"Four different types of ponies?" Harold asked. "There are four different types of ponies here? In Equestria?"
"Why yes, Mr. Harold," Fluttershy answered. "Here in Equestria, our population of ponies range into four different types. There are pegasus ponies, like me, then there are Earth ponies, unicorns and alicorns."
Harold slumped back into the couch, combing his hair whilst blowing a surprised sigh. He was surprised by a couple of facts that Fluttershy pointed out. One of those facts was the existence of a unicorn and Earth ponies living in harmony. Just like the pegasus that was Fluttershy, Harold had only heard of unicorns through myths and legends. Unicorns were the ponies with the single horn on their head which, according to legend, was a conduit for great magical power. He once read in one of C.S. Lewis's novels that the unicorns were used in great wars against the minotaurs, giants and other unruly creatures that stalked within Narnia. He could still see the cover on one of Lewis's books of a delicate white unicorn standing at a sideways view, blood dripping from its long horn.
Even so, Harold was surprised by the species of unicorn living in this unexplained land. At one point in his life, Harold thought unicorns didn't exist, a make-believe story told especially to little girls as a bedtime story so they would sleep through the night. Then again, this place was called Equestria, the "eques" part of the name being Latin for "horse." It made sense to Harold that unicorns, Earth ponies and pegasus ponies lived together in one land under one sun.
Then there was the alicorn.
Harold never heard of this pony before and he read through the books of mythological he could find at the library. He couldn't recall any story about the fourth type of pony. The alicorn species was very new to Harold, but for some reason there was a sense of familiarity with that word. It almost frightened him, like an invisible specter breathing down his shoulder.
Alicorns. Just what were they?
Harold raised his hand. "Uh, Fluttershy. What are alicorns, exactly?"
"I'm glad you asked," said Fluttershy. "Alicorns are ponies with the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus. In Equestria, alicorns hold the royal title as a Princess of Equestria."
A sudden chill ran through Harold's nerves like an electric current as he was surprised by the title held for the fabled "alicorn." "A... A princess?" Harold asked. "You're joking me."
"I'm not," said Fluttershy with a mildly serious tone. "An alicorn holds the title of princess in Equstria. The reason why it is, and I'm just speaking from everyone's common knowledge, is because alicorns contain a really powerful magic, one that even the most powerful wizards in Equestria combined can't beat. Their magic, appearance and regal status help identify all alicorns as a princess. Why, even an ordinary pony can ascend into an alicorn by creating a new magic that has never been made before."
"Wait! Is it possible for an ordinary pony to become a princess!?" Harold asked.
"Of course, because a dear friend of mine had recently ascended into an alicorn." At that moment when Fluttershy said this, Harold felt himself stunned with surprise. His jaw dropped, his eyes widened and breath shortened while he processed the words, "dear friend" used in that last sentence. The words "dear" and "friend" was used to describe how close she was with her acquaintance. If Fluttershy's friend really was an alicorn princess, then Harold needed to do what he could so that he did not get on that alicorn's bad side.
Now that Harold was given a brief introduction to the alicorn ponies, he could imagine what they looked like with their appearance and their title as a princess. In his mind, Harold pictured a stairway made of stone, leading up into the heavens which shone with its majestic holy light. Within that light came a tall horse, a tall horn protruding from its lifted head and wings unfurled like an angel. At the horse's hooves were a following of ponies bowing to her, all unicorn, pegasus and Earth pony alike, each feeling unworthy to be within the presence of such a divine power. The horn was glimmering at its tip as if the sunlight reflected off of it, giving the alicorn an even greater presence of divinity.
Well, that was how Harold pictured it, anyway. A somewhat vivid vision of an alicorn worshipped like some goddess by those of a lower power. Why Harold pictured the alicorn this way, he didn't know.
Fluttershy cleared her throat, bringing Harold back to his senses. "Moving on with our lesson," said Fluttershy. "Each and every pony in Equestria all have a special role in the prosperity of Equestria. The pegasus ponies like myself... well, actually, not like myself... they help to schedule and maintain the weather, like what days are rainy, what days are sunny, even when the days become brisk and cold.
"Earth ponies are ponies without any wings and horns. As I recall, you told me you had Earth ponies on your world, but not as intelligent as us, right?" Harold nodded his head. "Well, Earth ponies live on the ground, but they're known for their manual labor and the contribution into creating cities, just like the town of Ponyville.
