//------------------------------//
// Start of the Season (and Love) 
// Story: Amor Fati 
// by BRyeMC 
//------------------------------//

	Clyde tied a tight knot for the laces of his shoe and looked across the locker room at Tyrone. “You ready?” he asked him.

Tyrone smirked and slipped on his blue and yellow jersey. He looked down at the small ‘1’ on his chest and laughed. “I’ve been as ready as you can, dawg. This is our time to shine.”

Clyde nodded. He couldn’t believe it was already December and time for their first game. It was like yesterday when he helped Pinkie with her Halloween party and his little ice cream date with his favorite girl in the school. The one thing that bugged him the past month was how busy he was with basketball practice that he never had any time to hang out with Rarity. Other than texting, the only time he got to see her was for the Trotsburg movie that Pinkie gave her tickets to.

“T! You ready for this!” yelled Thunderlane from the other side of the locker room. “We gotta show the world the T-to-T Connection!”

“YEAH!” shouted Bulk, flexing his biceps. Clyde always thought he was the true energy source for the team. When he scored a basket or blocked a shot, Bulk would scream into the fans who would go crazy during the pre-season games. He hoped the fans would do the same for the regular season. 

Tyrone hopped up and began lunging down and stretching. He scanned the locker room and frowned. “Where’s RD? I don’t see her.”

“I’m right here.” Rainbow Dash walked up to them and sat on the bench beside Clyde. She folded her arms and leaned her head on the wall. “I just woke up.”

“What?” replied Tyrone, “how can you be sleeping on a night like this?”

“Calm down, it was just a normal, ten second power nap.” 

“Is that even possible?” asked Tyrone. 

“Well, it’s not really a nap,” said Rainbow Dash using hand gestures, “it’s more of a quick meditation to calm one’s mind so they can physically do better. I’ve done it since I was a little girl and it always makes me feel better on playing.”

“Oh. I normally just point to the sky for my mom.” Tyrone wiped a tear from his eye and slapped his chest before pointing to the sky. Rainbow Dash patted his shoulder to cheer him up and he nodded at her as a thanks.

Clyde turned his torso around to see his jersey on a hanger. He looked at the number ‘15’ and smiled. Not only was it is favorite number, but there were also another symbolic thing about it. Rarity and him went to the movies on the fifteenth of October. That was their first planned date and Clyde would always remember the walk with her on his back. He moved his hand across the number, took it off the hook, and slid it on. 

Soon, the locker room door slammed open and Coach Iron Will waddled to the open area where the whiteboard was. Instead of his normal hoodie and sweatpants, he was in a suit and tie. The rest of the team quietly laughed to themselves and quickly ran and sat near Tyrone, Rainbow Dash, and Clyde so they could see it better. 

"Alright team, Iron Will has coached you, pushed you, made you all tougher, and even readied you for this season.” Iron Will snorted and slowly looked at each player. “All you need to do now, is work together, score points, and prevent points! It’s that easy!”

“You say this now, but it’s harder in a real game,” said one of the benchwarmers Clyde didn’t even know the name of yet. There was only a dozen of them on a team, but only eight or nine played. The rest where basically reserves in case of an injury. Iron Will chose that way to coach because that’s how the professional teams played.

Instead of yelling back, Iron Will stared at the boy into submission. He took another round of glances and put out his hand. “Alright boys–”

“Ahem.”

“–and Miss Dash, let’s bring it in.” The players one by one stacked their right hand on the pile of hands and looked at each other. Clyde could see the fire in everyone’s eyes. He closed his eyes to think of his brother who helped him get here and slapped his hand on the pile. “Wondercolts on three. Don’t make me angry out there!”

The team nodded in unison and looked at the pile of their hands. “One, two, three, Wondercolts!”


