Rarity felt right at home among the dozens of rows of shelves sagging with hundreds upon hundreds of thick rolls of fabric. Where other ponies imagined a fluffy, pink cloudscape as being a paradisical place of supreme contentment and inner peace, Rarity instead imagined it looking something like the interior of Gotta Roll. It had long been her go-to store for all kinds of fabrics. Having stayed at a hotel in Canterlot after delivering her designs to Sapphire Shores, she figured that she might as well run a few other errands before taking the train back to Ponyville on the second day. As chance would have it, she could take care of two at once at Gotta Roll. Since the store acted as reseller to various designers and fashion houses and with only a hooffull of ponies perusing the shelves, finding the single clerk hired to interact directly with physical customers did not take a lot of time.

"Sassy Saddles!" Rarity exclaimed upon spotting her.

The statuesque unicorn's ears perked up. Recognizing the voice, she quickly lowered the clipboard she had been going over and tucked her pen in her mane. "My stars! Rarity!" Sassy smiled ear to ear upon seeing the fashionista, rushing up to her to give her a big hug. "It's been months!"

"Much too long!" Rarity agreed, hugging her friend back. "How have you been, darling?"

"Oh, I've settled in. I'm enjoying myself, despite it not being the kind of place I would normally work at." She made a sweeping gesture towards the, mostly empty, sales floor. Sassy had always been a social pony, and a place like Gotta Roll did seem like a bad fit for her. "The hours are nice, though, and the pay is very good. And the ponies I do meet tend to be very colorful. I've been able to do a lot of networking!"

"I'm glad things are going well for you." Rarity smiled warmly at her friend. While Sassy possessed a great many strengths, her most impressive skill by far was her ability to see and grasp opportunities everywhere. She was however a restless soul, and Gotta Roll was merely the latest store in a long succession of shops and boutiques where Sassy had held a job over the last couple of years. Indeed, the last time Rarity had traveled to Canterlot, her friend had been a new hire at the fabric store. She could not help but feel that Sassy's current line of work was something of a step down for her. Years ago she had been a sought-after model, a veritable magnet for exclusive, prestigious contracts. Somepony who got to work with the biggest names in the business. When learning that Sassy had chosen to abandon her career in modeling, to abandon all her fame and recognition that came with it for something as mundane as working in a small boutique, Rarity had been nothing less than shocked. It had seemed like a monumental waste of all of Sassy's greatest talents; her ambition, her passion, her determination and willingness to put in hard work to reach her goals, coupled of course with her stunning beauty. Naturally Rarity did not look down on ponies working in retail, always feeling like something of a traitor to her own profession whenever she considered her feelings on Sassy's career change. Yet, ideals and idolization were difficult things to ignore. None the less, while the news came as a shock, it had hardly come as a surprise. Sassy's working relationship with both photographers and agencies had been turbulent at best, and quarrels were rule rather than exception. Over the years, conditions had deteriorated to a point where eventually Sassy had considered the working environment unbearable. The exact details for her departure remained a mystery, but she had never looked back.

"But enough about me!" Sassy exclaimed, a mischievous smirk on her face. "How about you? I've heard certain... rumors about you recently."

Rarity pouted, wearing a faux-bashful expression on her face. "Oh my, is that so?" she asked. "And what might those rumors be?" Keeping from jumping excitedly in place required considerable mental effort.

"Word on the street is that a certain fashion designer from Ponyville was hoof-picked by Sapphire Shores herself to create the designs for her Equestria tour..." There was a purr on Sassy's voice, as there often was when she was pleased or amused. "Wouldn't happen to be any truth to that rumor, would there?"

Rarity coyly put her hoof against her mouth, a giggle escaping her lips. "There would!" she replied, eliciting an excited gasp from her friend.

Her concentration having wavered for just a second, the clipboard fell out the grasp of Sassy's levitation magic. It fell clattering to the floor, her eyes focused on Rarity even as she leaned down to pick it up. "Crinoline and corsets, Rarity!" she exclaimed. "The Pony of Pop herself! M-my, I don't know what to say! Congratulations!" It appeared that despite knowing what the answer would be in advance, receiving actual confirmation still made for quite a surprise.

