Right Thoughts, Right Words
Author's Note
I honestly think the idea of this pairing is absolutely adorable, and I really wanted to write something that could sort of open the door to it. I hope you guys enjoy the story, and I'll go ahead and close this A/N off by saying that if you know where I got the title of the story from, I love you.
Now with an audio drama!
Right Thoughts, Right Words
Starlight Glimmer was many things, but a coward was not one of them. And yet, as she looked across the street at her destination, she found herself hesitant. She wanted nothing more than to just walk over there, knock on the door, and say what she felt needed to be said. But she couldn’t. Her mind was set on doing just that, but her body was intent on stopping her. Starlight sighed.
‘Come on, Starlight,’ she spoke inwardly in an attempt to inspire herself. ‘You’ve faced off against your own past. Compared to that, this is a walk in the park…’
She couldn’t convince herself, though. Sure, facing up to her past transgressions had been tough, but the future was an unpredictable enigma. It was a miracle that she had made it this far, and she knew it.
‘Come on, what’s the worst that could happen?’ Her brain asked her. Her heart had a response all lined up. One that she didn’t like a single bit. ‘She could say ‘no’.’
“Ugh, that’s it, I’ll go insane if I stand here and stew in my own juice,” Starlight finally spoke. With new resolve, she took the first step towards her goal. It was surprisingly easy, and the rest of them came much easier. She was finally there, but her nerves caught back up to her. She hesitantly rose a hoof towards the door, and pushed it open.
A bell chimed, and Starlight heard a voice call out in a sing-song tone from another room as she stepped inside. “Just a minute~!”
Starlight gulped. It was too late to back out now. The owner of the voice was true to her word and pranced into the front room, already in the middle of what Starlight assumed was something she had trained herself to say. “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is— Oh, it’s you, Starlight!”
“Heh, hi,” Starlight managed a small smile. Rarity seemed to be more upbeat than usual, something that Starlight hoped could work in her favor.
“Oh my, where are my manners?” Rarity chuckled, slapping a hoof to her forehead. “What can I do for you, darling?”
‘Okay, come on, you can do this…’
Sadly, that wasn’t the case. All she could manage to stutter out was, “Um, you, uh… clothes?”
‘Dang it!’
Rarity tilted her head, a bemused expression coming over her face. “Are you alright, Starlight?”
Starlight chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m fine. I just, uh…” she paused, looking around the boutique. She needed to find something, anything, to distract herself. Her eyes settled on a dress that appeared to be completely embroidered in gems. “I was hoping I could… get a dress?”
Rarity’s eyes lit up. “Well why didn’t you say so!” She exclaimed, grabbing Starlight by the hoof and practically pulling her over to the dressing area. “I’ll have to take your measurements, of course,” she spoke as Starlight came to a stop in front of a couple of mirrors. “Unless you know them off-hand?”
Starlight shook her head. “I’ve, um, never actually worn a dress before.”
“Well I assure you, they’re not as uncomfortable as some ponies may have you believe,” Rarity smiled, levitating a few measuring tapes over and wrapping them around Starlight’s midsection and hooves. She wrote down the numbers on a nearby notepad, then shifted the tapes around. “So tell me, how has life with Twilight and Spike been treating you?”
“It’s been going well,” Starlight smiled. Rarity extended some measuring tape down the length of Starlight’s front hooves, and Starlight continued. “Though I could do without Twilight reorganizing her book shelf every morning,” she chuckled. Twilight never seemed to be able to make up her mind, a trait which was both frustrating and endearing.
“Well if there is one thing I know about Twilight,” Rarity spoke, finishing up her measurements and putting the measuring tapes back in their place, “it’s that she’s just as obstinate now as she was when I first met her. You’re better off just helping without making a fuss, believe me.”
That was true, and Starlight knew it. If she had a bit for every time Spike had wasted his time arguing about Twilight’s system instead of just helping, she’d probably be the richest mare in Equestria. And she’d only been living with the two for a couple of weeks!
The sound of an object crashing to the floor roused her from her thoughts, and she found her attention drawn back to Rarity. The alabaster mare was picking up a few thread spindles, likely the culprits behind the noise. Once they were back in their rightful place, Rarity was quick to grab a few sheets of fabric and levitate them over to Starlight. “Alright, I’ve gone ahead and picked out a few colors I think would look absolutely dashing on you.”
Starlight offered a crooked smile. “I’m sure I’ll love whatever you picked out, Rarity.”
Rarity tittered, laying out the sheets on a nearby table. She started with the one on Starlight’s left. “Your first option is mint, which I believe would go very well with your mane’s accent. The next,” she continued, shifting over to the middle one, “is a deep purple. I actually used this same color for Twilight’s Grand Galloping Gala dress a few years ago, and she looked simply fabulous.”
Starlight’s eyes were drawn to the final color, and they widened as she took it in. “What’s this color called?”
“Ah, this is a very specific color, ‘persian blue’,” Rarity grinned. “It was requested by Sapphire Shores in a recent order, and I had enough leftover to make another dress. Unfortunately, nobody has requested it as of yet.”
“Well… I’d like it, if that’s alright?”
“But of course, dearie!” Rarity beamed, floating the rejected sheets back to their rightful shelf. “Creating a dress for you will take some time, though. Would you be opposed to waiting here?”
Starlight gulped. That would likely be her only chance to tell the seamstress what she wanted to, but she was still so nervous. “Um, sure, I’d like that…”
Rarity clapped her hooves together with a smile. “Perfect! I do so love creative input, so feel free to let me know what you think as I draw up the designs.”
