Amor Fati

by BRyeMC


Spring Fling

In the coming weeks, Canterlot High was soon struck with spring fever, especially Rarity, who was tremendously excited for the upcoming Spring Fling dance. Unlike last year’s Spring Fling or the Fall Formal, she had Clyde as a date now and would talk about the dance every day to hopefully get him excited for it. During the weekend before the dance, she dragged him to the mall with her.

“How many boots do you need to try on?” asked Clyde with a sigh. He was sitting in some female young adult store, watching Rarity look at herself in the mirror as she tried on multiple pairs of boots.

“I need to make sure they look perfect with my dress. How do they look?” she asked with glee.

“They look fine.”

“You didn’t even look!”

“How would I know if they look perfect? You’re not even wearing your dress!”

Rarity smiled. “I can’t wear it until the dance, Clyde. Your date isn’t suppose to know what it looks like before the dance! It’s bad luck!”

Clyde sighed again. “Then how am I suppose to know what to wear?”

“That’s simple to answer. It’s a tuxedo with a tie that matches my dress color. Don’t worry, Clyde. I’m the one in charge of the fashion. I’ll order it for you.”

“Good,” he said with crossed arms, “that’s your department, not mine.”

“Precisely!” Rarity kicked off the black boots with gold trim and picked them up. She handed them to Clyde. “Carry these for me, darling?” she asked with a smile.

Rarity left to wander the store some more, with Clyde following behind. He didn’t mind being her mule, but he was feeling antsy and wanted to go to the park with Tyrone, who texted him earlier about getting a pick-up game going. When she finally finished shopping and paid for her new boots, Clyde and her walked through the mall.

“Was there any place you wanted to go to while we are here?” asked Rarity, holding his hand as they walked through the busy mall. Large crowds of people were walking together or standing around throughout the mall. “I made you shop with me, even if you didn’t want to, so it would only fair.”

“I’m not really into shopping,” replied Clyde. He looked at her and once he saw her smile, he grinned. “Besides, I don’t need anything. I have you.”

“Aww,” gushed Rarity. She gave a small and quiet laugh before looking forward again. “You want to go to the park, huh?”

Clyde looked away. “Yeah...”

“That’s fine then! You helped me today, so I don’t mind at all!”

“Are you sure?” asked Clyde, “I can still shop with you today, that is, if you want me to. You’re more important to me than some street ball game.”

Rarity gave a comforting nod and smile. “I’m done with shopping today, so I'll let you have your fun! Besides, I still need to work on my dress for the dance. It’s on Friday!” She leaned her head closer to him and snuggled against his shoulder. “Plus, I even have to order your outfit!”

“Well, are you ready to leave then, my gem?” asked Clyde smoothly and sweetly. Ironically, Clyde wasn’t much for nicknames when talking to Rarity. If he called her something other than her lovely name, it was “gem”, “diamond”, or for fun, "boo". Rarity, did however, love being called those and would always show extra affection towards him.

“Of course, my love,” she beamed. Clyde felt her squeeze his hand more.

Clyde drove her back to her shop and after a few hugs and kisses, he sped off towards the park while she stayed and worked on getting their Spring Fling outfits ready for Friday night.

* * * * *


~ ~ ~


Hello girls,” trilled Rarity as she sat down at her lunch table the next day.

“Hiya, Rarity!” said Pinkie excitedly, “how was your weekend? Did you watch TV? Did you eat? That’s a silly question, of course you ate! Did–”

“Pinkie!” interrupted Applejack. She stared at her with serious eyes that deflated Pinkie’s spirit. “That’s better. Anyway, how was yer weekend, Rarity?”

“My weekend was simply lovely,” said Rarity with a smile, “Clyde and I went to dinner on Saturday night and yesterday he helped me with shopping for the Spring Fling! His outfit should be delivered at his house when he gets home, while mine will most likely be finished later today!”

“Seems like a normal weekend for Rarity,” nodded Applejack.

“Enough about me, how did you girls spend the weekend?”

“Well, the farm is getting busy now since spring is here,” said Applejack proudly.

“Spring also means more adoptions!” spoke Fluttershy before returning to a quiet tone, “I was just helping out all weekend.”

Rarity smiled at them. “Seems you all had fabulous weekends!” Rarity glanced over at Pinkie who was staring at herself in her spoon. “Pinkie, what activities did you manage to keep busy with?”

Pinkie dropped her spoon and giggled. “Oh nothing, except hang out with Rainbow Dash at some soccer game! I was the goalie and since it rained, it turned into a crazy game of slipping and falling and sliding and every other verb you can think of!”

