Prismatic

by FloydienSlip

The Morning

Rarity’s tea was cold.

She could have used her horn, she supposed, but what would be the point? She wasn’t thirsty anyway, wasn’t hungry or tired or much of anything at the moment. Rarity had been making tea every morning for as long as she had been able to levitate the cup and had only brewed it this morning out of habit.

Rarity lifted her pounding head off the table and winced at the sunlight pouring through her windows. Why hadn’t she drawn the curtains last night? She was not usually this careless… though if last night’s events were anything to go by, maybe she was more careless than she had thought.

Twilight had had to explain it to her, of course. After all, some ladies simply could not stomach alcohol like others, and Rarity was without a doubt in the former category.

Her mind wandered to Rainbow Dash, and her head ached in response. Rarity knew Twilight meant well, but there were some things that hurt to hear, friend or no, princess or otherwise. Dash had flown off during the party, Twilight had said. No reason given, but Rarity had a pretty good idea that it hadn’t needed to be. There was the faintest memory of Dash looking embarrassed, right at the cusp of what Rarity could remember. Twilight had filled in the blanks with what, exactly, Rarity had said.

A groan of regret escaped her, and Rarity plopped her head back down on her hooves. Dash would forgive her, surely? Face to face, though. A sincere and heartfelt apology. For all her demeanor, Dash’s pride had been wounded last night. Twilight had said as much, and her judgment was usually sound.

And then there was the roof. Insurance companies, for whatever reason, did not cover “accidental, alcohol-induced sonic rainbooms” that caused severe structural damage. Twilight, dear that she was, had sorted it out with the Cakes, with the understanding that both Rarity and Rainbow Dash perform community service around the town and help out in Sugarcube Corner to pay off the damage.

Rarity shuddered and grabbed at her teacup. Shaking, she lifted it to her lips and took a small sip.

It was still cold. She set it down and lowered her head again, mane falling limply to her side.

Rarity couldn’t imagine what Rainbow thought of her after last night. She hadn’t meant to say anything, she really hadn’t, and now she’d gone and ruined a friendship for good. Where once there may have been a singular ray of light, a strong and blinding companionship, there now were two very separate and distinctly weaker beams, neither close to the other and all the while spreading further and further apart.

There was an old phrase about loose lips that came to mind, and Rarity buried her head further into the table.

It was a nice table, strong wood and beautifully finished. Her father had given it to her when she bought the boutique in Ponyville, as a sort of housewarming present. Carpentry and woodworking were not Rarity’s forte by any means, but her father was a simple unicorn from a simple family and didn’t mind getting his hooves dirty. He had taught her, growing up, that it didn’t matter whether she had made a mistake or not, so long as she did what was right. The table wasn’t perfect, either, and clashed horribly with the inside of Carousel Boutique. Years of design and initial stitching had nicked and dented the surface.

But it was still functional, still did what it did as best as any other could do.

Rarity came to a decision. Slowly, with as much grace as one could manage with a hangover of this magnitude, she rose out of her chair and popped her joints, little sighs escaping from the back of her throat.

Torsos with half-finished outfits watched Rarity with non-existent eyes along the edges of her workroom as she marched downstairs, towards the boutique entrance. She was going to just tell her. She was going to tell that pegasus everything about what she had said last night, and that she hadn’t exactly meant to say it out loud to her face, but that her feelings were there. It didn’t matter if Rainbow felt the same way; this was the right thing to do. She had to explain herself.

Rarity reached out for the door handle and stopped. The sun was not going to help her headache, and neither would talking to Rainbow. But, she thought, it must be done, for her sake if not for mine.

She threw open the door and flinched at the sight of Rainbow Dash frozen in place, hoof poised to knock. They stood there, staring, for what felt like an eternity, neither of them daring to move a muscle or so much as blink. And then:

“I’m sorry for—”
“Look, about—”

Silence again.

Rarity broke it first. “We… need to talk, don’t we?”

Rainbow, after a minute, nodded. “We should.”

They looked at each other.

“Would you… like to come in for some tea, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity fidgeted, tail flicking.

Rainbow cracked a weak smile. “I… yeah. Yeah, I would, Rares.”

They could talk it out, realize that Rarity had had too much to drink but that yes, she really did feel that way about Rainbow Dash, weathermare extraordinaire. Maybe, just maybe, Rainbow would understand and make a confession of her own, without the influence of any substance because she was the Rainbow Dash, who had some semblance of self-control, or at least more than the unicorn in love with her.

Rarity didn’t, couldn't, dare dream of making amends with Rainbow this quickly, this soon after. It probably would never work out the way she had imagined it, no insinuating line of questions and adorable flirting over dinner at that one Prench restaurant in Canterlot. It won’t work out, Rarity told herself.

As Rainbow stepped over the threshold, the pegasus shot Rarity a grin, and a startling thought entered her mind.

Maybe it will.

Author's Note:

This is the end of the story. It is not the story I originally envisioned telling, but here we are.

I'm sorry if you were expecting something different; I was, too.

Thank you for reading.

Comments

[fourths]

I know you were envisioning something different - but I definitely am quite happy with this, and this is the type of ending I woulda written. Thank you!

And happy fourths day.

[SilverStar7]

Even if not your original vision, this story is still well written. It is also the first story to ever leave my "Impressive Incompletes" bookshelf, which is only possible because you made the decision to write this, rather than push for a vision that may never have come to be.

I know the feeling is bittersweet, but I promise that a real, finished story is better than anything simply rattling in one's head indefinitely. And I need to remember that for myself, too...

[Natedogg2006]

Your note at the end makes me sad. Even if this wasn't the story you wanted it was still a good story. Not sure what happened that made it take a year between chapters, but it still came out good. Hopefully you'll make the story you want at some point, because you seem to have the talent.

[Dashfriend]

Why would one have to do community service for accidentally caused damage, just pay the bill and be done.

[Future Regret]

It’s not my ship of choice but very well written. Like actually. The rhythm of the story just syncs with my brain 3x as good as my own.

[PaulAsaran]

You can has review!