Starlight tried to keep that in mind, but it didn’t take very long for other thoughts to take its place. As she watched her new friend go to work, she let out a sigh. She couldn’t fully explain why herself, but she admired Rarity. The mare had set out a life goal for herself, and had achieved it through hard work and determination. But it wasn’t just admiration that Starlight felt for her friend.
She wasn’t sure when it had started, but she got butterflies in her stomach whenever she talked to Rarity. Her voice, her mane, her infectiously upbeat attitude. She was just… perfect. Funny, Starlight thought, that she had been given the name Rarity. It fit her so well that it almost seemed like fate.
And yet, as strongly as she felt for the mare, Starlight found herself locked completely in place as she watched Rarity finish off a rough sketch of the dress. It was beautiful, which wasn’t very surprising. ‘Just like Rarity…’
“Starlight?”
Starlight shook her head, trying to free herself from those lingering thought. “Bwu-huh?”
Rarity giggled, making Starlight’s heart flutter. “I said, ‘how does this look, darling?’.”
Finally finding the resolve to move, Starlight took a few steps towards Rarity to get a closer look. With her mind now mostly clear, she could see that it was even better than she’d thought. “What are these things?” She asked, pointing a hoof to a series of diamond shaped objects lining the hem of the dress.
“I’m not entirely sure myself, but I was thinking of lining the edge of the hem with some gems. What do you think, Starlight?” She asked, turning her head and meeting Starlight’s gaze.
Their faces were just inches apart, and Starlight blushed at the close proximity. Quickly turning her head back to the sketch, she gave her answer. “I-I think it looks great, Rarity…”
The fashionista smiled. “Superb. If you’d like, you can watch while I create your dress.”
“Twilight said you only let ponies you trust watch,” Starlight replied, frowning.
“Now, now, none of that,” Rarity scolded her. “You’re a good pony, Starlight. You’re just a little… misguided,” Rarity settled on. “Now come with me,” she continued, grabbing Starlight by the hoof and dragging her towards the back of the boutique.
Rarity was ridiculously fast at creating dresses. That was something Starlight had known about her for a while now, but she still found herself absolutely floored by the speed at which Rarity was creating her dress, It had been no more than twenty minutes since Rarity had dragged her into her workshop, and Starlight’s dress was already nearing completion.
Of course, most of those fifteen minutes had flown by as Starlight had let her thoughts drift back to how she could possibly reveal her feelings to Rarity. Sadly, she had yet to come up with any sort of plan, and it seemed that her time was up when she heard Rarity say “... And, it’s finished!”
Her head jerked up, and she took in the details of the dress. Her eyes went wide, and her jaw slackened. It was… gorgeous. Starlight never considered herself to be the kind of mare concerned with clothing, but even she had to admit that she’d be hard pressed not to wear this new creation all the time. “It’s amazing, Rarity.”
“Wonderful!” Rarity exclaimed giddily. “Come up front with me and we’ll try it on.”
Starlight followed Rarity, and the pair quickly found themselves back at the platform that Starlight had been measured upon shortly before. She found herself nervous as Rarity floated the dress towards her, but managed to relax as it came to rest on her back. It was surprisingly comfortable, and Starlight twirled around to look at herself in the mirrors. The color of the dress went great with her eyes, and the hem of the dress had been lined in diamonds much like those of Rarity’s cutie mark. “Oh my gosh, Rarity. I love it. How could you possibly create it so quickly?”
“Years of practice,” Rarity blushed, adjusting the dress a bit on Starlight. “Tell me, where do you intend on wearing this?”
That caught Starlight off-guard. She had come in here solely to talk to Rarity, but had ended up in a new dress in a matter of minutes. “I’m not sure…” She replied honestly.
“No matter. I’m sure that when you do finally wear it to a social occasion, you’ll be the shining beacon of the party,” Rarity smiled, taking the dress off of Starlight and bagging it up for her.
“How much is it, Rarity?”
“Oh no, consider it a gift from a friend!” Rarity replied quickly, as if she’d been waiting for that question. “It wouldn’t feel right of me to demand that my new friend pay for a dress I offered to make for her.”
Starlight smiled, but didn’t say anything. To make a gesture like that was kind beyond words, and she knew that a simple ‘thank you’ wouldn’t suffice. Her smile fell as she looked at a nearby clock.
‘Crap, I’m supposed to be helping Twilight on a friendship mission in half an hour…’ She sighed inwardly.
“Sorry to cut this short, Rarity, but I have to go now or Twilight’s gonna go crazy,” she spoke, somewhat morosely.
Rarity seemed to pick up on that. “Is something wrong, Starlight?”
She thought for a moment. ‘Okay, now’s the time. I can tell her how I feel. After all, it’s better to just tell her and have her reject me than to never find out how she feels at all, right?’
“N-no…” Starlight sighed, turning to walk out of the store. She’d have to come back and try some other time, if she could ever work up the nerve to—
“Starlight?”
Starlight turned around, her eyes closed. “Yes, Rari—” And found herself cut off by a bit of pressure on her cheek. Her eyes shot open, and she blushed madly at what she saw. Rarity was kissing her on the cheek! She pulled back after a moment, and Starlight stammered. “You— But I, uh… How?” She finally settled on, and Rarity giggled.
“Well, you made it so obvious, dear,” Rarity smiled. “Anyways, I’m sure you need to hurry along before Twilight has one of her episodes. Ciao!” The unicorn quickly turned around and headed back to her workshop, leaving Starlight standing there with a blush on her face.
The former villain reached a hoof up to her cheek and touched it, beaming widely as she slowly turned back around and left the store. No matter what the rest of the day had in store for her, she wouldn’t care. After all, the most gorgeous pony in Equestria had just kissed her.
