Carousel Boutique was a shop where many ponies purchased their more “Fancy” clothing. The owner, one “Rarity”, made every garment herself and took great pleasure in mentioning so whenever ever a potential customer came in. Her designs were so well known that your mother was a frequent patron of the store, often leaving for hours and coming back with her saddle bags almost bursting at the seams from all the new dresses and clothing she had purchased. You had never been by the shop yourself, but you were sure that you mother had mentioned you in hopes that she could help you make friends.  Normally you would be mildly irritated at the idea of having to speak to a pony who knew who you were and about your wealthy lineage, but given how you were on a rather important errand, you could see how it might come in handy.

As you approach the shop you see a young filly unicorn sitting on out front of the door, looking very dejected and sad. She lets out a long, heavy sigh as you approach her and clear your throat.

“Ahem…”

The filly looks up at you in surprise. “Oh… Hi there. Are you looking for my sister Rarity? She isn’t seeing anyone today.”

You a bit surprised. “What? Why not?”

The little unicorn sighs again, placing her forehooves against her cheeks as she slumps down and stares ahead with a bored expression. “She’s in one of her moods.  One of her regular customers sent her a dress for alterations and apparently they are sooo important that she has been running around all day freaking out about the whole. She kicked me out a little while ago ‘cause she said I was being “to distracting”.

You look at the unicorn then at one of the shop windows. Through it you see who you assume is Rairty, frantically stitching and mending a black garment. Every so often she steps back to get a better look at her creation, only to let out a short scream and tear the pieces off that she had just put on.  It would be funny if her intensity wasn’t so scary. Her Amethyst mane was disheveled and messy, and her eyes had large bags under them. She muttered to herself as she tried desperately to finish her customers order, only t shriek and start over again.

“Um... Wow… that’s… unnerving…”

The little unicorn walks over to you and props herself up against the wall, craning her neck to look through the window. “Yeah… she’ll cool down once she finishes.”

“How long will that be?”

The unicorn shrugs. “I dunno. She can go on for hours like this.”

You groan. “Great… and I was making such good time to.” You sigh and set your saddle bags on the ground, rummaging through them and producing your list. You hold it in your teeth and point at the opal dust so the little unicorn can see it.

“Oh! Are you here for Nurse Red Heart? I can let you in if it’s an emergency!” She jumps down from the window and runs to the door, opening it and hollering to her sister.

“Hey sis! Somepony is here for Nurse Red Heart!”

Through the window you watch as Rarity tenses up in surprise as her sister shouts for her. She sighs in frustration before removing the measuring tape that is around her neck and looks out the window at you. For a moment, you just smile and wave before she zips off to the side and come running up next you.

“I am so dreadfully sorry you had to wait out here! Please, come inside and I shall have you ready to go in no time!”

Even though her attitude has changed, you can still see that the unicorn is stressed. Never the less, you move the thought of asking her is she is ok out of your mind and simply follow her inside.

“Please, do excuse the mess… I have been under A LOT of pressure to get this dress finished and for the life of me I simply cannot get it to work!”

She isn’t lying when she says mess. What you thought would be a glamorous and fancy boutique turns out to be a boutique with over turned mannequins, reams of fabric, and thin papered pattern cutouts of various shapes, all of which are strewn about the store. You wonder for a moment if this is the same Boutique that your mother told you about.

“It’s alright… it’s got a… lived in… feel to it.” You try your best not to sound sarcastic.

“If by “Lived in” you are referring to the squalor of some diamond dog hovel, then yes, it is much lived in. Now, what can I get for you? Sweetie Bell said you were here for Nurse Red Heart?”

You nod and show here the list. “Yeah, I need opal dust, and I was told I can get it from you.”

Rarity’s horn glows brightly as the list is whisked away from your hooves and brought to hover in front of the white unicorns face. “Ah yes, this will only take a moment. Just take a seat somewhere and be careful not to touch anything.”

With that, Rarity saunters off through a door to the back of the building where you guess she has what you are after.  Rather than stand around you move a roll fabric from a small chair and sit down, looking around the room. Your eyes stop and rest upon the piece Rarity was working on. It’s the same black color and design as the one your mother owns back home. Your concentration breaks as Rarity returns, several opal gems and a rough stone levitating just above her head.

