“Happy! Happy Pants! Oh, wherever did you go?” Rarity mumbled to herself after her futile attempts at shouting, no doubt rousing some annoyed neighbors. She clip-clopped hurriedly down the sidewalk, streetlamps giving some light to guide her. Her red dress billowed like a cape behind her. Her gaze snapped back and forth, desperate to capture a glance of the heartbroken stallion. Her own heart pounding, stomach regretting the donuts she ate, Rarity quickly rounded the corner. Finally, she caught sight of Happy’s long teal tail, walking into a nearby park. He’d already magicked away his lovely tuxedo, and his head hung low.

“Happy, please wait!” Rarity called, rushing over to him. He slowly lifted his head as she approached, eyes obviously reddened with tears and his ears swept back over his head. The expression on his face nearly caused Rarity’s own tears to flow over, but she kept them back for the time being. Though he seemed rather reluctant to do so, he stopped walking and allowed the mare to catch up to him. She held up a hoof to ask him to allow her a moment to catch her breath (she wasn’t pudgy, but maybe she’d been visiting Sugarcube Corner too often). Once she was able to do so, she straightened. But before she was able to speak, the stallion did so.

“I see now that it was my mistake to invite you out, Miss Rarity, and I do apologize. I understand you do have a reputation to maintain, especially being a member of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s court. And my own seems to precede me -”

“Happy, Happy, darling…that’s not it in any way, shape, or form.” Rarity quickly cut him off. “I’m sorry to be rude, but Donut Joe told me everything. And, if you allow me a moment of your time, though I hardly deserve it, I must speak with you. Before you step out of my life forever.” The silver mare pleaded, her sapphire eyes boring into his own. He regarded her for a moment, brows furrowing pensively. However, he relented after a moment and gestured weakly to a bench sitting along the edge of the park nearby. They seated themselves, and Rarity heaved a sigh.

“I want to firstly apologize, as sincerely as I can. I should not have jumped to such conclusions whatsoever, before I even gave you a chance to explain. I was projecting my own insecurities forward, and that was wrong of me. I was so afeared…but, alas, I allowed my emotions to take over. I would understand entirely if you were to refuse, but I would love to have another dinner…perhaps a brunch, whatever you’d prefer, together.” Rarity said quietly, struggling to keep the tremors out of her voice. Her mistake sat like a black pit in her tummy, and her own eyes threatened to moisten. Happy sat for a moment in silence, the gentle noise of crickets filling the air.

“I wasn’t planning on keeping my daughter…or my wife from you. I was going to at least wait until the second date, however. After…ensuring tonight was truly the first of such.” He gave a weak chuckle. Rarity shook her head.

“Its not your daughter or wife themselves. I mean, I was a tad surprised to find you a are father, but I adore little ones. I’ve helped watch out for my little sister ever since she was a baby. It was my own embarrassment, my own humiliation and break in confidence. Thinking…well, I’d had another date with a stallion who wasn’t quite as he seemed. And I know now I was very wrong.” She rubbed one foreleg with the other, feeling ashamed. Before Happy could speak, she continued.

“This is probably inappropriate to divulge, but…I haven’t been on many dates as a mare. Life has been hectic almost since Twilight came to Ponyville. A wonderful, amazing, unimaginable kind of hectic, but…a kind of hectic that left little time for…other pursuits. The last time I tried…it nearly left me a mess. You mention reputation? That’s already done and gone, Happy.” Rarity sighed, the terrible memories flooding back and still appearing quite fresh - despite how hard she’d tried to forget. “A few years ago, I met this handsome stallion. A unicorn, but a member of Celestia’s Royal Guard. Like you and I, we ran into each other in the streets of Canterlot, but in a much less direct way. He was charming, strong, and yes, handsome. Anycreature almost would have been infatuated. As I swiftly became.

He swept me off my hooves. The gentle words he spoke, the genuine tones in them, the look in his eyes…I felt like it was real. I was like a grade-school filly - dreaming of possible wedding themes and dresses, thinking about what our children would look like…” She blushed at the implication of her sentence. “Of course, we never got that far. Nowhere near that far. Despite my hopes and dreams, I insisted we take it all quite slow, and thank the stars for it.

“The moment he started to snap at me for not cooking his dinner soon enough, or daring to take a spa day with one of my girls…or telling me he couldn’t possibly see himself with a fat mare after I order an extra scoop of ice cream…I knew. I didn’t want to admit I knew, but I knew. It was going to fall apart. And it was worse than I could have imagined. The night I got a knock at my shop’s door, and this little colt is standing there, telling me he saw his dad go to my shop and was wondering if I knew when he was coming home…I cannot tell you that feeling, Happy.” Rarity had to pause to swallow past the lump in her throat. Another bit of silence overtook them, before the stallion spoke quietly.

“What…what happened afterwards?” The mare turned her head to see him looking at her with quite a concerned expression, brows tightly knitted. She could have almost laughed. The journalist in him was showing.