*	*	*	*	*


After showing the ticket seller her student ID card, Rarity walked into the gymnasium and searched for a seat. The game was about to start and people were quickly filling into the stands. After seeing an empty section a few rows up, Rarity felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Did you find a seat?” asked her father, Hondo. However, the people of Canterlot didn’t know him for that name. They knew him as Magnum, the best quarterback Canterlot High ever had. 

“Would those work?” she asked pointing to the empty seats.

“Looks good to me.” Magnum looked behind him and scratched his head. “I think we lost your mother.”

“I’ll go find her,” said Rarity, storming past him with an angry sigh. She politely made her way through the crowd of incoming fans in search for her mother. After almost attacking someone due to them rudely pushing her, she saw her mother leaving the ticket line. “There you are!”

“Where’s your father? I told him to wait while I used the restroom, but of course he didn’t. He sure is energetic like his younger self when it comes to athletic events...” Pearl looked at her daughter and smiled. “Let’s go find him...”

“Shouldn’t be a problem! He’s already in there, hopefully with our seats.”

Pearl gave another smile and the two of them worked their way back into the gym. Pearl, like Rarity’s father, also went by another name, but that name was only used for her passion for cooking. She uses the pseudonym of Cookie Crumbles for her various cookbooks and her cooking classes she offers in other cities. Pearl told Rarity her reasoning for this was because she didn’t want fame to overtake her family time as that was much more important to her. Rarity liked the idea, as her mother did help her when she had questions involving designing or colors for her work.

When the pair walked into the gym, which was more populated than a few minutes ago, Magnum saw them and waved to them. The two climbed the side of the bleachers and scrambled into the seats. Rarity sat at the end of the row, with Pearl beside her. Magnum was talking to another man about some football team, that Rarity always ignored. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through various social media streams to pass the time.

After a few minutes, Rarity looked around the gym and saw all the fans of the basketball team. The school basketball team hadn’t achieved a winning record in a decade, but every game was always filled to the brim. She soon glanced her way to the student section and saw her peers already jumping up and down ready for the game. She herself could join them, but with their wild and unpredictable behavior, she thought it would be best to sit with her parents. Besides, they probably would distract her from watching a certain boy.

Suddenly, the crowd began to boo and Rarity looked around to understand what was happening. She heard louder boos as the other team began to run out on the court for warm ups. Due to the other team being from Cloudsdale High, the student section began to boo and yell at their rivals in utmost disgust. A minute after Cloudsdale took the court, the gym lights flicked and Canterlot’s cheerleaders ran to make a space to run through from the locker room.

A song began to blare through the intercom and the crowd began applauding. Soon, the locker room burst open and Rainbow Dash led the charge towards the basket. Tyrone was at the back-end, with Clyde as the person in front of him. Rainbow Dash dribbled the ball towards the basket and made a layup then threw it to the next person in line. The train continued until Clyde’s turn where instead of doing a layup, he threw it off the backboard and Tyrone caught it and dunked the ball. The crowd went crazy again and Rarity cracked a smile. 

The music faded away and the crowd started to calm down. The players resumed their warm up shots while Rarity focused solely on watching Clyde. While she wasn’t surprised he made every shot he attempted, mostly because she knew how busy he was with practice the past month, she wanted to cheer for him. What stopped her was the fact the game didn’t start yet and this was just practice. 

“So, Rarity, dear,” began Pearl as she looked at her daughter. She noticed Rarity was watching the court closely for the past minute or so. “Why did you finally come with us to watch a school game? I thought you had no interest in sports?”

“Well, I don’t, at least, not playing them myself. I’m perfectly content watching them, however.” Rarity gave a small smile to her mother and looked down at the court again. “Also, my good friend, Rainbow Dash, is playing and I would be a terrible friend if I didn’t come to watch her play and support her!”

“Little Rainbow Dash is on the team?” Pearl examined the court closely and when she saw Rainbow Dash she gasped. “Oh my, she is! I remember when she always came to our house a few years ago. Why did she decide to play on the boys’ team this year?”

