Rarity opened the drawer on the far side of her boutique and pulled out a large pair of scissors. She inspected it, turning it about as its steel glimmered in the flickering candlelight. Wrong scissors, she thought. Too big. She needed the pinking shears, not the all-purpose ones. Wiping a rogue bead of sweat from her neck, she looked at the clock. It was a quarter past four, two hours past the time she expected to have completed. She looked at the dress, or rather, what was finished of it. She had fabrics arranged on a dress form covering the torso and the back, and a large flowing piece on the rear. Only the torso was done. On its white cloth, gold lace trimmed the features and swirled around the center in a heart-shaped symbol, the one specifically requested by her client. She didn’t want to think about how much time she’d spent on it. If the client loved it, then it would all be worth it. After all, that was the most important thing: the client loving it. Good dresses didn’t get attention; they had to be great dresses if not [i]perfect[/i]. Simply pleasing the client wasn’t enough. And, of course, it was in her nature to please. That’s what drove her, that’s what she lived for. It was quiet throughout the night. There were no lights in the town’s windows at this hour save for her own. There were no insects chirping, none that she could hear. It was tranquil. It was calm. The only sound was the slow and rhythmic [i]snip, snip[/i] of her shears at fabric as she cut a similar design for the nape. She lay on the floor and set her shears on the nearby table. She needed the rest, just for a little bit. She’d been working for hours. Just five minutes. Maybe ten. After that, she’d be up and ready to finish the dress, all before the client came in. The client would be happy and Rarity would be happy, and that thought put a smile on Rarity’s face. Her eyelids drooped, and her breathing steadied... She jolted to her hooves. No. She could rest later. for now, she had to finish the dress, the skirt, the ensemble. The client would be in here at noon today, in just a little over seven and a half hours, and she absolutely had to have the dress done by then. Lateness was not an option. She looked out the window again. The faint silhouette of the trees outside began to stand out against the increasingly blueing sky. She could hear the birds begin to chirp outside. Would she finally be able to sleep? Eventually, with any luck. But not tonight, not now. There was still much work to be done.