Ribbons and Lace

Rarity sat in her inspiration room, considering scraps of cloth for her fall collection, but they might as well have all been shades of gray. She stared down at them, trying desperately not to think about the only thing that filled her head.

It was supposed to be over and done... but it wasn't.

There was one Fluttershy-related matter that did require consideration, at least. Should I keep my spa date tomorrow, or beg off sick? It would undoubtedly be the second-worst spa experience of her life if she went, but cancelling would draw even more attention of the yellow, winged variety.

For all that she didn't wish to see anyone at the moment, she welcomed the interruption when the door chime jingled. Rarity heaved a heavy sigh, set her glasses aside, and pushed herself up as she put on her Professional Smile.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique--" she began as she trotted out into the main room, but cut the greeting short. "Oh. Good day, Pinkie! What can I do for you?"

The curly pink mane bobbed behind a rack of dresses as Pinkie examined them in minute detail. "Hmmm... I dunno!" she replied.

Rarity stepped over to join her, the Professional Smile slipping slightly into perplexity. The pink pony seemed to be examining each outfit with equal attention, as if a pastel sundress with a wide-brimmed hat were as likely to suit her fancy as a little black evening gown accented with a single emerald. "Are you looking for something specific?"

Pinkie turned, examining Rarity herself with the same half-squinted expression she'd focused on the dresses. Then she grinned as though she'd found precisely what she was looking for. "The question is, what can I do for you?" she said, throwing a hoof around Rarity's shoulders.

Rarity slammed the Professional Smile back to full intensity as a number of wild responses leapt to mind, including several that involved time travel or mind control. "I... don't know what you mean," she laughed hollowly. Well done, Rarity. That didn't sound at all suspicious. But it was too late to take the words back, anyway.

Pinkie let the false cheer pass without comment and replied in a lower, more serious tone than Rarity had heard her use in a long time. "You just seem really down lately, and I thought maybe you could use somepony to talk to." A cloud crossed her features, just a slight softening of the sparkle in her eyes in sympathy -- no, empathy -- for her friend's pain.

Rarity's Professional Smile crumbled under the embarrassment of being caught. Surely she hadn't been that obvious about it! "Oh, your Pinkie Sense again?" she asked hopefully.

"Nope, just common sense! You've been looking more stonefaced than the fountain statue!" A bit of her usual bounce returned as Pinkie demonstrated with an enormous frown, staring steely-eyed an inch or two above Rarity's head. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she produced a notebook, a quill, and -- were those Twilight's reading glasses? "So just tell what you're thinky to Doctor Pinkie!"

Tell her.

Rarity would bear it alone. Nopony else needed to share in her sorrow.

Pinkie sat waiting, willing, asking to do just that. Pain shared is pain halved.

And a secret shared was no longer secret!

If Pinkie noticed, surely the others will notice sooner or later. What will you do when they start to dig?

Rarity fidgeted under Pinkie's gaze. However petulant it sounded, she would do whatever she had to in order to keep this from ever reaching Fluttershy's ears.

If anypony can be trusted with a secret, it's Pinkie.

The words rose like bile in her throat, and she struggled to keep them down, even knowing she would feel better once they had left her mouth. It simply. Wasn't. Worth it.

"There it is again!" Pinkie proclaimed, nearly poking her in the nose with her hoof. "Stoneface! What's that all about?"

Rarity shook her head, looking away. "I don't wish to discuss it," she said flatly.

The pink pony leaned over to meet Rarity's averted gaze, her eyes boring into Rarity's as if to snatch the secrets straight from her mind itself. "I just want to see you smile," she wheedled.

Rarity pressed her lips together and snorted, then gave her the Thank You For Your Business smile.

"Ugh! Faaaaake." Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It doesn't count if you don't mean it!"

Rarity's eyes flashed and the false smile twisted into an angry pout. "Well, I don't really feel like smiling today, thank you so very much! Please, just leave me be!" She threw a hoof dramatically toward the door.

Pinkie jerked back, brows knitted, as her perpetual grin slowly inverted itself. She huffed a quiet sigh and obediently turned back toward the door, her head hanging low.

What's the point of preserving your friendships if you drive them away yourself?

Pinkie glanced back one last time before she opened the door, the look on her face an arrow into the unicorn's chest. It seemed to say, "What did I do wrong?" as clearly as if she'd spoken. In an instant, Rarity could picture all of her friends plodding away with the same downcast expression. She had buried her secret deep in her heart, hidden away from everypony, and thought it safe; but now she saw herself reflected in Pinkie's eyes. Wounded, hurting, but lashing out at those who offered relief. She could see now how the secret had festered where it lay, how the sick, rotted little thing poisoned her soul with every minute she held it down.

Suddenly she couldn't wait to be rid of it.

"Pinkie, wait." Rarity bowed her head and let out a slow, heavy sigh. "Very well... but I will need your solemn promise not to discuss this in any way with anypony else, or even hint at it, and... please, discourage anypony else from making their own inquiries, if you can help it."

Pinkie's grin sprung back into place and she whirled in a blur, planting herself on the floor in front of Rarity. "No problem!" she began. "Cross my heart and hope--"

"Your solemn promise!" Rarity said sharply, pushing down the hoof that had started to cross Pinkie's chest. "This is not a joke, Pinkie Pie. I'll thank you not to treat it as such."

Pinkie looked faintly disappointed for a moment, then brightened. "Okie dokie, not a jokie! I solemnly promise all that stuff you just said." Then, before Rarity to could stop her, Pinkie make a quick X across her chest and poked herself in the eye.

The unicorn sighed. "I suppose that will do." She paused, trying to find the words to begin. She had trained herself to guard her tongue when she was with her friends, and even her very thoughts, until it was a reflex not easily overcome. She drew another slow breath, steeled herself, and let it all spill out.

"It was me all along," she said softly, staring down at Pinkie's hooves. "I wrote the letters to Fluttershy. I'd hoped..." Rarity sighed again and shook her head. "It doesn't matter what I hoped. Fluttershy has made her feelings clear, and I'll respect that." She looked up slowly, meeting Pinkie's shocked stare with a rueful smile. "I was disqualified before the contest even began, so there's... no need to tell her how I fee-- felt."

Pinkie worked her jaw for a few moments, but she was, for once, speechless. Rarity could almost see her replaying the last several days in her head. Finally, she said, "Woah. I've heard some doozies in my time, but that was defnitely the dooziest!" Pinkie grabbed Rarity by the arm and hauled her effortlessly to her hooves, then dragged her toward the door in an awkward three-legged gait. "Come on, this calls for emergency cupcakes!"

"I don't see how sweets are supposed to help," Rarity objected. The platter of cupcakes sat in the middle of Pinkie's long banquet table, where Rarity had been parked as soon as they reached the pink pony's room. They did look delicious, but Rarity was no more in the mood to eat than she had been for the past couple of days.

But Pinkie was having none of that. "Doctor Pinkie says these cupcakes are just what the doctor ordered!" Her stare was so insistent that Rarity had little choice but to acquiesce. She bit into a pink-frosted chocolate cupcake, which was delicious. A slight smile crossed her face. Ice cream might have been the traditional treatment for heartache, but perhaps chocolate cake and buttercream frosting were a viable alternative.

"There it is!" Pinkie crowed suddenly. "That's a real smile, or my name isn't Pinkie Pie!"

