Chapter 17
Like One of Your French Ponies
Rarity smiled. Now this was something that the two of them could do that could easily lead to both of them getting to know one another!
“Why didn’t I think of this! She needs practice with drawing pony anatomy, and we can sit and talk about things! I can learn more about her, she can learn more about me and in doing so I can actually see what I’m working with!” Rarity sighed. “Still, the spa could have been nice...” she stomped her hoof. “No Rarity. You lost that battle, but you are far from, as they say, ‘Losing the war.'" She pulled out some more of her tea, careful to get the blends that lacked any grass. “And besides, perhaps we can bring it up on a truly special occasion.”
Rarity took the loose tea and strainer and put it into one of the teacups. She cheerfully poured hot water over it and let it brew for a minute. She sighed a bit. “A mare that doesn’t like shopping? That just seems so... absurd!” She paused for a moment. “Then again, Rarity, Rainbow Dash isn’t the shopping type either. And trying to get Applejack to shop with me is quite the chore. Not to mention that she wasn’t a pony before all this. For all I know, she was from weird species of lion, or seapony, or even raccoon.” She peered in on Heartbreak who was still in the other room. “Maybe a gryphon? She did tell Twilight a story about her getting transformed into a gryphon after all.”
Heartbreak was making faces at herself in the mirror, sticking her tongue out, rubbing her teeth, looking at herself slowly from left to right. She then seemed to be looking at one of the random dresses that was in one of the corners and shuttering. Rarity frowned.
“Could that be the reason why she hates dresses so? It’s almost too ironic that she despises the very thing that I am passionate about!” Rarity rolled her eyes and shook her head. “‘My mother never made me wear a dress and I never liked them.’ That seems like such a facetious reason. Maybe I could get her to wear a dress if it was-”
“Rarity! Are we going to do this or not?!” Heartbreak called out. “What are you doing in there?! You aren’t getting prettied up for this are you? Cause that would just add to what I have to draw! Come on! I’m kind of getting bored!”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “I’m coming, darling! Just give me a second!” She replied pausing in front of a mirror. “Just a quick brushing of my mane...and ready!”
Heartbreak sniffed the air as Rarity walked in. “Jasmine again, I see.” She said, her tail flicking.
Rarity looked a bit disappointed. “You didn’t want Jasmine?”
Heartbreak blinked and looked at Rarity questioningly. “No, Jasmine is fine. I like Jasmine.”
“Oh, well, I just thought that...” Rarity shook her head. “Never mind,” she said, floating a cup gently to Heartbreak’s side. “So! How shall we go about doing this?”
Heartbreak looked left and right. “Uhm, I was hoping you’d tell me. I’ve never really had anyp-p-pony model for me before. I just kind of always used picture references. And getting ponies to pose where I’m from is neigh-” she coughed on the word. “-almost impossible.” Rarity gave her a confused look. “Ponies don’t talk where I’m from,” she explained.
“Oh...How-” Rarity paused, “Odd.”
“Yes!” Heartbreak exclaimed. “So! How about we just start with simple poses?”
“How simple are we talking here, darling?” Rarity asked. “I could do a number of poses that could be seen as simple.”
“Uhm, I don’t know,” Heartbreak said rubbing the side of her head with her free hoof. “Simple.”
“Simple like, sitting simple? Laying simple? Standing simple?” Rarity asked.
Heartbreak rubbed her left temple. “Let’s not turn this into a moment like that one time with Rainbow Dash, Rarity. Just simple, not dramatic, though I really kinda like drawing dramatic poses. Just simple.”
“The time with Rainbow Dash?” Rarity blinked. ‘Time with Rainbow Dash’ could mean any hundreds of times. “You’re going to have to narrow it down.”
Heartbreak bit her lip, then sighed and rolled her eyes. “Needs to be about twenty percent cooler,” she finally replied almost imitating Rainbow to the letter.