Rarity blushed. "Thank you! I can barely believe it myself."

Sassy bit her lip, nervously glancing around her despite the store being all but empty of other ponies. Even on a busy day, it was uncommon to see more than three customers at any one time. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have any details to share regarding the designs?" she asked, having leaned in close with a conspiratorial look on her face. "I simply must know what you're planning!"

"Weeell... The costumes are already finished, and I delivered them to Miss Shores yesterday. She was, uh... Pleased." Rarity explained, thinking it was best to leave out certain details about the meeting. "As for the designs, I could tell you about them, but I would much prefer you see them. After all, I used fabric from this very store, so in a way you've had a hoof in their creation. Sooooo..." She rummaged through her bag and, once she had found what she was looking for, pulled out an envelope while humming a short fanfare. "I want you to be among the first to see them."

Sassy clipped her pen to the clipboard, which she then slowly placed on a table. Hesitatingly, as if it would shatter by mere proximity to her, she grasped the envelope with her levitation magic. "Rarity, this isn't..." Peeking inside the envelope, her eyes opened wide. "... It is. It is! A ticket for Sapphire Shores' show! Thank you so much! You... You shouldn't have!"

"Nonsense! Take it! Take it!" Rarity insisted.

"Rarity, I... I don't know what to say!" Sassy looked at the ticket again, as if admiring it or being unable to believe it was actually real. "If there's anything I can do for you, anything, just tell me!"

"Well," replied Rarity, "I do have a couple of errands you could help me with..."

· · · • • ◇◇◇ • • · · ·

Hours had passed as Rarity inspected just about every single roll of fabric in the store. Determined to miss nothing, she had proceeded into the storage, leaving a jumble of scattered fabric in her wake. With just a few rolls left to go through, the store had come to look like a battlefield from some absurd fashion war.

"Silk and shirts, Rarity! We've had some discerning customers before, but I think you're the only one who actually uses a loupe to inspect the fabric!" Sassy said with a wink and an amused chuckle, folding a sheet of organza which had quickly been discarded by the picky fashionista.

"Mm. I do, you see..." Rarity replied in half-mumble while going over the fiber structure of a sheet of ramie. "With the fall lineup you always have to pay extra attention to how the fabric appears in a number of lighting conditions. Also, even with couture, you need to take temperature and weather into account. That's why I..." Her voice trailed off as she held the cloth up towards a lamp. "Yes, this will do. This is perfect." she mumbled, writing down the number for the roll in her notebook. Sighing deeply she tore out the page and levitated it over to Sassy, who quickly skimmed through it. Numbers, all of which Sassy knew by heart, and amounts, almost all of which took her aback. 30 rolls of hemp fabric. 40 rolls of ramie. 20 rolls of silk. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Wow!" Sassy exclaimed, trying but failing utterly to mask her disbelief. "Wow! I mean... Wow!"

Rarity yawned and cracked her neck, wincing at the sound. Despite working with clothes on a daily basis, the thick, heavy, dry air of the fabric store took its toll on her every time, leaving her feeling sluggish and tired. She smacked her lips, then licked them to cure the dryness. "Is it too much?" she asked.

"No, uhm..." Sassy read through the list again. "We can handle this. I'll talk with the manager, this amount should be no problem."

"Are you absolutely sure?" Rarity asked. "I wouldn't want to cause you any trouble."

"Absolutely sure, Rarity!" Sassy assured her with a nod and a warm smile.

"Oh! That's great!" Rarity sighed in relief. "I know I can be very demanding when it comes to fabric, but I can always count on you, Sassy! I was worried it was going to be too big an order. After all, with the fall season coming up and all the extra attention my designs will get through Sapphire Shores' tour, I'm going to need tons of fabric."

That, and also hire a few ponies to help, Rarity added to herself.

"Oh? It sounds like you have something planned already?" Sassy asked.

"I do!" Rarity exclaimed happily, the enthusiasm at sharing her vision all but cancelling out the drowsiness induced by the stale air. "I'm thinking rugged and rustic, yet boldly elegant! Clothes that can withstand any dreadful weather, yet convey a sense of wonder and dynamic beauty." She nodded proudly. "I think I'm going to call it Fall Forward!"

