouted. "Those dresses are worth thousands of bits, I can't afford to get any scratches on them!"
Even after a few seconds, he was a speck in the distance from Ponyville. She watched and begged to Celestia they wouldn't get damaged, but it was out of her hooves. Already believing this pony was more clumsy than Derpy ever was, she went back inside, with the commission out of her hair at long last.
The room she called her workstation was a complete mess. Everything was in shambles in terms of organization, with the sewing needle placed where the bows went, the bows mixed in with the yarn. A few ribbons were spread on the floor without any real reason. Considering how the room usually was, this...thing was almost unrecognizable from what it used to be, save for the wallpaper.
It didn't matter to her in the end. This was a very demanding request, she would reason, and she barely made the deadline as it is. Whenever she was in a pickle like this, sometimes a few of her principles had to be cast aside for the sake of creation.
But it had a price. She had to pull an all nighter, and it showed its toll by this point. Her mane was all frazzled and split, and there were bangs forming below her eyes.
She blinked a few times, realizing she was drowsy as hay. There was no way she would get away with a full night's rest with Sweetie around, so she settled for a quick power nap. The designer dragged her red sofa next to her, and fell into its cushions.
Soon after, she felt the need to drag her aching body into the spa for a treatment. But her hooves were so sore, she laid down within the comforting cushions of the sofa anyway, closing her eyes for some beauty sleep.
By Celestia, was I this exhausted? she thought, as she entered a very light form of sleep almost instantly. Oh well, it's all over, nopony will ever think to bother me, and things will be fine...
"Rarity? Where are you? You've been hiding from me all day!" a filly's squeaky voice said, chasing the peace and quiet away.
She opened her eyes, enraged that she WAS being interrupted. "What now?" she groaned. When she rolled around and looked ahead of herself, she saw Sweetie Belle searching all around for her, appearing just as restless as the mailpony had been. But even for a young filly's standards, she looked more hyper than usual.
"Oh, it's just you," she sighed, sinking back into the sofa. "What's the matter?"
Sweetie turned to see her big sister at long last. But as soon as she realized what Rarity was up to, she started to trot out of there. "Sorry, didn't know you were sleeping. I'll come back in a few hours."
Rarity shook her head, stretching her legs out in front of her. "No, might as well get this out of the way since you're here. What is it you want to talk about? Did something go wrong downstairs?"
"No, nothing like that. I know I said that Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and I would keep the sleepover in my room all night, but then I remembered there's a fireplace in the living room. You think we could use it for s'mores? We'll promise we won't try to be Cutie Mark Firefighters, honestly."
"Wait a moment," the designer interrupted, rising off the sofa and standing back into her hooves. "When did I say you could have a sleepover? I thought I told you there would be no sleepover last night. But then again, it sounds like you invited them for one tonight..."
Discovering it wasn't a yes she heard underneath her sister's breath, Sweetie Belle backed away a little more, intending to get out to save face. "Sorry sis, it sounded like you said yes to one on Saturday...I'll just go back to my room now..."
Rarity answered with another head shake. "That's alright. Next time, tell me before you plan ahead for these things so I can better prepare for it. But you did have a few rough times this week, right? I'm sure your friends would say the same, so it's not a bad idea at all. You have my permission to sleep over with your friends tonight."
Her little sister's eyes turned into big saucers, and she hopped around in circles in delight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! This will be the best night ever! And you're the best sister a pony can have!"
"That's great, darling. But could you go elsewhere for now? I'm going to be taking a nap for a while. It's been a long few days."
"Oh, of course," Sweetie responded. She turned around and opened the door leading to the living room, closing it softly as she caught Rarity try to sleep again. As soon as she was at the staircase leading to her room, she could hear her big sister snoring, talking in her sleep about a huge gem named Jerry.
"Wow, what a quick sleeper," she said to herself. The filly took the stairs into her room, making the adjustments for the festivities going down tonight. And it was going to take some time to do.
After a few hours of hard work and determination, she examined all the work she put into the preparation. She gleamed with pride over the final result, and all she had to do was wait for her two friends to arrive.
Thankfully, that wouldn't take very long at all. Dusk was fast approaching, and the moon was rising over the sky before the sun had set. With cool conditions and clear skies, it was perfect for what they had in mind, considering one part of the sleepover would be having the window open for ghost stories.
Seven in the afternoon. They should be here any minute now.
And soon somepony was. She heard the doorbell ring below, and skirted downstairs within a second. Knowing her sister had a habit of answering the door first, she poked her head inside Rarity's room to say "I'll get it!"
With Rarity sleeping soundly on the sofa, Sweetie Belle opened the door to see who it was. Scootaloo was waiting there, pressing the doorbell button again. But she stopped soon after, her eyes gleaming to see she wasn't the only one wearing her trademark cape.
"Sweetie Belle!" she shouted.
"Scootaloo! I was wondering when you were coming over!" Sweetie Belle greeted.
"I never miss one of our sleepovers! I just had some problems with my scooter, the back wheel was getting jammed. So, where's Apple Bloom?"
"She's not here yet," Sweetie said, shrugging. "I'm sure she'll be here any moment. I'm having the party in my room, so let's get started!"
