Rarity stood back from the mannequin to admire her latest creation. It had turned out splendidly, a darling little yellow raincoat and boots, perfect for the rainy beginnings of spring. She smiled lightly, Sweetie Belle's birthday was coming up in a few weeks, this might make a nice present.
As she walked around the outfit, checking for loose threads, a thought struck her. She'd...been using yellow a lot lately. Admittedly, yellow was a common color for raincoats, but...Her eyes wandered around the room, quite a bit of yellow on the half-finished outfits dotted around the room. She scowled at the cheerful color.
"For shame, Rarity! You were supposed to past this!" she muttered to herself. Sighing, she turned away from the raincoat and began cleaning up her materials. It wasn't that much of a big deal, really. She'd always used a lot of yellow, it was a beautiful color. What did it matter that it had been...her...favorite color?
No, she thought as she trotted down the stairs, it didn't matter. It was over. She'd moved past what had happened in Canterlot. Her life was better now. Sure, those first couple of weeks had been drenched in silent sorrow, to the point where her friends were constantly asking if she was feeling alright...telling her she wasn't being her usual self....but time had passed...she was...better...now.
Rarity hummed contemplatively, was she still sad? Admittedly, she'd probably never truly forget what had happened, but it no longer plagued her. Day by day, life was coming back to a norm. as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she froze.
The song she was humming...it was Fleur's favorite song, My Heart Will Go On. The realization made her chuckle slightly, how ironic life was.
Still...she shook her head, clearing the music from her mind. All this contemplating on the past was never a good sign. Grabbing her purple raincoat off the hook by the door, she flipped the sign in the front window to closed, and trotted out the door.
A walk in the park always cleared her head.
Despite how much she sometimes complained about it, Rarity had to admit that a part of her enjoyed the rain. Not a giant, thundering storm, goodness no...But, a gentle sprinkle of drops, just enough to be kept away by an umbrella or a raincoat, made the whole world somehow seem...fresher.
Rarity followed the trail that ran through the grass, careful to avoid any spots of mud. Her eyes trailed over to a clump of daisies, those had been Fleur's favorite...no. No, they were her favorites, not Fleur's. She stopped with a sigh. Why were these thoughts coming back to bother her now?
The sounds of quiet sobs and whimpers reached her ears. Turning with a worried glance, she followed their direction to a tree. Behind it sat a mint green mare with tears flowing down her pretty face. Her eyes were closed, and her body shook as her forelegs hugged a crumpled mess of paper. Rarity frowned, why was the poor mare so upset?
"Um, excuse me?" she said quietly.
The mare looked up with a startled glance, then gave a sigh when she recognized the unicorn. "Hi, Rarity," she muttered sadly.
Rarity studied her teary face before sitting down next to the mare and placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Are you all right Miss...Lyra, isn't it?"'
Lyra nodded with a sniffle. "No, I'm...not alright. I...my...my marefriend Bon Bon proposed to me this morning."
"Oh...congratulations?"
She let out a sad little laugh that quickly turned into another sob. Rarity stared at Lyra with pity for a second, before her generous nature got the better of her, and she pulled off her raincoat, placing it around the shaking mare's shoulders.
"T-thank you," Lyra whispered. Rarity said nothing, just rubbed her back gently and offered her a tissue from her coat pocket. Lyra took it and wiped the tears from her face before continuing.
"She...she did it over breakfast. She'd made waffles, my favorite, and fresh squeezed orange juice and everything." She let out a shaky smile. "She'd even opened up all the curtains so we could see the rain outside. S-she said she'd been waiting for a day with rain to propose because she knew how much I love the rain."
Rarity smiled. "That all sounds very romantic."
"It was." Lyra said with a small, sad smile. She carefully removed her hoof from underneath the crumpled papers and gazed at the hoof ring on it. Gold, with a lyre and a piece of candy entwined and set where a stone might usually go. Rarity studied the beautiful ring and Lyra's face with her teary smile.
"So, pardon me if this comes out the wrong way, but how is any of this a bad thing? Do you not want to get married?"
Lyra looked up at her with wide eyes. "Oh no, I do! More than anything! I love Bon Bon! It's just...Well, haven't you seen?"
"Seen what?"
