"Tostadas?!" Rarity walked back over to the counter. There, on the corner-cracked vinyl, was the approximately cylindrical, green-striped bag, complete with a label in Spanish. Inside? Crunchy corny circles. The bag had been bound with a twisty tie, so that the text was too wrinkled and wrapped-up to read--although she could still make out the word "tostada" on the lower half. "No, it mustn't be the tostadas. Not like this, anyways." She turned away, facing the uncomfortable light coming from the hall outside. "Too unhealthy. Too…" she tapped a hoof to her chin. "Snackable," she whispered, as though the devil were listening. "We hate snacks." Biscotti tins and ice cream tubs flashed before her eyes. She hopped to the corner of the room beside the fridge. "And besides," she swept her hoof out. "Who knows who or what else must have touched these tostadas? After all, there must be a reason somepony left them here and didn't just finish them. Yes," she peered at the bag, studying the shape, the wrinkling. "This twisty tie is clearly aftermarket, and I'm sure the bag was not sold like… this." "And, moreover," she put her hoof on the fridge handle. "We don't even have anything to put *on* the tostada." The door swung open, revealing nothing inside except white LEDs, empty trays, the hum of the compressor, and the dismal scent of meals past. "Goodness, Rarity. To even consider eating such a thing… for without the toppings, what is a tostada but a mere… tortilla chip?" The bag floated to her with a crinkling noise, wrapped in the grip of her blue magic. "Oh, hey, Rarity!" "WAH!" The bag flew into the air. "I see you found the tortilla chips. I think they put 'em out every Tuesday." Rainbow Dash was already there, catching it on the tip of one wing. With surprising dexterity for a pegasus, she undid the twisty tie with her hooves and popped a disc from the bag and into her mouth. "Care for one?" She crunched, muffled through a mouthful of chip. There was the slap of the fridge door swinging shut. "B-b-but…" Rarity stuttered. "Those are clearly tostadas!" Rainbow looked at the bag. "Oh, huh, you're right. Guess that's why they're, like, three times the size of a normal tortilla chip." She dug another tostada out of the bag and hoofed it over. "You sure you don't want some?" "I'm fine," Rarity laughed nervously. "Thanks." Rainbow shrugged. "More for me!" Something twitched in Rarity's face as she watched Rainbow retract her hoof and crunch the chip into her mouth *vertically* like one of those x-ray shields at the dentist. *Snap!* *Doesn't that hurt?* Rarity winced. "I could really go for a mango ceviche…" She muttered under her breath. *Time to order some delivery.* --- "Hmm, on second thought, would a ceviche *truly* survive…" Rarity tapped her hoof to her chin. "As long as Rainbow isn't delivering it, I suppose." She shuddered, remembering Rainbow's brief stint as a food "delivery" pony. *It'd be more like a mango smoothie. A salty one*. "Let's see… extra sauces, no, extra rice and beans? For two bits? Certainly not… and… check out!" She tapped the "checkout" button on her phone. "And- sweet mother of sun, what is that?!" She ran the mental check. "Did I order something extra?" She scrolled up only to confirm that, indeed, the only item she had ordered had been the ceviche. "Yeesh." Rarity gritted her teeth. There was more crunching coming from behind her. "Now I *know *you aren't making *that* much money." And there was Rainbow, floating behind her, buffeting her mane with the flapping of her wings, with a nearly-empty bag of tostadas in one hoof. "I could always pick something up for you at the food court, y'know." Rarity snorted, biting back a hoofful of words--and picked her next ones with the precision of a needle thru a button hole. "Rainbow…" she inhaled sharply. "Aren't you supposed to be at the Racket?" "I'm still on break." "Right." Tension sparked in Rarity's face. A growl crept into her voice. "And, of course, I see that you have nearly finished your tostadas. Whereas I have already exhausted my break, and have yet to eat anything at all." There was a clopping of hoof on floor as Rainbow landed. Rarity didn't even have to look to know that the crinkling sound was from the tostada bag going into the trash bin under *her *counter. *Thanks, Rainbow.* "Are you OK?" the pegasus asked. "You seem kinda…" "Perfectly," Rarity near-spat. She sniffed. "No matter. A lady must be efficient with her budget, after all." She swiped up, and away went DoorDash. "I'll *learn.*" And then there was ChatGPT. The impact of her pinlike magic tapping away at the phone, amplified by the hard surface of the counter, echoed through the store. "I will have you!" she growled. *how to make mango ceviche.* Text began to flow. Rarity's brow furrowed, and she tapped the stop button. *how to make mango ceviche for vegetarians.* "Yes," she muttered under her hoof as she read the AI-generated recipe. "This could work…" "Excuse me, ma'am?" Rarity slammed her hoof down on her phone to look up at a pale-pink mare in a puff jacket, who had a shopping bag slung over her barrel. "Ahaha," she giggled nervously, putting on her best *it's-not-what-it-looks-like *grin. "Uh, how may I assist you today?" Rainbow emitted a *snrkt*. The mare shrugged her cargo onto the counter, the clothes inside splashing up to the opposite edge. Rarity's heart sank as she spied the further unspilled mass lurking in the depths of the bag. "I just need to return these," the mare stated. "Of course you do." "What was that?" "Do you have a receipt?" "Yeah it's… uh… I have a QR code. Let me just…" the mare reached into her jacket, retrieving her phone. "Was it in my text? Or my emails…?" --- Her coat was alight with bad mood. There was a metallic scent. Fillies and colts were steered away by concerned parents, probably. But all she saw was red. "No lime juice in this aisle either, Rares." Rainbow had offered to carry the basket. Rarity peered down the lines of tomato puree and passata and marinara. "Indeed." She blinked. "Oh, perhaps it's in a refrigerated section." They turned around and scanned the perimeter of the store. Rarity's eyes flitted past the dairy and dairy substitutes, the leafy greens, the fruits and roots-- "Oh, there." Rainbow pointed. Rarity followed her hoof to a pile of green, roundish shapes, a little smaller than her hoof. "Although I appreciate the help, I'm not looking for limes, dear, I don't want to have to-" "No, *next* to the limes." Rarity squinted. Yes, right next to the green lime-shaped limes were the green lime-shaped bottles of what were presumably lime juice. "Why would they-" she caught a quiver and took a deep breath, trying to vent a sudden pang that unfurled in her chest. *Wasn't I supposed to be the detail-oriented one?