There was a very, very long pause.

"Rarity..." Sassy cleared her throat, attempting to think of a diplomatic way to phrase her critique. "As your friend, I beg you not to... No, I forbid you to do that."

Rarity grinned sheepishly. "It's not the best name, admittedly. Naming things never was my forte."

"You need to be awful at something to balance out all your talent at designing clothes, I suppose." Sassy said jokingly with an amused smirk on her face.

"Hah! I guess that's true."

"So... That's the fabric order taken care of." Sassy stated as she continued folding up the remaining rolls of fabric. "We should be able to deliver in a few weeks. You did mention needing another favor, though?"

Rarity sighed. The jovial atmosphere the two had shared felt gone in the blink of an eye, like a balloon suddenly bursting. Rarity could swear she heard a pop.

"Well you see..." She paused, carefully thinking through what she wanted to say. In her line of work, image was everything. In a town such as Canterlot even more so. She had only just managed to secure visibility for her designs, laying the foundation for building a proper brand. Her change at turning Rarity into a something famous, and not just the name of some talented but still anonymous dressmaker from Ponyville. A scandal this early on in the process could easily destroy all that she had worked so hard to create. On the other hoof, Sassy was by far her best friend in Canterlot. She would never spread rumors, would she? Rarity took a deep breath, deciding to maintain at least a modicum of deniability. "... I have this... friend who has a problem..."

· · · • • ◇◇◇ • • · · ·

Sassy, like most ponies, had a place: a location away from home that held some particular significance or sense of safety or comfort. Sassy's place, in stark contrast to her dazzling looks and demeanor, was a dingy basement cafe a block away from her old studio. Brick walls with stray, seemingly random patches of grey plaster, the place straddled a fine line between what could generously be described as "brutalist", and just plain ugly. It was place with few visitors but a small number of dedicated regulars. Sassy was one of them, and after a single sip of coffee Rarity could tell why. Though she had, at first, had reservations about discussing a sensitive subject in a cafe of all places, Sassy's workday had ended mere minutes after Rarity had finished putting her order list together. Upon actually arriving, however, it was clear that the place was not exactly teeming with customers. Or even a single other customer, besides the two.

"So... What about this friend of yours?" Sassy asked with much the same tone as a pony who had learned they had won a full course dinner. It did not make Rarity feel less uncomfortable; if anything, she was surprised Sassy was not licking her lips.

Rarity cleared her throat, focusing on her cup of coffee with the kind of intense fascination normally reserved for if the cup had sprouted wings and started reciting dirty limericks. "This will stay between us, right?" she asked, voice wavering. "I mean, my friend wouldn't want ponies to know about... her problems..."

"Your... friend's secret is safe with me." Sassy wore a slight smirk, eyebrows raised in a what-have-we-here kind of expression. Though Rarity hated it, she reluctantly had to admit to herself that had the roles been reversed, she would have been drooling. None the less, if Sassy promised her secrecy, Rarity believed her. "My lips are sealed." Sassy assured her, running her hoof over her mouth in a zipper-like gesture.

"Weeell..." Rarity dragged out the word. "So lately... this pony I know has found herself in a relationship that's a bit..." She paused. "You know. Unorthodox."

Sassy took a sip of her coffee, setting the cup down slowly with a smile on her face. "Unorthodox how?"

Rarity knew she was fooling nopony with her "friend", least of all Sassy, but projecting her shame and guilt on a figment of imagination did make her feel more at ease. At least marginally. "Unorthodox like... She recently got into a relationship with another mare..."

"Ohhhh? But Rarity, that is hardly out of the ordinary!" Sassy was practically beaming. Rarity had, of course, heard the rumors about her, how she was supposedly ravenously bisexual and had a countless number of lovers, both mares and stallions. But then again, she had heard the same rumor about every single model she had ever known. "Not these days, at least." she added.

"Yes, but..." Rarity looked around, despite knowing that the cafe basement was empty. "Then they discovered that they're... into things."