Rarity smirked with pride. “Well, I told her since she’s much more skilled than the girls’ team, why not challenge yourself on the boys’? It’s higher competition, and that’s what Rainbow likes.”

Pearl nodded and slowly turned her head to the side. “I see.” She sat there quiet for a few moments, letting Rarity watch the court again, before speaking back up. “So, which boy are you watching?”

Rarity froze in place and nervously looked at her mother. “W-Whatever are you talking about?” 

“Don’t be so coy, dear. You can tell me. I was young too, you know.” Pearl winked.

“I-I seriously don’t know what you mean. That’s quite an accusation.” Rarity looked away to attempt to hide her reddened cheeks. “Did Sweetie Belle talk to you before this!”

“Rarity, please, I know what you did. You don’t have to hide anything from me, you can trust me.”

“I–”

“You made Rainbow Dash join the team so it would look like you are here for her. However, you wanted to secretly watch another player on the team.” Pearl looked over at her aghasted daughter.

“How did you ever figure that out...” said Rarity embarrassed. She looked away from Pearl and frowned. She felt her mother’s hands on her shoulder. She looked up at her and gave a weak smile.

“Don’t be upset. I only know because I did the same thing when I was your age,” assured Pearl with a smile.

“Really? How so?” questioned Rarity. She felt normal again, as if her mother’s smile purged all feelings of embarrassment within her. 

Her mother closed her eyes. “I’m sure you know, but your father was a star in this school–”

“Are you talking about my quarterback days here?” interrupted Magnum with a glare at both Pearl and Rarity. Magnum ear was always excellent when he heard his name involved with football or this school. He told his family many times that playing football at Canterlot High was one of the best moments of his life. The man beside Magnum who was talking to him shrugged and looked the other way.

“Calm down, dear. I’m telling her about how you and I met.”

“Oh, okay. Why?”

Rarity sheepishly looked away and Pearl waved him to turn around. “It’s nothing! She was only curious! Go back and talk about that game or team you were mumbling about.” Magnum nodded and resumed talking to his neighbor in the stands. 

“Anyways,” began Pearl again, looking at Rarity. “I secretly watched him in the stands every Friday night, no matter if the game was home, away, or even in extremely cold weather.”

“Did he like you back?”

“He won’t tell you if you ask him, but he did. I could tell by the look in his eye every time I talked to him or walked past him. It wasn’t until after football season was over where we started to hang out more and eventually became a couple!”

Rarity sat there stunned on how comparable her parent’s relationship quest was to hers. She looked on the court again to see Clyde trying to cross Tyrone and wondered if he had seen her sitting up here yet. She didn’t tell him she was coming to the game, hoping when he saw her, Clyde would be completely surprised.

“So, enough about your father and I,” stated Pearl. She leaned in closer to Rarity and carefully looked at the court below, looking at every player on the team. “Which one is it, dear?” she asked in a whisper so her husband wouldn’t hear her. 

Rarity waited for Clyde to have the ball and make a shot before saying anything. “That one,” she said with a point of her finger. She watched her mother squint her eyes and check him from a distance. Rarity nervously waited for her reply.

“He doesn’t seem like jock-type of guy,” noted Pearl. 

“He’s not. He cares more about his friends than himself, much like myself.”

Pearl blinked and gave Rarity a quick, curious look. “How do you know this?”

“Well, I, uh, sort have talked to him for a few months now...” Rarity felt her cheeks warm up again. Her mother gave a brief chuckle and showed a smile.

“Have you now?”

“It’s a long story, but yes. Most of the times when I said I was texting Pinkie or Fluttershy, I was actually texting him.”

“So he asked for you number?”

“No, I secretly put my number in his phone on our first date–however, it wasn’t an official date–and we’ve been texting since.”

Pearl laughed some more and looked at Rarity slyly. “You do love this boy, huh?”

