A Second Chance

by Meteorite Shower

Chapter 7

A short time later Meteorite re-entered the boutique and walked up to Rarity, who was busy assorting a few items. Rarity glanced up at her, this time fully taking in Meteorite's mane, which was now somewhat back to its previous dishevelled state.

"Hey uh, I'm back…" Meteorite said quietly, turning her attention to the outfits yet to be altered. "So um… which dress do you want me in now?" A second later, Meteorite felt a blush coming on at her choice of wording. Fortunately, Rarity hadn't noticed.

"Not quite yet, darling," Rarity said, still assessing Meteorite's mane, "Tell me though, and be honest, how often do you brush your mane?"

Meteorite panicked slightly. "Uhhh…! Um, w-well… uh-"

Rarity held up her hoof, cutting Meteorite off, "Say no more." Rarity turned and gestured towards the floor in front of a mirror, "Come. Sit."

Meteorite silently obeyed, feeling guilty at her lack of manecare. Rarity sat next to her and with a graceful flourish, held a brush aloft in her magic, and began working through Meteorite's mane. Meteorite felt torn between telling Rarity she didn't have to do this, and letting it happen and enjoying the attention. Except for when Rarity found knots in her mane, then she just felt pain.

"I do apologize," Rarity said, seeing Meteorite grimace every so often. A few moments passed as Rarity forced herself to endure the horror that was all the split ends. How could she have let it get this bad?! "You… really should take better care of your mane, you know."

"I know…" Meteorite said guiltily, "Flo keeps telling me I should… I just… it's hard for me. I guess…" Meteorite reflected back on her first years in Equestria, where holding simple objects in her hooves took a lot of time and effort to achieve, and at times often felt impossible. Nowadays, she probably could manage a brush okay. Probably. She glanced at herself in the mirror. Heck, using her wings to hold things was also an option open to her now. Meteorite frowned, lost in her thoughts.

"I'unno…" she mumbled, "I guess I just got in the habit of not doing it, or something."

Rarity frowned slightly, but nodded an understanding.

"Besides," Meteorite said with a sigh, "it's not like it'll do me any good anyway. I work on a farm; it'll just get messed up again anyway."

Meteorite felt the brushing slow to a stop, and glanced at Rarity's reflection in the mirror. Rarity was looking down in thought, troubled. Meteorite turned her head towards Rarity, concerned.

"What? What is it?"

Rarity looked up, meeting Meteorite's eyes with her own.

"Darling," she paused, "Meteorite. Looking after your mane isn't about 'looking good'," Rarity cast an aside glance with a smile, flopping her hoof. "Well, it is, but it's more than that! It's about feeling good as well! When you take care to present yourself well, you're telling the world," Rarity stood up, foreleg poised and head held up high, "'Here I am! This is me! This is who I am, darling!'"

Rarity held the pose for a moment, before settling back down next to Meteorite, who was silently taking in everything being said. "After all, if you don't care about presenting yourself well on the outside," Rarity continued, before gently placing a hoof on Meteorite's chest, "how are you going to present yourself on the inside?"

Meteorite looked down at the white hoof on her, and felt her cheeks burning up as her breathing became rapid. She desperately avoided eye contact and shut her eyes, hoping against hope Rarity wouldn't notice. Rarity had, though, and was fairly certain she could feel a quickened heartbeat under her hoof. She cursed herself for getting too wrapped up in her speech and not thinking her actions though. Her natural instinct was to pull her hoof away quickly, but… decided to let her hoof linger for just a moment before slowly pulling away. After a while, Meteorite felt her mane being pulled at by the brush again, and opened an eye to survey the reflection in the mirror.

"Besides…" Rarity said softly, her attention narrowly focused on Meteorite's mane, "it's just good mane maintenance to do so."

Both mares sat in silence for a while, as Rarity carefully worked her way through years of knotted hair. Meteorite just sat there solemnly, thinking things over.

"Rarity?" Meteorite finally said. Rarity looked up into the mirror, quizzically. Meteorite continued, her voice slightly choked, "You're… right. I do need to take better care of myself. Not just my mane, just… everything. I… hadn't really considered it that way, until you said it." Meteorite looked down, not really knowing where to go from here, "Thank you."

Rarity nodded respectfully. "It's quite alright, Meteorite darling. Everypony deserves to look their best," she gave a small smile, "inside and out."

Meteorite smiled back, a small feeling of self-pride rising up within. She closed her eyes and contently waited until Rarity was finished. Rarity brought forth a can of manespray and gave Meteorite's mane a light coating while shaping it with numerous brushes and combs. When she was done, she smiled brightly.

"All done!" she sang, "There, don't you feel a lot better?"

Meteorite didn't need to look to agree. Still, she opened her eyes and locked onto her mane in the mirror. She turned her head slightly from side to side, taking in how her mane looked. Though there was no way around its large volume, it was now more pulled together with all the loose strands neatly combed in, creating an appearance that was very similar to how it usually looked, but styled. Meteorite turned to Rarity, with an awed hush.

"Thank you… I… don't know what to say," she admitted, feeling a little embarrassed, yet relatively happy. She smiled, turning back to her reflection. "I… don't deserve this, but thank you. Thank you, Rarity."

Rarity smiled silently, taking satisfaction in her efforts. "Think nothing of it, darling. Now, how about we continue, hm?" She levitated up a dress for Meteorite to take. Meteorite blinked at the realisation that she still had a job to do, and smiled awkwardly as she took the offered dress.

"Oh, right, yeah."