With a gasp, Lyra gave her the crumpled mess she'd been holding. Smoothing it out, Rarity realized it was a copy of the Canterlot Times. Her eyes narrowed when she read the headline, Canterlot Passes Gay Marriage Ban.
Today, the recent topic of discussion among most of Canterlot was finally resolved when the Equestrian Counsel officially passed the city-wide ban on gay marriage, with a majority vote. The ban itself has been a subject of controversy for several months, with supporters for and against it, even now there are still those who question the counsel's decision. "I think this decision was for the best." said Violet Spring, a member of the counsel.
Additionally, the counsel has let it been known that they are making moves towards a decision involving an Equestria-wide ban on gay marriage. Discussions have already been taking place for bringing in extra representatives from all major towns to join the counsel in its decision. A member of the counsel, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that "It's high time we made a decision like this. Until now, each city has made its own choices about gay marriage, which has led to fair amounts of civil unrest. This will at last put rest to the issue, one way or another. We're hopeful to begin our official voting by the end of next month." Princess Celestia has refused comment on how she feels about the ban.
Rarity placed the newspaper down next to herself with wide eyes. A complete ban throughout Equestria? How was that even possible? Her eyes drifted to the crying mare next to her. Ah, yes...well...first things first: focus on very upset Lyra now, worry and/or possibly panic later.
"Come on, Lyra," she whispered, pulling the mare up. "It's getting cold." Allowing Lyra to lean on her for support, she slowly guided the mare back to the path and out of the park.The sodden newspaper left to shrivel away in the mud and rain behind them.
Rarity brought a hoof to the door of the small house Lyra had identified as hers and knocked. An earth pony with a similarly tear-streaked face and a curly blue and pink mane opened the door. Bon Bon's eyes widened as she realized she had the Element of Generosity standing at her doorstep, with her raincoat draped over her crying marefriend's shoulders.
"Lyra!" she cried, flinging her forelegs around the wet mint-green unicorn. "You had me worried sick!" She planted a kiss on her cheek. "Get inside, your all wet and cold!" She ushered her marefriend and Rarity inside, tossing the sopping raincoat on the doormat. After ordering Lyra to go take a take a hot shower, she turned to Rarity with a worried expression.
"Have a seat on the sofa, I'll get you some tea to warm up and a towel to dry your mane." She trotted into the kitchen as Rarity carefully seated herself. She returned a couple minutes later with a steaming cup of lemon tea and a fuzzy pink bath towel. Rarity took both gratefully and did her best to rub the moisture off her face and in her mane before downing half the cup of tea in an effort to warm her cold hooves. Bon Bon sat in a plush armchair across from her with a neutral expression. They both sat quietly for a minute before she broke the silence.
"What happened?"
Rarity sighed. "I found her behind a tree in the park, crying. I did my best to comfort her, and she told me about the proposal. When I questioned her about why this had upset her she showed me the article in the paper." She paused. "I'm sorry that this news came on what should have been such a happy day for you two."
Bon Bon nodded sagely. "Thank you....I...it wasn't what we were expecting, and it was devastating to both of us to say the least. I was terribly worried about Lyra when she ran off...thank you for making sure she got home safe...she's...not exactly got her wits about her at the moment. "
"If there are delegates from all the cities for the vote...then the ban would have a decent possibility of not passing..." said Rarity quietly.
Bon Bon shook her head with a sad little sigh. "Rarity, how much do you know about the Canterlot nobility?"
In the corner of her mind's eye, Rarity saw a smiling white unicorn with a beautiful, swishing pink mane. She saw a group of ponies dressed in finery, gathered around a newspaper as they muttered amongst themselves in hushed tones. "I...more than you think."
"They have no love for fillyfoolers or coltcuddlers." muttered Bon Bon. "They are the ones who make up the Canterlot counsel, and they will do their best to make sure that the delegates from our towns feel the same way they do. The law will pass so long as they have their way."
Rarity snorted angrily. "Celestia will never stand for it."
"She doesn't have to. By the laws set down when the counsel was originally founded, if three fourths of the vote is in support, a law will pass, princess of not. It was, after all, created so that ponies may have a voice in government separate from their princess."
