Perseverance
Part 2: Picking Yourself Up
It was the start of a brand new day and Spike decided to go see Rarity again. She had enjoyed his company during breakfast the previous day, so maybe she would be happy to see him again today. He got up extra early and made a special breakfast for Twilight so she wouldn't feel left out. He could be Rarity's dream stallion and Twilight's number one assistant at the same time. After speedily completing his morning chores at the library, Spike made his way to the Carousel Boutique. The sign on the door read 'closed' and Spike decided to wait. He didn't want to wake Rarity if she was still asleep.
After waiting for a long time, Spike curiously put his ear to the door and heard muffled sounds from inside. Rarity was awake alright and she sounded like she was in distress. He tried the doorknob, but it was locked, so he knocked instead. "I'm sorry; the boutique is closed... forever!" Rarity's dramatic voice cried.
"Rarity, it's me, Spike, please open the door!" Spike pleaded. Rarity was just fine on the previous day. In fact, she was happy. Why was she so distressed all of a sudden?
Rarity opened the door with tears in her eyes and a frustrated pout on her face. "I'm sorry Spike; I'm really not in the mood to see anyone right now."
"Please Rarity, let me talk to you. It makes me sad that you're sad," Spike pleaded.
Rarity just couldn't say no to his adorable pleading face. She let out a breath and stepped aside to let him in. "Alright, come on in."
The inside of the shop was a mess of crumpled up parchments thrown all over the place. Spike set aside the basket of pancakes and other such breakfast treats and picked up one of the parchments on the floor, which had been rolled into a ball. He glanced at Rarity so that she didn't feel he was invading her privacy and when she nodded her approval, he stretched out the parchment. It was a drawing of a unicorn mare and a pony stallion. Their outfits were very detailed, but their expressions were odd and the background was a chaotic mess.
"That was supposed to be a picture of Princess Rarelight and Maike looking into each other's eyes, but it just looks disturbing," Rarity frowned. "I'm just not good at drawing backgrounds and expressions. The only things I ever draw are outfits and my ponies look as stiff as ponyquins. I thought I had found my calling as an illustrator, but I'm just not good at it."
"It's not so bad," Spike tried looking at the picture from a different angle, but the drawing was the same. The outfits were great, but the rest was not. "You just need to practice some more!"
Rarity sighed, "I've been up all night and that's not the only problem. I thought that if I couldn't draw a picture book, I could instead write a novel. After all who doesn't love a good romance novel?" Spike didn't like those, but he decided not to mention it. "That didn't turn out very well either. I tried to make my narration sound pretty, but the words kept slipping out of my grasp and I kept on repeating the same words. I tried using some synonyms from the dictionary I borrowed, but then the story just ended up sounding terribly strange."
"Don't worry, Rarity!" Spike tried to encourage her. "I'm sure Twilight can help you pick the right words and we can all work on the pictures together."
"I'm afraid you're missing the point," Rarity frowned. "All that help is just fine for a project done for the fun of it, but not for a career. I have to be able to do this on my own. Oh, why did I ever think I could be an illustrator? What was I thinking?"
"I don't understand," Spike thought that the book project was for fun. He didn't realize that Rarity was considering it as a serious career option. "Don't you want to be a fashion designer?"
"I can't," Rarity frowned. "My reputation is tarnished, I cannot design again," she sighed sadly.
"Tarnished?" Spike inquired in confusion.
Rarity realized that the conversation was heading down a dangerous road. That letter from the fashion show committee at Los Pegasus had to remain a secret. "It's okay, I won't give up that easily, I'll find another career to dedicate myself to. It will be something that allows me to unleash my passion for creativity!"
A knock on the door interrupted Rarity's melodramatics, followed by Applejack's voice. "Hey, Rarity, are ya home?" The sign on the door read 'closed,' but perhaps Rarity was home and she was simply too busy preparing for the upcoming play to tend to the shop today. Well, Applejack wanted to talk to her about the play, so it was an offer to help more so than an interruption.
Rarity opened the door allowing applejack inside. There was no use in trying to hide her situation from Applejack. That pony could smell hasty excuses from a mile away. "Oh my... What happened here?" Applejack examined the mess of parchments thrown all over the place.