* There was that *infernal *crinkling noise again. “You’re suuure you don’t want these tostadas, or anything else while you’re here? We *are* at the grocery store, y’know.” Crunch. Munch. “Huh?!” Rarity’s eyes shot to Rainbow, who had somehow acquired *another *bag of the same tostadas. It took all of two seconds for Rarity to surmise—“D-did you even pay for that?!” “Nah, I’ll pay for it once we get to the counter.” Rarity tapped her hoof down, glowering up at the snacking pegasus. “Honestly, Rainbow!” she growled, but then paused. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the widening berth wary customers gave to the duo. “We are going to *talk* as soon as we exit this store.” She grunted and plodded down the vinyl tile to the cold place. Two bottles of lime juice, wrapped in sky-blue aura, twirled out of the shelf and into the basket, which the pegasus lifted slightly to catch. "Hey, Rares?" Rainbow retrieved one of the bottles and held it up to the green streak in her own mane. "Why do they call the color 'lime' 'lime' if actual limes are nowhere near that bright?" Rarity sucked in her cheek. "The internet, darling. The design committee picked the word 'lime' to mean 100% green. Instead of the obvious choice." She ground her teeth. "Although, to be fair, their 100% green is quite a bit yellow to my eye." Then she swallowed her saliva. "Do we have everything we need?" "Mangos, red onion, serrano peppers, cilantro, and definitely…" Rainbow tossed the bottle back into the shopping basket. "lime juice. Looks like we're set!" And to the mostly empty checkout lines they proceeded. "Well, howdy Rainbow, howdy Rarity!" Applejack waved them over to her counter. "Fancy seein' y'all here!" "Careful, partner. She's in a hungry mood." Rainbow gave a playful half-imitation of the clerk's accent. "That so?" Applejack's eyes tracked the food floating out of the basket in Rarity's aura. "A mango kinda mood?" "Mango *ceviche*," enunciated Rarity. The hoof-sized fruits rolled out along the conveyor belt. The earth pony began to tap prices into the register by her side. "Ain't ceviche a griffon thing?" "Hippogriff, to be exact," the unicorn held up a hoof. "But I'll be making a vegetarian version." Before she could float her card out to pay, she paused on stiff legs, feeling like she was missing something. Her eyes widened. "Avocados!" "Ten seconds flat!" In a burst of wind, Rainbow zipped above the shelves and out of sight--then came back clutching a couple of the darker-green fruits. They thumped down onto the conveyor and rolled towards Applejack, who adjusted them onto the scale with an orange hoof. "Thank you," Rarity half-whispered. "Just one more thing." "Yer total's twenty-five bits and nineteen cents." *When did buying your own groceries get so expensive? *Rarity shook her head as she floated the currency over. "Just one more thing, Rainbow." The pegasus looked at her inquisitively. "The to-stada bag," came out in clipped syllables. "Where is it?" "Oh, yeah!" Rarity's eyes widened as the pegasus unfurled her wing to reveal yet *another* of the tostada bags, this one seemingly unopened and still full of crunchy corny circles. "RAINBOW DASH!" she yelled. Rainbow and Applejack shrank back. "WHERE…" the unicorn gritted her teeth. "is the bag that you were ***eating ***out of?!" Her eyes were pinpointed on the pegasus. "Uh…" Rarity's heart sank as she watched Rainbow's eyes flicker away, a blue hoof rubbing the back of her rainbow-colored mane. "Rainbow…" she growled under her breath. "*Rarity.*" Applejack slapped a checkout divider onto the conveyor belt, eyes narrowing. "Just take 'em." Her tone was insistent, dangerous. "Consider it a gift." Rarity's cheek twitched. "But I haven't paid-" "Yer causin' a scene." Applejack nodded her head, prompting Rarity to freeze in place and look around. The chatter had gone quiet. The adjacent lines had cleared out of ponies. In the corner by the tomato sauces, she could see a colt pointing a smartphone camera at her. "*Just take the tostadas,"* repeated Applejack. The words seemed to echo. Rarity scoffed, floated the tostadas into her grocery bag, and trotted for the door. --- Rainbow steeled herself as she trotted into the cold winter evening behind her unicorn friend--preparing for the hissy-fit tongue lashing of a lifetime. Her heart was sinking, hair standing on end, hooves and wings stinging. Rarity tensed, and Rainbow prepared for the inevitable… then the unicorn sighed as she set the bag down on the sidewalk with her magic. "I'm such a boor…" she muttered. "But…" she turned to Rainbow. "I'm not the only one to blame, am I?" There was something focused, downtrodden but still *measured* in Rarity's demeanor, something that made it feel so much worse than a hissy fit. "Hey… look," Rainbow began. "I'm sorry about losing the bag…" "Up-bup." Rarity held up a hoof. "It's not that. Or, not *just* that." Rainbow tilted her head inquisitively. "I mean, I SUPPOSE I could enumerate all the little offenses." Rarity's voice grew pitchy. "Tossing your tostada bag into the trash can at *my *counter instead of using the one in the break room, grabbing another bag of tostadas to eat in the grocery store without even paying for them, that fiasco at the checkout with Applejack, and most of all, insisting that I try your completely topping-free tostadas when