"Finally, there are the unicorns," Fluttershy added. "Like I said earlier, all unicorns contain a magic that they channel through the horns on their foreheads. Their magic allows them to do tasks that Earth ponies and pegasus normally won't do, although most of today's unicorns use their magic to levitate objects."
This was becoming interesting to Harold, for some reason. His eyes trailed down to Fluttershy's flank, spotting a pink color plastered on the mound of yellow. "You know, that reminds me," Harold said, a finger pointed to the pegasus's sides. "I've been meaning to ask you about this Fluttershy. What's with the butterflies on your, uh... hindquarters?"
Fluttershy perked and stood up, turning to look at her three pink butterflies near her long, pink tail. "Oh this? This is my Cutie Mark. It's a symbol that appears on our flanks to represent our true potential we discover at a young age." She rubbed her hoof over her decorated flank, smiling at the moment she obtained her Cutie Mark. "Let me tell you a story of how I got my Cutie Mark when I was just a filly. When I was little, I lived in the town of Cloudsdale, a city made up of clouds. Only winged ponies have the magic to walk on clouds."
"That's something new," Harold thought. "I read in legends back home about a winged horse named Pegasus helping the hero, Perseus defeat a sea monster and rescue the princess in distress, but I don't recall them lying on top of any clouds. I think it's best to not mention that Pegasus was born from Medusa's blood."
Fluttershy continued with her story. "But back home in Cloudsdale, I was picked on and bullied because I have this fear of heights and going to flight camp only made things worse for me. But one day, a friend of mine defended me and challenged these three bullies to a race. I was on a cloud waving a checkered flag, but I was knocked down accidentally and fell down to Earth, but I didn't get hurt from the fall. Instead something cushioned my fall. Do you know what cushioned my fall?"
"No."
Fluttershy slowly rubbed her Cutie Mark again, giving Harold the answer he needed. "A passing rabble of butterflies," she answered. "I fell into a passing rabble of butterflies. I never heard of such creatures before or the ground because no pony ever told me about the ground back in Cloudsdale Elementary. Everything was so pretty and the animals were all so wonderfully amazing, I just couldn't control my excitement for the first time.
But when I was exploring the ground and the forest, a powerful explosion happened and it frightened all of the animals away. These poor scared animals needed my help, so I calmed them down and told them that everything was all right. And then, the animals came out of hiding and at that moment, these butterflies appeared on my flank and I dedicated myself to become an animal caretaker."
"Oh, I get it. Butterflies were the very first animals you encountered when you fell to Earth and those same butterflies appeared as your Cutie Mark," Harold guessed.
"Exactly my first guess," Fluttershy said, she and the human giggling. "Oh, what about you, Mr. Harold? Does your species of pony obtain a Cutie Mark?"
"No. Our ponies aren't as intelligent as your own kind... eh, no offense."
"None taken. So, does your kind obtain Cutie Marks yourselves?"
"No," Harold answered. "But humans don't need any Cutie Marks to have a special talent. There are people who work hard to become a famous chef, an intelligent scientist, an amazing singer. Everyone has at least one special talent, maybe even more. Heck, even I have a special talent of my own and I discovered it when I was only three years old."
"Really?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes glimmering and wings slowly unfurling with growing exhilaration. "What is your special talent?"
Harold slid his backpack off of his shoulders and set down on the floor. He unzipped the zipper and carefully reached inside, pulling out his black sketchbook with both of his hands and revealed it to Fluttershy. "My special talent happens to be drawing," he said, smiling. "Would you like to look at what I've drawn?"
"Oh, yes. That would be lovely," Fluttershy nodded.
Harold flipped open his sketchbook and showed the first entry to Fluttershy. The timid pegasus gasped wondrously as she observed the admirable work drawn on by a combination of pencil and colored pencil. Harold's artwork was something that Fluttershy had never seen before and she already liked what she saw. The use of the pencil strokes, the careful selection of color and the message behind each drawing was purely exceptional.
The first entry depicted a teenage human girl, her side in view, standing amidst a field of brilliant white flowers. Her long blonde hair flowed down to the middle of her back, decorated in a variety of yellow and whited daffodils tied in her locks. Her face was lifted towards the sky and her eyes were closed, her right hand placed on her chest and her left arm extended outwards, her hand open to release white feathers from her palm, which flew away with the invisible winds.