"Isn't your given name Pinkam--" Rarity began, but Pinkie silenced her with the rest of the cupcake.

"Pinkie. Pie."

There was a brief pause as both mares took another cupcake.

"What'dja mean, 'letters'?" Pinkie asked. "Like, both of 'em?"

Rarity blinked and paused to recall how much -- or rather, how little -- Pinkie actually knew. "Ah. No, not the typed one. Fluttershy hasn't mentioned them, but there were actually three, all horn-written."

She briefly explained the content of the second note, her efforts to weasel an answer out of the pegasus, and her own decision to finally end the charade.

"There's not really much else to tell, I suppose," Rarity said, hanging her head. At least, nothing else she was going to tell. Pinkie definitely didn't need to hear about Rarity's more carnal episodes in the past week. "I've been sleeping poorly, for obvious reasons, and now I just... want to forget the whole thing."

Pinkie studied the ceiling before she replied. "Well, hey, if you're down with the fillies too now, I might know a few I could set you up with."

Rarity just shivered and shrunk in on herself. "Honestly, Pinkie, I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll take some time off from romance for now. Broken hearts don't heal that quickly." Still, a tiny, contrary voice murmured in her ear, it couldn't hurt to start considering one's options on 'that side of the street', as it were.

And then there were arms around her shoulders and a pleasantly padded shoulder to rest her head on. "Yeah... but it will," Pinkie murmured. "We're all here for you."

Rarity couldn't help but smile again in spite of her low spirits. Perhaps, when she felt up to it, she already had a fair idea where to start looking.

The unicorn extricated herself before the hug squeezed any tears out and cleared her throat. "Well. As I've been somewhat out of sorts for the past week, I suppose I haven't kept up very well with events beyond my own sphere. Did I miss out on anything of significance?"

"Oh, you know it!" Pinkie sat up, gesturing expansively with her forehooves. "It all started with this weird unicorn in a weird balloon."

Rarity relaxed and nodded, her smile growing less shadowed. There could hardly be a better pony to talk to, after all, if one didn’t want a deep, serious conversation.

"I was up on Rambling Rock Ridge looking for some snipe eggs -- and lemme tell you, those little guys are hard to find! -- Well, I looked up, and there was this big silver balloon with smoke coming out of it like it was on fire! But I never saw a balloon like that before! It was shaped like a couple of plates on top of each other -- not the usual way, I mean like if you flipped the top plate over -- and the basket was way up on top of the balloon! And I was like, 'Who puts the basket on top? Wouldn't it flip over?' But I guess they put all the stuff on top of a boat, which is weird if you think about it, shouldn't they put it at the bottom so the boat won't turn over as easy? But they do put it all on top, so maybe putting the basket on top of a balloon makes sense after all. But anyhow--"

Rarity gradually tuned out as the conversation twisted off into the strange tangents to which the pink pony was prone. Going on autopilot was rude to Fluttershy, but it was something of a defense mechanism when Pinkie Pie got going.

"--and I said, 'No, way!' and he said, 'Yes, way!'--"

"Oh, did he?" A faint but persistent sensation crept up on her as the irrelevant chatter flowed by. It took Rarity some time to notice that it was even there, but when she did, she realized this was what she had been missing since the whole fiasco began.

"--ketchup jellybeans--"

"Mm-hmm?"

Contentment. Here she was, enjoying a morning snack with one of her friends, laughing and chatting rather than drowning in misery. At peace with herself.

It's over.

She still hurt, true, but she found in that moment that she could finally tell herself it really was over without it sounding like a lie.

"--on the ceiling!--"

True, the sadness still waited for her in the lonely dark, but she felt that she could face it if she could have moments like this as well. Disengaging from her life wasn't moving on; it was letting pain and regret dictate her actions. No longer! That dream may be done, but no so my life! I shall not surrender to despair!

"--and that's how... uh..."

Bring what you will, Fate, but I will face it unafraid! For I! Am! Rar--

"Rarity? Whatcha doin'?"

She looked down, realizing she had climbed up on her stool to shake her hoof at the heavens. "Um..."

A timely knock at the door saved her from the need to explain herself. "Hey, Pinkie, it's me," Rainbow Dash called. "Got a sec?"

Pinkie bounced over to answer the door, and Rarity took the opportunity to seat herself primly and help herself to another cupcake. I am Rarity, she thought less forcefully.

"Hiya, Dashie! What’s up?" Pinkie said.

Rainbow Dash stepped inside with a tense, unhappy expression. "Hey, Rarity! Glad I caught ya here -- you weren’t at your place, and I thought I was gonna have to hunt ya down. You guys got a few? It's Fluttershy again. AJ's place."

To her shame, Rarity actually hesitated. For an instant, she was back on the floor of her bedroom amid flattened metal debris and scraps of silk. How could she involve herself in Fluttershy's social life and not dwell on what might have been? Perhaps better to let Fluttershy take care of Fluttershy, and let Rarity take care of Rarity.

No. That was despair talking. What profit was there in saving her friendship from destruction, only to let it quietly perish through neglect? The easy path led only to ruin. I must, I must, find a way to be happy for Fluttershy. Somehow.

"No problemo, Rainbow!" Pinkie chirped across Rarity's more sedate, "Certainly! May I ask what's happened?"

Rainbow Dash's eyes cut to the side, the pegasus turning to face back down the stairs. "It's bad," she said over her shoulder, and then there was only a rainbow blur racing down the stairs.

"Bad?" Rarity repeated. What on Celestia's green earth did that mean? And how bad was 'bad'? Was she simply upset? Injured? Perhaps that other admirer did something untoward?!

Rarity was down the stairs and heading for Sweet Apple Acres at a dead gallop before her brain even caught up. No use running now, she told herself. Whatever has happened has already happened, and she's safe with Applejack and Macintosh now. No need to run myself ragged.

Her hooves didn't listen. Fluttershy was in distress, and something far deeper and more powerful than mere logic drove her. Pinkie Pie kept up without apparent effort, though she too galloped with a concerned frown rather than bouncing along in her usual oddly ground-eating hops.

Rarity was lathered with sweat by the time she and Pinkie reached the big red barn, and she barely paused to wipe her hooves before she burst in through the kitchen door. Sure enough, Fluttershy sat at the dining table with Applejack's arm around her shoulders. Tears ran down her face to speckle a very familiar sheet of twice-creased paper.

The white unicorn just stared for a few seconds, unable to process the situation. But... I don't understand. She should be relieved! What is all this? I don't understand! Sensitive soul that Fluttershy was, Rarity could comprehend her being unhappy about disappointing somepony, but... surely this went beyond mere remorse. Fluttershy stared at the two words on the page as if willing them to change and say something else entirely. "Darling? Whatever is the matter?" she asked gently as she drifted to the table.

Fluttershy just shook her head and let out a single sob as Pinkie went to hold the pegasus as well. She glanced at the paper in Fluttershy's hooves as she hugged the yellow mare, then caught Rarity's eye with an incomprehensibly raised eyebrow. So far as Rarity could tell, it meant, "Huh."

"Probably best if y'all just wait'll Rainbow gets back," Applejack said in low tones. "She's fetchin' something from Fluttershy's cottage that's supposed to clear things up. There's a lot been goin' on, 'pparently."

There was yet another note rather carelessly discarded on the table, a typewritten three-by-five card. The unicorn busied herself with it for something to do, as much as she might wish to never hear another word about secret admirers.

