Chapter 1

Sometimes, one pony’s misfortune could be another pony’s luck.

It wasn’t often that Pinkie Pie spent time with Rarity. Well, that was a lie because she spent a lot of time with Rarity, actually. Maybe time went by so fast because half the lunches and get-togethers were spent with butterflies in her stomach over just how much she liked Rarity.

It wasn’t Pinkie’s fault that Rarity was so super distracting, especially with how cute her laugh was, and how she was just as detailed as Pinkie, and how every one of her smiles made Pinkie feel like there was a party going on in her heart.

So, it was her very good luck that her super secret crush suddenly found herself with very bad luck.

Mirrors were very important items in Carousel Boutique, as they were in any fashion store. They were littered all around: the workshop, the foyer, the stairs, the bathroom, and even Rarity’s room.

Pinkie honestly didn’t know why Rarity needed sooooo many mirrors. She always looked beautiful, as Pinkie would be glad to tell her every minute of every hour of every day of every month of everytime.

There was also the matter of what happened when a mirror broke…

“Oh, come now, Pinkie, you don’t really believe in those silly superstitions, do you?” Rarity asked, stepping into the foyer with a broom and dustpan floating behind her, ready to clean up the mess she’d inadvertently caused.

Pinkie gasped indignantly. It was as if Rarity had just said her Pinkie Sense was a bunch of hooey. “Of course I do!” she exclaimed, making sure not to step on the shards of broken glass littered across the floor. Once she’d reached Rarity, she quickly jumped up and pulled down the broom and dustpan, quick to get at work despite the unicorn’s protests.

“Pinkie, I can clean up my own messes, you know?” Rarity pointed out with a good-natured laugh, moving aside and not really making any attempt to snatch the cleaning utensils from the pony’s grip.

“No, you can’t! You’ve got bad luck now!” Pinkie exclaimed, rolling her eyes at Rarity’s silly, silly ignorance. What would she do if Pinkie weren’t there? “You’ll probably step on a piece of glass, and then your hoof will bleed, and it will hurt soooo much!”

“Pinkie,” Rarity said, taking a step back as the mare began to clean. “You really are being ridic— ow!”

The unicorn stepped back, lifting her hoof and revealing the glass shard encrusted itself in it.

“Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed, very upset at the unicorn. Except, more than upset she was worried because boy, it was reeeeally hard to be upset at Rarity when you have a huge crush on her, and especially moreso when she’s hurt. “I told you, silly! Your bad luck started already!”

With a jump, skip and hop, the pink mare avoided all the shards of glass scattered on the floor and landed right next to her crush, carefully taking her hoof and observing the terrible perpetrator. It was obvious that it had to be taken out, but considering whose hoof it was, this procedure would require all the attention and care in the world. It had to be slow, delicate, like that one time she accidentally got too carried away flipping pancakes and threw the pan at Mrs. Cake’s face.

She probably shouldn’t have called her Mrs. PanCake after that.

Anyway, where was she?

“Ow!”

In one swift motion, Pinkie pulled out the shard, making Rarity wince briefly. She glared at the offending object before throwing it over at the dustbin and then gently (and, perhaps, a bit regretfully) letting go of Rarity’s hoof.

But not before seemingly producing a large band-aid from thin air for her to cover the tiny, practically invisible cut with.

“Pinkie Pie, is this really necessa—” Rarity’s reply was cut short by a pointed stare, after which she playfully rolled her eyes and allowed the mare to place the band-aid on her hoof. Once her hoof was finally safe, she placed it back on the floor, looked at Pinkie and added with a wink, “Well, seven years of bad luck shouldn’t go by too slowly, I hope!”

Except her playful wink was met with a super serious frown.

Why wasn’t she taking it seriously?! She’d already gotten her first sign of bad luck, and she was brushing it away! Obviously, she did this because she was very brave and confident, but as much as Pinkie loved these things about her, she wasn’t about to let Rarity wander around unprotected!

Unprotected…

“That’s it!” Pinkie exclaimed, hopping up and down in place, ignoring the little shards of glass Rarity quickly levitated away from the mare’s landing spots. “I’ll be your bad luck bodyguard!”

