The door of the Carousel Boutique slowly opened to reveal Rarity, one of Equestria's fashionable mares. She trotted to her mailbox to retrieve her daily mail. She came back inside the boutique to skim her stack of mail. Rarity expected the usual kinds of mail: requests from clients, perfume samples, or some of Pinkie Pie's confetti surprise in envelopes.
Rarity noticed one letter was from a mare named Mulberry Crumble. This mare was one of Rarity's regular customers who often ask the fashionista to make special dresses. Rarity guess the letter was about the progress of the new dress Mulberry wants to wear for an upcoming party.
Without hesitation, Rarity used her magic to tear open the envelope to read the letter. After she was done reading the letter, she felt like somepony hit her in the stomach. The letter read:
Dear Miss Rarity,
I regret to inform you that I have to cancel my request for my new dress. I appreciate your consideration for making such a dress that included what I wanted. If you already completed the dress, then you can sell it or have it displayed on your window.
Sincerely,
Mulberry Crumble
Rarity tossed Mulberry's letter and looked at the other mail. A majority of her mail were just cancelations for outfits and there were only a small amount of fan mail. She felt a little better as some ponies still admire her, but she felt haunted from all the negative mail she has been receiving.
Cancelations for new outfits were not rare for Rarity when running her boutique. At first, Rarity thought her clients realized that they couldn't afford the outfits or an event was canceled. But the cancelations were escalating ever since the Friendship Journal's publication. Although the mob near Twilight's castle already left and everypony moved on, that didn't stop the decrease of Rarity's business.
Rarity remembered some past letters from her employees about less customers coming into the boutiques and ponies striking outside with "No Rarity" signs. This caused more fear to form inside of Rarity as she thought what would happen if all of the hate on her keeps growing. She would be forced to close all of her boutiques due to lack of profit, especially Canterlot Carousel. It was hard for Rarity to imagine closing the very boutique she dreamed of opening ever since she was a filly.
As Rarity returned to her room, she noticed that Mulberry's unfinished dress stood in the middle of her room. Anger boiled inside of Rarity as she used her magic to rip the dress into shredded pieces. It wasn't like her to tear up what could have been a fabulous dress. Rarity's internal stresses got the better of her as all the time she spent making that dress was for nothing.
After shredding what was left of Mulberry's dress, Rarity stormed into her freezer to retrieve a carton of her favorite ice cream. It was her usual comfort food when she experiences overwhelming stress.
She sat down on her red sofa and used her magic to scoop some ice cream into her mouth. It took about three to four scoops of ice cream before she calmed down. Tears flowed down her eyes and her mascara was already smearing. She didn't want to look at herself as she'll only see a face of sorrow and depression. The very least she did was blow her nose to get the runny snot out. After emptying the carton of ice cream, Rarity went back to her kitchen to retrieve another carton. Unfortunately, there weren't anymore ice cream in her house. She remembered that she bought less ice cream to prevent anymore weight gain from all the other times she got upset and drown her sorrows away with vanilla oats swirl.
'Stress sewing could help me,' Rarity thought before she went to her room. There were little to no fabric left as Rarity used up almost all of her materials on her clients' outfits.
Rarity panicked as she was unable to channel her frustrations without any ice cream to eat or any material for stress sewing. She considered going out to buy some more fabrics and ice cream. It would be also be nice to get some fresh air from all of the work she has been doing. Rarity went to her vanity to tidy herself up and used her magic to retrieve her bag of bits for her payments. She couldn't help but notice the view outside of her window. Although the scenery was just clouds and blue skies, it reminded Rarity of when that angry mob stood outside of her boutique. She then started to get concerned if ponies will continue to express their hatred towards her. She can still remember all of the hurtful comments ponies made whether they knew she was listening or not.
It was then Rarity realized that the hatred towards her can not only affect her career; it can also affect her social life as well. She used to be one of Canterlot's rising fashion stars, but now most of the citizens in Canterlot might see her as an outcast if they read the Friendship Journal. Most of her high-class clients from Canterlot would explain in letters that they wouldn't be caught dead in outfits made by an unlikeable pony. Rarity wondered what would happen if ponies like Hoity Toity or Photo Finish will hear about these comments and cut all ties with her. There would be less invitations for Rarity to attend some of Equestria's fashion events or fancy parties.
These unbearable thoughts overwhelmed Rarity as she collapsed on her bed to do the only thing she could do: cry. She let out all of her frustrations through loud shrieks of sadness. Her tears poured down harder than before. It made her feel worse as she believes the ponies' complains about her being a drama queen were true.
'This is what you become, Rarity?' Rarity thought to herself. 'An older mare who cries like a little filly when things don't go her way?!' Her endless sobbing when on for Celestia knows how long.
'All I wanted to do was to spread generosity and beauty across Equestria! Rarity inner whining continued. 'Is that so hard to ask for?!'
"Rarity, are you in here?" a familiar voice called out from the hallway.
Rarity's crying stopped as she recognizes the voice. It came from Starlight as she walked near the locked door to Rarity's room.
"Rarity?" Starlight called out again. "You didn't answer your doorbell and your front door was open." Starlight knocked on Rarity's door a few times.
In a rush, Rarity ran to her vanity to wipe off her mascara and reapplied some on her eyes. She didn't want any pony to see her at her current state. There were still some red swelling in her eyes from all of her crying. So she levitated a pair of sunglasses to cover her eyes and put on a sunhat just to match.
"Coming!" Rarity called out before she opens her door to reveal a surprised Starlight standing in the hallway.
"Um...hey Rarity," Starlight said. She was a bit confused from seeing Rarity wearing the sunglasses and hat.
"Hello, Starlight!" Rarity said in a fake, positive tone. "What brings you to my humble home?"
"I came here to check up on you." Starlight replied. "Are you doing okay?"
"Oh, I'm fine." Rarity lied. "I'm just doing the usual: making fashionable attires and just making the most of-" She got interrupted when Starlight removed Rarity's sunglasses with some magic.
Rarity squinted her eyes shut to prevent Starlight from seeing them. She didn't see Starlight's face showing a concerned expression.
"Rarity," Starlight pleaded as she worried about Rarity's condition.
It was bad for Rarity to lie to one of her friends, but having to admit about lying was worse. Rarity's only response to Starlight was tearful crying from all the pressure that was bottled up.
Through impulse, Starlight gave Rarity a comforting hug. Starlight remembered when she saw Rarity this way during the whole Friendship Journal issue. When Twilight went to check on Applejack, Starlight chose to stay with Rarity because it was hard for Starlight to see Rarity in this state of sadness.
"Shh, it's okay," Starlight hushed as she stroked Rarity's mane.
Despite the current events involving the Friendship Journal, all of Rarity's friends did their best to cheer her up. Twilight felt worst as she felt like publishing this book was all her fault to begin with. Rarity was shocked to see one of Equestria's princesses bowing so many times for forgiveness. Rarity still would've accepted Twilight apology as it would make her alicorn friend feel better. Pinkie did her very best to make Rarity feel better with a small prank or joke. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just bragged how much of a strong pony Rarity was she helped to save Equestria. Spike completely committed himself to see his crush smile once more. Rarity felt blessed to have such great friends who accepted her despite her flaws.
Friendship can't stop the decline of Rarity's businesses or the ponies' dislikes toward her. At least it provided Rarity with best friends who will always be there with her through thick and thin.