Dear Fluttershy,
You're the sweetest pony I know.
Signed,
Secret Admirer

Well, it was true enough, though anypony who had met Fluttershy for more than a minute at a stretch would say the same. Surely this was no cause for such consternation. Perhaps Rainbow Dash carried the real bombshell with her? Rarity reached across the table, patting Fluttershy's hoof and trying to imagine what could put her in such a state.

The arrival of Rainbow Dash with Twilight snapped her out of her musings. "Got it," Rainbow said, tossing a third note on the table -- this one curled in a tight tube and tied with cheap red ribbon. The ribbon, which had been fresh and crisp when Rarity bound her note, now looked wrinkled and worn. To the unicorn's expert eye, it looked like it had been tied and untied many times.

Twilight picked up the note almost as soon as it hit the table, unrolling it and reading it aloud with a faint frown while Pinkie and Rainbow peeked over her shoulder.

"Woah," Rainbow murmured, and Rarity affected an appropriately surprised gasp. Twilight leaned over to glance at the tearstained final note.

"I don't understand." The purple unicorn echoed Rarity's thoughts verbatim. "If you're not interested, and she accepted that, what's the problem?"

Fluttershy let out a squeaky sob and shook her head. "I d-didn't mean to tell her to go away," she whimpered.

What.

"I just didn't have any way to say 'let me think about it'... I didn't think she'd give up so soon!"

What.

Somewhere in the ashes of Rarity's heart, a glowing coal of hope beyond hope sputtered into fitful flame. It was as if Karma itself had smiled on her for finally confiding in Pinkie. But the flame also burned her. Hope... hurt. A little red spark of anger grew alongside it, flaring brighter with each passing moment. Anger at herself, for her lack of faith; at Fluttershy, for her indecisiveness; at the universe or fate or whatever twist of happenstance had put her in this position to begin with! She clamped her tongue between her teeth, not trusting herself to speak.

Pinkie met Rarity's eyes with an intense gaze, as if she were now trying to send thoughts through the air itself. She leaned toward Rarity almost imperceptibly, giving the slightest of nods, encouraging her to speak. The unicorn held her silence, though. Part of her wanted to admit her deeds then and there, another still yearned to simply absent herself and leave Fluttershy to her own devices, yet another to leap to her hooves and start berating the teary pegasus.

"Don't worry too much about it, sugarcube," Applejack said soothingly. "You've still got somepony else that thinks yer 'gorgeous' and 'sweet'."

Fluttershy smiled through her tears, giving a little nod. "I promise I won't let this one slip away."

"Uh. That's a really bad idea." All eyes turned on Rainbow Dash, who was crouched at the corner of the table, her eyes wide with a caught-in-the-headlights look, wings twitching as if she longed to escape to the sky. There was a long pause, then the blue mare muttered, "Those were mine."

Twilight glanced from Rarity's poleaxed expression to Applejack's quizzical one to Pinkie, whose eyebrows were crawling up nearly to her mane. "What?"

"I'm the second admirer, okay? I wasn't gonna say anything, but..." She flailed a hoof in Fluttershy's general direction. "I'm not--"

Applejack's face darkened rapidly from shock to something fierce and angry. "You lied right to our faces!" she snarled. "You said you didn't send it!"

Rainbow quailed from her expression, but still straightened up to defend herself. "I told you I didn't write it! That's the truth! ...I typed it."

Applejack stromped forward, implacable, until her nose flattened against the racer's and she glared directly into Dash's eyes. "Rainbow Dash, you know good an' well that's a lie all the same! Why didn't you just tell Fluttershy how you felt in the first place?!"

Rainbow shoved her back a few inches. "I wasn't lying when I said I didn't have feelings for her, either!"

The farm pony staggered back a step with a look of incomprehension, then gritted her teeth, the muscles clearly tensing under her coat. "So, what, It's all some kinda practical joke?" she said dangerously. "Cuz we ain't laughin'!"

Rainbow Dash grabbed her head in both hooves. "No, that's not what I--" She stopped, let out a frustrated sigh, then turned toward the other pegasus, rubbing one arm with the other hoof. "Fluttershy, listen. I meant what I said, okay? I really do think you're gorgeous, and really nice, and... and a bunch of other stuff that I'm... not. I really do admire you. I just thought, you know, if I could say it this way, it wouldn't sound so... sappy." She seemed to shrink in on herself and added in a lower voice, "And I figured maybe it'd give you some confidence if you thought you had, y'know, options."

"Which ain't to say ya couldn't rope any colt ya set yer eye to," Applejack appended, shooting another glare at Dash.

"Or filly!" Pinkie put in.

Rainbow nodded quickly, pointing a hoof at both of them. "Yeah, that."

There was a brief pause as everypony digested the new revelations.

"Well, thank you, Rainbow Dash, I guess," Fluttershy sighed, her expression growing morose as she picked up the "I'm sorry" letter once more. "Do you think she'd understand if I put on the ribbon now?"

"Probably," Twilight said with a smile, magically untying the ribbon and bringing it over to Fluttershy's mane. "If she cares that much, I'm sure she'll get the message."

"Anyway, you're not making a promise or anything," Pinkie pointed out. "It's like, 'okay, let's go on a date!' Or a pre-date coffee meeting! That's kinda like a date, but you buy your own coffee."

Rarity sat stunned. All this time... so much pain and heartache, and over what? ...it wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair!

"It's not fair!"

The rest of the group fell silent at the outburst and Rarity realized she'd spoken aloud.

"It's not fair... to her... to jerk her emotions around like that," she temporized.

Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together, her eyes beginning to leak again. "I know. I really want to tell her I'm so, so sorry."

"Sorry?" The spark of anger blazed up in the space of a breath, chewing into the wounded wreck of her heart and transforming love into something raw and acidic. "Sorr--! She gave up! Do you know what that means?" the unicorn bellowed, leaning halfway across the table. "Do you have any idea what it must have cost her? And you're sorr--"

Rarity barely bit off the tirade before she said any more. The sweet pegasus was already back to hiccuping sobs. Pinkie's jaw had hit the table, and the other three ponies stared at Rarity with varying degrees of stupefaction and outrage. She just thanked her lucky stars that she'd remembered to say she rather than I.

"I'm sorry," Rarity said more softly, lowering herself back to a sitting position. "I apologize for shouting. But... not for what I said. I suppose I empathize with this mare's plight. Abandoning one's dream is... terribly painful. I had to do just such a thing after the Gala, and it's not an experience I would wish on anypony." And you made me go through it all over again, added the bitter part of her mind even as she recoiled from the thought.

Applejack's eyes were flinty as she gave the sniffling pegasus a supportive squeeze. "That's as may be," she said. "Maybe Fluttershy has done her wrong. But she can't do much more'n be sorry, can she? That, an' try to make it right." She nodded toward the ribbon now tied in the back of Fluttershy's mane.

"I suppose not," Rarity sighed, reaching out with her magic to untie the ribbon again and gather Fluttershy's mane into a more attractive ponytail. Did she dare open her heart up to more abuse so quickly? Or was the awful misunderstanding some kind of sign that she should look to greener pastures? No, of course she dared. I'm kind of an idiot that way, she thought wryly. "Well, I..."

I'm sure she'll forgive you, she meant to say. But the bitterness hissed, And why shouldn't she stew on it for at least one night?

