Of Delicate Things... And Hard Work...

Of all the things Rarity had felt anxious over in her lifetime, the spa had never registered in her mind as a potential threat. It was one of her favorite places to be. It always felt so good to be pampered here. She felt all of the stress of a week’s work just dissipate as the mud bath embraced her aching body. How this could end up something she’d be so nervous about was almost beyond her understanding.

She had experienced something very similar the time she’d met Photo Finish on the street and intended to ask Fluttershy to model some of her designs for the famous fashion photographer. Still, that day didn’t end up all bad. If only she had been the one Photo Finish wanted to help “shine ALL over Equestria!” but alas, Fluttershy’s natural grace won her the attention that Rarity deserved. No, she couldn’t afford to continue thinking that way. Today was important, but it had nothing to do with anything fashion or design, today was a day about friendship. Saving a friendship.

Rarity was never one to immediately judge anypony for their preferences on anything, but somehow she had let the simplest admission from Fluttershy make everything absolutely awkward. It was awful of her to do, and it was even quite hypocritical. She hadn’t meant to do it, but that didn’t make it okay or change that she had done it. Today she was prepared to apologize and humble herself before her longtime friend and spa companion in order to save a friendship that was indeed very dear to her.

So why, with something so important hanging in the balance, she couldn’t force her carefully cared for hooves to move further than the front door was a mystery to her. This was Fluttershy, her friend, the Element of Kindness, and without a doubt the nicest pony anypony could ever hope to meet. So what if she liked mares? Was that really wrong? Did that make her a bad pony? After all, if she’d liked mares all along than she had been the very same Fluttershy during all of that time as well. Why, then, did Rarity feel so awkward around it?

Well, even in her mind that question was rhetorical. It was Rainbow Dash; it had been ever since the Best Young Flyers Competition. She just didn’t face it then and there, and the day Fluttershy came out to her she almost felt as if Fluttershy had somehow done it to her. Of course, that was now an absolutely absurd notion that she’d not likely forgive herself for entertaining.

Enough, she’d been standing there for at least ten minutes just lost in thought and paralyzed in the legs. It was time to push passed this, and she could think of only one way to do that at this point. With that, her horn lit up with soft blue magic and enveloped her hooves, forcing them to move forward.

• • •

There, in the warm water of the mineral bath, Fluttershy was relaxed. She didn’t look at all angry, but then the idea of Fluttershy being angry was sort of an alien concept. It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen it before; it was that it had never been directed at another pony. It brought some confidence to her to see this, and she felt the control come back to her legs. At this she ended her magic, and proceeded to walk under the power of her own leg muscles.

Fluttershy was comfortable, and content. She hadn’t thought much about Rarity’s reaction to her, but that was because of how well she knew Rarity. She knew a Rarity that nopony else knew. It gave her confidence that whatever happened, Rarity would either apologize or explain herself, or perhaps both. So she waited in the mineral bath, listening for Rarity’s voice to chime in a request for ‘the usual.’

She was also just a bit confused at Rarity’s rather heavy regimen, for what she saw of Rarity, the mare certainly didn’t need any help looking so beautiful. It was something she’d attempted to get through to Rarity on a number of occasions, but it was something Rarity always refused to hear.

Rarity, for her part, was not at all herself. She didn’t go through her usual routine of asking for ‘the usual’ and announcing her presence. Instead, she was quiet as a mouse, or Fluttershy. She made her way cautiously to the mineral bath and sat on her haunches on the platform surrounding half of it. She inspected a basket of sponges, but immediately reminded herself that that was a terrible waste of her and Fluttershy’s time.

“…Fluttershy?”

A pair of aqua marine eyes opened, and looked at Rarity. A butter yellow muzzle formed a soft smile as she acknowledged Rarity’s presence.

“Rarity, Hello,” she replied.

“I…,” Rarity began, but her lungs failed her just after that one word. She found herself unable to recover either, and so she resigned to looking at Fluttershy whilst attempting to plead with her eyes.

“I forgive you,” she said, her voice as gentle and understanding as ever.

Rarity swallowed, and focused her thoughts once again. It was nice to be forgiven, but Fluttershy deserved to actually hear the words from her mouth. She refused to let her friend go on without an apology.

“Fluttershy… I’m so sorry for the way I behaved…”

“I know, Rarity… I know…,” she replied, but her thought didn’t end there, “I just… I don’t understand… why?”

Rarity sighed and rested on her four legs, then rested her head on the platform so that she was eye level with Fluttershy. She looked into those aqua marine eyes, and she felt every part of her calm down all at once. She could do this. She could talk to Fluttershy about anything.

“I’m afraid…,” she said, “afraid that… that I have feelings too… for one of our friends…”

Fluttershy blinked, but remained quiet. She just always knew when to stay quiet, and let another pony speak.

“I… I don’t mean that it would be a bad thing…,” she continued, “I just don’t know what it means for me… I mean… I’m a fashionista… I have a reputation… It’s important to me…”

She looked at Fluttershy, her own eyes barely held their usual light. Fluttershy had seen this look before, she had listened to Rarity speak during times like these before.