The next drawing held some sentimental value for Harold. The drawing was of a bright and starry night sky, and facing the background of the dark mountains and the brilliant lights of New York City, was a rooftop facing towards the left, the moon at the top right corner giving off a light of serenity and tranquility. On the rooftop was the silhouette of two children, the taller figure sitting on the right next to the shorter figure. The night sky was illuminated with the millions to billions of stars ranging in many different sizes from the smallest twinkling to the bright big glow. Streaking across the night sky towards the left to the mountains was a comet, extending its reach to the distances unknown. The drawing depicted one of Harold's only happy childhood memories
The third drawing was of a superhero character that Harold had been meaning to work on somewhen in the near future. Because to the tragic times that hit the DeMatt household, Harold was unable to progress with this character. The character was a human hero, wrapped up in a white cloak and a hood that shadowed his unseen face, save for the lime-green eyes glowing from beyond the darkness. The "White Phantom," as Harold called him, wore a thick ghost-white armor chest plate under the cloak and silver gauntlets that beamed the same lime-green light from his gloves. A white belt with silver orbs was strapped around the White Phantom's waist, the circular buckle a round green emerald that glinted across its smooth exterior. The White Phantom stood in thin fog with a dark background, making the cloaked human stick out like a sore thumb.
Harold had carefully flipped through these images and more before he routinely stopped for a minute so Fluttershy could observe his handiwork. Fluttershy, in the sense of the word, was mesmerized by the artworks the human poured his heart into creating. Gasps of "oh my's" and "oh my goodnesses" became a common reaction with every drawing revealed by Harold. At one of the drawings, Fluttershy stifled a giggle as she observed a silly drawing.
It was a picture of a scrawny human jester, wearing a golden Mask of Comedy posed with his right leg on his left knee and his hand over his eyes as if he was on the lookout into an unseen distance while keeping perfect balance on a bubble. He wore a tuxedo that was black on the lower half, purple at the top half and the front part covered by what resembled a smiling chest plate. His pants were blue-and-yellow striped trousers, the stripes running down to his fancy tap shoes. His triangular purple hat was decorated with indigo silk stripes with white linen with green ends hanging from his hat. On his hands, he wore bright yellow gloves whilst the background was decorated in colorful bubbles.
Harold knew exactly which drawing made Fluttershy giggle.
He knew because Lana once giggled at the drawing, too.
After Harold showed Fluttershy the picture of "The Fool," he thought it was best to close his sketchbook for the time being and placed back in his backpack. When Harold zipped his backpack, shut, he looked up and Fluttershy hovering in the air, barely holding her enthusiasm together like broken fragments of a porcelain vase. Harold's art and perfect execution left her so excited, Fluttershy had the urge to shout so softly like she normally did on certain occasions.
"Oh my! I never knew a creature... um, I mean a human like you was so talented!" Fluttershy exclaimed softly from the top of her lungs. "Your drawings are just so incredibly wonderful and so wonderfully detailed, I... I... I just don't know what to say!"
"You like what I've drawn?" Harold asked.
"Like it? I love it!" In a burst of excitement, Fluttershy zoomed up into the air into a graceful corkscrew like an aerial ballet. Fluttershy stopped and perked, realizing her mistake before she grinned sheepishly and blushed, floating down to the ground. "Umm... I mean, they're very good, Harold! I've never seen your world before and I think your drawings are so detailed. Where did you learn to draw like that?"
"I learned it myself," Harold explained. "You see, when I was three years old, I had the abilities to draw pictures that was years ahead of any other three-year-old who could draw. I have a... thing where I could capture anything I see for more than five seconds and capture it like a camera. Whether it was people, places or objects, I drew them near-perfectly until I turned ten years old. So, in a way, I've been drawing for all of my life."
A stunning feeling swept through Fluttershy. Using the feathers on her wings, Fluttershy counted the years when Harold first began drawing before comparing it to the number of years she first took care of animals. When the final count was made, the pegasus perked with exhilaration. Harold's been at his drawings longer than Fluttershy did with being an animal caretaker! From the looks of his artistic ability, Fluttershy could say the human never once grew tired of it, either!
"Oh, my. You've been at this for a long time," she muttered.
"I guess I have," Harold replied.
"May I ask you a question... if you don't mind?" Fluttershy asked, earning a nod from Harold's head. "Why do you draw the way you draw?"
Harold was caught off-guard from the question. Not once had he been asked why he drew pictures, nor did he know why he drew in the first place. "I don't know," Harold said, adjusting his seating on the couch. "I mean, why do climbers climb mountains and why do swimmers swim in the ocean? I guess it's because it's there. I don't really know. I guess it makes me happy, you know?"
"Oh. I guess that makes sense... a little."
