[Ponyville - Carousel Boutique] A Dressmaker's Calling [FOLLOW-UP PHASE]

[Stainless Steel Fox]

(OOC: Oh goody! This is just too perfect. Didn't Blueblood make some comment about being sufficiently noble to make anything look fashionable? And with Valen wanting to cross-dress but being scared of what people would think... Also, I believe that Rarity is incapable of making anything less than a fine piece of work, even as a joke.)

"This..." He brushed the flowing locksa to the side with a hoof, not wanting to risk more magic. "... is due to a misfunctioning Tonic Mane Groom spell, as I assume a fashionable pony would be aware... so I'd better explain. Using magic on your mane is tricky because of your horn. If the magic contacts it, you get a positive feedback loop and... well, this happens. I was making sure my mane would be perfect for the trying on..."

He examined the dress more closely. It was an impressive piece of work, especially for a prank. Consiidering he lived in Canterlot, that was saying something, as he regularly saw very fancy gowns. Interested despite himself, he started to analyse it. He was, after all something of a connoisseur of fashion, and a mare's dress could tell you just as much about her as a stallion's suit.

"At least you have the right colours. Not that they're ones I'd pick, a stallion wears darker tones, but if I were a mare, the blue and purple would set off my white and gold colouration nicely. And despite the fact that it's scaled for me, it doesn't ride high in the flank, how... ah, a false line in the cut across the withers. It fools the eye into adjusting the underlying shape. It even gives me curves where I don't have them."

He examined one of the seams. "The hoof stitching is very fine, but a back stitch when the ruffles that depend on the pattern would normally call for a top stitch? Unless you were making a deliberate shout out to Prancian modes of the last century where ruffles used a cloudwave fold rather than a regular seawave... of course! You were on a deadline and the base of the ruffling is covered by the ribbon, so the difference is un-noticable. Ingenious..."

The over-long mane flopped over his eyes again. "Hmph! May I trouble you for a pair of scissors? I'm not going to risk more magic on this fringe."

[flutterscotch]

((OOC, Magi and I are trying a little experiment since Glory and Magnum are one of those couples that don't shut up, Pink is me, Cream is him. Comic sans is on purpose. They're the type that think it's cute.))

Meanwhile, a few streets over, the demise of Rarity's calm and collected upper hoof shambled along carrying stacks of multicoloured packages, souvenirs from their vacation.

[colour=#800080]"Oh goodness, Magnum, won't it be great to see our little gals again? I sure hope that Sweetiebelle an' Rarity had a wonderful time while we were outta town."[/colour], a pink unicorn blurted out while trying to balance a large stack on her back.[colour=#800080] "And I sure hope that Rarity loves these here sweaters we brought her back from Las Pegasus. The diamonds will just set off her eyes, won't they?"[/colour]

​

The white, mustachio'ed stallion following her wasn't carrying anything, but not by choice. Their luggage had already been brought home. Well, most of it. All that was left was in the cart. As per usual he seemed quite excited about this visit. Why shouldn't he be? He'd get to hear about how much fun his little girls had while they were away!

[colour=#800000]"I'm sure they had a great time, Butter Tart! Rarity will love them sweaters, they'll make 'er just as pretty as 'er mum!" [/colour]Always the charmer. It was so the mustache. [colour=#800000]"Maybe next time we'll take em' with us, eh? It's been too long since we had ourselves a family vacation! Just think! A whooole week with the fillies, just like when they were small"[/colour]

​

[colour=#800080]"Oh you!"[/colour], Glory replied, nudging him tenderly with a hoof. A beribboned package falling from its precarious perch on her plump rump into the dusty street. [colour=#800080]"You know just how to make a an ol' mare feel young and purty again. Canya be a dear and pick that up, sugar lumps? Jus' plop it right back atop the pile there. I can't see it without turnin' 'round and droppin' the rest of 'em." [/colour]

​

[colour=#800000]"Sure thing, dearest!"[/colour] not a moment spared, and the package was magicked back up to its previous spot. He never had any trouble feeding her compliments. He knew Glory was worried about her appearance, but Magnum was having none of it! He wasn't just blowin' smoke when he said she was as pretty as when he married her!