"Just a failed project, but no worries, I'm back on my hooves and ready to tackle the next option... As soon as I think about it," Rarity replied unsure. "What can I help you with, Applejack?"
"Actually," Applejack was still curious about the mess and what Rarity's words really meant, but she decided not to push the issue. Rarity would talk about it soon enough, besides, she was planning to hang around for a while helping with the play preparations, and Rarity wasn't exactly known for her ability to keep emotions bottled up, all the opposite. "Ah was wonderin' if I could help with anythin' for tha play."
"Play?" Rarity tilted her head in confusion as she asked. "What play?"
"Tha one starring Twilight and mah brother," Applejack reminded.
Rarity took a moment to mull over the earth pony's words. "That was supposed to be a picture book story, and then novel, but none of those possibilities worked out, so it can be a play!" This was the perfect opportunity to make things work. A play didn't need fancy illustrations and the script was about dialogue and action rather than poetic descriptions, because every pony would actually be seeing the poetry in motion instead. "Thank you so much for the idea Applejack, and for offering to help." Rarity dug up her draft of the story which had been written by Spike when he took notes for her the previous day. "This is the basic plot of the story. I don't quite have the dialogue planned out, but if you want to look at it to get an idea of what the play is about you're welcome to. I've read these notes so many times I have them memorized, so I'll just go ahead and start working on the dialogue now and show it to you for constructive criticism soon."
"Sure..." As Applejack read over the notes, she wondered just what in the world she had gotten herself into. After a while of thinking about it, with Rarity writing in the background as Spike looked over her shoulder, while sitting on the unicorn's back, Applejack could not hold her honesty in any longer. "Listen, sugar cube," she started gently, her voice causing Rarity to look up from the parchment she was writing on. "Ah don't mean to be harsh or anything, but this story's a bit... oh... well..." The orange earth pony bit her lip, she couldn't lie, she simply couldn't. It might seem merciful for Rarity now, but in the long run, it would only hurt her more. Besides, she did mention wanting constructive criticism. "Tha story's one big collection of cliches!" Applejack blurted out, before swiftly putting her front hooves over her mouth. "Ah'm sorry, that didn't come out quite right."
"Oh, it's alright," Rarity took it rather well. "I already knew the story was full of cliches. I guess it's because I focused more on the ball room scene and the beautiful clothes it would have rather than on the plot. But you're right, if I'm going to be a theatre director, I must pay attention to all the aspects of the play!"
"Tell yah what, sugar cube, why don't we get the whole gang together and work on this as a team?" Applejack suggested. She was sure that at the very least Rainbow Dash would agree that they needed to spice up the play a little.
Rarity knew she had to be able to do this task on her own if she wanted to make a career out of it, but then she remembered that theatrical productions were not run by one pony. She was the director, so it was okay to let someone else handle other aspects of the play. "That sounds like a splendid idea."
xoxox xox xoxox
Later, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Spike, Applejack, Big Macintosh, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkiepie all gathered at the Carousel Boutique to participate in Rarity's play. Twilight even had a word with the mayor to get permission to perform it in the park, where Big Macintosh, Applejack and Applebloom were building a stage and setting up props. Though the Cutie Mark Crusaders were not originally a part of the plan, they heard about the play and wanted to take part in it. Sweetie Bell was working on lyrics along with Pinkiepie, after the energetic pink pony suggested that the play should be turned into a musical and Rarity approved of the idea. After all, there were so many famous plays that were musicals. At the same time, Pinkiepie was using her boundless supply of energy to come up with choreographies and dance moves with Scootaloo.
It wasn't as easy for Fluttershy to divide herself between two tasks, but she was managing to keep up with Pinkiepie's musical team, planning the melodies to accompany the singing and dancing, while at the same time assisting Rainbow Dash with sound effects. Other than the sound effects, Rainbow Dash would also be working on the special effects. She wanted to incorporate some weather control into the mix to make things grander and Rarity thought it could be rather dramatic, thus agreed. Twilight was scribbling like mad, working on part of the script, while Spike struggled to keep up with her, trying to get other scenes done. Rarity thought that Twilight's script was too ye olde Canterlot style and Spike's was not ye olde Canterlot enough. Together, the two writers tried to find a balance.
