“And they were roommates!” chirped Bon-bon as she kicked a spare roll of toilet paper underneath the stall. Lyra’s hand tapped blindly against the ground for a moment before it found the roll.
A tittering giggle filled the locker room as a phone clattered to the floor. “Oh my gosh, they were roommates!” Lyra replied, shuffling the roll of toilet paper back underneath the stalls. Two toilets flushed in harmony, and the two girls washed their hands, their chatter inaudible over the din of rushing water and hand dryers. The door slammed, announcing their departure.
Rainbow’s head popped out from under one of the shower curtains. “All clear,” she muttered, her head inching back underneath the musty curtain from whence it came. She sighed and sat back on her heels, looking nervously up at the other girl in the shower stall. Rarity let out a relieved breath and pressed even further back against the shower wall, razor in hand.
“Are you sure you want to learn right now, darling? I think you’d be far more comfortable if we went back to my house after school. We could sit on the rim of the tub, and everything is cleaner there, and I think I saw a hair in the drain that didn’t belong to either of us!” Rarity hissed with distaste, before considering it. Going home would be far less of a hassle, rather than hiding in the girl’s lockers during biology lab. They could even use her fancy vanilla bean lotion afterwards, and then maybe even go to the spa together to celebrate afterwards, and-
“No,” whispered Rainbow in a voice that betrayed her uncertainty. She cleared her throat and tried again. “No, I want to learn now. If I go to your house… what if someone hears? What if they suspect something and they assume that I… That I’m…”
Rainbow trailed off, frowning at the shower drain. The silence lingered in the room, unwelcome and unwanted. Rarity took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to best proceed. “Darling, there’s nothing wrong with not knowing how to shave your legs. Really, there’s no shame in it whatsoever. Just because your family won’t teach you and don’t see things in the same light doesn’t mean that you don’t have the right to smooth, soft calves. Besides, this is what friends are for, right?”
Rainbow rocked back and forth, her knees inches from the mildew-stained floor. After an awkward second of consideration, Rarity gingerly sat down on the tile next to her. Oh, the conditions she tolerated for the sake of helping a friend.
The prismatic mare shrank back against the wall, taking a few deep breaths. “I just think it’ll help me feel more like me, you know? And while no one on the soccer team judges me for having hairy legs, I still want to look like that. I want to be like them. And I know it’s a weird question to ask, and it’s probably super awkward, and I promise I won’t look any higher than, like, the middle of your thigh, and that’s just to see if I’m doing it right because I don’t want to mess this up, and-”
“Say no more!” Rarity smiled and removed her chic shoes, setting them carefully in the corner of the shower, before delicately peeling off her socks. Her toenails glittered a deep violet in the pale light from the curtain. One of them was chipped; she’d definitely have to correct that after school. They held up a lot better than her fingernails, at least.
She hummed, twisting her foot this way and that. She really needed to take better care of her heels, too, and a light moisturizer might do wonders in keeping her skin soft and supple. Camp Everfree had given her a slight tan line at the ankles and midcalf, and while they were faded, they made her wince. She simply must remember to wear long socks for the next week, until the unsightly lines disappeared.
A quiet sound made Rarity jerk her head up. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were watery, but Rarity didn’t want to make a big deal about it. She followed Rainbow’s gaze to her near-immaculate, smooth and pristine legs, then down to Rainbow’s legs, covered in dark grass-stained leggings. “Rainbow… I can’t help you if I can’t, you know… actually see your legs and all that. I promise I won’t look higher than your legs, or judge you, or anything like that. I promise, Rainbow.”
Rainbow sniffled and kicked off one shoe, then its twin. Her socks were striped and bagged at the ankle. Slowly, with a shyness that Rarity wouldn’t have expected from the usually-bold girl, Rainbow pulled down the waistband of her leggings and inched them down her legs. The hair on her legs was slightly curly, in darker shades of the rainbow.
A few bruises dotted her shins, from hard impacts during sports practice, no doubt. Mentally, Rarity was grateful that she had brought a spare razor. As promised, Rarity didn’t look any higher than her mid-thigh, though she did note that Rainbow was squirming awkwardly. Poor dear!
Rainbow pinched the hems of her socks and fiddled with them for a moment before raising her voice. “You gotta promise not to laugh, okay?” She met Rarity’s gaze, who nodded seriously. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Rainbow pulled her socks down. Rarity bit her lip at the sight; not in a judgemental way, but in a burst of understanding sympathy.
Her feet themselves were in rough shape, but that didn’t surprise Rarity. It made sense that Rainbow’s feet weren’t immaculate. She was pretty active, after all. What made her falter was her nails. It looked like Rainbow had tried to paint them an outrageous blue while riding drunk in the first cart of a roller coaster blindfolded. Okay, perhaps that was a teensy bit of an exaggeration, but they did look quite rough, much like the time she caught Sweetie Belle trying to paint her nails with clothing dye. On one of the toes, Rainbow had missed the nail almost entirely.
“It’s… not that bad, really!” Rarity managed. “Everyone messes it up the first few times anyways! But I cannot allow this to go uncorrected, you must understand. Do you have any time during lunch? I could probably put a coat or two on and while it wouldn’t be perfect, it would certainly be an improvement!”