[colour=#800000]"Y'sure you don't want me to take somma them, Honey Bunny? Don't want you strainin' yerself, now" [/colour]The last thing he wanted was for his wonderful wife to accidentally hurt her back, just before paying their daughters a no-doubt very appreciated visit!

​

[colour=#800080]"Oh Snookums, but your bum knee, I don't mind, really I don't. An' they're justa buncha sweaters and scarves. Ain't no strain on these flanks!"[/colour] She looked up, surprised, at the front door of the Carousel Boutique. [colour=#800080] "Welp, I guess we're here!"[/colour] Busting in the door, shaking the packages off her back and into the glossy parquet of the shop entrance, she took a big breath and yelled.

"[colour=#800080]Rarity! Sweetiebelle! Your Momsy and Popsy are back from VAAACCAAATION! And we've got PRESENTS!"[/colour]

​

[RarityDash]

"This... is due to a misfunctioning Tonic Mane Groom spell, as I assume a fashionable pony would be aware... so I'd better explain. Using magic on your mane is tricky because of your horn. If the magic contacts it, you get a positive feedback loop and... well, this happens. I was making sure my mane would be perfect for the trying on..."

Rarity smirked as she stallion tried to explain himself. She had heard of such spells. Of course she had. A pony of fashion such as herself had to know her methods of beautification. Still, she wasn't going to pass up another chance to emphasize how she was better than this discourteous stallion.

She gave cold laugh and nodded. [colour=#663399]"Oh? So is that how you do it? Having such a naturally flawless and exquisite mane, I'd hardly know of such things,"[/colour] she said.

​

"At least you have the right colours. Not that they're ones I'd pick, a stallion wears darker tones, but if I were a mare, the blue and purple would set off my white and gold colouration nicely. And despite the fact that it's scaled for me, it doesn't ride high in the flank, how... ah, a false line in the cut across the withers. It fools the eye into adjusting the underlying shape. It even gives me curves where I don't have them. The hoof stitching is very fine, but a back stitch when the ruffles that depend on the pattern would normally call for a top stitch? Unless you were making a deliberate shout out to Prancian modes of the last century where ruffles used a cloudwave fold rather than a regular seawave... of course! You were on a deadline and the base of the ruffling is covered by the ribbon, so the difference is un-noticable. Ingenious..."

The prince started to examine the dress, and to her surprise he really seemed to know his stuff. It was honestly kind of shocking, especially since it was all praise of her work. Sure, this had been done as a joke, but Rarity didn't believe in making anything subpar. She had meticulously worked to insure perfection even in this piece. He was picking up on all of it too. It put her at a momentary loss. His knowledge was actually kind of respectable and he was saying good things about her work.

​

"Hmph! May I trouble you for a pair of scissors? I'm not going to risk more magic on this fringe."

His request brought her back to attention. She gave a nod and retrieved some scissors from nearby with her magic and handed them to the stallion. [colour=#663399]"It seems our prince knows quite a thing or two about dresses!"[/colour] she decided to speak again.

[colour=#663399]"Perhaps I really have stumbled upon a hobby?"[/colour] she added another barb at him. She couldn't resist. She had the upper hoof and she wasn't going to let it go, even if he said something marginally impressive. This was vengeance! The shame and humiliation she had suffered during her Gala experience, the crushed dreams and sunken hopes. This was about the ruination of what was to be her best night ever. She wasn't going to just let up. She was unstoppable There was nothing in all Equestria that pop her ballooning confidence now!

​

"[colour=#800080]Rarity! Sweetiebelle! Your Momsy and Popsy are back from VAAACCAAATION! And we've got PRESENTS!"[/colour]

Except that. At the very first syllable of her name being hollered at full volume from her front door in her mother's distinct accent, Rarity's blood ran ice cold. She shivered and sunk her head, knowing she had been defeated, fully, completely, utterly. There was no recovery from this. Any s**** of superiority she might have felt was instantly erased.

She made no response to her mother. Instead, she took a breath and glanced at Blueblood. [colour=#663399]"This is the real suit I made for you,"[/colour] she said quietly through a weak sigh, pulling a cloth off a nearby dress form, revealing an immaculate dark suit. [colour=#663399]"I... er... I hope you like it..." [/colour]she added, drained and vulnerable, not knowing what might happen next but dreading exactly all of it.

