//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Second Chance // by Meteorite Shower //------------------------------// The Carousel Boutique loomed before Meteorite. Well, Meteorite thought, as she bit down harder on the coin purse in her mouth, this is the closest I've been so far. Maybe I can actually do it today. It had been a personal goal for weeks, maybe months even, for Meteorite to brave the door of the boutique, but whenever she set out to do so, she had always lost her nerve and talked herself out of it. She took a few steps forward. I don't even know what I'm going to do once I'm inside. She shook her coin purse, just to reconfirm there were still bits inside. She took another few steps forward. I suppose the idea was to buy something. I… should have enough saved up for something. I'm not sure what though. It's not like Rarity sends out catalogues of her stock. She stepped up to the door, and swallowed. She tasted cotton. Okay, I'm at the threshold… might as well dive right in. I'm… I'm just… shopping, after all. … Right? She laid a hoof upon the door, closed her eyes, and pushed. The door swung open with ease, causing the bell above to chime. Meteorite opened her eyes, awaiting the inevitable. A few seconds passed, and a slightly dishevelled Rarity with slightly askew glasses poked her head out of a door near the back. Her eyes widened as she made eye contact with Meteorite and disappeared back through the door for a moment. She quickly reappeared, her glasses gone and her mane quickly being brushed, as she made her way over. "I do apologize!" Rarity said quickly with a forced smile, "I was… preoccupied with some designs." She flicked her mane aside. "But that's neither here nor there. Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! How may I be of assistance?" Meteorite stared at Rarity, before take a deep breath. With thoughtful movement, she removed the purse from her mouth. "I-" she croaked, before stopping and clearing her throat. "I… want to buy something." Rarity's smile twitched. "Well, you're in the right place! Did you… have anything in mind, however?" Meteorite slowly shook her head. "No… I-" she cleared her throat again. "I don't really know what…" she trailed off, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. She glanced past Rarity and at the room she had come out of. "Uh… look," she said, with more conviction than she had thought she had at the moment, "if I'm… interrupting something, I can come back. I don't wanna make you deal with me if you have something important going on." Rarity paused, taken slightly aback. "Well, I-" she glanced back at the back room, pensive in her thoughts. She turned back towards Meteorite, her smile now more genuine. "Actually… I do believe I should take a break. I've been getting nowhere, and perhaps I should take this time to clear my head." She stepped aside and motioned away from the front door. "Please, come in…. uh… I'm sorry, what was your name?" "It's uh… Meteorite," Meteorite answered, stepping forward nervously. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Meteorite!" Rarity said warmly. Meteorite paused, unsure how to respond. After a moment, she took a small breath and smiled. "Sure, pleased to meet you too." Rarity stood by her counter, folding the outfit she had just helped Meteorite decide on, after at least twenty minutes of deliberation. Putting it away in her custom shop bag, she lifted up a second outfit towards the purple pegasus standing by, awkwardly waiting. "Are you sure you don't want this one as well? It does go so well with your particular coloring!" Meteorite cringed slightly as she rubbed her ear with a hoof. "Uh… I do… but I really don't think I can… afford it… as well…" she trailed off. "Oh, that's a shame," Rarity said with a smile, "Maybe next time." "Yeah, maybe." Rarity folded away the second outfit and lifted the bag towards Meteorite. "Here you are, darling! I hope the rest of your day is just as fabulous as this outfit!" A chuckle caught itself inside Meteorite's throat as she let herself get swept away by Rarity's words. "Y-Yeah, th… thank you. I… hope so too." Meteorite took the offered bag, her eyes sweeping up from it and meeting Rarity's own gaze. After a brief moment, she forced herself to blink and hastily turned and headed towards the front door. Placing a hoof upon it, she paused, thoughts clouding her mind. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and lowered the bag as she turned back towards Rarity. "Uh…" Meteorite said, before audibly clearing her throat, making sure Rarity was paying attention. "Look… I just… wanted to say…" she paused, not exactly knowing what she wanted to say. "Yes, darling?" Rarity offered as a prompt, "What is it?" "Well… I think…" Meteorite hesitated, but she wasn't feeling the usual nervousness that held her back. "I think… that… you're just amazing, y'know?" "..Oh!" Rarity uttered, caught off-guard. "Well, than-" "I mean…!" Meteorite continued, "you're just so kind and generous and… everything. Whoever gets to be with you will be the luckiest pony in Eq- in the world!" A heavy silence filled the room. Meteorite was starting to feel her cheeks burn with embarrassment, causing her to avert her gaze and turn around. "…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I don't know why I did." Not wanting to feel further embarrassment, she grabbed her bag and quickly left the boutique, the door chime punctuating her folly. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! Meteorite scolded herself, as she ran down the main street of Ponyville, what the fuck is wrong with me! Why did I do that? Am I retarded?! I must be! God fucking dam- Her inner rage was interrupted by a throat-clearing behind her. It seemed to be the way to get attention nowadays. Meteorite turned around, her eyes widening in realisation as the bag dropped from her mouth. "You." "Heya," Alexandra sheepishly waved. "Sooooo, how did things go with Rarity?" "Like you don't already know," Meteorite growled. Alexandra shrugged comically. "Okay, so it didn't exactly go well." "Oh, understatement of the fucking year!" Meteorite yelled, "Why did you let me go and say something like that?!" Alexandra threw up her hands on the defensive. "Hey, you know I don't control what anyone says, let alone, you! Besides, you asked me to make you less nervous. If you happen to say something as a result of that, it happens. It sucks, but it can't be helped." "Oh! Yeah!" Meteorite snapped in mock agreement, "Well done! Way to be fucking impartial there, boss!" Alexandra frowned unhappily. "Okay, I'm sorry… but well… I mean, so things didn't work out. We can always try again!" "No!" Meteorite snapped, "I'm tired of it! I'm tired of always being the butt of the joke here!" Meteorite flopped a hoof, affecting an accent of some kind, "'Oh look at Meteorite! See how pathetic she is! Look at the loser fawning over someone out of her league! Isn't it just fucking grand?'" "Well… she kinda i-" Alexandra was cut off silently by Meteorite fixing her glare at her. "I'm. Fucking. Tired. Of. It." Meteorite turned around. "I don't care what you do for your little," she mimed air quotes with her hoof, "'Creative Club', but leave me the fuck out of it." "But!" Alexandra cried out, "I like writing about you-!" "I bet you do, now kindly fuck off and leave me alone. Wave your fucking magic wand or whatever and make me forget any of this ever happened." Alexandra stood defeated. "Meteorite…" "You either do it or I walk away out of whatever magic author bubble you have around us." The pair stood silently for a moment before Meteorite snorted. "Fine, then." Meteorite firmly marched onwards, focused solely on not looking back. After a while she came to a stop, blinking in confusion. "Wait… where's my bag?" she muttered, looking around before spotting her bag some distance behind her, all by itself. She tutted and walked back towards it. "I gotta stop spacing out like that…" she mumbled, still distracted by her behaviour earlier at the boutique. Alexandra watched silently as Meteorite grabbed her bag and walked away from her. She sighed to herself as she turned around. "Well… shit. Guess I better start aga-" A sudden shuffling sound nearby interrupted her. That was weird. There shouldn't be any activity nearby while she was still here. Rapidly filling with both confusion and suspicion, Alexandra silently advanced to the corner of the house she heard the noise from and peered around. Next to some stacked crates, there was a newspaper, trying to inconspicuously hide the fact it was hiding something pony-sized. Also the fact it was being held aloft by magic. Alexandra cautiously reached out and quickly pulled away the newspaper, revealing a white unicorn failing at trying not to be noticed. Smiling nervously, the unicorn cleared her throat. "Hello… darling."