It had been a couple of days after the party. As it turns out, nopony judged me for my wild behavior and just passed it off as "somepony who had one to many sips of cider". I did a few commissions the day after and was having lunch with my friend, Twilight. I asked, "So, you're saying Spike had a crush on this unicorn named…."

"Rarity," Twilight finished. I giggled at the thought of a dragon and pony being married, but happy thoughts ceased when I thought of the offspring. Twilight explained, "Or friend Rarity set up shop here, and after a while she decided to move to Canterlot. She just wouldn't stop going on and on about how much she wanted to go there!" We laughed a little, than I sighed, "Yeah. She sounds like fun."

Just then, Spike came bursting in, a scroll in his claw. Twilight stood up and asked urgently, "Spike, what is it? Does the princess need our help?"

"No, no. This is good news!" The dragon replied. After catching his breath, he continued, "In fact, it's great! This is a letter from Rarity. It reads: Dearest friends, I'm sorry I haven't contacted you in the past few months, for I have been very busy for an upcoming event: the Masquerade Ball! Unfortunately, I have hit a designer block, and have decided to come back to Ponyville to find inspiration. I always found inspiration there. I also figured that this letter may arrive early, or late, or who to, considering who works on the mail route from Canterlot to Ponyville. Derpy…..But, anyhow, I will be coming soon, so expect my arrival. Your good friend, Rarity." Twilight gasped when Spike was finished reading. She ran out the door, me and Spike in hot pursuit. Twi stopped when she reached Sugarcube Corners, and yelled, "Hey, Pinkie!" A second story window opened, and the pink mare in question poked her head out. "I have great news!"

"Ooh! You heard that Pound and Pumpkin Cake got their cutie marks?"

"Really? That's gre—wait, that's not what I'm excited about! Rarity's coming back from Canterlot!" In a flash, Pinkie Pie zoomed from the window, and was giggling gleefully in front of us the next second. She shouted, "Oh, boy! Rarity's coming back! Oh, wow! We need to throw a party for her, with balloons, and games, and choco—!" the excited mare then stopped, and looked at the letter Twilight was reading. "So, when's she coming?"

"The letter doesn't say. Rarity was unsure of when the letter would get here, so-!" Suddenly, there were gasps and murmurs coming from a crowd of people. We all looked to see what was happening, and we all saw it: a beautiful carriage adorned with jewels pulled by two stallions. They both stopped, as the door of the carriage was opened with magic. Out stepped a stunning white unicorn with a curled purple mane. I didn't recognize her, but my three friends did instantly.

"Rarity!" They all rushed towards her, Spike being the first to get there. I had never seen so many questions come out of somepony's mouth since Pinkie Pie! Twilight stopped the dragon's rambling, and said, "We just got your letter. I never expected you to come so quick."

"Well, you know the mail service." Rarity replied. The two both giggled at Derpy's expense. Pinkie Pie then cleared her throat and pointed a hoof to me. "This is our new friend. She's pleased to meet you!" The white unicorn made her way and said, "Hello, it's very nice to meet you."

"Likewise," I replied. "My name's Doodledraw, but you can call me DD."

"I take it from your name you're a drawer?"

"Yes, I do a lot of sketches, and I take it from your place of work, you do too."

"Well, they're probably not as good as yours."

"Actually, I draw a few dresses, but their not really good!"

"Let me be the judge of that, darling!" Rarity told her friends, "Meet up with me at the inn. I'll be assessing my new friend here's drawings." The three friends left, and me and the unicorn went to my place. I showed her the many dresses I had designed. Rarity looked at a rather plain-looking one, and I explained, "Yeah, that's a dress I designed for myself if I ever went to the Grand Galloping Gala. Of course, that would never become a reality."

"Oh, no. I could easily make this dress for you, by tomorrow, at most."

"I meant my chances of being at the Gala." We both chuckled at that. I knew I would never get in, but maybe I could get into this Masquerade Ball, if I played my cards right. I tried to get the conversation in the right direction. "But this Masquerade Ball thing, I could easily come, right?"

"Why yes, of course." It took Rarity a few seconds to respond. She seemed mesmerized by the simple, yet elegant design of my dress. She explained, "It's not hosted by the princess, but everypony helps out anyway, and I have two extra tickets. I'm sure you and one of my other friends would love to come…"

"Sure! How about you get started on my dress, and I'll get started on some sketches of your dress."

"Sounds like a fair deal." We shook hoofs, and the white unicorn walked off, carrying my sketch with magic. Once she was out of earshot, I danced around happily like a little filly. I was actually going to a big social event!

The next morning, Rarity gathered us all to see the finished dress at her room at the inn. Twilight walked in first, followed by Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Fluttershy, and me. I could hear their gasps and comments on the dress.

"Wow. It's very impressive."

"It looks spectacular, Rarity! It must've taken you all night to make!"

"This is a very fine dress, Sugarcube."

"That is definitely 20 percent cooler."