The two fillies returned back into Sweetie's room, their capes flapping while they were running. Scootaloo shut the door behind them, and even somepony as energetic as she was ended up surprised by what Sweetie put together.
It wasn't as ambitious as a Pinkie Pie party, but it was still something by its own standards. A huge hoofmade poster of the three of them hanged on the wall, and another poster had a bunch of suggestions for Cutie Mark Crusading tonight.
Clearly, Sweetie planned for this to be the only place they needed to be tonight, as there were plenty of snacks in little bowls. A few bottles of soda sat next to them, because everypony knows the best way to have a calm and quiet sleepover is giving children something with caffeine and sugar inside.
"This is great! Could be our best sleepover yet!" the orange pegasus said. "How did you get all of this together?"
"Rarity's been getting more and more requests, so she's been getting more bits lately," Sweetie explained. "And I'm finally getting an allowance from that. Does twenty bits a week seem big to you?"
Before Scootaloo could answer, the doorbell rung again. Their ears perked up at the same time.
"Apple Bloom!" they shouted together.
Again, there was a rush to the front door, racing to say hello to her first. However, when they opened the door, they were more than a little shocked by what they saw.
Big Mac was there at the door, with Apple Bloom on his back. She had her hooves wrapped around his neck. Both of them had gloomy appearances to them, and her cheeks were wet from tears.
Neither Sweetie or Scootaloo knew how to take it. Sweetie opened her mouth to say something, but took her greeting back out of fear she might hit a nerve.
"Um, hi Big Mac, Apple Bloom," Scootaloo finally said. "What's wrong?"
Big Mac looked down at their level, both of them with their capes. He looked back at her sister before saying anything.
"Is your sister here with you?" he asked, looking at the unicorn. "Ah need to talk to her alone for a moment."
"Yeah, she's napping. I'll go wake her up and tell her you're here," she responded. She ran to the workstation and said something inaudible to Rarity, and came back to him.
"She's on her way. What happened?"
"Ah need you two to go to your room. This is an adult conversation between me and her," he answered, with a slight hint of sadness to it.
They nodded and went back, glancing over at their friend. She sniffed a few times, trying to stop crying for one moment.
Once they had left like he wanted, Rarity came to the front door with her mane completely jumbled and nothing like it usually was. If she didn't know better, it even looked...like a normal mare's mane.
She rubbed her forehead, and stopped in her tracks when she saw him standing there.
"Big Macintosh! Are you here to drop off Apple Bloom? I'm sorry for napping at such a moment, but I've had all the sleep I needed. I'll be sure to keep a good eye on them from now on."
"No, it's not that," he responded. "Ah hate to give you bad news like this, but it's about Applejack. She died yesterday while working on the field from a falling tree trunk."
Rarity gasped at the news, jumping back in horror. Her eyes watered from hearing such a development, and nothing about it read like a lie. Big Mac always told the truth about the family no matter what, and that all but confirmed the worst for AJ.
But how could one of her best friends be gone, just like that? It was only the other day when she helped the farm pony with groceries, and the next thing she knew, that same pony was dead...
"I cannot say how sorry I am for your loss," she consoled. "I can't believe this is happening myself. Ponyville won't be the same without her. Is there anything I can do to help you during this time?"
"Eeyup." He pointed at Apple Bloom, who was looking up to see she was at Rarity's place. "Ah thought she needed to get out of the house for a while, see her friends for now. Is that alright with you?"
Rarity levitated a box of tissue to her side, and wiped a few tears away with a few pieces. She nodded slowly as if there was a heavy rock hanging from her neck, and moved out of the way for the filly.
At first, Apple Bloom didn't want to let go of Big Mac. Yes, she wanted as many ponies supporting her as possible, but she felt so safe with him around. There was a tiny fear she would be scared and defenseless if he was gone. But in the end, she hopped off from his back and started to head inside.
She turned around to see him one last time, and he gave a weak smile in return.
"Ah need you to be strong right now," he advised her. "You got two of your friends that care deeply about you. Don't be afraid to ask them for help, like with me. Everypony will want to help you get through this time."
Then, she felt a piece of tissue brush on her wet cheeks. Rarity had taken a piece of tissue and used it to wipe some of Apple Bloom's tears away. It helped a little, and she hugged Big Mac again before he started to go back home.
After the hug, he closed the door behind him, praying that this sleepover would help her recover a little.
Now with him gone, she let go of herself and cried again. Rarity came to her aid with more tissue and a hug of her own. She patted her back and tried to convince her it would be alright, when that was a lie.
What neither one of them knew is Sweetie and Scootaloo were watching from the top of the staircase. They heard everything from beginning to end, and didn't know what to do next.
"We need to help her somehow," said Scootaloo. "What do you think?"
"I think we need to make her feel comfortable. That's all I got."
"Really? That's not even close to being enough. We need to help her feel happy."
"How do we do that?"
The question caused Scootaloo to blank out. She didn't really know, she had never been in a spot like this before and her inexperience was revealing itself here.
"OK. Make her feel as comfortable as possible. Here she comes."
