//------------------------------// // More Reunions // Story: The Dreamcatcher // by Show Stopper //------------------------------// Chapter 5 More Reunions It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Ponyville. Birds were chirping, a light breeze was blowing, and the pegasi had taken care of all of the clouds. Fillies and colts played together in the parks, mares and stallions went about their business shopping or spending time with good friends, and even those who worked weekends had their windows flung open to better enjoy the sunlight. Yes, everypony was enjoying the beautiful weather. Well, almost everypony. A myriad of thumps, crashes, splashes, rips, and cries of frustration could be heard coming from Carrousel Boutique. It sounded like a swarm of parasprites had taken over the Boutique and were tearing it apart. The truth was much, much worse. Sweety Bell had been trying to get creative. The filly in question looked over the horrible mess that had once been a fully functioning boutique. Ponyquin parts were lying everywhere, bolts of fabric rolled all over the floor, pins and sewing needles were stuck into the walls, ribbons were scattered high and low, different colored dyes soaked almost every surface, and a white cat could barely be seen inside a huge knot of measuring cord. Sweety Bell stomped her hoof in frustration. “I don’t understand!” she complained. “I was only trying to knit something!” In fact, yarn and knitting needles were the only things that were nowhere to be seen. Forced to admit that she would never get a knitting cutie mark, she headed into the kitchen to get some cleaning supplies. Ten minutes later, everypony that happened to be passing by the Boutique heard a small explosion, followed by a loud shout of “OH, COME ON!” Ruth really wished that she had a better disguise. Not better as in “being more effective at concealing one’s identity”; the cloak worked plenty well enough for that. No, she meant better as in “doesn’t draw attention to the wearer”. As soon as they had entered Ponyville, she had felt curious stares directed towards her with every step she took. They weren’t unkind stares, in fact, most of the ponies had waved hello or shouted out a “Good morning!”, but they were stares all the same. Ruth had never liked being the center of attention. That was why she was so excited about the fashion industry; all of the attention was directed at the models. Sure, the great designers were known across the country, but it was mostly just a name and a face. Even when the designers were recognized, the talk was never about them; it was always about the dresses or the models. Ruth loved to talk about her designs, but when it came to her as a person rather than as a designer, she was actually quite reserved. She didn’t open up about herself to strangers easily, and feeling all of those eyes on her was making her nervous. It’s alright, Ruth, she thought to herself. It’s ok. No one is coming up to you, no one is judging you, they’re just curious about why anyone would wear a cloak on suck a beautiful day. Or maybe they’re wondering why anyone would wear such an unfashionable cloak in the first place. I can’t be the only one who’s noticed. This horrible fabric is rough, plain, and unappealing. Why, if it weren’t necessary to remain in cognito, I would never even touch such a thing, much less put it on! Oh, I wonder if I could pick something up while we’re in town. There’s sure to be something fashionable around here somewhere, even if the general populace does go around naked. Mentally insulting the cloak had calmed her down significantly and had carried her all the way to where Applebloom stopped, right next to a beautiful building with a second floor that looked like a merry-go-round. “Well,” said the filly, “here it is, Carousel Boutique. This is where Rarity lives with her little sister Sweety Bell. I’m not sure if she’s home or not, bu-” A loud crash from the upper story of the Boutique interrupted her. Applebloom sighed. “Never mind, she’s in.” She opened the door and led the three mares inside. Disaster. Destruction. Demolition. You name a bad word that starts with “d”, it could probably be used to describe the interior, including “dreadful”, “disparaging”, and “dang, what the heck happened here?”. Applebloom wadded through the piles of dress-making materials and cleaning supplies to the staircase on the other side of the main room. “I’m goin’ t’ go an’ check on her, make sure she’s ok. Wait here, I’ll bring her down.” With that, she trotted up the stairs and out of sight. Anne looked at the disaster zone around her. “Sweet mother o’ mercy, what d’ y’all suppose happened here?” Talon trotted around, trying to find somewhere free of debris to stand. ”I’m not sure. It looks like a tornado hit this place, except that the walls are intact. Well,” she said, noticing the sewing needles and pins, “almost intact.” “Oh. My! WORD!” Talon and Anne turned to see Ruth staring at a lone undamaged wall with a look of disgust and horror on her face. The wall was covered in different sheets of paper. The two of them stepped forward to get a better look. They seemed to be drawings. Well, more like sketches than drawings. The sketches depicted pony shaped mannequins in different outfits. They were mostly dresses, but there were plenty of suits and a few casual looking pieces as well. All of the sketches had one thing in common; they were absolutely amazing! The dresses were beautiful, the suits looked sharp, and even the casual clothing had a lot of effort and skill put into the design. That’s what they seemed to be, after all: clothing designs. “I- I- I cannot believe this,” Ruth stuttered. “I know,” replied Anne. “Y’all know how I feel about fashion, bu’ even I think these are-” “ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL!” shouted