The Princess and The Seamstress

by PortalJumper

A Little Sisterly Love

That night's sleep was not coming easily to Rarity, and her fitfulness was not without good reason. The business day had been pleasant, the measuring for the Princess' dresses had gone without a hitch, and her trip back home to Ponyville had been pleasant enough despite the wobbles she normally got after teleporting, but her mind would not get off of her agreement with Luna. She had placed herself in a position that most ponies would give their hooves for, but all she was thinking of was how nerve-wracking the experience would be. Not only was Luna's relationship with the rest of her race hanging in the balance, but perhaps Equestria's reputation to boot.

Finally sick of just tossing and turning with no hope of sleep, she slipped on her slippers and robe and sat down at her drawing table to get some design work done for the Princess' dresses. Luna in particular had had a few design decisions she wanted implemented, such as longer and less poofy sleeves, and fewer pearls around the collar.

The clock on the wall said it was about two-thirty in the morning.

"Eh," she muttered with a shrug. "I've worked longer nights."

Her horn-rimmed glasses reflected the pale yellow glow of her candlelit room while the dull scratching of quill to paper echoed off the walls. As the quill traced its lines, her brain traced over and over what she had promised, looking for any means to make her vocation a little bit easier.

In no time at all it seemed that the sun was inching up over the horizon, and a soft patter of hooves on plywood told her that Sweetie Belle was awake. Their parents were taking a vacation to Seaddle, so she had to watch her for the week.

"Rarity, where's the cereal?" Sweetie called from downstairs.

"Top cupboard above the stove," answered Rarity. "If you promise not to burn it, could you pour me out a bowl?"

"That was one time!" the filly retorted. "Jeez, you make a bad breakfast once, and it haunts you for the rest of your life..."

As Rarity rubbed the grit from her eyes, she looked up and noticed that the sun was well and truly up, so she decided to call it a night and go downstairs.

"All work and no play makes Rarity a dull mare," she muttered to herself. With heavy hoof steps and a heavier weight on her mind she clomped down the stairs to the kitchen, blinking as the sunlight shone in through the window. While Sweetie poured out the cereal she busied herself by brewing a pot of strong black coffee to get some spring back in her step. She may be used to working long nights, but that was still no excuse to not take care of herself.

"Uh, Rarity?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie, I am very, very tired right now. I didn't sleep well last night, so unless this is of the utmost importance could it please wait until after I've had my coffee?"

"Well, I would if it weren't for the fact that you're pouring your coffee grounds into the pot and not the filter."

A quick flick of the eyes downward proved the precocious little filly right. With a huff of exasperation she moved the grounds and, after checking to make sure everything was in place, set it to brew. Her chin landed on the table with a dull thud while Sweetie munched away. The two of them shared a long uncomfortable silence as the coffee maker burbled behind them before Sweetie decided to let the other horseshoe drop.

"Something on your mind there, Sis?" she asked. "I haven't seen you this wasted since you opened up Canterlot Carousel."

"Is it really that bad?" That month and a half of getting the building set up and making her opening line had been absolutely torturous, which is half of the reason she hired Sassy Saddles; somepony needed to make sure the set-up was going smoothly so that Rarity could get some time off.

"Well, the bags under your eyes have bags under them, your mascara is half-gone and what's left is smudged so bad you look like a raccoon, your mane is a mess of curls that makes Twist's look downright tame, and your horn is sparking and it only ever does that when you're super stressed out. So, yeah, I'd say it's that bad."

"Thanks for that succinct assessment of my appearance, Sweetie," Rarity retorted with a huff.

"You're the one that asked. Do you wanna talk about this?"

As Rarity's eyes hung on Sweetie Belle's concerned stare, she weighed her options. Yes, Sweetie had a good heart and was only trying to help in what was, admittedly, a very trying time for her older sister. But with what the Princess had told her and how she had sworn herself to secrecy at Luna's behest, she doubted that Sweetie could really process the full magnitude of what she was going through.

... Though it never hurt to at least ask for help, even if she had to omit a few of the details.

"Well, there is something that's been troubling me lately, but you have to swear not to tell anypony else. And this means Scootaloo and Apple Bloom as well; this only stays between you, me, and the coffee machine."