With much said, Harold came to a realization of his artistic talents, conducting his hand movements like a conductor did to his orchestra. "Actually, you know what? It's not just making me happy that's the real reason why I draw," he said, grabbing Fluttershy's full attention. "I'm drawing because someone close to me once told me my drawing was a special gift, a gift that I had to use wisely. If I used that gift wisely, I would go far in life. But if I happened to squander that gift, not only would I waste my potential but my life would hit a dead-end and there would be no going back."
"Oh my. That is a good reason for you to draw," Fluttershy said.
"It sure is," Harold agreed. "And I'm planning on using my gift to one day fulfill my dream and become a cartoonist." Harold reached in his shirt and pulled out his locket, holding it in the palm of his hand, engraved side facing up. "To that end, I was given this locket by that special someone close to me. She gave it to me to remind me to keeping reaching for my dream of being a cartoonist and to never give up. In exchange, I promised her I would fulfill that dream and make something that I never made in my life before."
Harold looked up to Fluttershy, staring at him with wonders plentiful. It appeared he monologued his thoughts again without thinking first. Harold put his locket back in his shirt and uncomfortably shifted in his seat cushion. "Uhh... yeah," he stammered, his face beet red with embarrassment. "A-A-Actually, that last part's a silly thing to... to promise, I know."
"Silly?" Fluttershy gasped. "Oh no, no, no, no, no. I actually think it's a great thing to promise."
"R-Really?" Harold asked. "You really think so?"
Fluttershy beamed with a smile as she fluttered towards Harold and hovered next to his seat. "Of course. I can see you're devoted to fulfilling your special... umm, human. That's also why she gave you that locket you took out, right? She must've known you would keep such a valued possession to remind you of who you're fighting for and what you're fighting for. I know deep down you must feel the same way."
Harold felt a shiver course through his heart. He didn't want to admit it, but Fluttershy was spot-on with her theory. Just like Lana when he was just a little baby, Fluttershy saw something good in Harold and approved of his lifelong dream of becoming a cartoonist. She even treated Harold the same way she would treat another pony: with kindness, caring and understanding, not like some hideous, bloodthirsty monster.
At first glance, Fluttershy was frightened by Harold, possibly from the surprise they both received from each other; but from the way the two otherworldly creatures interacted, the fact of that matter was they were both sentient beings, both sharing the same timidity but are motivated to act and help one another out. Harold had never received this much kindness since Lana died.
That's when it dawned on him.
Maybe Fluttershy was like Lana.
The way they cared for the people in need...
The way they supported Harold of his dream...
The way they were so... kind.
Harold turned his head away and averted his gaze to the painting of flowers on the side of Fluttershy's wall. Comparing the facts to himself, Harold came to believe that Fluttershy was like a remnant of his late sister's kindness, made flesh, blood, fur and wings.
TINK!
Both Harold and Fluttershy both shouted a startled yelp. The sound of something, like pebbles being thrown at a glass window came from the upper floor inside of Fluttershy's room. With a scared whimper, Fluttershy ducked and hid herself behind Harold, not knowing that the human was just as scared to investigate as she was. “W-W-What was that?”
"I don't know," Harold said, his heart racing from the sudden jump scare. "It sounded like something hit a window."
“Do you think it was a bird?”
"I hope not. I hate hearing about birds flying into windows."
"The poor baby, I hope he's not hurt," Fluttershy said, revealing herself from behind Harold. "Come on. We have to see if the bird is okay."
With a reluctant nod, Harold and Fluttershy walked to the front door and looked up the flight of stairs, the upper floor looking empty and spacious like an old abandoned cabin. Empty spaces and the dead silence were two of Harold's mile-long list of fears. The nightmares at midnight and the basement alone were enough for Harold to make him step back and simply say, "no." However, in a case such as this, Harold had Fluttershy by his side and knew somewhere deep down that she wouldn't leave him for anything else.
Of course, that all changed when another sound came banging on the front door.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Hey, Fluttershy! You in there!? Open up!"
Fluttershy gasped as she recognized the hoarse voice. "Goodness! That must be Rainbow Dash!" she said before turning to Harold. "I'm sorry, Mr. Harold, but I have to answer the door! I think it sounds important!"
"Huh!? B-B-B-B-But what about investigating the noise!?" Harold asked, pointing his shaking finger up the staircase. "Th-There's no way I can do it alone!"
Fluttershy gently led Harold up to the stairs by his arm, a gentle gesture to help him take the first few steps up to independence as if it were. "Don't you worry, Mr. Harold. I'm just going to be down here talking with my friends. If you see anything or if you need anything from me, meet me downstairs or just holler. Okay?"
