The drive back to Rarity’s was fairly quiet, all things considered. The roads were empty on account of the late hour of the day. Rarity was resting very soundly in the passenger seat and Applejack dared not turn on the radio, no matter how hard she really wished to. Looking at the clock on the dashboard, she was surprised just how late it was—she must have misjudged just how long the distance was from Canterlot City to the Idea Warehouse.
She cursed under her breath. She would have to explain to her family just why she had disappeared off her shift in the Mall so suddenly, and while hopefully asking them if she could spend the night at Rarity’s place.
“Should Ah tell the others?” she asked herself. She sighed. “Nah, it’d just overwhelm her even further. Oh, boy, Ah didn’t think it’d be this bad.”
She pulled the family truck into the driveway. Carefully, she carried a sleeping Rarity as she approached the front door. After waiting for a few minutes, no one answered. She knocked again, and once again received no answer. To add to her frustrations, Rarity was completely knocked out to the point of almost drooling over her shoulder; at least she never snored, to her knowledge at least.
“I woulda figured her folks would at least be home,” Applejack grumbled to herself. Then she remembered. “And Sweetie Belle would be at my place for a sleepover with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”
She sighed, almost daring to pinch her nose. Getting an idea, and after looking around for any potential passersby, she carefully lowered herself so as to not disturb her friend and checked under the doormat. Surprisingly, there was indeed a house key, just as elaborately as her family’s house.
“Seriously, why do people still pull off this trick?” she grumbled. “Oh, well. Ah can’t complain, really.”
Without much effort, she hoisted her sleeping friend over her shoulder and unlocked the door. Thanks to all the blinds, the living room was pitch black, more so than the night sky even with the New Moon. Thankfully, Applejack had memorized that the lightswitch was just next to the doorframe, and that her grip was tough as metal, otherwise she would have sent Rarity flying against the hard floor.
For the present moment, she carefully placed her sleeping friend on the sofa. Then she carefully put a pillow under her head and covered her with a warm and fuzzy fleece blanket that covered most of the sofa’s surface area. Thankfully, Rarity was not disturbed and remained peacefully asleep. Applejack removed her stetson and wiped her brow, quietly sighing with relief.
She carefully tip-toed to the kitchen where she pulled out her phone and called her home number. Presently, Big Mac answered.
“Y’ello?”
“Hey, Mac. It’s AJ,” the apple farmer replied.
“Hey sis. Where’ve ya been? Ah heard from Granny ya closed up shop early today, and then Ah heard from Pinkie that you and Rarity were runnin’ an errand ‘a some kind?”
Applejack sighed. “Yeah. Ah had ta help Rarity with an emergency crisis she was facin’. Unfortunately, her stressin’ got the better ‘a her and how she’s plum tuckered out.”
“Kinda like the time you tried to ready the harvest all on yer own,” her brother snickered.
Applejack pinched her nose and pretended to not listen. “Anyway, Ah’m plannin’ on stayin’ the night for her sake. Ya think you can cover for me, Mac?”
There was a pregnant pause, but only for a hot second. “Sure thing, sis. Ah can handle it. Jus’ hope Rarity’ll be feelin’in the morning. Seeya, AJ. Goodnight!”
“Godonight, Mac!”
She hung up. Taking a deep breath, she carefully strolled over and turned off the lights in the kitchen and living room. Then, she sat herself in an armchair opposite the sofa Rarity was sleeping on.
“Jus’ need ta make sure she gets a good night sleep,” she said to herself. “Ah’ll stay up all night if Ah have to.”
Rarity awoke the next morning to the bright lights of the morning sun on Memorial Day and to the sound of heavy snoring. Looking up from the sofa, she noticed Applejack fast asleep and snoring as loud as her prized cow Bessie.
For a hot second, she wondered why there was such a large gap in her memory. Then she did, and she fell back against the sofa with shameful embarrassment. Perhaps there was such a thing as a caffeine crash after all, and she had sworn to be more level headed in regards to her infamous outbursts.
She was thankful for Applejack’s help. Careful not to disturb the cowgirl’s deep slumbering, even though it was definitely way past 6 am (just how late was she up to warrant that?), she tipped barefoot into the kitchen. Yawning, she went over to the coffee pot, but instead she steered over to the fridge and picked out a glass of milk instead.
“Oh, yes. I much prefer milk to caffeine in the morning,” she drowsed. “To think that it’s developed into a necessary habit for adults. I don’t think the Movers drink coffee, or at least I’m sure they don’t. I didn’t see a coffee maker in the Warehouse.”
Rarity placed her tired chin against her palm, leaning over the kitchen island. “I owe those men an apology. They all certainly have the most interesting ways of solving problems. If only everyone had the same amount of dedication, creativity, and positive energy when it comes to problem solving. If only it were so simple to overcome this forsaken creative block!”
Applejack stirred slightly. Rarity paused, burning red. “I most definitely needed a good rest. Now to complete my order. Maybe a look at what I’ve completed so far will stir my well rested brain waves.”
She quietly walked into the study room. Paper crumpled balls still littered the floor, some of which were stained brown. Cringing, she stepped over to the completed dresses. There was a common theme of summer sunshine, something nice and simple to enjoy wearing out in the warm sunlight. Strolling over to the desk, she picked up a color shading card, each depicting one shade each of the “Light Summer” palette.
“Hmm…maybe I haven't used every shade in the palette yet. Let me see: there’s one with primrose, soft white, mint and clear sky. Light teal, light aqua and chalk white. Strawberry, watermelon and pink rose. Nautical blue, bright blue and regatta blue. Those are on the completed dresses, leaving hyacinth on the incomplete dress. Now…there’s twelve shades in total and I have used…one, two…six…eleven shades. That just leaves out bluebell.”