As the planning and preparations continued, Rarity found herself less involved in directing and more involved in costume making. She wasn't supposed to be a seamstress anymore, but she couldn't help it. Besides, this was just a small play, not a Canterlot fashion show, so she didn't have to worry about outrageous standards. Either way, this was Rarity, so however small the task may be, she strived for perfection. A few days into the planning and preparation stage, a package arrived in the mail for Rarity with sad bitter memories attached to it. She tucked it away along with the letter from the fashion show at Los Pegasus, as they were both related to the same disaster.
Around that time, Rainbow Dash had to take a break from the play rehearsals, though the performance night was rapidly approaching and the play was still not solid. Nonetheless, she had tickets to a show where the Wonder Bolts would be and Rarity knew she couldn't keep Rainbow away from that. It was an activity at Los Pegasus that would begin with a fashion show competition and end with the Wonder Bolts' performance. The next day would give way to a theatre festival after the opening ceremony. Rainbow Dash wasn't planning to stay for the festival and didn't care about the fashion show. She was only going to see the Wonder Bolts after being lucky enough to manage to get her hooves on a ticket. "What I don't understand," Rainbow Dash had commented during rehearsal the day before she left. "Is what does prissy fashion have to do with the Wonder Bolts?"
"It's not about the fashion or the Wonder Bolts," Twilight had tried to explain. "It's about the theatre. A theatre production involves a lot of work, as we have been learning for the past few days. It involves costumes as well as acting and choreographing. Those elements can be seen during the opening ceremony of the theatre festival."
"I guess so," Rainbow Dash admitted, not that she was any less annoyed at having to sit through a fashion show before she got to see the Wonder Bolts. She considered being late, but she didn't want to risk missing a single second of the Wonder Bolts or not being able to find a good spot near the outdoors stage where the Wonder Bolts would take off from and later land. Thus she would have to sit through the boring old fashion show. Rarity would have loved it though, which reminded Rainbow Dash of something else. "Hey Rarity, didn't you say something about sending a dress for the fashion competition?"
Rarity bit her lip. If her dress was still in the competition she would have replied cheerfully and ask Rainbow Dash to pick up her price for her. Of course, Rainbow would refuse, not wanting to look 'uncool' in front of the Wonder Bolts and they would all have a laugh. But such was not reality. "I will not be taking part in the competition," Rarity had replied simply. She averted her eyes away from her friends and focused on a parchment. "Shall we rehearse the scene at the end of the ball where part two begins?" A whole second part to the story was added to add more action to the script, though the topic of romance was still the center piece at the end.
Remembering the theatre festival's opening ceremony only made Rarity think about the package and the letter and she didn't want to think about that. She had already left her problem behind hasn't she? Surely Rainbow Dash's trip to Los Pegasus wouldn't leave her with any inconvenient information, right? Of course not, she was just being paranoid. Rainbow wouldn't even be paying attention to the fashion show, let alone to the talk going on about it, or the rumors surrounding it. Rarity took a deep breath and assured herself that the secret of her fashion designing career's end was safe. No one would ever know.
xoxox xox xoxox
The night of the opening ceremony, Rainbow Dash was so excited about seeing the Wonder Bolts that she didn't even care that she was dressed formally. She didn't bother going to Rarity for a new outfit, as she didn't really want one, even if Rarity would have insisted if she wasn't so distracted by the play and, unknown to Rainbow Dash, distracted by her secret sorrows. Thus Rainbow just wore the dress from the Grand Galloping Gala and impatiently waited through the fashion show which turned out to be rather short. Despite her usual impatience, she had tried to mentally prepare herself to endure the boredom of a long parade of froo-froo dresses, but it wasn't so long after all. Then finally, there was an extra long performance by the Wonder Bolts.
Rainbow Dash couldn't be happier by the end of the event. She was ready to head on to the train station and fall asleep on the last train to Ponyville that night, but had an unexpected delay as she was about to rush off to catch the train. "Rainbow Dash!"
The fast pegasus looked around to see who was calling her in such a loud voice. To her surprise, she found none other than Princess Luna addressing her. "Princess Luna!" Rainbow exclaimed before she could stop herself.
"Good evening," Luna tried to moderate her voice so that it wasn't so loud.
"Good evening princess, wasn't the Wonder Bolt's show awesome?" Rainbow cheered.
