The Flaws of Perfection

by Calm Wind

Chapter 2

MLP: FiM
The Flaws of Perfection
By: Calm Wind
Chapter 2:

---

The next three weeks were… very long and awkward. Rarity shut herself in her room and barely emerged, working non-stop on her dresses while doing everything necessary to avoid Fancy Pants.

Fleur came in to check on her once or twice, but each time Rarity put on a false smile and said everything was fine. She heard Fancy in the halls from time to time, but he was always with another pony and discussing business.

Rarity didn’t care if he was walking by and dancing a jig, she couldn’t even bear to look at him after how stupid and insensitive she had been that one night.

So… she remained in her room and toiled endlessly on the dresses. The three weeks went by and the day arrived that they had to deliver their dresses to the site of the show two days prior.

Rarity was not entirely pleased with her work, but then again, she had felt that way the whole time she was there. She was two dresses short with less than a week to go, so she ended up digging two ‘failed’ designs from the paper waste basket and used them anyway.

Even if two of the designs were less than what she desired, she had worked as hard as she could, pouring her heart and soul into the dresses for a month and a half. While her confidence wasn’t the highest, she felt that her efforts would reap at least some rewards.

And she would see the competition close up soon, as she approached the Central Canterlot Convention Center, because the other nineteen contestants were doing the same.

Needless to say, she was nervous.

---

“Name?” the unicorn behind the reception counter asked.

“R-Rarity…” Rarity barely managed to speak. Until just moments ago, she was standing behind Silk Serenity. The winner of last year’s Canterlot Royal Wonder show. Rarity had read all about her in many magazines. The dresses that were just pushed into the back were the most beautiful and radiant pieces of fashion Rarity had ever seen in her life. She hadn’t even gotten past the receptionist and she already felt outclassed by another contestant.

“Miss?” the receptionist spoke again. Rarity squeaked and quickly looked back to her. “The dresses are being stored in the studio, third door on the left. Go ahead and roll your dresses in there.” She said while pointing towards the door behind her.

“Ah… y-yes! Of course! Haha!” Rarity quickly pushed her cart towards the door behind the receptionist with her magic. The door opened right before rarity got there. Rarity froze as a pink mare with a yellow mane walked out, again Silk Serenity, and behind her a VERY effeminate unicorn stallion following behind her that was brown with a strange white mane that was styled to stick up diagonally in front of his head as if it were a second horn. It was the RUNNER up of last year’s competition! Ruby Rod! Rarity froze as the two walked by her. They both glanced at her and glanced at her dresses, but kept moving with a word.

Rarity felt judged. Holy Luna, they said nothing, but SHE FELT JUDGED.

She just had to breathe. BREEEEEEEATHE slowly and deliver her dresses. She didn’t know why she was so surprised, this was the most famous show… in Equestria… after all…

Oh… yeah… there was that. That’s why all these famous names were walking around casually, walking by her, sizing her up, and making her even more nervous.

Rarity almost could breathe as she pushed her dresses down the hall and towards the second studio door on the right… or was it the left...? Wait… was it the second door? Or the fourth? No wait… was I the third? WAS SHE ON THE RIGHT FLOOR?! WHEN DID SHE GET TO CLOUDSDALE?!?!

“YEEEEEP!” Rarity squeaked as the third door on the left opened and two mares walked out. Rarity was hidden by her dresses, so they didn’t see her, but they stopped for a moment to look at the dresses before moving on silently like the others. Rarity poked her head through the dresses hanging on the cart just in time to see into the door before it closed.

Dresses.

Third door on the left… yeah, that’s what the receptionist said.

Rarity took a deep breath as she stepped around her cart and used her magic to open the door.

She gasped, her magic losing its grip on the door, causing it to close.

“Wha-wha-what?” she grabbed the door handle with her magic and opened it again.

As she wheeled her cart in, Rarity looked around at the other carts stored in the room.

Beautiful.

Everything was absolutely beautiful. Rarity’s jaw dropped as she closely examined the dresses of the other contestants. Such Skill! Such precision! Such complicated yet efficient design! So radiant! So colorful! So… much better that hers.

Rarity’s heart sank. Worse, it felt like it opened her chest from the inside, jumped out, and left her behind.

She looked back at her dresses, glancing between them and the dresses hanging all around her. Hers looked absolutely dreadful in comparison.

A month and a half… over forty days of work and toil over six dresses and none of them looked to be even close to the quality of the dresses being entered. Would the models walking out on stage even want to wear her dresses? Much less look at them?

All the time, all the effort, all the lost sleep, all the faith put in her… it was all for nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Rarity’s left eye twitched as she gently pushed her dresses into place beside the others. She turned and slowly walked out of the studio. She made her way down the hall, her mind absolutely blank as she passed by other entrants who were waiting to speak to the receptionist.

