It's Decided: A Date it Shall Be
Celestia's sun took its final rays of the day with it as it set on the settling town of Ponyville. "Thank you", Linen called politely after the Carousel Boutique's last customer of the day left through the door. Linen flipped the open around to the closed side. "Another wondrous and successful day", Linen declared to the door.
"Now, it mustn't slip your mind, Linen, we won't be opening tomorrow", Rarity called as she walked into the next room.
"How could I possibly", he asked himself. "Tomorrow is the scheduled day of the Ballroom Blitz!"
Rarity was too busy to hear him. She hummed peacefully to herself in an attempt to keep her fretting mind in one piece. The two halves of her opinion of Linen had been viciously battling over the decision of whether or not to ask him to the Ballroom Blitz all day. She knew he had planned to go whether or not it was with her, but still wanted to have him accompany her. That is, when she wasn't criticizing him for being such an academic shut-in.
Linen began to clean up the mess that was left in their busy wake. Since the start of the week of the Ballroom Blitz, tons of orders streamed in for dresses and touch ups. The ending result aside from major profits was a messy workspace. Linen swept up the dust and dirt tracked in from their customers of the day, making sure to do it in complete silence. He and Rarity never made it a habit to talk right after closing the doors as it preserved the peacefulness of the evenings. Occasionally, the gray unicorn would glance at his employer through the open door separating the two rooms, causing a smile to tug at his lips. He wanted badly to ask her to the Blitz, but wasn't very sure if he could handle a rejection. She was, after all, his first crush, no matter how many times his mind tried to convince his heart otherwise.
To help ease her stress, Rarity decided to focus on the new dress she had been preparing for the dance. It would still take her hours to finish, but it would be worth it once she was the proud wearer of the finest dress at the Ballroom Blitz. Usually, she would be helping Linen at this time of the workday, but her nerves were much too frayed to endure being close to him. He didn't seem to mind. She could hear him hum his favorite nursery rhyme as he did during most of the time he worked.
In the two and a half weeks he had known her, Linen had never known Rarity to seclude herself after the Boutique closed. It was odd for him not to see her vigorously working to keep up her half of the workload. It didn't bug him, he was more than happy to demonstrate how dedicated he was to the job he only dreamed he would have four weeks ago. He had nothing to do once he got home except feed Cotton. But even that wasn't much of a problem since he got a foalsitter for the evenings.
The stallion was so caught up in his thoughts that Rarity's entrance had gone by unnoticed. He finished sweeping the floor then continued on to tidying up the textile supplies scattered about the shelves and tables. She stood undetected near the mirrors at the back of the room. Watching him work caused her heart to beat a little faster. To go along with his charm, Linen possessed an ample amount of generosity that nearly matched her own. He was constantly asking if there was anything he could do for her, even well after the doors to the Boutique had been solidly closed for the day. Probably just an attempt to win my heart, one of the voices in her head spat maliciously. The other one rebutted with a solid fact. It's working… That last thought gave her hooves a tiny bit of incentive to move towards him. I could bet he doesn't act like that at all when he isn't around me…Her hooves stopped.
Linen stepped back to study the room for anything that he may have missed from his cleaning crusade. Everything looked exactly the way it did when he walked in eight hours earlier. "Clean as the surface of a freshly washed plate."
Rarity stifled. Linen's various languages always came out beautifully. His pronunciations, word usage, and even the slight accent he used for them made her heart jump on its own. She crossed the room until she was just behind him. Now she had absolutely no idea what she was doing or what to do next. She could only stare at the back of his neatly trimmed and combed mane while he cleaned his glasses.
While he worked out the smudge that invaded the left lens of his second pair of eyes, Linen tried to determine what wonderful smell had just drifted through his nostrils. Unfortunately, the algorithms he formed couldn't help his mind pinpoint where it was coming from. With a final blow on the lens, Linen replaced his glasses and turned to see Rarity staring at him wide-eyed in the face. He recoiled slightly at the lack of distance between the two, but recovered to wonder why she seemed to be fixated on him. A slight blush rose to his cheeks as a side effect from her staring. As he studied her face, Linen could easily tell there was something going on in her head. "Rarity…is something troubling you?" he asked concernedly.
Ask him! the passive voice in her head screamed.
Don't you dare even consider it! the other voice ordered.
Linen continued to watch her, unaware of the battle taking place just behind her beautiful sapphire eyes. The math pony's eyes looked into hers and through some sort of telepathic message, directed him to do something his heart had desired for weeks. "Rarity, would you perhaps like to attend the Ballroom Blitz with me?"
The sudden question caught all three Raritys off-guard. Fortunately for everypony, her heart took over her mouth before her voices could begin a new argument. "I would absolutely love to, Linen."
What?!
What?
"Really?" Linen asked to make sure his ears weren't playing horrible tricks on him.
"I would love to go with you", she said again.
All of the Carousel Boutique was plunged into a stiff silence as the two unicorns processed what just happened. Rarity, finding a chance to take charge of her emotions and the situation, went on. "I'll expect you here no later than five tomorrow."
