Time, Rarity decided, was a constant foe. She battled it day and night to stay atop her work, to keep her clients happy and ensure she had a new line sent out to each of her stores in time for every season. It dogged her year after year, pulling at her eyes, wriggling its way into her bones.
She was only thirty-three and her legs ached every day. She had plucked out a handful of grey hairs out of her mane the other day, so few in number she could afford to lose them.
“Rarity.”
She ignored the voice beside her as she examined herself in her hoofmirror. Her makeup was perfect, as usual, and just about hid the wrinkles.
“Equus to Rares.”
Rarity sighed and shut the mirror, and turned to Rainbow Dash. The Wonderbolt had aged up too, taking on a somewhat commanding and mature look in her jacket and swept back mane. “Yes, darling?” asked Rarity.
“You look fine, stop fussing,” Rainbow said with a grin. “I know it’s been a while but none of the others are gonna care that much.”
Rarity stared at Rainbow Dash for a moment. “It’s been nearly five years since I’ve actually met Pinkie and Fluttershy,” she said, not bothering to hide the incredulity in her voice. “I can at the very least look my best.”
Rainbow chuckled and turned her nose back to the menu. The restaurant was fairly quiet despite the hour, the combined influence of Rarity and Twilight having helped vacate it. The Princess had felt a little guilty taking up the entire premises with just six guests, but the reassurance of both Rarity and the owner left her assuaged.
Rarity turned her head to the front door as it opened. The host had let in another pair of ponies, the aforementioned Twilight and Fluttershy, both of whom muttered a polite thanks. A moment later, they both beamed and darted over to Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
The two seated mares hopped to their hooves just as quickly and threw themselves into an embrace around their friends, including a little awkward shuffling so as to let Rarity kiss both Twilight and Fluttershy’s cheeks.
“Oh it is so good to see you both,” said Rarity when the quartet parted a minute later. “And you’re both looking hale and hearty. Is your job treating you well, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy nodded, then turned over her shoulder briefly as the host pulled her chair out for her and she sat down opposite Rainbow Dash “Oh, yes it is. Twilight’s been a lot of help tackling the parts of it that make me the most anxious, but I’m getting better and better at doing stuff myself.”
Twilight sat down in a chair beside Fluttershy, then Rarity and Rainbow returned to their own seats. “She’s underselling herself,” said Twilight with a giggle. “I mostly talk to the dour and moody clerks because I can speak their language. She’s the one talking to the press and giving lectures at various schools.” Fluttershy giggled and lowered her head, hiding behind her mane and shoulder.
“I gotta say, I’m pretty proud of you,” said Rainbow Dash, her smug smile a little broader. “I never thought you of all ponies would be in charge of the Royal Conservation Society.”
“Somepony has to do it,” replied Fluttershy, “and it’s something I know a lot about, after all.”
Rarity let the conversation continue on as she turned to Twilight. The Princess smiled back, though as their eyes met there was a brief and awkward aversion.
The mares at the table didn’t really need to ask about Twilight’s affairs. They were quite public and always newsworthy, being a princess and all. That publicity had left a bit of a sore note in Rarity and Twilight’s break up a few years back, but they still talked and retained a close friendship.
Rarity rejoined eye contact first and slid a hoof over the table. Twilight spotted it, and returned the gesture, the briefest touch reassuring both mares of that very fact.
Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash and cleared her throat. “Where’s AJ?” she asked.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Not sure. By the time I got to Sweet Apple Acres she had already left. I figured she was already on a train so I just headed straight here.”
“You flew all the way here?” Fluttershy asked incredulously, leaning toward her childhood friend. “You can’t keep pushing yourself like that.”
“Pushing myself like that is why I can keep doing it,” she retorted. “I might not be the Wonderbolts’ youngest flyer, but I’m still their best.” She puffed out her chest and beamed. Rarity almost wished for a pair of sunglasses.
The door opened again, the night time Manehattan air briefly blowing in, and another pair of mares entered. Applejack walked up to the table, and while Twilight and Fluttershy rose, she was immediately up beside Rainbow Dash.
“Where the tartarus were you?” she asked.
