Surrounded by a random assortment of fabrics, jewels and ribbons, Rarity couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. The sheer amount of possibilities from such a simple gathering of materials was mind-boggling. Strewn chaotically across the room was everything she had in her creative arsenal to design something stunning and ingenuous, and one particular arrangement would be truly beautiful. Something nopony had ever created before. She just had to find that one, perfect arrangement. That was her goal, at least. It was her passion. The end result from the culmination of all her hard work and determination to get through her numerous creative slumps. From time to time, she would find herself repeating previous designs, doing what she had always done. But, somehow she always managed to pull through and create something anew.

    It wasn't just about finding her creativity, of course. She had an important duties to fulfill, and ponies to dazzle with dresses to suit their ever-complex and unique personalities, every one of them different in their own ways. Everypony saw her as some sort of a creative genius, but not all of them knew just how much perseverance it took to achieve such a status, over and over again. It was an ever-lasting battle against the forces of her own creative talents, for fear that she would lose the spark of ingenuity that so defined her inner self.

    She paced around the room, yet, nothing came to her. Even being surrounded by the creative chaos around her, no ideas came to fruition. No new ones, at least. Feeling uninspired and tired from continually trotting around her room, she pressed her face up against the window overlooking Ponyville. Outside, ponies walked to and fro going about their daily lives, each of them unique and distinct. There was something beautiful about it; how everypony had a unique story to tell. From the little school-ponies to the adults, the business-ponies to the bakers, the farmers to the food merchants, the musicians and the mail-ponies, every last one of them was different.

    A warm and intriguing thought surfaced in her mind. If everypony is so unique and beautiful in their own ways, why should I only focus my creativity on designing dresses? The thought ruminated deeply for several moments as she continued to gaze out her window, her mind deeply pondering this idea. She, of course, had dabbled somewhat in interior design and other similar creative outlets, but she never strayed much farther than that. She had even done some singing in the Pony Tones group, but that was the extent of her creative talents. What would I do? she asked herself. Working with fabrics and creative materials was all she had ever known. Could she really do anything else? I certainly have to try, she thought, pulling herself away from the window and determinedly making  her way downstairs. The thought of trying new things both excited and terrified her, but she knew wholeheartedly that it was the only way she could trudge her way out of this creative slump.

Rarity knocked on the door to Twilight's castle, admiring the sparkling blue exterior and colorful ribbons that hung from a balcony above her. A moment later, Twilight opened the door.

"Hello, Rarity," she greeted cheerily. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I just needed a change of scenery for a bit," she replied. "I'm in a bit of an artist's slump." She said the word 'artist' with fancy pronunciation.

"Come on in," said Twilight, "I could use a little break too, actually. I'll fix us up some tea."

Inside, the two ponies sat in a cozy book-room, sipping warm tea. They really had all come such a long way in just the past couple of years. The days of Twilight's quaint little tree-library seemed so long ago, back when everypony was so much different. The others, of course, hadn't undergone such drastic changes, but it was on the inside where everypony had redefined their mold. What has changed about me? she thought to herself while taking another sip of her tea. It was lavender.

Twilight broke the calm silence. "So who's the job for?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, somepony who likes fruit pies and origami," she said with a drawn-out sigh.

"That sounds like an odd combo," Twilight replied.

"To be honest dear, the all seem to blend together nowadays." She sighed once more. "I feel like I'm running out of creativity, so I've decided to go out and hope it finds me." She began to take another sip of her tea.

Noticing that her friend seemed to be a bit more than just slightly despondent, she thought of something she could do to help her in this time of need. "Well," said Twilight, "I've got a bit of an idea."

Rarity placed the tea down mid-sip. "Do tell!"

"Well," Twilight said sheepishly, "I've got a fiction novel I've been working on. I know writing isn't really your cup of tea, but maybe it'll help inspire you...somehow?"

"A fiction novel?" Rarity asked with a hint of intrigue and excitement. "What genre?"

Twilight blushed slightly. "Oh, it's just an Adventure novel..."

"That's it?"

"Well, it's also a bit of a Drama..."

"...and?"

"...and a Romance..."

Rarity couldn't help but let out a warm smirk. If there was anything she enjoyed as much as creating new things, it was learning intimate details about the things ponies mostly kept under wraps to themselves. Everypony wore a facade, but there was so much more to be discovered beneath.

Twilight reluctantly trotted off to retrieve the rough draft of her novel from her study room and returned with a thick stack of papers. "Well, here it is," she said as she set down the mess of papers on the table in front of Rarity.

THE MYSTERY OF MAGIC

By Twilight Sparkle

It was a dark and stormy night as the lavender unicorn rest in her bed, unable to sleep from the raucous, emphatic thunder outside, her ears auscultating from the commodious sonorousness. It was going to be a protracted, sleepless night. Little did she know that in the coterminous morning, something would transpire that would transform her simple life interminably.

Rarity read further down the first page, each paragraph growing seemingly more populated with big words, of which she could only ascertain the meaning of half of them. She did her best to read for a few pages until Twilight stopped her. Oh, thank Celestia, Rarity thought to herself, putting the stack of papers down on the table and subconsciously sliding them a bit further away from her.

"So," said Twilight. "What do you think so far?"

I'm glad I'm not the embodiment of the element of Honesty, she quietly thanked again. "It's very descriptive, darling. You've got quite the way with words."

It wasn't a lie, at least.

"Thanks, Rarity!" said Twilight gleefully. Oh, good, Rarity sighed internally.

"So did that get any of your creative juices flowing?"

Not really, thought Rarity. Although it did get her thinking a bit differently, so that was something. "A little," she replied softly.

"Oh," replied Twilight with a bit of disappointment, "well I hope you can find it elsewhere."

"Thank you, Twilight," Rarity said as she placed her finished cup of tea on the table. "I think I'll be heading off now. Thank you so much for your advice and for letting me read your book, and for the tea of course."

"I'll be sure to send you the manuscript when I complete the rough draft," she called out to Rarity as she made her way to the door. Oh, I hope it's not quite as dense after editing, she thought quietly to herself and said goodbye to her friend. Perhaps she would find her creativity again elsewhere.