I think I have made it very clear that I *don't want them*." Out of the grocery bag Rainbow Dash held floated the offending cylindrical bag, dangling in Rarity's blue aura like a severed head. Rainbow half expected her to crush it in her grip. "But I suppose the thing that really *bothers* me is how cavalier you seem about all of it." Rarity brought the bag closer to her eye, inspecting it, rotating it from side to side. "So much trouble from you…" she muttered at the bag. With a crinkling rip of plastic, her magic tore it open, and out floated a tostada. "Really, it would be so easy. I don't even understand what the fuss is about." The tostada rotated in the air like an assassin's flying knife. Rainbow gulped. "Do you understand why I am so… peeved, Rainbow?" Rarity's face contorted, teeth gritting. "I, erm…" Rainbow scratched the back of her neck with a wing, looking down at the sidewalk. There was a cigarette butt wedged into the crack next to her hoof. "Well?" The tostada floated closer to Rainbow. "I…" Rainbow creaked. "Yeah, I kinda get how all that other stuff you mentioned could be annoying. I guess I just thought, you know, you're probably hungry, and once you get something to eat, you'll see that it… just isn't that big of a deal?" Rarity squinted at the tostada. She looked away and muttered. "It isn't that big of a deal." She repeated herself briskly, under her breath. "It's isn't that big of a deal. Am I just hungry? I am hungry. And I have publicly embarrassed myself, and gotten into a frenzy over nothing but a glorified tortilla chip." There was a hesitancy in her voice, as though she didn't quite believe the words coming out of her mouth. *Snap!* Rainbow cringed as the tostada snapped in half. "It isn't such a big deal. But you see what this is, Rainbow?" Rarity lifted the half-tostadas towards the pegasus's face, accusation in her eyes. "Do you understand? This is how defeat looks." She began to trot around the pegasus, voice gritting in fury. "This is what it looks like when a mare can't wish for more. When she must accept what is laid on the counter. When a mare is thwarted, first from without…" the two tostada crescents flew out, orbiting the two of them. "...then within." The two halves came back. Rarity opened her mouth and crunched down. She made a little *hmm*, then swallowed. "So, this is how defeat tastes." The unicorn quirked her cheek, wrinkling her nose as though she had eaten something *unclean*. "It's decent." Shopping carts rattled by. Rainbow shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, watching as Rarity stared down at the ground, slouching slightly. Rarity swallowed again, as if to catch the leftover taste of the corn. "Well, I suppose that's that." Her voice seemed dismissive, intoned. "The groceries, if you will, Rainbow?" Rainbow frowned, extending her hoof out to let Rarity's magic slip the grocery bag into the air. "Thank you, dear." And the bag crinkled as another tostada hovered towards Rarity's mouth. A snap, and then a crunch--Rainbow watched as the unicorn trotted off to wherever she had parked, grocery bag and tostadas in tow. --- The encounter weighed on Rainbow through the next day--between the argument with a mare that there was no such thing as "spot burning" fat and the shooing-away of another colt who was getting way too *enthusiastic* on the heavy bag display--there was something *wrong *that stuck with her. As she stepped into the breakroom, a bag of potato chips under her wing, she couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of a certain white, perfume-wearing unicorn in the room. She plopped down onto one of the cushioned seats in the back and tore open the chip bag. One hoof reached in and pulled out a large, robust chip. *Crunch*. It was salty, saltier than the tostadas. Hadn't she fixed everything? Rarity would see that there wasn't any good reason to freak out the way she did. And she'd learn that sometimes you just need a little snack to get you through the day. *Which was a good thing!* Another chip. *Crunch.* *Yeah, that's right. I was just teaching her a lesson, *Rainbow thought to herself. *And being cool about it. *The next chip had a bit of resistance to her bite--it was cut a bit thicker than the others. Still, that image of Rarity, staring at the concrete, eating tostadas out of the bag, flickered. Something seemed decidedly *un-cool* about that. *C-crrrunch.* Rainbow squirmed, shifting her legs over in the seat to face the other way. *And I totally left that tostada bag on top of an aisle.* She eyed the TV remote on top of the table in front of her. *Maybe hoofball will take my mind off of things. * She grabbed the remote with a greasy, chip-encrusted hoof and hit the power button. The flatscreen mounted on the wall across from her flashed on. There were two talking ponies on the screen behind a newsdesk, talking about some kind of war or whatever. Rainbow rolled her eyes. She hit the channel + button. Nothing happened. She watched the remote as she hit the button again. The little red light behind the power button that would light up when another button was pressed *wasn't there.* She dug her hoof into the button harder, like she was trying to pick its nose, until that red flash appeared. "Stupid remote," she grumbled as she rhythmically mashed the button. "What's wrong with this thing?!" The TV dutifully flipped through channels. True crime, a game show, another set of talking heads. *20. It's on Channel 20, just get to channel 20… * As Rainbow continued pressing, making the table squeak under the sheer pressure of her hoofpresses, she noticed the power button flashes were getting less and less frequent. The TV channels climbed… *17, 19… *and finally, with one hard-driven press, *22?!