Different

by Whisper-Quill

Sleepless Nights Cured

Rarity sat at her sewing machine, finishing the last of the hemming on this one particularly tricky order. 'Mrs. Pearl Shine in Fillydelphia will surely be satisfied with this dress.' Rarity thought to herself. Finally clipping the end of the thread on the stitch, she let out a sigh of relief. The dress was done and she could now relax. It had been quite the eventful day, and she was glad it was coming to a close. After she and Raine had arrived at the boutique, Raine was so tired from all the new experiences that she had immediately fallen asleep. Literally. She just collapsed right on the floor. Of course Rarity had panicked at first, but when she realized Raine was asleep, she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. With a sigh, Rarity carefully scooped Raine up with her magic and carried her to the spare bedroom she had cleaned up for more permanent uses.

Rarity looked up at the clock on the wall and winced at the late hour. That dress had taken longer than she thought. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she stood up from her desk and stretched out her tired limbs.

"I really do need to get to bed. Beauty sleep doesn't happen unless one is actually asleep, and a lady should never miss out on such things."

With that, Rarity walked up the stairs to her room. 'I really must remember to send a letter to Sweetie about Raine. It would certainly not do to leave her in the dark until her return from her trip with mother and father.' Rarity thought to herself. She was quite certain Raine and her sister would get along famously, but still, it would be best to inform her of her new family member as Sweetie did not do well with surprises unless the involved sweets.

Closing her bedroom door behind her, Rarity walked to her vanity to remove anything unnecessary for sleep. Looking in the mirror, she saw the bags that had started to form under her eyes. Groaning at such hideous things, she began to remove her false eyelashes and mascara. Usually, such things would take a pony at least fifteen minutes to apply and remove, but Rarity had been doing this since she was a foal. That and fabulosity was in her nature. Natural talent for beauty was in her blood, though she wished it was in her parents blood as well. They didn't exactly scream glamour or refined. More like they screamed tourist and gaudy. Chuckling to herself at the image of her parents wearing high society formal wear and those Celestia awful tourist hats, she finished removing the last of her make-up.

With another heavy sigh, she walked to her bed. She had been doing that a lot lately. It was very unbecoming of a lady. Climbing daintily into her bed, she settled down for a nights well deserved sleep. With a final yawn, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

Raine awoke from her slumber. Glancing out of the window, she noticed the sun wasn't even up yet. 'Ugh, this is going to become a normal thing now, isn't it?' She thought to herself. Without Heavy Set's snores to wake her up anymore, she could finally sleep as much as she wanted, but her body apparently thought otherwise. Flopping face down into the fluffy pillow Rarity gave her, she tried to fall back asleep, but after five minutes of restless groaning, she finally gave up.

Jumping out of her bed, she decided she would get herself a glass of water. Padding her way across her room, she activated her magic, slowly coating the doorknob in a ocean blue aura, turning it and opening the door. Her tongue sticking out, she concentrated further, and lit the tip of her horn up so she could see in the dark hallway. With a satisfied smile, she walked softly to where she guessed was the stairs. She never got the full tour of the house, as she had fallen asleep as soon as Rarity closed the door. With a few stumbles, and walking into the wrong room twice, she finally found the kitchen downstairs. She was about to open a cabinet to look for a glass, when she stopped.

"Wait, what if I'm not allowed to go through the cabinets, or even be out of my room yet." Raine said to herself. "What if I get in trouble for walking around the house at night." She was starting to panic now, afraid to get in trouble again. She knew Rarity was nothing like that mean old caretaker at the orphanage, but she didn't want to make her mad.

"Raine, darling, whatever are you doing up at this hour?" She heard a voice say behind her. Whirling around, she saw Rarity standing inside the doorway of the kitchen. She didn't look angry, but still...

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, um.. I just..." Raine stuttered, trying to find her words. "I was thirsty, and I thought if I got a glass of water, then I might be able to get back to sleep."

Rarity made an 'Oh' face, as if to understand, and looked back at the filly, a bit of worry on her face. "You didn't have a nightmare, did you?" Rarity asked.

Raine shook her head. "No, I just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep."

Rarity nodded, pulling a glass from the cabinet with her magic. Filling it with water, she floated it to Raine with a smile. "I can relate to such a problem. It seems sleep betrays both of us this night."

Taking the cup in her magic with some concentration, she drank deeply of the cool water, the glass now considerably easier to levitate. With a contented sigh, Raine looked back up to Rarity. "Thank you. So, um, if you don't mind me asking, why can't you sleep?"

Rarity chuckled at the filly's reserved question, and motioned for them to sit at the table, where she levitated a couple oranges from the fridge. Expertly peeling them and setting them up in slices, the levitated a plate of the juicy fruit to Raine. With a gleeful smile, Raine jumped up on the chair and sat down, back straight and hooves together, Rarity noticed with a smile. Taking a seat herself, Rarity took up an orange slice and daintily nibbled at it before she spoke.

