The air blew chilly through the canyon-like streets of downtown Canterville, carrying with it a multitude of brown leaves of every conceivable shape and size as the few remaining trees slowly, reluctantly, gave up the ghost for the year. It was just cold enough that one might be able to see one’s breath, though perhaps that had more to do with the constant pollution from car and truck exhaust than the temperature. Regardless, it was the time of year that the throngs of people plodding down the sad, cracked cement sidewalks donned their thick jackets. Possibly even thermal underwear if they were sensitive to cold.
Sunset Shimmer shivered as a gust of north wind caressed her exposed skin. She wore no jacket, only her short-sleeved magenta shirt emblazoned with her emblem, along with her orange skirt with the stripes that stopped just above her knees. These provided absolutely zero protection from the elements… or the Elements, as she had learned, but that was immaterial to the more pressing issue of the weather. Even with her tall boots protecting her calves, she had to admit she was cold as she stood at the corner waiting for the ‘Walk’ sign to let her cross. No jaywalking this day; the police had been especially tough on her ever since she cruelly dumped the Deputy Chief’s youngest son – the man had issued an “Arrest and/or Shoot-On-Sight” order against her – plus that whole Fall Formal she-demon take-over-the-multiverse thing likely did not help either. So, she waited as the wind worked its cruelty.
Finally the ‘Walk’ light turned green and Sunset hurried across the three lanes of one-way traffic as fast as she could. Even after a decade living in this world, learning to ride a moped and earning a Class-M (motorcycle) license, she had not gotten the hang of being a pedestrian. Ponies, especially those weighed down by wagons or carriages, moved far slower than automobiles.
Safely on the other side of the street just as the forbidding red light came back on, she looked east down the block. A row of nondescript brick or concrete buildings of various widths, heights, and styles sat on her left. She walked the row, occasionally rubbing her arms for warmth.
About halfway down the block, she found her destination: a three-storey brick edifice with massive windows on the ground and top floors. The entrance was recessed in somewhat from the sidewalk, flanked on either side by six-foot-tall angled glass displays in which sat dressmaker’s dummies wearing ridiculously fashionable ladies’ wear. One display contained a large decorative carousel with ceramic horses amidst the clothes. That, Sunset surmised, probably had a lot to do with the name on the door: “The Carousel Boutique”.
Timidly, she pushed open the door and stepped through the threshold.
As soon as Sunset walked in, she knew she was in the wrong place. All around her were dresses and pantsuits that the word ‘fancy’ would not do justice to. Several ladies, mostly in their early 20’s and made up to look as if they belonged in some alien world where snobbishness was the most desired trait, puttered around the floor looking for their next commission. Sunset tried to shrink herself, hoping no one would notice her, cursing herself internally as she did so. Unfortunately for her, one of the sales girls saw her out of the corner of her eye and approached, set to maximum perky.
“Hey girl! Like, welcome to the Carousel Boutique! How can I h—”
Upon seeing Sunset, she was stunned into silence, her smile dropping.
Sunset had never met this young woman, so she was reasonably certain she had not done anything to wrong her. Glancing over to her left, she saw her reflection and understood. Her shirt and skirt were noticeably tattered and her face, arms, and legs still bore the dozens of tiny scratches and bruises courtesy of a direct beam attack that left her in the middle of a smouldering blast crater just a week earlier. No amount of fixing one’s hair can cover that up. Granted, she had not fixed her hair much, as the last time she tried it her brush became stuck. Still, there was an attempt.
In this sort of place, Sunset thought, I wouldn’t serve me either.
“Uh, I think somebody else just came in,” the girl lied, “So I’m gonna, like, hand you off to one of our junior associates.”
“Wonderful,” said Sunset flatly.
The snooty girl walked – or rather tapped, as that was the sound her high-heeled shoes made on the tile floor – to the red-carpeted stairs and called up into the abyss, “Hey! White kid! Get down here! I’m giving you a customer! I think she’s a better fit for your fashion sense anyway!” Her tone clearly indicated it was not meant to be a compliment. And then she stamped away, never to be seen again.