"Ooooohhh? And what kind of things would those be?"

"M-my friend, she's..." Rarity began, but her voice quickly trailed off.

Yes, your friend is what, Rarity? she asked herself, slowly rotating her cup on the table using her magic. Am I really going to tell Sassy everything about myself? Have I gone mad??

"My friend, she..." Rarity tried again. "She's into being told what to do."

"My!" Sassy leaned back slightly and put her hoof against her chin, a faux-disapproving pout on her lips. "You're right, that's very, very naughty!"

Rarity sighed. Of all the moments Sassy had to act like a jerk, why now? "But! But it's not just that!"

"Oh? There's more?"

"Yes, s-she... Enjoys, you know... Things." Rarity did her best not to blush, but could immediately tell she had failed from how hot her face felt. "Things done to her."

Sassy smiled but said nothing, gesturing impatiently for Rarity to continue.

"Things like uhm." Rarity took a deep breath, and a big gulp of coffee to cool off. "Beingtoldwhatadumblittlefoalsheis or lickinghermarefriendshoofwhilehumpingapillow, or or or, you know, spreadingherselfforinspectionandbeinggradedonhowwetandeagersheis..." she squeaked.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Sassy shook her head in feigned shock. "Awful, simply awful! Does your friend get spanked for enjoying such terrible things?"

Rarity's shock, however, was very real. "NO!" Yes. "That's... That's not the point though!"

Sassy looked at her friend, seemingly undecided on whether or not to continue torturing her, but upon noticing Rarity's frustrated expression and trembling lower lip, she decided to dial down the teasing a little. The fashionista looked like a little filly who had gotten lost at the market, desperate to keep a brave face as she searched for her mom. "What is the point then?" she asked.

"The, t-the things I'm doing, t-they're not natural, are they?" Rarity stammered, temporarily forgetting not to talk about herself in the first person. "It's... It's sort of sick, isn't it?"

"Rarity..." Having heard her friend talk about herself in such terms, Sassy went from teasing to concerned. "Your friend... Her special somepony doesn't... hurt her, does she?" After a moment's consideration, she added, "In a way that she doesn't like?"

"What? No!" Rarity protested, dropping her fortunately near-empty cup onto the table with a loud rattle. "Flutt-, her marefriend would never!"

"Do they love each other, despite the..." Sassy paused, searching for what word seemed right to use. "Uncommon things they do?"

Rarity hung her head. "Yes... W-... They do."

"Then what's the problem?"

"It's... No other ponies have that kind of relationship." Rarity stared at the grounds in her cup, restlessly poking at them with her unicorn magic, voice saturated with melancholy. "Everything feels so wrong about the relationship. All the feelings she shouldn't feel. Wrong. All the things she shouldn't want. Wrong. Every other couple she knows are normal, they do normal things and love each other in normal ways. With my friend and her marefriend, it's different. Every time they make... love, she asks herself if it's sick to have the desires she has. She keeps thinking about how unnatural all of it is. Even though my friend loves her marefriend, the whole thing makes her feel unnatural, too... And it wears on her."

Rarity inhaled, sniffing despite not actually crying. Telling the truth to her friend had made her feel vulnerable, as though her every last nerve ending lay exposed and even a light breeze on her skin would cause her to scream. Sassy had been Rarity's friend for years, ever since the Canterlot unicorn had been the first professional model to wear Rarity's designs on the catwalk. She had always considered Rarity an equal, and the two shared a mutual trust in each other. Yet in Rarity's frail state of mind, the look Sassy was giving her seemed judgemental and arrogant. The slow, lingering gaze made her feel like a curiosity of some kind; a dumb, uncultured rube from Ponyville. Something for the true socialites to point and laugh at. With each passing moment she grew increasingly self-conscious and uncomfortable. She frowned, not once considering that perhaps she was reading too much into Sassy's gaze.

"Does your friend... really, really think that no other ponies do the things that she and her marefriend does? Does she really think that they're are no ponies who feel the same way she does?" Sassy eventually asked. Her grin was gone, but her expression still suggested an odd kind of amusement.