“Sounds... lovely,” said Rarity with a fake smile. She blinked and looked at the girls. “Speaking of our dear Rainbow Dash, where in heavens is she?”

“Ah don’t know,” said Applejack looking around herself, “she’s normally the first one here.”

“Yeah! She loves being the first one in line because she loves food! Just like me!” laughed Pinkie.

Rarity looked around the cafeteria and stopped at Clyde’s table. Like Rainbow Dash, both Clyde and Tyrone were missing. Confused, she scanned the cafeteria and noticed the basketball team was missing from the room. “Clyde isn’t here either.”

“Maybe Coach wanted to talk to ‘em?” suggested Applejack.

“I wonder why, though. The season ended two weeks ago.” Rarity turned back into her seat and began digging into her salad with her fork.

* * * * *


~ ~ ~


When Clyde pulled into his driveway after school was over, he saw a large bag hanging from his door. He got out of his car to look at it and with a closer glance, he saw it contained a tuxedo. Near the hook was a small tag that read: “Here’s your outfit! Love you! ♥ ~R”. Clyde laughed and took the bagged tuxedo into his home.

He walked into the living room and gently opened the bagged tuxedo. As he carefully removed the tuxedo from the bag, his hand moved over the gold tie, remembering the boots Rarity bought had a gold trim. He held it up in the air and took one last glance at the black tuxedo and smiled. He hesitantly pulled out his phone and dialed Rarity’s number. As it began to ring, Clyde sighed sadly.

“Hello, darling!” beamed Rarity’s voice. “You have impeccable timing, as I just finished my dress for the dance!”

“Great! My outfit was hanging on my door when I got home.”

“Already? It seems they don’t fool around. They shouldn’t after how much I paid them for it and to deliver it to you.”

Clyde felt a sharp pain attack his heart that caused him to wince. “So, did I miss anything at lunch?”

“Not really. Where were you and Rainbow Dash today? Did Coach wanted to see you?” Clyde took his phone away from his ear to sigh again. He knew Rarity’s spirit would be crushed in the coming minutes and there was little he could do about it. He returned the phone to his ear. “Hello? Clyde?”

“Rarity,” said Clyde sadly, “I’m afraid I can’t attend the dance with you Friday.”

There was a long pause of silence and he knew Rarity was either in shock or disbelief. Soon, her voice answered him, but he could tell tears were in her eyes just by the tone. “W-What... w-why not?”

“Coach gathered us up today to tell us about this Spring basketball camp for the local area. He wants some of us to participate in it, especially Tyrone and me as we are the two Captains, so we can redeem ourselves next year. It runs from Friday to Sunday night. I even have to stay after school all week to get ready for it, too.”

Silence filled through the phone and Clyde heard a faint crying noise from the other end. Clyde himself felt tears grow in his eyes. “B-But, I had this night planned with you for so long...” her voice said with sniffles.

“I know you did, and I feel terrible, but Coach is forcing me to do this,” said Clyde. Rarity began crying louder and Clyde felt small tears flow down his cheek. “Rarity, please don’t cry. I know we still can’t go to a dance together, but do know I will still continue loving you.”

He heard her stop crying and notched it down to sniffles. “I just... I just wanted to finally attend a school dance with the one who makes me feel like a Princess...”

“I’m sorry, Rarity. I promise I’ll make it up to you soon, somehow.”

“You better...” she said sadly. “I guess I’ll put my dress away for some other day...”

“I’ll call you later, okay?”

“I’d enjoy that, darling. I love you...”

“I love you more.” Clyde heard Rarity give a small heartwarming laugh, trying to cheer herself up, before hanging up the phone. Clyde sat on the his couch and wiped away tears in his eyes. He quickly opened his phone again and pulled up Rainbow Dash’s name and began typing.

“RD. Put me in a group chat with the girls. It’s time to talk about this plan.”

* * * * *


~ ~ ~


“Come on, Rares,” yelled Rainbow Dash from downstairs in Rarity’s shop. “The dance is only an hour away! We know how long it takes for you to get ready!” Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie who nodded in agreement. They were all in their Fall Formal attire, except these dresses had a few minor changes to them to make them look somewhat different.

“What happens if she doesn’t come?” asked Fluttershy in a whisper.

“Yeah! Then she’ll never know about–”

“She will. I never back down from a challenge,” smirked Rainbow Dash and silencing Pinkie. She walked over to the base of the stairs and put both of her hands to her face. “LET’S GO! SHOW OFF YOUR NEW DRESS INSTEAD OF STAYING HERE DEPRESSED!”