“But… so is Rainbow Dash…,” she carried on, “and I don’t know what to do… I’m afraid of what either decision will do… oh but then… I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? There’s no saying that Rainbow Dash would ever feel the same way about me… there’s no saying she likes mares, either, is there?”

Fluttershy made no attempt at responding. She had known Rainbow Dash since foalhood in Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash had always been a loner, too focused on her dreams and her passion to really settle down. She’d had a few flings here and there, and she never went into much detail about them with Fluttershy. It wasn’t clear to Fluttershy what kinds of feelings Rainbow Dash might harbor for a stallion or a mare, because she had always been very closed off about that sort of stuff. She had declared it ‘very uncool and way too sappy’ a long time ago.

Rarity struggled to read Fluttershy’s expression, but it was useless. She opened her mouth to speak again, but somehow Fluttershy had interrupted her.

“Do you remember our trip to Appleloosa…?” she asked.

Rarity nodded as much as she could with her chin resting on the platform.

“By the way, I’m sorry for keeping you awake that night…”

Rarity rolled her eyes at this. It wasn’t the first time she’d received an apology from her for that. It probably wouldn’t be the last.

“Right… anyway… I almost told everypony how I felt about Applejack that night…”

Rarity blinked, she couldn’t recall a single word about feelings or Applejack in all of the conversation that had been interrupting her valuable beauty sleep.

“Rainbow Dash was talking with Pinkie Pie about Bloomberg…,” she continued, “and Pinkie Pie had some fun with her… making her say which tree she meant… and Rainbow Dash… well… she was sarcastic with Pinkie Pie… and that never works… Pinkie just jokes around with that…”

“So… when Pinkie Pie had asked her if she meant Bloomberg, she retorted that she was talking about me…,” she said, smiling a little as she went on.

“Anyway… Do you remember me saying I wished I was a tree…?”

Rarity nodded, again slightly impeded by the platform.

“Do you remember how Applejack treated Bloomberg on that train ride?”

Rarity snorted, “Like royalty…”

“With love,” Fluttershy corrected.

Rarity stared at her with a quizzical expression. She hadn’t really figured out where Fluttershy was going with this story, and that particular kind of confusion was usually reserved for another pink-maned pony.

“I was scared…,” she continued, “so I didn’t finish my thought… and I laughed with the girls… and…,” she sighed, “and I teased Spike…”

“Why are you telling me this...?”

“Rarity… look at what I did… instead of being honest…”

Rarity considered it for a moment, suddenly very unhappy with herself.

“You shouldn’t have to choose between your career and the pony you love…,” Fluttershy said, “But that has to come from you… if you keep hiding this… how will that affect your designs?”

“I won’t be able to think straight enough to complete any… why then… my career would be ruined…,” she replied.

“Rarity, I’ve never known you to be lost for words… and I’ve never known you to back down from anything…,” Fluttershy said.

Rarity just stared at Fluttershy, deeply engrossed in thought about Fluttershy’s perspective on her situation. It was amazing just how much she put her own thoughts out there since she tried that assertiveness training. For the all the hurt feelings it had caused, Fluttershy had truly come out a better mare for it.

“You’re… you’re right…” she said softly, lifting her head from the platform and crossing one foreleg over the other elegantly, “but what do I tell her…? How do I broach that subject?”

“Rarity, when have you ever needed anypony else’s help to say the right thing?” Fluttershy countered in her usual quiet tone, “You’ve always been the best at talking amongst all of us, haven’t you?”

Rarity considered this for a moment, thinking back to many occasions where she has had to carefully piece together sentences in order to preserve somepony’s feelings. She smiled to herself, remembering just how much practice Sweetie Belle offered her at this particular skill. She looked at Fluttershy with renewed vigor in her eyes.

“You are so right, Darling!” she cried, jumping to her feet and startling Fluttershy in the process. Fluttershy dipped her head under the surface of the mineral bath to hide from the sudden outburst. After a few seconds, she poked enough of her head out to expose her eyes, then drew her face completely out.

Fluttershy’s breathing returned to pace after a moment, and she relaxed her suddenly tensed body, lying back against the side of the bath. By the time she’d recovered enough to look at Rarity again; she wasn’t there to be seen. Fluttershy looked around, confused, wondering if perhaps she had missed Rarity moving to another part of the spa. A moment’s scanning proved that Rarity had simply left the spa altogether.

“Oh… my…,” she squeaked to nopony but herself. She’d become accustomed to Pinkie’s talent for simply ceasing to be wherever she was or suddenly coming into existence with no discernible point of origin to speak of. She had become accustomed to a great many of the pink pony’s particular peculiarities. It was an entirely new experience to witness this of Rarity, arguably the most collected of her friends.

• • •

A row of clouds spun hastily in place as a blaze of rainbow colors zipped by them and spun around them in the midst of a carefully choreographed series of tricks that she’d never managed to perform with absolute success in her life. She found she could either manage the feats of agility and the manipulation of clouds, or, given the correct motivation, she could penetrate the sound barrier and perform a sonic rainboom. Today was to be different.

She had spent far too much time practicing and training to become a Wonderbolt to allow even one arrangement of tricks to meet without total success. She owed herself that much, after all. Today, in the absence of any cheering squad, she performed with all of her heart. Truth be told, she wasn’t simply doing this as a standard routine, this gave her something to focus on other than her heart. She was a notoriously unsappy pony, but the past few days had seen a dramatic shift in her usual temperament.

