My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Stare Master
A/N: (Dede42 enters the writers studio with Sunrise Blossom and Twilight Sparkle, and they stop in their tracks when they see that the place is a mess with papers and folders scatter all over, the filing cabinets are open, and both Timon and Pumbaa are sprawl on the floor, fast asleep and snoring.)
Dede42: What the heck happen in here?!
Timon: (wakes up) Hyenas! Huh? (he sees the trio in the doorway and pokes Pumbaa to wake him up as he flushes) Oh, heh, hey there, Dede42.
Pumbaa: (snorts and shakes his head) Huh? Hey, guys!
Sunrise Blossom: What did you two do to this place? It's a mess!
Twilight Sparkle: I don't even let the library get this messy. Have you both been here all weekend?
Timon: Heh, well, you see, we just wanted to get the next Dr. Whooves story started for you, Dede42, while you were on break.
Dede42: And you ended up wrecking the place in the process?
Pumbaa: (hangs his head in shame) Sorry.
Dede42: I feel a headache coming on. Sunrise, Twilight, could you both help them clean this mess up and get the papers back in their proper places? (the twins nod) I'm going to lie down for a while. (she leaves.)
Sunrise Blossom: (turns back to the meerkat and the warthog) You both really couldn't wait until today to help her with a story idea.
Timon: We just really wanted to have something ready for her to take over on. Who knew writing a story was such hard work?
Twilight Sparkle: Now you know what Dede42 goes through. She waited until she had most of Season 1 written before she started posting the stories. Come on, we got a lot of work to do.
Sunrise Blossom: (turns to the camera) Don't worry, Roleplayer48, this is on Timon and Pumbaa, not you, and once Dede42 rests up, she'll get some more writing done, and maybe figure out what these two goofballs had in mind before it blew up on them.
Timon: We're not goofballs!
Pumbaa: Actually, today we are, Timon.
Twilight Sparkle: Enough talking, let's get organizing.
Sunrise Blossom: (sighs) This is going to be a long day.
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from My Little Pony: Magic is Friendship. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER ONE: SLEEPOVER AT FLUTTERSHY'S!
In Carousel Boutique, Rarity was racing back and forth, trying to finish up a big important order, and Sweetie Belle was watching her big sister run around frantically.
"Where'd I put that?" Rarity muttered, running while magically carrying three balls of different colored thread. "Ohh, I thought I already…" She set them on a table and ran back for fabric. "Ohh, and I can't forget I've got to… oh, how am I ever gonna get this done?"
"Are you sure I can't help?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I could-"
"No!" Rarity shouted, running past with the fabric.
"Maybe just a-"
"No thanks!"
"How about-"
Rarity paused while folding up some fabric to look at her little sister. "Just stand over there."
"But-" Sweetie Belle began.
"Where you'll be out of the way," Rarity interrupted up and dropped the fabric when she realized that she'd forgotten something important. "Ribbon, ribbon! Where's the ribbon?!"
Sweetie Belle looked around and spotted the item on a high shelf. "I got it!" And she quickly climbed onto a chair and tried to reach it while leaning on the sewing machine, which began tipping. Just as she managed to snatch up the roll of ribbon, the sewing machine toppled and she fell to the floor while the ribbon went flying across the room. "Whoa!"
Rarity gasped as the ribbon bounced off one of the mannequins, which toppled over, and started a chain-reaction of thread, fabric, and other things being sent flying around the room. "Aah!" she screamed, ducking and covering her head with her forelegs until the crashing noises stopped after several minutes. She got up and looked around in horror at the mess.
Sweetie Belle swallowed and nervously smile while her big sister glared at her. "Um, I-I'll just go and stand over there, where I'll be… out of the way." And she quickly zipped away.
Rarity looked around at the mess and sighed before going to work on cleaning up the mess.
A full hour later, Rarity was finishing up cleaning the mess and Sweetie Belle was watching her, feeling guilty for making the mess in the first place.
"Won't you at least let me help you clean up?" she asked.
"No," Rarity said sternly while magically putting away the fabric she didn't need. "You've helped me quite enough." 'Why can't she stay with our parents at the farm this weekend?'
"I'm sorry, sis!" Sweetie Belle apologized. "I just thought that if I could help, I might find my special gift and finally earn my cutie mark." And she looked wistfully at her blank flank.
"I understand," Rarity said sincerely, for she recalled how frustrating it could be for some fillies waiting to get their cutie marks, and her own frustration, too. "It's just that… I need this time to fill this order without any… complications," she added, setting up the last of the mannequins. "Okay, all done. Now, back to work. I've lost a lot of time, and I cannot have any more interruptions." She went to her sewing machine to start sewing when the doorbell rang, and she groaned. "Oh, what now?!"
Fluttershy, who'd just entered the shop with a covered basket, flushed. "Oh, sorry," she apologized. "I thought the "open" sign meant you were open, but I must have been mistaken."
Rarity gasped when she saw the yellow pegasus and the basket. "Fluttershy! Forgive me!" she quickly apologized, running over. "I was so wrapped up in my work that I forgot you were bringing Opalescence back from her grooming!"
"No worries, Rarity," Fluttershy assured her as she removed the blanket from the basket to reveal Opalescence, who hopped out to reveal her clean fur. "I've left her there in the basket." She smiled as the cat rubbed her forelegs, purring.
"Oh, she looks great!" Rarity exclaimed, delighted to see her pet was all clean and fluffy. "I just don't understand how you're able to do it! I can't get near her without getting a swipe from her claws," she remarked, stepping close to her cat, only to have Opalescence hiss and swipe at her. "Ahh!" She jumped back. "Did you use… the Stare on her?" she asked, referring to her friend's ability to make misbehaving animals behave, which included the full-grown dragon they'd gone up against with their friends months ago.
