Chapter 14
Applying a Foundation
Heartbreak looked freaked out. “The rest of me? Rarity, I’ll have you know that I actually let Twilight brush my mane and tail before I got here!”
“That might be so, but Twilight is an amateur when it comes to the art of the, ‘Makeover.’” Rarity gave Heartbreak a hungry look as a hoard of things started to float towards the two of them. A brush, a makeup kit, a curling iron, file and what Heartbreak realized must be a bottle of hoof polish. “I on the other hoof am an absolute master at it!”
“Aaaand I’m going to have to say, ‘No,’ Rarity,” Heartbreak replied giving a disconcerted look at the floating cloud of beautifying products and sliding away from Rarity.
“B-but darling! If you’re going to go out in public-” Rarity paused on her words, “-you simply must look your best!” She opened a jar of makeup that had a small powder puff brush for application.
“I look just fine,” Heartbreak replied putting her hoof up in a defensive manner.
“But darling--” Rarity began.
“Please stop going, ‘but darling,’” Heartbreak asked as neutrally as she could. “I look just fine.”
Rarity pouted. “But you could look better. And if you look better, than others will see you better.”
“Looks aren’t the most important thing in the world, Rarity,” Heartbreak replied pushing away all the floating things.
“But...” Rarity frowned and stopped herself from saying, ‘darling.’ “But if you look nicer, and other ponies see you nicer, than you’re sure to feel better about yourself!”
Heartbreak began to swat at the things around her. “I said, ‘thank you, but no thank you, Rarity.’ I look just fine!”
Rarity’s beautifying cloud seemed to wilt. “No you do not! You look just terrible!”
“And what about me looks terrible, Rarity?” Heartbreak replied crossing her hooves over her chest.
“Well for starters, your mane and tail has a natural wave to them, that, if accented would go from just, ‘fine,’ to fabulous! There are bags under your eyes that can be fixed with just a little touch up. Your fetlocks are starting to get long and need a bit of a trim: If you don’t care for those, they’ll get matted and ugly!” Rarity lifted up Heartbreak’s hoof. “And the roots of your hooves are starting to show! They need a fresh coat!”
Heartbreak pulled back. “My mane and tail are just fine the way they are. A simple brushing is all they need. The bags under my eyes are due to lack of sleep because of the nightmares I generally have. These fetlocks are fine just the way they are, it’s one more thing that I will have to brush. And as far as my hooves go--” she paused in her ranting. “Wait, what? Roots?”
“Yes, darling. Hooves grow after all. And if you let them grow too long without proper care, they’ll turn a different colour than your coat!” Rarity lifted the fine hairs between the hoof and leg on Heartbreak’s right front leg. There shone a thin line of cream against her tan coat at the top of the hoof. “And you can’t have that! It’s a good thing that I caught it early otherwise you would have had to paint the whole thing!”
“Huh.” She stared at the little line with a bit of morbid fascination. She put her hoof out. “Would ya look at that...”
Rarity smiled and opened a bottle of hoof polish. “Alright then, your coat is a standard tan colour, and I just so happen to have a bottle of that one of my customers left here by mistake!”
Heartbreak’s nose crinkled at the smell of the hoof polish. “Gah! Different world, same horrible smell! Why couldn’t they make it smell like lilacs or something nice?” She pulled her hoof back away from Rarity. “Bleh! I can even taste it!”
“Darling, if you don’t put your hoof out, then I can’t paint it,” Rarity explained, fluttering her eyes.
Heartbreak looked at the hoof polish and then at her hoof. “No thank you, Rarity. I like my hooves the way they are.”
Rarity attempted to grab Heartbreak’s hoof with her magic. “Trust me! You’ll feel much better after-”
“And. I. Said. No!” Heartbreak shouted pulling her hoof down with a sudden burst of strength.
Rarity jumped back in surprise and frowned. “I’m just trying to help you!”
Heartbreak took a long deep breath trying to regain any composure. “And you have helped me with things that I wanted help with, Rarity. I don’t need any help with the way I look.”
“And I beg to differ about that! Really! How do you expect to get anywhere by looking like you just crawled out of bed!” Rarity exclaimed losing her patience.
Heartbreak frowned. “You know what? I think we managed the whole, ‘getting to know you,’ exercise for today. I think we should do more tomorrow maybe.”
Rarity blinked. “Wait? What? But darling, we barely spent any time together!”
Heartbreak rolled her eyes and sucked down the last bit of tea in her cup. “I think we spent plenty of time together, Rarity. I mean, we don’t have to do all this in a single shot. And...” She closed her sketchbook. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
Rarity looked worried. “But... I don’t understand.”
Heartbreak drooped her head and rolled her eyes. “Another thing I don’t, ‘do,’ is makeovers. I don’t like them.”
Rarity looked a bit shocked. “Bwah? Good heavens! Why not?” She asked as Heartbreak started to gather her things. “There’s nothing more fun than a good makeover!”
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I shudder as I open my saddlebag and placed the sketchbook within. A soured frown darkens my face. Ugh, my excuse of, ‘my mother never forced me to,’ isn’t going to work here. And Rarity is desperately grasping at straws over this.
I get that she wants to bond. I get that she wants to succeed in her teaching. But I am not going to get a fucking makeover. It’s too ...weird, it’s too much, and it’s not something that I want to get, damn it. Some would say that I should get over myself and accept being a mare and that this is what mares do. They get makeovers, they wear dresses. And you know what I have to say to that?!
Fuck off. Why should I!? Why should I have to conform to the standard stereotypes!? Fuck, I’ve already been over this in my head before! I don’t need to go over it again!
As I look up in the mirror, another reason why I don’t want a makeover pops into my head. A good reason. One that this crazy fashion obsessed unicorn might accept.