Rarity flushed red again. “Well, at first, no. When we first met, I knew of his crush towards me, but I didn’t feel the same way. It wasn’t until after I kept texting him and spending time with him, especially our first movie together, is where I found myself wishing he would spend more and more time with me. I enjoy his company tremendously and so does he with mine. He’s someone I can talk to forever without any complains and someone who treats me like royalty.” 

Pearl watched Rarity’s eyes glow with excitement during her praise of him. “So he does like you then?”

“Very much.”

“Then why hasn’t he asked you out yet?”

Rarity sighed and put her boots on the seat in front of her, raising her knees to her elbows and pouting. “My guess is because he never was in this situation before and he doesn’t want me to get mad at him if he does ask and I say ‘no’. I keep hinting at him that I do like him, just like how he feels about me, but he might be slightly oblivious, while rather cute, can frustrating at the same time.”

Pearl looked at the disheartened girl beside her and gave her a brief hug. “Don’t worry, dear. I’m sure something will happen soon.” 

Rarity looked at her and gave a weak smile before watching Clyde and the rest of the starting lineup begin to walk towards their positions on the court. “You think so? I really hope you’re right. He’s the only boy I met who makes me feel this way about love and romance. I think I may have found the Prince I always wanted.”

“Maybe all he needs is just some drive?” suggested Pearl.

“Pardon?”

“Maybe, instead of waiting for him to make the first move, you should. Boys find confidence just as attractive as the girl herself. Not only will he be stunned you asked first, but if he likes you like you say he does, you’ll have a boyfriend in no time.”

Rarity pounded her small fist into her palm and smiled in happiness. “You’re absolutely right! I know for a fact he thinks I’m the most beautiful girl he ever laid eyes on! That means I need to show him confidence too!” Rarity eyed Pearl and gave her a hug. “Thank you, thank you so very much. You truly are the best mother I could ever have.”

“Of course, I’ll do anything to help my girls happy! Where do you think you get your love for romance after all?” replied Pearl, hugging her tightly back. She took a quick glance towards the court to looked at Clyde again. “I think you and that boy would look adorable together! Although, he doesn’t look tough.”

Rarity angrily frowned at her to Clyde's defense. “It doesn’t matter if he is tough, weak, or both. He's a lot stronger than he looks, however, and I know Clyde would protect me if I was ever in danger, but the most important thing is that he can carry me and that’s all that matters.”

Pearl curiously looked at Rarity again. “He carried you already?”

Rarity winked. “That’s another story I’ll tell you later.”

Pearl smiled at her one last time before turning her view toward the court. The crowd was beginning to chant and the referee threw the ball into the air and the game was on.


*	*	*	*	*


Clyde watched the ball launch into the air and Bulk and the Cloudsdale center jumped after it. Bulk managed to tip it outwards over the heads of Tyrone and Rainbow Dash and into Clyde’s grasp. The crowd cheered loudly as Clyde walked the ball over the midcourt line. 

Clyde stood in place for a few moments, dribbling the ball to not only wait for his team to set up for screens or a play, but also to study his defender. The Cloudsdale point guard was similar in size, but Clyde could tell his opponent was faster than him. Clyde led his opponent a fake cut to the right, before exploding left and driving towards the basket. As he saw a Cloudsdale forward switch on to him, Clyde bounced the ball to Thunderlane, who lifted it into the basket for two points. The crowd applauded while Thunderlane pointed to Clyde and backpedaled down the court to play defense.  Clyde waited at the midcourt line for the point guard to approach.

Unlike what Clyde did on offense, the Cloudsdale point threw it to the other guard coming off a screen. He made the open three and the few Cloudsdale fans cheered along their cheerleaders. 

“Alright, alright,” said Tyrone throwing the ball in bounds and jogging beside Clyde, “we got this. Let’s show them our movement.” Tyrone smirked and ran up to the three-point arc. Clyde lifted a finger, which caused Bulk to run up and set a simple screen to Clyde’s left. After following through it, Clyde tossed it over the heads of his and Bulk’s defender to a wide open Rainbow Dash. Instead of shooting it, she saw Tyrone do a backdoor cut to the basket and did a quick pump fake. She lobbed it high in the air to the right of the basket and before Cloudsdale could do anything, Tyrone leaped up and slammed it down. The crowd exploded in excitement and awe as Cloudsdale’s coach angrily called a timeout.

