//------------------------------//
// 1. Business 
// Story: For the Love of a Few Colours 
// by Sadie 
//------------------------------//

Carousel Boutique. 114 Hayseed Boulevard. Wedged in between the local donut shop, and one of many supermarkets, the small shop had its own charm of being one of South Canterlot’s only establishments to be run by a girl no older than seventeen. Of course, Rarity’s ability wasn’t just limited to cloth and scissors. In this case, managing the finances and supplies of her inherited enterprise weren’t as much of an unwanted burden, as they were a simple joy of a different kind. Everything balanced out to ensure that she could pursue her own designs, without jeopardizing the rest of her lifestyle and business. Ideally.

As of late, that margin of freedom had been gradually shrinking. Almost literally. A purple belt slipped from Rarity’s hand as she continued to stare at the blank mannequin in utter boredom. Such an extreme lack of inspiration following her huge success with the Fall Formal had drained every single bit of enthusiasm for new ideas from her. On a nearby chair, an unfinished crossword from The Canterlot Times took up empty space. Notably, the first unfinished clue was ‘idea’. The clock switched over to 3pm. A purple themed laptop came to life with a notification, breaking the silence. A voice soon followed.

“Hey Rare, hope you don’t mind me stopping by later. Heard you were bored because of the holiday season, I think I know how to fix that. Peace.” Rarity glanced over at her laptop. Rainbow Dash, presumably leaving a message from her mobile. She had been on one of many sporting tours for the past three months, and still hadn’t stopped by in the week since her return. And yet, Rarity made no move from her position of staring endlessly in search of some spark of inspiration. What good would it do to check up on social notifications anyway? Apart from gratifying her need for proverbial ego stroking, which as of late had been sorely starved, nothing would come of it.

A good ten minutes passed before she finally realized that she hadn’t eaten lunch that day. Her ego wasn’t the only thing that had been deprived of attention. “Well, either I wait here for Rainbow Dash to show up and go hungry. Or I go eat, and run the risk of missing Rainbow Dash altogether. At this rate, I might as well openly declare that I care very little for her sporting achievements!” Her eyes settled on the blank mannequin again, and then returned to the computer. What was I thinking? That we didn’t have access to mobiles and laptops? I’ll just text her to arrange a time. With a graceful push from her boots, the wheeled chair slid over to the open laptop.

Out 4 a while, food. Be back later. Feel free to ‘chill out’. Having to use such poor writing in order to cut back on character usage made her cringe. But at the rate her work was declining, cutting back on text messages would be the least of her problems. “Chances are she’ll get bored and leave before I get back. But that’s Rainbow Dash for you.” With a small huff, she stood up and took a moment to adjust her appearance. Boots, skirt, shirt, and most importantly hair. “I suppose I might as well ask Fluttershy to join me while I’m at it.” She leaned down to type out another message. Flutter dear; meet me @ the deli down the road. Ta.

For the first time that day, she grabbed her handbag for reasons other than swinging it about to distract herself. Once the strap was safely across her shoulder, she made her way to the door. As she reached for the light switch, her phone began buzzing. A text from Fluttershy. Sure thing. Be right there. “Well, she certainly is prompt. If only somebody else was as punctual in her replies.” The lights of the Boutique went out as Rarity’s finger finally pushed the switch. With the curtains closed, the room looked uncomfortably dark. Keys rattled shortly after the door closed. Finally, the main lock slid shut.

South Canterlot wasn’t particularly busy at that time of day. With school out, the only kids in sight were the ones who often spent their entire day at the skate park with their pants hanging far lower than Rarity would even dare look at. The few younger ones who didn’t get to go on vacation spent their time at the local park instead. And of course, there were the ones like her, who had actual jobs in Canterlot. Fluttershy had her volunteer work, and Pinkie Pie would be managing yet another party at the school gym. Applejack had gone home for harvest season, which of course left herself and Rainbow Dash. The latter of which lived off sponsorships, and more often than not one of her friends.

The deli wasn’t as desolate as the boulevard. One or two students she recognized from the formal, the rest were adults who paid little attention to her. Upon entering the deli itself, the array of salads caught her attention. “Hmm. I suppose I should’ve asked what Fluttershy wanted. Oh well, I guess I can cover it when she gets here.” The Caesar Salad caught her attention as she approached the counter. “One medium serving of the Caesar, thank you.” As an round, average size container was filled; she removed the purse from her bag and opened it. She had enough to cover her meal, but not much else.