​

[Stainless Steel Fox]

(OOC: I'm assuming Bramble Rose is missing her turn? If not I'll remove the post, but I've been looking forward to this.)

His request brought her back to attention. She gave a nod and retrieved some scissors from nearby with her magic and handed them to the stallion. [colour=#663399]"It seems our prince knows quite a thing or two about dresses!"[/colour] she decided to speak again.

[colour=#663399]"Perhaps I really have stumbled upon a hobby?"[/colour] she added another barb at him.

​

"As a matter of fact, yes." Blueblood was focussing on trimming back the overgrown hair with the aid of scissors and a conjoured mirror rather than verbal duelling. As long as the magic didn't touch his hair, it should be alright. "I am a student of history, and courtly fashion. Is it so surprising I would know something of dresses? Besides, being able to assess some-pony's clothing is a vital social skill, it can tell you a lot about their current circumstances, their status, a host of things a pony every pony should know should know. Of course it doesn't always provide an accurate assessment, take your costume at..."

"[colour=#800080]Rarity! Sweetiebelle! Your Momsy and Popsy are back from VAAACCAAATION! And we've got PRESENTS!"[/colour]

Except that. At the very first syllable of her name being hollered at full volume from her front door in her mother's distinct accent, Rarity's blood ran ice cold. She shivered and sunk her head, knowing she had been defeated, fully, completely, utterly. There was no recovery from this. Any s**** of superiority she might have felt was instantly erased.

The call cut through his words, and for a second he was annoyed that someone had interrupted him. Then his brain caught up as it parsed the sentence. He gave his now restored mane (well sufficient for an emergency job, he'd have to order a full mane care procedure as soon as he'd returned to the palace) and stepped back to watch with a smirk. This should be good.

She made no response to her mother. Instead, she took a breath and glanced at Blueblood. [colour=#663399]"This is the real suit I made for you,"[/colour] she said quietly through a weak sigh, pulling a cloth off a nearby dress form, revealing an immaculate dark suit. [colour=#663399]"I... er... I hope you like it..." [/colour]she added, drained and vulnerable, not knowing what might happen next but dreading exactly all of it.

​

That threw him off. He did step over and examine the suit in question. It was daring, it was unconventional, it was... brilliant! She'd somehow managed to combine the esthetic of a formal dinner suit with the cut of a more leisure style suit appropriate for a sky-sailor, and somehow made it work. The detailing and tie-downs on the cuffs and fetlocks were inspired, functional for holding together cuffs blown by the winds of the open sky without detracting from the lines.

A white straw boater would have looked ridiculously out of place with the dark suit, but she'd reversed the colours to produce something that matched, the coloured accent of the ribbon and the pin striped striped shirt and tie complementing his own colouring well. Among the brightly coloured peacocks that most of his fellow stallions would be, he'd stand out like a griffon among pigeons. Oh yes, he could _work_ with this.

[Bramble Rose]

(OOC: No, I just respond to posts depending on which one has not had a response in the longest time. So if my turn gets skipped, that thread stays at the top of the page and I never see that it's my turn until I get done with all the other ones. I'm just lucky I noticed this.)

Sweetie Belle looked back and forth between Rarity and Prince Blueblood, very confused. They seemed ... like they were ... kinda making fun of each other? She wasn't sure ... but Prince Blueblood was saying very nice things about Rarity's dress. But they seemed confused about what he'd ordered? [colour=#800080]"Of course he knows things about dresses!"[/colour] she chirped up to Rarity, [colour=#800080]"He just gave me this book that he read when he was little, and wanted to know about dresses!"[/colour]

She was going to say more, but then her parents came in! She nearly forgot entirely about Prince Blueblood, her whole face lighting up with delight! She sprinted across the shop, her little hooves churning over the floor, to leap into a hug. [colour=#800080]"Mommy! Daddy! I missed you!"[/colour] She cried, her voice squeaking with her delight. She hugged them again, then stepped back, and excitedly showed off her lovely shop-assistant outfit! [colour=#800080]"I'm helping Rarity! I've been taking appointments and serving tea and pastries and apple juice and I met a prince and he's in back looking at the dress and the suit that Rarity made for him and he gave me his book about dresses so that I could learn proper manners and he's really really nice and really really handsome and you said you brought PRESENTS?!"[/colour]