It was time to take it back, to take herself back to who she knew she was inside: A proud, strong, and awesome flyer. So, here, in the open fields beyond Cloudsdale and really most any hint of civilization, she was performing in front of a crowd of zero. It was a genuine first for her as she had always felt the need to impress somepony. Today, she was doing this for nopony but Rainbow Dash.

It was a confusing combination of jealousy and regret that fueled her every maneuver and so abruptly drew her focus to oddly clear levels. She had always expected such a volatile combination of emotions would readily hamper her maneuvers and cause her to crash, but she was glad to see it was working in exactly the opposite way.

It was important to her that she pulled the last trick in this routine off. She needed to be successful on her own; she needed to know that she could do this trick without somepony’s pride or life being on the line. She had thought about it time and again, and she realized that if she was ever going to perform well enough to join the Wonderbolts, she would need to be able to perform a sonic rainboom with absolutely no motivation other than performing the sonic rainboom.

So it was that much more of a shock to her when she found herself utterly paralyzed at the apex of her preparation to dive. She hovered in the air, far above the earth below, and stared in puzzlement at the scene below her. It was a beautiful thing to see, to be sure, but she had no idea why at this moment it appeared so plain and uninviting. Not frightening, nor particularly dangerous, just uninviting.

She didn’t know how long she’d just hovered there, staring at the grass and the trees and the flowers. It had all been confusing to her during all of that lost time until she had realized something that it all had in common. All of it reminded her of Applejack. She felt her heart seize for the briefest of moments as the name echoed through her mind, and in that time she forgot to maintain her wing flaps.

It took only a moment for her to realize her oversight and correct accordingly, but it unnerved her considerably to see what such a thought could do to her. It had to stop, she had to stop it. Fluttershy was with Applejack now, and more importantly they were both very happy for it. She didn’t want to do anything to hurt either of them, no matter how much she’d wanted to have Applejack for herself.

The trees suddenly seemed as though they were taunting her. She could hear a chorus of something unintelligible that sounded a lot like something from her foalhood. It filled her heart with anger and resentment, and with great ease, suddenly she broke into the dive that marked the beginning stages of the sonic rainboom.

• • •

The Carousel Boutique appeared quite gradually over the horizon as Rarity’s light trot guided her with purpose and determination. She had all the spirit now that she lacked at the beginning of the day. She inwardly thanked Fluttershy for her forgiveness and unwavering friendship, and a small smile graced her lips. She wasn’t as abundantly jovial as Pinkie Pie was, but on a good number of days you could certainly catch her humming a happy tune whilst she merrily labored over one of her designs.

Rarity’s arrival at her shop was interrupted by a rather loud thud, a pained squeal, and the telltale rustling of envelopes scattering over the ground. A light sigh escaped from her lips as she turned to address Ponyville’s most famous mailmare.

“Ditzy, dear, are you alright?” she asked as her horn lit up and began to gather and sort the fallen mail whilst offering a hoof to the fallen pegasus.

Ditzy gratefully accepted Rarity’s assistance, and beamed as though nothing had happened in the first place, and her voice betrayed none of this illusion. “Hi Rarity!” she said, a little loudly for conversation, but still just as friendly as anypony had come to expect of Ditzy Doo.

“Have you anything for me?” Rarity asked.

Ditzy nodded happily before reaching into her mailbag and fishing around at length. She had her mail sorted in her own way, and while Rarity’s system was not inefficient, it wasn’t Ditzy’s way. It left her looking a bit longer than usual, but she did eventually pull out a small envelope and hand it over to Rarity.

“Have a good day!” she chirped as she flared her wings and pushed herself into the air, awkwardly avoiding the roof of the Boutique on her way into town. Rarity watched cringing as Ditzy nearly removed the flag from her roof. She shook her head, a new smile crossing her lips as she trotted into her shop without looking at the envelope.

A quick glance about the shop showed that Sweetie Belle had outdone herself, and she was glad for it. She had come to quite like the look of the shop when properly organized, and although she had long ago banned Sweetie Belle from her inspiration room, she did find herself grateful for the ideas she had back then and as such tasked Sweetie Belle with maintenance of the shop.

Sweetie, for her part, never uttered a single complaint about this because all too often she would find herself doing this work with Rarity alongside her. The arrangement, all in all, was favorable to both Belle sisters.

Something caught Rarity’s attention out of the corner of her eye, drawing her eyes before she remembered her encounter with Ditzy outside of her shop. The letter hovered there for a moment, address side facing away from her before she decided to turn it around.

A glance at the address told her who it was from, and that was enough for her to make her decision. She felt no hesitation or guilt for depositing the letter in the garbage without opening it. It had become somewhat routine over the last year, but it was a routine she was tired of. Far more important, she had become fatigued by the after effects of receiving such letters.

• • •

How time had passed so quickly was a concept beyond her current understanding. She had been flying all day, and despite all the anger and resentment in her heart she couldn’t fight past the barrier’s stubborn resistance. She had been launched more times than she could count on her hooves, and she was battered and bruised as a reminder of her failures. It was growing old quickly, and she decided to return home while she still was able to do so.

