Built-In Opalescence

by Brass Polish

1 Stuffing

Freezing winters always brought lots of business for Rarity. Year after year, ponies local and from out of town would go to Carousel Boutique to buy some winter clothes, and Rarity had pieced together thousands of quality coats, scarves, and hats. Her latest one was for her little sister, who’d outgrown her previous coat.

“How come you’re not using pegasus feather stuffing this time?” asked Sweetie Belle as she was being measured.

“Come to find out, it increases static,” replied Rarity. “And in dry winter air, that can cause troub-- Opal! Away from the door!”

Whenever an unfamiliar customer entered the store, Opalescence would treat them like prey.

“I’m awfully sorry,” Rarity dashed to the entrance to shoo her cat away.

“Meh, it’s fine,” shrugged Sun Shower from underneath her staticy beehive of hair.

“You can’t blame her,” chuckled Sweetie Belle.

“Now, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity was getting embarrassed. “I just told you about dry air, didn’t I?”

“Can I get a hat or something?” asked Sun Shower casually.

“Oh, certainly. You can choose from a range of toques on that rack over there, or I could darn you a custom one.”

“Did you just say darn me?” asked Sun Shower.

Opalescence was comparably more chummy with familiar ponies… comparably. She didn’t so much greet familiar faces as give loud warnings as if to say “Oh, great! It’s him again!”

“What’s Opal whining about now?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“I swear, that cat is going to bring down this boutique one day,” groaned Rarity as she shuffled to the window Opalescence was meowing at.

“You’ll still have your Canterlot one,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Oh! Fancy Pants is outside,” Rarity looked out the window. “And his coat is in tatters!”

This wasn’t quite the case. It only had two small rips in it, and it was enough to make Rarity come bursting out of Carousel Boutique. Fancy Pants turned around at the sound of the door slamming open.

“Ah! Good day, Rarity!” he smiled. “I’ve just popped into town for lunch with Mr Filthy.”

“Surely you’ll allow me to repair your mangled coat, sir,” said Rarity. “Or better yet, replace it entirely.”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly replace this coat,” Fancy Pants shook his head. “Don’t you remember, Rarity? You tailored this coat for me as a present.”

Rarity blinked and looked at the coat again.

“Oh. Yes, I remember now,” she breathed.

“I couldn’t do away with this lovely gift from you, my dear,” chuckled Fancy Pants. “I believe I shall take you up on your first offer. I’ll drop into your boutique in an hour and you can sew up the rips.”

Rarity re-entered her boutique with a warm feeling despite the low temperature outside. It was gratifying that Fancy Pants wanted to hold onto the coat she made for him.

“I picked a hat,” Sun Shower said, sporting a toque.

“Oh, splendid,” said Rarity. “That’ll be four bits, please.”

“Alright. Guess I can get rid of my old one, now.”

After Sun Shower paid and left, Rarity finished fitting Sweetie Belle for her new winter coat. As promised, Fancy Pants arrived later, and Rarity sewed up the rips in his old coat. While she was at it, an orange feather popped out. She was tempted to suggest that Fancy buy a replacement again, but given that he didn’t seem to have a static problem and that he was unwilling to discard the garment she gifted to him, she held her silence and finished the job.

“Should you ever need a patch job again,” she told Fancy Pants, “I have a boutique in Canterlot as well. I’m there once a week.”

“Thanks muchly,” Fancy Pants paid for the repairs and departed.

Gradually, Rarity began to wonder what was becoming of all the clothing she’d made and sold over the years. To her recollection, the only ones she didn’t enjoy making were the revised Gala dressed for her friends, and the hundred Princess Dresses. She had fond memories of nearly every other product; even the ones that were last minute jobs. And if most of her customers treated their old purchases the way Sun Shower suggested she would treat her old hat, then that meant many of her creations were either collecting dust in a dark closet, or on a filthy landfill. It was a sad thought. The outfits Rarity had made for herself over the years were all on hangers in a well-lit room. She never considered that so few ponies didn’t do the same.

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity asked one afternoon when her sister returned from school, “might I ask what you did with your old winter coat?”

“Uh, I think I left it in my closet,” replied Sweetie Belle. “Should we get rid of it? My new one’s great.”

Rarity frowned. “I’ll never forget the day I made that coat for you. You were younger and less patient. You had a harder time keeping still than Rainbow Dash.”

