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// Chapter Eight: Rarity 
// Story: Love is in Bloom 
// by MuddyWaters 
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A week had passed since I'd arrived in Manehattan and I could see why Coco Pommel had asked me to come. Apparently, Lightning demanded to be included on the dress choosing and she was being rather unreasonable about the entire thing. If Coco liked a design, Lightning hated it. Coco had told me it was because the white pegasus didn't want her son to marry an earth pony, and would probably like Coco a lot better if she was a pegasus instead. 

I found the entire thing a lot more exhausting than it should've been. Of course, the whole ordeal really wasn't helped by Blaze's brother, Spark. The red pegasus kept trying to make sure everything was going perfect with the dress, and basically the whole wedding. Blaze tried to tell me that this was because Spark had been left at the alter, yet I had a feeling there was more to it than that. 

However, no matter how crazy this wedding planning was getting, nopony in their right mind would deny the most important thing: it was obvious that Coco and Blaze loved each other a lot. It took me less than an hour to realize that. After Lightning had stormed out of the room on my first day here, Spark and Thunder must've decided to leave, because they left about twenty minutes after Lightning had. I didn't stay long after them though, because Coco and Blaze basically just stared into each others eyes for a long time, only really speaking a couple times. I stuck in the same room for about fifteen minutes after Thunder and Spark left, before leaving the happy couple to themselves. 

But anyways, this day, I had come up with a bold design idea. I hoped that Lightning would approve of it, as it was clearly the best I'd come up with yet. Maybe I should've been more worried about Coco liking the dress, but truth be told, I knew that Coco would like my dress idea no matter what. 

The kitchen had become the center of making the dress, and normally us three mares would sit in it, and try to find an idea that would work. A lot of the time, Lightning would storm out, as I was becoming accustomed to her doing, after Coco and I would both tell her that it was a lovely dress. Then Coco and I would try to plan a new dress, with her putting in her creative thoughts at points. 

The three stallions would show up at random points, although I saw more of Spark than either Blaze or Thunder during the dress making. He'd come in, and make sure that everything was going really well, and offer his opinion on the dress. Thunder only came if Lightning started throwing a huge fit about the dress design, and neither Coco or I could calm her down. And whenever Blaze even tried to enter the kitchen while we were in it, Coco would tell him not to, and remind him that it was bad luck to see the bride's wedding dress before the wedding. 

So, this day, I started to spread my stuff out on the table so that Coco and Lightning could see it. I was done in just a little while, and so I decided to wait for them to come in.

Of course Coco was the first to appear, as this was her apartment. I greeted her with a warm smile, the likes of which she returned. She took a look at my design, and approved of it instantly, declaring that it was the best design I'd come up with yet. About thirty minutes after Coco had come into the kitchen, the buzzer to enter the building went off. Coco let out a sigh, and went to let in Lightning, who brushed past Coco to enter the kitchen. She made no means of even acknowledging Coco or I. She just stormed right over to the dress design, gave it one look, and said, "This? You want a pony who's to be related to me wear this garbage at her wedding? You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking." 

Coco looked Lightning in the eye, and she murmured rather quietly, "I think it looks lovely." 

Lightning snorted. "Of course you would. You've got the poorest taste in fashion. However you became a fashion designer is beyond me." Coco looked about ready to cry, and I was about to say something to defend my friend when Lightning turned on me, her purple eyes slanted narrowly. "And how you managed to design a princess's wedding gown is well beyond me as well. You clearly can't come up with a dress well enough for my son's wedding. Although, I shouldn't of expected more from you, after all, you are a unicorn." 

I was just about to make a retort when the kitchen door opened up. There stood Spark, his violet eyes searching the scene, finally landing on Lightning. Looking between mother and son, I realized, for the first time, that they shared the same eye color. It really was the only thing that looked similar between the two, as Lightning's red mane wad darker, and more wavy than Spark's fiery-red mane. 

"What is going on here?" Spark demanded. "I heard shouting when I entered." He turned to Coco. "Your apartment manager let me in. And your door was unlocked, so that's how I got in. Just so you don't think I damaged anything in it." His purple eyes gleamed with just a touch of humor before they darkened again.

"The unicorn," Lightning sneered, the word unicorn as though it was some sort of disease, "that your brother hired to make a wedding dress is completely incapable of even making a decent dress." 

Spark's eyes turned to me. "Can I see your design?"

I nodded my head, using my magic to move the dress design from the table to him, keeping it up while he looked it over. He stared at it for a while, and then turned back to his mother.

"It looks lovely, Mother. I don't know what your issue is. I'm sorry a mistake I made has made you so judgmental to other ponies, but don't let it cloud your sight to something so wonderful." 

Lightning snorted again, something she loved to do apparently, and said, "Well, what do you know about fashion?" And then, once again, she stormed out of the room.

Spark turned his purple eyes to Coco, and then said, rather softly, "Do you mind giving Rarity and I some time alone? I think my brother would be interested in a stroll or something; we walked here together, and he's waiting outside the apartment building." 

Coco smiled, and nodded, leaving the room. Spark then turned back to me, and he smiled softly. 

"If you're sticking around, I think somepony should explain to you why Mother can get...well prejudiced. And I figured, since it's my fault, I should be the pony to do it." 

I didn't know what he meant, by his fault. How could he have caused Lightning to do this? It really didn't make any sense. 

"Did Coco tell you how she and Blaze met?" he asked me. 

"Yeah," I responded. "She'd been the one who was supposed to create the wedding dress for the mare you were supposed to of married." 

He nodded. "Did she tell you why the wedding got called off?" I shook my head, and he made a 'tsking' noise. "Trust her and Blaze to keep it from you. Well, you might want to sit back a bit. I won't tell you everything, just the gist. 

"Night Sweep, my ex-fiancee, and I were high school sweet hearts. I proposed to her a year and a half ago, and we started to plan our wedding. There was only one problem: she was a unicorn. Even back then, Mother didn't really trust a pony unless they were pegasi. She wasn't approving of Night Sweep and I's relationship, but I didn't care. I was in love. However, Night Sweep did care. She told me that she didn't want to marry into a family where she wouldn't be trusted. I tried telling her it would be alright, and it was only Mother who didn't like her. She agreed to stay, and the wedding plans went on, like usual. But, the day before the wedding, Mother said that if we had any children, they better be pegasi, otherwise it wouldn't be very well loved. She made it clear that if any children born to Night Sweep and I were unicorns, it would be cut off from any of the family. Well, you can probably guess that Night Sweep didn't take that too kindly, and after proclaiming that that was the last straw, she up and left. And Mother has been worse since, saying how the whole incident proved how unicorns or earth ponies couldn't be trusted." He looked down at the ground, and I could see the tears already coming out of his purple eyes.

I wished I could do or say something to comfort him. But my mind was still trying to figure out how it was his fault that his mother was this way. From what he just told me, she'd been this way before Night Sweep had entered the picture, so why was this his fault? It just didn't make any sense to me, like at all. 

His purple eyes turned to look at me, and he murmured, "I'm sorry Mother is acting rude to you. Maybe I could talk her into letting you make this design; it's truly wonderful. Coco will look lovely in it." With that, he walked away, leaving me slightly confused.