She felt miserable in more ways than one now. On top of feeling incomplete, she was covered in gashes and bruises and she knew she’d be feeling them twice as much in the morning. Now she had Luna’s moon to guide her home, although home wasn’t the most appealing idea either. Perhaps she’d feel better if she talked to one of her friends about it. At least, that sounded more appealing than simply going home.

The question of which friend remained up in the air. Applejack and Fluttershy were out of the question, either of them was too close to this and she might end up hurting one of them. She ruled Pinkie out, but that was because the party pony was so energetic. It wasn’t that she wasn’t a good listener; Rainbow had discovered a long time ago that she genuinely was. She had also discovered that Pinkie was a good secret keeper as well. No, it was that Pinkie often radiated far too much energy, and Rainbow didn’t feel like exposing herself to that.

Twilight Sparkle; she was the most sensible choice. She was a good listener, she gave sound advice, and she never judged anypony. Rainbow finally had a decision firmly in hoof, and set off in the direction of Ponyville’s public library. After hours, it served only as Twilight Sparkle’s home, and there any friend of hers would find a warm welcome at most any hour.

• • •

A restless night usually means an upsurge in productivity, and she often found herself in this state. Most of the time it was in response to some enormous order that was placed, and she often found it demanded a great deal more time than she had to offer. Of course, this meant she would sacrifice sleep in favor of completing these orders; an act which often left her drained of patience and prone to snapping at anypony who might address her the wrong way.

Tonight was not unlike those nights, except that she had no major order to fill or any particularly significant project she was undertaking. She found herself lacking anything to do to occupy her busy mind, and so needed to create a project. Unfortunately, her mind was so occupied with negative thoughts now that she found herself lacking any inspiration. Well, almost any at any rate. What she had was a million ideas on ways to dress up Rainbow Dash in a variety of colors and styles that would emphasize her athleticism and really display her most treasured quality: her coolness.

All of that inspiration certainly would have been nice if there had been any desire in her to actually create one of the many designs she had in mind for Rainbow. However, Rarity was trying to get her mind off of Rainbow Dash and working on those designs would achieve exactly the opposite of what she wanted. Still, she needed something to do.

She closed her eyes, and began to breathe slowly through her nose. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and cantered to the front room in her shop. Using her magic, she removed the letter she had discarded earlier in the day. She hadn’t read any of them in the last year, and perhaps tonight it would at least provide a distraction for her.

A simple tug with her magic caused the envelope to open almost perfectly, and with that she slid the letter from it. She took a deep breath, and slowly brought the letter to her eyes, scanning over the words. She snorted, and her face found itself in a subtle frown before her lips wavered gently and she dropped the letter.

She dashed up the stairs, and slowed her pace to quiet her steps as she tiphoofed to a door near the end of the hall. It was slightly ajar and she could hear a very soft breathing from within if she focused hard enough. She swallowed and cleared her eyes before magicking the door open slowly and peeking inside. There, in a large soft bed with bedding that Rarity made herself lay Sweetie, sleeping peacefully.

She watched Sweetie breathe, the blankets moving up and down almost imperceptibly as she probably dreamt about her and her little friends finally getting their cutie marks or going on some amazing adventure. She hoped that was what she was dreaming of, at least.

“Sweetie…,” she whispered through a quiet sob, “I’m so sorry…”

• • •

Why did Twilight have to choose tonight not to be home, of all nights? It was more frustrating that Pinkie wasn’t home either. Twilight hadn’t told Spike where she was going, and Pinkie Pie had decided on an impromptu visit to her hometown. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen though.

She was down to just one friend to talk to. Although Rarity was never her favorite pony, she had to admit that the fashionista had a lot of sense about her. It just wasn’t very easy to talk to her, Rainbow thought. She usually found that she was a bit too persnickety. Rainbow Dash simply didn’t care for that frou-frou stuff, even though she had to admit she made those outfits look good. She never understood how Rarity had managed to talk her into it, but then Rarity had a talent for talking ponies into doing things. She never made a pony do anything that they’d regret or that could hurt them though. In fact, Rarity was very sensitive to the feelings of other ponies, even if she sometimes forgot that they were invested in something important to them. Rainbow suddenly felt somewhat bitter, recalling the day of the Best Young Flyers’ Competition.

Yes, it turned out okay in the end. Still, Rarity’s behavior had really put her on edge pretty quickly; well, further on edge. She might never say it out loud, but inwardly she had to admit that she had felt some pretty severe anxiety prior to the competition even before Rarity had entered herself into it. It was that entrance though, Rarity suddenly thrusting herself into the competition, that hurt Rainbow the most. It wasn’t as though she’d ever threaten Rarity’s spotlight in the fashion industry, not that she had even a fraction of the talent one would need to outclass Rarity in anything fashion.

She just could never stop asking herself why one of her friends would ever do something like that. Yet, she still had to thank Rarity at the same time. If it wasn’t for her antics at the competition, and the subsequent danger she found herself in, Rainbow would never have been able to perform the Sonic Rainboom. She had already messed up on her slalom and her cloud spins, and hoped that the Princess didn’t banish her for accidentally assaulting her with a cloud. Each foul up just made her more nervous.