“Ah think you are overdoin’ it,” said Applejack with concern.

They heard faint footsteps move around upstairs and Rainbow Dash looked over and laughed. “I think I did fine.”

As they watched in anticipation for Rarity to come downstairs in an elegant dress, they instead saw her walk downstairs in an oversized hoodie and leggings. Her hair was frizzy and they could tell she cried most, if not all, of the day with her puffy eyes.

“Hello girls,” she said nonchalantly.

“What are you doing?” asked Rainbow Dash in a temper. “Get dressed!”

“What for? There’s no reason for me to go,” replied Rarity.

“Of course there is! We’ll go to the dance in a group like the Fall Formal! Just because you can’t go with your boyfriend, doesn’t mean you can’t go with friends!”

“Yeah, what Rainbow Dash said!” exclaimed Pinkie. “Maybe you’ll even–” She stopped when Applejack glared at her to stop talking.

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but you should probably just go without me,” said Rarity. She turned to head back upstairs, but was suddenly stopped by Fluttershy’s hand that grabbed her arm. “Fluttershy?”

“Please go with us, Rarity. As your friends, we don’t want to see you sad.” Rarity felt Fluttershy’s stare lift her spirit some.

“Besides, it’s not like Clyde dumped you,” said Rainbow Dash with crossed arms. Rarity looked at her and quickly to each of her other friends smiling at her. Her friends were right. She was somber that she couldn’t spend the Spring Fling dance with Clyde, but being depressed about it would solve nothing. Clyde was still her boyfriend and she knew he was feeling down himself.

“You’re right girls,” she said with a faint smile. “Clyde wouldn’t have wanted me to simply ignore the dance just because he couldn’t make it. He knew I spent so much time on my dress. I need to at least wear it, just for him.”

“Yeah!” shouted Pinkie, “it looks like the–”

“Pinkie!” shouted Rainbow Dash and Applejack in unison, making Pinkie startled. She quickly zipped up her mouth and threw away the imaginary key.

Rarity blinked at them, but before she could say anything, Fluttershy pointed at the clock on the wall near her counter. “Oh my! There’s only fifty minutes left!”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy, dear, I’ll take only a thirty minute shower this time!” said Rarity with a laugh. She quickly ran upstairs to get ready.

After showering, fixing her hair, and dressing into a robe, Rarity strode back downstairs into the shop lobby and stared at her friends, who stared at her back. Rarity gave a nod and picked up her dress and boots, entering the changing booth. Due to her expertise about clothing, in one minute, she changed into her dress. She looked in the mirror and smiled at her lovely dress.

In similar ways to her Fall Formal dress, it was a single strapped dress that cut off above her knees. While most of the dress was black, the bodice contained gold lace trim that she hand-sewn herself, leaving the entirety of the skirt black. Normally, it was against her code to wear dark colors for dresses, but she was up for the challenge of making it look good on her, because she knew she would pull it off. Her boots were a revamp of her normal purple boots, except they were black with gold trim near the diamond. She adjusted her gold bracelets on her wrists, fluffed out her hair, and walked out of the dressing room, smiling at her friends who gushed over her outfit.

“You done it again, Rarity,” said Applejack with a smirk and a tip of her hat.

“It’s so pretty!” said Fluttershy in quiet awe.

“Yeah, yeah, It’s fantastic,” said Rainbow Dash, looking at the time. “We know Rares is a fashion phenom, but we really are pushing for time.” She looked at Pinkie who looked like she wanted to say something, but had trouble speaking.

“What’s the matter, Pinkie?” asked Applejack. Pinkie jumped up and down, flailing her arms around.

“Oh! Pinkie zipped her mouth, remember?” said Fluttershy. Pinkie pointed at her and nodded rapidly.

“Well, you can talk now,” laughed Rainbow Dash.

“Finally!” shouted Pinkie in joy. She looked over at Rarity and flashed her big smile. “What I wanted to say is, your dress is super cute!”

“Thank you, Pinkie,” replied Rarity sweetly. “I thank you all for your compliments.”

Her friends smiled, except for Rainbow Dash. “Are you ready now?”

“Hmm, I believe. I only need to touch up on mascara and eyeshadow, though.”

“You can do that in the limo, let’s go!” Rainbow Dash charged out of the door and Rarity stood there confused.

“A limo?” questioned Rarity.

“We’ll explain later, sugar cube,” said Applejack with a smile, pushing her out of the shop. Fluttershy locked up the shop door and Pinkie bounced towards the limousine. The four of them quickly crawled in as Rainbow Dash banged on the window separating the driver and them.

