Chapter 1

”So, Rarity, why did you call your shop ‘Carousel Boutique’?”

“Hmm? Oh! Oh, that’s a very good question, darling!
I was thirteen, I think? Or almost fourteen years old, and…”

“Are you ready?”

Sitting in the middle of Rarity’s room, Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle looked up from the dollhouse they’d been playing with and looked towards the closed bathroom door. As far as they knew, it was the fifth time Rarity had announced her exit without actually…coming out from behind the door that hid her from view, but Sweetie Belle at least seemed to really believe it this time.

“I wanna see! I wanna see!” the little girl squealed, dropping her Miss Rose Sun dolly next to the others and clapping her hands excitedly. If anything was more precious and worthy of her attention than her dolls, it was her elder sister.

Fluttershy’s giggles mixed in with the clapping. “Do you mean it this time?” she called out, her giggling intensifying upon hearing an indignant gasp inside the bathroom.

“Yes!” the voice called out before groaning. “No, wait, uhm, the button is sorta lose… No, no… Where’d I put the stupid blue thread?! Uuuugh!”

Rustling was heard inside the bathroom, the suspense obviously killing poor Sweetie Belle considering she looked terribly concerned about the supposed missing blue thread. It wasn’t until a victorious “Ah-hah! Found it!” that she calmed down, taking back her dolly and pressing it closely against her chest in anticipation.

“Okay, ready!” There was a very loud clearing of a throat and… “Music, please!”

“I wanna press it!” gasped Sweetie Belle, practically throwing herself at Fluttershy just as she was about to press play on the old recorder. The older girl smiled and moved back, allowing the younger one to excitedly fill the room with classical music at the press of the button.

Sweetie Belle quickly sat down next to Fluttershy and both girls watched with delight as the bathroom door swung open, and Rarity finally emerged, wearing a beautiful two-toned blue princess dress with matching tiara and shoes.

With all the elegance a thirteen year old could muster, she stepped into the room and twirled around in her dress, fluttering her eyelashes at the two girls on the floor. “Well?” she asked with withheld excitement, “How do I look?”

“Oh, Rarity!” Fluttershy exclaimed, standing up and clasping her hands together. “You look so pretty!”

“You’re a princess…” Sweetie said quietly, in utter awe of her elder sister’s apparel. “You’re even prettier than Princess Winter Snow!” she added, brandishing said doll up in the air so everyone could pale at how lacking her plastic beauty was in comparison to Rarity.

Delighted by the compliments, Rarity giggled girlishly, a pink tinge decorating her cheeks. “Really? You really like it?” she asked, twirling around again out of sheer excitement. She had, after all, spent nearly seven whole months working on that dress all by her lonely lonesome… and maybe also the help of her sewing teacher, Miss Threadbare… and maybe her grandmother had also helped, but it was Rarity who had done all the hard work! And the designing! And the one getting her fingers pricked all the time!

Fluttershy could not nod enough. “You’ll be the prettiest girl at the festival tomorrow!”

Rarity giggled and shook her head. “We will be the prettiest girls at the festival,” she said. The music still wafting through the air, she cleared her throat and stretched out her hand, following the gesture with a reverential bow. “Princess Fluttershy, may I have this dance?”

Fluttershy’s giddiness immediately disappeared, replaced instead with an equally serious appearance. “I would be honored, Princess Rarity.” Smiling softly, she placed her hand in Rarity’s, bursting into laughter when Rarity pulled her to dance around the room, trying and failing to match the rhythm of the song.

Rarity suddenly noticed her little sister and broke the dance. “And what about you, Your Highness?” she asked, letting go of Fluttershy’s hand and bowing low at her sister. “Will you dance with me as well?”

Sweetie’s thrilled giggles filled the air, getting up from the floor and rushing towards her sister. She stopped briefly before Fluttershy, handing her the doll in her hand. “So you can dance too!”

Fluttershy took the doll by its hands, humoring her young friend. “Princess Winter Snow! May I have this dance?”

Her hands free, Sweetie turned to her sister and performed a reasonable imitation of a bow, before taking Rarity’s hands and carefully stepping on her toes. She held on tightly to Rarity as she started twirling around in big, purposefully clumsy steps, no longer bothering to go along with the song.