Rarity blinked.

“Come again?”

“Your bad luck bodyguard,” Pinkie repeated, excitement bubbling up inside her, which she hid by puffing out her chest like a strong bodyguard probably would. “I’ll stay with you every day until the curse ends, and make sure your bad luck doesn’t work!”

“Oh, really now?” Rarity asked, smirking playfully.

“Uh-huh!”

“All seven years?”

“All seven years!” Pinkie repeated, even though truthfully she’d stay a thousand years more.

Rarity giggled — one of those endeared giggles where she’d bite down on her lip and make Pinkie want to sigh like a silly filly. “Alright then. Seven years it is!”

Pinkie’s bodyguard duties started bright and early the next day. She always woke up at around five in the morning so to make most of Sugarcube Corner’s pastries for the day. On this particular occasion, however, she woke up at a quarter past four so she’d finish up extra early and be at Rarity’s at eight o’clock sharp, bringing with her a huge saddlebag filled with all sorts of anti-bad luck objects.

These preparations, however, had meant she had to leave Rarity alone to fend for herself for an entire night, which she only allowed after Rarity pinkie-promised she wouldn’t do anything at all — because anything at all could bring bad luck!

In fact, Pinkie had been efficient enough to make Rarity a very long, very detailed list on all the things that could go wrong (all six-hundred and thirty seven of them), and she was sure Rarity was hard at work studying the list.

Or maybe she was still sleeping, since she needed her very important beauty sleep — not that she even needed it, Pinkie thought, but she wasn’t going to argue against what made Rarity happy.

Staring up at Carousel Boutique, its light turned off, Pinkie Pie silently berated herself for having taken so long with her preparations. Maybe she shouldn’t have stopped on the way over to say hello to all the fellow salesponies opening up shop bright and early.

Being everypony’s friend sure was time-consuming — but fun!

A quick trot around the boutique, however, came with the lucky discovery of lights filtering out Rarity’s bedroom window. Invigorated by the fact that Rarity had woken up early, Pinkie quickly trotted round the building and stopped in front of the main door. She lifted her hoof with the intention of knocking two times — not three, because that was bad luck; or was that the number 13? — but then abruptly stopped herself.

What if her bad luck makes her trip down the stairs?

She immediately lowered her hoof and took a step back. Well, that was okay! Rarity didn’t need to go to Pinkie! Pinkie would just have to go to her!

Humming to herself, Pinkie trotted away from the boutique and returned minutes later with one of the large ladders Rarity had around her house in case of Opalescence-stuck-in-tree emergencies. She lifted the ladder, positioned it right under Rarity’s window, and climbed up, much like a brave party knight climbing a castle to see her… seamstress princess?

Reaching the top, she peered into the bedroom and noticed Rarity sitting in front of a mirror, carefully brushing her mane. She noticed, as well, that Rarity had yet to put makeup on and decided to wait a bit before knocking. It wasn’t that Pinkie disliked seeing Rarity au naturel, but she knew Rarity always liked to present herself with makeup on, and she certainly didn’t want to make her crush feel bad.

She waited for a whole half an hour, pressed against the window and counting the multicolored threads on top of a table, right up until Rarity had finished her morning rituals. She cleared her throat, knocked four times on the window and roused her friend’s attention, who in turn blinked and stared at her.

“Pinkie?” Rarity said, or rather, mouthed, from inside the bedroom, placing her book down and staring at the mare.

She got up from her spot and trotted towards the window, opening it up with a raised eyebrow, as if she’d forgotten Pinkie’s earlier statement.

“Er, good morning, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity eloquently asked, clearing her throat and obviously pretending to look like she had no idea what was going on. “What brings you here so bright and early and unconventionally?”

“I’m here to take care of you, silly!” Pinkie exclaimed, patting her saddlebag. “I’m your new bodyguard, remember?”

“Oh dear, you really meant it?” Rarity asked, placing her hoof on her chest, ears flicking back, unsure of what to do. “But, darling, I thought you weren’t being serious!”

And now it was Pinkie’s turn to be taken aback.