Luna smiled at her conversation being so warmly welcomed. "Yes, I enjoyed it very much. Although because of the mishaps with the fashion show, they had to prolong their performance last minute. Though I did enjoy the show, I imagine the Wonder Bolts must be exhausted."
"Maybe, but it was well worth it!" Rainbow happily exclaimed. Then she realized that what she said didn't entirely sound very nice. "Wait a minute, did you say mishaps?"
"Yes, it was quite troublesome." Luna reached her chariot, but she was not done speaking with Rainbow Dash and didn't want to leave in the middle of the conversation, nor did she want to stand there. "Do join me, won't you? I can give you a ride to Ponyville if that is where you are headed."
"It is, well Cloudsdale actually, but that's right over Ponyville and I would be happy to join you, thank you!" Rainbow hopped on to the chariot, it did look pretty cool.
"Driver, make a stop at Cloudsdale on our way to Canterlot. Now, where was I?" Luna continued as the chariot took off. "Ah yes, the disaster at the fashion show. It was quite regrettable. One of the designers, Fashionista, hired ponies all over Equestria to sabotage her competitors by keeping them busy with rush orders and attacking their confidence with harsh critiques. I heard that one of them even pushed one of the competitors to throw her across a street and then reported it as an uncalled for assault and got the competitor banned from participating. It happened several times before the committee managing the event took notice of the suspicious pattern and investigated. Of course, Fashionista was banned from competing when her cheating was discovered, but it was too late for the other designers who didn't have time to send in their dresses or whose dresses were send back, as the packages had already been mailed back to them. That is why the fashion show was so short."
Realization donned on Rainbow Dash as she recalled a particular event. She was on cloud cleaning duty, just passing over Rarity's shop. From her perch on a cloud above, she saw a pink unicorn fly out of the shop and land across the street. She thought it was hilarious and wanted to go see what happened to lead to it. However, Ditzy Doo bumped into her, literally, soon after and distracted Rainbow Dash, thus she forgot about going over to ask Rarity what happened. "That story sounds very familiar," Rainbow voiced. It couldn't be a coincidence that Rarity didn't enter the competition.
Then another memory resurfaced for Rainbow Dash and suddenly the bag of bits tugged into her dress felt terribly heavy. Just as she was leaving for Los Pegasus, Spike secretly gave her the coins and asked her to get a souvenir for Rarity if they had them available at the fashion show. Rainbow Dash protested, but Spike's pleading look ultimately got to her. Rainbow did mention that they might not even have souvenirs, as it was more so a show than a fair. The dragon thus asked her to pick up a nice gift for Rarity then. That sounded like a more do-able request, though what Rainbow and Rarity would define as a 'nice gift' might greatly differ.
"Was it a friend of yours?" Luna asked, waking Rainbow Dash from her pensive daze.
"Probably," Rainbow admitted. "I also just remembered something else..." Oh well, she was already on her way to Ponyville and she couldn't ask Luna to turn around after she so kindly gave her a ride in her awesome chariot. Surely Spike would understand that there was little room for anything else in her thoughts when the Wonder Bolts were near by, but that felt somewhat disloyal and Rainbow didn't like it.
Rainbow thought about a past lesson she and her friends had learned from Spike. It involved the young dragon running around like crazy trying to find the perfect birthday gift for Rarity. He followed her around everywhere in hopes that the observation would help him figure out what he could give her that she liked and didn't already have. In the end, he got distracted and didn't have anything to give her when the moment arrived, taking Spike by surprise. No pony reminded him that the time of the party was upon them because every pony thought that after Spike obsessed about it so much, his mind was constantly on the date and time.
Yet Spike had lost track of time spending time with Rarity, while every pony assumed that he was purposely distracting her so that the party's preparations could remain a surprise. Even so, Rarity insisted when Spike profusely apologize for the lack of the 'super awesome expensive gift' he so wanted to give her, that he had given her a wonderful day, helped her a lot and that his company was the best present she could get. Spike still insisted on giving Rarity a late birthday present on the next day and after much fussing, Twilight suggested a bouquet of flowers, which Spike did give Rarity and she loved them.
Taking the event into consideration and the lesson Spike wrote about to Princess Celestia, also sharing it with the group, Rainbow Dash recalled that a gift didn't have to be a material thing. It could be an action, for example. Once again, Rainbow Dash was brought out of her thoughts by Luna as the night princess asked. "What were you remembering? It seems to trouble you."