They got up as Apple Bloom did find the strength to walk on her own hooves. Rarity escorted her up the staircase one step at a time, and she looked up to see her friends at the top. Both of them had stone cold faces, and she knew why.
"So you heard," she said, without a single trace of emotion. "Ah guess you know what happened to Applejack."
Before she could get another word out, both of them rushed and hugged her on the spot. Neither one knew what to say, but they knew something they could do about it. They snuggled their heads to her in a loving motion, and she sunk into their arms.
While it all came down around her, she didn't know what else she really wanted. This was the only thing she knew she needed, to know somepony was there for her.
"Can we go to your room?" she asked.
"Oh, of course!" Rarity answered. She pushed the door open for them as they entered inside. "I'll be happy to provide anything you request. It will be nothing for me. Maybe I should come inside with you?"
Apple Bloom shook her head without a word, still appearing lifeless as she did the first second she was here. The designer ignored the sting she felt at that moment at being turned down and went downstairs, secretly waiting for the moment she could help out.
Back in the bedroom, the first thing Apple Bloom did was spot the three sleeping bags on the floor. She went and sat on top of one of them, sighing again. The list of things to Crusade for was in her view, and usually she would love nothing more but to take the first idea down immediately. Now she didn't know what she would do with herself.
Again, the other two looked at each other for any suggestions. When Scootaloo glanced at the big soda bottle, her eyes lit up with an idea. She took a plastic cup in her hooves and carefully poured a big amount of the sugary goodness into it. The contents fizzled with the sound of bubbles floating to the surface.
The farm filly turned around to see what was making that racket, when Scootaloo handed her the drink. She said nothing and her expression didn't change a bit, but she took it anyway.
"It's your favorite," Scootaloo pointed out. "Cocoa Colt. It is your favorite drink, right?"
She nodded and drank a little of the stuff. And then some more. It wasn't enough. She needed more. The whole thing was gone in less than a minute, and life did return to her body. There still wasn't a smile, but at least it wasn't like looking at a zombie.
"Anything else you want?" Sweetie Belle asked. "We got everything, from candy corn to cotton candy, chocolate drops to s'mores."
"Ah'll like some s'mores," she answered.
That was the thing Sweetie wanted to hear. She emptied one of the bowls and filled it with all the chocolate bars, marshmallows, and graham crackers needed to create the snack.
Next thing they knew, she was throwing a bushel of sticks into the fireplace inside the living room. It was harder to get a spark from rubbing two twigs together, and she groaned when she discovered it was harder than it looked.
But when she looked at Apple Bloom, with her haunted eyes and hinged frame, she went back to work at it, and within a minute there was a fire igniting and consuming the sticks. She doused a flame that bounced from the fire and ended up on her mane, and now everything was ready to begin.
Apple Bloom looked at her friends while they were creating the first s'more for her. She felt numb since she woke up earlier that day, but at the same time she could see they were doing all this for her sake. They went out of their way to make her happy, because they really liked her. No, because they loved the little filly.
Was she appearing that wretched, that they felt like she needed this just to remain emotionally stable? It was a traumatic time in her life, nopony could deny that. But at the same time, she felt like she had to show she was stronger than this. That she could at the very least survive. Yet, she didn't feel like this was the moment to do that.
Sweetie and Scootaloo finished the s'more when they laid the top cracker on top together. They brought it in front of her, but she only stared at them without taking it.
"Apple Bloom? Don't you want it?" Sweetie asked. "I know it's not much, but it's something we thought you might like."
Instead, Apple Bloom extended her arms and wrapped them around the two, bringing them together for her own group hug.
"Thank you so much," she breathed. "Ah know Ah ain't my usual self, but this means so much to me. I love you girls so much."
She pulled back and took the s'more, taking a slow and small bite. It was possibly the best thing she ever tasted, and gave a big "Mmmm!" sound to show it.
Scootaloo and Sweetie both sighed, happy they did something right. They went and made their own s'mores, the first of many for the night.
The next few hours were just as good. Apple Bloom was still depressed from the event last night, but she warmed up to them as the night went on. No Crusading was done during that sleepover, but it didn't need to happen to make it a good time.
When it was eleven in the evening, Rarity decided she had waited long enough and went to check up on them. She cracked the door open a little into her little sister's room, and peered inside.
All three of them were snuggled up to each other in Sweetie's bed, forgetting about the sleeping bags. However, they all looked at peace while hugging the other, so she felt no need to come in and tell them to get down from there.
Feeling better now that the sleepover not only turned out great for Apple Bloom but the house didn't fall apart, she closed the door and went downstairs.
Going for her own bed, she slipped into the sheets and cried silently. She might not have been the closest friends with Applejack, but that didn't stop her for weeping for the dead. The farm pony's character was always something she admired, and there was no doubt that it was something she would mention during the funeral. How could she not? It was the best trait she had, her unwillingness to stand down and looking out for her own.
Nevertheless, she managed to sleep anyways with the same wet cheeks Apple Bloom had when she came in.
However, she was wrong about Apple Bloom sleeping well. She had the appearance that she was happy in her dreams. The reality was much different than what the surface suggested.