The trip to Rainbow Falls, as part of the support for the Ponyville Aerial Relay Team, had been rather enjoyable. Rainbow Falls was an incredibly beautiful location, and Rarity made a mental note to come back to it at some point in the future.
But for right now, she was worn out. Not long ago, she had traveled to Manehattan to attend fashion week. And what a week it had been, for her and her friends. Rarity still couldn't believe she'd managed to win first place, after everything that had happened and everything she had put her friends through.
A reminder of the lesson she had learned in the big city remained perched on a shelf with the rest of her fabrics. But Rarity refused to use it, no matter what. There was something about it that made it feel different. Perhaps it was the sentimental value that it held as a gift from her new friend Coco. After all, she still had the fire ruby from Spike stored away, and the picture Sweetie Belle had drawn just prior to "The Sisterhooves Social Incident" remained taped to her kitchen fridge.
Or perhaps, it was something else. Either way, Rarity had a feeling that it was in her best interest never to use it, no matter what. She suspected that Rainbow Dash was probably doing the same thing, with the badge she had gotten from Spitfire during the qualifyier. But that was hardly a surprise, considering how much Rainbow Dash idolized The Wonderbolts. Small wonder she'd almost ended up flying with them, and not with the Ponyville team. It was a good thing Soarin's wing had healed itself in time to let him participate.
"Wait a minute!" Rarity suddenly thought to herself "Wasn't Soarin in the same hospital room that Rainbow Dash was in when she pretend to be injured? And unlike Rainbow Dash, he was actually hurt. But noone came to visit him, not even me. And I'm his marefriend." And then, the realization hit her. Her coltfriend had been injured right before her eyes, and she couldn't even be bothered to pay him a visit, just to make sure he was okay? From what Rainbow Dash had told her, outside of a brief visit from his teammates, Soarin had not recieved any visitors at all.
Now Rarity began to feel guilty. She tried to convince herself that she was just imaging things, and that she had actually visited Soarin at least one. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember a single moment during her time in Rainbow Falls, when she had bothered to check up on the stallion that had fallen in love with her. In fact, the last time they'd spent time together had been just before fashion week.
"How could I let this happen?! I'm better than this!" Rarity said outloud "Oh, Soarin is sure to hate me for this. And the worst part is, he'll have every right to do so. When he needed somepony to care about him, I should've been right by his side. But I never even thought about him. Of all the worst things a marefriend could possibly do. That has to be, THE, WORST, POSSIBLE, THING!" Using her magic, Rarity summoned her fainting couch, and collapsed onto it. She didn't care who saw her like this. She was a terrible pony, and she knew it.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Rarity was quite surprised. "I wasn't expecting company. Whoever it is, I should probably answer it." Reluctantly, Rarity lifted herself off of the fainting couch, and trotted over to the front door. When she opened it, she was surprised at who her visitor was. It was none other than Soarin, her coltfriend.
"Hello Rarity." Soarin greeted kindly "I hope I'm not interrupting you during something important."
Rarity, for her part, was speechless. "What is he doing here?" she thought to herself "And why doesn't he look upset? He has to be aware of the fact that I never visited him when he was recovering from his accident."
"Uh, Rarity? Are you alright?" Soarin asked nervously "You've been standing there, wide eyed, for the past minute and a half. Is there something wrong? Was it something I said?"
Soarin was quite surprised when Rarity suddenly threw her hooves around and said dramatically "Oh Soarin, forgive me! Some marefriend I turned out to be! I don't deserve you!"
"What are you talking about Rarity?" Soarin asked.
"Drop the charade Soarin, I know what you came here to tell me!" Rarity said, tears forming in her eyes "You came here to tell me that our relationship is over, and that you're breaking up with me!"
"Now why would I ever do that?" Soarin replied.
"Because I've been a bad marefriend, and you deserve better!" Rarity complained "Maybe I could see about pairing you up with one of my friends!"
"Rarity please, calm down. You're not making any sense." Soarin said kindly "I'm not here to break up with you."
"You're not?" Rarity asked, Soarin shook his head "But why? After what I did you have every right to break up with me. You needed me, and I wasn't there. I didn't even check to make sure you were okay."
"You're refering to my unplanned close call with the ground, aren't you?" Soarin asked, all Rarity could do was nod her head in reply "But you were there when the paramedics took me away."
"But after that I didn't come to see you even once." Rarity explained "And as your marefriend, I should've been over there in a heartbeat. If the roles were reversed, I'm sure that's what you would've done."
"Maybe, but then again maybe not. I'm not perfect, and neither are you." Soarin replied.
"I know that. But perfect or not, I let you down. I can't possibly call myself your marefriend when I didn't even bother to visit you in the hospital. And I had the perfect opportunity to do so on several ocassions." Rarity went on "Instead, I was as bad as Spitfire, because I turned my back on a pony who needed me the most."