​

[flutterscotch]

(OOC- Pink = me, cream = Magi)

Glory glanced lovingly from her youngest filly, clinging to her legs and bouncing and excited to see her mum and dad, to her eldest, who had a look of terror on her face that Glory could only attribute to the handsome stallion in the room. Never, of course, Rarity's embarrassment of her earthy sire and dam. Finally, she winked bemusedly at Prince Blueblood before addressing Sweetiebelle.[colour=#800080]"You betcha, Sweatpea! Why, all we did on vacation was think about how much we missed our gals! ".[/colour] She floated a small yellow package with a garish green polkadot bow to her daughter. "Here ya go! Now you, Rarity." She beamed as she floated an equally garish pink box over to the horrified unicorn. She fumbled for a moment with the boxes around her hooves. [colour=#800080]"Why I even got somethin' for your new colt-friend over here!"[/colour] Glory smiled as she covertly wrapped a tacky scarf around a giant bottle of Las Pegasus' classic tourist drink, TuttiFruittyGranGalooty and sailed it on over to the stallion.

​

The look on his eldest daughter's face only told him that they may have interrupted a... sensitive moment. [colour=#800000]"Oh, sorry Rare-Bear, didn' mean t'barge in on yer 'alone time'"[/colour] he gave a false knowing smile. But then SweetieBelle! Oh she was far too young to be worrying herself with coltfriends and the like. Nope! But she sure was happy to see them! That outfit did look nice! And she helped customers? And she met a Prince? [colour=#800000]"Wow-Wee, Kiddo! Sounds like you've been workin' hard while we were gone, eh?"[/colour] He gave a playful nudge to his darling wife, smiling proudly. [colour=#800000]"I'll bet you she'll have 'er cutie mark in no time!"[/colour]

​

[colour=#800080]"She sure will, oh macho mustachioed stallion o' mine, she sure will."[/colour] Glory ruffled her baby's curly mane. [colour=#800080]"and then when she is old enough to be worryin' about dashin' coltfriends like Rarity's new squeeze over there....[/colour] " she trailed off and winked at Prince Blueblood again. [colour=#800080]"But, hey, we haven't even been introduced properly. I'm Rarity's momma, Glory, an' this handsome bugger's my one and only Magnum, Rar an' Sweetiebelle's pop, and we sure are glad to meetcha!"[/colour]

​

Seemed quite enthusiastic about meeting, who he believed could be, Rarity's own special somepony! This sure was a step up from that boulder she fell in love with not long ago. Come to think of it... The rock he saw sitting outside looked verrry familiar...

[colour=#800000]"Pleasure to make yer acquaintance! Like my lil' rosebud told ya, I'm Magnum! Now, when can we expect us some grandfoals, eh?" [/colour]

​

[RarityDash]

[colour=#800080]"Mommy! Daddy! I missed you! [/colour][colour=#800080]I'm helping Rarity! I've been taking appointments and serving tea and pastries and apple juice and I met a prince and he's in back looking at the dress and the suit that Rarity made for him and he gave me his book about dresses so that I could learn proper manners and he's really really nice and really really handsome and you said you brought PRESENTS?!"[/colour]

Sweetie's enthusiasm might have been infectious if rarity weren't so drained. Instead it just came as another blow. This could not end well. She felt diminished. She felt humbled. She wasn't sure what they were going to say or do, but she had long ago learned with her parents that it didn't matter. Just having them there meant she had already lost. She took a deep breath and prepared herself.

​

[colour=#800080]"You betcha, Sweatpea! Why, all we did on vacation was think about how much we missed our gals! Here ya go! Now you, Rarity."[/colour]

And so it began, her perfect humiliation. The tacky pink of the large box that was passed to her filled her with dread. Her parents were incorrigible in their utter lack of anything even resembling good taste. Whatever was in this thing, she loathed the thought of opening and revealing it in front of a pony like Blueblood... and yet her parents shot her expectant eyes and she found herself helpless.

