> Shine > by pandaxxus > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > "Thank you again!" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The final school bell rang in Canterlot Elementary and children began to exit the building, eager to go home and rest before the next day at school. The chit chat of children filled the atmosphere as some parted from their friends to meet with their parents, while others stood on the sidewalk catching up with their classmates. It was another normal Tuesday for the students of Canterlot Elementary, but something much more interesting seemed to be going on inside the third grade class of Mrs. Moon Blossom. A small eight-year-old girl was asked to stay behind as the others prepared to go home. The girl had curled purple hair, blue eyes, and wore a casual light blue sweater with a knee length purple skirt. Her name was Rarity, and she had big dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Her best friends Applejack and Pinkie Pie are always encouraging her, and give their opinions on her designs. She thought that she was pretty good for her age, and her mom would always sew her creations for her. She was also known to be generous to everyone around her, even if she had a reputation of being very dramatic. Rarity was excited to hear what Mrs. Moon Blossom had to say. She had asked if she could organize a school fashion show, and as the staff thought about it, they saw it was a good idea to raise money for the school and agreed. Finally, she could show off her stunning dresses and outfits! Everyone would see that she actually had talent, and that she would have a bright future in creating clothes. All she had needed was seven models that would volunteer to showcase her designs. It wasn’t very hard to gather a few signatures from her classmates and her friends, of course. She was positive that Mrs. Moon Blossom had nothing but good news about her upcoming fashion show. “Rarity, sweetie, your fashion show must be cancelled.” “WHAT?!!!” Rarity shrieked in horror. How could it be cancelled? What could have happened? Did they think she wasn’t good enough? Her eyes filled with tears that were threatening to fall. Out of all things that could happen, this was the worst. possible thing. “I’m afraid so. I am so sorry, Rarity.” Mrs. Moon Blossom got up from her desk to comfort the crushed third grader. “W-Why?” Rarity whimpered. She didn’t understand. “You are required to have at least seven models to showcase your designs by the end of today. I’m afraid you only have six.” her teacher explained. “B-But I do have seven! Look at all of the signatures!” Rarity grabbed the list of people who had signed her paper and gave it to the teacher. After reading it for a moment, Mrs. Moon Blossom sighed. “Oh, Rarity, sweetie, you don’t count as a model. You are the host of the show!” Rarity was very upset. How was she supposed to know that? There was no way she could get another model to volunteer! She had so much trouble getting her last two signatures, no one else would say yes! “I understand.” Rarity hung her head and closed her eyes, refusing to look at her teacher. “I am so sorry Rarity, I know how much this show meant to you. Maybe-” her teacher started to apologize, but was interrupted by a small raspy voice. “Uh, excuse me?” Rarity opened her eyes and looked toward the sound of the voice. There was a girl, about her age, with messy rainbow hair peeking from the doorway. Her magenta eyes met the teacher’s. “Oh, you must be Rainbow Dash. I’m Mrs. Moon Blossom. If you are here for our little meeting, I’ll be right out for you in just a moment.” Mrs. Moon Blossom smiled at the young girl. “Yeah, I’m sorry for bothering you. That’s just what I was waiting for. I just kind of heard about what’s going on.” the rainbow haired girl answered, scratching the back of her head. She looked at Rarity for a brief moment before turning her attention back to the teacher. Rarity was annoyed with this random girl...Rainbow Dash. Couldn’t she see that they were in the middle of something? She crossed her arms and began to examine the young girl. Apart from her messy multi-colored hair and large magenta eyes, she wore a red and white striped t-shirt with blue jeans that looked as if she had fallen a couple of times. She had black high top sneakers and a band aid on her elbow. Rarity noticed that when she wasn’t talking, she was always looking at the ground and shuffling her sneakers. “Oh, yes, your new classmate was planning an event for the whole third grade, but unfortunately things didn’t work out.” Mrs. Moon Blossom explained, putting a hand on Rarity’s shoulder. Rarity looked down in shame. She didn’t want the new student to see her at a time like this. This isn’t the best first impression! What would she think of her? The girl who couldn’t even get ten people to walk in a fashion show? Yeah, that would seem nice. “Yeah, a fashion show right?” Rainbow Dash asked, her hands behind her back. Rarity nodded. “What happened again??” Why must she have sooo many questions? Rarity thought. She couldn’t believe that this girl had the nerve to just walk in and join the conversation. As annoyed as she was, she had to be polite to this rude, uninvited guest. “I...I was supposed to get seven models for my fashion show, but it turns out I only have six. Today is the deadline and that means that my fashion show must be cancelled.” Rarity was on the verge of tears again, but if she cried anymore, her eyes would become puffy and red, and that just couldn’t happen. Especially not in front of the new student! “Oh...is that all? Well, um, fashion isn’t really my thing...but...if this means so much to you, I guess I can sign up to be your last model. If it isn’t too late to sign up that is.” Rainbow offered, looking down at her shoes again. Rarity stood with her mouth agape. She wanted to volunteer?! She was so annoyed with her, and now the girl is doing the nicest thing anyone has done for her! Rarity was ashamed of herself for judging the new girl before she had gotten to know her. “Um...hello?” the girl’s voice cracked as she pulled Rarity out of her thoughts. “Oh...well of course you can sign up! I’d really appreciate it.” Rarity smiled. “You looked really upset about it...I didn’t want to just stand here knowing I could have at least done something about it.” Rainbow Dash replied, now signing her name onto a piece of paper. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, that is very nice of you! Now, I’ll have to go run to the office to drop this paper off, and you and I will discuss what you need to bring for tomorrow okay?” Mrs. Moon Blossom cheered, taking the paper. She left the room, leaving the two girls alone. “Thank you, really. You didn’t have to do that.” Rarity suddenly said. “Oh...uh. It was nothing. I just hope I won’t be up on stage for too long.” Rainbow said, her cheeks turning red. “Oh no! You only have to wear one of my designs. And you only have to walk out, stand for a few seconds, and then walk back!” “That doesn’t seem that bad.” “It really isn’t! I promise.” Rainbow Dash stared at Rarity for a few moments, “Your name is...Rarity?” “Yes. You must have heard it while the teacher and I were speaking. Yours is Rainbow Dash if I am not mistaken?” “Yep,” Rarity took a brief look at the girl’s hair once again. Now that she was a bit closer, she could see just how it stands out. “Your hair is simply wonderful! You were born with it?” she asked, taking a lock of hair and examining it. “Uh...yeah.” Rainbow Dash answered, surprised with Rarity suddenly touching her hair. “Not to be rude, but, do you like your hair being so...messy? Or do you not have too much time in the morning to brush it?” “Oh, I don’t really care about doing my hair that much. It doesn’t get in my way unless I’m playing sports, so I don’t really do anything with it. There are other things I could put way more time into than making sure that my hair looks perfect.” Rainbow responded, running her hand through her hair and messing it up a bit more. Rarity had never heard anything like it! I mean, sure, she knows about Pinkie’s hair being way worse. But, Pinkie is Pinkie, there is no saving that hair even if she tried! How could someone just not want to do their hair? “Where are you from?” Rarity asked, quickly changing the subject. She can deal with the hair situation later. “Oh...my mom and I moved here from Cloudsdale. I start tomorrow.” “Well...since you are new, and you did something so generous! I must pay you back!” Rarity said, putting her hand on her chest and stomping her foot. “Oh...no. You don’t have to.” the rainbow haired girl assured. “Oh but I certainly do. You saved my fashion show! And I know that being new isn’t easy. Would you like to sit at my lunch table tomorrow? I can introduce you to my friends, I’m sure they’ll like you just as much as I do!” The girl seemed hesitant to answer, and suddenly found the floor to be more interesting than the current conversation. She seemed...sad, yet confused. Rarity wanted to say something to comfort the girl. What was that word that her mother always called her when she was upset...? Darling? She’s never said it before, but it might work. “Um...darling. Are you okay?” Rarity asked. She liked that word, she might use it more often. Not too often though, she can’t imagine calling everyone darling. “Me? Oh, I’m fine! Are you sure you want me to join your table? I’m not the most exciting person to hang around.” Rainbow snapped out of her thoughts to answer Rarity, she put her hands in her pockets and avoided eye contact. “You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that. I just met you, I don’t know too much about you yet. But, I do know that you wanted to sign up for my show, even though you could have just ignored it all and wait for your meeting with our teacher. You saw how much it meant to me, and because of that I know you can’t be that bad,” Rarity hugged Rainbow, “I’d be very happy to welcome you to our table, and to call you a friend.” “A friend?” “Yes, of course!” “Well...okay then.” Rainbow gave a weak smile. Mrs. Moon Blossom walked back into the room. “Good news Rarity! Your fashion show is being discussed and planned. I will keep you updated on how everything is turning out.” she beamed. Rarity was practically jumping for joy. This was actually happening! And it was all thanks to her new friend. “Well, you are free to go home. I have a few things to discuss with your new classmate.” the teacher smiled at Rainbow. “Okay Mrs. Moon Blossom. I’ll see you tomorrow!” Rarity said, grabbing her backpack and bedazzled notebook from her desk. Before she left however, she turned to look at Rainbow Dash one last time. “Bye Rainbow Dash. Thank you again!” “See ya,” the girl gave her a small smirk. Rarity walked down the halls with the biggest smile on her face. In just a few weeks, she would have an entire fashion show planned and people would see how talented she was. Finally, no one would call her dream a joke anymore. They would see that she was serious! This was her moment to shine, and she had a certain rainbow haired girl to thank for it all. She couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive, she wanted Pinkie Pie and Applejack to meet Rainbow! As she made her way out of the building, she squealed and ran towards her father’s car. “Rarity, why are you so late! I was getting worried!” her father grumbled. “Father, you won’t believe what just happened!” Her father rolled his eyes, and gripped onto the steering wheel. He knew that after that sentence, she would speak throughout the whole ride home. “I met this girl and...she...saved my fashion show!”