"I was thinking about some friends," Rainbow Dash started to explain. "What do you think would make a fashion designer happy?" If she didn't have time to pick up a gift from Los Pegasus, Rainbow would at least help Spike with an idea.
"If a lot of ponies wear the designs, I think that would make the designer happy," Luna replied. She theorized that Rainbow was indeed thinking about how to cheer up a friend of hers that was kept from the fashion competition tonight. She thought about the other ponies she had met along with Twilight Sparkle and Rarity stood out when she tried to match the image of a fashion designer to one of them. Luna didn't hear the details about the thrown across the street story, but that wasn't important now, as nothing could be done. The committee would take care of sending their letter of apology, but the competition simply couldn't have been postponed.
Rainbow Dash nodded at Luna's suggestion. "That's true..." Although she wasn't sure how any pony could make that idea work. She wanted to give Spike some really good advice to make up for forgetting to buy the present. A lot of ponies wearing Rarity's designs would make her very happy, but how would Spike go about making it happen? Didn't a lot of ponies already wear clothes made by Rarity on occasion? Even she was wearing one of Rarity's creations right now.
There was always next year, but for the time being, Rarity would need something to cheer up and this was Luna's opportunity to show support for one of her subjects. After all, Rarity was one of the elements of harmony who helped her recover her true self when she was Nightmare Moon. The princess smiled as an idea came to her. "Would a princess wearing a dress made by her bring Rarity happiness?"
Rainbow Dash's face lit up. "I'm pretty sure that would make her very happy!"
"Then it shall be done!" Luna spoke too loudly again and Rainbow Dash nearly fell out of the rapidly moving chariot. With a flap of her wings, the speedy pegasus climbed back on and smiled reassuringly at the princess, who continued. "Please ask Rarity to design a dress for me. I have no specifications, let her have full creative freedom in designing what she thinks will fit me best. There is also no due date, let Rarity relax and take her time."
"Thanks Princess Luna! I'm sure that'll make Rarity very happy. I'll tell Spike and he can tell her, because I'm sure it'll make him happy to give Rarity this present, the opportunity I mean, it's like the perfect gift for Rarity!" Rainbow exclaimed.
Luna laughed fondly, she was the one getting a new dress and yet it was like a gift for Rarity. "I am pleased to be able to make my subjects happy." The night princess felt a warm satisfaction like she had not felt since Nightmare Night.
Some time later, Luna's chariot made a stop at Cloudsdale where Rainbow Dash got off. Her only regret was that it was late and most pegasus were asleep, thus it was unlikely that anyone saw her super cool arrival riding around on that awesome chariot, it was really fast too. After exchanging goodbyes with Princess Luna, who turned out to be extra cool after getting to know her a little better, Rainbow Dash headed home and took off her fancy dress, and not a moment too soon. Rainbow went to sleep imagining Spike's face the next day when she told him the kind of present she managed to find for Rarity and it didn't even cost any bits. Then she imagined Rarity's expression and wondered if Pinkiepie would take her up on a bet on whether or not Rarity would faint. Rainbow Dash would bet that she would, of course. Than again, who would actually bet that she wouldn't?
xoxox xox xoxox
Yet another day rolled around and the play was starting to look more solid. After staying up late, Rainbow Dash slept in and was swamped with weather chores when she did get up. Thus mid day arrived and she still had not had the opportunity to tell Spike about the gift. Spike was currently at Rarity's house, helping her put together a few last minute accessories for the play. "I think this is it." She levitated a quill and made a check mark on the list that Twilight had prepared for her. The purple unicorn was acting more so as the director, while Rarity fell into the role of costume designer. That wasn't how it was supposed to be, but this was only her first play and Rarity reasoned that she was still getting the hang of it. Although she had to admit, she would much rather focus on the costumes than on anything else.
Yet she wasn't a fashion designer anymore. She had been purposely avoiding the papers and magazines because she didn't want to read any articles gossiping about what a brute she was. The dress she made for the Los Pegasus fashion contest was in a box in the bottom of her closet along with the letter from the committee banning her from the competition because of her behavior. She couldn't help it though; her anger turned her into a beast. She sighed and bowed never to blow her temper like that again.