Ruth. Her two friends looked at her like she was crazy. “Um, Ruth,” said Talon, “are we seeing the same designs as you? Not that I’m one to argue with you about fashion, but those designs are beautiful.” Ruth waved her off impatiently. “Yes, yes, the outfits depicted are indeed beautiful, but just look at the details and measurements!” Anne and Talon leaned in close to the sketches. “Uh, beggin’ your pardon Ruth,” offered Anne, “but I don’t see no measurements.” “EXACTLY!” exclaimed Ruth. “Just LOOK at that sloppy work! Whoever made these is obviously very talented and inspired, but these designs are impossible to follow! There are no measurements, no notes, nothing but a hastily drawn sketch! How is anyone supposed to know how to make a dress out of THIS?” “Because my sister is a genius, that’s how!” The three mares turned to see that Applebloom had returned with a white unicorn filly with a bouncy pink and purple mane and tail and a scowl on her face. The pony, who must have been Sweety Bell, marched up to Ruth and glared into the dark space under her hood, trying to see the face of the pony who had just dared to insult her sister’s work. “She’s a genius who can hold the entire design in her head and only bothers drawing them to help her keep her different ideas separate. If she bothered to write in all of the details, she’d be stuck at a desk all day! She thinks of a hundred ideas a day and only has time to put a few of them on paper as is, so DON’T,” Sweety Bell’s voice rose to a shout, “INSULT MY SISTER!” Ruth was taken aback. She didn’t know what to say. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally found the words. “I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult. I just couldn’t understand how anyone other than the designer could make these. Does she oversee all of her employees while they work? I can’t see how else she could make sure that they’re doing it right.” Sweety Bell raised an eyebrow. “Employees? Are you kidding? She makes all of the dresses herself.” Ruth’s jaw dropped, not that anyone could see it. “Bu- but that’s impossible! How can she sew all of these dresses herself? How many dresses does she have to make a week?” “Well, it used to be only a few, but she’s gotten a lot more attention in the last two years. Now she’s up to orders of about 20 a month. She also sometimes gets orders for a few hundred with a 6-week deadline. Those are a bit much, but she always pulls through.” Sweetie Bell's eyebrow rose higher. “Why do you ask?” Ruth just stood there frozen for a few moments. TWENTY DRESSES A MONTH? HUNDREDS IN 6 WEEKS?!? IS THIS A PONY OR A GODDESS?!?!? I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this. I, I, I feel dizzy. And then, she fainted. Sweety Bell just didn’t know what to make of this. She’d been upstairs in her sister’s room, trying to fix the vase she’d just knocked over, when Applebloom had come up and told her that she had news about Rarity and the others. She’d refused to explain, saying that Sweety Bell would “need t’ see it t’ believe it,” and had led her downstairs. On the way down, she’d heard three very familiar voices talking below her. She’d rushed down the stairs just in time to hear a pony hidden inside a long brown cloak insulting her sister’s designs. Now, there was a stranger in her sister’s body lying unconscious on the couch while two other strangers named Anne and Talon tried to explain the situation from Applejack’s and Twilight’s bodies. She didn’t really understand everything that Talon had said about “parallel universe theory”, but she thought she understood the gist of it. “So you’re saying,” she said, still looking at her sister’s body, “that you six came from another world and somehow switched minds with my sister and her friends? And you don’t know how it happened or how to get back?” “That’s pretty much it,” said App- Anne. Sweety Bell turned to Anne and pointed at Talon. “Then why did it take twenty minutes for her to explain that?” she asked. Anne shrugged her shoulders. “Beats me. I would’ve jus’ come out an’ said it just like that. Personally,” she smirked at Talon, “I think she jus’ likes t’ hear herself talk.” Talon shot a glare at Anne before turning back to Sweety Bell. “I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on this, actually. Do you have any idea why or how this could have happened?” Sweety Bell shook her head. “I don’t know, it sounds like it must have been some kind of magic. I’m still too young to do much more than make my horn glow, so I can’t tell you much. I guess it might have been the Elements of Harmony? They’re pretty powerful, and my sister and her friends were using them against the Dream Catcher after all.” “Oh,” said Talon, obviously confused by something. “Well, thanks anyway. I think Applebloom said that we have one more person to visit,” she looked at Applebloom, who nodded, “so I guess we should go and do that. Anne, could you stay here with Ruth until we get back? I don’t want her waking up with neither of us here.” Anne nodded. “Well then,” Talon held out a hoof to Sweety Bell, “it was very nice to meet you, Sweety Bell.” Sweety Bell hesitated a moment before taking the hoof. “It was nice to meet you too, Miss Talon. Don’t worry, I’ll tell her that you’ll be back soon when she wakes up,” she said, nodding her head at the stranger in her sister’s body. Talon nodded and pulled her hood back up over her head. “Be back soon.” With that, she and Applebloom left the boutique. Anne looked at the mess all around her. “Well, I got nothin’ better t’ do until they get back. I guess I’ll help you clean th’ place.” She walked off deeper into the boutique, looking for fresh cleaning supplies. Sweety Bell turned back to look at the stranger on her couch. “Come home soon, sis,” she whispered.