“I always take my friends safety seriously, Rarity,” she said, furrowing her brow, wiping away her cheerful attitude with an uncharacteristically deadpan expression. There was nothing worse in her mind than not being there for a friend, let alone a crush.

At this statement, Rarity’s expression wavered, from confused to understanding. “I see,” she said at length, before allowing a smile to creep up her face and a giggle escape her lips. She rested her chin against her hoof and said, “You really are cute, aren’t you?”

Just as Pinkie was about to protest that there was nothing cute about pony safety, Rarity moved away, allowing the mare free pass into the bedroom. Her annoyance short-lived, Pinkie quickly jumped into the room, clapping her hooves in anticipation.

“Heavens, it is early, isn’t it?” Rarity said, stifling a yawn and looking towards the door. “Would you like some tea?”

Without even bothering to wait for Pinkie’s reply, she left the room and came back ten minutes later with two cups of tea and the discovery that Pinkie Pie worked very fast.

In the minutes Rarity had been gone, Pinkie Pie had already set-up shop. Four-leaf clovers had been carefully placed all over the room, a lucky horseshoe hung atop Rarity’s bed, and the stuffed bunny on the bed was being given a death glare by Opalescence.

She’d have brought a real bunny, but Angel wasn’t being very cooperative.

“There!” Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically, skipping in place until Rarity offered her a cup of tea, forcing to tone herself down to non-tea spilling hops. “So, what’re our plans for today?” she asked, taking a cue from Twilight Sparkle and making a list in her head of all the possible things Rarity could do that might go wrong, as well as a second and third list on how to avoid them.

“Well, I finished most of my commissions for the week, so I’m pretty much free,” Rarity began, furrowing her brow and looking up at the ceiling, deep in thought. “Although…” She looked back down at her friend. “Don’t you have work today?”

“Nope! I left Gummy there to take over!” Pinkie exclaimed, always one to rely on her trusty gator. With him in charge, she knew the pastry shop was in good hooves… claws? “He’s a great salesgator!”

“If you say so.”

Rarity didn’t seem quite convinced by the statement, but protested no further. Instead, she smiled brilliantly. “Well then, it seems we have a full day to do whatever we desire! Why not go to the park? These lovely musicians usually play there on Saturdays.”

“Oooh! That sounds fun!” Pinkie exclaimed, rushing towards the window and starting to climb over it and towards the ladder.

“Er, Pinkie, why don’t we take the normal exit?” Rarity suggested, nodding towards the door with a laugh. “I can’t say I’m quite keen on taking the adventurous way out.”

“Oh, okay!” Pinkie quickly said, climbing back up into the room and following her friend into the hallway and down the staircases. “Ladders are bad luck, anyway! There used to be one at my favorite restaurant, The Saddle Night, and I trotted under it, and a bucket of water fell on my face!”

“Well, so far I haven’t had any bad luck, though, have I?” Rarity asked, carefully trotting down the stairs under Pinkie’s careful watch, until she reached the third step and jumped down to the bottom, giggling mischievously at Pinkie’s scoldings.

Which weren’t very effective when Pinkie immediately did the same as Rarity, jumping down from the third step to the last because she couldn’t lie and say it didn’t look like fun.

Once inside the foyer, Rarity levitated her saddlebag from the rack, put it on her back and magicked the door open. It was a bright, shiny day outside, a perfect weather for a perfect day, which wasn’t… quite that perfect for Pinkie, was it?

In fact, that Rarity seemed to be having perfect luck, which meant she… really didn’t need Pinkie at all, did she?

“Oh, the weather is nice today, isn’t it?” Rarity said, apparently not having noticed her friend deflating ever so slightly. When she turned to Pinkie Pie, she added, “It would seem you truly are a splendid lucky charm, aren’t you?”

And in a second, Pinkie’s elated grin returned, and so did her mane inflate, and her tummy filled itself with hurricane of butterflies. But strong butterflies, invincible ones that could stand being in a hurricane of affection.

And Rarity was right! It wasn’t that Rarity didn’t have bad luck, it was just that Pinkie’s affection was the best at warding off any bad luck!

“Though…” Rarity continued, waking Pinkie from her daydreaming of befriending all the clouds in Equestria so there’d be good weather for seven years.