* "No! Stop…" She shifted her hoof to the Channel - button. This one was somehow *harder* than the + button, and she gave one last final table-tilting attempt at jamming her hoof into its eyesocket before groaning and spinning the remote away from her. "Ugh, must be out of batteries." She crossed her hooves and leaned back in the seat as she reached back into her bag. 22 was showing one of those weird pharmaceutical commercials with smiling ponies dancing and doing outdoorsy things while the narrator listed off awful side effects. *Discontinue use of Cilanquil if you experience any of the following symptoms: nausea, anxiety, seizure, heart palpitations, depression, or suicidal ideation. * Rainbow shoved a hoofful of chips into her mouth. She felt *unclean* leaning back in the seat and eating them, and she had a feeling she knew why. The pegasus let out a guttural sigh through a mouthful of chip, then pulled herself out of the seat. *Time to go see what's up with Rarity, I guess.* --- "Hey, Coco." Rainbow landed beside the counter. "Have you seen Rarity?" The cream-colored earth pony nodded towards the column at the right side of the counter. "I've never seen her like this. Did something happen?" Rainbow traced the path of the nod--and indeed, there was Rarity, sitting cross-hooved on her usual seat, tucked away *behind *the column, just out of customers' view. Her eyes were glued to the phone she held in one hoof. The other swiped up repeatedly on the screen. And then there was the *avocado*, sitting half-peeled in Rarity's magic like an orange, which the unicorn took a nibble out of every few seconds or so. "You could say that," Rainbow grumbled. As she stepped around the counter, she realized that Rarity was scrolling with her volume turned *up.* *That's definitely new.* "Here's five easy ways to- Here's how you can tell if your coltfriend is a- I bought a fifteen-bit ice cube tray and it changed my life. This- The number one thing you need to understand about dating short- Here's a recipe for delicious Prench- " With each skipped short there was a growing churning in Rainbow's stomach. "Hey, Rarity." "Mhm." The unicorn continued to scroll through shorts. There was the phone-speaker-tinned rattling noise of somepony dragging a comb across a keyboard. "Listen, I thought we got over that whole tostada thing yesterday," Rainbow chuckled, "but I've been thinking-" she scrunched her face, feeling her voice being stolen by the endless array of hooks. "-Listen fillies, I just found a secret life hack that'll make your- Hey y'all, I found this super cute mini succulent collection- You need to change these three things about-" "Rarity." Rainbow popped her head in front of the unicorn, waving a wing. Rarity's eyes flitted towards her with a flash of annoyance, then back to her phone. *That's it. *Rainbow snatched the phone out of Rarity's hoof and paused the cake-cutting video. "What." Blue eyes stared up at the pegasus. "You're not OK, Rarity." "Not OK?" Rarity scoffed. "Au contraire, I'm liberated from my delusions of… eh… elevation." "Delusions?" Rainbow narrowed her eyes. Rarity waved her phone-free hoof dismissively. "I am free to eat whatever I want, wherever I want, while I watch whatever I want. And right now, I am eating an avocado." She raised the fruit up to her mouth and gnawed an eighth of the flesh off, staring Rainbow dead in the eyes. "That avocado's not even ripe, is it?" Rainbow noted the way the flesh clung to the pit. "Ripe or not, it *is* an *avocado*, and more precisely, it is the avocado you brought me." Rarity shrugged as she nibbled at the edge of her effort. Rainbow stared, jaw slightly slack in disbelief. *She's not even trying to avoid eating the peel now. *There was a corner of dark green between Rarity's teeth. And then the words spilled out. "Look, I'm sorry for making you eat the tostadas, OK? I'm sorry about ribbing you and being rude and everything even if I don't really understand-" "I'm not angry at you, Rainbow." "Huh?" Rainbow furrowed her brow in confusion. The unicorn shook her head. "I don't know whether it's the tostada or the avocado or just the simple realization that things are… simpler. This way." Her eyes drifted towards her phone, extending her hoof outwards. "Anyways, I release you from your moral obligation… if you'd be so kind as to allow me to watch YouTube in peace." Rainbow half-hoofed her phone back, then withdrew it. "No." "No?" Rarity's eyes narrowed just a smidge. "You don't get to just wave me off." Rainbow looked at the phone, only to realize the screen lock had engaged. She shook her head. "Look at yourself. The Rarity I know wouldn't be on her stool, doomscrolling through short-form garbage, eating avocado peel for lunch." The unicorn paused, looking down at the floor in thought, then shrugged. "Well, perhaps I am no longer the Rarity you know." Rainbow recoiled, wings flicking out. "Ugh!" she groaned, tossing the phone back to Rarity, who caught it in her magic aura. The pegasus turned around and began to walk away, shivering as she heard the disjointed sound of truncated shorts returning behind her. *I hate that. I hate it. And I hate that I have no idea what to do. *A feverish cloud hung over her thoughts. *So who would?* --- "...And now she's doomscrolling with the volume turned up during lunch break… and she's probably still mad at me and being all passive aggressive about it. About *freaking… tostadas.*" "Sounds like ya made a mighty mess yesterday, huh?" said Applejack. The orange earth pony leaned against a pallet mover that had been parked in the service corridor. "She was messing plenty up herself," Rainbow grumbled, crossing her hooves, wings folded tight. Applejack shrugged, a hint of a smirk playing on her lip. "Yeah, don't we all sometimes." Rainbow rolled her eyes dismissively, wings bristling. "Sure, sure. So what do I do?" "Well, first off, ah don't think she's just mad at you." "Furious, even." Applejack shook her head. "Yer lookin' in the wrong direction, I think." She put a hoof up on the pallet mover. "Remember that time you told me about in high school? When ya missed the flight team tryouts freshmare year because those bullies took your backpack and ya accidentally dropped your forms down in a lake?" "What about that?" "What didja do afterwards?" "I skipped history class the next morning." Rainbow crossed her hooves, looking