Rarity sneered, feeling simultaneously defensive and self-loathing. "Well, maybe ponies with issues!"

"You know, Rarity..." Sassy said, placing her empty cup upside down on the saucer. "I think it's time for us to take a little walk."

· · · • • ◇◇◇ • • · · ·

Rarity weaved effortlessly between ponies in the crowdeds streets of Canterlot, a skill she was normally quite proud of. She did, however, find herself watching Sassy's confident stride with some amount of jealousy. The salespony did not weave or zig zag; instead she calmly strode through the streets and other ponies moved aside for her. At first Rarity could not help but wonder how her friend did it, but then remembered that Sassy was quite a bit taller than her. Actually being seen was a good first step. She made a mental note to start wearing larger hats, and did her best to follow her friend.

"Say, Rarity, do you remember Aperture Snap?" Sassy asked. "Gangly fellow, glasses, always wears a scarf?"

"Vaguely." Rarity lied. That description fit at least two thirds of the photographers Sassy's agency has employed. "Why?"

"He's a freelance photographer I've had the pleasure to work with on a few occasions. He's a true artist." Sassy explained, much to Rarity's surprise. Her friend seldom even mentioned her model days, and when she did, the choice of words were usually more... colorful.

"Oh? He was skilled, I take it?"

"Exceedingly." Sassy replied while looking up at some streets signs, her smile suggesting that they were getting close to wherever it was they were going. "Aperture mainly does fashion photography, but he's also published a number of photo books. All kinds of subjects, he likes to keep things varied. He just recently contributed to a book about griffon culture!"

Rarity struggled to understand what relevance any of what Sassy had just told her could possibly have, but decided to remain civil. "Well, I, uh, would love to see some of his work someday."

Sassy chuckled, stopping outside a store and gesturing for Rarity to go inside. "You're about to."

Rarity looked up at the intricately designed sign above the door: Sammelband's Books and Magazines, with a wood cutout of a book and a bookmark, painted in bright colors. The display windows were packed with everything from old, yellowed tomes to dictionaries to novels to glossy lifestyle magazines. She pushed the door open and walked inside. Shelves upon shelves upon shelves packed with books, likely the kind of place Twilight would enter the moment the clerk unlocked the door and only reluctantly leave at closing time. Sassy immediately begun looking through a shelf at the back of the store, while Rarity decided to pass some time aimlessly wandering around the store, randomly picking up books and flipping through them without really looking at them. Eventually, she happened to wander into the romance novel section and sighed as she noticed where she was. Much like Twilight, Rarity was an avid reader of books, though her tastes tended to fall in two distinct categories. She adored detective stories: mysteries centered around horrible crimes, where even the protagonists had dubious morals at best. However, as much as she loved reading about terrible murders and hard-boiled, nihilist detectives in towns where it always rained, they were hardly uplifting stories. In times of great stress (which her career provided in excess) she tended towards the opposite: romance novels. All those wonderful stories of ponies from different worlds, meeting through chance and falling in love instantly, struggling against families who did not accept or societies that did not approve, only for love to, inevitably yet against the odds, win in the end. The covers all followed very similar themes; either windblown yet ruggedly romantic environments beneath dramatic skies, or equally windblown yet ruggedly romantic stallions holding elegant yet melancholic mares in their arms. Rarity would be the first to admit that the stories were highly formulaic and at times repetitive, but what did it matter? She loved them regardless. Humming to herself, she picked up a few books she had not yet read, deciding that she had deserved to buy them after working so hard. She looked down at the covers. A mare deeply in love with a farmhoof. Another in love with a Saddle Arabian prince. Another with a pop star. The last had an illustration of a ruggedly handsome swashbuckler kissing a noble-looking mare, -no doubt a governor's daughter-, against the background of a windswept sea. Pirate's Gold - A Story of Pillaging and Love on the High Seas. Despite sighing wistfully, she could not help but shudder as she remembered her own, exceedingly short-lived, disastrous romance with a pirate. The reality of such an encounter was very much unlike what the books had suggested. The memory of the smell alone was enough to make her retch and gag, startling another customer who hurriedly sidled away from her. Though she had only narrowly managed to keep her lunch down, she none the less decided to buy the book. After all, she already knew she would love it, despite it being filled with nasty, awful, disgusting lies.

