//------------------------------// // Episode 6: Rarity's Fashion Dilemma // Story: My Little Appledash: Singing is Magic // by roseprincess //------------------------------// 21st of March, Friday, 4:30pm, Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s workplace         Rarity placed her bag on one of her many desks and looked around happily at the piles of fabrics, threads and paper. Just they way she liked it. She was just about to sit down and get to work when—         Ding! The sound of the doorbell forced Rarity off her seat and back downstairs, a partly forced smile on her face. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every item is— oh, hello mom, dad… Sweetie Belle… what are you all doing here?”         “Well…” her mom started, grinning, “it’s all kinda sudden, but your father and I are going away on a trip together this week! And so…”         Sweetie Belle ran up to Rarity, squeezing her. “You’re going to be looking after me! Isn’t that great?”         Rarity froze and pried Sweetie Belle off her. “This week? As in, this week this week?”         Her dad nodded. “This week! Well, we’ll see you soon, Sweetie Belle!” They turned towards the door.         As Sweetie Belle waved, Rarity started panicking. “Wait, no, you can’t! I have a lot of orders to handle and I really can’t—” Her words were cut off by the door slamming shut, and a car heading off down the road.         Rarity let out a sigh and turned to march up the stairs.         Sweetie Belle looked over and walked after her. “Don’t worry, Rarity, I can help you!”         “No!” Rarity said quickly. “I–I mean, that’s alright, Sweetie Belle. Hmmm… but now that you mention it…” She continued upstairs and reached out for her phone. Many phonecalls later         Rarity flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. “None of them… none of them can make it…” She slid onto the floor, head buried in her knees.         “Soccer game, farm work, sick animal and, of course, more cake baking. Oh well, I can’t expect them to always be free to help! I’ll just have to… do it myself.” Rarity stood up, just as the door opened. Sweetie Belle peered in. “Rarity, is everything alright?”         “Fine, fine. Just fine,” she partly lied, heading towards her.         “Okay…” Sweetie Belle started, “well, if you need some help, I’ll be here.”         Rarity sighed and looked over at the huge list she had of orders to get done, then turned back to Sweetie Belle, who was half grinning and looking up at her. “Come here,” Rarity said, letting Sweetie Belle in and shutting the door.          21st of March, Friday, 6:00pm, Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s workshop         “And then you just have to thread this through here and voila! One dress officially finished!” Rarity placed in on the pile, neatly folded, and took the next two separated dresses and handed them to Sweetie Belle, along with the needle.         “Now, remember, be careful,” Rarity added quickly. “I don’t want any blood on these freshly made clothes. Now, while you do that, I have a few more designs to finish.”         “Okay!” Sweetie Belle said happily, and, sticking her tongue out, got to work on very slowly sewing the dress together.         “Now then. Let’s see…” Rarity’s thoughts were again interrupted by the doorbell.         “Okay, Sweetie Belle, I have to attend to a customer. Don’t touch anything but the dresses!” Rarity said, heading out of the workshop.         Sweetie Belle nodded, then got to work again on the dress. In… out… in… out… this is boring! She placed down the half-finished dress and looked around. Well, I barely ever get to be in here. Maybe I should just explore a bit! 21st of March, Friday, 6:05pm, Carousel Boutique         “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique! How may I help you?” Rarity asked, focusing her gaze on the customer.         “Ah, hello. Yes, I was just wondering about the dress I saw in the window last week. I see it’s not there now. Has it been sold out?” the customer asked.         “I’m afraid so, terribly sorry. Oh, but we do have a very similar one made specially for summer dates, if you’re interested.” Rarity directed her over to it, holding out her hand in a flourish.         “Oh my,” the customer exclaimed, “well, that shall do just nicely. I’ll have one of them please.”         “Of course,” Rarity said, nodding politely. “That’ll be 23.90, and I’ll have it ready for you in less than a week!” she finished happily. “Well, here we go, dearie” — she handed over 25 dollars — “keep the change. It’s the least I can do.”         “Oh, no no no no, I couldn’t possibly accept! Just wait one moment, and I’ll fetch you the rest!” Rarity walked off to the cashier, but when she returned, the customer was gone.         “Oh, well. I suppose I’ll give the rest to Sweetie Belle, for all her hard work—”         CRASH!         Rarity nearly jumped out of her skin as her eyes shot towards her upstairs workplace.         “Oh no!” She ran up and slammed the door open, her eyes widening. She screamed at the ginormous mess she saw before her: dresses ripped, fabric on the floor, and loads of needles and pins everywhere. Rarity tiptoed through it to see Sweetie Belle lying in the middle of her cupboard.         “SWEETIE BELLE!” she yelled, furious.         “S–Sorry…” 23rd of March, Sunday, 3:00pm, Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s workshop Rarity wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Finally,” she sighed to herself. She had caught up on all her orders — all except for that customer from Friday evening anyway, but she wasn’t due to pick up her order until Friday, so there was plenty of time for that. She stretched her fingers and walked over to the window to open it and get some fresh air into the place. Looking out the window, she noticed Applejack walking past. She appeared to be balancing a bag on her head while eating pie with a fork and grinning like an idiot. Rarity blinked. Perhaps I’m going mad. I should take a long, hot bath and relax. She unlocked the screen on her laptop and flicked to her e-mail. Two unread messages. She sighed. They could wait until after her bath. 23rd of March, Sunday, 4:00pm, Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s workshop         “Of all the… why–hy–hy?!” Rarity collapsed onto the couch, wailing. “Oh, god, why must this always happen to me–e–e?” She sniffed and peered over at the list. “20 more orders… in three days…” She gulped and pulled herself up, reaching for the needle.         “Ow!” Rarity exclaimed, putting her finger in her mouth quickly.         “Oh dear…” She quickly put a bandaid on and went to continue her work, when suddenly, a soccer ball came crashing in through her window, spilling glass everywhere as it bounced in and around, before crashing out the other window.         Rarity jumped up and raced towards the window it went through, being careful of the glass. She peered down, but the area was deserted, aside from a single tree in the middle of her backyard.         “Hello?! Anyone?!” she called, but there was no response. She sighed. “Stupid boys,” she said, before closing both the curtains and looking around at the mess. “Great. Just great.” 25th of March, Tuesday, 12:40pm, Canterlot High, Cafeteria         “Rarity? Rarity!” Applejack called, and Rarity jumped up, looking around sleepily.         “Oh, sorry, darling,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “What did you say?”         Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Are you alright? You’ve been falling asleep a lot lately. When Mrs. Harshwhinny was explaining her leave, you were asleep, and then ah try to repeat it to ya, and you fall asleep again!” “Hm…” Rarity murmured, having barely comprehended her words again. Applejack sighed and decided to leave her. There was really no point in doing what the bell would do. 26th of March, Wednesday, 4:10pm, Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s workshop         Rarity, still a little bit annoyed, handed the next separate skirt and top to Rainbow, who frowned in response.         “Ugh, this is the worst punishment ever! You know I’m not that good!” Rainbow complained, poking the needle through the material.         “Nonsense! Sewing is easy. Just push it in, and out, in and out, until you’re done! Besides, what better way to pay me back for what you’ve done than by helping me finish these dresses!” Rarity flourished, placing the fabrics under the sewing machine.         “But I have a game in two days; I don’t have time for this! I have to practice!” Rainbow shoved the needle out the other side, slightly angry.         “Oh, I think you’ve done enough practice,” Rarity said, starting up the machine so that she couldn’t hear her.         Rainbow’s eyebrow twitched, then she sighed in defeat, continuing to thread it through. Well, she wasn’t wrong about it being easy, at least.          26th of March, Wednesday, 5:30pm, Carousel Boutique         Rarity waved as Rainbow trudged out the door. “Thank you very much darling,” she said, placing a hand on her cheek. Rainbow Dash winced in response, but tried not to pay attention to it. “Yeah… you’re welcome and stuff…” “Did you hurt yourself somehow?” Rarity asked, moving her hand away. “Oh my, that’s a big bruise you’ve got there! Here, let me help you with that.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a tube of cream, rubbing some gently onto her cheek.         “There we go, much better. Now, how exactly did you end up with that?” Rarity asked, a little concerned. “I don’t really wanna talk about it…” Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned back to leave.         “Oh, alright. Have a nice evening!” Rarity quickly said, before the door shut in front of her and she leaned against it, sliding down to the floor. “Was I a bit harsh? I suppose she did help me finish every last one of them. I should do something to thank her,” she said, forcing herself up. This whole time, Rarity had forgotten all about Sweetie Belle! She’d seen her come home, but hadn’t been disturbed even once, which felt quite odd. Curious, she went upstairs to check her room. “Sweetie Belle, are you in there?” Rarity asked, creaking the door open and peering around.         The room was empty.         