Sweetie was surprised to see that this was a fond memory for Rarity, judging by her glazed smile. She remembered her scowling during the entire process.

“I wouldn’t say you should keep it in your regular rotation or anything,” Rarity continued, “but I don’t want it destroyed either.”

They heard Opalescence screeching upstairs.

“Oh, what is that cat whining about now?” groaned Rarity.

She sprinted upstairs, following the sounds of Opal’s insane yelling.

“Sweetie Belle’s room? What could be offending her in there?”

Rarity entered her sister bedroom and was hit in the face by pegasus feathers of many colours. And then she realised that one of her greatest concerns had come to pass. There was a savage-looking Opalescence standing atop Sweetie Belle’s old winter coat, which was shredded beyond recognition. Now it was Rarity’s turn to screech like a maniac.

“What is it?!” cried Sweetie Belle as she skidded into her room.

Rarity roughly magiced Opalescence out the door.

“I should have just taken your coat without your permission!” growled Rarity. “It’s gonna take me days to repair this!”

“Um, do you really think you can fix it?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Rarity knew in her heart that it wasn’t possible. Opalescence’s brutal attack had completely decimated that coat. But by Celestia, she was going to try.

It looked like Opalescence would now be an outdoor cat. Rarity wouldn’t allow her back into the boutique for two days while she was trying in vain to restore Sweetie Belle’s old winter coat to its former glory. She wasn’t bothering to use patches, and she collected every single feather in Sweetie Belle’s room rather than go around collecting new ones. She wanted to retain as much of the original material as possible, the result being that it looked no better stitched together than in tatters on the bedroom floor. Rarity worked on it all day; in fact, when Sweetie Belle returned home from school that day, she was surprised to find the CLOSED sign in the window.

“Rarity, have you not worked today?” she asked, making sure to block the doorway as she entered so the cat couldn’t come back in.

“Oh, I’ve been working alright,” said Rarity.

“I mean have you let any customers in.”

“Uh, no, I took the day off to repair your coat,” admitted Rarity.

“Rarity, I don’t need that coat. My new one’s fine,” said Sweetie.

“Then I’ll just keep it with my out-dated seldom-worn clothes once it’s finished,” replied Rarity.

The next morning, Sweetie Belle clambered down the stairs and was surprised to find Rarity asleep on the floor next to the mannequin the wrecked coat was hanging off of. She was using some of the feathers from the stuffing as a pillow.

“Rarity!”

Rarity jumped up five feet into the air.

“What?! What is it?”

Before Sweetie Belle could voice her concerns, there was a faint buzzing noise.

“Oh! I’m being summoned!” Rarity looked at her glowing cutie mark. “Thanks for waking me, Sweetie.”

Sweetie Belle couldn’t get a word in as Rarity bolted out the front door, scattering feathers all over the place and stepping in Opal’s food dish along the way. She returned twenty minutes later carrying a scroll.

“The Map has called me to Canterlot,” she announced happily. “Seems I’ll have to make my weekly trip to the Boutique early.”

“Well, that’s convenient,” said Sweetie Belle. “You get to go to a classy town again, and you don’t have to get a hotel or anything.”

“Yes, I suppose I am rather fortunate,” grinned Rarity. “Anyway, I believe I promised to bring you along to meet Sassy Saddles one day.”

“Ooh! Great!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

“Now then, all I have to do before we leave is hide every garment in the building,” said Rarity. “I don’t want to leave Opal outside the entire time I’m away. … Well, what I mean is I shouldn’t.”

During the train ride to Canterlot, Rarity discussed her plan with Sweetie Belle to leave her with Sassy Saddles and try to locate the friendship problem. Sweetie Belle requested an amendment to this plan. During Twilight Time one day, Twilight told her that she told her Canterlot friend Moondancer about her, and that is she was in town, she should take some magic lessons from her. The sisters decided to play it by ear. There was a delay at the station as the Canterlot weather team office made a miscalculation the previous night and there was more snow than intended all over town.

“I’ll bet your manager’s had a lotta ponies buying winter coats,” said Sweetie Belle along the way to Canterlot Boutique.

“Ah! Good to see you again!” Fancy Pants spotted Rarity down the street and ran to greet her. “I decided I would like to buy a new coat. I take it you’re on your way to your second boutique?”

“Uh, that’s right,” said Rarity. “But… the one you have?”

