Cutie Mark Challenge

by Touch the Sky

Show More Fashion Sense Than Rarity (Part 1)

Applejack and Rainbow Dash knocked on the door of Carousel Boutique, and it opened with a jingle. Rarity stood there smiling. "Ah, come in! I've just finished getting everything ready."

The scene was almost reminiscent of yesterday's competition. Six identical pony mannequins were scattered in an organised way around the room. Each mannequin had a table beside it with a sewing machine, tape measure and pencil and paper on it. In the centre of the room was a large pile of fabrics, though unlike yesterday the fabrics were neatly folded, colour coded and stacked neatly, with ribbons coiled up in a glass dish beside them. Another pair of dishes stood by, filled with sparkling gems of many colours.

In due course, Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie arrived and Rarity explained the competition rules.

"Now, dressmaking is not something which can be rushed, so you have two days. I'm sorry Twilight, but the magic contest will have to move on to the day after tomorrow; a good dress cannot be made in a single day. The contest ends at sunset on the second day.

You can use any of the fabrics here, but we'll have no rampaging around and fighting over them. Get them down quietly and safely, with wings or magic. If you have neither then the pile is not so large that you can't reach-"

"That's alright Rarity, ah've cracked levitation now, and so's Pinkie." Applejack interrupted.
"Yeah, me too." said Rainbow.
"Well, it's not as good as Twilight's magic, but I can use mine without blowing things up now..." muttered Fluttershy.

"Well, that's alright then." said Rarity, though she looked a little scared at Fluttershy's final statement. "Anyway, you can also use the ribbons and gems on your design; however before you even start collecting materials you have to come up with a design. But even before that, we have to pair up!"

"Whuh?" the others said in unison.

"We're holding a fashion show for these dresses tomorrow night! But you can't wear your own, because the ponies are supposed to vote without knowing who made which dress, so you'll have to make dresses for each other. Now, before we draw names, I volunteer to make Twilight's, since it will be the largest and more complex. Anypony going to disagree?"

The other five shook their heads. Twilight was content in the assumption that she would have the best dress, since she couldn't see how any of them could defeat Rarity.

Rarity took out a red drawstring bag with pieces of paper in it and passed it around. Rainbow and Applejack drew each other's names, and they laughed together in the knowledge that they would have the two worst dresses. Twilight drew out Pinkie's name, while Pinkie got Fluttershy, leaving Fluttershy on thin ice having to make Rarity's dress.

Secretly though, Rarity was quite happy at Fluttershy being the one to make her dress, due to the latter's knowledge of sewing, so she cheerily got their attention again.

"Now, you need to take measurements from the pony you're styling for, and then you can get started. Any questions? No? Alright then- go!"

Rarity whisked the tape measure off her table as well as a bit of paper and the pencil. She stood near Twilight, taking measurements of her body, wings, legs and neck, all the time scribbling frantically on her paper. Then the measuring stopped. Twilight stood still as a statue as Rarity gazed thoughtfully at her, and then the white unicorn's eyes lit up. "Idea!" she trilled as she skipped over to the fabric pile.

Twilight edged away to grab her own measuring tape and tried to measure Pinkie with it. However Pinkie was in the process of measuring Fluttershy, so she wouldn't hold still. Rainbow and Applejack were trying hard to scribble on the paper while measuring each other at the same time.

Pinkie finished with Fluttershy's measuring and tried desperately to stay still while Twilight measured her. Rainbow had finished with Applejack and wanted to get going but Applejack still had to measure Rainbow's wings, so the cyan temporary-alicorn stamped her hooves on the spot with impatience.

Rarity was in a world of her own, already marking out cutting lines on a piece of cyan fabric. She didn't seem to hear when Fluttershy approached her, only noticing the yellow temporary-alicorn when she turned towards the fabric pile and bumped into her friend.

"Oh, hello, Fluttershy, darling." Rarity looked on edge; Applejack was sorting through the pile of fabrics and getting close to the silver velvet Rarity needed. "What is it?"

Fluttershy levitated the tape measure into the air with her aquamarine magic.