"Can do, Sis!" Quickly she shoved her finished bowl to the side and set her forehooves on the table in rapt attention.

"Okay, so Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came into my shop in Canterlot yesterday, an-"

An ear-piercing shriek of glee in an octave normally reserved for calling dogs cut her off before the first sentence finished, and Rarity shot her sister a glare that could curdle milk.

"Are you quite finished?" she said through gritted teeth and ringing ears.

"Mm-hm," Sweetie mumbled, eyes wide and mouth hidden behind her hooves.

"Anyway, as I was saying, the Royal Sisters came to visit my shop the other day, and they bought a couple of pieces from my Royal Regalia collection. Everything was going without a hitch, but Luna confided in me that she needed my help becoming a more well-mannered and modern mare before a very important political summit, and naturally I agreed to help her, but now I'm having a lot of second thoughts regarding this because fancy dinner parties and fashion shows are one thing; those I could walk a pony through with my eyes closed, but this could potentially have Equestria's reputation on the line! I failed Social Studies as a filly for pony's sake! I don't know how political summits work, and Luna is still getting used to modern times, and then there's just all that business wi-"

"Rarity, your horn!" interjected Sweetie.

So consumed was Rarity in her diatribe that she failed to notice the increasing blue glow above her forehead, but by the time it finally made her attention it was too late. With a resounding zap it shot off a powerful bolt, followed by a hard crashing and tinkling of glass on the table and floor.

"Aww, I really liked that lamp," moaned Sweetie Belle. "It had the little flowers on it and everything."

"Oh dear, terribly sorry about that," Rarity said as her face flushed beet red. "It was a very good lamp indeed."

"To all things there is a season I suppose. Anyway," continued Sweetie, getting the conversation back on track, "it sounds like you're having a problem wrapping your head around everything Luna wants you to do. You get this way whenever you have a really big deadline coming up or a super complicated piece you're working on; you start to focus on everything that could go wrong when you should be focusing on how to make it go right. You're really smart and hard-working Rarity, I'm sure you can figure this out if you put your mind to it!"

At first it had been Sweetie listening to Rarity, but soon the older sister found herself listening intently to her younger sister's advice. Sweetie certainly wasn't dumb, but she had always seemed a little slow when it came to interpersonal matters, so it caught Rarity by surprise to hear her give such a concise breakdown of what she was doing wrong and how to fix it.

"That is some very good advice, Sweetie," she said, giving her sister a playful noogie. "Did you read that somewhere, or...?"

"What, are you saying I couldn't have just come up with that on my own?" she asked incredulously, but with a smile.

"No, not at all! It's just that you've never really shown an acumen for counseling and advice giving, and it has me curi—"

"Rarity, calm down, I'm just pulling your leg. If you must know, I've been reading some books on how to help ponies with personal problems. I mean, the Princess of Friendship lives a couple of blocks over, so I thought it would be a good idea for me to understand how ponies think so I could help with friendship problems like you and Twilight and all of your friends do. You guys have the coolest job ever, and I want to be prepared in case you ever need me to go help you solve a problem."

"That... That is the absolute sweetest thing I've ever heard!" Rarity could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she swept her sister up in a tight hug. "I would absolutely love it if you went on one of my trips!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Sweetie said as she reciprocated Rarity's hug. "We may not always get along, but I do like some things about you Rarity. You're the type of pony I want to be when I get older... except maybe not as prissy."

"I am not prissy!" Rarity retorted with a mortified tone.

"Rarity, last week you complained about Opal walking through the yard 'cause you didn't want her getting fur on your new rose bushes."

"Hey, those were expensive to put in! I don't want clumps of cat hair clogging up their natural beauty."

With a shared glance, they both devolved into a fit of giggles. A little togetherness always did them some good, and Rarity felt more ready than ever to face the day. And she was going to start it with a visit to a pony that she knew could give her exactly the information she needed.

"Sweetie, I need to go visit Twilight. She may be able to help me with this, so you finish up breakfast while I go get ready. I'll probably be out for a while, so try not to wreck the house while I'm gone." With that she cantered upstairs to get herself ready for the day.

"I won't... Hey! Who's gonna clean up this broken lamp!?"

"I'm sure you'll manage!" Rarity replied before her bedroom door slammed shut.