Rainbow Dash’s grin faltered. “What do you mean? I went straight to the farm and you weren’t there. I wasn’t gonna waste time looking for you and I figured you were on your way here anyway, so...”
Applejack sighed. “We were s’posed to meet at the station ya dunce,” she said. “I guess it don’ matter, just… Don’t make me worry like that next time.” She took one of the seats and sat next to Rainbow Dash, then gave her a gentle cuff behind the head. Rainbow stuck out her tongue at her marefriend.
Rarity almost tossed out her own snark to the air once the couple’s tiny spat wound down, but the sound of a chair being moved at her end of the table caught her attention. She turned her head, and she was overcome with the familiar sensation of stolen breath.
That couldn’t be Pinkie Pie sitting next to her. She hadn’t squealed in excitement when she entered, nor bounced to her seat. She had calmly and quietly sat down as the host pulled her chair out and smiled out over her friends.
Rarity thought she ought to be unnerved, but this wasn’t the limp haired party pooper beside her. She smiled cheerfully, she was still oh so vibrant. Her mane was mostly straight but had the tightest, most delightful curls toward the tips.
Rarity wasn’t prepared to add drop dead gorgeous to the list of adjectives she’d use for Pinkie Pie.
“Heya, Rarity,” said Pinkie. The unicorn realised Pinkie must have caught her staring, and she giggled in reply.
“You are looking… Well,” Rarity said, settling on a very different adjective for the time being. “It’s been a good while, hasn’t it? How have the years been treating you?” The sounds of conversation continued at the other end of the table, turning back to Fluttershy’s career and successes.
“Pretty good, actually,” Pinkie said. “I’ve started a party planning business now!” It was weird to hear Pinkie’s voice sound so calm, and yet still carry a level of bubbliness to it.
“So I’ve heard,” Rarity said after a moment. “I didn’t expect that to be a career per se, but you’ve had quite some success, is that right?”
Pinkie nodded, and she pressed her hooves together and rested her cheek on them. “Lots! I plan parties and concerts and weddings, all sorts of fun stuff. I feel a little guilty about charging for a lot of it, but ponies are willing to pay, and I…” She hummed. “It means I can make lots more ponies happy.”
Rarity sympathised with that. Generosity was at the core of her being, but she still needed an income, some sort of finance to be generous with.
Before she continued with the conversation, the host cleared her throat and caught the attention of every pony at the table. She floated a notepad in her magic, implicitly telling the lot that it was time to order.
The conversation flowed away from Pinkie’s career after that, and all the girls caught up on other events in their lives. Twilight had slowly taken up some more duties from Celestia and Luna, leaving the monarchs more time to themselves and other obligations. The fact they were some of the more boring tasks amused everypony at the table, and dismayed Twilight in turn, eliciting an, “Am I really that predictable?” from the princess.
They accompanied the food with drink. While Applejack and Rainbow Dash drank their hard cider—Apple Family vintage to boot—Rarity had ordered a bottle of wine and three glasses. She had managed to give Twilight a taste for it, and Fluttershy seemed to prefer it, but she was taken aback when Pinkie Pie asked for a fourth glass. Nopony else seemed to bat an eye at that.
And all throughout, Rarity could not take her eyes off the mare to her left. The more she spoke, the more she was certain she was Pinkie, and the more certain she was not Pinkie.
She spoke carefully and with thought—and she actually finished her thoughts, too. She kept up and put her own two bits worth in as discussions turned to politics or business, and a brief tangent brought Rarity a possible new contract to design some dresses and suits for a wedding Pinkie was planning.
After the evening wound down, after their deserts and some after dinner coffee, each of the mares went through and said their goodbyes. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the first to leave, and despite their protests the slightly buzzed Rarity would not let them go without another hug and a peck on the cheek. Twilight and Fluttershy followed a short while after, headed to their hotel elsewhere in the city, with well wishes shared between them all.
As the princess and pegasus left, Rarity turned to Pinkie. She was sure the alcohol in her system was replacing the surprise from earlier, and she couldn’t help but drink in the party mare’s beauty.