"But Fluttershy--!"
"Okay?"
"But--!"
"Okay?"
Harold whimpered as Fluttershy's kind, soulful eyes stared directly at him. He couldn't bring himself to go against the pegasus's wishes, not since she was kind enough to take him in and help him calm his headache. If he did, then Fluttershy's treatment would've been wasted on account of cowardice. Harold looked up the stairs and swallowed nervously. With a reluctant climb of his foot, Harold slowly walked up the flight, disappearing from Fluttershy's view as she turned to the door.
Fluttershy heard the muffled sound of Rainbow Dash's voice mixed in with Twilight's voice through the wooden door. When she opened the door, Fluttershy knew her instincts were correct as she saw both Twilight and Rainbow Dash conversing with each other before they turned to their timid friend. "Hello, Twilight. Hello, Rainbow Dash. What brings you here?"
Before either Twilight or Rainbow Dash could answer, Fluttershy spotted a strange pale purple shape clinging to the young alicorn's back. Upon closer inspection, Fluttershy saw mounds of pale green sprouting from the back of that same shape, followed with a painful moaning. Fluttershy gasped as she knew that the moaning and the purple-and-green colors belonged to Spike, who laid on Twilight's nape, his stomach threatening to spew out his late breakfast from the rough flight and nearly being knocked off of Twilight's back and through the cloudy ground.
"Spike!" Fluttershy up to Spike and gently scooped him in her forelegs, placing him belly-side up so his stomach wouldn't be disturbed like it already had been. "Poor Spike. Did Twilight take you flying again?"
The baby dragon groaned, his entire face turning a shade of green paler than the surrounding trees. Spike's stomach gurgled which released gas that traveled up his throat and into his mouth, causing his cheeks to bulge before he released a sickly burp. Fluttershy winced from the smell; it smelled like half-digested sapphire and turquoise soufflé surprise.
"Oh, dear, this is worse than I thought!" Fluttershy yelped. "I simply must get you something to soothe your sickness right away!"
Fluttershy quickly but steadily flew Spike back into her cottage, gently settling the baby dragon on the green couch. Then, in a fit of slight panic, Fluttershy quickly flew to her cupboard and threw out some excess stuff to find a jar of fresh mint leaves. Mint leaves had the potency to soothe aching stomachs, and who better to use the aromatic plants on than Spike, the airsick dragon? After all, if mint oil helped to soothe Harold's pounding headache, then consuming mint leaves would prevent Spike from suffering any stomach pains.
Twilight trotted up to Fluttershy, who managed to pull out a glass jar full of green leaves, and sighed. “Fluttershy," she said, keeping her composure. "I really hate to cut your medical procedures short, we need to be going right away. I got a letter from Princess Celestia, saying that we need to be at Canterlot to answer an emergency.”
Fluttershy suddenly froze and gasped, turning her shocked face to Twilight while holding onto the jar of mint leaves in her hooves. “An-an emergency!?" she asked, frighteningly. "Oh dear, that sounds terrible! What's the emergency!? Was there an earthquake in Manehattan!? Is there a dragon running loose somewhere in the outskirts of the Everfree Forest!? Has Discord turned back to chaos again!?"
"Pinkie guessed the last one, but that's not the emergency," Twilight said. "The emergency will involve your ability to communicate with animals, so you're more likely to be our trump card, if we happen to come across it."
"It?" Fluttershy parroted, growing nervous. "What is 'it?' Is 'it' a dragon? A manticore? A cragadile? A flesh-eating chimera who always argues how to eat little ponies?"
"No." Twilight sighed before she broke the news to Fluttershy as calmly as she could. “According to Princess Celestia, there is a creature of non-Equestrian origin somewhere in Equestria. She said the creature will bring a grave and terrible threat to all of Equestria.”
The jar of mint leaves fell on the floor, breaking the glass into sharpened shards.
Fluttershy fell into complete silence. Had she heard correctly!? Did Twilight say a non-Equestrian creature was going to bring a threat to Equestria!? But Harold was the only creature from another world that accidentally landed in Equestria! The shock of these news were so great that Fluttershy stood petrified with a shocked reaction frozen on her face. Rainbow Dash groaned from Fluttershy's reaction, facehooving herself and shaking her head.
"See? I told you Fluttershy wouldn't take the news too well," the pegasus stated.
"Well, excuse me if my theory of her become vital to this mission became a total flop," Twilight retorted.