The unicorn produced a four-leaf clover that Pinkie hadn’t noticed she’d taken from upstairs.

“Couldn’t just let them all sit there, now could we?”

Next, she levitated a pink summer hat hanging from a nearby rack. Once she’d placed it on her head, she delicately wove the stem of the clover, displaying Pinkie’s charm for all to see.

“Voila!” she exclaimed, lightly adjusting her hat with her hoof.

She kept on talking, too, but her words were lost to the earth pony, who could barely contain the smitten smile bursting out of her entire psyche. It wasn’t just that Rarity looked cute in her super stylish hat, or that she looked cute with the clover pinned onto it, but Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but think just how cute every single part of Rarity was. She was cuter than puppies and balloons, and puppies playing with puppy-shaped balloons, and balloons flying puppies, and—

In fact, she was so warped in her own Rarity-centered thoughts, she didn’t realize Rarity was speaking to her until the unicorn waved her hoof in front of her.

“Pinkie?” Rarity said, a little disconcerted. “A bit for your thoughts?”

And so, like most things she did, Pinkie’s next sentence escaped her mouth without waiting for permission.

“I wasn’t thinking you’re cute!” she blurted out. “You’re thinking you’re cute!”

After the words had left her mouth, and a blush crept up Rarity’s face, then did Pinkie realize what she’d said, clamping her hooves against her mouth. Oops…

“Well, if you must know…” Rarity said at-length, clearing her throat. “Of course I was thinking that! Honestly, darling, have you looked at me? I am quite the catch, am I not?” she asked, pressing her hoof against her chest and letting out a haughty laugh.

Pinkie was taken aback for a moment, but soon enough, she allowed herself a giggle at Rarity’s statements, relief washing over her.

“But,” Rarity’s voice took on a more serious tone, “If you had been thinking that, which we know you weren’t, I would have to say that my lovely exterior is owed entirely to the wonderful company I keep,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes and awakening the resting butterflies inside Pinkie’s tummy.

Without another word, Rarity lifted her hoof and closed Pinkie’s slightly opened mouth before trotting out the door, making it very hard for Pinkie to follow since she felt quite like a very smitten puddle of giggles.

Except, as it turned out, the rest of the day went by quite perfectly, and Pinkie would have never in a jillion billion zillion years thought she’d be sad at, well, having a perfect day with Rarity.

“Now, see,” Rarity said, eagerly flipping the page of her book and showing it to the pony lying right next to her on the picnic mat, “this is the chapter where Detective Spring Trap realizes that it wasn’t the butler spying on them, but really it was—”

“Oh! The meanie-pants duke!” Pinkie gasped, tapping her hoof against the ground. “Oooh, I knew I didn’t like him one bit for a reason! That’s why he gave her pistachio cake, instead of—”

“Of the chocolate one, yes!” Rarity excitedly filled in. She let out a dreamy sigh, levitating over one of the several strawberries they’d bought earlier. “Honestly, I don’t know why Twilight says Faux Hay’s novels are predictable! I find them as filled with suspense as they are with romance!”

“I like it!” Pinkie exclaimed quickly. “I’m glad we bought it! Now I have something to read to Pumpkin and Pound!”

Rarity laughed. “I don’t think this story is quite appropriate for them, sweetheart,” she pointed out, reaching for two strawberries and giving Pinkie one. “Though I have some books from when Sweetie was a baby. Maybe I could give them—” She stopped briefly. “Maybe I could come over one night and we could read them to the children together? Sweetie has told me I’m quite the storyteller, you know!”

“Come over?” Pinkie asked, ears shooting up. “But, I’m gonna be staying at your house while you have bad luck, silly!”

Silence.

“Pinkie,” Rarity said, placing the book down and looking straight at the mare. “ I really appreciate all you want to do for me, but I…”

“You’re really happy I’m here to take care of you?!”

“Well of course but, about that, I—”

“You want a fourth list on things to help with your bad luck?”

“No, Pinkie, I don’t think I’m—”

And she didn’t have to finish her sentence for Pinkie to know what came next.