She really did love those books dearly, even though they were, in a way, partially the cause of her current problems. The ideals presented were, though joyful and inspiring optimism, hardly applicable to reality. There was no profound wisdom to be found in their pages, no lessons to be utilized in everyday life. She chuckled, joylessly.

Wouldn't that be something, she thought to herself. As if a book could just miraculously answer all the questions I have!

"Ah! Found it!" she heard from the back of the store. Sassy waved at her, gesturing for her to come over. Rarity did so, and found that her friend was smiling ear to ear and looking at her with excited anticipation. "I think this will help your friend feel better about herself!" she said with a wink, levitating a book over to a table next to the wall and setting it down for Rarity to see.

"Oh? What's this?" Rarity asked. The book was nondescript, though just large and heavy enough to be somewhat unwieldy. The format suggested a photobook, as did the only text that was immediately visible on the glossy, plain black cover; Aperture Snap, written in the thinnest font Rarity had ever seen. Upon closer inspection, the cover appeared to be emblazoned with four capital letters and the silhouette of a masquerade mask, all in exactly the same solid black as the background except matte. Rarity could not help but oo at the bold, confident design choice, but not quite being able to make out the letters she held the book up against a lamp, tilting it left and right to better see. "B... D... S... M..." Her face went blank. "Oh no, I know of BDSM, and you should know I do not approve!"

Sassy stared at her quizzically, mouth hanging open. "You... You don't? But I thought for sure tha-..."

"Absolutely not! Those fad diets all promise miracles, but after a few weeks you still end up overweight and somehow having to see a doctor because of malnutrition!" She stuck her nose up, making a sweeping, once-but-never-again gesture with her hoof.

Sassy stared at her, eyes wide open in shock, amusement, or a mix thereof, just long enough for Rarity to feel uncomfortable. Then, she burst into laughter. Though by no means cruel laughter, Rarity still looked down at the floor, feeling embarrassed.

"What are you laughing about?" She huffed. "It took me ages to get back to health!"

Sassy did her best to stop laughing. Still giggling, she wiped a tear from her eye. "It's... It's not a diet, Rarity! Go on, look!"

Rarity shot her an annoyed glare, muttering under her breath. "Yes, yes, fine, fine, I'll j-" She opened the book to a random page, and after a quick glance she slammed it shut with enough force to startle everypony in the store. Mouth agape and face quickly turning a deep red, ears feeling as if they had been set on fire, she looked at Sassy with an expression of pure shock. Pulling her hoof close to her chest as if fearing the book would bite her if she got too close, she cautiously used her magic to open the book ever so slightly, leaning forward to peek inside. She flipped through a few pages, then closed it again, her hoof visibly trembling. Breath ragged, she turned to Sassy, who was watching her with no small amount of amusement. "Sassy... This is..."

Her friend nodded. "Yes, it is."

"And those ponies are..." Despite feeling the thrumming of her pulse on her temples, the temptation proved too great and she opened the book again. After looking around twice to make sure nopony saw her, of course. The photos were unlike anything her innocent eyes had ever beheld, yet a cursory glance was none the less enough to fill her with a sense of familiarity. A strange, confusing feeling of belonging she could not hope to understand, at least not anytime soon.

Sassy nodded. "Yes they are."

"This is... very educational." Rarity figured it was safest to close the book. After all, there were several kinds of social faux pas. A minor faux pas was something like not watching where you were going and stumbling on a doorframe. A major faux pas would be something like allowing your horniness to go out of control until every single pony in the boutique could smell your lust. Rarity was hurtling towards the latter with breakneck speed.

"So... What do you say?" Sassy purred. "Do you think that might be of help to your friend?"

Rarity nodded furiously, nose flaring as she nearly hyperventilated. "Definitely!"

Author's Note

Rarity has found Truth and Salvation in the good book!

In the next chapter: Ponyville is evacuated and a nationwide emergency is declared after Twilight Sparkle's nanobot experiment goes wrong. Horribly wrong.