“So,” Rarity started, “are you staying in the city?”
Pinkie nodded, her curls bouncing beside her head. “I booked a hotel downtown! It’s only a block away from your old store.”
Rarity thought for a moment. “Oh, well that decides it then.” She walked up beside Pinkie and pointed to the door with a dip of her head. “I’ll walk you to your hotel. My apartment is only a brief stroll away from there.”
Pinkie grinned. Despite everything that had taken Rarity aback, that grin was still the same face splitting, ear-to-ear ray of light it always was. “I’d love that!” She almost launched herself forward, but a few ever eager steps in she slowed, pushed open the door, and held it for Rarity to pass through.
The nighttime air was refreshing. As lovely as the restaurant was, the heat growing in Rarity’s cheeks and chest was becoming stifling. The walk and a good night’s rest were welcoming.
That didn’t mean she wanted to end the night with Pinkie just yet.
"Pinkie, darling," Rarity started, "I have to ask. You are so... different now. Whatever happened to you?"
Pinkie blinked, and she took a moment to seemingly think. The sheer fact she paused in the first place stood at odds with the Pinkie Rarity remembered. "I just... Got older I guess," she said at last, running a hoof through her mane. There were definitely fewer curls, focused more toward the tips, but it was still bright and bouncy. "Maybe I ran through all my life's energy too quickly and my brain told me I gotta slow down." She giggled and looked back at Rarity. "It's not weird, is it? Like, missing the old me or something?"
Rarity shook her head. "No, not at all. I'd be perfectly content with your manic old self, even if she was exhausting to be around for more than a few hours. She was, after all, the pony I became best friends with." She reached over and put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "But I love this version of you I got to meet tonight. I just hope it’s coming from the best place within you.”
Pinkie blushed, and turned forward again. “Rarity…” she said, and she stopped.
Rarity stopped with her, then moved in front of the mare. “Is something the matter?” she asked. She worried she touched on a sore subject Pinkie hadn’t mentioned. Last she heard, the Cakes were perfectly fine, and the twins were starting school.
Pinkie shook her head. “No… I mean. Yes, things are fine but—” She puffed out her cheeks, and her mane curled up a little more, hinting at the cotton candy like fuzzball she used to don. “I just missed you a lot. I know you wrote to me but I didn’t write back because I’m not very good at writing only talking and even then—” She bit her tongue and stopped herself from rambling.
Rarity raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “Darling, I’m not angry at you. We went our different ways, it’s natural to drift apart somewhat.”
“Not with you and me it’s not.”
Rarity blinked. “Whatever does that…” She trailed off, and things suddenly began to click in Rarity’s mind. The mane. The interest in business. Rarity wanted to kick herself for not identifying the mimicry and what it meant. Rarity facehoofed, shutting her eyes tight and silently cursing herself.
She then started to laugh, and it was Pinkie’s turn to tilt her head. “You said you’re not mad…”
Her giggles wound down enough, and Rarity threw herself around Pinkie’s shoulders. “Oh you silly, silly mare, I’m not angry with you,” she repeated. She peeled herself back enough to plant a solid kiss onto Pinkie’s cheek, which managed to produce a blush that penetrated her pink coat rather than blend in. “I love you too much to be angry with you over something as trivial and sweet as this. As a friend and…”
Rarity blushed herself, and she shuffled back, one hoof still on Pinkie’s shoulder. A ghost of Pinkie’s grin returned to her face as the implication hung in the air.
“Maybe, maybe as something more,” Rarity finished. “I’m not opposed in the slightest, but it has been an awful long time you understand. We should probably get better reacquainted first, I think.”
Pinkie nodded. “I… I understand,” she said, a slight quiver in her voice. Hearing nervousness from Pinkie usually worried Rarity, but for once she found it frankly adorable.
Rarity hummed, and then was back at Pinkie’s side, one front leg under the pink mare’s. “I know you paid for your hotel and all,” said Rarity, “but why don’t we continue at my place and open another bottle of wine?”
Pinkie nodded again, and let Rarity lead the way.
For once in a long while, Rarity decided time made things all the better.