away. "I got the grading sheet from Medley, showed up to the track with a stopwatch and did the laps by myself. Just to prove that I had what it took. And then I did that every week afterwards until spring quarter tryouts. But what's that got to do with Rarity?" "What I'm saying is that you're both in the same kinda situation." Rainbow snorted. "Nope. No way. She's all fancy and… hobby fashion designer. I'm all cool and hobby sportspony. We're totally different." "I don't mean you're the same pony. More that, uh…" Applejack lifted her hoof. "You've both got somethin' ta prove. Fer you, it's speed. Athleticism. That you had what it took to make it on the flight team. For Rarity, it's, well…" she trailed off. "That she can make things more frou-frou?" Rainbow raised a brow. "Somethin' like that.” Applejack tilted her head. “She… thinks of herself as a pony who can make things prettier. More… refined, ah guess. That she can do better than a tostada with nothin' on it." She put her hoof down, satisfied with that sentence. Rainbow hummed, wrinkling her muzzle. "So what's the difference? Why doesn't she get on the track and do the laps? I got her the ingredients and everything.” Applejack shrugged. "Guess for her it was a really bad day. I haven’t seen Rarity yell at a pony like that in a long time.” "It was a bad day when I missed the tryouts.” Rainbow frowned. “I locked myself in my room and punched my pillow to death and then I cried myself to sleep." “Yeah, but… you only lost the forms once, missed the tryout once. From the way ya talked about it, it seems like she kept gettin’ beat down at every turn. Tryin’ ta order food, tryin’ ta find the lime juice, tryin’ ta check out without losin’ her head or gettin’ any extra tostadas.” Applejack glared pointedly at Rainbow Dash. “You mighta thought it was just good natured ribbin’, but to her every time you mentioned tostadas it was a fight. A fight she was losing." Rainbow swallowed. “And it builds up until… it breaks. Like that scene in Spider-Mare 2 where she loses her powers.” Applejack wrinkled one cheek, looking away. “Uh… yeah, somethin’ like that.” “Like if I skipped history class and got to the track and I ended up not being able to put out more than 2 wingpower. If my magic just… gave up.” Rainbow’s eyes widened. “What would’ve that done to me?" She paused, frowning. *There could've been a Rainbow Dash who didn't fly for sport.* For a moment, her voice gave way to the hum of the HVAC. "Y'get it now?" Applejack asked. Rainbow nodded slowly, hoof to chin. “But still… what to do about it?" “Yeah.” Applejack crossed one hoof over the other. "You more or less tried talkin' her out of it. So that's out." She looked up at the fluorescent tubes in thought. "She needs a little somethin' ta make her believe in herself, 'cause right now she doesn't. That she can do things better, and this was just a lil' hiccup." "She needs to get off that phone first." Applejack gave a short laugh. "Ha. That too, probably. Though ah could never figure out a way ta get Sweetie and Scootaloo off those darn things." Rainbow hummed. "What about Apple Bloom?" "Oh, Granny takes care of that." Applejack chuckled. "'sall about keepin' us busy enough not to deal with all that social media nonsense. Speakin a' which," she looked up at the flatscreen TV that the company had been using as a digital bulletin board. "My break's runnin' out." The orange mare turned to trot back to the time clock terminal. "Oh. Well, thanks for the advice, AJ!" Rainbow waved with a wing. *Keepin' busy, huh?* --- Coco Pommel had just finished folding and putting back a pile of ankle pants left from the changing room. She walked past a ponyquin and was making her way down the clearance aisle when she felt a warm hoof wrap around her, yanking her into the dark rows of hoodies with a clinking of hangers. She opened her mouth to yelp--and was cut off by another hoof clamping over her mouth. "Hey, Coco… don't freak out. It's just me," Rainbow Dash whisper-shouted, letting her hoof go. "R-Rainbow Dash?" Coco stuttered. "Ssh!" "Why did you-" "It's about Rarity. Sorry about the foalnapping, but, uh," Rainbow lowered her whisper, ears swiveling. "I can't have her figuring out what I'm planning. I need some information, and, uh, I didn't have your phone number." Coco frowned, lowering her head as she looked at Rainbow. "...What kind of information?" --- Blue Bobbin glared at the white unicorn, who had propped her smartphone up against the POS screen and had seemingly been hypnotized by a steady stream of "strangely satisfying" fruit peeling videos. "Rarity." It had taken every ounce of nagging she could stomach to get her unusually sloven coworker to turn down the noises of knives scraping peels and fruit fibers tearing open. "*Rarity Belle*." She gritted her teeth. "There's a customer. So help me Celestia, I don't care what's got you so depressed, I will get the boss on your flank." At that, Rarity's eyes flicked upwards. "Mhm." She continued to watch the cucumber as the customer, whoever it was, trotted up to deposit another pile of clothes. Without looking, her horn lit up, feeling for the tags on the articles and running them under the scanner. A vest swiveled over, and the hard tag clicked into the detacher- "Hey, what do you think of my fit?" asked a mare with a bit of a rasp in her voice. "I'm checking these out too." Her eyes flicked upwards, catching a glimpse of white and sky-blue, then back to the video as she levitated the scanner off its stand. "...looks fine to me," Rarity muttered. *Wait, what?* Her eyes went back up. "Uh." She wasn't so much into the trend of monochromaticity that young ponies seemed to be taken with these days, but she had to admit it was a sensible choice for this already *substantially* *multicolored *pony, or would be if not for the *execution*, the issues with which lay in the *particular shapes chosen… and, moreover, the pony wearing them.