Azure Edge

by Leaf Blade

111. A Profound Sense of Peace

Ponyville’s clothing shop was a delightful little boutique with tranquil wallpaper, polite clientele, and very friendly and welcoming employees. The whole place filled Rarity with a profound sense of peace, which abruptly came crashing down when the thought of owning a place like this for herself reminded her of all those damn fashion books that she never read with Twilight.

Dear stars, she griped, everything is going to start reminding me of Twilight, isn’t it?

It didn’t help when Rarity came across a violet dress, with a cape trailing behind it and long sleeves to keep a pony cozy even in winter, and couldn’t help but think of how adorable Twilight would look in it.

She held the dress in her hands and it was so soft, and it reminded her of how Twilight used to nuzzle her cheek against Rarity’s hand, and she wanted to burn the dress to cinders, just like how the library was—

Okay, now this was getting ridiculous.

Rarity sat on a bench off to the side in the boutique, and cradled her face in her hands, groaning loudly in frustration.

“Oh hiii, Rarity,” a familiar, laidback voice called out to Rarity, catching her by surprise, “what are you doing here?” Rarity looked up to see a familiar gray pegasus sporting a blonde mane and shimmering yellow eyes, one of which was locked on Rarity, and the other very much wasn’t.

“Bubbles!” Rarity said cheerfully, her ears perking up. “What a pleasant surprise! I didn’t get to see you before I left last time. How are your injuries?”

“My what now?” the pegasus tilted her head and creased her brow, looking terribly confused.

“Don’t you recall?” Rarity asked, equally confused as to how someone could simply forget being mauled by a timberwolf. Rarity certainly hadn’t. “You followed me into the Everfree, a few months back. Your leg was terribly injured during the ensuing battle, and though I heard you were doing alright, I didn’t get to see you for myself before I left, so I was concerned.”

“Oooooh,” Bubbles snorted and slapped her knee, “that time, I remember that! Welp, my leg’s all better now! So no need to worry about little ol’ me!”

“That’s a relief,” Rarity sighed. At least there was some good news to be had today.

“What’s on your mind, Rarity?” Bubbles asked, sitting down unprompted next to Rarity and putting an arm around her shoulders. “You seem tense.”

“I am tense,” Rarity replied miserably, though she realized she couldn’t exactly share the circumstances that led to her agonized state, now could she?

“What’s wrong?”

Rarity pondered a moment.

While it was true that she couldn’t say exactly what happened, Bubbles seemed like a sincere enough sort, and Rarity might feel better talking to someone who didn’t carry as much baggage as her friends.

At the very least, she might feel better by getting all her frustrations off her chest, and if Bubbles was asking, there was no reason Rarity couldn’t at least share the vague details of her story.

“I have—or, had, I suppose—a friend,” Rarity explained, “a very, very dear friend. And I recently realized that she’s been lying to me about something huge since we met, and I’m not sure I can ever trust her again.”

“Is she sorry for lying?” Bubbles asked, tilting her head innocently.

“She says she is,” Rarity said, “but how can I simply trust her word after she already lied to me?”

“That’s not really the question you should be asking, I think,” Bubbles puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms. “I think what’s more important is, do you want to trust her?”

“What, pray tell, are you talking about?”

Bubbles cleared her throat. “Well, if your friend said she was sorry, and she wants to make up for lying to you, don’t you think you’d rather believe her? Like, if she’s your friend, and you still want to be friends with her— you do still want to be friends with her, right?”

“I do, but,” Rarity bit her lip, “what if she lies to me again? What if I, or even someone else who I care deeply for, gets hurt?”

“I think it’s better to risk getting hurt than to guard yourself pre-emptively from anything that could hurt you,” Bubbles said, “especially when it comes to friendship.”

“So you think I should give her a second chance,” Rarity grumbled.

“I think everyone deserves a second chance!” Bubbles said cheerfully, throwing her arms in the air and spreading her wings. “Maybe not a third chance, but think about it like this; if you still want to be friends, and she wants to make amends, don’t you owe it to both of you to give her another chance?”

Rarity paused. She stared into space for a second, and then looked at the violet dress still in her hands. She hadn't for a moment considered what she wanted from this whole situation, just what she thought she should do, or what she thought the ‘right’ thing to do was.

But what is it that she wanted?

Looking at the dress again, and thinking about how darling Twilight would look in it, she knew the answer, and she prayed she was brave enough to act on it.

“Thank you, Bubbles,” Rarity said with a smile, gently placing her hand on a beaming Bubbles’ hand. “You’ve given me a lot to think about, and I think I have an idea of what I need to do.”

“Glad I could help!” Bubbles shot right up and gave a salute. “And I hope you and your friend work things out!”

“Yes,” Rarity said fondly, “so do I.”

Rarity took the violet dress to the counter, along with a pretty green dress for Fluttershy, and some extra dresses in case they needed to change clothes for the journey, and other outfits in case they got tired of dresses.

Oh, they would also need jackets; even if they were immune to the cold themselves, nopony wanted to look at someone who looked cold, plus how could Rarity resist buying a few new stylish jackets for the winter season? Especially since the damn season seemed intent on staying past its welcome.

Rarity also picked up a new dress for herself, figuring she may as well treat herself since she’d been having such a shitty time, then realized that of course she should treat her friends as well, and got some new clothes for Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Spike, and Pinkie Pie. Nothing too frou-frou-y for the former three, though Rarity was certain Pinkie would positively adore the cabaret-style dress Rarity picked out for her.

With a small mountain of clothes hovering in the air behind her, Rarity finally felt ready to check herself out, and the woman behind the counter’s jaw dropped as she adjusted her glasses and stared in awe at Rarity’s impressive selection.

“Dear me,” she said, “is that all for yourself?”

“Heavens, no,” Rarity giggled, looking fondly at the collection, “they’re for me and my family.”

Author's Note:

*bubbles voice* break time!
i'm going on a brief sabbatical during this new year! i will be returning with Much more azure edge again starting on january 28th!

gonna take these nice four weeks to build up my buffer and get into a comfortable routine where i can not only stay ahead on azure edge, but hopefully spend some time on my other pony projects too (and non-pony projects.. i have a fightin herds fic in the works that i'm super jazzed about but that's neither here nor there)

i hope u look forward to reading more of this story on the 28th, cuz i certainly look forward to writing more of it! and there's A Lot more story to tell

Until then, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!
And happy new year, everypony!

Comments

[Zervon Tora]

Enjoy the new decade and I look forward to your return!