"Not a nanosecond later", Linen gasped with excitement.
She smiled warmly. Her heart was racing, but at least it was no longer fighting with her head. She ushered him to the door. "You should be on your way home. We will both need rest for tomorrow night's bash."
Linen stopped halfway over the threshold to turn to her. "Good night, Rarity."
"Good night, Linen", she returned politely.
The door shut behind Linen once he was completely over the threshold. In his opinion it was somewhat sudden, but all thoughts and suspicions could only be vaguely considered with his mind focusing on cloud nine. The gigantic grin beneath his nose completely reflected the unicorn's mood. Never before had he been so happy, not even after he defeated Trottingham's six-time running algebra champion. The words he wanted to say to himself repeatedly became jumbled up in the tornado of statements and exclamations that formed in the regions of his complex mind.
The trot home seemed like it was cut in half. Linen was so ecstatic that time sped up to the point to where five minutes passed by in only a few seconds. He climbed the steps of his porch and opened the door of his home. The inside was dimmer than he usually kept it, but that was because it was story time for Cotton, who was enjoying the fantasy world of knights and legendary creatures with great interest.
Fluttershy looked up from behind the book she was reading to the colt. "Welcome home, Linen. I hope your day wasn't too exhausting."
"Not at all", Linen replied cheerfully. "How was Cotton?"
"He was as sweet as an angel for the whole evening."
"Big Brother! Me and Fluttershy played a lot of games and charades and Scootaloo came over with Sweetie Belle!" He chased his mouthful to give Linen's forelegs a huge welcome-home hug.
Levitating the colt from his legs, Linen flew his brother around the room casually while closing the distance to talk to Fluttershy face to face. "And Sable? She behaved herself as well?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Her temper hasn't been so bad today. She should be happy to see you."
"Ah, perfect." Since the bat's vaccinations, Sable had begun a Linen-hating grudge and wanted nothing to do with him for the past week. "Thank you, Fluttershy."
"You're welcome", she smiled.
Linen paid her the few bits for her evening service and wished her a goodnight before taking the first sigh of the night. Cotton had disappeared to the attic, leaving Linen to tidy up what little was disarrayed from the day. Other than a few books pulled from his shelves, there wasn't much to clean. Cotton spent most of the days after school with his friends, leaving the house vacant during the week. He was supervised by Linen on the weekends, leaving little chance for any big messes to come about. He placed the usual animation spell on the few dishes in the sink, and while they cleaned themselves he made his way his tailoring room in the back of the first floor.
The inside was the exact opposite of the rest of the house. Fabrics littered the floor and hung from the furniture. Amidst the giant explosion of textile supplies, a lone ponikin stood wearing Linen's attire for the Ballroom Blitz. It was a fairly simple green vest and white undershirt; nothing more than anypony in Canterlot wore on a daily basis. The difference between his and theirs was that his contained magical properties. As Linen circled the fabric, the color changed from green to blue, then to crimson as the viewing angle changed. It was sure to be a head turner.
A table next to the stand held a small collection of gems Linen found in the mineral fields just outside Ponyville. He didn't need to take much, just enough to get the vest symmetrically studded with sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. He had already cut two of them into the shape of his Cutie Mark for the cufflinks. He examined the rubies shaped into a pi symbol threaded by a sewing needle to make sure that they matched the perfection he was aiming for. When his eyes failed to spot anything that would upset the visual quality, he went on to brainstorming ideas for the lapels. He wanted something that would bring more attention to his eyes. Unfortunately, since he wore glasses, the gems he had picked out wouldn't be able to do the trick. He frowned. "There must be some addition that will highlight my features."
Linen levitated the gems from the table into small patterns in the air. They changed into various mathematical symbols as he mulled over different possibilities. Inspiration struck like lightning when he noticed that he absentmindedly formed the two patterns into lemniscates. The infinity symbols were the perfect way to display his love for the arithmetical arts. Deciding that emeralds would be the perfect complement for the cufflinks, he used his special gem cutting spell to alter the green minerals into the appropriate shapes. From a small, cherry wood box, he levitated two brass frames to attached the freshly cut emeralds to the lapels. Satisfied with his work, Linen gave the outfit one last onceover, and to his dismay, found that it was not yet complete. Feelings of creative exhaustion tore at the upper levels of his head, begging him to take a break. His sense of perseverance was much greater, and overcame them somewhat quickly1. However, his imagination couldn't find what to add to the vest, much less where he could start.
A loud bang from the second floor shook Linen right out of his skin. "Dear goodness!" He left the room briskly. Whatever happened, he had a feeling Cotton's name was written all over it. He ascended the stairs to see that the attic door was closed and that the colt wasn't on the floor above the room he just left. "Cotton!" he called to the ceiling.
"Just a second, Big Brother", came the colt's muffled reply through the door. Linen heard what sounded like the grinding of furniture scraping across the floor followed by something being knocked over. The door swung down and released the ladder to the attic. Cotton stood smiling down at him from the top.