After a minute or so, Rarity finally tired out. “And now,” she announced loudly, “the big finale!” In one fell swoop, she lifted Sweetie Belle in her arms, turning around in place before going to the bed and collapsing on top of it, Sweetie still giggling in her arms.

After pushing the giddy little girl off her, Rarity stretched her arms and sighed. “Come oooon, Fluttershy,” she called, patting the empty spot next to Sweetie and watching as her friend walked over and unceremoniously flopped down on the bed.

“Tomorrow is going to be so much fun,” Fluttershy said, closing her eyes and sighing.

“Especially because Platinum Shield will be there,” Rarity added, sighing profoundly, biting down on her lip and letting her mind wander to her current crush. “It’s destiny.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, smiling teasingly. “Everyone in our class is going, Rarity,” she reminded, laughing when Rarity replied by swatting her with a pillow for ‘ruining her dreams’.

“Including that awful Goldy,” Rarity muttered, contempt soaking her words. She could still remember how Goldy had laughed when Rarity announced she’d be making her own dress. Ugh. Nevertheless, she decided to devote her time thinking about her crush instead of her enemy.

“What if he invites me to ride with him in the carousel tomorrow during the princess parade?” Rarity asked, lying on her side and facing the two other girls. Wouldn’t that be a dream come true?

Her daydream, however, was cut short by three knocks at the door, followed by her mom entering the room. Fluttershy and Sweetie immediately sat up and greeted her, whereas Rarity remained lying on the bed.

“Mother, what is the point of knocking if you come in anyway?”

Cookie Crumbles smiled, waving off her daughter’s reprimand. “Now, now, Rarity. I came here to see your dress! Didn’t you say you finished it?”

Now that was something Rarity wanted to hear. With renewed excitement, she jumped up to her feet and modeled her dress for her mother, making sure to show every side of it. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked, knowing it was indeed beautiful since her best friend and most trusted confidant had said so.

Cookie Crumbles obviously thought so too, eyes shimmering with pride. “You look like a million bucks!” she said, clapping her hands in approval. “Ohhh, wait ’till your father sees you lookin’ so fancy! Will you two get a prize for being the most beautiful girls?” she asked, making Fluttershy smile widely.

Rarity, on the other hand, blew out air. “No! There won’t be a prize this year… Only the Princess Parade.”

The Princess Parade being the single most important event of the festival, and while she would never admit it to her mother, that was far more important than a reward telling her she was beautiful — which she already knew, thank you very much.

“The Princess Parade?” Cookie Crumbles asked, displaying her utter ignorance in the ways of festivals.

Ignorance which Rarity was glad to point out with an indignant gasp. “Mom! I told you like twenty times already!” she said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

Cookie Crumbles thought about it for a minute before remembering and clapping her hands. “Oooooh, right, right! All you girls are going to go on the carousel and show off your pretty dresses to everyone!”

Rarity shook her head. That was one way to put it, she supposed, but was it really necessary to make it sound so… dull? “Yes,” she confirmed, looking past her mother’s lack of showmanship. “And after that, all the boys dressed as princes will ask a princess of their choosing permission to sit with her.”

This set off Sweetie in a giggling fit, crossing her arms behind her back and swaying in place. “Rarity wants a boy to to ask her,” she said in sing-song, grinning with what her sister thought was far too much cheekiness for a seven year old.

Rarity would say she had taught her well if it wasn’t backfiring on her.

“Sweetie!” the blushing girl snapped, stamping her foot against the floor.

“Now, Sweetie, don’t tease your big sister. Who’s gonna buy you snacks at the festival tomorrow?” Cookie Crumbles asked, her reply only increasing Rarity’s horror rather than alleviating it.

“W-Wait!” Rarity said, looking back and forth between Sweetie and Cookie Crumbles. “I thought Sweetie was supposed to stay home tomorrow!”

“She was, but we couldn’t find a babysitter in time,” Cookie Crumbles replied, patting Rarity on the head. “Come on, it’ll be fun! And Sweetie Belle will be so excited to be there, won’t you?”

Sweetie Belle shook her head, clutching onto her annoyed older sister. “Pleeeease, Rarity!”

“But I can’t make you a dress in one night!” Rarity whined.