“Sorry, but this may take a while. My sister and her friends thought it would be fun to see if they were “Gem Shapers” and use my best grinding stones. Needless to say I am left with only this dull one. It will do the job, but it will be longer than I anticipated.”

“Oh... that’s alright… I can spare the time...” you blush and chuckle. You wish you could tell her to hurry up, but she was stressed enough. You look around the room again as Rarity set’s to work grinding away when you come across a picture hanging on the wall; You get up and move closer for a better look. On it you see a group of six ponies, one of them being Rainbow Dash.  Under the picture is small, recently polished plaque that reads “My best friends.”

“Huh… what are the odds?”

Rarity looks up from her grinding. “Did you say something?”

“Oh, uh… sorry. I was just looking at this picture here… one of my friends is in it.”

“Oh is that so?” Rarity resumes her grinding but keeps her gaze fixed on you. “And who is that?”

“Rainbow Dash. We met a few days ago.”

Rarity stops grinding. You look over to see why the sound has ceased, and catch the glamorous pony with a sly smile on her face.

“Ohhh…”

You look around for a second. “What’s “Ohhhhh…”?”

“So YOU’RE the “Special Friend”

You stand in place, confused. “I am?”

With a slight giggle, Rarity stands up from her set, laying the grinding stone and the gems to the side. “Rainbow Dash had lunch with me and Twilight Sparkle the other day. She talked all about this new pony that she had met. She said some very nice things about you.”

“Oh... oh really?”

Rarity stood by your side, looking at the picture with you. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Rainbow Dash has never had a lot of luck with relationships. I mean sure, the girl has had her fair share of one night stands and all, but when it comes to the long term, the poor girl just hasn’t been able to get a bite.”

“Soo… she likes me?” You’re a little nervous asking, afraid of what the answer might me.

“Oh no, she doesn’t like you.”

Your heart sinks. “O-oh…”

“She ADORES you!”

Now you’re confused. “I’m sorry… come again?”

Rarity smiles and at you. “She talked about you like you were the Wonder Bolts. She went on and on about how good looking you were, how much you enjoyed the show… she even told us a story about how you climbed a tree to get a doll down and that’s how she fell for you.”

You blush. “She told me how she felt the other night… but I wasn’t sure if it was her talking or the result of being caught in the storm for an hour… She really said that?”

Rarity nodded. “You’re all she talked about, in that puppy dogs and sunshine kind of way. She adores you; be good to her.”

You feel an immense sense of pride well up inside you. “I… I will.”

Rarity lowers her gaze and looks at you seriously. “I mean it. Don’t break her heart”

You nod your head in understanding.  “I won’t… promise. Truth is, I really like her to.”

Rarity smiles, patting you on the back as she returns to her work at grinding the gem down to dust. “So...From what you said about Rainbow Dash being out in last night’s storm for an hour, I assume that this is for her?”

You nod. “Yeah.. . She got caught in it after weather detail and ended up at my place. She’s still there, her friend Fluttershy is tending to her while I get the ingredients for Nurse Red Heart.”

Rarity nods, then curses under her breath. She quickly apologizes for what she calls “Unladylike behavior” before setting the grinding stone down.”

“I’m terribly sorry to ask this of you, but I need to have my stone sharpened. Over at the library lives my friend Twilight Sparkle and her companion Spike. Could you be a dear and take this stone over to him and ask him to sharpen it for me? Otherwise I don’t know how long it will take to grind these gems, and I don’t want to make you wait any longer then you have to.” Rarity bats her long lashes a couple of times, as if somehow doing so would influence what your response was.

“Yeah, sure. No problem. I have to head over there anyways and pick up a book for the nurse, so this works out perfectly.” You take the grinding stone from the pony and place it in your bag. You say your goodbyes and head to the door with your next destination in mind when Rarity stops you.

“I’m… I’m sorry to ask you this as you are trying to leave, but I didn’t catch your name.”

You sigh before responding.

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