Rarity had gotten Sweetie Belle and Gallow Drop up early that morning. Both arose groggily from their beds, annoyed that Rarity wanted them to get busy so early. Aside from making breakfast, she needed them to help set up the boutique for the day’s patrons, especially for Rainbow Dash.
“I’ve got a new dress design that I simply must have her model,” she announced to the fillies.
“And what kind of dress is it this time?” asked Sweetie Belle in a half-drowsy, half-annoyed voice.
“I’m going with a Roman consul design, dear,” her older sister replied.
“You mean, like, with a helmet and body armor?” asked Gallow.
“Ehm, not quite,” said Rarity, “That’s a gladiator. Still Roman style, but Dash wouldn’t be able to fly with all that metal on her.”
“You could always just use plastic armor painted like bronze,” Sweetie Belle suggested.
Rarity shot an offended look at her. “Sweetie Belle! How cheap do you think I am?!”
“I was just thinking it’d be more practical,” the little sister replied.
“I spare no expense when it comes to my dresses,” Rarity said in her lofty voice, “If I had to make a dress out of pure gold bullion I’d do it.”
“Really?” asked Gallow.
“Not quite,” Rarity responded, “I’d need some twine to hold it all together.” The two fillies facehooved in response.
Rarity’s Roman consul dress design wasn’t very different from Rainbow Dash’s Grand Galloping Gala dress. It even included the laurel wreath from the latter dress, only this new design would be using real laurel instead of the gold wreath of the Gala dress. Also, the tunic would be a simple white, but the badge attached would bear Rainbow’s cutie mark. The toga that went over it was called a toga picta. It was an embroidered purple toga decorated with gold. Now, since Dash was a Pegasus, Rarity had to make space for wings in the design, but realizing that this would ruin the toga’s shape, she decided it best for Dash to simply fly with just the tunic and wear both when walking. While this dress historically was for human males only, Rarity saw it as suitable for females as well, human or pony.
While Rarity busied herself with the final touches on Dash’s dress, Gallow slipped outside to obtain some lumber for her own newest project. She felt it best to attempt this while she was with Rarity, since the latter had the tools for measuring a pony’s dimensions. Heading over to Lumber Jack’s woodshop, she picked out several planks of pine, oak, cherry, and mahogany, all of various sizes and thicknesses. She also bought woodworking tools, since Rarity had none of those. The fabrics that would line the interiors of these boxes in potentia, however, Rarity had plenty of. Then, with Jack’s help, she hauled all the materials she purchased back to Carousel Boutique.
By this point, both Rarity and Sweetie Belle were working on the dress. So when Gallow and Jack walked in with the mountain of lumber balanced precariously on their front hooves, Rarity didn’t give it a second thought when Gallow asked her if there was an extra room she could do some woodworking in. She just gave a “Yes, darling” in reply.
As soon as Jack bid Gallow “Adieu,” Rainbow Dash flew in, early for once. She was eager to try on the new dress, hoping that Blitz, and somewhere down the line, Spitfire, would be impressed with it. “I felt the Roman consul look would suit you, dear,” Rarity stated, “It gives a very commanding appearance.”
“Aw, yeah!” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Just one thing,” Rarity put in, “You can’t wear the toga if you want to fly.”
“Wait, what?” Dash asked.
“You can wear this, though,” Rarity said, pulling out a toga picta cape.
“Oh, phew, thank Celestia!” Dash replied, “I didn’t want to be wearing just the tunic and the wreath. That’d look too plain.”
“Oh come now, darling,” Rarity responded, “Even the simple tunic was the height of fashion for Roman citizens.”
“Yeah, well we’re not in Rome, so there’s no reason for me to ‘do as the Romans do,’” Dash said.
Before anything else, however, Gallow came galloping out of the side room with a measuring tape. “Dash, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, I hope it’s not too much to ask, but could I measure you guys, please?” she asked in a quick voice.
“Um, sure thing,” Dash replied, somewhat confused.
“OK, but I’ll need you three to stand on your hind legs for this one,” Gallow said. All three ponies assumed what is known as “standard anatomical position” for us humans. Gallow then went to work measuring the distance from ear to ear, ear to shoulder, shoulder to side of hoof, and hoof to hoof for each pony. Taking the measurements down in a notebook, she then ran back into the side room and shut the door.