"You know well how Fluttershy is when somepony mentions a 'non-Equestrian creature' or an 'alien invader.' Don't you even know that those three winged jocks in Cloudsdale nearly gave her a fatal heart attack because of that little stunt?"
"I would've known earlier if you told all about it before we got here."
"Hey, it slipped my mind! How am I supposed to remind you of something else important in some big time crunch!?"
"If you weren't so busy napping in Applejack's trees, reading Daring Do or showing off your dangerous aerial stunts, then you would've remembered right now that Fluttershy has an immense fear of aliens, thus proving how being too relaxed can alter your memory bank. Isn't that right, Fluttershy? Fluttershy?"
Twilight and Rainbow Dash both turned to Fluttershy. Fluttershy continued to stand as still and frozen as a statue would, adding in a frozen frightened face. The immense shock upon learning the news had already shut down every system coursing through the timid pegasus's body. This had to be a mistake! There was no way Harold could be the creature Twilight referred to! This had to be some big misunderstanding... right? Twilight and Rainbow Dash gave each other worried glances then turned back to their timid friend.
“Umm, Fluttershy? Are you feeling alright?”
==================================================================
The ponies of Canterlot, the high-class, ritzy equines who indulge in being rich, posh and proper, always regarded Ponyville as an uncouth town. What most of those ritzy ponies failed to realize was that there was only one pony in Ponyville who was not only a Canterlot pony by heart, but also Ponyville's one and only premier fashionista. The fashionista, going by the name of Rarity, was revered by ponies everywhere in Equestria for her fashion designs and her ability to create clothes with such pizzazz.
As such, a fashionista like Rarity needed a place for her work, a certain building that was both festive and inspirational. There was one building that fulfilled her said qualities: the Carousel Boutique. As the name suggested, the Carousel Boutique was a building near the center of Ponyville shaped like a merry-go-round, including the French designs and the silhouette cut-outs of ponies along the edge of the second floor, imitating the qualities of a regular carousel. The roofs were diamond-patterned with pink and lavender diamonds, the sign on the shop was of a pony mannequin with reigns and a saddle on with a spiral pole running through the dummy and at the top of the orange and yellow-striped spire was a waving orange flag.
On the inside of the prestigious building awaited the walls as decorated as the walls on the outside. The floor level had some spacious room on the floor layered with three different shades of lavender. A few round overheads, festively decorated to match the atmosphere of the boutique, provided the spacious room with much smaller rooms bordered by majestic magenta curtains. Underneath one of the overheads, in between those curtains were many bureaus and mirrors working as a substitute for makeup or changing rooms.
Another overhead provided storage for created clothing, mostly saddles, hung up by hangers on a wheeled hanger rack. The third overhead, which was presumably the workroom due to the big circular table with a yellow and orange flower-shaped pattern in the middle, was occupied by a white, delicate unicorn. Her curly mane and tail were colored indigo and her eyelids were shadowed in baby blue. Her Cutie Mark depicted three diamond-shaped diamonds, symbolizing the unicorn's talent for fashion designing with the help of sparkling gems.
The unicorn, Rarity used those same sparkling gems to help give her latest designs an outstanding sparkle as she levitated little dots of diamonds on the hemline of a white shirt modeled around a pony mannequin, bordered with small indigo loops. The diamonds latched on with the help of a cerulean aura cast from Rarity's horn, almost like a puzzle piece fit with its other four-hundred and ninety-something brothers.
As soon as the diamonds were placed on the dress, Rarity's aura faded, followed with a posh laugh. “Oh, Rarity, darling, you are really going to outdo yourself this time,” the unicorn praised herself in a Mid-Atlantic accent. “Once Fancy Pants sees your newest line of fashion, you’ll be the newest talk around Canterlot. I just need one more piece to go with this dress and she will be--”
SLAM!
Rarity jumped at the sudden slamming of her shop's front door. Turning around, Rarity saw the ponies responsible for nearly damaging her doors at this time of day. Much to her deadpanning, the ponies were Applejack and Pinkie Pie, the latter continuously yipping about her “chimi cherries,” her “cherry changas” and her "chimicherrychangas." Applejack's expression was a volatile mixture of relief and annoyance, since Pinkie Pie hadn't silenced herself and she entered the home of her posh polar opposite.
“Applejack, Pinkie Pie, darlings. Honestly, what on earth do you think you’re doing, slamming my doors at this hour?" Rarity scolded slightly. "Don’t you know that the Carousel Boutique doors can come off the hinges if you open it like a reckless...?”