Slowly she tore open the paper and retrieved the contents. Inside was a downright frightful sweater. It was a very loud hot pink in colour, emblazoned with purple hearts of varying sizes and several sizes too big. it was about as far from fashionable as could possibly be conceived. Though what did she really expect? Her parents had always excelled at singling out the most démodé articles of dress attainable and positively torturing her with them.

[colour=#663399]"Why... mother... y-you really shouldn't have..."[/colour] she said as she gulped down her breath, her white face lacking more colour than usual as she stared down at the tawdry thing with fear in her eyes. She hoped to Celestia that she would never suffer the indignity of being forced to try it on.

​

[colour=#800080]"Why I even got somethin' for your new colt-friend over here!"[/colour]

Rarity cringed as her mother put together her "gift" for Blueblood. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Why was this happening? She wanted to disappear. Everything was about to come crushing down.

[colour=#663399]"N-no! Mother, you don't understand! This is just a custo--" [/colour]she pleaded, but her words were cut short when her father stepped forward and spoke up.

​

"Oh, sorry Rare-Bear, didn' mean t'barge in on yer 'alone time'"

Rarity's face turned red as she stared blankly ahead, disbelieving what was happening.

[colour=#663399]"J-just what are you insinuating, father. This... this isn't what it looks like. Not that it even looks like that in the firs--"[/colour] the mare fought, but again she only got so far before her chatty parents overwhelmed everything else.

​

[colour=#800000]"Wow-Wee, Kiddo! Sounds like you've been workin' hard while we were gone, eh? I'll bet you she'll have 'er cutie mark in no time!"[/colour]

[colour=#800080]"She sure will, oh macho mustachioed stallion o' mine, she sure will and then when she is old enough to be worryin' about dashin' coltfriends like Rarity's new squeeze over there....[/colour] [colour=#800080]But, hey, we haven't even been introduced properly. I'm Rarity's momma, Glory, an' this handsome bugger's my one and only Magnum, Rar an' Sweetiebelle's pop, and we sure are glad to meetcha!"[/colour]

"Pleasure to make yer acquaintance! Like my lil' rosebud told ya, I'm Magnum! Now, when can we expect us some grandfoals, eh?"

Each new word uttered seemed to bury the mare further and further until she felt downright smothered. She just couldn't take this anymore. It was too much. To be so thoroughly inundated with these careless and damaging assumptions... it was just so much more than she could bear.

[colour=#663399]"S-STOP!"[/colour] Rarity found herself shout out suddenly, trying to get the full attention of everyone.

She took a gulp then and shook her head. [colour=#663399]"Y-you're misunderstanding. This is... this is Prince Blueblood from Canterlot. He is a customer here at the Boutique, nothing more,"[/colour] Rarity said somewhat weakly, not sure she could recover fully just yet.

​

[Stainless Steel Fox]

[colour=#800080]"Mommy! Daddy! I missed you! [/colour][colour=#800080]I'm helping Rarity! I've been taking appointments and serving tea and pastries and apple juice and I met a prince and he's in back looking at the dress and the suit that Rarity made for him and he gave me his book about dresses so that I could learn proper manners and he's really really nice and really really handsome and you said you brought PRESENTS?!"[/colour]

Sweetie's enthusiasm might have been infectious if rarity weren't so drained. Instead it just came as another blow. This could not end well. She felt diminished. She felt humbled. She wasn't sure what they were going to say or do, but she had long ago learned with her parents that it didn't matter. Just having them there meant she had already lost. She took a deep breath and prepared herself.

​

[colour=#800080]"You betcha, Sweatpea! Why, all we did on vacation was think about how much we missed our gals! Here ya go! Now you, Rarity."[/colour]

And so it began, her perfect humiliation. The tacky pink of the large box that was passed to her filled her with dread. Her parents were incorrigible in their utter lack of anything even resembling good taste. Whatever was in this thing, she loathed the thought of opening and revealing it in front of a pony like Blueblood... and yet her parents shot her expectant eyes and she found herself helpless.

Slowly she tore open the paper and retrieved the contents. Inside was a downright frightful sweater. It was a very loud hot pink in colour, emblazoned with purple hearts of varying sizes and several sizes too big. it was about as far from fashionable as could possibly be conceived. Though what did she really expect? Her parents had always excelled at singling out the most démodé articles of dress attainable and positively torturing her with them.