With the container of salad in hand, she made her way back out to a free table just as Fluttershy arrived. “Oh good, I was worried that I wouldn’t get here in time. Could you mind my bag while I order?” Rarity carefully placed Fluttershy’s backpack on the side of her chair away from the road as she entered the deli. One can never be too careful, especially with those... occupants of the skate park nearby. Again, she did her best to avoid looking in that direction. Fluttershy soon returned with a green salad in hand. “So, have you had any luck with new ideas? Pinkie Pie mentioned you were still struggling when I talked with her this morning.”

Rarity tilted her hand to indicate mediocrity. “Rainbow Dash texted me about stopping by later. Right now I’ll be glad to have any sort of help in coming up with a new project to pursue.” In the depths of her handbag, her phone buzzed again. After a moment of fishing through make-up and hair ties, she retrieved it. Another text from Rainbow Dash. Nice. I’ll be waiting, big news. Have fun. She returned the phone to the bag before resuming her meal. “Well, I may just be in luck after all. Apparently, she has ‘big news’ that is worth waiting for me to return for. Of course, this doesn’t mean I have to leave right away dear.”

The half of the snow pea that Fluttershy hadn’t eaten fell back into her salad at that moment. She blushed soon after. “Wow, that sounds really good. She’s been so helpful lately with promoting the animal shelter at her soccer games.” Rarity scrunched her nose slightly at the thought. Soccer didn’t quite appeal to her as much as some other sports. But she rarely did more than throw a Frisbee at picnics. Even Fluttershy was more active in that sense. “Anyway, I guess if you really are getting desperate, I could always help out.” The offer touched Rarity deeply. Fluttershy’s volunteer work took up a lot of time, on top of her the extra work she did for an income.

“Fluttershy, that’s really sweet of you to offer. But I cannot possibly expect you to give up even more of your time, just to help me out. I’m sure I can work something out, even if it means cutting back on some of the nicer things.” Her phone was the first thing to come to mind. Out of everything else, that was the one item she could probably handle not having for a while. The entire thought process was pushed away as she took another forkful from her salad. “Enough about my problems, I’m sure that things have been far better at the animal shelter.” This time it was Fluttershy’s phone that demanded attention.

“Oh dear, one of the bunny rabbits is feeling sick. I’m sorry Rarity, is it alright for me to go help?” Rarity carefully lifted her backpack over the table with an approving smile. “Thank you, I’ll make this up to you tomorrow, I promise.” The speed at which she departed surprised Rarity quite a bit. In just a few seconds, she had rounded the corner and left her view entirely. The taste of her Caesar salad quickly began to fade.
After stirring the plastic fork along the edges of the container for a good minute, Rarity replaced the lid and carefully rested it in the top of her bag. “It’s not like Rainbow Dash will mind, she’s probably been eating at high class establishments for the past few weeks.” The walk back down to the Boutique was quick, and quiet. The whole time was spent looking at her handbag in paranoia that the salad would spill. Right up to the door, she couldn’t shake the feeling that some sort of terrible accident would occur as a result of taking the salad with her. Her attention returned to the fact that the door was now unlocked, and the lights were back on. “Well, I’m glad she’s still there. Giving her a copy of the keys wasn’t such a bad idea after all.”

Upon pushing the door open, a rather loud ambience of music swept through to give her a nasty shock. As Rarity moved further in, she found Rainbow Dash laid back on the lounge as music blared from her own laptop. For a moment, she was tempted to shout at her for such an abuse of her property. Instead, she settled for turning the music down. “Next time, could you please consider the fact that my ears aren’t used to being blasted with sound?” She let out a relieved exhale upon setting the container of salad down beside her handbag on the table. “So, how was Griffonia? And how did the soccer matches go?”

Rainbow Dash was still wearing the Wondercolt’s soccer jersey. Lightweight polyester, dyed in the trademark blue and yellow of Canterlot’s overall sporting team. “We smashed ‘em so hard, you should’ve seen the looks on their faces when I scored three goals in a row!” She sat up after kicking the air for added effect. Rarity pulled up her own chair to avoid getting the way of any future demonstrations. “Anyway, sorry I haven’t stopped by until now. Been catching up with the team, and discussing the next sport season. This time, it’s baseball.” Rarity nodded to conceal her confusion. There hadn’t been a Canterlot baseball team for over a decade, which could only mean one thing.