Pinkie dropped her strawberry, her ears flopping down besides her head. “You aren’t really having bad luck, are you?” she asked, or rather, stated, dejectedly poking at her strawberry. “And you don’t really need a bodyguard, do you?”

“I don’t,” Rarity said, though she seemed regretful of her words, and Pinkie briefly entertained the thought that maybe, just maaaaaaaaybe, Rarity was also sad Pinkie couldn’t be her bodyguard. “Besides, if I really did have bad luck, I would have never had such a wonderful friend here with me, would I?”

Despite Rarity’s remark, which still managed to awake some of Pinkie’s tummy butterflies, she still felt…

“It’s not something to be sad about, Pinkie,” Rarity continued, lifting Pinkie’s chin with her hoof. “Aren’t you happy I’m not cursed with seven years of bad luck?”

Pinkie was appalled. “Of course I am!” she exclaimed, as if Rarity had just accused her of a terrible thing, which she had! “I just—! I just… I like spending time with you, Rarity…”

Rarity giggled softly. “My darling,” she began, lifting her hoof and brushing away a pink forelock from Pinkie’s forehead. “Since when does Pinkamena Diane Pie feel the need to have an excuse to spend time with her friends, hm?”

“N…Never?” Pinkie ventured.

Truthfully, she had only recently started feeling different in that respect, and only towards Rarity. Why, last summer, she had spent nearly two months inside Twilight’s castle without even asking for permission, until Twilight had soooo much fun, she took Pinkie back to Sugarcube Corner herself.

But now, with Rarity… Well, it was different with crushes! She’d read Twilight’s book on the subject, and it was so confusing how it said to give your crush space but not too much space but do give them space but also smother them with love but not too much but—! How could she give Rarity space when Pinkie wanted to be the astronaut of Rarity’s space, and her moon, and her sun, and her stars, and her entire galaxy!

Stupid crush.

“Then please wipe away that frown, won’t you? It isn’t fitting for somepony like you,” Rarity softly said, waiting until Pinkie did so to continue speaking. “There! Remember, Pinkie! I only look cute when my company looks cute!”

Pinkie laughed, finally picking up the strawberry and eating it in one gulp. “What happens next in the book?” She still didn’t feel as happy as she wished, and now more than ever, her little crush clawed at her, but she tried to focus on the pony who mattered right at that moment.

“Well! See, this is the best part, because…”

It wasn’t until hours later that Pinkie returned to her home.

Mrs. Cake had already closed shop, and so Pinkie found herself all by her and Gummy’s lonesome, baking assorted pastries in the large kitchen. She and Rarity had gone their separate ways at the park, and though it had made her sad, she was reinvigorated by the promise of getting together again soon, after Rarity had finished all her upcoming commissions.

The next day came by quickly, and Pinkie found herself back at her daily routine. She found herself making several batches of clover shaped cakes, which were actually quite a hit with the customers. Everypony liked having good luck, even if it turned out that Rarity’s good luck meant bad luck for Pinkie.

That same night, the pink pony stayed up late again, long after the shop had closed, and got to work on a new batch of different flavored cupcakes, all of them topped off with a small sugar clover. She was busy with the last one, in fact, when a knock on the window distracted her, and she turned around to find a familiar unicorn peering through the window.

“Rarity?” she said, ignoring the butterflies in her chest. She belatedly remembered she couldn’t be heard, and as such trotted towards the unicorn and opened the window. “Rarity! What’re you doing here? Did’ja want a midnight snack? I can make your favorite cake if you want!”

“Actually, Pinkie, I wanted to see how you were doing. I know you’re somewhat of a night-owl,” Rarity said, speaking to the mare across the window-and-bush threshold. “May I come in?”

“Oh! Of course, silly!” Pinkie exclaimed, promptly moving aside so Rarity could climb up the window.

After a whole two minutes in which Rarity stared at the window, then Pinkie, then the window, and so on and so forth, Rarity finally entered the pastry shop once a very loud clearing of her throat prompted an embarrassed Pinkie to go and open the front door.

“Thank you!” Rarity said, levitating her saddlebag over to a nearby table.

