Rarity pulled her lips in, biting down hard as she tried to stifle a hiccup. The empty bottle lay beside her, dribbling the last of its contents on her beautiful carpet, but she couldn't bring herself to move. Instead she stared through unfocused eyes at her white hoof, lain so carelessly on her leg. Across from her lay Rainbow Dash on her back, laughing at bitter irony of the two elements and hiccuping every few seconds.

"Hey...Rainbow...?" Rarity slurred, breaking into the pegasus's laughter.

"Mmmmm?"

"What happened to us?"

"...Life."

Now it was Rarity's turn to laugh, attempting to speak between her manic pants as she reached for the bottle on her other side. "Ithink-theproblem-is-thatwe-didn'ttake-what li-life tried to-hand to us." Sudden realization at the truth of her sentence hit her and her eyes blurred even more as she felt the tears welling up. "I remember when-when I was somepony important. I was-" She gulped, the tears freeing themselves. "I was a pony with dreams, with goals, and I-I could have reached them. I was almost-hic-almost there at one point. I mean-Celestia! I was designer for Sapphire shores! I-I had fashion shows! I won-hic-won Fashion Week! I was friends with Celestia and Luna, Fancy Pants! And you, Rainbow Dash! What happened to your dreams? Huh? -hic- You went to the academy, passed the exam. You even knew-hic-the top three Wonderbolts! It wasn't life that got in the-hic-way!"

Rainbow had said nothing throughout her rant, but as silence once again began to creep into the room, she said, just above a whisper. "It was friends."

Neither said anything, but both understood. Rarity had only to look up at the ceiling of her bedroom, the polished crystal that made up the castle, to think of what she'd given up for her friends, especially for Twilight. Of course, it hadn't started out that way. They had started out with the best of intentions; had all agreed that with everything going on, it would be much easier to all live together. The castle had been made for Twilight, but it had been geared towards each of them as well when it was created using the Rainbow Power. Rarity's room had a glamorous look with a canopied bed and a balcony. Rainbow's had a slightly larger window so she could easily fly out, right at the top. Heck, Pinkie's room had a crystal slide. Yes, they had all agreed together that it was for the best, even Applejack who complained about Sweet Apple Acres being so far away. They slept there and planned everything, basically watching over Equestria with the map in the center of the throne room, but during the day they still headed off their own separate ways. After all, a few of them still had businesses to run, lives to manage.

Then things had slowly changed. It all started with that town of matching cutie marks. They headed off together, like always, for a little adventure, following the path the map had shown. Then they solved the case, everypony was happy, and they went home. It was normal for a while. Rarity worked hard to make up for the time she had lost and business really started to pick up, even more than before. She was getting more orders than ever. Then it happened again. The map told them where to go and she followed along. A fairly short trip, everything solved, home again. But it kept happening. Again and again. They kept being told where to go and they kept going, and of course she had to close down her shop each time. It would only be for a day or two, but then her customers started getting annoyed, calling her unreliable. Some stopped coming altogether. She tried to hire help, but even with somepony there to keep the shop open, she wasn't able to finish projects on time, even if her help did part of the sewing. She eventually lost all but the most patient and closest of her local customers.

Rainbow had been ended up much the same way. The Wonderbolts had examined her file and eventually labeled her as 'unreliable' and 'unfit for duty'. Spitfire herself had said that it was a shame that they couldn't accept her. Saying that Rainbow was one of the best fliers in Equestria, but the Wonderbolts needed ponies who would be there at a moments notice, no matter the excuse.

And now here they were with nothing to show for their life's work, their study and practice, their patience, all for naught.

But what could they do?

They had no choice, right?

Not when they were part of the Elements of Harmony. Wielders of the Rainbow Power. Protectors of Equestria. Best friends to Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.

No, of course not. They had a duty to their friends and their country that should be raised above their own ambitions. Without them, Equestria would have been destroyed ten times over. She should be happy; should feel proud.

Right?

But what really would have happened without her? Was destiny so real after all? What if she had never become the Element of Generosity? If she had never met Twilight? If none of them had? If Twilight had gone to some other town, met some other five ponies. Some other ponies who could have gained this power, this...position, if you could call it that.

And she could have been running a top boutique right now, maybe even in Canterlot, catering to ponies of importance. Having her name spread across Equestria. Maybe even having a handsome stallion friend to spend her evenings with.

Maybe, if she hadn't met Twilight...

"Hey Rainbow?"

"Mmmm?"

Rarity dared not look at the pegasus. "Do you resent her at all? Twilight, I mean."

Rainbow was silent for a moment, and Rarity found herself holding her breath, a pain in her chest intensifying. "Do you?" Rainbow finally answered, sending the question back at her.

Ratity closed her eyes, the pain easing as she surprised herself with her answer, letting it out in a sort of breathless way. "No. Not at all."

Now she heard the drunken smile in Rainbow's voice. "Yeah. Me either."

Rarity started smiling too, her tears now dried on her face, her smile growing into a rather unladylike grin. Really though, what was ladylike about being sprawled on your back while attempting to drink yourself into a stupor with one of your best friends.

While contemplating how much another one of your friends has ruined your life.

That was it, right?

She could never resent Twilight.

No matter what happened.

No matter how much she blamed her for something that wasn't even Twilight's fault.

She was one of her best friends.

One of the few ponies she felt so close to that having her life any other way, without them in it, no matter how happy, would be devastating. A piece that should have been there, missing, only to be obtained in another lifetime.

"I couldn't." She vocalized, taking a long drink from the bottle, before continuing. "I love her."

OK so it's been a reeeaaaaalllyyy long time hasn't it.

Anyway, I swear I've been writing, just that none of what I've written seems like anything I'd post. I do have two fairly lengthy shipping fics between Pinkie and Soarin that I think parts are ok but are way to cheesy and badly executed to post. (Although there is a cute scene where soarin takes her to this casual club in Cloudsdale where they dance that I like in one. The other is really a sort of love trianlge between Pinkie, Soarin, and the grumpyish chef for the Wonderbolts that I don't really know the end of yet.) I might work on them and post at least one at some point.

Another of my projects is the a little snippet from the first chapter of a shipping fanfic between Fluttershy and Octavia that I haven't really gone anywhere with yet.

And honestly, I haven't really worked on Sweater Weather for a few weeks now, but I'll get back to it.

Anyway...

Basically I was in a writing mood tonight, so I opened up wordpad to see what happened. A line from a book I have been reading ("One Day" by David Nicholls if you're wondering) and started typing without any idea what the story would end up like. This is the end result.

Enjoy!

P.S. please leave a review, it really helps, and if you see any spelling or grammar mistakes feel free to tell me about them!