“Doesn’t matter!” Sweetie insisted. “Pleeeeeease!”

The display made Fluttershy giggle, prompting Sweetie to rush over to her and tug at her shirt. “Pleeeeeeeease!”

Judging by her smile, Rarity could tell Fluttershy didn’t mind the idea. She wished she could still argue more, but she knew Cookie Crumble had the final say. “Fine,” she relented, making sure her exasperated rolling of her eyes could be seen by everyone. When Sweetie Belle erupted in ellated cheers, Rarity cleared her throat and turned to her, waving her finger threateningly. “But I’m going to be with my friends, so you can’t run off! Or bother us! Or anything!”

“I promise!”

Cookie Crumbles clapped her hands. “Well, that’s that!” she turned back towards Rarity and smiled. “I’m sure tomorrow will be a very fun day!”

For Sweetie Belle, going to the festival with her elder sister was an opportunity of endless fun. There were all sorts of games she could play, rides she could go on — though it usually became they, as she desperately wanted her sister to hold her hand in the scary ones — and last but not least, lots and lots of candy stalls and delicious foods to sample and devour. Each time they finished with one attraction or another, Sweetie’s eyes were already roving around looking for the next big thing, after which she’d take hold of Rarity’s hand once more and pulled her towards the next one that caught her fancy.

Rarity, meanwhile, was much more concerned with her appearance. Sweetie Belle might not have understood how the immense and intricate social pressures of a thirteen year old worked, but that didn’t mean that Rarity could afford to be as careless. She had known her dress would be the talk of the day — or at the very least of her classmates. She had made no secret out of it that, during the past months, she, yes, she, would be prancing around in a dress of her own design. Some of her friends — the ones she’d had the good fortune of running into thus far — had all been excited to see it, especially since they were the ones that had seen the top secret sketches. Others, however… others wanted to look at it for different reasons.

When she finally got Sweetie Belle to settle down with a ball of candy floss, she moved to the entrance of the festival and watched as girl after girl, boy after boy, arrived at the festival with perfectly tailored custom-made suits. She smiled widely and waved politely in a weak attempt to mask her own wildly spinning nerves. Before, she had thought she was ready to be the center of attention. Now… she wasn’t so sure.

“Fluttershy,” she whispered urgently, turning to her friend. “What if my dress comes undone halfway through?! I know for certain I stitched it up correctly, but what if the thread I used is faulty?!” She kept glancing at her sides, almost certain that the entire festival was listening in on her conversation.

“Rarity, you’re being silly,” Fluttershy replied with the patience of a mother who’d had to reassure a particularly fearful child that they looked amazing at least twenty times already. She herself was wearing a resplendent yellow dress with deep green accents she and Rarity had picked out. “Most of our friends are waiting inside already.”

Rarity bit on her lip, hugging her sides. “I don’t kno— Sweetie! Get back here!” she exclaimed when she noticed that her sister had wandered off towards the entrance.

With nothing but a flower-patterned shirt and jeans, the little girl stood out like a sore thumb, even in comparison to the other kids attending the festival. Not that it seemed to bother Sweetie in the slightest. She was too distracted looking at all the dresses, and privately giggling over how her sister and Fluttershy looked prettier than all of them.

At Rarity’s call, she did return to the two older girls, but that respite was only temporary. “Come ooooooon,” she began, injecting her voice with a good deal of whining while taking Rarity’s hand and pulling her towards the epicentre of the festival around which all else had been set up. “I wanna go in!” She wasn’t yet immersed in the world of a thirteen year old’s social life, and as such failed to see why her sister was worrying so much. She clearly had the very best dress out of everyone present.

Taking a deep breath, Rarity finally relented. “Alright, alright!” she exclaimed, shaking off Sweetie’s hand and then patting down on her dress. She looked back towards Fluttershy, receiving an encouraging nod, and then marched her way into the fray. Both she and Fluttershy had received praise for their dresses already, and the thought that she really had done a good job gave her enough courage to take the next step. The realization that the entire festival did not, in fact, revolve around her self-made dress was a little upsetting, but she moved past it with a grace any thirteen year old should be able to muster.

“And there it is!” She exclaimed with giddy excitement.