Sitting at the workbench, she flipped the pages to the most recently used and incomplete dress design. The hyacinth would be complementary to the bluebell. The only question was how to incorporate it.
“I only have the bottom part finished. Maybe if I could…yes…yes that works. Now maybe if I could…yes, yes that’s perfect! Don’t stop, Rarity! You are a roll!”
Silent ambiance permeated the room, save for the scratching of frantic pencils, graphite and colored. The shapes appeared with great ease, like out of a dream, and the color shading was beyond complementary. Soon enough, the shape was in perfect form. Design in hand, the fashionista rushed over to the table, snagging treads, needles, and the color fabrics necessary.
Thread by thread, stitch by stitch…the piece drafted from her very imagination was taking form right before her very eyes. A hunger growled within her soul. The beast was chugging on a roll. Any sort of descriptive metaphor was working their magic. The fabrics soon were fashioned into genuine clothing, and the colors were woven like a rainbow that only accepted one particular shade to compliment the other.
Rarity held it like her greatest treasure. She slowly approached the now empty dress mannequin like she was participating in a time-honored tradition. The clothing fabric wrapped around the wiring like a glove. She stood back, admiring all her latest creations. A perfect line up of summer shades, all made to be placed back to back.
Such relief of completion deserved some amount of a reward. For Rarity, it was giddily screaming at the top of her lungs.
Immediately following that was a loud crash in the living room with the exclamation of, “SWEET POSSUM IN THE BERRY BUSH!!!”
Rarity gasped as she ran to the living room, finding her friend head over heels with her stetson over her stomach. “Oh, my goodness, darling! I am so sorry!” She helped her up.
“S’alright,” Applejack replied. “But, just what’s gotcha so excited—?”
Her reply was a bone crushing hug from the squealing Rarity, who managed the bare minimum effort to swing the cowgirl around for one rotation. Applejack ended up being frozen in shock for a brief moment.
“It’s finished! I finally, finally finished it! The order that was keeping me awake for the entire weekend is finally complete!”
“Well, hey! That’s great! Ah guess that beauty sleep really did ya good, then?”
“Yes. It really did wonders for me. Oh, I am so sorry for how I acted back at the Warehouse. The stress of this deadline really pushed me to my limits.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. Happens ta the best of us. Remember that one time Ah tried ta pick the entire orchard ahead of the harvest after Big Mac got injured.”
“Oh, yes. I remember how Apple Bloom found you sleeping until lunchtime out in the field. And thanks…thank you very much, darling. I really appreciate how you helped me despite my sleepless stubbornness.”
“Ah shucks, Rarity. It weren’t nothing at all.”
“Still, I believe I owe apologies to the Movers for all their help.”
“Sure thing. We’ll take my truck…after we have breakfast, first.”
Back in the Idea Warehouse, the four Movers were all sleeping soundly. Soon, a loud ringing and vibration emitted from Dave’s cap. He reached over and picked out a ringing alarm clock, which he shut off. He then sat up with a yawn along with the others.
“Morning guys,” he said.
“Morning,” they all replied.
“That was a good night’s sleep,” Scott said. “We should do this again sometime.”
“Yeah, this was great,” Smitty agreed.
The guys all gathered up their sleeping bags, and put them away. Getting dressed, they all picked out food from the fridge. Smitty handed Warehouse Mouse a chunk of swiss cheese.
“Thanks, ‘Mitty!”
Scott scooped a yogurt cup. “Hopefully Rarity’s feeling a lot better after a good night’s sleep.”
“This Creative Block has been really bothering her,” Rich added. “It’s not easy to overcome it, and it doesn’t just go away forever. It’s gonna come back.”
Dave nodded. “Yeah. It’s like getting a flu shot: it protects you for most of the year but you have to get another one otherwise you’ll risk getting the flu.”
“Sometimes I wish there was a be all, end all cure for creative blocks,” Scott frowned.
“That would be nice,” Smitty nodded.
“But for what it’s worth, I have faith in our abilities.”
“Right,” Rich beamed. “We’re the Imagination Movers. There is no problem that we can’t solve.”
“And if not getting a good night’s sleep solves Rarity’s problem, then we’ll just have to think of something different!”
The doorbell rang at that precise moment. The Movers all walked over. Opening the door, they smiled in surprise at the girls’ arrival.
“Rarity! Applejack!”
“Hey, fellas,” Applejack replied.
“So…did it work? Do you still need our help?” Scott hesitantly asked.
Rarity smiled to her friend. “We just came by to say thank you. Thanks to your help, I was able to complete my order on time!”
The Movers all cheered. Even Warehouse Mouse joined in the enthusiasm.
“That’s great!” Smitty said. “You’re welcome!”
“And if you ever need any help with another problem…our door is always open,” Rich added.
“That’s wonderful,” Rarity nodded.
“We’ll be sure ta keep that in mind,” Applejack added. “Thank ya kindly again. We’ll be on our way now.”
“Bye!” The Moves and Warehouse Mouse waved.
The girls waved goodbye and left. The Movers were all on cloud nine and full of elation. Once again, the Imagination Movers pulled their minds together and solved another Idea Emergency.
“We did it!” Scott beamed. “Another Idea Emergency solved!”
The Movers all threw their hands together in a simultaneous high five in celebration…except for Dave, who missed again.
He snapped his fingers. “Every single time…”