And Rarity listened.

"...I hope she's in a forgiving mood."

"I'm sure she will be!" Pinkie said, locking eyes with Rarity for a moment. Her face was a mix of confusion and horror.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash replied, "I'll bet she's just happy you're interested after all!" The others continued to make comforting noises, but Pinkie's eyes darted toward Rarity each time the unicorn let an encouragement pass without agreeing.

"Thank you," Fluttershy said finally, smiling past her tears. "Thank you all so much! I think I'd better run a few errands in town this afternoon, and make sure everypony gets a chance to see this." She raised a hoof, reverently touching the ribbon in her hair.

"Have fun!" Pinkie cheered, though her smile looked brittle to Rarity.

"Fly safely," the fashionista added.

"I'll go with you," Twilight said with oblivious excitement. "I think there might be a letter to Celestia in all this!"

The two mares left shortly, and Rarity excused herself soon after that. Applejack sternly told Rainbow to 'stay put' as Pinkie also made her good-byes and trotted out at Rarity's hip. Both held their peace as they left the farmyard behind.

"What in the name of all that's candy-coated was that?!" Pinkie burst out once they were well down the path back to Ponyville.

Rarity sighed. "I wanted to tell her... but if I were brave enough to say it outright, I wouldn't have written--" She glanced around, double-checking that there was nopony within earshot. Still, no sense in taking chances. "...written you-know-what in the first place."

Pinkie shook her head so ferociously that Rarity began to worry about her neck. "No no no, not that! I thought you were going to tell you-know-who about you-know-what, but then you just about told her to go to you-know-where instead, and I don't know why!"

Guilt sunk its fangs into Rarity's heart, but she struggled not to let it show beyond a small frown. "I'm... not sure myself. I was just so angry with her! And when she started crying, I... some part of me... liked it." She shook her head slowly. "I'm not sure that I should go through with it, now. I don't think I like who I'm becoming."

Pinkie stopped and put her hooves on Rarity's shoulders, staring seriously into her eyes. "Forget 'should'. Do you want to verb you-know-who's adjective noun?"

Rarity sighed and nodded. "Of course I do."

"Then stop verbing around the noun, get your noun on straight, and expletiving verb her!"

The unicorn giggled faintly. "You make it sound so simple."

"It is simple!" Pinkie grinned. "Is there anything I can do to verb?"

Rarity tapped her chin. "Actually, there is..."

Dear Fluttershy,

I cannot express how my heart sang when I saw you wearing my ribbon today. I had thought you uninterested for any of a myriad of reasons, but I see now my mistake in taking your silence for an answer. You have my apologies; it shall not happen henceforth. As you can see, I am yet a student of love, and not its master.

If you truly wish to meet me, I shall await you this evening at sunset within the party room at Sugar Cube Corner. I would prefer that we meet privately, for reasons that will become clear. And should circumstances beyond your control prevent you from attending, simply tie the ribbon to your mailbox flag and I shall reschedule.

Hoping to sign as such for the last time,
Your Secret Admirer

Ponyville's resident fashionista hadn't been as careful with her writing as she had been in the previous letters. Soon, it wouldn't matter. She had barely waited long enough for Fluttershy to be seen wearing the ribbon about town before she wrote. After so much tension and heartache, the finish line was finally in sight.

Still, it wouldn't do to be caught now. So Rarity sat outside Sugar Cube Corner, sipping on a mug of coffee gone cold and scanning the skyline and streets for the first sign of Fluttershy leaving her house.

That chilly, bitter voice was still there; the part of her that wanted to see Fluttershy share some of the pain that Rarity herself had suffered. Some of the names she had called herself in the depths of self-loathing came crawling back out of the shadows of her heart, wedging their claws into cracks not yet healed.

The aftertaste of hurtful words blessedly unsaid lingered on her tongue. It was... distressing to see her own darker impulses laid bare like that. Even the depths of her prurient imaginings were, at their core, based on love. To think that it could so quickly turn to hate... only now, at the end of things, did she realize what a dangerous game she was playing. And not with just two hearts, but six. Dangerous, yet offering such rewards! Perhaps the die was cast in ignorance, but for those stakes... she would willingly do so again.

But have I the right to risk harming everypony for my own gain? she thought, pausing to swirl her coffee and stare meditatively into the mug. And yet, the heart will do as it will, as I've recently learned.

She raised her eyes again, and her gloomy ruminations were cut short by the appearance of a yellow speck over the rooftops. Rarity stood at once, abandoning her cold coffee as she set off along a circuitous route toward the little cottage just outside the Everfree. She first looped toward her own home, only cutting back to the south once she saw Fluttershy descend into Ponyville. Rarity could barely make out the tiny thread of crimson flowing among the pink of her mane.

It was a brief enough trip. Rarity pulled the folded note from under her sun hat and poked it into the mailbox, waving cheerfully to a few bunnies as she departed. Well, in a few short hours, my life may be changed forevermore. That thought made her knees wobble and her stomach clench uncomfortably, but her heart sang nonetheless as she returned to her boutique at a restrained glide.

Rarity seated herself at her workbench, but she found herself staring at the clock more than planning her fall line. After she parted company with Pinkie the previous evening, the inspiration had flowed like a river undammed; the outfits would feature calm, dark neutrals accented by energetic slashes of vibrant color, like flowers blooming amid the browning grass and slumbering trees. The designs would suggest the world holding on to the brilliance of summer for a little longer before submitting to the sterile beauty of the cold months.

She was watching the clock again. So much time, and so little to do! Well, aside from work, but for all her fresh inspiration, what was once her greatest joy now seemed a mere sideline to the day's main event. The week's? Perhaps the single greatest moment in her entire life! Vague daydreams of endless summers with her four best friends and one incomparable more-than-friend carried her gently away from her shop and above the clouds.

The jingle of her door bell brought Rarity back to Earth, back to her shop and an idle doodle of a pegasus wedding dress. She hurriedly crumpled the latter and rushed for the door, where she slid to a halt almost nose-to-nose with Fluttershy.

Rarity felt a flash of annoyance that she hadn't crashed into an accidental kiss with the pegasus, but it evaporated when Fluttershy scooped her up in a hug that suspended the unicorn a few inches off the floor. Fluttershy looked years younger with her mane pulled back in that ponytail. That wasn't to say she looked old in her usual style, not by any means, but her bright eyes and cheek-straining grin burst with the joyful energy of youth where her usual demeanor conveyed a more staid, matronly air.

"Oh, Rarity, it's so wonderful!" Fluttershy put her back down before she could object (or fail to), then flourished the note with a giddy giggle. "Everything's all right! She wants to meet! Tonight!"

"That's fantastic, darling!" Rarity replied while she scanned the hooffull of lines for Fluttershy's benefit.

"I already told everypony else," the pegasus continued breathlessly. "Um, not that you're not important, but I saw Applejack in the orchard, then Rainbow Dash was practicing nearby, and I thought I should go to Sugar Cube Corner next so I wouldn't have to fly across town twice--"

Rarity forestalled her apology with a hoof. "I understand, Fluttershy. In fact, it works out nicely for us that you don't need to go tell anypony else."

"It does? Why?"

Rarity grinned and gave Fluttershy and impulsive hug of her own. "I'd say this calls for an extra-special spa day, wouldn't you? You simply must look your best tonight!"

