A Bad Wish Gone Worse - Pt. 1

by Burning_Halo

Chapter 11

The decorations were usually up to Rarity. This year, they were still up to Rarity to complete. But this year, she was having some trouble. She just simply couldn’t get things done. It seemed that this year everypony was going all out, decorations included. Several last minute requests came flooding in over the past few days and as a result, Rarity had been up to her eyeballs in work and way deprived of the time she needed to accomplish everything she was requested of.

This year, the royal guests would wear matching dresses and tuxedos. Even the table cloths used would match the design of their clothes. She hadn’t started on either of those though; she was still stuck in the design phase. She was to build a large banner to hang across the halls expansive ceiling, from balcony to balcony. She had finished it just today in fact; a large portrait of the sun rising over the horizon of Equestria. She had left it siting on the floor by her sewing table after finishing it.

All of this considered, Rarity had to take into account Pinkie Pie’s portion of the decorations. That was going to limit her to what she could do with her own work. Being the perfectionist she was though, she wouldn’t give up until she found the right balance of color, flare, glitter, and light. But it was getting to her, and she was becoming frantic.

Right now, she was in her home. The Carousel Boutique, a small fashion shop and the home of Rarity and her younger sister. It resembled a small, much fancier Town Hall. It did have a very Canterlot feel to it as well, having the right shades of blues and purples that a Canterlot building would use.

Meanwhile, Wildfire was passing by the Carousel Boutique, on his way over to check on the music. List in hoof, he checked the list with a quill as he went along.

The front door of the Boutique burst open, followed by Rarity trotting out into the sun, hair messy from frustration. Wildfire jumped a bit at the sound of the slamming door, his eyes widening as he clasped the checklist to his chest. Rarity trotted about nervously, huffing a bit as she anxiously circled her front yard in a rut.

“Um, Rarity?” asked Wildfire, stepping over to her.

“Oh, Wildfire. How lovely to see you!” said Rarity, her voice a bit hysterical.

“You ok?” asked Wildfire, eyebrows raised.

“Hmm? Oh, yes! Just getting some fresh air!” she said, laughing awkwardly.

“Do you need help with something?”

“Oh, heavens no! What would make you think that I need help?” she smiled a cheesy thin smile.

Wildfire raised one eyebrow and furrowed the other, becoming concerned that something might have been bothering Rarity.

“Well… maybe I could use your help for… just a bit!” said Rarity, batting her eyelashes.

“Don’t worry, the next thing I need to do isn’t too far from here. I can help with whatever you need help with.”

“Alright… would you mind if we took this inside?”

Wildfire nodded. Rarity lead Wildfire back into the Boutique. Wildfire entered the room and took it in as Rarity came in behind him, turning the deadbolt over and slipping the chain into the locking groove on the door.

The building’s inside was just as regal as its outside; purple curtains lined the walls, and the patterns and all the art in the room kept the eye busy. There was a small stage to the far side of the main room, possibly for small fashion shows or demonstrations and displays. Center of the room was a series of mirrors hanging from a carrousel which hung from the ceiling. A couple of dressing rooms lined with more curtains stood behind the mirrors.

Wildfire turned his attention back to Rarity. “So, what is it you-”

“Oh! It’s horrible!” shouted Rarity, darting up to Wildfire and grabbing him in a desperate manner.

“I have so much to do, and so little time to do it all!”

“Um… ok?” Wildfire didn’t exactly know how to handle Rarity clutching at him.

“Well… what do you have to do?”

“First off, that monstrosity of a banner needs to be taken to the court. But the thing is just too heavy for a lady like me to lift.”

“Alright.” said Wildfire.

He looked around the room, looking for something to help him lift the large banner and take to Town Hall. He saw a small cart over in the corner, and ran to get it. He wheeled it over, placing it by the folded up banner, and hoisted it up onto the small cart with his head, grunting as he pushed. He noticed the stitching on the banner; it was the sun rising over the hills, the Canterlot city on the mountain, and Ponyville and the forest and the farm all encompassed in the image.

“Oh, my darling! Thank you! That thing weighed a ton!” said Rarity, impressed with Wildfire’s strength.

“No problem. What else?” asked Wildfire.

“Please, darling! You’ve been a big enough help already.”

“Rarity, I insist! My work isn’t going anywhere. Now, what else needs to be done?”

“Well, I was working on this ensemble for the celebrity guests…” said Rarity, walking upstairs to her room.

