Sunset looked around awkwardly. Circular clothing racks surrounded her like ants would a crumb. She felt small, as if she really was a crumb, and wandered through the large store. There was no way she could have ever prepared for this. Hand me downs were the way to go! Thrift stores! Hell, looting donation bins was better than… than this!
A hand grabbed onto Sunset’s shoulder. “Come on, darling, it’s not that hard,” a particularly accented voice called out into the abyss that was Sunset’s mind. Stupid Rarity and her intriguing accent. That accent was a hundred percent forced, right?
Sunset gulped and allowed herself to be led by Rarity into a different section of the store. There were pants. Pants everywhere. She craned her head left—jeans. Right—yoga pants. Straight ahead—sweats. Behind her? Surprise. There were track pants. Sunset’s entire world became pants right then and there. How could there even be that many pants? Surely, there were too many. There’s no way all of those sold, right?
The beating of Sunset’s heart echoed in her head. It was far too quick to be considered any type of safe. Why was she even here? She had pants. She had at least three pairs of pants, which is more than anyone really needed. It couldn’t be helped if Rarity felt as though she needed a new pair of pants for every day of the week.
Nah, more like every day of the month, Sunset added to herself, silently chuckling. She almost forgot the hellscape she was in. To most girls, this was a dream come true. To Sunset? Well, it was more of a nightmare. She didn’t even have the money to pay for most of the clothes in this store—she almost felt her lungs escape her body as she looked at the price tag for a simple silk blouse—but of course Rarity offered to pay.
Stupid Rarity. Sunset grumbled. She always had to be so generous, didn’t she? Of course, Sunset couldn’t be mad at her for that. She was just mad at the ludicrousy of having to spend her valuable time at an expensive clothing store. Although, a glance at Rarity’s excited, smiling face made it almost tolerable. Almost.
Finally, Sunset gave in and broke her oath of annoyed silence. “Fine, I’ll cooperate,” she mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. At Rarity’s delighted squeals and happy arm waving, Sunset couldn’t hold back a smile. Stupid Rarity, always making her smile. She was supposed to be upset. But she couldn’t stay mad at Rarity…
Sunset reluctantly held out her hand, which Rarity did not hesitate to take hold of and began dragging Sunset further into the cluster of pants. “What type of pants do you want?” Rarity asked as she scanned around them.
A snort. Sunset really couldn’t hold that one in, try as she might. What pants did she want? Sunset didn’t even want to be in the store. But Rarity wanted her to be, and so she found herself in quite the predicament. Again. The buzzing store lights prompted Sunset’s eyelid to twitch. “I dunno, what do you think?”
It was always an easy answer to give her. Giving Rarity the option always seemed to please her; especially when it came to fashion related instances. If it annoyed Rarity in the slightest, she never showed it. Instead, her already cute grin doubled into a cheeky smile that made Sunset’s heart flutter.
“Oh! I am so glad you asked,” Rarity nearly yelled in excitement. She pulled hard on Sunset before letting go of her hand, inadvertently sending the slightly taller girl reeling forward with a force she didn’t know Rarity could even muster up. “I think these pants would look absolutely ravishing on you, darling.”
Sunset made an ‘X’ with her arms and shook her head. “Hell no,” she said immediately without a moment’s pause. “There is no way I am wearing that.”
Rarity pouted and looked sadly at Sunset. “Please? Just try them on.” At Sunset’s unyielding expression, Rarity batted her eyelashes and clasped her hands together. “For me?”
Sunset battled on the inside. A war was fought inside her mind in a matter of seconds. She swayed from side to side, her frown deepening until she swung her arms down with a dramatic sigh. How could she say no to that face? “Fine,” she agreed sternly. Stupid Rarity and her adorable puppy eyes.
Sunset stepped out of the dressing room, thoroughly flushed. Her cheeks became perfect matches of the red streaks in her hair, although her tight-lipped scowl and reluctance to make eye contact would not give off the idea that she was anything other than upset. She crossed her arms tightly on her torso. Sunset gave Rarity exactly what she wanted. “Are you happy?”
It was probably ridiculous, and Sunset knew that Rarity loved making her look ridiculous. But there was also something about the pants that Sunset thought was… sexy. Not on her, of course! But she could understand why Rarity would think that Sunset would look good in skin tight shiny leather pants. Maybe if she had a curvier body, she could make it work. At the moment, she just felt stupid.
Rarity’s silence went on for too long. Sunset shut her eyes tight, debating if she should even check on Rarity. Of course, she just had to. Slowly, at snail’s pace, Sunset turned her head and opened one eye. Her blush immediately returned upon noting the look on Rarity’s face. She didn’t even know that she could become that red. It was almost funny, although the fact that she was standing wearing those pants didn’t give her time to laugh.
Sunset cleared her throat and balled her fists even tighter. “Uh, so….”
“Take them off,” Rarity demanded.
Sunset did a double take. “Girl! What?”
Rarity lost all of her finesse and facepalmed so loud it echoed across the store. “NOT WHAT I MEANT SUNSET!” she shrieked. “I meant put your normal pants back on!”
Sunset silently made an ‘O’ with her mouth. “Obviously! That… is what you meant.” Sunset punched herself on the inside. Her inner Sunset punched her second inner Sunset so hard it almost physically hurt the real Sunset. “Is it that bad?”
Rarity turned away from Sunset and covered her face with a gentle hand. Her voice was almost inaudible. “No. I just… I’ll buy them for you, but you can put them back on at your place.”
Sunset nodded, eager that she would be back in her comfortable, worn-out pants soon. “Oh okay,” she mumbled. She turned back to the fitting room before hesitating, only just processing what Rarity had said. “Oh! Okay!”
As she practically sprinted back into the fitting room, Sunset noted that she had never been so impatient to really try on a new pair of pants. Stupid Rarity and her stupid ideas...