“All right! I’m coming!” replied a voice, feminine with a distinctly affected accent, that Sunset recognized all too well and immediately caused her to start fidgeting in worry.
Sure enough, down the stairs came a high school girl whom anyone with a working pair of eyes might describe as beautiful. Her figure was slim yet reasonably curvy. She had purple hair reaching down to her waist that had been expertly styled and given loose curls at the ends. A periwinkle shirt complemented perfectly her purple pleated skirt, bone-white skin, and deep blue eyes set off by a lighter blue eye-shadow. She also wore several faux-silver bracelets on her arms, as well as a hair-clip of three (fake) blue diamonds. Around her neck, she wore a yellow measuring tape.
“Good afternoon!” said the young girl, bowing slightly with her eyes closed. “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! Where everything is chic, unique, an—”
She opened her eyes, saw her client, and quickly stopped her spiel as her expression rapidly shifted to one of irritation.
“Hello, Sunset Shimmer,” said the girl, unhappily.
“Hi, Rarity,” Sunset replied as she lifted her hand in greeting, She also was not thrilled, but remained reserved in her tone.
Rarity looked Sunset over from head to toe with a businesslike seriousness. “Might I say, you look absolutely terrible.”
“Yes. That’s kind of why I’m here.”
Rarity scoffed. “Leaving aside all those delightful visage-marring scratches, I never would have expected a girl like you to come to a store like this.”
Sunset looked toward her feet. “Neither did I, and I wouldn’t have come at all if I’d known you worked here. But, sometimes life throws a curveball …or six… and here we are. So. Will you help me?”
“I suppose I must,” Rarity said with a sigh. “How may I be of service?”
“Heather was sort of… destroyed… during… that little incident last week.”
“Heather?” Rarity asked as she cocked her head.
“My old leather jacket,” Sunset explained glumly.
Rarity gave a smug smile. “Ah yes. ‘Twas a pity.”
“Gloat all you want, but it won’t change the fact that I need a new jacket, and I came here to possibly buy one,” said Sunset flatly.
“What? Did the thrift store at 8th and Veritas not have anything to your tastes?” Rarity teased, her voice tinged with triumphant schadenfreude.
Sunset looked down even further, at her ankles. “No. The only jackets they had were all men’s sizes,” she said quietly. “My moped is out of gas, I don’t feel like walking seven city blocks to the station and back carrying a five-gallon tank in this weather without a jacket, and this is the closest clothing store to where I live that might possibly carry what I want.”
“Hmm,” Rarity said as she pursed her lips, “I suppose I can’t argue with that logic. Maybe we can… ah?”
Sunset, despite her best efforts, began to lose control of her emotions. Her shoulders shuddered as she fought back the urge to break down bawling in the middle of the store. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I guess I’m having trouble dealing with… everything.”
“Let’s get you to my ‘office’. We can talk more about your specific needs without anyone else bothering us, okay? Last thing I need right now is the other girls seeing I made a customer cry,” said Rarity through clinched teeth, quietly enough that her coworkers would not hear.
She took Sunset’s wrist and led her up the stairs to the next floor, which had a much lower ceiling and a short dark hallway with a few identical wooden doors along one side. Rarity approached one door in the middle of the bunch and opened it. It was a decent-sized room but had no windows, so its darkness was palpable. She flicked a switch to reveal, under extremely bright lights, a chaotic scene of half-made outfits, fabric in random places, and a drafting table with a half-completed drawing on it.
Sunset looked around in surprise. “Your office?”
“Well, it’s not technically ‘mine’, at least not yet. The owner, Belladonna Tailor, saw when she hired me that I was more interested in designing clothes than modelling or selling them, although I am more than capable of both,” Rarity boasted. “So she lets me use this old room to get a handle on the mechanics of creating outfits from scratch. If I’m good enough, she said she might be willing to pay some of my tuition to one of the city’s universities so I can join their arts program.”