"Oh, no!" Fluttershy gasped. "I wouldn't! I couldn't! I-I don't really have any control over when that happens. I-It just happens. No, I'm just good with animals. It's my special gift, you know?" she added, nuzzling the purring cat.
Rarity nodded thoughtfully. "Well, you should have a picture of Opal as a cutie mark instead of those butterflies," she remarked.
This remark gave Sweetie Belle an idea and she hurried over to Opalescence. "Ooh, ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh! Maybe I can be good with animals, too!" she suggested brightly, only to have the cat swipe at her mane with an angry hiss, and she quickly retreated to protect her curls. "Or not." And both Fluttershy and Rarity laughed.
"I'm sorry I can't invite you to stay and chat, Fluttershy," Rarity told her friend, sighing. "I've bitten off a bit more than I can chew with this order."
Sweetie Belle stared at her sister, confused. "But you're not eating anything."
"No, Sweetie, it's an expression," Rarity explained. "It means that I've taken on more work than I can handle. I've got twenty of these special robes to make tonight! They're due in Trottingham tomorrow morning." She then pulled out some beautiful gold fabric and Fluttershy gasped with amazement. "See? I've lined them in a special gold silk," she added, looking fondly at her handiwork. "It took so long to make, but I think it adds just the right touch, don't you?"
"These are lovely, but twenty by tonight?" Fluttershy asked while admiring the fabric. "How will you get it all done?"
Rarity sighed since that was a problem. "Well, I, uh…"
"Oh, oh, oh!" said Sweetie Belle, jumping up and down with a new idea. "Maybe I could… just…" her ears drooped when her big sister fixed her with a stern look, "just stand over here and watch." And she walked away sadly.
"I'll manage," said Rarity, shaking her head and sighing, wondering how she could get done with her sister under-hoof.
"Well, maybe I should get out of your mane so you can work," Fluttershy suggested and she turned to go, almost being run over by the blur that was Apple Bloom and Scootaloo
"Hi, Fluttershy! Hi, Rarity!"
Rarity blinked. "Hello, uh, girls…"
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo zipped up to Sweetie Belle. "Hey, Sweetie Belle!"
When Sweetie Belle saw her friends, she immediately perked up. "Scootaloo! Apple Bloom!"
"You ready for tonight?" Scootaloo asked eagerly.
"Yup!" Sweetie Belle replied happily. "Cutie mark planning session is a go!"
"Tonight is the night we each try to find our own special talent," Apple Bloom confirmed.
"Even if it takes us all night!" Scootaloo added.
"I'm ready! You ready?" Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo nodded. "Very ready!"
"Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover at Rarity's! Yay!" the three fillies cheered loudly.
Sweetie Belle hurried over to her bag and pulled out three red capes she made, which had a blue patch with a yellow pony wearing a cape on them. "And… look what I made us!" she announced, putting on hers with a flourish.
"Oh, wow!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gasped and laughed with delight as they put on their own capes. "That's so cool! Oooh!"
"What does that patch on your cape mean?" Fluttershy asked.
"The Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yay!" the three fillies shouted together.
"We're on a crusade, a mission!" Scootaloo announced.
"To find our cutie marks!" Apple Bloom added.
"Yup. And look," said Sweetie Belle, lifting up her cape to reveal the underside, which was made out of a familiar gold fabric. "I lined them with this special gold silk. It took sooo long to make, but I think it adds just the right touch, don't you?" she asked her her friends "Oooooh!" over it.
Rarity stared in horror to see that the fabric her sister had used was her own, and she raced over to pick up a section lying next to her sewing machine, discovering that three squares had been cut out of it. "Sweetie Belle! What have you done?!" she shrieked, and her little sister flushed with guilt. "That was the last of the gold silk! Oh, now I'll have to make more! Oh, I hope I can make more. I'm gonna have to work all night! Which means…" She took a breath and faced the three fillies. "Sorry, girls, I'm afraid the Crusaders sleepover is cancelled."
"What?!" Sweetie Belle yelped.
"I just won't have any time to watch you if I want to get these robes delivered on time," Rarity pointed out.
"But-" Sweetie Belle began, having been looking forward to the sleepover.
"No buts this time," Rarity said firmly. "I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle. It's just the way it has to be."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all pouted. "Awwww…"
Fluttershy looked at the fillies' sad expressions and she got an idea. "I, uh, I suppose I could take them for the night," she offered.
Rarity was surprised to hear the shy pegasus make an offer like that. "I couldn't ask you to do that," she protested.
"Oh, it's no problem at all," Fluttershy said reassuringly.
"Have you met my sister and her friends?" Rarity asked skeptically. "A problem is all it would be."
"Did I have a problem with Opal?" Fluttershy reminded her friend. "You've seen how well I handle small creatures!"
Rarity knew that the yellow pegasus had a point and was one of the few ponies around who could get her cat to behave. "I suppose that's true… and I do have a lot of work to do…"
"Come on, it'll be fun," Fluttershy offered.
Rarity still wasn't sure. "I assure you, they're quite a handful."
"These sweet little angels?" Fluttershy asked and the three fillies all smiled innocently.
Rarity sighed. "Well… all right."
"Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover at Fluttershy's cottage! Yay!" they cheered and raced out the door with their bags.
"So cute," said Fluttershy before flying after them. "W-wait for me!"
Rarity watched them go, worried that the yellow pegasus was in over her head, and then she looked at the robes she needed to finish working on. "Hmmm…"
A/N: I wish Fluttershy the best of luck with the CMCs. R&R everyone!