Rarity raced in, looking around frantically. “Sweetie Belle?!” she called, before her eyes fell on the open window. She ran up to it and peered down, noticing the long length of ribbon which led to the young girl sitting outside on the pavement.         Sweetie Belle cranked her head up, but then quickly looked down again.         Rarity sighed sadly and went outside to meet up with her. “Sweetie Belle… I’m so sorry. I’ve just been very busy for the past few days and I—”         “That’s your excuse for everything,” Sweetie interrupted, turning away.         “Come now, Sweetie Belle, you know that’s not true!” Rarity hastily said, slightly annoyed at her sister’s words.         “But it is,” Sweetie started, turning around to face her, tears in her eyes. “You always say that, everytime I come over, but all the time my parents receive a letter, it’s always about you saying how much fun you had with your friends! What about me? Why can’t I have fun with you too?!” she cried, jumping up and racing off down the pavement.         “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity called for the fifth time that night, wasting no time in running off after her. But in her long skirt and high heels, it was rather difficult for her to keep up with the speedy little girl in front of her. Nevertheless, Rarity continued to walk quickly down the path, holding up her skirt to ensure she didn’t trip over. She turned around many corners, dodged many people, but all the while she couldn’t see Sweetie Belle anywhere.         Rarity repeated her sister’s name at least two more times, peering over at the sun lowering beyond the horizon. “Ugh, could this evening possibly get any worse?”         A rumble. A crack. In less than a few seconds, intense rain crashed down, wetting Rarity’s hair, clothes and filling her shoes in before she even had the time to realise it.         “…Apparently it can,” she said, groaning. She continued on her way. It was much too dangerous for a young girl to be out on her own in this weather. She trudged along, still trying her best to avoid the frequent puddles spread out along the pavement. But luck failed to be on her side, for some reason. Rarity huffed in disgust as she lifted up her mud covered skirt. And it was all because of these stupid heels! Knowing her sister was much more important, Rarity pulled at the straps on her high heels and pulled them off, throwing them to the side. No matter — she could replace them. But she couldn’t replace her only sister.         Rarity’s feet ached with every step, but she kept going. It wasn’t until she made her way to the coast that Sweetie’s candy coloured hair came into few. With a sigh of relief, she rushed down towards her, falling into the sand.         “What are you doing here?” Sweetie Belle spat.         Rarity looked down, but then turned her gaze to her sister. “I’m here to apologize.”         With those words, Sweetie lifted her head up in surprise. “Huh?”         “It was most rude of me to exclude and shun you in such a way. I should’ve thought it over, but I was so worried about things being right that I forgot how much I really need you, Sweetie Belle. After all, you are my sister and will always be. I really am truly sorry for the way I treated you. I do hope you’ll forgive me,” Rarity finished, taking Sweetie’s hands.         It didn’t take long for Sweetie Belle’s gloomy face to change into a smile. “Okay!”         “Thank goodness. Now I don’t know about you, but I think it would be best for us to have a nice spa trip together,” Rarity said seriously, heading back up off the beach.         “Rarity…” Sweetie Belle whined, giggling.         “What? I’m serious, we’re both an absolute mess!” Rarity exclaimed.         Sweetie Belle just giggled again. Some things never change. 27th of March, Thursday, 6:45 am, Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s bedroom         Rarity hummed in delight as she rolled over, gripping her pillow as the warmth of the sun from her window greeted her morning nicely. She could smell the breeze, the trees and the smoke…         Smoke?!         Rarity quickly jolted up, scrambling out from under the covers and racing towards her door. Quickly, she yanked it open and rushed downstairs towards the kitchen. Inside, she was met by Sweetie Belle carrying over a bowl of… something, while the stove was still lit up, spreading like wildfire. Rarity’s pupils dilated and she raced over, quickly turning off the stove, sighing in relief.         “Sweetie Belle… just what do you think you’re doing so early in the morning?” she asked, peering over at the table.         “Making breakfast for us!” Sweetie squeaked, sitting down at the table. “Want some?”         “Um, well…” Rarity peered down at the spread on the table in disbelief. She peered down at the cup.         “I didn’t know you could burn… juice,” she said honestly, diverting her eyes to the brown bubbly liquid in the bowl. “And what is this supposed to be? Soup?”         “Nope. Toast!” Sweetie Belle said, scooping up some in her spoon.         “No no, Sweetie Belle! I didn’t spend all that time searching for you last night to have you die from food poisoning!” Rarity panicked, dumping the mixture back into the bowl.         “But I just wanna make breakfast for you!” Sweetie Belle whined, sniffing.         Rarity sighed. “Well, I suppose we have some time. Come on, let me show you what a true breakfast is like,” she said, picking up the burnt sausages, eggs, toast, juice, and the bowls of cereal and cleaning it all up. She replaced them all with fresh ones, and turned on the stove again, placing down a pan to start with the eggs.         “Now, you have to watch them carefully, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity explained, “and don’t forget to flip them.”         “Okay!” Sweetie Belle said, grabbing the spatula, she leaned forward on the bench, staring at the eggs closely.         “Juice… I know it’s a cooked breakfast, but not every component needs to be cooked.” Sweetie Belle nodded. Rarity walked towards the bread bin. “I’ll work on the toast, and you can do the sausages. Just remember to keep turning them. Otherwise they’ll end up like last time — burnt on one side and uncooked on the other. Also try not to burn yourself,” Rarity added, grabbing two slices of bread. She was just about to place them in the toaster when she heard the doorbell ring.         “Alright, Sweetie, please be careful,” she said, before heading out to meet with the customer. She wasn’t too surprised to see Dean Cadance and Principal Celestia at the door.         “Ah, hello! Here for the cheerleading outfits? I’ll just fetch them for you; give me a moment,” she said, racing back upstairs. It didn’t take her long to gather all 20 outfits; both carefully bagged separately, neatly folded and pressed. She headed back and handed them to the teachers.         “Here we are. I hope practice goes well! So sorry for the wait,” Rarity said, waving goodbye as the two exited the store. She clapped her hands together, feeling extremely relieved having all that weight lifted off her shoulders. She breathed in the incoming smell, and realised she had to get back to Sweetie Belle.         In the few minutes it took to hand the dresses to the school’s principal’s, Sweetie Belle had almost finished the sausages, was constantly peering over at the toast, and had already squeezed out the oranges for the juice. Rarity never took into consideration that it smelled wonderful. Sure, the eggs were a bit crispy around the edges, the juice had a few seeds in it and the toast was slightly overdone, but nonetheless, it was edible. She couldn’t expect Sweetie Belle to be perfect.         “Well done, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity smiled. “Well done.” 28th of March, Friday, 9:40am, Canterlot High, Rarity’s English class         Rarity started packing up her things as Principal Celestia repeated herself for the third time over the PA system.         “I repeat, all students, please head to the school’s outdoor stadium,” Celestia said. “I repeat…” She carried on, as if trying to imitate a carnival ride.         “Come on, Fluttershy,” Rarity said to the timid girl, who hastily sped up to pack away her things. “I want to get first row seats so we can get a close look at the action.”         “Mmhm!” Fluttershy said, smiling slightly. “And, you know, so she can actually hear me cheer her on…” She took a deep breath. “Yay…” she shouted quietly, smiling happily.         “Uh, wonderful darling. Moving on…” Rarity said, heading towards the door. 28th of March, Friday, 10:00am, Canterlot High, Soccer field         “Can you really believe they’re going to play out there in all that mud?” Rarity asked with the sound of disgust in her voice. “Those uniforms are going to be ruined! Ruined, I tell you!” Fluttershy nodded sympathetically and leaned forward. “Can you see her, can you see her?”         “There she is!” Pinkie cheered, jumping up and pointing ahead.         “Pinkie!” Rarity said quickly, “Pointing is rude!”         “Whaaaat?” Pinkie complained, sitting back down.         Fluttershy waved happily when Rainbow Dash turned to face them, but barely received much of a response. “Oh my… she looks really upset.”         Applejack nodded. “Ah’ll say. Ah thought she would’ve at least gotten over it by now.”         Fluttershy turned to face Applejack. “Gotten over what?”         Applejack shook her head. “Ah prob’ly shouldn’t say nothin’, but… well… Rainbow got in some kinda big fight with an old friend of hers. She’s been stressin’ about it for days.”         Rarity gasped. “That bruise! Of course!”         Applejack nodded in confirmation. “Yeah.”         Rarity thought for a moment. “Well, I was already going to do something to thank her for all her help, but now I know I really must.” “Shush! Shush! They’re starting!” Pinkie shouted, eyes glued to the centre of the field.         Rarity looked to see what was going on. “It’s only the coin toss, darling.”         Pinkie gasped. “But that’s the best bit!” She threw a handful of coins into the air and they rained down on the nearby spectators. 28th of March, Friday, 10:50am, Canterlot High, Soccer field, half time       “Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here?” Rarity asked when her sister sat beside her on the bench, dropping her backpack on the floor in front of them.       “They let our class come and watch the game!