She got a few strange looks, but she didn’t care nor notice. She walked all the way out the front door and out into the courtyard of the convention center.

As soon as she stepped outside and saw Canterlot before her, it all rushed back. All of the emotion came crashing down in her. She felt tears welling up in her eyes as her lips quivered. She was stuck. She couldn’t back out of the contest, she’d be a fool to, but if she stayed in she’d surely be the laughing stock of the whole competition. Fancy was going to be so disappointed in her…

Fancy Pants. That was another thing. She still hadn’t apologized or even faced him after yelling at him three weeks ago. This trip began as the chance of a lifetime… the chance had yet to truly arrive and it had already become a complete disaster. She had to apologize to Fancy, she had to apologize and confess she wasn’t cut out for this line of work. Forget it being her dream. She wasn’t good enough and she’d rather start anew than be laughed at.

She started walking back towards the mansion. The walking shortly became a trot. Soon after it became a canter, and less than a minute after starting she was in a full gallop heading back to the mansion with loose droplets of tears flying from her eyes as she ran. They were not tears of sadness. The mix of intense mental stress and feeling completely hopeless caused her to break down. It was too late to get out of sight. Others were going to see her cry, but she wasn’t going to stick around and let them see it for long.

What was she going to do? What would Fancy Pants do?

---

The sun was setting by the time Rarity made it back to the mansion. She was tired, depressed, and felt like she was in shambles. She had slowed to a walk as she pushed through the front door, panting as she swayed and caught herself on the door frame. She had run all the way back and even though it wasn’t very hard, she was no athlete. Her mascara was stained over her face, following the trail that her tears took as they slowly slid down her face.

“Miss Rarity?” A butler carrying an empty tray approached her and reached out to help her. “Do you require any—?” the butler jumped in surprised as Rarity pushed him away, causing him to drop the tray with a loud metallic clatter.

“NO!” she yelled. “Where is Fancy?!” she demanded as she kept space between her and the butler, not wanting to even be touched. The butler blinked while eying her curiously.

“Fancy Pants is in his study on the second floor, but he—”

Rarity didn’t listen any further. She broke into a sprint towards the large staircase in the front hall.

“Miss Rarity! Wait!” the butler called after her, but she didn’t listen, she only ran.

Nopony else mattered to her at the moment. She was useless and hopeless. She had to apologize and resign herself. The longer she took, the longer Fancy would foolishly believe in her. She was already dragging herself down. She wasn’t going to drag him down with her.

She came to a halt outside Fancy’s study, the door was slightly ajar. This was it. It was time to end this before she stumbled any further through his generosity.

He was perfect. He deserved a better pony to sponsor.

“INEXCUSABLE!” the voice of a stallion thundered from within the room. Rarity squeaked and nearly hit the wall opposite the door as she flew back from the door. “Absolutely inexcusable Fancy Pants!” the voice boomed again. Rarity blinked. What was going on in there?

“Turner, I assure you. Given a little more time I can convince them to reconsider,” Fancy’s voice came from behind the door. It was calm and collected, but it sounded like he was under fire.

“I gave you time and resources Fancy. I even let you convince me to give you all the way until the conference! And what happens?! Three of my longest running customers TURNED AWAY in favor of our competitors!” the other voice berated Fancy.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Rarity shakily stepped towards the door and peered through the small opening in the door.

She looked directly into Fancy’s personal study. It was a room about twice the size of her guest room without the comfortable furniture and look of luxury. It was a room of business with a large desk on the left, multiple filing cabinets lining the walls that looked stuffed to the brim. There were large windows on the opposite wall that overlooked Canterlot, but on the wall across from the desk was a large portrait of a pony that looked similar to fancy, but had grey fur and a white mane.

Rarity looked towards the desk to see Fancy sitting behind it. It was stacked with papers and a desk lamp and glass of water that barely held their place on the edge of it. On the other side of the desk, growling and pointing at Fancy, was an older looking dark green pony with a grey mane, moustache and beard, wearing a suit just like Fancy. His cutie mark was a bag full of bits.

“You talk a big game Fancy Pants. I was a fool to believe you could pull off such a task,” the pony yelled, seeming to simply repeat his disdain with different words. Fancy looked like he was trying really hard not to lose his composure, Rarity had never seen such a thing before.

“I talk my game because I KNOW I am capable!” Fancy retorted with a harsh yet controlled tone. “You call me a fool, but it was them who turned down the alluring deal I offered!” he explained himself. “Given time, they will—”

“Given time?!” the older pony threw his hooves up before stomping them back down. “Time, time, time! You don’t seem to understand the concept Fancy! Business doesn’t wait for you! You can either meet deadlines, or you cannot! Some of your recent meager success convinced me you may yet have had potential… but it seems my confidence in you was HEAVILY misplaced!”

Rarity gasped.