Anyway, it was pretty confusing to say the least. She wasn’t sure whether to be more grateful or more hurt by the whole ordeal. It hadn’t really entered her mind until after she parted company with the Wonderbolts though. The entire aftermath of the day was so overwhelmingly positive that she didn’t find she had any reason to think. At all. She just enjoyed herself spending the day with the Wonderbolts.

Now, here she was, aimlessly staring at the door to Carousel Boutique. She couldn’t help that she needed somepony to talk to and at this point anypony would do. She’d have dealt with Pinkie Pie if she had been home, even. She shook her head to loosen the meddlesome overthinking and allow it to depart through one of her ears.

She raised a hoof, and brought it somewhat firmly against the door. She reasoned that at this hour, it was likely that Rarity was asleep.

• • •

Rarity was startled at the noise, and quickly closed Sweetie Belle’s door and cleared her throat in preparation to regain her composure. Composure didn’t come easily this evening, and she decided that a customer would be unlikely to call at this hour. She resolved to at least clean up her face and dry her eyes before she turned and left for the front room and the front door.

The journey from the second floor to the front door had never felt like such an eternity before now. She had no idea who was on the other side, nor any idea what to expect of said unexpected company. It was the idea that for once she could not regain her composure that bothered her. If it was one of her friends, she might at least be able to say something. What if it were a stranger though? How could she laugh it off? Explain it away? Make it seem like nothing when really it was quite something?

Time, despite its deceitful illusion of dragging, was certainly not on her side. She was standing at the door before she knew it, and the visitor had begun knocking on the door again. It startled her, causing her breath to catch in her throat and her mane to shift into a frazzled state. It was all she could do to form a semi-smile on her lips before she reached out to the door with her hoof, for she could not concentrate enough to use her magic at this point, and opened the door.

“Ra-…,” her voice died in her throat at the site of the marshmallow unicorn looking an emotional mess. It was clear to the blue pegasus that Rarity had been in tears not long before answering the door, and she knew that Rarity managed to maintain composure under unbelievable pressure and difficult circumstances.

“Ha…have you been crying?” she finally asked, suddenly forgetting her own woes and worrying more about her friend.

She cleared her throat and turned away. “Oh! Rainbow Dash… I… Why no! No, of course not!” she began, “Um… What brings you here?” she asked with a half-hearted chuckle.

“Rarity, what’s wrong?” she countered while moving through the door and past Rarity, closing it with a swift kick from her left rear hoof.

Rarity blinked. It was all she could manage in the face of new confusion and overwhelming fear and relief mixing uncomfortably with each other. It was splendid to hear Rainbow show such concern for her, but now she had no idea what to say. She took a deep breath, almost shuddering with the impact of fresh oxygen in her lungs.

“Do come in, Rainbow dear. I’ll be right with you!” she chimed in her best attempt at a composed tone. It was entirely fruitless, of course, because no amount of acting was going to cause Rainbow Dash to forget what she had seen.

Rarity had galloped off before she had any chance to react, and so she resolved simply to make herself a bit more comfortable while waiting for the unicorn to return. In so doing, she chanced to gaze around the shop and take in her surroundings. The times she found herself here were far and few between, and almost all of them stuck to her memory like scenes of torture. She disliked modeling for Rarity, but could never make herself say no.

What she tended to notice about the place, at least since Sweetie had begun staying around more often, was that it was always pristine. Nothing was out of place; everything was organized and grouped accordingly. She had never seen so much as a sequin out of place in all that time. It wasn’t precisely a mess to her eyes, but the fact that something was out of place stood out as unique to her. A sheet of paper lay on the ground, carried by the air to a rest near the base of Rarity’s modeling stage.

Curiosity quickly overcame her better judgment, and concern for her friend won out over respect for privacy. She soon found herself cantering to the letter before she gently gripped the sheet of paper between her teeth. She carefully maneuvered the letter around and focused her eyes on the writing.

Rarity,

Weather in Prance is fine. Travel still delayed. Not coming home yet.

H. Belle

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity cried, startling the blue pegasus into dropping the letter and spinning around to face her. Whatever expression she had expected to see on Rarity’s face, she hadn’t anticipated the anxiety in her deep blue eyes.

“I’m sorry!” she yelped, not knowing what else to say and feeling a great deal of guilt for her invasion of Rarity’s privacy.

“No… I-it’s okay…,” Rarity said through a dull sigh as she sat down. “Can you and I talk for a little while?”

Rainbow Dash just nodded.

“I… take it you’ve read the letter…?” Rarity asked quietly. It was impossible not to feel for the mare sitting there, usually the picture of charismatic elegance, now speaking softly in a tone completely saturated in sadness.

Rainbow Dash nodded, again.

“It’s nonsense,” Rarity said curtly. She hadn’t changed her demeanor, merely the affectation of her voice as she spoke, “the postmark is from Baltimare.”

“What…?” asked Rainbow Dash cautiously.

Rarity sighed again and stood, beckoning with her head for Rainbow to follow her as she walked to the kitchen.

