.
.
The assembled group of friends made the most of the party supplies Pinkie had brought, and they spent the remainder of the day having fun. Sweetie Belle had invited the other crusaders over, and together they made the most of the free evening.
As the day drew to a close, each of the friends left in patches, with Pinkie the last to leave, dragging a weird hoover like machine. Rather than ask how it had made the house spotless, Rarity and Sunset kept their lips sealed as they waved goodbye to her.
Stepping back into the house, Rarity made herself jump as the now fixed door closed quicker than she was expecting. Once she had recovered she smiled to herself, the reason now walking into the living room. Rarity stood there for a moment watching her friend meander through the room.
Sunset, unaware of her friends gaze, slowly made her way across to the couch, dropping down with a muffled thump. “I’m done,” she announced to the room, “two days of D.I.Y and a Pinkie party.”
Laughing, Rarity quickly joined her on the couch, reaching out for both the TV remote and the trusted blanket. She pointed the control at the screen but hesitated, her lips fidgeting nervously. “Sunset, I need to apologise for my outburst earlier. I live my life trying to be generous, and yet I struggle horribly with jealousy. I jumped to the worst conclusions I could today, even though I know you better than to assume such things. So I’m sorry, deeply, and I hope you can forgive me.”
“Rarity, for what it’s worth, I can see the twisted logic behind your reaction. But it’s alright. I forgive you.” The amber girl smiled at her friend, before her look turned puzzled. “Wait… Did you say jealousy? Were you jealous about the amount of time I was spending with someone else?”
Suddenly the television sparked to life, loudly interrupting her. “Ooh, Darling, isn’t this that program you wanted to catch?”
Noticing the red hue to the normally white cheeks, Sunset let it drop for now, instead lifting up the blanket and sliding under, next to her friend. From the corner of her eye she could see that the blush had only grown now, causing her to smirk. “It was, yeah.”
Sunset blinked herself awake. The world still somewhat blurry, she was able to note that she was still on the couch, and that Rarity no longer was. A wave of disappointment swept through her before more of her environment kicked in. The TV was off, and there was the sound of periodic scribbling, and muttering in low volume, coming from the kitchen. As her eyes began to focus, the clock on the wall kindly informed her that it was almost eleven at night, and she remembered they both had school tomorrow.
Rising with a stretch, Sunset made her way towards the room divider, quietly so as not to disturb her friend. Poking her head around the partition,she got a good look at something she had seen before, outside of fashion week. Rarity had a look of deepest concentration, lost to the world around her, while the table before her was littered. There was a ledger, open pages full of red and black words and numbers, sat next to a calculator, and the whole setup surrounded by a halo of paper scraps and receipts. Rarity mumbled something, reading the piece of paper in her hand, before punching buttons on the calculator, and writing something in the book, in red.
Rather than barge in, Sunset knocked on the divide, which caused Rarity to jump slightly. “Oh, Sunset Darling, I didn’t hear you get up.” She smiled, “You’d fallen asleep by the end of your show, and I didn’t have the heart to wake you. That being said, we should both be off to bed about now.”
“Yeah…” Sunset agreed, a yawn punctuating her sentence. “What’s all this though?” She pointed at the table.
Rarity blanched visibly, closing the ledger infront of her. “All this? Why, pretending I’m an adult before I am, I guess you could say. How many other high-schoolers do you know that run a business and own their own place, hmm?” She gave a smug smile. “Money management, Darling. Don’t worry about it, lest it ruin your sleep.” Rarity giggled.
Sunset couldn’t help but feel something was off about her response, but her brain wasn’t up to the challenge right now. Instead, she bid her friend goodnight.
For the first time in what felt life forever, Sunset enjoyed her morning routine. A hot, steady shower and gleaming surroundings. Having caught Rarity already awake and downstairs , she was able to take her time, and really enjoy the fruits of her labor. When she finally stepped out of the bathroom, the smells of breakfast hit her full force.
Dressing quickly, she all but skipped down the stairs in anticipation of the breakfast she guessed would be waiting for her.
“Rarity, you didn’t have you.” Sunset claimed, even as her eyes drank in the spread that had been prepared for her.
“I did, Darling. Consider this another part of my apology for my behavior yesterday. I really messed up, and with everything you've done I don't think I could…”
Sunset cut her off. “And I think after everything, you giving me a home, that I just scratched being even. So drop it, alright?” She gave her a kind smile, “and in your own way, you were only worried for me, so water under the bridge.” She pulled out a chair and sat down. “Now let's eat this before it gets cold. Thank you, though.”
Part way through the comfortable silence around breakfast, Sunset realised that Rarity had gone to bed after her, and was up early enough to have been making food as Sunset herself woke. That meant that she had gotten six hours sleep, at best.
Taking carefully hidden looks, she studied Rarity's face. At a glance she look the pristine image of beauty she always did, but looking a bit harder and Sunset could see the signs. Her makeup wasn't one hundred percent even, her mascara wiggled ever wondered slightly. Little things that most people would brush off; but she knew Rarity better. Anything less than perfection wasn't enough, and yet, here she was.
But she also knew Rarity would tell her what was wrong, in her own time, so she left it alone.
“I'm running the store tonight, with the loss of the weekend I really need to, so I won't be able to give you a lift home later. I put your helmet in the trunk incase you choose to get a ride back on Dashie’s bike.”
Sunset smiled. Rarity really was too good to her. “Thank you.” But the smile fell slightly as Rarity left the room.
I shouldn't, but that gives me a chance to find out what's up.