It made sense, Rarity supposed. It was true that a majority of the positions held in the counsel were nobility, and those who came from other cities often had the same views anyways. If the cards were played right, the law would pass quite easily.
"Why not just get married now? Admittedly one can't plan a big wedding in less than two months, but you could still have a small affair with a couple witnesses and a justice of peace." Rarity smiled lightly, "And I'm sure Pinkie Pie would be more than happy to supply a wedding cake, I could even do a couple of dresses for you two."
Bon Bon smiled sadly in response. "Thank you, Rarity. But...well...how have you always imagined your own wedding?"
Rarity thought for a while, then sighed. "Grand and beautiful, with all my friends and family...flowers...beautiful gowns....I.....see your point."
Bon Bon nodded. "I've dreamed of my wedding since I was but a filly. What's the point of getting married if all it is...is a slip of paper? I very much want Lyra and I to get married, but...could you ever imagine yourself compromising your dream wedding?" she took a calming breath. "We always wanted to have a wedding in Canterlot. Lyra's family still lives there, and every member of the Heartstrings family for the last five generations has gotten married in the palace gardens." She cast her eyes down. "We never thought there would come a time when we weren't welcome there."
At that moment, a much warmer looking Lyra, wrapped in a fuzzy yellow bathrobe, trotted into the living room. She sat down in an empty chair and offered Rarity a sheepish smile.
"Thank you, Rarity. I wasn't quite myself and...well, a lot of ponies would have just walked on by and left me in my misery."
"It's nothing, darling," Rarity said. "I'm just glad your feeling better now." For a second they sat in silence, "Well, I best get going." she said quietly. "I'm sure you two have a bit to talk about.'
Lyra smiled her thanks, before closing her eyes and snuggling into her chair with a yawn. Bon Bon rolled her eyes at her marefriend and got up, escorting Rarity to the door. After pulling on her raincoat and stepping out the door, Bon Bon's hoof on her shoulder stopped her, and she turned back to the mare.
"I really can't thank you enough...I...I admit I never thought you'd be so sympathetic to our...situation."
Rarity cocked her head in confusion. "Why?"
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but...well, given your standing among the elite of Canterlot, even our town, I guess I always assumed..." she blushed in embarrassment. "I guess I'm just assuming stereotypes now, aren't I?'
Rarity smiled. "A little bit, yes. But, I suppose to the pony who doesn't know me too well, it might seem likely. I admittedly did see a lot of this negative attitude towards such marriages as yours among the circles I socialized with in Canterlot."
For a second, Fleur seemed to be standing there next to Bon Bon, her eyes shimmering, and then Rarity blinked, and she was gone. Rarity sighed. "I, however, am a mare who has learned that love...is love. And with it, who can say what is right, and...what is wrong?"
Bon Bon nodded, her eyes bight with emerging tears. On impulse, Rarity leaned in and gave the mare a hug. "Please, let me know if you need anything."
She smiled. "I will. Good night, Rarity."
Author's Note
Because I know someone is going to mention this:
I will not AU tag this unless I later change something about the pre-existing canon universe in this story.
The show itself has never dealt with gay marriage, so I really don't give a flying feather if it messes with your headcanon.
Thank you, and have a good day,
-Pastel Pony
Caffienated Ideas
Bon Bon had only ever known Lyra to wake up before her less than a few times in their relationship. Her general rule was that those days tended to turn out to be very good, or terribly chaotic. Due to the fact that what had woken her had been the energized tapping of a jittery hoof on her shoulder, she had a feeling that today it was going to be the latter.
Sitting up with a yawn, she opened her eyes to see her marefriend standing next to their bed with a large smile and a coffee cup in her telekinetic grip. Bon Bon looked at the cup with trepidation.
“Please tell me that’s hot chocolate?” Lyra shook her head. “Decaf?” Bon Bon squeaked. Another shake.
She sighed. “Does this possibly have anything to do with what happened yesterday?”
Lyra nodded her head vigorously and leaned forward to whisper in her marefriend’s ear. “I have a plan.”
Bon Bon had a feeling she was going to require coffee as well before the day was over.
Rarity yawned as she trotted down the stairs. She’d barely slept a wink mulling over everything that had happened yesterday. Even now, she still didn’t know what quite to make of it.