“You weren’t there for the Sisterhooves Social… It was surprisingly fun, all things considered… but… The only reason I went was for Sweetie… Who was left with me when our parents went on a vacation and couldn’t take her.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, “Uh huh…?”

“They never came back,” she said, almost too quiet to hear.

Rainbow Dash blinked, not sure she’d heard correctly.

“What?”

“I said… they never came back…,” she repeated with enough volume to be heard.

“What happened?”

“At first, they said that their ride home had been delayed. According to their letter, it would be a few days before anything happened. So, I told Sweetie and told her she was welcome to stay with me.”

Rainbow Dash listened intently, if confusedly.

“I haven’t received a letter from them in some time… so it’s a shock to have received one now....,” she confessed.

“What are you gonna do?” Rainbow asked.

Rarity blinked, gazing at Rainbow Dash through misty eyes.

“Follow me…,” she said, before turning around and cantering off down a hallway.

Rainbow didn’t hesitate to follow her friend. As she trailed behind, she took in her changing surroundings as she passed doorways and pictures hanging on the walls. Almost all of them featured Sweetie and Rarity posing together, either in an outfits clearly designed by their wearers or while participating in some activity or another. It was really quite moving to see, although it took on a new light after what Rainbow had just learned.

A few moments later and Rarity paused at a closet door. It was out of the way of the main part of the shop, yet not in her apartment above it. Rainbow couldn’t imagine what this was about.

“I promised myself that I would take good care of her. As part of that, I decided that I needed to prepare something for her eventual discovery of self. She’ll receive her cutie mark one day… and I feel certain what it will be related to.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. She had heard Applejack rave about Sweetie’s voice, even going so far as to place Apple Bloom second to her. She hadn’t heard it herself, but if her friends were any indication, there was no mistaking that she had a gift.

Rarity’s horn sparked and the closet door opened revealing a gown. It was trademark Rarity, fusing subtle brilliance with personal flair. The dress, in all of its presence, seemed to be radiating Sweetie’s personality. It was a silvery material that shined even through the darkness, with a hint of soft pink and gentle purple gracefully accenting the borders. It looked to be perfectly matched with Sweetie, and if Rainbow knew Rarity at all, it had undergone several alterations to keep up with Sweetie’s growth.

“Wow…”

“When she does find her cutie mark… when she does finally overcome her shyness and take the stage… She’ll do so in style,” Rarity stated, “and she’ll do it in a dress no other pony will ever have. I’ll not sell this design, and the world does not need to know who made it. The world needs to know the pony who will one day wear it.”

Rainbow merely blinked. The sentimentality was nice and all, but it was beginning to hemorrhage sappiness at a dangerous rate and she wasn’t fond of sappiness. She slowly backed away from the door.

“Rainbow…,” said Rarity softly. It was heartfelt yet strangely sad. It sounded like a plea in the absence of any begging, as though the voice calling out to her wanted to say so much more.

She stopped, looking at Rarity, waiting for her to continue.

“Do… do you have feelings for anypony…?”

Her eyes widened, and she could feel her cheeks starting to burn as she looked away.

“Um… what?”

Rarity shook her head and replied, “Nevermind.”

Rainbow Dash found herself staring at the wall, trying to think of what to say or if even a single word would be an appropriate response. She had to consider how honest Rarity had just been with her. If Rarity could open herself up that way, then why couldn’t she?

“Yeah…,” she finally replied.

Rarity blinked. She hadn’t expected any honesty at all. It wasn’t that Rainbow Dash wasn’t capable of honesty; it was more like Rainbow Dash wasn’t known for being an open book where emotions came into play. Rarity knew full well how much Rainbow Dash detested the sappier conversations in life, and so she had made special effort to bring Rainbow Dash into a comfort zone with them. It was, after all, for Rainbow’s own good, she reminded herself.

“I… um…,” she began, still staring at the wall while she let her rump fall to the floor, “I can’t help it… but I wish… I really wish that I could…,” she said, sounding more uncomfortable with each passing syllable.

“Rainbow, it’s okay… You don’t have to talk about it if you d-…,” was all she could manage before Rainbow cut her off.

“No! I… Please let me… It’s why I came over here in the first place,” she admitted.

“Alright,” Rarity replied in a calm voice. She really would do her best to hold herself together and be there for Rainbow, even if her own feelings were never returned; at least she could help Rainbow smile again.

“It’s Applejack… I… I’ve had feelings for her for a long time… and… when I learned that she and Fluttershy…,” her voice cracked in a way unnatural to her normally sandy voice, “It hurt… I mean… It wasn’t her fault, y’know? But, it still hurt…”

Rarity swallowed, daring not to speak until she was certain that Rainbow was finished.

“I’m not mad at either of them… that wouldn’t be fair, would it?” she asked rhetorically, leaving no room for a reply, “But, still… I feel like I should tell her… or… something… I… I don’t know… I’m not good at this stuff with feelings…”

“It’s stupid… I’m stupid… I don’t know what to do…”

Rarity took a deep breath, and screwed up her courage before she quietly cantered over to Dash and placed a foreleg supportively across her withers, “You aren’t stupid at all, Rainbow Dash…”

Silence was all she got in return. It was an extraordinarily thick silence that was riddled with tension and unbearable anticipation. She wanted the silence to be over with, for Rainbow to say something; anything at this point. It didn’t matter if she yelled, so long as she said something.