---

The afternoon passed without much interruption, barring a few ponies here and there coming in looking to shop. A couple of mares had remarked on the dress Meteorite was currently modelling, which left Meteorite uneasy about just standing there and ignoring them while holding a pose as Rarity engaged them in conversation about what they wanted, but Meteorite did her best to try and be professional about it.

As the last customer left, Rarity glanced outside at the setting sun, and began shutting up shop.

"I think that's all for today, darling," she called out to Meteorite, "I don't think we can get anything more done for now, so you can stop modelling for me."

Meteorite relaxed her posture and began to get out of her dress, but hesitated. She thought for a moment before turning towards the mirror again, and with a smile began posing in front of it for herself. A few minutes later she noticed the boutique had gotten quiet and spotted Rarity behind her in the mirror, curiously watching her. Meteorite blushed and slowly turned to face Rarity.

"Sorry…" she said, her head drooping very slightly, "I… just wanted to… have one last look at myself before I have to take this off." She rubbed her foreleg with her other, smiling to herself. "I… heh, had fun today…"

Rarity was mildly surprised. She had expected today to be a number of things; 'fun' was not an outcome she had considered to be high on that list. "Oh?"

"Yeah, well, see-" Meteorite began but cut herself off briefly as she struggled to get out of the dress, "I… never really got to wear dresses all that much." Meteorite briefly stared at the dress in her hooves before starting to fold it as best as she could. "I mean, I've been living on Sweet Apple Acres for the past six years, and well, dresses aren't exactly farm attire…"

Rarity briefly blanched at the thought of her dresses being draped through mud and torn apart through various activities she had seen Applejack and her family gone through while working.

"Eh heh, no, they aren't," Rarity managed after regaining her composure.

"And before that…" Meteorite stopped, becoming lost in her thoughts, clutching the folded dress to her chest. A moment later she shook herself out of her thoughts, and glanced at Rarity, giving a nervous chuckle.

"W-Well. Let's just say I never had much opportunity to wear them." She looked down at the dress and offered it back to Rarity. "So… yeah. I… enjoyed today. Thank you, for giving me this opportunity."

It took a few seconds to dawn onto Rarity that Meteorite hadn't come today just to be with her, but to pursue a dream as well. Rarity silently took back the dress with her magic, feeling a tad shameful that she had only expected one thing out of Meteorite. She made an effort to look at Meteorite with a smile.

"You're quite welcome, my dear. I'm… happy that today went well." Rarity felt her smile become more genuine. "You were a good model too! I don't know that many pegasi who are fine with standing still for so long."

Meteorite giggled, blushing. "Yeah… I guess I'm just not much of a traditional pegasus."

Rarity smiled, pleased to see Meteorite now a bit more outspoken. Meteorite smiled back, before uneasily glancing around the boutique.

"So… uh, I guess that's it? I guess I'm done here?"

Rarity frowned, slightly troubled. "I suppose you are…"

Meteorite's ears drooped slightly, as she gave a defeated smile. "Oh well… Still, it was a…" Her smile brightened, "it was a good day. Thanks, again."

"You're certainly quite welcome…" Rarity responded softly as she watched Meteorite turn and head for the door. She felt a lump in her throat, and found herself calling out after the purple pegasus.

"Meteorite!" Rarity shifted her posture from hoof to hoof, "Erm… you know… we still have work to finish. Would… you be… interested in returning next week? I… would appreciate your help again very much."

Meteorite froze in her step, and went wide-eyed at Rarity's proposal. "O-Oh! R-Really? Do… Do you mean that, Rarity?"

Rarity nodded, "I do, darling! So, do you accept?"

"Yes, absolutely!" Meteorite responded, before briefly considering something. "I'll have to let Applejack know though…"

"I'm sure she'll be fine with it."

"Yeah," Meteorite smiled, "Wow… Rarity, you don't know what this means to me!"

Rarity laughed politely, and bid Meteorite good night as the pegasus left the boutique. Rarity walked over and locked up for the night, quietly contemplative.

I'm quite sure I do…

Comments

[Emperor]

Considering how hard Meteorite is crushing on Rarity, Rarity must understand just how much it really does mean to her. It's so beautiful

[Bicyclette]

"Hey uh, I'm back…" Meteorite said quietly, turning her attention to the outfits yet to be altered. "So um… which dress do you want me in now?" A second later, Meteorite felt a blush coming on at her choice of wording. Fortunately, Rarity hadn't noticed.

pfft

"I do apologize," Rarity said, seeing Meteorite grimace every so often. A few moments passed as Rarity forced herself to endure the horror that was all the split ends. How could she have let it get this bad?! "You… really should take better care of your mane, you know."

augh! (also why i don’t have long hair myself)

"Darling," she paused, "Meteorite. Looking after your mane isn't about 'looking good'," Rarity cast an aside glance with a smile, flopping her hoof. "Well, it is, but it's more than that! It's about feeling good as well! When you take care to present yourself well, you're telling the world," Rarity stood up, foreleg poised and head held up high, "'Here I am! This is me! This is who I am, darling!'"

very Rarity

Meteorite looked down at the white hoof on her, and felt her cheeks burning up as her breathing became rapid. She desperately avoided eye contact and shut her eyes, hoping against hope Rarity wouldn't notice.

hoowee

"I mean, I've been living on Sweet Apple Acres for the past six years, and well, dresses aren't exactly farm attire…"

oh dang, never considered Meteorite would’ve been a farmhoof for six whole years at this point! that is an entire life for a self-insert to adjust to!

Meteorite giggled, blushing. "Yeah… I guess I'm just not much of a traditional pegasus."

hehehe (also feel like this dynamic is slotting into RariShy a bit which is fun!)