“That’s… wonderful, actually,” said Sunset, attempting to sound glad but failing.
“Right,” Rarity said, her tone having rapidly shifted back to business. “Let’s sit you down on that bench right there, and we can talk about your needs.”
“Do I really need to sit to ask about a leather jacket?”
“No. But I think, since you’re here, we have a bit more to discuss, yes?”
Sunset nodded slowly and trudged over to a plush leather-upholstered bench, similar to but distinct from an ottoman, making sure not to disturb anything as she sat down. After a few seconds, Rarity sat beside her.
For several moments neither of them spoke. Sunset went out of her way to avoid even looking at Rarity. Finally, Rarity decided to speak first.
“You know, Sunset Shimmer, the only reason I’m even allowing myself to be in the same room with you is that Twilight asked the five of us to give you a chance and be your friends. I don’t know how the others feel, but that is quite a tall order for me,” Rarity said matter-of-factly.
“I know.”
“It’s taking every ounce of self-control I have to not scream at you or strangle you right now.”
“I know.”
“To be absolutely honest, I’ve hated you for years.”
“I know. I deserve it.”
“You rui— what?? That doesn’t sound like the Sunset Shimmer I’m familiar with,” Rarity said, her voice betraying a palpable confusion.
“Well, A painful demonic transformation followed shortly thereafter by a rainbow blast to the face is a great way to remind yourself about where you went wrong in life,” said Sunset, still refusing to look at Rarity.
“Speaking of which, aren’t you supposed to be rebuilding our school’s façade right now?” Rarity asked.
“They fired me. Partly because I worked too slowly, partly because they found out I wasn’t a dues-paying member of the Bricklayers’ Union, and partly because they found my presence ‘distracting’. Sexists. At least I got paid enough for my few days of work to be able to maybe replace my clothes. It’s nice having money for once.”
“I see,” said Rarity. “You know, I think this may be the first time I’ve ever seen you act conciliatory.”
“I’ve had time to reflect. I still don’t really like her much, but Twilight had a point: If I want to fix my life, I should try and cultivate real friendships. I don’t know how possible that is, given how many I’ve hurt. But I owe it to myself – and to Her, our common mentor – to make the effort.”
Rarity nodded slowly. “I suppose I can accept that… as far as it goes. Now, if you’ll stand up and hold out your arms, I need to take your measurements.”
Sunset looked at Rarity, somewhat shocked. “Why? Don’t you have something just… off the rack?”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “We may, we may not. This is a boutique, Sunset Shimmer. Of course we have premade clothes, but we also do special orders, alterations, the occasional addition of some flair, and even fully custom designs for those willing to pay for it. Also, it is not our policy to have the customer rifle through our wares; we find what you’re asking for and bring it to you. Better for the clothes that way.”
Sunset frowned briefly as she followed Rarity’s instructions. Rarity took off her measuring tape and silently measured several aspects of Sunset’s upper body, beginning with the right arm, writing down each number on a notepad. After a couple minutes, she heard Rarity grumble.
“What’s wrong?” Sunset asked. “I’m trying to do everything you said.”
“No. It’s…” Rarity let out a harumph. “Your bust is bigger than mine.” She then quickly knelt down and wrapped the tape around Sunset’s butt, causing the girl to flinch as Rarity wrote down another number. “And so are your hips,” she stated with clipped enunciation.
“Well, there’s some good reasons for that,” Sunset mumbled.
“Anyway, I believe I have enough information here that I can at least attempt to find a jacket in your size. Please stay here while I search through our inventory. Maybe ‘reflect’, or whatever it is you do these days,” said Rarity as she turned on her heels to stomp out of the room.
Sunset drew in a deep breath. “Uh, just… one thing before you go,” she called out softer than one normally would.
“Oh? And what might that be?” asked Rarity, her tone dripping with contempt and suspicion.
“I…” Sunset sighed. “I’m sorry. For the Spring Fling,” she said softly.
Rarity’s eyes widened, but she said nothing as she left the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Sunset alone with her thoughts.
