Lost Years

“Oh, darling, isn’t it beautiful?” Rarity asked, staring up at her newest boutique. The front wall was a sea green, with ocean blue trim, and the sign at the top proclaimed “Rarity’s Carousel” in deep purple lettering. The window display showed a pony mannequin wearing a pale yellow jumper, so soft looking that one just wanted to reach through the window and stroke it, but it also had a hippogriff mannequin wearing a simple, silky blue evening gown, like something out of a historical novel.

“It’s gorgeous, Rarity,” Fluttershy said softly, giving her friend a fond look. “But I hope you aren’t planning to ask me to run this one. I still haven’t quite recovered from the Manehattan fiasco.” She giggled a bit and Rarity laughed with her.

“No, no, of course not, darling. To be honest, I just wanted somepony with me today. This is my second boutique outside of Equestria! So exciting, don’t you think, dear?”

Fluttershy looked inside. A mailpony had arrived just ten minutes ago with boxes upon boxes of clothes, some for ponies, but most were made for hippogriffs. Rarity had worked for months with hippogriff designers and recruited dozens of different hippogriffs to model for her, so she could create the clothes to fill all those boxes. It was an entirely new style for her, and she’d been extremely excited about this project for over a year now. To see it finally coming to life was incredible.

“It is a very exciting day,” Fluttershy agreed. “But, um, it does seem to be pretty busy here. I… don’t think you would have been alone without me.” She looked through the window at Rarity's two store managers who’d be running this boutique, her old friend Pistachio and a young, excitable hippogriff named Sea Star, and at the bustle of activity around them. Pistachio was sorting the clothes from the boxes, Sea Star was blowing her pale green hair out of her face nervously, bringing Pistachio the needed clothes racks from the storage room, and, once they were full, pushing them to their proper places in the store. Another hippogriff, Rarity’s new sales associate for the store, was flying near the ceiling, adjusting the light fixtures.

Rarity looked at Fluttershy, her bright smile dimming slightly for a second. “Yes, well, that's true, I suppose.” She looked back through the window. “No, you’re right, I certainly wouldn’t have been alone had you not agreed to come. But I wanted… Well, not that I don’t love Pistachio, but I just wanted somepony very special to me to be here for this. And you know as well as I do that Twilight is way too busy to come, and it’s the middle of Zap Apple Harvest, so Applejack and Rainbow are out of the question, and Pinkie has her kid and the bakery to manage, and I really wanted at least one of my best friends here with me.” She looked slightly embarrassed with herself, turning her face away from Fluttershy.

“Oh, Rarity,” Fluttershy extended a wing over Rarity’s back, pulling her closer in comfort. “You know the rest of the girls would have come if they could have. We all love you, Rare.”

“Oh, I know that,” Rarity waved a hoof in dismissal, but she blinked quite hard a couple of times, and gave a small sniffle. “But, you know darling, for all my dreams of romance when we were young, I haven’t ended up having much experience in that department. A few small flings and one year long relationship is all I’ve got in my pocket. And I’m okay with being alone, but sometimes I still just wish…” She looked down, blinking rapidly. “But anyway, the point is that you girls are the loves of my life. You five are the most important ponies in the world to me, except perhaps Sweetie Belle. And I’m really happy you could be here for this.”

Fluttershy had tears in her eyes, and she brought Rarity into a full hug without a word. “Rarity. You are an incredible pony, and you deserve all the love I can give you and more.”

“Oh, darling, thank you,” Rarity giggled, wiping the smudged mascara under her eyes. “Truly, you are the kindest pony I’ve ever met.”

Fluttershy blushed a bit.

“I mean it,” Rarity said. “And I’m sorry to cut this conversation short, but I really should go in and help them. There’s a lot to do before the opening tomorrow.”

“Oh, of course,” Fluttershy said. “I’ll try to help too.”

“Thank you very much, darling, but we will manage just fine. I want you to have fun. You should go see the city! It’s been, what, a decade since you were here last? You should explore. We’ll probably be here until sundown, so you can always come back later. And we’ll go out for dinner this evening, right? I know this absolutely marvelous little place down that road a ways,” she said, pointing to the left. “It’s a Saddle Arabian restaurant, you’ll love it.”

Fluttershy smiled. “That does sound delicious. I’ll be back in a few hours then. Good luck!”

“Have fun!” Rarity called back, already halfway through the door. Fluttershy watched the door shut with a thud, and then she started towards the ocean, planning to relax a bit on the beach before sundown.