Rarity's gaze trailed down to the carpet and gasped at a horrid sight. It was so horrid for her, she couldn’t even bear to see it with her own eyes. Applejack recently galloped through a mud puddle on her way to the boutique with Pinkie Pie following suit. Now a brown trail of liquid mud led to the hooves of the country pony and the party pony. Rarity felt faint, nearly losing her composure as she observed the mess.
“My floor! Oh, my beautiful floor! It’s ruined! All ruined!" Rarity wailed, falling to her hooves as a dramatic diva would. "Don’t you realize how long it took me to clean the stains off the carpet from the last time you tracked mud on my floor!? It took me two whole weeks to get it all out of the carpet! Two! Whole! Weeks!” Rarity fell to her belly, clutching her head and sobbing as she knew her once beautiful floor was desecrated by the most unholy of all earthly elements that was dirt.
Applejack grunted to Rarity's overreaction over the tracked mud. The unicorn's ranting about dirt was nothing new. "Rarity, would ya quit fussin' over the mess and come on over ta Ponyville square?" asked the country pony. "Twilight's expectin' us ta meet with her and..."
Rarity shot her head up with a gasp. "Quit fussing over the mess!?" Rarity echoed a she snapped her contorted visage into Applejack's surprised face, venom dripping with every spoken word. "Quit fussing over the mess!? Applejack, you've got my nice clean floor all dirty with your muddy little hooves and you expect me to quit... fussing... over... the mess!?!"
Rarity's face twitched violently to a borderline psychotic look. Applejack and Pinkie Pie slowly backed away a few paces as Rarity's face twisted and turned, grinding her teeth together like nails on a chalkboard, the sign of a persnickety unicorn with steam building up inside of her that would eventually explode, leaving a desolate crater and mushroom cloud over where the Carousel Boutique's ruins. But Rarity was smarter. With a few deep breaths and a groan similar to a bull, Rarity hummed delightfully, her innocent mask plastered followed with a quick flutter of her eyebrows.
Daintily clearing her throat, Rarity recomposed herself and turned to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, both having a scared look on their face. "Oh, well. I could always clean my floor up again. It's no big deal." Rarity clicked her tongue then turned to Applejack. "Now, Applejack, it was rude of me to interrupt you mid-sentence. What was it that you were saying before I cut you off?"
"Well, before ya nearly went flyin' off the hinges about this here floor," Applejack said, pointing her hoof down to the muddied floor. "Ah was sayin' that we got trouble a-brewin'. Pinkie Pie told me that Twilight needed us and the girls ta meet up at Ponyville square. She said it was mighty important."
"Important? At a time like this?" Rarity turned to her incomplete fashion design, a small groan echoing from her "o"-shaped lips. "But I was in the middle of putting on the last touches of a fashion line. The Canterlot Fashion Exhibit is featuring all Equestrian fashion designers to step forward and show off our latest fashion lines. Can't this wait while I...?"
"No can do, sugarcube," Applejack interrupted. "If we don't meet up with Twilight, then there might not be a tomorrow OR a Canterlot ta hold that fancy-schmancy stuff." Applejack gripped Rarity's tail by her teeth, which made the unicorn yelp with surprise. "Now come on, we're burnin' sunlight!"
Then, like a plow horse with half the strength of Big Macintosh, Applejack dragged Rarity by the tail while the latter was flopped on her belly with an "OOF!" "Now wait a minute, Applejack!" Rarity snapped as she felt her belly burning with floor rash. "Before you take me outside and drag me like some dusty old doll, can't I at least know what in the wide world of Equestria is going on first!?"
"Ooh! Ooh! I know, I know!" Pinkie Pie piped up, bouncing high enough to touch the ceiling with her mane. "Well, first it started off when I woke up this morning and I was feeling so hungry I could eat some chimicherries, or cherrychangas for breakfast, but I compromised and I said, 'Why don't I just take my chimicherries and chimicherries and make chimicherrychangas!?' So I took my chimi..." Applejack pressed her hoof on Pinkie's head like a button, and Pinkie's eyes began to spin, her voice going so quick it sounded like a fast-forwarding tape recorder with a powerful sugar rush.
With Applejack's hoof released from her head, Pinkie Pie continued with her centuries-long story of her morning in Ponyville. "...so then I said to Gummy, 'Hey, Gummy, I felt my ears flop, my eyes flutter and my knees twitching! That means somepony is about to walk into an open door,' so then I opened my door, I hear this 'Ow!' and sure enough, there's Mr. Cake holding his snout with his cupcakes..."
