It was just another beautiful morning like any other in Equestria, and the sun shined brightly over Rarity's boutique. Some of Rarity's mannequins were still in disorder after she had just finished working with them. Sweetie Belle had only just finished making a drawing of her and her sister. After she drew the finishing line, she put the crayon down,  picked up the drawing with her mouth, and turned towards her older sister while holding it. "Well, sis? What do you think?"

Rarity's heart filled up with joy as she saw the drawing her younger sister had made for her. She replied in a warm tone. "Aww, Sweetie Belle, this drawing is simply adorable! I love you so much, little sis!" The drawing in Sweetie Belle's mouth radiated with a dim, blue light, and the paper left her mouth right afterwards.

"Hi hi," happy to hear such kind words from her sibling, Sweetie Belle giggled. "I love you too, big sis!"

Rarity pulled the drawing closer to herself with her magic, and inspected it before saying. "Oh, this is going on the fridge for sure!" Rarity suddenly widened her eyes and gasped. "No! Even better! I'll put it next to my mannequins, it will just shine like no other!" Having said that, Rarity guided the drawing through the air and hung it on the wall, right next to her pony shaped mannequins which were still standing in slight disorder. One of them wasn't even standing at all. The young filly smiled, knowing that her older sister enjoyed her work of art, but the two did not get to enjoy the pleasant moment for long. A sudden knock on the door caught both of them off guard.

"Hmm? Now who could that be?" filled with curiosity, Rarity asked out loud. "Another customer, perhaps?" Rarity walked over to the door and greeted the guest with her usual ladylike tone, "Hello! Welcome to Carousel Boutique! Where each garment is shique, unique, and magnifique!"

Not seeing anything unusual in the boutique owner's way of greeting her, the visitor did not seem bothered by anything, and kept on standing in a proud pose, with her eyes closed and her head held up high. It was an earth pony mare that looked like no less of a stranger to fashion than Rarity herself. Her fur was of a cerulean color, and her mane was blonde. She wore a scarf with white and yellow stripes around her neck, as well as a white collar with a sapphire in the middle, but that wasn't the only gem decorating her appearance, two bright rubies were also sparkling from the golden bracelets around her front hooves. Her tone was as sophisticated, as were her clothes. "Why, hello there! You're Rarity, right?" she spoke up, and pointed her hoof at her conversation partner as she called her by her name.

"Why, yes I am," Rarity proudly confirmed. "How may i help you?"

"Well, darling, I read in ClotheHorse magazine that you are an upcoming designer, and I must say, I am simply astonished with all the work you've been putting out!" the mare seemed quite fond of Rarity and her line of work, and her kind words left the young fashionista charmed.

"Why, thank you, mam!"

"You see, honey," the mare continued from where she left off. "I am a well known fashion promoter from Canterlot, and after seeing your article samples, I simply had to come down and meet you face to face!"

Rarity seemed surprised. "Fashion promoter? Canterlot?" A thought just occurred to Rarity, and it left her twice as surprised. "Wait! Does that mean you're..." She got interrupted before she could finish.

"Oh, I am sorry! How rude of me. The name is Crystal Annora, darling,"  the proud mare from Canterlot formally introduced herself.

Utterly surprised, Rarity let out a loud and long gasp. After having nearly lost her breath from excitement, she tried to put the two words together. "C...C-c-c-c...Crystal Annora!?"  the name clearly seemed familiar to her. "Oh my gosh! I am such a huge fan!"

"Thanks, I get that a lot," Crystal Annora laughed. "Anyways, honey, I want to personally ask you to make me 6 unique designs for a new line I plan to present to Fancy Pants. I guarantee that you’ll shine all over Equestria!" she put an emphasis on the last 3 words to better catch Rarity's interest.

Excited about this amazing opportunity, Rarity didn't hesitate to accept, "Oh, of course, Miss Annora! I'd be honored!"

"Oh, please, call me Crystal."

"Oh, yes, ahem, Miss Crystal." Rarity giggled. She felt like a young filly in front of the famous fashion promoter that she looked upon as her idol.

"Excellent," while Rarity's tone changed after each sentence, this high standing pony remained calm and professional at all times.  "With that said, you have 3 days to complete all 6 designs."

"Come again?" Rarity asked, uncertain of the words she had just heard.

"You see, Fancy Pants is scheduled to showcase these design samples from all over Equestria for his next big party which is next week," after politely explaining, she switched to a slightly more sympathetic tone, "So I hope it’s not too much trouble for you."

"Oh...um...eh..." although still rather unsure, Rarity knew that this simply wasn't one of those situations where no would be a viable answer,  "Yes, of course! You can count on me!"

"Splendid," just like that, having happily received Rarity's word of approval, she turned around and left. "Well, See you later, miss Rarity."

"Thank you, Miss Crystal." Rarity didn't seem too bothered about the way her guest just suddenly left. "Bye bye!" she waved to the leaving mare and closed the door to her boutique. Her excitement was hard to hide. She walked back to the young filly that had heard the whole conversation. "Oh, Sweetie Belle, did you hear that?"

"Yes! Congratulations, sis!" Sweetie Belle was happy for her older sister, but also slightly worried. "But how are you gonna make 6 different designs in only 3 days? You ran out of high quality material with your last customer."

Rarity gasped loudly after being reminded of how serious the situation really was. "You’re right! Hmm, how am I gonna make this happen?" Rarity didn't ponder on this question for long. "Oh! I know," having thought of something, she spoke to her sister again, in a quieter and more sincere tone, "Sweetie Belle, mind doing me a favor?

"What is it?"

"If I remember correctly, you’ve been learning how to do magic from Twilight, right?" Rarity asked, and continued without even waiting for a reply, "Well, I need you to be a dear and go out and search for some more gems out by the Rock Farm. Here’s a book with instructions on how to perform a gem finding spell," after the stream of words stopped pouring from her mouth, Rarity used her magic to hand a book to Sweetie, who, in turn, picked it up from her with her own magic.

"No problem. I'll make myself useful." Sweetie Belle seemed more than glad to help out, she agreed without hesitation.

"Thank you, Sweetie," Rarity was happy to hear that her sister was willing to aid her. "Oh, and take Spike with you, he can help you dig up the gems. Just be sure not to let him eat them all again," Rarity laughed.

Sweetie Belle also giggled as she began to walk towards the door. "Sure thing."

After the young, white filly had left the boutique, Rarity was left with her hooves full. There was no time to waste, so she decided to get to it. "Hmm, I should start drawing the blueprints right away."

Next Chapter: Working hard and hardly working Estimated time remaining: 39 Minutes