"So Rarity," you began, passing her the bag of gems that you and Rainbow had collected, "What exactly do you need these things for?"

You passed through the door into Carousel Boutique, and to your surprise, it looked just like it did in the show. You didn't know why it surprised you, as so far everything had seemed pretty accurate, but it did nonetheless.

"Well, you see dear... I don't know if I can really tell you." she said, nervously.

Closing the door behind you with her unicorn magic, she turned around and placed the gems on a dresser, preparing them for later use.

"Why not?" you asked, a little annoyed due to the fact that getting those gems had almost cost Rainbow Dash her life.

"I'm not sure how much I can trust you. We haven't exactly talked too much." she explained, sitting down on one of the many fancy couches.

You could see where she was coming from, but surely if you were trustworthy enough to be able to live alongside one of the princesses, you could be trusted with one little secret.

"What if I told you that Rainbow nearly died getting you those gems." you said, attempting to blackmail her into telling you her secret.

Now that you thought about it, that probably wasn't the best idea.

"She did? How did you get them?" she asked, pointing a hoof at the bag of gems. She seemed a little aggravated, but more concerned.

"We fought a Golem in the Everfree Forest." you said, rubbing the bag of your head nervously.

Rarity simply stared at you with a blank expression, before finally replying.

"You know there's plenty of spots where you can dig up gems around here, right?" she asked. You wouldn't really blame her if she thought you were a little deranged after fighting a Golem just for some gems.

"Yeah, I know. Rainbow didn't seem to like that idea though." you explained.

"Of course it was Rainbow's idea." she joked, mocking Rainbow Dash's recklessness. You couldn't really blame her for mocking such a thing. The first time you had hung out with Rainbow, she had crashed into Twilight's balcony.

"So can I know now?" you asked, bouncing up and down like an impatient filly.

Rarity let out a sigh, before asking one final request.

"Ok, but you promise not to tell Rainbow Dash?" she asked, seeming pretty serious about it, too. You didn't really need to be told not to tell Rainbow. After all, you had to bring Rarity the gems because Rainbow was told not too.

"I pinkie promise." you replied, adamantly. Even without a pinkie promise, you weren't planning on going behind her back to tell others anyway.

"Ok..." Rarity said, seeming a little disappointed, or maybe even nervous, "I need them to design a special dress for her birthday, but all of the current designs I have look simply hideous!"

She quickly darted over to a closed curtain, before pulling it back and revealing 3 prototype dresses, all of which were rainbow coloured.

"They, um..." you said, slightly disappointed that her secret was so anticlimactic, "They look fine."

You stared at the dresses, expressionless. You and Rainbow had risked your lives just because Rarity didn't like the way some of her dresses look. Granted, they were a gift for Rainbow Dash, but still.

"They do not!" Rarity protested, stomping a hoof down onto the floor, "And that is why I needed these gems, you see! To add a little more... pizzazz!"

You continued your monotone stare, not reacting in the slightest.

"Right..." you said, squinting slightly.

Rarity let out a sigh, before moving back over the fancy looking couch. She softly settled down onto it, picking up a cup of tea that had somehow appeared there.

"You're just like her, you know that?" she said, taking a sip from the magical cup. You could tell it was a magical cup because it had the ability to materialise out of thin air, already filled.

"Like who?" you asked, finally having your attention caught.

"Like Rainbow Dash! I can certainly see why the two of you hang around together so much!" she laughed, before taking another sip from her cup.

Already you could feel a slight blush coming on, but you couldn't quite say why.

"Is that a compliment?" you asked, rubbing the back of your head with a hoof.

"Why, yes, I suppose it can be!" she exclaimed, placing the cup of tea back down on the table, "Anyway, back to the point."

Once again, Rarity rose from the couch and approached the 3 dresses. You weren't quite sure why she had made 3, as they were all practically identical.

"What do you suppose I do to make these atrocious creations somewhat bearable?" she asked, studying her handiwork hopelessly.

The best thing you could do in this situation was find a way out quickly. You didn't know the first thing about fashion, let alone how to actually make a dress.

"Rarity, I'm not sure I'm the pony you should be asking..." you said, hoping that she would agree.

Unfortunately for you, she didn't.

"Nonsense, I'm sure you know a thing or two about colour coordination!" she said, walking up behind you and attempting to push you towards the dresses.