“A timeout already?” asked Tyrone with a laugh in the team huddle. “I guess they ain't ready for primetime.” 

“Don’t get cocky, boy!” yelled Iron Will, “the game just started!”

“Yeah, but so did we.” Tyrone looked at Bulk and Thunderlane who responded with big, evil smiles. Rainbow Dash glanced at Clyde and shrugged. 

Iron Will snorted at them and quickly looked at Clyde and Rainbow Dash, the two guards who would have the ball the most. “The timeout is almost over, so just continue passing on offense and stalling on defense! Show them your generosity and tenacity!” The two nodded and the referees blew the whistle to resume play. 

The team ran out and got in their defensive positions, waiting for the offense to attack them. After a quick flurry of passes, Cloudsdale missed a jumper and Rainbow Dash rebounded the ball and dashed down the court in a blazing sprint. She crossed over the center on the fastbreak and made a layup without breaking a single bead of sweat.

Back on defense, Clyde ordered the team to play tighter defense to deny easy passes. The earlier possessions Cloudsdale had were all fueled by a barrage of quick, touch passes to a wide open shot so Clyde wanted to hinder that strategy as quickly as possible. Clyde played off the point guard by a few inches to see if he could bait them to pass it to him. Like he thought, Tyrone’s man pitched it the “open” guard and Clyde stuck a hand out to stop and take the ball. He heard the crowd start cheering as he bolted down the court, the Cloudsdale point guard closely beside him. After some reaches and stellar defense, the other guard grazed Clyde’s arm as he went for the layup. The whistle blew and Clyde watched the ball roll into the basket. The crowd broke into cheers again.

“AND ONE!” the student section yelled, clapping their hands and rapidly stomping their feet up and down on the bleachers, the sound of thundering hooves filling the gymnasium. Clyde walked over to the free throw line and slapped his teammate’s hands as they walked by him, except for Tyrone, who gave him a slap on the back in excitement. Clyde leaned down to breathe and watched the student section holler and shout to pump up the fans throughout the gym. A security officer walked over to them to try to quiet them down, but was quickly ignored by the mob of students. He shrugged and walked out of the gym. Clyde laughed and gave a quick smile before looking at the referee who had the ball.

After a signal with a lone finger, the referee bounced the ball to Clyde. Clyde stared at the hoop and heard the gym fall silent, awaiting the shot. Clyde bounced the ball a few times and in one fluent motion, bend his knees and followed through with the shot, hearing the wonderful swish. The crowd erupted into cheers again.

Clyde and the team confidently marched back to defense and saw Cloudsdale coach giving hand signals to his team. Unsure of what to expect, Clyde stayed near the free throw line, watching the point walk up the court. In a quick second, the point guard ran past him, drawing Clyde to foul him with a delayed reaction. With one foul already, Clyde told himself to act careful of getting the second. 

Cloudsdale inbounded the ball and shoved it to Tyrone’s player. Tyrone and him blocked out the rest of the court and only focused on each other. Tyrone made a mistake of reaching in to jab the ball out, so the player rushed past Tyrone and took it to Bulk, drawing the foul. Fortunately, he missed the layup so there was no opportunity for a three-point play.

The Canterlot fans hollered again as the player went for his two free throws. Even through the chaotic yelling, the player made the two shots and Tyrone passed it to Clyde. Clyde briefly glanced at Coach Iron Will who was scratching his nose, signaling for him to run straight to the basket. Clyde ran past the midcourt line and past his defender, but another Cloudsdale player ran in front of him. Clyde crashed into the player and they both fell to the court. The referee blew the whistle and pointed the other way due to the offensive charge. The crowd booed and Iron Will jumped up and down, yelling at the referee at the terrible call. 