Rarity looked at the ground wide eyed. “Oh, you mean the time I was making dresses for all my friends...”
“Yeah, and they didn’t like them. So you went back to the drawing board and redesigned them the way -they- wanted them, exhausted yourself putting together really weird designs and well... you know the rest of the story,” Heartbreak said tapping her pencil on the paper. Rarity stared at Heartbreak for a moment. Heartbreak sighed. “Yes, Rarity. I know -that- much about you.”
“It’s not that, darling, it’s just...I haven’t thought about that day in ages, my word, that was years ago.”
“A simple laying pose would be nice,” Heartbreak said suddenly.
“What? Oh!” Rarity shook off the feeling of nostalgia about that day.
“Uhm, maybe you could pull out your couch.” Heartbreak suggested, coughing.
“Hmmm, that would make this much more comfortable,” Rarity replied hovering some sugar lumps over Heartbreak’s tea. “Oh, forgive me, I forgot to ask how much sugar you take with your tea yesterday. How many would you like?”
“Five please,” Heartbreak replied.
“Five?” Rarity said, a bit shocked.
“I like my tea rather strong and sweet,” Heartbreak replied looking at the tip of her mechanical pencil.
“Five it is then!” Rarity giggled silently. There was something that she didn’t know about this mare already showing.
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Rarity smiled as she lay on her couch. The prospect of the progress that this could potentially bring was wonderful. She felt like she was really breaking ground here.
While Heartbreak guided her poses and asked if she could do things, Rarity felt the need to talk a bit about herself. “She might have known about that one time I designed outfits for my friends, but she can’t know everything about me!”
“I haven’t done any modeling in ages,” Rarity said attempting to spark a conversation.
Heartbreak looked up from her sketchbook and cocked her head looking confused. “Wait, I thought the only time you attempted modeling was when Photo Finish came to Ponyville.”
Rarity was taken aback once again by Heartbreak’s knowledge. “Darling, I don’t mean modeling like that, I mean... modeling like this! Being drawn, there was a time when my business wasn’t faring too well in the early days, so to keep myself afloat, I offered to be an art model for the local artists school here in Ponyville!”
Heartbreak blinked. “There’s an art school here in Ponyville?”
“Oh yes! It’s rather small compared to places like Canterlot or Manehatten or-” Rarity paused. “If I say that city’s name, she might realize that’s where we are going! I know this all started out as a means of bribery to get her to go to the spa, but I still get the feeling if she knows that’s where we’re going, she’s going to refuse to look her best. After all, it isn’t the classiest city in the whole of Equestria.” “Seaddle. Only about four or five students showed up, but it gave me bits to keep my head above water.”
Heartbreak’s eyes darted back and forth between Rarity and the paper. “Huh, I didn’t know that,” She said disjointedly, her ears perking towards Rarity. “Do go on.”
“Well, seeing that you are so insistent...” Rarity replied.
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Several hours had passed and the sketch session had only been interrupted for a few bathroom breaks, a small prepared lunch of light sandwiches, and more tea. All the while Rarity continued to talk about the early days of her shop, how it was difficult, but with a few lucky breaks and her friends’ help, (particularly Fluttershy’s) she was able to get a steady flow of customers. A few stallions who had even caught her eye. Heartbreak gave a small nod and replied with a, ‘Oh, hmmm ummm yeah... mmm hmmm interesting... do go on...”
There were the regulars, the fashion addicts, the occasional oddball pony wanting something obtuse for a great deal of money. She realized that she couldn’t just stay in dresses however, ponies only wore most of their clothing on special occasions here in Ponyville. And orders from other cities came with shipping costs and paperwork. Once again, Heartbreak’s only reply was to glance up and say, “Right, hmmm ummm yeah... mmm hmmm interesting... do go on...”
