You're Still the One I'm After (all these years)

chapter 1: rarity takes manhattan

A/N: sorry this chapter is kinda boring- i'm just trying to set up the story but i promise it'll get more interesting later on 😭😭

Rarity steps out of the train as the doors open, dragging her two matching luggages close behind her. The woman takes a moment to compose herself and stretch her legs, since the couple hours she spent on the train from Parisville had slightly disoriented her. She reaches into her purse and pulls out her hand mirror, checking that her makeup was still intact before putting the item away, running a perfectly manicured hand through her hair as a final touch.

Now she was ready.

Grabbing a hold of her luggages once again, Rarity walks (more like struts) out of the train station with a fixed expression, her face lighting up when she's met with a busy Manhattan street that was bustling with traffic. She steps to the edge of the sidewalk, waving at one of the taxi cars heading in her direction, motioning it over so she could catch a ride to her hotel that was much too far away to walk to.

For a mid-September morning, it was surprisingly warm in the infamously windy city, and Rarity was glad for it. It was already windy- she didn't need it to be freezing cold too.

A taxi pulls up to the side of the road after a few moments, and the (gentle)man in the driver's seat gets out of the car to assist Rarity with her luggages; she'd be tipping him extra for that later on, something she did rather often when granted with a generous favor. It was only customary that she expressed her gratitude in the way she did best.

"The Langham, if you would be so kind," Rarity says once comfortably seated in the backseat of the taxi. She watches with a badly concealed smile as the driver raises an eyebrow but doesn't question her, clearly baffled by the name of his passenger's hotel. It was one of the most expensive hotels in Manhattan- not like Rarity herself had to pay for her stay there since she'd been given free travel and hotel expenses by one of the Manhattan fashion week sponsors.

He'd been starstruck by one of Rarity's fashion shows back in Parisville and personally invited her to fashion week, all expenses paid. The offer was much too generous, but who was Rarity to refuse? She'd been yearning for this sort of recognition since she was a child, and now it was being given to her. She was twenty four years old- in her opinion, the offer was long overdue.

The drive from the central train station to the Langham was hardly long, and Rarity spent most of those 25 minutes on her phone, replying to a spam of text messages from her sister (even though sweetie belle was supposed to be paying attention in class), asking how fashion week was going. It amused the purple haired woman to no ends since she'd just arrived in the big city.

Upon arrival at the hotel, a bellboy approaches the taxi immediately, offering to take Rarity's luggages up to her room while she checked in at the front desk. Naturally, she accepted, paying the boy in advance after paying the taxi driver (with a very generous tip to be precise) for his services.

It doesn't take long to check in to the hotel, and before she knows it, Rarity's alone in her room (which is absolutely gorgeous if she does say so herself. shades of grey covering the walls and curtains, along with an astonishing amount of white covering.. well everything). She quickly unzips her biggest luggage, pulling out the many neatly placed dresses and outfits from her new fall collection. Thankfully, her hotel room closet had more than enough space to fit everything, and now she was all set.

Technically, fashion week didn't officially start until tomorrow, since today was reserved for preparations, getting the models and venues ready and all. Rarity didn't mind- it gave her a chance to calm her nerves.

It wasn't that she felt inferior to the other more seasoned designers or that she doubted her own skills, because that was far from the truth. Rarity was actually more than confident when it came to her skills as a fashion designer; she knew that she had this sort of talent since she was a kid. But the fact that she was finally going to be able to showcase that talent for the whole world- or at least Manhattan to see, obviously had her a little jittery.