“Ok. And?” Wildfire followed her up, the clacking of their hooves on the stairs creating a clip clop pattern of clicks that made the boards creak under their weight.

They came into Rarity’s bedroom at the top of the stairs. There was a four poster bed, made with red silk sheets and covered over with a purple canopy. Some more mannequins littered the room, and a sewing table with a shelf filled with several rolls of string and cloth stood up looking out the window and out into the scenery south of Ponyville. Her dresser and her nightstand also were littered with needles and threads and streamers; a sort of organized chaos, thought Wildfire.

“It’s not finished, but I can’t get anywhere with it! I might just have to scrap the whole thing and start all over!” bellowed Rarity.

“Well, can I see it?”

“Oh, alright.”

Rarity picked up her easel and floated it over to her, standing it in front of Wildfire. A large sheet of paper seemed to glide over on the soft breeze coming from the open window, placing it upright on the easel and displaying its image quite effortlessly to Wildfire. It was an outlining of a mannequin, sketched over with a rough drawing of a dress.

“It looks just fine to me.” said Wildfire, studying the drawing.

“I wanted to keep it plain and simple; it is a party dress after all. A modest formal dress should do the trick.” said Rarity.

It was a simple gown looking dress, stretching from the shoulder and all the way down to just above the fetlock. The middle was tied off with a sort of ribbon.

“I like the bow at the waist.”

Rarity went silent, staring at her drawing with disgust.

“What’s so bad about this?” asked Wildfire, perplexed that her work so far wasn’t good enough to satisfy her own artistic hunger.

“I… can’t come up with a design! It’s just impossible to make this look unique.” huffed Rarity, lifting her head to the ceiling and shaking her hoof at the drawing.

Wildfire was watching Rarity’s messy mane dangle in her face as she whipped her head about. He couldn’t believe how much this was getting to her. He thought hard, trying to help Rarity come up with a solution that he thought would look good. He was hardly a designer himself, but he wasn’t letting that get in the way. He kept going back to the design he saw on the banner Rarity had made.

“Why not just copy what you put on the banner?” asked Wildfire.

“Oh, well why didn’t I think of that?” said Rarity, light bulbs going off in her head just as Wildfire fed her his idea.

She picked up a pencil and studied the dress, imagining what the design might look like.

“You mean like this?” Rarity began drawing the hills along the bottom of the skirt, putting the sun in the background.

“Mm-hmm.” nodded Wildfire.

Rarity touched up her sketch, then took a step back to examine it real quick. Rarity smiled, liking the addition to her design very much.

“It’s perfect!” Rarity squeaked.

“Oh, thank you Wildfire! You’ve been such a good help already!”

“Not a problem.” smiled Wildfire, taking a moment to fix his long hair.

Rarity sighed, briefly collecting herself and reorganizing her thoughts.

“Now… the table cloths need finished. I haven’t even started on the design for that yet… The centerpieces need put together. The matching tuxedos would have to be made for the colts!” Rarity ranted, falling to her hindquarters as she counted out the things in her mind that had yet to be done.

“The banner has yet to be put up! The streamers also need to go up! The stage needs decorations! Oh, so much to do!”

”Rarity…” Wildfire hushed Rarity, sitting just behind her and bringing his hooves to her back, firmly running them up and down along her spine.

“It’s alright, we’ll get this done.” said Wildfire, trying not to become frantic himself from Rarity’s panic.
“It’s still plenty early! You have the entire day to finish this up!” reassured Wildfire, continuing to run his hooves up and down Rarity’s back and neck in small circles.

“If you need me to help you work on something, I’m here!”

Rarity wasn’t listening, at least, she didn’t seem to be. Her head was just hung forward lazily as she absently nodded along.

“Umm, Rarity?” spoke Wildfire, trying to break Rarity from her trance.

“Ughhh…that feels simply luxurious…” moaned Rarity, head lifted to the ceiling and a small content smile beginning to form on her face.

“Umm… yeah?” Wildfire cocked his head sideways, his eyebrows raising once more in curiosity.

“It does. And the dresses I can get, but if you have just a few more minutes…”
Rarity got off her hindquarters and walked over to her bed and hoped on top of the neatly made sheets, sprawling out as she lay down on her belly.
Wildfire watched as she made herself comfortable, looking back at him with a cute mischievous smile and lidded eyes batting their long plump lashes. A voice in his head echoed as his face turned red.
“Uh oh.”
“… you could work on me if you like…” Rarity said with a wink.
Wildfire smiled sheepishly, gulping as his nervous hooves reluctantly took him to the bedside.