"Wow, Rarity, I've never seen you look so….beautiful…"

"I've never seen anything like it…" I finally walked in, only to see my dress…

In blue! It was an exact copy of my dress design, but instead of pink with touches of gold, like I had envisioned, it was all shades of blue. Trying not to sound displeased, I started, "Rarity, this looks great, but my dress should be-!"

"What do you mean, 'Your dress'?" The white unicorn snapped. She started walking towards me, myself backing away in fear. "This is my dress for the Ball, not yours! I thought of this design, darling, and you are not using it at all!" Before I knew it, I was completely out of the room, but Rarity was still in it, and slammed the door in my face. Through the door, I could hear murmurs of surprise and worry for their friend's strange behavior. What was going on?

I ran back to my house to think. I thought, The Element of Generosity, greedy? Well, she wasn't grey, so no unexpected return of Discord. She wasn't acting like this yesterday, unless… I gasped in realization. She's jealous. She wants her spot back as one of the closest to the Element of Magic! Well, if she wants her spot back, she's gonna have to fight for it! I picked up Rarity's dress design, and crumpled it up. This new design was going to ensure she was the laughing stock of the entire ball.

I went back to Rarity's room at the inn, seeing the door open and the place in a state of…organized chaos. The whole room was a mess, but in such a way that you could feel the inspiration floating around the place. The unicorn was working on a dress, using a mannequin to hold up the design. She looked at me with a bit of disgust, and asked, "What are you doin here?"

"I came to show you the dress I've designed for you." I put down my saddlebags, and pulled out the gaudy dress design. She stared at it in pure shock, and stuttered, "I-um, well, have used something like this before, actually."

"You have?!" I was amazed that someone as fashion-foreword as her would wear such a tacky outfit. I composed myself, and said smoothly, "Well, maybe it's time you got to wear something like it again."

"Let's get started!" She said suddenly, heading to get some fabric. I was completely shocked by how tolerable she was of this fashion disaster, but I would have to keep it together, as well. I dived into a pile of fabric and picked out a random piece, stating, "This should be the main color for our dress."

"It's green."

"You're point being?"

"Well, that's not really on my palette."

"It goes with your eyes."

"My eyes our blue!"

"Whatever." I scoffed. She walked over to me, and told me, "Give me that piece so I can put it away."

"No." She tugged on the fabric with her hooves, but I kept holding on. Man, she was strong! I pulled tighter, but then she started pulling it with her magic. I refused to let go, no matter how much it was hurting. I then heard a tear.

"You, you tore my fabric," Rarity gasped. Her expression of shock turned into one of anger, and she growled, "Oh, it is on." She picked up a blue tube of fabric with magic, and I hastily picked up a red tube with my hooves. It was like fighting with foam swords. I jabbed her tube back, trying to look for a weak spot. Unfortunately, the unicorn's magic gave her a wider range to attack from. She then started swiping at my back hooves. I jumped as she swung left, then right. But I tripped, and fell, giving her a chance to attack. I looked for something nearby to hit her with. My eyes fell on a spool of thread. I batted at it, hoping it would hit the unsuspecting mare.

Apparently, it did. The blue tube fell to the floor, and I heard Rarity yell, "Ow! My eye!" I felt so bad. Luckily, I could gat back up on my hooves, and ran to her to make sure everything was okay. I asked hastily, "Rarity? Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I didn't know there was a needle in that sp-!"

My apologizing stopped when I felt a swift blow to my face. The unicorn was faking, and gave me a swift blow to the chest. She laughed, "Ha! Take that! I never thought-!" She stopped when she realized I was sobbing. She had hit me, hard. Never before had I felt pain like that. I choked on my tears as I replied, "You-you win. You can be….part of the group….I'll just l-leave…"

"Whatever are you talking about?"

"This feud was all about you wanting to replace me, right?"

"Actually, no." I looked up, and stared. I asked, confused, "So what is this about then?"

"Well, I thought you wanted to replace me. As one of the Elements." I stifled a laugh, which then came out as a scoff. "Please! Like I'd want the responsibility of an Element Bearer."

"I'm sorry for being so brash about that dress."

"And I'm sorry for getting so aggressive." We then embraced in an apology hug. I then asked, "So, can we do this dress-making thing the right way?"

"I wouldn't do it any other way," The unicorn giggled. I then took out the old, crumpled dress design, and explained, "This is was the original design I had for you." Rarity looked at it in awe, and commented, "It's simply…breathtaking…." After a long day of designing our Masquerade Ball dresses, I headed home to write another letter to my parents. It read:

Dear Mom and Dad,

It's probably been a while since I sent a letter to you guys, but don't worry. I was helping a friend. Today, I learned that we shouldn't worry about new friends replacing old friends. It's important to treat everypony as they would want to be treated, especially new friends.

I also learned we shouldn't jump to conclusions about one pony's thoughts or wants. Sometimes, they're jumping to conclusions about you too. You should reassure them that you wouldn't hurt them and that they should trust you as a friend. Also, I'm going to this really fancy ball in Canterlot this Friday. Apparently, my friend has relations.

Sincerely,

Doodledraw

Both Rarity and I decided to unveil the dresses tomorrow. I climbed into my loft bed, and quickly fell asleep.