Rarity’s heart hammered in her chest as she stood in front of Octavia’s door. All she had to do was knock.

Her hoof thudded against the wooden door. She closed her eyes and took a breath.

They were already basically marefriends anyway, right? They’d spent at least three nights a week together for nearly a month. So this was just a formality.

Rarity knocked a second time.

There really was no reason to be nervous. She was, after all, Rarity. How could anypony not want to be her marefriend?

“I’m coming,” came Octavia’s voice from the other side of the door, and Rarity smiled.

The door swung open. “Oh! Uh, hello Rarity,” Octavia said with a nervous smile as she stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind her. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d drop by and see you,” Rarity said, doing her best to prop up her rapidly faltering smile. What did Octavia mean, ‘What was she doing here?’

“Oh,” Octavia said blankly.

Rarity shifted her weight from one hoof to the other. “So… can I come in?”

Octavia glanced back at the door, and then back to Rarity. “Umm… Now’s not really a good time.”

“It’s not? Oh, did I interrupt your practice? You know I love to hear you play, I can just sit and watch.”

Octavia shook her head delicately. “No, I wasn’t practicing, but–”

“Then what’s the problem?” Rarity asked as she pushed her way past Octavia and opened the door.

“No, Rarity, wait!” Octavia cried as Rarity stepped through the doorway.

“I promise I won’t be a bother, I’ll just put on a kettle and–”

“Oh, heya Rarity! What’s happenin’?”

Rarity stopped and rubbed her eyes. “Vinyl Scratch?” She blinked rapidly to clear her vision and looked again.

Vinyl Scratch sat at Octavia’s kitchen table, foreleg resting over the back of her chair as she guzzled a soda can.

“Vinyl, would you excuse us for a moment?” Octavia said from behind Rarity, nodding gently to the staircase.

“Sure thing, Octy,” Vinyl said with a grin and sauntered away. “I’ve still gotta get all my amps set up again anyway. Off to the wire jungle I go!”

Rarity turned around. “Octavia, what’s going on?”

“Rarity, I swear I was going to tell you, but you were out of town,” Octavia said, her gaze dropping to the side.

“I don’t understand. You two broke up,” Rarity said, her mind racing.

“We did. But… Well, while you were away, she came by, and said she wanted to talk. So… we talked, and…”

Rarity closed her eyes and sighed. “You still love her.”

Octavia nodded after a brief pause. “Yes.”

“But–” Rarity coughed, “–but what about us?”

Octavia met Rarity’s gaze with the absolute worst kind of smile she’d ever seen. “Rarity, really, what about us? This… whatever it was, it was fun, but it wasn’t love.”

Rarity opened her mouth to protest, but couldn’t find the words.

“We’ve been friends for years, Rarity. I know you well enough to know that you don’t love me either.”

“But that night at the bar, all those things you said, about Vinyl; She’s still the same pony. Isn’t the same thing just going to happen again?” Rarity asked meekly.

“Maybe, maybe not. But I think you, of all ponies, should know what I mean when I say I’m willing to take that chance,” Octavia said with a small smile. “Vinyl may drive me insane sometimes, but that’s… Well, it’s worth it, for all the times she’s not driving me insane.”

Rarity stared at the floor. “Right.”

“Look, why don’t you go see Applejack? I know you might be a little disappointed right now, but… I’ve seen the way you look at her, and the way she looks at you. It’s the same way I look at Vinyl. Just… Swallow your pride, and ask her to take you back.”

A loud crash echoed from up the stairs, followed by Vinyl’s voice. “Uh, Octy?”

“Yes, Vinyl?”

“That big fancy brown thing with the drawers in it – that wasn’t expensive, was it?”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “It was an imported cherry armoire from Neighpan. Did something happen up there?”

“... No.”

Octavia smiled and chuckled lightly before noticing Rarity’s blank stare and falling silent again. “It’s just a possession, it can be replaced.”

Rarity shook her head lightly. “I should go…”

Octavia took a step forward and placed a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “I’m sorry this didn’t work out better, but it was just a matter of time. If you need somebody to talk to ever, feel free to come by. I really did like hanging out with you these past few weeks, and I’d hate for that to stop too.”

Rarity smiled politely and lightly hugged Octavia. “Me too. And, thanks.”

Rarity turned and walked out the door.

“Swallow your pride, and ask her to take you back.”

“Obviously, because it’s not like she’s already rebounded and begun dating someone else,” Rarity muttered to no one as she walked back to Carousel Boutique.

“Hey Rarity!”

Rarity looked up to see a smiling Twilight Sparkle trotting towards her and stopped.

“Oh, hello Twilight,” she said with a smile of her own.

“I’m glad I ran into you. Pinkie Pie was talking about having a party tonight, since it’s Saturday, but I thought, ‘Hey, Spike’s in Canterlot on royal business this week, and what’s even better than a party?’” Twilight gave Rarity an excited grin.

“Uh… what?” Rarity asked.

“A slumber party! What do you say?”

Rarity blinked. “Oh. Um. Tonight?”

“Of course! Carousel Boutique is closed on a Sunday anyway, right?”

Rarity nodded. “It is, yes.”

“See, I just got my hooves on a copy of Slumber 102:Even More Things You Were Afraid To Ask, and I thought, hey, we’re all free, why not get everypony together and try it out?” Twilight grinned.

“You’re awfully excited about this, aren’t you, Twilight?” Rarity chuckled.

“Heh heh… Yes.” Twilight nodded, blushing.