"I suppose it's the lack of, oh whats the word, fulfillment my life has had lately. Fewer and fewer dress orders are coming in, my friends are busy with their own lives and I can't seem to catch any of them on their free time. Applejack is busy preparing for cider season, Rainbow Dash has been back and forth between Ponyville and Baltimare to help with the weather out there because some of the pegasi got injured in the last big storm, Pinkie Pie is taking care of Mr. and Mrs. Cake's twin foals, Fluttershy has enough on her plate with Discord and her animal friends, and Twilight is studying an ancient text sent to her from Princess Celestia. I guess with a lack of anything to do, I'm getting restless." Rarity finished, nibbling at her orange slice again.

Raine sat across from her, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide. Cider season, Discord, Princess Celestia? She had already met Rarity's friends, but they seemed to sound weirder and weirder as Rarity described their daily lives.

"And what about you, darling? Why is it you are unable to sleep?" Rarity asked, looking at Raine with some concern.

Raine rubbed her foreleg with a hoof, casting her eyes at the spotless tile floor. "I'm just used to being in a room full of other colts and fillies. The noise kinda became a normal thing for me. I mean, I love how quiet your house is, it's a lot better than trying to sleep with a jungle for background noise. I guess all that time in the orphanage with the constant waking up and falling asleep and waking up and falling back to sleep became routine for me." Raine shuffled in her seat, poking at her last orange slice. "I don't miss being at the orphanage. I'm glad I'm out of there, but it's kind of lonely, even if none of the other foals liked me."

Rarity sat quiet for a moment, pondering the filly's dilemma. With a small hum, she stood from her chair and turned for the door, looking back at Raine. "Come, dear. Why don't you spend the night with me." Raine looked up with a surprised expression on her face. "We'll go into town tomorrow and see if we can find something for you to sleep with, but until then, we must get some rest."

Smiling, Raine hopped down from her chair and made her way to Rarity's side. "Thank you, Ms. Rarity!"

Chuckling, Rarity placed a hoof across Raine's withers. "You needn't use such formalities, darling."

"Then what do I call you?"

Rarity smiled. "Call me whatever you please, dear, but family shouldn't address each other by formal title. Formalities are used when addressing someone who is of high status and or those whom you converse with outside you circle of friends and family. For example, lets say you were talking to..." Rarity thought for a moment. " An important pony in the fashion business. I would use formalities such as 'Good evening, Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. Fashion Pony'."

Raine giggled and nodded. "Okay, I think I get it."

"Good. Now, I'd say it's about time for us to be making our way to bed." Rarity looked towards the wall clock next to the fridge, noting the early hour.

Raine nodded in agreement. "Good idea. I'm bushed and sorely in need of some beauty sleep."

Rarity laughed at that. "As am I, dear."

With that, they left the kitchen, and made their way back up the stairs towards Rarity's bedroom. Opening the door, Rarity entered the large room, Raine following close behind.

"Wow! This room is huge!" Raine exclaimed as she looked around.

Giggling at the young filly's surprise, she moved to the bed, and, after climbing within the warm confines of the comforter, patted the space next to her for Raine to sleep.

Grinning, Raine climbed carefully into the bed. Taking care not to mess up the immaculately made bed, she slid into the comforter next to Rarity. Hesitantly, she slowly snuggled up to Rarity.

With a small smile, Rarity placed her forelegs around her adopted daughter. "Good night, Raine."

Closing her eyes and taking in the warmth of the embrace, Raine snuggled closer. "Good night, mommy."

Author's Note:

Dear Celestia, I'm horrible! I left this alone so long, and just as I was ready to finally put this chapter up, I end up getting sick! I can't tell you how many times my head met the wall trying to complete this chapter. What to use now, what to use in the next chapter, what is going to require some proper feels. And now it's done! I'll admit, I'm not too sure about how this chapter came out, but as long as you guys are happy, then what do I know? If some of you think this chapter could have been better, let me know. I need all the opinions I can get. Anyway, I'll get work started on the next chapter A.S.A.P. so I can avoid a repeat of how long it took to get this chapter out. Again, sorry about that. I'll make sure to make some kind of reminder to make sure that I get following chapters out on time. Maybe tattoo "MAKE THE NEXT CHAPTER" on the inside of my eye lids.

Comments

[dream1990]

yay chapter 4 is out i love it a lot can't wait for the next chapter to come out when ever that is and please try have the next chapter come out a lot sooner and this chapter turned out great

[Kenshinryuu]

Nice chapter, I can't wait to see Sweetie Bell's first meeting with Raine. I love how Raine called Rarity mommy at the end of the chapter

[dream1990]

4626184 i love how Raine called Rarity mommy at the end of this chapter too

[dream1990]

Night-Shade can you please reply to my latest comment on your page when you are online again

[PegaSeraph]

awwh, so sweet