Talking Is Hard

by Leoshi

Distractions

"All right, young filly, that's the fourth time I've caught you staring into empty space."

"Oh! I'm sorry."

"Being sorry is well and good, but being distracted will not do your homework for you. Do try and stay focused."

"...Rarity?"

"Yes?"

"Can...I ask you something...about you?"

"About me? Hm. Well, is it important? Because you must complete this assignment to make up for last week."

"Please?"

"Oh...this is what's distracting you, isn't it?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Very well. Come over here and sit with me. Now, what is on your mind?"

"Why do you never visit Momma and Dad?"

"Oh? Sweetie Belle, I thought I had explained this to you. I run an active tailoring shop and simply must meet my goals if I am to stay a success."

"But you are a success. You have a shop in Canterlot, and another in Manehatten in a couple months. You never seem to need extra money, and you always have time for your friends."

"Oh, darling, it's not like that."

"I hear Momma and Dad talking sometimes."

"Talking?"

"About you. I mean, they're proud and all. We all are. But sometimes, they just mention how you never come down to our house, and then they just go quiet for a while."

"Oh, dear."

"Yeah... I always mention how great of a sister you are, and how much time you make so I can visit here and play with my friends. Sometimes Dad will just blurt out how he and Momma are also busy, but I know it's not the same. Fishing and decorating always seem to stop after a certain point, you know?"

"Have...ahem. Has this been going on for long?"

"Rarity! I told you about this last winter!"

"Did you?"

"I-I'm sure I did, anyway..."

"I'm terribly sorry, Sweetie Belle. You know how demanding the holiday season gets, and I am no exception. If you told me, I fear I might have missed it beneath my work load. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, and we understand that. You have a business to keep. Momma praised you for not going crazy last Hearth's Warming."

"Did she? Ahhaha... I may not have deserved that. Why, there was this one order..."

"Hey!"

"Hm?"

"I'm trying to be serious here!"

"Ahem. Apologies. It's a fond memory. I should tell you the story sometime."

"Can't you tell us?"

"Sweetie Belle..."

"You're in charge of your own franchise, and we love you. But I don't like it when Momma just gets quiet when I mention you. I don't want Dad to just sigh and grunt when I tell him what you've been up to. It's not fair, Rarity. They talk about you like you're in some far-away place, when you're just in the heart of town!"

"Sweetie, don't cry."

"Then tell me why! Do you not like visiting them? Do you hate that part of town? Did the three of you have a fight or something?"

"No! Goodness, no, nothing like that! I'm just...so very busy!"

"Not so busy...that you n-never...have time f-for your friends!"

"Hey, now! That's not fair!"

"It totally is! If A-Applejack or Princess Tw-Twilight came here, you would drop everything to talk with them!"

"Sweetie Belle, please-"

"You can't tell m-me that I'm wrong!"

"I...I only meant..."

"Go on. Finish y-your thought."

"I just meant...well, I merely thought that..."

"What? Do you even know?"

"...Oh dear. You're...right."

"What?"

"You're right, Sweetie Belle. I can't tell you that you're wrong, because I am the one in the wrong. I had no idea that my absence was causing so much sadness at the household."

"You can just call it home, Rarity. And of course you didn't know, because you're never there."

"I just...ahh. No, no, you're right about that, too. Goodness, I've been rather disrespectful to Mother and Father...and to you."

"You st-hic...you still haven't answered the question, you know."

"Yes, I know. And I don't have one. Or, at least, any that I can give are just excuses."

"Oh."

"After what you've told me, I think you deserve better than that. As do they."

"Rarity? Where are you going?"

"Not far! I need to send a letter to my colleagues, to tell them I'll be taking a little family vacation."

"Really? Wait. Can you do that?"

"Well, it certainly won't be the popular decision by any means. But Sassy Saddles and I agree that the season is due to slow down by this time next month, so I can risk spending a few days away from my thread and needle!"

"That's great!"

"Ah-ah! Don't celebrate too much, darling. I'm willing to do better, but I still have several shops to run. I cannot guarantee that this will be a regular thing. It will require planning, no different than when I spend time with you outside of town."

"Ugh. You went with your friends too!"

"Yes, and it was no exception."

"Hmph!"

"Oh, Sweetie Belle, please understand. I am on the precipice of achieving my lifelong dream. I can't bear to let it slip away, not when I'm so close to being fully independent. Did you know that Sassy Saddles has asked for my opinion on new tailors and seamstresses?"

"No?"

"Well, it means that the Canterlot Boutique is doing so well, we can afford to hire more full-time specialists to maintain the clothing line. I hope to reach similar levels of success with the Manehatten branch by this time next year, and the same for a few more locations across Equestria. And that means I won't need to work so hard to create new lines for each shop. All I would need to do is send them a drawing and a list of materials."

"Wow. That's a lot of work for just one pony."

"Well, after I find a manager for the Manehatten shop, it'll be a lot of work for three ponies!"

"Heheheh!"

"Anyway, if I can just keep going strong for another few years, I plan to have entire teams doing the work for me. I still intend to continue my craft here in Ponyville, of course, and when that time comes, I'll be just as available as I was before I opened this shop. Remember those days?"

"Barely. I think I was still learning to walk!"

"You had just learned. And we found a lot of hiding places thanks to your little adventures."

"I would get lost?"

"Constantly. But! That is also a story for another day."

"Awh. I want to hear it!"

"After your homework is done, Sweetie Belle."

"Okay, fine. Hey, Rarity?"

"Yes?"

"You're serious, right? You'll try to visit home more often?"

"I will. It's past time I try to talk some fashion sense into Mother again. I doubt I'll change her mind, but I know she likes the sparring!"

Author's Note:

Based on my own personal experience.

Comments

[MrDestiny80]

When I have a dialogue-heavy story or chapter to write, I start by doing exactly what you did.
I write JUST the dialogue, NOTHING else.
Then, I polish it until I think it is good enough (and, of course, delete the stuff that makes no sense).

After that I start adding small indicators of what happens between the dialogue lines before finally proceeding to write the whole damn thing.

Good advice you gave here

[Leoshi]

7090787 I do the opposite (most of the time), and it really drags me down. I try to figure out what the characters do and where they go before I worry about what they say, regardless of whether or not it's a speaking scene. And, as a result, I struggle with it for days at a time.

Thanks for dropping a line! And yes, this is good advice. I wish I had listened to it six years ago!

[Anko]

Maybe I should try the dialogue only approach to writing a scene. Maybe that'll help me finish writing the scenes I've been working on for some time.

[Night Of The Roses]

Very nice. I actually want these chapters to become further stories xD