Standing imposingly before the three girls was the festival’s famous “Royal Carousel”. The entirely wooden lacquered merry-go-round was, quite frankly, enormous. The decor had been painted in royal hues from times past, from gold and red, to purple and beige. It was a sight to behold. Horses and carriages were spread across, both on the first and the inner second floor, trotting along in a lifelike manner to music box versions of classical songs.

Fluttershy walked towards the sign that had been put up in front of it and read aloud: “Don’t miss the world famous Princess Parade at six in the afternoon. Any and all girls who wish to enter the event must be wearing appropriate costumes.”

“Let’s get on!” Sweetie exclaimed, stepping forward and being held back only by virtue of her hand still being in Rarity’s.

“Not yet, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity chided her. “We need to—”

“But I wanna go nowwwwww~”

“Now, Sweetie Belle,” came Fluttershy’s gentle, but equally chiding voice. “Your sister is just making sure that you’re allowed to get on.” She pointed towards a long line where several dozens of young boys and girls were waiting with their parents. “We’ll have to get some tickets first.”

Sweetie’s eyes near popped from their sockets at the sight of the line, and she sighed in disappointment. “Oh… right… Sorry, Rarity.”

“It’s alright, Sweetie. Let’s get you something to drink, and then we’ll wait in line, okay?”

“Why don’t you get in line right now?” Fluttershy suggested, smiling serenely. “I could get something to drink for the both of you.”

“Great idea!” Rarity said, pulling her little sister along for a change while silently mouthing a ‘thank you’ to Fluttershy. Having to accompany Sweetie most everywhere had been more of a chore than she wanted to let on, but at least standing in line would give her some time to look around and observe what her ‘rivals’ were wearing.

Though standing in line was perhaps not Sweetie Belle’s definition of fun, she was very pleased to be spending time with her big sister. Rarity was always very busy with her projects or with her friends, so their time together was always limited. She looked around at the other girls and again thought to herself how much prettier Rarity looked. In fact, she was about to say as much, squeezing Rarity’s hand to get her attention, but she noticed the older girl suddenly looked very sour.

“Oh, great,” she muttered. “Look who’s coming.”

Sweetie Belle obeyed and looked around, not spotting anyone who looked as unpleasant as Rarity’s expression made them out to be. There was the girl that Rarity always talked about as being ‘the worst’ but she’d never treated Sweetie Belle any different than any of the other girls Rarity’s age did. She couldn’t have been all that bad, and she even had a young boy of around Sweetie’s age with her… Maybe they could be friends? All she had to do was go and say hello.

To Sweetie’s potential delight and Rarity’s utter misfortune, the girl and her little brother made their way towards them. The girl, also known as Goldy, was the absolute worst person Rarity ever had the misfortune of knowing. Her brown hair was tied up in what was almost certainly a design a very expensive hairdresser had come up with. She was also wearing, what Rarity loathed to admit, was a very beautiful, and likely very expensive designer dress. She glanced down at her own dress, desperately trying to hang onto the quickly evaporating confidence she had gathered.

Goldy’s little brother was also wearing an elegant — and again, designer made — costume, but she didn’t mind that so much. By the looks of it, neither did Sweetie.

“Oh, Rarity! How nice to see you here,” Goldy said cheerily, no doubt tricking whoever heard into thinking they were friends.

Rarity would rather live in a barn than be that.

“Hello, Goldy,” she replied cooly, her irritation towards the girl taking the shape of her hand crushing Sweetie’s. She offered the nicest smile she could fake and lied through her teeth, “How nice to see you!” She gestured towards Sweetie Belle. “This is my sister, Sweetie.”

Sweetie Belle, eager to impress, smiled widely at Goldy. If she won over the awful girl, maybe Rarity would be happier, right? “Hello!” she exclaimed with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

Goldy, however, replied by sizing her up before curtly saying, “Hi.” Her brilliant smile reappeared when she gestured to her brother. “This is Silver Emblem! He wanted to come dressed up as well, and—” She glanced at the casually dressed Sweetie. “—Someone needs to show people how to dress themselves, right? Some people simply can’t be trusted to know what is appropriate evening wear for a grand festival such as this.”