Applejack pressed on Pinkie Pie's head again. Pinkie Pie fast forwarded with her story, this time a few seconds longer before Applejack released Pinkie's head to play out her story. "...then Twilight said to Spike, 'Okay, Spike, let's put on our best smiles and pray that Pinkie Pie's home. I have a bad feeling that this has to be the biggest emergency that Princess Celestia has informed me about,' so then I said, 'What kind of emergency!?' and she just jumped like you wouldn't see anypony do when I go up to them and join in on their conversation! So I was on the ground laughing while Spike was stuck headfirst in the dirt and Twilight..."
Applejack pressed on Pinkie's head, causing her to fast forward by a second until she released her head once more and continued at a normal speed. "...then she told me that Equestria was on the verge of danger and ordered me to bring you and Applejack to Ponyville square for some chariot escorts all the way up to Canterlot and I had to keep it between her and I and the rest of you girls because the mission was super-super-super top secret and if I ended up slipping the mission to anypony else, then our enemies would know of the mission, and if they knew the information of the mission, then they could take over the whole world with that information and MMMPH-MM-MMMMMPHHH!!"
Pinkie's story was finally stopped with Rarity's hoof shoved in her mouth, reducing her voice to only a muffle. "Now wait just a minute, darling. Did you say we're going to Canterlot soon? As in this very soon, very soon?"
"As in right now, very soon," Applejack answered sincerely before she chomped on Rarity's tail again. "C'ngong, lesh go."
"But wait! I was headed to Canterlot for the Fashion Exhibit tomorrow!" Rarity whined. "All I needed is one more piece for my fashion designs and they'd be complete! Can't this wait another minute!? I only need it to pack it up in an airtight bag! I need to pack for the next three days I'm staying in Canterlot Suite! I even paid for the train ride, for Celestia's sake!"
"And ya better hope for her sake that ya get ta Ponyville square!" Applejack interjected. "Rarity, when was the last time ya took a break from makin' yer fancy-schmancy dresses?"
Rarity went completely silent. She moved her gaze up to the ceiling as she recalled her three days of hard laboring over the creation of her dresses. Rarity worked endlessly, through most of her nights and all through the days, eating only a few times and taking three-hour naps. Now that she thought about it, Rarity could feel her stomach become slightly empty, her eyelids weighing themselves down and the tendency to yawn become slightly empowering. Just when was the last time she actually rested herself for a good amount of hours? Rarity sighed, giving in to the facts that lied before her.
“Oh well, I guess taking a break from my work doesn’t sound like a... bad idea. It's starting to become quite musty in this shop, anyhow,” Rarity sighed, turning to her incomplete work of art. "Alright. I'll come with you to Canterlot immediately."
"Glad ta hear yer comin' with us, Rarity," Applejack chuckled. "Come on, let's get a move on so we can meet Princess Twilight." Applejack lunged her mouth to grab Rarity's tail again, only to have the spiral tail pulled away from her by Rarity's reflexes.
"Ah, might I come along with you without you dragging me through the dirt this time?" Rarity asked.
Again, Applejack chuckled. "Sorry, Rarity. Force o'habit, Ah guess," she chortled. "Now come on. We have a couple of chariots ta catch."
Applejack cantered out of the door to the Boutique, Rarity following behind and Pinkie Pie bouncing along with the unicorn. Pinkie Pie giggled to the recent events and Rarity tried her best to zone it all out, but was unable to. “Oh, Rarity, you looked so funny when you were about to explode!" Pinkie Pie chortled. "First you were like grrrrrr, then your teeth were like screeeech, and your face was like bleuuuggghhhh, and me and Applejack were like, 'Oh dear Celestia, she's gonna explode,' but you never exploded and you--!”
“Pinkie Pie,” Rarity interjected, stopping Pinkie Pie from continuously speaking her thoughts. She looked at her with a deadpanned look, keeping the party pony quiet as she scolded her in a whispering voice. “Darling, do me a favor and never speak of my near meltdown ever again.”
“Okay," Pinkie said. "Hey, Rarity! Guess what?”
Rarity sighed. “Yes? What is it, Pinkie dear?”
“Chimicherry, cherrychanga. Chimicherry, cherrychanga.”
Rarity could only scream as Pinkie Pie chanted the dreadful cherry deserts like a broken record player, and it was just as annoying as well. The unicorn prayed to Celestia that she wouldn't do something she would regret, starting with the slow cracks of her composed visage.