“He didn’t have his feet planted!” shouted the irate Iron Will towards the referee who made the call. “That call was-”

“Coach, no!” yelled one of the team’s reserves. “Don’t get a technical!”

Iron WIll gave the boy a death stare and snorted in rage. “Iron Will’s grandmother could have made a better call than that and she’s no longer living!” The referee made a ‘T’ with his hands and pointed to Iron WIll. “Give me a technical, huh?” laughed Iron Will immensely. “You’re lucky Iron Will can’t–” 

“Just stop,” replied the referee, “since it’s the first game of the season, I’m not throwing anyone out tonight, but calm yourself. You’re acting like an idiot.” The referee jogged away.

“An idiot?” Iron Will was blatantly enraged at his comment. He looked at bench and pointed at Clyde. “Justice! Get out there and sub for him! He’s in foul trouble.”

“M-Me?” asked Swift Justice in complete doubt. “I’m–”

“GET IN THERE!”

“Y-Yes sir!” Swift ran to the announce table to confirm the substitution for Clyde. Clyde walked back to the bench and gave Swift a handshake at the table. He walked past Iron Will who nodded at him and sat at the end of the bench in Swift’s now empty seat. Another player handed him a fresh towel and Clyde threw it over his face and rubbed all the sweat and grime from him. He looked back at the court and sighed, wishing he could keep playing, but knew how important it was to stay off the floor when having fouls. He watched Bulk block a hookshot, scream into the stands, Tyrone charging down the floor and juked a kid out and making the basket. 

Clyde threw the towel back over his face and closed his eyes.


*	*	*	*	*


Rarity frowned when Clyde covered his face, thinking he didn’t notice her in the stands. She could tell he was upset, but knew she couldn’t help him. It was a basketball thing, and she knew very little of it. Clyde barely talked about it when he texted her, so she never learned what any terms, positions, or fouls. She only knew he called himself the “assister” of the team.

Clyde never returned to the court in the first half, as Canterlot, or technically, Tyrone, was blowing Cloudsdale away. Tyrone had more than half of the team’s points, while the rest of the starters were bringing in rebounds, steals, and assists. For the bench, only Swift was making an impact in the game, filling out the stats sheet with two or three in every category. 

When the second half started, Rarity was extremely excited to see Clyde playing again. He was on with the regular starters, which surprised many fans in the crowd. Normally in blowouts, the coach would have the bench play, but Iron Will refused to let up the assault because it was also the rival Cloudsdale. 

Just like the first half, Canterlot continued scoring and denying Cloudsdale to catch up to them. Tyrone led the scoring again, but Clyde and the rest of the starting five joined in as well. While Rarity secretly praised Clyde in her head when he knocked down a jumper or made a finger roll layup, she cheered in public when Rainbow did a remarkable feat. Even if Rainbow Dash was playing on the boys’ team, the fans didn't act super surprised about it. Most fans knew she was the best female athlete in school, and debatably, the best athlete in general.

After a final score of almost tripling Cloudsdale’s points, the buzzer went off and Canterlot’s players gave each other handshakes on the victory. The student section was chanting and telling Cloudsdale to go home and wait for ‘Round 2’ in January where the same outcome would happen. Iron Will and most of the team walked back to the locker room and the fans gave one last applause before exiting the gym. Tyrone ran up to the student section, pointing to his peers and thanking them for hyping up the team. He ran to the locker room in joy after some “MVP” chants.

Rarity and her parents made their way out of the school and into Magnum’s SUV. She sat in the back seat and looked at her phone until the speech was heard.

“So, Rarity, how was your first basketball game to watch?” asked Magnum, turning out of the parking lot and back to their home. 

“It was interesting to say the least. I never knew how exhausting a simple sport could be.” She continued looking at her phone.

“Just wait until you actually play a sport once,” laughed Magnum. This time he looked at the rear-view mirror to see her give an apathetic look. “Nevermind. Did you at least learn something tonight?”