“Make it fast!” she yelled.

The driver nodded and soon the limo roared alive and sped down the avenue. Rarity tried to see who the driver was, but the hat he wore shaded his eyes. The driver's body shape seemed to look familiar, but she couldn't think. She looked at her friends who were busy looking around or at the interior of the limousine. Rarity took the drive to the school as an opportunity to enhance her eyes with her small hand mirror she carried with her. After applying a coat of her light blue eyeshadow and mascara, Rarity batted her eyelashes and smiled at herself in her small mirror. As she put her mirror away, back into her boot, the limo halted and the girls looked outside.

“We’re here!” shouted Pinkie. She dove out of the window, falling to the pavement, and broke into giggles.

“With time to spare, too!” said Fluttershy, who opened the door and exited the vehicle like any normal person would. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, followed. Pinkie jumped up off the ground and the five of them stood in a line, looking at the front of the school. Many boys and girls were entering the building.

“You girls ready?” asked Rainbow Dash with a grin. “Last time there was a dance, we saved the school and helped our new friend win the crown!”

“I doubt any of those things will happen tonight,” said Rarity sadly.

“You never know, Rarity,” said Applejack with a sly smirk. “Maybe fate will shine down on one of us tonight.”

Rarity blinked in confusion again. Ever since they came to get her, all of her friends have acted strange, except for Pinkie, who normally was strange anyway. It’s as if they were dropping subtle hints or implying something to her. She shook her head to prevent getting too lost in thought.

The limousine quickly pulled away from the curb and the five girls walked together towards the main doors of the school. After navigating through the congested hallways, the girls made it to the gymnasium where strobe lights and music filled the room. The five of them drank punch, talked, and danced with each other for most of the night, trying to keep Rarity’s mind from being crestfallen.

About an hour or two later, however, the band played a slow song so couples could dance together and Rarity sat and watched in the chairs near the punch table. She put her hands on her cheeks and sighed away as she watched couples dance together in romantic harmony and rhythm. Rainbow Dash saw her and quickly sat down in a chair.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing,” replied Rarity with a sigh of desire and a pout, “I’m just watching all these couples in love dance with their favorite person in the world, something that I wanted to do tonight, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “I know it must suck, but you need to stay strong, Rares. Clyde told me himself he felt awful for telling you he couldn’t come to this dance with you.”

Rarity sat upright and looked at her friend. “Clyde? When did he tell you this?”

Rainbow Dash suspiciously looked away. “Uh, he texted me for help that same night.”

“Oh? I didn’t know you had classes together, unless it was a basketball question. What was the question?”

Rainbow Dash coughed and quickly stood up from her seat. “You know, why don’t we go find Fluttershy or someone else? They might be getting lonely.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes. A sudden avoidance like that was way too suspicious. She opened her mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off by a microphone turning on. The loud screech stopped the band and the students in the gym looked up to the stage. As the band ran off the stage, Principal Celestia entered the scene from stage left. The crowd quickly hushed and Rarity and her friends quickly gathered together.

“As you may know,” began Principal Celestia with a smile, “each major dance we have here at Canterlot High, we address, or in better terms, crown, a Princess!” Girls in the crowd began making noise in anticipation. Celestia continued her smile and pulled out a small envelope from her blazer pocket. “Normally, Vice Principal Luna would walk this envelope and the crown out at this time, but due to the new format issued by the Party Planning Committee, the crown will be handed out by another person depending on who the winner is.”

The crowd murmured in confusion amongst each other and Rarity shot her eyes at Pinkie Pie, the head of the same committee Principal Celestia spoke of. “You changed the format? What for?” Pinkie responded with a smile.

Principal Celestia tapped her microphone to silence the crowd and opened the envelope. After studying the small card, she smiled. “The Princess of this year’s Spring Fling is... Rarity!”

The crowd burst into cheers as Rarity gasped in complete shock. Her friends all hugged her tightly, but all she could think of was her actually winning the crown, technically tiara, she coveted throughout high school.

“B-But, how? How is this possible?” she asked in a mix of shock and confusion, “I didn’t even put my name down! Nobody would’ve voted for me anyway!”

“Obviously they would have because they did,” laughed Rainbow Dash.

“I-I just don’t understand...”

“You don’t have to,” said a voice behind her. A voice she was so used to and loved hearing every day and night.

Rarity spun around and saw Clyde standing in the middle of the gymnasium. He wore the tuxedo she bought him, his gold tie giving light to the dark suit. In his hands was a small chest that was open to reveal the small tiara that the Princess of the dance would wear. Clyde’s smile made her start shaking and she felt like crying in joy. She quickly ran up to him and hugged him tightly, but withdrew and punched him lightly in the shoulder.