"Oh. Okay, I... uh..." Rarity looked panicked as Applejack pulled the silver fabric out, only to sigh in relief as the orange unicorn dropped it after Rainbow shot her a don't-even-think-about-it look.

Rarity stayed as still as she could in her anxiety to get her hooves on the silver velvet as Fluttershy measured her, and when the yellow temporary-alicorn finally finished, Rarity nodded to her friend, her hooves clattering on the floor in her anxiety. But during the two second delay in which Rarity tried to remember what she was so anxious about, Fluttershy had crossed to the pile and picked up the silver velvet from where it lay on the floor.

All of the measurements were done, and so an air of concentration filled the room. Rarity glanced between her mannequin and Twilight, trying to figure out how her 'Idea' could work without the silver velvet. Twilight was sorting through pink fabrics
while Pinkie was being a nuisance to Fluttershy- as the latter began to cut out pieces of fabric to Rarity's measurements, Pinkie was holding up different shades of turquoise and aquamarine fabric to Fluttershy's eyes, trying to find a match. The yellow temporary-alicorn was obviously fighting the urge to swat the pink pony away.

Applejack had found the bold rainbow-striped fabric and had taken it aside, while Rainbow was messing around with greens, oranges and reds. Applejack muttered to her rival that she'd rather not look like a set of traffic lights, earning a scowl in reply.

Finally, Rarity got back to work, substituting the silver for a very pale. shimmery blue. For the next hour, all that could be heard was the snip of scissors and the faint rustle of fabric, accompanied by the odd clatter of hooves as one of the mares went to collect some resources from the pile.

Finally, the whirr of a sewing machine hummed into life, only to be quickly stifled and replaced by the horrible sound of the same machine being jammed up. Applejack furiously started bashing the machine in a futile attempt to make it stop chewing up her carefully cut fabric, and had to be pulled away by Twilight as the fabric was torn to shreds. After that, Rarity called time-out to teach the others how to use the sewing machines.

When the lesson was over, silence fell once more. No pony wanted to be the first to use the machines, save Rarity, who was still fitting her design together. At last, Rainbow made a move, and the sound of the machine filled the room. All of the other ponies had their concentration disrupted, again save Rarity who simply folded her ears against her head and kept working, humming quietly beneath the din.

Soon after, five sewing machines were running. Rarity knew exactly what she was doing with her machine, while Twilight had paid very close attention to the lesson and was cautiously following the instructions. Fluttershy wasn't using her machine, instead favouring hoof-stitching.

But for the other three, the whole thing had descended into what was obviously a fabric fight. After Pinkie's machine shredded the fabric she had been using into confetti, that's exactly what she had used it as. A piece of flying fabric had got into a deeply concentrating Rainbow's eye. Her machine had then also become a mincer on her fabric.The storm of flying fabric had distracted Applejack enough for her hooves to slip, making a mess of her fabric too.

Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow had then flung themselves into war, using the tattered strips of what would have been Fluttershy and Applejack's dresses as ammo, but all of this very quietly, so that Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy didn't become aware of the raging battle until the remains of Rainbow's ill-fated dress landed on Twilight's head.

Rarity had wanted the three disqualified, but Twilight and Fluttershy argued so strongly that the white unicorn was forced to relent. And so fresh fabric was fetched and concentrated silence fell once more, although occasionally the veterans would catch one another's eye and share a quiet snigger.

The first day passed like a blur. At the end of the day, varying levels of progress had been made. Rarity and Fluttershy had both assembled the torso of the dress and were preparing the skirt, while Twilight was a little further behind them, just finishing the pink torso of Pinkie's dress. All Pinkie had to show for the day was a rather rough bit of fabric wrapped around the body, with two crude sleeves sewn onto it.
Rainbow and Applejack had both made the skirts of their dresses but all of the fabric for the torso section had been turned into confetti.

Rarity bid goodnight to her friends as the sun set, and then, closing the door, sighed and quietly began to clear up.

Author's Note:

This contest is in two parts due to it lasting two days.

Enjoy and please comment!

Comments

[Seether00]

I'm thinking Flutters has the best chance at an upset.

[Trouble Cleft]

PLEASE UPDATE THIS STORY!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Touch the Sky]

3721678 I'm working on it, I promise!

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Amusing.