Rarity looked back up and looked at her mom. Seeing a small smile form from her, Rarity mimicked it. “I did.”

“Well that’s good. As long as you appreciate the fine art of sports and teamwork, I can’t complain.”

“Don’t worry, father. I do appreciate them.” 

After fighting through Friday night traffic, the family soon arrived at their home in the city. Rarity ran inside and quickly checked to see if all of her clothes in her shop were ruined or harmed in case a robber broke in during the game. Seeing no damage, she ran upstairs to her room, and flopped on the bed.

Her small store, while connected to the streets of the city, was also home for a small family sized house behind the curtains and upstairs. Magnum renovated the front of the house into a shop just for her, and because of the gift, Rarity promised to design fabulous clothes to keep the store running. 

Rarity looked at her phone again and saw it was an hour after the game ended. Thinking Clyde would be home now, Rarity opened up their text chat. “Good evening, Clyde. I heard you had a wonderful game tonight!” she typed. She sent it and decided to get ready for bed.

Upon returning after changing into comfortable clothes, Rarity saw Clyde replied back. She quickly opened it up and read it. “I think Coach said I had around 13 points and 11 assists, which is great by many people’s standards. How did you know already about my good game?”

“Oh, well, I figured you would have one!”

“Really?”

“Of course!” She hesitated and typed another message with a smile. “And because I was there...”

“Wait, really?! I didn’t see you. I even looked at the student section multiple times.”

“I was sitting with my parents. I wanted to wave, but everyone would have looked at me strangely and because of your little restaurant embarrassment, I didn't want being the one who was looking awkward in a public setting this time.”

“Way to bring that up again...”

“I’m sorry!”

“Heh, it’s fine. Even though you saw that... shameful selfie, I’m glad you were the only one to really see it. If it was someone else, I probably would still hate them for it.”

Rarity felt her cheeks warm. Was Clyde trying to say something, something romantic perhaps? “Aww, I’m glad you don’t hate me!”

“Hate you? I think you’re on the other end of the spectrum.” Rarity twitched her eye and stared at his message. If he didn’t ‘hate’ her and she was on the opposite end, that means he had to... love her! Before responding back, she saw another message pop up. “I’m really tired so I’ll try to make this quick: can I ask you something?”

Rarity’s heart dropped and she gasped. “Sure, anything!” She dropped her phone on the bed and hugged her pillow tightly in anticipation. 

“Well, I wanted to say this awhile ago, but I didn’t know how to make it seem weird.”

“Nothing you say will be awkward! What is it?” she typed in excitement, trying her hardest from squealing and making her family check up on her. 

“I need a tie for away games to represent Canterlot High as classy and skilled, but I don’t know where to find one. I assumed since you deal with clothes, you would have one, even though you normally don’t work on boy clothes?” 

Rarity sat there and sighed in defeat. She wanted to cry, but realized that wouldn’t solve anything. “I know where I can get one, so just stop by tomorrow. I might need help anyway if you would like being a gentleman and helping me.”

“Sweet. I’ll stop by then. Thanks!”

“Clyde, was there something else you wanted to tell me?” She typed, hoping for a certain response. 

“Not that I can think of, but then again, I’m really tired. Was there something you wanted me to say?”

“No, it’s nothing... Sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Night.” 

Rarity put her phone on her nightstand and put her head into the pillow, sighing loudly. Maybe one day he would finally get it. She got up and turned off the lights, crawling back to her bed in the dark and getting sucked into it. As she laid there, she thought all about her mother’s conversation with her from earlier. Since Clyde was too nervous to start the relationship, it came down to one thing.

“Well, Rarity, you are in a dilemma,” she told herself while patting down her pillow and snuggling into her sheets.. “Not only are you two madly in love, but Clyde is too nervous to say how he really feels. I guess you will have to do something about it tomorrow...” She gave one last thought about a plan before drifting to sleep.


*	*	*	*	*