[colour=#663399]"Why... mother... y-you really shouldn't have..."[/colour] she said as she gulped down her breath, her white face lacking more colour than usual as she stared down at the tawdry thing with fear in her eyes. She hoped to Celestia that she would never suffer the indignity of being forced to try it on.

​

The suit was excellent, but for the moment Blueblood was more interested in the drama going on between the ponies in the room. So these were Rarity's parents, and it did not take a student of pony nature to tell that she was less than enthused about their arrival. Sweetie Belle's enthusiastic introduction probably went right past them. Of course, it was possible a lot of things went right past them. He was sure Fancy Pants would have been charmed by their 'down to earth nature' and 'forthright congeniality', though most of Blueblood's social circle would have used the term common. Indeed, they seemed to define the term.

Their gift was a perfect example. Ye aunts, it was dreadful! It was clear Rarity considered herself to be an elite pony, one who might fit into the sort of social paddocks Blueblood himself moved in. She certainly had the tastes and the eye for fashion to pass herself off as such, even if she was just a simple filly from this one pony backwater. To someone like that, being given, let alone wearing such an eyesore of an item of apparel was the perfect storm, the alicorn horn blast, the ballistic quintuple layer cake of humiliations.

After their verbal sparring, her parents had come in and delivered a far more telling blow than he could have ever come up with in a week of trying. It took all of his considerable training and composure not to burst out laughing at her expression. This was more fun than the finest theatre.

[colour=#800080]"Why I even got somethin' for your new colt-friend over here!"[/colour]

Colt friend? Really? As he thought, they either hadn't heard Sweetie Belle's identification of him, or they didn't care. His cousin Princess Cadence might enjoy that 'just plain folks' thing, but he would normally have ripped a strip of both of them for their impertinence. Normally. However, considering how mortifying this must be to Rarity, it was more fun to 'roll with it' as the comon parlance had it.

He gracefully intercepted the bottle of... Tutti Frutti Gran Galooty? That tacky fruit cocktail they sold over in Los Pegasus? He would have been insulted if he hadn't been so amused. Now a nice Itailian rose wine from the southern provinces, that would have been different. Placing it down gently, he simply inclined his head in acknowledgement of the gift.

Rarity cringed as her mother put together her "gift" for Blueblood. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Why was this happening? She wanted to disappear. Everything was about to come crushing down.

[colour=#663399]"N-no! Mother, you don't understand! This is just a custo--" [/colour]she pleaded, but her words were cut short when her father stepped forward and spoke up.

​

"Oh, sorry Rare-Bear, didn' mean t'barge in on yer 'alone time'"

Rarity's face turned red as she stared blankly ahead, disbelieving what was happening.

[colour=#663399]"J-just what are you insinuating, father. This... this isn't what it looks like. Not that it even looks like that in the firs--"[/colour] the mare fought, but again she only got so far before her chatty parents overwhelmed everything else.

​

[colour=#800000]"Wow-Wee, Kiddo! Sounds like you've been workin' hard while we were gone, eh? I'll bet you she'll have 'er cutie mark in no time!"[/colour]

[colour=#800080]"She sure will, oh macho mustachioed stallion o' mine, she sure will and then when she is old enough to be worryin' about dashin' coltfriends like Rarity's new squeeze over there....[/colour] [colour=#800080]But, hey, we haven't even been introduced properly. I'm Rarity's momma, Glory, an' this handsome bugger's my one and only Magnum, Rar an' Sweetiebelle's pop, and we sure are glad to meetcha!"[/colour]

"Pleasure to make yer acquaintance! Like my lil' rosebud told ya, I'm Magnum! Now, when can we expect us some grandfoals, eh?"

Each new word uttered seemed to bury the mare further and further until she felt downright smothered. She just couldn't take this anymore. It was too much. To be so thoroughly inundated with these careless and damaging assumptions... it was just so much more than she could bear.

[colour=#663399]"S-STOP!"[/colour] Rarity found herself shout out suddenly, trying to get the full attention of everyone.

She took a gulp then and shook her head. [colour=#663399]"Y-you're misunderstanding. This is... this is Prince Blueblood from Canterlot. He is a customer here at the Boutique, nothing more,"[/colour] Rarity said somewhat weakly, not sure she could recover fully just yet.