Back on the ground floor, Rarity made for the red curtain separating the hallway from the public area, when one of the older girls walking the floor, a waif-thin blue-skinned co-ed with rose hair, stopped her.
“Like, where do you think you’re going, White girl?” the girl asked snottily.
“I am going to find a jacket for my client. It is called customer service. I suggest you learn about it if you wish to have a career in this business.”
“I think you’re the only one who wants to do that,” the girl retorted. “The rest of us just took this job for the sweet employee discounts on cool outfits we can use to bag a hot guy or five. You’re just a high schooler. Maybe you’ll understand when you’re older. Until then, you’ll get all the customers and extra work we don’t want.”
Rarity stayed silent as she gently nudged the girl aside and headed to the back.
“I may only be a high school girl now, but in a few years I intend to be your boss,” Rarity muttered to herself as she reached the section of the back area where leather items were kept.
“And I have standards,” she groused to the clothes folded in cubbies and hanging on racks. She approached an oblong metal rack filled with leather jackets of various cuts and styles, checking the tags of each against the measurements of Sunset she had taken.
“Hmm. Too small. Too big. Too short. Too gaudy for her, I should think…”
She stopped her searching for a moment to speak to the jackets as a group, pacing around them in a counterclockwise oval, gesticulating yet trying to minimize contact with the merchandise.
“Why am I even putting in the effort? Must I really befriend the girl who ruined my life and, indeed, nearly ended it? The girl who publicly humiliated me, made me lose all my friends, stopped my nascent love life in its tracks, and shattered my self-esteem almost irrevocably? You know, Przewalski coat, I wish Twilight hadn’t put me on the spot. And yet… this Sunset Shimmer isn’t behaving at all like the one who tormented me when I was a freshman. For three years, all I wanted was an apology, an acknowledgement of her actions. Now I’ve got it. She seems genuinely apologetic; I suppose there’s no longer any point in holding a grudge. If anything, she’s behaving like I did when I was at my lowest. Do you remember that, Chevaux smoking jacket? I know the feeling, the emptiness, all too well; no one deserves that, not even her. What do you think, Pferde jacket?” she asked as she held a sleeve of the leather jacket nearest her on the rack.
The jacket, being a jacket and thus not alive, said nothing.
Rarity absentmindedly looked at the tags on the jacket she held. Her eyes widened as she took it, still on its hanger, off the rack to give it a closer inspection.
“Well, now. You look like you might do, Pferde Leather Line. You’ll certainly fit her. Not too ostentatious, just a little bit of flair; those useless steel buttons along the collar would make you almost, well, shimmer in the light. I’ll take you up to her and see what she thinks.”
Sunset sat on the bench as she looked around at the myriad unfinished projects, contemplating the chaos before her.
I am this room, she thought. Actually, no I’m not. I would be this room if this was the result of a bomb going off instead of well-intentioned work. Nothing I ever did was well-intentioned. Being out for myself didn’t help. Taking joy in the suffering of others was ephemeral at best. At least Rarity knows what she wants to do with her life. What do I want? Power? I’m not ready for it. She was right; She was always right, at least when it came to me. What was it She said about humility all those years ago? I can’t remember. Guess I’ll just have to figure it out myself.
Rarity. She hates me. She has every reason in the world to hate me. But she’s still helping me because it’s her job. I don’t know. First meeting her when she was a freshman, I thought she was such a nice girl. Such a juicy target. The chaos from destroying her was glorious. I hate that I enjoyed watching her suffer. Relationships are such fragile things: so hard to build, so easy to destroy. It might be nice to become friends with her, but that ship probably sailed three years ago. What would You say if You were here today? I already know; You would say try anyway, wouldn’t You… Princess?
The door opened with a click and creak, startling Sunset out of her thoughts. A quick look to her right saw it was Rarity carrying the jacket she had found.
“Well, I’m back, Sunset Shimmer,” Rarity said, her tone still businesslike.
“You found something, I take it?”
“I did.” Rarity presented Sunset the leather jacket on the hanger. “Take a look, try it on, there’s a mirror over there.”