* "Something wrong?" Rarity squinted, brow furrowing. There was one voice in her head telling her Rainbow Dash was *clearly *up to something, and another yelling at her much more loudly. "I can see what you're going for, but those joggers are much too short for your legs," she half-muttered. "They are?" Rainbow looked down at her outfit, wings ruffling through the hoodie-holes. "Well, I mean, just *look* at those things. They're creeping right about halfway up your cannons, which is far too high for a shoeless look." Rarity wrinkled her nose. "They're practically *breeches*." she said the last word under her breath, leaving her mouth hanging open like it left a bad taste. "Unless you have some stylish boots I'm not aware of?" *Holy moly, Coco, she hates it!* Rainbow hoofpumped mentally, keeping her face nonchalant-ish. She rolled her eyes. "Uh, look, I don't wanna get into the specifics. Can you just scan and ring me up?" "No. Frankly, if you were planning on pairing *this* vest-" Rarity's magic swept the offending article on the counter- "with that hoodie, an oversized fit might… fight. As a matter of fact, there's a *bigger* issue." She leaned forwards on the counter--Rainbow noted, *not looking at her phone anymore*. "Have you really considered whether white is suitable for a pony of your… style?" "What do you mean?" Rainbow tilted her head. *Coco didn't mention that. *"It's a neutral color, and I'm already colorful, right?" "Neutral is right, but this goes beyond color coordination. It's *utility*," Rarity's eyes narrowed. The pegasus arched a brow. "Utility? I think that's the first time I've ever heard you use that word." "Rainbow," Rarity scoffed, annoyance creeping into her tone. "My job is not just to sell you on a look. It's to let you experience something that makes you happy enough to come back for more." She swallowed, articulating her next words with the deliberation of a pony speaking from experience. "*Utility* dictates that if you want your white fit to *stay *white, you'll have to be dodging stains and avoiding snacks or bumping into any object that could leave a scuff. Which I *know* you are entirely unwilling or incapable to do." *Yeesh. I guess she's not wrong, though.* "No, I can't sell this selection." Rarity sniffed and shut her mouth tight, a resolute seam, as she glared at the outfit. Her cadence grew more staccato. "For we can do *better*." Rainbow looked away, as if pondering. "I dunno, I think this is pretty good as it is." She flexed a wing. "Look, if you're not going to, I'm pretty sure Blue Bobbin's willing to check me out." The pegasus started to trot off towards the other cashier, only to be halted midstep by a flying jacket, which pulled her back to Rarity. "Rainbow, please." The unicorn's eyes were earnest. "It'll only take a few adjustments, I promise." *Probably more than a few. *"...just a few? Nothing crazy, right?" Rainbow suppressed a smirk. Rarity swept her hoof dismissively. "Oh, absolutely." --- "The *look* is winter athleisure. Insulating, but not stifling. Stylish, but grounded." Rarity tapped her hoof to her chin. "Even if the pony who wears it is quite the opposite. Now." A grey sweatpant flew off a shelf. "The Saddle Alley joggers tend to run a bit on the long side, so a medium should work." Blue magic unfolded the sweatpants and draped them over Rainbow's flank for a moment, before re-folding them and placing them back on the shelf. "But not *so* cliche, hm? Perhaps something in navy, which is *less *cliche…?" Rainbow nodded, unsure how to respond. "Yeah, probably." Rarity scrunched her muzzle--Rainbow wasn't sure whether it was a flicker of doubt or just an artist plodding through the *dirty *part of the job. There was a part of her that was glad Rarity had gotten out of her smartphone-stupor and into something approaching a normal rhythm, and another part of her that was cursing for having made *herself* the object of that rhythm. "Let's consider the topwear." Rarity led the way, clothes hanging in her aura, away from the shelves of pants and towards the racks of hoodies. "With dark colors, we have to be careful. Brown might work for some ponies, but it *absolutely* does not go with your coat. Considering your… colorfulness, matching the pants is the safest option, but just that is a bit *bland *for my taste." *I should've just sent Twilight in or something,* Rainbow thought as she watched Rarity's gaze draw to the top of her head. The unicorn furrowed her brow. "...a *hat** ***to constrain the colors? That might open up some other avenues." --- *Huh. That actually looks… pretty good. *Rainbow pivoted on her hooves in the stall. Atop her head, covering most of the top of her mane, sat a grey beanie with a red (or *amaranth*, as Rarity said) stripe. *It's the linchpin of the operation*, Rarity's words echoed. *Toning that mane down lets us use more hues--I'm not a monochrome type of mare, and neither are you.* Next, the topwear. Her wings fit loosely through the holes of a dusky blue pullover with matching red and white stripes running down the sleeves, and beneath it, a white longline tee peeking slightly out about her barrel. *A classic flourish, *Rarity called it. And of course, there were the pants--joggers, in darker navy with white stripes, cuffs hanging respectably on the fetlocks. *Kitted for battle.* That's how she felt--wearing quite a bit more cloth than she usually did, but it didn't feel *suffocating *like the winterwear her parents stuffed her into as a foal. She couldn't help but give the mirror a bit of a cocky grin and a more angular pose--holding one hoof close to her chest. *Not the vibe. Tone it down a bit.* She leaned a bit to one side, crossing one hoof over the other. *Casual. Confident. Cool. *She gave a quick nod to the mirror, tossing a lock of mane that hung beneath the beanie--*'sup, mare?