Sweetie Belle interrupted with an observation. “It’s got a rip. Don’t your posh friends make fun of you for wearing that?”

Rarity nudged her, but Fancy Pants just chuckled.

“I get the odd snidey remark, but nothing malicious. To answer your question, Rarity,” he replied, “there shall always be room in my estate for a generous gift such as this.”

But Rarity didn’t like the idea of the coat being stowed away.

“Do you have any pets?”

While Rarity measured Fancy Pants, Sweetie Belle got acquainted with Sassy.

“So you’re the lovable nuisance I’ve heard so much about.”

“Did she really call me that?”

“Yeah, but she’s still glad she hired you.”

Rarity made a deal with Fancy Pants to showcase his old winter coat as a display model in exchange for the new one.

“It’s a little out-dated, isn’t it?” asked Sassy.

“I think I can make it work again,” replied Rarity. “Once I sew up that fresh cut, it’ll look perfectly presentable.”

“If you say so,” said Sassy. “But might I see your fresh designs before you do that?”

But Rarity was already magicing her sewing gear out of the back room.

“Never mind,” said Sassy. “It can wait.”

“I could show you them,” suggested Sweetie Belle.

Rarity was focused on repairing the hole in the old coat and did not object. As Sweetie Belle walked to the trolley Rarity brought to Canterlot and began to remove the tarpaulin, another customer walked in.

“Hello, Moondancer! Lovely to see you again,” smiled Sassy.

“Hi Sassy,” said Moondancer. “I’d like to buy a new winter jacket. This sweater I bought from here last winter got a bit stretched.”

“Might I interest you in a similar coat to this?” Rarity interjected, pointing to Fancy Pants’ old coat.

Moondancer wasn’t impressed. “It’s a lot bigger than the one I’ve got.”

“Well, obviously I can tailor it to fit you,” said Rarity. “And you can most certainly choose a colour that isn’t so flashy as your current winter apparel.”

“Or maybe you’d like a fresh new design?” Sweetie Belle removed the tarpaulin from the trolley.

“Oh, I like that one,” Moondancer’s face brightened at one of the new jackets.

Rarity glared at Sweetie Bell. “Well, perhaps you weren’t taken with a design like this, but I don’t see anything wrong with the one you’re wearing.”

“You just said it’s got a flashy colour,” Moondancer raised an eyebrow.

Rarity’s eyes were now fixed on Moondancer’s winter sweater. She could well remember the day she made it. She’d set herself a production record when she’d put it together, and she was still quite proud of it; even though she’d beaten it twice since then.

“Surely you don’t agree with me about the colour?” insisted Rarity.

“Well…”

Rarity broke a sweat. “Have you asked any of your friends if they’d like it?”

“I asked Twinkleshine while we were sorting through some things in my basement,” said Moondancer, “and she wasn’t…”

The word basement made Rarity twitch a bit.

“Are you OK, Rarity?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Yes, thank you,” Rarity straightened up. “You want a new sweater? You got it. Take your pick.”

She pointed to the coat Moondancer had her eye on.

“Um, these are just display models,” said Sassy. “You’ll…”

“And I would like to offer you a deal,” Rarity interrupted as Moondancer magiced her pick off the coat hanger. “I’ll trade you rather than charge you.”

“You mean you want this sweater?” asked Moondancer. “Why?”

“Would you rather pay money for your new coat? If you don’t want it the one you have, somepony else might,” said Rarity.

“OK,” shrugged Moondancer. “It’s a deal.”

Sweetie Belle confided in Sassy Saddles about Rarity’s recent concern for all the outfits she’d previously made while Rarity and Moondancer made their trade.

“She doesn’t like thinking about all the clothes she’s made stored away after she makes new ones,” she told her. “She tried to fix my old coat that her cat wrecked. She might as well have tried sewing together strips of toilet paper.”

Moondancer approached her, wearing her new sweater. “You’re Sweetie Belle, right?”

“Yes.”

“Twilight Sparkle told me you take magic lessons with her,” said Moondancer. “I thought perhaps I could teach you some spells as well.”

After a half-hearted OK from Rarity, Sweetie Belle accompanied Moondancer out of the store. Sassy quietly assured her that she’d try and relieve Rarity’s fixation on her past creations. But she would soon find this very challenging.

Author's Note:

Inspired by a nightmare I had. The difference between this and that is the level of support for the artist. I wanted this story to end on a high note.

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[OmniFox]

What does the cat says?