Sunset took the jacket off its hanger and carefully looked it over with great interest, lips pursed in contemplation. She stood up and walked over to the nearby mirror and slipped it on. Her eyes widened as she regarded herself, moving her arms to see how the jacket felt as she moved. She gave a little twirl in front of the mirror. Then she did something she never expected of herself: she smiled.
“So, what is your verdict?” Rarity asked.
Sunset pulled herself away from the mirror and approached Rarity, still smiling. “I love it,” she said quietly.
“Of course it’s no— wait, what?”
“I love it! It’s perfect,” Sunset repeated as she gestured at the jacket she continued to wear.
“Uh, well. I guess that means I know my job then.”
“You really do. I feel… more complete again. Thank you so much!”
Sunset pulled Rarity into a quick hug. When she let go, she noticed Rarity wore a look of utter shock.
“S-sorry about that,” Sunset said with a slight blush. “I’m not used to positive feelings and it… just came out. I hope you’re not even madder at me.”
Rarity stood, blinking, for another thirty seconds. Eventually, her brain rebooted. “Uh, no, I… I suppose I’m happy that you’re happy.”
“Getting to try on this jacket is probably the most satisfied I’ve been about anything in years. But, now we move on to the difficult part: the cost.”
“Yes, that may be an issue,” Rarity admitted. “Real leather is not exactly inexpensive.”
“True,” said Sunset, pensive. “I have this much money on me.”
Sunset reached into her boot and pulled out several large bills. Rarity stifled a chuckle.
“Yes, I know. I don’t have a purse, and this skirt (what’s left of it anyway) doesn’t have pockets. Where else should I put my money? I’ve tried putting it in my bra; it chafes,” Sunset explained.
Rarity nodded. “I suppose that’s fair. Anyway – please take off the jacket.” Sunset did so, allowing Rarity to reexamine the tags. “It looks like even after sales tax, you’ll have plenty of money left over. Might I interest you in a purse?”
“No,” said Sunset. “That’s not me and you know it.”
Rarity adopted a serious look as she rubbed her chin. Then she felt the fabric of the jacket Sunset had gladly agreed to buy. “This has very light inner lining. Winter is coming soon. Perhaps you would prefer a warmer jacket?”
Sunset cocked her head. “I like this jacket. I’m even thinking what I should name it. But if you say I have more than enough money, what about a second jacket for colder weather?”
“You don’t have that much money. Unless…”
“Unless?”
Rarity sighed. “Unless I let you use my employee discount. Before I agree to something like that, I need to go back downstairs and check something. Please give me a few minutes.”
“Sure,” Sunset said as Rarity left, again shutting the door behind her.
Alone, Sunset went back to the mirror and put the jacket back on, striking a variety of poses, finally coming to an inevitable conclusion. “I like you, but you don’t look nearly as ‘badass’ as Heather did. Or maybe it’s my own expression and demeanour that have softened,” she said to her reflection. “Either way, I can’t call you Heather 2.0. You need a name unconnected to my sorry past. Something… unique.”
Sunset held her chin in a classic thinking pose, tapping her foot for a few moments until the proverbial light bulb clicked on in her head.
“I’ve got it!” she near-screamed as Rarity walked into the room… and then immediately began to back out before slowly re-entering.
“G-got what?” Rarity asked, clear confusion in her voice.
Sunset turned to Rarity with a near-manic smile. “Her name!”
“Um, that’s… good,” said Rarity. “Anyway. We carry a leather jacket nearly identical in style to the one you’ve chosen, but with an inner lining that would do better for you in cold weather, but we don’t currently have one in your size. I’ll have to order it; it will take several days to get here, but if I let you piggyback on my discount, you could easily afford both jackets.”
“Would you do that for me? Seriously? That’d be wonderful,” Sunset said.
“Well, it’s normally something I’d only do for my friends. But… seeing you smile like this makes me think we might be able to make such a thing work, Sunset Shimmer.”
“I already have a name picked out for the second jacket as well.”