Never the matter, it was nothing a good cup of coffee wouldn’t fix. She smiled lightly at the thought of the hot, steaming drink, and with her magic she flicked the switch on the electric drip coffeemaker sitting on the bench in the corner of her shop. Rarity had a manual filter in her kitchen, but she found on harrowing business days, where she often was suffering from a lack of sleep, a ready-to-go machine was much easier, when all it involved was flicking a switch and watching the stream of dark liquid pour into the waiting mug.
Turning away from the whirring coffeemaker, she looked to the mirror on the wall to brush a few loose strands of her mane off her face, and then walked to the display window and flipped her closed sign to open.
She’d barely started her usual rounds to tidy up her clothing racks when she heard the tinkle of the bell at the door. Grimacing at the idea of having to deal with a client before the comforting embrace of caffeine, Rarity forced a smile onto her face and turned to greet her customer.
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique! Where everything is—” She froze. “Oh… It’s you two.”
Bon Bon offered her a tired smile. “Yea…it’s us.” Rarity noted the bags under the mare’s eyes that were none too similar to her own, and more noticeably…the very worrying grin on Lyra’s face.
“Ohmygosh, Rarity!” she sang. “Your shop is so pretty, and, oh wow, these dresses are so cool! I can’t believe I’ve never come in here before! I suppose it’s because I’m not really a fancy dress-up pony. Bon Bon kinda is. Right, Bon-“
Luckily, Bon Bon had taken the opportunity to stick her hoof in Lyra’s mouth right that second.
“Lyra? Why don’t you go look at some of the nice dresses?” she said firmly in a stop-talking tone. Lyra nodded her head before spitting out her marefriend’s hoof and prancing off into the showroom.
Rarity turned to Bon Bon with a rather confused and slightly frazzled expression. “……What?”
Bon Bon sighed. “Lyra…has a thing for coffee.”
From the back of the room came Lyra’s excited shouts followed by the sound of something large and probably relatively fragile clattering to the ground. Rarity’s eye twitched. “I can see that.”
“No.” Bon Bon shook her head. “You have no idea. She and caffeine just don’t mix at all, it totally just throws her completely off balance. It’s the reason she sticks to hot chocolate most of the time.” She winced as another crash resounded through the room. “Basically coffee does to her what alcohol can do to most ponies, unfortunately that also means that she drinks coffee at times when most ponies turn to the bottle.” She shrugged. “Honestly…I sometimes think I’d rather deal with a drunk Lyra than a caffeinated Lyra.”
Rarity struggled for words for a few seconds, before finally settling on:
“Pinkie has similar issues with caffeine.”
Bon Bon gave her a grateful smile.
Lyra’s voice rang out. “Hey, is this coffee!?”
Rarity promptly facehoofed as she realized Lyra had no doubt just found her coffeemaker. “Ahem…so, why did you two choose to come visit me at such an early hour in the morning?” She said it not with annoyance, merely curiosity.
Bon Bon shrugged. “Lyra….has a plan…apparently.”
“A great plan!”
“A great plan.” Bon Bon deadpanned. “I don’t know how in Equestria you’re involved, but she seemed to be convinced she needed to tell you about it.”
Rarity wrinkled her muzzle. “So, what is it?”
“Lyra wants to form a protest group.” Silence. “Host rallies, conferences, etc. You know….” She sighed. “I told her that it wouldn’t do any good. That there have been hundreds of those before, and none of them did any good. A few mares in Ponyville yelling about how the council is wrong isn’t going to change their minds.”
“It’s an ambitious idea, true.” said Rarity quietly. “But you’re right, it wouldn’t do much good, I’m afraid.”
“This time it will!” cried Lyra, suddenly appearing next to them, mug of coffee in hoof. “Because…we will have an Element of Harmony on our side!” she pointed a foreleg at Rarity dramatically, spilling coffee onto the floor in the process. “No newspaper is gonna be able to ignore that! It’ll be big! Huge! An inter-city coalition! We will make ourselves heard!”
Both mares simply stared at Lyra in surprise. Rarity couldn’t help but feel a bubble of excitement as she began to understand what Lyra was saying. She was right. Nopony could ignore an Element of Harmony making such a public statement about such a controversial thing. Lyra was right...it could work...They might seriously have a chance.