“So I was forced into doing decorating and advising on such matters. That’s about the time that I encountered Pinkie Pie, she had just moved to Ponyville at that time, I think. And while she knew how to hold a wonderful swarey, she just didn’t have any sense of style or design, she was a pretty chaotic mess before I added a few touches,” Rarity said looking thoughtful.
“Hmmm ummm yeah... Mmm Hmmm interesting... Do go on,” Heartbreak replied absentmindedly erasing and redrawing a line.
Rarity frowned. “So after meeting Pinkie Pie, I was kidnapped by changelings, taken to their hive and made as their new queen.”
“Hmmm ummm yeah... mmm hmmm interesting... do go on,” Heartbreak repeated in an almost droning manner.
Rarity snorted and stomped her hoof down. “Are you even paying attention to me?!”
Heartbreak jumped up a little and looked at Rarity like a deer caught in a pair of lights. “Huh? Did you say something Rarity?”
Rarity humphed and stood up from the couch. “You weren’t even paying attention to me!”
Heartbreak bit her lower lip and looked to the side. “I was...”
“Then what was I talking about?” Rarity asked.
Heartbreak said sheepishly. “Something about the early days of your shop and something about changelings?” Rarity walked over to Heartbreak and snatched her sketchbook.
“Hey!” Heartbreak protested.
“Have you even been drawin-” She stopped mid sentence and looked at the three or four sketches in the book. "Oh, well, that's very good, HB."
Heartbreak’s frown softened a bit and she blushed a bit at the praise. "I get focused on my art when I'm drawing, Rarity... I didn't mean to zone you out.”
Rarity smiled. “I should have known it was something like that. I got so caught up in old memories that I had completely disregarded the fact that I am talking to an artiste!” "Apologies for taking your sketchbook then, these drawings are really good.” She flipped back and forth between the four different poses.
“Not as good as when I had...” She looked at her hoof rather lementingly. “Fingers, but I’m getting better.” Heartbreak looked up at Rarity and tapped her chin. “I think I caught a few things about your early days in Ponyville but when you started talking about the stallions you've dated I zoned out."
Rarity giggled and blushed. “Oh, but some of them were quite... memorable."
Heartbreak coughed and looked up at the clock. "Uhm.. Oh, look at the time! Three hours. That was much longer than yesterday!" She clicked the top of her pencil and plucked it from her hoof. Her hunching posture cued that she was wanting to go.
“Perhaps that’s best before things turn awkward. And you do have a few other things that you need to be doing, Rarity. Like checking on Opal. Mommy has to see you before we leave tomorrow!” Rarity thought to herself. "Well, I must say that you are quite good at drawing, H.B."
"Well, I have a good model and artproofer, Rarity. I'll see you tomorrow at nine then, right?" Heartbreak asked.
"Yes, tomorrow at nine, because, well, we simply must do something about your mane." Rarity said helping place the saddlebags back on Heartbreaks back. “Is there any particular style that you want me to try?”
Heartbreak coughed and blinked. "Rarity, let's worry about that tomorrow before we leave? For now, this part has been ...nice. I don't want to spoil it." Rarity looked a bit disappointed. "But, would you like one of these drawings?"
“Oh my goodness! She’s actually offering you a drawing! A piece of her very soul!” Rarity mentally composed herself. “Calm down Rarity. It’s a drawing. And you have a long way of getting this pony to open up completely. Still...” Rarity sniffed a bit. "Very well, H.B., I would be honored. They are all quite lovely."
Heartbreak attempted to flip through the pages of her sketchbook with her hooves with only minimal success. She sighed. “You’d figure by now I would realize that these hooves are useless.”
Rarity smiled and floated the book a few feet away from Heartbreak’s face. “You can just ask for a bit of help, darling. Now which one?”
Heartbreak tapped the floating pages and picked out what she thought was the best one. "This one,” she said. Rarity quickly and neatly plucked the drawing from the book. It was a wonderful full body pose. “Shame I don't have any coloured pens. I would ink in the eyes and marks."