"Stop right there! Don't you dare think that!" Soarin said firmly "You're way better than that, and you know it! Besides, you don't know the whole story. The truth is, I had planned to drop out prior to the qualifier anyway."
"What?! But why?!" Rarity asked.
"It was all part of a test." Soarin explained "After all, Spitfire could've easily contacted HQ, and requested that another Wonderbolt take my place if I was really injured that badly. My injury just happened to occur before we had the chance to plan out my temporary retirement. If I hadn't been so clumsly, things would've worked out differently."
"Why?" Rarity asked "I fail to see how that would be any different, Rainbow Dash still would've been presented with a choice of which team to fly with."
"Yes, but at least I would've been able to see the results for myself. Me getting injured really screwed things up." Soarin explained "I thought my wing had healed just fine, but the doctors said they weren't taking any chances. And Spitfire and Fleetfoot believed them. Maybe the doctors were right, but if it hadn't been for Rainbow Dash, I would've been sidelined. Still, I suppose it's my fault for getting distracted and injuring myself."
"Perhaps, but it still doesn't change the fact that I'm the only one who had no excuse for not coming to visit you." Rarity said glumly "And I don't know how I'll ever live with myself, knowing that you were hurt, and I couldn't even tear myself away from my friends to be with you. After all that, how could you still forgive me? You should be mad, furious, angry. You shouldn't be so forgiving."
"And what's wrong with being so willing to forgive?" Soarin asked.
"Nothing, except when you forgive ponies who have clearly done you wrong." Rarity said, sobbing some more "Like me. Here I am, having confessed that I never cared about you enough to make sure you were okay, and you're treating it as if it were no big deal. It's just like when you forgave Spitfire and Fleetfoot for abandoing you during practice, even if it was all part of a test. You're forgiving somepony when they haven't even shown how sorry they are."
"But you're not that kind of pony. You've already told me how sorry you are." Soarin explained, as he tried to calm Rarity down.
"Soarin, please stop trying to cheer me up. I should feel bad for what I didn't do." Rarity protested "And yet, you're trying to tell me that I'm not a bad pony, even though I clearly am. Why can't you just leave me alone and let me wallow in pity? It's what I deserve."
"That's nonsense Rarity, I've never heard such ridiculous things coming from you before." Soarin said crossly.
"Well, there's a first time for everything Soarin, including betrayal." Rarity said sadly "At the very least, if you aren't going to break up with me, you could let me feel bad for a while. After what I've done, that much is something I deserve."
"Rarity, what do I have to do to make you see that you're not a bad pony?" Soarin asked "Because I know you aren't."
"Yes I am!" Rarity interrupted "Stop trying to tell me that I'm not!"
"Rarity, do you remember our first date?" Soarin asked suddenly.
Rarity was silent for a moment, then she nodded her head and said feebly "Yes."
"Well, do you remember what it is that you told me on that date?" Soarin went on "Because it was probably one of the greatest lessons anypony could've ever taught me, and to this day I've lived by it."
"I remember, that I told you that I wanted you to be yourself, because that's the pony I wanted to get to know better." Rarity replied, the memories of that faithful first date still fresh in her memory.
"And now, it's my turn to ask the same thing of you." Soarin said seriously "I know you aren't perfect, and I could never ask you to be. All I can ask for, is for you to be yourself. Right now, you've admitted that you made a mistake, and it's one that's really eating away at you. But you want to know how I know you still deserve to be my special somepony?"
Rarity felt incredibly tempted to say no, but she decided against it. "Yes, I suppose so." she said, somewhat nervously.
"It's because you feel bad about it, and you want to make sure it doesn't happen again." Soarin explained "And that's the kind of Rarity I want to get to know. The kind of Rarity who's not afraid to admit she's not perfect. The kind of pony who does make mistakes, but always strives to make up for them in the end. That's all I can ask of you, and that's all I want to see in you. Do you think you can do that, or am I asking too much of you? This is the question that will determine whether or not our relationship will work out in the end."
"I.... guess you're not asking too much of me." Rarity said, after a long pause "So, you're not mad at me for not visiting you?"
"I am a little." Soarin admitted "But I can't stay mad at you, because I know you didn't do it on purpose."
"Oh Soarin, you're a true gentlecolt." Rarity said, and she kissed Soarin on the cheek. Soarin said nothing, he just blushed slightly. Then, Rarity spoke up "Say, what do you say we go out tonight and go for a moonlit stroll? Think of it as a way to celebrate the teams from both Ponyville and Cloudsdale qualifying to compete in The Equestria Games at The Crystal Empire?"
"It's like you read my mind." Soarin replied "Guess I'll see you then." And with that, Soarin took off.
"Soarin, a stallion like you only comes once in a lifetime." Rarity thought to herself "You truly are the prince charming I was looking for all my life."
Author's Note
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you! This is the last fanfic I will publish for the year 2014. I hope you'll all enjoy it.
This contains a bit of my headcanon about the events of "Rainbow Falls", hopefully you won't mind it.