* She could feel the swagger. She understood why the models moved like that in the commercials. With a spin, she reached her hoof out and unlocked the door, pushing it open to step out and meet- Coco Pommel, who had just finished hanging a door tag on a peg. Her eyes widened for a split second as she appraised Rainbow's outfit--and there was a slight smile and a hint of a chuckle. "Rainbow's out," she called. Rarity was an aisle down the way, hanging a few polos. "Coming," she called back as she trotted down, with a smirk--maybe tinted in smug--on her face. Coco winked at Rainbow as she gathered a pile of go-backs. "*That's* the designer," she said to Rainbow as she trotted off. "Now." The unicorn stopped in front of Rainbow Dash, waving a hoof over the outfit. "Is that not, as they say… *aura*?" "I was a little worried you were going to go all frou-frou on me… but this is way cooler." Rarity waved her hoof. "While I would have loved to, it *is *within my capacity to anticipate what customers are looking for." "Yeah, but… I didn't even know this was what I was looking for." Rainbow said as she took a few steps about, fluttering her wings as if to feel how the cloth moved with her outside the cramped stall. "Rainbow," said Rarity--and this line sounded more rehearsed--"are you pleased with your selections?" Rainbow nodded with a smile. "Totally." "Are you ready to check out?" *Wait, what? *"Uh… yeah." Rainbow's voice wavered as it dawned that she had made a *terrible mistake *in her scheme. *I have no idea how much these clothes cost.* --- Rarity had gotten* *a sense of Rainbow's reluctance by the time they had arrived at the counter, and together with Blue Bobbin they had managed to cobble together a hoofful of promotions--plus the new customer's discount, since Rainbow had apparently never shopped* *at the Boutique *once*--bringing the two hundred-odd bit price down by 35%, at which Rainbow said "thank you", put the payment on card, and walked out the door, taking a few odd glances back. Something had been taking form in Rarity's mind through the checkout process. *If Rainbow obviously hadn't budgeted for a winter outfit, or for that matter, previously expressed any interest in one, why would she decide to go on a clothes shopping trip all of a sudden? *She leaned back in her seat, line now devoid of customers, as she watched Blue Bobbin pull out her phone and continue watching some kind of anime. *Where's my phone? *Rarity glanced down at the POS screen. *Oh, there. *There it was, in its gem-pattern case, still sitting in a vertical position. Something felt… *strange,* as she reached out with her hoof, tapped it on, and swiped to unlock… *No. * Not strange at all. *I shouldn't do that.* *I **don't **do that! * The strange part was when she was eating an avocado, watching… Her eyes drifted to the doorway. *Rainbow. * Taking one last glance at Bobbin--*she'll be fine, it's almost closing anyways*--Rarity grabbed her phone, slipped off her seat and trotted for the exit. She hoped she hadn't missed Rainbow already. The doors slid open and she stepped out onto the porcelain tiles of the mall. She turned towards the Racquet Racket--and standing before the door was a cyan pegasus in a grey beanie and a blue hoodie… "Rainbow?!" she called out, galloping towards the pegasus. "...What's up, Rarity?" Rainbow responded, turning towards her with a bit of an apprehensive frown. Rarity slid to a stop before her. "You *deceived* me," she stated flatly, pointing her hoof at Rainbow. Rainbow looked down at the tiles. "I, uh… well…" "You didn't just suddenly decide to start caring about clothing, did you?" The pegasus took a step back, fluttering her wings. "Well… it was because…" she trailed off before continuing more forcefully. "I realized that I messed up. When I saw you sitting in that seat on your phone. And I talked things over with AJ and I realized how *dumb* I was being with those tostadas." "The tostadas." Rarity blinked. "Darling, you really don't have to be so self-depre-" Rainbow raised a wing, cutting Rarity off. "No, it *was* dumb." "You have to admit, I was overreacting a *bit*," Rarity murmured. "Even if you were, I was the one making it worse. I was making fun of the part of you that makes you… you." Rarity raised her brow. "And then you saw me losing that part of myself…" "I did what I had to." Rainbow turned a bit, glancing down at her hoodie. "To make you see that… well, it's still good to be the kind of pony who won't just settle for bare tostadas." The unicorn nodded, rubbing her chin with a hoof. "I see." She paused. "You're still down a hundred-and-thirty-something bits, aren't you?" Rainbow tilted her head with a puzzled frown. "I was hoping you'd say something a little more-" "Well, I simply *can't* let this stand!" Rarity tapped one hoof down on the porcelain tile in a steely pose, her tone swelling theatrical. "Rainbow, in gratitude for your efforts and expenditures in restoring my… Rarity-ness, and as a token of our friendship, I *must* invite you to-" Rarity spun around, her curly mane and tail bouncing as she whipped her hoof outwards- "***Ceviche night!***" --- The Kale sat in the crisper drawer. How many days had it been sitting there? Sitting there, with the twisty ties and rubber bands digging into its flesh. It was thirsty. The wet paper towel wrapped around it had supplied some moisture, but it was running out. It could feel its stalks and leaves growing weak, wilting. Above it there were layers of other Ones, laid out on cot-like glass shelves, awaiting the End. Mangoes. An Egg carton. Clamshell boxes of Alfalfa and Hay. And strange glass vessels, some squat and some tall, filled with fluids of all different colors. There had been a few new additions to the drawer some time ago, likely more than a day. Some Red Onions, some Cilantro, some Serrano Peppers, plus a hoofful of Avocadoes. The Avocadoes had been retrieved a good time afterwards, but the rest of the cellmates remained untouched, accompanied only by the periodic hum of the fridge's compressor. *Oh.* There was a melody humming from outside. That unicorn that had taken it! The unicorn that had taken it from one Cold Place to another Cold Place. *Is it time?* The door swung open. The Kale felt dizzy as the drawer glowed pale blue and lurched open, the whole fridge blurring around. *Is this how it ends?