“Now I’ll be around the whole time,” Rarity said to a fidgety Fluttershy as they arrived at the fairgrounds together, the array of paper lanterns decorating the myriad vendors, games and rides cutting through the blackness of the night sky to bathe the ponies jetting to and from each attraction in bold orange light.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Fluttershy said with a slight nervous giggle as Rarity brushed some hair out of Fluttershy’s face.

“And if you feel uncomfortable at any time, for any reason, you come find me, okay?” Rarity said sternly but caringly, standing firmly in front of Fluttershy, though it was difficult to feel like the reasonable adult when Fluttershy easily trumped her in height. “I won’t be out of sight.”

“I know, Rarity,” Fluttershy must have caught on to how Rarity was doting on her because she chuckled and pat Rarity on the shoulder. “I can do this. I want to. For her sake and for mine.”

“Okay,” Rarity took a deep breath and let it out as a weary sigh. And with that, it was no longer just Fluttershy who was nervous but Rarity as well. It wasn’t long before the pair ran aground of the rainbow-haired ruffian in question, and Rarity could feel her heart falling into her stomach with a loud SPLOOSH.

Rainbow Dash was leaning against a wall and pushed herself off with her wings to walk over toward Fluttershy and Rarity, stopping abruptly as she looked at Rarity— looked through her— for barely a second before concentrating her gaze solely on Fluttershy.

Rarity couldn’t shake the feeling Rainbow was ignoring her on purpose.

“Hey, you made it,” Rainbow said with a self-amused smile. “How’re you feeling?”

“I feel okay,” Fluttershy said bluntly, an awkward smile on her face.

Was she getting cold hooves? Rarity couldn’t exactly blame her.

“I’m—” Fluttershy took in a deep breath and her smile seemed a tad more relaxed. “It’s good to see you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Of course it is, I’m awesome,” Rainbow chuckled and patted herself on the chest, eliciting an eye roll from Rarity, but an amused chuckle from Fluttershy.

“So, you ready to go?” Rainbow hopped next to Fluttershy and winked at her, nearly shoving Rarity aside with her wing. “I have a friend who gave me like, all the best info on how to squeeze as much as you can out of a place like this. Which is great cuz I have like no money.”

“Me neither,” Fluttershy laughed softly as the two of them walked away, Fluttershy giving Rarity one last smile as she headed off with her new friend.

“Take care of yourself, Fluttershy,” Rarity whispered as she watched Fluttershy and Rainbow set off to have their carnival fun times, leaving Rarity alone by herself. She let out a disgusted sigh and grumbled under her breath, “I hate that girl.”

“What girl?”

Rarity gasped and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Twilight’s voice, and her very unexpected presence directly behind Rarity.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity huffed, turning around to see the awkward, slender unicorn’s eyes darting this way and that as she scanned her environment; Rarity figured that Twilight had just gotten here herself. “Honestly, you’re bound to give a lady a heart attack.”

“S-sorry,” Twilight said bashfully, rubbing a hoof against the back of her neck and giving the ground a mournful look. Rarity had known Twilight for quite some time, so she really shouldn’t have been so surprised by Twilight’s mastery of the puppydog eyes, yet it caught Rarity off-guard every single time.

“It’s quite alright,” Rarity put her hoof up to Twilight’s cheek, Twilight humming contently as she let her muzzle melt for one moment into Rarity’s gentle touch, “you big dork.”

Rarity cleared her throat and took her hoof away, her cheeks feeling rather hot all of a sudden, which was certainly just an aftereffect of standing under all these paper lanterns, and definitely not a reaction to anything—or anyone—else.

“I’m glad you made it though,” Rarity said softly. “I would be dreadfully bored if I had to spend the entire night here by my lonesome.”

“Happy to help!” Twilight chirped, grinning ear to ear and her face just looked so bright and full of joy, it warmed Rarity’s heart before jealousy kicked in.

“You saw that, by the way, didn’t you?” Rarity hummed bitterly, turning her head and looking into the distance where she could still make out the silhouette of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. “The way Rainbow Dash shoved me? I didn’t imagine that or anything, did I?”

“Sorry, I must’ve missed it,” Twilight muttered, walking past Rarity and squinting her eyes in the direction Rarity was looking, a satisfied smirk crossing her lips as she spied the object of Rarity’s attention. “That’s Fluttershy, huh? She’s cute.”

“Oh?” Rarity smirked, sitting beside Twilight and needling her in the ribs with her hoof. “Is that your takeaway?”

“Uh! I just mean—she’s, y’know—I, uh—” Twilight hastily scuttled back, jumping to her hooves in alarm as her face turned red like a jalapeno pepper, Rarity unable to hold back her giggling at the poor dear’s expense.

“So what’s your deal with Rainbow Dash, anyway?” Twilight said, and Rarity was so impressed by the seeming effortlessness with which Twilight switched topics that she felt inclined to follow along.

“She was a bully I knew in my teen years,” Rarity said coldly, careful to keep her tone steady and her face from twisting into an ugly frown at the thought of that time in her life, “nothing more.”

“Maybe she’s changed?” Twilight suggested, and the hopeful gleam in her eyes was as endearing to Rarity as it was completely alien.

“Do you honestly think-” Rarity hissed, a snarling grin etching itself across her face “-that people can change?”

Twilight was silent; a charge of cold electricity flashed between the two.

“I’ve been thinking about it lately,” Rarity continued, undeterred by Twilight’s silence. “I never thought Fluttershy would ask another pony out, not in a million years, yet here we are. And she sees something in Rainbow that I cannot, no matter how much I might want to.

“I don’t think ponies can change,” Rarity scraped her hoof against the concrete. “I think we can bend, and stretch, and pretend to be something we’re not-” Rarity lifted her forelegs above the ground “-but in the end-” and brought them down forcefully, the harsh clatter of her hooves hitting concrete making Twilight wince “-in the end you’ll always just be the person you are. Hardship and failure form you, and once you’re set there’s no changing the person that you are.”

“Maybe,” Twilight said distantly, and Rarity turned her head to see Twilight sitting down, expression ponderous and her eyes darting back and forth like she was reading some invisible manifesto placed before her. “But I think… I think if the person you want to be doesn’t match your actions, then you can change those actions until they do match. I think, at the end of the day, you’re at the helm of your own ship.”

Rarity was silent. She could tell the pressure of her gaze weighed on Twilight’s heart by the twitch of the poor girl’s ears and lowering of her head. Rarity had not meant to stare quite so coldly, but Twilight’s answer left something to be desired.

In Rarity’s mind, she had long ago lost control of the ship of her life, the waves of fate having caused her ship to move into unfamiliar waters, and she could not see a way out of them. The life that she lived was one controlled by circumstance, not by choice.

But perhaps…

Rarity scanned the horizon, spying Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash chatting in the distance, and she elected to turn back to Twilight with the brightest smile she could muster.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” she said softly, a tiny glimmer of hope flickering in her heart. “Perhaps Fluttershy will drag something out of Rainbow that will surprise me after all.”

“That’s the spirit!” Twilight cheered, jumping to her hooves and bouncing toward Rarity until she was practically on top of Rarity.

“Now,” Twilight added, scratching at the ground and biting down on her lip, “you wanna grab some gross, overpriced carnival food?”

“Darling,” Rarity put her hoof underneath Twilight’s chin and stroked it gently, “you read my mind.”

Author's Note

Please feel free to alert me to any typos or errors.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!