Rarity felt a moment of inspiration strike her and gave Heartbreak a grin. "Oh, I think I may have just the thing, darling.”
Heartbreak blinked as she took the sketchbook from the air and put it in her saddlebag. "Uhm... oh?"
“Yes, where did I put them,” Rarity thought out loud as she looked over her shop. “Oh yes!” Her eyes turned toward one of the tall dressers in the far corner of the room. She focused a bit and down floated a jeweled collection of pens. "Now, they may not be quite your style dear, but..."
Heartbreak’s eyes fluttered a bit as the sparkling pens floated in front of her. There appeared to be at least twelve of them. She looked worried and bit her lip. "That's... really... uhm nice... but... uhm... will they fit my hole?" She asked waggling her hoof at Rarity.
"Oh well um, I didn't quite consider that. Maybe they can be um... modified to go with your... contraption?"
"Maybe, but I'm not sure that we should mess with that, uhm," Heartbreak said, looking a bit unsure of the gift being offered to her.
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Alright, I know I have been rejecting gifts that I haven’t earned left and right ever since I’ve arrived here in Equestria. Well, most of the gifts I have been offered. I have a few accessories now. A saddlebag, a journal, a mechanical pencil, a sketch book, some erasers and pencils, a pair of overwear, and two hats. And now Rarity is offering me a set of very pretty inking pens.
The pens themselves are very classy, elegant simplistic things that are set with gemstones. Each one I am guessing is the colour that is being represented by their respective gem. They, ‘might,’ fit the hole in my hoof. ‘Might,’ being the key word here. Maybe if I were to wrap them with a little tissue paper and shove them in... But then I would have have worries about cracking my hoof at the worst and breaking the pen at the best. Both of which are bad, but cracked hoof is the worst possible outcome here. Rarity is looking at me disappointedly after I noted my concerns about this. I think she’s thinking that I am rejecting one of her gifts again. Fuck, after all that drawing and actually doing something with her that seems... meaningful, I would look like a total heel if I just outright rejected this nice of a gift.
"But! That doesn't mean that I can't attempt to practice with these. How about we keep them here for the time being and I stop by when I feel the need to ink and draw?"
Rarity smiles sadly and floats the pens to her desk, placing them in nice neat rows. "Well, if you insist, HB... I wanted them to be a bit of a, well, gift for you."
"I'm not rejecting this gift, Rarity, it's a nice gift. It's just.. I don't have anywhere to put them...” The sadness lifts off her face. She understands. Well, I hope she understands. I could be totally reading her wrong. I tentatively reach forward and place a hoof on her shoulder. I really hope she doesn’t ask if I washed my hooves or something like that. “Maybe and when I get a house? After all, I don’t want to break what looks like a very expensive gift from a rather wonderful..." Darnit. I don’t want to say that Rarity is a friend. It just doesn’t feel right, it just doesn’t fit right now. “...pony.”
Rarity smiles and rubs her hoof against mine. Alright the gesture is nice, but the feel of hooves on hooves is just plain weird! “That's actually a rather good idea, HB. I mean if you feel that’s for the best...”
I nod. “I’m still trying to figure out how to get this saddle back on and off and I tend to kinda toss it about. But,” thank you Minnesota, you gave me the horrible habit of the long goodbye. Come on H.B., get to that door, "I'll see you at nine tomorrow, Rarity. I had a... lovely time."
Rarity opens the door, smiling. “As did I, and yes. Tomorrow morning at nine! I will see you then!”
As the door closes and I start to walk back to the library, I mull over everything that happened. Rarity seemed to be catching on to my, ‘less than mare,’ behaviors. And I wasn’t ready with any good defensive rebuttals. I am going to have to come up with some tonight. But despite the awkwardness, the chafing, and a few other minor things, I think that today went much better than yesterday. I look back at the boutique. I think that Rarity and I found some common ground today. If I’m lucky, we’ll get through this month without killing each other.