Gossip: Rarity
It was no great secret that Lyra actually believed in humans. Nor was it anything to get your hair in a twist over hearing about Derpy breaking something. But these were the things that passed from one set of lips to an eager pair of ears, their eyes darting both ways before leaning forward. Dish girl, dish! All the news was traded in half hidden insults and barbs, with their own spin and witty commentary thrown in. Oh it was not something Rarity took seriously, because honestly some of it was obviously rubbish and the rest was fabricated to entertain and not inform. That never stopped her from sliding to the edge of her seat with half lidded eyes and a beguiling smile that she’d practiced just to ease these sorts of situations along. Besides she was really most interested to hear what other had to say about her.
Oh, Rarity wasn’t foolish enough to think that most ponies would talk directly about her—although she did have a few that delighted in telling her the word on the street. It was in the way they spoke about others, the details added in, the winks and the conspiratorial nudges. This one thought Rarity to be a snob as was obvious by her constant griping over Bon Bon’s rude manner and poorly executed snips against the upper crust. It was the entertainment that she enjoyed from watching this mare flail about with her words, unaware of how what she didn’t say was more important that what she did. Rarity had always enjoyed a good logic puzzle or mystery, there was something mystical about them and gossip often had both. Especially when you listened carefully to the silence and watched the shadows that moved in the dark.
She justified her conversations as helping her to keep an image, and therefore helping her business. No one makes it famous without an image, and the few imprudent ones who didn’t care never lasted long in the spot light. When the dirty truth comes out and the flaws are there for all to see, even the most spectacular design would lose its appeal. But create a soft lighting, choose the right wall paper, and include just enough honeyed words and even a disaster could look like a rare jewel. That’s what an image is, and that is what must be kept. And to do that one has to learn to put a little bit of their worry and guilt aside; to lean across the two-faced table and say, “Did you hear?”