The next time she was angry, she would express herself with words and she wouldn't throw ponies across streets... Unless they initiated the physical violence, of course, she wouldn't just stand there getting beaten or letting her friends get beaten, but she wouldn't act in such an unladylike manner unless it was as a last resort of self-defense. For anything less, a few well placed scolding words would be used instead. Even so, she couldn't get herself to feel regret. She felt embarrassed because she didn't behave like a lady and she was upset at the consequences, but those emotions were different from regret.
She finished setting up a little lunch for Spike and herself. He mentioned he would come over to see her after he finished his library chores in the morning. Though his excuse was more along the lines of taking the final version of the script to her for one last revision. Albeit the script had been under development the whole time, they had been rehearsing and incorporating the changes as they went along with the process, thus they were not too behind.
"I'm here," Spike announced as he entered the shop and followed the scent of food to the kitchen. "Hey Rarity, I picked up your mail for you, the mail box seemed pretty full."
"Oh... thank you," Rarity made herself smile. She was afraid she would be tempted to read the fashion magazines she subscribed to and find something terrible written there about herself, thus she avoided getting them out of her mailbox. She took the magazines and letters, making them float away with her unicorn magic. She separated the magazines from the letters and stuffed the magazines into a cupboard before she was too tempted to read them. Spike thought it was an odd place to keep magazines, but he didn't question it. Rarity looked over the letters. A pink envelope from Pinkiepie provided a reminder that Gummy's half-way birthday party was that evening. As if Pinkiepie herself didn't give them enough reminders with her excitement. A pale blue envelope from Los Pegasus made her re-live the moment when she opened another similar envelope with dreadful news. She was certain that Stylista ruined her reputation, and the way she was banned from the competition was so shameful.
"Rarity?" Spike asked in worry. "Are you alright? You look like you saw a ghost."
"I'm fine," Rarity forced a smile, but her face twitched nervously.
"No, you're not," Spike frowned. "Please tell me the truth. Don't you trust me?" He pouted cutely.
Rarity could do little else but to pout back. Lately she had developed quite a weakness to Spike's pleading face. But no, she couldn't tell Spike, she couldn't tell anyone, especially not Spike. He would blame herself for the incident and feel guilty, which would only make Rarity feel worse. "It's nothing really," she shoved the envelope that had come all the way from the theatre festival committee at Los Pegasus into the cupboard where the magazines were, hiding it like something shameful, because to the best of her knowledge, it was.
"Spike! Are you here?" Rainbow Dash's voice surprisingly called from the entrance of Rarity's home.
"I'm in the kitchen!" Spike called back automatically.
In seconds, Rainbow Dash was there, "Hey Spike, Rarity." She greeted them. "I have something to tell you Spike, come over here a second, okay?" The speedy pegasus retreated to the shop area.
Spike followed her curiously, "I'll be right back I guess."
"Okay..." Rarity found that the occurrence was strange, but she let it pass. Her curiosity was killing her. Even if reading that letter from the committee only brought her grief, she simply had to read it. She took a deep breath and retrieved the envelope from the cupboard, opening it. Her face was filled with relief as she read through the letter. So it was Fashionista who hired Stylista to sabotage her. That dirty cheat didn't belong in the glamour of the fashion world! At least the committee had apologized and lifted their ban. This year's competition was over, but there was always next year. Even so, what if all the things Stylista had said were true? What if her other customers were just being mercifully polite? The seed of doubt had already taken root in Rarity's heart and it would take more than an apology from a group of strangers to get it out.
xoxox xox xoxox
Meanwhile, away from Rarity's hearing range in the shop area of the Carousel Boutique, Rainbow Dash proudly gave Spike the news. "I went looking for you at the library, but you weren't there, so I gave the bits to Twilight."
"You did?" Spike looked disappointed. He was wondering what kind of gift Rainbow Dash picked out at Los Pegasus, but it turns out there was no gift after all.
"Yup, because the awesome gift I got for you to give Rarity was free," Rainbow declared.
Now Spike was really curious, "for free? But what kind of gift could you possibly have gotten that was that awesome and free?"
"I had a talk with Luna last night," Rainbow Dash began to explain.
"Princess Luna?" Spike gasped in surprise.