Sweetie Belle smiled hesitantly, suddenly squeezing Rarity’s hand tighter. She noticed as Silver Emblem only glanced at her in the same way those awful boys in class did. Trying her best to still impress, she pointed at Goldy’s dress and smiled. “Your dress is pretty!” she exclaimed, missing the almost murderous glance Rarity shot her.

The smile Goldy treated her to in reply was so obviously fake that Sweetie immediately disliked the girl a whole lot more. “Why thank you, darling. Someone’s has to be, right?”

“Sis? Have you looked at her?” Silver asked, looking from Sweetie to his sister and back. “Who’d ever let her go out like that?”

“Now, Silver, darling, it’s never polite to point out someone’s failings. Terrible dress sense isn’t always the person’s fault. Some people just lack the…” Goldy paused and flashed Rarity a smug grin. “Proper upbringing to distinguish good taste from a very lacking one.” Before Rarity could give her a piece of her mind, Goldy looked at Rarity’s dress with a smile that bordered on a grimace. “Though I have to admit that you’ve done quite well for yourself, Rarity. Especially given the scraps you’ve most certainly had to work with.”

Though it was more of an insult than a complement, Rarity chose to focus on the positive. “Thank you,” she replied icily. While she might have cared little, Goldy was most certainly a trendsetter at school, and her approval, however begrudging, was sure to make life a little easier for her.

“Such a shame that you didn’t have the time to make a dress for your little doll of a sister. She’ll be so sad that she won’t be allowed to ride along in the princess parade,” Goldy went on before taking Silver’s hand and mock waving at Rarity. “Well…see you inside. Ta~”

Just like that, Rarity was back to cursing Goldy behind her back. What an insufferable— Only then, did she notice that Sweetie Belle had let go of her hand. A quick scan of the surrounding area revealed no sign of her little sister, and neither did calling out. Where in the world did that little—

“Rarity!” Fluttershy called, trying not to stumble while she made her way over, holding a drink in each hand. Upon reaching her incredibly irritated friend, she noticed the lack of the younger one. “Where’s Sweetie Belle? Wasn’t she waiting with you?”

“She was, and now she’s run off somewhere!” Rarity exclaimed, stamping her foot against the floor. Just what she needed, Goldy to mock her and then for Sweetie Belle to run off. She thanked Fluttershy for the beverage and took a long sip. “I knew I should have convinced my mother to make her stay home.”

“But what happened? You were supposed to look after her,” Fluttershy said, not as an accusation even if it was taken as such.

Rarity let out an indignant huff. “Well, it’s not my fault that Goldy decided to show up!” she protested, taking another sip of the drink before crossing her arms. How she wished Goldy were still around so she could make use of her drink and throw it at her face.

“Oh…”Fluttershy said, wincing.

“Oh is right,” she muttered darkly, turning around to look for Sweetie Belle. Or, did so until she went through her conversation with Goldy and her anger flared up again. “I can’t stand her!” she exclaimed, turning around to Fluttershy. “She’s so… She’s so…” She couldn’t even find a word appropriate enough to describe the girl. As such, she settled on imitating her.

“Oh, look at me, I think I’m so elegant!” she said in a high-pitched voice, gesturing exaggeratedly with her hands. “Oh, darling, I probably just imitate everything my parents do! Oh, darling Fluttershy, look at my ‘designer’ costume! Did you know the trash factory has a fashion department, darling? Who even says ‘darling’, anyways? I could probably say it with a better fake accent, and without needing sounding so stuck-up.”

Thankfully, Fluttershy was enough to snap her out of it. “Rarity! Stop that,” she scolded, starting to walk into the crowd. “We need to find Sweetie Belle. Where could she have gone?”

“I don’t know, darling. She probably went off to buy even more snacks,” Rarity said, stalking after Fluttershy and still intent on continuing her delightful imitation of the equally delightful Goldy. “And her little brother is just as awful as she is! It isn’t my fault I didn’t have enough time to make a dress for Sweetie Belle or money to buy one like their parents did for them!”

At least it can’t get any worse than this, she thought as they searched around her her sister. After almost half an hour they, once again, reached the food section. And again, they found nothing. “Sweetie Belle!” she called out, growing ever more annoyed. Why couldn’t her sister just stay put for once in her life? Was it really that hard?

