A Shimmering Heartbreak

Chapter XV: Balloons are Meant to Pop

Bringing the scarf closer, I can't help but rub my cheek against it for old time's sake, a couple of my tears sliding down my face despite the biggest smile I could have written across my face. The thought of how ridiculous I may look crosses my mind for only a second, but I don't let my mind dwell on it. I don't care who may see. It's just... really nice to have it back and for it to be in one piece. "Darling?" Rarity speaks quietly, trying to get my attention. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry. I just... Thank you so much, Rarity. You don't know how much this means to me~" Instinctively, my arms wrap around the purple-haired woman without my smile leaving my face. A part of me is still shocked she could have fixed what was left of my scarf, but she really did it~ Something so special to me that was torn to shreds is practically just like I left it, except for a couple stitch marks. They're barely visible due to the similarly colored fabric that Rarity used to fix the material.

"I would say it was no problem, but the truth is that it was quite difficult to fix it. From now on, don't go skating with pieces of clothing you don't mind ripping. I swear that scarf was begging to be put down before you came to me." Rarity hugs me back gently, patting my back with one of her hands. "I would also suggest not bringing it into the steam room with us. I swear if I have to bring that poor thing's life back from death's door again, you'll have hell to pay." Ending our embrace, Rarity smiles at me and gently slides her finger across the scarf, turning away from me to walk in the direction Fluttershy went.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," I tell her with a happy sigh, looking down at the scarf once more. I don't intend on letting it get destroyed again.

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I didn't expect for the visit to the spa to last that long... We stayed there for hours just to get everything done with the treatments I bought. If I had known it would have taken that long, I probably would have left halfway through. I suppose it did help with a bit of my stress, though... Not much... There's still so much to do and I'm not even sure how I will be able to do half of it. Rarity wasn't joking when she said a spa day since the only light out now is the moon, shining down on the world around me... I guess the day hasn't been wasted, but... a part of me feels a bit guilty that it's already over. Hell. I thought I would be home sooner than Sunset, but she is probably already back in bed. I was hoping to have at least one small conversation with her before tomorrow, but I guess that was wishful thinking.

Walking further down the sidewalk, a small buzz catches my attention, searching my pocket for my phone. Once again, it's a text, alerting me to someone's attempt to contact me. That's practically the only notification I do get other than alarms. "Huh, Rainbow," I whisper to myself, seeing the icon on my screen. The picture I set her contact to is simply a photo of her eating a hot dog back when I first started working for Fancy Pants. I think it was the first time she and I ever had lunch on that roof together actually... Shaking my head, I slowly tap the notification, bringing me to our text conversation instantly. Despite her usually small text patterns, I'm greeted by a big message this time, taking up half of the screen easily.

"Hey, Dagi. Thanks again for the pep talk we had earlier today. I was feeling really lost and I'm glad you were there to help me see straight. I just wanted to let you know two things before I hit the sack. First, I went ahead and quit my team, but I still want to be somewhat active in sports, so I'm going to look at different things. My mom agreed to help me with that. Secondly, I had some free time today, so I thought I'd do ya a solid like you did for me. I went over to your apartment today and I changed most of the locks with Sunset's permission." She... changed our locks...? She really didn't have to do that, especially with everything she's dealt with recently. Before I can even react to her previous message, Rainbow starts typing to me again. "If you tell anyone else this, I will deny it, but I did sorta need my dad's help to learn how to change a lock. Turns out, it's a lot more complicated than I thought. Especially when you're only changing the lock and not the whole doorknob." Rainbow's text ends with a smiling emoji followed by a thumbs up, making me feel slightly confused... "Sunset already took all your stuff back to your place when she got off work, so I suppose I won't be saying goodnight to you in person. Have a good night, Dagi~"