Misplaced confidence…

“All I ask is that you let me meet with them again. I can easily double my initial offer. If they don’t accept it, then they won’t be worth your time anyway!” Fancy assured him, but the pony shook his head.

“You don’t always get second chances Fancy. And if I were to send anypony after my clients now I most certainly would NOT send a pony who has already failed me once,” the pony snarled at him. Fancy frantically leaned forward on his desk.

“Profit Turner, I am perfectly capable of—”

“I’ve heard enough of your desperate whining! I gave you a chance. You failed. We’re done here.” The pony turned towards the door, but looked back and glared at the portrait of the pony on the wall before sending the same glare at Fancy. “You shame your family name, colt. Your nothing but a floundering amateur compared to your father,” the pony hissed.

Rarity watched as Fancy’s eyes widened and the monocle fell from his eye onto the table, then quickly moved aside as the pony stormed towards the door and pushed it open roughly. Rarity yelped as the door swung around and struck her in the side, knocking her over.

She quickly stood up and peered around it, watching the old pony stomped down the hallway, grumbling and fuming as he turned towards the stairs.

Rarity was confused. Very confused… but did she really just witness… a pony tear down Fancy Pants for shortcomings? That didn’t seem right at all! For the moment, her woes took a back seat as she tried to wrap her head around it all.

She slowly stepped towards the door and peeked around the side.

Fancy was still at his desk with his head down and his hooves over his face. He was rubbing his temples while gritting his teeth.

Should she enter? Should she go get somepony? Rarity wasn’t sure what to do.

“RRRRRRAAAAAAGH!” Fancy suddenly roared while throwing his head back. Rarity flinched and her eyes widened. Fancy glared at his desk, swiping his hooves out and knocking all of the papers clean off the table. They spilled everywhere, losing all form and organization. He slammed his hoof down on the desk with a loud BANG before swiping his hoof the other direction, knocking the glass and lamp to the floor, both of them shattering as they struck the ground.

Rarity threw her hooves up to cover her mouth as Fancy stood up and flipped his desk forward so roughly that it flipped completely over on its top, the drawers of the desk flying open as it landed upside down and their contents spilling out on the floor. Fancy grabbed his suit and forced it off, popping off buttons he didn’t bother to undo, balling it up and throwing it across the room before turning and punching the file cabinets behind him. An award plaque fell off the top of one of the cabinets and landed on the floor before Fancy. He grabbed it in his magic and stared at it while breathing heavily. He turned and looked at the large portrait of the pony hanging on the wall.

Fancy roared as he whipped the plaque around with his magic and threw it towards the portrait. Rarity released a muffled yelp as the plaque struck the frame and the whole portrait fell off the wall, crashing to the floor and falling forward, lying face down on the floor.

Fancy instantly stopped. He stared at what he had just done with his eyes wide as if he had just committed an unforgivable crime. He vaulted his desk and rushed towards the portrait, grabbing it delicately in his hooves and gently propping it up against the wall. He stepped back from the portrait and fell into a sit as he stared at the pony captured in the frame.

“Why…?” Fancy shook his head as he stared at the pony. “Why can’t I be like you?” he spoke to it.

Rarity removed her hooves from her mouth and stared into the room silently.

“How were you so perfect? How did you flawlessly earn so much respect? How were you so influential?” Fancy sighed. “Please father… tell me…”

Rarity gasped quietly and stepped back from the door as Fancy stood up, walked towards one of the large windows on the opposite wall, and lightly leaned his head against it while staring out at the sunset over Canterlot.

Rarity instantly turned and began walking towards the stairs to the third floor.

She wasn’t sure how she felt. Before she returned she was crying her own woes and calling herself pathetic… over what? She was taking part in the most famous fashion show in Equestria and she had been given a chance to enter her work against some of the best designers around. She felt her work was subpar, but she was given a chance she would never pass up. She felt crushed by the weight of the competition, but she had those who believed in her and supported her.

She almost couldn’t remember what she was crying for. What she just witnessed… she had no words for it. Fancy Pants, the most important and perfect pony in Equestria, getting chewed out and berated by a peer for lacking the ability to perform and execute his job.

She watched as a pony she admired for his perfection tear his office apart after weeks of hard work went sour. And hearing the older pony say he had misplaced confidence in Fancy made her take a much longer look at what things could be like for her without Fancy and his willingness to stick with what he believed in.

With much to think about, Rarity simply returned to her room, closed the door behind her, and sat down on her bed, unsure of what was going to happen now.

---To Be Continued---

Comments

[1craige]

hmm the plot thickens

[Sky Blazer]

There's the chink in the armour, I guess.

[moonrose]

yayyyyy Fancy isn't a Gary Stu! There are flaws! very intéressante

[Train wreck]

I'm suprised that Fancy Pants isn't a Gary Stew, but who cares about a Gary Stew anyway.

[Coco Candy]

oooooooo, this keeps getting better and better