Almost anything. She hadn’t expected to hear the soft sob, or feel the mare trembling beneath her foreleg. She never knew anything could sound so sad, or hurt her heart so. Rainbow Dash was crying before her, and she knew that Rainbow must be feeling very self conscious about it. The only thing Rarity could think of was how much she wanted to bring a smile to Rainbow’s face, whatever it took. She was caught in the web of thoughts as she gazed at the rainbow mane falling listlessly down Dash’s neck and cascading brilliant boundless color around a field of sky blue.

All of her thoughts crashed heavily against the outermost regions of her mind, but no amount of will could make her take action at that moment. She was too frightened of what she’d do if she was in control, and even more frightened of what that could do to Rainbow Dash. More than half of her mind flooded with one single objective: protect Rainbow’s feelings.

“Rarity…,” said Rainbow, quietly and through a sob she had fruitlessly attempted to suppress.

“Yes… Rainbow…?” she replied tentatively. It was all she could do not to say it too loudly or too quickly out of sheer nervousness.

“I’m sorry…,” she said weakly through what was now clearly a wracking sob.

Rarity hadn’t the faintest idea why Rainbow Dash was sorry. So far as she was concerned, no apology was warranted at all.

“What…? Why?” she asked delicately.

“For being so short with you at the Best Young Flyers’ Competition…”

Rarity was caught entirely off guard and taken aback to a degree she would have previously reasoned not to be possible. Rainbow was apologizing for the Best Young Flyers’ Competition? Why?

“Rainbow… there is nothing that happened on that day that you need to apologize for… Not ever…,” she said softly.

Rainbow shook her head. “I talked to Applejack a few days after… I was… kind of upset with you…,” she said softly, “and she told me that it was because of you that everypony was at the competition in the first place.”

Rarity had no idea what to say, nor did she know if it was her time to speak. She elected caution at this time, and remained silent.

“I um… I never thanked you properly for doing that…,” Rainbow said.

Rarity took a deep breath, and in her most confident voice she spoke. “Rainbow Dash, you saved my life. I was a total foal that day, and I treated you terribly. I had done nothing to earn my spot in that show, and I tried to steal it from the pony who most deserved to be there. After what I had done… That you’d still come to my rescue… well that was… more than I deser--…”

She found herself cut off by a glare from Rainbow Dash. She hadn’t expected that at all.

“You finish that thought… and I’ll buck your head in,” she said through gritted teeth.

Rarity was beyond taken aback at this sudden change of tone.

“You deserve to live Rarity. I may not know much about fashion and stuff, but I know that you’re amazing at what you do and Equestria deserves to see more of what you have to offer. And you deserve to show stuck up idiots like Blueblood what they’re missing!”

Rarity felt her cheeks starting to burn as Rainbow Dash carried on.

“So… so don’t ever talk like you deserve to die!” she cried.

Rarity’s eyes widened in shock at Rainbow’s outburst. It was nothing she had ever expected, although that was due in large part to having never expected to have this conversation in the first place. Now it was happening, and Rainbow was showing how important Rarity was not only to herself but as far as she was concerned to the world.

Rarity cleared her throat, attempting some level of composure before continuing to speak.

“I… I’m sorry, Rainbow…,” she managed through strain. Tears threatened to burn right through her eyes, but with effort she managed to keep them at bay.

“Just… Don’t talk like that, okay? You’re a great pony, and anypony who says otherwise will get a face full of my hooves…,” said Rainbow in a quiet voice as she wrapped her forelegs around Rarity’s neck and pulled her close.

Rarity felt her breath catch in her throat at Rainbow’s first touch, and quickly forgot how to breathe altogether as she was pulled into Rainbow’s embrace. She felt her mind blank entirely within seconds, and began frantically fighting to remember how to breathe and to speak before it was too late.

It was strange to Rarity how a world that felt so entirely out of control to her felt so far away and so distinctly insignificant when she was in Rainbow’s arms. She imagined that even the Everfree would pose no intimidation to her in this embrace. It was so consuming to her that she lost track of time and forgot composure altogether. She had, of course, expected precisely this reaction were she ever to find herself in Rainbow’s embrace. It was the actual part about finding herself in said embrace that she had long ago put off as mere hopeful thought.

• • •

“Shah?”

No response, the pink-maned mare was still in another world. It was strange seeing her so unfocused and out of sorts. More than that, it was worrisome. Applejack had been calling out to her marefriend for the better part of ten minutes.

“Shah??” she called out again, with a little extra volume and an added nuzzle to her neck.

The sensation of Applejack’s muzzle gently pushing against her neck snapped her into reality, and at once she remembered to breathe. It was a sharp gasp that alarmed Applejack just the tiniest bit, causing her to jump at the same time as Fluttershy.

“What’s wrong…?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy found herself examining the woodwork inside of her cottage more closely than she ever had before. It was mostly in an attempt to stall for time. She wanted to tell Applejack everything, but she found she wasn’t able to form words at all. A fairly typical problem for her, certainly, but she hadn’t experienced such speechlessness since she was able to admit her feelings to Applejack.