“So! Would you like a cupcake? I have lavender cupcakes, and strawberry cupcakes, and blueberry cupcakes, and banana cupcakes, and apple cupcakes—”

“I think I’ll have a lavender one,” Rarity said, nodding appreciatively and taking a seat.

Pinkie quickly went back into the kitchen, took out the lavender cupcakes, and after making sure to find the perfect one, she put it on a small plate and topped it with a cherry. When she came back out, she found a pensive Rarity looking out the window, playing with one of her curls.

“Here you go!” Pinkie said, placing the plate on the table and rousing the unicorn’s attention.

“Well, well, well, a four-leaf clover,” Rarity said, amused by the cupcake she now held in her hooves. “I could have used some good luck today.”

“Good luck? What’d you mean?” Pinkie asked, blinking at her friend. Last she knew, Rarity had so much good luck, she didn’t even need a lucky bodyguard.

“Well, earlier this morning, I tripped on one of Opal’s toys and rolled down the stairs. Afterwards, I tore a hole in a dress I’d been working on, and then in the afternoon I forgot I’d left my stove on and had to eat a very, very burnt soup.” She looked at Pinkie and sighed theatrically. “It was bad luck all around.”

Pinkie gasped.

“I knew it! I knew the curse was real! I knew it wasn’t hooey!” she exclaimed, hopping up and down in place, an excited grin on her face. Which, incidentally, quickly disappeared when Rarity raised her eyebrow. “Oh, uh, I mean, I’m sorry, Rarity!”

Rarity laughed. “You have nothing to apologize for. You did warn me, after all! Though…” She put her cupcake back down and gave Pinkie a rather intense stare. “I don’t think it was bad luck as much as it was a certain somepony distracting my thoughts all day.”

“Who was it?! I’ll go tell them to stop being so distracting!” Pinkie asked immediately. Nopony distracted her Rarity into having bad luck!

Rarity smirked at her. “Oh? In that case, if you’d like, you can go up to the mirror over there and speak to her right now, then.”

Pinkie furrowed her brow, turning towards the mirror, and… Oh! Oh. Ooooooh…

She… She’d been on Rarity’s thoughts all day?

Pinkie turned back to Rarity, surpresing an excited giggle with a gasp. “Oh no! I’m sorry, Rarity! I won’t do it again! I mean, I don’t know how to stop myself from being in your thoughts, but I’m sure that I can find a way to stop it!”

“Actually, Pinkie, I rather had a different idea,” Rarity replied, sitting up straight and playing with one of her curls. “Seeing as though I may, in fact, be under this dreadful curse, I don’t suppose your… previous offer is still available, is it?”

Pinkie’s heart skipped a beat.

“Y-Yes it is! It’s always available to you, Rarity!” she blurted out, already rushing towards the backdoor. “Wait! I’ll go get my suitcase with all my stuff, and Gummy’s stuff, and—” And she stopped talking as soon as Rarity’s magic aura started pulling her back towards the entrance, right up until she’d been plopped down in front of Rarity. “Or not?”

“Darling, I didn’t mean you being my bodyguard,” Rarity informed, tilting her head slightly. “I was thinking more like—” She paused and gestured with her hooves. “– seeing each other more often?” She paused again, and after offering Pinkie a dazzling smile, carefully added, “Seeing where that might lead us?”

Pinkie gulped down, her cheeks heating up, too stunned for even the butterflies to wake up and rage in her tummy.

“I… Really?” she asked, a small smile creeping up her lips.

“Yes, really,” Rarity said at once, still smiling at Pinkie. “Of course, we can always talk more about it, if you’d like. Over dinner, perhaps? Tomorrow, at 8?”

“To-Tomorrow sounds great!” Pinkie said, her heart beating wildly in her chest, wishing she could somehow fast-forward time. “Where should we?”

Rarity hummed thoughtfully. “Why don’t we go tooo… The Saddle Night? I heard it’s very good.”

“It is!” Pinkie exclaimed, nodding her head, her cheeks still flushed. “It’s my favorite restaurant!”

“Really?” Rarity said, fluttering her eyelashes and placing her chin on her hoof. “What a lucky guess~!”

 The End