Rainbow nodded, her voice gravelly and a bit choked up. “Yes, I’d like that, a lot. I-”
The bell rang, and both girls clammed up. Rainbow visibly shrank back, pressing herself against the corner of the shower. Rarity looked between her and the curtain, uncomprehendingly. The door opened to the locker room with a squeal, making both girls flinch. A group of girls clicked into the room, unsteady in their inch-high heels. Rarity couldn’t quite tell who they were by the shadows they cast on the shower curtain, but they sounded vaguely familiar. Maybe they were classmates?
“Hey, did you see Rarity in class? I thought I saw her earlier today. Do you think she went home sick? That would be really, really, reallyreallyreally sad. I kind of hoped that Rarity would tell me if my pin went with my skirt.” Rarity rolled her eyes and made a face at the shadow. That was why she was missed? The shadow, predictably, did not respond to her offended expression.
“I thought I saw her and Rainbow B- Da- um, you know, Rainbow,” Rainbow winced and tried to press back further into the wall. “Yeah, they both passed by in the hallway at the beginning of last period. Do you think that they’re, well, you know...”
“No, that doesn’t make any sense. They’re both just friends. They’d be more lovey and mushy about it if they were, wouldn’t they? I mean, it is Rarity we’re talking about. We would have seen the signs.” Both girls looked at each other in mortification. Rainbow pretended to throw up. Thank goodness, thought Rarity. It would be horribly awkward if one of them liked the other beyond- yeah, Rarity wanted to avoid that, if possible.
“Oh my gosh, you think? I was just saying that-” Two hand dryers went off in unison, drowning out the rest of their discussion. The door swung shut, the warning bell rang, and the girls huddled in silence as feet thundered past the locker room. Late students mingled in the hallway for a little while after that before being ushered to their appropriate classrooms.
“So, ah, shaving 101. Not the class I signed up for, but it’d be nice if there was one, I wouldn’t want to miss it.” Rainbow leaned her head against Rarity’s shoulder, her legs splayed out in the cramped shower stall.
Rarity nodded, lost in thought. “A class… why, after school, I’d be willing to teach it. I’m sure I could find sort of excuse for anyone who was uncomfortable with being seen at a girly place, and I have the space for it.” She bit her lip, making a mental note to fix her lipstick before leaving the locker room. “Yes, I think that could work, actually! Do you know of any other girls who’d appreciate that sort of help?”
Rainbow grinned. “I can think of a few, yeah, and I might be able to find a few more if I ask around. Hey, not a bad idea! We could say that, uh, we’re helping you move heavy things! Or studying or something! But first, I think we should finish, umm…” She gestured to their legs, pressed side by side.
“Oh, yes, of course, right away! Now, the first thing you need to do is secure some shaving cream and a razor…” Rarity began, scrambling for a few things from her bag. She didn’t quite understand how Rainbow felt, but she wanted to see her more comfortable. And if, after a few lessons, Rainbow learned how to correctly apply nail polish, well, that would just be icing on the cake! She could do things with fashion, and hair, and oooh, this was such a wonderful idea, she couldn’t wait!
It had been a few weeks since Rainbow and Rarity had awkwardly shared a shower stall, and to the unobservant, nothing much had changed. Rainbow Dash still enjoyed playing soccer, and Rarity hadn’t missed any more classes for a suspiciously long period of time. Carousel Boutique still carried clothes, and Rarity still did her best to help everyone find the outfit that made them feel fabulous.
And yet, there were subtle changes. Rainbow and Rarity would spend more time together between and after classes. Rainbow’s outfits sometimes sported subtle feminine touches. The first day she had worn a skirt to school, Rarity was there by her side, a few different pairs of pants tucked in her bag in case Rainbow wanted to wear something else. Her legs were cleanly shaven (albeit with a few nicks), and she felt right, in a way that was hard to put to words.
Carousel Boutique still sold outfits primarily for girls, but towards the back were a few racks of clothes that weren’t quite as obviously for girls or guys. Some leaned towards men’s clothes, but with feminine touches. Jackets had a few feminine patterns lining them (tastefully, of course. Rarity would insist on nothing less.), socks were pink or purple in places that didn’t show with shoes on, and shirts had lace or frills that could tuck away in a hurry if needed. There were also women’s clothes without feminine embellishments.
Charts were posted on the wall, converting sizes, and most dresses were available in larger sizes and varying proportions. And Rarity herself made her best effort not to judge who someone was by their appearance. Rainbow often brought along her friends, friends who needed just as much reassurance as she did, and Rarity did her best to provide.
Their study sessions had been a success. When not grouping together to work on class projects, Rarity and Rainbow and whichever friends could make it spent time discussing whatever came to mind. Rarity occasionally taught someone how to do their makeup or braid their hair, and often had extra accessories on hand for anyone who needed one. The grateful smiles she received in return were all she needed to know that she’d done well.
Sure, school was still tough at times, and being themselves was difficult when they were still learning who they were, but Rarity was determined to help everyone know that they weren’t alone. She might not understand what they were going through, but she wanted to assist regardless. That’s what generosity was all about, wasn’t it?