She felt a foreleg wrap gingerly around her and pull her close. The warmth of Applejack’s muscular body brought instant comfort to her, and she found the tension in her own muscles quickly trickle away as she snuggled up against her marefriend.

“Ya can tell me anythin’, ya know that, dontcha…?” she said softly. It was amazing to Fluttershy just how gentle Applejack’s voice could go, and she quietly wondered to herself if anypony had ever experienced Applejack like she had.

She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, and tried to manage to say something. Anything.

“Yes…,” she said softly. So softly that were it not for the total silence of her home, Applejack might not have been able to hear.

“Good… so… why dontcha…?”

“I… I talked to Rarity today…”

“Oh yeah? What? She say somethin’ awful again? Do I got-…”

Fluttershy shook her head and stood up, looking Applejack in the eyes. Such a look calmed Applejack immediately, and she found herself entirely quiet and ready to listen again.

“No… nothing like that… we’re okay, really. I promise. But she’s… she’s hurting…,” she said, sighing and returning to her position at Applejack’s side and snuggling back into her, “She has feelings for Rainbow Dash… but…”

Applejack breathed gently, inhaling Fluttershy’s scent as she stroked her mane gently.

“Well… she has feelings for somepony else…,” she said quietly. It didn’t make sense to her, that she’d suddenly withhold truth from her marefriend, or that doing so would feel so correct. It felt almost perverse that a lie should actually feel like the right thing to do, but somehow the truth felt like the beginnings of a chasm in an otherwise solid friendship built of competitive spirit. She had no desire to end any friendships, so whatever she had to do in order to avoid that was what she’d surely elect to do. At least, this is what she told herself.

• • •

“I love you…,” she whispered at what she believed to be an inconsequential volume.

“What?” asked Rainbow, her ears were sharper than one would expect of a pony whose ears had been exposed to a great deal of wind and who had been at the core of no less than three sonic rainbooms. Needless to say, Rarity found herself shocked.

“I… I…,” she found herself at a proper loss for words as she backed away from Rainbow Dash, “Oh… Rainbow…,” she said quietly. There was a particular measure of sadness in her voice that Rainbow picked up on right away, and she found herself more than a little curious about it.

“You okay, Rarity…?” she asked. Rarity had expected some level of anger from Rainbow Dash, or something registering with a negative vibe. Instead, she heard only concern in the sandy voice of her athletic friend.

She found her breathing was shallow and challenging, making it a struggle to fill her lungs comfortably. She felt a thin layer of sweat developing through her coat, and her limbs began to shake involuntarily as she tried to repeat what she had said the first time.

“Rarity…?” Rainbow asked again as she trotted slowly towards her. She brought her face up to Rarity’s, and looked directly into her deep blue eyes. The blue mare’s own rose colored eyes reflected the little bit of moonlight that came in through the window. It created a glow that stole what little there was left of Rarity’s breath.

“I…,” she started again, then closed her eyes, “I said… I love you…,” she repeated through a difficult breath. It felt as though the last three words took with them her remaining stamina, and her forelegs gave way beneath her. She fell, but did not impact with the floor.

Rainbow held her in her own forelegs, staring at her with a disbelief and worry.

• • •

A pair of shimmering olive green eyes watched through the darkness as her sister fell into the arms of a familiar cyan pegasus. A storm of emotions stirred inside of her. She had learned so much just listening to this one conversation. She had never asked about her parents, she’d been far too happy spending so much time with her sister. It was made all the more joyful by the fact that Rarity had long ago started being a better sister and involving her in more things around the boutique and as a general activity for them to share at other times.

The idea that it had been forced darkened her little heart considerably. She didn’t know what to do with that. She wanted to believe that her time with her sister was all from genuine desire, but now she had this nagging feeling at the back of her heart that constantly told her in a hushed voice that Rarity had no choice.

At the same time, she had witnessed her sister confess complicated feelings to another mare and that was, on its own, very confusing. She hadn’t understood why her parents didn’t talk much about her, but she began to wonder if it wasn’t because of something like this. Likewise, Rarity hadn’t spent a lot of time socializing with her parents.

She remembered the day her parents brought her to the boutique. They had given her a night to pack up whatever she wanted to bring, advising her to pack a lot. The morning that they left was exciting. Luna’s moon was still in the sky when they left, and after a long but silent trip they had finally arrived at Rarity’s boutique. It was going to be so great to see her sister proper again. She had seen her in passing, and had on occasion spent a night there previously. While there, she was even able to attend a class or two in the local school. She had made friends, but her time with them and with her sister had been limited at best.

She was excited to have a whole week solid in Ponyville to just be with everypony she liked seeing and talking to and spending time with. She had become that much more excited to learn that she’d be staying much longer than expected. Rarity seemed to have no problem with that, and she and Sweetie worked together to make a proper space for her. She had her own room in a week with help from her and Rarity’s friends, and she was happily snuggling up in her bed every night since them.

So, had this whole experience actually been based on a lie? On who’s lie? Who had told the worst lie? She didn’t know and she wasn’t sure that she even wanted to. She could feel her eyes begin to burn as tears began to well up in them. It was too much; all of it was just too much. She couldn’t take it. She needed her friends.