To Linen his grin seemed a bit suspicious. "May I enter?"
Cotton stepped aside. "Uh huh!" he answered quickly and loudly.
Linen was now sure there was something to be found in the room. He climbed the last step and proceeded to examine the unusual tidy room. Cotton's toys were somewhat crammed into his toy chest and his shelves were packed with what he couldn't fit. The books the colt had collected over the years were stacked neatly on the round writing table next to the big window at the back of the room. What really caught the older unicorn's attention was how well made the bed was. Cotton never made his bed in the mornings, so a near perfectly made bed brought the hammer of suspicion down upon it.
Cotton watched helplessly as Linen used the theory of chance to find what he had hidden underneath his sheets. He hid his face in embarrassment at the small blue vest Linen levitated curiously from the bed. Big Brother is so smart…
"Cotton", Linen called in gentle admiration, "Did you craft this?"
He nodded. "Yes, Big Brother."
Having the feeling he knew exactly what it was for, Linen decided to shove a little more embarrassment into his brother's hooves. "For what reason would you make such a vest?"
Cotton didn't dare utter a single word. The red blush turning his dark blue face deep purple burned with fiery fierceness. He could only stare in silence as his brother turned his vest this way and that with inspecting eyes while he waited for his answer. Linen's eyes weren't on him, but he could still feel the burning sensation of attention on him.
"Cotton", his brother pressed.
Moving on its own, his mouth spilled everything his big brother wanted to know. "Scootaloo asked me to go to the Ponyville Ballroom Blitz with her and I said yes so I needed something to wear and didn't have anything so I tried making my own." He took a deep breath.
"Try?" Linen repeated. "You've accomplished much more than just a simple attempt! To say that I am impresses would be severely understating the extravagance of what you have achieved with this!"
Cotton forgot all about telling Linen about the part with Scootaloo to relish in his sibling's praise. "Really, Big Brother?"
"Absolutely!" Linen inspected it more closely now. "However, there are a few deficiencies…but I can assist with that."
Having his brother's expertise seemed like the best idea that could ever be. He launched himself at the neck of the larger unicorn. Together, the two set out to complete the formal attire. The brothers left the attic for the first floor where all of Linen's supplies lay in wait. They began work immediately to enhance the fabrics that Cotton had begun so many days before.
Meanwhile, in the Carousel Boutique, Rarity no longer fought with the emotions inside her. She simply let them swirl around in her head, occasionally making her stomach feel repeatedly flop with back flips. Her decision was satisfying. It confirmed exactly what she had been wondering, and in some cases, fearing, about since she first laid eyes on him. I simply can't fathom why I would reject all feelings I have for him…he is everything any mare could ask for…
She sighed with content. "I should have listened to my heart sooner. Maybe we could have shared brunch or a meaningful dinner together…"
The dress she stitched more attachments to didn't seem very interested in her rant about Linen. Maybe it understood that all of the feelings she kept imprisoned in her head needed to be voiced before it turned into excitement. She bounced on her hooves giddily while she worked. The progress she made seemed more promising now that her mind was completely positive to every aspect of the world. "I may even finish you before I'm due for bed!"
And she was right. It didn't take her any longer than an hour to complete her dress. It was perfect for her. If seeing her wear it didn't leave Linen's jaw on the floor absolutely nothing would. Her stomach was still too bubbly to eat anything, so she decided to skip dinner and go right into a relaxing bath.
The water ran with a tiny roar as she poured her favorite bubble solution into the tub. She left it filling while she fetched her robe. The after-bath garment hung from the indoor clothesline in her utility room. It wasn't quite dry yet, but it didn't matter much since she would be wetter than it when she finished her bath. She turned to leave, until something caught her eye. The place on one of the shelves where she usually kept her old sewing box was empty. She grumbled. "Sweetie Belle…" It made no sense to seethe over it. Her bathtub was probably full now. She would just have to talk with her little sister when she came over for her dress fitting the next day.
The progress the steam made in her bathroom was something sort of shocking. In the two minutes she was gone her mirror had fogged up and the steam had wafted into a thick haze in the air. She feared she carelessly set the water to its hottest setting. That didn't exactly bode well with her sensitive skin. But, upon testing the water, she found it was her favorite temperature. Shrugging at the weird phenomenon, she slipped into the soothing liquid.
Instant relief from the day's stress on her body melted away under the bubbles. "Ah…" She let her mind wander off into the distant plains of serenity. The peace enveloping her mind soon turned into a balcony under the stars as her subconscious took hold and continued the reoccurring dream she had been having for weeks now. It was magical, being twirled around by Linen under the night sky. He was a terrific dancer. He was so in sync with her own movements that it seemed like he was reading her mind. They danced to no music except the melody he hummed with every step. Neither unicorn, not even Rarity, knew that there was somepony watching them from the shadows.
A darker, more sinister form of Rarity glared at the two enjoying themselves. "That's the way you want to play, is it? Then so be it." She turned on her hooves. "I'll just have to strike when you least expect it. I'll break that stallion's heart right in front of you, just watch."