Fluttershy let out a joyful squeal, then covered her mouth with both hooves. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm just so excited!"

Me too, darling. Me too. "Think nothing of it. Shall we?" She gestured grandly toward the door. "After you!"

Nervous giggles preceeded Rarity down the stairs.

Fluttershy floated along the route to the day spa with more joie de vivre than Rarity had seen her display in a long time. Rarity almost felt as though she could join the pegasus in flitting above the heads of the throng; the long wait was almost over, the fruition of her grand plan almost at hoof!

The door chime of the spa jingled, and the twins' helpful smiles turned to confusion as their customers trotted in. "Mees Rarity! And... Mees Flootershy?" Lotus Blossom did a double take at Fluttershy's new mane style, but recovered her grin before her sister. "We deedn't expect you for hours! The usual?"

"Not today, girls!" Rarity announced. "Give us... The Works!"

The spa ponies' faces lit up, and Aloe shot off into the back while Lotus Blossom helped the two mares into their robes. "Thees is most exciteeng!" the spa pony gushed. "Oh, but I moost ask, you do not have any heart condeetions?"

"What?!" Fluttershy squeaked.

"We don't," Rarity assured her.

"Excellent! Thees way, please!" Lotus said with a smile.

"H-Heart conditions?" Fluttershy whispered.

Lotus didn't seem to hear as she opened the door to the sauna for them. "Well, you don't," Rarity said, trotting briskly past Aloe to prevent too much heat from escaping the small room.

The unicorn hopped lightly onto one of the warm wooden benches with a sigh. It felt like ages since her last treatment! Of course, she was so stressed last time that it could hardly count. A glowing tingle of anticipation still filled her stomach, but it was quiescent for the moment. She slowly relaxed and smiled at Fluttershy. A warm, honest smile, not the mask of false happiness that Pinkie had so easily seen through.

"You seem a lot happier than you did yesterday," the pegasus said, echoing her thoughts.

Rarity nodded and rolled her shoulders as the heat began to soak into her. "I'm just delighted for you," she lied. And Celestia send that's the last lie I have to tell you. In a few hours, she would reveal herself, and then her relationship with Fluttershy would begin in earnest. Or Fluttershy would turn her down, but why should she? After all, if the pegasus wasn't opposed to mares in general, who better to take as a lover than her best friend? Rarity closed her eyes blissfully and exhaled stress and turmoil into the warm, wet air. There was nothing to do but relax until then.

The steady rustle of feathers from her bathing partner failed to fade after a few seconds, drawing Rarity's attention back to the pegasus. Fluttershy shifted and shuffled almost constantly, adjusting her wings, tugging at her robe, playing with the end of her mane. As Rarity watched, a grin broke across Fluttershy's face, her shoulders hunching as if she were suppressing a giggle.

"Darling?"

Fluttershy actually startled at the sound of her voice. "Oh... sorry," she said, falling still for a grand total of about three seconds. "What do you think she's like?" she asked suddenly.

"Who-- your admirer?" Rarity blinked, mind racing as she equivocated. "Well, there's not much to go on, I'm sure, but... I'd have to guess that she's well-read, judging from her letters..."

"I think so too," Fluttershy replied, nodding quickly. "I hope she doesn't mind that I'm not."

"I'm sure she won't. Hmm... Rather intelligent, I should think..."

The corner of Fluttershy's lips twitched downward. Rarity could almost see her picturing Twilight Sparkle.

"But clearly a romantic at heart," she added quickly. Fluttershy's smile reasserted itself. "She obviously adores you, but the circumspectness of the ribbon signal shows that she also doesn't wish to put you in a position where you would feel obliged to do anything you don't wish to."

"You make her sound so perfect," Fluttershy murmured, her tone turning wistful.

"Well..." Rarity hesitated, hurriedly sorting her own foibles into those she might be willing to own and those that would better go unmentioned until the mares had grown more intimate with one another. "She seems perhaps a bit less than totally confident, given her method of introduction..."

"That's true," the pegasus agreed with a soft giggle. "I guess she's as nervous as I am."

"Maybe even a bit intimidated by you."

"By me?" Fluttershy pressed a hoof to her chest, then waved it as if to ward off the possibility. "But I-- How-- Why would anypony--"

The answer welled up without need for a moment's thought. "Because you're alluring and elegant and ever so sweet, and still so frustratingly modest! You're a saint! How could anypony even dream of deserving all that?"

The pegasus stared at Rarity, then blushed as pink as her mane as she ducked her head in naked insecurity. Still, she couldn't hide the smile on her muzzle at the unicorn's enthusiastic response.

Rarity watched her for a few moments, her heart briefly pounding the way it had when she first realized her affection for Fluttershy. "I'm not surprised she's so nervous about telling you how she feels," she finished more gently. With a playful grin, she added, "It's only by your good graces that the rest of us have any stallions -- or mares -- to romance at all."

Fluttershy's expression of horrified denial lasted only until she registered Rarity's teasing expression. Then she gave Rarity a longsuffering smirk, mirth dancing in her eyes as she replied, "I think you might be exaggerating a teensy bit."

The unicorn gasped theatrically and pressed a hoof to her mouth. "Why, I'll have you know I've never exaggerated a single fact in my entire life!" She managed to hold a straight face for nearly three seconds before they both burst out in giggles. Even Lotus couldn't stop a sardonic snort from escaping.

Rarity settled in to bask in the heat and companionship, though she was careful to direct her gaze somewhere other than Fluttershy; it wouldn't do to get caught making eyes at her after that outburst. Soon, perhaps, but not quite yet. Her ear twitched toward each fidgety rustle from the pegasus, though. She quashed the impulse to reach out and hold Fluttershy and share in her excitement. It was uncomfortably close to other impulses which she had to keep restrained until that evening, at the very least.

There was a tap at the door, but Lotus Blossom didn't move to open it. "Ah, the lightneeng sand is ready!" she said. "You will be only our second custoomers to try it out!"

"Lightning sand?" Fluttershy asked cautiously.

"I've never heard of it," Rarity agreed.

"A new product from Kowrea," the spa pony explained, dropping her ladel in the water bucket. "It's a scrub made from granulated lightneeng clouds and pure quartz sand! It improves circulation, exfoliates, and rejuvenates your skin at the same time!"

"Oooh. That sounds delightful," Rarity cooed.

"I guess," Fluttershy said with less enthusiasm. "How do you grind up a cloud?"

Lotus shrugged as she opened the door. "I don't really know. Unicorn majeek?"

The mares entered a small room outfitted with two pony-sized trays full of gray and tan sand and helped them out of their robes for the treatment. "Please lay down here," Aloe said while Lotus slipped on some thin but tough-looking rubber-soled boots. Aloe already wore a set. Rarity stretched out eagerly on the sand, followed by her more hesitant friend. Her hooves, then limbs and belly tingled faintly wherever she put her weight. It wasn't unpleasant, just a prickly, ticklish sensation like way the bubbles in sarsparilla or champagne tickled one's nose.

A conversation passed between the spa twins in the space of a nod, and Aloe moved to Rarity's side while her lighter-hoofed sister stepped over to Fluttershy. Both scooped hooffuls of sand onto the withers of their respective clients. "This may teengle quite a beet," Lotus warned, and they began scrubbing with both hooves.

