Of Dragons and Maternity

by SymphonicSync

(9) Custom Order

"Do you have cut resistant fabric?"

"Whatever for, darling?"

"It's his scales, they're very harsh on what he wears." Twilight snorted back a laugh. "Why, he used to shred the bed nearly every week before I bought his current sheets!"

Rarity chuckled as Twilight brought her glass up for another sip. The two had been talking for nearly half an hour since Twilight had approached her stall. She'd packed up her display and moved the conversation into her boutique shortly after.

"What are they now, if I might ask?"

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck with her free hoof and answered "Chainmail. He says it makes him feel like a knight."

"Boys will be boys," Rarity mused through a smile, "what was it that you wanted exactly?"

"Cheerilee said that he would need a book bag so," Twilight explained as she shaped a rectangle with her hooves, "one of those?"

Rarity stood up and meandered over to her drawers of sample fabrics. She selected a few that would match the purples and greens of the drake but paused before turning to face the mare. She had thought of when she'd seen his scales from the shadows of the Golden Oak. She'd yet to formally meet him during the day "Does he..." fancy somefilly, the thought intruded, "have a favorite color?" She laid down the scraps and waited to pick up any that would match a response.

"He, he likes red. Rubies are his favorite."

"Specifically ruby? I can't say I've encountered many colts that knew the name of shades."

"No, rubies. He eats them."

Rarity's hoof hovered over a crimson strip of cloth. He eats them? "I see," she feigned comprehension, "anything else?"

There was a hushed pause behind her. Just before Rarity was about to check if the mare was still there, she heard Twilight simply state "Sky blue." Her tone carried the tune of betrayal, as if it were secret not to be shared.

Rarity had heard tales of dragons taking to the wind. She'd seen no wings on her guest's young ward.

"I see," Rarity repeated, this time with a measure of sincerity, "do you think he would like these?" She returned to the table with the samples and placed them before Twilight.

"They're... pretty?" Twilight postured. She immediately sat up and wrapped her glass in both hooves, stammering "I mean it's very aesthetically pleasing. From what I've read of color theory it's a foundational pairing, very stimulating to the ocular proces-" Twilight set her glass down and looked up at Rarity. She declared "I'm not good at this sort of thing."

Rarity sat down, unsure of what to say next. "In my first year as a seamstress, I couldn't have told you the difference between a hem and a stitch." She added a short laugh for emphasis. "Why, if ponies could see some of my early work, I'd close up shop!"

"I, I mean here. This town," Twilight lamented, "I don't know what I'm doing with Spike, his education." The addendum nature of those last words was not lost on Rarity.

An awkward pause followed as Rarity tried to parse the situation. More compassion? "When I first started to care for Sweetie Belle, I was also confused." She watched as Twilight took another drink, rubbing the glass like some sort of pet. She'd say that it's a shame Pearl was nowhere to be found but knowing her familiar their presence would likely be anything but comforting.

"How old were you, if I may ask?"

"Well, our parents started their vacationing when she was three, so I was... Why would I mind you asking that, dearie?"

"Oh," Twilight harped, "no reason! Carry on."

Rarity took a long sip from her cup before she continued. "I'd just moved into my boutique and my parents felt that it would be safe to let me watch Sweetie for a short time. Did, did you think that I was-"

"When did you," Twilight interjected, rolling her nearly empty glass between her hooves, "feel like you were doing, doing well?"

Rarity sighed. "That took a few years. Of course it was difficult, she and I were always a little distant given the gap between us, but... I promise, I wouldn't bother me if-"

"How did you know things were changi-"

"Twilight, darling, we met yesterday. You and I know very little about one another. However, I am not opposed to learning more. I will not be insulted if you assumed a few details."

Twilight drew in a deep breath through her nostrils. She released it all into one word, "Okay." Her withers fell with the previously rising awkwardness in the room.

Rarity smiled as the mare finally began, ever so slowly, to tell her their thoughts.

She did not yet know if she would speak her own.

For now, Rarity concluded that a sip and courteous refilling of the pair's glasses would suffice.

Comments

[SpikeSmolder fan]

Pretty good talk between Twilight & Rarity here regarding their younger sibs, looking forward to that first day of school for Spike when it arrives!