"That's right," Rainbow assured. "She gave me a ride home in her super cool chariot, that thing's fast, it was awesome!"
Sensing that Rainbow Dash was getting off topic, Spike tried to get her back into it. "So about the gift?"
"Luna suggested it herself," Rainbow revealed. "It would make Rarity happy if a princess wears a dress made by her, right? I mean she got all excited about it when Princess Candence and Shining Armor got married. So now she has the chance to make a dress for Princess Luna! Luna said there was no due date and no specifics, so Rarity can take her time making any kind of dress she wants!"
"That's amazing! You rock, Rainbow Dash!" Spike cheered.
Rainbow chuckle, "yeah, I know, I'm awesome." The pegasus gladly accepted the dragon's compliments. "Well, go on then, go give Rarity the present."
"Right!" Spike jumped with excitement. "Thanks again for getting such an awesome present for Rarity. This is definitely better than a souvenir!"
"I bet she faints," Rainbow Dash joked, though she fully expected it to happen.
"Oh, you're right; I should probably tell her in the livingroom." Spike didn't take the bet against Rainbow because, really, who would? "Rarity, could you come over to the living room for a moment?"
"I'll be right there!" Rarity answered from the kitchen where she was frantically reading over the fashion magazines. If there had been any negative articles about her, then she now had the power to rebuke them with the letter of apology. So far she hasn't actually found any articles, so she wondered if it was all just paranoia, but she would make sure to go through all the magazines later just in case. Besides, she liked reading fashion magazines.
Rarity found a smiling Spike and Rainbow Dash at her living room. The white unicorn wondered if Rainbow was about to play a prank on her. Spike wouldn't be in on it, would he? Her little Spiky-whiky? Spike sat on the couch and patted the space next to him while Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the setting, but remained silent. "Have a seat Rarity; I have something to talk to you about."
Reluctantly, Rarity sat down. She didn't know what she was suddenly so nervous about. It's just that their behavior was so odd, as if they knew something she didn't and they were about to drop the bomb on her. "What did you want to tell me?" The suspense was killing her!
Spike puffed up his chest in pride and happily informed. "I asked Rainbow Dash to pick up a present for you from Los Pegasus and she just delivered it to me, so I'm going to give it to you now." He couldn't not give credit to Rainbow Dash after she managed to obtain such an awesome present that was so perfect for Rarity.
Rarity let out a breath of relief. So all this suspense was about giving her a present? That made things a lot easier. She didn't know what kind of gift it could be, but none the less she appreciated the sentiment. "Thank you, that's such a sweet thing to do."
"And you haven't even heard what the present is yet," Spike continued.
He would have held the suspense going for a little longer, if not for Rainbow Dash's impatience. "Spit it out already!"
"Alright, alright!" Spike took a deep breath and revealed the big secret. "This present is not a material thing for you, but it does kind of involve you giving something to someone else. Even so, it's kind of a present for you because I'm pretty sure it'll make you very happy. None other than the famous Princess Luna of Equestria wants you to make a dress for her. No specifics, no time limits, you have all the time and freedom to let your imagination flow."
Spike and Rainbow's guessed have been correct, as Rarity promptly fainted. The purpose of the dragon's strategic position became clear as the back of Rarity's head landed on his lap, her soft violet mane bouncing around it in its perfect curls.
xoxox xox xoxox
Eventually, Rarity woke up and as soon as she did she nervously told Spike and Rainbow about her crazy dream where she had to design a dress for Princess Luna. Once it was made clear that it wasn't a dream, she fainted again. When she woke up the second time, she didn't even bother to sit up and just closed her eyes, suddenly too tired to move her head off Spike's lap. There was no time limit, but she couldn't keep a princess waiting for too long. There were also no limits in terms of what the dress could be like, but that also meant that there were no guidelines. What if the princess hated the dress? Then Rarity would really be ruined. Besides, she was in the theatre business now.
Oh, who was she kidding? She was still a fashion designer deep down, or perhaps not so deep down. Maybe she shouldn't have recoiled at the first sign of big difficulties. She had challenges before, but this occurrence felt like too much. Rarity felt that she had to realize that sometimes things like this would happen, that even when she tried her best, she might not win everyone's approval. But that wasn't the end; she had to keep on going. No one reached a big success without a few failures, big and small, along the way. She felt Spike gently petting her mane trying to soothe her and remembered that no matter how harsh the road may be, she didn't have to walk it alone.