Fluttershy gasped and squeaked, and Rarity gritted her teeth as the tiny cloud fragments discharged their minuscule bolts of lightning into her back. She understood the need for the boots, now; each bolt by itself was hardly noticible, less, even, than the sensation of touching a door knob after scuffing one's hooves on carpet on a dry winter's day. Taken together, though, the crackling, stinging ripple under Aloe's hooves was like having a pincushion rolled heavily across her skin.

It was actually difficult to distinguish the zap of electricity from the abrasive rasp of the sand. Rarity almost called a halt as the hooves moved on down her back, positive that her poor, tender skin had been scraped red and raw by such treatment. She had to look her best by sunset, not struggling to recover from being sanded sore! She turned her head to complain, looked down at the offended patch of skin, and--

Nothing. Her coat was a bit mussed by the vigorous rubbing, but instead of an angry rash, the burning sensation had already faded to a faint pinkness no worse than the 'healthy glow' she displayed after a very hot bath.

"Ow! Stop! Please. Sorry," Fluttershy squeaked. "I'm sorry... but that really hurts!"

Lotus ceased at once. "I apologize," she said quickly. "I weell be more gentle."

Rarity nodded sympathetically. "Do try to endure, won't you?" she added. "Since it's for 'Her'..."

Fluttershy winced but nodded, braced herself, and murmured for Lotus to proceed.

Rarity tried her best to relax in spite of the painful zaps. After all, it wasn't much worse than a good scrub with a washcloth... made of burlap... and bees...

And then Aloe paused to scoop a fresh lump of sand onto her rump. It was bad enough that the spa pony was now scouring her flanks with scorpions that were on fire, but the worst part was the insidious trickle of grains past her dock and down between her haunches. There, the cloud fragments whispered across the most sensitive flesh on her body, tiny prickles of lightning tickling like the gentlest brush of a feather.

Rarity bit her lip, doing her best to endure the maddening tingle, though she could tell her face had already gone apple-red. Suddenly, Fluttershy sprung up from her own tray of sand, shooting nearly to the ceiling before she dropped back down. "Ohmygoodness!" she yelped as very expensive sand showered down around all four mares. "I don't think I want any more of that!"

Rarity was on her own hooves in a flash. "Yes, I think that should be quite enough!" she said quickly. Their eyes met, each catching the other's furious blush, and hurriedly looked away, blushes redoubling yet again. That definitely was not how she would have chosen to share such a moment for the first time!

Rarity and Fluttershy scrambled from the room together, trying not to look at one another, then paused as each, with much throat-clearing and hoof-tapping, attempted to negotiate a way to stand that allowed her to ignore the other mare until embarrassment faded without also exposing the... affected region... to her friend.

From behind them, Rarity overheard Aloe's perplexed comment to her sister. "How odd. Cup Cake seemed to like it so much..."

And that is far more than I ever wanted to know about Mrs. Cake! Rarity's ears flattened as she briefly considered attempting to drink enough to forget the past several minutes. Ugh... no, were she to surrender her inhibitions to that degree, she'd likely say or do something even more embarrassing. And in any case, she would never forgive herself for getting blackout-drunk before making a memory she would want to treasure for the rest of her life.

In the end, a cool mud mask seemed the best way to extinguish a fiery blush. Fluttershy, for once, didn't object to the full facial, complete with blessedly opaque slices of cucumber. Out came the files, though Rarity's horn only needed a bit of a touch-up, and once Aloe had finished with the fine-grit sandpaper and oiled polishing cloth, they proceeded without conversation to the Steedish massage.

Rarity filled the time by letting her mind wander through her perfect vision of the evening. When Rarity revealed herself, Fluttershy would naturally be overjoyed. They would kiss in the sunset and gaze into one another's eyes until the soft glow of the moon took over the sky. Then perhaps go out for a late meal together -- a proper date this time, not some farce manufactured by Rarity's imagination. Between the two of them, she had no doubt they would disappoint every last colt in town.

She would take it slowly, of course -- fantasies notwithstanding, a lady generally did not 'give it up', so to speak, on the first date. It would probably take quite some time for Fluttershy to warm up to the notion.

Of course, if one were strictly speaking of everything going perfectly, one might consider their friendly outings to be a sort of retroactive dating. Rarity certainly wouldn't object if their night didn't end until morning...

Darling, you are simply incorrigible, she told herself. No such thing is going to happen, so banish the very thought for tonight.

Unless Fluttershy brought it up, of course.

Incorrigible!

It wasn't until they were both immersed in hot mud that the unicorn broke the silence again. "Well, Fluttershy, what do you hope she's like?"

The pegasus didn't reply immediately. After several seconds of introspection, she finally said, "I don't know if I should say. I'm sure she'll be nice in her own way that I'd never, ever expect."

Rarity pouted, though of course Fluttershy couldn't see it. "Humor me, darling. What would your perfect mare be like?"

"I don't really have anything specific in mind..."

"Another pegasus?" Rarity pressed. "Earth pony? Unicorn?"

"I don't know," Fluttershy replied. "Anything is fine, as long as she doesn't mind living on the ground."

"Well, that's something," the unicorn said. "And looks? Any features you find particularly attractive?"

"Um... I don't know," Fluttershy repeated, this time in a faint, guarded way that gave Rarity the impression that something had indeed come to mind, but her friend would prefer not to discuss it aloud. "Um... blue eyes?"

Rarity let the weak suggestion pass without comment. She did, after all, qualify. "Beautiful and graceful?" she asked instead. "Or do you favor the rugged, outdoorsy sort? Or something else, perhaps?"

"Oh, well... I guess, um, the first one would be nice... but it's okay if she's not. I mean, there's nothing wrong with Applejack or Rain--" She stopped suddenly and rushed out, "Uh, I mean, just, you know, for example!"

Rarity waved her hoof dismissively. "Yes, yes, naturally. To each her own. After all, if anypony would be familiar with their particular merits, it would be me!" The fashionista chuckled. "And what about stylishness?"

"I guess? I'm sorry, I know that's your 'thing', but I really don't care how she dresses..."

Rarity nodded, frowning faintly to herself. "I suppose I could have guessed as much," she admitted. "Anything else?"

Slowly, as if owning up to some deep sin, Fluttershy said, "Well... I do hope... she likes animals."

"Understandable."

The pegasus gradually gained momentum as she spoke. "And I hope she's not too, um, rambunctious... and she likes to take walks in the woods... and she's kind, and gentle, and maybe sort of quiet..."

Rarity put her chin on a hoof, her lips quirking up as she asked, "So just like you, then?"

Fluttershy gasped, her voice becoming slightly muted as if she were covering her face. "Oh no, that's not what I meant! I just... oh... I told you I'm no good at this! Whatever she's like is just fine," she said firmly.

"Oh, but surely--" Rarity began.

"How would you feel," Fluttershy interrupted reproachfully, "if you went out with a stallion who was really hoping you were an athletic, blond earth pony?"

Rarity opened her mouth to snap back, but the reflex broke against the unassailable sense of Fluttershy's argument. She bit her lip, then replied in a chastened tone, "I see your point. I'm sorry."

One of the girls -- Lotus, Rarity thought -- cleared her throat. "If you are ready to wash off the mud, we have a shampoo and condeetioner ready that will make your coats seemply glow!"