To make matters worse, they would have to stand in line all over again whenever they found her. And that was only if they weren’t already too late. And she also hadn’t seen her crush anywhere! The only way things could be worse was if she saw him with Goldy.

Rarity was about to explain in detail how much trouble Sweetie was in, but her explanation was halted when Fluttershy took her arm. “Look!” she said, pointing towards a group of whispering children staring at something behind one of the tents. “Let’s go see. Maybe she’s with them,” she prompted, pulling a reluctant Rarity along.

The tents in question weren’t as colorful as the ones at the front of the festival and a sideways glance quickly told them why: They were full of boxes and other odds and ends, which made it a safe assumption that they were storage tents and nobody was even supposed to be back here. It was when they reached the group of children than they heard the muffled crying of a child, prompting them to go where the children hadn’t and find out who was crying.

Despite all of the annoyance aimed at her little sister, Rarity had hoped it wasn’t her that they would find. But, when they shooed the gossiping children away and looked, they found none other than Sweetie Belle in clothes that were dirty, and with a face that was even more so. Rarity supposed she ought to be relieved they’d found her sister, though her first instinct was to scold her for getting her clothes dirty.

Fortunately, Fluttershy was quicker, walking up to Sweetie Belle, whom had huddled herself in between two boxes, and lifting the girl up before wiping some of the mud and dirt that caked her face away. “There, there, Sweetie Belle,” Fluttershy said gently. “Don’t cry. Everything is going to be okay.”

Rarity shook her head, and all of her annoyance off, she took a moment to glare away all the children still watching before stepping up next to her friend. She smiled sympathetically at her little sister and wetted her thumb with her tongue to wipe away some of the grime that Fluttershy had missed, before asking: “Don’t cry, Sweetie. What’s wrong?”

“I wa-wanna go h-home,” Sweetie hiccuped, her eyes red and puffy from all the tears. “I-I’m sorry.”

“But, Sweetie, what happened?” Rarity insisted, starting to grow worried. Had something awful happened in the time Sweetie had been out of her sight? Out of instinct, she reached out to take her sister into her arms, but it was Sweetie Belle who denied, sniffling again and squirming out of Fluttershy’s arms.

“Y-your princess dress,” she whispered before again dropping herself down to her previous spot, hugging her knees against her chest. “I w-want m-mom.”

This was certainly a very different Sweetie Belle from the one that had entered the festival, and the difference only made Rarity grown even more concerned. She kneeled down and lifted Sweetie’s face. “But you were so excited to see the parade earlier! What happened? Did Goldy do something to you? I swear, if she so much as looked at you funny, I’m gonna—”

“N-No,” Sweetie choked out, burying her face in her knees again. “S-she… she…”

”She what?” Rarity asked sternly. She was going to murder Goldy for messing with her sister.

“She said that I couldn’t…” Sweetie whimpered. “I can’t be a princess! Because I don’t have a dress! And I w-wanted to r-ride on the Princess P-Parade with you.” She sniffed a couple of times before her crying began anew. “I j-jus’, jus’… wanna go hoooome!” Her wailing continued, and when Rarity leaned down to pick her up, she began struggling. “No! No! I…” she sniffed again.

“Shhh, Sweetie,” she cooed gently. The reason for Sweetie’s struggling became clear to her all at once and she almost giggled at the silly notions Sweetie sometimes got into her head. “Don’t worry about the dress, they’re just tears.” That seemed to break an as yet untapped supply of sorrows and Sweetie buried her face in Rarity’s shoulder, crying even louder than she had before. Rarity merely stroked her sister’s back, and hugged her for all she was worth. “Everything is going to be okay, sweetie.”

She waited until Sweetie quieted down a bit before reaching into her purse to take out her cellphone. “I’m going to call Mom, right now. I’ll need to ask her to bring me a few things.” Before she pressed the dial button she gave her best friend a sideways look. “Fluttershy, could you wait in line for us, please? We’ll need tickets to get into the princess parade.”

Fluttershy nodded and took off without another word, leaving only Rarity and Sweetie Belle in the gloomy darkness near the back of the biggest festival of the year.

By the time six o’clock arrived, everyone at the festival had gathered around the carousel in preparation for the famous ‘Princess Parade’. Girls of all ages in dresses waited at the entrance with bated breath, clamoring to be let in and pick the best horses and carriages. On the sidelines, parents and boys watched as a poor worker was almost trampled to death by screaming girls after he opened up the gate.