“I asked him who was at home waiting for their father. He said it was himself, his baby sister, and his mother. My stallionfriend’s wife. All I could think of to do was to have him bring his mother over so I could prove myself wrong. It had to be the wrong stallion. Although I don’t know who I was fooling, that little colt looked just like his father. And his sister had his eyes. I could tell the mother was incredibly angry, but remained polite for the children. Over and over, for hours and hours, until he finally came to the shop was well, I tried to convince her I knew nothing of the situation at hoof. I had no inkling in any way, shape, or form they existed, and if I had, I would have never, ever…the thought of ruining a home on purpose, let alone accidentally…it just…I find myself thankful for my friends, for if I didn’t have them, I’d fallen to pieces.

“But, they stood beside me. Twilight worked to help me keep this from becoming a horrific rumor that spread throughout Equestria. Princess Celestia was…swift in dealing with the situation. There were plenty of newspapers that tried to report my scandal, but they never knew the names of the stallion or his family. I’ve had so many creatures tell me either what a terrible pony I am, or how I need to release names and stand up for injustice. But I couldn’t possibly. His family moved to Trottingham, as far as I recall. At my wishes, there was no need for getting any legalities involved…but I would have paid a high price to be the fly on the wall, so to speak of course, when Celestia was giving him a piece of her mind.” She gave another heavy sigh.

“That’s that. I don’t mean to overshare, but I felt you deserved to know, after treating me so well. It doesn’t excuse my behavior in any way, and I am certainly not looking to garner any sympathy, but I do value honesty. If I didn’t, I’d fear I’d need some more lessons from my friend Applejack.” She laughed weakly, before lowering her front hooves and sliding off of the bench. “I feel I’ve worn out my welcome. I appreciate your time. I only meant to let you know it truly wasn’t your fault but…like I said, I get rambly. I hope you have a good evening.”

Before she was able to take a step away, however, Happy placed a hoof on her shoulder and got off the bench as well.

“That would have been the holy grail.” He said quietly, while Rarity looked up in surprise and confusion. It was then that, in the darkness, she could spot a tiny smile underneath his mustache. “To be the fly on the wall during that conversation.”

They both shared a chuckle, Happy taking his turn to heave a sigh. “I will admit, my friend, I didn’t appreciate the yelling or accusation. But I do sincerely understand where you’re coming from. I am so incredibly sorry to hear you endured that. I couldn’t imagine ever doing that to my daughter, or my wife. And I could only imagine being on the other side of the situation, that feeling of betrayal. It truly shows your character, Miss Rarity, that the first thing you showed concern for was my family, instead of your own feelings.”

“I…I’m sorry I said that. That you’d abandoned them at home. I’m sure you loved your wife dearly.” The female unicorn said with a shake of the head. Happy frowned.

“I did. And she loved me and Splendor. When she discovered she had the cell sickness, she fought as hard as anycreature I’ve seen. She went through each treatment with her head held high, and tried to never seem weak in front of our daughter…but there’s just some illnesses even our best healers’ magic cannot touch. Dora was so little when it happened…and she had to grow up so fast. I cannot be prouder of that little fireball. And, if I’m going to be taking a look into a relationship, I do need to take her into consideration.” Rarity perked up, hopeful that this meant she was allowed another chance.

“I don’t want to push whatsoever, but when you two are ready, I would absolutely love to meet her. Perhaps just as your new ‘friend’ at first. Whatever makes you two feel more comfortable.” She said enthusiastically, making Happy laugh.

“We’ll figure it out as we go along. But…I appreciate you coming after me.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck and clearly blushing. Rarity fluttered her eyelashes, blushing herself.

“Well, its not every day a mare meets a stallion such as yourself. You’re a fine gentlecolt, Happy Pants, and I look forward to several more dates with you. I hope you’ll allow me to make up for my mistake with, perhaps, a picnic fit for royalty? I have special access to the Canterlot Gardens. Does Splendor like flowers, or animals? I’m sure I could arrange a private tour of the Gardens while you and I visit, and then afterwards, she can join us for some cake! I know one of the, if not the most, talented dessert chef in Equestria, I’ll have her whip up the most decadent cake, that it will even impress the weary traveler.” Rarity offered with relish. Happy’s face lit up like the streetlamps above them.

“Do you truly mean Pinkie Pie herself?! Her dishes are legendary! I’ve read about them in articles as far as Prance, and let me tell you - the critics over there are not fond of that young lady. They can’t figure out how she’s so amazing! That certainly sealed the deal for me, Miss Rarity!” He replied, while she rolled her eyes playfully. Of course her beloved, crazy poof of a friend somehow managed to irritate somecreature half a world away. Before she could respond, he lifted one of her hooves and gently kissed the back of it.

“I appreciate, and accept your apology. Shall we say, re-schedule for this Saturday?” He asked, indigo eyes shining in the dim light. Rarity couldn’t help but smile back, feeling lighter than air at the moment.

“Like its said in my favorite play…‘parting is such sweet sorrow.’”

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A promise is a promise. Not giving up on these two stories. I hope you lovelies enjoy finding out why Rarity rather unnecessarily freaked out, and learning a little bit more about her. The next chapter will be a bit cheerier, I believe.
(and I’m gonna try to get these churned out a tad bit quicker moving forward lol)