Rarity caught Fluttershy's eye with a supportive smile as their cucumbers were removed, then each was escorted into a shower stall to clean up. Then she was blinded once more, clamping her eyes against the spray as the rich, heavy mix of volcanic ash and peat ran down the drain. This was probably her favorite part of the entire treatment, as the weight of the mud released from her coat to leave her feeling light and fresh. Aloe lathered her up with shampoo, rinsed her off a second time, then began rubbing in the vaunted conditioner.

Rarity cracked an eye against the shower-spray and levitated the bottle. It was called 'Lambent', apparently. "Triply-enchanted", the label announced, and then launched into the turgid sort of prose to which cosmetics advertisers were forever prone. In short, it was intended to literally make one's coat glow, or at least throw back slightly more light than it received. The difference would be indistinguishable under full sunlight, but she could easily see it lending a dreamlike quality beneath the stars or at a candlelit table.

Unfortunate, then, that it was expensive enough to make even Rarity balk. Perhaps just a tiny bottle for very special occasions, she thought. On the other hoof, it would be useful to work that sort of magic into a dress, as well. A mare like Twilight Sparkle might be able to reverse-engineer the spell involved, and Rarity was rather good at illusions herself, so it should be fairly simple to learn once they got the intensity right...

She giggled suddenly at the mental image of herself trotting around, glowing like a night-light from an over-application of the spell. Although... that, too, had possibilities if one thought outside the proverbial box... or between the proverbial sheets, as the case may be.

"Mees Rarity? Do I teeckle?" Aloe asked, her hooves pulling away.

Rarity giggled again and shook her head. "No, no, I just thought of something funny. Please, proceed." Aloe nodded and went back to massaging enchanted oils into Rarity's coat.

"There. Now it moost rest." Aloe rinsed off her hooves, then turned a grin on Rarity that was far more hopeful than the usual courtesy smile that any professional mare cultivated. "Mees Rarity, may I ask a question?"

Rarity stiffened imperceptibly, going on her guard, but nodded. "Certainly."

"Mees Flootershy is seeing somepony special tonight? A beeg date, poorhaps?"

Ah, there it is. The gossip mill begins to grind at last. "Not as such. At least, not yet. Merely meeting somepony face to face for the first time." She glanced back at the Earth pony, giving her a mischievous wink. "If anything comes of it, you shall certainly be among the first to know!"

"Thank you, Mees Rarity! Between us, I theenk it's just creeminool that she hasn't found somepony already."

Rarity nodded and smirked faintly. "Lucky for somepony, though."

"I hope so! Oh, but it's time to reense already."

Rarity obediently stepped back under the shower. Lucky. She was beginning to lose faith in luck, truth be told. Too many of the seemingly random events in her life looked, in retrospect, like the hoof of Destiny. She had first become aware of its tug when the shards of the Element of Generosity chose her. It was hard to look at her five new friends, each similarly chosen, and not suspect that this was something more than mere coincidence.

But she only truly began to question her life when she learned that her own cutie mark had appeared thanks to Rainbow Dash; not only had she been drawn from Ponyville to the middle of the Everfree Forest by Fate, but she had unknowingly felt its touch years before, as a mere foal.

The unicorn smiled to herself as she stepped out of the shower and Aloe twisted her mane and tail up in towels to dry. It was easy, then, to think that Fate was not yet done with her. Perhaps Blueblood's behavior was itself foreordained to ensure that she would spurn him. Perhaps, years from now, attraction that struck like a bolt from the blue would just as clearly mark the road toward a destiny yet inchoate!

As the earth pony helped her back into her beautiful gold-trimmed robe, Rarity pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. Fate hadn't granted her cutie mark without struggle, nor handed Nightmare Moon to them on a silver platter. Neither would she win Fluttershy without putting in the required effort. Still, it was a comforting thought.

Fluttershy and Lotus joined them just as Rarity was stepping down into a warm hoof soak. She watched the pegasus closely, trying to detect the subtle effects of the magical shampoo, but the brightness of the day spa made it impossible to tell any magical glow from simple cleanliness.

The pegasus gave Rarity a sunny smile as she stepped into the second hoof bath. "I'm so glad I'm supposed to meet her as sunset," she said, nearly boiling over with restrained enthusiasm. "I think that conditioner is really going to make a difference!"

"Would you like to come over and find a nice outfit when we're done here?" Rarity asked. "I have a blouse that will make your eyes just shine!"

Fluttershy considered it for a moment, but shook her head. "I think there's only one thing I need to wear," she grinned.

Oh well, less for me to take off later. Rarity quashed that thought before it went an inch farther, but she couldn't un-think it. "As you wish," she said instead. "Though I could give you a fresh ribbon, you know. I have some lovely red silk from Bom-Bay."

Fluttershy hook her head firmly. "I know it's a little beat-up, but I'll wear the ribbon She gave me. Appearance isn't everything."

What could she say to that? Rarity just nodded again and let it drop. She didn't need to help Fluttershy impress herself, after all. She could put up with a wrinkled ribbon. There would be plenty of time to dress up Fluttershy later!

Opportunities for conversation became limited after that as Aloe helped her out of the hoof bath and set about trimming and smoothing her hooves. There was little to be done, naturally, but the steady exchange of "put your weight on it," and "how does that feel?" occupied her attention. The spa pony gave each hoof a sea-salt scrub that was much more pleasant than the lightning sand, then stretched her out on a couch for a layer of hoof polish.

"Will you be needing a trim?" Aloe asked solicitously as she pulled the towels off of Rarity's mane and tail. "Poorhaps some highlights?"

The unicorn examined the tip of her mane critically, now hanging in loose curls rather than her usual wavelike spiral. "Mmm, just a trim," she decided. "It's only been a week, after all."

"Do you think I should get some highlights?" Fluttershy asked as Lotus painted her hooves in turn.

Rarity shook her head after only a moment's thought. "You look lovely as you are. I wouldn't mess with perfection, if I were you."

The yellow mare giggled happily and shook her tresses out into their usual style. "Perfection? Now I'm going to be afraid to do anything to get dirty between now and tonight. I think I'm starting to see why you hate dirt so much, Rarity!"

The snipping of scissors and rustle of brushes filled the room while their hooves dried. "At least you don't have to touch the ground if you don't want to. But yes... a simple puddle can undo so much hard work!" Rarity glanced to the other mare with a little smile that only they two, and perhaps Applejack, would understand. "But sometimes it's worth it."

Fluttershy looked away with her own private smile. "I'm lucky to have a friend like you."

"Likewise." Though you don't know the half of it. But you will... She suppressed a shiver of anticipation. This evening was going to be perfect!

Once their hoof polish was fully dry, Lotus and Aloe gave each mare a thorough curry and brushing, and then it was down to the last service -- makeup.

Rarity had very firm ideas about her own cosmetics, but Fluttershy usually went au naturel, which led to a certain amount of debate.

"I like the Hazel #4 eye shadow, don't you?" Rarity suggested.

"The Terra Cotta would help tie it to her mane," Lotus contradicted.

Aloe held the end of Fluttershy's mane up against her cheek. "You do not think Pink Rose?"

"It already hangs in her eyes, darling," Rarity replied. "The color should set them both off, I should think."

"But if we use the Las Pegas Soonset blush--"

"Doosn't that overwhelm?"

"Not weeth the Pink Rose!"

"But it will be sunset already, dear..."

Fluttershy's faint, "Whatever you think is fine," went totally unnoticed.