“Then of course I’ll be there. What time?”

“I was thinking 8 o’clock?”

“Sounds lovely. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Twilight, I have a salad at home calling my name…”

“Oh, of course. See you tonight!” Twilight said with a smile and disappeared in a flash of purple magic.

Rarity coughed as the air around her cleared. “Twilight and her slumber parties…” She chuckled as she resumed her walk. “Well… At least this will get my mind off things,” she mused aloud.

This did not get her mind off things. Quite the opposite, in fact, Rarity found nothing but things thoroughly on her mind.

The slumber party had started well enough, of course. Rarity arrived briefly after Fluttershy and Pinkie had, and together with Twilight the four of them began making s’mores, as Twilight did not want to delve into Slumber 102 until Applejack and Rainbow Dash showed up.

Rarity, as could be expected, was no stranger to being fashionably late; However, when arriving fashionably late to an occasion, an important part of the equation was to be fashionable., and not covered in sweat and panting madly, as Applejack and Rainbow Dash were when they finally arrived.

“Sorry t’keep ya’ll waitin’, had to settle a bet,” Applejack chuckled as she breached the doorway.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s no trou–”

“Settle a bet!? More like CHEATtle a… uh… a CHEAT!” Rainbow called after her as she followed into the library. “... Because you cheated!”

“I did no such thing, RD.” Applejack smirked.

Rainbow snorted. “Oh? Are you saying you didn’t–” Rainbow stopped, her cheeks flushing red as she noticed her friends watching her.

“I didn’t what, RD? You wanna ask the others if it counts as cheatin’? Go on, tell ‘em what I did,” Applejack said.

Rainbow mumbled something softly as she kicked the ground with a hoof. “Nevermind…”

“S’what I thought,” Applejack said with a grin before marching up to the s’mores table and taking a seat. “We makin’ s’mores? Great, I’m starvin’!”

Rarity watched Applejack take a hoofful of graham crackers and chocolate and stuff them into her mouth before chewing loudly. She looked… happy.

“Well, whatever that was about, we’re all glad you finally made it,” Twilight segued nonchalantly, “as this means we can break out Slumber 102!”

A chorus of cheers drowned out Rarity’s feeble “Yay.”

While Rarity did not know the ponies responsible for Slumber 102 personally, she could no less stop herself from feeling that they should have quit while they were ahead with Slumber 101. It was, after all, no crime to fill only one book with ideas for slumber party activities, and if the demand for more activities was of such a high volume that it necessitated a sequel, perhaps just a little more thought could have gone into it? After all, Hide and Seek was hardly something that screamed ‘Slumber Party.’ And yet, Twilight Sparkle wanted to do everything by the book, which meant Rarity was now stuck with the task of finding her friends somewhere in Golden Oaks Library, with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company.

This game was stupid. Almost as stupid as trying to pass off baking brownies as a different activity from making s’mores, if Rarity had to say so. Maybe even as stupid as the idea that ordering a pizza was an activity at all, much less one even tangentially related to slumber parties.

Rarity supposed that didn’t matter now, though. What did matter now was finding her friends as quickly as possible so that this awful game could be done with and she could get some rest.

Eventually she found Twilight hiding underneath her bed (“But the book said under the bed is a classic hiding spot!”). Fluttershy was found out on the balcony, talking to a bird that had stopped by (“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to screw up the game, but Birdsworth is just about to fly south for the winter and I won’t see him again for a long time, and shoot, Fluttershy, you ruin everything… Please don’t be mad!”). Heading to the kitchen, Rarity saw a small puff of pink extruding from the freezer door; Opening it revealed Pinkie Pie inside, eating a gallon of ice cream (“The sacrifices we make in the name of sugar!”)

That just left Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

Nopony else was in the kitchen; Rarity checked under the table, in the nook next to Twilight’s refrigerator, and even inside the cabinets for good measure.

The common room was similarly deserted. Rarity had checked under each of Twilight’s many desks, behind bookshelves, and even inside of a couch cushion; Nothing.

Twilight had specifically disallowed hiding in the basement due to the delicate machinery down there, and while Rainbow Dash was not a pony particularly well known for listening to what others told her, Rarity felt it was safe to excuse it from her search, at least for now.

This led her back to the second floor. Rarity was just about to give up when she heard a strange, quiet sound coming from the closet across the loft; It sounded like… giggling? Rarity smiled. That was Rainbow Dash’s voice, and she was giggling. That foolish pegasus thought she was so smart, did she? Hah! Rarity would teach her to give away her position. Slowly, Rarity crept toward the closet, staying low to the ground and making nary a sound. She reached for the doorknob. She grabbed it. She twisted it.

“Ah hah! I found–” Rarity began shouting in triumph as she pulled the door open, but her face fell nearly as fast as Applejack and Rainbow Dash fell out of the closet, their limbs entangled and manes askew.

“–you,” Rarity finished.

“Aheh, so ya did! I, uh, we were just, uh–”

“–We weren’t making out!” Rainbow shouted, blushing furiously.

Applejack smacked the pegasus on the back of her head with a hoof before chuckling and turning to Rarity with a sheepish grin. “Oops?”

Rarity pressed her lips together and nodded firmly. “Well, I found you all. I guess I win, then.”

“Ah. Uh, congrats, Rares! I knew ya had it in ya–”

“No seriously, we weren’t making out,” Rainbow interrupted again. Applejack slammed a hoof into her forehead.

Rarity wanted to vomit.