"Thank you," Rarity finally opened her eyes, looking up at Spike's concerned face. "I really liked the gift." She sad up slowly, "thank you too, Rainbow Dash."
The pegasus nodded, "you're welcome, but was all that drama really needed? I mean, you fainted twice in a row for the same reason."
"I'm just very impressed," Rarity assured with a smile that was weary but real.
"No kidding," Rainbow chuckled. "Well, see you around you two; I have to go practice for the play. I get to play the villain and you know what they say, it takes real skill to be a cool villain. Mwahahaha!" Rainbow Dash happily trotted out of Carousel Boutique, practicing her evil laugh and freaking out a few passer by ponies along the way.
Rarity still had her doubts, but she was learning to be stronger, starting to pick herself up after the fall. She was learning the true meaning of perseverance. She wondered what would have happened if she had not received that letter of apology. Surely her friends would eventually pick up on the specifics of her problem. She already knew they were aware that something was bothering her and since she didn't share what it was, they could only hope the play would cheer her up. If she had not received that letter, she knew she would have ended up confessing her worries. She would have hurt Spike with her confession and it would take a lot to reassure him.
Just as she would reassure him, he would reassure her and all their friends would reassure them both. Then eventually, she would muster the strength to stand again and so would he. She would gain the courage to openly design fashion without the mask of needing costumes for a play. She did enjoy the experience of designing for a theatrical production and would like to do that again, albeit organizing the entire play might be a little too much. Rarity smiled, "perseverance," that one word seemed to come out of nowhere from Spike's perspective and he gave Rarity a curious look. The elegant unicorn smiled. "I just learned what it means."
"From Twilight's dictionary?" Spike inquired.
Rarity laughed, "no, I learned it from life itself. Thank you for being there for me, my little Spiky-whiky."
Spike smiled back. "Then you're feeling better now? You must be, right? Because your smile is different now, it's so real."
Rarity felt a warmth in her heart seeing that Spike knew her in such detail so as to catch when her smile was real. "That's right," her smile grew. "Could you write a letter for me?"
"Of course!" Spike quickly got a parchment and quill.
Rarity began to dictate the letter. "Dear Princess Celestia, I have learned that perseverance doesn't simply mean moving on from a bad situation. It means facing it. This is not an easy task, but in the end, running away from the problem doesn't solve anything. Besides, it's always very encouraging to know that whatever I have to face, my friends will be there to help me. Sincerely, Rarity."
Spike finished the letter and sent it, then he started writing a letter of his own. "Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that even if you don't know exactly what is bothering someone important to you, just being there and your showing support can make them feel better. Sincerely, Spike." He sent his letter as well.
Rarity couldn't help it, but to let out a little giggle. "Just so that you don't have to be burdened with the mystery, my problem was that I had lost confidence as a fashion designer, but I'm feeling much better now."
"Really?" Spike looked at Rarity in disbelief. "But your designs are amazing, anyone can see that!"
"Thank you, my little Spiky-whiky, I think I can face the world as a fashion designer once again," Rarity smiled. She glanced at her clock on the wall. "Oh my, it's already afternoon and we didn't touch our lunch." They returned to the kitchen, where Rarity gasped in disbelief. "Opalessence!" She had only herself to blame for this. "I'm so sorry I was late in feeding you, but you didn't have to jump on the table and dig through our lunch!" The cat didn't really like the food so she didn't eat more than a nibble here and there, but she certainly made a mess of the rest.
"I'll help clean up," Spike offered, getting started on the table. Opalessence hissed at him, but made no real efforts to stop his progress as she jumped to the floor.
"Here you go, now you behave, young lady." Rarity put out Opalessence's cat food, which the cat eagerly ate.
"Since our lunch plans are cancelled, what do you say we head on over to Pinkie's early? She was so eager for this party that even if it's supposed to be this evening, she probably has a lot of food out already," Spike suggested.
"You're probably right," Rarity agreed.
To be Continued
Part 2 is the longest of the three, so I hope you enjoyed it. I tried to make the story like an episode, with some added light shipping. Just one more part to go to wrap things up and perform the play.