Rarity waited in the candlelit interior of Sugar Cube Corner as the sun kissed the horizon. The back room of the bakery was closed off for her sole use, and Pinkie had promised not to eavesdrop on words meant for one pony's ears alone. The light was just enough to set her coat aglow, but dim enough to soften any blemish into perfection. She felt a bit guilty about helping prepare Fluttershy -- like a groom peeking in on his bride before the wedding -- but it couldn't be helped. Everything was in readiness.

Perfect, except for the thoughts dashing around her head like a herd of cats chasing her stomach-full of butterflies. Butterflies, hah. How appropriate.

Her heart leapt into her throat as the latch rattled at last and the door slowly swung open. The sinking sun behind Fluttershy burnished the tips of her pink locks and turned her pastel coat a gorgeous shade of gold. She had never, never looked so lovely.

She stepped inside, breathing fast and shallow past an excited smile, nearly hyperventilating as she pushed the door closed and waited the moment for her eyes to adjust to candlelight. Then her expression collapsed.

"Rarity?" Fluttershy's voice was disappointed and exasperated. "What are you doing here? The letter said for me to meet her alone!"

Rarity paused for a beat, giving the pegasus a lopsided grin, then said, softly, "We are alone."

"What?" Fluttershy blinked, then her eyes bulged as the implication hit home. "What?!" she gasped again.

Rarity just nodded once with a small, chagrined smile, not quite meeting the other mare's eyes. "It's true. I wrote the notes. I sent you that tacky ribbon because you would guess I was involved if I used something nice." She raised her eyes to Fluttershy's and gave a tiny shrug. "I'm the mare who fell for you."

The yellow mare stared at her with an expression of shock and disbelief for the longest time, the corner of her mouth twitching as if about to reject the whole notion outright.

"It was you?" she whispered at last. "It was... you?" Rarity simply nodded. "Why? You, you sat beside me and comforted me when I thought I was being... stalked by some stranger! And you encouraged me after she--" She stopped, horror widening her eyes. "After you gave up... oh, no. I'm so sorry! I never meant to do that to you!" She started to retreat behind her mane, the cracking edge of a sob in her voice. "Oh, Rarity... all that time... I never meant to hurt you like that!"

Rarity touched her shoulder. "It's all right! It's all right now." The voice of bitterness was a satisfied purr in the back of her head. Magnanimously, Rarity admitted, "I was angry at first, but that was unfair of me. It was just a silly misunderstanding." The unicorn leaned forward, raising her arms to hold her love. "I forgive you."

There was a single instant of bliss as Rarity embraced the other mare, comforting her, all harm pardoned. The pain had all been worth it.

Then Fluttershy's wings moved, pushing Rarity's arms away from her body.

"Why?"

Fluttershy looked up at her, tear-streaked and pained, but also... disappointed?

"You were right there beside me the entire time. You watched me going crazy and you didn't say a word! I trusted you! I confided in you!" Her eyes begged for an explanation. "And you never said a word..."

"I thought you didn't want me because I'm a mare," Rarity replied, taken aback. "Yes, it hurt, but I was prepared to accept that. It wouldn't be your fault if your tastes didn't match my crush. I couldn't put that burden on you."

"Burden...? Did you ever think about me, Rarity?" Fluttershy asked, a hint of heat entering her voice. "You made me watch you fall apart, and every time I tried to help, you just pushed me away! I thought I'd done something wrong! Why couldn't you confide in me?" She tapped herself on the chest for emphasis, mascara beginning to trickle down her cheeks. "Don't you trust me?"

"That's not it at all!" Rarity gasped. "I didn't want to lose you. If I told you I loved you, and you weren't interested, wouldn't that just be too awkward? Would you be able to look at me the same way? I didn't want things between us to change like that--"

Fluttershy's spirit crumpled behind her eyes. "So you really don't trust me," she whispered.

Rarity's veins filled with something colder than ice. "I... I..." She shook her head violently, trying to deny the sense of Fluttershy's point. "No! That's not it at all! What I wrote was true... I was just afraid to just come out and say it. I thought... I thought this way, if you weren't interested, it wouldn't affect our friendship..."

"Oh, good job on that."

Rarity flinched as though from a physical blow. That was... almost certainly... the first time she had ever heard sarcasm from Fluttershy's mouth. Wasn't that line supposed to be 'you're not a bad pony, you just made some bad choices'?

Fresh tears followed old down Fluttershy's face. "I'm not just somepony you don't know! How can we be best friends if you won't tell me what's hurting you? Especially when it's me?" She sagged miserably, her wings drooping to touch the floor. "I wouldn't have minded if it was you," she murmured, half to herself. "How am I even supposed to trust you now, knowing you won't tell me what's really on your mind if you decide that 'poor little Fluttershy' can't handle it? Did you never think how it made me feel to see you in pain when you wouldn't let me help?"

Fluttershy paused, gulping a couple of deep breaths, but Rarity couldn't find any grade of 'I'm sorry' to fill the silence that would make it better. No, she hadn't considered Fluttershy's feelings. Not at all. She had been too focused on her own pain to acknowledge how if affected the ponies who mattered most to her.

"And yet... and yet every time I turned around, there you were again, trying to get me alone somewhere so we could talk. Or so I thought." She shook her head and stared as if she couldn't understand the mare before her eyes. "But you never intended to talk. Why, then? Did hanging around with me really help? Or did you just want to dress me up and stare at--" She stopped, eyes widening as her face went pale, then brilliant red. "Oh... no... tell me that's not--"

The guilty look on the unicorn's face was all the answer she needed.

"Oh, Rarity!" She hid her face behind her hooves, aghast. "How long-- no, I don't even want to know! Please say something that will make this better!"

Coward.

Liar.

Pervert.

Selfish.

Rarity damned herself with her silence.

Fluttershy backed up a pace, looking at Rarity as if she were suddenly a complete stranger. "I... I'd better go..."

Rarity threw herself on the floor at Fluttershy's hooves, and her heart cracked a little more as the pegasus stepped back again, staying out of hoof's reach. "Wait!" the unicorn cried, pressing her hooves together in front of her. "Please. Don't go. I... you're right. I have done you a terrible wrong, and I don't know how to make up for that. But please don't leave it like this! I know I haven't acted like much of a friend to you, but I beg you... don't..." her voice fell to a pitiful whisper. "Don't leave me..."

"I think you'd better go think very hard about what you've done." Fluttershy's voice nearly cracked, an ocean's depth of friendship -- of love -- warring with a continent-load of betrayal and disgust. "And I'd better go think very hard about who I call my friends."

"I'm sorry..." Rarity whimpered from the floor.

"Good," Fluttershy choked out.

The pegasus opened the door just as the last sliver of sun vanished below the horizon. She took off without a backward look, catching a few more rays of sunlight as she ascended, and then she was gone. The unicorn sat staring through the doorway long after she vanished.

I lost...

They all lost.

Rarity had heard of feeling numb in the wake of a disaster, but it wasn't the comforting sensation she had imagined. There was too much sorrow to feel. She couldn't let herself feel it. She had to look away, pretend it wasn't there. She couldn't allow herself to feel anything at all.

Tentatively, the door behind her opened. "Did she... go?" Pinkie asked, her voice terribly soft and pitying. "I saw her... fly away..."

Rarity pushed herself to her hooves without looking back and started for the door herself, murmuring, "I'd rather be alone right now..."

...so she could crawl into a miserable hole and never come out again.

To be concluded...