“And you’d like me to design the uniform, right?” It was certainly an interesting endeavour. Designing the uniform of a very well known sports team would surely give her a much needed boost for business. “Well, it’s not like I don’t have the time. And I could certainly use the practise; it’s been a while since I’ve worked with synthetic fabrics.” Rainbow Dash stood up, looking taller than Rarity remembered. And she had a bit of a tan too. Griffonian sun presumably. “Well, I suppose I can take your measurements now and work on a prototype. Once it’s done, I’ll make adjustments for the rest of the team.”

Rarity returned her attention to the laptop. With a few clicks, some basic measurements and useful notes came up. From behind, she could hear Rainbow Dash clap her hands together. “Great, and don’t worry, they’ll be paying pretty good for this. I heard from Fluttershy that you’ve been struggling, and everybody agreed that you deserve better for all the hard work you put in.” Rarity blushed slightly. Few appreciated just how hard it was to both manage the business and continue attending school. “So, is there some sort of sample uniform I should change into or something? Jerseys are pretty loose, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes, that would help. I’ll be with you in just a moment.” She copied her notes and other important details into the one document for easier reference. Baseball uniforms were trickier than most other kits, notable due to their need for close fitting. “Now, I think I have a basic outfit on the shelf to your left...” She had turned around to point it out, only to find Rainbow Dash had already removed her jersey, and was about to remove her skirt as well. Only her sports bra and shorts would have remained, had Rarity not gone into hysteria at that moment.

“For goodness sake Rainbow Dash! This is not your personal bedroom! You may be a legal adult, but I am not! And I don’t need people thinking that I’m involved in some sort of perverted back alley business! Please change in the booth or else I’ll just have to send you out.” For most of the rant, she had one arm firmly across her closed eyes. It was only once she heard the distinct sound of curtain rings sliding along the booth pole that she lowered her arm and carefully opened her eyes. A blue arm pulled the outfit back into the privacy of the booth.

There was an awkward silence between the two, until Rainbow Dash finally spoke. “Honestly, I don’t see the big deal. Every girl in the Wondercolts has seen me like that, and a few of the guys have too. And nobody is going to think you’re in dirty business just because I took my jersey off. Relax a bit, okay?” Rarity sat back down in her chair after having jumped from it in fright. Relax wasn’t something she saw herself accomplishing easily. Sure, she probably had overreacted over the whole thing. But didn’t she have a right to be nervous about the future of her career? Especially when it was only just beginning?

Her lip almost became as pale as her skin while she bit down on it. “Dash, I’m sorry I shouted at you. But you have to understand, I value modesty very highly. And while you may not have a problem with being in your underwear in the girls’ locker room, I still feel uncomfortable with wearing anything that doesn’t cover the midriff.” The soccer jersey flew over the top of the curtain, landing on the longue. Dash’s skirt soon followed. “Fine, would you like me to wash your clothes while I’m at it?” The curtain opened slightly as Rainbow Dash peered out from behind.

“I’ll grab them when we’re done. I have a sense of decency too y’know, geez.” She sighed in contempt. “I’m trying to help you out Rarity, not trying to get you to do my laundry like some lazy sleaze. We’re friends.” She breathed in again. “Just cut me some slack okay? I got back last week for crying out loud!” The curtain closed with that. It left Rarity gripping e sides of her chair tightly as she berated herself over her rudeness. Barely a minute passed before she stood up and ascended the stairs on the left side of the building. Skipping the first floor studio and kitchen altogether, she stopped at the door to her bedroom on the upper level.

For a long moment, Rarity tried to convince herself to simply walk in and shut the door behind her. Instead, she leaned over the railing. “When you’re done, could you meet me in the studio? I just need a moment to ‘freshen up’.” It was the énsuité door that she opened instead. A modest shower and sink were opened up to her. Through another door was the toilet, which up until recently had been scented with lavender. Rarity settled for washing her hands compulsively. “What was I thinking? Accusing her of lacking modesty, claiming that she wanted me to wash her clothing on a whim. What’s gotten into you Rarity? This is hardly becoming of a lady!”