All three ponies stared at one another, confused. It was only when Gallow stuck her head out and asked Rarity if she had velvet that they thought they knew what she was up to. Rarity went back to assembling the dress, with Dash holding still as she went. Once assembly was finished, Rarity had Dash step onto the three-way mirrored platform. Dash just couldn’t help but smile at what she saw. She spent the next five minutes spinning around, looking at herself from every possible angle in the mirrors, and even decided to impersonate Julius Caesar’s death with Rarity playing Brutus’s role. All the while, Gallow traced, cut, nailed, and lined the containers she planned to show the girls later. While these boxes would normally be more decorated externally than they were, Gallow was just trying to get the feel of things at this point.
Once she was finished, Gallow beckoned the other three ponies into the side room to see what she had accomplished. Given that Gallow had asked her about velvet, Rarity thought that she was about to see a new dress design Gallow had come up with herself. Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle thought the same thing, the latter having completely forgotten about the mountain of lumber Gallow had brought in.
Unfortunately, all three ponies were in for a nasty shock. Now, if you paid close attention to Gallow’s measurements, you’d notice that they formed a hexagonal shape. As far as I can tell, there’s only one type of box that requires a form-fitting hexagonal shape and is lined internally with fabric. Sure enough, the first thing the three ponies saw upon entering the room was Gallow standing proudly next to three coffins, each sized for an individual pony.
Not surprisingly, all three ponies’ eyes widened substantially upon seeing the coffins. They were all lined with the velvet Gallow had asked about, and were lined up to mirror where Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Sweetie Belle were standing. “Well, what do you think?” asked Gallow, beaming. Rarity’s right eye began twitching. Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Sweetie Belle gave the most obvious response and simply keeled over.
Rarity gave a nervous smile and tried to congratulate Gallow on her work. “It’s…great, darling,” she said, trying to think of what to say next, “It’s just…”
“…why coffins?” Rainbow finally managed to force from her mouth. Gallow’s smile faded. She knew it wasn’t worth the effort to try and impress them with coffins.
“It’s all I could think of,” she softly replied.
Rainbow looked over the pine box that had been built to her specs. “Well, I’m not gonna say you did a bad job, ‘cause you didn’t,” she said as she stood up and backed into it. “In fact, it’s really quite comfortable, not that it’d matter when I actually have to use it,” she continued, giving a soft chuckle. Gallow’s mood didn’t improve.
Rarity looked with pity on the poor filly. “I’m sorry, dear,” she said, placing her hoof on Gallow’s shoulder. Gallow looked up at her.
“It’s not your fault,” she replied, “It was a dumb idea to even attempt this.”
“It wasn’t dumb at all!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, raising her head up from the floor, “This is a very useful skill.”
“Yeah, Gallow,” Rainbow put in, stepping out of her coffin, “It’s not just useful, it’s a part of life. We need ponies who do this sort of thing when it’s time to lay our loved ones to rest.”
“It’s not exactly the most enjoyable topic,” Gallow replied.
“I know, I know, but it still affects ponies every day. And it’s not very common to find a pony with as much skill as you in building coffins,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Eh, they’re only prototypes,” Gallow said, “I’ve seen coffins with much more ornate shapes than those.”
“They’re very nice for first attempts, darling,” Rarity said, giving hers a try, “And Dashie was right; they are comfy.”
“If you are planning on making a career out of this, you should go for it,” Sweetie Belle said, “A lot of ponies would appreciate you doing this for them.” Gallow seemed unsure.
Rainbow sat down next to her. “Look, kiddo, I know you’ve been plagued with failed suicide attempts and deaths in the family, but death doesn’t necessarily have to play a negative role in your life. I mean, look at me: both of my parents are gone too, but that hasn’t weighed me down at all.” She paused for a bit to let that sink in. “Let Death be your guide instead of your adversary.”
Gallow looked up through the window above the coffins. Through it, to her surprise, she saw a white Pegasus with black wings and mane staring back down at her. In his hooves was a scythe. But instead of giving her a menacing look, young Thanatos smiled down at her, and she could tell it was a legitimate, friendly smile. She finally understood what Dash meant, and smiled back at him. Thanatos waved at her before flying off to do his work. She waved back as he left, and then nuzzled her head against Rainbow Dash’s neck. None of the others saw Thanatos through the window, but they could tell that Gallow was convinced.