* It could see the Red Onions floating out, the Serrano Peppers, the Cilantro, and braced for the moment when it, too, would be engulfed in the pale blue field that took the elder Ones out and put the younger Ones in- "Rainbow, I think we have a problem." And before it could realize, the drawer had clicked shut, and the Kale had returned to its previous position, staring up at the same Ones that sat on the levels above it. Except for the Mangoes, it noted, which had disappeared. *No.* *Death will come later.* --- "...I ate the avocadoes!" Rarity put a hoof to her chin. She opened the fridge again, pulling the crisper drawer open, then scanning all of the shelves, and yet the only dark green she saw was from that bunch of kale lying in the corner--*I really need to use those in something*. Rainbow popped beside her, joining her in witnessing the lack of avocado. "...You ate all of those?" Rainbow asked. The fridge door slapped shut. "I figured the ice cream would melt on the way to work, and the avocadoes *were *a bit more stable," Rarity muttered, peering down at the tile. "This is quite vexing." "Y'know, I *could *fly over there…" Rainbow paused as she caught Rarity's skeptical look. "Right. They're already closed. Well, maybe we should take a rain check on the ceviche? It's getting pretty late." The unicorn sniffed in slight offense. "But you're already *here*," she half-whined. "So that would be *unacceptable*." She looked up at the textured ceiling for inspiration--"Perhaps we'll just have to make do without." She gave a little *hmph *as she tapped over to the counter, where her phone rested--with the AI-generated recipe pulled up. Her horn lit up, and Rainbow could swear she heard a mandolin playing somewhere as Rarity began to hum a jaunty and somewhat familiar tune. And so, with an opening flourish of a cutting board swiveling out and knives sliding out of the knife block, the ballet of food prep unfolded. Blue magic flitted across the dancing ingredients. The mangoes were rinsed, peeled, and cubed into a large bowl--and alongside them went diced peppers, plus the lime juice. A red onion was peeled and sliced and placed into a water bath, along with ice cubes from the freezer. Rainbow snorted as she watched the unicorn. She'd always known Rarity had a talent for complex levitation* *beyond her peers, but it was another thing to watch her pull off in minutes what would've taken her *hours.* "This is why I never cook," she muttered to herself, rolling her eyes. Seeing little else to do, she took one of the remaining red onions and juggled it between her hooves as she watched Rarity do her work. Every now and then the unicorn peeked at the recipe on her phone--then there was a pause, midway through picking up the cilantro in her magic. "We didn't pick up any cucumbers," she stated, scrolling with her hoof. "Although there don't seem to be any in the ingredients list…" "Must've been hallucinated," said Rainbow. "Twilight told me about that. Sometimes they make stuff up." "Hm." Rarity wavered her head a bit before shrugging and continuing the dance--the mango bowl into the fridge, the cilantro rinsed and cut and set aside. Rainbow tilted her head in confusion, stopping her juggle. "...So do we get to eat it? Or is it so fancy that you just put it in the fridge and imagine eating it?" With everything put away, Rarity set to cleaning up--knives and cutting boards washed and scraps disposed of in a countertop bin. "The *onions*, darling. They need a little more time to lose their sting. And, anyways, a real ceviche--the kind they make with fish meat--uses the lime juice to *cook* the meat, in a way, although it's not really cooking. The flavors will mix together better if we let things sit for a while." "Alright…" Rainbow set the onion on the counter. "Well, do take a seat, darling." Rarity led the way to the living room, where she took a seat on a couch that had been set up before a coffee table and a TV. \ Rainbow sat down across the couch--now *finally* feeling some of the awkwardness of wearing the amount of cloth she was actually wearing. Her eyes drifted about Rarity's apartment--from the TV to the coffee table to the shelves holding little potted succulents. *…I don't have any of these things in my apartment*, she thought. Her nose wrinkled as she remembered the growing pile of pizza boxes in the corner of her living room that she was going to take to the trash *eventually*. *…Yeah, I'm not telling Rarity about that. This place is **way** cleaner than mine.* The remote floated in front of her. "Would you like to watch something?" Rarity asked. Rainbow took the remote and powered on the TV, switching to a sports channel broadcasting a college buckball game that she didn't really care too much about. "You know," she said, "this remote works a lot better than the one in the break room." "Oh, *that *thing?" Rarity chuckled. "Yes, I do have to keep taking it apart every so now and then. Somepony always seems to be using the remote with bits of food on their hooves, and all that debris ends up getting lodged under the buttons." "Right, yeah." Rainbow gave a nervous laugh. *Oh, that's why.* There was a swell of cheering from the TV. "I just had a thought," said Rarity. "Do you know what else I'm missing that would pair quite suitably with mango ceviche?" Rainbow looked at her. "Tostadas." --- Rarity peeked into the doorway. There was nopony else inside the breakroom; just the bag of tostadas, sitting on the counter as it usually did. She waved over to Rainbow Dash, who was down the hall. The two ponies trotted in. Rainbow took one seat at a table, and Rarity headed over to the fridge. The door illuminated in blue and swung open. On the top shelf, with the name *Rarity Belle* written on it in black Sharpie, was a small tub of pico de gallo. The fridge door closed. Rarity walked over to Rainbow Dash's table with the container when she froze. There was the sound of hoofsteps that weren't hers. There was somepony else at the doorway. Pinkie Pie poked her head around the corner. "Does anypony know what keeps happening to my tostadas?" --- The End