It was, in a way, a literal parade as the girls chose their seats, trying to sit near their friends and siblings, or in some cases arguing over the only pink horse left.

It was, as Rarity had thought it would be, magical.

When Rarity had dreamt of the festival, all those times she’d worked on her dress, she had always imagined she’d be riding on a beautiful porcelain lavender unicorn, her dress flowing elegantly as the carousel spun around to the sound of music. She had never expected that, instead, she’d be watching from beyond the railing, wearing baggy jeans and a tee-shirt — the best her mother could do after receiving her hasty call. More than that, however, she never expected to be so happy in such a position.

“Rarity!”

Sitting on a white horse, Fluttershy waved at her best friend, drawing her attention. Despite the already sky-high excitement of the event, it was clear that no girl on the entire carousel was as happy as the little girl sitting on the horse next to Fluttershy. Her eyes were still puffy and red, yes, but the ecstatic smile on Sweetie’s face outshone them all. She waved at her sister, pulling up the hem of a blue dress that was only a little bit too big to fit her — even with the last minute adjustments — but honestly Rarity thought neither it, nor her sister, had ever looked better.

Almost ten minutes went by, in which Fluttershy and Sweetie had made their most regal impression so as to amuse their grandest admirer, and finally the gates of the carousel re-opened, allowing entry to the boys and non-costumed children waiting outside. Rarity made a move to enter, but her attention was caught when she finally spotted her crush. To her dismay, though he wasn’t with Goldy, he was rushing towards another girl already inside the carousel.

She felt a pang of jealousy, but quickly brushed it off. It wasn’t like the princess parade was the only chance she would have at something romantic with him; she could always try to catch his eye at a later date. Perhaps with a different dress, also of her own design. Besides, looking back towards her sister, she decided she’d like to be with someone else.

She rushed in along with the other children and made her way towards the horses Fluttershy and Sweetie were on. “Your highness,” she said, bowing down before Sweetie Belle, acting as regal as she could despite her casual wear, “May I have the honor of joining you?”

Sweetie responded by holding out her arms and beaming a smile at her sister while she waited for Rarity to pick her up. Rarity did just that, and then climbed onto the horse, putting Sweetie Belle onto her lap, who in reply giggled and leaned against her big sister.

“Well, Princess Fluttershy and Princess Sweetie Belle,” she said, smiling at her friend. “I think this day turned out pretty well, didn’t it?”

Fluttershy giggled and nodded. “Yes, it did.”

Sweetie Belle, however, tried to turn around to look at her sister. “But you’re a princess, too! You’re the best princess!” she exclaimed. She then leaned in against Rarity and sighed. “You’re the best big sister. Ever.”

“Of course I am, darling,” Rarity giggled, feeling a warmth spread over her chest.

“You can stop imitating Goldy now, darling,” Fluttershy said, grinning at Rarity.

Rarity smiled back. “I’m not. I’ve decided that darling is much too nice a word to be associated with a girl like her. So I am going to adopt it, and show people that not everyone who uses it is a stuck up snobby rich kid.”

Fluttershy nodded, clearly pleased by Rarity’s resolve. She then glanced at Sweetie Belle and added, “I don’t know how you made it so that the dress fit her. It almost looks as if it was always meant to be that size!”

Rarity giggled. “I… had fun modifying it, actually. And seeing how happy it made Sweetie, well…” She put both arms around her little sister and gave her a tight hug. “Let’s just say that some things are worth more than being the belle of the ball.”

“You should open up a store!” Sweetie Belle chimed in, tapping excitedly against the pole. “And sells lots of pretty dresses! And call it ’Rarity’s Shop’!”

“Oh no, that sounds too much like a supermarket,” Rarity said, crinkling her nose in distaste. “I don’t want to sell nice looking vegetables, thank you very much.”

“How about Rarity’s Boutique?” Fluttershy ventured, biting down on her lip. “Like ’Winter Drop’s Boutique’ near the school.”

Again, Rarity shook her head. “No, it doesn’t sound… like me.” She sighed and looked around at the other girls and boys on top of horses. “How about… ‘Carousel Boutique’?”

FIN