It was Bon Bon who brought her back to reality. “Lyra! You can’t honestly expect Rarity to do that! She barely knows us! Besides, in case you forgot, Rarity has a reputation to maintain among the Canterlot elite, supporting something so many of them are so against could seriously damage her reputation! Do you really want that?”
Lyra looked back and forth between Rarity and Bon Bon, before letting out a defeated sigh, momentarily coming off her caffeine high. “You’re right. It was a dumb idea, and it was wrong of me to demand your help like that, Rarity. I’m sorry.” She glanced down at the coffee cup in her hoof. “Um…and I’m sorry I drank your coffee. Even if it is…so…good…” Her eyes glazed over and she went to take another sip, only to be thwarted by Bon Bon snatching the mug from her with a scowl.
“You’ve already had more than enough, I think.” she turned to Rarity. “I…thank you, for helping us… yesterday…That in itself was more generosity than we could expect. We’ll just…get out of your hair, I suppose.” She turned to leave.
“No…” said Rarity numbly. “I just…Could you give me a minute?” The two mares nodded, and not knowing quite where else to go, Rarity turned and dashed into the boutique dressing room, locking the door behind her.
Collapsing onto the little pillow-topped bench in the corner of the room, she urged herself to take several deep, slow breaths in an attempt to clear her mind. It didn’t work. The minute Lyra had suggested she run their protest alarm bells and little arguing voices had started up in her head, and they were only growing louder.
‘Why should I care?’ came a tiny, guilty whisper. ‘It’s their problem, not mine. Why should I ruin my reputation helping two mares I don’t know get married?’ It doesn’t affect me.’
‘Because it’s the right thing to do!’ muttered what she would guess to be the voice of her generous nature.
‘No! Because their like me!’ screamed a slightly louder voice. ‘They’re in love, and nothing should stand between that! I, of all ponies should understand that!
Rarity whimpered, burying her head in her forelegs. What was she, a coward? She felt a few stray tears drift down her cheeks and she sniffled. Yes…she...she was. She’d never had the courage to find love that would make herself happy, to take the chance and to believe that her friends and family wouldn’t judge her. Even now, she wanted to compromise her own generous nature to avoid the risk of ruining her reputation among a few distant friends! Well…one friend.
She looked up into the large dressing mirror on the opposite wall, at her messy mane and tear-streaked eyes. Just like her face the night after that party…where she’d stood and watched the mare she had lost her heart to shake her head in disgust at the newspaper article about two mares not so unlike Lyra and Bon Bon themselves.
“But this isn’t just about them.” she whispered. Yes, she wanted to help them, of course…but….”It’s also about me.” She drew a shaky breath and forced herself to sit up, still gazing at her reflection. “I….I don’t have to tell all of them….at first…about myself. But I can’t…just walk away from this.” she nodded to herself.
‘You can.’ whispered her reflection. ‘Run your business, spend time with your friends, but don’t get involved in this. Just keep your head down.’
She shook her head. “What less could Equestria expect from the Element of Generosity? I could make a difference….for them…for me. It’s more than just…giving my support. They need somepony who can handle the Canterlot Elite. I can more than just survive the social rules of that level of society, I thrive in it.”
Rarity sighed, pausing to call to memory how wonderful it had felt when she had been around Fleur, she wanted to find that again…one day, with somepony that would love her back. She got up and turned to leave. “….I don’t want to be afraid anymore.”
‘Fleur won’t like it.’
She stopped and smiled. “I know.” With that, she opened the door and stepped out, closing it on the indecisive personalities of her mind.
Walking back towards the front of the shop, she saw Bon Bon whisper something in Lyra’s ear, and they both stepped toward the door with pitiful expressions on their faces.
“Wait.” she called. They froze and turned back to her as she trotted up to them. “I’ll do it.”
Bon Bon’s eyes went wide. “What?”
“I-I’ll do it.” She took a deep, slightly dramatic breath. “I’ll help you to campaign against the Equestrian Counsel and the Canterlot Elite. I offer my services not only as a supporter, but as a spokespony.” she smiled solemnly. “I want to help…I want to beat them.”