“Rarity. Look in the mirror, what do you see?” I ask.
Rarity looks in the mirror and in what could be called a ‘Rarity’ moment, she pauses to look at herself. She blinks and realizes that I am pointing at myself and not the mirror. She takes a deep breath. “I see a pony who is in dire need of a makeover, some sprucing up and a nice long trip to the spa?” She asks in an innocent, pleading manner. My left eye twitches at the mention of the word, ‘spa.’
She pauses and disappointment sets in. “Let me guess, you don’t, ‘do,’ spas either?”
“No. No I don’t do spas either. But that is completely beside the point.” I take a deep breath. “When you look at me you see a pony. A messy maybe ill groomed pony, but a pony nevertheless. You know what I see when I look in the mirror?”
She gives me a puzzled look. “The same thing?”
“No. I see a stranger. I see a being who has been altered and twisted and given what some could consider to be the ultimate makeover! A complete overhaul of everything I was, down to my very name! And then you come along and tell me that I need to be changed further. That I’m not good enough the way I am,” I feel a crack in my voice as I explain this. Fuck, the explanation is even getting to me. “I know you’re not trying to make me feel uncomfortable, but how do you think that makes me feel?”
Rarity looks dismayed and nearly on the verge of tears. “I just wanted to show you a bit of generosity...”
I sigh. Fuuuuck. “Look, Rarity, you did. It was very nice of you to help me with my drawings and getting me some tea,” I reply picking up my mechanical pencil.
“But... but...” Rarity looks to and fro. Great, I have the feeling that she isn’t going to just let me leave. How the hell did, ‘getting to know you,’ become this weird game of, ‘I want to try to dress you up?’ Fuck, why is it turning into said weird game?! “Your package!”
I give her a dead panned look. “What about it?” She pushes the box up to my face in a glow of magic.
“Don’t you want to open it and find out what it is?” She asks shaking it a little.
“I know what it is, Rarity.” I put the pencil in my saddlebag. “It’s from High Hat, therefore it’s a hat.”
“Wouldn’t you like to try it on?” She asks me fluttering her eyes. “Please, please, pleeeeeeeease?”
Son of a bitch. Rarity isn’t going to let me leave her little shop until she gets me to try at least something, other than the overwear, on. Even if that something wasn't made by her! I sigh. “Fine! I guess it’s better than carrying the box in my mouth the way back to the library.”
Rarity practically squeals in delight. Seriously, what’s up with this? She pulls off the ribbon and removes the top. “Oh I bet it’s some elegant fop, or a pretty sun hat or-” She stops mid sentence, a horrified look painted on her face. She pulls the hat out from the box.
“Or ...a green peaked military looking creation.”
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Heartbreak looked at the hat that Rarity just pulled out of the box and fought the urge to smile a bit. She didn't know what possessed High Hat to even create such a thing, let alone send it to her.
And yet the look on Rarity's face as she fumbled the creation about was almost priceless. She bit her lower lip upon seeing her squirm at the military green hat with a gold medallion placed in the center.
“I love it,” she finally said.
Rarity fought the urge to look horrified. “Y-you do?”
“Yup, it’s a nice gift from a-” She paused, “decent individual who is well on their way to bigger and better things. Can you help me put it on?”
Rarity looked at the hat and then back at Heartbreak. “Seriously?” Heartbreak frowned. Rarity put on her best smile and whimpered slightly. “Alright then! But let’s make sure that your mane is up and proper for this!” She said pulling out the brush from the cloud.
Heartbreak backed away. “Rarity, it’s putting on a hat, not making sure Princess Cadence’s mane is ready for the Equestrian Games Inspector.”
Rarity found herself caught off guard by the comparison. “I-I-I know that, darling. I just don’t want you suffering from hatmane later on!”
Heartbreak rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She sighed and gave a glare at Rarity. “But. No. Makeovers.”
Rarity gave a nervous giggle. “Perish the thought, darling!” She replied passing the brush through the tangled mess of Heartbreak’s mane. “I-” She tugged it through as it got caught on a tangle.
“Ow, Rarity,” Heartbreak said in a neutral tone. Another tug brought more pain. “Ow! Rarity!”
“Hold still...” Rarity pulled through the tangle. “There! Another brush here, and perfect! How do you think it looks?”
Heartbreak didn’t look at her newly brushed mane. “It would look better with my new hat on it, Rarity.” Rarity sighed and placed the hat atop Heartbreak’s head. “Thank you.” She turned and looked in the mirror adjusting the hat slightly. “There. Perfect.” A smug smile curled its way over Heartbreak’s face. “What do you think, Rarity?”
Rarity coughed and gave a faux smile. “It looks lovely, darling,” She replied through her teeth.
“Thank you, Rarity. Now, I’m sure you have places to go and ponies to dress up, and a trip to the spa that you want to take,” Heartbreak said looking at Rarity cutely.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me? A trip to the spa would do you wonders. You have my word!” Rarity said pleadingly.
Heartbreak struggled to put her saddlebags on. Rarity grimaced and then gave a bit of quick assistance. “Thank you, but no thank you, you’d be better off without me. Besides-” she tapped the bill of her hat. “-with this new hat? I’m feeling better already. See you again tomorrow?”
Rarity smiled and waved. “Of course! I look forward to it!” She said opening the door. As Heartbreak left she found herself wilting and leaning against the wall of her shop. “Be strong, Rarity. You can do this,” she sighed. “There’s nothing to worry about. If you can get along with the likes of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, then you can get along with Heartbreak.” She frowned. “Enough of this pity party! Heartbreak was right about one thing: a trip to the spa would do you good!”