​

Oh, there were so many possibilities here.

"Actually, my full title is Prince Blueblood, 53rd Duke of Canter, Guardian of the Princesses and Defender of the Weak. However, your Highness or even your Grace is acceptable in certain circumstances, as I was instructing your younger daughter. It is always a pleasure to see a young pony with a willingness to learn about etiquette and how to conduct themselves in society.

"I am pleased to make both your aquaintances, and I thank you for your kind gift, though it is not necessary. I must say, this is the first time I've ever gotten a father's permission to marry a mare before actually having considered dating them. While we did meet soicially once at the Grand Galloping Gala, that did not end well. I still have flashbacks every time I see a desert trolley.

"I am indeed here merely to collect a suit I had comissioned from your exceptionally skilled elder daughter. Not the dress, however. While I was not certain I would be completely happy with the design of the suit after only a single fitting, I must say it is an exceptional piece of work, everything I could have hoped for and more. Indeed every aspect of this visit has exceeded my expectation."

he had to politely put his hoof to his muzzle and cough to cover the snicker that was forcing it's way out.

[Bramble Rose]

Sweetie Belle wasn't as restrained as Rarity - she knew that the only way to get in a word edgewise around their parents was just to keep talking, and hope that something made its way through. Discussions at home tended to be a giant flood of words as three ponies all talked at the same time, somehow managing, through the magic of family, to understand what the other two were saying without getting distracted from their own monologue. And so she burbled happily to see her parents back from their vacation, her cheerful voice weaving in and out of her parents' nonstop back-and-forth.

[colour=#800080]"Ohmigosh I love the paper, it's so colourful!"[/colour] she cried out, taking the green-and-yellow package and settling it down on the floor. [colour=#800080]"Ooo, it's so shiny, too! Look at how shiny the paper is!" [/colour] She leaned left, then right, to see the way the light shimmered differently off of the wrapping paper depending upon what angle you looked at it. [colour=#800080]"Oh, I wonder if I could use it to make a collage for school?"[/colour] She very delicately and carefully started working to undo the wrapping paper with as little rippage as possible, wanting to be ever-so-careful so that she could fold it up nice and neat and tuck it away in the arts-and-crafts "Inspiration Cabinet" she had at home - like a smaller version of Rarity's Inspiration Room.

The dedication to saving the paper lasted a whole three seconds. Her little hooves, finding the package had about ten times the tape as it needed, couldn't wait, and she finally just tore off one whole side of the package and slid out the sweater within. Her eyes grew bigger and shimmered with excitement.

[colour=#800080]"Oh... oh my gosh it's so PRETTY!"[/colour] she squealed, her voice cracking in her delight. [colour=#800080] "Look at it, Rarity! Oh, you have one, too!"[/colour] She quivered with delight to see Rarity had a matching hot-pink sweater with purple hearts, only a little bit bigger. [colour=#800080] "Ohmigosh, we're going to MATCH! Oooo, let's put them on!" [/colour] She wriggled eagerly into the sweater, and stood up in it, posing proudly. [colour=#800080] "Ohmigosh, it's so fancy! Look, it matches my mane! Put yours on, Rarity!"[/colour]

She smiled up to Prince Blueblood, her eyes alight. [colour=#800080]"isn't it pretty, Your Highness? Don't you just *love* it? Isn't it to *die* for?"[/colour] She bounced eagerly up into the air. [colour=#800080]"You should put on your pretty new clothes, too! You can take the dress, too - after all, you asked specifically for it!" [/colour] She turned to her mum and dad.[colour=#800080] "He came all the way from *Canterlot* because he heard that Rarity makes the *best* dresses!"[/colour] She grinned up to the Prince again, little hearts in her eyes as she saw only how handsome and royal he was. [colour=#800080]"I suppose you really *can* make anything fashionable, can't you? Your Highness?"[/colour]

She turned to their parents one last time, and tried also to clear up the situation. [colour=#800080]"And no, no, he and Rarity aren't dating. He told me himself that he's available! He's looking for a nice filly right now!"[/colour] She drew herself up to try to seem more mature and quite available, herself...

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