“Really? What would that be?”
Sunset gave a wink. “That is a secret until it comes in. Suffice to say it starts with an ‘R’. My way of thanking you for helping and putting up with me today.”
Rarity stared at Sunset, clearly startled and blushing slightly. “I… wow. Okay, so, uh, I’ll put in the order for the winter jacket. If you’ll please follow me, I can check you out.”
Shortly thereafter, the two girls were on either side of the cash register. Rarity rang up the jacket, which Sunset insisted on wearing, with the boutique’s employee discount. Sunset gladly plunked down all of her crumpled bills.
Before Rarity gave the change, she gave Sunset a serious look. “Could you please give me your address?”
“Why?” Sunset asked. “I’m paying in cash.”
“First off, it’s just policy; we’ve had issues with less-savoury individuals trying to pay us with counterfeit bills. Also, for special orders, we prefer to send you a claim slip in addition to calling you when the item comes in. That way, it’s less likely someone else takes what you paid for.”
“You high-end boutiques are so strange,” said Sunset as she reluctantly wrote her address and apartment number, along with her phone number, in a little black book. “I’m used to just going to the thrift store and grabbing stuff off the rack… and then washing the stench of despair off, although I don’t think you can wash leather.”
Rarity chuckled. “I never expected you to be a joking type.”
“I wasn’t exactly joking, but I’m trying to learn how to have a sense of humour again. Seriously though…”
“Seriously?”
“Every other girl in this place,” Sunset gestured out to the main floor where all the young women carried on halfheartedly doing their jobs, “is such a snob. I don’t know how you stand it.”
“I just do,” Rarity said. “I love clothes and fashion.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes and grinned, giving herself a look not unlike the one she often wore prior to her downfall. “I think you ought to talk to your boss and tell her that once a month – no, once a fortnight – she ought to put out racks of last year’s fashions or whatever out on the floor, advertise it, and let the rabble come in to rifle through the stuff, just to drive those snooty girls nuts.”
Rarity could not help but giggle at that suggestion. “Sunset Shim— no. Sunset. That is a truly evil suggestion.”
“Well, maybe my edges haven’t been completely smoothed, then,” replied Sunset.
“But I wish I had thought of it first,” Rarity said with a grin. “I will take it up with Madame Tailor. I think it is a good idea to help clear out inventory. You’ve no idea how cramped it is back there.”
“I can guess,” Sunset said.
“By the way, you said you had a name for the jacket you put on order, but what did you decide to name the jacket you’re wearing now?” Rarity asked.
“Sasha,” Sunset said simply. “I don’t know why. It just felt right.”
Rarity nodded. “I can accept that. Anyway, I or someone else will contact you once your ‘R’ jacket comes in, okay?”
“Got it,” said Sunset, smiling broadly. “Thank you for everything. Especially the stuff you didn’t have to do.”
“Well,” Rarity said as she rested her arms on the checkout counter, “You’ve proved to be much different than I expected, and I think being your friend might turn out to be rather interesting.”
“I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good thing,” Sunset said, “But, I’m glad I was finally able to start to patch things up with you. That makes me happier even than buying Sasha.”
Rarity returned a genuine smile. “I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“Once more unto the brink,” Sunset replied. Rarity sighed as she nodded.
Sunset waved goodbye to her new friend as she exited the store, passing an impeccably dressed large purple woman with her hair in a bun, carrying papers and fabric – no doubt the owner, whom Rarity quickly approached. Once out on the sidewalk, Sunset made her way back through the north wind to her home, where she planned to hang Sasha in a place of prominence when not in use.
“This was a good day,” she said to Sasha as she briefly lifted her right arm toward her face. “Maybe there really is something to this having friends thing? I guess I can start mending fences with the other four too? May as well try.”
Sunset crossed under the brick arch marking the entrance to her apartment building, deep in thought as the main double doors shut behind her. After all, she knew she had a tough journey ahead – many ruffles to soothe, fires to quell, bridges to rebuild. Friendships to create.