Below, the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs encouraged her to return to Rainbow Dash. It took a good amount of mental determination to cease scrubbing her hands until they were sore, and more still to dry them. The voice from below provided unknowing support. “Hey, are you okay up there Rare?” Rarity finished drying her hands and made her way downstairs. In the studio, she found her guest on the verge of using a spare mannequin head as a practise soccer ball. After a few moments of staring, it was returned to its usual spot on the hat shelf.

“Alright, now if you’ll just stand on the platform, we can begin.” Rainbow Dash was quick to oblige. Dressed in a tight grey shirt with matching pants that barely reached down below her knees, she could have easily posed as some sort of unique mime. All the while, Rarity did her best to block out from memory what had happened downstairs. “This may take a while, so don’t hesitate to tell me if you start to get tired dear.”


*


It was quite late in the night. Almost a week had passed since Rainbow Dash had stopped by with the offer of designing a baseball uniform for her team. Rarity was laid back in bed; eyes wide open as heavy rain poured at the window. Not being able to sleep was an understatement. Worries about whether she would make it through the next day alone gnawed away at the back of her mind. Admittedly, her situation wasn’t that desperate. But it was slowly creeping towards that. Already, she had cancelled her phone subscription in favour of keeping the Boutique’s internet access.

The screen of her laptop blared into life. Pale light was cast across the entire bedroom, illuminating Rarity’s pale face at the head of the bed. “Oh for goodness sake.” If she actually had the ability to sleep, it would have simply been easier to ignore whatever had disturbed her computer’s own sleep. The constant distraction drove her to remove herself from the bed and retrieve the laptop. A video chat request, from Rainbow Dash. “What is she calling me at this hour for?”

This time when sliding under the blanket, she pulled it up over herself to form a comfortable alcove. With the laptop in front of her, she bit down on her lip when accepting the request. After a few moments of rendering, Rainbow Dash’s face appeared on the screen. “Hey Rare! Sorry if I woke you up, but I wanted to talk, and I didn’t get a chance to swing by.” Rarity could only notice the fact that Dash was wearing little more than a shirt that barely covered her waist, and tight underwear with her favourite mark on the front.

“Really darling? Dare I ask how you came by that attire?” Rainbow Dash leaned back into the comfort of her pillows. She didn’t look terribly impressed by the quip. “Fine, I’d rather not recall that embarrassing day anyway.” The folds of her own white nightgown felt rather warm at that moment. Or was it her body that had suddenly experienced an elevated temperature? “Alright, I’m here, and I don’t think I’ll be getting much sleep at this rate. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

There was a slight shuffle as Rainbow Dash moved her laptop closer to her face. “Fluttershy says things got worse after I offered you the team uniform project. Is there anything I can do to help?” Rainbow Dash? Offering to help? The notion seemed very odd, and yet she sounded completely serious about it. “I could easily get you an advance on payment if that’d make a difference. And I’m sure the rest of the team would be willing to chip in.”

Rarity’s hand rested on her chest, between herself and the mattress. This was highly unlike Dash, to the point that she couldn’t begin to describe just how touching the gesture was. “Well, I’ll have to take another look at the records. But uh...” Her lip grew as white as the rest of her skin as she bit down. “I don’t really know what to say. Even if it gives me just another month, that would mean a great deal.” Dash shrugged it off with a toss of her multi-coloured hair.

“You don’t have to get all mushy on me y’know. Technically this is a business deal, so you deserve to be paid for the hard work you put in, especially when you need the money. Things work like that.” The thought rolled across her mind. A business deal, nothing more. “But enough about that. I also wanted to apologize for not being more considerate, back that day. After three months of an all-girl locker room, you can imagine how relaxed we get about stuff like that.”

It caused Rarity to sit up at long last. The blanket slid off her hair without a single zap of static, thanks to a conditioner she would probably have to give up as well. “Oh, that was just a silly tiff of mine. Nothing to worry yourself about.” Her lip biting continued. There was something else at the back of her mind that she wanted to discuss. One particular notion that she had no explanation for. For a moment, she opened her mouth to ask the question. The inevitable awkwardness that followed finally encouraged her to change her words. “Can I talk to you about something in person, tomorrow? I’m not sure I feel comfortable discussing it over the internet.”