“You lied to me!” she squealed, tears filling her eyes.

“I did, but I’ll explain everything,” said Clyde. He hugged her again. Rarity didn’t punch him or break free this time. She went along with it and began crying into his shoulder blissfully. She felt Clyde move the box around her back and began to depart from her. He picked up the tiara from the small chest and looked into Rarity’s eyes.

After smiling and nodding, Rarity saw Clyde slowly lower the tiara on her head. Once he took a step back, the students cheered again and Rarity started to cry once more. The music quickly began playing again, as with the students dancing along, and Clyde walked up to her and wrapped her into a hug. Together, the couple walked over to the chairs near the punch table to listen to each other better.

“Don’t you understand how heartbroken I was?” asked Rarity sadly. “Why would you ever lie to me? Don’t you love me enough to dance with me?”

Clyde stared at her with a serious gaze. “I told you many times before, you’re the most important person, idea, and thought, in my life.”

“Then why–”

“I do have to go on that camp, however, during that meeting, I stood up against Coach to tell him I had to attend this dance with you. I refused to play next year unless I could.”

Rarity gasped. “You defied Coach for me?”

Clyde smiled. “It gets better. After some time, Coach finally gave in and respected my passion towards you. He decided, since I can’t attend the legitimate camp, he was going to make his own homemade one next weekend for Tyrone and me. He also wanted to help so he decided to drive the limousine.”

Rarity smiled. “Then why did you say you couldn’t come with me?”

Clyde sighed. “It hurt me so much, but I had to say that so I could plan for you to win this crown you always told me about.” Clyde poked the tiara on Rarity’s head and grinned. “I spent the week staying after school and helping all these clubs and students so they would vote for you. I’m lucky Rainbow Dash and your other friends helped me, too.” Clyde frowned and looked at the floor. “I just hope you don’t hate me for lying. It made feel terrible knowing you were extremely depressed all week because of me.”

Rarity wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. There were a few cheers from some onlooking students near them, causing Rarity to blush. She continued anyway, as she wanted them to know Clyde was hers. After she departed from him, she reassured him with an alluring smile. “Clyde, darling. You know I can’t ever stay mad at you. Especially after you went through all that trouble, just for me.”

“I did it because I love you.” Clyde smirked and kissed her forehead, making her giggle.

“I know you do. Also, you look very handsome tonight.”

“You’re still as beautiful as ever.”

A few minutes later, Rarity saw Rainbow Dash and the others walk towards them. Rarity stood up and gave each one a death stare before laughing and pulling them into a hug. “You girls are the best!”

“Don’t thank us,” said Applejack, “Clyde is the one who planned everything. We only filled our roles.”

“I can’t believe you would lie to me, Applejack.”

“What are ya takin’ about? Ah never told a lie! Ah gave you honest answers all night! That was my role, plus getting random students to vote for ya.” Applejack nodded proudly.

“Yeah!” said Pinkie Pie excitedly, “Clyde told me to put your name down and change the format so he could surprise you! I wanted to make another balloon pop, but that would’ve taken too long and have no purpose!”

“Fluttershy and I only needed to get you here,” said Rainbow Dash with a grin.

“I just had to help,” agreed Fluttershy quietly.

“I simply thank you,” said Rarity. "You are the most wonderful friends a girl could ask for." She felt tears begin to develop in her eyes again, but wiped them away. She hugged them again before they decided to go back to the dance floor.

As she turned around, Photo Finish beckoned for her to stand beside Clyde for pictures. Rarity happily jumped on the offer and helped Clyde get into multiple poses. Most of them were hugs or them holding hands, but Rarity also enjoyed being carried by him on his back and him holding her in his arms. Ten pictures later, Photo Finish gave her the prints and ran off to find more students to capture. Rarity turned back towards Clyde to show him their pictures, but saw him standing there smiling.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked.

“I’m just looking at the best and most beautiful girl in the world and I’m happy I can be with her.”

Rarity lowered her eyes and grabbed his hands, pulling him closer to her. She sighed blissfully and rested her head on his shoulder. She caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall and saw the dance was almost over and the students would begin to leave soon.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” asked Clyde.

“Nothing as far I know. Why do you ask?”

“Since I won’t be home next weekend, I wanted to spend the day with you tomorrow.”

“Will it be romantic?”

“With you around, of course.”

Rarity smiled. “I simply can't wait."

* * * * *