You didn't fight it, and instead let her push you along the floor towards the 3 dresses.

"I'm not sure colour coordination will help here. I mean, rainbows have every colour!" you exclaimed, finally getting an up close look at the gifts.

You couldn't see anything wrong with them. They looked pretty similar to the dress Rainbow had worn in the episode 'The Best Night Ever'.

And that got you thinking.

Had every episode happened in reality? Or was that just Earth's depiction of this world? You couldn't say for sure, but you had been in Equestria for almost a month now, and nothing that happened in the show had happened in reality.
Twilight still lived in the Golden Oaks Library, and Rainbow Dash isn't a Wonderbolt. Quite frankly, you did always hate Twilight's castle. The library was much better.

"Hello, Storm? Are you even listening?" Rarity said, waving a hoof in front of your face. Realising that you must've gotten lost in your thoughts, you immediately snapped out of it and responded to her.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" you asked, unaware of anything that Rarity had said over the past minute.

"I was giving you some ideas about what I could do with those gems," Rarity explained with a smile, "Perhaps I could coat the whole thing in gems. Or perhaps I could use gems to divide the colours."

It seemed as if she was about to go off on a rant about her own thoughts, but thankfully she stopped herself before she was too far gone.

"What do you think?" she asked, levitating the bag of gems over to you.

You held the bag in your hoofs, switching your gaze between it and her. Reluctantly, you poured out a few gems and just so happened to get one of each colour.

"Um... How about this?" you asked, giving a fake smile as you magically attached each gem to end of the dress, aligning them at the centre of each respective colour.

Again, you thought that they looked great as they were, but if some more pizzazz was what Rarity was after, that was the best she was going to get.

At first, Rarity simply gave the 'new' dress a sceptical look, but pretty soon, her attention shifted to you. You laughed nervously as she stared at you blankly.

"Storm," she said, her expression unchanging and her voice monotone, "You are a genius!"

And with that, Rarity quickly levitated the bag of gems out of your hooves and into hers, as she rushed off towards the dress.

"Maybe I can continue the pattern along here," she said, tracing along the centre of one of the coloured stripes, "Or maybe I should leave it as it is?"

Quite frankly, you were getting pretty bored at this point. While it was pretty hilarious seeing Rarity stress out over something so minor, you were never really one for fashion.

As you were about to speak up, Rarity interrupted with her own dreaded question.

"What do you think?" she asked once again, turning towards you in a flash.

"I think I should be leaving the design choices up to the professional," you said, receiving a confused look from her, "You know, you?"

You were once again met with no reply, but after a few seconds of awkwardness, Rarity broke the silence with a nervous laugh.

"Well, yes, I suppose that would be ideal..." she said, flicking her mane with a hoof.

"And besides, I should probably get going now anyway." you explained, "Lots of stuff to do to prepare for Rainbow's birthday!"

That was a lie. You had already done all that you needed to do. You just didn't want to spend any longer in this fashion fiesta than you had too.

"If you are going, please do thank Rainbow Dash for these gems! They are simply wonderful!" she said, turning back towards one of the rainbow dresses and tampering with the gems you had placed on them.

"Yep, will do," you said, quickly making your way over to the door, "See ya, Rarity!"

"Goodbye, Storm!" she replied, but you were already halfway out the door.

It wasn't that you dislike Rarity, you just didn't like fashion. It never really was your thing, even on Earth. Usually you would wear a bland hoodie, and sometimes something a little more fashionable, like a suit, depending on the occasion. You were just lucky that ponies rarely needed to wear clothes.

Already, the day was beginning to come to and end. You hadn't really done much today, other than give Rarity the gems. You had told Rainbow that you didn't want to hang out today because of the crazy events that had happened the day before, so all you had really done was read Daring Do.

And that was your plan for tonight, too. Read Daring Do until sleep called.

And that was exactly what you did.

Author's Notes:

A short chapter, finally. And a chapter that focuses on Rarity, finally.

I wasn't really sure how to end this chapter, so I apologise if the ending seems rushed in any way. The next chapter will be a relatively short one, as it focuses on Twilight and Spike once again, but I didn't want this chapter and the next to be a single chapter as the transition mid-chapter would have felt pretty off.

After the next chapter, it'll (hopefully) be back to normal length chapters.