There was a pause as Rainbow Dash adjusted her position again. It gave Rarity an awkward close-up of her upper chest. “Anything for you Rare. Just name the place and I’ll be there. I promise.” In the moment before the video link closed, Rarity felt her heart jump. It’s nothing; she uses short names all the time. That line of reasoning alone didn’t explain why her cheeks felt warmer than before. Or why she suddenly felt very alone in her room, as rain continued to pour at the window.

“Am I... attracted to her?” It wouldn’t be that bad if that were the case. She did have a certain affection for Fluttershy after all, but not in the romantic sense. With Rainbow Dash however, she couldn’t quite make sense of the odd sensations that had overcome her. Perhaps it was just an extended gratitude for the extra work she was willing to put in to help out. A key detail jumped out at her when she closed her eyes for just a brief second.

At the moment Dash had taken her shirt off, several emotions had run through her. Shock, anger, embarrassment, even a bit of apprehension. But she wasn’t disgusted in the least. She appreciated the female form, and from the conclusion she was drawing, the form of that female in particular. “I’m attracted to her, because she took her shirt off in front of me, and then made the promise that she’d help me out of my financial situation.” It was all wrong. Those were not legitimate reasons to be attracted to a person romantically in any sense. If anything, just thinking about them in combination made her stomach turn. “No, I’m just sleep deprived, and desperate for good fortune. Nothing more.”

Her head came to rest against her silk covered pillows, made by her hand of course. It was such a stupid thing to get frustrated over. Things like that happened all the time; she saw it quite often in her customers. “But not in myself...”


*


Sugarcube Corner had become the ‘go-to’ place for their group meet-ups. Of course, many of the regular visitors remembered her terribly embarrassing outburst, months after it had happened. “One Razzle Dazzle, no sprinkles.” A tall milkshake glass filled to the foamy top with pink milk slid across the table. One solitary strawberry was skewered onto the straw. The intended pun was lost on Rarity as she carefully lifted the Razzle Dazzle off the counter. “Thank you. I hope Pumpkin Cake is enjoying the plush pony. If it’s still in one piece that is.”

It wasn’t particularly busy that day. Her favourite seat, positioned close enough to the aisle to allow her a quick exit if necessary, but near to the window so she had a nice view, waited for her to sit down. The entire table that they often sat at in fact hadn’t been touched the entire day. Not a single hint of powerful smelling disinfectant wafted up to ruin her strawberry Razzle Dazzle. As she sat down, all of the memories from months ago began to return.

First arriving there with Twilight Sparkle to plan her Fall Formal campaign. The day after the Formal, where they discussed trying to find their own Twilight. Rainbow Dash’s departure for her soccer tour. A similar time for Applejack’s last day in Canterlot before returning to the farm. Pinkie Pie’s first date that she had invited herself and Fluttershy to as well. And now, the day that could potentially change the whole future of not just her business, but her life as well.

She was about to give up on waiting and begin sipping the Razzle Dazzle when Rainbow Dash finally entered. Her path was straight to the counter. “A triple chocolate ice cream Brain Freeze please.” There was a muffled clink as she placed down a few coins on the counter. Rarity avoided making eye contact as Dash picked up the Brain Freeze. Every single thing she said had to be carefully thought about first. It was too delicate a situation to let herself be thrown off emotional balance by a stray flush of her cheeks. The moment of truth arrived as Dash slid around the table to the point that they were quite close together.

It wasn’t confronting at the least. Rarity couldn’t work out for herself if that was a good thing or not. “Thank you Rainbow Dash. I do appreciate you taking time out of your day for a friendly chat.” She took a reassuring sip from her Razzle Dazzle. Dash slouched back after taking a chilling gulp from her drink. Her new positioning put her even closer to Rarity. “Uh...” She bit down firmly on her tongue. Her mind was still turbulent with emotions, each trying to overrule the others. But the matter had to be discussed; she couldn’t continue working without knowing for sure that it was purely business.

Rainbow Dash seemed to pick up on her change of mood, sitting up again. “Sorry, bad habits and all. So, did you have anything in particular that you wanted to ‘chat’ about?” A few locks of crimson brushed past Rarity’s hand. The breath she drew was too sharp to ignore. She turned her head away out of embarrassment. Surely Dash would pick up on her obvious emotional state, she wasn’t blind to such matters after all. “Rare, is something wrong?”