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “It’s so exciting.” “Well, that sounds nice,” Rarity’s eyes fell on Sweetie Belle’s backpack. “What on earth do you have in here?” she asked, pulling out rolls of brightly coloured fabric.         Sweetie Belle flashed her a guilty smile. “I was gonna put them back… honest!”         Rarity picked up swatches of orange, yellow and green fabric. “Oh, never mind about that. But why did you take them?”         “I don’t know… I was just exploring your workshop and thought these looked pretty. I thought I could make something with them.”         Rarity found pieces of red and blue fabric as well. “I’m just glad you’re showing an interest in what I do.” She smiled, picturing the sign above her shop door: Rarity and Sweetie’s Fashion Boutique. She shook her head… it was way too early to start thinking about that.         A scream. Rarity’s head snapped over to the sound’s direction to see one of the cheerleaders holding up her ripped skirt.         “Sweetie Belle… is fabric the only thing you’ve got in here?”         “Nope! I also picked up a few threads, and one of your needles! See?” Sweetie said, holding it up and grinning.         “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity said happily. “I have never been so happy to have you by my side!” She reached out to grab the objects, but Sweetie Belle held them back.         “On one condition. You have to promise to teach me how to sew sometime soon!” Sweetie squeaked.         “Deal!” 28th of March, Friday, 3:30pm, Canterlot High, Cafeteria         “Well done!” Rarity congratulated, clapping her hands together.         “Sucks that we couldn’t have the afternoon off after that,” Rainbow Dash responded. “I was on such a high after the game I couldn’t concentrate in any of our classes… come to think of it… I can’t remember seeing you in any of our afternoon classes.”         “Heheh,” Rarity chuckled nervously.         Everybody turned to face Principal Celestia, who stood at one end of the room. “Good afternoon, everyone. And thank you for coming, supporting the soccer team, and supporting the school! I must say, normally when I suggest to a student that they stay after school, they’re not enthusiastic. I’m glad to see so many people turn up. I’d like to thank Pinkie Pie and the rest of the team from Sugarcube Corner for the catering — the food looks amazing. But most of all, come on up here, team…”         Rainbow Dash, Cloudy Kicks, Spitfire, and the rest of the team went up to stand with Celestia.         “… Most of all, I want to thank our wonderful soccer team for working really hard today, and training even harder for weeks. And they’ve given the school — your school — yet another thing to be proud of. So everybody, please put your hands together for the Canterlot Wondercolts!”         The cafeteria erupted in applause. Rainbow Dash blushed.         “One last thing, before I let you get back to the wonderful food and drink,” Celestia said. “One of our students, inspired by today’s game has generously donated a tapestry to be hung on the wall.”         Celestia pulled a cord, and a large tapestry unravelled down the wall behind her, showing a stylized version of Rainbow Dash scoring that opening goal, with the whole team behind her. Rainbow Dash was shocked when she turned around and saw it… there was only one student who could have put that together so quickly. “You did that for me?” Rainbow asked Rarity.         “You were so helpful to me the other day, and I felt a little guilty about blackmailing you into helping out.”         Rainbow hugged her. “But still… thank you… it… it means a lot to me.”         “Well, it wasn’t all me. Sweetie Belle helped a lot too. Principal Celestia spoke to Principal Thunderhooves at the middle school, and got us both the afternoon off. Come here, Sweetie.”         Rarity yanked Sweetie Belle over to stand beside her. Sweetie Belle gestured towards a young girl, clearly a friend of hers, with spiky purple hair. The shy-looking girl came to join her.         “Rainbow Dash, this is my friend Scootaloo… she’s a big fan of yours.”         “I have… fans?” Rainbow asked.         Scootaloo nodded.         “Hey squirt! Nice to meet you! Would you like me to introduce you to some of the rest of the team?”         Scootaloo grinned widely and Rainbow Dash took her away to find Spitfire.         “You know, sis, I couldn’t have done that without your help,” Rarity said.         “Huh? I thought it was the other way around,” Sweetie Belle answered truthfully.         “Still, it was a big job, and there was no way I could have done it on my own. You’re a fast learner,” Rarity replied.         Sweetie Belle blinked. “But that was only because you taught me in the first place!”         Rarity put her hands on her hips. “Only because you blackmailed me into teaching you, using my own needle and thread!”         “But that was because… because…” Sweetie Belle trailed off and pouted. “Fine!” she squeaked. “You win!”         Rarity put her arms around Sweetie and hugged her. “We both win.”         Sweetie Belle smiled happily and lightly squeezed Rarity around her waist. “Of course, darling,” she imitated, giggling.         “Oh you—”