The exhale that escaped Rarity’s lips was long, drawn out, and most importantly calming. “No, nothing’s wrong. Apart from the fact that each passing day brings me closer to complete financial ruin.” Her teeth came down hard on her tongue. Being short wouldn’t help matters, and Rainbow Dash deserved far better after how much help she had already delivered, with the assurance of more to come. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I’m just a little on edge, is all.”

A hand rested down on her left shoulder. When she finally worked up the courage to look back, she let herself sink slightly into the comforting hold. “You have nothing to apologize for. At all in fact. If anything, I should be apologizing for not doing more.” Rarity closed her eyes. For just a moment, she was going to allow herself to enjoy the blissful comfort of having a friend so concerned for her wellbeing. Odd feelings of attraction or not, she needed somebody to hold her close. Somebody who was perfectly willing to listen to all of her problems.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash.” When she opened her eyes, she found that the arm around her had pulled tighter, to the point that Dash was now openly hugging her. By instinct, she slid her arms around to return the embrace. “I miss Twilight. She made everything better in just a few days. And... she brought us back together.” Her throat began to tangle. Given her train of thought before, she began to panic as the possibility that she had said too much.

There was no awkward look from Dash as she released the hold. No sarcastic remark about mishearing something. No comment about the way Rarity continued to hold her. “I miss her too. But, the best we can do is move on for now. She’ll be back in two years; the important thing is that you get back to what you do best.” She grabbed her Brain Freeze to take a long sip. “So, I’m going to move in with you.”

Silence. At least for the few seconds in between Rarity gawking at Rainbow Dash, and withdrawing her hands from her waist. The yelp that followed as she quite literally jumped back from her seat into the path of a passing cleaner drew the attention of the entire room in that direction. By strange fortune, the dry towels had fallen over Rarity’s face. It was all that could be done to conceal the sort of expression she couldn’t bear being made public.

“Um, you’re not really supposed to jump around like a maniac just because somebody mentions moving in with you. Besides, I haven’t actually done anything about it; I’m not stupid y’know. Anyway, I wanted to chat, and see what you thought first...” Rarity felt a hand grasp her right. Much as she wanted to escape the utter embarrassment that lay beyond the thin veil of paper towels, she found it easier to lie there in self-pity. At the very least, nothing liquid had spilled to contaminate her hair with chemicals. “Rare, come on. It was just a jump, and nobody got hurt. I’ll walk you home.”

For a moment, Rarity was ready to grab her hand and do just that. But the reality of what that meant was too horrifying to ignore. Literally walking home with a girl she had feelings for, who had proposed she move in for reasons that hadn’t been mentioned. It was a disaster just waiting to be put into motion. “No, I think I shall just get back up and finish off my Razzle Dazzle if you don’t mind. Feel free to hang out at the Boutique for as long as you like. I just... don’t feel like talking right now.”

The sight of a paper towel moving up and down as she spoke had to be comical. But there was no giggle from above. Instead, there was just the slightest of creaks from Dash’s boots as she stood back up. “Okay, fine. Sorry for startling you and whatever. If you want to be alone, I can respect that.” The words stung Rarity more than she cared to admit to herself. In a sense, what Dash said didn’t apply to just the short term. It could easily apply to the long term as well. She could easily be alone for the rest of her life if she so wished. But that was not what she wanted at all.

By the time she stood up, having removed the towels from her face, most of the other occupants of the room had returned to their activities. Rainbow Dash was nowhere in sight. Rarity made no comment to herself, slipping back into her original seat as if nothing had happened. She could barely manage a sip before the sight of the Brain Freeze, sitting next to her Razzle Dazzle, brought on an attack of tears. Rainbow Dash always finished her drinks. Always. There was still a decent amount left in the tall glass however. And there was only one reason as to why she would leave it.

This is all my stupid fault. If I had just accepted the fact I couldn’t do things alone... The amount of tears flowing began to leave a wet patch in her pale blue sleeve. She didn’t care. Little could faze her at that point. Everyone else knew to keep their distance; at least that was the excuse for their failure to care that she told herself. All alone, and that was exactly how she wanted it to be.